ABCNews.com(WASHINGTON) -- Howard University students are protesting at the schools administration building after revelations that six financial employees were fired for allegedly misusing institutionally-issued financial aid funds.



Students are slated to resume negotiations with university administrators on Tuesday. The historically black university's student protesters made nine demands.



On Sunday, the university's administration board agreed to extend the deadline for the $200 housing deposit for students until May 1.



HU Resist, the group leading protests, are also demanding the resignation of the school's president, Wayne Frederick along with the board of trustees. Along with resignations, they are asking the university to freeze tuition costs and publicly list administrators' salaries.



The university issued a statement Monday expressing full support of its president and trustees.



"The Council of Deans is confident that the plans, strategies, programs and activities of the University Board of Trustees and President Wayne A.I. Frederick are yielding positive results and are on a positive trajectory for a strong and positive future for our beloved institution," the statement read.



After news initially broke, Frederick released a statement confirming university grants, which were not federally-funded, were given to some employees who had also received both tuition remissions - or reductions.



The combined financial aid packaged exceeded the cost of attendance. The employees allegedly pocketed the excess money.



The university's students barricaded administration building doors Friday morning  only granting those with student ID's access. They also assembled in the Board of Trustee's office Friday afternoon and have occupied the building since.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
It's a well known strategy they say. But how well known is it if the world's biggest encyclopedia doesn't even have an entry? Anyway, it goes like this. Say you're the owner of a dog who's just bitten someone. If you're a chuff, churl or cretin -- or even your average defensive citizen -- you deny it via the so called "Four Dog Defense". Here's how one lawyer explained it to the St. Petersburg Times in 1997 1:

First of all, I don't have a dog. And if I had a dog, it doesn't bite. And if I had a dog and it did bite, then it didn't bite you. And if I had a dog and it did bite, and it bit you, then you provoked the dog."

The St. Petersburg Times article wasn't actually about a dog, but about the landmark tobacco cases. And the tobacco industry played it something like this, as you may know (I'm ad-libbing here):

Smoking definitely doesn't cause cancer, there's no evidence it causes cancer. There's no consensus on the evidence; smoking may cause cancer but second hand smoke definitely doesn't. Mice may get cancer but mice are not humans, cigarettes are not additive. People choose to smoke -- and who are we to impose on people's constitutional rights? - etc.

Four Dogs Launched a Thousand Ways

"Four Dog Defense" might sound more like a Kung Fu movie to you, but since you've now been introduced, you'll see it often. Some people describe the Four Dog Defense as a trial lawyer's adage, but it's even more common than that. The tobacco industry, as in the above example, used it for decades to successfully deflect charges that cigarettes cause cancer. Even today, despite volumes of documents in the form of the tobacco papers, the same companies today mount the same defense.

You might also be familiar with this strategy not only because of tobacco, but asbestos, lead, arsenic, or any number of chemicals or "benign" products (sugar, alcohol, etc.) currently on the market.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) used the example of the "Four Dog Defense" to frame their recent investigation: "The Delay Game: How the Chemical Industry Ducks Regulation of the Most Toxic Substances". The report compellingly describes tactics the industries used to stall regulation,focusing on three chemicals, trichloroethylene (TCE), formaldehyde, and styrene. The three have been on the market for decades despite proof they cause morbidity and mortality.

The NRDC describes how vested industries spent millions of dollars stalling with tactics like demands on the EPA conduct new science reviews. Industries request "independent" assessments and hire "independent" scientists to do favorable studies. They then dispatch lobbyists to "influence" politicians and the EPA. Thus, toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, lead, atrazine, and TCE can stay on the market for however long it takes to do the "new" assessment, as the EPA gets stalled from acting on well established science.

Of course taxpayers pay for all of this, every move that industry makes to stall the EPA - demanding studies, suing, producing biased studies, and publicizing contrarian views.Circularly and ironically, taxpayers who already paid for the research trying to assure that we live in a healthy environment, then pay for defense when industry and lobbyists attack that very science. The taxpayers pay and pay again with money and health, for these attacks on science and the EPA (that the Tea Party and GOP so dearly want to abolish).

The TCE Story

This four dog defense strategy has kept trichloroethylene (TCE) on the market for decades. TCE is a solvent used for metal degreasing. It has industrial uses, like cleaning airplane parts, but is also found in household items such as paint removers, glues, correction fluid, electronic equipment cleaners, rug cleaners, and adhesives. TCE is linked with leukemia, cancers, developmental defects, and problems with the male reproductive system, the immune system, liver, kidney and nervous systems.

TCE is also found in hundreds of Super Fund sites, places like like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and military bases. Most of us live close to one of these sites, or we might. When a new housing development gets built in the vicinity of some high stature physics lab in an expensive suburb, for instance, TCE can leach from the soil into water supplies, or evaporate into the air. And then what happens if a homeowner or their children get sick? The four dog defense continues. The effects of TCE on human health were detailed in Jonathan Harr's 1996 non-fiction book A Civil Action .

A Civil Action

As Harr recounted, in the late 1970's people began to die in Woburn, Massachusetts, in what public health officials identified as a leukemia cluster. Three companies, including W.R. Grace and a tannery owned by Beatrice Foods, dumped TCE onto land and it leached into the water supply. During discovery before the trial, companies' defense lawyers deposed the plaintiffs, grilling them on the details of their daily lives. As Harr describes in his book, the lawyers produced exhaustive inventories of products used in each plaintiff's house, what they ate, drank, cleaned with...

"five hundred brand-name household products -- cleaning agents and detergents, rug shampoos, cosmetics, nail-polish removers, insect repellents, paints, lawn fertilizers, cold remedies, cough syrups, herbal teas, coffee, even peanut butter."

The goal-oriented lawyers are relentless, and you can see the four-dog defense in play:

"Do you eat peanut butter?" one of Facher's young associates asked Anne Anderson.

"No," said Anne.

"Did you ever eat peanut butter?"

"I guess everybody living has probably tried it," replied Anne.

"Do your kids eat peanut butter?"

"Well, the same jar has been sitting there an awfully long time, so I guess we don't eat much"

"What kind is it, plain or chunky?"

"Plain, smooth," said Anne."

"You made your children peanut butter sandwiches?"

"They ate some, when they were small"

"When you say, 'some,' could you quantify that?" One or two sandwiches a week for the children?"



How does this apply to the chemical on trial and the deaths and illnesses that the communty was experiencing, you ask? Peanut butter can contain aflatoxin, a carcinogen. By cataloguing the everyday products that the plaintiffs used, then pointing to possible carcinogens that they contained, the lawyers could throw doubt of the cause of the TCE related illnesses. Clearly Anne hardly ever ate peanut butter. But here, the lawyer throws doubt on that. As Harr writes, Jan Schlichtmann, lawyer for the plaintiffs, knows that the defendant's lawyers are trying to dilute the evidence in order to develop uncertainty about the origin of the cancers. When at 5:00PM, he requests that the defense lawyers to end their deposition, they ignore him and continue their questioning.

"Do you eat bacon?...(Bacon contains dimethylnitrosamine, a carcinogen.) How often? How many slices? Do you fry it or bake it? Do you have Teflon pans (Teflon is made of a resin containing acrylonitrile, a carcinogen.) How often do you use them? Do you chew sugarless gum? (Saccharin, a carcinogen in mice.) How often? Do you pump your own gas?..."

It continues with each plaintiff, over the next three weeks -- do you bathe, shower, wear deodorant, own a cats, have plastic shower curtains, drink beer, smoke? Each activity or product contains certain carcinogens, and therefore passes on certain risks...

While the pre-trial "discovery" of "A Civil Action" drags on, people continue drinking TCE polluted water and breath TCE polluted air.

"Roland Gamache was dying of leukemia by the time his second deposition began. Neither he nor his wife could admit this to each other. But the lawyers all knew. In early October, Gamache did not have strength enough to get out of bed...."

And while these leukemia victims answer inquiries by lawyers working on behalf of TCE dumpers, somewhere else in the world, in another room, at another polished bird's eye maple conference table, lawyers for a different chemical or product question different plaintiffs about their possible exposure to solvents -- have you ever glued anything (glues contain can TCE)? Walked by the old Naval base in the next block?

In the end the Woburn case didn't repair the TCE victims, nor did it motivate universal action on TCE. But law schools use the book as a case study to instruct future lawyers prosecuting (as well as defending) the makers of toxic chemicals. As you can imagine then, with this sort of defense fully proven to work, people injured from environmental toxicants have a difficult time getting remedy from the courts.

The Doggy-Dog World of Politicians

Given the tenacity and success of the four dog defense, it was against great odds that after decades years of stalling, not only by industry and lawyers, but by politicians, White House administrations, and the Department of Defense and Department of Energy, the EPA released its final IRIS assessment of TCE last week.

The EPA's last assessment of TCE came in 1987, almost a quarter of a century ago. In 2001 the EPA calculated that based on research to that date, TCE was 5-65 times as toxic as previously thought, especially to children. It can be found in 761 Superfund sites. Since the Department of Defense and Department of Energy would be responsible for cleaning up many of the sites, the agencies fought vigorously to prevent EPA action. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports that DOD action against the rule cost taxpayers a million dollars.

The EPA's path to updating the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) is tortuous, likewise for the the EPA's completion of the IRIS assessments for the backlog of chemicals with suspected or proven health affects. The agency struggles to overcome a failed strategy of depending on industry to produce safety profiles of chemicals, a method of oversight that hasn't adequately safeguarded our health. (Acronym Required started reporting this here in 2005, decades into the battle 2). But progress gets perpetually hindered - as you can see, industry mounts gargantuan hurdles against the EPA.

Even once people are somewhat convinced that a chemical such as TCE is toxic, lobbyists for industry deploy the four dog defense. This is long after the media loses interest, long after the public tires of hearing about it, long after the environmental groups start in on their next action item, and long after most politicians drop the issue (now that they're not getting calls from their constituents).

As we speak, politicians that we (you) voted for, "working in our interest" actively fight against the EPA's IRIS assessments and against EPA moves to strengthen TSCA. Their most successful claim against regulating chemicals that cause the loss of life and impede people's ability to work? That the "stringent" rules will "cost jobs". Politicians are often lawyers first after all, so they know the four dog defense perhaps better than any of us.

----------------------------------

1 "Can This Man Tame Tobacco?" David Barstow St. Petersburg Times April 7, 1997

2 Acronym Required wrote about TSCA in of posts a couple of posts about Teflon in 2005; in a few posts on Europe's REACH, for instance The EU on Chemicals: More Strife Across the Pond?; a here and in many posts about bisphenol-A.
President Vladimir Putin has claimed that last months presidential election was "probably the most transparent and cleanest" in Russian history, accepting a certificate identifying him as the president-elect after a vote that opponents said was marred by fraud and international observers said gave voters no real choice.

Putin made the remarks on April 3 at a meeting with Central Election Commission (CEC) chief Ella Pamfilova, who congratulated him on what she called his "convincing and clean victory" in the March 18 election.

According to the official result from the CEC, Putin won just under 76.7 percent of the votes cast -- more than he received in any of his three previous elections and the highest percentage handed to any post-Soviet Russian leader. Turnout exceeded 67 percent, according to the CEC.

"As many have already said, this was probably the most transparent and cleanest election in the history of our country," said Putin, who in turn congratulated Pamfilova and said that she and her colleagues had helped ensure a clean a election.

Pamfilova said after the election that were "at least two times fewer" violations than in the 2012 presidential vote, which put Putin back in the Kremlin after four years as prime minister.

But there were several thousand allegations of fraud on election day, in some cases backed by webcam footage appearing to show blatant ballot-box stuffing, and voters in various regions said they had been pressured by their employers or teachers to vote.

According to an analysis by Sergei Shpilkin, a physicist who has studied Russian election statistics, Putin may have received more than 10 million falsified votes nationwide.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which had more than 500 observers in Russia for the vote, said that, while legal and technical aspects of the election were well administered, "the extensive coverage in most media of the incumbent as president resulted in an uneven playing field."

"Choice without real competition, as we have seen here, is not real choice," Michael Georg Link, special coordinator and leader of the OSCE's short-term observer mission, told reporters in Moscow on March 19.

He added that "where the legal framework restricts many fundamental freedoms and the outcome is not in doubt, elections almost lose their purpose -- empowering people to choose their leaders."

Putin, who has been prime minister or president since 1999, is to be inaugurated in May for a new six-year term, which could be his last because of a constitutional limit of two consecutive presidential terms.

Political analysts said that, during the election, the Russian authorities were under pressure from the Kremlin to bolster Putin's mandate and lend legitimacy to the vote by ensuring a high turnout and relatively low levels of fraud.

With reporting by Interfax and TASS


Russian opposition politician and Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny plans to establish a new political party, the lawyer of his Anticorruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, says.

Zhdanov posted on Twitter on April 3 an official letter by the Justice Ministry dated March 29 confirming that the documents had been filed with the ministry to hold the founding congress of a new political party titled Rabocheye Nazvaniye, which can be translated as either Working Name or Provisional Title.

Zhdanov wrote on Twitter that the founding congress of the new party will be held on May 19, adding that "since the [party's] name was taken from us, the party's name will be provisional until the congress."

The Justice Ministry said last month that Navalny's former supporter, Vitaly Serukanov, had registered a new party, called Party of Progress. In the past, the ministry refused six times to register Navalny's party under that name.

Navalny, a vocal foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has organized large street protests on several occasions and published a series of reports alleging corruption in Russia's ruling elite, was barred from the March presidential race due to a conviction on financial-crimes charges he contends were fabricated by the Kremlin to sideline him.

With reporting by Novaya Gazeta
One year after a blast that authorities say was a suicide bombing killed 16 people on a subway car in St. Petersburg, Russian investigators have announced that the probe is nearing completion.

In a statement on YouTube and its official website on April 3, the Investigative Committee said that the case was "currently in the final stage of investigation."

It said the investigation has been "particularly difficult" because "those who ordered this terrorist act, those who organized it, and those who carried it out did not know each other" and used "modern means of communication" to communicate with one another.

Russian authorities say the blast in April 3, 2017, was a suicide bombing carried out by Akbarjon Jalilov, a 22-year-old Kyrgyz-born ethnic Uzbek and naturalized Russian citizen who was among the dead.

In the weeks after the bombing, they arrested 11 people from Central Asian countries in St. Petersburg and Moscow on suspicion of involvement in the attack.

The Investigative Committee said that the bombing, which injured about 50 people, was the work of "a radical Islamist terrorist community" but did not name any group. No organization has claimed responsibility.


Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on April 3 on an official visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara, where he appeared with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outside the Presidential Palace. The two leaders observed a live video broadcast of a groundbreaking ceremony for Turkeys first nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russian collaboration in Akkuyu near the port city of Mersin. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump's recent pledge to pull U.S. troops out of Syria "very soon" now that the Islamic State (IS) militant group has been largely defeated there.

Lavrov told reporters in Moscow on April 2 that Russia had recently seen what he called "worrisome" signs that U.S. troops were "getting deeply entrenched" in areas east of the Euphrates River that they recently helped liberate from IS.

Trump's statement last week shows that "he is committed at least to the previous promises the United States will leave Syria after victory over the Islamic State," Russian state-run news agency TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

Russia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have been urging the United States for months to pull its 2,000 or so troops out of Syria, maintaining that their presence on Syrian territory is a violation of international law.

Assad frequently points out that he did not invite U.S. troops to join the seven-year civil war like he did when he invited Russian forces in 2015 and Iranian forces and militias since the beginning of the war in 2011.

In response to Russia's calls to leave Syria in recent months, top U.S. officials have said they intended to keep U.S. troops there as long as needed to protect U.S. allies in the war-torn country and ensure that IS does not make a comeback in its former Syrian strongholds.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who Trump fired last month citing significant policy differences, argued in January that U.S. forces must remain engaged in Syria not only to prevent IS and Al-Qaeda from returning, but to deny Iran a chance to "further strengthen its position in Syria."

Pentagon leaders have made similar statements. Defense Department spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said on April 2 that "Our mission has not changed... We are continuing to implement the president's strategy to defeat [IS]."

But Trump's statement on March 29 -- telling supporters in the U.S. state of Ohio that "we'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now" -- suggested Trump may be thinking differently about Syria than some of his top advisers.

In another sign Trump may be mulling a pull-out, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that he is holding up $200 million in U.S. funding earmarked to go toward stabilizing areas of eastern Syria recaptured from IS.

Lavrov's comments welcoming Trump's eagerness to leave Syria come as Russia and Syria have been clearing out the last remnants of armed rebel groups that once largely controlled the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta through a series of negotiated pull-outs.

The Russian military and Syrian state media reported on April 2 that the largest rebel group, Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam), has started evacuating from the area's last holdout town, Douma.

The SANA news agency said two buses carrying the rebels left Douma heading for Jarablus, a town in north Syria shared between rebels and Turkish forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, also reported that the last rebels are leaving Douma, handing Syria and Russia their biggest potential win since they regained control of Syria's largest city, Aleppo.

With reporting by AP, AFP, TASS, and Interfax


With an artist's eye and a surgeon's precision, Olga Shirnina -- who works under the name Color By Klimbim -- uses Photoshop to breathe new life into black-and-white photos from Russian history.
A preliminary hearing into a criminal case against Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen, a 46-year old Danish citizen charged with extremism, was adjourned shortly after resuming in Russia's central city of Oryol.

Judge Aleksei Rudnev adjourned the hearing on April 3 after the defendant asked for additional time to get acquainted with all the materials in the case, including video and audio.

Christensen was arrested in May 2017 and has been in pretrial detention since then.

If convicted, he may face up to 10 years in prison.

Jehovah's Witnesses have long been viewed with suspicion in Russia for their positions on military service, voting, and government authority in general.

Freedom of religion is formally guaranteed in Russia but legislation sets out Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the country's four traditional religions, and smaller denominations frequently face discrimination.

In April 2017, the Supreme Court labeled the Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization, ordering the seizure of its property in Russia and effectively banning worshipers from the country.

Since then, there have been a growing number of reports of worshipers being targeted for harassment.

Russia's Memorial human rights center recognized Christensen as a political prisoner in July 2017.

Human Rights Watch has urged Russian authorities to release Christensen, saying that he was exercising his right to practice his religion.

With reporting by newsorel.ru


The United States has placed Pakistan's Milli Muslim League (MML) political party on its list of foreign terrorist organizations for its alleged links to a militant group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The State Department said in a statement on April 2 that it had designated Milli Muslim League (MML) as a foreign terrorist group because it was operating as fronts for Lashkar-e Taiba (LeT) which is also on the U.S. terrorist list.

Another group allegedly linked to LeT and operating in Indian-administered Kashmir, Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir, was also added to the U.S. terrorist list.

"These designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks," the State Department said, adding that the groups' property subject to U.S. jurisdiction had been blocked and U.S. persons were prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.

The United States and India blame Lashkar-e Taiba for an assault on the Indian financial capital in 2008 that left 166 people dead. The groups founder, Hafiz Saeed, has denied involvement.

The United States has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who formed the MML party last year.

Pakistan's election commission has not allowed the party to register, but its members have been participating in parliamentary elections as independent candidates.

A spokesman for MML expressed defiance toward the latest designations.

"Our party is not registered [by Pakistani authorities]... it wont make any difference," Yahya Mujahid told the dpa news agency.

The development comes as relations between Islamabad and Washington deteriorated in recent months amid U.S. allegations that Pakistan is harboring Islamist militants who are launching attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, something which Pakistan denies.

With reporting by dpa
Lawmakers in Russia's Sverdlovsk region have abolished the direct election of the mayor in the regional capital, Yekaterinburg, a move that has met resistance from the current mayor and protests by residents of Russia's fourth-largest city.

In a 42-4 vote on April 3, the regional legislature passed a bill under which Yekaterinburg's mayor will be chosen by the city council from a list of candidates prepared by a commission.

It was adopted a day after thousands of demonstrators rallied in Yekaterinburg in protest against the legislation, holding signs with slogans such as: "We need a mayor, not a puppet."

Incumbent mayor Yevgeny Roizman blasted the legislation, which was submitted by regional governor Yevgeny Kuvaishev, saying it will be used by the authorities loyal to the Kremlin to "appoint" a pliant mayor.

"[A mayor] who is elected is accountable to those who elected him, while one who was appointed is accountable to the one who appointed him," Roizman, who was elected to a five-year term in 2013, said at the legislative session.

Critics say that President Vladimir Putin has rolled back democracy and tightened Kremlin control over electoral politics during around 18 years as president or prime minister.

Roizman attended the protest on April 2 and said the abolition of direct elections would deal a blow to democracy and hurt the city's interests.

He said in late March that scrapping direct mayoral elections would be "humiliating for Yekaterinburg."

Roizman is one of a very few regional or local officials who have openly criticized Putin and praised opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.

His position is already already largely ceremonial, as most executive powers in Yekaterinburg belong to the head of the city administration, Aleksandr Yakob.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Meduza, Dozhd, Interfax, and TASS


The United Nations has asked the international community for $2.96 billion to help the millions of people who urgently need humanitarian aid in Yemen.

"Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian crisis," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a donor conference in Geneva on April 3, calling the situation in the war-ravaged country "catastrophic."

Yemen has been locked in a devastating conflict between the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and Shiite Huthi rebels, who are supported by Iran.

More than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed since the start of the coalitions intervention in 2015, and 22.2 million people are in need of humanitarian help.

Saudi Arabia and its allies shut down the country's land, sea, and air borders last year and later eased the blockade, but restrictions on deliveries persist.

"Humanitarians must be able to reach the people who need help the most, without conditions," Guterres said. "All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, the medicines, food, and the fuel needed to deliver them."

Based on reporting by AFP and dpa


Danielle Kundson models for H&M photo shoot in Tulum

Tulum, Q.R.  Clothing store giant H&M took over a Tulum beach with topless models and cameramen for their latest photo shoot to promote the upcoming swim wear season.

Part of the shoot crew was Canadian model Danielle Knudson, who spent most of one day wearing nothing but a thong bikini bottom and sand. Knudson didnt leave much to the imagination as she went in front of the cameras on the beach for her latest advert in Tulum.

The Canadian model hit up a beach in Tulum for a shoot with the Swedish retail company where she started off in a two-piece bikini but ended up topless covered in sand. The Canadian beauty was not alone though. Two other female models were on set along with a tanned man.

Knudson was later joined by the shirtless man for a series of heated photos. The pair were the picture of sandy new lovers with Danielle affectionately placing her hand on her H&M co-stars muscular chest.

On social media Kundson wrote, That golden hour light, is everything, forever grateful for every opportunity and all the beautiful places my job takes me.

The H&M Tulum photo shoot was to promote the companys swim line since its officially Spring and the company is coming up on bikini season.

Danielle Knudson is a 28-year-old Canadian fashion model from Red Deer, Alberta.
Researchers have uncovered a mechanism by which the bacteria that cause Lyme disease persist in the human body and fight the body's early, innate immune responses. Dr. Utpal Pal, Professor in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Maryland (UMD), has been studying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria throughout his 12 years with UMD, and his work has already produced the protein marker used to identify this bacterial infection in the body. Now, Dr. Pal has isolated a protein produced by the bacteria that disables one of the body's first immune responses, giving insight into mechanisms that are largely not understood.

He has also observed a never-before-seen phenomena demonstrating that even without this protein and with the immune system responding perfectly, the bacteria can spring back in the body weeks later. Understanding this type of bacteria, which is among only a few pathogens that can actually persist in the body for long periods of time, has major implications for the treatment of tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease, which is an increasingly chronic and consistently prevalent public health issue.

"Most people don't realize that they actually are walking around with more bacterial cells in their bodies than their own cells, so we are really bags of bacteria," explains Pal. "Most are good, but the second your body detects something that is a pathogen and can cause disease, your immune system starts to work." The body sends a first, nonspecific wave of attack to kill the bacteria detected that doesn't belong. This happens within a few hours to days. If this doesn't work, it takes seven to ten days to learn about the enemy and send a large second wave of reinforcements to kill what is left. "Lyme disease is actually caused by your immune system," explains Pal. "This bacteria wins the first battle, and your body overreacts so much that it causes intense inflammation in all the joints and areas that the bacteria spreads by sending so many reinforcements to kill it. Borrelia is then killed, but the inflammation remains and causes many of your symptoms for Lyme disease. That is why killing Borrelia in the first wave of immunity is so important."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate about 300,000 cases of Lyme disease annually in the United States. However, these cases are largely underestimated and reported due to the attention given to mosquito-transmitted diseases like malaria. "The majority of all vector-borne diseases in the US are actually tick-borne, and 6 of the 15 distinct tick diseases are transmitted by the Ixodes tick we study in our lab," says Pal. "The symptoms of these diseases present similarly to many other illnesses and are hard to pin down, so they are vastly underreported and an even bigger public health concern locally and globally than people realize." Now, chronic Lyme disease is a growing concern. Six to twelve months after traditional antibiotic therapy, many people have non-objective symptoms that return with varying intensity and no current treatment strategy, known as Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome.

Dr. Pal's research has shed some light on this issue and paved the way for future research and treatment options by discovering that even without the protein used to beat the first wave of immune defense, infection can reoccur in the body weeks later. "This means there is a second line of defense for Borrelia just like for our body's immune system. This had never been observed before and gives us insight into what could be causing these chronic Lyme disease cases," explains Pal.

Dr. Pal is frequently consulted for his expertise and has written books on this highly versatile bacteria. The federal government has recently put more emphasis on tick-borne disease research and a major public health issue with the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act. As part of this, Dr. Pal was asked to serve on a Tick-Borne Disease Working Group Subcommittee for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) focused on vaccines and therapeutics for tick-borne diseases, driving future research in the field. Dr. Pal currently holds two concurrent multi-million dollar RO1 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for this work, only granted for highly important and influential research. "I am fascinated by Borrelia, and this discovery will open the door for much more work to treat and control important diseases like Lyme disease," says Pal.
A team of computational biologists has developed an algorithm that can 'align' multiple sequencing datasets with single-cell resolution. The new method, published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology, has implications for better understanding how different groups of cells change during disease progression, in response to drug treatment, or across evolution.

"This approach for data integration will enable the comparison of single-cell datasets and the ability to dissect the differences between them," explains Rahul Satija, the study's senior author, who is an assistant professor in NYU's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology and a core faculty member at the New York Genome Center. "Moreover, these methods will be valuable for the integration of diverse datasets produced across individuals and laboratories -- and even for researchers studying the same tissue across different species."

The field of single-cell sequencing is rapidly expanding, with the potential to precisely study how the basic building blocks of life function and evolve. However, significant computational challenges remain, particularly when analyzing multiple datasets. For example, when the team independently analyzed datasets of the same bone-marrow stem cells, produced by two separate labs, they obtained strikingly different results.

"We needed a new method that could identify and align shared groups of cells present in multiple experiments so that we could integrate the datasets together," says Andrew Butler, a graduate student at NYU and lead author of the study.

To accomplish this, the researchers modified analytical techniques specialized at finding shared patterns across images -- for example, to align facial visualizations across different lighting conditions for single-cell sequencing data. When they repeated their bone-marrow analysis, the same cell populations consistently appeared.

"We realized that we could use these methods to learn how cells modify their behavior -- for example, in response to drug treatment," notes Butler.

By analyzing a dataset of human immune cells stimulated with interferon -- a signaling protein created in response to pathogens or tumor cells -- the team could precisely identify which genes were switched on in each of 13 responding cell types. Furthermore, they integrated single-cell datasets of pancreatic tissue from humans and mice, thereby identifying 10 cell types that were shared across species and defining the evolutionary changes occurring in each group.

Looking forward, the researchers are applying their approach to study cellular drug responses in clinical samples, but also aim to make their methods widely accessible.

"All of our software is open-source and freely available online," adds Satija. "We hope these methods will help others in the community discover exciting new biological phenomena."

The work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (New Innovator Award 1DP2HG009623-01, 5R01MH071679-12) and a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (DGE1342536).
The first large-scale age-map of the Milky Way shows that a period of star formation lasting around 4 billion years created the complex structure at the heart of our galaxy. The results will be presented by Marina Rejkuba at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) in Liverpool on Tuesday, 3rd April.

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy with a bulge at the centre, thousands of light years in diameter, that contains about a quarter of the total mass of stars. Previous studies have shown that the bulge hosts two components: a population of metal-poor stars that have a spherical distribution, and a population of metal-rich stars that form an elongated bar with a "waist," like an x or a bi-lobed peanut. However, analyses of the ages of the stars to date have produced conflicting results. Now, an international team led by astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have analysed the colour, brightness and spectral information on chemistry of individual stars to produce the age-map of the Milky Way.

The team have used simulated and observed data for millions of stars from the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) infrared survey of the inner Milky Way and compared them with measurements of the metal content of around 6000 stars across the inner bulge from a spectroscopic survey carried out with the GIRAFFE/FLAMES spectrograph on the ESO Very Large Telescope (GIBS).

Rejkuba says: "We analysed the colour and brightness of stars to find those that have just reached the point of exhausting their hydrogen fuel-burning in the core, which is a sensitive age indicator. Our findings were not consistent with a purely old Milky Way bulge, but require star formation lasting around 4 billion years and starting around 11 billion years ago. The youngest stars that we see are at least 7 billion years old, which is older than some previous studies had suggested."

The results presented are based on the analysis of three areas of the VVV infrared map, which, combined, make up the largest area studied so far in the Milky Way bulge. In all three areas, the findings on the age range of the stars are consistent.

Francisco Surot Madrid, the co-lead author of the study, says: "Previous studies have told us that the metal-rich stars in the bar are likely to be the youngest stars. Whilst we can't disentangle which star belongs to the bar/peanut or the spheroid component in the data we are using, our results tell us that the bar was already formed about 7 billion years ago and there were no large amounts of gas inflowing and forming stars along the bar after that."

The ultimate goal of this project is the construction of a map of the star formation history of the entire Milky Way bulge.

Co-lead author, Elena Valenti, says: "The final map will show us the star formation rate as a function of both age and metallicity for the stars across the bulge. This will be an important ingredient in telling the complete story of the formation of the Milky Way bulge."
Intense radiation could strip away the ozone layer of Earth-like planets around other stars and render them uninhabitable, according to a new study led by Dr Eike Guenther of the Thueringer Observatory in Germany.

Dr Guenther sets out the work in a presentation on 3rd April at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Liverpool.

Astronomers now know of around 4000 planets in orbit around other stars. A handful of these are both Earth-sized and in the habitable zones of the stars they orbit, where the temperature is right for liquid water.

But many candidate Earth-sized worlds are in orbit around red dwarf stars, much smaller and cooler than our own. To be in the habitable zone, the planets need to be much closer to their stars than we are to the Sun.

The problem, however, is that red dwarfs can produce significant X-ray emission, and often have large flares of radiation and eruptions of particles in so-called coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

To try to assess the risk, Guenther and his collaborators are intensively monitoring low-mass stars where flares might take place.

In February 2018, they observed a giant flare from the star AD Leo, located 16 light years away in the constellation of Leo. AD Leo has a giant planet orbiting 3 million kilometres away (fifty times closer than the Earth to the Sun), and it may have Earth-sized worlds further out in its habitable zone.

The astronomers are working to establish what the flare did to the known giant planet and any hypothetical planets further out. Their initial results suggest the giant planet was unaffected, and that unlike similar events on the Sun, the radiation flare was not accompanied by a CME.

This is potentially good news for life further out, as CMEs are thought to have a role in stripping away the atmosphere of smaller planets. From their monitoring, the team believe CMEs are generally less common in smaller stars.

On the other hand, the X-ray radiation is dangerous. According to Guenther's team, these would cut through the atmosphere and reach the surface of an Earth-like planet. Life on land would be badly affected by a stellar flare and might only survive in the oceans.

Guenther states: "Astronomers are mounting a global effort to find Earth-like worlds, and to answer the age-old question of whether we are alone in the Universe. With sporadic outbursts of hard X-rays, our work suggests planets around the commonest low-mass stars are not great places for life, at least on dry land."

The next stage for the research group is to refine the details of their model. Some scientists suggest that giant radiation flares could deplete the ozone layer of a planet by 94% for two years and could even be fatal for all life. If they are right, then talk of 'Earth 2.0' may be premature.
States that have approved medical cannabis laws saw a dramatic reduction in opioid use, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia.

In a paper published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Internal Medicine, researchers examined the number of all opioid prescriptions filled between 2010 and 2015 under Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit plan available to Medicare enrollees.

In states with medical cannabis dispensaries, the researchers observed a 14.4 percent reduction in use of prescription opioids and nearly a 7 percent reduction in opiate prescriptions filled in states with home-cultivation-only medical cannabis laws.

"Some of the states we analyzed had medical cannabis laws throughout the five-year study period, some never had medical cannabis, and some enacted medical cannabis laws during those five years," said W. David Bradford, study co-author and Busbee Chair in Public Policy in the UGA School of Public and International Affairs. "So, what we were able to do is ask what happens to physician behavior in terms of their opiate prescribing if and when medical cannabis becomes available."

Since California approved the first medical cannabis law in 1996, 29 states and the District of Colombia have approved some form of medical cannabis law.

"Physicians cannot prescribe cannabis; it is still a Schedule I drug," Bradford said. "We're not observing that prescriptions for cannabis go up and prescriptions for opioids go down. We're just observing what changes when medical cannabis laws are enacted, and we see big reductions in opiate use."

The researchers examined all common prescriptions opiates, including hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, methadone and fentanyl. Because heroin is not a legal drug, it was not included as part of the study.

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Last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency related to the abuse of opiates. Opioid overdoses accounted for more than 42,000 deaths in 2016, more than any previous year on record, and more than 40 percent of opioid overdose deaths involved a prescription opioid, according to HHS.

Opioid prescription rates increased from about 148 million prescriptions in 2005 to 206 million prescriptions by 2011, Bradford said. This coincided with an increase in the number of opioid-related deaths.

"There is a growing body of literature that suggests cannabis may be used to manage pain in some patients, and this could be a major component of the reductions we see in the use of opiates," he said.

The researchers did not, however, see any significant reductions in the number of non-opioid drugs prescribed during the study period.

"In other studies, we examined prescription rates for non-opioid drugs such as blood thinners, flu medications and phosphorus stimulants, and we saw no change," said Ashley Bradford, lead author of the study and graduate student in UGA's department of public administration and policy. "Medical cannabis wouldn't be an effective treatment for flu or for anemia, so we feel pretty confident that the changes we see in opioids are because of cannabis because there is a legitimate medical use."

The researches concede that if medical cannabis is to become an effective treatment, there is still much work to be done. Scientists are only just beginning to understand the effects of the compounds contained in cannabis, and an effective "dose" of cannabis would need to be defined clearly so that each patient receives a consistent dose.

"Regardless, our findings suggest quite clearly that medical cannabis could be one useful tool in the policy arsenal that can be used to diminish the harm of prescription opioids, and that's worthy of serious consideration," David Bradford said.

Coauthors on the paper Amanda Abraham, assistant professor of public administration and policy at UGA and Grace Bagwell Adams, assistant professor of health policy and management in UGA's College of Public Health.
Differences between signed and spoken languages are significant, yet the underlying neural processes we use to create complex expressions are quite similar for both, a team of researchers has found.

"This research shows for the first time that despite obvious physical differences in how signed and spoken languages are produced and comprehended, the neural timing and localization of the planning of phrases is comparable between American Sign Language and English," explains lead author Esti Blanco-Elorrieta, a doctoral student in New York University's Department of Psychology and NYU Abu Dhabi Institute.

The research is reported in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

"Although there are many reasons to believe that signed and spoken languages should be neurobiologically quite similar, evidence of overlapping computations at this level of detail is still a striking demonstration of the fundamental core of human language," adds senior author Liina Pylkkanen, a professor in New York University's Department of Linguistics and Department of Psychology.

The study also included Itamar Kastner, an NYU doctoral student at the time of the study and now at Berlin's Humboldt University, and Karen Emmorey, a professor at San Diego State University and a leading expert on sign language, who adds, "We can only discover what is universal to all human languages by studying sign languages."

Past research has shown that structurally, signed and spoken languages are fundamentally similar. However, less clear is whether the same circuitry in the brain underlies the construction of complex linguistic structures in sign and speech.

To address this question, the scientists studied the production of multiple two-word phrases in American Sign Language (ASL) as well as speech by deaf ASL signers residing in and around New York and hearing English speakers living in Abu Dhabi.

Signers and speakers viewed the same pictures and named them with semantically identical expressions. In order to gauge the study subjects' neurological activity during this experiment, the researchers deployed magnetoencephalography (MEG), a technique that maps neural activity by recording magnetic fields generated by the electrical currents produced by our brain.

For both signers and speakers, phrase building engaged the same parts of the brain with similar timing: the left anterior temporal and ventromedial cortices, despite different linguistic articulators (the vocal tract vs. the hands).

The researchers point out that this neurobiological similarity between sign and speech, then, goes beyond basic similarities and into more intricate processes -- the same parts of the brain are used at the same time for the specific computation of combining words or signs into more complex expressions.

The research was supported by grants from National Science Foundation (BCS-1221723) (LP), the National Institutes of Health (R01-DC010997) (KE), and the NYUAD Institute as well as a La Caixa Foundation fellowship for Post-Graduate Studies (EBE).
An international team of researchers has imaged newly forming jets of plasma from a massive black hole with unprecedented accuracy. Radio images made with a combination of telescopes in space and on the ground resolve the jet structure merely a couple of hundred black hole radii or 12 light days from its launching site.

At the centres of all massive galaxies are black holes weighing as much as several billion times the mass of our sun. It has been known for long that some of these massive black holes eject spectacular plasma jets at a near speed-of-light that can extend far beyond the confines of their host galaxy. But how these jets form in the first place has been a long-standing mystery. One of the main difficulties in studying them has been astronomers' inability to image the structure of the jets driven by the black hole close enough to their launching site so that direct comparison to theoretical and computational models of jet formation would be possible.

Now an international team of researchers from eight different countries has made ultra-high angular resolution images of the black hole jet at the centre of the giant galaxy NGC 1275, also known as radio source Perseus A or 3C 84. The researchers were able to resolve the jet structure ten times closer to the black hole in NGC 1275 than what has been possible before with ground-based instruments, revealing unprecedented details of the jet formation region.

"The results were surprising. It turned out that the observed width of the jet was significantly wider than what was expected in the currently favoured models where the jet is launched from the black hole's ergosphere -- an area of space right next to a spinning black hole where space itself is dragged to a circling motion around the hole," explains Professor Gabriele Giovannini from Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, the lead author of the paper published in Nature Astronomy.

"This may imply that at least the outer part of the jet is launched from the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. Our result does not yet falsify the current models where the jets are launched from the ergosphere, but we hope it will give the theorists an insight into the jet structure close to the launching site and clues about how to develop the models," adds Dr. Tuomas Savolainen from Aalto University in Finland, head of the RadioAstron observing program which produced the images.

Another result from the study is that the jet structure in NGC 1275 significantly differs from the jet in the very nearby galaxy Messier 87, which is the only other jet whose structure has been imaged equally close to the black hole. Researchers think that this is due to the difference in the age of these two jets. "The jet in NGC 1275 was re-started just over a decade ago and is currently still forming, which provides a unique opportunity to follow the very early growth of a black hole jet. Continuing these observations will be very important," explains a co-author of the paper, Dr. Masanori Nakamura from Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

"This study of the innermost region of NGC 1275 continues our investigations of Active Galactic Nuclei at the highest possible resolution. As the distance to that galaxy is only 70 Megaparsec or 230 million light years, we are able to examine the jet structure with an unprecedented accuracy of only a few hundred black hole radii or 12 light days," concludes Professor Anton Zensus, director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany and head of its VLBI research department, a co-author of the paper.

One radio telescope in space -- dozens on the ground

The significant improvement in the sharpness of the jet images was made possible by the Earth-to-Space Interferometer RadioAstron, which consists of a 10-metre orbiting radio telescope and a collection of about two dozen of the world's largest ground-based radio telescopes. When the signals of individual telescopes are combined using the interference of radio waves, this array of telescopes has the angular resolution equivalent to a radio telescope of 350,000 km in diameter -- almost the distance between the Earth and Moon. This makes RadioAstron the highest angular resolution instrument in the history of astronomy. The RadioAstron project is led by the Astro Space Center of the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Lavochkin Scientific and Production Association under a contract with the State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS, in collaboration with partner organizations in Russia and other countries.

"We at the RadioAstron mission are truly happy that the unique combination of the Russian-made space radio telescope and the huge international ground array of the largest radio telescopes has allowed to study this young relativistic jet in the immediate vicinity of the supermassive black hole," comments the RadioAstron Project Scientist, Professor Yuri Kovalev from the Lebedev Institute in Moscow.
A study by the University of Seville analyses daily primary activities of European laborers and the sources of social synchronization.

Should people living along a meridian be doing their basic activities (sleep/wake, working, eating, leaving home/coming home) at the same time? A 'yes' is an intuitive answer since solar noon happens simultaneously along the meridian. This phenomenon helps setting clock time. Therefore, a 'yes' is also pointing to clock synchronization, irrespective of latitude.

On a second thought we may understand that nobody gets to work at, say, 8am because it is four hours before noon, the bare meaning of clock ticking 8am. Instead the decision making process (whether 8am is fine, late or early) is driven by light conditions: did the Sun already rise? The answer to this question varies with latitude and season following the natural cycle of light and dark. Therefore, if this question influences human behaviour then people living along a meridian would not be doing their basic activities at the same time.

Jose Maria Martin Olalla, professor at University of Seville, addresses this issue in a paper entitled "Latitudinal trends in human primary activities: characterizing the winter day as a synchronizer" published in Scientific Reports, the Springer Nature open access megajournal. From time use surveys in 17 European countries and 2 American countries (located from 35 to 61 latitude) he characterizes laborer's primary activities and get them positioned along the daily and yearly cycle of light and dark.

Results show up latitudinal patterns tied to the light/dark cycle with the winter terminator as a source of synchronization for daily activities of laborers. Societies memorize the shortest photoperiod (daytime) of the year, the most challenging condition in one year. Winter photoperiod decreases by two hours from 40 to 54 degree latitude.

Winter sunrise (the later sunrise of the year and increasingly later with increasing latitude) triggers human activity in the morning year round and dominates morning trends. Its fingerprint can be traced on rising times, leaving home and working start times, all of them occur earlier with decreasing latitude. From 40 to 54 degree latitude, winter sunrise delays by one whole hour, the size of a standard time zone.

Winter sunset (the earliest sunset of the year, increasingly earlier with increasing latitude, it delays another whole hour from 54 to 40 degree latitude) triggers the reverse, shutdown process and dominates evening activities like stop working, coming home or dinning.

Two overturning sequences can also be identified. The first one occur at noon where lunch times exhibit both a meridional behaviour (tied to noon) and a latitudinal trend tied to the winter sunset. In this case people advance lunch times as latitude increases foreseeing the incoming dusk while people delay lunch times with decreasing latitude as light conditions do not worsen comparatively too much.

The second overturning sequence occurs at night and indoors: TV prime time marks and bedtimes are not tied to the winter sunset. Instead, they exhibit meridional behavior or trends weakly coupled to the winter sunrise. Societies are foreseeing the uprise in the following day.

The magnitude of the latitudinal gradient which dominates human activity can be comparatively traced out by observing how the terminator sweeps Europe in winter, when morning times are relatively similar as the sunrise terminator efficiently sweeps the continent, while evening times goes step by step following the sunset terminator.

Indirectly this study also inspects the role of time zone and time advance in human behaviour. The case of France, Belgium and Spain illustrates this issue. There, clocks are set one hour ahead of their physical time zone: that is an advanced clock, not an uncommon option for local time on Earth. Despite this time marks make perfect sense when properly tested against the LD cycle. That means people offset clock advancing by delaying time schedules apparently. In so doing they kept in phase with the LD cycle. This poses no harm to population. It only jeopardizes time comparisons, most notably in Spain due to its Southwestern most location. A rule of thumb valid for comparisons (both academic and non-academic) is subtracting one whole hour. That would convert "advanced clock" reading into standard time values.
The first-ever chemical analysis of plastic collected from beaches around Lake Geneva detected cadmium, mercury and lead -- sometimes in very high concentrations that exceed the maximum permitted under EU law. The abundance of toxic chemicals that are now restricted or banned in plastic production reflects how old the plastic litter could be, reports the study published in Frontiers in Environmental Science. The study -- one of very few to examine plastics in freshwater lakes -- indicates that like oceans, freshwater habitats are also affected by plastic pollution.

"Plastic debris in freshwater lakes are likely to pose the same problems to wildlife as marine plastics. In this respect, entanglement and ingestion are of greatest concern," says Dr. Montserrat Filella, lead author of this research, based at the Department F.-A. Forel, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

"The hazardous chemicals we find associated with these plastics is also worrying. When they are eaten by animals mistaking them for food, the acidic and enzyme-rich conditions in the stomach could accelerate how quickly these toxins are released into the body, affecting the animals concerned."

Dr. Filella collected litter from 12 different pebble beaches around Lake Geneva, one of western Europe's largest freshwater bodies. She found more than 3,000 pieces of plastic debris, which included identifiable objects (toys, pens, cotton buds), bits of identifiable objects (piping, plant pots, food wrappers), and plastic fragments that couldn't be identified to their original source, including expanded foam and polystyrene.

"A lot of the plastic was similar to that found on marine beaches, such as bottle tops, straws and polystyrene," says Dr. Filella. "In contrast, there was an absence of nurdles -- pellets used as a basis for plastic production -- and a lower incidence of plastic filamentous fibers from commercial fishing, such as rope, netting and cord."

The lack of these items, often dominant on marine beaches, can be attributed to differences in the use of the marine environment and the freshwater Lake Geneva.

More than 600 of the collected plastic items, representing the different types of litter found, were subsequently analysed for toxins using X-ray fluorescence. This is a non-destructive technique that can determine the chemical composition of materials.

"We detected the frequent presence of hazardous elements, such as bromine, cadmium, mercury and lead, in very high concentrations in some cases," says Dr. Andrew Turner, co-author of the study, based at the University of Plymouth, UK. "The abundance of these toxic elements, which are now restricted or banned, reflects just how long the plastic has been in the lake. For example, mercury is a metal that to our knowledge has not been used in plastics for decades."

Bromine, present in compounds used in flame retardants, was above the maximum level allowed under RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances -- a European Union directive) in 19 plastic items. High levels of cadmium, associated with bright colours, were present in 57 items. Mercury was found in plastic items that were red or reddish-brown, suggesting its use as pigmentation -- a process believed to have ended in the 1950s. Lead, used to stabilize or color plastics, was present in nearly a quarter of the items analysed, with 65 of these exceeding RoHS levels.

"Freshwater systems have been largely overlooked with regards to the impact of plastic; most studies thus far have focussed on the oceans. This is one of only a handful of studies of plastics in lakes, and the first of its kind to be undertaken in Lake Geneva," explains Dr. Turner.

Dr Filella continues, "The impacts of plastic-bound toxic elements on lake wildlife are currently unknown but should form the basis of future research."
The early migration of humans out of Africa and across the world can be proven using genetic and morphological analyses. However, morphological data from the skull and skeleton often only allow limited conclusions to be drawn about the geographical dispersal pattern, especially because of the many ways in which the human skeleton adapts to local environmental conditions. Now, an international team of researchers led by paleoanthropologists from the University of Zurich has shown that the morphology of the inner ear is a good indicator for population history and human dispersal.

Differences within a population greater than between populations

The hearing and balance system in humans, as in all vertebrates, is housed in a cavity system in the base of the skull -- the bony labyrinth of the inner ear. The researchers analyzed the labyrinth structures in human populations from southern and northern Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and America, including as far south as Patagonia, using computed tomography to obtain high-resolution 3-D data of the bony labyrinth.

The data showed that the shape of the labyrinth varied greatly, with the variation within a population being considerably greater that the variation between populations. "This typically human variation pattern is also known from comparative genetic data. It shows that all humans are very closely related and have their roots in Africa," explains UZH anthropologist Marcia Ponce de Leon.

Morphology of the labyrinth correlates with dispersal distance from Africa

The team further discovered that the 3-D shape of the labyrinth contained important information about the global dispersal of humans from the African continent. The further away a population is geographically from South Africa, the more the shape of the labyrinth differs from that of the South African population. Moreover, the labyrinth data confirm the findings from DNA analyses which show that the genetic distance increases in correlation with the geographical distance from Africa.

Conclusions about inner-continental dispersal history can be drawn

The labyrinth data also indicate population movements within the continents. For example, the labyrinth shapes of prehistoric populations on the Sunda Islands (Indonesia) are similar to those of the indigenous people of Papua and Australia, while today's population mainly migrated from the Malay archipelago. On the other hand, the labyrinth data also reveals that today's Europeans and Japanese mainly have their roots in the respective local populations of the Neolithic Period.

Incidental genetic changes do not have functional effect

The new results are surprising because it was previously assumed that the shape of the labyrinth was mainly determined by its function. It has now been shown that despite the very high functional requirements for balance and hearing, nature tolerates an astonishingly wide variation in the labyrinth structure. "This is probably due to random changes in the genetic material. Such changes may have few or no functional consequences, but the associated structural changes provide a record of human dispersal and evolution history," summarizes the paper's last author Christoph Zollikofer, professor of anthropology at UZH.

Computed tomography data should be acquired before DNA extraction

The compact bone that surrounds the labyrinth is also interesting for paleogenetics as it contains a large amount of DNA. This gives rise to an acute conflict of interests: While computed tomographic investigations are non-invasive, the process of DNA collection damages the labyrinth. "Paleogenetics is a rapidly growing research field and hundreds of labyrinths from archaeological skeleton collections have already been milled to dust without first being documented," says Christoph Zollikofer. The research team therefore wants to ensure that computed tomographic data is routinely obtained before bones are released for DNA extraction. "These data form an invaluable archive of the history of fossil hominid and modern human populations," concludes Marcia Ponce de Leon.
Alongside the well-known hazards of space -- freezing temperatures, the vacuum of space, isolation -- astronauts also face risks from radiation, which can cause illness or injure organs.

Though not believed to be an imminent threat to current missions, astronauts may one day face radiation from solar winds and galactic cosmic rays. How much radiation, what kind, and what the anticipated health impacts of this exposure would be to astronauts are open questions among space agencies.

Jeffery Chancellor, a research scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University and a PhD candidate in the applied physics program there, has spent more than a decade studying these questions as part of four NASA missions. Recently, collaborating with physician and astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor (NASA/University of Texas Medical Branch) and Associate Director of NASA's Human Research Program for Exploration Research Planning John Charles (NASA), Chancellor examined the health implications of space radiation exposure in low-altitude polar orbits.

The researchers used as a test case the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), about which mission documents were recently declassified.

The MOL was conceived in 1963 and underwent planning from 1965 to 1969, but never actually flew.

"It was such a unique orbital profile," Chancellor said. "Polar, low altitude... I couldn't guestimate what the effects would be. So, I decided to take a step back and apply advanced computational and numerical methods to this mission profile."

They found that the relatively minimal shielding of the MOL program's space vehicle and its high inclination polar orbit would have left the crew susceptible to high exposures of cosmic radiation and solar particle events. Had the mission continued through 1972, astronauts would have faced toxic doses of radiation during a massive solar event.

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Results were published in Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance in January 2018.

The study was supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and made extensive use of supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).

EYES IN THE SKIES

The Manned Orbiting Laboratory was conceived as an experimental laboratory for human spaceflight, but was recast as a secret reconnaissance platform in 1965 during the height of the Cold War. The vehicle would have travelled in low-earth orbit and passed repeatedly over the northern and southern polar regions to better spy on the Soviet Union. This type of orbit incurs greater radiation exposure than orbits closer to the equator because it is less protected by the Earth's gravitational field.

In August 1972 -- three years after the MOL mission planning was discontinued due to the emergence of cheaper, unmanned satellites -- the Earth experienced a historically large solar particle event. Chancellor wondered how typical radiation would have impacted MOL pilots who orbited for 30 days in the thin-shielded vessel and how a massive event like the one in 1972 would have affected someone caught in flight.

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The researchers focused on radiation from two sources: solar winds and galactic cosmic rays. Some space radiation is believed to pass through the walls of shuttles, while some barrages the shielding and causes a cascade of loose metal ions. A portion passes through the body; the rest deposits its energy on the skin or even inside the body, affecting the organs.

Determining the radiation levels that MOL pilots would have experienced behind the vehicle's light-weight shielding entailed a good deal of data mining, extrapolation and simulation. Chancellor and his collaborators modeled the MOL's orbit profile, the space weather and geomagnetic forces from those years, and the particle and heavy ion transport that such a trajectory would have encountered.

Combining these factors, sampling them, and simulating them thousands of times on TACC's Lonestar5 supercomputer, Chancellor and his collaborators found that, under normal conditions, the MOL crew would have endured 113.6 millisievert (mSv; a measure of radiation dosage) to their skin and 41.6 mSv to blood forming organs (for instance, bone marrow or lymph nodes) during a 30-day flight -- well within the exposure limits for NASA astronauts.

However, during the "worst-case scenario" of the 1972 solar storm, their skin would have been exposed to 1,770 mSv, while their organs would have experienced 451 mSv, both of which exceed NASA exposure limits.

Based on animal studies, Chancellor and his colleagues anticipate that such exposure would have caused nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and possibly skin burns to crew. Without prompt instigation of medical countermeasures, the risks could have been even more severe.

"MOL missions in polar orbit would have had even fewer communication opportunities with ground controllers than NASA missions orbiting much closer to the equator -- and those were none too frequent -- so any mission in flight at the time of that solar event would probably have been terminated immediately," said Charles, co-author of the study. "Whether that would have been soon enough to prevent such dire effects on the pilots is difficult to say."

Though the study explored the historical MOL missions, the researchers had in mind future commercial space flights, like those proposed by SpaceX or Virgin Galactic, that will likely travel a similar orbit to best show off the beauty of Earth from space.

"I think the research will have a huge impact for commercial space flight," Chancellor said. "It gives some insight to people who are trying to come up with ideas for orbiting hotels, or to SpaceX or Virgin Galactic who want to do tourist flights, in terms of what they have to address in order to protect the crew and customers."

Their methods for accurately predicting space radiation exposure and impacts are also relevant for travel to the Moon or other planets.

OVERCOMING THE LIMITATIONS OF SPACE RADIATION PREDICTION

Efforts to simulate space radiation risk are not new. In fact, historical records show they were a part of NASA and Department of Defense space research from the beginning. But decades of study have achieved few concrete answers or practical measures to mitigate radiation, according to the scientists.

"Despite years of research, understanding of the space radiation environment, and the risk it poses to long-duration astronauts remains limited," Chancellor and his team wrote in a paper that appeared in Nature Microgravity in April 2018. "Given the intended future of human spaceflight, with efforts now to rapidly expand capabilities for human missions to the moon and Mars, there is a pressing need to improve upon the understanding of the space radiation risk, predict likely clinical outcomes of interplanetary radiation exposure, and develop appropriate and effective mitigation strategies for future missions."

Chancellor says that until recently scientists did not have the capabilities to do radiation simulations accurately.

"We were making assumptions and approaching the problem in the best possible way based on what we had available," he said. "But this is an area where better algorithms and more powerful computers make a big difference in what's possible. I don't think we would've made this progress or understood what we're seeing without the ability to use high-performance multicore computers. It's a game-changer."

Each of the three test cases from the Manned Orbital Laboratory that the team ran on Lonestar5 required 150,000 computational hours and generated 2.5 terabytes of data.

"Tracing 10^11 or 10^15 particles in terms of every interaction at every micron or smaller involves a humongous computational load. The fact that I could parallelize the problem and have 1,000 processors running each computation and do that in three to four hours instead of three to four months is a huge benefit," he said. "The more samples you take, the more accurate the results and the more confidence you have."

Not only that: the speed-up may one day enable improved decision-making for those working in mission control.

Chancellor used Lonestar5 for most of his computations, but when he re-ran some of his computations on Stampede2, TACC's latest supercomputer and one of fastest in the world, he was able to obtain a result in five minutes as opposed to five hours.

"It's smoking fast," Chancellor said. "When I first started getting results off of Stampede, I called my friend who works in mission control for radiation at NASA and said, 'You guys have to get on this.'"

This rapid turnaround could enable NASA to run much more accurate models than they currently do to determine, in real-time, how a solar storm or other cosmic event might impact astronauts -- a capability that may one day save lives.

The research was supported in part by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), via Interagency Umbrella Agreement IA1-1198. National Science Foundation.
Growing in its native Australia, the unobtrusive perennial vine Glycine tomentella could easily be overlooked. But the distant relative of soybean contains genetic resources that can substantially increase soybean yield, according to a new study from the University of Illinois.

"We saw yield increases of 3.5 to 7 bushels per acre in soybean lines derived from crossing with Glycine tomentella," says Randall Nelson, study author and adjunct professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at U of I.

The discovery happened by accident. Researchers from U of I and the USDA Agricultural Research Service had been working for years to introduce disease-resistance genes from Glycine tomentella into soybean. After developing thousands of experimental lines, they finally managed to move genes from the Australian vine into a new soybean line that was resistant to soybean rust. But the researchers noticed something else.

"Some of these lines looked pretty good, so we decided to do some yield testing. This turned into a project for Ph.D. student Abraham Akpertey from Ghana. He found several lines that yielded significantly more than the soybean parent," Nelson says. "We were very surprised. To look at it, Glycine tomentella has no agronomic characteristics -- the seeds are less than a tenth the size of soybean seeds. We never expected to get high-yielding lines out of this cross."

The process of getting Glycine tomentella genes into soybean is highly complex. The two plants are so distantly related that any mating would ordinarily result in aborted seeds. But Nelson's collaborator and study co-author, Ram Singh, developed a growth hormone solution he sprays on the young pods to keep seeds from aborting.

"He rescues that little, immature seed, cultures it, and grows it into a plant. Then those are back-crossed repeatedly with the soybean variety 'Dwight,' until all of the Glycine tomentella chromosomes are lost and we recover a soybean plant," Nelson explains.

The researchers don't know what has been transferred from Glycine tomentella into the soybean genome. Aside from yield, some of the plants look and perform almost exactly the same as 'Dwight.'

The group plans to map the genome of the promising plants, with the ultimate goal of identifying the genes responsible. Breeding efforts are already underway to develop higher-yielding lines since 'Dwight' is a 20-year-old cultivar.

"Last year, we released a material transfer agreement that would allow any soybean breeder to cross with these lines. I was surprised we didn't get many requests, because these are such unique resources. With this yield information, I hope we can get more people interested," Nelson says.
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San Francisco Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer will introduce legislation Tuesday to eliminate what she and many housing rights advocates call an unjust loophole in the citys rent ordinance that landlords can use to raise rents so they can pay mortgage loans and property taxes.

As in many cities, when the costs of operating and maintaining an apartment building in San Francisco outpace the annual allowable rent increases set by the citys Rent Board, landlords may request permission to pass on some of those expenses to tenants.

But San Francisco stands alone among major rent-controlled cities in the Bay Area in permitting landlords to pass portions of their property tax bills and debt service  payments on large loans typically taken out to buy buildings  to tenants. If their petition is approved by the Rent Board, landlords can hike rents permanently by up to 7 percent on top of the annual allowable increases. So-called operating and maintenance pass-throughs for debt service and property tax increases are banned in San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley.

Fewer, who manages three properties herself, said its time for San Francisco to follow suit. As of Monday afternoon, fellow progressive Supervisors Aaron Peskin  also a landlord  Hillary Ronen and Norman Yee had signed on to her bill as co-sponsors.

If people invest in real estate, I dont want them to lose money on their investments, but I dont think they should be using these loopholes to exploit tenants, Fewer said.

Under her legislation, landlords would still be able to apply to pass on the costs of replacing a buildings roof, for example, or if garbage-collection rates suddenly climb. But passing on the expenses of paying loans and property taxes is unfair, she said.

It doesnt improve the property, it doesnt make conditions better  its not upgrading anything, Fewer said. All its doing is making a corporation richer. Thats all it is.

Christina Varner, deputy director of the citys Rent Board, said there has been a deluge of pass-through petitions filed by landlords in recent months, and the central reasons why theyre being filed are unambiguous.

The vast majority of petitions that are filed are due to increased property taxes and debt services, she said. For landlords, Varner said, those expenses typically arise out of the sale of a property.

Buying a San Francisco apartment building usually requires taking out a large loan. And after the purchase is made, the reassessment of property values usually saddles landlords with steeply higher property tax bills.

Thats given rise to claims among tenants-rights organizations that debt service and property tax pass-throughs have become a tool primarily of large, acquisitive property management companies making frequent real-estate transactions.

Brad Hirn, an anti-eviction organizer with the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, said large landlords banking on their ability to offset the costs of acquiring property by raising rents contributes to real estate speculation and risks displacing tenants, particularly those on tight household budgets.

We see this legislation as one way to protect those tenants and address this ongoing problem of out-of-control speculation in the city of San Francisco, Hirn said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Charley Goss, government affairs manager for the San Francisco Apartment Association, which represents property owners, said debt-service and property tax pass-throughs were an essential tool among several that landlords rely on to keep their operations going in such an expensive city.

This has been a vehicle in San Francisco that we feel has helped members maintain their buildings and keep people investing in private property in San Francisco, Goss said, adding that the apartment association planned to meet with city lawmakers to discuss the bill.

Fewers legislation would invalidate debt-service and property tax pass-throughs on operating and maintenance petitions filed at the rent board on or after Dec. 11, 2017, the publication date of a Chronicle article indicating she planned to introduce a bill doing away with them.

Of the roughly 100 petitions still pending, 56 were filed on or before Dec. 11, 2017. According to Fewers office, 47 percent of the petitions pending before the Rent Board were filed by two of San Franciscos biggest landlords  Veritas Investments and Ballast Investments.

Small property owners in San Francisco are not really involved in this, Fewer said. Its these large corporations who have discovered this loophole and are taking advantage of it.
On an undisclosed Bay Area freeway over the past couple of weeks, a camera system has been counting the people inside every vehicle in the carpool lane in an experiment to detect cheaters.

No tickets or warnings are being issued, but that could change if Bay Area transportation officials are convinced that the technology is the next-generation enforcement answer to a growing number of scofflaws who, despite the risk of a heavy fine, use the regions restricted carpool lanes to shave time off their commute.

Studies by regional transportation agencies and The Chronicle have found that Bay Area carpool lanes reserved for vehicles with two or more occupants  three or more on Interstate 80  and clean-energy cars are commonly crowded with solo drivers who have no business being there. Tickets run $490.

In recent months, the California Highway Patrol has increased enforcement, assigning dedicated strike teams working overtime shifts to catch the cheats, but the agency has been unable to abate the problem. Lanes created to move at a decent clip are sometimes as sluggish as the regular lanes, triggering rising frustration in drivers legitimately using the carpool lane and in those stuck in the slower lanes watching cheaters pass them by.

If the system breaks down because theres no trust in the system and everyones cheating, thats a problem. I dont think we can just sit by and do nothing, said Randy Rentschler, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which oversees carpool-lane operations for the Bay Area.

The camera technology being tested comes from one of three firms with systems that MTC has decided to look at. All three claim their automated systems can snap photos of a passing vehicle, accurately count the number of passengers and send citations to violators. All three will be tested in turn. The MTC will review the results for reliability and effectiveness sometime this summer.

The goal here is to demonstrate that (the technology) ... can work with a high degree of accuracy, Rentschler said.

Even if the technology proves effective, it could still be a long road to employing the system on Bay Area freeways. The MTC would need state legislation allowing passenger-counting cameras to be used to issue citations. And theyd have to overcome privacy concerns about cameras peering into vehicles, reading license plates and keeping records of the numbers of occupants.

But first, Rentschler said, We cant even have the political discussions until we prove that we can do it.

Michael Macor / The Chronicle

Drivers interviewed last week at a Berkeley gas station near Interstate 80, which has the Bay Areas busiest carpool lanes, agreed with the need for better enforcement, but some were leery.

Emma Em, 40, a singing teacher, thought the idea sounded intrusive.

It feels like an invasion of privacy, she said, but I hate the cheaters.

Nate Cope, 29, a Berkeley data analyst, was more upbeat.

It sounds like a good idea, he said. It makes it fair. I definitely see a lot of people in the carpool lane by themselves.

The three companies MTC has contracted with for the tests are Conduent (formerly Xerox), Transcor and Indra. The systems will be tested along the same stretch of freeway in consecutive months. Rentschler said all the companies boast accuracy rates greater than 95 percent in use elsewhere.

The systems employ a variety of tools to enable them to look inside vehicles, even through dark-tinted windshields, to count passengers. They include standard and infrared cameras that can detect human skin, systems that illuminate images to make them easier to read and geometric algorithms.

MTC officials wont reveal the site of the tests for fear of vandalism or theft of equipment and concern that cheaters might change their behavior if theyre aware theyre being watched. Just as no citations based on the testing are being issued, no license-plate data are being recorded, either, Rentschler said.

The San Diego Association of Governments, MTCs equivalent in San Diego County, conducted a similar test over 30 days in 2015 with Conduent, then known as Xerox State and Local Solutions, on the Interstate 15 express lanes.

The results were mixed and inconclusive, said Jessica Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the San Diego agency. She said the association hasnt pursued the use of the cameras but is monitoring the advancement of the technology, including tests like the one under way in the Bay Area.

California law limits the use of automated cameras to issuing tickets to red-light runners and toll evaders, so legislation would be required to expand camera use to passenger counts. Legislators, however, have been reluctant to expand camera enforcement, particularly for speeding violations, something San Francisco has sought in recent years.

Michael Macor / The Chronicle

To sell legislators on the idea for carpool lanes, transportation officials will have to show not only that the cameras can count the occupants accurately, but that they can differentiate a dog or a well-dressed dummy from a human passenger, as well as detecting a sleeping infant in a rear-facing carrier in the back seat, Rentschler said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Dave Maass, senior investigative researcher for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco nonprofit that aims to protect civil liberties in the digital age, said the occupant-counting technology raises questions about privacy, including how the information is used, whether its recorded and saved, and what else the cameras allow the government to see inside a vehicle.

This is getting into a whole new creepy area, Maass said. If we are getting to a point where they are beaming stuff into your car, that raises a whole new range of civil liberties issues.

The CHP, the agency now tasked with carpool, or high-occupancy, lane enforcement, does it the old-fashioned way, looking into vehicles and pulling over drivers they suspect of cheating. But its difficult for an officer to accurately and quickly count occupants, and theres frequently no safe place on freeways to pull drivers over.

There are always going to be factors that make it hard to enforce HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes, said Sgt. Rob Nacke, a Bay Area CHP spokesman, but we want to make sure our officers are visible out there.

The CHP has not staked out an official position on occupant-counting cameras, said spokeswoman Fran Clader. But drivers have told the agency, via customer surveys and social media, that they want greater enforcement of the lanes. State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, has introduced legislation to provide additional resources to the task, including authorizing new approaches.

Whether the publics frustration with carpool lane cheaters can outweigh privacy concerns and the creepy feeling of being spied on may determine the future of passenger-counting cameras in the Bay Area.

Its good and its bad, said Mack Moaven, 53, a commuter who lives in San Francisco. Good because it stops violators, but bad because it violates the privacy of people. Theyre going to start with your car, and theyll be checking your house before long. The government wants to know what youre doing.

Rentschler acknowledged the Bay Areas unease with cameras as well as its intolerance for carpool-lane cheaters. The issue, he said, will become even more important as the region expands its network of carpool and combined carpool-toll express lanes to 550 miles by 2035.

The choice, he said, is underperforming carpool lanes  or this.
A leading North Korea-watching website has disputed Foreign Minister Taro Konoas reported remarks that Pyongyang is preparing to conduct a fresh nuclear test even as tensions on the Korean Peninsula ease ahead of a rare summit between the two Koreas.

Kono claimed Saturday during a lecture in the city of Kochi that North Korea is aworking hard to get ready for the next nuclear test,a citing satellite imagery. But an analysis published Monday by the 38 North blog at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins Universityas School of Advanced International Studies disputed his claim that soil had been removed from a tunnel at a site where tests had been conducted in the past.

aWhile it is unclear whether the foreign minister was referring to activity observed over the last few days or from earlier work conducted after North Koreaas September 2017 nuclear test, commercial satellite imagery from March 23 shows quite a different picture: namely, that activity at the test site has been significantly reduced compared to previous months,a the report said of activity at the Northas main Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

Asked Tuesday about the 38 North analysis, Kono pointed to an increase in roadwork at the Punggye-ri site that was noted in the report, but did not address the issue of soil removal.

Mondayas analysis noted that, despite the slowdown, it remains highly likely that the North Koreans continue to maintain the readiness of Punggye-ri to allow for nuclear testing in the future should Pyongyang decide to do so.
The Sacramento County sheriffs deputy whose patrol vehicle hit a woman at a protest over the police killing of Stephon Clark probably did not know that he had struck a pedestrian, Sheriff Scott Jones said Monday.

Footage from dash cameras played at a Monday news conference shows Wanda Cleveland, the woman who was struck Saturday night, walking between two sheriffs vehicles as they are stopped and surrounded by protesters. The deputies in the two vehicles had come upon the scene while heading to the station to drop off evidence in a separate case.

Deputies in the video can be heard telling people to back away, as protesters kick and hit the vehicle. As Cleveland walks to the right side of the vehicles, the two cars begin moving forward and the second one hits her before continuing to drive away.

The incident occurred at 8:43 p.m. Saturday near 65th Street and Florin Road in Sacramento, where that evenings protest was centered. Cleveland was treated and released from a nearby hospital for multiple cuts and bruises.

Now Playing: New footage of a protester being hit by a sheriff's deputy vehicle was released by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. Video: San Francisco Chronicle

The rear window of one of the sheriffs vehicles was smashed, Jones said, and the body of the other was dented from protesters striking it.

Jones said he had not personally talked to the deputy, and he was not sure if the deputy had finished giving his formal statement on the events to the agencies investigating the incident.

I only feel comfortable giving some opinion because were not the investigating agency, Jones said. From my view of the information there is a high likelihood that he did not even know that he collided with that protester.

Since the March 18 shooting of Clark, an unarmed black man, by two city police officers, Sacramento has seen two weeks of protests and vigils. The rally that led to Cleveland being struck began Saturday as a candlelight vigil for Clark in South Sacramento.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Clark was shot by officers who were responding to reports of a person smashing car windows in South Sacramento. Police said that Clark broke the sliding glass door of a home before running away and jumping a fence into his grandmothers backyard, where he was shot.

Police said that Clark was holding an object in his hand, which they believed to be a gun, but only a cell phone was found at the scene. The shooting is under investigation.

The family requested an independent autopsy, which found that Clark had been shot eight times  including six to the back.
The American Kennel Club survey of San Franciscos most popular dog breeds named (in descending order) French bulldog, golden retriever, Labrador retriever, Pembroke Welsh corgi and poodle. But perhaps more fascinating, the club broke down the data by neighborhood: The French bulldog reigns supreme in SoMa, the Castro, Potrero Hill, Nob Hill and the Mission. The golden retriever is most popular in Pacific Heights and NoPa.

Pondering the shared preferences of Nob Hill and the Mission, Pac Heights and NoPa spurred me to wondering about the mayoral wannabes as dog owners.

A quick survey of four front-runners found that Jane Kim, London Breed and Mark Leno are dogless. but Angela Alioto has eight dogs (terrier, toy poodle, two dachshunds, French bulldog, ridgeback, goldendoodle and cavapoo). Leno said he used to have three parrots.

At the coming San Francisco SPCA 150th anniversary gala  on April 18 at City Hall  Leno will receive the SF SPCA Impact Award for his work on legislation, for instance, that bans the use of dogs to chase and harass bears and bobcats. Gov. Jerry Brown, who the SPCA says is the No. 1 governor in the country for signing animal welfare and protection laws, receives the SF SPCA Humanitarian Award.

He wont be there in person, but he is sending Colusa, his Pembroke Welsh corgi and border collie mix, in his stead.

Sunday was a lovely day in the park for the Hunky Jesus and Foxy Mary contests, organized by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and emceed by Sister Roma. There were the usual sexual references and not exactly shy displays of body parts. The smell of weed was in the air, but when a plate of jelly beans was passed around to spectators in the area where I was standing, I didnt see anyone brave enough to test whether they were laced with non-jelly-bean substances.

When it got down to the serious business of the day, the most popular Hunky Jesus contestants were the ones who spoke to serious issues. The winner was Puerto Rico RefuJesus, who threw rolls of paper towels into the crowd (spy Adda Dada identified him as Rolando Rasco Saenz); runner-up was Gun Control Jesus, whose sign wont be quoted in a family newspaper. Foxy Mary already had been chosen by the time I got to the park; Im told she was Karen, the Balloon Babe from Cincinnati, who was Grandma Mary.

P.P.S.: And irresistible signs gleaned from attendees at the recent anti-gun march. Held by a kid: I cant even bring peanut butter to school, accompanied by a picture of a gun with a line through it. And seen by David Ogden in Walnut Creek: Too many things wrong to put on one sign.

P.S.: And in other religious notes, in a discussion of Passover, Jonathan Bayer asked 3-year-olds at the Congregation Emanu-El preschool what Moses did when he got very angry. One little girl raised her hand to say, Took a deep breath.

The Museum of Performance and Design gave Berkeley Rep Artistic Director Tony Taccone its 2018 San Francisco Arts Medallion, recently at the Battery. Taccone, who came to Berkeley Rep after co-commissioning (with Oskar Eustis) the first production of Angels in America at the Eureka Theater, has been the Reps artistic director for 22 years.

In conversation with Ken Fulk, he was his usual outspoken self. When Fulk asked him about encounters with celebrities, for example, he said he didnt care much about them. Its hard enough to make a play with your friends, rather than someone who doesnt give a s about you. ... Berkeley Rep is an artist-driven institution.

But he was at his most poetic when we chatted before that conversation, when he described the pleasures of being a director, a job in which you go into a dark room with people you admire and respect, and try to invent something.

Taccone described reading a script: As a director, you imagine its world before anyone does. The seminal act of creation comes at that moment.

Is that like imagining the characters in a work of fiction youre reading? Reading a novel is always better, said Taccone, who, although speaking at a theater event, once again demonstrated his inability to pander. When reading a book, You own it. When someone else makes it into another art form, like a movie, it feels like a betrayal.

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

This city is a distraction for personal goals.

Woman to woman, overheard at Starbucks by Joe Mac
WASHINGTON  In its latest legal salvo against California, the Department of Justice announced Monday it is filing suit against what it branded an extreme law that tries to give California power to veto sales of federal land to private interests.

The state law, which was signed in 2017, gives state officials the right to purchase any federal land in California the U.S. government tries to sell to private ownership. About 50 percent of California is public land.

Justice officials argue the state law is unconstitutional under the supremacy clause, which says when state laws conflict with federal laws the federal law is the ultimate authority and because it discriminates against land sales by the federal government specifically.

Federal law says the Bureau of Land Management can select public land for sale if it meets certain criteria.

Under our federalism, states have the right to pursue their own policy objectives, but they do not have the right to actively obstruct federal policy, interfere with federal actions, or discriminate against the United States, said Jesse Panuccio, acting associate attorney general.

California has once again passed an extreme statute, found in no other state, to obstruct the federal government. This time, by interfering with the conveyance of federal lands, he said.

The litigation marks the second time in a month that McGregor Scott, U.S. attorney for Californias eastern district in Sacramento, has helped launch a lawsuit against the state. On March 7, Scott joined Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a California Peace Officers Association meeting to announce a lawsuit against Californias sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants.

In 2017, California filed 24 lawsuits against the Trump administration. Involved were 17 separate issues, including immigration, environmental protection and the presidents proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.

State officials characterized the latest Justice suit as another attack by the Trump administration on Californians very way of life.

Safeguarding public lands is in our DNA as Californians  so much so that we have enshrined the principle in our state constitution, said Lt. Gov. and State Lands Commission Chairman Gavin Newsom, who is also a leading candidate for governor. We will use every legal and administrative tool to thwart Trumps plans to auction off Californias heritage to the highest bidder.

The latest Justice litigation helps bolster Trumps standing with GOP lawmakers in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and other western states who have long complained about excessive federal landholdings in their states. Some of the lawmakers have called for federal legislation that would transfer federal public lands to the state or private ownership.

California passed its own legislation after then-Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced legislation that would have transferred millions of acres of federal land to private or state ownership. He withdrew the bill in February 2017 after public pressure from hunting and fishing groups.

Trump administration officials have said theyre opposed to selling federal land to other interests, but senior Justice officials said the state initiative goes beyond selling land within public parks. The federal attorneys argued it could disrupt how the federal government contracts with private actors to build facilities for the military, for example.

The complaint lists three examples of how the federal government planned to sell certain public lands in the state that could be prevented by the California law, including the Department of the Armys plans to sell to a developer about 78 acres of federal property in Alameda County for construction of facilities at Camp Parks, an Army military installation.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a former congressman from Montana, has repeatedly said he opposes the sale of federal lands. His goal, he said, is to work with the states to open up recreational opportunities on public lands.

Were not transferring or selling public land, Zinke said in a January interview with conservative radio commentator Josh Tolley. What were doing is were working with the states to open up recreation opportunities. We dont want to be in an adversarial role. And thats been the tension out west, is that the local voice, communities, have been ignored. And thats not right.

David Hayes, a former Interior Department official in the Clinton and Obama administrations, called it odd for the Justice Department to go after California on this issue if the Trump administration is not interested in selling federal lands.

Whatever the motivation, I suspect that Attorney General Xavier Becerra will have something to say about state prerogatives that attach should the feds renege on their promises, said Hayes, who directs the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center, a group that assists attorneys general on environmental litigation.

California officials assert they have the authority to implement the state legislation because they wouldnt be preventing sales of the land. Instead, they would prevent private purchasers from recording deeds to the land unless the state was allowed the opportunity to buy the land first.

Recording a deed is how a purchaser gives public notice of the right to a parcel of land. Without a recorded deed many banks will not lend money to buy or develop the property and a purchaser cannot get title insurance, making a recorded deed much more valuable than an unrecorded deed.

The land recording system is set up under state and not federal law, so California officials argue the state is within its rights to pass laws regarding recorded deeds. A person who does record a deed in violation of the law could be fined up to $5,000.

Senior Justice officials argued that saying the federal government could sell land but not record a deed is a distinction without a difference.
Californias economy is booming with record-high employment, record-low unemployment and billions of extra tax dollars flowing into the state treasury.

The official jobless rate dropped to 4.3 percent in February, only slightly above the national rate of 4.1 percent and nearly a full percentage point lower than it was a year earlier.

The record low unemployment rate signals a taut labor market, but the labor force has been growing at a moderate pace and has enabled the states industries to continue hiring, Robert Kleinhenz, director of research at Beacon Economics and the Center for Forecasting at UC Riverside, said in a recent report.

Looking at individual industries, continued increases in construction jobs reflect ongoing strength in that sector, while California manufacturing has seen a welcome surge in hiring in recent months following a slowdown at this time a year ago.

The state Department of Finance reported that while Februarys tax collections were slightly below the state budgets assumption, overall revenues for the 2017-18 fiscal year are $2.6 billion above expectations.

So whats not to like?

Well, for one thing, no one knows how long the current boom will last. The state averages one economic boom and one bust per decade, and Californias recovery from the Great Recession has lasted well beyond historic expectations. In other words, as Gov. Jerry Brown, the Capitols resident economic worrywart, often points out, California is overdue for a downturn.

Thats why he wants to squirrel away as much as politically possible of the states current flood of revenues, saying theyll be needed if the economy tanks, even though his rainy day fund would be quickly exhausted by even a moderate recession.

Browns fellow Democrats in the Legislature are more inclined to spend the bounty, particularly on expanding health coverage to more of the poor, setting up a potential confrontation in Browns 16th and final year as governor.

Browns worries about the economy mirror those of Cal Lutheran Universitys Center for Economic Research and Forecasting.

We are currently forecasting a convergence in the economic fortunes of California and the nation. While California has historically grown at a rate that is significantly higher than the nations, 2017 may have marked a turning point, the centers director, Matthew Fienup, said in a recent appraisal.

Despite being in an expansionary phase of the business cycle and despite a national growth rate that is well below the post-World War II average growth rate, California registered two quarters of growth that were slower even than the nations. While growth was accelerating around the country, it appeared to slow down in California.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

There are clearly several negative factors that could sabotage the states current boom.

For one thing, President Trumps imposition of tariffs on imported goods, particularly those from China, and his disdain for the North American Free Trade Agreement could have disproportionate impacts on Californias export-heavy economy, particularly technology and agricultural sectors.

For another, fast-rising housing costs are making it more difficult for employers to recruit much-needed high-skill employees and compelling many Californians to flee to states where they can afford to live.

As Cal Lutherans analysis points out, For the past 25 years, the number of households and people moving out of California to other states has been greater than those moving into California from other states. This points to a future for the state that exhibits less demographic and economic vitality. Our forecast calls for the net domestic migration trend to continue to worsen. Related to this, the states population growth will decline. Population growth and economic growth are closely interlinked.
2 1 of 2 Leah Millis / The Chronicle 2017 Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Michael Macor / The Chronicle 2017 Show More Show Less



A Chronicle investigation that revealed hundreds of questionable arrests in Californias shelters for abused and neglected children won top honors Monday in the prestigious Investigative Reporters and Editors annual awards.

The story, called Fostering Failure, documented how shelter residents as young as 8 were arrested and jailed for relatively minor incidents, after calls to law enforcement by shelter staff. The contest judges called it a heartbreaking story... (that) is both rage-inducing and depressing. It was named best investigative story of the year in its circulation category.
The catch of the day is the HBO screening of King in the Wilderness, a fascinating documentary looking at the last 18 months in the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The film details the despair that King felt in that last year as his position on nonviolence was challenged by younger black men like Stokely Carmichael, and how some of his followers turned against him when he announced his opposition to the Vietnam War. The film airs at 8 p.m.

The Paramount Network honors King with I Am MLK Jr., a documentary about his life and legacy, produced by filmmaker Derik Murray, airing at 8 p.m.
Many San Franciscans sick of seeing that telltale puddle of glass next to their car and finding their valuables swiped are hoping the Police Department comes up with some clever, high-tech way to catch the prolific thieves.

You know, those guys who broke into more than 31,000 cars in 2017  and those were just the break-ins reported to police. You know, the guys who were arrested just 1.6 percent of the time  worse odds than getting into Harvard, which takes 4.6 percent of applicants.

You can hope for fancy solutions, but youre not going to get them.

What will really help combat this epidemic, said Police Chief Bill Scott, is about as basic as it gets. Its educating people not to leave anything in their cars.

Our best bet is to try to reduce these numbers by prevention, Scott said in a recent interview at police headquarters on Third Street. The fundamental purpose of law enforcement is to prevent crime, not to react to it.

Its a frustrating response that comes off as blaming the victim rather than going after the criminal. The 53-year-old resident of Mission Bay, who has been on the job 14 months, knows its not the answer many residents want to hear, but he is adamant that its the right one.

We dont want to make people whove been victimized victimized again by saying its their fault, he continued. The thing Im trying to say here is that what we need to do is really do a better job with getting people to understand not to make themselves an easy target.

Readers have sent in plenty of ideas for combatting car break-ins, including using bait cars to catch thieves in the act, attaching GPS devices to laptops in cars and fingerprinting cars for evidence.

Scott isnt too wild about any of these. He called bait cars and planting GPS devices on items plausible strategies, but said theyre not very efficient. He said the department does fingerprint cars when owners bring them to district stations. But last year, the roughly 600 cars dusted for fingerprints led to arrests in only 20 cases.

He said his new strategies of assigning officers in district stations to focus exclusively on property crimes, including car break-ins, and assigning more foot patrols to walk beats are working. Police data show that car break-ins were 15 percent lower through the end of February of this year than in the same time span last year. Scotts staff also praised the media focus on the issue, saying its helping raise awareness and, possibly, scare off criminals.

(By the way, Delon Terrance Barker, identified as the suspect in a car break-in observed by The Chronicle on Lombard Street and arrested in February on suspicion of breaking into cars in Vacaville, remains in jail in Solano County and is due in court Thursday.)

But overall, Scott is sure its the prevention measures that eventually will do the most good.

Its kind of like studies telling you to exercise and eat your vegetables to maintain good health. You know theyre right, but what you really want to hear about is that big new scientific breakthrough that will cure cancer or stem heart attacks.

The Police Departments Park Smart! campaign is definitely in the eating-your-vegetables category. Police cadets  who are all college students working part-time  have been canvassing tourist hot spots, leaving notices on windshields and warning passersby.

Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle

I walked with the cadets around Fishermans Wharf on Monday morning. Just about every car we walked past had something visible inside, including phone chargers, shopping bags and, in one case, a bright-red backpack.

Sgt. Nelson Ramos, who runs the cadet program, said he cant believe what he sees in parked cars: purses left on front seats, iPads left in cars with the windows rolled down, piles of luggage sitting inside just waiting to be snatched.

A lot of people come from the airport and want to see the sights real quick. We say, Way a minute. Someones going to break into the car, Nelson said. Were opening peoples eyes.

The cadets stopped to talk to a German couple and their 11-year-old son. Ramos told them to hide their phone chargers in their glove compartment rather than leave them plugged in and visible.

Even the cables? asked Andreas Kubicki, 51.

Yes, Nelson told them.

Asked whether car break-ins are a problem at home, Kubicki said, Not really, to be honest. No!

Yeah, most tourists hometowns probably dont feature huge tent encampments, human feces littering the sidewalks and people shooting needles into every body part in broad daylight either. Welcome to San Francisco!

By the way, Scott and I also talked about these other quality-of-life issues. I asked him why so many residents say they report car break-ins, tents blocking their front sidewalks or injection drug use and are told by police officers theres nothing they can do.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Scott said no officers have told him about feeling stuck on these issues, and they shouldnt be telling that to residents either.

Some officers may get frustrated and feel that way, but theres always something we can do, he said.

He said its hard in San Francisco because there are activities that are illegal, like shooting up or blocking a sidewalk with your tent, that shouldnt be criminalized. He said officers can eventually work through these issues by slowly getting people into services.

We have to do this with some compassion, he said. Sometimes that takes a lot of patience, particularly if somebodys got a mental crisis or theyre impaired by drugs or alcohol. It takes time, but we have to continue to try.

There have been rumors that Scott is being wooed by his former employer, the Los Angeles Police Department. (Credit to Scott for truthfully admitting hes still a Dodgers fan, another answer San Franciscans wont want to hear.)

Asked about the rumor, Scott fidgeted in his chair and gave a nervous grin.

This is a high-profile city  Ive gotten interest from several cities, he said. Right now, I am focused on being the chief here.

And how much longer will he stay?

I like it here, he said. Weve got a lot to do here.

Now thats something nobody could dispute.
Jon Elswick / Associated Press 2017

Why should preaching the gospel of fiscal responsibility be constrained by the failure to practice anything of the kind? So goes the thinking behind a balanced-budget mandate expected to surface on Capitol Hill courtesy of the same lawmakers who passed tax cuts worth more than $1 trillion in deficits.

The House plans to consider the balanced-budget amendment after it returns from Easter recess, Politico reported, resurrecting a perennial proposal to constitutionally obligate the federal government to match expenditures with revenues. While the constitutions of California and most other states require balanced budgets, the U.S. government labors under no such burden  and it shows.
On paper, the U.S. governments approach to immigration hasnt changed dramatically. The government started accepting H-1B applications for fiscal year 2019 on Monday. Meanwhile, despite President Trumps decision in September to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, court orders have protected the nearly 800,000 Dreamers from mass deportations.

Still, the Trump administrations hard-line anti-immigration stance is taking its toll.

Applicants for the H-1B visa program are anticipating the hardest process in many years. Thats affected both the applicants and the companies that employ them.

Indian consulting firms, which have been accused of flooding the system with applications, have dramatically reduced their filings. Foreign nationals are exhibiting new reluctance to make the jump to a U.S. company.

Envoy Global, a technology-oriented immigration services provider, reports that 26 percent of employers it surveyed have had to delay projects, and 22 percent of them have relocated work overseas as a result of the current uncertainties in the U.S. immigration system.

These same employers dont seem to be interested in filling their workplace gaps with U.S.-born workers, either  53 percent said they expected to somehow increase their foreign-born head count.

Study after study has shown that foreign-born workers are good for the U.S. economy and good for U.S.-born workers. When companies are allowed to hire the workers with the best skills for the job  regardless of where those workers happen to have been born  their increased competitiveness boosts all the industries around them.

Similarly, its hard to find a single economic expert who would recommend deporting the Dreamers.

The idea of deporting hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children  young people who speak English, went to U.S. schools and are currently entering their prime working years  isnt just morally bankrupt, its economically nonsensical. A majority of Americans continue to oppose ending the program, and to blame the Trump administration for doing so.

Yet Congress still refuses to pass a bill to protect the young immigrants. Trump still offers little leadership and much misinformation about the program, recently tweeting, falsely, that big flows of people were trying to take advantage of it.

The U.S. has had a broken immigration system for decades. By the sounds of what were hearing from Washington, were a long way from repair.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
Christy Funsch was searching for something. She wasnt sure what; she just knew she wanted the 15th anniversary season of her company, Funsch Dance Experience, to have a sense of legacy.

I was thinking about women who really featured in the ecology of the Bay Area dance scene, and who are largely unsung, says the choreographer, 51, of a quest that began in August 2016. Im thinking back 100 years, to Isadora (Duncans) time, and after Isadora.

But it turned out that along with finding artistic inspiration, she would also resurface San Franciscos feminist dance history and forge a unique friendship with one of the women who lived it.

Although Duncan left San Francisco in 1895, she is indelibly associated with the city (a plaque at 501 Taylor St. commemorates her birthplace). She is rightly credited with bringing interpretive freedom and female agency into dance, but as Funsch discovered, it was the women who followed who paved the way for todays independent dance makers.

A photo in Beyond Isadora, Joanna Gewertz Harris survey of Bay Area dance before 1965, caught Funschs eye: a group of women in Isadora-esque costumes dancing on Seal Rock in 1912. They were the California Dancing Girls, who dismissed convention and danced as they pleased, performing everywhere from Golden Gate Park to the Pan-Pacific Exposition.

/ Courtesy Judy Job

They were dancers as part of their deep identity, and also had other roles: teachers, mothers, daughters, wives and sisters, Funsch says. Theres something about the photos of them barefoot on Seal Rock or in the Greek Theatre (in Berkeley), and the vulnerability of that. I relate to that spirit very strongly.cal

Their spirit became the kernel of Funschs postmodern work Mother, Sister, Daughter, Marvel. Premiering Thursday, April 5, it has an all-women cast that includes Chris Black, Laura Elaine Ellis and Nina Haft.

Funsch was curious about the Girls founder, Anita Peters Wright. Wright died in 1968, but Harris had a surprise: Wrights niece, Judy Job, lives in Oakland. At 93, Job still takes Harris Lifelong Dance class at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley and teaches tai chi.

Judy knew all these mother figures: the woman who first taught Martha Graham technique here, all the Duncan people, Harris says. Her body knows all the forms, and she still has that dramatic presence that makes the dance look wonderful.

So Funsch dropped in on Harris class  Afterward I said, Judy, youre cool  and took Jobs tai chi class. Funsch is a soft-spoken counterpart to Jobs bone-dry sarcasm, but they share keen intelligence, artistic integrity and fierce self-determination. Were talkin the same language, Job said in her cozy apartment, where the three of us gathered.

Job grew up dancing; the family home at 2695 Sacramento St. doubled as Peters Wright Creative Dance, where her mother, Wrights sister Lenore Peters Job, taught children dance and brought in influential artists like choreographer Charles Weidman.

Now Playing: Judy Job on her aunt's California Dancing Girls in the early 1900s, by Claudia Bauer Video: SFChronicle

I remember how incredibly life-changing that was, says famed Bay Area choreographer Margaret Jenkins, who trained with Job and Lenore. There were not many options (here) at the time if you were interested in modern dance.

The Peters women were pioneers in many ways. My aunt drove a car down Market Street, Job says. You didnt ask to do those things, she just did it. Wright persuaded the owner of the Orpheum Theatre to let the Girls perform between movies, which led to a national tour on the Radio-Keith-Orpheum vaudeville circuit. When the 1929 stock market crash stranded the Girls in New York, Wright and her husband simply opened a studio at 15 W. 67th St. and never moved back.

Job inherited the family pluck. In 1954, I went down to see (hungry i nightclub owner) Enrico (Banducci), and I said, How would you like to have a dance act? She and partner Gloria Unte booked a two-week gig. (As Jenkins puts it, Judy is the essence of chutzpah.) There was a little platform where Mort Sahl and people like that performed, Job says. The stage manager turned out to be Alvah Bessie, who was one of the Hollywood Ten and didnt have a job, but he got a job there.

Driven by a progressive ethos, Job created works like The Informer, about McCarthy-era artists naming names, and Guernica, a reflection on the Spanish Civil War choreographed under the direction of early modernist Anna Sokolow.

And after Jobs first husband and the father of her three children, Bill Kerner, died young, Job wed a man who put her fortitude to the test. It was great until after we got married, Job says. I had to go to Mexico for six months to divorce him!

The transformative past century of womens experience, so richly embodied by Job, figures in Funschs new work. It is a cultivation of female power, Funsch says. I dont think its gendered as women, its more feminine power. I hope that is experienced by the audience.

Job retired from performing in 1968 to become the supervisor of dance and music for Oakland Parks and Recreation. (Another dance legend, Ruth Beckford, recommended her for the job.) Funschs show marks a return to the spotlight: Jobs voice is sampled in Gretchen Judes electronic score, and she will perform her 1957 work The Peony Bush during Harris preshow talk on Saturday, April 7.

Michael Macor / The Chronicle

The womens friendship will continue long after the show closes. Its not like, I used to be a dancer and now Im doing this, Funsch says of Job. No. I am a dancer, and this is the form that I dance. That, to me, is very courageous and completely inspirational.

Claudia Bauer is a Bay Area freelance writer.

Funsch Dance Experience: Mother, Sister, Daughter, Marvel. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, April 5-7. $20-$35. ODC Theater, 3153 17th St., S.F. www.funschdance.org

To see a video: http://bit.ly/JudyJob
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she may stay out of the San Francisco mayors race, but she plans to meet with one candidate  Supervisor London Breed  later this week.

I havent met with any of the others, Feinstein told The Chronicles editorial board on Tuesday. I dont know that I will become involved.

Feinstein served two terms as mayor from 1978 to 1988. She rose to power during a historic moment that in some ways resembles the current special election: Mayor George Moscone was fatally shot in City Hall, and Feinstein, who was then president of the Board of Supervisors, filled his seat.

Some consider Feinstein an antecedent to Breed, the current board president, who took over as acting mayor after Mayor Ed Lee died of a heart attack in December. Among Breeds most fervent supporters is Feinstein ally Willie Brown, who is also a former mayor and a Chronicle columnist. He arranged this weeks meeting between Feinstein and Breed.

When I first ran, the only public official to support me was Willie Brown, Feinstein said. Willie has asked me to talk to her, and so Im very happy to do it, she added, referring to Breed. And well see what happens.

Feinstein said she is also familiar with mayoral candidate Mark Leno , a veteran politician whom Brown appointed to the Board of Supervisors in 1998. He went on to serve 14 years as an assemblyman and state senator.

The senator said she is less familiar with the other leading challengers, Supervisor Jane Kim and former Supervisor Angela Alioto .

 Rachel Swan

Breed wants answers: San Franciscos Board of Supervisors is ratcheting up the pressure on Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to explain why the utility is imposing seemingly arbitrary technical requirements on dozens of city projects, resulting in months of delays and enormous cost overruns.

On Tuesday, Board President London Breed sent a tersely worded letter to PG&E President and CEO Geisha Williams expressing her deep concern over recent reports that PG&E was requiring that city affordable housing developments, recreation spaces and public safety facilities be built to handle electricity loads far beyond what they actually required.

City law requires that new municipal developments automatically become power customers of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which powers municipal buildings with 100 percent renewable energy. That policy was put in place thanks to a 2014 ordinance Breed passed with then-Supervisor Scott Wiener. But PG&E owns the transmission lines that distribute that energy, which gives the company a degree of leverage over the city on electricity issues.

City officials say that new projects have ground to a halt as designers and engineers work to meet PG&Es technical requirements. Construction delays and increased costs can add hundreds of thousands  and in some cases, millions  of taxpayers dollars to a projects costs.

It is simply unacceptable that PG&E would alow public projects to be weighed down with extra cost and unnecessary delays, Breed wrote.

More concerning, she said, was the possibility that the utility company was imposing its requirements in response to Breed and Wieners law. Privately, many officials grumble that as the city hooks up more customers to its own power supplies, PG&E is throwing up roadblocks out of sheer competition.

Its alarming, Breed said, that the passage of our 2014 ordinance could have in any way triggered PG&E to heighten its requirements for how these projects connect to the power grid. Besides asking for PG&Es response on the matter, Breed also wrote that she would be asking the citys Budget and Legislative Analysts office to study whether there has been a shift in practice regarding how our public projects are treated by PG&E.

Seperately, last month, Supervisor Hillary Ronen called for a public hearing to learn more about how PG&Es technical requirements are impacting city projects. That hearing will take place before the boards Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee and will probably happen in early May, one of Ronens aides said.

 Dominic Fracassa
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on a Senate panel looking into the unauthorized release of millions of Facebook users personal data, told the social media giant and other platforms Monday to fix it or risk having the federal government intervene.

I think they are going to have to do some controls. If you dont control your platform, were going to have to do something about it, Feinstein said at a gathering of 320 Silicon Valley executives in Sunnyvale. I am hopeful that they will.

The California Democrat added, My message (to social media platforms) would be, Fix it before it really breaks.

Feinstein said she looks forward to an interesting conversation with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg when he appears next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she is the ranking Democrat. The panel also has invited Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter chief Jack Dorsey to testify.

You operate a platform, Feinstein said of Zuckerberg. You have a responsibility for it.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, asked Zuckerberg and the other executives to appear after it was reported that an app built by a Cambridge University researcher had scraped personal data from 50 million Facebook users, almost none of whom were aware it was happening. The researchers passed along the data to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm affiliated with Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign.

The researchers data scraping was allowed under Facebook rules at the time, although passing it along to Cambridge Analytica was not.

Jim Gensheimer / Special to The Chronicle 2018

The data scrape wasnt Feinsteins only issue with Facebook. She said she was concerned that Russians used the platform and other social networks to try to manipulate the 2016 election and that the networks have not accepted enough responsibility for their role in the hacking. She bristled at the fact that some companies have tried to diminish their involvement by essentially saying, Oh, were just like a phone book. Were benign. Youre not benign, she said.

By not providing enough security to their networks, social media companies have opened a window to facilitate things (like the Russian hacking) that have never been done before, Feinstein said.

We have to understand that this world is a dangerous place in that regard, she said.

Her admonition to Facebook and other firms was one of several topics she touched on during an on-stage interview with Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which represents 400 tech executives.

She urged the tech leaders to tell President Trump to knock it off when it comes to his flip-flopping on the Obama administration program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Trump canceled the program last year, potentially exposing to deportation about 690,000 young immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors.

On Monday, Trump tweeted that DACA is dead because the Democrats didnt care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon. That followed his tweet Sunday that these big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!

Both statements are inaccurate. Trump killed the DACA policy by executive order, though a judge has barred him from enforcing his action. And any immigrants who arrive in the U.S. now cannot take advantage of DACA, because the program was available only to people who were in the U.S. before June 2007.

Feinstein noted Monday that Democrats were open to a deal to preserve DACA, but Trump walked away from one after initially appearing to support it. In January, during a televised White House meeting, Trump told Feinstein to go ahead and vote on a bill dealing only with extending DACA.

Later, Democrats offered to fund Trumps proposed border wall in exchange for giving DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship, but Republicans and the White House rejected the offer.

You cant change your mind as president of the United States every day, Feinstein said. You have to carry out your commitment. And he made a commitment.

Feinstein also expressed concerns that the U.S. was inching toward a trade war after the Trump administration imposed a series of tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from China and other countries. China responded on Monday, issuing tariffs on 128 U.S.-made goods, including fruits, nuts, wine and pork products.

Feinstein said the potential impact to Californias agriculture industry  the largest in the nation  could be $3 billion.

Trade wars start big wars, and they are really to be avoided, Feinstein said. Its very hard to understand why its necessary to be unilateral. Why you cant sit down  well, if we had a functioning State Department we probably could  with a country like China and work out a trade dispute? I think more of that needs to be done. You cant just come down with these ideas. I would be hopeful that the president would let cooler minds deal with this.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli

Live with Feinstein

Sen. Dianne Feinstein will appear on a Facebook Live at 11 a.m. Tuesday hosted by John Diaz, The Chronicles editorial page editor.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, endorsed Supervisor London Breeds mayoral bid on Monday during a brief campaign rally at Jane Warner Plaza in the citys Castro District. Its the second candidate for mayor Wiener has pledged to support, following his endorsement of Mark Leno last year.

Wiener declined, however, to say which of the two would be his first pick in the citys ranked-choice ballot system.

Theyre both exceptional candidates and either one would be a great mayor, he said.

Wiener and Breed overlapped for four years while both served on the Board of Supervisors. During that time, Wiener said he witnessed firsthand her leadership and her ability to bring people together to solve hard issues.

While on the board, Wiener and Breed collaborated on several pieces of legislation, including bills to revamp the citys bus and train fleets, and expand the citys clean energy program.

Should Breed become mayor, she could also help marshal support for Wieners ambitious bill, SB 827, which seeks to grow housing stock by increasing density along transit corridors.

The bill has proven to be divisive in San Francisco, in part over concerns about how much local control would be ceded to the state on critical housing decisions. Breed has signaled her support for the bill, but has said she wants to see greater protections put in place to prevent against displacement and a clearer definition of what constitutes a transit corridor.

Breed touted her long-standing relationship with Wiener, whom she said I love and I admire and I respect tremendously. There is no greater advocate we can have in Sacramento right now.

 Dominic Fracassa
On April 4, 1968, an assassins bullet struck down the pillar of the civil rights movement and shook a divided nation. In San Francisco, as in cities across the country, the pain and fear were marked on countless faces, but hope was not extinguished on that dark day a half century ago.

The 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s death prompted a visit to The Chronicles archive to collect the many photos of the icons visits to the Bay Area and images of the widespread mourning in the city after the slaying. Many of these images havent been seen since 1968.

The earliest photos of King in the archive were from 1956, when he came to San Francisco for the 47th NAACP National Convention during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama, which had propelled him into the forefront of the civil rights movement. He spoke in the city on the evils of segregation, and his principles of protest were coming into focus. Anything that looks like violence will defeat our purpose, he said.

King returned to the Bay Area many times.

In May 1964, he spoke at the Human Dignity rally at the Cow Palace, and 8,000 people cheered as he spoke out against discrimination.

He returned to San Francisco in July of that year to address the Platform Committee at the Republican National Convention to persuade the GOP brass to include civil rights language in the party platform. There will be no tranquillity or cessation of demonstrations until every vestige of racial injustice is eliminated from American society, he said. The Republicans shunned Kings ideas for their platform as they swung far to the right and nominated Barry Goldwater.

King spoke at both UC Berkeley and Stanford University in 1967.

Art Frisch / The Chronicle 1967

In April at Stanford, he warned that blacks were worse off than 25 years before. There are literally two Americas, he said. The first America is overflowing with the milk of prosperity and the honey of opportunity. The second America is filled with millions of work-starved men who walk the street daily.

At Sproul Plaza in Berkeley on May 17, he called the Vietnam conflict a tragic, unjust and evil war. It cost $500,000 to kill each enemy soldier, while we spend only $53 a year on every poor person, he declared. We seem more concerned with winning an unwinnable war in Vietnam than winning the war against poverty right at home.

More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond.

Less than a year later, King was slain by James Earl Rays bullet.

On April 4, 1968, the news spread in the Bay Area through television, radio and the newspapers. Mayor Joseph Alioto called for two minutes of silence in all schools, and flags were flown at half-staff. Senseless murder has denied the nation his leadership in the great unfinished struggle for equality and justice, Alioto said. The Rev. King was a valiant man, and his martyrdom deserves the abiding respect of all of us.

The next day, April 5, thousands gathered in Civic Center Plaza to mourn King. Chronicle reporter George Draper described the scene: The huge grief-stricken audience representing persons from all walks of life had come quietly to the Polk Street side of City Hall from all parts of the city.

After about a dozen speakers, some 7,000 people of all backgrounds held hands and sang We Shall Overcome.
The As could get pitching reinforcements in mid-April.

Trevor Cahill, signed to a one-year deal during spring training, is scheduled to start for Triple-A Nashville on Saturday and then again April 12, according to As manager Bob Melvin. At that point, if all goes well, Oakland will take a look at where to slide him into the rotation, but a home series against the White Sox appears to be a good bet.

Who would come out of the rotation at that point? With three off days in an 11-day span in the middle of the month, the team can juggle things, but Daniel Gossett was the last man to make the rotation after injuries to Jharel Cotton and Paul Blackburn, so unless his numbers are significantly better than Andrew Triggs, he might be the odd man out.

The Sounds are expected to set their rotation Tuesday; left-hander Brett Anderson, who signed a minor-league deal with Oakland last month, also could be an option at some point soon.

Blackburn, who is out with a forearm strain, hopes to begin throwing by the end of the week. Hes expected to miss at least a month and probably more.

Changing colors: The As have been known for decades for their white cleats, but in the past few years, Major League Baseball has eased restrictions on shoe colors, allowing up to 49 percent of another of the teams colors.

Thats why youll see second baseman Jed Lowrie with cleats that appear to be primarily green. And, as Lowrie pointed out, gesturing toward the clubhouse TV, other teams are now wearing white shoes  Cincinnati closer Raisel Iglesias was doing so Monday.

That used to be the thing, the As were the team with the white shoes, Lowrie said. You look around the league and everyone wears white shoes now. I think the rules have been relaxed a lot.

Briefly: Josh Phegley, who incurred two broken fingers this spring when crossed up on a pitch that was then foul-tipped, began hitting off a tee Monday. He already has been catching bullpens. He is likely to be optioned to Nashville once healthy. ... Matt Joyce was the designated hitter again Monday, unable to play in the field because of a sprained left ankle.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a request by antiabortion activists to make public conversations they secretly recorded at national meetings of abortion providers in San Francisco and Baltimore after posing as researchers.

The justices, without comment, denied review of lower-court rulings prohibiting the group called the Center for Medical Progress from publicly releasing the recordings or any other information its members obtained by infiltrating the annual meetings of the National Abortion Federation in San Francisco in 2014 and in Baltimore in 2015.

The group posted videos of some of the conversations on its website before U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of San Francisco issued an injunction barring further releases. One of the speakers recorded without his knowledge was affiliated with a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs that was attacked by an antiabortion gunman in November 2015, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling on the case. Three people were killed.

In separate proceedings, David Daleiden, leader of the Center for Medical Progress, and an employee, Sandra Merritt, have been charged by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra with felony violations of California criminal laws that prohibit the recording of private conversations without consent.

Daleiden and his colleagues gained access to the conventions by posing as representatives of a fetal-research company called BioMax Procurement Services, using false names and drivers licenses.

Before entering the conventions, the BioMax representatives signed confidentiality agreements prohibiting the recording of any meetings or discussions, or the disclosure of any information obtained at the sessions.

In court, Daleiden and his group said they had been acting as investigative journalists and had uncovered criminal conduct. But Orrick, in his injunction ruling, found no evidence of lawbreaking by convention participants and said the BioMax entrants had violated their agreements.

The appeals court upheld his ruling in a 2-1 decision in March 2017 and said Daleidens group had obtained their information by fraud. The dissenting judge, Consuelo Callahan, said the court should allow the videos to be released to law enforcement agencies for investigation of possible crimes by participants at the convention.

After the Supreme Court refused to hear the case Monday, attorney Catherine Short of the Life Legal Foundation, who represented Daleiden and his organization, said they remained confident that ultimately the tapes will be released and that our position on the law will be vindicated.

Another defendant in the case, Troy Newman, a former Center for Medical Progress board member and currently president of the antiabortion group Operation Rescue, was represented by attorney Jay Sekulow, who is also a personal lawyer for President Trump.

The National Abortion Federation said it was grateful that the Supreme Court denied the defendants latest attempt to circumvent very necessary security precautions that NAF has in place at its conferences.

The case is Daleiden vs. National Abortion Federation, 17-202.
A person driving a likely stolen car on Tuesday crashed into a Hayward home and fled the scene, fire officials said.

Neighbors heard a loud noise around 2 a.m. but no report was made until a passerby called in the incident around 9 a.m., after noticing an abandoned silver Honda Civic on the roof of a home at Fairview Avenue and Arbutus Court, said Hayward Fire Captain Don Nichelson.

The familys house alarm went off, but they thought it was a deer or something and didnt immediately investigate, Nichelson said.

No injuries were reported and the driver fled the scene.

Investigators found a screwdriver in the ignition, Nichelson said, leading them to believe the car was stolen.

Authorities believe the car was heading down Fairview when it hit a guard rail and launched into the home, which is on a hillside.

The car stopped at a 30-degree angle with the back end of the car on the roof and the front end hitting the back of the house, said Lt. Commander Steve Perea, a California Highway Patrol spokesman. Authorities found the car with airbags deployed.

The house isnt caved in or anything like that. The walls are still standing, Perea said, adding that the view of the car on top of the house is very dramatic.

Thats not something you see everyday, he said.

He added that the incident is being investigated as a hit-and-run.

The California Highway Patrol offered a slightly different version of events. Officials said the collision occurred at 7:50 a.m. and was promptly reported, but no one was home at the time.
A tiny Northern California town's recent decision to tear down a presidential monument drew the ire of conservative pundit Tucker Carlson during the Monday night edition of his Fox News show.

In a segment titled "War on Statues," Carlson sounded off on Arcata City Council's recent 4-1 vote to remove a statue of Former President William McKinley from its town square.

The 8.5-foot monument and a nearby plaque have long been a point of contention among Arcata residents, some of whom say McKinley's expansionist policies were racist toward indigenous people. During his presidential tenure at the turn of the 20th century, McKinley annexed tribal lands in the western U.S. and Hawaii.

Read SFGATE's full coverage of the statue controversy here.

Carlson began his segment by decrying liberals  "They don't sit around and talk about stuff forever they just do it, right or wrong, usually wrong," he said  before turning his attention on the Humboldt County town, whose name he incorrectly pronounced as "Ar-kaw-da" (correct pronunciation: "Ar-kay-da").

"First they came for Confederate generals," the conservative commentator said. "Now, no statue is safe, even a statue dedicated to an American President who fought the Confederacy in the Civil War." McKinley served in the Union army between 1861 and 1865  the last American president to have fought in the Civil War.

Carlson said liberals will target any monument that "offends anybody in power." He argued that President Abraham Lincoln also did "terrible things" to Native Americans, yet his statues remain standing.

Arcata city council member Paul Pitino bravely appeared on the Monday night program to defend his town's decision.

When asked, "Why McKinley?" Pittino glibly replied: "It's the only one we got." He got a laugh out of Carlson with that one.

The two engaged in a relatively respectful back-and-forth about monuments and their merits. Pitino claimed he and the council had to consider the "totality" of McKinley's legacy, and the removal of the statue was "correcting a 112-year-old error of judgement."

ALSO READ: San Francisco will remove pioneer statue some call racist

Carlson invoked empathy from Pitino in his arguments, asking how the Arcata resident would feel if he were "assessed on every bad thing you did."

"[McKinley] was flawed," Carlson said. "Shouldn't we be a little more forgiving than that of people?"

Pitino pushed back, claiming no human should have a statue, ever. Carlson admitted he "kind of" agreed, describing Pitino's argument as somewhat of "an Islamic point, but still a good point."

Activists are currently in the process of securing the $60,000 required for the statue's removal and its longterm storage. The Los Angeles Times claims the McKinley statue is the first monument dedicated to a president to be taken down in the United States.

According to local lore, the statue of the assassinated president was brought to Arcata after it was created in San Francisco and nearly ruined in the 1906 earthquake and fire. The community of McKinleyville, just north of Arcata, was named in honor of the 25th president.

Michelle Robertson is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @mrobertsonsf.
Following a shooting at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, Calif., Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers and Silicon Valley tech leaders expressed their immediate shock and condolences.

Among them was President Donald Trump, who was briefed on the situation shortly after a woman reportedly opened fire at the video website's headquarters. Trump took to Twitter after, addressing those in San Bruno.
Federal authorities have arrested two founders of a virtual currency that raised $32 million from investors last year and won an endorsement from boxer Floyd Mayweather.

The co-founders of the Centra virtual currency, Sam Sharma and Robert Farkas, were arrested on Sunday, a day before the Securities and Exchange Commission released a complaint against the men and announced that it was halting the project.

Centra raised $32 million last summer and fall in an initial coin offering, a method of fundraising in which companies sell custom virtual currencies. The Centra team said at the time that the Centra token would give investors access to a new virtual currency exchange and a virtual currency debit card that would operate on the Visa and MasterCard networks.

The SEC said in its complaint that the Centra team had never received approval from Visa and MasterCard and had misled investors on several other counts. The SEC said that several of the executives listed on the Centra website were fictitious.

Most of the claims in the SEC complaint were detailed in an article in the New York Times about Centra in October.

A co-director of the SECs enforcement division, Stephanie Avakian, said in a statement that the Centra co-founders had sold investors on the promise of new digital technologies by using a sophisticated marketing campaign to spin a web of lies about their supposed partnerships with legitimate businesses.

Lawyers for Sharma and Farkas did not respond to emails seeking comment Monday evening. The authorities did not charge a third man who had been listed as a Centra co-founder, Raymond Trapani.

Initial coin offerings emerged suddenly last year to become one of the most popular ways for startups to raise money, with investors pouring more than $6 billion into such offerings. But the offerings operate in a regulatory gray area, and that has drawn a swift blowback from authorities around the world.

The SEC is said to have sent subpoenas to dozens of projects planning initial coin offerings, and has already sought to halt a handful of such projects.

The Centra founders appear to have been the first people arrested because of a coin offering. In addition to the SEC complaint, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York brought criminal charges against Sharma and Farkas  including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

Farkas had a flight reservation to leave the country on Sunday but was arrested before he could board the plane, according to the SEC complaint.

The complaint alleges that the men engaged in an illegal unregistered securities offering and, in connection with the offering, engaged in fraudulent conduct and made material misstatements and omissions designed to deceive investors in connection with the offer and sale of securities.

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has said that most tokens offered through coin offerings should be categorized as securities and registered with regulators, which few have done.

Sharma announced that he was leaving Centra after the Times article was published last fall, but the company has continued its operations and said this week that it would release the Centra Roadmap 3.0 at a conference in South Korea.

After the arrests were announced Monday, the price of Centras token on virtual currency exchanges crashed and the administrators of a Centra chat room on the Telegram messaging app expressed confusion.

The admins have no more info then you, an administrator named Tomo wrote to the other users.
Revance Therapeutics lead asset is a new form of botulinum toxin, akin to the best-selling wrinkle eraser, Botox, but with a key difference, durability, according to CEO Daniel Browne.

Recent results in a late-stage study may back up his claim. The Newark drug developer plans to use that durability claim to expand into previously untapped markets rather than just challenging Botox and its maker, Allergan, Browne said in an interview.

When pressed on how his company could drive expansion in a field where Botox has been dominant for nearly three decades, Browne talks about moving into new therapeutic areas that Allergan hasnt dipped into yet, like plantar fasciitis, a common cause of heel pain in runners and overweight patients. Revance is expected to report results from a mid-stage study in plantar fasciitis before the year ends.

Revance plans to use cash from a recent stock offering for more research and development, as well as to speed along development of a program in cervical dystonia, a painful and underdiagnosed condition that causes a persons head to twist to one side. The Food and Drug Administration awarded Revance an orphan drug designation for the program.

Browne also envisions tapping into the aesthetic market by winning over women who may have been on the fence about starting multiple repeat injections with Botox. Millennials and men are another target market for Revance, the CEO said. For fresh-faced Millennials, the pitch could be using the wrinkle reducer as a preventive treatment to stop them before they start.

But Millennials dont need to open their wallets or dip into their bitcoin just yet. RT002, Revances experimental therapy, isnt likely to get Food and Drug Administration approval and be available at plastic surgeons offices before 2020.

That time line didnt stop shares in Allergan from sliding on Dec. 5. Thats when small-cap company Revance reported results from two late-stage trials that showed that RT002 kept wrinkles between the eyebrows from returning for about six months on average, longer than Botox, whose label states it lasts about three to four months. Thats potentially good news for trypanophobics, who want to look younger but hate needles.

Revance does have its detractors. Analysts from Wells Fargo to Morgan Stanley rushed to Allergans defense, saying the drop in shares of the Irish company, which has U.S. offices in New Jersey, was overdone. Morgan Stanley saw patients own assessments of RT002s effectiveness as similar to those reported by patients receiving Botox treatment. The scales used to compare patient responses were different, with Botox using an eight-point scale and RT002 a four-point scale. It may be marginally easier for Botox, to show a difference, Morgan Stanley wrote.

Allergan also scoffed at the reports, with a spokesman writing in an email shortly after the results were made public that the Revance Phase 3 results reported for RT002 dont support a longer duration claim.

Browne countered: Allergan has never by any scale been able to get beyond 16 weeks; we were able to get beyond 24 weeks on multiple scales.

Analysts have also pointed out that Revances dose is double Botoxs 20 units, but a unit of Revance is not a unit of Botox, says Browne, pointing to medical literature written in part by Allergans chief scientific officer for Botox, Mitchell Brin. The article says dose response data for Botox in wrinkles between the eyebrows showed that 20 units was not statistically different from 30 or 40 units, but that 10 units was statistically significantly less effective.

Still its not a zero-sum game, Browne said. Shorter-acting products like Botox could be complementary to what he sees as the next-generation neuro-modulators. A longer-acting product could provide patients better outcomes and pharmacoeconomics. Ultimately, the label matters, and for Revance investors, theyll just have to wait until a few years to see that.
Tourist overcrowding in New York City is getting insane. Especially in Midtown and particularly in Times Square. I know, I know, I'm a tourist too, when I'm there. But still...

In the rare case you haven't been to Manhattan lately, you should know that the number of tourists visiting New York City hit an historic high last year. Last month the NYC Mayor's office reported that a whopping 62.8 million showed up to take in its sights and sounds in 2017.

That's a million more than the city expected. It's up from 56 million in 2015. And it's the eighth year in a row that NYC has hit a new tourism record. Trump's travel ban has not put a dent in visitors from other countries, either; they increased from 12.7 million in 2016 to 13.1 million in 2017.

Looking ahead, the city's tourism office, NYC & Company projects the city will host 65.1 million visitors in 2018. That's nearly twice the number of visitors than 18 years ago, in 2000, when 36.2 million showed up.

And with the snow melting and spring in the air, the tourist onslaught will soon hit fever pitch.

If you have been to New York recently and dared to venture into the Times Square area, you know that it feels like a madhouse. These days, nearly half a million pedestrians pass through Times Square every day.

Sometimes it's a struggle to get in or out of your hotel. Finding a cab or Uber or a seat a bar or a table at a restaurant is nearly impossible. Bumping into first timers looking up and pointing from sidewalks, hawkers or people dressed up as costumed characters hustling tips is a regular occurrence.

It's become so crazy that I now take the advice of aggravated locals and just avoid Midtown and Times Square completely. (The New York Times frequently opines about this problem.)

The problem for me, and I'm sure for many of my regular readers is that business meetings frequently take place in Midtown. So if you want to stay close to your meeting, you are kinda stuck.

I used to think I was being smart by staying at the InterContinental or Westin Times Square, both located on what used to the be the quiet western edge of all the action. But with the resurgence of Hells Kitchen and Clinton neighborhoods along 8th and 9th Avenues, it's packed over there, too.

Luckily, the city's hotel boom is spread all over town. I've found some respite in the limited service hotel village that has sprung up between Herald Square and the Empire State Building, as well as the increasingly hotel-laden area between Penn Station and the Javitz Center, but even those areas are becoming overcrowded and frequently sold out.

So I'm looking for some advice here. What are the best (or your favorite) hotels on the fringes of Midtown, away from the madding crowds, that are close enough to walk to Midtown, but far enough away that I don't feel like I'm part of the circus?

Please share any tips or advice in the comments!

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Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.
Heres what we know so far about Tuesdays shooting at YouTubes headquarters in San Bruno:

What happened

Police said a woman, identified by sources as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, 39, of Riverside County, entered YouTubes headquarters at 901 Cherry Ave., in San Bruno and opened fire with a handgun, hitting a man and two women before turning the gun on herself. The attack unfolded in a matter of seconds Tuesday afternoon. Authorities believe Aghdam started shooting in the office courtyard.

San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said authorities received numerous 911 calls at 12:48 p.m., responded to the scene and immediately began a search for the shooter or suspect.

Officers arrived before 1 p.m. to find one of the victims near the front of the business, officials said. They then discovered Aghdams body, and after that found two more victims at an adjacent business.

The victims

Three gunshot victims were taken to San Francisco General Hospital  two women and a man. A 32-year-old woman was in serious condition, a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition, and a 36-year-old man was in critical condition. A fourth victim, who did not suffer a gunshot wound, was also taken to the hospital with what was believed to be an ankle injury. They were not identified.

Dr. Andre Campbell, a trauma surgeon at SFGH, said all three gunshot victims were awake, talking and aware of what had happened to them. None had gone to surgery.

The shooter

A vehicle registered to Aghdam was towed from the YouTube parking lot, and several of her social media accounts, including her YouTube channels, were shut down by Tuesday night.

Her father said he called police and reported her missing after she didn't answer her phone for two days, and that she might go to YouTube.

Officers in Mountain View found her sleeping in her car in a parking lot around 2 a.m. Tuesday but let her go after she refused to answer their questions. Aghdam didn't appear to be a threat to herself or others, police spokeswoman Katie Nelson said.

On a website, Aghdam railed against YouTube for taking down some of her videos and for skimping on revenues driven by the traffic to her YouTube page.

There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to!!!!! Aghdam wrote. Youtube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views!

Aghdam appears to have kept up an active presence online, including on YouTube, where she posted several videos, mostly about animal rights, some of which appear to be graphic, including one of a dog being boiled alive. Other videos extol the virtues of a vegan diet and feature Aghdam performing exercise routines.
Mark Wineman / Getty Images

A man was killed and another was wounded in a shooting Monday night in Oakland, police said.

Officers responded to multiple calls about a shooting at about 6:30 p.m. on the 1100 block of East 23rd Street near the Highland Park neighborhood, where they reportedly found two men suffering from gunshots wounds. One man was pronounced dead on the scene, while the other was taken to a local hospital.
As gunshots rang out on YouTubes sprawling San Bruno campus Tuesday afternoon, employees turned to the Internet to share firsthand accounts and reassure loved ones that they had made it to safety.

They marked themselves safe on Facebook. They posted what they witnessed on Twitter. They recorded footage of police crews swarming the company headquarters.

So much remained unknown as YouTube workers hid under their desks and others ran for their lives. It was only later that San Bruno police identified a woman as the suspected shooter. Meanwhile, the Internet became a place of comfort and confirmation.

YouTube employees shared status updates with friends and family to say they were safe and to connect with one another. The investigation continues, but people were able to begin processing a horrific event in real time on what was supposed to be a normal workday.

Just as in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14 in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history, much of the early information came from people posting their traumatizing experiences from the inside. And many did that Tuesday at one of Silicon Valleys best-known technology companies.

Google Communications, which owns YouTube and discourages employees from talking to the press, posted a string of updates on Twitter.

We continue to actively coordinate with local authorities and hospitals, the company posted. Our security team has been working closely with authorities to evacuate the buildings and ensure the safety of employees.

More detailed tweets from employees described a scene of terror as people ran for their lives.

Active shooter at YouTube HQ, product manager Vadim Lavrusik posted at 12:57 p.m., minutes after a flood of frantic calls began pouring into 911. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.

Then, at 1:13 p.m., Lavrusik posted: Safe. Got evacuated ... Outside now.

Fellow product manager Todd Sherman posted on Twitter that he saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. As he evacuated the campus, he said, police cruisers arrived, and officers hopped out with rifles ready.

Sherman also let followers and the public know he was safe in a tweet as he apparently took an Uber home. But he continued to describe the mayhem and the fear that every new person (he) saw was a potential shooter, as well as how the vibrations of everyone running through YouTubes headquarters sounded like an earthquake.

After (exiting) the room, we still didnt know what was going on, but more people were running, Sherman tweeted. Seemed serious and not like a drill.

Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi, another company product manager, posted on Facebook that he was OK. But he couldnt be certain about many of his other colleagues. Abdul-Kafi said he was in the courtyard when he saw the shooter: full body armor, shooting mask on and firing a handgun, he wrote, adding that he and others ran as fast as we could.

The message ended: Im on my way home now.

President Trump shared his own condolences minutes after police provided an update on what had transpired.

Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTubes HQ in San Bruno, California, Trump tweeted. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.

Thousands of tweets continued to pour in after police announced that the suspected shooter had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

YouTube co-founder and former CEO Chad Hurley succinctly posted: Praying for my friends @Youtube!

Staff writer Sophie Haigney contributed to this report.
The Trump administrations plan to add a question about U.S. citizenship to the 2020 census drew an immediate legal challenge from California. Now a group of states and cities, including San Francisco, has gone a step further with bipartisan findings from census directors for more than four decades that show a citizenship question would reduce participation in the once-per-decade survey and undermine its accuracy.

The Census Bureau has declared publicly since at least 1980 that citizenship inquiries are particularly sensitive in immigrant communities and that adding a citizenship question to the census would drive down participation rates, the states and cities said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District court in New York.

Their lawsuit cited a bureau filing to the Supreme Court to that effect in 1980, under President Jimmy Carter; congressional testimony in 1988 and 1989 under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and later by President Bill Clintons census director; testimony in 2009 by all eight former census directors since 1979, and another filing to the Supreme Court in 2016 by four former directors, who noted increased suspicion of government collection of information, especially among noncitizens.

And when President Trumps commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, announced last week the proposed inclusion of the citizenship question in the next census just days before a legal deadline, the suit noted, he was overruling officials in his own Census Bureau as well as the bureaus expert advisory committee.

Tuesdays suit was filed by 17 states, led by New York, along with six cities, the District of Columbia and the National Conference of Mayors. It added both historical context and new legal arguments to the suit filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on March 26, hours after Ross announcement.

By referring to the past declarations from census officials of both parties, the new suit sought to minimize partisan overtones of a case potentially headed for the Supreme Court, with a majority of Republican-appointed justices. The issue itself has strongly partisan overtones  low census counts in states with large immigrant populations, mostly Democratic, would result in a reduced number of U.S. House seats and Electoral College votes, as well as reductions in their share of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds.

Low-income families across the country rely on accurate census counts for federal assistance, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement accompanying the suit. The Trump administration is playing politics with peoples lives.

The suit said 35 percent of San Franciscos residents are immigrants, including an estimated 240,000 who are undocumented, and that 22.3 percent of the citys households did not mail back their census surveys in 2010, forcing the Census Bureau to conduct followup visits.

Ross said he was acting at the request of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Justice Department, which said a citizenship count was needed to determine the number of eligible voters in each district and enhance opportunities for minorities to elect one of their own in each House district as required under the Voting Rights Act. The Justice Department made a similar assertion Tuesday.

Since 1965, every Census, with the exception of the one administered in 2010, has contained a citizenship question used by the Department of Justice to protect voters against racial discrimination, the department said in a statement that was demonstrably false  the question was last contained in the census in 1950 and currently is included in the American Community Survey, sent by the Census Bureau to a sampling of 3.5 million households.

Nonetheless, the Justice Department added, the smaller survey is not the most appropriate data to use as a basis for redistricting. Reinstating the citizenship question in the census administered to all households will allow the department to protect the right to vote and ensure free and fair elections for all Americans, the statement concluded.

As opponents of the citizenship question have noted, President Trumps Justice Department has taken steps to weaken the Voting Rights Act by supporting state voter ID laws. The lawsuit also contended that a citizenship question would undermine, not advance, the goals of the Voting Rights Act by leading to lower census counts, and reduced congressional representation, in many minority communities.

The Trump administrations immigration policies have heightened fears among noncitizens, the suit said. It cited the June 2017 congressional testimony of Thomas Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who advised undocumented immigrants, You should look over your shoulder. And you need to be worried.

Like Californias lawsuit, the suit by the states and cities argued that a citizenship question would lead to an undercount that would violate the governments duty, under the Constitution, to provide an actual enumeration of the entire U.S. population, regardless of citizenship status, every 10 years.

In addition, the new suit cited a federal law, the Information Quality Act, whose guidelines direct the Census Bureau to test new questions well in advance before adding them to the census.

The bureau has been conducting tests for the next census since 2015, but has not included a citizenship question in any of them, the suit said  even in a so-called dress rehearsal that was launched on Sunday. And even Ross, in a recent memo justifying the added question, acknowledged that he could not determine definitively how the question would affect responsiveness.

Adding a citizenship question without testing its effects would violate the information law, the suit said, and would also be illegal because it reverses nearly seven decades of settled and well-considered practice without reasoned explanation.

The new legal argument is a potentially strong one, said Bill Hing, an immigration law professor at the University of San Francisco.

Generally, when the census tries something new, it tests for its effects before deciding to roll it out, he said.
A group of men who were run down last week in San Francisco by an angry, ax-wielding van driver  leaving one dead and four injured  had just wrapped up a fishing trip to the bay shore when they were attacked, authorities and friends of the victims said Monday.

The defendant, 33-year-old Mark Anthony Dennis, was arrested shortly after the chaotic episode last Wednesday in the citys Dogpatch neighborhood and charged with murder, four counts of attempted murder and six counts of assault with a deadly weapon. A motive in the attack remains unclear.

Wearing his jail clothing, Dennis made an appearance Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, where he did not enter a plea and was ordered to return Thursday.

Staring down Dennis from the court gallery were friends of Eliseo Lopez, 34, who died from his injuries in the alleged hit-and-run. Marta Rebolledo and Valentin Benitez-Cruz held back tears during the brief hearing.

My friend should have never died that way, Benitez-Cruz said outside court. I dont understand what happened. This guy was crazy.

He said he was with Lopez that day but was uninjured. The men, he said, had been fishing at Warm Water Cove to eat from the sea in observance of Lent and were walking away around 10:30 a.m. when Dennis engaged them and began calling them Mexican names.

Dennis had stopped his van in the intersection of 24th and Illinois streets, where he got out and confronted the group as they walked on the sidewalk, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Mahoney wrote in court papers, asking for the defendant to be held without bail.

After berating the men, Dennis grabbed a bottle and hurled it at them, then pulled out an ax and came at them, Mahoney said. Some of the victims took off their belts to defend themselves and wrestled the ax away before chasing Dennis back to his van, authorities said.

The pedestrians thought the altercation was over and strolled away, but Dennis did a three-point turn and plowed into the men from behind on the sidewalk, Mahoney said. Police reported arresting Dennis an hour later in another part of the city.

All five victims were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Lopez, a laborer who had been given the day off to go fishing, died at the hospital.

He was like more than family. He was a great man, said Rebolledo, Lopezs friend of 10 years and former roommate.

Another victim remains in critical condition, she said, while the others are in various states of recovery.
An apparently disgruntled video maker shot and wounded three people before fatally turning the gun on herself Tuesday at YouTubes headquarters in San Bruno, setting off a chaotic scramble as workers dived for cover, hid behind locked doors and ran from the building.

San Bruno police officers and San Mateo County sheriffs deputies rushed to the office park two minutes after the first reports of gunfire came in at 12:46 p.m. and found dozens of workers streaming from the exits.

Near the front door of the building at 901 Cherry Ave., they came across one victim with a gunshot wound, and in an ensuing search of the premises found the shooter with an apparent self-inflicted fatal gunshot wound. Two other gunshot victims were found at nearby businesses where they apparently had taken refuge, police said.

Law enforcement sources identified the shooter as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, 39, of Menifee (Riverside County), and a Chronicle review of her social media accounts found that she was a prolific YouTube user with several accounts that she complained had been heavily censored by the company.

Late in the afternoon, Aghdams vehicle was towed from the scene. Her accounts on YouTube, Facebook and Instragram, meanwhile, were removed.

On a website consisting of a collage of photos and video posts, many of them about her vegan beliefs, Aghdam rails against YouTube for restricting views on her videos and for what she said was skimping on revenue driven by the traffic to her YouTube page.

There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to!!!!! Aghdam wrote. Youtube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views!

Its unclear how Aghdam gained access to YouTube headquarters. Her body was found inside the building following the shooting, police said.

Her three gunshot victims were rushed to San Francisco General Hospital. A 27-year-old woman was later listed in fair condition, a 32-year-old woman in serious condition and a 36-year-old man in critical condition, hospital officials said. A fourth person was treated for a sprained or broken ankle.

The violence unfolded in a matter of seconds, and several YouTube employees took to social media to report hearing gunfire and hiding or running for their lives. Some simply let people know they were safe. Hundreds of workers were evacuated by police, who made everyone hold their hands up as they filed out onto the street.

It was very chaotic, as you can imagine, said San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini.

Workers who were in the building described a terrifying scene as people rushed away from Aghdam, who was wearing body armor and firing a handgun, witnesses and police said.

Jesse Pineda of San Bruno said he was getting a hamburger at Carls Jr. across the street from the YouTube offices when he heard three shots in rapid succession. A young woman emerged from the office, shot in the left leg.

He helped drag her into the restaurant before hearing more shots. He then ran back toward YouTube and looked through the doorway, where he saw a woman on the ground.

She was dead, Im sure of it, Pineda said. Those 10 shots were rapid fire  it was no mercy. There were four more shots after that. I wish I had had a gun but I didnt. I had to be smart and get out of there. I had to be fast.

Eyewitnesses said the entire episode took about 30 seconds. Some had assumed the shooter, whose face was covered, was a man.

I was in the courtyard and we heard the gunshots, then saw him, Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi, a YouTube product manager, wrote on Facebook. He had a shooting mask on, full body armor and was calmly walking and firing a handgun. We jumped to the floor then ran as fast as we could.

Abdul-Kafi said he was OK, but I dont know about a lot of coworkers.

As word filtered out to the crowd waiting behind the police lines that the shooter was dead, many shook their heads sadly and walked away.

At about 3:15 p.m., dozens of strike teams and officers from several local law enforcement agencies packed up their weapons and body armor and trudged back to their patrol cars. At least two armored vehicles remained at the scene late Tuesday afternoon as search teams went room by room, floor by floor looking for evidence and making sure the threat was over. Barberini said investigators would be processing the crime scene late into the night.

Dr. Andre Campbell, a trauma surgeon at San Francisco General Hospital, said none of the victims had yet undergone surgery. He said all of them were awake, talking and aware of what had happened to them.

Once again, we are confronted with a specter of a mass casualty situation, Campbell said. This is unfortunate, and it continues. Youd think after weve seen Las Vegas, Parkland, the Pulse nightclub shooting, that we would see an end to this, but we have not. This is a terrible day in the United States when once again we have a multiple casualty situation.

The incident prompted elected officials to respond with sorrow and condolences. On Twitter, President Trump said, Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTubes HQ in San Bruno, California. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.

Chad Hurley, the co-founder of YouTube, tweeted, Praying for my friends @YouTube!

YouTube spokesman Chris Dale said the shooting was especially hard given how tight knit the workers are in the company.

It feels like the entire community of YouTube and all of the employees were victims of this crime, Dale said. Our prayers are with (the victims) and their families.

Officials at Google, which owns YouTube, confirmed in a statement that four employees had been hurt in this horrific act of violence.

Were doing everything we can to support them and their families, a Google spokesman wrote. We will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy.

Aghdam used YouTube to post videos that covered a mix of topics, from vegan cooking to workouts to parodies of music videos.

A message on her YouTube pages late Tuesday said that the profiles were taken down due to multiple or severe violations of YouTubes policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Term of Service violations.

The company Tuesday night declined to answer questions about Aghdam and her deleted accounts, and referred questions to an earlier statement on the shooting issued by Google CEO Sundar Pinchai.

On an Instagram post dated March 18, Aghdam claimed YouTube was using its tools to censor and suppress people who speak the truth and are not good for the financial, political gains of the system and big businesses.

Aghdam was also an animal-rights activist, featured in a 2009 story in the San Diego Union-Tribune about a protest by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against the use of pigs in military trauma training. She dressed in a wig and jeans with large drops of painted blood on them, holding a plastic sword at the demonstration outside the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base.

For me, animal rights equal human rights, Aghdam told the Union-Tribune at the time.

Outside the YouTube headquarters Tuesday, employees huddled together and waited for authorities to take witness statements as helicopters circled overhead.

One group of employees  who declined to provide their names, citing a YouTube media policy  said they were sitting at their desks working around 1 p.m. when they heard, pop-pop-pop.

The noises sounded like they came from the courtyard, the employees said. But they initially dismissed the sound as that of people moving equipment. Then, people started running like something serious was happening.

One employee said he saw two shattered glass doors. The group hid inside an office for about 20 minutes until police came and cleared them out.

Just south of YouTube, a Carls Jr. employee, Michael Finney, 21, spoke of helping the wounded woman who came to the restaurant. He said he was working at about 1:30 p.m. when a young woman stumbled in with a gunshot wound to her left leg. She had been shot in the parking lot, he said.

She was pretty calm, Finney said. I got a bungee cord and tied it around her leg to stop the bleeding. I asked her why someone would shoot her and she said she didnt know.

Fed Krysko, 21, of San Bruno said he was visiting a friend at Carls Jr. when employees began coming out of YouTube with their hands up.

This is insane, Krysko said. Ive lived here seven years and theres never been anything like this before. This is what you see happening all over the country, but not in San Bruno.

Todd Sherman, who identified himself as a YouTube product manager on his Twitter page, said he was sitting in a meeting and then heard that people were running. First thought was earthquake, he said.

We headed towards the exit and then saw more people and someone said that there was a person with a gun, Sherman wrote on Twitter. I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peeked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front.

Sherman wrote that he and his co-workers spread out in different directions after the incident.

Were such a quiet town  this is bizarre, said Terry Jones, a 23-year resident of San Bruno, who was among the crowd that lingered after the shooting. Weve got some lunatics, sure, but its unusual to have something go so big.

I guess that pipeline explosion was the last time, he said, referring to the rupture of a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. natural gas pipeline in a San Bruno neighborhood, which killed eight people in September 2010.

He shook his head sadly, saying, At least it wasnt little kids getting shot.

Chronicle staff writers Lizzie Johnson, Hamed Aleaziz, Jenna Lyons, Dominic Fracassa, J.K. Dineen, Erin Allday, Joaquin Palomino, Cynthia Dizikes and Sophie Haigney contributed to this report.
BENICIA (BCN)

Benicia police said they believe they have solved a rape case that occurred on Halloween in 2013.

A 64-year-old woman was assaulted by a man who forced his way into her Benicia home on Oct. 31, 2013, police said on Facebook.

Detectives collected blood the suspect left at the scene when the woman fought back, and detectives learned DNA in the blood matched that of 34-year-old Alexander Haynes, who was arrested for a burglary in University Place, Washington, police said.

Haynes was living in Benicia at the time of the sexual assault in 2013, police said.

Police obtained a $250,000 warrant for Haynes' arrest with orders for extraditing him to Benicia.

Police flew to Washington last Wednesday to serve the arrest warrant with officers from University Place police and the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. Haynes was taken into custody without incident.

###
OAKLAND (BCN)

Sahleem Tindle's family left the Alameda County Superior Court disappointed and frustrated today after District Attorney Nancy O'Malley failed to answer a majority of their questions about the 28-year-old man's death.

BART police officer Joseph Mateau shot Tindle three times in the back, killing him at the West Oakland BART station on Jan. 3. Police initially said he had a gun in his hand, but later released body camera footage that failed to prove their claim.

Yolanda Banks Reed, Tindle's mother, said the Alameda County District Attorney's office tried to cancel today's meeting. "You can change your appointment, but you can't change mine," she said.

Before the meeting began, Reed felt "hope and harmony" when she saw signs on the freeway in solidarity with Tindle.

Eight family members were allowed into O'Malley's office and a group of about 60 supporters chanted and rallied on the second floor of the Alameda County Courthouse.

They proudly shouted "Haki Kwa Mkuu Sahleem," meaning "Prince Sahleem" in Hebrew, and grew louder as people called for the arrest and firing of Mateau.

Rukiyah Manfield, Tindle's 18-year-old niece, led a crowd that included several adults and small children wearing white knitted yarmulkes.

When the family emerged, the group formed a circle around Reed and Crystal Hamilton, Tindle's cousin. Hamilton said the meeting was unproductive, disappointing and unsympathetic.

O'Malley answered almost all of their questions with "no comment," according to Hamilton, and did not give clear answers to several others.

They asked her about "countless killings" by police officers, whether Mateu's use of force was justified, Mateu's potential promotion within the department and issues of jurisdiction. O'Malley answered several of the questions by saying the shooting was still under investigation.

Hamilton also said the family was not given access to the incident report of Tindle's shooting.

"Everyone keeps saying he's in a better place," Reed said outside the courthouse after the meeting. "What place is this?" She also spoke about Stephon Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old man who was shot and killed by police in Sacramento on March 18.

"We must help each other, we must do our own investigation," she said. "I would not want this to happen to any mother, but it has happened to so many mothers."

The group has scheduled another meeting with O'Malley on April 11 to continue the conversation. Tindle's family is also pursuing a lawsuit against BART police and Mateu with prominent civil rights attorney John Burris.

The District Attorney's office declined to comment after the meeting with Tindle's family today.

The shooting remains under investigation by the Oakland Police Department and the Alameda County District Attorney.

###

272-6213
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted this morning not to hear a report on the history and status of jail reforms from the Sheriff's Office just hours after former Judge LaDoris Cordell and sheriff candidate and former Undersheriff John Hirokawa held a news conference to criticize the report.

The pair called the news conference before the board meeting to condemn the 66-page document and to call for the resignation of Sheriff Laurie Smith.

Cordell called the report by GAR Inc., the consulting company of retired Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney in Idaho, "a convoluted puff piece" that points out some existing issues in the jail system like an increase in inmate grievances but ultimately commends Smith and her staff.

After the death of Santa Clara County jail inmate Michael Tyree in 2015, the Board of Supervisors approved a resolution establishing a Blue Ribbon Commission On Improving Custody Operations.

The death of Tyree at the hands of three deputies is addressed under the GAR report section entitled "reform," which states, "As with many organizations, everything seemed okay -- until a rather unbelievable act occurred."

Following that sentence, Smith is complimented, as the report says, "Smith took action, commended by the community and controversial within the agency, that included a swift investigation and arrest of the deputies within the days of death."

The words "unauthorized and unsanctioned force" were used to describe the actions of former guards Jereh Lubrin, Rafael Rodriguez and Matthew Farris, who were ultimately convicted and sentenced for the beating death.

Cordell was appointed the chairperson of the Blue Ribbon Commission, which worked to receive public recommendations, discuss an inmate welfare fund and interview inmates to gauge what can be done.

Hirokawa called the survey conclusions of the jail-inmate climate two years after Tyree's death "somewhat critical."

Cordell said her commission called for a higher level of community involvement in regulating the jails moving forward, but the report contradicts the idea.

"In hindsight, some observers feel that the amount of community involvement, sometimes influenced by particular agendas, made it difficult to prioritize the issues that mattered most to an inmate's care and custody," the report states.

Smith contracted GAR Inc. in September 2017 to compile the report, but Hirokawa said he was confused as to why a report like that wasn't assigned to the county-associated commission.

"Why wouldn't you go back to the original, go back to the baseline that reported on how the inmates were feeling?" Hirokawa asked. "This is a propaganda piece for the re-election of Laurie Smith."

Hirokawa, who is seeking to replace Smith as sheriff, also spoke in the wake of new allegations that Smith pulled interview tapes from an internal affairs investigation, hiding accusations that she had sexually harassed a colleague earlier on in her career.

In asking if it should be suspicious to the public that the claims are surfacing before Smith's seat is up in the June election, Hirokawa said that community members should not be criticizing the victims of sexual misconduct.

"The #MeToo cause is about protecting the victim. What procedures have we put in place?" he said. "Do I blame them for not coming forward before? I think you listen to their story."

Hirokawa said he didn't know how the news was resonating with her subordinates or how it could transfer in how they treat the community that they serve.

"It wasn't right 20 years ago, it isn't right today, and she needs to be held accountable," he said.

Both former officials spoke during public comment before the board voted to keep the hearing on the report off the consent calendar.

Cordell asked the supervisors to go a step beyond not adopting the document, and to also ask Smith to pay taxpayers back for the "useless document."

###
A man who was arrested nearly six months ago by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as he dropped off his daughter at a San Jose day care was released from custody Monday morning.

Upon his release, Fernando Carrillo held a long embrace with his wife and three young daughters outside the San Francisco ICE office at 630 Sansome St.

"It was a nightmare," Carrillo said in Spanish, describing his time in detention at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond. "They yell at you. They mistreat you. They treat you like you've committed a crime, but really you're just being detained."

"I've never experienced anything this awful in my life," he said.

Carrillo's release was made possible after Immigration Judge Joseph Park issued a withholding of removal order for Carrillo on Thursday. The government did not file an appeal, which would have prolonged Carrillo's release date, according to Sarah Lee with the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity.

Carrillo, a Mexican national, was arrested in San Jose in October on a previous deportation order after already having been deported in 2012, according to his wife Lourdes Barraza.

Carrillo said that on the morning of his arrest, as he was on his way to drop his 4-year-old daughter off at day care, he noticed what appeared to be an undercover car following him. Once at the day care, he said more vehicles similar to the one following him were already in the parking lot, waiting for him.

"These people were watching me for days, or weeks before arresting me," Carrillo said.

"They don't think about the consequences on the families. They just think of us as numbers. It's sad," he said.

Moved to tears by his release, Barraza said Monday morning, "I feel grateful to have my partner back, my right hand."

Barraza said that although her and her family's fight appears to be over, she said she wants to continue to help others who have no criminal record and have been detained by ICE.

"We need to bring to light what is happening," she said. "We were lucky to have a voice, but not everyone has a voice."

Carrillo expressed the same sentiment, saying, "Just like me, there are others who need our support. They don't have families or friends who can support them."

Carrillo said that after he gets home and takes a "real shower" and gets some rest, him and his lawyer want to get him a Social Security number and work permit so that he can get back to providing for his family.

A man accused of intentionally mowing down five people Wednesday in San Francisco's Dogptach neighborhood, killing one of the victims, appeared in court Monday afternoon.

Mark Dennis, 33, has been charged with one count of murder, four counts of attempted murder, six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and four counts of assault causing great bodily injury.

Dennis' arraignment was held over for Thursday and he remained in custody without bail.

The collision, which occurred around 10:25 a.m. near the corner of Illinois and 24th streets, killed 43-year-old Eliseo Lopez and hospitalized four other men.

On Monday, one of the victims showed up to the arraignment.

According to Valentin Benitez Cruz, he and the four other victims, who are all friends and part of a fishing group, were coming back from fishing just blocks away when Dennis stopped his van, exited the van and began yelling at them.

"First, he attacked us verbally," Benitez Cruz said in Spanish, alleging that Dennis yelled racial slurs at them.

According to court documents, Dennis went back to his white GMC van, grabbed a bottle and threw it at the group. One of the group members may have thrown the bottle back at him.

Dennis, however, once more went to his van and this time retrieved an axe, according to court documents.

The men, however, were able to take the axe away from Dennis.

That's when Dennis allegedly got back into his van, made a U-turn and drove onto the sidewalk, striking all five victims.

Dennis then fled the scene, before being apprehended by police about an hour later in a different part of the city, according to court documents.

"Nobody should die this way," Benitez Cruz said of his friend Lopez, holding back tears.

All five men were taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where Lopez died from his injuries. Only one of the four remaining victims is still in the hospital in critical condition, hospital spokesman Brent Andrew confirmed Monday.

Lopez's roommate, Marta Rebolledo, also attended the arraignment and said outside of court, "He was more than family, he was a great man, a working man. That day he was going to work; he was day laborer. But his boss called him and told him he had the day off."

Rebolledo said Lopez celebrated Lent and had been fishing because he believed in eating fish during the month-long religious observance.

"That's what he did and that's when his life ended," she said.

Sahleem Tindle's family left the Alameda County Superior Court disappointed and frustrated Monday after District Attorney Nancy O'Malley failed to answer a majority of their questions about the 28-year-old man's death.

BART police officer Joseph Mateau shot Tindle three times in the back, killing him at the West Oakland BART station on Jan. 3. Police initially said he had a gun in his hand, but later released body camera footage that failed to prove their claim.

Yolanda Banks Reed, Tindle's mother, said the Alameda County District Attorney's office tried to cancel Monday's meeting. "You can change your appointment, but you can't change mine," she said.

Before the meeting began, Reed felt "hope and harmony" when she saw signs on the freeway in solidarity with Tindle.

Eight family members were allowed into O'Malley's office and a group of about 60 supporters chanted and rallied on the second floor of the Alameda County Courthouse.

They proudly shouted "Haki Kwa Mkuu Sahleem," meaning "Prince Sahleem" in Hebrew, and grew louder as people called for the arrest and firing of Mateau.

Rukiyah Manfield, Tindle's 18-year-old niece, led a crowd that included several adults and small children wearing white knitted yarmulkes.

When the family emerged, the group formed a circle around Reed and Crystal Hamilton, Tindle's cousin. Hamilton said the meeting was unproductive, disappointing and unsympathetic.

O'Malley answered almost all of their questions with "no comment," according to Hamilton, and did not give clear answers to several others.

They asked her about "countless killings" by police officers, whether Mateu's use of force was justified, Mateu's potential promotion within the department and issues of jurisdiction. O'Malley answered several of the questions by saying the shooting was still under investigation.

Hamilton also said the family was not given access to the incident report of Tindle's shooting.

"Everyone keeps saying he's in a better place," Reed said outside the courthouse after the meeting. "What place is this?" She also spoke about Stephon Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old man who was shot and killed by police in Sacramento on March 18.

"We must help each other, we must do our own investigation," she said. "I would not want this to happen to any mother, but it has happened to so many mothers."

The group has scheduled another meeting with O'Malley on April 11 to continue the conversation. Tindle's family is also pursuing a lawsuit against BART police and Mateu with prominent civil rights attorney John Burris.

The District Attorney's office declined to comment after the meeting with Tindle's family Monday.

The shooting remains under investigation by the Oakland Police Department and the Alameda County District Attorney.

A divided California Supreme Court by a 4-3 vote in San Francisco Monday upheld the collection of DNA cheek swabs from people who are validly arrested on suspicion of a serious crime.

The court majority said a voter-approved law requiring a swab in the case of San Francisco arson suspect Mark Buza didn't violate either the federal or state constitution's ban on unreasonable searches.

The 2004 voter initiative is sometimes called the DNA Act.

The court said the law "was reasonable as applied to defendant" Buza, who was eventually convicted of the 2009 arson of a police car.

But the court said it was making no determination of the validity of the DNA Act in other situations, such as in cases of arrests unjustly made without probable cause, or cases in which the DNA information of a person who is never convicted is not deleted from state records.

"We recognize that the DNA Act may raise additional constitutional questions that will require resolution in other cases," Justice Leondra Kruger wrote in the majority opinion.

Buza was arrested on suspicion of arson on Jan. 21, 2009, after a San Francisco police sergeant spotted a parked police car on fire and saw him run into a wooded area while carrying a bottle of gasoline and oil.

Buza declined to give a cheek swab with a DNA sample after he was arrested. He was later convicted of felony arson and misdemeanor refusal to give a cheek swab and was sentenced to a year and four months in prison.

The DNA collection requirement was enacted by voters as part of Proposition 69 in 2004. The law gradually expanded the categories of people whose DNA must be obtained, and the mandate applying to all felony arrestees went into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. Buza was arrested three weeks later.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar law enacted by the state of Maryland, saying that it did not violate the U.S. Constitution.

Buza argued in his appeal that his case was different because the California measure was broader than the Maryland law and the state Constitution has been interpreted to provide stronger protection against unreasonable searches.

But the court majority said those differences didn't affect its analysis of Buza's case and that Buza was entitled to challenge only his own situation. The panel said it is obligated to uphold voter initiatives unless they are "clearly, positively and unmistakably" unconstitutional.

Buza had argued the DNA collection before conviction was a "body invasion" that could lead to storage of private information, including sensitive genetic information, in state and national databases. He did not challenge post-conviction DNA collection.

State lawyers defending the law contended the collection is minimally intrusive, more precise than fingerprints and useful for providing identification related to possible past or future criminal conduct by the suspect.

Buza's lawyer in the appeal, Bradley O'Connor, said he was disappointed the court did not address Buza's broader arguments.

"The court majority recognized implicitly that there are issues of constitutional concern about the state regimen, especially for those arrested but not ultimately convicted, but it made no determination," he said.

The California law provides for the deletion of DNA data in cases of people who are not convicted, but unlike the Maryland law, it does not make the removal automatic and requires an arrestee to go through a procedure to ask for expungement.

O'Connor noted that a dissent by Justice Goodwin Liu cited state statistics showing that about one-third of the 2.2 million people arrested in California between 2009 and 2016 were never convicted of a crime, yet their arrests triggered the collection of their DNA. About one-fifth of the 2.2 million arrestees were never charged with a crime.

Liu said that only about 1.6 percent of the samples of the non-convicted arrestees have been removed.

He wrote, "It is questionable whether the vast majority of people entitled to expungement even know about the process, much less know how to navigate it."

A related lawsuit challenging the California law is pending in federal court in San Francisco before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.

The federal lawsuit was filed by four citizens who had their DNA collected after being arrested, but who, unlike Buza, were never charged with a crime. In 2014, Breyer put that case on hold until the Buza case was resolved.

The FBI is looking for a serial bank robber they've nicknamed the "Big Man Bandit" who hit banks in San Jose and San Mateo in a span of a week in March.

The suspect robbed banks in San Jose on March 15 and in San Mateo on March 17 and March 23. In each robbery, he handed the teller a note that demanded money and stated he had a gun, FBI officials said.

The suspect is described as a white man who is about 6 feet tall with a large build and weighs around 300 pounds. He has been described as wearing an Oakland Raiders or Golden State Warriors ball cap, a light sweater or jacket and jeans in each robbery.

The bandit's vehicle is believed to be a four-door Cadillac Seville with a model year from the mid- to late-1990s, according to the FBI.

A Benicia police community service officer was charged last week with one count of embezzlement for taking $3,000 from the city, police said.

Lisa Krimsky was charged Thursday by the Solano County District Attorney's office. She is scheduled to be arraigned April 30.

Police said Krimsky admitted to embezzling the money.

According to police, Krimsky resigned Feb. 8 from a non-sworn position that entailed helping the public at the front counter and other administrative tasks.

Benicia police spokeswoman Irma Widjojo said Krimsky, 58, was hired as a community service officer in 1995 but left and returned to work again. Her job at the police department involved collecting money, Widjojo said.

The Benicia Police Department is deeply disappointed with Krimsky's actions and wanted to share the news as part of its commitment to openness with the community, the department said on Facebook Thursday.

A federal judge in San Francisco will hear arguments Thursday on a bid by five disabled homeless people for a temporary restraining order blocking the eviction of a homeless encampment in the Roseland district of Santa Rosa.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria scheduled the Thursday hearing Monday and in the meantime, ordered the Sonoma County Community Development Commission and the city of Santa Rosa not to carry out any evictions before the hearing.

The commission's deadline for encampment residents to leave the site had been Wednesday.

Chhabria acted in a civil rights lawsuit filed on Friday by five physically or mentally disabled camp residents and a grassroots support organization called Homeless Action.

The seven-acre property is the site of a mostly vacant shopping center in southwest Santa Rosa. It is owned by the commission, which plans to build a combination of affordable and mixed-income housing and mixed-use development on the site.

Homeless people began camping there in 2015. As of last week, the number living at the site was more than 100, according to the lawsuit. The suit said the increase was caused in part by Santa Rosa's closure of camps under highway overpasses and the North Bay wildfires of last October.

The lawsuit asks for court orders blocking the residents' eviction until sufficient and appropriate housing is found. The suit includes constitutional claims of cruel and unusual punishment and violation of due process as well as allegations of discrimination against disabled people.

The plaintiffs claim the county does not have sufficient housing and that crowded emergency shelters are not suitable for people with physical or mental disabilities.

The commission contends in a response filed Monday that it does have adequate housing for the encampment members and that the proposed shelters can accommodate disabled people.

The county agency established a housing navigation center at the site in February to help camp participants find housing and services. The agency argues in the filing that the public interest would be served by allowing the affordable housing to be built.

A horse rescued by multiple fire crews on Sunday night in unincorporated Santa Clara County is doing just fine, the owner told county fire officials.

A call to Cal Fire around 6 p.m. from someone at Indian Hills Ranch just outside Milpitas alerted responders that the animal was stuck upside down in a drainage ditch, according to Santa Clara County Fire Capt. Bill Murphy.

Murphy said Cal Fire firefighters and Spring Valley Volunteer Fire Department crews arrived on scene and knew they needed to call in county firefighters and their specialized equipment for backup.

The county fire department was called at 6:19 p.m. for assistance, and because they were hauling extensive equipment, it took about 45 minutes for them to arrive, Murphy said.

Murphy said the horse was lucky to be able to walk back to the fenced-in area it had gotten out of with no assistance and only minor scrapes, since horses are often described as "prey animals" who have a fight or flight tendency that can scare them into much worse.

The fire captain described the drainage ditch as "having a little bit of debris and being undermined by recent storms."

Because of this, firefighters believed that the horse had gotten itself stuck, tried to shimmy out and wedged itself deeper underneath a portion of the ditch.

"Horses tend to be anxious, their bodies are not designed to handle being upside down for as long as it was," Murphy said.

Crews were on scene until about 10 p.m. after they were able to use rescue guides, or slip sheets, which are sheets of plastic used to slide a large animal along a rough surface in order to get the horse out, fire officials said.

###
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A federal judge in San Francisco will hear arguments Thursday on a bid by five disabled homeless people for a temporary restraining order blocking the eviction of a homeless encampment in the Roseland district of Santa Rosa.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria scheduled the Thursday hearing today and in the meantime, ordered the Sonoma County Community Development Commission and the city of Santa Rosa not to carry out any evictions before the hearing.

The commission's deadline for encampment residents to leave the site had been Wednesday.

Chhabria acted in a civil rights lawsuit filed on Friday by five physically or mentally disabled camp residents and a grassroots support organization called Homeless Action.

The seven-acre property is the site of a mostly vacant shopping center in southwest Santa Rosa. It is owned by the commission, which plans to build a combination of affordable and mixed-income housing and mixed-use development on the site.

Homeless people began camping there in 2015. As of last week, the number living at the site was more than 100, according to the lawsuit. The suit said the increase was caused in part by Santa Rosa's closure of camps under highway overpasses and the North Bay wildfires of last October.

The lawsuit asks for court orders blocking the residents' eviction until sufficient and appropriate housing is found. The suit includes constitutional claims of cruel and unusual punishment and violation of due process as well as allegations of discrimination against disabled people.

The plaintiffs claim the county does not have sufficient housing and that crowded emergency shelters are not suitable for people with physical or mental disabilities.

The commission contends in a response filed today that it does have adequate housing for the encampment members and that the proposed shelters can accommodate disabled people.

The county agency established a housing navigation center at the site in February to help camp participants find housing and services. The agency argues in the filing that the public interest would be served by allowing the affordable housing to be built.

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480-6201

Sonoma County Counsel Bruce Goldstein (707) 565-2421
SAN BRUNO (BCN)

Multiple victims of the shooting at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno are being transported to hospitals in San Francisco and Stanford, and the San Mateo County coroner's office confirmed that they have personnel en route to the scene.

Police first announced the shooting at 901 Cherry Ave. in a tweet around 1 p.m.

Lisa Kim, a spokeswoman for Stanford Medical Center, said just before 2 p.m. that four to five patients were expected at that hospital. Brent Andrew, a spokesman for Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, confirmed that multiple patients had been transported there as well.

As of 1:30 p.m., the total number of victims involved could not be confirmed but numerous social media users, including verified accounts linked to YouTube staffers, reported that people were being evacuated from the scene.

At least one person reported seeing blood on the floor.

Vadim Lavrusik, who was working at that facility, said he heard shots and saw people running while at his desk before barricading himself inside a room with other coworkers. He later said he was able to evacuate.

Information about the shooter was not immediately available.

###
SAN BRUNO (BCN)

A woman found dead today at the scene of a mass shooting at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno is thought to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and police believe she may have been the suspect.

The shooting was reported shortly after 12:45 p.m. at the building at 901 Cherry Ave., according to San Bruno police Chief Ed Barberini.

A Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital spokesman confirmed that three patients are being treated for bullet wounds after the shooting.

A 32-year-old woman is in serious condition, a 27-year-old woman is in fair condition and a 36-year-old man is in critical condition.

Officials at Stanford Medical Center initially said additional patients were expected there, but both they and San Francisco General Hospital officials have since said no other shooting victims are expected to arrive.

Trauma surgeon Andre Campbell from San Francisco General said he has no knowledge about what kind of firearm was used in the shooting.

"Once again we are confronted with the specter of mass casualty situations," Campbell said.

None of the patients have undergone under surgery as of this afternoon, Campbell said, but trauma patients' conditions can change quickly. He said the patients are awake and aware of what happened.

The hospital did not provide any information about the nature or location of the patients' injuries.

Officers had arrived at the YouTube headquarters at 12:48 p.m. and immediately began searching the building. They found one victim with an apparent gunshot wound near the entrance, and two additional victims at a nearby business, Barberini said.

"It was very chaotic, as you can imagine," Barberini said.

He said officers were doing a "slow and methodical" search of the building late this afternoon to make sure all shooting victims were located.

Juan Lezama was one of many with family and friends in the YouTube headquarters who are counting their blessings after hearing the shooting turned fatal.

Lezama works in the area but had multiple friends in one of the buildings on the campus who texted him that they had heard gunshots and minutes later they were told to walk out slowly with their hands up on their heads.

Lezama said his friends are all safe but he has not seen them yet.

Many areas near the shooting such as the Bayhill Shopping Center remained roped off late this afternoon while authorities continue to investigate the scene.

San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa was among many local politicians who issued statements following the shooting.

"I commend the YouTube employees who maintained their composure during this tragic event and the incredible response by law enforcement officers who quickly secured the campus," Canepa said. "This is a resilient community that will recover with each other's support."

###
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A man accused of intentionally mowing down five people Wednesday in San Francisco's Dogptach neighborhood, killing one of the victims, appeared in court this afternoon.

Mark Dennis, 33, has been charged with one count of murder, four counts of attempted murder, six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and four counts of assault causing great bodily injury.

Dennis' arraignment was held over for Thursday and he remained in custody without bail.

The collision, which occurred around 10:25 a.m. near the corner of Illinois and 24th streets, killed 43-year-old Eliseo Lopez and hospitalized four other men.

Today, one of the victims showed up to the arraignment.

According to Valentin Benitez Cruz, he and the four other victims, who are all friends and part of a fishing group, were coming back from fishing just blocks away when Dennis stopped his van, exited the van and began yelling at them.

"First, he attacked us verbally," Benitez Cruz said in Spanish, alleging that Dennis yelled racial slurs at them.

According to court documents, Dennis went back to his white GMC van, grabbed a bottle and threw it at the group. One of the group members may have thrown the bottle back at him.

Dennis, however, once more went to his van and this time retrieved an axe, according to court documents.

The men, however, were able to take the axe away from Dennis.

That's when Dennis allegedly got back into his van, made a U-turn and drove onto the sidewalk, striking all five victims.

Dennis then fled the scene, before being apprehended by police about an hour later in a different part of the city, according to court documents.

"Nobody should die this way," Benitez Cruz said of his friend Lopez, holding back tears.

All five men were taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where Lopez died from his injuries. Only one of the four remaining victims is still in the hospital in critical condition, hospital spokesman Brent Andrew confirmed today.

Lopez's roommate, Marta Rebolledo, also attended the arraignment and said outside of court, "He was more than family, he was a great man, a working man. That day he was going to work; he was day laborer. But his boss called him and told him he had the day off."

Rebolledo said Lopez celebrated Lent and had been fishing because he believed in eating fish during the month-long religious observance.

"That's what he did and that's when his life ended," she said.

###
President Trump is erratic, lacks stability and hasnt shown himself fit to hold office, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday, but she hasnt given up the notion of working with him.

I do not believe he is a good president. I do not believe he is fit to be president. I do not believe that we have the stability in the executive office that we need to have, Feinstein, D-Calif., said during an interview with The Chronicles editorial board.

I think theres an erratic behavior there that is deeply concerning, Feinstein said.

But Feinstein, who is trying to win support for a new assault weapons ban  a bill for which she has no Republican co-sponsors  noted that she would need Trumps signature on any measure she can get through Congress.

I dont have a choice if I want him to sign something that Im doing like assault weapons, Feinstein said. Theres nothing I can really do about it until either a house changes (into Democratic control) or theres a constitutional crisis.

So thats what makes what Bob Muellers work so important, Feinstein said, referring to the special counsels investigation into possible collusion between Trumps 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government.

Feinstein brushed aside talk of impeachment before Muellers probe is finished.

The senator angered many Democrats last year when she said of Trump, The question is whether he can learn and change. If so, I believe he can be a good president.

Asked Tuesday whether she still held out hope of working with Trump, she said, What difference does it make what I hope or dont hope? I mean, it is what it is. The ability to do something about it is small because we (Democrats) dont control either one of the houses. And thats just a fact of life.

Feinstein said she lost faith in Trumps ability to be true to his word after his flip-flops concerning two issues that are dear to her: gun control and the fate of young immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. Trump canceled the program last year, potentially exposing to deportation about 690,000 young immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors.

But he appeared to be open to giving Democrats an opportunity to propose legislation to protect DACA recipients during a January meeting at the White House that was open to the media.

Were going to do DACA, Trump told Feinstein. But the next day, he reversed field. And this week, Trump tweeted that DACA is dead.

Even more painful to Feinstein was when Trump changed his mind on curbing assault weapons. In February, she was among a bipartisan group of 17 legislators who met with Trump for a televised meeting on gun control. There  with the cameras rolling and Feinstein seated next to him  Trump demanded that legislators come together on one terrific bill on guns that would expand background checks and perhaps include Feinsteins proposed ban on assault weapons.

Trump also directed lawmakers to consider Feinsteins new assault weapons ban. Dianne, add what you have also, Trump told her. Cameras caught Feinstein rubbing her hands gleefully at the suggestion.

And that lasted for 24 hours, until Trump changed his mind, Feinstein said Tuesday.

Ive served under Republican and Democratic presidents, said Feinstein, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992. There was always a sense of stability. A presidents word always meant something. It didnt change the day after.

Feinstein conceded she has heard from more liberal Democrats that she has not been tough enough on Trump.

Im not a name-caller. I dont call people names. All people want to hear, it appears, are epithets about him, she said. My job is to get legislation passed or get problems solved or find money to help solve those problems.
LA LINEA DE LA CONCEPCION, Spain  Faces hidden by masks and hoods, a group of 40 men emerge from the darkness of beachfront houses and step into the sand as a state-of-the-art speedboat approaches the shore. They frantically unload dozens of plastic-wrapped burlap bundles, each containing 66 pounds of Moroccan hashish.

Then, somebody yells: Cut it! Cut it!

As fast as they came, the smugglers find shelter in the narrow streets of the La Atunara fishing neighborhood. The boat vanishes into the night, still holding half of its cargo. When a patrol car arrives seconds later, all that remains is the sound of the waves.

Another night, another chapter in the battle between Spanish authorities and the crime gangs who have turned this neglected town in the shadow of the Rock of Gibraltar into a key European entry point for Moroccan cannabis resin.

Right now, we are losing this battle, said Francisco Mena, leader of Nexos, a federation of local community action groups. Trafficking cant be stopped with the human resources and material means that we have in place.

He insisted the war could still be won. But such optimism flies in the face of the brazen drug operations witnessed by Associated Press journalists, and of the very words of drug chieftains who agreed to rare interviews.

Trafficking has always existed, and it always will. If not here, it will move elsewhere along the coast, said one of the areas most notorious narcos,who like others spoke on condition that they not be named because they feared prosecution.

Half a dozen trafficking ring members and their leaders said that shipping drugs is a way of life in this forgotten corner. In a province with a 30 percent jobless rate, the highest in the country, they see their criminal activity as a necessary bad feeding hundreds of families directly and thousands more indirectly.

Many of us are fathers. We need to take food home, said another gangster who asked to be identified as Pepe. If we couldnt provide for our children this way, another kind of violence would come.

Three dozen clans are believed to be working in Campo de Gibraltar, a county of 268,000 that cradles the Bay of Algeciras.
WASHINGTON President Trump made the case to the leaders of the Baltic nations Tuesday that the U.S. was very tough on Russia, pointing to U.S. support for increased defense spending by NATO countries as a check on Moscows aggression.

Trump, joined by the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, spoke a day after the White House dangled the prospect of extending a White House welcome to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The three former Soviet states border Russia and are viewed as a bulwark against Russian incursions in Eastern Europe.

Nobody has been tougher on Russia, but getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing. And just about everybody agrees to that except very stupid people, Trump said in a Cabinet Room meeting with the leaders. Weve been very tough on Russia, frankly.

Later, during a joint news conference with the leaders, Trump said he was hopeful he could have great dialogue with Putin but cast the ties between the U.S. and Russia as an open question.

I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President Putin and if I did, that would be a great thing and there is also a great possibility that that wont happen, Trump said at the news conference. Who knows?

Britain recently blamed Russia for the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil. Trump joined Britain in expelling scores of Russian diplomats in response.

Trump has pressured NATO members to boost their military budgets to meet a benchmark of 2 percent of their GDP on defense annually. He cited that as a benefit to the three Baltic nations, which are NATO members and remain anxious over Russias increasing military maneuvers in the Baltic Sea region.

In its latest effort, Russia planned to hold naval exercises on the Baltic Sea this week complete with missile tests, closing portions of the sea from civilian traffic, a concern to the Baltic nations and the Nordics.

Lithuanias Dalia Grybauskaite told Trump that the U.S. role in NATO is essential, calling the nation a vital voice in the military alliance.

We expect, together with the United States, to go ahead with deep reforms of NATO, especially on decision-making, on decisiveness, on the denial which we expect to see from Russia in case of aggression, Grybauskaite said. Without the United States, this is not possible.

The Baltic leaders noted their security commitments under NATO. Grybauskaite said the Article 5 collective defense under NATO was iron-clad for all of us while Estonias Kersti Kaljulaid said the countries are an axis of good.

Trump said NATO has taken many billions of dollars more than they would have had if you had crooked Hillary Clinton as president. The 2 percent benchmark concerns how much each country spends on its own defense, not what it pays into NATO.

He also cited the expansion of imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. to reduce reliance on Russian gas, again pointing to his vanquished 2016 presidential rival. My opponent was into other forms of energy, like windmills, Trump said.

The U.S. summit marked the three Baltic nations 100 years of independence. The countries declared their independence from Russia in 1918 but were incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940 and remained part of it until 1991.

The news conference included a brief Trump commentary on the U.S. news media. At one point, he gestured to Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis to call upon a reporter for a question, a Baltic reporter, ideally, Trump said, as American journalists enthusiastically raised their hands and called his name. Trump added: Real news, not fake news.
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Australians appetite for streaming video is showing no signs of slowing down, with data downloads more than doubling since Netflix launched.

In the three months ending December 31, 3.6 million terabytes of data was downloaded on broadband connections across the country, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Tuesday shows.

This was up 38.6 per cent compared to the year before, with the vast majority using fixed line broadband rather than wireless. A terabyte is 1024 gigabytes, and streaming an 'ultra high-definition' film on Netflix uses seven gigabytes an hour.

Billy Graham, 13, and his friend Benjamin Baskin playing an online game. Credit:Wolter Peeters

New data records have been broken consistently for years, with data usage ramping up significantly since the 2015 launch of streaming video platform Netflix and Fairfax Media-owned Stan. (Fairfax Media publishes The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age).
21st Century Fox is offering to sell Sky News to Walt Disney as it seeks to win over UK regulators reviewing its 11.7 billion ($21.4 billion) bid for broadcaster Sky.

Disney has expressed an interest in acquiring Sky News, whether or not its larger $US52.4 billion ($68 billion) takeover of most of Fox goes through, according to a statement from Fox on Tuesday.

Fox proposed the news channel's sale to Disney to guarantee the editorial independence of the operation. Credit:Bloomberg

Fox proposed the news channel's sale to Disney to guarantee the editorial independence of the operation and said it could also ringfence Sky News, in a submission to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.

The proposals by Rupert Murdoch's Fox are the latest attempt to win approval for a deal that has been held up by additional scrutiny, after allegations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox News in the US and as a 2011 phone-hacking scandal at Murdoch's newspapers continued to dog the billionaire media tycoon. Fox in March sweetened its offer, proposing a 10-year funding guarantee for the UK's oldest 24-hour news service.
Rupert Murdoch ratcheted up the pressure on Britain to approve his $US15 billion ($18.9 billion) -plus bid for pay-TV group Sky by offering to sell or legally separate Sky News, aiming to head off objections the deal could give him too much political influence.

Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox said on Tuesday that Walt Disney Co was interested in buying Sky News. Alternatively, Fox said, Sky News could be legally separated within the Sky group.

Rupert Murdoch has been trying for years to get the Sky deal over the line. He doesn't give up now.

Even if Fox's proposals satisfy Britain's government and competition regulator, however, it may still need to raise its recommended offer for Sky after US cable group Comcast Corp said it intended to make a higher counter-bid.
Two of Australias largest industrial developers have been busy restocking their land banks, doing deals worth $130 million as tight east coast leasing markets drive demand.

ASX-listed Charter Hall has added a 58-hectare site in Melbournes prime Laverton-Truganina industrial precinct to its Charter Hall Prime Industrial Fund, paying $55.35 million for a block at 442-540 Dohertys Road.

The acquisition, handled by JLL agent Matt Ellis, will add $330 million, when built out as an estate, to the $2.8 billion fund.

At the same time, Singapore-listed Frasers Property Australia has boosted its prime western Sydney holdings by 13.5 hectares with two acquisitions.

Frasers outlayed an estimated $58 million for 10 hectares of vacant land on Burley Road in Horsley Park which it purchased from building products giant CSR.
Spotify Technology SA shares surged following the largest-ever direct listing on Tuesday, giving the world's leading streaming music service a market value of nearly $US30 billion ($39 billion).

Shares opened at $US165.90, up nearly 26 per cent from a reference price of $US132 a share set by the on the New York Stock Exchange late on Monday. Spotify's unusual route to publicly trading its shares via a direct listing rather than a more usual initial public offering will likely be watched by other companies tempted to list without selling new shares, and by bankers that could lose out on millions of dollars in future underwriting fees.

Spotify shares performed strongly on their Wall Street debut. Credit:Bloomberg

Some 14 million shares had changed hands within an hour after trading began on Tuesday. Nearly 91 per cent of Spotify's 178 million shares were tradable, a much higher percentage than typical in a traditional IPO.

Its stock debut has just made its founders two of Sweden's richest people.
Australian actor Eric Bana will play 'Dirty John' Meehan in a television adaptation of the podcast Dirty John.

The formation and subsequent disintegration of Meehan's relationship with 59-year-old California woman Debra Newell was the subject of the hit podcast, which was released last October and downloaded 10 million times in just six weeks.

The podcast's author, Los Angeles Times reporter Christoper Goffard, described the story as "a cautionary tale about the ways that a sociopath, like a predator, can find the victim and tell these victims exactly what they want to hear."
Drug companies have come under fire for allegedly using a crackdown on codeine sales as an opportunity to market stronger painkillers to doctors.

Since February, pharmacists have been banned from offering weaker codeine tablets such as Nurofen Plus over the counter, with the medication now available only via a doctors prescription.

One of the concerns about the change was that doctors could end up prescribing even stronger medication to pain sufferers.

Now doctors say that is exactly what some pharmaceutical companies are trying to get them to do, via advertising sent to GPs.

One of the ads causing concern, for painkiller Zaldiar, shows five silhouetted figures jumping into the air as the sun sets or rises behind a mountain range.
Meryl Streep is one busy lady. Recently, the Oscar winner announced she was joining season two of Big Little Lies, alongside Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman (gosh, we'd love to be a fly on the wall in that trailer!).

Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in 'The Devil Wears Prada', which is long thought to be inspired by Anna Wintour's tenure at 'Vogue'.

Then just this weekend, there were reports that Streep, 68, was being urged by Star Wars fans to take over from the late Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in any upcoming films from the franchise.

But Meryl may have to hold off any trip to the set of Episode IX after rumours began swirling on Tuesday, Australian time, that the "Devil Who Wears Prada" herself, Anna Wintour, could be leaving US Vogue later this year.
But what is it that makes a good leader a truly great one?

During his short life, King demonstrated extraordinary leadership qualities. He had a clear goal - to transform the United States into a country where all citizens are treated equally - and conveyed it to individuals from all walks of life.

Traditional qualities such as intelligence, determination, toughness and a clear vision that's right for the times are essential. However, in his 1998 article for the Harvard Business Review, author Daniel Goleman argues that although these assets are necessary, they're insufficient. Exceptional leaders must also possess what he called "emotional intelligence", or EQ, a skill comprised of five factors.

The first is motivation, a passion to achieve goals that are more important to you than status or material gain. When you're highly motivated, you refuse to give up, remaining determined and optimistic.

Self-awareness is second. This is a recognition of your strengths and weaknesses, needs and desires, and the effect you have on others.

Third is self-regulation, the ability to control or redirect any disruptive moods or impulses you have so you can continue to work towards your goals effectively. Self-regulators know how to wait, to allow emotions to settle so they can think before they act.

Social skill is the fourth quality, the ability to communicate clearly, to persuade others to join your cause, to identify common ground and to manage relationships so those around you work with you.
My parents are in their mid-80s and receive a part pension. They own their home and have just sold an investment property, which will give them about $300,000 in cash. They have a share portfolio of about $400,000, which generates modest income for them. What do you suggest they do with the $300,000 cash? As their children, we have no interest in receiving an inheritance, but we think the cash should remain reasonably accessible in case our parents decide to go into care.

Illustration: Simon Letch

It is most unlikely they will spend the money before they die, so I guess theyre in what we call the custodian phase of their lives  this means taking care of the money for their estate. Over the long term, shares should give better returns than cash. As theyre familiar with shares, it may be worthwhile having a family meeting to discuss adding part of the $300,000 to their share portfolio, and keeping the balance available for liquidity. I assume you have made provision for capital gains tax on sale.

My mother was given a lifetime interest in her deceased partner's estate 24 years ago. There was an existing mortgage that she continued to pay until 2015. Recently she had a fall and was placed in aged care. She is a gold DVA pensioner and my sister found a place that didn't require a bond. She pays 85 per cent of her pension in fees. The estate is to be sold and funds placed in a trust. My mother will receive interest from this until she passes. I understand she is not allowed to use the principal amount from the estate. My sister has said it is best for her to surrender her interest so as to not jeopardise her current arrangements with the aged-care facility. As her enduring power of attorney, I am confused as to which way to proceed. I would appreciate any assistance to understand the best options for my mother.

Rachel Lane of Aged Care Gurus says that your mother's cost of care will be determined based on her assets and income. If she has DVA qualifying service, special exemptions can apply to her pension  if she were an Australian prisoner of war, then DVA may contribute towards the cost of her care but the gold card alone is not a determinant of such exemptions.
Professional ballerina Dimity Azoury admits she has many pairs of critical eyes watching her every move most days - but none more critical than her own.

The 29-year-old dancer from Queanbeyan - she's the daughter of "baby whisperer" and obstetrician Dr John Azoury - says every morning she arrives at the Australian Ballet's Melbourne studio she's immediately self-critiquing.

Canberra ballerina Lana Jones (left) and Queanbeyan ballerina Dimity Azoury share the lead role in the Australian Ballet's new production 'The Merry Widow'. Credit:karleen minney

"The biggest stresses are the ones you put on yourself," she says.

"Every day I go to work and I look at myself very critically and that's in terms of physically what I look like, and then I look at technically what I'm doing, and then I look at artistically what I'm doing.
The father of Jonathon Hogan, who died in prison, is urging the ACT government to open an inquiry into his son's death.

Jonathon, 23, died by hanging inside Junee prison in February this year. He had a history of substance abuse and mental health issues, and had absconded from the mental health unit at Canberra Hospital before his incarceration at Junee.

His father, Matt, is desperate to know whether Jonathon was being treated for substance abuse inside Junee, and why someone with a history of self-harm was locked in a cell with hanging points.

Read Steven Trask, Katie Burgess and Kirsten Lawson's story here.

Supermarket plans for Northbourne abandoned
The distraught father of a young Aboriginal man who died in prison is urging the ACT government to open an inquiry into his son's death.

Matt Hogan is haunted by the death of his 23-year-old son Jonathon, who died by hanging inside Junee prison, NSW, on February 3 this year.

Matt Hogan, who is holding a photo of Jonathon, wants a public inquiry into his son's death. Credit:Jamila Toderas

Jonathon had a history of substance abuse and mental health issues, and had absconded from the mental health unit at Canberra Hospital before his incarceration at Junee.

He had been taken to Canberra Hospital's mental health unit last year after he was arrested in the ACT for property offences and had self-harmed in police custody.
It will not surprise many that a new study of attitudes shows Australian voters are deserting the centre ground and moving to the fringes and extremes. As we have reported, an analysis of time-series data collected in the Australian Election Study after every federal poll since 1987 shows more voters are thinking of themselves as either "left" or "right" in political terms. Where in 1996 54 per cent of voters described themselves as in the centre, in 2016 only 42 per cent did. At the same time, they are more than ever disillusioned with politics itself. These are worrying trends.

The decline of the centrist consensus suggests voters are in effect giving up on the idea of compromise. They are abandoning positions where consensus can be formed with people of opposing views, and preferring to gather with like-minded people where counter arguments do not have to be taken seriously. If this is carried too far, politics becomes a zero sum  for one side to win the other must lose.

Storm clouds continue to brew over Parliament House. Credit:Andrew Meares

The tendency is already clear in the attitudes of some MPs who are increasingly willing to abandon or ridicule centrist positions to pander to their supporters on the fringes. But though it is no surprise, it is cause for concern. It goes some way to explain the exasperating, shrill negativity that has gripped Australian politics since the defeat of the Howard government in 2007.

We see it in the proliferation of fringe parties  One Nation and the newer Australian Conservatives on the right, and the Greens on the left. We see it also within parties. The Liberals at present are torn by ideological confusion, with moderates attempting to retain their control as a shrinking, but increasingly radical, membership seeks to move the party ever further to the right. On the left, Labor, with longer experience of open factional discord, has built a whole edifice to contain it, but the Greens are in disarray as factions fight to control where the party stands  towards the centre or far to the left; for conservation or for socialism.
A drug runner accused of the car park shooting of a south Sydney teenager claims his friend is the one who pulled the trigger.

Joseph Gatt, 27, is on trial for the murder of 18-year-old Bassil Hijazi in the car park of a Bexley gym on July 29, 2013.

Bassil Hijazi was shot dead in a public car park at Bexley.

Mr Gatt denies the charge, claiming he was blind to friend George Borgs plan to kill Mr Hijazi that night.

Borg, who has pleaded guilty to taking part in the murder, is appearing as a key Crown witness in the Supreme Court trial, to point the finger at Mr Gatt.
A former Scouts leader accused of sexually abusing multiple boys over two decades will remain under virtual "house arrest" until his case goes to trial, a court has heard.

Mario Henry Aliverti, 58, has been charged with a total of 81 offences including gross indecency, sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 16, assault, and indecent assault of a person under 16.

Mario Henry Aliverti leaves the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Tuesday. Credit:Fairfax Media

It is alleged Mr Aliverti sexually abused nine boys, some of whom were under his care, from 1985 to 2008.

He has been on bail since he was first charged in July 2016. However, following further charges being laid in March this year the Crown applied to have him detained.
One of Australia's biggest chicken suppliers has been placed into voluntary administration with hundreds of jobs likely to be lost.

Red Lea Chickens was on March 29 placed into voluntary administration, with the company saying on its website its financial position means there's "no alternative" but to wind-down operations.

The message on Red Lea Chickens' website on Tuesday evening.

A meeting was reportedly held by administrators at the Blacktown processing plant on Tuesday where hundreds of employees of the family-owned business - which has been operating since 1957 - learned of their fate.

Zagorca Ciolac says she has been working at the plant for the 33 years.
An artist's impression of a proposed boarding house in Allambie Heights.

I was a town planner at the former City of South Sydney in the mid-nineties when brothels became legal. Brothel operators could apply to legalise brothels that had been operating for decades. I remember someone objecting to a proposed brothel in East Sydney, saying it would be a disaster for her neighbourhood if that use was to commence a few doors along. She seemed surprised to learn that it had been operating for several decades. Boarding houses seem to share a similar stigma  they are associated with apparently socially undesirable types deemed by some to be wholly unwelcome in the Hills District or on the Northern Beaches.

It seems a pity to have to explain that the boarding houses built under state affordable housing policies are usually self-contained flatettes with regular folks living in them who happen to form a single person household, or sometimes a couple.

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And as with brothels, this type of use has been occurring across Sydney for decades  only not with approval and normally not in a self-contained arrangement. They are known as share-houses. Typically regarded as a bohemian rite-of-passage for students, they proliferate across Sydney. They often involve rooms let out by a non-resident landlord with unauthorised internal modifications. As with illegal brothels, illegal boarding houses can be unhygienic fire traps.

In 2009, the NSW government introduced a state affordable housing policy that freed up restrictions around granny flats and boarding houses along with some other forms of affordable housing. Under those rules, boarding houses are allowed in low density areas if within 400 metres of a bus stop with frequent services.
Sydney students are travelling up to 100 kilometres each day to attend selective schools, with some travelling at least two hours across the city just to get to class, a Herald investigation reveals.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said the travel times were a high level of sacrifice for a young person that should not be necessary to get a quality education and suggested that students would be just as well served at their local school.

Gifted students do not need to go to selective schools to receive an excellent education, Mr Stokes said.

Getting to and from school can take some students several hours each day. Credit:Louie Douvis

The phenomenal distances students are prepared to travel also significantly adds to the traffic congestion on Sydneys roads, according to transport academic Stephen Greaves.
Ride design, maintenance, staff training, safety measures and emergency responses will all be considered in the highly anticipated inquest into the Dreamworld tragedy that claimed four lives.

Canberra man Roozbeh Araghi, his partner Luke Dorsett, Mr Dorsetts sister Kate Goodchild and Sydney mother Cindy Low died when Dreamworlds Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned in October 2016.

An inquest is investigating the accident that caused the deaths of Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett and Roozbeh Araghi. Credit:Glenn Hunt

A pre-inquest conference held in Brisbane on Tuesday morning heard the examination proper, to be held in two parts, could start as soon as June.

Representatives for four victims or their families were given leave to appear, along with Dreamworld parent company Ardent Leisure and two company employees.
Families of the four people killed in the Dreamworld ride disaster have waited a long time for answers but could be closer to learning what happened as an inquest into the deaths begins.

The anticipated coronial probe will get under way this week, although it was not expected to hear any evidence until later in the year.

It will examine the circumstances around the October 2016 deaths of Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low, who were killed when a raft they were in on the popular Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned and flipped.

Ms Goodchild's 12-year-old daughter Ebony and Ms Low's 10-year-old son survived.
Twenty Victorian men have been charged with sharing child abuse material, including hurtcore torture videos, after police raids across Melbourne.

The charges come as the joint anti-child exploitation team revealed that on average paedophiles in Victoria share 4 million files containing child abuse material every month.

Detectives from the team, which comprises both federal and state police, are now trying to identify the children in the thousands of videos and photos. The material was found in the hard drives seized from homes in 19 suburbs and one country town, including Fitzroy, Ascot Vale, Ormond and Richmond, over four days in March. The final warrant was executed on Thursday.

The files depicted the sexual abuse and torture of children from newborn age up to 18 years of age, Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said. They could be from anywhere.
It's long been suspected that many a politician will do whatever it takes to get what they want and that in politics the ends justify the means.

But its not every day that one of them comes out and admits just that.

Maybe Victorian Opposition leader Matthew Guy deserves credit for a straight answer when he was asked if the end justified the means after he ordered two of his MPs to break their word to the State Parliament on Good Friday.

The means were absolutely justified and I stand by it and I would do the same tomorrow, Mr Guy told a press conference on Tuesday morning.
Melbourne Express, Wednesday, April 4, 2018

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Street noises result in court adjournment

During the hearing of an application, the Conciliation Commissioner, Mr M Henwood, complained of the noise outside No.4 Industrial Arbitration Court, Queen's Square, and said it was impracticable to continue until some more suitable accommodation farther from the street could be found. "It is only practicable to ask witnesses questions in between trams," said the commissioner.

Photographs in tooth cavities

At the trial of 21 alleged international spies in Paris, Riva Davidovici, a young Rumanian dentist, gave evidence that her function in the spy gang was to fill cavities in the teeth of Mrs Switz, the British-born wife of Robert Switz, with temporary stoppings containing microscopic photographs of stolen plans. It is alleged that the spy gang operated on behalf of Russia and Germany in the US, France, and Britain.

Aboriginal king wants payment for land
But only a few. And think of what this means.

The so-called "fake identity" travellers. Many were just people who'd swapped tickets with friends without officially changing the names on the paper; hardly criminals, perhaps, except in a state where monitoring and policing movement has taken on a meaning all of its own. Some may have bought tickets from scalpers, but then again, how vital is it really to police this?

Questions such as this don't necessarily occur, of course, to middling bureaucrats. They've been armed with the ability to ensure names match the tickets and so that's what they do. It's only natural.

At the moment such monitoring is still in its infancy, but these are just the early hiccups. By the year 2020 Beijing insists it will have rolled out the full system, an effective 'net' that will quickly allow criminals to be caught, trapped, and imprisoned. There will be nowhere to hide. It will be impossible to interact in any manner, even catching a bus or making a phone-call, without leaving a digital trail that exposes every activity.

What's different now is the way these individual pieces of information can be put together to provide an incredibly detailed portrait of your innermost feelings  things that even your closest partner might not know.
Canberra greyhound trainer Jonte Brown has only just begun his career, but the 21-year-old said he'll travel far and wide to keep racing after the sport is banned in the ACT this month.

Brown came into the sport when offered a free greyhound from a friend's litter of 12 two years ago and saw immediate success in his debut race last month.

Greyhound trainer Jonte Brown and his winning dog Ron's Bookshoop. Photo: Dion Georgopoulos Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

Ron's Bookshop bolted home to finish to finish second in his first two races, before posting an emphatic four-length win in his third start.

The two-year-old started favourite in Canberra race 10 on Sunday but he was checked early which dashed any hope of a second straight win.
But the case raises questions about the adequacy of vetting at the Defence Science and Technology Group, which appears to rely partly on staff self-reporting any potential conflicts of interest after their initial vetting when hired. "Defence ... has policies in place to manage potential conflicts of interest, including requiring employees to disclose and actively manage actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest," the spokesperson said. It is highly likely that Chinese authorities were aware of the scientist's role at the Defence Department, with a 2006 Chinese government publication noting that the scientist worked at the Defence Science and Technology Group, then known as the Defence Science and Technology Organisation. In the course of his work for the technology company and community groups, the scientist travelled to China on multiple occasions in recent years, where he met with local Chinese government officials. China's intelligence services are believed to be actively pursuing classified defence technology around the globe, as well as seeking to recruit academics and researchers, including those who are unwitting.

ASIOs annual report last year highlighted that foreign intelligence services are targeting a range of Australian interests, including clandestine acquisition of intellectual property, science and technology. CSIRO Fairfax Media can also reveal how Australia's peak scientific research agency, the CSIRO, has spent tens of millions of dollars upgrading its cyber-security and information systems since a data breach linked to an employee who was a Chinese national. The man, who was employed by CSIRO, disappeared after the apparent breach in November 2013, which triggered not only the security upgrade but contributed to a major rethink of how Australia approached its relationship with China. In what is one of the more mysterious events in the relatively short history of cyber-espionage, government insiders insist the breach was serious, although details remain sketchy.

Clearer is the response from CSIRO and the police. "It appears to have been a wake-up call for the whole organisation [CSIRO]," wrote a senior investigator from the Australian Federal Police's high-tech crime division in a report obtained through freedom-of-information laws by Fairfax Media. Following the breach, CSIRO conducted an internal review of its cyber and general IT security, according to its annual report and then embarked on a major upgrade of systems. A central peg of this system involves the CSIRO's super-computer being housed within a facility owned by Canberra Data Centres, a storage facility which has been likened to the modern equivalent of Fort Knox. The police probe, detailed in FOI files, was prompted after a Chinese scientist stationed at the CSIROs Materials Science and Engineering department failed to turn up to work, causing panic among his colleagues.

CSIRO headquarters, Canberra. Credit:Katherine Griffiths The scientist was a post-doctoral student at the nanotechnology laboratory in Melbourne, which works closely with Australia's Defence Science and Technology Group. On November 22, 2013, a CSIRO manager sent an email to the scientist, saying: We have noted that you have been absent from work since 18 November 2013. As we have not heard from you since Friday the 15th November, we are concerned about your wellbeing. Three weeks later, on December 11, the Chinese scientist wrote back a three-line email advising he had returned to China. By then, the CSIRO had contacted the Australian Federal Police, who in turn contacted ASIO.

It made us stand up and take notice as we had been briefed by the [intelligence] agencies several times about this sort of thing happening. Now it looked like it was the real deal, a former AFP officer said. The briefings by ASIO to the AFP had covered several topics, the first being cyber-espionage.

They are just hoovering up huge amounts of information from private companies and, where they can, government agencies, says a former government official now involved in cyber-security. Another top former government official with knowledge of intelligence matters says the Chinese are far more aggressive in cultivating insiders. They identify someone from China working in an Australian company or agency and they approach him and say, heres 20 grand, can we have these documents? He might say piss off. Then they will go to another person and ask again. He might say yes, hand over the documents and then never deal with the agency again. When the AFP was notified in 2013 by the CSIRO about the missing scientist, police began investigating wheher he had been working with the Chinese government to gain access to the CSIROs confidential research.

His Melbourne home was raided and his CSIRO colleagues were interviewed by members of the AFPs cyber crime and organised crime divisions. Loading Documents also reveal that the CSIRO gave the AFP access to a shared machine  used heavily by our research team to see if it had been compromised by the scientist. The investigation ultimately yielded little hard evidence, and the AFP remains unable to say definitively whether the scientist was compromised or not. The man, after initially speaking informally to police, declined a formal interview and is now living in Europe. Eighteen months after it was launched, the AFP closed the file in July 2015 citing insufficient evidence and [the Chinese scientists] reluctance to assist.
The Labor opposition has said it would only remove the private health insurance rebate - an average 27 per cent discount - from "junk" policies and make no other changes to the rebate.

After being accused by the federal government of "constantly changing their position", Labor's health spokeswoman Catherine King said it was not considering any additional changes to the rebate beyond "what [they've] already announced" - removing it from so-called junk policies.

Labor's Catherine King says the Health Minister is trying to "scaremonger and distract from his own failure to make private health more affordable". Credit:AAP

However, Ms King did not clarify whether "what [they've] already announced" also captured the possible rebate-related recommendations of Labor's promised Productivity Commission review into health insurance if in government.

So-called "junk" policies generally refer to those that cover public hospital treatment only, and Labor's plan to remove the rebate from these policies is supported by consumer groups such as Choice.
The federal government will spend $150 million to upgrade a section of Queensland's Bruce Highway to help ease congestion.

In Queensland on Tuesday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced funding for the Murrumba Downs section north of Brisbane, which sits in Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's electorate.

Member for Petrie Luke Howarth, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Member for Dickson Peter Dutton speak to media in Murrumba Downs. Credit:AAP

"It is much needed, it's long overdue and we're very welcoming of the investment," Mr Dutton told reporters on Tuesday.

The announcement marked the start of a three-day blitz of marginal Queensland electorates by the prime minister and is expected to be followed by further spending commitments.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy says his party's Good Friday double-cross was justified because the result reflected the will of the Parliament.

On Tuesday he took responsibility for ordering two Liberal MPs back into Parliament on Good Friday to vote against a controversial government fire services bill after they asked to be excused to observe the religious holiday.

"The means were absolutely justified and I stand by it and I would do the same tomorrow," he said.

Mr Guy said his upper house MPs Craig Ondarchie and Bernie Finn should not be blamed for reneging on an agreement to pair with two Labor MPs who also abstained from voting.
Jakarta: An Indonesian cabinet minister's threat to ban Facebook has been dismissed as "basically impossible", as neighbouring Malaysia's parliament rushes through legislation to outlaw "fake news".

The Malaysian law makes so-called fake news a criminal offence, with penalties of up to six years jail or fines of up to $168,000 attached.

Fake news: PM Najib Razak bans it. Credit:AP

Meanwhile, Indonesian Communications Minister Rudiantara told Bloomberg he was prepared to shut down Facebook if evidence emerged that Indonesian citizens' data had been harvested for political use, or if the company failed to crack down on "fake news" in forthcoming elections.

"If I have to shut them down, then I will do it," Rudiantara said, in a stark warning to the social media giant just weeks after it was revealed political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica used data from the site inappropriately.
Beijing: Restricting the Vatican's control over the appointment of bishops in China does not infringe on believers' religious freedom, a Chinese official said on Tuesday, amid historic negotiations between Beijing and the Holy See aimed at healing divisions.

Chen Zongrong, an official overseeing religious affairs, said Beijing would not allow "foreign forces" to govern the country's faith groups.

Holy Saturday Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a government-sanctioned Catholic church in Beijing. Credit:AP

"The Chinese constitution clearly states that China's religious groups and religious affairs cannot be controlled by foreign forces, and (the foreign forces) should not interfere in Chinese religious affairs in any way,"

"I disagree with the view that preventing Rome from having full control over the selection of bishops hinders religious freedom," Chen said.
Jakarta: An Indonesian cabinet member has threatened to shut down Facebook if there is any evidence the personal data of citizens is being harvested or the social media giant fails to crack down on "fake news" during upcoming elections.

Amid continuing fallout over revelations the data of 50 million Facebook users was obtained by a firm that helped US President Donald Trump's campaign, there's growing fears in Indonesia that its presidential race could be corrupted. With the contest set to kick off within months, Communications Minister Rudiantara has voiced concerns that individuals or organised groups could exploit social media platforms in a bid to influence the outcome.

An Indonesian citizen votes. Influence via Facebook may be an issue in upcoming elections. Credit:Bloomberg

"If I have to shut them down, then I will do it," Rudiantara said in an interview on Friday at his residence in Jakarta, noting Indonesia had earlier blocked the messaging app, Telegram. "I did it. I have no hesitation to do it again."

The warning extends beyond Facebook to other platforms including Twitter, Alphabet Inc.'s Google, which owns YouTube, and a host of other social media companies. Both Twitter and Google have previously agreed to work with the government to monitor content.
London: Jeremy Corbyn's decision to celebrate Passover with Jewdas, a self-described radical leftist Jewish group, has been heavily criticised in Britain, where his opposition Labour Party has been accused of tolerating anti-Semitism.

The group's very name  a play on Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus Christ  is a provocation, one that has angered many of those encountering the group for the first time. Some critics say that Jewdas' name, and antics, risk stoking age-old myths and hatreds that have led to anti-Semitic violence.

Britain's Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Credit:PA

Created in London more than a decade ago, Jewdas is a group of left-wing activists who are at odds with most of Britain's mainstream Jewish organisations. Its members say they are opposed to capitalism and fascism, but the group may be best known for its vociferous criticisms of Israel and its policies toward Palestinians.

"It's a radical diaspora Jewish group that has taken an explicitly non-Zionist stance, alongside satirising the many absurdities of the British Jewish community and throwing excellent parties," according to a founder of the group, Joseph Finlay.
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was cancelling an agreement with the UN refugee agency to relocate thousands of African migrants, bowing to right-wing pressure to scrap the deal.

Hours after announcing the new arrangement, which would also give thousands of other migrants the right to stay in Israel, Netanyahu posted a message on his Facebook page saying he was putting its implementation on hold until further review.

He then declared the agreement dead at a meeting on Tuesday with representatives of residents of south Tel Aviv, a poor area that has attracted the largest migrant community and where many of its inhabitants want the Africans out.

African migrants gather during a protest in Israel in February against being deported. Credit:AP

"I have listened carefully to the many comments on the agreement. As a result, and after I again weighed the advantages and disadvantages, I decided to cancel the deal," a statement from the prime minister's office quoted Netanyahu as saying at the session.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince has said he believes Israelis have a right to a homeland alongside Palestinians.

When asked if he believed Israeli people had a right to a nation-state, Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old heir to the Saudi throne, said: "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel and has maintained for years that establishing any diplomatic relations hinges on Israel's withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory that Palestinians seek for a future state.
San Francisco General Hospital said a man, 36, was in critical critical, a 32-year-old woman was in a serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in a stable condition. Local television station KTVU reported that the male victim was the shooter's boyfriend and worked at YouTube. The shooter was not immediately identified by police, nor were the victims. Police said an update would not likely come before Wednesday morning, local time. ABC7 News said the woman they identified was a user of YouTube and had a website with an alleged manifesto targeting YouTube for censorship. CNN and NBC News citing confidential sources also named the woman as Aghdam, who had lived in San Diego. Female mass shooters are rare. Of 28 mass attacks analysed by the US Secret Service in 2017, all were by male attackers. About 13 in commercial or business premises.

Dianna Arnspiger told the Associated Press that the shooter wore glasses and a scarf, and was using a "big huge pistol". "It was a woman and she was firing her gun. And I just said, Shooter, and everybody started running, Arnspiger said. She hid in a conference room before leaving the building. A witness, Jesse, told MSNBC that he was getting a hamburger at nearby fast-food restaurant Carl's Jr when he heard up to 10 shots being fired in quick succession. Employees evacuated the building with their hands in the air. Credit:Snapchat

A woman then ran out of the YouTube building with a gunshot wound to her foot. Diners helped to drag her into Carl's Jr. Michael Finney, who was working at the restaurant, said he used a bungee cord to stop the bleeding. "She was pretty calm," he said. "I asked her why someone would shoot her and she said she didnt know." Jesse said he ran back towards the office and looked through the doorway and saw a woman lying on the ground. She was dead, Im sure of it, he told reporters. Those 10 shots were rapid fire - it was no mercy. There were four more shots after that."

Police searched the building and found a female suspect with self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Credit:AP Todd Sherman, a YouTube product manager, posted on Twitter that he was in a meeting when he felt the floor rumbling from the footfalls of employees racing for the exit. He initially thought it was an earthquake. As he got out, people were saying that there was an active shooter who had then shot herself. "I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs," he said. "[I] peeked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front." A person is searched near the YouTube headquarters in California. Credit:KGO-TV

A Twitter user named Erin began posting at 3.52pm, local time, asking if there was a shooting at YouTube headquarters. She then posted a series of photos from a neighbouring building showing employees being led out with the hands in the air. "People are running out of the building with their hands up. I cant believe I am watching this," she posted. "Ambulances are in front of the building, sirens everywhere, police with rifles surrounding the building. They are bringing someone down out of the building."

Vadim Lavrusik, a product manager at YouTube, wrote on Twitter that he and co-workers were barricaded inside a room, before later tweeting "Safe. Got evacuated. Outside now." An employee told Fairfax Media that, as she was evacuating, she saw a person "down". "It was very, very scary," she said. Software engineer Zach Vorhies said he left the building on his skateboard and heard a commotion in a building courtyard. Someone was shouting Come and get me!

Nearby he saw a man lying on his back with a bloodstain soaking through his shirt on his stomach. I didnt understand what was going on until police came in the door, he said. And then I got out of there. YouTubes parent company, Google, said it was co-operating with law enforcement. Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a written statement he was grateful to everyone inside and outside the company for the outpouring of support and best wishes". I know a lot of you are in shock right now, he said. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy.

Less than 3 per cent of mass shootings in the US in the past three decades were carried out by females, according to data compiled by news site Mother Jones. The last was Tashfeen Malik, who carried out an Islamic State-inspired shooting with her husband in San Bernadino, California in 2015. San Bruno is a city 17 kilometres south of downtown San Francisco and is next to San Francisco International Airport. The city has been the home of YouTube, the world's largest online video site, for more than a decade. It unofficially marks the beginning of Silicon Valley and is also home to a major Walmart e-commerce office. US President Donald Trump tweeted his thanks to first responders.
Washington: A California state legislator has proposed legislation that would require social platforms like Facebook and Twitter to identify automated accounts, or bots, amid a push by lawmakers to police the technology companies that have proven vulnerable to manipulation and the spread of fake news.

Bots, which can be purchased or created by individuals or organisations, have been used to inflate influence or amplify divisive opinions in politics and national tragedies.

Twitter is home to many bots. Credit:Bloomberg

In the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, for example, bots with suspected links to Russia released hundreds of posts to weigh in on the gun control debate.

Russia-linked bots on Twitter shared Donald Trump's tweets almost half a million times during the final months of the 2016 election campaign, compared with fewer than 50,000 retweets for Hillary Clinton's account.
Police raided dozens of properties in Italy, France, Luxembourg and Belgium and questioned suspects Tuesday in a real estate corruption inquiry centring on the EU's executive office, officials say.

Brussels prosecutor's spokesman Jos Colpin said some businessmen were questioned on suspicion of active corruption, and EU officials on suspicion of passive corruption linked to buildings that were used for European Commission delegations abroad. He did not elaborate on the number of people involved.

Some 30 properties were raided in Belgium and about a dozen in Italy, said an official, on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the investigation. No names of suspects were being released as questioning was continuing into the evening and could lead to formal charges being pressed, he said.
Right at the heart of Joyson Electronics in Ningbo

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

The Joyson Group is among the 100 largest automotive suppliers in the world. It was therefore important for the Group management that their brands and product world were fittingly represented in their new company offices in Ningbo.

KECK has been staging brand presentation for Joyson Electronics companies at trade fairs and events globally since 2013. This includes the Preh showroom in its head office in Bad Neustadt  ideal preparation for the new mission at the holding?s headquarters in Ningbo.

In the space of seven months, collaborating with its commercial partner A-form, KECK developed a showroom concept which through communication and design, as well as a targeted use of media, creates an intense brand experience offering consistent information and an emotional appeal.

The contract was awarded at the end of September 2017 with the end of the year as a deadline for the redesign. Four frenetic weeks of general planning for our joint venture, KECK ASIA, followed. This left seven weeks for production and build. KECK ASIA proved its abilities: the project went exactly as planned.

In a successful design, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The viewer is unaware of the many details involved. For instance, for the construction of the walls, matte lacquered facade panels made of aluminium were used. This not only reflects the innovative technology of the products, but also prevents potential cracks, which can occur in the frequent structural movement of Chinese new builds.

In line with the wishes of the holding, value was placed on using high end materials: the world map made of polished stainless steel is LED backlit and secured to a blue glass panel. Fluorescent acrylic glass was used for the story wall and product communication featuring laser inscription. This breaks up light falling on the surface and directs it to the outer edges so that it is illuminated.

Fundamentally, lighting plays a key role in staging and atmosphere. To create the desired ambience for the situation, the LED spotlights can be remotely dimmed as well as adjusted for light temperature.

The Group?s aesthetically designed products are each presented on suitable pedestals, showcasing the interior trends of a future-focussed industry. By means of sensor controls which react to movement in front of the product, the screens behind automatically play the corresponding product video. Then the monitor returns to playing the complete film, which is running via the 13 screen multimedia banner, re-uniting the individual brands under Joyson Electronics.

As a result of the flawless result, which was exactly as desired, KECK ASIA was named a ?top supplier? of the holding.

30 years successfully on the market, 160 employees and passion for what we do ? we are KECK. Our references are from just as wide a range of industries as our solutions. After all, ?run of the mill? is an alien concept to us. We realise projects always in an extraordinary and creative manner, perfectly attuned to our customers from the most varying of sectors.

In realising everything from extravagant trade fair stands and showrooms through to elaborate light and communication concepts, we can implement all you require to stage your brand successfully. Our wheelhouse includes the entire spectrum of services ? strategy, consultation, design, construction and assembly. The most important step in every project is to understand the brand. We really get to its core and present it in a standardised and unique way. We not only stage brands, but also make them more successful.
Calix Senior Director Bernd Hesse Elected to Broadband Forum Board of Directors

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

ATHENS, Greece  April 3, 2018  Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced Bernd Hesse, Calix senior director of technology development, has been elected to the Broadband Forum\-\-s Board of Directors during last week\-\-s quarterly meeting in Athens, Greece. Hesse brings his extensive experience leading industry forums and creating momentum for leading-edge broadband innovations to support the Broadband Forum in its ongoing work to define and deliver ubiquitous, next-generation access technologies.

Hesse is the Founder and Chairman of the Broadband Forum\-\-s BASE events. BASE is a series of public workshops, which provide technical expertise as well as education on the latest technology and use cases for innovative broadband technologies. The most recent BASE workshops, held in Athens and at the 2018 OFC Conference in early March, drew more than 400 industry delegates. The workshops covered a range of topics including the managed home, 5G wireless/wireline convergence, virtualized broadband, cloud services, and the latest in next-generation access technologies.

\The Broadband Forum is a world-class organization doing critically important work across the world to help shape how broadband evolves. I am honored to have been elected to the board,\ commented Bernd Hesse, senior director for technology development at Calix. \My career has largely focused on progressing the development of the next wave of broadband technologies, so I am excited for this opportunity to further influence our industry through this position. For Calix, it further highlights the work our company has done for years across many influential standards bodies and keeps us engaged at the cutting edge of new standards as they are developed.\

Hesse joined Calix in 2016 with more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. He has founded several industry groups and technology forums, including the WDM-PON Forum and NG-PON2 Forum, the latter of which is now part of the Broadband Forum\-\-s NG-PON2 Council. Hesse has been a catalyst for bringing together key industry stakeholders to increase the adoption of these technologies, create and drive interoperability programs, and develop partnerships across broadband access and metro networking. Bernd\-\-s expertise in PON and optical access technology will bring a new depth of experience to the Broadband Forum Board of Directors.

Robin Mersh, CEO of the Broadband Forum said: \Bernd has been a very enthusiastic and experienced member of the Forum since he began to represent Calix and I am delighted that he has been elected to the Board, at what is a very exciting and challenging time for the Forum.\

Hesse\-\-s election is another milestone in Calix\-\-s long-time commitment to industry standards. The company has been on the forefront of standards development and interoperability plans with the Full Service Access Network (FSAN) group, Wi-Fi Alliance, and the Broadband Forum for over a decade. Calix team members both lead and participate in many of the Broadband Forum\-\-s workgroups, including those focused on driving momentum and adoption of Gfast and NG-PON2 technologies.
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Molly, a three-year-old Walker, enjoyed Easter with her family after being lost for eight days.
Rocky Point Park sits along the Black River in the Choppee area of Georgetown County. The county recently secured a grant that will help pay for a kayak launch nearby.
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The HP ENVY ISS is the first new printer model to be developed for and launched to the International Space Station in 18 years.

The astronauts on the International Space Station have access to a slew of state-of-the-art scientific instruments and cutting-edge technology, from hand-held DNA sequencers to robot assistants to even a 3D printer.

But when it comes to plain old 2D printing, the emphasis, as of late, has been on the "old." [Space Station's 3D Printer Makes Wrench From 'Beamed Up' Design]

"If you think about it in terms of its age, the printer can vote," said Stephen Hunter, NASA's manager for space station computer resources at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. "And that is just the time we've had it on orbit. If you add in the years of development, it's probably closer to 21, so the Epson printer can probably step up to any bar and order a drink."

Since the first crew moved on board the orbiting laboratory in November 2000, the space station has been equipped with the same model of inkjet printer: the Epson 800. But after almost two decades, even with swapping out units every 18 months or so, keeping the printers up and running has become a real issue.

"I use that analogy because while the printers have worked well, the maintenance for them has just become too hard for us now," said Hunter in an interview with collectSPACE. "So the decision became either we're going to upgrade our printing capability or we just weren't going to print anymore."

Not printing was not an option.

Epson passed on NASA's invitation to help develop a new printer, so NASA found a new commercial partner in HP.

All in one

The astronauts use the printers on the space station for the same reasons people on Earth use them in offices and at home. The crews print out work documents as well as personal files.

"Letters from home, photographs and training materials are the types of things the crews print," said Hunter. "If you think about how much you print at home, or how much you print in your office environment, the same kind of thing applies in space, except that there are some critical things the crew has to print."

While the astronauts have ample access to laptop and tablet computers, there are just some things they cannot keep in electronic format only. For example, were the space station to suddenly lose power or if the crew had to evacuate the outpost in an emergency, they could not rely on there being an available digital screen or the time needed to access their procedures. So hard copies are a must.

The rare contingency aside though, there is also the human factor.

"There's something very human and psychological about the feel of paper," Hunter explained. "You get things that are very personal to the crew  letters from home, pictures. There are some who have used the printers to make keepsakes to bring home. One crew member used the printers to print out their expedition patch on a special type of paper from their home country and used that as souvenirs."

The space station's printing needs put the orbiting outpost into a unique category, said Ronald Stephens, the R&D manager for HP Specialty Printing Systems.

"For the astronauts, the space station is really a combined environment," he said. "It looks like an enterprise environment, where you have 'corporate' NASA on the ground changing procedures and sending up materials to be printed remotely, and we at HP work in those type of environments quite often."

"It is also clearly an office and laboratory environment. You've got astronauts doing research, printing reports, graphs, other engineering and science documents."

"And then it is also their home  their family sends an email or a photo," added Stephens. "I think the challenge is that the space station is really a combination of all of the different types of segments that printers go into. It is that all in one."

Spot the printer: An Epson 800 printer can be seen mounted on the ceiling of the space station's Destiny lab amid other equipment and astronauts Don Pettit and Ken Bowersox in March 2003. (Image credit: NASA)

Off the shelf

The astronauts' printing needs may indeed be all in one, but the printer they use would be better if if it was not, said Hunter. When the Epson 800 first went into use aboard the space station, many commercial printers did just and only that, print.

"We wanted to stay with using a commercial off-the-shelf printer and then modify it for our needs," said Hunter. "But as you can no longer find a printer that just prints, we had to take an all-in-one style printer and disable some of its functions."

No one is sending faxes to the space station. And while it might be nice to be able to scan and copy documents in orbit, the printer parts needed to enable that are a problem for NASA.

"We needed to remove the glass out of the printer, because if that were to shatter or break we'd have a safety issue. It saves weight as well," said Hunter.

After doing a market study of the available home and office printers, NASA found an HP model that could be modified to fit its needs.

"They were interested in our OfficeJet 5740 printer and working with us to figure out what would be the best way to replace the technology that they currently have on the space station," Stephens told collectSPACE in an interview.

Out of the box, the OfficeJet 5740 could probably work if hung on a wall or even a ceiling here on Earth. But to print in microgravity, modifications were needed.

Before and after: At top, HP's OfficeJet 5740 printer; at bottom, the HP ENVY ISS printer as developed for the space station. (Image credit: HP via collectSPACE.com)

Off the planet

To figure out what worked and what did not in its printer, HP came up with test and mounting fixtures to mount the OfficeJet upside down, sideways and at 45-degree angles.

"At many of the orientations, yes, the standard OfficeJet is able to accommodate," stated Stephens. "The biggest challenge from a zero-gravity standpoint was paper management."

As it happens, the off-the-shelf 5740 comes standard with a small arm that lowers down on the paper entering the printer, and a roller that lifts the top sheet to feed it in "a perfect design for a zero-gravity paper pick," said Stephens.

So going in, modifications were only needed to keep the paper stack in place. But what goes in must come out.

"You have to think about how you capture the paper in a microgravity environment. If you do not have some type of restraint, you end up with confetti shooting out of the printer," Hunter said.

"Obviously that would be unacceptable," said Stephens. "We used 3D printing and came up with an output tray design that uses some flexible fingers to help redirect the orientation of the paper as it's coming out of the printer  basically to knock it down and simulate that action that gravity would pull the paper. And then we have got a unique bale arm that's able to catch and stop the paper and keep it in place."

There were other, more minor changes made as result of microgravity, which were also solved with printed parts. For example, the carriage that moves the printhead from side to side normally hangs on a rod.

"Here [on Earth], we count on gravity to rotate it so that it hangs down in its correct position. We realized that would be a challenge in zero gravity and so we used 3D printing to shim that down and force it into the needed orientation," said Stephens. [How a Robot Arm in Space Inspired Tech for Surgery on Earth]

The new HP Envy ISS printer for the International Space Station is built from flame retardant materials and has 3D printed parts to direct paper flow. (Image credit: collectSPACE.com)

Keeping ink in and fire out

NASA's requirements for the modified printer weren't only that it needed to work in microgravity. It also had to function safely aboard the space station.

For example, because the printers will be mounted in areas where astronauts and cosmonauts could bump into them accidentally while floating through the modules, there could not be any sharp edges.

And because fire precautions are paramount on orbit, NASA required that the new printer be made from fire-safe materials. So, HP re-molded all of its printer's plastic parts from fire-retardant alternatives.

And then there was the ink.

Early on, NASA ruled out launching laser printers. The laser, itself, was considered a safety risk, the printers required too much power and the fine powder inside the drum of a laser jet would be a "huge contaminant" if it got out. So then it became a question of how to keep the ink from an inkjet printer contained.

HP's OfficeJet cartridges do not rely on gravity to work. Unlike the example of the space pen, which required a pressurized ink cartridge to replace the pull of gravity, the HP printer cartridges use thermal forces to create a bubble inside of the nozzle, and that bubble is what ejects the ink out.

"And to prevent the ink from just drooling out of the printhead, this family of inkjet printers uses foam inside the print cartridge and the capillary force of the liquid in the foam is what gives us the back pressure in the ink cartridge so the ink doesn't ooze out," explained Stephens. "So, we were not required to make any changes to the ink or the ink cartridges for it to work."

That does not mean, though, that droplets of ink do not sometimes pool inside the printer. On Earth, those drops fall and evaporate over time. But in space, where the droplets won't ever drop, there is concern of ink escaping the printer.

"If the ink were to escape, it could contaminate science payloads or even be a risk to the crew with ingestion," said Hunter.

That resulted in HP having to do "quite a bit" of work to redesign the interior of the printer, such as filling open areas with absorbent materials, Stephens said.

"We also used a special tape to cover all the seams of the case parts, so that if in the very unlikely event ink were to somehow get out of the inside of the printer, it will be unable to get out of the printer into the environment," he said.

Mission 'NV'

Taking all of the changes into account, the modified-for-orbit OfficeJet 5740 differs from an off-the-shelf printer by only about 10 percent. But, as it turns out, that was enough to warrant a new name.

Borrowing from another of its product lines, HP named its space station printer the "HP ENVY ISS" printer.

The first HP Envy ISS is launching on SpaceX's CRS-14 Dragon cargo spacecraft and is expected to be installed by the station's crew for a qualification run in May.

"We're deploying this as a technology demonstration before we can do the full out replacement," said Hunter. "I'm expecting, based on the amount of testing that we have done for this, that this printer will work flawlessly."

Assuming everything does work, the Envy ISS will replace the two Epson printers  one in the U.S. and one in the Russian segment  on board the space station. NASA intends for the Envy ISS to be in use through the end of the space station, whenever that may be. (At present, the station's partners have agreed to extend to at least 2024.)

"For the ground, we bought of the 50 of the unmodified, right-off-the-shelf printers to provide our training areas and have spares, and we purchased 50 printers to be modified for flight," said Hunter, noting the quantities were based on HP production runs.

"We're very excited about it because this is the first new printer for the ISS since its inception 20 years ago," he said.

For its part, HP is prepared to support the Envy ISS printer on the space station, a project it has dubbed "Mission NV."

"It's been a blast to work with the NASA team very closely," said Stephens. "It has certainly been the most exciting project I have worked on in my many years with HP."

See the mission patch for HP's "Mission NV" and its ENVY ISS printer at collectSPACE.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2018 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
Stephen Hawking delivers a speech during a lecture honoring NASA's 50th anniversary in 2008. Hawking died March 14 at the age of 76, and hundreds of people attended his March 31 funeral.

Hundreds of people celebrated the life and legacy of Stephen Hawking at the famed cosmologist's funeral Saturday (March 31).

Hawking's family invited about 500 people to the ceremony, which took place at Cambridge University's Great St. Mary's Church, according to NPR. Among the folks who paid their respects was actor Eddie Redmayne, who portrayed Hawking in the 2014 film "Theory of Everything."

Hawking died on March 14 at age 76, and the bell at Great St. Mary's rang out 76 times to mark each of his years on this planet, NPR reported. (Interestingly, Hawking died on Albert Einstein's birthday and was born on the 300th anniversary of Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei's death: Jan. 8, 1942.) [Stephen Hawking: A Physics Icon Remembered in Photos]

Hawking's ashes will be interred later this year at London's Westminster Abbey, which also houses the remains of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, among many other notable people.

Stephen Hawking asked, and attempted to answer, big questions about the cosmos and its evolution. For example, he and British physicist Roger Penrose posited that the universe emerged from a singularity, a point of infinite density akin to the heart of a black hole. And Hawking showed that black holes likely aren't entirely black  that they actually emit radiation and therefore eventually evaporate, given enough time.

Hawking also helped bring cosmology to the masses, writing best-selling books such as "A Brief History of Time" and "The Universe in a Nutshell." And people around the world were inspired by his personal story: Hawking accomplished all of this while coping with Lou Gehrig's disease, which robbed the physicist of most of his motor function over the years.

Hawking was an atheist, but he did his graduate work at Cambridge and was based at the university for decades thereafter. So, "because of his deep ties to Cambridge University, his family chose the customary Church of England service given to longtime fellows here," NPR reported.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Image of the Day Archives

NASA, ESA and Orsola De Marco (Macquarie University)

For older Image of the Day pictures, please visit the Image of the Day archives. Pictured: NGC 2467.

Happy New Year from Space!

JAXA/Norishige Kanai

Monday, January 1, 2018: Astronaut Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) celebrated the New Year of 2018 with this photo of a sunrise from the International Space Station on his Twitter. - Tariq Malik

A Spiral in Space

European Southern Observatory

Tuesday , January 2, 2018: Like a wheel within a wheel, this dazzling barred spiral galaxy (called NGC 1398) is sculpted by ribbons of dust and gas in this view captured by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert. The galazy is 65 million light-years away in the constellation The Furnace (Fornax). - Tariq Malik

Happy New Year from the International Space Station!

Wednesday, January 3, 2018: An international crew of three NASA astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and one Japanese astronaut celebrate the new year at the International Space Station by sharing a meal in their festive (and matching) Expedition 54 t-shirts.  Hanneke Weitering

Boeing's Heat Shield Put to the Test

Boeing

Thursday, January 4, 2018: A heat shield for Boeing's new CST-100 Starliner space capsule undergoes qualification testing at the company's Huntington Beach Facility in California. The spacecraft will be used to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station as part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program.  Hanneke Weitering

Mesmerizing Clouds of Saturn

Friday, January 5, 2018: Brilliant hues of blue and gold are smeared across Saturn's cloud tops in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Citizen scientist Kevin Gill processed the image using near-infrared data that the spacecraft collected just before it passed through Saturn's ring plane in December of 2012.  Hanneke Weitering

The Sun in 2017

ESA/Royal Observatory of Belgium

Monday, January 8, 2018: A series of 365 images from the European Space Agency's Proba-2 satellite shows what the sun looked like every day in 2017, including a partial solar eclipse on Aug. 21. The Suns 11-year activity cycle continued towards a minimum this year, a period when the number of bright active regions decreased while dark coronal holes became larger and more prominent.  Hanneke Weitering

John Young on the Moon

NASA

Tuesday, January 9, 2018: The late NASA astronaut John Young takes a walk on the moon in this photo taken during the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Behind him are the Apollo lunar module and lunar rover. Young passed away on Friday (Jan. 5) at the age of 87. He was NASA's longest serving astronaut, having flown on the Gemini and space shuttle missions as well as two Apollo lunar missions.  Hanneke Weitering

Under a Super Moon

G.Hudepohl (atacamaphoto.com)/ESO

Wednesday, January 9, 2018: The first full moon of 2018, a supermoon, rises over Cerres Amazones in Chile's Atacama Desert - the future home of the European Extremely Large Telescope overseen by the European Southern Observatory. - on Jan. 1, 2018.  Tariq Malik

A New Dawn

Anton Shkaplerov

Thursday, January 11, 2018: The sun rises over Earth in this stunning photo from the International Space Station captured by Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov from orbit 250 miles above Earth. "A view of the sunrise from the ISS is a perfect start to a new day," said Shkaplerov, who posts images from space on Twitter. You can follow him here: @Anton_Astrey. - Tariq Malik

Zuma Sky Spiral

Peter Horstink

Friday, January 12, 2018: Dutch pilot Peter Horstink snapped this stunning photo over Khartoum, Sudan 2 hours and 15 minutes after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the secret Zuma mission into space on Jan. 7, 2018. Horstink was just one of many observers who saw the dazzling sky spiral from the Falcon 9 upper stage following the launch. Read our full story here! - Tariq Malik
Illustration of NASA's Low-Boom Flight Demonstration aircraft as outlined during the project's preliminary design review in 2017. NASA has selected Lockheed Martin to build the new supersonic jet.

NASA has taken a huge leap forward in its quest to create an aircraft that can travel faster than the speed of sound without causing the ear-splitting sonic boom.

The space agency announced today (April 2) that it has awarded the aerospace company Lockheed Martin a $247.5 million contract to design and build a new X-plane, known as the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD), which may soar silently over the U.S. by 2022.

Today's announcement comes less than two weeks after President Donald Trump signed a federal budget for FY2019 that fully funds the LBFD. In his budget proposal, Trump noted that the X-plane "would open a new market for U.S. companies to build faster commercial airliners, creating jobs and cutting cross-country flight times in half." [Images: Airplanes of Tomorrow, NASA's Vision of Future Air Travel]

But don't expect to board a supersonic passenger jet anytime soon; Lockheed Martin's LBFD won't be built for transporting people. Before any supersonic planes will be allowed to fly over land, NASA and Lockheed Martin must prove that it's possible to break the sound barrier without the sonic boom.

"This piloted X-plane would be built specifically to fly technologies that reduce the loudness of a sonic boom to that of a gentle thump," Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said during a news conference today.

Shin added that the LBFD will fly over select U.S. cities starting in mid-2022 and NASA will "ask the people living and working in those communities to tell us what they heard, if anything."

NASA will then send the "scientifically collected human response" data to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) "so they can use the data to change the current rule that completely bans civil supersonic flights over land," Shin said.

"When the rule is changed, the door will open to an aviation industry ready to enter [a] new supersonic market in our country and around the world," Shin said. "This X-plane is a critical step closer to that exciting future."

The LBFD aircraft will be 94 feet (29 meters) long, or about the size of a small business jet. It will fly at a cruising altitude of about 55,000 feet (17,000 meters) and reach a speed of 1.4 times the speed of sound (about 1,000 mph, or 1,600 km/h). This will "create a sound about as loud as a car door closing," NASA officials said in the news conference.

While NASA is working to reduce the sonic boom, other companies are working on their own supersonic aircraft designs  all of which will still create sonic booms during flight.

Virgin Galactic has partnered up with Boom Technology to build a supersonic passenger jet called "Baby Boom" that could fly across the Atlantic Ocean at twice the speed of sound, cutting flight times in half. Those test flights are scheduled to begin in 2020. Another company, Spike Aerospace, aims to test its S-512 Supersonic Jet by the end of 2018.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
The Blue Sap Moon, seen here above the Navesink Twin Lights lighthouse in Highlands, New Jersey, appears like a celestial beacon for the once-operational tower. Astrophotographer Steve Scanlon captured this image near the historic site at 6:25 a.m. local time on Saturday (March 31). (Image credit: Steve Scanlon

This past weekend, skywatchers across the world pulled out their cameras to capture the splendor of the Blue Sap Moon.

The second full moon in March peaked at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 GMT) on Saturday (March 31). The "Sap" Moon is how the Shawnee people referred to a full moon around the month of March, because this time of year is associated with the flow of the syrupy liquid from maple trees. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, many full moon nicknames come from terms used by Algonquian-speaking native peoples, like the Shawnee.

A Blue Moon is defined in two ways, and although it is popularly known as the second full moon in a calendar month, this is not quite how astronomers traditionally identified a Blue Moon. The extra full moon of a seasonal cycle  the time between a solstice and the following equinox, or vice versa  is how they defined a Blue Moon. But by the monthly definition, Saturday's full moon was the last Blue Moon until Halloween night in 2020. The next seasonal blue moon will happen much sooner, on May 18, 2019. [In Photos: The Last 'Blue Moon' of 2018]

Photographer Fred Pompei captured this image of the International Space Station moving over the face of the "Sap Moon," the last Blue Moon of 2018. Pompei used a William Optics GT71 (400mm f5.9) with a Canon T7i shooting video, with a shutter speed at 1/2000 sec. He also used an Astro-Tech AT6RC astrograph with a ZWO ASI174MM Mini Monochrome Astronomy Camera. (Image credit: Fred Pompei)

The last monthly Blue Moon was the spectacular Super Blue Blood Moon on Jan. 31, 2018. Photographer Fred Pompei caught the International Space Station (ISS) moving over the face of the Super Blue Blood Moon and photographed the space laboratory in a similar way on March 31 as it passed in front of the Sap Moon from his perspective in St. Charles, Michigan.

"I used ISS Transit Finder to find the location," Pompei told Space.com. "It was about a 2-hour drive from my house. I felt obliged to get this one as I had already captured the ISS transit of the Blue Moon in January from my backyard."

On the Greek island of Euboea  where one scholar believes the ancient poet Homer spent part of his life  the full moon was seen over a church in the town of Artaki.

The full moon over the Orthodox Church of 12 Apostoles in Artaki, on Euboea, Greece, on March 31, 2018. (Image credit: Wassilios Aswestopoulos/NurPhoto/Getty)

On average, month-type blue moons occur once every 2.66 years. They are possible because 29.53 days pass between a full moon to the next one, and each calendar month takes longer than that (30 or 31 days), except for February. The Blue Moons of January and March were possible because the aforementioned "synodic" month (full moon to full moon) occurred in its entirety within a calendar month: There was a full moon at the very beginning of the calendar month, and another on the last day.

The last Blue Moon of 2018 is seen over Oval Road, in Millburn, New Jersey, on March 31, 2018. It is the first full moon of spring. (Image credit: Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire/Getty)

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter@salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook andGoogle+. Original article on Space.com.
EXCLUSIVE: The Good Doctor is beefing up its surgeon ranks ahead of Season 2 with Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann and Christina Chang, who recurred in Season 1, all promoted to series regulars. Additionally, there is good news in the romance department for Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore)  Paige Spara, who recurred in the first half of Season 1 as Shauns sweet neighbor (and love interest) Lea, will be returning, also joining the cast as a series regular.Meanwhile, original cast member Chuku Modu will not be returning next season. His character, surgical resident Dr. Jared Kalu, had been on thin ice since punching a doctor who had sexually harassed his girlfriend, fellow resident Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas). He was fired and used legal blackmail to secure reinstatement but was never fully accepted by his bosses, recently broke up with Claire and landed a surgeon job in Colorado.








Hollywoodland was written by Matt Whitney and directed by John F Showalter  one of Eric Kripkes go to directors. The episode features another female historical figure that many people may dismiss as simply another pretty Hollywood actor  Hedy Lamarr (Alyssa Sutherland). Once again the show takes the opportunity to show how much more this woman contributed  and the show even fixes the injustice that saw her not get rewarded for her inventions. This episode also sees some movement on whats up with Jiya (Claudia Doumit). The episode ends with Flynn (Goran Visnjic) joining the team. Im sure this will prove to have mixed reactions, but Ive enjoyed Visnjic, and Ill looking forward to this new dynamic to the team. The episode also showcases Abigail Spencers (Lucy) singing!The episode begins with the sleeper agent  Lucas Calhoun (Ryan Cargill)  being dropped off in the Hollywood Hills by his father (Josh Randall). Fifteen years later Calhoun (Teddy Sears) is a very successful and powerful producer. I loved him showing up to shut down a picture, telling the director (Chet Grissom) that hes taking the leads to star in a television show. The director is aghast, but Calhoun insists that television is the future! Nobody dreamt of peak tv back then! Calhoun was doing a great job of cornering the market. Calhouns father shows up and tells him its time for him to play his part. Theyve rescued Keynes and are moving ahead.Back at the bunker, Jiya has another seizure  giving us a flash of the next episode btw. This time Denise (Sakina Jaffrey) sees it and is very concerned. Shes furious with Rufus (Malcolm Barrett) and Connor (Paterson Joseph) when she finds out that they knew and didnt say anything. Jiya didnt want to be benched, and she doesnt want to see a doctor. She does indicate that the hallucinations may be more than that, but shes interrupted from saying anything else by the alarm that the mothership has jumped.Once again, Lucy doesnt see anything obvious about the date  January 2, 1941. Once again, Denise and Lucy go to see Flynn whos in the infirmary because hes been stabbed. Clearly, Rittenhouse is attempting to silence him. Denise makes him a lame offer of more protection and internet, but thats the best she can offer because hes a terrorist  and he killed the guy who stabbed him! Lucy tells him that she can get him out, but hes reluctant to trust her because shes the reason hes in there in the first place. Lucy tells him frankly that they need him more than he needs them  hes got the power. Flynn draws her a picture.I loved Wyatt calling it Pictionary  but the very, very simplified Paramount logo leads them onto the Paramount lot. This time they got their disguises by stealing them once they landed! We get yet another classic pop culture reference as Rufus asks if this is their new normal  stealing clothes  like Winona Ryder pre! For those not in the know, Ryders career hit the skids when she was caught shoplifting  several times.When a security guard (Matthew Downs) stops them, its Rufus who leaps in to provide a cover for them, claiming to be Langston Hughes. He acts insulted that the security guard doesnt recognize him  he won an Oscar for Lucy jumps in with no he didnt!  and Rufus then hilariously blusters that he should have! He was robbed! He moves on though, saying hes there to see the head of the studio  Barney Balaban (James DuMont). And yes, he really was head of Paramount from 1936 to 1964. Hughes is also a fascinating historical figure  who did writeand was a well-known, innovative poet. I actually wish the episode had delved more into Hughes life.Of course, they dont have an appointment when they are escorted to Balabans office, but Rufus continues bluffing, saying that hes there about his new musical starring new singing sensations Wyatt (Matt Latner) and Lucy! I loved that Lucy also had to time-adjust Wyatt on which duo they were like  too early for Bogie and Bacall! I also loved the little dig at themselves when Lucy asks Rufus if he can pull of pretending to be Hughes and Rufus replies, who knows what writers look like? Im looking at you Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan!!! I could pick you out of a line up!True to form, Balaban doesnt know what Hughes looks like and welcomes them in to hear all about his new musical! Which Balaban shoots down because it would never work Wyatt then floats a story about a Cabal  and Balaban immediately thinks hes talking about that RKO picture They are interrupted by the appearance of an unhappy Hedy Lamarr who wants nothing to do with a party that night.Lucy is star struck by Lamarr and remarks that shes even more glamorous in person. Lamarr says any girl can be glamorous  she just has to stand still and look stupid! As they are talking, Balaban gets a call that RKO-281 has been stolen  itsThe team realizes that this is likely the target because the movie was never stolen in history. Lucy tells the others that William Randolph Hearst (John Colton) never wanted the movie released  as it is clearly about his life. Rufus and Lucy are both shocked when Wyatt reveals that hes never seen the classic film! It turns out that the party Lamarr was complaining about is going to be at the Hearst mansion, so the team decides to crash it  after stealing some additional costumes, this time from the costume department handy!Lucy fills Rufus in on Lamarrs background. Telling him that she basically invented wifi, but her invention of frequency hopping that was used by the military never resulted in her getting rich  she and her inventing partner George Antheil (Beau Brians) never saw a penny from it  and yes, this is all true.Meanwhile, in the present, Jiya reveals that she hates doctors because her father was healthy until he went to the doctor who diagnosed cancer and her father was dead shortly after. Of course, he would have been whether he went to the doctor or not Denise insists that whatever is causing Jiyas seizures, they will deal with it and make her better.While Jiya sees the doctor, Connor finally reveals that he knows whats wrong with her and that they wont be able to deal with it. There are rules for a reason. They sent more than three people before and the two pilots both got sick with the same symptoms. One died of a brain aneurism and one ended up a non-functioning schizophrenic. Connor tells Denise that Rufus doesnt know  he would never let Jiya learn to be a pilot if he did!Connor and Denise are worried when Jiya finally emerges from her doctors appointment. The doctor brought a portable MRI machine and there is nothing wrong with her brain. In fact, shes healthier than shes ever been in her life  the heart murmur that shes had all her life is gone! Connor and Denise are stunned  but I doubt that they should cease to be concerned.Back in Hollywoodland, the team crash the party, and Lamarr sees them going in and shes thrilled to see them there. She proves shes as smart as shes supposed to be by spiriting Rufus off to hear his latest poetry. Its hilarious when Rufus tries to pass off the theme song toas his latest poem! Lamarr doesnt spare his feeling by telling him its awful  but she knows hes not Hughes. She has Hughes poetry  and his picture is on the back!Rufus tells her the truth  that they are friends of Orson Welles and are trying to getback for him. Lamarr has also seen the film. Its also funny when Lucy says Spoiler alert  Rosebuds a sled! and Lamarr has no idea what a spoiler is! LOL! The funniest thing is that Rosebud being a sled is one of the earliest examples of a spoiler!They see Calhoun with Hearst, and Lamarr tells them hes a very successful producer  his next film is going to be about dinosaurs ! For his own part, Calhoun is enjoying the life hes made for himself in Hollywood and asks his father if he really has to go back to the present. His father tells him that theres more work to do. It turns out that Hearst is going to give Rittenhouse a column in his papers in exchange for the movie  it would be the beginning of fake news! I loved this nod to current events.Lamarr and Rufus head after Calhoun and Hearst to get the details on the exchange. I loved Lamarr helping Rufus make a more effective listening device with a pin hole and scotch tape added to a glass. I also loved that Scotch Tape was still a brand name and not the generic term for cellophane tape  nice catch writers! Its another type of Intellectual Property  Trademark law but for a legal nerd like myself, it was really fun! Rufus tells Lamarr that if he didnt already have a girlfriend, shed be the perfect woman!While they are doing the spy work, Lucy and Wyatt are dragged in front of the party to sing! Wyatt bails  he tells Lucy that if he has to sing, their cover will be blown immediately because hes terrible. Lucy, however is really good. She has a few false starts  stage fright?  as she launches into You Made Me Love You but she ends up really selling it.Im thinking that Abigail Spencer must have some musical theatre in her background! Its a great choice of song that resonates with the disappointing conclusion to the episode. Both Spencer and Lanter are terrific as Lucy sings to him and he suddenly realizes the depth of his own feelings. Its also beautifully shot as the song as a performance narrows to the characters and the wide shots tighten to close ups of the two.Lamarr lets the team stay with her. She has an inventing mind and a laboratory full of inventions, which George and Hedy are happy to show off to Rufus, leaving Lucy and Wyatt alone Lucy fills Wyatt in on George and Hedy  they are just inventing partners, mainly because George was married when they met. Sound like anyone else we know??? Wyatt remarks that some men find beautiful women intimidating, and Lucy assumes Wyatt is referring to her. Wyatt blusters that he didnt mean her although she is beautiful.Lucy tells him that she doesnt see herself that way  shes more of a nerd. She skipped her prom for a debate event, but shes sure that Wyatt was a player. He tells her that he got drunk and banned from prom  he was lost back then. He then tells her that she saved him. He took the time travel assignment because it was dangerous and hed stopped caring  but now he cares again. Lucy tells him thats exactly how she felt when she thought he was dead  the two kiss and then spend the night together.Its priceless when Rufus bursts in on them the next morning. Hes mortified  and later thrilled. He promises not to tell anyone  except Jiya who he is definitely going to tell!The three head back to the studio to get the film from Calhoun before he can give it to Hearst. Lucy has a new dress  that the guys tease her about, but she explains its her favorite time period! They follow Calhoun into a sound stage and are interrupted by a security guard (Chris Gann) who is shot. Lucy insists on trying to help him while Rufus gets the film and Wyatt shoots and kills Calhoun. They have to leave the guard  likely bleeding to death  and Lucy isnt happy, but they cant be found there.Rufus gives Hedy the film to give to Welles. He then tells her that the US military will use her frequency hopping invention and that she should make sure that she renews the Patent. Unfortunately, there is no renewing of Patents  that would be Trademark. Nice try show, but this was an oopsy moment. Hedy does take Rufus advice (when in reality, the Patent would only last 17 years from the time of filing  he could have told her just not to file it until 1946) and she ends up making $30 billion and building a tech empire. Why do I think that this is going to come in handy for the team?In the present, Denise pays another visit to Flynn and gives him a piece of paper that she says is a very bad ideaThe final scene of the team in Hollywood has Wyatt hotwiring a car and the three driving off to visit the under construction Oakland Prison  which just happens to be where Flynn is. In a nicely intercut scene, we see them leaving something in the wall in the past, and Flynn removing it in the present. It contains a key, a mask, and a credit card. Gas is released in the prison  hence the gas mask  and Flynn makes his escape.When Flynn arrives at the bunker, Wyatt is not at all happy. He leaves the room, and Lucy runs after him. The two share a sweet moment. Lucy asks him to forget about Flynn because they have each other now. And then Wyatt gets a text and breaks out of the bunker.Wyatt goes to a bar and finds Jessica (Tonya Glanz) his dead wife apparently alive and well! Sorry Lyatt fans  looks like their romance is being nipped in the bud. Id be less ticked off if they hadnt let the two finally acknowledge their feelings  this feels like a cheap trick. One can only assume that Jessica knows who Wyatt is  otherwise, who sent the text? And why would anyone BE sending Wyatt a text anyway?? I thought that Jessica maybe didnt look like she knew who Wyatt is but then, theres that textAs always, my favorite parts of the show were the historical figures that they highlighted  Langston Hughes and Hedy Lamarr, and the fun inside jokes and references. Not so terrific about this episode was bringing back Wyatts long lost wife. And unlike some fans, Im really looking forward to Flynn joining the team! What did you think of the episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! And now thathas just been renewed for a 14th season, dont you thinkshould lend them Kripke to write  and direct!  the 300th episode????
Bir-Lehlou, April 2, 2018 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, has sent a congratulatory message to His Excellecy Mr. Abiy Ahmed on his investiture as the Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia.



Please accept my warm congratulations on your overwhelming choice with a large majority in the meeting by the council of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front for the post of Prime Minister which has filled me with immense joy and my best wishes for your success as you prepare to take up the responsibilities, said the President of the Republic.



I am convinced , Excellency, that your endorsement by the House of Peoples Representatives of Ethiopia reflects the strong faith in your person as Prime Minister-elect, because they strongly believe in your efforts to build strong democracy and inclusive institutions in order to ensure long-term stability and a democratic, prosperous future for all Ethiopians.



As you embark upon your new responsibilities, I wish to assure your Excellency and the People of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia of the continued friendship and solidarity of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.



I look forward to working with you not only to develop closer relations between our countries but also to concert our efforts in the cause of peace and the development of our beloved peoples in Africa, added the President of the Republic in his congratulatory message to the Ethiopian Prime Minister. (SPS)



062/SPS
Congresswoman Esty: "I am not resigning....I must do better."

WASHINGTON  Amid faltering support from fellow Democrats, Rep. Elizabeth Esty sent shock waves through the world of Connecticut politics and nationwide Monday by announcing she will not seek re-election for a fourth term in Congress.

Esty, who prided herself on her ability to reach bipartisan consensus, was unable to convince party members and constituents that she was taking responsibility for her actions in smoothing the exit of former chief of staff Tony Baker, accused of sexually abusing a female staffer.

Too many women have been harmed by harassment in the workplace, Esty said in a statement. In the terrible situation in my office, I could have and should have done better.

Esty fired Baker in 2016 after learning he abused a subordinate, Anna Kain. What had begun as a consensual office affair turned into shouting in the office and one instance of Baker allegedly striking Kain on the back.

It culminated in a May 5, 2016, incident during a staff celebration on Capitol Hill. Baker was drunk and abusive at the bar where the reunion of current and former staff took place. After colleagues escorted him out, he called or texted Kain 50 times threatening to find her and kill her.

Esty acknowledged blame for keeping Baker on the payroll three months after the incident. And she also took responsibility for writing a positive job recommendation, and verbally backing him for a position in Ohio with Newtown-based Sandy Hook Promise.

Also, Esty gave Baker a $5,000 taxpayer-supported severance which she paid back to the U.S. Treasury last week out of her own pocket.

Esty has stayed largely out of sight since news of the Baker episode broke Thursday.

Untenable position

The statement Monday said she would decline interviews. A text message offering an interview brought forth a reply of thanks.

Sources familiar with Estys thinking said that although she initially felt she could survive the firestorm of revelations last week in Hearst Connecticut Media and the Washington Post, she realized Monday that her position increasingly was untenable -- with Democrats joining Republicans in calling for her departure.

This decision is the right one, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who said Friday he was deeply disappointed in news reports of the Tony Baker exit.

Elizabeth knows she handled the dismissal of her former chief of staff badly, said Sen. Chris Murphy, who along with Esty owns a home in Cheshire. The decision she made today is the right one for her.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who was a mentor of sorts for the much younger Esty, called victim Anna Kains experience heartbreaking.

And DeLauro said the now-29-year-old woman showed great courage by coming forward with her story.

Congresswoman Esty made a difficult decision, but the right one for her and the constituents of her district, DeLauro said.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy also said Estys decision not to seek re-election is the right one.

High anxiety

The mood among the 10 or so staff members inside Estys Washington office was described as pretty somber by a source familiar with Estys Washington operation, who asked not to be identified.

Idealistic staffers had bought in to the image of Esty as a fighter for womens empowerment and gun violence prevention as representative of Newtown, as well as a capable can-do navigator of the daunting bipartisan divide.

People were angry over how it was handled; for a lot of them, last week was the first time they learned details of the case, the source said. People were torn, sad, anxious, but in some ways relieved. Now theyre anxious about what comes next for them.

Esty handily won re-election in 2016 in the purplish 5th Congressional District that encompasses Danbury and the northwestern part of the state.

The 41-town district has been represented by Democrats since 2007. Esty won her 2016 re-election over Republican Clay Cope by 38,599 votes. Prior to Esty, the seat was held by now-U.S. Sen. Murphy.

Democratic leaders are pondering potential successors to Esty who could emerge in the May party convention. One potential candidate could be state Rep. Michelle Cook of Torrington, party leaders said.

While earlier on Monday she asked for the expedited House ethics hearing, the drumbeat of Connecticut Democratic leaders reached a crescendo when Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk joined other leaders asking for her resignation.

Republicans turned the issue into a political attack for the fall. Matt Gorman, communications director for the Republican National Congressional Committee, said it was a sad occasion for the 700,000-person 5th District of northwestern and central Connecticut.

"Elizabeth Estys coverup over her staffers domestic violence scandal was as reprehensible as it was morally bankrupt, he said. The NRCC is ready to win this competitive seat this fall. Democrats wont be able to distance themselves from the stain Esty left on their brand."

Proud accomplishments

Although not as committed a feminist as her neighbor and mentor, DeLauro, Esty prided herself in working with Republicans to pass bills promoting womens empowerment, greater science and technology opportunities for women and girls, and breaking up the sex-trafficking pipeline along U.S. highways.

Esty had also talked about how she herself had to resist inappropriate come-ons by a male law partner at a New York firm while a student at Yale Law School.

In her statement, Esty, 58, reflected on her slow rise in politics, from Cheshire town council to the Connecticut General Assembly to the halls of Congress starting in 2013  less than a month after the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.

From being a room parent in a first grade classroom to serving on the library board, town council, state house and U.S. Congress, I went into public service to fight for equality, justice, and fairness, Esty said. However, I have determined that it is in the best interest of my constituents and my family to end my time in Congress at the end of this year and not seek re-election.

Baker, in a statement Monday, said he had previously apologized to Kain, Esty and others he may have hurt or adversely affected.

While there are still many who I owe apologies to, I do not expect forgiveness from anyone, whether they are survivors like Anna or victims like Elizabeth and others, Baker said. I can only hope that my actions moving forward and over a lifetime of recovery can prove that I am a better man than I was during the time that I worked on Capitol Hill.
STAMFORD  The citys traffic chief hopes to speed up collection of the $1.1 million motorists owe in parking tickets by using a high-tech tire boot.

You can remove the boot yourself  after you call in your credit card number and pay up.

Its much faster and half the cost of recovering your car from a towing company, and will allow the city more opportunity to collect from the 3,707 scofflaws who owe money, Transportation Bureau Chief Jim Travers said.

Last year, the city collected from only 415 scofflaws, he said.

The city has contracted with a company called PayLock to handle booting, Travers said. PayLocks bright yellow electronic boot has a keypad and comes with a sticker on your drivers-side window with instructions to call an 800-number available 24 hours a day, Travers said.

A scofflaw  someone with three or more unpaid parking tickets  gets fair warning before getting the boot, he said. The city sends late notices and finally a warning that the vehicle will be booted. Traffic officers track down offending motorists using an electronic license-plate reader.

To remove the boot, you call the number on the window sticker and provide a credit card number to an operator. Once the payment is verified, the operator helps you remove the boot, Travers said.

It weighs 16 pounds, so the operator will ask you if you can lift that amount, he said. If you say yes, you get a code and punch it in on a keypad on the boot. When you hear a click, you pull the boot toward you and it opens up. You put it in the back of your car and you have 24 hours to return it to the Stamford Government Center.

For those unable to lift 16 pounds, the company will dispatch someone to remove the boot, he said.

Anyone who fails to return the boot within 24 hours of receiving the authorization code will be charged a $25 late fee. If the device still is not returned 48 hours after authorization, the vehicle owner will be charged a $500 replacement fee.

To enact the new method, Travers had to ask for revisions to the city ordinance governing towing and booting of parking scofflaws. The Board of Representatives unanimously approved the revisions Monday night.

The citys traditional method of towing or using old-fashioned boots is cumbersome, Travers said.

Traffic officers must contact the Cashiering and Permitting Office to identify scofflaws, process paperwork, contact a towing company, contact the police department, inventory the vehicle on the street, and wait for the tow truck, Travers said.

Now they can identify scofflaws using the license-plate reader, install the high-tech boot, put the sticker on the window and call PayLock.

When we tow, people usually think their car got stolen. So now the police department wont be burdened with calls from people reporting what they believe to be a stolen car, Travers said. If you were towed, you had to get a ride to the government center to pay your fines, then get a ride to the towing company to pay them and pick up your car.

Tow truck operators typically charge $300, Travers said. PayLock charges $150.

You can remove the boot yourself and have your car back within minutes, he said.

The $150 is PayLocks fee for the boot and the service, Travers said.

All we want is the parking fines owed us, he said.

Cities around the country use high-tech boots, Travers said. Norwalk has used PayLock for about 10 years and other Connecticut municipalities use similar technology. West Haven uses it to collect motor vehicle taxes instead of parking fines.

In a letter proposing the ordinance revisions to the Board of Representatives, Travers wrote that self-releasing boots allow his department to track scofflaws beyond the business hours of the Cashiering and Permitting Department, which was done to allow owners the chance to reclaim their vehicles the same day they were towed.

It also allows for more efficient use of traffic officers time because they wont have to wait with tagged cars until they are towed or transport owners to the government center to pay their fines.

Before we only towed during the work week  we can do this seven days a week, Travers said. Now, if someone comes to Stamford just on Saturday nights and racks up parking tickets, we never really get them. This gets them. I think we will see the reclaiming of lost revenue.

Scofflaws must join the ranks of all the motorists who pay their parking tickets, he said.

This is about people who owe money, Travers said. I would be happy if we didnt have to boot anybody because everybody pays their parking tickets.
I f you think it was a miserable bank holiday in Britain as we battled the snow and floods, it was a seriously miserable day of a rather different sort for Amazon. The US markets were open and its shares lost more than 5% of their value.

The immediate reason for this was that Donald Trump attacked the pricing of its deliveries made via the US postal system, and asserted that it was not a level playing field between it and fully tax-paying retailers that were closing stores all over the country. But there is a lot more to this than a few presidential tweets.

The starting point here is that there has been a repricing of the shares of Americas hi-tech giants. Amazon is down some 14% from its high on March 12. On my quick tally, Facebook, for obvious reasons, is down by a bit more from its peak, while Tesla, for equally obvious reasons, is down much more. Its shares were $357 (253) at their peak in February; at Mondays close they were $252. It will be an heroic baptism for Spotify, the music steaming firm whose shares are publicly traded for the first time today.

You can interpret all this in two ways. It is either a healthy and welcome correction from what was heading into madness or it is the start of something big, disagreeably big.

People who take the first view (and I am in that camp) note that even after yesterdays decline, Amazon was on a price-earnings ratio of 300, which is pushing things. Those in the second note that the start of this month has been the worst opening for the market in an April since 1929.

We will see. Behind these market movements are two separate stories. One is about the future role in society of the hi-tech giants; the other is what the markets are indicating about the shape of the business cycle.

The first story sees these companies as the modern equivalent of the steel and oil barons of a century or more ago. Emmanuel Macron, the French President, has just warned that companies such as Google and Facebook are becoming too big to be governed and could face being dismantled. In an interview in the magazine Wired, he said that they could be forced to pay for the disruption they cause in society and submit to French or European privacy regulations.

This is obviously contentious as they are American. US and Chinese companies dominate this space, whereas Europe has failed to create a significant social media enterprise. So you could argue that this is an atypical example of French economic nationalism, and doubtless that is the way many will see it in America. But we know from long experience that monopolies have to be regulated. Google has 90% of the European search market, higher even than in the US. (In mobile search, Google has more than 90% of the US market.) That is a de facto monopoly.

So I think what will emerge is a gradual transformation of these companies from frontier-busting adventurers into regulated public utilities. That is fine. They will still have changed the world.

They will still be huge companies. But their glory days of swashbuckling growth will be over. That story will take some years to play out. The other story, what this says about the economic cycle, will be upon us rather sooner.

The markets are in late-cycle mode  this has been the second-longest bull market in the US since the Second World War. It will come to its inevitable end, though no one can reliably predict the timing  this hi-tech correction could be the trigger but we wont know for months.

Maybe the US growth phase will be extended a bit by the Trump tax cuts. The latest projections put the US fiscal deficit next year at 5% of GDP, which in any other country would be ringing the alarm bells.

Maybe the eurozone growth phase can be extended because there is still so much slack in parts of their economy. Unlike the US and UK, they had a second recession, so in cyclical terms they are starting further back. Its very crude maths, but economic downturns do seem to come roughly 18 months after financial market downturns.
O urs is, mostly, a safe city. Millions of us live here and come to work here each day without serious risk or harm.

Over recent years it has also, by and large, been getting safer. So it is all the more shocking to see that Londons murder rate has risen sharply this year.

A total of 47 people have been murdered in the capital since the start of the year, 39 of them in just over a month.

The citys murder rate is now the highest it has been in well over a decade and so far in 2018 has overtaken New Yorks for the first time in recent memory even if that is in part because New Yorks has fallen since the terrible levels of the 1990s.

What is going wrong? And how should the Mayor, the Metropolitan Police and the Government respond?

One thing is agreed by all of them: the immediate challenge is a rise in the murder rate among young people and within certain communities.

Last year deaths among the under-25s were up 84 per cent on the year before. Knife and gun crime risks becoming a commonplace background to some teenage lives. That has to stop.

Cressida Dick, the Mets capable head, is right to call for knife crime to be treated as a public health issue, not just a policing one, and last week warned that the instant online pressures of social media are playing a part in escalating disputes.

But these wider pressures are not all new and do not explain everything about the grim news of the past two months.

We need a much more robust use of powers to stop and search those suspected of carrying weapons and greater efforts to penetrate gangs.

Nor does it help that the Mayor and the Government are caught in a blame game over policing policies and funding. The Mayor must take greater responsibility: that is what devolution means.

We will hold everyone involved in keeping our city safe to account.

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Fair pay for all at work

The Evening Standard seeks to speak for London and to the country. To do that to the best of our ability, we must reflect our city in all its diversity.

That starts with having talented female columnists, reporters, sub-editors and commercial staff  and, it should go without saying, ensuring they are fairly paid.

We have made a lot of progress. For example, our readers will have noticed many more female voices on our comment pages, and BME voices too. But we have got a lot more to do.

That is why we welcome the help that our public reporting on our gender pay gap provides us  even if the figures only take us up to April last year.

We can see that average pay is lower for women, although at 12.8 per cent the gap is a lot smaller than at most other papers and media organisations.

The gap is primarily caused by there being more men in the most senior executive positions. But the numbers also show that median pay is actually 5.8 per cent higher for women on the Standard.

In other words, the female employee ranked halfway between the highest and lowest paid women at the company is paid more than the equivalent man.

Thats encouraging, but we can still tackle the headline average pay gap. Were confident we can do that.

Were moving in the right direction and we will make your paper stronger as a result.

An innocent in Iran

Today Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family mark a miserable anniversary.

It is two years since the British citizen was arrested in Iran while about to return from a visit to her family, and then tried and imprisoned with no cause.

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, has led the campaign for her release  a campaign that should have succeeded already.

Hopes were high when the Foreign Secretary visited last year.
Moroccos reform of the judiciary sought fostering the judiciary powers independence as a supreme goal, King Mohammed VI told participants at an international conference in Marrakech.

The Kingdoms Constitution expressly affirms the independence of the judiciary from the legislative and executive powers, and creates a Higher Council of the Judiciary, said the King in a speech read out at the conference themed The independence of the judiciary: guaranteeing the rights of litigants and upholding the principles of justice.

The King recalled that the Constitution of 2011 prohibits any interference in the cases being prosecuted, and the law provides for sanctions against any attempt to influence judges.

Moroccos supreme law stipulates that any failure by a judge to uphold his or her obligations with respect to the independence and impartiality of the judiciary would be considered a serious professional violation which could give rise to criminal prosecution, he went on to say.

The Moroccan supreme law confirms the judges role in terms of protecting the rights, freedoms and judicial security of individuals and groups. It also guarantees not only a citizens right to take legal action, but also the presumption of innocence as well as the right to a fair trial within a reasonable timeframe.

Enhancing confidence in the judiciary as the bedrock of the rule of law and the main driver of development is another challenge that needs to be tackled, according to the Sovereign.

The conference brings together participants from around the globe including ministers of Justice, presidents of higher Councils of the judiciary, human rights organizations, professional bodies as well as experts and academics from various countries.

The event, which runs until April 4, is part of the celebration of the installation of the Higher Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ) in the Kingdom, and the independence of the Prosecutors Office.
M y six-year-old wakes up today asking to go to Paris. I assume, given the bourgeois tenor of most of her demands, that she has in mind three hours in Business Premier aboard the Eurostar, lunch at a bistro in Le Marais and a trip to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

But no. She is in fact brandishing a Google cardboard headset. The passports can stay in the drawer: virtual reality Paris, via an iPhone app and a 15-quid headset, will do her just fine.

Once shes had a squizz at the virtual Eiffel Tower, shes interested in checking out Venice. After that, its straight off to a virtual jungle to be chased by a Tyrannosaurus rex.

For her generation, virtual reality is no novelty. Going to Paris is no bigger a deal than putting your hand in the biscuit tin. The depths of the ocean, the surface of the moon and the streets of ancient Rome are all now in reach of the inquisitive. I have a good deal more trouble getting her to put on her wellies and walk to the end of the road than I do packing her off for a virtual tour of the Amazon basin.

Virtual reality is much discussed at the moment in the light of the release of Ready Player One, the big-screen adaptation of Ernest Clines cult (and somewhat controversial) sci-fi novel. In the film, Steven Spielberg gives form to a grim future less than three decades hence  a future in which, for a generation called the missing millions, life mostly happens inside the secondary virtual world.

The idea of virtual, parallel worlds has been a familiar trope of science fiction and dystopian speculation for many years  you could argue that this goes back in some form to the ancient Greeks, whose storytelling was founded on the idea of commingling realms of gods and men.

But we are closer to it now, technically, than ever before, and I suppose it is possible the six-year-old may live to see the missing millions inherit the earth.

For now, though, she is happy with virtual tourism, where the possibilities are great but the limits strike her as obvious. Her last visit was to the Great Barrier Reef, which was not much to her liking. I can only hug the sharks there, she says. Will they bite my head off?

A richly rewarding satire for our times

I had some time to read over the long bank holiday weekend, which I made the most of by ripping through Tibor Fischers new novel How to Rule the World.

The story begins with a punch in the face and continues in the same spirit for a darkly comic 240 pages: sending up the TV documentary business in rich, profane and often extremely amusing fashion.

Tight, savage and satirical  a book perfectly weighted to the times. Its out this Thursday  pick it up.

Hello again Norma Jean: Marilyns star shines on

British actress Gemma Arterton is bringing Marilyn back to life / PA

A double dose of Marilyn Monroe news this weekend  as Sky announced that Gemma Arterton will be playing her in its Urban Myths series, while a digital Marilyn avatar based on professional lookalike, Suzie Kennedy, and created at Pinewood Studios will be at the centre of a biopic currently in production. Nearly 56 years after her death, Norma Jean has still got it: some stars really are timeless.

Photographys art before Instagram

Here in the real world I took a trip last week to the National Portrait Gallery for Victorian Giants  an exhibition exploring the origins of art photography through pictures taken early in the history of the process by Lewis Carroll, Oscar Rejlander and (the best of the lot and one of the great artists in any medium) Julia Margaret Cameron.
V irtuoso violinist Charlie Siem today told how he became a model by accident after being asked to perform by photographer Mario Testino.

The 32-year-old said: It was so random, how I got into it. I was called in to meet Mario Testino, years ago now, because he had seen a video of me playing and wanted me to perform at a book launch he was having. Next day I was asked by a casting director to be in a campaign for Alfred Dunhill.

He was most recently shot by Karl Lagerfeld holding his violin in a 2015 Dior fragrance campaign.

Eton and Cambridge-educated Siem, son of Norwegian billionaire Kristian Siem, began learning the instrument aged three and now performs at top venues around the world, from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, on a violin played by Yehudi Menuhin.

He said his modelling sideline is the perfect counterfoil to life as a classical musician because it boosts his profile and gets concert sponsorship.

Having relationships with these brands has also been helpful in terms of sponsoring concerts and putting on performances, he said.

Virtuoso: Charlie Siem with sister Loulou / Dave Benett

Siem will spend 2018 touring Europe and South America with recitals and fronting orchestral performances of Tchaikovsky.
L ondon has a diverse community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and queer people  and that means a vibrantly diverse LGBTQ nightlife.

Whatever your sexuality, gender and tastes, from Vauxhall to Dalston, genderqueer discos to bear pubs, and cheap shots to sober nights, there are events all over, with something, or someone, for almost everyone.

Like most non-heterosexual people, I arrived in London a few years ago and headed straight to Soho. I was disappointed to discover that, much like mainstream scenes in other big cities, it was mostly cheesy music and men. Which is not to say there is never a time for high-energy dancing in G-A-Y and Heaven (especially if you fancy the men), but it wasnt quite what Id been hoping for. Thankfully, Soho is just one spot on the LGBTQ map that has been growing and changing at an incredible rate.

On the east London scene, underground venues, now helpfully connected by the Overground, are home to the citys most hipster homosexuals. Dalston is at the centre with venues Vogue Fabrics and Dalston Superstore brimming with quirky creative types. Neither are specifically gay but they attract a large LGBTQ crowd.

A few stops away on the East London line, East Bloc is the main gay club in Shoreditch. Located in a basement on City Road, it is ideal for dancing and debauchery, though you could easily walk straight past if you werent looking.

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In Bethnal Green, the best events outwardly welcome all kinds of queer, be it trans*, pansexual, polyamorous or whatever. Open minds are required and rewarded at these inclusive nights. Notably, Unskinny Bop invites girls, boys and trans* or genderqueer people of all shapes and sizes to fill the dancefloor from start to finish (they recommend you bring a towel). An alcohol-free queer night called Choose Yr Own Adventure offers a welcome alternative to booze-drenched nights out.

Other scenes include the growing ones just for ladies. It used to be the case that the only full-time bar for women was the iconic Candybar, which had its own Channel 5 reality series. Now closed, it was replaced in 2014 by She Soho, which puts on similar nights with chart-topping tunes. Award-winning Ku is a mixed gay club ordinarily, but the bar and club's Ruby Tuesdays night is all about the ladies.

For men, Soho is still very much a key spot, where Freedom is the centre of Sohos nightlife. For less glitz and more beards, The Kings Arms is a well-known pub for bears. If you want to tick off a bit of LGBT history then a drink or two in the Admiral Duncan, one of Soho's oldest gay pubs, is an obligatory pitstop.
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Escape the grey right away by starting your day at Palm Vaults in Hackney, where the lattes and hot chocolates are as bright and inviting as the decor. Palm Vaults is currently Londons most Instagrammed cafe, but on top of being a decadent design den with a penchant for palm trees, the breakfast menu is short, sweet and reliably superb. From there, it's a quick trip to London City Airport and before you know it, you'll be relaxing under more palm trees in sunny Santorini.

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Hike from Fira to Oia

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The best way to take in Santorini is to get out on foot, and there is no more picturesque route than the one from Fira to Oia. This 9km walk takes around three hours, winding through the towns of Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia and bringing you along the rim of the Caldera.

Sip an 18-glass wine flight

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Wine buffs find themselves pleasantly surprised by the calibre of wine on offer on the island, and Santo Wines atop the cliffs of Pyrgos is the largest winery on the island. You cant argue with its 18-flight tasting session, plus this is one of the prettiest spots on the island to catch a sunset.

Explore ancient Akrotiri

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This former Minoan outpost  one of the most important prehistoric settlements of the Aegean Sea  was once a thriving port town, until it was destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption. This archaeological site was first discovered in the late 1860s, and today one-third of the site has been excavated to allow visitors to explore buildings that date back to 17th century BC.

Snap a Santorini sunset

Alamy

Sunsets in Santorini are famed for being some of the most beautiful in the world, and in Santorini, life revolves around them. Visitors start thinking about where theyll spend sunset hours earlier; the moments when the giant sun sinks into the sea are precious and mustnt be wasted. Try snapping a sunset from Oias Byzantine Castle ruins  it is one of the most popular spots on the island.

Dine on fresh seafood at a traditional taverna

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Seafood doesnt come fresher than at Taverna Aeolos, where youll be dining with the locals as well as in-the-know visitors. This family-run restaurant just outside the town of Akrotiri has views over the caldera to Fira, Oia and the nearby islands, and is another favourite spot for sunset watching.

Catch an open-air movie on Kamari Beach

Santorini's volcanic history has led to the formation of some of the most unique beaches in the Greek Isles, and Kamaris stretch of black sand is one of the longest. During the summer months you can catch cult movies at the open-air cinema, with doors opening around 8.30pm for a 9.30pm screening.

With a central location and check-in just 20 minutes before departure, youll have time to fit in a delicious (and instagrammable) breakfast workout before you fly from London City Airport.
A 17-year-old girl has died in the latest of a series of violent killings in London.

Police were called to reports of a shooting in Tottenham, north London, at 9.35pm on Monday.

Officers found the teenage girl with a gunshot wound in Chalgrove Road, a residential street near Northumberland Park station.

"Despite the best efforts of the London Ambulance Service, she was pronounced dead at the scene at 10.43pm," a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said.

London's has grown by nearly 40 per cent in just three years, not including those killed in terror attacks / PA

"Her next of kin are aware and a crime scene is in place. No arrests have been made at this stage."

Neighbours said they heard gunshots at around 9.30pm on Monday. One witness, who works in a nearby shop, said he heard three bangs which sounded like fireworks.

He said he saw the victim sat with friends following the shooting before police cars and ambulances arrived. He also saw blood on the right side of the 17-year-old's chest.

London murder rate overtakes New York for first time ever after spate of fatal stabbings and shootings

Another neighbour described the murder as "very sad". She said: "I heard the bangs because I sleep in the front room. I thought it was a bomb.

"It's not nice - so many drugs, stabbings, cycles up and down - no respect for people any more."

Less than half an hour after the alarm was first raised in Tottenham, police were alerted to another shooting around three miles away in east London which left a 16-year-old boy fighting for life.

Scotland Yard said it was called to reports of gunfire in Markhouse Road in Walthamstow at around 10pm.

On arrival they found two young victims suffering from gun shot and knife wounds.

The spokeswoman said: "A 16-year-old boy was found with gun shot injuries. He has been taken to an east London hospital where he remains in a critical condition.

A girl aged 17 was shot dead in Tottenham / Nigel Howard

"A second victim, aged 15, has been taken to an east London hospital with stab injuries. We await an update on his condition."

The spokeswoman said it was too early to say if any links between the attacks were being investigated.

Investigators at the scene of the fatal stabbing in Tottenham / Nigel Howard

Local Labour MP Stella Creasy tweeted: "Walthamstow - can confirm tonight we have had another serious incident involving shooting and stabbing.

"Appreciate this is very distressing- I will share more information as and when have it from official sources as only want to share what is confirmed."

Investigators at the scene / Nigel Howard

The incidents come amid concerns over rising violent crime in the capital.

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On Sunday a 20-year-old man became the 31st victim of knife crime in London so far this year. He was fatally stabbed moments after leaving a bar in Wandsworth and died in the street.

On Thursday the family of Abraham Badru, 26, who was shot dead down in Hackney, east London on March 25 warned that "gun culture is becoming rampant in our community".

A new report recently showed London's murder rate had overtaken New York City's for the first time ever. February marked the first month the UK capital saw more murders than New York, with 15 dead (nine aged 30 or younger).

According to the report in the Sunday Times, London also suffered 22 fatal stabbings and shootings in March, higher than the 21 in the Big Apple. Both cities have similarly sized populations of around 8.5m people.

New York City's murder rate has decreased by around 87 per cent since the 1990s. Meanwhile, London's has grown by nearly 40 per cent in just three years, not including deaths caused by terrorist attacks.
A n Italian bookseller who stole a signed Harry Potter first edition worth 1,675 from a central London bookstore has avoided jail.

Rudolf Schonegger, 55, snatched the rare copy of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, signed by JK Rowling, while browsing Hatchards in Piccadilly, on New Year's Eve.

CCTV showed him making an audacious switch with another novel, Late Call by Angus Wilson, while a staff member had her back turned.

He was found guilty of theft and two charges of handling stolen goods following a trial at Hendon Magistrates' Court last week.

During a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, the defendant was given a 26-week custodial sentence for the theft, suspended for 24 months, and four week sentences for each other charge to run concurrently, also suspended for 24 months.

No jail time: Mr Schonegger was convicted last week / PA

The defendant will also have to perform 150 hours of unpaid work, the court ruled. The book has yet to be recovered.

He was ordered to pay Hatchards 1,675, and booksellers Peter Ellis and Peter Harrington, who bought other stolen goods from Schonegger, a total of 410 for money lost.

Prosecutor Robert Simpson said: "The aggravating factors, it would seem this was a fully professional, targeted operation.

"It is not a random theft, it is a theft of a valuable first edition book."

JK Rowling at the launch of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2000 / PA Archive/PA Images

Just hours after taking the Potter book, the defendant struck again, stealing a valuable copy of Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy at a pop-up store in Fortnum and Mason on the same road - an offence for which he was separately convicted earlier this year.

He also sold a stolen bound copy of The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway, worth 700, on December 21, and a stolen first edition of Pincher Martin by William Golding, worth 150, on December 21 or 22.

It was not suggested the defendant was responsible for stealing The Old Man And The Sea or Pincher Martin.

The defendant was barred from visiting Hatchards for 24 months, banned from visiting Peter Harrington and told he could not go to Cecil Court in west London. He must also pay a victim surcharge and prosecution costs.

The trial heard the Harry Potter book, which had been on display with a sticker stating its four-figure value, vanished by mid-afternoon on New Year's Eve.

Helen Mills, the second-hand book manager at Hatchards, told the trial she was first alerted to the theft by a colleague who asked if the book had been sold shortly after 3pm.

She told the court: "We had a first edition of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire on sale for 1,675, all the staff knew about it - it would have been a big thing for us to have sold it.

"It is rare for it to be signed by JK Rowling because she doesn't sign too many."

Schonegger said he had been trying to start a real estate business in the UK since 2016, but was unable to give examples of the work he had been doing and still lives at a hotel in Bayswater, west London.

In mitigation, Harun Matin, defending, said he had "learnt his lesson", saying: "He is someone who has been a successful businessman in the past but he has fallen on hard times."

Schonegger was arrested after booksellers who had bought his wares in the past recognised him from CCTV images circulated by Hatchards.
A London doctor has spoken of the upsetting number of children that had to be treated for stab and gunshot wounds by Barts Health in a weekend of violence in London.

Jonny Scrimshaw, an emergency medicine trainee at the east London NHS Trust, declared that we shouldnt rest" until this epidemic of violence has been fixed.

Mr Scrimshaw's words came after a 17-year-old girl, named as Tanesha Melbourne, was killed in a suspected drive-by shooting in Tottenham and a boy of 16 was left fighting for his life after being shot in Walthamstow on Monday night.

Amid a flurry of violent crime in the capital, 20-year-old Devoy Burton-Stapleton was fatally stabbed while walking home in Wandsworth in the early hours of Sunday.

Tanesha Melbourne was shot dead in a suspected drive-by shooting while chatting with friends

And on Friday, Reece Tshoma, 23, was fatally stabbed near Plumstead station.

Four more youngsters aged in their teens or early 20s have been murdered on Londons streets since March 14.

Police at the scene in Walthamstow where a 16-year-old boy was shot on Monday evening / PA

In a series of tweets, Mr Scrimhaw said that we have made a society that fails young people, adding: Its time for a concerted effort from society and government to address this...

He added that as much planning and effort should go into combating the morbidity of knife crime as goes into stopping radicalisation and terrorism.

He said: The number of children stabbed and shot this weekend that we have had to treat @NHSBartsHealth is very upsetting.

This is an epidemic of violence against and between kids and we ought to be outraged, we ought to be motivated to fix it and we shouldnt rest until we have.

He admitted that even in medicine, where we see the cost of these injuries, we normalise these events  they grow up quickly, he looks older, its a gang thing but these are children  protected by law from injuring themselves with alcohol, tobacco, fighting in the armed forces...

As a society we, the adults, deem these kids do not have sufficient capacity to understand politics and vote, yet we have made a society on their behalf that fails them. Its time for a concerted effort from society and government to address this..., he added.

Mr Scrimchaw said: We have a plan and spend millions on Prevent through government agencies for stopping radicalisation and terrorism, but stopping the day to day morbidity of knife crime in London requires just as much thought, energy and money...

It should not just be up to the hard work of charities and caring individuals to fix this, but something we put near the top of our agenda as a country and allocate effort and resources accordingly.
F rench nanny Sophie Lionnet could have drowned in the bath following a fall or a punch in the face, the Old Bailey heard.

The 21-year-old au pairs charred remains were found on a bonfire in the garden of her employers' home in Wimbledon last September.

Sabrina Kouider, 35, and Ouissem Medouni, 40, are both accused of murdering Ms Lionnet after allegedly holding her prisoner for months.

However, the fashion designer and her partner have both denied her murder, claiming to have been sleeping at home when she died.

Sabrina Kouider, 34, has been charged with the murder of nanny Sophie Lionnet / Facebook

The prosecution allege the couple tortured Ms Lionnet into a confession over false claims she colluded with Kouider's ex-boyfriend, former Boyzone band member Mark Walton.

Giving evidence, a Home Office pathologist was unable to confirm the cause of the au pair's death because of the severe burns to the body.

But Dr Charlotte Randall refused to rule out a blow to the head, strangulation or drowning, the court heard.

She told jurors how Ms Lionnet had fractured five ribs and her breast bone up to three days before her death.

More recent injuries included bruises, a "painful" broken jaw and possible cheek bone fracture.

On the difficulties of examining Ms Lionnet's remains, she said: "The body was severely, extensively burned due to fire damage.

"I had recent experience of mass fatality burned bodies in London and it was equivalent to that.

"The burn damage affected the whole body. There was only a small amount of skin left. The muscles were cooked and charred. A large part of the skull was missing, the brain was exposed."

She said her post-mortem was very impaired due to the fire damage as the hair, the scalp and the cranium were missing.

However, Dr Randall found blood in Ms Lionnet's nostrils indicating blunt force trauma, possibly from a "blow or punch". She said it was possible the blow came from a blunt instrument or a fall or series of falls in the bathroom.

Cross-examining for Medouni, Orlando Pownall QC suggested the jaw fracture could have been caused by "a fall to the side of the bath, against a tap or some other blunt area within the bathroom".

He said Ms Lionnet could have fallen unconscious after suffering a broken cheek and jaw.

The pathologist said Ms Lionnet could have suffered bruises to her arm from a "grip" and further bruises to her back from impact with a tap in the bath.

She confirmed it was impossible to say whether an injury was caused by a man or a woman.

Jurors have heard that firefighters discovered Ms Lionnets remains after a neighbour called 999 to report a bonfire with an unusual smell.

Medouni initially said the body was a sheep he had bought at the market, the court heard.

It was said that Kouider and Medouni subjected the nanny to hours of interrogation as she was suspected of being in league with Kouiders former partner.

The court has also heard claims that Medouni and Kouider forced Ms Lionnet under the water in the bath during efforts to force a confession.

But Medouni has rejected these claims, instead saying he found Ms Lionnet in the bath after his partner woke him to say she had stopped breathing, the court heard.

The trial continues.
A 16-year-old boy was shot in the face in a horrific and distressing attack in east London during another night of bloodshed on the capitals streets.

The youngster is fighting for life in hospital and a 15-year-old boy suffered life-changing injuries after he was knifed in the same incident in Walthamstow on Monday night, police confirmed.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy posted the latest on the attack on her Facebook page on Tuesday morning.

17-year-old girl dies after night of violence in London

Ms Creasy wrote: I have a further update for you on basis of last nights events  this is direct from the police.

This is a horrific and distressing incident and appreciate there is much speculation about it  will provide more information as and when I receive it.

A police officer at the scene of the shooting and stabbing / PA

She said that Scotland Yard informed her that officers found a male with a gunshot wound to the face outside a leisure centre after racing to the scene in Markhouse Road at about 10pm.

They also found a male with stab wounds to his arms, she added.

She said the pair were taken to separate hospitals and the 16-year-old was rushed into intensive care.

Police forensic tent outside Walthamstow leisure centre and Kelmscott School

Ms Creasy said the police would be stepping up patrols in the area while officers in all areas south of the North Circular have been granted extra search powers after the night of violence.

"There may be a high visibility presence on the Borough through the day and night with officers from specialist units patrolling the significant areas identified by our intelligence unit to deter and provide reassurance," she said.

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"Following from this incident and other pockets of disorder, a Section 60 CJPO search authority has been authorised by Commander Breen for the Borough, all areas south of the A406. This search power has been authorised to deter or identify those considering carrying weapons."

No arrests have been made following either the Walthamstow or Tottenham attack, police said.

A Met Police spokeswoman told the Standard: "Police were called at approximately 10pm to Markhouse Road, to reports of shots fired.

"The emergency services attended and two teenage boys - aged 16 and 15 were found injured. They were both taken to an east London hospital.

The 16-year-old remains in a critical condition and the 15-year-old has life-changing injuries but not life-threatening."
I relands Minister for Europe today warned that a Brexit deal between the EU and the UK could be endangered unless Theresa May gives more ground on the Irish border issue.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Helen McEntee said a new UK-EU trade deal, which Mrs May hopes would avoid any need for a hard border, will take years to sew up.

She urged Mrs May to accept the EU-backed proposal for a controversial backstop plan, effectively to keep Northern Ireland in the customs union and parts of the single market.

If it comes to October and we dont have an outcome, it will be the EU saying were not happy with this, Ms McEntee said.

The UK Government hopes to avoid checks on lorries at the Northern Irish/Irish border by signing a wide-ranging trade deal with the EU. But Ms McEntee was sceptical of the chances of a quick deal, pointing out that all 27 remaining EU states would have to agree.

The PM is being urged to accept the EU-backed proposal for a controversial backstop plan / EPA

There is a short space of time  and we know that free trade arrangements took years in other parts, she said.

Mrs May said in December that no prime minister could agree to the backstop plan, which would effectively shift the border to the Irish sea and is flatly opposed by the Democratic Unionist Party, whose 10 MPs prop up her Government. The Financial Times reported that the PM now favours a customs partnership with the EU that would avoid a hard border and prevent different regimes applying in Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The idea was one of two options put forward in a Government paper last August. It would see the UK mirroring EU tariffs and customs rules for foreign imports destined for the European market, using a combination of tracking technology and repayments for traders charged the wrong tariff.

The plan was dismissed by the EU at the time as magical thinking, and the paper itself admits it is an innovative and untested approach that would take time to develop and implement.

The possibility of that happening between now and October is probably quite slim, so for us the backstop will have to apply, Ms McEntee said of any new plan for the border.

And she said it was very difficult to see how Britain could avoid checks at the border if it insisted on leaving the single market and customs union.

If they were to propose something that ensured things stayed as they are, then its not for us to say no, she said. In the absence of that, what we have agreed and proposed, we feel, would be adequate.

EU and UK officials resume talks on Northern Ireland on Friday, with the aim of reaching a preliminary deal on the backstop by June so it can be put to a vote in October. The EU has said it will not approve the final Brexit treaty until that deal is in place.

Ms McEntee said an extension of the post-Brexit implementation (or transition) period is something that could be looked at. In the current draft Brexit treaty, the transition is set to end in December 2020, though an extension is not explicitly ruled out.

Its not specifically in the withdrawal agreement, she said, but, verbally, it has been put out there that if needs be it can be extended. She said Ireland would have liked a longer period of time and that the UK will have to request any extension.

Meanwhile, former Irish prime minister John Bruton warned the UK that Ireland may reject a future EU-UK trade deal. The Irish governments ultimate leverage is that the final trade agreement has to be approved by Dail Eireann, he said. And at the end of the process, if Ireland doesnt like the agreement, it can veto it.

However, Mr Bruton said that the EU should avoid getting to that point, and that anything that can be done to keep Britain in the European Union should be done, within reason.
Morocco will never let the Polisario separatists alter the status of the Sahara buffer zone said Moroccos government chief, Saad Eddine El Otmani in a reaction to the maneuvers by the Algerian-backed separatists to set up posts in the demilitarized area.

The buffer zone east of Moroccos security wall is a demilitarized area under the UN-brokered ceasefire agreement of 1991. The Polisario militias have on multiple occasions conducted incursions into the area, which was handed by Morocco to the UN mission, MINURSO, to administer the ceasefire agreement.

King Mohammed VI has expressed concerns to the UN Secretary General regarding the separatists provocations, El Otmani said at separate meetings with leaders of political parties and trade Unions.

In this respect, El Otmani urged Moroccan political parties and civil society stakeholder to be ready to defend Moroccos national interests.

The meetings were held after a briefing at the Parliaments foreign and defense committees during which Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the Interior, Nasser Bourita and Abdelouafi Laftit, surveyed the latest development of the Sahara issue.

The Moroccan officials drew the attention of the committees members to the unsustainable conditions in the buffer zone where repetitive violations of the ceasefire and military agreements with the UN by Polisario militias are jeopardizing regional peace and stability.

Bourita will fly shortly to Paris to inform his French peer of the latest developments in the region before visiting Washington.

Polisario elements, emboldened by UN laxity, have vowed to move their armed forces headquarters to the locality of Bir Lahlou in the buffer zone.

Such a move would represent a casus belli against Morocco, said the Kingdoms representative to the UN, Omar Hilale, in a letter to the UN Security Council.
J eremy Corbyn is at the centre of a new controversy over his relationship with the Jewish community after attending a meeting with a controversial far-left group.

The Labour leader joined a Passover Seder hosted by Jewdas, a radical group which has faced criticism from mainstream Jewish organisations.

The group has suggested that allegations of anti-Semitism within Labour are a political plot aimed at discrediting the party. It has also described Israel as a steaming pile of sewage which needs to be properly disposed of.

In a statement last week, the group accused the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of "playing a dangerous game with people's lives" after they criticised Mr Corbyn for failing to tackle anti-Semitism within his party.

Allegations linking Mr Corbyn to anti-Semitism were "the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party", the group added.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism described Mr Corbyn's attendance at Monday's evet as "a very clear two fingered salute at mainstream British Jewry".

Campaign chairman Gideon Falter said: "Given the anti-Semitism crisis engulfing the Labour Party, there is absolutely no way that Mr Corbyn can claim that this too was an oversight.

Labour backbencher John Woodcock said Mr Corbyn's attendance at the meeting was "irresponsible and dangerous".

"This is deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community days after they pleaded with him to tackle antisemitism," he wrote on Twitter.

"And he must know that meeting them now will give his members the message that the group's extreme views are ok."

Another Labour MP, Angela Smith, said Mr Corbyn's attendance at the Jewdas Seder "reads as a blatant dismissal of the case made for tackling anti-Semitism in Labour".

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said he attended an event to mark the ritual feast of Seder on Monday with Jewish people from his constituency in a personal capacity and not in his official role as Labour leader.

"Jeremy was invited to a Passover Seder with Jewish members of his local community," he said.

"He wrote to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council last week to ask for an urgent formal meeting to discuss tackling anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and in society."

Jewdas shrugged off the attack, posting a Twitter message: "Great that there's so much interest in our work tonight! Please feel free to make a donation!"

The group said: "We are proud to be Jews and proud of everyone who attended, whether they were Jewish or not.

Comedian David Baddiel, who has been vocal on the debate over anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, rejected suggestions that Jewdas was "despised" by other members of the Jewish community.

"No it isn't," he said. "They are just Jews who disagree with other Jews. Which means: Jews... To make out that it's somehow anti-Semitic for him to spend Seder with them just because they're far left is balls."

Writer David Schneider tweeted: ""Boo! Corbyn needs to get out and meets some Jews!" (Corbyn spends Passover with some Jews at Jewdas) "Boo! Not those Jews!""

Mr Corbyn has come under sustained pressure over allegations of anti-Semitism within his party. He is facing demands to speed up the investigations into a backlog of around 70 complaints, including one against his close ally Ken Livingstone.

The Labour leader acknowledged on Monday that concerns about prejudice against Jewish people were "genuine" and vowed that he would not tolerate anti-Semitism in the party.
J eremy Corbyn has defended his decision to attend a dinner organised by a controversial radical Jewish group following criticism from mainstream community leaders.

The Labour leader has faced fresh criticism over his commitment to tackling anti-Semitism after he attended a meeting of the left-wing group Jewdas on Monday night.

Asked if he had any regrets about being at the Jewdas event during a visit to Swindon on Tuesday, he said: "Not in the slightest."

He said the Seder feast was "very interesting" and involved "talking to a lot of young people about their experiences of modern Britain".

Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, asked how the Labour leader's commitment to be "an ally against anti-Semitism" could be taken seriously after attending the event.

Mr Corbyn defended his decision to attend the meeting / Reuters

In a statement last week, Jewdas accused the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) of "playing a dangerous game with people's lives".

Allegations linking Mr Corbyn to anti-Semitism were "the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party", Jewdas said.

The Board's president, Mr Arkush, said Jewdas viewed the anti-Semitism issue as a "smear" and "if Mr Corbyn goes to their event, how can we take his stated commitment to be an ally against anti-Semitism seriously?"

But the Labour leader, on a campaign visit to Swindon, said: "It was a Seder event, which is a celebration of Passover, which I celebrate with young Jewish people from my own community and my own constituency.

"It was very interesting talking to a lot of young people about their experiences of modern Britain and I learnt a lot. Isn't that a good thing?

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell calls on Alan Sugar to 'disown' tweet depicting Corbyn sat next to Hitler

"Anti-Semitism is a vile and evil thing within our society at any level, anywhere, at any time. It has got to be eradicated wherever it arises.

"If it arises in my party then we have a process for dealing with it. We examine each case and, if someone has committed any anti-Semitic act, they are suspended and could be expelled as a result of it.

Hundreds protested Labour anti-Semitism outside Parliament last Monday evening / REUTERS

"We are very clear about that and very clear in the whole of our society we cannot accept anti-Semitism in any form or indeed any other form of racism in our society.

"Communities working together achieve things together, communities divided don't."

In a statement, Jewdas reaffirmed their support for Mr Corbyn, writing in a satirical Facebook post: "While we remain opposed to the monarchy, we were delighted that the leader of Her Majesty's Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, accepted our invitation to join the Jewdas community Seder.

Labour MP Andy McDonald says that the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has stood against anti-Semitic behaviour for decades

"We fulfil our role [as] the voice for Anglo-Jewry by writing funny tweets, holding great parties and passing on the memes which we receive from God.

"[The Board of Deputies] continues to insist their outdated and niche views represent all Jews.

"We have been campaigning against anti-Semitism on the Left and the Right for many years. Like, way before it was popular.

"We have run anti-anti-Semitism workshops in such far flung corners as Marseille and Bloomsbury...distributed information on how to criticise Israel without being anti-Semitic...and most importantly took the p*** out of Ken Livingstone.

"We are unhappy with the pervasive anti-Semitism that still remains on the Left but we are committed to a better world and a better Left, and believe that the only way to tackle anti-Semitism is to keep fighting for our rights in the diaspora."

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism described Mr Corbyn's attendance at Monday's evet as "a very clear two fingered salute at mainstream British Jewry".

Campaign chairman Gideon Falter said: "Given the anti-Semitism crisis engulfing the Labour Party, there is absolutely no way that Mr Corbyn can claim that this too was an oversight.
T he Labour party has come under intense fire for failing to extinguish widespread anti-Semitism within its ranks as a years-long row continues to deepen.

Jeremy Corbyn, the partys leader, is facing growing pressure from all angles, including from his own MPs, to take firm action to stamp out anti-Semitism within Labour.

Protests over the Labour leaderships' failure to get a handle on the issue have taken place in the past week after a 2016 internal inquiry was branded a whitewash.

And Mr Corbyn was hit with fresh criticism over his commitment to tackling anti-Semitism on Tuesday after meeting with controversial far-left Jewish group Jewdas.

What is Jewdas, why did Corbyn meet them and why is he being criticised for it?

The Labour leader joined a Passover Seder hosted by Jewdas, a radical group which has faced criticism from mainstream Jewish organisations.

The group has suggested that allegations of anti-Semitism within Labour are a political plot aimed at discrediting the party. It has also described Israel as a steaming pile of sewage which needs to be properly disposed of.

In a statement last week, the group accused the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of "playing a dangerous game with people's lives" after they criticised Mr Corbyn for failing to tackle anti-Semitism within his party.

Jeremy Corbyn defends attending Jewdas event

Allegations linking Mr Corbyn to anti-Semitism were "the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party", the group added.

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said he attended an event to mark the ritual feast of Seder on Monday with Jewish people from his constituency in a personal capacity and not in his official role as Labour leader.

"Jeremy was invited to a Passover Seder with Jewish members of his local community," he said.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism described Mr Corbyn's attendance at Monday's event as "a very clear two fingered salute at mainstream British Jewry".

Protesters hold placards and flags during the demonstration against anti-Semitism in the Labour party / REUTERS

How has Labour and Corbyn responded to the ongoing row, and what is being done?

The Labour leader acknowledged on Monday that concerns about prejudice against Jewish people were "genuine" and vowed that he would not tolerate anti-Semitism in the party.

Ahead of the Enough is Enough protests in London against anti-Semitism in Labour, Mr Corbyn sent a letter to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in London / Reuters

In it he pledged to redouble his efforts to bring anxiety over anti-Semitism in the party to an end.

Mr Corbyn has asked for an urgent formal meeting with the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council to discuss tackling anti-Semitism.

Labour also has to deal with a backlog of cases of alleged anti-Semitic behaviour, including deciding whether Ken Livingstone has a future in the party.

New general secretary Jennie Formby has promised an updated complaints and discipline process to eradicate the "stain" of anti-Semitism.

Where has anti-Semitism existed in the Labour party and when did the current row begin?

The ongoing row can be traced back to two allegations made in 2016, a year after Mr Corbyn became leader of the Labour party.

The first was against the MP for Bradford West, Naz Shah.

It was revealed she shared an image of Israels outline superimposed on a US map under the headline: "Solution for Israel-Palestine conflict - relocate Israel into United States", with the comment "problem solved".

Under pressure: Jeremy Corbyn / REUTERS

She resigned from her post as John McDonnell's parliamentary private secretary and was suspended from the party after apologising for her comments.

But she was reinstated in July and blamed the posts on ignorance, admitting they were anti-Semitic.

Amid all of this, former London mayor Ken Livingstone made comments that led to him being accused of being a Nazi apologist.

Jeremy Corbyn: Ken Livingstone needs to apologise for anti-Semitic remarks

Mr Livingstone had defended Ms Shah and added: "When Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews."

The long-time Corbyn ally was suspended by the party for a year, but he refused to apologise and continued to repeat his comments.

He was then suspended for another year in April 2017 after a Labour disciplinary panel upheld three charges of breaching party rules.

(Lauren Hurley/PA ) / Lauren Hurley/PA

This prompted Mr Corbyn to order a fresh internal inquiry into his conduct. His suspension has now again been extended pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Among other allegations made are ones of anti-Semitism at the Oxford University Labour Club. The allegations led to the Labour Party's national student organisation conducting their own inquiry.

Some incidents of anti-Semitic behaviour were found, the inquiry concluded, but it found no evidence the club is itself institutionally anti-Semitic".

More recently, a dossier on abusive, anti-Semitic comments made on Facebook groups used to mobilise supporters of Labour leader Mr Corbyn published by The Sunday Times under the headline: Jeremy Corbyns hate factory.

Mr Corbyn has himself faced criticism for responding to a Facebook post of an allegedly anti-Semitic London mural. He has since expressed sincere regret for failing to look more closely at the post.

What was the Chakrabarti inquiry, what did it find and why was it branded a whitewash?

It was launched following the suspension of Ms Shah and Mr Livingstone.

The inquiry found that the party was not overrun by anti-Semitism or other forms of racism but there was an "occasionally toxic atmosphere".

Shami Chakrabarti, chair of the June 2016 inquiry, said upon its conclusion that there was "too much clear evidence... of ignorant attitudes" within Labour.

Ms Chakrabarti was later made a Labour peer.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, which called Chakrabartis report a whitewash, said that the MP evidently wrote it as a job application for a top Labour post.
H undreds of people are expected to gather for solidarity events across Britain in response to a vile letter labelling April 3 2018 "Punish a Muslim Day."

A number of events, organised by anti-racism, faith and community groups, are taking place today in support for the UKs Muslim communities after the malicious advert for a national day of violence against Muslims was circulated.

At least eight #DayofSolidarity events have been organised in London alone, with demonstrations expected to take place in Haringey, Islington, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest on Tuesday.

Police have urged Londoners to unite as thugs threatened a spate of hate crimes on 'Punish a Muslim' day / Twitter

Similar events are also expected to take place in other major cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh.

A list of the demonstrations, organised by campaign group Stand Up to Racism, happening in London and around the UK can be viewed via this link.

People have also been sharing stories of their solidarity with Muslim communities and offering support for anyone left frightened by the threatening letters since details of it emerged.

Muslim cafe owner Manzoor Ali, who runs Barakah Foods in Manchester, urged Britain to spread positive messages in the face of the notes.

He told the i newspaper: Its astonishing that people want to spread this hate. Even if theyre joking, people latch on to it. The person behind this has lit a match and those sharing it are throwing fuel on the fire.

The business owner added: Theres a minuscule minority intent on division and this plays into their hands. People on both sides will respond to this.

I refuse to rise to it. We all need to react with honesty, compassion and love.

Others showed support on social media, with one woman tweeting: "If youre a Muslim around Hammersmith/Askew area on Tuesday and you feel unsafe DM me. Ill be home most of the day and can escort you and offer help."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman told the Standard there is no credible information that any hate crimes will happen on Tuesday, but it encouraged local communities to unite in the face of the threats.

The spokesman said: "The Metropolitan Police Service is aware of continuing concerns circulating in the community about some correspondence that has been widely shared on social media.

"At this time there is no credible information to suggest there is any criminal activity that will take place.

"However, we recognise the alarm and distress such messages cause and an investigation led by Counter-Terrorism Policing North-East, and supported by the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, is ongoing to identify those responsible."

He added: "These messages seek to cause fear and mistrust amongst our communities and to divide us. Yet in spite of this our communities have shown strength in their response to such hatred and in their support for each other.

"We will be encouraging local faith and community networks to take part in a #westandtogether campaign to demonstrate once again that London is a tolerant city, proud and protective of all its diverse communities and a city the Met is proud to represent."

The letter, which has been received by residents across the country, has caused concern among lawmakers, and an urgent question was raised in the House of Commons about them last month by Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi.

The notes asked recipients to carry out violent acts including verbal abuse, removing a womans hijab or head-scarf, physical assault and using acid as a weapon.

These were ranked using a points-based system, with the letter stating: "There will be rewards based on action taken."
E xperts from Porton Down were unable to identify "the precise source" of the nerve agent used to poison former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the Government's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, said the poison had been identified as a military-grade Novichok nerve agent which could probably be deployed only by a nation-state.

But he told Sky News it was not the military research facility's job to say where the substance was manufactured.

He said working out where the poison came from relies on "other inputs" that the Government has access to.

The Government responded that they still believed Russia was responsible for the "reckless act", adding that Porton Down is "only one part of the intelligence picture".

Porton Down: the British military research base in Wiltshire / PA Wire/PA Images

Russia has said it is not responsible for the March 4 attack, with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov even suggesting on Monday that it might have been carried out by the British authorities as a means of distracting voters from its difficulties with Brexit.

Mr Aitkenhead said on Tuesday: "We in terms of our role were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify it was a military-grade nerve agent.

"We have not verified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific information to the Government, who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions that they have come to."

He said the facility was responsible for providing "the scientific evidence that identifies what the particular nerve agent is".

Russian spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia were poisoned with nerve agent, Scotland Yard confirms

"It's not our job to say where that actually was manufactured," he added.

Following the comments, a Government spokesman said: "We have been clear from the very beginning that our world-leading experts at Porton Down identified the substance used in Salisbury as a Novichok, a military grade nerve agent.

"This is only one part of the intelligence picture. As the Prime Minister has set out in a number of statements to the Commons since March 12, this includes our knowledge that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination - and as part of this programme has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichoks; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets.

"It is our assessment that Russia was responsible for this brazen and reckless act and, as the international community agrees, there is no other plausible explanation."

Double agent: Sergei Skripal was found unconscious in Salisbury, where he has been living a quiet retirement

According to Porton Down's boss the location of manufacture "can be established through a number of different input sources which the Government has access to".

Mr Aitkenhead added: "From our perspective, scientific evidence is only one of those sources, and it requires a number of other things to verify that.

"It's a military grade nerve agent which requires extremely sophisticated methods in order to create - something that's probably only within the capabilities of a state actor."

Emergency services investigate the scene where the pair were found last month / AFP/Getty Images

Rejecting Russian claims the substance could have come from Porton Down, Mr Aitkenhead said: "There's no way that anything like that would ever have come from us or leave the four walls of our facilities.

"We've got the highest levels of security and controls."

He described the nerve agent as "an extremely toxic substance" with no known antidote.

Porton Down was able to advise doctors on the best treatment to mitigate its effects on the Skripals and Wiltshire policeman Nick Bailey, who was affected after coming to their aid, he said.

A police tent is seen behind a cordon at the scene at The Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury on March 6 / AFP/Getty Images

His comments come a day ahead of an extraordinary meeting in The Hague of the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to discuss the Salisbury attack.

The meeting on April 4 - to be held behind closed doors - was called by Russia to "address the situation around allegations of non-compliance" with the chemical weapons convention made by the UK against Moscow.

Meanwhile, retired Russian Lieutenant-General Evgeny Buzhinsky warned that relations between Russia and the West could become "worse" than the Cold War and "end up in a very, very bad outcome" following the nerve agent attack.

Asked to spell out what this would mean, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "A real war, worse than a cold war is a real war, it will be the last war in the history of mankind."

A Downing Street spokesman said: "As the Prime Minister has made clear, the UK would much rather have in Russia a constructive partner ready to play by the rules.

"But this attack in Salisbury was part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive Russian behaviour, as well as a new and dangerous phase in Russian activity within the continent and beyond.

"As the Prime Minister has said, we must face the facts, and the challenge of Russia is one that will endure for years to come."
S ix Australian police officers are being investigated after being filmed viciously beating a disabled man.

The Victoria officers were caught on CCTV verbally abusing the man, whose psychologist contacted police to flag concerns over his mental health.

The man can be seen being pinned down on his own front lawn while one officer calls him a "f****** idiot", punching him in the back.

Another then thrusts a can of pepper spray in his face, saying: "You like that? Smells good, doesn't it?"

As yet another cop sprays the man with a hose pipe, their lead officer appears to start filming the incident on his mobile phone.

The man on the ground can be heard yelling, "My back...my eyes" before being arrested.

Identifying himself to Australian new network ABC as John, the pensioner said he thought he would die when officers hosed his face after spraying him with capsicum spray in September last year.

Hes aiming for my nostrils and its going into my lungs  and thats when I started choking from the water and from the hot mace going into my respiratory [system]...I couldnt breathe.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) confirmed they were investigating the "serious allegations of excessive use of force by Victoria Police".

An IBAC spokesman said: "Victoria Police, as their employer, is responsible for determining whether the officers are 'stood down' from policing duties while they are subject to investigation.

"Our practice is we conduct an initial inquiry...it is too early at this stage to form an opinion of whether they should be stood down."

The officers are reportedly still working despite the investigation.

A spokesman for Victoria Police said: "We have no tolerance for poor behaviour within our ranks. We will examine carefully any new evidence contained in the media's reports."
F our members of the same family from Bristol were killed in a car crash as they returned from the Kennedy Space Centre, police in Florida said.

Adam Stephenson, 30, was driving a Mitsubishi sedan when he turned left into the path of a Ford pick-up truck, police said.

The force said the "heavy-duty pick-up truck violently impacted the passenger side of the small sedan".

Mr Stephenson died at the scene along with three passengers: Maryanne Stephenson, 29, Brian Stephenson, 66, and Sheralyn Stephenson, 56.

Titusville Police Department said the crash happened at around 6pm on Monday (10pm GMT) on Sisson Road.

Titusville Police Department Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson said: "Our emergency personnel were on the scene within a few minutes.

"There was nothing they could do, all four were pronounced deceased at the scene."

Officers believe the British family had just left the Kennedy Space Centre in a car they had rented and were driving back to a holiday home.

Data from the global-positioning system device in the car indicated the family were making a U-turn at the junction following an earlier crash.

DC Hutchinson said officers visited the rental home, using the destination entered into the sat nav. "They located the brother of the driver, and the son of the older couple in the back seat. So he lost his brother, his sister-in-law and his mum and dad," he said. "Very, very tragic."

The driver of the truck was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.
M alaysians have hit out at reality cooking show MasterChef after a contestant was booted off because an element of their dish was not "crispy enough".

John Torode and Gregg Wallace, judges on the BBC reality show, told Malaysian-born Zaleha Kadir Olpin her chicken rendang needed a crispier skin.

While presenting the dish, Ms Olpin told them: "There was a special stall outside my school that sold the best nasi lemak so I used to save up pocket money on Fridays...It is very special to me."

But Mr Wallace told her: "I like the rendang flavour, there's a coconut sweetness. However, the chicken skin isn't crispy.

"It can't be eaten and all the sauce is on the skin so I can't eat it."

Ms Olpin, pictured left in the front row, with her fellow contestants / BBC/Shine TV Ltd

Malaysian commentators took to social media to express their outrage with his comments, saying rendang is a stew and the meat should be tender - not crispy.

One wrote on Facebook: "If they want crispy chicken, they should go to KFC."

Meanwhile @nicoteane wrote on Twitter: "I love how Malaysians and Indonesians unite against one common enemy: Uncultured swines who dare to whitesplain rendang."

Another wrote: "Utter ridiculousness. Crispy chicken rendang? You think this is fish and chips Judges? Don't be a judge if you don't know how to judge.

"Call themselves 'chef/celebrity chef' and they only know about their own food from their own culture. Shame on them really."

Calling out John Torode on Twitter, viewer Nadirah Othman wrote: "Maybe regardless of origin, no rendang is cooked crispy or with the sauce on the side.

"You are more than welcome to visit [Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand] to sample some chicken and beef rendang. Bring your friend Greg Wallace too!"

He responded: "Thank you so much for your input...We could argue of course as to its origin and whether chicken is classic or an adaptation.
R ussia has said the UK Government has lost a "key piece of intelligence" in response to reports that Porton Down experts were unable to identify source of the nerve agent used to poison a former spy.

Reacting to comments made by Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the Government's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Russia denied any involvement in the attack and said UK Government statements on the nerve agent having been produced in Russia were a bluff.

President Vladimir Putin, citing Mr Aitkenhead, called for a thorough investigation into the poisoning, adding "the speed at which the anti-Russian campaign has been launched causes bewilderment."

Mr Aitkenhead said on Tuesday the poison used on Sergei Skripal and his daughter had been identified as a military-grade Novichok nerve agent which could probably be deployed only by a nation-state.

But he told Sky News it was not Porton Down's role to work out where the agent came from.

A Russian Embassy spokesman said: "We understood from the very start that UK Government statements on the nerve agent having been produced in Russia were a bluff.

"Now this has been confirmed by the head of the secret lab. This only proves that all political declarations on the Russian origin of the crime are nothing but assumptions not stemming from objective facts or the course of the investigation.

"This has also been essentially confirmed by today's comment by the Foreign Office, whose 'intelligence picture' has lost a key piece - while the rest are kept secret even from Britain's allies.

The UK Government responded to the Mr Aitkenheads comments by saying that they still believed Russia was responsible for the "reckless act", adding that Porton Down is "only one part of the intelligence picture".

Russia has previously said it is not responsible for the March 4 attack, with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov even suggesting on Monday that it might have been carried out by the British authorities as a means of distracting voters from its difficulties with Brexit.

The Russian Embassy spokesman went on to reinforce this accusation and claimed that the nerve agent was manufactured at Porton Down.

Double agent: Sergei Skripal was found unconscious in Salisbury, where he has been living a quiet retirement

He said: "We have also noted that, like in his earlier interview, Mr Aitkenhead is not denying that the lab had developed or keeps stocks of the agent they call 'novichok', although, of course, he would not admit it.

"By the way, some time ago we asked the Foreign Office to facilitate a meeting with Mr Aitkenhead or his colleagues, but have got no reply.

"One has to conclude that the UK Government prefers to block the Embassy from discussing the matter with experts who may possess the uncomfortable truth."

Mr Aitkenhead flatly denied Russian claims the substance could have come from Porton Down itself.

He said: There's no way that anything like that would ever have come from us or leave the four walls of our facilities.

"We've got the highest levels of security and controls. We are regularly audited by the OPCW to make sure we are operating within those controls. If there was any hint that anything that we have would be leaving our four walls, then we wouldn't be allowed to operate."

The comments come a day ahead of an extraordinary meeting in The Hague of the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to discuss the Salisbury attack.

The meeting on April 4 - to be held behind closed doors - was called by Russia to "address the situation around allegations of non-compliance" with the chemical weapons convention made by the UK against Moscow.

Mr Lavrov suggested relations between Russia and the West were worse than during the Cold War, accusing the UK and US of "putting all decency aside" in their dealings with Moscow.
T he world is on the brink of the last war in the history of mankind amid the fallout from the Salisbury nerve attack, a Russian former general has warned.

Evgeny Buzhinsky claimed that diplomatic tensions between Russian and the West are worse than the cold war and could end in an armed conflict.

It comes after around 150 Russian diplomats were expelled from countries across the world after Britain accused Russia of using a nerve agent on ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

Retired lieutenant general Mr Buzhinsky told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Its worse than the cold war because if the situation will develop in the way it is now Im afraid it will end up in a very, very bad outcome.

Evgeny Buzhinsky warned of the consequences of taking on Russia / WorldsApaRT

Clarifying what he meant by this, he added: A real war, worse than the cold war is a real war, the last war in the history of mankind.

He said war could be caused not directly by the Salisbury poisoning but by what has happened since then.

Tensions between Russia and the West have been ramped up in the wake of the Salisbury nerve attack / AFP/Getty Images

He said: You see the pressure from the United States, you are saying the pressure will continue  what are you going to achieve?

"If youre going to achieve regime change its useless, actually you are cornering Russia, and to corner Russia is a very dangerous thing.

Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident 1 /14 Russian Spy Sergei Skripal: Salisbury Nerve Agent Incident Investigators in protective gear pursue the probe into the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal Getty Russian spy 'poisoning': Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal are fighting for life in hospital PA Personnel in hazmat suits work to secure a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA ilitary personnel are deployed to help remove vehicles from the scene after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found critically ill after exposure to a nerve agent in Salisbury Getty Images Military in protective clothing remove vehicles from a car park in Salisbury EPA Police cordon: Military personnel in Salisbury PA Traces of the nerve agent used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found at Zizzi in Salisbury PA Amber Rudd: she visited the scene where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found after having been poisoned by a nerve agent REUTERS Personnel are helped from their hazmat suits (right), after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA Personnel in hazmat suits walk away after securing a tent covering a bench in the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill by exposure to a nerve agent Andrew Matthews/PA Police put a red bag inside a police evidence bag immediately after the nerve agent attack on a Russian spy. Officers previously issued CCTV of a woman clutching a red bag Solent news Snap Fitness 24/7 Police activity in the cul-de-sac in Salisbury that contains the home of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal who was poisoned along with daughter Yulia with a nerve agent PA Sergei Skripal shops at Bargain Stop in a CCTV image from five days before his apparent poisoning

On Monday, a Ukrainian ex-president who was poisoned during a presidential campaign when he faced a Kremlin-backed rival said Europe is "blind" to the dangers posed by Russia.

Viktor Yushchenko, whose meal was laced with toxic chemical dioxin in 2004 as he competed against Viktor Yanukovych, told the BBC in the wake of the poisoning case.

He said: "I would like what we call United Europe to finally realise that the biggest challenge for its citizens is the medieval policy pursued by Russia in the 21st century.

Russia has repeatedly denied involvement with the poisoning of former double agent Mr Skripal, 66, who was attacked along with his daughter in Salisbury on March 4.
Moroccan police have seized on Monday at the Tangiers-Med port 241,319 ecstasy pills, the biggest ever bust of this illicit substance in the North-African country.

Manufactured in Europe, the drugs were bound to Morocco. Two involved persons, who were aboard a four-wheel drive car, were arrested, said Moroccan authorities.

The haul confiscated is part of sustained efforts made by the Moroccan security services to fight international criminal networks operating in psychotropic drug trafficking and dealers.

Ecstasy, or E as it is known on the street, is the chemical compound MDMA (methylenedioxyamphetamine). Ecstasy pills can sometimes kill drug takers but more commonly induce nausea, panic, paranoia and agitation.

Experts have warned the drug is getting stronger, leading to a rise in the number of people going to hospital for treatment for mental and behavioral issues.

Convinced of the necessity of a comprehensive approach to combat drug- related issues, Morocco has adopted an anti-drug strategy seeking to fight traffickers, distribution networks, suppliers and consumers.

This strategy also focuses on prosecution, prevention, education, medical treatment of addicts, creation of job opportunities for the youth and speeding of socioeconomic development of vulnerable zones.

Morocco has ratified various United Nations conventions on narcotics and psychotropic substances (1961, 1971, and 1988) and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000).

The North African country fully co-operates with its partners in drug trafficking, maintains a close relationship with the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) and includes the international community and donors in its anti-drugs efforts.
T he world could be about to get its first female Bond, as Cillian Murphy and James Norton have been overtaken by any actress.

Bookmakers slashed the odds of the next person to play the 007 agent being female from 33/1 to 12/1 following a surge of bets on Tuesday morning.

Mary Poppins star Emily Blunt has had her odds cut from 250/1 to 50/1 to play the iconic British spy with Gillian Andersons name also being bandied about.

Oddschecker spokesperson Callum Wilson said: Despite male actors dominating since its inception, weve finally seen a trend that is going towards a female taking up the coveted role.

Rumoured: Gillian Anderson's name has been thrown into the ring / PA

Any female actor to be the next Bond now has more chance than both of the heavy linked Cillian Murphy and Tom Hiddleston, and is trending to become even more popular than the likes of Idris Elba and Tom Hardy.

McMafia star James Norton is the current favourite to take over the reins from current incarnation Daniel Craig with odds of 3/1. He is followed by Tom Hardy, also at 3/1, and Jack Huston at 6/1.

Cillian Murphy odds slashed on taking over from Daniel Craig as James Bond

Norton previously shut down talk of taking on Bond, telling fans to keep you money in your pockets.

Speaking to Radio Times in December he said: Its really humbling and flattering, but to have my name [talked up for Bond] next to the likes of Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender is just mad.

If youre thinking of putting a bet on me, keep your money in your pocket.

Daniel Craig - In pictures 1 /52 Daniel Craig - In pictures Dave Benett Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz Getty Images An early publicity shot ahead of Casino Royale's release Footage featured during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games starring Daniel Craig playing James Bond escorting The Queen through the corridors of Buckingham Palace Daniel Craig emerges from the waves in Casino Royale in 2006 Daniel Craig kisses his actress wife Rachel Weisz while they attend The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund's Royal Film Performance 2015 of the 24th James Bond Adventure, "Spectre" at Royal Albert Hall Getty Images In the opening pre-title chase scene of Casino Royale In the opening pre-title chase scene of Casino Royale Seducing Solange (Caterina Murino) in Casino Royale Battling Le Chiffre across the card table at Casino Royale Making his move against the villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale With Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Venice near the end of Casino Royale On the hunt for the organisation responsible for Vesper's death in 2008's Quantum of Solace Seeking solace from his own Vesper cocktail in one of Bond's most vulnerable scenes of the series With Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) arriving with Camille at an airfield in Bolivia Bond with Camille (Olga Kurylenko) Bond with Camille (Olga Kurylenko) Fighting Dominic Greene in Quantum's final battle (Mathieu Amalric) Bond in shadow as he stalks his prey in the opening of Skyfall in 2012 With the mysterious with Severine (Berenice Marlohe) Ready to pull the trigger with Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) watching in the background MGM Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions On the move in a motocycle chase scene Fighting Patrice (Ola Rapace) on top of a moving train Face to face with Skyfall's villain Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) Skyfall saw a new and younger Q (Ben Whishaw) Classic Bond stance with the DB5 Bond went to his family home, Skyfall, in his bid to save M (Judi Dench) from Silva 'Enjoying death' - Bond starts 2015's Spectre in a mask at the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico Being fitted with a tracker by Q Dressed in black, Bond is the Spectre at the funeral of Marco Sciarra Monica Bellucci is Sciarra's widow Lucia Seducing Lucia moments after saving ehr by dispatching a Spectre hit-squad Bond meets an old friend, Mr White as he pieces together Spectre's plot Cutting a dashing figure in the Alps In one of Spectre's set-piece action scenes, Bond chases the villains down a mountain in a plane, crashing it into their vehicle. As you would With Madeleine Swan (Lea Seydoux) The End? Bond at the climatic end of Spectre before he drives off with Madeleine Daniel Craig speaks onstage during The New Yorker Festival 2016 Getty Images Daniel Craig takes a selfie with fans as he attends the German premiere of the new James Bond movie 'Spectre' Getty Images Lea Seydoux, Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci attend the Royal Film Performance of 'Spectre' at Royal Albert Hall Getty Images Naomie Harris (L) and British actor Daniel Craig (R) pose during an event to launch the 24th James Bond film 'Spectre' at Pinewood Studios at Iver Heath AFP/Getty Images Daniel Craig and his wife Rachel Weisz attend "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" premiere in Madrid Getty Images Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz take a romantic walk hand-in-hand to lunch in 2012 at a Japanese restaurant in NYC Splash News Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig in 'Dream House (2011) Daniel Craig takes a bow during opening night curtain call for the broadway production of "A Steady Rain" at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 29 September 2009 in New York Getty Images Daniel Craig in Defiance (2009) Daniel Craig with Sienna Miller in 'Layer Cake' (2004) Daniel Craig in 'Layer Cake' (2004) Daniel Craig in 'Layer Cake' with Colm Meaney (2004) Daniel Craig during the photocall of his film 'Road to Perdition' at the 59th International Venice Film Festival in 2002 PA

Peaky Blinders star Murphy recently had his odds slashed from 33/1 to 12/1 after it was reported Danny Boyle will direct Carigs final outing as Bond. The pair previously collaborated on 28 Days Later and Sunshine.

Craig confirmed his return to the role after months of speculation. The actor has enjoyed four outings as the British spy in Skyfall, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Spectre.

Announcing the news on US chat show The Late Show, he told host Stephen Colbert: I just want to go out on a high note, and I can't wait.
L ove Island producers have reportedly put a ban on any contestants who have previously appeared in rival reality TV shows.

The show is said to have received over 100,000 applications from singles hoping to jet off to the Majorcan villa, including some from former Made in Chelsea and TOWIE stars.

A source told The Sun: "Reality TV wannabes have seen the overnight success enjoyed by last year's Love Island contestants and want a piece of the action.

"Therefore producers want to ensure that their chosen singletons are genuinely looking for love rather than fame and haven't appeared on any other reality shows before.

"Even Celebs Go Dating extras, who have appeared as dates for the celebrities are being ruled out.

"Auditions are about to take place and it would have to be a real character and ratings-winner for them to do a U-Turn."

Love Island has previously featured singles from other shows, with Towies Georgia Harrison and Tyla Carr, who had appeared on First Dates joining late last year and Made in Chelsea castmember Tina Stinnes attempting to find love in 2016.

Love Island Series 3 - in pictures 1 /35 Love Island Series 3 - in pictures ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV ITV

But a spokesperson for ITV denied the claims, saying: "Anyone is welcome to apply - the only stipulation is that applicants are over 18 and single."

It comes after Caroline Flack teased the series 2018 start date, writing on her Instagram: Exciting PROMO WEEK ahead. How has it been a year???? Where does the time go???
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National Education Minister Valentin Popa met on Monday with Ambassador of the Republic of the Sudan to Romania Abdelhafiz Elawad, occasion on which the two officials appreciated the traditional cooperation in the Education area between the two countries.

According to a release of the National Education Ministry (MEN), within the talks, the two officials appreciated the traditional cooperation in the Education area between the two countries and voiced openness to intensifying new opportunities for its expansion, including through strengthening the bilateral legal framework.

Minister Valentin Popa and Ambassador Abdelhafiz Elawad agreed the fact that demarches need to be intensified for signing, by the two countries, of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Education area, the MEN release shows.

AGERPRES .
No, its not a return to George Kennan and his containment policy. It looks more like a slow strangulation, with mounting pressure everywhere. The furor over the Skripal poisoning case is being raised at a time when moves by the West are going almost unnoticed, eclipsed as they are by the narrative of nefarious Russia. Although it all started in Europe, it's largely being done the American way.

Recent reports pieced together from different sources lead to the conclusion that a well-thought-out and well-orchestrated campaign is underway. As tensions mount, the US is calling on NATO to step up its combat readiness. At least 30,000 allied troops, accompanied by over 360 fighter planes and roughly 30 warships, should be ready for deployment to a trouble spot within 30 days after NATO commanders put their forces on alert. That proposal is being debated but the US position has generally been accepted. There is hardly any doubt that it will be approved at the NATO summit in July.

This is at a time when the EU is working in unison with NATO to make it easier for those forces to move across Europe. It has been reported recently that US MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will start operating from Greeces Larissa air base in May. The drones are destined for intelligence missions in sensitive areas. The Greek ports of Alexandroupolis and Thessaloniki have attracted Americas attention as facilities that could bolster the rotating US military presence in the Black Sea. According to media reports, NATO is to have a helicopter base in Alexandroupolis.

After expelling its Russian diplomats, Poland signed a $4.75 billion agreement to buy the Patriot missile defense system from America. The price was supposed to be much higher. Warsaw received a discount because it borders Russias Kaliningrad region, where Iskander surface-to-surface missiles are deployed. The 16 launchers cannot protect all of Poland, but they certainly provide more protection for the US forces coming in to reinforce the NATO troops already in place, as well as the American Aegis Ashore missile-defense system that will be operational in 2020. NATO believes that the Patriot Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) upgrade sold to Warsaw will be capable of countering Russian Iskanders.

In their March 15 letter, 39 US senators called on the Treasury and State Departments to utilize all the sanction tools at their disposal to fight the Nord Stream 2 project to bring cheap Russian gas to Europe. On March 29, US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman told Russias RBK TV that he cannot rule out the possibility that Russian assets in America could be seized over the Skripal case. If Washington goes that far, it will be pure highway robbery. And the response will not be long in coming. That interview took place right after the British parliament had announced an investigation into some money-laundering schemes allegedly associated with Russia. The UK government has unveiled its Fusion Doctrine to counter what its calling Russian propaganda.

The US policy of making Europeans bow to pressure has been largely successful. The leading European powers  the UK, Germany and France  are pushing to force the EU to impose new sanctions on Iran, in order to persuade the US not to pull out from the Iran nuclear deal. This is a last-minute attempt to keep the agreement in effect, as it is widely expected that President Trump will not certify it in May. Europeans may bow to American pressure in a bid to appease Washington, but Russia is also a party to the agreement, which cannot be scuttled without Moscows consent. Adding additional conditions will violate the terms of the deal. It wont be supported internationally. If new Iran sanctions are introduced unilaterally by the West, the issue will become a bone of contention that will further worsen relations with Moscow.

What should we expect? John Bolton, the incoming NSA, has already called for a switch from targeted to broad sanctions, which would include the oil and gas sector. Cyber warfare is another domain where the US might step up its anti-Russia efforts. NATO is making moves to bolster its cyber operations. Information battles to win broad public support are already being waged. The diplomatic offensive will intensify. There will be a fight to diminish Russias global influence that has grown so much recently.

These tensions weaken European security and might lead to a balancing act on the brink of confrontation, plus an arms race that the US and its NATO allies are not winning. The plans to undermine Russia from within have failed. President Putin enjoys overwhelming support, as the recent presidential election has demonstrated. The economy is far from collapsing. Russias international standing has strengthened. Moscow has just scored another win, with India announcing its decision to buy the S-400 Triumph air-defense systems from Russia, worth over $5 billion. The two countries will jointly build four frigates and set up a facility to produce Kamov helicopters. Russia has scored a victory in Syria and greatly strengthened its position in the Middle East.

Russia and the West are at a dangerous crossroads and tensions continue to rise. The alternative is to set their differences aside and launch a dialog on a broad range of issues. The world has changed. There is a broad security agenda that needs to be addressed. That idea has been floating for some time, but without any serious discussion. Russia has tried to launch a dialog but the West has failed to meet it halfway. There are some signs, however, that all is not lost. Its not too late to switch from hostile actions and bellicose rhetoric to business-like approaches for the common good.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq is the best-known example of Americas Government and press lying to fool its public to invade a foreign country that actually posed no threat to US national security (so that Americas Defense Department was obviously Americas Aggression Department, and even its very name was a lie). However, that fraud and its resulting mega-violence were unfortunately typical, not at all exceptional, for the brutal American regime. This crucial but ugly fact will be documented here, so as to destroy (by clear facts) the lying US regimes supposed credibility  and this refers to both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party wings (and their newsmedia), of our ruling aristocracy. (Same for Americas lapdog, UK.)

First, however: its important to document that both Americans and Brits were lied (and that word should be not only a noun, but also a verb, because deceived is far too soft a term for so heinous a consequence) into invading and occupying Iraq:

A crucial date was 7 September 2002, when George W. Bush and Tony Blair both said that a new report had just been issued by the IAEA saying that Saddam Hussein was only six months away from having a nuclear weapon. The IAEA promptly denied that it had issued any such new report at all, and the news media simply ignored the denial, which the IAEA then repeated weeks later, and it again was ignored; so, the false impression, that such an IAEA report had been issued, remained in the publics minds, and they consequently favored invading Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein before there would be, as Condoleezza Rice warned the next day following Bush-Blair, on September 8th, a mushroom cloud. It was all just lies  lies that were believed by the public, at the time, and even believed by many for a long time after we invaded.

Some of these lies were derived from torturing detainees  torturing them to say what the US and British regimes wanted them to say. But all were concocted by the perpetrating dictators. Like CIA Director George Tenet told his boss, George W. Bush, fooling the public into invading Iraq would be a slam-dunk.

Even today, many Americans still are successfully suckered into believing that torture extracts truths, instead of the desired lies, from suspects, to serve as evidence, in this democracy.

So: thats the reality behind Americas destruction of Iraq  it was based upon lies from the Government, which were stenographically published and broadcast to the public as being truths, while the actual truths were being simultaneously hidden from the public  and the truth that the regime was lying didnt get to reach us until we had already invaded and occupied the targeted country. Thats what happens when an evil regime fools its public, into supporting and doing its aristocracys invasion, at the taxpaying publics expense, and psychopathically ignoring the massive horrors it is imposing upon the residents in the attacked country. This is psychopathy being displayed by a dictatorship  one that claims to be a democracy and that demonizes other governments that it claims to be (and some of which, occasionally, are) dictatorships. With the anti-communist excuse gone, only these types of lies still work; so, theyre used non-stop.

Here are other such instances:

Right now, the Obama-Trump regime, which use Al Qaeda in Syria to train and arm jihadists from around the world to go to Syria to fight and overthrow Syrias Government and replace it by one that will be a stooge-regime of the US aristocracys allied Saudi aristocracy (the Saud family), is, yet again, violating Trumps promise to leave Syria as soon as ISIS is defeated. In contrast to the US regimes promises, Trump stays on in Syria after ISISs defeat and tries to carve out the northeastern part of Syria, now relying mainly upon Kurdish forces in Syrias northeast, but also upon Al Qaeda-led jihadists in Ghouta and elsewhere, to serve as Americas boots-on-the-ground, for establishing the stooge-regimethat the US aristocracy and its allied Saudi and Israeli aristocracies want to control that land, so as to construct through it oil and gas pipelines to increase the invading aristocracys profits.

How can a news-consumer tell if a supposed news-medium is honest about Syria? Heres a simple and reliable method: If the news-medium uses the term rebels instead of jihadists or terrorists in order to refer to the people who are trying to overthrow and replace Syrias Government, then you know its lying, because those arent democrats in any sense: they are jihadists-terrorists who are aiming to establish in Syria a fundamentalist-Sunni, Wahhabist-Salafist, and rabidly anti-Shia, dictatorship there, which will be basically run by the Sauds. For example, on 2 April 2018, the BBC headlined Uncertainty Over Rebel Deal in Ghouta instead of Uncertainty Over Jihadist Deal in Ghouta or Over Terrorist Deal, and so the BBC is clearly a lying propaganda-outlet that cannot reasonably be believed, but whose reports one instead must independently verify before citing or quoting to others. Similarly, the prior day, the Telegraph had bannered Ghouta 'deal struck' as rebel fighters evacuated and thus made clear that it too is propaganda, not reliable news-reporting. To show how consistent these types of deception are through time, the Telegraph, on 6 March 2013, had headlined an editorial To end the conflict in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has to go and called his overthrow Our moral obligation. And, just two days later, they bannered US and Europe in 'major airlift of arms to Syrian rebels through Zagreb  which news would have been real news-reporting if only those rebels (and what they actually represented) had been at all honestly described. The basic technique of propaganda is to lie in the framing of an issue. Its so routine as to be endemic in the news-reporting in any dictatorship.

For yet another example: Any news-medium that refers to the overthrow in 2014 of Ukraines democratically elected Government, and its replacement by a racist-fascist (nazi) rabidly anti-Russian dictatorship, as having been not a coup but instead a revolution, is a rotten lying propaganda-medium, nothing better than that.

If the word revolution is used to describe the 2014 Ukraine overthrow, and the word rebels is used to refer to the fighters for the overthrow of Assad, not only is the medium consistently propaganda, but it is consistently pumping to precipitate World War III.

In my The Nations that Accept Nazism Today I documented that under Obama there were three: US, Ukraine, and Canada. And then in my Trump Continues Obamas Support of Nazism, I documented that the number had declined to two  and now it was only US and Ukraine. Those two news-reports (and my prior ones about Obamas having backed nazism at the U.N.) were distributed free to all media, but only a few tiny media published any of them. The dictatorship needed to hide this shocking news from the public, not broadcast it to the public. The mainstream media (and some of the non-mainstream media) are fake-news media  and this comprises almost all of the news-media. On international relations, theyre just loaded with lies, and the key terms right now are, for Syria, rebels versus jihadists; and, for Ukraine, revolution versus coup.
A relaxed jazz festival brought about 30,000 people into Downtown Tauranga over the Easter weekend.

It was very relaxed crowd, lots of families quite a few tourists. I spoke to people from Hawkes Bay there seemed to be quite a few people from Wellington, says festival general manager Mandy Ryan.

So its a really interesting mix of people, as well as all the locals that came out and really supported us; which was wonderful.

Bay of Plenty residents are also strong supporters of the festival concert programme, buying 70 per cent of the tickets and buying early.

By region 11 per cent of the concert ticket buyers are from Auckland, nine per cent Waikato and five percent form Wellington, plus about three per cent from Canterbury.

Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch have always had great jazz audiences and they produce great jazz players, says Mandy.

So you tend to find theres a real community interest. If you are interested in jazz you are going to be looking out for the concerts in other areas.

These three festivals the National Jazz Festival, and Christchurch and Wellington, are the top festivals in terms of jazz, and thats where you are going to go to listen to where jazz is going next.

The concerts were all well supported and there were a number of sell out concerts. Organisers are very happy with the weekend, says Mandy.

Its wonderful, not like last year when we had the cyclone to deal with. All our schools were able to get here this year. The youth competitors all had a great time. We had a wonderful youth competition.

There just bee so much good feedback and the growth in the youth concerts has been the most rewarding part of the festival, because thats where it feeds in from.

A lot of the players that play at our jazz festival have come through from the National Youth Jazz Competition that we run. So we see the same faces. Some of them that were competing three years ago and were award winners, we saw them performing on the stages.

Just about all the good horn players seen in New Zealand bands have come through the youth competitions and they feed through to the jazz degree programmes at Auckland, Canterbury Polytechnic, and the New Zealand School of Music University of Victoria, says Mandy.

And they all provide judges for our competitions so we are all connected, and I guess all of a like mind to grow the opportunities for students to play jazz and grow in that genre, says Mandy.

Its like anything in life. You have to support the young ones coming though and then you have got to also provide a platform for them to perform. So thats what the festival does, it offers opportunities.
Bay of Plenty

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It is probably one of the most controversial addresses at the Mount.

But now, after a long and at times acrimonious process, the transformation of the Mount Maunganui Phoenix carpark at 123-141 Maunganui Road, from blacktop into a largely urban green space fringed with eateries, is happening.

Work started this week and, according to Tauranga City Council, by December the site will feature grass areas in which to play and relax, native trees for shade and a flexible space for year-round events and activities.

The park is designed for people to enjoy, says deputy mayor Kelvin Clout. It will create a greater sense of belonging for our community by encouraging social interaction through a shared space to rest and play.

Councilor Leanne Brown hopes the new space will encourage visitors and locals to stay longer in the CBD. Local businesses will also enjoy economic benefits through increased foot traffic and a relaxed customer experience, says Leanne.

The plan to create the trendy new green space was divisive from the outset  some retailers were concerned it would impact their businesses and profitability and it caused ill-feeling, anger and fear.

But ideas were batted back and forth, resulting in trade-offs and compromises, and now the plan is underway.

First, a number of Phoenix palms at the northern-end of the park will be removed. That end of the carpark will be blocked off after Easter weekend. The rest of the car park will remain available as long as possible.

Council are in collaboration with Mauao Properties, which is redeveloping an adjacent site. The existing building will be demolished, and from the rubble will grow a new building featuring retailers and outdoor dining facilities spilling onto the new open green space.

Both projects are scheduled to be completed and open in December 2018.

The number of parking spaces at the car park area will fluctuate during construction. Parking spaces that remain become free of charge, with time limits.

The final park design will retain up to 20 car parks. The parking area next to May Street will remain open and will be expanded to include 12 extra parking spaces.

New permanent parking spaces are also being added in Nikau Crescent and Prince Avenue, retaining the balance of parking spaces in the downtown Mount area.

You can follow the development at: www.tauranga.govt.nz/urbanspace
UK Launches VAT Due Diligence Scheme For Fulfillment Firms

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

02 April 2018

The UK Government has opened registration for its Fulfilment House Due Diligence Scheme (FHDDS), which is intended to ensure that fulfillment houses report VAT by online traders based outside the EU.

Those obligated to register include businesses that store goods imported from outside the EU that are owned by, or on behalf of, someone established outside the EU. Approved fulfillment businesses must complete due diligence checks on their overseas customers and maintain records about the goods they store from April 1, 2019.

Businesses that only store or fulfill goods that they own, or only store or fulfill goods that are not imported from outside the EU, are not required to register. Transport businesses that need to store goods temporarily as part of their service, such as during an overnight break, are also not required to register.

Businesses that meet the FHDDS criteria will not be allowed to trade as a fulfillment business from April 1, 2019, unless they are approved by HMRC, and risk a GBP10,000 (USD14,000) penalty and a criminal conviction if they do so. The deadline for applications from existing fulfillment businesses is June 30, 2018. Businesses that start trading on or after April 1, 2018, to June 30, 2018, will need to apply on or before September 30, 2018, with penalties in place for late applications.

The scheme was announced by the Government at Budget 2016 as part of a package of measures to disrupt and deter abuse by some overseas businesses selling goods to UK customers through online marketplaces.
Wales Begins Collected Devolved Taxes

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

02 April 2018

In a landmark step, Wales took control of a number of taxes levied in the country from April 1, 2018, under the terms of a tax devolution deal with the UK.

From April 1, 2018, Wales's Land Transaction Tax (LTT) replaced the UK's Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT); and the Welsh Landfill Disposals Tax replaced the UK's equivalent tax. Both taxes are to be administered by the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA).

From April 6, 2019, Wales will also receive greater powers, enabling it to set its own rates of personal income tax. The levy will continue to be collected by HM Revenue and Customs and Welsh taxpayers need not take action. Welsh tax will be levied on a taxpayer in Wales as long as HMRC has their correct address.

Under the new rates for land transaction tax (LTT), Wales now has the highest starting threshold for the property tax in the UK, of GBP150,000 (USD210,500), up from GBP125,000. Residential properties costing up to GBP400,000 will pay the same or less tax than under stamp duty land tax  nearly GBP500 less tax than under stamp duty land tax on average.

For properties worth up to GBP250,000, the rate will increase to 2.5 percent from two percent, and will increase by 2.5 percent at value intervals of up to GBP400,000 (five percent), up to GBP750,000 (7.5 percent), and up to GBP1.5m (10 percent). A 12 percent rate will apply on property values above GBP1.5m.

Wales will have the lowest starting rate of tax for the purchase of business premises in the UK, with all businesses buying premises up to the value of GBP1.1m in Wales either paying no tax or up to GBP1,000 less tax than under stamp duty land tax.
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Coming for Cruz. Photo: Pete Marovich/Getty Images

Democratic congressman Beto ORourke may still be a long shot to unseat Republican senator Ted Cruz in Texas this November. But his fundraising prowess indicates that, at the least, hes mounting a seriously formidable challenge.

ORourke announced on Tuesday that he had raised $6.7 million in the first quarter of 2018  more, his campaign says, than any Democratic candidate nationwide during that period.

Perhaps even more impressive is that ORourke, taking a page out of the Bernie Sanders playbook, has sworn off any money from corporate political action committees. His haul was made up entirely of small donations, from more than 141,000 supporters.

The new number far surpasses ORourkes previous fundraising numbers at the end of 2017, which had easily bested Cruzs total during the same period. Still, Cruz had more cash on hand than ORourke as of February, by more than a million dollars. The senator has not yet released his first-quarter fundraising numbers.

Democrats have long dreamed about turning Texas blue, a goal that seems perennially just out of reach. The state is rapidly diversifying, but it is still decidedly red, and hasnt elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. Racial disparities in voting make the state challenging terrain for liberals.

But several factors are working in ORourkes favor. He is a skilled, charismatic campaigner; Democratic enthusiasm looks likely to be off the charts all over the country in 2018; and President Trump is about as unpopular in Texas as he is in America at large. The big question may be just how much Texas voters like Ted Cruz, which at the moment is a question without a definitive answer.
The past few weeks have been particularly trying for the self-driving car industry. This is due in no small part to a recent incident involving a self-driving Uber vehicle which crashed into pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona on March 18.

However, Uber isn't the only company embroiled in a self-driving vehicle controversy. On March 23, a Tesla vehicle crashed into a median on Highway 101 in Mountain View, California while autopilot was engaged. The crash led to the tragic death of driver Wei Huang.

In the interest of transparency, Tesla was quick to reveal details about the crash including the fact that the driver apparently had his hands off the wheel for six seconds prior to the incident - something Tesla has warned against on multiple occasions. Tesla's customers might appreciate this transparency but government investigators feel quite differently.

"...the NTSB is unhappy with the release of investigative information by Tesla..."

"In each of our investigations involving a Tesla vehicle, Tesla has been extremely cooperative on assisting with the vehicle data," a US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Post. "However, the NTSB is unhappy with the release of investigative information by Tesla. The NTSB is looking into all aspects of this crash including the driver's previous concerns about the Autopilot."

As noted by Engadget, the NTSB spokesperson's latter statement is likely referring to concerns Huang previously expressed to a Tesla dealership regarding the erratic nature of his Model X's autopilot system. At the time, Huang reportedly said his Model X swerved toward the very same median at an earlier date.

With that in mind, the NTSB is likely looking to rule out the possibility that Tesla's autopilot system itself led to the crash instead of driver error as the company's previous statements suggested.
School buses across a dozen states are being upgraded through Google's Rolling Study Halls program to bring Internet access to students in rural areas. Students riding on Wi-Fi equipped buses will be able to have Internet access for an additional 1.5 million hours collectively on an annual basis.

Google will be expanding its program to 70 buses within 16 school districts. All areas being targeted have low population densities and typically have below national median household income levels. The high-speed Internet access will be provided freely to all students on equipped buses.

Although the service comes at no cost to districts or students, there are some small caveats. One is that school-provided Chromebooks are required for access. Only Google-approved devices can make use of the free Internet access. Content filters are also optionally installed at the discretion of school districts to block access to social media and other sites deemed inappropriate for school use. After all, the point of the program is to offer students the ability to complete school work instead of otherwise wasting time on lengthy commutes.

Out of the selected districts within Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, those that do not currently have Chromebooks will have some provided for student use.

At a time where privacy is a heated topic of debate, Google has assured school districts and parents that there is no way for its employees to view what content students have been looking at. It will be left entirely up to local school districts to enforce appropriate use of school resources as deemed fit by administrators.

In choosing to only support Chromebooks, Google is taking a strategic and competitive approach to the K-12 education market shortly after Apple announced lower cost iPads also targeting education customers.

Instead of wasting upwards of 90 minutes each way of their commute, students are being taught lessons and given assignments and quizzes during their rides. According to Google and school districts that already have Wi-Fi installed on buses, the results are undeniable that student performance has increased.
Weve already seen how technology can play a role in criminal trialsa 2015 murder in Arkansas saw police issue Amazon a warrant for recordings from the suspects Echo device. Now, health data from an Apple Watch is being used in an Australian murder case.

ABC News reports that 57-year-old Myrna Nilsson was found dead in her Adelaide home in September 2016. A neighbor had called the police after her daughter-in-law, Caroline Dela Rose Nilsson, emerged bound and gagged from the house.

Caroline Nilsson told authorities that her mother-in-law had been attacked by a group of men who followed her home following an argument. She claims to have not heard the attack because she was in the kitchen with the door closed, adding that the men tied her up shortly afterward.

Prosecutor Carmen Matteo last week told Adelaide Magistrates Court that Nilsson had fabricated the story and that she should be held on murder charges without bail.

Matteo said a forensic expert had analyzed Myrna Nilsson's Apple Watch and was able to narrow down her time of death to a seven-minute window. The data showed a burst of activity, possibly due to her being attacked, followed by a period of calmnesspresumably when she was unconscious. Her heart rate stopped soon after.

The prosecution accumulates those timings and the information about energy levels, movement, heart rate, to lead to a conclusion that the deceased must have been attacked at around 6.38pm and had certainly died by 6.45pm, Matteo told the court.

Caroline Nilsson told police she made her way out of the house at 10 pm to call for help. Its also alleged that she used her phone to text her husband at 7:02 PM and shop on eBay at 7:13 PM. Moreover, DNA evidence does not support her claims, all of which means her story has been thrown into doubt.

Her emergence from the house was well after 10:00pm and if the Apple iWatch evidence is accepted, that is over three hours after the attack on the deceased," said Matteo. "That represents time within which to stage the scene [] and represents time to clean up and discard bloodied clothing.

The judge has denied Caroline Nilsson bail and she is due back in court on June 13th.
Hopping on a plane is certainly one of the faster ways to travel the world but there's always room for improvement. This is a sentiment NASA seems to agree with if their latest announcement is anything to go by.

Today, the agency announced their decision to award a development contract to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company (LMAC). The California-based company has been tasked with developing a "Low Boom Flight Demonstrator," (LBFD) an experimental aircraft that could achieve near-silent supersonic travel.

NASA's ultimate goal with the LBFD is to bring supersonic flight to consumer markets, allowing for quicker transit than ever before. As Engadget notes, such technology in a consumer plane could open the door to flights as fast as two hours between cities like New York and Los Angeles.

...the agency will fly the LBFD over select US cities, asking residents whether or not they heard anything after the fact.

LMAC will be working within a $247.5 million budget to develop the experimental aircraft. After receiving the finished aircraft sometime in 2021, NASA will conduct a series of test flights to ensure the technology is working as intended. Later, in mid-2022, the agency will fly the LBFD over select US cities, asking residents whether or not they heard anything after the fact.

As interesting as this technology sounds, LBFD technology likely won't be making its way to your local airport anytime soon. NASA will still have to get through quite a bit of red tape currently preventing supersonic flights from taking place over land.
They will hold the third round of negotiations which started to demand the lifting of foreign sanctions and respect for Venezuela's political order in August. | Read More
Top this, Ben Carson. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

After President Trump embarked on a firing spree last month, reports emerged that he was considering axing all deadweight members of his Cabinet. Incredibly, as other Trump officials tried to lay low, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt found himself at the center of yet another ethics scandal last week when ABC News revealed that during his first six months in Washington, he lived in a $50-a-night rental room in a Capitol Hill condo co-owned by a top energy lobbyists wife.

On Monday Politico reported that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is still considering firing Pruitt in the coming months, and suddenly there was a flurry of reports about the EPA chiefs ethically questionable behavior. Hmm! Heres a quick guide to why Pruitt is pulling ahead in the race to be the next Trump official to hear youre fired! (Or rather, read it in a tweet.)

 Pruitt appears to be hanging on because despite various scandals, hes been effective in rolling back environmental protections, just as Trump wanted. For instance, on Monday he announced that the EPA will do away with the Obama administrations greenhouse gas and fuel emissions standards for cars and trucks.

But Politico suggests Pruitt isnt necessarily safe, Kelly just wanted to wait for the results of an inspector generals report on his lavish travel habits, which involved spending at least $163,000 on first-class flights, charter flights, and a ride on a military jet. The IG is also looking into the $43,000 Pruitt spent to install a soundproof phone booth in his office. Which brings us to 

 The Wall Street Journals report on Monday that the White House is conducting a review of Pruitts activities in light of reports about his former living arrangements  though the EPA said it was no big deal:

The purpose of the inquiry is to dig a little deeper, the first official said, indicating that the White House isnt satisfied with a statement from the EPA last week that the $50-a-night lease agreement didnt violate federal ethics rules.

A memo from an EPA ethics official, dated March 30, said that if Mr. Pruitt were to have used the home for 30 days, the rent would come to $1,500. That sum, the official, Kevin Minoli, wrote, is a reasonable market value.

 The Daily Beast shared an interesting fact about Pruitts occasional abode: During the time Pruitt was living there, at least three members of Congress held fundraisers there for their congressional campaigns. The EPA claimed Pruitt wasnt at the fundraisers, and noted Cabinet secretaries are allowed to attend political events.

 Maybe thats not such a big deal, as few are living up to the drain the swamp mantra. But the New York Times reported on Monday that while Pruitt was staying at the condo owned by the wife of a Williams & Jensen lobbyist, the EPA signed off on one of its clients projects.

Williams & Jensen was registered as lobbying for the Canadian energy company Enbridge Inc. on issues affecting pipelines and construction of new pipelines at the time. However, a spokesperson for the firm denied that it intervened with the EPA or Pruitt regarding the pipeline expansion. Pruitts spokesperson added: Any attempt to draw that link is patently false.

 Bringing things back around to an old school Pruitt scandal, the Washington Post reported that in an effort to better accommodate Pruitts pricey travel expenses during his first few months on the job, his aides looked into leasing a private jet on a monthly basis. The plan was reportedly scuttled after some top advisers objected to paying an estimated $100,000 per month for the jet.

The option was explored prior to September 2017, when Tom Price was ousted as secretary of health and human services over his penchant for taxpayer-funded charter flights  though he didnt even have any weird, expensive office furniture.
Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

In 1962, the conservative philosopher Milton Friedman wrote a classic essay titled Capitalism and Freedom. Friedman argued that a capitalist system is inherently more conducive to democracy because it disperses resources. One way to think of a market system is as part of a broader system of checks and balances, he argued,

as a system under which economic power can be a check to political power instead of an addition to it. Under a socialist government, by which he meant a centrally planned economy, a political critic has to persuade a government mill to sell him the paper, a government printing press to print it, a government post office to distribute it among the people, a government agency to rent him a hall in which to talk and so on.

Even if, like me, you find Friedmans argument far too simplistic, it is worth reckoning with his analysis of the link between political and economic power. A government powerful enough to monopolize all economic power could make it functionally impossible for dissidents to publicize their ideas. One flaw in Friedmans thought experiment is that the real world is more complicated than the simple market-versus-state dichotomy he imagined. A rich irony is that we are getting a glimpse of the nightmare he envisioned coming to life under the decidedly non-socialistic presidency of Donald Trump.

Last week, after Axios reported that President Trump is obsessed with Amazon  whose owner, Jeff Bezos, also owns the Washington Post  the company immediately lost $53 billion of its value. The thing about markets is that they have no ethics or morality. They are not going to mount a principled resistance to a budding tyrant who threatens to punish independent media. They are also not susceptible to the complacent case that hes not actually a danger to democracy and cant, or wont, really lay a finger on his critics. No, the markets learned that Trump wants to attack Amazons owner and immediately assessed the financial value of that threat as somewhere in the mid-eleven-figure range.

Trump has initially discussed attacking Amazon through anti-trust regulation or taxes, weapons that can be slow or difficult. Gabriel Sherman provides more detail about Trumps plans for Bezos, which have advanced considerably. Trump wants the Post Office to increase Amazons shipping rates. Additionally, Advisers are also encouraging Trump to cancel Amazons pending multi-billion contract with the Pentagon to provide cloud computing services, sources say. Another line of attack would be to encourage attorneys general in red states to open investigations into Amazons business practices.

Why hasnt the free market prevented such a plan from even being considered? Because, in a modern economy, virtually no businesses can completely ignore the power of government, and very few media companies can ignore larger business concerns. The state does not need to have full control of the economy to pose a serious threat to Amazons well-being. Trump is contemplating prosaic government government functions like the defense budget, the post office, and good old federalist-state government to bring Bezos to heel.

To be sure, Trumps threats have not yet had any measurable effect on the Posts coverage. But before we laugh off his campaign as an ineffectual tantrum, it is worth contemplating just why Trump has not yet fulfilled his rather sinister intentions.

Amazon is a massive firm, and the Post a tiny one. This would seem to lend the Post some protection  Bezos is not likely to worry very much about any financial losses the Post may sustain as a minuscule outpost in his business empire. Trump is shrewd enough to grasp that the threat to Amazon is the way to hit Bezos in his wallet. Bezos probably cares enough about his reputation among his peers, most of whom presumably do not admire Trump, to be willing to sustain the damage to his large business rather than give in to Trump by either selling off the Post or suppressing its coverage of the administration.

But this means that the survival of a vital source of independent reporting hangs upon a billionaires willingness to sustain financial losses over a matter of principle. No offense to Bezos or other capitalists, but the moral conscience of a billionaire is a precarious branch upon which to fasten something so weighty as the freedom of the press. What if Trump became more popular with Bezoss social circle? What if he wins a second term?

Bezoss predicament is hardly unique. Trumps Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission are likely to hand down a favorable ruling that would allow unprecedented expansion for Sinclair Broadcast Group, which has turned its 173 stations into what is essentially state media. (Sinclairs employees were forced to submit to ritual on-air denunciations on independent media, and were held in line by contracts that would require them to pay back wages, up to 40 percent of their last years compensation, if they quit.) If anybody didnt understand that the green light was on for the Sinclair deal, I think its crystal clear now, former Democratic FCC commissioner Michael Copps tells Politico. The Department of Justice blocked a merger that would have benefited Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, another Trump target. DOJ insists Trumps hatred of CNN, and his public opposition to its merger, played no role in the decision. But DOJ is plainly buckling to the presidents will in at least some instances, like its renewed investigations of the Clinton Foundation and the Obama administration.

Does Time Warner truly believe politics played no role? If I ran Time Warner, and my sole objective was to maximize the returns to my shareholders, I would either dump CNN or let the Trump administration know I would be installing some new conservative-leaning editors. Of course, maximizing returns to shareholders is the way capitalism is supposed to work. The fate of free media at the moment depends on that dynamic not working.

As Friedmans dystopia comes to life, it would be nice to imagine that the movement that cites him as an inspiration might move itself to protest. The reality has proven more bracing. Those conservatives not actively supporting Trumps authoritarian impulses have constructed a fantasy world in which they dont exist. Sherman reports that, while Trumps previous economic adviser, Gary Cohn, held back his bloodlust against Bezos, his replacement Larry Kudlow agrees Amazon is a problem. The Wall Street Journal today has an editorial criticizing Trumps position on Amazon, which seems positive, except that the editorial is dedicated to upholding the pretense that Trumps position is completely earnest. The words Bezos and Washington Post do not appear anywhere in the editorial. Instead it asserts that the presidents passions were stirred by policy arguments about postal shipping rates. The source for Mr. Trumps tweets, conclude the sleuths at the Journal, appears to be an op-ed by Josh Sandbulte that ran in our pages last summer, which argues that Amazon free rides on the post office with its last-mile delivery deal. Right, thats probably it.

Friedman convinced generations of conservatives that their drive to scale back the state was a bulwark of democracy. The direct importance of economic freedom, he wrote, is in many cases of at least comparable importance to the indirect importance of economic freedom as a means of political freedom. But the reality of the movement he helped shape is that economic freedom is being purchased at the expense of political freedom.
Zara's new app will let shoppers use their phone to look at models moving around the store. Credit:Bloomberg

Once the mirage on the retail horizon, augmented and virtual reality technologies are getting closer and could prove to be an effective lure for keeping shoppers in their stores while also enabling them to shop online.

Global fashion brand Zara has released an app that enables customers to watch models walking around the store wearing the latest clothes, then click through and buy what they fancy.

Converse, Topshop and Uniqlo all use augmented reality apps and make-up behemoth Sephora already offers virtual artist technology where shoppers can use their phones to try on make-up colours and looks before buying.

Ikea has launched an app which allows consumers to experiment with furniture placement and UK cosmetics brand Charlotte Tilbury has installed a 'magic mirror' in its stores which scans shoppers' faces and applies the latest looks without ever trying on any make-up.
Home prices across Australia's major cities slipped for a sixth straight month in March, with Sydney leading the falls, but the worst may be over for the city's property owners.

Sydney home prices dropped 0.3 per cent in March, leaving values down 2.1 per cent on the year, according to property consultant CoreLogic. Values had been surging at more than 20 per cent a year at the peak of the boom.

Sydney house prices have declined by 2.1 per cent over the past 12 months. Credit:Bloomberg

The broad-based falls highlight that the softening trend in the Australian housing market is largely due to weaker conditions in Sydney," CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said.

But Mr Lawless said Sydney's property market was showing signs of solidifying, with the 0.3 per cent monthly fall its slowest rate of decline since late last year.
With an entourage costing almost a quarter of a million dollars a night to accommodate, you could never accuse Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of travelling light.

The 32-year-old son of King Salman has booked all 285 rooms at Los Angeles' luxurious Four Seasons Hotel - and another 40 at the nearby L'Ermitage to handle the overflow - for the duration of his stay in LA this week.

Both hotels sell rooms upwards at around the $US550-$600 ($715-$780) mark, meaning the bedrooms alone are costing around US$190,000 a night, excluding the cost of top-tier suites, such as the Four Seasons' US$10,000 a night presidential suites, and other expenses.

The week's hottest ticket was dinner at Rupert Murdoch's Bel Air mansion on Monday night, an invitation-only chance for Hollywood's most powerful players to press the flesh with one of the world's deepest pairs of pockets.
This increases in importance the closer you are to retirement, because of whats known as sequencing risk .

There are a few reasons for this. First, events such as the global financial crisis or lesser market shocks come around every decade or so. Its easy to make money in a bull market, but for a long-term investment such as super you need to know if your fund can perform when the bears come out to play as well.

If you're early in your working life, then the long-term average counts because you have many years ahead of you for any bumpiness to even out. But the nearer you are to making withdrawals from your fund rather than letting compound growth run its course, the more the sequence of returns matters.

If youre forced to start selling shares when markets are weak, youll burn through your money faster than if you get the benefit of good returns in the early years of retirement to make up for any withdrawals.

Thats because once you sell a share, it doesnt matter if its performance is better next year. You can only sell it once. The longer you go before you hit a weak patch, the more compound growth youll get for your super balance overall before you take a hit.

Second, theres the mulligan rule of investment.

Analysis published in The Economist looked specifically at investment funds. Over the 10 years to December 2017, only a handful of British and European equity funds beat the market index  less than one in four for sterling-denominated funds and less than 15 per cent for euro-denominated funds.
A cash incentive scheme proposed to reduce Canberra to Sydney flight cancellations has been bluntly dismissed as a "stunt" by Qantas.

Over the weekend Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron wrote to Qantas and Virgin Australia, offering $100,000 to the airline with the lowest monthly cancellation rate on the capital to Sydney route.

Airport chief Stephen Byron, who wrote to airlines offering a cash payment to keep cancellation rates down. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

But Qantas Domestic chief executive Andrew David said the airline was already committed to bringing down cancellations, and dismissed the need for an extra incentive.

"This is a stunt from Canberra Airport, who understand full well that airlines sometimes have to cancel flights for operational reasons," Mr David said.
Ms Demaj, who was 35 at the time, claimed that the brief chat in the strip club was the only consultation she had with Dr Mooney.

The court documents allege that, after she rang his office and booked in for surgery, Dr Mooney saw her briefly before her operation at St Vincents and Mercy Private Hospital in Melbourne on September 16, 2005.

Ms Demaj claimed that, at no time, did he inform her of any risks or possible adverse outcomes. He took no photos nor made plaster casts of her nose. He also did not inform her that he would not be looking after her post-operatively. Instead, that was left to Dr Mooneys father, a medical practitioner in Melbourne.

Dr Mooney, in his defence documents, denied that the conversation at the strip club was a medical consultation. He also disputed that he gave Ms Demaj his business card. He claimed he had a proper consultation with the dancer at a later date during which he informed her of the risks.

After the operation, Ms Demaj complained about skin discolouration, breathing difficulties, permanent swelling of the nasal tip and the removal of too much of her nasal bridge.
A quarter-of-a-million-dollar reward has been offered to help find a Brisbane father and businessmans killer.

The power was cut to Abdul Basith Mohammeds Kuraby home, in Brisbanes south, in the early hours of October 25, possibly in attempt to lure him outside.

Abdul Basith Mohammed was killed in his front yard.

When the 35-year-old restaurateur walked outside to see what the problem was, he was stabbed to death, as his wife and several children remained inside.

After five months, Queensland Police Detective Acting Superintendent Craig Morrow said detectives had no suspects but several names of interest, having taken more than 270 statements.
Former Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasales daughter Lisa has threatened to bankrupt a political rival of her fathers, who she is suing for defamation.

Through her lawyer Cameron McKenzie - a close associate of Mr Pisasale - Ms Pisasale on Thursday issued a bankruptcy notice to Ipswich businessman Gary Duffy over an $8,500 order for court costs of a preliminary hearing made by the Brisbane District Court on March 6.

Ipswich's Paul Pisasale and Gary Duffy.

Ms Pisasale sued Mr Duffy in the District Court in February 2016 claiming $150,000 in damages over posts he made on his mayoral campaign Facebook page in the lead-up to the 2016 local elections, in which Mr Duffy stood for the mayoralty.

Mr Pisasale and former Ipswich City Council chief executive Jim Lindsay have also sued Mr Duffy for defamation over Facebook posts and sought injunctions to try to prevent him from publishing further material.
Footage showing police violently arresting a Sudanese-Australian man after a chemist robbery.

Victims of police brutality should share footage of any such incidents on social media to ensure those responsible were held to account, according to the head of a community legal service in Melbourne.

Denis Nelthorpe, chief executive at West Justice in Werribee in the city's outer west, says his staff are directing African youth who say they've been victim of violent police attacks to seek out CCTV or smartphone footage from their friends and share it online instead of making a formal complaint to Victoria Police.

"A complaint system dealing with police brutality needs to be sufficiently robust and able to withstand scrutiny and you cant say that about the way the current police accountability mechanisms work," Mr Nelthorpe said.

"People are being forced to find other ways to hold the powerful to account and one way to do that with great impact is to share footage in the community and let them judge that accordingly."
It could have been worse. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The first sentence in Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation has dropped, and its  kind of a snoozer.

A federal judge sentenced Dutch lawyer Alexander van der Zwaan to 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine for lying to Muellers investigators about his connection to Rick Gates, a former aide to President Trump.

Van der Zwaan worked with Gates and Manafort during his tenure in London at the prestigious law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which fired him last year. The firm had been hired by former Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych, a Vladimir Putin ally, in 2012. Gates and Manafort worked closely with Yanukovych before he was removed from power in 2014.

The specifics of the charges against van der Zwaan are complicated. He helped put together a dubious report clearing Yanukovych for jailing his political rival in 2011, then lied to Muellers investigators about conversations he later had about the report with Gates and a person only identified as Person A by the special counsels team. Person A is thought to be Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian with ties to Russian intelligence who worked for Manafort.

Van der Zwaan had pleaded guilty in February.

What I did was wrong. I apologize to the court, my wife, and my family, van der Zwaan said in court on Tuesday.

Last October, Mueller charged both Gates and Manafort with multiple criminal counts, including money laundering, relating to their work in Ukraine. Gates pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the probe, while Manafort faces a trial later this year.

Last week, van der Zwaans lawyers had pleaded with the judge to spare him from prison, arguing that his career has been destroyed, he has been separated from his friends and family, and he faces the possibility of missing the birth of his first child. Although Alex committed a serious offense, just punishment does not require incarceration.

Van der Zwaan does have a prominent connection to Russia beyond his work with Gates and Manafort  his father-in-law is Alfa Bank co-founder German Khan, one of the countrys richest men. But his sentence does not shed much light on the central question of Muellers inquiry: Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The blue sedan which was rear-rammed on Bourke Road on Tuesday evening. Credit:Nine News Melbourne

The man at the centre of a bizarre love dispute in which his jealous girlfriend allegedly mowed down his other partner has broken his silence saying "they're both good women" and he blames himself.

"This has been going on for a while and it hasn't been fair on either of them because I am the one that's been playing them," he told reporters on Wednesday.

When she spotted me and her together, she just snapped."

A 40-year-old Doncaster woman was arrested about 3pm on Wednesday over the alleged hit-run, which left her partner's other lover lying with a broken leg on the side of the road.
Nobody who has seen the footage of a severely mentally ill man being beaten, abused and squirted in the face with pepper spray could be other than shocked and distressed by the behaviour of the six members of Victoria Police sent to his home in response to his psychologists urgent concerns for his safety.

The footage accompanies an exclusive ongoing investigatory series by The Ages Nick McKenzie into police brutality.

A still from the CCTV footage taken at the home of the mentally ill man.

By any measure, the evidence strongly suggests it was a disproportionate response. The police may even have committed a criminal offence. There is a pathos to the mans plaintive question after the violence stopped: Why are you doing this to me?

He had swiped at one of the police officers after being, in effect, tricked into leaving his house. He missed, of course, and was set upon.
A motorbike rider has died after a crash on Albany Highway north of the town of Williams.

Around noon on Monday a Mitsubishi sedan was travelling along the highway when it collided with a Harley Davidson motorcycle travelling with a group of riders in the opposite direction, police said.

The scene of the crash. Credit:David Allan-Petale

A 26-year-old man died at the scene, while the 38-year-old male driver of the car was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital with serious injuries.
Despite warning drivers they would be out in full force over the Easter long weekend, WA Police have caught out dozens of motorists breaking the law over the four days  including one learner driver who was nabbed twice for driving under the influence of drugs within the space of three hours.

In a series of sobering tweets made by traffic officers who worked over the course of the weekend, police posted some of the more bizarre and dangerous offences to Twitter.

WA police were out in full force over the Easter weekend.

Even though police spent the week leading up to Easter reminding drivers they could be hit with a fine and double demerits if caught breaking the law over East, the first offence that made the WA Police Traffic Twitter page was just after midnight on Good Friday.

A provisional driver was caught at 12.41am, and reportedly blew 0.1 per cent when tested by police.
A drug user who physically and verbally abused his partner for four years, including stomping on her stomach while she was pregnant and separately causing a ruptured spleen, has been jailed for eight years.

Daniel John McAlinden has been jailed for eight years. Credit:Bombaert

Daniel John McAlinden, 48, pleaded guilty to four charges and was convicted by a WA District Court jury of five others.

McAlinden must spend at least six years behind bars before he will be eligible for parole, and was also issued a lifetime violence restraining order.

AAP
A backbench push for a new taxpayer-funded coal fired power station has been derided as "ludicrous" by energy analysts who believe it would cost at least $3 billion, drive up energy prices and take eight years to build.

The plan, led by a group of conservative MPs including Tony Abbott, Eric Abetz and Kevin Andrews, emerged as Commonwealth and state energy ministers prepare for a new round of negotiations in late April over the Turnbull government's signature energy policy, the National Energy Guarantee.

The backbench group known as the Monash Forum wants the government to give more support to coal-fired power generation. Credit:Chris Ratcliffe

The chair of the Coalition's backbench energy and environment committee, Liberal MP and climate change sceptic Craig Kelly, said the group -known as the Monash Forum - wanted to address rising power prices, which he claimed were caused by the renewable energy target and closure of coal power plants.
Jewish groups are demanding an apology from the ABC over an interview with a disgraced British vicar accused of anti-Semitism and spreading anti-Israel conspiracy theories.

The anger marks a further deterioration in relations between the public broadcaster and the Jewish community, whose leaders have accused the ABC of "hostility towards Israel".

The ABC is under fire from Jewish groups over an interview with a disgraced British vicar.

Radio National marked the start of Passover, a major Jewish holiday, by speaking to Stephen Sizer, a retired Anglican vicar and critic of Christian Zionism with a long history of angering Jewish organisations in Britain.

In 2014, Dr Sizer appeared at a conference in Iran alongside Holocaust deniers. The next year he shared an article from the website Wikispooks titled "9-11/ Israel did it" which claimed the state of Israel and prominent Jewish figures including Frank Lowy were responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York.
The RSL is calling on federal Coalition MPs to change the name of a new ginger group they have set up on energy policy, warning it is wrong for them to appropriate the name of Australian military hero John Monash.

RSL national president Robert Dick rebuked the Liberal and Nationals MPs for calling their group the Monash Forum in a bid to use the famous engineer and general as the figurehead for a political agenda.

General John Monash. Credit:Fairfax archives

The RSL would not support the use of Monashs name in this regard, Mr Dick told Fairfax Media.

We believe that Monashs name is sacrosanct and should be above this form of political posturing.
Russias ambassador has accused Australian journalists of denying his freedom of speech and warned that some of the coverage of his infamous press conference last week would have prompted criminal prosecutions in Russia.

Grigory Logvinov issued a statement on Tuesday saying reporters had humiliated themselves by repeating unfounded accusations and personal attacks about the Skripal nerve agent attack in Britain, which has been widely attributed to Moscow.

Quoting passages from Australian news stories after his colourful press conference last week addressing the Skripal case, Mr Logvinov said some were insulting towards Russians.

In the wild Russia, such statements would trigger criminal prosecution as the deliberate incitement of discord between different ethnic groups, he said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is spurning a backbench push to ramp up support for coal as critics including Tony Abbott work to force a shift in direction on energy policy but struggle to secure widespread support.

The government is confident of sealing an agreement with the states within weeks on its National Energy Guarantee, clearing a key hurdle for national rules that require energy retailers to improve reliability and reduce emissions.

Mr Turnbulls allies on Tuesday blamed a backbench ginger group for trying to undermine the Prime Minister ahead of any agreement, and the government's expected loss of its 30th Newspoll survey next week.

The rebel MPs claim 20 signatures or more for a statement that backs the use of coal for electricity generation and calls for an end to renewable energy subsidies, reviving demands they made in the Coalition party room last year.
Connecticut Democrat pushed into premature retirement after covering up abuse allegations against a former chief of staff. Photo: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Representative Elizabeth Esty of Connecticut was forced into retirement today, and is another self-destructive casualty in this years reckoning with sexual assault, harassment, and abuse. Her case involved a cover-up of some pretty terrible behavior by her chief of staff, Tony Baker, who made a death threat on the voice mail of a former staffer, Anna Kain, whom he once dated. As explained by the Washington Post, Esty did not do the right thing:

Rather than firing or suspending Baker, the congresswoman consulted her personal attorneys and advisers, she said. She also spoke to Kain on May 11, emails show; Kain said she provided detailed allegations that Baker had punched, berated and sexually harassed her in Estys Capitol Hill office throughout 2014, while she worked as Estys senior adviser.

Baker did not leave for three months. By his last day on Aug. 12, according to documents Esty provided to The Post, he and Esty had co-written a positive recommendation letter he could use in a job search and signed a legal document preventing her from disparaging him or discussing why he left. Baker went on to work for Sandy Hook Promise, the gun-control group created after the 2012 shooting in Estys district. He was dismissed from the group this week after The Post contacted him.

Though Esty admitted error and tried to contain the damage via a request for an Ethics Committee investigation, the immediate political heat back home was too much to overcome. Her retirement may or may not preempt demands that she resign. But for Republicans, the sudden drama could create a rare, if still long-shot, opportunity to offset this years likely House losses with an even rarer blue-state pickup.

The Cook Political Reports David Wasserman had this to say about Estys district, Connecticuts Fifth District, last fall:

If theres any district in the state thats still competitive, its probably this one, which voted for Hillary Clinton by just four points in 2016. But Etsy took 58 percent, and Republicans will have a tough time defeating her in the current environment.

Now its an open seat; last time that happened, in Estys first race, she won by less than four points. And while Connecticut is a blue state and and the national environment is strongly pro-Democratic, it should be noted that an unpopular Democratic governor (Dan Malloy, who is wisely retiring this year) and legislature has made the Nutmeg State more competitive than youd guess at the state level.

Rumors are already swirling about possible candidates in each party to succeed Esty; the deadline for qualifying isnt until June, and the primarys not until August. So its very premature to assess the GOPs chances there.

But one things for sure: Estys rapid political demise should make it clear that trying to sweep evidence of abuse under the rug is, along with being unethical, not a very smart survival strategy in Congress at present.
The federal government will splash $150 million to upgrade a section of Queensland's Bruce Highway to help ease congestion.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull travelled to Queensland on Tuesday to announce the funding for the Murrumba Downs section north of Brisbane, which sits in Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's electorate.

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull address the media at a doorstop interview last Monday.

"It is much needed. It's long overdue and we're very welcoming of the investment," Mr Dutton told reporters on Tuesday.

The announcement marked the start of a three-day blitz of Queensland electorates by the Prime Minister and was not expected to be the last big-ticket item receiving funding.
A "One punch can kill"-style campaign should be considered for the risks of choking in a domestic violence situation, a Queensland coroner says.

Coroner David O'Connell made the recommendations while handing down his findings following an inquest into the death of Tracy Ann Beale in Gladstone in 2013.

Queensland's choking offence should be reviewed, a coroner has recommended. Credit:Gabriele Charotte

Ms Beale died after being restrained by her husband James Andrew Beale in a choke hold during a domestic violence situation, Mr O'Connell found.

Mr Beale told police his wife had woken him up and repeatedly hit him, and he said he placed her in a choke hold to "calm her down".
Former senator Larissa Waters is back from a political hiatus, after being preselected as the lead Senate candidate for the Queensland Greens.

Ms Waters secured a resounding vote of confidence from the party, receiving 75 per cent of members' primary vote.

Former Greens senator Larissa Waters has been preselected for her old job. Credit:AAP Image/ Dan Peled

There were seven candidates in the running, including anti-Adani activist Ben Pennings.

Ms Waters resigned in mid-2017 after being caught up in the dual citizenship debacle, when she discovered she was also a Canadian citizen.
Alex van der Zwaan attending a recent court appearance. Credit:AP

Washington: The Dutch son-in-law of one of Russia's richest men has been sentenced on 30 days in prison and a $US20,000 ($26,000) fine for lying to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators about contacts with an official in President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who once worked closely with Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was also sentenced to two months of supervised release by US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

He had pleaded guilty on February 20 as Mueller intensified his investigation into potential collusion between the president's campaign and Russia.
New-Car Transaction Prices Climb Nearly 2 Percent Year-Over-Year In April 2017, According To Kelley Blue Book





Demand for SUV Segments Continues to Drive Higher Transaction Prices

"While new vehicle sales appear to be on the decline, most manufacturers are seeing higher retail transaction prices, with the industry average on new-car prices up for the month by nearly 2 percent," said Tim Fleming, analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "These increases appear to be primarily driven by the shift in demand toward SUVs, even with growing segments, such as subcompact SUVs and luxury compact SUVs, seeing year-over-year price declines. Kelley Blue Book anticipates average transaction prices will likely begin to decrease when the sales mix of SUVs eventually levels off."

Fiat Chrysler was up more than 3 percent year-over-year in April 2017. The Chrysler brand saw an 11 percent increase, due to the new Pacifica minivan and lower sales of the 200 sedan. Meanwhile, Jeep increased 5 percent thanks to a stronger mix of the Grand Cherokee as the smaller Compass SUV changes to a new generation. The RAM brand, however, was down 3 percent as full-size pickup truck prices continue to dip.

Conversely, General Motors average transaction prices fell nearly 1 percent, with only the Buick brand posting a year-over-year increase. The redesigned LaCrosse sedan, which was up 9 percent, and the all-new Envision SUV helped boost Buick's growth. The Chevrolet brand saw a 2 percent decline, with the Silverado down 4 percent from last year.

Segment April 2017 Transaction Price (Avg.)* March 2017 Transaction Price (Avg.)* April 2016 Transaction Price (Avg.)* Percent Change March 2017 to April 2017* Percent Change April 2016 to April 2017* Compact Car $20,577 $20,600 $20,280 -0.1% 1.5% Compact SUV/Crossover $28,507 $28,449 $28,035 0.2% 1.7% Electric Vehicle $37,492 $37,426 $41,148 0.2% -8.9% Entry-Level Luxury Car $41,643 $41,887 $40,479 -0.6% 2.9% Full-Size Car $34,736 $34,570 $34,236 0.5% 1.5% Full-Size Pickup Truck $46,182 $46,160 $46,438 0.0% -0.6% Full-Size SUV/Crossover $60,771 $60,409 $60,175 0.6% 1.0% High Performance Car $92,694 $91,469 $92,966 1.3% -0.3% High-End Luxury Car $95,545 $96,217 $94,395 -0.7% 1.2% Hybrid/Alternative Energy Car $25,157 $25,330 $26,307 -0.7% -4.4% Luxury Car $56,957 $56,917 $56,338 0.1% 1.1% Luxury Compact SUV/Crossover $42,915 $43,091 $43,652 -0.4% -1.7% Luxury Full-Size SUV/Crossover $83,689 $82,712 $83,681 1.2% 0.0% Luxury Mid-Size SUV/Crossover $54,418 $54,961 $55,187 -1.0% -1.4% Mid-Size Car $25,059 $25,006 $25,087 0.2% -0.1% Mid-Size Pickup Truck $31,576 $31,878 $31,682 -0.9% -0.3% Mid-Size SUV/Crossover $37,327 $37,211 $37,608 0.3% -0.7% Minivan $33,164 $33,211 $32,096 -0.1% 3.3% Sports Car $31,468 $31,119 $31,852 1.1% -1.2% Subcompact Car $16,283 $16,439 $16,418 -0.9% -0.8% Subcompact SUV/Crossover $24,588 $24,507 $24,895 0.3% -1.2% Van $33,882 $33,864 $33,378 0.1% 1.5% Grand Total $34,552 $34,600 $33,973 -0.1% 1.7% *Kelley Blue Book average transaction prices do not include applied consumer incentives

To discuss this topic, or any other automotive-related information, with a Kelley Blue Book analyst on-camera via the company's on-site studio, please contact a member of the Public Relations team to schedule an interview.

For more information and news from Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit www.kbb.com/media/, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kelleybluebook (or @kelleybluebook), like our page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kbb, and get updates on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/+kbb.

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)

Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book Trade-In Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new and used cars this week. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. is a Cox Automotive brand.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, software, financial, wholesale and e-commerce solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, vAuto, Xtime and a host of other brands. The global company has 33,000 team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion and approximately 60,000 employees. Cox Enterprises' other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com.
All-Electric Volkswagen eCrafter to Make UK Debut at Commercial Vehicle Show

LONDON - April 3, 2018: The all-electric van from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, the eCrafter, will be making its UK debut at the Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC in Birmingham from 24-26 April, ahead of real-world testing beginning with UK customers at the start of May.

The first test vehicles were handed over to a group of major European customers at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles headquarters in Hannover in December. By allowing the vehicle to undergo tests with selected fleet operators, the company will be able to incorporate findings and learnings into the final design and production version of the zero-emission van.

Four UK customers are taking part in the tests: Gatwick Airport, Heathrow Airport, City of London Corporation and the London Borough of Southwark. John Hole, Fleet Manager at Gatwick Airport, said: We are delighted to be able to test the eCrafter ahead of launch and interested to see how the vehicle performs in everyday conditions and operations. Sustainable transport is an important focus for Gatwick across our entire business, including alternative fuelled vans and it is great to see such innovation in the supply chain.

Like the conventionally-fuelled and multi-award-winning Crafter, the eCrafter was designed in collaboration with customers  in particular those whose vehicles cover between 70 and 100 km per day, sometimes involving many starts and stops. These parameters apply to around 85 per cent of the trips made in an urban setting according to analysis of more than 210,000 driving profiles with over 1,500 customers. The eCrafter has been tailored precisely to these typical city operations with its 100 kW power output, range of around 160 km and top speed limited to 90 kph.

The eCrafters lithium-ion battery is completely integrated into the underbody, meaning the standard vehicles entire cargo volume (10.7 m3) is fully usable. A maximum payload of between 1.0 and 1.75 tonnes is available. At a CCS charging station supplying the battery can be charged to 80 per cent in just 45 minutes. From a wallbox, charging time to 100 per cent is around 5.5 hours.

The eCrafter will be available in September 2018*, once it has been extensively tested by customers in practice and made fully ready for the market.

Commenting on the vehicle trials, director of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Carl zu Dohna said: Im really pleased we can show the eCrafter at the CV Show and look forward to talking to customers about their future fleet requirements. Our promise to work with all customers and provide them with bespoke mobility solutions to keep them and their businesses moving is at the heart of everything we do. Having the right vehicles, including alternatively fuelled vans, is essential and we are sure the eCrafter will play an important part in our future model strategy.
Jeep Brand

Chrysler Brand

Dodge Brand

Ram Truck Brand

Alfa Romeo Brand

Month Sales Vol % CYTD Sales Vol % Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Compass 1,217 112 987% 2,582 242 967% Patriot 0 326 -100% 1 984 -100% Wrangler 3,839 1,211 217% 10,492 3,533 197% Cherokee 2,011 2,475 -19% 5,133 6,594 -22% Grand Cherokee 1,333 1,384 -4% 3,696 3,523 5% Renegade 106 409 -74% 310 1,122 -72% JEEP BRAND 8,506 5,917 44% 22,214 15,998 39% 200 0 639 -100% 0 1,701 -100% 300 153 555 -72% 713 1,069 -33% Town & Country 0 0 N/A 0 5 -100% Pacifica 886 648 37% 2,012 1,344 50% CHRYSLER BRAND 1,039 1,842 -44% 2,725 4,119 -34% Dart 0 27 -100% 2 262 -99% Charger 610 426 43% 1,278 911 40% Challenger 169 575 -71% 404 978 -59% Viper 1 4 -75% 2 10 -80% Journey 673 2,027 -67% 1,387 4,513 -69% Caravan 2,992 5,459 -45% 9,013 11,226 -20% Durango 816 844 -3% 1,719 1,899 -9% DODGE BRAND 5,261 9,362 -44% 13,805 19,799 -30% Ram P/U 8,972 8,347 7% 20,667 21,802 -5% ProMaster Van 464 449 3% 1,095 1,108 -1% ProMaster City 22 120 -82% 79 286 -72% RAM BRAND 9,458 8,916 6% 21,841 23,196 -6% Giulia 69 22 214% 132 25 428% Alfa 4C 8 4 100% 14 5 180% Alfa Stelvio 77 0 NEW 209 0 NEW ALFA BRAND 154 26 492% 355 30 1083% 500 42 180 -77% 70 453 -85% 500L 4 4 0% 5 22 -77% 500X 4 211 -98% 16 336 -95% Spider 22 73 -70% 51 136 -63% FIAT BRAND 72 468 -85% 142 947 -85% TOTAL FCA CANADA 24,490 26,531 -8% 61,082 64,089 -5%

- FCA Canada today reported sales of 24,490 vehicles, an 8 per cent decrease compared with sales in March 2017 of 26,531.Jeep brand total sales increased 44 per cent in March 2018 to 8,506, setting a monthly record. Breaking all monthly sales records, Jeep Wrangler saw its best month ever with 3,839 vehicles sold. Setting a March record within the Jeep brand was Compass with 1,217 vehicles sold, up from 112 sold in March 2017. Jeep and Mopar recently inspired enthusiasts at the 52nd annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari with 7 unique concept vehicles.Chrysler Pacifica sales of 886 are the best results of any month since the vehicle launch. The Windsor-built 2018 Chrysler Pacifica was named the best minivan for the second year in a row by the New York Daily News Autos team in the newspapers third annual Auto Awards.Dodge Charger sales of 610 were up 43 per cent compared with March 2017 results.Ram Truck brand sales were up 6 per cent to 9,458, marking a monthly record for both the brand, as well as Ram pickup trucks, with sales up 7 per cent to 8,972. Ram ProMaster Van sales were up 3 per cent to 464.Alfa Romeo brand sales of 154 vehicles were up significantly compared with the same month a year ago. Stelvio led the brand with 77 sales followed by Giulia with 69.Beginning with the July 2016 sales report, FCA Canada sales numbers have been calculated using a new sales reporting methodology, which is described in more detail in the explanatory note issued on September 1, 2016. Sales by dealers are derived from the New Vehicle Delivery Report, or NVDR system and reported upon the first sale reported in the NVDR system. Under the new reporting methodology, fleet sales are recorded as sales upon shipment by FCA Canada of the vehicle to the customer or end user. The updated monthly sales figures are available on the FCA US media website at www.media.fcanorthamerica.com.Founded as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925, FCA Canada Inc. is based in Windsor, Ontario, and celebrates its 93rd anniversary in 2018. FCA Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of FCA US LLC, a North American automaker based in Auburn Hills, Michigan and member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. FCA Canada has approximately 440 dealers and sells Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT and Alfa Romeo brands, as well as the SRT performance designation. The company also distributes Mopar and Alfa Romeo parts and accessories. In addition to its assembly facilities, which produce the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid and Dodge Grand Caravan (Windsor), Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger (Brampton), FCA Canada operates an aluminum casting plant in Etobicoke, a research and development centre in Windsor, and has sales offices and parts distribution centers throughout the country.
Anna Wintour. Photo: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

Rumors are swirling that Anna Wintour, whose influence in the fashion and publishing worlds cannot be overstated, could be on her way out at Conde Nast. According to a Vogue representative, though, Wintour isnt going anywhere.

Theres zero truth to the story, the spokesperson told the Cut. Earlier today, Conde Nast also denied that Wintour was leaving the company.

The source of the rumor is a report published on Page Six titled, Is Anna Wintour Out at Vogue? The publication reportedly spoke to a number of sources who said Wintour is going to exit her role this summer after her daughters wedding in July. The report also speculated who would replace Wintour were she to leave Vogue, who might be encouraging her to exit, as well as what other opportunities might the 68-year-old want to pursue.

And understandably, the Page Six story, published early Monday evening, has already generated quite a bit of buzz on social media. Wintour has served as Vogues editor-in-chief since 1988, and in 2013, she was given oversight over all of Conde Nasts publications when she was named the media companys artistic director. A Vogue  and a Conde Nast  without Wintour is not easy to imagine.

But according to both the Vogue representative and a Conde Nast corporate spokesperson who spoke to Page Six earlier, Vogue is not losing its iconic EIC  at least not yet.

We emphatically deny these rumors, the spokesperson told Page Six.
Mohammed Bin Salman. Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is responsible for the the worst manmade humanitarian crisis of our time. His government (with the help of ours) has been bombing and starving Yemen for three years now, in a bid to prevent a Shia-led group from taking power in that country. He has overseen missile strikes on hospitals, schools, and funerals. He maintained a blockade of Yemen that restricted its access to basic necessities. As a result, 1.8 million Yemeni children are acutely malnourished, while 400,000 are so severely underfed as to be at high risk of imminent death. He has also imprisoned more than 200 prominent Saudis, without trial, at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh. At least one has (reportedly) been tortured to death.

And much of the American press has greeted him as a liberator. In the New York Times last November, Thomas Friedman hailed the ascension of the 32-year-old prince as Saudi Arabias Arab Spring.

There is some basis for regarding MBS (as hes commonly known) as a reformer. He has given Saudi women permission to drive, and has has publicly challenged the core convictions of Islamist fundamentalists, telling Friedman that at the time of the Prophet Muhammad  there were musical theaters, there was mixing between men and women, there was respect for Christians and Jews in Arabia.

Still, to understand the level of enthusiasm among the American elite  for an unapologetic autocrat who has engineered a famine in the Middle East  you need to understand how thoroughly amenable MBS is to Americas foreign policy aims in the region; which is to say, how thoroughly the crown prince is onboard for aligning with Israel in a grand coalition against Iran.

In an interview with The Atlantics Jeffrey Goldberg this week, MBS made this position clear  by saying that Israelis had a right to their own land, and that Irans ayatollah Ali Khamenei makes Hitler look good.

I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land, the crown prince told Goldberg. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.

Asked about anti-Semitism in Saudi society, MBS pointed out that some of his prophets best friends were Jewish.

Our country doesnt have a problem with Jews, he said. Our Prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman. Not just a friend  he married her. Our prophet, his neighbors were Jewish.

Nevertheless, MBSs great love for the Jewish people did not prevent him from asserting that Irans supreme leader  who has never tried to exterminate his nations more than 10,000 Jewish residents, nor to shutter their dozens of synagogues  is worse than Hitler.

I believe that the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good, the crown prince said. Hitler didnt do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad  But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world. He believes he owns the world.

There is no serious case that Iran has comported itself as a more expansionist power than Hitlers Germany (in fact, it has comported itself as a much less expansionist power than George W. Bushs United States). And in domestic terms, it would be hard to argue that Irans regime (however oppressive and unjust) is more totalitarian than Saudi Arabias.

But MBS is happy to play nice with both Israel and various American business interests. And so engineering the mass starvation of Yemeni children will not cost him the title of reformer.
Cynthia Nixon. Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Gubernatorial hopeful Cynthia Nixon wants to give you, the residents of New York State, what you want, and what you want is Wendy Williams at the forefront of local and state politics. According to Variety, the former Sex and the City star has granted the first national televised sit-down interview of her bid for New York Governor to Williams, whose Manhattan-based daytime talk show, Variety notes, averages up to 2 million viewers a day.

We win by getting her in front of voters, because we actually want them to see the real Cynthia, campaign spokesperson Rebecca Katz told Variety. And thats what we get with Wendy. Her viewers are a large and crucial part of the electorate, and her show reaches all corners of the state. Nixon will be a guest on The Wendy Williams Show this coming Wednesday, April 4. First you get SJP, then Wendy, and then the world.
Photo:  Paolo Roversi

Nearly 40 years after shooting his first campaign with Dior, fashion photographer Paolo Roversi is publishing a book of images taken for the Parisian fashion house with Rizzoli Publishers this week. Dior Images: Paolo Roversi features designs from Dior under the creative direction of Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Raf Simons, and Maria Grazia Chiuri, among others. Original designs by Christian Dior are also showcased in a selection of images from a shoot directed by Grace Coddington.

Voyageur suit, fall/winter 1955 haute couture. Designed by Christian Dior. Photo:  Paolo Roversi/Stylist Grace Coddington

Prior to becoming one of the fashion industrys most celebrated photographers and Rihannas photographer of choice for her ANTI album cover and campaign Roversi spent decades refining his dark, dream-like photographic style. As a teenager, he developed photographs in a dark room he set up himself. He later dabbled in photojournalism, eventually building a portfolio of portraiture after opening his own studio in 1970.

Shalimar dress, fall/winter 1996 haute couture. Designed by Gianfranco Ferre. Photo:  Paolo Roversi

In 1973, an unexpected encounter with Peter Knapp  then the art director of Elle magazine  led Roversi to Paris, where his work took some of luxury fashions most esteemed designers by storm. He was hired by Comme des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto, and Romeo Gigli to express his creative freedom in photographing their catalogues.

In 1980, his work caught the attention of Dior; that same year, he worked with the maison for the first time on a beauty campaign. Since then, Roversi and Dior have maintained a lasting partnership, the fruits of which are laid out on the pages of Dior Images: Paolo Roversi. Scroll through for a preview of the legendary fashion photographers work for maison Dior.

Junon dress, fall/winter 1949 haute couture. Designed by Christian Dior. Photo:  Paolo Roversi/Stylist Grace Coddington

Metamorphique dress, spring/summer 2017 haute couture. Designed by Maria Grazia-Chiuri Photo:  Paolo Roversi

Monaco dress, spring/summer 1959 haute couture. Designed by Yves Saint Laurent. Photo:  Paolo Roversi

Dior Images: Paolo Roversi is available on Amazon.

If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.
The Wing. Photo: Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Last week, Jezebel reported that the New York City Human Rights Commission was launching an investigation into The Wing to determine whether the women-only social club and co-working space was in violation of the citys Human Rights Law. Three days after Jezebels report, 11 NYC professors of law, philosophy, and gender studies voiced their support for the Commissions investigation by signing a petition. They argue that failing to hold The Wing to the same anti-discrimination standard as other businesses could potentially set a dangerous precedent.

Sure, some might like all women spaces, but this cant be its business model, just as we would condemn all-male businesses, all-white businesses, all-Christian businesses, etc., the petition reads. Opening the door here to the non-application of the law will surely be used by other groups/interests who disagree with the application of a generally applicable rule in another context.

The authors went on to express concern that The Wing was using many of the same legal arguments that were employed by private, segregationist clubs during the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. These entities argued that by virtue of their privateness the law could not, and should not reach them  and they lost those arguments each time they were raised. It is alarming to hear the same kind of argument being made today by The Wing and its defenders in the name of protecting women. The petition concluded:

We appreciate the need for groups that experience discrimination to find ways to combat the effects of that discrimination and to provide mutual support to one another. But setting up a business that clearly violates fundamental equality principles is more likely to reinforce societal inequality than provide protection against it.

The signatories are academics from Columbia, NYU, CUNY, and other New York institutions of higher education; they include Patricia J. Williams, a professor at Columbia Law School, and the author of the column Diary of a Mad Law Professor for the Nation magazine.

It remains unclear how far the Commission intends to go in its investigation, or whether it plans to bring a lawsuit against The Wing. In a statement last week, the companys co-founder, Audrey Gelman, wrote that the call from the Commission has resulted in nothing more than an agreement to meet and have a conversation  in fact, we have been assured that the de Blasio Administration fully supports the mission of The Wing and will work with us to see it prosper. And City Hall told the Cut that the investigation is very normal and the Mayor is fully supportive of The Wings mission.

Since its founding in late 2016, The Wing has attracted over 1,500 members, and has expanded from a single location in New York Citys Flatiron District to locations in Soho, Downtown Brooklyn, and D.C. On Tuesday, the company announced in an email that it will also be opening six new branches in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Williamsburg, London, Seattle, and Toronto.
David Smith, CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, photographed on September 8, 1998. Photo: Portland Press Herald/Getty Images

David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes serves no real purpose. In emails to New York, Smith said that print  as in newspapers and magazines  is a reality-distorting tool of leftists. Print media, he said, has no credibility and no relevance.

I must tell that in all the 45 plus years I have been in the media business I have never seen a single article about us that is reflective of reality especially in todays world with the shameful political environment and generally complete lack of integrity. Facts and truth have been lost for a long time and likely to never return, Smith said.

The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away. Just no credibility.

Smith may not be as identifiable as Rupert Murdoch or Jeff Bezos, but hes as powerful; his influence saturates American homes through the 193 television stations he owns or controls, peppered throughout 39 states, spanning from New York to California (though concentrated in the South and Midwest).

Founded as the Chesapeake Television Corporation in 1971 by his father, Julian Sinclair Smith, his company began its expansion and changed its name to Sinclair Broadcasting Company in 1985, the year before the Fox Broadcasting Company was launched. David Smith and his brothers assumed control of the business; previously, David had been a partner at Cine Processors, a bootleg porn manufacturer owned by the elder Smiths company, the Commercial Radio Institute, according to a 2005 story in Rolling Stone. Fox News is usually given credit for the media-induced changes to the conservative movement, and to American politics more broadly, over the last two decades. But in the Trump era, Sinclairs creeping domination has emerged more obviously.

The topic of some interest in the last year, in part due to a long segment on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Sinclair became the subject of horrified fascination in a more mainstream way over the weekend, when Deadspin published a supercut of dozens of its anchors, from San Antonio to Michigan, reciting an anti-media script on the air.

The eerie video, in which dozens of well-coiffed men and women robotically read the same words and phrases into the camera in segments from last month, went viral, attracting tens of thousands of retweets and millions of views.

Were concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country, the Sinclair script read. Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think. This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.

On Monday, 15 minutes before he was scheduled to host a breakfast reception for the White House Easter Egg Roll, President Donald Trump took a break from his central morning activities  needling China into a trade war and posturing for his anti-immigrant supporters  to defend Sinclair on Twitter. So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased, he said. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.

New York communicated with Smith in mid-November, after requesting an interview. Appreciate the interest in your wanting to do a story but we dont talk to the print media as a general principal as we find them to be so devoid of reality and serving no real purpose. Have a great holiday, Smith said in response. Later, he added, Again my experience has consistently been that even with an interview its of no consequence in terms of spin, facts or distortion, political bent etc. The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away. Just no credibility. see ya.

For a pundit or a far-right politician, statements like Smiths have become expected in the Trump era. But from one of the most powerful media executives in the country, theyre not. The media is typically talked about as though its a monolith, with no distinctions made between news or opinion, reporters or columnists, anchors or commentators. To cast doubt over certain swaths of the industry, then, is to risk unsettling whatever faith is left in the whole gamut. And if TV is the only pure and honest news source, what about the websites of TV networks, like NBC.com or CNN.com, where reporting that is technically considered print appears? Or what about TV reporting thats informed by stories that appeared in the New York Times or the Washington Post? Is any information that doesnt come directly from Sinclair or from the mouth of David Smith himself suspect? Perhaps thats the idea.

When New York asked Smith if hed be open to meeting off the record at least, he replied, I have also learned that there is no such thing as off the record. Bye.

Bye.
2 Dead, 54 Sickened by Fake Weed in Illinois

Illinois officials say that there have been dozens of cases of bleeding triggered by the smoking of synthetic marijuana.

Affected individuals experienced coughing up blood, blood in the urine, bloody noses, and other symptoms, reported the Illinois Department of Public Health.

MyFox8 reported that 2 people died and 54 other cases of severe bleeding were reported. The two deaths were reported in Chicago and central Illinois.

Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said that it was the first time they received an outbreak of this magnitude caused by the fake marijuana.

This is the first time weve seen an outbreak of this magnitude in the area, she was quoted by the Fox affiliate as saying. Were working with numerous different partners across the city and state as we investigate this outbreak, she said.

There could be additional deaths coming; it is difficult to say, Arnold added. Were doing whatever we can with regards to outreach to notify any who may be impacted by this outbreak.

The substance, synthetic cannabinoidsknown to many as spice or K2can be bought at gas stations, smoke shops, and online. They contain a number of artificial chemicals such as cannabicyclohexanol, JWH-018, JWH-073, or HU-210.

Synthetic cannabinoids  often called Spice, K2 or fake weed  have been tied to 46 cases of severe bleeding, including one death #KSATnews https://t.co/ZgE8spojp2  KSAT 12 (@ksatnews) April 2, 2018

We continue to see the number of cases rise, Dr. Nirav Shah, who is the of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

The U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse website Drugabuse.gov says that synthetic cannabinoids are human-made mind-altering chemicals that are either sprayed on dried, shredded plant material so they can be smoked or sold as liquids to be vaporized and inhaled in e-cigarettes and other devices.

While the substances are often marketed as a safe and legal alternative to marijuana, U.S. officials say that they affect the brain much more powerfully than marijuana, and their actual effects can be unpredictable and, in some cases, more dangerous or even life-threatening.

Meanwhile, the only parts of the fake weed products that are natural are the dried plant materials, which are then laced with the synthetic marijuana, says Drugabuse.gov.

It adds that the drug can be addictive.

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Ethan Couch follows his lawyer out of the Tarrant County Department of Corrections after being released from the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S., April 2, 2018. (Reuters/Nick Oxford)

Affluenza Texan, Who Killed Four Driving Drunk, Released From Jail

FORT WORTH, TexasA Texan who killed four people while driving drunk as a teen, then avoided prison by blaming his wealthy upbringing, was released from jail on Monday after serving nearly two years for violating probation in the case, officials said.

Ethan Couch garnered international attention in 2013 as the affluenza teen when his lawyers argued his privileged childhood impaired his ability to tell right from wrong.

Now 20, he walked free from a jail in Fort Worth, where he served time after fleeing to Mexico and then being found in violation of the probation he received for the fatal crash.

Couch was silent as he left the corrections facility with an attorney by his side. A black Tesla sedan whisked him away.

Ethan continues to be remorseful as he has since the first day of this tragic event, attorney Scott Brown told reporters.

Couch will remain under supervision that includes a GPS ankle monitor and frequent drug and alcohol testing, officials said.

It was not clear where he would live.

His mother, Tonya Couch, 50, had been free on bond after being charged with helping her son flee to Mexico. But she was sent back to jail last week for violating her probation by failing a drug test, according to local law enforcement.

Couchs father, who runs a sheet metal business, did not respond to requests for comment.

Tim Williams, a jail chaplain who was friends with one of the people killed by Couch, said he met Couch about once a week behind bars.

He did develop and was able to begin to own what he did, Williams said in a telephone interview. I dont want to give the impression that he has arrived at the stage of full maturity and full ownership, but I have seen progress and that can be helpful.

Couch was 16 and had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit for an adult when he struck and killed four people in June 2013 with his pickup truck.

At his trial in juvenile court that year, a psychologist testifying on his behalf described Couch as having affluenza, saying it was an affliction brought on by being spoiled by his parents and it had skewed his moral compass.

Couch was sentenced to 10 years of probation for intoxication manslaughter, sparking outrage from critics who ridiculed the affluenza defense and said his familys wealth had kept him out of jail.

When a social media video surfaced in 2015 that showed him in possible violation of his drug-and-drink-free probation, he and his mother fled for Mexico. They were later apprehended and deported.

In 2016, a county judge transferred Ethan Couchs probation supervision to the adult system and, as a condition of the transfer, ordered him to serve 720 days in jail, 180 days for each of his four victims.

By Marice Richter

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Dutch Lawyer 1st to Get Prison Time in Mueller Probe, Charges Unrelated to Trump Campaign

Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer, was sentenced to 30 days in prison on Tuesday and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine for lying to investigators about his communications with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a Ukrainian businessman tied to Russian intelligence about work he performed in 2012.

Van der Zwaan is the first person to receive prison time in the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. His charges are not related to the 2016 election.

Van der Zwaan worked for international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 2012 when he came to know Manafort, the unidentified Ukrainian businessman, and former Trump campaign deputy manager Rick Gates. The three men hired Skadden to write a report supporting a defiant view of the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko, the political rival of their client, Viktor Yanukovych. Var der Zwaan was tasked with writing the report.

Skaaden fired van der Zwaan late last year and said that it is cooperating with the investigation.

Mueller indicted Manafort in Gates last year on charges also unrelated to the 2016 election. Manafort was being investigated long before joining Trumps campaign.

Van der Zwaan, a 33-year-old Dutch citizen, admitted that he lied to prosecutors about a conversation he had with Rick Gates in September 2016. He also admitted to deleting records of email conversations that the prosecutors were looking for.

Van der Zwaans lawyers argued for leniency, saying that his life has already been destroyed by the mistake he made in lying to investigators. They also said his wife in England is going through a difficult pregnancy. The judge didnt budge.

This was more than a mistake, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said, according to Chicago Tribune. This was more than a lapse or a misguided moment.

Four other people have pleaded guilty to charges brought by Mueller. None of the charges are related to Trumps 2016 campaign.

Manafort did not plead guilty and is arguing that Mueller exceeded his mandate by prosecuting him on charges unrelated to the 2016 election. Muellers team attempted to defend against that claim by producing a heavily redacted memo written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last year instructing Mueller to investigate improper payments related to Manaforts work in Ukraine.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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European Central Bank (BCE) President Mario Draghi (R) stands next to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (2L) flanked by newly appointed Secretary General of the Commission Martin Selmayr during a meeting on the second day of a summit of European Union (EU) leaders at the European Council headquarter in Brussels, on March 23, 2018. EU leaders on March 23 adopted negotiating guidelines for talks on the future relationship with Britain, European Council President said. / AFP PHOTO / Ludovic MARIN (Photo credit should read LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Getting Europe Back on Track

Cooperation between nation-states must be based on diversity and not on bureaucracy

European integration post-World War II was based on common economic interests, a desire for exchange, and seeking the huge advantages of a free market unconstrained by national borders.

The integration confirmed again the historic wisdom that the free movement of goods and people is a binding element that promotes peace. This internal market provides the economic strength that helped the European Union build up infrastructure in its weaker regions and in new member countries.

The problem today is that people confuse the institution we call the EU with Europe itself. This political union is now micromanaging Europeans lives, far beyond just making sure the internal market functions smoothly.

How this occurred was a twofold process. Mostly, it resulted from member states shifting the responsibility for difficult or unpopular issues to the union level (hence the favorite tactic of blaming Brussels), but it also stemmed from the EU administrations own ambitions to grow.

Institutional Trap

As happens with many mature organizations, the EU fell into an institutional trap, in which bureaucracy trumps principles.

The creation of a single currency was another grand project that has had massive issues, but it has also survived longer than many people thought it would.

But the decision to chain this monetary project to the EUs institutional framework is at the root of todays euro problem. The currency and the European Central Bank are politicized, mixing monetary and fiscal policies into a toxic cocktail. German Chancellor Angela Merkels remark that if the euro fails, Europe fails is a clear example of this misguided impulse to equate institutions with Europe.

Another great project was the Schengen area. Schengen enables free travel without border controls throughout most of Europe, including non-EU states such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It required the creation of an administrative apparatus, including Frontex, the agency responsible for controlling the areas external borders. But this could easily have been done independent of the EU.

Strength in Diversity

Its not these institutions that are Europes strength, anyway. Europes strength has always been its diversity, which draws on common cultural roots. Today, this diversity could be the basis for a healthy institutional rivalry between regions.

Such competition is the best way to achieve continuous improvement while preserving the advantages provided by local identity and character. What Europe requires is subsidiarity, a founding principle of the EU that states that matters that can be handled locally, should be handled locally.

The other essential element is a well-coordinated, global foreign policy and a common defense system, ensuring Europes ability to deter foreign attacks. Mainly due to dissension, timidity, and lack of interest in defense among Europes political leadership, NATO is no longer up to the task of defending the continent, which has become increasingly vulnerable.

A new coalition of willing European governments, including the major military and economic powers (among them the United Kingdom), should be ready to make this common effort.

The EUs core competence and strength is the single market. This includes financial support for structurally weaker areas, to redress gaps in infrastructure and incentivize new businesses. Such was the original intention of the founders of the European Economic Community. Their ideas have worked well and are widely accepted.

Too Much Integration

However, the train of integration where necessary was switched to the track of ever closer integration and harmonization, which means suppressing Europes diversity. Not only was policy on the wrong track, it also ran too fast.

Both European institutions and national governments took over responsibility from the private sector. On the union and national levels, this meant that a centralized bureaucracy gradually supplanted decentralized democracy. The outcome was a technocratic system that did not sufficiently respect local and regional particularities. This led to what the German-speaking countries call EuropamudigkeitEurope fatigue.

A much looser union would have an easier time dealing with Brexit and could conduct negotiations in a more pragmatic way. The same could be said for issues such as Catalonian independence, which would remain an Iberian problem and would not be complicated by the EUs internal politics.

The hypothesis of ever-closer political union has led Brussels and some national governments to believe that they have the right and even an obligation to intervene in the domestic affairs of fellow member states, such as Hungary and Poland. This necessarily has a disruptive effect.

No Leadership

A survey of todays political scene in Europe reveals little leadership or vision. On the national and union levels, there are able administrators but no political figures of courage and statesmanship. This can probably be attributed to the rather sclerotic structure of the mainstream political parties, which has had two effects. On the one hand, it has fostered apathy and frustration among national electorates; on the other, it has hastened the emergence of radical movements.

It is to the credit of Frances new president, Emmanuel Macron, that he is questioning certain dogmas and taboos of European integration. This could allow a healthy debate to start. However, Macrons policy proposals, which often stray into the realm of protectionism or central planning, would likely prove detrimental to economic growth and healthy integration in the long term. What is needed is diversity and regional competition. Macrons Europe a la carte would in practice bring a centralized core Europe, which could then dominate the periphery.

Europe is based on diversity. At the same time, the vast majority of Europeans support European integration. The melding of these two widely accepted ideas has been sabotaged by the technocratic, equalizing notions of harmonization and ever-closer union. European integration would work much better in an incomplete union, based on the strong principles of subsidiarity, diversity, and friendly competition between systems, states, and regions.

The United States fought a cruel Civil War to stay one nation. Europe does not need to be one nation. What it needs is a framework for different nations to work together. Only by bundling its diverse strengths and assets can Europe stay politically and economically competitive, earning international respect and dealing on equal terms with the other powers.

Prince Michael of Liechtenstein is the executive chairman of trust company Industrie- und Finanzkontor as well as the founder and chairman of Geopolitical Intelligence Services. This article was originally published by GIS Reports Online.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Senior Chinese diplomat, Yang Jiechi, at a meeting of the 19th National Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on October 19, 2017. (Etienne Oliveau/Getty Images)

Hong Kong Media Reveal Factional Infighting Among Chinas Diplomats

Senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi recently missed a major appointment to become a vice premiersignaling that the faction Yang belonged to, the faction loyal to former Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zeminis further waning in power. The Jiang faction makes up the main opposition force to current leader Xi Jinping.

But a recent Hong Kong media report revealed that factional battles are still playing out among the Partys foreign affairs officials.

Hong Kongs Frontline Magazine reported in its April issue that individuals in the faction that current Foreign Minister Wang Yi belongs to once reported Yang Jiechi to top Party authorities for faking his academic credentials. Wang was also outed by someone in the Party for the same misdeed.

The Party has an internal complaint system where cadres can anonymously report misbehavior to the central authorities. According to Frontline Magazines report, as early as a decade ago, officials within the Chinese Communist Partys diplomacy circle were reported to have countless issues of violating laws while stationed in other countries. Diplomats engaged in extramarital affairs, violated diplomatic protocol, and engaged in other unscrupulous behavior.

In recent years, Chinese diplomatic officials used mailbags to smuggle illegal goods, used diplomatic privilege to gain immunity for crimes, misappropriated or embezzled public funds, used public funds to give high bonuses to themselves, privately obtained permanent residency or citizenship in the countries they worked in, defected while taking along confidential documents, or were bribed into becoming spies for other countries, and so on.

In addition, descendants of the Partys high ranking officials have occupied the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Due to nepotism, no one dares to discipline them, the report said. They make the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which already had many factions operating within in, even more complicated.

The Partys diplomats are also divided by factions based on the universities they attended.

Frontline Magazine revealed that certain individuals from the Beijing International Studies Universitya well-known school for training diplomats, and also Wang Yis alma materwrote a letter to the Politburo, a 25-member group of elite Party members at the top leadership. The letter exposed that Yangs doctorate in history was made up.

The complaint said Yang was a graduate student at the world history department of Nanjing University, but he did not graduate with a doctorate. The faction of Beijing International Studies University alumniwhich counts Wang Yi as its leaderalso reported that Yang was derelict in his duties as a diplomat. In his office, he often watched Western movies and television shows, including romance films and pornography.

Before the complaint against Yang, someone reported that Wang Yis masters degree in economics from Nankai University and doctorate in international relations from China Foreign Affairs University were false. He did not go through systematic and comprehensive study, but did remote study while working as a diplomat.

Yang has a long diplomatic career. He worked in the United States for 12 years. He served as Chinese ambassador to the United States from 2001 to 2005; then he served as vice minister of foreign affairs and foreign minister between 2005 and 2013. He then served within the State Council and became director of the Foreign Affairs Office.

In his career, Yang spent much effort slandering Falun Gong, an ancient meditation practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Former Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin believed the practices teachings were a threat to the Partys authority, especially since there were up to 100 million adherents, according to Western media outlets quoting Chinese regime officials. In July 1999 he launched a campaign to eradicate the practice.

Because of Yangs participation in carrying out Jiangs campaign, The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) has named Yang as a perpetrator of the persecution.

On August 22, 2001, 10 American Falun Gong practitioners went on hunger strike outside of the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. to support the actions of 130 Falun Gong practitioners detained at the Masanjia Labor Camp in China, who went on a hunger strike for four weeks to protest the persecution they endured, according to a report by WOIPFG. The American practitioners requested a dialogue with then-Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Yang Jiechi, but their petition letter was thrown out by embassy staff seven times. Embassy officials told the practitioners, No one will care about you even if youre starving to death

In 2002, when U.S. adherents of Falun Gong filed a lawsuit against Jiang for genocide and crimes against humanity, Yang began reaching out to U.S. politicians, pressuring them not to voice public support for the case.

Yang summed up his diplomatic achievements in a September 2008 article published in Qiushi, the CCPs political journal, touting his success in preventing and containing Falun Gong.

Hong Kongs Cheng Ming Magazine reported in its January issue that in 2014, Yang had sought to resign from office, submitting a self-inspection to the high-level Central Committee, admitting that he had indulged in corruption.
YouTubes headquarters in San Bruno. Photo: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

On Tuesday afternoon, YouTubes headquarters in San Bruno, California, went into lockdown mode as authorities responded to an active shooter on campus. We have four victims who have all been transported for gunshot-related injuries and we have one suspect who is deceased inside the building with a self-inflicted wound, who at this time we believe to be the shooter but we are still following up on that, San Bruno police chief Ed Barberini said during a press briefing. The female suspect reportedly came to the campus to shoot her boyfriend, a law-enforcement official told the Daily Beast. Barberini characterized all of the injuries as treatable.

From the New York Times:

Brent Andrew, a spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital, said at a news conference that the hospital had received three patients: a 36-year-old man in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition. The condition of the fourth victim, and what hospital he or she was at, was not clear.

Police activity at 901 Cherry Ave, please stay out of the area. pic.twitter.com/H6iAj0g7ra  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

We are responding to an active shooter. Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive.  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

On Twitter, YouTube staff documented their experiences during the shooting. Police evacuated hundreds of employees from the office. Vadim Lavrusik was among the first YouTube employees to tweet about the shooter. (His Twitter was hacked just hours later.)

Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.  Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018

We were sitting in a meeting and then we heard people running because it was rumbling the floor. First thought was earthquake. https://t.co/gmolQmRXm1  Todd Sherman (@tdd) April 3, 2018

We headed towards the exit and then saw more people and someone said that there was a person with a gun. Shit.  Todd Sherman (@tdd) April 3, 2018

I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front.  Todd Sherman (@tdd) April 3, 2018

Police cruisers pull up, hopped out with rifles ready and I told them where the situation was as I headed down the street to meet up with a couple team members.  Todd Sherman (@tdd) April 3, 2018

We are seeing @YouTube employees being brought out with hands up! pic.twitter.com/ZlSMY9FIVm  Erin (@erinjeanc) April 3, 2018

My friend at @Google @YouTube in San Bruno says there's an active shooter on campus.



Really hoping this is somewhat of a hoax or blown out of proportion.  pic.twitter.com/dkKbjHGEUj  Will Hudson (@MrWillToLive) April 3, 2018

there's an active shooter at YouTube in San Bruno. from a whatsapp group I'm in. pic.twitter.com/N2wh1fYWih  Ethar El-Katatney (@etharkamal) April 3, 2018

Google, YouTubes parent company, says it is coordinating with authorities and will be posting updates as more information becomes available. The company advised other employees in the surrounding area to stay away from the San Bruno headquarters, and said it has provided an employee help line.

Re: YouTube situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.  Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018

Update, April 3, 2018, 10:39 a.m.: An earlier version of this post reported the shooter allegedly shot her boyfriend at YouTube, citing a quote from a law-enforcement official to the Daily Beast. The latest report from the San Bruno Police Department says there is no evidence that the shooter knew the victims of this shooting or that individuals were specifically targeted. Police are still investigating a possible motive.
People take part in a protest against deportation of African migrants, in Tel Aviv, Israel March 24, 2018. (Reuters/Corinna Kern/File Photo)

Israel Suspends New Relocation Deal for African Migrants

JERUSALEMIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he was suspending a new agreement with the U.N. refugee agency to relocate thousands of African migrants, as pressure mounted on him to scrap the deal.

Hours after announcing the new arrangement, which would also give thousands of other migrants the right to stay in Israel, Netanyahu posted a message on his Facebook page saying he was putting its implementation on hold until further review.

The fate of some 37,000 Africans in Israel has posed a moral dilemma for a state founded as a haven for Jews from persecution and a national home. The Netanyahu government has been under pressure from some Israelis to expel the migrants.

Netanyahu said on Facebook that Rwanda had in the past few weeks folded to immense pressure and backed out of the deal it had made with Israel to accept expelled migrants, prompting him to seek the new arrangement with the UNHCR.

According to the agreement, about 16,250 of about 37,000 African migrants, most of them from Eritrea and Sudan, would be relocated to Western nations while others would be allowed to stay in Israel.

At a news conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu praised the new agreement reached with the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR). But in the hours that followed the announcement he faced growing calls on social and mainstream media to abolish the deal.

Some Israelis accused him of caving to pressure and ignoring the discontent of residents in south Tel Aviv, a poor part of the city which has attracted the largest migrant community, changing its ethnic makeup and enraging some of its inhabitants who want the migrants out.

I am attentive to you, especially to the residents of south Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said on Facebook, adding that he planned to meet with local representatives on Tuesday.

In the meantime, I am suspending the agreements implementation and after I meet with the representatives I will bring it forward for further review, Netanyahu said.

Implementing the signed agreement was expected to take five years and Netanyahus backtrack was largely seen in Israel as an attempt to appease his voter base and keep its support at a time of political uncertainty.

The four-term prime minister faces one of the greatest challenges to his career yet  he is under police investigation in three different corruption cases. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.

Naftali Bennett, leader of the Israeli party Jewish Home, a key member of Netanyahus coalition government and a competitor for Israels right-wing votes, said on Twitter the agreement would encourage more people to enter the country illegally and called on Netanyahu to overturn it.

His calls were soon echoed by members of Netanyahus own Likud party.

Pressure

The UNHCR in a statement confirmed an agreement was signed with Israel but did not name the countries that would accept the migrants.

It said it would facilitate the departure to third countries to be determined of some 16,000 Eritreans and Sudanese under various programs, including sponsorship, resettlement, family reunion and labor migration schemes, while others will be receiving a suitable legal status in Israel.

Netanyahu named Germany, Italy and Canada as examples of countries that would accept the migrants, though German and Italian officials said they had no knowledge of any such agreement.

Canada has an arrangement with Israeli authorities to suspend the deportation of individuals who have private sponsorship applications with Canada until they are processed, said Hursh Jaswal, spokesman for Canadas immigration minister.

There were 1,845 applications being processed at the end of last year, Jaswal said.

A previous plan already underway for a mass deportation of some 20,000 migrants to Rwanda had led to legal challenges in Israel, drew criticism abroad and triggered an emotional public debate among Israelis.

In February, Israeli authorities started handing out notices to male African migrants giving them two months to leave for a third country in Africa or risk being put in jail indefinitely.

At immigration hearings, migrants were told they could choose to go to Rwanda or Uganda. Both countries have denied having any deal in place with Israel.

The U.N.s refugee agency had urged Israel to reconsider its deportation plan, saying migrants who have relocated to sub-Saharan Africa in the past few years were unsafe and ended up on the perilous migrant trail to Europe, some suffering abuse, torture and even dying on the way.

Rights groups had challenged the deportation in Israels High Court, which on March 15 issued a temporary order that froze its implementation.

Since 2005, a total of 64,000 Africans had entered Israel illegally over its border with Egypt, although thousands have since left. A fence Israel has built over the past few years along the frontier has largely stemmed the flow.

By Maayan Lubell

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The McDonald's, in Bass Hill, New South Wales, Australia, where staff called the police on a man after they gave him the wrong order. (Screenshot via Google Maps)

McDonalds Calls Police on Man for Taking Home Wrong Drive-Thru Order

Workers at a McDonalds in Sydney, Australia, called the police on a man for stealing after they gave him the wrong order at a drive-thru.

Police tracked the man through his license plate, and confronted him at his home wanting to fine him. He feels the real reason staff called the police was because he and his son were filming them while having fun on Snapchat, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Santo La Rocca didnt realize he was given the wrong order until he got home. What they gave him was worth $17 more than what he thought he ordered, but he and his family ate the meal anyway, according to the Daily Telegraph.

My daughter was a bit annoyed because she didnt get her nuggets but I said just suck it up and we ate it, La Rocca told the Daily Telegraph. I couldnt be bothered to take it back because how many times do they stuff up your order when you go through the drive through?

He and his family were awoken by police two hours after their meal.

They accused me of stealing McDonalds and I thought it was a joke, La Rocca told the Daily Telegraph. The [McDonalds staff] told police I just ordered two frozen Cokes but I ordered more than that.

McDonalds offered a statement, via News.com.au.

Our employees felt intimidated by the person filming them without consent and decided to notify the police, who chose to investigate further.

La Rocca said police did not discuss a penalty for filming, but wanted to give him a $300 fine for taking home the wrong food order, according to the Daily Telegraph.

A New South Wales police spokesman told the Daily Telegraph that McDonalds reported the man for filming them without permission and leaving without paying for food. He said officers arrived at La Roccas home at 10:30 p.m. to discuss the allegations.

Following inquiries, police will not be taking any formal action due to conflicting versions provided, the spokesman told the Daily Telegraph.

From NTD.tv

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MS-13 gang members "catfished" a 15-year-old boy and killed him at Constitution Beach in East Boston, Massachusetts in 2015. (Screenshot via Google Maps)

MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty To Catfishing Murder of 15-Year-Old Boy

An MS-13 gang member has pleaded guilty to the 2015 murder of a 15-year-old boy who was tricked into thinking he was going on a date before he was killed at an East Boston beach in Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Carlos Melara, 21, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity  more commonly referred to as a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy  in a federal court in Boston on Friday, March 30, according to a statement from the DOJ office.

MS-13 gang member pleads guilty to 'catfishing' murder of boy, 15, in Massachusetts https://t.co/2U5aGOjYnE  Fox News (@FoxNews) April 2, 2018

The Salvadoran national, who was in the country illegally, was one of 61 people named in a fifth superseding indictment targeting the criminal activities of alleged leaders, members, and associates of MS-13.

Melara, Henry Josue Parada Martinez, and another MS-13 member targeted the victim, who has not been named, in a catfishing scheme where they used a fake Facebook account to deceive the teen into thinking he was talking to a girl.

The Facebook account was being controlled by the MS-13 gang members to lure in suspected gang rivals so that they could kill them, according to the statement.

On the day of the murder, Melara picked up the victim on a scooter pretending to be a friend of the girl that the victim was planning to meet for a date. Melara drove the victim to Constitution Beach, where the other MS-13 members were waiting to kill him, officials said.

Melara and the other MS-13 members took turns attacking and stabbing the victim to death.

As a result of the killing, Melara was promoted to homeboy or a full member of MS-13, as a reward.

The acceptance of the plea agreement and sentencing hearing are scheduled on July 30. Melara faces between 30 and 40 years in prison under the terms of the proposed plea agreement. He is also subject to deportation upon the completion of his sentence.

The MS-13 gang is also known as Mara Salvatrucha and was initially formed by Salvadoran immigrants that fled to Los Angeles during the civil war in their home country. The gangs motto is kill, rape, control.

The gang has built up a barbaric reputation in the United States for engaging in unspeakable brutal murders and horrific acts of violence.

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Daniel Blumenthal, director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute speaks at the 2018 SAIS Asia Forum Conference at Johns Hopkins University in Washington on March 30, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

No. 1 Weapon for Redefining USChina Relations Is Human Rights, Expert Says

As President Donald Trump appoints increasingly hawkish foreign policy hands to assert U.S. trade interests, a veteran China expert whose views closely mirror that of new national security adviser John Bolton suggests that exposing human rights abuses is the best tool for redefining relations with an aggressive China.

Dan Blumenthal is the director of Asian studies at the American Enterprise Institute and previously advised the U.S. government on China issues for over a decade. He said that while the United States is locked in a strategic competition with China around the world, an effective pushback cannot be a purely military endeavor, but must include an organized effort to expose abuses by the Chinese communist regime.

The No. 1 weapon we should never give up is human rights, said Blumenthal, who delivered a keynote speech at the SAIS Asia Conference on March 30. [Human rights] is a powerful tool for the United States to stay in the center in China and to stand with those who are oppressed.

Blumenthal pointed to the Chinese regimes persecution of Uyghurs, the Muslim ethnic group in Chinas Xinjiang region, as a topic that should be targeted by U.S. human rights efforts. Doing so could help decouple Chinas strategic relations with Muslim majority countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Gulf states, all of which are at the frontier of Chinas global expansion of power.

Blumenthal said that the United States should directly confront and expose human rights abuses in China.

Chinas policies in Xinjiang are some of the most oppressive toward the Muslims in the world, yet few people know about them, Blumenthal said, arguing that the U.S. State Department needs to step up to the competition and set up an information office similar to the ones established in the Cold War to highlight bad behavior by China.

Blumenthals comments follow Trumps announcement on March 22 that Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., will replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser, starting April 9. Bolton serves as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and his views closely align with those of Blumenthal on a variety of issues, particularly in regard to U.S.China policy.

Our key goal is to keep China on the defensive  to force China, whose economic growth is slowing down, to choose between using resources on suppressing domestic concerns or to go out and compete with the United States in East Asia, said Blumenthal.

When asked about the specific steps he would like the administration to pursue, Blumenthal said that the United States should directly confront and expose human rights abuses in China. In addition, support should be increased for existing information platforms such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, which have been providing the Chinese audience with information they would not otherwise receive from the Chinese regimes media.

U.S. platforms could also launch an organized information cyber campaign to expose corruption within the Chinese regime, said Blumenthal.

Both Blumenthal and Bolton share the view that China is the driving force behind North Koreas quest for nuclear weapons. Like Bolton, Blumenthal advocates a hardline policy to confront the perceived Chinese support for North Korean aggression.

What we need to do, and what we have done effectively, is to scare China, said Blumenthal, during a Sept. 5, 2017, discussion. The policy adopted by the Trump administration right now is to tie North Korea as a liability for China, to make China feel so much pain for its relations with North Korea, at some point China would say, enough is enough.
Scientists Find Massive Footprints, Heres What Ancient Creatures It Belonged To

The biggest dinosaurs ever to have lived left footprints 170 million years ago, which were only recently discovered by scientists in Scotland.

Early sauropods  the largest animals ever to walk the planet  stomped along a lagoon on the remote Scottish hideaway of the Isle of Skye, according to Dr. Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburghs School of GeoSciences.

The more we look on the Isle of Skye, the more dinosaur footprints we find, said Dr. Brusatte.

Scientists also discovered sharp-clawed footprints made by the older meat-eating cousins of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

This new site records two different types of dinosaurs  long-necked cousins of Brontosaurus and sharp-toothed cousins of T. rex  hanging around a shallow lagoon, back when Scotland was much warmer and dinosaurs were beginning their march to global dominance, Dr. Brusatte said.

The impressions these primeval beasts made in the ground impress researchers, as these artifacts provide rare and important insight into the Middle Jurassic eraa period about which relatively little is known.

Watch the video below, which shows in vivid detail the footprints that have been discovered.

Paleontologist Paige dePolo, an Edinburgh University student who led the study as part of her degree, told SWNS reporters that dinosaur fossils are very rare in rocks from the Middle Jurassic, which is frustrating because this epoch was an important time.

Dr. Brusatte said the sauropods responsible for some of the tracks as the first species of truly colossal sauropods that lived on Earth.

They were probably more than 15 meters (49ft) long and weighed more than 10 tons.

The creatures likely waded in the shallows in northeastern Scotland, foraging for food and seeking protection from predators.

Its hard to say exactly why these dinosaurs were in the lagoon  but we seem to be finding more and more footprints of lagoon-dwelling dinosaurs these days.

Lagoons were probably their homes  at least part of the time. Maybe there was abundant food there  or maybe it was a safe place to hide from predators.

dePolo said the find changes current understanding of the history of certain dinosaur species.

It was found in rocks that were slightly older than those previously found at Duntulm on the island, she said, according to SWNS.

It demonstrates the presence of sauropods in this part of the world through a longer timescale than previously known.

Researchers measured, photographed and analyzed the prints in a tidal area, which made access difficult.

But in spite of tidal conditions, the impact of weathering and changes to the landscape, members of the research team were able to identify two separate tracks and many isolated footprints.

A sitemap was made using photographs taken by drones with additional images obtained by paired cameras and software tailored to model the prints.

This site is a useful building block for us to continue fleshing out a picture of what dinosaurs were like on Skye in the Middle Jurassic.

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions introduces President Donald Trump during a Public Safety Medal of Valor award ceremony at the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 20, 2018. The medal is the nation's highest award to public safety officers who have 'exhibited exceptional courage, regardless of personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect human life.' (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Sessions Assigned a Federal Prosecutor and Thats Better for Trump Than a 2nd Special Counsel

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed a Utah federal prosecutor to lead a criminal investigation into matters that arose as part of investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a letter sent by Sessions to lawmakers on March 29.

Republicans in Congress have been asking Sessions to appoint a second special counsel to investigate a battery of matters surrounding the Russian collusion investigations. While Sessions announced in his March 29 letter that he wont be appointing a special counsel, at least for now, he revealed that he had appointed a federal prosecutor months ago to investigate the same matters.

In November last year, Sessions assigned U.S. Attorney John Huber to lead the case. Huber has been cooperating with Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who has 470 investigators at his disposal, Sessions noted.

Huber is specifically probing potentially criminal abuses of government surveillance by the Obama administration. Findings by the House intelligence committee suggest that top officials in the FBI, Department of Justice (DOJ), and the State Department participated in obtaining a fraudulent warrant to spy on the Trump campaign before and after the 2016 election. Huber is also looking into the handling of the investigation of the Clinton Foundations connection to the Uranium One deal.

While establishment media focused on the fact that Sessions is not appointing a special counsel, the appointment of a federal prosecutor is brilliant because it combines the powers of the inspector general with a prosecutor to seek indictments and get quick results for Trump, according to George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, a top national legal expert on special counsels and congressional investigations of government wrongdoing.

I think people are missing what could be a brilliant move here by Sessions, said Turley, in an interview with Fox News. What he did is he essentially combined the powers of the inspector general with the powers of a line prosecutor.

In February, Trump called on Sessions to appoint a Justice Department lawyer to investigate massive FISA abuse. Sessions had done just that months before Trump called for it. The president was likely not informed of Hubers appointment since the investigation is politically charged and should remain impartial.

Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse, Trump wrote on Feb. 28. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isnt the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!

Hubers legal authority as a U.S. attorney allows him to impanel a grand jury anywhere in the United States. Additionally, Huber, based in Utah, is far away from what Trump refers to as the Washington swamp. That distance between him and Washington is very important, Turley said.

The investigator generals recommendations based on the probe have already resulted in the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. The final report by Horowitz has not yet been released.

Sessions also emphasized that he still reserves the option to appoint a special counsel.

I receive regular updates from Mr. Huber and upon the conclusion of his review will receive his recommendations as to whether any matters not currently under investigation should be opened, whether any matters currently under investigation require further resources, or whether any matters merit the appointment of a Special Counsel, Sessions wrote.

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Shooting Reported at YouTube Headquarters in California

Police are responding to multiple 911 calls of shots fired at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California.

San Bruno Police said there is an active shooter, asking people to stay away from Bay Hill Drive and Cherry Ave. in the city. YouTube is located at 901 Cherry Ave.

We are responding to an active shooter. Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive.  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

ABC News reported that about 1,700 people work inside the building, while CBS San Francisco reported that multiple victims were taken to the hospital after the shooting.

YouTube product manager Todd Sherman said on Twitter that employees first believed there was an earthquake. Then people started running out of their meetings, Sherman said, and then word spread that someone had a gun.

We were sitting in a meeting and then we heard people running because it was rumbling the floor. First thought was earthquake. https://t.co/gmolQmRXm1  Todd Sherman (@tdd) April 3, 2018

There is definitely some kind of police action / possible shooting at youtube in San Bruno. my brother just and others went running out of the building when hearing firecracker like sounds. 5 police cars came rushing to the scene  Mr Raised Brow (@MrRaisedBrow) April 3, 2018

Sherman added that he saw blood on the stairs and on the floor.

I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs, he said on Twitter. Peaked [sic] around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front.

Police activity at 901 Cherry Ave, please stay out of the area. pic.twitter.com/H6iAj0g7ra  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

We see lots cops and firefighters, Michelle Tam, a hostess at the Hashes & Brews, told the Los Angeles Times.

We cant see any people. Its just a lot of trucks along the street at the moment.

Re: YouTube situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.  Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018

Three YouTube workers came into the restaurant and were shaken.

They came in from a back door, she said. They sat down at a table. They were in a daze. One guy, there was a little blood on his head.

Tam said an employee told her that he had a bullet fragment lodged in his shoe.

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Trump Says Military Will Guard Border

Mexican authorities say they have turned back 400 from immigration caravan

WASHINGTONWhile lunching with the presidents of Baltic countries on April 3, President Donald Trump talked about using the military to control the southwest border.

We are going to be guarding our border with our military, Trump said. Thats a big step.

He did not provide any further details about a military presence, but expressed his frustration over the porous border.

National security adviser H.R. McMaster and Defense Secretary James Mattis were also present at the lunch.

Trump also commented on a caravan of around 1,200 Central Americans traveling north through Mexico toward the United States.

If it reaches our border, our laws are so weak and so pathetic  its like we have no border, he said.

The caravan is highlighting the loopholes in U.S. immigration law that create the so-called catch and release phenomenon.

Under catch and release, anyone crossing the border illegally from Central America and claiming asylum will most likely be released into the United States within a few weeks and given a date to show up at an immigration hearing that is sometimes years away. Most will not show up at their hearing.

We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and, by the way, never showing up for court, he said.

Asylum seekers need to prove they have credible fear about returning to their home country.

The credible fear process was intended to be a lifeline for persons facing serious persecution, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in Virginia on Oct. 12, 2017.

But it has become an easy ticket to illegal entry into the United States.

Cases that began with a credible fear claim jumped from approximately 3,000 cases in 2009 to more than 69,000 in 2016, Sessions said.

In 2016, compared to 2009, there were 700 percent more removal orders issued because people did not show up in court for their case based on a credible fear claim.

Removal orders issued after people failed to show up in court in all immigration cases have doubled since 2012, with nearly 40,000 issued in 2017 alone.

Trump has been busy on Twitter since the caravan set off in late March, threatening to leverage the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is currently under negotiation, if Mexico allows the group to continue. He also threatened to pull foreign aid from Honduras, where most of the caravan participants hail from.

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen, he wrote in a tweet early on April 3.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen wrote in a tweet on April 2 that she is working with Mexican officials to address the yearly illegal alien caravan. Exploring all options.

Working with Mexican officials to address the yearly illegal alien caravan. Exploring all options.  Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen (@SecNielsen) April 2, 2018

Mexican authorities responded by saying theyd allow some of the caravan members to apply for asylum in Mexico and about 400 had already been sent home.

Under no circumstance does the Mexican government promote irregular migration, Mexicos Interior Department said in a statement released late on April 2.

The department also said Mexico is not responsible for stopping people from going to the United States to apply for asylum.

It is not the responsibility of the Mexican government to make immigration decisions for the United States or any other nation; the appropriate U.S. authorities will decide, if necessary, whether or not to authorize entrance into their territory at the authorized ports of entry and exit for any members of the caravan that request it, the statement said.

Trump said of Mexicos actions, They did it because you really have to do it.

The caravan doesnt irritate me. The caravan makes me very sad that this can happen to the United States, where you have thousands of people that decide to just walk into our country, and we dont have any laws that can protect it, Trump said. President Obama made changes that basically created no border.

Its really sad that we dont have laws that say we have a border, and if you dont do it legally, you cant come into the United States. To me, thats a very sad thing for the people of the United States, he said.

Trump also reiterated building a wall. He recently proposed that the military budget be used for its construction.

We need to have a wall thats about 700 to 800 miles of the 2,000-mile stretch, he said.

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Some of the weapons captured from the militants

There are conflicting reports on the actual number of Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers who were killed in an al-shabaab attack on Easter Sunday morning.



According to a statement issued by UPDF following the attack, only four soldiers were killed alongside 22 al-shabaab militants when the latter attempted to raid the African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom) base at Quoryole, Bulomareer and Golwein in Lower Shabelle region in Somalia.



Buulo Mareer is located some 130 kilometres southwest of the capital Mogadishu. According to Lt Col Deo Akiiki, the deputy UPDF spokesperson, Amisom forces destroyed eight vehicles including two vehicle born improvised explosives and captured weapons from the militants.

The captured weapons included four PK rifles, two rocket propelled guns, two recoilless guns, one walkie-talkie radio and 18 sub machine guns.



Just like it's happened in previous attacks, there is conflicting figures on the number of dead and injured on both sides, with different international media sources quoting different numbers.



The UK's Guardian online reports that at least 46 UPDF soldiers were killed in double car bomb suicide attacks, quoting local officials in Mogadishu. The report quotes Abdi Nur Hashi, a Somali military colonel who also said one Somali soldier had died and several others were injured.



The New York Times and Reuters give a much high number of causality figures, with both saying 59 Amisom soldiers were killed in the attack. Reuters further says 14 al-shabaab militants were killed, a figure lower than the 22 quoted by the UPDF.



The New York Times goes on to quote Ceaser Olweny, the UPDF spokesperson in Somalia saying 30 al-shabaab militants were killed. This figure is higher than the 22 stated by UPDF spokesperson in Uganda. Kenya's The Daily Nation is also carrying a report from AFP saying 59 UPDF soldiers were killed.



Al Jazeera quotes Abdiaziz Abu Mus'ab, the al-shabaab military spokesman, as saying the militant group lost 14 fighters in multiple attacks on six Amisom bases, which also left 59 soldiers dead.



"The Mujahideen fighters entered the crusaders' base and killed at least 59 of them. Our fighters also attacked five other bases," Mus'ab is quoted as saying.



The special representative of the chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia, Francisco Madeira in a press statement issued on April 2 says at least 30 al-shabaab militants were killed, while four soldiers of Amisom were killed and six sustained injuries.



He says in the statement that Amisom troops successfully repulsed the al-shabaab militants.



"The troops fought off and successfully repulsed the terrorists who had launched simultaneous attacks on forward operating bases in Quoryole, Bulomareer, and Golwein," Madeira said in the statement.



He says the militants lost at least 30 fighters in the battle and that eight vehicles which ferried the terrorists were destroyed and an assortment of weapons recovered. He says Amisom lost four soldiers in the fighting while six others sustained injuries.



"We honour our brave soldiers, who are resolute in continuing to neutralise the insurgents in order to restore peace and stability in Somalia," said Madeira.



When contacted for a comment on the conflicting figures, the UPDF spokesperson Brigadier Richard Karemire said different media houses have different sources with different agendas, with some quoting what he called enemy sources.



Karemire said the statement issued by the UPDF is "the correct one."



"Some media houses quote enemy sources, regrettably. I don't speak for al-shabaab, I don't speak for Guardian, I don't speak for New York Times, I speak for the Uganda People's Defence Forces," Karemire told URN.



The situation is similar to the one after the July 30, 2017 attack when UPDF said it had lost 12 soldiers while the militants said it had killed 39 Ugandan soldiers.



In September 2015, al-shabaab militants carried out an attack at the Amisom base in Janaale district in Somalia with reports indicating that 50 Amisom soldiers had died, while the Somali military said 37 soldiers died.



The UPDF disputed this through the then spokesperson Paddy Ankunda who tweeted that the estimates of more than 50 deaths were a fabrication, insisting later that only 10 Ugandan soldiers had been killed in Somalia.



Days later, however, President Museveni who was on a visit to Japan told the media that 19 Ugandan soldiers had been killed in the Janaale attack, adding that six soldiers were still missing.



Uganda was the first country to deploy in Somalia in 2007 and contributes the biggest contingent of the 22,000-strong Amisom force.



The African Union plans to scale down its force and gradually hand over security operations to the Somali national army by 2020.
The logo of Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd is pictured at their Sydney office Feb. 15, 2016. (Reuters/Jason Reed/File photo)

US Company Offering Billions to Buy Australian Gas Giant Santos

SYDNEYAustralian gas producer Santos Ltd said on Tuesday it would engage with Harbour Energy after receiving a $10.4 billion takeover offer from the U.S. company, its fourth unsolicited bid since August 2017.

The bid, valuing Santos at a 28 percent premium to its last close, would give Harbour access to a recently revived company with a low cost of oil production and stakes in liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Asia-Pacific, where demand is soaring.

News of the latest offer, the biggest inbound bid for a listed Australian company since Unibail-Rodamcos $16 billion buy-out offer for shopping mall giant Westfield Corp, sent Santos shares soaring.

But even if accepted by Santos this time around, a deal may be fraught with political and regulatory risk: Australias lingering domestic energy supply crisis has stoked fears that companies that come under foreign ownership may ignore domestic needs.

once again for down the back:

THERE ? IS ? NO ? GAS ? SHORTAGE ?#auspol pic.twitter.com/JMETJHkanA  Australia Institute (@TheAusInstitute) March 29, 2018

The price is definitely in the ball park of something that we will seriously consider, said Andy Forster, senior investment officer at Argo Investments, Santos ninth-largest shareholder.

Investment bank RBC Capital Markets described the bid as a knock-out in a note to clients on Tuesday.

The offer values Adelaide-based Santos at A$6.50, per share, a 28 percent premium to the companys last closing share price of A$5.07. Santos shares close 16.2 percent higher at A$5.89.

The latest offer price is also 43 percent higher than Harbours first attempt last year.

Expansion Plans

Harbours chief executive Linda Cook said the plan for Santos was one of growth, in Australia, Papua New Guinea and beyond.

We are prepared to move expeditiously through the due diligence phase to immediately begin the government review and approval process, Cook said in a phone interview.

But given the highly politicized nature of the Australian domestic gas landscape and Santos key role there, analysts and investors see government approval as a key risk to any deal.

A takeover would be subject to government approvals and will be scrutinized by Australias Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), which provides recommendations to the government. Cook said Harbour was preparing its FIRB application.

Santos more sensitive assets include its interest in the Gladstone LNG project in the Australian state of Queensland and the strategically important Cooper Basin in the countrys east, where significant onshore oil and gas deposits are located.

Any buyer of Santos would need to be prepared for ongoing engagement with government and public scrutiny for many years going forward, said Saul Kavonic of energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Still, for a new LNG player, Santos represents an attractive target given its portfolio of LNG assets and growth options, according to analysts.

Engage Further

The Santos board considers that, based on the indicative offer price of A$6.50 per share, it is in the interests of shareholders to engage further with Harbour, Santos said in a statement to shareholders.

The bid from Washington-based Harbour, a private equity-backed firm led by Cook, who is a former Royal Dutch Shell Plc executive director, consists of $4.70 per share in cash and a special dividend of $0.28 per share, or A$6.50.

The offer would allow for majority shareholders Hony Capital and ENN to retain a stake of up to 20 percent.

Santos was in considerable trouble just a few years ago, struggling with high debt and low oil and gas prices. But asset sales, debt reduction and cost-cutting have led it back to health.

As a result, Santos is seen to be able to produce profitably at average oil costs of just over $32 per barrel, versus actual costs of around $68 a barrel.

The companys focus on LNG, which is seen to be a bigger growth markets in coming years than oil, is also seen as attractive for investors.

Harbour plans to fund the takeover through a combination of debt and equity, with J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley underwriting $7.75 billion of debt.

Santos is a partner in the Papua New Guinea LNG export project, which was highly profitable before it got knocked out by a strong earthquake in late February. It is expected to resume operations in April.

By Paulina Duran and Jonathan Barrett

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US Top Court Will Not Revive Verdict Against Palestinian Authority, Palestine Liberation Organization

WASHINGTONThe Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) gained a legal victory at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday as the justices refused to consider reinstating a $655.5 million jury award won against them by 11 American families over militant attacks in Israel.

The court declined to hear the families appeal of a lower courts 2016 ruling throwing out the jury award that was secured in a lawsuit brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act, a law allowing American victims of international terrorism to seek damages in U.S. courts.

The families had looked to hold the Palestinian Authority and PLO liable for six shootings and bombings between 2002 and 2004 in the Jerusalem area that killed 33 people, including several Americans, and wounded more than 450.

Its outrageous that the murderous Palestinian Authority is allowed to kill innocent civilians and not have to pay any cost. This is a horrible travesty of justice for the families and we will not let it stand, said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of the Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center, which represents the American families.

The PLOs chief representative in Washington, Husam Zomlot, said in a statement that this decision reaffirms the vital relationship between the Palestinian and American people, which depends on mutual respect and, as importantly, on respect for the rule of law.

The Trump administration had sided with the Palestinian Authority and PLO in the dispute, urging the justices not to take up the case because the specific claims could not be brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The United States condemns acts of terror in the strongest terms and the Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting those who commit terrorist attacks against innocent human beings to the fullest extent that the law allows, U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said.

The attacks at the center of the lawsuit have been attributed to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas. Lead plaintiff Mark Sokolow, his wife and their two daughters were injured in a 2002 suicide bombing in Jerusalem.

Jurisdiction Question

The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that the civil lawsuit, which began in January 2004, be dismissed. The appeals court said the attacks occurred entirely outside U.S. territory, and found no evidence that Americans were targeted. As a result, American courts do not have jurisdiction to hear the claims, it said.

The families said late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004, and his agents routinely arranged for payments to attackers and to families of militants who died. The Palestinian Authority and PLO have said they condemned the attacks and blamed them on rogue individuals within the organizations acting on their own.

In 2015, after a six-week trial, a federal jury in Manhattan awarded the families $218.5 million, which was tripled automatically to $655.5 million under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the appeals court decision eviscerates the Anti-Terrorism Act by severely limiting what cases can be heard in U.S. courts. They argued that Congress wrote the law specifically to apply to attacks that took place outside the United States in which U.S. citizens were injured or killed, whether or not Americans were specifically targeted.

In a separate case on a similar theme, the Supreme Court in February blocked a group of Americans injured in a 1997 suicide bombing in Jerusalem from seizing ancient Persian artifacts from a Chicago museum to satisfy a $71.5 million court judgment against Iran, which they had accused of complicity in the attack.

The Supreme Court in another case is weighing whether Jordan-based Arab Bank Plc can be sued over legal claims that it helped finance militant attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories. A ruling is due by the end of June.

By Lawrence Hurley

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Victorian Assistant Police Commissioner Responds to Allegations of Police Misconduct

Disturbing security footage from September 2017 has emerged of a disability pensioner being pinned down by several police officers, where the pensioner is repeatedly beaten and doused with water in the front yard of his Melbourne home.

Victorias assistant police commissioner Luke Cornelius has responded to the allegations made about officer misconduct in a press conference on Tuesday, April 3.

When it was first shown to me last week, I was very concerned by what the vision depicted. The conduct displayed on the CCTV demanded examination and explanation, he said during the press conference.

The members involved clearly needed to be called to account for their conduct.

Cornelius said he bad been advised by Victorias Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) on Thursday, March 29, that they had received a complaint regarding the allegations and were investigating the incident.

The subject of the complaint was some CCTV footage released by The Age showing half a dozen police officers dragging a man  only known as John  out of his Melbourne house, then pinning him to the ground. He was then repeatedly beaten using an extendable baton and was sprayed with pepper spray. A police officer could then be seen using a hose to blast water continuously in Johns face.

Warning: Footage may be distressing for some viewers.

Hes aiming for my nostrils and its going into my lungs  and thats when I started choking from the water and from the hot mace going into my respiratory [system], he told ABC 7.30.

I couldnt breathe.

You can feel the mace and the water together in your lungs.

Police were at Johns home for a mental health welfare check last September after his psychologist notified police because she was concerned about the mans deteriorating mental health.

Police in Victoria are allowed to use force under the Mental Health Act to take a person who appears to have a mental illness to the hospital to keep them or others safe, according to Victorias Department of Health.

John said he felt humiliated and degraded after being subjected to the alleged assault, the mans lawyers told 7News.

His lawyers said in a statement to 7News that during the police visit, John, who has a minor assault on his police record from 10 years ago, had not committed a crime and was not charged by police.

Cornelius said at the press conference that Victoria police welcomes any external scrutiny and are committed to addressing concerns which the wider community may have about police actions.

[W]e recognise  that internal scrutiny is not in and of itself enough, he said.

Victoria police are very clear that we welcome external scrutiny and are committed to addressing concerns which the wider community may have about whether we are delivering police services to them in keeping with their expectations.

Our officers make mistakes like anyone else, and when that happens, we seek to learn from them. When those mistakes are not mere mistakes but a result of intentional conduct then, of course, we seek to hold those officers to account.

The IBAC inquiry is currently ongoing. Cornelius said he is unable to make further public comments on the incident until the investigation has been completed.

The assistant police commissioner said he welcomes anyone to raise their concerns about how they have been treated by police.

[I]f theres any citizen out there, who has as a result of hearing the reports today and seeing the CCTV footage, who may have concerns about how they were treated by police, I would welcome any reports or concerns they may raise with us so that they can be properly scrutinised, he said.

From NTD.tv

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President Donald Trump, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos attend a meeting of the American Technology Council in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 19, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump Defends Retailers Threatened by Amazon

Points out loopholes retailer used to become giant

WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump has fired a warning shot at Amazon Inc. over the online retail giants practices that are driving thousands of retailers out of business as the company increases its competitive advantage through loopholes.

Chief among those loopholes was Amazons failure in the past to collect state sales taxes. Amazons record on this issue has improved; it now collects the taxes in all 45 states that have state sales taxes. However, it is collecting them only on its direct sales and not on sales that third-party merchants make through the Amazon website.

Nearly half of items sold on Amazon are coming through third-party retailers, according to a CNBC report. These retailers can benefit from Amazons facilities and payment system, but they are not required to collect sales taxes.

Theres no question that Amazon is capable of collecting these taxes, said Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit research organization. Its just not doing so. And the result is a price advantage over other businesses.

Some states have figured out a way to solve this problem. Washington and Pennsylvania passed legislation requiring online retailers to collect taxes on third-party transactions.

Were seeing this incredibly large company getting involved in almost every area of commerce. And I think it is important to take a look at the power and influence that Amazon has.  Bernie Sanders, U.S. senator

In Washington state, not only Amazon but also online stores like Wal-Mart and Etsy have agreed to collect these taxes. Whether every state could do that or not remains to be seen, said Davis.

Combined local and state sales tax rates range between 5 percent and 10 percent, depending on the state.

Shares of Amazon plunged following a report that Trump is set to go after it. Before the news came out, the tech stocks including Amazon had already been hit by growing fears of a regulatory clampdown following Facebooks data scandal. And on top of all this, Trump lashed out at Amazon on Twitter.

Amazon shares slid nearly 12 percent in just one week, losing more than $85 billion in market value.

I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election, Trump wrote in a tweet on March 29.

Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!

The White House rejected claims that the presidents criticism was part of a personal grudge against The Washington Posts critical coverage of Trump. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on March 28 that the president is always looking to create a level playing field for all businesses, and the presidents treatment of Amazon is no different.

Tax Breaks and Subsidies

The competitive advantage Amazon gained by avoiding the collection of sales taxes in many U.S. states, along with subsidies from states, helped the company grow from a website that only sold books to become the worlds largest online retailer.

According to a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, online retailers can avoid collecting sales taxes if they dont have a physical presence, like a store or distribution center, in that state.

To take advantage of this tax loophole, Amazon first located its distribution centers in states with a small population or no sales tax. This is one of the ways the company has kept its prices low compared to local retailers and brick-and-mortar stores such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

However, starting in 2011, Amazon made a significant change to its strategy. To provide rapid delivery service to its customers, it started building facilities across the country and started collecting state sales taxes, except for items sold on the marketplace.

Amazon is only one part of the problem, according to tax experts. Other e-commerce companies avoid collecting sales taxes as well.

The Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear a case that could overturn prior precedent, allowing state and local governments to collect billions in internet sales taxes.

That decision could change the landscape quite a bit, said Davis. After the ruling, which is expected by the end of June, states will have more clarity on what is and is not allowed. So theres a little bit of a wait and see approach going on.

In addition to tax benefits, extracting economic development incentives, such as subsidies, has been a crucial part of Amazons expansion strategy for the last decade.

As Amazon grew, the company pushed states to allow it to build facilities without collecting sales taxes, and it even convinced many states to subsidize its expansion in return for creating jobs.

Amazon is very actively seeking out tax incentives for warehouses, data centers, and now for its second headquarters as well, which is not entirely unusual, Davis said. Almost all big corporations are doing that, he added.

Amazon has received public subsidies worth more than $1.4 billion for its facilities built in the United States since 2000, according to Good Jobs First, a nonprofit organization that tracks public subsidies.

Delivery Boy

Trump also accuses Amazon of using the post office as its delivery boy, claiming that Amazon is underpaying the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

While we are on the subject, it is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars, he wrote in a Mar. 31 tweet.

If the P.O. increased its parcel rates, Amazons shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion. This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!

Trump was referring to a Citigroup analysis published in April last year.

According to the Citigroup report, the irrational pricing keeps the USPS unprofitable, and Amazon is benefitting from discounted rates and has greater flexibility in its system.

If the shipping costs were fairly charged, the delivery cost per parcel would be $1.46 higher for Amazon and the annual impact would be $2.6 billion in incremental costs on average, stated the Citigroup report.

The U.S. Postal Service suffered a loss of $2.7 billion in 2017.

Trump also took aim at Bezos-owned The Washington Post, calling it a lobbyist and fake.

The Failing N.Y. Times reports that the size of the companys lobbying staff has ballooned, and that  does not include the Fake Washington Post, which is used as a lobbyist and should so REGISTER, he stated in his March 31 tweet.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) joined Trump in criticizing Amazon, saying that the company has gotten too big.

What we are seeing all over this country is the decline in retail, Sanders told CNN on April 1.

Were seeing this incredibly large company getting involved in almost every area of commerce. And I think it is important to take a look at the power and influence that Amazon has.
NORWALK  A stolen vehicle pursuit that began in Fairfield and involved multiple departments ended in a crash and the arrest of four people early Tuesday morning.

Norwalk Police were notified of the pursuit on Interstate 95 southbound at 12:19 a.m. The vehicle was being chased by Westport, Fairfield and state troopers when the driver got off the highway at Exit 16 in Norwalk.

Police said the car crashed on East Avenue and its four occupants were taken into custody by Norwalk police and held for Fairfield police. Police said they were uninjured.

According to police, the white Lexus was reported stolen out of Trumbull and the occupants were accused of overnight car burglaries in Fairfield. Fairfield police said four cars had been entered and loose change taken.

The driver was a 17-year-old from Stratford. In the car were a 16-year-old from Bridgeport; Maya Jeter, 19, of Olive Street, Bridgeport; and Christopher Mulkern, 18, of Stratford, according to Fairfield police.

The driver was charged with one count each of first-degree larceny, sixth-degree larceny, third-degree burglary and five counts of conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny. He was turned over to his mother.

Mulkern, Jeter and the 16-year-old were each charged with five counts each of conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny and third-degree burglary, and Mulkern was also was charged with one count of third-degree burglary and sixth-degree larceny. The juvenile was turned over to her parents, and Mulkern and Jeter were released on a promise to appear in state Superior Court in Bridgeport on April 16.

While the four were being processed at headquarters, police said, the two juveniles and Jeter allegedly were bragging about the pursuit and how they had been breaking into cars.
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...
Regrettably, our DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students are in limbo. Despite federal promises from both sides of the aisle that protecting our Dreamers is a priority, DACA expired on March 5th, and now many immigrant youth in Connecticut who were protected from deportation under DACA live in fear.

But here in Connecticut, we can rise above the inability of D.C. to protect our vulnerable communities by supporting a bipartisan proposal that would allow our immigrant youth to access higher education  HB 5031: An Act Equalizing Access to Institutional Aid.
One of the lead anchors at Seattle's embattled KOMO-TV on Monday morning took on President Donald Trump on Twitter.

Mary Nam, who has been at Seattle's ABC affiliate since 2003 and anchors the station's 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, replied to an earlier tweet from the president in which he defended Sinclair Broadcasting Group, KOMO's owner and a longtime Trump supporter.

(Editor's note: KOMONews.com and SeattlePI have a content-sharing agreement.)

The president responded to widespread reporting about Sinclair's latest "must-run" segment, where local anchors at Sinclair stations are required to read Sinclair-written scripts warning of "irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country."

"They're certainly not happy about it," a KOMO newsroom employee told SeattlePI of the segments. "It's certainly a forced thing."

RELATED: KOMO attacks 'biased and false news' in Sinclair-written promos

KOMO management called for a newsroom meeting Monday afternoon following the media firestorm caused by the segments over the weekend. A person inside the meeting characterized it for SeattlePI: Take comfort in the good work you do, but if you don't like working for Sinclair, quit.

In an internal memo obtained by CNN, Scott Livingston, Sinclair's senior vice president of news, defended the promos, or as Livingston called them, "our well-researched journalistic initiative focused on fair and objective reporting." Livingston said the promos are intended to warn against unsubstantiated stories like the "Pizzagate" conspiracy.

"We are focused on fact-based reporting," Livingston wrote. "That's our commitment to our communities."

He then touted Sinclair station's journalistic and commercial achievements, characterized criticism of the company as hypocritical and lazy and touted Sinclair's transparency.

What Livingston didn't mention in his memo was that in addition to being forced upon local anchors and reporters, the promos ignore the fact that Sinclair was recently fined $13.3 million by the FCC for running over 1,700 commercials designed to look like news broadcasts without properly identifying them as paid content.

That also didn't stop the president from coming to Sinclair's aid Monday morning.

"So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased," Trump wrote in his tweet. "Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke."

The president was perhaps unaware that Sinclair currently owns 22 NBC affiliates.

A few hours after Trump's tweet, Nam, a South Korea native and Washington State University alum, responded.

"Actually, this isn't funny at all. None of it," she wrote. "When media giants gobble up local news stations, there are repercussions. And since you brought it up first this morning, will your admin green light the Tribune buyout?"

On May 8, 2017, Sinclair announced it would acquire Chicago-based Tribune Media in a $3.9 billion mega-deal. That would raise Sinclair's total number of U.S. stations from 193 to 233, further extending the company's lead as the largest network owner/operator in the country, and adding outlets in markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas.

In order to comply with Department of Justice antitrust and Federal Communications Commission ownership regulations, Sinclair will be required to sell off stations in roughly a dozen markets. One of those stations is KCPQ-TV, Seattle's Fox affiliate, which is expected to be sold to Fox Television.

Under Trump-appointed Chairman Ajit Pai, the FCC has emphasized deregulation, voting 3-2 along party lines to review the rules limiting the number of television stations that can be owned by a single company in December. In November, the FCC voted on party lines to ease the rules on owning multiple TV and radio stations in the same market.

Both were viewed as wins for pro-Trump Sinclair, which often runs commentary parroting the president's talking points from former Trump advisors like Boris Epshteyn and Sebastian Gorka.

RELATED: KOMO owner Sinclair asks workers to give to political fund

On March 21, KOMO broadcasted a Sinclair-produced segment in which Gorka discussed the existence of the "Deep State," a group of unelected government and military officials secretly attempting to undermine the U.S. government and Trump administration. That segment was produced by Sinclair's Kristine Frazao, who before coming to Sinclair was a reporter and anchor for the Russian-government funded news network RT, described as "the Kremlin's propaganda outlet" by the Columbia Journalism Review.

KOMO had been the last of the city's locally owned stations until Maryland-based Sinclair announced its intentions to buy the station from the now-defunct Fisher Communications in April 2013.

Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.
WILTON  A man and a woman are facing charges for their roles in a December break-in at a Wilton gas station, police said.

Casey McAdams, 36, of Derby, and Alicia Sheremeta, 30, of West Haven, were both arrested last week for their involvement in a burglary that occurred at the Gulf Gas Station, 287 Danbury Road, on Dec. 19.
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LULA y su Pueblo



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Asi son las cosas



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Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras



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Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia



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Dios los cria y ellos se juntan



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LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



OZ1



OZ2



OZ3



OZ4



Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!


MONTREALRetaliatory Chinese tariffs introduced this week on U.S. produce risk prompting American fruit growers to flood the Canadian market, causing wholesale prices to fall, says a group representing Ontario apple growers.

The Chinese government announced tariffs on Monday ranging between 15 and 25 per cent on 128 items, including fruit, nuts, pork, wine, steel pipe and aluminum scrap in retaliation for an estimated $3 billion in U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Ontario Apple Growers general manager Kelly Ciceran says the 15 per cent tariff on fruit such as apples, cherries, peaches, raspberries and cranberries will likely lead to more U.S. produce hitting Canadian stores.

Read more:

U.S. markets reeling amid Trump tweets, escalating trade war with China

In this depressed Pennsylvania steel town, Trumps tariffs meet deep skepticism  and almost no one wants to hit Canada

Trumps plan to impose tariffs on Chinese imports could help Canadian retailers

"(Our) biggest fear is more product could be sold into Canada increasing price pressure in the Canadian market," she said.

Ciceran said prices will depend on the degree of savings passed on to consumers by retailers.

Karl Littler of the Retail Council of Canada expects that a lengthy trade spat would force Canada's largest grocery chains to pass along most of the cost decreases because of the fierce competition they face.

"You'd think that most of it would wash through at some point but I wouldn't presume some immediate bonanza," the vice president of public affairs for the group said in an interview.

He said American growers seeking alternative markets for their Chinese exports would look northward because of the easier transportation logistics.

But Peter Hall, chief economist of Export Development Canada, said Canada is a relatively small market to absorb all the volume destined for China.

He said the tariffs could open the door for Canada to export more goods to China, which is experiencing growing demand for pork and other products.

Glen Lucas, general manager of the BC Fruit Growers Association, said the Chinese tariffs will be disruptive but is hopeful that American efforts over the last 20 years to develop export markets will prompt Americans to sell more to other markets.

"I think it'll just cause market confusion and a lot of hassle for the producers to figure out where the products are flowing," he said.

The Winery and Grower Alliance of Ontario CEO Aaron Dobbin said there may be an opportunity for some Canadian wine to be sold to China, but additional U.S. wine could also be shipped to Canada.

He said the United States has a $450-million trade surplus with Canada on wine and is always looking to increase its market share.

"We're always worried about it," he said of more American exports. "We've been competing with the Americans basically since the original NAFTA deal, so competing with them domestically is not something new for us."

The Canadian Pork Council said producers aren't expecting a big impact from the 25 per cent Chinese tariffs because there is a lot of pork available around the world.

Executive director John Ross said tariffs could change flows of exports but is unlikely to have an impact on prices.

"The way that the Canadian and U.S. markets are integrated we're not seeing a lot of great opportunities showing up because of tariff changes as they affect the United States."

He added that fresh Canadian pork isn't currently permitted into China and some cuts of meat favoured in that country, such as pig feet, aren't very popular with Canadian consumers.

Read more about:
Here in the land of Serving No Real Purpose we pause to consider the super-sized ambitions of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, resident on Beaver Dam Road, Hunt Valley, Md.

An assumption, based not on fact but on the principle of a fair guess, is that few north of the border had heard of the Sinclair Broadcast Group until Easter weekend when Deadspin posted a chilling composite video of local news anchors across the great US of A reading from a force-fed script decrying the biased trend of false news. The rote readings culminated in a common kicker line: This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

For those with long memories, the multi-screen Deadspin video mimics the old And they told two friends shampoo commercial, meant to emphasize the exponential positive effects of word-of-mouth advertising. The thinking: trust in a friend equals trust in a friends endorsement.

This is not that.

Read more:

Opinion | Heather Mallick: Sinclair TV held its own journalists hostage

Opinion | Rosie DiManno: U.S. broadcaster Sinclair has plenty to gain from parroting Donald Trump

This is a centrally controlled dystopian media message from a broadcasting company that has local station affiliates with all the major networks.

The company disagrees. We arent sure of the motivation for the criticism, a Sinclair spokesperson said in a bland release Monday. On Tuesday, New York magazine posted details of its pre-Christmas attempts to interview Sinclair CEO David Smith. Appreciate the interest in your wanting to do a story but we dont talk to the print media as a general principal as we find them to be so devoid of reality and serving no real purpose. Have a great holiday.

In a subsequent email to the magazine Smith wrote, The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry will fade away. Just no credibility. see ya.

So ya, heres the thing: Sinclair is about to grow much larger. The companys pending $3.9 billion (U.S.) acquisition of Tribune Media Co., announced 10 months ago, would potentially add 42 local television stations broadcast across all major over the air networks  CBS, Fox, ABC, NBC. Thats 50 million new households for Sinclair, which will see its total reach rise to 233 television stations in 108 markets.

At the time of its application Sinclair outlined a proposed transaction that would see it broadcast to 72 per cent of all households in the U.S. and would make it the owner and operator of the largest number of broadcast television stations of any individual station group. Major markets  New York, Chicago, L.A.  will be brought into the corporate fold. Sinclair expects to close the transaction in this current quarter.

Oh sure, theres been loads of talk about the enforcement of ownership limits by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has grown increasingly amenable in the Trump era to deregulation and which has yet to issue its final rule on the merger. In November, Democratic FCC commissioners bemoaned dergulatory rule changes that coincidentally favour Sinclair. Mark my words, today will go down in history as one when the FCC abdicated its responsibility to uphold the core values of localism, competition and diversity in broadcasting, complained commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

On Tuesday, Democrat commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who had earlier described the FCC changes as setting its most basic values on fire, tweeted: As I have said before, there is a troubling pattern at the @FCC. The agencys big media policy decisions all seem custom-built for the business plan of Sinclair Broadcasting. This is not right.

Complainants include competitor Newsmax Media Inc., which has argued that Sinclairs merger proposal to place certain stations in a trust for divestiture is essentially a sham owing to what Newsmax called sidecar arrangements that would allow Sinclair to manage stations post-acquisition by third parties, and would leave an option door open for future acquisition of those same stations.

Is it necessary to state the view of President Trump? It does not surprise. Trump tweet: Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.

Theres nothing funny about the Deadspin video montage. The chorus of anchor voices reciting the same pre-written script has drawn the predictable Orwellian comparisons. The feared totalitarian reach is some accomplishment for a company that started out with a single Baltimore television station, which went live in 1971. The Smith family retains corporate and ownership control of the publicly traded company, or, as House of Cards creator Beau Willimon tweeted corporate authoritarian control. Willimon called for a boycott.

If there is an upside in all of this it is that viewers are better informed about the media company behind the message. A fuller investigation into the FCCs compliant posture, and the fine print of the Tribune merger, should follow.

I sense some eye rolling. But consider this: the ongoing fracas over potential voter manipulation. Most will have forgotten, if they ever knew in the first place, that it was Sinclair Broadcasting, back in 2004, that ordered its stations to pre-empt regular programming to air Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal, backed by anti-John Kerry activists and scheduled to run during the presidential election campaign. Sinclair fired its Washington bureau chief, Jon Leiberman, for complaining that the show was biased political propaganda. Sinclair ended up airing only parts of the film.

The companys reach was much shorter then than it will be post-Tribune merger. When David Smith kvetches about the complete lack of integrity and the shameful political environment in which the media operates, its really his own house that hes referring to.

jenwells@thestar.ca

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Toronto restaurateur Janet Zuccarini is used to seeing A-list celebrities sashay through the doors of her eateries.

But she says every night at her L.A. hot spot Felix Trattoria, which has a prime spot on one of the citys trendiest streets and has earned best new restaurant accolades, is like a busy night during the Toronto International Film Festival, times 100.

People ask me whos been in there and Im like, Oh my gosh, its been every night so I dont even know where to begin, says Zuccarini, one of the judges of Top Chef Canada, which returns to Food Network Canada on Sunday.

Leo DiCaprio is a regular. Thats pretty cool.

Zuccarini admits she was awestruck when Frances McDormand celebrated her best actress Oscar win for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri with a party at Felix a couple of nights after the awards show.

A photo on Zuccarinis Instagram account shows McDormand in the restaurants kitchen clutching her Oscar.

She was like, Id like to come into your kitchen and Id like to take a picture, for myself, of me with your dishwashers and my Oscar. Very specifically she wanted it with the dishwashers and nobody else, says Zuccarini, noting the moment tied into the inclusion rider and diversity themes of McDormands buzzy acceptance speech.

Shes awesome, shes a person of the people. Shes a character and shes amazing and shes so much fun.

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The next restaurant trend? Ask Janet Zuccarini

After launching several restaurants in Toronto, including Gusto 101 and Trattoria Nervosa, Zuccarini looked to L.A. and targeted a property on Abbot Kinney Blvd., which GQ magazine called the coolest block in America in 2012. She also recruited local star chef Evan Funke to ensure there would be immediate buzz when the Italian restaurant launched.

It went on to top Esquire magazines list of the best new restaurants in America last year and is a best new restaurant finalist for the prestigious James Beard Awards.

I wasnt just going to open up a neighbourhood restaurant; it was going to be more of a destination restaurant, Zuccarini says of planning her Felix launch.

I needed a triple-A location. I needed a triple-A chef. (With Evan) pretty much everybody knows his name in L.A. There is, for me, not a better pasta maker in North America, who has studied all over Italy with the best masters on the fine art of making pasta by hand. Its actually a lost art, its an absolute dying art.

Zuccarini says Felix doesnt have a strong Toronto influence when it comes to its food, but the service does reflect her roots, including a Toronto level of service.

I would just say 21 years of experience of operating in Toronto, I brought that to L.A. I brought everything that I do in Toronto to L.A., she says.

L.A. has very good service. For me, its slightly more relaxed and thats suitable to California. But I brought in more like a New York attitude about service. So Id call it East Coast and Id call it Toronto (style). Like, were going to take care of you a little bit more urgently.

After last years all-star edition of Top Chef Canada, the sixth season of the series will again focus on emerging chefs, with competitors from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Calgary, St. Johns and Coquitlam, B.C.

I really feel like this is the next generation of our superstars, says Zuccarini. I think most of them will have names in Canada in our future.

CORRECTION  April 4, 2018: This story has been corrected from an earlier version that said Janet Zuccarini was a Top Chef Canada host.
Theres no doubt that Toronto is big on brunch. Crowds are as much a weekend morning staple as the waffles and pancakes theyre lining up for. But theres an entire category of brunch many diners are missing out on: the spicy, comforting and addictive flavours of Ethiopian-style brunch.

Ethiopians dont really use the word brunch but there is a culture of having a late breakfast at a friends house on weekends, says Eden Hagos, founder of the Toronto-based Black Foodie blog, which promotes Black-owned restaurants in the GTA and cuisines of the African diaspora that dont get much mainstream coverage. Theres a lot of eggs, flatbreads and butter. Its sturdy and filling, its the kind of carbs youre craving at brunch time.

Local restaurateurs have recently started embracing the power of the b-word, serving traditional breakfast dishes under the brunch banner. Hagos says theyre taking a cue not just from Torontos love of the midday meal, but from the younger generation in Ethiopia, where  like with all things brunch  millennials are driving a boom in its big cities. There, entrepreneurs who left to work or study abroad are returning to open brunch spots that offer Western-style dishes like avocado toast alongside Ethiopian flavours such as platter of eggs, kinche (cracked wheat similar to cooked oats) and firfir (torn pieces of crispy flatbread sauteed with butter and spices).

Hagos, who grew up in Windsor where her parents owned an Ethiopian restaurant, would like to see more Torontonians getting on board. She offered to take me on a mini-crawl of her few favourite brunch spots, promising to win over me  an anti-bruncher whod rather sleep in and make pancakes at home  as well as Torontonians who may not consider heading to an Ethiopian spot for brunch.

So, on a recent Saturday, I meet her at Nunu, a long-standing Ethiopian restaurant on Queen St. W., just east of Dufferin St., which started serving weekend brunch service  from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  last month. We arrive at noon, settling in the sun-drenched adjoining Buna cafe, where the scent of freshly roasted coffee fills the room. As we sit down, Hagos explains why this meal is going to make me love brunch again.

Theres always a kick to the food  we never eat our food bland, says Hagos. A lot of people already know about berbere (a spice blend that typically contains chilies, garlic, ginger, nigella and fenugreek). Weve also got a really flavourful sauce called awaze, which is berbere spice mixed with lemon and oil or wine that goes great with eggs. Theres also mitmita, a spice blend of hot peppers and cardamom  I add it to everything.

Nunu, owned by husband-and-wife team Chris Rampen and chef Nunu Ketgela, offers a menu inspired by the cooking Ketgela grew up with and the hipster brunch culture of West Queen West (read: Caesars with berbere salt rims, $9).

Dishes are simply presented on white plates but bursting with vibrant tomato reds, sunny yellows from eggs and turmeric, and splashes of green from the fresh herbs. Theres the breakfast staple fuul ($9), a mash of fava beans cooked with garlic, ginger, and cumin topped with sliced boiled eggs; fluffy rolls of injera, spongy sourdough flatbread made from teff; and what Ketgela calls Ethiopian scrambled eggs: creamy eggs tossed with tomato, jalapenos, turmeric and green onion ($12). My favourite is the Monks Omelet, a garlicky tender beef and tomato stew brightened with zesty cilantro and topped with a runny egg and toasted bread ($14). Its inspired by a dish the couple ate at a guest house while hiking the Simien Mountains in northern Ethiopia.

Presentation has to be nice, says Ketgela. Your eyes eat first, and I use my secret spices and I give everything my love, you need that.

At the other end of Queen St. E., just east of Jarvis, Hagos and I enter the month-old breakfast and lunch spot Enat Buna, which serves a vegan and vegetarian-friendly menu in a cosy lime-green cafe.

(Ethiopian) brunch and breakfast isnt as well-known here (in Toronto), says owner Enat Gulelat, who lived in the eastern Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa before coming to Toronto 18 years ago. Still, the restaurant (open 8 a.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. on Saturday and closed Sunday) is drawing in curious passersby wanting to know more about Ethiopian cooking. We use a lot of eggs, more spices and the dishes are more savoury than sweet.

As a first-timer, Gulelat recommends a combo platter ($12) to get a taste of everything. Theres kinche; firfir, the winning flavour combo of torn injera pieces and warm chili seasoning; and enqulal firfir, velvety eggs scrambled with jalapenos, onions and tomatoes. She also brings out an off-menu item of plain kita (a spiced flatbread) topped with sauteed kale and cottage cheese ($6.85) as a lighter option.

Because many Ethiopians who are Orthodox Christians avoid meat and dairy as part of their fasts throughout the year, especially in the weeks leading up to Easter, Gulelat says many dishes are vegan or vegetarian.

For the last stop, Hagos and I head to Abyssinia near Danforth and Jones Aves., an area known unofficially as Little Ethiopia for its concentration of Ethiopian eateries. The fine-dining restaurant (it opens at 11 a.m. Monday to Saturday and noon on Sunday) draws repeat visitors with late breakfast staples in portions fit to be shared.

The food here is more traditional, says owner Senedu Woldyas. I learned how to cook from my mom, who worked in a restaurant in the capital (Addis Ababa). I havent changed any of the recipes and if people come here two to three times a week you know youre doing something right.

We start with dabo ($8), fluffy Ethiopian bread with a consistency similar to corn bread made from a sourdough base flavoured with tikur azmud (Ethiopian black cumin seeds) and baked in banana leaves. Its torn into pieces and dipped in honey, yogurt, or awaze. As I dip the bread into the sauces, Woldyas brings us cups of Ethiopian spiced tea, a warm blend of cinnamon, coriander and cloves. She tells Hagos and me to try dipping the bread in the tea; its how many Ethiopians eat the bread at home.

Just like most Western brunch spots have eggs benny, kita is a staple on many Ethiopian brunch menus. But Woldyas version ($15 for a full portion) is astounding. Crispy bite-sized pieces of the traditional flatbread are seasoned with niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter) and berbere then served with honey for dipping. It comes out hot and the combination of sweet, salty and spicy makes them outrageously addictive. As we snack away, she also brings out cornis ($18), which is a mound of firfir, ground spicy beef, kinche, wilted collard greens, and iab (Ethiopian cottage cheese).

I think theres not enough exposure of these dishes, says Woldyas. We have so many things to offer outside of dinner.

With takeout boxes full of leftover kita and firfir, Hagos succeeded in waking me up to these Ethiopian spice-laden dishes. She hopes more Torontonians will be won over too.

A lot of these places have breakfast menus but they dont market it much, she says. I hope more people come try these dishes. These are comfort foods and I hope more restaurants capitalize on this. Forget the waffles and pancakes.

Correction - April 4, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that said the Enat Buna is located on Queen St. W., just east of Jarvis.
OTTAWAGeorgette LeBlanc looks around the parliamentary library in the Centre Block and admits she was last in the building when she was in high school.

The Quebec-born, Nova Scotia-raised poet will be spending a lot more time in this library over the next two years during her term as parliamentary poet laureate, adding to the writing surrounding her on this sunny morning.

The position is not exactly what LeBlanc envisioned herself doing when last she walked through the place. At the time, she was interested in politics and even applied  unsuccessfully  to become a parliamentary page.

Now, she wants to make sure Canadians learn more about the little-heralded position that Parliament created 17 years ago.

Writing has always been part of her life.

LeBlanc says she wrote in a journal as a young girl before expanding to free verse growing up in Baie Sainte-Marie, N.S. She says poetry is a way for her to approach her life, but also, admittedly, stressful and demanding.

Her process starts with an idea. She writes, rewrites and takes the time to reflect on each word: How does the poem flow? How do the ideas move on the page?

At a certain point in the writing process, it becomes a matter of sound, particularly when she writes in French steeped in her Acadian roots. Her 2013 book, Prudent, tells the story of the Acadian expulsion and was a finalist for the 2014 Governor Generals Literary Awards.

She put the process to use for her first poem as parliamentary poet laureate to mark International Womens Day. LeBlanc says she thought back to her mother and how she spoke of the Persons Case, which recognized women as persons under the law and dictated they could no longer be denied rights.

LeBlanc will be expected to write more poems during her two-year tenure, a term that began in January and carries with it a $20,000 stipend. The eighth person to hold the post since it was created in 2001, LeBlanc will also be expected to sponsor poetry readings and advise the Library of Parliament on its cultural collection.

Less clear is if shell also do more rapping, having been featured on Nova Scotian rap band Radio Radios song Galope, released in 2012.

There is a little bit of ego in her writing, she jokes, because if she wasnt personally interested in what she wrote, it would just be paperwork.

Im trying to show you something or make you feel something. Im trying to draw you into my world, so its important for me to elicit some kind of response in the reader, positive or negative, she says.

Poetry is very me-centred. Its my experience and thats not to say its the best one, but its coming from my point of view. Its my way of looking at things, so you can take it or leave it, you dont have to enjoy it, but it is my interpretation.

She is also likely to spend more time in the library itself  a place LeBlanc says she feels is even more important in a digital culture. This is the spot to slow down and think, she says.

Slow down and taking the time and really paying attention to small things or moments, events, feelings, emotions, human experience, she says.

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HALIFAXA man has pleaded not guilty to murdering a popular yoga instructor who was found dead in her Halifax home more than two years ago.

Nicholas Butcher, a graduate of Dalhousie Universitys law school, is charged with the second-degree murder of 32-year-old Montreal native Kristin Johnston.

His trial started Tuesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, where dozens of people were called for jury selection.

Read more:

Halifax man accused of killing well-known yoga instructor Kirstin Johnston to face jury trial

Halifax man charged with murder in yoga instructors death

Butcher, wearing a navy suit and glasses, stood before Justice Joshua Arnold and formally pleaded not guilty to the charge.

He sat quietly and expressionless next to his lawyers Peter Planetta and Jonathan Hughes during jury selection.

By the lunch break, four jurors  three women and one man  had been selected.

Arnold says the trial will take about 20 court days.

Crown lawyers Carla Ball and Tanya Carter are prosecuting the case.

Johnston opened a Bikram yoga studio in downtown Halifax, gaining a reputation as a kind and determined businesswoman with what friends described as a magnetic personality.
OTTAWAThe New Democratic Party isnt ruling out the possibility that federal leader Jagmeet Singh will run for a seat in the Montreal neighbourhood of Outremont, a riding that served as an important toehold for the partys 2011 Orange Wave in Quebec.

Singhs press secretary James Smith played down a report Tuesday in the Journal de Montreal that said Singh is open to the idea of running there when Tom Mulcair, the former NDP leader who won the riding in 2007, vacates the seat at the end of the current parliamentary session. But Smith did not deny the possibility that Singh could vie for the seat.

Its not a no. But the byelection hasnt even been called, he said.

Smith said Singh is willing to consider advice on whether he should run in other ridings, too  including the rural Quebec riding of ChicoutimiLe Fjord, where a byelection will be held this spring.

What the leader has always said is that hes open to considering any place, and hes open to counsel on that, Smith said.

I know that hes not going to close the door.

The NDP leader does not hold a seat in the House of Commons, and has been under pressure to spend more time in Ottawa amidst grumblings from some members of his caucus in recent weeks. MPs held an unscheduled meeting with Singh last month to discuss how he handled a slate of media reports about his attendance at events where people advocated for an independent Sikh state in India. The following week, after public criticism from NDP ranks, Singh flip-flopped on his decision to punish a veteran MP for voting against the party on a Conservative motion about the governments decision to attach an attestation to respect LGBTQ and reproductive rights to applications for summer jobs funding.

Then, on Sunday, Mulcair said during an appearance on CTVs Question Period that Singh should get a seat. Parliament is very important as an institution and its important for a political leader to get in there as soon as possible so that Canadians can get to know him, Mulcair said.

Singh succeeded Mulcair as NDP leader in October 2017, when he made the jump from provincial politics in Ontario and won the race with a majority on the first ballot. In the months since, he was repeatedly said that hes comfortable with his decision not to rush to win a seat in the House of Commons, and has spent much of his time touring the country. Singh has previously said he has no concrete plans to seek a seat before the 2019 general election, but would run in a byelection in a riding that makes sense.

Karl Belanger, a long-time NDP insider who was Mulcairs principal secretary and Jack Laytons press secretary, said Singhs team should use caution when deliberating about whether to run in an Outremont byelection. Given that the riding was a Liberal stronghold for decades before Mulcairs breakthrough in 2007, Belanger said theres no guarantee that his supporters would transfer their votes to the new NDP leader.

If there is one thing the NDP leader cant afford to do right now, it would be to lose in a byelection, Belanger said.

Montreal-based pollster Jean-Marc Leger said chatter about Singh running in Outremont is likely in response to Mulcairs statement Sunday that the leader needs to win a seat. But he said his firms recent polling puts the NDP and its leader far behind the Liberals in Quebec, and that there would be no safe seats for the party in the province if an election were held today. He has to be elected somewhere, but Im pretty sure Quebec will not be his first choice, Leger said.

But Pierre Anctil, a history professor at the University of Ottawa who actually lives in Outremont and specializes in Canadian identity and Quebec culture, said its far from impossible that Singh could win the riding  even as an anglophone from Ontario.

I would say, in all of Quebec, his best chances are in a riding that would resemble this, Anctil said. I think its smart to keep [his options] open.

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Keeping the Pickering nuclear plant open and operating until 2024 makes economic sense, says a new report sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.

The study, released Tuesday by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, says the move would add a total $12.3 billion to Ontarios GDP and support 7,600 jobs a year at both the station as well as with suppliers.

The study also touts the lower cost of nuclear power, and that it fits in with the provinces plans to curb carbon emissions.

The nuclear industry contributes to the Ontario economy by creating jobs, supporting a large-scale supply chain, and stabilizes the production of power contribution to our energy security, it says.

Have your say

The Pickering site  which supplies power for 1.5 million homes every day  is responsible for 14 per cent of electricity in the province.

Based on the results of this study, Pickerings continued operation to 2024 would be a benefit to Ontarios economy, its climate change goals and the stability of the energy system, says the report, which also notes the considerable supply chain jobs  including those at engineering firms and in tooling systems  as well as for a medical isotope thats used to sterilize hospital gowns and equipment.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has applied to the federal nuclear safety commission to extend operations at Pickering. The site has six reactors, two of which are expected to be shut down in 2022, and the remaining four remain in use until 2024. The first four Pickering reactors began operating in 1971, according to OPG.

The report did not assess safety issues at the ageing plant  though it does note the site has been positively assessed twice over  and assumes no service disruptions at the station.

Nuclear power is the backbone of Ontarios electricity system, providing reliable electricity to 1.5 million homes a day, said Rocco Rossi, president of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

He told the Star the economic impact of Pickering is remarkable and said that especially as two other nuclear sites  Darlington and Bruce  undergo refurbishment, its critical to keep this 14 per cent.

Read more:

Report paints grim picture of Fukushima-scale nuclear accident in Pickering

OPG must cut $500M over next 5 years from nuclear operations budget, energy regular orders

Indigenous demonstrators, environmentalists urge governments to stop using nuclear power

Paul Smetanin, head of Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, said their assessment was independent, and called Pickering a key contributor to the Ontario economy through job retainment and creation from associated economic activity while also systemically ensuring the reasonableness of electricity costs, which can impact housing affordability in the region.

He said the jobs it creates  directly and indirectly  tend to pay higher wages, and this has a ripple effect not just in Pickering but across the entire province ... go east to west across the province, and the economic fingerprint of the plant is felt.

Amid criticisms about the oversupply of electricity in Ontario, he said when you start to look out to 2024, its the sort of commodity resource that you dont want to be undersupplied.

Last month, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance released a report detailing how a Fukushima-type meltdown in Pickering could affect the area, on the anniversary of the nuclear disaster in Japan.

The Stars Tess Kalinowski reported that the non-profit group wants Ontario to shut down the oldest nuclear generating station in the province, and instead use water-generated electricity from Hydro Quebec.

The Pickering plant has been costly to maintain  with at least a $200 million price tag in the past eight years.
VICTORIAA Nova Scotia man banned from Victorias stately Fairmont Empress hotel is welcome back after apologizing for an incident more than 17 years ago in which seagulls hungry for pepperoni trashed his room in a rock star frenzy.

Nick Burchill of Dartmouth, N.S., says in a letter to the hotel he was young and immature in 2001 and unaware of the aggressive nature of West Coast seagulls, especially when tempted with a suitcase full of fresh pepperoni near an open window.

I remember walking down the long hall and opening the door to my room to find an entire flock of seagulls in my room, stated Burchills letter. I didnt have time to count, but there must have been 40 of them and they had been in my room, eating pepperoni for a long time.

He said he startled the gorging birds, which is when things really got out of control.

They immediately started flying around and crashing into things as they desperately tried to leave the room through the small opening by which they had entered, said Burchill. The result was a tornado of seagull excrement, feathers, pepperoni chunks and fairly large birds whipping around the room.

Tracey Drake, the hotels public relations director, said Monday there were thoughts this was an April Fools Day prank, but a check of the records and Burchills appearance at the front desk last weekend confirmed the seagull story and the former guests permanent ban.

It is absolutely a true story, she said.

Burchill was in Victoria for a conference and was booked to stay at the Empress back in 2001, said Drake. After the room fiasco, he was moved to another room for the rest of his stay.

The hotel followed up with his employer afterwards, saying hes not welcome back at the hotel due to the damage in the room, Drake said. Hes correct. The lamps were broken. The room was trashed. Its a really funny story to tell 17 years later, but I was sitting here thinking about the housekeeper and what her first reaction must have been when she opened that door.

Burchills letter stated he still remembers the dismayed look on the housekeepers face when she walked into his room.

I have matured and I admit responsibility for my actions, the letter stated. I come to you, hat in hand, to apologize for the damage I had indirectly come to cause and to ask you reconsider my lifetime ban from the property.

Burchill could not be immediately reached for comment.

The letter he sent to the Empress and posted on Facebook explained how his plan to bring spicy Nova Scotia pepperoni to Victoria to share with friends stationed at the West Coast naval base went astray when he decided to cool the meat near the window because his room didnt have a fridge.

Drake said the damage to the room was beyond description, but all is forgiven and Burchill is back on the guest list.

The seagulls and pepperoni flap isnt the only wild animal story to occur at the Empress.

Almost two years ago, thieves stole an iconic Bengal tiger skin that was mounted on the wall of the hotels Bengal Lounge. The theft remains unsolved.

In 1992, a cougar was spotted on the hotel grounds, where it was later tranquilized in its underground parking lot.

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OTTAWACanada should lead an international effort to investigate and collect the clear evidence of crimes against humanity that have been committed against Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar, says the Liberal governments special envoy to the region, Bob Rae.

In a report released Tuesday, Rae calls on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to more than triple the amount of money spent on aid to the region, to $150 million a year over the next four years; to accept thousands of largely Muslim minority refugees who have fled Myanmar without specifying a particular number; and to maintain targeted economic sanctions against individuals responsible for the abuses of human rights and the crimes against humanity in Myanmar.

Wider, more general sanctions against the country havent worked in the past, he said.

Above all, he urged Canada to take a clear stand and press for justice and accountability for the tragedy unfolding in the region.

Although Myanmar hasnt signed onto the treaty granting jurisdiction to the International Criminal Court, there are ways for the international community, via the court or the UN, to investigate events over the last several years, and prosecute those responsible, Rae said.

What we do, or dont do, in response to the Rohingya crisis will be a litmus test for Canadas foreign policy, said Rae, a former Liberal leader, lawyer and foreign affairs expert.

At a news conference to discuss his report, Rae said the situation has all the hallmarks of a possible genocide and the world doesnt need to dwell on legal definitions before acting to prevent it from happening.

He said it is clear that a strong case exists for the presumption that a number of crimes against humanity have been committed in Myanmar, including abuses and forced deportations by the Myanmar military, militia and other groups and individuals, all fuelled by deliberate campaigns of hate and contempt distributed on social media.

The lesson of history is that genocide is not an event like a bolt of lightning; it is a process, one that starts with hate speech and the politics of exclusion, then moves to discrimination, then policies of removal, and then finally to a sustained drive to physical extermination, he wrote.

Raes report canvases the historical roots of the ethnic violence between the largely Buddhist majority and Muslim minority peoples in the region and the extent of todays humanitarian crisis.

But Rae warned the world not to place sole blame on Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won elections in 2015, who now serves as the countrys minister of foreign affairs.

Rae met with her on two occasions, including once with Trudeau on the sidelines of a recent international summit, and said he believes she is aware of the current plight of the Rohingya. Rae said he wishes she had, and would, speak out against what is happening.

But there are effectively two governments in Myanmar, one military and one civilian, with the military having control over internal affairs, and Suu Kyi does not control the military, he said.

Shes not even the head of her party. Shes the best known person from her country in the world, said Rae. But she is not really someone whos running the show. She is not in charge. She has no control over the military in her country. She was in prison and she was under house arrest for almost 20 years by the military.

Rae refused to comment on whether Canada should yank honorary citizenship from Suu Kyi, saying the previous Conservative government of Stephen Harper bestowed the honour in 2014 and he was unaware on what basis the gesture was decided. He said it remains a political decision of the government of the day.

Nevertheless, Rae made it clear he does not exclude Suu Kyi from any responsibility she may bear for the tragedy, saying any military or civilian authorities found to have violated international law should be called to account. He said Canada and others must think carefully about how decisions were made there and who is responsible, said Rae. Its complicated.

Rae flagged the urgency of dealing with the crisis.

He said international and Canadian efforts to help refugees need to be better funded and coordinated to resolve a crisis that threatens the lives of tens of thousands in the upcoming monsoon season.

Rae briefed Trudeau and a cabinet committee on his report last week, but was not told how the government would respond.

Shortly after its release, Trudeau issued a written response, saying Canada is determined to respond to the crisis. In the coming weeks, we will assess the recommendations in this report and outline further measures we intend to take.

Rae did not detail how many more refugees he hoped Canada would accept, but emphasized any decision would not be a solution to the crisis, merely part of a much needed broader approach.

At the same time, Canada should work with the government of Myanmar, where the military controls borders, security and defence, to create safe conditions for the return of refugees, saying any future return must be conditional on proof that their safety and rights will be protected. That is far from guaranteed at the moment, as hundreds of thousands more ethnic Rohingya face deplorable conditions in displaced persons camps still inside Myanmar, and public opinion is clearly opposed to enhancing rights and protections for them.

Key to any resolution must be an independent mechanism to investigate, said Rae. But he acknowledged working with the Myanmar government, while pressing for those responsible for the crisis to be held responsible, would be a tough balance to strike.

I think you have to do both, said Rae, who added: we wouldnt be doing this alone.

He named China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia as countries affected by the crisis who all have an interest in establishing more stable conditions in Myanmar, and in Rakhine state, in particular.

Rae was named in October 2017 to advise the Trudeau government on an appropriate response to the crisis that unfolded late last summer. The latest spasm of violence, in a historically tense border region of Bangladesh and Myanmar, sent more than half a million people pouring into Bangladesh to escape village burnings, rapes and targeted killings. The sudden surge ramped up the refugee population in camps along the border to nearly a million, shocking the global community.
A Toronto high school reported one of its students to police in 2014 with a list of allegations  that the Grade 10 student had threatened, assaulted and battered other students with scissors, an umbrella, or a slingshot.

Days later, Toronto police arrested the student on a litany of charges, from death threats to assaults. The boy and his parents say the charges were stayed just a few months later.

Now, theyre tangled in a lawsuit against the school and the board over what happened. And while a national debate rages on across the border about school safety, the lawsuit provides a rare glimpse into how Torontos public education system responds to perceived warning signs of violence before involving police.

Documents filed in the case paint a picture of a student who struggled and wasnt able to get the help he needed.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The boy and his parents, in their claim, say the boy had a history of being bullied; they say the school kept his parents in the dark at points, and that administrators took no meaningful steps to curtail the bullying he experienced over two academic years.

The school board and its administrators point to the boy as the problem  saying, in their defence statement, that his claims about being bullied are untrue, and listing allegations that he harassed, assaulted and threatened his peers.

The boy and his parents declined through their lawyer to comment on the case, and the school board declined to comment based on ongoing litigation.

In the fall of the boys Grade 9 year, his mother called the school, their statement of defence says. She told them her son had been bullied at a different school in Grade 8. The school and board deny that the previous bullying ever happened, according to their statement of defence.

In May 2013, late in his Grade 9 year, the school says the boy was accused of harassing three female students. The boy had been throwing items at them, their statement of defence says, and spraying them with a water gun.

Hed also shown them a drawing hed made, they allege, in which the boy held a gun or bazooka and fired bullets at each of the three young women  who he identified by both name and likeness.

The boy and his parents wrote in their claim that the three girls had been bullying him. They denied in their response to the defence statement that the drawing was of their son shooting the girls  saying it was just two pages taped together, which hed drawn in a previous year, depicting a military tank and three stick figures, without descriptions. They also say they were given no clear reason for why the school searched his locker in the first place.

It was only after school administrators confronted the boy about his inappropriate conduct, they wrote in their defence statement, that he said the girls had harassed him. The school found no credible evidence of that, they add in their statement. They say they launched their own investigation into the allegations against the boy, which involved searching his locker, and claim they found the drawing inside, along with a balaclava, black gloves, and a piece of rope.

School administrators met with his parents, along with the co-ordinator of the boards safe schools department. After that meeting, the boys locker was moved where itd be visible to an internal security camera.

Both sides agree that the request came from his family, but disagree as to why. This was not done, as it is alleged, because (the boy) was being bullied, the education officials wrote in their defence statement.

The boy and his parents claim says he continued to be bullied into the next year  at first by social exclusion and belittling, and later by a group of approximately six other male students who allegedly called him names, made homophobic comments to him, threatened him, chased him, assaulted him and threw things at him.

The school and board say the boy and his parents made no complaints about their son being bullied between May 2013 and Feb. 2014.

Then, in February 2014, everything boiled over. Administrators say in their defence statement that the boy had brought a slingshot to school, and had used it to threaten and intimidate other students. At this point, administrators say they learned of incidents wherein the boy had used scissors or an umbrella to threaten, assault, and batter other kids.

They also learned that hed verbally threatened students and vocalized references to others (sic) incidents involving mass shootings at schools, the statement of defence says.

The school then contacted the police. They sent the boy home on a suspension. Days later, he was arrested.

He was charged with seven counts of assault with a weapon, one count of assault, three counts of threatening death, one count of threatening bodily harm and one count of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

The board says their policies and the Education Act meant they had to report the incidents described that day to their School Watch Team  which is associated with Toronto polices 14 Division. Peter De Quintal, a community school liaison officer with 12 Division who wasnt involved in this case, explained to the Star that typically, its up to individuals schools to decide when theyll contact police about a student.

Its up to their own decision making, he said. If theres any criminality, in general they should be telling us immediately. But in some schools, they use restorative justice circles or other means before getting us involved.

The Toronto public school boards current protocols around police say that police have to be notified in cases of death, physical assault causing bodily harm requiring medical attention, sexual assault, robbery, criminal harassment, relationship-based violence, possessing a weapon or using one to cause or threaten bodily harm. Trafficking weapons, trafficking or possessing illegal drugs, hate or bias-motivated occurrences, gang-related occurrences and extortion are also on the mandatory police notification list.

When the school contacted police, the boys parents believe that his school provided false information that their son was on medication and suffered from mental illness. They allege that the school acted maliciously and for ulterior motives, including sanctions for a perceived disability or reprisal for his reports of being bullied.

The charges against their son were stayed two and a half months later, they allege, because the board had not provided surveillance video. The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General was not able to confirm the status of the charges against the boy, as information about outcomes in (Youth Criminal Justice Act) matters is not publicly accessible.

After his arrest, the boy completed his Grade 10 year from home, and was later enrolled in a private school. After the experience, he was left with what his parents described in the lawsuit as anguish, humiliation, and a loss of self esteem.

His trust in the school, they write, was irrevocably shattered.

Furthermore, they allege, the school and board failed to take adequate steps ... to ensure the safety and well-being of (the boy) were protected, that any threats were addressed promptly and that all reasonable steps were taken to prevent recurring risks to (the boy)s well-being.

The lawsuit is ongoing.
When people walked into Aitous Rasoulis Richmond Hill hair salon asking for falafels, he was confused.

There was a simple, if odd, reason: as it turns out, his hungry visitors had been fooled by Google Maps.

House of Aitous, the name of Rasoulis salon, was listed on the app as House of Falafel.

Were a hair salon, not a restaurant, said Rasouli, who opened his salon in 2016.

Someones doing this to hack us and take business from the location.

He realized that his business was replaced by a fake one on the app when he got a visit from Sydney Eatz and Richard Trus, who are part of Torontos Local Guides community, a group that works to improve Google Maps by adding information and photos to the platform, and writing reviews.

Eatz and Trus have listed more than 10,000 GTA businesses on Google Maps.

When they came in and told me about the situation, I thought they were lying; I thought they were scammers themselves, Rasouli said.

And then I realized, Wow! This is true. 

The visit of Trus and Eatz to House of Aitous is part of the pairs new mission: protecting local businesses from sabotage on Google Maps.

Weve become the Internet Police, Eatz said.

The problem is anyone can suggest edits to a location on Google Maps and leave reviews, and change business hours and phone numbers.

Many users act in good faith.

Some do not.

Were heavily invested in empowering users to contribute their local knowledge to Google products and services, said Alexandra Klein, a Google spokesperson. Allowing users to suggest edits provides comprehensive and up-to-date info, but we recognize there may be occasional inaccuracies or bad edits suggested by users. When this happens, we do our best to address the issue as quickly as possible.

Klein said Google uses automated systems to detect fraud, and suggest that business owners should claim their business on Google Maps to oversee and control their information.

When users claim a business on Google, they are alerted to changes to information on the listing.

Trus said the platform makes a huge difference for businesses, and can affect the bottom line. He says hes seen businesses lose 20 per cent of their business after being sabotaged.

Four out of five searches on Google Maps leads to a purchase or visit, Trus said, referring to a study by Neustars, a marketing firm.

Eatz and Trus said that there are several ways to weaponize Google Maps to harm businesses.

A user can claim a business he or she does not own on Google Maps, and suggest changes to its information to sabotage it. He or she can input his or her own phone number, change the business hours, and even change the name of the business.

Suddenly, you can be anyone, Trus said.

Other people who claim this same business will be alerted to any changes to the information.

Trus said people often pretend to be their competitors to divert customers to themselves.

Users can also spam a business with five-star reviews, which the Google algorithm could catch, then unlist the business, for ostensibly trying to promote itself dishonestly.

Some nefarious users go as far as setting up their own fake businesses on Google Maps. Eatz and Trus found several nonexistent offices for MPs on the platform.

There are no laws against this practice, and user anonymity makes it difficult to find out who the saboteurs are.

Rasoulis business isnt the only one that the Internet Police has put back on the map. A Subway location at the Eaton Centre and a Master Mechanic have also benefitted.

Josie Candito, the owner of a Master Mechanic in High Park, was notified by Eatz and Trus that someone was uploading pictures of a different auto shops storefront onto her Google listing.

My Internet Police helped me get rid of the picture, she said. If you dont claim your business, other people can claim it for you and put misleading stuff on there.

She also found reviews for other Master Mechanic franchises under her name on Google, an issue she is still trying to resolve.

Candito is advising other business owners to take control of their virtual presence.

Other business owners are lost, she said. Ive been able to deal with some of the problems, but I know other business owners and franchisees are frustrated because they dont know what to do.

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An announcement to pump $105 million a year into the horse-racing industry is a shot in the arm for the sector, but Ajax says its all part of a plan to close slots facilities.

The province recently announced the funding, which will run for 19 years, saying the money would support the industry long-term.

Jeff Leal, the minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, said, This new, collaborative agreement will provide owners, breeders and racetrack operators with the support they need to ensure stability and success for the long term.

The funding allows the horse racing industry to make long-term decisions about horse breeding, racing programs, capital investments and hiring.

Bob Broadstock, the president of the Ajax-based Quarter Racing Owners of Ontario Inc., said in a statement, We are very happy with the announcement of long-term funding for the horse racing sector. This commitment will provide the security that the quarter horse industry and the people that work in it need to continue our work and plan for the long-term sustainability of the sector.

The only quarter-horse racing facility in Ontario is at Ajax Downs, next to Casino Ajax. For years, the slots operation at the casino has helped fund the quarter-horse racing industry.

However, Leal recently announced the slots operation in Ajax would close and that has imperilled the quarter-horse racing industry.

In a statement, Ajax said, Todays horse racing funding announcement by Minister Sousa and Minister Leal is part of the Wynne governments larger strategy to close slots facilities such as the Ajax Casino.

Minister Leals closure leak followed by MPP (Joe) Dicksons promise letter clearly indicates the litany of bad faith and strategic dealings of the government to close the Ajax facility  one of the most successful casinos in North America.

The towns statement noted Casino Ajax Casino supports Ajax Downs, helps provide 1,700 agricultural jobs and boosts the economy by $56 million annually in Durham Region and beyond.

While todays funding is welcomed and will support the industry as whole, the town is committed to the long-term operational success of Ajax Downs, and has released a revenue sharing model in order to keep quarter horse racing in Durham, the statement added.

Ajax council voted on a revenue sharing model, with the Town proposing to keep 50 per cent of revenues and giving 20 per cent to Durham Region, 15 per cent to Pickering, 10 per cent to Whitby and five per cent to the quarter horse industry.

Based on current annual revenue of about $7.7 million, Ajax would keep $3.85 million, while the region would get $1.54 million, Pickering $1.155 million, Whitby $770,000 and the quarter horse industry $385,000.

If the Ajax site is expanded to have more slots and gaming tables, revenue could reach $12 million. In that case, Ajax would keep $6 million, the region would get $2.4 million, Pickering $1.8 million, Whitby $1.2 million and the quarter horse industry $600,000.

Ajax also wants a casino decision delayed until after the June 7 provincial election.

This co-location of the track and casino has been a win-win. Together, the Ajax site is primed for expansion and rivals the proposed Durham Live Development, the statement stated. There are four factors that make it a superior site. Casino (jobs), Ajax Downs (jobs), major development opportunities (jobs) plus an existing, functional transportation network that does not subject commuters to gridlock. For these factors, we continue to call for a fair and transparent third-party review of the governments decision to close the Ajax Casino.

Broadstock praised Dickson for his efforts in helping the quarter horse industry.

Joe has always supported quarter horse racing, dating back to his time on town council. Over the last few months, Joe has been instrumental to the governments awareness of the specific needs of the quarter horse racing industry. Working together we have had countless meetings making sure that the industry receives the required support, Broadstock said.

Dickson said, Today, the Ontario government showed their commitment to horse racing in Ontario with a historic long-term investment of $105 million a year. Quarter horse racing owners and families can make more confident decisions about their own investments and how to grow their industry.

Ajax is concerned closing Casino Ajax means the gaming facility would be moving to a site in Pickering called Durham Live.

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Pride Toronto is requesting for the Toronto Police force to withdraw its application to march in this years Pride Parade, saying the fractured relationship between police and the queer community cannot be mended through a parade.

In a Twitter statement signed by leaders of five community groups, including Pride Toronto executive director Olivia Nuamah, and addressed to LGBTQ2S communities and our broader community of Toronto, the organization said, it is an incredibly complex and difficult time.

The statement detailed how the community has been shaken by the murders of six men  Majeed Kayhan, 59; Soroush Mahmudi, 50; Dean Lisowick, 47; Selim Esen, 44; Andrew Kinsman, 49; Skandaraj Navaratnam, 40; and a sixth unknown man  whose remains were found in planters in various backyards in Toronto, the work of an alleged serial killer targeting the queer community. The statement also referenced Alloura Wells, 27, and Tess Richey, 22, whose suspicious deaths also rocked the Gay Village.

The individual stories and lived experiences of each of these people were unique, the statement reads. But what they did share was that the investigations into their disappearances were insufficient, community knowledge and expertise was not accessed and despite the fact that many of us felt and voiced our concerns, we were dismissed.

Only last week, the Star obtained documents through a freedom of information request that revealed Pride Toronto was at one point open to the idea of allowing officers in uniform to march in the parade. A briefing note prepared for Mayor John Tory on Aug. 9 by his former aide Bryan Frois said, Pride and TPS have agreed that there will be a police presence  in uniform  in the 2018 parade.

Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray confirmed to the Star last week that police had submitted a formal application to participate, and that it was still pending a final decision. Police were unable to comment Monday night on this new development.

In December, police would tell media that they had no evidence of a serial killer being active in the Gay Village. After that, the talks shifted between Pride and police in January when Pride Toronto put forth a suggestion that officers would march out of uniform, with only the police chief himself in uniform.

But all of this discussion was before 66-year-old landscaper Bruce McArthur was arrested on Jan. 18 and charged with six counts of first-degree murder. It was before the community was shocked to hear that McArthur had been reported for trying to strangle an intimate partner in 2016, one year before the disappearances of Kinsman and Esen, and was let go by police after questioning.

And it was before police chief Mark Saunders was quoted in a Globe and Mail interview as suggesting that the alleged killer might have been arrested sooner if civilians had come forward to police with vital information.

This has severely shaken our communitys already often tenuous trust in the citys law enforcement, Pride Torontos statement continues. We feel more vulnerable than ever.

Read more:

Toronto police, Pride parade discussions reveal rocky relationship

Toronto police board approves investigation into how cops handle missing-persons cases

Opinion | Edward Keenan: What is Chief Saunders thinking, adding insult to gay communitys injury?

Earlier in March, the Toronto police board voted unanimously to commission an external investigation into the way missing persons probes are handled by the force, spurred on by the worsening trust between the queer community and police.

The Pride leaders say that although they recognize steps have been taken to work in collaboration  this will not be accomplished in one day. Marching wont contribute towards solving these issues; they are beyond the reach of symbolic gestures.

We request that the Police withdraw their application to march in the 2018 Pride Parade. We believe that our resources are better invested in shared efforts that focus on deeper dialogue, collaborative action, and sustained institutional change. Only a significant commitment and meaningful action can start the critical work of making our communities safer.

Strangely absent from the statement is any mention of Black Lives Matter Toronto: it was their shutdown of the 2016 Pride Parade that prompted Pride executives to agree to ban uniformed officers for the 2017 festivities. Several BLMTO leaders have retweeted Pride Torontos statement.

The leaders who signed the statement include Nuamah; Maura Lawless, executive director of The 519; Haran Vijayanathan, executive director of the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention; Shannon Ryan, executive director of the Black Coalition for Aids Prevention; Murray Jose-Boerbridge, executive director of the Toronto People with Aids Foundation; and Hazelle Palmer, executive director of the Sherbourne Health Centre.

With files from Samantha Beattie
Patrick Fleming remembers pulling into the driveway of his Richmond Hill home, expecting to feel relief that the first-degree murder trial of Jennifer Pan was over.

But relief was the last thing he felt.

This experience made me feel alone, he said. I felt isolated although I was surrounded by my loved ones. I pulled away from my wife, my family, and my friends during and after this trial.

Fleming was the jury foreman during the 10-month trial that stretched from February to December 2014.

The trial involved Jennifer Pan, a Markham woman accused in the first-degree murder of her mother and attempted murder of her father.

I lived with daily thoughts of this crime, Fleming said. Graphic coroner photos of bullet holes through flesh, the bloody crime scenes and the chilling testimonies.

The court decided some blood found at the scene was inadmissible because it was found after police grabbed a body bag and dragged it downstairs, Fleming said.

He had trouble getting this image out of his head.

Fleming, a 40-year-resident of Richmond Hill, also lives with the memory of one particularly intense day in Newmarket court.

I can still hear myself reading the guilty verdict to all of the accused, Fleming said. I can still hear the screams of the family and friends of the accused as I read their verdicts in a packed courtroom.

During the trial, Fleming was sequestered for four days.

During that time, his father-in-law was admitted to hospital and Fleming felt he couldnt support his wife when she needed him.

His experience motivated him to embark on a path of advocacy, joining the likes of ex-jurors like Mark Farrant to ensure that other Canadians do not endure the same suffering they did.

Farrant was the jury foreman in the first-degree murder trial of Farshad Badakhshan, 31.

In April 2014, Badakhshan was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend.

Farrant is suing the Ontario and federal governments for $100,000 in compensation, saying he suffered from ongoing mental health problems as a result of this trial.

Fleming helped organize the 12 angry letters campaign while Farrant spearheaded it. The 12 letters were written by ex-jurors who had experienced disturbing trials and suffered ill health as a result.

The letters asked the federal justice minister and prime minister to address the issue of juror reform.

We need assistance getting back to our normal lives, Fleming said. We are civilians who did not choose this path for ourselves nor are we trained to deal with this type of situation.

A report on jury reform is expected to be released this month outlining the types of support needed for jurors. Recommended support mentioned in this justice committee study could include pamphlets, daycare and a juror debriefing.

Fleming and Farrant want reform so that what a person is chosen for a jury, they learn what to expect from the trial and understand what they will receive in terms of mental health support.

While police and court officers have access to mental health benefits and services to access help, jurors dont have this, Farrant said.

Fleming and Farrant want the federal government to standardize a jury-support program nationwide.

Its a patchwork across the country, Farrant said.

They also want jurors to receive higher wages, daycare, a greater understanding of what is expected from jurors and more guidance on how to conduct yourself during a trial.

Government officials from Australia have contacted Farrant. They are interested in his advocacy since they share a similar justice system, practices and lack of support.

Fast forward Fleming and Farrants two trips to Ottawa and many high profile media interviews later and the two men believe they have succeeded in getting the issue of juror reform on the radar of the Justice Department who allocated resources to study the issue.

As for Fleming, despite all he has been through, if he could do it all again, he would serve as a juror once again.

Its a good learning experience, he said. You see the process, its quite interesting. Its good to see the background of how it (court) operates. I believe in our justice system. All Canadians should do their civic duty.

Farrant is hopeful the imminent report will drive real change.

Were hoping the report will not be academic, will be meaningful, not another report collecting dust at the House of Commons library.

As for Fleming, he has been a great advocate for change, according to Farrant.

Hes a really honest guy, a really solid person, has a lot of empathy and a will to make a difference. Hes really selfless. He wants to ensure what happened to us doesnt happen to anybody else.
Lyft has added a pooling service in Toronto, the car-sharing company announced Tuesday.

Similar to Ubers car-pooling, Lyft Line will allow riders to connect with other passengers heading the same direction. As with Uber Pool, passengers will split the cost of the ride.

The inclusion of a car-pooling service comes nearly three months after the company expanded into Canada in December. The company directly rivals Uber in Toronto, although more rideshare services, including woman-centred app DriveHer, have started cropping up.

Unlike Uber, Lyfts car-pooling will only be available when requests are in high demand. The option is available in areas where users are frequently hailing a Lyft driver, and will be available within city limits, the service confirmed. If there is not enough online-traffic on the app, the option to order Lyft Line will not be available, although users can still call a Lyft.

Lyft also said it is offering up to $10 off rides along the King St. pilot corridor, from Bathurst to Jarvis Sts. Passengers heading to King St. can access the promo until April 8.

While cars arent banned from travelling King St., the pilot requires drivers turn right at the next block to alleviate traffic flow. Taxis are exempt from this between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., but ride-sharing services must follow the same rules as other drivers.

We've communicated with drivers about the King St. changes, and all in-app navigation reflects the new regulations on King St., Tim Houghton, Lyft Toronto general manager, wrote in an email.

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We continue to work closely with drivers to ensure the best understanding of the changes around the King St. pilot project.

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A drug dealer testified in Superior Court in Toronto on Tuesday that he gave his friend and partner up to $2,500 a month believing it was his share of a pay-for-protection scheme with a Hamilton police officer.

About a month after his drug trafficking partner got arrested at his Hamilton condo in 2011, the witness said he jumped on the program that put money in the pocket of Det.-Const. Craig Ruthowsky in return for police intelligence.

Ruthowsky, 44, is suspended from the Hamilton Police Service while hes on trial in Toronto for corruption. He has pleaded not guilty to bribery, obstruct justice, breach of trust, trafficking and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

The witnesss name is covered under a publication ban because identifying him might reveal the identity of his partner who is the Crowns key witness in the case.

The $2,500 contradicts his partners testimony last week that he collected $5,000 each from three associates, including the witness, to pay Ruthowsky $20,000 a month so they could sell drugs with impunity in Hamilton.

The witness testified Tuesday that he never gave any money directly to Ruthowsky, nor did he ever see money exchange hands, but accepted his partners word that they were receiving protection ... like so if I got pulled over, or if other police officers tried to bust them.

Crown attorney John Pollard asked the witness if Ruthowsky ever intervened to help him get out of trouble with the law.

The witness, who court heard has a lengthy criminal record, gave three examples, including once when he was pulled over by officers conducting an impaired driving spot check. He was arrested for not having a drivers licence and possessing illicit drugs.

They arrested me but then Craig got me bail the next day, he testified.

Defence lawyer Greg Lafontaine pointed out that the mans criminal record in fact showed he stayed in jail for a couple of weeks before his release. The witness said it was a short duration in any event.

And Lafontaine suggested to the witness that perhaps Ruthowsky himself may have let you think he was responsible for the witnesss release after talking to the prosecutor.

Were you there when he talked to the prosecutor? Lafontaine asked.

No, I was not, replied the witness, who carried a well-worn black Bible with him in court.

Some people told you that Craig took care of it, Lafontaine stated.

The witness agreed, saying his partner had given him that assurance.

Do you know if ... (the mans partner) ever actually gave any of the money that you gave him to Craig Ruthowsky?

The witness repeated he knew because his partner told him so.

Superior Court Justice Robert Clark several times cautioned jurors on how they are to treat the witnesss testimony:

The only use you can make of this evidence is to have some understanding, some knowledge, of what this witness understood to be the case.

The trial continues Wednesday.
This blog will focus on political images I have found all around the Internet, though I will intersperse some commentary and quotes that I find interesting.
Toronto police will withdraw an application they submitted for officers to march in this years Pride parade.

The decision was made to avoid any setback in the relationship between the police service and Torontos queer communities, chief Mark Saunders wrote in a statement Tuesday. The goal is to restore confidence in police in what, he admitted, are challenging times.

The decision comes after a joint statement Monday evening by Pride Toronto and several community organizations, calling on police to withdraw their request to participate.

My hope is that this move will be received as a concrete example of the fact that I am listening closely to the communitys concerns and I am committed thoroughly to building a better, stronger relationship between us, Saunders wrote.

Read more:

Pride Toronto wants Toronto Police to withdraw application to march in 2018 Pride Parade

Toronto police, Pride parade discussions reveal rocky relationship

Opinion | Shree Paradkar: Gay Village disappearances and police behaviour show whose lives are disposable and whose lives are not

The statement from Pride and community groups stressed moving forward as well, but also cited anger, shock and grief, stemming from the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick, Selim Esen, Andrew Kinsman, Skandaraj Navaratnam and an unidentified man  all allegedly victims of Bruce McArthur  as well as those of Tess Richey, who was slain in the Gay Village, and Alloura Wells, a transgender woman whose body was found in a ravine.

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Police investigations into each disappearance were insufficient, the groups said.

Community knowledge and expertise was not accessed and despite the fact many of us felt and voiced our concerns, we were dismissed.

Becky McFarlane, senior director of the 519, said Tuesday that she was surprised that police submitted an application to march at all, given the circumstances. She cautioned police not to conflate acknowledging a problem with the police service with solving that problem.

The chief of police has consistently said that he wants to repair relationships with the community, and I believe that to be true. Im just not sure that he grasps what the expectations are from the community in terms of what dialogue and consultation look like, she said.

We get so caught up in this conversation about whether or not its appropriate for police to march in a one-day parade, that has its roots in a historical social justice struggle. I think what gets lost is the reality that were talking about human lives here. Were talking about people who are being harmed, who have been harmed, who are no longer with us because of, I think, significant bias and discrimination on the part of the Toronto Police Service, she added.

And I think, when we elevate the conversation to a place that acknowledges loss, and the extent to which many in our community are grappling with anger and grief and disbelief and shame and all sorts of other things, thats where we need to be.

The police service submitted their application in late February or early March, LGBTQ2S Liason Officer Danielle Bottineau told the Star, saying Pride Torontos executive director encouraged them to do so as a result of our ongoing conversations and consultations.

Local advocates and the police union raised questions Tuesday about why Pride Toronto didnt make the decision itself to deny police a space in the parade and reject their application.

Why theyre allowing police to, sort of, have the kind of power that they had, such that theyd have to ask them to withdraw their application rather than just denying it, is something that we really need to question as a community, Syrus Marcus Ware, a core team member of Black Lives Matter Toronto, said in an interview Tuesday.

Where is the ownership of Pride?

Surely its not in the hands of police.

Just before a decision was made, Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack said he wouldnt be surprised if the police application to march was withdrawn. I think more than likely it will be. But do I think its the right thing to do? No.

If Pride felt they had legitimate reasons for police to be excluded, he said, they should come out and say it. He acknowledged that police needed to look at the McArthur case and come to an understanding of what happened there, saying any analysis needed to be based on facts and the evidence around that.

I think the frustrating part is that we understand that theres work to be done in the relationship between the community and police, McCormack said. This is a huge departure from where we were 25 years ago, and theres a lot of hard work on both parts. Were looking for some positive narrative to go around, instead of having a wedge that continues to be driven in.

But rejecting an application would not be the spirit of partnership that Pride Toronto is trying to create, the organizations executive director Olivia Nuamah told the Star. The act is one of asking them whether or not they hear us enough to respond, as opposed to waiting for a moment where we can say yes or no,  she said. We didnt see how we could move forward from that position.

The police service recently announced that itll pursue an independent investigation into its handling of missing persons cases, with a focus on systemic bias. Its professional standards unit is also reviewing the deaths of Richey and Wells. And while the community mourns all the deaths, Nuamah said it didnt feel comfortable celebrating alongside the police service.

Emails obtained by the Star , through freedom of information requests, show that, at one point, Pride Toronto and the police force had reached an agreement about officers being able to march, uniformed, in this years parade.

Pride and TPS have agreed that there will be a police presence, in uniform, in the 2018 parade, wrote former mayors aide Bryan Frois in a briefing note for John Tory, on Aug. 9. Saunders had suggested marching with 30 officers, without vehicles or floats.

This would be part of a co-ordinated effort between Pride Toronto and Toronto police to carefully reintroduce the service into the festivities.

Tory said Tuesday that hed been hopeful that the matter would be resolved this year, but tragic circumstances arose that no one saw coming. He re-affirmed his commitment to providing funding for the parade.

Premier Kathleen Wynne said Tuesday that she understood that with all of the things that have happened over the last year, the relationship was strained.

I think that Pride needs to work with the police. And the police need to, I think, step up and work with Pride to resolve that relationship, she said. And I hope that happens.

With files from Samantha Beattie, Rob Ferguson and Ben Spurr

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Three lawyers are vying for the Liberal nomination in St. Pauls after Premier Kathleen Wynne stopped plans to appoint a candidate.

Sources said some high-ranking Liberal officials had wanted health-care consultant Will Falk to carry the party banner in the key downtown Toronto riding in the June 7 provincial election without holding a contested nomination.

Even though Wynne has the power to name up to five candidates across the province under the Ontario Liberal Party constitution, she said Tuesday that an appointment was a non-starter.

There is going to be an open nomination in St. Pauls that will go forward, the premier told reporters at a campaign-style event promoting last weeks pre-election budget.

The seat  one of the safest Liberal ridings in Ontario  has been vacant since former health minister Eric Hoskins resigned in February to become Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus pharmacare czar.

Some senior Grits had wanted Falk to be the candidate, but other hopefuls were already selling party memberships to would-be voters in a nomination election.

That would have led to a messy internecine battle at a time when the Liberals are trying to present a united front, which is why Wynne overruled some of her key campaign advisors.

Our constitution provides for the ability of appointments, but the vast majority of nominations are open and transparent and are really good for the democratic process at the local level, she said.

I actually think there are three candidates potentially who will be running, so theres an open nomination in St. Pauls.

Charles Finlay, chief of staff to Economic Development Minister Steven Del Duca and a runner-up to Hoskins in the 2009 St. Pauls race, is making his second bid for the nomination.

Finlay is up against Jess Spindler, director of legal affairs and party services at the Liberal Party of Canada, and another lawyer, Greg Coleman, who has worked in the renewable energy field.

Falk told the Star he is not running.

The local riding association has yet to schedule the nomination meeting.

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NEW YORK  Rocker Ted Nugent says a Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivor whos become an outspoken advocate for gun safety is so brainwashed he probably cant be fixed.

Nugent says high school student David Hogg and his classmates are not very educated and wouldnt know an AR-15 from a pterodactyl.

The longtime member of the National Rifle Associations board of directors spoke Monday on the Curtis and Cosby show on New Yorks WABC Radio, continuing a tirade against the students.

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Parkland students say Nugent hasnt seen the tears theyve shed and want an apology.

Nugent defended Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who mocked Hogg online and lost advertisers. Nugent says Ingraham is great.

Ingraham later apologized.

Hogg says its time to love thy neighbour, not mudsling at children.

Hogg and other student activists havent responded on Twitter to Nugents latest comments.
WASHINGTONU.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein explicitly authorized the Justice Departments special counsel to investigate allegations that President Donald Trumps former campaign chairperson colluded with the Russian government, according to a court filing.

Special counsel Robert Muellers team of prosecutors included that detail in a memo defending the scope of their investigation, which so far has resulted in criminal charges against 19 people and three Russian companies.

Paul Manafort, who led Trumps Republican campaign for several months in 2016, has challenged Muellers authority and asked a judge to dismiss an indictment charging him with crimes including money laundering conspiracy and false statements. He said Mueller, who was assigned to investigate potential co-ordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, overstepped his bounds by charging him for conduct that occurred years before the 2016 presidential election.

But in their new filing late Monday, prosecutors revealed that Rosenstein  who appointed Mueller  wrote a memo last August that outlined the scope of Muellers appointment.

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The memo, which had not previously been released publicly and remains redacted in parts, said Mueller was empowered to investigate allegations that Manafort committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials to interfere with the presidential election.

None of the charges Manafort faces alleges co-ordination with the Kremlin, and Manaforts attorneys had used that point to argue that Mueller had exceeded his authority by bringing charges against him accusing him of various financial crimes and acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of Ukrainian interests.

But Mondays filing appears to undercut that argument. In addition to authorizing the Russia collusion investigation of Manafort, Rosenstein also specifically authorized Mueller to investigate any crimes related to payments Manafort received from the Ukrainian government during the tenure of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

The description largely outlines the charges against Manafort, which mostly relate to allegations that he conspired to launder tens of millions of dollars he received from his Ukrainian political consulting including his work on Yanukovychs behalf. Manafort has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing related to Russian election interference.

Prosecutors say in their court filing that given their mandate to investigate links between Trump associates and Russia, it was logical and appropriate to investigate Manafort for ties to Russia-backed politicians and oligarchs.

It would also naturally look into any interactions they may have had before and during the campaign to plumb motives and opportunities to co-ordinate and to expose possible channels for surreptitious communications. And prosecutors would naturally follow the money trail from Manaforts Ukrainian consulting activities, they wrote.

Meantime, a Dutch attorney who lied to federal agents investigating Manafort was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison in the first punishment handed down in special counsels Russia investigation. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 (U.S.) fine.

Alex van der Zwaans sentence could set a guidepost for what other defendants charged with lying in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation may receive when their cases are resolved. Among them are a former White House national security adviser and a Trump campaign foreign policy aide.

Van der Zwaan had faced zero to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines and his attorneys had pushed for him to pay a fine and leave the country.

But U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, citing the need to deter others from lying in an investigation of international importance, said incarceration was necessary.

These were not mistakes. These were lies, Jackson told van der Zwaan as he stood before her.

This was lying during the course of a federal investigation, she added, noting that being able to write a check and walk away would not fit the seriousness of the crime or send the right message.

The criminal case against van der Zwaan is not directly related to Russian election interference, the main focus of Muellers probe. But it has revealed new details about the governments case against Manafort and opened a window into the intersecting universes of international law, foreign consulting work and politics.

The case has also revealed previously undisclosed connections between senior Trump campaign aides, including Rick Gates, and Russia. Just last week, the government disclosed that van der Zwaan and Gates spoke during the 2016 presidential campaign with a man Gates had previously described as having ties to the GRU, Russias military intelligence agency. Gates is now co-operating with Mueller.

During a 40-minute hearing Tuesday, van der Zwaan made only a brief statement, telling Jackson, Your Honour, what I did was wrong. I apologize to the court. I apologize to my wife.

Van der Zwaan admitted in February to lying to federal agents about his contacts with Gates and the person with ties to Russian intelligence. Though prosecutors did not take a position on whether he should be locked up, they stressed that he had lied repeatedly to investigators.

This is not an isolated instance of bad judgement or criminal conduct, prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said.

Van der Zwaans attorneys argued that he had suffered enough already, saying his life had already been destroyed by his terrible decision to lie to federal authorities. The attorneys also pushed Jackson to allow van der Zwaan to return to London as soon as possible where he lives with his wife, who is pregnant with their first child.

He has been here well over four months without a home, without his wife and without his family, his attorney, William Schwartz, said. He is literally in limbo.

Schwartz also stressed that his client had made the effort to return to the U.S. to correct the record after he lied to the special counsels office, though prosecutors took issue with the characterization, saying van der Zwaan was under a grand jury subpoena at the time.

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U.S. President Donald Trump has said repeatedly that Russian interference didnt matter in the 2016 election, and he has suggested  wrongly  that the intelligence and law enforcement communities have said the same. His overriding fear seems to be that Russian interference and the fake news it promoted would undermine the legitimacy of his election win.

Trump wont like this new study one bit.

The study from researchers at Ohio State University finds that fake news likely played a significant role in depressing Hillary Clintons support on Election Day 2016. The study, which has not been peer reviewed but which may be the first look at how fake news impacted voter choices, suggests that roughly 4 per cent of former president Barack Obamas 2012 supporters were dissuaded from voting for Clinton in 2016 by belief in fake-news stories.

Richard Gunther, Paul Beck and Erik Nisbet, the studys authors, inserted three popular fake-news stories from the 2016 campaign into a massive, 281-question YouGov survey given to 585 Obama supporters in December 2016  23 per cent of which didnt vote for Clinton, either by abstaining or picking another candidate. Here are the false stories, along with the percentages of Obama supporters who believed they were at least probably true (in parenthesis):

Clinton was in very poor health due to a serious illness (12 per cent)

Pope Francis endorsed Trump (8 per cent)

Clinton approved weapons sales to Islamic jihadists, including ISIS (20 per cent)

Overall, about one-quarter of 2012 Obama voters believed at least one of these stories (26 per cent). And of that group, just 45 per cent voted for Clinton  compared to 89 per cent who believed none of the three.

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This alone does not prove that fake news was a difference-maker, of course. A recent Princeton-led study of fake news consumption during the 2016 campaign found that fake news articles made up only 2.6 per cent of all hard-news articles late in the 2016 election, with the stories most often reaching intense partisans who were likely not persuadable. And it wouldnt be surprising if Obama voters who werent reliable Democratic supporters were more apt to believe fake news stories that affirmed their decision not to vote for Clinton.

So the researchers sought to control for other factors like gender, race, age, education, political leaning and even personal feelings about Clinton and Trump using multiple regression analysis. According to the researchers, all of these factors combined to explain 38 per cent of the defection of Obama voters from Clinton, but belief in fake news explained another 11 per cent.

For those defecting from Clinton, believing fake news had a greater impact than anything except being a Republican or personally disliking Clinton. Obama voters who believed one of these fake news stories were 3.9 times more likely to defect from the Democratic ticket in 2016 than those who believed none of these false claims, after taking into account all of these other factors, the researchers write.

We cannot prove that belief in fake news caused these former Obama voters to defect from the Democratic candidate in 2016, they write. These data strongly suggest, however, that exposure to fake news did have a significant impact on voting decisions.

Exactly how that translates into raw votes and whether it swung the election is the big, unanswered question  and the one that seems to preoccupy Trump. Its difficult to know how fake news played specifically in the three states that delivered him the presidency: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But the fact that Clinton lost each of these divisive states by less than one percentage point means that even a slight impact by Russia and/or fake news  or even then-FBI Director James Comeys announcement about Clintons emails or some other factor  could logically have changed the result.

But we can use this study to glean some clues and even rerun a hypothetical 2016 election. The Washington Posts polling director, Scott Clement, ran a predictive probability analysis using the OSU teams data and compared the existing 2016 election to a hypothetical election in which these fake news stories didnt exist. The result: Clinton lost 4.2 per cent more of Obamas votes in the race with fake news, versus the hypothetical race without it. The study notes that 10 per cent of Obama voters voted from Trump.

If we multiply that 4.2 per cent drop-off by Obamas 2012 vote share in the three key states that delivered the presidency to Trump, it suggests fake news cost Clinton around 2.2 or 2.3 points apiece in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And Clinton lost Michigan by just 0.2 points and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by 0.72 and 0.76 points, respectively.

These are rough estimates, to be clear. But notably, Clintons estimated drop-off in each state would be about three times bigger  or more  than the studys impact of fake news. That would mean that, for fake news not to have made the difference (according to these data), Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin would have had to be uniquely impervious to the effects of fake news, when compared to the rest of the country.

The survey also notably doesnt measure what impact fake news might have had in increasing Trumps support, instead only focusing on how it depressed Clintons. That could actually increase the shift. But even with this limited purview, it suggests it made a significant difference.

And it suggests it may well have cost Clinton the presidency.

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WASHINGTON  Frustrated by slow action on a big campaign promise, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants to use the military to secure the U.S.-Mexico border until his promised border wall is built.

Trump told reporters hes been discussing the idea with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.

Were going to be doing things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military, Trump said, calling the move a big step.

It wasnt immediately clear exactly how the proposal would work or what kind of troops Trump wanted to deploy. But the White House later said Trump wanted to mobilize the National Guard.

Federal law prohibits the use of active-duty service members for law enforcement inside the U.S., unless specifically authorized by Congress. But over the past 12 years, presidents have twice sent National Guard troops to the border to bolster security and assist with surveillance and other support. The White House counsels office has been working on the idea for several weeks, according to a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.

Trump has been annoyed by the lack of progress on building what was the signature promise of his campaign: a big, beautiful wall along the Mexican border. Hes previously suggested using the Pentagons budget to pay for building the wall, arguing it is a national security priority, despite strict rules that prohibit spending thats not authorized by Congress.

At the Pentagon, officials struggled throughout the day to answer questions about the plan, including rudimentary details on whether it would involve National Guard members.

But the administration appeared to be considering a model similar to a 2006 operation in which president George W. Bush deployed National Guard troops to the southern border.

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Under Operation Jump Start, 6,000 National Guard troops were sent to assist the border patrol with non-law enforcement duties while additional border agents were hired and trained. Over two years, about 29,000 National Guard forces participated, as forces rotated in and out. The Guard members were used for surveillance, communications, administrative support, intelligence, analysis and the installation of border security infrastructure.

In addition, president Barack Obama sent about 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2010 to beef up efforts to battle drug smuggling and illegal immigration.

Texas has also deployed military forces to its 1,290-kilometre border with Mexico. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, now serving as Trumps energy secretary, sent 1,000 Texas National Guardsmen to the Rio Grande Valley in 2014 in response to a sharp increase in Central American children crossing the border alone.

Trump met Tuesday with top administration officials, including Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Attorney General Jeff Session, to discuss the administrations strategy to address what White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders described as the growing influx of illegal immigration, drugs and violent gang members from Central America.

In addition to mobilizing the National Guard, Trump and senior officials agreed on the need to pressure Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations, Sanders said.

The meeting and comments came amid a flurry of tweets by the president on the subject over the last several days.

Trump has been fixed on the issue since he grudgingly signed a spending bill last month that includes far less money for the wall than hed hoped for.

The $1.3 trillion (U.S.) package included $1.6 billion for border wall spending  a fraction of the $25 billion Trump made a last-minute push to secure. And much of that money can be used only to repair existing segments, not to build new sections.

Also setting Trump off: A briefing from senior administration officials last week that included an update on an uptick in illegal border crossings, and images played on his favourite network, Fox News, of a caravan of migrants making their way through Mexico.

Trump spent the first months of his presidency bragging about a dramatic drop in illegal border crossings, and indeed the 2017 fiscal year marked a 45-year low for Border Patrol arrests. But the numbers have been slowly ticking up since last April and are now on par with many months of the Obama administration. Statistics show 36,695 arrests of people trying to cross the southwest border in February 2018, up from 23,555 in the same month of the previous year.

At last weeks meeting, Trump directed a vigorous administrative strategy to confront this threat and protect Americas national security, said Sanders. Tuesdays briefing was a follow-up to discuss the plans.

Trump has also been under pressure from conservative backers, including commentator Ann Coulter, who has accused Trump of betraying his base for not delivering on the wall.

Trump appeared to take credit Tuesday for halting a caravan of about 1,100 migrants, many from Honduras, who had been marching along roadsides and train tracks in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

I said (to Mexican officials), I hope youre going to tell that caravan not to get up to the border. And I think theyre doing that because, as of 12 minutes ago, it was all being broken up, he said.

But the caravan of largely Central American migrants had never intended to reach the U.S. border, according to organizer Irineo Mujica. It was meant to end at a migrants rights symposium in central Mexico later this week.

The caravan stopped to camp at a sports field in Oaxaca over the weekend. Mexican immigration officers have been signing them up for temporary transit visas, which would allow them to travel to the U.S. border, possibly to seek asylum, or to seek asylum status in Mexico.

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WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump used his Twitter account on Tuesday to threaten foreign aid to Honduras as he continued his focus on a caravan of 1,000 migrants, primarily from the Central American nation, that has been spotlighted by conservative media in recent days.

For the third straight day, Trump used the migrants journey north to call for tougher immigration policies and warn of what he called weak border security. But the prospect of cutting off foreign aid added a new dimension to the string of threats from the president that had centred largely on potentially walking away from the North American Free Trade Agreement, which his administration is currently renegotiating.

Honduras received about $127.5 million in aid from the United States in fiscal 2016, according to data from the United States Agency for International Development.

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The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there, Trump tweeted shortly before 7 a.m. Tuesday. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!

Congress is currently in a two-week recess.

The so-called caravan  an annual event that is meant to draw attention to the refugee crisis in Central America  has spurred a new round of calls from Trump for an immigration crackdown, particularly funding for his border wall that has so far eluded him during his presidency.

He referred to the caravan again in tweets Monday night, accusing Democrats of allowing for open borders, drugs and crime while deriding the nations immigration laws as an Obama joke.

White House officials are preparing new proposals for Capitol Hill that they say will close existing loopholes in current immigration law. Separately, the Department of Homeland Security is pushing for the end of the so-called catch and release practice, which allows undocumented immigrants who have been apprehended to be released until their immigration hearing date.

Trumps new immigration threats came in a line of tweets early Tuesday that included another defence of Sinclair Broadcasting Group. The largest network of local television stations in the country, it has recently come under fire after reports that anchors were ordered to read a uniform script decrying biased and false news and criticizing other journalists for using their platforms to push their own personal bias.

Trump levelled another attack at CNN in a separate tweet that misspelled the name of the cable networks head, Jeff Zucker. And in his fourth tweet of the morning, Trump touted his ratings in recent polling from Rasmussen Reports, whose figures tend to favour Republicans, and noted his numbers were higher than Cheatin Obama at the same time in his Administration.

Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!

The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast, Trump tweeted. The Fakers at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!

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In a three-tweet salvo Sunday morning, Trump decried recent struggles with congressional Democrats to reach a deal that would legalize the status of millions of dreamers, undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children.

Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release, Trump said in his first tweet. Getting more dangerous. Caravans coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!

DACA refers to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which Trump ended in the fall. The program had allowed these dreamers to live in the country without fear of deportation.

Trump followed his Sunday tweetstorm with a pair of angry tweets Monday, and then another Tuesday, this one threatening that Cash cow NAFTA is in play.

Trump, a self-proclaimed Fox & Friends fan, appears to have been provoked by a Sunday morning segment on the program (at least the National Border Patrol Council sees a connection, it claimed in a post afterward).

Why are they moving in a caravan?

The Fox News opinion segment was in response to a BuzzFeed report on Friday that more than 1,000 Central Americans, primarily from Honduras, were trekking up through Mexico to the U.S. border on a nearly month-long trip that began March 25. These migrants are looking to seek asylum from criminal elements back home or slip into the United States undetected.

Moving in a large group is expected to blunt the efforts of criminal gangs and cartels known to isolate and later rob immigrants, many of whom bring large sums of money to make the long journey north through Mexico. The caravan organizers, Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People without Borders, appeared to have concluded that it is safer for these people to travel together.

That trip can be deadly and is often dangerous for people finding their way along various routes that go directly north to Texas, northwestern routes that end up around Arizona or western paths along the coast that lead to California.

Just about every route is more than 1,500 kilometre long and is canvassed by robbers and corrupt police who shake down the migrants, who have little legal recourse. A network of commercial locomotives is veined throughout Mexico in a 2,300-kilometre cannonball run. Migrants ride on top of the trains, occasionally falling off and breaking bones or suffering severe dehydration.

Members of the caravan said they would attempt to ride the trains, but in 2014, more guards and trains moving faster through stations made it more difficult for migrants to catch rides.

Migrants have many names for the trains, such as El tren de los desconocidos (the train of the unknowns) and El tren de la muerte (the train of death).

But its most common name is La Bestia: The Beast.

What is Mexico doing about the flow of migrants?

Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL! Trump said in his second tweet on Sunday.

Mexico is doing something  with the help of the United States. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid flow to Mexico every year, including funds for strengthening its border with Guatemala, where migrants generally cross.

Billions in additional spending authorized by President Barack Obama in 2014 were prompted by thousands of unaccompanied minors arriving on the U.S.-Mexico border, mostly Central Americans fleeing horrific crime waves and economic crises in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. About 300,000 migrants were detained by Mexican authorities in the next two years.

Indeed, by Tuesday the Mexican government had moved to break up the caravan, which had become stalled in Oaxaca, southern Mexico. Mexican officials said they were registering the travellers for humanitarian visas, and said about 400 had already been turned back.

Mexicos interior secretary, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, rejected his country was swayed to action by pressure from Trump. Of course we will act ... to enforce our immigration laws, with no pressure whatsoever from any country whatsoever, he said Monday.

What is Trump doing about it?

Trumps proposals to reduce aid to Mexico would raise the possibility that the country would be less able to stem flows of migrants and drugs coming across its border.

The president has been caught in a contradiction of policy on the border before.

The budget for the U.S. Coast Guard stayed flat in 2018 despite spending increases across the Pentagon (the Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security). But the service seizes three times as much cocaine moving by sea as what U.S. agencies intercept at border checkpoints, putting a dent into Trumps argument that a border wall would dry up the supply of hard drugs in the United States.

Trump has been more focused on DACA and the border wall lately. He has suggested that the program may be the reason the caravan has massed.

These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act! Trump said in a tweet.

He later said outside a church before Easter services Sunday: A lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA. They had a great chance. The Democrats blew it.

But that description of DACA appears to misrepresent the programs intent, which was to provide protection for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children years ago. Anyone arriving after June 2012 wouldnt qualify for DACA, including those in the caravan. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

I asked some of the migrants on the caravan what they thought about Trump saying they were going to the US for DACA, BuzzFeed reporter Adolfo Flores tweeted Sunday. Some laughed and others said they thought (correctly) they wouldnt qualify.

With files from the Associated Press

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Saudi Arabia appears to be in the middle of an attempt to rebrand the kingdom as progressive and, judging from the headlines since last year, the strategy appears to be working, at least to some extent.

Last September, the kingdom announced it would finally allow women to drive. One month later, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he wanted to return to a moderate Islam.

Now, in an interview with the Atlantics Jeffrey Goldberg, the crown prince has acknowledged that Jewish people have a right to their own homeland  long a taboo for the conservative kingdom that was known as a fierce foe of Israels creation. The remarks come as the crown prince is seeking closer economic and security ties with Israel.

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While Saudi Arabia in the past has talked about recognizing Israel in the context of a peace deal with the Palestinians, the crown princes straight up acknowledgement that the Jews have a right to a homeland is the clearest statement to date.

On a practical level, Saudi Arabia has de-facto acknowledged that right since at least 2002 when it began sponsoring an initiative to foster a two-state solution  a solution that has also long been supported by the United States, even though with different premises. But officially, Saudi Arabia does not recognize the state of Israel.

While Saudi officials made Israels withdrawal to its territory prior to the 1967 Israeli-Arab war a precondition for closer relations in the past, that fundamental demand was not explicitly repeated by the crown prince in the Atlantic interview published on Monday.

I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations, he told The Atlantic.

The timing for the acknowledgment does not appear to be a coincidence, as it follows months of diplomatic gestures, including the opening of Saudi Arabias airspace to commercial Israel-bound flights and the acknowledgment of back-channel communications between both governments.

After decades of threatening rhetoric, Saudi officials appear increasingly willing to strike a carefully conciliatory tone as they seek a new ally to confront their common arch enemy Iran and build stronger economic ties.

Saudi Arabia has traditionally been a place that has produced a lot of anti-Semitic propaganda. Do you think you have a problem with anti-Semitism in your country? Goldberg asked later in the Atlantic interview, to which Mohammed responded: Our country doesnt have a problem with Jews. Our Prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman. Not just a friend  he married her.

Our prophet, his neighbours were Jewish. You will find a lot of Jews in Saudi Arabia coming from America, coming from Europe. There are no problems between Christian and Muslims and Jews. We have problems like you would find anywhere in the world, among some people. But the normal sort of problems, said Mohammed, adding that there were lot of interests we share, including economically.

The crown princes economic reasoning laid out in the interview will likely play into the hands of critics who have long suspected the kingdoms progressive rebranding to be primarily a marketing ploy. When the crown prince announced a more moderate Islam last year, critics cautioned that the declaration might have more to do with boosting the kingdoms economy rather than reversing decades-old practices.

Mohammed, 32, has attempted to position himself as a favourite for the kingdoms younger citizens, who are less religious than older generations and are facing disproportionately high unemployment rates. The Saudi leader is currently pursuing a major reform plan, named Saudi Vision 2030, to revitalize the kingdoms economy.

The need for reforms may already have reversed at least some of the leaderships previous ultraconservative stances, including the driving ban for women. The step was widely interpreted as a sign that the modernizers within the Saudi government may have gained ascendance over the conservative hard-liners. Saudi Arabias hard-liners have been under mounting pressure to agree to such proposals, as the kingdom has become increasingly engulfed in economic woes.

But the reforms have still been limited. Womens subordination to men remains unchanged and repressions against Shiites have continued  despite Mohammeds assurances in the interview that all was well between Sunnis and Shiites in the country.

Shiites in Saudi Arabia still face a lot of grave injustices. They are being marginalized politically and are excluded from the countrys wealth. In recent years, security forces have also launched new crackdowns on the Shiite opposition in the country, said Saudi Arabia researcher Sons.

The Saudi government also has repeatedly associated the Shiite opposition with Iran, a majority-Shiite country.

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper last year, he blamed Saudi Arabias arch-enemy Shiite Iran for Saudi Arabias turn toward Wahhabism, an ultraconservative branch of Islam, which is being promoted by Riyadh both domestically and abroad. Religious scholars say that the Saudi state is deeply rooted in and has long been intimately entwined with Sunni Wahhabism. That same Islam was widely promoted in Muslim countries around the world, thanks to the Saudi states deep pockets.

In the Atlantic interview published on Monday evening, Mohammed nevertheless doubled down on his criticism, saying that the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good.

One possible interpretation of his remarks? In comparison with Iran, Israel might not be so bad after all.

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How having power is like having brain damage: a new book explains why systems fail, April 1

I hope many people will take the time to read the excerpt of Meltdown or read the whole book, which sheds light on why complex systems fail.

We are all familiar with the saying Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and this excerpt confirms how people too often react autocratically when given even the smallest amount of power. According to the book, scientific studies reveal the fundamental feelings and instincts of subservience people have toward those in power, and the basic inclination to conform and avoid the pain of independence in thinking and opinion  a fear of isolation from the group.

The excerpt particularly highlights how the failure of individuals to speak up, and provide their views and concerns, can too frequently result in fatal mistakes (loss of life) and how organizations can be restructured to encourage participants within a system to voice their opinions and contribute toward a vastly improved, complex system.

In light of upcoming elections, it is urgent that the observations and lessons contained in Meltdown be applied to our democratic system of government. The current complex system of government for Toronto is so unstructured as to encourage these undesirable behaviours of abuse of, and subservience to, power. A democratically restructured system where residents provide their views to their elected councillor within a structured and democratic system can vastly improve governance of our neighbourhoods and communities. A reduced number of city councillors and term limits for elected councillors will also temper the autocratic effect and eliminate a great deal of the failures in decision-making at Toronto City Hall.

We can either listen and learn from each other and use our intelligence, or behave according to our basic instincts to abuse power, which will continue to result in significant, unnecessary failures of our complex system of government at Toronto City Hall.

Peggy Moulder, Etobicoke
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.
Hours after the feisty anti-apartheid icon died on Monday, the New York Times ran with this headline before amending it: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a tarnished leader of South Africas liberation, dies at 81.

Tarnished.

That choice of word tells a story of legacy.

In the broad strokes of sound bytes, fleeting public memories, and implicit prejudices, Madikizela-Mandela, a defiant spitfire who arose like a phoenix from being beaten and tortured and imprisoned and suffocatingly surveilled as she raised her children and fought a violent regime, is being unjustly reduced to just two things: Nelson Mandelas wife and a corrupt endorser of violence.

Wife is still the definition women are centred around  when will we ever get rid of Mrs.  but its especially true for women with famous husbands. Ask Hillary Clinton.

In the litany of Madikizela-Mandelas sins that open the story in the New York Times is the character-judging adulterous implosion of her fabled marriage.

Madikizela-Mandela is being unjustly reduced to just two things: Nelson Mandelas wife and a corrupt endorser of violence.







On violence, Madikizela-Mandela notoriously endorsed necklacing,  a practice in which a perceived traitor would be trapped in a gas-soaked car tire and burned alive. She was also allegedly the head of a deadly vigilante group. South African Blacks were often targeted.

Its a worthwhile world that condemns violence.

Its a hypocritical world that condemns violence selectively, and the New York Times, the fireplace around which liberal-minded elites gather to claim their progressive nonracist bona fides, provides a classic example of it.

Read more:

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, South Africas Mother of the Nation, has died at 81

Opinion | We both loved Winnie, Nelson Mandela and I

When P.W. Botha, the former South African prime minister and president, died in 2006, the newspaper slipped in the fact that he presided over the killings of 4,000 people and holding of 50,000 others without trial as an afterthought toward the bottom of the obituary. The words combative, irascible, ability to charm led the story.

The headline: P.W. Botha, Defender of Apartheid, Is Dead at 90.

Just the facts; no judgment. Botha wasnt tarnished by his violently racist reign.

In this way, tarnished also tells a story of perfection expected from the marginalized.

The burden of non-violence and the consequences of deviating from it fall disproportionately on the oppressed.

To be marginalized and to appeal to the sympathies of those in power is to be docile, submissive and non-threatening.

Nonpeaceful resistance is dismissed as morally wrong, threatening and deserving of being put down  with violence. In such cases, violence enacted by the authorities is sanctified as heroic protection of the status quo.

The Black Panthers who arose in the 1960s to challenge police brutality against Blacks in the U.S. were painted as a gang, the greatest threat to the internal security of the country by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, even as they ran free breakfast programs for schoolchildren and free health clinics. This was before shootouts with police and before being infiltrated by the FBI that led to internal strife.

In Gaza last Friday, Palestinians rallying in a peaceful protest were met with Israeli snipers carrying live ammunition and lethal force. Some 1,000 Palestinians were injured and 18 were killed.

No matter where you stand on the deeper questions of the conflict, what kind of protest would a population penned into an enclave with an acute water crisis, electricity shortage and target of military assaults have to organize so as to not be suspicious?

The discussion is, again, framed around whether the Palestinians were violent or about to be violent  meaning: did they ask for it?

The burden of non-violence rests on them alone.

Non-violence as resistance is a stance of great courage. On their journeys, Gandhi, MLK and Mandela understood that it was also a moral tool of dissent, but their position gained visibility precisely because it stood out against a background of violent resistance, or at least the threat of it.

Madikizela-Mandelas advocacy of violence cannot be ignored or sanctified, nor can it be seen out of the context of the violence of the state. All those rushing forward with photos of burning South African Blacks would find their sudden caring for Black lives gaining more credibility if they showed some understanding of the energy and hope her fearlessness instilled around the world.

If Mandela was seen as a saint, it was precisely because Madikizela-Mandela was the deterrent, a counter foil with masses at her command, a realist in full recognition of anti-Blackness, standing there in unrepentant defiance of expectations of her as a woman, as a Black woman, and as a political Black woman.

Surely on the day she died, that was worth celebrating first.

Shree Paradkar writes about discrimination and identity. You can follow her @shreeparadkar
There are reports that an agreement-in-principle is near in the fraught negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement.

If so, we may finally get some idea of how much Canada and Mexico are willing to surrender in order to keep their privileged access to the U.S. market.

The reports were first published by Bloomberg News which, citing unnamed sources, said the U.S. wants to reach a preliminary agreement with Canada and Mexico by mid-April.

Crucial details would be hammered out later.

Still, an agreement in principle should provide a good approximation of the concessions each party is prepared to make.

The U.S. position is that it should make no concessions at all. President Donald Trump insists that NAFTA is biased in favour of Canada and Mexico and has threatened to tear up the agreement unless that alleged imbalance is rectified.

To that end, Washington started with maximalist demands, including one that would require all NAFTA-certified autos sold in the U.S. to have 50 per cent American content.

Its strategy then was to retreat from patently outrageous demands, such as the 50 per cent content rule, to those that were merely high-handed.

Along the way, Trump reveled in mau-mauing Canada and Mexico.

He threatened to impose onerous tariffs on steel and aluminum from the two countries unless a NAFTA deal acceptable to the Americans was reached by May 1.

More recently he linked NAFTA to his perennial demand that Mexico pay for a wall along Americas southern border.

Throughout, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has optimistically insisted that Canada seeks a solution in which all three countries win.

In actual fact, Canada will be lucky to minimize its losses.

After having restructured its entire economy to become an integral part of the U.S. market, Canada has little appetite to walk away from even a diminished NAFTA.

I fear that the Liberal governments brave talk about no deal being better than a bad deal is just that  talk.

Why are the Americans suddenly in a rush to get NAFTA done? There are the well-known reasons  the upcoming Mexican presidential election, the looming U.S. Congressional midterm elections.

Even an agreement in principle would have to reach the U.S. Congress by the end of May in order to be dealt with before the November mid-terms.

There are also practical reasons for getting NAFTA out of the way so Trumps White House can concentrate on his trade war with China.

But Trump also needs a victory. He has called NAFTA the worst trade pact ever. He needs a deal that, to his supporters at least, plausibly seems better.

He must show that he has bested Canada and Mexico.

Some of Trumps demands may prove useful to Canadians. The Americans are said to be floating a proposal that would require auto companies to pay their Mexican workers higher wages. Properly done, a move such as this could stem the flow of auto jobs from Canada and the U.S. to Mexico.

Others, such as his plan to bias government procurement in favour of U.S. companies, are blatantly detrimental to Canada.

There is a precedent for all of this. In January, the U.S. and South Korea began renegotiating a free trade deal that Trump claimed was unfair to the Americans. Last month, they reached an agreement in principle that gave the U.S. virtually everything it had demanded.

In return, South Korea was granted a permanent exemption from Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs  tariffs that never should have been imposed in the first place.

Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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The Deadspin compilation of local Sinclair TV anchors across the U.S. reciting a scripted, mandatory, hard-right mea culpa for journalism is perhaps the most frightening Orwellian performance since the McCarthy witch hunts 60 years ago. Their boss, who hates journalists, made them do it.

My subject is coercion. Who were these people speaking in eerie harmony as each video was combined? Did they go along to get along, the key moral question of this era? Did they disgrace themselves in service to their children and mortgages? I would refuse to write bland sugar-water columns to keep myself safe. I hope.

As the comedian John Oliver put it, Nothing says We value independent media like dozens of reporters forced to repeat the same message over and over again like members of a brainwashed cult.

Read more:

Opinion | Jennifer Wells: Force-fed scripting of TV news anchors a chilling glimpse into Sinclairs ambitions

Opinion | Rosie DiManno: U.S. broadcaster Sinclair has plenty to gain from parroting Donald Trump

I thought they were a spoken-word choir or indeed Choir! Choir! Choir! Perhaps they were an American cheerleader squad pledging allegiance to their school, or a corporate retreat that went too far.

Trump was bouncingly happy. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke, he tweeted. Sinclair owns 193 stations in 39 states. No wonder Trump is cheerful.

When reporters contacted David Smith, executive chairman of Sinclair, he responded with incandescent anger. The print media is so left wing as to be meaningless dribble which accounts for why the industry is and will fade away.

So hard-right Sinclair bullied its helpless staff in much the same way that three members of the hard left of Wilfrid Laurier University bullied a young student, Lindsay Shepherd. How awkward.

The Sinclair script was lengthy but this particular section was remarkable: More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories  stories that just arent true  without checking facts first, the anchors, alone or in pairs, declared in that loud, enunciated, urgent native to American TV news. Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think. This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.

Indeed.

The anchors urged viewers to complain to management if they didnt like the reporting that the anchors were introducing. In other words, staffers were begging viewers to get them fired. That is real Cultural Revolution stuff, when Chinas Red Guards would gather around an innocent, beat him, humiliate him, and force him to confess to his own wrongness, then send him off to distant slavery and/or re-education camp.

WMSN/FOX 47 in Madison, Wisc. refused to air the scripted reading. Their courage despite group pressure fascinates me.

I have written before about the most distressing group photo Ive ever seen. It was in a Found Photography exhibition at the Paris Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in 2011, a silver print photograph taken at a Vienna birth clinic in 1939.

It shows 16 tiny newborns swaddled in white, placed on a white floor cloth, two infants head-to-toe per segment, and arranged to form a living breathing Nazi swastika. I posted it online and quickly deleted it after I realized that people might take offence.

And I dont post it now for a different reason. It would be too popular. The new public tide of open neo-Nazis and white supremacists would love that snapshot.

The Anschluss had taken place the year before, in 1938. Austrians largely welcomed the Nazis and were doubtless scrambling to impress Hitler. Who ordered the photo taken? Did staff approve? Did parents know? Were they given wallet-size copies? Did any unwise parents object?

If the babies were Jewish, which I somehow doubt, they would have been gassed or sent for medical experiments, for some Viennese childrens clinics and hospitals provided that service. Well never know.

The Trump Administration makes lists, collects names, and may even use census info to track immigrants as the U.S. did in 1940 to arrest Japanese-American citizens. It was illegal but was done anyway.

The key in all these scenes of coercion  mass humiliation, the targeting of individuals, the currying of favour  is that its best to protest from the start and to fight in groups, as the brave Parkland students did on gun control. Acquiesce and youre doomed.

Correction - April 30, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly referred to Parkland students as Lakeland students.

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With its developments in artificial intelligence and driverless cars, Nvidia looks especially hot to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Action Alerts PLUS holding Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) - Get NVIDIA Corporation Report just got a big pat on the back from analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The company earned a spot on BofA's US1 list of top investment ideas this week. Analyst Vivek Arya said Nvidia is levered strongly to growth markets including artificial intelligence, gaming, driverless cars and virtual reality, according to a note obtained by Bloomberg.

The recent selloff in chipmakers such as Nvidia makes now a smart time to buy the top sector pick, Arya added, especially ahead of product launches in the space expected in the back half of 2018.

Arya said there is some downside risk for Nvidia when it comes to cryptocurrencies, as the digital assets have broadly sold off in recent weeks. The company's graphics processing units are frequently sought after by cryptocurrency miners in need of strong computing power and a great deal of energy, and a selloff in the space could hamper demand for those units. Despite that downside, though, Nvidia has upside chip potential for personal computer gaming, BofA said.

Arya suggested in his analysis that investors largely have overlooked the "noise" surrounding Uber Technologies Inc.'s recent driverless car troubles. The ride-hailing company has taken heat after one of its self-driving vehicles with a safety operator behind the wheel hit and killed a pedestrian in Arizona earlier this month. Nvidia suspended autonomous car testing on public roads in the wake of the accident, as Uber uses Nvidia's computing platforms in its driverless vehicles.

BofA added that, though Nvidia stock has managed to hold onto year-to-date gains, it is subject to the near-term risks associated with most high-growth tech stocks. Nvidia shares have rallied nearly 120% in the last 12 months. But shares were subject to sector-wide trouble recently and have shed about 9% of their value in the last month.

Arya submitted that Nvidia stock is under-owned, as only 26% of U.S. active fund managers own shares. Nvidia shares gained 1.33% to $223.99 in premarket trading on Tuesday. BofA reiterated a $300 price target for Nvidia shares, implying about a 36% upside to the closing price on Monday, April 2.

While Nvidia got good news despite recent market trouble, fellow Action Alerts Plus holding Facebook Inc. (FB) - Get Facebook, Inc. Class A Report wasn't so lucky. Bank of America Merrill Lynch removed Facebook from the same US1 list this week, suggesting it no longer is among the bank's top investing ideas. Facebook stock has fallen 13.6% in the last month. Shares gained 0.39% to $155.99 in premarket trading on Tuesday.
The world's largest retailer is reportedly interested in doling out $1 billion for a pharmaceutical fulfillment startup.

Maybe it won't be Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) - Get Amazon.com, Inc. Report that disrupts healthcare after all.

Walmart Inc. (WMT) - Get Walmart Inc. Report is looking into buying PillPack for under $1 billion, CNBC reported late Monday, citing two sources familiar with the situation. The company is a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup that fills and delivers prescription medicine. The rumors come on the heels of reports that the retailer is also interested in acquiring Humana Inc. (HUM) - Get Humana Inc. (HUM) Report , the $39 billion health insurance company.

Walmart has its own pharmacy service, which is the fourth largest pharmacy operator in the U.S., according to Pembroke Consulting. The retailer's discussions with PillPack have gone on for months, according to the sources. No deal is finalized, and Amazon has also expressed interest in the company at one point, sources told CNBC.

Walmart and Amazon are among a handful of giants eager to penetrate the trillion-dollar healthcare market. Amazon announced earlier this year that it would form a technology-driven solution alongside JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) - Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Report and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A) - Get BRK.A Report to provide low-cost services to their employees. Meanwhile, CVS Health Corp. (CVS) - Get CVS Health Corporation Report is well underway with its $69 billion merger with insurance company Aetna Inc. (AET) .

PillPack, founded in 2013, has raised nearly $118 million in venture capital funding. Its latest round was led by Astral Capital.

The foray into healthcare, however, will not be easy.

"Very successful people have gone into healthcare and failed," Tom Charland, the founder and CEO of Merchant Medicine, told TheStreet late last year, when reports surfaced that Apple Inc. was in talks to acquire health clinic startup Crossover Health.

"We've seen it before with Microsoft and Steve Case of AOL," he said, pointing to Microsoft's unsuccessful bid to digitize the health-records system and Case's failed health social-network startup, Revolution Health.

Neither Walmart nor PillPack responded immediately to a request for comment from TheStreet.

Amazon and JPMorgan Chase are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AMZN and JPM? Learn more now.
EDWARDSVILLE  A former employee of a Collinsville nursing home is facing a charge of criminal neglect of a long-term facility resident resulting in death.

Charged is Christy R. McCall, 41, of Belleville. She allegedly failed to give CPR to a resident who was having a fatal heart attack on June 30. Bail was set at $25,000. McCall, a licensed practical nurse, was charged Thursday.

A report from the Illinois Department of Public Health states the Collinsville Rehabilitation and Health Care Center was fined $50,000 for an incident June 30, the same date as cited in the charging document. The IDPH report does not mention names.

The fine was doubled, the report states, because of the high-risk situation. The report said the resident suffered from heart disease and other illnesses. The report said the licensed practical nurse whose duty it was to administer CPR was suspended on July 1 and later terminated.

The report states that the resident was found with no pulse and purple lips and was unresponsive. The IDPH report said the facility investigated and determined the nurse failed to act properly in the situation. The report said the nurse who was held responsible told authorities that another nurse had done an assessment, but that other nurse denied having done so.

One of the nurses told authorities that she saw the nurse who was later terminated standing in the doorway but did not enter the room. The nurse who was accused of neglect allegedly said, Oh my God, I dont know what to do, according to the report from IDPH.

The report also states that one of the certified nursing assistants asked the licensed practical nurse what to do about the residents serious condition, but the nurse did not respond and left the room.

The report noted that most of the certified nursing assistants did not know CPR. IDPH authorities later schooled staff members on advanced directives and CPR.

Reach reporter Sanford Schmidt at 618-208-6449.
This is one part of a 10-part series introducing this years YWCA of Alton Women of Distinction honorees. The YWCA of Alton will host the 28th annual Women of Distinction dinner on Thursday, April 19, at 6 p.m. at the Lewis and Clark Community College Commons in Godfrey.

ALTON  Shirley Emons has been well-known in the Alton area for seven decades now, not only for her career of community service, but also for her beaming smile and infectious laugh.

The 2018 Alton YWCA Women of Distinction honoree has been part of countless service projects since her family moved to the area from Kansas City in the 1940s.

Thats where she met her husband, Joe, about whom she still goes giddy when she brings him up.

I was on a date with someone, and he was on a date with someone else, Emons recounts. But his sense of humor really had me. I thought, Thats the guy I want! He called me, and that was it. We both knew. We were married for 61 years. Ive had so many blessings in my life.

When asked to describe herself, the rendition is simply spot on.

Well, Im not very tall, I have gray hair, a loud laugh, she says. A day isnt a good day without laughter, so I laugh a lot!

Emons current labor of love is the Shirleys Kids Campaign, a fundraising driver for Riverbend Head Start and Family Services to help local children in need have access to education.

Shirleys Kids has been a wild success since Emons launched it seven years ago, growing each year. It brought in $9,000 in its first year, $17,000 two years ago and $28,000 during last years campaign.

The first year I did it alone, then I had co-chairs, and the co-chairs would just add new names each year, she said. We do a brochure at the Head Start with pictures of the kids and tell a little bit about them. Its just grown, and grown, and grown.

We have a lot of amazing success stories. These kids are just so cute. Its so rewarding.

Emons recounts reading to a first-grade class recently.

I was just so proud of these kids, and how well they could read, she said. I asked the class how many of them knew of Head Start and about half of them raised their hands. Without Head Start, I know they wouldnt have been reading.

Emons personally discovered the virtues of child education sponsorship programs not long after her husband passed away. After finding a brochure at church, she began sponsoring a 9-year-old girl from Guatemala. That pen-pal friendship lasted 11 years, until the girl turned 18 and was no longer in the program.

She became very special to me, Emons said. It was a wonderful program, and Id get letters and photos from her, and Id send her letters. It was a very rewarding program.

Along with serving on the board at the Catholic Childrens Home in Alton, Emons has more recently joined the board at the YWCA.

Ive got some ideas for the YWCA that I hope the rest of the board will approve, she hinted. Im going to share some things that I hope we can work on.

Emons said she wasnt quite ready to share those ideas in the newspaper, but hinted that theyre pretty ambitious.

Im 89 years old, and feel like I should slow down a little bit, but I just cant!
Theres a 13,000-pound elephant in the room.

Most Americans would like to continue to ignore this beast because addressing it in a forthright, honest manner would force us to admit an ugly truth about the citizens of the United States. Well, I think its time  actually, well past time  to address this issue. If it makes us uncomfortable, so much the better.

The expression an elephant in the room refers to a controversial matter that everyone is painfully aware of but chooses to ignore. Of course, no one is ignoring the sexual indiscretions of President Donald Trump. The media is covering his escapades diligently. Nor is the elephant the loyalty of Republican politicians and evangelicals, who are standing by their man with a faithfulness that would put Tammy Wynette to shame.

So what if Trump screwed around on his wife? Cut him some slack, many Americans say. What man hasnt wanted to make it with a porn film actress and a Playboy Playmate of the Month, who was later voted Playmate of the Year? Dont be so judgmental, they chide us.

Well, my question to these Americans is this: Would you have taken this kind of cavalier attitude toward such lechery if the incumbent president were Barack Obama? Of course not. The ugly, elephant-in-the-room truth is that too many of you have one set of sexual standards for a black president, and another set for a white president.

Think Im libeling my fellow Americans? Lets look at some singularly unpleasant facts. Shortly before his surprise victory in November 2016, a 2005 tape of Trump emerged that featured the future president talking about putting the moves on a married woman. I did try and f**k her. She was married, he said.

Trump also bragged that when youre a star, they let you do it. Grab em by the p***y. You can do anything. While some of us indeed deplored such vulgarity in a presidential candidate, many Americans shrugged it off as Hey, thats just the way men talk about women. No big deal!

Lets suppose that just before the 2008 presidential election, a tape was discovered that recorded Barack Obama using that kind of language regarding women. Would those same Americans who dismissed such lewd remarks from Trump as just guy talk have cut Obama that kind of slack? Of course not. Why? Trump got a free pass because hes white. Obama would have been castigated as a libertine and declared unfit for public office. McCain would have defeated Obama in a landslide.

If a porn movie actress and a Playboy Playmate of the Year had surfaced during President Obamas first term and claimed they had affairs with him, would Republican politicians and evangelical preachers have dismissed these women as mere lying gold diggers who were out to score money?

Youve got to be kidding. GOP members of the House and Senate would already be drawing up articles of impeachment, while evangelicals  more specifically, white evangelicals  would claim such behavior undoubtedly proved Obama was a Kenyan-born Muslim. No Christian with American blood flowing through his veins would behave like this! theyd bellow from their pulpits.

Theres a double standard for First Ladies as well. Melania Trump posed for some risque photos as a young model. Most Americans couldnt care less. Would Michelle Obama have been given a free pass if she had engaged in nude modeling? Republicans and their white evangelical allies would have self-righteously condemned her as a slut who had disgraced our nation.

Some call this double standard for First Couples hypocrisy. I call it racism.

John J. Dunphy is the author of Lewis and Clarks Illinois Volunteers and Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois. He owns The Second Reading Book Shop in Alton.
waters + wild rose + oud perfume Rich and deep. Rose petals harvested at dawn when their perfume is at its strongest, combined with rare, exotic and woody oud giving it a mysterious sensual depth. Volume 50ml. 120.00

A brand new perfume heralds a fresh new start for a lot of folk who put their feelings in fragrances.

Indeed they might be right to.

Expand Close waters + wild rose + oud perfume Rich and deep. Rose petals harvested at dawn when their perfume is at its strongest, combined with rare, exotic and woody oud giving it a mysterious sensual depth. Volume 50ml. 120.00 / Facebook

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Our olfactory system is one of our most sensitive memory triggers - with some believing that our sense of smell is in fact the most closely linked of all our senses to our memories. A perfume can encapsulate a moment in time, bringing us back to the feelings and memories over and over whenever we pick up the scent way down the line.

Which is why when many people choose to wear a fresh new scent on their person on their wedding day, they choose one that is entirely unique to that day (or the time surrounding that day) and therefore the key to unlocking emotions felt on the day way into the future.

For 2018, there are plenty of punchy perfumes on the shelves to choose from for your big day, from Oscar de la Renta's freesia, jasmine sambac and creamy sandalwood Bella Blanca and Elie Saab's wedding-ready White, and Chanel's new-take-on-their-classic Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum Intense to Jo Malone's effortlessly elegant English Fields collection (we'll have one of each, please.)

Of course if you're looking for something completely unique to you there are dozens of delicious options out there too.

Irish brand waters + wild are a certified organic Irish perfume company producing limited edition scents created in small batches from their stone barn in West Cork. Their ingredients are ethically and sustainably sourced from around the globe, and from right on their doorstep on the wild Atlantic coastline - no doubt a brilliant option for those wanting to support an Irish brand and showcase a signature scent for the first time on their big day.

If you're in need of inspiration for your big day scent, one person who many brides look for all aspect of their wedding is of course, the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton.

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In yet another example of 'The Kate Effect', as soon as the name of Kate's wedding perfume was released, Illuminum sold out of their White Gardinia Petals fragrance before a waiting list was eventually set up. In fact even today - seven years since she walked down the aisle - it's notoriously difficult to get a hold of, as is its follow-up best seller Rose Oud (Selfridges has had it in stock in the past, but other than that you're looking at Ebay or Amazon for a whiff.)

Master perfumer behind Illuminum Michael Boadi however is unveiling his brand new perfume collection Valhalla Viking Heroes this summer.

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Watch this space.

Meghan Markle is a fan of a fabulous fragrance, once telling the Express "If I leave the house and I dont put any on, Ill turn around and go back home". The bride-to-be reportedly counts Oribes Cote dAzur Eau de Parfum and Jo Malone's Wild Bluebell and Wood Sage & Sea Salt Colognes among her favourite scents.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Nodame Perfume Bottega Veneta Knot Elie Saab - 'Le Parfum In White' eau de parfum  55.00 -  108.00, Debenhams Tom Ford Orchid Soleil Collection Solid Perfume Compact Marc Jacobs Vera Wang Embrace Periwinkle and Iris Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum Intense / Facebook

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We see her going for something like Fulhum-based Friedemodin, co-founded by German and Sweden born Nina Friede and Elisabeth Modin (working with French perfumer Francis Robert), or possibly British perfumer Boadicea the Victorious - a brand named for a warrior queen that celebrated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's 65th wedding anniversary with an entire collection.

However, if we were betting folk here at THEVOW.ie, our money would be on Ormonde Jayne by Linda Pilkington.

Chershire native Linda grew her perfumery from humble beginnings, selling flowers at the side of the road outside her home, before learning how to make scented candles. She travelled the world as an entrepreneur, working in hotels, farms and ice cream parlours in South America, Africa and the Far East, before returning to London where she continued her career in perfumery by creating the perfect scented candle for Chanel. Eventually Linda set up the Ormonde Jayne perfumery in 2002 in Londons Old Bond Street, where each product is passionately created by Linda and bottled and packaged by hand.

Linda's philosophy is 'the pursuit of beauty and elegance, with the quality of English craftsmanship, the art of French perfumery and the sensuality and natural harmony of the Orient.'
The Indian market is very important for Marriott International, and the company will continue to expand further in the country, said the company's president and CEO Arne M. Sorenson, who was in Bengaluru to launch its 100th hotel in Indiathe 360 room, Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel and Convention Centre, in association with the Prestige Group.

Though China has more hotels than India, and the company has the largest number of its hotels located in the United States, Marriott International has aggressive expansion plans for the Indian market, and already has more than 50 signed projects in the pipeline.

Compared to India, we are big in the US, where we are present since the late 1950s, and have more than 4,500 hotels. In China also we have more hotels than in India, but we have plans to expand aggressively in the Indian market. In the next three years, we plan to expand and add another 50 hotels in India whom...We are currently working on 50 additional leads. If things go well, we may have around in total 200 hotels in India in the next five years. We have seen huge demand for hotels in the leisure segment too, besides the business segment, said Sorenson.

Interestingly, the newly signed 50 projects of Marriott International in the country is a mix of leisure and business hotels and the company has plans to open some hotels in the mid-scale segment in tier II cities like as Jaipur and Ahmedabad. With this the company aims to raise its room inventory to more than 30,000 rooms over the next few years.

The company claims that it is seeing a demand for its upscale and luxury brands, and has currently three Ritz-Carlton projects under development in Pune, Mumbai and Delhi. Marriott today has more than 20,000 rooms and 15 brands in 32 cities across the country and more than 30,000 people currently work for the company in India, and another 3,000 people are expected to join the company in 2018.

Emerging markets, like India, have tremendous growth opportunity for brands such as Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield by Marriott and Four Points by Sheraton, all of which drove our growth last year with seven openings. Growth prospects in the secondary and tertiary markets will continue to be a major focus for us in 2018. said Neeraj Govil, area vice president, South Asia, Marriott International.

Irfan Razack, CMD of the Prestige Group, observed that the hospitality industry is a dynamic one with the needs of the clientele constantly changing. We are dealing across a spectrum of clients with varied needs. Bengaluru, being a technology hub, is a city for business travellers and as a developer, we have capitalised on the business convention traffic. For us, the segment of corporate travel is a major driver for year on year growth of our hospitality portfolio, remarked Razack.

One of the largest hospitality company in the world, Marriott International Inc is based in Bethesda, Maryland, in the United States, and has a portfolio of more than 6,500 properties in 30 different hotel brands across 127 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts all around the globe.
Nearly three years after BJP patriarch L.K. Advani warned that the 1975-77 'Emergency' could happen again, another ally-turned-rival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday has raised the bogey of 'undeclared emergency' against the BJP government.

VHP international working president Pravin Togadia condemned the plan by the information and broadcasting ministry to amend guidelines to curb 'fake news' as amounting to an 'undeclared emergency'.

The move by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which was announced on Monday, has since been rescinded following intervention by Modi.

Togadia called media the fourth pillar of democracy and said agreeing or disagreeing with a media story was up to an individual but 'choking' of media was unacceptable.

In June 2015, Advani claimed that a repeat of the Emergency could not be ruled out as forces that can crush democracy have grown stronger. Advani's remarks were interpreted as being aimed at Modi, who was once Advani's protege.

Togadia and Modi were known to be close up till the 1990s. However, after his ascension as Gujarat chief minister, Modi was accused of trying to cut down to size Togadia's influence in Gujarat, owing to the latter's attempts at interference in government.

In March this year, Togadia claimed the Gujarat government had intentionally reduced his security cover after he was involved in a car crash. In January, Togadia went missing for several hours and was found in a semi-conscious state near the Ahmedabad Airport. He alleged there was a threat to his life from officials close to the PM.
Protests in Tamil Nadu against the Narendra Modi government in the Centre over the delay in setting up the Cauvery Management Board intensified on Tuesday as the ruling AIADMK went on a one-day hunger strike. A section of the traders, milk suppliers and pharmacists downed the shutters to join the protest.

The party began its one-day fast across all districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam sat on a hunger strike along with other ministers and party cadres near the Chepauk stadium in Chennai. Huge crowds were drawn to many of the protest venues.

The AIADMK, which had almost become a puppet in the hands of the BJP after the death of its leader, Jayalalithaa, now looks to cash in the fresh scenario to gain the mass support. Both the chief minister and his deputy, who chose not to speak against the Centre all these days, too, didnt want to miss this opportunity.

However, party insiders say that there is much politics in this protest, too. The two leaders do not want the Cauvery issue to become bigger and turn into a people's protest. They know that there is so much anger against us and the BJP in the Centre. But this one-day token fast will scuttle all the anger, says a party senior who is with neither of the AIADMK factions.

Also, the shutdown called by opposition DMK and other parties on April 5 might get diluted as the ruling party has already taken up the issue well in advance before the opposition could launch its protests. Though opposition leader M.K. Stalin has been vociferous since March 29, the last day of the deadline set by the Supreme Court to constitute the Cauvery Management Board, he seems to have missed the opportunity in garnering the peoples attention. In fact, Stalins request to the Traders Association leader A.M. Vikiramaraja to join the opposition for the protest, instead of going on a strike on April 2, has been turned down.

The ruling AIADMK rushed to go on a hunger strike immediately after the opposition DMK announced it on March 30. In fact, a few days after the Supreme Courts verdict, the all party meeting which was first convened by the DMK, had to be dropped by Stalin, as the chief minister called another meeting. We will take part in the all party meeting convened by the government, Stalin had said and added that the opposition is for the people and will not hesitate to join hands with the ruling party for the welfare of the people.

When the AIADMK decided to go on fast, the traders association and other organisations, too, joined the strike. More than 33,000 medical shops have been shut down across the state, according to Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association. Over 30,000 members affiliated to its association from all the districts will join the protest, said the association. The milk dealers employees welfare association has also joined the protest after 9 am on Tuesday, according to association president S.A. Ponnusamy. The vegetable and flower market at Koyambedu, one of the largest wholesale markets with over 3,500 shops, also closed as a mark of protest.

Demonstrations and protests were also held in front of central government offices in several cities in Tamil Nadu on Monday by various associations. The protests in Thanjavur and other towns in the Delta region saw rail blockades, road rokos and slogans.

It may be recalled that the Supreme Court on Monday, while observing that the word scheme in its February 16th verdict did not mean Cauvery Management Board, agreed to hear the contempt plea of the Tamil Nadu government against the Centre for not constituting the CMB within the stipulated time of six weeks.

Earlier, the court had directed the Karnataka government to release 177.25 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu, reducing the states share of Cauvery water by 14.75tmcft from 192tmcft allocated by a Cauvery River water Tribunal in 2007.
BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress and other opposition parties over their allegations of weakening the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill and assured that the Union government will protect every right of the dalit community.

In a series of tweets, the BJP chief also said the government would protect every right of dalits and continue to fulfil their aspirations.

"Right from the day the Honourable Supreme Court gave a judgment on SC/ST Atrocities Act, central government acted in an immediate and informed manner...," Shah said.

He said at every juncture and in all possible ways, the BJP would stand shoulder to shoulder with the community.

"Modi government's commitment to fulfilling Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's vision is unwavering. All the efforts of the government are aimed at transforming the lives of Dalits.

"We will continue our efforts to make our Dalit sisters and brothers the makers of New India. We will fulfil their aspirations and dreams. Jai Bhim! Jai Hind!" he said.

Hitting out at Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi for his DNA jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah reminded him about how the grand old party ignored Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.

"The Congress, which is mocking the DNA of Prime Minister Modi is the same party which defeated Dr. Ambedkar not once but twice. Made flimsy excuses to ensure his portrait was not placed in Central Hall. Denied him a Bharat Ratna. India has seen through their negative politics!" he said.

Shah lashed out at the political parties indulging in dalit politics and sought their apology for the alleged sufferings of the community.

"Due to the politically driven manifestations of a microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties, crores of innocent people suffered. These parties owe our Dalit sisters and brothers an apology for their misdeeds," he said.

Rahul Gandhi had on Monday slammed the BJP over the dalit issues, saying those challenging the system that keeps their caste at the lowest were hit by violence.

"It is in the DNA of the RSS/BJP, to keep Dalits at the lowest notch in Indian society. Those who challenge this thinking are hit by violence," he tweeted.

Defending the government's move, Shah said that through the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had actually strengthened the provisions of the Act.

"This was done in line with our commitment to the welfare of SC and ST communities," he said.

He also accused both the opposition parties and vested interest groups of spreading panic about reservations among the dalit community before every election.

"The script is now old before every election, the same vested interest groups start spreading panic about reservations. BJP's stand is clear, which I am once again stating - we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to SC/ST communities," Shah said.

He said that MPs from the Scheduled Castes met the Prime Minister in the wake of the apex courts's order and were assured by him that the government was doing everything to protect the rights and wellbeing of the dalit sisters and brothers.
The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both dalits, were set afire by a violent mob on Tuesday afternoon in Hindaun town in Karauli district of Rajasthan, following which curfew was imposed in the area, a senior official said.

A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set ablaze houses of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and former MLA Bharosilal Jatav in Hindaun, Abhimanyu Kumar, district collector, Karauli, told mediapersons.

While Rajkumari is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal is a former Congress legislator who also served as a minister in the state. The incident occurred a day after Rajasthan and several other states saw large-scale protests and violence during a 'bandh' called by dalit organisations.

Considering the law and order situation, curfew was clamped in Hindaun, Kumar added.

He said the situation was tense since morning.

After incidents of stone pelting and arson, a mob set on the houses of the MLA and the ex-MLA, following which curfew has been clamped till Wednesday morning, an official said.

"The traders' association and upper castes are agitated in Hindaun. They took out a procession today and tried to enter the SC/ST dominated areas," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) N.R.K. Reddy said.

"Police forces lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to cane charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse the mob," Reddy said.

Superintendent of Police, Karauli, Anil Kayal said after the incidents of arson and violence, nearly 40 people were detained in Hindaun.
Days after a dalit youth in Gujarat was hacked to death allegedly by upper caste men for riding a horse, a youth from the downtrodden community in Uttar Pradesh moved the Allahabad High Court for protection as he wants to ride on a horse on his wedding day.

Sanjay, a prospective dalit groom, told the court that he wanted to ride a mare to reach the house of the bride. He alleged that the villagers belonging to the upper castes were not allowing him to ride the mare for his barat (marriage procession).

The court, while disposing of his petition, maintained that the matter pertains to law and order and asked Sanjay to seek the help of local police by lodging a complaint. If police refuse to help him, he can file a petition in the lower court.

This is an interesting example of social discrimination amid the ongoing tug-of-war between dalits and upper castes in several parts of Uttar Pradesh.

According to Sanjay, who hails from Nizampur village of western district of Etah, his marriage with Sheetal of the same village has been fixed and he wants to ride a mare on the wedding day. But such a thing has never happened in his village before because the upper caste people have never allowed anyone from dalit community to ride a mare and perform the marriage.

Sanjay said he initially sought the help of local administration but they refused his request out fear that this move could create a law and order problem. Subsequently he moved the high court. The matter was heard by a bench comprising justice Ranvajay Singh and Justice Shashikant.

The court also asked the local administration to submit a report in this connection. After going through the report, the court ruled that there is no need to pass a separate order in this connection. The court observed if someone troubles the groom, he can complain to the police and seek help.
An "independent investigation" into the killing of two Muslim cattle traders allegedly by gau rakshaks in Jharkhand's Latehar district in 2016 has claimed that the state police 'weakened' the case.

The report, brought out by a group of NGOs, including those based in the US and the UK, was launched in New Delhi on Monday in the presence of the family members of the victims.

"Not only did the police not fully investigate the crime on the basis of eyewitness accounts and testimonies, but also failed to press appropriate charges against the accused. This has considerably weakened the case," alleged the report.

The victimsMazloom Ansari (32) and Imtiaz Ansari (12)were beaten and hanged from a tree in Latehar allegedly by gau rakshaks on March 18, 2016. They were ferrying eight oxen to a cattle fare when the incident occurred.

"The main accused has not been arrested in the case and police did not charge the accused for abduction, loot and criminal conspiracy, thus supporting them in the case," said the lawyer of the victims, Abdul Salam.

Senior lawyer of Supreme Court Prashant Bhushan said that the lynchings, allegedly by gau rakshaks, were "endangering" democracy and civilisation of the country.

"Such incidents have increased in the past four years and there is no action despite availability of witnesses and videos of such incidents," he alleged.

"In this case of Latehar, all the accused are on bail and the main accused has not even been arrested, which speaks about support of police to them," he alleged.

The family members of the victim alleged that the accused had issued a threat to Mazloom to stop cattle trading or face the consequences.

"Two of the accused, along with 5-6 other people, had come to our place before the incident. Mazloom had told me that they had asked him to stop cattle trading or he would be killed," alleged Mazloom's widow Saira Bibi.

The report has demanded the police and prosecution work for immediate arrest of the main accused in the case and moved the Supreme Court for cancellation of bail of all the accused.
The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday morning quickly moved to arrest the damage purportedly done by Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, directing that an order released by the I&B ministry at 9.03pm on Monday be withdrawn. Within minutes, the press release was removed from the Press Information Bureau's website. The PMO has directed that the matter of fake news and of fighting it be left to the Press Council of India.

The order, intended to regulate fake news, presented amended guidelines for accreditation of journalists, alarming the journalist fraternity. The withdrawn order stated that the accreditation of a journalist found to have created and /or propagated fake news will be suspended or permanently cancelled.

While it was at once seen as an attempt to undermine the freedom of speech, enshrined in the Constitution, the Editors Guild of India was considering making its stand on the issue public. The media in India is self-regulating, and according to senior professionals on bodies like the PCI and Editors' Guild, instances of fake news have constantly been dealt with for a very long time now.

Considering ministers have been found tweeting fake news, and party staff have been caught generating fake news, the damage to the BJP as well as the Modi government could have been immensely more, had the order not been withdrawn just in time.

The now-rescinded order was unilateral, with Irani not discussing it with any of the media bodies.

.@MIB_India is more than happy to engage with journalist body or organisation/s wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of fake news & uphold ethical journalism. Interested journalists and/or organisations may feel free to meet me at @MIB_India. 2/2  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) April 3, 2018

After Modi's intervention, the I&B minister struck a reconciliatory tone, and tweeted that she is more than happy to engage with journalist body or organisations wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of 'fake news' and uphold ethical journalism.

She, in fact, said interested journalists may feel free to meet her at the ministry.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not uttering a word" on the alleged atrocities on dalits and tribals and "dilution" of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

His remarks at a public meeting in Shivamogga on the fifth leg of his tour of the poll-bound Karnataka came against the backdrop of violence in northern parts of the country during Monday's protests against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The protests during 'Bharat bandh' against the Supreme Court verdict on the issue claimed at least nine lives and left hundreds of persons injured.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the prime minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on dalits and tribals are increasing, and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word," he said.

Gandhi compared the status of SC/ST welfare in Karnataka with the Modi government's actions on the issue.

He claimed that more than half of the money released by the Modi government across the country for SC/ST welfare was being spent by Karnataka itself on dalits and tribals.

He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the "leak" of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.

Lacing his remarks with sarcasm, Gandhi said the prime minister wrote a book (Exam Warriors) telling children how to face the exam, and also gave a lecture for two hours on how to prepare for exams.

He said children took the advice seriously and prepared for the exam with the help of their parents, but when they went to appear for the exam, they were told that the exams were cancelled as the question paper was leaked.

"Modi may have failed in plugging the question paper leak but he may again lecture children how to prepare for exams and will tell them about the dos and don'ts during exam," said Gandhi.

On the one side, question papers are leaked, while on the other election dates are also leaked, Gandhi quipped.

"It seems the RSS has taught Modi that he should stress more on giving lectures. The RSS has taught him to stand, hold stick, wear knickers and speak lies. I think the prime minister is now realising that the nation cannot be run with hatred, lathi, speeches and false promises", he said.

He took a jibe at Modi for the India-China stand-off at Doklam despite "swinging" with China president Xi Jinping.

"Modi and China president swung together. Later, the president responded by saying 'I enjoyed the swing and now I am coming to Doklam'.

"Chinese are building roads and airports in Doklam, but Modi is still swinging. The '56-inch' chest could not speak a word when China entered Doklam," said Gandhi.

He took potshots at BJP state unit chief B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is being projected as the party's chief ministerial face.

Shivamogga is the home district of Yeddyurappa.

"If he looks at the stage properly, on one side (of Modi) there is Yeddyurappa who spent time in jail (in a graft case), on the other side there are four ministers who had been to jail. Modiji, you speak about corruption, when there are corrupt sitting next to you on the stage," he said.

Gandhi quipped that the BJP has now started speaking truth.

"First time the BJP spoke truth. Whatever they had in their mind they spoke it. Amit Shah said (at Davangere) that Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt government. I am happy that he spoke truth for the first time in his life," he said.

Gandhi was referring to Shah's gaffe at a press conference in Davangere on March 27 where he said that the Yeddyurappagovernment was the most corrupt government in the country. He was actually referring to the Siddaramaiah government.

Shah had, however, corrected himself immediately.

The Congress president also reminded Modi that the nation cannot be run with hatred, anger, violence and partiality.

He said, "I have seen many prime ministers such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. One thing is clear. If you want to run the nation, you need to run it with love. You can take the nation to any heights with love. The more you connect people, the country will become stronger," he said.

Before addressing the public meeting, Rahul held a roadshow in the Shivamogga city, with thousands of people standing on the sides of the road to greet him.
A month before the panchyat elections, clashes erupted in different parts of West Bengal, where BJP candidates were prevented from filing their nominations.

From Cooch Behar in North to Canning in South, and Purulia in West to Bangaon in East, BJP candidates were prevented from filing nominations. About 48,000 panchyats, 400 panchyat samities, and 28 Zilla Parisad will go to polls in May.

In East Midnapore district, cabinet minister Suvendu Adhikari said if Trinamool local leaders could make any panchyat opposition-free, then he would give that panchyat Rs 5 crore worth projects.

I have told Mamata didi that if we could use her name and picture we will be able to achieve that. And in that case, if there be any panchyat becomes opposition-free, I will give them Rs 5 crore project, said Adhikari.

In Birbhum, Hooghly and Cooch Behar, senior BJP leaders were beaten up for going to returning officers office to oversee the nomination for their candidates.

Trinamool Congresss Birbhum leader Anubrata Mondal said, If BJP comes to government office to file nomination then they would see what kind of development programme our government has done.

At least 20 BJP leaders from different states have been hospitalised, and many Trinamool Congress leaders accepted that the attacks took place. The TMC leaders, however, claimed that the attacks have nothing to do with polls.

West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has summoned the State Election Commissioner Amarendra Kumar Singh after the BJP delegation, led by state president Dilip Ghosh, told him about assaults on the party leaders for filing nominations.

We have told the governor there is no way free and fair poll could take place. In West Bengal, there is no rule of law, said Ghosh.

The BJP leader had also met with the election commissioner , who expressed his helplessness over the issue.

The election commissioner was completely helpless, and he told us he would have prepared to bring Central force, but state government would not accept his recommendation, Ghosh quoted Singh as saying.

Almost in all BDO offices, where the nominations for panchyat election are to be filed, Trinamool Congress erected camps for their cadres to prevent the opposition parties from entering the BDO office.

Such an environment will mar the panchyat election next month. Though Trinamool is all set to win almost all the seats, political observers fear spilling of blood during vote.

If they really are sure that people are with them, then why there is bloodshed, and why candidates are being prevented. They have understood that their days are numbered, said Ghosh.
Indonesia has declared a state of emergency around a port on Borneo island, officials said on Tuesday, after a large oil spill and fire killed four people at the weekend.

Disaster mitigation officials were able to control the blaze in the port city of Balikpapan but were still working to contain the spill, which started on Saturday and spread over an area of around 12 square km (4.5 square miles).

We have warned the public not to carry out activities that could spark fires, Suryanto, head of the citys environmental agency, said.

Balikpapan, in East Kalimantan, is a major mining and energy hub and home to one of the few oil refineries in the country, run by state energy firm Pertamina.

The state-owned company said it was investigating where the oil had originated and that its own underwater pipeline in the area did not have any leaks. Pertamina said there had been no disruptions to operations.

At this time, our team is prioritising management (of the incident), said Arya Dwi Paramita, external communications manager at Pertamina.
In some of the Mexican towns playing host to a caravan of more than 1,200 Central American migrants heading to the US border, the welcome mat has been rolled out despite President Donald Trumps call for Mexican authorities to stop them.

Local officials have offered lodging in town squares and empty warehouses or arranged transport for the migrants, participants in a journey organised by the immigrant advocacy group Pueblo Sin Fronteras. The officials have conscripted buses, cars, ambulances and police trucks. But the help may not be entirely altruistic.

The authorities want us to leave their cities, said Rodrigo Abeja, an organizer from Pueblo Sin Fronteras. Theyve been helping us, in part to speed the massive group out of their jurisdictions.

At some point this spring, the caravans 2,000-mile (3,200-km) journey that began at Tapachula near the Guatemalan border on March 25 will end at the US border, where some of its members will apply for asylum, while others will attempt to sneak into the United States.

Abeja said there was a lot of pressure from authorities to stop the caravan because of Donald Trumps reaction. The Mexican government issued a statement late on Monday saying it was committed to legal and orderly migration.

The government said the caravan had been taking place since 2010 and was largely made up of Central Americans entering Mexico who had not met the necessary legal requirements.

For this reason, participants in this (caravan) are subject to an administrative migratory procedure, while 400 have already been repatriated to their countries of origin, in strict accordance with the law and respecting their human rights, it said.

Those without permission to stay in Mexico or who had failed to request it through the proper channels could expect to be returned to their homelands, a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Doing little

Trump railed on Twitter against the caravan on Monday, accusing Mexico of doing very little, if not NOTHING to stop the flow of immigrants crossing the US border illegally. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA, he concluded.

Mexicos interior minister Alfonso Navarrete did not directly address the caravan, but he wrote on Twitter that he spoke to the US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday, and that the two had agreed to analyze the best ways to attend to the flows of migrants in accordance with the laws of each country.

Mexico must walk a delicate line with the United States because the countries are in the midst of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) along with Canada.

At the same time, Mexican left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 18-point lead ahead of the July 1 election, according to a poll published on Monday.

A Lopez Obrador victory could usher in a Mexican government less accommodating toward the United States on both trade and immigration issues.

Mexican Senator Angelica de la Pena, who presides over the Senates human rights commission, told Reuters that Mexico should protect migrants rights despite the pressure from Trump.

Former President Vicente Fox called for Mexican officials to take a stand against Trumps attacks. Trump keeps blackmailing, offending and denigrating Mexico and Mexicans, he wrote on Twitter on Monday.

Under Mexican law, Central Americans who enter Mexico legally are generally allowed to move freely through the country, even if their goal is to cross illegally into the United States.

We're suffering

Migrants in the caravan cite a variety of reasons for joining it. Its members are disproportionately from Honduras, which has high levels of violence and has been rocked by political upheaval in recent months following the re-election of US-backed president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, in an intensely disputed election.

Maria Elena Colindres Ortega, a member of the caravan and, until January, a member of Congress in Honduras, said she is fleeing the political upheaval at home. Weve had to live through a fraudulent electoral process, she said. Were suffering a progressive militarization and lack of institutions, and ... theyre criminalizing those who protested.

Colindres Ortega, who opposed the ruling party in Honduras, said she spiraled into debt after serving without pay for the last 18 months of her four-year term. She decided to head north after a fellow congressman from her party put out word on Facebook that a caravan of migrants was gathering in southern Mexico, leaving home with a small bag with necessities and photos of her children.

Pueblo Sin Fronteras has helped coordinate migrant caravans for the past several years, although previously they had a maximum of several hundred participants. During the journey members of the organization instruct the migrants about their rights.

We accompany at least those who want to request asylum, said Alex Mensing, Pueblo Sin Fronteras program director. We help prepare them for the detention process and asylum process before they cross the border, because its so difficult for people to have success if they dont have the information.

Typically, Central Americans have not fared well with US asylum claims, particularly those from Honduras. A Reuters analysis of immigration court data found that Hondurans who come before the court receive deportation orders in more than 83 per cent of cases, the highest rate of any nationality. Hondurans also face deportation in Mexico, where immigration data shows that 5,000 Hondurans were deported from Mexico in February alone, the highest number since May 2016.

Maunel Padilla, chief of the border patrols Rio Grande Valley sector, one of the busiest crossing points on the US Mexico border, said in an interview with Reuters that he worries the caravan could generate interest for other groups to do the same thing, but he was not terribly nervous about coping with the group currently traveling.

Not to be flippant, Padilla said, but its similar numbers to what we are seeing every day pretty much.

-Reuters
In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the US on Tuesday designated Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organization.

In a simultaneous move, seven members of MML central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorist. The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

The election commission had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Today's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeT's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.

In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group.

"LeT members make up MML's leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature," the State Department said.

Concurrently with today's State Department actions, the US Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for on behalf of the LeT: Saifullah Khalid (president), Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi (vice president), Muhammad Harris Dar (Joint Secretary), Tabish Qayyuum (Information Secretary), Fayyaz Ahmad (General Secretary), Faisal Nadeem (Broadcast and Publications Secretary), and Muhammad Ehsan (Finance Secretary).

Today's actions notify the US public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of the LeT. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

"Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeT's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," said Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognized political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

"We will continue to target terrorist organizations like LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades," Mandelker said. He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should "think twice" about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeT's Peshawar headquarters and served on Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD)'s Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

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, including six Americans. It was declared as an FTO by the US in June 2014.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who emerged as a combative anti-apartheid campaigner during her husband Nelson Mandelas decades in jail but whose reputation was later tarnished by allegations of violence, died on Monday at the age of 81.

Madikizela-Mandela died peacefully surrounded by her family following a long illness that kept her in and out of hospital since the start of the year, family spokesman Victor Dlamini said in a statement.

Winnie Mandela leaves a huge legacy and, as we say in African culture, a gigantic tree has fallen, President Cyril Ramaphosa said after visiting Madikizela-Mandelas house in Soweto, where he was surrounded by singing mourners.

She has been one of the strongest women in our struggle, who suffered immensely under the apartheid regime, who was imprisoned, who was banished, who was treated very badly, he said.

An official memorial service will be held for Madikizela-Mandela on April 11 and a national funeral on April 14, said Ramaphosa, who declared earlier that South Africans had lost a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a comrade, a leader and an icon".

A crowd of around 200 people congregated outside Madikizela-Mandelas Soweto home soon after her death was announced, singing and dancing. The cause of death or nature of her illness was not disclosed

Ministers and national figures paid tribute, including retired South African cleric and anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who said: Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among those who offered his condolences from abroad, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The secretary-general is saddened by the passing of Ms Winnie Madikizela Mandela, a leading figure at the forefront of the fight against apartheid in South Africa. She was a strong and fearless voice in the struggle for equal rights and will be remembered as a symbol of resistance, he said.

Reuters


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Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a marine fuel logistics company that markets and supplies refined marine fuel and lubricants to vessels in port, at sea, and on rivers worldwide. The company offers fueling services to ocean-going and a range of coastal vessels, including oil tankers, container ships, drybulk carriers, cruise ships, reefers, LNG/LPG carriers, car carriers, and ferries, as well as to marine fuel traders, brokers, and other end-users of marine fuel and lubricants. It also markets and distributes marine lubricants under the Alfa Marine Lubricants brand; and provides a range of shipping services, such as technical support and maintenance, insurance arrangement and handling, financial administration, and accounting services. As of December 31, 2016, the company owned and operated a fleet of 46 bunkering vessels, including 45 double hulls and 1 single hull special purpose vehicle; 15 double hull bunkering vessels with an aggregate carrying capacity of approximately 292,400 deadweight ton (dwt); operated 10 land-based storage facilities with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 1,075,000 cubic meters; and operated 2 vessels as floating storage facility with a cargo carrying capacity of approximately 86,800 dwt. Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece.

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Albany

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is calling out some of the nation's largest energy companies, utilities and an airline to cut their emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

Last month, DiNapoli's office wrote to ten firms whose stock is held in the state retirement fund, and have the largest emissions of greenhouse gases, which an international scientific consensus identifies as the cause of ongoing man-made climate change.

"As a long-term investor, we want the companies in our portfolio to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability, lower emissions and a low-carbon future," he said. "Climate risk is one of the greatest threats to the state pension fund and its long-term investments."

While the state holds about $2 billion in the stock of the ten companies, representing about 1 percent of the $209 billion Common Retirement fund, those ten firms account for more than 20 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions from all companies in the fund.

DiNapoli's letters urged those companies to commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris climate accord. Last year, President Donald Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. out of the agreement, which could make the U.S. the only country in the world not to be part.

DiNapoli's letters went to:

 Martin Marietta Materials, a construction materials firm.

 Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a diversified firm controlled by billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

 Southern Company, the nation's second largest utility, with nine million customers in the southern states. The company runs coal-fired power plants.

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 Valero Energy Corp. and Phillips 66, which are both petroleum refiners.

 Entergy Corp., a utility with 2.7 million customers in the south, and the owner of the Indian Point nuclear facility in Westchester County.

 Excel Energy, a midwestern utility company with coal-fired power plants with about 5.1 million customers.

 Delta Air Lines.

 NextEra Energy, the nation's third largest utility with about 5 million customers in Florida.

 Calpine Corp., the nation's tenth largest utility with customers across 25 states.
ALBANY  Russian filmmaker Galina Evtushenko comes in peace.

She says she is neither a spy nor a malicious bot trolling social media. She has no interest in hacking our computer networks and is not trying to influence our elections with fake Facebook posts.

What I care about is people-to-people exchanges between our two countries, regardless of the current political climate, said Evtushenko, 62, a Fulbright scholar visiting the University at Albany. I have found Americans to be open and kind and interested in Russian history, culture and literature.

She traveled 5,000 miles from Moscow to foster cultural exchange, educational collaboration and possible filmmaking partnerships. She believes in the stated mission of the Fulbright scholar program: To increase mutual understanding and support friendly and peaceful relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Instead, tensions have escalated between the Kremlin and the West in response to the March 4 poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. Russia and the U.S. have fueled the diplomatic crisis with tit-for-tat mass expulsions of diplomats and closures of consulates in each country.

Foreign policy experts have expressed alarm over the increasingly toxic state of U.S.-Russia relations, which has reached its most bellicose pitch in decades, harkening back to the Cold War. Suspicion and recrimination swirl between the two nations, while the connection between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump remains opaque.

Evtushenko, associate professor of film studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities, would rather not talk about severely strained U.S.-Russian relations. She finds it disheartening. Rather, she prefers to discuss her most recent documentary, A Double Portrait of Two Spiritual Teachers: Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi. Her film uses archival sources to chronicle the little-known friendship, correspondence and shared belief in non-violent civil disobedience between the famous Russian writer and the renowned Indian political activist.

Although they never met in person, we wanted to show in the film how Tolstoys ideas influenced Gandhi, said Evtushenko, who shared directing and writing credits on the 2016 documentary with her daughter, Anna Evtushenko.

The film begins in 1909 when Tolstoy, the internationally acclaimed author of "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina," received the first of six letters written by Gandhi about his campaign for equal rights for Indians in South Africa. A correspondence began.

What one calls non-resistance is, in reality, nothing else but the discipline of love un-deformed by false interpretation, Tolstoy wrote to Gandhi. Love is the aspiration for communion and solidarity with other souls, and the aspiration always liberates the source of noble activities.  Man feels it so long as he is not blinded by the false doctrines of the world.

Gandhi later wrote of their correspondence: Tolstoys views helped me to give a stable form to the idea of non-violent resistance."

Evtushenko screened the documentary in India, where it was warmly received. She has shown her films at festivals in numerous countries across Europe, as well as in Canada and Brazil. She has also received several film prizes and is a member of the Russian Filmmakers Union and the International Association for Cinema Educators.

Evtushenkos connection to Albany began nearly 20 years ago when she met Toby Clyman, a UAlbany professor of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. Clyman was a Fulbright scholar in Moscow at the time and is now professor emerita. Clyman introduced her to Gerald Zahavi, a professor of history and director of UAlbanys Documentary Studies program. He teaches modern American History, documentary film and radio production and history, and is researching Cold War science and politics.

Evtushenko and Zahavi are discussing the possibility of collaborating on a documentary about Zahavis father, a Polish Communist Party district leader who fled Poland just before the Nazi invasion in 1939. He made his way to the Soviet Union, but was arrested as a suspected spy and sent by Stalin's regime to a Siberian gulag.

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As a Fulbright scholar, funded by the U.S. Congress and overseen by the U.S. Department of State, Evtushenko discussed the Tolstoy-Gandhi documentary at the University Club in Albany on March 8. She also discussed her films about Russian history at the University of Rhode Island, where she was joined by four professors who are former Fulbright scholars in Russia and Ukraine. She spoke at Eugene Lang College in New York City and also visited the Golda Meir House, a Jewish senior community outside Boston, where she showed two of her films, Famous Jews and Woe to Wit, or Two Men of Genius: Eisenstein in the Cinema, Meyerhold in the Theater.

She witnessed thousands peacefully participating in Bostons March for our Lives, part of a national demonstration against gun violence on March 24. It impressed me to see children and old people marching together for peace, she said.

Her films examine the cultural history of Russia and stay away from politics as much as possible, as she does in her own personal interactions.

The best way to deepen friendships and relationships is over a conversation at dinner, she said. When they see my films, it opens up a dialogue about how much we share in common.

Paul Grondahl is the director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany and a former Times Union reporter. He can be reached at grondahlpaul@gmail.com
The first round of negotiations on the Mauritius-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), kicked off yesterday at Maritim Resort & Spa, in Balaclava.

The FTA aims at creating the necessary conditions to further expand bilateral trade and investment exchanges between Mauritius and the Peoples Republic of China as well as strengthen economic cooperation in a number of areas of interest to Mauritius.

The two-day event is organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade so as to initiate discussions and agree on the modalities of work on four pillars of the Agreement, namely: trade in goods, trade in services, investment, and economic cooperation.

In her opening remarks the Head of the Mauritian delegation, Ambassador Mrs U. C. Dwarka Canabady, Secretary for Foreign Affairs (SFA), at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, said that the start of talks marks an important date in Mauritius-China economic ties as both countries embark on negotiations of the first ever FTA between China and an African State. She was upbeat that, once implemented, the FTA will contribute meaningfully to further strengthen the economic and trade relations by taking it to new heights.

According to the SFA, it is necessary for both sides to be ambitious for the FTA to be a success, and, therefore it is important to eliminate trade barriers on core products of interest to Mauritius and China as well as on key services sectors. These sectors comprise the financial services, distribution, retailing, insurance, education, legal and accounting, ICT/BPO, agribusiness, medical, and logistics.

Statistics indicate that in 2017 total imports from China amounted to USD 853 million and total exports to China stood at USD 27 million. Ambassador Dwarka Canabady, recalled that China is currently the third main trading partner of Mauritius and the largest source of imports.

Mauritiuss exports towards China have, however, remained limited on a narrow range of products (metal scraps, clothing, and aquatic and handmade products), and, the trade gap between the two countries remains huge, she pointed out adding that the FTA should contribute to closing this gap.

For his part the Head of the Chinese delegation, and Deputy Director General, Ministry of Commerce, Mr Hu Yingzhi, observed that although China and Mauritius are far geographically, the distance has in no way affected the shared long and enduring friendship.

A Free Trade Agreement, he stated, will no doubt provide an institutional guarantee for future Mauritius-China economic, trade and investment relations, further consolidate friendship ties, and contribute to added cooperation between China and Africa on a larger scale.

Moreover, Mr Hu Yingzhi pointed out that China will continue to adhere to the fundamental policy of opening up and actively promote international cooperation through the Belt and Road initiative for policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity. It is in this spirit, he assured, that the Chinese delegation is starting FTA talks with Mauritius, a country which he termed as the most competitive and promising economy in Africa.

The Negotiations

A fifteen-member strong delegation from the Peoples Republic of China is currently in Mauritius for the first round of negotiations. Officials from the Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission; Ministry of Finance; and, Ministry of Agriculture and General Administration of Customs, are also participating.

The thirty-member delegation led by the SFA comprises the Director of the International Trade Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, as well as representatives from the public and private sectors.

The two delegations are taking stock of the documents exchanged by both Mauritius and China on various aspects of the negotiations. The work agenda comprises parallel meetings focused on trade in goods, trade in services, investment, general economic cooperation, and dispute settlement and legal provisions.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amb Monica Juma and her Mozambique counterpart H.E. Jose Condungua Pacheco on 30 March held bilateral talks on the sidelines of President Uhuru Kenyatta state visit to Mozambique.

The two Ministers held bilateral talks on a wide range of issues of cooperation. The meeting was a follow up to earlier discussions between President Kenyatta and his host President Filipe Nyusi which directed the Ministers to fully engage in the areas of cooperation between Kenya and Mozambique.

During the meeting, it was observed that the Joint Cooperation Commission (JCC) entered into and signed in 1991 had not taken off. The State Visit had provided a new opportunity to operationalise areas of cooperation between the two countries earlier discussed. The joint JCC will now translate into Joint Technical Committees (JTC) that will commence work immediately in preparation for talks to be held in Nairobi in June 2018.

Minister Pacheco thanked Kenya for the pledge to open a consulate in Maputo to further deepen the ties that exist between the two countries, and giving citizenship to Mozambicans who lived in Kenya and now form the 43rd tribe of Kenya.

On Defence pact, it was agreed that Kenya will provide training opportunities for the Mozambican army through the National Defence College (NDC) and National Staff College. On their part, Mozambique said that they were ready to cooperate and share their experiences on defence matters.

On mineral resources, Minister Pacheco disclosed that they have huge deposits and reservoir of natural gas in the southern region of the country most of which is exported to South Africa. Mozambique invited Kenya to consider importing the gas. Mozambique also has huge deposits of coal and is ready to export it to Kenyan through Beira Port.

As part of President Uhuru Kenyattas Big 4 Agenda, Amb Juma said the President has made a commitment for the government to increase the GDP share of mining from 7 to 15 percent in the next five years. Through cooperation in mining, therefore, Kenya will borrow best practices from Mozambique.

On the issue of correctional services, Mozambique expressed interest in learning the best practices on Kenyas Justice Reforms system. Mozambique seeks training on how to manage the reintegration process practised in Kenya.

The two Ministers also discussed areas of cooperation in infrastructure, culture and tourism, youth and sports, bilateral air services and food security. Mozambique invited Kenya investors in Agribusiness to take advantage of the available vast tracts of land for floriculture, apiculture and horticulture farming and processing within the value chain.

To increase the volume of trade between the two countries, CS Juma, urged Mozambique to take advantage Kenyas scrapping of visa requirements for Mozambicans travelling to Kenya which takes immediate effect.

Presidents Kenyatta, Nyusi root for a strong private sector partnership

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Filipe Nyusi have assured their commitment to facilitate the private sector to thrive in Kenya and Mozambique.

Addressing a joint Kenya-Mozambique business forum in Maputo, President Kenyatta and President Nyusi voiced their support to grow the private sector in the two friendly countries.

President Kenyatta acknowledged that the private sector was the true driver of economic growth, saying his administration has taken the necessary steps to streamline rules and procedures to ease business operations.

And we, in Kenya, are doing everything we can to ensure we create an enabling environment. We are keenly focused on improving our ease of doing business index. We have simplified the procedures and the rules to make it easier for businesses to operate because we believe if businesses succeed, Kenya succeeds, President Kenyatta said.

President Nyusi encouraged members of the Kenya business community to set shop in Mozambique as a step towards deepening relations between the two countries.

Rooting for increased intra-Africa trade, President Kenyatta called for increased partnership between Kenyan and Mozambican business communities.

He expressed the need for African countries to look at themselves as a continent of potential and a market of over 1.2 billion people instead of seeing themselves in isolation as small countries.

And if we did this, this would facilitate large investments, it would facilitate job creation because today we are exporting our jobs. We are exporting our jobs to China and to other markets because we, ourselves, have not been able to open up our markets in order to attract the kind of capital that we need to be able to create those jobs here on the continent, President Kenyatta said.

The Head of State said the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) treaty by 44 African nations in Kigali, Rwanda, last week was a landmark step towards making it easier for business people to freely move with their goods and services across the continent.

I believe this presents a great opportunity for our private sectors to grow as we aim to push and to deepen both investment and trade across the African continent, President Kenyatta said.

He said closer partnerships between members of the private sector in Africa were key to helping countries to achieve their social and economic dreams.

The private sector is the key for people to people exchange. It is the key to economic growth and through the private sector, you help us deliver jobs and prosperity for our respective nations, the President said.

President Kenyatta singled out the extractive industries, the blue economy, tourism and agriculture as some of the key areas that the Kenyan and Mozambican private sectors could set up joint ventures.

Kenya stands to benefit greatly from your understanding of the extractive industries. Kenya stands to benefit considerably from importing coal and natural gas to power our energy sector, President Kenyatta told the Mozambican captains of industry.

He added: Kenya also stands to benefit from your experiences and your investment in our growing mining sector  you are well ahead of us in that area and we believe we can gain a lot from the investment that can be obtained from Mozambique in these sectors in Kenya.

President Kenyatta said while the continents forefathers struggled for independence, the new generation of leaders have an obligation to turn the political self-determination into economic liberation.

And, that I believe, can only come through the same partnership that existed when our forefathers struggled for political independence. It is our partnership as the new generation of leaders that will bring the economic independence that Africa so greatly desires, President Kenyatta said.

Cabinet Secretaries Amb. Monica Juma (Foreign Affairs and International Trade), Adan Mohamed (Industrialization and Enterprise Development) and the head of the Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique (CTA), Mr Agostinho Vuma, were among the key speakers at the business forum.
Rwanda has been suspended from accessing the American market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), following Kigalis refusal to rescind a decision to lock out second-hand clothes and shoes.

This decision leaves Kigali as the fall guy over a decision that was penned by all the regional Heads of States in Arusha in 2016, agreeing to impose a ban on imports of used clothing and leather products over a three-year period beginning 2019.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have abandoned the joint position, choosing instead, to save the economic benefits that accrue under Agoa.

Agoa is a trade deal that allows beneficiary countries in sub-Saharan Africa to export their products to the US duty-free. It was enacted in the US in 2000 to run to 2015 and renewed to 2025.

Rwandas suspension, if approved by the US Congress, will in the next two months apply to Kigalis Agoa-eligible apparel products, the US Trade Representatives office said.

The verdict was reached after a review of eligibility for Agoa for Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.

The American used clothing industry had in March last year applied for the review after the three countries announced they would in phases ban imports of used clothing and shoes.

Beneficiary criteria

The review found that this import ban harms the US used clothing industry and is inconsistent with Agoa beneficiary criteria for countries to eliminate barriers to US trade and investment.

Based on the results of the review, President Donald Trump determined that Rwanda is not making sufficient progress toward the elimination of barriers to US trade and investment, and therefore is out of compliance with eligibility requirements of Agoa.

Consequently, the president notified Congress and the government of Rwanda of his intent to suspend duty-free treatment for all Agoa-eligible apparel products from Rwanda in 60 days, the US Trade Representative said in a statement.

Washington said the suspension of the benefits, instead of termination of Rwandas status as an Agoa beneficiary, would allow for continued engagement with the aim of restoring market access and thereby bringing Rwanda into compliance with the Agoa eligibility requirements.

Last month, Rwanda said it will not bow to pressure by the US to reduce taxes and lift the ban on used clothes.

The decision we took as the East African Community (EAC) still stands. We want to implement the rules of origin, after finding out that items are made in China, used in the US and dumped in East Africa, said Olivier Nduhungirehe, the State Minister at Rwandas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Co-operation and East African Community, adding that they were still open to dialogue with the US to mitigate any adverse effects that could hamper the ease of business between the two countries.

In its submission during the out of cycle review, Rwanda had argued that its 2016 increase of tariffs from $0.20 to $2.50 per kilo would be in effect for only one year.

It also argued that the decision was informed by a market analysis study of garment industry in Rwanda and the impact of second-hand clothes and footwear on the infant garment industry.

While we agree that the increase in duty applied to the second-hand clothes and footwear many result in reduction of imports of these products to Rwanda, the impact on the US second-hand clothes industry is negligible.

In fact, the imports of second-hand clothes from USA reached only $2 million in 2015, the year before the increase in duty. This amount represents only 0.2 per cent of the $1 billion second-hand clothes industry in USA, Rwandas Ministry of Trade submitted.

Action plan

Rwanda also said it had developed the 2017-2019 action plan for the transformation of textiles, apparel and leather industrial sectors in order to increase the quality and quantity of textile, apparel and leather products for both local and foreign markets.

It is estimated that, if everything is implemented, this could create 25,655 jobs, increase the exports to $43 million and decrease the imports of these products to $33 million by 2019 from $124 million in 2015.

The impact on the trade balance will result in saving of $76 million over the three-years period. So far, the implementation of the action plan since July 2016 has led to a sector growth of 18 per cent over the first three quarters of 2016-2017, substantially above the 6 per cent industrial sector average growth rate, Kigali argued.

The latest determination by the Donald Trump administration spared Uganda and Tanzania after they undertook steps towards eliminating prohibitive tariff rates on imports of used clothing and footwear and committed not to phase in a ban of these products.

The Presidents determinations underscore his commitment to enforcing our trade laws and ensuring fairness in our trade relationships. I commend Tanzania and Uganda for taking corrective steps to address the United States concerns. We have and will continue to work with Rwanda to resolve this situation, Deputy US Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney said.

Economic hardship

Last year, the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (Smart), said EACs 2016 decision to phase in a ban on imports of used clothing and footwear imposes significant economic hardship on the US used clothing industry, and was inconsistent with Agoa beneficiary criteria for countries to establish a market-based economy and eliminate barriers to US trade and investment.

The Smart petition had requested an out-of-cycle review to determine whether Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, members of the EAC, are meeting Agoa eligibility criteria.

The US Trade Representative accepted the petition filed by Smart and initiated an out-of-cycle review of Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ugandas Agoa eligibility on June last year.

A public hearing was held in July in Washington, at which officials from the governments of Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and EAC Secretariat made their submissions.

The US Trade Representative determined that an out-of-cycle review of Kenyas Agoa eligibility was not warranted due to the governments commitment to reverse the tariff to pre-2016 levels, effective July 1, 2017, and a commitment not to ban imports of used clothing through other policy measures.

Tanzania and Uganda also made similar commitments during the course of the out-of-cycle review.

Watch list

However, Dar es Salaam and Kampala will still be on the US watch list with the latter saying it will monitor whether the two countries implement the commitments and demonstrate compliance with all of Agoas eligibility requirements.

Ugandas Finance Minister Matia Kasaija in 2016 had increased the rate of the environmental levy imposed on used clothes from 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the cost, insurance freight (CFI) value in a cocktail of taxes in the post-election budget.

This was done after the altering of the Excise Duty Act 2014 to increase taxes in the Finance (Amendments) Bill, 2016.

In their submissions at the review, Tanzania and Uganda argued that the doubling of levies on used clothing imports, from $0.20 to $0.40 per kilogramme was instead realignments with the current value rather than prohibitive tariff increases.

Former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade in Tanzania Adolf Mkenda in his submission said that question of an increase or a decrease in tax, duties, fees is a fiscal decision, which has been implemented as part of annual fiscal measure during budget submission and it is a sovereign legitimate budget decision.

Tanzania also argued that the EAC decision is yet to be implemented thereby Smarts loss of jobs claim cannot be justified.

Statement on suspension of Rwandas AGOA eligibility for apparel exports, in response to restrictions on second-hand clothing

The notification by the United States on suspension of duty-free status for Rwandan apparel products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) follows a decision by East African countries to raise tariffs on second-hand clothing imports, in order to promote local manufacturing capacity in garment and other industries.

AGOA is a commendable unilateral gesture to African countries, including Rwanda, meant to promote trade and development through exports. The withdrawal of AGOA benefits is at the discretion of the United States.
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Cosmetics and skin care products are formulated to make you feel beautiful, but often the ingredients they contain are less than attractive on their own. The following list reveals some of the more questionable substances that appear in the beauty aisle, and while readers may have different reasons for not liking these, it's always a good idea to familiarize oneself with what's going in and on our bodies. It's also a valuable reminder that requesting natural or naturally-derived ingredients in place of synthetics may result in them coming from unexpected places.

1. Cochineal Beetles

Mark Williamson / Getty Images

If you're using makeup that has 'carmine' in the ingredient list, that means its color is derived from cochineal beetles. These insects are native to Mexico and are crushed to release their vibrant red dye. PETA says 70,000 insects are crushed to produce 1 pound of dye, which obviously raises ethical issues for vegans. Life & Style reports that Starbucks stopped using the ingredient in its Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino, due to public outrage, but it can still be found in many cosmetics, from Burt's Bees to Physician's Formula to Jane Iredale (certain cosmetics, no skin care products) and more.

2. Snail Ooze

Photography by Mangiwau / Getty Images

A number of anti-aging skin creams contain the slimy gel left behind by snails on the move. The mucous-like secretion is primarily marketed as an acne treatment, but it's supposed to be good for healing scars and burns and deeply moisturizing skin. A quick search on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database revealed a number of snail-based face masks.

3. Infant Foreskin

Anna Efetova / Getty Images

Baby foreskins contain a protein called epidermal growth factor (EGF) that high-end spas like to use in anti-aging, skin-firming treatments. EGF can be formulated using other ingredients, such as human tissues like skin and kidneys, and stem cells that have been taken from newborn foreskins and cloned for cosmetic use. Quartzy reports that celebs such as Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett have all gone for the so-called 'penis facial' and even Oprah has endorsed a cream with foreskin-related compounds in it.

4. Mink Oil

Noomi Bertilsdotter / EyeEm / Getty Images

Mink oil has been used in cosmetics and hair products since the 1950s. It is made by rendering the fat from a mink carcass, then is purified, bleached, and deodorized. Cosmetics & Skin reports that the discovery was made when mink farmers' hands became incredibly soft after killing the animals. Despite later research showing that mink oil is really no more effective than a plant-based oil, it continued to be added to cosmetics, mostly because of its glamorous prestige, and unfortunately still is to this day, although in small quantities.

5. Ambergris

James R.D. Scott / Getty Images

Ambergris is a traditional fixative ingredient used in expensive perfumes. It is ejected by sperm whales as a black slurry that floats on the ocean surface and eventually solidifies into a rock-like substance that washes up on shorelines. One ambergris collector explained:

"Research in modern times would suggest that it primarily forms in the whale's intestines and would be excreted from the animal (rather than being vomited out from the stomach). Despite this research, many people still refer to ambergris as whale vomit."

Ambergris has been enormously valuable for millennia, used medically and cosmetically by everyone from ancient Egypt to the Middle Ages to present day Parisian perfumers. It is no longer allowed in the US, but international trade is still legal.The concern is in the dwindling numbers of sperm whales, which are down to approximately 350,000 from 1.1 million estimated before whaling became widespread.

6. Tallow

Clara Bastian / Getty Images

Tallow is a hard fatty substance made from a rendered cow carcass. Although it's not considered toxic to human health, it is obviously a problem for vegans, who do not want to use animal products, but Environment Canada calls it a suspected environmental toxin, presumably due to the industrial agriculture methods that produce it. Derivatives include Sodium Tallowate, Tallow Acid, Tallow Amide, Tallow Amine, Talloweth-6, Tallow Glycerides, Tallow Imidazoline.

7. Plastic

gerenme / Getty Images

Oh, plastic. The ingredient we cannot seem to escape, no matter how hard we try. Plastic appears in a few forms, such as Teflon -- yes, the non-stick pan coating. Melissa reports that the EWG has found teflon in "foundation, sunscreen/moisturizer, eyeshadow, bronzer/highlighter, facial powder, sunscreen/makeup, mascara, anti-aging, moisturizer, around-eye cream, blush, shaving cream (men's), facial moisturizer/treatment, brow liner, and other eye makeup."

Plastic also shows up in the form of microbeads, which serve as an exfoliant, despite the fact that there are many natural ingredients that could stand in for this with far less environmental impact, such as sugar and salt. Microbeads have been banned in New Zealand, Canada, Sweden, the U.K., and several U.S. states, but there are still products, particularly makeup and lip gloss, that are not covered in many places. Avoid products containing 'polyethylene' and 'polypropylene.'
It comes from using recycled material, but unfortunately it's only temporary.

A British supermarket chain called Co-op Food has announced that all of its store-brand bottles of water will soon be packaged in 50 percent recycled plastic. While this may not seem like a significant announcement, the new bottles will appear darker and cloudier than traditional plastic water bottles. Indeed, a picture on Co-op's website (pictured above) reveals a bottle that looks almost yellowed and dirty compared to the pristine bottles next to it.

At first I thought it was a very clever anti-marketing strategy. The less appealing a bottle of water is, the less inclined a person will be to buy it. But then I read environment manager Iain Ferguson's comment in the Daily Mail:

"Suppliers are working hard to make the bottle clearer  and they already have. In the meantime, our bottles will wear this greyish colour which I see as a badge of honour  we are part of the market for recycled products and are proud of that."

I don't know why Co-op is having trouble coming up with a fully clear bottle, considering that other countries like Germany and Sweden have already done it, but the story got me thinking about how interesting it would be if retailers who were serious about plastic waste reduction took a page out of Co-op's book, and purposely made their single-use packaging as unattractive as possible. Imagine if all single-use plastics had to be tinged or dulled in a way that turned people off, in order to discourage use?

Given the option between a cloudy recycled bottle or a perfectly clear glass bottle that could be returned and refunded in a reverse vending machine in many locations around a city, which would you choose? I know I'd go for glass, without a doubt.

Co-op is calling the move a 'trial,' saying it will "enable us to see if our members and customers are ready to ditch aesthetically pleasing packaging for more environmentally friendly packaging." The wording makes it sound as if Co-op itself isn't yet certain it wants to make the transition to half-recycled plastic; but the chain is aware of the environmental benefits, estimating that it will save 350 tonnes of plastic annually.

Obviously a far better option would be simply to eliminate single-use plastics and implement reusables in every store, but until that happens, 'dirty' water bottles might be an interesting path to pursue.
There is a saying that time heals all wounds.

But for Helen Bergendahl, the passage of time has done little to heal the heartbreak of losing her mother six years ago.
Last Sunday, dealing with the potential I saw in many of the young players who competed in the recently-concluded CPL T20 cricket tournament, I introduced the issue of race in sports, as highlighted by several black American athletes who used the stage of the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 to confront racism head-on.
Hey! so I am traveling to Australia in November and I hopefully will have a job lined up in Agnes water in November, and then potentially at crescent head over December - January.

It's just occurred to me that means for NYE / NYD I'll be around that area.

What are peoples suggestions about NYE/NYD around that area? Where to go / what to do?

I'm into house/techno/DnB music festivals or events with good DJ line ups (if you know of warehouse project or creamfields in the UK then that's my vibe) ... so i'm not sure if where i'll be heading over NYE/NYD offers anything like that! I know Sydney (which is about 6hrs away) will probably have the best on offer. Because I have nothing confirmed yet I could always change my travel plans if i'm spending Christmas / New Year in the wrong place ;)

So - Where's the best place to be for NYE / NYD 2018/2019 in Australia in NSW?
We are a family of 4adults wanting a recommended all inclusive flight & tour of the Canadian and American sides of the falls.

We are staying in midtown NY and want to do a quick trip in a day, as we may never have another chance to visit the falls.

Have been researching and looking at reviews, but really need help in determining reputable company.

Do not want to plan it myself, just want one price upfront.

Can anyone steer me in the right direction??

Thanks :)
A 14hr flight and 14 time difference is hard on the body  plan a lite itinerary for the first couple of days.

Business Class on JAL was far better than on US carriers, however, it was considerably more expensive. If you can find a fare within a few hundred dollars, definitely book JAL.

If at all possible, fly to/from Haneda as opposed to Narita. Not only is Haneda much closer to center city, it is a nicer airport (we fly into Haneda and out of Narita).

My itinerary was Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Hiroshima. In hindsight, I think I would reverse the itinerary to ease into the culture and big cities.

The train and subway stations in Tokyo (and to a lesser extent Osaka) are insane, even during non-rush hour. There is English signage, but we still got lost several times. Most of the stations are HUGE, with multiple exits. Google Maps was somewhat helpful, but not always. Strangely, Apple Maps was better at some locations, directing us to the specific exit to take, however, we found Google Maps worked more times than not.

Many of the stations offer wi-fi which improves the accuracy with Google/Apple maps. Download the JAL Explore Japan Free Wi-Fi app before you arrive (dont need to be a JAL customer). The app automatically connects to most free wi-fi locations so you dont have to waste time joining the individual locations.

Every train/subway station we visited had at least a few shops that sell food, drinks, personal items etc. Some of the larger stations had entire malls with 100+ stores and restaurants. They are crowded, very crowded.

Download the Hyperdia app just before you leave (its only free for 30 days, then you have to pay). Hyperdia tells you the best route to take for most all trains & subway lines. It includes prices and timetables. Everything I read said to get a Japan Rail Pass, but after evaluating options via Hyperdia, we determined the pass was not a good deal for us.

If you going to be in Tokyo for more than a day, download a subway map. There are several available, but we liked Tokyo Subway Navigation and City Rail Map. Definitely get a Pasmo or Suica card. Despite what I read on-line, they were welcomed in each city we went (to include Hiroshima).

There is not a dedicated luggage storage area on the bullet trains. There is overhead storage at each seat that can accommodate a small-to-medium US airline carry-on bag. We discovered the last row of each train has a space behind the seats that can accommodate 2-3 large bags, so we always booked the last seats in a particular car AND showed up 15-20min early so we could be the first to board. We paid extra for the Green Car (first class) which really isnt worth it, except that it isnt as crowded as the other cars, and we wanted to increase our chances of being able to store our bags.

Most of the locals use a luggage forwarding service as opposed to bringing large bags on trains. We used it once and it worked out great. It cost $17 (based on size of bag) and it takes 1 day between most cities. The bag will be waiting for you at check-in at your next hotel. Everything I read indicated this is very safe.

Taxis are plentiful, but expensive. Most drivers do not speak English, nor can they read English/Roman spelling of Japanese words. Make sure you ask for a business card when checking into each hotel so you can show this to the taxi driver (or local if you are walking and lost). All but one taxi we took accepted credit cards.

The Japanese have an affinity for Kit-Kats  there are 40+ different flavors. I think we got 30 of them.

We went to the major department stores in each of the cities we visited. They are all set up the samethe top floor has table service restaurants (most surprisingly good), while the lower level has grocery and take-out counters. We often wanted to have a quick lunch in one of the lower level food court areas, but they dont offer seating. One time we just sat on the stairway with others.

We did private walking tours in each city and I highly recommend this as a way to explore and get to experience more than if you just take a guided bus tour (we used Chris Rowthorn Tours and were very pleased).

While in Tokyo, we did a day trip to the Mt. Fuji Five Lakes area, and while in Osaka, we did a day trip to Nara  highly recommend both. Out of all the places we visited, Kyoto was, by far, our favorite.

Apparently, the big cities have a very regimented lunch hour  12-1p. Everything is packed during this time, so plan to eat before or after this time. Also, dinner reservations, even at casual restaurants are recommended. Many locals eat out almost every night, and many restaurants are small.

Most locals dress pretty conservatively (dark colors).

Tipping is not expected (in fact, it can be insulting)  the only exception is for private tour guides.

We dont speak any Japanese, but between Google Translate, hand gestures, and patience, we had no problems.

At least half the restaurants we went to (and many temples/shrines) required us to take our shoes off  bring slip-ons and nice socks (barefoot is a no-no). If you have a problem sitting on the floor (or getting up from the floor), tell your concierge/guide before they make restaurant reservations for you.

One of the best meals we had was a ramen shop in which you ordered from a vending machine and then sat down to be served. You can buy beer, soup, hot coffee, and ice cream all from the same vending machine.

Restrooms were plentiful everywhere we went  most were western-style (many with the fancy Toto washlet), but we did encounter a couple of the squat toilets at a couple tourist spots. I believe everywhere we went we found toilet paper, however, at least 50% of the time there were no paper towels or even a hand dryer (a few places didnt have hand soap). So, bring hand sanitizer and some napkins.

Many restaurants give you a warm wash cloth or handiwipe, but offer no napkins. Most places also do not give you water unless you ask. Half of the restaurants we went to did not accept credit cards.

7-Eleven is everywhere and is the best bet to get cash via an ATM. The snacks and prepared food is surprisingly good  much better than in the US.

There are almost no trashcans on the sidewalks in any of the big cities  carry your trash with you or dump it in the first can you find. People dont eat or drink on the subway, but they feast on the bullet trains.

The Japanese people are incredibly friendly and helpful (sometimes too much so). Go with an open mind and you will have a great time.
If you just move from Kyoto to Tokyo oneway by Shinkansen, the 7 day JR Pass does not pay off: it costs @14,000 yen from Kyoto to Tokyo by standard JR tickets, while the 7 day JR Pass costs 29,110 yen. Even if you step by somewhere, such as Hakone or Kawaguchiko, the JR Passes will not pay off, unless you return to Kyoto or Osaka and fly out from Kansai Airport.

Thus, if you buy the 7 day JR Pass, I recommend you to round trip somewhere, such as Hiroshima/Miyajima, from Kyoto/Osaka before you come to Tokyo.
We are considering traveling to Japan either the Dec 23-29 or 29-Jan 4. I understand that the New Year is a very busy time of year as it's an important holiday. The other week will be spend in Taiwan.

As first time visitors to Japan, would it be better to avoid the holiday? I'm concerned about closures or extreme crowds at attractions and on transportation. Will hotel and train reservations be really difficult to secure at that time? If so, how far in advance do I need to start reserving?

On the other had, I think it would be great to see how the holiday is celebrated in Japan. I've only started to research about Japan, so I'm not really sure what we will be interested in seeing. The only places we will be sure to visit are DisneySea, The Ghibli Museum, and Kyoto to visit a friend. She said that she will be visiting with her parents or in laws from Jan 1-3, so I have to keep that in mind. We love sushi and Japanese food in general so are looking forward to eating at various restaurants. Shopping, too, now that I think about it. My kids love Hello Kitty!

Thanks!
During rush hours, the taxi cab is probably slower than the subway (and about $70).

The cheapest, and pretty easy, way, is the Airtrain ($5 per person) to Jamaica, then the "E" subway train ($2.75 per person) to 34th St, and that's it. If you get out at 42nd (one stop before) there is an elevator, and maybe an 8-minute walk down to 34th St (or wherever you hotel is). The whole ride from the airport to 42nd St (with the elevator) is 55 minutes at most. And it only will cost you $15.50.

Where is your hotel? (Saying "Penn Station" can imply a lot of different subway stations, believe it or not). It's like London, with 4 stations near Euston, for example.
What advise do you want. Hotel recommendations? Having some idea of your budget and knowing your exact dates (because prices fluctuate) is important for that. Few people are truly not worried about the price. Even if they aren't, knowing price gives some sense of the level of luxury they are after. If they are willing to spend $750/night, it means they want a very nice hotel and would be unhappy with the $250/night option a block away. Others just look at pricing and decide to go for something "mid range" because they don't want to do the highest or the lowest, while others say "mid range" but then balk when told that mid-range hotels are getting $400 for their dates.

Would you be sharing a room with two beds?

Central Park is big. Booking a hotel near Central Park south makes sense,especially given your desire to go to Times Square at dawn, but there are also hotels in the Upper West Side and Upper East Side that are near Central Park. I think you want Central Park South.
The software development industry is among the fastest growing enterprises in Kenya. There are hundreds of software engineers in Nairobi and beyond. However, this has made it difficult for business investors and operators to find the right software development company to partner with. Usually, these people require tweaked solutions to their software needs. As a result, TUKO listed some of the best and most trusted software development companies in Kenya to make easier for people to locate them. The software companies listed below provide the best and unmatched services and products to their customers.

Software companies in Kenya

As the world continues to become more technologically advanced, both in businesses and homes, the demand for seasoned software companies in Kenya continues to rise. All things considered, most organizations basically don't have the in-house abilities that are offered by software development companies, driving many to look for other options. Furthermore, since globalization keeps businesses on toes technology-wise, enterprises are compelled to search for lean methods for enhancing their business or disappear into oblivion. Today, in the over-saturated universe of applications and programming, providing incredible customer experience is the way to progress.

Software development companies in Kenya - Importance

Software development companies in Kenya provide a wide range of software solutions to clients who are looking for twerked services. Regardless of whether it is office atomization of provision of data-driven arrangements, these companies are the best solutions for all your needs. They will provide excellent services to you, give you and your company free training, and still charge reasonable prices for all their effort.

These companies understand the need for quality in all their services and solutions, and thus ensure they stick to that diligently. Using a good software development company helps you get the best modern-day solutions that secure your place in the competitive market. Most of these companies are located in Nairobi since it is the silicon valley of Kenya. However, they have branches that are aside from other companies that are also located in various towns across the country.

List of software companies in Kenya

1. Best software engineering in Kenya - Accfin (E. A) Ltd

source: accfinea.com

Accfin is a top level, one-stop custom software development company with a talent pool of seasoned developers. Established in 2006, incorporated in 2008 and headquartered in Nairobi, with a branch office in Mombasa, Accfin is known for conveying innovative software solutions and engaging applications to their customers.

In ten years of service, the company has exponentially grown to acquire both local and international organizations to its group of important clients through recognizing, delivering and servicing their specific needs in the shortest time possible. They help VC-supported new businesses and quickly developing tech organizations assemble effective, scalable products that users adore. Their strong point is the dexterous devoted groups of splendid personalities who rock in Sage 300 ERP, Sage X3 ERP and Busy Accounting.

Their concentration is in the business procedure  bookkeeping, client service, HR and finance. They know how to make Sage products fit into their clients; businesses and not the other way round,

Location Nairobi, Vision Plaza, along Mombasa Road

Visit Accfin (E.A) Ltd

READ ALSO: 8 best 24 hour food delivery Nairobi companies

2. Kenya web experts - Symphony

source: scitechoutpost.com

Symphony, a leading software development firm in Kenya provides defect-free and profitably lucrative tweaked software solutions to organizations and brands. Established over 35 years ago, the organization has created a name for itself in the industry. The strong team of developers and engineers at Symphony has a lot of experience and admirable skills in working with developing innovations and providing a wide range of tech solutions. In fact, it takes some of the top brains from Kenya institute of software engineering.

Over the years, Symphony has set up workplaces in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia. Symphony likewise has Business Partners in Eastern and Central Africa. Its reputation has seen it partnering with understood brands like IBM, ACER, ORACLE and numerous others.

Symphony helps customers to transform their organizations carefully by providing master software designing and consultancy services. They convey cutting edge developments to Fortune 500 organizations, huge ventures and innovation challengers, enhancing the ways they work and boosting the value they create for the advanced world.

Location: Symphony Place, Westlands, Nairobi

Visit Symphony

3. Software Kenya Developers - Impax Business Solutions Ltd

source: impaxafrica.com

Impax is a revolution, a dependable partner, responsible service provider, faithful friend, and your motivation that has worn a major quill for world-class software development. With a solid presence in Nairobi Kenya and activities crosswise over Africa, Impax is hailed as the most sought after organization in software development space that provides software solutions to their customers with their expert group of developers. They give business solutions and consultancy services in the territories of money related and bookkeeping systems, business process computerization and portable arrangements

Established in 2003, Impax work with enthusiasm to breathe life into your ideas and make outstanding applications for start-ups and corporates. They are known for providing excellent services that solve business issues once and for all and improve overall business performance.

Location; Lower Hill, Masaba Road, Abcon House, 4th Floor, Nairobi

Visit Impax Business Solutions

READ ALSO: List of Best Kenyan Companies by Sector in 2018

4. Best Software engineering in Kenya- Oracle Systems Ltd

Source: smartinvestor.co.ke

Oracle Systems Ltd is a well-established Software Development Company in Kenya resolved to provide end-to-end technology services in web, cloud and mobile. Although based in the USA, the company has a huge international presence and operates in more than 175 counties worldwide, including Kenya.

This is a company that demonstrates mastery and perfection in each phase and of Software development and deployment. This one-stop shop centers on vigorous programming and flexibility to create basic Software items. The Oracle team works on a wide range of technologies from open source to exclusive and custom built solutions.

From ideation, outline, development to Software deployment, the organization has effectively conveyed database Software and innovation, cloud designed frameworks and undertaking Software items to a considerable lot of its customers.

Location: Delta Towers, fourteenth Flr, Chiromo Rd, Nairobi

Visit Oracle Systems Ltd

5. Best web hosting Kenya- Oracom (K) Web Solutions

source: oracom.co.ke

Another one of the best software companies in Kenya. Oracom Web Solutions is a web and mobile company with expertise in development of complex and challenging projects. They provide full cycle Software development, beginning from raw idea analysis to web design. In more than 6 years of operation, the firm has a fruitful history of conveying extraordinary Software projects to SMBs and enterprise level businesses. The profoundly gifted and proficient team of Software engineers at Oracom creates Software solutions for different categories including database management, SaaS based applications and e-commerce Software. They have offices in Kenya, Canada and Belgium.

Location: Muthithi Rd, Nairobi

Visit Oracom (K) Web Solutions

READ ALSO: List of 15 Best International Companies in Kenya in 2018

6. Software engineering in Kenya- Sage Software (E.A) Ltd

source: perezbox

With over 28 years of experience in the industry, Sage has been named among the most dependable firms offering world-class software solutions in Kenya. They use type of technology that guarantees benefits to their users, which has improved the trust and confidence that Kenyan customers have in this company. Their thoughtful tried and well-executed solutions are sure to meet the need of each of their customers. Their capacity to create front line Software solutions has seen it grow and operate in 35 nations in Africa and have over 55 000 associations utilizing our product arrangements.

Their products are tailored to help in Accounting, HR and Payroll, Business Management Solutions, Customer Relationship Management and Business Intelligence Management. They rethink and improve business bookkeeping through splendid innovation, working with a flourishing group of business visionaries, entrepreneurs, tradespeople, bookkeepers, accomplices and engineers

Visit Sage

7. IT companies in Kenya- Basesys Solution Ltd

source: basesyssolution.com

Basesys Solution Ltd is a full-stack cloud Software development organization headquartered in Nairobi. This light-footed company is one of the best IT companies in Kenya which uses cutting-edge technology advancements to deliver fit-for-purpose software solutions that scale with clients' business needs. Basesys has worked with some of the most demanding venture-funded startups as well as mid-to-large enterprises to render functional software products that users adore. They a one-stop solution to all of a companys Information Technology needs including software and hardware requirements of the modern organization. They are known to deliver world class easy to use products that are pioneers in their individual regions. This has empowered them to give clients up to the point business answers for their different needs and give them an edge over their opposition.

In reality as we know it where innovative changes happen now and again, it is paramount that a chosen business solution is the correct one for that time and the not so distant future. BSL has been supporting its customers to accomplish upper hand at the commercial center by giving faultless software solutions.

Visit BSL

Source: Tuko Breaking News Latest
- The president described the late as a heroine and liberator

- He recognised Winnie's role in the fight for freedom during the Apartheid

- Other Kenyan leaders including Raila Odinga also paid tribute to the fallen leader

- Winnie fought for freedom alongside her late husband Nelson Mandela

President Uhuru Kenyatta has paid tribute to the late Winnie Madikizela Mandela who passed away on Monday, April 2, at Netcare Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In a statement seen by TUKO.co.ke on Tuesday, April 3, the president said he was saddened by the passing of the African heroine who he recognised for her role in the fight for liberation of South Africans from Apartheid.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

President Uhuru Kenyatta pays tribute to the late Winnie Mandela who passed away on Monday, April 2, in South Africa. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Facebook.

READ ALSO: Winnie Mandela dies at 81

"We have lost a heroine and a liberator. Though born before formal apartheid, she came of age in state devoted to White domination. She chose a life of service and valour, qualifying as a nurse, and devoting herself to the struggle for African liberty," the president said.

He highlighted some of the painful struggles that Winnie went through during the fight against the Apartheid rule and when her husband Mandela was in prison.

"When he (Mandela) was jailed, she (Winnie) continued the fight, against incredible odds, and held her family together, even when she was exiled, jailed and continually tormented by the apartheid state. In the end, her courage was rewarded," Uhuru said.

READ ALSO: Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama were first black Presidents of their countries - see when they met

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela passed away on the afternoon of Monday, April 2, 2018, at the Netcare Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo: New York Post.

Other leaders who also paid their last respect o the late African leader were Deputy President William Ruto and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga who eulogized the late for her role in the struggle for liberty in South Africa.

"Winnie Mandela was the embodiment of the long and persistent struggle to liberate the people of South Africa from the racial segregation regime," Ruto said.

"Winnie Madikizela Mandela led a bitter and dedicated struggle against the brutal Apartheid regime in South Africa, holding fort when her then husband Nelson Mandela was in detention. In the process, she became the physical symbol and centre of the struggle for freedom in South Africa while the husband remained the spiritual centre of the anti-Apartheid movement," Raila said.

READ ALSO: Mandela, Great World Leaders Clung To Fiction

According to Winnie's spokesperson Victor Dlamini, who confirmed her death, the anti-apartheid fighter "succumbed peacefully" after battling an unnamed illness for several weeks.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga: Full Speech at Harambee House - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko
- Matiang'i said government facilitated Miguna's return as was ordered by courts

- He accused Miguna of refusing to co-operate with the authorities by providing his travel documents

- The Interior CS denied Miguna was detained and accused Miguna's lawyers of peddling

- He equally blamed the courts for denying him opportunity to be heard

- Miguna was dramatically flown to Dubai upon his return from deportation

Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i has vehemently refuted reports the government failed to facilitate return of lawyer Miguna Miguna and re-deported him when he landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on March 26, 2018, from a seven-week deportation.

Appearing before Parliament's Security Committee on Tuesday, April 3, alongside Inspector General (IG) of Police Joseph Boinnet and former director of immigration Gordon Kihalangwa, Matiang'i said Miguna frustrated government's efforts to admit him upon his return from Canada.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i has rubbished reports the government failed to facilitate return of lawyer Miguna Miguna and re-deported him.Photo: Vitctor Imboto.

READ ALSO: Court slaps Matiang'i, Boinnet with KSh 200,000 fine for defying orders related to Miguna case

"When he arrived he refused to give his Canadian passport to be stamped by the Immigration officials. When we took to him citizenship application forms to fill he shredded them into pieces," Matiang'i told the Committee.

The Interior CS also accused Miguna's lawyers of lying to courts and the country that the NRM general was arrested and detained at the airport.

"His lawyers lied in the court that he was arrested and that his passport was confiscated. Miguna was not detained. He was not in custody of the police. He himself has admitted he deliberately refused to surrender his passport," Matiang'i said.

READ ALSO: Migunas blow-by-blow account on how he ended up in Dubai against his wish

High Court Judge George Odunga on March 29. 2018, sentenced Interior CS Matiangi, IG Joseph Boinett after they failed to appear in court. Photo: TUKO.

According to Matiang'i, the government did not deport but rather removed Miguna from the airport as an undocumented passenger on transit after he refused to surrender his travel documents.

The CS clarified the use of a Kenyan ID as a travel document is only applicable to travel between and within the East Africa Northern Corridor nations of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Southern Sudan.

"We always comply with the law," he said.

READ ALSO: Raila Odinga attends sentencing of CS Matiang'i, IG Boinnet

And that was not all. Matiang'i equally took issues with the courts and some of the judges who presided over the Miguna case.

He sensationally claimed there was a clique of judicial officials and activists determined to ensure the government does not function accordingly.

READ ALSO: I receive court orders everyday, if you pay attention to them you can't even work - Matiang'i

NASA leader Raila Odinga, Jimi Wanjigi, Makau Mutua , among those who attended the court session at Milimani Law Courts on Thursday, March 29.Photo:Edwin Ochieng/TUKO.

The CS bemoaned the recent ruling by Judge George Odunga who found him and other senior state officials guilty of contempt of court and fined each of them KSh 200 ,000.

"We were condemned unheard on the basis of lies. I have never been served any court orders.This is something that I can prove in the court of law. I am not aware of any attempts to serve me a court order," the CS claimed.

READ ALSO: Migunas blow-by-blow account on how he ended up in Dubai against his wish

Matiang'i's claim that he has never been served with court orders, however, appeared to contradict an earlier statement he made in Makua, Kiambu County on March 20, 2018, while addressing members of the public.

"Everyday Boinnet and I are receiving court orders saying appear personally, appear there, appear here, appear everywhere, you know... If you follow everything that goes on you can't even work," he said.

Miguna was allegedly re-deported after three days of back and forth with authorities at JKIA.

READ ALSO: Miguna Miguna leaves Dubai for Canada

The controversial political activist was bundled into a Dubai bound plane on the evening of March 28, despite court orders demanding his release.

He left Dubai for Canada on Sunday, April 1, and vowed to return to Kenya.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Miguna Miguna's return: Chaos at Jomo Kenyatta Int. Airport (JKIA) - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko News
- Twenty three-year-old conman who swindled MPs will undergo medical tests at Mathari mental hospital

- Court also ruled that Benson Wazir Chacha be locked up for four days to allow police complete investigations

- He was arrested by a team of Kenyan and Tanzania authorities on his way to Zanzibar

- He is alleged to have slept with over thirteen female MPs and posseses footage of the escapades

- Chacha is staring at numerous charges including fraud and impersonation

The suspect believed to have been extorting cash from politicians and other Kenyans will be confined to police cells for four days, a Nairobi Court ruled on Tuesday, April 3.

TUKO.co.ke has established 23-year-old Benson Chacha will be incarcerated to allow police complete investigation.

The court also ordered Chacha to undergo mental assessment at Mathari Mental Hospital after his lawyer claimed that he has mental challenges.

Chacha wil be confined to police cells for 4 days.Photo: el chapo junior/Instagram

READ ALSO: Bishop survives death after rungu wielding-attacker trips and falls before injuring the man of God

Senior Principal Magistrate Christine Njagi issued the order when Wazir Benson Masubo, alias Wazir Chacha, appeared before her on Tuesday, March 3.

The investigating officer, Chief Inspector John Kipruto, told the court that he needed more time to complete his investigations.

Police needed to retrieve some exhibits to be used as evidence against the culprit.

READ ALSO: Tanzanian man terrified after finding coffin outside his house

Chacha was using MP Sabina Chege's name to defraud politicians. Photo: Nation

However, the defendant's lawyer Job Geresa, opposed the application, claiming it was unfair to his client, whom he alleged suffers from a brain tumour.

The suspect is currently being held at Central Police Station and the case is set to be heard on 9th April.

As formerly reported by TUKO.co.ke, the fraudster was nabbed in Tarime, Tanzania, with the help of high level intelligence gathered from both Kenyan and Tanzanian detectives.

READ ALSO: Jamaa wa Kisumu aapa kufa kwa ajili ya Miguna Miguna

Chacha was involved in an affair with Bomet County Woman Representative, Dr Cecilia Ngetich. Photo: TUKO

Chacha, a former Ministry of Devolution employee whose extortion spree has seen a number of leaders fall victim, was using the name of Murang'a Woman Representative Sabina Chege.

According to police reports the suspect has been involved in intimate relationships with more than 13 female legislators.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Source: Tuko
- The self-styled NRM leader urged Boniface Akumu not to kill himself

- He told the ardent supporter to instead focus on mobilizing others to join NRM

- The 'general' was flown back to Canada via Dubai after days of drama at JKIA

- Akumu felt Miguna was being mistreated and went on hunger strike to pass a message

Embattled self-styled National Resistance Movement (NRM) leader Miguna Miguna has reacted to reports that a man from Kondele in Kisumu County went on hunger strike and tried to kill himself following his re-deportation.

In a statement seen by TUKO.co.ke on Tuesday, April 3, Miguna urged the staunch NRM supporter and human rights activist Boniface Akumu not to starve himself to death.

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Lawyer Miguna Miguna receiving treatment in Canada after he was re-deported via Dubia upon his dramatic return to Kenya.Photo: Citizen TV.

READ ALSO: Picha za kudhihirisha, mbunge Sabina Chege alikuwa rafiki ya jamaa aliyewalaghai wabunge, seneta

"The NRM Ke comrades thank Mr. Boniface Akumu for showing total commitment to the struggle. However, I urge him and others not to die," Miguna said.

He advised Akumu to instead focus on mobilising more Kenyans to join NRM Kenya and push for the electoral reforms, which is one NRM's agendas.

READ ALSO: We did not deport Miguna and never disobeyed any court order - Matiang'i

Boniface Akumu has allegedly starved himself for days to protest the government's 'mistreatment' of Miguna Miguna. Photo: Denish Ochieng.

Akumu left many confused after he went on hunger and starved himself for days in a desperate attempt to push the government to facilitate the return of Miguna.

According to the activist, he had his last meal on Thursday, March 29, before he embarked on the self imposed starvation, which he claimed his family fully supported.

READ ALSO: Miguna is back in the country from Canada

I do not care even if I die of hunger. I have been very upset with the way the state has been abusing the rule of law. We cannot continue living like this where the Constitution is not respected at all and our rights as Kenyans are also ignored, he lamented.

TUKO.co.ke understands the human right activist has been keeping vigil at Kondele roundabout to protest re-deportation Miguna.

READ ALSO: Anglican Church condemns how government treated Miguna

The barrister returned to Kenya on March 26 but was denied entry into the country and re-deported after he declined to surrender his Canadian passport.

Though the besieged political activist had been granted freedom by courts, the government allegedly continued to detain.

The government insisted Miguna renounced his Kenyan citizenship and had to reapply for it.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Miguna Miguna's return: Chaos at Jomo Kenyatta Int. Airport (JKIA) - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko
- The government had claimed the NASA activist denounced his Kenyan citizenship years back

- Questions however arose on how a non-citizen was cleared to run for a political seat

- Former immigration boss Kihalangwa told parliament the lawyer's national Identity card is invalid

- The politician will now have to follow due process in regain his citizenship

The saga surrounding deportation of Miguna Miguna took an ugly twist on Tuesday, April 3, after the government claimed he used a fake ID to vie for Nairobi seat.

The outgoing director of immigration Gordon Kihalangwa told members of the National Assembly Committee on Security the embattled lawyer's national identity card is invalid.

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Kihalangwa who is now the Principal Secretary (PS) State Department of Immigration maintained the opposition politician will have to follow due process in re-acquiring his citizenship just like any other Kenyan.

"Miguna's ID is invalid and if he decides to regularise his citizenship, he will have to go through a process to regularise it," he said.

READ ALSO: Miguna's deportation is a national security issue - Matiangi

Ex-Director of Immigration Gordon Kihalangwa told members of the National Assembly Committee on Security the embattled lawyer's national Identity card is invalid. Photo: Immigration Kenya/Twitter.

READ ALSO: I'll be back in Nairobi soon - Miguna Miguna

Immigration PS noted the ID card Miguna is currently holding now is an illegal document and he must apply for a new one while applying for a passport

The government had claimed the NASA activist denounced his Kenyan citizenship years back after acquiring Canadian citizenship and never bothered to reclaim it, Miguna vehemently denied this.

Following his first deportation to Toronto, questions emerged on how a non-Kenyan was cleared to vie for Nairobi gubernatorial post.

It is a requirement for anyone seeking to run for a political seat in Kenya to produce among other documents a valid national national identity card.

READ ALSO: 13 Responses from Miguna Miguna on Twitter that proves he is hard to deal with

Following his first deportation to Toronto, questions emerged on how a non-Kenyan national was cleared to vie for Nairobi gubernatorial post. Photo: Miguna Miguna/Twitter.

READ ALSO: Jamaa wa Kisumu aapa kufa kwa ajili ya Miguna Miguna

Earlier, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i denied reports the government failed to facilitate the lawyer's return and re-deported him when he landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on March 26, 2018, from a seven-week deportation.

The controversial political activist was bundled into a Dubai bound plane on the evening of March 28, despite court orders demanding his release.

He left Dubai for Canada on Sunday, April 1, and vowed to return to Kenya.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Fred Matiang'i, Joseph Boinnet and Gordon Kihalagwa slapped with Ksh.200,000 fine - on TUKO TV

Source: Tuko
- Nwankwo Kanu has announced his intention to run for president in Nigeria

- The former Arsenal star is seeking to replace current president Muhammadu Buhari

- His intent was inspired by George Weah's recent feat in Liberia

Legendary Arsenal star Nwakwo Kanu has announced he will contest for the president of Nigeria 2019 during the country's general elections.

TUKO.co.ke understands that the move was influenced by George Weah's recent feat in Liberia where the former Monaco player became the 25th President of Liberia.

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"George Weah's victory in Liberia is a pointer that this dream is very realistic with you all on my side," he declared.

READ ALSO: More than one million Egyptians vote for Salah in presidential elections

The former Nigerian striker when he scored a hat-trick for Arsenal legends against AC Milan Glorie. Photo: Mirror

READ ALSO: Antonio Conte reveals the cause of Chelsea's dismal outing this season

Kanu, who also featured for Inter Milan during his active days said he he had the dream of economically transforming Nigeria, vowing to improve the country's living standards.

My presence here today is about the future of our country and the happiness of our people. The last 18 years of leadership has witnessed a decline in all critical sectors of life in Nigeria, plus general insecurity in the land," Goal.com quoted the 41-year old.

READ ALSO: Lionel Messi posts awesome photo of his new born baby

In his announcement, the two-time African Player of the Year further pledged 'to do things differently.'

Also, Ill do all it takes to wrestle corruption which has become blatant and widespread. The rest of the world looks at Nigeria as the home of corruption," he said.

If I get your mandate, I promise to do things differently and restore honour and integrity to public service by keeping the best and attracting the best." he added.

READ ALSO: Meet the most successful footballer of all time and it is not Ronaldo or Messi

The former Portsmouth's declaration comes days after more than one million Egyptians voted for Liverpool star Mohammed Salah in an election the 26-year old did not contest.

The 1995 Champions League winner is hoping to replace the ageing Muhammadu Buhari, thereby becoming Nigeria's fifth president.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Source: Tuko
- The Interior CS however clarified Miguna will have to regularise his citizenship

- Matiang'i said Miguna's current citizenship status is not recognized in 2010 Constitution

- Miguna refused to fill citizenship registration forms when he returned to Kenya

- The NRM leader also refused to surrender his Canadian passport to Immigration officers

- He produced his ID instead, which the CS said is only applicable to travelers within East Africa

Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i appears to have soften his stand on Miguna Miguna's citizenship saga and is now more than ready to facilitate his return from Canada, but on condition he will co-operate with the authorities.

Addressing Parliament's Security Committee on Tuesday, April 3, Matiang'i admitted the besieged Miguna is indeed a Kenyan citizen by birth and would only need to regularise his citizenship in accordance with the 2010 Constitution.

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Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i rubbished reports the government failed to facilitate return of lawyer Miguna Miguna and re-deported him.Photo: Vitctor Imboto.

READ ALSO: We did not deport Miguna and never disobeyed any court order - Matiang'i

"There is no doubt Miguna was born in Kenya. But in line with the 2010 constitution, any one who took up citizenship of another country lost his or her Kenyan citizenship. Parliament enacted a law on how one regains that citizenship," he said.

Matiang'i clarified the use of Kenyan ID as a travel document is only applicable to those traveling between and within the East Africa Northern Corridor nations, that is, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Southern Sudan.

READ ALSO: Miguna Miguna deported again

Lawyer Miguna Miguna receiving treatment in Canada after he was re-deported via Dubia upon his dramatic return to Kenya.Photo: Citizen TV.

Immigration Principal Secretary (PS) Gordon Kihalangwa, who also appeared before the Security Committee, alongside Matiang'i and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet, added the ID card that is in Miguna's possession is an illegal document.

"He must apply for a new one while applying for a passport," Kihalangwa told the Security Committee members.

READ ALSO: Miguna's Canadian passport sneaked out of JKIA, complicates matters for immigration officials

Miguna was re-deported back to Canada via Dubai after he declined to produce his travel documents upon his arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on March 26.

The self-proclaimed National Resistance Movement (NRM) leader instead brandished his national ID card as proof he was a Kenyan and should be allowed to enter the country freely.

The authorities did not agree with Miguna, leading to a stand-off and drama that lasted for days.

READ ALSO: Jamaa wa Kisumu aapa kufa kwa ajili ya Miguna Miguna

Matiang'i, however, rubbished media reports that Miguna was detained and re-deported.

The CS told MPs the barrister was removed from the airport as an undocumented passenger on transit after he refused to surrender his travel documents.

"Miguna was not detained. He was not in custody of the police. He himself has admitted he deliberately refused to surrender his passport," Matiang'i said.

Miguna Miguna's return: Chaos at Jomo Kenyatta Int. Airport (JKIA) - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke
- The vocal scholar took issue with the way government agencies handled Miguna

- The controversial political strategist has previously supported push for seccesion

- He claimed for a long time communities from Western and Coastal parts of the country have been marginalised

NASA strategist and economist David Ndii had on Tuesday, April 3, sensationally revisited the secession debate and called for dissolution of Kenya.

In a long Twitter thread, the vocal scholar took issue with the way government agencies handled NASA activist Miguna Miguna's case.

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He observed the state can not take away one's birthright even if they acquire another country's citizenship

READ ALSO: NASA's strategist David Ndii sensationally claims Kenya's president should be in rehab

The vocal scholar took issues with the way government agencies handled NASA activist Miguna Miguna's case. Photo: ODM Alert/Twitter.

READ ALSO: NASA strategist David Ndii given a dress down after suggesting Uhuru should be impeached

"There is no issue more important in a state than citizenship. If the state can take away a birthright it did not confer, then it is time to rethink the state," he posted.

READ ALSO: Migunas ID used to contest for Nairobi governorship is invalid - Government

The government has insisted while Miguna was born in Kenya, he lost his citizenship when he acquired Canadian status under the old constitution.

The firebrand lawyer thus needed to reclaim his Kenyan status so he could qualify for dual citizenship under the current constitution, promulgated in 2010.

Ndii was however quick to say his rant had nothing to do with the deported activist but respect for fundamental rights and freedom.

"Kenya is a make up of Luoland, Kisii, Ukambani Turkana etc. Kenya cannot take away our birthrights. We can dissolve Kenya," he added.

READ ALSO: We did not deport Miguna and never disobeyed any court order - Matiang'i

The firebrand lawyer thus needed to reclaim his Kenyan status so he could qualify for dual citizenship under the current constitution, promulgated in 2010. Photo: Miguna Miguna/Facebook.

The controversial political strategist had in the recent past supported push for separation.

In a document Petition for Self Determination, he claimed for a long time communities from Western and Coastal parts of the country continued to be held captive by members of a certain tribe.

We the people of Western Kenya -Luo, Luhya, Tesos, Kisii, Kuria, Coastal Kenya-Swahilis, Mijikendas, Pokomos, Giriamas, Taitas, Tavetas, North West Kenya -Turkana, Pokot, intends to file a communication/complaint with the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights in Banjul to grant us our human rights of self-determination of forming our own state, the petition reads in part.

READ ALSO: Motive behind dramatic arrest of NASA's strategist, David Ndii, established

The controversial political strategist had in the recent past supported push for separation. Photo: NASA Coalition/Facebook.

READ ALSO: Miguna touched by Kisumu man who wanted to die for him

The debate on whether some regions should seek self-determination is not a new one in Kenya even though the NASA technical team awakened it following claims of electoral fraud in 2017.

"Nations are not concrete because members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their-fellow members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion", he wrote in 2016.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Read more.

Miguna Miguna's return: Chaos at Jomo Kenyatta Int. Airport (JKIA) - On TUKO TV

Source: Tuko
- Omanga commended Kiambu politician Gathoni wa Muchomba for endorsing polygamy

- Wa muchomba stirred controversy when she asked wealthy Kikuyu men to marry several wives

- Wa Muchomba said it is only through polygamy that the country can tackle single parenthood

- Omanga recently hit headlines after she refused Governor Sonko's job as his deputy

Curvaceous nominated senator Millicent Omanga is the latest female legislator to endorse polygamy if her online post is anything to go by.

In a Facebook post seen by TUKO.co.ke on Tuesday, March 3, the controversial senator applauded Kiambu Woman Representative Gathoni Wamuchomba for supporting polygamy as a solution to improper parenting.

"Gathoni wa Muchomba, I celebrate You. We have to get out of hypocrisy and tackle the issues and challenges killing our family setup as they are! No two way about it," a portion of her post read.

READ ALSO: Court orders mental tests on man suspected to have conned MPs, slept with 13 female MPs

READ ALSO: Picha za kudhihirisha mbunge Sabina Chege alikuwa rafiki ya jamaa aliyewalaghai wabunge, seneta

This comes barely hours after Wamuchomba found herself on the receiving end from Kenyans for her bold remarks.

"At a time when our children have taken to wandering in the streets for lack of care, abandoned by the very men who should bring home the bacon, Gathoni you have stood to be counted, called out all cowards masquerading as men, who are quick to sow the seed and equally quick to disappear through the cracks of the hind wall...leaving the heavy burden of nurturing to women alone," Omanga went on.

The outspoken senator commended the Kiambu county Woman Rep for advocating for polygamy as a way of curbing single parenthood and challenges facing youths in Kenya.

READ ALSO: Female MP on receiving end for suggesting men should marry many wives

As formerly reported by TUKO.co.ke the Woman Representative stirred controversy after advocating for polygamy among wealthy men from her Kikuyu community.

Omanga, known for her gorgeous physique and outspoken personality, was on the spotlight recently following her dismissal of Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko's job offer as deputy governor.

Story of Kenya's new polygamy king with 18 wives and 32 children (Trailer)

Source: Kenyan Breaking News
- Anerlisa Muigai has proved she is still loaded by flaunting a multi-million ride

- The lass showed off a white Range Rover just days after she was accused of failing to pay up a KSh 20 million loan

- The Nero CEO recently extended a philantropic hand towards five single parents

- Among the beneficiaries of her philanthropy was the Nakuru mum who was pictured in a wheelchair being wheeled to work by her 10-year-old son

Kenya's richest heiress Anerlisa Muigai, on Tuesday, March 3, confirmed she was doing well as far as her finances are concerned by showing off her multi-million ride.

Taking to Instagram, the beautiful Anerlisa shared a photo of herself standing in front of a pricey white Range Rover accompamied by a Godly caption.

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''When we pray, God hears more than we say, answers more than we ask, gives more than we imagine in his own time and in his own way,'' she wrote.

READ ALSO: Kenya's richest daughter Anerlisa Muigai explains how she was conned into a KSh 20 million debt

Anerlisa's public show of wealth came barely days after she was entagled in a serious controversy with claims that she had bailed on a KSh 20 million loan.

As reported by TUKO.co.ke earlier, the Nero CEO found herself in a tight spot after a local daily published a story which alleged she was languishing in debt of up to KSh 20 million acquired from a shylock.

News about the debt KSh 20 million was first made public by the shylock himself, identified as Dennis Mwangeka who accused Anerlisa of failing to pay up the money.

READ ALSO: Kenya's richest heiress Anerlisa Muigai gifts Nakuru mum seen getting wheeled to work by son

Anerlisa Muigai flaunts a multi-million Range Raver.Photo: Anerlisa Muigai/Instagram

READ ALSO: One of Kenyas richest daughter suspiciously deletes all photos of her latest boyfriend

The lass, however, refuted the claims holding the whole melee was just an attempt by two renown businessmen to extort her.

In a bid to cleanse her name from the whole debacle, Anerlisa recently extended a philantropic hand to five single parents to celebrate them as the world marked Easter.

READ ALSO: 18 mouth-watering photos of new Nairobi Diaries actress Barbie which leaves nothing to the imagination

Among the beneficiaries of her philanthropy was the Nakuru mum who was pictured in a wheelchair being wheeled to work by her ten year-old.

Anerlisa had promised to buy a whole month shopping for the Nakuru mum and four other single parents, a promise she fulfilled on Sunday, March 1.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Amazing Story of DJ Euphorique: Uhuru Kenyatta's DJ (Person Documentary) | Faces of Kenya

Source: Tuko Breaking News
The severe blow the tourism sector took, the agricultural sector, and surviving the covid19 pandemic, were just some of the areas THA Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis focused on, on delivering his Republic day message, to the people of Tobago.
A resident of the town of Chuhuiv, who fought on the side of the "LPR" terrorist group, has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in Kharkiv region, the press service of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office has reported.

"Chuhuiv Town Court in the region found a 29-year-old man guilty of violating the territorial integrity and integrity of Ukraine, participating in activities of armed groups not envisaged by law, illicit handling of ammunition and explosives (Part 1 of Article 110, Part 2, Article 260, Part 1, Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the statement reads.

According to Tetiana Sotnikova, the head of a directorate at the regional prosecutor's office, the court sentenced the culprit to three years and six months in prison.

According to the report, the prosecutor's office proved in court that in November 2014, in the town of Brianka in Luhansk region, the man voluntarily joined an illegal armed formation of the "LPR" terrorist organization - the USSR Brianka battalion. There he was provided with firearms, ammunition, uniforms and other military equipment.

The man returned home in late 2017. He brought three RGD-5 hand grenades, which were seized during searches in his home, the prosecutor's office added.

The suspect is currently in custody.

The court verdict did not come into force, because the suspect still has the time to challenge the ruling in a court of appeal.

op
Do you try to keep a track of everything your better-half is doing through the day on his/her mobile phone?

Saudi Arabia and weird laws go hand-in-hand! Riyadh has banned "spying" on your spouse's phone and it is now a criminal offence in the West Asian country.

Article 3 of the law states: "The punishment ranges from imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, and a fine of not more than 500,000 riyals or either one of these penalties". The official (English language) statement from Saudi Arabia's Information Ministry read, "Married individuals planning to spy on their spouse in Saudi Arabia will need to think twice, because such an activity could potentially attract a fine of 500,000 riyals ($133,000), along with a prison term for a year". The provision is aimed to "protect morals of individuals and society and protect privacy".

The statement read that this step is taken in between the gradual increase in cybercrimes including embezzlement, blackmail and defamation.

Impacto: Jugador de Universidad de Chile es candidato a Rey Guachaca

Se pondra un buzon para recibir los cupones en Apoquindo 4660 , Las Condes . Las entradas estaran a la venta a traves de Punto ticket.

Hamill surprised at Star Wars: The Last Jedi backlash

Fans, Rian Johnson included, will learn Luke's fate when Episode IX hits theaters on December 20, 2019. But then you still read someone saying they wish you were dead and it's going to ruin your day".

Chinese taxi driver reunited with missing daughter after desperate 24-year search

Wang Mingquing chose to become a taxi driver with hopes that he might pick his daughter as a passenger in Chengdu city. Kang Ying told reporters tearfully: "The whole world told me I didn't have a mother - but I do!" thecover.cn reported.

The latest announcement came as Saudi Arabia continues to liberalise its strict policies, especially that deal with women.

Since the crowning of the Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the Kingdom has undergone multiple changes and a series of highly-publicised policy changes.

Saudi Arabia's past cybercrime legislation has drawn criticism from global rights groups, who say the kingdom uses the laws to crack down on dissenting voices on social media.

It instructed that any kind of suspicious activity be reported through the government-run app "We are all security".
Russian-backed militants continue to violate the Easter ceasefire. The aggressor launched 20 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area in Donbas over the past day.

This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center.

In Donetsk direction, terrorists fired 82mm mortars at Ukrainian positions in Pisky (12km north-west of Donetsk). Defenders of Butovka coal mine (11.4km north-west of Donetsk) came under grenade launcher, heavy machine gun, sniper and small arms fire. The enemy also used grenade launchers to fire at Ukrainian strongholds outside Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk) and Kamyanka (62km south of Donetsk), heavy machine guns  near Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk). ATO troops also came under small arms fire near Talakivka (20km north-west of Mariupol), Hnutove (19km north-west of Mariupol), Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), Pavlopol (30 km northeast of Mariupol) and Vodiane.

In Luhansk direction, ceasefire was observed.

No casualties were reported in eastern Ukraine in last day.

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The contract for provision of two Island-class patrol boats has been finalized, the command of the Naval Forces of Ukraine announced.

"We will receive the boats free of charge, but their transportation, crew training, and other related costs are covered by the state," said Commander of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vice Admiral Ihor Voronchenko, the press service reports.

As noted, the U.S. Department of Defense has already been informed about the readiness of the Ukrainian side to receive the boats under stipulated terms.

"We expect the US to announce the date of the final conference on elaboration of the main terms of the contract, during which it is planned to determine the final costs associated with the transfer of the boats and performance time," the statement reads.

The process of transfer of the boats will start after the contract is signed. This process also includes training of the personnel who will serve on the Island-class patrol boats.

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No Ukrainian soldier has been injured in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) area in eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO issues, Colonel Dmytro Hutsuliak said this at a press briefing on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"The situation along the line of contact has not changed significantly over the past day. Russian-backed troops were active in the Donetsk direction as before. At the same time, the good news is that none of our defenders was injured in enemy attacks," he said.

Hutsuliak also noted that ceasefire was observed in the Luhansk direction.

The Ukrainian military opened fire only one time using weapons not prohibited by the Minsk agreements, the spokesperson added.

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In March 2018, Ukrainian coal production reached 2.996 million tonnes, which is 107% of the planned targets.

The Trade Union of Coal Mining Industry of Ukraine informed this on April 2 with a reference to the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry.

"In March 2018, coal mining enterprises of Ukraine of all forms of ownership extracted 2,996,467 tonnes of coal. The plan was fulfilled by 107%, reads the report.

In particular, the production of coal mines managed by the Energy Ministry made up 389,419 tonnes, which amounted to 97.7% of the planned targets.

The production of coal mining enterprises of all forms of ownership totaled 8,331, 077 tonnes of coal since the beginning of the year, which is by 560,177 tonnes of coal more than targeted.

The production of coal mines managed by the Energy Ministry made up 1,186, 361 tonnes of coal since the beginning of the year, which is 101.4% of the planned targets.

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The world's largest AN-225 Mriya transport aircraft will take off for its first commercial flight from Leipzig, Germany.

"April 3, 2018, the world's largest An-225 Mriya transport aircraft departs from Kyiv to Leipzig (Germany), from where it will take off for its first commercial flight," Antonov State Company reports on Facebook.

As noted, the departure from the airport "Kyiv-Antonov" in Hostomel is scheduled for 17:00.

No details about the commercial flight are disclosed.

An-225 Mriya (NATO codename: Cossack) is the world's largest and most powerful transport aircraft, created by the Ukrainian Antonov Design Bureau. Having a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes, it is the heaviest aircraft in the world.

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The Honorary Consulate of Ukraine in Borgloon, the province of Limburg, Belgium, was opened on March 29.

"The opening of the Honorary Consulate of Ukraine reflects the mutual interest of the parties in expanding cooperation between the two countries and has a historical background. It also gives a new impetus for economic and cultural cooperation," said Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Belgium Mykola Tochytsky, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The Honorary Consul of Ukraine H.E. Mr. Kris Beckers will represent the interests of Ukraine in province of Limburg.

Ukrainian diplomats believe that the new consulate and Mr. Kris Beckers will help to strengthen working contacts with competent local authorities, lawyers, social services, charitable foundations, institutions and organizations in order to ensure the full protection of the rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens and the legal entities of Ukraine on the territory of Belgium.

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The Polish Foreign Ministry has called up Ukraine's deputy ambassador to Poland to hand over a note of protest due to the burning of the Polish flag outside the Polish Embassy in Kyiv.

"In connection with the April 2 manifestation in front of the Polish Embassy in Kyiv, during which the Polish flag was burned, Ukraine's deputy ambassador to Poland was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland and handed a note of protest," reads a statement by the ministry published on the official website of the Polish Embassy in Ukraine.

The Polish Foreign Ministry expressed its indignation at the demonstrative behavior of the protesters and the absence of a proper reaction from Ukrainian law enforcers guarding the building. A representative of the Ukrainian embassy said that the Ukrainian authorities had condemned this disgraceful act and informed about the measures taken by the competent services, which should facilitate the rapid establishment and proper punishment of those who are to blame for this act.

The Polish Foreign Ministry expressed concern that this was not the first anti-Polish incident in Ukraine over the past few weeks.

The Polish Embassy in Kyiv told an Ukrinform correspondent that on Monday, April 2, at about 14.00, several people burned the Polish flag near the diplomatic mission and then fled from the scene.

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President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko believes that the launch of a new degree program "Ukrainian language and literature" at the Istanbul University will help to deepen friendly relations between the countries.

"The degree program Ukrainian language and literature has been launched at the oldest university in Turkey  the Istanbul University. I believe that such a step will help us deepen the friendly relations between our countries," the Head of State wrote on Facebook.

Poroshenko noted that Ukraine and Turkey had continuous effective economic cooperation and recalled that during a recent telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the parties had agreed on the early finalization of the FTA agreement.

On March 27, the first in Turkey degree program "Ukrainian language and literature" was solemnly launched at the Slavic Languages Department of  Istanbul University with participation of the education ministers of Ukraine and Turkey, Lilia Hrynevych and Ismet Yilmaz, and Prof. Dr. Yekta Sarac, Chairman of the Council of Higher Education of Turkey.

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The Kremlin had a secret plan called "Troy" in 2014 to prepare for a pro-Russian takeover in Zaporizhia region, the Voice of America has reported, with reference to an article in British daily newspaper The Times "Operation Troy: Russia's blueprint for spreading chaos in Ukraine."

"The author of the article, Tom Parfitt from Moscow, reports on a secret plan 'Troy,' which Alexei Muratov sent to the Kremlin in November 2014. The names of the leaders of the pro-Russian riots were clearly stated in the plan, and the spies were already in place. The issue concerned a strategy to prepare the people of Zaporizhia region in eastern Ukraine for a pro-Russian takeover, or, as he [Muratov] put it, a 'liberation from Nazi-fascist occupiers,'" the Voice of America writes.

The report notes that the proposal was part of a wider Kremlin engagement with strategies to destabilize Ukraine. It was revealed in a new report seen by The Times that is based on the leaked emails of a deputy to Vladislav Surkov, the influential Kremlin aide who some call "Putin's Rasputin."

Bob Seely, the Conservative MP who co-authored the report, claims that the leaks "provide a snapshot of covert campaigns and hybrid war, and the price of everything from cyberattacks to fake news, bribes and demos all the way through to overthrowing regional governments."

Muratov was a former MP in the Kursk region, bordering Ukraine, and a former member of the ruling United Russia party that supports President Putin. Earlier in 2014 he had been appointed as a representative in Russia of the separatist "Donetsk People's Republic" in eastern Ukraine.

The report notes that the plan concerned the manipulation of public opinion before an insurrection in Zaporizhia and the wresting of the region from the orbit of the central government in Kyiv. The insurgency would make use of an "existing espionage network" and contact would be established with sympathizers inside the local police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Under Operation Troy, Muratov was proposing to spend $181,000 on expanding the rebellion further west. The document was allegedly sent to Inal Ardzinba, Surkov's deputy.

Allocated costs included $40,000 to organize protests, $10,000 to maintain a network of agents in the SBU and interior ministry and $49,000 to be spent on vehicles.

Muratov's plan was apparently never set in motion, and it is impossible to know whether it was viewed in Moscow as a serious proposition.

According to the report, the Russian document was part of a third tranche of emails revealed by a network of Ukrainian hackers last November, after two releases in 2016, and studied in depth by Seely. The Kremlin has dismissed material released by the group as fabricated, although some people who sent messages to Surkov that were exposed have said they were genuine.

If genuine, the author writes, the hacked emails demonstrate an extensive attempt to massage politics in Ukraine in favor of the Kremlin, sowing division and promoting autonomy for regions with significant Russian-speaking populations as a means of eroding central government control.

The author of the article draws attention to the fact that such methods were allegedly used in parallel with Moscow's direct military intervention in the Donbas conflict in eastern Ukraine that played a key role in decisive battles against government troops in 2014.

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The proposal was part of a wider Kremlin engagement with strategies to destabilize Ukraine.

A new report based on the leaked emails of a deputy to Vladislav Surkov, the inuential Kremlin aide who some call Putins Rasputin, reveals a strategy to prepare the people of Zaporizhia region in eastern Ukraine for a pro-Russian takeover.

Later cracked by a team of hackers, the code protected document outlined the plan titled Troy, allegedly drawn by Alexei Muratov (MP from Kursk region bordering Ukraine and "envoy to Russia of the unrecognized "Donetsk People's Republic") who had sent his plan to a Kremlin official in November 2014, according to The Times.

The proposal was part of a wider Kremlin engagement with strategies to destabilize Ukraine.

Bob Seely, the Conservative MP who co-authored the report, claims that the leaks provide a snapshot of covert campaigns and hybrid war, and the price of everything from cyberattacks to fake news, bribes and demos all the way through to overthrowing regional governments.

With Troy, Muratov was proposing to spend $181,000 on expanding the rebellion further west. The document was allegedly sent to Inal Ardzinba, Surkovs deputy. It was a blueprint for manipulating public opinion before an insurrection in Zaporizhia, wresting the region from the orbit of the central government in Kyiv.

Read alsoThe Times: Leaked emails expose Russian dirty tricksThe insurgency would, the outline said, make use of an existing espionage network. Contact would be established with sympathizers inside the local police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Troy was to culminate in unspecied force actions by partisans against pro-Kiev groups such as Right Sector and Samooborona (Self-Defense).

Muratovs plan was apparently never set in motion, and it is impossible to know whether it was viewed in Moscow as a serious proposition.

The breakdown of expenses and personnel suggest budgeting for a real proposal. A core team was expected to include 15 military or security personnel, at least ten police officers, 37 spies and informers and a number of regional politicians. Their leader was to be Vladimir Novikov, a militia commander with the nom de guerre Alabay, a powerful central Asian breed of dog.

Read alsoChief Prosecutor suspects Medvedchuk of plotting coup in Ukraine together with Ruban, SavchenkoAllocated costs included $40,000 to organize protests, $10,000 to maintain a network of agents in the SBU and interior ministry and $49,000 to be spent on vehicles.

The document was part of a third tranche of emails revealed by a network of Ukrainian hackers last November, after two releases in 2016, and studied in depth by Mr Seely. The Kremlin has dismissed material released by the group as fabricated, although some people who sent messages to Surkov that were exposed have said they were genuine.

If genuine, the hacked emails demonstrate an extensive attempt to massage politics in Ukraine in favor of the Kremlin, sowing division and promoting autonomy for regions with signicant Russian-speaking populations as a means of eroding central government control.

Such methods were allegedly used in parallel with Moscows direct military intervention in the Donbas conict in eastern Ukraine.
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
The aggressive actions of Ukrainian maritime border guards in international waters represent the risk of seizure of Russian vessels, a source said.

The command of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, including naval aviation, is ready "to ensure the safety of navigation in the north-eastern part of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea water area" following the seizure by Ukrainian border guards of a Russian-flagged, Crimean-registered fishing vessel "Nord."

"Aggressive actions by Ukrainian coast guards in international waters represent not only the risk of seizure of Russian vessels, but also the formation of an actual state piracy," a source in the security agencies of the occupied Crimea told RIA Novosti.

According to the source, the threat of "Ukrainian state-level piracy has already emerged."

Read alsoUkraine, Russia face off over fishing boatAs UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian coast guards on Sunday detained the Russian-flagged, Crimean-registered fishing vessel Nord in the Sea of Azov, along with her crew of 10 fishermen, charging the Nord of illegally crossing Ukraine's maritime borders.

The Nord has been taken to Berdaynsk, a small Ukrainian port near Mariupol. The shipowner said that the crew had been interrogated by Ukrainian authorities and were forbidden to leave the vessel.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ukrainian government has implemented a national ban on vessels and seafarers with records of making port calls in Crimea, and it states that these ports are legally closed under Ukrainian law.
Asked if he believed Vladimir Putin had ordered his poisoning, Mr Yushchenko responded: "I have an answer, but I cannot voice it."

The former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko has urged Europe to unite and wake up to Russia's "medieval policy," following the Salisbury poisoning scandal.

Mr Yushchenko, still visibly scarred from facial welts that developed after a poison attack almost killed him in 2004, in a rare interview recalled his own brush with death, according to The National.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Yushchenko said the Kremlin's current policies represented a major threat.

"I would like what we call 'United Europe' to finally realize the biggest challenge for its citizens is the medieval policy that Russia pursues in the 21st century," he said.

"I feel pain for Europe being so blind. That European countries are so unfriendly to each other and have so little solidarity in respect to Russias policies."

The poisoning in Britain of former intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, 66 and his daughter Yulia, 33, has been met with global condemnation of Moscow, thought to be responsible.

Read alsoUkraine expels 13 Russian diplomats over Skripal poisoning  PoroshenkoOf the attack on him, Mr Yushchenko recalled the painful effects he experienced ingesting Dioxin, a toxic chemical.

"When I arrived home and kissed my wife the first thing she said was 'your lips taste metallic'," he said.

A subsequent investigation concluded that the poison had been added to rice he ate at a dinner with two Ukrainian security officials.

"On the second or third day, my body started swelling. My head grew in size, dramatically. The pain spread all over the body. And then I started having inflammations and pus forming all over my body."

Read alsoRussian spy poisoning: Skripal friend questioned over request for porridge  mediaThe attack happened while he was running for the Ukrainian presidency against Viktor Yanukovych, the candidate that Russia was backing.

Asked if he believed Vladimir Putin had ordered his poisoning, Mr Yushchenko responded: "I have an answer, but I cannot voice it."

While Mr Yushchenko eventually managed to win the election, Mr Yanukovych would later go on to be elected in 2010, eventually being ousted in Ukraines Revolution of Dignity of 2014 and fleeing to Russia.
Leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine will discuss deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Donbas.

The summit of leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine may be held in the city of Aachen (Germany) in May 2018.

The leaders will discuss deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Donbas, Kommersant reported, referring a source close to the Administration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv.

In fact, this will be a meeting in the Normandy format with the exception of Russia, the report says.

"Preparatory work" for the trilateral summit will be carried out during Poroshenko's visit to Berlin on April 10, where he will hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the source said.

Read alsoPoroshenko: Russian troops will leave Donbas when international peacekeepers deployedHowever, a source in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Moscow does not oppose such meetings as the issue of peacekeepers is decided upon at the UN Security Council platform.

At the same time, Russian president's aide Yuri Ushakov said the Kremlin was unaware of other Normandy Four leaders to convene such summit, according to TASS.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine says it needs a 20,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission deployed through the entire territory of the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine, including along the sections of border with Russia now beyond government control, to settle the Donbas conflict.
The Verkhovna Rada did not support the presidential bill concerning e-declaration of assets by anti-corruption activists.

The parliament did not support in the first reading the draft law "On amending certain legislative acts to ensure transparency to the public information on the financing of NGOs and the use of international technical assistance" (registration No. 6674), submitted by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. Only 157 MPs backed this decision (with the necessary minimum of 226 people), an UNIAN correspondent reports.

The Verkhovna Rada also failed to support in the first reading draft law "On amending the Law of Ukraine 'On Prevention of Corruption' on the specifics of financial control of certain categories of persons" (registration No. 6271), submitted by the Batkivshchyna faction. Some 156 MPs voted for this decision.

The parliament did not support the decision to send bills for revision to the committee and authors of the legislative initiative, so the bills are considered rejected.

Read alsoUkraine's Corruption Prevention Agency stands for cancellation of anti-corruption activists' e-declarationAs UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on March 27, 2017, enacted the No. 6172 law on amendments to Article 3 of the Ukrainian Law on Prevention of Corruption, introducing e-declaration for non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The law sparked harsh criticism on the part of civil society in Ukraine as well as the U.S. and EU. A number of foreign partners called it a "step back".

The Venice Commission stated that the requirements for the anti-corruption activists to submit e-declarations of assets should be completely removed from the relevant law or significantly narrowed.

On March 21, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Prevention and Combating Corruption recommended that the parliament adopt bills proposing to postpone the provision of e-declarations by civil activists.

On March 22, the parliament refused to consider said bills.
The official noted thorough efforts of citizens collecting evidence of Russia's regular army presence in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Deputy Minister for temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons George Tuka has announced that 1,500 Russian regular servicemen who annexed Crimea and several tens of thousands of those who fought in Donbas have been identified.

"More than 1,500 regular Russian servicemen who were directly involved in the annexation of Crimea, have been identified, along with their places of residence, citizenship, and geolocation data. As for the Donbas events, several tens of thousands of individuals suspected of committing illegal actions on the Ukrainian territory have been established," Tuka said at a roundtable titled "Violence and Torture in Occupied Donbas: Punishment is Inevitable," referring to the contribution of non-governmental organizations (NGO) in documenting Russia's crimes against Ukraine since 2014.

"According to my estimates, materials collected by NGOs account for over 80% of those that have been documented and submitted to various courts, not only to the ICC (International Criminal Court)," he added.

Read alsoOperation Troy: Russian blueprint for spreading chaos in UkraineTuka says that the Ukrainian Justice Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs lacked evidence when they were filing lawsuits with the ICC and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Russia.

"The testimonies given by the Ukrainian side in international courts were significantly insufficient in terms of documenting against the relevant materials filed against Ukraine by Russia I introduced three resources, namely StopTerror, InformNapalm, and Myrotvorets. Now the first two resources are involved in all judicial processes as the official side of the prosecution, while Myrotvorets members cannot afford to act as public figures," he said.

The official also noted thorough work of people collecting evidence of Russia's regular army presence in Ukraine.
Court hearings are scheduled to resume at 21:00 Kyiv time on Tuesday, April 3.

Kyiv's Pechersky court is to decide on the arrest of Ivan Bubenchyk, a participant in the Revolution of Dignity, also known as Maidan events, who has been detained on charges of two murders and one attempted murder of former Berkut riot police officers.

"He is suspected of two murders and one attempted murder under Article 115 (deliberate killing of two or more persons) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," Prosecutor of the Special Investigations Department of the Main Investigation Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine Oleksiy Donskoy said. "I'd like to stress he is suspected rather than indicted."

The prosecutor said he had grounds to insist that the suspect had committed crime, an UNIAN correspondent reported.

"There will be an investigation to find out whether there were or were not circumstances that exclude the guilt of this person, who he shot at and whether they were a threat [to him]," Donskoy added.

Bubenchyk, who was detained on the Ukrainian-Polish border on Tuesday morning, was earlier questioned as a witness in criminal proceedings probing into Berkut murders amid the Maidan events in the winter of 2014.

Read alsoU.S. honors memory of Ukrainian protesters killed on Maidan, calls on Kyiv to bolster reform

However, the prosecutor claims Bubenchyk did not want to cooperate with the investigator.

"When we wanted to conduct investigative actions, he said he did not consider it necessary to come, which means he evaded the procedure, and therefore there was no other way to make him participate in the investigative actions but detain," Donskoy said.

He also added that the PGO would insist that the court arrest Bubenchyk as he is suspected of committing a particularly serious crime.

Court hearings, which started on the evening of Tuesday, April 3, are scheduled to resume at 21:00 Kyiv time after a break needed for a new lawyer of the suspect to examine the materials of the case.

After ex-president Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine on February 21, 2014, in the wake of the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine's parliament passed a law banning criminal prosecution of Maidan activists.

However, Donskoy claims the law passed by the parliament on February 21, 2014, on the amnesty of participants in the Revolution of Dignity cannot be applied to Bubenchyk. "Firstly, it's early to speak about it. Secondly, it has nothing to do with Article 115 (of the Criminal Code), there is only an article on an attempted attack on law enforcement officers; and thirdly, this law is void because it contradicts the Criminal Procedural Code, which states that any law that fails to comply with the procedure prescribed in the Criminal Procedural Code shall not be applicable," the prosecutor stressed.

Over 100 people were killed on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in the center of Kyiv amid the Revolution of Dignity on February 18-20, 2014. Some dozen people went missing, over 1,000 were wounded.

All the crimes committed during the Maidan events were combined in one big Maidan criminal case, which consists of 89 counts and covers 91 deaths (78 activists and 13 riot police officers killed during the events).
There had been an almost unconcealed level of falsification in the Balukh case.

Almost two weeks after Ukrainian political prisoner Volodymyr Balukh went on hunger strike in the Russian-occupied Crimea, his lawyer has only just been able to see him. She reports that he is looking gaunt, and that the remand prison staff are putting pressure on him to end his hunger strike.

The Russian-controlled authorities have also blocked any access to the prisoner, and it remains to be seen whether the Russian Human Rights Ombudsman will respond to her Ukrainian counterpart Lyudmyla Denisovas request that doctors examine him, according to KHPG, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.

47-year-old Balukh declared hunger strike on March 19 in protest at his 2.5-year prison sentence on grossly fabricated charges after he refused to conceal his pro-Ukrainian position. Aside from a brief period under house arrest, he has been imprisoned since December 8, 2016, and there have been repeated concerns about his state of health.

Balukh is imprisoned in Simferopol, a fair distance from his home in Razdolne, making it effectively impossible for his elderly mother, who is in very bad health, to visit him.

Read alsoUkraine demands Russia release Balukh who's on hunger strike due to verdictHe was arrested on Dec 8, 2016, nine days after he nailed a plaque renaming his home No. 18 Heroes of Nebesna Sotnya St in memory of the over 100 Maidan activists who were killed during Euromaidan. He had rejected demands from the head of the local council to remove it.

During a grossly irregular "search" of his home, 90 bullets and several TNT-filled explosive devices were allegedly "found" in his attic. He had no record of violence and the constant searches and series of administrative prosecutions he had faced since Russias invasion of Crimea for his openly pro-Ukrainian position made it inconceivable that he could have held anything illegal in his home.

There had been an almost unconcealed level of falsification in this case. The officer who had supposedly found the ammunition had not been on duty that day and could not name the individuals who had instructed him to be present or their position in the law enforcement bodies. He also had no explanation for why he had also climbed onto the roof and removed the Ukrainian flag flying there.

The ammunition "found" had no fingerprints or other traces to indicate that any member of the family had touched them.

During his final address on August 1, Balukh pointed out that there was in fact no criminal case, only a farce acted out by those instructed to play it to the end. His words were essentially a message for all Ukrainians and any person confronted with the possibility of retaining his liberty by betraying his principles and acting against his conscience.

I dont want my descendants, by that I mean the children of all Ukraine, to one day reproach me for having been cowardly, shown weakness," he said.
Krynychny says one of the men who assaulted him had often spat on his car throwing hate fits.

Two men have brutally assaulted Ukrainian national Ihor Krynychny who has refused to flee the Russian-occupied Crimea.

The attack followed days of intimidation over pro-Ukrainian stickers on his car.

Activist Illona Karacan posted on Facebook two videos showing Krynychny's beatings. She said that he never hid his nationality and refused to apply for a Russian passport.

"He got spat on and beaten up only because he did not hide his nationality. Now, he's unable to get medical treatment in full. What next? Should one put special insignia on their clothes so that people of different nationalities could be distinguished?" she wrote.

Read alsoPatriot jailed for not betraying Ukraine in occupied Crimea resists pressure to end hunger strikeKrynychny says one of the men who assaulted him had often spat on his car throwing hate fits.

"Every day he came and spat on my car. I asked him why would he do something like that. He said it was because I'm an 'Ukrop' [a derogatory term Russians use for Ukrainians] and a 'fascist.' Here is what this has led to," the victim says.

"Today, March 31, it's four days since I was assaulted. I got kicked out of a hospital after three days spent there. Apparently, you cannot stay at a hospital longer without a Russian passport," he said, adding that the attack over Ukrainian stickers shows it is "becoming dangerous to be a Ukrainian national" in the occupied Crimea.
The suspect denied the accusations brought by the prosecutor.

Kyiv's Pechersky court, which was to decide on the arrest of Ivan Bubenchyk, a participant in the Revolution of Dignity, also known as Maidan events, charged with killing two Berkut riot police officers and an attempted murder of another one in 2014, has postponed hearings.

The suspect's lawyer, Ihor Korzhuk, said after a three-hour break in the hearings on April 3 that the time was not enough to examine the materials of the case, an UNIAN correspondent reported.

Read also"Anti-Maidan" prosecutor now probing crimes against Maidan activists  journalistic investigation

The lawyer then demanded disqualification of investigating judge Viacheslav Pidpaly, who, in turn, announced a new break in the hearings, which are reportedly to resume at 09:00 Kyiv time on April 4.

Prosecutor of the Special Investigations Department of the Main Investigation Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine Oleksiy Donskoy earlier told UNIAN that he had grounds to insist that the suspect had committed the abovementioned crimes.

"He is suspected of two murders and one attempted murder under Article 115 (deliberate killing of two or more persons) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," he said. "I'd like to stress he is suspected rather than indicted."

Bubenchyk, who was detained on the Ukrainian-Polish border while heading for Poland in the morning on April 3, was earlier questioned as a witness in criminal proceedings probing into Berkut murders amid the Maidan events in the winter of 2014.

Yet, the prosecutor claims Bubenchyk did not want to cooperate with the investigator. "When we wanted to conduct investigative actions, he said he did not consider it necessary to come, which means he evaded the procedure, and therefore there was no other way to make him participate in the investigative actions but detain him," Donskoy said. He also added that the PGO would insist that the court arrest Bubenchyk as he is suspected of committing a particularly serious crime.

The suspect denied the accusations and refuted the prosecutor's words that he had not visited the investigator. "In 2016, the prosecutor was satisfied with my words, and now he has decided to make me a suspect," Bubenchyk commented on the charges against him during the break in the court hearings.

After ex-president Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine on February 21, 2014, in the wake of the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine's parliament passed a law banning criminal prosecution of Maidan activists. However, Donskoy claims the law passed by the parliament on February 21, 2014, on the amnesty of participants in the Revolution of Dignity cannot be applied to Bubenchyk. "Firstly, it's early to speak about it. Secondly, it has nothing to do with Article 115 (of the Criminal Code), there is only an article on an attempted attack on law enforcement officers; and thirdly, this law is void because it contradicts the Criminal Procedural Code, which states that any law that fails to comply with the procedure stipulated in the Criminal Procedural Code shall not be applicable," the prosecutor stressed.

Over 100 people were killed on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in the center of Kyiv amid the Revolution of Dignity on February 18-20, 2014. Some dozen people went missing, over 1,000 were wounded. All the crimes committed during the Maidan events were merged into one big Maidan criminal case, which consists of 89 counts and covers 91 deaths (78 civil activists and 13 riot police officers killed during the events).
No Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in action.

Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 20 times in the past 24 hours in violation of an earlier announced truce set to last throughout the Easter holidays.

"In the Donetsk sector, the enemy fired 82mm mortars at our fortified positions in the village of Pisky. The defenders of Butivka coal mine came under fire from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, small arms, and sniper rifles. The militants also used grenade launchers against our positions near the village of Kamianka and the town of Avdiyivka, as well as heavy machine guns near the village of Vodiane. Moreover, the defenders of the villages of Talakivka, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Vodiane and Shyrokyne were attacked with the use of small arms," the press center of the headquarters of Ukraine's military operations reported on Facebook Tuesday morning.

Read alsoThe Times: Leaked emails expose Russian dirty tricksIn the Luhansk sector, the Russian occupation forces fully adhered to the ceasefire.

No Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in action, the report said.
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According to plans revealed, a number of small units will be formed from among those recruited, tasked with doing armed provocations.

Russia has stepped up the recruitment of mercenaries for more military operations in Donbas.

The leader of the so-called "Union of Donbas Volunteers," Alexander Boroday, during a closed-door meeting of the union held in Kaluga (Russia) late March, ordered that his regional representatives across Russia to form until June 2018 and constantly maintain combat-ready units, which could be spearheaded to Ukraine at short notice, according to Information Resistance, a Ukrainian non-governmental project on information security.

Boroday pointed to the need to continue the efforts on attracting new members to his organization. At the same time, he warned participants of the closed meeting that said operations were to be conducted in full secrecy due to the relevant warning coming from the Russian presidential administration against any possible leaks.

Read alsoOperation Troy: Russian blueprint for spreading chaos in UkraineIn addition, according to Information Resistance, the Russian side has stepped up the work on recruiting former airborne troops and spec-ops officers of the Russian armed forces, including as instructors, for further deployment in Donbas to take part in military operations against the Ukrainian Army, as well as go on reconnaissance and sabotage missions.

"Not only the 'traditional' structures that have actively been assisting in recruiting Russian mercenaries for Donbas since 2014 (as, for example, the Union of Russian Paratroopers,) will be involved in the recruitment, but also individuals who have authority and ties among former paratroopers and spec-ops officers. The latter will receive a monetary reward, depending on the quantity and quality of the recruited personnel," Information Resistance wrote.

According to the plans, small units will be formed from among those recruited, tasked with doing armed provocations, such as shellings of settlements along the contact line in Donbas to inflict the maximum number of civilian casualties, as well as terrorist attacks and sabotage.

Read alsoRussia's covert campaign underway to inflame East Europe - mediaAt the same time, the Russian side plans that all these operations will be covered up and portrayed by specially formed groups of representatives of Russian and local ("LPR" and "DPR") media as "operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."
There is "not a single senator" who would support stopping the investigation prematurely, Scott said.

Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina says President Donald Trump shouldn't pardon his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"Keeping the pardon off the table is a necessary part of the process," Bloomberg quoted Scott as saying on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "I would be disappointed if President Trump were to pardon either one of these individuals."

Read alsoManafort, Gates worked with Russian intelligence agent  Investigators

Manafort and Flynn have been caught up in the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who could use the charges against them to encourage their cooperation with the probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russians in the 2016 election.

Scott said he's glad that Mueller's work continues and that the public will have "as much information as necessary to draw clear conclusions." He said he'd rather see an expedient conclusion of the investigation, but the most important thing is that it be thorough.

There is "not a single senator" who would support stopping the investigation prematurely, Scott said, and he doesn't think Mueller's investigation needs to be protected by specific legislation.

The potential for Trump to order action that would shut down the special counsel's investigation seemed to rise after the president tweeted on March 17 that "the Mueller probe should never have been started."
Sanders said the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the not-too-distant future.

White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders has confirmed the future meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"As the President himself confirmed on March 20, hours after his last call with President Putin, the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the not-too-distant future at a number of potential venues, including the White House. We have nothing further to add at this time," Sanders said on Monday, April 2.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian news agencies on Monday, April 2, that Trump invited Putin to the White House during a telephone conversation on March 20.
The transition process will go in stages.

Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis on April 2 approved the transfer of national minority schools to the Latvian language of instruction.

He said that classes in Latvian in secondary schools would ensure equal opportunities for all young people to get a quality education and build their life in Latvia, the presidential press service reported, according to Deutsche Welle.

"Children, as before, will have the opportunity to study subjects related to national minorities, their identity and culture," Vejonis said.

According to the education reform, preschool education will remain bilingual. In primary schools, 50% of subjects will be taught in Latvian, while in the 7-9th grades  it will be 80%. In grades 10 to 12, students will hear only Latvian language of instruction, with the exception of subjects related to national minorities' languages (mother tongue and literature).

The transition will be a gradual process. In the academic year 2019-2020, 80% of the teaching in the state language will be required only in 7th grades at basic schools, in 2020-2021  in 7-8th grades, and in 2021-2022  in the final years of study at basic schools. In the academic year 2020-2021, students of 10-11th grades at secondary schools will be fully trained in the state language, and in another year, the new rules will apply to all grades.

Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia, Gunta Araja, said earlier that EUR 3.6 million was allocated for the support and additional training of teachers in 2018-2020, according to the Latvian DELFI. Moreover, EUR 3.3 million is expected to be channeled from the European Union funds for training 8,000 teachers working in national minorities' educational facilities.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Hungary said it would be blocking Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic rapprochement efforts until Ukraine reviewed its recently adopted education law strengthening the role of Ukrainian language of instruction in national minority schools.

Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto says that Hungary would return to a position supporting Ukraine in NATO and EU if Kyiv guarantees that the education law is not brought into force before 2023 and is tangibly amended.

At the same time, according to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on European Integration Olena Zerkal, Ukraine "cannot satisfy all interests and positions put forward by the Hungarian community. We have our own interests in state development, and this state development also depends on the development of our language. Each state is built on the language and culture of this language. All countries have gone through this."

Mathieu Boulegue, an expert on Ukraine from international affairs think tank Chatham House, said Hungary's language row with Ukraine is more about "sucking up" to Russia than protecting minority communities.
Court filings show that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave the special counsel authority to probe Ukraine-government dealings.

Special counsel Robert Mueller was authorized in a secret memo to investigate former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's work for the government of Ukraine, in addition to alleged collusion with Russian officials to interfere in the 2016 elections, according to court filings.

The classified August memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was disclosed in a court filing by Mr. Mueller's prosecutors, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Read alsoBloomberg: GOP Senator Scott says Trump shouldn't pardon Manafort, Flynn

It seeks to counter arguments by Mr. Manafort's lawyers that his indictment should be thrown out. Mr. Manafort has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to indictments filed by Mr. Mueller's team in federal courts in Alexandria, Va., and Washington.

Lawyers for Mr. Manafort, who served for several months in 2016 as Mr. Trump's campaign chairman, argued in court filings that the deputy attorney general had authorized Mr. Mueller to only investigate matters strictly arising from the main subject of the investigation: Russian interference in the election and links between the Kremlin and Mr. Trump's campaign.

They said the indictments lodged against Mr. Manafort were faulty because they dealt with charges unrelated to the Kremlin's meddling.

The Monday filing is also the first explicit acknowledgment that Mr. Mueller was tasked with examining allegations that Mr. Manafort in particular committed a crime by "colluding with Russian government officials" in that country's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. Mr. Manafort hasn't been accused in court of doing so, but in a filing in a separate case last week, Mr. Mueller's prosecutors said the FBI determined that a longtime associate of Mr. Manafort's in Ukraine "has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016."
Van der Zwaan turned over secret recordings to Mueller's investigators.

A London-based lawyer was ordered to serve 30 days in prison after a federal judge Tuesday handed down the first sentence in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Alex van der Zwaan, 33, a son-in-law of a prominent Russian-based banker, pleaded guilty February 20 to lying to the FBI about his contacts in September and October of 2016 with a business associate of onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and with Manafort's deputy, former Trump aide Rick Gates, The Washington Post reported.

Prosecutors said van der Zwaan also destroyed emails the special counsel had requested.

Read alsoMueller was authorized to investigate Paul Manafort's work for Ukraine  media

According to prosecutors, van der Zwaan, who is a Dutch citizen, said he had been told by Gates that the Manafort associate had been an officer with the Russian military intelligence service. Van der Zwaan turned over secret recordings to Mueller's investigators that he had made of his conversations with Gates, the associate and a senior partner at his law firm.

"What I did was wrong," van der Zwaan said in court Tuesday. "I apologize to the court for my conduct. I apologize to my wife and to my family for the pain I have caused." While van der Zwaan is not a central figure in the investigation, filings in his case illustrated Mueller's continuing interest in Manafort and Gates's actions through Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

Van der Zwaan was a lawyer in the London office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom from 2007 to 2017, when the firm worked with Manafort during a decade when he served as a political consultant in Ukraine.
Green Power: College tops again among Liberty League schools in electricity sources
Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said that the provincial government will procure 4 million tons of wheat from farmers.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said that the provincial government will procure 4 million tons of wheat from farmers. He said this while presiding over a meeting here on Tuesday in which he also granted approval to wheat procurement campaign 2018.

He said that wheat would be purchased at the rate of Rs1,300 per mound and gunny bags would be provided to farmers at their doorsteps and this unique initiative would tremendously benefit the small farmers.

He said that a transparent and foolproof system should be devised to provide gunny bags to farmers. He said that direct provision of gunny bags to farmers was an important step which would eliminate the role of middleman.

The Punjab government would provide every possible facility to small farmers during the campaign and such a system has to be devised to provide maximum relief to them, he added.

He said that process of distribution of gunny bags would start from mid of April.

He ordered that all facilities including tents, fans and cold drinking water should be arranged at the wheat procurement centres for farmers. The CM made it clear that posting of corrupt staff at procurement centers would not be tolerated at any cost.

The provincial ministers, advisors and secretaries would visit procurement centers of the districts allocated to them. Provincial ministers Rana Sanaullah, Malik Nadeem Kamran, Bilal Yasin, Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Naeem Akhtar Bhabha, Advisor Dr Umar Saif, chief secretary, senior Member board of Revenue, secretaries concerned and high officials attended the meeting.
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Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) President Malik Tahir Javaid said on Monday that the Lahore Chamber would continue its efforts to get solve the business community's problems including withholding tax on bank transactions, simplification of taxation system, traffic jams around busy markets,and misuse of discretionary powers by tax officials.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Apr, 2018 ) :Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) President Malik Tahir Javaid said on Monday that the Lahore Chamber would continue its efforts to get solve the business community's problems including withholding tax on bank transactions, simplification of taxation system, traffic jams around busy markets,and misuse of discretionary powers by tax officials.

Talking to a delegation of traders, led by Baber Mahmood here at LCCI, he said that business community must have representation in parliament that would be equally beneficial for both traders and economy.

LCCI Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid also spoke on the occasion.

Malik Tahir was of the view that representation of business community in the parliament would ensure formulation of trade and industry-friendly policies and help economy flourish at a faster pace.

He said that withholding tax on banking transaction was hampering trade and economic activities, therefore, it must be withdrawn in the larger interest of businessmen. Though expansion of tax net was need of the hour, the authorities concerned would have to bring the untaxed sectors into the tax net, he maintained.

Head of the delegation Baber Mahmood lauded the efforts of Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry for the cause of business community and assured his full cooperation.
British Council in Pakistan and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) signed a letter of intent (LOI) to collaborate on the Pakistan-UK Education Gateway which was announced in London earlier this year.

ISLAMABAD, April 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :British Council in Pakistan and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) signed a letter of intent (LOI) to collaborate on the Pakistan-UK Education Gateway which was announced in London earlier this year.

The LOI comes following workshops and discussions between the HEC and potential partners in the UK to leverage international research and education programmes to help advance the quality of higher education in Pakistan, a press release on Tuesday said.

The increasing prevalence of quality research and partnerships has led national and international education providers to consolidate their efforts to develop strong partnerships of policy learning, in which both UK and Pakistan stakeholders can co-develop solutions.

By 2050, the HEC aims to increase gross enrolment by 15 percent, PhD faculty by 40 percent, the number of universities to 300 and a total enrolment to 7.1 million. Given the enormity of HEC's goals, a partnership like the Pak-UK Gateway will play a vital role in achieving these ambitious targets.

Over the years, Pakistan has vastly benefitted from the UK Education Sector through British Council. From knowledge exchange and leadership development programmes, to student and teacher training, scholarships and research collaborations, the UK education sector has assisted in improving the higher education sector in Pakistan.

The gateway aims to facilitate comprehensive programmes to help build the capacity of higher education institutions. The six main areas for collaboration as identified in the LOI include Innovative and Collaborative Research, Higher Education Leadership, Quality Assurance and Standard Setting, Distance Learning, International Mobility and Transnational Education.

At the event, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC said: "We are honoured and proud to collaborate with the UK to advance the quality of higher education in Pakistan. Furthermore, we are introducing 'Citizen Engagement Program', a 3-credit hour mandatory course in all public universities of Pakistan to make citizen engagement a strategic priority for the HEC." Rosemary Hilhorst, British Council Country Director in Pakistan said: Through this partnership we continue to bring the UK's knowledge and expertise to Pakistan and supporting HEC in their ambition to develop and build the capacity of higher education institutions in the country.

This marks the next steps and in helping us realise the goals we all have for the Gateway. The British Council in Pakistan in collaboration with the HEC has been supporting the achievement of higher education road map for over a decade.

Enhancing the access, improving quality and institutional capacity of the sector have been the Primary objectives of joint programmes. Over these years, the British Council has designed 23 UK Leadership programmes through which over 80 percent of vice chancellors have been trained.

54 percent of UK universities and 80 percent of Pakistani public universities have been involved in institutional partnership resulting in improvement in research and faculty development. At present there are over 45000 students in Pakistan getting UK qualifications.
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A two-day national posters competition was held here at University of Peshawar (UoP) to encourage students towards artwork. National Centre for Excellence in Physical Chemistry, UoP has hosted the competition which was attended by students

PESHAWAR, Apr 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :A two-day national posters competition was held here at University of Peshawar (UoP) to encourage students towards artwork. National Centre for Excellence in Physical Chemistry, UoP has hosted the competition which was attended by students, research scholars and faculty members in a large number on its first day.

Dean Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, UoP, Professor Dr Bashir Ahmed has inaugurated the exhibition and welcomed the students. Dr Bashir said such kind of activities were extremely helpful to encourage students towards co-curricular activities and artwork.

"The posters speak for itself and presence of its author is not necessary as it covers broader audience," he said. He said the posters can be used several times and presented at different events with meaningful messages and durable outcomes.

He maintained that through such events, the students, faculty members and industries become more closer besides creating jobs opportunities for students and taking advantage of each others' experiences.
AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan said that Kashmir Solidarity Day would be observed across the state and the country as decided by the Federal Cabinet on April 6.

MIRPUR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan said that Kashmir Solidarity Day would be observed across the state and the country as decided by the Federal Cabinet on April 6.

Addressing a news conference at AJK's metropolis on Tuesday, he said that All Parties Conference would be convened on Saturday to give a strong message to India whose is involved in killings of innocent Kashmiris.

The AJK Prime Minister thanked the government of Pakistan for its unequivocal political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris who are struggling for their right to self determination. Farooq Haider urged media to expose the Indian brutalities and paid rich tribute to the Kashmiri youth who are sacrificing for the cause of Kashmir.

He strongly condemned the puppet administration in the Indian Occupied Kashmir that has banned media and all sources of information with the aim to hide its aggression and added India was using all tactics to suppress the Kashmir liberation movement with mass killings of Kashmiris.

Haider called upon the Pakistan government to raise the issue of continued Indian brutalities and the human massacre in occupied Kashmir in the United Nations Security Council to put pressure on the Indians to respect the human rights in occupied Kashmir.

Farooq Haider emphasized Pakistan government to withdraw the condition of resolving Kashmir issue by bilateral dialogue with India in Simla agreement and raise the issue at United Nations, European Union and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as India wanted to maintain the status quo on Kashmir issue and does not want this issue to be get international consideration.

AJK Premier urged the international community to intervene for the resolution of longstanding Kashmir dispute. He said New Delhi's claim of being the biggest democratic country proves to be fallacious claim as it is disgracing humanity in the occupied territory.

Farooq Haider said the brutal crackdown; including the despicable use of pellet guns on civilians who were protesting against the killings is deplorable. He said, Indian attempts to label the legitimate Kashmir struggle as terrorism cannot deter the valiant people of Jammu and Kashmir from their demand of exercising their right to self determination in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.

He said Pakistan is highlighting the issue of Kashmir in an effective manner and shares firm attachment with the kashmiri brethren. Meanwhile, Farooq Haider visited the office of All Parties Hurriyat Conference AJK chapter in Islamabad and reaffirmed continued support to the people of occupied Kashmir in their struggle for realization of their right to self-determination.

He paid tribute to Kashmiris for rendering unmatched sacrifices in this struggle against Indian occupation and strongly condemned and deplored the continued terrorism by India in the valley and noted that the unresolved Kashmir dispute continues to threaten the peace and security of the region.

He emphasized that the conflict should be resolved in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiri people and the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan has called upon the government of Pakistan to raise the issue of killings of more than 20 innocent youth in Shopian area of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) by Indian forces in United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

MUZAFFARABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan has called upon the government of Pakistan to raise the issue of killings of more than 20 innocent youth in Shopian area of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) by Indian forces in United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Addressing a press conference here Tuesday he condemned the killings and atrocities on civilian population by Indian forces and said the death toll could be more as the whole valley had been sealed off by the Indian army cutting all the communication means including internet and telephones.

While expressing gratitude of the government of Pakistan on its announcement to observe Friday as solidarity day with the people of Jammu and Kashmir on this occasion, he demanded of Pakistan to announce unilateral withdrawal from the Simla accord's clause to resolve the issue through bilateral talks.

He said Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir and emphasized all the political leadership of Pakistan to envisaged a joint and unanimous strategy and opinion on Kashmir issue and avoid political chaos in the country exhibiting complete unity amongst their ranks.

He said a special joint sitting of the legislative Assembly and Kashmir Council had been convened to discuss the prevailing situation of the valley which would be attended by Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and members of his cabinet to send a strong message to the other side of line of control (LOC).

He said Indian occupied Kashmir was under complete besieged by Indian forces and India was not allowing bodies including United Nations or their representatives to assess the situation of human rights violations and was committing worse type of atrocities on the Kashmiries.

He said the enemy had chosen specific time by judging the political split in Pakistan and situation on the frontiers to intensify its atrocities inside the valley but she must remember that the people of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir are united against the aggressor.
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An accountability court on Tuesday extended the physical remand of former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general Ahad Cheema, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bismillah Engineering Shahid Shafiq and two other accused till 14 days in the Ashiana Housing Scam case

Lahore, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018) : An accountability court on Tuesday extended the physical remand of former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general Ahad Cheema, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bismillah Engineering Shahid Shafiq and two other accused till 14 days in the Ashiana Housing Scam case.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) produced Cheema, Shafiq and two others accused in the court seeking an extension in their physical remand. The court was informed by NAB officials that further investigation is required in the case, including forensic examination of Cheema's laptop.

After reserving its verdict, the court extended the remand for 14 days and directed NAB to produce the accused on April 17. Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court dismissed Cheema's plea against his arrest by NAB.

INP/LK ======== Maryam Nawaz congratulates parents over 47th marriage anniversary LAHORE, April 03 (INP): Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday congratulated her parents over their 47th marriage anniversary.

"My parents celebrated their 47th year of togetherness Masha'Allah. Together or far apart, two hearts beat as one. In sickness & in health," said Maryam in a tweet earlier on Tuesday. Maryam also shared picture of a cake with her mother seen cutting it with a knife.

'Happy Aanniversary Kalsoom & Nawaz' can be seen written on the cake in the picture. "This is my mother cutting the cake on her bed. She sent the pic to us with a message," said she while describing the photograph.

"Insha'Allah we shall be together soon." Maryam's mother, Kulsoom Nawaz, who has been diagnosed with cancer, is currently hospitalized in a London hospital. She is battling lymphoma since the diagnosis in August.
Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the unabated terrorism by Indian army in the occupied Kashmir. He expressed deep grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of Kashmiris as a result of barbarity of the occupying Indian army.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Apr, 2018 ) :Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the unabated terrorism by Indian army in the occupied Kashmir. He expressed deep grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of Kashmiris as a result of barbarity of the occupying Indian army.

The chief minister expressed complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people and paid rich tributes to the great sacrifices of martyred people of occupied Kashmir. He also prayed for early recovery of the injured.

In a statement issued on Monday, Shehbaz Sharif said, Indian army had resorted to the worst barbarity and savagery in occupied Kashmir and added that continued Indian atrocities had totally exposed the evil face of Indian so-called sham democracy.

He said that unarmed civilians had illuminated the candle of liberty with their blood in occupied Kashmir.

"There is no justification of criminal silence of international community over worst Indian ferity in occupied Kashmir," he added.

In fact, Indian armed forces have already crossed all limits of state-sponsored terrorism and the time had come that the international community should wake up from deep slumber to take notice of atrocious violations of human rights there.

"India must realize that the people of occupied Kashmir cannot be deprived of their inalienable right of self-determination till late. Freedom is the right of Kashmiris which they must be given at every cost. Pakistan will continue its political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people," concluded the chief minister.
Interesting discourse takes place between CJP, advocate during hearing

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) A hearing on illegal construction and encroachment in Bani Gala was held in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. According to details, the picture of Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar along with some Pakistan International Airline (PIA) air hostesses that has gone viral on social media also came under discussion during the hearing.

An interesting and humorous discourse took place between Advocate Naeem Bukhari and the chief justice upon the mention of these pictures. Bukhari said that I have a reservation on one of your pictures to which Nisar said, Why? Are jealous of me? Bukhari said that this is like depriving the lawyers of their rights.

To this, the chief justice said, You should really be jealous. Sometimes, the daughters cannot be refused to. The pictures of CJP Nisar went viral on social media where he was seen along with some air hostesses who had requested him for a picture while he was on a Karachi to Islamabad flight on the national airline
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The world's Tallest hotel opened in the UAE on 12 February 2018, targeting families and travellers looking to avoid Dubai's energetic nightlife.

ISLAMABAD, Apr 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :The world's Tallest hotel opened in the UAE on 12 February 2018, targeting families and travellers looking to avoid Dubai's energetic nightlife.

According to a report aired by a private news channel, the gold-coloured, 75-storey Gevora Hotel measures 356.33 m (1,169 ft) tall from ground level to the top, with 528 hotel rooms that go up to the 71st floor.

The tower took four years to build and was originally planned as a residential building but was recently converted into a hotel instead. It includes four restaurants, an open-air pool deck, a luxury spa on the 71st floor, plus a health club and Jacuzzi.

Gevora Hotel aims to attract families and tourists looking for a relaxing stay in Downtown Dubai, with the hotel s General Manager Jairaj Gorsia describing it as a "home-grown Emirati hotel".

"Our guests are looking for a good bed, a good cup of coffee and convenience.

The hotel is in the centre of Dubai and we offer high quality service, in contrast to many of its neighbouring five-star hotels," said Mr Gorsia. "We are going into the market at a rate slightly lower than the average around this area.

The room rates that we will offer is considered very competitive," he added. Prior to this, the tallest hotel in the world was the J W Marriott Marquis Dubai (formerly known as Emirates Park Towers Hotel & Spa). Standing at 355.35 m (1,165.84 ft) from ground level to the top of its mast, it s around a metre shorter than the new record holder.
Engro Foods Limited (EFL) is built from the fabric of Pakistan, they launched a campaign Colors of Pakistan revealing their 2nd Coffee table book called Colors of Deosai, this book launch was very well received by the media and the public

Karachi (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) Engro Foods Limited (EFL) is built from the fabric of Pakistan, they launched a campaign Colors of Pakistan revealing their 2nd Coffee table book called Colors of Deosai, this book launch was very well received by the media and the public.

It is a sustainability effort of Engro Foods to give back to the nation and contribute towards building a softer image of Pakistan. The Chief Guest at this occasion was Madam Maryam Aurangzeb, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and it was chaired by Ambassador of Netherland, Mrs.

Ardi Stoios Braken. Speaking at the occasion Marriyum Aurangzeb, Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage said that with the grace of Almighty Allah, Pakistan had almost won the war against terrorism and now time was ripe to Win War of Perception through projection of national history, cultural heritage and language.

She said that such books could play the role of a catalyst in winning this war. The minister said that the media had an important role in creating awareness among the youth in regards to preservation of environment, bio-diversity and the rapidly changing panorama.

The new generation of the country could be attracted towards national culture and heritage through books and exhibitions showcasing Pakistan's natural beauty, culture, heritage and bio-diversity.

The minister said that the book showcasing the natural beauty and bio-diversity of the country should be displayed in all foreign embassies of the country and at all airports. Moreover she said it was imperative to exhibit such beautiful books at colleges and universities to apprise the youth about the beautiful landscape of the country.

She said that due to decline of local film industry in the past, Pakistan was unable to promote its bio-diversity through screen tourism and this vacuum could be filled by promotion of national environmental beauty through books.

The minister lauded the role of corporate sector in promoting the natural beauty of the country and the publication of the splendid book as part of its social responsibility. She said that Deosai had key role in eco-system of the country and its conservation was vital.

She said that Arif Amin and Ghulam Rasool were renowned photographers who did tremendous job to highlight the beauty and bio-diversity of Deosai through the lens of camera. She said that she was glad to be part of the launch of the book and the photo exhibition organized by Engro Foods Limited.

Mrs. Ardi Stoios Braken, Ambassador Netherlands said I was given an opportunity to preview the book and I am amazed at the beauty of Deosai plains in the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan.

I commend the photographers for capturing the exquisite and vulnerable ecosystem. I hope to visit Deosai during my stay in Pakistan. This is not the first Coffee table book that Engro Foods Limited has commissioned, their first book was Birds of Pakistan and this is their continued effort through Colors of Deosai to depict their commitment for highlighting the beauty of the unique ecosystem and also drawing attention to the need of its preservation.

These exquisite ecosystems are under constant threats of degradation either due to climatic changes or other environmental pressures. It is a demonstration of Engro Foods continuous commitment towards Sustainability and CSR efforts for Pakistan.

Moreover, Engro Foods is also actively taking steps to reduce its environmental foot print. I hope more companies in Pakistan will follow suit. As we know, Pakistan will be amongst the countries which will be severely affected by climate change thus degeneration of the eco system is an important issue for Pakistan. On behalf of Engro Foods Limited, Mr.

Ali Ahmed Khan Managing Director of Engro Foods Limited said, Under the Campaign Colors of Pakistan we are proud to be launching our second book, Colors of Deosai.

Engro Foods remains committed to build our national brand at all fronts. We have strengthened the economy by attracting foreign investment of USD 486 million through Friesland Campina, the 6th largest dairy giant of the world.

Our vision is to contribute towards the positive image building of the nation, strengthen the dairy sector, empower our farmers, improve their livelihood and provide the best quality products to our consumers.

To make this vision a reality we would request support of our regulators to create a sustainable and conducive business environment for the dairy industry. It is imperative to bring alignment between the regulations of Federal & Provincial food authorities, otherwise it will stifle the economy.

Engro Foods and FrieslandCampina are here to stay, we have and we will continue to play our role in creating a Stronger, Healthier and more Prosperous Pakistan. After establishing in 2005, within a short span of 10 years Engro Foods Limited became the 2nd largest dairy company in Pakistan.

The credibility it built, fueled the economy with a foreign investment of USD 486 million through Friesland Campina, the 6th largest dairy cooperative in the world. This book launch event was graced by prominent media personnel, multiple members of the UN bodies, NGOS and dignatories.

In spite of becoming a MNC, Engro Foods remains committed to the beat of Pakistan and this book launch event is a proof of their commitment towards the nation.
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Executive Director of United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) David M. Beasley called on Chairperson BISP MNA Marvi Memon here at BISP headquarters

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Executive Director of United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) David M. Beasley called on Chairperson BISP MNA Marvi Memon here at BISP headquarters.

Pakistan is WFP's largest host government donor in the world and is paying US$ 50 million to the current Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations (PRRO), said a press release. In her welcome remarks, the Chairperson felicitated the Executive Director on assuming the office and hoped that with his appointment, the programme will be able to achieve its objectives worldwide.

She also appreciated the role of WFP in Pakistan for being the leading humanitarian organization fighting hunger, delivering food assistance and working to improve nutrition and build resilience.

She further said that BISP is empowering women in social, political and financial terms through its various programmes. Marvi Memon hoped that WFP and Government of Pakistan can mutually support the educational endeavors of BISP beneficiaries' children under "BISP Conditional Cash Transfers Initiative for Children Enrollment in Schools" in the WFP priority regions in Pakistan.

Marvi Memon stated that Pakistan's economy witnessed recovery through a combination of stabilization and structural reforms which have been duly acknowledged by international financial institutions and it provided much needed fiscal space for Government to launch BISP as the largest poverty alleviation program in history of Pakistan.

Beasley termed the work of BISP as encouraging and extraordinary. He stated that he looked forward to cooperation between both entities and hoped that the "partnership will continue and grow." He added that BISP can be their prime partner in Pakistan to reach out to the most vulnerable women in the country.

It was informed that BISP has grown as a leader in establishing an innovative system for poverty based targeting in social protection service delivery. It has established National Socio-economic Registry (NSER) for selection of beneficiary families a large data set akin to a census that is linked to computerized civic registry.

Moreover, it was shared that BISP has attained a reputation, both nationally and internationally, of being a successful programme with positive impacts on lives of vulnerable women.

Oxford Policy Management (OPM) has completed impact evaluations which found positive impacts on poverty reduction, school enrollment of children and increased willingness of women to vote.

It was shared that in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Vision Pakistan agenda 2025, BISP is committed to raising living standards of ultra-poor through reduced vulnerability, hunger and improved human development.

The visiting dignitary was also apprised that BISP Endowment Fund (BEF) has recently been established. The core objective of BEF is to cover BISP's operational cost in periods of budgetary constraints besides financing of additional pro-poor schemes/initiatives as approved by Fund's board.

It was shared that BISP would welcome a sizeable grant from the WFP. It was shared that the Government of Pakistan has designed an exit strategy for its 'poorest of the poor'. In this regard, BISP has recently launched Graduation models namely business Incubation for Self Employment (BISE) and Direct Cash.

It was reflected that these graduation models have been adopted after consultation with reputed international institutions including inter-alia, MIT, Harvard and LSE. These models will be blended with Inclusive Business approach while harnessing potential of corporate sector of the country.

Secretary BISP Omar Hamid Khan thanked David M. Beasley and hoped that his visit will result in extensive cooperation amongst WFP and BISP. He added that this cooperation will directly impact the most vulnerable segments of society.

The Secretary also urged David M. Beasley to use his considerable influence in the world community to champion the cause of BISP and engagement of the private sector to formulate a set of digital solutions to refine the programme.

A documentary was shown to the guest which included achievements of BISP as a social safety net. It was followed by an interactive session to discuss any possible collaboration between BISP and WFP. Later, Chairperson BISP presented a shield to David M. Beasley as a souvenir.
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The Gilgit Baltistan Government has approved 500 police vacancies for CPEC Special Protection Unit (SPU) and extension of Prime Minister Health Card scheme to Gilgit Division by increasing allocation from Rs 3lakh to Rs9 lakh for this head to provide better services to people

GILGIT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :The Gilgit Baltistan Government has approved 500 police vacancies for CPEC Special Protection Unit (SPU) and extension of Prime Minister Health Card scheme to Gilgit Division by increasing allocation from Rs 3lakh to Rs9 lakh for this head to provide better services to people.

Briefing newsmen about various key decisions taken by the provincial cabinet with Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman in the Chair, Information Advisor, Shams Mir said 500 vacancies were approved for CPEC SPU, which was divided in three divisions with prime mandate to provide security to CPEC related projects in the province.

He said as many as 188 posts were approved for Gilgit, 165 for Baltistan and 97 for Diamir divisions respectively.

The CPEC unit will work under a well-connected centralized system with headquarter in Gilgit and minimum age limit fixed for candidates are 18 years and maximum 25 years before inclusion in the unit.

Also, the cabinet accorded approval to extend Prime Minister Health Card system to Gilgit division after Diamir division by increasing its allocation from Rs3lakh to Rs9lakh under this head. Under this goal oriented scheme, he said, up till now 64,000 cards were distributed at Baltistan and 55000 cards in Diamir benefiting hundreds of thousand of people.

The beneficiary of cards would be provided best medical facilities in the selected hospitals of Gilgit besides provision of emergency services in hospitals located in Islamabad. APP/fam/ss
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The employees of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police which performed duties during Budget Sessions 2016-17 and 2017-18, in the Parliament House, Islamabad should be paid honoraria. It was recommended in a meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Assurances on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :The employees of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police which performed duties during Budget Sessions 2016-17 and 2017-18, in the Parliament House, Islamabad should be paid honoraria.

It was recommended in a meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Assurances on Tuesday. The Committee was informed that the then Minister for Finance had announced honoraria for the employees of different departments, who had performed duty in the Parliament House, during Budget Sessions.

All the departments have paid the honoraria to their employees except ICT Police. The Committee expressed its concerns over non payment of honoraria to the employees of ICT Police. The Committee directed that the honoraria should be paid to them within fifteen days.

However, an interim progress report may be furnished within seven days. The Committee directed that if the honoraria would not be paid then the Secretary Finance and Secretary Interior would be held responsible.

The Committee was informed that the employees of PTVC have been paid the honoraria. The Committee appreciated the action taken by PTVC authorities. The Committee directed Power Division to address the issue of load shedding in the District Buner within four weeks and submit weekly reports to National Assembly.

The Committee recommended that the Ministry of Housing and Works, should give equal status to the employees of National Assembly Secretariat and Senate Secretariat, equal to the other Civil Servants with respect to the allotment of houses and plots.

The Committee directed Ministry of Commerce to give briefing to Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh about the steps taken to enhance exports and submit report within seven days to the National Assembly. The Standing Committee on Government Assurances constituted a Sub-Committee under Convenership of Shahzadi Umerzadi Tiwana, MNA to monitor all pending Assurances and get them implemented.

Other Members of the Sub-Committee will be Dr. Fouzia Hameed, MNA, Malik Ibrar Ahmed, MNA and Abdul Majeed Khan Khanankhail, MNA. Shahzadi Umerzadi Tiwana presented two reports of two Sub-Committees to the Standing Committee and informed the delayed Project of Bridge over river Ravi at Syedwala Patan, District Nankana Sahib has been completed due to efforts of the Sub-Committee.

However, National Highway Authority (NHA) did not make the payment for land compensation to the affected people of the Bridge. The meeting was presided over by the Chairman Standing Committee of National Assembly on Government Assurances Muhammad Afzal Khokhar and the meeting was attended by Members National Assembly Abdul Majeed Khan Khanankhail, Ms.

Shahzadi Umerzadi Tiwana, Chaudhry Muhammad Munir Azhar, Syed Sajid Mehdi, Malik Ibrar Ahmed, Mr. Rajab Ali Khan Baloch, Abdul Hakeem Baloch, Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Dr. Fouzia Hameed and Mr. Sher Akbar Khan, MNA, Minister of State for Commerce, Secretary Housing and Works, Secretary Parliamentary Affairs, and Additional Secretary, Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage and others senior Civil Officers were also present in the meeting.
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National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights met on Tuesday under the Chairmanship of MNA Babar Nawaz Khan at Parliament Lodges, Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights met on Tuesday under the Chairmanship of MNA Babar Nawaz Khan at Parliament Lodges, Islamabad.

The meeting commenced with recitation from the Holy Quran. The Committee confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting which was held on March 21st. The Committee discussed the implementation status of recommendations of the Committee for resolving the issues of affected people of Terbela and Warsik Dams.

The report of the 15 members Committee on affectees' record was presented by its President, Mr. Ejaz Khan and provided to the Committee so that action could be taken to resolve their issues and allotment of plots to the affectees from the royalty of 94 trillion which was deposited to Federal Government and paid to KPK with the help of Committee of Common Interest.

It was reported by him that 30,000 acres of land was due to be allotted to the affectees of Terbela Dam in Sindh and Punjab which has not so far been allotted to them since the last fifty years.

The Committee recommended that the Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab and Chairman, Wapda should issue orders to allot the land to the affectees of Terbela Dam with the approval of board Revenue of Punjab out of the land available in Bahawalpur and Cholistan.

The Committee also recommended that XEN, Peshawar along-with his staff and the MNA, Mr. Sajid Nawaz should visit in his constituency, Peshawar on April 4 at 10:30 am to resolve the issues of affectees of Warsik Dam and installation of meters to the consumers therein and report to the Committee on April 6 in its next meeting.

The Committee also recommended that Chief Executive Pesco should also resolve the issues of affectees and report to the committee in its next meeting for signing MOU on April 6. The Report of the Sub-Committee to discuss the steps taken by the Government to control pollution created by the industries of Hattar, District Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan and the Labour Policy of the Government was presented by its Convener, Sahibzada Muhammad Yaqub, MNA which was accepted and adopted by the Committee.

The meeting was attended by Sahibzada Muhammad Yaqub, Ms. Aliya Kamran Murtaza, Ms. Kiran Haider, Ms. Munaza Hassan, Ms. Surriya Asghar, Ms. Zahra Wadood Fetemi, Ms. Asiya Naz Tanoli, Mr Sajid Nawaz, Kanwar Naveed Jameel, Mrs.

Naseema Hafeez Panezai , Dr. Shazia Sobia and Begum Tahira Bukhari, MNAs and officials of the Ministry of Human Rights and Provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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:National Security Adviser (NSA) Lt General (R) Nasser Khan Janjua Tuesday expressed serious concerns over the ongoing human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :National Security Adviser (NSA) Lt General (R) Nasser Khan Janjua Tuesday expressed serious concerns over the ongoing human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

Talking to Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria, who made a courtesy call on him, the NSA said,"The use of force alone can lead us nowhere. It rather diminishes hope, injures the society and further worsens the fragile situation "Pakistan is deeply committed to the cause of Kashmir and supports to resolve this issue politically and according to the aspirations of Kashmiri people.

Process of dialogue is the only way forward to resolve our disputes," he added, according to a press release. Janjua said, "It is by way of peaceful resolution of our disputes which can enable both the countries to belong to the future." The NSA said Pakistan was pursuing the policy of friendly relations with all its neighbouring countries, including normalcy of relationship with India.

It was committed to resolve all outstanding issues through comprehensive dialogue, he added Ajay Bisaria acknowledged that Pakistan and India definitely needed to improve their bilateral relations and said both the countries had immense potential to improve the relationship, and cater to each other's needs.

He also suggested to work on taking small steps for improving the bilateral relations, including exchange of prisoners, visits of medical teams and trade initiatives. "We can build on these small steps between us and take the relationship towards normalcy to address the bigger issues," he added.

Both the sides agreed to explore the possibilities of more cooperation and of improving bilateral relations to ultimately take it towards comprehensive process of dialogue. They discussed matters pertaining to improving the bilateral relations, including the recent worsening situation in the IoK.
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Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has said that overseas Pakistanis played pivotal role in national development and prosperity. He was addressing the Pakistani community in Saudi Arabia, a message received here said on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has said that overseas Pakistanis played pivotal role in national development and prosperity. He was addressing the Pakistani community in Saudi Arabia, a message received here said on Tuesday.

Sanjrani said Pakistan was proud of all its overseas nationals who not only send foreign exchange amounting to billions of rupees but also act as its ambassadors contributing towards image building of the country abroad.

He said Hijaz-e-Muqadas was the religious and spiritual center of Muslim Ummah and every Muslim felt spiritual elevation on visit to holy cities of Makkah and Madina. He said Pakistan also made all out efforts to resolve the problems of overseas Pakistanis and create reasonable facilities for their families in Pakistan.

Similarly, Senate's Committee on Overseas Pakistanis had not only reviewed their problems but had also given meaningful recommendations, he added.

He appreciated the decision of increasing staff members at the Pakistani Embassy in Saudi Arabia to address the problems of the increasing diaspora.

He observed that Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia were ambassadors of Pakistan and their contribution in progress of Saudi Arabia was too big to be neglected. The Senate chairman made it clear that the historic and unique relationship between the two states and peoples had strength and resolve which was not common in relationship with other countries.

Saudi Arabia had helped Pakistan in every hour of need and this relationship had its roots in the deep rooted religious and spiritual commonness, he said. Sadiq Sanjrani observed that the Saudi Arabia had always provided all possible facilitation possible for pilgrims and had been there in the face of any national calamity which occurred in any part of the Muslim world.
Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman has lauded the role of Pakistan Army among other rescue teams for launching prompt rescue and relief operations after Darel tragedy and retrieving trapped people under debris of landslide.

GILGIT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Chief Minister Gilgit Baltistan Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman has lauded the role of Pakistan Army among other rescue teams for launching prompt rescue and relief operations after Darel tragedy and retrieving trapped people under debris of landslide.

Presiding over cabinet meeting, the GB CM also said the former prime minister had announced special package for Shuhdai Giyari under which their heirs would be given jobs from scale one to 15. He said FCNA would provide list of heirs of Shuhdai Giyari, hailing from underdevelopment areas of Gilgit Baltistan.

He said only one member of the victim family would be eligible for the job and his nomination would be endorsed by FCNA. During recruitment process, educational qualifications and other relevant documents would be scrutinized in accordance with rules and regulations of recruitment policy, he added.

He said Sadpara dam was very vital for the Gilgit Baltistan therefore monthly funds of Sadpara and Power complex was being raised to Rs 6 million, adding the government had established endowment funds in education, health besides other sectors to provide people better facilities.

He said investment committee had been constituted to ensuring transparency for better and transparent utilization of funds. He said that construction wood policy had been approved and transparency would be ensured in its implementation.

He said it had been brought into notice that despite approved policy, the KP government was charging Rs 70 per foot on supply of wood from Gilgit Baltistan which was inappropriate step, adding the issue would be taken up with the KP and Federal government to check illegitimate collection of taxes.

He said that agriculture sector was included in the priority list of the government to make growers self-reliant economically while in past it was neglected, adding the government had approved agriculture, fisheries and livestock policies.

He said drive had been accelerated against tinted glasses, fancy number plate and illegal use of roads. He said that awareness would be launched about Prime Minister Health Insurance policy and it would be further extended to other parts of the area.
Director General Military Operations (DGMO), Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza said on Tuesday that after years of devastation Pakistan was moving towards peace.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Director General Military Operations (DGMO), Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza said on Tuesday that after years of devastation Pakistan was moving towards peace.

"Situation has reverted from hopelessness to hope. There is an increased sense of hope and anticipation now," he said while speaking at Islamabad International Counter Terrorism Forum here at a local hotel.

The three-day forum organized by National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) kicked off on Tuesday with an aim to highlight Pakistan's endeavors and achievements in the war against terror. Talking about Pakistan's contributions in the war on terror, the DGMO said that due to terrorism Pakistan suffered around 76,000 nationwide casualties and $123 billion in economic losses.

He said that in the year 2008 a comprehensive national response was devised to cope with the menace of terrorism. He presented a complete detail of various operations launched by Pakistan Army, including Operation Rah-e-Rast (launched in 2009) Operation Rah-e-Nijat (followed by Rah-e-Rast), Operation Zarb-e-Azb (launched in 2013) and the ongoing operation Radd-ul-Fasaad.

He said that all these operations were launched to deal with anti-state elements and crush terrorism. He said that Pakistan got tremendous success through these indiscriminate and effective operations and the result was that peace and stability were returning to the country.

He expressed the concern at the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan stating that the presence of terrorists there was having a direct influence on Pakistan's security. He said Pakistan had taken a number of steps for effective management of Pak-Afghan border.

He said that 73 wings of the Frontier Constabulary were being raised for the effective management of the Pak-Afghan border adding, "Of which, 29 wings have already been set up. This will help in transfer of authority from the military to the semi-military setup." He said that Pakistan Army was also engaged in construction of 750 border forts.

Besides Pakistan has begun fencing of the 2,611 kilometres long porous border. The DGMO said that Pakistan Army was assisting the government in the implementation of National Action Plan (NAP).
Pakistan Peoples' Party Bahawalpur chapter's leaders Tuesday paid tributes to founder of the party, late, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as saying it was ZAB who launched Pakistan's atomic programe

BAHAWALPUR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Pakistan Peoples' Party Bahawalpur chapter's leaders Tuesday paid tributes to founder of the party, late, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as saying it was ZAB who launched Pakistan's atomic programe.

A ceremony to mark 39th death anniversary was held here. The ceremony was organized by PPP Bahawalpur and attended by the party's leaders and activists. Addressing the ceremony, PPP Bahawalpur leaders including Shakir Mirza, Nawabzadi Saira Abbasi and others said that their leaders, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was Shaheed of democracy and added that credit went to ZAB for initiating Pakistan's atomic programme.

"It was ZAB who made Pakistan, an atomic power," they said. They said that PPP would continue policies to strengthen democracy in the country. "The bright future of the county links with smooth flourishing of democracy," they said. They said that PPP had still been enjoying status of most popular and largest political party of the country.
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Highlighting Pakistan's efforts at UN for countering terrorism and extremism, Former Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir Tuesday said Pakistan would continue working with the United Nations (UN) against terrorism and extremism.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Highlighting Pakistan's efforts at UN for countering terrorism and extremism, Former Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir Tuesday said Pakistan would continue working with the United Nations (UN) against terrorism and extremism.

He said this while speaking at a three-day seminar on the theme of "Pakistan's role in countering extremism and terrorism at regional and global level" arranged by Islamabad International Counter Terrorism Forum in collaboration with National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA).

The former secretary said the UN enjoyed a pivotal position in the world community, adding that Pakistan, as a medium size country and member state of the organization, worked for over 70 years to abide and protect the international laws.

He said the world around was changed with rising of multiple actors creating rift and chaos terrorism and extremism. The focus of the world body was now changed to different regions in which Pakistan was also relevant, he added.

Salman Bashir said the agenda of violent extremism and terrorism had dominated the world in the last two decades. Thus new organs of the UN were introduced to cope with the issue of terrorism and violent extremism, he added.

He said Pakistan was doing much beyond against terrorism that a normal state could do against it. He said Pakistan was much ahead of the UN bodies in efforts of rooting out the causes of militancy and extremism.

Speaking on "The difficult decades: foreign policy choices and struggles through years of war and terrorism", Former Ambassador, Jalil Abbas Jilani said Pakistan had remained a part of almost all initiatives taken by the United States world over.

He said the 40 years of war in Afghanistan had very bad consequences for Pakistan. Jalil Abbas Jilani said the US policy for South Asia had been made partial due to Indian influence in the region which had created friction in Pak-US relations.

He said Indo-Afghanistan nexus, India-US policy and intensification of Indian propaganda and support of various terrorist groups in Balochistan and Afghanistan, had affected the overall situation of the region.

The former ambassador said Pakistan had taken a number of steps against terrorism while India supported the same elements in Indian occupied Kashmir. India had also stepped up terrorist activities in Pakistan, he added.

Former Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar said India and the United States had reservations over the growing relations between Pakistan and China. He, however, said the objective of the United States was not clear that what it wanted in Afghanistan.

Riaz Khokhar said Pakistan was being faced with both internal and external challenges, adding that vision of the leadership and collective efforts could steer the country out of the menace of terrorism and violent extremism.
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President Mamnoon HussainTuesday said as Karakoram Highway was the foundation and its architects were the founders of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistani nation had immense love and respect for them

ISLAMABAD, April 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :President Mamnoon HussainTuesday said as Karakoram Highway was the foundation and its architects were the founders of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Pakistani nation had immense love and respect for them.

He said this while talking to a Chinese delegation of the relatives of martyrs who laid down their lives during the construction of historic Karakoram Highway led byformer Ambassador of China Zhang Chunxianghere at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Ambassador of ChinaYao Jing was also present on the occasion.

The president said Pak-China friendship was an example for the world. He underlined that both countries were working together for the development and prosperity of the region.

He said the two countries would continue to cooperate with each other in future as well for international peace, stability, security and prosperity. Former Ambassador of China Zhang Chunxiang said both Chinese and Pakistani workers rendered invaluable sacrifices during the construction of Karakoram Highway which would always be remembered.
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ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2018 ) :Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor said on Tuesday there was a phenomenon reduction in violence in Quetta and the entire province of Balochistan.

Talking to a private tv channel, he said that the situation had improved a lot in Balochistan as the security agencies were playing an effective role in restoration of peace in Quetta and other parts of the province.

Talking about the situation in Swat, he said peace had been restored in the area. He said in 2008 Pakistan Army had to launch Operation Rah-e-Rast in Sawat under Article 245 as asked by the government.

There is peace, tourism and big fruit markets in Swat, he said adding that the situation of settled areas had been changed and improved. Army only arrests suspicious persons and after thorough interrogation if someone is not found guilty he is released, he said.

To a question he said in 2016 there were around 55 check posts in Swat but that number had been decreased and at present there were only six check posts. Replying to another question he said Pakistan had established peace on its side of the Pak-Afghan border.

He said Pakistan was contributing and supporting the peace process in Afghanistan. Asif Ghafoor said that American Principal Deputy Secretary had held meeting with Army Chief in which, they had discussed the security matters regarding Afghanistan and Pakistan.

To a question about Bajwa doctrine, he said that in a recent press conference he had already explained that Army had not issued any written or policy document on that.

He said that it (Bajwa doctrine) had nothing to do with the 18th amendment and was related to the security aspect only and taking Pakistan towards peace.

He said that Parliament was the supreme and introducing or reviewing an amendment was its prerogative. He said that there was nothing good then empowering the provinces but if the 18th amendment could be further improved for capacity building then it should be done.

To another query whether the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi should be arrested, he said that if the court had ordered to do so then it was the duty of the government to implement that.

Director General ISPR said that Kashmiris had been struggling for their right to freedom for the last 70 years and their movement was not terrorism. Referring towards the horrendous Shopian killings, he said that the entire world had seen what had happened there.

He said that Pakistan was providing diplomatic support to Kashmiris adding that the Kashmiris should be given their right to self-determination. To a question for bringing Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghnistan (TTA) on negotiation table, he said that Pakistan Army had never said that it had influence on them (TTA).

There is a set of environment inside Afghanistan and they would have to be brought for talks within that environment. APP/drs-san
Sub Committee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) not to extend the contract with Monal Restaurant and the 2021 contract should be auctioned in the open bid

ISLAMABAD,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Sub Committee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) not to extend the contract with Monal Restaurant and the 2021 contract should be auctioned in the open bid.

The committee meeting was held under the convenership of MNA Mian Abdul Mannan at Parliament House Islamabad. Discussing the issue of Monal Restaurant the committee members said Illegal handing over of land by CDA to Monal Restaurant was a great drain on the national exchequer.

The committee also recommended Federal Investigative Agency to reinvestagate the matter of Monal Restaurant and asked CDA to present its report within 14 days. Audit officials told the committee that in 2007 CDA had given land of parks for restaurant which was violation of procedure.

CDA officials were of opinion that given land for restaurant was under public welfare and FIA had cleared the matter after investigation.
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Punjab Emergency Services (Rescue 1122) rescued 86,432 victims of various emergencies while conducting 84,915 rescue operations in March across the province with average response time of seven minutes.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Punjab Emergency Services (Rescue 1122) rescued 86,432 victims of various emergencies while conducting 84,915 rescue operations in March across the province with average response time of seven minutes.

Addressing the concluding ceremony of two-day Course organized for all District Emergency Officers at the Emergency Services academy here on Tuesday, Rescue 1122 DG Rizwan Naseer directed all DEOs to assist law enforcement agencies during emergency management besides educating citizens about the rights and responsibilities of healthcare providers.

He said the service was responding to average 950 road crashes in Punjab on daily basis in which average 1,000 people including males, females, pedestrians, passengers, drivers & underage drivers were provided emergency medical treatment.

Expressing his concerns, he maintained that average 25 cases were being reported of spinal injury patients on daily basis.

He said that motorcycles were involved in 85 percent cases, which necessitate strict enforcement of traffic laws.

He added that most of the traffic accidents were avoidable just by abiding by road safety laws. Emergency calls to which Rescue 1122 responded to include: 29,746 road traffic accidents, 43,777 medical emergencies, 1328 fire incidents, 2143 crimes, 54 drowning incidents, 36 building collapses, 12 explosions and 7819 miscellaneous operations.

According to the statistics, majority of fire incidents occurred in major cities, including 323 fires in Lahore, 130 in Faisalabad, 87 in Rawalpindi, 67 in Multan, 86 in Gujranwala and 34 in Sialkot. Similarly, 7216 traffic accidents were reported in Lahore, 3145 in Faisalabad, 1827 in Gujranwala and 2245 in Multan and 744 in Rawalpindi.
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Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on Tuesday said skilled Chinese interpreters and translators at our side would accelerate the completion of development projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on Tuesday said skilled Chinese interpreters and translators at our side would accelerate the completion of development projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He expressed these views while talking to students going to China for studying Chinese interpreter courses. Provincial Education Minister Tahir Mahmood and Secretary Higher Education Abdullah Jan were also present on this occasion.

The CM said that through special Balochistan Government funding program 24 students from different districts of the province would be going to China for two year Chinese interpreter courses. This two year study program would cost Rs.1.8 million for each student, these students would also receive monthly stipend while their stay in China.

These 24 students have been selected on basis of full merit, after translucent tests and interviews. The CM said that youth is the capital of the nation, providing them best opportunities for higher education is government's prime responsibility.

The CM said that Incumbent government is utilizing all available resources for provision of both higher and technical education to Baloch students.

The CM said that completion of development projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would open news avenues of investment in the province.

The CM said that if our youth focuses more on acquiring higher and technical education, the inadequacy of technical expertise at our side for completion of CPEC project would be reduced. He said that in the coming days, a number of development projects would be started in the province under CPEC and we would also see Chinese experts coming to Balochistan, for this purpose it is imperative to learn speaking Chinese and attaining technical skills so that we do not have to face lack of technical expertise for completion of these projects.

The Chief Minister said that the incumbent government is taking concrete measures for development of education sector and aims to provide maximum opportunities to Baloch youth for attaining higher and technical education.

The Chief Minister assured students going to China that the government would provide them full financial support till completion of their courses. The Chief Minister on this occasion also announced laptops for students going to China.
A woman, Majeeda Bibi (50), and her son Waheed (23), were found murdered in their house in Younasabad area of Daska city on Tuesday.

SIALKOT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :A woman, Majeeda Bibi (50), and her son Waheed (23), were found murdered in their house in Younasabad area of Daska city on Tuesday. Police said that some locals found the bodies in the courtyard of the house and they informed the police. Police shifted the bodies to a local hospital for autopsy and started investigation.
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More than 54,000 people have been internally displaced by conflicts and militancy so far in 2018, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan (OCHA) said Tuesday, as fighting rage in difference places

KABUL, April 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) ::More than 54,000 people have been internally displaced by conflicts and militancy so far in 2018, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan (OCHA) said Tuesday, as fighting rage in difference places.

"A total of 54,063 people have been displaced by conflict since the beginning of the year, according to OCHA's Displacement Tracking System or DTS," the agency said in a statement here. The DTS tracks displacement based on humanitarian assessments.

Provinces hosting the highest number of displaced families are Kunduz with 13,615 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Takhar with 5,740 IDPs, according to the statement. In Kabul province, where the national capital city of Kabul is located, more than 1,200 IDPs arrived from Logar, Nangarhar, Jawzjan and Faryab provinces.

In the western Farah province, around 800 people reportedly arrived in capital city Farah, from six districts following clashes between armed groups and security forces. The remaining IDPs were forced to flee to safer places in central, southern and eastern regions.

Afghan officials and humanitarian agencies have expressed concern over the increasing numbers of displaced families in the country. More than 1 million Afghans have been displaced due to conflicts since 2001 as the worsening security situation and ongoing insurgency forced people to leave their homes for safer places. More than 445,000 Afghans were displaced in 2017.
As the rotating president of the G20, Argentina will support Tunisia's presence at the G20 summit, visiting Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie has said.

TUNIS, April 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) ::As the rotating president of the G20, Argentina will support Tunisia's presence at the G20 summit, visiting Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie has said.

The Argentine minister said Monday in meetings with Tunisian leaders that Tunisia could attend the next G20 Summit, scheduled in November in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital. Faurie underlined the common interest between his country and Tunisia, highlighting the need to lift the bilateral ties to the higher level in various economic and trade areas.

"The major objective, is to stimulate a partnership that will take advantage of the existing potentials between the two countries," said Faurie.

During the Argentine diplomat's visit, the two sides signed three agreements to increase cooperation in the fields of culture and academic researches.

These agreements included a deal on cultural cooperation from 2018 to 2020, a deal on cooperation in the field of cinema, and an agreement on cooperation between the Argentine Center for the World Economy and the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said that Tunisia intends to enhance its economic partnership with Latin America, mainly with the Southern Common Market, whose members include Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela.
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China and Switzerland vowed on Tuesday to further their innovative strategic partnership.

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :China and Switzerland vowed on Tuesday to further their innovative strategic partnership. The pledge was made between Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Swiss Federal Councillor and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis when they held the two countries' first round of foreign ministerial strategic talks.

In 2016, China and Switzerland established an innovative strategic partnership, the first of its kind between China and a foreign country. China is willing to boost its innovation cooperation with Switzerland in the new era to fulfill the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, Wang said.

Earlier in the day, Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, also met with Cassis, calling for more progress in the two countries' innovative strategic partnership. Cassis said his country will push forward bilateral cooperation in various fields.
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Europe's digital clocks are "back on time" after its power operators compensated for a shortfall in the continent's electricity grid because of a row between Serbia and Kosovo, the operators said Tuesday.

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Europe's digital clocks are "back on time" after its power operators compensated for a shortfall in the continent's electricity grid because of a row between Serbia and Kosovo, the operators said Tuesday.

The power operators association ENTSO-E said in early March the row had affected the grid's electric frequency since mid-January and caused clocks for radio alarms, ovens and heating systems to run several minutes late.

"The Continental Europe transmission system operators carried out a collective compensation programme to restore the situation back to normal," Brussels-based ENTSO-E said Tuesday in a statement.

"The digital clocks geared by electric frequency are now back on time," it added. ENTSO-E said it will "continue to support all parties" in a bid to achieve a lasting end to the energy dispute between Serbia and Kosovo.

Serbia's electrical power grid company EMS AD, tasked with balancing the Kosovo grid, blamed the missing power on Kosovo withdrawing without permission "uncontracted" energy from the synchronised European grid.

Kosovo operator KOSTT complained of an "imbalance in the system" when it supplied electricity at a loss to minority Serbs in northern Kosovo who refuse to recognise the ethnic Albanian authorities.

Serbia has refused to recognise its former breakaway province since it declared independence in 2008 and tries to block its attempt to join UN and various international organisations, including ENTSO-E. Both are seeking to join the European Union.
Kuwait will recruit Ethiopian nationals to make up for a "deficit" in domestic workers, authorities said Tuesday, following the grisly murder of a Filipina maid in the Gulf state.

Kuwait City, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Kuwait will recruit Ethiopian nationals to make up for a "deficit" in domestic workers, authorities said Tuesday, following the grisly murder of a Filipina maid in the Gulf state.

The Philippines banned its citizens from working in Kuwait after the body of 29-year-old Joanna Demafelis was found in a freezer earlier this year, bearing signs of torture. "We aim to open the door to the recruitment of Ethiopian workers to fill the deficit of domestic servants and reduce prices," General Talal Al-Maarifi, head of Kuwait's General Department of Residency Affairs, told AFP.

Ethiopia five years ago instituted a similar ban, following reports of abuse and complaints that employment agencies lured its citizens to work under illegal and appalling conditions.

The ban was lifted last Thursday.

Maarifi said there were more than 15,000 Ethiopians currently living and working in Kuwait. Kuwaiti police in March 2017 detained a woman for filming her Ethiopian maid falling from the seventh floor without trying to rescue her.

The 12-second video shows the maid hanging outside the building, with one hand tightly gripping the window frame, as she begs for help. Rights groups have voiced alarm over the plight of workers in the Gulf and other Arab countries, where migrant labour is regulated under a system known as "kafala".

The kafala, or sponsorship, system ties migrant workers' visas to their employers, prohibiting workers from leaving the country or changing jobs without prior consent.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday launched the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean Mersin region.

Ankara, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday launched the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean Mersin region.

"In the name of God!" Erdogan said standing next to Putin at the presidential palace in Ankara as he ordered through a video link the launch of the $20 billion Dollar Akkuyu nuclear power plant project.

State television TRT showed workers already starting work on the ground as fireworks went off to mark the event. Once completed the power station will provide 10 percent of the electricity needs of Turkey, which has few energy resources of its own.

The first stage is due to come online in 2023, the 100th anniversary of modern Turkey's founding, and be completed entirely in 2026. "This scale of the project is difficult to exaggerate," Putin said at the ceremony.

"This marks a new stage in the development of Turkey's economy." Erdogan said: "The power plant will contribute to our energy security and also play an important role in the fight against climate change." Turkey's Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan's son-in-law, praised the Akkuyu project saying: "We are standing at a crucial juncture in realising the 63-year dream." Turkey and Russia have forged burgeoning ties in recent months on a number of areas including energy as well as the Syrian crisis, despite differences on key policy areas.

"We are also in close cooperation with Russia to end as soon as possible the terror threat and clashes in Syria," Erdogan said. Key Syrian regime backers Russia and Iran have joined forces with rebel-supporting Turkey to push forward a peace process but also to ensure influence in Syria once the conflict ends.
A high-level Qatari delegation has started a visit to the United States to boost bilateral economic relations, Qatar's Ministry of Economy and Commerce said in a statement Tuesday.

DOHA, April 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) ::A high-level Qatari delegation has started a visit to the United States to boost bilateral economic relations, Qatar's Ministry of Economy and Commerce said in a statement Tuesday.

The delegation's schedule in the US includes attending economic forums and meetings with US officials and businessmen, the statement said. Besides, the two sides will hold roundtable discussions over various topics, including real estate, investment, tourism, technology, health, banking, law and infrastructure projects.

The delegation, consisting of representatives from various financial institutions and authorities, is headed by Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed Bin Jassim Bin Mohammed Al-Thani. "Over the past decade, Qatar has cemented its partnership with the United States in the form of direct investments, joint ventures and trade deals," said the Qatari minister.

He also said that the direct investments had contributed to creating new business opportunities for both Qatar and the United States. The Qatari business team will attend the Qatar-US Economic Forum in Miami starting Thursday, which will bring together more than 400 businesspeople and officials from both countries.

They will also visit Washington D.C., and the states of Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. The two nations enjoy sound military and economic relations. as Qatar currently hosts the Al-Udeid air base, the largest US military facility in the middle East.

The tiny Gulf country also accommodates more than 658 US companies, of which 117 are fully owned US companies. The volume of US investments in Qatar has amounted to 26.3 billion Qatari Riyals (7.22 billion US Dollars).
Scholars in USA and other countries paid rich tributes to China for its peaceful role in settling regional disputes, particularly that of Korean Peninsula.

Beijing, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Apr, 2018) : Scholars in USA and other countries paid rich tributes to China for its peaceful role in settling regional disputes, particularly that of Korean Peninsula.

Last week's meeting between President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, indicates China is playing an essential role in the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, according to several US analysts.

Kim paid an unofficial visit to China from March 25 to Wednesday, during which he met with Xi in Beijing. "China's role is essential," said Jon Taylor, professor of political science at the University of St.

Thomas in Houston. The visit to Beijing and the Xi-Kim meeting has "reinforced China's role as a central actor in managing security issues in Northeast Asia in general and the Korean Peninsula in particular", he said.

During their Beijing meeting, Xi said China will continue to play a constructive role on the issue and work with all parties, including the DPRK, toward a thaw of the situation on the peninsula.

Kim said it is his country's "consistent stand to be committed to denuclearization on the peninsula" and the DPRK is willing to have a dialogue with the United States and hold a summit between the two countries.

The Xi-Kim meeting is expected to be followed by a flurry of other talks, such as the late-April summit between Kim and President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea. These are "quite relevant" to the summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim in May, according to Taylor, who writes about China.

"The willingness of the principal parties to engage in diplomacy and dialogue on the Korean Peninsula issue is a hopeful sign," Taylor told a local Daily. "If the Moon-Kim summit goes as well as the Xi-Kim summit, the greater the likelihood that Trump and Kim will be able to ratchet down nuclear tensions and begin to address the challenge of developing a meaningful path to peace." Yun Sun, co-director of the East Asia Program at the Stimson Center, a think tank in Washington, said, "The significance (of the Xi-Kim meeting) is that China shows the world that China is indispensable in the process and cannot be excluded." The more "consensus and amity" Pyongyang and Seoul can build, between themselves and toward denuclearization, the more foundation it will pave for the engagement between Trump and Kim, she said.

The Beijing meeting showed that whatever may come of the upcoming inter-Korean and North Korea-US summits, China will not be a peripheral, Ankit Panda, a senior editor with The Diplomat who covers Asia-Pacific security and the DPRK's ballistic-missile and nuclear-weapons programs, said in a Wednesday post.

"As this trip represents Kim's first known sojourn outside of the country to meet a foreign head of state, it suggests that the North Korean leader may not be averse to traveling outside of the country (perhaps even overseas) for a summit with the US president," said Victor Cha, Senior Adviser and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in a commentary co-authored with Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow at the CSIS.
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An Indonesian soldier and at least one separatist rebel have been killed near a huge US-owned mine in Papua, the latest in a string of deadly clashes, authorities and separatists said Tuesday.

Jayapura, Indonesia, April 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :An Indonesian soldier and at least one separatist rebel have been killed near a huge US-owned mine in Papua, the latest in a string of deadly clashes, authorities and separatists said Tuesday.

Papua on the western half of New Guinea island has been the scene of a simmering insurgency since it was annexed by Indonesia in the late 1960s. Freeport McMoRan's gold and copper mine has been a frequent flashpoint in the struggle for independence and a bigger share of the region's rich resources.

The deaths happened during a Sunday shootout in which a soldier was killed. The military, citing drone footage, said at least two rebels had died while dozens were injured. "A soldier died... and the footage from the drone showed two separatists were also killed," military spokesman Muhammad Aidi said in a statement.

A spokesman for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM), linked to the Free Papua independence movement, said just one rebel had died.

He added that some two dozen soldiers had been shot in the clash, a claim that could not be verified.

There were no reports of civilian casualties. The region is generally off-limits to foreign journalists without special permission, making competing accounts difficult to verify. The scene of Sunday's clash was a village that had been at the centre of a tense standoff in November.

At that time, the military said armed rebels were preventing some 1,300 residents from leaving their small communities, which the separatists denied. Military spokesman Aidi said Sunday's mission was aimed at reclaiming those villages.

He said the rebels burned down some public facilities and homes before disappearing into the jungle. Rebel spokesman Hendrik Wanmang said the latest clash was sparked by the military trespassing into off-limits areas. "We have said it before -- if they enter (those areas) we will attack them," Wanmang told AFP.
The United Nations on Monday disputed claims by Morocco that the Polisario Front had carried out incursions in a buffer zone of Western Sahara, where a UN mission is monitoring a ceasefire.

United Nations, United States, April 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :The United Nations on Monday disputed claims by Morocco that the Polisario Front had carried out incursions in a buffer zone of Western Sahara, where a UN mission is monitoring a ceasefire.

Morocco wrote to the Security Council on Sunday to report that fighters of the Polisario Front had entered the northeastern Western Sahara town of Mahbes in recent days in violation of a military agreement setting up the buffer zone.

The fighters turned up in "military vehicles, and have set up tents, dug a ditch and built constructions using sandbags," Morocco's UN Ambassador Omar Hilale said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

Asked about the Moroccan claims, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the MINURSO mission had "not observed any movement of military elements in the northeast territory." "MINURSO continues to monitor the situation closely," he said.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has threatened a firm response to what he termed as "provocations" from the Algerian-backed Polisario, which is seeking independence for Western Sahara. The threats came as the Security Council is discussing a new mandate for MINURSO, which has been monitoring the truce since the end of a war in 1991.

A vote is scheduled on April 27. Morocco has accused the Polisario of carrying out incursions near Guerguerat, another area of the buffer zone in the southwest near the Mauritanian border. In a report to the council, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed a call for the Polisario to withdraw from Guerguerat and proposed that UN experts be dispatched to the tense area, but Morocco rejected that offer.

Over the past year, MINURSO recorded five violations of the military agreement setting up the buffer zone by Moroccan forces and seven by the Polisario, the report said.
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Paris, April 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2018 ) :Leading opponents of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday called on France and other EU nations not to recognise elections set for May, saying the vote was simply a sham aimed at consolidating his grip on power.

The country has been gripped by a political and economic crisis for months as Madura has overhauled institutions while sidelining the main opposition coalition, which has been barred from fielding candidates.

"We've come to ask the French government to increase the pressure in order to free Venezuela from the dictatorship," Antonio Ledezma, the exiled mayor of Caracas, told AFP at the start of a tour of European capitals.

"There is a crisis in Venezuela, a humanitarian catastrophe, people starving, people dying due to a lack of medicine," he said. Ledezma and other Venezuelan lawmakers are to meet with advisers to President Emmanuel Macron, who said in January that he hoped several countries would impose international sanctions against Maduro's government.

But despite international isolation and broad unpopularity, Maduro has shown no sign of wanting to negotiate after moving forward elections to May in a bid for a second six-year term. Opposition groups, some of which are boycotting the vote, say it will not be a fair contest.

"Fraud is so deeply rooted in all of society that unfortunately Maduro will win these elections with fraud," said Julio Borges, a delegate with the Democratic Unity Roundtable umbrella coalition.

"That's why the most important clamour the world can make is to not recognise the elections of May 20," he told AFP. The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Maduro and his officials, with Washington calling him a "dictator".

But officials have also expressed concern about penalties that could harm ordinary Venezuelans already suffering from deteriorating living standards in the oil-rich nation.
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Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa was due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday as he seeks economic support from a major partner that previously backed his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe.

Beijing, April 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2018 ) :Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa was due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday as he seeks economic support from a major partner that previously backed his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter decades ago, will be greeted by Xi at the colossal Great Hall of the People for his first state visit to Beijing since taking power.

Mnangagwa took office in November after a military takeover ended Mugabe's 37-year reign, though he has also been accused of playing a key role in his mentor's authoritarian regime that left the economy in ruins and under sanctions.

In an interview with China's Xinhua state news service, Mnangagwa said his trip was to "say thank you not only to the president of China but also the people of China for standing and supporting Zimbabwe during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us."
The family of a Cambodian-American jailed awaiting deportation last year are appealing the deportation order after a district court ruled his planned December deportation should be postponed.

Kosal Chhim was sentenced to five years in prison in 2001 for domestic violence, however, more than 16 years later he was re-arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers while leaving home for work early in the morning on October 2 last year. He was due to be sent to Cambodia, which he left as an infant refugee, on December 18.

Since President Donald Trump came into office on an anti-immigration platform, ICE officers were given new powers to effectively arrest and detain any undocumented migrants. In the Trump administrations first year in office, more than 155,000 were arrested, an increase of more than 170 percent.

Some 70 Cambodian-Americans who had prior criminal records for felony crimes were due to be deported along with Chhim, but the California court order halted the process. In a class-action lawsuit filed by civil rights advocates in November last year, lawyers for the Cambodians argued that their clients would suffer "irreparable harm" if they were returned to Cambodia and asked for an opportunity to re-open the Cambodians' immigration cases so they can appeal the deportation orders.

This is what our attorney filed for a motion to reopen his court case to the board of appeals, Chhims wife, Sanghear Prak, told VOA Khmer in an interview at their house in Stafford, VA., last month. Were just waiting to hear back from them.

Chhims fate now rests with the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is the highest administrative body for interpreting and applying immigration laws.

He came to the United States in 1983 with his parents and a sister and brother when he was eight years old, but never became a US citizen.

Kosal purchased a home in Stafford, Virginia, two years ago to fulfill his American dream and brought his extended family to live with him.

If my son is deported, it would be really hard for me, said Mouy Krouch, Chhims mother. I have only this son to take care of me. My husband has died.

Krouch suffers from myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease, and requires regular support.

I cannot speak clearly, said Krouch. My tongue is stiff. I cannot swallow much food. From time to time I have to be tube fed.

Chhim is currently being held at the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia.

Its been really hard without him, said Kim Sor, Kosals sister-in-law. This is going to be really hard. I dont know how everybodys going to move on from that. We can try, but we do need him here, especially the kids, and the house. He takes care of the house.

Kosal worked as an AC technician and has a two-year-old daughter with Prak and two other children with his two previous partners.

Sanghear said that after his release in 2007, Kosal had not committed any other offenses.

"He never hurt me, said Prak. When I was in Boston for several years until I graduated, he helped me. He worked. We were not together. I was in Boston and he was in Virginia. He gave me some money. He never mistreated me since weve been together. He is not a bad person."

Neighbors also petitioned Senator Mark Warners office for support.

He has shown us and everyone, all of our neighbor's great compassion and friendship, said Ellie Conley, a neighbor. He supported his family. He loves his wife and his daughter and his family. We would be disappointed if he could not come home.

Another neighbor, Jeri Stephens, said at one point Kosal Chhim offered to mow her lawn.

Well, I think well be losing a good citizen, said Stephens. Someone thats willing to come in and abide by community standards or by the constitution of our country. It will be a loss for us. And for his family to have to go through what they are going through is really hard for me to understand how they can survive it.

Across the United States, there are nearly 2,000 Cambodian refugees facing deportation. Since Cambodia signed an agreement with the US in 2002, more than 500 of them have been removed, according to rights activists.

Prak sees being sent back to Cambodia as a life sentence for Kosal as he has no knowledge of the country.

If a person changed [after] they committed a crime and they grew from it and they are rehabilitated into the society and everybody loves him and respects him and he hasnt done anything else wrong, then he deserves a second chance, said Prak. And everybody who is in that situation deserves a second chance as well, not just my husband.

The family is now campaigning on the Internet to raise money for defense fees.

If they fail in court, Prak says she will have to move back to Cambodia with Kosal.

"If he is sent to Cambodia, I and my kid will follow him, she said. We do not want to break up the family."

But his mother would not be able to because of her health condition.

"My health does not allow me to live there, she said. Where can I find treatment there? I survive on medicine. Without medicine, I cannot eat anything.
A Russian lawmaker accused of sexual harassment is attracting media attention worldwide and prompting comparisons to America's #MeToo Movement. In Moscow, a parliamentary ethics committee which cleared the Russian lawmaker of all charges, has fueled greater support for the female accusers -- raising hopes in Russia and across the Atlantic that the time for change has arrived. VOA's Anush Avetisyan has more.
The refugee population in Uganda stands at more than 1.4 million and growing, thanks to conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. The influx is forcing Uganda to rethink its decades-old policy of allocating refugees plots of land to live on and farm. For VOA, Halima Athumani reports from Kyangwali refugee settlement in western Uganda.
President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for a Baltic Summit at the White House on Tuesday, as tensions continue to rise between Russia and the West. Ahead of the meeting, Baltic leaders have called on the U.S. to not underestimate the threat from Russia - which they say is conducting "hybrid warfare." VOA Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department, with contributions by Iuliia Alieva, Myroslava Gongadze of VOA's Eurasia Division.
American Indian tribes have taken greater control over prosecuting non-tribal members who commit some violent crimes in Indian Country five years after Congress passed a key law, a new report shows.

But gaps remain after the Violence Against Women Act allowed tribes to bring criminal charges against non-Natives in domestic violence cases. For example, it doesnt extend to violence against children or other family members, and tribal prosecutors are urging lawmakers to expand the law to cover everyone in a household.

Tribal land was long known as a safe haven because U.S. authorities would only prosecute the most serious offenses and tribes lacked the ability to charge those who werent Native Americans. Since the law passed in 2013, tribal communities are empowered to report wrongdoing, governments are better collaborating and tribes are updating their laws, public safety advocates say.

It really has changed the culture in some of these tribes around domestic violence in a way that many people there report as overwhelming evidence, said Elizabeth Reese, a project attorney for the National Congress of American Indians.

The group released a report last month that shows the impact of the tribal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act: 143 arrests of non-Natives, leading to 74 convictions and five acquittals among 18 tribes in 11 states. About 90 percent of the victims are women.

The majority of cases are being tried within four tribes: Pascua Yaqui near Tucson, Arizona; the Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians in western North Carolina; the Tulalip Tribes north of Seattle; and Fort Peck Tribes in northeastern Montana. The United States has 573 federally recognized tribes.

The Violence Against Women Act allows tribes to charge non-Natives for domestic violence against intimate partners or spouses and when protection orders are violated. The authority doesnt extend to violence against children, family members or law enforcement and doesnt include crimes by non-Natives who dont know their victims or crimes by tribal members against non-Indians.

If you arrest a non-Native for domestic violence and the guy fights the cop, I wouldnt be able to charge that, said Scott Seifert, Fort Peck Tribes chief prosecutor. And I wouldnt be able to charge if he had a baggie of dope in his pocket, or if he beats his child.

Tribal prosecutors also cannot charge property crimes, sexual misconduct, false imprisonment, threats, trafficking or stalking  things they say limit their ability to make plea deals with offenders.

Legislation pending in Congress seeks to address some of those holes and ensure tribes have the financial resources to implement the law  the most substantial hurdle for tribes, Reese said.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, for example, had to pay an unexpected $60,000 in medical care for a defendant in tribal custody, the report said. At Pascua Yaqui, unexpected costs came in funding Spanish interpreters and transporting defendants to detention facilities.

The National Congress of American Indians and others have called on Congress to give tribes full authority over all criminal offenses on land, regardless of the ethnicity of those involved.

A 1978 U.S. Supreme Court decision stripped tribes of criminal authority over non-Natives. Which police agency responds depends on whether the victim, suspect or both are Native American  creating a complicated jurisdictional maze that sometimes results in no response, tribal officials say.

It seems to be that perhaps our federal partners want to take more of a piecemeal approach  thats evident by whats occurring here and consistent with some of the concerns that were initially voiced, said Oscar OJ Flores, Pascua Yaquis chief prosecutor. Im anticipating it will probably happen in that fashion. Hopefully the increased pieces of jurisdiction will get larger as we go along.

Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has said about 85 percent of the Justice Departments Indian Country investigations relate to violent crime. He said domestic and sexual violence against women and children is pervasive.

But it is not a reality that we are willing to accept, he said in an address to the National Congress of Americans earlier this year.

Giving tribes some criminal authority over non-Natives wasnt easy to push through Congress, with Republicans worrying about the fairness of tribal courts and not having impartial juries for trials on reservations.

Under the tribal provisions, defendants could seek recourse in federal court but none have, and juries have been made up of both Natives and non-Natives, according to the National Congress of American Indians report.
A Kenyan charity launched a range of educational materials Tuesday to teach children about the dangers of trafficking, in a bid to combat child slavery and exploitation.

Most information on human trafficking, including images, is focused on Southeast Asia, said Sophie Otiende of Awareness Against Human Trafficking, also known as HAART Kenya, and is therefore often of limited relevance in Kenya.

"If children are not able to relate, they cannot identify, and it is unlikely that the information will make a difference to them," she said. "So we felt it was important to design something which suited them, and make it also engaging."

The International Labor Organization says one in four of the world's estimated 40 million slaves are children.

Activists say there are few tools to help minors recognize the signs and avoid the dangers, particularly in Africa.

HAART said not enough was being done to teach children of the risks.

Child-friendly teaching aids

Otiende said the charity hoped the child-friendly materials  including colorful posters, brochures and a teaching manual  would be copied and used across the country in schools, youth clubs and church groups.

The manual helps teachers plan lessons on subjects ranging from basic child rights  such as their right to shelter and food, as well as an environment free of abuse  to an explanation of what traffickers and recruiters are.

The lessons include discussions, songs, drawings and even role-playing to get the message across.

The government welcomed the initiative.

"We are very keen to look at ways on how to empower communities to tackle human trafficking," Ruth Njuguna, a member of the anti-trafficking committee at the labor ministry, told delegates at the event. "Once people understand the issue, they will be able to recognize the indicators, and this will help in prevention."

Kenya is a source, transit and destination country for men, women and children who are trafficked into forced labor and sexual slavery, according to the U.S. State Department's 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.

Children are bought and sold into forced labor in domestic work, farming, fishing, herding, street-vending and begging.

Girls and boys are also exploited in prostitution throughout Kenya, including in sex tourism on the coast, it added.

There are no accurate figures on the number of children trafficked in Kenya. However, the 2017 TIP report said the Kenyan government had identified 153 child victims in 2016.

Campaigners say the true number is far higher, adding that victims often do not understand they have been trafficked and enslaved, are fearful of their traffickers or even feel ashamed, especially if they were forced into sex work.
An Argentine judge on Tuesday charged a former planning minister in a case involving Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction company at the center of a widespread Latin American corruption scandal.

Argentina's official Judicial Information Center said Tuesday that Julio De Vido and other former officials were charged with carrying out incompatible deals while in public office since 2005. De Vido is suspected of illegally favoring Odebrecht on multi-million-dollar contracts for the construction of gas pipelines. The charges could carry up to six years in prison.

Odebrecht officials have acknowledged paying bribes in numerous countries across the hemisphere and the scandals have brought the downfall of major business leaders and political figures. Last month, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned from Peru's presidency as he faced threats of impeachment from a hostile congress probing allegations he received almost $800,000 in payments a decade ago from Odebrecht.

De Vido turned himself to authorities in October after the lower house of Congress voted to remove his immunity from being detained. He is also being probed for possible embezzlement in another case involving a coal mine.

De Vido was one of the most influential ministers in the administration of former President Cristina Fernandez.

Since leaving office in 2015, Fernandez has been hit by corruption scandals and was indicted last year. She has acknowledged that some corruption took place during her administration, but denies any wrongdoing. Fernandez won a Senate seat during last year's midterm elections, which grants her immunity from arrest.
When the rains failed in 2015 and drought gripped southern Mindanao in the Philippines, Corazon Vegafria knew what she had to do: move to the city of Koronadal, about an hour away by bus, and find work as a domestic helper to support her family.

Her husband looked after the children while Vegafria sent home most of the 2,000 pesos ($38) she earned every month cooking and cleaning at her employer's home.

"We had no choice  we needed the money, and I could easily find a job in the city," she said. Six months later, she returned home "when the situation improved."

In the past two decades, the Philippines has emerged as one of the world's leading source countries for migrant workers, particularly as more powerful typhoons and other harsh weather make life at home harder.

More than 10 million Filipinos currently work abroad, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. But in the last few years, the gender balance has shifted, with about 55 percent of overseas workers now women, its data shows.

That makes the Philippines an outlier in a world where most migrant workers are men.

Globally, migration is growing, especially among families hit by disasters, conflict or weather shifts  and that growth does not always adhere to traditional patterns.

In some places, seasonal migration is slowly leading to permanent relocation. In others, migrants are heading to new destinations. In the Philippines, one of the biggest changes is that migration is gradually taking on a female face.

Each day, hundreds of rural women pack their bags for jobs as maids and care-givers, largely in the Middle East and the United States. Others go to Singapore and Hong Kong.

Thousands of women also flock to Philippine cities including Manila, Davao and Koronadal, where they work as domestic helpers or in malls and restaurants, sending money home to pay for their children's schooling or to invest in farms their husbands tend.

"Migration is linked to low agricultural productivity, natural disasters such as droughts and typhoons, failed deals to secure land rights, and conflicts," said Alvin Chandra, a research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia.

"Increasingly, it is a coping strategy for young women to diversify family income and overcome poverty," said Chandra, who has studied migration in Mindanao, where an armed conflict has raged for decades.

Higher Salaries

Across Southeast Asia, people are migrating in rising numbers, with the wealthier countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand the top destinations, according to the World Bank.

Singapore's average monthly wage is more than 30 times that of Cambodia, while Malaysia's is triple that of Indonesia and the Philippines, it said.

Migration plays an outsize role in the Philippines' economy, where remittances from overseas workers make up about a 10th of gross domestic product - the highest share in the region.

Women are leaving home in greater numbers, as they can get long-term jobs more easily. Men, by comparison, usually land short-term, seasonal work.

Some migrants, like Vegafria, move for a few months at a time to get their families through a lean period. But many end up staying on, as a cycle of frequent storms and drought makes it harder to live off the land.

Elisabeth Pacaldo, for instance, moved to Manila in 2002 to work as a nanny after income from fishing and farming fell in the Visayas region where she came from. Her husband stayed behind to care for their five children.

After four years, Pacaldo, now 55, was able to send for three of her kids. Her husband moved to Manila in 2008 to work as a driver.

"It's easier for women to find work in the city, and the salaries are higher. I can't go back," said Pacaldo, who now works as an administrative assistant in a non-profit.

'Extreme Choices'

Worsening extreme weather is an important driver of migration in rural parts of the Philippines, a country seen by experts as highly vulnerable to climate change.

"There are some climate impacts where adaptation and risk reduction efforts are no longer a feasible option. People have to make extreme choices, and migration is one of them," Chandra said.

The Philippines and other developing nations must acknowledge migration as one way of coping, and develop "a comprehensive strategy that ensures the safety and dignity of their most vulnerable people," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The Philippines has a well-established system for workers looking to move overseas: the government lists job opportunities and offers orientation courses.

Recruitment agents operating in the country must attend a seminar before getting a license, and a refresher course when renewing.

But there is little support for - or data on - the millions of women who move inside the country, a group at risk of abuse and low wages, according to Gabriela, a rights group based in Manila that records cases of abuse.

There have also been complaints about the treatment of Filipino maids overseas. President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this year banned workers from going to Kuwait following the discovery of the body of a Filipino worker in a freezer.

Earlier this month, the two countries reached an agreement regulating conditions for domestic workers.

Last year, Indonesia agreed to continue sending domestic helpers overseas, after temporarily banning them from going to 21 Middle Eastern countries following cases of abuse.

Gender Relations

The benefits of migration are undeniable for most Filipino families - and for the country's economy.

"Even members of the household who do not migrate benefit from remittances that boost budgets and reduce poverty," the World Bank said in an October report.

"In the Philippines, households that are able to send a member abroad have two-fold or three-fold greater odds of escaping poverty," it added.

Filipinos overseas sent home a record $28 billion in cash remittances last year, money that helped fuel spending and sustain expansion in one of the world's fast-growing economies.

But the movement of women is also having an unhappier impact on households in a country where men have long been the main earners, and often had a bigger say in the family.

"With the migration of women, there is a shift in community values, lifestyles and gender relations that has led to greater domestic conflicts and violence," Chandra said.

"With women being away, their right to participate in community life and decision-making is challenged. They are also vulnerable to abuse and trafficking," he said.

President Duterte has said his long-term aim is to slow the exodus of workers by boosting the domestic economy and creating jobs that provide sufficient income.

In Sultan Kudarat district in Mindanao, some migrants are finding ways to return home  and stay.

When Geneline Castillo, 47, got back after working seven years as a domestic helper in the Middle East, she joined a cooperative that trains farmers in organic growing methods. She now cultivates rice and vegetables on the 2-hectare plot she and her husband lease, and has bought a motorbike for trips to the market.

"It's better here with the family, and I now have a livelihood option, even if the money is less," she said.

"But my daughter has gone to Dubai to work. I could not stop her - there is nothing for her here," she said.

($1 = 52.3490 Philippine pesos)
Some European countries are rejecting asylum applications from Eritrean refugees, despite evidence they face imprisonment and torture if they are forcibly returned to the country, according to human rights group Amnesty International.



Eritreans are the third largest group of refugees arriving on Europes shores, after Syrians and Afghans.

Stefan Simanowitz of Amnesty says the vast majority are young men fleeing oppressive national service.



Children, from the ages of 17 or 16 are forced into conscription, which is meant to last 18 months, but in reality can go on for indefinite periods," he said. "We spoke to people who had left after being in conscription and national service for 10 or 15 years. Others who have had family members conscripted for over two decades.



Oppressive regime



A U.N. commission of inquiry earlier this year described Eritrea as one of the worlds most oppressive regimes. The Eritrean government denied the accusations made in the report.



Amnesty says the conscription amounts to forced labor and anyone trying to evade or escape it is detained in appalling conditions.



If they are seen or caught, they can be shot and killed. They can be arrested, they can be tortured," he said. "Many of them are locked up in cells underground or in shipping containers for long periods as punishment for trying to avoid conscription.



Amnesty says the same fate would likely face Eritreans who had fled overseas, but then forcibly returned.



Safe haven



Despite this some European countries, including Britain and Denmark, have begun rejecting the majority of Eritrean asylum applications. The British government changed its advice in March, claiming that Eritrea is safe for migrants to return to after leaving illegally. Simanowitz says they must change course.



The situation for Eritrean asylum seekers is a desperate one and they must be given safe haven, he said.



Speaking at last months EU-Africa Migration summit in Malta, French President Francois Hollande said the Eritrean regime must be confronted. He said the world needs to put maximum pressure on Eritrea, because what is happening is extremely serious. Nobody is talking about it. It is a country that is becoming empty of its own population.



Despite Britain and Denmarks approach, Eritrean refugees were among the first refugees to be relocated from Germany to Spain under the European Unions new migrant plan. Each European country sets its own rules on asylum.
As a campfire burns in a remote village on Cameroon's northwestern border with Nigeria, seven men and five boys roast cocoa yam for supper.

The eldest among them, 45-year-old Bruno Nfor, says the group has spent at least a week in the bush after violence broke out in the town of Tadu. Armed separatists attacked the town, he says. Then, soldiers began burning houses and arresting people indiscriminately. Many people were tortured or wounded.

Nfor says if he and his friends had the means, they would leave the bush where they are hiding and cross over to Nigeria, because they are not safe in the English-speaking northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon, where they they say they were treated like animals and terrorists before they fled.

In January, Nigerian authorities said they had arrested at least two dozen Cameroonians receiving military training on its territory.

Nfor says since then, Cameroon's military has been sweeping through border villages, searching for armed separatists whom they suspect of either going to or returning from Nigeria.

This month, the U.N. refugee agency reported that since mid-2017, tens of thousands of people had fled Cameroons two Anglophone regions, where the separatist movements are active. English-speakers there say they are discriminated against by the country's French-speaking majority.

In hiding



Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon's minister of territorial administration, says thousands are hiding in bushes and mountains around the border with Nigeria.

Last week, he visited the two English-speaking regions to plead for the displaced populations to return. He says many of those escaping have weapons.

"They have to come out of the bushes, go back to their villages and put down the guns. If they do that, it is fine for them. We have recovered a lot of guns, a lot of weapons, a lot of explosives brought by people who are in the bushes, so we are asking them to repent and go out of those atrocities because you cannot succeed. We have a strong nation, we have solid institutions and there is no hiding place for truants in Cameroon. You cannot hide," Nji said.

Scared to return

But many of those who fled, like 30-year-old Leslie Ngala, say they are scared of the Cameroonian military.

Ngala says he is escaping Cameroon's military, especially the gendarmes. He says before he fled, even little children would try to escape whenever they saw a military person because they either had seen or heard how the soldiers mistreated people. He says his motorcycle was seized by people he recognized as being from the Cameroonian military, not separatist fighters.

The military has denied the allegations, saying the separatists are causing the violence.

Didier Bajeck, a spokesperson for Cameroon's military, said soldiers have remained professional as they carry out their duties to protect people and property.

Nformi Balla, an elder from northwestern Cameroon, says Nji is turning on traditional rulers because the population still listens to them after losing confidence in the administration and the military.

"We have seen the bloodshed and we ourselves are tired of this war. We too cry for peace and we assured the minister that we shall do everything within our means and powers to facilitate the peaceful return of our people," Balla said.

In October, the separatists declared what they call the Republic of Ambazonia and asked the military to surrender and join them or leave their territory. So far, hundreds of people and about 30 police officers and soldiers have been killed.
China's new defense minister says his visit to Russia is a signal to the United States about the increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing.

The unusually bold statement Tuesday by Gen. Wei Fenghe at the start of his talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reflected the growing military cooperation between the two former Communist rivals.

Speaking in Moscow, Wei emphasized that he chose Russia for his first trip abroad since becoming the international face of China's military last month to show the world a high level of development of our bilateral relations and firm determination of our armed forces to strengthen strategic cooperation.

Wei added he would attend a security conference Wednesday hosted by the Russian Defense Ministry to let the Americans know about the close ties between the armed forces of China and Russia.

Shoigu said Wei's visit underlines a special character of relations between Russia and China, adding that it will help further deepen ties between the two militaries.

Moscow and Beijing have forged what they described as a strategic partnership, expressing their shared opposition to the unipolar world - the term they use to describe perceived U.S. global domination.

As part of their burgeoning military cooperation, Moscow and Beijing have conducted joint military maneuvers, including exercises in the South China Sea and last summer's joint navy drills in the Baltics.

The Baltic exercise marked the first time that China had flexed its military muscle in a region where tensions between Russia and NATO have escalated following Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In December, the Russian and Chinese militaries held missile defense drills intended to practice a joint response to missile threats from other countries.
China has increased import duties up to 25 percent on a list of U.S. goods, including pork, fruit and other products, amounting to $3 billion.

The tariffs, which took effect immediately on April 2, were announced late Sunday by China's finance ministry, who said the country was responding to a U.S. tariff hike on steel and aluminum that took effect on March 23.

China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Monday it was suspending its obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reduce tariffs on 120 U.S. goods, including fruit and ethanol. The import duties on those products will be raised by an extra 15 percent.

The retaliatory tariffs come as the trade tensions between Beijing and Washington escalate.

Economic observers said the immediate impact should be limited, but investors have feared a full-blown trade spat between the two countries may depress global commerce and subsequently be damaging for world growth.

Even if China's tariffs don't have a huge impact on America's $20 trillion economy, they will bring pain to specific communities.

"It's hard to say exactly how this will impact U.S. pork producers. We export pork to more than 100 countries around the word," Jim Heimerl, president of the National Pork Producers Council, told VOA. "We are the most competitive pork-producing nation in the word. We produce the highest quality, the safest, and the most affordable pork in the world. And when we can compete on a level playing field, we do very, very well. Obviously, with a 25 percent tariff in China, we are at a very significant disadvantage."

Heimerl said China was a particularly significant market for the U.S.

"It was our No. 2 U.S. pork export market. Last year, we sent $1.1 billion worth of pork to China, and that's out of a total of nearly $6.5 billion of U.S. pork exports. That's a significant share of our export market," he said.

Concern over the tariffs was also felt by much smaller businesses such as the Yao Family Wines of St. Helena in Napa Valley, California. Thomas Hinde, president of the winery, said although they sell very little of their wine in China, he is concerned that the extra 15 percent tariff on U.S. wine will slow down their effort to develop that market.

"Largely half of the wine consumed in China are from France. France pays the 42 percent duty now, but they won't have the additional 15 percent," he said.

In the meantime, U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to also impose tariffs on more than $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. The move is intended to punish Beijing over U.S. accusations that China has systematically misappropriated American intellectual property. Beijing has repeatedly denied such allegations.
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday for Beijing's political support and pledged to strengthen ties with the Asian giant on his first visit since his dramatic rise to power last year.

Xi welcomed Mnangagwa to Beijing when they met following a formal welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.

You are an old friend of China and I appreciate your efforts to develop relations in all areas, Xi said in opening remarks. Xi praised Mnangagwa's efforts to improve people's lives in Zimbabwe, though he did not go into specifics.

As Zimbabwe's good friend and partner, we are very happy about this, Xi said.

Ahead of an election scheduled for August 2018 at the latest, Mnangagwa is under pressure to bring back foreign investors and resolve a severe currency shortage, mass unemployment and dramatic price increases.

Mnangagwa, who along with members of his delegation wore a scarf in the colors of Zimbabwe's flag, thanked Xi for his reception and recalled his military training in China in 1963-64. In the 1960s, China helped train and supply guerrilla fighters from the Zanu's military wing in the fight for liberation. Mnangagwa, 75, was part of that effort after he joined the fight against white minority rule in then-Rhodesia.

Mnangagwa congratulated Xi on his re-election as president and on the establishment of his political theory, simply referred to as Xi Jinping Thought.

I will take this mantra to Zimbabwe and hope to develop some socialism in Zimbabwe with Zimbabwean characteristics, Mnangagwa said.

Part of Belt and Road initiative



The trip is Mnangagwa's first since longtime leader Robert Mugabe resigned in November under pressure from the military. Mugabe's government maintained warm relations with Beijing but was accused of widespread corruption.

Some of that ill-gotten wealth was reported to have gone through China, which became increasingly enmeshed with Zimbabwe's government and economy as Western nations withdrew over human rights concerns and mismanagement of the once-prosperous country.

Among those projects is the 300 megawatt expansion of the Kariba South by China's Sinohydro in a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Chinese companies were also major players in Zimbabwe's diamond fields until the government canceled all licenses to make way for a state monopoly in 2016.

Since then, Zimbabwe has continued to face huge economic challenges, including severe cash shortages and dramatic increases in the price of food and other household items that have prompted it to look to China for loans and investment.

At the time of Mugabe's resignation, China said it still considered him a good friend who has long been committed to friendship between China and Zimbabwe.

However, questions were raised as to whether China had played a role or been notified in advance of the move against Mugabe because of a visit days before by Zimbabwe's army commander at the time, Gen. Constantino Chiwenga, to Beijing.

Analysts said China had increasingly considered Mugabe a liability. Beijing has said only that Chiwenga's visit was a normal military exchange.

Zimbabwe is among the African countries targeted by China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative promising roads, ports, and other infrastructure. That's widely seen as providing the continent's economy with a much-needed boost, although some have questioned the long-term ability of recipient nations to pay for the projects.

Most recently, the United States has sounded the alarm that the Chinese money flooding Africa risks bringing dependency, exploitation and intrusion on nations' basic sovereignty.

Former U.S. secretary of state Rex Tillerson said last month in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that while Chinese investment is badly needed, African countries should carefully consider the terms.
Defence lawyers at Bill Cosbys retrial on sexual assault charges can call a witness they say will undermine his accusers credibility, a Pennsylvania judge said on Tuesday, reversing his ruling that barred the same witness from the first trial of the comedian once known as Americas Dad.

The ruling came on the second day of jury selection for the second trial where the 80-year-old entertainer will face charges that he sexually assaulted a staffer more than a decade ago at his alma mater, Temple University in Philadelphia. His first trial on those charges last year ended in a hung jury.

Montgomery County Judge Steven ONeill also said defence lawyers could introduce evidence that Cosby made a payout to accuser Andrea Constand to settle the lawsuit she filed against him in 2005. Details of that settlement were not aired during the first trial and have remained secret for more than a decade.

Together, the two rulings will bolster the defences strategy to portray Constand as a liar who invented the incident to extort money from the comedian best known for his rose as Cliff Huxtable, the wise and witty dad on the long-running hit sitcom The Cosby Show.

The trial is scheduled to begin with opening statements on April 9 in the Norristown, Pennsylvania court.

Cosby is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting Constand at his home in suburban Philadelphia more than 14 years ago. The first trial end in a mistrial last June when the jury could not reach a verdict.

Cosby has denied allegations from more than 50 women that he sexually assaulted them. Constands accusations are the only ones recent enough to allow for criminal prosecution.

Defence lawyers had asked ONeill to permit Jackson to testify that Constand, a former co-worker, once told her she could profit by accusing a famous person of sexual assault.

During the first trial, ONeill barred Jackson from taking the stand as a rebuttal witness, ruling the statements were hearsay. But he changed his mind following both written submissions and oral arguments at pretrial hearings last week.

The prosecutions case will also unfold differently this time. ONeill has granted them permission to call five other Cosby accusers over defence objections. In the first trial, they could only call one.

Those witnesses are expected to testify about similar alleged sexual assaults as prosecutors try to show that Cosby engaged in a pattern of misconduct.
Last week's tit-for-tat closure of U.S. and Russian consulates over the death of a former spy in Britain was intended to punish officials and diplomats, but ordinary citizens of both countries are already feeling the impact.

The fallout is most severe for Russian citizens and travel-minded Americans in the U.S. Northwest, who would normally seek visas, passport renewals and other documents at the Russian consulate in Seattle, which shut down Friday.

With Russia's San Francisco consulate having already been closed in September, that leaves residents of the Seattle area with a minimum four-and-a-half-hour flight to the nearest functioning Russian consulate in Houston, Texas, some 3,000 kilometers (1,860) miles) away.

Gayane Yaffa, head of Russian visa services in Seattle, said her phone rang non-stop all week after the March 26 White House announcement.

"People started calling at 7 a.m. asking what to do now," said Yaffa. "Many had already planned their trips and purchased tickets. People kept asking what to do. It was impossible to reach the consulate in Seattle, and those who succeeded were told there was no point in coming because the employees only gave out the ready passports with visas in them."

Russia responded later last week by ordering the United States to close its consulate in St. Petersburg, the second busiest one in the country. But the impact of that closing will be less severe, since the U.S. consulate in Moscow  less than 700 kilometers (435 miles) to the southeast  will continue to operate.

Russian national Yuri Dukhovny, a Los Angeles resident, says he believes the exchange of closings is going to have a disproportionate impact on Russians.

All conflicts between states first affect average citizens, he said. Many Russians need to renew passports and deal with paperwork. Not having any Russian consulates on the West Coast affects them greatly. Everything will now take forever.

Script writer Jeremy Iverson, an American who says he moved to Russia a year ago to seek adventure, echoed that view, saying it is average Russians who ultimately will pay the price for the diplomatic gamesmanship.

The closure of the (St. Petersburg) consulate isnt actually going to impact American citizens theyll still have to go through the ILS system to mail in your documents needed for obtaining a visa, he said. It will impact Russian citizens who need consular services, those who are here and are trying to get passports changed, to get documentation things like that. It's going to be an issue for them.

Moscow responded to the U.S. order to close the Seattle consulate with a Twitter poll asking Russian citizens which U.S. consulate should be closed in response.

What seemed like a sarcastic joke, said Russian political analyst Alexandr Konfisakhor, was actually a political tactic that appeared to shift responsibility for the decision to the will of the Russian people. Konfisakhor suggested it was a way for the Russian government to respond to the U.S. but not overdo it.

You can get to Moscow from St. Petersburg in just a couple of hours. It means that everyone who needs a visa can easily get one. Closing a consulate in Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok would have been a much more serious inconvenience," he said.

This story originated from VOA's Russian Service.
Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, a prominent writer and professor of gastroenterology known for creating groundbreaking medical thrillers, compelling horror and science fiction like "Beyond Metaphysics,'' and Fantasia was laid to rest in Egypt Tuesday.

Tawfik died suddenly on Monday. He was 55. A cause of death has not been released.

One of the most prolific and popular authors in Egypt, Tawfik wrote more than 500 paperbacks and titles, which appealed strongly to young Arabs. His instant best-selling "Utopia" is described as a grim and bleak futuristic account of Egyptian society in the year 2023, when Israel builds its version of the Suez Canal and the Middle East oil reserves are rendered worthless by a newly invented U.S. super fuel.

Living in a dog-eat-dog society

In Tawfiks Egypt 2023, the middle class disappeared and the future looked more nightmarish than in The Forgotten Planet by American writer Murray Leinster.

Breathtaking and suspenseful Utopia, which was set for the big screen, takes readers on a chilling journey beyond the gated communities of the northern coast, an isolated U.S. Marine-protected coastal colony created by the rich and famous, where the wealthy are insulated from the bleakness of life outside the walls.

"The middle class, in any society, plays the role of graphite rods in nuclear reactors: they slow down the reaction and, if it weren't for them, the reactor would explode. A society without a middle class is a society primed for explosion," explains Tawfik in his critically acclaimed Utopia.

One of his most famous quotes, "the end of despots is something so beautiful, but, alas, we often don't live to see it," is widely published in Arabic by young Egyptians on social media.

Master of Escapism

Called Godfather by his readers, Tawfik is credited with introducing young Arabs to works by American author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury, British author Sir Arthur Clarke and other sci-fi writers.

Stories that lean on science or on technology appear as texts or information books to us in the Arab world, and we believe they wont provide escapism. We have the imagination as a reader, but its just not yet developed enough to embrace science fiction and fantasy, or a plot that is weighted in gloom and horror, he told a UAE newspaper.

Tawfik was one of the earliest Egyptian writers to specialize in horror, science fiction and fantasy, and his work included both illustrated books and novels, wrote the state-run Al-Ahram online in his obituary. His publishers say he is "the Arab world's best-selling author of horror and fantasy genres."

He was buried in his home city of Tanta in Western Egypt, where he was born in June, 1962. He is survived by his wife, a pulmonologist at Tanta medical college, and two children.
Poland's prime minister claims Jews took part in their own destruction in the Holocaust. His Hungarian counterpart declares that the "color" of Europeans should not mix with that of Africans and Arabs. And the Croatian president has thanked Argentina for welcoming notorious pro-Nazi war criminals after World War II.

Ever since WWII, such views were taboo in Europe, confined to the far-right fringes. Today they are openly expressed by mainstream political leaders in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, part of a global populist surge in the face of globalization and mass migration.

"There is something broader going on in the region which has produced a patriotic, nativist, conservative discourse through which far-right ideas managed to become mainstream," said Tom Junes, a historian and a researcher with the Human and Social Studies Foundation in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In many places, the shift to the right has included the rehabilitation of Nazi collaborators, often fighters or groups celebrated as anti-communists or defenders of national liberation. In Hungary and Poland, governments are also eroding the independence of courts and media, leading human rights groups to warn that democracy is threatened in parts of a region that threw off Moscow-backed dictatorships in 1989.

Some analysts say Russia is covertly helping extremist groups in order to destabilize Western liberal democracies. While that claim is difficult to prove with concrete evidence, it is clear that the growth of radical groups has pushed moderate conservative parties to veer to the right to hold onto votes.

That's the case in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party  the front-runner in the April 8 elections  have drawn voters with an increasingly strident anti-migrant campaign.

Casting himself as the savior of a white Christian Europe being overrun by hordes of Muslims and Africans, Orban has insisted that Hungarians don't want their "own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed by others."

Orban, who is friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also the first European leader to endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential race. In 2015 he erected razor wire at Hungary's borders to stop migrants from crossing, and has since been warning in apocalyptic terms that the West faces racial and civilizational suicide if the migration continues.

Orban has also been obsessed with demonizing the financier and philanthropist George Soros, falsely portraying the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor as an advocate of uncontrolled immigration into Europe. In what critics denounce as a state-sponsored conspiracy theory with anti-Semitic overtones, the Hungarian government spent $48.5 million on anti-Soros ads in 2017, according to data compiled by investigative news site atlatszo.hu.

In a recent speech, Orban denounced Soros in language that echoed anti-Semitic cliches of the 20th century. He said Hungary's foes "do not believe in work, but speculate with money; they have no homeland, but feel that the whole world is theirs."

In nearby Poland, xenophobic language is also on the rise. The ruling party's leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, claimed migrants carried "parasites" ahead of the 2015 elections. And when nationalists held a large Independence Day march in November  when some carried banners calling for a "White Europe" and "Clean Blood"  the interior minister called it a "beautiful sight."

Poland's government has also been embroiled in a bitter dispute with Israel and Jewish organizations over a law that would criminalize blaming Poland for Germany's Holocaust crimes.

With tensions running high in February, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki listed "Jewish perpetrators" as among those who were responsible for the Holocaust. He also visited the Munich grave of an underground Polish resistance group that had collaborated with the Nazis.

In the same vein, an official tapped to create a major new history museum has condemned the postwar tribunals in Nuremberg, Germany  where top Nazis were judged  as "the greatest judicial farce in the history of Europe." Arkadiusz Karbowiak said the Nuremberg trials were only "possible because of the serious role of Jews" in their organization, and called them "the place where the official religion of the Holocaust was created."

Across the region, Roma, Muslims, Jews and other minorities have expressed anxiety about the future. But nationalists insist they are not promoting hate. They argue they're defending their national sovereignty and Christian way of life against globalization and the large-scale influx of migrants who don't assimilate.

The Balkans, bloodied by ethnic warfare in the 1990s, are also seeing a rise of nationalism, particularly in Serbia and Croatia. Political analysts there believe that Russian propaganda is spurring old ethnic resentments.

Croatia has steadily drifted to the right since joining the EU in 2013. Some officials there have denied the Holocaust or reappraised Croatia's ultranationalist, pro-Nazi Ustasha regime, which killed tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma and anti-fascist Croats in wartime prison camps.

In a recent visit to Argentina, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic thanked the country for providing post-war refuge to Croats who had belonged to the Ustasha regime.

The world's top Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff of the Wiesenthal center, called her statement "a horrific insult to victims." Grabar-Kitarovic later said she had not meant to glorify a totalitarian regime.

Meanwhile in Bulgaria, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, the government includes a far-right alliance, the United Patriots, whose members have given Nazi salutes and slurred minorities. Deputy prime minister Valeri Simeonov has called Roma "ferocious humanoids" whose women "have the instincts of street dogs."

Junes, the Sofia-based researcher, says that even though hate crimes are on the rise in Bulgaria, the problem has raised little concern in the West because the country keeps its public debt in check and is not challenging the fundamental Western consensus, unlike Poland and Hungary.

"Bulgaria isn't rocking the boat," Junes said. "They play along with Europe."

While populist and far-right groups are also growing in parts of Western Europe, countries like Poland and Hungary are proving more vulnerable to the same challenges, said Peter Kreko, director of Political Capital Institute, a Budapest-based think tank.

"In younger, weaker, more fragile democracies," Kreko said, "right-wing populism is more dangerous because it can weaken and even demolish the democratic institutions."
German prosecutors have asked a regional court to allow the extradition of former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who faces a rebellion charge in Spain for organizing an independence referendum.

Puigdemont initially fled Spain to Belgium after the vote, but has been held in Germany since being arrested there on March 25.

He said during an interview with a German news website that those who want independence for the northern Spanish region are not criminals.

"We want to decide our own future  is that a crime? We used ballot boxes  is that a crime?" Puigdemont asked during the jail cell interview. "We were elected by the people, so what is the problem with the Spanish authorities? Why don't they start politics in order to solve a political problem?"

The French News Agency reported Puigdemont's attorney has appealed against the Spanish Supreme Court's decision to prosecute him on the rebellion charges. The lawyer argued the charge implies Puigdemont advocated an uprising by violence. He said any violence that followed the October referendum was isolated and does not justify the charges.

Twenty-four other Catalan separatist leaders are also facing rebellion charges.

Pro-independence lawmakers won a slim majority in December's parliamentary elections in Catalonia. But parliament has been unable to name a new president since Puigdemont fled, and the future of independence is murky.

Catalonia, in northeast Spain, and its capital Barcelona are major tourist magnets. It has its own language and distinct culture. But the separatist crisis has hurt tourism and the regional economy.

Catalan separatists call the region a powerful economic engine that drives Spain, and they have demanded more autonomy.

Those who want to stay united with Spain fear the region will sink into an economic abyss without the central government, its ties to the European Union, and its numerous existing bilateral relations.
Scorching sun beats down on half a dozen women as they carry large sacks of crushed ore on their backs at the Osiri-Matanda gold mine near Kenya's border with Tanzania.

On wooden tables, they sieve the powdered ore into metal pans, add mercury, and heat the mixture over a charcoal fire.

The air fills with fumes as the liquid metal evaporates - leaving behind a lump of gold.

The women complain the work is hard, hours long and wages meager. But the job brings bigger concerns: exposure to toxic mercury could be killing them.

"Many women here know the risk," said Eunice Atieno, 40, dumping a sack by the side of her table at the mine in Kenya's southwestern Migori county.

"But we do not know what else to do for a living if we stop working here," she said, describing health problems, such as weight loss, body weakness and trembling hands, which she has experienced after a decade working in the mines.

Atieno is one of more than 1,000 women across 25 countries including Kenya, Myanmar and Indonesia, whose hair samples were tested for mercury by IPEN, a Stockholm-based network of charities focusing on health and environment.

IPEN found that more than 40 percent of those tested, including Atieno, had mercury levels greater than 1 part per million  exceeding the United States Environmental Protection Agency's safe exposure level.

High mercury levels can damage the nervous, digestive and immune systems and poison the lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes, says the World Health Organization. Pregnant women also risk giving birth to babies with congenital diseases.

Kenya's 2016 mining act outlaws the use of mercury.

But there are no easily available alternatives and many of its 250,000 small-scale gold miners - mostly in western Kenya around Lake Victoria - are unaware of the risks or too poor to care, campaigners say.

"Health workers and government officials should be resourced to conduct workshops among women involved in small-scale gold mining to explain the toxicity of mercury to women and the unborn children," said IPEN's researcher Lee Bell.

"They should also assess them for mercury intoxication and provide appropriate healthcare, demonstrate how they can minimize their exposure to mercury in the short-term and work with them to implement non-mercury gold extraction techniques."

Health Risks

About 20 percent of the world's gold comes from small-scale mines, which employ up to 15 million people, including 5 million women and children, the United Nations says.

Mercury has been used to extract gold for centuries. It is inexpensive and simple - often allowing miners to produce gold in a single day.

Developed nations have adopted cleaner, safer alternatives for extracting gold, and enforced strict rules on mercury use.

But poor countries lag behind. Government officials, mine operators and workers often ignore the health risks of mercury exposure, citing a lack of capacity and expertise to better protect workers, experts say.

"We still do not have an alternative even though we are supposed to phase out the use of mercury," said Bismarck Onyando, owner of the Osiri-Matanda mine.

The only other way of separating gold from sand in Kenya is to use sodium cyanide, which can kill instantly, he said.

Beatrice Ondieki, 29, had been working at the Osiri-Matanda mine for just over a year when her family noticed she was ill.

First, her hands began to shake uncontrollably. Then she started stammering. When she began to have difficulty walking, her brother suspected her symptoms were linked to mercury.

"She was found to have high levels of mercury in her blood and the doctor commenced her treatment, giving her some tablets to reduce the mercury," said her brother Stephen Ondieki.

"She got better initially, but the side effects of the medication have caused her to have severe stomach pains and she now stopped the treatment and is at home in bed. The family is trying raise enough money to admit her to hospital."

Another Way

In August, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty to reduce the use of mercury, came into force. Ratifying countries must develop plans to eliminate harmful mercury use, promote mercury-free mining and improve miners' health.

While almost 130 nations signed the agreement, about 40 - including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda - have not ratified it.

Kenyan officials say they are committed to the convention.

"We plan to phase out mercury, but first we are working on registering the miners, hopefully within three years," said Raymond Odanga, inspector of mines for Migori County.

"Then it will be much easier to deal with the mercury issue.

Currently the miners are still using it. Getting them to change to other methods will take some time," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The United Nations Environment Program and the Global Environment Facility, which provides grants, launched a project last year to finance and promote safer gold extraction technologies in eight countries, including Kenya.

Atieno - who started a support group for women miners after discovering the toll mercury is taking on their health - says it needs to act quickly.

"We depend on this job to put food on the table. But we are at a risk and cannot wait until we die from mercury exposure," she said, as the vapors rose into the air. "We appeal to authorities to give us another way to extract gold without having to use mercury."
The leader of Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement ruled out joining a coalition with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party on Tuesday, a day before formal government consultations begin.

Until now, 5-Star had said it was ready to talk to all parties after the March 4 national election ended in a hung parliament.

In an interview recorded by La7 TV channel and not yet broadcast, Luigi Di Maio said 5-Star was open to talks with the center-left Democratic Party (PD), though not to its former secretary Matteo Renzi, and the far-right League, but not with Forza Italia, two 5-Star sources said.

"We will propose a government contract like the Germans do and what is written is done, and what is not written does not get done," Di Maio told 5-Star lawmakers on Tuesday according to a statement.

The move will heighten tensions between the League and Forza Italia, which are partners in a center-right coalition that won the most seats in parliament. Forza Italia had no immediate comment.

"The coalition that won the most votes is the center-right and this is our starting point," League leader Matteo Salvini said on Facebook. "We will dialogue with 5-Star, but reject vetoes or commands."

In the election, the 5-Star followed the center right but was the single largest party, and the PD was third, but no one has enough seats to govern alone.

The 5-Star position will also put pressure on the PD to consider joining a coalition with 5-Star. So far the PD has toed the hard line - set by Renzi before he resigned as party leader in the wake of the vote - to not consider a deal with 5-Star.

"The 5-Star leader's proposal is unacceptable," Andrea Marcucci, the PD's Senate leader, said on Twitter.

Though the sources did not say what reason Di Maio gave for rejecting Forza Italia, the 5-Star has always been hostile to Berlusconi because the party has vowed to clean up Italian politics. Berlusconi has a conviction for tax fraud and is on trial in another case for allegedly bribing witnesses.

President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday begins formal consultations in which he will try to get rivals to seek common ground and form a government together. He will meet the main parties, including 5-Star, on Thursday.

But more consultations could be held later and the process could take weeks. If no deal can be found, Mattarella may be forced to call a new election.
Jailed former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont insisted those who want independence for the northern Spanish region are not criminals.

"We want to decide our own future  is that a crime? We used ballot boxes  is that a crime?" Puigdemont asked during a jail cell interview by a German news website.

"We were elected by the people, so what is the problem with the Spanish authorities? Why don't they start politics in order to solve a political problem?"

German police arrested Puigdemont on a Spanish warrant last week. He is wanted in Spain on charges of inciting rebellion by defying the central government and going ahead with a Catalan independence referendum in October, leading to a violent police crackdown.

Puigdemont initially fled to Belgium to avoid arrest.

The French News Agency reported Puigdemont's attorney has appealed the Supreme Court's decision to prosecute him on the rebellion charges. The lawyer argued the charge implies Puigdemont advocated an uprising by violence. He said any violence that followed the October referendum was isolated and does not justify the charges.

Twenty-four other Catalan separatist leaders are also facing rebellion charges.

Pro-independence lawmakers won a slim majority in December's parliamentary elections in Catalonia. However, parliament has been unable to name a new president since Puigdemont fled, and the future of independence is murky.

Catalonia, in northeast Spain, and its capital Barcelona are major tourist magnets. It has its own language and distinct culture, but the separatist crisis has hurt tourism and the regional economy.

Catalan separatists call the region a powerful economic engine that drives Spain, and they have demanded more autonomy.

Those who want to stay united with Spain fear the region will sink into an economic abyss without the central government, its ties to the European Union, and its numerous existing bilateral relations.
Kosovo's prime minister said Tuesday that he was confounded by the Turkish president's angry reaction to Pristina's domestic probe into last week's arrest and deportation of six Turkish citizens with ties to schools linked to the Fethullah Gulen movement, which Ankara blames for a failed 2016 coup.

"One cannot just snatch people from Kosovo," Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said in an interview with VOA's Albanian service. "This was a sort of a theft of people from Kosovo."

It was on Saturday when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Haradinaj would "pay" for dismissing Kosovo's interior minister and intelligence chief for deporting the six people without his permission. On Sunday he again criticized the prime minister, calling it a "historic mistake to fire the intelligence agency head and interior minister who gave us members of the '[Gulen]' terrorist organization, [as] they only carried out their duties."

Haradinaj fired the two officials after launching a probe into the deportations that, he contended, violated Kosovo's "decision-making hierarchy."

"There is fogginess over the deportation," Haradinaj told VOA on Tuesday. "The quick revoking of residence permits and the secrecy in deportation, along with the fact I was not informed about it, constituted the basis for my decision to dismiss the minister of interior and the director of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency."

President's switch

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci initially expressed "disappointment at how relevant institutions" had failed to protect foreign citizens working in Kosovo, but later said the "Turkish citizens had committed crimes in Kosovo" that may have threatened "our entire national security."

Still, Haradinaj told VOA, the arrests, visa revocations and deportations which all occurred in under three hours  failed to follow due process of law, and thereby constituted an extrajudicial act.

Although the KIA dossier indicated the six Turkish citizens had conducted "financial transactions and activities that ... could have brought risks to Kosovo," Haradinaj said, the rush to deport the subjects was a red flag for leaders in the tiny Balkan nation that is still eyeing EU accession protocol.

Because "this information was not internally processed in a serious manner" by the KIA or the interior ministry, Haradinaj said, he immediately triggered a probe.

The fate of Kosovo's intelligence chief remains unclear, since his dismissal requires signature approval by Thaci, who has said further "investigation needs to be conducted on the matter" before the dismissal can be finalized.

Diplomatic fallout

Asked whether he was concerned about diplomatic fallout over his protest of the extradition to Turkey, which is a primary financial backer of Kosovo and among the first to recognize its 2008 secession from Serbia, Haradinaj suggested the question was beside the point.

"Look, I do not personally know President Erdogan, but we are interested in a strategic partnership with Turkey at the international level and in getting [EU] recognition, and I do not want to prejudge anything," he said.

"Again, what is important is that in Kosovo, nobody can do our work on our behalf," he added before reiterating a statement he issued Monday while addressing an event marking the 550th anniversary of the death of the Albanian national hero, George Kastrioti, who for 25 years fought against the Ottoman invasion. "We'll do it ourselves. No one will have any power [over] decision-making in Kosovo's internal affairs."

EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic on Tuesday said "the arrest and subsequent deportation of six Turkish nationals legally residing in Kosovo raise questions about the respect of the due process of law."

"All actions of the local Kosovo institutions are bound by the full respect for the rule of law and promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms," Kocijancic said.

"As for Turkey, while we understand the need to bring the culprits of the coup attempt of 15 July to justice, any alleged wrongdoing or crime should be subject to due process and well established international norms when seeking extradition," she added. "As a European Union candidate country and a member of the Council of Europe, Turkey has subscribed to these principles."

U.S. view

A U.S. State Department official, speaking on background, echoed calls for due process and rule of law, adding that that the U.S. was "encouraged that Kosovo's state institutions have announced their determination to review this event and improve procedural safeguards to protect due process rights."

The State Department referred further questions to the governments of Kosovo and Turkey, with whom the U.S. maintains extradition treaties.

Kosovo, along with other Balkan countries such as Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania and Serbia, has been under pressure from Turkey to take action against schools funded by the Gulen organization.

Turkish firms run Kosovo's sole airport and electricity network and are building two highways worth around $2 billion.

Ankara accuses Gulen, a Muslim cleric based in the United States, of masterminding the July 15, 2016, coup attempt and has declared his movement a terrorist operation. Gulen denies any link to the attempted coup.



This story originated from VOA's Albanian service.
While the U.S. federal government is working to detain and deport undocumented immigrants, some U.S. states and cities have started legal funds to defend them, opening up a new front in the conflict over immigration.

About 13 jurisdictions have joined a network to expand legal representation for immigrants facing detention and deportation  the ultimate line of defense, officials said.

The Safe Cities Network pledges to keep communities "safe and strong by protecting due process and providing legal representation to immigrants facing deportation."

"We're not just talking about one person going through. One person going to court. One in detention and going through the deportation process. You're talking about families, entire families and communities being impacted," Annie Chen, program director at the New York-based VERA Institute of Justice, a data center that partners with local and state government officials to change the U.S. justice system.

WATCH: Washington, US States at Odds Over Immigration Policy

"I would say with increased immigration enforcement, changes, harsher immigration enforcement policies, I think that city and county officials are more aware of this, and they see the impact in their communities," Chen said.

The city of Baltimore in Maryland became one of the most recent jurisdictions to establish a legal defense fund in March when the city allocated $100,000 to help immigrants fight deportation.

The money was added to a pool of private money and was matched by funding from VERA.

Catalina Rodriguez, director of the Baltimore Mayor's Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs, said following the increase in immigration enforcement that started in February 2017, the city received calls from residents.

"All of these individuals [arrested] were not necessarily criminals. Their 'crime' was they were here [in the U.S.] undocumented, and they had already a deportation order. However, they were members of our city, business owners, and contributors. So, there was a lot of panic in our city," Rodriguez said.

Being in the U.S. unlawfully is a civil violation, not a criminal one. Rodriguez said Baltimore learned from New York, the first U.S. city to have a legal fund pilot program. The Baltimore fund is expected to help about 40 people going through removal proceedings.

Pros and cons

The immigration data tracker TRAC reports that out of 304,642 immigrants detained from 2002 to February 2018, only 62,697 had legal representation.

According to immigration lawyers and advocates, access to legal representation "greatly" increases an immigrant's chance of winning his/her case.

"In the criminal justice system, if you can't afford an attorney, you get a public defender. In immigration court, you don't. You have the right to pay for your own attorney. And if you can't afford one, you do not have access to the same due process," Chen told VOA.

Not everyone agrees with public money going into a legal defense fund.

Through a spokesman, Maryland's Republican party chairman Dirk Haire told The Baltimore Sun that Maryland Republicans "questioned whether the money is being wisely spent, given funding shortfall issues in Baltimore, such as public schools without heat."

"My hunch is that the vast majority of Baltimore residents would prefer to have that money spent on heat and air conditioning in Baltimore public schools instead of legal fees," Haire said.

Baltimore city councilman Zeke Cohen told the Sun that in Southeast Baltimore, the area he represents, a small-business owner, a popular barber and a father dropping off a child at school were among the arrests.

"First, we lost a barber, then a small-business owner. Finally, a father was handcuffed and detained after dropping off his 9-year-old at school. The child's mother is back in Honduras. What kind of a country do we live in that would orphan a child in order to enforce its broken immigration laws?" Cohen said.

Data from the New American Economy, a coalition of business leaders and mayors working toward immigration reform, shows that in the Baltimore metro area, there are 281,109 immigrant residents, or 10 percent of the population. In 2014, immigrants paid about $3.4 billion in taxes and had a spending power of $7.7 billion in the same region.

Feds vs. states

The legal fund network places some local jurisdictions at still greater odds with the federal government.

Governor Jerry Brown said in early March that the federal government was "basically going to war against the state of California" after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions sued California over its so-called sanctuary state law.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump fired back via Twitter.

California is not the only state considered sanctuary, along with numerous cities and counties throughout the country. While the term "sanctuary" does not have a legal established meaning, it is generally applied to jurisdictions that choose not to participate with federal immigration agents.

"What happens is, if you don't have someone complying with this and working with us, a criminal alien will be released from prison," Tyler Q. Houlton, U.S. Department of Homeland Security press secretary, told reporters during an off-camera, on-the-record conversation.

Houlton said though cooperation is not a "mandatory thing," immigration officers try to work with law enforcement to get undocumented immigrants off the street. He added that it is "much safer to pick up criminal aliens at the jail than it is on the streets."

Many states and local jurisdictions support the federal government's approach to immigration. Last week, the Orange County Board of Supervisors joined the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) lawsuit that condemns California's sanctuary law, calling it unconstitutional.

Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley said in a statement that DOJ "welcomes" Orange County's decision.

"Orange County's residents have experienced firsthand the negative effects of SB 54 [California's sanctuary law], which mandates releasing criminal aliens back into their communities instead of into the custody of federal immigration authorities," O'Malley said.
"Letters from Baghdad," a documentary on Gertrude Bell, the British writer, explorer, spy and political officer who helped shape modern Iraq, had its first screening in the country on Monday, drawing loud applause from an audience of academics, diplomats, journalists and others.

The documentary shows hitherto unseen footage of Iraq as it was being pulled together into a new state a century ago, with a script taken entirely from Bell's letters and official documents and read by British actress Tilda Swinton.

It also throws some light on Iraq's current challenges as it emerges from a war with Islamic State militants and seeks to reconcile its Shi'ite majority with its Sunni and Kurdish minorities.

Mustafa Salim, an Iraqi journalist at the Washington Post Bureau in Baghdad, gave the documentary a thumbs up after the showing at the National Theater in Baghdad.

"It's a wonderful movie. But as an Iraqi viewer I would have liked it to go deeper into the political and historical aspects and the decisive influence she had in creating the Iraqi state," he said, referring to the fact that parts of the documentary focused mainly on Bell's private life.

The theater was hushed throughout the screening, with little or no texting on phones  a sign of a healthily absorbed audience in modern-day Iraq.

"The Iraqi viewer will be immersed in a visual experience of a common past and walk away with a sense of a culturally very diverse and vibrant Baghdad in the early 1900s," Sabine Krayenbuehl, co-director of the film with Zeva Oelbaum, said before the screening.

Released in 2016, "Letters from Baghdad" was selected for the BFI London film festival and won the audience award at the Beirut International Film Festival.

Its screenings in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq have been organized by the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and coincide with the 150th anniversary of Bell's birth.

It explains the key decisions made by Bell as a political officer in the British colonial administration ruling Iraq after World War One. Among these were the decision to include Sunni-majority Mosul and Kurdish areas in the north into the Iraqi state being pulled together by the British, and choosing Faisal bin Hussein from the Arabian Sunni Hashemite dynasty as king.

Bell drew up Iraq's borders based on her knowledge of the local populations she encountered as an explorer, when the Arabian Peninsula and Mespotamia were still under Turkish Ottoman control.

One picture shows her with T.E. Lawrence "of Arabia," and Winston Churchill near the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

The film also shows scenes of daily life in Baghdad, including families and personalities from its thriving Jewish community.

"Gertrude Bell was a champion of diversity, she loved the different culture she came upon. Iraq during her time was very diverse and Baghdad was a very vibrant city. We feel this is a message that is very important today," Oelbaum said.

Bell, who died in 1926 and was buried in the city, also founded the Museum of Baghdad to showcase and preserve the Sumerian and Babylonian heritage of Mespotamia.

The museum was plundered during the 2003 U.S.- and British-led-invasion which ousted Saddam Hussein and brought Iraq's Shi'ites to power.

Baghdad has changed drastically since Bell's time, as concrete buildings and roads replaced most of its traditional sand brick houses and their typical wooden verandas known as "shanashil."

"We drove through the streets, we were looking at some of the older parts, seeing some of these old houses are falling apart. I think watching this movie gives an enthusiasm to want to restore and want to protect," Krayenbuehl said.
For farmers trying to figure out how to heal a sick cow or grow tomatoes commercially in this Himalayan community, help is at hand in the form of a crumbling, earthquake-scarred library.

In a rural area where searching for information online or paying for expert advice is rarely an option, the library is a first stop for female farmers daunted by their new role: running the family farm while their husbands are away looking for work.

"Most of the men have migrated for money now in Nepal. It's a very huge problem," said Meera Marahattha, the "human Google" who runs the library.

But there's an upside. "Because of this male migration, females have the opportunity to lead," she added - sometimes for the first time.

Migration is growing around the world among families hit by disasters, conflict or shifting weather patterns. In Nepal - and many other places - women are often left behind in rural areas as men seek work in cities or overseas.

Taking on all the work can be exhausting, and being alone is dangerous for some women. But for others, the absence of men can open up opportunities to try out their own ideas, learn new skills and gain confidence.

In Nepal, the Tribeni community library in Bhimdhunga is one of 22 that are part of a "Practical Answers" program jointly run by READ Nepal, a literacy and anti-poverty organization, and Practical Action, a British charity.

Besides providing resource books, the hubs collect queries from across the community, log them and set about providing tailored answers to farming and other technical challenges.

In Bhimdhunga, the library offers a computer suite, a children's nursery and a women's health section, attracting about 200 active members from the mountainous neighborhood.

Marahattha, the library head who is a community member herself, often travels house-to-house visiting remote mountain-top farms to field questions and train female farmers.

"We have a lot of inquiries," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, proudly flicking through log books filled with neat rows of curling Nepali scrawl.

During the planting season, she might receive as many as 1,000 questions a month - but on average it is closer to 500, she said. They range from how to treat crop diseases to how to use a computer or market goods in town.

While the library is open to all, Marahattha has found more interest from women - in particular those suddenly put in charge of their households as their husbands or sons migrate abroad in search of work.

That change has offered some women a chance to try out their own farming ideas, becoming more confident and boosting their family's finances in the process.

But there are "some negatives too", Marahattha admitted.

Women often complain to her of feeling overwhelmed, as if "all the responsibilities are on their head", looking after both land and children.

And the shift in family dynamics, together with the disruption to family life that accompanies migration, has led to a rise in the number of divorces, Marahattha said.

Self-Sufficient

Wearing a red shawl draped across her shoulder to match her bright red bindi and lipstick, Urumila Lama, 33, still has a youthful face - though her back bent from toil makes her seem older.

She lives with her 11-year-old son on a remote farm on a steep hillside overlooking the lush Kathmandu Valley. But their living quarters are a tin shack, hastily built after a powerful earthquake in 2015 reduced their home, and many others in the area, to rubble.

The disaster killed nearly 9,000 people and disrupted the lives of more than 8 million.

"After the earthquake, our whole house collapsed. Everything went bad and my husband went to a foreign country to earn," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

But then she heard about the agricultural training being offered by Marahattha at the library and went along.

"I immediately took up the practices in my own house and have since been vegetable farming seriously," said Lama, who has constructed a number of large plastic-covered tunnels and makeshift greenhouses to boost her vegetable production.

"I realized we can have a good income from this," she said.

Initially, she earned about $60 a month from growing vegetables such as sweet peppers and tomatoes.

Today she makes triple that amount, and can pay for her son's school fees and the family's daily expenses without having to ask her husband for money.

"I was here alone. It was not my husband's decision but my own to construct the greenhouses and start doing vegetable farming," she said proudly.

"When my husband came back to visit he was surprised at what I was doing and how I'd gained knowledge," she said. He urged her to "build a bigger greenhouse and grow more!", she recalled.

The community library - although a simple idea - has proved hugely popular with the community, said Rakesh Khadka, a project officer with the Practical Answers program in Nepal.

Established in 2011, the facility was at first little used, but by 2013 "we were inundated", he said.

Sometimes the library refers tough questions to Kathmandu, where experts can better advise on technical issues. But answers are often found locally, with women sharing solutions among themselves, Khadka said.

Little by little, women are becoming more self-sufficient and using the library less often or coming mainly to socialize, he added.

'Cash Cows'

Crossing her sandy yard in bare feet, Chini Khadka, 55, pushes back a loose door to reveal a baby calf, closely guarded by its mother.

Khadka, who is illiterate and was married at just 9 years old, was happy to show off the cattle that have made her a respected businesswoman in her remote Himalayan village.

"After my husband left me, I lived with my mother-in-law, who took pity on me. But she died a few years ago. We had many expenses for my children's studies, so I had to make an income," she said.

She heard about the library and started training with the other women. "Then I got interested in dairy farming because I have very limited land," she said.

Khadka learned to rear cows, build sheds and calculate the correct nutrient requirements for her animals. She now has eight cows, some of which are pregnant, with each fully grown animal worth about $1,000 at market, she said.

She also sells milk in town and manure as fertilizer to other farmers.

"As I grew in confidence, I leased land from a neighbor and have been planting some food crops too," she said. "I'm very, very happy doing this. It fulfills me."

Khadka earns about 30,000 Nepalese rupees ($288) a month.

That's more than her son, who works as a teacher, she boasts - and is even enough for her to hire another female farmhand to help tend the vegetables.

"Before I used to have very low self-esteem," she said, smiling. "Now I feel like society respects me and treats me better."

($1 = 104.2200 Nepalese rupees)
A museum in Los Alamos, New Mexico  a once-secret New Mexico city that developed the atomic bomb which helped end World War II  has put an exhibit from Japan on hold because of its theme of abolishing nuclear weapons.

The Los Alamos Historical Museum confirmed Monday that it will not host a traveling exhibit organized by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum until all parties can work out their differences over the theme.

The exhibit, which features articles of clothing, exposed plates, and other personal items from victims, aims to draw attention to the horrors of the bombs that destroyed both cities.

Heather McClenahan, executive director of the Los Alamos Historical Museum, said the museum's board of directors felt uncomfortable about the exhibit's call to abolish nuclear bombs. The New Mexico city is still home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation's premier nuclear weapons research centers.

The exhibit dispute comes as the Los Alamos National Lab competes with the U.S. Energy Department's Savannah River Site in South Carolina to continue production of plutonium pits. Those are critical cores which trigger nuclear warheads.

No new pits have been made since 2011. The Energy Department wants to ramp up production to 80 pits a year by 2030.

The Los Alamos Historical Society will continue its dialogue with the museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in hopes that we can overcome cultural and linguistic differences and host exhibits that are respectful to all of our communities' concerns and stories, McClenahan said. In other words, we hope this is not the end but the beginning of delving together into our history and the questions it raises.

Requesting mutual respect



She said the historical society will not send an exhibit about Los Alamos scientists to Hiroshima and Nagasaki without significant dialogue and input from their museums.

We would ask that the same respect be afforded to our community, McClenahan said.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum official Tomonori Nitta told The Associated Press that officials were informed by the Los Alamos museum in mid-February that its board meeting turned down a current plan and that the Japanese museum missed a deadline for funding needed to hold an exhibit in 2019.

The sides also failed to reach consensus on nuclear disarmament details to be included as part of the event, Nitta said.

Nitta said that it is mainly up to the Los Alamos side to figure out ways to resolve the issue, and that he hoped that an exhibit can still happen sometime after 2019.

If 2019 doesn't work, we still hope to achieve an exhibit at a later occasion, Nitta said. We will continue to cooperate so that we can clear the hurdles and hold an exhibit.

Takatoshi Hayama, an official at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, said no details have been decided and that officials are still hoping to put on an exhibit.

We only wish people from around the world to see our exhibit and learn the reality of atomic bombings and their consequences, he told the AP from Nagasaki.

The traveling atomic bombing exhibit is taking place in Budapest, Hungary, through end of August, before moving to France and Belgium later this year. The atomic bombing exhibits have been held in 12 other cities in the U.S.

In the 1940s, scientists working in the then-secret city of Los Alamos developed the atomic bomb as part of the World War II-era Manhattan Project. The secret program provided enriched uranium for the atomic bomb. Facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Hanford, Washington, were also involved in the project.

The two atomic bombs were later dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending World War II. More than 210,000 people in both Japanese cities were killed.
A mass grave has been discovered in central Mali just days after arrests by the military as it responds to increasing jihadist attacks in the region, Amnesty International said in a new report Tuesday.

Concerns are growing about alleged abuses as Mali's military tries to stop extremism from spreading further in the West African nation.



Residents in Dogo village identified six bodies found in the mass grave as people who had been arrested on March 22 by the military, the human rights group said, adding that the victims appear to have been blindfolded.



"Military forces fighting armed groups have also committed crimes under international law including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests," the group said.



On Feb. 21, military forces arrested and blindfolded nine men in Daresalam, residents told the rights group. Two men from the Bambara ethnic group were released but seven Peulh men have not returned.



The United Nations mission in Mali has reported that at least 43 people were victims of enforced disappearances by Malian security forces during anti-extremist operations between May and June last year.



"Civilians in Mali are living in fear. We are urging the Malian authorities to investigate," said Gaetan Mootoo, Amnesty International's West Africa researcher.



Mali's military said it respects human rights.



"I see in these allegations that the international community is trying to justify its presence in Mali," said Col. Diarran Kone, spokesman for Mali's army. "The facts in question took place in an area of great community tension and it may be civilians who killed each other."



Kone said the latest killings are being investigated, adding: "I promise you that justice will be done."



Amnesty International said the discovery of the mass grave came after weeks of escalating violence in Mali's central Segou and Mopti regions, with civilians caught in the crossfire.



At least 65 people, including children, have been killed by explosives since January as jihadist groups step up attacks, the group said, with at least eight people still being held hostage.



Amnesty International called for increased protection of civilians, saying the insecurity has reached a crisis point. Hundreds of schools have closed in central and northern Mali, leaving more than 214,000 children without education.
The Mexican government says it is offering refugee status to eligible members of a caravan of migrants from Central American countries, which had earlier drawn alarmed tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump about the need to strengthen his country's borders.

A statement late Monday from the Mexican interior and foreign affairs ministries noted the caravans made up largely of people from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have made similar trips since 2010 calling attention to migrant rights, particularly those fleeing dangerous situations at home in search of protection elsewhere.

"Mexico's migration policy is a sovereign one, through which it seeks to ensure legal, safe and orderly migration with full respect for people's rights," the statement said. "Under no circumstances does the Mexican government promote irregular migration."

The ministries said that due to Mexican law, authorities have sent 400 caravan members back to their home countries.

The caravan of about 1,100 people was organized by Pueblo Sin Fronteras (People without Borders), which on Monday called the asylum processes in the United States and Mexico "punitive and unjust." Two smaller caravans reached the United States last year.

Gina Garibo, a spokesperson for the group, told VOA it is an organization that fights alongside the migrants in order to battle for their rights.

Alex Mensing, one of the group's coordinators, said on Twitter those in the caravan pressured Mexico "into conceding permission to travel to places where they can seek asylum."

Pueblo Sin Fronteras also highlighted the number of Hondurans in the group, saying their presence was the result of political crises in the region "provoked in large part by the policies of the U.S. government."

Trump made a series of Twitter posts Monday describing U.S. border security as weak and calling on Mexico to take strong action to stop people from passing through.

"Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large "Caravans" of people enter their country," Trump said "They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws."

He later criticized what he called a wasteful procedure U.S. authorities must go through to deport those who cross the southern border, saying the law does not allow for easily removing them from the country.

"Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL," Trump said.

Mexican Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete Prida responded to Trump on Monday, saying "It is absolutely incorrect to say that Mexico is not making an effort" to control illegal migration.

He said Mexico has been following the course of the caravan, but rejected pressure from the United States.

"Of course we will act, let me be clear, in strict compliance with our migration laws, without accepting pressure from any country or anyone," he said.

Trump administration officials told reporters Monday the White House was preparing legislation aimed at helping expedite some deportations of immigrants in the country illegally.

Trump last year ended a program championed by former President Barack Obama to protect from deportation about 800,000 young people who were brought illegally into the country by their parents when they were children.

Court decisions have at least temporarily blocked the deportation of the immigrants, many of whom have only known the United States as their home, but Trump and Democratic lawmakers have failed to reached a permanent legislative fix. The recent $1.3 trillion bill that funded government agencies through the end of September made no mention of the dispute.

The latest government figures, issued Monday, put the approximate number of active participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program at 693,850. More than two-thirds of them are from Mexico, with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras the other top countries of birth.

The data showed the government approved 55,125 applications for the program in the first three months of this year, most of those being renewals. Another 51,118 applications were listed as still pending.

Trump in the past has said he would show "great heart" for the young immigrants and said he would keep the program in place in exchange for full funding of a wall he wants built along the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart more illegal migrants from entering the United States.

But lately, Trump has taken a harder line against the young immigrants, often called "Dreamers" by their advocates.

"DACA is dead because the Democrats didn't care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon" by entering the country illegally, he said. "No longer works."
It was July 2015 when the FBI, scrambling to contain a surge in Islamic State group propaganda, first visited an Egyptian-American newspaper deliveryman in Maryland.

Agents needed to ask Mohamed Elshinawy why his phone number had surfaced in an investigation involving IS group extremists and how he came to receive a $1,000 Western Union transaction from Egypt.

During hours of questioning, Elshinawy first suggested the money was from his mother. Next, he said it was for an iPhone purchase for a friend. After being reminded it was a crime to lie to federal agents, he proceeded to tell a different story  that he had, indeed, received money from the Islamic State group but that he was actually scamming the group instead of planning an attack.

It was a pivotal moment in a monthslong FBI investigation that ended Friday with Elshinawy being sentenced to 20 years in prison on terrorism-related charges.

The case had a chilling twist: Officials say that among the roughly 150 IS-linked cases U.S. authorities have brought since 2014, this is the only prosecution they're aware of in which money was transmitted from IS group operatives abroad to someone in the U.S. The more common model is money from America being sent to fighters in Syria.

The investigation stretched from a modest townhome northeast of Baltimore across multiple continents, unveiled a shadowy network of illicit payments and shell companies, and revealed a direct link to an IS group hacker who was killed in a drone strike in Syria just before Elshinawy's arrest.

Red flags, questions, fear

Law enforcement officials involved in the case spoke to The Associated Press about it in detail, recounting a high-intensity investigation that required constant surveillance, the scouring of money transfers and concern that funds sent to Elshinawy would fund an attack.

Brian Nadeau, a Baltimore FBI assistant special agent in charge, said the case raised a lot of red flags.

"Why is the money coming this way? Who is this person? What level are they at?" he said. The FBI, he said, "can't let someone who's receiving ISIS [Islamic State] money be out running around. Who knows if we're in the middle of it, the beginning of it, the end, and what their plan is?"

Elshinawy's lawyers didn't return messages seeking comment, but they have argued that his social media and other communications  such as his claim that he was an IS group soldier and was committed to violent jihad  were protected by the First Amendment, were not directed by the Islamic State and were merely aspirational.

Under a plea agreement, Elshinawy admitted conspiring with the IS group, but he defended himself at his sentencing hearing, saying, "I am not a terrorist," according to the Baltimore Sun.

It's not clear how close Elshinawy came to an attack, though FBI officials said they believed the threat of violence was real. Elshinawy's lawyers said in a sentencing memorandum that he was provided little to no specific direction, but Elshinawy had told authorities he was given multiple options for violence, including a suicide bombing, and images of individuals who were potential targets, court papers say.

Childhood friend

The Islamic State group generally doesn't need to fund attacks in the U.S. given the inexpensive nature of the violence it advocates and its reliance on social media to motivate followers. But officials in this case believe jihadists exploited a personal connection: a childhood friend of Elshinawy's from Egypt who fled to Syria, joined the Islamic State, communicated with him on social media and encouraged him to pledge allegiance to the group.

His technological know-how and skill in covering his electronic tracks  he used encrypted communications applications and proxy servers  likely made Elshinawy a natural conduit, officials said.

All told, officials say, he received nearly $9,000 in money transfers, including through PayPal accounts, and used the funds for phones, a laptop and a virtual private network for communication with militants overseas.

The funds, disguised as money for printers, were routed throughout the globe in a web of wire transfers. Much of it came from a United Kingdom-based IT company run by Siful Sujan, an IS group computer hacker killed in December 2015 airstrikes in Syria.

"I think they thought they were going to just have a run-of-the-mill ISIS case, and when they pulled back the onion, they realized that [Elshinawy] was a key node," said Seamus Hughes, deputy director of George Washington University's Program on Extremism, who has written about the case.

The FBI's first interview with Elshinawy came amid heightened alertness of IS-inspired extremism, weeks after an attempted rampage at a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas and one day after shootings at military facilities in Tennessee.

Officials say he deflected questions about the money transfer with answers they knew were untruthful. Officials say he pulled out an iPhone to display a Facebook conversation in Arabic, but the English translation he provided was clearly improvised, the FBI said.

After several hours, and an admonishment to come clean, he admitted receiving the money from the Islamic State but said he was scamming the group because he never intended to commit violence, officials said. He said that his cleverness should be rewarded and that he should be hired by the FBI to help untangle the IS group money network, officials say.

Dreams for jihad

The interviews continued over two weeks, and the results from search warrants and subpoenas yielded insights that alarmed officials further.

Elshinawy had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in February 2015 and, in conversations with his friend, pronounced himself ready for jihad and asked for advice in bomb-making, court papers say.

"I do not have dreams or aspirations in this world except the Jihad ... I want just to go to Jihad and be with the Islamic State," he wrote in an April 2015 message to his friend.

He responded to the unrest in Baltimore that followed the death of Freddie Gray by praising violence against police. And, the FBI says, he attempted to recruit a brother in Saudi Arabia to join the Islamic State group.

Elshinawy has been in custody since his 2015 arrest.

Agents searching his home found articles about IS attacks. His laptop held an image of a severed head next to an IS flag, and he accessed on his phone images of government buildings in Baltimore that officials believe were potential targets.

"If this turned out to be successful," said Hughes, "it would be a whole different way of looking at ISIS external operations in the U.S."
Morocco's government is threatening to take control of U.N.-monitored buffer zones in Western Sahara amid concerns that the mission is failing to keep out Polisario Front independence fighters.



The warning Sunday came as U.N. Security Council members received Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' annual report on the situation in Western Sahara and the 27-year-old U.N. peacekeeping mission in the mineral-rich territory claimed by both Morocco and the Polisario.



Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said Sunday that the Polisario recently moved members to the U.N.-controlled areas of Bir Lehlou and Tifariti. He also said Polisario members are again entering the Guerguerat area near the Mauritanian border, despite a U.N.-brokered deal to leave after tensions erupted there in 2016.



"If the U.N., its secretary-general and the Security Council are not ready to put an end to these provocations, Morocco will have to act out its responsibility and intervene in the buffer zones," Bourita told reporters after an emergency parliament session to address Western Sahara.



U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday that members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as MINURSO, "have not observed any movement of military elements in the northeast territory."



"MINURSO continues to monitor the situation closely," he added.



Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit said, "Morocco is ready to do everything to preserve its Sahara."



Bourita said Morocco has alerted the Security Council to its plans to step in the deserted land, but declined to specify what kind of intervention or when it would begin.



Peru's U.N. ambassador, Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, the current council president, told reporters Monday that he received a letter from Morocco's U.N. ambassador that has been circulated to the 15 council members.



He called it an "informative letter" and said "no action has been taken yet."



Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975 and fought the independence-seeking Polisario Front. The U.N. brokered a cease-fire in 1991 and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor it and to help prepare a referendum on the territory's future that has never taken place.

The U.N. secretary-general expressed concern at escalating tensions and urged the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front to refrain from actions that could impact the cease-fire in their 42-year conflict over the Western Sahara, pointing to the escalating dispute over Guerguerat area in the buffer zone on the Morocco-Mauritanian border.



In a report to the Security Council obtained Monday by The Associated Press, Guterres called on the Polisario Front to withdraw from Guerguerat. And he urged Morocco to reconsider its refusal to send an expert mission as part of the U.N.'s effort to address questions raised by the Guerguerat situation.



"I call on both parties to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid escalating tensions, and to refrain from taking any action which may constitute a change in the status quo at the buffer strip," Guterres said.



He said he was encouraged by steps his new personal envoy, former German President Horst Koeler, has taken to relaunch political negotiations and urged additional steps by the parties, neighboring countries and other key players.



Kohler has sought to broaden the discussions on the territory's future.



The Saharans' envoy to Algeria, Abdelghafour, said Polisario members in the buffer zones are under surveillance by U.N. forces, and accused Morocco of violating the cease-fire.



"Morocco is threatening everything," he told The Associated Press. "It's obvious that these maneuvers are aimed at influencing the next U.N. Security Council meeting to stop it from taking practical, effective measures."



Morocco considers the mineral-rich Western Sahara its southern provinces and has invested heavily in development programs, and proposed giving the territory wide-ranging autonomy. Polisario insists that the referendum can only take place based on the principle of self-determination for the local population, which it estimates at between 350,000 and 500,000.



In 2016, Moroccan forces and Polisario Front fighters moved into Guerguerat in the buffer zone but pulled out in April 2017.



Guterres said the area remained free from supporters of either side until January, when the Polisario Front established what its leaders described as a daylight-hour "monitoring post" manned by a small group of its "unarmed civilian 'police.'" The secretary-general said the post has remained.



Also in 2016, Morocco expelled over 70 people working for the U.N. mission in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO, after then-U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon used the word "occupation" in talking about Western Sahara.



Guterres recommended that the Security Council extend MINURSO's mandate until April 30, 2019.



"The conflict over Western Sahara has lasted for too long and must be brought to an end for the dignity of the population ... including those who have been displaced for more than four decades, as well as for the stability of the wider region, which is facing myriad political, economic and security challenges," he said.
Israel did an about-face after agreeing to a compromise on illegal immigration from Africa.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the new agreement with the U.N. Refugee Agency to send 16,000 African migrants to Western countries, after his right-wing coalition partners rejected it.



Cabinet Minister Naftali Bennett said it's a bad deal because 20,000 Africans will be allowed to remain in Israel.



Bennett rejected claims by the migrants that they are refugees. He described them as economic migrants and "infiltrators," saying they threaten the Jewish character of the state.



Opposition leader Isaac Herzog accused Netanyahu of caving in to hardliners and described the prime minister's about-face as a "theater of the absurd."



Herzog warned the government not to go back to its original plan of the forced expulsion of most of the African migrants in Israel. He said sending them back to Africa is a violation of international law because it would endanger their lives.



The Africans entered Israel illegally over the past decade, most of them coming from war-torn Eritrea and Sudan. They survive by doing menial jobs, mostly in restaurants and hotels.



One of them, Suleiman, who is employed at a restaurant in Tel Aviv, said "all that we ask is to let us work, and everything will be fine."



But now, even their meager livelihood is in jeopardy. A day after welcoming the deal between Israel and the U.N. Refugee Agency, the African community in Israel is back in limbo.
At combined #March4OurLives events  which drew tens of thousands to march in protest of gun violence across America  nearly 5,000 people registered to vote.

Most were younger than 30, said Aaron Ghitelman, communications director of HeadCount, a voter registration organization that registers mostly younger voters at concerts and music festivals.

The team at HeadCount used their expertise in crowded and chaotic environments to help people register at the March 30 rallies, including New York City and Washington, D.C.

When Emma Gonzalez gave that incredible speech that ended with a call to everybody to register to vote, it was like, Okay, what can we do? Ghitelman told VOA, referring to youth activist Gonzalez and her classmates, who since surviving the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have driven more youths to participate in politics.

While 18 is the age when Americans can vote, they can be registered as early as 16 years old in some states. HeadCount as well as USA.gov offers guidelines on their websites.

Ghitelman said a tweet announcing their list of state rules for registration was retweeted more than 20,000 times.

"There was a lot of interest in that list, he said, especially among people who did not know voters could be registered before age 18.

HeadCount partnered with grassroots organizations such as HipHopCaucus, Mi Familia Vota, Voto Latino, League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote, Voterise and Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN). He said HeadCount and its partners, armed with clipboards and information sheets about state laws for voters, registered people from 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

According to a study by Tufts university, college student voter turnout increased slightly in 2016 compared to the 2012 election, but still, at 48.3 percent, was less than half of American college students voting.

In the 2016 presidential election, however, for the first time, Millennials and Gen X voters constituted a larger share of American voters than the Baby Boomer generation. Voters younger than 52 cast 69.6 million votes in the 2016 general election  a slight majority of the 137.5 million total votes cast, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

And that number is something the organizers of the March for Our Lives and many of its attendees are looking to change.

Politicians, either represent the people or get out, Cameron Kasky, a Parkland student, said in front of the Capitol to hundreds of thousands of attendees of the Washington rally.

Stand for us or beware: The voters are coming.

Some students who traveled to Washington to voice their opinion at #March4OurLives but who cannot vote, urged young Americans who can, to sign up and exercise their rights.

Kimberly Salinas and Elizabeth Peralta were brought illegally to the United States when they were young children, but under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), they are allowed to study and work in the U.S. legally. But, unless they become citizens, they are not allowed to vote.

Having traveled from North Carolina with a group of peers for the march, the two spoke between tears about the importance of young people participating in politics.

Here, we are allowed to share our voices, Peralta, who was born in Mexico, told VOA the night before the march, but shrugged her shoulders when pressed about the right to vote.

Its better thinking what we can do than what we cant, Salinas chimed in quietly.

There are so many limitations that we face, but theres a lot of open doors every now and then, Salinas said. Youve got to take advantage of those rather than focus on the downsides of it. And encourage our friends to speak up  the ones who can  speak up for us.

Please visit our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts for more news about college and university students and issues, thanks!
Hundreds of teachers crammed into the Oklahoma Capitol for a second day Tuesday to press demands for additional funding for the state's public schools, and many of those schools remained closed amid a rebellion that has hit several Republican-led states across the country.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed legislation last week granting 15 to 18 percent higher salaries to teachers. But some educators  who haven't seen a pay increase in 10 years  say that isn't good enough and walked out.

"If I didn't have a second job, I'd be on food stamps," said Rae Lovelace, a single mom and a third-grade teacher at Leedey Public Schools in northwest Oklahoma who works 30 to 40 hours a week at a second job teaching online courses for a charter school.

Oklahoma's three largest school districts, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Edmond, will remain closed Tuesday to honor the walkout. Some schools are offering free meals to students aged 18 or younger, while various churches, faith organizations and charitable agencies are providing free day-care services. Spring break was last week in many Oklahoma districts.

Fallin warned Monday that the state budget is tight and there are other critical needs besides education.

"We must be responsible not to neglect other areas of need in the state, such as corrections and health and human services, as we continue to consider additional education funding measures," the Republican said.

But Democratic lawmaker Collin Walke said teachers should keep up the pressure. Two separate bills pending in the Legislature to expand tribal gambling and eliminate the income tax deduction for capital gains could generate more than $100 million in additional funding each year.

"I think the Republican strategy is to wait the teachers out," Walke said.

Oklahoma ranks 47th among states and the District of Columbia in public school revenue per student while its average teacher salary of $45,276 ranked 49th before the latest raises, according to the most recent statistics from the National Education Association.

The demonstrations were inspired by West Virginia, where teachers walked out for nine days earlier this year and won a 5 percent increase in pay. Teachers in Arizona are now considering a strike over their demands for a 20 percent salary increase.

Kentucky rally

In Frankfort, Kentucky, teachers and other school employees chanted "Stop the war on public education," during a rally Monday at the Capitol.

"We're madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today," said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal.

Schools across Kentucky were closed, due either to spring break or to allow teachers and other school employees to attend the rally.

Amid a chorus of chants from teachers, Kentucky lawmakers considered a new state budget that includes higher spending for public education.

Budget negotiators unveiled a spending plan Monday that includes increased spending for the main funding formula for K-12 schools to be paid for by a 6 percent sales tax on a host of services that had previously been tax-free.

The Kentucky teachers are mad because Republican lawmakers passed a pension overhaul last week that cuts benefits for new teachers. Opponents objected that the pension changes were inserted into an unrelated bill without a chance for public input, and worry that the changes will discourage young people from joining the profession.

Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has not yet signed the bill, but last week tweeted his support, saying public workers owe "a deep debt of gratitude" to lawmakers who voted to pass it.

During Monday's rally, some teachers, angry at lawmakers who supported the bill, chanted "Vote them out."

Melissa Wash, a first-grade teacher from Gallatin County who has been teaching for 19 years, said she voted for Bevin, but now plans to become a Democrat. To the lawmakers who voted for the pension overhaul, she said: "You better not count on another year in office."
Gunmen in Pakistan have killed four members of the minority Christian community in the country's southwest, in an attack claimed by Islamic State terrorists.

Police said the victims were traveling in a rickshaw Monday when armed men on a motorcycle stopped them and opened fire. The attack took place in a Christian-majority neighborhood in the city of Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province.

Police said the family members, which included three men and a woman, appear to have been targeted because of their faith.

The attack comes a day after Pakistan's Christian community celebrated Easter.

IS took responsibility for the attack through its Amaq News agency.

The terrorist group said its regional affiliate, Khorasan Province, carried out the attack but provided no evidence, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist threats.

Baluchistan province has seen an increase in militant attacks in recent months.

Baluch separatist militants, the outlawed Pakistani Taliban and extremists linked to the Afghan Taliban allegedly operate out of the Pakistani province.

Pakistan authorities said IS loyalists are using bases in "ungoverned" areas of neighboring Afghanistan for attacks against Pakistan.

Islamic State also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a packed church in Quetta last December in which nine worshippers were killed, and dozens more were wounded.
Peru's new foreign minister said on Tuesday that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was still not welcome to attend a regional summit in Lima next week, upholding a decision by Perus disgraced former president.

U.S. President Donald Trump and heads of state from across the Western Hemisphere plan to travel to Peru for the Summit of the Americas, which will celebrate the theme democratic governance fighting corruption from April 13-14.In his first speech as Perus foreign minister, Nestor Popolizio said Perus decision not to invite Maduro to the event reflects the view of a dozen countries that have been pressuring Venezuela to hold free and fair elections.

Maduros refusal to heed calls for democratic reforms negates even the slightest notion of democracy and represents an insurmountable impediment to taking part in the Summit of the Americas, Popolizio said before a crowd of diplomats and journalists in the foreign ministry.

This is a firm decision that is not up for revision, Popolizio said.

Maduro has vowed to attend the Summit of the Americas despite Perus ban, which the center-right government of former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced in February. Maduro says Latin Americas right-leaning governments are part of a U.S.-led international conspiracy to topple him and take control of Venezuelas oil resources.

Kuczynski had been one of Maduros most outspoken critics, calling him a dictator and demanding he step down.

But Kuczynski resigned after a scandal last month and was replaced by his vice president, Martin Vizcarra. Vizcarra declined to weigh in on Maduro and the summit last week, saying he would leave it up to the foreign ministry.
Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra swore in an entirely new Cabinet on Monday that was praised by the rightwing opposition as a way to reset the once rocky relations between the executive and legislative branches that helped bring down his predecessor.

The new Cabinet, a mix of high-ranking civil servants, politicians and private sector specialists, is led by Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva, an opposition lawmaker who had led efforts to impeach center-right ex-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

Kuczynskis 20 months in office had been marked by clashes with Congress and the rightwing party Popular Force that controls a majority of seats.

Kuczynski resigned mired in vote-buying and graft scandals on the eve of the impeachment vote last month, and Vizcarra, his vice president, promised a clean slate when he replaced him.

So far, Popular Force lawmakers appear happy with the changes, especially Villanueva, a twice-elected former governor of an Amazonian region who earned a reputation in Congress as a bridge builder.

I think he has the right experience to be the prime minister the country needs right now, said Rosa Maria Bartra, a Popular Force lawmaker.

In a ceremony at the presidential palace, Vizcarra also swore in a former local manager for mining company Nexa Resources, Francisco Ismodes, as energy and mines minister and a former director of Latin Americas CAF development bank, David Tuesta, as finance minister.

Tuesta, who had also worked as chief economist for BBVA Research, will be Perus third finance minister in the past year. He will take the reins of one of Latin Americas most promising markets and the worlds No. 2 copper producer as the central bank has called for the new government to restore fiscal sustainability by avoiding unnecessary spending.

Vizcarra has yet to announce any policy proposals, but no major changes to Perus economic model are expected.
Kosovo's prime minister on Monday pushed back against threats made by Turkey's president over a probe into the arrest and deportation of six Turkish citizens with ties to schools linked to the Fethullah Gulen movement, which Ankara blames for a failed 2016 coup.

It was on Saturday when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj would "pay" for dismissing his interior minister and intelligence chief for deporting the six from Kosovo without his permission.

"Since when have you started to defend those who attempted a coup against Turkey?" Erdogan asked, noting Turkey was the second country in the world to recognize Kosovo after the United States. "How can you [defend] these people who attempted a coup against Kosovo's brother country  Turkey? You will answer for this!"

Haradinaj, who said he was not informed about the operation, fired the two officials after a brief investigation "of all [state] structures that were involved" in the arrests, arguing that the deportations constituted a "violation of the decisionmaking hierarchy."

On Monday, while addressing an event marking the 550th anniversary of the death of the Albanian national hero, George Kastrioti  who for 25 years fought against the Ottoman invasion  Haradinaj rejected Erdogan's demands.

"Kosovo and I have not intervened in Turkey's internal affairs, either in the past or today or in the future," he said. "Meanwhile, other people cannot on behalf of Kosovo take care of our own affairs at home. Let this be known to all."

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci last week said he was "disillusioned how [Kosovo's] relevant institutions" had failed to protect foreign citizens working in Kosovo, adding that he, too, had learned about it only after the arrest.

Kosovo's foreign ministry strongly denounced the action, saying that "the arrest and deportation of the Turkish citizens with a regular residence permit is in direct contradiction to international norms."

Turkey has been a principal backer of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008. Turkish firms run the tiny Balkan country's sole airport and electricity network and are building two highways worth around $2 billion.

Ankara accuses Gulen, a Muslim cleric based in the United States, of masterminding a July 15, 2016, coup attempt and has declared his movement a terrorist operation. Gulen denies any link to the attempted coup.
The Trump administration says it is amenable to a White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising the prospect of the Russian president's first Washington visit in more than a decade even as relations between the two powers have eroded.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House was among "a number of potential venues'' discussed in Trump's telephone call last month with Putin. The Kremlin said earlier Monday that Trump invited Putin during the call.

Both sides said they hadn't started preparations for such a visit.

If it happens, Putin would be getting the honor of an Oval Office tete-a-tete for the first time since he met President George W. Bush at the White House in 2005. Alarms rang in diplomatic and foreign policy circles over the prospect that Trump might offer Putin that venue without confronting him about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election or allegations that Russia masterminded the March 4 nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent.

"It would confer a certain normalization of relations and we're certainly not in a normal space,'' said Alina Polyakova, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Nothing about this is normal.''

Much has happened since Trump and Putin spoke in the March 20 phone call. Trump said afterward he hoped to meet with Putin "in the not too distant future'' to discuss the nuclear arms race and other matters. But their call was followed by reports that Trump had been warned in briefing materials not to congratulate the Russian president on his re-election but did so anyway.

Since the call, two dozen countries, including the U.S. and many European Union nations, and NATO expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, the former spy, and his daughter Yulia. Moscow has denied any involvement in the nerve attack and retaliated by expelling the same number of diplomats from each nation.

Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters Monday that when the two leaders spoke by phone, "Trump suggested to have the first meeting in Washington, in the White House,'' calling it a "quite interesting and positive idea.''

Ushakov voiced hope that tensions resulting from the diplomatic expulsions wouldn't derail discussions about a summit.

Trump has said maintaining a strong personal relationship with Putin is in the U.S. interest and has signaled to allies that he trusts his own instincts in dealing with the Russian president.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions, said Trump raised the possibility of a White House meeting in a "casual, open-ended'' fashion during the call. The official reiterated that no extensive preparations had taken place.

Talk of a White House summit comes as Trump is preparing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undetermined location. White House welcomes are typically reserved for friends and allies.

Trump has avoided criticizing Putin personally even as his administration has crossed Moscow by providing Ukraine with lethal weapons and upholding Obama-era sanctions against Russia and its shuttering of diplomatic outposts.

Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, said the "symbolism of Putin standing in the East Room with the president at a news conference'' would be a major goal for the Russian leader. "The only reason you should do it is if you're going to obtain a concrete objective that serves America's national security interest before the meeting,'' he said.

McFaul said he feared that Trump "thinks that a good meeting with Putin is the objective of his foreign policy with Russia. That should never be the objective. That should be the means to achieve things that are actually of importance to the United States.''

Trump had already fallen under sharp criticism from some Republican lawmakers for congratulating Putin on his re-election during the call and for not raising the ex-spy's poisoning. The fact that Trump also extended a White House invitation during that call was likely to increase concerns that Trump, when in direct contact with Putin, is inclined to offer olive branches and reluctant to raise difficult issues.

"I worry that Trump wittingly or unwittingly may be sending a more positive signal to Putin than he deserves,'' said Nicholas Burns, a top State Department official during the Bush administration who also served as U.S. ambassador to NATO.

Russia's disclosure of the invitation came the day before the leaders of three Baltic countries - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - were to visit the White House. The three NATO nations are seen as a bulwark against Russia's aspirations of extended influence west of its border.

Trump has met Putin twice as president, at the Group of 20 summit in Germany last summer and briefly at the Asia-Pacific economic summit in Vietnam in November.

Putin, who was president of Russia once before, visited the White House in 2005, when Bush welcomed him in the East Room as "my friend.''

Putin has been to other parts of the U.S. frequently in recent years, including a visit to the Bush family compound in Maine. Putin's meetings with Obama occurred at international summits and along the sidelines of the United Nations gathering in New York.

Obama met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the White House in 2010, when the pair also chowed down on burgers at a popular hamburger joint outside the capital.
Mtabi Ebeula, a slight man of 57, speaks softly as he recalls fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo with his family to escape the rebels.

They were killing people, he says. I left because of them.

Surrounded by his wife and nine of his 11 children, Ebeula is speaking in the living room of their new home in downtown Lancaster, Pa., just two days after arriving in the United States from Tanzania on March 14.

For 20 years, Ebuela and his family lived in a refugee camp in Tanzania, where Ebuela  a carpenter  did maintenance work around the camp. During that time, he underwent the long, arduous process to qualify for resettlement in the U.S. where two sons  one in Texas, and the other in Minnesota now live.

The Church World Services immigration and refugee office in Lancaster is resettling the Ebeula family. CWS is one of nine domestic nonprofit organizations funded by the U.S. State Department to resettle refugees across the U.S.

But the Trump administration, citing the need to protect national security and jobs, has sharply reduced the 2018 refugee cap to 45,000 and is admitting them so slowly that in the first six months of the fiscal year starting in October, only a little more than 10,000 refugees had been admitted.

As a result, the State Department informed its resettlement agency partners in December that they needed to shrink their operations.

A State Department official told VOA the move will improve efficiencies and reduce surplus capacity and allow the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to run in a way that is fiscally responsible and sustainable.

A big hit

The CWS office in Lancaster, which gets $1.2 million from the State Department to run its programs, has already let staff go. Office director Sheila Mastropietro said six staffers have been laid off, and another two reassigned.

To me, that was a big hit, Mastropietro told VOA while sitting in her tiny office in downtown Lancaster. Weve been in Lancaster for over 30 years, weve built up capacity to have 31 people on staff with nine different refugee-supporting programs.

Should U.S. policy change someday to allow more refugees into the country, Mastroprieto believes CWS and other resettlement agencies will find it difficult to gear up.

As everything goes down, and people are laid off and go into other careers, theres going to be a need to build that all up again, and thats going to come at a cost, she said.

The Trump administrations lower refugee quota has significantly reduced arrivals in Lancaster.

In 2016, we had 360, and Im guessing this year well only get 125 people, Mastroprieto said. Last year, we received 279, even though we had projected 550, but then the travel ban went into effect.

The nationality of those arriving in Lancaster has changed, too.

The majority of our populations were Syrians and Somalis, Mastroprieto noted. Now, refugees from Myanmar and the DRC are the main nationalities being resettled in the South Central Pennsylvania city. Syria and Somalia are among the countries whose citizens are barred from traveling to the U.S. under the travel ban.

With a population of nearly 60,000, Lancaster is a center of light manufacturing, food processing and agribusiness. CWS helps refugees find jobs in these sectors, a vital necessity because each refugee gets only a one-time grant of $925 from the U.S. government to settle in. This money has to cover rent, food, transportation and other expenses, so the pressure to find a job quickly is great.

The Lancaster office has a placement rate of 80 percent, says Mastroprieto, who adds she frequently gets calls from businesses looking for refugees for jobs they cannot fill.

No tips for police officers

CSWs Omar Mohamed instructs the Ebeula family as part of a 90-day support program.

You cannot give money or tips to police officers or government officials of any type, even as a thank-you for assistance. No money, no tips, he warned.

Mohamed's English is instantly translated into Swahili by a volunteer. Both Mohamed and the translator are themselves Somali refugees.

CSW gives new arrivals orientation tours of the city and the public transit system. Staffers and volunteers help the refugees apply for social security cards, so they can work and enroll their children in school. Working with Lancasters numerous churches, CWS organizes English classes.

Lancaster residents appear to have accepted the foreigners, who often shop for fresh produce at the restored red-brick building downtown that houses a thriving central market.

Mecks Market produce stand manager Bruce Markey welcomes them.

I think its wonderful for us as a city. I think it brings many cultures together, Markey tells VOA. If you cant open your arms to people that need it, then whats the point? They have nowhere to go, and we have [a lot]. So, it seems natural.

Other residents are more reserved. Anne Flynn, who helps run a souvenir stand at the market, is in favor of refugee resettlement, as long as the refugees assimilate. I have no problem with people coming, as long as they want to live like Americans, she says.

Mark Vergenes, head of a local financial services company, agrees. He supports the Trump administrations decision to slow refugee arrivals and to implement additional security screening measures. I do think the vetting, the checking, no rush to get people through the system, is good, he says. Im for hit the brakes a little bit, make sure what were getting here. Im for open arms, taking care of everybody I can take care of. But when you get that much that fast, that mass coming in, you gotta have a plan.

Yet, with an estimated 65 million people internally displaced or living as refugees around the world, Mastropietro believes America should not abandon its policy of resettling people fleeing war and persecution.

The United States has always been a leader in this, and now I feel that were really regressing, she said. We have a lot to offer. Were so rich, so wealthy, and so many people in the United States want to do it because of their ancestry, because of the way they got here. So, we have to come back to that. And we can.

For the Ebeula family, huddled in their new home as cold March winds whip outside, coming to Lancaster offers a fresh start after living for years in a refugee camp.

This is my new country now, Ebeula says, and I hope me and my family will adapt to this life. I hope no one will arrest us, that no one causes us any problems.
With an enthusiastic crowd filling Memphis' Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, the atmosphere was heavy with nostalgia Tuesday for the evening 50 years ago that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his final speech.

A gospel singer led a rousing rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing,'' and the gathering took on the air of a mass meeting, as if the crowd could again will King from his hotel bed across town. It was in this sanctuary that he delivered his famous "Mountaintop'' speech the night before he was assassinated. The commemoration was part of a week of events celebrating King's legacy.

Lee Saunders, a national labor leader, recounted how that night in 1968, King made an unplanned appearance to deliver the famous speech without notes after his aides saw how passionate the crowd was: "There was one man they wanted to hear from.''

But Saunders stressed that the purpose of the week's commemorations was not just to look to the past.

"Dr. King's work - our work - isn't done. We must still struggle; we must still sacrifice. We must still educate and organize and mobilize. That's why we're here in Memphis. Not just to honor our history, but to seize our future,'' he said.

Saunders was among the first speakers, taking the pulpit just after a video message from former President Barack Obama.

"As long as we're still trying, Dr. King's soul is still rejoicing,'' Obama said on the video.

Calling her oldest brother, Martin Luther King III, to join her in the pulpit, Bernice King discussed the difficulty of publicly mourning their father, a man hated during his lifetime and now beloved around the world.

"It's important to see two of the children who lost their daddy 50 years ago to an assassin's bullet,'' said King, now 55. "But we kept going. Keep all of us in prayer as we continue the grieving process for a parent that we've had yet to bury.''

Some of the sanitation workers who participated with King in a 1968 strike sat in the front row and were treated like celebrities, with audience members stopping to take photos with them before the event started. Contemporaries of King's including the Rev. Jesse Jackson were also in attendance.

The commemoration of the "Mountaintop'' speech followed an announcement earlier in the day by civil rights leaders who are reviving an economic justice campaign first planned by King. The organizers of a new Poor People's Campaign are planning 40 days of marches, sit-ins and other peaceful protests.

"This first 40 days is not the end; it's the launch,'' said the Rev. William Barber of North Carolina, one of the co-chairs of the revived campaign. "You will see simultaneous moral direct action. You will see simultaneous training of people to prepare for a season of massive voter mobilization.''

Starting May 14, clergy, union members and other activists will take part in the events in about 30 states, targeting Congress and state legislatures. Then, on June 23, organizers plan a large rally in Washington - similar to what King had envisioned. The original Poor People's Campaign was carried out in 1968 after King's death by other civil rights leaders.

King had envisioned the Poor People's Campaign in Washington as a way to speak out against economic injustice, as he shifted his focus from civil rights to human rights. But before he could finish those plans, he came to Memphis in 1968 to support a strike by black sanitation workers who were tired of dealing with low pay and dangerous working conditions.

King led a march in Memphis that turned violent on March 28, and he went back home to Atlanta. Seeking to prove that non-violent protests still worked, King vowed to lead a peaceful march and returned to Memphis days later.

The civil rights leader was standing on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel when he was shot on April 4, 1968. He died at a hospital at age 39.
The BJP has seemingly engaged Capt Amarinder Singh to obliterate Congress in Punjab: Bir Devinder Singh

Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota assumes additional charge as Director General of Police Punjab

Punjab & Chandigarh College Teachers Union supports Bandh call by farmers on Sept 27

Jathedar Raghbir Singh, Head Granthi, Manager and both the Shiromani Committee members of Sri Anandpur Sahib should resign from their posts: Hawara Committee

Punjab CM to hold cabinet meeting every Tuesday, to meet ministers, MLAs from 11.30 to 2.30 PM
About a quarter of students at 66 tertiary institutions in the United States said they had gone hungry in the previous month, researchers said Tuesday.

Experts said the findings, which are from the largest survey to measure hunger on campuses, confirmed concerns over poverty's prevalence at universities and colleges.

Jed Richardson, a scientist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and one of the researchers, said high-living costs, including tuition fees in some instances, might explain the results.

"For students who need to spend a certain amount of time at school not working, the jobs that they can get are generally low-paying," he told Reuters by phone. "They're forced to cut back."

Researchers quizzed 43,000 students at universities and community colleges in 20 states and the District of Columbia last year.

About 20 percent of university students said a lack of money meant they had been hungry and had not eaten in the previous month.

That proportion increased to 24 percent for those registered in community colleges, which primarily offer lower-cost two-year programs.

Other students ate less or skipped meals due to money worries.

The survey, conducted online, was the largest to date to identify how poverty afflicts university students, Richardson said.

There have been a growing number of similar studies in the past five years, he said, but those were conducted at the state- or university-level.

This study found that hunger disproportionately affected marginalized students, such as former foster youth and LGBT students, as well as African-Americans and Native Americans.

Problem often goes unnoticed

Because researchers could survey students at only a small fraction of colleges  those that asked to participate in the study  the results could not be generalized to the entire student population of the United States, Richardson said.

The results illustrate poverty among students that often goes unnoticed, said Nicole Kasper, a post-doctoral fellow in nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, who has researched food insecurity on campuses.

Kasper was surprised by the results of a 2016 study she co-authored that found four in 10 students surveyed at her upscale school faced hunger, she said.

"At our university, there's a big stereotype about the students being really wealthy," she said by phone.

Evidence of hunger on campus contrasts with the widespread belief  dubbed "Freshman 15"  that college students during their first year on campus, or freshman year, gain 15 pounds due to buffet-style meal plans common in dormitories, Kasper said.

A 2008 study published in the Journal of American College Health found freshmen gained 2.7 pounds on average.
A London-based Dutch attorney was given a 30-day prison sentence and fined $20,000 Tuesday for lying to U.S. investigators probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The lawyer, Alex van der Zwaan, had pleaded guilty in February to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his contacts with a business associate of Paul Manafort, the one-time campaign manager of U.S. President Donald Trump, and Manafort's deputy, Rick Gates, and destroying emails sought by investigators.

The 33-year-old attorney, a son-in-law of a prominent Russian banker, was the first person sentenced in the months-long investigation of the Russian meddling in the election led by special counsel Robert Mueller. Van der Zwaan is not considered a key figure in the probe, but court documents in his case showed Mueller's continued interest in pursuing information about Manafort's and Gates's involvement in the Trump campaign.

"What I did was wrong," van der Zwaan said in a Washington court. "I apologize to the court for my conduct. I apologize to my wife and to my family for the pain I have caused."

Manafort has not been charged with any crimes related to the presidential contest, but faces multiple counts accusing him of criminal wrongdoing in connection with years of lobbying efforts in Ukraine for one-time Ukrainian strongman Viktor Yanukovych, who was toppled in a popular uprising in 2014 before fleeing to exile in Russia. Manafort has pleaded not guilty.

Gates, in February, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to investigators. He is cooperating with Mueller's ongoing probe investigating whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russians to help Trump win the election and whether Trump obstructed justice to thwart the investigation.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Mueller told Trump's lawyers last month that he does not consider the president to be a criminal target at this point in his investigation.

But Mueller also said that he still considers Trump to be a subject of his investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election and emphasized the need to interview the president as part of the probe. The special counsel made the disclosures to Trump's lawyers last month during negotiations over a possible interview with the president.
Three foreign powers who have shaped Syria's civil war - Iran, Russia and Turkey - will discuss ways to wind down the fighting on Wednesday despite their involvement in rival military campaigns on the ground.

The leaders of the three countries will meet in Ankara for talks on a new constitution for Syria and increasing security in "de-escalation" zones across the country, Turkish officials say.

The Syria summit brings together two powers which have been President Bashar al-Assad's most forceful supporters, Iran and Russia, with one of his strongest opponents, Turkey.

Cooperation between the rival camps raised hopes of stabilizing Syria after seven years of conflict in which 500,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced.

But the violence has raged on, highlighting strategic rifts between the three countries who, in the absence of decisive Western intervention, hold Syria's fate largely in their hands.

Syria's army and Iran-backed militias, with Russian air power, have crushed insurgents near Damascus in eastern Ghouta - one of the four mooted "de-escalation zones".

Turkey, which sharply criticized the Ghouta offensive, waged its own military operation to drive Kurdish YPG fighters from the northwestern Syrian region of Afrin. It has pledged to take the town of Tel Rifaat and push further east, angering Iran.

"Whatever the intentions are, Turkey's moves in Syria, whether in Afrin, Tel Rifaat or any other part of Syria, should be halted as soon as possible," a senior Iranian official said.

Iran has been Assad's most supportive ally throughout the conflict. Iran-backed militias first helped his army stem rebel advances and, following Russia's entry into the war in 2015, turn the tide decisively in Assad's favor.

A Turkish official said Ankara will ask Moscow to press Assad to grant more humanitarian access in Ghouta, and to rein in airstrikes on rebel-held areas. "We expect ... Russia to control the regime more," the official told reporters this week.



Rifts over Assad



Ankara's relations with Moscow collapsed in 2015 when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane but have recovered since then - to the concern of Turkey's Western allies.

Turkey was one of the few NATO partners not to expel Russian diplomats in response to a nerve agent attack on a former Russian agent which Britain blamed on Moscow - an allegation which Turkey said was not proven.

Improved political ties have been reflected in Turkey's agreement to buy a Russian missile defense system and plans for Russia's ROSATOM to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant.

Turkey has also expanded relations with Iran, exchanging visits by military chiefs of staff, although its deepening ties with Tehran and Moscow have not translated into broader agreement on Syria's future.

Iran remains determined that Assad stay in power, while Russia is less committed to keeping him in office, a regional diplomat said. Turkey says Assad has lost legitimacy, although it no longer demands his immediate departure.

At a meeting in Russia two months ago, boycotted by the leadership of Syria's opposition, delegates agreed to set up a committee to rewrite Syria's constitution and called for democratic elections.

Turkey says Wednesday's meeting will discuss setting up the constitutional committee, humanitarian issues and developments in Syria's northern Idlib region, which is under the control of rival rebel factions and jihadi groups, and where Turkey has set up seven military observation posts.

"There are issues where all three countries have different policies in Syria," another Turkish official said. "In this regard, an aim is to find middle ground and create policies to improve the current situation.
Saudi Arabias crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in U.S. magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer.

Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying: I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.

A common threat

Saudi Arabia  birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines  does not recognize Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We dont have any objection against any other people, said Prince Mohammed who is touring the United States to drum up investments and support for his efforts to contain Iranian influence.

Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Prince Mohammed added.

New airspace rules

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.

In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumored secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.

Saudi Arabia condemned U.S. President Donald Trumps move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year, but Arab officials told Reuters at the time that Riyadh appears to be on board with a broader U.S. strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan still in its early phases of development.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates drew praise Tuesday at a U.N. conference for offering hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Yemen, where their air campaign against Houthi rebels has killed thousands of civilians and their crippling blockade has hindered aid delivery.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the one-day conference co-hosted by Sweden, Switzerland and the United Nations had collected pledges of more than $2 billion by midday  with contributions still coming in. Speaking to reporters, he acknowledged that some donors were also "parties of the conflict."

"We all know who ... the parties to the war (are)," he said. "But the two things need to be seen separately, independently of the fact that there is a war. There are humanitarian obligations that are assumed by countries."

With the situation worsening  Guterres called it "catastrophic"  the conference easily surpassed the funding pledges of $1.1 billion at a similar event last year. Overall, the U.N. has appealed for $2.96 billion to provide assistance and protection to people in Yemen in 2018.

"Several countries have already announced that there will be more donations from now until the end of the year," the U.N. chief said. "So we are quite optimistic."

Guterres added that "as important as the financial contributions to this conference is the commitment of the parties to the conflict to come together to put an end to the war."

He said information gleaned by his new special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, during a trip to the region led him to believe there were "positive perspectives" that could possibly lead to an "effective intra-Yemeni dialogue" at some point. Guterres cited an "opportunity to be seized."

A Saudi-led, Western-backed coalition has been at war with Iran-allied Shiite rebels known as Houthis for three years in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people and left 22.2 million people needing humanitarian aid. The conflict has fanned the world's worst recent cholera outbreak and put many on the brink of starvation. Some 8.4 million people do not know how they will get their next meal, according to U.N. estimates.

Health and sanitation systems are teetering in Yemen. Guterres noted that a child under 5 dies every 10 minutes from preventable causes.

In his prepared remarks, Guterres noted how Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  who have given military backing to Yemen's government, notably with air power and a sea blockade of rebel areas  had "generously provided" $930 million toward the humanitarian response plan even before the conference began.

The United States announced nearly $87 million in additional humanitarian aid, while the European Union pledged ?107.5 million in new funding this year.

Thomas Staal, counselor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, said the United States extended its "gratitude" to Saudi Arabia and UAE "for their significant contributions to the United Nations' coordinated response."

Ken Roth, director of Human Rights Watch, said any humanitarian contribution was welcome amid such severe suffering.

"But that shouldn't absolve or change the subject from the Saudi-led coalition's primary responsibility for Yemen's humanitarian crisis due to its blockade and repeated bombing of Yemeni civilians and critical Yemeni infrastructure," Roth wrote in an email

"Sending remedial aid doesn't exculpate Saudi Arabia and the UAE for their war-crime strategy of blockading and bombing Yemeni civilians," he added.
Autonomous cars should be required to meet standards on their ability to detect potential hazards, and better ways are needed to keep their human drivers ready to assume control, U.S. auto safety and technology experts said after fatal crashes involving Uber Technologies and Tesla vehicles.

Automakers and tech companies rely on human drivers to step in when necessary with self-driving technology. But in the two recent crashes, which involved vehicles using different kinds of technologies, neither of the human drivers took any action before the accidents.

Driverless cars rely on lidar, which uses laser light pulses to detect road hazards, as well as sensors such as radar and cameras. There are not, however, any standards on the systems, nor do all companies use the same combination of sensors, and some vehicles may have blind spots.

Queue the music for the human driver  music that drivers often find difficult to hear.

"Humans don't have the ability to take over the vehicle as quickly as may be expected" in those situations, said self-driving expert and investor Evangelos Simoudis.

In the Uber crash last month, the ride-services company was testing a fully driverless system intended for commercial use when the prototype vehicle struck and killed a woman walking across an Arizona road. Video of the crash, taken from inside the vehicle, shows the driver at the wheel, seemingly looking down and not at the road. Just before the video stops, the driver looks upward toward the road and suddenly looks shocked.

In the Tesla incident last month, which involved a car that any consumer can buy, a Model X vehicle was in semi-autonomous Autopilot mode when it crashed, killing its driver. The driver had received earlier warnings to put his hands on the wheel, Tesla said.

Some semi-automated cars, like the Tesla, employ different technologies to help drivers stay in their lane or maintain a certain distance behind the vehicle in front. Those systems rely on alerts  beeping noises or a vibrating steering wheel  to get drivers' attention.

'Immature technology'

Duke University mechanical engineering professor Missy Cummings said the recent Uber and Tesla crashes show the "technology they are using is immature."

Tesla says its technology is statistically proven to save lives through better driving. In a response to Reuters on Tuesday, Tesla said drivers have a "responsibility to maintain control of the car" whenever they enable Autopilot and need to be ready to respond to "audible and visual cues."

An Uber spokesperson said, "safety is our primary concern every step of the way."

A consumer group, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, says a bill on self-driving cars now stalled in the U.S. Senate is an opportunity to improve safety, quite different from the bill's original intent to quickly allow testing of self-driving cars without human controls on public roads. The group has proposed amending the bill, the AV START Act, to set standards for those vehicles  for instance, requiring a "vision test" for automated vehicles to test what their different sensors actually see.

The group believes the bill should also cover semi-automated systems like Tesla's Autopilot  a lower level of technology than what is included in the current proposed legislation.

Other groups have also put forth proposals on self-driving cars, including requiring the vehicles and even semi-automated systems to meet performance targets, greater transparency and data from makers and operators of the vehicles, increased regulatory oversight, and better monitoring of and engagement with human drivers.

Role of drivers

Others want to focus on the human driver. In November, Consumer Reports magazine called on automakers for responsible labeling "to help consumers fully understand" their vehicles' autonomous functions.

Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' head of automotive testing, said human drivers "are bad at paying attention to automation and this technology is not capable of reacting to all types of emergencies.

"It's like being a passenger with a toddler driving the car," he said.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is doing tests using semi-automated vehicles including models from Tesla, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and General Motors Co. The aim is to see how drivers use semi-autonomous technology  some watch the road with their hands above the wheel, others do not  and which warnings get their attention.

"We just don't know enough about how drivers use any of these systems in the wild," said MIT research scientist Bryan Reimer.

Timothy Carone, an autonomous systems expert and professor at Notre Dame University's Mendoza College of Business, said autonomous technology's proponents must "find the right balance so the technology is tested right, but it isn't hampered or halted."

"Because in the long run it will save lives," he said.
Nearly a dozen U.S. states and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday promised to defend federal automobile efficiency standards against a rollback proposed this week by Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

"All Americans ... deserve to enjoy fuel-efficient, low-emission cars and light trucks that save money on gas, improve our health and support American jobs," the attorneys general from 11 states said in a statement responding to

Pruitt's proposal on Monday to ease the Obama-era standards.

The standards called for roughly doubling by 2025 the average fuel efficiency of new vehicles sold in the United States to about 50 miles (80 kilometers) per gallon. Proponents say such standards help spur innovation in clean technologies and cut emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

California has long been allowed by an EPA waiver to impose stricter standards than Washington does on vehicle emissions of some pollutants. Twelve other states follow California's lead on cleaner cars.

The attorneys general, from states including New York, Iowa and Massachusetts, said they would challenge a rollback in court. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has already threatened to sue in defense of the standards.

The statement, also signed by more than 50 mayors from around the country, said automakers have been making progress in meeting the national standards and that compliance costs have been lower than projected.

Auto industry executives have not publicly sought specific reductions in the requirements negotiated with the Obama administration in 2011 as part of a bailout deal. But they have urged Pruitt and President Donald Trump to revise the standards so it becomes easier and less costly to meet the targets.

Pruitt defended his decision at EPA headquarters on Tuesday.

"We have nothing to be apologetic about with respect to the progress we've made in reducing emissions as a country," Pruitt said. The EPA will make sure that U.S. consumers would not have to buy more expensive autos as a result of efficiency standards, he said.

Pruitt, a former attorney general of Oklahoma, a major oil producer, has been criticized by politicians after reports that he paid well below market rates to live in a condo owned by a lobbyist who deals with issues overseen by his agency. Trump and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly phoned Pruitt this

week to say they supported him, an administration source said Tuesday.
The Syrian government launched several airstrikes Sunday on the rebel-held eastern Qalamoun area, northeast of Damascus, according to local activists.

The airstrikes came as negotiations are underway between local councils of the main towns in eastern Qalamoun, and representatives from the Syrian government and the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria.

The rebels and local councils are trying to spare the populated towns from a fate similar to the one of eastern Ghouta, they seek to let people stay in their homes and avoid large-scale destruction of the area, Abdullah Abdul Karim, a journalist based in Syria told VOA.

During the meeting, the Russian and Syrian government delegations called on the rebels to hand over their weapons to the Syrian government, leave the area or face war. The delegation gave rebels until Wednesday to respond.

Abdul Karim also said that councils of some local towns are negotiating their own terms for reconciliation.

On Monday, the town of Al Dumair issued a statement after the first round of negotiations with the Russian Reconciliation Center, agreeing on working to preserve security in the city, prevent civilian evacuations and protect the civilians in the city.

About 350 thousand civilians live in the area, including many displaced from Homs by fighting between the Syrian governments and ISIS. Others are refugees who recently left eastern Ghouta.

Who controls Eastern Qalamoun?

Eastern Qalamoun has been under rebel control since 2013. A number of rebel factions are present in the area, including the Syrian Liberation Front and Ahrar al-Sham.

Abu Adam Al Qalamouni, the leader of Syrian Liberation Front, tweeted Saturday that the rumors about his group leaving the area are not true. Abu Isa Ahrar, the leader of the Ahrah al-Sham rebel group, also denied reports about withdrawing from the region.

Eastern Qalamoun is the last stronghold for the Faylaq Al Rahman and Jaish Al Islam rebel groups, after their evacuation from eastern Ghouta. The forces of Martyr Ahmed Al Abdo rebel group are also based in Qalamoun, al-Tanf area. That is close to the Jordanian border and a U.S. military base.

Rebels in Qalamoun are trying to avoid fighting in populated areas, operating instead in mountainous landscape to the west and the desert to the east.

Eastern Ghouta

The last rebel-held pocket in eastern Ghouta is poised to surrender after Jaish Al Islam, the largest rebel group controlling the pocket of Douma, reached an agreement with the Russian-backed Syrian regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based Syrian war monitor, said that Jaish Al Islam and the Syrian government agreed on a settlement to secure those who wish to stay in Douma, allow the evacuation of those who want to leave, surrender heavy artillery to the Syrian regime and allow police to be deployed in the city.

The Observatory said some 1,300 civilians and fighters are expected to leave the besieged pocket and that the first group has already left the city and will be heading to northern Syria. The monitoring group says more than 1,600 civilians have been killed in eastern Ghouta sine the Syrian governments offensive started in February 2018.

According to the Response Coordinators in the North, a civil group working in north Syria to help displaced civilians, more than 47,000 civilians and fighters from eastern Ghouta have reached Idlib.
In South Africa, tributes to the late anti-apartheid activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela continue to pour in. She died Monday in Johannesburg following a long illness. Her passing will be marked by a state funeral and memorial service later this month.



Lioness, heroine and mother of the nation  these are the words being used to describe the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. She died at the age of 81.



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who visited the Mandela family on Monday, described her as a voice of defiance and resistance in the face of repression.

We have declared that Winnie Mandela will have a national official funeral, which will be held on the 14th of April and there will be an official memorial service, on the 11th, but then again there will be many other memorial functions right across, said Ramaphosa.



Winnie Mandela was a prominent figure in the battle to end white minority rule alongside her late ex-husband, Nelson Mandela. They were married for nearly four decades.



After her husband was jailed in 1962, she held fast through harassment, arrests, restrictions and imprisonment by the apartheid regime.



However, she could be a polarizing figure. After her divorce with Nelson Mandela in 1996, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated crimes committed during the apartheid period, concluded that she had been involved in assault, murder and abduction.

She was also later convicted of fraud and slapped with a suspended sentence.



To mourners who have streamed to her home since her passing on Monday, she remains a revered activist for freedom.



Johannesburg resident Susan Matlodi said she will forever missed.

She was a true heroine that lady because she stood up against apartheid. She stood by her husband Tata Mandela when he was at Robben Island, raising up kids alone, and she fought for us as ladies, so Im really saddened about her passing on, she said.



The ruling ANC at the party level has also expressed its grief. The party said Winnie Mandelas resilience and courage inspired freedom struggles not just in South Africa but across the continent. The South African Communist Party chose to describe her as an activist for gender equality and a democratic revolutionary.

And the Nelson Mandela Foundation said all South Africans are indebted to her, whether they acknowledge it or not.



The South African religious community is also paying tribute. Njongonkulu Ndungane, is a former Archbishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa.

She touched our hearts, and I think that she championed the cause of the poorest of the poor and being the voice of the voiceless. She became commonly known as the mother of the nation. She was just at the heart of giving us youngsters the hope for the future, he said.



The African Union Commission in its tribute statement said Winnie Mandela will be remembered as a fearless campaigner who sacrificed much of her life for freedom in South Africa.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he hoped the U.S. could "get along" with Russia as he met at the White House on Tuesday with the leaders of the Baltic states.

"I think I could have a very good relationship with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin," Trump said. "There is also a great possibility that that won't happen. Who knows, OK?"

Trump boasted that "nobody has been tougher on Russia," but insisted more open lines of communication between himself and the Russian leader would benefit the U.S.

"Getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing," he said. "And just about everybody agrees to that, except very stupid people."

WATCH: US Russia Summit

But experts say escalating tensions in the aftermath of the poisoning of a former Russian double agent in Britain make this a bad time for Trump to invite Putin to the White House. Moscow denies responsibility for the poison attack in Britain.

Luke Coffee of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative-leaning public policy research group, told VOA, "Having regular communication with President Putin is one thing, and a responsible thing, and something that we did even in the height of the Cold War. But having a summit, whether it is in Moscow or Washington, D.C., it is the wrong time for that."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that Trump and Putin had "discussed a bilateral meeting in the not-too-distant future'" in their most recent phone conversation, and that the White House was one possible venue.
While President Donald Trump has said illegal immigrants heading toward the United States are trying to take advantage of an Obama-era policy that shields certain people from deportation, the program known as DACA is actually not open to new entrants.

At issue is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which the Republican president last September ordered rescinded. Under DACA, hundreds of thousands of young adults dubbed Dreamers who were brought into the United States illegally as children have been shielded from deportation and given work permits.

On Sunday, apparently in reference to a caravan of 1,500 Central Americans who are journeying through Mexico toward the United States, Trump wrote on Twitter: These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!

But there is no act to get in on. Newly arriving illegal immigrants cannot win protections under DACA, created in 2012 by Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, for two reasons.

Anyone admitted into the program had to have been living continuously in the United States since June 15, 2007, along with other requirements. In addition, Trump himself ordered an end to the program, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is not accepting new applicants.

Under Trumps action, DACA was supposed to have begun winding down last month. But courts have ruled that Trump acted improperly and that the hundreds of thousands of immigrants currently enrolled still qualified for protections while the legal fight over DACA unfolds.

When he announced he was ending DACA, Trump urged Congress to come up with a legislative fix. Referring to the Dreamers, Trump said, I have a great heart for the folks were talking about, a great love for them.

Seven months later, DACA participants are living with the uncertainty over whether they will be protected or targeted for deportation.

Meanwhile, following a series of failed negotiations with Democrats and some Republicans in Congress, Trump has been fuming over the refusal of lawmakers to fully fund a $25 billion wall he wants to build on the U.S.-Mexican border. The wall became a bargaining chip in DACA replacement legislation.

NO MORE DACA DEAL!, Trump said on Twitter as he blamed Democrats for the situation. DACA is dead.

Matthew Wright, a government professor at American University in Washington, called Trumps tweets not connected to reality. Wright noted that Trump rejected several Democratic offers to address DACA, including at one point a deal that would have provided $25 billion for his wall.

Last month, Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said Trumps rejection of that offer was the high-water mark for the walls prospects in Congress, where support for it is tepid at best.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says President Donald Trump proposed the White House as a potential place to host a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The suggestion came during a March 20 call between the two leaders. Trump said after that call he hoped to meet with Putin "in the not too distant future," both sides have said planning has not gone any further.

Sanders did not give additional information about plans for the meeting to take place.

"We have nothing further to add at this time," she told reporters Monday.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov also said Trump floated the idea of hosting Putin for talks at the White House.

Trump is under scrutiny as a special counsel investigates potential ties between his presidential campaign and Russia. The U.S. intelligence community has assessed Putin directed an influence campaign aimed at the 2016 election that brought Trump to office.

Trump says there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia.

Since the March 20 phone call, relations between the two countries became more complicated with the United States expelling 60 Russian diplomats and ordering the closure of a Russian consulate in response to the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Britain. Russia denies it was responsible for the attack, and responded to the U.S. move by expelling U.S. diplomats and closing a U.S. consulate.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday told leaders of the Baltic states, who are worried about Russian aggression, that "nobody's tougher on Russia" than he has been, but that it "would be a good thing" if the United States got along with Russia.

"We just passed a $700 billion military budget. Next year, $716 billion  the largest ever passed. We are going to have a military stronger than we ever have before, by far  that's not exactly a great thing for Russia," Trump told the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at a joint news conference following a closed-door meeting at the Oval Office and a working lunch in the Cabinet Room.

Trump added that he had recently expelled 60 Russian diplomats, far exceeding the number of Russian diplomats expelled by Germany or France.

Last week, the U.S. and more than two dozen countries, including the three Baltic states, collectively expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats in a show of solidarity over the poisoning of a former Russia spy in Britain. Russia retaliated by expelling more than 150 foreign diplomats, including 60 U.S. diplomats.

Trump noted, "I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President [Vladimir] Putin, and if I did, that would be a great thing. And there is also a great possibility that that won't happen. Who knows?"

At the U.S.-Baltics summit, Trump and Presidents Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia, Raimonds Vejonis of Latvia Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania celebrated the 100th anniversary of the declaration of independence of the Baltic states, and they discussed how to strengthen security, business, trade, energy, counterterrorism and cultural partnerships.

NATO commitment

Trump's commitment to the NATO alliance has been one of the focal points of the summit. He has repeatedly criticized NATO member countries for not contributing what he sees as their fair share to the organization and for being "delinquent."

Trump said that because of him, NATO member countries have started to "pay their bills."

"They were not paying what they should be paying. Since I came in, many, many billions of dollars have been paid by countries that weren't paying, and now they're paying, and they will pay more. Frankly, they will have to pay more," Trump said.

He also complained that NATO countries were not meeting their 2 percent military spending benchmark. In a speech to NATO members last year, he failed to reiterate the U.S. commitment to NATO's Article 5 pledge of mutual defense, which rattled NATO allies.

Experts have pointed out that NATO members do not pay membership fees and that the target spending of 2 percent of GDP on defense is merely a guideline. There is no penalty for not meeting the benchmark.

Since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have grown increasingly worried about Russia's regional military buildup and the possibility that they could suffer a fate similar to that of Crimea.

The countries have since pledged to boost their military spending, counting on NATO allies to provide military assistance should Russia take any action.



Watch related video report by VOA's Cindy Saine:

At Tuesday's press conference, Trump thanked the Baltic states for "fulfilling full obligations and meeting the 2 percent GDP benchmark for national defense this year."

While Trump did not mention the Article 5 pledge of mutual defense at the news conference, he told the Baltic leaders, "For your citizens, we are there for you. As we begin the next 100 years of our partnership, the Baltic republics can trust the United States will remain a strong and proud and loyal friend and ally," he said.

The U.S.-Baltic summit comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West.

In addition to the expulsions of the Russian diplomats, the U.S. and the Baltic states have accused Russia of conducting a barrage of cyberattacks and spreading fake news, propaganda and disinformation online in an effort to meddle in their political systems and sway public opinion in favor of Russia's agenda.

Top U.S. intelligence officials have accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and they suspect Russia is taking steps to undermine the 2018 midterm elections.

On Friday, Russia test-fired its new liquid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, Sarmat. Latvia's defense ministry said it was concerned by the sudden announcement from Russia that it would test-fire missiles in the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Sweden on April 4 and 6.

Last month, Trump congratulated Putin on his re-election victory and said the two agreed to hold talks in the "not-too-distant future."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that the leaders discussed meeting "at a number of potential venues, including the White House."
U.S. President Donald Trump is not backing away from his assertion the time has come to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, even as Washingtons partners on the ground are urging him to reconsider.

"Our primary mission in terms of that was getting rid of ISIS, Trump said Tuesday, using an acronym for the Islamic State terror group.

We've almost completed that task and we'll be making a decision very quickly in coordination with others, as to what we'll do," the U.S. president added during a news conference with the heads of three Baltic nations. "I want to bring our troops back home."

While the president seemed to leave open the option that U.S. forces could stay in Syria a bit longer, the prospect of pulling all forces from the counter-IS fight is not sitting well with U.S. allies, including the Kurds and Iraq.

A sudden withdrawal from Syria would send a frightening message, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdistan Regional Government Representative to the United States, said earlier Tuesday during a discussion at the U.S. Institute for Peace.

These all ring alarm bells for us and Im sure for the people of Syria, Rahman told reporters later of the rash of news stories indicating U.S. forces could soon be pulled from Syria, adding Kurdish officials have already voiced concern to their U.S. counterparts.

Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S. Fareed Yasseen, speaking at the same event, expressed similar reservations.

We still suffer from Syria, Yasseen said. Still to this day, we have insurgents crossing the border.

Rather than see the United States leave Syria, Yasseen said Baghdad would like the U.S. to engage more broadly across the region, and even encourage private companies to look to invest more in Iraq.

Despite President Trumps pronouncements on Syria, other key U.S. officials have been more cautious.

"We are in Syria to fight ISIS, said Brett McGurk, the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat IS, speaking Tuesday at the U.S. Institute for Peace at nearly the same time as the president.

That is our mission and our mission isn't over, he said, adding that the U.S. presence in Syria remains incredibly effective and strong.

We are going to complete that mission," McGurk said.

The top military commander for U.S. forces in the Middle East also indicated U.S. and coalition troops could remain in Syria for some time to come.

"There still are some areas where they [IS] are present and that we will have to continue to operate on, said U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. Joseph Votel.

Our goal is to continue to keep pressure on ISIS...and at the same time to continue to work through the other tensions that are very present here in northern Syria, added Votel.

Votel also indicated the U.S. could continue to have a military presence in Syria, and Iraq, even after IS is thoroughly defeated.

The hard part I think is in front of us," the CENTCOM commander said. "There is a military role in this, certainly in the stabilization phase."

Trump on Tuesday said the United States has spent "seven trillion dollars in the Middle East over the last 17 years" and that Washington receives "nothing out of it."

"Saudi Arabia is very interested in our decision and I said 'well, you want us to stay maybe youre going to have to pay," the U.S. president noted.

The White House said Trump discussed "joint efforts to endure the enduring defeat of ISIS" in Syria during a Monday phone call with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Still many in the region are waiting to see whether Trump's statements are put into action on the ground in Syria.

"I think we've also learned, certainly with this administration that quite often what comes out in the media is not necessarily what's going on" Kurdistan Regional Government Representative Rahman said Tuesday. "We don't hit the panic button immediately even though it is a cause for concern."
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Mexico on Tuesday that its free trade agreement with the United States would be jeopardized if it does not stop a caravan of Central American immigrants before it reaches the border with the U.S.

For the third consecutive day, Trump posted anti-immigration Twitter comments, complaining about the stream of 1,100 migrants headed north from Honduras through Mexico toward "our 'Weak Laws' Border."

In a daybreak tweet, he said the caravan of migrants "had better be stopped before its gets there."

The U.S. leader said the "cash cow" North American Free Trade Agreement among the U.S., Mexico and Canada "is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!"

Trump administration officials say they are drafting new legislation aimed at closing what they see as immigration "loopholes." The changes would allow for the immediate deportation of children arriving at the U.S. border while traveling alone, rather than allowing them to engage in lengthy deportation hearings before an immigration judge, as is now the case.

The Trump administration also wants to end a two-decade-old court settlement that calls for the U.S. to release migrating children from custody to their parents or other caregivers while they await deportation hearings. Officials say the children often have assimilated into life in the U.S. and fail to show up at their deportation hearings.

Late Monday, Trump tweeted, "As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke," referring to his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.

Trump said, "Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!"

The fate of any Trump immigration proposals in Congress would be uncertain at best.

Congressional deadlock



Lawmakers have been deadlocked for years over immigration policies. Most recently, Congress balked at Trump's call for construction of a $20 billion border wall on the U.S.-Mexican line to thwart the entry of more illegal migrants and was unable to reach an agreement with the president over whether to protect as many as 1.8 million young people from deportation, migrants brought illegally into the country years ago by their parents.

The recently approved $1.3-trillion spending measure funding government operations through September included $1.6 billion for border security along the U.S.-Mexican line, but that money can be used only to repair existing segments of barriers, not new sections.

The Mexican government says it is offering refugee status to eligible members of a caravan of migrants from Central American countries heading north through Mexico.

A statement late Monday from the Mexican interior and foreign affairs ministries noted the caravans made up largely of people from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have made similar trips since 2010 calling attention to migrant rights, particularly those fleeing dangerous situations at home in search of protection elsewhere.

"Mexico's migration policy is a sovereign one, through which it seeks to ensure legal, safe and orderly migration with full respect for people's rights," the statement said. "Under no circumstances does the Mexican government promote irregular migration."

Repatriation process



The ministries said that due to Mexican law, authorities have sent 400 caravan members back to their home countries.

The caravan of about 1,100 people was organized by Pueblo Sin Fronteras (People without Borders), which on Monday called the asylum processes in the United States and Mexico "punitive and unjust." Two smaller caravans reached the United States last year.

Gina Garibo, a spokesperson for the group, told VOA it is an organization that fights alongside the migrants in order to battle for their rights.

Alex Mensing, one of the group's coordinators, said on Twitter those in the caravan pressured Mexico "into conceding permission to travel to places where they can seek asylum."

Pueblo Sin Fronteras also highlighted the number of Hondurans in the group, saying their presence was the result of political crises in the region "provoked in large part by the policies of the U.S. government."

After Trump's Monday tweets, Mexican Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete Prida said, "It is absolutely incorrect to say that Mexico is not making an effort" to control illegal migration.



He said Mexico has been following the course of the caravan, but rejected pressure from the United States.

"Of course we will act, let me be clear, in strict compliance with our migration laws, without accepting pressure from any country or anyone," he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosts his counterparts from Russia and Iran Wednesday for a second trilateral summit on Syria. The three, whose countries have a significant military presence in Syria, are increasingly cooperating to resolve the civil war under the auspices of the so-called Astana Process.

The deepening cooperation comes in the face of intense rivalries.

Since 2011, Ankara's sole purpose was to dethrone Assad, said Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat, who served widely in the region. Whereas, Russia and Iran came to Syria upon Assads invitation to keep him in place and this is a contradiction, he added, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

All sides have so far managed their differences, out of an awareness, analysts suggest, that is based on the realization they need one anothers cooperation in efforts to secure their regional goals and ultimately bring an end to the seven-year conflict.

Under the Astana Process, so-called deconfliction zones have been created across Syria, in which rebel groups are concentrated. Ankara, with its close ties to those rebel groups, has worked closely with Moscow within the process. Wednesdays meeting is expected to focus on the Syrian enclave of Idlib. Turkish forces have been steadily increasing their deployment there, creating observation posts to monitor the deconfliction zone.

The Turkish-led military campaign against the YPG Syrian-Kurdish militia is also expected to be on the agenda of Wednesdays summit. Ankara accuses the militia of being a terrorist group linked to a decades-long Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey.

Last month, Turkish forces ousted the YPG from the Syrian enclave of Afrin, but Erdogan has pledged to expand the military operation across northern Syria up to the Iraqi border. Erdogan is expected to seek to assuage any concerns from Russia's Vladimir Putin and Iran's Hassan Rouhani.

The limits of the [Turkish military] operation [in Syria] will depend on the reaction of other actors who are stakeholders in Syria, predicted Sinan Ulgen of Brussels-based Carnegie Europe, a research institution. With Russian air defenses currently controlling most of Syrias airspace, Moscow up until now has given its tacit support to the offensive, allowing Turkish jets to fly with impunity in Syrian airspace in support of the operation.

Turkey-Iran tensions

Tehran has called for an end to the Turkish operation. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is expected to press his concerns over the operation in the talks with Erdogan. The two leaders are scheduled for a separate face-to-face meeting.

Analysts point out Iran is likely to be increasingly concerned about the growing number of Turkish armed forces in Syria. Tehran will be aware Turkish forces seldom withdraw once deployed in a neighboring country. Regional rivalries between the two powerful neighbors are exacerbated by sectarian tensions.

I don't see any good relation between Erdogan and the Islamic regime of Iran because Sunni and Shia Muslims are fighting for the same land in the Middle East, warns Iranian expert Jamshid Assadi of Frances Burgundy Business School. They might agree on not fighting a war, but that is all.



Tehrans recent cooperation with Ankara over Syria is giving Iran an opportunity to further undermine Turkeys strained ties with the United States. That, observers say, is important for Iran, given the importance of Turkey in any new sanctions by the U.S. against Iran.

Also Rouhani, like Russia's Putin, will be aware of the looming confrontation between Turkish and U.S. forces over the Syrian town of Manbij. Erdogan has pledged to oust the Kurdish YPG militia from Manbij, where U.S. forces are also deployed. Washington sees the YPG as a key ally in its war against Islamic State. Sources in Ankara have suggested the Turkish-led operation is as much about removing the U.S. presence in Syria as is the Kurdish militia.

Tehran, like Moscow, is also aware of the important role Ankara is playing in helping to facilitate the movement of rebels toward the region near the Turkish border.

The Moscow-Tehran-Damascus trio wants all jihadists to seek refuge near the Turkish border, which is an extremely smart move on their part, wrote columnist Barcin Yinanc of the Hurriyet Daily News. He warned, however, that Ankara could pay a heavy price. There is no guarantee that these Islamist and jihadist groups will not end up hitting back at Turkey in the future. Analysts, however, point out the priority for Ankara remains its ongoing campaign against the YPG.
The Philippines and Malaysia said on Monday they will look into whether Uber Technologies' move to sell its Southeast Asian business to ride-hailing rival Grab hinders competition, days after Singapore began a probe into the deal on similar concerns.

The expanded scrutiny of the deal in Southeast Asia could pose a major hurdle to the U.S. firm's attempt to improve profitability by exiting its loss-making regional operation. It also comes as Grab is set to face tougher competition from Indonesian rival Go-Jek.

In a rare move, Singapore last week proposed interim measures to require Uber and Grab to maintain their pre-transaction independent pricing until it completes a review of the deal, saying it had "reasonable grounds" to suspect that competition had been infringed.

"The Grab-Uber acquisition is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the riding public and the transportation services. As such, the PCC is looking at the deal closely," the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said in a statement.

It said the deal will put Grab in a virtual monopoly in the ride-sharing market, and its review will determine whether the transaction substantially reduces competition, adding it is meeting representatives of Grab and Uber on Monday.

Should anti-competitive concerns arise, Uber and Grab may propose commitments to remedy. In the event they will not submit voluntarily, the commission could open a case that may block the deal, it said.

Malaysia also said on Monday that it will monitor Grab for possible anti-competitive behavior.

"We won't take it lightly. We will monitor this because it is still early days and we don't know what will happen next," said government minister Nancy Shukri, whose portfolio oversees the public transport licensing authority.

"We have stressed that if there is any anti-competitive behavior, the Competition Act will come into force. We have spelt this out to them," Nancy said, referring to a meeting with Grab representatives last Monday.

In Indonesia, the anti-monopoly agency said it can't say yet whether they will investigate the deal, as there are 30 days after the deal is finalized to assess it.

Assurances on pricing

Uber and Grab announced the deal a week ago, marking the U.S. company's second retreat from an Asian market. It earlier sold off its operations in China.

Nancy said Grab, which is valued at about $6 billion, had offered assurances during their meeting that there would be no unfair pricing, nor would it increase its fares for now.

After a costly market share battle in Southeast Asia, where Uber has invested $700 million, its move to exit the region is widely expected to give the U.S. firm more firepower to focus on other markets including India.

But competition in the region is set to grow again, as Indonesia's Go-Jek plans to launch its first expansion to another country in the region in coming weeks, according to an internal company email seen by Reuters.

Singapore's Straits Times reported on Monday Go-Jek plans to launch its services in Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Johannes Bernabe, PCC commissioner, told Reuters that Manila is processing at least three applications for ride-sharing services. It also caps the number of ride-sharing vehicles to 65,000 across all brands and reviews them every three months.

"This is a normal regulatory step in a deal of this size as part of Grab's overall strategy to cooperate with interested regulators," said Grab, which operates in 195 cities in eight Southeast Asian countries.

"We believe that the acquisition will add to, among others, the vibrant and competitive ride-hailing, delivery and transportation spaces, and does not lessen competition," it said.

Grab said it did not intend to increase its base fares.
Ukrainian lawmakers on Tuesday declined to scrap a requirement for civil society activists to file online wealth declarations in defiance of warnings from Western backers that the law undermines the fight against corruption.

Proponents say the legislation is needed to promote transparency. But critics within Ukraine and in the United States and the European Union say it places undue pressure on activists and plays into the hands of vested interests.

Parliament debated various draft proposals to either cancel the requirement or extend the filing deadline, but the bills either did not gain enough votes to pass or lacked the support to be tabled.

"Colleagues, frankly this is one of those days when unfortunately I am ashamed of our decisions," Parliamentary Speaker Andriy Parubiy said.

President Petro Poroshenko has called for the law to be scrapped but many members of his faction, BPP, and those of its coalition partner, People's Front, did not vote to change the NGO law.

Lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko, an investigative journalist and anti-corruption campaigner, called it a "cynical game" that would "destroy Ukraine's relations with partners in the West.

Warnings against setbacks



Ukraine's foreign backers repeatedly warned the authorities not to backtrack on promises to tackle corruption in the wake of a 2013/2014 pro-European uprising.

In a sharply worded statement last Wednesday, the EU's integration commissioner Johannes Hahn said: "Ukraine has made remarkable progress over the past years. It is important not to create setbacks and undermine the progress that has been made.

His comments and a similar statement from the U.S. State Department add to growing concerns that reforms are stalling.

Last year Kyiv's failure to follow through on commitments held up billions of dollars in IMF funding.

A group of lawmakers plans to table another vote, but it is unclear when parliament would debate a fresh proposal.

Lawmakers and civil servants must already declare their income and assets in an online database, under a landmark law rolled out in 2016 to tackle corruption in state institutions.

Some officials argue it is fair to require civil society activists to do the same as many are recipients of foreign donor cash to support their anti-graft efforts and other work.

"Those guys are not living so badly on the technical support of our international partners. Their incomes are good," said Poroshenko's parliamentary representative Iryna Lutsenko, in comments to journalists.
The United Nations says it is probing disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians during Mondays Afghan military airstrikes on a Taliban-controlled district in northern Kunduz province.



Villagers in Dasth-i Archi told reporters Tuesday they attended mass funerals of dozens of victims, including children, insisting the Afghan Air Force bombed a packed madrassa, or religious seminary.



Local media reported the death of more than 50 people from the strikes, saying that about 150 also were wounded.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, reminded all parties of their obligations to protect civilians from impact of the armed conflict.



UNAMA [is] actively looking into disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians  Human Rights team on ground establishing facts, the mission said in a tweet.



Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said Tuesday, more than 24 hours after the attack, that the air force targeted an enemy stronghold and killed 18 senior Taliban commanders among others, including foreigners.

He insisted combat helicopters undertook the counterinsurgency mission after spy drones had established the compound was a Taliban training facility.

Taliban leaders supervising insurgent operations in northeastern Afghanistan and commandos of the insurgent groups so-called Red Unit were also among the slain men, the Defense Ministry spokesman asserted. Radmanish added insurgents had convened a meeting to prepare for a major offensive in Kunduz.

Radmanish claimed Taliban fighters fired back at army helicopters with anti-aircraft guns during the aerial operation and later they intentionally sprayed civilians in the area with bullets.

People who have been brought to hospitals from the site have received bullet wounds and it shows they were shot at by gunmen on the ground during the airstrikes, he asserted during a news conference. The spokesman, however, added that a high-level investigation was underway to determine more facts.

A Taliban spokesman swiftly rejected the ministry's claims, saying none of its members was present in the gathering and the strikes hit mostly children in the madrassa.

Critics say the deadly attack could lead to revenge insurgent attacks and undermine efforts to encourage the Taliban to come to the negotiating table.



Afghan Ambassador to neighboring Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal condemned the strike as an irresponsible action, cautioning such attacks are detrimental to efforts aimed at ending the ongoing "bloody and destructive war."



The "aerial strike on a madrassa in Dasth-i Archi, which killed many civilians, including children, is condemnable, the Afghan diplomat tweeted Tuesday. "This will further prolong the conflict and bloodshed," he added.



The reported civilian casualties underscored the risk of increased reliance on air power under U.S. President Donald Trump's new strategy to try to force the Taliban to the negotiating table.



Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai also condemned Monday's attack in Kunduz, saying it killed and wounded civilians. Such raids, carried out in the name of fighting terrorism, on our homes, hospitals and religious facilities are against all principles, Karzai tweeted.



Kunduz briefly fell to the Taliban in 2015 and the insurgents overran it for a second time the following year before U.S. air support enabled Afghan forces to evict the rebels from the area.



A 2015 U.S. military airstrike, while the Taliban was still in control of Kunduz, mistakenly hit and destroyed a hospital, killing 42 people, mostly patients and medical staff. Residents say the Taliban maintain a strong presence in districts surrounding the provincial capital.



Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the prolonged Afghan hostilities. UNAMA documented more than 10,000 civilian casualties in 2017, including around 3,500 fatalities.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the warring sides in Yemen on Tuesday to reach a political settlement to end a conflict that is now in its fourth year and has left 22 million people in urgent need of aid.

His special envoy, Martin Griffiths, will head to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the Yemeni government-held city of Aden in the drive for peace, Guterres told reporters.

Griffiths has already held talks with both sides in a war that has drawn in regional powers, meeting Houthi authorities who hold the capital, Sanaa, as well as internationally recognized Yemeni President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi and Saudi officials in Riyadh.

Guterres said he saw "positive perspectives" for preparing a plan of action "to lead to an effective inter-Yemeni dialogue able to achieve a political solution, with of course the involvement of all those that are relevant in this conflict."

"I am optimistic about that possibility," the U.N. chief added.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than 2 million and driven the country to the verge of famine.

Airstrike on coastal city

Guterres was speaking on the sidelines of a U.N. pledging conference a day after an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition that supports Hadi's government killed 12 civilians in the coastal city of Hodeida. Houthi forces later targeted Saudi Arabia's southern border area with a missile.

He announced that more than $2 billion had been pledged toward a U.N. humanitarian appeal of $3 billion for Yemen this year. It includes $930 million from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which lead the coalition airstrikes.

When the Houthis fired missiles at Riyadh last November, the Western-backed coalition responded by shutting Yemen's airports and ports. The United Nations said that blockade raised the danger of mass starvation and it was partially lifted.

Guterres told the conference: "All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, the medicines, food and the fuel needed to deliver them."

Most humanitarian aid enters through Hodeida, but the government accuses Houthis who control the port of smuggling weapons through it.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi called for a return to the negotiating table and said that his government was working to open ports and airports to aid.

"We need to find the ideal solution, which is a return to the talks table, to put an end the war, to return to a sustainable system supported by the people of Yemen," he said.

The U.N.'s World Food Program is providing food rations to 7 million Yemenis, up from 3 million last year, Elisabeth Rasmussen, WFP assistant executive director, told the talks.

Child malnutrition rising

But Dr. Nevio Zagaria, the World Health Organization representative in Yemen, said that child malnutrition rates were rising. About 1.8 million children under age 5 are acutely malnourished while 400,000 suffer from severe acute malnutrition, which can be deadly, he said.

"In Hajjah, I saw a baby weighing 2.6 kilos (5.7 pounds) who

was 6 months old. Its twin died the week before," Zagaria told Reuters.

After more than 1 million Yemenis were found with apparent cholera last year, WHO is shipping vaccines to avoid a repeat of the epidemic that killed 2,267 people, he said. Some 1.4 million doses out of 4.4 million planned are on their way via Nairobi.

"The rainy season is starting, so we need to use the window of opportunity to start a vaccination campaign," he said.
As trade frictions heat up between China and the United States, the two countries are talking tough and giving assurances at the same time that the situation will not spiral out of control.

Despite assurances, analysts both in China and in the United States are divided over just how bad the situation could get.

Right now, the markets are reacting, farmers are reacting, trade groups are reacting and most of us are expecting a counterproductive end in the short run, said Dave Swenson, an economist at Iowa State University. What we think this is right now is truly a skirmish, boundaries being drawn, what we dont know is just the extent to which both sides are willing to go to make their points.

President Donald Trump is expected to announce a new tariff list aimed at punishing Beijing over its technology transfer policies and intellectual property theft. And while the two sides have stressed that negotiations and talks are being pursued, there has been little evidence that that is happening.

China has said it will take proportional measures to respond to any tariffs enacted by the Trump administration. In response to earlier tariffs on steel and aluminum, China launched levies of up to 25 percent this week on 128 products, including fruits, nuts, pork, wine, steel and aluminum.

Chinas actions so far have shown self-restraint, but there is there is much more Beijing could do, said economist Hu Xingdou.

For example, China owns lots of U.S. treasury and corporate bonds, buys airplanes from Boeing and soybeans etc., Hu said.

The initial tariffs that China issued were smart and political, he adds. Most of the items on the list are agricultural products, which China can replace with imports from other markets, Hu said.

I think the move sends a political message even though it is seen as a trade measure. In fact, political calculation is taken into consideration, he said.

Some of the heaviest tariffs were placed on pork and pork products and one key state that is expected to feel the pinch from the new measures is Iowa, a state where support for Trump was strong in the 2016 elections. It is also the home of former governor and now U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad.

Swenson, the economist from Iowa State University, said that it is not only pork, but ethanol tariffs on Chinas list that will have an impact.

Because Iowa is the nations largest producer of corn, ethanol can be produced much more efficiently in Iowa than in any other state, he said.

Some analysts in China believe that if President Trump does push ahead with tariffs targeting intellectual property theft and the countrys technology transfer policies, a trade war is inevitable.

Others argue it is unlikely that President Trump will go too far.

In an interview with the online news outlet The Paper, Yu Chunhai, an economist at Renmin University of China, said while trade frictions will grow, a trade war is unlikely. Yu said Trump is likely to use executive privilege to keep tensions under control and pull back when the costs are too high.

But while the building standoff brings both risks and uncertainty, it is also an opportunity.

The crisis also presents an opportunity for China to deepen its reforms, fulfill its WTO commitments and curtail the role of state-owned enterprises in the local economy while opening up the local markets for the banking, insurance and cultural sector, Hu said.

If it is not able to make such changes, however, Hu said the situation is likely to get worse. China has recently pledged to further open up its banking and insurance sector, but the time frame for that to happen is still three years down the road.

Joyce Huang and Ira Mellman in Washington DC contributed to this report.
The U.S. Justice Department is challenging the constitutionality of another California law just weeks after suing the state over its so-called sanctuary laws.

The department on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court in California, seeking an injunction against the enforcement of a recently passed state law that effectively blocks the sale or transfer of federal lands in the country's third-largest state by area.

The law, enacted in October, gives the State Lands Commission a first right of refusal to the sale or lease of federal public lands in the state. Federal law gives the authority to federal agencies.

The law was part of a series of bills California lawmakers passed last year in a bid to preserve federal environmental regulations under state law and protect federal lands from being sold to oil companies.

In its complaint, the Justice Department contends that the law violates the U.S. Constitution's so-called Supremacy Clause and Property Clause. The Supremacy Clause makes federal law the law of the land; the Property Clause gives Congress the power to regulate the sale of federal lands.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Justice Department had no choice but to sue the state in order to ensure federal law enforcement.

"I regret the need to file yet another lawsuit against the state of California today," Sessions said in a statement.

Sanctuary laws

Last month, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block three California laws that provide protections to undocumented immigrants. The department called the laws unconstitutional, saying they have kept federal law enforcement agents from doing their jobs.

Sessions complained that the lawsuits  along with defending against a California challenge to adding a question about citizenship to the national census  are draining Justice Department resources.

States' rights

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra defended the state's restrictions on federal land sales.

"#California's lands should not be on the auction block to the highest bidder," Becerra tweeted. "We're prepared, as always, to do what it takes to protect our people, our resources and our values."

The Justice Department's lawsuit against California's sanctuary laws, while supported by many, has opened him up to criticism that he is acting counter to his own judicial philosophy.
Venezuela's chief prosecutor said Monday that investigators believe prisoners started the blaze that killed 68 people in one of the worst jail fires in the nation's history by lighting some mattresses on fire.

Tarek William Saab said prisoners sparked the flames last week in response to a "type of inspection'' being conducted by authorities at the police station jail in Valencia, 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Caracas.

In his first comments explaining how the fire happened, Saab, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, told Union Radio that police officials nonetheless bore responsibility and would be held accountable.

The five officers detained thus far face charges including homicide and negligence, he said.

"There could be more arrests because we are only in the preliminary stage of the investigation,'' Saab said.

Flames tore through a police station jail where an estimated 200 people were being kept in cells that prisoner rights advocates say were meant for no more than three dozen. The fire killed 66 prisoners and two women who were visiting. Some relatives of those killed said they received calls from their loved ones before the blaze saying that jail guards were throwing gasoline in the cellblock. Officials have not yet responded to those accusations.

Human rights advocates say the fire is one more indication of the squalid conditions in the Venezuela's jails as the nation slumps into one of the most severe economic contractions in modern Latin American history.

Saab acknowledged Monday that overcrowding contributed to the tragedy and said he would initiative a campaign along with other public agencies to remedy the issue. According to his figures, there are more than 25,000 people in police station jails. Independent estimates suggest the number could be higher.

Saab said that despite being meant as temporary holding cells, police station jails hold about 3,000 people who have already been sentenced, including some detained for up to eight years. As a result of the prisoner overflow, he estimated 30 percent of officers are now watching over prisoners instead of policing the streets.

"The majority are people who are poor,'' he said of the prisoners. "People who have no means of defending themselves.''

Saab did not reveal any further details about the fire.

The chief prosecutor took office last year after the pro-government constitutional assembly removed Luisa Ortega Diaz, his outspoken predecessor who had repeatedly railed against Maduro.
The Bulawayo provincial leadership of the Nelson Chamisa-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) has recommended the expulsion of a lawmaker and councilor linked to a faction of the party led by party vice president Thokozani Khupe, who was expelled two weeks ago.

Acting party spokesperson, Thabitha Khumalo, told VOA Studio the Bulawayo provincial executive has made the recommendations to the National Council, indicating that Member of Parliament Nomvula Mguni and Luveve councilor Thamani Moyo have violated some provisions of the partys constitution by continuously aligning themselves with Ms. Khupe.

Khumalo said the National Council is expected to take drastic action against Ms. Mguni, who is the provincial party secretary, and Ms. Moyo. The latter is the provincial chairperson of the Womens Assembly.

The provincial executive feels that they are no longer able to work with Mguni and Moyo on the basis that they have associated themselves with Khupe, she said.

But Obert Gutu, who claims that he is still the legitimate spokesperson of the party and is aligned to Khupe, dismissed the move as a nullity saying the Chamisa group does not have power to fire any member of the MDC-T.

The National Council recently resolved to fire Khupe, lawmaker Abednico Bhebhe and several other people aligned to the Khupe faction, for opposing the elevation of Chamisa to the post of president, left vacant following the death of MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in February this year.

Khupe has remained defiant saying she is the only legitimately elected acting president of the opposition party.
Italy's first Hawaiian bar arrives in Rome's Monti neighbourhood.

Ami Poke, hailed as the first Hawaiian bar in Italy, is due to open in Rome's Monti quarter on 6 April. As its name suggests, the principal dish on offer will be poke, a raw fish salad served as an appetiser in Hawaiian cuisine, with rice, cubes of fish marinated in lime and topped with tropical fruit.

Ami Poke will also serve other healthy Hawaiian dishes along with its specials such as sushi-burrito as well as a range of salads and desserts. Located on Via della Madonna dei Monti 38 the venue's interior naturally has a Hawaiian theme with bright colours and surf style, with 15 seats in all. Delivery is already available ahead of the 6 April inauguration. For details see Ami Poke website or Facebook page.
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House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), an outspoken critic of the ballooning domestic spending in the omnibus, praised McCarthy for working with the White House on a plan to pare it back. Meadows said he was very supportive and extremely pleased with the leaderships willingness to engage on the issue. Leader McCarthy heard from constituents and worked quickly to address the issue in a meaningful way.
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According to the account given to police, two women beat her at the Surfside Restaurant, which offers outdoor dining in the Dupont Circle area, in the 1800 block of N Street NW.
The lawsuit charges that minority and immigrant populations are already among the hardest to count and that adding a citizenship question at this point would reduce the response rate and would depart from the standard practice of researching and testing a new question for several years before adding it. It notes that in 1980 the Census Bureau fought a lawsuit to compel it to include a question about immigration status on the decennial survey, saying it would severely jeopardize the overall accuracy of the population count.
Schooley was being held without bond at the Dallas County jail after being arraigned on charges that include second-degree murder, according to Dallas County sheriffs spokesman Raul Reyna. An extradition hearing is scheduled Wednesday and Schooley likely will be taken to Kansas next week, Reyna said. In Kansas, a second-degree murder conviction carries a penalty of nine to 41 years in prison.
He consulted with the ethics experts at the FBI and committed to follow their advice. We tried to go even beyond what the rules required  Andrew kept himself separate from my campaign. When the kids and I went door-knocking, he did not participate; he wouldnt even drive us. He could have attended one of my fundraisers but never did. One day he put on a campaign T-shirt so we could take a family picture and share it with my proud parents. You may have seen it  it seems to have taken on a weird life of its own  but that was it, just a family picture at a swim meet.
Every intelligence professional in every agency who was part of the countrys response to 9/11 at the start of the war on terrorism has his or her career woven into the complex tapestry of our collective response. The professionals in the intelligence community had to function  and deliver security  when the political leadership couldnt even agree on definitions. Congress and the president were never able to agree on a law detailing what was and was not going to be allowed when terrorists trying to kill Americans were in cells and even as many interrogations were already complete (and many American lives saved ). All of that debate took place far above the pay grades of the intelligence community professionals we asked to protect us and who have largely succeeded. Haspel has been one of those professionals for 33 years.
He might have also committed patent, and potentially criminal, fraud against Daniels. He induced her into a settlement agreement without disclosing that Trump had no knowledge of it and, therefore, couldnt uphold his end of the bargain. The agreement assigns Trump certain obligations, including a release of all his claims against Daniels and a promise not to communicate with Daniels or her family. But how can Trump  who is referred to as a party in the agreement  have legally promised to undertake these obligations if he was never aware of them?
But since oral arguments in the Supreme Court, which seemed to favor the government, Congress has rewritten part of the act. It now says that a provider of electronic communication service shall comply with a court order for data regardless of whether such communication, record or other information is located within or outside of the United States.
The former Today co-host and his wife, Annette Roque, are listing their property for $12.75 million.

The privacy that comes with the Matt Lauer/Annette Roque property in the Hamptons, N.Y., starts with the gated entrance and winding driveway that leads to the main house. Courtesy of Corcoran
WASHINGTON  Even though she had fired her former chief of staff for threatening and striking a female staff member, Rep. Elizabeth Esty lavished praise on Tony Baker as someone who works hard and cares deeply and sees politics as a force for good.

That language, in a draft recommendation letter signed Aug. 10, 2016, after Esty reached a nondisclosure agreement with Baker, is just one item on her list of regrets about how she handled Bakers exit.

Staff members in her D.C. office were so dismayed by how she dealt with Bakers departure that a rebellion was shaping up, according to a source. They even contemplated drafting their own letter to her expressing how upset and angry they were.

Present and former staffers said the level of tumult reached a crescendo late last week when Esty went public with her account of the delay in easing out Baker after he had been implicated for abusing and harassing a scheduler in Estys office, Anna Kain.

Estys letter recommending Baker, plus her positive phone recommendation to Sandy Hook Promise for an Ohio job he ultimately took with the Newtown-based organization, were at the heart of Estys decision Monday not to seek re-election this year to a fourth term in Congress.

Esty wrote that Bakers commitment to effective politics is reflected in his devotion to his work and setting high

performance standards. Her letter was provided to Hearst Connecticut Media by Estys office. It was part of a nondisclosure agreement signed the same day, Aug. 10, 2016.

The agreement stipulated Esty, D-Conn., would not voluntarily disseminate or publish ... disparaging, defamatory or negative remarks or comments adverse to interests of Baker.

Esty agreed to remove any negative information regarding (Bakers) job performance or behavior from (her offices) personnel records, effectively deleting any record of the true reasons for Bakers dismissal.

Esty has since said the recommendations were a major mistake.

Office disappointment

Many of the 10 or so staffers in Estys Washington office were said to be galled over the effusive praise Esty offered Baker, especially since they knew it was undeserved.

One former staffer said the recommendation was particularly disillusioning since many believed Esty was a kindred spirit, pushing forward in Congress on many of the issues they cared about including gun control, womens empowerment and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

Esty said last week she only learned of Bakers abusive relationship with Kain after a May 5, 2016, alcohol-fueled gathering Baker organized at a bar to celebrate his 10th year of working on Capitol Hill. Accounts of the reunion indicated that Baker became intoxicated, texted or called Kain about 50 times, and that he threatened to find her and kill her.

An affidavit Kain used to obtain a court protection order stated that Baker had screamed at her in the office and, at one point, punched her in the back. Through a spokesman, Baker denied punching Kain.

Esty last week also took blame for for a three-month delay between the May incident and Bakers August 2016 departure. After the May 5, 2016, reunion, staffers were disappointed that Esty did not immediately suspend him and dig to the bottom of the abusive situation.

Esty said she immediately confronted Baker when she learned about what happened at the reunion, and that she forced him to seek alcohol and anger management counseling. She did not meet with Kain until six days after the incident, and last week she said she neither heard the voicemails left on Kains phone nor read the threatening texts Baker sent.

On advice of her outside Washington lawyer, Joe Sandler, Esty commissioned investigations in her D.C. and Connecticut field offices.

The D.C. investigation was directed by Julie Sweet, the chief of staff who preceded Baker. Esty said it was Sweet who alerted her to Bakers behavior at the May 2016 gathering.

It was Sweets report, which Esty said she received on July 20, 2016, that led her to immediately fire Baker, although he remained on the on the payroll until Aug. 12. In the interim, Baker accompanied Esty to that years Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to participate in the nomination of Hillary Clinton for president.

Past and present staffers said Sweets investigation was too slow, and one complained that in interviews with staff members, she seemed eager to find a way to absolve Baker.

Limited endorsement

Esty said last week she was deeply concerned about Kain, but ultimately her recommendation of Baker was dictated by the nondisclosure agreement. She said she did not contact Sandy Hook Promise on Bakers behalf, and had told Baker she would not recommend him for a job anywhere in the Washington area.

When Baker returned to his native Ohio and applied to be the Ohio director for Sandy Hook Promise, Esty fielded a phone call from the organization and offered what she described as limited words of praise.

Sandy Hook Promise, which grew out of aftermath of the Dec. 14, 2012, mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, is devoted to training sessions for teachers, schools, students and community groups on how to spot and get help for troubled individuals who might turn violent.

Esty was said to have contacted one of the co-founders, Mark Barden, before the story on Baker broke in the Hearst Connecticut Media newspapers. Representatives of Sandy Hook Promise declined on Tuesday to discuss Baker, who was dismissed last week.

Esty said her decision to break the nondisclosure agreement and go public might open her up to a lawsuit by Baker. But that seemed unlikely, as Baker expressed remorse for his actions in a statement Monday after Esty said she would not seek re-election.

In the statement, Baker said, I do not expect forgiveness from anyone, whether they are survivors like Anna or victims like Elizabeth and others.

He added: I can only hope that my actions moving forward and over a lifetime of recovery can prove that I am a better man than I was during the time that I worked on Capitol Hill.

Estys chief of staff and acting spokesman, Timothy Daly, said Esty was in Connecticut and unavailable for interviews.

We have put out and stated everything were going to say on this, Daly said. We have nothing to add.
There has been much in the news about artificial intelligence and how its changing our world.

The world of artificial intelligence has been around for many years. Most recently, its become far more powerful for two reasons:

First, the availability of data. We now have sensors and data collection points that are unmatched in human history. Much of what we do online and in person is recorded, whether it be where we drive our cars, what we buy, the temperature, and more.

Second, our ability to analyze and learn from this data. The idea of big data and how we can process billions of pieces of information is also new for us. Additionally, software that can learn from not only what we do, but what others do helps computers figure us out.

These two points combined allow new skills such as machine learning, deep learning and similar enable computer systems to process vast amounts of data and produce hopefully useful information.

Where this comes in very handy is in talking to computers such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home and other smart speakers. But Artificial Intelligence is also applied to areas such as self-driving cars.

What were seeing is computers not only being able to have a conversation with people the way they speak (the smart speakers), but also do things that people would normally do, such as drive a car.

These are two examples of a myriad of topics that heretofore have been beyond the computational capabilities of modern computing. But with the continued drop in the costs of computing and the rise of raw data and the ability to process them, Artificial Intelligence is having a big impact on industries and consumers.

Of course with all of this information, there is the opportunity for misuse or even for using it in ways that were never possible. There are also issues related to data privacy and how much people and companies should be able to know about you and your actions.

As with many technology related matters, we are forging new ground where there are no experts.

Suffice it to say that Artificial Intelligence will help create a very different future for the way people interact with computers and vice versa.

As the eternal optimist, I look forward to what artificial intelligence will bring to our world, including the protections that will ultimately be put in place.
Barry Prentice does not tire of talking about the societal value of airships.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/4/2018 (1272 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Barry Prentice does not tire of talking about the societal value of airships.

Even though there continues to be scant funding for the development of the technology, he is not swayed from his belief that it is not a matter of if, but when, they will become a viable mode of transportation for the air lift of cargo and people to regions isolated from the transportation grid.

SAIC SKYBUS Air ship Airship 2010.

Thats why he is super-happy his idea made the first cut in the CanInfra Challenge, a new national contest to encourage the development of transformational infrastructure ideas by a private sector consortium led by The Boston Consulting Group in Canada.

Prentices entry  the Electric Airship Transportation System  proposes hydrogen fuel-cell-powered airships that would service the Canadian hinterland, 70 per cent of which is without all-season roads.

Readers of the Winnipeg Free Press have read of Prentices enthusiasm about airships a few times. Many likely have considered it to be only a slightly nutty notion, maybe a cross-between a fairy tale and sci-fi.

But Prentice, a University of Manitoba supply chain management professor, is undaunted. Being selected as part of the first short list for the $50,000 first prize provides one more platform for that many more serious-minded people to consider the virtues of a zero-carbon emission vehicle that could access isolated parts of the country that have no other better prospects for connectivity.

Prentice believes its not an overstatement to compare it to the impact the railroad had on the early development of Winnipeg.

"We are not going to see quite the same level of development in the North," he said. "But it would an the opportunity to have development which they dont have at all right now (in the North)."

Prentice has been at this for a while, and he knows better than most what that will take. He does not shy away from uncovering all of the details that would have to be addressed. For instance, as a logistics expert, he already is thinking about the design of the terminals  and already has done work in designing what he calls a Buoyant Aircraft Rotating Terminal. Such a terminal would deal with the challenges of loading and off-loading the cargo safely from a massive airship that will shift on the ground in the wind.

Prentice doesnt care that he may not make big money from the project  "I am too old to worry about getting rich," he said. "This is not a get rich scheme, it is a stay poor longer idea"  but he is thrilled to see other proponents emerge with their own concepts.

That includes Sergey Brin, the billionaire co-founder of Google, who is widely believed to be developing an airship privately and secretively on his own. It has been reported that Brin is spending more than $100 million building such an airship in a leased NASA hangar in California.

"The biggest problem with airships has not been technical," he said. "It has always been the lack of business confidence. "No one wants to be first and no one wants to be alone. Everybody is sitting on their hands waiting for someone to show it can be done then they will jump in."

There are no conclusive reports as to what Brin is actually building. What Prentice does understand is that it would take him about $50 million and about two years to get the engineering done, build a hangar (a uniquely challenging element for airships because they are so huge) and a prototype.

He figuresthat will take another $250 million and a couple more years to demonstrate capabilities and figure out the certifications and regulatory requirements.

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The actual production of the airships would then require a step-up capital investment in the billion-dollar range with the goal of achieving something in the order of a $10-billion annual impact on the national economy.

The CanInfra Challenge received submissions from all aspects of infrastructure, including some from outside the traditional definitions such as data infrastructure, electrification and energy, intercity transport, urban transit, and trade corridors and platforms.

A couple of years ago, a wind storm wiped out his little hangar and a small prototype that he and his partner Dale George were building at St. Andrews Airport. Prentice said CanInfra prize money would "keep the wolves from the door," but thats not really where the value of this kind of exercise lies.

As organizers say, the CanInfra Challenge "aims to reignite the drive for the future by recognizing ideas that will have an economic and social impact, spark dialogue among leaders in government and the private sector, and advance the national conversation on infrastructure."

Thats exactly what Prentice is looking for when it comes to airships.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/4/2018 (1272 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Where art thou, Spring?

Winnipeggers waking up to a balmy -18 C with windchill that felt like -27 C may not have waxed so poetic about the frosty scenario Monday. (And we wouldnt blame you for favouring a few choice words over limericks or verses when looking at the forecast for the next seven days.)

This week, Environment Canada predicts mostly sunny skies with bitter winds and chilly nights dipping as low as -17 C tonight. The highest temperatures are forecast for the weekend: -1 C Saturday and Sunday, with a 60 per cent chance of flurries by weeks end.

Rob Paola, a recently retired Environment Canada meteorologist who lives in Winnipeg, said this is the coldest start to April the city has experienced since 2014. On April 2, 2017, the high was 12 C.

"It is below normal, but weve had colder starts to April in other years," he said from his Charleswood home. "People remember spring arriving a little bit earlier these past few years, so theyre getting a little bit impatient this year."

By April 8, 2017, Winnipeg was already nearing 20 C, Paola said. He maintains his own records on temperatures and snowfall data now that hes retired (and also tweets local weather updates under the handle @RobsObs).

Paola pointed out the snowpack meaning how much snow is still left on the ground  is still relatively high in some areas, including his own yard.

"Its variable across the city. Some areas have lost their snow pretty much, but a lot of the city still has snowpack remaining from the winter. Ive got about 15 centimetres," he said. "Basically thats the deepest snow cover for this date since 2014. We had already lost our snow cover last year by late March and by mid-March in 2015 and 2016."

Environment Canadas senior climatologist says hes surprised how long winter is lasting on the Prairies and warns cold temperatures could persist through the end of April, pinning the blame on a polar vortex.

"At this time of the year, its often back and forth, up and coming, very yo-yoish kind of weather, where youre getting winter trying to hold on and summer wants to get a foothold," David Phillips said Monday.

"And yet the war is being won by winter," Phillips said. "Old Man Winter is clearly the bully in this particular situation and has got a grip on the entire West and is not letting go."

Where the snow has melted in Winnipeg, another surefire sign of spring has cropped up in its place: garbage.

Tom Ethans, executive director of Take Pride Winnipeg, has already started making the rounds by car to assess which neighbourhoods are messiest. He said commercial areas are usually the worst hit and Polo Park, the southern and northern perimeter areas take the top spots for trash.

On a Monday stroll around Omands Creek, St. Matthews Avenue and St. James Street, Ethans spotted hours worth of clean-up to be done.

Plastic bags, bottles, fast-food containers, bubble wrap, cardboard boxes, tattered clothes, a lonely sock and old books were just a few of the grimy items lingering, some of them still frozen to the ground.

"As soon as the snow is gone, we get to see areas like this where litter accumulates and it looks really bad. It makes the city look bad," Ethans said. "Its horrendous."

Take Pride Winnipeg grades streets on an index of one to four, depending on how bad their trash situation is. Level one means no garbage is around, while a four means theres hours of clean-up work to be done, as is the case in Polo Park.

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"Unfortunately, where people see litter, other people throw stuff. Some of the stuff I see here has been thrown from cars or just dropped by people as theyre walking by," Ethans said, noting areas dense in drivers tend to be layered in litter.

"Were going to get some more kids out here in the spring, as soon as it warms up a little, to go out and clean this up," he said, pointing to the St. James and St. Matthews intersection. "But we need everybody to work together."

Ethans expects community clean-ups to get into full force by mid-April. Last year, about 20,000 bags of garbage were picked up between April and the fall, he said.

-- with files from The Canadian Press

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu
Stefan Michalak had a close encounter with a flying saucer in Whiteshell Provincial Park more than 50 years ago, but you could soon have one even closer  in your pocket.

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This article was published 3/4/2018 (1271 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Stefan Michalak had a close encounter with a flying saucer in Whiteshell Provincial Park more than 50 years ago, but you could soon have one even closer  in your pocket.

Thats because Michalak and the Falcon Lake Incident are being immortalized in silver with a special limited-edition $20 coin being released by the Royal Canadian Mint today.

Sketch made by Stefan Michalak after witnessing an unidentified flying object in 1967. It's now widely known as the Falcon Lake Incident.

Michalaks son, Stan, calls the coin "a super honour."

"I feel very privileged they are doing it... and if my dad was still around, he would be floored. He would be pleasantly surprised. And if my mother was still here, she would say everything has a reason. Everything is connected. You do something here and there will be repercussions," he said.

On one side of the coin is the standard engraving of the Queen, but on the other is a full-colour depiction of Stefan Michalak falling onto the ground, with forest and a lake behind him, while a flying saucer hovers above him.

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESteve Michalak of 314 Lindsay who claims to have been burned by un unidentified flying object last May, has been bedridden because of the return of the burns he then suffered. The marks, now fading, can be seen on his stomach.January 17, 1968

Erica Maga, the mints product manager, said only 4,000 of the one-ounce silver coins are being produced. They will retail for $129.95.

"Part of our job is to discover these really interesting stories," Maga said, noting that during the research for the coin, they read last years Winnipeg Free Press feature on the 50th anniversary of the incident, headlined "Close encounter of the Manitoba kind."

The coin has two things to make it extra special, she said.

SUPPLIED The Royal Canadian Mint is releasing a limited edition coin on April 3 to commemorate the Falcon Lake Encounter where amateur prospector Stefan Michalak saw an unknown flying saucer in the Whiteshell Provincial Park in 1967.The coin has the Queen on one side and a depiction of Michalak and the saucer on the other. The coin itself is oval shaped and is sold with a special blacklight flashlight which makes the saucer and a burst of light glow.

"This one has a very special technology to enhance the storytelling component," Maga said. "The reverse with Stefan and the UFO, if you use the black light flashlight sold with it, will make an otherworldly glow."

The coin is also not round. Special dies needed to be cast to allow for the creation of the specially ovoid-shaped blanks the coin is shaped in, so more time was needed to produce these compared to the ones in peoples pockets.

"We can only make a couple of hundred coins per shift. A lot of hands go into something like this," Maga said.

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SUPPLIED The Royal Canadian Mint is releasing a limited edition coin on April 3 to commemorate the Falcon Lake Encounter where amateur prospector Stefan Michalak saw an unknown flying saucer in the Whiteshell Provincial Park in 1967.The coin has the Queen on one side and a depiction of Michalak and the saucer on the other. The coin itself is oval shaped and is sold with a special blacklight flashlight which makes the saucer and a burst of light glow.

Although Winnipeg is home to the countrys main mint, which produces regular circulation coins, the Falcon Lake Incident coin was produced at the one in Ottawa, which creates special commemorative pieces, she said.

But if youre thinking of buying the coin because you want to sell it when it goes up in value, thats not necessarily going to happen, cautions Jasmine Allen, manager of Gatewest Coin on Corydon Avenue.

"The new stuff the mint produces is really hit or miss," Allen said. "When people are buying mint products, we recommend you have it because you enjoy it and not as an investment."

The younger Michalak, who last year co-wrote a book with Chris Rutkowski about the incident and his familys experiences with the unwanted attention from authorities and the media, said he never would have thought someday a coin would commemorate the event.

"Who knows? Maybe the postal service will call me up. It wouldnt surprise me now."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

SUPPLIED The Royal Canadian Mint is releasing a limited edition coin on April 3 to commemorate the Falcon Lake Encounter where amateur prospector Stefan Michalak saw an unknown flying saucer in the Whiteshell Provincial Park in 1967.The coin has the Queen on one side and a depiction of Michalak and the saucer on the other. The coin itself is oval shaped and is sold with a special blacklight flashlight which makes the saucer and a burst of light glow, shown here in this image.
Soon that vibration in your pocket might not be a text from a friend, but a real emergency.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/4/2018 (1271 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Soon that vibration in your pocket might not be a text from a friend, but a real emergency.

On Friday, all cellphones and smartphones in Canada will be able to receive localized emergency alerts.

Hear a weird sound and a distinctive vibration, you could be getting a warning about a tornado, a forest fire or an Amber Alert regarding a missing child.

"It could involve a train tipping over with chemicals," Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler told reporters Tuesday, noting the emergency alerts would cover a wide range of catastrophic situations.

A lot of people don't have land lines, many don't have cable, or even listen to radio, so it's time the National Public Alerting System, also known as Alert Ready, is available through wireless devices, Schuler said.

The alerts will be similar to the ones people are already used to hearing on radio and television, according to the mandate established last year by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which set a deadline of April 6, 2018 for it to be implemented on all phones connected to an LTE network.

"It's a tremendous step forward," said RCMP assistant commissioner Scott Kolody.

"It can assist in the evacuation of forest fires."

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Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth said Amber Alerts would be the most likely non-weather emergency for Winnipeg police. Active police investigations would not be classified as emergencies.

Schuler cautioned motorists who are driving when they hear an alert to pull over safely before checking their phones. If there are passengers, everyone's phone would likely go off at once, he said.

Whatever anyone is doing with a phone, the emergency alert will override it, he said.

"You bet it cuts in. It's pretty jarring," Schuler said.

As part of the implementation process, the CRTC is requiring telecom operators to send at least one explanatory text a year for the next two years. In Manitoba, there will be a public awareness test message sent on May 9 at 1:55 p.m.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
I count myself lucky to have been born when death was still pretty much a mystery, more the prerogative of poets and other artists, philosophers and religious teachers than of scientists and doctors.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/4/2018 (1271 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

I count myself lucky to have been born when death was still pretty much a mystery, more the prerogative of poets and other artists, philosophers and religious teachers than of scientists and doctors.

I grew up surrounded by death. I served as an altar boy at dozens of funerals, attended the wake of my maternal grandmother in her parlour and experienced my own mothers death at home in her bed surrounded by her six children and several grandchildren. Death may not have been welcomed, but it was not a stranger.

I was reminded of deaths tug-of-war with mystery and science while reading the recent submission from the Vulnerable Persons Standard (VPS) team to Health Canada. They propose regulations to monitor the practice of medical aid in dying (MAID) for those who are vulnerable or whose autonomy has been limited by social, psychological, economic or physical factors. MAID is a medical technology legalized in 2016 that enables Canadian adults to choose a physician-assisted death.

The VPS submission reminds me that Canada has been blessed by a long line of thinkers who have cautioned that all technologies promise benefits but also have unanticipated consequences, some of them harmful. Technology refers to more than machines, tools and electronic, medical or scientific devices. It includes platforms, mediums, management techniques, commercial practices, social methodologies and protocols such as MAID.

Economic historian Harold Innis was the first to chronicle the devastating impact of a technological promise in his book The History of the Fur Trade in Canada. While benefiting relatively few European capitalists, the fur trade destroyed the very culture and way of life of the Indigenous people that made that wealth possible. And for which Canada, particularly Indigenous people, are still paying the price hundred of years later.

Inniss disciple Marshall McLuhan observed that its the technology itself (TV, Facebook, iPhones, cars) that subtly and silently shifts relationships, cultural attitudes, beliefs and values over time in favour of the indispensability of the medium or tool. When youre a hammer, everything looks like  and eventually becomes  a nail.

In her Massey lecture The Real World of Technology, renowned University of Toronto scientist Ursula Franklin distinguishes between two types of technologies: holistic technologies, which leave "the doer in total control of the process," and prescriptive technologies, which shift control to the hands of managers or specialists. She argues that the dominance of prescriptive technologies in modern society discourages critical thinking and promotes "a culture of compliance." Franklin, like Innis, argues that technologys tendency is to suppress freedom and distance people from each other. Another Massey lecturer, Ronald Wright, describes this as the "progress trap."

My thoughts then turn to the "Socrates of Quebec," Jacques Dufresne, who reminds us that the loss of the soul is painless. Because technology provides so many benefits, we start to assume that it can fix anything. Thus we fail to notice when it ceases to serve and starts to transform us in its likeness. Thats when the mysteries of the soul are reduced to problems best left to experts and their technologies to solve. And we lose our autonomy and vitality.

Finally, Im reminded of Nora Young, the thoughtful host of CBC radios Spark. She occasionally concludes her radio show with the wish that her listeners understand that all technologies come embedded with values and assumptions. Similar to McLuhan, she says they have an ideological bias. They amplify the dominant values of the status quo.

The conclusions of these and other thinkers about culture and technology provide a useful framework to evaluate and monitor MAID.

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If you want technology to be your friend, make sure you learn everything about it: its values, side effects and track record. Science and medicine arent the only systems producing truth. Technology is about certainty  it doesnt like mystery, humility, vulnerability, imperfection or tradition. Efficiency is not the dominant purpose of human relationships  interdependence, mutual respect, trust and loyalty are.

The VPS submission to Health Canada stresses the importance of monitoring the practice of MAID in Canada in order to prevent harm to individuals, to minimize any potential negative impact on our culture and to preserve the benefits of MAID for those who choose it.

Amid the turbulence of the 21st century, their recommendations help to refresh our relationship with lifes one certainty: death. I read them as an act of faith in our future. And a profession of love for our capacity to address tough moral issues together. What could be more reasonable than that? What could be more Canadian?

A version of this article first appeared in Policy Options.

Al Etmanski has been a disability advocate since the birth of his second daughter. He co-founded Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network helping parents plan for the future well-being of their disabled child. He is an adviser to the Vulnerable Persons Standard and an expert adviser to EvidenceNetwork.ca.

 Troy Media
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/4/2018 (1271 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Editorial

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a long string of angry Twitter messages Sunday and Monday about Mexicans, immigrants, trade and his border wall project.

It appeared he was upset by something he saw on television on Sunday. He may also have been in a bad mood on account of Stormy Daniels  the adult film actress who is suing him about reports of a sexual encounter  and the continuing Justice Department inquiry into Russias role in the election that brought him to power.

The extended Twitter rant showed that the trade treaty involving Canada, the U.S. and Mexico is linked in Mr. Trumps mind to migrants from Mexico and to the wall he wants to build to stop them at the border. If his whole administration took this reasoning seriously, Canadas trade deal with its main export market could be held hostage to his fear of Mexicans entering the U.S.  which has nothing to do with Canada and little to do with trade.

The trigger for the outburst was a report on Fox News about a caravan of 1,200 migrants, mainly from Honduras, beginning to walk the length of Mexico in the hope of slipping into the U.S. Mr. Trump believed these migrants wanted to take advantage of an old Obama-administration program called DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) by which children who entered the U.S. illegally before 2007 could register with the government and qualify for school admission and jobs.

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Mr. Trump used to offer an exchange of citizenship rights for DACA beneficiaries in return for a congressional grant of funds to build his wall. But Congress refuses to grant those funds and now Mr. Trump says the DACA deal is off. He also wants Mexico to stop the caravan of migrants. He threatened to cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement to make Mexico stop the migrants. As he tweeted: "They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!"

Mr. Trump has been cancelling NAFTA every couple of weeks since he assumed office 15 months ago  while concurrently sending his delegates to negotiate renewal of the trade treaty. He talks a good fight about cancelling the treaty, but he has never taken the first step in that direction. He cannot dismantle NAFTA without the help of Congress. U.S. industry wants the three-way trade deal maintained because it is, on balance, highly advantageous to U.S. consumers and employers.

Outbursts of this kind from Mr. Trump are disturbing for Canadians because they give the impression that the United States is an irrational and unreliable ally. Such tantrums do not, however, by themselves change U.S. policy and they dont change the logic of peaceful and orderly commerce among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Mr. Trump vents a little presidential spleen in impotent rage, then the U.S. government gets back to work and does what must be done.

Intuitively, one might expect Mr. Trump to support economic expansion in Mexico and Central America so that fewer migrants would pursue a better life in the U.S.

In order to understand his thinking, its helpful to know he imagines he can keep them home by keeping them poor.

On reflection, Mr. Trump and his colleagues will probably recognize why that wont work. Its just idle talk. Or, as Mr. Trump might put it, IDLE TALK.
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc operates as an industrial technology company in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Civil Aerospace, Power Systems, Defence, and ITP Aero. The Civil Aerospace segment develops, manufactures, and sells aero engines for large commercial aircraft, regional jet, and business aviation markets, as well as provides aftermarket services. The Power Systems segment provides high-speed and medium-speed reciprocating engines, and propulsion and power generation systems for the marine, defense, power generation, and industrial markets. The Defence segment offers aero engines for military transport and patrol aircraft applications; and naval engines and submarine nuclear power plants, as well as aftermarket services. The ITP Aero segment engages in the design, research and development, manufacture and casting, assembly, and testing of aeronautical engines and gas turbines. It also provides maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for regional airlines, as well as business aviation, industrial, and defense applications. Rolls-Royce Holdings plc was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Danaher: AB SCIEX, AB Sciex Germany GmbH, AB Sciex LLC, AB Sciex LP, AB Sciex Pte Ltd., Accu-Sort Systems, Acme Cleveland Corporation, Advanced Vision Technology, American Precision Industries, Applied Biosystems, Applitek NV, Aquatic Infomatics ULC, Aquatic Informatics, Armstrong Tools, BC Distribution BV, Beckman Coulter, Beckman Coulter Australia Pty Ltd, Beckman Coulter Biotechnology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter Biyomedikal Urunler Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited [irketi], Beckman Coulter Canada LP, Beckman Coulter Commercial Enterprise (China) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter France S.A.S., Beckman Coulter G.m.b.H., Beckman Coulter Genomics Inc., Beckman Coulter Hong Kong Limited, Beckman Coulter Inc., Beckman Coulter India Private Limited, Beckman Coulter International SA, Beckman Coulter International Shanghai Trading Co., Beckman Coulter Ireland Inc., Beckman Coulter K.K., Beckman Coulter Korea Ltd., Beckman Coulter Laboratory Systems (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter Limited Liability Company, Beckman Coulter Mishima KK, Beckman Coulter Nederland B.V., Beckman Coulter Nippon GK, Beckman Coulter S.L.U., Beckman Coulter Saudi Arabia Co.Ltd., Beckman Coulter Srl, Beckman Coulter Taiwan Inc., Beckman Coulter United Kingdom Limited, Beckman Coulter de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Beckman Coulter do Brasil Ltda., Beckman Finance ApS, Beckman Holdings Ltd., BioTector Analytical Systems Ltd, Biosafe S.A., Blue Software LLC, Cepheid, Cepheid AB, Cepheid Europe SAS, Cepheid GmbH, Cepheid HBDC SAS, Cepheid UK Ltd., ChemTreat, ChemTreat Inc., ChemTreat International Inc., Cispus Hong Kong Holding Limited, Cytiva, Cytiva BioProcess R&D AB, Cytiva Biotechnology (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Cytiva Biotechnology (Hang Zhou) Co. Ltd., Cytiva Europe GmbH, Cytiva Sweden AB, Cytiva Sweden Holding AB, DH Europe Finance II Sarl, DH Europe Finance Sarl, DH Holding Italia SRL, DH Japan Finance Sarl, DH Life Sciences LLC, DH Netherlands BV, DH Technologies Development Pte Ltd., DHKAB Company AB, DTIL Ireland Holdings Ltd., Danaher (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Danaher Hong Kong Limited, Danaher Medical ApS, Delta Consolidated Industries, Devicore Medical Products Inc., Easco Hand Tools, Esko, Esko BV, Esko Finance BV, Esko Graphics BV, Esko Software BV, FHAB Company AB, Fluke, G. Lufft Mess- und Regeltechnik GmbH, GE Biopharma, Gelman Sciences Inc., Gendex, Genetix Group, Gilbarco Veeder Root, Gilzoni Ltd., Global Life Sciences Solutions Austria GmbH & Co. KG, Global Life Sciences Solutions Germany GmbH, Global Life Sciences Solutions Korea Ltd., Global Life Sciences Solutions Manufacturing UK Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions New Zealand, Global Life Sciences Solutions Operations UK Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LLC, Global Life Sciences Technologies (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Global Life Sciences Technologies Japan KK, Hach Company, Hach Lange Finance GmbH, Hach Lange GmbH, Hach Lange Sarl, Hach Sales & Services Canada LP, Hach Ultra Japan KK, Hach Water Quality Analytical Instru. (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., HemoCue AB, HyClone Laboratories LLC, Hybritech Incorporated, Hyclone Life Sciences Solutions India Private Limited, IDBS Group, IRIS International, Imaging Sciences International, Immunotech SAS, Immunotech Sro, Intabio LLC, Integrated DNA Technologies, Integrated DNA Technologies BVBA, Integrated DNA Technologies Inc., Integrated DNA Technologies Pte. Ltd., Iris International Inc., Joslyn Holding Company LLC, KVHG GmbH, KaVo, KaVo Kerr, Kaltenbach & Voigt, Keithley Instruments, Kipp & Zonen BV, Kollmorgen, Labcyte Inc., Laetus, Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc., Leica Biosystems Melbourne Pty Ltd, Leica Biosystems Newcastle Limited, Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH, Leica Biosystems Richmond Inc., Leica Instruments (Singapore) Pte Limited, Leica Microsystems, Leica Microsystems (UK) Limited, Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH, Leica Microsystems Cambridge Limited, Leica Microsystems IR GmbH, Leica Microsystems Inc., Leica Microsystems Limited, Leica Microsystems Ltd. Shanghai, Leica Mikrosysteme Vertrieb GmbH, Life Sciences Holdings France SAS*, Lifschultz Industries, Linx Printing Technologies, Linx Printing Technologies Limited, MDS Analytical Technologies, Marconi Data Systems, McCrometer Inc., Microtest, Molecular Devices, Molecular Devices (Austria) GmbH, Molecular Devices LLC, Navman Wireless, Navman Wireless OEM Solutions, Nihon Pall Ltd., Nihon Pall Manufacturing Limited, Nobel Biocare, OTT Hydromet Corp, Pall, Pall (Canada) ULC, Pall (China) Co. Ltd., Pall (Schweiz) GmbH, Pall Aeropower Corporation, Pall Artelis BVBA, Pall Asia Holdings Inc., Pall Australia Pty. Ltd., Pall Austria Filter Ges.m.b.h, Pall Corporation, Pall Europe Limited, Pall Filtersystems GmbH, Pall Filtration Pte. Ltd., Pall Filtration and Separations Group Inc., Pall France SAS, Pall GmbH, Pall India Pvt. Ltd., Pall International Sarl, Pall Italia Srl, Pall Korea Ltd., Pall Life Sciences Belgium BV, Pall Life Sciences Puerto Rico LLC, Pall Manufacturing UK Limited, Pall Medistad BV, Pall Netherlands BV Irish Branch, Pall Technology UK Limited, PaloDEX, Pantone LLC, Pelton & Crane, Phenomenex, Phenomenex Inc., Precision NanoSystems, QHC Ireland Finance Limited, Radiometer, Radiometer Basel AG, Radiometer K.K., Radiometer Medical ApS, Radiometer Medical Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Radiometer Turku Oy, Raytek, Reytek Corporation, SH Switzerland Finance Sarl, Sea-Bird Electronics Inc., SenDx Medical Inc., Shanghai AB Sciex Analytical Instrument Trading Co. Ltd., Sutron, Sybron Dental Specialties, TCIL Ireland Finance Ltd., Tektronix, Thomson Industries, Tianjin Bonna-Agela Technologies Co. Ltd., Trojan Technologies, Trojan Technologies Group ULC, VSS Monitoring, Videojet Do Brasil Comercio de Equipamentos Para Codificacao Industrial Ltda., Videojet Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Videojet Technologies Europe B.V., Videojet Technologies Inc., Viridor Waste Management Limited, Vision Systems Limited, Willett International, X-Ray Optical Systems Inc., X-Rite, X-Rite Europe GmbH, X-Rite Incorporated, X-Rite Switzerland GmbH, XOS, Yukon Hong Kong Holding Limited, and Zhuhai S.E.Z. Videojet Electronics Ltd..
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells petrochemical products in the People's Republic of China. It operates through five segments: Synthetic Fibers, Resins and Plastics, Intermediate Petrochemicals, Petroleum Products, and Trading of Petrochemical Products. The Synthetic Fibers segment produces polyesters, acrylic fibers, and carbon fibers that are primarily used in the textile and apparel industries. The Resins and Plastics segment produces polyester chips that are used to produce polyester fibers, coating, and containers; polyethylene resins and plastics, which are used to produce insulated cables and mulching films, as well as molded products, such as housewares and toys; and polypropylene resins that are used for films and sheets, as well as molded products, such as housewares, toys, consumer electronics, and automobile parts; and PVA granules. The Intermediate Petrochemicals segment produces p-xylene, benzene, and ethylene oxide, which are used as raw materials in the production of other petrochemicals, resins, plastics, and synthetic fibers. The Petroleum Products segment operates crude oil refinery facilities used to produce refined gasoline, fuel, diesel oil, heavy oil, and liquefied petroleum gas. The Trading of Petrochemical Products segment is involved in the import and export of petrochemical products. The company was founded in 1972 and is based in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited is a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation.

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Oasis Petroleum Inc., an independent exploration and production company, focuses on the acquisition and development of onshore unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through Exploration and Production(E&P), and Midstream segments. The E&P segment engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties. The Midstream segment offers midstream services, such as natural gas gathering, compression, processing and, gas lift supply; crude oil gathering, terminaling, and transportation; produced and flowback water gathering, and disposal; and water distribution. As of December 31, 2020, the company had 401,766 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin; and 24,396 net leasehold acres in the Permian Basin, as well as approximately 152.2 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated net proved reserves. The company sells its crude oil and natural gas to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to pipeline and rail facilities. Oasis Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc.,      ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics.
The following companies are subsidiares of Lloyds Banking Group: A G Finance Ltd, A.C.L. Ltd, ACL Autolease Holdings Ltd, ADF No.1 Pty Ltd, Addison Social Housing Holdings Ltd, Alex Lawrie Factors Ltd, Alex. Lawrie Receivables Financing Ltd, Amberdate Ltd, Anglo Scottish Utilities Partnership 1, Aquilus Ltd, Automobile Association Personal Finance Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services 2 Ltd, BOS (Ireland) Property Services Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 2) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland) No. 3) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages (Scotland)) Ltd, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 1 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 2 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 3 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 4 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 5 plc, BOS (Shared Appreciation Mortgages) No. 6 plc, BOS (USA) Fund Investments Inc., BOS (USA) Inc., BOS Edinburgh No 1 Ltd, BOS Mistral Ltd, BOS Personal Lending Ltd, BOSSAF Rail Ltd, Bank of Scotland (B G S) Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland (Stanlife) London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Branch Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Central Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Equipment Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Foundation, Bank of Scotland LNG Leasing (No 1) Ltd, Bank of Scotland London Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Nominees (Unit Trusts) Ltd, Bank of Scotland P.E.P. Nominees Ltd, Bank of Scotland Structured Asset Finance Ltd, Bank of Scotland Transport Finance 1 Ltd, Bank of Scotland plc, Bank of Wales Ltd, Barents Leasing Ltd, Barnwood Mortgages Ltd, Birchcrown Finance Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Financial Services Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Land Development Ltd, Birmingham Midshires Mortgage Services Ltd, Black Horse (TRF) Ltd, Black Horse Executive Mortgages Ltd, Black Horse Finance Holdings Ltd, Black Horse Finance Management Ltd, Black Horse Group Ltd, Black Horse Ltd, Black Horse Offshore Ltd, Black Horse Property Services Ltd, Boltro Nominees Ltd, British Linen Leasing (London) Ltd, British Linen Leasing Ltd, British Linen Shipping Ltd, C.T.S.B. Leasing Ltd, CBRail S.A.R.L., CF Asset Finance Ltd, CF1 Ltd, CM Venture Investments Ltd, Cancara Asset Securitisation Ltd, Capital 1945 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 12 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 3 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 5 Ltd, Capital Bank Leasing 9 Ltd, Capital Bank Property Investments (3) Ltd, Capital Personal Finance Ltd, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2018-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation 2019-1 Plc, Cardiff Auto Receivables Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Cardnet Merchant Services Ltd, Cashfriday Ltd, Cashpoint Ltd, Caveminster Ltd, Cedar Holdings Ltd, Celsius European Lux 2 S.A.R.L., Central Mortgage Finance Ltd, Chariot Finance Ltd, Cheltenham & Gloucester plc, Cheltenham II Securities 2020 DAC, Cheltenham Securities 2017 Ltd, Chepstow Blue Holdings Ltd, Chepstow Blue plc, Chester Asset Options No.2 Ltd, Chester Asset Options No.3 Ltd, Chester Asset Receivables Dealings Issuer Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Chester Asset Securitisation Holdings No.2 Ltd, Chiswell Stockbrokers Ltd, Clerical Medical Finance plc, Clerical Medical Financial Services Ltd, Clerical Medical International Holdings B.V., Clerical Medical Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Clerical Medical Managed Funds Ltd, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Guadalix Spanish Prop Co SL, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Hold Co BV, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Megapark Prop Co SA, Clerical Medical Non Sterling Property Company S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Funding S.A.R.L., Cloak Lane Investments S.A.R.L., Conquest Securities Ltd, Corbiere Asset Investments Ltd, Create Services Ltd, Credit Card Securitisation Europe Ltd, Dalkeith Corporation, Deva Financing Holdings Ltd, Deva Financing plc, Deva One Ltd, Deva Three Ltd, Deva Two Ltd, Dunstan Investments (UK) Ltd, Edgbaston RMBS 2010-1 plc, Edgbaston RMBS Holdings Ltd, Elland RMBS 2018 plc, Elland RMBS Holdings Ltd, Eurolead Services Holdings Ltd, First Retail Finance (Chester) Ltd, Fontwell Securities 2016 Ltd, Forthright Finance Ltd, France Industrial Premises Holding Company, General Leasing (No. 12) Ltd, General Reversionary and Investment Company, Gresham Nominee 1 Ltd, Gresham Nominee 2 Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 1) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 10) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 11) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 12) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 13) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 14) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 15) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 16) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 19) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 20) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 21) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 22) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 23) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 24) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 25) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 26) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 27) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 28) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 29) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 3) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 30) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 31) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 32) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 33) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 34) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 35) Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 36) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 37) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 38) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 39) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 40) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 41) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 44) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 45) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 46) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 47) UK Ltd, Gresham Receivables (No. 48) UK Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No 3) Ltd, Guildhall Asset Purchasing Company (No.11) UK Ltd, HBOS Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS Final Salary Trust Ltd, HBOS Financial Services Ltd, HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Ltd, HBOS International Financial Services Holdings Ltd, HBOS Investment Fund Managers Ltd, HBOS Social Housing Covered Bonds LLP, HBOS UK Ltd, HBOS plc, HSDL Nominees Ltd, HVF Ltd, Halifax Credit Card Ltd, Halifax Financial Brokers Ltd, Halifax Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Halifax Financial Services Ltd, Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd, Halifax Group Ltd, Halifax Investment Services Ltd, Halifax Leasing (June) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (March No.2) Ltd, Halifax Leasing (September) Ltd, Halifax Life Ltd, Halifax Loans Ltd, Halifax Ltd, Halifax Mortgage Services Ltd, Halifax Nominees Ltd, Halifax Pension Nominees Ltd, Halifax Premises Ltd, Halifax Share Dealing Ltd, Halifax Vehicle Leasing (1998) Ltd, Heidi Finance Holdings (UK) Ltd, Hill Samuel Bank Ltd, Hill Samuel Finance Ltd, Hill Samuel Leasing Co. Ltd, Home Shopping Personal Finance Ltd, Horizon Capital 2000 Ltd, Housing Association Risk Transfer 2019 DAC, Housing Growth Partnership GP LLP, Housing Growth Partnership LP, Housing Growth Partnership Ltd, Housing Growth Partnership Manager Ltd, Hyundai Car Finance Ltd, IBOS Finance Ltd, ICC Enterprise Partners Ltd, ICC Equity Partners Ltd, ICC Holdings Unlimited Company, Inchcape Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Financial Services Ltd, Intelligent Finance Software Ltd, International Motors Finance Ltd, Kanaalstraat Funding C.V., Katrine Leasing Ltd, LB Healthcare Trustee Ltd, LB Motorent Ltd, LB Quest Ltd, LB Share Schemes Trustees Ltd, LBCF Ltd, LBG Brasil Administracao LTDA, LBG Capital Holdings Ltd, LBG Equity Investments Ltd, LBI Leasing Ltd, LDC (General Partner) Ltd, LDC (Managers) Ltd, LDC (Nominees) Ltd, LDC GP LLP, LDC I LP, LDC II LP, LDC III LP, LDC IV LP, LDC Parallel (Nominees) Ltd, LDC V LP, LDC VI LP, LDC VII LP, LDC VIII LP, LTGP Limited Partnership Incorporated, Legacy Renewal Company Ltd, Leicester Securities 2014 Ltd, Lex Autolease (CH) Ltd, Lex Autolease (VC) Ltd, Lex Autolease Carselect Ltd, Lex Autolease Ltd, Lex Vehicle Finance 2 Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing (Holdings) Ltd, Lex Vehicle Leasing Ltd, Lime Street (Funding) Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I Holdings Ltd, Lingfield 2014 I plc, Lloyds (Gresham) Ltd, Lloyds (Gresham) No. 1 Ltd, Lloyds (Nimrod) Specialist Finance Ltd, Lloyds America Securities Corporation1, Lloyds Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Branches) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Colonial & Foreign) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Fountainbridge 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (I.D.) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank (International Services) Ltd, Lloyds Bank (Stock Exchange Branch) Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Asset Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Ltd, Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance Scotland Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (HP) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Asset Finance (No.4) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Wertpapierhandelsbank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets plc, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds (LM) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Covered Bonds LLP, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 7) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Equipment Leasing (No. 9) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Holdings Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Insurance Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 11) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 20) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 3) Ltd, Lloyds Bank General Leasing (No. 5) Ltd, Lloyds Bank GmbH, Lloyds Bank Hill Samuel Holding Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank Insurance Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank International Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 6) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing (No. 8) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Bank MTCH Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 10) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 13) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No. 17) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Maritime Leasing (No.16) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Offshore Pension Trust Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 1) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension ABCS (No. 2) LLP, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 1) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pension Trust (No. 2) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Pensions Property (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Bank Properties Ltd, Lloyds Bank Property Company Ltd, Lloyds Bank S.F. Nominees Ltd, Lloyds Bank Subsidiaries Ltd, Lloyds Bank Trustee Services Ltd, Lloyds Bank plc, Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Ltd, Lloyds Capital GP Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Properties Ltd, Lloyds Commercial Property Investments Ltd, Lloyds Corporate Services (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Development Capital (Holdings) Ltd, Lloyds Engine Capital (No.1) U.S LLC, Lloyds Far East S.A.R.L., Lloyds General Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Group Holdings (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Holdings (Jersey) Ltd, Lloyds Hypotheken B.V., Lloyds Industrial Leasing Ltd, Lloyds International Pty Ltd, Lloyds Investment Bonds Ltd, Lloyds Investment Fund Managers Ltd, Lloyds Investment Securities No.5 Ltd, Lloyds Leasing (North Sea Transport) Ltd1, Lloyds Leasing Developments Ltd, Lloyds Nominees (Guernsey) Ltd, Lloyds Offshore Global Services Private Ltd, Lloyds Plant Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Portfolio Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Premises Investments Ltd, Lloyds Project Leasing Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No. 3 Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No. 4 Ltd, Lloyds Property Investment Company No.5 Ltd, Lloyds Secretaries Ltd, Lloyds Securities Inc., Lloyds TSB Pacific Ltd, Lloyds UDT Asset Leasing Ltd, Lloyds UDT Asset Rentals Ltd, Lloyds UDT Hiring Ltd, Lloyds UDT Leasing Ltd, Lloyds UDT Ltd, Lloyds Your Tomorrow Trustee Ltd, Loans.co.uk Ltd, London Taxi Finance Ltd, London Uberior (L.A.S. Group) Nominees Ltd, Lotus Finance Ltd, MBNA, MBNA Direct Ltd, MBNA Europe Finance Ltd, MBNA Europe Holdings Ltd, MBNA General Foundation, MBNA Global Services Ltd, MBNA Indian Services Private Ltd, MBNA Ltd, MBNA R & L S.A.R.L., MBNA Receivables Ltd, Mainsearch Company Ltd, Maritime Leasing (No. 19) Ltd, Membership Services Finance Ltd, Mitre Street Funding S.A.R.L., Molineux RMBS 2016-1 plc, Molineux RMBS Holdings Ltd, Moor Lane Holdings Ltd, NFU Mutual Finance Ltd, NWS Trust Ltd, Nominees (Jersey) Ltd, Nordic Leasing Ltd, Ocean Leasing (July) Ltd, Oystercatcher Nominees Ltd, Oystercatcher Residential Ltd, PIPS Asset Investments Ltd, Pacific Leasing Ltd, Penarth Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Penarth Funding 1 Ltd, Penarth Funding 2 Ltd, Penarth Master Issuer plc, Penarth Receivables Trustee Ltd, Pensions Management (S.W.F.) Ltd, Peony Eastern Leasing Ltd, Peony Leasing Ltd, Peony Western Leasing Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 1) Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 2) Ltd, Permanent Holdings Ltd, Permanent Master Issuer plc, Permanent Mortgages Trustee Ltd, Permanent PECOH Holdings Ltd, Permanent PECOH Ltd, Perry Nominees Ltd, Prestonfield Investments Ltd, Proton Finance Ltd, R.F. Spencer And Company Ltd, Ranelagh Nominees Ltd, Retail Revival (Burgess Hill) Investments Ltd, SARL Coliseum, SARL Hiram, SAS Compagnie Fonciere De France, SCI Astoria Invest, SCI De LHorloge, SCI Equinoxe, SCI Rambuteau CFF, SW Funding plc, SW No.1 Ltd, SWAMF (GP) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (1) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (2) Ltd, Saint Michel Holding Company No1, Saint Michel Investment Property, Saint Witz 2 Holding Company No1, Saint Witz 2 Investment Property, Salisbury II Securities 2016 Ltd, Salisbury II-A Securities 2017 Ltd, Salisbury III Securities 2019 DAC, Salisbury Securities 2015 Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 Holdings Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 plc, Sandown Gold 2012-1 Holdings Ltd, Sandown Gold 2012-1 plc, Savban Leasing Ltd, Scotland International Finance B.V., Scottish Widows Administration Services (Nominees) Ltd, Scottish Widows Administration Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Annuities Ltd, Scottish Widows Auto Enrolment Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Europe, Scottish Widows Financial Services Holdings, Scottish Widows Group Ltd, Scottish Widows Industrial Properties Europe B.V., Scottish Widows Ltd, Scottish Widows Pension Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Property Management Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth (ACD) Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Wealth Holdings Ltd, Scottish Widows Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Funds Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Trust Managers Ltd, Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society, Seabreeze Leasing Ltd, Seaspirit Leasing Ltd, Share Dealing Nominees Ltd, Shogun Finance Ltd, Silentdale Ltd, St Andrews Group Ltd, St Andrews Insurance plc, St Andrews Life Assurance plc, St. Marys Court Investments, Standard Property Investment (1987) Ltd, Standard Property Investment Ltd, Sussex County Homes Ltd, Suzuki Financial Services Ltd, Swan Funding 2 Ltd, Syon Securities 2019 DAC, The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Plc, The British Linen Company Ltd, The Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland, The Mortgage Business plc, Thistle Financing Holdings Ltd, Thistle Investments (AMC) Ltd, Thistle Investments (ERM) Ltd, Thistle Leasing, Three Copthall Avenue Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (10) Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (7) Ltd, Tranquility Leasing Ltd, Trinity Financing plc, UDT Budget Leasing Ltd, UDT Sales Finance Ltd, Uberior (Moorfield) Ltd, Uberior Co-Investments Ltd, Uberior ENA Ltd, Uberior Equity Ltd, Uberior Europe Ltd, Uberior Fund Investments Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments (No.2) Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments Ltd, Uberior Investments Ltd, Uberior Nominees Ltd, Uberior Trading Ltd, Uberior Trustees Ltd, Uberior Ventures Australia Pty Ltd, Uberior Ventures Ltd, United Dominions Leasing Ltd, United Dominions Trust Ltd, Universe The CMI Global Network Fund, Upsaala Ltd, Vine Street IX LP, WCS Ltd, Ward Nominees (Abingdon) Ltd, Ward Nominees (Birmingham) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees (Bristol) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees Ltd 1, Waverley  Fund II Investor LLC, Waverley  Fund III Investor LLC, Waymark Asset Investments Ltd, West Craigs Ltd, Wetherby II Securities 2018 DAC, Wetherby III Securities 2019 DAC, Wetherby Securities 2017 Ltd, Wood Street Leasing Ltd, and Zurich Insurance Group - UK Workplace Pensions and Savings Business.
Tableau Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business analytics software products. It offers Tableau Desktop, a self-service, powerful analytics product with data; Tableau Server, a business intelligence platform for organizations; Tableau Online, a hosted software-as-a-service version of Tableau Server; Tableau Prep, a data preparation product for combining, shaping, and cleaning data; and Tableau Public, a cloud-based platform for analyzing and sharing public data. In addition, it offers Visual Query Language (VizQL) for databases, which is a computer language for describing pictures of data, including graphs, charts, maps, time series, and tables of visualizations; Live Query Engine that interprets abstract queries generated by VizQL into syntax understandable by database systems; and Hyper, an in-memory data engine technology that helps customers to analyze a range of data sets by evaluating analytical queries directly in the transactional database. Further, the company provides support, maintenance, training, and professional services. It serves organizations in various industries, including business services, energy and telecommunications, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing and technology, media and entertainment, public sector, and education, as well as retail, consumer, and distribution industries. The company sells its products directly, as well as through indirect sales channels, such as technology vendors, resellers, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendor, and distributors in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Tableau Software, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

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KB Financial Group, Inc. engages in providing financial services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Other Banking Services, Credit Card, Life Insurance, Investment and Securities business. The Corporate Banking business segment provides services such as loans, overdrafts, deposits, credit facilities and other foreign currency activities. The Retail Banking business segment offers services such as private customer current accounts, savings, deposits, consumer loans and mortgage loans. The Other Banking business segment provides services relating to banking business besides corporate banking and retail banking services. The Credit Card business segment offers services such as domestic as well as overseas credit and debit card operations. The Investment and Securities business segment provides services such as investment banking and brokerage. The Life Insurance business segment provides products such as life insurance and wealth management. The company was founded on September 29, 2008 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

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Zayo Group Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides bandwidth infrastructure solutions for the communications industry in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company operates in six segments: Fiber Solutions, Transport, Enterprise Networks, Zayo Colocation (zColo), Allstream, and Other. The Fiber Solutions segment provides dark fiber, and fiber-to-the-tower and small cell mobile infrastructure services for carriers and other communication service providers, Internet service providers, wireless service providers, media and content companies, large enterprises, and other companies. The Transport segment offers lit bandwidth infrastructure solutions comprising wavelength, Ethernet, wholesale IP services, and SONET services through its metro, regional, and long-haul fiber networks for carriers, content providers, financial services companies, healthcare, government entities, education institutions, and other medium and large enterprises. The Enterprise Networks segment provides connectivity and telecommunications solutions comprising Internet, wide area networking products, managed products, and cloud based computing and storage offerings to medium and large enterprises. The Zayo Colocation (zColo) segment offers data center infrastructure solutions consisting of colocation space, and power and interconnection services to a range of enterprise, carrier, cloud, and content customers. The Allstream segment provides cloud VoIP and data solutions, such as voice offerings; and unified communications, as well as telecommunications services, including Ethernet, and IP/MPLS VPN solutions. The Other segment provides network and technical resources to customers in designing, acquiring, and maintaining their networks. Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.

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On Monday, an International Youth and Students for Social Equality campaign team spoke to students and faculty at the University of Michigan about the confinement and persecution of journalist Julian Assange of WikiLeaks.

For six years, Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been living under conditions of house arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, UK. If he steps outside, he faces the threat of immediate arrest, extradition, imprisonment and possibly the death penalty, through a conspiracy of the British, Swedish, and US governments to silence him for publishing secret government documents.

Since tweeting criticism of the arrest of Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont in Germany, Assange has had his access to the Internet revoked by Ecuador. He is also being denied any visitorscutting him off from communication with the outside world.

IYSSE members spoke to students and faculty at UM about Assange and promoted two upcoming meetings on Internet censorship: Organizing Resistance to Internet Censorship at the University of Michigan on April 3 and the April 22 conference in Detroit, The Class Struggle and the Fight Against Internet Censorship.

Isaac

It is quelling free speech, to say, you cant post this, and to cut somebodys Internet access, thats absurd, said Isaac, a third-year computer science student who was on his way to a class on Internet law.

I dont really think that Internet censorship is something that the government should have any responsibility over, he added. In class, were talking about basically how the government is trying to say to Google, you have to show the searches that we want, the content that we want. But I think the government and providers should be agnostic to the material being sent out.

Nina O'Connor

Lecturer Nina OConnor said that what was being done to Assange was terrible. The people are behind you! Hopefully he will be freed, and at least in the interim have access to the Internet to communicate with the world. She agreed that everyone has a right to access the Internet. In todays world, she said, its like water. Its part of our world, and its one of the positives of this global world we live in.

Nina is following the strikes of teachers across the United States on social media. I think its fantastic, she said. Its a big wave of people getting motivated and protesting. Its been one of the positive outcomes to the otherwise horrible, disastrous situation in this country. I have 26 years teaching experience, a masters degree in teaching, and I make $34,500/year. Some of my peers are taking on second jobs, driving Uber and Lyft. So were fighting for a fair contract. We may strike next Monday and Tuesday.

Sue, a librarian, said, Julian Assange is a hero! Hes very brave for doing what hes doing. She said that WikiLeaks releasing the emails that reveal the content of Hillary Clintons speeches to Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions was absolutely the right thing to do.

Caleb, Josh and Austin

Caleb, an art student, said he didnt believe that Google and Facebook were trying to fight fake news. Theyre actually blocking the World Socialist Web Site, he said, and Democracy Now and Truth Dig and sites like that. Its horrifying.

Caleb added, The reason I think we all love the Internet is because its an open forum. Thats what we dont get enough of these days. This university is a public institution, its supposed to be the place where we can come and say whatever we want, how we want, and thats the best way people can discuss.
The Socialist Equality Party is running candidates in California for the US midterm congressional elections. The SEP has selected David Moore as its candidate for the US Senate and Kevin Mitchell as its candidate for the US House of Representatives from the 51st Congressional District. Moore and Mitchell will run on a socialist, anti-war and anti-capitalist program in the interests of the working class in California and around the world.

Both Moore and Mitchell have obtained ballot status and will be listed as non-party candidates in the June 5 statewide direct primary election.

David Moore, 31, is a special education teacher in Oakland. He grew up in a farming family in Ventura County. David joined the Socialist Equality Party in 2010 after seeing the enduring impact of the 2008 crisis. As a contributor to the World Socialist Web Sitehe has written extensively on the social crisis and working class struggles, including first-hand coverage of strikes by oil, transit and health care workers.

Kevin Mitchell, 30, studied film at the University of California Riverside and was raised in Southern California. Based in San Diego, he is a writer for the WSWS and covers issues ranging from immigration to homelessness and the social crisis. He also contributes regularly to articles on film and culture. Kevin joined the Socialist Equality Party in 2007 after having been radicalized by the Iraq War and the SEPs intervention in the 2006 midterm elections.

The SEP campaign will fight to mobilize the working class in California, throughout the US and internationally against the Democrats and Republicans and the ruling class agenda of war, social counterrevolution, censorship and authoritarianism.

The first three months of 2018 have seen an intensification of class conflict around the world. In the United States, the West Virginia teachers strike has been followed by protests and strikes by teachers in other cities and states. Mass protests by student youth against school shootings have expressed widespread opposition to war and social inequality.

The growing wave of strikes and protests in the US is part of an international development. Since the beginning of the year, major strikes and working class protests have taken place in Britain, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Eastern Europe, Iran, Tunisia and Kenya.

The growth of the class struggle in the US is bringing workers into conflict with the capitalist ruling elite and its two parties. The Trump administration is waging a war against the working class, carrying out a campaign of terror against immigrants and threatening the nuclear annihilation of North Korea. The Democrats have focused their opposition to Trump not on his tax cuts for the rich, witch-hunting of immigrants, encouragement of police violence, cuts in social programs and gutting of corporate regulations, but on the demand that he escalate US aggression against Russia and expand Washingtons intervention in Syria. The unsubstantiated claims of Russian meddling in US affairs are being used to censor the Internet in the biggest attack on free speech since the Second World War.

The Socialist Equality Party candidates will use the campaign to advance the socialist alternative to capitalism and raise the political consciousness of workers and youth. The SEP candidates oppose all forms of national chauvinism, racism and anti-immigrant baiting. They fight to unify all workers in California, the United States and internationally and prepare the working class for the historic struggles that lie ahead.

1. Oppose US militarism! Stop the drive to World War III!

Under the fraudulent cover of the unending war on terror, now in its 17th year, millions of peoplein Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and other countrieshave been killed, injured or turned into refugees by the United States since 2001. The Department of Defense recently dropped the war on terror pretext and declared that Great power competitionnot terrorismis now the primary focus of US national security, calling for preparations to wage war against nuclear-armed Russia and China.

The reckless confrontations provoked by US imperialismfrom the Syrian civil war to the war-mongering against North Korea and Iranthreaten to spiral out of control and lead to thermonuclear war. The ongoing preparations for global warfare, which would lead to the deaths of billions of people, are cloaked in lies and secrecy. The SEP campaign will alert workers and youth to the immense dangers they face and build the foundation for a powerful anti-war movement.

Far from presenting an anti-war opposition to Trumps bellicose foreign policy, the Democrats have attacked his administration from the right for being too soft on Russia. In the current elections they are campaigning as the party of the military-intelligence apparatus, with former CIA and military operatives forming the largest single category of Democratic candidates.

2. Defend democratic rights! Oppose Internet censorship!

The most basic democratic rights are being ripped to shreds. While the Trump administration is seeking to establish an authoritarian and personalist regime around the president, the Democratsincluding California Senator Dianne Feinsteinhave spearheaded the drive to censor the Internet and criminalize domestic opposition.

The US intelligence agencies have worked hand in glove with tech giants Google, Facebook and Twitter to monitor and censor left-wing content on the Internet. Using the pretext of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections, for which no serious evidence has been presented, Google has demoted socialist, anti-war and progressive websites in its search results in order to promote authoritative sources, a euphemism for the corporate media promoters of government propaganda. Facebook announced that it was hiring 15,000 censors to combat the efforts of folks trying to sow division.

The ruling class is terrified of the growth of social opposition in the working class. A wave of strikes and protests by teachers across the country is being organized at the grassroots level through social media, outside the constraints of the pro-capitalist and anti-working class trade unions.

The Internet must be removed from the private control of billionaires and corporations and brought under the democratic control of the masses of people who rely on it for daily information and communication. The vast government spying apparatus must be dismantled. Genuine democracy is incompatible with an economic system in which all decisions are dictated by a ruling class that controls the giant corporations and banks and demands ever more brutal attacks on the rights and interests of the working class.

3. Put an end to poverty and social inequality!

The SEP fights to abolish a system in which the super-rich exploit the labor of billions of workers around the world. We call for a vast redistribution of wealth to secure basic social rights, including the right to a decent-paying job, quality education, affordable housing, universal health care, a dignified retirement and access to culture.

Ten years after the financial crash of 2008, the disastrous reality of life in California and throughout the US is drastically at odds with the official proclamations of economic recovery. While the stock market has soared and Californias economy has grown at nearly double the rate of the US as a whole, the countrys largest state retains the nations highest rate of poverty. Soaring housing prices, the rising cost of living and stagnant wages have pushed thousands of working families into hunger and homelessness.

Social inequality today is greater than ever before. The top three billionaires in the US have as much wealth as the bottom 160 million Americans. The rich not only enjoy untold wealth and privilege, they live longer. The life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest Americans averages almost 15 years for men and 10 years for women.

Young people are burdened by more than $1 trillion in student loan debt, millions of people are being cut off from food stamps, and millions more are seeing their pensions and health care slashed or eliminated. The government spends trillions on a vast military machine and so-called homeland security while it allows the countrys public schools and basic infrastructure to collapse.

The SEP advances a program not for the improvement of capitalism, but for its abolition and replacement by socialism. No social problemhealth care, housing, pensions, education, infrastructurecan be addressed as long as the bulk of the worlds wealth is squandered to satisfy the unbounded greed of a handful of capitalists. The social rights of the working class cannot be secured without a direct attack on the wealth and power of the capitalist class and the domination of the financial aristocracy over economic life. This means an end to the private ownership of the large corporations and their transformation into publicly owned enterprises under the democratic control of the working class. To provide quality jobs to all those who need them, the SEP calls for a multitrillion-dollar public works program to rebuild crumbling infrastructure throughout the country. The resources exist to build new hospitals, clinics and schools and hire hundreds of thousands of teachers to ensure smaller class sizes and high-quality education for all.

4. Defend immigrants! Disband ICE and open the borders!

The SEP fights for the right of workers to live and work in any country they wish. We demand the immediate end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids as well as the detention and deportation of immigrants.

The world is confronting the greatest refugee crisis since World War II, stoked by a quarter-century of unending war and economic turmoil. Hundreds of workers seeking a better life die every year crossing the US-Mexico border. The US governments efforts to militarily dominate the world go hand in hand with its efforts to divert social discontent into racist, anti-immigrant channels.

Without any opposition from the Democratic Party and little attention in the corporate media, President Trump and his fascist advisers are quietly carrying out the most dramatic right-wing shift in US immigration policy in a century. They are laying the basis for mass roundups and the brutalization of hundreds of thousands of immigrants in an expanding network of internment camps nationwide.

Ostensibly left-wing Democrats like Bernie Sanders have boosted the Trump administrations anti-immigrant policies in the name of border security and protecting American jobs. The agreement of the Democrats to pass a budget that leaves the 800,000 immigrant youth registered under DACA subject to deportation is in line with the Obama administrations anti-immigrant policies, including a record number of deportations.

The SEP opposes all national prejudice and insists that workers in the US, immigrant and native-born, share a common fight against the bosses and billionaires who exploit them.

5. Break with the Democrats and Republicans! Join the Socialist Equality Party!

The fight for peace, equality and democracy is inseparable from a fight against the capitalist system, which subordinates the global economy to a criminal financial elite. The oligarchs control the political system and both major parties. To defend their rights, workers need their own party.

In California, the Democratic Party has controlled the state legislature for nearly 50 years. The results have been mass poverty, hunger and homelessness for the many and the accumulation of unbelievable wealth for a few. In addition to the largest homeless population in the US, California hosts the largest number of billionaires, 144, with a combined wealth of over $725 billion.

Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democratic senator from California, has been a constant defender of American militarism and the illegal activities of US spy agencies. Feinstein has been a consistent defender of US imperialism, from the invasion of Iraq and the PATRIOT Act to the border wall with Mexico and NSA spying on US citizens.

In the 51st Congressional District along the US/Mexico border, incumbent Democrat Juan Vargas has postured as a defender of immigrants and the poor. At a town hall, Vargas placed blame on the Trump administration while conveniently ignoring the anti-immigrant assault under Obama, which saw 3 million deported. Vargas has continually voted for legislation to deepen sanctions on Iran and North Korea as part of the Democratic Partys militarist agenda.

The struggles of workers and youth in the heart of world imperialism are a critical part of the class struggle internationally. What happens in the United States has global implications, and the struggle against the American ruling class can be waged only as an international struggle. Moore and Mitchell will address their campaigns to workers throughout the United States and the world, not just in California.

The SEP campaign fights to unite all sections of the working class in a common struggle. Our campaign rejects all forms of nationalism, chauvinism and bigotry, used by the ruling class to divide workers against each other.

Our campaign is not simply about votes. It is an important part of the fight to build a socialist movement and provide a political alternative to the masses of workers and youth who are looking for a way forward. We urge you to get involved in the campaign. Now is the time to take up an active fight for socialism!
Since late 2016, the New York Times, working together with the US intelligence agencies and the Democratic Party, has been engaged in a campaign to promote internet censorship in the guise of targeting fake news and Russian propaganda.

In waging this campaign, the Times motives are both political and pecuniary. Speaking for a ruling elite that sees the growth of social opposition on all sides and expects far worse, the Times has promoted censorship to remove opportunities for the working class to organize outside the framework of official politics.

In addition, the Times, for the most part a clearinghouse for staid and predigested state propaganda, is seeking to carve back market share it has lost to online publications that carry out genuine investigative journalism and oppose the lies peddled by the US government and media.

In recent months, this campaign has entered a new and malignant phase. Increasingly dropping the pretext of Russian meddling, the Times is now directly attacking its main target: the fact that the internet, and in particular social media, helps empower the population to access oppositional sources of news and have their voices heard in public.

Among the Times latest broadsides against freedom of expression is an article by its State of the Art columnist Farhad Manjoo headlined For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers. Heres What I Learned. The piece, supposedly written as a first-hand account of a journalist turning off social media and only reading the news from print newspapers, isin an unusually literal sensea piece of lying propaganda from beginning to end.

As the Columbia Journalism Review pointed out, during the period in which he supposedly stopped using social media, Manjoo managed to post on Twitter virtually every day. Manjoo remained a daily, active Twitter user throughout the two months he claims to have gone cold turkey, tweeting many hundreds of times, perhaps more than 1,000, the Review pointed out.

Manjoos blatant falsifying of his own social media use is hardly the most sinister aspect of his piece. However, it expresses something essential about the Times notion of reporting: its writers feel they can say anything and get away with it, so long as their claims conform to the dictates of the establishment and the intelligence agencies whose interests determine what is and what is not reported in the US media.

The columnists dishonesty about his own activities provides much needed context for his article as a whole, which is little more than a long-form denunciation of a reading public that feels compelled to obtain its news from sources not massaged by the CIA-vetted hacks at the New York Times. In the process, Manjoo gives his unqualified blessings to the pronouncements of his own publication and castigates anyone who would question them as a member of an ignorant herd, whose opinions ought to be suppressed.

During his pretended sojourn into the desert of print media, Manjoo said he learned to value having the news spoon-fed to him by professionals, without having to worry about whether what he was reading was true or false.

As he puts it, It takes professionals time to figure out what happened, and how it fits into context This was the surprise blessing of the newspaper. I was getting news a day old, but in the delay between when the news happened and when it showed up on my front door, hundreds of experienced professionals had done the hard work for me.

He continues, Now I was left with the simple, disconnected and ritualistic experience of reading the news, mostly free from the cognitive load of wondering whether the thing I was reading was possibly a blatant lie.

Here, we assume, the reader is supposed to heave a sigh of relief. How soothing not to have to think for oneself! The authors surrender of his critical faculties supposedly did wonders for his health and general well being. Not only did he become less anxious, but he had the time to take up pottery and became a more attentive husband and father! Wonderful! And so much more wonderful if he hadnt actually made up the story about his abstinence from social media.

Manjoos condemnation of critical thinking aside, the real core of the piece is a scathing denunciation of the public, which he describes as a herd and a crowd, and which, moreover, is empowered to express its rotten opinions by the sinister power of social media.

Avoid social [media], he declares. Technology allows us to burrow into echo chambers, exacerbating misinformation and polarization and softening up society for propaganda.

The statements posted by the online hordes are not quite news, and more like a never-ending stream of commentary, one that does more to distort your understanding of the world than illuminate it, Manjoo adds. On social networks ... People dont just post storiesthey post their takes on stories, often quoting key parts of a story to underscore how it proves them right.

People are posting their takes on stories! The horror! Instead of just consuming the news as worked over by the Times, complete with big lies (weapons of mass destruction) and small ones (its technology columnist giving up Twitter for two months), social media allows users to critically examine the stories they read. In other words, the internet allows the public to bypass the monopoly of professional falsifiers and gatekeepers like Manjoo, Judith Miller, Thomas Friedman and the like.

The authors only hope is that the government and Facebook will soon fix this problem. The clear implication is that once social media is fixed, the herd, crowd, and hordes will no longer be allowed to pollute cyberspace by questioning the pronouncements of the New York Times. Manjoos self-righteous pontifications, worthy of Polonius (if Polonius were also a liar), would be comical if they were not so ominous. Faced with a growing wave of social struggles, the ruling elite is preparing censorship on a massive scale. Having succeeded in dramatically reducing traffic to left-wing web sites, the technology giants and intelligence agencies are proceeding to the next phase: censoring all expressions of social opposition, in particular by the working class, on social media.
The death toll from Israels attack on unarmed demonstrators on Gazas militarized border, employing snipers firing live ammunition, reached at least 18 on Monday when a Palestinian man succumbed to wounds suffered in the carnage unleashed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Friday.

Fares al-Raqb, 29, died Monday from a gunshot wound to his stomach, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Like tens of thousands of others, he had joined the Great March of Return protest called by an array of Palestinian organizations to demand the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to the lands from which they were forcibly expelled in 1948 with the founding of the state of Israel.

The demonstrations are to continue until May 15, which will mark the 70th anniversary of Israels founding, observed by Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe. Washington is set to use the anniversary as the occasion for transferring its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a deliberate provocation by the Trump administration against the Palestinians, who claim Jerusalem as their own capital.

Driving the protest are the anger and desperation of Gazas 1.9 million people, crammed into what is effectively a 140-square-mile open air prison, blockaded on all sides, denied adequate food, medicine and other basic necessities and subjected to unending acts of Israeli military aggression and provocation.

While Israel and its supporters have tried to portray the mass outpouring as a riot organized by Hamas, which governs the enclave, many of those participating have expressed anger at both this bourgeois Islamist movement and the corrupt Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, which functions as an adjunct police force for the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

Among those shot dead by the Israeli snipers was 20-year-old Badr Sabbagh, who had gone to the demonstration with his entire family, including children and grandchildren. His brother told the Washington Post that he had asked him for a cigarette and had taken two puffs, and then he was shot in the head.

Another was Jihad Abu Jamous, 30, who went to the border protest in a taxi with his wife and four children. His widow told the New York Times that he was shot dead while holding an onion to counteract the effects of tear gas.

More famously, there was 19-year-old Abdel Fattah Abd al-Nabi, whose execution was videotaped as he was shot through the back by an Israeli sniper while running away from the border carrying a tire.

In addition to the dead, more than 1,400 people who had participated in the protest were wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than half of them773struck by live ammunition.

These war crimes by the Israeli military enjoy the tacit support of the US government, which blocked a tame resolution put forward by Kuwait in the United Nations Security Council calling for restraint and an independent and transparent investigation, while affirming the right to peaceful protest. While the European Union backed the call for an investigation, Europes governments have made no significant protest over the mass shootings of civilians in Gaza.

The Israeli government has taken the response of the major powers as a green light to act with impunity in suppressing Palestinian protest and resistance. The IDF has made it clear that there will be no change in its shoot to kill order on the Gaza border, while threatening to carry out more extensive attacks on targets deep within the blockaded territory.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli radio on Sunday that the countrys right-wing government would not cooperate with any investigation and declared that the soldiers who shot down unarmed Palestinians deserve a commendation.

Smaller demonstrations continued through the weekend and on Monday, with dozens more Palestinians wounded by live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas. Within Gaza, thousands turned out for angry funeral processions for last weeks victims. Larger protests are anticipated on Friday.

Inside Israel, there were demonstrations denouncing the killings. Several hundred protested in Tel Aviv opposite the headquarters of the ruling Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A smaller demonstration was held in Yad Mordechai, near Gazas militarized border, by opponents of the IDF action, and Israeli Palestinians protested in Jaffa.

Kobi Meidan, a prominent host on Israels Army Radio, posted a message on his Facebook page describing himself as ashamed to be Israeli after the mass shootings. The Israeli military responded swiftly, taking his program off the air and firing him.

The Arab League is set to convene a meeting today on the events in Gaza. Dominated by the Saudi monarchy, which has yet to say a word about the gunning down of unarmed Palestinian protesters, and the Egyptian dictatorship of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which has joined with Israel in sealing off Gaza from the outside world, this body can be counted upon to do nothing. The various bourgeois Arab governments that comprise its members are not even bothering to send anyone outside of their permanent envoys to the league to attend the session.

While there is immense popular support for the Palestinians among the working class and oppressed masses of the Arab world and internationally, the bourgeois Arab regimes view their mass protest with thinly veiled hostility. Many of them have used similar deadly violence to suppress popular upheavals in their own countries and are pursuing a de facto alliance with Israel and the United States in their preparations for war against Iran.
Aura Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant and mother of two, has taken sanctuary in a New York City church to prevent her deportation to Guatemala. She is threatened with deportation despite having reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regularly for the past five years.

Hernandez fled Guatemala to United States in 2005 to escape an abusive relationship. US Customs and Border Protection picked her up shortly after she entered the US and detained her for three days. She charges that she was sexually abused by a Border Patrol officer while in detention before she was released.

Hernandez was issued a final order of removal in 2006, but had no knowledge of the order and did not encounter police or immigration officials until 2013. Then, according to the New York Times, she was caught in Mamaroneck, N.Y., driving the wrong way down a street that is one-way on Sundays. The police officer, seeing she had no documents, reported her to immigration officials.

Until February, she reported to ICE regularly without incident. When she was ordered to report to ICE on March 1 with a plane ticket to leave the US, she instead took refuge in a church. ICE now considers her a fugitive, according to a spokesperson.

Hernandez cites her desire to keep her family together as the reason she has turned to the New Sanctuary Coalition, which organizes sanctuary for undocumented immigrants in New York City. She has a 10-year-old son, Daniel, and a 15-month-old daughter, Camila, both of whom are US citizens by birth.

If ICE deports Hernandez, she will be forcibly separated from her children. While in the US, Hernandez cleaned houses to provide for her family.

Hernandez took sanctuary in the Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York, a church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, almost three weeks ago. She had taken refuge for two weeks at another church before moving to the Fourth Universalist Society.

I came here looking for help because I was in a very difficult situation, for me and my children, Hernandez told the New York Daily News. I am not the only one in this situation. Theres many of us. I wont stay quiet. We cant allow more separation of families. We need to unite.

Churches and schools are generally sanctuaries from ICE enforcement, as they are considered sensitive locations, although ICE personnel may intervene in limited circumstances. Fourth Universalist Society President Will Ashley explained to the Associated Press, While ICE reserves the right to enter such areas under extreme circumstances, historically they have not.

Rev. Schuyler Vogel told Democracy Now! that the church would not allow ICE or police into the church to take Hernandez and said that he was willing to be arrested.

On Thursday, protesters, including clergy members, gathered outside the Trump International Hotel to protest the Trump administrations attacks on immigrants. Daniel Hernandez, Auras 10-year-old son, carried a sign reading, Please dont deport my mommy.

He told protesters that they were protesting in front of the hotel that represents the president of this country because President Donald Trump is using his power to mistreat and abuse us.

The New Sanctuary Coalition is attempting to reopen Aura Hernandezs case in light of the sexual assault allegations. The Associated Press reports that a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson responded that a full investigation by ICEs Office of Professional Responsibility, the U.S. Attorneys Office and local law enforcement was conducted and the allegations were found to be unsubstantiated. 

The claims of ICEs internal investigation arm to have conducted a full investigation into alleged wrongdoing by immigration authorities can hardly be taken as good coin. A 2015 report from the National Immigrant Justice Center concludes that the subdivision of the ICEs Office of Professional Responsibility tasked with facility inspections inform[s] facilities of inspections in advance.

Hernandez has also been denied a visa available to crime victims who cooperate with law enforcement, as she did after reporting the alleged assault, with immigration officials saying too many years had passed, according to the Times.

Juan Carlos Ruiz of the New Sanctuary Coalition told the Times that approximately a dozen immigrants are taking sanctuary in churches across the city, most in secret. Amanda Morales Guerra was the first to publicly seek sanctuary and has been in a Manhattan church with her three children since August. Despite the outpouring of support from community members, months spent in sanctuary take their toll.

Nationally, about 40 immigrants are publicly taking sanctuary in US churches to avoid deportation.

ICE has already deported New Sanctuary Coalition leader Jean Montrevil and detained another leader, Ravi Ragbir, this year. While Ragbir was granted a delay, his own fate remains uncertain, even as he opposes the potential deportation of Hernandez and Guerra.

According to the Associated Press, 70 people have publicly sought sanctuary in churches for immigration-related reasons since 2014, 51 of whom doing so after Trumps January 2017 inauguration. While the Trump administration has escalated the attacks on immigrants, especially non-criminal immigrants, the Obama administration deported more immigrants than any prior administration, earning President Barack Obama the title deporter-in-chief from immigrant rights organizations.

There is a historical parallel to the current attacks on immigrants: the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, passed in the lead-up to the American Civil War. As the World Socialist Web Site noted last year, Like their antebellum precursor, Trumps orders dragoon local authorities into the apprehension of immigrants, threaten punishment to anyone who would assist immigrants, and deny the apprehended due process.

An 1852 article in the New-York Tribune, edited by noted abolitionist and congregation member at the Fourth Universalist Society Horace Greeley, reported: The directors of the Underground Railroad report to us the passage, through our city, last Monday, of forty-one human chattels, from the land of the slave-whip and coffle, on a pilgrimage to the North Star. They are now all safely landed in Canada, where they have ceased to be stray cattle, and become men, women and children, no more to be subject of the auction block and brand.

The escalating attacks on immigrants are revealing the vast gulf between the democratic and humane sentiments of the US population on the one hand and the anti-immigrant policies of the government on the other. According to a January 2018 poll by Pew Research, 74 percent of Americans favor granting permanent legal status to immigrants who came illegally to the U.S. when they were children.

On April 1, Trump tweeted NO MORE DACA DEAL, referring to the program that granted limited reprieve to immigrants brought to the US as children.
The killing of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida last February has become the catalyst for mass protests of student youth in the United States and internationally. The demonstrations herald a radicalization of young people and the entrance of a new generation into the political arena.

On March 14, the one-month anniversary of the Parkland shooting, more than 1 million high school students walked out of class to protest gun violence and mass shootings in the US. Some of the protesters limited their actions to limited calls for gun control legislation and get out the vote drives. Other protesters pointed to a broader culture of violence, particularly the never-ending US wars in the Middle East and the increasing militarization of American society.

The walkouts arrived on the heels of a nine-day strike by West Virginia teachers. The teachers garnered international attention along with the support of millions of workers after they rejected a back to work order foisted upon them by their union and the states billionaire governor.

Most recently, teachers have carried out wildcat strikes in the state of Kentucky along with 40,000 Arizona teachers who marched on the state capital of Phoenix on Wednesday to protest education spending cuts and low salaries. Oklahoma teachers are poised to strike today after years of funding cuts in that state.

The response of individual school administrations to the demonstrations was mixed. While many were largely permissive in their attitudes toward the walkouts, administrators in other schools and districts threatened detentions, suspensions and more severe punishments to those who participated. More than 100 students in Goshen, Kentucky, for example, defied administrators threats and received detention after walking out.

In Concord, California, northeast of San Francisco, students broke through school gates which had been locked in an effort to prevent them from participating in the walkout. Students in other schools around the country reported that their signs, speeches and chants were vetted in advance and many were not allowed to speak to the press without disciplinary consequences.

What the ruling class fears above all else is that this emerging movement of students and teachers will continue to grow, bringing in broader sections of the American working class and breaking free of both the Democrats and the Republicans and their supporters in the trade unions.

In Rocklin, California, outside of the state capital of Sacramento, the high school administration placed history teacher Julianne Benzel on leave after she encouraged a discussion in her classroom about the scheduled March 14 walkout and about free speech and protests. She was allowed to return to work following an investigation into her classroom discussion.

Benzel, who has taught history at Rocklin High School for 20 years, recently spoke to the WSWS about her experience.

WSWS: Could you describe to us the circumstances that led to your being put on administrative leave?

Julianne Benzel: Well, as you know, the school shooting protests happened on March 14, a Wednesday. The Thursday prior, March 8 I believe, I raised this issue in my AP [Advanced Placement] History class. I wanted my students to be aware of the protest and to consider what was behind it in order to inform their decisions about whether or not to participate.

For my part, I did not take a position either for or against the protests. I simply wanted my students to be informed and to consider the question of protest and free speech more generally. I raised the question of what their attitude would be to a protest of a more right-wing character, should such a protest arise, such as a protest over abortion, for example. Was it even appropriate to protest in school at all?

At any rate, Thursday and Friday came and went and I didnt hear anything further about the discussion. I took some time off at the beginning of the following week and upon my return on Wednesday, I received an early morning phone call. The call was from the school informing me that I was on leave and that I shouldnt come in. After asking when I could return, the principal later told me that they would get back to me.

Later in the day, I received a generic email from the school again telling me I was on leave and providing me with no return date. I had called the school every hour that day and no one even bothered to tell me why I was being put on leave.

WSWS: What was your disciplinary record with the school prior to this incident?

JB: Spotless. I had never been disciplined by the school for any reason whatsoever.

WSWS: How did your story end up getting the media attention it did?

JB: Well its actually interesting. My husband and I live very close to campus. Around 3:00 in the afternoon on Wednesday, the day of the protest, a reporter showed up on my doorstep from Channel 13 in Sacramento. I didnt have any makeup on. I was in my sweat pants, but I figured, Why not? Ill certainly speak to her about this.

I suspect that she may have spoken to one of the students at the protest or the other teachers who had heard about the leave announcement and decided to follow up with me. It was at that point that I heard about the grounds for my dismissal. The reporter was given the grounds for my dismissal before I was!

She had a letter indicating that I was being put on leave for encouraging communication among students about the planned walkout.

I finally had a meeting Thursday with the administration along with my union representative and, by this time, I had also obtained the services of a lawyer. The administration told me that that I was pulled out of class because an investigation was being conducted. In other words, they didnt have legitimate reason to pull me out of class. I was being pulled out while they were finding one.

WSWS: What do you think are some of the political implications of what happened to you in terms of due process and freedom of speech?

JB: There certainly are implications. What happened to me clearly is against the first, fifth and sixth amendments to the constitution. This also extends beyond me to the students I teach.

Apparently, the complaints about the discussion arose from two students in the classroom. A parent of one of these students came up to me and revealed that they were pulled out their classes and asked to reveal the content of the discussion I had in class the previous Thursday. These students, the parent revealed, did not go voluntarily, they were pulled out of class. This is the most frightening part of the story to me, regardless of what happens to me and my own career.

This issue is also of great concern for my fellow teachers. We respect each other a lot and a lot of them are worried that something like this could happen to them too.
A New York City transit worker was killed on March 27 at a bus depot in Queens. The 59-year-old man, Stephen Livecchi, was directing traffic in the depot at about 10 AM when a bus operator, who failed to see him while driving in reverse, ran over him.

Livecchi, who had been on the job for 37 years, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to investigators. His sister-in-law, Clara Hunter, 52, told the New York Daily News, Were devastated. He was very much loved. He was a great role model to his two nephews. He took care of my two elderly parents.

Levecchi, whose job title was helper-maintainer, performed a variety of jobs, including directing traffic. His death occurred at a time of day when there are many activities in the depot, according to officials.

The driver of the bus, who is 56 years old and has been on the job for 29 years, remained at the scene immediately after the accident and has not been charged.

Driving buses inside a depot is a specialized task. George Smith, a driver at the East New York depot, spoke about the nature of the work inside a depot. He told the World Socialist Web Site, There is a traffic director here and it is as dangerous as they make it. There is a blind spot behind the bus. You are supposed to tap on the horn 3 times when you are backing up.

He described the difficulties of the job in general. The MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) people who make the route schedules for operators are crazy. That may sound too strong, but that is the way it is. There is no way you can make these trips on schedule.

He explained that while sometimes they give a driver too much time to make a series of stops, more often than not they dont allow enough time. Overall, they never give a bus operator sufficient time to complete a scheduled run.

Investigators are now checking to see if the alarm that is supposed to make a beeping sound when a bus backs up was working. They will be examining the videos taken by the depots surveillance cameras.

Another bus driver bitterly complained about the lack of safety. He told the WSWS, They need to have cameras in the back of the buses where the operators cant see. This is needed for safety. Maybe this safety measure will be adopted now. Every car has cameras in the back now. Why dont the buses have cameras to see in the back?

Another bus operator, Andrea, complained about the working conditions in general. She said, You may do two round-trips and then have a break. You may do eight hours or you may do 12, but you must have eight hours between. Actually, we are all basically working 12 hours because you have to travel to and from work.

One week before the March 27 accident, also on a Tuesday morning, a track worker for only six months, St. Clair Richards Stephens, 23, was killed when a wooden safety railing broke, causing him to plunge 20 feet. The number of New York City transit workers killed on the job since 2014 is now five. Considering the unsafe conditions facing transit workers, it is fortunate that the number is not higher.
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Ethan Couch, the Texas man nicknamed the affluenza teen after he killed four pedestrians in a drunk driving crash in 2013, was released from jail Monday morning, PEOPLE confirms.

Couch was 16 at the time of the crash. His case drew notoriety when his defense argued that his wealthy, coddled upbringing preventing him from understanding the consequences of his actions.

Originally convicted and given 10 years probation in juvenile court, Couch was sent to jail in April 2016 for 720 days after an online video surfaced of him at a party where alcohol was served.

After that video surfaced on social media, Couch and his mother fled to Mexico in violation of Couchs probation, which also forbade Couch, now 20, from using drugs or alcohol.

Ethan Couch

The two were caught in December 2015 in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta. Officials later charged the mother, Tonya Couch, with hindering the prosecution of a felon and money laundering, with the latter charge accusing her of withdrawing $30,000 from a bank account before leaving the U.S. for Mexico

Tonya Couch, 50, pleaded not guilty and was free on bond pending her trial next month on the charges, but was jailed March 28 following an alleged failed drug test, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Her son now returns to the terms of his remaining probationary period.

The advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving spoke out against Couchs release, releasing a statement saying his remaining probation is small consolation for the victims, according to local TV station NBC5 in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Two years in jail for four people killed is a grave injustice to the victims and their families who have been dealt life sentences because of one persons devastating decision to drink and drive, the organizations statement said.
Chris Hemsworth had a relaxing weekend in his native Australia, hanging out with his close friend, Matt Damon, and his wife, Elsa Pataky.

The 34-year-old actor was snapped on the beach with Damon and another male pal while throwing back a few beers.

Splash News

The Avengers star later left the guys to share a kiss with Pataky, who put her fit physique on display in a teeny black bikini. According to an eyewitness, the group spent two to three hours at the beach, and were having a great time with lots of laughter and fun had by everyone.



Splash News

Splash News

Damon was also spotted packing on the PDA with his wife, Luciana Barroso, while down under.

Splash News

Pataky has been Instagramming photos from the couples' latest getaway, including an outing with Damon, 47, and Barroso.

"Fun times with my favorite people! Missing you, @chrishemsworth," she wrote.

The 41-year-old actress later shared photos from the 2018 Byron Bay Bluesfest, which she attended with a group of friends and family.

Damon and Hemsworth have obviously become close throughout the years, going on multiple family trips together. ET spoke to Pataky in January about her own close friendship with Barroso, and their matching tattoos.

"Just three points, it's simple," she said of their ink. "It's three dots that means today, tomorrow and forever. It's to remember moments. ... When I have a great moment with people that I love, it's good to remember those moments and have them on your body to just say they mean a lot to me."

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Watch the video below to hear Pataky dish on her real-life chemistry with Hemsworth.

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About a dozen CodePink demonstrators showed up today outside WMEs Beverly Hills offices to protest Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, known as Prince Salman. WME has been working to finalize a deal whereby the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will acquire a 5%-10% stake in Endeavor (the holding company for WME) for roughly $400M.

CodePink is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement that seeks positive social change through proactive, creative protest and nonviolent direct action. Its member have been up in arms over the treatment of women in Yemen and the massive humanitarian crisis caused by the government itself. This is a man who does not allow freedom for women, said CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans. Hes a dictator, and hes bombing Yemen. There is nothing charming about this prince.

The prince went to WME following a meeting with Mayor Eric Garcetti to talk about investment in Los Angeles. The group next will protest tomorrow at 11 AM Tuesday in front of the Rand Corporation on Main Street in Santa Monica.

One of the women who helped organize the protest is Medea Benjamin, CodePink co-founder and author of a book on Saudia Arabia who is very knowledgeable about the country. According to Benjamin: Mohammed Bin Salman employs an army of lobbyists and PR firms to sell himself as a reformer when he is really a war criminal and a power-hungry thug whose ego rivals that of Donald Trump. It is absurd that the U.S. is in bed with this prince who mercilessly bombs Yemen, shakes down Saudi businessmen, captured the Lebanese prime minister, concocted a rift with Qatar and even kidnapped his own mother. The Saudi monarchy also jails and beheads dissidents, discriminates against the Shia minority and forces women to live under a repressive male guardianship system. It is not a regime the United States should be arming and abetting.

Anita Busch contributed to this report.

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"Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Kenya Moore and actor Michael Rapaport feuded on Sundays "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen." The two were booked together as guest despite, or maybe because of, a Twitter feud between the two.

The feud heated up on the late night talk show. The pair traded jabs at each other throughout the episode. Rapaport once remarked, Please, you wish you were me, Kenya. Moore responded,  A middle-aged, fat, white guy, no. Not really.

However, the biggest sparks flew during the "Watch What Happens Live After Show" when Rapaport threw his final jab. He said, I didnt want to say it on Live TV but Kenyas feet are ashy as f***.
Fighting a wave of calls for her resignation, Rep. Elizabeth Esty, a Connecticut Democrat, announced Monday she won't seek re-election this fall.

"It is one of the greatest honors of my life that the people of Connecticuts Fifth District elected me to represent them in Congress," Esty said in a statement. "However, I have determined that it is in the best interest of my constituents and my family to end my time in Congress at the end of this year and not seek re-election."

Earlier Monday, Esty asked the House Ethics Committee to examine how she handled harassment claims against her former chief of staff.



"Too many women have been harmed by harassment in the workplace," Esty wrote announcing her decision. "In the terrible situation in my office, I could have and should have done better. To the survivor, I want to express my strongest apology for letting you down."

Esty issued a statement on Twitter last week saying she was "horrified and angry" to learn of the harassment claims against her former chief of staff Tony Baker, and admitted she "failed to protect" her junior female aide  Anna Kain  who accused Baker of making death threats and physical violence. In a statement, Baker denies any physical violence.



Esty, now serving in her third term in the House of Representatives, retained Baker on her staff for several months after the allegations surfaced in May 2016, instead ordering him to get counseling as she led an internal review process to "investigate" the conduct in her office. Baker remained on the payroll until Aug. 12, 2016.



Questions have now been raised about how this dismissal was handled, and I write to ask for an Ethics Committee review of the circumstances and a determination of whether there was any wrongdoing on my part, Esty wrote in a letter to Reps. Susan Brooks and Ted Deutch, the chair and ranking Democrat on the panel.



In the wake of the revelations, the Hartford Courant newspaper called on Esty to resign, blasting her handling of the situation as "appalling." The National Republican Congressional Committee, the GOP's campaign arm, also called on Esty to resign, as have several Connecticut Democrats.



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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi stopped short of calling on Esty to resign, instead crediting her for taking steps to initiate an ethics inquiry.



As Congresswoman Esty has acknowledged, her actions did not protect Ms. Kain and should have, Pelosi, D-Calif., stated. Congresswoman Esty has now appropriately requested an expedited review by the Ethics Committee.



Esty says she ultimately removed Baker from her staff after learning that the claims against him were not an "isolated incident" and that he had "victimized" multiple female members of her staff. Esty then says she hired a new chief of staff, made changes to senior staff, changed employment policy, and instituted mandatory harassment training and gave him severance and helped him get a job with Sany Hook Promise, an advocacy group to prevent gun violence.



The revelations come during a session of Congress that has already seen multiple members resign over allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. and Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. all resigned their seats last year after allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct surfaced against them.

Esty indicated she will serve the duration of her term, which expires next January.

"In Congress, and workplaces across the country, we need stronger workplace protections and to provide employees with a platform to raise concerns, address problems, and work to reduce and eliminate such occurrences, in the first place," she noted. "In my final months in Congress, I will use my power to fight for action and meaningful change."
For 364 days, the Gottke sisters waited to hug their dad.

On Saturday, they finally got their chance, as the girls' family and community welcomed Sgt. First Class Terry Gottke back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

When a fire truck with its sirens blaring passed their house, Tawny, 7, and Brea, 5, of Blue Rock, Ohio, just outside Columbus, took notice. And, they were all tears of joy when Gottke stepped off the truck, surprising them.

"Daddy! Daddy's here!" Tawny exclaimed, giving him a huge kiss on the cheek.

PHOTO: Sgt. First Class Terry Gottke and his wife, Brittany, are both firefighters in Blue Rock, Ohio. (Courtesy Brittany Gottke)

Brittany Gottke told ABC News today that it was both her and Terry Gottke's idea to have him arrive in a fire truck, decked out in head-to-toe firefighting gear. The two kept the secret from Tawny and Brea.

"Hey Tawny? You know how I said I was going to give you your Easter presents? You see who I brought you!" Brittany Gottke said.

Tawny and Brea not only love firefighters but also want to be them when they grow up.

Fighting fires is in their blood. Their mother, Brittany Gottke, is a firefighter, as is Terry Gottke.

Terry Gottke has served in the National Guard for almost 14 years. His last deployment -- in Iraq in 2010 to 2011 -- occurred nine weeks after Tawny was born.

Florida family 'still shocked' by soldier's surprise Legoland homecoming

This time, he will be home for a month with his family before continuing to serve stateside.

On Saturday, Tawny would not let go of her dad as he was welcomed home by the entire town. Supporters lined the streets, and even set up a traffic sign with his firefighter number on it to show their appreciation for his service.
(BATON ROUGE, La.)  Louisiana prosecutors arent seeking the death penalty against a suspect charged with killing three men and wounding a fourth in a string of shootings last year.

District Attorney Samuel DAquilla told The Associated Press on Monday that he informed Ryan Sharpes defense attorney of his decision not to seek the death penalty against the 36-year-old man over a deadly shooting in East Feliciana Parish.

Sharpe is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 9 shooting of Boy Scouts employee Brad DeFranceschi, who was gunned down while trimming weeds in front of his house. DeFranceschi lived on Boy Scouts camp property in Clinton, a town of 1,600 people about 30 miles northeast of Baton Rouge.

The charges that he faces in the other three shootings arent punishable by a death sentence.

Sharpe is charged with second-degree murder in the July 8 shooting of 62-year-old Tommy Bass, who was killed in the carport of his home. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder in the Sept. 12 shooting of 47-year-old Buck Hornsby, who was wounded while exercising on his property. And he is charged with second-degree murder in the Sept. 19 killing of 66-year-old Carroll Breeden, who was shot to death while doing yard work in front of his home in East Baton Rouge Parish.

DAquilla said he based his decision on several factors, including the very time-consuming nature of capital murder cases. He said he expects Sharpes attorneys to challenge his mental capacity to stand trial.

We dont want to get into a lengthy battle with that, DAquilla said.

Tommy Damico, one of Sharpes attorneys, said a defense argument that Sharpe is mentally unfit for trial may be on the table.

Without getting into all of the evidence, this is a very unusual type of situation, Damico said.

A 2009 law amended Louisianas first-degree-murder statute to make it easier for prosecutors to seek the death penalty against people accused of serial killings. But the change in the law hasnt really been tested yet in either the Louisiana Supreme Court or U.S. Supreme Court, DAquilla said, citing that as another factor in his decision.

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The four shootings happened in a rural area north of Baton Rouge and left residents on edge for weeks. The victims were middle-age or older white men who were shot at their homes or on their property. Sharpe, who owned a plumbing company, also is white.

A law enforcement official told the AP last year that Sharpe wasnt a suspect in the shootings until he called East Feliciana Parish Sheriff Jeff Travis office on Oct. 11 and identified himself as the killer. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

Travis has said Sharpe confessed when investigators questioned him after his arrest. Travis also has said detectives found significant physical evidence linking Sharpe to the shootings.

Sharpes trial in East Feliciana Parish is tentatively set to start on Aug. 27, but Damico said he expects it to be postponed.
Johannesburg (AFP) - South Africa on Tuesday paid emotional tributes to Winnie Mandela, who died aged 81, as politicians hailed her as an inspirational anti-apartheid campaigner and defended her often controversial record.

The former wife of Nelson Mandela died in a Johannesburg hospital on Monday, mourned by many who praised her as one of the most charismatic and energetic activists who fought white-minority rule.

Her convictions for kidnapping and fraud, and her reputation for overseeing brutal gang violence in black townships, were largely brushed aside by eulogies of her bravery, independence and integrity.

President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed a memorial service on April 11 and an official funeral on April 14 "in honour of a patriot and citizen who served our nation and humanity at large with distinction during our liberation struggle."

He said the funeral would include military ceremonial honours and he ordered national flags to be flown at half-mast during a period of official mourning until after her burial.

Zweli Mkhize, a senior minister in the African National Congress (ANC) party government, said Winnie Mandela's death marked "the end of an era" as she was a leading stalwart from the darkest days of the anti-apartheid campaign.

"We are losing the last few of those very committed freedom fighters and I think all we have to do is to always take lessons from her life," Mkhize said outside Winnie Mandela's house in Soweto where she lived for decades.

"When she had to face the apartheid government, she was fearless -- but also among ourselves she was never shy to criticise."

- 'Not allow racists to insult her' -

The outspoken leader of the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party Julius Malema, who became a confidant of Winnie Mandela in recent years, was also among mourners at her modest two-storey red brick home on Tuesday.

"Because (she) was living among her people, and never betrayed her people, they gave her the title of the 'Mother of the nation,'" he said.

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"We are here to celebrate the life of a person who has never looked down on black people and the poor masses."

Malema attacked those who criticised her chequered past, saying that "the least we can do is defend her in death and not allow the racists to insult her".

"They fear her even in death -- that is why they continue to call her names, that is why they continue to characterise her in a manner that we do not know."

The ANC's Women's League, which Winnie Mandela once led, will stage a mass march to her home on Wednesday.

The firebrand activist died peacefully in Johannesburg's Milpark hospital on Monday, her family said, adding that she was "was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against Apartheid".

- A marriage apart -

Most of Winnie Mandela's 38-year marriage to Nelson was spent apart, with Nelson imprisoned for 27 years, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone and to keep alive his political dream.

Glamorous and tough, she played a high-profile role in the battle to end repressive white-minority rule.

But her reputation came under damaging scrutiny in the later years of apartheid.

In 1986, she was widely linked to "necklacing", the burning alive of suspected traitors who had flaming, petrol-soaked tyres forced over their heads.

In 1990 the world watched when Nelson Mandela finally walked free from prison -- hand-in-hand with Winnie.

The following year, she was convicted of kidnapping and assault over the killing of Stompie Moeketsi, a 14-year-old boy.

In 1992, the Mandelas separated, and then divorced in 1996, after a legal wrangle that revealed she had an affair with a young bodyguard.

In 2003, she was found guilty of theft and fraud over bank loans.

During her old age, she re-emerged as a respected elder who was feted as a living reminder of the late Mandela -- and of the long and celebrated struggle against apartheid.

Nobel laureate archbishop Desmond Tutu described her as "a defining symbol" of the battle against oppression.

"She refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband, the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment," Tutu said.

"Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists."
Bamako (AFP) - Amnesty International on Tuesday called on authorities in Mali to investigate extrajudicial killings following the discovery last week of a mass grave containing six bodies.

The rights group said it had collected evidence that "the six bodies found in a mass grave on 25 March had been arrested by the military three days earlier in the village of Dogo and taken away to an unknown location."

"This macabre discovery comes after weeks of escalating violence which has left civilians in central Mali caught in the crossfire, facing enforced disappearances and unlawful killings by the military on one side, and roadside bombs and abductions by armed groups on the other," Amnesty's West Africa researcher Gaetan Mootoo said in a statement.

"We are urging the Malian authorities to investigate reports of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of civilians in the central region, and bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice," Mootoo said.

The UN Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on March 29 expressed "deep concern" over the increase in "serious violations and human rights abuses against civilians, including cases of summary execution" in the centre of the country, where jihadist groups are particularly active.

MINUSMA, which has 12,000 peacekeepers in Mali, said it had recorded at least 85 major violent incidents and armed confrontations that resulted in at least 180 civilian victims, including 15 women and 17 children, since the beginning of the year.

It said it was also worried about the extent of intercommunal violence in the central region, which has killed at least 50 people.

"Some cases are attributable to community self-defence groups," said MINUSMA, which welcomed Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga's recent visit to the restive region and the government's commitment to "shed light on serious violations and human rights abuses".

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Maiga, who is charged with improving Mali's security situation, vowed to disarm militias during visit to Koro on March 25.

In early 2012 Islamist extremists linked to Al-Qaeda and other armed groups took control of Mali's desert north, but were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013.

That insurgency has since spread to the country's centre, where local grievances are exploited by the Islamists in a region awash with guns.

Another problem is deadly clashes between farmers and herders driven south to feed their animals in recent years.
Andrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director fired by the Trump administration, has stopped accepting donations to his legal defense fund after his GoFundMe page tripled its original $150,000 target.

The goal was later updated to $250,000 but the fund also smashed this milestone, standing at $554,520 early on Tuesday morning. More than 13,200 people have donated to the fund since it was created on March 29.

In a statement posted to the page on Monday, McCabe said that the support had been simply overwhelming leaving him stunned and extraordinarily grateful.

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I never imagined that I would need to rely on this type of assistance, the statement continued. The fact is that if I am going to continue taking a stand against the unfair way I have been treated, I will need the help of a talented and courageous team behind me.

Andrew McCabe

Alex Wong/Getty Images

It is not lost on me that each contribution reflects not just someone's well wishes, but also their acknowledgement that something in this situation is not fair or just, McCabe said.

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions dismissed McCabe as deputy director of the FBI in March, just hours before his 50th birthday when he would have become eligible for his full law enforcement pension.

Sessions said McCabe had demonstrated a lack of candor and made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media, citing a 2016 Wall Street Journal article which claimed McCabe had slowed an ongoing probe into the Clinton Foundation and misled investigators. McCabe denied the reports, and said he asked officials to speak with the Journal to correct factually inaccurate things.

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Trump tweeted his support for the decision, which he said marked a great day for democracy. The president has repeatedly targeted McCabe on Twitter and accused him of political bias.

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McCabe has dismissed allegations of wrongdoing, arguing that his firing is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to discredit the U.S. intelligence community. The former deputy director also said he was being targeted because he is an important witness to Trumps alleged obstruction of Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

McCabe said the action is part of this administration's ongoing war on the FBI and the efforts of the special counsel investigation, which continue to this day. Their persistence in this campaign only highlights the importance of the special counsel's work.

McCabe's spokeswoman explained that the legal fund will be used to cover the costs of responding to requests from the Justice Department inspector general and oversight hearings in Congress. Any funds remaining in the fund after all legal action is concluded will be donated to charitable organizations chosen by McCabe and his family.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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New research from Leeds University in England has confirmed that the grounding lines, the point where a glacier meets the ocean, of eight of the largest ice glaciers in Antarctica are retreating at an alarming rate. This finding could have major implications for future sea levels and ocean circulations.

The new study, published Monday in Nature Geoscience, shows evidence that an area of Antarctica's submerged ice roughly the size of London melted between 2010 and 2016. In addition, the grounding lines of eight of the 65 largest glaciers in Antarctica are retreating faster than they have since the end of the last ice age. This accelerated melting is the result of warming temperatures in the Southern Ocean, Phys Org reported.

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Hannes Konrad et al, University of Leeds

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When the ice in glaciers becomes too thin to rest on the bedrock of the Antarctic continent, they float. However, ice that no longer sits on the continent will melt into the ocean. This raises sea levels across the globe. In addition, because the ice sheet in Antarctica is freshwater, this melting would change ocean circulation, as this is partially driven by changes in the oceans salt content, lead study researcher Hannes Konrad told Newsweek.

Konrad explained that its not that the oceans are simply getting hotter but rather that from time to time warm water from the depth of the global oceans is rising up and melting floating bits of ice.

This seems to be driven by wind activity and could be related to the ENSO [El Nino/La Nina] phenomenon, he said.

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Grounding lines are more or less invisible because the floating parts of the glacier and the submerged parts tend to look the same. To measure these lines, the team used the CryoSat-2, a tool from the European Space Agency designed to measure changes in ice sheet elevation. They then used measurements of known grounding line position changes over the past seven years to give them the current grounding line positions.

04_03_Antarctica

Mathilde Bellenger/AFP/Getty Images

The result is the first complete map showing how the grounding line level of Antarctica's ice sheet has changed. That sheet covers an area of land larger than the U.S. and Mexico combined. In eight of the ice sheets 65 biggest glaciers, the grounding line retreat has been extreme. This change was most apparent in West Antarctica.

However, the study also revealed that while the retreat of the grounding line in certain glaciers has sped up, in others this retreat has completely stopped. According to Konrad, this is simply further proof of how complex and unstable ice sheet behavior is.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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The so-called affluenza teen who once claimed his parents wealth prevented him from distinguishing between right and wrong was released from a Texas jail Monday after a two-year sentence related to a drunk-driving crash that killed four people.

Ethan Couch, now 20, exited the Tarrant County jail to begin probation, which requires him to wear a GPS ankle monitor and be home by 9 p.m., NBC Dallas Fort Worth reported.

Couch will now serve the remaining six years of his period of community supervision under the terms and conditions imposed by the court, his lawyers, Scott Brown and Reagan Wynn, told ABC News in a statement.

Ethan Couch, the so-called "affluenza" teen, is seen in a Fort Worth, Texas, courtroom in 2016. On Monday he was released from jail after completing a two-year sentence. (Photo: POOL New / Reuters)

Couch wants to regain his privacy so he may focus on successfully completing his community supervision and going forward as a law-abiding citizen, the defense lawyers added.

Couch initially avoided prison for the deadly 2013 crash after a judge accepted a psychologists diagnosis of affluenza that prevented him from distinguishing right and wrong because of his parents wealth. He was sentenced to 10 years probation and ordered not consume drugs or alcohol.

But in 2015, after he was caught on video at a party featuring alcohol, apparently violating the requirement, Crouch fled with his mother, Tonya Couch, to a Mexican resort town.

Ethan Couch's mother, Tonya Couch, is seen after accused of helping her son flee to Mexico after he was suspected of violating a probation deal that kept him out of prison. (Photo: POOL New / Reuters)

Both were arrested by Mexican authorities days later. Tonya Couch was charged with money laundering and hindering apprehension of her fugitive son. Ethan Couch was sent to jail for violating his probation.

In a twist, Tonya Couch last week was booked into the same jail as her son after she failed a court-ordered drug test. Her trial is scheduled to begin in May.

Couchs father, Fred Couch, was given a years probation in 2016 after a conviction for impersonating a police officer.

Related...

'Affluenza' Teen Ethan Couch Gets Nearly 2 Years In Jail

Attorneys for 'Affluenza' Teen Ethan Couch Ask To Have Him Released

'Affluenza' Teen Ethan Couch Detained In Mexico

Tonya Couch, 'Affluenza' Teen's Mom, Set For Arraignment

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'Affluenza' Teen Ethan Couch Deported From Mexico, Returns To Texas

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Vilnius (AFP) - Baltic state leaders will ask the United States to send more troops and bolster air defences on NATO's eastern flank to deter Russia when they meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday, officials said.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis are visiting the White House as Washington is apparently adopting a harder stance towards Moscow.

Trump's more confrontational rhetoric of late has eased initial concerns in the region over what had appeared to be a more conciliatory approach to the Kremlin when the US leader first arrived in power.

A senior Lithuanian official who wished to remain unnamed said the three Baltic leaders were asking the US to send Patriot long-range anti-aircraft missiles more frequently for war games. They also want to become a part of NATO's larger European anti-missile shield.

"I hope that the United States and other allies understand that the airspace of the Baltic states must be better protected and defended," Lithuania's Grybauskaite told her country's public broadcaster LRT ahead of the visit.

"It is important that (US troops) are here on permanent rotational basis in all Baltic states," she said.

Last year, NATO deployed four multinational battalions to Poland and the Baltic states as tripwires against possible Russian adventurism, while the US military sent a Patriot battery to Lithuania for drills.

US Vice President Mike Pence in July raised the possibility of deploying Patriots in nearby Estonia.

- Hardening line -

The Baltic states were deeply rattled by Trump's campaign rhetoric questioning NATO's relevance, his erratic behaviour and his initial unwillingness to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2016, Vilnius artists painted a mural depicting Trump passionately locking lips with Putin, while a public opinion poll last year showed two thirds of Lithuanians did not trust the US president.

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But the public mood changed after Trump decided to provide anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to defend against Russia-backed separatists and to boost funding for US forces in Europe.

"Concerns about his commitment to NATO were initially widespread, but have eased in recent months," Vilnius University analyst Kestutis Girnius told AFP.

For Simas Celutka from the Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis, the recent expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of a spy was a sign of a more confrontational posture.

"Advisers might have convinced Trump that a resolute show of strength is the only form of communication Putin takes seriously," he said.

- Setting standards -

Trump, who has repeatedly attacked "free rider" NATO allies, is expected to praise the Baltic trio for meeting NATO's rule to spend two percent of gross domestic product on defence.

"The president wants to show that these countries are setting standards where we want to see allies moving in terms of defence," said Anne Hall, the US ambassador to Lithuania.

The Baltic-US summit will also include a business forum where Lithuania plans to sign deals to boost imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US to reduce reliance on Russia's Gazprom.

Diplomats say the prospect of trade wars between Europe and the United States could also be discussed in the talks, as the Baltic states are increasingly concerned over a trans-Atlantic rift.

The Baltic states, with a combined population of just six million people, were occupied and annexed by Moscow during World War II.

The trio broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991 and joined both the European Union and NATO in 2004.
South Carolina is already considered as having some of the loosest gun laws in the country: Getty

A bill set to be introduced this week in South Carolina would bar local governments from enacting stricter gun control, dramatically reducing the ability of local politicians to determine how to address gun violence in their communities.

The bill, written by state Representative Joshua Putnam and reviewed by The Independent, would mean changes to gun laws at the local level would have to be approved by two thirds of both chambers of the South Carolina legislature. If passed, South Carolina would join a handful of states where similar laws exist, including Florida, where the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland left 17 dead.

Mr Putnam, who is also running for South Carolinas secretary of state post, said that he was choosing this moment to introduce the bill in light of the intense national focus on Americas gun laws that has been sparked in large part by the Parkland shooting on Valentines Day.

Our biggest issue is with all the debate going on across the country  that we enter into it cool, calm, and collected, Mr Putnam said. This bill would safeguard the Second Amendment by requiring a two-thirds majority [to change gun laws locally], as opposed to a simple majority.

The South Carolina legislature is dominated by Republicans, with nearly two-thirds representation in both chambers. The Republican Party is broadly seen as being opposed to stricter gun control laws, and the state is already considered to have some of the loosest gun regulation in the country.

The bill does not mention how the statute would be enforced if it were made into law, but a series of laws in other states have relied on strategies including fines for local legislators  $5,000 in Florida, and $50,000 in Arizona  as well as for making local officials personally liable for damages or attorneys fees for violating the statute.

Detractors have criticised laws like the one that Mr Putnam wants passed for making it impossible for local communities and cities to respond swiftly, or at all, to gun violence tragedies. The Giffords Law Centre, a policy group that looks to prevent gun violence, says such laws creates a dangerous gap  between the people passing laws and those living with them every day

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Similar criticism was seen in Florida in the wake of the Parkland shooting, where mostly Democratic politicians in the state said that the legislature in Tallahassee was keeping them from keeping their residents safe.

I think its outrageous, South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard, a Democrat, said in the days following the shooting. Why should the cities be prohibited from protecting their citizens?

Florida, Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Mississippi all have laws that impose fines, make local officials liable for costs, or authorise the removal of local officials who violate their state pre-emption statutes over gun regulation. Kentucky stands alone in making local officials criminally liable for violating their state pre-emption statutes, according to the Giffords Law Centre.
Just weeks after President Trump took office, auto executives came to him with a plea: revisit Obama-era rules that require U.S. carmakers to make cleaner vehicles, or risk losing American jobs.

On Monday, Trumps Environmental Protection Agency fulfilled the request, issuing an official determination from EPA boss Scott Pruitt that the U.S.s vehicle emissions standardsa key part of Obamas program to fight climate changedidnt comport with reality.

But now, automakers appear to worry the administration may be going too far. The EPAs determination, they suggest, may lead to a protracted battle between blue states and the administration that leaves carmakers without a clear set of rules.

At the heart of the matter is whether Californiaand 13 states that follow its leadcan set tougher vehicle emissions standards than the national requirements. Set in 2012, the national standards would have required automakers to reach an average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, thereby preventing 6 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and saving 12 billion barrels of oil. The coalition of states led by California, which had sought more stringent standards, agreed to set its requirements at the same levels. But if the Trump administration rolls back the Obama-era national standards, it would create dueling benchmarks, leading to massive market uncertainty and potentially driving up the price of owning a car.

We support increasing clean car standards through 2025 and are not asking for a rollback, said Bill Ford, executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, and Jim Hackett, the companys CEO, in a blog post last week. We want one set of standards nationally, along with additional flexibly to help us provide more affordable options for our customers.

Pruitt hinted Monday that California will need to come aboard the federal standard at the level set by the Trump administration. That would require negotiations between the federal governmentnamely, the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)and California to come up with a standard both sides will accept. If negotiations fail, the EPA might try to revoke the states authority to craft its own emissions rules. Cooperative federalism doesnt mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country, Pruitt said in a press release Monday.

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Revoking Californias waiver that allows it to set its own standards would prompt a protracted battle in uncharted legal territory. The Clean Air Act gives the EPA authority to grant waivers, but the law is unclear about how they might be revoked. Californias attorney general said in a statement that his office is reviewing the EPA decision and is ready to take legal action.

The uncertainty of a long legal battle would create a compliance nightmare for automakers, with even medium-term emissions regulations up in the air. The Auto Alliance, a trade group that represents U.S. automakers, praised the decision to revisit the standards in a statement but urged the Trump administration to strike a deal with California. Maintaining a single national program is critical to ensuring that cars remain affordable, the group said in a statement.

Pruitt justified the rollback, saying that his predecessors set unrealistically aggressive standards. But the move also fits with the Trump administrations broader stance on global warming. Trump has sought to pare back environmental regulation with an especially aggressive target on climate change rules. In that vein, Pruitt has targeted the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era rule designed to reduce emissions in the power sector, as well as a rule targeting methane emissions, among others. Officials across the administration often demur when asked about the science of climate change.

Automakers disagree. The Auto Alliance posted a fact sheet following the EPA announcement highlighting the work car companies have made reducing emissions and arguing that progress in the sector remains in line with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, a global deal targeting climate change. Ford touted a recent investment of $11 billion into hybrid and electric vehicles. Our planet faces increasing challenges, the implications of which are profound, Ford and Hackett wrote. The cost of believing it is not real is just too high.
Tiangong 1, Chinas fallen space station, is now in pieces somewhere on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, but its hardly the last spacecraft that will plunge to earth. In fact, by the end of the week, three more are expected to re-enter the atmosphere.

Two pieces of space junk from Kazakhstan and one from India are headed home, part of the surprisingly regular amount of cosmic debris that falls to earth each year. The first could occur as early as tomorrow evening, according to Satview.org.

PSLV R/B, an Indian spacecraft that was launched Nov. 4, 2013, is expected to reenter the atmosphere at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET Tuesday. That will be followed Wednesday at 7:30 p,m, ET by FLOCK 2E-3, a Kazakh spacecraft that has been orbiting earth since Nov. 19, 1998. Finally, Friday morning at approximately 10:24 a.m. ET, FLOCK 2E-6, another Kazakh orbital will fall to earth.

Like Tiangong 1, theres no reason to spent a lot of time worrying about these incoming spacecraft. Odds are theyll burn up in the atmosphereand even if pieces survive, the odds of being hit are fewer than one in 300 trillion.

Hollywood can make incoming space junk seem glamorous, but its actually so routine its boring. Between 200 to 400 space objects reenter the atmosphere each year, a number thats only going to increase as companies send up more satellites.

To date, just one person has been hit with falling debris from any of them: Lottie Williams of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was hit by a six-inch piece of rocket in 1997. She walked away from the incident with no injuries.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend this month's Boao Forum and deliver a keynote speech, the Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, said on Tuesday. China will unveil new measures on reform and opening up at the annual forum, Wang told a news briefing in Beijing. The forum will be held in China's southern island province of Hainan, from April 8 to 11. Chinese leaders have pledged to roll out fresh market-opening measures this year, which marks the 40th anniversary of China's landmark economic reforms and opening up under former leader Deng Xiaoping. President Xi will make "the most authoritative interpretation" on reforms and opening up, Wang said. "People will hear a series of new important measures on reforms and opening up," he said. Foreign leaders including Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will attend the forum, known as Asia's Davos, Wang said. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk and Kevin Yao; Editing by Michael Perry)
By Ben Blanchard and Tony Munroe BEIJING (Reuters) - China has increased tariffs by up to 25 percent on 128 U.S. products, from frozen pork and wine to certain fruits and nuts, escalating a dispute between the world's biggest economies in response to U.S. duties on imports of aluminum and steel. The tariffs, which take effect on Monday, were announced late on Sunday by China's finance ministry and matched a list of possible tariffs on up to $3 billion in U.S. goods published by China on March 23. Soon after the announcement, an editorial in the widely read Global Times newspaper warned that if the United States had thought China would not retaliate or would only take symbolic countermeasures, it could "say goodbye to that delusion". "Even though China and the U.S. have not publicly said they are in a trade war, the sparks of such a war have already started to fly," the newspaper said. The Ministry of Commerce said it was suspending its obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reduce tariffs on 120 U.S. goods, including fruit and ethanol. The tariffs on those products will be raised by an extra 15 percent. Eight other products, including pork and scrap aluminum, would now be subject to additional tariffs of 25 percent, it said, with the measures effective starting April 2. "China's suspension of its tariff concessions is a legitimate action adopted under WTO rules to safeguard China's interests," the finance ministry said. China is moving swiftly with retaliatory action amid escalating trade tension with the United States, which has rocked global financial markets in the past week as investors fear a full-blown trade dispute between the two economic superpowers will damage world growth. In response to China's move, Washington said Beijing's subsidies and overcapacity were behind the action on steel. "Instead of targeting fairly traded U.S. exports, China needs to stop its unfair trading practices which are harming U.S national security and distorting global markets, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement. MORE TARIFFS COMING FROM WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump is separately preparing to impose tariffs of more than $50 billion on Chinese goods following an investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act. The U.S. administration says China has systematically misappropriated American intellectual property - allegations China denies. About the Section 301 investigation, China had "yet to unsheathe its sword," the official Xinhua news agency said. Sometime this week, the Trump administration is expected to unveil a list of Chinese goods that could be subjected to new U.S. tariffs. U.S. technology industry officials said they expected the list to target products that benefit from Beijing's "Made in China 2025" program, which aims to upgrade the domestic manufacturing base with more advanced products. China has repeatedly promised to open its economy further, but many foreign companies complain of unfair treatment. China warned the United States on Thursday not to open a Pandora's Box and spark a flurry of protectionist practices across the globe. "There are some people in the West who think that China looks tough for the sake of a domestic audience, and would easily make concessions," the Global Times said. "But they are wrong." The Global Times is run by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, although its stance does not necessarily reflect government policy. Reaction to China's measures varied on social media, with some saying Chinese customers would be the ones to ultimately pay for a trade war. "Why not directly target soybean and planes? The tariffs that China announced today don't sound a lot to me," said a user on the Weibo microblog platform. Aircraft and soybeans were China's biggest U.S. imports by value last year. In a statement published on Monday morning, the commerce ministry said the United States had "seriously violated" the principles of nondiscrimination enshrined in World Trade Organization rules, and had also damaged China's interests. "China's suspension of some of its obligations to the United States is its legitimate right as a member of the World Trade Organization," it said, adding that differences should be resolved through negotiation. Weibo prominently featured the list of U.S. goods that China is targeting among the day's "hot" trending topics. "I will never buy fruit from the U.S.," a Weibo user wrote. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Tony Munroe; additional reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai and Stella Qiu and Lusha Zhang in Beijing; additional Writing by Ryan Woo; editing by Eric Meijer, Shri Navaratnam and Jonathan Oatis)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has slapped extra tariffs of up to 25 percent on 128 U.S. products including frozen pork, as well as on wine and certain fruits and nuts, in response to U.S. duties on imports of aluminum and steel, China's finance ministry said. The list of tariffs, to take effect on Monday, was released late on Sunday and matches a list of potential tariffs on up to $3 billion in U.S. goods published by China on March 23. China has imposed the tariffs amid escalating trade tension between Beijing and Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to impose tariffs of more than $50 billion on Chinese goods intended to punish Beijing over U.S. allegations that China systematically misappropriated American intellectual property. China has repeatedly promised to open its economy further, but many foreign companies continue to complain of unfair treatment. China warned the United States on Thursday not to open a Pandora's Box and spark a flurry of protectionist practices across the globe. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Tony Munroe; Editing by Eric Meijer)
China's military leadership has pledged its support to Russia as tensions between Moscow and the West further deteriorate into diplomatic isolation, economic sanctions and dueling defense drills.

In his first visit to Russia, newly appointed Chinese Defense Minister Wei Feng attended the seventh Moscow International Security Conference accompanied by a delegation of other high-level military officials. Emphasizing that his trip was coordinated directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Wei said that he had two major messages for Russia at a time when both nations were attempting to modernize their armed forces and strengthen their hands in global affairs in spite of U.S. fears.

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"I am visiting Russia as a new defense minister of China to show the world a high level of development of our bilateral relations and firm determination of our armed forces to strengthen strategic cooperation," Wei said at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, according to the state-run Tass Russian News Agency.

"Second, to support the Russian side in organizing the Moscow International Security Conference the Chinese side has come to show Americans the close ties between the armed forces of China and Russia, especially in this situation. Weve come to support you," he added. "The Chinese side is ready to express with the Russian side our common concerns and common position on important international problems at international venues as well."

RussiaChinamilitarymeeting

Russian Ministry of Defense

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart command what's often considered the world's second and third most powerful armed forces, respectively, behind the U.S. While the Pentagon has managed to retain a comfortable lead against its leading competitors, Moscow and Beijing have coordinated closely as they both aim to close this gap and check U.S. influence abroad.

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As Russia showed off its military prowess by declaring victory in the Syrian conflict and boosting its military power across Europe, China has invested in international infrastructure projectsespecially across Asia and Africaand expanded its presence in the Pacific. Both countries argue they are looking to work with and not against the U.S., but Washington has viewed their rise with suspicion and has taken countermeasures against perceived challenges to the international order it has traditionally dominated for decades.

In addition to boosting its own military power in Europe and Asia, the U.S. has portrayed growing Russian and Chinese influence abroad as an assault on democracy. The West has singled out Russia especially, accusing it of interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential race and other foreign elections.

Washington has also charged Moscow with being behind cyber attacks and physical attacks, including the poisoning of ex-Soviet intelligence officer Sergei Skripal who was arrested for being a double agent for London before being released in a 2010 spy swap and moving to the U.K.

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Reuters

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The nerve agent attack, which targeted both Skripal and his daughter, has led a number of Western countries and their allies to expel more than 100 Russian diplomats and close consulates. Russia has responded in kind, denying responsibility and accusing the U.K. of denying it access to the investigation.

When asked about the global reaction to the case, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang urged "that the relevant parties shall sort out the facts behind the Skripal incident at an early date and properly resolve disputes based on mutual respect and equal-footed consultation," during a regular press conference Tuesday.

"The international community is challenged on so many fronts today. Cold War mentality and group confrontation is the last thing we need. We should all work together to preserve world peace, stability and security and build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, equality, justice and win-win cooperation," he added.

Russia has also suggested that the U.S. or the U.K. may be the true culprit behind the attack against Skripal in a bid to frame the Kremlin. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Rossiya-24 station on Thursday that "the Skripal affair was used in order to tighten the ranks of the European Union and NATO, which loosened lately, and to inject another portion of Russophobia" ahead of the Western military alliance's Brussels summit in July, Tass reported.

ChinaRussiaMilitary

CHINA MILITARY ONLINE/WANG HUAWEI/WANG TAO/ZHOU HUANCHENG

In response to Wei's visit, his Russian counterpart also stressed better relations between the two countries, which once formed the world's largest and most powerful communist alliance before falling out in the 1960s. With both Putin and Xi having been re-elected last month, the two presidents have successfully consolidated power in their respective countries.

"Thanks to the efforts of the leaders of our countries, the ties between Russia and China are now reaching a new and unprecedented level, becoming an important factor in ensuring peace and international security," Shoigu said, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from Newsweek
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides a target-striking contest of the special operation forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) to occupy islands in this undated picture provided by KCNA in Pyongyang on August 25, 2017. KCNA via Reuters ATTENTION EDITO

Doug Bandow

Security, Asia

Accepting a North Korea with a reduced nuclear arsenal may be the best course of action.

Here's How North Korea Will Keep Some Nukes and Get Sanctions Relief

The United States Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded that North Korea does not intend to yield all of its nuclear weapons. Yet the administration is proceeding as if nothing was amiss, which may be the best strategy. Although Washington and Pyongyangs neighbors might have had trouble living with the nuclear North Korea on display last fall, the world should get along just fine if the North turns out to be a version of Pakistan.

The DIA report, described by the usual unnamed officials to the Washington Post, concluded that despite Supreme Leader Kim Jong-uns summit appearance, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea does not intend to turn over its entire nuclear arsenal. In fact, this conclusion was already essentially the consensus of most experts who has ever dealt with the North Korea issue, even before hearing the DIAs opinion.

Also, the agency believes that Pyongyang has a secret uranium enrichment facility. DPRK officials are thought to be downplaying the number of North Korean nuclear weapons, which some U.S. intelligence officials believe could be as high as sixty-five. Additionally, the DIA warned that Pyongyang is considering how to conceal any undeclared warheads as denuclearization proceeds.

All very hard to prove, but frankly, it would be surprising if it was not true. Indeed, it may be the best strategy the Kim government could follow. Pyongyang could turn over a sizable number of warheads, say twenty, and claim they to constitute North Koreas entire arsenal. They will declare what is obvious and allow inspections, while carefully hiding and disguising the rest.

That number should be enough to win the administration kudus in Washington and the North sanctions relief at the United Nations. But North Korea will secretly keep the rest, say forty-five if the DIAs numbers are right, and add more over time if s secret fissile production plant exists. North Korea would never admit anything, but also wouldnt worry if deception is suspected. After all, Pyongyang would enjoy plausible possession of a deterrent without appearing to pose a significant threat to anyone. Furthermore, all of this would happen while they enjoy the economic benefits of joining the rest of the world.

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In fact, North Koreas behavior suggests that this could have been Kims strategy. Last fall President Trump could plausibly threaten war against the North. Even the most outlandish claim about the Hermit Kingdom was assumed to be true. The regime started the Korean war and has a long history of turning the peninsulas peculiar cold war briefly hot multiple times. For instance, North Korea seized an American spy ship, the U.S.S. Pueblo, in international waters and blew up a South Korean airliner. Pyongyang also kidnapped Japanese and South Korean citizens, and as late as 2010 sank a South Korean naval vessel and bombarded a South Korean island, all while routinely threatening its neighbors and America with nuclear annihilation.

Kim Jong-il, the current rulers father who favored bouffant hair, platform shoes, and oversize sunglasses, was easily caricatured in the film Team America. Even more so did Kim Jong-un created his own stereotype, by executing his uncle, assassinating his half-brother, terrorizing those who served under him, and threatening to nuke America. Although those who studied the issue did not believe any of the Kims were suicidal, average Americans were more likely to view the leadership as crazy, irrational, and dangerous.

But no longer.

Kim has created a new North Korea. For instance, after the summit, the regime eliminated anti-U.S. propaganda, which was a highlight on both my visits to the North. Equally dramatic is Kims new image of reasonableness, a statesman comfortable on the international stage.

As this year dawned, he talked peace and diplomacy. Kim took his place on the international stage with class, demonstrating spontaneity and charm. He met three times with Chinese President Xi Jinping, twice with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and once with President Trump. He has received an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also may be in the offing.

Equally important, there have been no additional North Korean threats to turn cities into lakes of fire, no geopolitical trash talk, and no more missile or nuclear tests. The North remains remote and mysterious, but no longer appears dangerous.

Lets assume this continues. Indeed, imagine if North Korea joins international development organizations, expands diplomatic relationships, increases foreign trade, and welcomes more tourists. At the same time, Pyongyang goes through the motions of denuclearization. Summits are held, agreements are signed, toasts are made. The new, responsible North Korea will be on display.

Besides, even if multiple intelligence services suspected that some number of North Korean nukes remained after formal "denuclearization," there probably would be no smoking mushroom cloud. So what could the U.S. administration do?

No one would want to admit that one of the presidents chief foreign policy initiatives was a failure. Reconstructing the sanctions regime alone might be to attempt the impossible after North Korea has been integrated into global trade. Imagine trying to win popular support in America for war against a country that posed no obvious threat and which many Americans would remember having been described by the president as a friend and partner.

It would be easiest to go with the public fiction and celebrate the fantastic step forward for world peace. Privately, Washington would make explicit any use of nuclear weapons against America would be met with massive retaliation and America would encourage allies to create non-nuclear deterrents. Moreover, the United States would seek further progress on conventional arms control, border issues, and other potential threats of conflict.

This is why it helps to think of North Korea as similar to say Pakistan, but without religion. A slightly unsettling place with nuclear weapons, but not one seen as particularly threatening. Although no one familiar with Islamabads internal politics wants that government to possess an arsenal of around 120 to 130 warheads, people who think of Pakistan typically don't fixate on the fact that it is a nuclear state. Only when India and Pakistan risk colliding, do their neighbors worry about what might result. But other countries dont believe Islamabad would shoot their nuclear weapons at them. Certainly not the United States, which has no reason to be targeted by the Pakistani authorities.

Of course, America should pursue real denuclearization with North Korea. And maybe Kim has had a genuine conversion and really wants to get rid of his troublesome arsenal. But not likely. Even without the DIA report, there arent many people who are familiar with the North who believe that to be the case.

Which means America will almost certainly end up with a second-best resultthat is, something short of denuclearization. But much good still could be done, and that is an improvement. For instance, ending testing, shrinking the Norths arsenal, and reducing common triggers to war all would make the region and world a safer place.

Eliminating North Koreas nuclear weapons would be good but preventing another Korean War is essential. The DIA report reminds America that succeeding on the second might mean failing on the first.

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World and coauthor of The Korean Conundrum: Americas Troubled Relations with North and South Korea.

Image: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides a target-striking contest of the special operation forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) to occupy islands in this undated picture provided by KCNA in Pyongyang on August 25, 2017. KCNA via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS.E TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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Photo credit: The Aerospace Corporation - YouTube

From Popular Mechanics

China's first space station, the Tiangong-1 experimental space laboratory, reentered Earth's atmosphere and burned up over the southern Pacific Ocean at 8:16 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 1 (00:16 UTC on Monday, April 2), according to the U.S. Joint Force Space Component Command.

The spacecraft reentered to the northwest of Tahiti. In the remote location over the ocean, and with few airplanes in the area at the time, it is unlikely that anyone saw the reentry event.

Chinese space authorities told the Associated Press that the 8.5-metric-ton space station, known as "Heavenly Palace," mostly burned up in the atmosphere, though some debris likely impacted the ocean. Some of the heavier parts of the orbiting space lab, such as the engines, were expected to survive reentry.

NW of Tahiti - it managed to miss the 'spacecraft graveyard' which is further south! pic.twitter.com/Sj4e42O7Dc - Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) April 2, 2018

Tiangong-1 crashed down in an ideal location. To the south of Tiangong-1's reentry point is an area of the Pacific Ocean known as the "spacecraft cemetery," where craft such as the 130-ton Russian Mir space station and ISS resupply ships were deorbited in controlled reentries so that they would splash down in the remote "ocean point of inaccessibility." Tiangong-1 did not land at "Point Nemo," as some enthusiasts call the spacecraft cemetery, but rather in the ocean to the north.

China's experimental space laboratory was launched in 2011 to develop technologies for future Chinese stations. The station was visited by an uncrewed Shenzhou spacecraft, which docked with Tiangong-1 in November 2011, and then two crewed missions in June 2012 and June 2013. The three taikonauts of Shenzhou-10 spent 12 days docked to Tiangong-1 during the final mission to the station.



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China has since launched another similar space station, Tiangong-2, which was placed in orbit in September 2016. The country's ambitious space program includes plans to build a larger, permanent space station in the 2020s.

Since the last mission to Tiangong-1 in 2013, China continued to monitor the space station and adjust its orbits with onboard thrusters. However, the nation's space authorities lost control of the station in 2016, removing the possibility of conducting a controlled reentry. The world could only watch as the Tiangong-1 space station tumbled lower and lower in the sky until burning up Sunday night over the Pacific.

Heavenly Palace now rests at the bottom of the ocean along with dozens of past spacecraft, confined to the depths where it will remain for thousands of years.

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By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Chinese woman pleaded guilty on Monday to cheating on a college entrance exam, becoming the latest person to admit wrongdoing amid U.S. probes into international students who use imposters to gain admission to American universities.

Leyi Huang, who had been attending Pennsylvania State University using a student visa, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to conspiring to defraud the United States, according to court records.

Prosecutors said Huang in March 2016 arranged to have a paid test taker sit in her place and take the TOEFL, the English-language exam used to assess foreign applicants, after she failed to achieve the minimum score needed to attend Penn State.

While she faced up to five years in prison, U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor sentenced Huang, 21, to time served after she agreed to be deported, according to court papers. Her lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As China has become increasingly affluent, more Chinese students have been enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities, attracted by the prospect of a prestigious American education and good jobs.

The number of Chinese students studying in the United States in the 2016-17 academic year rose by 6.8 percent to 350,755, the Institute of International Education reported in November.

According to court papers, Huang admitted to authorities that she paid $3,000 to have someone take the TOEFL exam for her and, following instructions from a broker, mailed her Chinese passport to an address in Massachusetts.

That passport was used by Yue Wang, a Chinese student at Hult International Business School in Cambridge who prosecutors said took the TOEFL on behalf of Huang and at least two other Chinese women seeking to gain admission to U.S. universities.

In each case, the women were issued student visas based on their admission to universities, prosecutors said.

They said that as a result of the scheme, Huang defrauded the United States by impeding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in its administration of a program that sets standards for an international student to obtain a visa.

Wang, Huang and the two other women were arrested on immigration-related charges in May 2017. Like Huang, they later pleaded guilty and were sentenced to time served after agreeing to be deported.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Gul Yousafzai QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Four members of a Christian family were gunned down in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, police said, in the latest attack on the minority community. The family was traveling in a rickshaw when armed men on a motorcycle intercepted them and opened fire in Quetta city, the capital of Baluchistan province. A woman was rushed to hospital. Her father and three cousins were killed. "It appears to have been a targeted attack," provincial police official Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters. "It was an act of terrorism." The attack comes a day after Pakistan's Christian community celebrated Easter on Sunday. Around 2 percent of Pakistan's population are Christians. Minority religious festivals are a security concern in the majority Sunni Muslim country where there have been a number of high casualty attacks on Christians and Shi'ite Muslims. Baluchistan, a region bordering Iran as well as Afghanistan, is plagued by violence by Sunni Islamist sectarian groups linked to the Taliban, al Qaeda and Islamic State. It also has an indigenous ethnic Baloch insurgency fighting against central government. In December, a week before Christmas, two suicide bombers stormed a packed Christian church in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 10 people and wounding up to 56, in an attack claimed by Islamic State. The family killed on Monday had come to visit relatives in Quetta's Shahzaman road area, where a large number of the city's Christian community lives. Rome's ancient Colosseum was lit in red for an evening in February in solidarity with persecuted Christians, particularly Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman who has been living on death row in Pakistan since 2010, when she was condemned for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam. (Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Alison Williams)
The corruption verdict and sentencing of South Korea's ousted ex-president Park Geun-hye will be televised live, a Seoul court said Tuesday, in a case that could see her jailed for up to 30 years.

The 66-year-old daughter of a former dictator was impeached and arrested in March 2017 over a wide-ranging corruption scandal that exposed shady links between big business and politics and prompted massive street protests.

The Seoul Central District Court said it would allow the verdict and sentencing of Park, set for Friday afternoon, to be broadcast live in light of high public interest -- the first time a trial has been televised live in South Korea.

It will mark the first time that a verdict and sentencing will be broadcast live since the country's Supreme Court last year changed guidelines on court proceedings to allow such practices.

Park has been boycotting her trial hearings since the court extended her detention last October, accusing the institution of being biased against her.

Even though she is widely expected not to attend Friday's verdict and sentencing, she has asked the court not to allow live TV coverage of the hearing.

Prosecutors have demanded a 30-year-jail sentence and a 118.5 billion won ($110 million) fine for Park, saying she must take responsibility for the scandal as the former president.

Park is accused of colluding with her secret confidante and long-time friend Choi Soon-sil, who has been convicted, for taking tens of millions of dollars from conglomerates in return for policy favours.

Choi was sentenced to 20 years in prison, five years less than what prosecutors had demanded.

Park's downfall gave the left-leaning Democratic Party the upper hand in the presidential election last May, which was easily won by Moon Jae-in.

Park has been in custody for almost a year at a detention centre near Seoul, where she has refused to see any visitors, including her brother and sister, except for her two lawyers.

Aside from the 30 to 60 minutes in which she is allowed to take her daily outdoor walk, she confines herself to her 10-square meter solitary cell, spending most of the day reading novels and cartoons and writing what might be a memoir, according to local news reports.

She eats every meal but usually leaves half of the portion, the reports said, adding that she has recently purchased two books on stretching as she is reportedly suffering from arthritis on her knees and back pain.
NY Daily News

A school bus driver was fatally stabbed in front of students after picking them up from a Washington state elementary school Friday afternoon, authorities said. The alleged killer, who is now in custody, got on the bus near Longfellow Elementary in the city of Pasco around 3 p.m. and launched the knife attack as multiple children watched in horror, according to police. The victim lost control ...
Renowned former CBS news anchor Dan Rather chimed in on the disturbing story that Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of more than 170 U.S. TV stations, had forced its local news outlets to read the same script decrying false news.

News anchors looking into camera and reading a script handed down by a corporate overlord, words meant to obscure the truth not elucidate it, isnt journalism, Rather tweeted on Monday. He went on to call the practice Orwellian and propaganda.

News anchors looking into camera and reading a script handed down by a corporate overlord, words meant to obscure the truth not elucidate it, isn't journalism. It's propaganda. It's Orwellian. A slippery slope to how despots wrest power, silence dissent, and oppress the masses.  Dan Rather (@DanRather) April 2, 2018

Sinclair came under fire over the weekend after Deadspin released this video, which splices together dozens of the companys local affiliates reading from the same anti-false news script.

How America's largest local TV owner turned its news anchors into soldiers in Trump's war on the media: https://t.co/iLVtKRQycL pic.twitter.com/dMdSGellH3  Deadspin (@Deadspin) March 31, 2018

Sinclair, in turn, released a lengthy memo to its newsrooms across the country saying, There is a lot of noise out there about our company right now, and what is lacking in that analysis is something we constantly preach: context and perspective.

The memo, written by Sinclair Senior Vice President Scott Livingston, then lists a number of accomplishments by the groups various newsrooms.

Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Dashboard-camera footage of a patrol car striking a Sacramento, California, demonstrator during a march over the shooting of a young black man was released on Monday, and the sheriff said it was not clear from the images if the deputy was aware of the collision.

The video footage appears to show the protester, Wanda Cleveland, moving in front of a sheriff's department vehicle, possibly to show the deputies inside a sign she is holding.

Cleveland, a well-known local activist, then tries to scramble out of the way as the squad car moves slowly forward and is struck a glancing blow.

"There is a high likelihood that he didnt even know that he collided with that protester," Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said at a news conference. Jones conceded that he was only speculating and had not spoken to the deputy who drove the car.

Cleveland, 61, was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and has since been released.

A lawyer for Cleveland, Mark Reichel, said it was not possible that the deputy did not see his client, whom he claimed was trying to get to a sidewalk at the time.

"It appears from all evidence that he hit her intentionally. He drove away from an injured woman intentionally," Reichel said in a written statement, adding that Cleveland would not speak to police or the media.

"She is considering her legal options and taking the time to get over the trauma, fright and injuries she suffered Saturday night. She suffered physical and psychological harm which will take time to heal," Reichel said.

At the time Cleveland was struck by the car she was taking part in protests over the death of Stephon Clark, 22, who was killed on March 18 in a hail of bullets fired by Sacramento police officers in the backyard of his grandparents' home.

The death of Clark, a father of two, was the latest in a string of killings of black men by police that have sparked protests and fueled renewed debate about bias in the U.S. criminal justice system.

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Protesters on Saturday surrounded two marked Sacramento County Sheriff's Department patrol cars and began yelling, and pounding and kicking the vehicles, the sheriff's department has said.

The sheriff's department said the car was damaged by protesters, with dents and a shattered rear window.

The California Highway Patrol and the sheriff's office were investigating the incident.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Washington (AFP) - When President Donald Trump vowed US forces would shortly quit Syria, observers were left wondering if he was signalling an epic policy shift -- or whether it was more a case of wishful thinking.

Trump, who campaigned on a pledge of "America First," is said to be frustrated by the open-ended US commitment in Syria, where special operations forces are training and advising Kurdish and Syrian Arab fighters who are battling the Islamic State group.

Now that the jihadists have lost 98 percent of the ground they once held, according to the Pentagon, Trump last week told supporters it is almost time to bring the 2,000 or so US troops home from Syria.

"We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump promised in an address to industrial workers in Ohio.

"We're going to have 100 percent of the caliphate, as they call it -- sometimes referred to as 'land' -- taking it all back quickly, quickly," he added.

Analysts were quick to question the consequences of a rapid withdrawal from Syria, and by Monday it was clear that the current Syria policy is not shifting, at least for now.

"Our mission has not changed," Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.

"We are continuing to implement the president's strategy to defeat ISIS."

Officials told AFP that Trump's aside in his speech was not a slip, but that for several weeks he had been resisting the idea of a long- or medium-term US commitment to stabilizing eastern Syria after the defeat of IS.

The State Department refused to confirm or deny a report in The Wall Street Journal that Trump had placed on hold $200 million in US funding to help stabilize areas of eastern Syria recaptured from IS.

But, speaking on condition of anonymity, US officials confirmed that Trump has been privately questioning the strategy for several weeks.

- 'Total US capitulation' -

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Since late 2014, the United States has led an international coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, where most of the combat has been conducted by local partners on the ground.

Trump's apparent readiness to quit the chaos of Syria runs counter to a new US strategy announced in January by then secretary of state Rex Tillerson -- who has since been sacked.

Tillerson argued US forces must remain engaged in Syria to prevent IS and Al-Qaeda from returning and to deny Iran a chance "to further strengthen its position in Syria."

Charles Lister, a senior fellow and director of the Extremism and Counterterrorism Program at the Middle East Institute, noted that a sudden withdrawal of US forces would immediately bolster Iran, Russia and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump's "comments come so much out of nowhere that it's hard to take them totally seriously," said Lister, of the Washington think tank.

The president has picked a new national security advisor, John Bolton, and nominated a new secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, both of whom are hawkish on Iran.

"Trump and his new team basically now are kind of violently anti-Iranian and leaving Syria would represent a total US capitulation to Iranian influence in the region," Lister told AFP.

Trump's advisors including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other officials "will at least for now overpower Trump's tendency to just pack up and leave."

But Daniel Davis, a retired army lieutenant colonel and fellow at the Defense Priorities military think tank, said Trump is right to desire a withdrawal of US troops because ultimately, America's presence would have no impact on Syria's seven-year civil war, and that the real players are Iran and Russia.

"Why would the president want to continue to do something that is guaranteed to fail? I think (withdrawal) is the right thing to do," Davis told AFP, noting that America should only get involved in foreign military interventions when US national security interests are directly threatened.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's civil war started in 2011, spiralling into a complex conflict involving multiple world powers.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Pressure is mounting on a Hong Kong academic who helped lead pro-democracy protests in 2014, as dozens of pro-Beijing groups ran newspaper advertisements on Tuesday to demand his dismissal for allegedly advocating independence from China.

The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a so-called "one country, two systems" formula that guarantees it a high degree of autonomy and far greater freedoms than exist on the mainland.

Beijing, which considers the freewheeling financial hub an "inalienable" part of China, has been extremely critical of recent calls by more radical activists for greater self-determination for Hong Kong, and even outright independence.

Comments by law professor Benny Tai at a forum in Taiwan last month drew the ire of the People's Daily, China's mouthpiece newspaper, which urged Hong Kong authorities on Monday to take legal action against him under existing laws.

The Hong Kong government also condemned Tai, saying in a statement it was "shocked by the remarks made by a university teaching staff member that Hong Kong could consider becoming an independent state".

The latest salvo came from the Federation of Hong Kong Shenzhen Associations, a pro-Beijing group of nearly 70 bodies, which took out full-page advertisements in several newspapers, including the pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao.

In the advertisements, the federation, backed by 68 clan and patriotic groups and businesses, urged Tai's employer, the University of Hong Kong, to fire him immediately.

It also called for independence advocates to be "legally regulated".

It gave no specifics, but the call adds to a growing clamour from pro-Beijing voices in the city for harsher national security laws to tighten regulation of those advocating independence as a possible "subversive" act against China.

Tai did not immediately respond to telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment.

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Tai told Hong Kong's public broadcaster RTHK he had the right to free speech, and his comments were taken out of context.

He said he did not support independence for Hong Kong, and had only been speaking hypothetically that Hong Kong might consider becoming independent, should China one day become democratic.

Pro-democracy politicians and a group of liberal academics also condemned the criticism against Tai, saying Hong Kong's laws grant any individual the freedom to comment on political matters, even independence.

(Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Asia Times

Security, Asia

"Southeast Asian support may be much shallower and more ephemeral than [the US] thinks."

Does ASEAN Want the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea?

In recent months it has become clear that the lull in Washingtons confrontation with China in the South China Sea is over. Following the election of President Donald Trump, concern over Beijings expanding naval presence took a back seat to preoccupation with cooperation on North Korea. But the current US administration has once again stepped up rhetoric and naval operations, sending a message to China: your neighbors in the region are smaller than you, but they are not alone.

Americas continued presence in the waters of Southeast Asia is predicated, in part, on Washingtons insistence that they are needed, and wanted, to help ensure stability. But the question of whether member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) support US presence in the South China Sea may not have a black and white answer.

Maritime policy analysts Mark Valencia writes in The Jakarta Post that the answer depends on which Asean members you ask, and what the US Navy is up to at any given moment.

For one, the support from even Americas closest ally in the block, Singapore, may not be without condition, says Valencia, who is currently a scholar with the China-based National Institute for SCS Studies:

In an assessment of the United States role in Southeast Asian security [Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong] asserted that, Most ASEAN members support and welcome the US stance. Since Singapore is this years ASEAN Chair, Lees statement may hold special weight. But if taken out of context, his words may be misinterpreted.

Lees statement was a general assessment of the US role as a Pacific power  not specifically its behavior in the SCS. Indeed, he was referring to US Defense Secretary James Mattis affirmation at the 2017 Shangri-La Dialogue that Southeast Asia was a priority area and that the US was committed to the regions security and prosperity.

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Lee also wrote, From the regions perspective, the most critical issue is the political and strategic resolve of the US to project a reliable and constructive presence as a Pacific power. He was conveying some uncertainty about that commitment and resolve.

Beyond Singapore, Asean member support is mixed. Vietnam is opportunistic, and will likely adhere steadfastly to its non-alignment policy. Indonesian policy makers are suspicious of US motives and worry about the potential destabilizing effects of US-China competition. Brunei, though a rival claimant, appears to be leaning toward accommodation with China, as is the Philippines under Duterte. Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are either neutral or side with China.

In short, Valencia says, Southeast Asian support may be much shallower and more ephemeral than [the US] thinks.

Be that as it may, the US may have reinforcements coming from even further afield, as the European Union says it might want a piece of the South China Sea action. The EUs head of security policy Francois Rivasseau told The Australia Financial Review last week that the possibility of European navies conducting freedom of operation patrols in the South China Sea could not be ruled out.

The South Asia area is very important to Europe from an economic perspective. Fifty per cent of our trade goes through this area, he said. We are interested in stability in this area.

This article originally appeared on Asia Times.

Image: Flickr

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Donald Trump has invited his Russian counterpart to the White House, the Kremlin said on Monday

Donald Trump has invited Vladimir Putin to the White House for a visit, according to a statement from the Kremlin.

Yury Ushakov, an aide to the Russian leader, told reporters on Monday that during a March 20 phone conversation Mr Trump suggested that the first meeting could be held in Washington between the two leaders.

He continued: If everything goes well, I hope that the American side would not refuse its proposal to discuss the possibility of organizing the summit talks.

The White House provided confirmation of the Kremlin's announcement, with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the press secretary, issuing a statement which emphasised that no date had been set.

As the president himself confirmed on March 20, hours after his last call with President Putin, the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the not-too-distant future at a number of potential venues, including the White House," she said.

"We have nothing further to add at this time.

Days in office for Russian leaders

Mr Ushakov later said that Moscow hopes for "a serious and constructive dialogue," noting that no preparations have yet begun.

It is not the first time that Mr Trump has raised the possibility of a White House meeting. Last summer he said that he hoped to invite Mr Putin to Washington - although he noted that, at that point, a meeting was not on the cards.

"I don't think this is the right time, but the answer is yes I would," he said, in July.

President Donald Trump and Russia President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, 2017 Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev

"Look, it's very easy for me to say absolutely, I won't. That's the easy thing for me to do, but that's the stupid thing to do.

"If you don't have dialogue, you have to be fools. Fools. It would be the easiest thing for me to say I will never speak to him, and everybody would love me. But I have to do what's right."

Monday's news of a possible White House encounter follows Mr Trump's congratulations extended to Mr Putin on his re-election, despite his staff telling him explicitly not to.

On the same phone call he was expected to raise the issue of the suspected poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil - something he failed to do.
Indian authorities Monday shut schools and blocked internet services in disputed Kashmir, after a weekend of protests and gunbattles left 20 dead and 200 injured -- including many civilians with damaged eyesight.

Three soldiers, 13 suspected militants and four civilians died in a series of clashes south of the main city of Srinagar, in the single worst day of violence in Kashmir since 2016.

Thousands took to the streets over the weekend in support of the rebels, who have been fighting for decades for independence or for a merger with Pakistan.

Police opened fire with live rounds and pellet guns on mourners attending the funerals of slain militants and on crowds who threw stones and chanted slogans against Indian rule.

Doctors said Monday the extent of pellet gun injuries was the worst they had seen since hundreds were wounded in unrest that followed the shooting death of charismatic rebel commander Burhan Wani in July 2016.

"Most of them have pellets in their eyes," said Dr Saleem Tak, medical superintendent at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar, of the 45 patients who arrived at the hospital after Sunday's violence.

"This was the highest number of these injuries received in the hospital on a single day since 2016."

The use of pellet guns is controversial in Kashmir. Amnesty International has called for the weapons to be banned, describing them as cruel and indiscriminate.

One man who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals told AFP his two teenage sons were struck by pellets while attending a militant's funeral.

"The doctors are trying to save their eyes. We have to give these sacrifices for freedom," he said.

Another woman tended to her son, who wore a bandage over a damaged eye.

"They say everything is fine in Kashmir, but look what happens here," she said, also declining to give her name.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947, but both claim it in full.

Tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have been killed in separatist violence since the late 1980s.
Quito (AFP) - Ecuador's presidency said Tuesday it will do "everything possible" to gain the release of a press team abducted a week ago on the troubled border with Colombia.

The comments were the first from the government since the three-man team appeared in a video and asked Quito to help secure their release.

The footage aired on Colombia's RCN television Tuesday marked the first proof that the team from the influential Ecuadoran newspaper El Comercio is alive after being kidnapped by rogue Colombian FARC guerrillas.

Reporter Javier Ortega, 32, photographer Paul Rivas, 45, and their driver Efrain Segarra, 60, wear chains with locks around their necks in the 23-second video.

One of the hostages asks President Lenin Moreno to reach an agreement for their release.

"The government will do everything possible and impossible so that they return safe and sound," a spokesman for Moreno told Telerama TV.

In the video, the unidentified captors seek an exchange in which the hostages would go home safely, and Ecuador would stop helping Colombia fight the insurgents.

"For the three families, it was a terrible shock, a very strong emotional shock, to see where our loved ones are," said Rivas's companion Yadira Aguagallo.

Interior Minister Cesar Navas said he was aware of the kidnappers' demands and that the government was working for their release.

"To know that they are stable in the difficult conditions they are experiencing consoles us," he said.

Dozens of journalists, media and press organizations from Ecuador and Colombia signed a letter to Moreno and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos, calling on both governments to ensure their release.

"It has been very difficult for those of us who have been close to this very painful news," said Moreno's spokesman Juan Sebastian Roldan.

He described the kidnapping, the first to hit the Ecuadoran press in three decades, as an "extremely delicate issue."

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The spokesman said Moreno, who has not spoken publicly about the case, "has his attention all the time on what happens with these three compatriots."

"This is a problem serious enough to be treated with great care, not only for the three people who are there but also for the relatives," he said.

The journalists were on assignment in the border area where Ecuadoran security forces have come under a series of deadly attacks blamed on rogue FARC elements involved in drug trafficking.

A 2016 pact between the Colombian government and the FARC ended half a century of armed conflict, saw 7,000 rebels disarmed and the ex-rebels transform into a political party.

However, some 1,100 guerrillas broke away from the agreement, primarily to pursue drug trafficking and illegal mining, according to the Colombian government and independent research centers.

The FARC has long been active in the remote Ecuador-Colombia border region.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police raided the office of a news website late on Tuesday and arrested its editor in chief, according to three of its journalists, including its managing editor. The raid came two days after the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, an official oversight body, told the website, Masr al-Arabia, to pay 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,849) as a fine for republishing a New York Times article on alleged irregularities during last week's presidential election. Two journalists at the website quoted the site's lawyers as saying police said they had acted because the website did not have a permit to operate. The journalists said the raid was prompted by the republishing of the New York Times article. A statement from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, which was based on a complaint from the national election authority, had on Sunday accused the website of publishing false news. "The website should have checked the authenticity of the news or commented on it with an opinion," the Council statement said, referring to the New York Times article, which said some voters were offered payments and other inducements to vote. Adel Sabry, the website's editor in chief, was arrested and is being held at Dokki police station in greater Cairo, Mohamed Mounir, Masr al-Arabia's managing editor, told Reuters. A security source at the police station said Sabry was being held prior to appearing before a prosecutor. Sabry is accused of running a news website without a permit, the source added. The office of the website was closed and "sealed with red wax", the three journalists said. Masr al-Arabia is one of about 500 websites that have in recent months been blocked in Egypt, although some are still accessible through virtual networks. Rights groups say the closures amount to a crackdown against freedom of expression. Authorities say curbing fictitious news is necessary for national security. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won a second term with 97 percent of the votes on a turnout of 41 percent, official results showed on Monday. Some voters have said they were offered incentives to cast their ballots including money and food, local and international media reported, without saying who had made the offers. Officials said that if any such incidents took place they were not state-sponsored and extremely limited. (Editing by Nick Tattersall)
The Environmental Protection Agency approved a pipeline project last year during the same time period that administrator Scott Pruitt was renting a room from the wife of a lobbyist who represented the pipelines owner, The New York Times reported on Monday.

The news comes amid a growing controversy surrounding Pruitts unusual housing arrangement, in which he paid $50 a night to rent a room in a luxury condo from Vicki Hart, whose husband runs Williams & Jensen, a well-known energy lobbying firm.

The rental agreement, which was open-ended, offered a rate that was well below market value. The White House is conducting an informal review of the matter, unnamed officials told the Wall Street Journal and CNN.

At the same time that Pruitt had access to the condo, the EPA signaled its approval for a pipeline project from Enbridge Inc. The Canada-based company hoped to expand its Alberta Clipper pipeline and ship hundreds of thousands of barrels of additional oil to the U.S. each day.

Williams & Jensen was a registered lobbyist for Enbridge at the time, the Times reported. However, a spokesman from the firm told the newspaper that Williams & Jensen did not lobby the EPA or Pruitt on the projects behalf.

Liz Bowman, Pruitts spokeswoman, also told the Times that any attempt to draw that link is patently false.

The State Department granted the permit last October. Since then, Enbridge has expanded the pipeline.

Critics say the $6,100 Pruitt paid for his rental over six months amounted to a sweetheart deal. Rates for a one-bedroom apartment in D.C. are typically thousands of dollars higher per month and often require a contract for a set amount of time, whether the occupant sleeps there or not.

On Monday, several House Democrats sent Pruitt a letter asking him to detail the arrangement surrounding the rental.

The EPAs senior ethics counsel, Justina Fugh, said last Friday the agreement did not qualify as a prohibited gift at all, and described the deal as a routine business transaction and permissible even if from a personal friend.

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But the coverage of Pruitts close personal and financial ties to a lobbyist was just the latest in a string of negative press for the EPA chief. On Monday, it was reported that the EPA considered leasing a private jet for Pruitts travels. A story in Politico also noted that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has already considered firing the administrator

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Copenhagen (AFP) - A leading submarine expert on Tuesday challenged Danish inventor Peter Madsen's claim that Swedish journalist Kim Wall was killed by toxic fumes in his homemade vessel last year, as he faces trial for her murder.

Madsen, 47, who is accused of premeditated murder, sexual assault and desecration of a corpse, has said her death was accidental since the first day of his trial on March 8.

He said Wall, 30, died when a hatch fell on her head, but later changed his story after autopsy concluded there had been no damage to the skull.

Madsen has admitted dismembering her body and throwing it overboard, but denies premeditated murder and sexual assault.

The self-taught engineer said the freelance journalist died when the air pressure suddenly dropped and toxic fumes filled his vessel on the night of August 10, 2017, while he was up on deck.

Ditte Dyreborg, a prominent lieutenant commander known for having a sex change operation to become a woman at the end of an impressive career in the Royal Danish Navy, said Madsen's explanations were implausible, if not impossible, as she spoke in a Copenhagen court on Tuesday.

"We did not find anything. No CO (carbon monoxide), no CO2 (carbon dioxide), no NOx (nitrogen oxide). Which we would have if the submarine engine was running with carbon monoxide in it," said Dyreborg, who was the first to inspect the vessel on August 11.

Seemingly irritated and agitated, Madsen took notes during Dyreborg's testimony and whispered technical questions into his lawyer's ear, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

- 'Perverse polymorph' -

A coroner told a March 22 hearing that there was no conclusive evidence to prove Wall's cause of death beyond doubt, adding she was probably strangled or had her throat cut.

The coroner could however not rule out poisoning as a result of toxic fumes.

Madsen's lawyer Betina Hald Engmark questioned the relevance of Dyreborg's expertise on smaller and private submarines, concluding the lieutenant commander did not carry out any tests on the vessel's air filters.

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The prosecution, which is seeking a life sentence for Madsen, claims he tortured and killed Wall as part of a sexual fantasy.

Wall's body parts, weighed down with metal objects, were recovered from waters off Copenhagen. She also had 14 stab wounds to her genital area.

The first hearings focused on the inner workings of the eccentric inventor described by psychiatric experts as a "perverse polymorph" with "psychopathic traits".

The verdict is expected on April 25.
By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While President Donald Trump has said illegal immigrants heading toward the United States are trying to take advantage of an Obama-era policy that shields certain people from deportation, the program known as DACA is actually not open to new entrants. At issue is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which the Republican president last September ordered rescinded. Under DACA, hundreds of thousands of young adults dubbed "Dreamers" who were brought into the United States illegally as children have been shielded from deportation and given work permits. On Sunday, apparently in reference to a caravan of 1,500 Central Americans who are journeying through Mexico toward the United States, Trump wrote on Twitter: "These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!" But there is no "act" to get in on. Newly arriving illegal immigrants cannot win protections under DACA, created in 2012 by Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, for two reasons. Anyone admitted into the program had to have been living continuously in the United States since June 15, 2007, along with other requirements. In addition, Trump himself ordered an end to the program, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is not accepting new applicants. Under Trump's action, DACA was supposed to have begun winding down last month. But courts have ruled that Trump acted improperly and that the hundreds of thousands of immigrants currently enrolled still qualified for protections while the legal fight over DACA unfolds. When he announced he was ending DACA, Trump urged Congress to come up with a legislative fix. Referring to the Dreamers, Trump said, "I have a great heart for the folks we're talking about, a great love for them." Seven months later, DACA participants are living with the uncertainty over whether they will be protected or targeted for deportation. Meanwhile, following a series of failed negotiations with Democrats and some Republicans in Congress, Trump has been fuming over the refusal of lawmakers to fully fund a $25 billion wall he wants to build on the U.S.-Mexican border. The wall became a bargaining chip in DACA replacement legislation. "NO MORE DACA DEAL!," Trump said on Twitter as he blamed Democrats for the situation. "DACA is dead." Matthew Wright, a government professor at American University in Washington, called Trump's tweets "not connected to reality." Wright noted that Trump rejected several Democratic offers to address DACA, including at one point a deal that would have provided $25 billion for his wall. Last month, Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said Trump's rejection of that offer was the "high-water mark" for the wall's prospects in Congress, where support for it is tepid at best. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Will Dunham)
A man was shot in the head during a Facebook Live broadcast after his friend accidentally set off a gun in a parked car in Houston, Texas.

Devyn Holmes, 26, was shot at around 2.30 a.m. DST on Sunday (April 1) by Cassandra Damper, 25, in the parking area of a Valero gas station, according to local news. He is now in critical condition and on life support at Ben Taub Hospital.

In a live video broadcast on Facebook, Holmes, Damper, and another man are seen in a vehicle joking, laughing and seemingly having a good time. The man who is sitting in the back seat places a gun on the car's armrest, before Damper pulls out another gun and waves it in front of the phone camera.

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Youre making me nervous, Holmes, a father of two, can be heard saying in the video, before he is seen trying to make Damper lower the weapon. Seconds later, the gun goes off and Holmes falls limp, according to Click2Houston.

cassandra shot

Houston Police Department

Surveillance footage shows the doors of the car flying open and two people jumping out following the incident.

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Damper reportedly told police she believed the gun was unloaded. However, authorities arrested her for tampering with evidence after she tried to wipe gunshot residue from her hands. The unnamed man in the vehicle was not charged.

Houston police told KPRC-TV that they were investigating the incident as an accidental shooting but it will ultimately be for a grand jury to decide the outcome.

Friends describe Holmes as a good man and good father and said they were devastated that he was the victim of such a senseless incident, reported KPRC-TV.

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Russia probe special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating a private consulting firm with ties to an adviser who frequently met with Jared Kushner in the early months of the Trump administration.

Related: FBI Should Investigate Jared Kushner Leaks to Saudi Crown Prince, Democrats Demand

Mueller is questioning the crowdsourced firm Wikistrat and its co-founders, including Joel Zamelwho was asked about his business relations with Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Nader, who acts as a top adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, is believed to have represented the United Arab Emirates interests in meetings at the White House with President Donald Trumps son-in-law Kushner and former chief strategist Steve Bannon.

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Zamel and Nader, who is cooperating with Muellers probe, have done some business together and have an arms length type of relationship, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. Zamel and Nader sought to forge ties with the Trump administration during the transition last year.

Muellers team has inquired about Zamels work in general and for specific clients, one source told the Journal.

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The United Arab Emirates reportedly contracted Wikistrat in 2015 to make war game scenarios in Yemen on Islamist political movements. Along with Saudi Arabia, the Emirates successfully got backing from the Trump administration on a blockade of Qatar.

The White House supported the blockade a month after the Qatari government reportedly refused to finance a troubled New York City property owned by Kushners family-run real estate company.

Mueller has been looking into whether Nader funneled money from the Emirates to Trumps campaign. The special counsel has already heard Naders testimony on a meeting he had in Seychelles with a Russian executive linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erik Prince, a top Republican donor tied to the Trump transition team, just weeks before Trumps inauguration.

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By Dahlia Nehme BEIRUT (Reuters) - The last Syrian rebel group in eastern Ghouta near Damascus began withdrawing on Monday under an agreement with the government, state media said, though a military source said a group of insurgents were still rejecting the deal. Jaish al-Islam, which has been defending the eastern Ghouta town of Douma against a ferocious onslaught by Russian-backed Syrian government forces, has not confirmed the agreement with the government. If confirmed, the departure of Jaish al-Islam from Douma would mark the end of the war for eastern Ghouta, wiping out an opposition stronghold near Damascus and underlining President Bashar al-Assad's unassailable position in the war. It will mark his biggest victory over rebels fighting to unseat him since the recovery of eastern Aleppo in 2016. Indicating divisions in Jaish al-Islam, a Syrian military source told Reuters some of the fighters were rejecting the deal and the army would use force unless they accepted it. "They will all have to agree to the settlement in the end," the source said. Syrian state TV said eight buses carrying 448 people - fighters and their families - had left Douma so far on Monday, en route for the north. State media has said the rebels are due to go to areas near the Turkish-Syrian border that are controlled by opposition groups. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said dozens of buses had entered Douma early on Monday in readiness to evacuate the rebels and their families to the northern towns of Jarablus and al-Bab, near the Turkish border. The towns are located in a section of the Turkish-Syrian frontier where Turkey has carved out a buffer zone controlled on the ground by its military and allied fighters from Free Syrian Army rebel groups that are hostile to Assad. RETAKING CONTROL Under the deal, Syrian state media said Jaish al-Islam would hand over heavy and medium-sized weapons and acknowledge the restoration of the Damascus government's control of Douma. The government lost control of Douma, the largest urban center in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, in the early phase of Syria's civil war, now in its eighth year. Thousands of rebels, their families and other civilians have already departed other parts of eastern Ghouta for Idlib province, another insurgent-held area of northern Syria. Tens of thousands more people have fled to shelters in government-held territory near Ghouta. The government offensive on Ghouta has been one of the deadliest of the war, killing more than 1,600 civilians, according to the Observatory. The government says it is restoring security to Damascus, which was regularly shelled from eastern Ghouta during the war. Assad, who has military support from Iran and Russia, now controls the bulk of Syria, though it may be difficult for him to recover much more territory without risking a collision with other foreign powers that have forces inside the country. The second largest chunk of Syrian territory is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of militias spearheaded by the Syrian Kurdish YPG and supported by the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. U.S. President Donald Trump added fresh uncertainty to the outlook for the conflict last week by indicating that the United States would soon be leaving Syria. Trump has told advisers he wants an early exit of U.S. troops from Syria, two senior administration officials said on Friday, a stance that may put him at odds with U.S. military officials who see the fight against Islamic State as nowhere near complete. Turkey, alarmed by the growth of Kurdish influence in Syria, has recently expanded its foothold in the north of the country by seizing the northwestern Afrin region from the YPG, supported by Turkey-backed Syrian militias. Rebels also still control a significant chunk of territory on the frontiers with Jordan and Israel, which are both anxious about the growth of Iranian influence in Syria. (Reporting by Dahlia Nehme; additional reporting by Firas Makdessi, editing by Tom Perry/Gareth Jones)
WASHINGTON  A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Alex van der Zwaan to 30 days in prison, a $20,000 fine and two months supervised release, making him the first person to be sentenced as part of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into whether President Donald Trumps campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.

Van der Zwaan, an attorney who formerly worked at the high-powered law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, pleaded guilty in February of lying to the FBI about his communications with Rick Gates, a top aide to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Both Gates and Manafort have been charged in Muellers probe with lying to investigators and conspiracy, tied to Manaforts work as a lobbyist for pro-Russia politicians in Ukraine.

Documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington last week claimed that Gates and van der Zwaan had communicated with a former Russian intelligence officer in the months leading up to the 2016 election. That individual, identified only as Person A in the filings from Muellers team, is believed to be Konstantin Kilimnik, who worked for Manaforts lobbying firm in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

What I did was wrong. I apologize to the court for my conduct, van der Zwaan said in a short statement at his sentencing hearing.

Van der Zwaans lawyers asked for no jail time, noting that his wife is pregnant.

His career has been destroyed, he has been separated from his friends and family, and he faces the possibility of missing the birth of his first child. Although Alex committed a serious offense, just punishment does not require incarceration, his attorneys wrote last week.

In February, Gates pleaded guilty to the charges against him and is now cooperating with Muellers investigation.

Manafort pleaded not guilty and faces a trial later this year.

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Yaounde (AFP) - Five Cameroonian soldiers have been killed in an attack on a military post in the far north of the country, sources told AFP on Tuesday.

The five, one of whom was an officer, were killed on Monday night in the village of Sagme, close to the Nigerian border and the Lake Chad region, according to relatives and local sources. Three other soldiers were wounded.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killings but the area has seen many incursions by the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram in the past.

The Cameroonian army has not commented.

Cameroon, along with Chad and Niger, has joined a military effort by Nigeria to crush Boko Haram, a militant movement opposed to Western influence and seeking an Islamic state based on Sharia law, but the countries have increasingly seen the conflict spread across their borders.

Since 2014, the group has killed 2,000 civilians and soldiers and kidnapped about 1,000 people in northern Cameroon, according to an analysis by the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

Boko Haram has caused the deaths of at least 20,000 people since it took up arms in 2009.

In December, a report by the UN Committee against Torture denounced "serious crimes and atrocities" by Boko Haram in Cameroon but also said it had great concern over reports of abuse by Cameroonian security forces.
WASHINGTON  Reps. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) called for Scott Pruitts resignation this week, becoming the first Republicans to demand the embattled Environmental Protection Agency administrator step down amid growing controversy over his spending and ties to lobbyists.

In a tweet, Curbelo said Pruitts corruption scandals are an embarrassment, and urged President Donald Trump to fire the nations top environmental regulator if he does not quit.

Major policy differences aside, @EPAScottPruitts corruption scandals are an embarrassment to the Administration, and his conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers. It's time for him to resign or for @POTUS to dismiss him. https://t.co/gXWLDffqam  Rep. Carlos Curbelo (@RepCurbelo) April 3, 2018

Ros-Lehtinen, who is retiring from Congress this year, echoed Curbelo.

When scandals and distractions overtake a public servants ability to function effectively, another person should fill that role, the congresswoman said in a statement provided to HuffPost.

Stefanik, in a comment Thursday to The Daily Beast, called for Pruitt to step down.

Congresswoman Stefanik believes its in the best interest of the EPA for Mr. Pruitt to resign, a spokesperson said. She will continue to be a strong advocate in Congress for environmental issues that affect our district, which is the proud home of the Adirondacks.

Curbelo is one of the most vulnerable House Republicans running for re-election this cycle  former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won his majority-Latino district by 16 points in the 2016 election  and he has said hed welcome Trumps help ahead of the 2018 midterms. Curbelo is up just five points over likely Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, according to a survey the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released this week.

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Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) has joined Democrats and environmental groups in calling for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to step down. (Photo: Tom Williams via Getty Images)

Curbelo, widely considered one of the GOPs few hawkish voices on climate change, has been critical of Pruitt. In March 2017, he called Pruitts denial of carbon emissions impact on climate change reckless, and urged the administrator to come to South Florida to see firsthand the effects of sea-level rise.

Curbelos comments about Pruitt, one day after the EPA unveiled the administrations plan to roll back Obama-era vehicle emissions rules, demonstrates how quickly the latest accusations of corruption against the administrator have spun out of control.

Pruitts housing in Washington came under scrutiny last week after ABC News reported that he rented a room in a luxury condominium co-owned by the wife of a top gas industry lobbyist. Pruitt paid $50 per night, a sweetheart deal well below the market rate for an upscale Capitol Hill townhouse. The EPAs Office of General Counsel quickly issued a memo endorsing the rate, but the agencys ethics lawyer struggled to defend Pruitts adult daughters use of another room at the residence.

Curbelo did not return a request for an interview on Tuesday afternoon.

Asked to comment on Curbelos remarks about Pruitt, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox sent a statement defending the administrators rental.

As EPA career ethics officials stated in a memo, Administrator Pruitts housing arrangement for both himself and family was not a gift and the lease was consistent with federal ethics regulations, the statement said.

The controversy comes after months of criticism over Pruitts spending on first-class flights and luxury hotels, including $2,600 airfare to Oklahoma, a $120,000 trip to Italy and a $40,000 visit to Morocco to promote liquefied natural gas, a questionable responsibility for an EPA administrator to take on.

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt is facing mounting pressure to resign. (Photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Few other Republicans have publicly called on Pruitt to step down. A spokesperson for Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who also represents a district in southern Florida, did not immediately return a request for comment.

However, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who outlasted the Bridgegate scandal that thwarted his presidential ambitions, on Sunday said he was concerned about the ethics of Pruitts rental.

I dont know how you survive this one, and if he has to go, its because he never should have been there in the first place, Christie said on ABC News This Week.

Trump reportedly phoned Pruitt on Monday evening and told him to keep your head up and keep fighting. In a meeting with leaders of Baltic nations at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said, I hope hes going to be great.

Democrats, meanwhile, are calling on Pruitt to resign immediately.

It is long past time for Scott Pruitts tenure to end. From cozying up to industry insiders, to wasting taxpayer dollars and breaking ethical norms, Americans cannot trust Pruitt and he should resign immediately, the Democratic National Committee said in a statement.

The Senate confirmed Pruitt last year by a vote of 52-46. Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, two vulnerable Democrats who are up for re-election this year in states Trump won in 2016, joined nearly every Republican in voting to approve Pruitts nomination.

Neither Manchins spokesperson nor Heitkamps spokesperson immediately responded to a request for comment about whether the senators thought Pruitt should step down.

This article has been updated to include comments from the EPA, Ros-Lehtinen and Stefanik.

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Portland, Oregon

Chicago

Denver

Seattle

Los Angeles

Washington, D.C.

Joining the #climatemarch because #hawaii leads nation on climate and other states should act too #ActOnClimate pic.twitter.com/mBTZ5ioiK1  Chris Lee (@chrisleeforhi) April 29, 2017

About 1,000 people, including #UCC members and a UCC minister as a featured speaker, participated in the People's #ClimateMarch in Honolulu. pic.twitter.com/x3INdRUNUq  UCC Hawaii Justice (@UCCJustice808) April 29, 2017

BONUS: Amsterdam

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If tensions between Russia and its Western counterparts continue, they could lead to the last war in the history of mankind, a former Russian general has warned.

Lieutenant General Evgeny Buzhinskiy, former member of Russian general staff and now the founder of a Russian think tank the PIR Center, said the growing tension following the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury was worse than the Cold War.

If the situation develops in the way it is now it will end up in a very very bad outcome, he said.

And when asked to clarify what he meant, he added: A real war. Worse than the Cold War is a real war. It would be the last war in the history of mankind.

Tensions  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also declared that East-West tensions are worse now than during the Cold War (Pictures: AP)

Mr Buzhinskiys comments echo Sergey Lavrovs declaration that East-West tensions are worse now than during the Cold War and accused Britain and the US of spreading lies and disinformation.

Britain has blamed Russia for the March 4 nerve agent attack, sparking a series of tit-for-tat explusions of diplomats by Britain and its allies as well as Moscow.

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Mr Buzhinskiy added: All the actions, the pressure from the US and the West. What are you going to achieve? Is it going to achieve regime change? Its useless. You dont know Russians. The more external pressure there is, the Russia society is consolidated around the President.

It may lead to nowhere. Actually but you are cornering Russia, and to corner bring Russia is a very bad thing.

Attack  the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury has sparked escalating tensions

On Tuesday Russian ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov said the British Government had put the blame for the Salisbury incident on his country without presenting any evidence.

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He added: The British authorities should answer these questions. If they choose to ignore them there are ample grounds to assume that we are dealing with a grand scale provocation organised in London aimed to discredit Russia.

We certainly reject any notion or claim of Russian involvement in the Salisbury incident.

Mr Filatov said the general public in Europe and some other nations did not buy the claim put forward by London, adding: You might assume that if it is not Russia then somebody did it and you have to just look at someone who would benefit from that, either criminally or politically.

I dont know, but some experts have suggested quite a number of scenarios, some of them which seem plausible, involving sectors of the British Government.

Earlier, Mr Lavrov claimed that British intelligence agencies could have been involved as part of efforts to distract public attention from the British governments difficult talks to exit the European Union.

There are other explanations besides those put forward by our Western colleagues, who declare that it can only be the Russians who are responsible.

It could also be advantageous to the British government, who clearly find themselves in a difficult situation having failed to fulfil their promises to voters over Brexit.

He said: Many say that the situation now is worse than it was during the Cold War because some rules existed and decorum was observed back then. Now, Britain, the US and a few countries blindly following them have dropped all decorum and engaged in blatant lies and disinformation.
Paris (AFP) - Commuters across France faced severe disruption Tuesday as rail workers launched three months of rolling strikes, a major test of President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to reshape the country through sweeping reforms.

More than three-quarters of train drivers joined the first day of the walkout, according to the SNCF, the heavily indebted state rail operator which Macron wants to overhaul.

Only one in eight high-speed TGV trains and a fifth of regional trains were running on what French media have dubbed "black Tuesday".

And with stoppages planned two days out of five until June 28, weeks of disruption lie ahead for France's 4.5 million daily train passengers.

"We have been asking for the same thing for several weeks -- that the government completely reconsider its plan. They need to start again from scratch," Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT trade union, told France Inter radio.

- Big test for Macron -

The strike was accompanied by demonstrations by several hundreds of rail workers in Paris and other cities and represents the biggest wave of industrial unrest since Macron came to power last May.

The railways are a bastion of trade unionism in France and have forced governments into U-turns in the past during major stoppages.

"For Macron, the test is really starting today," labour market economist Andrea Garnero from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) told AFP.

"Unions are still able to gather support when they go on strike in France, although maybe less so than in the past," he added.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Tuesday that the government would push ahead with its planned overhaul for the SNCF, which he said required 14 billion euros ($17.2 billion) of public money each year.

"I must say that I hear the strikers, who speak fervently at times, as much as I hear those who do not accept this strike," Philippe told lawmakers in parliament.

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A second day of strikes on Wednesday is set to cause a similar level of disruption as the first day, the SNCF warned.

- Frustrated travellers -

Staff at Air France, garbage collectors and some energy workers staged separate walkouts Tuesday in a growing atmosphere of social strife 11 months after 40-year-old Macron came to power.

Public support for the rail strike stands at just below half, according to an Ifop poll released Sunday, and commuters expressed a mixture of sympathy and frustration with the reduced service.

"I start work at 1:00 pm. Do you know what time I had to get up? 5:00 am," complained Jean Nahavua, a manager at a wholesale company who lives in Lille and commutes to Paris.

Pascal Lasnier, a banker waiting at the same station, added: "I understand that they want to defend their piece of the pie, but maybe there are other ways of doing it."

As commuters took to the roads instead, the streets of Paris were snarled with an "exceptional" 370 kilometres (230 miles) of traffic jams during the morning rush hour before easing, according to traffic website Sytadin.

At the capital's busy Gare du Lyon station, the platforms were so crammed that a woman fell onto the tracks and had to be helped out by fellow passengers.

But major regional stations including Nice, Lille and Marseille were virtually deserted as travellers anticipated cancellations.

Three-quarters of Eurostar trains to London and Brussels were running on Tuesday and Thalys trains towards Belgium and the Netherlands were operating almost normally, but there were none at all to Spain, Italy or Switzerland.

At Air France, where staff are striking for the fourth time in a month to demand a pay rise, managers said 75 percent of flights would operate. Further walkouts are planned at the airline for April 7, 10 and 11.

- Huge debts, high stakes -

Thanks to the internet and mobile phone apps, many French commuters were able to work from home or arrange car-pools -- though extra seats were in high demand.

On the Blablacar car-pooling site Tuesday morning, 80 of the 95 listed trips from the northern city of Lille were booked solid.

"I kept updating the site to find a ride and as soon as this one came up I clicked immediately," said Pierre, a 24-year-old in Lille on his way to Paris.

Macron says the SNCF, saddled with 46.6 billion euros of debt, needs to drastically improve its efficiency and cut running costs as EU countries prepare to open passenger rail to competition by 2020.

His government is planning to stop granting the rail workers' special status -- which guarantees jobs for life and early retirement -- to new SNCF hires.

It also wants to combine the three bodies that make up the SNCF into a single state-owned company, prompting fears among unions that it could be a step towards privatising the rail operator.
San Francisco (AFP) - Gay dating app Grindr was under fire on Monday for sharing information about users' HIV status or locations with two companies enlisted to optimize its software.

Grindr chief technology officer Scott Chen said in a Tumblr post that sharing data with partners such as Apptimize and Localytics was "industry practice" and that steps were taken to protect people's privacy.

"As a company that serves the LGBTQ community, we understand the sensitivities around HIV status disclosure," Chen said.

"Our goal is and always has been to support the health and safety of our users worldwide."

Grindr users have the option of sharing their HIV status and when they were most recently tested.

Researchers worried that including the health information with other data such as location and email address could result in people being identified.

Online rights champion Electric Frontier Foundation called Grindr's response "disappointing."

The Los Angeles-based company said that it uses Apptimize and Localytics to test and validate its platform, and that data it shares with them could include users' HIV status or location fields.

Sensitive data are encrypted when sent, and vendors are under strict contractual terms to keep it secure and confidential, according to Chen.

Norwegian nonprofit research group SINTEF uncovered the data sharing, and concern spread in the US after Buzzfeed reported the findings.

"Grindr has never, nor will we ever sell personally identifiable user information - especially information regarding HIV status or last test date - to third parties or advertisers," Chen said.

He noted though that Grindr is a public platform, and that should be kept in mind when deciding what to put in profiles.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) called Grindr's data sharing "an egregious breach of confidentiality laws," demanding it "immediately cease and desist the reckless practice."

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"It is extremely unfortunate that those men who have been courageous enough to share their HIV status, be it positive or negative, on their Grindr profiles, may have now had that most personal data indiscriminately shared by Grindr," said Michael Weinstein, the AHF president.

"We laud those Grindr members for their courage and challenge Grindr to quickly get its act together to restore the confidentiality all members deserve."

News website Axios reported that Grindr's security chief said the company has stopped sharing users' HIV status with its third-party vendors.

"You guys should just close up now," read one of the few comments in an online chat forum under the Grindr post at Tumblr.

"No one cares about your efforts or industry standards. You betrayed the LGBT community in more than just the one way."
Berlin (AFP) - A German food bank on Tuesday said it will reopen its doors to new migrant clients, some three months after its decision to stop giving free meals to foreigners sparked nationwide outrage.

The Essener Tafel charity in the western city of Essen said non-Germans could start registering for the service again from Wednesday.

"Right now, the ratio of Germans and foreigners in need is appropriate," the group's chairman, Joerg Sartor, told the Bild daily.

"If new bottlenecks occur, we will have to adapt again."

From now on, preference would be given to the elderly, single parents, young families and those with disabilities -- regardless of their nationality, Sartor added, citing a decision made by the group's board.

The charity triggered a storm of controversy earlier this year when it announced it would only accept new clients if they had German identity papers, claiming a huge influx of migrants was displacing needy locals.

Sartor said at the time that especially elderly Germans and single mothers had been intimidated by an increasingly aggressive atmosphere as the number of foreigners queuing for free food had risen to three-quarters of the total.

The migrant ban, which the charity always insisted was temporary, sparked howls of protest across the country and none of Germany's more than 900 other food banks followed suit.

Even Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in on the controversy, calling the Essener Tafel's decision "not good".

Vandals also sprayed the word "Nazis" on the charity's building and vans, an act police said they believe was in response to the ban.

Some 1.2 million asylum seekers have come to Europe's biggest economy since 2015 -- more than half from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The influx sparked a xenophobic backlash that has fuelled the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The AfD had defended Essener Tafel on social media, complaining that an "onslaught of migrants" was displacing Germans and "if you fight back, you're a Nazi".

Like other similar organisations, the Essener Tafel collects surplus food that would otherwise be discarded by supermarkets and other businesses to prepare and serve it to the poor.

Typically, people have to register to qualify for regular free meals by proving that they are recipients of unemployment or other social benefits.
Berlin (AFP) - German prosecutors on Tuesday asked a court to order the extradition of Catalonia's ousted president Carles Puigdemont on a rebellion charge following his arrest in Germany last month.

The request comes after protests by independence supporters at the weekend in Berlin and Catalonia calling for Puigdemont's immediate release.

"The prosecutor's office of Schleswig-Holstein state applied for an extradition arrest warrant against former Catalonian regional president Carles Puigdemont from the superior regional court," it said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear when the court would rule on Puigdemont's possible extradition.

Puigdemont was arrested by German police on March 25 as he was travelling from Finland back to Belgium, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since Catalonia's failed independence bid last October.

The detention came two days after a Spanish judge issued European arrest warrants for Puigdemont and other fugitive separatist leaders.

They have been ordered to stand trial for rebellion, misuse of public funds and disobeying the state for organising last year's referendum on Catalan independence, which Madrid deemed illegal.

Puigdemont's arrest has sent tensions soaring at home, triggering a wave of protests in the wealthy northeastern Spanish region.

German judges have ordered Puigdemont to remain in custody in the northern town of Neumuenster as they mull Spain's request for him to be handed over.

They have 60 days to make a decision.

German media say the request has been complicated by the fact that rebellion, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail in Spain, is not a crime under German law.

However the prosecutor's office argued in its statement that the rebellion charge "contains in essence the accusation of calling an unconstitutional referendum despite violent riots that could be expected" matching the German charge of "treason".

"Word-for-word conformance between the German and Spanish criminal codes is thus not legally required," it said.
Berlin (AFP) - German prosecutors on Tuesday asked a court to order the extradition to Spain of Catalonia's ousted president Carles Puigdemont on a rebellion charge following his arrest in Germany last month.

The request comes after demonstrations by independence supporters at the weekend in Berlin and Catalonia calling for Puigdemont's immediate release and a small rally outside his jail on Tuesday.

"The prosecutor's office of Schleswig-Holstein state applied for an extradition arrest warrant against former Catalonian regional president Carles Puigdemont from the superior regional court," it said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear when the court would rule on Puigdemont's possible extradition.

Puigdemont was arrested by German police on March 25 as he was travelling from Finland back to Belgium, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since Catalonia's failed independence bid last October.

His detention came two days after a Spanish judge issued European arrest warrants for Puigdemont and other fugitive separatist leaders.

They have been ordered to stand trial for rebellion, misuse of public funds and disobeying the state for organising last year's referendum on Catalan independence, which Madrid deemed illegal.

Puigdemont's arrest has sent tensions soaring at home, triggering a wave of protests in the wealthy northeastern Spanish region.

- Matches 'treason' charge -

A lower court in Germany had already ordered Puigdemont to remain in custody in the northern town of Neumuenster as judicial authorities mull Spain's request for him to be handed over.

They have 60 days to make a decision. On Tuesday, a small group of demonstrators, some draped in Catalan pro-independence Estelada flags, held a solidarity rally outside the prison gates.

German media say the extradition request has been complicated by the fact that "rebellion", which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail in Spain, is not a crime under German law.

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However, the prosecutor's office said that "after intensive review" it concluded that the rebellion charge "contains in essence the accusation of calling an unconstitutional referendum despite violent riots that could be expected," hence matching the German charge of "treason".

"Word-for-word conformance between the German and Spanish criminal codes is thus not legally required," it said.

Puigdemont's lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas said his client's fate now rested with the courts.

"This case is extraordinary for its importance, its political implications and all the infringements of basic rights that we will prove have been committed by the Spanish state," he told Catalonia's Rac1 radio, calling Puigdemont a "political prisoner".

Puigdemont's German attorneys, Wolfgang Schomburg and Soeren Schomburg, said they filed a motion for the court to dismiss the extradition request on the grounds the Catalan independence referendum didn't qualify as "rebellion".

The superior regional court confirmed it had received the prosecutors' request, adding that it was "undetermined when a decision on the application can be expected".

The higher court must first decide if there is a legal basis to put Puigdemont in pre-extradition custody by reviewing the written request from Spain. It will then rule on the extradition bid itself.

Puigdemont can appeal an order of extradition to a German federal court, a course his lawyers have said they would pursue.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, speaking during a visit to Algeria, said his country would respect the ruling by the German courts.

"Logically, it now falls to the German justice system to make the final decision and of course we will respect this," he told reporters in Algiers.

- 'Isolated' violence -

Puigdemont has already filed an appeal in Spain against a decision to prosecute him, arguing the rebellion charge against him is not justified.

The 85-page appeal, seen by AFP on Monday, asks that the Spanish Supreme Court's "actions" be declared "null" 10 days after Judge Pablo Llarena said 25 Catalan separatist leaders -- including Puigdemont -- would be prosecuted over the region's secession bid.

In the appeal, Alonso-Cuevillas demands that the court drop the charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds.

The appeal states that under Spanish law, the rebellion offence, which can carry up to 30 years in prison, implies there was a violent uprising.

But it maintains that if there was any violence before or on October 1, the day when an independence referendum was held in Catalonia despite a court ban, it was "isolated" and did not justify the rebellion offence.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged Turkey on Tuesday to release two Greek soldiers detained on Turkish territory in March and accused Ankara of escalating tensions. Greece maintains the soldiers crossed into Turkey by mistake while following the trail of suspected illegal migrants. Turkish courts have ordered their detention on suspicion of illegal entry and attempted military espionage. Ankara should, as a gesture of good will, release two Greek soldiers who were detained after crossing the border into Turkey on March 1, Tsipras told a meeting of his cabinet. "Of late (Turkey) has intensified its provocations and is escalating the situation on all fronts," Tsipras said. "It is unfair that they are being held. Just as we, in the past, returned Turkish soldiers who may have crossed the Greek border by a few meters, I expect the Turkish president to today do the same," Tsipras said. Neighbors and NATO allies Greece and Turkey are at odds over a host of issues from ethically-split Cyprus to rights in the Aegean Sea. In past decades relations between the two have at times been tense but in recent months rhetoric on both sides has taken a marked turn for the worse, particularly after the collapse of peace talks in Cyprus in July 2017. "The judicial process should be expedited to allow these two officers, who did nothing more than their duty, to come home," Tsipras said. (Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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A woman has opened fire at YouTube's global headquarters in Silicon Valley, shooting three people before killing herself, police said.

Chief Ed Barberini of San Bruno police said that the three victims suffered from "treatable injuries". Two were shot "at an adjacent business".

A 32-year-old female was described as being in a serious condition; a 27-year-old female was in a fair condition, and a 36-year-old male was described as being in a critical condition by CNN.

He said that the first 911 calls came at 12:46pm, and his officers were on the scene two minutes later.

Upon arriving, officers found a chaotic situation with employees streaming out of the building, he said.

The scenes following the shooting at the headquarters of YouTube in San Bruno, California Credit: Reuters

We did encounter one victim with apparent gunshot wound towards the front of the building as we arrived.

Several minutes later, while conducting a search of the premises, officers located a second individual with a gunshot wound that appeared to be self-inflicted.

There were two more at an adjacent business.

An employee at a nearby Carl's Jr. fast food restaurant said one of the victims came in after being shot.

The employee told KTVU the female victim had a gunshot wound to her calf and he tied a makeshift tourniquet around it.

None of the victims were named last night, but Fox News reported that one of the victims was the shooter's boyfriend, and police were not treating the incident as terrorism.

YouTube shooting - San Francisco

Mass shootings by women are exceptionally rare.

A FBI study of shootings from 2000 to 2013 found that, of 160 incidents, only six were carried out by a female attacker.

President Donald Trump said that he was monitoring events, and wrote on Twitter: "Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTubes HQ in San Bruno, California. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene."

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Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTubes HQ in San Bruno, California. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.

 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

Shaken YouTube employees were left reeling from the incident, which was over in less than an hour.

Todd Sherman, a product manager in the building, wrote on Twitter: "We were sitting in a meeting and then we heard people running because it was rumbling the floor. First thought was earthquake."

Emergency services are on the scene at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, California

On the way out of the building he "looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs".

He added: "Police cruisers pulled up, hopped out with rifles ready and I told them where the situation was."

Vadim Lavrusik, a YouTube employee, tweeted that he and his colleagues were inside the offices and saw people running and barricaded themselves inside the offices.

After around 20 minutes he tweeted again to say that he had been evacuated, and footage from helicopters showed hundreds of employees leaving the sprawling campus, being checked for weapons as they went.

Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.

 Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018

Safe. Got evacuated it. Outside now.

 Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018

I was on a video conference with someone in the building when it happened, one woman, who did not want to be identified, told CNN.

We were suddenly aware of people running and screaming. The people on the video conference became scared and said: I have to get out of here.

We called security, who had already been made aware of the incident. We heard on the video conference sounds of people running and screaming, but it was hard to hear anything else at that time.

The woman said her colleague later told her that she did not hear any shots.

A female bystander told KTVU television: "I heard boom, boom, boom. Then I heard it again. It was loud and then like it was going away."

Local television images show employees being evacuated from the California Youtube campus Credit: Universal News

Breaking down, she added: "I'm having a hard time. Don't get me started on guns."

In a statement Google, which owns YouTube, said: "Regarding the YouTube situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available."

The San Bruno offices house 1,700 employees in a largely open-plan environment, in four different buildings.

YouTube employees can work from treadmill desks, travel around the campus by scooter and bring their dogs to work.

The campus also has a lap pool and a putting green for employees to use.

There is security at all the buildings, the employee told CNN.

Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Donald Trump had been briefed and the administration was monitoring the situation.

YouTube announced last month that it would ban content promoting the sale of guns and gun accessories as well as videos that teach how to make guns.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. (Photos: Bettmann/Getty Images; Angie Wang/AP)

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., evangelicals gathered in Memphis on Tuesday to assess where their movement stands in relation to Kings mission and ministry. The consensus of the speakers was they were falling short.

Why is American evangelicalism so white and so middle class? asked Russell Moore, an evangelical leader who was an outspoken opponent of Donald Trump in 2016. Why are we not cultivating the future? Why are we not bearing one anothers burdens?

Moore took direct aim at tolerance for racism and systemic injustice within the white evangelical church, and said that the failure of the white American church when it comes to healing and rectifying the ills of racism have caused a crisis of faith for many younger Christians.

It is now a well-known fact that 81 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump in the 2016 election, and that fact formed part of the context for Moores remarks, and of the other sermons at the conference, titled Gospel Reflections from the Mountaintop, and organized by Moores organization, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, as well as the Gospel Coalition.

The global Christian church, Moore said, is multi-ethnic. Referring to Jesus Christ, he said, The church is headed right now by a Middle Eastern homeless man.

When it comes to issues that affect our black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ, white evangelicals, why do we say that doesnt matter? Why is it the case that we have in church after church after church young evangelical Christians who are having a crisis of faith? Moore said. It is because they are wondering if we really believe what we preach and teach and sing all the time.

During the 2016 election, Moore wrote in a New York Times op-ed that Trumps candidacy had cast light on the darkness of pent-up nativism and bigotry all over the country and he denounced not-so-coded messages denouncing African-Americans and immigrants and the dismissal of concern about racial justice and national unity  as political correctness.

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Trump attacked Moore as a nasty guy with no heart. After Trump won the presidency, Moore was targeted by Trump supporters, who tried unsuccessfully to get him booted from his post as head of the ERLC, the chief public policy arm of the Southern Baptist denomination.

SEE MORE of our coverage of The King Assassination  50 Years Later 

Moore, on Tuesday, did not mention President Trump. But the preacher who spoke after Moore, Rev. Charlie Dates, made a clear reference to the president in a fiery passage of his sermon.

This is what has frustrated many black churches with our white evangelical brothers and sisters, those of you who have a fine grasp of orthodoxy, who understand the finer tenets of the gospel, said Dates, senior pastor of Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago.

We have expected you to be our greatest allies in the struggle against injustice, Dates said. We wanted you to use your influence with your governors and your politicians to end the long night of systemic injustices. We wanted yall to cry about the public school to prison pipeline. We wanted you to see that states like Illinois spend more money on mass incarceration than they do education, that the prison industrial complex is a wicked big business swallowing black men and brown boys.

We wanted you to tell your city fathers that contract leasing, redlining and neighborhood improvement laws intended to keep us living in segregated quarters was offensive to God, and that you wouldnt stand for it by the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ. We wanted yall to unflinchingly deny the politics of fear and the alt-right racism that elected playboys, while denouncing a black man who was loyal to his wife all his years in office, and took care of his kids, and did not disgrace America, Dates said to raucous applause from the crowd.

But instead of finding allies in the fight for justice on the grounds of righteousness, we have encountered antagonists, Dates concluded.

The conference was scheduled to continue Tuesday evening and through the day on Wednesday, April 4, the date of Kings shooting 50 years ago.

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Manoj Kumar NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday ordered the withdrawal of rules punishing journalists held responsible for distributing "fake news", giving no reason for the change, less than 24 hours after the original announcement. The move followed an outcry by journalists and opposition politicians that the rules represented an attack on the freedom of the press and an effort by Modi's government to rein in free speech ahead of a general election due by next year. Late on Monday, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had said the government would cancel its accreditation of journalists who peddled "fake news". After Modi's intervention, the ministry announced the withdrawal in a one-line statement. Journalists said they welcomed the withdrawal but could not rule out the possibility that it was a "trial balloon" to test the waters for putting more restrictions on the press. "A government fiat restraining the fourth pillar of our democracy is not the solution," a statement issued by the Press Club said. Co-opted by U.S. President Donald Trump, the term "fake news" has quickly become part of the standard repertoire of leaders in authoritarian countries to describe media reports and organisations critical of them. Welcoming the change of heart, media groups in India nevertheless cautioned the government against changing its mind. "The government has no mandate to control the press," Gautam Lahiri, president of the Press Club of India, told journalists. The events in India followed Malaysia's approval this week of a law carrying jail terms of up to six years for spreading "fake news". Other countries in Southeast Asia, including Singapore and the Philippines, are considering how to tackle "fake news" but human rights activists fear laws against it could be used to stifle free speech. India slipped three places last year to rank 136 among 180 countries rated in the world press freedom index of the watchdog Reporters Without Borders. The non-profit body said Hindu nationalists, on the rise since Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014, were "trying to purge all manifestations of anti-national thought". (Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)
Pekanbaru (Indonesia) (AFP) - A group of Indonesians has been arrested after a video emerged of them skinning and cooking four sun bears that they had slaughtered, police said Tuesday.

The men on the island of Sumatra were charged under Indonesia's environment law and could face five years in prison and 100 million rupiah ($7,000)in fines, if convicted, authorities said.

The sun bear -- listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature -- is the smallest of the bear species and lives in Southeast Asia's tropical forests and swamps.

But their population is in decline in Indonesia because of rapid deforestation, which has led to habitat loss.

The four bears were caught in traps set by the suspects who later beat or shot them to death, said local police chief Christian Rony.

The men, who range in age from 33 to 51, skinned the bears and cooked their meat.

"They also distributed the meat to other villagers," Rony said, adding that police had seized a gun and airgun pellets from the suspects.

Human-animal conflicts are common across the vast Indonesian archipelago, especially in areas where the clearing of rainforest to make way for palm oil plantations is destroying animals' habitats and bringing them into closer contact with people.

But attacks by the bear are rare in Indonesia.

Last October a sun bear mauled a couple in Sumatra, killing the wife and seriously injuring her husband.

In 2015 a man died when a sun bear mauled him in South Sumatra and in 2009 another lost his fingers and left eye in an assault.
The best of the best--and for a very simple reason.



The Inside Story of How Israel's Air Force Dominates the Sky (And Crushes Its Enemies)



Enter the Lavi. Like its counterparts in both the USSR and the United States, the IDF air arm believed that a high/low mix of fighters best served its needs. This led to the development of the Lavi, a light multirole fighter that could complement the F-15 Eagles that Israel continued to acquire from the United States. The Lavi filled the niche that the F-16 Viper would eventually come to dominate. It included some systems licensed by the United States, and visually resembled an F-16 with a different wing configuration.

Since the 1960s, the air arm of the Israel Defense Forces (colloquially the IAF) has played a central role in the countrys defense. The ability of the Israeli Air Force to secure the battlefield and the civilian population from enemy air attack has enabled the IDF to fight at a huge advantage. At the same time, the IAF has demonstrated strategic reach, attacking critical targets at considerable distance.

The dominance of the IAF has come about through effective training, the weakness of its foes, and a flexible approach to design and procurement. Over the years, the Israelis have tried various strategies for filling their air force with fighters, including buying from France, buying from the United States and building the planes themselves. They seem to have settled on a combination of the last two, with great effect.

Israels Early Technological Base

In its early years, Israel took what weapons it could from what buyers it could find. This meant that the IDF often operated with equipment of a variety of vintages, mostly secured from European producers. By the late 1950s, however, Israel had secured arms transfer relationships with several countries, most notably the United Kingdom and France. The relationship with France eventually blossomed, resulting in the transfer of high-technology military equipment, including Mirage fighters (and also significant technical assistance for Israels nuclear program). These Mirage fighters formed the core of the IAF in the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Israel largely destroyed its neighbors air forces in the first hours of the conflict.

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In 1967, however, France imposed an arms embargo on Israel, which left Tel Aviv in a quandary. The IDF needed more fighters, and also sought capabilities that the Mirage could not provide, including medium-range ground strike. Under these conditions, the Israelis adopted the time-honored strategy of simply stealing what they needed. To complement their existing airframes, the Israelis acquired technical blueprints of the Mirage through espionage (possibly with the tolerance of some French authorities). The project resulted in two fighters, the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Nesher and the IAI Kfir. The second employed more powerful American designed engines, and for a time served as the primary fighter of the IDFs air arm. Both aircraft enjoyed export success, with the Nesher serving in Argentina and the Kfir flying for Colombia, Ecuador and Sri Lanka.

This investment helped drive the development of Israels aerospace sector, with big implications for the rest of Israels economy. Heavy state investment in military technological development does not always drive broader innovations in civilian technology. In this case, however, state investment provided a key pillar for the early development of Israels civilian technology sector. To many, the success of the Kfir suggested that Israel could stand on its own in aerospace technology, eliminating the need to rely on a foreign sponsor.

Nevertheless, Israel continued to invest heavily in foreign aircraft. The IDF began acquiring F-4 Phantoms in the late 1960s, and F-15 Eagles in the mid-1970s. The arrival of the latter in Israel inadvertently sparked a political crisis, as the first four aircraft landed after the beginning of the Sabbath. The ensuing controversy eventually brought down the first premiership of Yitzhak Rabin. But many in Israel, still buoyed by the relative success of the Kfir and hopeful about further developing Israels high-tech sector, believed that the country could aspire to develop its own fighter aircraft.

Enter the Lavi. Like its counterparts in both the USSR and the United States, the IDF air arm believed that a high/low mix of fighters best served its needs. This led to the development of the Lavi, a light multirole fighter that could complement the F-15 Eagles that Israel continued to acquire from the United States. The Lavi filled the niche that the F-16 Viper would eventually come to dominate. It included some systems licensed by the United States, and visually resembled an F-16 with a different wing configuration.

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But the military-technological environment had changed. Developing the Lavi from scratch (or virtually from scratch) required an enormous state investment for an aircraft that had marginal, if any, advantages over an off-the-shelf F-16. Moreover, the United States took export controls much more seriously than France, and had a much more dangerous toolkit for enforcing compliance. Despite initial optimism about the export prospects of the Lavi, it soon became apparent to Israelis that the United States would not allow the wide export of a fighter that included significant American components. That the Lavi would have competed directly against the F-16 only exacerbated the problem.

In August 1987, the Israeli cabinet killed the Lavi, which caused protests from IAI and the workers associated with the project. Nevertheless, a political effort to revive the plane failed, and Israel eventually acquired a large number of F-16s. In its afterlife, however, the Lavi helped kill the export prospects of the F-22 Raptor; out of concern that Israel had shared Lavi (and thus F-16) technology with the Chinese (leading to the J-10), the U.S. Congress prohibited any export of the F-22. This decision prevented Israel and several other interested buyers from acquiring the Raptor, and undoubtedly cut short its overall production life.

Alternatives

Instead of pursuing its own fighters, Israel has lately preferred to extensively modify the aircraft it buys from the United States. The F-15I Thunder and the F-16I Storm have both received major upgrades to optimize them for Israeli service. Both planes have increased range and improved avionics, enabling the IDF to fight effectively at great distance from its bases. The F-15I, a variant of the F-15E Strike Eagle, is the IAFs most important long-range strike platform. The IAF has already undertaken steps to make the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter more suitable for Israeli service, including advanced software modifications.

IAI has continued to see great success, despite the lack of a major fighter project. IAI has thrived on developing and exporting components for domestic as well as export use, including munitions and avionics. IAI has also gone big into the UAV market, with major success both within Israel and abroad. And despite the failure of the Lavi, Israels high-tech defense sector has done well, will considerable spillover into the civilian economy. Israeli state industrial policy focuses on exactly this goal: supplying investment for high-tech innovation that facilitates both national defense and economic growth.

Israels current aerospace strategy depends on the health of its relationship with the United States. This is true both in terms of the availability of platforms, and in ongoing mutual technological development. Fortunately for Israel, there is little reason to believe that this aspect of the U.S.-Israel alliance will decay anytime soon. Concern over the security of the F-22 stopped export of the Raptor, but didnt dent the overall relationship. And even if the unimaginable occurred, and Israel needed to look elsewhere from the United States, the proficiency of Israeli industry in developing components and support systems means that it would not lack long for a partner.

Robert Farley, a frequent contributor to the National Interest, is author of The Battleship Book. He serves as a senior lecturer at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. His work includes military doctrine, national security and maritime affairs. He blogs atLawyers, Guns and Money, Information Dissemination and the Diplomat.

This first appeared in 2016.

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The heir to the Saudi throne has lambasted Iran, saying its Supreme Leader is the first side of a triangle of evil along with the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist Islamist groups like Isis.

In an echo of former U.S. president George W. Bushs 2002 reference to Irans supposed role in an axis of evil, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told The Atlantic that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was akin to Hitler and headed a regime that wanted to spread extremist Shiite ideology.

The crown prince added that if Tehran got its way, the hidden Imam will come back again and he will rule the whole world from Iran and spread Islam even to America, referring to the final savior of humankind according to Irans Twelver Shia faith.

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He said: The second part of the triangle is the Muslim Brotherhood, which is another extremist organization. They want to use the democratic system to rule countries and build shadow caliphates everywhere And the other part is the terrorists, al-Qaeda, ISIS, that want to do everything with force.

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REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

I believe that the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good. But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world. He believes he owns the world. They are both evil guys. He is the Hitler of the Middle East, he added.

The wide-ranging interview will be seen as the latest move by the royal to present a different image of his country. In November he ordered a crackdown on businessmen and officials accused of corruption, which has reportedly recovered 100 billion dollars in financial settlements, although critics said it was a purge of his rivals to consolidate power.

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Women will also be allowed to drive for the first time in the kingdom, although the country's guardianship laws, which he describes as only "customs," which restrict women's freedoms, remain in place.

The crown prince insists his country is part of a group of moderate Muslim nations which include Jordan, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates which are, in his view, countries based on the founding principles of the United Nations whose values are at odds with those of the evil triangle.

But Salman puzzled his interviewer when he denied that Wahhabism, the austere fundamentalist strand of Islam which is the bedrock of the country, even existed in Saudi Arabia.

No one can define Wahhabism. There is no Wahhabism. We dont believe we have Wahhabism. We believe we have, in Saudi Arabia, Sunni and Shiite. We believe we have within Sunni Islam four schools of thought, he said, adding that Shiites held many positions of power in government and society.

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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei

Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images

He said he has no religious objections to the right of Israel to exist, and that his concerns were solely about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and the rights of the Palestinian people.

I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.

"We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We dont have any objection against any other people.

"Our country doesnt have a problem with Jews. Our Prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman. Not just a friendhe married her. Our prophet, his neighbors were Jewish. You will find a lot of Jews in Saudi Arabia coming from America, coming from Europe. There are no problems between Christian and Muslims and Jews. We have problems like you would find anywhere in the world, among some people. But the normal sort of problems," said the crown prince.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he was cancelling an agreement with the UN refugee agency on resettling thousands of African migrants after facing mounting pressure from his right-wing base.

Netanyahu had himself announced the agreement in a televised address on Monday afternoon, drawing immediate anger from right-wing politicians, including allies, and many of his traditional supporters.

He said in a late-night Facebook post on Monday he was suspending the agreement that would have allowed thousands of the migrants to remain in Israel at least temporarily.

On Tuesday, he said the deal was being cancelled after having held discussions on it.

"After having heard numerous comments on the agreement, I have examined the pros and cons and have decided to cancel the agreement," Netanyahu said in a statement.

The agreement was designed to end the possibility of forced deportations of thousands of migrants to Rwanda under a controversial plan put forward by Netanyahu in January.

Under the agreement with the UN, a minimum of 16,250 migrants would have instead been resettled in Western nations.

In return, Israel would grant temporary residency to one migrant for each one resettled elsewhere.

The presence of the primarily Sudanese and Eritrean migrants in Israel has become a key political issue.

Netanyahu is already under heavy political pressure due to a string of graft probes.
The Israeli army's decision to open fire on Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza, killing 17 people and wounding hundreds of others, was "calculated" and "unlawful," a human rights watchdog has said.

In a report following the deadly "Land Day" protests in Gaza on Friday, Human Rights Watch said senior Israeli officials who called for live ammunition to be used against protesters who did not pose a serious threat are responsible for their deaths.

The "high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms," the watchdog said.

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JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the army for successfully "guarding the country's borders" and allowing "Israeli citizens to celebrate the [Passover] holiday peacefully," but HRW said Israel's government has failed to provide any evidence that demonstrators posed any serious threat to soldiers.

"Israeli soldiers were not merely using excessive force, but were apparently acting on orders that all but ensured a bloody military response to the Palestinian demonstrations, said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. The result was foreseeable deaths and injuries of demonstrators on the other side of a border who posed no imminent threat to life."

The Israeli government has ignored calls for an independent investigation into the killings and has refused to cooperate with a United Nations inquiry.

Goldstein condemned that decision, saying that it "says much about how cheaply Israeli authorities view the lives of Palestinians in Gaza."

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Tens of thousands of protesters had gathered at multiple locations along Gaza's border with Israel to mark the 42nd commemoration of Land Day, when six unarmed Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in 1976 during protests against the expropriation of Palestinian-owned land.

Hundreds of demonstrators reportedly ignored calls from organizers and the Israeli military to maintain a distance from the fortified fence marking the Gaza-Israel border and the Israeli military has claimed that some of those who approached had rolled burning tires and hurled rocks and fire bombs toward the border.

But HRW said that even that would not justify Israeli soldiers' response, which included the use of live fire, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner also admitted that snipers were used to target "specific perpetrators of violence."

Palestinian militant group Hamas has said at least five of the people killed by Israeli soldiers were members of its armed wing. The IDF has claimed that number is higher, however, alleging that at least 10 of those fatally shot belonged to Hamas, accusing the organization of "turning a protest from peaceful to an area of terror."

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In the days following the deadly protests, several videos have emerged appearing to show unarmed demonstrators being killed or injured by Israeli gunfire. At least two clips appear to show a man, who has since been identified as 18-year-old Abed el-Fatah Abed e-Nabi, running from Israeli positions carrying a tire before being shot in the back and falling to the ground.

Disturbing footage from @Joo_Gaza of a Palestinian boy being shot down today by an Israeli sniper while running AWAY from the Gaza buffer zone pic.twitter.com/nZ7kdGeXxC  Liam O'Hare (@Liam_O_Hare) March 30, 2018

The IDF has since claimed that such videos are distributed by Hamas, alleging they only show partial footage of what happened or are fabricated. HRW has said it believes the footage it has reviewed is authentic however, with one video showing a demonstrator shot in the leg while praying and another video showing a man being shot at while throwing a rock.

"The Israeli government has not shown that the demonstrators throwing rocks or Molotov cocktails posed a grave threat to the well-protected soldiers deployed on the other side of the border fence, nor has Israel claimed that any Palestinian crossed the border on March 30," the rights watchdog said in its report. "Entering a zone declared off limits should not be a crime considered punishable by death."

As many as two million Palestinians, including 1.3 million refugees live in Gaza, according to HRW. Most are unable to leave due to Israeli and Egyptian restrictions on movement. Israel withdrew its military from the strip in 2005, but both Israel and Egypt maintain a heavily-secured border.

The IDF and Israeli embassy in the U.K. did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked back the deal in the face of public backlash. (Photo: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)

Less than a day after the Israeli government announced a deal with the United Nations refugee agency to resettle more than 16,000 African migrants and grant legal status to others, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended and then definitively scrapped the deal.

Early on Monday, the Israeli government and the U.N. agency, formally known as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, revealed the outlines of a deal theyd signed concerning the status of more than 34,000 undocumented Eritreans and Sudanese living in Israel. Under the agreement, more than 16,000 would resettle in other countries, largely in Europe. The rest would receive legal status in Israel.

By Monday night, however, Netanyahu had walked back the announcement, saying on Facebook that the deal would be put on hold until further review. On Tuesday, he announced the deal was dead.

I have listened carefully to the many comments on the agreement. As a result, and after I again weighed the advantages and disadvantages, I decided to cancel the deal, Netanyahu said, according to a statement.

The Israeli prime ministers reversal came after a backlash from right-wing politicians and some residents of southern Tel Aviv, where many Eritreans and Sudanese have settled.

Most of the Eritrean and Sudanese people living in Israel have fled war and persecution in their countries of origin. The area of southern Tel Aviv, where many reside, is economically challenged with unemployment and social tension, UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told HuffPost on Monday.

Spindler said that Eritrean and Sudanese people in Israel should be considered refugees, not migrants, as they left their homes to escape persecution and war. He also noted that Israel, as the receiving nation, has only in a very few cases processed and officially designated the migrants as refugees.

It is with regret that UNHCR notes cancellation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Israel-UNHCR Agreement, the U.N. agency wrote in a statement on Tuesday. We encourage the Government of Israel to consider the matter further, while standing ready to be of help.

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Eritrean refugees protest against the Eritrean government outside the nation's embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2015. (Photo: Baz Ratner / Reuters)

The deal between Israel and the UNHCR, which was to be carried out over the next five years, had rested on the agencys ability to relocate some 16,000 of the refugees to developed countries where the agency has resettlement programs  including in Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia, Spindler told HuffPost. As of Monday, no country had officially agreed to take in any of those refugees.

The agreement had also included support services for the African migrants who would be staying legally in Israel, Spindler said, including vocational training to help them find employment beyond southern Tel Aviv.

Per the agreement, Israel would no longer pursue its non-voluntary relocation policy, according to a U.N. release.

Earlier this year, Israel had announced a plan to force undocumented African migrants to voluntarily leave the country by the end of March or risk being detained. The plan would provide $3,500 to migrants to relocate to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. At the time, the UNHCR criticized the policy as one that left migrants in unsafe conditions. Israels high court blocked the policys implementation through a temporary order in mid-March.

This article has been updated to reflect Tuesdays cancellation of the deal.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Timing of one unidentified woman reportedly clashed with pregnancy shifts drawn by the childcare centre director - AFP

A Japanese worker has been reprimanded by her boss for selfishly breaking the rules after she became pregnant before it was her turn, according to media reports.

The woman was working at a private childcare centre in Aichi prefecture, north Japan, when she found out she was pregnant.

However, the timing reportedly clashed with shifts drawn by the childcare centre director, which listed when female staff were allowed to marry and have children.

The plight of the woman, who has not been identified, highlights the unsettling practice of some Japanese companies dictating when female staff are allowed to marry and have children, depending on their level of seniority.

Her experiences came to light after her husband, aged 28, wrote a letter outlining their plight to Mainich Shimbun, one of Japans leading newspapers.

Yuka Ogata was banned from feeding her baby in the Kumamoto City council chamber earlier this year in another blow to maternity rights Credit: KYODO/ REUTERS

Describing how his wife felt glum and anxious after finding out she was pregnant, the husband wrote: The director at the child care center where she works had determined the order in which workers could get married or pregnant, and apparently there was an unspoken rule that one must not take their 'turn' before a senior staff member...

The couple formally met with the director to apologise about the pregnancy in person, but the husband claimed that his wife has since been chided for selfishly breaking the rules of the child care center.

He added: Childcare providers sacrifice their own children to care for the children of others. It is a noble profession that nurtures children who will forge the future of this country.

I respect my wife for her commitment to her profession, and continue to encourage her. The conditions of those working to nurture and care for children are evidence of a backward country.

Why has a generation given up on having children?

The case has prompted a flood of support in Japan, a nation famed for both its shrinking birth rate and a chronic shortage of public childcare establishments.

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Many commentators were critical of the nursery, claiming such rules are a violation of human rights - although some were sympathetic to the challenges faced by childcare centres due to widespread staffing shortages.

Japanese women have long had a tough time in the workplace, due to widespread gender discrimination, with the nation slipping to 114th place out of 144 countries in last years World Economic Forum global gender equality rankings.

Maternity harassment  known as matahara in Japan  is also a major issue, with a 2015 government survey revealing that half of the nations working women suffered some kind of harassment after becoming pregnant, with one in five dismissed from their job.

Japan is placed 114 of 144 in the World Economic Forums global gender equality rankings Credit: ISSEI KATO/ REUTERS

The practice of telling female employees exactly when they are allowed to have children  and when they cannot - is reportedly not confined to the childcare industry in Japan.

Another woman, aged 26, from Tokyo also reportedly spoke out about how a female supervisor at a cosmetics-related company told her she would not be allowed to have a child until she was around 35.

She reportedly received a document detailing childbirth and childrearing schedules which was circulated among 22 female colleagues via email, with the warning: Selfish behaviour will be subject to punishment.

The married woman, who has fertility issues, told Mainichi Shimbun: I already have trouble getting pregnant. How are they going to take responsibility if I put off getting pregnant and lose my chances to have children altogether?

The outdated postwar concept of gendered division of labour still lingers in many Japanese companies, according to Dr Brigitte Steger, an expert on modern Japanese studies at Cambridge University.

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The term matahara is used frequently, she told the Telegraph. Women are being harassed for being selfish for taking time out to have children or look after them and for being inconsiderate towards their fellow employees - while women are also criticised for being selfish and not having children.

Referring to the prime minister Shinzo Abes so-called policies of womenomics, she added: The main aim of this politics is to allow more women to combine career with having children, encouraging fathers involvement in childcare, allowing maternity and paternity leave, providing more childcare facilities, etc.

But there are no real structural changes and industries have not all changed their attitudes and demands towards their workforce.
The lawyer for former Miami Marlins star pitcher Jose Fernandez believes police have performed a miscarriage of justice while investigating the deadly boat crash that killed Fernandez and two other men.

The families of the two other men killed filed negligence and personal injury lawsuits seeking $2 million against Fernandezs estate. Investigators determined Fernandez had alcohol and cocaine in his system at the time of the crash, and that he had been the one driving, making him responsible.

Fernandezs lawyer, Ralph Fernandez, is arguing those claims are false. In a 167-page response, Ralph Fernandez  who has no relation to Jose Fernandezs family  says investigators were negligent in considering all the scenarios surrounding the crash.

At one point, Fernandezs lawyer goes after police for not looking into whether foul play could have been involved. A full response to the lawsuit can be read on SlaterScoops.com.

From the inception the case agents decided that Jose Fernandez was the operator and that his blood alcohol level would support the imaginary charges sufficiently so they intentionally failed to consider any evidence provided to them that Jose Fernandez and Eduardo Rivera were the victims of foul play, the two of them unwitting recipients of a spiked drink or a mickey of sorts.

Fernandezs lawyer also suggests there isnt enough evidence to rule Jose Fernandez was the driver on the night of the crash. The document goes into graphic and disturbing detail about the crash, making the argument that Fernandezs injuries were not consistent with him being the driver, and that there was not strong enough evidence for investigators to make that claim.

Fernandez was killed in a boating accident just days before the end of the 2016 season. The team honored Fernandezs legacy with a plaque outside the stadium.

Jose Fernandez died in a boating crash in 2016. (AP Photo)

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The American right have revealed a vision of free speech that is very expansive for conservatives, but far less accommodating for those who disagree with them

Last Wednesday, Ingraham mocked Parkland survivor David Hogg for his failure to gain admission to several colleges. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

In the past week, the American right has rallied around a number of their own who have spoken unwisely. In doing so, they have revealed a vision of free speech that is very expansive for conservatives, but far less accommodating for those who disagree with them.

The biggest fight has been centered on Laura Ingraham, Fox News star, talk radio host, bestselling author and founder of conservative website, Lifezette.

Last Wednesday, Ingraham mocked Parkland survivor and prominent anti-gun activist, David Hogg, for his grades and his failure to gain admission to several colleges. Hogg responded by encouraging his hundreds of thousands of followers to contact Ingrahams advertisers. This pressure led to quick results: within a day Ingraham had apologized in the spirit of Holy Week, and on Friday night announced she would be taking a week away from her show.

Fellow conservatives have spent the intervening days arguing that Ingraham is the victim of a more or less totalitarian campaign by the left.

Bill OReilly, who lost his own Fox show after a similar advertising campaign, wrote on Monday that the campaign was being directed by powerful, shadowy radical groups who want Laura Ingraham off the air. Same thing happened to me.

Jeffrey Lord, a widely published conservative pundit who, like Ingraham, worked in the Reagan administration, claimed that it had fulfilled an earlier prophecy he had made. This is the strategy of the Left, he wrote for Newsbusters last October. Since they cant make the arguments for their side, the answer is to take out the stars of conservative media.

On Sunday he assimilated the fight to a broader culture war, writing that this is a mammoth battle  some might even call it a war, he added,  between the elites  and the rest of us.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school student David Hogg speaking during the March for Our Lives rally. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

As part of Breitbarts exhaustive coverage of the tiff, space was given to their media writer, John Nolte, to opine that the pursuit of Ingraham was un-American McCarthyism, a partisan witch-hunt in which the establishment media is an active participant and cheerleader. Like many on the right, he is attracted to the idea that Hogg himself is being manipulated by shadowy, offstage figures, and has been so poisoned that he cannot see how obscene his own behavior is.

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Elsewhere, various outlets folded Ingrahams woes into ongoing efforts to demonize Hogg. Gateway Pundit tried to push some buttons by bringing up Hoggs atheism. In a later article, their writer, Cristina Laila, called him a crazed liberal and Power Hogg.

Here, its worth pointing out that conservative discussion of Ingrahams woes has been completely detached from its context  a relentless campaign of character assassination by the right against Parkland survivors. Even rightwing writers who concede the meanness of Ingrahams behaviour - like Joey Wulfsohn in the Federalist  end up concluding that Hoggs response to conservative attacks is somehow worse.

Rightwing commentators also ignore the fact that conservatives use similar tactics when it suits them. Tom Nicholls set out this little piece of absurdity quite succinctly in USA Today. Its especially comical to see conservatives complaining about boycotts, he wrote, especially after viewers of Ingrahams colleague Sean Hannity started smashing Keurig coffee pod machines and the Republican state government of Georgia decided to punish Delta Air Lines for defying the National Rifle Association.

Indeed, one of the immediate responses in recent days has been an attempt to organize a counter-boycott of advertisers abandoning Ingraham.

Political talk radio host Laura Ingraham delivers a speech on the third day of the Republican National Convention on 20 July 2016. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Implicit in the conservative reaction to this issue seems to be the belief that the free speech rights of their stars include not just the freedom to speak as they wish, but access to prominent, advertiser-supported platforms.

Which brings us to a second bunfight, which began with the news last that the National Review writer Kevin Williamson had been hired by liberal flagship the Atlantic.

Many on the left were quick to point to Williamsons previously stated views on race and abortion, including his repeated call for women who had abortions to be hanged. In summarizing them, Sarah Jones at the New Republic called Williamson an extremist and gratuitously cruel.

Williamsons confreres on the right, recognizing the importance of one of their own being promoted to a mainstream publication, leapt to his defense.

At RedState, Carl Arbogast asked: Why are liberals so afraid of ideas that are outside of their comfort zone? At National Review, Williamsons former colleague described the replaying of Williamsons stated views as a sliming, and castigated progressives for attempting to define Kevin entirely through a few paragraphs, a sentence here or there, or an ill-considered tweet or two. And predictably, viral attack site Twitchy took the fight straight to Jones and the New Republic.

At the Daily Caller, Angers Hagstrom tied the Williamson fracas to the broader conservative narrative on free speech, saying the case illustrated why conservatives are feeling less and less welcome in public discourse on the internet, on campuses, and on TV.

Again, it seems that the demand is not only that conservatives are given such platforms, but that they are made to feel welcome. And apparently all that is needed for them to feel unwelcome is for them to be criticized, or for others to quote their own publicly stated beliefs.

Meanwhile, on TV stations owned by conservative-friendly Sinclair broadcasting, news anchors last Friday were forced to read out a prepared script that hit Trumpist talking points about fake news.

A video showing the script read out side by side on affiliates went viral over the weekend. The president responded with a tweet on Monday criticising Fake News Networks, and saying that Sinclair was far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke. Many on Twitter reminded their followers that the Trump campaign had struck a deal with the network for access.

By Monday morning, some of the usual suspects were defending Sinclairs bizarre move, which has apparently caused anguish among its un-unionised, and precarious employees. Ben Shapiro called the message utterly anodyne, and characteristically turned the issue back on the left, saying that leftist medias universal rush to condemn Sinclair for the message is actually more lockstep political than Sinclairs message, which is lockstep but not political.

The logic of these positions seems to be that while the right is free to make unrestrained use of the platforms it controls, any criticism of this by progressives is an unacceptable constraint on free speech. Go figure.
Makeup artist Miranda Blake has a very clear message for makeup shamers. (Photo: Twitter/mirandablake41)

As makeup artist Miranda Blake and her fans know, makeup can be a great way to get a message across. Sometimes the message just happens to be bitch bye.

At one point or another, most beauty junkies have heard the phrase you wear too much makeup. The phrase is a form of makeup shaming or glam shaming, which assumes that the wearer has spent their morning foundation-matching and swatching lip shades to please someone else. As many beauty lovers will tell you, makeup can be a creative outlet and, often, produce real works of art.

Our new favorite work of eyeshadow art is by 20-year-old Dallas-based makeup artist Miranda Blake, whose Twitter is currently going viral for her latest makeup look. Beneath the caption, When someone says you wear too much makeup, Blake did herself up in full rainbow smoky eye glam  with the words bitch bye stamped on her lids.

When someone says you wear too much makeup pic.twitter.com/sGAgnzsIs4  Miranda (@mirandablake41) April 3, 2018

In a more detailed post on her Instagram feed, Blake describes how she created the look with BH Cosmetics Take Me Back to Brazil Eyeshadow Palette ($14), Morphe 35B Color Burst Eyeshadow Palette ($23), and Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in Gypsy ($24). As for the wording, she used stickers. Its so easy that beginners can achieve this, Blake tells Yahoo Lifestyle. The hardest part was blending the shadows nicely over the stickers.

Asked whether she prefers a full face or minimal makeup, Blake says that this question describes me so well. She switches it up between both: I rarely where makeup during the week, but when I do its full glam. I think everyone should feel beautiful and confident whether theyre wearing no makeup or they cake it on. At the end of the day, it all washes off.

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Fans are loving the look. You miracle woman, wrote in one commenter on Instagram. This is so so creative omg I love it, another agreed. Some fans are even planning to use the bitch bye sentiment for their own purposes:

If you don't post this tutorial so I can literally serve bitches WITH MY EYES CLOSED  West Indian Princess (@KaylorDemiGreen) April 3, 2018

I love this mine would say bitch bye lol  Kylie Monroe (@KylieMonroe18) April 3, 2018

Blake has long been serving looks on social media, from her gemstone-filled sunset shadows to more eyeshadow messages.

Summer sunsets

Inspo tagged pic.twitter.com/wBP4Qpt4MY  Miranda (@mirandablake41) July 28, 2017

When shes not busy with her viral creations, Blake is taking online makeup courses from P.Louise, whom she describes as one of her biggest inspirations. But other than a few courses, shes studied beauty on her own. I usually do prom makeup and graduation makeup, and I hope to eventually get into wedding makeup, she says.

Blake may have plenty of time for makeup, but she has zero time for haters. Next time she wants to throw shade? All she has to do is close her eyes.

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The Hague (AFP) - A Malian jihadist will make a first appearance Wednesday before the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges over the destruction of holy sites and sex slavery, the tribunal said.

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud "will be informed of the charges against him" at the hearing, the Hague-based ICC said in a statement on Tuesday.

During the initial appearance, scheduled for 1300 GMT at the court's fortress-like headquarters, judges are to verify Al-Hassan's identity and the language in which he'll be able to follow procedures.

Al-Hassan, 40, was arrested over the weekend and handed over by Malian authorities. He arrived at the ICC's detention centre late Saturday.

He faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the destruction of the holy shrines of Timbuktu between 2012 and 2013 as well as accusations of rape and forced marriage.

Al-Hassan's arrest came four days after the court issued an international warrant for his capture.

- 'Great relief' -

Prosecutors allege that he "committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Timbuktu, Mali, between April 2012 and January 2013."

A member of the Ansar Dine jihadist group, Al-Hassan was the "de facto chief of the Islamic police" in Timbuktu, the ICC said.

Hassan allegedly "participated in the policy of forced marriages which victimised the female inhabitants of Timbuktu and led to repeated rapes and the sexual enslavement of women and girls," the court added.

His detention "sends a strong message to all those, wherever they are, who commit crimes which shock the conscience of humanity that my office remains steadfast in the pursuit of its mandate," chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said shortly after his transfer to the ICC.

"The charges against him are representative of the criminality and resulting victimisation of the population during this period," Bensouda added.

Story continues

Rights groups Tuesday hailed his arrest, with the International Federation for Human Rights calling it a "great relief" to victims.

"This is especially when the situation in the centre and north, including in Timbuktu, deteriorates with the resurgence of violence attributed to armed groups of terrorists," the victims' lawyer Moctar Mariko said.

- Forced marriages -

Al-Hassan will be the second Islamic extremist to face trial at the ICC, following an earlier landmark ruling at the world's only permanent war crimes court.

War crimes judges in 2016 jailed another Malian who had pleaded guilty to demolishing Timbuktu's fabled shrines in 2012.

That was the court's first case to focus on cultural destruction as a war crime.

The ICC's judges found Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi guilty of directing attacks on the UNESCO world heritage site during the jihadist takeover of northern Mali in 2012.

Mahdi was sentenced to nine years behind bars in September 2016 for his role in the razing of Timbuktu's holy shrines, built in the 15th and 16th centuries when the city was revered as a centre of Islamic learning.

For extremists however, its moderate form of Islam is seen as idolatrous.

Hassan, a member of the Tuareg tribe, however has been further charged with "persecution on both religious and gender grounds; rape and sexual slavery committed in the context of forced marriages; torture and other inhuman acts," the court said.

The ICC opened in 2002 to try the world's worst crimes in places where national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute alleged perpetrators.

The landmark 2016 verdict by the ICC against Mahdi was the first arising out of the conflict in Mali, and the first time a jihadist had sat in the dock at the court.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's interior minister said on Monday that he spoke to the U.S. homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, agreeing to work together to study how to best address the flow of migrants. "We agreed to analyze the best ways to attend to the flows of migrants in accordance with the laws of each country," Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete wrote in a post on Twitter. U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out against Mexico on Sunday, writing on Twitter that the Latin American country was doing little to stop the flow of migrants into the United States. (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; writing by Julia Love)
By Delphine Schrank and Mica Rosenberg IXTEPEC, Mexico/EDINBURG, Texas (Reuters) - In some of the Mexican towns playing host to a "caravan" of more than 1,200 Central American migrants heading to the U.S. border, the welcome mat has been rolled out despite President Donald Trump's call for Mexican authorities to stop them. Local officials have offered lodging in town squares and empty warehouses or arranged transport for the migrants, participants in a journey organized by the immigrant advocacy group Pueblo Sin Fronteras. The officials have conscripted buses, cars, ambulances and police trucks. But the help may not be entirely altruistic. "The authorities want us to leave their cities," said Rodrigo Abeja, an organizer from Pueblo Sin Fronteras. "They've been helping us, in part to speed the massive group out of their jurisdictions." At some point this spring, the caravan's 2,000-mile (3,200-km) journey that began at Tapachula near the Guatemalan border on March 25 will end at the U.S. border, where some of its members will apply for asylum, while others will attempt to sneak into the United States. Abeja said there was a lot of pressure from authorities to stop the caravan "because of Donald Trump's reaction." The Mexican government issued a statement late on Monday saying it was committed to "legal and orderly" migration. The government said the caravan had been taking place since 2010 and was largely made up of Central Americans entering Mexico who had not met the necessary legal requirements. "For this reason, participants in this (caravan) are subject to an administrative migratory procedure, while 400 have already been repatriated to their countries of origin, in strict accordance with the law and respecting their human rights," it said. Those without permission to stay in Mexico or who had failed to request it through the proper channels could expect to be returned to their homelands, a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'DOING LITTLE' Trump railed on Twitter against the caravan on Monday, accusing Mexico of "doing very little, if not NOTHING" to stop the flow of immigrants crossing the U.S. border illegally. "They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA," he concluded. Mexico's interior minister Alfonso Navarrete did not directly address the caravan, but he wrote on Twitter that he spoke to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday, and that the two had "agreed to analyze the best ways to attend to the flows of migrants in accordance with the laws of each country." Mexico must walk a delicate line with the United States because the countries are in the midst of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) along with Canada. At the same time, Mexican left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 18-point lead ahead of the July 1 election, according to a poll published on Monday. A Lopez Obrador victory could usher in a Mexican government less accommodating toward the United States on both trade and immigration issues. Mexican Senator Angelica de la Pena, who presides over the Senate's human rights commission, told Reuters that Mexico should protect migrants' rights despite the pressure from Trump. Former President Vicente Fox called for Mexican officials to take a stand against Trump's attacks. Trump keeps "blackmailing, offending and denigrating Mexico and Mexicans," he wrote on Twitter on Monday. Under Mexican law, Central Americans who enter Mexico legally are generally allowed to move freely through the country, even if their goal is to cross illegally into the United States. 'WE'RE SUFFERING Migrants in the caravan cite a variety of reasons for joining it. Its members are disproportionately from Honduras, which has high levels of violence and has been rocked by political upheaval in recent months following the re-election of U.S.-backed president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, in an intensely disputed election. Maria Elena Colindres Ortega, a member of the caravan and, until January, a member of Congress in Honduras, said she is fleeing the political upheaval at home. "We've had to live through a fraudulent electoral process," she said. "Were suffering a progressive militarization and lack of institutions, and ... they're criminalizing those who protested." Colindres Ortega, who opposed the ruling party in Honduras, said she spiraled into debt after serving without pay for the last 18 months of her four-year term. She decided to head north after a fellow congressman from her party put out word on Facebook that a caravan of migrants was gathering in southern Mexico, leaving home with a small bag with necessities and photos of her children. Pueblo Sin Fronteras has helped coordinate migrant caravans for the past several years, although previously they had a maximum of several hundred participants. During the journey members of the organization instruct the migrants about their rights. "We accompany at least those who want to request asylum," said Alex Mensing, Pueblo Sin Fronteras' program director. "We help prepare them for the detention process and asylum process before they cross the border, because it's so difficult for people to have success if they don't have the information." Typically, Central Americans have not fared well with U.S. asylum claims, particularly those from Honduras. A Reuters analysis of immigration court data found that Hondurans who come before the court receive deportation orders in more than 83 percent of cases, the highest rate of any nationality. Hondurans also face deportation in Mexico, where immigration data shows that 5,000 Hondurans were deported from Mexico in February alone, the highest number since May 2016. Manuel Padilla, chief of the border patrol's Rio Grande Valley sector, one of the busiest crossing points on the U.S. Mexico border, said in an interview with Reuters that he worries the caravan could "generate interest for other groups to do the same thing," but he was not terribly nervous about coping with the group currently traveling. "Not to be flippant," Padilla said, "but it's similar numbers to what we are seeing every day pretty much." (This version of the story corrects spelling to Manuel from Maunel in penultimate paragraph) (Reporting by Delphine Schrank and Mica Rosenberg; Additional reporting by Dave Graham, Lizbeth Diaz, Diego Ore and Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Sue Horton, Lisa Shumaker and Paul Tait)
By Fathin Ungku SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Myanmar's panel of international advisers on Rohingya issues said on Tuesday that the coming monsoon season could bring "enormous deaths" as refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh are not built to withstand the storms. Rights groups say some 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya have fled violence and crossed the border from Myanmar's Rakhine state since August and most live in flimsy, bamboo-and-plastic structures perched on what were once forested hills at Cox's Bazaar. "We are at this time in a race against time. For us, the monsoons are coming. The camps of almost one million people are not built to withstand monsoon," Kobsak Chutikul, the head of the secretariat of the board, said at a press conference in Singapore. "There will be enormous deaths if all parties do not move to some understanding on repatriation, on aid." Because a repatriation deal between the neighboring countries has been delayed, Bangladesh is racing to prepare new homes on a nearby island, called Bhasan Char, before the monsoons that could arrive later this month. The Advisory Board for the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State was set up by Myanmar last year to advise on ways of adopting the findings of an earlier commission headed by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Computer modeling by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) shows that more than 100,000 refugees will be threatened by landslides and floods in the coming monsoons. The rains typically begin in April and peak in July, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Chutikul's comments came as Malaysia intercepted a boat 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar off its northern island of Langkawi after a storm. Malaysia will allow them to enter on humanitarian grounds, with rights groups expecting further such perilous journeys by sea. The Rohingya fled their homes in Rakhine into Bangladesh after militant attacks in August last year sparked a military crackdown that the United Nations and Western countries have said constitutes ethnic cleansing. Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejects that charge, saying its forces have been waging a legitimate campaign against "terrorists" who attacked government forces. (Reporting by Fathin Ungku; Editing by John Geddie and Nick Macfie)
Tuesday, April 3, 2018

What to watch today

Spotify (SPOT) will make its public debut on Tuesday as the streaming music service will begin trading after a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The event brings to market one of the biggest consumer names to emerge from the recent boom in Silicon Valley and marks the most anticipated public debut since Snap Inc. (SNAP) went public over a year ago.

The offering will also be closely watched because its direct listing cuts out many of the traditional Wall Street investment bankers  and their fees  that often define the IPO process. Shares of the company traded hands for as much as $131 per share during the first quarter, and the Financial Times reported Monday that it will likely take until midday on Tuesday for the stock to open for trading.

Read More

Top news

21st Century Fox offers more concessions in bid for Sky: 21st Century Fox on Tuesday offered new proposals to insulate Skys news operations from Rupert Murdochs influence in its ongoing bid to take full control of the London-based pay TV company. Fox said it proposes to either sell Sky News to Walt Disney (DIS) or comprehensively ring fence it. Disney is already trying to take over many parts of Fox. Fox says a proposed sale of Sky News to Disney would not be contingent on Disney acquiring key parts of Fox. [AP]

GM scraps a standard in sales reporting: General Motors Co. (GM) is abandoning its decades-old practice of reporting monthly auto sales, saying a 30-day period doesnt provide an adequate snapshot of the companys complex business or the broader industry. The move by the nations top auto seller will likely disrupt the industrys collective attempt to give analysts, economists and investors a broad view of one of Americas bedrock businesses and a consistent bellwether for consumer behavior. [The Wall Street Journal]

Consumer watchdog chief gives Congress advice on stripping away his powers: Mick Mulvaney has long complained that the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has too much authority over banks. More than four months into his stint running the watchdog, hes offering lawmakers specific advice on how they should start stripping those powers away. [Bloomberg]

Story continues

Walmart is looking at buying PillPack: Online pharmacy startup PillPack is in talks to be acquired by Walmart (WMT) for under $1 billion, according to two sources familiar with the matter. PillPacks focus on making it easier for customers to order and fulfill medications is an attractive proposition for Walmart and other e-commerce companies that are looking to enhance their health care offerings. The talks come amid reports of early acquisition talks between Walmart and health insurance giant Humana (HUM), which would be a much larger deal. [CNBC}

For more of the latest news, go to Yahoo Finance

Villanova head coach Jay Wright, center, celebrates with his team after beating Michigan 79-62 in the championship game of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 2, 2018, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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China's foreign minister told his North Korean counterpart on Tuesday that Beijing appreciates Pyongyang's efforts to ease nuclear tensions ahead of planned summits between the isolated country's leader Kim Jong Un and the South Korean and US presidents.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho met China's chief diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing just a week after Kim made a surprise trip to the Chinese capital to meet President Xi Jinping.

China and North Korea are trying to repair their own relations, which have been strained as Beijing has backed a slew of United Nations sanctions to pressure Pyongyang to stop its nuclear activities.

China is North Korea's sole major ally and trade partner.

The latest visit is part of a flurry of diplomacy that has eased regional tensions after months of bellicose rhetoric between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

"China appreciates the North's commitment to the denuclearisation of the peninsula and its important efforts to ease the situation on the peninsula, and supports the North's leader's meeting with the leaders of South Korea and the US," Wang told Ri, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

Ri said Pyongyang was willing to develop the traditional friendly relations between the Cold War-era allies, and the ministry quoted Ri as saying the North "will also maintain close and strategic communication with China on Korean peninsula issues".

Wang told his counterpart the two foreign ministries should increase exchanges at all levels.

"Under the current situation, maintaining and developing the traditional friendship between China and North Korea is very important for both countries and regions," Wang said, according to the statement.

State media images showed Wang and Ri smiling as they shook hands and sat for talks.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency said Ri was heading a government delegation that left on Tuesday for a conference of foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement in Azerbaijan.

Story continues

Ri will also visit Russia and other former Soviet states.

- 'Eliminate interference' -

Kim last week met President Xi Jinping on his first trip abroad since inheriting power from his father Kim Jong Il in December 2011.

Kim's secretive visit was dubbed "unofficial" but bore all the trappings of an official state occasion, with honour guards, bouquets, red carpets and meetings with most of China's top leaders.

Kim is now due to hold a summit with South Korea's Moon Jae-in on April 27 and a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump is also planned -- events that give both Pyongyang and Beijing new incentives to repair their strained relationship.

Wang struck a note of caution about the diplomatic developments during a press conference with Switzerland's visiting foreign minister earlier Tuesday.

"Of course, historical experience tells us that when the situation on the (Korean) peninsula eases and peace talks usher in the light of dawn, there are often all types of disturbances," he said, calling on all parties to "eliminate interference" and continue dialogue.

"We hope the leaders of the US and North Korea can successfully meet and enhance mutual understanding and establish basic trust," Wang said.

South Korea said last month after talks with Kim in Pyongyang that he would consider abandoning his nuclear weapons in exchange for US security guarantees, and would halt weapons tests while talks were under way.

In Beijing, Kim had been quoted as saying by China's Xinhua news agency that the issue of denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula "can be resolved if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace".

- 'Deeply moved' -

The diplomatic thaw began during February's Winter Olympics in South Korea, to which Kim sent athletes, cheerleaders and his sister as an envoy.

The North has rapidly expanded on the thaw by launching several diplomatic initiatives.

Earlier this week Kim attended a rare performance in Pyongyang by South Korean K-pop stars, shaking their hands and taking photos backstage.

Kim was "deeply moved" by the performance, state media reported, an unusual step as the authoritarian regime typically struggles to prevent the South's pop culture from reaching its isolated people.
An arrangement of pills of the opioid oxycodone-acetaminophen in New York. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

By Roger Parloff , Editor-in-Chief, Opioid Watch

Update: Since this article's publication, Dr. Andrew Kolodny has disclosed that he has have served as a paid consultant to public entities that were suing opioid manufacturers.

Four of the nations leading pain doctors, who spearheaded a medical movement to treat chronic pain with opioid drugs, have been named as co-defendants in scores of lawsuits filed by cities and counties against opioid manufacturers.

The lawsuits allege that the doctors allowed themselves to be used by manufacturers, as part of a false, industrywide marketing campaign, thereby helping to instigate the public health crisis that has led to more than 300,000 opioid-related overdose deaths since 2000.

The key manufacturers named are Purdue Pharma (maker of OxyContin); Teva Pharmaceuticals (owner of Cephalon, maker of Actiq and Fentora); Johnson & Johnson (owner of Janssen, maker of Duragesic); Endo Health Solutions (maker of Opana, Percodan, and Percocet); and Allergan (formerly Activa, formerly Watson Laboratories, which sold Kadian).

The luminary doctors are Lynn Webster, Perry Fine, Scott Fishman, and Russell Portenoy. Because they allegedly accepted tens of thousands of dollars from opioid manufacturersfor research, consulting, speeches, honoraria, and continuing medical education seminarsand led organizations that also received substantial industry funding, plaintiffs lawyers assert that their messages became tainted, and that they overstated the drugs efficacy and understated their risks in ways that were scientifically unsupportable.

A lawyer for Webster, Fine, and Fishman declined comment on the suits, as did Portenoy. The four doctors have asked judges to dismiss the accusations against them for failure to allege a legally recognizable claim. The co-defendant manufacturers have all denied wrongdoing.

Three pain authorities face more than 80 suits each

Three of the defendant doctorsWebster, Fine, and Fishmanare defendants in at least 80 of the more than 430 lawsuits now pending in federal court, and in a couple dozen more in state courts, according to two plaintiffs lawyers. The fourth, Russell Portenoy, a neurology professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the chief medical officer at Manhattans MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care Center, has been named in a smaller number of cases, including at lead 18 in federal court. Portenoy has been sued less often, a plaintiffs lawyer says, because he lacks insurance.

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In the lawsuits, plaintiffs lawyers refer to the four doctors as key opinion leaders, or KOLs, a term used by the marketing departments of pharmaceutical companies for especially influential physicians they seek to influence. The manufacturers are said to have used the KOLs for unbranded marketing, thereby evading the strictures of branded marketing, which is closely supervised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Although some KOLs may have advocated for permissive opioid prescribing with honest intentions, alleges one typical complaint, filed in the Suffolk County supreme court in Central Islip, N.Y., [manufacturers] cultivated and promoted only those KOLs who could be relied on to help broaden the chronic opioid therapy market The KOLs knew, or deliberately ignored, the misleading way in which they portrayed the use of opioids to treat chronic pain to patients and prescribers. (That complaint was authored by attorneys Paul Napoli, of Napoli Shkolnik, and Paul Hanly, Jr., of Simmons Hanly Conroy.)

Court Exhibit: Relationships between corporations and physicians, uses of front groups and selective deceptive marketing materials and resources.

Websters clinic raided, but never prosecuted

From 1990 until 2010, Webster was the CEO and medical director of the Lifetree Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is the author of The Painful Truth, a book published by Oxford University Press, and a documentary of the same name. In each, chronic pain sufferers tell their stories, and discuss the difficulty they have getting opioid prescriptions filled because of doctors or pharmacists suspicion that they are drug addicts.

He is also a past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), a professional society that received, plaintiffs allege, about $2 million from opioid manufacturers from 2009 to 2013. Plaintiffs allege that he received nearly $2 million in funding from Cephalon over the years, on top of money from Purdue and Endo. Websters clinic was raided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in 2010, but the U.S. Attorney declined to prosecute in 2014.

In 2013 Webster was quoted by the Milwaukee Sentinel saying that as many as 20 patients at his clinic may have died of overdose, counting suicides. A year later he denied having said that, explaining that some clinic patients had died in spite of treatment, not because of it. (A spokeperson for the AAPM writes in an email: As a professional medical society, the American Academy of Pain Medicine is committed to integrity and transparency in all of its activities. The Academys policies prohibit its education and advocacy positions being compromised by outside influences, such as pharmaceutical companies, just as newspapers and other media outlets dont allow advertising to compromise their editorial integrity.)

Perry Fine, a professor at the University of Utah, and Scott Fishman, chief of pain medicine at UC-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, are also past-presidents of AAPM, and each has written influential articles, books, or treatment guidelines in the field. Fishman chaired the American Pain Foundation, a patient advocacy group that, by the time it was dissolved in 2012, was nearly 90% funded by industry, including 50% by opioid manufacturers.

Portenoy, who rose to become founding chairman of the department of pain medicine at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, authored a seminal 1986 study that triggered a revolution in opioids prescribing practices. Until then, the drugs were used almost exclusively for managing acute (i.e., short-term) pain in hospitals or assuaging the misery of terminal cancer patients. His study concluded that long-held fears of opioid dependency were overwrought, and that such drugs could be used to treat chronic pain, too, running little risk of addictionat least in patients with no history of substance abuse. Though his study involved just 38 patients and contained multiple caveats, it kicked off a major rethinking of conventional wisdom. Portenoy and others argued that the medical profession had been needlessly forcing patients to endure excruciating pain due to unfounded fears of drugs that had been unfairly stigmatized.

$8 billion in opioid revenue in 2012; $3.1 billion from OxyContin

The idealistic doctors who led this movement were eventually handed megaphones by opioid manufacturers, like Purdue (which launched OxyContin in 1996). The companies helped raised the physicians profiles by funding their research, speeches, and CME talks. At continuing medical education sessions of the period, it was often taught that the chance of a chronic pain patient developing opioid-dependence was less than 1%. Few would endorse that claim todaythough some still do.

In the late 1990s Purdue boosted OxyContin with the largest and most sophisticated marketing campaign ever seen for a narcotic, reaping blockbuster profits. Other manufacturers offered competing products. In 2012, companies were making $8 billion from the sale of opioids, according to the plaintiffs, of which $3.1 billion went to Purdue from OxyContin sales.

But by the early 2000s, as overdose deaths began to pile uplinked largely, at that time, to the abuse of OxyContinskeptics noticed that the literature being relied upon for claims of low addiction risk was shockingly thin. An oft-cited 1980 report in the New England Journal of Medicine, for instance, turned out not to be a study at all, but rather a five-sentence letter to the editor, referring to two physicians experience with hospital patients treated for acute pain (not chronic), and who had never been, in any case, followed up with after leaving the hospital.

It was pseudoscience

In 2003nearly 15 years agoNew York Times reporter Barry Meier confronted Portenoy with the weaknesses in three then-commonly cited studies. It was pseudoscience, Portenoy acknowledged then, according to Meiers 2003 book about OxyContin, Pain Killer: A Wonder Drugs Trail of Addiction and Death. I guess Ill have to live with that one.

Portenoy was back in news in late 2012, when he told the Wall Street Journal, We didnt know then what we know now. The paper quoted him telling an unidentified doctor during a 2010 video interview, I gave innumerable lectures in the late 1980s and 90s about addiction that werent true. Still, Portenoy told the paper, he was wary of the pendulum swinging back too far toward irrational stigmatization of opioids, to the detriment of patients in severe need whom opioids could benefit.

The unidentified doctor in the Journal story was Andrew Kolodny, co-director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University, who has since posted other excerpts from the 2010 Portenoy video on the web site of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP), of which Kolodny is executive director. In one of those Portenoy recounts citing avenues of evidence in his lectures to primary care doctors that were not real evidence. Still, despite these admissions, Portenoys past misstatements may not amount to intentional falsehoods, which is what theyd have to be for him to be liable on the legal claims hes charged with. Because the primary goal was to destigmatize, he says, we often left evidence behind.

It was a lot of money

Jane Ballantyne, a professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington, says that, with the exception of Webster, she knows the defendant doctors well. (She is now co-editing the fifth edition of a pain textbook with Fishman.)

Ballantyne became concerned about the use of opioids for chronic pain after research by her unit, published in 2003, suggested that opioids can make pain worse, not better, and that patients were struggling with dependence, as she recounts in an interview. Today she is president of PROP, a group seeking to cut back on the use of opioids to treat chronic pain.

Asked about the lawsuits accusations, she responds: Theyre friends of mine. I believe they acted out of passion to advance not only the pain care of people who might have been ruined by pain but also their own careers. And thats normal. Thats what we all do.

In the United States, she continues, for a clinician to gain stature through research and publishing, you do need to take drug company money because no one else is going to pay for it.

So what you can accuse them of, she continues, is: They probably did take more money than the average person does, number one. They didnt question why it was so easy to. It was a lot of money. The other is: They didnt question the scientific veracity of what they were promoting. What is more difficult is: What was their intention?

This article is contributed by Opioid Watch, an independent, nonprofit news service of The Opioid Research Institute. The Institute is funded by the Joseph H. Kanter foundations. The Institute does not accept funding from the pharmaceutical industry.

Roger Parloff is Editor-in-Chief of Opioid Watch, a nonprofit news service of The Opioid Research Institute. Parloff is a former editor-at-large at Fortune Magazine, and has been published in Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, The New York Times, ProPublica, New York Magazine, and NewYorker.com, among others.

This post was updated on May 29, 2018.
The White House announced Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be traveling to Florida later this month to meet with President Donald Trump, who has agreed to become the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean supreme leader in an effort to settle nuclear tensions in the region.

In what would be Trump and Abe's third meeting, a White House press secretary statement said the two menviewed as close political allieswould "reaffirm the United States-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region" at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on April 17 an 18. The U.S. and Japan have shared anxieties about North Korea's growing arsenal of nuclear and ballistic weapons and, even as Trump accepted a landmark invitation to hold direct talks with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un, both Washington and Tokyo have emphasized keeping a hardline stance against their mutual foe.

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"The two leaders will discuss the international campaign to maintain maximum pressure on North Korea in advance of President Trumps planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un," the statement said.

"President Trump and Prime Minister Abe will explore ways to expand fair and reciprocal trade and investment ties between the United States and Japan, two of the worlds wealthiest and most innovative economies," it added.

GettyImages-870710572

TORU HANAI/AFP/Getty Images

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North Korea's feud with Japan predates its enmity toward the U.S. and the division of the Korean Peninsula, which was occupied by the Japanese Empire in 1910. During World War II, Japan reportedly subjected Korean men to forced labor and Korean women to sexual slavery before losing the territory to U.S. and Soviet forces in August 1945. Using a National Geographic magazine, two U.S. personnel then set the border of what would become U.S.-backed South Korea and Soviet-backed North Korea along the 38th parallel.

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Five years later and after two opposing satellite governments had been established in, the neighbors went to war from 1950 to 1953. U.S. involvement against the joint communist forces of North Korea and China set the stage for North Korea's open dislike for the successive administrations in Washington in the decades since. In North Korea, there have only been three supreme leaders, the youngest and most recent of whom is Kim Jong Un. South Korean officials announced last month that Trump, the oldest U.S. president, would meet Kim, a decision that raised major concerns as well as hopes in the region.

In an article published Monday by the official Korean Central News Agency, an individual identified spokesman for the Association of Korean Victims of Forcible Drafting and Their Bereaved Families accused Japan of attempting to revive its imperial ambitions across East Asia on the 80th anniversary of the signing of the "National Mobilization Law" which militarized the Japanese economy and displaced scores of Korean workers.

"The Japanese imperialists took the Korean people to battlefields for war of aggression, forced labor and disgraceful sex slavery and inflicted pain and death upon them," the spokesman said. "These atrocities against mankind can never be pardoned as they are the hideous human rights abuses unprecedented in history."

"Nevertheless, the Japanese authorities and right-wing reactionaries force the history textbook full of embellishment and falsity to be used for education, claiming that there was no the forcible drafting of Koreans and it was a 'legal' in those days," he added. "Worse still, they are taking the lead in crying out for the sanctions and pressure upon the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] in the international arena, not content with slandering the DPRK, the biggest victim, and are laying bare an attempt for reinvasion of the Korean peninsula while positively joining in the reckless U.S. military exercises against the DPRK."

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TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

In response to Kim's increasingly advanced stockpile of both conventional and nuclear weapons as well as China's own growing military might, Japan has sought more offensive capabilities for its traditionally pacifist armed forces. Japan has also criticized North Korea over the alleged abduction of Japanese citizens and recent missile tests that flew over Japan and landed in nearby waters.

On Saturday, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono claimed that North Korea was "working hard to get ready for the next nuclear test" during a lecture in the city of Kochi, citing satellite imagery. An analysis published Monday by the 38 North project of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies disputed this.

In the report, the researchers said satellite imagery actually showed a recent, significant slowdown of work at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in northeastern North Korea. In the previous report of imagery at the site last week, the authors said the lack of major activity at Punggye-ri could mean Kim is serious about negotiating to denuclearize the weapons of mass destruction have earned him intense international sanctions.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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On Sunday, President Trump went on a Twitter tirade after the airing of a Fox & Friends segment about a group of Mexican migrants making their way to the U.S. border, using the term caravans. Heres a look at the group traveling to the U.S. through Mexico, as well as the other immigration terms Trump referred to that set off the tweetstorm.
Tokyo (AFP) - Faced with a growing number of injuries from deer bites, authorities in Japan's Nara Park have issued tips on feeding the hundreds of animals that attract tourists from around the world.

The picturesque park in Japan's ancient capital is home to more than 1,000 deer, which can even be found roaming the streets in search of special tasty crackers offered by tourists.

But their cute and calm demeanour can be deceptive and tourists can find themselves surrounded by aggressive animals when they try to feed them.

So authorities have erected a sign written in Chinese, English and Japanese entitled: "A polite request from the deer when feeding them" at the stalls where crackers are sold.

Small children should be accompanied by adults and "deer sign language" should be employed, showing both hands to the animals when feeding time is over.

"As they are wild animals, they get angry if people tease them," Nara official Yuichiro Kitabata told AFP.

"For example, if you keep them waiting when feeding, they can bite you ... but not all of tourists know they are wild, believing they are kept in the park," he added.

The sprawling park that also includes wooden temples and shrines built centuries ago is a major tourist attraction, welcoming some 13 million visitors annually.

But with a rise in the number of foreign tourists, the number of those injured by deer surged to a record 180 in the last fiscal year to March from 118 the previous year, according to Kitabata.

The deer at the park -- numbering on average about 1,200 -- are protected as a national treasure.
By Saad Sayeed ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The United States has placed a Pakistani political group called the Milli Muslim League (MML) on its list of foreign terrorist organisations, saying it was merely an alias for a militant group blamed for a bloody 2008 attack in India. The Milli Muslim League is controlled by Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. The group shot to prominence after fielding a candidate in a September 2017 by-election to fill a seat vacated by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or Army of the Pure, which is also on the U.S. terrorist list and blamed by the United States and India for a four-day militant attack on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 in which 166 people were killed. Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the attack. The U.S. State Department said the Milli Muslim League alias had been added to the LeT's designations as a terrorist group. "These designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks," the State Department said in a statement. "Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," it added. Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to request for comment. Saeed was placed under house arrest in January 2017 after years of living freely in Pakistan but a court ordered his release in November 2017. He was not available for comment on Tuesday. India welcomed the U.S. decision saying Pakistan has failed to crack down on militants. "Terrorist individuals and entities are allowed to change names and continue to operate freely from territory under Pakistan's control," an Indian foreign office spokesman said in New Delhi. "The designation ... highlights Pakistan's failure to fulfil its international obligation to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries, and disrupt terror financing," he added. Pakistan has previously denied any state involvement in the Mumbai attack or links with LeT and other militant groups. It placed the LeT on a list of banned organizations in 2002. In October 2017, Pakistan's electoral commission barred the Milli Muslim League from contesting elections, saying it had links to militant groups and could not be registered. In March 2018 the Islamabad High Court ordered the election commission to register the party. Under pressure from the United States, the United Nations and international institutions to crack down on terrorist financing, Pakistan drew up secret plans last December for a "takeover" of charities linked to Saeed. Saeed has since taken the government decision to court. Saeed's freedom in Pakistan, where he holds rallies, has been a thorn in Pakistan's relations with old rival India and the United States. (Additional reporting by Sanjeev Miglani in New Delhi; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel)
Interest in acquiring a concealed carry handgun permit doubled in the month that followed the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Floridathe largest spike in interest since the Newtown, Connecticut school shootingaccording to a new report.

The National Carry Academy, which offers in-person and online concealed carry courses, said on Monday that online enrollments spiked 103.5 percent from 200 to 407 in the 24 hours following the February 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which left 17 people dead.

We basically doubled overnight, Schutrop told Newsweek on Tuesday. People are concerned over their own protection and at least want to learn more about if concealed carry is for them and how they can protect themselves and their families.

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Schutrop said he usually sees a bump after high-profile shootings and when the political discourse around gun control heats up.

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George Frey/Getty Images

A lot of people are concerned about the gun control debate, he said. They want to get their permits before it might be taken away from them.

Schutrop didnt have figures for in-person classes but he said the spike was similarly reflected among that service too.

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Those statistics, however, might not accurately reflect the interest level in concealed carry because requirements for such permits vary from county to county and state to state.

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In Alabama, for instance, individuals in some counties are able to acquire a pistol permit with little more than a photo ID if they pass a background checkmeaning applicants aren't always required to take a gun safety course or display live fire proficiency in order to get a permit. Once that individual has a pistol permit, he or she can then apply for a concealed carry permit.

Alabama is a "shall issue" state, meaning if the applicant has a pistol permit and meets the concealed carry requirements, the issuing body must grant that person a concealed carry permit. More restrictive states such as California or New York are "may issue" states, which give the permit-issuing body more discretion in deciding who qualifies.

Additionally, Alabama and 27 other states exempt permit or license holders from federal background check requirements at the point of sale, according to the gun safety group Giffords.

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But as interest in concealed carry weapons has increased, so does the momentum on the gun violence prevention side of the firearms debate.

Everytown for Gun Safetythe nation's largest gun safety group that grew out of the group Mayors Against Illegal Gunsand its grassroots activist network Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America have added more than 155,000 new volunteers to their ranks since Parkland, Everytown said in a statement on Thursday. Everytown has also received nearly 2 million new online supporters.

For comparison, the NRAfounded in 1871 and the nation's self-described longest-standing civil rights organizationpurports to have five million members, though that might be augmented by dubious accounting.

Polls also appear to show growing support for stricter gun legislation. A Quinnipiac poll conducted in the days after Parkland found that 97 percent of gun owners supported universal background checks on firearms purchases. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey published on March 23 found that nearly seven out of 10 adults now favor stricter gun control measuresthe highest level of support since the AP first started asking the question five years ago.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, and people are wearing the color blue to raise awareness for the developmental disorder.

World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized event when the United Nations reaffirms its commitment to promote the full participation of all people with autism, and ensure they have the necessary support to be able to exercise their rights and fundamental freedoms.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects about 1% of the worlds population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This years World Autism Awareness Day is focused on supporting women and girls who have been diagnosed with the condition.

The 2018 World Autism Awareness Day observance at United Nations Headquarters New York will focus on the importance of empowering women and girls with autism and involving them and their representative organizations in policy and decision making to address these challenges, according to the U.N.s website.

Various buildings and landmarks around the world will light up in the color blue Monday to raise autism awareness as well. The White House, the Empire State Building and Niagara Falls have all been lit in blue on Autism Awareness Day in years past.

If you want to show your support for autism awareness on social media, you can use these pre-written tweets and posts, or even turn your Facebook profile picture blue for the day. You can also use the hashtag #LightItUpBlue.

April is also Autism Awareness Month.

More than 3.5 million Americans fall somewhere on the autism spectrum, according to the Autism Society of America; about 1 in 68 children in the U.S. are identified as having ASD, according to the CDC.
Breaking up is hard to do  but a large pepperoni with extra mushrooms sure can soften the blow.

One womans heartbreak has turned in a rather clever marketing opportunity for Pizza Hut. After Australian writer Rosie Waterland tweeted about her harsh split, the pizza chain leaped into action, offering some free pies to cheer her up. (Your move, Ben & Jerrys.)

Hello Im 31 and just got dumped via messenger and simultaneously blocked across all platforms so I couldnt respond, high school-style. Cant decide if Im heartbroken or want to bitch to Jamie. Both I guess. ITS ALL MATERIAL .  Rosie Waterland (@RosieWaterland) April 2, 2018

Got dumped and ghosted yesterday, and am getting lash refills today which means I CANNOT CRY FOR 24 HOURS. This is a genius life hack dont @ me.  Rosie Waterland (@RosieWaterland) April 3, 2018

Waterland may now be single, but she joked that she has found her new life partner after Pizza Hut Australia got in touch with an offer she couldnt refuse.

OMG. Brb found my new life partner. https://t.co/LJaHMwaTxE  Rosie Waterland (@RosieWaterland) April 3, 2018

I have never loved a social media publicity stunt more. PIZZA IS MY PARTNER NOW. I will accept any and all free stuff #noshame @PizzaHutAU pic.twitter.com/zWv8beJ0GE  Rosie Waterland (@RosieWaterland) April 3, 2018

Waterlands followers applauded the generous move  well, mostly.

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Pizza is more dependable than any man.  BJT (@delenn35) April 3, 2018

Ok, this is a dream scenario!!  Unlucky Lingerie (@unluckylingerie) April 3, 2018

Bit rude they assume you dont have a date on Friday night  Tamsey-Jade Simpson (@tjtwits) April 3, 2018

To quote the pizza giant: Pizza will always be there for you. Thick and thin, in crust we trust.

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By Paresh Dave

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (Reuters) - A woman opened fire at YouTube's headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday, wounding three people before taking her own life as employees of the Silicon Valley technology company fled into the surrounding streets, authorities said.

Police did not release any further information on the suspect or her motives for the shooting rampage at YouTube, a video sharing service owned by Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google.

MSNBC reported that police believe a woman in her 30s approached an outdoor patio and dining area on the campus around lunchtime and began to fire, before turning the gun on herself.

Senior law enforcement officials believe the motive behind the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute, MSNBC and other media reported. There had no known connection to terrorism, a U.S. government security official told Reuters.

A YouTube product manager, Todd Sherman, described on Twitter hearing people running, first thinking it was an earthquake before he was told that a person had a gun.

"At that point every new person I saw was a potential shooter. Someone else said that the person shot out the back doors and then shot themselves," Sherman said on Twitter.

"I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front," Sherman said.

The shooting was the latest in an epidemic of mass killings that have plagued the United States in recent years. Most recently, the massacre of 17 people at a Florida high school has led to calls for tighter restrictions on gun ownership.

In a recording of a 911 call posted online by the Los Angeles Times, a dispatcher can be heard saying: Shooter. Another party said they spotted someone with a gun. Suspect came from the back patio ... Again we have a report of a subject with a gun. They heard seven or eight shots being fired."

Dozens of emergency vehicles quickly converged on the YouTube campus, and police could be seen on televised aerial video systematically frisking several employees leaving the area with their hands raised.

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One of the victims, a 36-year-old man, was listed in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital. A 32-year-old woman was listed in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition. Authorities did not release names of the victims.

The three patients taken to San Francisco General Hospital were all awake, Dr. Andre Campbell, a trauma surgeon at the hospital, said at a news conference. All three people were victims of gunshot wounds, Campbell said, but none of them had undergone surgery. A fourth person was taken to a local hospital with an ankle injury from fleeing the scene.

Google said on Twitter that it was coordinating with local authorities. YouTube Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki declined to comment to reporters as she left the building.

President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had been briefed on the shooting.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved, Trump tweeted. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.

In response, Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey tweeted: "We cant keep being reactive to this, thinking and praying it wont happen again at our schools, jobs, or our community spots. Its beyond time to evolve our policies."

Last month, YouTube announced it would ban content promoting the sale of guns and gun accessories as well as videos that teach how to make guns.

Female mass shooters are rare. A recent Washington Post analysis shows only three out of 150 U.S. shootings with more than four victims since 1966 were done by women. In 2015, a husband and wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.

(Additional reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York, Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago, Mark Hosenball in Washington, D.C.; Andrew Hay in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Alex Dobuzinskis and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Salvador Rodriguez, Heather Somerville, Noel Randewich, Stephen Nellis and Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)
This article originally appeared on the History News Network.

On April 4, 1968, LBJ observed: The world that day seemed to me a pretty good place.

But, as he prepared to attend a Democratic fundraiser that evening, a note arrived reading: Mr. President: Martin Luther King has been shot.

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Martin Luther King & Lyndon Johnson

Yoichi Robert Okamoto

Shortly after, another message came: Mr. President: Justice has just advised that Dr. King is dead.

LBJ lamented, I rarely have felt that sense of powerlessness more acutely than the day Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed.

Immediately, Johnson started planning a special address to a joint session of Congress to present a comprehensive program for African-Americans. LBJ told Califano, Weve got to show the nation that we can get something done.

Aides were unenthusiastic, so a frustrated, LBJ barked: Goddamn it, this country has got to do more for these people, and the time to start is now.

Here was one of many times over the next few days that Johnson showed empathy and concern toward African-Americans. He wanted desperately to quell the violence through action.

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During a meeting the following day, LBJ acknowledged the feelings of the protestors. If I were a kid in Harlem. I know what Id be thinking right now: Id be thinking that the whites have declared open season on my people, and theyre going to pick us off one by one unless I get a gun and pick them off first.

Publicly, however, he promoted conciliation and progress, telling a national audience: We have rolled away some of the stones of inaction, of indifference, and of injustice, but our work is not yet done. But we have begun.

Soon, calls came for federal troops to quell the disorder in cities, including Washington, D.C. Despite cries for harsh actions, Johnson remained committed to preventing additional bloodshed. He told one aide: I dont want Americans killing Americans. I may not be doing the popular thing, or even the right thing, but no soldier in Washington has killed a civilian yet.

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But, even as he tried limiting bloodshed, LBJ maintained a sense of humor. Reports circulated that Stokley Carmichael had organized a march on the posh homes in Georgetown of the newspaper editors and columnists who loved to criticize Johnson.

The president smiled when he read the report and bellowed, Goddamn! Ive waited thirty-five years for this day!

As troops flooded into other cities, including Baltimore and Chicago, the president and his staff continued working on a series of proposals for Congress, totaling more than $5 billion.

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But there was also realism on what Congress might accept. One aide emphasized: Whats the use of escalating the demands for the Negro when Congress wont move on what weve already sent up there?

But central to the matter was the inability to formulate a reasonable proposal, despite LBJ desperately wanting to do so. One advisor remembered LBJ receiving a sheaf of paper with recommendations. His face sagged as he characterized them as all vanilla; they wouldnt begin to touch our problem.

Then, he cut to the heart of the issue. Until we all get to be a whole lot smarter, I guess the country will just have to go with what it has already.

Despite the absence of a grand plan, the president succeeded in one area, the Fair Housing Act. For years, he had pushed it despite strong opposition from various constituencies, including realtors.

However, after much politicking by the White House, the bill passed. LBJ proudly stressed, through the process of law, we shall strike for all time the shackles of an old injustice.

While happy, LBJ wanted more: I call upon the Congress to now complete its work of hope for millions of Americans by passing other measures so that we can move forward with our programs of social justice and progress. But little occurred as a lame duck president battled an increasingly conservative Congress in an election year.

Nevertheless, in 1972, Johnson rose at a civil rights conference at his presidential library and said: Lets watch whats been done, and see it is preserved, but lets say we have just begun, and lets go on. Until every boy and girl born in this land, whatever state, whatever color, can stand on the same level ground, our job will not be done.

Less than a month later, he died. However, the empathy and desire to address the challenges of African-Americans and others disadvantaged remained on display in 1972, just as in 1968. Their echoes remain in many today, even fifty years later.

Kyle Longley is the Snell Family Dean's Distinguished Professor of History and Political Science at Arizona State University. He is the author of numerous books, including 'LBJs 1968: Power, Politics, and the Presidency in Americas Year of Upheaval' (Cambridge, 2018).

This article was first written by Newsweek

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President Donald Trump has threatened negotiations over the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA), as well as foreign aid to Honduras  one of the poorest countries in Latin America  over a caravan containing roughly 1,000 migrants that is supposedly headed for the U.S. border.

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there, wrote President Trump, referring to a caravan of immigrants reportedly traveling towards the U.S., organized by a humanitarian volunteer group called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders.

Pueblos Sin Fronteras has organized similar caravans in the past, including two last year. The caravans raise awareness of the plight of migrants and refugees who take the often perilous route through Mexico to the southern border of the United States, while also attempting to make their dangerous journeys safer.

This year, the caravan has been heavily covered by U.S. media, including Fox News  a favorite of the President.

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

In his tweet posted Tuesday morning, Trump added that cash cow NAFTA, as well as foreign aid to Honduras, was in play if the caravan reached the U.S. border.

Congress MUST ACT NOW! he added.

Honduras received $152 million in foreign aid from the United States in 2016, according to U.S. Aid. The Central American country of 9.1 million people has a per capita GDP of $5,725 (about one tenth that of the United States), making it the second-poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, according to the International Monetary Fund.

In a string of tweets posted Sunday and Monday, President Trump suggested the immigrants in the caravan were attempting to take advantage of the U.S. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which they would not qualify for.

Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES, he wrote on April 2. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!
By Khanh Vu HANOI (Reuters) - Tension in the South China Sea will hurt PetroVietnam's offshore exploration and exploitation activities this year, the state-run oil and gas group said on Tuesday, weeks after the Southeast Asian nation suspended a project under pressure from China. Vietnam and China have been embroiled in maritime disputes in parts of the busy waterway, where China claims 90 percent of the potentially energy-rich maritime territory, which Vietnam calls the East Sea. "The East Sea is forecast to continue to have uncertainty this year ... affecting the company's efforts to attract foreign investors to invest in its open offshore fields", PetroVietnam said on its website. PetroVietnam has rarely openly admitted that the tension has had an adverse impact on its offshore exploration and production fields, especially those located near the U-shaped "nine-dash line" that marks the vast area claimed by China. During a trip to Hanoi on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said both nations should settle their disputes in the South China Sea through talks and move to jointly use its waters. The two countries had agreed such a move was "extremely important for the healthy and sustainable development of bilateral relations," Wang said. In its statement, PetroVietnam said the dispute with China would add to its struggle to maintain crude oil output amid already declining production from Vietnam's key fields. Last month, it ordered Spanish energy firm Repsol to suspend its "Red Emperor" project off Vietnam's southeastern coast following pressure from China, sources told Reuters. The $1-billion "Red Emperor" field is of moderate size by international standards but was seen as a key asset to help slow the decline of Vietnam's stalling oil and gas production. But the block lies near China's "nine-dash line" and overlaps what it says are its own oil concessions. Vietnam's crude oil output this year is expected to fall 14.7 percent from last year to 11.31 million metric tonnes, or 227,130 barrels per day, the government has said. (Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by James Pearson and Clarence Fernandez)
Tony Stewart retired from Cup Series competition after the 2016 season. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

Former NASCAR driver and current NASCAR team co-owner Tony Stewart and the family of Kevin Ward have reportedly reached a settlement agreement regarding the Ward familys wrongful death suit against the three-time Cup Series champion.

According to ESPN, a settlement hearing is set for April 12 regarding the pending agreement. Wards family filed a civil suit against Stewart in 2015 after Stewart struck and killed Ward in a sprint car race on Aug. 9, 2014 at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York.

No criminal charges were filed against Stewart in the matter due to a lack of evidence. Stewart and Ward were racing together when Wards car  on the outside of Stewarts  hit the wall off a corner. The 20-year-old climbed from his car and walked down the track to confront Stewart. Ward was struck by the right-rear tire of Stewarts car and flung down the race track.

Stewart said in a deposition that he tried to turn to the left when he saw Ward, and that he first saw Wards car at the top of the track and didnt realize there was no one in it.

Q. All right. And when you saw that person, did you from that point on change the direction of your vehicle based on seeing that person on the track? A. It was a split second from the time that I saw a person until I got to the person. Q. OK. Is that a no? A. I attempted to change direction. Q. OK. You dont recall  and when you say you attempted to change direction, you attempted to change direction to the left down the track? A. Correct.

Wards familys legal team had contended that Stewart tried to pitch his car in Wards direction when he saw Ward. The Ontario County (New York) prosecutor said toxicology tests determined Ward had enough marijuana in his system to impair judgment.

In the days after Wards death, NASCAR banned drivers from climbing from their cars and walking toward others on the track. Drivers must wait for medical and safety personnel before climbing from their cars after accidents or incidents unless they need to get out of their car due to fire or another extenuating circumstance.

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Stewart was racing in Canandaigua the night before the Aug. 10 Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. Stewart didnt race there and missed two more races before returning to the Cup Series. He retired after the 2016 season.

      

Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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Four people are injured after a woman opened fire at YouTube headquarters on Tuesday afternoon.

Police identified the suspect as Nasim Aghdam, 39, of San Diego. She died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police said Aghdam was upset with YouTube, and she had expressed frustrations with the company in the months before the shooting.

A woman opened fire at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, on Tuesday afternoon, injuring several people with a handgun before killing herself, authorities said.

Police identified the shooter as 39-year-old Nasim Aghdam, a resident of San Diego. She appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said during a news conference.

Four others were injured, officials said. Three victims sustained gunshot wounds and one apparently injured an ankle while fleeing the attack.

At this time there is no evidence that the shooter knew the victims of this shooting or that individuals were specifically targeted, the San Bruno Police Department said in a statement.

Dr. Andre Cambpell, a trauma surgeon at San Francisco General, said all the patients were awake and aware of what happened.

Once again we are confronted with the specter of a mass casualty situation in the city of San Francisco, where we now have three victims that we have taken care of, Campbell said. This is unfortunate and continues. To think that after weve seen Las Vegas, Parkland, the Pulse nightclub shooting, that we would see an end to this, but we have not.

The suspected shooter in todays YouTube incident has been identified. Please see press release for details - https://t.co/Xvr2l9bB9s pic.twitter.com/NEBoX3WWK5  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 4, 2018

Aghdam was a prolific social media user and had several YouTube channels in multiple languages, including English, Farsi and Turkish. Her videos often showed her dancing or cooking vegan recipes, and her Instagram account had more than 55,000 followers.

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All of Aghdams YouTube and Instagram accounts were shut down on Tuesday evening.

In recent months, Aghdam was openly critical of YouTubes policies and even accused the company of intentionally restricting her channels growth, according to a website apparently created by her.

There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, Aghdam wrote. Your channel will grow if they want to!!!!!

We know she was upset with YouTube, Barberini told reporters Wednesday. Thats the motive weve identified.

In February 2017, Aghdam posted a photo on Facebook of her holding a sign that accuses YouTube of discriminating against its users and censoring its users content. A page appearing to be Aghdams personal website also listed her frustrations with YouTube, saying, there is no free speech in real world & you will be suppressed for telling the truth that is not supported by the system.

Aghdams family told reporters on Tuesday night that they feared she might try to target the company.

She was always complaining that YouTube ruined her life, her brother, Shahran Aghdam, told The Mercury News from the familys home in Menifee, California.

The Aghdam family said they felt shock and cant make sense of what happened yesterday in a statement provided Wednesday to Jason Martinez, a local ABC reporter, and Craig Fiegener, a reporter for local radio station KNX 1070.

We are praying for speedy recovery of the injured and ask God to bestow patience upon all persons hurt in this horrific senseless act, the statement read.

The shooters father, Ismail Aghdam, said he reported his daughter missing on Monday after family members were unable to contact her and that he told police he suspected she might be going to YouTube. Police in Mountain View  about 30 miles from the YouTube campus  said they had found Aghdam sleeping in her car around 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Aghdan went to a local gun range later that morning, police said Wednesday. They did not identify which range she went to. Hours later, police would discover Aghdams body inside the YouTube office following the shooting.

One of the videos posted to Aghdam's channels last year accused YouTube of suppressing her account. (Photo: YouTube)

Graeme MacDonald, a 41-year-old product manager for Walmart eCommerce, watched the scene unfold from the fifth floor of his office building, roughly 1,000 feet away from YouTube HQ.

I had come back from lunch and there were a couple people running in to get on the elevators, MacDonald told HuffPost. They were visibly shaken. They had heard gunshots.

MacDonald said he saw an estimated 20 people evacuate YouTube with their hands over their heads around 1 p.m. local time.

They looked scared, he said. There are helicopters are going by overhead. Evacuees were brought over behind our building. Theyve been telling us to stay away from the windows. ... Its Silicon Valley. Its a high-stress sort of area, but it still shocks me because theres not a gun culture here at all.

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Officers respond to a shooting at the headquarters of YouTube in San Bruno, California. (Photo: Reuters)

Law enforcement officials received numerous 911 calls around 12:45 p.m. local time reporting gunshots at the YouTube offices. Upon arrival, officers discovered a very chaotic scene as numerous employees fled the building.

One person had a gunshot wound as we arrived, Barberini said. Several minutes later, while conducting a search of the premises, officers encountered a second individual with a gunshot wound that may have been self-inflicted. We are still working on confirming that. Two additional victims were located several minutes later at an adjacent business.

The active shooter situation was resolved by 2:20 p.m. local time, San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson told HuffPost. The situation is safe, although the public has been asked to stay away.

Police search a building at YouTube's corporate headquarters. (Photo: JOSH EDELSON via Getty Images)

Vadim Lavrusik, a product manager for YouTube Live, and Dan Afergan, a software engineer for the company, both tweeted about the shooting on their campus.

Lavrusik said he heard shots and was barricaded inside of a room with his co-workers. Less than 20 minutes later, Lavrusik said he had been safely evacuated from the building.

Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.  Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018

Active shooter at @YouTube. Becky and I are safe  Dan Afergan (@danafergan) April 3, 2018

Google, which owns YouTube, said it was working with authorities. There are about 1,700 people who work in the YouTube office, according to ABC 7 San Francisco.

Security at the Google office in Mountain View, California, 30 minutes south of YouTubes headquarters, is typically strict. Employees who bring in guests are required to sign them in before entering the building.

At YouTubes San Bruno office, people can freely enter the reception area, but need to be signed in before entering employee areas.

Re: YouTube situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.  Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018

In a series of tweets, Todd Sherman, a product manager for YouTube, said he was in a meeting when he heard people running in the offices.

He said he first thought it was an earthquake, then he saw more people running.

We headed towards the exit and then saw more people and someone said that there was a person with a gun, Sherman wrote.

At that point, every new person I saw was a potential shooter, he added. Someone else said that the person shot out the back doors and then shot themselves.

While heading toward the buildings exit, Sherman said he saw blood drips on the floor and stairs.

Outside, he said, police officers had hopped out of their cruisers with rifles ready.

I told them where the situation was as I headed down the street to meet up with a couple team members, Sherman said.

At that point every new person I saw was a potential shooter. Someone else said that the person shot out the back doors and then shot themselves.  Todd Sherman (@tdd) April 3, 2018

I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front.  Todd Sherman (@tdd) April 3, 2018

YouTube CEO Susa Wojcicki thanked first responders and law enforcement for reacting quickly to the shooting in a tweet shared hours after the shooting.

There are no words to describe how horrible it was to have an active shooter at YouTube today, Wojcicki wrote. Our hearts go out to all those injured and impacted today. We will come together to heal as a family.

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, which owns YouTube, released a statement Tuesday to employees, thanking first responders and the companys security team for their quick actions that helped to keep people safe.

I know a lot of you are in shock right now, Pichais statement said. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy.

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), whose district includes the YouTube headquarters, said she was shocked and saddened to hear about another mass shooting.

We must take action and #EndGunViolence, she tweeted.

President Donald Trump tweeted his thoughts and prayers to everyone involved.

Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTubes HQ in San Bruno, California. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

This article has been updated with the shooters identity as announced by law enforcement and her suspected motive, along with a family statement.

Doha Madani, Sebastian Murdock and Sara Boboltz contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Its not likely that youll ever be offered the opportunity to visit Venus. But on the odd chance you are, you might want to decline. The temperature on the surface of the planet is around 870 F (465 C)hot enough to melt leadand the atmospheric pressure at Venusian sea level (not that there are any seas) is 92 times what it is on Earth.

But if its unlikely you  or any other organism  could survive on the surface of Venus, its possible things could be very different up in the Venusian clouds. According to a new study published in the journal Astrobiology, the temperature, pressure and chemistry of the atmosphere 30 miles above ground may be just right for vast colonies of otherworldly bacteria to survive.

That there may be airborne life on Venus is not an entirely new idea. The planet is generally believed to have once been running with water as Earth is now, but it lasted only between 650 million to two billion years before boiling off into the clouds. Earth, however, needed less than a billion years to develop microbial life. If the same happened on Venus, its microbes would not have had to vanish when the water did. Earthly bacteria have routinely been sampled up to 25 miles high, swept aloft by winds and surviving perfectly well in the wet, comparatively temperate conditions at those altitudes. Venusian bacteria could have done the same.

The new paper makes a strong case for that scenario, analyzing the conditions in the planets sky and finding them hospitable to biology. The first two boxes for sustaining lifetolerable temperature and pressureare easily checked. Thirty miles above ground, Venuss air pressure is roughly equivalent to the 15 pounds per square inch on the ground on Earth. The temperature, meantime, is a hot but survivable 140 F (60 C).

The chemistry of Venus atmosphere is decidedly different from Earths: Principally sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide and water droplets. But different is not necessarily deadly.

Story continues

On Earth, we know that life can thrive in very acidic conditions, can feed on carbon dioxide, and produce sulfuric acid, said Rakesh Mogul, a co-author of the paper and a professor of biological chemistry at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, in a statement that accompanied the papers release. Indeed, if life on Earth has proven anything, its that it can survive in exceedingly unlikely placesin boiling hot springs and hydrothermal vents, and locked in permafrost. All of those organisms can serve for models for extraterrestrial life.

Even more compelling, argue the authors, are dark patches in Venuss atmosphere that change shape, size and position over time, but never disappear completely. Discovered in the early part of the 20th century, the patches had long been a mystery, but modern-day analyses have shown them to be made principally of particles that closely match the size of common Earthly bacteria. Whats more, the spectra of light the Venusian particles absorb closely match the spectra absorbed by those bacteria. Mogul and lead author Sanjay Limaye, of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, compare the atmospheric blooms to algae blooms in the oceans on Earth, arguing that they could be just as biologically robust.

Sending astronauts to study Venus more closely was not always a non-starter like it is today. Back in the days just after the first lunar landings, there was talk of repurposing an Apollo moon ship for a 400-day round trip flyby of Venus, but the year-plus journey for so brief a period in Venuss neighborhood was ultimately deemed impractical. The old Soviet Union sent multiple robotic missions to Venus and in 1982, its Venera 13 spacecraft sent back the first color pictures from the surface.

Even now, the Northrup Grumman corporation is developing a spacecraft called the Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP), a lightweight winged craft that would be able to fly through Venuss atmosphere while sampling it for biology. NASA would have to approve and fund the mission before it goes anywhere at all. That, given the space agencys chronically tight budgets, is never a sure thing. Still, the possibility of life can change priorities fastand Venus may all at once have a promise we never knew.
Saint Petersburg (AFP) - Russians on Tuesday marked one year since a metro bombing in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg that killed 15 people and wounded dozens of others as investigators said they have identified all those responsible.

In Saint Petersburg, the country's second largest city, residents came to lay flowers and mourn at the metro station where the attack took place and attended a church memorial service.

"When something like this happens, it's impossible to remain indifferent, not to realise that now no one is safe anywhere. That's how our life is," said 35-year-old Galina Semenets.

"Our family has still not managed to accept this. The pain has still not left us," said another woman, Natalia, who lost a relative in the attack.

The alleged perpetrator, Akbarjon Djalilov, who died in the attack, was a 22-year-old Russian citizen but was born in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia.

The largely Muslim region has been a major source of fighters who have travelled to join the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria and Iraq.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which is in charge of the probe, said Tuesday that it is "in the final stages" and 11 suspects have been detained.

The investigators said they had managed to establish "the whole chain of people involved in committing this crime, including the mastermind, the organiser and perpetrators."

The attack was "committed by one of the radical Islamic terrorist groups," investigators said, without specifying, adding that the plotters did not know each personally and communicated using electronic devices.

The bombing was claimed by a little-known group, the Imam Shamil Battalion, which experts say is linked to al-Qaeda.
Ankara (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday said he had agreed with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to speed up the delivery of S-400 air defence missile systems to Ankara, a purchase that has alarmed Turkey's NATO partners.

"We took the decision to speed up the timetable for the delivery of these highly effective Russian systems," Putin told reporters after talks with Erdogan in the Turkish capital, referring to the S-400s but without giving a date.

He said that acceleration in production of the weapons was being done at the "request of our Turkish partners and friends".

The deal has been valued at about $2 billion according to reports.

Russian officials had said in December that the first deliveries of the S-400s were likely to begin at the end of 2019 or beginning of 2020

Such a major purchase of weaponry from Russia by a key NATO member had raised concerns both over Turkey's strategic orientation and the compatability of the systems within the alliance.

But Erdogan indicated that Turkey was in no mood to listen to criticism from the West over the purchase.

"This is a decision of Turkey. We made an agreement about the S-400s (with Russia) and this issue is now closed," he said.

According to Russian press reports, Turkey has also been hugely interested in a technology transfer and even joint production of the S-400s with Russia, a prospect that has been resisted by some in the Moscow security services.

But Putin refused to discuss the issue saying "these are exclusively commercial questions" rather than political ones.
Moscow (AFP) - Regional lawmakers voted Tuesday to cancel direct elections in Russia's fourth-largest city in a blow to the opposition mayor as the Kremlin intensifies a crackdown on dissent.

Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman has been the only top regional official to publicly voice criticism of Putin, elected for a fourth Kremlin term last month.

The regional legislature in the Urals city of nearly 1.5 million people voted to scrap direct mayoral elections despite protests by several thousand people on Monday.

The new mayor will be elected by city lawmakers.

Yekaterinburg until now has been one of several large Russian cities with direct mayoral elections.

Roizman -- who was elected in 2013 for five years and openly supports opposition leader Alexei Navalny -- said the cancellation of direct polls was a "direct offence to residents of Yekaterinburg".

"The bill is very half-baked," he told Echo of Moscow radio station. "But it was bound to sail through, therefore it was so brazen."

He said he was certain that he would not be considered for the post again and added that he himself had no plans to run for a new term, implying however that he would remain active in politics.

"The word 'give up' does not belong in our vocabulary," tweeted Roizman, who is an active blogger and has more than 630,000 followers on Twitter.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin could "neither interfere nor comment".

"This is the absolute right of the local legislative assembly," he told reporters.

According to a survey by Yekaterinburg-based pollster Sotsium released last week, 62 percent of respondents did not support the measure.

- Odd man out -

Roizman, a tough-minded, free-wheeling 55-year-old, has become a popular figure in Russia's opposition circles, attending protests and urging ordinary people to participate in local politics.

Roizman has also made himself unusually accessible to his constituents, regularly receiving the city's neediest people such as the elderly and orphans to help them solve their everyday problems.

Story continues

He first shot to prominence as founder of a foundation called City Without Drugs and a drug rehab centre in Yekaterinburg to fight Russia's severe narcotics epidemic.

Human rights activists have questioned the centre's methods, which included handcuffing addicts to their beds and forcing heroin addicts to go cold turkey.

Its supporters however have reported a significant drop in drug-related deaths since the foundation was set up in the late 1990s.

Roizman then channelled his energies into politics, beating a Kremlin-friendly candidate in a mayoral election in 2013.

In one of his most recent posts, he slammed the re-election of Putin for a fourth Kremlin term.

"Life will become even worse but the turnout will grow even larger with every new election, the president's approval ratings will be even higher and we'll be even closer to North Korea," he wrote on Facebook.

Since first being elected as president in 2000, Putin has stamped his total authority on Russia, crushing opposition and muzzling independent media.

Gubernatorial elections were scrapped in 2004 under the pretext of the fight against terror, after the Beslan school massacre that claimed more than 330 lives, more than half of them children.
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The funeral procession for Martin Luther King Jr., in Atlanta, April 9, 1968. (Courtesy: CSU Archives/Everett Collection)

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago, on April 4, 1968, and in memory of that tragic day, Samuel L. Jackson has recounted the momentous events that led him to serve as an usher at the fallen civil rights leaders funeral  and later to become an activist himself.

Writing in the Hollywood Reporter, the Pulp Fiction and Star Wars star reminisced about that eras whirlwind sequence of incidents, which for him began with hearing about Kings shooting right before a showing of the movie John Goldfarb, Please Come Home at Morehouse College, where he was a student. Two days later, he was traveling to Memphis with I Spys Bill Cosby and Robert Culp  to support the ongoing garbage workers strike  before returning to Atlanta to work as an usher at the slain rights leaders funeral on the Morehouse College campus on April 9:

They needed volunteers to help people find their way around campus, and I became an usher. I remember Mahalia Jackson singing. Id been listening to her all my life, so it was great to hear her sing Precious Lord, Take My Hand live. I remember seeing people like Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier. People that I thought Id never see, let alone have a relationship with later on in life. The funeral was pretty much a blur.

Those experiences proved formative for Jackson, who soon joined a spring 1969 protest in which students locked themselves inside a college building with Morehouse trustees, leading to his eventual expulsion:

We actually petitioned the Morehouse board in 1969 to meet with them, but the black people who were around them said, No way, you cant come in here. You cant talk to them. Somebody said, Well, lets lock the door and keep them in there, because we had read about the lock-ins on other campuses. They had these chains on the walkways to keep us off the grass, and we used those. Our understanding was that once we locked them in, we were in violation of a whole bunch of laws. Dr. Kings father, who was on the board, had some chest pains. We didnt want to unlock the door, so we just put him on a ladder, put him out the window, and sent him down. The whole thing lasted a day and a half. We negotiated that they wouldnt kick us out of school. And then when everybody was gone for the year, they kicked us out of school.

Story continues

Later that summer, Jackson fell in with some fellow antiwar activists, which led to further trouble, replete with a visit from federal agents:

We were buying guns, which kind of put me on the radar of the powers that be. We were fully expecting a revolution to happen. That summer of 69, somebody from the FBI came to my moms house in Tennessee and told her she needed to get me out of Atlanta before I got killed. She showed up and said she was going to take me to lunch. I got in the car and she drove me to the airport and said, Get on this plane; do not get off. Ill talk to you when you get to your aunts in L.A.

Those formative experiences suggest that, had things gone even slightly differently, Jackson might have had a career in politics. Fortunately for cinephiles, however, they instead paved the way for his eventual decision to go into acting  and the rest is movie history.

Read more from Yahoo:
This much, at least, can be said for Mohammed bin Salman, the putatively reformist crown prince of Saudi Arabia: He has made all the right enemies. Among those who would celebrate his end are the leaders of ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas, as well as Yemens Houthi rebels, and the entire clerical and military leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a bonus, there are members of his own family, the sprawling, sclerotic, self-dealing House of Saud, who would like to see him goneor at the very least, warehoused at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, where the 32-year-old prince recently imprisoned many of his enemies and cousins during an anti-corruption sweep of the kingdom.

The well-protected Prince Mohammed does not seem particularly worried about mortal threats, however. He was jovial to the point of ebullience when I met him at his brothers compound outside Washington (his brother, Prince Khalid bin Salman, is the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.). Prince Mohammed (who is known widely by his initials, MbS) seemed eager to download his heterodoxical, contentious views on a number of subjectson womens rights (he appears doubtful about the laws that force Saudi women to travel with male relatives); on Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who is, in the princes mind, worse than Hitler; and on Israel. He told me he recognizes the right of the Jewish people to have a nation-state of their own next to a Palestinian state; no Arab leader has ever acknowledged such a right.

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Prince Mohammed, who is on a seemingly endless pilgrimage to the nodes of American power (he is in Hollywood this week) is an unfamiliar type for Middle East reporters accustomed to a certain style of Saudi leadership, which is to say, the functionally comatose model of authoritarian monarchism. Prince Mohammeds father, the 82-year-old King Salman, is not overly infirm, but it is clear that his son is already in charge. And if the prince, his many handlers, and his partisans on Wall Street and in the White House (especially his fellow prince, Jared Kushner) are to be believed, he is in a genuine hurry to overturn the traditional Saudi order.

Story continues

Prince Mohammeds visit to the U.S. is mainly a hunting trip for investment, and an opportunity for him to sell his so-called Vision 2030, an elaborate, still mainly unexecuted plan to modernize the Kingdom and end its dependence on oil. But in our conversation, I tried to focus Prince Mohammed on some of the more challenging problems of the moment, including his countrys cold war with Iran; its often-brutal military intervention in Yemen against the Iranian-backed Houthi; the status of women in a country that has practiced a form of gender apartheid for decades; Saudi Arabias relationship with Israel and the Palestinians; and his countrys own past support for Muslim extremists of the type he now condemns. I did not ask him about corruption, in part because it is a difficult-to-define concept in a country named for its ruling family, the expropriation of national wealth being a defining feature of absolute monarchies. But it is worth noting that Prince Mohammed recently purchased a yacht allegedly worth half-a-billion dollars. When Norah ODonnell, of CBS, asked the prince about this, and other purchases, he said, My personal life is something Id like to keep to myself and I dont try to draw attention to it.  As far as my private expenses, Im a rich person and not a poor person. Im not Gandhi or Mandela.

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Prince Mohammed dodges questions he doesnt like, but he is still unusually direct for a Saudi leader. He reminded me in our meeting of Jordans King Abdullah IIa new-generation royal frustrated by do-nothing relatives, retrograde tribal politics, and fearful of both Shiite and Sunni extremism. (One difference, of course, is that Saudi Arabia is the linchpin of the Middle East; Jordan is not. If Prince Mohammed actually achieves what he says he wants to achieve, the Middle East will be a changed place.)

The prince, in my conversation with him, divided the Middle East into two warring camps: what he called the triangle of evil, consisting of Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Sunni terror groups; and an alliance of self-described moderate states that includes Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman. About his bete noir, the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Prince Mohammed said, I believe the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good. Hitler didnt do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe.  The supreme leader is trying to conquer the world.

Another keythough sub rosamember of Prince Mohammeds alliance is Israel, a country about which Prince Mohammed did not have a bad word to say. In fact, when I asked him whether he believed the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, he said: I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. According to the former U.S. peace negotiator Dennis Ross, moderate Arab leaders have spoken of the reality of Israels existence, but acknowledgement of any sort of right to Jewish ancestral land has been a red line no leader has crossed until now. (My meeting with Prince Mohammed took place before the recent fatal violence on the Gaza-Israel border, but I do not believe that the crown prince would have moderated his views in light of these events. The Saudis, like many Arab leaders, have tired of the Palestinians.)

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Our conversation took place in Prince Khalids living room, beneath a painting depicting the 1945 meeting between President Franklin Roosevelt and King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia (and grandfather of Mohammed and Khalid). Prince Khalid joined us, as did a wide array of aides and advisers, who sat on two couches and frowned with concern when it seemed as if the prince was veering toward bluntness. They seemed worried when the conversation turned to the matter of Saudi Arabias guardianship laws, which forbid Saudi women and girls from traveling without the permission of a male sponsor. Prince Mohammed, who recently lifted a ban that kept women from driving, seemed eager to acknowledge that he wanted to bring about an end to these guardianship rules. Before 1979 there were societal guardianship customs, but no guardianship laws in Saudi Arabia, he said, referring to a hinge year in Saudi history, in which the Iranian revolution, as well as an extremist Sunni siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, caused a conservative backlash in the kingdom. It doesnt go back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad. In the 1960s women didnt travel with male guardians. But it happens now, and we want to move on it and figure out a way to treat this that doesnt harm families and doesnt harm the culture.

On issues related to human rights, openness, and the continued efficacy of the absolute monarchy model of governance, the crown prince was more circumspect and defensive, as you will see in this edited and condensed transcript of our conversation:

Goldberg: Its good to hear about some of the things you are promising to do in Saudi Arabia, but its very early in the process. Yours is a big, complicated country, and its very hard to shift culture. Could you start by talking about Islam, the role you think Islam should play in the world?

Mohammed bin Salman: Islam is a religion of peace. This is the translation of Islam. God, in Islam, gives us two responsibilities: The first is to believe, to do good things, and not bad things. If we do bad things, God will judge us on Judgment Day.

Our second duty as Muslims is to spread the word of God. For 1,400 years, Muslims have been trying to spread the word of God. In the Middle East, in North Africa, in Europe, they werent allowed to spread the word. Thats why they fought to spread the word. But you also see that, in a lot of countries in AsiaIndonesia, Malaysia, IndiaMuslims were free to spread the word. They were told, Go ahead, say whatever you want to say, the people have free will to believe whatever they want to believe in. Islam, in this context, was not about conquering, it was about peacefully spreading the word.

Now, today, in the triangle of evil

Goldberg: The triangle of evil?

MbS: Yes, I will explain in a moment. In this triangle, they are trying to promote the idea that our duty as Muslims is to reestablish the caliphate, to reestablish the mindset of the caliphatethat the glory of Islam is in building an empire by force. But God didnt ask us to do this, and the Prophet Muhammad did not ask us to do this. God only asked us to spread the word. And this mission is accomplished. Today, every human has the right to choose their belief. In every country, it is possible to buy religious books. The message is being delivered. We have no duty anymore to fight to spread Islam. But in the triangle of evil, they want to manipulate Muslims, to tell them their duty as Muslimstheir dignity as Muslims requires the establishment of a Muslim empire.

Goldberg: About the triangle

MbS: First in the triangle we have the Iranian regime that wants to spread their extremist ideology, their extremist Shiite ideology. They believe that if they spread it, the hidden Imam will come back again and he will rule the whole world from Iran and spread Islam even to America. Theyve said this every day since the Iranian revolution in 1979. Its in their law and theyre proving it by their own actions.

The second part of the triangle is the Muslim Brotherhood, which is another extremist organization. They want to use the democratic system to rule countries and build shadow caliphates everywhere. Then they would transform into a real Muslim empire. And the other part is the terroristsal-Qaeda, ISISthat want to do everything with force. Al-Qaeda leaders, ISIS leaders, they were all Muslim Brotherhood first. Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of ISIS. This is very clear.

This triangle is promoting an idea that God and Islam are not asking us to promote. Their idea is totally against the principles of the United Nations, and the idea of different nations having laws that represent their needs. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Yemenall of these countries are defending the idea that independent nations should focus on their own interests, in building good relations on the foundation of UN principles. The evil triangle doesnt want to do that.

Goldberg: Isnt it true, though, that after 1979, but before 1979 as well, the more conservative factions in Saudi Arabia were taking oil money and using it to export a more intolerant, extremist version of Islam, Wahhabist ideology, which could be understood as a kind of companion ideology to Muslim Brotherhood thinking?

MbS: First of all, this Wahhabismplease define it for us. Were not familiar with it. We dont know about it.

Goldberg: What do you mean you dont know about it?

MbS: What is Wahhabism?

Goldberg: Youre the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. You know what Wahhabism is.

MbS: No one can define this Wahhabism.

Goldberg: Its a movement founded by Ibn abd al-Wahhab in the 1700s, very fundamentalist in nature, an austere Salafist-style interpretation

MbS: No one can define Wahhabism. There is no Wahhabism. We dont believe we have Wahhabism. We believe we have, in Saudi Arabia, Sunni and Shiite. We believe we have within Sunni Islam four schools of thought, and we have the ulema [the religious authorities] and the Board of Fatwas [which issues religious rulings]. Yes, in Saudi Arabia its clear that our laws are coming from Islam and the Quran, but we have the four schoolsHanbali, Hanafi, Shafii, Malikiand they argue about interpretation.

The first Saudi state, why was it established? After the Prophet Muhammad and the first four caliphs, the people of the Arabian Peninsula went back to fighting each other like they did for thousands of years. But our family, 600 years ago, established a town from scratch called Diriyah, and with this town came the first Saudi state. It became the most powerful economic part of the peninsula. They helped change reality. Most other towns, they fought over trade, hijacked trade, but our family said to two other tribes, Instead of attacking the trade routes, why dont we hire you as guards for this area? So trade grew, and the town grew. This was the method. Three hundred years later, this is still the way. The thought was always that you need all the great brains of the Arabian Peninsulathe generals, the tribal leaders, the scholarsworking with you. One of them was Muhammad ibn abd al-Wahhab.

But our project is based on the people, on economic interests, and not on expansionist ideological interests. Of course we have things in common. All of us are Muslim, all of us speak Arabic, we all have the same culture and the same interest. When people speak of Wahhabism, they dont know exactly what they are talking about. Abd al-Wahhabs family, the al-Sheikh family, is today very well known, but there are tens of thousands of important families in Saudi Arabia today. And you will find a Shiite in the cabinet, you will find Shiites in government, the most important university in Saudi Arabia is headed by a Shiite. So we believe that we are a mix of Muslim schools and sects.

Goldberg: But what about the funding of extremists?

MbS: When you talk about funding before 1979, you are talking about the Cold War. You had communism spreading everywhere, threatening the United States and Europe and also us. Egypt had turned in that time to this sort of regime. We worked with whomever we could use to get rid of communism. Among those was the Muslim Brotherhood. We financed them in Saudi Arabia. And the United States of America financed them.

Goldberg: Was it a mistake?

MbS: If we went back in time, we would do the same thing. We would use these people again. Because we were confronting a bigger dangergetting rid of communism. Later on we had to see how we could deal with the Muslim Brotherhood. Remember, one of the presidents of the United States called these people freedom fighters.

We tried to control and manage their movements. But then came 1979, which exploded everything. The Iranian revolution [created] a regime based on an ideology of pure evil. A regime not working for the people, but serving an ideology. And in the Sunni world, extremists were trying to copy the same thing. We had the attack in Mecca [on the Grand Mosque]. We were in a situation of revolution in Iran, and they were trying to copy it in Mecca. We were trying to keep everything tied together, to keep everything from collapsing. We faced terrorism in Saudi Arabia and in Egypt. We called for the arrest of Osama bin Laden very early, because he was not in Saudi Arabia. We suffered quite a lot by fighting terrorism, until 9/11 happened. This is the story.

Goldberg: I spent a lot of time in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the late 1990s, early 2000s, and it was generally understood that the militant madrassas were getting money from Saudi Arabia. It seems from what youre saying that things got out of controlyour government, your family, didnt control spending and ideological support, and then it came back and hurt not only you but your friends and allies as well. Your big project, if I understand correctly, is to try to contain some of the things that were unleashed by your country.

MbS: We used the Muslim Brotherhood in the Cold Warwe did, both of us

Goldberg: Im not saying the U.S. is innocent here

MbS: This is what America wanted us to do. We had a king who paid with his life trying to counter these people, King Faisal, one of the greatest kings of Saudi Arabia. When it comes to financing extremist groups, I challenge anyone if he can bring any evidence that the Saudi government financed terrorist groups. Yes, there are people from Saudi Arabia who financed terrorist groups. This is against Saudi law. We have a lot of people in jail now, not only for financing terrorist groups, but even for supporting them. One of the reasons we have a problem with Qatar is that we are not allowing them to use the financial system between us to collect money from Saudis and give it to extremist organizations.

Goldberg: You think youll ever be friendly again with Qatar?

MbS: It has to happen, one day. We hope they learn fast. It depends on them.

Goldberg: You speak extraordinarily bluntly about Iran and its ideology. Youve even equated the supreme leader to Hitler. What makes him a Hitler? Hitler is the worst thing you can be.

MbS: I believe that the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good.

Goldberg: Really?

MbS: Hitler didnt do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad.

Goldberg: Yes, very bad.

MbS: But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world. He believes he owns the world. They are both evil guys. He is the Hitler of the Middle East. In the 1920s and 1930s, no one saw Hitler as a danger. Only a few people. Until it happened. We dont want to see what happened in Europe happen in the Middle East. We want to stop this through political moves, economic moves, intelligence moves. We want to avoid war.

Goldberg: Is the problem in your mind religious?

MbS: As I told you, the Shiites are living normally in Saudi Arabia. We have no problem with the Shiites. We have a problem with the ideology of the Iranian regime. Our problem is, we dont think they have the right to interfere with our affairs.

Goldberg: Im curious about Donald Trump and Barack Obama on this issue. It seems you think Donald Trump has a better understanding of this issue than Barack Obama.

MbS: Both of them understand it. I believe that President Obama had different tactics. President Obama believed that if he gave Iran opportunities to open up, it would change. But with a regime based on this ideology, it will not open up soon. Sixty percent of the Iranian economy is controlled by the Revolutionary Guard. The economic benefits of the Iran nuclear deal are not going to the people. They took $150 billion after the dealcan you please name one housing project they built with this money? One park? One industrial zone? Can you name for me the highway that they built? I advise themplease show us something that youre building a highway with $150 billion. For Saudi Arabia, there is a 0.1 percent chance that this deal would work to change the country. For President Obama it was 50 percent. But even if theres a 50 percent chance that it would work, we cant risk it. The other 50 percent is war. We have to go to a scenario where there is no war.

We are pushing back on these Iranian moves. Weve done this in Africa, Asia, in Malaysia, in Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon. We believe that after we push back, the problems will move inside Iran. We dont know if the regime will collapse or notits not the target, but if it collapses, great, its their problem. We have a war scenario in the Middle East right now. This is very dangerous for the world. We cannot take the risk here. We have to take serious painful decisions now to avoid painful decisions later.

Goldberg: Speaking of painful decisions, are you making the situation in Yemen worse though military actions that are causing humanitarian catastrophes? Theres a lot of justified criticism of your bombing campaigns.

MbS: First of all, we have to go back to real evidence, real data. Yemen started to collapse not in 2015 [when the Saudis intervened], but in 2014based on UN reports, not based on our reports. So its collapsing for one year before the campaign started. We had a coup detat in 2015 against a legitimate government in Yemen. And from the other side al-Qaeda tried to use this move for its own sake and to promote its own ideas. We fought to get rid of extremists in Syria and Iraq and then they started to create a haven in Yemen. It would be much harder to get rid of extremists in Yemen than Iraq or Syria. Our campaign is focused on helping the legitimate government and bringing stability. Saudi Arabia is trying to help the people of Yemen. The biggest donor to Yemen is Saudi Arabia. The people who are manipulating this aid in the 10 percent of Yemen not controlled by the government is the Houthis.

What I want to say here, to make it simple, is that sometimes in the Middle East you dont have good decisions and bad decisions. Sometimes you have bad decisions and worse decisions. Sometimes we have to choose the bad option. We dont want to come here, as Saudi Arabia, and be asked these questions. We want to be asked about the economy, our partnerships, investment in America and Saudi Arabia. We dont want to spend our lives arguing about Yemen. This is not something about choice here. This is about security and life for us.

Goldberg: Do you believe in womens equality?

MbS: I support Saudi Arabia, and half of Saudi Arabia is women. So I support women.

Goldberg: But equality? Equalizing society?

MbS: In our religion there is no difference between men and women. There are duties to men and duties to women. There are different forms of equality. In the Saudi government women are paid exactly like men. We have regulations like this that are going into the private sector. We dont want divided treatment for different people.

Goldberg: But what about the guardianship laws? Thats something you want to change for good? I think everyone is impressed that youre letting women drive, but for many Americans the main issues are the real structural impediments to womens equality.

MbS: Before 1979 there were societal guardianship customs, but no guardianship laws in Saudi Arabia. It doesnt go back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad. In the 1960s women didnt travel with male guardians. But it happens now, and we want to move on it and figure out a way to treat this that doesnt harm families and doesnt harm the culture.

Goldberg: Youre going to get rid of these laws?

MbS: There are a lot of conservative families in Saudi Arabia. There are a lot of families divided inside. Some families like to have authority over their members, and some women dont want the control of the men. There are families where this is okay. There are families that are open and giving women and daughters what they want. So if I say yes to this question, that means Im creating problems for the families that dont want to give freedom for their daughters. Saudis dont want to lose their identity but we want to be part of the global culture. We want to merge our culture with global identity.

Goldberg: This is a values question. You come from a country thats very different than oursyours is an absolute monarchy, a place where people dont have the right to vote, you have corporal punishment and capital punishment carried out in ways that a lot of Americans dont like

MbS: We dont share values. But I also believe that different states in the United States dont share values. There are different values between California and Texas. So how come you want us to share your values 100 percent when you are not sharing values? Of course there is a foundation of values that all humans share. But there are differences, state-to-state, country-to-country.

Goldberg: But absolute monarchy?

MbS: Absolute monarchy is not a threat to any country. You say absolute monarchy like its a threat. If it were not for absolute monarchy, you wouldnt have the United States. The absolute monarch in France helped the creation of the United States by giving it support. Absolute monarchy is not an enemy of the United States. Its an ally for a very long time.

Goldberg: Thats very clever, but it avoids the subject.

MbS: Okay, each country, each regime, it has to do what the people think is workable. Saudi Arabia is a network of thousands of absolute monarchies, and then has a large absolute monarchy. We have tribal monarchies, town monarchies. Moving against this structure would create huge problems in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi fabric is much more complicated than you think. And actually our king doesnt have absolute power. His power is based in law. If he is making a royal decree, he cant say, Im King Salman and Im doing this. If you read decrees, you first see the list of laws that allow the king to take this decision. By the way, the queen of the United Kingdom, she has absolute power with any law. But she doesnt practice it. So its complicated.

Goldberg: Could you see yourself moving toward a system in which people vote for their representatives? When you start to let people choose who represents them, thats change.

MbS: What I can do is encourage the power of law. We would like to encourage freedom of speech as much as we can, so long as we dont give opportunity to extremism. We can improve womens rights, improve the economy. There is tension here, but we should do it.

One American visitor told me a really interesting thing. He said that Americans dont recognize the difference between the two thingsthere is the end, and there is the means. The end here is development, rights, and freedom. The way to get to it, and this is the American view, is democracy, but the way to get to it in Saudi Arabia is our more complex system.

Goldberg: Lets talk about the broader Middle East. Do you believe the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?

MbS: I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.

Goldberg: You have no religious-based objection to the existence of Israel?

MbS: We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We dont have any objection against any other people.

Goldberg: Saudi Arabia has traditionally been a place that has produced a lot of anti-Semitic propaganda. Do you think you have a problem with anti-Semitism in your country?

MbS: Our country doesnt have a problem with Jews. Our Prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman. Not just a friendhe married her. Our prophet, his neighbors were Jewish. You will find a lot of Jews in Saudi Arabia coming from America, coming from Europe. There are no problems between Christian and Muslims and Jews. We have problems like you would find anywhere in the world, among some people. But the normal sort of problems.

Goldberg: Do you think Iran is bringing you and Israel together? Without Iran, could you imagine a situation in which you had other interests in common with Israel?

MbS: Israel is a big economy compared to their size and its a growing economy, and of course there are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan.

Goldberg: Im curious about your youth. This is a complicated job for a young man.

MbS: I believe humans learn to the last days of their life. Anyone who claims he knows everything doesnt know anything. What we are trying to do is to learn fast, to understand fast, to be surrounded by smart people. I dont believe my youth is a problem. I believe the best creations in the world came from young people. Apple is a good example. Apple was created by Steve Jobs, who was in his early 20s when he started inventing. Social media, Facebook, created by a guy who is still young. I believe that my generation can add a lot of things.

Goldberg: One thing Steve Jobs had was freedom. He lived in a country where you could do anything. I dont think anyone would describe Saudi Arabia as a place where you can do anything from a human rights perspective, from the perspective of freedom.

MbS: In Saudi Arabia you can do whatever you want to do in a business, in what kind of work and what kind of project you want to develop. Also, there is a different standard of freedom of speech. In Saudi Arabia we have just three linesanyone can write whatever they want to write, speak about whatever they want to speak about, but they shouldnt reach these three lines. This is not based on the interest of the government, but on the interest of the people. Line one is Islam. You cannot defame Islam. Line twoin America, you can attack a person and his company or a minister and his ministry. In Saudi Arabia its okay to attack a ministry or a company, but the culture of the Saudis, they dont like to attack a person, and they like to leave the personal issue out of it. This is part of the Saudi culture.

The third line is national security. We are in an area not surrounded by Mexico, Canada, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. We have ISIS, al-Qaeda and Hamas and Hezbollah and the Iranian regime, and even pirates. We have pirates that hijack ships. So anything that touches the national security, we cannot risk in Saudi Arabia. We dont want to see things that happen in Iraq happening in Saudi Arabia. But other than that, people have the freedom to do whatever they want to do. For example, we didnt block Twitter. Or access to social media. Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat. Name it, its open for all Saudis. We have the highest percentage of people around the world using social media. In Iran they block social media and in other countries they block social media. Saudis have free access to whatever media around the world.

Goldberg: Im not so sure that Twitter is good for civilization, but thats for a future conversation. Thank you very much.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
President Donald Trump (R) holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House - Barcroft Media

Saudi Arabia's crown prince has said Israelis have a right to a homeland alongside Palestinians, in a sign the kingdom was open to the possibility of normalising ties.

Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old heir to the Saudi throne, said the Jewish people were entitled to live peacefully on their own land when asked if he believes they have a right to a nation-state.

"I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land, he said. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines - does not recognise Israel. It has maintained for years that establishing any diplomatic relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

Crown Prince and Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman in Egypt Credit: Handout

The crown prince also said that while the ultra-conservative country has "religious concerns" about the holy mosque in Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinians, it has no objection "against any other people".

"There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries", Prince Mohammed told The Atlantic magazine in an interview as he tours the US.

Profile | Mohammad bin Salman (MBS)

The countries have grown closer under the crown prince, bonding over their mutual distrust of Iran.

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, a hugely symbolic move that was greeted with much cheer in the Jewish state after a decades-long ban.

King Salman reiterated his support for the Palestinians in a phone conversation on Monday night with President Donald Trump, in rare comments made by the ageing monarch.

The king also emphasised the need to advance the peace process, speaking after Israeli security forces killed 16 Palestinians last week during a demonstration along the Israel-Gaza border

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People react as they evacuate deaf Palestinian Tahreer Abu Sabala, 17, who was shot and wounded in the head during clashes with Israeli troops, at Israel-Gaza border Credit: Reuters

The Trump administration has pinned its hopes on Saudi Arabia as a key interlocutor in the peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

While Riyadh does not officially acknowledge Israels existence, it has in the past talked about recognising Israel in the context of a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

About | The two-state solution

But no such senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted that Israel has a "right" to any land beyond the practical need to secure a lasting deal.

Saudi publicly condemned Mr Trump's move to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year, but Arab officials told the Telegraph that the kingdom was privately pushing Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, to accept a less than favourable deal.

Reports suggested the deal would see the Palestinians lose their claim to east Jerusalem as its capital.

In a major Saudi shakeup last year, Prince Mohammed pushed aside his older and more experienced cousin to become first in line to his fathers throne, setting himself up to control Saudi policy for decades to come.

The Saudis are working aggressively to change perceptions. They have cast themselves as essential partners against Islamist extremist groups and worked to improve womens rights in the kingdom.

Abroad, he has escalated a war of words with Tehran, describing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, in The Atlantic interview as an evil guy who makes Hitler look good.
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince said in a published interview that Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land, another public sign of an apparent thawing in ties between the two countries. Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted by U.S. magazine The Atlantic as saying: "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations." Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest shrines - does not officially recognize Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on an Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war - territory Palestinians seek for a future state. "We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people," said Prince Mohammed, who is touring the United States to drum up investments and support for his efforts to contain Iranian influence. Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they regard as a common Iranian threat. "There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries," Prince Mohammed added. The German foreign ministry welcomed his comments and ministry officials underscored the Saudi role in pushing for an Arab peace initiative as early as 2002. "The prince's comments are very close to the position of Germany and the EU: We need a two-state solution and serious negotiations to achieve that," said one ministry official. "Israelis and Palestinians have a right to peaceful lives in their own country." Israeli-Palestinian peace talks envisaging a Palestinian state alongside Israel have been frozen since 2014. Saudi Arabia opened its air space for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts. In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumoured secret dealings which Riyadh still denies. Saudi Arabia condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year. But Arab officials told Reuters at the time that Riyadh appears to be on board with a broader U.S. strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan still in its early phases of development. (Reporting by Stephen Kalin in Riyadh and Sabine Siebold in Berlin; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in U.S. magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer. Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying: "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations." Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines - does not recognize Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state. "We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people," said Prince Mohammed who is touring the United States to drum up investments and support for his efforts to contain Iranian influence. Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat. "There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries", Prince Mohammed added. Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts. In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumored secret dealings which Riyadh still denies. Saudi Arabia condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year, but Arab officials told Reuters at the time that Riyadh appears to be on board with a broader U.S. strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan still in its early phases of development. (Reporting by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi King Salman reaffirmed support for Palestinians to US President Donald Trump, state media said Tuesday, after his son and heir apparent said Israel has a "right" to a homeland.

The king "reaffirmed the kingdom's steadfast position towards the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital," the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The king also emphasised the need to advance the Middle East peace process in a phone call with Trump, which came after Israeli forces killed 17 Palestinians last week during a demonstration on its border with Gaza.

Saudi Arabia and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes their ties appear to have improved in recent years against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

Israel's conflict with the Palestinians has long proved an obstacle to a full rapprochement, however, as Riyadh still supports the Palestinian claim to sovereignty.

But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman indicated a notable shift in the kingdom's position in an interview published Monday with US news magazine The Atlantic.

The prince was asked by the magazine whether the "Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?"

"I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation," said the prince, who is on a three-week US tour.

"I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land," he added.

"But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has been the main sponsor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which envisions a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

No senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted that Israel has a right to any land beyond the practical need to secure a lasting deal.
By Rich McKay

(Reuters) - Police on Monday searched the ocean off California and highways for three children missing since the sport-utility vehicle carrying their large family plunged off a cliff, killing at least six people in what may have been an intentional crash.

The family's wrecked GMC Yukon was discovered last Monday below the scenic California coastal cliff, only three days after child welfare authorities in their home state of Washington opened an investigation into allegations the children were being neglected, police and social services said.

According to court records, the family had troubles in the past when one of its two white mothers was charged with domestic assault against one of their six adopted black children.

The Hart family gained attention in 2014 after one of the children, Devonte, was photographed crying in the arms of a white police officer at a protest after the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.

Driver Jennifer Hart, 38, and Sarah Hart, 38, a married couple from Washington state, were killed. So were at least three of their six adopted children, Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14, police said.

The bodies of their three other children, Hannah, 16, Devonte, 15, and Sierra, 12, were not recovered, but officials have said they believed all the children were in the vehicle and the other bodies may have been washed into the ocean.

"The search for the additional three children belonging to the family continues both at the scene, through water rescue and recovery, and other locations including routes of travel," the California Highway Patrol said in a statement. "This situation may have been an intentional act and not the result of a traffic collision."

The SUV appears to have stopped at a dirt pull-off area about 70 feet (21 meters) from the cliff at the edge of California's coastal Highway 1 in Mendocino County, about 180 miles (290 km) north of San Francisco, according to the vehicle's on-board computer.

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It then accelerated over the edge, leaving no skid marks or other indications of a collision, the statement said. The SUV fell into rocks and was found partially submerged about 100 feet (30 meters) below the highway.

Police searched the family's home in Woodland, Washington, about 500 miles (805 km) north of the crash site, but found no suicide note.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services said it opened an investigation into the family for potential child neglect or abuse after a complaint on March 23.

Neighbors Dana and Bruce DeKalb told the Oregonian newspaper that Devonte had asked them for food for himself and his siblings after his parents withheld it as punishment. The DeKalbs did not respond to requests for comment.

Sarah Hart was convicted of misdemeanor domestic assault of Abigail in 2011 in Minnesota. Court documents show that one of the children, Abigail, told a teacher: "Mom hit me."

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Grant McCool and Peter Cooney)
Nearly two decades passed after the April 4, 1968, assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. before his birthday  after a long and drawn out campaign  became a federal holiday in the United States. But the significance of celebrating his birth was not overlooked during his lifetime.

That fact is made clear from this exclusive clip from the HBO documentary King in the Wilderness, by filmmaker Peter Kunhardt. The film, which premieres on April 2 as the world this week marks the 50th anniversary of Kings death, traces the final few years of Kings life. In this troubled period, the gains of the early and mid-1960s slowed, and King faced opposition on all sides. His stance against the Vietnam War drew ire from the establishment, while his continued devotion to nonviolence angered radicals. So it was not a shock that, as journalist and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) organizer Xernona Clayton relates in the film, Kings staff felt that their leader had become melancholy.

Clayton was asked to help cheer him up. The result was a birthday party.

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In his book At Canaans Edge: America in the King Years 196568, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch (who Kunhardt has said was instrumental in the decision to create the documentary) explained the context in which the party took place. King and his aide Andrew Young had just arrived home in Atlanta from Dallas and, though King had an early morning event at his church, they went to a meeting that day with dozens of SCLC staffers who had been told they would be receiving important instructions for their work in the then-ongoing Poor Peoples Campaign, a major King-led push for economic equality. King seemed on edge and slightly defensive, as he called on his team to bring to bear all of the power of nonviolence on the economic problem. Then, as Branch relates, the meeting began to wind down:

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By tradition, workshops closed Monday night on a plenary round of music. Talk about Peter, talk about Paul! they sang in jubilant harmony, stomping their feet ahead of claps on the back beat. Talk about Doctor King, you can talk about em all! Long as I know Im gonna get my freedom, its all right, whoa, its all right! A shout from Andrew Young blocked King at the door  Dont let him out of here!  and hands pulled him into a sudden chorus of Happy Birthday. King wore a sheepish, captured look, recorded by one home-movie camera, when pioneer television host Xernona Clayton came forward to toast his turning 39.

As the video record of that day preserves, those present jokingly called the Jan. 15 occasion Martin Luther Kings Day, noting that they celebrated in the vein of those who marked Abraham Lincolns birthday as a holiday. In fact, 50 years after Kings death, while Lincolns birthday is celebrated by many, only two Americans have had their birthdays turned into federal holidays  George Washington is one, and the other is Martin Luther King Jr.

Correction: The original version of this story misstated the full name of the SCLC. It is the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, not the Southern Christian Leadership Confederate.
FREETOWN (Reuters) - The opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) said on Monday its candidate Julius Maada Bio had won a presidential run-off election according to its own compilation of results, while the ruling party said it held a "comfortable lead". A spokesman for the ruling All People's Congress (APC) told Reuters that its candidate Samura Kamara was ahead based on a tabulation of around 83 percent of the ballots cast in Saturday's poll. Maada Bio, who briefly ruled the West African country as head of a military junta in 1996, eked out a narrow victory in the first round on March 7 with 43.3 percent of the votes compared to 42.7 for Kamara. According to the SLPP's tabulation distributed at news conference in the capital Freetown, Maada Bio took 54.11 percent of votes in the run-off with Kamara garnering 45.89 percent. Sierra Leone's National Elections Commission has not announced any results from the election, which was delayed several days due to a complaint of fraud lodged by a member of the APC. Maada Bio and Kamara are competing to replace outgoing President Ernest Bai Koroma, who was not allowed to run due to constitutional term limits. (Reporting by Seun Sanni; Additional reporting by Sofia Christensen and Umaru Fofana; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Sofia Christensen and Alison Williams)
Snooping around on your spouses phone in Saudi Arabia is now a crime that could land the offender in jail or with a fine of up to $133,000.

"Married individuals planning to spy on their spouse in Saudi Arabia will need to think twice, because such an activity could potentially attract a fine of 500,000 riyals ($133,000), along with a prison term for a year," a statement, released by the Saudi government on Monday, read.

The law is part of a wider information security initiative that came into force last week. It was put in place to preserve the rights of internet users, as well as to protect the morals of individuals and society, the Gulf kingdom's information ministry said.

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Reuters

Article 3 of the law states: The punishment ranges from imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, and a fine of not more than 500,000 riyals or either one of these penalties.

The statement then stipulates that a harsher punishment will be enforced on those who unlawfully accesses their partners' computers with the intention to delete, erase, destroy, leak, damage or redistribute private data. A person who commits a crime under that umbrella is liable to a fine of up to 3 million riyals ($800,000) and a maximum jail time of four years.

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Newest in #Saudi Arabia: snooping through spouses mobile, leads to a fine of up to 133000$ pic.twitter.com/wpuQkv6t2D  Mohamad Ali Harissi (@aleeharissi) April 2, 2018

The ultra-conservative kingdom claims that the move comes during a period of rises in cybercrimes such as blackmail, embezzlement and defamation.

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Saudi Arabia is a young nation, with over half of its citizens under the age of 25. It is now the worlds most cellphone-, app- and social media-savvy nation per capita.

Since rising to power last year, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has undertaken a series of policy changes aimed at modernizing and restructuring the economy.

The Gulf kingdom issued a decree at the end of last year that will allow women to drive from June, lifting a decades-long ban. The kingdom said the new policy will help further womens participation in the workforce.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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Guwahatia : A shocking data has been revealed by the Assam government that, more than 1700 women and minor girls were killed in cases related to rape, witch hunting, dowry in the state in past 11 years.





Replying a written query by Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) MLA Kamali Basumutary, Assam Transport minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Monday said in the Assam assembly on behalf of Home department that, more than 1700 women and minor girls were killed in cases related to rape, witch hunting, dowry in the state since 2006.





Upto March 2018, a total of 1773 women and minor girls were died in these cases.





Out of the total deaths, dowry related deaths accounted for 1606, 53 women were raped and murdered, 34 minor girls were raped and murdered during the period.





On the other hand, 80 women were victims of witch hunting.





The Assam minister further said that, Karimganj, Barpeta and Nagaon districts are among the districts counted high number of dowry related deaths.





The Assam minister also said that, the state government taken adequate measures to control such type of incidents as held awareness camps, set up fast track courts in the state.




By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of U.S. states and cities sued the Trump administration to stop it from asking people filling out 2020 census forms whether they are citizens.

The lawsuit by 17 states, Washington D.C. and six cities challenged what they called last week's "unconstitutional and arbitrary" decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau, to add the citizenship question.

It was also a fresh challenge to what New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, at a press conference announcing the lawsuit, called the administration's "anti-immigrant animus."

All of the states bringing the case have Democratic attorneys general.

They were joined by New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Providence, Rhode Island, which all have Democratic mayors, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Another state, California, filed a similar lawsuit last week.

Asked to comment, a U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman in an email referred to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' April 2 statement lamenting how California's "meritless" lawsuit forced it to litigate whether the government deserves an "accurate count of who can legally vote in our federal elections."

The U.S. Constitution mandates a decennial census, which is used to determine the drawing of political boundaries, the allocation of seats in Congress and at the state and local level, and the annual distribution of about $700 billion of federal funds.

Critics of the citizenship question say it might dissuade immigrants, and perhaps many citizens, from being counted, with a disproportionate impact on Democratic-leaning states.

Supporters, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, say the question will help the country enforce the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

A citizenship question has not appeared on the decennial census form since 1950.

The lawsuit accused the Trump Administration of violating the Constitution's requirement for an "actual enumeration" of the "whole number of persons" every 10 years.

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At the press conference, Schneiderman called the citizenship question a "blatant effort" by the administration to prevent the Census Bureau from doing its job.

"This is an affront to our national ideals," Schneiderman said. "This is an affront to the Constitution."

The lawsuit said adding the question could particularly exacerbate undercounting of the fast-growing Hispanic population, after an estimated 1.54 percent undercount in 2010.

It said the question would add fuel to a threat made in Congressional testimony last June by Thomas Homan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The lawsuit quoted Homan as saying undocumented immigrants "should be uncomfortable. You should look over your shoulder. And you need to be worried."

Related Video: Census question would cause harm to census

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(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Makini Brice in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Richard Chang)
By Ahmed Kingimi and Ola Lanre MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A suspected Boko Haram attack in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri killed 15 people and wounded 68, an emergency agency official said on Monday, in the biggest strike since the government said it was in talks with the Islamist group. Maiduguri is the epicentre of the nine-year conflict with Boko Haram that has killed more than 20,000 people. President Muhammadu Buhari has prioritised improving security and previously said the group, which is trying establish an Islamic State and split into two factions in 2016, had been defeated. The gun attack took place on Sunday night in Bale Shuwari, a settlement near army barracks on the edge of Maiduguri's inner city, military sources said. "Sixty-eight were injured and 15 innocent people were killed," said Bello Dambatta, chairman of the rapid response team for the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). It is the most significant attack on the city since the government said last week it was is in talks with the insurgents with the aim of securing a permanent ceasefire. The government has not disclosed which elements of Boko Haram it is in discussions with, and neither was it clear which faction carried out Sunday's attack. (Additional reporting by Kolowale Adewale; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by John Stonestreet)
Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: AP, Claire Folger/Bridgewater Picture Finance (2), Frank C. Curtin/AP, Bridgewater Picture Finance, Bettmann/Getty Images, Express Newspapers/Getty Images

One of the great mysteries of 20th century American politics is being resurrected in a new film that takes its title from a byword for political and sexual scandal: Chappaquiddick.

The film, directed by John Curran, tells the story of the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a young woman who died in Sen. Edward Ted Kennedys car after it crashed on a small island off Marthas Vineyard in the summer of 1969. Those facts are among the few certainties in a decades-long mystery. With Kennedy a favorite at the time for the Democratic nomination for president in 1972, the shadow cast by Chappaquiddick may well have changed the course of American political history.

The conspiracy theories and innuendo dwarf the undisputed facts of the event. Whats known is that Kopechne, who was 28, and Kennedy, 37, were at a party for staffers from Robert F. Kennedys 1968 campaign on Chappaquiddick on the night of July 18, 1969. They were at a cottage on the island and at some point in the evening Kopechne (portrayed by Kate Mara) and Kennedy (Jason Clarke) left the party, with Kennedy driving his Oldsmobile 88. Kennedys car went off a narrow bridge leading to a private beach, overturned, and submerged in Poucha Pond. Kennedy returned to his Edgartown hotel on Marthas Vineyard, where he briefly spoke to the manager of the Shiretown Inn at 2:25 a.m.

The next morning two fishermen found the car and called the authorities, who found Kopechnes body still in the car in several feet of water. Kennedy returned to Chappaquiddick to make calls on a pay phone before heading to the Edgartown sheriffs office to report the incident. Over the course of the next week, the senator from Massachusetts attended Kopechnes funeral in Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident (for which he received a suspended sentence) and gave a nationally televised address to the nation in which he asked his constituents to write letters and let him know if he should resign. Public opinion was positive enough that Kennedy stayed in office while prosecutors decided not to charge him with negligent driving or involuntary manslaughter.

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Slideshow: Chappaquiddick: A tragedy that changed the course of American history >>>

Spectators look on as police work near the car driven by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts which plunged off a bridge in an island pond on July 19, 1969, Chappaquiddick Island near Edgartown, Marthas Vineyard, Mass. (Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Everything else is subject to at least some level of interpretation, as certain elements of the story either changed over time or were never told. Here are answers to some of the questions viewers may have:

Where was Kennedy in his political career?

Kennedy was initially elected to the Senate at age 30, in a 1962 special election to fill the seat of his brother John, who had resigned after winning the presidency in 1960. He subsequently won a full term in 1964 with 75 percent of the vote and was considered a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1972 following the assassination of his other brother, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, during the 1968 primary campaign. Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine, a Democrat who would compete in the 1972 primary, said after Kopechnes death that Kennedy could have had the nomination for the asking, but that the controversy may have brought about an unfortunate shift in his fortunes.

Six months before the crash, he had become the youngest majority whip in the history of the Senate. In his reelection campaign 16 months after the events of Chappaquiddick, his share of the vote went down to 64 percent, and he lost his position as whip in January 1971. He turned down an offer to be the vice presidential candidate on George McGoverns ticket in 1972 and failed in an effort to unseat sitting President Jimmy Carter in 1980. He held his seat until his death in 2009, the fourth longest tenure of any U.S. senator. Members of the next generation of Kennedys have gone on to serve in Congress, but the once invincible Kennedy dynasty pretty much died at Chappaquiddick.

Sen. Ted Kennedy announces he will run for reelection of his Senate seat on June 11, 1970, in Boston, during a press conference attended by daughter Kara, 10; son Ted Jr., 8; Patrick, 3; and wife Joan Kennedy. (Photo: Charles Dixon/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

How did Kennedy get out of the car, and why did he wait so long to alert authorities?

Kennedy said in his official statement and at the inquest that he didnt remember how he got out of the car, but that he made multiple attempts to save Kopechne, fighting against a strong current. He attributed his actions in the following hours to shock, exhaustion and a concussion.

Kennedy said he brought two friends from the cottage for unsuccessful efforts to rescue Kopechne. But on the walk back to the cottage he would have passed a house where he could have called for help. After the failed attempts, Kennedy told the inquest he didnt call for further help because he assumed Kopechne had already drowned. Kennedy claims he then swam the channel back to Edgartown, where he was seen by a hotel employee at 2:25 a.m. The Shiretown Inn manager said that Kennedy was dressed in a suit jacket and slacks but looked distressed. The next morning, Kennedy talked to friends and made calls from a pay phone before going to the police station around 10 a.m.

Why were Kopechne and Kennedy in the car alone?

Kennedys chauffeur, Jack Crimmins, had remained at the party at the cottage. Kennedy said he was driving Kopechne to the Edgartown ferry but took a wrong turn. That claim has been met with skepticism since the moment it was given in an official statement to the police Saturday morning, July 19. The road to the ferry was paved and went off to the left; Kennedy turned right, past a drop of several inches and onto a dirt road leading to the bridge. Across the bridge was a private beach that Kennedy, Kopechne and others had visited earlier in the day.

A nighttime view of Dike Bridge, the site of Sen. Ted Kennedys auto accident that resulted in the death of a campaign worker. (Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images)

The timing of events also cast doubt on Kennedys account. The last ferry to Edgartown was at midnight, but Deputy Sheriff Christopher Look said he saw Kennedys car at 12:40 a.m. Sylvia Malm, who was renting a home 150 yards from the Dike Bridge, said she was reading until midnight the evening of the accident, with an open window facing in the direction of the bridge, and heard nothing. There has been speculation ever since that Kennedy and Kopechne were heading for a tryst. The senator, who was married with three children at the time, was a known womanizer but denied any immoral conduct with Kopechne.

Was Kennedy drunk at the time of the accident?

Kennedy claimed he only had a couple of drinks the night of the accident, but as with his womanizing, the senators reputation as a heavy drinker preceded him. Witnesses reported Kennedy drinking heavily earlier in the day after a sailboat race, and there was a large amount of booze purchased for the cottage gathering, although attendees claimed that neither Kennedy nor Kopechne drank much that night. Those attendees  mostly young female staffers who had worked on the RFK campaign and middle-aged, married men  left the cottage the morning after the accident, before they could be questioned by police. If Kennedy was drunk when the car went off Dike Bridge, it would possibly explain his reluctance to immediately call the authorities to the scene.

As for Kopechne, a blood test taken after her death showed her blood alcohol content to be 0.09. This would be just above the legal limit of 0.08.

A frogman attempts to raise a car eight hours after it plunged into a pond with Sen. Edward Kennedy behind the wheel, on July 19, 1969, on Chappaquiddick Island, Mass. Mary Jo Kopechne was killed in the crash. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended two-month jail sentence. (Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images)

How exactly did Kopechne die?

The medical examiner found that the cause of death was drowning, but the Edgartown Fire and Rescue diver who retrieved her body said that he believed it could have been suffocation, as Kopechne had positioned herself in a pocket of air and was potentially alive for hours before running out of oxygen. The funeral director told the inquest that Kopechne had bloodstains on the back of her blouse, which were never explained. No autopsy was performed, although there were several attempts to exhume the corpse in order to complete one.

How did Kopechnes family react to her death?

The Kopechnes initially didnt blame Kennedy for their daughters death and said they would support him for president, with Mrs. Kopechne adding that she didnt think he should give up his Senate seat. They reached a financial settlement with Kennedy for a sum that was initially reported to be in excess of $150,000 but was later said to be just over $90,000  or $600,000 in 2018 dollars. Two decades after the accident, the Kopechnes expressed anger and frustration at Kennedy, at the media for dragging their daughters name through the mud, and at the other female RFK staffers who didnt speak out after the incident. Kopechnes father added that the only positive from the accident was that Mary Jos death kept the senator from becoming president.

Joseph and Gwen Kopechne, parents of Mary Jo Kopechne, leave the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Oct. 21, 1969, after the hearings ended on a petition to exhume the body of their daughter, who died in Sen. Edward Kennedys car. (Photo: Paul Vathis/AP)

Is there any chance Kopechne was driving?

Some have suggested that Kennedy wasnt even in the car at the time of the accident. The theory is that when Deputy Sheriff Look spotted the Oldsmobile, Kennedy panicked about being seen with Kopechne, left the car and told her to drive away and pick him up later. Unfamiliar with both the large automobile and dirt road, Kopechne crashed on her own. That would explain Kennedys miraculous escape (he wasnt in the car to begin with) and his lack of injuries (people who spoke with him the next morning said he didnt seem to be suffering the effects of the claimed concussion). There is a version of this theory that purports to explain why Kennedy didnt report the incident until hours later  because he didnt know it had occurred.

How accurate is the films depiction of the events?

Of necessity, the film takes dramatic license in depicting the behind-the-scenes maneuvers of Kennedys crisis-management team, including former JFK speechwriter Ted Sorensen and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, for which there are no undisputed public accounts. There is also the mystery of what Kennedy did during the time between the accident and showing up at the Edgartown police station. (Investigators found calls were made, but couldnt tell to whom.) The film depicts conversations in which Kennedy tries to persuade Kopechne to take a job in his Senate office, events never described by Kennedy in public.

Members of the Kennedy family in Hyannis Port, Mass., in June 1968. From left, Sen. Edward Kennedy, and his parents, Rose and Joseph Kennedy. (Photo: AP)

One major departure from history appears to be the films portrayal of Joe Kennedy Sr. (Bruce Dern), Ted Kennedys father. Kennedy Sr. had suffered a number of strokes and would die four months after Chappaquiddick; by most accounts he was essentially unable to communicate. But in the film he is capable of speaking limited words, writing messages to his son and at one point slapping him. The film also shows him watching his sons primetime speech, whereas the elder Kennedys nurse specifically said in an interview he didnt watch it. The film also makes some small alterations to the record as recounted by Kennedy or his confidants. Joe Gargan (Ed Helms), a cousin of the senator and one of the men who attempted to rescue Kopechne the night of the accident, confirmed Kennedys account that the senator swam the channel back to Edgartown after the accident. In Chappaquiddick, he is rowed over to town in a small boat by Gargan.

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An 18-year-old was banned from attending senior prom following complaints from students about gun-related social media posts.

Kolton Hala attended Eagle River High School in Anchorage, Alaska, up until last year, when he suffered third-degree burns to his face and upper body after trying to start a fire at a family gathering. Because of medication he was placed on following the accident, Hala had to drop out and pursue his GED, which he recently received. However, he was still looking to attend the school prom with his childhood friend, who applied for a guest pass on Halas behalf.

Kolton Hala got barred from attending senior prom after posting a photo of a gun. (Photo: Twitter Inconformist907)

Yet before the dance, which is being held this Saturday, Hala told the Anchorage Daily News that he received a call from the schools resource officer, who told the teen that he wouldnt be able to go because of complaints that he was a potential threat to the prom.

Hala believes that currently enrolled students considered him a threat after he posted a photo of a semiautomatic rifle on his Twitter account, following it up with a tweet about the dance.

Hala posted a photo of a Hi-Point model 4595, a .45 ACP semi-automatic rifle. (Photo: Twitter Inconformist907)

Hala wrote, 2nd amendment part 2. YeeYee, on Twitter, where he goes by The Burning Patriot. The words were accompanied with a photo of a Hi-Point model 4595, a .45 ACP semiautomatic rifle. Just 10 hours later, he posted a type of warning about his upcoming presence at the prom.

I'll be at ERHS's prom. Try not to get offended, okay?  The Burning Patriot (@Inconformist907) March 7, 2018

Its a gun that I like, thats all it is, he told the paper, while also clarifying that he doesnt own it. It wasnt directed toward anybody. I was just sharing what I like. As for the second tweet about the dance warning fellow attendees not to get offended, Hala said it was in reference to the American flag tuxedo that he had already planned to wear. Some people dont like the American flag, he said.

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(Photo: Twitter Inconformist907)

Anchorage School District deputy superintendent Mark Stock told the paper that although the issue has now become centered around the former students First and Second Amendment rights, no student has a right to a guest pass. Instead, its something thats issued with permission, which leads to the denial of a number of students each year.

Upon receiving calls from parents who told administrators that they wouldnt allow their children to attend the prom if Hala were present, the principal made a decision in favor of those currently enrolled at Eagle River. The main priority of the principal is to keep the dance drama-free and fun, Stock said. Its a junior/senior prom for the current students. And amid fallout surrounding the latest school shooting in Parkland, Fla., and a current review of Eagle Rivers safety procedures, this decision was deemed best for the school.

Hala attended the Anchorage school board meeting on Monday following the decision to bar him. In hindsight, Stock agreed with the former student that there should have been a larger discussion involving Hala to fully inform him of their decision. However, he believes that the situation was handled properly as a whole.

As for Hala, he tells Yahoo Lifestyle that he doesnt plan to take any further action. A few students are very supportive of the story, he says. This is a fight for the media. Im just trying to bring light to a bad situation.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

 Teachers gun remark to students prompts police investigation

 The Parkland shooting suspect is getting fan mail, money, and sexual pictures in jail

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President Donald Trumps administration is once again battling California, this time over a new state law aimed at limiting the sale or transfer of federal lands to private corporations.

On Monday, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to challenge California SB 50. Enacted in October, the law grants California primary rights to purchase or arrange the purchase of federal lands within the state. It also gives the states Land Commission first right of refusal before federal public lands in California can be sold or leased.

DOJ filed its lawsuit the same day the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to reverse a landmark Obama-era rule that tightens fuel standards for vehicles. The decision hands a victory to automakers, while weakening the only major federal policy intended to reduce planet-warming emissions from the nations top source of greenhouse gas pollution.

The decision also puts the EPA at odds with California regulators, who had previously agreed to align their tailpipe emissions standards with the national levels, thus ensuring consistent mileage and emissions rules nationwide.

In a statement, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the state is prepared to take the White House to court over the EPAs decision.

Were not looking to pick a fight with the Trump Administration but when they threaten our values, were ready, he said.

SB 50, which lawmakers introduced as a preemptive measure against possible environmental encroachments by the Trump administration, is one of several steps the state has taken over the past year to protect those values.

The bill is part of a legislative initiative in Californias state Senate known as Preserve California. The initiative is meant to offset rollbacks in federal environmental regulations and public health protections, according to a release from state Sen. Ben Allen (D), who first introduced SB 50.

With unprecedented attacks coming from the Trump Administration there has never been a more important time to defend our open spaces, Sarah Rose, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement after the bills passage through the state Senate in September. The passage of SB 50 sends a clear message: public lands belong in public hands.

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However, the DOJ called the law unconstitutional in a release on Monday.

The Constitution empowers the federal government  not state legislatures  to decide when and how federal lands are sold, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. California was admitted to the Union upon the express condition that it would never interfere with the disposal of federal land. And yet, once again, the California legislature has enacted an extreme state law attempting to frustrate federal policy.

H.D. Palmer, deputy director for external affairs at Californias Department of Finance, said in a statement that the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is evaluating the lawsuit and considering next steps, but that its commitment to protecting access to public lands for the use and enjoyment by all Californians is unchanged and unwavering.

Muddying the issue somewhat is the fact that Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have repeatedly said they oppose selling off federal lands. In fact, it was over this very issue that Zinke  a former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL  resigned as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2016. In a speech one day after arriving at his new post in Washington, D.C., Zinke promised Interior staffers: You can hear it from my lips. We will not sell or transfer public land.

Unsurprisingly, some see Mondays lawsuit as the latest sign that the administration will ultimately cave to the Republican Party platform, which calls for transferring control of federal lands to states.

Today the Trump Administration showed its true colors by aggressively working to ensure that it can sell off, sell out or dispose of public lands that belong to all Americans, Kate Kelly, the public lands director at the Center for American Progress, said in an emailed statement.

In February, the Trump administration released its anticipated infrastructure plan, which proposes selling off several federal assets, including Reagan National and Dulles International airports in Virginia.

Mondays lawsuit, filed in federal court in Sacramento, comes roughly one month after the Justice Department sued California over its so-called sanctuary laws meant to protect undocumented immigrants.

Brown warned at the time that the Trump administration was basically going to war against California.

The state also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last week over the Commerce Departments announcement that the 2020 Census would ask people whether they are U.S. citizens.

Chris DAngelo contributed reporting.

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Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump defended his embrace of Vladimir Putin Tuesday, saying good relations were important but claiming no one had been tougher on Russia.

"If we got along with Russia, that would be a good thing not a bad thing," Trump said, days after congratulating the veteran Russian leader on his controversial re-election and suggesting they meet at the White House.

"Just about everybody agrees with that, except very stupid people," he said, adding "probably nobody's been tougher to Russia than Donald Trump."

Trump's renewed a long-standing call for better relations with Moscow despite a series of conflagrations and crises, including Russian meddling in the US election and the poisoning of a Russian double agent on British soil.

His comments Tuesday came as he hosted leaders from the three Baltic states -- which have had a torrid history with their larger neighbor Russia.

Standing side-by-side with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, Trump doubled down on his courtship of Moscow.

"I think I could have a very good relationship with president Putin," Trump said. "It's a real possibility that I could have a good relationship."

"It's possible I won't," he added.

Trump has faced criticism at home for his attitude to Putin, particularly by non-Republicans who suspect his campaign was aided by Moscow.

A Dutch lawyer with direct knowledge of contacts between Russian intelligence and a top official in Trump's campaign became the first person sentenced in special prosecutor Robert Mueller's sprawling investigation Tuesday.

- 'Unpredictable leadership' -

The trio of Baltic leaders came to the White House with what officials described as a series of concrete suggestions to deter Russian aggression.

A senior Lithuanian official who asked not to be named said they would ask the US to send Patriot long-range anti-aircraft missiles more frequently for war games.

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They also want to become a part of NATO's larger European anti-missile shield.

Trump has spooked many in states that gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, by cozying up to Putin and by questioning American commitment to NATO.

But the later stance won approval from Grybauskaite, who, after Trump's prompting, suggested his stance had been instrumental in getting allies to play more for common defense.

"We need leadership, sometimes, for decision-making -- even unpredictable leadership," she said. "We're seeing this kind of leadership in President Trump."

Trump has repeatedly suggested that NATO allies are not paying enough into the bloc's coffers.

In reality there is no common NATO budget, but member states are encouraged to spend two percent of their own GDP on defense.

"Since I came in, many, many billions of dollars additional have been paid by countries that weren't paying, and now they're paying," Trump said. "And they will have to pay more, frankly. They're going to have to pay more."
President Donald Trump is likely to consider the negative impact his sparse legal team and cooperation with the special counsels office could have on the 2018 midterm elections as pressure builds later this summer, an attorney who formerly had a Watergate scandal client told Newsweek Monday.

Andrew Hall, who served as former White House counsel John Ehrlichman's attorney more than 40 years ago during President Richard Nixons corruption scandal, said he would advise Trump not to sit down with special counsel Robert Muellers team. Halls words also came as the presidents legal team dwindles and the Republican struggles to find replacements.

Hall emphasized that the pressure on Trump is likely to increase by the end of the summerjust months before the midterm elections in November.

Trending: Gay Chechen Reveals Forced Exorcism As Rights Groups Call For Trump Condemnation of Russia

I think walking into the midterms, if he doesnt clean up his act hes going to get clobbered politically, and what he does to save himself politically will be exactly the opposite of what he needs to do to do the right thing legally, Hall said.

He also touched on the difficulty of taking on a client like Trump. For instance, if an attorney for Trump knows the Republican could perjure himself before special counsel investigators that lawyer would be legally obligated to remove himself or herself as the presidents representative, Hall said.

Its not a gray area. They cant facilitate it. So lets assume that he says something that they know to be untrue, theyve got to disassociate themselves with that, Hall said, adding any attorney representing the president risks losing their license if they know hes about to give false testimony. Its very serious. Its not unusual to be in a situation where suddenly your client says something that is not true.

GettyImages-939802450

AFP via Getty Images/Nicholas Kamm

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You cant make any use of that. You cant in a subsequent proceeding offer that testimony knowing its false. You just cant. So what do you do? The answer is you try to avoid it. If you cant avoid it you have to withdraw, Hall said. He also stated that if he was representing the president that he would advise against meeting with Mueller.

A potential Trump interview by Muellers investigators has been highly anticipated for months now. The president has said publicly that he would be happy to meet for an interview, while reports have indicated his attorneys were against the idea given Trumps nature to go off script. Others, like Trump ally Roger Stone, have also said the possible meeting would be a perjury trap.

Trump has fervidly denied any collusion between his former campaign and Russia to win the White House. Recently, hes also called out Mueller for an investigation hes deemed a witch hunt.

Hall has direct experience with the exact kind of probe Trump is facing. He represented Erhlichman, a former senior adviser to Nixon embroiled in the scandal that essentially set the precedent the special prosecutors. Hall noted that before Nixon, there were no special counsels. A partner at Hall, Lamb, Hall & Leto, Halls expertise also ranges from an appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court to his representing the families of victims in the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole.

Most popular: Mueller Could Start 'Civil War' with Mashed Potatoes in Family Homes, Hannity Says

He also drew parallels between Trump and Nixon in particular reports of former Trump attorney John Dowd bringing up pardons for former national security adviser Michael Flynn and ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort last year. Both have been charged by Mueller, though the former has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate while the latter faces a trial later this year. Dowd resigned from Trumps team last month, reportedly believing the president was no longer taking his advice.

In Watergate, the identical conversation occurred between [Nixon] and [former White house chief of staff] Bob Haldeman and Ehrlichman, directly, Hall said.

But he noted the difference between Dowd broaching the idea of a pardon with Flynn and Manaforts attorneys instead of the president directly engaging in the discussion like Nixon did in the 1970s.

The real issue is whether or not the president is interfering with the ability to retain information regarding criminal action, Hall said. That would be obstruction of justice. That would be a cover-up.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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WASHINGTON  During a joint appearance with leaders of the three Baltic states on Tuesday, President Trump speculated on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is an enemy or a leader with whom he can have a good rapport. Trump declared nobodys been tougher on Russia than I have, but left the door open for improved ties between the two countries.

I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President Putin and, if I did, that would be a great thing, Trump said. Theres also a great possibility that that wont happen. Who knows? OK?

Trumps remarks were in response to a question by an Estonian reporter who asked if he saw Putin as an enemy or someone you could have dialogue with. The question came in response to comments Trump made earlier in the day at a working lunch with the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia where he said, Nobodys been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump.

The three Baltic countries are just to the west of Russia. They were part of the Soviet Union from the end of World War II until 1991.

If we got along with Russia, that would be a good thing, not a bad thing, Trump said at the lunch, adding, And just about everybody agrees with that, except very stupid people.

On Monday, Russian officials said Trump proposed a meeting with Putin at the White House when the two spoke by phone on March 20. The Kremlin suggested this would be a good step, but the White House would not comment beyond confirming that the pair discussed a potential meeting.

Photo: Evan Vucci/AP

Trump has faced growing questions about his posture toward Russia amid the investigation into whether his presidential campaign was party to Moscows interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Although U.S. intelligence agencies have said the Kremlin sought to help Trump win, relations between the two countries have worsened in the past month, with Putin touting his nuclear missile capabilities and the U.S. expelling 60 Russian diplomats in response to allegations that the Kremlin was responsible for an attack on an ex-spy in Britain.

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At the press conference, Trump began by expressing hope that he and Putin could have productive conversations, while citing some examples of his policies that have had a negative impact on Russia. He began by noting his efforts to increase U.S. energy exports and arguing that Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival from 2016, would not have done the same.

I think well be able to have great dialogue. I hope, and if we cant, youll be the first to know about it. Nobodys been tougher on Russia than I have, Trump said, adding, Everyone agrees when they think about it. Strong energy.  My opponent was into other forms of energy, like windmills. Were very strong on energy. Were essentially now energy-independent. Were an exporter of energy. That is not a positive for Russia.

Trump also pointed to his push for further military spending.

We just passed a $700 billion military budget. Next year, $716 billion, the largest ever passed, said Trump. We are going to have a military stronger than weve ever had before, by far. Thats not exactly a great thing for Russia, but thats the way it is.

Trump went on to cite his call for NATO allies to contribute more to defense and how many Russian diplomats the U.S. expelled compared with other European nations following the attack in Britain.

President Trump with Lithuanias President Dalia Grybauskaite on Tuesday. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters)

NATO was delinquent. They were not paying their bills.  A lot of states  were not paying what they should be paying. Since I came in, many, many billions of dollars additional have been paid by countries that werent paying, said Trump. Frankly, theyre going to have to pay more. So there are many things Ive done. And not only the 60 diplomats. Germany did four. France did four. We did 60. Theres nobody been tougher on Russia.

The president expressed hope he could have a positive dialogue with Putin.

With that being said, I think I could have a very good relationship with President Putin. I think its possible I wont. And you will know about it.  Its a real possibility that I could have a good relationship, Trump said.

Trump concluded by reiterating his view that a strong relationship with Russia would be a good thing for the United States.

Remember this, getting along with Russia is a good thing. Getting along with China is a good thing. Getting along with other countries  is a good thing, not a bad thing, he said.

_____

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Imphal, April 3 : The troops of Assam Rifles had seized huge quantity of narcotics worth of Rs 16 crore in Manipurs Moreh town, bordering with Myanmar.





Acting on a specific input about a bus modified to carry wooden planks, Assam Rifles troops had intercepted the bus at a checking post at Khudengthabi on National Highway 102 near Moreh town on Monday evening.





On through checking of the vehicle, the security personnel had recovered around 3.20 lakh numbers of contraband (World is Yours) tablets weighing 39 kgs.





A top official of Assam Rifles said that, the contraband drugs were found very well concealed in a specially modified compartment below driver and co-driver seat and cost of the drugs is estimated around Rs 16 crore in international market.





The security personnel had arrested the drug trafficker identified as Mohammad Elas Khan of Mayang Imphal in Imphal West district.





Later, the seized drugs and the drug trafficker were handed over to Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Imphal.





Myanmar is the largest producer of WIY tablets, which is brought to India through Manipur borders.





Since 2017, Assam Rifles has recovered contraband items worth around Rs 70 crore in Manipur.





In last month, Assam Rifles had seized drugs worth Rs 24 crore on NH 102 in Manipur.




Sinclair Broadcast Group is under fire for forcing its local news anchors to read an identical script criticizing fake news stories



Sinclair Broadcast Group headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Photograph: Steve Ruark/AP

Donald Trump defended local TV news giant Sinclair Broadcast Group on Monday as the rightwing news network came under fire for forcing its local news anchors to read an identical script criticizing fake news stories.



Earlier this month CNN broke the news that anchors at Sinclair, the largest local news network with close to 200 television stations across the country, had been told to read a script attacking the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country.



The script warns about fake news and claims: Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think  This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.



A video compilation of those speeches created by Deadspin went viral over the weekend, prompting Trump to tweet on Monday: So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.



How America's largest local TV owner turned its news anchors into soldiers in Trump's war on the media: https://t.co/iLVtKRQycL pic.twitter.com/dMdSGellH3  Deadspin (@Deadspin) March 31, 2018

A copy of the Sinclair speech was published last week by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which reported that employees at local news station, KOMO, said the segments had not affected their local coverage.

Sinclair journalists leaked details of their contracts on Monday and said they faced fines if they quit while under contract.



Chaired by David Smith, a low-profile multi-millionaire with close ties to the Trump administration, Sinclair is the USs largest broadcaster and reached about 38% of US households.



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It is currently attempting to take over Tribune Media, a $3.9bn deal that would add another 42 cities to its portfolio but which has hit a roadblock with regulators in Washington.



Sinclair did not immediately return calls for comment.
During Tuesday's meeting with leaders of the three Baltic StatesEstonia, Latvia and LithuaniaPresident Donald Trump pledged to provide Russias neighbors with large caliber ammunition and to help train and bolster the regions military forces.

But when asked directly whether he and the Baltic leaders had experienced a meeting of the minds in regard to the threat Moscow poses to the sovereignty of these countries, Trump failed to mention Russia in his response.

For centuries, the U.S. has stood with the Baltic people. Were with them, were friends and were allies, Trump said during the press conference, refraining from mentioning Russia by name.

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Since Moscow began supporting pro-Russian separatists in its neighbor Ukraine in 2014, the Baltic countries have been working to boost their defenses to prevent a similar invasion of forces nicknamed little green men, or soldiers who appear professionally trained wearing Russian-style combat uniforms, but who lack any identifying insignia. These men have been spotted frequently supporting separatists in Ukraine, and are viewed as a sign of Russian interference.

Unlike Ukraine, however, all three Baltic States are members of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Their membership means that other NATO countries, including the U.S., would be obligated to help defend their sovereignty if Russia were to invade.

RTX5FNVX

Carlos Barria/Reuters

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As such, official U.S. policy has been to support the military development of the Baltic countries. More than 5,000 U.S. troops will join multinational forces in this years Saber Strike, the largest joint military exercise to take place in the Baltic region. The U.S. has also committed to allocating around $3 million to help the three countries build public and institutional resiliency against disinformation by strengthening independent media outlets, public service broadcasters, and media literacy skills in the region, according to the White House. Russia is considered the biggest source of disinformation in the region.

But while official U.S. policy appears to back the Baltics against their larger neighbor, Trump himself continuously refuses to acknowledge that Russia is a threat. When Trump was pressed further on his position toward Moscow during the press conference, the president stressed that getting along with Russia is a good thing, and its a real possibility that I could have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Meanwhile, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite deflected questions about Trumps views on Russian interference by touting the U.S. commitment to NATO.

We expect together with the United States to go ahead with deep reforms of NATO, especially on decision-making, on decisiveness, on denial that we expect to see from Russia in case of aggression, Grybauskaite said during a meeting prior to the press conference. Without the United States, this is not possible.

This article was first written by Newsweek

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By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, standing alongside the leaders of three Baltic countries most concerned about the potential for aggression from Moscow, on Tuesday said he thought he could have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump, at a news conference after meeting the presidents of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, told reporters "it's a real possibility that I could have a good relationship" with Putin, but acknowledged it was not a certainty. "Getting along with Russia is a good thing," Trump said. "I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President Putin, and if I did, that would be a great thing. And there's also a great possibility that that won't happen. Who knows?" Trump reiterated his belief that "nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have," noting he has pushed for increased defense spending to bolster the U.S. military and has aggressively pushed energy production, enabling the United States to become an exporter in competition with Russia. "We're essentially now energy-independent. We're an exporter of energy. That is not a positive for Russia," Trump told reporters. "We are going to have a military stronger than we've ever had before by far," he added. "That's not exactly a great thing for Russia." Trump also said he had prodded NATO members to meet their defense spending commitments, generating "many billions of dollars" in additional military spending by NATO allies. He praised the three Baltic presidents for their countries' commitment to meeting the NATO goal of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense this year. Estonia reached that goal in 2017, but Latvia and Lithuania were just shy of the mark at 1.75 percent and 1.73 percent, respectively, according to NATO figures issued last month. The Baltics leaders expressed confidence in Trump's security commitments. The United States plans to provide $100 million for large-caliber ammunition for the Baltics and $70 million for training and equipment, the White House said. It also is working to build the region's defense and energy infrastructure. Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid said the presidents had discussed the region's security needs and what was required "to make sure that our deterrence is believable to everybody who might want to question it." "We are an ally situation together. And we find the solutions together, which will work for us all together, because we are in it all together," Kaljulaid added. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by David Alexander; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump sharpened his anti-immigration rhetoric on Tuesday, saying he wants to deploy U.S. military forces to the Mexican border to stop illegal immigrants until his long-promised wall is built and "proper security" is in place. His comments, following a threat to halt foreign aid to Honduras and other countries unless they stopped a "caravan" of Central Americans headed to the United States, immediately raised questions about troop deployment on U.S. soil. Trump called using the military at the southern border "a big step." He met on Tuesday with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and others to discuss the idea. "Until we can have a wall and proper security were going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump told reporters at the White House, lamenting what he called "horrible" U.S. laws that left the southern border poorly protected. After 14 months in office, Trump still hammers regularly on an anti-immigration theme that helped to energize conservative Republican voters who helped him win the presidency in the 2016 election. Trump took a hard line on illegal immigration during the campaign and has also sought to curtail legal immigration. Trump's efforts have failed to produce a deal on immigration or funding a border wall in the Republican-led Congress and no major legislation was expected before November's congressional elections. Trump gave no details on the size or mission of a military border deployment. The Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law, prohibits using the military for civilian law enforcement duties on U.S. soil unless authorized by Congress. But the military can provide support services to law enforcement and has done so on occasion since the 1980s. Under Republican President George W. Bush, National Guard forces were used between 2006 and 2008 for border-related intelligence analysis, but had no direct law enforcement role. In 2010, President Barack Obama sent some National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexican border to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to U.S. Border Patrol agents. Some specific statutes authorize the president to deploy troops within the United States for riot control or relief efforts after natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods. "The details really matter here," said Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "The real question is going to be if the president is serious about this, what kind of legal arguments do we get out of the White House and the Pentagon for such a deployment." A senior Republican aide in the U.S. House of Representatives said key lawmakers had not been briefed on the White House plan. The aide said there was no indication that a specific plan had even been formulated yet. Geronimo Gutierrez, Mexico's ambassador in Washington, said he had spoken to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about Trump's remarks on the border and that Mexico had formally asked the U.S. government to clarify them. "It's certainly not something that the Mexican government welcomes," Gutierrez told CNN. At a campaign rally, Mexican leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is leading most opinion polls by double digits before the July 1 presidential election, said that if the U.S. government militarizes the border, thousands of his supporters would protest by forming a "big human chain of Mexicans for peace." NAFTA, CARAVAN Trump has railed in recent days against more than 1,200 Central American migrants journeying from the Mexico-Guatemala border toward the United States. He has also repeated threats to derail the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if they are not stopped. In a Twitter post earlier on Tuesday, Trump said the caravan "heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!" Congress is on vacation until next week. Mexican officials intensified efforts to process the dwindling "caravan" and determine whether they had the right to stay in Mexico or sent back to their countries of origin. Such "caravans" of mostly Central Americans, including many escaping violence in Honduras, have occurred annually since 2010 to draw attention to the plight of such migrants. Trump said he asked Mexico to stop the caravan and he thought Mexican officials were having some success. "As of 12 minutes ago, it was all being broken up," he said. Some members of Congress said they were uncomfortable with the idea of using the military at the border. Democratic Senator Brian Schatz said Trump should have to seek approval from Congress for any such troop deployment. "We should put that new law to a vote in the Senate," he said on Twitter. I predict fewer than 20 votes." Representative Francis Rooney, a Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said there was a risk of increased violence. "These people should be stopped at the border and vetted out, just the normal process, and we should have plenty of agents down there to do that," Rooney told CNN. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Makini Brice, Amanda Becker, Richard Cowan and Phil Stewart in Washington; Karen Freifeld in New York and the Mexico City newsroom; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Grant McCool)
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to deploy the military to secure America's southern border, as a caravan of Central American migrants headed north through Mexico toward the United States.

The US leader has spent three days attacking the Mexican government for failing to block the estimated 1,500 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras from walking north toward the border.

"Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump told journalists.

In an evening statement, the White House clarified that Trump's plan involved mobilizing the National Guard -- not active duty military troops, which would be barred by US law.

Senior officials including Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford and Chief of Staff John Kelly briefed Trump last week and follow-up discussions Tuesday, it added.

"President Trump and senior officials present also agreed on the need to pressure Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations," the statement added.

Trump accused Mexico of abetting and profiting from illegal immigration, which he pledged in his 2016 election campaign to halt.

- Laws are 'weak' and 'pathetic' -

"The caravan makes me very sad that this could happen to the United States, where you have thousands of people that just decide to walk into our country and we don't have any laws that could protect it," he said.

"If it reaches our border, our laws are so weak and so pathetic... it's like we have no border," added the president -- who lashed out at his predecessor Barack Obama for allegedly weakening border security, without elaborating on his claims.

He also railed against the US Congress for not tightening laws on immigrants, and against Democrats for stalling the border wall he promised to build during his campaign.

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Trump had previously suggested the military could help fund and build the wall, but it was the first time he proposed US troops to patrol the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) frontier.

The Pentagon had no immediate comment on Trump's remarks. In the past 12 years, National Guard troops have been deployed twice to bolster border security, but none have been there since 2010.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said he was seeking further information about the announcement.

"Mexico has asked the United States, via official channels, to clarify the announcement by @POTUS on the use of the military on the border," Videgaray said on Twitter.

"The Mexican government will decide its response based on said clarification, and always in defense of our sovereignty and national interest."

- 'People flowing in' -

The Trump administration has sharply bolstered spending on patrolling the border, and intensified crackdowns on undocumented immigrants inside the country.

But the president remains frustrated that other initiatives by his administration to slow both legal and illegal immigration have been stalled or blocked.

After a year's delay, Congress budgeted $1.6 billion last month to begin construction of the wall, a small portion of the $25 billion Trump asked.

The initial funding might only pay for 100 miles of wall, and Trump last week proposed that the Pentagon's budget be tapped to build the rest.

"We need to have a wall that's about 700-800 miles," he said Tuesday.

The US president's rekindled anger over immigration was apparently sparked over the weekend by media reports on the migrants heading across Mexico.

Like each of the last five years, the so-called caravan set off recently from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, partly in protest at conditions faced by migrants, and partly to help migrants safely reach the US border.

Trump says the phenomenon is proof of the need for a wall.

"The caravan which is over 1,000 people coming in from Honduras thought they were just going to walk through Mexico and right through the border," Trump said.

"We cannot have people flowing in our country illegally, disappearing and, by the way, never showing up to court."
WASHINGTON  President Trump said Tuesday that he will make a decision soon on U.S. troop levels in Syria, saying he wants to bring our troops back home as soon as possible and complaining that interventions in the Muslim world have brought America nothing except death and destruction.

Well be making a decision as to what we do in the very near future, Trump told reporters at a joint press conference at the White House with the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home.

He claimed that the United States had spent $7 trillion on the global war on terrorism declared after 9/11, including invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. That figure appears to be roughly double more conventional estimates.

We have nothing, nothing except death and destruction. Its a horrible thing, he said. So its time. Its time. We were very successful against ISIS. Well be successful against anybody militarily. But sometimes its time to come back home, and were thinking about that very seriously.

A convoy of U.S. troops in Manbij, Syria, last weekend. (Photo: Hussein Malla/AP)

Trump, who met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman two weeks ago and spoke by telephone Monday with his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, prodded the kingdom to do more.

Saudi Arabia is very interested in our decision, and I said, Well, you know, you want us to stay, maybe youre going to have to pay, the president said. It was unclear whether he was recounting what he told the crown prince or the king.

Trump has repeatedly made variations on this argument since launching his unorthodox presidential campaign nearly three years ago, repeatedly telling voters that the money spent on military interventions siphoned off resources better used on building schools and infrastructure in the United States.

Earlier in the press conference, Trump had promised that we will not rest until ISIS is gone. Last week, the president had raised eyebrows when he declared: Well be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now.

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The procedural defense put forward by Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign manager facing down Robert Mueller, may be fatally flawed. Lawyers for Manafort, who has pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen charges including conspiracy, tax fraud, and lying to the F.B.I., have argued that the allegations are unrelated to the question of collusion, and thus represent an act of overreach by the special counsel. But that defense crumbled on Tuesday, when it was revealed in a court filing that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had authorized Mueller to probe whether Manafort committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials, according to a previously undisclosed memo.

That document, filed with the D.C. district court on Monday, suggests that Mueller has been seeking to connect Manaforts work in Ukraine to the Trump campaign all along. Included in the filing is an August 2017 memo from Rosenstein, which says that the scope of the ongoing Justice Department probe included allegations that Manafort committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials with respect to the Russian governments efforts to interfere with the 2016 election for president of the United States, and Committed a crime or crimes arising out of payments he received from the Ukrainian government before and during the tenure of President Viktor Yanukovych.

The existence of the Rosenstein memo raises several questions about Muellers investigation, and how Manafort might fit into the larger issue of Russian collusion. The filing explicitly states that the special prosecutors mandate would naturally cover ties that a former Trump campaign manager had to Russian associated political operatives, Russian-backed politicians, and Russian oligarchs. That mandate should cover Yanukovych, who tried to align Kiev with Moscow before fleeing to Russia. It also presumably includes Manaforts ties to Oleg Deripaska, the Kremlin-connected billionaire with whom Manafort is reported to have had $60 million in business dealings over the past decade. (During the campaign, Manafort exchanged a series of e-mails with his longtime employee, Konstantin Kilimnik, in which he offered to give Deripaska private briefings on the race. Kilimnik is alleged The Rosenstein memo also gives the special prosecutor the power to look into any interactions they may have had before and during the campaign to plumb motives and opportunities to coordinate and to expose possible channels for surreptitious communications. If Mueller would naturally follow the money trail from Manaforts Ukrainian consulting activities, than any prosecution stemming from that investigation would be authorized, too, the filing argues. (Manafort has repeatedly denied colluding with Russians in the 2016 election.)

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Manafort, of course, has not been charged with any crimes related to any election-related conspiracya fact that the White House quietly celebrated when Mueller brought the indictment last fall. Still, the revelation that Muellers team is interested in whether Manaforts work in Ukraine is connected to the time he spent on the Trump campaign, during which he worked for free, suggests that the Manafort-Deripaska relationship may yet prove significant in the collusion inquiry. It may also shed light on what information Mueller hoped to extract from Rick Gates, who was charged alongside Manafort. Gates, a former Trump campaign and transition official who previously worked as Manaforts deputy, has pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy and lying to the F.B.I. in exchange for leniency. As CNN reported last week, Mueller appears to be more interested in what Gates could share about the Trump-Russia relationship than strengthening the case against Manafort. (Gates was reportedly aware in September and October 2016, while he was working on the campaign, that Kilimnik was a Russian agent.) A court document released last week alleges that Gates had repeated contacts with an individual with ties to Russian intelligence between September and October 2016, which Mueller characterized as pertinent to the investigation.

If Mueller is preparing to bring more charges connected to Manafort, hes keeping his cards close to his vest. The timing of the Rosenstein memo, however, suggests that Mueller learned something new that caused the Justice Department to clarify his mandate. The date on the memoAugust 2is six days after George Papadopoulos was arrested by the F.B.I. at Dulles International Airport, and seven days before F.B.I. agents raided Manaforts home in Alexandria, Virginia, in search of documents related to the probe. Papadopoulos later turned states evidence, making a plea deal with Mueller in which he acknowledged lying to the F.B.I. about his contacts with Russians.
Russia's top diplomat called on President Donald Trump to keep his word Monday after the Republican leader revealed his intention to withdraw U.S. personnel from Syria "like very soon" days earlier.

In a statement that appeared to contradict previous suggestions that the U.S. military would remain in Syria indefinitely to battle the remnants of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), Trump said Thursday that it was time "other people" handled the jihadi threat. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference Monday that, while he found Trump's words encouraging, the U.S. has recently only become more entangled in the seven-year civil war in Syria, where the Moscow-backed government considered the U.S. and Turkey to be invading forces.

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"What we find particularly worrisome is that despite constant promises the United States sole goal in Syria is struggle against terrorism over the past month we have seen U.S. efforts to get deeply entrenched on the eastern bank of the Euphrates," Lavrov said. Trump's statement, Lavrov added, suggested "he is committed at least to the previous promises the United States will leave Syria after victory over the Islamic State," according to the state-run Tass Russian news agency.

"It is important to bear in mind that the United States had sent its commandos and air forces and created a coalition in violation of the U.N. Charter, which requires respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member-states," he added.

GettyImages-937029472

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images

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The U.S. and Russia are fighting two separate campaigns against ISIS in Syria. After offering covert support to insurgents trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2011, the U.S. formed an international coalition to begin bombing ISIS in 2014. Russia entered the conflict the following year to help Assad against both rebels and jihadis, and around that same time, the Pentagon established the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish militia that would replace CIA backing for what had become an increasingly jihadi opposition.

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The Syrian Democratic Forces, however, has largely been split as Kurdish fighters fled the U.S.-led battle against ISIS to take on Turkish troops and Syrian rebel forces that considered Kurdish groups such as the People's Protection Units (YPG) to be terrorist organizations. Pro-Syrian government forces have allied with these Kurds in northern Syria, but have clashed with the largely Arab faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria, where both the U.S. and Russia-backed campaigns against remaining ISIS militants have converged.

Both the U.S. and Russia have accused each other of mishandling the fight against ISIS. Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition offensive has particularly suffered due to the withdrawal of many Kurdish fighters, leaving ground operations suspended. Prior to Trump's comments Thursday, multiple statements from his administration suggested the U.S. military would remain in Syria indefinitely, despite lingering questions over the legality of its post-ISIS presence.

The Syrian military and its allies, which include Iran-backed and mostly Shiite Muslim militias, declared victory Saturday against anti-government groups active in outskirts of the capital. The win, which Syria's armed forces said in a statement would "fully restore security and stability to the city of Damascus" and deal "a crushing blow to the terrorist project against Syria," came after the government had declared victory against ISIS in November.

GettyImages-940964408

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images

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The spat over Syria's future has played out as overall relations between Russia and the West have worsened. Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula amid a political uprising in neighboring Ukraine caused both Moscow and the U.S.-led NATO military alliance to bolster their firepower and defenses across Europe's borders.

Last month, the U.K. blamed Russia for the poisoning of a former Soviet intelligence officer who served as a double agent for London before his arrest and eventual release in a 2010 spy swap. Russia has denied responsibility for the incident, but the U.S., NATO and their allies have already expelled over 100 diplomats and shut down Russian consulates in response. Russia announced retaliatory measures last week and has suggested the West may have set Moscow up.

"There are other explanations besides those put forward by our Western colleagues who declare that it can only be the Russians who are responsible," Lavrov said at Monday's conference, according to Sky News. "Experts say that it could be highly advantageous to the British security services as well, who are well known for their capacity to act with a licence to kill.

"It could also be advantageous to the British government, who clearly find themselves in a difficult situation, having failed to fulfil [sic] their promises to voters over Brexit," he added. "In times of cold war, there were some rules, but now Britain and the United States had dropped all propriety."

This article was first written by Newsweek

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Kohima : The troops of Assam Rifles had apprehended one NSCN (Rmilitant along with three civilians and recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition in Nagaland on Sunday evening, officials said on Monday.





Based on intelligence input, the Mokokchung battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR North) conducted an operation along with a police at Longleng area near Mokokchung and apprehended one NSCN (R) militant along with three civilians in illegal possession of arms and ammunition.





Security personnel had recovered nine muzzle loaded Rifles, one 12 bore Rifles, one point 22mm rifle with magazine, one point 22 pistol with magazine, 10 live rounds of AK-47 rifle, 12 live rounds of 12 bore rifle, 46 live rounds of point 22mm, 27 live rounds of 7.35mm, 50 grams gun powder, drugs to include brown sugar and opium worth of Rs 1,15,000, Rs 30742 in cash and 13 bottles of liquor.





The nabbed militant and civilians were identified as Self Styled Corporal Mankub Phom, Taushong Phom, Nganom Phom and Phamugee Phom.





Later, the apprehendees along with recovered items were handed over to Longleng Police Station for further investigation.




London (AFP) - The British military facility analysing the nerve agent used to poison a spy said on Tuesday it could not prove the substance was made in Russia, as Russian President Vladimir Putin put his hopes in a meeting with the world's chemical weapons watchdog.

Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Porton Down defence laboratory, told Britain's Sky News that analysts had identified the substance as military-grade Novichok, the word used for a category of nerve agents developed in Soviet times.

But he added: "We have not identified the precise source."

"It is our job to provide the scientific evidence of what this particular nerve agent is, we identified that it is from this particular family and that it is a military grade, but it is not our job to say where it was manufactured," Aitkenhead said.

He added that "extremely sophisticated methods" were needed to create the nerve agent, and that was "something only in the capabilities of a state actor"

Following his remarks, a British government spokesman said Porton Down's identification of Novichok was "only one part of the intelligence picture".

"This includes our knowledge that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination -- and as part of this programme has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichok; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets," he added.

Former double agent Sergei Skripal, who has lived in Britain since a spy swap in 2010, and his daughter Yulia have been in hospital since March 4 after the poisoning that London and its major Western allies have blamed on Russia.

The first use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II has chilled Moscow's relations with the West, as both sides have expelled scores of diplomats.

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Britain has also suspended high-level diplomatic contact with Moscow.

Moscow has denied any involvement in the incident, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday suggesting that the British government may be behind the poisoning to distract attention from problems around Brexit.

Aitkenhead would not comment on whether Porton Down had developed or keeps stocks of Novichok, but he dismissed claims the agent used to poison the Skripals had come from the site.

"There is no way anything like that could have come from us or left the four walls of our facility," he said.

- 'Full stop' -

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the world's chemical watchdog, will meet Wednesday to discuss Britain's allegations that Russia was responsible for the poisoning, according to documents released on Tuesday.

The OPCW said Russia had asked for the meeting, which Putin said was aimed at putting an end to the ongoing dispute.

"We hope that during those discussions a full stop will be placed on (the issue of) what happened," he said during a visit to the Turkish capital Ankara.

The meeting request came after Moscow received and analysed samples of the Novichok agent used in the attack.

The confidential gathering will start at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) at the OPCW's headquarters in The Hague.

"We hope to discuss the whole matter and call on Britain to provide every possible element of evidence they might have in their hands," Russia's ambassador to Ireland, Yury Filatov, told reporters ahead of the OPCW meeting.

"Russia is interested in establishing the whole truth of the matter," he said.

But Britain's foreign ministry accused Russia of requesting the meeting to undermine the organisation's investigation.

"This Russian initiative is yet again another diversionary tactic, intended to undermine the work of the OPCW in reaching a conclusion," the ministry said in a statement.

"Of course, there is no requirement in the Chemical Weapons Convention for the victim of a chemical weapons attack to engage in a joint investigation with the likely perpetrator," it said.
Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesians and Malaysians have their feathers in a flap over MasterChef UK's decision to eliminate a contestant from the popular cooking show because her chicken rendang wasn't crispy.

Netizens from the two Southeast Asian nations -- including the Malaysian prime minister -- put aside a longstanding culinary dispute about the origins of the slow-cooked coconut curry to express outrage at the cluelessness of the British show's judges.

Judge Gregg Wallace and co-judge John Torode sparked a storm this week by criticising Malaysia-born contestant Zaleha Kadir Olpin's dish because the "chicken skin isnt crispy, it can't be eaten".

Rendang, which originates from West Sumatra in Indonesia, is usually chicken or beef slow cooked in spices and coconut milk for hours and is not crispy.

Olpin served her chicken rendang to accompany Nasi Lemak, a popular aromatic rice dish from Malaysia.

Hundreds of people took to social media to point out the judges' amateur mistake.

In Malaysian cyberspace, a Facebook page "Justice for Chicken Rendang" was set up collecting signatures for a petition demanding an apology from chefs Wallace and Torode.

"As a Malaysian, if I could, I would personally go to the show and rendang their head. Uncultured swine, doesn't know variety of cuisine and claims to be Masterchef?" wrote Facebook user Jin Wee on the page of Malaysian newspaper The Star.

A Jakarta-based critic added: "We should be proud of defending rendang's dignity over ridiculous statement made by an ignorant caucasian chef that Rendang should be 'crispy'."

As controversy grew online, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak waded into the debate, saying: "Who eats 'crispy' chicken rendang?"

The British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Vicki Treadell -- who was born in Malaysia -- also tweeted at the embattled judges.

"Rendang is an iconic Malaysian national dish  It is never crispy & should also not be confused with the fried chicken," she wrote on Twitter.

Story continues

In response, Torode told his online followers: "Maybe Rendang is Indonesian!! Love this !! Brilliant how excited you are all getting .. Namaste."

But his response did little to douse the social media flames, with many users pointing out that "namaste" is a greeting used in India.

Despite sometimes rocky relations, neighbours Indonesia and Malaysia share an intertwined history and share a number of cultural and culinary traditions.

Rendang is a popular dish in both countries and its origins are sometimes claimed by Malaysia.
LONDON (Reuters) - The head of Britain's military research center said on Tuesday it was unable yet to say whether the military-grade nerve agent that poisoned a Russian double-agent last month had been produced in Russia. "We were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent," Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down in England, told Sky News. "We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to." However, he confirmed the substance required "extremely sophisticated methods to create, something only in the capabilities of a state actor". He added: "we are continuing to work to help to provide additional information that might help us get closer to [the source] but we haven't yet been able to do that." Moscow has denied being behind the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. After the first known use of a military-grade nerve agent on European soil since World War Two, Britain blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the attempted murder, and the West has expelled around 130 Russian diplomats. Armin Laschet, a conservative ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said the comment raised questions about Britain's drive to persuade allies to expel Russian diplomats. "If one forces nearly all NATO countries into solidarity, shouldn't one have certain evidence? Regardless of what one thinks about Russia, my study of international law taught me a different way to deal with other states," Laschet, premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphlia, said on Twitter. Aitkenhead said the British government had "other inputs" it could use to determine the origin of the nerve agent, some of them intelligence-based. He reiterated that the substance could not have come from Porton Down. Russia's EU ambassador Vladimir Chizhov noted in an interview with the BBC last month that the British research lab is only eight miles (11 km) from Salisbury, insinuating that may have been the source. A government spokesperson said on Tuesday: "We have been clear from the very beginning that our world leading experts at Porton Down identified the substance used in Salisbury as a Novichok, a military grade nerve agent. "This is only one part of the intelligence picture. As the Prime Minister (Theresa May) has set out ... this includes our knowledge that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination  and as part of this program has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichoks; Russias record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets." Skripal's daughter Yulia is getting better after spending three weeks in critical condition due to the nerve toxin attack at her father's home in Salisbury, the hospital where she is being treated said last Thursday. Her father remained in a critical but stable condition. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Stephen Addison and Richard Balmforth)
Paris (AFP) - Leading opponents of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday called on France and other EU nations not to recognise elections set for May, saying the vote was simply a sham aimed at consolidating his grip on power.

The country has been gripped by a political and economic crisis for months as Madura has overhauled institutions while sidelining the main opposition coalition, which has been barred from fielding candidates.

"We've come to ask the French government to increase the pressure in order to free Venezuela from the dictatorship," Antonio Ledezma, the exiled mayor of Caracas, told AFP at the start of a tour of European capitals.

"There is a crisis in Venezuela, a humanitarian catastrophe, people starving, people dying due to a lack of medicine," he said.

Ledezma and other Venezuelan lawmakers are to meet with advisers to President Emmanuel Macron, who said in January that he hoped several countries would impose international sanctions against Maduro's government.

But despite international isolation and broad unpopularity, Maduro has shown no sign of wanting to negotiate after moving forward elections to May in a bid for a second six-year term.

Opposition groups, some of which are boycotting the vote, say it will not be a fair contest.

"Fraud is so deeply rooted in all of society that unfortunately Maduro will win these elections with fraud," said Julio Borges, a delegate with the Democratic Unity Roundtable umbrella coalition.

"That's why the most important clamour the world can make is to not recognise the elections of May 20," he told AFP.

The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Maduro and his officials, with Washington calling him a "dictator".

But officials have also expressed concern about penalties that could harm ordinary Venezuelans already suffering from deteriorating living standards in the oil-rich nation.
By Alistair Smout

LONDON (Reuters) - London police investigated more murders than their New York counterparts did over the last two months, statistics show, as the British capital's mayor vowed to fight a "violent scourge" on the streets.

There were 15 murders in London in February against 14 in New York, according to London's Metropolitan Police Service and the New York Police Department. For March, 22 murders were investigated in London, with 21 reports in New York.

In the latest bloodshed, a 17-year-old girl died on Monday after she was found with gunshot wounds in Tottenham, north London, a day after a man was fatally stabbed in south London.

"The Mayor is deeply concerned by violent crime in the capital - every life lost to violent crime is a tragedy," a spokeswoman for Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Our city remains one of the safest in the world ... but Sadiq wants it to be even safer and is working hard to bring an end to this violent scourge."

Including January's figures, New York had still experienced more murders so far this year than London. The cities have a similar-sized population.

Gun violence is much less of a problem in Britain, which has strict gun control laws, than in the United States, and most British police are not equipped with firearms.

But British politicians and police are increasingly expressing concern about London's rising murder rate, which is driven by a surge in knife crime. Of the 47 murders in London so far this year, 31 have been committed with knives.

Britain's interior ministry said it was consulting on new laws to further restrict dangerous weapons, including banning online stores from delivering knives to residential addresses and making it an offence to possess certain weapons in public.

"This government is taking action to restrict access to offensive weapons as well as working to break the deadly cycle of violence and protect our children, families and communities," a Home Office spokesman said.

Story continues

Khan, who has been in office since May 2016, is from the opposition Labour Party. Before him, Conservative Boris Johnson was mayor for eight years. The national government has been run by the Conservatives since 2010, with Prime Minister Theresa May previously serving as interior minister from 2010 to 2016.

Britain's most senior officer, London police chief Cressida Dick, said gangs were using online platforms to glamorize violence, adding that disputes between young people could escalate within minutes on social media.

The Ben Kinsella Trust, an anti-knife crime charity named after a young victim, said social media amplified a range of other factors that have contributed to the crisis.

The charity's CEO Patrick Green said there had been extra funding to tackle knife crime, which he welcomed, but added that the government needed to act with more urgency and that budget cuts affecting youth services had played a part.

"This has been a horrendous year. It's looking like it'll be worse that last year, which was worse than the year before," he told Reuters.

"The response so far has been too slow... It feels like we're in a crisis and we need to respond in that way."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison and Estelle Shirbon)
Freetown (AFP) - The results of Sierra Leone's run-off presidential vote are "expected" by Thursday after a delay due to disagreements over the method of counting, the National Electoral Commission announced.

The outcome of the March 31 ballot -- pitting opposition challenger Julius Maada Bio against the ruling All Peoples' Congress (APC) candidate Samura Kamara -- was due to be announced at the start of the week.

But the commission had to "briefly" interrupt the counting of the ballots after a dispute over the method of tallying results, the NEC said.

"Final results are expected within 72 hours," Albert Massaquoi, external relations officer at the NEC, said Monday.

Votes from 11,000 polling stations across the poor West African nation needed to be counted.

In the first round of voting, Bio of the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) was narrowly ahead of Kamara, a close ally of outgoing President Ernest Bai Koroma.

After hours of negotiations on Monday in the presence of international observers, Bio and Kamara hugged each other in front of the cameras and the vote count resumed.

"Be calm, and wait for the result," Bio told his supporters.

"I have accepted results before, I am a democrat and I have a very competitive spirit... If it is a free and fair election and I think the process of tallying is transparent and above doubt, we will accept the result," he added.

A total of 3.1 million people were registered to vote in the first presidential poll since a 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak which killed 4,000 people.

One of the world's poorest nations despite huge mineral and diamond deposits, Sierra Leone is recovering only gradually from war and disease. Its economy remains in a fragile state with corruption widespread in the former British colony.
President Xi Jinping greeted Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa as an "old friend" of China on Tuesday as the African leader visited Beijing, which previously backed his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter in the 1960s, was met with a military honour guard at the Great Hall of the People on his first state visit outside of Africa.

The two leaders oversaw the signing of six documents, including a letter on economic and development cooperation and another on emergency food assistance, as Mnanangwa seeks help from a major ally with historic ties to Zimbabwe.

"I heartily welcome President Mnangagwa on his visit to Beijing," Xi said as the two sat down for talks.

"You are an old friend of China and I appreciate your efforts to develop relations in all areas," he said.

Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa from his job as vice president in November over a succession tussle with the first lady Grace Mugabe, leading to a military intervention that culminated with the veteran president's ousting and Mnangagwa taking office.

The country's then-army chief, General Constantino Chiwenga, had visited Beijing shortly before the military action, leading to questions about whether China had any role in the power transfer.

Chiwenga was named vice president in December. China denied it played any part in the transition.

Beijing had long been one of Mugabe's most powerful allies and a major trade partner, as the West shunned him over his government's human rights violations, but it avoided publicly taking sides during his ousting.

"Last November Zimbabwe achieved a peaceful, smooth transfer of power that was broadly recognised by the international community," Xi said.

"I am willing to work with Mr. president (Mnangagwa) to jointly map out our future cooperation and write a new chapter in China-Zimbabwe relations for the benefit of our two peoples."

Story continues

Mnangagwa, wearing a scarf in the the colours of Zimbabwe's flag, told Xi he appreciated China's "political support and goodwill" following the "peaceful political transition in Zimbabwe".

- 'Socialism with Zimbabwean characteristics' -

Mnangagwa has also been accused of playing a key role in his mentor Mugabe's authoritarian regime that left the economy in ruins and under sanctions.

He was targeted by EU and US measures imposed on Mugabe and his close allies over violence and intimidation during Zimbabwe's 2008 presidential campaign.

The visit comes as China takes a more proactive role in Africa, where it has long invested in infrastructure projects and sought resources. It has recently built its first overseas military base in Djibouti.

Relations between China and Zimbabwe date back to the liberation struggle of the 1960s, when Beijing provided arms and trained some of the top guerrilla leaders including Mnangagwa.

Before his arrival on Monday, Mnangagwa told China's official Xinhua news agency that his trip was aimed at thanking Xi and the Chinese people for supporting his country "during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us".

He said he would seek to sell Zimbabwe as a destination for Chinese investment and take part in economic forums aimed at attracting business to the country.

Zimbabwe was China's largest foreign supplier of tobacco, with some 40 percent of the product imported by the Asian country coming from the African nation.

China also set up a joint venture with Zimbabwe in a diamond mining company, but Mugabe announced the nationalisation of the nation's diamond mines in 2016.

Chinese companies have also been involved in projects to install a cellular phone network, expand a hydropower station and build a coal-fired power plant.

Mnangagwa will meet Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday, then visit the eastern provinces of Anhui and Zhejiang before his visit ends on Friday.

The Zimbabwean leader gave a nod to his host's political philosophy, "Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era."

"I will take this mantra to Zimbabwe and hope to develop some socialism in Zimbabwe with Zimbabwean characteristics," he said.
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The Moroccan parliament and government have joined voices to make it clear that the Kingdom will not stand idly by and that all options remain open for a response to the Polisario militias provocative incursions into the buffer zones in the Sahara, in violation of the ceasefire agreements.

Moroccos official reaction to the Polisarios provocations was expressed on Sunday (April 1), by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, and of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, at a meeting of the foreign affairs committees of the two chambers of the Parliament. The same stand was voiced at another meeting that gathered the head of government, Saad Eddine El Othmani, and the leaders of the political parties of both the majority and the opposition.

A cease-fire agreement was signed in 1991 under the aegis of the UN, and demilitarized zones were created in the Sahara, to avoid any armed confrontation. However, the Polisario later on self-proclaimed the buffer zones as liberated territories and has regularly dispatched its armed militia there.

In a more serious move, the Polisario leadership, encouraged by the Algerian regime and army, revealed recently its plans to transfer its military staff to the demilitarized zones and started mounting tents and military equipment including in Tifariti, Bir Lahlou and Mahbes after the failure of a similar attempt at Guerguerat.

After it has been exhausted on the diplomatic battlefield, the Algerian regime is seemingly trying to empty the Tindouf camps, by encouraging the Polisario leadership to transfer the camps populations to the buffer zones.

As the serious provocations of the Polisario were faced with passivity on the part of the MINURSO and only timid reactions on the part of the UN and its Security Council, Morocco was not long to react.

After it alerted the UN Security Council about the Polisarios very serious incursions into the Sahara buffer zones, Morocco has not ruled out any options, including the military option.

For Morocco, it is out of the question to change the status quo in the Sahara, said Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

If the UN () is not ready to put an end to these provocations, () Morocco will assume its responsibilities, Bourita told the media after the meeting of the parliamentary Foreign relations committees.

Morocco will not tolerate any change in this demilitarized zone which is under the exclusive control of the United Nations, he insisted.
Due to the IDF's use of snipers during Friday's March of Return riots along the Gaza security fence, protesters are resorting to the use of mirrors to blind IDF soldiers and to burning tires to create thick smoke to obscure them from sight.

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Several thousand Palestinians remain in tent camps along the Gaza border, continuing their protest for what they describe as a right of return for refugees and their descendants to what is now Israel.

Their numbers are far smaller than at the peak of the demonstration over the weekend, which saw the worst violence in Gaza since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge which followed the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers by members of Hamas, the armed Islamist group that controls the sealed-off coastal enclave.

Palestinian protesters near the Gaza-Israel border

A Palestinian source from the Gaza Strip told Ynet that a tire-gathering campaign has been gathering momentum in the strip in the past few couple of days.

He elaborated that groups of young Palestinians were walking along Gaza streets with donkey carts and collecting old tires and broken mirrors and bringing them to the assembly area in the eastern part of the strip, near the border with Israel.

He further noted the protests are facilitated by international support.

Meanwhile, in the past few days Palestinians have been publishing close-up pictures of IDF snipers, allegedly captured on Friday, captioned: "You're in our sights, too."

Hamas has also threatened further escalation, with Hamas's Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar taunting Israel Sunday, saying that "the unemployed in Gaza have found work at your bordersto burn your equipment and snipe you from a close range."

Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh also threatened to intensify the protest, saying, "Our people cannot stand the continued siege on Gaza. In the march on Friday we stopped at the border line, but next time we do not know where the line will be."

On Monday, disturbances on the Gaza Strip border, south of Nahal Oz, resumed. Dozens of demonstrators drew closer to the border, prompting the IDF to use riot control measures to disperse them.

The same day, an IDF force arrested two Palestinians who crossed the security fence in the Eshkol Regional Council area and took them in for questioning.

Egypt, meanwhile, is ignoring the call by heads of the March of Return coordination committee and Gaza residents to open the Rafah crossing to transport the protesters wounded and injured on Friday.

"We do not have enough beds in hospitals and clinics," Gaza spokesmen complained in interviews with Arab and foreign media. "We must transfer the injured to receive urgent treatment in Egypt or in any neighboring country."

'Tire Friday'poster in gaza advertising the initiative

Following Friday's clashes, Arab countries issued a series of condemnations against Israel, culminating in statements made by senior Palestinian official Dr. Nabil Shaath in Ramallah, who called IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot a "murderer."

Official condemnations issued by the foreign ministries of Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia were much less severe, and mainly called for de-escalation between Israel and Gaza.

Elior Levy, Matan Tzuri and Smadar Perry contributed to this article.
Unknown men shot at a 50-year-old man, the imam of a mosque in the al-Midan neighborhood of Umm al-Fahm, seriously wounding him.

The MDA team that arrived at the scene gave him initial medical treatment, but was later declared dead at the scene.
An imam was shot dead on Tuesday morning at the entrance of a mosque in the northern city of Umm al-Fahm, in circumstances that were not immediately clear.

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Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics were called to the scene and provided emergency treatment to 50-year-old Sheikh Mohammed Saada but were forced to pronounce him dead. Police forces were also called to the scene and launched in investigation.

At 5:11 am, the emergency 101 hotline received reports of a wounded man in the Arab-Israeli city who had been shot in his upper body.

Sheikh Mohammed Saada

A close family relative of the sheikh was murdered a year ago and the formers bother was also shot two weeks ago and seriously wounded as violent gun crime runs rampant in the area.

We are in shock. We dont know who is responsible for the murder and what the reason for it is. What have we come to? a family member asked in despair.

The shooters dont care at all about anyone and shoot at mosques. In these days, we are all in life-threatening danger.

Scene of incident

Umm al-Fahm has been plagued with shooting attacks in recent months. Two weeks ago, a man was shot in front of his family and was rushed to hospital in serious condition. At the end last week, another man was moderately wounded after being shot while a month earlier, another man was seriously wounded in a shooting attack.

In another incident in Nazareth, assailants opened fire on a restaurant, leaving a 50-year-old man who was dining there in serious condition.

He lives abroad. He came back to visit his family and was wounded in an incident with which he has no connection. Anyone sitting in his place would have fallen victim, said his family after the shooting.

Director of the Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel, Jafar Farah, blamed the Israeli security forces for failing to rid the area of weapons.

In my opinion, the police and the Shin Bet have failed. They are not making efforts to confiscate weapons and expunge the phenomenon of violence and crime, Farah complained.

If this shooting had hit a Jew, we would see other results, arrests and an investigation. I dont understand why they are waiting.
The Palestinian who was shot and wounded by IDF fire at the Te'enim crossing in the West Bank Monday evening revealed he carried no weapons, a Preliminary investigation of the incident revealed.

Investigators also learned that the Palestinian walked along a path designated for vehicles and did not respond to the security guards' calls to stop.

The Palestinian was hospitalized yesterday at Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba in serious condition.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Monday that Israel has a right to exist in peace on its own land, attesting further to the informal warming of relations between Jerusalem and Riyadh, while insinuating that Irans supreme leader was worse than the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

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I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land, the crown prince said in an interview with The Atlantic, conducted by the papers chief editor Jeffrey Goldberg.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Photo: EPA)

But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.

The German foreign ministry welcomed his comments and ministry officials underscored the Saudi role in pushing for an Arab peace initiative as early as 2002.

"The prince's comments are very close to the position of Germany and the EU: We need a two-state solution and serious negotiations to achieve that," said one ministry official. "Israelis and Palestinians have a right to peaceful lives in their own country."

Saudi Arabia, the leading Sunni state in the Middle East, does not officially recognize Israel. However, in recent years, rumors have circulated indicating that the two countries have gone from eye to eye to shoulder to shoulder on a variety of issues, particularly on threats posed by Iran and its nuclear ambitions, and have warmed relations behind the scenes.

We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We dont have any objection against any other people, said bin Salman, who is considered to be a reformist.

When asked whether the threats posed by Tehran had contributed to bringing Israel and the Gulf state together, and whether in the absence of that threat he could imagine a situation in which he had other interests in common with Israel, the crown prince attributed other factors to the improved relations.

Israel is a big economy compared to their size and its a growing economy, and of course there are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan, he said.

Goldberg also asked the prince whether he believed his country, in which anti-Semitic propaganda has traditionally been ubiquitous, has a problem with anti-Semitism.

Our country doesnt have a problem with Jews. Our Prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman. Not just a friendhe married her, he insisted.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with US President Donald Trump (Photo: Reuters)

Our prophet, his neighbors were Jewish. You will find a lot of Jews in Saudi Arabia coming from America, coming from Europe. There are no problems between Christian and Muslims and Jews. We have problems like you would find anywhere in the world, among some people. But the normal sort of problems.

The Middle East, he said, had been divided into a dichotomy of two camps, which he labelled the triangle of evil consisting of Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Sunni terror groups, and an alliance of self-described moderate states that includes Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman.

The Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the prince added was worse than Hitler. I believe the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good. Hitler didnt do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe.  The supreme leader is trying to conquer the world, the crown prince asserted.

Last June, King Salman appointed his 32-year-old son bin Salman as crown prince, placing him firmly as first-in-line to the throne and removing the country's counterterrorism czar and a figure well-known to Washington from the royal line of succession.

In a series of royal decrees carried on the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the monarch stripped Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who had been positioned to inherit the throne, from his title as crown prince and from his powerful position as the country's interior minister overseeing security.

'King Salman reiterates support for Palestinian state'

On Tuesday, King Salman reiterated Saudi Arabia's support for a Palestinian state after his son's commentsa rare statement by an Arab leader.

The king also emphasised the need to advance the peace process in a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday night, made after Israeli security forces killed 16 Palestinians last week during the "March of Return" along the Israel-Gaza border, during which Gazans rioted. The majority of those killed were Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorists.

King Salman

King Salman reaffirmed "the kingdom's steadfast position towards the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital," state news agency SPA said.

The report did not refer to the comments by bin Salman in the interview published by The Atlantic.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas praised King Salman, thanking him for his support.

"President Abbas expressed his gratitude and appreciation ... for his supportive positions of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian cause and the cause of Jerusalem and its sacred sites," said a statement published by the official Palestinian WAFA news agency.

Abbas also praised Saudi Arabia for continuing to support the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, the statement said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with residents of south Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning who supported nixed government plans to deport thousands of illegal African migrants from Israel, while anti-deportation activists assembled in the streets once again to voice their opposition.

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Infuriating many people in the area who had welcomed the controversial plan after he announced Monday night he had reached an agreement with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the deportation of African immigrants, Netanyahu then announced he had suspended it just hours later, much to the dismay of the pro-migrant activists.

Anti-deportation protests (:    )

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South Tel Aviv has been hardest hit by the influx of predominantly Sudanese and Eritrean migrants who crossed Israels once-porous southern border.

People advocating the deportation program were enraged by the indecision on what they believed was a sealed deal with Rwanda on the migrants, who were believed to have agreed to absorb them, but Netanyahus latest suspension of the UN agreement that would have seen different Western countries to take in at least 16,250 of the Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers nudged anti-deportation protesters to take to the streets yet again.

(Photo: Barel Efraim)

On Monday evening, Israel reached an agreement with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to resolve the African migrants crisis, nixing the government's controversial mass deportation plan.

As part of short-lived deal with the UNHCR, within a year and a half, the first 6,000 asylum seekers will leave for Western countries, and within five years the remaining 10,250 will leave Israel.

(Photo: Gil Yohanan)

According to a report by the Population and Immigration Authority concluding 2017, there are 34,187 asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea in Israel.

Protests took place outside the Prime Ministers Office in Jerusalem and outside Finance Minister Moshe Kahlons home in Haifa, who had been among the coalition members expressing his disapproval of the UN agreement.

(Photo: Barel Efraim)

"However, I am attentive to you, and first and foremost to the residents of southern Tel Aviv," said in a video on Facebook in an attempt to pacify the expected backlash from his support base following the announcement on the UN agreement. "Therefore, I decided to meet, together with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, with representatives of the residents of southern Tel Aviv tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.

"In the meantime, I am suspending the implementation of the agreement, and after I meet with the representatives, I will bring the agreement for a new examination."

(Photo: Zvika Tishler)

Sheffi Paz, who leads the pro-deportation movement "South Tel Aviv Liberation Front" who began the meeting with Netanyahu and Deri at 11:00 am in Tel Avivs Kirya IDF headquarters, said that that she intended to discuss the matter seriously with the prime minister.

We will sit with him and start thinking seriously, to erase everything and start afresh and see what were doing, Paz told Ynet before the meeting. But this time we want things that are feasible. (We will accept) no more unsubstantiated promises. We want have a real talk, without all sorts of secret agreements and and the UN-shmuem, she said in a derisory tone for the UN.

(Photo: Barel Efraim)

"I have no idea how things will turn out but at the moment we hold the power here," she added.

The third country to which the migrants were set to be deported, Netanyahu said, did not withstand the pressure exerted on it.

Sheffi Paz (Photo: Yair Cohen)

In a post he wrote in his Facebook account, the premier explained that "in the last few weeks, following tremendous pressure on Rwanda by the New Israel Fund and elements in the European Union, Rwanda has withdrawn from the agreement and refused to absorb infiltrators from Israel who are forcibly removed. As a result, I decided to strive for a new agreement that would allow us to continue deporting the infiltrators.

Rwanda, however, consistently denied the existence of such deal, insisting that it would not accept migrants that were removed by force. Following the announcement of the position, Israels High Court of Justice instructed the government to come up with a new solution, stating that it was illegal to deport asylum seekers to a country that refused to grant them entry or without their consent.
Dozens of police and detectives accompanied by police dogs raided early Tuesday morning the homes of 33 suspects, some of whom are connected to known criminal Beni Shlomo, for violent offenses, criminal possession of weapons and arson.

The suspects will be brought before the Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court for a remand hearing on Tuesday.
King Salman reiterated Saudi Arabia's support for a Palestinian state after his son and heir apparent said Israelis were entitled to live peacefully on their own landa rare statement by an Arab leader.

The king also emphasised the need to advance the peace process in a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday night, made after Israeli security forces killed 16 Palestinians last week during a demonstration along the Israel-Gaza border

King Salman reaffirmed "the kingdom's steadfast position towards the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital", state news agency SPA said on Tuesday.
Residents of south Tel Aviv said that a meeting in the city held Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concluded with a decision to revert back to a policy of mass deportation of illegal African migrants, and that increasing the cash incentives from $3,500 to $10,000 had been floated.

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They noted, however, that the details of the migrants fate remain vague and a plan for removing them from Israel was still to be discussed.

The meeting was held after Netanyahu outraged supporters of the deportation policy by announcing an unexpected decision Monday night that he was replacing the plans to deport the migrants with a deal struck with the United Nations, according to which the latter would work to reach agreements with different Western countries to take in at least 16,250 of the Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers.

(Photo: Dana Kopel, AFP)

It was a huge shock for us. We felt like the state had spat in our faces, said representatives of south Tel Aviv.

At the opening of the two-hour meeting in the Kirya IDF headquarters with the angry residents, headed by Sheffi Paz, Netanyahu informed them that he had once again reversed his position and had decided not only to suspend the UN deal, but annul it altogether.

We realized that the meaning (of the UN deal) was that the infiltrators would remain in south Tel Aviv for a lot longer and that our problem would not be solved, the residents said.

However, while Netanyahus latest decision was welcomed by the representatives at the meeting, they were also eager to flesh out the details of how the migrants could now be removed from the neighborhood.

(Photo: Barel Efraim)

Mr. Prime Minister, since the deal has now been canceled, what now? What will you do with the infiltrators? Netanyahu was asked.

No specific answer was provided, but the prime minister responded that his staff were exploring an array of options in a bid to formulate another solution.

He also emphasized that any framework would have to be accepted by the High Court of Justice, which in the past had already struck down plans to deport the migrants against their will.

According to Paz, a long-time activist for the deportation scheme, four fundamental decisions were taken at the meeting.

The entire agreement with the UN has been canceled. We are going back to deportations. We are starting to think outside the box for solutions in case the High Court blocks the deportations, and there will be a rehabilitation of south Tel Aviv, Paz said.

Suzi Cohen, a member of the Tel Aviv City Council, expressed her satisfaction with the overall outcome of the meeting.

(Photo: Barel Efraim)

We are going back to deporting them to a third country. After the bitter news that we received yesterday about the agreement, there was a great meeting today. There is going to be full cooperation with us. After what I heard, I believe Netanyahu 200 percent. After this big crisis, the smile has returned to our faces, Cohen said.

Tel Avivs Deputy Mayor, Arnon Giladi, also expressed his amazement that Netanyahu understood the magnitude of the mistake he made yesterday and I praise him for the important decision he took.

I have no doubt that with our joint strength, we will succeed in removing from south Tel Aviv tens of thousands of infiltrators that constitute a terrible and intolerable burden for the senior residents of the neighborhood, he continued.

Chairwoman of the Hatikva Neighborhood Committee, Shlomo Maslawi described the meeting as good and said that it answered all our expectations.

He understood that he made a fatal mistake and he reversed it. We made a few recommendations, including giving the infiltrators $10,000 instead of $3,500.
Batten down the hatches. Another sailing movie is setting sail.





At least I hope we have to secure the hatches in preparation for some stormy drama. The last sailing movie I saw induced a torpor that still leaves me groggy when I think of it. That was All is Lost, featuring a cast that included Robert Redford and no one else. Old Bob did his best as a solo actor playing a solo sailor dealing with a sodden screen play and a sinking boat. The sole dramatic high point came in the final scene (after some in the audience may have nodded off) when Bob managed to set fire to the life raft in which he was floating.





Now comes The Mercy. Its another movie about a solo sailor, but this singlehander might actually be an interesting character, having the distinction of being the perpetrator of the biggest fraud in sailing history. It is also encouraging that there is more than one actor in the film. Besides Colin Firth as the hero-villain, Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz is in the cast as the long-suffering wife who the Firth character duped along with the rest of the world.





The movie is about Donald Crowhurst, an Englishman who has probably been the subject of more written words than any singlehanded sailor not named Joshua Slocum. One of the most recent tellings of the Crowhurst story is in a book by Nic Compton, the British writer and photographer whose excellent work has appeared in SAILING for years. The book, entitled The Deep End, is about crazy sailors. Its instructive that the book is quite thick.





Yes, a lot of sailors have qualified to fill the pages of what Compton calls a history of madness at sea, but Crowhurst is at the head of the class. Afflicted with paranoia and driven by delusions of grandeur, he nearly pulled off an audacious scam before going off the deep endand off the deck of his trimaran in an apparent suicide.





Crowhursts scam was to turn a grueling singlehanded, nonstop race around the world into a virtual race in which he could garner glory while drifting in a windless region of the Atlantic Ocean.





Compton describes Crowhurst as a charismatic self-promoter who had a knack for technical innovation but was clueless in business. He had only dabbled in sailing, but when his instrument company failed, he sought redemption by entering the first Golden Globe race in 1968 in the hope of gaining fame for inventions that would be showcased on his 41-foot, yawl-rigged trimaran.





The rules of the race were simple: With only one person aboard, boats had to sail around the world via the three great capes without stopping, starting from any British port between June 1 and October 31, and finishing at the same port. Crowhurst further simplified the rules for himself by not rounding any capes and instead just saying he did.





Ever the salesman, Crowhurst was able to persuade an electronics company to pay for the construction of his custom-built boat, but the tri was hardly a finished product when it was launched barely in time to make the October 31 start deadline. The boat began falling apart before Crowhurst crossed the English Channel and none of his inventions were working, including a buoyancy bag at the top of the mast that was supposed to inflate in the event of a capsize.





Early on it became obvious the boat was unlikely to survive a circumnavigation, much less perform in a way that would bring the acclaim its owner so desperately sought.





He had mortgaged both his house and the boat against the success of the project, Compton wrote. If he dropped out, he and his family risked financial ruin. If he kept going, though, he faced almost certain death. Instead, he embarked on one of the most daring deceptions in yachting history: he began to falsify his journey.





Crowhurst turned around off the coast of South America and headed back toward England, but in his logbook and positions he transmitted to the press and race authorities he was still sailing around the world, and now at high speed.





One of his phony position reports showed him covering 243 nautical miles in 24 hours, then a sailing record. In truth, he rarely sailed half of that distance in a day. His logbook was a work of fiction, but it had every appearance of being a precisely accurate record of a spectacular voyage, using chart coordinates and information from radio weather reports to describe imaginary positions at imaginary times far along the course.





The subterfuge was so brilliantly executed that Compton believes it required a much greater degree of mathematical skill than navigating the actual course.





In fact, Crowhurst performed his perception too well. The British press and public bought it hook, line and sinker, and when the boat that was expected to win the 5,000 elapsed-time prize sunk, Crowhurst was hailed as the probable winner. The BBC and a newspaper organized a heros welcome. A crowd of 100,000 was expected to greet him in his home town of Teignmouth.





Meanwhile, Crowhurst became becalmed in the Sargasso Sea, a fate that has tested the sanity of even sailors not facing disgrace by being caught cheating to win a yacht race. He could neither abandon the race nor finish it in a way that would not reveal the fraud. He chose the deep end.





Crowhursts last thoughts were written in a 25,000-word manifesto found on his abandoned trimaran. There was a rambling confession, followed by, It is finished. It is the mercy.





I havent seen The Mercy, but Nic Compton has and reports that the focus is firmly on the psychological drama rather than on sailingwhich is probably just as well considering how often films get the details of sailing wrong.





Which brings to mind the one sailing movie Ive seen that got the details of sailing right. That was the 1992 film Wind, inspired by the Americas Cup races off Fremantle, Australia. Great sailing scenes were shot off Newport, Rhode Island, where Lisa Blackaller, the daughter of Americas Cup skipper Tom Blackaller, was the sailing double for movie star Jennifer Grey, and off Western Australia, where Aussie Cup skipper Peter Gilmour saw to it that everything about the boats, gear and sail handling was accurately portrayed.





My favorite scene derived from the invention of the gennaker, the precursor of the asymmetric downwind sails that are standard on todays racing boats. In the movie, the sail is deployed as a secret weapon of such enormous size and devastating power that it is named The Whomper.





My boat happens to carry a huge descendant of those early gennakers. After we used it to good effect in a race last year, one of the skippers we beat said to me later: No fairyou used a Whomper. Obviously, Wind made a lasting impression, but he was only kidding about not being fair. The Whomper is perfectly legal. Most sailors dont cheat.




Britain's Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn attended a Passover party Monday organized by an extreme left-wing group that had in the past called for the destruction of the State of Israel, according to reports by several British media outlets.

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According to reports, Corbyn was present at an event staged by Jewdas, which called accusations of rampant anti-Semitism in the Labour Party "cynical manipulation," and "faux-outrage."

Jeremy Corbyn at Jewdas event (Photo: Guido Fawkes)

British media outlets such as The Daily Mail, The Telegraph and The Daily Mirror printed an image of Corbyn at the event, originally published by political blogger Paul Staines in one of Britain's leading political blog sites, Guido Fawkes.

Recordings of conversations from the event reportedly feature participants speaking out against well-known Jewish figures in Britain.

To be fair, Israel is itself a steaming pile of sewage which needs to be properly disposed of. https://t.co/jPRne1dL18  jewds //  (@geoffreyjewdas) December 28, 2017

Labour MP Wes Streeting told Guido Fawkes, "What on earth was he thinking? This demonstrates either extraordinarily bad judgment or a deliberate affront to the majority of British Jews. Probably both.

"It calls into serious question the sincerity of every public statement Jeremy Corbyn has made on anti-Semitism during the past week, just as many of us hoped we had begun to make progress."

Britain's Labor Party leader Corbyn (Photo: Reuters)

Last week, British Jewish groups held a street protest outside parliament against Corbyn, accusing him of failing to tackle anti-Semitism in party ranks because of a far-left world view hostile to Jews.

The issue had flared up again after it came to light that in 2012 Corbyn questioned a decision by London local authorities to remove a street mural depicting men in suits with big noses playing Monopoly on the backs of naked people.

I asked the Leaders Office for an explanation about this Facebook post first thing this morning. Im still waiting for a response. pic.twitter.com/DL8ynBtES4  Luciana Berger (@lucianaberger) March 23, 2018

That same day, Corbyn responded with an open letter in which he recognized that anti-Semitism had surfaced within his party, apologized for the pain this had caused, and pledged to redouble his efforts to stamp it out, vowing to have "zero tolerance" for anti-Semitism.

"The idea of Jewish bankers and capitalists exploiting the workers of the world is an old anti-Semitic conspiracy theory," Corbyn wrote in his open letter. "I am sorry for not having studied the content of the mural more closely before wrongly questioning its removal in 2012."

Corbyn denounces anti-Semitism

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In an open letter of their own, the Jewish groups denounced what they described as the far left's "obsessive hatred of Zionism, Zionists and Israel" and gave examples of how that often translated into overtly anti-Semitic language. They said Corbyn's "empty statements" condemning anti-Semitism had got nowhere near dealing with the problem.

Jews at the anti-Semitism protest against Corbyn (Photo: Getty Images)

In his response, Corbyn, a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights and critic of Israel for several decades, acknowledged that anti-Semitism had sometimes been woven into criticism of Israel.

"Comparing Israel or the actions of Israeli governments to the Nazis, attributing criticisms of Israel to Jewish characteristics or to Jewish people in general and using abusive phraseology about supporters of Israel such as 'Zio' all constitute aspects of contemporary anti-Semitism," he wrote.
Poland's prime minister claims Jews took part in their own destruction in the Holocaust. His Hungarian counterpart declares that the "color" of Europeans should not mix with that of Africans and Arabs. And the Croatian president has thanked Argentina for welcoming notorious pro-Nazi war criminals after World War II.

Ever since WWII, such views were taboo in Europe, confined to the far-right fringes. Today they are openly expressed by mainstream political leaders in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, part of a global populist surge in the face of globalization and mass migration.

"There is something broader going on in the region which has produced a patriotic, nativist, conservative discourse through which far-right ideas managed to become mainstream," said Tom Junes, a historian and a researcher with the Human and Social Studies Foundation in Sofia, Bulgaria.
A Palestinian man was killed Tuesday afternoon on the Gaza border in clashes with IDF soldiers, making him the 18th casualty of the Hamas-led "March of Return" protests.

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According to Palestinian reports, 25-year-old Ahmed Omar Arafa from Deir al-Balah was shot in the chest east of Bureij, succumbing to his injuries shortly thereafter.

"He was standing next to me; he posed no danger to them but they killed him," his father, Omar Arafa, told Reuters.

The Gaza border, where the Palestinian was killed

Palestinians have been throwing stones and burning tires in several locations along the Gaza border on Thursday afternoon.

Earlier, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that those who approach the border will endanger their lives, warning Hamas against what he called "continued provocation."

"We have established clear ground rules and we do not intend to change them," Lieberman said during a visit to an Israeli communal farm near Gaza. "Anyone who approaches the border is putting his life in danger."





Clashes on the Gaza border on Monday (Photo: AFP)

"This was a well-organized provocation by Hamas's armed wing in an attempt to harm our sovereignty, to disrupt daily life and to disturb Israelis on their Seder (traditional Passover meal) night. We are doing what we must do," Lieberman added.

The defense minister has characterized most of those killed last week as "terrorists that we know well who are active in the armed wing of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They were not innocent civilians who were part of a civil protest".

Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas official, said mass protests would continue as planned, despite Lieberman's threats.

He said the Israeli defense minister's latest comments should be seen as "more evidence of a war crime he (Lieberman) committed in Gaza last Friday."

Palestinians holding up mirrors to blind IDF snipers (Photo: AFP)

Last Friday, thousands of Palestinians marched near the border fence between Israel and Gaza, many gathering around tent encampments set up several hundred meters (yards) from the frontier. Smaller groups moved closer to the fence, throwing stones, hurling Molotov cocktails or burning tires. IDF troops were lined up on the other side of the fence, including snipers perched on high earth embankments overlooking Gaza.

Palestinian health officials have said 16 Palestinians were killed that day, making it the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 cross-border war between Israel and the Islamic militant Hamas.

More than 750 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire, according to Gaza health officials. The IDF has said the figure was overblown and that dozens, at most, were injured by live rounds.

Israeli officials have said soldiers in the border area had orders to target the "main instigators" and those who approach the border.

Also on Tuesday, the international group Human Rights Watch accused Lieberman and other senior Israeli officials of unlawfully calling for the use of live fire against Palestinian protesters who posed no imminent threat to life.

The group said Israel has presented no evidence that rock-throwing or other violence seriously threatened the soldiers on the other side of the fence.

"The high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms, coupled with the longstanding culture of impunity within the Israeli army for serious abuses," the group said.

In Gaza, protest organizers also prepared for the next confrontation. Plans were circulated on social media to burn large numbers of tires on Friday, in hopes that thick black smoke would block the view of Israeli snipers. Others suggested trying to disrupt the vision of soldiers with mirrors and use laser pointers to distract snipers.

Palestinians gathering tires to burn in Friday's demonstrations (Photo: AFP)

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said Tuesday on his Facebook page that Israel "has proof the Hamas terror organization is forcing bus companies in the strip to transport rioters and Hamas members to the sites of the violent clashes on the security fence. Not only that, Hamas even threatens with weapons, imprisonment and even confiscation of buses if the companies don't obey."

"This is the true faces of the terror organization, which claims the violent protests are spontaneous and each person has a choice whether or not to participate," Mordechai added.

Hamas has said the border protests would continue until May 15, the 70th anniversary of Israel's creation. Palestinians mourn the date as the anniversary of their "nakba," or "catastrophe" when hundreds of thousands were uprooted from what is now Israel.
Five ultra-Orthodox men were arrested Tuesday during a violent protest in Jerusalem against plans to perform an autopsy on a baby who drowned in a Jacuzzi.

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Several hundred extremist Haredim protested at Kikar HaShabbat, blocking the junction to traffic for an hour.

Haredim protest in Jerusalem (:     )

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The parents of the baby were arrested on Tuesday. The father's remand was extended by six days, while the mother will remain in custody for five more days.

Haredi man arrested in Jerusalem (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

The court accepted the police's request to perform an autopsy on the baby in order to learn the cause of death, prompting hundreds of Haredim to take to the streets.

Haredi man arrested in Jerusalem (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

The mother, who is suspected of committing a criminal offense, claimed she went into the Jacuzzi with the baby and he slipped from her hands and swallowed water. The baby's father was asleep at the time.

A gag order has been put on all other details of the investigation.
The UN refugee agency expressed "disappointment" Tuesday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to withdraw from an agreement to resettle African migrants.

In a statement, the UNHCR said it was disappointed and urged Netanyahu to reconsider.

The UNHCR "continues to believe that a win-win agreement that would both benefit Israel and people needing asylum is in everyone's best interests."
The UN refugee agency expressed "disappointment" on Tuesday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to withdraw from an agreement to resettle African migrants.

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Under heavy pressure from his hardline political allies, Netanyahu walked back on the deal with the UNHCR, just a day after announcing it at a nationally televised news conference.

Under the deal, the UNHCR would have resettled roughly half of the 35,000 African migrants in Israel in Western countries, while Israel would have absorbed the rest. Israeli right-wingers are opposed to allowing the migrants to remain.

Protest against the deportation (Photo: Barel Efraim)

The UNHCR "continues to believe that a win-win agreement that would both benefit Israel and people needing asylum is in everyone's best interests."

"The Agreement was the result of discussions over an extended period of time, and reflected a shared effort to find a solution that gave international protection to people arriving in Israel fleeing war or persecution while also meeting the concerns of Israeli host communities," the UN agency said.

The agency also thanked the countries that expressed willingness to take in some of the African migrants as a show of support to the agreement.

Protest against the deportation (Photo: Barel Efraim)

Netanyahu informed residents of South Tel Aviv on Tuesday about his intention to completely cancel the UN outline, after announcing it was freezing it on Monday.

I have listened attentively to the comments about the agreement. As a result, and after reevaluating the advantages and disadvantages, I have decided to nullify the agreement, Netanyahu said.

The decision to establish an Administration for the Rehabilitation of South Tel Aviv will remain in place, Netanyahu pledged. The administration will begin to operate in the near future, in cooperation with representatives from south Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu and Deri meet with south Tel Aviv residents in favor of the deportation plan (Photo: Haim Zach/GPO)

During their meeting with the prime minister, the south Tel Aviv residents criticized the UN outline. It was a huge shock for us. We felt like the state had spat in our faces, one said.

We realized that the meaning (of the UN deal) was that the infiltrators would remain in south Tel Aviv for a lot longer and that our problem would not be solved.

'Don't turn us into a part of the game'

But some south Tel Aviv residents came out in support of the African asylum seekers in a press conference early Tuesday evening.

"There's solidarity between us and the asylum seekers, despite everything that is being said," Shula Keshet, the director of the Ahoti Movement, said. "As a resident of south Tel Aviv, I feel betrayed once more by the Israeli government, much like all the governments in the past."

Keshet criticized the prime minister's meeting with the Tel Aviv residents who support the deportation. "We were excluded from a meeting the prime minister held with politicos, with wheeler-dealers, who don't know a thing about our wishes," she said.

South Tel Aviv residents against the deportation plan (Photo: Dana Kopel)

"No one cares about us. Not the Israeli government or the prime minister. They are just exploiting our distress to justify the expulsion," Keshet charged. "There's a competitionBennett, the ministers on the right of the prime minister, (are competing to see) who will win the favor of those who call to 'expel, expel, expel' out of insane mania, without truly understanding the situation in south Tel Aviv."

Bisrat Agbariya, 33, an asylum seeker from Eritrea, asked the government "don't use us as a ball, we're people. Don't turn us into a part of the game. Don't use us to create the impression you're helping the people of south Tel Aviv."

She spoke of the hope the outline reached with the UN has brought her. "It looked like an agreement that gives us a safe place as people and protects our rights in accordance with international law. But last night, hope started disappearing," she said.

She turned to all "Jews and Israelis, and all of the south Tel Aviv residents," telling them "Thank you for everything. We're together. This won't break our spirits. It will lift our spirits, and we will work together and be united. Together, we'll turn south Tel Aviv to a peaceful and harmonious place for all."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attacked the United States and Israel for their roles in Syria before he boarded a plane for Turkey where he was scheduled to meet President Tayyip Erdogan and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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"The Americans are against the Syrian government establishing its authority throughout the whole country and are even thinking of a breakup (of the country)," he said in a ceremony broadcast live from Tehran's Mehrabad airport.

"There's interference from Zionist forces in Syria which has increased problems. They don't respect Syrian national sovereignty. They bomb areas in Syria. They support terrorists. These are all issues which have increased Syria's problems," he said.

Syrian President Assad and Iranian President Rouhani (Photos: AP, EPA)

The leaders of the three countries are meeting in Ankara for a summit on Syria, bringing together two powers which have been Syrian President Bashar Assad's most forceful supporters, Iran and Russia, with one of his strongest opponents, Turkey.

Russia has boosted Assad's military capabilities in the conflict by bringing in key air support.

Critics have accused Russia of targeting civilians, a charge Moscow has denied.

The US military has primarily limited its intervention in Syria to fighting Islamic State terrorists rather than targeting forces allied with the Syrian government.

Rouhani said there was no military solution to seven years of conflict in Syria, in which 500,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced. Only dialogue could end it, he said.

Shi'ite-dominated Iran is Assad's main regional ally and has acknowledged having military advisers and volunteers from its elite Revolutionary Guards in Syria.

Tensions ramped up between Israel and Iran in early February when anti-aircraft fire downed an Israeli F-16 warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria.

Israel then launched a second and more intensive air raid, hitting what it said were 12 Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria, including Syrian air defense systems.

Senior Iranian political and military officials have denied playing a role in shooting down the Israeli jet or launching a drone into Israeli territory.
After going back on an agreement with the UN to resettle half of the African asylum seekers in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is having trouble finding a new, legal solution for the 34,187 Eritrean and Sudanese nationals in the country.

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"Not only did Netanyahu go back on an excellent agreement, which should've solved Israel's problem vis-a-vis half of the work migrants, he actually admitted Israel is having a hard time offering legal solutions that would be in line with High Court of Justice rulings," said an official dealing with the matter.

"Now he's placing the responsibility for this upon the High Court's shoulders again, without having good, effective and legal answers himself."





Prime Minister Netanyahu (Photo: AFP)

Netanyahu has been considering bringing a bill proposal to the government's approval that would bypass the High Court's ruling. One of the options on the table is including a "cessation clause," which would allow the Knesset to pass a law that cannot be annulled by the High Court.

But political sources say the prime minister has not yet made up his mind on the matter.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has signaled he was willing to support any proposal by Netanyahu to resolve the problem, including legislation to bypass the High Court.

"If Netanyahu wants, we can pass this law tomorrow and solve the infiltrators problem," a source close to Kahlon said.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who was among those who pressured Netanyahu to nix the UN outline, also expressed his support of the prime minister.

"As we said many times, we support passing the Law for the Prevention of Infiltration anew with the cessation clause to prevent the High Court from striking it down again," Bennett said. "This will create an incentive for the infiltrators to leave Israel."

Asylum seekers leaving Holot (Photo: Reuters)

Different government bodies dealing with the issuethe National Security Council and the ministries of interior, public security and justiceheld consultations on Monday in an effort to create a new, legal outline to resolve the problem, which will be presented to the High Court.

Inside officials stressed the problem has now been exacerbated. Primarily, Israel would have to reexamine the legality of detaining asylum seekers at the Saharonim Prison. They were imprisoned under the assumption this would be a temporary solution until their deportation. But now, with no concrete solution on the horizon, it is unclear if the asylum seekers can legally be held in Saharonim.

In addition, Netanyahu has officially declared one of the "third" countries taking in the deportees has failed to provide them with security, so now Israel would have to examine whether the other countries the deportees were supposed to be sent to are safe for them, otherwise the High Court would not authorize sending the asylum seekers there.

"Instead of declaring to the High Court and international human rights organizations that Israel has solved the problem of 16,000 deportees, the state is now left with some 40,000 immigrants whose problem we don't know how to solve," a government official said. "It's unclear now how we could reestablish the option to deport them to other African nations."

To that end, the state asked the High Court for a one-day extension to declare its position on the release of refugees from Saharonim.

"The topic is now awaiting the attorney general's decision. In light of the developments that occurred in the last few hours, the attorney general requires a short amount of time to complete his dialogue with the prime minister, the interior minister and other relevant bodies before the state can submit its position," the request said.

Telem Yahav contributed to this story.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the New Israel Fund (NIF) on Tuesday for causing a deal with Rwanda to be scuppered, saying that through European states, it had persuaded the African nation to refuse to take in the African migrants deported from Israel.

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The prime minister tasked Coalition Chairman MK David Amsalem with establishing a parliamentary committee to investigate the NIF.

In a Facebook post, Netanyahu asserted that "The Fund endangers the security and future of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people."

Prime Minister Netanyahu (Photo: Reuters)

He went on to claim that the NIF, a US-based non-governmental organization, "receives funding from foreign governments and elements hostile to Israel, such as George Soros' funds."

Elaborating on the dangers he believes the Fund poses to the country, Netanyahu wrote that "The Fund's supreme goal is to eliminate the Jewish character of Israel and turn it into a state of all its citizens, alongside a Palestinian nation state free of Jews in the 1967 lines, with Jerusalem as its capital."

"For decades, the Fund contributes to anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian organizations, including ones that slander IDF soldiers, such as Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem, and those fighting for Palestinian terrorists, such as Adalah," the prime minister charged.

"I don't know any Western democracy, and particularly not the United States, that would've been willing to tolerate for long such hostile activity funded by foreign countries, as has been the case here in Israel with the Fund for decades," he added.

The NIF denied Netanyahu's allegation and said on its Facebook page that it had not influenced Rwanda's decision and that he had "once again resorted to lies about the New Israel Fund in order to score cheap political points."

"The New Israel Fund had nothing to do with Rwanda's decision to refuse to participate in the prime minister's cruel mass deportation plan," it added. "All information about the New Israel Fund and its organizations is available, transparent and reported."

New Israel Fund Executive Director Mickey Gitzin (Photo: Shaul Golan)

Netanyahu, the NIF said, "has crossed every red line in his incitement against the New Israel Fund."

The Fund called on the public "which is anxious of the threat Bibi poses to the Israeli democracy, to stand alongside the New Israel Fund. We also expect support from all party leaders: (Avi) Gabbay, (Yair) Lapid, (Tamar) Zandberg, (Ayman) Odeh, (Moshe) Kahlon, (Naftali) Bennett, (Avigdor) Lieberman, (Yaakov) Litzman and (Aryeh) Deri, as well liberal voices within the Likud."

Meretz leader MK Tamar Zandberg slammed Netanyahu's accusations, saying "The imagined demonization by the prime minister has gone up a notch. If he believes what he's saying, then he is a paranoid person. If he doesn't believe it, he's an inciting liar. In any case, this situation raises real concern for the well-being of the New Israel Fund's people and civil society organizations."

"If the New Israel Fund is responsible for anything here, it's promoting civil society organizations that fought alongside us for a reasonable and logical solution, which was expressed in Monday's outline. What needs to be investigated is the flip-flopping that led to its cancelation," she added.

In his explanation Monday night of why he decided to freeze the UN-supported plan, Netanyahu said that "in the last few weeks, following tremendous pressure on Rwanda by the New Israel Fund and elements in the European Union, Rwanda has withdrawn from the agreement and refused to take in infiltrators from Israel who are forcibly removed. As a result, I decided to strive for a new agreement that would allow us to continue deporting the infiltrators."







Reuters contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump discussed the threat posed by Iran with the emir of Qatar on Tuesday and also stressed the importance of resolving the rift among Gulf nations, the White House said.

"The leaders discussed Iran's increasingly reckless behavior in the region and the threat it poses to regional stability," the White House said in a statement. Trump emphasized to the emir "that it is critical to end the Gulf dispute," it said.

The White House said Trump spoke on Monday with King Salman of Saudi Arabia about the split in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as other regional issues, including Syria and Yemen
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It was fast zigzagging that made one wonder whether emotion or intellect was behind the decision. There has been a lot of emotion involved in the debate over Israel's policy in recent years regarding the deportation of infiltrators. Until Monday, emotion didn't change a thing. Not the absurd comparisons to the Nazis and not the wide Jewish interpretation of the status of the foreigner and the resident. Not the Jewish mercy, not the demonstrations and not the aid organizations. Emotion, important as it may be, belongs to people, not to states. It's a good thing to have, but it can't come before national interests. On the other hand, intellectwhen used on a national levelleads to results.

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Our biggest achievement to date was stopping the flow of infiltrators from crossing our borders. Until 2011, merely seven years ago, Israel was a well-known destination for job seekers from Africa. The word "refugees" is political commentary created in recent years. You can't rewrite history. Israel, a flourishing Western country, attracted a lot of African migrants. They went through other countries on their way here, just to arrive to a place where they could make a lot of money. At the height of the infiltration, an average of 2,000 people crossed the border from Egypt each month. They crossed the border and waited for the State of Israel to pick them up in buses and take them to southern Tel Aviv. This was an ongoing blunder that stopped when the fence was built. Olmert put the idea in motion, Netanyahu continued to build and invested quite a lot in it.

The phenomenon of infiltration is part of a natural economic process. Abundance attracts the poor. Africa's inhabitants are looking for a way to the West. Citizens of third world countries are looking for an entry ticket to thriving countries. Israel has been and still is a preferred destination: a democratic country where, in the worst case scenario, one gets arrested and spends time in an open detention facility in southern Israel at the expense of the tax payer.

There was also no room for emotion in the formulation of a balanced deportation policy for those who were already here. There were existing models, solutions formulated by Western democracies from around the world after they found themselves flooded with migrants that were endangering their national identity. The liberal concept of having no borders and nationalities was a nice one. A John Lennon song, nothing more. Imagine, and that's it.

In Britain, tens of thousands of people go through detention facilities for illegal migrants every year. The Netherlands, in another time, built a detention and deportation facility next to an international airport. During the big immigration wave, Italy created detention camps in Libya to prevent maritime crossing. To this day, Australia deports Muslim migrants to islands in its area. And it's always good to remember that it wasn't just Trump who talked about deportation from the US, 400,000 illegal migrants were deported during Obama's first year in office.

There were other models, of course, of absorption and containment, which always led to violence and tension in cities with high concentration of migrants. There are many explanations as to why that happens. And yes, it is a fact that when migrants and disadvantaged populations are put together, the result is more crimewhether it's a suburb in Berlin, Paris, or Tel Aviv.

This is exactly the reason why the infiltrators deportation policy was and still is a necessity in every thriving country. How to do it less important, as long as there is a policy, and there is no vacuum.

And here we come to Monday night's dance. When the decision was made to deport the infiltrators from Israel to African countries, it withstood the test of common sense and Israeli law. In my opinion, when it was decided to sign a new agreement with the UN, because of difficulties posed by these countries as well as legal restrictions, it could have withstood the test of common sense, as long as only a small number of infiltrators would've been left here as temporary work migrants and southern Tel Aviv would've been rehabilitated.

I believe Netanyahu and Deri that this was their original intention. Judging by the zigzagging, however, one can't say whether they actually meant for this to happen. The end result, the rate of the departure of infiltrators, would have determined that. But instead of putting the plan into action and examining its merits, we've gotten an unclear result. On the one hand, a problematic declaration that Israel's immigration policy needs to be changed, while on the other hand, a few hours after the announcement of a new policy, its suspension due to criticism. This is reminiscent of the Bedouin plan, which was hit with criticism from the Left and then from the Right, until it was frozen. Since then, only a vacuum remains and thousands of illegal structures are being built every year.

This reality, in which half the world is poor and failing, is a tragedy. The reality in the Muslim states around us is a tragedy. The limitations to helping those in need around the world are a tragedy. But a policy of limiting immigration and deporting infiltrators is a necessity. In this case, too, not emotionspity or angernor criticism on Facebook or pressure, should drive the decision. Only the national interest and needs.
The beautiful pictures of Senegalese gowns will make one melt with excitement with the amazing designs and styles they have. The gowns have very bright colors which make them look more beautiful and the hottest trend now.

The different design images of Senegalese gowns give it the African taste with a blend of the modern look. There are designs that can be worn for formal occasions while those for informal but special occasions.

The Senegalese gown designs that will leave your mouth wide open with excitement are;

Senegalese long gown

This is the most traditional outfit in Senegal. It can be coupled with a turban. It is more popular among women.

Senegal kaftan designs

These are mens traditional wear also known as Boubou or Bubu. It is very popular across the West African region. It is a formal attire worn with pants called Kaftan suits and finished off with a fez hat.

Senegalese embroidery designs are a big part of the Senegals fashion as they are handmade designs that are unique and beautiful. Most of these designs are found on Senegalese wedding dresses. The patterns differ, but each embroidery pattern is usually placed on the chest and sleeves. Modern designs place them elsewhere on the outfit.

Senegalese modern fashion

Fashion designers in Senegal follow the modern fashion trends and try pretty hard to incorporate them. Despite the ladies being true to their traditional clothing they try new things thus you will find suits, miniskirts and backless dresses that are now quite popular in Senegalese fashion world.

Senegalese lace dresses are made of the Swiss dry lace and with exclusively unique designs. The patterns are well organized to give it a modern day look.

The Senegalese African dresses have exclusive designs that have the African heritage. They have the Ankara, lace and chiffon fabric that are used to make them.

The Kaftans are Senegalese wedding dresses that are mostly white in color and are worn by men. The brides attire is known as Buba and it can match the grooms design.

The beaded embroidery being one of the latest Senegalese gown styles has two types of sleeves; long flared and short sleeves- lantern or sleeves- butterflies. The other styles include;

Embroidery style

This style is usually of contrasting bright colors. This type of style can be commonly found on Senegalese wedding dresses.

Native Bubu style.

READ ALSO: Latest African Dresses 2017-2018

Native bubu style

It is sewn in the cape form and is worn over the head. It is also made without sleeves but the arms are covered.

Senegalese turbans

It has become quite common to wear a turban in Senegal. It is great since one can give it any form they like.

Senegalese fabrics

Most of the clothes in Africa only differ in the style but not the pattern. The fabric used to fit the African taste is produced in Asian countries since they have traditionally developed textile industries.

The prices of the Senegalese dresses online vary according to the style and design. The prices on Jumia online shopping store, range from 18, 000- 52,000 Naira.

An artist or model will be transformed into a beautiful creature out of this world with classy Senegalese Ankara gowns. They fit all body types and will bring out the curves. Some women like these gowns as they allow them easy movement of their bodies while others like it because they look unique and suitable for special occasions except formal events.

Popular among women, Senegalese long gowns are coupled with turbans that match the gowns. They also have styles such as Ankara, lace and Chiffon.

READ ALSO: Latest fashion dresses in Ghana 2017-2018

Source: Yen
WAEC, (West Africa Examination Council) is a body under the Ministry of Education in Ghana. Its main task is to dispense pre-tertiary examinations both at national and international level. The examinations include BECE, WASSCE and other examinations. It also conducts the placement of qualified candidates to Senior High School (SHS) and Tertiary level. To better understand its operations and the strict selection process read on to understand how WAEC Ghana placement takes place.

Source:Daily Guide

CSSPS secretariat under the Secondary Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), was introduced in 2005 to facilitate BECE JHS students placement into SHS, based on students results ranking their performance on a standardized exams and choices of their preferred selected programs.This is what guides and informs BECE schools secelction 2019 as well as BECE school placement 2019. It worked well for BECE placement 2018.

Ghana Education system

Ghana Education system operates on 6-3-4-4 system. Basic education is compulsory from 4  15 years.

Primary education - 6 years, excluding ( 2 years of nursery/ Kindergarten schooling)

Junior high school - 3 years

Senior high school  4 years

Tertiary education  4 years

During the kindergarten schooling, students can use Ghanaians native languages and English language as an instructional language. This to help them learn their native languages in the early years of their life before switching to English in the next levels. They are also involved in basic socialization skills, games as well as bring out their creativity.

In their Primary education years, students are involved in Numeracy, Creative Arts, Literacy, and problem solving skills. English is basic the language of learning.

In Junior High school (JHS) students take up compulsory subjects; English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Integrated Science including Agricultural Science subjects, a Ghanaian language, Technical, Information, Vocational, and Communication.

READ ALSO:WAEC releases provisional results for BECE 2017; withholds results of 1,298 candidates for cheating

After their 3 years in JHS; in the ninth grade, students sit for Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) offered by WAEC (West Africa Examination Council). Prior to sitting for the national examinations, ninth grade JHS students select six SHS, ranked from the most preferred on top of the list that they anticipate to join when they proceed to SHS. They also indicate they preferred choices of programs to undertake against the selected SHS.

Some students opt not to proceed to SHS but instead take up jobs, technical and vocational education with on-the-job trainings.

Source:Topify NG

Senior High school (SHS), all students take common subjects comprising of Mathematics, English Language, Integrated Science, and Social Studies. The students are also supposed to take up three or four Elective subjects, chosen from different groups: Sciences, Arts (humanities and social sciences), Vocational (visual arts or home economics), Agriculture or Technical, Business studies. At the end of SHS, students sit for the WASSCE, (West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination) which determines their entry to Tertiary education. Qualified and selected students can enroll for certificates, diploma, undergraduate and graduate, programs in a full range of academic and professional fields.

WAEC Ghana placement 2019- WAEC Ghana placement forms

JHS students in their ninth grade usually sit for their BECE yearly in the month of June. Thereafter, the Ministry of Education of Ghana through WAEC releases examination results after a month or so of marking the examinations. WAEC conducts selection and placement of BECE qualified candidates to join Senior High Schools, (SHS).

The Ministry of Education in Ghana together with WAEC and Ghana Education Service (GES) has a Computerized School Selection and Placement system, (CSSPS), which they use to carry out placement exercise of qualified BECE students to SHS, Technical Institutes (TI) and Vocational Institutes across the country.

Students are normally graded and ranked according to their BECE performance. The details of individual students placements can be checked online to verify their selected school and thereafter print out their placement letter. This is what the students send to the respective allocated schools. To do this you must access the online placement form.

Note: 2019 CSSPS Results [Check on the computerized school selection and placement results Online portal]  myjhsresult.net | The computerized school selection and placement system (CSSPS) Results is out for the 2018/2019 academic session. According to https://schoolgh.com/cssps-result/.

READ ALSO:BECE marks and grades: How to calculate your results

WAEC Ghana placement checker- CSSPS WAEC Ghana JHS placement checker for 2018 or 2019

Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) will allow the students to see the schools they have been admitted into and the program offered. After selection and placement, results are dispatched to all SHS, Technical Institutes and Vocational Institutes with copies made available to Regional District offices of GES and all JHS.

Source:Daily Guide Africa

Procedure for CSSPS placement checker

This is according to http://cssps.gov.gh/, which is an online portal support by the Ministry of Education website.

Then enter your 10-digits BECE index number. Add the last two digits of the year of examination eg. XXXXXXXXXX18 for 2019. Note: Previous years whether 1993,....., 2017, 2016 and etceteras can also be checked here. All one needs to include is type in the two last digit of the examination year. For instance, XXXXXXXXXX17 for 2018, XXXXXXXXXX16 for 2017 and so on. Enter the Card Serial Number found on the top of your Scratch card.( Card of equivalent to $3 is purchased from WAEC regional offices or Post offices) Enter the Personal Identification Number (PIN) on your Scratch card. Finally, Click Submit and wait for the results window to come up.

Students, guardians and parents also have an option of checking their SHS placement via mobile SMS. Various mobile networks can be used for this checking. Any of the following networks can be used: - MTN, Vodafone, Airtel, Tigo and Kasapa

Procedure for CSSPS placement checker via mobile phone

Send at text of the BECE candidate 10-digit INDEX NUMBER to 1060 to confirm schools of their choice for placement. e.g. if the candidates index is 0123456789, text 0123456789 to a short code SMS number 1060 on any of the above networks. NOTE: do not space the index number If the candidate does not receive a feedback, repeat the exercise; i.e. text the 10-digit index number to short code 1060 followed by the last two digits of the year of examination.(0123456789 as index number followed by 18- to stand for year 2018. It show appear like this 012345678918).

READ ALSO:A no-nonsense guide to BECE placement you'll ever need!

CSSPS placement forms

CSSPS FORM according to http://cssps.gov.gh/, Candidates can then print their placement forms and send them to their respective schools. All they need to do is type in their Index number, Personal Identification Number (PIN) and Card serial Number.

Checkout the screenshot below:

Print Placement Forms

Index Number :

Card Serial No. :

PIN :

CSSP re-entry forms and application

Sometimes students miss out on placement to SHS on the CSSPS due to a number of reasons. Once you have used the cssps placement checker 2019 and verified that you have missed your placement then the best option would be a re-entry. A student may be rejected from admission to their initial choices of SHS. In case the first selected schools have filled their capacity after admitting the most qualified students, they reject any further admissions. Hence, students who performed lower that the set cut off marks are not placed.

Sometimes a student fails to be selected and placed to a SHS because of failing either mathematics or English subjects. Any student who fails to give correct or adequate requisite information on their answer sheets may sometimes be canceled or withheld.

The student might have chosen one school twice which may automatically limit or disqualifies their chance of placement in that school. Sometimes a particular school maybe oversubscribed by candidates placing undue pressure for its placement.

A BECE candidate may also defers admission to his/her selected and placement school in a particular year with such reasons as falling ill , loss of parent(s), retirement and dissatisfaction with the selected placement by CSSPS, can apply for re-entry.This is when you need cssp re-entry forms. As a policy issued by the Ministry of Education, candidates who passed their BECE and who has stayed out of school for up to three academic years can also apply for re-entry.

The student is then force to reapply for a second placement. Filling re-entry forms is a mandatory requirement so as to be eligible for the placement exercise. There will be a small fee to pay for the re-entry forms.

Procedure to follow:-

Visit: www.myjhsresult.net / CSSPS Backup Link Log in with your index number and PIN code Click on Check placement status [Since you've not been placed], you will find a link to self-placement Click on the self-placement link On the new tab, select your preferred region Select your preferred school Select your program of choice Click on the submit button to place yourself Proceed to print your placement notice.

WAEC Ghana contacts

Candidates, parents or guardians who have queries or various problems in checking their placement are advised to contact CSSPS offices. For more information contact:

The coordinator,

CSSPS,

P.O. BOX M45

ACCRA.

Telephone number: 0302-783905

Email: info@csspsghana.org

Ministry of Education Hotlines

Call 0302 747 778

Whatsapp: +233262568206 or 0207 407 499.

Email: csspsghana@yahoo.com

Other contacts:-

The Headquarters, Accra

Registrar/Chief Executive

The West African Examinations Council

Examination Loop

P.O. Box GP 125

Accra

GR

Ghana

Telephone number +(233-21)-248967

Fax number +(233-21)-222905

Ghana National Office

Head of National Office

The West African Examinations Council

Examination Loop

Behind Ridge Hospital

P.O. Box GP 917

Accra

GR

Ghana

Telephone number +(233-21)-685901-4

Fax number +(233-21)-223002

Ghana National Office

Head of National Office

Website: http://www.ghana.waecdirect.org/

Source: Yen
The Custom Excise and Preventive Service, (CEPS) is tasked with the responsibility of regulating, monitoring, and assessing exports and imports in and out of Ghana; by the Ghanaian government. This agency also ensures that revenues to the Ghanaian government is not lost through illegal practices, such as smuggling of goods and services, along with Ghanas border, to an extent where they send officers to patrol the border. Goods passing through the border are inspected, their information followed including destination and documentation. CEPS role in detecting a threat to national security, by nature of their working environment, cannot be ignored. All these functions need to be performed by people, obtained through a thorough CEPS recruitment process.

Source:graphic.com.gh

CEPS as an employer falls under the customs division in Ghanas Revenue authority structure. The agency is supposed to recruit individuals to assist in the normal functioning of the agency. The recruitment process is aligned to CEPS mandate. All the candidates hoping to be recruited are expected to meet certain minimum requirements. CEPS is responsible for border revenue collection process, by ensuring every last chance to collect taxes for the Ghanaian government is done in the most effective way. It also stops illegal transactions along the border, such as smuggling of goods, among other things. CEPS is by all standards part of Ghanas security forces, as it plays a significant role in assuring the security of Ghana by stopping external attacks through their rigorous inspection process, which helps in identifying a threat.

Due to the nature of work, CEPS Ghana has several ranks that ensure all the processes run smoothly. Knowing these ranks is helpful for any recruit who looks forward to joining the agency. Below is a list of CEPS rank from the highest rank to the lowest:

Commissioner,

Deputy Commissioner,

Assistant Commissioner,

Senior Collector,

Principal Collector,

Senior Collector,

Collector,

Assistant Collector,

Collection Assistant 1st Class,

Collection Assistant 2nd Class,

Collection Assistant 3rd Class,

Junior collection assistant 1st Class,

Junior collection assistant 2nd Class,

Junior collection assistant 3rd Class.

READ ALSO: Ghana CEPS Ranks and Their Symbols

With ranks properly defined, each individual knows what role to perform thus ensuring a seamless process of border tax collection, regulation, and inspection of both imports and exports. This significantly reduces external threats to Ghana.

READ ALSO: More photos of the $3.2m Mercedes Benz cars seized by Customs

CEPS has a military-like structure which allows them to perform roles like border patrol. The men and women who perform such roles are recruited through a rigorous recruitment process, guided by a set of requirement. They obviously, have to be Ghanaians. Once the potential candidates are recruited, in a national and transparent process, they are taken to CEPS training academy, where they train physically and mentally. This is to ensure that they are brought up to speed with their roles and encourage a physical state that is well suited for their kind of job.

Source:graphic.com.gh

CEPS training academy Ghana

CEPS ensure all of its fresh recruits have been brought up to speed with the latest in the customs department, by taking them through a rigorous training process. This is done through their academy wing whose syllabus includes paramilitary training and custom topics. CEPS training academy prides itself on transforming raw materials (that is untrained recruits) into fully performing officers with technical know-how and paramilitary defense ability to protect themselves against a threat. The main aim of the academy is to train students in the mobilization of revenue thus ensuring a smooth flow of revenue into the country.

CEPS training academy operates within a syllabus that guarantees proper time allocation and effective deployment of information from instructors to the students. The academy is fully equipped with right resources and infrastructure that ensures students get to live and train in a very comfortable environment.

The training process of CEPS personnel takes approximately 24 weeks, on customs and paramilitary. Ghana Revenue Service believes in equipping its personnel with the right knowledge and training, which in turn leads to seamless working process. Customs training is even crucial when adopting new technologies that streamline the process of revenue collection at the border and tracking imports and exports through Ghanas border.

Graduates from CEPS training academy are absorbed into different customs positions, which they trained in, where they will serve as officers and ensure an efficient running process of the customs department. In addition to this, some trainees are deployed to CEPS patrol unit where they work as security officers, patrolling the border to eliminate all cases of illegal immigration and emigration from Ghana.

CEPS recruitment 2020

Job hunt in Ghana can be challenging with government agencies such as Ghana revenue authority recruiting fractions of skilled unemployed individuals. Such agencies have tendencies of opening their doors for recruits on an annual basis, employing individuals to help them execute their roles. This has led to a pattern from job seekers of asking recruitment questions at certain times of the years, not to miss the opportunities presented. Likelihood of Ghana revenue authority recruitment 2020 has resulted in people asking questions such as:

Where can you find Ghana customs recruitment forms 2020? How do you fill Ghana customs recruitment forms 2020? When is CEPS Ghana recruitment 2020 open for application? How do you apply for CEPS recruitment in Ghana?

Unfortunately, some unscrupulous agents and sites, both online and offline, spread the wrong message on this particular matter, trying to take advantage of potential candidates. Some Ghanaians agents will promise to get you the right connection and sell you application forms and another kind of lies to earn some money from you. The customs division and Ghanas revenue authority is very clear in its communication by using their official website to communicate. When they open their application portal, they will advertise it on most sites, providing all the instructions on how to go about the application process. This ensures that you do everything right, at the same time avoid getting wrong information.

Source:www.ghanastradinghub.gov.gh

How to apply for CEPS

Once Customs Excise and Prevention Service release the recruitment notice, it is crucial for you to apply for a position that is most appropriate for you. To increase your chances of being accepted during Ghana revenue authority customs division recruitment, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the right application process so that you get into it as soon as the notice is released. Below is a detailed process that you need to follow when applying for CEPS recruitment:

All candidates need to visit www.gra.gov.gh to access Ghana CEPS recruitment forms. The application form is straightforward. All applicants need to fill the form without any charges. After filling all the necessary forms, you need to print the following documents; local government attestation form, acknowledgment form, and finally guardian or parental consent form.

READ ALSO: Ghana CEPS Ranks and Their Symbols

Ghana customs recruitment requirements

CEPS recruitment requirement is a simple of set guidelines that all applying candidates have to meet to be selected for a chance to serve Ghanaian people through CEPS, as an agency. These requirements are not only in the interest of Ghana customs but also the candidates applying for the different roles. For instance, considering that there is training for all recruits that exerts stress on the physical body and the mind, it is only wise to select individuals who have no physical limitations like allergies or disabilities. In addition to this, given that the job requires men and women of integrity, recruiting individuals with a criminal record or with a bad conduct will only worsen matters at the border.

Requirements set by the customs department ensures only the most deserving candidates get an opportunity to serve with the agency. Below are Ghana CEPS service recruitment requirements that ensure only the right candidates get picked:

The candidate applying for the job needs to be a citizen of Ghana by birth, with no criminal history or record.

All candidates applying must be of sound mind and be in good physical shape.

No applicant with any form of physical challenge needs to apply for the recruitment as it will only end up being an effort in futility.

All candidates applying should have a General Certificate of Education (GCE) O-level; with credit in a minimum of 4 subjects inclusive of mathematics and English.

All male applicants must have a minimum height of 1.68 meters whereas the women should have a minimum of 1.65meters.

Male and female applicants targeting the SUPERINTENDENT CADRE position need to be 18-35 years old.

It should be noted that all candidates applying should at least have NECO/SSCE/NCE/GCE/ND/BSC/HND

WASSCE/SSSCE certificate is mandatory for all applicants; four credits inclusive of math and English language. All applying candidates have to be between the age of 18-25 with a sound mind and good working body.

Source: Yen
Indeed, teacher training colleges in Ghana have changed how instructors are trained in the country. Nevertheless, in ensuring adequate training of teachers, there are numerous training colleges in Ghana where aspiring teachers can get equipped. This training is the first step ambitious teachers must take to fulfil their dreams.

Accra College of Education students. Photo: @SRCACCE

Source: Facebook

Teacher training colleges in Ghana play essential roles in grooming prospective teachers for the classroom experience. However, even though more educators are needed to keep up with the high demand for trainers in various institutions, grooming is essential. No school will consider a teacher for employment except such is professionally trained in a recognised institution.

List of teacher training colleges in Ghana

Teaching can be one of the most rewarding career paths to take. Importantly, it is an avenue to groom future leaders who will take over from the older generation. So, how many teacher training colleges are there in Ghana? Currently, there are well over 40 accredited training institutions in the country.

Top 10 teacher training colleges in Ghana

Although we have many public and private teacher training colleges in Ghana, some rank higher than others. Also, if you want to know the most beautiful training college in Ghana, you might want to visit any of the institutions. Therefore, check out a list of top-ranking teacher training colleges in the country below:

Abetifi Presbyterian College of Education Accra College of Education Ada College of Education Agogo Presbyterian College of Education Akatsi College of Education Akrokerri College of Education Atebubu College of Education Bagabaga College of Education Berekum College of Education Bimbila E.P. College of Education

Other training colleges

Below is a list of the other teacher training colleges in the country:

Accra Training College of Education

Ada College of Education, Ada

Agogo Presbyterian College of Education, Agogo

Akatsi College of Education, Akatsi

Akrokerri College of Education, Akrokerri

Al-Faruq College of Education, Wenchi/Droboso

Atebubu College of Education, Atebubu

Bagabaga College of Education, Tamale

Berekum College of Education, Berekum

Dambai College of Education, Dambai

Enchi College of Education, Enchi

Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Amedzofe

Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education, Bimbilla

Foso College of Education, Assin Foso

Gambaga College of Education, Gambaga

Gbewaa College of Education, Pusiga constituency, Bawku Municipal District

Holy Child College of Education, Sekondi-Takoradi

Mampong Technical College of Education, Mampong

Mount Mary College of Education, Somanya

Nusrat Jahan Ahmadiyya College of Education, Wa

Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) College of Education, Cape Coast

Jasikan College of Education, Jasikan

Kibi Presbyterian College of Education, Kibi

Komenda College of Education, Kommenda, Ghana

Offinso College of Education, Offinso

Peki College of Education, Peki

A student-teacher with pupils in the class. Photo: @robinedwardtodd

Source: Twitter

Presbyterian Women's College of Education, Aburi

Presbyterian College of Education, AkropongAkuapem

Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) College of Education, Asokore

St. Ambrose College of Education, Dormaa Akwamu, Dormaa Municipal District

St. Francis College of Education, Hohoe

St. John Boscos College of Education, Navrongo

St. Josephs College of Education, Bechem

St. Louis College of Education, Kumasi

St. Monica's College of Education, Mampong

St. Teresa's College of Education, Hohoe

Tamale College of Education, Tamale

Tumu College of Education, Tumu

Wesley College of Education, Kumasi

Wiawso College of Education, Sefwi-Wiawso District

Premium Online Hub, Accra

Abetifi Presbyterian College of Education, Abetifi

Interestingly, the colleges are located in different regions of the country. By implication, students who want to enrol do not have to worry about the distance.

Private teacher training colleges in Ghana

Besides the institutions mentioned above, the following teacher training colleges are privately owned but still recognised. Admittedly, they are not many compared to government-run schools, but they offer opportunities to qualified students.

AIM Professionals Institute and Training College

Cambridge Teacher Training College

Holy Spirit College of Education

Jackson College of Education

McCoy College of Education

Methodist College of Education

SDA College of Education

St Ambrose College of Education

Courses offered at teacher training colleges in Ghana

Before you apply to a teaching training college, you should know the courses offered to see if it is relevant to your passion and choice. According to the National Teaching Council of Principals of the various colleges of education, under the new reform policy, below is a list of teacher training courses you can apply for:

B.Ed Early Childhood Development

B.Ed Technical/ Vocational

B.Ed French

B.Ed Mathematics/Science

B.Ed Primary Education

B.Ed Agricultural Science

B.Ed English & Arabic

B.Ed English & Ghanaian Language

B.Ed Geography & History

B.Ed Home Economics

B.Ed ICT & Science

B.Ed P.E & Science

B. Ed RME & Music

B.Ed Visual Arts

B.Ed ICT & Mathematics

But then, which teacher training course is best? The truth is individuals have to determine what is best for them based on their aspirations. By implication, what is best for a student might not be what another student wants.

Entry requirements for teacher training colleges in Ghana

One thing is to know that there are different teacher training colleges in the country, and another is to qualify for admission. There are basic requirements potential candidates must meet before they are considered for admission.

Generally, WASSCE/SSSCE qualification applicants seeking admission must have passed six (6) subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics. With that in mind, below is a breakdown of the requirements for each program:

Practical hands-on activities to the Students of Akatsi College of Education. Photo: @LOVEGHANAANDLOVEMATHEMATICS

Source: Facebook

General programme

WASSCE applicants : They must have passed six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics. More so, three out of the six subjects must be a minimum of C6 and relevant to the General option.

: They must have passed six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics. More so, three out of the six subjects must be a minimum of C6 and relevant to the General option. SSCE applicants: Students applying must have passes (A-D) in six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics. However, three of the six subjects have to be relevant to the chosen option under this category.

Early childhood education programme

WASSCE applicants : Prospective students are expected to have passed six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics. Then, three out of them must be a minimum of C6 and relevant to the Early childhood option.

: Prospective students are expected to have passed six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics. Then, three out of them must be a minimum of C6 and relevant to the Early childhood option. SSCE applicants: Students applying with SSCCE must have passes (A-D) in six subjects, including English and Core Mathematics. Nevertheless, three out of the six subjects must be relevant to the Early childhood option.

French programme

WASSCE applicants: Passes in six subjects, including English language, Core Mathematics, and French, are essential for students applying for this programme. Also, three of the subjects, including French, must be a minimum of C6.

SSCE applicants: Prospective students should have passes (A-D) in six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics. More so, three out of the subjects have to be a minimum of C6.

Science & Mathematics

WASSCE applicants : Those willing to apply for this course must have passed six subjects, including English and Core Mathematics. In addition, three out of the six subjects must be a minimum of C6 and relate to the Science & Mathematics option.

: Those willing to apply for this course must have passed six subjects, including English and Core Mathematics. In addition, three out of the six subjects must be a minimum of C6 and relate to the Science & Mathematics option. SSCE applicants: Prospective students must have passes (A-D) in six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics. Also, three out of these subjects must apply to the Science & Mathematics choice.

French technical programme

WASSCE applicants : Pass in six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics, are non-negotiable for students applying for this course. Additionally, three out of the subjects should be a minimum of C6 and relevant to either Technical/Science or Technical/Mathematics options.

: Pass in six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics, are non-negotiable for students applying for this course. Additionally, three out of the subjects should be a minimum of C6 and relevant to either Technical/Science or Technical/Mathematics options. SSCE applicants: This set of applicants must have passes (A-D) in six subjects, including English and Core Mathematics. Also, three of the subjects have to relate to Technical/Science or Technical/Mathematics selections.

Special applicants: hearing impaired

WASSCE applicants : WASSCE applicants to be considered for admission should have passed six subjects, including English and Core Mathematics. More so, three out of the six subjects must be a minimum of C6 and relevant to the option selected.

: WASSCE applicants to be considered for admission should have passed six subjects, including English and Core Mathematics. More so, three out of the six subjects must be a minimum of C6 and relevant to the option selected. SSCE applicants: Passes (A-D) in six subjects, including English language and Core Mathematics, are expected from those applying with their SSCE. At the same time, three of the six subjects have to be relevant to the selected option.

Special applicants: visually impaired

WASSCE applicants : Anyone under this category applying must have passed six subjects that include English language and Social Studies. In addition, three of the subjects must show a minimum of C6 and be relevant to the selected course option.

: Anyone under this category applying must have passed six subjects that include English language and Social Studies. In addition, three of the subjects must show a minimum of C6 and be relevant to the selected course option. SSCE applicants: Passes (A-D) in six subjects comprising of English language and Core Mathematics are expected from those applying with SSCE. Then, three of these subjects need to be related to the alternative chosen.

Note that candidates awaiting their May/June WASSCE results can also apply.

Students of St. Teresa's College of Education learning practical ways of studying and teaching Mathematics. Photo: @LOVEGHANAANDLOVEMATHEMATICS

Source: Facebook

Fees for teacher training colleges in Ghana

Once you are sure about the college you will be applying to, your next concern should be to know how much the course goes for. This is crucial information as it will help you compare and make the most favourable decision based on what you can afford without compromising quality. The fees depend on the level you are in. For instance:

For 100 Level students, the admission fee is GHC1,500, and SRC is GHC200. Also, hall dues and UCC exams fees are GHC100 and GHC360 (per semester), respectively.

200 Level students pay GHC1,164, which includes SRC billed at GHC100, hall dues billed at GHC100, and exams fee billed at GHC360.

300 Level students pay GHC788, including SRC of GHC100, hall project of GHC50, and exams fee of GHC270.

There may be slight variations of fees depending on the specific college you choose to attend, but what you will pay should be within the range given above.

Are teacher training forms for 2020/2021 out?

Forms are currently on sale in case you want to apply to any of the training institutions. However, it would help if you are fast in deciding which school you wish to apply to because admission Friday, 26th of July, 2021.

Now that you know the various teacher training colleges in Ghana, this should help you decide which institution you want to be in. However, don't forget to confirm if the course you want to study before filling the admission form is available in the institution.

In a related article, Yen.com.gh shared a list of category A schools in the Ashanti region. Based on the categorisation of schools in the country, these schools are known as the best in the country.

Although the region has the highest senior high schools in the country, the list is based on the WASSCE ranking. Therefore, check out the list to make an informed decision if you want the best learning institution for your children.

Source: Yen
Acquiring scholarships for Ghanaians to study in Russia may just be your way out especially if you want to increase your value as far as employability is concerned. Studying abroad has a way of enhancing ones CV and making them more attractive to employers probably because they have faith in the education systems of other countries especially those that are known to be experts and industry leaders in some of the fields that they offer training in. As such, most people will jump at the opportunity of getting a prestigious scholarship especially if it comes fully catered for. To make this happen however, you need to stand out among the many applicants. The opportunity is lucrative and will definitely be one that many people will be rushing for. You need to be in a position that will guarantee you a position. This article is meant to be a guide on how Ghanainas can tap into the scholarship opportunities i Russia in the 2018-2019 academic year.

Source:international Scholarships

Scholarship in Russia 2018

It would be great if one can get a full scholarship for Ghanaians to study abroad as this would mean that such individuals only have to worry about their studies since everything else is sorted out. In such cases, students will jump at the opportunity considering that such offers come rarely and are very difficult to get especially with stiff competition. However, in the event that a partial scholarship is available, it is still advisable to take up the offer and work your way through the rest of your needs. You can apply for part time jobs to foot some of your most pressing needs and request support from your family.

The bottom line is that you should not turn down a good opportunity especially one that offers better education leads just because you are short of funds. After all, you can always apply for more grants and assistance when you are already taking up the classes. Sometimes when the opportunity slips it is close to impossible to get another one.

Every year the Russian government offers state scholarships for Russians living abroad and foreigners to come into universities in Russia under similar terms as the citizens. The government funded slots for international students are given each year and 2018 is no different. In 2017, 15000 slots were accorded these students.

International students who are university graduates completing their internships for programs of vocational training receive no maintenance allowance. All these students get is a dormitory accommodation in the university dorms. It is advisable to always call the University of your Choice in Russia to find out how best to go about the application process. Generally though the university international sponsorship office will respond to your detailed application letter once you have passed your entry exams.

Russian scholarships for international students 2018- How to apply

For you to apply and qualify for a Russian government sponsorship, you have to do things right. Start by visiting the official sponsorship application website on www.studyinrussia.ru. This is where you are likely to find the announcement inviting people to apply for the scholarship positions being offered by the government. Alternatively you can check on the website of the Russian embassy to find out when the invites have been slotted for.

READ ALSO:Government offers scholarships to SHS students in Denkyira Obuasi

Once you have some basic information about the existence of the scholarship, you next move would be to contact the united operator in your country. This is crucial since you need to get specific details on applying for a scholarship for the specific course you want to pursue in Russia. This correspondent will help you with all the info needed to apply for a scholarship in your interested field of study.

The number of scholarships funded by the Russian government allocated to a country depends on the relationship that Russia has with that country. This means that your country may be allocated fewer scholarships than you imagine hence speed will be of utmost importance if you want to secure one of the few opportunities availed.

Source:scholarships.gov.gh

Apart from this, some of the countries have agreements with Russia concerning the number of scholarships and fields of study. Find out who the operator for your country is. It could be the Russian embassy, a representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo or even a representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo at the Russian embassy.

After your contact with the united operator and especially when you have all the comprehensive information regarding the field of study you are interested in, your next step would be to proceed to the http://russia.study/registration to register and fill out an electronic application form. Once the application is completed you then submit it. The form should have the following details:

Your personal information which will include your name, country of residence, date of birth, contact details especially the phone number and email address. These are important since you will receive details and updates concerning the progress of the application

Indicate your current profession or field of specialization for which you are applying the scholarship. This information is subject to change as you will as long as it is before your relevant tests are done

Indicate the level of your current education status

Choose up to 6 universities that you can study at. However you need to note that you cannot choose more than three in one federal constituency. Also note that for the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg you cannot choose more than two universities in the same city. You should always indicate the university you love the most first and list the others in descending order of your preference.

You will also need a passport copy or copy of your birth certificate. If you go for the passport make sure it is valid at least 18 months from the date of your arrival in Russia.

You also need copies of education documents that can prove your current education level is what it says it is.

Source:Wasatch Academy

Your fourth move will then be to go back and wait for an invitation to take part in the selection process. This entails going through interviews, examinations and tests. You can get the schedule of the test, interviews and exams directly on your email or have it posted on the operators website. This depends on the country that you are applying from. These tests are organized by a group that works to ensure that all participants and scores are availed for all to see once the test has been done.

Check your name in the list of the candidates that took the test. This information will be posted on the official website of the united operator or could be sent on email. This is however subject to confirmation. You can always check with your countrys operator. If you are a successful applicant that does not understand Russian to a degree that is useful for classes you will have to be signed up for preparatory classes. These classes take a whole year where students learn Russian and other basic subjects relevant to the field of study they are interested in. If you pass your exam at the end of the class then you earn a right to proceed with your studies in the field of your choice. Students that fail at this will automatically lose their right to the sponsorship and as such free tuition.

In case you feature in the list of candidates you should work on preparing more documents. These include a doctors certificate which will in turn clear you of any medical issues that could stand in your way of being accepted in any Russian university. You will also need copies of all the documents listed on the Rossotrudnichestvo. Website. You can choose to attach the needed documents to the electronic form or take them physically to the operator in your country. This information will reach the head office in Moscow after which it goes to the ministry of education which will then add it to the Russia-edu.ru website. The students that complete their registration successfully will receive an ID that allows them to access the information from the site. This is useful as it enables easy tracking of the application status.

The final step will be to wait for the notification or letter that confirms your acceptance to a university in Russia. This confirmation of enrollment will contain all the other useful steps you need to follow to complete the process. This information will be relayed to you by a representative of the united operator in your country. You need to note that you may be asked to sit for additional examinations in the respective universities especially when taking up certain causes such as arts and humanities. These tests are to measure how creative you can be. The university will decide whether to accept the candidate or not based on the additional examination contest.

READ ALSO:Cheap Universities in Canada 2018

The procedure described above works even for the undergraduate scholarship Russia. If you are looking into the possibility of getting a scholarship for Ghanaian students to study in Russia then you need to equip yourself with the knowledge that you need early enough. It is possible that you pursue your dream course without having to pay a cent towards your education. As long as you are bright and aggressive, you are going to secure a scholarship for yourself.

Source:Planet Scholarship

Scholarships in Russia for African students

Russia has advanced technology when it comes to different industries which makes it one of the best destinations for academic excellence. The government of Russia recognized the resources its educational institutions have that it has worked around having certain international students come into these institutions for learning. African students features among the list of international students whose opportunities are spared. All you have to do to gain admission to any of the universities that you have researched in Russia is to follow the appropriate procedure.

Remember that you have to fill the Russia study application form is you are to study in Russia for free. You first have to be accepted which means that you will have to undergo a series of tests which when qualified will guarantee acceptance into the university that you prefer. Not to be fooled though, these opportunities are highly competitive and sought after that only the best will get through. You can be smart in your field but a simple Russian language scholarships test will disqualify you. The secret therefore is to ensure that you put in your best and stick to the relevant advice that you will be given by the scholarship representatives in your country.

READ ALSO:Scholarships in Ghana 2018

When you note that there are thousands fighting to get one of the limited slots that you are applying for then you will definitely bring your A game. Approach the process with caution. Take up supplementary lessons if you have to especially to enhance your basic Russian language. Even if you pass in all other tests and interviews and fail at the language test, your scholarship will be dropped and awarded to someone else.

You need to be extra cautious and keep following up on the progress of the application once you get though the tests successfully. You may be surprised when your dream to study abroad without paying a cent comes through. You can enroll for any level of education from undergraduate to Phd level since they are all available for international students under the Russian governments scholarship program. Do not let this one pass you by when the procedure of applying for scholarship in Russia has been broken down for you.

Source: Yen.com.gh
Ghana International School fees is what some would call affordable, given the resources and exposure your child gets throughout his or her education life. The school has been accredited by two international bodies that is, Council of International Schools (CIS) and New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NAESC). Ghana International School (GIS) is one of Ghanas international school that caters for the needs of students right from infant studies up to upper secondary. Boasting a position among the best international schools in Ghana, GIS offers quality services whose assessment meets the international standards. It offers both IGCSE and GCE examinations, giving their students a better chance to fit into international curriculum.

Source:ghanaschool-riyadh.com

Ghana International School offers services for infant school to children aged 3-6, junior school for students aged 7-10, lower secondary 11-13, and upper-secondary for students of age 14-17 years old. The school offers a holistic education that approaches students needs with much seriousness and fun to promote interest among students, which creates a good study mood for all. GIS is a non-profit day school that accommodates students of all race and backgrounds in Ghana, and follows the English National Curriculum.

Ghana International School has various departments, which ensures the normal functioning of the institution. Some of these departments include, the library department, administrative, subject, counseling, English as a second language (ESL), and the resource department. All these departments work independent of each other but in coordination to ensure there is seamless flow in the management of the institution. The school is managed by a board of directors who oversee the normal functioning of the institution ensuring that everything runs as is supposed to.

The school is supplied with all the right amenities that encourage students to find more about themselves and where their strengths and weaknesses lie. All the necessary facilities are available for every level of the learning curve with primary level having their own assembly hall while the secondary school having a fully equipped laboratory. Some of the common facilities shared across the school include film room, amphitheater, swimming pool and obviously the sporting facilities. Students at GIS get to engage in various activities that engages their physical being and their minds, allowing them to be better in their studies and more productive.

Ghana International School tuition fees

The biggest concern for any parent or guardian other than the quality of education in an institution is the school fee. Ghana International School Accra is one of the best international schools in Ghana, admitting both the local and international students. For a school with the motto, 'understanding each other', it is quite impossible to imagine anything would go wrong. To top it up, GIS is not in the education business to create wealth.

Source:gis.edu.gh

Ghana International School fees is mainly determined by the nationality of a students guardian, who claims the responsibility of catering for the students fees. With this in mind, it should be understood that GIS has classified her fees into three main classes or categories; that is, Ghanaian fee, Diplomat fee, and long term expatriate fee. The reason of categorizing fee payment into these classes is to determine the mode of payment by each parent, and currency to be used during the transaction. Below is a breakdown of the three fee classes:

Diplomat fee- the payment of fee in this class is expected to be in hard currency. The currency to be used are U.S dollar or the sterling pound. Money should be transferred to the GIS account or paid through cheque.

Ghanaian fee  this fee payment class is customized for the locals who prefer to pay GIS fee using Ghana Cedi. They payment could be made through bank transfer or cheque drawn on foreign currency accounts with local/ foreign banks.

Long term expatriate fee  in this class of payment, the fee should be paid either in cedi or hard currency, that is $U.S or sterling pound, through cash, bank transfers or cheque drawn on foreign currency accounts with local/ foreign banks.

In addition to this, there is also an advanced payment of fees category, which should be made exclusively on foreign currency.

Below is a detailed table showing admission and tuition fees of Ghana International School students. Guardians and parents should note that all the figures are in U.S dollar.

Tuition fee per term (USD) Admission fee

U.S.D paid once

Fee category Primary Secondary sixth form

Ghanaian 1,930 2,900 3,200 6,000

Long-term expatriate 2,625 3,745 4,035 6,500

Short-term expatriate/Diplomat 3,746 4,855 5,170 7,000

READ ALSO: The top 10 most expensive schools in Ghana and how much they charge

With the table above, parents and guardians can make correct conclusions, which will guide their financial decisions. Nonetheless, it is crucial for you to understand some minimums, set by Ghana International School.

The exchange rate to be used every time cedi equivalents are to be used, should be gotten from the schools cashier. At the submission of the filled application form, Cedi equal to the expected registration fee should be paid. Payment of admission fee is only upon gaining of admission into GIS by a student. Tuition and tutorial fee is expected to be paid by all students thrice per year; at the beginning of a new term. The cashier does not take cash. All payments, both foreign currency and cedi, should be deposited into the schools bank account. Later, the pay-in-slip, indicating the students name, should be given to the cashier, in exchange for a receipt. All parents using bank transfer as a means of payment, both local and foreign, need to forward the transfer advice, indicating the students name, to the GIS accounts office for a receipt. The parent/guardian will cater for all transaction costs. All cheque and bank drafts payments, both local and foreign, should be directed to the cashier. You should make the cheque payment to Ghana International School. It should be noted that GIS will transfer all cost associated with cheque to the parent. The details of GIS bank account should be obtained from the schools cashier.

Ghana International School vacancies

Ghana International School offers opportunity to all students. Their high quality education services, places it at a more conspicuous position with all parents seeking an opportunity for their children. With such demand, the admission process is very competitive.

Parents seeking admission for their children into GIS need to fill an online enquiry form, which is answered by head of admission. This is followed by an invitation for an informal meeting into the admissions office, for local parents, and skyping for international parents. At the end of the informal meeting or interview, the head of admission will issue the admission form if it is appropriate.

It should be noted that the admissions of Ghana International School, selectively communicates with a parent or guardian, who is legally responsible for the prospective student. In addition to this, any adult who chooses to communicate on behalf of the students parent, need to provide letter of permission or authorization from the parents, stating that the adult in question, is acting on their behalf; on their childs affairs.

Ghana International School uniform

Source:gis.edu.gh

Ghana International School students; beginning from the reception class, up to upper sixth class, is supposed to put on uniform. For primary school uniform, a plain white, short-sleeved shirt, with buttons running from top to bottom, is matched with navy blue or school grey shorts. The girls should be in nothing less than a dress vertically striped white and green.

Secondary students have their own unique set of uniform. The boys in form 1-5, wear black or grey trousers or short, accompanied by a button-down, plain white, short-sleeved shirt. Girls on the other hand put on a white blouse and a below-the-knee length skirt or a maxi skirt, stripped in color white and green.

Form 6, boy students put on black shorts or trousers and a sky blue, short-sleeved shirt while girls dress in a green and white stripped skirt, accompanied by a white blouse. Nursery students do not put on uniform.

READ ALSO: List of International Schools in Ghana 2018

Ghana International School address

Ghana International School is located in Accra Ghana. Below is their detailed address, indicating their offices, website, email address and their telephone number.

CONTACT:

Phone:

+233 (0) 302 777163, 773299

Email

prinoffice@gis.edu.gh

admissions@gis.edu.gh

School Address:

Ghana International School

P.O. Box GP 2856

Accra, Ghana

Website:

www.gis.edu.gh

Location:

2nd Circular Road, Cantonments

Accra, Ghana

Ghana International School term dates

Like any other institution, learning in Ghana International School follows term dates, which helps the school, organize its course work and deliver everything that will positively impact the student; including co-curricular and recessions. The school year is divided into three terms, that is, term 1, 2, and 3.

Below is an example of school term dates and how academic year is divided by Ghana International School, (using 2017-2018 school calendar as an example):

Term 1

Monday, 4th September 2017 to Friday, 15th December 2017

Public Holiday: Thursday, 21st September 2017 (Founders Day)

UN Day Celebrations: Friday, 20th October 2017

Half-Term Holiday: Monday, 23rd - Friday, 27th October 2017 (inclusive)

Staff Training Day: Saturday,11th November 2017

Public Holiday: Friday, 1st December 2017 (Farmers Day)

Term 2

Monday, 8th January 2018 to Thursday, 29th March 2018

Accreditation Team Visit: Saturday, 20th January- Friday 26th January 2018

Half-Term Holiday: Thursday, 22nd - Monday, 26th February 2018 (inclusive)

Staff Training Day: Thursday, 22nd February, 2018

Independence Day Holiday: Tuesday, 6th March 2018

Friday 30th March is Good Friday

Term 3

Monday 16th April 2018 to Thursday, 28th June 2018

Public Holiday: Tuesday, 1st May 2018 ( May Day)

Public Holiday: Friday, 25th May 2018 (AU Day)

Last Day of School for Students:

Islamic holiday will be communicated subject to sighting of Moon from Mecca

Due to her (GIS) performance in Ghanas education sector and the world at large, and the role, it plays in changing the society, Ghana international school review, from different players (alumni, parents and review sites), has always been positive and informative. This allows the community, both local and international make an informed choice when finding the right school for their kids.

Source: Yen
Popular Ghanaian fetish priest Nana Kwaku Bonsam has named his newborn baby girl after controversial dancehall musician, Charles Nii armah Mensah, aka Shatta Wale.

Kwaku Bonsam named his new born baby girl, Yaa Bonsam Shatta

READ ALSO: Prince Dave Osei under fire for stealing a baby to fool Ghanaians

According to Kwaku Bonsam, his decision was influenced by his love for the controversial musician and his entire music.

The traditional priest in an interview with Suncitygh.com disclosed that although his baby is a girl, he has decided to give her the name Yaa Bonsam Shatta.

To him, the name will be her daughters official document name and she will be known and identified as such.

READ ALSO: Fans cant keep calm over latest photo of Lawrence Tetteh and Vim Lady

Kwaku Bonsam and Shatta Wale are two of the most controversial personalities in Ghana, who have made headlines in the media over the years.

Though it is not clear when the friendship between the two started, Shatta Wale recently in a video showered praise on Bonsam for wishing him well in his music career.

The self-acclaimed dancehall King in a Facebook video dedicated his recently won international award to Kwaku Bonsam for predicting the win ahead of time.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Continue scamming the whites, they're frauds - Obinim gives 'more vim' to 'sakawa' boys

In the video below, the deputy education minister, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, speaks on how President Akufo-Addo inspires her, and how the president's success story must also inspire the youth of Ghana to greater heights:

Yen.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook now

Source: Yen.com.gh
The Chief Scribe of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has accused President Akufo-Addo of reducing the presidency to a family and friends affair.

According to Asiedu Nketia, widely known as General Mosquito the development is so annoying to the extent that Nana Addo is now appointing his ex-girlfriends to high positions.

Asiedu Nketia, NDC General Secretary

READ ALSO: Nigerian artistes pick inspiration from us  Stonebwoy

Speaking exclusively to 3FM in Accra, General Mosquito cited a deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana to sort of buttress his claims.

There is a current deputy governor of Bank of Ghana, that fair lady, ask her history with Nana Addo, that is his ex-girlfriend. This is a fact, put the blame on me, and let people sue me for telling them this, Asiedu Nketia alleged.

The top NDC man insisted that a substantial number of President Akufo-Addos appointees are members of his family.

We have one-third of Akufo-Addos family being government appointees. A woman was made ambassador because her major qualification is having a child with Nana Addo. This is a fact, Asiedu Nketiah claimed.

READ ALSO: Kwaku Bonsam names daughter after Shatta Wale (Photo)

The NDC General Secretary in his conversation stressed that President Akufo-Addo has resorted to doing the very thing he accused the Mahama-led administration of doing when the NPP was in opposition.

They talked about nepotism, cronyism and so on. They said Mahama was appointing too many of his family members in government and they thought that everything there in terms of contracts and others were monopolized by people close to him, Mosquito said.

Asiedu Nketia further stated that the NPP government keeps shooting itself in the foot, which is evident in decisions being made by government.

If you are in government and you want to compromise the neutrality of the institutions that are supposed to restrain your government by putting your favourite people there, in the end, you will be misled into thinking that you are helping yourself because you are rather damaging yourself and that is what is happening now, Mr Nketia said.

READ ALSO: Prince Dave Osei under fire for stealing a baby to fool Ghanaians

In the video below, the deputy education minister, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, speaks on how President Akufo-Addo inspires her, and how the president's success story must also inspire the youth of Ghana to greater heights:

Yen.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook now

Source: Yen.com.gh
- Former President Mahama has expressed sadness at the death of Winnie Mandela

- He said that Winnie Mandela served her nation and her people well

Ghana's immediate former president, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, has expressed sadness at the recent passing of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in a series of tweets on the former president's social media profiles.

Almost five years after her beloved husband and internationally renowned anti-apartheid revolutionary - Nelson Mandela - passed away, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela also gave up the ghost in the early hours of Monday morning, April , 2018.

READ ALSO: How three university graduates opened a waakye business

In a series of post on his social media pages, Former President Mahama said he was saddened to hear of Winnie Mandela's death, and that she will be remembered for her contribution in the fight to abolish apartheid.

The former president also touched on the time her in her home in Soweto, and that Ghanaians will join in solidarity with South Africans, and other freedom fighters, to mourn her.

Checkout former president Mahama's posts below:

Pay attention: Get all the latest news on the go with YEN NEWS Android app

Though hailed as the mother of the nation and a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle, Winnie Mandela became somewhat mired in controversy in the latter part of her life.

She was found guilty of kidnapping and sentenced to six years, although the sentence was later reduced to a fine due to her adamant denial of the charges. She was also later convicted of fraud in 2003.

Also checkout a YEN's short video of interview of the Deputy Education Minister, Barbara Asher Ayisi, who spoke about how President Nana Akufo-Addo has inspired her life:

READ ALSO: Armed men seize a patrol car after beating up police officers

Do you have any story to share with YEN? Get featured! We are available on Facebook and Instagram

Source: Yen
Some social media users have taken to social media platform, Twitter, to mock self-acclaimed Ghanaian Bishop, Daniel Obinim for introducing his latest invention to the Christian faith, the Obinim Sticker.

Some audio recording circulating on various Whatsapp platforms captures some members of Bishop Obinims church giving some wired testimonies of how the controversial sticker is changing their lives.

Daniel Obinim

READ ALSO: Shatta Wale launches fresh attacks on Samini, Stonebwoy and Yaa Pono

However, some social media users who find some of the testimonies from the church members ridiculous, took to social media to launch what is now known as the #ObinimStickerChallenge in rather hilarious comments.

See some of the #ObinimStickerChallenge chanced upon by Yen.com.gh below:

Someone decided to use Becca as inspiration...

Even a prospective Class Prefect needs the intercession of Angel Obinim

READ ALSO: Over 50 Ghanaian 'Journalists' face deportation in Australia

A bowl of miraculous Waakye...

We have heard of the water to wine miracle, but an empty bottle to a filled bottle? Amazing!

Ghana's 'favorite' foreign diplomat had to chime in...

Something for the football fans...

It seems the sticker didn't work here...

Glow up game so good thanks to Angel Obinim's sticker

A whole feast comes alive with the power of the Obinim sticker..

When you can't have the cinema experience in real time so you go for Obinim's sticker to give you the dream version...

In the video below, the deputy education minister, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, speaks on how President Akufo-Addo inspires her, and how the president's success story must also inspire the youth of Ghana to greater heights:

Yen.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook now

Source: Yen
Ghanaians woke up morning to hear of a military agreement reached with the United States of America.

Rumours about the establishment of a military base in the country sparked debates among a cross-section of Ghanaians.

Among the several issues of concern is the alleged silence of President Akufo-Addo on the matter, considering his status as the first gentleman of the land.

YEN.com.gh brings to you 5 reasons why his silence is a reason for concern for Ghanaians:

1. Rumours surrounding the leaked documents:

Reports of the leaked details of the agreement generated a lot of talk, with some wondering if it is safe to move about in the country. Parts of the report allegedly give American soldiers a number of rights, a situation that is quite unsettling for Ghanaians.

2. Statements from the some government officials and the US embassy

In the heat of the moment, some government officials allegedly denied plans to establish a military base in Ghana. The US Embassy is also reported released a brief statement and referred all questions to the government of Ghana.

3. Public outcry

Knowledge of alleged plans of the presence of American soldiers in Ghana was met with wild reactions from a cross-section of Ghanaians. This was translated into worrying comments on several platforms such as radio, television and social media.

4. Demonstrations

Some Ghanaians thronged the premises of Parliament to protest the passage of the bill laid before the house. On March 28, 2018, another demonstration was organized by some Ghanaians to protest the passage of the agreement.

5. Uncertainty about the terms of the deal

Till today, the average Ghanaians is at a loss, with respect to the exact terms of the deal. This could manifest itself into a bigger challenge as questions outnumber answers with each passing day.

READ ALSO: Armed men seize patrol car from policemen for robbery operations

In the video below, the deputy education minister, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, speaks on how President Akufo-Addo inspires her, and how the president's success story must also inspire the youth of Ghana to greater heights.

We are looking for unique stories and photos about developments happening in your area. Get in touch with YEN on Facebook or Instagram

Source: Yen Ghana
Policing across the world is a very essential part of every countrys security setup and is usually treated with the most care or at least, it is supposed to be.

However, around 11:31PM on April 1, the Ghanaian Twittersphere was left in utter shock as news spread of how a local police force was using catapult to apprehend a thief.

The tree in which the suspected criminal was reportedly hiding.

READ ALSO: Countryman Songo joins Zylofon Media?

In what seemed like an April Fools Day prank, a user of the social network, @Spino_OnipSgh posted a photoset with the caption Thief for labone coffee shop, he dey hide for tree top. The police dey use catapult.

In the attached pictures, a man dressed in the Ghanaian police uniform is shown drawing on a local catapult as another man shone a torchlight up a tree.

A subsequent tweet from the same user showed the police apprehended the suspected thief, whisking him away in the trunk of a pickup truck.

The suspected criminal being whisked away in a truck by the Ghana Police Twitter / N'abania

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However, the irony of the situation was not lost on Ghanaians as the tweet has since started catching flames garnering over 171 Retweets and 74 Likes at the time of going to publication.

Other social users have commented on the issue, with one asking the crucial question; Lmaoo the catapult wey hit am den he fall or he naa drop?.

Another user, who couldnt help but show his admiration for the police force, tweeted, Ghana Police just dey form ! Catapult paaaa.

READ ALSO: Three drown at Tawala beach on Good Friday

Is the Ghana Police Service under resourced?

Earlier in the year, President of Policy Think Tank IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe expressed concerns over the logistical challenges faced by the Ghana Police Service, saying the situation is hindering its efforts at providing adequate security in the country.READ ALSO: Police arrest two medical officers over injection deaths

While speaking on the Accra-based radio station, Citi FM on the attack at the Kwabenya District Police Headquarters which led to the killing of a police officer on duty and the freeing of seven inmates, he stated that The Police Service is in such a decrepit state and I am appalledThe armory the Police Service has are Second World War type armory.

In the video below, the deputy education minister, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, speaks on how President Akufo-Addo inspires her, and how the president's success story must also inspire the youth of Ghana to greater heights.

READ ALSO: Efia Odo steps out in hot bikini for Easter

Send us a message via our official Facebook or Instagram page to get it published on YEN.com.gh

Source: Yen
Dancehall musician, Samini, has joined the growing list of Ghanaian celebrities who are venturing into farming.

The High Grade Family boss is now into large-scale onion farming.

In a video Samini shared on social media, some farm workers are seen sorting through what looked like a bumper harvest of onions.

Samini

"#highgradefarms .... #farming #agriculture is the future.. one seed at a time, one grain at a time, one acre at a time and before you know you are feeding the world. My onions," Samini captioned the video.

READ ALSO: Husband takes action after finding out 4 of his 6 children are not his

Samini is the third popular celebrity to have ventured into farming in recent times.

While rapper Trigmatic started a rice plantation somewhere in 2017, actor John Dumelo has a cattle ranch.

Immediately Samini shared the news his followers took to social media to congratulate him.

READ ALSO: Sarkodie finally breaks silence on his Easter Monday accident

@iamaquagh said "Wow, well done bro. HGF farms for real. God bless you"

@stephen_prima also said"@samini_dagaati you do all.. No size #HighGradeFarms In the making "

@vanillameco admired the onions saying "Those are really good looking ones"

@bo_manjo saw Samini's ability to deliver good things "Feeding us with good music and also creating job for the people"

In the video below, the deputy education minister, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, speaks on how President Akufo-Addo inspires her, and how the president's success story must also inspire the youth of Ghana to greater heights:

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs.

Get interactive via our Facebook page

Source: Yen
- GAF spokesperson says no one can "push" anyone into the Ghana Armed Forces

- He says recruitment into the GAF is and will continue to be by merit

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), via its Public Relations Officer, Colonel Aggrey Quarshie, has responded to The Member of Parliament (MP), For the Assin Central, Mr. Kennedy Agyapong, over his allegations of protocol precedence during recruitment.

According to Colonel Aggrey Quarshie, recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces has always been by merit, and will continue to be just that.

READ ALSO: Koku Anyidoho's lawyer says NDC Depputy General Secretary has not been charged

The high ranking army official went on to say that the people wrongly think that paying someone will help them get into the Ghana Armed Forces.

People think that if I pay money to somebody I can get myself in there. If all your documentation is correct you stand an equal chance like any other person to be picked, He said.

Speaking on Kumasi-based Ultimate FM, Colonel Aggrey Quarshie said there is no chance for anyone to "push" people into the Ghana Armed Forces

People make these statements because they have the right to say whatever they want to say but we are also focusing on our process. ..There is no way anybody will be recruited by unfair means, he said.

Also checkout a YEN's short video of interview of the Deputy Education Minister, Barbara Asher Ayisi, who spoke about how President Nana Akufo-Addo has inspired her life:

READ ALSO: Men with erectile dysfunction may be gay

Do you have any story to share with YEN? Get featured! We are available on Facebook and Instagram

Source: Yen
- Sarkodie was involved in an accident on Easter Monday

- He was on his way to Agogo in the Ashanti Region for Amakye Dedes Easter concert

- Sakordie has spoken, thanking God for keeping him safe

Ghanaian Highest rapper, Sarkodie, has finally opened up on his near-fatal Easter Monday accident.

Sarkodie enjoying fatherhood with his baby Titi

READ ALSO: I got the meaning of Shatta in my dream  Shatta Wale

Sakodie was reportedly on his way to Agogo in the Ashanti Region to support his father and mentor, Amakye Dede in his Easter Concert.

But on the way Sarkodie and his entourage were involved in accident on the Accra-Kumasi Highway.

Fortunately, no one was injured and no fatalities were recorded.

READ ALSO: Sarkodie involved in accident

The accident, however, that did not stop the multiple-award winning artiste from putting up a splendid performance at the event.

In his latest post sighted by YEN.com.gh, Sakordie has broken silence on the accident.

To him, the accident was a big negative for him on that day, but that did not stop him from entertaining the audience at Agogo.

He also thanked God for saving his life, and asked for more protection and blessings for himself and his fans.

READ ALSO: Ebony's response to her managers when they asked her about her 17 tattoos

The You go kill me hit maker posted on Twitter: Last night was pure madness with the people of Agogo ... Day didn't start too well but one energy I try never to entertain is the "Negative" One..You should too God keep us all Safe.. I Love all of you.

By his post, Sakordie reveals that he does not allow negative happenings around him and his life to keep him down.

Therefore, despite the big hurdle that occurred on Monday, he still managed to put up his best at the Agogo Easter Concert.

Sarkodie, born Michael Owusu Addo, is one of Ghanas biggest brand in music, and has so many songs to his credit.

READ ALSO: Tragedy: Man falls off tall cross in acting like Jesus on Good Friday in new video

In the video below, the deputy education minister, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, speaks on how President Akufo-Addo inspires her, and how the president's success story must also inspire the youth of Ghana to greater heights.

READ ALSO: Dr. Lawrence Tettehs latest photo with Vim Lady has tongues wagging on social media

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition?

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page

Source: Yen
- Kweku Baako has hinted that President Akufo-Addo will speak on the controversial Ghana-US military deal soon

- According to Kweku Baako, the president's decision to address Ghanaians is to put the controversy surrounding the deal to rest

- Mr Baako made the revelation during a radio interview on Tuesday

President Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to speak on the controversial Ghana-US defence cooperation agreement within this week, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr has revealed.

According to Mr Baako, President Akufo-Addo has finally decided speak on the issue in order to put the matter to rest and he [Akufo-Addo] has selected this week to do so.

President Nana Akufo-Addo

"There is this talk that the President must speak. Last week the President took a decision to speak on the matter this week. Lets hear him and when we do, we have more to discuss, he disclosed on Asempa FM's Ekosii Sen on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: Husband takes action after finding out 4 of his 6 children are not his

The veteran journalist made the revelation while reacting to NDC MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa's recent call for government to renegotiate the Ghana-US defence cooperation agreement that has received widespread criticism from the public.

In an open letter, Mr. Ablakwa said the Presidents silence on the matter was unlike him as he is known to be very vocal.

"The high-handed and dramatic arrest of Koku Anyidoho and the change of name of the Flagstaff House to Jubilee House have so far not worked according to plan as the government tries to divert attention from the matter," the North Tongu MP stated.

READ ALSO: Prophet Nigel is my junior; he cant beat me to prophecies  Owusu Bempah

But Mr Baako expressed optimism that the matter [US military deal] will be put to rest after President Akufo-Addo's address.

In the video below, the deputy education minister, Mrs Barbara Ayisi, speaks on how President Akufo-Addo inspires her, and how the president's success story must also inspire the youth of Ghana to greater heights:

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition?

Your stories and photos are always welcome.

Get interactive via our Facebook page

Source: Yen
Education Reporter

Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe.
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 "Racial Equity in Algorithmic Criminal Justice" | Main | AEDPA accelerant: examining prospects for speedier capital appeals for "opt-in" states 

April 3, 2018

A window into carceral concerns in incarceration nation: "build another prison" to deal with "loss of coal work"

A helpful reader sent me this AP story headlined "Federal prison project in Kentucky wins final approval," which highlights how the building of cages gets celebrated as a form of economic development (using federal tax dollars). Here are excerpts from the piece:

Federal officials have approved a long-discussed plan to build another prison in eastern Kentucky, sealing a deal to bring hundreds of jobs to an area hard hit by the loss of coal work. U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers said he was notified Friday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the Letcher County project had cleared a final hurdle with federal prisons officials. The Republican congressman said the project will be a "long-term economic shot in the arm" for the region. "With funding in place and the completion of environmental studies, today's announcement is a tremendous milestone for Letcher County and the surrounding area," Rogers said Friday.... The prison is expected to have 300 to 400 employees, Rogers said. A 700-acre site on reclaimed mine land in Roxana was selected for the facility by federal officials.... The announcement comes as the area's economy has been reeling from a big downturn in the coal sector. "We certainly need the job growth around here since the coal industry has dried up," Letcher County Jailer Don McCall said Saturday in praising the announcement. "I think it's going to be a real economic boost for our little area."... It could take four to five years to build the prison, but an estimated 1,000 or more construction jobs will provide a quick boost for the area's economy, Letcher County Judge-Executive Jim Ward told the Lexington Herald-Leader. The prison project had drawn resistance from some local residents uncomfortable about connecting the county's economy to a prison. Rogers was the driving force behind landing federal money for the project. He secured an initial $5 million in the federal budget in 2006 to search for potential sites. The veteran congressman steered nearly $500 million needed to build the prison while he was the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. The Letcher County project marks the fourth prison that Rogers had helped bring to his district during his time in Congress. The others are in McCreary, Martin and Clay counties.

UPDATE: A helpful reader made sure I saw this terrific lengthy NBC News piece from last week covering this same story under the headline "DOES AMERICA NEED ANOTHER PRISON?" Here is an excerpt from a piece that merits a full read:

Around the country, impoverished rural communities have pursued prisons in the hope that they will deliver them from economic hardship. This began three decades ago, when Americas rush to imprison coincided with the loss of farms, factories and other traditional sources of work that bolstered rural life. The need hasnt diminished, as rural America still seeks a path out of the Great Recession. But the exchange of land is no longer as promising what it once was. As incarceration rates have fallen, and the country re-evaluates whether locking people up is sound criminal justice policy, many states are closing prisons, forcing rural towns that invested their futures in bars and barbed wire to find new uses for the buildings, as well as new economic engines. Letcher County, with 22,700 people in the southern Appalachian Mountains, appears stuck with no other solution. In much of rural America we get our identity from what we used to do: We used to be miners, farmers, loggers, we used to work at the plant. And as that work goes away, we want to feel like were part of the American story and were making a contribution, said Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies, a nonprofit based in Whitesburg that advocates for rural communities. Politicians have just a few arrows in their quiver, and one of them is prisons, which, whether they work or not, they seem like theyre a big deal. Its the one thing they give to rural.

April 3, 2018 at 12:57 AM | Permalink

Comments

Thanks for highlighting this Doug. Not only is this perverse from an economic point of view, from a political point of view it creates one political interest group opposed to criminal justice reform. Ok, corrections unions have been opposed to CJ reform for some time but this just strengthens their hands.

"The Letcher County project marks the fourth prison that Rogers had helped bring to his district during his time in Congress. The others are in McCreary, Martin and Clay counties."

This is smart and nefarious. It is clearly designed to lock down his district to incarceration nation. It doesn't matter who represents the district in the future they will never vote for something that costs them jobs.

Posted by: Sigh | Apr 3, 2018 12:39:37 PM

I was told 10 years ago by a Nigerian immigrant guard in county jail that it's common knowledge that the only growth industry for jobs in America is prison guard.

10 years ago. Nothing has changed. Nothing will change until this punishment psychosis in America is killed dead.

Posted by: restless94110 | Apr 3, 2018 2:18:05 PM

The Nigerian immigrant was wrong - https://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_104.htm

Posted by: atomicfrog | Apr 3, 2018 3:57:57 PM

So the givernment js now providing employment for Eastern Kentucky. Problem is, this hell hole will be have to get filled, which fits into Trumps and Sessions policies.

Posted by: MidWestGuy | Apr 3, 2018 4:14:00 PM

With any new prison, there are two questions: 1) do we need to build a new prison (either to get more beds or to replace an older non-functional facility); and 2) where do we put it.

The purpose for building the facility is not to replace coal jobs. However, from the point of view of potential communities willing to be the site of a new prison, the loss of a significant number of coal jobs (or any other major employer going out of business) is a motivating factor. It's easy for those who live in or near major cities to see a new prison as a sign of what's going wrong in the criminal justice system. But for places like Letcher County, it's a lifeline.

Take a quick look at Letcher County on google. 24,000 people located over an hour from the nearest interstate. If not a government facility, who else is going to place a major facility that far off the interstate and that far away from a major city in that small a community. While some of the other new prisons in this district are going to counties slightly closer to the interstate, Letcher County seems to be on the high end population-wise. And within government facilities, most other government facilities are going to more populated areas.

Posted by: tmm | Apr 3, 2018 4:15:47 PM

Guards will be paid $50,000. They will prevent $2 million in damage from the crimes of each felon, each year. There will be additional returns from these felons not spawning baby criminals with single mothers. They are more productive than Apple employees.

Posted by: David Behar | Apr 3, 2018 6:46:04 PM

@tmm

Right. I hope I did not come across as poor person bashing because that was not my intent. What to do about jobs in rural America is a serious problem that demands far more attention than it is getting from our elites. But just because rural poverty is a problem doesn't mean that the best way to lift up the poor is through the immiseration of others, which is what prison are.

Politicians have just a few arrows in their quiver, and one of them is prisons,"

That is nonsense and the underlying problem. There are lots of creative solutions out there. Prisons are the low hanging fruit.

Posted by: Sigh | Apr 3, 2018 8:20:42 PM

Even more curious is the fact that the DOJ's 2019 Budget Request called for the elimination of the construction of this facility as "unnecessary." But it becomes less curious when you consider that Mitch McConnell is from KY.

Posted by: john Webster | Apr 4, 2018 1:09:02 PM

Sigh, I just know that the last time that my state built prisons, almost 20 years ago, many of the communities that bid for the prison resembled these four counties in Kentucky -- small rural counties having to deal with the fact that even farming is more automated than it used to be. When the old employers are laying off people, any new employer is a good thing -- whether a prison, a mental health facility, chicken processing, etc.

In this case, I think -- while the politician in question probably believes that more prisons are a good thing -- that his main goal is to get whatever bacon he can for his district and he has an easier time persuading his colleagues to fund new prisons in his district than some other government program or facility.

Posted by: tmm | Apr 4, 2018 2:32:35 PM

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The President expressed his delight that leaders of the two countries have visited each other regularly, helping to unceasingly strengthen and develop the bilateral traditional friendship.



The two countries have paid heed to intensifying defence-security cooperation, especially defence industry, logistics and military medicines while speeding up negotiations on an agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons and an agreement on mutual protection and exchange of information, he said.



He also noted the two sides maintenance of political consultations at deputy ministerial and department levels of the two foreign ministries and their sharing of information and experience relating to cooperation with other countries.



He emphasised the progresses the two countries have achieved in their economic, trade and investment partnership, and expressed his hope that Mongolia will make it easy for Vietnam to increase its export of farm and aquatic products, processed food, consumer commodities, machinery and home appliances to the country while Mongolia could ship processed meat, textile and garment materials, minerals, and footwear to Vietnam.



The President suggested the two countries step up political dialogues at all levels and boost people-to-people, cultural, educational, artistic, and sport exchanges to further promote mutual understanding; organize market research tours for businesses; and enhance cooperation in energy, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals and medicines.



Regarding regional and international issues, he suggested the two sides continue coordinating at multilateral forums, like the UN, ASEM, ARF, and more, affirming Vietnams readiness to support Mongolias connection with other ASEAN member countries.



The Mongolian guest briefed President Quang on the outcomes of his talks with Minister of Public Security To Lam, stressing that Mongolia wants to have stronger cooperation with Vietnam in national security.



He expressed his belief that in 2018, the two countries will sign the agreements that were discussed and reach consensus on the safeguard of national security.



Built on the traditional friendship, mutual trust and understanding, Mongolia wants to boost its economic and trade ties with Vietnam to bring the bilateral ties to a new height, he said.



On the occasion, he conveyed the invitation to visit Mongolia from President Khaltmaa Battulga, who is Chairman of the National Security Council of Mongolia to his host. President Quang accepted the invitation and then asked the Secretary to relay his invitation to visit Vietnam to President Khaltmaa Battulga.

Vietnamplus
[April 02, 2018] Nerdio Earns 5-Star Rating in CRN's 2018 Partner Program Guide CHICAGO, April 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nerdio, a pioneer in cloud IT automation, announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has given Nerdio a 5-Star rating in its 2018 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide is the definitive listing of partner programs from technology vendors that provide products and services through the IT channel. The 5-Star Partner Program Guide rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

To determine the 2018 5-Star ratings, The Channel Companys research team assessed each vendors partner program based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support and communication. Nerdios Partner Program is expressly designed to give cloud service providers (CSPs) a low-cost, accelerated path to maximizing revenue opportunities in an explosive-growth market, and alleviate the challenges they face in todays market of lower margins, higher operating costs, and increasingly demanding clients. By standardizing IT into neatly packaged offerings, Nerdio empowers its partners to rapidly enter the advanced cloud services market, move prospects off the dime, and deploy to customers from day one. In addition to healthy margins, Nerdio offers its partners a custmized array of marketing and sales support services so they can maximize their competitive edge. Each Nerdio partner works with a dedicated partner manager to devise a personalized strategy for growing their business, hand-tailored to their individual needs and at no extra cost to them. This includes components such as lead generation, email marketing, co-branded collateral, joint webinars, go-to-market strategic counseling, and much more. Nerdio partners also get exclusive access to the Nerdio Partner Portal, which has deal registration functionality along with a variety of ready-made marketing and sales collateral.

Finding the right technology vendor to partner with can be a daunting task, given the vast array of choices now available to solution providers, said Robert Faletra, Executive Chairman of The Channel Company. CRNs Partner Program Guide and 5-Star ratings help them narrow the field and find the best fit, identifying the most rewarding partner programs and providing crucial insight into their strengths and benefits. We are pleased to present our 2018 PPG list, recognizing the strongest and most successful partner programs in the channel today. Were delighted to receive this prestigious designation from CRN, and appreciate their recognition of our unwavering commitment to our partners, said Paul Guerin, Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Nerdio. Weve been laser-focused on helping our partners maximize recurring revenue opportunities and accelerate their business by addressing their real needs through a combination of technology and much-needed marketing and sales support. The 2018 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/ppg. About Nerdio

Nerdio, a pioneer in cloud IT automation, enables completely virtual IT environments for small-to-medium sized organizations and the CSPs who serve them. Nerdio for Azure is the first IT automation technology that delivers easy provisioning, management, and optimization on the Microsoft Cloud. Nerdio for Private Cloud delivers virtual desktop-centric comprehensive IT infrastructure  including virtual hardware, software, security, and BDR. Adar Inc., creator of Nerdio, was founded in 2005. About the Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Contact:

Vanessa Koo

Pulp PR

vanessa@pulppr.com



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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on April 3, 2018

2018/04/03

Q: DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho has arrived in Beijing today. Will there be any meetings with him?

A: Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho is making a stopover in Beijing. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet with him. We will release relevant information regarding their meeting in due course.

Q: Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister said that the British side spread lies and misinformation about the Skripal incident to distract public attention from the talks to exit the EU. The Russian side has previously decided to expel diplomats from the UK and the US. What is your comment?

A: We know that the relevant parties have yet to reach a conclusion on the Skripal incident that all sides find acceptable, and in response to the collective actions by some countries and organizations to expel Russian diplomats, the Russian side has taken countermeasures accordingly.

China maintains that the relevant parties shall sort out the facts behind the Skripal incident at an early date and properly resolve disputes based on mutual respect and equal-footed consultation. The international community is challenged on so many fronts today. Cold War mentality and group confrontation is the last thing we need. We should all work together to preserve world peace, stability and security and build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, equality, justice and win-win cooperation.

Q: First, Russia says it was denied access to the investigation on this case. I wonder whether China believes that Russia should be granted access to the investigation? Second, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is starting his visit to Russia tomorrow on the backdrop of this issue and diplomatic tensions between Russia and Western countries. I wonder what will be his message to the Russian government over this issue?

A: Regarding your first question, I just said that the relevant parties have yet to reach a conclusion acceptable to all. China maintains that the relevant parties shall sort out the facts behind the Skripal incident at an early date and properly resolve disputes based on mutual respect and equal-footed consultation.

Regarding State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Russia, my colleague responded to similar questions last week. The visit will showcase the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination under the new circumstances. State Councilor Wang Yi will meet with President Putin and hold talks with Foreign Minister Lavrov. They will exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern.

Q: China has decided to suspend its tariff concessions on 128 imports of US products on April 2. Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said in response to the US Section 301 investigation that China will strongly fight back with the same scale, amount, and strength, should the US announce its list. Are the two sides working to resolve the issue to avoid an escalation and head off any damage to China-US trade relations?

A: The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced on April 1 to suspend tariff concessions on some US imports. This measure is a response to the US Section 232 measures which increase tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and aims to offset losses incurred by the Section 232 measures. You should understand that it is a response to the Section 232 measures, not to the Section 301 investigation.

We keep reiterating that China won't initiate a trade war, and a trade war is the last thing we want. However, we will not be afraid of it. If someone is bent on waging it and even closing in on our doorstep, then we will keep them company and let's see who last to the end. China has the determination and capability to take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests. They may have their list, but we also have our own.

Another thing we keep stressing is that our door to negotiation is always open. We want to resolve trade disputes and properly deal with the relevant issues with the US side through dialogue and consultation, and we want to do that based on international law and trade rules, not on some domestic laws of the US. We want to do it while bearing in mind mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual understanding and give-and-take, instead of one party condescendingly threatening another with senseless and unreasonable demands.

We hope that the US side could remain level-headed and get a clear grasp of the situation here. It should listen to its business community and ordinary people and renounce its unilateralism and trade protectionism sooner rather than later. For the benefit of the people in our two countries, the US needs to work with China to settle the disputes and ensure the sound and steady development of China-US trade ties.

Q: According to reports, Japan recently announced that it is centralizing command of its army. This is the first time for Japan to take such kind of move after the Second World War. Explaining the move, the Japanese side said that they are expecting more situations where they will need to make coordinated response to ballistic missile launches and attacks on Japan's territory. What is China's comment on the implication that there is a heightened possibility of Chinese attacks on Japan's territory and the DPRK's missile launches?

A: Did you just say that China may attack Japan? Is this what the Japanese side said?

Q: Japan didn't specify China, but they said that there might be more ballistic missile launches and more attacks on the Japanese territory. This is how analysts interpret it regarding the DPRK. What is your response?

A: We all noted that recently there have been some positive signs with regard to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, thanks to the positive interactions between relevant parties. Some outcomes have been achieved as a result of the efforts made by relevant parties, including the US. The Japanese side may have felt left out during this process.

Recently, the Japanese side made some claims, saying that the DPRK is probably preparing for new nuclear tests and more ballistic missile launches. They succeeded in drawing some attention to themselves by sounding these alarms.

But when it comes to the clear and firm determination and resolve of the international community on promoting denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and comprehensively and fully implementing the DPRK-related resolutions of the UN Security Council, Japan has nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile, we also hope that all relevant parties can seize the opportunity of the moment and work together to improve the Korean Peninsula situation and bring the Korean Peninsula issue back to the right track of settlement through dialogue and consultation. Let's hope that while we are all making efforts to achieve something, no one is trying to bog us down.

Q: On April 2 local time, Egypt's national election commission announced that incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi won the 2018 presidential election. What is your comment? How do you view the prospect of China-Egypt relations?

A: China warmly congratulates President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on his reelection. President Xi Jinping has sent congratulatory message to him. We support the choice of the Egyptian people and hope that under the leadership of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian people can score more prominent achievements in exploring a development path suited to their national conditions.

In recent years, China-Egypt relations have experienced rapid development under the care and direct involvement of the two heads of state. China is willing to work with Egypt to sustain and strengthen this sound momentum, step up efforts to conduct exchanges and cooperation in various areas, and elevate our comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.
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.
When people find out I am a journalist covering the restaurant industry for SFGN one of the first questions they ask me is, Why are there so many Thai restaurants in Wilton Manors?

The answer is, Why not? There are more than 100 Thai restaurants in South Florida, so three in our town is not that surprising. Thai cuisine is one of the most popular ethnic foods in the U.S. A survey by the Kellogg School of Management in 2003 showed that Thai cuisine ranked fourth when people were asked to name an ethnic cuisine, after Italian, French, and Chinese cuisine.

The first Thai restaurant in Broward County, Wilton Manors own Siam Cuisine, opened in 1979 when Wilton Manors was decidedly less gentrified than it is now. The restaurant was opened by brother and sister team Sam and Patty Suwanpiboon, who grew up in Bangkok, Thailand where their mother owned a restaurant. Sam moved to New York in 1969, where he studied cooking and hotel and restaurant management. Patty, a cook in Thailand, joined him in 1972. The success of their restaurant encouraged other Thai immigrants to open restaurants nearby, so thats the solution to that mystery.

Sam and Patty were like a lot of Thai immigrants who came to the U.S. following the Vietnam War, in which Thailand was an ally of the U.S. and South Vietnam. Records show that in the decade between 1960 and 1970, some 5,000 Thai people immigrated to the United States. In the following decade, the number increased to 44,000. From 1981 to 1990, approximately 64,400 Thai citizens moved to the United States.

The Thai population has been growing rapidly in South Florida  having more than doubled since the 1990 census. Now, an estimated 3,000 Thai-Americans live in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

"The area is popular because the weather and geography is very similar to Thailand," said Khanya Moolsiri, founder of the Thai-American Association of South Florida.

Thai meals typically consist of rice with many complementary dishes shared by all. The dishes are all served at the same time, including the soups, and it is also customary to provide more dishes than there are guests at a table. Dishes should form a harmonious contrast of flavors and textures as well as preparation methods. Traditionally, a meal would have at least five elements: a dip or relish for raw or cooked vegetables a crucial component of any Thai meal. The other elements would include a clear soup, a curry or stew, a deep-fried dish and a stir-fried dish of meat, fish, seafood, or vegetables. Condiments, such as spicy chili sauce, relish or dip are served alongside the meal.

Traditional Thai cooking places great emphasis on a pleasing appearance of dishes, which accounts for the intricate carved vegetables used to garnish a plate. The art of vegetable carving is said to have originated nearly 700 years ago. A plate of raw vegetables and herbs, together with a dip, is often served as a free complimentary dish at southern Thai eateries. Cucumber is sometimes eaten to cool the mouth with particularly spicy dishes.

Thai cooking places an emphasis on strong aromatic components and a spicy edge often combining disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. Like most cultures, Thai cuisine offers regional favorites, as well as influences by outside cultures. Bangkok cuisine, from the countrys metropolitan area, is perhaps what most Westerners recognize. Southern Thailand is bordered on both sides of the island by tropical seas and its food shows Hainanese and Cantonese influences. Northern Thai cuisine dishes show influences of Burma, northern Laos, and the Yunnan Province of China. Northeastern Thai cuisine is influenced by Cambodia and Vietnam. Chili peppers, originally from the Americas, were introduced to Thailand by the Portuguese and Spanish. The cuisines of India and Persia, brought first by traders, and later settlers from these regions, with their use of dried spices, gave rise to Thai curries.

Thai dishes are often accompanied by sauces and condiments, either brought to the table by wait staff or present at the table in small containers. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in Thai cuisine and imparts a unique character to Thai food. Fish sauce is prepared with fermented fish and provides a salty flavor.

Thai dishes use a wide variety of herbs, spices and leaves. Kaffir lime leaves are frequently combined with galangal and lemongrass. Fresh Thai basil, with stems that are often tinged with a purple color, are used to add fragrance. Spices and spice mixtures used in Thai cuisine include five-spice powder, curry, fresh and dried peppercorns. Northern Thai larb uses a very elaborate spice mix, which includes ingredients such as cumin, cloves, long pepper, star anise, prickly ash seeds and cinnamon.

Like most other Asian cuisines, rice is the staple grain of Thai cuisine. Noodles, a basis for many Thai dishes, are usually made from either rice flour, wheat flour or mung bean flour. Thai noodle dishes usually come as an individual serving and are not meant to be shared and eaten communally. Thai iced tea is made with strongly brewed black tea sweetened with sugar and condensed milk and served chilled. Evaporated milk, coconut milk or whole milk is generally poured over the tea and ice before serving. The lactic acid in the milk douses the heat from chilies and spices.

If you havent tried Thai food, you owe it to yourself. Check out one of these local favorites.

Siam Cuisine

2010 Wilton Dr., Wilton Manors

954-564-3411

siamcuisinerestaurant.com

Tee-Jay Thai Sushi

2254 Wilton Dr., Wilton Manors

954-537-7774

teejaythaisushi.com

Galanga Thai Kitchen & Sushi Bar

2389 Wilton Dr., Wilton Manors

954-202-0000

galangarestaurant.com

Lemongrass Asian Bistro

3811 N Federal, Fort Lauderdale

954-564-4422

lemongrassasianbistro.com

Beg For More

2831 E Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

954-900-3082

begformorethaisushi.com
Christian colleges may lose federal funding if they dont sort out their stances on LGBT rights.

Students and faculty at these schools often had to sign a faith statement that typically outlines beliefs and scripture interpretations, according to Gay Star News. With a changed legal culture surrounding LGBT rights, schools are finding it harder to enforce those beliefs on homosexuality laid out in those statements.

"Millennials are looking at the issue of gay marriage, and more and more they are saying, 'OK, we know the Bible talks about this, but we just don't see this as an essential of the faith,'" Brad Harper, a professor of theology and religious history at Multnomah University, said to NPR.

That shift has seen college students more willing to talk about their sexuality and feel more comfortable in their faith.

When I realized that my faith wasnt necessarily about the [Christian Reformed] Church, and it wasnt even necessarily about the Bible but about my relationship with God and that God is all-encompassing and loving, I felt very free, junior Calvin College student Sam Koster said to NPR.

The change is not creating comfort for all, however. According to NPR, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972 created a debate of whether schools under the law could still prohibit LGBT values or fail to provide equal opportunities.

A changed view on LGBT issues in courts will also call into question schools which issue faith statement for students to sign.

Four years down the line, eight years down the line, depending on the makeup of the Supreme Court, depending on who is president, I can see the gay/transgender issue being pushed in a way that would seek to make Christian colleges either surrender their federal funding or change their position and conform with the wider consensus, Carl Trueman, a professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. said.
Thanks to a rare cosmic alignment, astronomers have captured the most distant normal star ever observed, some 9 billion light years from Earth.

While astronomers routinely study galaxies much farther away, they're visible only because they glow with the brightness of billions of stars. And a supernova, often brighter than the galaxy in which it sits, also can be visible across the entire universe.

Beyond a distance of about 100 million light years, however, the stars in these galaxies are impossible to make out individually.

But a phenomenon called gravitational lensing - the bending of light by massive galaxy clusters in the line of sight -- can magnify the distant universe and make dim, far away objects visible. Typically, lensing magnifies galaxies by up to 50 times, but in this case, the star was magnified more than 2,000 times. It was discovered in NASA Hubble Space Telescope images taken in late April of 2016 and as recently as April 2017.

"You can see individual galaxies out there, but this star is at least 100 times farther away than the next individual star we can study, except for supernova explosions," said former UC Berkeley postdoctoral scholar Patrick Kelly, now on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Kelly is first author of a paper about the discovery appearing online this week in advance of publication in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The discovery of the star, which astronomers often refer to as Icarus rather than by its formal name, MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 (LS1), kicks off a new technique for astronomers to study individual stars in galaxies formed during the earliest days of the universe. These observations can provide a rare look at how stars evolve, especially the most luminous ones.

"For the first time ever we're seeing an individual normal star - not a supernova, not a gamma ray burst, but a single stable star - at a distance of nine billion light years," said Alex Filippenko, a professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley and one of many co-authors of the report. "These lenses are amazing cosmic telescopes."

The astronomy team also used Icarus to test and reject one theory of dark matter - that it consists of numerous primordial black holes lurking inside galaxy clusters -- and to probe the make-up of normal matter and dark matter in the galaxy cluster.

Einstein ring

Kelly noticed the star while monitoring a supernova he had discovered in 2014 while using Hubble to peer through a gravitational lens in the constellation Leo. That supernova, dubbed SN Refsdal in honor of the late Norwegian astrophysicist Sjur Refsdal, a pioneer of gravitational lensing studies, was split into four images by the lens, a massive galaxy cluster called MACS J1149+2223, located about 5 billion light years from Earth.

Suspecting that Icarus might be more highly magnified than SN Refsdal, Kelly and his team analyzed the colors of the light coming from it and discovered it was a single star, a blue supergiant. This B-type star is much larger, more massive, hotter and possibly hundreds of thousands of times intrinsically brighter than our Sun, though still much too far away to see without the amplification of gravitational lensing.

By modeling the lens, they concluded that the tremendous apparent brightening of Icarus was probably caused by a unique effect of gravitational lensing. While an extended lens, like a galaxy cluster, can only magnify a background object up to 50 times, smaller objects can magnify much more. A single star in a foreground lens, if precisely aligned with a background star, can magnify the background star thousands of times. In this case, a star about the size of our sun briefly passed directly through the line of sight between the distant star Icarus and Hubble, boosting its brightness more than 2,000 times.

In fact, if the alignment was perfect, that single star within the cluster turned the light from the distant star into an "Einstein ring": a halo of light created when light from the distant star bends around all sides of the lensing star. The ring is too small to discern from this distance, but the effect made the star easily visible by magnifying its apparent brightness.

Kelly saw a second star in the Hubble image, which could either be a mirror image of Icarus, or a different star being gravitationally lensed.

"There are alignments like this all over the place as background stars or stars in lensing galaxies move around, offering the possibility of studying very distant stars dating from the early universe, just as we have been using gravitational lensing to study distant galaxies," Filippenko said. "For this type of research, nature has provided us with a larger telescope than we can possibly build!"

As for Icarus, the astronomers predict that it will be magnified many times over the next decade as cluster stars move around, perhaps increasing its brightness as much as 10,000 times.

The research by Kelly and Filippenko was supported by funds from NASA, the Christopher R. Redlich Fund, TABASGO Foundation and Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at UC Berkeley.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Coffee cocktail-making virtuosi Vito Sportelli and Andrea Peconio have been crowned champions at the 2018s Coffee Mixologists tournament at Amsterdam Coffee Festival. The Italians battled seven other teams of two, across four rounds, over the three days of last month's festival in Holland. Sponsored by Tia Maria, Sanremo, and Daarnhouwer in its second year, Coffee Mixologists is fast emerging as a major new competitive coffee event, and carries with it a sizable cash prize.

While 2017s winners were a Dutch barista and bartender duo who proved to be deft partners in drink-making (and as of January, baby-making), this years title and 1,000 prize went to close-knit colleagues. Both are trainers at Barproject, a beverage events and consulting company in Bari, the seaport city located where, if Italys boot were imagined cowboy-style, the spur would jut. A 39 year old from Conversano, Sportelli also runs his own cocktail catering company, Aperinfresco, and 28-year-old Peconio moonlights as head bartender at Kabuki, a club, bar, and restaurant in his hometown of Bari.

Sportelli and Peconios signature drink, called the Terrone, combined two coffees from Italian specialty roaster Edo Quartaa natural Colombian Quindio Villa Roa and a washed Kenyan Karindundo Nyerywith booze aplenty. An ibrik warmed up the spirits before smoking them and incorporating angostura bitters, thyme, and cascara.

For the second year of the tournament, returning judges included Anne Lunell, co-founder of Swedish roaster Koppi, and Hani Asfdaai, acclaimed bartender and owner of Noah in Rotterdam. New to adjudication this year was 2017 London Coffee Masters champion James Wise, and serving as the affable and enthusiastic MC was Dave Jameson, a twice-crowned UK Coffee in Good Spirits champion and coffee program manager at Bewleys UK.

I was really impressed with Vito and Andrea from their first performance, Jameson shared with Sprudge. They didnt make a bad drink all weekend, and the drink they prepared in the final was just sublime! Very deserving winners and I look forward to seeing them performing again soon.



Before heading to the London Coffee Festivalto hold mixology and coffee training sessions as part of the Cimbali Sensory SeriesSportelli and Peconio answered some questions for Sprudge about the contest and their careers.

The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

How did you get involved in coffee and cocktails?

Vito Sportelli: Studying and experimenting with basic products as part of being a professional Italian barista, and having the products always present in the bar where we usually work.

Andrea Peconio: My passion led me to get experience working with alcohol. That then led to experience with coffee preparation and eventually how to mix them together.

Why did you decide to enter the Coffee Mixologists competition?

VS: It was a challengeto get out of our comfort zone and have us confront professionals beyond our own country.

AP: To set ourselves outside our home environment and see what it would be like to put that kind of pressure on ourselves.

Do you consider one of yourselves more of a barista and the other a bartender, or do you both feel equally comfortable with coffee and cocktails?

VS: Thanks to all the work we have done in recent years, we are quite complementary in both disciplines.

AP: We are both bartenders though, above all, work well together as a close-knit team.

In the first round, The Signature Drink, you prepared the Terrone, which include Bols Genever 1575 and Imea Gineprina dOlanda 1897. Did making this drink for a competition in Amsterdam influence the decision to use traditional Dutch alcohol?

VS: Absolutely. We like to create drinks that are not just perfectly balanced, but that also have cultural content. We were thinking about how to create a union between our land and the Amsterdam Coffee Festival.

AP: Terrone is the result of the Barproject crews teamwork. However, Dutch products were chosen to honor Dutch culture.

How was working with the secret ingredients in The Mystery round?

VS: Stimulating and fun.

AP: And to succeed in these rounds, we focused on really evaluating the characteristics of the single-origin coffee that we had to use.

What was the hardest part about the competition?

VS: During the semi-final [in the Redefining the Classic round], the competition required us to reinterpret a Black Russian. The greatest effort was reinventing it without being banal. We revised it tiki-style, keeping the characteristics of the drink when in contact with the lips and letting it evolve during the drinking process so it could still carry exotic notes.

While Italy leads in the world in terms of coffee technology, your country's specialty coffee roasting and cafe scene is still emerging. Do you see yourselves as ambassadors for contemporary Italian coffee or cocktails?

VS: We believe that a barista in Italy must necessarily know all the materials that he deals with during his work, and we work every day applying this philosophyabove all, during our shifts behind the bar.

We have been working with specialty products for six years now, incorporating them in our consumer education and catering, all while respecting the concept of made-in-Italy as well as new world trends.

Is there something specifically Italian that you brought to this competition?

VS: Probably the all-Italian ability to communicate and excite.

Whats in store for the future?

VS: I hope to be able to continue traveling, to explore how to experiment, and maybe thanks to this victory, to have new job opportunities abroad.

AP: I would like to open a club of my own and continue to grow my professional skills.

Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge.

Photos courtesy of the Amsterdam Coffee Festival unless otherwise noted.
If you have everything prepared for a winning effort, and that effort results in success, and you have the same people in place for the next time  why make any changes from a winning formula?

So thought the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA), the sports leading group of journalists, who are announcing that their 2019 meetings and Dan Patch Awards Banquet will return to the wildly-popular 2018 site, the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, FL.

We received unprecedented praise and high marks for bringing our night to honour the best and brightest of the sport to Rosen Shingle Creek in 2018, said USHWA president Shawn Wiles. The facility proved great for our purposes, the cooperation of the staff was terrific, and above all our Banquet honourees really enjoyed their surroundings. So its back to the Rosen Shingle Creek for USHWA in 2019!

The Harness Writers will have their annual meetings on Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24, 2019 in the central Florida location, with the Dan Patch Banquet held on Sunday evening. More information about prices, journal advertising, reservations, and the like will appear over the next few months on USHWAs website, www.ushwa.net.

(USHWA)
Longtime western New York Standardbred owner and trainer Robert Gruber III of Lakeview, NY passed away on Saturday, March 31 after suffering a medical emergency during an on-track training session.

Gruber, 52, started his training career in 1991. During his 27-year career, his horses made 9,220 starts, won 1,235 times, and earned over $4.8 million in purses. His best campaign was in 2009 when his pupils found the winner's circle 130 times and banked more than $565,000 in purses.

Racing throughout the northeastern United States, Gruber's operation was based in western New York. His stable made many of its starts on the Buffalo Raceway/Batavia Downs circuit.

Robert was the husband of Carol Gruber, father of Robert Gruber IV, brother of David, Karen, Kim and Denise. Visiting hours for Robert will be Sunday, April 8 from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the Lombardo Funeral Home (Southtowns Chapel), 3060 Abbott Road near Lake Avenue in Orchard Park, NY. Funeral services will follow immediately with interment in the Marilla Cemetery.

Online condolences may be made at www.lombardofuneralhome.com.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Robert Gruber III.

(Buffalo Raceway)
Mark Driscoll Announces Forthcoming Book in Partnership with Charisma House

Contact: Julie Shutley, 972-267-1111, media@alarryross.com ORLANDO, Fla., April 3, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace today announced, via a video shot on location at the YouTube Spaces in New York, the release of Driscoll's new forthcoming book, "Spirit-Filled Jesus: Live by His Power" (ISBN-13: 978-1-62999-522-9), in partnership with Charisma House. The book, which Driscoll explains has been 30 years in the making as he has studied the Bible and helped others do the same, will release Oct. 2, 2018.Through "Spirit-Filled Jesus," Driscoll dives into the role of the Holy Spirit in and through the life of Jesus to help readers discover that they, too, can experience the same Spirit-filled life that Jesus did."You can't just start in the book of Acts to learn about the Holy Spirit, you have to start in the book of Luke  they are a prequel and a sequel," said Driscoll. "The book of Luke gets you ready to understand how Christ works through Christians by the same presence, power and person of the Holy Spirit."Driscoll explains how "Spirit-Filled Jesus" was inspired by his own experience pastoring individuals with various painful and practical problems."People often turn to self-help, and self-help, quite frankly, is of no help," said Driscoll. "What we need is the Spirit's help. The Holy Spirit empowered the life of Jesus. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to empower our lives so we can overcome the same obstacles, live by His power and walk in his freedom and joy and that includes our emotional health, our relational health, our family and our ministry. 'Spirit-Filled Jesus' is an incredibly practical book that is rooted in deep biblical principles."Driscoll says the book also includes some painful parts of his and Grace's own story that culminated in their family planting The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona."I have been on a journey with the Holy Spirit that has given me a life-changing new perspective: submitting to the Spirit has changed my marriage, how I raise my children and even how I minister to others," said Driscoll. "I want to share this journey with others so they can experience the same power from the Holy Spirit."In "Spirit-Filled Jesus," Driscoll shows how the Holy Spirit was essential to Jesus growing in wisdom, stature and favor. It was also how He avoided temptation and defeated evil. When Jesus left the earth, He gave believers the Holy Spirit, enabling us to have these same abilities and powers."We don't want you to just admire the life of Jesus. We want you to experience it by the power of the Holy Spirit. To live a Spirit-filled life is to live a life like Jesus," said Driscoll."It is often said that who you are in life is greatly influenced by your personal experiences, but I believe it is actually how you choose to respond to those experiences that decides how you will turn out," Driscoll continued. "Those who allow the Holy Spirit to influence their lives with forgiveness, love and grace can, in turn, use those experiences to greatly affect the Kingdom.""Spirit-Filled Jesus" explores a number of applicable topics including forgiveness, family, emotional health, relational health and overcoming temptation."I've been serving the Spirit-filled community my entire adult life," said Steve Strang, founder and CEO of Charisma Media. "I don't know of anybody who has ever written about this concept before. That is going to make it very unique. I think people are going to want this message and are going to understand how it applies to their own lives."For additional information, including a free sample chapter of "Spirit-Filled Jesus," visit spiritfilledjesus.com/ About Mark DriscollMark Driscoll is a Jesus-following, mission-leading, church-serving, people-loving, Bible-preaching pastor and the author of many books, including "Real Marriage" and "Who Do You Think You Are?" He is the pastor of The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. With a skillful mix of bold presentation, accessible teaching and unrelenting compassion for those who are hurting the most, Pastor Mark has taken Christianity into cultural corners rarely explored by Evangelicals. He has been grilled by Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters on "The View," gone head to head with Piers Morgan on CNN, debated the existence of evil with Deepak Chopra on ABC's "Nightline," bantered with the gang on "Fox and Friends" and explained biblical sexuality on "Loveline" with Dr. Drew. For more information visit markdriscoll.org/ About Charisma HouseCharisma House empowers people through Spirit-inspired resources. It is the leading publisher of diversified Christian resources motivating people to fulfill God's purpose. For more than 20 years Charisma House has published books, including 14 New York Times best sellers that challenge, encourage, teach and equip Christians.
The 28th Annual 'Just Pray NO!' to Drugs Worldwide Weekend of Prayer and Fasting

Contact: Steven L. Sherman,727-647-6467,CLEARWATER, Fla., April 3, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- Addiction is an ever increasing international crisis. Please join us in praying for those bound by substance abuse and other compulsive behaviors this weekend, April 7 8, 2018.Since April 7th, 1991 "Just Pray NO!" has united Christians around the world in intercessory prayer on behalf of those bound by alcoholism, drug addiction and other life controlling compulsions.Addiction in America is an ever increasing national epidemic! Millions of Americans have addictions. 115 people die every day from overdoses from opioids alone. This rate has tripled in the past 20 years."Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16Not only is substance abuse America's number one health problem, the devastation of alcoholism and other drug addiction has impacted families and communities worldwide. Substance abuse has been directly linked to violence and sexual immorality and is a major source of income for organized crime and terrorist activities."For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." -- Ephesians 6:12Make a formal commitment to join with believers in Christ from around the globe this coming weekend. Put on the full armor of God and fervently pray in spirit and in truth. We are seeking to enlist millions of prayer warriors from around the world to join us in battle!If you believe that God is calling you to intercede for the addicted please contact us.To find help for addiction through prayer and Christian ministries log on to our web site: www.justprayno.org . To learn how groups can participate in our annual prayer event, click on "Information on the Annual Worldwide Weekend of Prayer" or email: justprayno@aol.com For a personal interview with "Just Pray NO!" Founder and Author Steven L. Sherman, in the U.S.A. call: (727) 647-6467 or email: justprayno@aol.com
LGBT Activists Vow to Shut Down Christian Ministry, 'Your Faith be Damned'

No longer content with widespread acceptance, activists are fighting to eliminate any program aimed at helping those struggling with same-sex attraction or gender identity



Contact: Don Otis, 719-275-7775



OKLAHOMA CITY, April 3, 2018 /Standard Newswire/ -- "The level of hatred and bullying is not like anything we've seen," says Stephen Black, who lived as a gay man for 8 years, over 35 years ago, and now Executive Director of First Stone Ministries is in the crosshairs of gay activists.



Black is the author of a ground-breaking book that reveals that 70-percent of people who want freedom from a destructive same-sex lifestyle find it. In Freedom Realized Black and his colleagues examined 25 years of case files and found incontrovertible evidence that people can and do change.



On April 6, First Stone Ministries (firststone.org) is hosting a public screening of the documentary film, Tranzformed: Finding Peace with Your God-Given Gender (tranzformed.org/). "This documentary is about 15 people who were unhappy as homosexuals and transgendered and wanted more in their relationship with Jesus Christ," says Black. Gay activists have already sent death threats to a Michigan pastor and his family and are now setting their sights on Black.



Gay advocate and protestor, Sara Cunningham, vowed to close First Stone Ministries (she appealed for a $25,000 grant from Starbucks for her mission). Her goal is to mobilize and eliminate any mention of the possibility of change, even if people want it and even if it means a transformed life. "To agree to disagree on this issue and this type of ministry is no longer acceptable," says Cunningham. But Black sees it differently, "In the last ten years, there has been an increasing attack on the gospel-centered message of freedom from homosexuality." Activists are intent on shutting down any counseling that leads to new life in Christ and freedom from homosexuality.



Black is the board chairman for the national Restored Hope Network, a coalition of sixty regional agencies that help those who struggle with same-sex attraction. He says the idea of "gay Christianity" is an affront to everything Christ died for and giving people hope is what we should be about as sincere Christians, not just enabling them to stay stuck in a harmful lifestyle. "Freedom from homosexuality comes only through a new life of absolute surrender and a complete dependence on Jesus Christ," says Black.



To schedule an interview with Stephen Black contact Don Otis at 719.275.7775


Meadow Merrill's 'Redeeming Ruth' Wins Prestigious Christopher Award for 'Shinning Light in Darkness'

Contact: Meg Rusick,

Marketing & Communications Manager,

Hendrickson Publishers,

978-573-2147,

mrusick@hendrickson.com



PEABODY, Mass., April 3, 2018 /Standard Newswire/ -- Redeeming Ruth by Meadow Rue Merrill has been selected to receive a Christopher Award in the Books for Adults category at the 69th annual Christopher Awards ceremony. The Award will be presented to author Meadow Rue Merrill on Thursday May 17, 2018, in New York City at the Mutual of America Building.



Redeeming Ruth: Everything Life Takes, Love Restores is the inspirational, true story of adoption, grief, and selfless love. When Merrill met her, Ruth was a sixteen-month-old child some church friends were hosting from an orphanage in Uganda. She had cerebral palsy and was so weak she couldn't lift her head. Part family drama, part travel adventure, and part memoir, Redeeming Ruth is the riveting, against-all-odds story of the most unlikely pairing of a small-town New England family and their adventure in adopting Ruth. Honest, raw, and illuminating, this book explores what happens when we sacrificially reach out and share God's love with others.



Merrill joins the ranks of past winners including David McCullough (John Adams), Eric Metaxas (Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy), Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption), and others.



The mission of The Christopher Award is to encourage people of all ages, and from all walks of life, to use their God-given talents to make a positive difference in the world. Since 1949, the Christopher Awards have annually saluted media (TV programming, feature films, books for adults and children) that affirm the highest values of the human spirit and reflect the Christopher motto, "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."



Meadow Rue Merrill is an award-winning journalist and the author of the inspirational memoir Redeeming Ruth: Everything Life Takes, Love Restores (Hendrickson Publishers, May 2017). She has worked as a reporter for The Times Record, a daily newspaper in Brunswick, Maine, The Boston Globe, and Down East magazine. Merrill has published parenting essays in The New York Times, written for Harvard University, and contributed feature articles to The Boston Sunday Globe Magazine. She also regularly writes about faith for The Portland Press Herald, Maine's largest newspaper. The Christmas Cradle, the first volume of her forthcoming Lantern Hill Farm picture-book series, releases with RoseKidz publishers this fall. Visit her website meadowrue.com/.


Is This World Truly in the End Times?

Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- While the world may rightly be falling apart at the seams and order is scarce, nations have survived through many wars and destruction to this day. But looking at these events  and how they impact today's world  through the lens of the Catholic Church is completely different, which is exactly what George Weigel does in his new book, THE FRAGILITY OF ORDER: CATHOLIC REFLECTIONS IN TURBULENT TIMES.Weigel brings his extensive knowledge of world events to the pages of THE FRAGILITY OF ORDER, compiling his lectures from the past 20 years into a single book, enabling the reader to see current events in a deeper way than looking at them through the lens of any mainstream or social media story.From the Synods of 2014 and 2015 in Rome to the ongoing war between Communism and Catholicism to the turbulent World Wars and Pope Benedict XVI's controversial Regensburg lecture, Weigel applies philosophical and theological perspectives to major historical events and, ultimately, implores the reader to remember the promises of Christ, that they have no cause for despair.Weigel, one of the most prominent public intellectuals in modern times, is the author of two dozen New York Times bestselling books, and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington's Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he holds the William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies. In THE FRAGILITY OF ORDER, two of his key convictions  that ideas have consequences for good and ill, and that the deepest currents of history flow through culture  shine through in the essays and illuminate life in the Church that is not often appreciated or understood."The essays in this volume, written independently over two decades, have a wonderful unity rooted in Weigel's penetrating intellect and global vision," said Most Rev. Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., archbishop of Philadelphia. "His thoughts on Benedict XVI's 2006 Regensburg lecture  a lecture savagely misrepresented by critics at the time, but brilliant in retrospect  are worth the price of the entire book; but they're just one part of a lucid, compelling and highly recommended read."For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with George Weigel, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com ) of Carmel Communications.
PraiseWorthy Announces New Single Release 'Never Unaware' by Bridgette Hammers

Contact: Deborah Wolf 727-641-9823SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla., April 3, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- PraiseWorthy is excited to announce the new release of "Never Unaware" by Worship Leader/Songwriter Bridgette Hammers. This song has already touched thousands at Bridgette's home church, Cottonwood Creek in Allen, TX where she serves as Artist in Residence. It will be available for pre-sale on March 25th with a release date of April 10th and is available on CCLI (#710248) for worship services.Bridgette and co-writer/producer Chris Clayton wrote "Never Unaware" as a worship song to honor God and to bring encouragement to those who are in a hard season in life. "Personally, I just stepped out in faith to go into full-time ministry and a few months later my husband was laid off," Bridgette said. "His company was sold, and his position was dissolved." The words "I trust I never walk alone," were not just lyrics to a song, they were declarations of truth that she hung onto daily. Bridgette's voice soars as she sings "You're Never Unaware" and as she worships, her trust that God is "fighting for our good" draws others into a deeper faith as well. Even though the song was not specifically written for those dealing with cancer, it has been a blessing to them as they cry out in worship, "This is my confidence, I believe with every breath."About Bridgette Hammers: Deeply rooted in gospel music from her East Texas upbringing, Bridgette began singing at the age of four in a small Baptist church. Now, her home is Dallas, TX but she leads worship throughout the country for multiple churches and organizations such as Methodist Health System and MOPS International. Her music reaches all the way to Africa, where worshippers are learning English through her songs. Bridgette's prayer before each event is "God, let your voice be heard, let your breath be felt, and your light be seen." For booking information, visit her website at www.BridgetteHammers.com or email booking@bridgettehammers.com About PraiseWorthy: PraiseWorthy is a boutique Music Publisher which serves the Church and Artists who desire to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ across the nations in song. Based in Tampa Bay, Florida, PraiseWorthy seeks to foster relationships between Worship Leaders, Christian Artists, Songwriters and Producers to bring the heart of God into each song and provides publishing and promotion in music licensing, TV/Film, and Streaming. Additional information is available at www.PraiseWorthyPublishing.com
Israels main international airport has rejected a billboard campaign calling on women to stand up to gender discrimination by refusing to give up their airplane seats at the behest of ultra-Orthodox men.



The notice, initiated by the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC)  the advocacy arm of the Reform Movement in Israel  hoped to inform passengers at Ben-Gurion Airport of their rights during the Passover travel season.



[...] Ladies, please take your seat ... and Keep it! the billboard urges. It notes that requiring a passenger to switch seats because of their gender is illegal, and that "a flight attendant may not force you to switch seats to avoid mixed seating.



However, the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) has refused to display the billboard, despite an apparent agreement on pricing being reached, the IRAC told Haaretz. IRAC Director Rabbi Noa Sattath said that a deal had been settled but suddenly, they notify us that theyre not approving it.



A spokesman for the Israel Airports Authority said that it is policy to avoid campaigns that are partisan. We steer clear of any advertising that is political or divisive. For the same reason, we would reject billboards by the Islamic Movement and Yad lAchim, IAA spokesman Ofer Leffler said, referring to a Haredi anti-assimilation group.



[...] Haredi men say that the modesty law of their religion forbids them from sitting beside any woman who is not their wife. This has resulted in airlines asking some women to switch seats so that a Haredi man does not have to sit next to her.



[...] Right-wing lawmaker Bezalel Smotrich has slammed the Reform movement as a bunch of trolls and criticised the advert for calling on the public to disregard Gods beliefs and act without kindness. Some other social media users appeared to agree with the view of the IRAC but described the advertisement as inciting and offensive.

I think it was a serious mistake for the Ben Gurion airport to reject this advertisement , presumably because they didn't want to "offend" Haredis:To this I must say, Smotrich is a disgrace for approving of petty, cowardly issues and not ask Haredis to get used to things that aren't such a big deal, to say nothing of demand their overlords quit dictating they behave so strangely. I'll give them credit for not associating with the Islamic Movement, but I still don't see how this is justified (and I honestly don't know if the ads are truly offensive). If Smotrich also sees nothing wrong with socialism, that's another grave error he's making.

Labels: haredi corruption, Israel, Knesset, misogyny, Moonbattery
With tensions between Israel and Turkey on the rise, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize the mass murders of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman government in 1915 as genocide.



In the past, the Foreign Ministry had assessed that such a move was likely to lead to the expulsion of Israeli Embassy staff in Ankara and the recalling of Turkey's ambassador from Israel.



While Turkey denies that the mass killings constitute genocide, 29 countries and 48 of the 50 U.S. states have officially recognized them as such.



Erdan's call to recognize the Armenian genocide follows a war of words between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which Erdogan accused Israel of using "disproportionate force" against the "peaceful protesters" during Friday's Hamas-orchestrated march in the Gaza Strip. He later called Israel a "terrorist state."



On Monday, Erdan said the 2016 reconciliation between Jerusalem and Ankara may have been "a mistake."

Minister Gilad Erdan's made the right call on this It most absolutely was a mistake, as was refusing to recognize the Armenian tragedy long before, which could've caused serious damage to Israel's own ability to garner respect from other countries that might know better. It's time to rectify that.

Labels: Armenia, dhimmitude, islam, Israel, jihad, racism, terrorism, turkey
Decision on Khaleda after medical report

Staff Reporter :

Jail authorities will decide next course of action after the medical board that examined BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia submits report on her health condition, the deputy director of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) said on Monday.

The medical board will submit the report to the director of DMCH, who will then hand it over to jail authorities for further decision, Dr Mohammad Shah Alam Talukder said while briefing journalists at the hospital's conference room around 11:30am.

A four-member medical board formed for the treatment the BNP chairperson examined her yesterday at Old Central Jail at Nazimuddin Road where she landed on February 8 after a court sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

After the examination, the BNP chief has been suffering from some old as well as several newly developed health conditions, but none of them are serious.

The team spoke with Khaleda Zia, 73, and observed her health condition in presence of Dhaka's Civil Surgeon Ehsanul Karim, said Prof Shamsuzzaman, Head of Orthopedic Department of DMCH, also chief of the four-member medical board.
Palestinians, Israelis `have right to their own land,` says Saudi Prince

Prince Salman said Saudi Arabia was concerned about fate of holy mosque in Jerusalem.

Reuters, Riyadh :

Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in U.S. magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer.

Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying: "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines - does not recognise Israel. It has maintained for years that normalising relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

"We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people," Prince Mohammed said.

Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fuelled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.

In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumoured secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.

Saudi Arabia condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year, but Arab officials told Reuters at the time that Riyadh appears to be on board with a broader U.S. strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan still in its early phases of development.
CU shuttle train driver released 3-hr after 'abduction'

CU Correspondent :

A driver of a Chattogram University (CU) shuttle train, who was abducted allegedly by a group of activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) on Monday morning, was released in the city's Bahaddarhat area, three hours after his abduction.

The incident took place at around 10:30 am on Sunday . Meanwhile, the railway authority decided not to run the university shuttle and demu train.

Sholashahar Station Master Shahab Uddin said a group of people kidnapped the driver by identifying activists of CU BCL.The people were threatened us not to run the train.

Shatla movement is now currently closed.he also added.

The blockades caused immense suffering for the students who had exams and classes scheduled yesterday.

The rescued man was identified as Mohammad Kawser, 45.The driver was released from the city's Bahddarhat about 1:15pm, said Jahangir Sub Inspector of CU Police Pari.

Proctor of the university Mohammad Ali Asgar Chowdhury said ;"the police has been asked to take action against those who involved in the incident.

Meanwhile, CU BCL former President Mohammad Alamgir Tipu denying of their involvement in the incident said that CU BCL is not involve anything about the driver's abduction.
Role of retired teachers to boost up talent of students hailed

President of Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mahbubul Alam addressing the Retired Teachers Talents Scholarship distribution function was held at Muslim Institute Hall in city as Chief Guest recently.

Chattogram Bureau :

Talents Scholarship distribution ceremony as arranged by Retired Primary Teachers Welfare Samity was held at Muslim Institute hall in city recently with its President Freedom Fighter Subal Achariya in the chair. Talents scholarship distributed among the successful children in the function. President of Chittagong chamber of commerce and Industry Mahbubul Alam graced the occasion as Chief Guest. Advisor of the Samity and founder Secretary Tajul Islam conducted the function.

Chairman of Chattogram Education Welfare Foundation Principal Dr.Abdul Karim was present on the occasion as principal speaker. Ward councilor Sayeed Golam Haider Minto, Secretary of CEWF Prof. Dr.Abul Kalam Azad, and Chief Executive Director of Continental Institute of Technology Prof. Dr. Sarwar Alam were present as special guests. General secretary of RPTWS Taukder Naresh Barua delivered address of welcome in it.

Among others chief advisor of the Samity and founder President Md. Younus, Alhaj Jubair Alam, AKM Mofazzal Haider, Sayed Abul Kasem, Kaylani Palit, Minhazunessa, Haradan Sharma, Swapan Kumar Das, Mozaffar Ahmed, Shahin Ara Begum and secretary of exam committee Swapan Mallick spoke on the occasion.

The chief guest in his brief deliberations praised the role of the retired teachers for inspiring the children towards their career build up through arranging the scholarship for the talents.

The principal speaker Principal Dr. Abdul Karim said talents flourished through competitive examinations.

He said the children those are primary school students are spontaneously participated the talents scholarship exams and hailed the guardians of the children for inspiring their kids in participating the scholarship exam.


If Im the leading lady in a film with certain quirk to her character, Id do it: Adah Sharma

Actor Adah Sharma is definitely on a career high and busy shooting with actor Prabhudheva for her Tamil film, Charlie Chaplin 2. In the film, Adah will once again try her hand at comedy, a genre which she has experimented with earlier as well, in her film Commando 2 (2017).

Was it due to the appreciation she got for her role in Commando 2 that she decided to do comedy again? Well, doing that role was a big risk, with the accented Hindi and all. But I really am very grateful to the audience for accepting me. They appreciated my performance in my first film, 1920 (2008), also. I feel that getting a film with all the criteria I want is tough. But once the film releases, only the audience can make or break an actor, says Adah, adding that she is looking to only grow from here. After Commando 2, I feel very brave and I think I can try more experimental roles. There is more coming up soon, she adds.

Asked if she would repeatedly take comic roles if they come her way, Adah replies in the affirmative. If my role is that of the leading lady, who has a certain quirk or comical element to her character, I would love to do it. In Charlie Chaplin 2 as well, this girl I play is completely mad. And I had to let go a lot of my inhibitions to play this part.

Reports are abuzz that Adah will soon do Commando 3 also. So, will fans get to see her doing comedy again or is there something new in store? I will be playing the same character, Bhavana Reddy. Since people enjoyed her in part 2, theyll see more of her in part 3 and, yes, she will continue being very funny, reveals the actor.


Dhaka wants Moscow`s support in resolving Rohingya crisis

DHAKA has sought Moscow's support in resolving the Rohingya crisis. Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali made the call at a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow last Monday. Better late than never, it was an important plea which should have been taken sooner when the military campaign in the Rakhine State of Myanmar forced over a million Rohingya refugees to flee their homeland to save their lives last year.

According to the Foreign Office press release, in response to Ali's call for Russian assistance and involvement, Lavrov is reported to have praised the efforts taken by Bangladesh and considered the recent engagements of Myanmar and the proposed inclusion of UN agencies and UNHCR in the rehabilitation arrangement. He also assured possible assistance of Russia in this regard.

At the onset of the crisis last year the Russian stance was clearly different from now. Also during the special UN session it sided with Myanmar. However, given the growing severity of the crisis our Russian friends appeared to have changed their position. Their stance was cleared when Senator Konstantin Kusachev, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Upper House, made an assurance while exchanging views with a Bangladesh delegation during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 137th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union last October.

The point is that rather than counting on Russian aid relief or humanitarian assistance it is much important to directly engage Russia in the refugee repatriation process along with the UN agencies. Secondly, Russia has been Myanmar's second most important defense partner and military hardware supplier. If it intends it can right away stop or limit its military engagements with Myanmar. Thirdly, Myanmar practically being friendless in the international community regarding the Rohingya issue is heavily dependent on Russia and China for their support.

The friendly relation between Bangladesh and Russia is nothing new. Particularly, Russia was a big supporter of our War of Independence in 1971. The relations between the two countries have recently improved again. This could be a reminder to Myanmar that Bangladesh has alternative partners to work with if anyone tries to marginalize the country.

We can take it positively that our Russian friends are gradually shifting their attention. So, Dhaka must try its best to ensure that Moscow would take initiatives both bilaterally and from the UN platform to see an end to the Rohingya crisis.






People urged to unite for restoring rule of law: Speakers

Dr. Kamal Hossain among the dignitaries speaking at the Roundtable organised by SUJAN titled `Rule of Law in the Country` at the Jatiya Press Club lounge on Tuesday.

Staff Reporter :

Speakers in a civil society's discussion in the city on Tuesday said that people have a right to know what were the corruptions of former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

Civil society's representatives said, "Addressing a Chief Justice in disparage words' is directly against the constitution. But it has been done in his case. Judge is also a man, so he can do corruption, but nobody

knows what was SK Sinha's corruption."

They urged all conscious people to unite and to work for restoring rule of law and freedom of judiciary in the country.

Eminent lawyer, Constitution expert Dr Kamal Hossain said, freedom of judiciary is essential for establishing justice and people's right.

He said, the 16th amendment of Constitution was very pathetic for us but we did not lose everything yet.

Dr. Kamal Hossain said it while speaking at the Roundtable on the Rule of Law: Perspective of Bangladesh, organized by Susasoner Janya Nagorik (SUJAN), a civil society body, in the VIP Lounge of the National Press Club on Tuesday.

Executive Member of SUJAN Justice Abdul Matin presented the key-note paper on the topic.

Columnist Syed Abul Maksud said, "I generally understand that the rule of law is the system where mass people live in peace and culprits always move in fear, but unfortunately rule of law its totally absent here."

Environment Specialist Advocate Syeda Rizwana Hasan of BELA said, the caretaker government was the result of mass people movement, So, how can a man reject it ?

Local government expert Dr Tofail Ahmed questioned the facilities given to the VIPs ? They can not have separate arrangement, he said. The program was moderated by Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar , General Secretary of SUJAN. Justice Kazi Emdadul Haque presided in the function.

Barrister Amirul Islam, Professor Asif Nazrul, Engineer Mubashir Hasan, Barrister Rumin Farhan, among others, spoke in the function.






No MCQ in PEC exams from this year

Staff Reporter :

The government has decided to scrap Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) system in Primary Education Completion examination from this year to check question paper leakage.

Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman said this in a press briefing at Secretariat on Tuesday morning.

The decision was taken as per few recommendations placed by the educationalists recently to prevent question paper leaks in public examinations.

The minister said, "Three or four months is no matter. The PEC examination will be held in November. Any reform can be possible in one or two months. So, there will be no problem."

"The ministry sent letters to the primary schools across the country and asked to follow the ministry's order," he said.

The students are taught according to the syllabus, so the question will be made from it, he said.

The minister said also that successes have been achieved by new techniques to prevent question paper leak during the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate examinations.

Earlier, the minister announced the result of scholarships in the Primary Terminal Examinations 2017.
UNSC plans to visit BD, Myanmar

The UN Security Council has got the go-ahead signal to visit Myanmar and Bangladesh this month, when it expects to focus on the beleaguered Rohingya Muslim minority, as well as to Iraq.

The details and timing of the separate visits are being worked out, Peru's UN Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, also the council president for April, told reporters on Monday. He said the council members hope to visit Myanmar's western Rakhine state, where about 700,000 Rohingyas lived before fleeing to Bangladesh to escape a brutal military counterinsurgency campaign - and thousands still remain. Meza-Cuadra said Iraq needs international support "for rebuilding the country and to ensure reconciliation" following "significant progress" in fighting terrorism, including the Islamic State extremist group. He also noted that Iraqi elections are scheduled in May. Meanwhile, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ursula Mueller left for Myanmar on Monday, where she will be for a week.

The purpose of the mission is to observe first-hand the impact of the crisis in Rakhine State and the conflict in Kachin and Shan states, and to discuss ways to improve the humanitarian response, said spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric. Her mission will include meetings in Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw, as well as field visits, according to a message UNB received from UN headquarters. During her stay in Myanmar, Mueller is expected to meet people impacted by the humanitarian crises, senior government officials, and humanitarian partners. Following this, on Sunday, she will travel to Indonesia to attend the Asean-UN Annual Regional Meeting. Ottawa's special envoy to Myanmar is scheduled to release a report on Tuesday urging Canada to express willingness to welcome Rohingya refugees and implement sanctions against those responsible for the ongoing humanitarian crisis, according to people familiar with the document. The special envoy's report addresses 'strong signals' that crimes against humanity have been committed in the country, reports CTVNews.
ACC seeks travel ban on Babul Chisty, his family, former MD

Special Correspondent :

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday sought a ban on foreign travel of 17 individuals for their alleged involvement in Farmers Bank loan scam.

The Commission sent a formal letter to the Home Ministry requesting it to place their names on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Officials confirmed that ACC wrote names of Farmers Bank's former Audit Committee Chairman Mahabubul Haque Chisty (Babul Chisty), his wife Rosy Chisty, their sons Rashedul Haque Chisty, Majedul Haque Chisty, daughter Rimi Chisty and daughter-in-law Farhana Ahmed Chisty, bank's former Managing Director AKM Shamim and ten senior officials of the bank.

The Commission, however, did not impose travel ban on former chairman of Farmers Bank Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir.

"The Commission sent letters to immigration of all the airports and land ports and other authorities concerned through the Home Ministry to place the names of 17 individuals on the ECL list to prevent them from leaving the country," Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, Public Relations Officer of the Commission, told The New Nation in the evening.

He said ACC sought a ban on their foreign travel in the interest of the investigation of Farmers Bank loan fraud involving over Tk 1,500 crore.

"It is feared that they would leave the country," he added.

The country's anti-graft watchdog has already formed a three-member investigation team led by its Director Syed Iqbal Hossain.

Officials said the ACC investigators have already obtained the documents relating to processing and sanctioning of loans provided by the bank to various business firms and persons breaching credit norms.

They said the cases would be prepared in light of evidence collected during the investigation.

"ACC will soon summon the 17 individuals for questioning over their involvement in the bank's loan scandal, embezzlement of crores of Taka through shady lending practices and corruption in administering the bank," an ACC official told The New Nation.
To be servile no liberation war was necessary Mainul Hosein

Staff Reporter :

In a talk show of DBC Tv on Monday night Barrister Mainul Hosein has expressed deep concern and wondered why freedom fighters do not talk of freedom when people's freedoms are under threat. There is fear that anything could happen to anybody.

He felt strongly to say that like Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury if fifty brave freedom fighters could raise their voice in favour of people's freedom things would be different in the politics of the country.

He identified anarchy in the government as a serious problem. It needs discipline. The judiciary, Bangladesh Bank, Anti-Corruption Commission, police or any other authority cannot function independently. The government interferes. The authorities also meekly oblige with no sense of independence.

Barrister Mainul asserted that if we could be so subservient no liberation war would have been necessary.

In answer to minus formula in politics he said nobody can minus a political leader, an deserving political leader is rejected by the people in a free and fair election.

He has repeated that one-eleven government had no interest in any minus formula against Sheikh Hasina or Begum Khaleda Zia. We did not take part in the election, so we had no reason for excluding them either.

He further said, "We want our right to have free election for electing our government. The elected government nowhere remains in power under parliamentary system for holding free election. We are not against either of Sheikh Hasina or Begum Khaleda Zia, the point is that the country must have competent political leadership."

The other participant was freedom fighter Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury who believes in the existence of a conspiracy to minus Begum Khaleda Zia but he refuses to accept that she will agree to go abroad for treatment. He supported that she should get hospitalised for proper treatment. He was not happy with composition of the medical board.

He was very critical of the Supreme Court for refusing bail to Begum Khaleda Zia. He finds discrimination.

Dr Zafrullah is also of the view that our problems should be solved through free and fair election. Free election is a must, he emphasised.

The programme was moderated by Nobonita Chowdhury.


HC asks 8 accused to surrender

Staff Reporter :

The High Court (HC) on Tuesday directed eight accused of two cases filed in connection with 1996 share market scam to surrender before a trial court.

They will have to surrender in the trial court within a month after receiving the High Court order.

The accused are --- Directors of Security Consultants Limited M G Azam Chowdhury, Mohammad Shahidullah, Professor Mahbub Ahmed and Directors of HMMS Financial Consultancy and Securities Limited Hemayet Uddin Ahmed, Moshtak Ahmed Sadeq, Syed Mahbub Morshed, Sharif Ataur Rahman and Ahmed Iqbal Hasan.

The High Court, however, asked the lower court to consider bail if the accused pray for it after surrendering in the cases.

The High Court Bench of Justice Md Rais Uddin passed the order after accepting two appeals filed by the Security Exchange and Commission against the lower court verdict that acquitted all the eight accused from the share scandal charges.

The Special Tribunal of Bangladesh Securities Exchange and Commission of Dhaka on February 1 this year acquitted all the eight accused, saying there was not sufficient evidence against them, Deputy Attorney General Shafiul Bashar Bhandary told.

The Securities Exchange and Commission filed two separate cases against the accused in 1997 for manipulating the share market prices in 1996, the DAG said.

The Security and Exchange Commission filed two separate appeals with the High Court on March 25 this year against the special tribunal's verdict
Govt using ACC to keep BNP out of polls

Probe against top party leaders motivated

Reza Mahmud :

BNP decried the Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC) move to open probe against eight senior party leaders on their alleged involvement in suspicious bank transactions involving Tk 125 crore. Party leaders and workers resented the move all over the country saying it is politically motivated.

."The allegations against the BNP leaders are false, fabricated and motivated. The government is using ACC to obstruct our movement to keep the party out of the upcoming national election. It is trying to hold another one-sided polls in 2019 like the last one," senior BNP leaders said at a press conference yesterday clearing their position.

Senior Joint-Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi held the press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office. They said the ACC allegation of suspicious bank transactions for 'funding violence and money laundering' is false and fabricated to serve the government political ends.

The ACC chairman Iqbal Mahmood however told the New Nation yesterday that there is no politics in it. He claimed ACC's neutrality over the move. The anti-graft body on Monday appointed Deputy Director Shamsul Alam as the agency's enquiry officer into the matter.

The ACC initially blamed the BNP senior leaders opening the graft probe. They are Standing Committee Members Dr. Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury; Vice-Chairmen Abdul Awal Mintoo and M. Morshed Khan.

The list also include Joint Secretary General Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, Executive Committee Member Tabith Awal,. Morshed Khan's son Foysal Morshed and Dhaka Bank Managing Director Syed Mahbubur Rahman.

After BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's conviction in February this year in a graft case, this is the first such move by ACC to implicate more senior party leaders to in graft cases in the election year.

Among BNP leaders attended the press conference were Standing Committee Members Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Vice-Chairman Abdul Awal Mintoo.

They claimed that the ACC's allegation against them is imaginary and fabricated. The government is intentionally trying to destroy their image before the national election.

Dr. Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said, "I have no account in Dutch-Bangla Bank. Any of my family member also has no account in that bank. But the ACC brought allegation that I have an account there and transacted Tk 21 crore. I challenged and ask the ACC to show my account number and my money there."

He said, "When our party chief is in jail the government is trying to harm our party senior leaders' image. The allegations were brought against us to destroy image of BNP leaders. These are false and fabricated. We condemned it," he said Nazrul Islam Khan said, "A news portal named after 'Bangla insider' published the false reports against us. Who run the news portal? Who informed them before the government's special agencies could know it? The news portal have to apologize or we will take legal action," he said.

He said, "The allegation stated that I transacted Tk 7 crore, it is a total fun."

Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, "The enquiry is nothing but a part of the government's blueprint of establishing 'one-party rule' in the country."

Awami League has opened 25 news portals only to use as campaigning tools against the BNP. They are destroying the state organs only to cling to power, he added.

BNP Vice-Chairman Abdul Awal Mintoo said, "We do business and there might be transactions but the way the allegations have been brought are fabricated, not true. The allegation is motivated."

When asked whether the allegation against the BNP leaders are politically motivated as the party leaders claim, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood said, there is no political agenda on it.

"We are not involved in politics. There is nothing politics among the ACC's move against the BNP's eight leaders," he said.

When asked why the ACC choose this time to conduct inquiry against senior BNP leaders as the year is called 'election year'? Iqbal Mahmood said, "We never think what election year is, but whenever we get allegation we initiate step."

"We need not sit idle after hearings any ones speech blaming ACC. Nothing can stop us from our actions," he said. When contacted the inquiry officer and ACC Deputy Director, Shamsul Alam, said, there is nothing to say. I just get the responsibility to start the inquiry.

When contacted, Syed Iqbal Hossain, the Director of ACC said, "We open probe against the eight BNP leaders on the basis of allegation. Without any allegation the ACC never take any action intentionally," he said.


Probe report against BCL men now on April 15

Court Correspondent :

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka yesterday deferred the date for submission of the investigation report in the case filed against some DSCC employees and some youths for brandishing firearms during a hawker eviction drive in Gulistan

area of the city on October 27, in 2016. Magistrate Ahsan Habib of the CMM court fixed April 15 for submission report of the case, as Shahbagh Police Station SI Emranul Islam, who is also the investigation officer of the case, did not submit the report on Tuesday.

On October 27, 2016, there was a clash in Gulistan area when a Dhaka South City Corporation team launched a campaign to evict illegal makeshift shops from the pavements and underpass market area. Ten people including two City Corporation employees were injured in the incident.

Later, Shahbagh Police Station SI Md Abdul Mannan filed a case accusing two and 50 to 60 unnamed persons of 'attempt to murder' on October 31 of the same year. The two accused persons are- general secretaries of Bangladesh Chhatra League, Dhaka South and Wari Police Station units- Md Sabbir Hossain and Md Ashiqur Rahman respectively.


2 journos hurt in city road mishap

Staff Reporter :

Two journalists received injuries when a microbus owned by a Jubo League leader slammed their motorcycle carrying the injured men in front of High Court (HC) on Tuesday afternoon.

The injured men are Abu Hena Rasel, former Senior Reporter of the

Daily Kalerkantha, and Jahangir Alam, Crime Reporter of United News of Bangladesh (UNB). They were admitted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

Jahangir Alam said the microbus hit their motorbike from behind near the Kadam Fowara when they going to Police Headquarters.

"When we fell down, there was no vehicle behind us. If there is any, we must die," he said.

"After slamming, the men in the microbus rushed to us and rebuked us. They demanded compensation from us putting all the blame on us. At one stage, they tried to take our motorcycle away. Later, police saved us and seized the microbus," he claimed.

The journalists came to know that the microbus was of a Jubo League leader, but could not know his name.

Jahangir said after the incident, a number of Jubo league men came to the office of Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh to search for him.
Missing PP Ratish`s blood strained shirt found

Staff Reporter :

Locals found blood strained shirt of Advocate Ratish Chandra Bhowmik from a water body closer to his home in Rangpur yesterday.

They informed police and RAB who visited the spot and recovered the shirt.

Police are not however sure if it was real blood and it can only be ascertained after forensic test.

Police already arrested nine suspects and continued grilling them in custody over the missing of Bhowmik.

The law enforcers launched a manhunt for a person who came and drove Rathis away by motorcycle from his home on Friday.

Meanwhile, bdnews24.com adds, Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Oikya Parishad has announced a daylong road blockade for Saturday demanding the law enforcers take quick steps to find missing Public Prosecutor Rathis Chandra Bhowmik, a witness in a war crimes case.

Along with Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, the minority group has been holding token hunger strikes in Rangpur since Monday morning. "The highway in Rangpur will be blocked on Saturday if he is not rescued by the time," said Banamali Paul, president of the Oikya Parishad's Rangpur chapter, during Tuesday's demonstration. Advocate Rathis, 55, who represented the state in the cases over the killings of Japanese national Kunio Hoshi and Rahmat Ali, a caretaker of a shrine, went missing on Friday, according to a general diary or GD filed by his family. Rangpur Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman said they were investigating all possible angles in the case, including land disputes, militancy and the Jamaat-e-Islami. Rathis is a witness in the war crimes case against Jamaat Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam. The war criminal was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal and the Appellate Division is hearing it now.




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Linkedin Mark J. Valencia (The Jakarta Post) Haikou, China  Mon, April 2, 2018 19:10 1272 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cc877cd 3 Opinion ASEAN,South-China-Sea,international-relations,geopolitics,US,maritime-security Free

On March 23, the US Navy destroyer Mustin made a non-innocent passage within 12 nautical miles of Chinas artificially built up and occupied Mischief Reef. China saw this as yet another serious political and military provocation. This latest Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) came amidst a downturn in US China relationsparticularly regarding the South China Sea (SCS).

Soon after that came a relevant statement by Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a written interview with Australian media. In an assessment of the United States role in Southeast Asian security he asserted that, Most ASEAN members support and welcome the US stance. Since Singapore is this years ASEAN Chair, Lees statement may hold special weight. But if taken out of context, his words may be misinterpreted.

Lees statement was a general assessment of the US role as a Pacific power -- not specifically its behavior in the SCS. Indeed, he was referring to US Defense Secretary James Mattis affirmation at the 2017 Shangri-La Dialogue that Southeast Asia was a priority area and that the US was committed to the regions security and prosperity.

Lee also wrote, From the regions perspective, the most critical issue is the political and strategic resolve of the US to project a reliable and constructive presence as a Pacific power. He was conveying some uncertainty about that commitment and resolve.

The key phrases in his assessment are reliable and constructive presence and commitment to the regions security and prosperity. As Lee said at the March 18 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, The SCS is an issue for specific ASEAN countries which are claimant states  It's an issue for the rest of the ASEAN countries too because this is a security and stability question in Southeast Asia which will affect all.

Of course all ASEAN members would welcome US commitment to the regions security and prosperity. But a more specific question is, do most ASEAN members view the US military presence and activities in the SCS as reliable and constructive and thus contributing to the regions security and prosperity?

It is difficult to assess the answer to this critical question from the perspective of ASEAN members because in the ASEAN style, negative official statements identifying the subject country are very rare.

It is clear that Singapore warmly welcomes the US military presence  and even facilitates it by providing temporary basing and refueling for its warships and intelligence collection aircraft. This is understandable because Singapores economy depends very heavily on commercial freedom and safety of navigation which it hopes the US military presence will ensure.

Vietnam also clearly welcomes and supports the US military presence and has been appealing to the US to balance Chinas influence in the region. Vietnam has clashed militarily with China in the past in the SCS and came close in 2014 when a Chinese oil rig entered waters that it claims.

But Vietnam is nothing but opportunistic. Its warming to US will last just as long as it is needed. There is no alignment of fundamental interests  other than to contain China-- and really very little coincidence of values between its Communist authoritarian system and that of the liberal democratic US. Moreover Vietnam is steadfastly non-aligned. Indeed, its long standing policy is the three nos  no participation in military alliances, no foreign military bases on Vietnamese territory, and no reliance on one country to fight against another. This is not likely to change.

Some other ASEAN members are apparently less sanguine about US military involvement in the SCS.

Some Indonesian policymakers remain suspicious of US motives and worry about the potential destabilizing effect of US-China competition. They want Washington to exercise restraint. Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has suggested that if regional countries can manage the SCS on their own, there is no need to involve others. Luhut Pandjaitan, then coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, once declared in a veiled criticism of both US and China  we dont like any power projection.

The position of the Philippines is quite surprising. President Rodrigo Duterte clearly does not have confidence that the long-time ally US would back it up in a kinetic conflict with China - - which is apparently one reason he pivoted Philippine foreign policy towards China. When the US Navys Hopper undertook a freedom of navigation operation near disputed Scarborough Shoal, it got no support from the Philippines. Philippine Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said, The problem of America today is no longer the problem of the Philippines.

Although a rival claimant, Bruneis position seems to be reaching an accommodation with that of China. US relations with non-claimant Thailand have not been close since the military coup there in 2014 and it seems to be leaning towards China. Non-claimants Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar do not have a direct interest in the SCS and are either neutral or in Chinas camp on this issue.

Given that all littoral ASEAN members except Singapore and Brunei have been targets of US Navy FONOPs, it is safe to say that they do not approve of this aspect of US military actions at least against themselves.

Nevertheless, US officials continue to speak and act as if the US military presence and activities are warmly welcomed in the region without reservation. But Southeast Asian support may be much shallower and more ephemeral than it thinks.This clearly manifested last August when ASEAN leaders and their dialogue partners, including China and the US, held a series of key security meetings in the Philippines. Regarding the SCS issues, the joint communique of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting strongly favored Chinas preferences over those of its opponents within ASEAN and those of the US

Both China and the US are pressuring various ASEAN members to support their interests in the SCS and this has led to disunity within ASEAN. A particular concern is that their intensifying competition could spill over into these countries domestic politics, interfering in their internal affairs a la Cold War period.

**

The writer is a maritime policy analyst, political commentator and consultant focused on Asia. He was a Senior Fellow with the East-West Center for 26 years where he developed and managed international, interdisciplinary projects on maritime policy and international relations in Asia. Currently he is an Adjunct Senior Scholar with the National Institute for SCS Studies, Haikou, China.

---------------

We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to academia@jakpost.com.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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More than 56 Bahraini and Saudi companies are in the race for two major residential projects in the Wadi Al Sail and Galali areas of the kingdom which are being built for the benefit of BDF affiliates.



Bahrain's Ministry of Housing has opened pre-qualification documents for the construction for these two projects, which are being funded by the Saudi government.

The foundation stone-laying ceremony of both the housing projects was held under the patronage of the commander-in-chief of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa in February this year.

The commander-in-chief deputised Defence Affairs Minister, Lieutenant-General Yussef bin Ahmed Al Jalahma, to attend the ceremony.



Al Jalahma asserted that these housing projects were part of an integrated system of services provided by the BDF for its affiliates, in line with the leaderships directives to provide a decent living, including housing, for its servicemen.



BDF usually offers its affiliates two types of housing services. The first is temporary and is granted to the servicemen until they own their housing units.

The work on the 267-unit Wadi Al Sail project and the 213-unit Galali project will begin in September and is due for completion by the end of 2019.-TradeArabia News Service
Work is moving at a steady pace on the fuel farm complex being built by BAC Jet Fuel Company (BJFCO) in the vicinity of Bahrain International Airport (BIA) and will be ready by March 2019, said a report.



A joint venture between Bahrain Airport Company and National Oil and Gas Authority, BJFCO is in charge of developing the project, which will be housing three aviation fuel tanks with a capacity of 10,000 cu m each over a 77,000-sq-m area, in addition to its dedicated operational buildings, reported BNA.



BJFCO was established in 2016 with the goal of restructuring the aviation fuel sector in the kingdom, and constructing and managing a fuel farm complex within the vicinity of BIA, as per directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and in line with Bahrain Economic Vision 2030.



Oil Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, and Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and Gulf Air Holding Group (GFG) Chairman Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed toured the construction site of the fuel farm complex along with BJFCO board members and senior BAC officials.



The ministers were given a visual presentation by Nabil Helou, the managing director of Amana Pipeline Construction, the main contractor of the project. He explained the various stages of the project, which BAC commenced in mid-2017, in addition to current and future stages, said the BNA report.



Following the briefing, Shaikh Mohammed said: "We are very pleased with the progress so far and with all the efforts by BJFCO and the main contractor. Building a fuel farm complex within BIAs vicinity follows the directives of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, to relocate the fuel tanks from Arad area in Muharraqs governorate."



"This project is of the highest importance because of its role in developing the oil and gas sector in the kingdom in general, and in raising the efficiency of the airport. All parties involved have been working hard to achieve the vision shared between the Ministry of Oil and the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, and we look forward to more achievements in the coming period," he stated.



The ministers stressed the importance of finishing the project within the agreed-upon deadline while maintaining the highest levels of quality to achieve the projects objectives.



Kamal bin Ahmed said: "The fuel complex forms an essential part of the strategy behind the Airport Modernisation Programme, which has the support of HRH the Prime Minister, and the support of HRH the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister."



"It also forms a part of GFGs strategic projects, which aim to stimulate sustainable economic growth and generate new revenue streams in line with Bahrain Economic Vision 2030," said the minister.



"Its crucial that we develop this project at the airport to reinforce the Kingdoms position as a centre of aviation fuel services in the GCC region, and our partners have been sparing no effort to ensure its success," he added.
King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the National Academy of Aviation Technology, where 1,000 aircraft technicians and 350 pilots will be trained annually.



The MoU was signed with the Economic Cities Authority, the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, the Saudi Aviation Club, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), the Ministry of Education, and the Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company (TAQNIA).



The academys headquarters will be its first branch located in KAEC. The academy will be able to directly enrich the local aviation market, which is expected to require 3,000 employees by the year 2023.



The second branch will be located at the Al-Thumama Airport in Riyadh, the headquarters of the Saudi Aviation Club.



We are proud to sign this agreement initiating a fruitful collaboration with the founding partners to host the National Academy of Aviation Technology. The academy is a highly prestigious addition to KAEC, where it will provide the highest standards of vocational training to enhance and develop Saudi Arabias aviation workforce, thus raising the level of productivity, said Fahd Al-Rasheed, managing director and Group CEO of KAEC.



This motivates the continuity of construction and development, and creates more jobs for citizens in line with the objectives of the National Transformation Program 2020 and Vision 2030.



We are pleased to enjoy the mutual trust of our founding partners, said Mazen Tammar, senior director-KAEC Corporate Business Development, Healthcare & Education. KAEC is the ideal location for establishing and operating such a massive project, due to the citys strategic location, advanced infrastructure, social amenities and total housing solutions that perfectly suits the requirements of both the Faculty and trainees.



Tammar added: The presence of Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC), along with Tomouh program, in addition to the National Academy of Aviation Technology, is a clear indication that KAEC is achieving its strategic goals such as supporting the education and training sector, not only in the Kingdom, but worldwide as well.  TradeArabia News Service
Julphar, a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer in the region, has been ranked as the number one pharmaceutical company in the UAE by IMS Health February 2018 panel, reflecting a strong double digit sales growth versus 2017.



Julphar 2017 audited results were announced following a Board of Directors meeting, which was chaired by Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, chairman of the Board of Julphar.



Jerome Carle, general manager of Julphar, said: Firstly, I wish to express my gratitude to our shareholders, our 5,000 employees across the world, our customers and our partners for their continued support.



We are off to a strong start in 2018. We have reached the number one position in the UAE, our new management team is now fully on board and we have just launched several new products in key therapeutical area such as cardiovascular.



Furthermore, our expansion plans are on track, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Africa, where we are making inroads in a number of key markets. We are building up a solid pipeline with the planned launch of 25 new products in the UAE this year alone and almost 200 new product registrations expected in the region.



Given the momentum we are seeing in our new products and recent launches, the operating performance improvements we are driving, we are confident in our ability to deliver our 2018 outlook of double digit growth, he added.



In 2017, Julphar opened a manufacturing facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia adding to its overseas production bases in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. The SR300 million state-of-the-art plant has the capacity to produce 1 billion tablets, 300 million capsules and 30 million bottles of syrups and suspensions per year.



Last month, Julphar Saudi Arabia was granted Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) approval by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA).  TradeArabia News Service
The Maritime Standard has decided to move this year's TMS Tanker Conference to The Atlantis, Dubai, UAE, in order to accommodate increased demand for delegate places.



The one-day event will take place on October 16, the day after the hugely popular TMS Awards gala dinner, at this iconic, high quality venue on The Palm, Jumeirah, said a statement.



Trevor Pereira, managing director, said: We have decided to move to a bigger venue that has around twice the capacity, to make sure we can meet growing demand from the market.



What started out as a niche regional event now covers a much wider portfolio of tanker trades, and companies supporting those trades, taking it to a new level, he said.



There is more reason for delegates to attend and the new venue better matches the Tanker Conference's enhanced profile, he added.



The third annual conference will be held under the theme "Getting the most out of more positive markets.



There are some cautiously optimistic signs that the tanker trades are in recovery mode, and delegates will hear from a host of top quality speakers and panellists, with expertise in different aspects of the tanker shipping market, to help signpost the way forward and ensure that no opportunities are missed, it said.



Keynote speakers will focus on overall regional and global trade patterns and service initiatives, as well as market challenges. In addition there will be presentations looking at many other aspects of the tanker business, including environmental protection, ship management, finance, crewing, security and digitalisation, it added.



The opening keynote session will set the tone for the event and will feature insightful presentations from two global and regional heavyweights in the tanker shipping industry. Session one, in the morning, will include papers from senior executives in the fields of ship owning, operations and management, as well as shipbroking and finance, said a statement.



Collectively these will make the case that greater optimism about the future of the tanker shipping industry is justified, although significant hurdles remain to be overcome.



In the afternoon, session 2 will focus on support infrastructure and services and how these can provide a solid regional platform for regional tanker shipping development. This will be followed by session 3, during which speakers will seek to address the safety, security and environmental issues facing the tanker sector and how these can best be overcome, it said.



This will be followed by the always popular networking reception at which attendees and speakers will get a chance to discuss the market in an informal and relaxed setting.



Benefitting from the fact that it is held in the same location and in close proximity to TMS Awards, the conference is sure to attract many senior executives from all of the region's leading tanker owners and operators, as well as global players.



The event is firmly established as a key event for the trade, combining top quality speakers and senior executive participants from different segments, to create unrivalled learning and networking opportunities.



Clive Woodbridge, conference editor, said: The feedback from last year's event was extremely favourable and we aim to build further on that success.



We are looking to attract some of the biggest names in the industry to speak this year, so watch this space for more details, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
Ras Al Khaimah has announced the official launch of its petroleum licensing round and the establishment of the northern emirate's regulator responsible for the licensing round tendering process and ongoing management of petroleum rights.



The Government of Ras Al Khaimah has announced the official launch of RAKs 2018 Petroleum Licensing Round and the establishment of the new Ras Al Khaimah Petroleum Authority, the regulator responsible for the Licensing Round tendering process and ongoing management of petroleum rights.



The Licensing Round offers seven contract areas, including four shallow water offshore blocks and three onshore blocks and covering almost the entire emirate, reported state news agency Wam.



The blocks on offer include highly prospective exploration opportunities, an undeveloped oil discovery, and a mature gas condensate redevelopment opportunity, it stated.



The licensing round is being supported by Ras Al Khaimahs national oil company RAK Gas.



There is access to existing petroleum infrastructure, including pipelines and oil and gas processing facilities, as well as access to international oil markets and local gas markets. The petroleum rights will be governed by a new Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement, said the Wam report.



The Licensing Round, which is RAKs first, expects to receive bids in November 2018. Data rooms are now available for reservation in RAK and London.



RAK Gas CEO Nishant Dighe said: "We are encouraging international oil companies to take advantage of this rare opportunity to build their portfolios in the UAE. Ras Al Khaimah has significant remaining oil and gas potential within its diverse petroleum geology - in both the onshore and offshore acreage."



"All offshore blocks have recently been covered by a new multi-client broadband 3D seismic survey which is available for viewing. The petroleum rights will be governed by a modern, investor-friendly, Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement, making Ras Al Khaimah a very attractive place to explore for, and produce oil and gas," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Sparrows Group, a major provider of engineered products and services to the global energy industry, said it has secured a multi-million pound contract from Indias Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for the refurbishment of 21 cranes.



The project which will safely extend the life of the cranes for a further 15 to 20 years will see the company refurbish, repair, upgrade or replace all components and machinery.



To reduce time and cost refurbishment of each crane is being undertaken on-site, with any major boom works being carried out at Sparrows workshop facility in Mumbai, said the top specialists in delivering integrated engineering solutions.



The contract will utilise all of Sparrows in-house engineering disciplines including their structural, mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, automation and control, and reliability teams, it added.



On the contract win, CEO Stewart Mitchell said: "As the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for over 100 of the cranes in ONGCs fleet we look forward to starting this work which will ensure safety and reliability for a number of years to come."



"Cranes are a critical piece of equipment to any operation and ONGCs decision to start this refurbishment programme is testament to their ongoing commitment to safety and performance," stated Mitchell.



India continues to be an area of growth for Sparrows and we have established a good track record in the region. We have a strong engineering capability at our base in Mumbai and our ability to carry out the work locally has been crucial to us being awarded this work, he added.



The UK firm said all spare parts required for the project, including any new booms, will be manufactured at its dedicated facility in Houston, US. Once final testing has taken place each crane will be recertified to the relevant industry standards.



Work is set to begin this month with completion expected by March 2020.-TradeArabia News Service
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced April 9 as the deadline for receiving applications for the third edition of the Dubai Smartpreneur Competition, launched recently in cooperation with the Smart Dubai Office.



The Dubai Smartpreneur Competition gives startups and entrepreneurs in the UAE an opportunity to become part of the Dubai Governments Strategy to elevate the city into a global platform for innovation-focused businesses.



This year, the competition is seeking business ideas in three categories, namely  Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation. Entries will be evaluated by a panel of expert judges who will select the submissions offering the most potential.



The top three winners of the competition will receive a total of Dh150,000 ($40,840) in cash prizes and the chance to participate in other entrepreneurship-focused programmes and initiatives offered by Dubai Startup Hub.



Launched as an initiative of Dubai Chamber in 2016, Dubai Startup Hub is an interactive platform that connects startups, entrepreneurs, developers, venture capitalists and students, enabling them to learn about new opportunities and create new partnerships that stimulate economic growth.  TradeArabia News Service
UAE-based GP Global (formerly Gulf Petrochem Group) has expanded its European and Asia Pacific bunkering operations with the appointment of five senior traders alongside a new office in Hull, UK and a new branch office in Seoul, South Korea.



Steven Taylor, lead  Physical Supply, West of Suez and Susan Needham, trading operator  Physical Supply West of Suez, both previously of Ocean Connect Marine UK Ltd, a Glencore subsidiary bring over 30 years worth of experience in the market and will lead the brand-new GP Global office in Hull, UK.



At GP Globals London office, Chris Holroyd and Dave Matthews, two seasoned traders, joined as bunker traders, West of Suez and will be developing and growing GP Globals trading desk in the capital. Holroyd, previously of KPI Bridge Oil brings with him over 20 years worth of experience in the industry. Matthews, previously of Ocean Connect Marine UK Ltd, has over nine years worth of experience in the industry with particular skills in risk management and contract negotiations.



Both the Hull and London offices will report into Chris Todd, head of Bunkering, West of Suez at GP Global.



Joining GP Globals Asia Pacific operations as a senior bunker trader is Robin Park, who will lead the Korean operations in the groups new office in Seoul, South Korea. Prior to joining GP Global, Park worked with Asia MBS and Cockett Marine Oil in South Korea as well as Glander International Bunkering in Singapore.



Park will report to Anil Keswani, head of Bunkering, East of Suez at GP Global.



The appointments and new offices follow the launch of GP Globals Southern and Sub-Saharan African trading desks in late 2017 and further consolidate the groups trading business around the world.



We are delighted to have strengthened our UK bunker team with experienced, well respected and seasoned professionals within our industry, said Todd.



Our UK operations continue to go from strength to strength with the opening of our brand-new office in Hull, strategically located close to the P66 and Total refineries in Immingham, and the expansion of our London office. We expect 2018 to be another successful year at GP Globals bunkering division due to the team we now have in place West of the Suez.



Keswani said: We are pleased to expand our East of Suez operations to Korea with Robin on board. The expansion in our Asia Pacific operations is aimed at strengthening GP Globals reach in the Bunkering business.



Prerit Goel, group director at GP Global, said: Our bunkering division enjoyed a successful year in 2017, despite challenging market conditions, and that was down to the people we have in place across our trading desks around the world. With these latest appointments, we are confident that the new team structure both in the UK and Asia Pacific will allow us to capitalise on further opportunities moving into 2018.  TradeArabia News Service
On the heels of Best Westerns launch of Todays Best Western campaign and its Behind the Brands series, the company is inviting travellers to explore what it means to live the Premier Life.



Best Western Premier is one of Best Western Hotels & Resorts most exclusive offerings, which brings a notably refined and elegant travel experience to todays discerning travellers. With 120 locations across the globe and 50 more in the pipeline, the upscale brand is designed for business and leisure travellers seeking first-rate amenities, superior accommodations and exceptional service.



The objective of our new Behind the Brands series is to provide travellers with an inside look at our 11 brands  each of which feature a distinctive personality and provide the consistent service and quality Best Western Hotels & Resorts is known for, said Ron Pohl, senior vice president and chief operations officer. Best Western Premier is an excellent lodging option for travellers, as well as for developers competing in the upscale market. The brand truly exemplifies what todays Best Western has to offer.



Best Western Premier was introduced in North America in 2011 as part of the companys descriptor program after eight years of success in Europe and Asia. Continuing its evolution, Best Western Hotels & Resorts launched a brand refresh in 2015  debuting new logos for each of its brands, including Best Western Premier. The new Best Western Premier logo uses a classic yet contemporary font, along with unique design elements to exude elegance and style. Its monogram brings an iconic expression with a multi-dimensional elliptical shape, customized lettering and a tapered line that ties it back to the Best Western master brand.



Best Western Premier hotels are setting a higher standard today with stylish designs, attention to detail and personalized service. Todays Best Western Premier hotels offer:



 Modern and unique exterior designs and robust in-room amenities

 Award-winning Build Your Own Breakfast with hot, healthy, customizable options available at most locations

 Luxurious Apothia bath products, the choice for fashionable trendsetters for 25 years

 Onsite dining, cocktail bars and fitness centres

 Convenient business centres, boardrooms, gathering spaces and sundry shops



Staying at a Best Western Premier is now even more rewarding. Guests can book one night at participating hotels in Asia and get up to 50 per cent off the second night when paying with their Citibank credit card. Guests will also be awarded Best Western Rewards points. This offer is valid from now until December 31. - TradeArabia News Service


Flyadeal, Saudi Arabia's low-cost airline, has taken delivery of its sixth aircraft - a new Airbus A320 which arrived from the Airbus assembly facility in Hamburg, Germany, said a report.



The airline has rapidly expanded its route network since the start of its operations on September 23, 2017 the kingdoms national day.



Currently, flyadeal offers as many as eight flights daily between Jeddah and Riyadh. It also flies twice daily from Riyadh and Jeddah to Abha and Jazan. From its base in Jeddah, the airline flies direct to Qassim and Damman, a report in Saudi Gazette said.



Con Korfiatis, CEO of flyadeal, said: As promised, we continue to expand our fleet to meet the growing demand for low cost travel in Saudi Arabia and deepen our domestic presence so customers can fly for less. We cant wait to announce our route plans for this aircraft in the next few weeks.



Flyadeal's current route network comprises six domestic destinations in Saudi Arabia. The airline expects to receive the two remaining aircraft in the initial leasing of eight aircraft in the next few months, the report said.
The Bvlgari Resort Dubai brings a new dining experience to the property with the opening of its latest culinary hotspot Hoseki, meaning gemstone in Japanese. Uniqueness and ultra-exclusive surroundings are at the heart of the one-of-a-kind culinary journey.



With only nine seats overlooking the Dubais skyline, the Japanese Chef Masahiro Sugiyama offers a memorable gastronomic treat with the finest ingredients directly imported from Japan.



Following the fine cultural Japanese traditions, the chef offers a two hours Omakase experience, means I leave it to you discovery concept where he selects the dishes to create a tailor-made experience.



Welcomed by an exquisitely modern and minimal interiors completed with polished furnishing, dark wood touches and a warm colour palette, the guests arrive at the typical Japanese reception area called Tokonoma  a dedicated space to receive guests in a traditional house  which features iconic cultural references such as the Bonsai plant and the power stones. The Japanese hostesses, dressed in traditional kimonos, welcome the guests and guide them to the Japanese style open counter to enjoy the chefs art pieces in the most intimate way possible. This unique setting is ideal for a romantic dinner for two or a special occasion with a small group of friends. For a larger gathering, the restaurant offers an equally intimate but slightly bigger seating capacity with the private dining room which hosts up to 12 guests with a fantastic 360 view over the Arabic Gulf and Dubais glittering skyline.



Omakase is the most traditional way to enjoy Japanese food which offers a memorable gastronomic treat. Depending on the guests preferences and seasonal Japanese ingredients, the talented Chef Masahiro Sugiyama serves his own interpretation of delectable and renowned dishes with the finest selection of fishes diced into perfection. With over 157 years of family sushi traditions, Chef Sugiyama is the sixth generation of sushi restaurant in Tokyo. With his talented culinary technique and relationship with the finest Japanese markets to get the most fresh and seasonal ingredients from Japan, Chef Sugiyama takes the guests through a culinary journey to savour the real tastes of Japan.



His extraordinary cuisine can be discovered with different dining experiences, which are named after special gemstones in Japanese. The lunch is named 'Kohaku' which means Amber, while for dinners guests can select either 'Hisui', translating Jade, or 'Ruri' for Lapis Lazuli gemstone translation.



The restaurant, which is located on the fourth floor of the hotel, is open for lunch and dinner five days a week and closes on Sunday and Monday. Reservations are required as there is no walk-in policy. Hoseki opens for lunch from 12.30 pm to 3.30 pm with last order at 2.00 pm, and reopens for dinner from 6.30 pm to 12.00 am with two seating options at 6.30 pm and 9.30 pm. - TradeArabia News Service
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, and Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) celebrated the introduction of a second daily flight between Abu Dhabi and the Italian capital, Rome.



The inauguration ceremony took place at the innovative E boarding area for international flights at Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport Fiumicino.



Flight EY 85 was greeted with a welcoming cake cutting ceremony by representatives of Etihad Airways and AdR upon arrival in Rome Fiumicino.



Antontella Cataldi, Etihad Airways general manager Italy, said: We are extremely proud of having increased the number of flights that connect Rome with our Abu Dhabi hub. Our additional flights demonstrate the importance of the strong economic ties between the UAE and Italy, and our continued support for the growth of bilateral trade between both countries. This will also make a positive contribution to the tourism industry in Italy and the UAE, offering greater choice to our business and leisure guests travelling between the two countries.



We are pleased to welcome the launch of Etihad Airways second daily flight from Abu Dhabi to Rome Fiumicino, added Federico Scriboni, head of Airline Traffic Development of AdR. This reinforces the presence of the airline in Rome, highlighting the strategic role played by the Roman market, and caters to the demand for destinations not currently served directly from Rome, such as Australia, which are now accessible seamlessly via Abu Dhabi. Leonardo da Vinci is becoming an increasingly popular gateway, renowned for its excellent services, and boasting a large number of the worlds major international airlines.



Flights on the Abu Dhabi  Rome Fiumicino route will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft  equipped with 28 Business Class and 384 Economy Class seats  and Airbus A330-200 aircraft  featuring 22 Business Class and 240 Economy Class seats.



Alitalia continues its codeshare partnership with Etihad and will also place its code on the new Etihad flights.



Etihad Airways commenced operations to Italy in September 2007 with the introduction of the daily service between Abu Dhabi and Milan Malpensa and added a daily service to Rome Fiumicino to its route network in 2014. - TradeArabia News Service


As he prepares for possible talks with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un about controlling the Norths nuclear weapons program, President Trump is facing his most complicated national security challenge so far. He has made the task far harder by threatening to blow up the only other recent deal to control a nuclear program, with Iran.

New York Times reports in its article Trumps Iran Threat May Wreck Talks With North Korea that after decades of effort, Iran was close to producing enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb when it reached the deal with the major powers in 2015. Iran gave away about 97 percent of its low-enriched uranium, destroyed 13,000 of its 19,000 centrifuges and pledged to incapacitate a heavy-water facility intended to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

If Iran tries to cheat, the most rigorous technological verification system in the world can detect the violations and alert the world in time to intervene. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors the agreement, has repeatedly found Iran in compliance; scores of experts, including American diplomats and military officers, have affirmed the deals efficacy. Israels army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, told Haaretz on Friday that the deal has delayed the Iranian nuclear vision by 10 to 15 years. Although Iran never had a nuclear weapon, the agreement required months of talks and two years of technical and political negotiations.

Now consider North Korea, with 20 to 60 nuclear weapons, and facilities for producing plutonium and enriching uranium, many of which are hidden. Mr. Trump has insisted on the Norths complete and verifiable denuclearization. And, by all indications, he wants it done immediately. Yet by threatening to abrogate the Iran deal and reimpose sanctions Mr. Trump has added to the challenge of making that happen. He has claimed, without a shred of evidence, that Iran is out of compliance, and has complained that Iran is still building ballistic missiles, arming Hezbollah and supporting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. None of these concerns were supposed to be prevented by the deal. He has demanded that Britain, France and Germany fix what he calls flaws in the pact by May 12, presumably so he will have someone else to blame when it falls apart.

The president, and his new hard-line team of national security advisers, may think that walking away from the Iran deal will persuade Mr. Kim of his toughness and his determination to secure terms that go far beyond those reached with Iran. More likely, Mr. Kim will see it as proof that the United States cannot be trusted to stick to its commitments and will be reluctant to reach any agreement.

Persuading a country to give up weapons is never easy. The North Koreans have said they need nuclear weapons to deter American aggression. And Mr. Kim has set the pace for most of the recent diplomacy  including his surprise invitation to Mr. Trump and his visit with President Xi Jinping in China. That said, he reportedly told China and South Korea he will discuss denuclearization with the Americans.

Denuclearization has had some successes. After Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus inherited thousands of nuclear weapons when the Soviet Union collapsed, the United States persuaded them to transfer the devices to Russia. South Africa had about a half-dozen warheads but gave them up after the end of apartheid. Libya shed its rudimentary nuclear program under pressure from Britain and the United States after the Iraq war.

And in 1994, most likely before North Korea had any nuclear weapons, a limited agreement with the United States froze the Norths plutonium program for about eight years until it fell apart under President George W. Bush.

A serious negotiation with North Korea would include Mr. Trump pressing Mr. Kim to freeze nuclear and missile testing, halt the production of nuclear weapons fuel and the deployment of nuclear weapons and put an Iran-like verification system in place. But why would Mr. Kim agree to any of that if the Americans walk away from the Iran deal? Why would Mr. Kim, or any future adversary for that matter, assume Mr. Trump is negotiating in good faith?

The Iran deal has achieved what it was intended to do  limit Irans nuclear program. There is still hope that something similar can be achieved in North Korea. Indeed, Mr. Trump could contribute in an unprecedented way to international peace and security by engaging with Mr. Kim. That possibility will be squandered, though, if the American president escalates a manufactured nuclear crisis with Iran at the very time he is trying to defuse one with North Korea.
The results of the changes that have occurred in Uzbekistan over the past year and a half are already noticeable while approaching Tashkent. On the plane you will be informed that you are arriving at the international airport named after the first President Islam Karimov and a "green corridor" is organized for you. New president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who took office on December 4, 2016, proclaimed a policy of openness, not to take anything away from the success of the first President Islam Karimov, whose name was given to prospectuses, universities, schools and monuments. Nevertheless, the line between the past and the present was drawn.

During Shavkat Mirziyev's year and a half in power, he reformatted not only the country's domestic policy, but also regional one. He carried out administrative and personnel reforms, announced his commitment to economic liberalization. One of the presidential latest decrees transformed the National Security Service into the State Security Service. The all-powerful head of the National Security Service, Rustam Inoyatov, was dismissed in February. Experts say that it was necessary for further economic reforms. he State Security Service was head by people from the prosecutor's office close to the president. Experts note that Shavkat Mirziyoyev relies on his family in personnel policy. He has no sons, only three daughters. Therefore, he strengthened his administration and power bloc with his sons-in-law. In addition, he returned to power former exile leaders, who got in wrong with President Karimov, as well as young technocrats who do not aspire to be politically influential.

The most interesting for Uzbekistan is South Korea's experience. Probably, it is not by chance that Korean specialists are involved in the management system. They use experience of other countries, for example, Russia, Kazakhstan and even Georgia. Gormer Georgian Prime Minister, member of Mikhail Saakashvili's economic team Nika Gilauri was invited to reform Uzbekistan's tax system. But Georgian experts called this decision "Mirziyoyev's first mistake."

In the economy, Mirziyoyev liberalized the foreign exchange market. He announced his commitment to the export-oriented development of the country, which should help attracting foreign investment, forming free economic zones with preferential treatment. For this, Uzbekistan needs export markets for growing volumes of products. Uzbekistan can offer natural gas, cotton fiber, uranium, non-ferrous metals, cement, fruits and vegetables, as well as motor cars and their components. Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced Central Asia as priority direction in foreign policy.

For a year and a half, the Uzbek president managed to resolve issues that seemed to become irresolvable. In particular, the state border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan was almost completely demarcated and delimited. Only 10% of each border with both states remain to be identified, but these are the most complex areas that require additional consultations. The air service has been restored, the road from Uzbekistan to China via Kyrgyzstan has been opened. The construction of a similar railway section is under consideration. An agreement was reached with Turkmenistan on Uzbekistan's exit to the Caucasus corridor. Uzbekistan is transferring its energy-intensive enterprises to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In short, there is progress in all directions in all spheres. According to Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan managed to melt the 20-year-old ice in relations with its neighbors.

But Uzbekistan has another important goal - restoring the once-lost positions of the region's leader. These are not illusory hopes. The Conference on Afghanistan, which was held in Tashkent late March, was supported by the United Nations, Russia, the EU, the United States and other countries. The event was attended by representatives of more than 20 states and organizations, including Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon and other prominent and influential persons.

Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, responding to a question from the author of the article, noted that "there comes a favorable moment in Afghanistan when it is necessary to solve this old problem, otherwise it will be delayed once again, and much depends on external players which must provide conditions or at least not interfere in the process." Another respondent, director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov, noted that Uzbekistan's new policy has pushed all countries of the region to solving joint problems. "For example, stability in Afghanistan is also an issue of our economic well-being, because this country has an access to the southern seas. According to the Boston Consulting Group, annually we fail to receive 20% of GDP without this exit," Norov said.

The chairman of Uzbekistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Adham Ikramov, noted that global issues that require solution were discussed during the conference - a whole range of political, cultural and humanitarian issues, but trade and economic issues and the development of transport infrastructure were no less important. "Uzbekistan is bordered by all the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan, and the main vector of Uzbekistan's international policy has been regional cooperation and strengthening of good-neighborly and mutually beneficial relations with neighboring countries," Ikramov told the author. "The conference gives an opportunity to deepen our bilateral cooperation in trade. For example, in 2018, Uzbekistan, which previously has been one of the first countries to supply electricity to Afghanistan, will increase the supply of electricity by a factor of 30. If we talk about diversified economy, then Uzbekistan, being one of Afghanistan's strategic partners, provides it with wheat, food products, light industry products, textiles and metals," he added.

For Afghanistan, the Uzbek market is also interesting. 110 enterprises with Afghan capital work on the territory of Uzbekistan. Following Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's visit to Tashkent in December 2017, memorandums of cooperation were signed between the chambers of commerce and industry, which enabled Uzbekistan to open trade houses in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif. An intermodal logistics cargo center has been established at the state border in Termez. Uzbekistan intends to drive the trade turnover with Afghanistan to an indicator of $3 billion from the current $617 million.

"Using the extensive network of Uzbekistan's roads and railways, Afghan goods can be brought to large markets of Russia and Kazakhstan, and to the Chinese market through the Tashkent-Andijan-Osh-Irkeshtam-Kashgar road. Of course, there is a reverse movement - by the HairatanMazar-e-Sharif railway to Herat, with further access to Iran and Pakistan, to their Chabahar and Gwadar ports. Thus, the heart of Central Asia - Uzbekistan, will be able to regain a crucial role in all further regional initiatives. Including those considered or had already been adopted within the framework of the conference on Afghanistan held in Tashkent," Adaham Ikramov summarized.
Georgia's Interior Ministry announced the detention of a German citizen for the possession of a large quantity of drugs in Tbilisi.

The individual, identified only as L. A. reportedly kept 2644 pills of ecstasy, 323 pills of subutex and 400gr of cocaine. He may face 8-20 years or life imprisonment.

A Kazakh citizen was also detained at Tbilisi International Airport in recent days upon arrival from Brazil via Dubai for carrying around one kg of drugs containing over 676gr of cocaine. He may face 8-20 years of imprisonment as well, Agenda.ge reported.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho will visit Azerbaijan, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said.

The minister will visit Baku to attend the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on April 5-6.

The Non-Aligned Movement Mid-Term Ministerial Conference will be held in Baku under the theme of 'Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development' on April 5-6.

A meeting of Senior Officials of member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is being held in Baku on April 3-4.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched the construction of the first power unit for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in in the southern province of Mersin through a teleconference.

Russia's president congratulated those present on the ceremony, stressing that it is difficult to overestimate its significance. "In fact, today we are not only present at the construction of the first Turkish nuclear power plant, but we are also creating the basis for Turkey in the nuclear industry as a whole." Turkey is a highly developed state in terms of technology and economics, but this is a new stage in the development of the Turkish economy," Putin said.

The head of state recalled that Russia is one of the recognized leaders in the field of world atomic energy. He assured that the construction of Akkuyu will use the most advanced engineering solutions, as well as economically efficient and reliable technologies - the same ones used to build nuclear power plants in Russia. Putin drew attention to compliance with safety standards, including with environmental standards.

The Turkish president, in turn, said that the Akkuyu nuclear power plant will meet 10% of Turkeys requirements for electric power. "As the Akkuyu NPP is put into operation in 2023, Turkey will join the family of countries with nuclear power engineering. The Akkuyu NPP will allow us to meet 10% of the entire requirement for electric power," Erdogan stressed.

Putin arrived in Ankara on a two-day visit today. After the ceremony, the heads of state will hold the talks in a narrow format, which will be followed by the meeting of the High-Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council.

On April 4, Russian, Turkish and Iranian presidents will discuss the Syrian settlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Ankara where he will hold talks with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and take part in a ceremony to launch the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

According to the Kremlin press service, Putin is paying a two-day visit to Ankara at the invitation of Erdogan, TASS reported.

As part of the visit, the leaders will also participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for Turkey's Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is supposed to be constructed by Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom after the company obtains the required licenses.

Today, Ankara will host the seventh meeting of the High-Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council. The parties will consider the current state and prospects for the development of trade and economic cooperation, the implementation of the joint strategic projects, in particular, in the energy sector. It is planned to discuss some pressing regional and international issues, including the joint fight against terrorism and the situation in Syria.

On April 4, Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will attend a key Syria summit with Erdogan.
Turkeys TAEK atomic energy authority granted Russia's Rosatom a construction license to start work on the first unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, Anadolu agency said.

"As a result of the construction license process, an important step in the project started nearly three years ago, being completed ... it has been decided by TAEK to grant a construction license for the construction of the first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Plant," Anadolu cited a TAEK statement.

Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend a ceremony to officially launch Akkuyus first unit.

Putin will make a two-day visit to Turkey on April 3-4 where he will meet Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for a summit on Syria.
Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia and OPEC may assume joint efforts on balancing the oil market after completion of the crude production cut deal (OPEC+).

"We are currently considering the format of long-term relations, which would potentially include market monitoring, information exchange and implementation of some joint measures as was the case in end-2016 if necessary," TASS cited the Russian minister as saying.

According to Novak, OPEC+ countries are currently developing a mechanism for long-term cooperation to be used after completion of the deal.

He added that the issue has been discussed with Saudi Arabias energy minister Khalid Al-Falih.

"There are various cooperation formats, ranging from periodic meetings of OPEC and non-OPEC countries to other formats, probably, of an organization that could cooperate with OPEC and non-OPEC states," he said.

According to him, Russia has no plans to join OPEC.

In late 2016, OPEC member-states and 11 independent oil-exporting countries, including Russia, entered into an agreement to reduce oil production. According to that agreement, during the first half of 2017 the participants were to withdraw 1.8 million barrels per day from the oil market in comparison with the level of October 2016.

The agreement was extended twice - until March 2018 and until the end of 2018.

Higher school of tariff regulation at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Ivan Kapitonov, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Russia s interested in the long-term cooperation with OPEC, only if it is given the position of the leader. "It would be possible while maintaining the current format of OPEC+ in one form or another, when Russia, in fact, leads the OPEC countries. The previous format of contacts was unprofitable for us, since Russia was invited to the position of ordinary member. The OPEC + format showed that our diplomatic abilities are much higher than those of other countries, and Russia can be the leader in regulating markets - this format is quite viable in the future," he stressed.

In his estimation, the creation of a permanent format of OPEC+ would be an effective tool for controlling oil prices. "Most of the oil production is controlled by the OPEC+ countries. The impact of the increasing production of the US can correct OPEC+ positions on the market, but do not abolish its influence completely. Such an alliance is very influential: after an agreement to cut output, oil in price jumped immediately by $15 per barrel, and then the growth was observed without significant drops. Yes, shale mining in the US is constantly increasing, but the overall price increase has been preserved in general, and now oil has fixed at a level above $70 per barrel," Ivan Kapitonov pointed out.

A senior analyst of 'Uralsib Capital', Alexei Kokin, expects that Russia's cooperation with OPEC will remain approximately in the same format as it is now. "I think that cooperation will be limited to coordination of production volumes, and it will be conducted in 2019 and even 2020. Of course, the volume of output will not remain completely and thoroughly fixed, there will be negotiations about its optimal level, which will be reviewed from time to time. I do not see any other options for contacts with OPEC, which would be of interest to Russia. Saudi Arabia has ideas about cooperation almost at the level of common projects, but it is unclear yet what opportunities for such joint work we have," he noted.

The expert agreed with Ivan Kapitonov that this cooperation with OPEC will allow to continue effective control of prices in the oil market. "The volume of supplies will continue to play a key role in servicing the market. But we should not forget that Saudi Arabia and Russia have their own long-term tasks, to some extent both countries want to reduce their dependence on hydrocarbon supplies. And we need to get the maximum cash flow from hydrocarbon exports while the issue of switching to diversification of budget revenues is being decided," Alexei Kokin concluded.
St Petersburg remembers the victims of the terrorist bombing of the citys metro that occurred exactly on this day a year ago.

Today, volunteers will hand out a thousand white roses at the entrance of Techknologichesky Institut where an improvised memorial to the victims of the terrorist act emerged on the day of the tragedy.

A Russian Orthodox remembrance service will be chanted at the Holy Trinity Cathedral on Izmailovsky Prospekt Avenue at 13:00 hours and after it city officials, as well as families and friends of the dead will take part in a flower-laying ceremony at the site of the tragedy.

Also, the St Petersburg Metro System is expected to present a Memory Book containing fifteen stories about the persons, who died in the terrorist act, and the entries left by people at the improvised memorial at Tekhnologichesky Institut.

At 19:00 hours, a remembrance concert will take place at the Oktyabrsky Grand Concert Hall. Its title is Music against Terror, TASS reported.

A suicide bomber, whom the investigators identified later as Akbarzhon Jalilov, a Russian citizen born in Kyrgyzstan, set off an explosive device on a train between the Sennaya Ploshchad and Technologichesky Institut stations, killing fifteen and wounding more than a hundred people.

The prompt reaction of police operatives and law enforcers made it possible to avert a second explosion at Ploshchad Vosstaniya station that would have caused far more casualties.

The criminal case over the bombing features about twenty individuals.
The Russian and Tajik civilian aviation authorities will hold talks tomorrow, Russia's Transport Ministry said.

"Talks with the Tajik side are scheduled for April 4," TASS cited the ministry as saying.

The Russian transport ministry has suspended Tajik air carriers' flights - Tajik Air and Somon Air - to some Russian cities. Such measure was applied because Tajikistan has not responded to the proposal to hold talks in Moscow
CPTPP vital to Vietnams economic reforms Updated: 10:15 - 03/04/2018

The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Agreement will be a vital deal to expanding free trade and ensuring sustainable development in Vietnam, said Minister of Industry and Trade (MOIT) Tran Tuan Anh.

Therefore, economic sectors should take the initiative in economic restructuring in order to maximize the benefits of the pact, which was inked in Chile on March 8 (local time) by ministers from its 11 member nations, Anh told the Vietnam News Agency.

The minister said such sectors as garment-textiles, footwear, food processing, beverage, confectionery, tobacco and wine and beer will benefit most from the deal. He cited a study jointly conducted by the World Bank (WB) and the research institute under the Ministry of Planning and Investment as saying that Vietnams GDP would be 1.1 percent higher than otherwise expected in 2030 thanks to the CPTPP.



Leaders of the 11 economies hold hands at the official signing ceremony for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on March 9 in Chile__ Photo: Internet

Like other member economies, Vietnam has committed to market opening and trade facilitation and liberalization towards lifting non-tariff barriers, the minister said.

At the same time, the country will continue to streamline state management of market development, he said, stressing that through the agreement, the competitiveness of the national economy as well as businesses will be likely to improve.

Citing USD 36 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) poured into Vietnam in 2017, Anh said the pact would lead to breakthroughs in the flow of investment into the country.

Domestic businesses, therefore, will have more resources to develop further and access technologies as well as quality human resources, the minister emphasized.

However, apart from opportunities, the agreement would pose challenges to both the business community and people if less attention was paid to fulfilling integration commitments, the minister warned.

He cited lessons from Vietnams joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) and signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the US to clarify his views.

The official said a number of fields in the agriculture sector like sugarcane exploitation and sugar industry have remained slow in restructuring, as compared with other sectors like telecommunications, e-commerce, garment-textiles and footwear.

The MOIT has designed specific communications projects in order to help businesses and people grasp opportunities generated by the agreement.

The ministry will also submit an overall action plan to the Government in preparation for the implementation of Vietnams integration commitments while reviewing its legal framework, the minister said.

Luong Hoang Thai, head of the MOITs Department of Multilateral Trade Policy, said the CPTPP inherits most of the contents in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The new agreement, however, has been revised to become more beneficial to member countries after the US withdrawal.

Specifically, Vietnam now enjoys a longer roadmap for fulfilling some difficult obligations, with some even being postponed until the return of the US as a member. These obligations basically are related to intellectual property, labor, trade union and investment provisions, according to Thai.

All 11 countries signing the CPTPP have committed to opening their markets, investment and public procurement according to what had been agreed on in the TPP. Thus, basically speaking, zero percent of taxes will be levied on goods among all the CPTPP members. However, the other 10 member nations have agreed to give Vietnam a longer timeline in implementing the tax article.

The other 10 member nations have committed to opening their markets for Vietnam at a high level, Thai said, citing that Japan, for example, has agreed to open their market for Vietnamese tuna fish as well as agricultural products.

Besides the field of goods, the CPTPP has also offered Vietnam a lot of benefits in the fields of services, investment and public procurement from the other 10 member countries. A case in point is that the FPT Corporation has offered its software services in Japan, Thai said.

The new agreement will bring direct benefits to Vietnam, from trade liberalization and improved market access. Most importantly, it will help stimulate and accelerate domestic reforms in many areas, said Sebastian Eckardt, the World Bank Lead Economist for Vietnam.

Delivering commitments under the CPTPP will contribute in promoting transparency and supporting the creation of modern institutions in Vietnam.



Bac Giang provinces fresh lychees have been exported to Australia__Photo: baocongthuong.com.vn

The CPTPP is expected to stimulate reforms in areas such as competition, services (including financial services, telecommunications, and temporary entry of service providers), customs, e-commerce, environment, government procurement, intellectual property, investment, labor standards, legal issues, market access for goods, rules of origin, non-tariff measures and trade remedies, the World Bank said in a report released shortly after the CPTPP was officially signed.

According to Professor Nguyen Mai, former Vice Chairman of the State Committee for Cooperation and Investment (now the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the CPTPP provides a fairly comprehensive chapter on cross-border investment, including principles relating to most-favored nation treatment, transparency and disclosure of information, the rights of investors and investment recipients, and settlement of disputes.

Vietnamese laws have already set forth quite appropriate regulations on investment. However, attention should be paid to three demanding requirements prescribed in the CPTPP: the publicity, transparency, and predictability of the legal system and changes of law (a disadvantage for Vietnamese law); strict regulations on intellectual property rights, despite the suspension of some related provisions such as those regarding pharmaceuticals; and labor and worker rights, including the right to form independent unions. These requirements demand amendment of various legal documents on these issues, the professor wrote on Vietnam Investment Review.

The CPTPP and EVFTA are called new-generation FTAs, with a strong emphasis on labor rights, and the protection of environmental stability, in order to ensure that free trade contributes to sustainable development, while helping employees and businesses equally enjoy the economic benefits, said Chang-Hee Lee, Country Director of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

I would like to emphasize that Vietnam should use this as an opportunity to modernize its labor legislation and labor relation system within the set time frame, he said in an interview with Nhan Dan online.

Vietnam has taken steps to meet the requirements of the CPTPP through the ongoing institutional and labor legislation reforms. It needs to move forward in ratifying the three fundamental ILO conventions: Convention 87 on freedom of association, Convention 98 on the right to collective bargaining, and Convention 105 on the abolition of forced labor, Lee said.



The CPTPP is set to take effect in early 2019 after it is ratified by at least six member economies. Its current member economies make up about 13 percent of the global GDP.- (VLLF)

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Vietnamese women still face numerous barriers to employment Updated: 10:22 - 03/04/2018

Around 72 percent of Vietnamese women have joined the workforce, bringing the country to the group of nations with highest percentages of women in the labor pool. Despite their great contributions to the national economy, women still face numerous barriers to employment equality.

According to a report titled Women, Employment and Wage: An Overview on Female Workers in Vietnam prepared by M.net, a network for migrant workers set up by Oxfam, female laborers account for 48.4 percent of the countrys workforce. In such industries as textile-garment, footwear-leather, seafood processing, and electronics, the rate surpasses 70 percent.

Fewer job opportunities

The M.nets report reveals that women constitute the majority of the jobless, making up over 57 percent of untrained, unemployed adults. For the groups of vocationally trained workers and bachelors degree holders, the figures are 50.2 percent and 55 percent, respectively.



Inside a cell phone manufacturing workshop in Samsung Electronics Vietnam Hi-Tech Complex, Bac Ninh province__ Photo: Internet

Looking at recruitment ads published in local media, one can easily notice such phrases as male candidates preferred, being physically fit, single candidates will have an added advantage. This is an apparent manifestation of gender bias in employment, a practice prohibited by Vietnams labor law, which has deprived women of many job opportunities.

According to a study conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Navigos Search, of 12,300 job ads on VietnamWorks, JobStreet, CareerBuilder and CareerLink between mid-November 2014 and mid-January 2015, one-fifth included gender requirements. Among the recruitment postings showing gender preference, 70 percent specifically requested that the positions be filled by men whereas only 30 percent sought female applicants. Men were most often targeted for highly professional or technical jobs or jobs requiring much travelling such as architects and drivers with 100 percent of job ads requiring men, engineers, 99 percent, and IT professionals, 97 percent. Meanwhile, women were expected to perform office and clerical jobs like receptionists, secretaries and accountants.

The story of Minh Thuy, a female truck driver in Ho Chi Minh City, is a typical example.

I have always been dreaming of becoming a truck driver. However, when I registered for a driving course, my instructor seemed extremely hesitant. He advised me to reconsider my choice, saying truck driving was a hard job suitable to men only. I had to affirm him that I was very strong and I could do it. Finally, I got a license and started to seek for a truck driving job. After being rejected by every freight company I applied to, I joined a taxi firm and worked as a taxi driver for a while and then used all my savings to buy a light truck. Now Im self-employed. Im a woman and I just want to be a truck driver, Thuy gushed with the Lao Dong (Labor) online.

Hong, a textile worker from the central province of Phu Yen, was not as lucky as Thuy.

I had been interested in technical subjects since I was a secondary school pupil. But when I decided to enroll on an electrical engineering course, my parents and all my teachers and friends dissuaded me from doing so, citing the reason that girls should choose cushy jobs rather than electrical engineering, which was for boys by default, Hong recalled.

Disregarding this advice, Hong became the only girl in a collegial electrical engineering class. My male classmates seemed to dislike me just because I was a girl but dared to study such a discipline as electrical engineering. However, I was always among top students, she said proudly.

But the real problem had not come yet. After graduation with distinction, Hong spent a whole year travelling across the country but could not find out a job because women were disqualified for the post of electrical engineer, regardless of their professional qualifications. Hong then gave up her interest and settled as an industrial textile worker.

I think that as an electrical technician, Im in no way inferior to men. I just dont know what the top criteria for employers to select candidates are - their qualifications, strength or gender, Hong wondered.

In an article published on the Vietnam News daily, Kamal Malhotra, Co-Chair of the Informal Ambassadors and Heads of Agencies Gender Policy Coordination Group and Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Vietnam, analyzed:

The Labor Code reflects the presumption that only women have responsibilities for family and home care. This provides a rationale for excluding women from jobs that are considered unsuitable for them. Furthermore, it encourages the provision of occupational skills training to female employees 'that is suitable to their physical and physiological characteristics and their motherhood functions'. The notion that a particular skill, job or industry is better suited to one sex leads to horizontal segregation of the labor market, often clustering women into the informal sector and lower paying jobs.

In addition, women also face more challenges than men in career advancement.

The ILO and Navigos Searchs study pointed out that up to 83 percent of management job postings with gender preference required male applicants. This gap was also found across other management positions, including managers and supervisors where 78 and 87 percent of job ads respectively only accepted male candidates.

Ai Vy, a female office worker in Ho Chi Minh City, told the Lao Dong newspaper that she had been offered a managerial post but had to refuse because pregnancy was not allowed during the first three years of working.

Because women need to retire earlier than men, while also taking time out from work for child rearing and care of other family members, they are denied an equal chance for career advancement, Malhotra wrote.

Lower income and worse working environment

The M.nets report shows that women are paid around 11 percent lower than men for similar work. The gap is wider in jobs requiring higher levels of education. In 2016, the difference in income between male and female untrained workers was 8.1 percent, while it stood at 19.7 percent for graduate degree holders. The income of women in managerial positions was about 12 percent lower than their male counterparts.

Women are working under worse conditions than men, the report states. Around 59 percent of waged male workers have employment contracts, while only nearly half of their female colleagues do. In the foreign-invested sector, the rate of male laborers under indefinite-term labor contracts reaches nearly 74 percent, while it is just 68 percent for female employees.

Although accounting for the majority of the workforce in the countrys key export sectors as textile, footwear and seafood processing, female laborers in these industries are working under unhygienic conditions. More than 68 percent of female workers in shoe factories have had gynecological infections, the report reveals.

Experts recommendations

For the time being, no one can deny the benefits of gender equality for the economy.

Everyone thinks that its right to promote gender equality and create a fair working environment between men and women and wishes to do so but in reality not everyone is sensitive enough to realize inequalities or one may realize the unfairness but easily accept it because it fits longstanding preconceptions, Huynh Thi Ngoc Lien, Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Confederations Department for Women-Related Affairs, was quoted by the Lao Dong newspaper as saying.

Surely, a gender-balanced environment will benefit not only employees but also employers, state authorities and the whole society, she affirmed.

Most experts shared Liens idea.

Ngo Thi Ngoc Anh, director of the Community Development and Family Gender Research Center, told the Vietnam News daily that a fair and just perspective from policymakers is much needed to create equal opportunities for all laborers in the country.

Malhotra commented: As long as institutions and policies are established or shaped based on traditional stereotypical gender roles, they will continue to shape and inhibit labor market opportunities and incentives for women.

The revision of the Labor Code presents Vietnam with one crucial opportunity to get its legal framework right and navigate Vietnam in the direction of sustainable development that benefit all, he said.

Meanwhile, Pham Minh Huan, former Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, believed that employers play a major part in ensuring equal opportunities for female laborers.

They should embrace social responsibility, and not think of using female workers without considering how they would ensure their benefits, he said.- (VLLF)

, , ,
HA NOI  Petrolimex Group Commercial Joint Stock Bank (PGBank) will hold a shareholders meeting on April 21 to discuss its restructuring plan.

The bank will finalise the list of shareholders for the upcoming meeting on April 6.

The meeting is being held amidst market speculations regarding the merger of PGBank with either of the two other financial institutions  MBBank and Vietinbank.

It was reported in late 2017 that MBBank was planning an acquisition of PGBank.

At MBBanks annual shareholders meeting on March 29, general director Luu Trung Thai said the bank had discussed the merger plan with PGBank but the two sides had not reached any agreement s .

PGBank was approved by its shareholders to merge with Vietinbank in April 2015. The two sides signed a post-merger profile and comprehensive partnership agreement the following month.

Vietinbank announced the share swap ratio of 1:0.9 for its acquisition of PGBank. It meant every PGBank share would be valued at 90 per cent of one Vietinbank share, which was considered profitable to PGBank shareholders.

However, this M&A deal has not been finalised as State Bank of Viet Nam later asked the two banks to review their deal, re-evaluate PGBank shares and re-calculate the share swap ratio between the two sides.  VNS
HA NOI  The environmental protection tax increase would make Consumer Price Index (CPI) in July rise by 0.27-0.29 per cent from the previous month, said Vu Thi Mai, deputy minister of Finance at the monthly Government meeting held in Ha Noi on Monday.

The whole years CPI would be increased by 0.11-0.15 per cent due to the increase in tax but would still remain under the target of less than four per cent assigned by the National Assembly.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) said the ministries and localities supported its proposal to raise environmental protection tax on oil and petroleum products.

MoF has proposed to raise tax on these products from the current VN3,000 (13 US cents) to the ceiling level of VN4,000 (17 cents) per litre.

The environmental protection tax has been proposed to be increased by VN500 per litre of diesel oil to VN2,000 and by VN1,100 per litre of other oil products to VN2,000.

Plastic bags are also expected to see higher environmental taxes, increasing from the current VN30,000-VN50,000 per kilo, if the draft is approved.

MoF had released a report to collect feedback on the tax hike, which will come into effect from the beginning of July.

The ministry sent the draft decree to other ministries and localities in February.

It said it had received 60 comments from 14 ministries, 42 localities and four associations and businesses, of which 40 agreed with the ministry. However, the ministry has not collected opinions from people.

According to MoF, the tax hike will improve awareness on environmental protection by encouraging the saving of energy and natural resources. It will contribute to ensuring sustainable development, following Viet Nams international commitments to environmental protection, MoF said.

Experts suggest the ministry publish the collection and spending from environmental protection taxes.

The ministry said the entire tax amount, including environmental protection tax, would be paid to the State budget and utilised for socio-economic development.

MoF said the State spending on environmental protection had always been higher than the tax collection. It said the spending on environmental protection during 2012-16 was some VN131.8 trillion or VN26.4 trillion per year. The collection of environmental protection tax during the period was VN21.2 trillion per year.

Tax hike for sustainable development

Nguyen Viet Loi, director of MoFs Institute for Financial Strategy and Policy, said the tax should be raised to the ceiling level with an aim to complete financial policies towards sustainable development and restructuring the State budget collection.

The Law on Environmental Protection, promulgated in 2010, has been one of the policies to improve peoples awareness on the issue as well as to timely respond to the changes in global petrol prices and ensure national benefits in the international integration with import tax cuts, Loi said.

However, he said the retail petrol prices in Viet Nam have been at the lower level, with the country ranking 44 out of 180 countries in the world.

The World Health Organisation, meanwhile, said Viet Nam is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with the worst pollution.

This is the reason why environmental protection tax should be revised to meet international norms while implementing reforms of environmental protection policies, Loi said.

He added that the collection from the tax increase would restructure the State budget in the context of gradually reducing petroleum imports to zero.The tax on petrol imported from ASEAN will be sharply reduced from 20 per cent to eight per cent in 2021, to five per cent in 2023 before becoming zero per cent in 2024, Loi said.  VNS
HA NOI  The US Department of Commerce (DOC) last week announced the initiation of anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into the import of laminated woven sacks (LWSs) from Viet Nam.

The investigated products include LWSs and/or bags consisting of one or more plies of fabric comprising woven polypropylene strip and/or woven polyethylene strip, which have HS codes 6305.33.0040, 3917.39.0050, 3921.90.1100, 3921.90.1500, 3923.21.0080, 3923.21.0095, 3923.29.0000, 4601.99.0500, 4601.99.9000, 4602.90.0000, and 5903.90.2500.

The investigations are based on petitions filed by Polytex Fibres Corporation and ProAmpac Holdings Inc. on March 7, 2018. They have alleged that LWS products imported from Viet Nam are under Government subsidies and are sold in the United States at less-than-normal value, causing significant losses to US domestic production.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determinations on or before April 23, 2018.

If ITC determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports of LWSs from Viet Nam materially injure, or threaten material injury to, the domestic industry in the United States, the investigations will continue, and DOC will be scheduled to announce its preliminary countervailing duty determination in June 2018 and preliminary anti-dumping determination in August 2018, although these dates may be extended.

If ITCs determinations are negative, the investigations will be terminated.

Last year, LWS exports from Viet Nam to the US were valued at an estimated US$21.1 million.  VNS
HA NOI  Audio Visual Global (AVG) has paid VN2.5 trillion (US$109.5 million) to MobiFone, a State-owned business under management of the Ministry of Information and Communications, after the two sides cancelled the mutual share transfer agreement on March 12.

This amount is part of the total VN8.89 trillion MobiFone paid to acquire AVG.

The deal was ended after the Govenment Inspectorate (GI)s inspection found that MobiFone was irresponsible and broke regulations in the acquisition, especially in the assessment of AVGs financial situation, allegedly leading to State budget losses of over VN7 trillion.

Speaking at the Governments monthly press conference in Ha Noi on Monday, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Hoang Vinh Bao said according to the commitment of AVG, it would refund the money MobiFone had paid within 90 days of the agreements signing.

At the conference, representatives of ministries and sectors were asked many questions by journalists about MobiFones acquisition of AVG, cancellation of the deal and refund of the money that MobiFone had transferred to the shareholders of AVG.

The acquisition of 95 per cent of AVG shares was announced by MobiFone in January 2016. In the parent companys separate financial report for 2015 and the first six months of 2016, MobiFone announced it had paid 95 per cent of AVGs total paid-up capital of VN8.89 trillion.

On March 12, 2018, shareholders and members council of AVG and the Directorate of MobiFone agreed to cancel the transfer of 344.66 million shares and refund each other the amount received under the agreement. The meeting agreed in principle that AVG shareholders and MobiFone had terminated the contract, MobiFone would return the entire AVG stake to the group of shareholders and shareholders would refund the full amount MobiFone had paid, in addition to interest and related expenses.

The agreement was reached after the Party Central Committees Secretariat asked the Government to quickly release the inspection results of the acquisition by communications giant MobiFone.

Three weeks ago, the GI asked Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to present these inspection results to the Ministry of Public Security for further investigation, calling the case extremely serious.  VNS
HCM CITY  Amata VN Public Company Limited, a subsidiary of Thailand-based Amata Corporation PCL, has received a licence to develop the first phase of the US$1.6 billion industrial and urban project in the northern province of Quang Ninh, around 150 km from the capital Ha Noi.

Nguyen uc Long, chairman of the Quang Ninh Peoples Committee, handed over the licence to an Amata VN PCL representative at the sixth Greater Mekong Subregion Summit in Ha Noi last Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Thai counterpart, Prayut Chan-o-cha.

To be built on 5,789ha in a strategic location close to airports and seaports, Amata Ha Long City will be an integrated industrial city designed for leading towards a smart city in future.

The project site is strategically located in the northern transportation hub close to international airports and a deep seaport that helps strengthen the logistics sector, Somhatai Panichewa, CEO of Amata VN PCL, said.

The mega project will be divided into three phases, with the first involving construction on an area of 714ha expected to begin in 2020.

Amata has been in Viet Nam for more than 23 years, with its first industrial city project, Amata City Bien Hoa JSC, spread over an area of 700ha in the south-eastern province of ong Nai.

Amata City Bien Hoa JSC houses 165 companies from 21 countries and territories, who have invested a total of more than US$2.7billion and created 49,000 jobs.

A 1,270ha industrial city is under construction in ong Nais Long Thanh District.

Long Thanh Industrial City will earmark 33 per cent of its space for a hi-tech industrial park with the rest being an urban development.  VNS
HA NOI  The Viet Nam Youth Theatre will perform a series of plays in Ha Noi between April 5 - 10 to mark the 40th anniversary of its establishment. The opening performance of the five day extravaganza will be the play Ai La Thu Pham (Who is the Culprit).

Written by the late playwright Luu Quang Vu, Ai La Thu Pham brings to life the day-to-day experiences of families living in Ha Noi during the subsidy period of the 1980s. The play deals with the generational differences of its characters, highlighting each generations approaches to social evils like corruption and moral depravity.

Director Chi Trung has successfully recreated the subsidy-era characters on stage for the audience to experience. The play will be performed by prominent artists such as Le Khanh, Minh Hang and uc Khue  all of whom hail from the first generation of contemporary Vietnamese theatre.

"The Youth Theatre is the only one to perform for young audiences in Viet Nam," said Chi Trung, who is also the theatre director. "The Youth Theatre is a go-to destination for young art lovers.

"The theatre will continue its mission to make good use of traditional culture to develop its performances. In the future the theatre will produce works in Broadway form. Additionally, the theatre will continue its music and theatre productions for young audiences."

Established in 1978, the Youth Theatre has not only performed in Viet Nam but also co-operates with art troupes in countries such as Japan and Germany. It is currently a member of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ).

The theatre artists will perform the best from oi Cuoi (Laughing Life), a comedy series that has attracted large audiences since its debut in 2001, as well as a music show on April 6 & 7 at the Ha Noi Opera House.

On top of this, a street carnival will kick off at 10am on April 8 in the walking streets around Hoan Kiem Lake, giving the public a chance to watch performers parade in festive costumes. The day will be marked by two shows, including an open-door music show starting at 8pm at the Ly Thai To Statue on inh Tien Hoang Street, and a performance of The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Ha Noi Opera House.

The The Caucasian Chalk Circle will be staged by German Dominik Guenther as part of an ongoing co-operation project between the Youth Theatre and Goethe Institute.

A meeting of established and emerging artists who have worked at the theatre during its 40-year lifetime will be held on April 9 at the Ha Noi Opera House.

Located at 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street, Hai Ba Trung District, the 500-seat Viet Nam Youth Theatre is among the rare State-owned theatre spaces in the capital city to perform three last days a week.  VNS
HCM CITY  The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will restage the classical ballet Cinderella by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev at the citys Opera House on April 7 and 8.

The ballet, composed between 1940 and 1944, has inspired an estimated 1,500 ballet versions around the world.

Its premiere was choreographed by Rostislav Zakharov and conducted by Yuri Fayer in 1945 at Moscows Bolshoi Theatre.

In 2013, Cinderella premiered at the citys Opera House and has become an annual performance for city audiences, especially young people.

The ballet is choreographed by Johanne Jakhelln Constant of Norway, who has worked with HBSO to stage ballets The Nutcracker and Coppelia as part of an agreement between the troupe and Norways Transposition Programme.

Constant is also in charge of costume and stage design.

The show will feature young dancer Tran Hoang Yen as Cinderella and Japanese dancer Nobuo Fujino as the Prince.

Fujino was nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions founded in 1991 by the International Dance Association in Moscow, at the Bolshoi Theatre in Russia in 2005.

He won the Rising Artist award from the Hong Kong Arts Development Board in 2003.

He has played leading roles in several famous ballets, including Quixote, Giselle and Anna Karenina.

He began working with HBSO last year as a guest dancer.

The performance will also include ang Minh Hien as the stepmother, French dancer Chloe Glemot as the fairy godmother, and dancers from the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO).

The ballet will begin at 8pm at 7 Lam Son Square in District 1. Tickets can be purchased at the venue or via www.ticketbox.vn.  VNS
HCM CITY  The 14th International Travel Expo HCM City, the largest event of its kind in the Mekong sub-region, will be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre from September 6-8.

This year, ITE HCMC will be bigger and better, with more than 300 booths from airlines, hotels and resorts, travel firms and tourism representatives from more than 40 countries and territories like Germany, Japan, Russia, Turkey, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and the UAE.

La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of HCM Citys Department of Tourism, said the event is a platform for international and regional buyers, suppliers and trade professionals from tourism and travel organisations in both inbound and outbound markets in the Mekong sub-region.

This year, the countrys tourism sector will focus on tourism promotion and marketing activities for tours in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Northeast Asia, Khanh said.

The expo will feature a varied programme including online business matching, trade seminars, post-show tours and Travel Fun Fair Day for public.

It is expected to attract 300 international buyers from high demand markets and 30,000 visitors.

The expo is organised by the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism in coordination with HCM Citys Department of Tourism, Vietnam Trade Fair & Advertising JSC, and Informa Exhibitions. VNS
LOS ANGELES  US television writer and producer Steven Bochco, the creator of iconic shows such as Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue and LA Law, has died at the age of 74, his representatives said on Monday.

The veteran creative, who died on Sunday morning surrounded by family and friends, had been battling a rare form of leukemia for several years and had a stem cell transplant in 2014.

"Steven was a giant talent who changed television in a positive way. He was also a mentor to many other talented artists and was loved by many. I am very saddened by his loss," his agent Fred Specktor said.

Bochco, known for his risk-taking approach that brought gritty realism and large ensemble casts to the small screen, was also behind comedy-drama Doogie Howser, M.D starring Neil Patrick Harris.

In a 2002 interview for the Archive of American Television, Bochco described turning around Hill Street Blues, from a show that debuted in last place in January 1981 to the much-loved recipient of 98 Emmy nominations.

He and writing partner Michael Kozoll told NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff they would not join the show unless they were guaranteed complete artistic freedom.

Successes and setbacks

"I began to hear words about myself: Hes arrogant, hes this, hes that. My attitude was, call me what you will, but I know I have a great project here," he said.

"I dont know how many great projects there are going to be in my life, and Im not going to screw this one up. Id rather not do it. And they folded. They virtually folded on everything."

There were some failures along the way, including musical police drama Cop Rock and the courtroom drama Murder One, which Bochco eventually resurrected as Murder in the First for TNT.

But even those were shouldered with good humour. When Cop Rock came to an end after just 11 episodes, the final episode featured a musical sequence with a fat lady singing.

Bochcos numerous accolades include the Humanitas Prize and Peabody Award, and he was nominated for an Emmy 30 times in his capacities as producer and writer, winning 10.

Born in New York to Mimi, a painter, and Rudolph, a concert violinist, Bochco studied theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and began writing for television shows such as detective series Columbo.

He began creating his own police dramas and legal shows, notably Hill Street Blues, which became a ratings juggernaut for NBC, as well as branching out into animated satire with Capitol Critters.

Visionary

His earlier success eluded him in later years although he remained active, working as the showrunner for ABCs Commander in Chief -- about Americas first female president -- and FXs Iraq War drama Over There.

Bochcos talent extended to writing and his bibliography includes the novel Death by Hollywood and his self-published autobiography, Truth is a Total Defense: My Fifty Years in Television.

He married three times and is survived by his third wife Dayna Kalins, as well children Melissa Bochco, Jesse Bochco and Sean Flanagan, and two grandchildren.

Tributes poured in from across Hollywood including collaborators and fellow producers.

"Today, our industry lost a visionary, a creative force, a risk taker, a witty, urbane story teller with an uncanny ability to know what the world wanted," Disney chief Bob Iger tweeted.

"We were long-term colleagues, and longer term friends, and I am deeply saddened."

Fellow producer and screenwriter Joss Whedon said: "Absolutely one of the biggest influences on Buffy (and me) was HILL STREET BLUES. Complex, unpredictable and unfailingly humane. Steven Bochco changed television, more than once. Hes a legend."  AFP
HA NOI  New book The Beauty of Taiwan provides a panoramic view of Taiwanese tourism, culture and lifestyle.

The book launch was organised on Monday in Ha Noi on the occasion of a roadshow to promote tourism to Taiwan .

The Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), in co-ordination with the territorys Tourism Bureau (TTB) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Viet Nam organised the Taiwan Tourism Promotion Programme with the participation of a number of tour operators from Viet Nam and Taiwan . The event saw co-operation agreements signed between the two partners.

Previously, the TTB sent a delegation of 46 representatives from 23 units to Viet Nam to participate in the Viet Nam International Travel Mart (VITM) 2018 in Ha Noi from March 29 to April 1.

In recent years, the number of Vietnamese tourists visiting Taiwan has skyrocketed. In 2017, the growth rate of Vietnamese visitors to Taiwan reached 94.94 per cent, the highest level in Southeast Asia in terms of tourism growth, according to Tony Wu, head of the TTB in Bangkok .

The achievement urged us to publish the book in Vietnamese and English to provide necessary information and introduce new tours to Vietnamese tourists, he said.

Taiwanese travel agencies will commit to ensuring and enhancing the quality and diversification of tourism products while creating the most favourable conditions in terms of visa approval for Vietnamese visitors to explore the beauty of this island, he said.

The photo book introduces the beauty of Taiwan in various angles, recorded through the lens of artists, writers, journalists and students with multiple levels of emotions. We hope that the book will bring you a true sense of Taiwan .
HA NOI  Local authorities in the northern province of Bac Giang plan to build an exhibition room showcasing a valuable stock of nearly 2,000 wood printing blocks on Buddhist teachings.

They also plan to scan all the blocks to keep a digital record.

The stock, preserved in Bo a Pagoda in Viet Yen District, has been recognised as National Treasure.

The exhibition room will allow tourists to get a closer look at the treasure. They can also practise printing from the soft copies of the blocks.

Bo a Pagoda was built in the 11th century under the Ly Dynasty, the golden age of Buddhism in Viet Nam, but was badly damaged during wars in subsequent centuries.

It was not until the revival of the Le Dynasty under King Le Du Tong (1705-28) that the pagoda was reconstructed and more or less retained the shape it has today.

Because of the huge influence of Lam Te Buddhism, most of the pagodas famous carved woodblocks bear the Sutras of Zen Buddhism.

In the 18th century, the monks at the pagoda carved Buddhist Sutras on wood to print the texts so that they could be used for preaching Buddhism. More than 2,000 woodblocks containing the Sutras are arranged on eight bookcases.

The woodblocks are 44cm long, 22cm wide and 2.5cm thick. Some are larger, measuring 150cm long, 30cm wide and 2.5cm thick. If all the Sutra woodblocks were laid side by side, they would cover an area of 250sq.m.

All the blocks were carved on thi wood (decandrous perssimmom), which is both light and pliable - perfect for carving and moving - as well as durable. To this day, hardly any have rotted.  VNS
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (r) meets with State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi was in Ha Noi .  VNA/VNS Photo Lam Khanh

HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has asked China to make it easier for Viet Nam to export its advantageous goods to the Chinese market and develop bilateral trade in a balanced and healthy manner. He also requested help in the effective implementation of Chinas aid packages for Viet Nam.

State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi was in Ha Noi for an official visit to Viet Nam and attended the 6th Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit (GMS-6) from March 29-31. Speaking after their talks on Sunday, Minh urged the two sides to strengthen win-win co-operation in the fields of agriculture, environment, climate change response, science-technology, finance, transport and economics, thus enhancing mutual economic trust between the two sides.

The Vietnamese Deputy PM congratulated China on the successful organisation of the first annual sessions of the 13th National Peoples Congress (NPC) and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) to elect new leaders for the new tenure.

The Vietnamese State and Government attach great importance to and want to further develop the comprehensive strategic co-operative partnership with China, Minh said.

The two sides pledged to push forward the implementation of cooperation agreements reached by their leaders, while actively supporting the settlement of existing and emerging problems, thus maintaining the stable development of bilateral relations.

Minh suggested measures to promote the important role of the steering committee for Viet Nam-China bilateral co-operation in co-ordinating collaborative activities between the two countries ministries, departments and localities. He said the two foreign ministries should enhance co-ordination to beef up Viet Nam-China co-operation.



The host expressed his concerns over potential factors that can intensify tension and instability at sea, stating that the legitimate rights and interests of Viet Nam should be respected in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982.

He proposed the two sides seriously implement the common perceptions reached by their leaders and the Viet Nam-China agreement on fundamental principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues, while persistently resolving disputes in the East Sea via peaceful means and in line with international law, especially the 1982 UNCLOS.

Viet Nam and China should step up efforts to reach new progress in the government-level negotiations on territory and borders and talks of the three working groups on the sea area off the Gulf of Tonkin, he said.

He proposed the two sides co-operate in less sensitive fields at sea and discuss partnerships for mutual development at sea, while implementing fully and effectively the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), actively working with ASEAN member countries to build a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea and controlling maritime disputes without taking any actions to complicate the situation, thus maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea.

FM Wang Yi congratulated Viet Nam on successfully organising the GMS-6 Summit, which makes significant contributions to promoting co-operation between GMS countries and increasing the position of Viet Nam in the international arena.

He affirmed that the Chinese Party and Government pay great attention to reinforcing and developing the comprehensive strategic co-operative partnership with Viet Nam.

China was willing to work with Viet Nam to increase strategic exchanges and political trust as well as deepen co-operation for mutual benefits and address disputes in a proper manner for the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, bringing practical benefits for both countries and their people, thus contributing to regional peace, stability and prosperity.

The two sides later met with the press to announce the outcomes of their talks.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong also received Wang Yi in Ha Noi yesterday.  VNA/VNS Lam Khanh

Party leader hosts Wang Yi

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong also received Wang Yi in Ha Noi yesterday, voicing his hope that the official would contribute more to the countries comprehensive strategic co-operative partnership.

Trong congratulated China on the 2018 sessions of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) and the Peoples Political Consultative Conference (PPCC) and electing state and government leadership. He also congratulated Wang Yi on being appointed State Councillor and Foreign Minister of China.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State treasures sound co-operation with China, stressing that the two sides needed to enhance friendship, co-operation, mutual support and common development.

The host leader asked both sides to adhere to the common perceptions between leaders of the two parties and countries and reached agreements. They also need to implement the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues, control disagreements well, take no actions to complicate the situation and together make efforts to maintain peace and stability in the East Sea.

For his part, Wang Yi said he was happy to visit Viet Nam and attend the sixth Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit. He congratulated Viet Nam on successfully hosting the summit.

He informed his host about the outcomes of his visit and the recent sessions of the NPC and the PPCC.

He affirmed that the Chinese party, government and people attach special importance to the relationship with Viet Nam. He noted with satisfaction the new strides in all fields of bilateral ties, asking the two sides to continue increasing strategic exchanges and co-operation, control sea-related disagreements well and maintain the positive trend in the two parties and countries relations.  VNS
President Tran ai Quang (r) receives Amarjargal Gansukh, Secretary of the National Security Council of Mongolia in Ha Noi yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang

HA NOI  President Tran ai Quang praised efforts to boost the traditional friendship and economic, trade and investment ties between Viet Nam and Mongolia as he met with Amarjargal Gansukh, Secretary of the National Security Council of Mongolia in Ha Noi yesterday.

The President expressed his delight that leaders of the two countries have visited each other regularly, helping to unceasingly strengthen and develop the bilateral traditional friendship.

The two countries have paid heed to intensifying defence-security co-operation, especially in the defence industry, logistics and military medicines while speeding up negotiations on an agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons and an agreement on mutual protection and exchange of information, he said.

He also noted the two sides maintenance of political consultations at the deputy ministerial and department levels of the two foreign ministries and their sharing of information and experiences relating to co-operation with other countries.

He emphasised the progresses the two countries have achieved in their economic, trade and investment partnership, and expressed his hope that Mongolia will make it easy for Viet Nam to increase its exports of farm and aquatic products, processed food, consumer commodities, machinery and home appliances to the country while Mongolia could ship processed meat, textile and garment materials, minerals and footwear to Viet Nam.

The President suggested the two countries step up political dialogues at all levels and boost people-to-people, cultural, educational, artistic and sport exchanges to further promote mutual understanding; organize market research tours for businesses and enhance cooperation in energy, agriculture and pharmaceuticals and medicines.

Regarding regional and international issues, he suggested the two sides continue coordinating at multilateral forums, like the UN, ASEM, ARF and more, affirming Viet Nam s readiness to support Mongolia s connection with other ASEAN member countries.

The Mongolian guest briefed President Quang on the outcomes of his talks with Minister of Public Security To Lam, stressing that Mongolia wants to boost co-operation with Viet Nam in national security.

He expressed his belief that in 2018, the two countries will sign the agreements that were discussed and reach consensus on safeguarding national security.

From the foundation of traditional friendship, mutual trust and understanding, Mongolia aims to boost its economic and trade ties with Viet Nam to bring the bilateral ties to a new height, he said.
HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will lead a Vietnamese delegation to attend the third Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from April 4-5 at the invitation of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.

The event, themed Joint Efforts and Partnership towards the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mekong, will create an opportunity for countries to review the operation of the MRC over the past four years and work to realise sustainable development goals.

Viet Nam has actively participated in regional and international organisations such as the MRC, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Forum. This stands alongside participation in the United Nations (UN), the World Water Forum (WWF), the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the International Rivers (IR). The country also has enhanced co-operation with department partners such as the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to enhance effective management of water resources in the Mekong River.

Viet Nam hosted the second MRC in HCM City in April 2014. In 2015, the country held a panel discussion on water security within the framework of the 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU-132) in March, and an international workshop calling for joint actions in water resources management as part of the Asia-Europe Meeting in June that year.

Within the MRC framework, Viet Nam has worked with member countries to push the MRC Joint Committee to issue a statement on prior consultation for the Pak Beng hydropower project, calling on the Laos government to step up measures to mitigate the cross-border impacts of the project.

With the support of Lao and Cambodian experts, Viet Nam completed a study on the impacts of Mekong mainstream hydropower on the Mekong Delta in 2015 and joint research on sustainable development and management of the Mekong River basin in 2017.

In April 2014, Viet Nam became the 35th member of the 1997 UN Convention on Non-Navigation Uses of International Watercourses. Viet Nam was the first country in the MRC to join the convention, which came into force in August 2014.

Viet Nam is currently persuading other ASEAN member nations to join the convention to strengthen legal mechanisms to facilitate the management and sustainable development of water resources in the Mekong River.

The country has also promoted the protection and effective use of water resources in regional cooperation mechanisms such as the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the US Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), the Mekong-Japan Co-operation (MJ), the Mekong-Korea Co-operation and the Mekong-Lancang Co-operation.

The 4,800km-long Mekong River flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. Its basin spreads over 795,000 square kilometres with 65 million people in the four countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam living in its proximity.

The Mekong Committee was established in 1956 under the auspices of the UN to co-ordinate aid and manage resources in the river basin. In 1995, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam signed an Agreement on the Co-operation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River and set up the MRC as a replacement for the Mekong Committee.

The MRC holds its summit every four years. The first MRC summit was held in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2010 and the second one took place in HCM City, Viet Nam in 2014.  VNS
CAN THO The Department of Health in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho this year plans to expand a model of family medical practice clinics to 27 more communes and wards.

Family medical practice clinics aim to provide comprehensive and continuous health care services to each local individual and family in order to reduce overcrowding of patients at city or central-level hospitals.

These clinics are located at health stations in communes and wards. Each commune or ward has one health station.

Can Tho aims to equip more than 80 per cent of its 85 health stations with these clinics by 2020.

According to Dr Bui Thi Le Phi, the departments head, the city now has 18 commune-based health stations with family medical practice clinics.

These clinics are managing the health of more than 117,000 residents.

However, they have not yet provided services such as hospice care, health consultation and screening for diseases because they have faced a shortage of health staff including doctors.

Residents there did not yet trust these clinics because they were not yet familiar with them, Dr Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy of the department told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Since 2015, all health stations in the city have met the national standards for health facilities in communes within period between 2011 to 2020, but several of them face a shortage of vital medical equipment.

The department every year organises walks to raise funds from private sectors to buy this equipment which have so far provided 96 devices for blood pressure monitors, 26 ultrasound machines, and other equipment in order to improve the quality of health examinations and treatment.

This year, the department will continue calling on various financial sources from private sectors to buy more medical equipment for health stations in communes and wards as well as towns in order to ensure they are able to provide basic health care services to local residents via family medical practice clinics, according to Phi.

Can Tho City is one of eight provinces and cities carrying out Project on Building and Developing Family Medical Practice Clinics within the period between 2013 and 2020.

The seven remaining provinces and cities in the project are Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien Hue, Khanh Hoa, Tien Giang, Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh, and Hai Phong. VNS
HCM CITY  The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta city of Can Tho plans to develop a 700ha specialised fruit growing area for export in Phong ien District.

Located in Nhon Nghia Commune, the area will be based on existing fruit orchards. The zoned area now has 477ha of mixed orchards which need to be improved.

Farmers are planting many types of fruits, including Burmese grape, mango, milk apple and durian in the mixed orchards.

The specialised fruit growing area will also have one or two key fruits.

The communes farmers are switching to Idol longan, which could become the areas key fruit, besides milk apple and durian.

ao Anh Dung, deputy chairman of the Can Tho Peoples Committee, said the establishment of the specialised fruit growing area would produce a large quantity of fruit to meet export demand.

It will also help increase income and improve the lives of farmers.

The area will be produce organic agricultural products under the most modern standards to meet world demand, he said.

Government agencies plan to invest in transport infrastructure, dyke and sluice gate systems for the area.

The area has a 7.6 km section located along the Can Tho Rivers Ba Lang  Vam Xang section that is often eroded, affecting transport and agriculture production, according to the districts Peoples Committee.

Nguyen Van Su, chairman of the districts Peoples Committee, said the district would work with the citys departments and agencies to find stable outlets for the specialised fruit cultivation area.

The districts Peoples Committee and city agencies will determine the key fruits for the specialised fruit growing area, according to the districts Peoples Committee.

If the specialised fruit cultivation area grows longan, the district will identify the types of longan suited to domestic and foreign markets, it said.

The city has more than 17,120 ha of fruits with an annual yield of 98,000 tonnes.

Its fruit planting areas are mostly in Phong ien District.

The citys Peoples Committee has called on companies to co-operate with farmers in producing and exporting fruits, especially longan, star apple and mango.  VNS
THUA THIEN-HUE  Pressure from local media and public has prompted an investigation by ranger authorities into the origin of three large perennial trees found at a plot in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

According to local newspapers, o Quang Tung, acting director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments Ranger Department, had urged ranger divisions in the province investigating the case to track the trees origin.

Tung was quoted by local newspapers as saying that investigation of procedures that allowed the trees to be moved out of their original places must be fostered in case they were forest trees.

Last weekend, traffic police in Thua Thien-Hue Province stopped three lorries carrying three trees, each being some 14m tall and measuring 1.3m in diameter.

The trucks, which were operated by a company based in the neighbouring Quang Binh Province, violated traffic laws for overweight and overlength transportation, resulting in a fine of VN80 million (US$3,500) and temporary seizure of drivers licence.

The company later dumped the trees on a vacant plot of land in Thua Thien-Hue Province and drove the trucks back to Quang Binh. The company director said they had been hired to transport trees from Central Highlands ak Lak Province to a pagoda in Ha Noi.

Y Sy Hok, head of the provincial division of rangers in ak Lak, told local newspapers that the trees were uprooted from a district in the province. However, he needed time to investigate whether the trees were uprooted from a forest or village in the locality. In the meantime, a resident in ak Laks Giang Ha Village reported to local ranger division that he sold one of the trees from his forest farm to take space for cultivation. Local authorities permitted the uprooting.

Meanwhile, Nguyen ai Anh Tuan, head of the provincial ranger division in Thua Thien- Hue Province, said it was difficult to identify the species and origin of the trees by looking at them as their roots and branches had been cut short.

He said he would appoint staff to Quang Binh to work with the truck company.

The origin of these giant trees has been a hot topic in the local media and social network as many suspect the trees to have been uprooted from a forest area, which means a violation of forestry laws and adds to the negative surge of forest logging.  VNS
HA NOI  Property developer Vingroup today signed a strategic cooperation agreement with two of the top 20 leading universities in the world, US-based Cornell and Pennsylvania (Penn).

The agreement, signed 28 days after the group announced its intention to join the higher education field by establishing VinUni University (VinUni), is part of efforts to create a breakthrough in higher education quality in Viet Nam.

The agreement aims to realise our commitment to building VinUni as a non-profit private Vietnamese university built on par with international standards, integrating with the elite model of higher education in the world, said Vingroup Vice Chairman and CEO Nguyen Viet Quang at the signing ceremony.

We wanted to create a breakthrough in the quality of higher education in Viet Nam, contributing to the countrys socio-economic development in coming years, said Quang.

Under the framework of the agreement, VinUni and Cornell will comprehensively work together in developing strategy and brand and building an overall university management system. Cornell will help VinUni in various activities such as infrastructure assessment, human resource recruitment and designing education programmes. The university will also support VinUni with research cooperation and the evaluation of its first graduates from business and technology education classes.

As a leading clinical hospital system in the United States, Penn will support VinUni in recruitment and developing the professional abilities of lectures and students in the field of health sciences. Penn will work directly with VinUni and Vinmec Medical System to develop training programmes for physicians and clinical residents and will develop a bachelor of science in nursing programme following local and international requirements and standards. It will also collaborate with Vinmec in developing and training clinical lecturers, improving the quality of and expanding health specialty services and building a practical facility model for VinUnis health faculty.

A perspective of VinUni University.  Photo courtesy of Vingroup

Prof. Larry Jameson, Penn Executive Vice President cum Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, said this cooperation opportunity was an important contribution to the development of higher education, especially for medical training, in Viet Nam.

As a leading medical and nursing training facility, Penn will work closely with Vinmec and VinUni in developing a higher education system, supporting disease research cooperation and scientific research exchange, according to Jameson.

The VinUni University is based in Ha Noi. The construction of the campus is expected to begin this year. The first batch of students will be enrolled in 2020.

VinUni University will focus on the education and training in three key areas including business, technology and health sciences. VinUni is also geared to meet the world-class standards and rankings of higher education watchdogs, such as Quacquarelli Symonds and Times Higher Education.  VNS
HA NOI  There will be two direct flights weekly from Switzerland to Viet Nam starting November, Federal Councilor of Switzerland Doris Leuthard said on Tuesday when she met Transport Minister Nguyen Van The.

This is part of the agreement between the Swiss Federal Council and the Government of Viet Nam relating to scheduled air services they signed on the same day.

The agreement replaces the one the two sides signed in 1979 and amended in 1993 and 1998.

According to the old agreement, from November, 1997, Swissair operated two flights weekly on route Zurich  Bangkok  HCM City but until October, 2001, it stopped operating the route because of modest demand.

The new agreement that facilitated direct flights between the two countries would help boost their tourism and business, Leuthard said.

She also said infrastructure development including transport was very important to economic growth and Viet Nam faced challenges to develop infrastructure.

Every time we come to Viet Nam, we see more people, more vehicles and more mobility, she said.

Swiss companies came with Leuthard during her visit said they were seeking co-operation in fields of logistic, storage, energy and electrical vehicles.

Transport Minister The said Viet Nam and Switzerland had a fruitful relationship, in terms of economic co-operation with import-export revenue between the two countries reaching US$2 billion last year.

He called for Swiss investors to look towards Viet Nam, especially to transport projects because Viet Nam was developing key major projects such as Long Thanh International Airport, urban metro in Ha Noi and HCM City, an expressway and railway stretching from the north to the south of the country.

The said that Viet Nam welcomed investors with financial experience to join in the projects under Public- Private Partnership contracts.  VNS
BRITAIN  Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on Monday left for Britain after an emotional four-day visit to Pakistan, officials said.

Malala made a surprise return visit to Pakistan last week more than five years after she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for advocating girls education.

"Malala Yousafzai along with her family left Islamabad," a government official said.

An airport official confirmed her departure.

During a reception at the Prime Ministers Office last week, she tearfully said during a televised speech that it was "a dream" to finally return home.

"Always it has been my dream that I should go to Pakistan... in peace and without any fear.

"And I think that its my old home again ... so it is actually happening, and I am grateful to all of you."

Malala briefly visited her native Swat valley over the weekend during her first trip back to the once militant-infested region where she was targeted.

"I left Swat with my eyes closed and now I am back with my eyes open," she said, referring to how she was airlifted out in a coma after the attack in 2012.

"I am extremely delighted. My dream has come true. Peace has returned to Swat because of the invaluable sacrifices rendered by my brothers and sisters," she said at a school outside Mingora, the districts main town, where she was escorted by the Pakistani military.

The trip was a highly symbolic moment for Pakistan, which regularly touts Swat as a success story in its long battle with extremism as it defends itself against accusations by the US and others that its northwest remains a safe haven for militancy.

Since leaving Pakistan, the 20-year-old Malala has become a global symbol for human rights and a vocal campaigner for girls education.

Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, she has continued her campaigning while pursuing her studies at Oxford University.  AFP
The Royal Air Force celebrates their centenary as an independent air arm today, April 1st, 2018. There are many events taking place around the world in honor of this auspicious anniversary, including a special gathering of vintage military aircraft with close ties to the RAF taking place at the National Air & Space Museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia on April 15th. While we mentioned The Great British Fly-in a few weeks ago, we now have a list of the aircraft scheduled to attend, and it is going to be quite something.

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum will be bringing their Avro Lancaster B.X FM213. She rarely ventures far from their museum in Hamilton, Ontario, so this is a major coups for the Smithsonian. FM213 is one of only two Lancasters flying in the world today, and the only one in North America, so it is a rare treat to see (and hear!) this magnificent aircraft fly.

Added to this, the Historic Flight Museum will be flying North American B-25D Mitchell 43-3318 all the way across the country from their base at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. She is currently one of only two airworthy D-model B-25s, and flew during WWII with the Royal Canadian Air Force as KL161, though never in combat. The aircraft has flown for over twenty years in an RAF paint scheme with the nickname Grumpy, a name now synonymous with this particular airframe.

Other famous aircraft tied closely to the RAF will be attending including the Collings Foundations Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX BR601 and Spitfire Mk.XVIII SM969 belonging to Lawrence Classics in Arkansas. Three North American P-51D Mustangs will be on hand, as well as a brace of deHavilland Chipmunks, a Percival Provost, two Boeing Stearman trainers in RAF markings and a Shorts Tucano. The complete list of aircraft currently expected to attend and their identities are as follows

Fairchild Cornell Mk.II FZ337 (RCAF 10890)

North American P-51D Mustang 44-74202 Swamp Fox

North American P-51D Mustang 44-73029 Bald Eagle

North American P-51D Mustang 44-73420

deHavilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10 WP797

deHavilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10 WP833

Percival Provost T.1 WV435

Avro Lancaster B.X FM213

Shorts Tucano T.1 ZF136

North American Harvard Mk.II AJ583

Boeing/Stearman PT-17 Kaydet 42-16204

North American B-25D Mitchell KL181 Grumpy

Supermarine Spitfire F Mk.IX BR601

Supermarine Spitfire FR Mk.XVIII SM969

The aircraft will be arriving between 07:30 and 09:45 am, and park outside the Udvar-Hazy Center. Visitors will be able to go on the ramp to see the aircraft following a safety briefing. Activities will also be taking place inside the museum as well (see list below). Not to be missed will be a presentation by 96 year old WWII Lancaster pilot Flight Lieutenant Richard E. Boyd (retired) DFC. The celebrations will conclude with a flyover from the attending aircraft.

So come on out and celebrate the RAFs centenary with the Smithsonian. A brief synopsis of events is shown below. There will be fun for the whole family!

Outdoor area:

A safety briefing is mandatory for all visitors.

Aircraft arrival 07:30- 9:45

Public access to arrival ramp begins at 08:00 (museum main floor open at 10:00)

Meet the pilots and see current and former Royal Air Force aircraft including a Lancaster Bomber

Meet the students from The British International School that have restored a Piper Pacer

Aircraft departure and flyover between 15:45  16:15 pm.

In the Museum:

The Royal Air Force Band performs with The Queens Colour Squadron

Re-enactors in Royal Air Force uniforms from the 100 year history (12+)

Learn about the British WWI single-seat biplane fighter the Sopwith Camel with ask an expert

Talk to Royal Air Force Officers about aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force

Presentations on the stage:

Air Vice Marshall Gavin Parker OBE, Defence Attache USA  History of the Royal Air Force

Flight Lieutenant Sarah Cole  Women in the Royal Air Force

Michael Bishop  Churchill and the Royal Air Force

Aviator Panel Discussion

Flight Lieutenant Richard E. Boyd (retired) DFC  Lancaster Pilot (96yr)

Dr Alex Spencer(NASM Curator UK Aircraft / Seb Cox Air Historical Branch

Hands-on activities 10:00 am  4:00 pm

Take part in the Royal Air Force Design a Badge for Hugh Challenge

Take part in the RAF 100 Challenge

British School STEM

Forces of Flight

Take part in a Paper Airplane Design Challenge

Try your hand at Propeller design

Design a Flying Car for Washington DC

Discovery Stations & Interactives throughout the Museum
Hawker Restorations Two-Seater Hurricane

by Paul Middleton

Vintage aviation enthusiasts will soon be able to take a passenger flight in a Hawker Hurricane for the first time ever after UK restoration company Hawker Restorations Limited unveiled its plans to carry out a unique, two-seat conversion.

The company, based at Elmsett Airfield in Suffolk, is a world-class restoration company, and renowned for their almost single-handed efforts to resurrect the Hurricane as a breed, having restored nine of them to flight. Now the company has bought Hurricane Mk.IIB G-HHII, from Peter Teichmans Hangar 11 Collection in the UK. Interestingly, HRL originally rebuilt this same aircraft for Peter Teichman back in 2009.

Hawker Restorations will convert the fighter into a two-seater over the next 12 to 15 months; ground-breaking work that will first require formal certification of the engineering modifications to add the rear passenger seat. The ultimate aim would be to make it dual-control. The aircraft will then be offered for sale in time for the 2019 season.

The aircraft, which is based upon the remains of a Canadian-built, former Royal Canadian Air Force machine, serial 1374, is currently the only Hurri-bomber flying, and features two underwing ordinance pylons. It will retain its current identity BE505, name Pegs and 174 (Mauritius) Squadron markings after the conversion, which will see minimal changes to the aircrafts distinctive outline.

Hawker Restorations Andrew Wenman explained, The conversion has to be sympathetic to the Hurricane shape; we have been quite clear about that. It should just look as if it has a longer canopy. We first had to look into the centre of gravity issues that arose from adding another seat with the extra weight of the second person. Weve found this isnt an issue as the fact that we are using a Mark II means that it has a larger and heavier engine and a heavier prop, so this moves the centre of gravity forwards. Wenman added, We now have to be sure there is room for a second seat and leg room for the passenger, and that they can get in and out under the longer canopy.

To that end, HRL is using the centre section from another two-seater currently in progress to work out the interior space for the passenger seating area. The company originally planned to rebuild that Hurricane, based on Battle of Britain veteran Mark I L2005, as its first two-seater (as revealed in Warbird Digest in 2016). However, basing the first conversion on a current flyer rather than needing to rebuild the complete airframe will cut the timeline from three years to one.

The second machine will then follow, making use of the experience gained from the first. When BE505 carries its first passenger aloft following her completion, it will be the first such occurrence since the Second World War, when rudimentary conversions were carried out on cannibalised machines in the North African Campaign for transporting aircrew from base to base. The Russians are also known to have modified at least one Hurricane with a second seat. Hawker also built a brace of two-seaters for the Shah of Persia, though sadly none of the factory modification drawings remain.

While the first flight of this aircraft may be some time away, HRL is very close to finishing another Hurricane currently sharing space with BE505 at present. This is Hurricane Mk.I V7497/G-HRLI, under restoration for the neurosurgeon Peter Kirkpatrick. It is due to fly in the spring. On September 28th, 1940, Pilot Officer Everett Bryan Rogers was flying this 501 Squadron machine from his home field at RAF Kenley on patrol over Kent, when a flight of Luftwaffe Bf 109s shot him down. The aircraft was on only its seventh sortie since delivery the same month. Rogers successfully bailed out and the aircraft came down near East Sutton in Kent. The remains were later excavated and then stored in a barn for several decades before HRL acquired them for restoration.

When airworthy, V7497 will be based at Duxford Airfield, near Cambridge. When not flying, she will be kept on public view in the Imperial War Museums Battle of Britain display hangar.

Hawker Restorations is now actively looking for a buyer for the two-seater Hurricane BE505. For more information including the price contact Andrew Wenman at andrew@hawkerrestorations.co.uk

WarbirdsNews would like to offer our gratitude to Paul Middleton for his reporting and images, and to Andrew Wenman at Hawker Restorations Ltd. for taking the time to talk to us about their work on the two-seater Hurricane.
Of all the significant combat aircraft that the U.S. Army Air Forces operated from the onset of Americas involvement in WWII until its conclusion, the Martin B-26 Marauder is by far the rarest today, with just a handful of complete survivors extant. So it is all the more remarkable that a substantial project has become available for restoration. While it is not a complete aircraft, and comprises major components from three different examples, the B-26 currently for sale via Platinum Fighters offers the tantalizing prospect of seeing one on the air show circuit again one day. Currently, there are no flying examples of the Marauder, although Kermit Weeks long-dormant B-26 40-1464 at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida could probably be coaxed back into life again with a little TLC.

The project is based around the fuselage and wing components of combat veteran B-26 Marauder 40-1370, with additional components from B-26 40-1381. An additional cockpit section, believed to come from B-26B 41-31748, is also included in the project. The latter survives only because it was once used as a movie prop!

This project is currently with Pat Rodgers, owner of Aircraft Restoration Services at French Valley Airport in Murrieta, California. Interestingly, the Marauder is currently sharing hangar space with the McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II which we reported on a few days ago HERE. Rodgers acquired the project from the Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, Utah. The museum had recovered the components of 1370 and 1381 from their wartime dump site in King Salmon, Alaskan back in 2000, and had planned to rebuild a whole B-26 from the components. After sitting on the project for sixteen years, they decided to part with it in 2016.

Interestingly, both of the Alaskan Marauders served with the 73rd BS of the 28th Composite Group, and were lost at the same location, on the same day. 40-1370 is known to have taken part in bombing missions over Dutch Harbor, during the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians in June, 1942. Ironically, given her current situation, this aircraft was apparently nicknamed Basket Case. Following her missions at Dutch Harbor, the Marauder continued to fly anti-shipping patrols up until her loss while landing in bad weather on August 16th, 1942 at Naknek Army Airfield near King Salmon, Alaska. The semi-prepared landing strips in some regions of Alaska were notoriously treacherous to operate from during the war years, and often resembled muddy lakes more than airfields when it rained. In fact, the regional flying conditions at the time were far more dangerous to Allied air crew than any threat that the Japanese presented.

Lt.Benjamin Franklin Schoenfeld, a 22-year old native of Knoxville, Tennessee was at the controls of Marauder 1370 on that fateful day at Naknek Army Airfield. Conditions were rough, and the aircraft skidded off the runway. Sadly, at least one crewman, believed to be S.Sgt. William W. Chapman, lost his life in the accident. 1381 also ran off the runway at Naknek on August 16th, 1942. Lt.Charles W. Hailes was piloting her at the time. Thankfully, all of his crew are believed to have survived the incident. Both aircraft were write-offs though. Army Air Force personnel hauled the hulks over to the airfield dump, removed a few salvageable parts, and then abandoned them on site. They lay forgotten and more or less untouched for the next five or so decades. Reportedly, they remained relatively unmolested until the 1990s, when an illegal scrapper had a go at them.

According to Platinum Fighters, the project consists of the following

Nose section:

Status: Restoration work started in Dec 2016.

Center fuselage section (bomb bay section):

Status: Reassembly of cut up sections/components underway. Main box beam/wing attach points are in very good condition.

Aft fuselage section:

Status: Aft section was partially crushed on left side either during the war or during recovery.

Missing vertical and left horizontal stabilizer. Both elevators require repairs.

Wings:

Status: Wings are badly cut up from the recovery, and will require mostly new structure.

Engine cowlings need repairs, as do engine mounts.

Landing gear requires overhaul.

While this project is going to require a significant commitment to see it through to fruition, the type is so rare that it may represent the only realistic opportunity to acquire a Martin Marauder for decades to come. Be sure to check with Platinum Fighters to learn more, or to check out their other premium warbirds currently on the market.
PRESS RELEASE  Oxford, Conn.  The Tunison Foundation, a non-profit organization that owns and operates World War II era aircraft, is proud to debut their newly minted D-Day Squadron at this years SUN n FUN International Fly-in and Expo. The group will feature four D-Day Squadron C-47 and DC-3 aircraft that are preparing to cross the Atlantic to return to Normandy next summer for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Flying in for the event are Placid Lassie, Liberty Foundation and Virginia Ann, C-47 aircraft that are all veterans of the D-Day invasion that sparked the beginning of the end of World War II. The DC-3 Candler Field Express, one of the few remaining original Douglas DC-3 aircraft built in 1940 for the burgeoning airline industry, will also appear with the group. The C-47 is the military version of the DC-3 airliner that was modified for military transport and has become synonymous with the massed paratrooper drop on D-Day.

The D-Day Squadron is a welcome addition to our exciting SUN n FUN lineup, said SUN n FUN Director of Business Development Greg Gibson. We offer an array of warbird activities, and the D-Day Squadrons goodwill-oriented program honoring the veterans of D-Day brings value and interest to both aviation and history enthusiasts at our event.

Visitors will get to see the aircraft in flight each day during the SUN n FUN daily air shows. The four vintage flyers will also appear together on static display for up close viewing. Their crews will be with the aircraft onsite to answer questions, give tours and share more about their preparations for the upcoming trans-Atlantic journey to Normandy, France. All participating American aircraft of the D-Day Squadron will fly in formation overseas before joining up with a larger Allied fleet to drop paratroopers into France in an epic flyover event marking this historic anniversary.

There couldnt be a better venue than SUN n FUN to kick off the D-Day Squadrons airshow season and promotional tour, and we are honored to fly these four historic aircraft in the show, said D-Day Squadron Executive Director Moreno Aguiari. SUN n FUN will provide us with a excellent opportunity to showcase the D-Day Squadron to people that appreciate aviation and the important historical significance of these aircraft to honoring the veterans of D-Day.

Media are invited to attend the D-Days Squadrons press conference during the SUN n FUN event. Check the daily schedule for more details.

About the D-Day Squadron

The D-Day Squadron is the part of the Tunison Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. In June 2019, the D-Day Squadron will lead an American fleet of historic, restored C-47 World War II military aircraft in Daks Over Normandy, a flyover of more than 30 international aircraft to drop 250 paratroopers over the original 1944 drop zones in Normandy commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day. The event will honor the citizen soldiers of the War, whose bravery led the Allies to the liberation of France, and then to an end of the devastating War in Europe. The Squadrons education program takes the compelling story of the citizen soldier to audiences at airshows and events off the flight line to honor these brave Americans and ensure their memory and significance is appreciated for generations to come. The groups efforts are funded through the generous tax-deductible contribution of their supporters. Learn more at DDaySquadron.org.
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A groundbreaking new film by Andrei Kondrashev. Putin dives into depth about the man who we all hear so much about, but who we know so little about. From the early tumultuous days of the presidency  dealing with the terrorist situation, the Kursk tragedy and a demoralized Russia  to Putin now, the leader of a reenergized and recovered Russia. A year in the making with personal stories that have never been told on camera before. Some will be shocking and stunning. Attempts on the presidents life and the toll of the presidency on Vladimir Putin himself  all of it has been brought together in the most complete portrait of Vladimir Putin that has been done to date. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa8MaD6gQscto_Nq1i49iew/featured
I was flabbergasted to even think that we have an issue in America with rape by cops against arrested persons? What the hell

Relates to establishing incapacity to consent when a person is under arrest, detention or otherwise in actual custody.

Source: NY State Senate Bill S7708

New York lawmakers passed a bill to keep cops from forcing sex with the people they arrest. No, this is not a falsification of games about rape. Fact: Up until now and still in 34 other states in America, cops in New York state could have sex with people in custody (whom they arrested), so long as the cops claimed it was mutually associated (Other words, consensual sex!)

I am confused at to how far we have fallen as a first world country.this is a band aid to cover up the real issue of morals within the system.lets make a law to fix what was way to common placed it seems

Why is this even an issue in the first place?

It seems to me that before the bill was passed, cops would/could/have arrest(ed) people just to have sex with them, either against their will or not

WtR
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Apr 3, 2018 | By David

The Dutch capital of Amsterdam is well-known for its historic architecture, canals and bridges, but also for its forward-thinking outlook and technological innovation, and a recent 3D printing project will soon see both these sides of its character expressed. Dutch company MX3D has completed the worlds first fully 3D printed steel bridge. We have previously reported on the innovative 3D printed designs of MX3D co-founder Joris Laarman, and this bridge is the companys most ambitious undertaking so far. It is due to be installed in the citys famous red light district, over the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal.

(Image credit: Thijs Wolzak)

The bridge is 40 metres in length, and was 3D printed at a larger MX3D facility outside of Amsterdam, before being shipped into the main workshop in the north of the city. The initial plan was to 3D print the entire thing in place in mid-air, using custom robotic 3D printing arms suspended over the canal to gradually build supporting structures underneath and move their way across. As exciting as this possibility was, the project was eventually abandoned due to concerns about control over the environment and interference from pedestrians. After some other teething problems and delays for this pioneering 3D printed bridge project, it is now completely finished.

3D printing technology isnt the only cutting-edge aspect of this remarkable new project. To ensure safety and optimized performance of this and other bridges, the 3D printed steel structure will be equipped with a series of sensors that will relay important information back to the designers and engineers. This smart bridge will monitor its own health, record the number of people walking across it and their speeds, and take measurements of things like weight dispersion and air quality. A digital twin bridge model will also be created from the gathered data, allowing future designs to be compared and adapted accordingly.

Photo: Adam Clark Estes (Gizmodo)

A few finishing touches will now be applied to the 3D printed steel structure, chiefly the addition of a steel deck, serving as a walkway that will allow pedestrians to actually use the bridge. Protective coats also need to be applied to protect the bridge from the elements.

Last Thursday we tested out the bridge with 30 people, and it was fine. It behaves like a bridge like it should, says MX3D co-founder Gijs van der Velden. With the bridge deck on top, it will be even stronger.

As well as being a one-of-a-kind project, the aesthetics of the bridge are also relatively unique. Its design is organic and fabric-like, with lots of curves, and the surface of the bridge has been left unbuffed after construction. This means that the many different layers of deposited steel from the 3D printing process are visible, giving it a rough, unusual finish.

A closeup of the bridges rough surface (Photo: Adriaan de Groot)

If you look at the bridge right now in our workshop its very strange, Laarman told Gizmodo. Its a little bit like being in a science fiction story because it looks so different than everything else around. We work in a highly industrial shipyard where everything is geometric in shape, but this bridge doesnt have a single straight line.

In collaboration with Arup and Imperial College London, MX3D is now carrying out a number of tests on the bridge, as well as creating spirals for either end to fix it in place.The city of Amsterdam is currently working on improvements to the walls around the 15th century canal that the bridge will be traversing, and the 3D printed bridge will be installed once these are complete.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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In the week or so following a dinner at Eight Tables, the five-month-old restaurant at China Livethe culinary and cultural destination that opened last March in ChinatownI found myself struggling somewhat to sum up the experience for my friends.

If I had to put a finger on it, I suppose I'd say that the difficulty of describing Eight Tables to someone who hasn't eaten there is not entirely unlike the difficulty of describing the flavor of a Sichuan peppercorn to someone who's never tasted a Sichuan peppercorn. Because just as Sichuan peppercorns aren't true peppercornsin fact, they're the dried rinds of the fruits of trees in the citrus familyEight Tables isn't modeled on a restaurant in the traditional sense of the word, but rather, on a Chinese dining phenomenon known as si fang cai.

Nor does the food at Eight Tables resemble the kind of food you typically find at Chinese restaurants in the U.S. so much as it resembles the kind of food you might have enjoyed had you lived in China during the Song Dynasty. Until recently, I knew nothing about si fang cai or the cuisine of the Song Dynasty, deficits remedied in the course of a conversation with Eight Tables' owner, executive chef, and China Live cofounder, George Chen.

At Eight Tables, and more broadly at China Live, which he founded with his wife and longtime business partner Cindy Wong-Chen, George Chen is not simply serving food; he's serving as a kind of culinary-cultural ambassador. In a way, it's a perfectly natural role for Chen, who was born in Taiwan, the son of a career diplomat, and the grandson of a provincial governor in mainland China.



"I spent my first 10 years in Taiwan," said Chen. "Being in a diplomatic family," he added, with a degree of understatement, "I got to see some food." When Chen was 10, his family moved to Los Angeles, where his father was posted. When his father was sent back to Taiwan, Chen, then 15, stayed in L.A. with his mother. "Back in those days," said Chen, "even though we came from a privileged family, I started working to help with expenses." By the time he completed high school, he'd worked in a dozen restaurants, all of them Chinese. And while he worked in the front of the house, his waiter's-eye view of the kitchen afforded an intensive education in techniques and ingredients. Before Chen left Los Angeles to attend UC Berkeley, the L.A. Times food critic Lois Dwan wrote a front-page story about the enterprising waiter, praising his knowledge of Chinese cuisine and its flavors in all their complexity.



After college, Chen thought his restaurant days were over, immersing himself instead in the world of finance. But in 1995, inspired by the diversity of the street food he encountered on travels in Asia, he opened Betelnut in Cow Hollow, the first of 16 restaurants in a group that would eventually stretch from San Francisco to Shanghai. In many ways, Eight Tables is his most ambitious.

"I always wanted to do fine dining," said Chen, "a real farm-to-table place, and to show that Chinese food is as worthy as any other cuisine." Rather than elaborating on familiar Chinese-American dishes, or taking the path of fusion, he continued, "my ambition was to create exceptional food that was based in cultural history." For inspiration he turned to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a period of unprecedented industrial and economic growth in which dining etiquette was codified by imperial decree, and literati-gourmands such as Ouyang Xiu assiduously recorded the joys of elaborate culinary rituals.



The interior design of Eight Tables, meanwhile, alludes to the contemporary phenomenon si fang cailiterally, "private chateau cuisine"in which well-to-do Chinese hire a chef to cook for a group in their home rather than splashing out at a high-end restaurant. "It's like you're a guest at Chen Manor," said Chen. "I want people to enjoy themselves, relax, and be open to the experience."

On a mid-March evening, the experience began with a flute of Perrier-Jouet's bright and delicately sweet Blason Rose, and as would have been mandatory in the Song Dynasty, cold appetizers, in this case, jiu gong ge, a grid of nine morsels representing the nine essential flavors of Chinese cuisine, from the complex sweetness of a date stuffed with glutinous rice, chrysanthemum honey and honey locust seed; to the peculiar numbing sensation of five-spice pressed tofu marinated with green Sichuan peppercorns; to the intense freshness of a scallop garnished with a thin cut of black truffle. The jiu gong ge was followed by a four happiness caviar dumpling whose paper-thin walls neatly segregated enticing bites of buttery-salty Osetra caviar; trout roe whose bubbles burst with a bright saline splash; ludicrously creamy Santa Barbara uni; and once again, impeccably fresh, wonderfully tender scallop.



My dining partner for the night, a friend with a near-Olympian enthusiasm for drink and food, helped sway me in favor of the wine-and-cocktail offering rather than the traditional wine pairing. A contributing factor in the decision was the fact that Eight Tables' beverage director is Anthony Keels, an alchemist whose inspired inventiveness caught the attention of the Michelin Guide while he was managing the bar at Saison. The first of Keels' creations, Guanyin's Cup, was an intriguing elixir made with vodka, which he seasoned with wok-grilled rice to impart a sake-like flavor and viscosity. As it slowly warmed in a small, rounded cup made of Siberian cedar, the vodka's caramelly toasted rice aroma gradually intensified.



Next on the tasting menu, shao kao (barbecue), among its charms a crisp-crackly-savory shard of Peking duck skin topped with a dab of caviar; some deliciously sweet-sticky-chewy sesame-studded caramelized shiitakes; and a delicately savory one-bite siu yuk mini sandwich, a delectable little cube made up of layers of pork belly, white toast, pickled cucumber skin with a dash of hot mustard and bean sauce, and crispy pork belly skin. An outstanding lambrusco from Cavicchioli, a small producer in the province of Modena, was a perfect foil, its fine black currant and red licorice astringency cutting neatly through the shao kao's fatty richness.



If I was feeling slightly buzzed by this point, it wasn't just the drinks. The interior of Eight Tables exerts a pleasantly bewildering effect of its own, the product of a synergy between a soothingly uniform pallet of muted colorsfrom the pale, scalloped wainscoting to the light-toned carpets and creamy leather banquettesand a likewise uniform grid of eight semi-private alcoves, which, as you peer out from your own into the others, creates an impression somewhat akin to that of being in a hall of mirrors.



The heightened atmosphere, however, never overshadowed the food, whether the upside down sizzling rice soup with poached lobster, sea grapes, abalone and bottarga, whose aromas called to mind a cornucopian tide pool; luxuriously unctuous slow-cooked pork belly, an homage to a recipe created by the Song Dynasty poet Su Dong-Po; or oil-poached velvet Dungeness crab whose impossibly creamy texture called to mind a similarly life-changing dish of scrambled eggs I encountered not long ago at Restaurant Joel Robuchon in Monte-Carlo.



Whether Chen is a virtuoso on par with the French master, I'm not qualified to judge, but I imagine Robuchon would be hard pressed to make a formerly dried sea cucumber (a worm-like echinoderm) as appetizing to a novice as Chen did, by gently rehydrating it for three days, stuffing it with a rich shrimp mousse, and slow-braising the confection in a covered wok, allowing the sea cucumber's primordial funk to mingle with the more familiar flavors of the shrimp. Tasting a sea cucumber is one thing, acquiring a taste is another, but the fact that my plate returned to the kitchen scrupulously clean is a testament to the skills of a chef with a rare gift for culinary diplomacy.



// 8 Kenneth Rexroth Place (Chinatown), eighttables.com
Editor's note: 83 Degrees periodically publishes excerpts from books by local Tampa Bay Area authors. Here is A Swamp Wedding from Son of Real Florida: Stories from My Life by Jeff Klinkenberg, University Press of Florida, 2018.The bride wore a long white dress and muddy boots. She yelled HOO-TEEHOO! Waiting for her in the distance, the groom hollered HOO- TEEHOO! back. She homed in on his shout and sloshed toward him through the cathedral of cypress trees and cypress knees, ferns and royal palms that grew in the black water. Michael Scott Owen and Donna Ann Glann-Smyth were going to exchange vows in the holiest place they know, a primeval Florida swamp where alligators and cottonmouths went with the territory.In their wedding chapel, a ghost orchid, one of the rarest of all plants, clung to the trunk of a pond ash. Poison ivy hung from the curved bough of what served as their altar, a red maple.Renee Rau, an ordained minister who also managed Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve in southwest Florida, asked the guests to settle down. The green tree frogs, performing their unique version of Mendelssohns Wedding March, ignored her.Ladies and gentlemen, the minister said in a loud voice, we will begin.* * *That they were getting married was something almost as unlikely as a giant sphinx moth finding a ghost orchid. The moth is the only known pollinator of the famous orchid, which very much resembles a dancing fairy. The moth flits through the Fakahatchee on summer nights, filtering the air for a scent that nothing else apparently can detect. Its an enormous swamp, more than 70,000 acres, with only the 370 ghosts Owen has counted. The moth evolved to keep the ghost orchid in existence. If you ask Owen, hell tell you that Glann-Smyth showed up to play the same role in his life.Owen, fifty-three, had lived in the swamp for nearly half his life.He grew up in Pinellas County near St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of South Florida, and took his biology degree to perhaps North Americas greatest swamp, a cauldron of endangered animals and plants, some found nowhere else.ITS LIKE THE AMAZON! he told people. Most scientists I know didnt talk in capital letters or exclamation points. Owen was the exception. As park biologist, he had led 433 trips into the Fakahatchee at the time I wrote this. He met Glann-Smyth on one of those trips.She lived in the east central Florida city of Melbourne. A biologist who was a few classes short of obtaining a medical degree, she was already a talented naturalist. But the Fakahatchee was 200 miles away. Should she go? At the last minute, she made a reservation for a guided trip. She got the last slot.It was March 25, 2006 -- trip No. 251, Owen wrote in his little notebook. Its natural to be afraid to walk into a swamp where anything can happen, including a gator encounter. But Glann-Smyth wasnt nervous. About a half mile from the nearest road, Owen showed everybody a ghost orchid. Most were disappointed. Ghost orchids bloom in the summer. In March, the dormant period, they look like whole-wheat spaghetti wrapped around a limb. Glann-Smyth did not hide her enthusiasm. She was excited.Ten minutes later, on her own, she found another of those nondescript spaghetti strands. In Owens experience, no rookie had ever found a dormant ghost orchid on her own. Most swamp newbies are more likely to look down for venomous snakes than study the high branches for famous orchids.Both had recently ended disappointing marriages. Both were in their forties and wondering if they would ever love again. Smitten, Owen wrote down her name and phone number in his little notebook and called a few days later.At first their relationship was long-distance. Eventually she moved to the Fakahatchee. A few months ago they set a wedding date. They decided they would marry next to the very ghost orchid Owen had first shown Glann-Smyth in 2006. It would be a June wedding, traditional in every way except for the possibility of seeing a cottonmouth.* * *Standing in the swamp, holding a bouquet of babys breath, Glann-Smyth spoke first. The first time we met, Mike was speaking so loud I thought to myself, Im not going to hear a bird or see a bird. And I noticed that he kept measuring things with a pole. And then he was always writing down those measurements in a little notebook. How odd. And then he talked about how people who came to the swamp developed a Faka-Habit. How corny can you get?She developed a Faka-Habit. A Mike Owen habit, too. Sometimes, when they walked into the swamp, they separated to cover more territory. When they wanted to find each other, they simply yelled HOO-TEEHOO! and the other would slosh back.Now, on his wedding day, it was Owens turn to say his piece in front of witnesses who included an eighty-year-old friend from Naples who wore a tuxedo and patent-leather shoes into the water and an orchid- crazed British pal who covered her beauty-shop hairdo with mosquito netting.Suddenly, the paparazzi arrived -- not the shouting, pushy tabloid photographers -- but ravenous deer flies. They began landing on exposed flesh and savagely biting. From the swamp cathedral came the sound of slapping.Owen poked his ever-present measuring stick in the muddy water, which, by the way, was 18 inches deep. The ghost orchid, by the way, grew 12 inches above the waters surface. Owen, by the way, had man- aged to write everything down in his notebook. But now he talked from the heart.He talked about intangibles, things that cant be measured, even by someone like him: Friendship. Compassion. Love. He talked about how one plastic flamingo on the lawn is lonely but two plastic flamingos on a lawn are a couple. He talked about how lucky he was to have found a woman, at his stage in life, like Donna to love and who would love him back.His voice broke. A red-shouldered hawk somewhere in the distance cried, too. The wedding could have stopped there and been perfect. But the Reverend Renee needed to make it official.Owen and Glann-Smyth, being careful not to drop them into the swamp, exchanged rings. They were pronounced husband and wife.Hooteehoo. They enjoyed a giant sphinx moth-ghost orchid kind of kiss. It was 11:19 a.m. on a windless Saturday, cloudy and 86 degrees in Floridas most unusual wedding chapel.Reprinted by permission of the University Press of Florida . Comments? Suggest another book for an excerpt? Contact 83 Degrees
Roger Stone's potential ties to WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, are being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Stone served as an adviser on President Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and according to The WSJ report, Stone said in an email on August 4, 2016, that he had "dined with Julian Assange last night."

However, Stone has denied ever meeting Assange.

In a text exchange on Friday before the WSJ report, Assange said he "never met or spoke with Assange ever," and Stone told The Journal the contents of the email were "said in jest."

Stone also noted that his passport showed that he did not leave the country in 2016.

The special counsel is investigating any potential ties between Russians and Trump campaign associates.

There are several links between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, including private messages on Twitter between Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks and outreach from the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Mueller's team is looking into whether the communications were ever intended as a coordinated effort to help with Russia's 2016 election meddling.

The President has repeatedly denied any collusion.

Stone has also denied ever receiving anything from WikiLeaks.

"I never received any material from them at all," he said last week. "I never received any material from any source that constituted the material ultimately published by WikiLeaks. ... This will be an impossible case to bring because the allegation that I knew about the (WikiLeaks) disclosures beyond what Assange himself had said in interviews and tweets, or that I had and shared this material with anyone in the Trump campaign or anyone else, is categorically false."
President Donald Trump declared "nobody has been tougher on Russia" during a meeting with the heads of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the White House on Tuesday, while also repeating his desire to have a good relationship with President Vladimir Putin.

The declaration comes as tension between Russia and the United States has ratcheted up in recent weeks and as Trump met with the Baltic leaders who have grown deeply skeptical of Putin in recent years.

Trump, throughout the Baltic leaders' time at the White House, maintained that he had come down hard on Russia for a series of transgressions. But even his tough talk contained conciliatory remarks about Putin, a familiar posture for the President.

"Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said during a luncheon with the three leaders. "Now maybe we will and maybe we won't. Probably nobody's been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump."

Trump added that "just about everyone agrees" getting along with Russia is a good thing "except very stupid people."

A reporter asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin is "a friend or a foe, to which the President said "we'll find out."

"I'll let you know," Trump said. "There will be a time when I'll let you know. You're going to find out very quickly."

During a joint news conference with the Baltic leaders -- Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Latvian President Raimonds V-jonis and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskait- -- Trump made his first public comments about the 60 Russian diplomats that the United States expelled from the country last month.

"We did 60. There is nobody been tougher on Russia," Trump said.

Still, he added: "I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President Putin. And if I did that would be a great thing. And there is a lot a great possibility that that won't happen. Who knows."

Baltic states and Russia

Trump has been critical of NATO members -- such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- which had not met their 2% defense spending annual benchmark for the group.

But the three Baltic states have begun to worry about the threat posed by Russia and, like other NATO members, have pledged to increase their defense spending in the face of Russian aggression, especially the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine by Russia.

Trump on Tuesday commended the leaders for their contributions to NATO and asked Lithuania's Grybauskait-, "Has Donald Trump made a difference on NATO?"

"This is a very risky question," Trump joked.

Grybauskait- responded: "We expect together with the United States to go ahead with deep reforms of NATO, especially on decision-making, on decisiveness, on the denial that we expect to see from Russia in case of aggression."

Russia has loomed large over the Trump administration for much of the President's time in office as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates the country's meddling in the 2016 election and any collusion between Trump's orbit of supporters and Russian operatives.

Tension between the United States and Russia reached a high point under Trump last week when Russia expelled 60 US diplomats and closed the US Consulate in St. Petersburg in response to the United States expelling the same number of Russian diplomats and closing their Seattle consulate. The US decision was made after the US and United Kingdom government blamed Moscow for the poisoning of a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, on British soil on March 4.
Workchain Ltd (formerly known as Smart Recruitment UK Ltd) is accused of logging into its workplace pension schemes online system using employees personal details, to terminate their membership of the scheme. This is contrary to the terms of use of the system, which requires employees to opt out themselves.

Those charged with unauthorised access to a computer programme, contrary to section 1(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 are:

Workchain Ltd, which has its head office in Stephensons Way, Derby, Derbyshire

Director Phil Tong, 40, of Spend Lane, Ashbourne, Derbyshire

Director Adam Hinkley, 39, of Shardlow Road, Alvaston, Derbyshire

Hannah Armson, 34, of Heath Lane, Findern, Derbyshire

Lisa Coy, 33, of Marylebone Crescent, Mackworth, Derbyshire

Martin West, 31, of Jackson Road, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire

Robert Tomlinson, 38, of Crosby Close, Forest Town, Nottinghamshire

Andrew Thorpe, 33, of Thorpe Street, Burntwood, Staffordshire

This is the first time that TPR has launched prosecutions for this offence.

The defendants have been summonsed to appear at Derby Magistrates Court on 7 June 2018.
Babcock International is to underline its special relationships in the USA and Canada, by featuring its international naval capability partner approach at SEA AIR SPACE at the Gaylord National Convention Centre, Washington DC, 9-11 April 2018.

Above: At reach support in Duqm, Oman.



With a legacy of naval support for programmes in the USA and Canada and in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, South Korea and increasingly in the Middle East, Babcock provides support to maritime programmes around the world.



Following the signing of a joint venture agreement between Babcock and the Oman Drydock Company, to form the Duqm Naval Dockyard (DND), the US Navy has been quick to capitalise on the strategic location of the warship repair and maintenance facility, with five significant projects already having been carried out in the facility which sits at the heart of the largest free trade area in the Middle East - the Special Economic Zone Authority Duqm (SEZAD).



One operational highlight for the Dockyard was the recent Mid-Term Availability Maintenance contract, awarded on behalf of the US Military Sealift Command (USMSC), by US Fleet Logistics Command at Bahrain. This extensive work package served as a springboard for similar work packages from the US Navy, and, in particular, the USMSC.



DND has now undertaken repair packages on US Navy Henry J Kaiser class tankers, as well as Alan Shepard class Dry Cargo and Ammunition ships. These vessels form the mainstay of seagoing logistics support to US Navy operations in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean. This at-reach support is a hallmark of Babcocks international footprint.



As well as providing support services in the UK where Babcock is the sole provider of deep maintenance and refitting, in-service maintenance, in-service and through-life engineering support for the UKs Royal Navy fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, Babcock is also a key naval support provider to the Canadian Government and the Royal Canadian Navy, providing critical operational and deep maintenance to Canadas fleet of diesel-electric submarines.



In Australia, Babcock undertakes maintenance of the ANZAC frigate and key equipment on the Collins Class submarine. In New Zealand it operates the largest marine engineering and naval repair facility in the country, providing through-life support, custom design and retrofit, ship repair and marine engineering services for super yachts, cruise ships, research vessels and cargo ships, as well as the Royal New Zealand Navys surface fleet of ships.



Babcock is also an expert in the support of high integrity systems. It was, for example, recently successful in winning all of the equipment support aspects for the UK Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers under a programme called Marine System Support Partner (MSSP). It also has decades of experience of supporting US equipment embedded within various international naval platforms, providing local support to US systems no matter where they are in the world.



Further international success includes securing a seven year contract to produce and deliver weapons handling and launch equipment for the third boat set South Korean Jangbogo III submarine programme. Awarded by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, it is due to run until 2024 and will see Babcock work with a global supply chain spanning the UK, Spain and South Korea and is an extension of the highly successful supply chain built up during the first and second boat-sets also delivered by Babcock. Babcock has also recently announced that it is to set up a base in Busan, South Korea to support existing and future Naval activity in the region.



The companys long history in the design, build, assembly and maintenance of commercial and Naval platforms and equipment, includes submarines and surface ships. In addition, its extensive equipment management capability means that it can repair, overhaul and replace the right parts at the right time.



As a maritime trainer to the UKs Royal Navy and commercial customers, it provides accredited support, equipping people to operate and maintain some of the most complex maritime platforms. It also provides immersive sea survival and safety training.
We will extend this medical professional the privacy the NVICP afforded her other than to note the petitioner practices medicine in the field of infectious disease.

In this case, the vaccine injury alleged a Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration (SIRVA). According to HHS statistics, SIRVA is the most common vaccine injury claim brought in the NVICP over the past 3 years, followed closely by Guillain-Bare Syndrome (GBS). We have written extensively about SIRVA in the NVICP, here , and here.

The Special Master ordered that the petitioners name be stricken from publicly available documents and replaced with initials.

It seems that the Special Master and the Department of Justice attorneys agreed with the petitioner: Disclosing that you have suffered a vaccine injury  even one that you have been compensated for  can damage your professional career.

In the motion for redaction, the petitioner stated that she holds a position with an organization which engages in public health advocacy related to vaccination. The petitioner expressed concern that public knowledge of her vaccine injury claim would negatively impact her credibility and professional relationships.

What makes this specific redaction decision so interesting is the identity of the petitioner and her line of work.

In other words, an American citizen cannot sue a vaccine manufacturer. If someone claims to have been injured by a vaccine or a family member who died from a vaccine, they have to sue the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), a Presidential Cabinet member, in the Federal Court of Claims.

Keep in mind that the NVICP exists because Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986. The Act essentially ended civil liability for vaccine manufacturers and medical professionals who administer vaccines.

Redaction of personal information is very difficult to obtain in the NVICP. Typically, the Department of Justice attorneys who represent the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the NVICP oppose motions to redact personal information. Special Masters rarely allow petitioners to do so.

In a recent decision in the Vaccine Court, more formally known as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), a Special Master (administrator to oversee proceedings) granted the petitioners (injured party filing a claim for compensation) motion to redact not only the petitioners name for proceedings going forward but also the entitlement ruling (decision the petitioner is eligible for compensation, process to move into damages phase) handed down in the fall of 2017.

Or listen to what I am saying and do not pay attention to what happened to me

The discussion that follows seems to resonate with old adage do what I say, not what I do.

A previous case

A few years ago, Wayne Rohde discovered another peculiar redaction decision in 2012 whereas the petitioner was denied. In her motion for redaction the petitioner, who won a large compensation award, claimed she needed privacy for personal safety reasons to protect the identity of her husband who worked in law enforcement. The petitioner, who lives in New York State, claimed a problematic relative would attempt to take her monetary award. But, of even more concern, was her concern for her husband who was working in an undercover duty in law enforcement. The petitioner was concerned her husband was in jeopardy if her name was released in a public document.

The Special Master in this case denied the petitioners motion for redaction.

Apparently, it is acceptable to protect the identity of medical professionals who might suffer criticism from fellow public health professionals but not acceptable for anyone else with a vaccine injury claim.

Mr. Rohde was curious as to why the Special Master denied the petitioners motion. So, he contacted the petitioner via phone call.

The petitioner answered the phone. Mr. Rohde introduced himself and explained why he was calling. The petitioner said that she did not know anyone by that name and hung up.

It was then he could sense that she was really fearful, being really scared and caught in a trap that was set by the NVICP and Special Masters decision.

Within a couple of minutes, Wayne received a call from a New York State Trooper asking about why he as trying to contact her. Wayne gave him all some information, credentials, and the reason why he wanted to talk with her. While one the phone, the trooper googled Mr. Rohde and conducted a quick background check. Within 5 minutes, he mentioned that Wayne checked out and was a legitimate concerned individual. He would not talk more about the petitioner but did mention that he also had a family member who he believed was vaccine injured.

Our community is larger than we realize.

Back to the doctor

The Vaccine Court has granted a personal information redaction to a medical doctor who practices in the United States in the field of infectious disease. Is this doctor worried about what her peers will say about the petitioner? Is it out of concern that the public stop vaccinating because of this public health professionals vaccine injury.

According to the HHS, the public has no right to know.

A few years ago, the Secretary of HHS balked at the idea of conducting a public awareness campaign about the NVICP, hiding behind the rationale that public would stop vaccinating if they know there was a federal program to compensate vaccine injury.

HHS has dedicated virtually no resources to publicizing the NVICP even though Congress mandated that they do so in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act.

Perhaps it is the very real fear that if the public was educated on the number of vaccine injuries and the very real devastating medical outcome that often follow from them, the public might start asking tough questions.

The Redaction Process

Typically, the DOJ attorneys that represent the Secretary of HHS aggressively fight a redaction motions.

In this case, they sat on their hands and let the Special Master know there was no objection.

Section 12(d)(4)(B) of the Vaccine Act, in relevant part, provides that:

A decision of the Special Master or the court in a proceeding shall be disclosed, except that if the decision is to include information:

Which is a trade secret or commercial or financial information which is privileged and confidential, or Which are medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy, and if the person who submitted such information objects to the inclusion of such information in the decision, the decision shall be disclosed without such information.

Mr. Rohde has written extensively about petitioner privacy, especially children. In his book, The Vaccine Court  The Dark Truth to Americas Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, there is an entire chapter to discuss redaction motions.

Bias in NVICP

There has been several actions by Special Masters that show extreme bias on denying redaction of petitioners. One of the more egregious acts was from Special Master Christian Moran and his decision to publicly post a partial fact finding hearing decision from a prominent Gardasil petition. By making this decision public, several pro-pharma bloggers and shills ran with the information and began a public shaming and ridiculing campaign against the petitioner.

Other medical professionals.

There have been several doctors and nurses who have submitted petitions for compensation of their injuries. Most of them have won damage awards. And many of them did not redact their decisions.

So why this doctor?

Maybe because those decisions were several years ago. Or maybe, in todays climate of absolute obedience to the belief that all vaccines are safe and effective, any information to the contrary cannot be tolerated.

Even if a member of the public health community has been legitimately compensated by the United States Government for vaccine injury.

Wayne Rohde, author of The Vaccine Court  Dark Truth of Americas Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Louis Conte, author of The Autism War and co-author of Vaccine Injuries

All books published by Skyhorse Publishing  New York City
Santiago, Chile, Airbus Helicopters has signed the first order for one H160 with an undisclosed customer in Brazil for private and business aviation operations. This order, the first from a Latin American customer, came after a flight demonstration in Marignane where the customer experienced first-hand the step-change in passenger comfort that the H160 brings to the market.

We are proud to announce the first sale of an H160 in Latin America where it has a lot of potential as we have been seeing a lot of interest in the aircraft, said Mesrob Karalekian, Head of Latin America at Airbus Helicopters. It is easy to see why the H160 appeals to private and business aviation customers as it is not only stylish but its cutting edge technology offers passengers an elegant, safe and extremely comfortable way to travel he added.

The H160 has been designed to offer all its passengers, whether for private and business aviation flights, Oil and Gas passenger transport, emergency medical services, or public services missions, with an exceptional flight experience thanks to the panoramic views provided by the large cabin windows, low sound levels, and smooth flight even at high speeds. External visibility for pilots is also highly prioritized with a large windshield, lateral and floor level windows that allow them to see below the aircraft when landing. This is combined with the visibility provided by the aircrafts cameras that can be displayed one of the four multi-functional displays in the cockpit. Helionix, Airbus Helicopters digital avionics suite, further contributes to the aircrafts safety by significantly reducing pilot workload. Presenting the right information at the right time, along with the H160s integrated automatic functions, allows the pilot to concentrate on the mission at hand.

The H160 has also been designed to facilitate maintenance allowing it to reach levels similar to that of a light twin. The aircrafts optimized accessibility has been praised by customers who have recently had the opportunity to fly in the H160 during its North American demo tour.

About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2017 it generated revenues of  67 billion and employed a workforce of around 129,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the worlds leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.
Tuscaloosa's new Whataburger location has proven an early success, and the company is hosting a Customer Appreciation event this week to celebrate.

Whataburger, at 820 Skyland Blvd., will hold the event Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the restaurant.

There will be games, scheduled appearances by the University of Alabama cheer squad and Big Al, an onsite radio remote and other attractions. Attendees can enter in drawings for an Alabama prize pack and "Whataburger for a Year," where one customer's name will be drawn to win the prize  a free Whataburger product each week for an entire year.

The first 100 attendees will win a free Whataburger- and University of Alabama-branded stadium cushion. Customers who purchase a medium fry and 32-ounce drink will also receive a free Whataburger.

"Our friends in Tuscaloosa have been very welcoming to us since we first opened our doors, and we enjoy being a part of this community," said Whataburger Director of Operations John Attra.

How big was the opening of Whataburger? Here's just a sample of what Twitter had to say:

Live look-in at the Tuscaloosa Whataburger Drive-Thru pic.twitter.com/T5W8SYiF0z  Will Elliott (@Will_Elliott22) March 5, 2018

The new Tuscaloosa Whataburger was the worst thing could ever happen to my bank account  Matthew McGaha (@matthewtmcgaha) March 31, 2018

It's no secret that I hate Bama but Tuscaloosa doesn't suck. Why? Because it has @Whataburger!!!  Jayson Davis (@JayDed1990) March 12, 2018
3 arrested on corruption charges

State Rep. Jack Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, Marty Connors, the former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, and a California health care executive were arrested today on federal bribery charges.

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Battle in the skies?

The jet that Airbus and Bombardier plan to build in coastal Alabama isn't a fighter. But to hear some industry sources tell it, it'll be at the center of a coming battle royal.

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Piggly Wiggly jumps Winn Dixie locations

Piggly Wiggly plans to open stores in what are now Winn-Dixie stores: on Alabama 59 in Robertsdale and off Gulf Shores Parkway in Gulf Shores.

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Big changes coming for Mazda

Mazda is telling its dealers that there are big changes on the horizon as the company prepares for its Huntsville plant with Toyota. Automotive News is reporting that the Japanese automaker plans overhauls of five of its models and an advertising campaign to reposition the company.

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Capstone Building kicks off three big projects

Birmingham's Capstone Building Corp. is getting started on three major construction projects in two southern states. The company is beginning work on projects in Charlotte, Memphis and Knoxville.

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Polaris to pay $27 million

Polaris Industries has agreed to pay a $27.25 million civil penalty related to defects in two off-road vehicles. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the settlement today. It is related to charges that Polaris failed to immediately report that models of RZR and Ranger recreational off-road vehicles contained defects that could create a substantial hazard.

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New mill coming from Westervelt

Tuscaloosa's Westervelt Co. says it is completing plans for a new lumber facility in south Alabama which is expected to employ about 100 people. According to an announcement from the company, a location and design of the new mill, are being prepared for final approval by the Westervelt's board.

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Brewers Guild pushes for bill signing

The Alabama Brewers Guild is publicly urging Gov. Kay Ivey to sign a bill which would exempt tasting rooms from Saturday night sales prohibitions. HB 303 sponsored by State Rep. Anthony Daniels,D-Huntsville. It would exempt brewery, distillery, and winery tasting rooms from a statewide law preventing alcohol manufacturers from selling alcohol between 9 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. the following Monday.

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AL.com launching new homepage design

On Tuesday, we're launching our first new homepage design since 2012. You'll find a page designed to showcase local stories, videos and photography. It's a design that comes from the minds, hands and hearts not just of our designers and engineers, but also from the suggestions and ideas from hundreds of our readers.

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Creature a new creation

Golden Construction and Appleseed Workshop have officially merged and announced a new name on Monday. The Birmingham-based veteran construction company and architecture firm, which announced their merger last year, are now Creature.

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Referendum for Irondale

Irondale residents will head to the polls on Tuesday, April 10 for a referendum to increase the property tax by 6 mils. Mayor Charles Moore said the city is looking to increase the property tax to help pay for city services.

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Tim Cook coming to Birmingham

Alabama native and Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook will be among the honorees at the 10th annual Keeper of the Dream awards banquet hosted by the Birmingham Metro Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The awards banquet, which is being called "A Golden Halo Fit for a King," will honor individuals who have continued the legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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New blood test an Alabama innovation

It can be a lifesaving test, yet more than a third of patients recommended for it fail to follow up. But the test called a colonoscopy may become history thanks to research by Alabama scientists. Researchers at Huntsville's HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology announced today they've found measurable indicators in blood plasma that could identify patients with colon polyps.
I can't say that I have ever been a huge fan of Rosanne Barr or her show, Roseanne. At the same time, I can't say I have ever particularly disliked her one way or the other and I was the same about her sitcom, completely indifferent.

I have watched it a few times through the years. It seems every time I do catch an episode it happens to be the one where Roseanne takes her daughter's class on a field trip to the grocery store and teaches them how to feed the whole family with a pound of ground beef. That was a realistic episode.

Oddly enough, if a woman knows what to do with a pound of ground beef she won't have any trouble scoring herself a husband...if she is in the market for one. The secret to that - and it sometimes takes a woman a couple of tries and decades to figure this out - is to make sure you choose yourself one worth divorcing should you ever need to.

Roseanne aired from 1988 to 1997 and now it's back. Same show, same name, same cast. I'm sure it is going to be wonderful and I intend to watch it with the same commitment and enthusiasm as I did the original.

Sandra Bernhard joined the cast in 1991, and aside from being a costar on Roseanne, she is most often described as an openly bisexual stand-up comedian. The return of the show has been such a big to do that Bernhard was interview on MSNBC by Ari Melber last Wednesday. She talked briefly about Roseanne and then offended the majority of married women in America.

She is still upset about Donald Trump winning the 2016 election and was blaming Hillary Clinton's defeat on married women who are "under the thumbs of their husbands."

When you are done laughing about that one, get what she said next. She said, "A lot of women have compromised, given in, gotten married, raised their kids, and have not had the luxury of being able to think for themselves."

I can see how she has been successful as a comedian. But in this case she was actually serious.

Where are all these chauvinist men and weak-ass women?

I've not seen them and I have lived in Alabama all my life. I even vacation in Tennessee and north Georgia sometimes.

I thought society had about to turned all the alpha males into women. Others never grow up no matter how old they get. They need a woman to tell them what to do, what to eat, what to wear and to make sure they get to work on time.

The ones worth marrying are not looking to tell or be told what to do. They are looking for an equal, opposite partner. Marriage and families are a privilege. Getting married and raising children will always be a huge part of the American dream for many people. Married women can think for themselves just fine.

Ms. Bernhard should not underestimate the power that comes with the skill of knowing what to do with a fresh pound of ground beef. She can say whatever she will, but it is women who rule men still.

Amanda Walker is a blogger and contributor with AL.com, The Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, Alabama Gazette and Wilcox Progressive Era. Contact her at Walkerworld77@msn.com or at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.
Authorities have released the name of a man shot to death Monday night in Birmingham's Grasselli Heights neighborhood.

Birmingham police and the Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Demetrius Montez Smith. He was 24.

The city's West Precinct officers responded about 10 p.m. to Princeton Baptist Medical Center's emergency room on a report of a gunshot victim. The investigation showed Smith was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling in the area of the 4500 block of Grasselli Boulevard when someone opened fire on the vehicle.

Smith was shot and taken by the vehicle's driver to Princeton, where he was pronounced shortly after arrival.

Lt. Pete Williston said no arrests have been made.

Smith is the city's 30th homicide victim this year, and the fourth since Friday night. There were fatal shooting in the city Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 43 homicides this year.

Anyone with information in Smith's death is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
A former corrections officer with the Alabama Department of Corrections may be responsible for a series of sexual assaults, according to police in Sandy Springs, Ga.

Matthew Lee Moore, 48, of Springville, was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated sodomy, false imprisonment, two counts of aggravated assault and aggravated assault with the intent to rape a female victim in Sandy Springs. He was also charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Corrections officials said Moore surrendered without incident and was taken to St. Clair County Jail pending extradition to Georgia.

Sandy Springs police are seeking other possible victims of Moore.

"This investigation has been both exhaustive and intensive as we have reviewed cases going back over 10 years," the police department said in a press release. "We believe there may be other victims who have yet to come forward."

Moore is charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a hotel in Sandy Spring in November 2015. The incident has been under investigation since then, officials said.

ADOC officials said Moore was working in his capacity as a corrections officer at St. Clair Correctional Facility when the alleged assault occurred.

Moore immediately resigned his position at the time of his arrest, officials said. He had been employed by the ADOC since 2001.

Sandy Springs police are asking potential victims to come forward. Anyone who has been a victim of a sexual assault or an attempted assault by Moore are asked to contact Detective Will Johnson at 770-551-3314.
The reward for information on a missing Birmingham high school student has now been raised to $3,000, Birmingham police announced on Tuesday.

Daniel Rickett, a 17-year-old Carver High School senior, was last seen on Thursday, Feb. 8. "It's very stressful,'' Devin Rickett, his 19-year-old brother, previously said. "I haven't been getting any sleep."

One of five children in a close-knit family, Daniel Rickett he had spent some time with his older sister that day and then they went their separate ways in the 1100 block of 12th Court North. "We haven't seen him since,'' said Devin Rickett, a student at Alabama State University.

Daniel Rickett had eye surgery on the day before he disappeared and is supposed to be on a list of medications. The family said it is not like him to disappear. Daniel Rickett is scheduled to graduate in May, and then has plans to try to join the United States Air Force like his father, who is now retired from the service.

Police have previously said Daniel Rickett could be in danger of physical harm. He is considered an endangered missing person. Family and friends have searched for him, but to no avail.

Daniel Rickett is described as a black male. He is 5-feet, 6-inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Birmingham police Family Services detectives 205-297-8413.
Alabama will have a new state superintendent of education by April 20, according to a press release from the State Department of Education on Tuesday.

Ray and Associates, the search firm hired to conduct a national search for the next state education chief, will attend the April 12 work session to talk about the search. They plan to present a list of semifinalists to the board on April 13.

Dr. Carl Davis, Regional Search Director for the search firm, told AL.com on March 23 they plan to bring eight to 10 semifinalists to the board for consideration.

Interviews for finalists are set for April 20, where the state board of education will vote to appoint the new superintendent.

According to the press release, search firm associates are looking at resumes and references of those who applied by the March 23 deadline. Background checks are also being conducted.

No information was given about how many candidates applied, but Davis told AL.com on March 23 there had been great interest in the position.

"We're very proud of the number of applicants for the job," Davis said.

Jefferson County Superintendent Dr. Craig Pouncey told his district's board members there he submitted an application for the position. This will be the third time Pouncey has applied for the job.

A spokesperson for the Council of Chief State School Officers provided AL.com a spreadsheet showing the average tenure of current chief education officers across the country is around two and a half years. The longest serving state superintendent is Wisconsin's Tony Evers, who has been in the position for nearly nine years.

The Alabama state Board of Education will hold their regular monthly meeting on April 12 at 10 a.m., with the work session immediately following.
An Alabama lawmaker and the former chief of the state's Republican Party face federal bribery charges in connection to efforts to force Blue Cross and Blue Shield to cover diabetic treatments at facilities owned by a California health care executive.

State Rep. Jack Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, Marty Connors and healthcare executive G. Ford Gilbert were arrested Monday in connection to what U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr. referred to as a "public corruption scheme."

Here's what we know today:

The allegations

Prosecutors contend G. Ford Gilbert, owner of the Carmichael, California company Trina Healthcare, made payments to former House Majority Leader Micky Hammon on behalf of a bill that would force Blue Cross and Blue Shield to cover diabetes treatments at centers such as the ones Gilbert owned.

In 2016, prosecutors said Gilbert hired Connors, who knew Hammon was being paid by Gilbert, to serve as a lobbyist. Connors recruited Williams, chair of the House's Small Business Committee, to hold a public hearing on the bill. Williams also knew of the payments to Hammon, prosecutors allege. The bill died in the committee Williams chaired.

The charges

All three defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery related to federal programs, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and honest services wire fraud. Gilbert and Connors are also charged with the substantive offense of bribery related to federal programs. Gilbert also faces charges of wire fraud, health care fraud, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

Who's who

Mickey Hammon's role

According to the indictment, Hammon was given an ownership in a Trina clinic in exchange for setting up clinic operations in Birmingham. The clinic opened in Hoover in 2015 but was not prosperous due to the BCBS regulations.

Hammon, R-Decatur, was not charged in Monday's indictment. Last year, he pled guilty to devising a scheme to commit mail fraud by using campaign money to pay his personal expenses. He is currently serving three months in prison in connection to the charges.

Trina Health

Gilbert reportedly tried to introduce similar legislation in the 2017 session but Hammon did not support another bill. All three Trina Health clinics closed in 2017.

Gov. Kay Ivey responds

"There's just no place for corruption in our great state. And so, the Justice Department, the FBI, they've just got to go ahead and ferret out what needs to be explored because we cannot tolerate corruption," Gov. Kay Ivey said.

Monday's court appearances

Williams and Connors appeared in court Monday afternoon after morning arrests at their homes. Judge Charles Coody set their bail at $25,000 each.

What's next?

An arraignment for Williams and Connors was set for April 18 at 1:30 p.m. Gilbert will be arraigned in federal court in California on the same day.

If convicted, each defendant in this case faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, plus fines and restitution.

More
City workers today in downtown Florence painted over graffiti that depicted President Donald Trump holding a pistol and what appeared to be bloodied children lying outside a school.

Downtown business owners were shocked to see the graffiti in an empty lot along Tennessee Street Monday morning, according to AL.com news partner WHNT News-19.

The graffiti appeared to depict the President carrying out a school shooting.

"It's not something that we want to have to see every day," Sarah Shirey told WHNT. She and her husband own Turbo Coffee on Tennessee Street across from the latest graffiti display. "My husband and I were looking at it, trying to figure it out, and then we realized all of the red coming out of the bodies was blood; and then I was assuming it was a school shooting."

City authorities haven't identified the person responsible for the graffiti, which could lead to a criminal mischief charge.

Updated on Tuesday, April 3 at 1:30 p.m. to show the graffiti has been covered.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signaled plans to escalate a crackdown on illegal immigration, announcing that the U.S. military will be sent to guard the U.S.-Mexico border and threatening foreign aid to Honduras.

For the third straight day, Trump seized on coverage of a "caravan" of 1,000 migrants, primarily from Honduras, to call for tougher immigration policies and warn of what he called "weak" border security.

But the prospect of cutting off foreign aid, as well as sending military personnel to the southern border, added a new dimension to Trump's immigration strategy that so far had centered on threats to walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement and pressuring Congress to send him funding for a border wall.

Trump floated the threat about foreign aid in a tweet early Tuesday morning. Later, during a meeting with the leaders of three Baltic nations, the president disclosed plans to send troops to the border.

"We are going to be guarding our border with our military. That's a big step," Trump said Tuesday. "We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way, never showing up for court."

Deploying troops to the border is not unprecedented. The Obama administration sent 1,200 National Guard troops to the southern border in 2010 to assist Border Patrol and immigration officials amid rising concerns about drug trafficking.

In 2014, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he would dispatch as many as 1,000 National Guard troops to the southern border as the country faced an influx of migrant children and families from Central America. Perry is now Trump's energy secretary.

"The caravan doesn't irritate me, the caravan makes me very sad that this could happen to the United States," Trump said.

The "caravan" - an annual event that is meant to draw attention to the refugee crisis in Central America - has spurred new calls from Trump for an immigration crackdown, particularly funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall that has eluded him. Conservative media outlets have has focused on the caravan in recent days.

"The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our "Weak Laws" Border, had better be stopped before it gets there," Trump tweeted shortly before 7 a.m. Tuesday. "Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!"

The Mexican government took steps late Monday to break up the caravan, registering the migrants and saying that some would be asked to leave the country while others would received humanitarian assistance.

Honduras received about $127.5 million in aid from the United States in fiscal 2016, according to data from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Congress is in a two-week recess.

He referred to the caravan in tweets Monday night, accusing Democrats of allowing "open borders, drugs and crime" while deriding U.S. immigration laws as an "Obama joke."

"Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!"

Officials in Mexico have since intervened to halt the caravan, suggesting that some of the migrants could obtain humanitarian visas to remain there while others would have to return to their home country. Mexico's Interior Ministry said Monday that "under no circumstances does the government of Mexico promote irregular migration."

Meanwhile, White House officials are preparing new proposals that they say would close "loopholes" in U.S. immigration laws. Separately, the Department of Homeland Security is pushing for the end of the "catch and release" practice, which allows undocumented immigrants who have been apprehended to be released while they await their hearings.

Trump's new immigration threats were made in tweets early Tuesday that included another defense of Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the largest network of local television stations in the country. Sinclair has recently faced a backlash after its news anchors were ordered to read a uniform script decrying "biased and false news" and criticizing other journalists for using their platforms to "push their own personal bias."

"The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast," Trump tweeted. "The 'Fakers' at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!"

Trump leveled another attack at CNN in a separate tweet that misspelled the name of the cable network's head, Jeff Zucker, and charged that its journalists had to abide by an anti-Trump test.

CNN immediately pushed back: "Once again, false. The personal political beliefs of CNN's employees are of no interest to us. Their pursuit of the truth is our only concern. Also, Jeff's last name is spelled Z-U-C-K-E-R. Those are the facts. #FactsFirst."

And in his fourth tweet of the morning, the president touted his ratings in recent polling from Rasmussen Reports, whose figures tend to favor Republicans, and noted that his numbers were "higher than 'Cheatin' Obama at the same time in his Administration."
Would you be willing to pay $10 for an app warning about poor beach conditions ahead of your visit to coastal Alabama?

A team of Mississippi State University researchers would like to know. An anonymous survey has been set up to help the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System develop data and data products that could appeal to beachgoers.

The survey, which takes about 10 minutes to complete, asks beach-bound visitors and residents to provide their input on what type of factors can ruin a beach experience.

The survey includes questions on past and planned beach trips, information travelers would like to know ahead of their beach visits, and whether people would be willing to fork over $10 for an app that provides a comprehensive list of beach conditions such as wind conditions, rip currents and marine hazards.

"This study focuses on an expanded Gulf of Mexico beach conditions monitoring system and the value of this expansion to those individuals who frequent beaches along the Gulf Coast," said Dan Petrolia, associate professor of agricultural economics in the university's Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

According to the survey, the system would be similar to an already-established website that allows users to click on a map and view current conditions at approximately 28 Florida beaches.

The survey indicates that an expanded beach monitoring website and app would include those 28 beaches plus 48 additional beaches in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Beach locations listed in Alabama included Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Dauphin Island, Fort Morgan, Point Clear and Gulf State Park.

The survey indicates that the $10 fee would be month-to-month, payable online. There would be no subscription fee.
Alabama Media Group is announcing that Reckon by AL.com will host two gubernatorial debates live in Birmingham at the historic Lyric Theatre.

Reckon, an AL.com brand focused on community conversations and in-depth journalism, will stream the debates on Facebook Live. Alabama Media Group is inviting the state's TV and radio stations to cover the events, with ABC 33/40 providing a pool camera.

The

The

Each event will last approximately two hours and will be hosted by AL.com columnist, Roy S. Johnson.

Each of the gubernatorial candidates have been invited and will have a lectern on stage. The candidates will each receive 90 seconds for opening statements, followed by a question and answer section. In addition to the questions written and asked by the three panelists, Reckon is soliciting questions from readers.

Please send your question using the tool below.
Dr. Francis Collins remembers playing guitar and singing Bob Dylans The Times They Are a-Changin at a dinner party in front of three U.S. Supreme Court chief justices  not long after the landmark 2015 decision to allow same-sex marriage nationwide.

Dr. Francis Collins

Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, an organization that conducts medical and health research, made a group of UF medical students and faculty burst into laughter Monday morning as he boasted about n quelling the tension between Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

It went over pretty well, Collins said. Scalia was chewing on a cigar, he seemed happy.

Collins, whos been in his position for more than eight years, spoke for about 45 minutes and touched on everything from the need for more NIH funding to the nationwide opioid crisis. He was invited by U.S. House Rep. Ted Yohos office to speak on campus.

David Guzick, UFs senior vice president for health affairs, asked Collins questions during the Q&A, which was held in the North Learning Studies Room of the Harrell Medical Education Building. About 200, including UF President Kent Fuchs and Yoho, sat in the main room. After it filled, 250 moved down the hall to watch on a livestream.

The head of a $37 billion cutting-edge public health agency told the medical community members how important their work is.

We all share this sense of how to protect the next generation of investigators, he said.

Despite funding cuts over the past decade and fears of how the Trump administration would treat his agency, Collins said hes optimistic.

The NIH is set to receive an 8 percent funding increase in the $1.3 trillion spending bill Trump approved March 23, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Early last year, the White House initially proposed a 22 percent cut to NIH funding, but Congress rejected the proposal and pushed for funding increases that finally made it into the newly signed bill.

Yoho weighed in during one of the questions. He said funding for NIH and STEM funding matters.

Its the research today that creates the jobs and cures we need for tomorrow, he said.

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President Fuchs said hes glad Collins came to UF because it allows researchers, students and faculty members to give the NIH a face rather than see it as a masked entity.

He was very charismatic and funny, talking about he plays guitar. I think thats important for students, Fuchs said.

Medical student Dr. Justin Rossi went to Collins event because he was able to complete his doctoral research in neurology and Parkinsons disease with NIH grant money.

These are uncertain times as far as funding, he said. Its our projects, as students, that would be affected.

Contact David Hoffman at dhoffman@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @hoffdavid123.

About 250 people watch a livestream of National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins speak to UF students and faculty in the North Learning Studies Room of the Harrell Medical Education Building Monday morning. Collins spoke about the importance of funding STEM research.
Gainesville Police is investigating the immigration status of the Guatemalan nationals involved in an arrest Sunday.

Police is also forwarding information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Benjamin Perez-Bravo, 22, is accused of trapping his year-long girlfriend in their bedroom, kicking her and preventing her from calling authorities, according to an arrest report. The incident occured in an apartment they share with multiple Guatemalan residents.

One of the other residents, Perez-Bravos sister, witnessed the incident and told authorities the girlfriend tried to leave the apartment but Perez-Bravo brought her back inside.

Once inside, the girlfriend locked herself inside a bathroom. However, Perez-Bravo was able to get in, the sister told police. He carried her back into their bedroom, locked the bedroom door and sat in front of it, the report said.

The girlfriend tried to leave through the window and told Perez-Bravo she would call the police, but he told her not to because he would get arrested and taken to jail. He also took away her cellphone, according to the report.

Early Sunday, she tried to leave the bedroom twice and Perez-Bravo prevented her, according to the report. Perez-Bravo hit her near her neck, and she grabbed a Coca-Cola bottle to hit him, but his sister took it out of her hand.

Eventually, Perez-Bravo let his girlfriend leave the bedroom. She called police and told them he hit her with a gun and there was a hostage in the apartment, according to Alligator archives.

After investigating, police determined that was not true, GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias wrote in an email. Police were not able to find a gun or any other weapons in the apartment, he said.

Police found Perez-Bravo blocks away from the apartment, Tobias said.

Tobias said communication between those involved and police was difficult because they spoke a Guatemalan/Mayan dialect. Three Spanish-speaking officers tried to translate, he said.

After his arrest, he confirmed what his girlfriend had told police. He said he ran from the apartment in fear of being arrested and deported after his girlfriend called police, according to the report.

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Perez-Bravo was taken to the Alachua County Jail where he remains in lieu of a $45,000 bond.

Contact Robert Lewis at rlewis@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @Lewis__Robert.

Benjamin Perez-Bravo
In the second of a two-part series, the Executive Director of the Living Church Foundation, Dr Christopher Wells, explores how the Church can remain united despite deep difference.

The communion of Christians and churches is a journey of faithfulness over time, on two counts: because the Christian life is corporate, and because we are called by God not just once in a flash of conversion but to sustained growth in obedience. Following St Paul (see Romans 5:3-4), St Augustine named this journey by grace perseverance.

For divided Christian churches, the question becomes: How can we persevere together  not simply along isolated, or possibly parallel, paths, but along roads that may converge in Gods good time, as we learn to cooperate with him and his Spirit, and to follow more surely the path of his crucified Son, the way of the cross, which leads to resurrected life? This is the question of walking together, along the one road of the gospel and its truth, in a bid of common formation and conversion.

While there are various points along the road, and not all will walk together at every point, the hope, at least, to advance along the road after our Lord marks an irreducible criterion of evangelical authenticity. Seeking to follow Jesus  Lord I believe; help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24)  is all that is required of anyone to begin the journey of discipleship.

Just here, the Church of England Evangelical Councils (CEEC) recent reflection, Gospel, Church & Marriage: Preserving Apostolic Faith and Life, presents a compelling case for the unity of catholic and apostolic truth: catholic because shared throughout the world and across time; apostolic because given and articulated as the definitive deposit of ancient faith.

If the catholic aspect of the Church especially pertains to the structures of conciliar relations and decision-making (to quote the World Council of Churches), as well as the visibility of a common ministry and common witness, the apostolic aspect of the Church concerns the content of the faith itself: right doctrine, as a true reading of the Scriptures in accord with the consensus of our forebears.

To be sure, fullness of Anglican Communion does not seem readily available at the moment and is likely not in the offing in the near future. The Church of Englands Faith and Order Commission acknowledged this in its recent, creative discussion of the interim arrangements made with its traditionalist minority on the matter of the ordination of women, calling the arrangements a remarkable adventure in how ecclesial communion can be sustained without agreement in belief and practice on something that has been considered to be of decisive importance for full communion (section 68 of Communion and Disagreement).

Some similarly generous arrangement may be possible, and necessary, for the Communion as a whole regarding our intractable disagreements over sexuality and marriage, and the CEEC text may be read as suggesting ecclesiological reasoning to this end.

As the whole Communion takes up this work, may we do so with a lively sense of accountability to one another as fellow Christians, in the words of CEEC: brothers and sisters who seek to advance in the way of catholic and apostolic faithfulness, albeit at varying  different, differentiated  points along the road. Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20).
Posted on: April 3, 2018 3:25 PM

Tributes have been paid to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the former wife of the late South African anti-apartheid leader and President Nelson Mandela, who died yesterday (Monday) at the age of 81. The Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, is currently in London for a meeting of the Lambeth Conference 2020 Design Group. He told ACNS: I send my condolences to the family. I am humbled to have known her. I admired and respected her. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

He added: She certainly played her part with great courage. Yes she made some mistakes  but let us forgive her and honour her for what she did. She served her country and her people. When she spoke at rallies, she was so articulate, so articulate. She wasnt scared at all.

Abp Thabo got to know her over many years. In his book Madiba. Faith and Courage: Praying with Mandela he recalls an early occasion with the Release Mandela campaign when he travelled to see her in Bradfort in Free State where she had been banished by the apartheid government. He was taking food and clothes, including track suits to be passed on to Nelson Mandela in jail.

She was living alone in this tiny council house with no electricity. She could have been attacked at any time. She was so courageous.

The last time they met was on the day of Nelson Mandelas funeral. Archbishop Thabo first led a small service with relatives at the family home. Winnie Mandela was there  so too was the former presidents second wife, Graca Machal. Archbishop Thabo remembers the two women sitting peacefully beside each other.

It was as if they were accepting that they had both played a significant part in his life and they both belonged to him.

Abp Thabo has remained in contact while Mrs Mandela was in hospital, regularly sending her SMS messages. She was grateful. She used to say every time she got an SMS from me, she got out of hospital.

The Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, also paid tribute, saying that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was for many years a defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid. She refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband, the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment. Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists.

Another former Primate of Southern Africa, Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane, described her as one of South Africas most courageous anti-apartheid activists.

A mother holds a special place in ones heart, and this is no less so for the woman who was affectionately known as the mother of the nation, he said. At the time of the imprisonment of much of the leadership of the anti-apartheid movements on Robben Island and in exile, she fearlessly took on the role of being the voice of the voiceless.

Her feisty spirit was such that not even the cruelty of the apartheid government in banishing her to house arrest in Brandfort could break her resilience and opposition to the government of the day.

He continued: Although Mama Madikizela-Mandela made some well-documented errors of judgment during her life, she remained committed to the vulnerable and was often the first at the scene of a tragedy to provide comfort and compassion to those impacted by it.

The Bishop of Johannesburg, Dr Steve Moreo, described Winnie Mandelas death as a blow to South Africa as a nation, and said that she was an influential figure through the many years of struggle against apartheid when she showed herself time and again to be an inveterate struggler for the cause of justice. . .

During her life, she kept close contact with all parts of the Church. A practising Methodist, she used her strong ecumenical links to reach out to other denominations, not least that of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in general, and the Diocese of Johannesburg in particular.

There were many occasions when her insight and background information assisted the Anglican Church in the dark days of the 1970s and 1980s to be part of a Christian witness in bringing about the demise of apartheid.
Posted on: April 3, 2018 8:53 AM

The Archbishop of Kenya, Jackson Ole Sapit, has urged political leaders in the country to build a united Kenya. Speaking to reporters after an Easter Sunday service, he urged politicians to follow the rule of law and shun tribal politics.

The great mission that Jesus established  the movement that became the movement of the Church  is a movement of sharing love, sharing reconciliation and bringing ourselves together, he told KTN television news.

We also urge now our leaders, as Jesus has risen from the dead, to bring us all together so that we can all come together to build Kenya, build a resilient economy, and build our lives together. We cannot do that by sharply dividing ourselves along tribal lines or party lines.

Last November, on a visit to Kenya to mark the centenary of All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby preached about the need for reconciliation at a service attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta greets opposition leader Raila Odinga during a service last November to mark the centenary of All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby used his sermon in the service to preach about the need for reconciliation.

Photo: Kenyan Presidential Strategic Communications Unit

This land is the cradle of human beings. Human life started here, Archbishop Justin said in his sermon in November. You have the gospel, and you have shown us how to live it. Your churches are vigorous and full. You live in harmony between faiths. Can you not show us how to be a country of reconciliation, that we may learn? There is a deep hunger around the world for an example of great differences handled well.

Watch the KTN television news report:
Posted on: April 3, 2018 3:01 PM

The Primate of the Church in Wales, Archbishop John Davies, has spoken out to condemn a social media campaign set up to encourage attacks on Muslims. The #PunishAMuslim day is being promoted on Twitter and other social media platforms. And it is being spread by an anonymous letter-writing campaign. At the time of writing, the hashtag is a top-trending topic on Twitter, with more than 28,000 separate tweets containing the search string  mostly condemning the campaign. It has prompted security forces and police services to step up security around mosques in New York and other parts of the world.

Archbishop John Davis described the campaign as an incitement to hatred and discrimination. In a letter to the Muslim Council of Wales (MCW), he said: Like many others, I have been astonished and outraged at the suggestion that people engage in a Punish a Muslim Day. Be assured that I join with them in condemning such an utterly deplorable suggestion.

He encoruaged Christians in Wales to take part in a community solidarity event organised by the MCW earlier today in Cardiff, saying: I deplore the actions of those responsible for the letter campaign encouraging people to Punish a Muslim. It is disgraceful and an incitement to both racial and religious intolerance, the like of which have no legitimate place in our society.

Speaking ahead of todays event, he encouraged people to attend it, or similar events, saying that they enable right-thinking people to show their peaceful condemnation of prejudice and discrimination.

A spokesperson for the MCW said, Whilst there is no evidence that this letter has been posted to Welsh addresses, it has been electronically spread and we would like to give assurances to the Muslim community to go on with their daily life on the day and also encourage the wider community to be united against hate and bigotry.
Posted on: April 3, 2018 9:35 AM

Archbishop Stanley Ntagali, the Primate of the Church of the Province of Uganda, has used his Easter message to stress that domestic violence is always wrong. His message was a response to comments by Member of Parliament Onesmus Twinamasiko, who said in a tv interview: As a man, you need to discipline your wife. You need to touch her a bit, and you tackle her and you beat her somehow to streamline her. Archbishop Stanley said: I want to state categorically and very clearly that the Church of Uganda does not support his views. Even though he is an Anglican, he and his views do not represent the Church of Uganda. We condemn all domestic violence. No exceptions.

The MP had given the interview to respond to earlier comments from Ugandas President Yoweri Museveni, who said on International Womens Day (8 March) that men who beat women are foolish and cowardly. The President had urged churches to speak out against gender-based violence  something that Archbishop Stanley has consistently done.

We too easily resort to violence in order to resolve conflict  even petty conflicts. That is not the way of Jesus, he said.

Men: it is NEVER right to beat your wife. Women: it is NEVER right to resolve conflict with violence. Women, you should never believe your aunties when they tell you that if your husband doesnt beat you then that means he doesnt love you. That is a lie.

Listen to me carefully. The position of the Church of Uganda is that domestic violence is always wrong. Always.

Please learn the way of Jesus, which is the way of life. Jesus destroyed the culture of death through his resurrection, and he brought us a culture of life. So, I ask you, Why are we continuing the culture of death?

I am glad to know that the Hon MP has apologised before Parliament. I urge him to now show the fruits of repentance and become a public leader in the fight against domestic violence, and in his own family and marriage to practice love and preach love to others.
(ANSA) - Rome, April 3 - France has insisted there was "no violation" of Italian sovereignty when French customs police carried out a urine test on a Nigerian asylum seeker in the office of an Italian migrant NGO in the Italian city on the French border near Grenoble.

After Turin police opened a probe into the incident, which Italy protested, France said Sunday there was only a strict application of a 1990 accord which allows controls to be carried out on each side of the border.

Turin prosecutors on Tuesday began questioning witnesses to Friday night's incident.

The probe, at the moment against person or persons unknown, posits possible charges of abuse of office, private violence and violation of domicile, judicial sources stressed to Italian reporters.

Investigators are also weighing the offence of illegal search, sources said.

Prosecutor Armando Spataro is awaiting a more detailed report on what happened from the Turin police headquarters, local sources said.

The agents who carried out the raid have not been identified, sources said.

That operation can be immediately carried out if French authorities decide to collaborate, judicial sources told Italian reporters.

Otherwise, an international investigation warrant may be necessary, the sources said.

Meanwhile the NGO, Rainbow4Africa, said "the French should apologise to the Italians".

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, on Tuesday called on Premier Paolo Gentiloni to report to parliament on the incident.

"The country's role is at stake," said Meloni, a member of a centre-right alliance with the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League of Matteo Salvini and the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi.


(by Aldo Baquis)

TEL AVIV - After an emergency session summoned by the Palestinian side, the Arab League's Council on Tuesday is meeting to examine repercussions of clashes on Friday in which at least 16 demonstrators were killed and 1,500 others were injured. The violent clashes occurred on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip, when protesters clashed with soldiers who had been deployed to ensure that thousands of Palestinians did not cross into Israel.

Palestinians insist that the demonstration was peaceful and that the Israeli army's behavior was unjustified. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed the same opinion, describing Israeli Premier Benyamin Netanyahu as a 'terrorist'.

Netanyahu responded saying that Israel did not accept lessons from a country that has ''indiscriminately bombarded civilian populations for years''. The Palestinian ambassador to Cairo, Diab al-Louh, accused Israel of carrying out a ''massacre'', dispersing with gunfire those who were taking part in the so-called ''March of Return''. The health ministry in Gaza said that 15 were killed on Friday and a 16th casualty died later in hospital. Forty-six others are in serious condition in hospital.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh - one of the organizers of the ''March of Return'' - asked the secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Abu-el Gheir, for Israeli leaders to be taken to the International criminal court on 'war crime' charges and for the incident to be examined by the UN General Assembly.

Tension remains high on the ground. Sporadic incidents were reported yesterday on the border between Israel and Gaza and seven Palestinians were wounded. Sources in Gaza have said that another demonstration is scheduled to take place next Friday with thousands of demonstrators once again expected at the border.

Demonstrators are gathering old tires that they plan to set on fire, reportedly against Israeli snipers who allegedly struck at least 10 Palestinian militants on Friday. The snipers next Friday will allegedly have to deal with dense columns of smoke and thousands of mirrors carried by demonstrators.

Meanwhile tension is also high among Palestinians after a failed attack on February 13 against PNA Premier Rami Hamdallah.

The PNA believes that Hamas is responsible, at least indirectly.

As a consequence yesterday Hamdallah announced that he will not be returning to the Strip unless Hamas does not hand over entirely to the PNA all responsibility in security, public order protection as well as on administrative and financial issues - an event deemed unlikely after the incidents over the past few days.
Textile workers weave 'economic peace' in Gaza Palestinian industrialist with Israelis to create jobs

(by Sami al-Ajrami) (ANSAmed) - GAZA, APRIL 3 - Three businessmen - two Israelis and a Palestinian - are working beyond the open hostility of their respective leaders and populations as part of a local project to promote ''economic peace'' which could, already in its first phase, create thousands of jobs in the impoverished Gaza Strip. Their horizons are vast and range from Spain to the United States and Norway.



The area in which Palestinian industrialist Nabil al-Bauab is weaving his dreams is deprived. His textile factory - which is modern and comfortable - is very close to the district of Sajaya, in eastern Gaza, which in 2014 was at the center of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli army and remains in a disastrous condition.



However, he has found on the other part of the border two Israeli industrialists - Shlomi Fogel and Jacko Gabbai - who are like him trying to boos Israeli-Palestinian economic cooperation. Al-Bauab - according to Israeli financial newspaper Mammon - is trying to reach agreements in Spain with brand Zara, while Fogel (long a promoter of 'economic peace') is in contact with jeans producers Jordache in the US and with authorities in Norway.



The objective is to cut fabrics in Israel, at a modern plant near Tel Aviv, and to complete production in Gaza (which is 85 km away). The costs - according to Mammon - are competitive with Chinese and Turkish producers.



In an interview with ANSA, al-Bauab described how political developments in the region influenced the activities of his company. In his office he shows a picture of him with Yasser Arafat: at the time, he said, he had 2,000 employees and was one of the producers for the staff of the PLO leader.



He was the first to be able to export from Gaza to New York thanks to an Israeli mediator. The crisis between Hamas and Israel and the blockade in the Strip followed. In order to survive, production moved to Egypt. But in 2017 al-Bauab decided to move back home as he missed it so much. He now manages a plant with 400 employees in the industrial area of Karni, near the border line with Israel. For those living in the poor districts of Gaza City, Karni appears like a dream. To reach it, it is necessary to go through a security check to gain access to a modern and functional area that hosts a Coca Cola plant and the warehouse of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.



Workers say they feel as if they were abroad.



''We are working hard - said al-Bauab - to get significant commissions from abroad. In exchange, we offer competitive costs together with a quality we have demonstrated over time''.



If projects were to become effective, they could contribute to allay the situation in the Gaza Strip, employing 5,000 people while an additional 2,000 would work from home. Mammon's newspaper has already published an article saying there is an ''attempt to sew a new Middle East''. (ANSAmed).




(by Alberto Zanconato)

BEIRUT - The last rebels have been evacuated with their families from eastern Ghouta, the enclave near Damascus held for years by insurgents and besieged by government forces with bombings that killed hundreds of civilians.

Syrian media have reported that about 50 buses have started to transport from Duma, the largest city in Ghouta, militants from Jaysh al Islam (the army of Islam), the last group of insurgents who accepted to move to Jarablus in northern Syria, an area controlled by rebel groups and Turkish forces. According to the Sana news agency, 450 people including insurgents and civilians have left for this destination.

The evacuation and the buses used for it remind of other similar operations over the past several years of civil war, based on agreements mostly stipulated with Russian forces allied to the regime of Bashar al Assad.

The initiatives were carried out without the involvement of the United Nations which criticized them, deeming them operations aimed at driving away populations hostile to the government from entire cities and regions.

The evacuation yesterday follows others carried out recently in different areas of Ghouta after agreements with two other rebel factions. With these operations, government forces have regained control of the former enclave after an offensive that lasted a few weeks. It was preceded by intense bombings that killed over 1,600 people, according to the monitoring group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The rebels and their families who left over the past few days were taken to the north-western province of Idlib.

Over 40,000 insurgents and family members have so far left Ghouta while 120,000 civilians, according to Russian sources, have left their homes and reached territory controlled by the government to flee violence over the last few months. Thousands of others fled the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in north-west Syria after an offensive carried out by Turkey and its allies against US-allied Kurdish militia YPG.

Last week, US President Donald Trump said at a rally in Ohio that Washington could soon decide to withdraw some 2,000 soldiers deployed alongside the Kurds in northern Syria now that operations against ISIS have in practice ended.

Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented positively on the statement saying that it showed how ''at least Trump is engaged'' in keeping promises made in the past.


Migrants: EU announces 180 mn for Greece refugees Stylianides meets Tsipras

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, APRIL 3 - The European Commission has announced an additional 180 million euros for aid projects in Greece, including expanding the Emergency Support to Integration & Accommodation (ESTIA) program which aids refugees move from camps to urban accommodation, and provides them with regular financial assistance.



The funding comes as the commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Christos Stylianides, met in Athens with Greek premier, Alexis Tsipras.



''Our humanitarian programs for refugees in Greece are a clear and loud signal of European solidarity. We continue to deliver on our strong commitment to help refugees in Greece live more secure, normal and dignified lives, and facilitate their integration into the local economy and society. Our ESTIA program is achieving real results to change people's lives for the better. I pay special tribute to the Greek citizens and mayors who have welcomed refugees in their municipalities with great empathy and care,'' said Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides.



Launched in July 2017 with the UN Refugee Agency, ESTIA is the main EU aid operation in the country and works in line with the Greek government's policy to help migrants out of camps. It has created more than 23,000 urban accommodation facilities so far and set up a cash assistance plan for over 41.000 refugees and asylum seekers.



Overall, the European Commission has mobilized over 1.5 billion euros to support Greece to help manage the humanitarian crisis, migration and external borders through various types of funding. (ANSAmed).




Migrants: seven missing in Strait of Gibraltar after wreck At least 38 dead off Spain in first trimester

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, APRIL 3 - Rescuers are still searching for seven migrants who went missing on Sunday in the Strait of Gibraltar after the shipwreck of a rubber dinghy off the coast of Morocco. Twelve people were reportedly on board. Only one person was rescued by Spanish coast guards yesterday, who found four bodies that were taken to Algesiras (Cadiz).



The Red Cross is taking part in the operations with the 'LS Jupiter' vessel based in Tarifa.



Overall 75 migrants on five boats were rescued in the Strait over the past 48 hours, according to local maritime rescue services.



In the first trimester of the year at least 38 people died or went missing at sea while they were attempting to reach Spain's coasts, in addition to the 11 migrants who went missing on Sunday.



Arrivals by sea have increased in Spain by 45% since the start of the year, according to the interior ministry, which last May 14 estimated that 2,828 people aboard 125 boats reached the coasts of the peninsula, the Balearic islands, Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla, compared to 1,951 over the same period in 2017. (ANSAmed).




Tension remains high in Gaza, Arab League meeting today PNA, Hamas ask for intervention after 'Israeli crimes'

(by Aldo Baquis) (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, APRIL 3 - After an emergency session summoned by the Palestinian side, the Arab League's Council on Tuesday is meeting to examine repercussions of clashes on Friday in which at least 16 demonstrators were killed and 1,500 others were injured. The violent clashes occurred on the eastern border of the Gaza Strip, when protesters clashed with soldiers who had been deployed to ensure that thousands of Palestinians did not cross into Israel.



Palestinians insist that the demonstration was peaceful and that the Israeli army's behavior was unjustified. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed the same opinion, describing Israeli Premier Benyamin Netanyahu as a 'terrorist'.



Netanyahu responded saying that Israel did not accept lessons from a country that has ''indiscriminately bombarded civilian populations for years''. The Palestinian ambassador to Cairo, Diab al-Louh, accused Israel of carrying out a ''massacre'', dispersing with gunfire those who were taking part in the so-called ''March of Return''. The health ministry in Gaza said that 15 were killed on Friday and a 16th casualty died later in hospital. Forty-six others are in serious condition in hospital.



Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh - one of the organizers of the ''March of Return'' - asked the secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Abu-el Gheir, for Israeli leaders to be taken to the International criminal court on 'war crime' charges and for the incident to be examined by the UN General Assembly.



Tension remains high on the ground. Sporadic incidents were reported yesterday on the border between Israel and Gaza and seven Palestinians were wounded. Sources in Gaza have said that another demonstration is scheduled to take place next Friday with thousands of demonstrators once again expected at the border.



Demonstrators are gathering old tires that they plan to set on fire, reportedly against Israeli snipers who allegedly struck at least 10 Palestinian militants on Friday. The snipers next Friday will allegedly have to deal with dense columns of smoke and thousands of mirrors carried by demonstrators.



Meanwhile tension is also high among Palestinians after a failed attack on February 13 against PNA Premier Rami Hamdallah.



The PNA believes that Hamas is responsible, at least indirectly.



As a consequence yesterday Hamdallah announced that he will not be returning to the Strip unless Hamas does not hand over entirely to the PNA all responsibility in security, public order protection as well as on administrative and financial issues - an event deemed unlikely after the incidents over the past few days. (ANSAmed).




Gaza: Israel responsible for victims - HRW

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, APRIL 3 - Human Right Watch on Tuesday said that ''senior Israeli officials who unlawfully called for use of live ammunition against Palestinian demonstrations who posed no imminent threat to life bear responsibility for the killings of 14 demonstrators in Gaza and the injuring of hundreds on March 30''.



The rights group also said that ''the killings highlight the importance of the International Criminal Court prosecutor opening a formal investigation into serious international crimes in Palestine''. Both before and after the incident, HRW continued, high Israeli officials publicly claimed that the soldiers deployed at the barrier dividing Israel from Gaza were ordered to strike 'instigators' and those who approached the border.



However, ''the Israeli government presented no evidence that rock-throwing and other violence by some demonstrators seriously threatened Israeli soldiers across the border fence'', the report said.



''The high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norm, accompanied by a long-term culture of impunity in the Israeli army over serious abuse'', it added.



The organizations' deputy director for the Middle East, Eric Goldstein, said Israeli soldiers were responsible of an ''excessive use of force''. (ANSAmed).




TEL AVIV - Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended an agreement with the United Nations refugee agency on the reallocation to western countries of African migrants currently in Israel. The premier last night wrote on Facebook that he was aware of criticism by residents of poor areas in Tel Aviv where most of the migrants are staying.

Today, he added, he will pay a visit. ''Meanwhile I am suspending the implementation of the agreement'', he said.

Press reports today said the decision was motivated by protests in low-income districts of Tel Aviv - where residents would like a massive, immediate expulsion of the migrants - as well as by criticism from members of Likud, Netanyahu's party, and nationalist party Jewish Home. Yesterday, countries indicated by Netanyahu as an example of a possible destination for migrants - including Italy and Germany - denied giving their consent to the agreement between Israel and the UN refugee agency. UNHCR has acknowledged Netanyahu's decision to suspend the deal, Carlotta Sami, the organization's spokesperson for southern Europe, said on Tuesday.

Sami told Radio Capital that the agreement did not mention the countries where the 16,000 migrants should be resettled as the deals are ''made directly by us with the countries that are available''.

In any case, she added, a decision will be taken ''when we have all the elements'' necessary ''and we remain available because this is the solution that would in the end be beneficial for both sides, the State of Israel and the refugees''.
Netanyahu annuls accord with UNHCR Following suspension, 'evaluated advantages and shortcomings'

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, APRIL 3 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced "the decision to annul" its agreement with UNHCR on African migrants, following the agreement's suspension.



"I listened carefully to the many comments, I reviewed the advantages and the shortcomings, and I decided to annul the agreement," Netanyahu said following a meeting with Israeli Interior Minister Arie Deri.



Netanyahu's decision came after visiting Tuesday the southern neighbourhoods of Tel Aviv, where there is a strong migrant presence.



"Despite the legal limitations and the growing international difficulties, we will continue to act with determination to resort to all the possibilities we have at our disposal to make the infiltrators leave the country," Netanyahu said during Tuesday's meeting.



He said that Israel will "continue to look for other solutions". However, the UN has asked Netanyahu to "reconsider" his decision to cancel the agreement. "We continue to believe in the need for a win-win agreement that can benefit Israel, the international community and the people who need asylum, and we hope that Israel will soon reconsider its decision," a UNHCR spokesperson explained. (ANSAmed).




Etihad Airways has officially opened its Etihad Eco Residence, Abu Dhabis first purpose-built, sustainable Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rated cabin crew accommodation.

The project is the result of a unique partnership between the UAEs national airline and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, Masdar.



The Etihad Eco Residence was inaugurated in the presence of Khaled Al Qubaisi, Chief Executive Officer, Aerospace, Renewables & Information Communications Technology (ICT) for Mubadala, by Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group. Also present was Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer for Masdar, alongside senior executives from Etihad Airways and Masdar.



The complex, which comprises 500 apartments in 11 buildings at the pioneering Masdar City development, was recently awarded Sustainable Design of the Year at the 2017 Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC) MENA Green Awards, and Sustainable Construction Project of the Year at the Big Projects Middle East Awards 2017. The residence offers comfortable, high-specification one and two-bedroom apartments which include furniture and white goods provided by Etihad Airways.



Mana Mohamed Saeed Al Mulla, Etihad Aviation Group Chief Group Support Services Officer, said: The opening of the landmark Etihad Eco Residence underscores not only the importance we place on providing superior housing to our valued cabin crew, but also our responsibility, as part of the greater Abu Dhabi vision, to play a part in transforming the capital into a global leader in smart urban planning, clean energy and sustainability.



Yousef Baselaib, Executive Director of Sustainable Real Estate at Masdar, said: This new development demonstrates how early project involvement by key stakeholders, including the end-user, developer, design team and contractor, results in a highly desirable end-product. We hope Etihad Airways cabin crew enjoy the amenities at their new building, as well as those at Masdar City.



Etihad Airways employs over 5,800 Abu Dhabi-based cabin crew. The opening of the Etihad Eco Residence reflects the airlines crew accommodation strategy of providing superior, environmentally-friendly homes with recreational, dining, health and lifestyle facilities, conveniently located close to the capitals international airport for ease of transport and operational efficiency.



Mark Scoble, Etihad Airways Head of In-flight Performance and Operations, added: Our brief to the architects and designers of the Etihad Eco Residence was to create a development that is in line with Etihads environmental principles as well as a safe, secure and commercially viable residential precinct that embraces our acclaimed cabin crew community, who hail from over 120 countries around the world.



This new residence offers high quality homes and a desirable cosmopolitan lifestyle in a sustainable urban environment. We are proud that this has now been made a reality for our flying family here in Abu Dhabi.



An enhanced microclimate has been created around each of the buildings using sustainable landscaping methods and massing the shape and size of the buildings, which captures the breeze for natural ventilation while offering protection from wind and dust. These features complement the urban environment and contribute to overall energy saving.



Each of the Etihad Eco Residences buildings has been designed using low environmental impact construction materials, which aid the reduction of strong sunlight yet maximise available natural daylight.



Solar hot water systems provide 76 per cent of the communitys water demand and the buildings design encourages greater water efficiency and the reduction of potable water usage, as well as smart waste management.



Masdar is collaborating with local stakeholders to pioneer a greenprint for sustainable urban development at Masdar City using a holistic approach focused on integrating sustainable transportation initiatives, optimising waste management, reducing energy use, water consumption and carbon emissions, and accommodating rapid urbanisation.



In January 2018, autonomous vehicle producer NAVYA was awarded the contract to develop phase two of Masdar Citys personal rapid transit (PRT) system, which will be expanded along a new one-kilometre route linking Masdar Institute with the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Majid Al Futtaims My City Centre Mall.
SACS Boysen Aerospace Group has opened a new Middle East sales & technical support office in Abu Dhabi.

The privately owned German company has been involved in aerospace for some 50 years, through Boysen in the standard hardware sector and SACS with a track record of 15 years within manufacturing and assembly.

With its warehousing facilities the company is supporting airlines and MROs in the region, as well as machining, sheet metallic and assembly parts to Tier 1 suppliers.

In 2017 the company, XBAG, was added to the group, to support the industry with advanced solutions for lithium-ion batteries.

The strategy with the office in Abu Dhabi is to be closer to the customers, understand their requirement and provide with best possible technical support and total cost with logistical solutions for Just In Time deliveries, consignment, DLF and kitting, said Abu Dhabi CEO, Pierre Chamoun, adding that future company expansion or joint ventures could be in assembly and manufacturing in the United Arab Emirates.



Celebrations at the opening of SACS Boysen's new Abu Dhabi facility
UAE wants to acquire F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, probably as part of a mixed fleet

The Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter promises to bring advanced operational capabilities to those air forces that operate it, and to allow a previously unknown degree of interoperability and harmonization with the US Air Force. Advanced sensors, low observability (stealth) and connectivity combine to give unmatched mission performance and survivability, and the aircraft is increasingly being seen as something that no air force that aspires to full spectrum capability can do without.

At the same time, development of the F-35A has been beset by technical, political and cost difficulties, and Lockheed Martin and the US Government have been keen to export the type in order to recoup the costs and share the pain!

Before President Trump took office, requests for the F-35 from Gulf and Middle Eastern air forces were firmly rebuffed, with the US agreeing to export the aircraft to only one regional air force. The US has followed a long-standing policy of ensuring that this one particular nation in the Middle East maintains a Qualitative Military Edge and has historically provided that nation with the weaponry and assistance required to allow it to defend itself against any combination of regional foes, while denying that nations neighbours and near-neighbours weapons that might threaten its military dominance in the region. Emirati requests for the F-35 have been rebuffed since 2011.

But the Trump administration has tacitly recognized the importance of the United Arab Emirates as a vital regional ally, which provides basing and port facilities for the US military and which hosts thousands of Americans deployed with the US Air Forces 380th Air Expeditionary Wing.The UAE is also the only Arab country to have participated in six US-led coalition operations since the 1991 Gulf War, supporting the US in the Balkans and Afghanistan as well as in the region. In a recent report, the US-UAE Business Council highlighted the UAEs material contribution to US interests and security in the Arabian Gulf and globally, including counterterrorism.

Danny Sebright, the Councils President, pointed out that: The UAE has become not just a consumer of security, but also a provider of security in the Gulf region and the wider Middle East.

Perhaps even more importantly, the UAE could be of pivotal importance in US attempts to counter nuclear and non-nuclear threats from a resurgent Iran.

But recently there have been strong signs that the UAE could increasingly turn to non-Western countries for major military procurements in the future, despite an underlying preference for US weaponry. When the UAEs attempts to procure armed Reaper UAVs were unsuccessful, the Emirates purchased armed Chinese UAVs as a supplement to unarmed Predator drones, while Russia has claimed that the UAE is interested in a potential purchase of Sukhoi Su-35 fighters. In February 2017 the UAE and Russia signed a letter of intent to jointly develop a fifth-generation fighter based on the MiG-29. The UAE is among the worlds biggest defence spenders, and has long been one of the largest customers for the US Foreign Military Sales programme. The US has no wish to lose this lucrative market for its weaponry.

The Trump administration is therefore actively pursuing enhanced strategic co-operation with the Emirates, building on the expanded 15 year US-UAE Defense Co-operation Agreement that was signed in May 2017. At the same time, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyans is understood to have raised the subject of the F-35A during his meetings with President Trump and US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Washington DC.

At the Dubai Air Show, American and Emirati officials confirmed that the UAE was in preliminary discussions with the United States centred around a future purchase of two squadrons of Joint Strike Fighters (probably about 24 aircraft). The USAFs vice chief of staff, General Stephen Wilson said that he expected the UAE would soon be briefed on the F-35, but could or would not provide any information as to when that might happen.

Wilson acknowledged that Middle Eastern nations shared the same threats, interests and responsibilities, and said that the US would: explore options for those nations and partners to benefit from this capability. So the discussions are ongoing now with the new administration on selling F-35s to partner nations that need them and require them. Theyve started the process. Now with that you need discussion bilaterally between nations ... so further things on that will have to come from the UAE.

The UAE Air Force and Air Defence (UAE AF & AD) has made no secret of its interest in acquiring fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

Brigadier General Rashed Al Shamsi, deputy commander of the UAE AF & AD, described the need to strengthen the UAEs air capacity during a briefing at the Dubai air show, explaining that the Air Force required connected multi-role platforms with the ability to share data, which had enhanced intelligence collection and distribution capabilities, and that was capable of timely and reactive dynamic targeting. This, he said, meant that to have a fifth-generation capability is something of interest to the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, noting that he had heard that the United States could now be willing to sell the UAE the F-35.

The UAE Air Force and Air Defence has seen the advantages of fifth generation aircraft at first hand, training and exercising with USAF F-22As and F-35As on numerous occasions, both in the USA and in the UAE itself. It has watched as regional rivals have acquired the kind of advanced, double-digit SAMs and integrated air defence systems that threaten the survivability of conventional fourth generation fighters and that make Low Observable aircraft worth their weight in gold!

The UAE could use the F-35A as a powerful intelligence gathering platform, even during peacetime training missions. F-35As could also provide an invaluable deterrent against any overt Iranian aggression, since they would be able to mount limited retaliatory air strikes, without necessarily having to mount a major air campaign to take down all enemy air defences.

Staff Major General Pilot Abdullah Al Hashimi, Assistant Undersecretary for Support Services in the UAE Ministry of Defence, explained that: We in the UAE already live in a fifth generation environment and have a fifth generation mindset; so acquiring the F-35 fighter jet is just a step forward.

Any Emirati F-35 purchase would be limited to the purchase of two squadrons of F-35As (24 aircraft), at least in the first phase. This would require a major restructuring of the UAE AF & AD, perhaps requiring the procurement of a second aircraft type. A specialized committee is assessing the risks, threats and needs of the air force and to work out how a future fighter force might look.

The UAE has continued to consider a range of re-equipment plans, including the acquisition of advanced fourth generation fighters instead of, or augmenting F-35As. These options include the Dassault Rafale and the Eurofighter Typhoon (now in service or on order with four of the six GCC air forces). In the meantime, contracts have been placed with Lockheed Martin and Thales for upgrades to the Lockheed Martin F-16E/F Desert Falcons and Dassault Mirage 2000-9s now in service.

If negotiations are eventually successful, the United Arab Emirates would become the first GCC nation to operate a Low Observable, fifth generation combat aircraft. Though other air forces in the region hope to persuade the USA to supply F-35As, it would seem unlikely that a UAE purchase would necessarily lead to approval for other requests.


As already reported on Army Recognition.com, Peru and Chile have shown interest in acquiring the BrahMos cruise missile that India has jointly developed with Russia at a budget of $300 million. Particularly since a successful test fire carried on by a Sukhoi Su-30MKI.



The BrahMos is drawing a stronger interest from Latin American countries since it was successfully test-fired from a Sukhoi Su-30MK1 (Picture source: Army Recognition)

According to diplomatic sources mentioned by The Financial Express, The Chilean armed forces are interested in buying the missile. Indeed, there have been several queries from the Peruvian government in the last few months and more so since trials of the cruise missile fired from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI were successful. To try and conquer the Latin American market, BrahMos is participating in the FIDAE show taking place in Santiago, Chile, from April 3-8. Lot of interest has been generated in the region after the successful launch of a BrahMos from an Su-30MKI against a sea target, as many countries in the region have opted for the Sukhoi fighter.

Officials said the BrahMos Company is now registered with the government of Chile, which will help in future sales in case negotiations culminate on a positive note. There are interesting opportunities for Indian defense companies to participate in the modernisation of Chilean armed forces. Chiefs of the armed forces from both sides have had meetings on exploiting the potential in shipbuilding, radar systems, submarines and joint training. Chile has requirement of shore-based weapon complexes which the BrahMos tested in end-2017 with precision hit target on two consecutive days  one without warhead and the other with warhead, said the official.

Lets recall that the BrahMos missile derives its name from two rivers  Brahmaputra in India, and Moskva in Russia. The BrahMos missile can be fired from land, ships, submarines and fighter jets. It is claimed to have one of the best test success rates in the world. BrahMos is a two-stage missile which can attain a cruise speed of 2.8 Mach. The missile can carry a conventional warhead of almost 300 kg. On sea, it can be launched both in the vertical and the inclined configurations.

BrahMos Aerospace pays a special attention to the development of the air-launched variant of the missile designated BrahMos-A. The BrahMos-A is an air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) intended for the Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) fighter jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF). An Su-30MKI of the IAF successfully test-fired the ALCM in November 2017. "The successful maiden test-firing of the BrahMos ALCM from the Su-30MKI will significantly bolster the IAF's air combat operations capability from stand-off ranges," India's Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement.
The Kazakhstan International Exhibition of Weapons Systems and Military Equipment KADEX is organized by the Exhibition Company Astana-Expo KS and fully supported by the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan. KADEX 2018 will combines exhibition of local and international defense industry and a dynamic demonstration of military equipment.



T-72 main battle tank of Kazakh army in live demonstration at edition 2016 of KADEX defense exhibition in Kazakhstan. (Picture source Army Recognition)

As the third largest military power in the Caspian region after Russian and Iran, Kazakhstan is looking to upgrade its aging military equipment, and to modernize its armed forces. Kazakhstans defense budget is $2.435 billion, making it the 59th largest defense spender worldwide and putting it behind all of its four Caspian region neighbors except Turkmenistan, which comes in at 104 and allocates $200 million per year for defense purposes

This is the first exhibition held under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It will be attended by domestic and foreign enterprises of the defense-industrial complex and space industry, leading design bureaus and research institutes.

Within the framework of the forum, an extensive scientific and business program will be held that will take place in the format of plenary and sectional meetings, conferences, roundtables, which will allow specialists from all countries to exchange views on topical issues of defense and security, development of the world cosmonautics as well as to discuss the problems of ensuring cyber security at the present stage.

Visitors and participants of the exhibition will see the latest achievements and perspective scientific developments of the enterprises of the defense-industrial complex and the space sphere. A special emphasis on the exhibition will be made on the development of electronic systems, communication systems and weapons control, and search for modern solutions in the field of information security.

The Belgian-based Company Army Recognition Group SPRL with its Online Defense and Security magazine Army Recognition is appointed by KADEX organizers as the only Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV for KADEX 2018.

As the Offiicial Online Show Daily News with editorial and Official Web TV for KADEX 2018, Army Recognition press team will have a significant presence at the show to provide a full coverage about this event. Published online and updated daily, if you cannot attend KADEX 2018, follow all activities of KADEX 2018 with our news, reports, pictures and video.

The Official Online Show Daily News of KADEX 2018 spread all activities of the event and provides all exhibitors with a global online window in parallel with KADEX 2018 exhibition about the latest defense and security technologies and innovations. To increase the visibility of your Company, products and/or services you can book advertisement, advertorial, video add in the Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV KADEX 2018.
The govt has asked PNB and probe agencies to share details of the Rs 13,000 crore scam with ICAI.

The government has asked PNB and probe agencies to share details of the Rs 13,000 crore scam with chartered accountants' apex body ICAI, which is looking into the systemic issues related to the fraud, an official said.

New Delhi: The government has asked PNB and probe agencies to share details of the Rs 13,000 crore scam with chartered accountants' apex body ICAI, which is looking into the systemic issues related to the fraud, an official said.

A high-level group constituted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is studying specifically the systemic issues involved in Punjab National Bank fraud and would also suggest remedial measures for strengthening the banking system.

The 10-member panel, which has met at least three times, is awaiting more information, ICAI President Naveen N D Gupta said today.

Speaking to reporters here, he said the government has asked the bank, the CBI and Enforcement Directorate to share information about the scam with the institute.

A multi-agency probe is progressing into the more than Rs 13,000 crore scam at PNB, involving diamond merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. The fraud was mainly perpetrated through issuing of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) with the help of PNB officials.

The panel has made some preliminary conclusions based on available information, which indicates possible lapses at the lender, according to S B Zaware, who is the convenor of the committee.

In the wake of the fraud coming to light, Gupta said, the institute has also sent out notices to PNB auditors.

"The objective of such study is two-fold -- one to suggest changes to strengthen the existing banking system and the other to guide the chartered accountants conducting audits to verify the systems in place accordingly," the institute had said last week.
The industry urged the government to come out with a solution, an industry official said here.

The plastic ban order of the Maharashtra government is likely to make nearly 3,00,000 people jobless as industry urged the government to come out with a solution, an industry official said here.

Mumbai: The plastic ban order of the Maharashtra government is likely to make nearly 3,00,000 people jobless as industry urged the government to come out with a solution, an industry official said here.

"The ban on plastic bags has derailed the production, packaging and supply schedules of grains, bakery and clothing industries. Many units are on the verge of closure in the absence of basic packaging material - plastic bags and we fear that nearly 3,00,000 people employed may become jobless. We urged the Maharashtra government to come out with a solution to save the industry," Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president Lalit Gandhi told reporters here.

"We met and petitioned the minister for environment - Ram Das Kadam yesterday and sought waiver on packaging material till alternatives are identified and made available" Gandhi said.

We have urged the Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to treat food grains and all food items including fruits and vegetables at par with milk and extend the repository (50 paisa per bag) scheme on them.

Failure to act immediately will cause untold misery to all. This may not yield commensurate gains to the environment as envisioned by the plastic ban notification, Gandhi said.

"The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to file its reply by April 9 and hopefully will rule on our petition seeking a stay on this ban on April 11," Maharashtra Plastic Manufacturers Association vice president Ravi Jasnani said.

"In Mumbai alone over 6,80,000 readymade garments pieces for exports are stuck on account of non-availability of transparent plastic bags for packing," Clothing Manufacturers Association of India chairman Rajesh Masand said.

The state on March 23 had issued the Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products notification that banned the manufacture, use, storage, distribution, sale, import and transportation of all kinds of plastic items.

The ban covers a wide range of articles made of plastic and thermocol, including, bags, dishes, cups, glasses, bowls, forks, spoon, straw, containers, small PET bottles and decoration items.
Gold is trading at Rs 31,610 per 10 gram at bullion amid increased buying by local jewellers.

Globally, gold rose 1.19 per cent to USD 1,340.80 an ounce and silver by 1.53 per cent to USD 16.60 an ounce in New York. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Gold rose by Rs 150 to Rs 31,610 per 10 gram at the bullion market on Tuesday in step with a firm global trend and increased buying by local jewellers.

Silver followed suit and advanced by Rs 225 to Rs 39,600 per kg, backed by increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said positive global cues where gold rose as dollar weakened against other currencies, raising appeal for the precious metal as a safe haven, kept gold prices higher.

Also, sustained buying by local jewellers at the domestic spot market influenced the sentiment.

Globally, gold rose 1.19 per cent to USD 1,340.80 an ounce and silver by 1.53 per cent to USD 16.60 an ounce in New York in Monday's trade.

In the national capital, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity advanced by Rs 150 each to Rs 31,610 and Rs 31,460 per 10 gram, respectively.

The precious metal had gained Rs 110 yesterday. Sovereign however remained flat at Rs 24,800 per piece of eight gram. Silver ready also rose by Rs 225 to Rs 39,600 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 270 to Rs 38,795 per kg.

On the other hand, silver coins maintained a steady trend at Rs 74,000 for buying and Rs 75,000 for selling of 100 pieces.
The state unit has invited party president Amit Shah to address two massive public rallies in Bhawanipatna and Bolangir on Wednesday and Thursday.

Bhubaneswar: Apparently shocked over and shaken by the crushing defeat of party in the Bijepur Assembly bypoll in western Odisha in the hands BJD, the BJP has decided to preempt any further such setbacks in the region.

The state unit has invited party president Amit Shah to address two massive public rallies in Bhawanipatna and Bolangir on Wednesday and Thursday.

Western Odisha, considered the strong base of the BJP in Odisha, has slipped into the hands of the BJD since 2009. The party which used to win over 30 of the 64 assembly seats in this region since 2000, has failed to win even double-digit number of seats in 2009 and 2014 seats polls. While it won six seats from the region in 2008, it currently has 8 of the total 10 legislators from the area.

Speaking on Mr Shahs visit, BJP Legislature Party Leader in Odisha Legislative Assembly Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo said the party president was visiting the state as a part of his plan to cover all the 21 Lok Sabha seats before the 2019 polls.

Amit Shaha ji has announced to cover all the 21 Lok Sabha seats before the 2019 polls are held. The present visit is a part of his plan of action, said Mr Singhdeo.

The BJD on the other hand is planning to ensure that Mr Shahs Odisha trips does not make noise in the media, allowing the saffron party to score some brownie points. Marking the Wednesday public meeting of the BJP chief, the regional party has planned a big joining ceremony at Berhampur in south Odisha where former Union minister and senior Congress leader Chandrasekhar Sahu and several others will join the party.
One youth succumbed to his injuries in Meerut and another died in Azamgarh but the state government did not confirm the deaths.

Lucknow: The Bharat Bandh call given by dalit organizations against the Supreme Court ruling on the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe took a violent turn in several cities of Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

One youth succumbed to his injuries in Meerut and another died in Azamgarh but the state government did not confirm the deaths. ADG Pravin Kumar said that 448 policemen were injured in the violence.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath appealed to the people to abstain from violence and assured that the BJP government were committed to protection of their rights.

As violence escalated through the day, principal home secretary Arvind Kumar issued orders to district magistrates and superintendents of police of all districts, to take strict action against those involved in violence and arson. A high alert was declared in the state around noon.

UP DGP O.P. Singh said that police forces are on high alert and no one will be allowed to take the law in their hand. We are not restricting peaceful protests, but the police will tackle those who would indulge in violence. Additional forces and paramilitary forces are being rushed to districts where trouble is taking place, he said.

Maximum violence was reported from Meerut, where angry protesters burnt the Shobhapur police outpost. Policemen and media persons were attacked by the mob that also pelted stones at the SSP office. SP (City) Man Singh was injured as the mob set a bus on fire and damaged several vehicles.

Students also locked the main gate of the Chaudhary Charan Singh University and damaged furniture and electrical fittings in the building.
2 people were killed and over 70 others injured across Uttar Pradesh during 'Bharat Bandh' protest organised by Dalit organisations.

Several towns in western Uttar Pradesh saw violence and a former BSP MLA from Hastinapur, Yogesh Verma, was arrested by the Meerut police in connection with the violence. (Photo: File/PTI)

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police on Monday said that a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA was the main conspirator behind the Bharat Bandh protests, in which 2 people were killed and over 70 others injured across state.

At least 448 people were arrested as Uttar Pradesh saw widespread violence on a day Dalit groups protested what they claimed was the "dilution" of the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Two people have died in the state. One person lost his life in Muzaffarnagar, while another in Meerut, Principal Secretary Home Arvind Kumar told news agency PTI.

Several towns in western UP saw violence and a former BSP MLA from Hastinapur, Yogesh Verma, was arrested by the Meerut police in connection with the violence.

According to news agency ANI, Meerut SSP Manzil Saini said, He is the main conspirator of this violence and we have detained him.

There were several incidents of violence in Meerut, including the torching of a police post while in the neighbouring Muzaffarnagar, a man was killed and several vehicles were damaged, they added.

"During the bandh, violence broke out in Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Meerut, Agra and they were the most affected areas. Reports of violence have come from some other districts too. As of now, 448 persons have been detained in different districts. There were no incidents in 90 per cent of districts. We have sounded a high-alert in the state," DIG, Law and Order Praveen Kumar told reporters.

He earlier said that one person lost his life in the violence in Muzaffarnagar.

"We are yet to get the detailed reports. As of now about 35-40 policemen and 30-35 protestors were stated to be injured. Of them three are serious," the DIG said.

Asked about the extent of damage to public properties, the official said the police were yet to do a detailed analysis.

The situation was controlled by 2 pm in the affected districts, he said. It's normal now, he added.

Early in Monday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appealed to the people to maintain law and order and asserted that his government was "serious towards the development and progress of Dalits".

However, angry protesters pelted stones on buses in the Sagdi area of Azamgarh on the Gorakhpur-Azamgarh damaging their widow panes. They also set afire two roadways buses injuring some passengers, police said.

In Agra, Gatiman Express, India's fastest train, was stopped at the Billochpura station for over an hour.

A hotel owned by a senior BJP leader was targeted and the police had to open fire in air to disperse the rowdy mob, officials said.

Urging people not to resort to violence, Chief Minister Adityanath said, "Both the Centre and the state government are dedicated to the welfare of the backward castes, the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes. If there is any issue, one can bring it to the notice of the government."

BSP chief Mayawati, however, targeted the Centre saying if it had taken prompt steps, there would not have been the need for a 'Bharat Bandh' and "some anti-social elements would not have got the chance to indulge in violence and arson because of government laxity".

BSP condemns violence but BJP governments need to extend help to the dead and injured without any bias, she said in a statement.

Mayawati said that though she was not in Parliament, her politics and struggle outside will force the Narendra Modi government "to kneel down and change its stance".

The constitutional rights of Dalits and tribals are continuously being encroached by the BJP, she alleged.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also targeted the Modi government claiming it should have talked to the Dalit leadership in time. Now it seems that Dalits have lost faith in the government, he said.

"It is most unfortunate if someone has to resort to the agitational path for restoring his honour and rights...Baba Saheb has given Dalits their right and no one can snatch it away," Yadav said in a party release.

The Supreme Court on March 20 had banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Also read: Top court on SC/ST Act: Accused arrest not a must

Ruling that no arrest can be made under the Act without prior permission, the apex court had also held that a court can grant anticipatory bail if it, prima facie, finds the complaint is an abuse of the law, false, motivated and intended to blackmail or harass a person. This was necessary, the court had said, to prevent the "rampant misuse of the tough provisions of the law".

The 'Bharat Bandh', called by various Dalit groups and backed by various political outfits, demands restoration of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in its original form.

(With inputs from agencies)
Ravi Shankar Prasad said that govt was not a party to the courts decision and respectfully did not agree with its reasoning.

New Delhi: On a day of violent protests and Bharat Bandh by dalit organiations against a Supreme Court order that has allegedly diluted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the Union government sought a review of the March 20 verdict.

Overruling a Bombay high court decision and offering relief to a Maharashtra government employee, the apex court had said on March 20 that a preliminary inquiry should precede the arrest of an accused under the Act and that accused are entitled to anticipatory bail.

The Centre said in its review petition that the procedural checks ordered by the apex court by way of preliminary inquiry before arrest will reduce the rate of registration of cases and conviction, increase pendency and act as a deterrent against filing FIRs.

Union law and justice minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government was not a party to the Supreme Courts decision on the SC/ST Act and respectfully did not agree with its reasoning behind the verdict on March 20.

Normally review petitions are heard in the chamber by the judges but the Centre in this case has prayed for an open court hearing. No date has yet been fixed for taking up the review petition.

On March 20, the apex court had suggested procedural changes related to police action after a complaint is filed under the Act. The verdict came during the hearing on an appeal filed by Maharashtra government servant, Subash Kasinath Mahajan, who had challenged a Bombay high court verdict refusing to quash an FIR for his alleged adverse remarks against a dalit colleague.

Relaxing the provisions for immediate arrest of an accused, the apex court had on March 20 held that an accused can be taken into custody only after a preliminary inquiry that shows that a prima facie case is made out.

In view of the acknowledged abuse of law of arrest in cases under the Act, arrest of a public servant can only be after approval of the appointing authority and of a non-public servant after approval by the senior superintendent of police (SSP), the court had said.

The Centres review petition said that the court ought to have appreciated the fact that since atrocities affect the dignity and life of the SCs/STs, an FIR should be registered at the earliest and any room for the accused to get anticipatory bail will weaken probe.

On the apex courts finding that the Act was being misused, the Centre said that contrary to the fear of misuse of the law data had shown its weak implementation.

The central government said that when the mandate of Parliament is for strict implementation of law, it would not be permissible for the court to dilute the provisions of the Act by laying down guidelines.

The government also pleaded for striking a balance between the right to life and liberty of the accused and the victims who allege ill-treatment.

In view of the continuing offences against SCs/STs it will be more meaningful to affirm the object of the Act and not to make it easier for the accused to get away from arrest, the Centre said.

Quoting 2016 data of the National Crime Records Bureau, the Centre said 47,338 cases were registered under the Act and only 24.9 per cent of the said cases ended in conviction.

The Act, which aims to abolish of untouchability and punish crimes against SCs/STs, provides for a maximum punishment of five years maximum and minimum jail sentence of six months, along with fine.

Offences under the Act include abusing in caste name, tonsuring of head, moustache or garlanding with chappals of members of SCs/STs, denying access to irrigation facilities or forest rights, imposing social or economic boycott, using or permitting manual scavenging and forcing SC or ST women to serve as devadasi in temples.
A student leader was killed when he was hit by bullets allegedly fired by demonstrators in Morena town.

Dalit protesters blocked trains, clashed with police and set dozens of vehicles ablaze in several states during a nationwide bandh on Monday.

Bhopal: At least five people were killed and several others, including some police personnel, injured as the protests by various dalit outfits against the recent verdict by the Supreme Court diluting SC, ST (Prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989, as a part of Bharat Bandh, turned violent in MP on Monday.

Violence particularly engulfed the backward Gwalior-Chambal region of MP during the bandh, leading to imposition of curfew in districts of Gwalior, Morena and Bhind.

Five people were killed and several others injured following incidents of violence witnessed in different places in the state during the bandh. Exchange of fire between clashing groups led to death of five people, inspector general of police (law and order) Makrand Deoskar told reporters here.

The police opened fire in air and lathicharged at several places to bring the situation under control, he added. While two deaths each were reported in Gwalior and Bhind districts, a youth was killed in Morena district.

A student leader, identified as Rahul Pathak, was killed when he was hit by bullets allegedly fired by demonstrators while he was standing in the balcony of his house in district headquarters town of Morena, a senior district police officer said.

Three protesters were injured in reported police firing in the area, reports reaching here said. Several shops and vehicles were torched in Morena. Demonstrators also pelted stones at a train in Morena railway station. Violence marked the bandh in Gwalior region in which two people were killed allegedly in exchanges of fire between rival groups.

Curfew was clamped and the Army was deployed in Gwalior region as situation threatened to go out of control, a senior district officer told this newspaper.

In Dabra in Gwalior district, irate demonstrators attacked the police party and snatched the revolver of local assistant sub-inspector Rajesh Tripathy.

Similarly, mobs set on fire several vehicles and indulged in stone pelting and exchange of fire in Bhind district during the bandh, leading to death of a youth.
The announcement came after Congress MPs from Punjab staged a protest in Parliament demanding compensation for the workers killed in Iraq.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for each of the families of 39 workers killed by terrorist outfit ISIS in Iraq. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for each of the families of 39 workers killed by terrorist outfit ISIS in Iraq.

The announcement came after Congress MPs from Punjab staged a protest in Parliament demanding compensation for the workers killed in Iraq.

Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh on Monday brought the mortal remains of 38 out of the 39 Indians killed. Later, the Union Minister even visited the Amritsar to hand over bodies of 27 workers from Punjab.

On Monday, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said the Punjab government has declared an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh, a job for one family member and the continuation of the monthly pension of Rs 20,000 for the families of the deceased workers from Punjab.

In March, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed the Parliament that the 39 Indian workers abducted by ISIS from Mosul in 2014 had been killed.
Some Tamil fringe outfits and students too held protests for the same issue in several parts of Tamil Nadu, including some 30 spots in Chennai.

Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Tuesday for urgent discussion of the situation in Tamil Nadu as the state appears to be spinning out of control amid series of agitations, some of which have been violent, by political parties and NGOs on issues ranging from Cauvery to Neutrino and Sterlite.

The governor, on a visit to Kancheepuram for participating in a ceremony for the late Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi on Monday, rushed back to Chennai following the Delhi call.

Governor Purohit had summoned state chief secretary, home secretary, director general of police and advocate general on Sunday for a brief on the TN situation, particularly in view of the impending visit of the PM to Chennai for participating in the Defence Expo next week. The governor sent his report to Delhi on the happenings in TN later in the day, sources said.

Mondays agitations were aimed at pressuring the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee and they were spearheaded by the DMK and included its allies such as the Congress(I). Some Tamil fringe outfits and students too held protests for the same issue in several parts of Tamil Nadu, including some 30 spots in Chennai.

With the agitators targeting Central government installations, offices and railways, train blockades affected commuter traffic in several places, including Tiruchy, Coimbatore and Pudukottai.
Descendants of Rajguru have taken umbrage to the claim in a book that the revolutionary was a 'swayamsevak' with the RSS.

'There is no proof available (to suggest) that Rajguru was a RSS swayamsevak and neither did our grandfather tell us so,' Satyasheel and Harshwardhan Rajguru, grandsons of the revolutionary's brother, said in Pune. (Photo: Facebook)

Pune/Nagpur: Descendants of freedom fighter Shivaram Rajguru, who was sent to the gallows along with Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev on March 23, 1931, have taken umbrage to the claim in a book that the revolutionary was a "swayamsevak" with the RSS.

The book is written by former RSS pracharak and journalist Narender Sehgal.

"There is no proof available (to suggest) that Rajguru was a RSS swayamsevak and neither did our grandfather tell us so," Satyasheel and Harshwardhan Rajguru, grandsons of the revolutionary's brother, said in Pune.

"However, it is true that during Rajgurus's brief stay at Nagpur, arrangements of his stay there were made by a Sangh swayamsevak," they told a Marathi news channel.

"Rajguru was the revolutionary of the entire country and his name shouldn't be associated with any particular organisation," they said.

Senior RSS leader M G Vaidya said RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar may have made "secret arrangements" for Rajguru's stay in Nagpur.

Asked if Rajguru had visited the Mohite Bagh shakha (unit) of the RSS in Nagpur, the city where the Sangh headquarters are located, Mr Vaidya said, "You are asking if Rajguru visited (the branch). He may have come. Did Dr Hedgewar make some arrangements for him? He may have done so."

"When Aruna Asaf Ali was 'underground' (during the freedom movement), she stayed at the house of Delhi RSS functionary Hansraj Gupta," Vaidya said in Nagpur.

"If (Rajguru) came (to Nagpur), there is a possibility that Dr Hedgewar made secret arrangements for his stay. This is a possibility as Dr Hedgewar was a revolutionary and had relations with revolutionaries," he said.

Vaidya, former RSS Boudhik Pramukh (in charge of intellectual training), when asked if there were occasions where the topic of Rajguru came up for discussions in the Sangh "boudhik" deliberations, said, "At least I haven't heard of this".
Attorney General KK Venugopal has sought urgent hearing of the review petition in the SC/ST matter at 2 PM today.

On March 20, the apex court had introduced the provision of anticipatory bail in the Act while directing that there would be no automatic arrest on any complaint filed under the law. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: A day after violent protests by Dalit organisations rocked the nation, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed for an open court hearing on Centre's review petition over judgement on the SC/ST Act.

Attorney General KK Venugopal has sought urgent hearing of the review petition in the SC/ST matter at 2 PM today.

The Union government on Monday filed a review petition in the Supreme Court, challenging its March 20 order, which stated that arrest is not mandatory under the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act and the accused is entitled for anticipatory bail.

Read: Bharat Bandh: 9 die as dalit protests turn violent

In its review petition, the Centre said that the procedural checks ordered by the apex court by way of preliminary inquiry before arrest will reduce the rate of registration of cases and conviction, increase pendency and act as a deterrent against filing FIRs.

Union law and justice minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government was not a party to the Supreme Courts decision on the SC/ST Act and respectfully did not agree with its reasoning behind the verdict on March 20.

Also read: Govt moves Supreme Court for review of its SC/ST verdict

Normally review petitions are heard in the chamber by the judges but the Centre in this case has prayed for an open court hearing.

On March 20, the apex court had introduced the provision of anticipatory bail in the Act while directing that there would be no automatic arrest on any complaint filed under the law.

Also read: Top court on SC/ST Act: Accused arrest not a must

The court held that there is a need to provide for safeguards against registration of FIRs and arrests under the SC/ST Act in view of instances of misuse, as observed in the last three decades.
It pointed out that the court has made it clear that no further extension could be granted for any reason.

Activists stage a demonstration against the Central and state governments at Shastri Bhavan in Chennai on Monday for their alleged failure to constitute the Cauvery Water Management Board as per the Supreme Court order. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on April 9 the application filed by Tamil Nadu seeking initiation of contempt against the Centre for not implementing the February 16 judgment on Cauvery dispute by setting up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

TN counsel G. Umpathy made a mention before a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud for urgent listing of the application. He submitted that the Centre by not framing the scheme had committed contempt.

When the CJI asked the counsel whether the scheme meant CMB, Mr Umapathy said as per the scheme, CMB and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee had to be set up within the time limit of six weeks, but the Centre had not done.

The scheme does not mean board only. We had given judgment on all aspects to resolve the issue. We understand the TN problems, we will solve the issue and see that TN gets water, the CJI observed.

When Mr Umapathy pressed for listing the matter this week itself, the CJI said, We will hear on April 9.

Though the counsel for the Centre did not mention about the application for clarification, it is likely that both the petitions will be heard together on April 9.

The application by the Tamil Nadu government wanted contempt of court proceedings against Union Cabinet secretary P.K. Sinha and water resources secretary U.P. Singh as they failed to give effect to the judgment within the stipulated period of six weeks.

It pointed out that the court has made it clear that no further extension could be granted for any reason.

TN stated that the state sent letters dated 13.03.2018, 21.03.2018 and 23.03.2018 to the Centre, inter-alia, requesting for the constitution of Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee within the time limit stipulated by this court so that water is made available to the farmers of the state for the ensuing irrigation season of 2018 commencing from June 1.

TN said ensuring timely release of water is apparent in the judgment itself and therefore, any delay in constituting Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee is to the prejudice to the farmers of state of Tamil Nadu. The state wanted the apex court direction to implement the tribunals decision is smoothly made functional and the rights of the States as determined by tribunal are protected.

Centre wants clarification

Centre in its application has asserted that notifying the constitution of Cauvery Management Board during the time when Assembly elections in Karnataka has been announced by the Election Commission would lead to massive public outrage, create serious law and order problem and may vitiate the election process.

It said Cauvery is a very emotive issue in Karnataka and in the past the issue has led to serious law and order situations leading to avoidable loss of human lives and property. If the Central government were to constitute a `scheme under Section 6 A of the Inter State Water Disputes Act and notify it during the currency of the assembly election it would lead to massive public outrage, cause serious law and order problems and vitiate election process.

While Tamil Nadu maintained that the object of the scheme was to implement the Final award of the Cauvery Tribunal, the Centre was mandated to put in place the CMB that will have control of the reservoirs in Karnataka and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee to give effect to the February 16 judgment. Puducherry has also responded on similar lines in favour of the CMB.

Karnataka, on the other hand opposed the CMB saying the management and regulation of water of a State, viz equitable share of a state determined by adjudication is the sole prerogative of the State. Therefore a Scheme in the form of CMB is clearly ultra vires the federal structure on the powers of the States envisaged under the Constitution. Further the apex court has not endorsed the CMB and therefore the scheme should only be a body for dispute resolution. Kerala while endorsing CMB wanted slight changes in the composition of Members.

The Centre said due to divergent views expressed by the States it was felt that if any scheme is framed the States may again approach the apex court. To avoid further litigation, it was felt that clarification is necessary; the application said and sought clarification.
An air of gloom descended as distraught families looked at the caskets brought back from Baghdad by minister of state for external V.K. Singh.

Family members in Amritsar mourn as they receive the body of their loved one abducted and killed by the ISIS in 2014. (Photo: PTI)

Chandigarh/Patna: The mortal remains of 38 Indians, out of the 39 killed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq, arrived on a special plane on Monday at the Amritsar International Airport amid emotional scenes.

Relatives of the deceased received the bodies with teary eyes around 2.30 pm and some victims, including Sonu from a village in Amritsar, were cremated soon after.

An air of gloom descended as distraught families looked at the caskets brought back from Baghdad by minister of state for external V.K. Singh.

While the remains of the 31 men belonging to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh were received in Amritsar, the rest were flown to Patna and Kolkata for handing them over to their relatives from Bihar and West Bengal.

Mr Singh, who had gone to Iraq on Sunday to bring back the mortal remains, said, We are thankful to the authorities in Iraq for the help to locate the victims and exhume the mortal remains.

There was no record of these 40 persons in any embassy. They migrated through illegal agents. When you go through illegal agents then it is difficult

to find where one has gone, the minister told reporters.

He emphasised that both the state and central governments should work collectively to check illegal travel agents.

We have told each state that law and order is their responsibility and they should catch illegal agents in their respective states and take action against them... We do not want anybody to go abroad illegally.

We want people to go legally so that we have their record, he said.

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was also present at the airport, said that the state government will give `5 lakh each to the family members of the victims and a member of each family will be given job as per qualification.

The Punjab government has been giving `20,000 per month to the family members of the victims who were killed in Iraq.

Malkit Ram, brother of Saganandlal from Jalandhar who was among the 39 Indians killed in Iraq, told reporters, The government has promised us compensation and employment. They have said that its after DNA tests that they are giving the body so that there is no doubt or confusion.

Family members of some victims said doctors and the district administration had advised them not to open the coffins and conduct the last rites immediately.

Chief minister Amarinder Singh had earlier called on the Bharat Bandh protesters to ensure that the mortal remains of the Iraq victims were allowed to be transported to their native villages without any impediment.

Amritsar deputy commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha said arrangements had been made to transport the mortal remains of the victims to their native places in Punjab and Himachal.

In West Bengal technical education, training and skill development minister Purnendu Basu arrived at the airport in the evening to receive the mortal remains of Khokon Sikdar and Samar Tikadar.

In Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar and other ministers who were present at the Patna airport to receive the mortal remains of five deceased  Santosh Singh, Vidyabhushan Tiwary, Adalat Singh, Dharmendra Prasad and Sunil Kushwaha.

Mortal remains will be taken to Siwan and handed over to the relatives, said an official.

Santosh Singhs mother told reporters in Siwan, Nobody from the government came to inquire about how we lived in the absence of my son We want adequate compensation.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had informed Parliament on March 20 that as many as 40 Indians were abducted by terror group ISIS from Mosul in Iraq in June 2014, but one of them escaped posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh.

The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badoosh and killed, she had said. So far, 38 bodies identity has been established. In order to conclusively verify the identity of the body suspected to be that of the 39th victim  Raju Kumar Yadav from Bihar  the government had recently sent a second DNA sample of Yadavs brother to Baghdad.

After the liberation of Mosul from ISIS last year, a massive search was launched for the missing Indians. It was finally confirmed they were killed by the ISIS and buried under a hillock at Badosh near Mosul.

The 39 bodies were earlier exhumed after deployment of deep-penetration radars at the hillock. The DNA samples of 38 bodies fully matched with that of the blood relatives of the missing Indians. Presence of long hair and a kada (iron bangle)  symbols of the Sikh faith  were the initial indications that these were indeed the bodies of the missing Indians.
On Tuesday, the education secretary spelt out the reasons why the Class 10 maths exam was not scrapped even after getting information about the leak.

The news came as a relief for over 14 lakh students. But many angry parents and students have demanded strict action against the CBSE, and particularly its chairperson Anita Karwal, over the leaks. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education will not hold a retest for the Class 10 mathematics paper that was leaked before the exam, a government official said on Tuesday, adding the decision was taken keeping in mind the interest of students.

The final decision of not holding a Class 10 maths retest came after a thorough analysis and evaluation of the answersheets that showed no specific trend that the leak impacted the exam outcome. Union education secretary Anil Swarup tweeted: Consequent to the preliminary evaluation of the impact of reportedly leaked CBSE Class 10 maths paper and keeping in mind the paramount interest of students, the CBSE has decided not to conduct a re-examination even in the states of Delhi-NCR and Haryana. Hence, no re-exam for Class 10.

After largescale protests by students over the leaked CBSE papers, the government had announced the Class 12 Economics re-exam will be held on April 25. It had said the Class 10 maths re-exam will be held only in Delhi and Haryana if the police investigation pointed to a large-scale leak.

The Class 12 Economics re-exam date, the government said, was announced to ensure the results were declared in time for the students to meet deadlines for university admissions.

On Tuesday, the education secretary spelt out the reasons why the Class 10 maths exam was not scrapped even after getting information about the leak. Nine hours before the Class 10 maths exam, the CBSE got a copy of the handwritten questionpaper by email. The sender said the maths paper had leaked on WhatsApp and urged the CBSE to cancel the paper. Mr Swarup said: The email came at 1.29 am on March 28 (early Wednesday) but the mail was seen at 8.55 am by the CBSE chairman. The paper was sent for verification. Just because there was an alert, we couldnt have stopped the exam. He said the Maths exam began at 10 am and could not practically be stopped.

The news came as a relief for over 14 lakh students. But many angry parents and students have demanded strict action against the CBSE, and particularly its chairperson Anita Karwal, over the leaks.
People on social media were alarmed as one user even commented that this was the second video of a mouse inside Coca-Cola he has seen.

While soft drinks are consumed by a large number of people all over the world sometimes negligence on part of companies can leave consumers at risk. There have been several examples of maggots being found in burgers and not long ago cockroach legs were found in coffee at a popular fast food chain.

But in a much more disturbing case from Argentina, a man was shocked to find a decaying dead mouse in a Coca-Cola bottle. Diego Pereya decided to empty the bottle when he noticed something unusual inside it and filmed his discovery.

People on social media were alarmed as one user even commented that this was the second video of a mouse inside Coca-Cola he has seen. Meanwhile the firm hasnt said anything about the video which has been shared over 900 hundred times on social media.
Late physicist's final act of kindness brought fans to tears as they learnt he had paid for huge Easter meal for homeless in Cambridge.

The church bell tolled 76 times, once for each year of Prof Hawking's life, as the solid oak coffin adorned with floral tributes arrived in a hearse. (Photo: AFP)

Professor Stephen Hawkings final act of kindness carried out before his death has been revealed by a charity for the homeless.

According to them, as the world-renowned scientist's funeral took place on the other side of Cambridge, those in need were treated to an Easter lunch paid for by the physicist.

His parting gift was put on at Wesley Methodist Church, where mourners gathered on Saturday to celebrate the life of Prof Hawking.

A touching note, signed by 'the Hawking family', was left on the tables and told the 50 guests that the lunch was a 'gift from Stephen'.

The organizers, FoodCycle, said that the late professor was given a 'little cheer' by diners before they tucked into their meals.

Thousands lined the streets of Cambridge on Saturday for the funeral of the theoretical physicist, who died peacefully at his home earlier this month.

Eddie Redmayne, who played the professor in 2014's The Theory of Everything, was among 500 guests invited to the University Church of St Mary the Great.

The church bell tolled 76 times, once for each year of Prof Hawking's life, as the solid oak coffin adorned with floral tributes arrived in a hearse.

Prof Hawking died peacefully at his Cambridge home on March 14 at the age of 76. The cosmologist had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his 20s.
Violence at Faridabad rail station, passengers hurt

Protesters force shopkeepers to close their shops at Janpath in New Delhi on Monday.  PTI

New Delhi: Lutyens Delhi witnessed complete chaos on Monday as hundreds of protesters marched in unity against the dilution of the SC/ST Act. The protesters were agitating against the Supreme Court order banning automatic arrest and registration of cases for alleged harassment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The traffic at Mandi House came to a halt as the protesters blocked the road outside the Mandi House Metro Station. Scores of people commuting from the area during the protest faced inconvenience while travelling towards ITO and other stretches. They were demanding that the provisions related to immediate arrest be restored. They also blocked one of the carriageways of Barakhamba Road affecting the traffic on the stretch, said the police.

Heavy police force was deployed at Mandi House in view of the protests. Shouting slogans of Jai Bhim, the protesters also blocked one of the carriageways of Barak-hamba Road affecting traffic on the stretch, police said.

In the national capital region, commuters had a tough time after 10 am in Noida and Gurgaon and many people on their way to office had to head back home.

A number of dalit organisations have called for a Bharat Bandh on Monday to protest against the Supreme Court order.

The police also closed the traffic movement on Sansad Marg from Patel Chowk to Jantar Mantar.

Protesters also squatted on tracks in several places near Delhi, stopping trains, including the Dehradun Express and the Ranchi Rajdhani, to enforce the shutdown, said a railway official.

Services were disrupted when a mob arrived at the Ghaziabad yard around 10 am on Monday, Northern Railway officials said. Many trains, such as Saptakranti Express, Utkal Express and the Bhubaneswar and Ranchi Rajdhani as well as the Kanpur Shatabdi, were stopped ahead of Ghaziabad in Meerut and Modinagar, officials said.

Passengers, stuck for hours onboard trains in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, tweeted to the railway ministry about the violence on platforms, stone-pelting and the lack of amenities in the trains. Some even said the tracks were uprooted in certain areas by the agitators, which the railways did not confirm. Some passengers onboard the Kota Jan Shatabdi Express were injured when protesters went on a rampage at the Faridabad New Town Railway Station.
Nationalist Congress Partys chief spokesperson Nawab Malik called it an opportunistic statement.

Mumbai: Leaders of several opposition parties on Monday reacted sharply to Rashtriya Swhayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwats comments on the Bharatiya Janata

Partys Congress mukt Bharat slogan.The opposition has been quick to interpret a change in the tone and tenor of the RSS, which is considered BJPs ideological mentor, after

Mr Bhagwat sought to put some distance between his organisation and Prime Minister Narendra Modis often repeated slogan.

Addressing a book release function in Pune on Sunday, Bhagwat said, These are political slogans. The word mukt is used in politics. We never use the language of excluding anyone. We have to include everyone in the process of nation building including those who oppose us.

In a tweet, Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam sought to attribute Mr Bhagwats apparent desire to distance himself from the BJPs key slogan to a reading of the changingpolitical winds. See how winds are changing the direction. He (Dr Bhagwat) took six years to distance himself from the statement. Still, it looks like he too wants to keehimself away from (Mr) Modi now.

Nationalist Congress Partys chief spokesperson Nawab Malik called it an opportunistic statement. Mr Modi is talking over this for last four years. What has prevented Dr

Bhagwat from denying this line? It means that he supported it initially but is looking at the anti-BJP mood of the people now he wants to distance himself from (Mr) Modi and BJP, Mr Malik said.

Bharatiya Republican Bahujan Mahasangh leader J.V. Pawar, however, said Mr Bhagwats statement was expected. There is no difference between the Congress and the BJP.

The ideology of both parties is supremacist. So, Dr Bhagwat talking about the Congress is part of RSS culture, Mr Pawar said.
The accused would operate in groups and had accomplices to whom they would sell the phones.

They would stand at a spot near Kalyan station where trains slowed down and strike commuters' hands and flee with their phones. (Representational image)

Mumbai: Following a spate incidents involving snatching of mobile phones of train commuters standing on the footboard and sitting at the entry of outstation trains, the Government Railway Police (GRP) busted a gang of five thieves and recovered 20 allegedly stolen phones from them. The accused are involved in at least 10 cases of mobile thefts, said GRP sources. They would stand at a spot near Kalyan station where trains slowed down and strike commuters' hands and flee with their phones.

The accused would operate in groups and had accomplices to whom they would sell the phones. These groups had become a menace with number of complaints pouring in with similar modus operandi involved in it. The GRP launched a manhunt after Yogesh Jadhav, who was sitting at the entrance of Sinhagad Express train experienced the same incident on March 27.

Several teams of the railway police were formed for apprehending the accused. The police received a tip off that the crime was committed by Ajit Zhade alias Khandya, 19 and Deepak Thokal alias Motha Tirri, 20, both residents of Kalyan. The police apprehended the duo from Waldhuni bridge area where they had assembled to plan their next hit.

The accused were seen walking near the railway bridge from where there is access to the tracks.
This makes the task of US President Donald Trump very difficult when he sits across the table with Mr Kim in May 2018.

Since the beginning of this year, North Koreas supreme leader Kim Jong-un has surprised the world by his well-planned moves on the diplomatic chessboard. Mr Kims reconciliatory New Year message, participation in Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, acceptance of a summit meeting with South Korea and the United States and the March 26 summit with Chinas President Xi Jinping within 90 days shows that he is in the drivers seat as far as events on the Korean peninsula are concerned.

In all this, South Koreas President Moon Jae-in has been an enthusiastic partner, and its reasonable to assume the two Koreas are now working together with close back-channel contacts to bring peace back on the peninsula. Their quick, well-coordinated moves have taken both the United States and China by surprise, and these two are now scrambling to retain their decisive role in resolving the Korean issue.

Clearly, two parallel processes are unfolding  the resumption of the Sunshine Policy agreed upon in 2007 by Kim Jong-Il, father of the present leader, and former President Roh Moo-hyun, political mentor of President Moon Jae-in. The other process is over the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula in the context of North Koreas claim last year that it had attained the missile and nuclear capacity to strike at the US mainland. The two processes are somewhat interlinked but could move forward or backward independent of each other. This makes the task of US President Donald Trump very difficult when he sits across the table with Mr Kim in May 2018.

Its noteworthy that while in official briefings by South Korea and China, the issue of denuclearisation has been specifically mentioned, this word has been conspicuously absent from reports of North Korean news agency KCNA. For instance, after the historic March 5 meeting of South Korean NSA Chung Eui-yong with Mr Kim, South Koreas version of the talks said North Korea was willing to talk about getting rid of nuclear weapons if its security could be guaranteed. It also said there would be no further missile tests by North Korea till diplomacy continues. But the KCNA reports were silent on both these subjects.

Similarly, after Mr Kim visit to Beijing on March 26-27, Chinas Xinhua reported that Mr Kim said the issue of denuclearisation can be resolved if the US and South Korea respond to our efforts with goodwill and create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace. But the KCNA report avoided using the work denuclearisation and said: The supreme leaders of the two countries exchanged in-depth opinions on significant agendas, including the development of amicable relations between DPRK and China and the issue of managing the Korean peninsula. Further, KCNA said Mr Kims visit became a crucial opportunity to expand and develop the friendly relationship between DPRK and China to a new and higher level. KCNA also reported Mr Kim said the DPRK and China should consolidate the unity and cooperation between the two countries by strengthening strategic communication and strategic and tactical cooperation.

Both the Xinhua and KCNA reports merit detailed scrutiny. The two sides have agreed to strengthening strategic, communication and strategic and tactical cooperation. The Xinhua statement requires South Korea and the US to take progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace.

Mr Kim and Mr Xi have clearly discussed what Mr Kim would demand in his forthcoming summits with Mr Moon and Mr Trump. It would be fair to expect North Korea would demand the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea; and end to US-ROK military exercises; and redrawing the maritime boundary between North and South Korea along with easing of sanctions. In return for any moves towards a freeze or reversal of its nuclear programme, Mr Kim is likely to ask for such synchronous steps which the US and South Korea would find impossible to concede.

Chinese state councillor Yang Jiechi visited Seoul to brief President Moon after the Kim-Xi meeting, and various pending issues, including denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, were discussed. In contrast, no Chinese emissary was sent to Washington to brief President Trump.

President Trump tweeted after the Kim-Xi meeting: Received message last night from Xi Jinping of China that his meeting with Kim Jong-un went very well and that Mr Kim looks forward to his meeting with me. In the meantime, and unfortunately, maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained at all costs!

The US needs to coordinate its North Korea policy at least with Seoul, Tokyo and China, if not with all other members of the Security Council. But how will the Trump administration conduct normal diplomatic discourse with a weak state department and in the absence of a key interlocutor for Korea?

The coming weeks will witness some tough negotiations between North Korea and China on one side, and the US and South Korea on the other, over denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. But irrespective of any progress on this, it is fair to expect that in their coming April 27 meeting, Mr Moon and Mr Kim will announce the resumption of an updated version of the erstwhile Sunshine Policy.
The entire episode should cause grave disquiet to all citizens at a time when the need for national security is paramount.

As Shri and Shrimati India sit in front of the television set in their living room and surf the evening television channels for their daily fix, they could perhaps be forgiven for being left speechless at the utter boorishness of their elected representatives, which is more or less on daily display in one House or the other of Indias Parliament. One such recent instance on the so-called breaking news was the loutish heckling in the Lok Sabha when the external affairs minister appealed for a brief period of silence during the proceedings to enable her to make a special mention of a particularly tragic issue: the confirmed deaths in Iraq of 39 Indian workers captured by the Islamic State in 2014, when they overran the northern Iraqi town of Mosul. The process of identifying the tortured remains had been initiated (including DNA testing), and these would be conveyed back to their final resting places in India after the grim formalities had been completed. Later, on April 1, the minister of state for external affairs (himself a former Chief of Staff of the Indian Army), flew to Iraq in order to escort the bodies back to India the following day on their final journey home. (The special aircraft with the bodies reached Amritsar from Baghdad on Monday afternoon. Of the 38, 31 belonged to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.) It should be noted here that the Iraqi government, itself under severe stress due to the ongoing internecine conflict between the Kurdish Peshmarga and the Iraqi Army, was extremely co operative with the Indian government in the retrieval and identification of the remains at Mosul. India must publicly acknowledge this debt with gratitude.

But back home in India, the picture seems to be entirely different. even in what should have been a period of national grief, shameless political rowdyism in Parliament continued unabated, with a series of no-confidence motions sought to be moved against the government. The latter appeared to take priority over even the tragic murders of their own fellow citizens, and Parliament remained raucously recalcitrant, encouraged and even coordinated by a coterie of political princelings from the Opposition and their sycophantic cheerleaders. The entire episode should cause grave disquiet to all citizens at a time when the need for national security is paramount.

It is also disquieting that the outrage over this massacre of Indian citizens again reemphasised the serious politico-cultural divide between the cow belt North and the Dravidian, anti-Hindi South, because it did not resonate with uniform intensity throughout the country. This was possibly because the bulk of those returning in the coffins were from various states in northern India. South of the Vindhyas, emotions and politics in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka remain completely focused on an entirely different target, the decision of the Supreme Court of India regarding the distribution of water from the Cauvery river between the two respondent states. The murder of 39 of their fellow citizens by the Islamic State appear to have gone almost unnoticed in Tamil Nadu, possibly as the returning coffins did not belong to the region, which at least one Tamil politician has publicly referred to as Dravid Nadu, a phrase that has set off uneasy alarm bells amongst many in Indias defence forces, with memories of the frustrating misadventures of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka in the 1980s and early 1990s. These veterans would have shifted uneasily in their seats, as they were hearing exactly the same conversations in the run-up to the dispatch of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force to Sri Lanka, to fight a politically confused and strategically irrelevant jungle campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), under Velupillai Prabhakaran, their psychopathic supreme leader. The irony of the situation was not lost on the Indian commanders and their troops, because their present opponents had been their erstwhile allies, trained by Indias covert agencies, and the same Indian Army had now been instructed to reverse course and bring the erstwhile proteges to heel. Easier said than done, because at the end of the day, after a three-year war and the assassination of a former Prime Minister, a sullen and frustrated Indian Army returned home with 1,138 of its soldiers dead and 2,762 soldiers wounded, distrustful of its political leaders as well as its own higher command. The damage would take long to repair.

However, to go back to the present issue of the massacre of Indian workers at Mosul by the Islamic State, the people of India need to understand clearly and unequivocally that the Islamic State, or ISIS, is a clear and present danger to this country, its culture and its political system. The enemy is an entity which practises and enforces a particularly barbaric and medieval form of religious radicalism preached by the Wahabi doctrine of Salafiya Islam. The Islamic State has been accorded a secure sanctuary in Pakistan, and forms part of the covert, plausibly deniable, strategic assets of that country, for attacking Indian assets and interests in Afghanistan as well as providing aid and support to separatists in Jammu and Kashmir. India simply cannot and will not accept the mass murder of its citizens abroad by assorted foreign devils. Nor will it tolerate the separatists at home, whether it is the Hurriyat and Dukhtaran in Srinagar, or the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen or their ilk. The country has to hit back hard at the enemy, seeking him out at the times and places of our own choosing, and employing the now considerable resources at the disposal of the country, which encompass diplomatic, economic, military as well as covert forces. This task has not been made easier by gau rakshaks and other assorted fundamentalists and criminals who have caused so much grief to our own citizens inside the country. These elements too must be put down with an iron hand everywhere. Not to do so would be a clear dereliction of national resolve and national duty.

The elections are coming in 2019. Remember that we, the people, are watching!
The launch was the 269th mission for the Long March rocket family.

The satellites, coded 30th and 31st in the BDS, entered the orbit more than three hours after the launch.

China on March 30 successfully launched twin satellites via a single carrier rocket in Xichang of southwest China's Sichuan province. This added two more members to its domestic BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), reports Xinhua.

As per the report, "the Long March-3B carrier rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 1:56 a.m. The launch was the 269th mission for the Long March rocket family."

The satellites, coded 30th and 31st in the BDS, entered the orbit more than three hours after the launch. Now, after passing a series of tests, they will work together with six previously launched BeiDou-3 satellites.

"The satellites and the rocket for Friday's launch were developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, respectively," the report further said.
Owing to Trump administration's hardline anti-immigration stance, foreign nationals are reluctant to work for US-based companies.

US technology companies hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China (Photo: Representational)

Washington: Indian IT companies have dramatically reduced their H-1B visa filings and foreign nationals are exhibiting reluctance to make the jump to a US company due to the Trump administration's hardline anti-immigration stance, a top Silicon Valley newspaper has said.

San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board has said applicants for the H-1B visa programme are anticipating the hardest process in many years. "That's affected both the applicants and the companies that employ them," it said as the process for filing H-1B visa application for the 2019 fiscal beginning October 1, kicked-off.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Envoy Global, a technology-oriented immigration services provider, reports that 26 per cent of employers it surveyed have had to delay projects, and 22 per cent of them have relocated work overseas as a result of the current uncertainties in the US immigration system, San Francisco Chronicle said.

The daily argued that study after study has shown that foreign-born workers are good for the US economy and good for US-born workers. "When companies are allowed to hire the workers with the best skills for the job  regardless of where those workers happen to have been born  their increased competitiveness boosts all the industries around them," it said.

According to The Wall Street Journal, evidence suggests market demand for H-1B visas is ebbing. Daniel Culbertson, economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, says, "Searches related to the H-1B visa, as a share of all searches on Indeed.com, have consistently declined through 2017 and into 2018. In February 2018, searches for H-1B as a share of all searches on our site are down nine per cent from the 2017."

"This also marks the thirteenth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. The decreased interest in H-1B related work from job seekers is a trend, not a temporary shift in preferences," he added.

The Wall Street Journal said corporations continue to struggle with a paradoxical labour market where 548,000 tech jobs remain open while unemployment in the technology sector hovers below full employment levels. "There are lots of jobs, but not enough workers to fill them," it said.
Local officials have offered lodging and arranged transport for the migrants, in a journey organized by immigrant advocacy group.

Local officials have offered lodging in town squares and empty warehouses or arranged transport for the migrants, participants in a journey organized by the immigrant advocacy group Pueblo Sin Fronteras. (Photo: AP)

Mexico/Edinburgh: In some of the Mexican towns playing host to a "caravan" of more than 1,200 Central American migrants heading to the US border, the welcome mat has been rolled out despite President Donald Trump's call for Mexican authorities to stop them.

Local officials have offered lodging in town squares and empty warehouses or arranged transport for the migrants, participants in a journey organized by the immigrant advocacy group Pueblo Sin Fronteras. The officials have conscripted buses, cars, ambulances and police trucks. But the help may not be entirely altruistic.

"The authorities want us to leave their cities," said Rodrigo Abeja, an organizer from Pueblo Sin Fronteras. "They've been helping us, in part to speed the massive group out of their jurisdictions."

At some point this spring, the caravan's 2,000-mile (3,200-km) journey that began at Tapachula near the Guatemalan border on March 25 will end at the US border, where some of its members will apply for asylum, while others will attempt to sneak into the United States.

So far the Mexican federal government has provided little guidance on how to handle the migrants but Abeja worries that local reactions will change.

"There's a lot of pressure from authorities to stop the caravan because of Donald Trump's reaction," he said.

Trump railed on Twitter against the caravan on Monday, accusing Mexico of "doing very little, if not NOTHING" to stop the flow of immigrants crossing the US border illegally. "They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA," he concluded.

Mexico's interior minister Alfonso Navarrete did not directly address the caravan, but he wrote on Twitter that he spoke to the US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday, and that the two had "agreed to analyze the best ways to attend to the flows of migrants in accordance with the laws of each country."

Mexico must walk a delicate line with the United States as the countries are in the midst of renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) along with Canada. At the same time, Mexican left-wing presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 18-point lead ahead of the July 1 election, according to a poll published on Monday.

A Lopez Obrador victory could usher in a Mexican government less accommodating toward the United States on both trade and immigration issues.

Mexican Senator Angelica de la Pena, who presides over the Senate's human rights commission, told Reuters that Mexico should protect migrants' rights despite the pressure from Trump.

Former President Vicente Fox called for Mexican officials to take a stand against Trump's attacks. Trump keeps "blackmailing, offending and denigrating Mexico and Mexicans," he wrote on Twitter on Monday.

Under Mexican law, Central Americans who enter Mexico legally are generally allowed to move freely through the country, even if their goal is to cross illegally into the United States.

'Were suffering

Migrants in the caravan cite a variety of reasons for joining it. Its members are disproportionately from Honduras, which has high levels of violence and has been rocked by political upheaval in recent months following the re-election of US-backed president, Juan Orlando Hernandez in an intensely disputed election.

Maria Elena Colindres Ortega, a member of caravan and, until January, a member of Congress in Honduras, said she is fleeing the political upheaval at home. "We've had to live through fraudulent electoral process," she said. "We're suffering a progressive militarization and lack of institutions, and ... they're criminalizing those who protested."

Colindres Ortega, who opposed the ruling party in Honduras, said she spiraled into debt, after serving without pay for the last 18 months of her four-year term. She decided to head north after a fellow congressman from her party put out word on Facebook that a caravan of migrants was gathering in southern Mexico, leaving home with a small bag with necessities and photos of her children.

Pueblo Sin Fronteras has helped coordinate migrant caravans for the last several years, though previously they had a maximum of several hundred participants. During the journey members of the organization instruct the migrants about their rights.

"We accompany at least those who want to request asylum," said Alex Mensing, Pueblo Sin Fronteras' program director. "We help prepare them for the detention process and asylum process before they cross the border, because it's so difficult for people to have success if they don't have the information."

Typically, Central Americans have not fared well with US asylum claims, particularly those from Honduras. A Reuters analysis of immigration court data found that Hondurans who come before the court receive deportation orders in more than 83 percent of cases, the highest rate of any nationality. Hondurans also face deportation in Mexico, where immigration data shows that 5,000 Hondurans were deported from Mexico in February alone, the highest number since May 2016.

Maunel Padilla, chief of the border patrol's Rio Grande Valley sector, one of the busiest crossing points on the US Mexico border, said in an interview with Reuters that he worries the caravan could "generate interest for other groups to do the same thing," but he was not terribly nervous about coping with the group currently travelling.

"Not to be flippant," Padilla said, "but it's similar numbers to what we are seeing every day pretty much."
Beijing: China appreciates North Koreas important efforts to ease tension on the Korean peninsula, senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi told the Norths foreign minister on Tuesday, hours after he called on all sides to stay focused on talks.

China has traditionally been secretive North Koreas closest ally, though ties had been frayed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles and Beijings backing of tough U.N. sanctions in response.

But in late March Beijing vowed to uphold its friendship with its isolated neighbour and won a pledge from Kim to denuclearise the peninsula during a meeting with President Xi Jinping.

Chinas Foreign Ministry gave only hours notice that Wang, a State Councillor and Chinas Foreign Minister, would meet North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.

Wang told Ri that Xi and Kim had reached an important consensus on achieving a peaceful resolution to the peninsula nuclear issue during Kims visit to Beijing, his first known trip outside North Korea since he assumed power in 2011.

China appreciates North Koreas position working toward denuclearisation of the peninsula and its important efforts to ease the situation on the peninsula, and supports meetings between the leaders of the North and South and between the North and the United States, Wang said, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.

The ministry cited Ri as saying that North Korea would maintain close strategic communications with China on peninsula-related issues, and that the Kim-Xi meeting was an important juncture in the development of bilateral relations.

North Koreas official news agency KCNA had said that a delegation headed by Ri left on Tuesday to meet other foreign ministers in Azerbaijan and to visit Russia, but made no mention of China.

"Disruptive factors"

Earlier in the day, Wang said during a joint news briefing with visiting Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis that he hoped a planned meeting in May between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump would increase mutual understanding.

But historical experience tells us that at the moment of easing of the situation on the peninsula and as first light dawns on peace and dialogue, frequently all manner of disruptive factors emerge, Wang said.

So we call on all sides to maintain focus, eliminate interference, and firmly follow the correct path of dialogue and negotiation.

Cassis said that he would discuss with Wang the role that Switzerland could play in the strategic meetings between Kim and some important partners on the international level, but he did not elaborate.

A time and place have not been set for the Trump-Kim meeting to discuss denuclearisation. North and South Korea will hold their first summit in more than a decade on April 27, South Korea has said.

Kims predecessors, grandfather Kim Il Sung and father Kim Jong Il, both promised not to pursue nuclear weapons but secretly maintained programmes to develop them, culminating in the Norths first nuclear test in 2006 under Kim Jong Il.

North Korea has said in previous, failed talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear programme that it could consider giving up its arsenal if the United States removed its troops from South Korea and withdrew its so-called nuclear umbrella of deterrence from South Korea and Japan.

Some analysts have said Trumps willingness to meet Kim handed Pyongyang a diplomatic win, as the United States had insisted for years that any such summit be preceded by North Korean steps to denuclearise.

China had largely sat on the sidelines as North Korea improved relations with South Korea, raising worries in Beijing that it was no longer a central player in the North Korean issue.

The two Koreas have seen a significant thaw in ties since the Norths participation in the Souths Winter Olympics in February 2018.
Many Rohingyas ended up in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia because Thailand stuck to a policy of not accepting the vessels.

The vessel carrying 56 people was intercepted by Malaysian maritime authorities near the northwestern island of Langkawi (Photo: AFP)

Kuala Lumpur: A boat carrying dozens of Rohingyas from Myanmar arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday and the members of the stateless Muslim minority will be allowed to enter the country, authorities said.

The vessel carrying 56 people was intercepted by Malaysian maritime authorities near the northwestern island of Langkawi, said navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin.

Its arrival came as fears grow about conditions in overcrowded camps for the minority fleeing violence in Myanmar. Nearly 700,000 Rohingyas have sought shelter in southern Bangladesh since Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown August 2017.

"All 56 passengers, mostly children and women, are safe but tired and hungry," said the navy chief. "The boat and its passengers will be handed over... to the immigration authorities."

The navy and coastguard had stepped up patrols in the area after the boat briefly stopped on an island off Thailand's western coast Sunday, and the passengers said they were en route to Malaysia.

Rohingya migrants trying to travel south by boat have been rare since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015, leaving thousands of migrants abandoned in open waters or jungle camps.

Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh have arrived to find cramped settlements and often squalid conditions in the Cox's Bazar district. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled previous waves of persecution are already living in the district.

An agreement to repatriate Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar's Rakhine state has yet to see a single refugee returned.

Many of the Rohingyas ensnared in the 2015 boat crisis ended up in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia because Thailand stuck to a policy of not accepting the vessels.

There are nearly 70,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers living in Malaysia, according to the most recent statistics from the UN refugee agency.
Rakesh Kumar Prasad was sentenced to a nine-month jail term along with a fine of 1,000 Singapore dollar by the court on Sunday.

. According to the report, Prasad committed the offences against the woman in April 2015 at a yoga studio in Tampines housing estate. (Representational image)

Singapore: An Indian yoga instructor has been convicted by a court in Singapore for molesting a woman during class, according to a media report on Monday.

Rakesh Kumar Prasad was sentenced to a nine-month jail term along with a fine of 1,000 Singapore dollar by the court on Sunday but granted a bail of 16,000 Singapore dollar pending appeal.

Prasad's lawyer said that he would be appealing against the court decision, the Straight Times reported. According to the report, Prasad committed the offences against the woman in April 2015 at a yoga studio in Tampines housing estate. The woman was then aged 25. Following a 12-day trial, which began in 2016, District Judge Luke Tan found Prasad guilty earlier this year on one count each of outraging the woman's modesty and using criminal force on her.

Prasad repeatedly molested her when she was alone, it said. In his submission, Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew said, "The victim... did not leave the class or seek help immediately because she was in a state of shock and disbelief. She felt helpless in that environment and did not know what to do."

"She had felt violated and embarrassed by the accused's actions, and was in disbelief that this could happen to her in a yoga class," the report quoting Chew as saying. Chew urged Judge Tan to sentence Prasad to at least a year's jail with three strokes of the cane.

He said, "The accused had abused his position as a yoga instructor in repeatedly violating the victim in the midst of the yoga class." Defence lawyer Steven Lam pleaded for a nine-month jail term and stressed that the touches were "fleeting".

He also told the court that Prasad will be appealing against his conviction. Judge Tan offered him bail of 16,000 Singapore dollars.
Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines - does not recognise Israel.

We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people, Prince Mohammed said. (Photo: File)

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in US magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer.

Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying: "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines - does not recognise Israel. It has maintained for years that normalising relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

"We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people," Prince Mohammed said.

Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fuelled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel in March, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.

In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumoured secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.
Around 500,000 women were reportedly violated by the Pakistan Army and their collaborators.

Experts sitting offshore are also concerned over the growing alliance of the BNP and Islamic fundamentalists as they believe the perpetrators of 1971 are still stronger than pro-liberation forces. (Photo: ANI)

Dhaka: As Bangladesh gears up for the general elections to be held in December 2018, the Islamic forces in the country have started gaining ground.

The Khalida Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamic fundamentalist groups, are making attempts to root out the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League.

Experts believe that the Jamaat-e-Islami has committed war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War and killed three million people in the name of Islam.

Around 500,000 women were reportedly violated by the Pakistan Army and their collaborators.

Shahriar Kabir, a Dhaka-based journalist and human rights activist, said, "The rise of Islamic militancy, terrorism in the name of Islam, perpetrated by the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Hifazat-e-Islam, is backed by the BNP, one of the largest political parties of Bangladesh. Because of the BNP, the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Hifazat-e-Islam as well as other fundamentalist and extremist groups have become so violent and we have seen their violence starting from February 2013.

Experts sitting offshore are also concerned over the growing alliance of the BNP and Islamic fundamentalists as they believe the perpetrators of 1971 are still stronger than pro-liberation forces.

Rohan Gunaratna, an expert on international terrorism based in Singapore said, "The Jamaat-e-Islami ideology has formed the sea bed, the foundation for the emergence of extremist and terrorist groups in Bangladesh. If not for the Jamaat-e-Islami, so many people would not have been radicalised and we have seen the emergence of JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh), HuJI-B, the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh and a number of other groups."

The rise of Islamic forces in Bangladesh not only affects the common people in the country, but also raises concerns for the fragile neighbourhood.

BNP-Jamaat-led coalition governments in the past had provided shelter, funds and training to secessionist insurgent groups of north eastern India.

A BNP return to power would mean New Delhi facing a hostile government in Dhaka as it would again allow anti-India groups to gain ground on Bangladesh soil.
by J.B. An Dang

Tran Thien Khiem was one of the leading figures in the Vietnam war. During the Sixties he was involved in several coups d'etat. He became prime minister in 1969 and remained in office until one month before the fall of Saigon. The Vietnamese Church is delighted to see the growing interest among the countrys intellectuals and celebrities.

San Jose (AsiaNews)  Tran Thien Khiem (pictured), a former general and prime minister of the Republic of (South) Vietnam, received the baptism in California (United States).

The ceremony ended decades of rumours according to which he was Christian during the Vietnam War, which ended with the defeat of the South.

On 25 March, Palm Sunday, Fr Le Trung Tuong, parish priest of St Elizabeth, Milpitas (San Jose) celebrated the baptism of the former Prime Minister.

At the age of 93, General Tran Thien Khiem decided to join the Catholic Church, choosing Saint Paul as his patron saint.

Born on 15 December 1925, he was a prominent figure during the war that devastated his country.

During the Sixties he was involved in a number of coups. In November 1960, General Tran helped Catholic president Ngo inh Diem avert a coup. However, three years later he took part in the coup that overthrew and murdered Diem himself, who had rewarded him with various promotions.

Following a series of plots, Khiem became Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam in 1969 and remained in office until March 1975, a month before the fall of Saigon.

In an apparent attempt to slander Catholics, Communists and anti-Catholics suggested for years that Khiem was a devout Catholic who could not profess his religion in public but was willing to betray his co-religionists.

The former prime minister told journalists that during the war he followed the traditional Vietnamese beliefs, which promoted ancestor worship.

He said that becoming a Catholic was one of the most profound and joyful experiences of his life, and that he himself had decided to join the Church after studying Catholicism for a long time and reflected on what had happened during his life.

The Church in Vietnam is delighted to see the growing interest among the countrys intellectuals and celebrities.

More and more people are beginning to study Catholicism and joining the Church, inspired by the testimonies of faith of priests and lay people, who dare to challenge the regime in favour of the poor and defenceless in a society marked by so much injustice, deprivation and exclusion.
by Giorgio Marengo*

Fr Marengo has lived on the Asian steppes since 2003. He writes about the Easter Triduum under a tent chapel, the baptism of eight catechumens, as well as forgiveness and reconciliation among families. Easter in Arvaiheer is always a miracle of faith [that] is always poignant.

Arvaikheer (AsiaNews)  In the silence of an unusually grey afternoon caused by the dust brought by the spring wind, we found ourselves praying in the yurt-shaped chapel, the Mongolian tent of the parish of Arvaikheer. Thus began this years Triduum.

That day probably was not that different, as the disciples made their way to the upper room. The Master was waiting for them; he already knew, they didnt. Soon they would have their feet washed and see their reflection in that dirty water that was pure love.

Then came the Jewish dinner, which took on a new, unheard of meaning. Even the Christians and the catechumens of Arvaikheer were amazed. From the water of the basin to that of the spring that irrigated life two days later to give birth to a new relationship with God the Father . . .

The next day we contemplated Christ who did not descend from the cross like a superhero, but accepted the human condition until the end, going so far as to die a violent death. This is a very challenging experience for people used to assessing God's favour on the basis of worldly success and a peaceful life, far from illness and suffering. The sky was still gray and there is no good Friday that isnt so.

Then came the Saturday morning retreat. This is a beautiful tradition to help the catechumens prepare for the ritual set to take place that evening, which also enables those already baptised to renew their faith and welcome the new members of the community.

We always come to this moment full of weaknesses and tensions. It almost seems like the devil stuck his nose into it. The liberating cry of confessions (which lasted two hours for just 30 people and two priests) was followed by the miracle of forgiveness that we exchanged in the chapel with a gesture as concrete as possible.

This year each person had to go to others and say a few words like "excuse me" and "thank you", before hugging and being hugged in turn. This came with more tears and sobs. If faith doesnt go through this emotional aspect, it remains abstract whilst there is a need for a lot of concreteness.

Some people who get literally sick over rifts and misunderstandings (the expression they use is "going into another's mouth"), resorting to Buddhist lamas and shamans to "magically" solve their tensions, found deep release when they looked at and forgave others in the name of the One who first took charge of their spiritual burdens.

Easter here is truly a transition, which each person perceives in their own way. Four teenagers (15 to 18), who faithfully underwent the two years of preparation prescribed by the provisions of the local Church, experienced it as the crowning moment of a journey that led them to join the community of believing "adults".

For Chuluuntsetseg, 50, it was a slow and progressive approach. For Baterdene, who spent eight of his 28 years in hospital and undergoing surgery, it meant meeting the Lord in his suffering and understanding that someone was willing to alleviate it for love of Him. Finally, Otgonerdene and Sainzaya, respectively 10 and 13 years, practically grew up in the mission.

Eventually, Easter vigil came. In the early hours of the afternoon the sky was ochre and dust blown in by a spring storm was everywhere. It was hard to stand up and not swallow dust and feel it grinding ones teeth. When the wind died down a bit, we decided to build a fire where the house wall offered some shelter.

Dry dung burnt, not wood. A woman of the community bought it out of compassion from a poor woman at the market. Usukhjargal is a cute 8-year-old boy who was baptised as a child. He told his father to arrange the dung in the shape of a cross. This was done just before light entered the darkened yurt, before Gantulga, as a good poet and storyteller, declaimed the Exultet as if it were a Mongolian praise.

The liturgy flowed harmoniously in its various parts. Then the catechumens were invited to approach the large cross-shaped stone hanging from the central pole of the yurt, serving as an anchor so that the wind didnt blow the tent away and as a symbolic link between the Mongols, their land and their beloved sky.

The Catholic family that lives in the steppe on the border of the Gobi Desert now has eight new members. At the end of the celebration, pictures were taken and good wishes and blessings exchanged.

Here, godparents play an important role. They are the ones who offer gifts to the newly baptised and receive them as a sign of gratitude for guiding them to the faith.

This is Easter in Arvaikheer. Many things could be improved. We missionaries and locals have so many limits; yet the miracle of faith is always poignant. On the Sunday of the Resurrection, the new members came to church wearing white shirts (in perfect Mongolian style made by women involved in a sewing project).

After Mass we drank suutei tsai (a salty tea with milk). We also had lunch with khuushuur (meat dumplings) cooked by another woman of the community.

Life here is hard, not very poetic. During the two days of the dust storm, shepherds kept an eye on their flocks at a critical time when sheep have their lambs.

This is not a time for accolades, as many challenges are still to come. Yet, these people have fresh hope in their hearts and know that the "God of Heaven" has come down to them and has taken them with him to accompany them every day, into eternity.

* Consolata missionary
The black tide extends from the waters around the port of Semayang to Margasari, the Makassar Strait and the beaches in the southeastern part of Makassar. The police have not yet issued an official statement on the incident. Over 1000 people suffering from nausea and respiratory problems.

Balikpapan (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The authorities of the port city of Balikpapan, on the east coast of Indonesian Borneo, have declared a state of emergency, after a fire sparked by a serious oil spill in the last few days has caused the death of four people.

"It might seem exaggerated, but the state of the bay is similar to that of a gas station," said MN Fadli, secretary of the East Kalimantan city, yesterday. The oil spill, which three days ago had pushed more than 400 meters into the bay, has now extended over a radius of more than two kilometers from the waters around the port of Semayang to Margasari, the Makassar Strait and the beaches in the southeastern part of Makassar.

The Port Authority of Semayang is coordinating with the private oil company PT Chevron Indonesia and with the state oil company Pertamina to clean up the spill. The senior executive of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Rasio Ridho Sani, reports that an emergency team has deployed floating barriers at sea to contain oil spills and used chemicals to facilitate their absorption.

Rasio also declares that the authorities have taken samples to determine the impact and source of the spill. The city administration has also distributed masks to protect local residents from fuel fumes. About 1,200 people living in the Penajam sub-district, Penajam Paser Utara regency, reported suffering from nausea and respiratory problems after the accident.

The police have not yet issued an official declaration on the spill. However, the state energy giant Pertamina and the Balikpapan Disaster Mitigation Agency say that the fire after the spill was not caused by rescue activities, as reported in recent days by local media.
by Nirmala Carvalho

The grotto with the statue of Mary, at the entrance to the Salangabahal church. A warehouse of sacred ornaments was also burned in Bihabandh parish. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Kandhamal anti-Christian pogroms.

Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar (AsiaNews) - Two parishes of the diocese of Rourkela, in the Indian state of Orissa, were attacked on Easter Sunday. In the village of Bihabandh, some criminals set ablaze to an old chamber adjacent to the sacristy, used as a storehouse for sacred objects.

A short distance away, in the parish of Salangabahal, criminals ransacked the grotto of Our Lady placed next to the entrance, took the statue of the Virgin and smashed another of the Child Jesus.

Msgr. Kishor Kumar Kujur, bishop of the diocese, denounces: "It was a premeditated and planned attack. Both incidents occurred during the night, at about the same time. The parishes are 7-8 km away from each other. This is the work of the same group, which is against the Christian community ".

These episodes are worrying, both because they took place during sacred time of the Easter Triduum, and because they took place happened in Orissa, the theater in 2008 of the most ferocious anti-Christian persecution by groups of Hindu radicals. Msgr John Barwa, archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, complains: "We did not expect such an attack in a secular country. These episodes of desecration that offend our religious sentiment must end. "

The archbishop recalls that "this year marks the tenth anniversary of the violence of Kandhamal [the district most affected by Hindu ferocity, ed.]. The whole population of India can and must make a common effort to enable the country to progress in a timely manner by supporting Indias secular demands".

"Religious freedom - he continues - and to profess their beliefs in freedom must be respected and defended. Human dignity and justice must prevail, even in the smallest and most remote rural areas of India. This type of incident only brings shame and disgrace to our country. It must not be allowed to continue".
Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani will be present. The United States towards disengagement; imminent troop withdrawal. Analysts and experts emphasize the absence of Syrians. The government offensive in eastern Ghouta continues, evacuation of the last rebel enclave begins.

Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey will meet tomorrow in Ankara, for the second three-way summit on Syria. The talks will involve the three main protagonists in the conflict, also considering the growing disengagement of the United States.

An anomalous three-way alliance, made up of Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani and host Recep Tayyip Erodgan, long opposed to each other in the Middle Eastern chessboard and which today show a "surprising" unity of purpose.

This second meeting on Turkish soil follows the first summit among the three leaders held last November in Sochi, Russia, which was not without major points of contention and criticism, including the recent offensive launched by Ankara against the Kurdish militias (protagonists in the past against the Islamic State) in the region of Afrin, in the north of Syria.

Analysts and experts agree that the three countries are now the real actors in the Syrian conflict, not least because US President Donald Trump spoke of an "imminent" withdrawal of troops from the Arab country. Last year the three countries promoted peace talks in Astana as an alternative to the UN meetings in Geneva, cementing their alliance.

Russia has substantial control of the skies in Syria, while Iran has a strong and rooted presence on the ground, both thanks to the presence of its own militias and through foreign fighters. At the same time Erdogan also increased Turkish influence in the country, conquering portions of territory along the border.

However, there are doubts about the feasibility of a long-term alliance between the three nations, in the past in constant war with each other for the control of the region around the Black Sea. Moreover, they remain on opposite sides in the context of the Syrian conflict: Russia and Iran allies of Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey is close to rebel groups (and jihadists) who are fighting for the expulsion of the president.

Syrian expert of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Jennifer Cafarella, describes Erdogan's relationship with Russia and Iran as an "alignment of convenience". It will last "the time necessary to achieve its goals" of victory against the Kurdish militias.

However, these diplomatic and military efforts for the end of the war in its eighth year do not foresee the presence of the main actors (and victims) of this conflict: the Syrians.

Meanwhile, the troops of Damascus continue their offensive in the Eastern Ghouta, a rebel enclave on the outskirts of the capital that has long been under siege by the government army. The soldiers of President Assad now control almost the entire territory; in these hours the evacuation operations have begun of the last town still in the hands of the rebel groups. The government media reported that, at the weekend, the first members of the Jaysh al-Islam militia left Douma aboard a northbound bus to Jarablus.

At least 1600 people have died since the beginning of the government offensive, thousands have been wounded. According to state media 629 fighters, along with family members, would have left Douma aboard 12 vehicles, passing through the al-Wafideen checkpoint.
by Wang Zhicheng

Two weeks ago, the State Administration for Religious Affairs was placed under the direct rule of the Communist Party. However, it will retain its name. "It is not important for Wang to understand religion. It is more important that he will be loyal to the Communist Party," complained a priest. It is unclear if SARAs plan will remain the same.

Beijing (AsiaNews)  Wang Zuoan, director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), formerly known as the Religious Affairs Bureau, has been named one of the ten vice directors of the Communist Partys United Front Work Department (UFWD). Whilst in his new capacity, he will remain SARA director.

The appointment, which was announced on 1st April, was made two weeks after SARA was placed under the direct control of the Communist Party. Until then it was an independent agency under the authority of the State Council.

As indicated in a plan made public on 22 March laying out reforms for the Communist Party and the government, SARA will retain is name. This, for some analysts, suggest that it will become the executive branch of the UFWD.

For Christians in China, Wang will continue to supervise religious affairs since he will remain SARA director.

"It is not important for Wang to understand religion. It is more important that he will be loyal to the Communist Party," lamented a priest in northern China who asked that his be withheld.

Another priest, Fr Peter agrees. "It is not easy for the Party to train experts in religious matters."

Wang was born in May 1958, in Jiangsu Province. He joined the Communist Party in 1985 and graduated in Philosophy, before working for the UFWD between 1983 and 1985.

He was then assigned to SARA where he worked in various capacities: policy researcher, publisher and chief editor of the Religion and Culture Publication House. He headed the agency between 2009 and October 2017.

At the 19th Congress of the Communist Party, Wang was not re-elected to the central committee. During the meeting, he spoke twice to a Hong Kong radio, saying communication between China and the Vatican were smooth "but some problems are not that simple and cannot be settled in a short time".

He noted that both sides need sincerity and practical action but refused to answer specific questions about the appointment of bishops.

In the second interview, Wang made it clear that he was not suggesting the possibility of an upcoming papal visit to China.

Following its recent overhaul, SARA revamped its website, but it is not clear whether its deputy directors will change. It is also unclear whether its plan for 2018, released on 18 February, will remain the same.

With respect to the Catholic Church, the plan noted it would commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 'self-elections, self-ordinations' of bishops. It also noted that the Catholic Church would focus on educational activities based on the principles of autonomy and self-management, as it actively and constantly does with respect to the self-election and self-ordination of bishops.

The plan also states that SARA would support patriotic bishops in developing Church activities and resolving the practical difficulties of their ministry, as well as help it deal with illegal activities carried out in the name of the Catholic Church.

Another goal included in the plan is to educate and transform underground Catholics and use religious exchange to benefit the governments Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), by getting Church leaders to invite well-known religious leaders to visit China.
by Bernardo Cervellera

The 8 thousand character text was printed in Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic. Presented today at a press conference. Many intellectual acrobatics on the defense of believers and ban on Party members from following a religion; restrictions for foreigners; believers choice for independence and self-management. Unlikely statistics: faithful of the official communities only ones considered. Little "objectivity" and "scientificity".

Rome (AsiaNews) - The State Council Information Office today released a "White Paper" on religions, or rather on "Chinese policy regarding the practice and safeguarding of religious freedom". The 8 thousand character text was printed in Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic. It highlights "important progress in guaranteeing religious freedom" in the country, highlighting the implementation of policies, legal guarantees, the "orderly manner" with which religious activities are expressed, the role of religious communities in society.

The text was presented at a press conference, attended by Chen Zongrong, former deputy director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA); Xiao Hong, former SARA spokesman; Xia Yanchun, spokesperson for the State Council Information Office.

The presentation of the White Paper came a few days from SARAs demolition and absorption into the United Front, allowing for a closer control by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of religious affairs.

At first glance, there seems to be no major change in policies or religious control. Following the press conference, one can note however a certain tone of esteem from Chen Zongrong, in defining China "a multireligious country since ancient times" and religion in general as "a universal social phenomenon in the human society", without the Marxist idiom of tradition that defined religious experience as "opium of the masses", to be eliminated and overcome.

The White Paper states instead that China maintains the principle that "religions must be Chinese in orientation" and that "active guidance" is provided for them, so that they "can adapt to socialist society". The "active guidance" is a slogan of Xi Jinping, reiterated at the CPC Congress last October and at the National People's Congress in March. It is also a principle of the new Regulations on religious activities which make this "active guide" the tool for total control of every action of believers at every level of the state organigram.

For the rest, the text is full of soft intellectual acrobatics that fail to hide the hard reality. For example, there is the naive (?) Statement that "no State organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion, according to the Constitution". But the first discriminating factor is precisely the CCP, which for years has been preaching that members can not adhere to any religion even in private not even after they retire. Not to mention the "preferences" for the recruitment of Party cadres, rather than good professionals, without a CCP id.

Another form of intellectual acrobatics is found when it comes to the religious freedom of foreigners in Chinese territory. Foreigners have freedom to go to temples, churches, mosques, but within "Chinese laws and regulations". This means that they are not free to meet any religious person, but only those who participate in official and registered communities.

The religious expression of foreigners must be "authorized": they shall not establish religious organizations, set up religious offices and sites for religious activities, run religious institutions, or recruit foreign students studying in China without authorization; nor shall they recruit followers, appoint clerical personnel from among Chinese citizens or engage in other missionary activities.

Finally, there are the intellectual acrobatics - a bit ridiculous - that religions in China have always been "peaceful" and "in harmony". The White Paper states: "Religious conflict and confrontation have rarely been seen in China since the introduction of Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism over the past 2,000 years... The state and society have kept an open mind towards the different religions and popular beliefs".

It is important to remember that often the emperors - from the Tang to the Qing  pitted one religion against the other, using one or the other for political reasons or alliance with foreign states ... Without forgetting the period of Mao and the Cultural Revolution in which the Party attempted to annihilate every religious expression.

Another "historical forgery" is when the White Paper says that "the principle of independence and autonomy is a historic choice made by believers of Chinese religions in the struggle that the Chinese people have engaged for national independence and social progress". In fact, all religions have resisted the control and rupture with the communities of other followers worldwide. And in the Catholic Church of the 1950s, dozens of bishops agreed to spend long years in the concentration camps, rather than adhere to the Party's "patriotic and independentist" claims.

However what elicits most skepticism is the list of statistics on religions. And this despite Chen Zongrong claiming an "objective" and "scientific" view of religions and believers.

According to the White Paper, there are five (recognized) religions in China: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism. They gather 200 million faithful and are served by 380 thousand priests, imams, pastors, etc.

The statistics that the White Paper gives regarding Catholics and Protestants (6 million and 30 million, respectively) reveal the defect: it bases its calculations only on official communities, although every religion in China has an unofficial dimension. For Catholics, there are estimated at least 6 million underground faithful; for the Protestants about 60 million.

If you add underground Buddhists - many groups and associations that hide under "cultural" appearances - or Taoists, the number of believers in China should exceed 500 million, not counting those who believe in some supernatural element.

Hence the flaw in the White Paper is clear: it is not an attempt to draw up a map of religions, but to convince the world that the only religions that exist in China are the official ones, allowed by the CCP. For it, religion is a concession from the top of political power, not an innate dimension of man, Chinese or foreign.
He is charged with attempting to illegally cross the border with Myanmar, where John Cao founded 16 schools. He was arrested, more than a year ago together with his collaborator. Beijing clamps down on Protestant pastors.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Chinaaid) - The Provincial Court of Yunnan has sentenced John Cao, a pastor from North Carolina, to seven years in prison for having "organized illegal border crossings". His collaborator, Jing Ruxia, has also been charged.

The pastor is the founder of 16 schools that provide education to more than 2,000 children in Wa, the northern Myanmar. He also founded a church in his home province of Hunan, served as a pastor for China Ministries International and volunteered for the victims of the earthquake in 2008 in the Wenchuan area of Sichuan province. He officially resides in North Carolina since he married the American Jamie Powell in 1988, who lives in the United States with their two children.

Cao and Jing were arrested for attempting to cross the border between China and Myanmar on March 5, 2017. The arrest was notified to Cao's family 20 days later. Before that time, the pastor and his coworker used to cross the border without incident.

After almost a year of detention, the trial began on February 9 this year, and the pastor was sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of 20 thousand yuan (about 2,500 euros). Jing, was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 5,000 yuan (about 650 euros), but has already been released having already spent a year in custody.
Hey guys,



Just finished my WHV second year last week and moved on to a student visa - 500, which got accepted within 2 days.



I have two weeks until my course actually begins and I was hoping to go back to work (where I was doing my WHV). I am unsure if I am able to though. Has anyone done this before? I really don't want to risk working for two weeks if its going to result in my student visa being cancelled! Unsure if they check these things closely or even if its something I can't do.



Any help or advice from people who have been in this situation would be great!
A Libertarian Party (ie Republican in disguise) candidate for state representative is being asked to immediately abandon his campaign after he made homophobic Facebook comments saying fags are disgusting and linking homosexuality to HIV.

Justin Jones, running for District 87 in northwest Arkansas, made the comments using his personal Facebook account in response to a Hawaii womans post about her gay friend being unable to donate blood.

Myah Baeza, whose personal political beliefs range from Republican to Libertarian, wrote: This is such an antiquated rule and it disgusts me. Women can have AIDS, too, and they search for it anyways?

Knowing that my gay friends cant give blood, that has always not sat well with me, Baeza told NBC affiliate KARK in an interview on Monday.

But Jones responded to her post, writing: The likelihood of a fag catching HIV is 1000% more likely than any straight person.

Why in Gods name would you say that? Baeza wrote back.

Because its true, Jones replied.

The Benton County Libertarian Party disavowed Jones remarks and calling on him to drop out of the race.

Mr. Jones was until very recently a Republican supporter and candidate. He came to the Libertarian Party, as have many others, because of his dissatisfaction with their failed policies and actions. The bigotry he brought with him, however, is certainly not welcome and will not be tolerated by the Benton County Libertarian Party, the Libertarian Party of Arkansas, or the national Libertarian Party; nor should it be tolerated by any decent person of any political party, Michael Kalagias, the county party chair said in a statement.

But Jones will not drop out

In response to the backlash caused by the media, it has been brought to my attention that I should suspend my campaign, Jones wrote in a statement posted to his website. After a phone call with the Chair of the Benton County Libertarian Party, Michael J. Kalagias, I informed him, that I will continue my candidacy for State Representative. My candidacy is about the people of Elm Springs, Siloam Springs, Springdale, and Tontitown. My campaign will continue to fight on the behalf of District 87. I would like to thank everyone for their support in my growing campaign.

As for Baeza, shes since blocked Jones on Facebook, meaning she no longer has to associate with him. But that said, she still feels his comments were inappropriate.

You can go to Justin Jones Facebook page by clicking HERE.

You know what to do.

*UPDATED  6.23 pm:

PWNED BITCH!
Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

Mostly clear. Areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times. Low 67F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Areas of smoke and haze are possible, reducing visibility at times. Low 67F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
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TITUSVILLE, Fla.  Investigators of a crash that killed four people leaving Kennedy Space Center on Monday night think the car's GPS called for a U-turn moments before their vehicle was struck.

4 people killed in 'tragic accident' in Titusville

Police: 2 men, 2 women from UK were at KSC for rocket launch

They were headed back to rental home in Davenport, investigators say

The deadly crash happened on Columbia Boulevard near Sisson Road at about 6:30 p.m. Monday, just a couple of hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Titusville Police said the four people, who they think had just left KSC after the launch, were headed back to their rental home in Davenport, about 70 miles away, in a rented four-door Mitsubishi sedan.

All four who were killed were from the United Kingdom. Police said the driver attempted to make a U-turn on Columbia Boulevard and drove into the path of an oncoming Ford F-250 pickup truck. Investigators said there was an earlier crash on State Road 407  the original GPS route from KSC to Davenport.

The drivers brother, who was staying at the Davenport rental home, was notified by the Polk County Sheriff's Office after Titusville Police were able to retrace the families route through the GPS of the rented Sedan.

The car was struck in between its front and back doors. The Jaws of Life had to be used to remove the bodies of the four people killed in a crash, police said.

Investigators said it appeared the people died instantly. They were:

Adam P. Stephenson, 30, who was driving

Maryanne Stephenson, 29

Brian Stephenson, 66

Sheralyn T. Stephenson, 56.

All were from Bristol, England.

"All of our first responders, their first priority when they arrive at these scenes, is to sustain life. And this was a really tough scene for them, because they werent able to save four people," Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson said.

Amy Arndt of Titusville lives in the area and saw the crash hours afterward.

"The driver's door was open, and the other side was completely smashed, almost all the way to the driver's side. I was nauseated and sad," Arndt said.

Residents believe the shrub in the median creates a blind spot, making it very unsafe to make left turns and U-turns.

Titusville resident Daniel Pollard works at the pizza shop at the intersection and says hes had a few close calls because of the shrub is too high.

Unless youre in a truck high off the ground youre not going to be able to see, Pollard said.

Police say if they determine the median vegetation is a road hazard, they will give the state a safety recommendation.

The driver of the pickup truck, James D. Walsh II, 28, of Port St. John, was taken to a hospital as a precaution to check for injuries. He is expected to be okay.

An investigation is underway, but authorities believe Walsh is not at fault.

"Our investigators have a lot of facts to uncover. It appears to be an extremely tragic accident," Hutchinson said.

Krystel Knowles contributed to this story.
Heather Bezanson, 30, made her first appearance in Pasco County Court Monday to face child neglect charges.

Deputies: unclear why suspect left children unsupervised

4 year old reportedly left home to look for help

Suspect faces one count of child neglect

According to a Pasco County Sheriffs complaint affidavit, Bezanson left a four year old and a one year old who were in her care alone Sunday evening. The report states she left her Dickens Drive home around 6 p.m. and returned three hours later.

At some point, the four year old left the home through an unlocked door and went to a neighbors for help. The child said the one-year-old was crying and Bezanson was gone.

A sheriffs office spokesperson said it was unclear why she left the children unsupervised.

The affidavit notes that the home was very cluttered with junk and old food. There were also unsafe items left within reach of the children, including scissors on the ground and a nail in the carpet near where they were playing. It also states there wasnt much food that was fit for the children to eat.

Rick Hess, president and CEO of Pasco Kids First, a non-profit organization that works to prevent child abuse, said there are steps adults who find themselves in the same situation as Bezansons neighbor can take to help make sure children are safe. First, ensure the child is physically out of harms way.

If the adult has a good relationship with the parent or adult in charge, they can also reach out and offer help. If thats not an option, Hess said suspected abuse or neglect can be reported to the authorities or the child abuse hotline: 1-800-96-ABUSE.

Hess said he understands people can be wary of reporting out of fear theyve misread warning signs.

The state of Florida is not excited about taking children out of their homes. That only really happens in situations where theres a thought that the child might be unsafe, he said. We have a very, very professional team in Pasco County that investigates these types of situations. They really turn over as many stones as they can to determine what the situation is.

Circuit Judge Declan Mansfield told Bezanson she was to have no contact with the children involved until the Department of Children and Family approve it. Bezanson responded that she is cooperating with the department.

She faces one count of child neglect with no injury. Bond was set at $5,000.
In a series of tweets Monday morning, President Donald Trump declared DACA dead.

He tweeted: DACA is dead because the Democrats didnt care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon... No longer works. Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!

The Trump administration said late last year that it would stop accepting new applicants to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that has protected almost 800,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation and allowed them to work in the U.S.



Trump tweeted a second time saying: "...Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation, use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People. Border Patrol Agents (and ICE) are GREAT, but the weak Dem laws dont allow them to do their job. Act now Congress, our country is being stolen!

A Central Florida "Dreamer" reacted to the presidents Twitter thread, upset at his words.

"It's disappointing, it's disappointing. It's inhumane to talk about people like they are less than human, Marco Quiroga said.

Quiroga was brought to the United States when he was 2 years old from Lima, Peru. After experiencing homelessness as an undocumented youth, he decided his story needed to be heard.

It's why he's traveled to New York and Washington D.C., fighting for the almost 800,000 Dreamers whose future is the hands of the government.

"I don't consider DACA to be dead, because it was something that was won by the community  As long as the community stands up, rallying voices say that these individuals matter and that these individuals deserve to pursue the fullness of their dreams, then DACA will never be dead, Quiroga said.

When Trump initially ended DACA, he gave Congress a six-month period to save it. That deadline is way past due and no decision was made.

A court order requires the Trump administration to continue DACA until legal challenges work their way through the courts.
A Florida woman who had just broken up with her longtime boyfriend set him on fire during an Easter dinner, police say.

Shivon Perez of Altamonte Springs charged with 1st-degree murder

Ex-boyfriend had come over for Easter get-together, police say

Investigators: She used accelerant, torch to set him on fire



Shivon Perez was taken into custody Monday afternoon and faces charges of first degree premeditated murder and arson.

In an Altamonte Springs Police arrest report, investigators said Perez and her longtime boyfriend had just broken up, but he'd returned to Perez's apartment on the 300 block of Lakepointe Drive for Easter dinner and to help her fix a bathroom sink.

As he was lying on the floor, getting items out from under the sink, Perez sprayed him with what he described as charcoal fluid, he told investigators. He said she had a "torch with a long nozzle" and said to him, "You are going to pay."

He said the upper half of his body caught fire. As he tried to put it out, he said Perez tried to lock the front door. He was able to get out but saw Perez continuing to use the liquid and torch on the carpeted floor, he told police.

The man, whose name was not released, incurred severe burns on his chest, neck, face, right arm and hand and was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center.

The report said evidence in the charred apartment corroborated the ex-boyfriend's account.



Perez rescued her dog before firefighters arrived. She was taken to Florida Hospital Altamonte and then to ORMC for treatment of smoke inhalation.

From ORMC, Perez was taken to the Orange County Jail, where she was being held without bond.
By Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his To the Mountaintop speech at Bishop Charles Mason Temple on the evening of April 3, 1968.

Fifty years ago todayApril 3, 1968on what turned out to be the eve of his assassination, Martin Luther King. Jr. delivered one of his most prophetic and lasting sermons to an overflowing crowd at Bishop Charles Mason Temple, Church of God in Christ, Memphis, Tennessee. In it, he sought to restore nonviolence back to the civil rights movement after a recent march hed led erupted in violence and was immediately called off. Unlike his previous speeches, this one took a personal turn, in which he openly voiced his despair and pondered over his death. To honor the anniversary of his speech, we share selections of it with you here. You can read it in full in The Radical King.

***

As you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in? I would take my mental ight by Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnicence, I wouldnt stop there. I would move on by Greece, and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality.

But I wouldnt stop there. I would go on, even to the great hey-day of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldnt stop there. I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and esthetic life of man. But I wouldnt stop there. I would even go by the way that the man for whom Im named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church in Wittenberg.

But I wouldnt stop there. I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating president by the name of Abraham Lincoln nally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. But I wouldnt stop there, I would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

But I wouldnt stop there. Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the twentieth century, I will be happy. Now thats a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around. Thats a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are respondingsomething is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennesseethe cry is always the sameWe want to be free.

And another reason that Im happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where were going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didnt force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; its nonviolence or nonexistence.

That is where we are today. And also in the human rights revolution, if something isnt done, and in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, Im just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. And Im happy that hes allowed me to be in Memphis.

~~~

Now were going to march again, and weve got to march again, in order to put the issue where it is supposed to be. And force everybody to see that there are thirteen hundred of Gods children here suffering; sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out. Thats the issue. And weve got to say to the nation: we know its coming out. For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.

We arent going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces; they dont know what to do. Ive seen them so often. I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there we would move out of the 16th Street Baptist Church day after day; by the hundreds we would move out. And Bull Connor would tell them to send the dogs forth and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing, Aint gonna let nobody turn me round. Bull Connor next would say, Turn the re hoses on. And as I said to you the other night, Bull Connor didnt know history. He knew a kind of physics that somehow didnt relate to the transphysics that we knew about. And that was the fact that there was a certain kind of re that no water could put out. And we went before the re hoses; we had known water. If we were Baptist or some other denomination, we had been immersed. If we were Methodist, and some others, we had been sprinkled, but we knew water.

That couldnt stop us. And we just went on before the dogs and we would look at them; and wed go on before the water hoses and we would look at it, and wed just go on singing Over my head I see freedom in the air. And then we would be thrown in the paddy wagons, and sometimes we were stacked in there like sardines in a can. And they would throw us in, and old Bull would say, Take them off, and they did; and we would just go in the paddy wagon singing, We Shall Overcome. And every now and then wed get in the jail, and wed see the jailers looking through the windows being moved by our prayers, and being moved by our words and our songs. And there was a power there which Bull Connor couldnt adjust to; and so we ended up transforming Bull into a steer, and we won our struggle in Birmingham.

Now weve got to go on to Memphis just like that. I call upon you to be with us Monday. Now about injunctions: We have an injunction and were going into court tomorrow morning to fight this illegal, unconstitutional injunction. All we say to America is, Be true to what you said on paper. If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadnt committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we arent going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.

~~~

You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, Are you Martin Luther King?

And I was looking down writing, and I said yes. And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once thats punctured, you drown in your own bloodthats the end of you.

It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states, and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. Ive forgotten what those telegrams said. Id received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but Ive forgotten what the letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and Ill never forget it. It said simply, Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School. She said, While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I am a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And Im simply writing you to say that Im so happy that you didnt sneeze.

And I want to say tonight, I want to say that I am happy that I didnt sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldnt have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream. And taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If I had sneezed, I wouldnt have been around in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man cant ride your back unless it is bent. If I had sneezed, I wouldnt have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill. If I had sneezed, I wouldnt have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had. If I had sneezed, I wouldnt have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great movement there. If I had sneezed, I wouldnt have been in Memphis to see the community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. Im so happy that I didnt sneeze.

~~~

Well, I dont know what will happen now. Weve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesnt matter with me now. Because Ive been to the mountaintop. And I dont mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But Im not concerned about that now. I just want to do Gods will. And Hes allowed me to go up to the mountain. And Ive looked over. And Ive seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And Im happy, tonight. Im not worried about anything. Im not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Excerpted from The Radical King, published by Beacon Press, 2015. All material copyright  Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr.; all material copyright renewed  Coretta Scott King and the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr. Introductions  2015 Cornel West.

About the Author

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (19291968), Nobel Peace Prize laureate and architect of the nonviolent civil rights movement, was among the twentieth centurys most influential figures. One of the greatest orators in US history, King also authored several books, including Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, and Why We Cant Wait. His speeches, sermons, and writings are inspirational and timeless. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.
Prayer beads, also referred to as rosary beads, are used in the practice of prayer and meditation. Prayers are repeated a number of times corresponding with the number of beads. Prayer beads are traditionally associated with Catholicism, but their use is widespread with many religious traditions incorporating them.

The history of the rosary in Christian circles can be traced all the way back to the Crusades. It is believed by historians that the Crusaders had adopted this practice from Arabs, who, in turn, copied the observance of using beads from India. Recent archeological findings reveal that the ancient Ephesians made use of such beads in their worship of Diana, also known as Artemis, whose temple was one of the seven wonders of the world (Acts 19:24-41).

Prayer beads are also used by Roman Catholics to help the practitioner keep track of some 180 prayers which may up the rosary. Examples of such prayers are Our Father, Hail Mary and Gloria. In the Catholic Church, the rosary is one of the most cherished prayers. The Rosary is still the easiest ways to acquire the ancient skills of meditative prayer, and it is believed by Catholics to be the most effective way to grain the graces that this way of prayer can obtain.

For Catholics, prayer beads are a powerful prayer of intercession. Praying the rosary is promoted as a means of strengthening ones faith, resisting evil, growing spiritually, and generally benefiting society.

The word rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses, the rose being one of the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary. If you were to ask what object is most emblematic of Catholics, people would probably say, The Rosary. Catholics ask the Blessed Mother to bring their prayers to Her Divine Son and plead for His aid. Catholics bring rosary intentions to Mary with the hope that their request will be answered.

The rosary is devotion in honor of the Virgin Mary. It consists of a set number of specific prayers. First are the introductory prayers: one Apostles Creed, one Our Father, three Hail Marys and one Glory Be.

The first prayer in the Rosary is the Apostles Creed. It is called the Apostles Creed not because it was composed by the apostles themselves, but because it expresses their teachings. The original form of the creed came into use around A.D. 125, and the present form dates from the 400s.

Protestants, when they say the prayer, refer to the holy catholic church, using catholic to refer to the universal church, not implying any connection with the Catholic Church, which is based in Rome. This is despite the fact that the term catholic was already used to refer to a particular, visible Church by the second century and has already lost its broader meaning of universal. Despite these differences, Protestants embrace the Apostles Creed without reluctance, seeing it as embodying basic Christian truths as they understand them.

The next prayer in the rosary is Our Father or the Pater Noster. This is also known as the Lords Prayer. This prayer is even more acceptable to Protestants because Jesus Himself taught it to His disciples. It is given in the Bible in two slightly difference versions, the first referenced in Matthew 6:9-13 and the second referenced in Luke 11:2-4. The one given in Matthew is the one commonly said.

The following prayer in the Rosary is the Hail Mary which is really at the center of the devotion. It is a prayer to Mary. While many Protestants assume its unbiblical, it does have roots in Scripture. The prayer begins, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. This is the same greeting the angel Gabriel gave Mary in Luke 1:28.

The basic rosary is made up of 59 beads linked together in the shape of a necklace. Each of the beads on the rosary is intended to have a prayer said while holding the individual bead. Of these beads, 53 are for Hail Marys to be said on them. The other six are intended for Our Fathers. These beads provide a physical method of keeping count of the prayers as the fingers are moved along the beads as the prayers are recited.

The use of prayer beads is not scriptural. In fact, Jesus Himself chastised the religious leaders of His time for repeating their prayers over and over. He told the disciples not to emulate them by using vain repetitions as the heathens do, for they think they will be heard for their many words (Matthew 6:7).

While many who use prayer beads today claim that the rosary helps them take the focus off themselves and onto Christ, the question is really one to the efficacy of repeating the same phrases over and over in a mantra-like manner. While there are liturgical churches using prayer beads in prayer, non-liturgical churches do not use them.

There is incredible power in prayer. Our ability to pray to God is an incredible privilege and we are called by our Heavenly Father to communicate with Him bolder. If prayer beads in fact enhance your time and communion with God, then they may be for good use, but if repeating the same prayer over and over again isnt helping intimate communion with God, the use of prayer beads will not be useful to you.
The truth of the matter is that we all wont be entering into heaven.

Heaven is not the default destination after someone dies. Despite this, an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that they will head to the eternal afterlife with God. The optimism is great, but we have to remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Hell is our default destination according to the Bible. Jesus, however, gave us the way to fix our sin problem and change that setting. Once we put our hearts towards God and ask for forgiveness, we can begin the process of becoming a true Christian.

Being Good isnt Enough

There is a common assumption in society that as long as you lead a good life, you will be able to go to heaven. However the thought that all good people enter heaven isnt truth from the Bible. This belief assumes that though some bad people need punishment, that most are generally good and entitled to heaven. It also assumes that the entrance to heaven is on the basis of merit and our actions, and not because of Gods grace. However theres no righteous deed we can do that will earn us a place in heaven (Titus 3:5). Lastly, the thought suggests that hell is only for a few marginal people who do purely evil acts.

Being a good person only isnt going to get someone into heaven. When we sin, we fall short of Gods standards. Sin separates us from a relationship with God (Isaiah 59:2). God wanted to give us a way to free ourselves from our sin, so He blessed us with Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus died on the cross as the only one worthy to pay the penalty for our sins demanded by the holiness of God. But in victory over death, God raised Jesus from the grave, defeating the consequences of sin.

Repent For Our Sins

Only when our sins are dealt with in Christ can we enter heaven. We cannot pay our own way. Jesus said, No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Because of Jesus Christs sacrificial death on the cross on our behalf, God freely offers us forgiveness. You have to accept Him into your heart, though, if you want to enter into the eternal life.

In order to be forgiven of our sins we have to recognize that we sin in the first place and then ask for forgiveness from God. Forgiveness is not automatic. The verse 1 John 1:9 states If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Christ offers to everyone the gifts of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. This gift cannot be worked for, earned, or achieved. Its dependent solely on Christs generous sacrifice on our behalf.

God Wants Us to Go to Heaven

Despite heaven not being our default destination that does not mean God doesnt want us there. He actually is hoping for us to come to Him! God would not have sent Jesus down to free us from our sins otherwise. In John 6:38, Jesus says For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. There are six other times in just John 6 where Jesus stresses that His purpose is to do the Will of God. God wants us to apologize for our sins and accept Jesus as our savior so that one day we can come home to Him.

There is a way for us on earth to get into heaven. We have to work on being a good Christian that regularly confesses our sins, and recognize that Jesus is our only way to salvation. If we do this we can take comfort in knowing that God is cheering us on and cant wait to have us home again.
Gambling is one of Americas favorite pastimes, at least when those activities are measured by revenue. The billions of dollars spent by gamblers far exceeds the billions paid for movie tickets, music recordings and the sales of the top fast-food chains from McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys and Starbucks combined. Americans gamble freely. Many gamblers dont think gambling is morally wrong. Is it appropriate for Christians to gamble according to God? We can turn to the Bible for our answers.

Believers in Christ should not take part in gambling  it breaks several biblical principles which are central to a Christians way of life. A Christian lifestyle is one that expresses faith in loving care and provision of Almighty God, not in chance or luck. The Bible tells us, But seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33). Our call as Christians is to love thy neighbor, not to profit a loss by someone else. Our call as Christians is also to avoid every form of greed and covetousness and to be content what we have. The Bible also says, Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. As Christians, we are to realize that everything we possess has been given in stewardship by God and should only be used in a way that honors God.

Its important to make distinctions between what gambling is and what it isnt. Signing up or registering for a free gift is not gambling. This simply puts a person in a position to receive something that is to be given away, and this is the donors way of selecting the recipient. However, in the case of gambling, a person is taking chances with hard-earned money.

Gambling also has major side effects which can aid in separation from God. Gambling can destroy lives in many countless ways. Gambling addictions are becoming more and more commonplace nowadays. With mega-gambling casinos throughout the world, the popularity of online gambling and poker playing, gambling problems have become a major addiction of this era. Gambling addictions and gambling addiction problems are severe addictions that have many consequences for the life of a gambler and his or her family. A gamblers addiction can progress rapidly, resulting in emotional, financial and social devastation in ways that can be considered irreparable. A person who struggles with gambling addiction should seek help immediately.

The gambling industry is also immoral. The gambling industry refers to organizations that sponsor and benefit from gambling. Those that sponsor gambling include casinos, lotteries, bingo parlors and other places where gambling is permitted. What is wrong with running such institutions and what is wrong with benefiting from gambling? Often, we are told that gambling is good because it raises money for good social causes. Because the excess money from state lotteries supports the state education system, some say that gambling is an investment in our children. Because the casinos are often willing to a pay a percentage of their earnings in local communities, which use the funds to fight crime, some argue that gambling is good because it makes a positive contribution to society and even lowers taxes. In other words, the end justifies the means and the motive excuses the act. But the true is, gambling is morally wrong.

The first reason its wrong is because it is motivated by greed. The goal of gambling institutions is to get lots of money quickly and they accomplish their goal well; gambling is a lucrative business. Notice that the goal of the gambling industry is not merely to get money; any businessman has that goal. Because he needs money to live. But the goal of the gambling industry is to get lots of money quickly, without providing a beneficial service or a sound product in return. It manifest covetousness, which Gods law forbids (Exodus 20:17), and the love of money, against which Gods Word also warns us. The Bible tells us, For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:10).

Ultimately, compulsive gambling is a sin. Few sincere, Bible-believing Christians would disagree with this. That is, gambling is sinful for those who are addicted to it. You are putting the love, desire and thrill of making big money over God which is idolatry.

Compulsive gamblers sin by wasting time. Gambling is for them such an addiction, that most or all of their spare time is spent gambling in one form or another. Weekends and vacations are taken up with trips to cities that have casinos. The more addicted to gambling a person becomes, the more likely he or she is to neglect their job and family and to focus exclusively on gambling. They also sin by wasting money and possessions. Any money on hand they will use in gambling. They will sell or pawn off their belongings to get more money with which to gamble. And when their resources are gone, they are likely to swindle or steal to get money.

Money and possessions are gifts from God that are to be used in His service. The eighth commandment, Thou shalt not steal, reminds us that God gives humans enough resources to live on, in order to accomplish His purpose for us on earth. It is our call and duty as Christians to use those resources wisely, and not desire what is anothers.
Near the beginning of every spring, Jews sit down around the table and celebrate the Passover meal. Many Christians do the same. But should Christians celebrate Passover? Thats a controversial question because Passover means different things for Jews and Christians.

Jews see it as God redeeming the people of Israel. Through miracles and the leadership of Moses, God led the people out of slavery in Egypt toward freedom in the Promised Land. Christians tend to see Passover primarily as the precursor to Gods eventual redemption of humanity through death and resurrection of Jesus, the ultimate Passover lamb.

While their interpretations of it differ, Passover can still bring Jews and Christians closer together. In my experience, Christian Passover celebrations reinforce what binds us. They also convey a deeply spiritual message about Gods desire for human freedom.

Moses observed the Passover. Jesus observed it as well. And people of faith around the world can do so today.

Passover is a uniquely powerful holiday because it teaches life-changing lessons through a meal known as a seder, which is the Hebrew word meaning order. Early in my rabbinic career, I had the opportunity to lead two Passover seders on consecutive evenings.

One took place at an upscale dining club. The men wore suits and most of the women wore dresses. The catered meal was brought to us, and a choir helped us sing the Passover songs. It was powerful and reminded me of the blessings of living and succeeding in America.

The next evening I led a Passover seder at a recovery center. Some of the folks came in from local homeless shelters. Many had experienced severe alcohol and drug addictions.

It was an equally powerful evening, reminding me that slavery is not always physical. It can take the form of mental, spiritual and psychological entrapment.

Wherever and whoever we are, Passover can add meaning and a spiritual depth to our lives. Heres why.
Quran  also spelled as Quran or Koran  is the primary holy text of the Islamic faith. According to Muslim beliefs, the words of the Quran were dictated by Muhammad, who relayed them orally to his followers. The term Quran translates to mean the recitation. The message was delivered by Muhammad approximately 600 years after the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Given the Quran is the foundation of the Islamic worldview  the basis of Muhammads prophetic claims, the foundation of Sharia law, and the most frequently recited book in the world.

The Quran mentions Jesus, or Isa, 25 times, but differently each time. The Quran explains that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary (19:20-21) and is high honored in this and the next world (3:45-47). Thus, He is called Isa ibn Maryam, or Jesus son of Mary. The Quran also refers to Him as ruh min Akkah (Spirit from God), mushia bil Baraka (the Messiah  someone blessed by God), kalimah min Allah (Word from/of God), and rasul (Prophet-Messenger) of God.

Some references of Jesus in the Quran include:

2:87: We gave Jesus the Son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit.

2:136: We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them . . .

2:253: . . . To Jesus the son of Mary We gave clear (Signs), and strengthened him with the holy spirit.

3:45: O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah.

3:46: "He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous."

3:48: And Allah will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel.

3:49: And (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe."

3:50: (I have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (Before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear Allah, and obey me.

3:52: When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: "Who will be My helpers to (the work of) Allah?"

3:55: Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute."

Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet who was given a special message  injul, or the gospel  to convey to all people. This message both confirmed what was taught in the Torah and foretold the coming of Prophet Muhammad. Thus, Jesus has a vital and unique role in the Muslim faith.

However, while Muslims accept that Jesus was a servant, teacher and lover of Gods Word, they do not believe that He was divine or the Son of God. The Quran describes the miracles Jesus performed, such as healing the sick and raising the dead, but does not ascribe these miracles to His divinity. Instead, Jesus is a sign to all humankind of Gods endless mercy.

Muslims do not believe in original sin. They see no need for a savior and, moreover, do not believe in Jesus crucifixion. The Quran states that Jesus was assumed into heaven (3:169), before His actual death. Islamic tradition explains that Jesus was spared death because He was Gods holy one. Muslims believe Jesus enemies could not triumph over Him because He was Gods chosen servant.

Like Christians, Muslims believe that Jesus will return. Islamic texts say that Jesus will come back on the Day of Judgment, when he will destroy the ad-dajjal  anti-Christ or imposter.

While Islamic thought on Jesus differs from Christian teaching, there are many shared beliefs between religions: the virgin birth of Jesus to Mary, profound respect for the mystery of God, love for Jesus, and a willingness to learn from His life to seek happiness with God.

Among the major world religions, Islam is the only non-Christian faith that recognizes the person of Jesus. The Quran talks a great amount about Jesus. However, Jesus Christ is the most controversial personality in Islam. Islam corroborates that Jesus was born to a virgin, was sinless, performed miracles and was superior to other prophets. Yet, Islam teaches that Jesus was no more than a prophet. It denies the central message of Christianity by denying Jesus divinity, crucifixion and resurrection.

There are many Christians who believe that we should not read the Quran or that reading it is unnecessary. Reading the Quran may not be your first choice reading, but reading it through it may have some benefits.

First, it gives you leverage. When you ask a question or make an argument about the Quran, a Muslim friend may ask you if youve taken the time to read their holy book. When you answer in the affirmative, it gives them pause and shows that youve taken the time to understand their religion and the arguments youre making. You can even challenge them to read the Bible with good grounds. It also shows that you take your faith seriously. Youre not just blindly accepting your faith. You know why you believe what you believe.

Secondly, reading the Quran can help us in our witness as well as understanding the differences between the Quran and the Bible. It can help us to grow in our Christian faith, securing us even more in what we believe.

Before you set out to read the Quran, if you think it would be helpful to read, its important to know that it is not light reading. Many find it repetitive and confusing, and is very difficult to read from cover to cover. But if you are going to reject a book and critique its religion, its important that you work hard to grasp its message. Remember, the revelation was given over a period of decades, and each verse has a particular scriptural and historical context. The themes of the Quran are interwoven among the chapters, and the book is not in chronological order. Despite the challenges of reading the text and understanding its message, there are more tools and resources available to help Christians read than ever before.
The Bible tells us, Beware that you dont look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven, their angels are always in the presence of my Heavenly Father (Matthew 18:10). This is one of the key passages in the Bible regarding guardian angels. We know from Scripture that the role of guardian angels is to guard men, institutions, cities and nations. However, we often have a distorted image of the functions of these angels. Many of us see them as beings that are good just to obtain advantages for us. Contrary to popular belief, this is not their only role. Guardian angels exist above all to help us in spiritual difficulties. God is with us through the action of the angels and they participate in our struggles to help us fulfill our calling. Guardian angels also conflict with the Hollywood vision of life. According to this view, there is a great tendency to think there are no struggles, difficulties or dangers and everything will have a happy ended. However, the Church teaches us the contrary. Life is full of struggles and dangers, both material and spiritual. Because of this, our Divine Creator has placed an angel to watch over each and every one of us. Want to know if youre in the presence of your guardian angel? Here are six signs youre being visited by your guardian angel.
A half century after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s death, we still reflect on the crucial role he played in the Civil Rights Movement. Kings life has been interpreted in new ways by successive generations of scholars, many of whom have drawn attention to the crucial role of local black leaders in the African American protest movements of the 1950s and 60s. Studies of King continue to acknowledge his distinctive leadership role. For example, though he often downplayed his contribution to the Montgomery bus boycott, Kings inspirational leadership and his speeches helped to transform a local protest over bus seating into a historically important event.

More generally, studies of King have suggested that his most significant contribution to the modern African American freedom struggle was to link black aspirations to transcendent, widely shared democratic and Christian ideals. While helping grassroots leaders mobilize African Americans for sustained mass struggles, he inspired participants to believe that their cause was just and consistent with traditional American egalitarian values.

King also appealed to the consciences of all Americans, thus building popular support for civil rights reform. His strategy of emphasizing nonviolent protest and interracial cooperation enabled him to fight effectively against the Southern system of legalized racial segregation and discrimination, but it also proved inadequate during his final years as he sought to overcome racial and economic problems that were national in scope. Remembering the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther Kings assassination, here are 50 quotes that continue to touch, movie and inspire us today:

1: If i cannot do great things, i can do small things in a great way.

2: Weve learned to fly the air like birds, weve learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we havent learned to walk the earth as brothers and sisters

3: Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you.

4: The time is always right to do what is right

5: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

6: Use me, God. Show me how to take who i am who i want to be, and what i can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.

7: Your ignorance is their power.

8: Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things.

9: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in time of challenge and controversy.

10: Almost always the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

11: Faith is taking the first step even when you dont see the full staircase.

12: Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

13: Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.

14: To be great, you have to be willing to be mocked, hated and misunderstood stay strong.

15: One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

16: If you cant fly then run, if you cant run then walk, if you cant walk then crawl, but by all means keep moving.

17: Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

18: Ive decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

19: The time is always right to do what is right.

20: Courage is the power of the mind to overcome the fear.

21: Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

22: Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

23: Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love wear.

24: Lifes most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?

25: Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.

26: If i cannot do great things i can do small things in a great way.

27: Never, never be afraid to do whats right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Societys punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

28: The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.

29: There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.

30:In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

31: I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, i still have a dream.

32: I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

33: The time is always right to do what is right.

34: Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

35: If you cant fly then run, if you cant run then walk, if you cant walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.

36: Returning hate for hare multiple hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.

37: Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

38: Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

39: The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education.

40: If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.

41: Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

42: There comes a time when silence is betrayal.

43: Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?

44: Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.

45: Live like Jesus died yesterday, rose this morning and is coming back tomorrow.

46: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

47: Faith is taking the first step even when you dont see the whole staircase.

48: Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

49: It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.

50: Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.

King is remembered for the way he responded to injustice. Instead of responding to racial segregation with violence, he followed Christ's command of loving thy enemies. King fought for more than Civil Rights and equality; he fought for the unity of all people. King, being a God-centered man, followed Christ's teachings, exemplifying his command to love one another by loving even his enemies. He may be gone, but his words will never be forgotten.
Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. The early bird gets the worm. I never knew a man come to greatness or eminence who lay abed late in the morning. The world is full of quotes that claim that early risers get ahead, but plenty of people still refuse to go to bed until after the clock has ticked past midnight.

Both the extreme night owls who go to bed at dawn and the average worker-bee tend to scoff at the age-old advice that suggests rising early gives a person a better chance at reaching their goals. It seems nonsensical to non-morning people that setting an alarm earlier could be a good thing. After all, non-morning people tend to be snarly and grouchy when they first get up. Even the friendly non-morningers are little more than less-dangerous zombies until they have drunk two massive cups of coffee. Given the intense loathing most people feel for their alarm clocks, how can anyone believe that starting the morning earlier than necessary is a good thing?

While the night owls stare in bafflement, or glare furiously at an early birds morning cheerfulness, morning people actually have the right idea. Science and old folklore both agree that morning people have an advantage over their later sleeping counterparts assuming the morning person is going to bed at a time that lets them get a healthy amount of sleep. Here are 10 advantages of becoming a morning person.
For Immediate Release, April 3, 2018 Contact: Perrin de Jong, (828) 595-1862, perrin@biologicaldiversity.org Lawsuit Aims to Speed Endangered Species Protection for North Carolina Fish, Salamander Seven-year Delay Has Increased Extinction Risk for Carolina Madtom, Waterdog ASHEVILLE, N.C. The Center for Biological Diversity today sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect two imperiled aquatic species in eastern North Carolina under the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, seeks protection for the Carolina madtom, a small catfish fighting for survival in the Tar River basin, and the Neuse River waterdog, a permanently aquatic salamander found only in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico river basins. You wont find these two North Carolina species anywhere else on Earth, and they deserve a fighting chance at survival, said Perrin de Jong, a staff attorney at the Center. The Carolina madtom and Neuse River waterdog desperately need Endangered Species Act protection to survive under the onslaught of development, dams and water pollution. The Center petitioned for protection of both species under the Act in April 2010. The Fish and Wildlife Service was required to make a decision about those protections within one year, meaning the agencys finding is now nearly seven years late.



In 2016 the Service developed a National Listing Workplan under which the Carolina madtom and Neuse River waterdog were scheduled to receive protection decisions by the end of 2017. But the Trump administration dropped the ball on protecting the species. The Endangered Species Act is incredibly successful at protecting and recovering animals and plants, but it only works if species are actually listed as threatened or endangered, said de Jong. Protecting these two fascinating animals will help prevent their extinction and will benefit the people of North Carolina by helping to restore the states rivers. Long delays in protecting species under the Act have been a persistent problem for decades. At least 42 species have gone extinct waiting for protection. A recent peer-reviewed study found that on average species waited 12 years for protection during the Acts 40-plus year history.
For Immediate Release, April 2, 2018 Contact: Timothy Preso, Earthjustice, tpreso@earthjustice.org, (406) 586-9699

Bryan Bird, Defenders of Wildlife, bbird@defenders.org, (505) 395-7332

Andrea Santarsiere, Center for Biological Diversity, ASantarsiere@biologicaldiversity.org, (303) 854-7748 Court Rejects Flawed Mexican Gray Wolf Rule Ruling Rejects Measures That Hurt, Instead of Help, Rare Wolves TUCSON, Ariz.  A federal judge today rejected provisions in a 2015 federal management rule that unlawfully imposed roadblocks to recovery of the endangered Mexican wolf. The rule arbitrarily limited the lobos population numbers, banned them from needed recovery habitat, and loosened the rules against killing the animals in the wild. Todays decision by U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Zipps ruled that imposing these measures violated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services duty under the Endangered Species Act to recover the Mexican wolf from its current status as one of the most endangered mammals in North America. There were once thousands of the wolves living in Americas Southwest and now there are only about 100 left. The judge particularly faulted government officials for disregarding the advice of expert scientists who warned that the new management rule would hinder the Mexican wolfs recovery. Judge Zipps said, This case is unique in that the same scientists that are cited by the agency publicly communicated their concern that the agency misapplied and misinterpreted findings in such a manner that the recovery of the species is compromised. To ignore this dire warning was an egregious oversight by the agency. The judge ordered government officials to revise the rule in response to her ruling and ordered the parties to the case to report back in 30 days with a proposed deadline for that revision.



This ruling offers hope that the Mexican wolf can be pulled back from the brink of extinction before it is too late, said Earthjustice attorney Timothy Preso, who argued the case for conservationists. The judge made clear that management of the lobo must follow the law and the science on Mexican wolf recovery instead of giving in to the political demands of wolf foes.



Todays ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife.



This decision makes clear that the Fish and Wildlife Service has to do more to protect and recover endangered Mexican wolves, said Andrea Santarsiere, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. With only 114 Mexican wolves left in the wild, the government cannot take a slow and incremental approach to recovery. We need more wolves in more places, including the Grand Canyon in Arizona and southern Rockies in New Mexico. The court today reversed what seemed a dim future for the Mexican gray wolf in the Southwestern U.S., said Bryan Bird, Southwest program director for Defenders of Wildlife. If the lobo is going to have a real chance at recovery, it needs room to roam and protection from unnecessary persecution. Background

The Mexican gray wolf is one of the most endangered mammals in North America. At last count, only 113 Mexican wolves survived in the Southwest in a single, small population occupying the Blue Range of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. This population is beset by numerous threats, including widespread illegal killing as well as inbreeding caused by inadequate releases of more genetically diverse wolves from a captive population.



The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a new management rule for the wild Mexican wolf population in January 2015. While the Endangered Species Act mandates that such rules provide for the survival and recovery of the species, the 2015 plan hindered Mexican wolf recovery through measures that the most expert wolf biologists deemed inadequate. Among other things, the 2015 plan:

Capped the reintroduced population at 325 wolves, a level that scientists have demonstrated to be too low for long-term survival, let alone recovery;

Barred wolf dispersal north of Interstate 40, where essential recovery habitat for the species is located;

Expanded opportunities for killing wolves without any safeguards in place to prevent the loss of genetically important individuals. These measures, by themselves and cumulatively, threatened to prevent recovery of the Mexican gray wolf, consigning the species to a perpetual battle for survival.
Cinemark has announced that it will be sponsoring the Film category of the Young Lions competition, which forms part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, for South Africa again this year.

Global competition

The search is on for teams comprising two young professionals (such as an art director and a copywriter) and who are currently working in creative communication, advertising or digital agencies. Registrations are now open on the Cinemark website to enter the 2018 version of the competition. You will have just 48 hours to show us what you are made of.The creative brief, which will have a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) angle, will be posted on the Cinemark website at. No late entries will be accepted.You will have just 48 hours from the time that the brief is made public to film, edit and deliver a 60-second commercial. The team of two young creatives (aged 30 and younger, born on or after 22 June 1987), who win the national competition in their home country, will go on to compete at the Cannes Festival for the prestigious honour of being crowned the Young Lions of Cannes 2018. And, your local winning advert will be shown on our big screens at Ster-Kinekor cinemas across the country.The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Young Lions competition take place in Cannes, France, from 18  22 June 2018.Register today to enter your winning team combination on the Cinemark website, and get ready for the most intense 48 hours of your life!
A group of women from Soweto, Tembisa and Mamelodi graduated from the Gauteng Township Retail Enterprise Development programme, which aims to empower female entrepreneurs involved within the township retail industry.

A ceremony held at the Protea Hotel by Marriott Johannesburg Parktonian last week saw the 61 women - made up of 18 youth and 43 adults - being presented with certificates of completion. The Gauteng Township Retail Enterprise Development Programme for Women was established in 2017 and is funded by the Gauteng Department of Social Development.The programme offered training sessions on basic business management for micro-enterprises, and one-on-one mentorship sessions to address the unique challenges faced by township retail businesses. It also provided capital support by providing business tools including tablets, airtime vending machines, South African Revenue (SARS) compliance and card swiping machines, and stock worth R10,000.Pumulani Ncube from Beehive Capital, the company that facilitated the programme, commented: Having such opportunities to impart skills in order to grow the township economy is vital. These skills will be used to grow businesses and to help identify other revenue streams that the 61 women can exploit to grow their revenue.
Australian regulators will soon be faced with a challenge: can animal flesh produced in a lab be called meat?

Amid reports that lab-grown meat could be on sale this year, the US Cattlemens Association (USCA) last month filed a petition to the US government advocating for a legal definition of beef and meat.They want a definition that excludes man-made or artificially manufactured products. To be labelled as beef and meat, they argue, the product should be derived from the tissue or flesh of animals that have been harvested in the traditional manner.







Read more:

Weighing up lab-grown steak: the problems with eating meat are not Silicon Valley's to solve







The rise of lab meat



() developing a way to produce real meat from animal cells, without the need to feed, breed and slaughter actual animals.





All of the food products we know and love underwent some human intensive intervention, and without such, they would be impossible to consume.



Lab meat in Australia

When is milk, milk?

This is the latest regulatory issue raised in relation to controversial emerging food technologies. From genetically modified (GM) and irradiated food to nanotechnologies, the contending views centre around the kinds of food systems we want, and the technological means we use to get there.Like these other food technologies, labelling of lab-grown meat products is already proving contentious.Generally, companies that grow meat in the lab emphasise the meatiness of their future products, to appeal to consumers and food standards regulators. Memphis Meats , funded in part by dominant US meat processor Tyson Foods Inc It is also common for startups for lab-grown product manufacturing to position animal tissue engineering as a type of farming, as opposed to a new process. Supermeat , another silicon valley meat startup, refers to lab-grown meat as clean meat, which it says is no different from todays rice, milk, tomato, meat and broccoli, adding:Ironically, though, lab-grown meat companies have had to emphasise the novelty of the processes that go into growing meat in order to get patents and attract investors. They have also emphasised the different processes that go into lab-grown meat to support the products environmental and ethical claims.Growing meat is a very different process from breeding and slaughtering animals. It begins with the submersion of stem cells from donor animals or embryos into a serum that is placed into a bioreactor . This serum is commonly from the fetuses of dead cows.To engineer animal flesh from cells grown in the lab, a few techniques exist. For instance, 3D printers have the potential to print lab-grown meat that is not only multidimensional but also contains fat and blood.Although technical barriers remain , the influx of investment into lab-grown meats and the projected price drop have buttressed claims that synthetic meat products will be on sale within three years.Trade agreements will stop Australia rejecting imports of lab-grown meat without scientific justification. Australia will have to import lab-grown meat and products such as food ink cartridges for 3D printers that contain synthetic meat.But before we can eat our lab-grown meat and three veg, the Food Standards Australian and New Zealand Authority will have to perform public health and safety assessments on each different lab-grown meat product. As a novel food, lab-grown meat triggers requirements under our food standards code In Australia, meat is defined as the whole or part of the carcass if slaughtered of any animal. This includes the usual suspects (cattle, pig and poultry), as well as any other animal that is allowed for human consumption under state and territories individual laws.To use the word meat on a food label in Australia, the contents would have to satisfy this definition.For ethical and market reasons, lab-grown meat companies would not want to satisfy that legal definition of meat. After all, being seen as victimless meat is a key selling point of lab-grown meat.Some lab-grown products will contain part of a slaughtered carcass through the use of bovine fetal serum (derived from blood from a cow fetus) . Synthetic meat using this serum could then satisfy the definition of the word meat and be labelled as such.But companies using lab-grown meat that contains the blood of cow fetuses would also have to stay away from making victimless claims. These claims would arguably mislead consumers and breach consumer law.With the labels of lab-grown meat under close scrutiny by farming groups, it could still be politically risky to label lab-grown meat as meat, considering the push by dairy industries from the European Union the United States and Australia to ban plant-based products from using the word dairy or milk, such as in almond milk or rice milk.Equally, the term meat-free does not apply to lab-grown meat. Consumers would reasonably expect, at least initially, that a product labelled meat-free would contain no animal material.Stuck between a rock and a hard place, lab-grown meat companies may have to opt for vague product names without the word meat, and clunky product descriptions, such as muscle grown from animal-derived cells or biosynthesised cultured isolated cells from cow skeletal muscle. Such non-natural-sounding descriptors may affect consumer acceptability and public trust.Then again, the company name of the manufacturer is required on food labels in Australia.







Read more:

No animal required, but would people eat artificial meat?







A cheaper food source?

So whats on the label?

Lab-grown meat companies have been careful to include meat in their (often trademarked) names including MosaMeats SuperMeat and Memphis Meats . The use of such company names on lab-grown meat labels could infer to consumers that lab-grown meat is the same as traditional meat without raising any legal issues.Given that some groups within Australia may have a commercial interest in undermining consumer acceptance of lab-grown meat, it is all the more important to discuss the labelling of lab-grown meat out in the open  that is, within a regulatory process that is transparent and participatory.The current institution and process for setting food labelling standards in Australia is, however, highly criticised . Meanwhile, farmers remain a trusted group for the general public of Australia, giving the edge to traditional meat products.Lab-grown meat is positioned as the solution to food insecurity and the harms caused by industrial agriculture including its high greenhouse gas emissions Certainly, some empirical works support the claim that lab-grown meat will be far less resource intensive and polluting than intensive animal agriculture.But some are already casting doubt , or at least presenting a more realistic perspective , on the environmental benefits of lab-grown meat.Culturing meat in bioreactors is more energy-intensive than the production of other plant-based meat substitutes and the production of smaller animals (such as chickens). Meanwhile, the environmental impact of producing the materials required to feed cells is unclear, as is the amount of waste produced during the process.Clear prohibitions on the labelling of lab-grown meat as meat are likely to appeal to many sides, except perhaps the lab-grown meat companies themselves.For some , synthetic meat falls decidedly into the frankenfood column, and mainstream media coverage strongly plays into these feelings. The growing preference for unprocessed, whole foods may drive demand for laws that require labels to distinguish between meat and synthetic meat.For others , especially carnivores, lab-grown meat promises to reconcile the tension between wanting to eat meat without contributing to the harms caused by intensive livestock systems.







Read more:

The limit of labels: ethical food is more than consumer choice









() it makes the targeting of higher-value markets and using our natural grazing practices more appealing.



In contrast to the US Cattlemens Association, the Meat and Livestock Association of Australia frames 3D-printed meat as an opportunity to increase the price of real beef products.As Tom Stockwell, a cattle producer and outgoing president of the Northern Territory Cattlemens Association, said We can expect lobbying in Australia for mandatory labels that differentiate between lab-grown products and meat over the next few years. But, unlike in the US, this lobbying is less likely to resist lab-grown meat being labelled as meat, and more likely to focus on letting consumers know whether their meat was lab-grown or farm-produced.This article was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article
Organisations and their brands need to take consumers into their confidence when facing a crisis. Although this seems straightforward, it is rarely the case. Quite often corporates respond too late or hope the issue will not surface in the media or social media.

Once a corporate calamity becomes present, it is vital to acknowledge the problem immediately and to act swiftly.

Organisations must confide in their stakeholders by making them aware of the issues the company is facing and what levels of engagement the organisation is employing to rectify the disaster.

Corporate lip service will not cut it. Consumers can see through the commercial spin and will hold the company accountable, as they rightfully should.

When the company or brand does engage with its stakeholders, it must do so thoughtfully and compassionately. In the case of Enterprise, the Listeriosis epidemic has been responsible for the deaths of over 180 people and infected almost a thousand others since the outbreak. These consumers are a part of somebodys family, a colleague and or are members of our community. Enterprise can expect indignant responses from those who have lost loved ones or suffered ill health as a result of their products.

Granted, it was impossible for Enterprise to immediately have a database of everyone impacted by the illness. But they could have entrusted the media with their side of the story.

Answering the medias questions openly and honestly, would not only have provided consumers with clarity but help maintain trust in the embattled brand.

Provide solutions. Enterprise should have provided guidelines in terms of which products were implicated and the types of symptoms to be aware of. They should have informed those experiencing symptoms where to seek medical help. These steps although requiring minor effort to execute could have softened the blow for Enterprise.

Corporates must always plan the next communication steps in order of priority and keep communication lines open. Brands cannot over communicate in times of crises, provided the information has been verified and is accurate.

Partnerships are critical. The Enterprise disaster could have been minimised had the company partnered up with the government. Government would have made their medical networks aware of the outbreak and through this partnership, Enterprise could potentially have saved the lives of many. Through the media, consumers could have been informed to seek help from their local clinics, at no cost to them.

Communicate openly and honestly, even if the news is bad. Gaining consumer trust again will be easy if they believed your story the first time around.

Financial losses and brand erosion

Pre-disaster public relations opportunities

In communications, this approach is a cardinal sin.Due to the affordability of certain Enterprise products, polony is almost a staple food for many poor South Africans. Will the brand suffer financial losses? Undoubtedly. As things stand, Tiger Brands, the holding company of Enterprise Foods, has projected a loss of over R800m. It is also facing two class action lawsuits amounting to R425m related to the Listeriosis outbreak.The more discerning consumer will not easily forget what happened and how the situation was managed. Enterprise is facing brand erosion over the Listeriosis outbreak, but the lower income consumer will continue to support the brand because it provides an affordable source of protein, and there are very limited alternatives that can beat the price of polony.Large corporations cannot only implement a reputational management strategy in times of crises. When dealing with disasters, both present or impending, it is always better to employ proactive thinking over reactive reasoning.Corporations should always have the necessary media relationships in place long before the onset of a disaster. Stakeholders should know what the company stands for before any calamity. They should know who and what drives the organisations behaviour. What is considered important to them, how they link in with their consumers, what their charitable programmes are. How staff are treated, and what value investors are getting.The list of pre-disaster public relations opportunities are endless, and it is unfortunate, that many corporate companies do not have these in place because public relations is often considered as a nice to have business function. But sadly, organisations often realise after a crisis what a positive impact PR can make on the organisations bottom line. Not having this strategic business function in place will always leave the company grappling to clean up its brand image.Reputations are built on trust, which can be lost due to a variety of reasons. Boards of companies often forget the human element behind the sales drive: the consumer who makes a purchasing decision based on trust, pride, admiration, feel-good factors, and responsible corporate citizenry. Price is not always the only determining factor. It is impossible to say how long it will take the consumer to trust a brand such as Enterprise again, but it can happen with a strategic PR plan in place.This plan focuses on direct, honest and authentic communication with the consumer as well as all other stakeholders that were impacted by the disaster. Enterprise needs to give people a reason to believe in their brand and to trust them again. This can only happen if Enterprise is transparent and claims responsibility for its involvement in all those tragic deaths.
The listeriosis outbreak has negatively affected trading partners' perceptions of the safety of food exports from SA and could have financial repercussions that extend far beyond the firms at the heart of the crisis, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies told Parliament on Wednesday.

"We have a significant reputational challenge which we now need to confront," he said."Recovering from incidents like this is a massive challenge for companies concerned. They need to embrace it with a spirit of transparency. The same applies to us as a country," he told a joint sitting of the portfolio committees on agriculture forestry and fisheries, health and trade and industry.The outbreak is the worst in recorded history and has been responsible for 185 deaths since January 2017, says the Department of Health.On 4 March the National Institute for Communicable Diseases identified Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria that causes listeriosis, in ready-to-eat processed meats made by Tiger Brands and RCL Foods The bacteria was found in samples of Tiger Brands' Enterprise polony and sausages and in polony made by RCL Foods. This prompted the National Consumer Commission to order product recalls and the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries to suspend their export certificates.Tiger Brands has since also recalled its Snax products due to listeria contamination.SA annually exported sausages and similar products to the value of $18m and exports of other prepared meat products averaged $45m a year, Niki Kruger, the Department of Trade and Industry's chief director for international trade and economic development, told MPs.While the exports of the affected products represented just 0.01% of SA's global exports, the listeriosis outbreak had already affected exports of other foodstuffs, she said. Rwanda had banned imports of South African dairy, meat, fruit and vegetables in December. Several other countries have banned the import of South African processed meat products, including Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and Namibia.Determining how listeria had been introduced into production facilities was vital, said Davies. "The sooner we can come to some certainty about the common thread between the factories the better. If there is a listeria outbreak in another country traced back to SA we are in big, deep trouble," he said.Davies blamed the industry for the lack of compulsory safety standards for processed meat products, saying business had pushed back against National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications' attempts to do so four years ago. The regulator referred the issue to the Department of Health, which has yet to craft legally binding safety standards for these products.
Gold Fields made its long-anticipated move to buy assets in Ghana, buying half of Canadian Asanko Gold's subsidiary in the country and buying a 9.9% stake in the parent company for a combined total of nearly $204m.

Nick Holland, CEO: Gold Fields

Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland has long spoken of Ghana as an area of growth for the JSE-listed company, which has the Damang and Tarkwa mines in the country. There had been speculation that there could be a deal with AngloGold Ashanti around the Iduapriem mine, but AngloGold repeatedly said it was not interested.To pay for the two-tier deal with Asanko, Gold Fields will use its cash and draw down on existing debt facilities. Gold Fields said the investment would provide a return of 15% at a gold price of $1,300/oz, and it would be paid back within five years."We are comfortable that despite our current investment programme (Damang in Ghana and Gruyere in Australia) this acquisition is well within our balance sheet capacity, particularly as it is a producing asset," Gold Fields said.The transaction should be completed in the third quarter of 2018 provided the Ghanaian government gives its approval for the deal.Gold Fields will pay $165m upfront to buy a 50% stake in Asanko's subsidiary Asanko Gold Ghana, which owns 90% of the Asanko gold mine and exploration tenements in Ghana. The Ghanaian government owns the remaining 10% of the mine.Gold Fields will pay $20m later towards the Asanko Gold Ghana transaction."Importantly, the Asanko Gold Mine is an in-production asset that generates earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and cash flow and does not require any additional investment by the join venture partners," Gold Fields said."The Asanko joint venture will give immediate access to low-cost production ounces, increasing the quality of the Gold Fields portfolio," it said.Asanko has guided the market to expect average annual production of 253,000oz from the gold mine at an all-in sustaining cost of $860/oz between 2019 and 2023."Further, the sizeable resource base of the asset is immediately accretive to Gold Fields in terms of life, with the potential for further discoveries on the large, relatively unexplored, tenement package held by Asanko," it said.In addition, Gold Fields will buy 9.9% of TSX-listed Asanko for $17.6m.
ZURICH, Switzerland - Switzerland has become a global hub for cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology they are built on, with investors flocking to the wealthy Alpine nation to get in on the virtual action.

Zug, Switzerland

The country's largest city, Zurich, set up its first bitcoin ATM four years ago, while the Swiss national rail company has since 2016 provided the possibility of purchasing the virtual currency at over 1,000 distributors across the country.Just a half-hour drive from Zurich is the small town of Zug, which thanks to a business-friendly taxation scheme has long been a global economic hub and is home to tens of thousands of companies, including large investment firms, pharmaceutical companies and commodity trading groups.But for the past few years, a new category of company has descended on the town, which in high-tech circles has been dubbed "Crypto Valley".That is the name of an association set up in Zug in 2013 with the explicit aim of drawing startups dabbling in virtual currency technologies, creation and trading to the town.The push worked. Out of the world's six biggest Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) -- an unregulated means to raise funds for new cryptocurrency ventures -- last year, four took place in Switzerland, according to Swiss financial watchdog Finma.Blockchain technology allows for the development of peer-to-peer payment systems. It runs by recording transactions as "blocks" that are updated in real time on a digitised ledger that can be read from anywhere and does not have a central record keeper.Zug is currently home to some 200 blockchain companies including the foundation behind ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin.The town has also since 2016 accepted bitcoin payments for council services.The southern Italian-speaking Swiss town of Chiasso, which is attempting to compete with Zug as a "CryptoPolis", has meanwhile decided to accept bitcoin payments for some taxes.Faced with a "sharp increase" in the number of ICOs, Finma last month published guidelines detailing the regulatory requirements for such fundraising schemes."Creating transparency at this time is important given the dynamic market and the high level of demand," the regulator said.It warned that it was in particular important to protect against money laundering, since the risk was high "in a decentralised blockchain-based system, in which assets can be transferred anonymously and without any regulated intermediaries."Switzerland's famous banking sector has been divided in the face of the flood of new virtual currencies on the markets.Some Swiss banks were among the first to dive into the cryptocurrency pool.Vontobel for instance created the first structured bitcoin product, a tracker which allows for investment in shifting values of the virtual currency without purchasing the coins directly.Falcon Private Bank has meanwhile offered asset management services for a range of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ethereum, while financial and trading services group Swissquote offers trading in five virtual currencies.Switzerland's two largest banks UBS and Credit Suisse have however so far kept their distance from the crypto boom.In an interview with theweekly late last year, UBS chairman Axel Weber, a former head of the German central bank, warned of significant "design flaws" in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.UBS has decided to warn clients against investing in the virtual currency, he said, because the bank does "not consider it valuable and not sustainable".
While there are many benefits to the digitisation of payroll systems, these systems could also be exposing employers and their employees to online security threats, says Arlene Leggat, director at the South African Payroll Association (SAPA).

More sensitive information transferred electronically

Employers legally obliged to protect employees privacy

Be future-ready

In the past, human resources and payroll personnel would be the ones processing everything from timesheets to leave forms. If an employees banking details changed, they would need to notify the appropriate payroll administrator to make sure their salary makes its way to the correct bank account. The next generation of payroll software has made it possible for employees to manage many of these tasks themselves, says Leggat.Tasks that usually required paper trails and approvals, such as travel allowances and overtime claims, can now be processed online, which leads to an increased amount of personal information being shared via web portals.As a payroll company or a payroll department, you will have a lot of employee-related personal information at your fingertips. The more open and accessible your payroll system is, the more attention you need to be paying to things like firewalls, internet security, cyber threats and general information technology safety, says Leggat.Employers now also have a legal obligation to protect their employees information thanks to the POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act). This legislation sets conditions for how personal information can lawfully be processed; it has been signed by the President and is now the law.Companies are responsible for making sure they are complying with this Act. Its not only companies in the Financial Services and Healthcare sectors which need to understand their rights and responsibilities regarding personal information processing  any company who uses online payroll processing has to make sure they are protecting their people from harm as well as protecting their right to privacy, says Leggat.International companies have an extra set of privacy concerns to deal with on top of the POPI Act. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) was adopted by the European Parliament in early 2016 and while many of the stipulations are similar, a business will need to comply with both acts if they are transferring personnel and payroll data across borders.A company in South Africa may be outsourcing their payroll function to their European counterpart. In this case, they would need to comply with both the GDPR and POPIA legislation. They are different flavours of data protection laws, but it could be necessary for you to tweak your payroll processing strategy so that you have a global view and comply with what is common among them, says Leggat.People are already wary of sharing their personal information, cellphone numbers, credit card numbers and addresses online. Having a future-ready payroll software solution can make your business more efficient, but its an employers responsibility to make sure that their employees are comfortable using it as well.Companies need to take data protection seriously and their staff needs to know that their privacy is a top concern if you want widespread uptake in these systems, concludes Leggat.
Recently, and on an ongoing basis, revelations of sexual harassment in Hollywood have made the headlines, and stories of sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour amongst celebrities and entertainers are being revealed on an almost daily basis. These instances of sexual harassment have also not been limited to inappropriate conduct against female celebrities and entertainers, or restricted to harassment along cisgender lines. The popular #MeToo campaign went viral globally and, perhaps not unexpectedly, the hashtag was adopted and retweeted and circulated by a number of South Africans on social media platforms. In the face of this seemingly rampant pattern of abuse, what, if anything, can South African employees legally do to either deal with historical or current abuse in the workplace?

physical conduct of a sexual nature includes all unwanted physical contact, ranging from touching to sexual assault and rape, and includes a strip search by or in the presence of the opposite sex;



verbal forms of sexual harassment include unwelcome innuendoes, suggestions and hints, sexual advances, comments with sexual overtones, sex-related jokes or insults or unwelcome graphic comments about a person's body made in their presence or to them, unwelcome and inappropriate enquiries about a person's sex life, and unwelcome whistling at a person or group of persons;



non-verbal forms of sexual harassment include unwelcome gestures, indecent exposure, and the unwelcome display of sexually explicit pictures and objects;



quid pro quo harassment which takes place when an owner, employer, supervisor, member of management or co-employee undertakes or attempts to influence or influences the process of employment, promotion, training, discipline, dismissal, salary increments or other benefits of an employee or job applicant in exchange for sexual favours.

A starting point for any employee facing this type of conduct in the workplace is to understand that South African labour law, which is recognised globally as providing a progressive and protected environment for employees, prohibits any form of sexual harassment in the workplace, and provides a number of protections for employees who may be the victims of such conduct. It is material to also note that these protections also apply to applicants for employment.The Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998, is the primary piece of legislation which provides a protective mechanism for employees. The Employment Equity Act provides in section 6 that no person may unfairly discriminate against another and that "harassment of an employee is a form of unfair discrimination and is prohibited on any one, or a combination of grounds of unfair discrimination". Such grounds are listed grounds such as gender, or on any other arbitrary ground.The Employment Equity Act also sets out further practical details on the handling of sexual harassment cases, primarily through the Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment, issued under the Employment Equity Act. The Code also gives guidelines as to what type of conduct will be considered to be sexual harassment. These are:The well-established forums available to employees of resolving labour disputes are also available in the case of sexual harassment, in order to provide employees with an affordable, effective and easily accessible mechanism to deal with these issues. An employee may refer a dispute to the CCMA or the Labour Courts for sexual harassment. If the CCMA provides an arbitration award, it can order compensation of up to 12 months remuneration, and damages of up to R205,433.30. The Labour Court can similarly order this level of compensation, but has the discretion to award unlimited damages.The CCMA and Labour Courts have shown themselves to be unsympathetic to employers who allow sexual harassment of their employees, and have consistently found that in cases of sexual harassment leading to resignation by the victim, an unfair dismissal (constructive dismissal) has taken place. As such, employers should be aware that they have a positive obligation to ensure that their employers are not victims of this type of conduct.Employers should adopt a sexual harassment policy which is in line with the Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment, which should be effectively communicated to all employees. The policy must provide for clear procedures to deal with sexual harassment which enable the resolution of problems in an efficient, effective and sensitive way.Another critical issue for employers to consider is that instances of sexual harassment of their employees may lead to direct liability on their part. This could either be on the basis that the employer could be held vicariously liable for the conduct of its employees who committed the acts of sexual harassment against a colleague, or in light of the provisions of the Employment Equity Act which require that all employers must take steps to eliminate unfair discrimination in any employment policy or practice.Complainants should never feel that their grievances are ignored or trivialised, or fear reprisals. Furthermore, grievances must be handled confidentially to protect the identities of the parties involved.
Chairperson of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) Rubben Mohlaloga is expected to be sentenced today in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria.

He was convicted of fraud and money laundering in January. Mohlaloga along with five others was accused of defrauding the Land Bank of about R6 million in 2008.Mohlaloga and his accomplices transferred money from the Land Bank to an attorney's trust account.Mohlaloga was appointed Chairperson of Icasa in December 2017. However, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications recently decided to remove Mohlaloga as Icasa Board chairperson.The committee said the Icasa Act prohibits anyone convicted of fraud from serving as a councillor of the Communications Industry Regulator.The committees decision will have to be adopted by the National Assembly.
Within days of Human Rights Day on 21 March when SA commemorated the 1960 massacre by Sharpeville Police of 69 peacefully protesting anti-Apartheid activists, the property housing Sharpeville's present-day police complex was sold for a hefty R14.75m in March.

Earmarked for development

Another property that went under Joff van Reenen, lead auctioneer and Director of High Street Auctions hammer in March, was the Masonic Hotel, Brakpans famed historic landmark in the heart of bustling Voortrekker Road. The hotel was sold lock, stock and barrel, but the frontage hides a deceptively large property behind the building that covers more than 1,980m. The hotel was snapped up for R2.6m, and the site is absolutely ideal for the development of modern student housing.Van Reenen says it was not surprising that a prime redevelopment site in Cape Towns bohemian East City Precinct was snapped up for R10.5m prior to the auction at Summer Place. Redevelopment opportunities in Cape Towns Central City are extremely limited because there is very little greenfield land available in an area hemmed by Table Mountain, Signal Hill and the ocean. The vast majority of the buildings in the old city also fall under Heritage and, as such, there is an array of development restrictions.The old SA Typographical Union Building in Canterbury Street epitomises the extremely rare property redevelopment opportunities in Cape Towns CBD where heritage restrictions are not in play. The three-storey building currently comprises parking on the ground floor topped by two levels of offices.Van Reenen says development will also be the order of the day across the country in Witbank, Mpumalanga, after R7m was paid for a prime 7.8ha property along the N12 that is earmarked for 74 homes and 15 industrial sites. The land has excellent freeway access and offers future residents a borehole already on site.High Streets first two auctions of the year have been outstanding successes and while specialist property auctioneers were not wanting for business last year, the renewed vigour stimulating the economy is no doubt going to be excellent for our market in 2018, Van Reenen says.
Millennials will soon become the largest group of travel customers, driving the evolution of the industry with a demand for cutting-edge digital solutions and a thirst for more 'bleisure'.

Jozef Polc via 123RF

Apps vs maps

Tech mixed with talk

Its all mobile

Instant and automated

The bleisure trend

According to a recent study by Travelport, UK-based millennial business travellers consume 18 different categories of apps and nearly twice as many as baby boomers. Boosting the trend in bleisure travel, 62% of millennial business travellers also regularly extend their business trips by a few days for leisure purposes.As the stats show, the days of folded maps, travellers cheques and guidebooks are long gone, says Otto de Vries, CEO of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA). Millennial business travellers are so digitally-savvy and constantly connected, travel experts need to stay ahead of the curve in what they offer, from the booking process to the journey itself. The good news is that industry leaders are keeping up with the rapidly evolving needs of this market, and interestingly, there is still a strong need for a more personalised and tailored travel experience within this market.This marriage of human interaction and digital connectivity is exactly where travel experts are finding their niche and equipping travellers with the right bleisure solutions, expert advice and efficient processes to match their expectations, he added.De Vries offered his insights into how millennial business travellers differ in their approach to travel and how the industry has evolved to accommodate this group of consumers.The total number of mobile app downloads in 2017 numbered around 197 billion, according to Statista. From Uber to Google Maps, these digital tools equip travellers with on-the-go services that ensure smooth travel. Business travellers no longer have to fiddle with paper maps and pens, when they can use a mobile app like Visit a City. Well-liked by leisure travellers, this mobile app is very clear about the distance between two destinations and how to get from point A to B. Its also free and works offline.These days, business travellers are doubling up on travel management company advice and everyday consumer apps to help them get things done efficiently, not only before they book, but also while on their trip. They want technology that is cool, current, and anticipates their needs, but they also want to save time by getting an expert to help sift through the options for them and help get them where they need to go. According to Travelport, 42% of Britains millennial business travellers admit that a common pain point is being unable to get advice from human consultants during instant booking processes.Walk-ins and reservations made by telephone using a printed brochure are pretty much a thing of the past. The majority of millennial business travellers still book online through their desktop or laptop (51%), or a corporate booking tool (42%). One quarter says they book business travel online through their smartphone (27%) - a number expected to grow. This shift has prompted industry leaders to not only invest in apps but to get their sites mobile ready, taking user experience into consideration, improving the look, feel and most importantly, the navigation of their online products, to ensure a smooth booking process.The adequacy and availability of digital trip management is a major expectation for millennial travellers, especially those embarking on business trips. They need to be able to access their booking information at all times across their digital devices. Apps like Trip It can curate travel documents into a master itinerary that can be easily accessed online, but millennials need more. They need instant travel updates, reminders, booking confirmations, boarding passes sent to them automatically to their fingertips.Millennial business travellers are driving the trend of combining business trips with leisure, by extending their business trips by a few days so they can experience local attractions.Companies are slowly starting to realise the value of bleisure trips to recruit and retain millennial talent, while travel experts answer this trend by increasing their bleisure offerings, accommodating business travel budgets and pushing this through MICE travel, says de Vries.By enhancing business travel through leisure options like sightseeing opportunities, special events and activities, companies can foster loyalty among the millennial generation and destinations can encourage travellers to extend their stay, he concludes.
The Cape Town Electronic Music Festival (CTEMF) will be held at Atlantic Film Studios in Milnerton, Cape Town from 6-8 of April 2018.

 YOUR FULL @CTEMF 2018 LINE UP 



Check it out here: https://t.co/bvWkiRiyBe



And grab your tickets to join us for the electronic event of the year to celebrate three days of musical appreciation: https://t.co/o72zGIZCxN#CTEMF #CTEMF2018 pic.twitter.com/IQ6ximC8Pn  CTEMF (@CTEMF) March 22, 2018

The one major change for the 2018 edition of the CTEMF is the venue. The Atlantic Film Studios will host nine international acts including Dutch disco boss Job Jobse, Swiss legend Deetron and Egyptian Lover.The Red Bull Music stage will host Egyptian Lover, the international US pioneer of electro and hip-hop music. Real name Greg Broussard, Egyptian Lover made history with his singles(1984) and(1986).Gerd Janson will play the closing set. The German artist is known as the quintessential DJs DJ, finding the tracks that get the true aficionados excited and on their feet. From running his label to writing as a music journalist to playing to appreciative crowds around the world, Gerd Janson is magical to watch and will leave festival attendees thrilled.South Africa will also be represented on CTEMFs programme, with a long list of local pioneers and innovators of the local music scene, including Aux Gawd, Stiff Pap, and DWSON. A series of workshops will also precede the festival.Check out the full line-up here and buy tickets here
SAN FRANCISCO, US - The race to perfect robot cars continues despite fears kindled by the death of a woman hit by a self-driving Uber vehicle while pushing a bicycle across an Arizona street.

 Jakub Jirsak via 123RF

Uber put a temporary halt to its self-driving car programme in the US after the fatal accident near Phoenix, where several other companies including Google-owned Waymo are testing such technology.While the Uber accident may be used to advance arguments of those fearful of driverless cars, it does not change the fact that "transformative technology is coming whether we like it or not," according to Adie Tomer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington."There certainly will be calls to stop all autonomous vehicle testing, not just Uber's programme," Tomer said in a post on the institution's website."But, technological progress is hard to stop, and I don't expect it to happen in this case."Furor caused by the Uber accident could keep some cities or states from allowing testing of autonomous cars, or prompt tighter national rules, but there is too much private investment taking place to stop it, according to Tomer.Self-driving cars hold the promise of being more attentive and quicker to react than humans at the wheels, and would free people to use travel time more productively or pleasantly.The governor of Arizona on Monday put the brakes on Uber's self-driving car programme in that state, citing "disturbing and alarming" dashcam footage from the fatal crash.San Francisco-based Uber told AFP that it decided not to re-apply for a permit needed to operate autonomous vehicles on California roads.Arizona and California have been particularly welcoming to self-driving car testing, hoping companies developing autonomous technology in those states will create local jobs and facilities devoted to a promising new industry.Technology giants, automakers, and vehicle parts companies, sometimes in alliance, are racing toward a future where cars driving themselves whisk people wherever they wish.The competition is fierce and costly, with billions of dollars being spent on research.Waymo and Jaguar Land Rover on Tuesday announced they have joined forces to develop a "premium self-driving electric vehicle" based on a new I-PACE model.Testing of an I-Pace equipped with Waymo self-driving technology will begin later this year, and the goal is to make it part of a Waymo driverless transportation service, according to Jaguar."This is just the beginning," the Waymo team said in an online post."The ultimate goal: with Waymo as the driver, products tailored for every purpose and every trip."For example, self-driving vehicles could be designed for various needs such as working while commuting, celebratory nights out, or napping, according to Waymo.Waymo chief executive John Krafcik over the weekend contended that the recent Uber accident would not have occurred with his company's technology."At Waymo, we have a lot of confidence that our technology would be able to handle a situation like that," Krafcik told a car dealership conference in Las Vegas.Krafcik said Waymo's vehicles had clocked more than eight million kilometres (4.9 million miles) on routes frequented by pedestrians since 2009 without being involved in a fatal accident.Waymo early this year announced it was ordering "thousands" of minivans from Fiat Chrysler to expand its self-driving taxi programme, which is launching this year in Phoenix, Arizona.The nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog has argued that autonomous vehicles are not ready for roads and the public should not be put at risk to test such technology.Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal released a statement maintaining that the Uber accident "makes it clear that autonomous vehicle technology has a long way to go before it is truly safe for the passengers, pedestrians, and drivers."Self-driving technology in the Uber car included some from California chip maker NVIDIA, which told AFP that it parked its test vehicles pending results of the accident investigation."Although we developed our self-driving technology independently, as good engineering practice, we will wait to learn from Uber's incident," an NVIDIA spokesman said.NVIDIA shares suffered on the news, closing the formal trading day down 7.7% to $225.52 on Tuesday last week.Japanese auto giant Toyota also tapped the brakes on its autonomous car testing after the Uber accident, while German titan BMW maintained pace.US federal authorities have opened an investigation into a fatal accident in California involving a Tesla electric car, with one of the goals being to determine whether its autopilot system was engaged at the time.The US Transportation Department last year closed an investigation into a fatal 2016 crash in Florida of a Tesla on autopilot, finding that no "safety-related defect" had caused that accident.
Applications are open for the BASA Scale-Up programme, sponsored by RMB and partnered with the British Council Southern Africa Arts and Livity Africa: Shifting creative thought and expanding business partnerships to upgrade skills and personal growth

Artists across South Africa show a deep sense of willingness to partner with businesses, but sometimes require guidance on exactly how to go about doing this. Through the programme, they will engage with shared value, research and building relationships that are sustainable to shift common thinking within the arts sector, and to expand their knowledge and skills within business exchange relations.The BASA Scale  Up programme will introduce new ideas and thinking in the hope of expanding conversations in the creative sector towards greater sustainability of the sector. We are excited to have partnered with RMB and British Council Southern Africa Arts in this years programme. commented BASAs Head of Programmes and Development, Lonwabo Mavuso.It is exactly for these individuals and organisations that BASA has continued and grown its programmes to help establish and further the knowledge base of artists and arts organisations. Pushing skills development to new heights in 2018, BASA introduces its Scale-Up programme, sponsored by RMB and in partnership with the British Council Southern Africa Arts and Livity Africa.The programme is designed to work with established artists, creatives and business organisations to give them renewed vision, experiential learning opportunities, private sector networking tools. BASA Scale-Up programme will explore design thinking, governance, creative business canvases and strategic operations. To kick off the programme we start with, the Own Your Mark artist workshops in partnership with Livity Africa and supported by the British Council Southern Africa Arts will help artists and organisations to step up their digital game and take their art to the next level. RMB, a South African corporate giant that understands the great value artists add to society, recognises the importance of creating sustainable organisations and therefore supports this dynamic, intensive, and transformative learning programme comprising of seven half-day workshops held over six weeks across Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.Delegates are encouraged to engage in these workshops, as they are designed to facilitate an expansive and exceptional insight into the next level of business experience.BASAs mission is to ensure that every delegate (30 per city) completes the series of workshops confidently and competently. To also expand their understanding of business/arts engagement and opportunities thereof.#BASAScaleUp#OwnYourMark#SouthernAfricaArtsThe BASA Scale-Up programme, sponsored by RMB and partnered with the British Council Southern Africa Arts and Livity Africa, is engineered for creative organisations or businesses which have been operating for at least three years, as well as individual creative professionals who have been practicing for a number of years and want to formalise their work.Visit www.basa.co.za to apply or click here . Closing date is the 20 April.The first round of workshops will be happening in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban from 30 April to 11 May. Followed by and online training session.For more information, you can contact:Boitumelo Tumy Motsoatsoe Business and Arts South Africa+27 11 447 2295Business and Arts South Africa NPC (BASA) is an internationally recognised South African development agency with a suite of integrated programmes implemented nationally and internationally. BASA encourages mutually beneficial partnerships between business and the arts, securing the future development of the arts sector in South Africa and contributing to corporate success through Shared Value. BASA was founded in 1997 as a joint initiative of the Department of Arts and Culture and the business sector as a public/private partnership. For more information on BASA, contact us on 011 447 2295 or visit our website: www.basa.co.za Digify Africa is a digital training initiative delivered by Livity Africa. The programmes designed by Digify Africa are to upskill the next generation of digital talent in preparation for jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities across the continent.Launched in South Africa in 2014 (and in Nigeria and Kenya in 2016), Digify Africa offers practical, real-world learning experiences that are delivered by young digital professionals.Digify Africa is a new pathway in education, employment and empowerment, proving that by learning and improving digital skills, one can increase their chances of becoming employed or starting their own business or freelance career in Africa.We help young people and organisations make a better living in the digital age. We focus on new and emerging demand-driven digital skills that can create livelihoods. Our work helps young people gain and grow their careers or business. As a result, it helps organisations  big and small  to thrive in the digital age.British Council Southern Africa Arts creates opportunities for urban 18 to 35-year-old artists, creatives and audiences through programmes focusing on storytelling, insight and connections between Southern Africa and the United Kingdom. We do this to build greater exposure for contemporary practice and culture, assisting young people to tell their stories and connecting creative communities.
African Bank has promoted Basani Maluleke from designate CEO to CEO, making her the first black woman to head a bank in SA.

Basani Maluleke, CEO: African Bank

Maluleke was named Brian Riley's likely successor in August 2017 when he announced his intention to retire.African Bank - the "good bank" salvaged from the collapsed JSE-listed group African Bank Investments Limited (Abil) and not part of its resurrected listing African Phoenix - also announced the launch of a transactional product branded My World on Thursday."Due for public launch later this year, My World will offer customers a unique family product that is supported by digital convenience and near-free pricing," Maluleke said in a media release."We know that the banking landscape is competitive and that our customers have a wide range of banks to choose from. We think My World, which we will be updating the market on in future announcements, will add the value and price point that our customers demand."African Bank chairperson Louis von Zeuner said in Thursday's statement: "Basani has been an integral part of executing African Bank's turnaround strategy since her appointment as a non-executive in July 2015 and subsequent transition to group executive for operations on July 3 2017. We look forward to working with her in her capacity as CEO."
This job expired on 3 May 2018.
This job expired on 10 May 2018.
This job expired on 24 May 2018.
Meet our new faculty member: Emilie Diouf, assistant professor of English

Photo/Mike Lovett Emilie Diouf

As part of our series profiling new professors, Emilie Diouf, assistant professor of English, talked with BrandeisNOW about her field and research. Diouf joined the Brandeis faculty in the fall of 2017.

How did you become interested in your field/research area?

My interest in Anglophone and Francophone African literature and film stems from a yearning to understand the socio-cultural, political, and historical shifts that took place in the African continent in the 1990s, namely, the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda.

I was a teenager in Senegal when these two major events unfolded and I had no idea they would become a big component of my career as a teacher and scholar. Although I dont remember seeing much press coverage about the Rwandan genocide in Senegal at the time, the more I read about it, the more drawn I was to the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between narrative and trauma. I specifically wanted to explore the ways in which women survivors of the genocide narrated the large-scale violence inflicted upon them. I was also interested in examining how the narration of their traumatic experiences contributed to conflict transformation, specially as it relates to gender based violence in their communities.

What was your favorite course as a college student?

The course that significantly contributed to forging my research interests was the first course I took on African womens literature. It was taught by one of the two female professors in the department of English at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar at the time. The professors pedagogy was unapologetically feminist in a Senegalese sense of the word. The course not only exposed me to the aesthetics of African womens novels, but it also enabled me to critically engage with the complex intertwining of the social, political, economic, and cultural systems that overdetermine the experiences of African women.

What has been your proudest career moment so far?

At this point in my career, my proudest moment is to be part of Brandeis, a vigorous intellectual community that shares my views of knowledge production as a means to enhance critical inquiry into systemic oppression and to promote social justice globally.

What specific question/project are you most excited to explore in your work at Brandeis, and why?

I am excited to introduce students to some of Africas literary and film legends. I also would like to build on my experience and connections at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal to develop a study abroad program centered on Senegalese Filmmakers, Cultural Heritage, and Social Transformation.

As far as research is concerned, I am thinking through a book that deals with questions such as how can humanitarian work withstand the vicissitudes of victimization while remaining committed to the necessity to validate the traumas suffered by African women refugees? What is at stake when African women are routinely perceived through the lens of their suffering and not through their political agency?

What book would you recommend to introduce others to your field?

I would recommend Nervous Conditions by Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga because of the authors creative rendition of what she refers to as the complexities of postcolonial subjecthood.

What's your favorite book/movie/television/radio program/podcast or hobby unrelated to your field, and why?

Presently, my favorite show is The Deuce, a HBO series co-created by George Pelecanos and David Simon, who worked together on The Wire and Treme. It is hardly escapist but I find it interesting in its focus on sexual exploitation as inseparable from misogyny, homophobia, racism, and corruption.

What has surprised you about Brandeis since you came to campus?

I was pleasantly surprised by the students commitment to social responsibility.

What advice do you have for students who are interested in your field?

My advice to students interested in African literature is to be unafraid of the less familiar and to know that literary studies are not mere diversion or aesthetic self-indulgence but can in fact be a means of engaging with different political and social problems.
MKMs branch in Kirkcaldy has won top prize for Excellence in Customer Service at the Fife Business Awards ceremony.

The Excellence in Customer Service award celebrates those businesses who demonstrate excellence through their customer service objectives and strategy, business performance, customer care activities, staff development plans and show how this has driven business growth.

MKM have attributed this win because of its effort into customer service, as well as, MKM Kirkcaldys involvement in numerous local causes, including charity work, sponsorships and more. The branch stepped in to help the Scottish Poppy Appeal when the usual distributor for the Kirkcaldy area fell through - the campaign raised 14,000.

Ian Watson, Branch Director at MKM Kirkcaldy, said: Despite being a growing national brand, MKM is committed to not losing its local touch. For us, customer service is key - local people serving local people.

Theres nothing more rewarding than meeting the needs of our customers, with whom weve developed such fantastic relationships. Not only this, but we loved supporting the Poppy Appeal in the Kirkcaldy area.

Thats why its hugely encouraging to have been recognised for our customer service - were really grateful to have been given this award, and just want to thank our customers for their unbelievable support.
Chandlers Building Supplies has announced that the Construction Industry Helpline, run by the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity, is its charity focus for the coming year.

The Construction Industry Helpline, a 24/7 confidential helpline for the industrys workforce and their families, was selected by the family-owned builders' merchant following its month-long appeal to find a charity partner for the next financial year.

Sue McKinney, of Chandlers Buildings Supplies, said: We had many, many worthy charities applying for the partnership opportunity, however, following much consideration, we chose to support the Construction Industry Helpline, provided by the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity. This is a wonderful and much needed service totally dedicated to the sector in which we operate, the construction industry."

The charity has 21 volunteer-led regional clubs throughout the UK and Ireland and has been supporting the construction industry since 1956. The helpline is the gateway to the services it provides for the construction workforce. The aim is to get every construction worker to carry a Construction Industry Helpline card so they know where to turn to in times of need.

Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity, said: We are delighted to have been chosen by Chandlers Building Supplies in this, their 25th anniversary year and look forward to working with them over the next 12 months to continue to raise the profile of our Helpline and of the variety of support we deliver within the construction sector.

Over the years, Chandlers Building Supplies charity partnerships have generated huge benefits for the selected charity. Its 2017 charity partnership scooped Best Community Initiative at the Builders Merchants News Awards.

The Construction Industry Helpline is provided and funded by the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity.

Chandlers Building Supplies is a family-owned builders' merchants with 13 branches throughout London, the South East and the West Midlands. It celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Pictured L-R are Sue Kinney, Bill Hill and Lavina Appasamy, of Chandlers Building Supplies.
Wealth and investment management group Kingswood has revealed that it has an extensive pipeline of potential acquisitions in the UK, with nine deals at an exclusive due diligence stage. The announcement, made as the firm revealed its interim results, comes following its acquisition of Admiral Wealth Management earlier this year. The company said it had an extensive pipeline ...continue reading
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Ambiguity surrounding out-of-court settlements of insolvency cases, such as the one for Binani Cement, might soon be a thing of the past.

A high-level panel reviewing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has recommended that the committee of creditors (CoC) concerned should be give the powers to make such a move if 90 per cent of its members are in favour of it, even if the case has been sent to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The review panel unanimously agreed that relevant rules could be amended so that insolvency cases can be withdrawn even after they are ...
A new Vodafone campaign brings back the iconic ZooZoos, first introduced during the second season of the Indian Premier League (2009). Now, just a couple of weeks before IPL Season 11, they are back.

Many say this is not just proof of the longevity of the alien-like, eggshell white characters that Ogilvy & Mather created for its client, but an indication of the way the Vodafone-Idea brand is likely to be pitched to consumers in the coming months. Using familiar characters to reach consumers in unfamiliar and uncharted territories, while assuaging the fears of old loyalists under a new ...
After innumerable debates on whether these examinations are a necessity or yet another pressure, advice from one and all and a grind of five sets of preparatory examinations conducted by the school, came February. It was a month of hard work, curfew and for many a total 'sanyaas' from social media.

Over the year, some students gradually became an embodiment of discipline while others transformed into an impatient version of themselves. Every day felt like a decade but once fifth March arrived, time became a play of our pens! Each examination brought with it new stories, ...
Fresh violence broke out in Rajasthan on Tuesday as a 5,000-strong mob set ablaze the houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, even as the death toll from yesterday's nationwide stir by Dalit groups rose to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh.

While the Supreme Court today declined to stay its recent order on the SC/ST Act, which had triggered the Bandh call by Dalit organisations that alleged the move diluted their constitutional rights, the government maintained that it was not responsible for any dilution and that it was fully committed to protecting the interests of the backward communities.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in more than 10 states, most of them BJP-ruled, with widespread violence during the protests called by Dalit organisations yesterday with poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan bearing the maximum brunt.

Counter-protests were reported today from Rajasthan, where traders' groups and members of other castes hit the streets over the damage caused yesterday.

In Alwar district, where a man was killed yesterday, people staged a sit-in protest, refusing to cremate the body of the victim.

The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, were set afire by a violent mob this afternoon in Hindaun town in Karauli district of Rajasthan, following which curfew was imposed in the area, a senior official said.

A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set ablaze the houses of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and former MLA Bharosilal Jatav in Hindaun, District Collector, Karauli, Abhimanyu Kumar told PTI.

While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who had also served as a minister in the state.

The agitated members of the traders' associations and upper castes took out a procession in Hindaun today and tried to enter the SC/ST-dominated areas, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

"The police lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to cane-charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse the mob," he added.

Superintendent of Police (SP), Karauli, Anil Kayal said after the incidents of arson and violence, nearly 40 people were detained in Hindaun.

According to the police, tension also prevailed in Churu and Gangapur city, where the law-and-order situation remained "critical".

Curfew was clamped in Gangapur city last night.

In Madhya Pradesh, the death toll from the violence that broke out during Dalit protests yesterday rose to eight with two more persons succumbing to injuries, officials said.

The police admitted that one person, who died yesterday, had fallen victim to police bullets.

Two policemen were booked in connection with the death of a person in police firing, an official said.

Yesterday, a senior police official had claimed that the casualties occurred during clashes between the supporters of the "Bharat bandh", called by Dalit outfits, and those opposed to it and not due to police firing.

However, Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Prashant Khare today said Mahavir Rajawat (40), who died yesterday, fell victim to police bullets.

This has taken the nationwide death toll from the protests to 11, including two in Uttar Pradesh.

The eight deceased in MP included six Dalits and two upper-castes Hindus, police officials said.

Four deaths were reported from Bhind, three from Gwalior and one from Morena district.

Curfew was still in force in some areas of Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts in view of the violence witnessed during the bandh, which was organised to protest a recent Supreme Court order that allegedly diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, officials said.
The special aircrafts of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP national chief Amit Shah were on Tuesday searched by officials after they landed at Hubballi airport in north Karnataka to campaign for their parties in the run-up to the May 12 assembly polls.

The exercise involving three district-level officers was described by officials as being in line with the Election Commission's directive to ensure free and fair elections in Karnataka.

"It was a random search by a team led by (election) nodal officer Karpale. We searched the planes in which Rahul Gandhi and Amit Shah had arrived. It was not intentional," Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad district S B Bommanahalli told PTI.

Shah and Gandhi arrived by separate planes at Hubballi airport from New Delhi.

Soon after their arrival, a team led by election nodal officer Karpale and Hire Gowda and Yogananda searched the planes to check for possible poll code violations.

"We did not find anything in the luggage. There were two other people with Shah. We did not check their names," Gowda told reporters after completing the search operation.

Gandhi, on the fifth leg of Karnataka tour, left for Shivamogga and addressed public meetings there and in Davangere.

Shah, also on the fifth lap of Karnataka tour, addressed an Other Backward Classes convention at Kaginele in Haveri district and had an interaction with the seers of Veerashaiva community at Shivayogi Mandir in Badami taluk of Bagalkote district.
An (IAF) helicopter crash-landed in Kedarnath, Uttrakhand on Tuesday, police said. The accident took place when the Mi-17 chopper was trying to land far from the Kedarnath shrine.

There were eight people -- six passengers, pilot and co-pilot -- onboard but all are safe with minor injuries, an official told IANS.

The hilly area is quite risky for helicopters.

On June 10, 2017, a chopper belonging to a Mumbai-based private aviation company crashed in Badrinath while taking off, killing an engineer onboard.

#UPDATE Four people including the pilot suffered minor injuries after Indian Air Force's MI-17 helicopter caught fire following collision with an iron girder while landing at helipad near Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand. (The helicopter is not of the Army as mentioned earlier) pic.twitter.com/l59bFVV4eP  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018

Relieved to know four people, including #IAF pilot are out of danger after cargo helicopter of #IndianAirForce caught fire while landing at helipad near #Kedarnath temple in #Uttarakhand. #MI17 #HelicopterCrash pic.twitter.com/zjVaQWCGpJ  Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) April 3, 2018

A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.The Mi-17 V5 is a Russian built medium-lift military transport chopper.

It is an advanced medium multirole helicopter, based on the Mi-8/17 series with more powerful propulsion systems, upgraded main rotor, gear systems and fuselage and advanced avionics. The Mi-17V-5 is based on the Mi 8 helicopter airframe and is one of the most advanced aircraft of the Mi-8/17 helicopter family. Five IAF personnel, including two pilots, and two army men were killed when the Mi-17 V5 medium-lift chopper crashed and burst into flames in October last year near Tawang. An Advanced Light Helicopter of the IAF had crashed at Saglee in Papum Pare district on July 4, 2017, claiming the lives of all four on board. India's love for MI 17 A contract for Mi-17V-5 helicopters, which was supposed to be signed last year, is now expected to be finalised soon, a top Russian official told IANS recently. "Negotiations with the Indian side on the delivery of 48 Mi-17V-5 helicopters have been completed; we expect to sign the corresponding contract in the first quarter of 2018," CEO of Russia's Rostec State Corporation, Sergey Chemezov, told IANS in an interview.
The Gujarat High Court on Monday ruled that is not a criminal offence under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. As such, a man can't be prosecuted to have raped his wife. The High Court, however, underlined the importance of criminalising it, saying the "destructive attitude" that promotes rape in a marriage can be removed only by making "illegal".

Justice Pardiwala, however, said that a wife can initiate proceedings against her husband for unnatural sex under Section 377 of the IPC. Subjecting his married partner to have oral or unnatural sex was akin to cruelty, the judge concluded.

Quoting and citing previous judgments, the court observed that though a husband had the right to have sex with his legally wedded wife, she was not his property and it should not be without her consent.

However, Justice Pardiwala cited Section 375 of the IPC as an exception: (A man is said to have committed rape) With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married.

The court also observed that demanding dowry or harassing someone for it too amounted to a crime.

Justice J B Pardiwala made these observations in a case pertaining to a lady doctor's complaint of rape and physical harassment against her husband, who too happens to be a medical professional.

The High Court directed the police to instead book the doctor under Sections 354 (sexual harassment) and 498 (A) (husband and relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) after his wife, also a doctor, told the court that he was subjecting her to mental and physical torture and forcing her to have oral sex.

Justice Pardiwala refused to hand over the case investigation to agencies like the CID or the CBI and ordered the continuation of hearing on the complaint of the lady doctor. It also rejected the complaint against the parents of her husband filed by the complainant.

According to local daily Ahmedabad Mirror, the judge added, Such an action raises moral boundaries that informs the society that a punishment results if the boundary is transgressed. The husbands may then begin to recognise that is wrong.
Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the farthest individual star ever seen - an enormous blue stellar body nicknamed Icarus located over halfway across the universe.

The star, harboured in a very distant spiral galaxy, is so far away that its light has taken nine billion years to reach Earth. It appears to us as it did when the universe was about 30 per cent of its current age.

Normally, the star would be too faint to view, even with the world's largest telescopes.

However, through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing that tremendously amplifies the star's feeble glow, astronomers were able to pinpoint this faraway star and set a new distance record.

"This is the first time we're seeing a magnified, individual star," said Patrick Kelly, who led the study as a postdoctoral fellow University of California at Berkeley.

"You can see individual galaxies out there, but this star is at least 100 times farther away than the next individual star we can study, except for supernova explosions," said Kelly, who is no at the University of Minnesota in the US.

Gravitational lensing occurs when forces of gravity from massive cluster of galaxies acts as a natural lens in space, bending and amplifying light.

Sometimes light from a single background object appears as multiple images. The light can be highly magnified, making extremely faint and distant objects bright enough to see.

In the case of Icarus, a natural 'magnifying glass' is created by a galaxy cluster called MACS J1149+2223.

Located about 5 billion light-years from Earth, this massive cluster of galaxies sits between the Earth and the galaxy that contains the distant star.

By combining the strength of this gravitational lens with Hubble's exquisite resolution and sensitivity, astronomers can see and study Icarus.

The team - including Jose Diego of the Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria in Spain, and Steven Rodney of the University of South Carolina in the US - dubbed the star Icarus, after the Greek mythological character who flew too near the Sun on wings of feathers and wax that melted. Its official name is MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1.

Much like Icarus, the background star had only fleeting glory as seen from Earth. It momentarily skyrocketed to 2,000 times its true brightness when temporarily magnified.

Models suggest that the tremendous brightening was probably from the gravitational amplification of a star, similar in mass to the Sun, in the foreground galaxy cluster when the star moved in front of Icarus.

The star's light is usually magnified by about 600 times due to the foreground cluster's mass.

Detecting the amplification of a single, pinpoint background star provided a unique opportunity to test the nature of dark matter in the cluster.

Dark matter is an invisible material that makes up most of the universe's mass.

By probing what is floating around in the foreground cluster, scientists were able to test one theory that dark matter might be made up mostly of a huge number of primordial black holes formed in the birth of the universe with masses tens of times larger than the Sun.

The results of the test disprove that hypothesis, because light fluctuations from the background star, monitored with Hubble for 13 years, would have looked different if there were a swarm of intervening black holes.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the stay on is March 20 verdict on SC/ST Act wherein it stated that an anticipatory bail should be granted to the person unless there is a case under the Act. The Bench clarified that the affected person is entitled to the compensation even is registration of FIR is still pending.

SC has listed the Centre's review petition after 10 days for detailed hearing; and asked all the parties to file written submissions by then. The apex court said that provisions of SC/ST Act cannot be used to terrorise the innocents. ...
The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested four people involved in enabling cheating online in the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examination.

SSC examination was busted on March 27 in a joint raid by the Delhi Police and the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).

Earlier on March 28, the Uttar Pradesh Police had initially arrested four accused in the case, who used to help candidates cheat in the exams with the help of an online app called 'Team Viewer'.

An FIR has been registered in the matter and further investigation has also been initiated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he was cancelling an agreement with the U.N. refugee agency to relocate thousands of African migrants, bowing to right-wing pressure to scrap the deal. The agency, the UNHCR, said it hoped Israel would reconsider the decision soon and offered to work with it to identify and "respond to the protection needs" of asylum seekers in the country. Netanyahu's critics seized on his backtracking on the arrangement - under which thousands of other migrants would have won the right to remain in Israel - as a sign of ...
US President Donald Trump today attacked Congress for not passing tough and described the present system of prosecution and deportation of illegal immigrants as "a whole big wasted procedure".

In a series of tweets, he said that the US laws do not easily allow the government to send those crossing the southern border back where they came from.

His tweets came at a time when a caravan of over 1,200 Central American immigrants is heading towards the US' southern border, largely unfettered through Mexico.

Earlier, Trump had also threatened to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico unless it does more to stop people from crossing into the US.

"As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS," he tweeted.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

In another tweet, Trump said Honduras, Mexico and many other countries, that the US is very generous to, sends many of their people to US through "our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES".

"Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!" he said.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had promised to build a Southern border wall to stop illegal immigration and drugs from Mexico. But, Congress has frustrated him by not moving as quickly as in providing money for construction of the wall.

Congress, last month, passed a USD 1.3 trillion funding package that included spending of USD 1.6 billion on border wall. But, it is said that much of that money can only be used to repair existing segments, not build new sections. It had also put certain restrictions on the types of barriers that can be built.

Trump also slammed Congress for delaying his nominations.

"39 per cent of my nominations, including Diplomats to foreign lands, have not been confirmed due to Democrat obstruction and delay. At this rate, it would take more than seven years before I am allowed to have these great people start working. Never happened before. Disgraceful!" Trump rued.
Cabernet isnt the most obvious pawn in a trade war between the United States and China. Airplanes and their parts are the leading American export to China. Soybeans and wheat grow in Trump country. But Chinas selection of wine as a target of retaliatory tariffs did not surprise Michael Honig, a winemaker in the Napa Valley, where the tariff would hit hardest. The reason the government realises they should penalise us is, we are branded, said Mr Honig, the president of Honig Vineyard and Winery. Its hard to go after a wheat grower, because ...
A German prosecutor on Tuesday formally requested an extradition order against Catalonia's former leader Carles Puigdemont, who has been imprisoned for over a week in Schleswig-Holstein following a European arrest warrant issued by Madrid.

According to a statement released by the Schleswig-Holstein attorney general, the prosecution asked the regional top court for Puigdemont to be extradited to Spain, where he is wanted for alleged rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds after staging a banned referendum on the region's independence, reports Efe news.

"Today, the attorney general of Schleswig-Holstein has petitioned the regional court to issue an extradition order against the former regional president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, in accordance with article 15 of German law relating to cooperation in criminal matters," the statement said.

It added that, after a careful examination of the European arrest warrant, the regional prosecution had come to the conclusion that there was an admissible demand for Puigdemont's extradition by following the proper procedures.

In law, in order for a person to be extradited, there must be a legal equivalent for the crime in the extraditing country.

Puigdemont, 55, was deposed on October 27, 2017 after Madrid cited Article 155 of the Spanish constitution to dissolve the Catalan parliament and the regional government.

Fearing impending arrest, he went into exile in Belgium.

On March 26, Puigdemont was arrested by German police shortly after he crossed the border with Denmark, as he was returning to Belgium from in Finland.

Meanwhile, other members of Puigdemont's former cabinet and key leaders of the pro-Catalan independence movement remain jailed in Spain facing similar charges.

On Sunday, hundreds of people marched in Berlin to express solidarity with Puigdemont and demand his freedom.
Tributes are paid to him on his death anniversary each April, and his legacy is honored in multiple ways. But from my perspective as a historian of religion and civil rights, the true radicalism of his thought remains underappreciated. The civil saint portrayed nowadays was, by the end of his life, a social and economic radical, who argued forcefully for the necessity of economic justice in the ...

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The Trump administration is now ready to implement its ambitious free and open Strategy, wherein it wants the nations of the region to be free from coercion so that they can pursue in a sovereign manner the paths they choose, a US official said on Tuesday, the Press Trust of India reported.



"India for sure has the capability and potential to play a more weighty role, Wang said in response to a question adding that this role is on all fronts, whether it is security, economic or diplomatic.

"I think one great example that you've seen recently is that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi invited the leaders of ASEAN to New Delhi for national (Republic) day, the top State Department official said.

The presence of ASEAN leaders at the Republic Day was a truly significant sign of the increasing ties that India is pursuing particularly in Southeast Asia.

"It is not just India that is pursuing a greater engagement with East Asia and Southeast Asia, there are a number of crisscrossing strategies throughout the region," he said.

The use of term Indo-Pacific, as against the Asia Pacific previously, by the Trump administration, he said "acknowledges the historical reality and the current day reality that South Asia and in particular, India plays a key role" in the Pacific, in East Asia and Southeast Asia.



Briefing reporters on the Trump administration's Strategy, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Alex Wong said it is in the US' interest as well as of the entire region that India plays an increasingly weighty role in the region.

While the first year was being used to introduce the strategic concept, the rest of the Trump administration's years are for formulation and implementation of the strategy, a senior State Department official said.

"Free and Open" are the two strategic modifiers that the administration has decided to describe its strategy, Alex Wong Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs told reporters.

"By free, we mean, first of all, the plane. We want the nations of the to be free from coercion, that they can pursue in a sovereign manner the paths they choose in the region," he said.

"Secondly, we mean at the national level, we want the societies of the various Indo-Pacific countries to become progressively freer in terms of good governance, in terms of fundamental rights, in terms of transparency and anti-corruption," he added.

"Moving on to open ... We first and foremost mean open sea lines of communication and open airways. These open sea lines of communication are truly the lifeblood of the region," Wong said.

With 50 per cent of trade going through the Indo-Pacific along the sea routes, particularly through the South China Sea, open sea lanes and open airways in the Indo-Pacific are increasingly vital and important to the world, he noted.

"Secondly, we mean more open logistics infrastructure. There's an infrastructure gap throughout the Indo-Pacific. What is needed throughout the region to encourage greater regional integration, encourage greater economic growth? We want to assist the region in doing infrastructure in the right way, infrastructure that truly does drive integration and raises the GDPs of the constituent economies, not weigh them down," the State Department official said.

"We also mean more open trade. Free, fair, and reciprocal trade is something the United States has supported for decades and that the Trump administration supports," Wong said.

Acknowledging that the India Pacific Strategy seems to be similar to that of the previous administration, he asserted that this is different because as the population and the economic weight of the Indo-Pacific grows, focus of the US and its efforts in the region have to commensurately grow with it.

The use of term Indo-Pacific, as against Asia Pacific previously, by the Trump administration, he said "acknowledges the historical reality and the current day reality that South Asia and in particular, India plays a key role" in the Pacific, in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

"That has been true for thousands of years and it's true today," Wong said.

Responding to a question, Wong stressed on the need to enforce the rules of free trade.

"You have to ensure that nations cannot abuse the rules, cannot force technology transfer, cannot prize their national champions, can't steal intellectual property. If you don't do this, if you don't enforce the rules of free trade, what ends up happening is that over time, the free, fair, and reciprocal trading regime is weakened, and that's to the detriment not just of the United States's prosperity but to the prosperity of the region and the world as a whole," he said.

Wong said that the Indo-Pacific Strategy us not just about China.

"The Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy is not just about China, and this is for the very simple reason that the region is much larger than China. In the ASEAN states alone, we have 600 million people. In India, we have 1.2 billion people," he said.

"If the US, together with our partners, can sew together and unify all the peoples of the Indo-Pacific, China included, under a vision that is free and open, that prizes free market economics, sovereignty, increasingly freer people and nations free from coercion, that's not just to the US' benefit, that's to the benefit of all nations in the Indo-Pacific, China included," he said.

(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.)
Rupert Murdoch has stepped up the pressure on Britain to approve his $14.5 billion bid for Sky by offering to sell or legally separate Sky News, seeking to allay concerns about the 87-year-old mogul's political influence. Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox said on Tuesday Sky News could be sold on to U.S. rival Walt Disney Co or become a legally separate business within the Sky group. Fox agreed in December 2016 to buy the 61 percent of European pay-TV group Sky it does not already own, but the deal has been repeatedly delayed by the UK government and regulators. Fox had already ...
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin today launched the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean Mersin region.

"In the name of God!" Erdogan said standing next to Putin at the presidential palace in Ankara as he ordered through a video link the launch of the $20 billion dollar Akkuyu nuclear power plant project.

State television TRT showed workers already starting work on the ground as fireworks went off to mark the event.

Once completed the power station will provide 10 percent of the electricity needs of Turkey, which has few energy resources of its own.

The first stage is due to come online in 2023, the 100th anniversary of modern Turkey's founding, and be completed entirely in 2026.

"This scale of the project is difficult to exaggerate," Putin said at the ceremony. "This marks a new stage in the development of Turkey's economy."



Erdogan said: "The power plant will contribute to our energy security and also play an important role in the fight against climate change."



Turkey's Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan's son-in-law, praised the Akkuyu project saying: "We are standing at a crucial juncture in realising the 63-year dream."Turkey and Russia have forged burgeoning ties in recent months on a number of areas including energy as well as the Syrian crisis, despite differences on key policy areas.

"We are also in close cooperation with Russia to end as soon as possible the terror threat and clashes in Syria," Erdogan said.

Key Syrian regime backers Russia and Iran have joined forces with rebel-supporting Turkey to push forward a peace process but also to ensure influence in Syria once the conflict ends.
Toshiba Corp will not use the option of cancelling the $18 billion sale of its memory chip unit unless there is any major material change in circumstances, the Japanese conglomerate's new chief executive said on Tuesday. Toshiba was unable to complete the sale to a consortium led by US private equity firm Bain Capital LP by the agreed deadline of March 31 as it was still waiting for approval from Chinas anti-monopoly regulator. Under the agreement, Toshiba now has the option to cancel the sale without forfeit. Cancelling would give Toshiba the freedom to pursue ...
The head of Britain's military research centre said on Tuesday it was unable yet to say whether the military-grade nerve agent that poisoned a Russian double-agent last month had been produced in Russia. "We were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent," Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down in England, told Sky News. "We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources ...
The United Nations asked donors today for nearly $3 billion to help an estimated 13 million people who urgently need aid in war-ravaged Yemen.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the funding drive at a conference in Geneva aiming to raise $2.96 billion (2.4 billion euros) for this year.

Last year's Yemen appeal was for $2.5 billion, which was 73 per cent funded, but the needs have intensified in a country battered since 2015 by a Saudi-led military offensive aimed at repelling Iran-backed Huthi rebels who control the capital.

"Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian crisis," Guterres said, calling the situation "catastrophic."



"But with support, we can and must prevent this country from becoming a long-term tragedy," he said.

According to the UN, 8.4 million people are on the verge of famine in Yemen, where food imports are essential to sustain the population.

Saudi Arabia and its allies shut down the country's land, sea and air borders last year in response to a missile attack by the Huthis that was intercepted near Riyadh.

While the coalition has eased the blockade, restriction on deliveries persist.

"Humanitarians must be able to reach the people who need help the most, without conditions," Guterres said.

"All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, the medicines, food and the fuel needed to deliver them," he added.

About 10,000 Yemenis have been killed and 53,000 wounded since the start of the coalition intervention in Yemen.

The funding appeal came a day after several children were among those killed in a strike on the rebel-held port of Hodeida.

The UN called the incident "one of the deadliest attacks on children since the conflict in Yemen escalated in March 2015".

The coalition is the only force known to carry out air strikes on Huthi rebel-held territory and has previously admitted to "erroneous" strikes that caused civilian casualties.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday welcomed the United States' move of designating Hafiz Saeed's Milli Muslim League (MML) as a terrorist outfit, saying that the designation reflects rejection of Pakistan's attempt to mainstream terrorism.

"India welcomes the action taken by the US for designating the Milli Muslim League as an alias of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan based terrorist group and its functionaries who are acting on behalf of LeT," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, said, in a statement.

The statement added, "The designation is a rejection of the attempts being made in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities; and highlights Pakistan's failure to fulfill its international obligation to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries, and disrupt terror financing."

The United States on Tuesday designated Milli Muslim League, a political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) a global terrorist outfit.

The US Department of State brought amendments to the designation of Pakistan-based banned terrorist organization Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT) and also included Tehreek-e- Azadi-e Kashmir (TAJK) under the list of terror organisation.

The US also designated seven members of the MML as foreign terrorists for acting on behalf of LeT.

"It vindicates India's position that Pakistan has not taken effective action against terrorist groups and individuals. It is also cognizance of the fact that terrorist individuals and entities are allowed to change names and continue to operate freely from territory under Pakistan's control," the statement added.
What kind of leader is Xi Jinping, who became general secretary of Chinas Communist Party in November 2012 and Chinas president in March 2013? Specialists are giving very different answers to this question now than they did five years ago. One reason is that rules were in place then to make Xi step down from the presidency after serving two five-year terms.

Now, the rules have been changed. He can rule as long as he likes. In addition, there are now centers on Chinese campuses devoted to the study of Xi Jinping Thought. His name has been added to ...
More than a dozen people were killed in a clash between suspected Boko Haram militants and Nigerian soldiers in Northern Nigeria.

Reportedly around 18 militants including suicide bombers, mortars and gunmen targeted two villages namely Bale Shuwa and Alkaranti and a military base near the city of Maiduguri, in Borno State.

A cross-firing took place between the soldiers and the militants which reportedly left 14 civilians and a soldier dead.

Further 83 others sustained injuries in the attack.

As per the government statement, it was the largest attack since it initiated bilateral talks with the Islamist militants to consider a proposed peace process.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans have been given out-of-turn promotions for extraordinary vigilance and valour displayed in thwarting terrorist attacks in Kashmir. Due to their alertness and bravery, six militants were gunned down and a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered in two separate "fidayeen attacks".

On the request of CRPF, the Ministry of Home Affairs has waived the eligibility criteria for promotion in recognition of their gallant acts in the militancy-hit state.

While Head Constable A.S. Krishana has been promoted to the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector, Constables K. Dinesh Raja and Prafulla Kumar have been promoted to the rank of Head Constables.

The high alertness of these brave hearts of the 45th Battalion thwarted a deadly terrorist attack on the CRPF camp located in the Industrial Area (Training Ground) in Sumbal in the Bandipora district of Kashmir on June 5, last year.

Due to their raising of an alarm, the terrorist attack was foiled and all the four heavily armed militants were neutralized on the spot.

Similarly, another constable Ghait Raghunath Ulhas, who was instrumental in a foiling a terror attack on the 23rd Battalion campus in Karan Nagar, Srinagar on February 11 this year, was rewarded with a promotion to the rank of Head Constable.

An alert Ulhas, who was on sentry duty, could sense the surreptitious movement of two heavily armed terrorists and fired at them without caring for his own life.

The subsequent action by the security forces, which lasted for more than one hour, saw the neutralization of both the militants.

The citation for all these four brave hearts of CRPF underlines their excellent soldierly qualities of vigilance, courage, presence of mind, alertness, unflinching determination and extraordinary valour while taking into account their cases for out of turn promotion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh on Tuesday demanded Parliament's intervention on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes ((Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Sanjay Singh wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to discuss the Act in both the Houses of the Parliament and decide to keep its provisions intact.

"The SCs and the STs had got an effective weapon for security in the form of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which will become weak after the Honourable Supreme Court's decision. It is the duty of the Parliament and government to protect a law that has been enacted by the parliament. Hence, the government should hold a discussion in both the Houses of the Parliament and decide to keep provisions of the SC/ST Act intact," Singh wrote.

He also highlighted the death of at least 11 persons during the Bharat Bandh called by the Dalit organisations on Monday to oppose the 'dilution' of the SC/ST Act.

The AAP leader also alleged that Dalits were targeted in many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states.

On March 20, the apex court, in a bid to check misuse of the SC/ST Act, ruled that preliminary enquiry in a case under the Atrocities Act would be done by the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) to ensure the allegations are not frivolous, and to avoid the false implication of an innocent.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused to stay refused to stay its order on SC/ST Act.

The court was hearing Central Government's review petition on Schedule Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The apex court also asked all parties to submit detailed replies within two days. The matter will be heard after 10 days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu arrived here on a two-day visit on Tuesday in connection with the non-issuance of special category status (SCS) to the state.

After reaching here, Naidu paid tribute at Gandhi statue in the parliament premises.

He is scheduled to meet floor leaders of various political parties and explain them about "injustice" being done to AP.

He will also hold meetings with Telugu Desam Party MPs inside the parliament, according to an official statement.

Meanwhile, TDP MPs continued to protest outside the Parliament house, demanding SCS for Andhra Pradesh.

Lok Sabha MP Naramalli Sivaprasad, who has gain lot of attraction for his unique style of protesting, today dressed up as a folk dancer while demanding the special status along with his other party MPs.

Naidu on Monday held a teleconference meeting with his party MPs and strategy committee in Amaravati to discuss his first visit to Delhi after exiting Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

The ruling party of Andhra Pradesh and the BJP-led Centre has been at the loggerheads over the non-issuance of the special status to Andhra Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the wake of violent protest against the Supreme Court ruling on SC/ST Act, all schools in Agra, barring those where board exams are underway, will remain closed on Wednesday.

The Office of the District Magistrate issued the directive, keeping in view the safety of students.

The Dalit community on Monday called for nationwide bandh against the alleged dilution of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court.

The bandh turned into a violent protest claiming lives of nine people and injuring many.

The apex court had, on March 20, introduced the provision of anticipatory bail in the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act while directing that there would be no automatic arrest on any complaint filed under the law.

The Centre filed a review petition in the apex court asking it to reconsider its ruling.

However, the top court refused to stay its order and asked all parties to submit detailed replies within two days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Billie Lourd on Monday paid a touching tribute to late grandmother Debbie Reynolds on the legendary Hollywood actor's 86th birthday.

The 'American Horror Story: Cult' star took to Instagram to post a picture of herself smiling with Reynolds. Lourd's mother, Carrie Fisher, is also in the photo, burying her face in the 'Singin' In The Rain' star's shoulders.

The 25-year-old captioned the photo with a series of emojis, including stars, crowns and a heart.

Reynolds passed away on December 28, 2016 after suffering a stroke, only one day after Fisher tragically died of a heart attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Tuesday began their hunger strike across Tamil Nadu to urge the Central government to form a Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam are leading the strike against the Centre.

The main opposition party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK), has also called for a strike on April 5.

Markets are also closed in Coimbatore after traders associations called for a strike over the same issue.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Cauvery issue.

On 16 February, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to form the CMB to implement a formula for sharing of water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

In the ruling, the top court reduced Tamil Nadu's share in the Cauvery water to 177.25 thousand million cubic feet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a bid to curb incessant honking, an NGO named 'Awaaz Foundation' has kick-started a unique campaign called 'HornVrat' in cooperation with state's transport department, Rickshawmen's Union and Mumbai Police.

As per the campaign, an auto rickshaw is venturing out on Mumbai roads decorated with blow horns, urging people to refrain from honking.

The NGO began the campaign on January 27 this year from Mumbai's Gateway of India by flagging off the symbolic auto rickshaw. This three-wheeler is now travelling to every nook and corner of the city to create awareness.

The NGO claims that Mumbai honks around 18 million times in an hour.

The NGO is using this auto rickshaw as a medium to spread awareness as it is a common mode of transportation in the city. It has also roped in thousands of auto-rickshaw drivers to join the drive.

A Rickshawmen Union member also expressed concern saying that noise pollution by honking builds up stress and anger, adding that being exposed to it also impacts health severely.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An application has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a detailed investigation into the alleged lapses on the part of the Centre in connection with the death of the 39 Indians in Iraq.

The court will hear the matter today.

The application moved in the court on Tuesday, is a follow-up to a pending petition filed by Delhi High Court advocate Mahmood Pracha.

Pracha was part of the six-member delegation of Indian Muslim leaders and civil society activists to Iraq, whose objective was to ensure the return of the Indians held captive by the terror outfit, ISIS.

The application alleged that the Centre changed its stand in the last four years about the Indians being held captive.

It further argued that delegation would have been successful in pressing upon the Iraq Government to use all means at their command to secure the release of the captive Indians at top priority.

On March 20, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj informed the Rajya Sabha members in the Parliament that the 39 Indian nationals, who went missing in Mosul in 2014, were killed by the ISIS terrorists.

Following the revelation by EAM Swaraj, the Congress and other Opposition parties accused Centre of delaying the information.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Anxiety could be an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative condition that causes the decline of cognitive function and the inability to carry out daily life activities.

Investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital examined the association of brain amyloid beta and longitudinal measures of depression and depressive symptoms in cognitively normal, older adults.

Their findings suggest that higher levels of amyloid beta may be associated with increasing symptoms of anxiety in these individuals. These results support the theory that neuropsychiatric symptoms could be an early indicator of AD.

"Rather than just looking at depression as a total score, we looked at specific symptoms such as anxiety. When compared to other symptoms of depression such as sadness or loss of interest, anxiety symptoms increased over time in those with higher amyloid beta levels in the brain," said first author Nancy Donovan.

"This suggests that anxiety symptoms could be a manifestation of Alzheimer's disease prior to the onset of cognitive impairment. If further research substantiates anxiety as an early indicator, it would be important for not only identifying people early on with the disease but also, treating it and potentially slowing or preventing the disease process early on."

As anxiety is common in older people, rising anxiety symptoms may prove to be most useful as a risk marker in older adults with other genetic, biological or clinical indicators of high AD risk.

Researchers derived data from the Harvard Aging Brain Study, an observational study of older adult volunteers aimed at defining neurobiological and clinical changes in early Alzheimer's disease.

The participants included 270 community-dwelling, cognitively normal men, and women, between 62 and 90 years old, with no active psychiatric disorders. Individuals also underwent baseline imaging scans commonly used in studies of Alzheimer's disease, and annual assessments with the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), an assessment used to detect depression in older adults.

The team calculated total GDS scores as well as scores for three clusters symptoms of depression: apathy-anhedonia, dysphoria, and anxiety. These scores were looked at over a span of five years.

From their research, the team found that higher brain amyloid beta burden was associated with increasing anxiety symptoms over time in cognitively normal older adults.

The results suggest that worsening anxious-depressive symptoms may be an early predictor of elevated amyloid beta levels - and, in turn AD -- and provide support for the hypothesis that emerging neuropsychiatric symptoms represent an early manifestation of preclinical Alzheimer's disease.

The study has been published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan Army on Tuesday restored to incessant and indiscriminate firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector in Jammu and Kashmir using small arms, automatics and mortars.

The firing began at around 7 am in the morning.

Indian Army has retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked ceasefire violation.

Last month, five civilians were killed and two were injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire along the LoC in Balakote sector.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking at a rally in Shimoga, bastion of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and the party's Chief Minister face BS Yeddyurappa, Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Modi and his government at the Centre over corruption, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) paper leak, and atrocities on Dalit.

"When PM Modi speaks about corruption in Karnataka, he does not see the stage properly. On his left side is Yeddyurappa, who has been to jail and on his right side are several other ministers who were also in Jail," Gandhi said.

Talking about the recent CBSE paper leak case, the Congress President trained guns at Prime Minister Modi.

"Prime Minister has written a book about how students can counter stress during exams. But after all the hard work the students put in, the Modi government announced that the paper was leaked," Rahul said.

He also said that Prime Minister Modi and his government are indifferent to the rise in atrocities against Dalits.

"The SC/ST Act is being diluted and the PM doesn't say a word. He has not spoken a word on the rise of atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis under his regime," Rahul said.

Rahul also said that the total money that Modi government spends on Dalits and adivasis nationally, Congress spends the same in only one state, Karnataka.

He added that Prime Minister Modi does not believe in listening to people.

"It's always his 'Mann Ki Baat'. When will you listen to the 'Mann Ki Baat' of common people Modiji?" asked the Congress President.

He also alleged that Modi government was exerting pressure on the judiciary.

"The people can only seek justice from the courts but for the first time the Supreme Court judges came before the media to address the influence the Modi government is exerting on the judiciary," Rahul said.

The Gandhi scion also claimed that the Congress will return to power in Karnataka.

"The Congress will return to power in Karnataka. It will be a government that works for the farmers, for the poor and weaker sections of society. Together, we will build a new Karnataka," Rahul asserted.

Gandhi also took the blessings of Sri Niranjananda Puri in Kaginele Mutt in Davengere.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi reached Karnataka for his party's fifth leg of assembly election campaign and also his Jana Ashirwad Yatre.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Minister Lal Singh Arya on Tuesday said he believes in peace. The Minister's statement came after police foiled an attempt to storm the residence of Arya in Bhind district earlier in the day.

The mob, which was protesting over the alleged dilution of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Act, reportedly pelted stones on Arya's residence.

Arya, a Dalit, was not home when the incident took place.

Talking to ANI, Arya said that the Congress workers were involved in the stone pelting.

"I was not at my residence when stone pelting at my house took place. It is today that I got to know that some Congress workers were involved in this," Arya told ANI.

The 'Happiness Minister', however, said, "I believe in peace, even if they (Congress) continue to throw stones.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Madhya Pradesh due to violent protests during the nationwide bandh called by several Dalit organisations has reached seven after one more person succumbed to its injuries.

Protests across the country turned violent on Monday after protesters resorted to stone pelting, damaging public properties and rail and various other blockades. Violent protests were reported from various states, including Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Gujarat, and Punjab.

The Supreme Court had, on March 20, introduced the provision of anticipatory bail in the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act while directing that there would be no automatic arrest on any complaint filed under the law.

The Centre on Monday filed a review petition in the apex court to reconsider its order.

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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam on Tuesday were granted an exemption from appearing before the court in the corruption hearing against them, as their flight could not take off from Lahore due to harsh weather.

Nawaz's counsel Khawaja Haris intimated Judge that Nawaz's flight could not take off due to complicated weather conditions. While the judge approved the request, he directed Nawaz's son-in-law Capt (retd) Safdar to remain in court, reported Geo TV.

The case pertains to the Sharif family's London apartments.

Sharif, his sons Hasan and Hussain, daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt (retd) Mohammad Safdar are facing multiple corruption references in the accountability court.

The corruption references, filed against the Sharif family, pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, offshore companies including Flagship Investment Ltd, and Avenfield properties of London.

The Pakistan Supreme Court had, on July 28, disqualified Sharif from holding the office of the prime minister and asked the National Accountability Bureau to file references against the Sharif family in connection with corruption cases against them.

On the orders of the country's Supreme Court, a JIT was formed last year to probe the allegations on the Sharif family.

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday asserted that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government was fully committed to the welfare of the SC/ST communities and offered condolences to the families of the victims died during Bharat Bandh protests.

While making a statement in the Lok Sabha, the home minister assured that there has been no dilution of SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act by the government and said, rather after coming to power, the government has taken a decision to strengthen it.

"There has been a new provision where action against government servants shall be taken against those found negligent in implementing the Act," said the minister.

He also said there have been widespread rumours regarding the issue of reservation which are false and baseless.

"Our Government is fully committed to protecting the interests of the SC/ST community," he said.

In the wake of Monday's violent protests during Bharat Bandh, in which at least 11 people have died, the home minister urged citizens to maintain calm and peace.

"Through this House, I appeal to all the citizens to maintain peace and harmony amongst themselves. I also appeal to all the political parties to help maintain peace and harmony," the HM concluded.

The nationwide bandh was called by Dalit outfits on Monday against the Supreme Court's ruling that allegedly diluted the act.

Even as the Centre filed a review petition in the Supreme Court, protests turned violent yesterday after protesters resorted to stone pelting, damaging public properties and rail and various other blockades. Violent protests were reported from various states, including Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Gujarat and Punjab.

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The US Department of State's Senior Bureau Official for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Ambassador Alice Wells, who recently visited Pakistan, said Islamabad could play an important role in achieving a peaceful resolution and ensuring security in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Wells was on a week-long visit to Pakistan. She visited Islamabad and Karachi from March 28 to April 3 and held talks with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and National Security Advisor (NSA) Nasser Khan Janjua among other officials, Geo News reported.

According to a statement by the US embassy in Islamabad, it read, "During her visit, Ambassador Wells discussed the South Asia strategy and Pakistan's stated commitment to eliminate all terrorist groups present within its borders, as well as our shared interest in building economic and commercial ties that benefit both nations. In the aftermath of the Tashkent conference on Afghanistan, Ambassador Wells noted the growing international consensus on the way forward to achieving peace in Afghanistan and the meaningful role that Pakistan, partnering with the United States, could play in achieving a peaceful resolution in Afghanistan."

Representatives from over 20 countries and international organisations took part in the Tashkent Conference on Afghanistan in Uzbekistan last week, to discuss an international consensus of ending the decades-long conflict in the war-torn country.

During her meeting with Bajwa, the latter underlined that Pakistan was committed to achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan through a national approach.

Wells initially served as a political officer at the US embassy in Islamabad.

The American diplomat also visited the country in January, accompanied by senior officials from the US National Security Council and US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale. She stressed on how critical was Pakistan to the success of her country's strategy of Afghanistan's peace plan.

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 'fake news' issue.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress President said, "Sensing mounting anger on the "fake news" notification, the PM orders a U-Turn on his own order. One can clearly see a loss of control and panic setting in now. #BasEkAurSaal (sic)."

An Information and Broadcasting Ministry statement issued on Monday stated that if a journalist is found to have created or propagated fake news then his/her accreditation will be suspended or cancelled permanently.

However, Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday directed that the guidelines be withdrawn and the matter should only be addressed in the Press Council of India.

After Prime Minister's directive, Union I&B Minister Smriti Irani said she would be happy to engage in a debate with journalists to fight the menace of fake news.

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South Korea on Tuesday will send a seven-member delegation for working-level talks to North Korea, scheduled for Wednesday, in order to discuss security and protocol matters, ahead of the inter-Korean summit this month, according to government officials.

The South Korean unification ministry said in a statement, citing Yonhap news agency, that Seoul informed Pyongyang of the composition of the delegation.

The seven-member delegation would be led by Cho Han-ki, a presidential secretary on protocol. The working-level talks would take place in Peace House, located on the southern side of Panmunjom border village, situated along the heavily-guarded Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).

Last week, the two Koreas agreed to hold an inter-Korean summit, which would be chaired by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. This would be the first time in 11 years that a summit would be held.

The South Korean's delegation will also include Shin Yong-wook, a senior presidential security officer, and Kwun Hyuk-ki, director of the press centre at the presidential office 'Cheong Wa Dae' respectively.

The working-level talks come ahead of the April 27 summit, where the two Korean leaders are expected to discuss on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula as well as a peace plan, in an effort to improve the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Kim will be the first North Korean leader ever to cross the DMZ border, which acts as the de facto border between the two Koreas.

There has been a pressing need for the denuclearisation of North Korea by Japan, the US, China and South Korea. On the same lines, a proposed summit is expected to take place between US President Donald Trump and Kim in May.

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha has affirmed that the Supreme Court will take up the central government's review petition on Schedule Castes and the Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 for hearing at 2

A nationwide bandh was called by Dalit outfits on Monday against the apex court's ruling that allegedly diluted the act.

In the lower house, amid slogans of "we want justice", Singh asked the citizens to keep calm and remain peaceful while the government addresses their concerns.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried to address the lower house, but noisy protests kept her from speaking. She was responding to Home Minister Singh's speech.

After failing to restore order in the house, Mahajan adjourned Lok Sabha for the day.

The apex court had agreed for an open court hearing at 2 p.m. on the Centre's review petition on its March 20 ruling, wherein the court laid out provisions for the arrest of public servants and private individuals under the SC/ST Act.

At least nine people have been killed across the country due to violent protests which marred the Bharat Bandh yesterday.

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Pakistan wrist-spinner Shadab Khan has been fined 20 percent of his match fee and received one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during his side's second T20I match against the West Indies in Karachi.

The 19-year-old was found to have violated Article 2.1.7 of the code, which relates to "using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an international match."

In addition to the fine for his breach, one demerit point has been added to Shadab's disciplinary record.

The incident took place in the ninth over of the West Indies' innings when Shadab, after dismissing Chadwick Walton, pointed his finger at the departing batsmen and also made an inappropriate comment.

After the match, Shadab admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.

The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Shozab Raza and Ahmed Shahab, third umpire Ahsan Raza, as well as fourth umpire Khalid Mahmood.

Pakistan went on to win the second match by 82 runs to clinch the three-match T20I series 2-1 at the National Stadium.

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Sub-Inspector Mahendra Chaudhary, who was injured in the nationwide protests, organised by various Dalit outfits yesterday, succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.

Chaudhary had reportedly received head, upper and lower body injuries, mostly from the pelting of stones that the agitated protesters had resorted to during the 'Bharat Bandh' protests yesterday.

He was admitted to a hospital in Jodhpur, but as his health was increasingly deteriorating (he had six heart attacks since he was admitted), he was being moved to a different hospital in Ahmedabad and a seventh heart attack claimed his life en route.

The nationwide bandh was called by Dalit organisations on Monday against the Supreme Court's ruling that allegedly diluted the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

Even as the Centre filed a review petition in the Supreme Court, protests turned violent after protesters resorted to stone pelting, damaging private and public properties including cars, shops, etc and blocking trains.

Violent protests were reported from various other states, including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Gujarat and Punjab.

As per the latest figures, the nationwide death toll has risen up to 11 since the outbreak of the violence over the Apex court's ruling.

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The United Nations on Tuesday said that it is probing reports on civilian casualties sustained during Monday's airstrike in a local madrassa in Afghanistan's Kunduz province.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) took to its Twitter handle and informed that it is "actively looking into disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians yesterday from airstrike at DashtiArchi, Kunduz. Human Rights team on ground establishing facts."

According to TOLOnews, this comes after residents of Dasht-e-Archi district in Kunduz province claimed that an airstrike on Monday claimed 50 lives and injured 150 others. The airstrike was carried out at about 11 a.m. (local time)

According to the residents and some provincial council members, the airstrike was carried out on the madrassa by the Afghan Air Force (AAF). Government officials have claimed that Taliban militants were inside the madrassa and planning out to carry an attack on Afghan forces.

They also asserted that a high-ranking Taliban official, named Mullah Beryani, was believed to be present in the madrassa at the time of the airstrike.

However, the residents claimed that the gathering was not a "Taliban meeting" and as per them, about 300 people were inside the madrassa before the airstrike happened.

Extra security forces were deployed to Dasht-e-Archi district in the province to flush out Taliban militants from the region two years ago. Since then, clashes between them are ongoing.

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Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells will on Tuesday travel to Delhi on a four-day visit, from April 3 to 6.

The US Diplomat will co-lead the US delegation with Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton at the U.S.-India-Japan Trilateral Dialogue on Wednesday.

Wells will participate in the India-U.S. Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday.

During the visit, she will also meet with senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and meet with representatives from the private sector.

Meanwhile senior official of US Department of State Wells called on Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday, reported Geo TV.

According to the statement issued by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) the two sides discussed regional security and matters of mutual interest at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

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United States President Donald Trump affirmed that the US "will not stop until ISIS is gone" while justifying the presence of the US troops in Syria.

Presidents of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia visited the White House on Wednesday to attend the Baltic Summit in the United States.

Trump took to his Twitter account to welcome all the three Presidents to the White House while congratulating Estonia on its 100th anniversary of Independence.

"Today, it was my honour to welcome Estonia President @KerstiKaljulaid, Lithuania President @Grybauskaite_LT, and Latvia President @Vejonis to the @WhiteHouse. Congratulations on your 100th anniversaries of independence! #BalticSummit", Trump tweeted.

The three Presidents of the Baltic nations hosted a joint press conference with Trump as part of the Baltic summit.

Trump, while addressing the conference, mentioned the World's Declaration of 1940 and US-Baltic Charter of 1998 and assured to stand with it.

He further acknowledged the assistance of the Baltic countries in providing military training to the soldiers to fight against military group ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Trump said, "We will not stop until ISIS is gone".

Trump further called for expanding mutual trade relations between Baltic countries and US.

He encouraged the move of Lithuania to begin buying the liquid natural gas from the United States as part of an effort to secure alternative energy supplies and reduce its dependence on Russia.

Referring to US sanctions on Russia for its alleged role in manipulation of the 2014 US elections, Trump said, "Nobody's been tougher on Russia than I have."

Trump also praised the Baltic countries for their robust defence spending. Latvia and Lithuania come close to meeting the NATO benchmark of devoting two percent of their economies to defence while Estonia spends slightly more than two percent.

"When nations are committed to peace and to security, they have to pay their share and we will all enjoy a much more safe and prosperous future," Trump said.

Trump was followed by President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite, who focused on the defence issues being faced by the countries while mentioning the Article 5 of the US-Baltic Declaration.

Grybauskaite said, "Our discussions are more about bringing reforms in defence. We are helping the United States to combat terrorism in Afghanistan, Maali and wherever it is required. We see the willingness of US to see a different quality of NATO."

Further, the Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis said the US has committed to apply deterrent policies in the Baltic regions.

"We will commit 2 percent GDP towards military strengthening NATO in eastern area and contribute to international security," Vejonis said.

He further mentioned of combating military terrorism, cyber information warfare and nuclear proliferation, while highlighting the growth of the digital economy and trade relations with the US.

Further, Estonia's President Kersti Kaljulaid reiterated the commitment of Baltic nations towards military strengthening by saying, "Peace and security depend on strong sovereign nations. We stand together like-minded partners and allies. We find it important to contribute to counter-terrorism and spend 2 percent of GDP on defence".

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The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Tuesday apprehended a Zimbabwe identified as Betty Rame at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for carrying three kilograms of Methamphetamine worth approximately Rs 15 crore.

On Monday, an input was provided to the CISF by the Narcotics Control Bureau about a foreign lady carrying drugs. At about 8:30 p.m., surveillance and intelligence staff of the CISF intercepted the lady near departure gate No.3.

She was thoroughly checked and her baggage was passed through the X-BIS machine where an empty bag showed a suspicious image. On physical checking, that empty bag appeared to be unusually heavy.

The CISF staff cut open the false cover and a packet weighing about three kilograms was recovered. It contained Methamphetamine (commonly known as party drug or ice).

The accused woman was then handed over to the Narcotics Control Bureau for further questioning.

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The stock is quoting at Rs 286.4, up 3.24% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. Apollo Tyres Ltd is up 35.13% in last one year as compared to a 10.07% spurt in NIFTY and a 10.76% spurt in the Nifty Auto.

Apollo Tyres Ltd is up for a fifth straight session in a row. The stock is quoting at Rs 286.4, up 3.24% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is down around 0.13% on the day, quoting at 10198.2. The Sensex is at 33240.47, down 0.04%. Apollo Tyres Ltd has risen around 10.52% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Auto index of which Apollo Tyres Ltd is a constituent, has risen around 1.29% in last one month and is currently quoting at 11058.45, up 0.49% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 26.23 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 22.78 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark April futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 287.45, up 3.55% on the day. Apollo Tyres Ltd is up 35.13% in last one year as compared to a 10.07% spurt in NIFTY and a 10.76% spurt in the Nifty Auto index.

The PE of the stock is 27.51 based on TTM earnings ending December 17.

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The stock is quoting at Rs 1116.15, up 0.52% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd is up 40.05% in last one year as compared to a 10.07% spurt in NIFTY and a 16.44% spurt in the Nifty Financial Services.

Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd gained for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 1116.15, up 0.52% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is down around 0.13% on the day, quoting at 10198.2. The Sensex is at 33240.47, down 0.04%. Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd has risen around 8.56% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Financial Services index of which Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd is a constituent, has risen around 0.83% in last one month and is currently quoting at 10261.35, down 0.1% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 6.38 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 6.58 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark April futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 1124.05, up 0.55% on the day. Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd is up 40.05% in last one year as compared to a 10.07% spurt in NIFTY and a 16.44% spurt in the Nifty Financial Services index.

The PE of the stock is 0 based on TTM earnings ending December 17.

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Motherson Sumi Systems (MSSL), through its step-down subsidiary Samvardhana Motherson Automotive Systems Group B.V. (SMRP BV), announced the proposed acquisition of Reydel Automotive Group (Reydel), a privately held portfolio company of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus) that manufactures interior components and modules for global automotive customers. The purchase price for the transaction is $201 million. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

Neuland Laboratories said that its board will meet on 9 April 2018, to consider a proposal for raising funds by way of issuance of equity shares or equity linked securities such as warrants or convertible securities including but not limited to through preferential issue and/or qualified institutions placement or through any other permissible mode and/or combination thereof as may be considered appropriate, subject to approvals as may be required including approval of the shareholders at a general meeting or through postal ballot and the same would be subject to such other regulatory/statutory approvals as may be applicable. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

Akzo Nobel India announced that divestment of the company's specialty chemicals business to Akzo Nobel Chemicals India has been completed with effect from close of business on 31 March 2018. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

Saregama India announced that it has appointed Agility Logistics as a service provider for services including warehousing, inventory management, billing and transportation of its products Carvaan and Carvaan Mini from their godown located at Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. On Monday, 2 April 2018, morning there was fire in this godown damaging stocks of Saregama, while the quantum of damages is still getting assessed, it is expected that there will be no financial loss on account of stock loss in view of adequate insurance cover. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

Galaxy Surfactants announced that it has five manufacturing facilities in India, one located at Taloja (Maharashtra), three located at Tarapur (Maharashtra) and one located at Jhagadia (Gujarat). Of the facilities at Tarapur, two of the facilities viz. M3 & N46, have undergone US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspection, which was concluded on 30 March 2018. These facilities manufacture two products viz. Octyl Methoxy Cinnamate and Octocrylene which have USP Monograph. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

This is the first USFDA Inspection of the company's facility and it have been issued Form-483 with observations. M3 plant received four and N46 plant received Nine observations. All the observations are procedural in nature and none of them were related to any data integrity. The firm is in the midst of providing a comprehensive response to the observations and would be replying to the USFDA within the stipulated time. The revenue from the US market for these 2 products is less than 1% of the company's consolidated revenues and it does not expect any financial impact.

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Motherson Sumi Systems rose 4.06% to Rs 337.40 at 9:28 IST on BSE after the company said it will buy Reydel Automotive Group for $201 million.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 31.38 points, or 0.09% to 33,286.74.

On the BSE, 97,000 shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 2.52 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 340.50 and a low of Rs 332 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 395 on 20 December 2017. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 246.79 on 3 April 2017.

Motherson Sumi Systems (MSSL), flagship company of the Samvardhana Motherson Group (SMG), through its step-down subsidiary Samvardhana Motherson Automotive Systems Group B.V. (SMRP BV), announced the proposed acquisition of Reydel Automotive Group (Reydel), a privately held portfolio company of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus) that manufactures interior components and modules for global automotive customers. The purchase price for the transaction is $201 million.

This would be the 21st acquisition from the Samvardhana Motherson Group and is intended to further bolster Motherson's offerings in the automotive interiors space.

Reydel's interiors product portfolio includes instrument panels, door panels, console modules, decorative parts and cockpit modules. Reydel's global presence spans 20 plants and 16 countries, and is supported by a workforce of approximately 5,650 associates. The acquisition would enable both companies to capitalise on new opportunities in their existing and new geographies, as well as within each others' customer portfolios. Reydel's revenue for the year ended 31 December 2017 was $1048 million and EBITDA was $68 million (provisional, and in accordance with US GAAP).

The transaction will be discussed with employee representatives and, subject to obtaining customary regulatory and other approvals, could close within the next four to six months. The consideration is expected to be financed using existing cash and banking limits at SMRP BV.

Motherson Sumi Systems' consolidated net profit rose 2.63% to Rs 561.71 crore on 35.74% increase in net sales to Rs 14271.45 crore in Q3 December 2017 over Q3 December 2016.

Motherson Sumi Systems is one of the world's leading, specialized automotive component manufacturing companies for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEMs).

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Held on 03 April 2018

Sumeet Industries announced that the Board of Directors of the Company in its meeting held on 03 April, 2018 has considered and approved inter-alia the following:

1. Proposed and recommended name of M/s Pamita Doshi & Co., Chartered Accountants (ICAI Registration no. 141976W) as Statutory Auditors of the company for the financial year 2017-18 in place of M/s. S.R. Somani & Co., Chartered Accountants who shown his inability to continue.

2. Change in designation of Shankarlal Somani (DIN:00165238) as Non- Executive Director cum Chairman to Executive Director cum Chairman of the Company.

3. Approved Notice for convening Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) of the company to be held on 30 April 2018 at 504, 5th Floor, Trividh Chamber, Opp. Fire Station, Ring Road, Surat-395002 at 10:00 AM to transact the business mentioned in the said EGM Notice.

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Key benchmark indices alternately swung between positive and negative zone in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 16.77 points or 0.05% at 33,238.59. The Nifty 50 index was down 7.50 points or 0.07% at 10,204.30. Auto stocks edged lower. Most capital goods stocks rose.

A bout of volatility was seen in early trade as domestic stocks turned positive soon after a subdued start triggered by negative Asian stocks. Key benchmark indices once again sink in negative zone in morning trade. Stocks extended fall and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade after latest data showed that India's manufacturing growth has slowed to five-month low in March. Indices, however, turned range bound in afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.48%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.75%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,556 shares rose and 932 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.

IndusInd Bank rose 1.3% after the bank announced a pilot with WhatsApp enterprise solution in India to communicate with its customers. The private sector lender became one of the first banks to participate in the WhatsApp pilot. The announcement was made during market hours today, 3 April 2018.

The integration with WhatsApp will allow IndusInd Bank to start appearing as a verified account when it communicates with its customers. The initial test phase will allow the bank to communicate important transaction alerts to the customers on WhatsApp. It also allows two-way communication with replies to customer messages and provides basic banking services like checking balance, mini statement, checking reward points as well as updation of Aadhaar through WhatsApp. The messaging on WhatsApp is being rolled out to customers in phases; however, customers can save the official WhatsApp number of the bank and initiate conversation.

Auto stocks edged lower. TVS Motor Company (down 2.54%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.34%), Eicher Motors (down 1.38%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.34%), Escorts (down 0.25%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.63%) and Hero MotoCorp (down 0.06%) fell.

Tata Motors (up 1.48%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (up 2.25%) gained.

Most capital goods stocks rose. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 2.06%), BEML (up 2.08%), Bharat Electronics (up 1%), Punj Lloyd (up 2.23%) and Siemens (up 2.09%) rose. ABB India (down 0.44%), L&T (down 0.86%) and Thermax (down 1.29%) fell.

Galaxy Surfactants fell 2.13% after the company said it received a total of 13 observations for two of its facilities in Maharashtra after USFDA audit. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

Galaxy Surfactants announced that it has five manufacturing facilities in India, one located at Taloja (Maharashtra), three located at Tarapur (Maharashtra) and one located at Jhagadia (Gujarat). Of the facilities at Tarapur, two of the facilities viz. M3 and N46, have undergone US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspection, which was concluded on 30 March 2018. These facilities manufacture two products viz. Octyl Methoxy Cinnamate and Octocrylene, which have USP monograph.

On the macro front, data released today, 3 April 2018 showed that manufacturing conditions improved for the eighth consecutive in March, but at the weakest pace since October. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a five-month low of 51 in March from 52.1 in February.

The output of eight core infrastructure sector, constituting 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production, increased 5.3% in February 2018 over February 2017. Its cumulative output moved up 4.3% in April to February 2017-18. The data was announced after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

Overseas, shares in Europe and Asia declined as a sell-off in once much-favored US technology shares deepened and volatility soared. US stocks fell sharply yesterday, 2 April 2018 driven by both uncertainty surrounding trade policy and weakness in the large-capitalization technology and internet sectors.

The IHS Markit manufacturing purchasing managers index hit a three-year high of 55.6 in March, up from 55.3. The ISM manufacturing report for the same month came in at 59.3, compared with a previous monthly reading of 60.8. A reading of 50 or above indicates improving conditions.

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To deploy 5000 smart gas meters in Mumbai

Tata Communications is working with Mahanagar Gas to deploy 5,000 smart gas meters in Mumbai. The new smart meters will give households and businesses unprecedented visibility and control over their gas usage, and enable MGL to enhance operational efficiencies.

MGL's new smart meters will be equipped with reliable, secure connectivity provided by Tata Communications' public Internet of Things (IoT) network. This infrastructure is based on an ultra-low-power, long-range LoRaWANTM network, which enables MGL to simultaneously monitor thousands of smart meters. It means that its customers won't have to manually check their gas meter readings - instead the smart system will automatically track their gas usage.

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The Haryana Police have arrested 100 people for violent incidents related to the protest called by Scheduled Castes organizations on Monday, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

"Due to proper arrangements made and prompt action taken by police, the situation remained largely peaceful in the state, barring petty incidents of violence by mischievous elements trying to damage government property. Taking strict against those involved in these incidents, 47 cases were registered and 100 persons were arrested," Director General of Police (DGP) B.S. Sandhu said here.

He said that 84 police officers, officials and eight persons from general public were injured and 24 government and 60 private vehicles suffered minor damages.

"Stones were pelted on two trains besides Shatabdi Express and six complaints were received regarding breaking of glasses and shutters of shops," he added.

He said that the Haryana Police had deployed additional police force all over the state.

"Police officers were instructed to prevent any untoward incident and keep the law-and-order situation under control," Sandhu said.

The protests and incidents of violence in Haryana were reported from Bhiwani, Rohtak, Kaithal, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Hisar, Jind, Sirsa and some other places.

--IANS

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At least 11 people were killed in an arson attack on a teahouse in the Iranian city of Ahvaz on Tuesday, police said.

According to a police official, some people set the teahouse in Khuzestan province on fire deliberately, Xinhua news agency reported.

Firefighters rescued over 40 people from the blaze. Five people were injured.

The motive behind the attack was personal dispute, said Sardar Abbaszadeh, the chief commander of Khuzestan Police Force. The suspects were arrested and they confessed to the crime, he said.

--IANS

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A total of 40,000 civilians have returned home in the Syrian capital's Eastern Ghouta, where the Army nearly gained full control, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

The return of the civilians was ongoing as the Syrian Army recaptured all towns in Eastern Ghouta except for the last rebel stronghold of Douma district, the report said.

Around 150,000 civilians left Eastern Ghouta in March following a relentless offensive by government troops targeting the rebels. A day earlier, SANA reported that 12,000 children from Eastern Ghouta returned to schools in the government-run shelters.

As the last batch of rebels were moving to the rebel-held area in the northern city of Jarablus, the situation in Eastern Ghouta was returning to normal, allowing people to return home.

Eastern Ghouta, a 105-square-km agricultural region consisting of several towns and farmlands, used to be occupied by several rebel groups, who posed the last threat to the capital by firing shells into Damascus' government-controlled neighbourhoods.

--IANS

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Britain is set to introduce "one of the world's toughest" bans on ivory sales in a bid to protect elephants for future generations, Secretary Michael Gove announced on Tuesday.

The prohibition will introduce tighter legislation covering ivory items of all ages, save for a few limited exceptions, the government said. The penalty for violating the ban could be up to five years in prison, CNN reported.

"Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol," Gove said. "The ban will demonstrate our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past."

Britain's announcement is the latest move in the global fight against the ivory trade. In 2016, the US adopted a near-total embargo but exempted ivory items older than a century and containing less than 50 per cent ivory.

China enacted its own ban on the sale of ivory products at the start of the year, but it exempts ivory "relics", according to the British government.

There will be certain narrowly-defined and carefully-targeted exemptions for items which do not contribute to the poaching of elephants, Gove said.

Exceptions included items made before 1947 that are comprised of less than 10 per cent ivory and musical instruments made before 1975 with less than 20 per cent ivory.

Rare and most important items, at least 100 years old, will be assessed by specialist institutions such as Britain's most prestigious museums before exemption permits are issued, the report said.

In addition, there will be a specific exemption for portrait miniatures painted on thin slivers of ivory.

In October, the UK will host the fourth international conference on the illegal wildlife trade, bringing global leaders to London to tackle the strategic challenges of the trade.

Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF said: "Around 55 African elephants are killed for their ivory a day, their tusks turned into carvings and trinkets. This ban makes the UK a global leader in tackling this bloody trade."

Steele said global action was needed to stop the poaching of elephants.

The British government said it had received more than 70,000 responses during the consultation period, with more than 88 per cent respondents in favour of the ban.

--IANS

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China is to launch two remote sensing satellites for Pakistan in June, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT) said on Tuesday.

It will be the first international commercial launch for a Long March-2C rocket after it carried Motorola's Iridium satellites into orbit in 1999, Xinhua news agency reported.

A rocket will also carry the China-France Oceanography Satellite into space in September, CALVT said. The satellite will monitor ocean wind and waves.

Long March-2C rockets are mainly used to send satellites into low Earth or Sun-synchronous orbits.

--IANS

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A 23-year-old man injured in clashes with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Monday succumbed to his critical injuries at a hospital here on Tuesday, hospital authorities said.

Gowhar Ahmad Rather was injured in Kangan town. With his death, the number of civilians killed in Kashmir since Sunday rose to five.

Police initially said the youth had injured himself while being chased away by security forces.

But doctors at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, where the youth was admitted, said he had been hit with pellets (metallic pieces) which had fractured his skull and caused a fatal brain injury.

Tension gripped Kangan town on the Srinagar-Leh highway, 40 km from Srinagar, after news of the youth's death spread.

Authorities have imposed curfew in the town but angry youths are defying restrictions to engage the security forces in pitched clashes.

Mian Altaf Ahmad, senior National Conference leader and MLA from Kangan, has demanded a judicial probe into the youth's killing, saying unwarranted force had been used.

All movement on the otherwise busy Srinagar-Sonamarg road has been halted.

The highway across the Zojila Pass leading into the Ladakh region is yet to be officially thrown open. But even then, scores of tourists had been visiting the Sonamarg hill station on the foothills of Zojila Pass till Monday.

Four civilians were killed when protesters tried to disrupt anti-militancy operations in Shopian district on Sunday where 13 militants and three soldiers were killed in fierce gun battles.

--IANS

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A young woman who killed her mother because she did not want to dump her woman teacher with whom she had developed intimacy was arrested on Tuesday, police said.

Rashmi Rana, 20, and her teacher Nisha Gautam were caught from the Ghaziabad railway station, Superintendent of Police Akash Tomar said. Both were later sent to judicial custody.

The police said that on March 9, Satish Kumar of Kavi Nagar lodged a complaint alleging that his daughter Rashmi and her teacher killed his wife Pushpa Devi by hitting her head with an iron rod.

Rashmi confessed that she was living with her teacher but her mother did not approve of the relationship.

"But she (Rashmi) did not want to leave her teacher. So in a fit of anger, she hit her due to which she (mother) died," the officer said.

--IANS

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Rome, April 4 (IANS/AKI) United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation chief Jose Graziano da Silva has called for healthier and more sustainable food systems, saying agroecology can contribute to such a transformation, FAO reported on Tuesday.

In his opening remarks at the 2nd International Agroecology Symposium taking place here from Wednesday to Friday, Graziano da Silva said that most food production has been based on high-input and resource-intensive farming systems at a high cost to the environment, and as a result, soil, forests, water, air quality and biodiversity continue to degrade.

The focus on increasing production at any cost has not been sufficient to eradicate hunger "and we are seeing a global epidemic of obesity," he added.

"We need to promote a transformative change in the way that we produce and consume food. We need to put forward sustainable food systems that offer healthy and nutritious food, and also preserve the Agroecology can offer several contributions to this process," Graziano da Silva said.

Combining traditional and scientific knowledge, agroecology applies ecological and social approaches to agricultural systems, focusing on the rich interactions between plants, animals, humans and the

Graziano da Silva urged national policy makers to provide greater support for agroecology. "To move forward, we need the engagement of more governments and policy makers around the world," he said.

The three-day Symposium brings together 700 policy-makers, agroecology practitioners, academics, and representatives from government, civil society, the private sector and UN agencies. The symposium will focus on identifying needs, challenges and opportunities to promote agroecology policies, practices and investments.

On the final day, the Scaling-Up Initiative will be launched. It aims to encourage more inclusive and holistic agroecology transition processes through tools, knowledge and policy processes for transformation of food and agricultural systems, FAO said.

The first Agroecology Symposium was held at FAO in 2014 and since then regional meetings have been held in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Central Asia and Asia and the Pacific. In the last four years, more than 1,400 participants from 170 countries have been involved in this global effort to discuss and highlight the importance and potential of agroecology.

--IANS/AKI

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After Facebook and Twitter, Google has cracked down on malicious cryptocurrency mining extensions on its Chrome platform.

Until now, Google Chrome's web policy permitted cryptocurrency mining in extensions as long as it is the extension's single purpose and the user is adequately informed about the mining behaviour.

"Unfortunately, approximately 90 per cent of all extensions with mining scripts that developers have attempted to upload to Chrome Web Store have failed to comply with these policies, and have been either rejected or removed from the store," James Wagner, Extensions Platform Product Manager, said in a blog post late Monday.

"Starting today, Chrome Web Store will no longer accept extensions that mine cryptocurrency," he added.

Existing extensions that mine cryptocurrency will be delisted from the Chrome Web Store in late June.

Extensions with blockchain-related purposes other than mining will continue to be permitted in the Web Store, Google said.

Over the past few months, there has been a rise in malicious extensions that appear to provide useful functionality on the surface, while embedding hidden cryptocurrency mining scripts that run in the background without the user's consent.

These mining scripts often consume significant CPU resources, and can severely impact system performance and power consumption.

"This policy is another step forward in ensuring that Chrome users can enjoy the benefits of extensions without exposing themselves to hidden risks," Wagner said.

Late last month, Twitter confirmed to block cryptocurrency-related ads on the platform.

In January, social media giant Facebook banned all ads promoting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and ICOs.

--IANS

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Search engine giant Google on Tuesday created a special Doodle to mark the 115th birth anniversary of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, hailed as a freedom fighter, social activist, actor and promoter of the arts.

The Doodle, created by Finland-based Indian artist Parvati Pillai, depicts Chattopadhyay surrounded by many of the cultural objects and practices she fought to elevate and protect.

It includes the various fields she promoted including instruments such as the sitar and the sarangi, Karthak dance, Chhau dance, embroidery, basket weaving and Kathaputli.

Chattopadhyay's contributions to India were numerous. She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1987 and was widely-known for persuading Mahatma Gandhi to call upon women to march with him in the Indian Independence Movement in the early 20th century.

She is also credited with re-invigorating the culture of Indian handicrafts, handlooms and theatre and for using cooperative grassroots movements to pave the way for a higher socio-economic standard for Indian women around the country.

Born in Mangalore in 1903, she married Harindranath Chattopadhyay when she was 20 and then moved to London where she graduated with a diploma in Sociology.

She joined the Indian freedom movement when she returned to India.

Chattopadhyay became the first woman to contest a legislative seat in India when she ran for the Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly.

She had a career of several "firsts" -- from setting up some of the first institutions to archive, protect, and promote Indian dance, drama, art, puppetry, music and handicrafts to becoming one of the few women of her time to propose that women's rights, religious freedoms, environmental justice, political independence and civil rights are all interrelated movements.

"Happy 115th birthday, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay!," Google said in its tribute.
John Giannandrea, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Google, is stepping down from his position as head of the Search and Artificial Intelligence (AI) units, the media reported.

According to a report in The Information late on Monday, Giannandrea's role is being split into two.

Jeff Dean, who leads the company's deep learning AI research team " Brain", would run a separate AI wing in addition to his current position.

"Ben Gomes, who joined in 2000 and was running search engineering, will take over the search organisation," CNBC reported.

Giannandrea will continue to work at A Machine Learning (ML) expert, Giannandrea joined Google in 2010 after the company acquired his startup Metaweb Technologies.

He took the role of Senior Vice President of Engineering at Google from Amit Singhal in early 2016, signalling Google's emphasis on weaving ML and AI into Search.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been "betting big" on advances in AI and machine learning.

Earlier this year, Pichai said that AI is one of the most profound things that humanity is working on right now and compared it to basic utilities in terms of its importance.

"AI is 'one of the most important things that humanity is working on. It's more profound than, I don't know, electricity or fire," The Verge quoted Pichai as saying.

Pichai also said that AI could be used to help solve climate change issues or to cure cancer.
After Apple released new classroom software for schoolgoers last month, Google has launched "Rolling Study Halls" to help students from rural communities access Wi-Fi and Chromebooks on buses.

Google said that the programme is now being expanded to 16 additional school districts in the US.

"After initial pilots in North Carolina and South Carolina, early results indicate promising gains in reading and math proficiency and increased digital fluency. So we are expanding Rolling Study Halls to reach thousands more students across 16 more school districts, focused on rural communities," the company said in a blog post on Monday.

Participating school districts would receive mobile Wi-Fi routers, data plans and devices to help transform their buses into mobile learning spaces.

Along with access to technology, students would also have access to an onboard educator who would provide help with assignments and engaging digital activities.

Google said it was also working with local officials to determine how "Rolling Study Halls" could help provide connectivity for community members beyond the school.

Apple last month unveiled a new 9.7-inch iPad for schools, some classroom software and a creative curriculum called "Everyone Can Create".

It also released a new free "Schoolwork" app that would let teachers distribute handouts, make assignments, assign specific activities within apps, check on students' progress.

In US schools, 60 per cent laptops and computers use Google software, followed by Apple's iOS at 12.3 per cent and MacOS at 4.7 per cent, media reports said.

--IANS

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Setting a new distance record, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered an enormous blue star nicknamed "Icarus", the farthest individual star ever seen.

They also used Icarus to test one theory of dark matter and to probe the make-up of a foreground galaxy cluster, the US space agency said on Tuesday.

"This is the first time we're seeing a magnified, individual star. You can see individual galaxies out there, but this star is at least 100 times farther away than the next individual star we can study, except for supernova explosions," explained Patrick Kelly, study leader from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

The star, harboured in a very distant spiral galaxy, is so far away that its light has taken nine billion years to reach Earth.

Icarus, whose official name is "MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1", is only visible because it is being magnified by the gravity of a massive galaxy cluster -- located about five billion light-years from Earth.

In gravitational lensing, gravity from a foreground, massive cluster of galaxies acts as a natural lens in space, bending and amplifying light.

The discovery of Icarus through gravitational lensing has initiated a new way for astronomers to study individual stars in distant galaxies.

These observations provide a rare, detailed look at how stars evolve, especially the most luminous stars, NASA said.

Detecting the amplification of a single, pinpoint background star provided a unique opportunity to test the nature of dark matter in the cluster.

Dark matter is an invisible material that makes up most of the universe's mass.

When NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is launched, astronomers expect to find many more stars like Icarus.

"Webb's extraordinary sensitivity will allow measurement of even more details, including whether these distant stars are rotating. Such magnified stars may even be found to be fairly common," NASA added.

--IANS

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American music star Pharrell Williams, who has shared the frame with Indian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on a magazine cover, says he doesn't consider himself a role model.

The "Happy" hitmaker, who was in India last month to celebrate his first Holi and as part of a brand association, spoke to Vogue India's April 2018 issue about views on music and life.

Williams said he was not interested in running for President.

"I'm no role model. I'm just an advisor - that's why as a producer I'm able to push people in certain directions to find a uniqueness in their voice, their intentions and their purpose - that's my job," Williams said.

On whether music, for him, needed to come with a message, he said: "It doesn't need to but it's good that it does. I think everything we do should have some sort of message or intention or it's just wasted energy."

Williams posed for a photoshoot with Aishwarya at the Mehboob Studio here. He was accompanied by model-wife Helen Lasichanh and his team comprised a majority of women -- be it the managers or stylists.

"Women hold the power to our planet. At any point, they can just hold up their hands and say we are not going to make babies, and that'll be the end of our species," he said.

While celebrities are known for their outlandish requests, Williams' crew insists on Kettle chips and packets of peanut M&Ms.

The celebrated artiste said: "I don't know how you bring back your inner child but that you don't let it go. Why should I stop eating M&Ms? Is it like 'Man, I have a moustache now, so no more Pixar.' No way! If you think about it, every cartoon, every cereal, is made by grown-up-people with imagination that refused to be tamed. So why can't I be that?"

--IANS

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International against India are "hugely biased" and "uncalled for" because crime and violent incidents in the country are only "few and far between", says Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons.

In an interview with IANS at his office, the minister asserted India was a "perfectly safe" tourist destination for foreigners and the government was making efforts to get negative advisories against the country removed.

"Most of these advisories are hugely biased. I don't want to use the word racially biased. Like the advisory for Assam is still on Level 2. Why? Such advisories are completely uncalled for," he said.

Alphons said the External Affairs Ministry had been taking up the issue with various countries and of course Prime Minister Narendra Modi's global diplomacy was the "best message" that painted India as a safe place.

"You know incidents are deplorable but they are so few and far between. The issue is that the (foreign) media is hugely biased (against India)."

The remarks came against the backdrop of the US and other western countries repeatedly asking their citizens to exercise caution in their travels India due to reported incidents of crime and violence.

The US in January reviewed its advisories placing India on Level 2 and suggesting increased caution. Canada also issued its updated travel advisory on March 21 asking citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution in India due to a continuing threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country at all times".

The UK in its February 21, 2018, dated advisory suggested a high degree of caution as "terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in India" and asked the British to "be vigilant" in the wake of "an increased threat to places visited by British nationals such as religious sites, markets, festival venues and beaches".

Alphons sad India has established itself as "a perfect destination, a perfectly safe destination" and despite these advisories the country hosted 10.2 million foreign tourists in 2017, which is an increase of 15.8 per cent from the previous year.

The receipts of these foreign tourists was $27 billion - an increase of 20.2 per cent in terms of revenue.

"So, I say with a firm belief that these advisories are completely uncalled for."

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India and Russia's collaboration is crucial for ensuring global stability and the international community can take a leaf from the successful Russian mission in Syria to combat terrorism, said experts from Delhi and Moscow.

"In the renewed geo-political scenario, India-Russia collaboration is vital for ensuring peace and security," said experts while speaking at a video interaction between New Delhi- and Moscow- based experts on the occasion of a conference on international security in Moscow, as per a statement issued by the Russian Embassy here.

"Experts have stressed that Russia's experience in Syria is a vital learning for international collaboration to combat terror elements," it said.

The video interaction titled "Regional security: A view from Moscow and Delhi" had experts from both countries discussing topical regional security issues, the processes of cooperation between Russia and India to strengthen it, joint steps to counter international terrorism, as well as common threats, challenges, and opportunities to minimize them.

"There is no ready to use therapy for combating terror elements while the essential aspect is that for any such combat there are three elements which are the military, social and political components," said Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Deputy Chairman Alexei Kondratiev.

"Russia has been largely successful in its Syrian operation because it could simultaneously take up all these three factors in consideration and these learnings are vital for situations like that in Afghanistan," he said.

Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for European Studies Professor Gulshan Sachdeva said: "The trust built with years of working together between India and Russia is a vital element for international cooperation to fight terror and to ensure security and stability in the region which has global implications."

Other experts said greater cooperation between Eurasian powers like India, China and Russia is vital for stability in the region as well as for the global peace. An Indian expert said Pakistan is a victim of its own policies and India wants to see a strong and prosperous Pakistan.

The interaction was coordinated by Olga Dycheva, Head of the Information Department of the Russian Embassy.

Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is on a three-day visit to Russia to attend the 7th Moscow Conference on International Security. The two-day conference on April 4-5 is being organized by the Russian Ministry of Defence .

Sitharaman is on her first visit to Russia as the country's Defence Minister where she will meet her Russian counterpart, General Sergei Shoigu and other senior leaders.

--IANS

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Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Tuesday said that his upcoming India visit will be solely focused on building trust but he will not sign any agreement against his country's national interest.

He will embark on a state visit to India on Friday following an invitation from his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

"The Nepali government wishes to have balanced relations based on trust, friendship, equity and mutual interests with India as well as China. We intend to build up a reliable atmosphere and make the neighbours our development partners... and the visit is taking place in the same backdrop," said Oli while delivering a speech in Parliament.

Oli said he will discuss with Modi about expatiating the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) like regional organisations as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative like sub-regional cooperation.

"I will discuss matters like railways and waterways with India. Connectivity including railways, waterways, energy sector, minimizing trade deficit, implementation of past agreements and modernization of agriculture are prioritized in my visit," he said.

Oli said his visit aims to expedite past agreements with India and he will also address security concerns of India including cross boarder crime, terrorists threat and human trafficking.

He said that he hopes the Nepal-India relations would reach a new height.

Other issues to be discussed with India included agricultural modernisation of Nepal, increasing production and trade, connectivity, implementation of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, construction of integrated checkposts and a postal highway among others, said Oli.

--IANS

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he was suspending a plan to send thousands of African migrants to three Western countries, putting the brakes on a decision he had announced only hours earlier, the media reported.

On Monday night, Netanyahu said on his Facebook page that the deal would be re-examined, reports CNN.

He had come under heavy criticism for the agreement by members of his coalition and citizens of a south Tel Aviv community where a large migrant community lives.

Under the plan, made with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Israel was to send at least 16,250 African migrants to Canada, Italy and Germany.

Netanyahu had said earlier on Monday that the agreement was the result of an "unprecedented understanding" with the UNHCR.

The plan allowed for thousands of other African migrants to stay in Israel.

There are approximately 37,000 illegal immigrants in Israel, the majority from Eritrea or Sudan, according to the Population and Immigration Authority.

The agreement with the UNHCR had been an attempt to address criticism of an even earlier plan, in which migrants would be offered $3,500 and an airplane ticket to leave for a sub-Saharan African country, CNN reported.

Uganda and Rwanda were widely reported by the Israeli media as potential host countries.

That plan was successfully challenged by human rights groups at Israel's High Court on March 15, where a temporary order blocked its implementation.

At its highest point, there were some 65,000 illegal immigrants in Israel.

Over the past decade, the Population and Immigration Authority said that it has received 54,600 requests for asylum. Only 33 have been accepted. Tens of thousands remain mired in the bureaucratic process.

--IANS

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Rome, April 3 (IANS/AKI) The Italian government on Tuesday urged Serbia to release from prison "without delay" photojournalist Mauro Donato, who was arrested last month on suspicion of robbing three Afghan migrants.

During a meeting in Rome with Serbia's Ambassdor Goran Aleksic, the Italian Foreign Ministry's Director-General for Italians abroad, Luigi Maria Vignali repeated to Aleksic the government's wish for Donato be freed from custody "without delay", the ministry stated.

Tuesday's meeting between Aleksic and Vignali followed previous "frequent contact" with the Serbian authorities "both in Rome and through the Italian embassy in Belgrade," the statement went on.

Italian diplomatic envoys have made daily visits to Aleksic, who has since 16 March been held in prison in Serbia, where his physical and psychological state is said to have deteriorated.

The three Afghans who initially accused Donato of robbing them have since withdrawn their accusations according to reports.

--IANS/AKI

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Rome, April 4 (IANS/AKI) Italy's ruling centre-left Democratic Party will not join a coalition government but will take its rightful place in opposition, its caretaker leader Maurizio Martina said Tuesday after the party got just 18.7 percent of votes in inconclusive national polls last month.

"The party's national directorate has recognised our crushing defeat from which arises the need to go into parliamentary opposition," Martina told Italy's Radio Capital.

"The electoral defeat cannot be denied and we will re-launch our project from the opposition benches...the people expressed themselves very clearly on 4 March," he said.

Italy's parties are jostling for power as President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday begins consultations on the formation of a government, a month after the election led to a hung parliament.

The consultations could drag on for weeks or even months. Mattarella has the power to name a Prime Minister but is still unclear if the parties which got the biggest share of votes in the March 4 election can find enough common ground to form a coalition government or whether another vote will be needed.

The populist Five-Star Movement, as the largest single party after the vote, and the rightwing League, the leader of the winning centre-right coalition, are laying claim to a first bid to form a government.

Matteo Renzi announced his resignation as Democratic Party leader last month after the party achieved its worst-ever electoral result.

--IANS/AKI

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Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said that Jio Payments Bank Limited has commenced operations with effect from April 3, 2018.

"The Reserve Bank has issued a licence to the bank under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to carry on the business of payments bank in India," the country's central bank said in a statement.

According to RBI, Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai was one of the 11 applicants which were issued in-principle approval for setting up a payments bank.

Payments bank has been conceptualised by RBI to further financial inclusion by providing small savings accounts and payments or remittance services.

--IANS

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Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday announced a vigilance probe into a land deal involving the CPI's Wayanad district unit after a TV channel sting purportedly showed the CPI hand in glove with the land mafia.

The CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and the CPI (Communist Party of India) are premier allies in the ruling Left government.

Vijayan told the state Assembly: "This government will in no way tolerate corruption. In this particular case, the government has done no wrong.

"The visuals aired show a government official playing truant and the Revenue Minister has already announced the steps taken. We now announce a vigilance probe into it."

Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan is a CPI leader.

The expose shows an Asianet TV channel team posing as a group of businessmen looking for a particular piece of land in the district to build a resort. They first approach Kunju Mohammed, a real estate broker, who takes them to Wayanad Deputy Collector T. Somnathan and some CPI district leaders, including its Wayanad unit secretary Vijayan Cherukara.

Mohammed connects them with Somnathan and Cherukara, and the latter using his influence gets access to the state secretariat.

The visuals -- besides the audio of the conversation between Mohammed, Somnathan and Cherukara -- try to establish that there is an unholy alliance between them to allegedly usurp the government land.

Senior Congress legislator V.D. Sateeshan said the sting shows what "we see in films -- how officials manipulate land records to favour people who are willing to bribe them".

"This is the latest example of how attempts to usurp government land is being carried out by the mafia, which operates not just in Wayanad but across the state."

Chandrasekheran, however, denied all charges and said since he took over as Minister, the government has registered 602 cases against various people who tried to usurp government land.

"Is it not common practice for people to come to party offices to get justice. I did receive an application from six people in this case and as is the norm, I asked the Wayanad District Collector to look into the matter.

"What you all should see is no favours were given and in fact we have already suspended the Deputy Collector and all the files regarding this have been confiscated and the probe has begun," said Chandrasekheran.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the Minister was trying to trivialise the issue.

"Please do not forget that the four CPI ministers in the cabinet even went to the extent of boycotting the weekly cabinet meeting last year when the Chief Minister was trying to shield a Minister (Thomas Chandy) in an alleged land usurpment.

"The CPI-M appears to be the happiest after this case surfaced," said Chennithala.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Malaysian coast guard on Tuesday intercepted a boat carrying refugees and allowed it to disembark at Langkawi island.

A total of 56 people, including women and children, were travelling in the wooden boat that was spotted by the Malaysian coast guard two days ago in southern Thailand, an official told Efe news.

The refugees were in good health and they were provided with food and water, Rosli added.

On Sunday, the boat had stopped on the Thai island of Lanta due to poor weather and re-stocked fuel and provisions before the Thai authorities allowed it to resume its journey toward Malaysia, home to a significant diaspora.

This is the first refugee boat in months that has been spotted in the Andaman Sea, where, in 2015, thousands of and Bangladeshi migrants were stranded after they were abandoned by traffickers.

Several organisations have warned of a similar exodus as the monsoon season approaches and conditions deteriorate in refugee camps in Bangladesh, where about 700,000 Rohingya have been living in cramped conditions since last year.

The mass exodus of the Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine region began on August 26, 2017, after the military launched an offensive.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement to start repatriating the Rohingya late January but Dhaka withdrew from the agreement.

Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as citizens.
The Man Booker Prize has been criticised after changing a nominee's nationality from Taiwan to "Taiwan, China" after Beijing exerted pressure on the organisers of the literary prize, the media reported on Tuesday.

Wu Ming-Yi was put on the long list for the Man Booker prize this month and posted the news on his Facebook page, the Guardian reported.

His nominated novel, "The Stolen Bicycle", follows a bicycle restorer in search of his father and who, in the course of restoring antique bicycles, retraces the history of modern Taiwan.

However, his nationality, as described on Man Booker's website, was changed in line with Beijing's stance that the self-governed island almost 320 km east of mainland China is part of China.

Wu wrote on his Facebook page that his new listed nationality did not reflect his "personal position on this issue" and said he would be making his views known to Man Booker.

Soon Man Booker's Facebook page was filled with criticism and one-star reviews, the Guardian reported.

Man Booker said on Tuesday it was "seeking clarification" from the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the country's official position on Taiwan.

The awards organiser said it had received earlier advice that "Taiwan, China, was the correct, politically neutral form", according to the spokesperson Truda Spruyt.

Spruyt confirmed that the awards organiser had received complaints from the Chinese embassy.

Over the past year, China has ramped up pressure on foreign companies that describe Taiwan as a country.

The German airline Lufthansa and the UK's British Airways dropped Taiwan from their lists of countries.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hit back at Tim Cook saying that the recent criticism from his counterpart at Apple was unfounded, the media reported.

In an interview given to Vox on Monday, Zuckerberg defended his company's business model by saying: "You know, I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib. And not at all aligned with the truth.

"The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay.

"Having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service," he was quoted as saying.

In a Recode and MSNBC interview last month, Cook had called for increased regulation of social media, and questioned the practice of monetising user data on free platforms by selling ads that allow advertisers to target specific groups.

The Apple CEO was asked how he would handle the crisis.

"I wouldn't be in this situation," he said.

"The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetised our customer... If our customer was our product... We've elected not to do that."

Apple makes the vast majority of its money selling hardware, including iPhones, iPads and Macs.

Facebook, on the other hand, has built an entire business on selling ads that target users based on information they provide.

Apple executives have used privacy and transparency as a sales pitch, drawing a contrast with other companies especially Facebook.

Cook called privacy a "human right" and "a civil liberty", reports CNN.

Zuckerberg told Vox that Facebook was dedicated "serving people", despite its reliance on advertising.

"If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford," he said.

"I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm Syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you," the Facebook CEO added.

Facebook is currently facing the heat over the leak of personal and other data of some 50 million users to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Zuckerberg admitted that the social media giant "made mistakes" over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and a "breach of trust" had occurred between it and its users.

He has apologised for the data debacle and said he was ready to testify before Congress.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
American hospitality major Marriott International threw open the doors of its 100th hotel in India in this tech hub on Tuesday.

"With the opening of the 360-room Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel, we have achieved the milestone of 100 hotels in India," said group President and Chief Executive Officer Arne M. Sorenson.

Marriott plans to open 50 new hotels over three years, Sorenson added.

"India is one of our most important markets in Asia, with the second highest number of hotels after China. With India's growing economy and rising middle class, we see a huge opportunity in the country," said the company's Chief Development Officer Paul Foskey.

Currently employing over 30,000 people in India, Marriott, headquartered in Maryland in the east coast of the US, said it will hire another 3,000 people this year as it plans to expand its presence in Indian cities and towns.

"We are looking at Tier-II and III cities in India for expansion and will soon have new properties in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Mumbai, among others," said the company's Area Vice President for South Asia Neeraj Govil.

The company said it hopes to get another 100 properties in India by 2023.

With brands like St. Regis, JW Marriott, Ritz Carlton, Sheraton, Westin among others, Marriott has over 6,500 hotels across 127 countries, with the US being its major market with nearly 4,500 hotels.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Mizoram government has signed a peace agreement with the Hmar People's Convention-Democratic (HPC-D), a Manipur-based terror outfit, to end the three-decade-old violence and political impasse in the northeastern state, an official said here on Tuesday.

After eight years of parleys, the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) was signed on Monday evening by Chief Secretary Arvind Ray on behalf of the state government and HPC-D President H. Zosangbera, representing the terror outfit.

"According to the MoS, more administrative autonomy would be given to the existing Sinlung Hills Development Council (SHDC) and the name of the council would be rechristened as Sinlung Hills Council by enacting an act," Additional Secretary of state Home Department Lalbiakzama told the media.

Lalbiakzama had headed the state government team in the official level talks with the HC-D since 2010.

The SHDC was constituted in 1994 for the socio-economic, political and cultural development of the tribal people under the jurisdiction of the council areas.

The official said according to the peace agreement, the state government would declare amnesty for all HPC-D cadres against whom criminal cases are pending.

"According to the MoS, the state government would take steps to provide relief, ex-gratia and rehabilitation of around 100 HPC-D cadres after they surrender to the state government," Lalbiakzama said.

He said that the HPC-D cadres were likely to lay down 48 sophisticated arms during the "home coming ceremony", which is likely on April 12.

Expressing happiness, HPC-D spokesperson Lalthalien said the signing of the peace accord was a historic milestone not only for the Hmar tribe but also for the Mizos at large.

The Hmar tribal people have been living in Mizoram, Manipur and southern Assam.

The Manipur-based militant outfit of the Hmar tribe had been indulging in intermittent violent activities in Mizoram since 1989 demanding a separate autonomous district council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution by carving out areas adjoining southern Manipur, northern Mizoram and southern Assam.

The Mizoram government had on a number of occasions rejected the demand.

Mizoram is the first and only state in India which received Rs 182.45 crore from the central government in 2000-01 as "Peace Bonus" for keeping peace after decades of insurgency.

As the Mizo National Front's founder-leader Laldenga, a former Indian Army official, became Chief Minister in 1986 after his group took to mainstream politics, peace and law and order returned to the Christian-majority Mizoram.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government has no plan to do away with quota policy for Dalits and tribes, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

The assurance came a day after violent protests claimed nine lives against a Supreme Court order that dilutes a law on preventing atrocities against the marginalized communities in the country.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh dubbed as rumours speculation that the government wanted to end the reservation system. "Rumours are being spread about reservation policy, it is wrong.

"I appeal to all political parties to help in maintaining peace and amity in the country," he said amid noisy protests in the House.

Opposition members shouted slogans and were on their feet in protest against the Supreme Court's March 20 order diluting certain provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Rajnath Singh said the government acted swiftly and had already filed a petition in the top court seeking review of its order.

Trinamool Congress' Kalyan Banerjee countered this, saying the government's Additional Solicitor General had given his consent to the Supreme Court's decision of dilution.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said the "dilution in the Act has already been done" and the opposition parties "want to discuss it" in the House.

AIADMK members, meanwhile, created further ruckus and gathered near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium demanding an early constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board that would oversee a water sharing arrangement between the Tamil Nadu, Karantaka, Kerala and Puducherry.

Scindia also raised the issue of no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against the government.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was ready for debating the motion and blamed the Congress for creating disruptions.

"They are trying to halt the democratic process in the House," Ananth Kumar said.

Speaker Mahajan said she was unable to proceed with the no-confidence motion notice and adjourned the House for the day.

It is the last week of the Budget session that began on January 29 and went on break on February 9.

The session resumed on March 5 and is to conclude on April 6.

The post-break part of the session has been completely washed away amid an unending logjam in both Houses of parliament. Important budget bills were passed without debate amid protests.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government has no plan to do away with quota policy for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the country, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

His assurance came a day after violent protests against a Supreme Court order by Dalits claimed nine lives. The court order dilutes a law on preventing atrocities against the marginalised communities in the country.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh said "rumours" were spread that the Union government wanted to end reservation.

"Rumours are being spread about the reservation policy. It is wrong and baseless. I appeal to all political parties to help in maintaining peace and amity in the country," he said amid noisy protests in the house.

The Minister said that "the government is fully committed to protect the interests of the SCs/STs and that an advisory has been issued to all the states to ensure law and order".

He said the government has provided all assistance to the states immediately on their request and is in constant touch with them.

Opposition members shouted slogans and were on their feet in protest against the Supreme Court's March 20 order pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Conveying condolences to the families of people who lost their lives during Monday's protests, Rajnath Singh said "he fully appreciates that there is widespread anger among the people on the Supreme Court order".

"I wish to inform the house that the government of India was not party in that case. People have taken to the streets. I want to assure them there has been no dilution in law whatsoever by our government. Rather, after coming to power and examining the SC/ST Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," he said.

Rajnath Singh said the then government passed the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act in 1995.

"As per the amendments, new offences were added. It was observed that due to the delay in filing of charge sheets (in cases of atrocities), the victims and witness who were vulnerable were influenced and silenced. In order to protect them, the provision of witness protection was introduced. The compensation payable to the victims was also enhanced," the Home Minister said.

He said there has been a new provision wherein action against government servants found negligent in implementing the Act will be taken.

Rajnath Singh said the government acted swiftly and had already filed a petition in the top court to seek review of its order.

Trinamool Congress' Kalyan Banerjee countered this, saying the Additional Solicitor General had given his consent to the Supreme Court's decision.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said the "dilution in the Act has already been done" and the opposition parties "want to discuss it" in the lower house of Parliament.

AIADMK members, meanwhile, created a ruckus and gathered near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium to demand early constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board to oversee water-sharing arrangement between Tamil Nadu, Karantaka, Kerala, and Puducherry.

Scindia also raised the issue of no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against the Narendra Modi government.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was ready for a debate on the motion and blamed the Congress for creating disruptions.

"They are trying to halt the democratic process in the house," Ananth Kumar said.

The Speaker said she was unable to proceed with the no-confidence motion notice and adjourned the house for the day.

This is the last week of the budget session that began on January 29 and went into a recess on February 9. The session resumed on March 5 and will conclude on April 6.

The post-break session has been completely washed out amid a logjam in both houses of Parliament. Important Budget bills were passed without debate amid protests.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government on Tuesday said no re-examination of the Class 10 maths paper will be conducted anywhere in the country, bringing major relief to nearly two lakh CBSE Class 10 students in Delhi, NCR and Haryana.

The decision was taken in the interest of Class 10 students who had already written their exams on March 28 but were told to sit again after it was learnt that the maths question paper had been leaked.

"Consequent to the preliminary evaluation of the impact of reportedly leaked CBSE Class 10 maths paper and keeping in mind the paramount interest of students, the CBSE has decided not to conduct re-examination even in Delhi, NCR (National Capital Region) and Haryana," said Human Resource Development Ministry Secretary Anil Swarup.

Swarup had earlier announced that the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) may re-conduct the maths examination possibly in July for Delhi, its suburbs in NCR and Haryana.

The decision has brought a major relief to over 16 lakh Class 10 students, including nearly two lakh from Delhi, NCR and Haryana.

In support of the decision not to hold re-test anywhere, the CBSE argued that after "internal inquiries and analysis", it found that the leak "may be confined to few alleged beneficiaries".

"Similarly, the trend of random evaluation done so far for Class 10 maths paper, is not indicating sudden spikes or unusual patterns, giving any impression of passing on widespread benefits of alleged leaks to students," the board said in a statement.

"Further, the board has come across several fake question papers being up on social media, obviously with a view to spread panic amongst our students, parents, and school," it said.

Class 10 being within the fold of "internal segment of school system" was another factor, which the board cited in its decision to not hold the re-exam.

The board has faced widespread public protests after it announced that Class 10 math and Class 12 economics exams will he reconducted in the wake of question papers being leaked.

For Class 12 economics, the exam will be held across the country on April 25 to avert any likely "reservations against this batch of students" which may affect the outlook of learning institutions here and abroad, it said.

--IANS

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National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday chided the Jammu and Kashmir government over the much hyped lifting of house arrest restrictions on separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani.

Reacting to a news report which said police had restrained Geelani from attending the funeral prayers of a person killed during Sunday's Shopian gun battles, Abdullah tweeted: "Why? I thought the government had announced that he had been granted 'azadi'. What happened?"

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police S.P. Vaid had said last week that authorities had decided to lift the house arrest restrictions on Geelani.

Following that, Geelani, who favours Jammu and Kashmir's merger with Pakistan, had offered congregational prayers after eight years on Friday last week.

But as tensions mounted in the wake of Sunday's gun battles in south Kashmir in which 20 people were killed, authorities again placed Geelani under house arrest on Monday.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 10-member team will on Wednesday inspect the 'Ratna Bhandar' (treasury) of the 12th century Jagannath temple in Puri after a gap of 34 years, an official said on Tuesday.

The team, including two experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), will enter the 'Ratna Bhandar' to inspect its structural stability and and not the valuables stored there, temple Chief administrator Pradeep Jena said.

"Those entering the treasury will wear gamchhas (towels) given by the temple administration. They would be subjected to frisking both during entry and exit," Jena added.

The entry of devotees during the time will be restricted.

Precious jewellery and ornaments of the deities are kept in the temple treasury, which was last inspected in 1984, when only three of its seven chambers were opened.

The Odisha High Court had ordered the ASI on March 22 to assess the structural condition of the treasury and submit a status report.

The temple servitors on Tuesday appealed to Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb -- permanent Chairman of the temple management committee and scion of the erstwhile Puri royalty -- to be on the inspection team instead of sending in his representative.

"Gajapati is the first servitor of the three deities. Hence, he must be present during the inspection or else it would be a violation of the age-long tradition," said Kashinath Khuntia, General Secretary of Shri Jagannath Sebayat Sammilani.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government has no intention of changing the existing reservation policy for Dalits and tribes, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced on Tuesday.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh dubbed as rumours speculation that the government wanted to end the reservation system. "Rumours are being spread about reservation policy, it is wrong.

"I appeal to all political parties to help in maintaining peace and amity in the country," he added amid noisy protests.

The comments came a day after widespread protests by Dalits rocked the country against the dilution of a law aimed at preventing atrocities on Dalits and tribals.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has mourned the death of anti-apartheid heroine Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, calling her "an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free".

"It is with a profound sense of loss and deep sadness that we have learnt of the passing away of Mam' Winnie Madikizela-Mandela," Ramaphosa said on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Winnie, former President Nelson Mandela's wife, died in Johannesburg Monday after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year, her family announced.

"Today we have lost a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a comrade, a leader and an icon," Ramaphosa said.

Even at the darkest moments of the struggle for liberation, Winnie was "an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free," Ramaphosa said.

In the midst of repression, she was a voice of defiance and resistance, said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa also called Winnie "a champion of justice and equality" in the face of exploitation.

"Throughout her life she made an everlasting contribution to the struggle through sacrifice and her unyielding determination. Her dedication to the plight of her people gained her the love and the respect of the nation," Ramaphosa said.

For many years, Winnie bore the brunt of the senseless brutality of the apartheid state with stoicism and fortitude, the president said.

"Despite the hardships she faced, she never doubted that the struggle for freedom and democracy would succeed," Ramaphosa said.

Winnie remained throughout her life a tireless advocate for the dispossessed and the marginalised and was a voice for the voiceless, said Ramaphosa.

He urged South Africans to draw inspiration from the struggles that Winnie fought and the dream of a better society to which she dedicated her life.

Also on Monday, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lowered its revolutionary banner in honour of the memory of Winnie.

The ANC called Winnie a great woman who was so loved and revered and whose name will forever be inscribed in history.

Winnie's resilience and courage inspired freedom struggles not only in South Africa, but across Africa and her diaspora, the ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule said.

As one of the greatest icons of the struggle against apartheid, Winnie fought fearlessly against the apartheid state and sacrificed her life for the freedom of the country. Her activism and resistance to apartheid landed her in jail on numerous occasions.

Despite all these attempts to break her spirit, she remained steadfast and refused to cease with her political activism, displaying exemplary courage that made her a role model for many young women activists in South Africa, Magashule said.

--IANS

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Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump in which he said that it is necessary for the international community to move forward the Middle East peace process.

According to a Saudi Press Agency report on Tuesday, the Saudi king on Monday evening reaffirmed the kingdom's steadfast position on the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

The conversation came amid rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians following the bloody clashes in the past days near the Israeli border with Gaza Strip that have left at least 15 Palestinian protesters dead and 1,200 others injured.

The Saudi king expressed his appreciation for a statement issued by the White House on its strong stance towards the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.

The Houthi militias have stepped up their attacks on Saudi targets by firing missiles at the kingdom in retaliation for the Saudi-led Arab coalition's airstrikes in Yemen.

The Saudi leader also pledged to make efforts to find a political solution to the Yemeni crisis and provide humanitarian aid to its people.

At the same time, the two leaders underlined the importance of the achievements of the concerted international efforts to fight terrorist organisations in Iraq and Syria.

--IANS

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A Rajasthan Police Sub-Inspector who suffered a heart attack in Jodhpur during the Bharat bandh died on Tuesday while he was being shifted to Ahmedabad in Gujarat for treatment.

SI Mahendra Chaudhary, 35, was rushed to a Jodhpur hospital by his colleagues after he complained of uneasiness on Monday, but was referred to Ahmedabad hospital by doctors treating him as there was no improvement in his health.

Chaudhary was trying to placate an agitated mob of Dalits indulging in violence on Monday when he suffered the heart attack.

Chaudhary is survived by two daughters and a son. The body would be shifted to Jodhpur for post-mortem on Wednesday morning.

The cremation will be held at the police official's native village Nayagaun near Sojat.

Director General of Police O.P. Galhotra expressed condolence on his demise.

--IANS

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A Sikh leader was on Tuesday detained under the harsh Public Safety Act (PSA) in Rajouri district for making provocative speeches.

The police confirmed that Devinder Singh Behl, an advocate by profession, was detained in Nowshera town of Rajouri district under the PSA for making provocative speeches.

Behl had recently asked people to march to Mirpur Kotli in Pakistan-administered Kashmir as part of their ongoing agitation for grant of district status to Nowshera.

The agitation seeking district status for Nowshera entered its 47th day on Tuesday, with businesses, public transport and educational institutions remaining closed in the area.

Behl has been detained under the PSA for challenging the integrity of the country, the police added.

PSA is a harsh law applicable in J&K, under which a person can be detained for a period of two years without any judicial order.

Initially brought into existence in the late 1970s, the act was enacted to deal with timber smugglers whose activities threatened forests in the state.

Over the years, this law has been used against separatist politicians and militants.

The invoking of this law has been widely criticised by rights groups including Amnesty International that has called PSA a "draconian law".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were set to receive 2,630 kg of research, crew supplies and hardware after NASA's cargo provider SpaceX launched a commercial resupply mission.

On Monday, the SpaceX Dragon lifted off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with a delivery of experiments dealing with how the human body, plants and materials behave in space.

The supplies will support dozens of the more than 250 investigations aboard the space station.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Norishige Kanai and NASA's Scott Tingle will use the space station's robotic arm to capture Dragon after its scheduled arrival at the station on Wednesday.

The spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the station and then return to Earth in May with some results of completed experiments, NASA said in a statement.

Among the research arriving on Dragon is a new facility to test materials, coatings and components, or other large experiments, in the harsh of space.

The Materials ISS Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) provides a platform for testing how materials react to exposure to ultraviolet radiation, atomic oxygen, ionising radiation, ultra-high vacuum, charged particles, thermal cycles, electromagnetic radiation and micro-meteoroids in the low-Earth orbit

The Canadian Space Agency's study "Bone Marrow Adipose Reaction: Red or White (MARROW)" will look at the effects of microgravity on bone marrow and the blood cells it produces - an effect likened to that of long-term bed rest on Earth.

Understanding how plants respond to microgravity also is important for future long-duration space missions and the crews that will need to grow their own food.

The Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System (PONDS) arriving on Dragon uses a newly-developed passive nutrient delivery system and the "Veggie" plant growth facility currently aboard the space station to cultivate leafy greens.

These greens will be harvested and eaten by the crew, with samples also being returned to Earth for analysis, NASA said.

Dragon also is carrying an Earth observatory that will study severe thunderstorms and their role in the Earth's atmosphere and climate, as well as upgrade equipment for the station's carbon dioxide removal system, external high-definition camera components, and a new printer for the station's crew.

This is SpaceX's 14th cargo mission to the space station under NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract.

--IANS

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Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday condemned attacks on Dalits during nationwide protests the previous day.

He said the entire country should stand by the Dalits, who have been economically, socially and politically suppressed for generations.

In a statement, the Chief Minister said the governments should ensure that the laws and acts made for the Dalits were implemented properly.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief demanded that the judiciary take into account the feelings, agony and opinion of the Dalits.

He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak with the Supreme Court Chief Justice in this regard.

"The Central government should take a sympathetic view on the ongoing agitation launched by the Dalits who are crestfallen with the Supreme Court guidelines. The Centre also should repose faith among the Dalits and assure them that it stands by them," Rao added.

Violent protests on Monday claimed nine lives against a Supreme Court order that dilutes the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

--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 reiterated his intention of bringing American troops back from Syria, citing the fighting against the extremist group Islamic State (IS) was close to being complete.

"A decision" will be made soon, Trump said on Tuesday at a joint press conference at the White House with visiting leaders from three Baltic countries, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Our primary mission in terms of that was getting rid of IS. We've almost completed that task and we'll be making a decision very quickly in coordination with others, as to what we'll do," he said.

"I want to bring our troops home," Trump added.

Trump's remarks seemed to be at odds with opinions of the US military. The Pentagon and State Department have advised that a much longer-term effort is necessary to defeat the militant group.

The President also complained that the US has spent $7 trillion in the Middle East in the past 17 years, which has brought "nothing, except death and destruction".

Trump has grumbled about the US military presence in Syria. In a speech in the US state of Ohio last week, he said that his country will withdraw its troops in Syria "very soon".

Trump also ordered a hold over the weekend on more than $200 million in recovery funds for Syria, according to US media reports.

Also on Tuesday, Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the US-led coalition to defeat the IS, said that the fight was not over.

"We are in Syria to fight IS," he said at a public event in Washington. "That is our mission and that mission isn't over and we are going to complete that mission."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Maharashtra Police said three Maoists, including two women were shot dead during a gunfight with security forces in the Sirkonda forests of this district, adjoining Chhattisgarh, here on Tuesday.

The gun battle, which lasted for nearly 30 minutes, resulted in the three bullet-ridden bodies being recovered by the C-60 Commando Force of the Anti Naxal Operations (ANO), said a spokesperson.

Two of them were identified as Sunil alias Vilas Kulmethe, 31, a Divisional Commander, and an absconder who carried a Rs 1.60 million reward on his head, Swaroopa alias Amsi Pocha Talandi, an Area Committee Member, and an absconder with a Rs 600,000 reward on her head.

The third woman is yet to be identified, said the official.

The security forces also recovered two rifles, Maoist pamphlets and literature from the site.

This is the first major gunfight by the security forces after its biggest encounter on December 6, 2017, when seven Maoists, including five women were killed.

This year, the security forces have gunned down a total of seven Maoists in the region.

--IANS

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was saddened by the death of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a former wife of Nelson Mandela and an anti-apartheid leader in her own right, a UN spokesman has said.

"The Secretary-General is saddened by the passing of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a leading figure at the forefront of the fight against apartheid in South Africa," Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, told reporters on Monday, Xinhua reported.

"She was a strong and fearless voice in the struggle for equal rights and will be remembered as a symbol of resistance," said the spokesman.

The Secretary-General extended his deepest condolences to the people of South Africa and to Madikizela-Mandela's family, he said.

Madikizela-Mandela died in Johannesburg on Monday at the age of 81. She died peacefully surrounded by her family following a long illness that kept her in and out of hospital since the start of the year, her family said in a statement.

Madikizela-Mandela was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against Apartheid.

--IANS

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The UN on Tuesday said $2.96 billion was needed to provide humanitarian aid for around 13.1 million Yemenis, whose country has been destroyed by a civil war.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave an opening speech at a donor conference in which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, both members of the international coalition involved in the conflict, were participating, Efe news reported.

Guterres said Saudi Arabia and UAE had donated $930 million for Yemen's humanitarian plan.

Since the beginning of Yemen's conflict in September 2014, more than 22 million people, three-quarters of the population, have been in dire need of humanitarian aid, placing Yemen in a catastrophic situation.

The Yemen conflict was unleashed when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa.

The war was further complicated on March 26, 2015 when an Arab Sunni bloc led by Saudi Arabia began a military intervention.

Since the start of the offensive, over 10,000 people have died in areas controlled by the rebels, according to data published in January by the government of the Shia Houthis, although the figure were not confirmed.

--IANS

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Top US diplomat for South Asia Alice Wells as well as Susan Thornton, the State Department's official in-charge of the East Asia and Pacific affairs, will jointly lead Washington's delegation to the India-US-Japan Trilateral Dialogue in New Delhi this week.

The State Department announced on Monday that Wells, who is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, and Thornton, the Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will travel to India on Tuesday.

The Trilateral Dialogue is scheduled to take place from Wednesday to Friday.

On Friday, Wells will also participate in the India-US Forum hosted by the Ananta Centre and the External Affairs Ministry.

Under President Donald Trump's strategic policy for the Indo-Pacific region, Washington is interested in developing close ties between India and Japan as well as Australia as a counter-weight to China.

Last week External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Japan to co-chair the ninth India-Japan Strategic Dialogue with Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)

--IANS

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US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has said the targets of vehicle fuel efficiency set by the previous Barack Obama administration is too stringent and should be revised.

"The Obama Administration's determination was wrong," said Pruitt in a statement on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Obama's EPA cut the Midterm Evaluation process short with politically charged expediency, made assumptions about the standards that didn't comport with reality, and set the standards too high."

The Obama administration required automakers to raise the fuel efficiency to a fleet average of more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025.

Pruitt said EPA will work with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop new standards.

Pruitt also questioned California's authority to write its own standards, which are more stringent than federal levels. California, which accounts for about a third of the nation's car market, has been writing its own standards since 1970, as part of the state's efforts to fight air pollution.

"Cooperative federalism doesn't mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country. EPA will set a national standard for greenhouse gas emissions that allows auto manufacturers to make cars that people both want and can afford - while still expanding environmental and safety benefits of newer cars," said Pruitt.

--IANS

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Nearly seven years after journalist Jyotirmoy Dey was gunned down in full public view, a special court her will pronounce the verdict in the case, in which among the accused is mafia don Rajendra S. Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan - on May 2, the prosecution said on Tuesday.

"The verdict date has been fixed for May 2 by the court," Special Public Prosecutor Pradip Gharat told IANS.

The final arguments in the case which started before Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Court Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Adkar in February were concluded recently.

Besides Chhota Rajan - currently lodged in the Tihar Central Jail, New Delhi - another accused in the case is former Mumbai journalist Jigna Vora.

According to the investigators, it was Chhota Rajan who ordered the hit on Dey, a veteran crime reporter of Mumbai.

The mafia don was deported from Indonesia's Bali in November 2015 and subsequently made an accused in the case.

The 56-year old Dey, who was the Editor (Investigations) of Midday eveninger, was shot dead on June 11, 2011, near his Powai residence in central suburban Mumbai, sending shockwaves in media circles all over the country.

The investigations into the case were initially conducted by the local police but as the case ramifications became deeper, it was taken over by the Crime Branch.

There was a sensational twist in the case when the police arrested Vora, the then deputy bureau chief of The Asian Age, Mumbai, in connection with the case on November 25 (2011) that year, besides 10 other accused.

Another accused (the 11th), named Vinod Asrani, alias Vinod Chembur, who was charged as the main co-conspirator and financer of the entire operation, died due to natural causes in April 2015 at a private hospital. He had also "pointed out" Dey to the gunmen at the scene of the crime that morning.

In June 2015, the Special MCOCA ourt framed charges against the remaining 10 arrested-accused, including Vora.

After Chhota Rajan's arrest, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the Dey murder probe and added him as an accused in a supplementary charge-sheet filed before the court.

During the probe, it also emerged that Vora was allegedly in regular contact with Chhota Rajan.

Three motorcycles and a jeep were used to execute the Rs 500,000 contract killing for which Rs 200,000 was paid as advance and the balance to be paid later.

Gharat said that three of the accused have recorded their confessional statements pertaining to their roles in the crime and a total of 155 witnesses were examined during the trial.

"Chhota Rajan's deposition was recorded via video-conference from Tihar Central Jail. He is not likely to be brought here for the verdict," he added.

Dey had authored two books: "Khallas: An A to Z Guide to the Underworld", and "Zero Dial: The Dangerous World of Informers", and was penning his third book, "Chindi: Rags to Riches".

In the upcoming book, he had reportedly portrayed the mafia don as 'Chindi' (petty), which apparently irked Chhota Rajan.

The 11 accused are Rohit Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalya, 28, Abhijeet Kasharam Shinde, 27, Arun Janardhan Dake, 27, Sachin Suresh Gaikwad, 35, Anil Bhanudas Waghmode, 35, Nilesh Narayan Shendge alias Bablu, 34, Mangesh Damodar Agawane, 25 (all who conducted recce and/or were shooters), Jigna Vora, who made nearly three dozen calls to Chhota Rajan prior to the murder, Deepak Sisodia, 28, of Dehradun, the weapon supplier, Joseph Paulson, 43, who provided the mobile SIM cards, and Vinod Chembur (deceased) who was the co-conspirator and financer of the operation.

--IANS

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At least two youths were injured today in clashes between protesters and security forces in Kangan area of Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district, police said.

Mohammad Amir and Irfan Ahmad were brought to the SKIMS hospital in Soura with injuries to the head and the chest respectively, a police official said.

Another youth from Kangan, injured in similar clashes yesterday, succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital here today.

Protests have been reported from many parts of Kashmir against the killing of civilians during encounters between militants and security forces in Shopian and Anantnag districts on Sunday.

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Two persons, suspected to be the members of "fatka gang", have been arrested for allegedly snatching mobile phones from passengers travelling on long distance and local trains on Central Line, the GRP said today.

The duo, arrested from Kalyan railway station recently, are currently in judicial custody.

The accused, identified as Ajit Jhade and Deepak Thokal, are part of a gang that targets commuters standing on footborads of trains, said DCP, GRP (Central Railway), Samadhan Pawar.

He said the members of the "fatka gang" typically perch themselves atop a signal or electricity poles along railway tracks and hit commuters with a stick or hands when the train slows down.

"Before the startled commuters could react, they grab their mobile phones and flee," the officer said.

"Over the past few weeks, we had received several such complaints at Kalayan station," Pawar said, adding that they had nabbed Jhade a few days ago whose interrogation led them to Thokal.

The accused duo have ten cases pending against them with the Kalyan GRP, he said, adding that as many as 20 mobile phones of various brands have been recovered from their possession.

They have been booked under sections 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC, another official said.

The GRP has also arrested two persons, identified as Gautam Shonwane and Sanjay More, for allegedly buying the stolen handsets, he said.

They have been booked under section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC.

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Three people were killed and as many injured in an explosion at the workshop of a factory in north China's Shanxi Province today, officials said.

The blast took place early this morning at the Yunhai Aluminium company in Yongji City, they said.

Three people died at the spot while three sustained injuries, the state-run Global Times reported.

The injured were rushed to hospital where their condition is said to be stable.

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Three officers among five Army men were injured when Pakistani army resorted to mortar shelling violating ceasefire and targeting forward posts along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Pakistan army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from 7 am today along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector using small arms, automatics and mortars," an Army officer said.

Indian Army retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked cease fire violation, he said.

In the firing and shelling, 5 Army men including 3 officers were injured, the police officials said.

Pakistan troops have violated ceasefire along LoC and IB over 650 times this year.

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Nine people, including four of a family from the minority Christian community in Pakistan, were killed in two separate attacks in Quetta in the south-western Balochistan province, police said.

The ISIS claimed responsibility for the first attack in which unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a rickshaw in which a Christian family was travelling on Quetta's Shah Zaman road.

All four died on the spot while a woman was injured and rushed to a hospital, Provincial Police Chief Moazzam Jah Ansari said, adding that her father and three cousins were killed in the firing.

The attack on the Christians, he said, appeared to be a targeted attack.

"We are investigating whether it was a targeted attack due to personal enmity or sectarian reasons," he said.

The Christians on Sunday had celebrated Easter in Pakistan and the family had come to celebrate with their relatives from Lahore.

Shortly after the attack on the Christian family in the evening, two groups clashed with each other in Quetta's Qambrani road leaving five people dead and nine others injured.

The clash erupted allegedly after members of the minority Shia Muslim Hazara community held protests in Quetta to protest the targeted killing of a Hazara man on Sunday.

Hazara community members with their distinctive looks have come under several terror attacks in recent years in Baluchistan.

The Islamic State group claimed the attack on the Christians in a statement carried by its Aamaq agency. It was unclear who was behind the other attack.

The IS is said to have some presence in the restive Baluchistan province which borders Afghanistan and Iran and where the security forces are fighting a surge in terror attacks by Islamist militants from different groups and also separatists. There has also been an increase in sectarian violence.

Although Shia Muslims from the minority Hazara community have been frequently targeted in Baluchistan but attacks on Christians have been rare but last December two suicide bombers killed at least 10 people and injured 50 others when they attacked the Bethel Memorial Church in Quetta.

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Chinese police have detained 40 suspects in connection with a telecom fraud case worth 43 million yuan, officials said.

The case was registered after a citizen surnamed Hu reported to police in November 2017 that he was cheated of 4.60 lakh yuan in a suspected telecom fraud.

Investigations showed that a fraud ring had set up foreign currency trading software to encourage members of the public to open accounts and make transactions through fake trading systems, state-run Xinhua agency reported today.

On February 1, Xinjiang police went to Xi'an in the northwest province of Shaanxi, where they believed the fraud ring was based and caught 199 suspects within a week.

Police froze their accounts and issued a warrant for the ringleader surnamed Liu at the same time. Liu turned himself in on February 20, police said.

There are more than 450 victims in the case.

Xinjiang reeled under violence for years following unrest among Uygurs over the mass migration of Hans from other parts of China.

China blamed the separatist East Turkistan Islamic Movement for the violent attacks in the province.

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Eight civilians and 84 police officials were injured in yesterday's violence during 'Bharat band', Haryana police said today.

Also, 100 persons have been arrested for attempting to cause damage to public property and indulge in acts of violence in various parts of the state, they said.

Minor damage was caused to 24 government and 60 private vehicles during the protest, Director General of Police, BS Sandhu said.

There were reports of stone-pelting on two trains, he said, adding that six shops suffered minor damage.

Normal life was paralysed in Haryana while rail and road traffic too was adversely affected as Dalit organisations staged protests alleging "dilution" of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as part of the nationwide bandh call.

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Actor Rituparna Sengupta has been appointed as the chairperson of Shilpi Sansad, an organization that provides financial security to retired and veteran artistes of the Bengali film industry.

Sengupta was appointed the chairperson at a meeting of the Shilpi Sansad yesterday. She succeeded Supriya Devi, who died earlier this year.

The organization, set up by matinee idol Uttam Kumar in 1968, extends monetary help to artistes in need of treatment or during emergencies.

Sengupta, who had been a part of the Tollywood industry for about three decades, said she will initiate some "concrete steps" to enable the organisation regain the glory it enjoyed in the 1970s.

Apart from extending honorarium to veteran actors of the industry every year, on the birth anniversary of Uttam Kumar, the organisation will help small-time artistes, she said.

Veteran actor and executive committee member of Shilpi Sansad, Dulal Lahiri, said, "Just suggesting measures is not enough, we will have to find ways to implement them.

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Adani Ports and SEZ private Ltd, which is developing the Vizhinjam International Seaport near here, today offered Rs five lakh each to the families of those killed in the Ockhi cyclone that hit the Kerala coast in November last year.

The decision was taken during a meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Adani Ports SEZ CEO Karan Adani here.

More than 70 persons, mostly fishermen, had lost their lives in the cyclone.

The Kerala government had already announced a financial assistance of Rs 22 lakh each to be families of the victims while the Centre Rs 2 lakh each, an official release said.

The meeting between Vijayan Karan Adani assumes significance in the wake of the company seeking an extension of contract period for the completion of the Rs 7,525 crore project.

The government had stated in the assembly that it would not accept the arguments put forward by the company for the extension of contract period.

The company had pointed out the damage caused to the dredgers in the Ockhi cyclone and shortage of granite as the reason for extending the period.

The agreement for the project was signed with M/S Adani Vizhinjam Port Limited during the previous UDF rule and the company started construction on December 5, 2015.

As per the contract agreement, the port is scheduled to be completed by December 4, 2019.

The Vizhinjam seaport project, designed primarily to cater to container trans-shipment besides multi-purpose and break bulk cargo, is being developed by Kerala government in collaboration with the Adani Group.

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Actor has sponsored a mobile toilet near the famous Juhu beach, months after his wife tweeted a picture of a man defecating at another seashore in Mumbai.

Last week, the actor sent an application to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) offering to set up the toilet by bearing all its expenses, assistant municipal commissioner of K-ward, Prashant Gaikwad, said.

"We welcomed his initiative and installed the toilet near the Juhu beach four days ago. The actor bore all the expenses, Rs 10 lakh, for setting up the portable toilet," he told PTI.

"The mobile toilet can be used free of cost. If anyone comes forward to maintain it, then the facility can be provided on a pay-and-use basis," he said.

In August last year, Kumar's wife Twinkle Khanna had taken to twitter to raise the issue of open defecation near the Versova beach in suburban Andheri.

"Good morning and I guess here is the first scene of Toilet Ek Prem Katha part 2," she had tweeted along with a picture of a man defecating on the Versova beach.

She had voiced her annoyance after spotting a man defecating in the open while she was out on a morning walk on the beach.

Khanna's post had come a month after the city was declared open defecation free.

Notably, during the same period, Kumar had produced the film "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha", starring himself and Bhumi Pednekar, which was inspired by the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' (Clean India Campaign) initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, the positioning of the mobile toilet near the Juhu beach did not go well with some city residents.

A local resident, Sameera, expressed her reservations on the toilet's location.

"...the toilet is wrongly placed. Slum dwellers defecated 1 km (towards the end) Versova /Juhu beach 2 public toilets already exist within 500 metres from the new one. New toilets r needed towards the end stretch of both beaches," she posted on twitter.
The Bombay High Court today declined to grant any interim relief to Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor over an FIR filed against them and other film personalities for using "obscene" and "abusive" language during a comedy event 'AIB Knockout' in 2015.

A bench of Justices R M Savant and Sarang Kotwal directed the actors' lawyer to seek the assent of the Acting Chief Justice V K Tahilramani's court for the matter to be heard along with two other related pleas.

One of these two pleas were filed by comedian Rohan Joshi of AIB, a comedy collective, seeking that a related FIR against him be quashed.

The other plea is a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a law teacher from the city.

The PIL seeksaction against the organisers and participants of the show, and also urges the HC to direct the state authorities to issue guidelines to monitor such programmes on YouTube and similar video networks.

The actors, meanwhile, urged the court to direct, by way of an interim relief, the Pune and Mumbai police to refrain from taking any coercive action against them.

The bench, however, said it will consider the prayer once all the three pleas were tagged together and assigned for further hearing by the Acting CJI's court.

On December, 20, 2014, Singh and Kapoor, along with eight other celebrities, including Karan Johar, Deepika Padukone and members of the AIB team had performed at a charity event in Worli.

A video of the event was subsequently uploaded on YouTube which went viral.

In February, 2015, one Sateesh Daundkar filed a complaint with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of the Girgaon court here, claiming the show was "vulgar, obscene and pornographic".

The court then ordered that an FIR be registered against all the ten people.

Soon after, another FIR was registered against all the ten persons in Pune following a complaint by a local alleging obscenity during the event.

Singh and Kapoor approached the HC earlier this year after they received summons from the Pune police, directing them to visit the police station for questioning and recording their statements.

They have claimed in their plea that the FIRs against them bore an ulterior motive and were filed with "mischievous" and malafide intent, and sought their quashing.

In 2015, another bench of the HC had granted interim relief to Padukone, Johar, and the AIB members and directed both the Mumbai and Pune police not to take any coercive action against them until further orders.

Senior counsel Mahesh Jethmalani, who appeared for AIB and for Kappor and Singh, argued that the programme was full of humour and entertained the audience.

He also urged the court to grant interim relief to Kapoor and Singh, considering that other actors and comedians had already been granted such a relief.

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BJP President Amit Shah today assured Other Backward Classes that the Narendra Modi government would ensure passage of the OBC Bill in Parliament despite Congress' opposition to it.

"How much ever the Congress tries to oppose or create an obstacle, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre will pass theOBC Bill in both houses of Parliament.This is our decision and we will see to it that the community getsjustice," he said addressing an Other Backward Classes convention here.

Shah said the Congress had created an obstacle in passing the bill in the Rajya Sabha, demanding induction of an OBC representative in the Commission.

He said the Modi government, which believes in the welfare of all communities, had done enough for OBCs.

"We have brought several schemes for all communities, including OBCs. Schemes such as Mudra Bank, Ujwal, Saubhagya and Pradhan Mantri Yojana,among others, have been implemented. These schemes have reached the beneficiaries," he said.

Under the Mudra scheme, about 50 lakh OBC youth had availed loans of the total of nearly one crore people who had availed of it, he said.

Also as many as one lakh poor OBC women have been provided gas connections, he added.

Apparently referring to the Siddaramaiah government's move on grant of religious minority tag for the Lingayat community, Shah alleged that Congress was adopting the divide and rule policy of the British and creating a wedge between communities.

On the other hand, the Modi government has been working for the welfare of all communities, including OBCs, with its development agenda of 'Sabka-Saath-Sabka-Vikas,' he said.

In a move weeks before the May 12 assembly polls, the state cabinet recently decided to recommend to the Centre to grant religious minority tag to the politically powerful Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats.

Shah also assured the people that the killers of RSS and BJP workers would be hunted down 'even from the abyss' and imprisoned.

"How much ever Congress makes an effort to protect the killers of RSS and BJP workers, the next government under Yeddyurappa's stewardship will hunt them down even from the abyss and send them to jail," he said.

Shah was on the fifth round of his campaign in Karnataka, where the assembly polls are scheduled for May 12.

Kaginele in Haveri district in north Karnataka is the birth place of saint, philosopher, composer and social reformer Kanakadasa (1509 to 1609).

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The mortal remains of Arvinder Kumar, an Army gunner who was killed during an anti-militancy operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, were today consigned to flames with full military honours at his native Sariana village, about 65 km from here.

His brother Prem Singh lit the pyre.

Kumar joined the Indian Army on June 26, 2012.

He, along with Sepoy Hetram and Gunner Nilesh Singh, suffered critical bullet injuries in a gun battle with terrorists in Kachedoora in Shopian district. He died later in a hospital.

MLA Rajnish Kumar Babbi, Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujjwal, Senior Superintendent of Police J Elanchezhian paid floral tributes to Kumar.

Kumar is survived by his parents, four elder sisters and a brother.

His younger brother has been serving in the Indian Army.

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The Supreme Court today said that Article 370 of the Constitution which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir is not a temporary provision.

The apex court said that in its earlier verdict of 2017 in the SARFESI case, it has been already held that Article 370 was "not a temporary provision".

"The issue concerned is covered by the judgement of this court in the 2017 SARFAESI matter, where we have held that despite the headnote of Article 370, it is not a temporary provision," a bench of justices A K Goel and R F Nariman said.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre said that the matter be heard after some time as similar matters are pending before the court and are to be listed shortly.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan and advocate Shoeb Alam appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir government clarified that other matters which are pending before the apex court relates to Article 35 A of the Constitution and not Article 370 as submitted by the ASG.

Dhavan said that those matter cannot be heard along with the present case, which only deals with Article 370.

The bench then adjourned the matter for hearing by three weeks on the insistence of the ASG.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by petitioner Kumari Vijayalakshmi Jha, against the Delhi High Court's April 11, 2017 order dismissing the plea seeking a declaration that Article 370 is temporary in nature.

The petitioner had claimed before the high court that Article 370 was a temporary provision that had lapsed with the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in 1957.

The petition had said that the continuance of the temporary provision of Article 370 even after dissolution of Constituent Assembly of J&K, and that of J&K Constitution which has never got the assent of the President of India or Parliament or the government of India, "amounts to fraud on the basic structure of our Constitution".

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Assam government will spend Rs 2.58 crore to set up a high-mast National Flag here as part of the Smart City project, a state minister said today.

Guwahati Development Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Assam Assembly that a total of 13 schemes and infrastructure development projects are being carried out to transform the state capital into a Smart City.

Sarma said the sanctioned cost for completing 12 projects is Rs 2,303.50 crore, while no amount has been fixed yet for the City Operation Centre.

Out of this, Rs 2.58 crore has been earmarked for implementing the high-mast national flag construction project in Guwahati.

"The work has been allotted after completing the tender process," he said, without giving any further detail.

The highest amount of Rs 826 crore will be spent for the overall development of Brahmaputra riverside along the city, and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is being prepared for it, the minister said.

For development of Mora Bharalu river bank and the Bharalu river, the state government has sanctioned Rs 488 crore and Rs 434 crore, respectively, with DPRs for both under preparation, he said.

DPR is also being prepared for another Rs 250-crore project to conserve the Deepor Beel lake in the city, while tender has been floated for interested parties to carry out development works worth Rs 212 crore at the Borsola Beel lake, Sarma added.

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The Delhi High Court today came down heavily on Delhi Police for trying to shield people involved in the arson attacks on the properties of lawyers in the national capital, saying the agency adopted a "brilliant strategy" to save the accused.

The high court said it was "extremely pained" to see the manner in which the matter was being dealt with by the special cell of Delhi Police and added, "We searched earth to heaven to book these persons, but you are trying to save them?



A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar also criticised a trial court order by which one of the arrested accused in the arson attacks was granted bail on March 26.

"Something very unfortunate has been done. There was no occasion for the trial court to get into all the three cases which were not the subject matter while deciding the bail plea of the accused. There is an obvious effort made by the police to protect its own officer. Don't you think it is a fit case not to be transferred to CBI," the bench said.

On the issue of bail granted to the accused, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, one of the lawyers whose cars were burnt in the attacks in January, said, "He is the main suspect. In three months, they (Delhi Police) could not identify the person behind the burning the cars of advocates. Either way we are affected by the order of the trial court.

The bench said that the police have revealed to the trial court everything which it was not required to reveal and it concealed the information, including the orders of the high court in the matter, which it was supposed to tell the trial court.

"Orders of two division benches (of high court) you have undone by this order of the trial court. It is a brilliant strategy adopted by police," it said.

It also came down heavily on special cell sleuthes for not keeping in loop Delhi Police standing counsel Rahul Mehra regarding the proceedings in the trial court.

The court listed the matter for April 9, when the police have to inform it about the action taken against the erring police official and on the trial court bail order.

The bench had earlier directed the police to find out the culprits involved in setting fire to the vehicles of some senior lawyers, including Kirti Uppal, the president of the Delhi High Court Bar Association.

On January 9 and 22, arson attacks were carried out on the properties and cars of senior advocates Vikas Pahwa and Kirti Uppal by using inflammable substances.

Uppal's Hyundai Tucson car that was parked outside his house in south Delhi's Nizamuddin West was set on fire by unidentified miscreants.

On January 4, two cars -- a Maruti Swift and a Honda Amaze -- parked in the east Delhi house of advocate Ravi Sharma were allegedly torched by unidentified persons.

The court was hearing the plea filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into the incidents. The association has also sought appointment of a special investigator to probe the case. The court had also taken suo motu cognisance of the incident.

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Backward classes comprise 44.16 per cent of the central government workforce, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said that while there is 17.55 per cent representation of the Schedule Castes in central govermment jobs, Scheduled Tribes account for 8.37 per cent of such jobs and other backward classes (OBCs) comprise of 18.24 per cent of the entire workforce.

Athawale said that the data was based on the Department of Personnel and Training's annual report 2016-2017.

The data provided by the minister also states that out of the total employees working in in 'Group A' of the central government, 30 per cent are from the backward classes. In 'Group B', out of the total workforce, 35.41 per cent belong to the backward communities.

Similarly, 61.27 per cent of all 'safai karmacharis' (sanitation staff) employed by the central government are from the backward classes. SCs comprise 42.92 per cent, STs 6.05 per cent and OBCs 18.24 per cent of such workers, the minister said.

The Supreme Court has mandated that the total reservation for SC/ST and other backward classes or special categories should not exceed 50 per cent.

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A professor of Bangladesh's prestigious Dhaka University has been suspended for allegedly making derogatory comments on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's first post-independence president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's father, media reports said.

Morshed Hasan Khan was suspended on allegations of distorting history of the Liberation War and defaming Bangabandhu, the varsity said in a statement yesterday.

"He has been temporally suspended from all academic and administrative activities for distorting the history of the Liberation War and making offensive remarks about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his article titled Jyotirmoy Zia' published in a national daily on March 26," DU Vice-chancellor Professor Akhtaruzzaman was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

In his article, Khan claimed military strongman and opposition hero Ziaur Rahman, founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was the man who declared independence during the Liberation War and also claimed that Awami League leaders, including Bangabandhu, left the country during the time, leaving the country in turmoil.

Khan, the professor of marketing, cited a number of former Indian politicians, including Indira Gandhi and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, to support his claims.

After the article was published, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) last Tuesday declared the professor "persona non grata" on campus and submitted a memorandum to the vice-chancellor demanding his suspension.

Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) also demanded his resignation.

Student supporters of the Awami League stormed Dhaka University's campus and declared Khan was no longer welcome after the piece attracted a firestorm of publicity. As a part of the protest, Chhatra League activists burnt an effigy of the professor and a copy of the Naya Diganta newspaper.

Teachers have been punished in the past for stances critical of Hasina's father.

In August last year, a Chittagong court sent 13 high school teachers to jail in a sedition case filed for reportedly defaming Bangabandhu.

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A court here today rejected the bail application of Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey's son Arijit Shashwat, who was jailed on Sunday in connection with communal clashes in the district.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Anjani Kumar Srivastava turned down the plea of Shashwat, filed by his counsel Veeresh Kumar Mishra, Public Prosecutor Satya Narayan Prasad Sah said.

Shashwat was named in one of the two FIRs lodged in the aftermath of the communal riots which took place on March 17, on the occasion of New Year as per the Hindu calendar.

Violence had erupted in Nathnagar area of the district, when people belonging to a minority community took exception to the loud music played at a procession.

Several people, including two police personnel, were injured in the clashes.

The district administration had also claimed that the procession was taken out without obtaining due permission.

Shashwat was arrested in Patna in the early hours of Sunday, barely a few hours after a Bhagalpur court rejected his petition for an anticipatory bail. He had filed the plea following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him a week earlier.

Upon his arrest, he was produced before a Bhagalpur court which remanded him to 14 days in judicial custody.

Shashwat had unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Assembly polls from Bhagalpur as the BJP candidate.

His father is the Union Minister of State for Health and an MP from Buxar.

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar had drawn a lot of flak on account of the delay in the arrest of Shashwat. The RJD had said that the CM was "helpless" before the BJP.

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Ahead of Assembly elections, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh today accorded the 'Minister of State' (MoS) status to five Hindu religious leaders, after appointing them to a committee for Narmada conservation.

As per the order of General Administration Department's Additional Secretary K K Katiya, the MoS status has been accorded to Narmadanand Maharaj, Hariharanand Maharaj, Computer Baba, Bhayyu Maharaj and Pandit Yogendra Mahant.

On March 31, these five religious leaders were appointed to a committee set up for the conservation of the Narmada river.

As members of the committee, they have been given the MoS status, a GAD official said today.

Assembly elections are due in the state this year, and main opposition Congress dubbed the decision as an attempt by the BJP to exploit the respect these religious leaders enjoy in the society.

"It's a gimmick to score political points. This is also an effort by the chief minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) to wash off his sins. He ignored conservation of the Narmada. These saints should inspect where the state government has planted six crore saplings (along the river banks) as claimed by the CM," said Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi.

State BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said the opposition party dislikes anything related to saints.

"Saints and seers were accorded the MoS status to make their work of environment and river conservation easy. The saints were roped in for the Narmada conservation work to ensure public participation," Agrawal said.

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Actor Billie Lourd paid homage to her grandmother Debbie Reynolds on the veteran star's 86th birth anniversary.

Lourd posted an Instagram photo of the two together, which she captioned with heart, crown and star emojis. In the picture the two are dressed up sporting wide smiles as they stand side by side. Lourd's late mother, Carrie Fisher, appears in between them with her head nestled into Reynolds' shoulder.

Reynolds passed away on December 28, 2016 after suffering a stroke, only one day after Fisher tragically died of a heart attack.

Lourd also paid tribute to Reynolds on her 85th birthday last year.

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The BJP and the Centre today reached out to Dalits in the aftermath of their violent protests asserting that at every juncture they stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the community and accused the Congress of fuelling tension in the society with an eye on elections.

The remarks by BJP president Amit Shah and Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Thavarchand Gehlot expressing their commitment to protect the interests of the Dalit and the tribal community came even as Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not uttering a word" on dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Dalit protests against the softening of the provisions of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court erupted in large-scale violence in different parts of the country yesterday leaving nine dead, many injured and property worth crores destroyed. Several dalit organisations had given a call for 'Bharat Bandh yesterday.

In a series of tweets, Shah said a "microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties" made the people suffer and sought their apology to "Dalit sisters and brothers".

He also blamed "vested interest groups" for spreading the panic on the issue of reservation for Dalits, saying it is done before every election and asserted that the government will do everything to protect their rights.

Right from the day the apex court gave its judgment on the SC/ST atrocities act, the central government acted in an "immediate and informed" manner and has filed an effective review petition to protect the Dalits' rights, Shah said.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Modi had met MPs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and had assured them that the government was doing everything to protect the rights and wellbeing of "our Dalit sisters and brothers."



"Due to the politically driven manifestations of a microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties, crores of innocent people suffered. These parties owe our Dalit sisters and brothers an apology for their misdeeds," he said.

Shah, whose party has often accused the opposition of fuelling unfounded campaign against it before elections, said the script had now become old and that vested interest groups started spreading panic about reservations before polls.

The BJP is locked in a keen fight with the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections, scheduled for May 12.

"The BJP's stand is clear, which I am once again stating - we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to the SC/ST communities. At every juncture and in all possible ways, the BJP stands shoulder to shoulder with the Dalit community," he said.

Gahlot claimed that history suggests it is the Congress which is anti-Dalit and treated them like a vote bank. "You are trying to make political benefit by fuelling tensions in society but it is not good. You are doing so with an eye on elections."



Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour amid ruckus in the House, Home Minister Rajnath Singh made it clear it was not responsible for the dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and asserted it was fully committed to protect the interests of the backward communities. He also appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony.

"I wish to inform the House that the Government of India was not party in that case. Through the House, I want to assure the people that there has been no dilution whatsoever by my government, rather after coming to power and examining the SC/ST prevention Atrocities Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," he said.

Singh said there have been widespread rumours on the issue of reservation which were "false and baseless" and the government was fully committed to protect the interests of the SC/ST communities.

"I wish to assure you that our government is fully committed to the welfare of SCs and STs. Our government is fully committed to protect the interest of the SC/ST community," he added.

Rahul Gandhi hit out at Modi while addressing a public meeting in Shivamogga on the fifth leg of his tour of poll-bound Karnataka.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the prime minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak aword," he said.

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A day after a Bharat Bandh called by Dalit and tribal organizations had led to loss of life and property, the BJP and the Congress in Bihar crossed swords over the issue of dilution of SC/ST Act.

While the BJP accused the Congress and its allies of having misled the Dalits over the issue, the latter charged the saffron party with having failed to show the sense of urgency that had been there during the triple talaq issue.

At least 11 persons were killed and hundreds injured in violence across several states as protesters blocked trains, clashed with police and set fire to private and public properties during the nationwide bandh yesterday. It was called in protest against dilution of the SC/ST Act by the Supreme Court.

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar said Congress president Rahul Gandhi "should tell us which foreign agency did he take help from for setting the entire country on fire".

"The NDA government strengthened the SC/ST Act by bringing an amendment in 2015 and introduced many schemes to improve the lives of the depressed classes," he tweeted.

But 20 political parties, which enjoyed the dinner recently hosted by Sonia Gandhi, misled the Dalits about the Supreme Court order and the result was the mayhem, Modi said.

"The country paid the price for the so-called opposition unity by losing innocent lives and destruction of public property worth crores," the senior BJP leader said.

Though the Centre had no role to play in the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act, it filed a review petition, he said adding that a rumour was still spread that the apex court was acting as per the diktats of the NDA.

Meanwhile, Congress legislature party leader Sadanand Singh said in a statement that had his party been in power it would convene a special session of the Parliament and the issue would have been resolved by now.

"In the wake of the Supreme Court order diluting the provisions of the SC/ST Act, the Narendra Modi government showed none of the sense of urgency which was on display during the triple talaq issue", Singh alleged.

"The BJP government displayed a laid back attitude on the issue, which has resulted in the apex court not granting a stay on its earlier order. In contrast, the Congress has always stood firmly in support of issues that concern the depressed classes. Even the stringent SC/ST Act of 1989 was brought in by the Rajiv Gandhi government", he said.

The Supreme Court on March 20 diluted the provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and said government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

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The mortal remains of two of the Indians captured and killed in Iraq by terror group ISIS were handed over to their families in Nadia district of West Bengal today.

At the house of one of the deceased, locals prevented the coffin from being unloaded from the vehicle. They carried it for about an hour demanding compensation for his family, as has been done by the Punjab government for the such families there.

Local leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress said they could not say anything about compensation as the model code of conduct was in force because of the panchayat elections to be held early next month.

"We do not have any information on providing compensation to them till now," District Magistrate Sumit Gupta said.

Earlier, heart wrenching scenes were witnessed at the houses of Khokon Sikdar and Samar Tikadar of Ilshamari village in Tehatta and Mahakhula village of Chapra respectively when the coffins reached there.

Tikadar's wife Dipali was inconsolable and was not able to talk. "She had fainted several times since last night," said her sister Anna.

Her sister said that Dipali, who is an ICDS worker and also engaged in beedi making, hoped to get a government job to make both ends meet.

Her son Sudipta, 14, was silent with signs of dried up tears on his cheeks while her daughter Sharmila, 9, was crying.

Local people surrounded the vehicle the moment it reached there carrying Tikadar's body.

In Sikdar's house, the locals said they would not allow the coffin to be unloaded till the administration announced compensation for his family.

One of them said that as the Punjab government had announced compensation, its West Bengal counterpart should follow suit. It took around an hour to persuade them before the coffin was finally lowered to the ground.

"No one came forward to help us. I appeal to all to provide me a government job," Sikdar's wife Namita claimed.

State minister Ujjwal Biswas and Trinamool Congress Nadia district president Gouri Dutta accompanied the coffins to the houses of Tikadar and Sikdar respectively.

"We provided jobs to Dipali Tikadar and Namita Sikdar. We are with the families. But we can say nothing more now as the election has been declared and model code of conduct is in force," Biswas, an MLA of the district, told reporters.

Dutta said, "We have given job to the daughter of Sikdar. She is a college student. But Tikadar's children are minors."



Sikdar and Tikadar had gone to work in Iraq through an agency in 2011 and their families lost contact with them in mid-2014.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had told Parliament last month that 40 Indians were abducted by ISIS from Mosul in Iraq in June 2014, but one of them escaped. The remaining 39 were taken to Badoosh and killed.

Their bodies were brought back to India yesterday. The coffins of the two victims from West Bengal were brought from Kolkata airport and kept at the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital morgue at Kalyani in Nadia district for the night before being handed over to the families today.

Sikdar's mortal remains were buried at the compound of his home while those of Tikadar were taken to Nabadweep for cremation.

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Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip, was today admitted to a London hospital for a planned hip surgery, Buckingham Palace said.

The Duke of Edinburgh will undergo the surgery at the King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone tomorrow.

The 96-year-old, who retired from full-time royal duties last year, did not attend the traditional Easter service at Windsor Castle on Sunday and his absence has been linked to the hip problem.

"His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London this afternoon, for planned surgery on his hip which will take place tomorrow. Further updates will be issued when appropriate," the palace said in a statement.

Prince Philip had announced his retirement in May 2017, after decades of supporting the Queen as well as attending events for his own charities and organisations. A month later he was admitted to the King Edward VII hospital as "a precautionary measure" following an infection arising from a pre-existing condition.

His final solo engagement was in August last year, when he reviewed a parade of Royal Marines outside Buckingham Palace in his capacity as Captain General of the corps. But he has since appeared several times at engagements alongside the 91-year-old monarch.

His surgery comes ahead of a busy time for the royal family, with Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, due to give birth to her third child some time this month, and the wedding of his grandson, Prince Harry, with Meghan Markle on May 19.

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Power sale agreements have been signed by the BSES discoms with the SECI to procure 200 MW of wind energy, a move which would be helpful in effectively meeting Delhi's peak power demand, a spokesperson of the BSES said.

The BSES Rajdhani Power Limited will procure 150 MW and BSES Yamuna Power Limited will procure the remaining 50 MW of wind power, he said.

"The power is expected to be available to the BSES discoms in about 18 months- from the third week of November, 2019, for a period of 25 years and will be available at a very competitive tariff of Rs 2.52 per unit," he said.

A mix of wind and solar power in the discom's power portfolio will be helpful in effectively meeting Delhi's peak power demand. Delhi experiences peak power demand twice in a 24-hour period and this wind power being sourced from the coastal area of Gujarat is expected to support the night peak demand, the spokesperson added.

Power sale agreements have been signed by the BSES discoms with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to procure 200 MW of wind energy, he said.

With this latest agreement, the BSES discoms will be getting 300 MW of wind power.

Last year, the BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) had signed an agreement to procure 100 MW of wind-power with PTC. This power is expected to be available from November 2018, he said.

"BSES discoms are committed for the promotion of renewable power in Delhi while ensuring that there is minimal burden on the consumers," the spokesperson said.

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Top AIADMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today hit back at DMK over the Cauvery issue, saying the main opposition party was the one which enacted dramas and 'betrayed' farmers despite being part of the erstwhile UPA regime at the centre.

Ending his party's day long fast here to condemn the Centre for not setting up Cauvery Management Board (CMB), the Chief Minister made a point by point rebuttal to the charges by DMK working president M K Stalin's earlier in the day.

Stalin had demanded the resignation of Palaniswami and his Cabinet, alleging that the ruling regime enacted dramas and failed to deliver on the Cauvery issue.

Addressing party workers, Palaniswami said the Cauvery issue would have been resolved in 2007 itself had DMK told Congress it would quit the UPA government at the Centre over the issue.

Such a stand would have led to not only the publication of the final award, but also the setting up of the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee and farmers would have had no trouble, he said.

"DMK, however, betrayed Tamil Nadu and its farmers," he alleged.

Seeking to turn the tables on DMK for asking them to resign and for charging them with not having mounted pressure on the Centre, he said DMK did nothing when it was in power at the Centre as a partner of the Congress-led UPA.

"Now they are asking us to resign. They accuse us of not putting pressure. When Congress was dependent on DMK for its surivival at the Centre, DMK could have ended the Cauvery dispute," he said.

Denying DMK's allegation that his regime did not mount pressure on the Cauvery issue, he said "pressure was given both politically and through the government."



On DMK leader Stalin's charge that his party was staging a drama on the Cauvery issue, he shot back asking "who is staging a drama?"



"You are the hero of drama," he said recalling the lapse of the Cauvery agreement in 1974.

The 1924 pact between the then princely State of Mysore and Madras Presidency ended in 1974 when DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu.

Palaniswami alleged that DMK did not act to get the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes published in the gazette in 2007. Had they done so, there would not have been any need for this hunger strike, he said.

DMK was only interested in power and not on the welfare of farmers and people and hence it did not act, he alleged.

Against the backdrop of DMK criticising AIADMK for choosing to wait till the end of Supreme Court fixed time frame rather than take on the Centre, Palaniswami explained why his government waited.

Following consultations with legal experts,it was decided to wait till the end of the Supreme Court fixed deadline of March 29 before taking further steps as that was the legally tenable option, he said.

With the expiry of the time frame set, a contempt petiion was filed in the Supreme Court and the matter has been listed for April 9.

Also, his government opposed the Centre's plea on Cauvery issue in the top court, which said it would hear the pleas of both Tamil Nadu and the Union government together on April 9, he said.

The top court, hearing Tamil Nadu's plea yesterday, assured that the State would get is due allocation of Cavuery water and "we expect that we will get it," he said.

"We will fight, get justice and win," he said adding that today's fast by 15 lakh party cadres across Tamil Nadu was reflective of the aspirations of the people and farmers on the Cauvery issue.

He also recalled late J Jayalalithaa's efforts in securing the rights of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery issue.

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Dismissing the ruling AIADMK's day-long fast over the Cauvery issue as a "drama", the DMK today demanded the resignation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his cabinet, saying it would "do good" to the people.

Hitting out at the AIADMK for observing the fast without "taking steps" on the emotive Cauvery river water-sharing issue, DMK working president M K Stalin dismissed the hunger strike by the ruling party as a "drama".

Alleging that the Palaniswami-led regime had not done anything for the people of the state, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly said if something needed to be done now, "they should resign from their posts...that will be the only good thing they will be doing for the people".

The top DMK leader, who has been attacking the ruling regime over the Cauvery issue, said the government did not even implement a decision taken at a recent all-party meeting over the dispute to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urge him to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

"We are staging protest demonstrations on the Cauvery issue since the AIADMK regime never mounted pressure on the Centre to set up the CMB," Stalin said.

Speaking to reporters, he taunted the AIADMK dispensation by calling it a "horse-trading regime" and alleged that it was subservient to the BJP-led central government.

The opposition leader said that at the least, the Tamil Nadu cabinet should have passed a resolution, condemning the Centre for not setting up the CMB.

The pro-CMB statewide stir, being spearheaded by the DMK and a host of pro-Tamil outfits, saw a series of sit-in protests and demonstrations yesterday by students and others at various places, including in Chennai, Tiruvarur and Madurai.

The DMK-led opposition parties had, on April 1, called for a statewide shutdown on April 5, seeking the constitution of the CMB.

The Centre and the Tamil Nadu government had moved the Supreme Court on March 31 over the issue of constitution and composition of the CMB, in compliance with the February 16 apex court verdict.

The Centre had sought three months' time to implement the apex court order in view of next month's Karnataka Assembly election. It had also asked for clarification on various issues for the formulation of a "scheme" to implement the decision of the top court.

The Tamil Nadu government had sought contempt action against the Centre for "failure" to frame the scheme for the constitution of the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee within six weeks, as directed by the apex court on February 16.

Yesterday the Supreme Court had agreed to hear Tamil Nadu's contempt plea against the Centre on April 9.

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The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed 14 unilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs) with Indian taxpayers in March as it looks to reduce litigation by providing certainty in transfer pricing.

Besides, it has signed two bilateral APAs with the US during the month, a CBDT statement said.

"With the signing of these agreements, the total number of APAs entered into by CBDT has gone up to 219. This includes 199 unilateral APAs and 20 bilateral APAs," it said.

A total of 67 APAs (9 bilateral and 58 unilateral) have been signed in 2017-18.

The 16 APAs during March pertain to sectors like telecom, IT, automobile, pharmaceutical, beverage, banking and insurance.

The international transactions covered in these agreements include payment of royalty fee, provisions of business support services, marketing support services, engineering design services, engineering support services, among others.

While unilateral pacts involve only the taxpayer and the tax authority of the country where the taxpayer is located, bilateral agreements involve the taxpayer, associated enterprise of the taxpayer in the foreign country, the tax authority of the country where the taxpayer is located and the foreign tax authority.

The progress of the APA scheme strengthens the government's resolve of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime, the statement added.

The APA scheme was introduced in the Income-Tax Act in 2012 and the 'Rollback' provisions were introduced in 2014.

The scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and setting the prices of international transactions in advance.

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Facing allegations of wrongdoing in the loan extended to Videocon Group, ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has pulled out of the annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), to be held later this week, where she was to be felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Kochhar was to be the Guest of Honour at the April 5 event and flyers sent out last month mentioned her name prominently.

However, the revised ones sent out today did not carry her name.

"She was the guest of honour but she has backed out from the programme. So now she is no longer coming for the event," FLO Executive Director Rashmi Sarita told PTI. Sarita, however, did not say as to why Kochhar has pulled out.

"Yes, she was to be (felicitated), she was also the guest of honour. She just pulled out from the programme," she added.

FLO is the women business wing of the industry association, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The CBI has launched a preliminary investigation into Rs 32.5 billion loan ICICI Bank had extended to Videocon in 2012 and the role of Kochhar's husband -- Deepak Kochhar.

Reports have alleged that Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested Rs 640 million in Nu Power Renewables, a firm owned by Deepak Kochhar after Videocon secured a loan from a consortium of banks, including ICICI.

ICICI, India's third-largest lender, has denied any wrongdoing in the loan, saying it was part of a consortium of lenders that extended the facility to Videocon. It also backed Kochhar saying "there is no question of any quid pro quo/nepotism/conflict of interest as is being alleged in various rumours".

Asked about the reasons for Kochhar pulling out at the last moment, Sarita said she was not sure as Kochhar's office called the day before yesterday and said that she will not be able to grace the event. Thereafter, Kochhar's name was removed from the list.

The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry and has questioned few ICICI bank officials in the loan issue.

Agency officials said they are also studying relevant documents of the transaction and the Kochhar couple can be summoned for questioning if any evidence of wrongdoing comes to light.

They said the statements of nodal officers of the ICICI Bank, who were part of processing the loan of about Rs 32.5 billion, have been recorded as part of the PE registered six weeks back.

A PE is a precursor before the agency lodges an FIR to probe criminal charges on the basis of evidence collected during the former exercise.

"President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest and deliver the keynote address at the 34th Annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) the women business wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on April 5, 2018, in New Delhi. Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO of ICICI Bank will be the Guest of Honour," a statement issued by FLO had said on March 31.

It had stated that FLO will honour 10 Indian Women Achievers with FLO ICON AWARDS including Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank for Banking & Finance; Aarti Vij, Chief of AIIMS' Organ Retrieval and Banking Organization (ORBO) for Health & Wellness; Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms for Media Entrepreneurship and Twinkle Khanna, Entrepreneurs, Author, Film Producer, for Conscientious Cinema.
China's new defence minister says his visit to Russia is a signal to the United States about the increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing.

The unusually bold statement yesterday by Gen. Wei Fenghe at the start of his talks with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reflected the growing military cooperation between the two former Communist rivals.

Speaking in Moscow, Wei emphasised that he chose Russia for his first trip abroad since becoming the international face of China's military last month to "show the world a high level of development of our bilateral relations and firm determination of our armed forces to strengthen strategic cooperation."



Wei added he would attend a security conference Wednesday hosted by the Russian Defence Ministry to "let the Americans know about the close ties between the armed forces of China and Russia."



Shoigu said Wei's visit "underlines a special character of relations between Russia and China," adding that it will help further deepen ties between the two militaries.

Moscow and Beijing have forged what they described as a "strategic partnership," expressing their shared opposition to the "unipolar" world -- the term they use to describe perceived US global domination.

As part of their burgeoning military cooperation, Moscow and Beijing have conducted joint military maneuvers, including exercises in the South China Sea and last summer's joint navy drills in the Baltics.

The Baltic exercise marked the first time that China had flexed its military muscle in a region where tensions between Russia and NATO have escalated following Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In December, the Russian and Chinese militaries held missile defence drills intended to practice a joint response to missile threats from other countries.

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China will launch two remote sensing satellites for Pakistan in June, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT) said today.

It will be the first international commercial launch for a Long March-2C rocket after it carried Motorola's Iridium satellites into orbit in 1999.

The rocket will also carry the China-France Oceanography Satellite into space in September this year, state-run Xinhua agency reported quoting CALVT.

The satellite will monitor ocean wind and waves. Long March-2C rockets are mainly used to send satellites into low Earth or Sun-synchronous orbits.

China had launched Pakistan's communication Satellite PAKSAT-1R in 2011.

In 2016, Pakistan and China had signed an agreement for the launch of a special remote sensing satellite this year to monitor the development of the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

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Militants abducted a civilian and injured three of his relatives in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said today.

Suspected militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba barged into house of one Farooq Ahmad Parray at Hajin in Bandipora district last night and opened fire on inmates, a police spokesman said.

"The terrorists used knives to causegrievousinjuries to wife, daughter and brother of Farooq," he said.

The militants also abductedMuntazir Ahmad Parrey, son-in-law of the house owner from there, the spokesman said.

"Efforts are on by the police to trace out the abducted person," he added.

The injured persons have been shifted to a hospital here for treatment.

The spokesman said the militants had killed Farooq Ahmad's son last year.

"Muzzafar Ahmad Parrey was killed ruthlessly by terrorists last summer. He was first decapitated and then the body was thrown into the river," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The apex consumer commission has asked Air France to pay a compensation of Rs four lakh each to three passengers for causing inconvenience and harassment to them for denying boarding on a Paris-Delhi flight in 2002.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) held that not permitting a passenger holding a confirmed ticket to board a flight amounted to deficiency of service on part of the airline.

The NCDRC has directed the premier French national carrier to compensate three officials of the Sahara Group after they alleged that they were not allowed to board a flight from Paris to Delhi despite having legitimate boarding passes.

"The practice of overbooking may be a commercially viable international practice being adopted by all the airlines, probably, to ensure that seats in the flights do not go vacant in the event of no-shows by booked passenger(s) but the same cannot be at the altar of the passengers. Not permitting a passenger holding confirmed ticket to board a flight, amounts to deficiency of service on the part of an airline," a bench headed by NCDRC President Justice D K Jain said.

The passengers, represented by advocate Satvik Verma, alleged that despite having valid boarding passes, they were not allowed to board the aircraft from Paris citing "over boarding".

"Taking an overall view of the matter, in our opinion, ends of justice would be sub served if a lump sum compensation of Rs 4,00,000 is awarded to each one of the three complainants for the personal inconvenience and harassment suffered by them on account of delay in their departure from Paris," the bench, which also comprised member M. Shreesha, said.

The Commission also said that if a free-hand practice of overbooking is approved, "it may cause havoc against the interest of the ticket holders" as the airlines may invoke the malpractice of overbooking indiscriminately and beyond reasonable dimensions.

"Instead of taking recourse to this sort of policy, the airlines must impose stringent conditions for the eventuality of cancellation of tickets. To be specific, it may be mentioned that the airlines may lay down a condition that in the case of long journey like the one at hand, if a passenger does not report for boarding up to a certain time before departure, his ticket would be cancelled or refund would be permissible to a minimal extent.

"Refunding of money equivalent to the entire price of the ticket or with minor deductions to a passenger under contemplation of earning profit by overbooking of the tickets to large number of passengers would create an instability, indiscipline and unfair trade practice," the NCDRC said.

The three senior officials of the company had travelled to Paris on November 6, 2002 and were supposed to return on November 9, 2002.

Later, due to some official engagement there, they sought to change the date of return to November 10, 2002. As per the complaint, they were issued three confirmed tickets for which change they were required to pay differential amount of Rs 10,270 per person. But even after paying it, they were not allowed to board the flight due to over boarding.

Air France, on its part, claimed that as per the accepted practice the passengers were given 300 Euros each (equivalent to approximately Rs 53,600) besides free accommodation at a hotel with meals, two telephone vouchers and nine telephone cards for denying boarding. After availing these facilities, the complainants had filed the complaint in order to take undue advantage of the situation, it said.

The Uttar pradesh state consumer commission had in 2008 asked the French carrier to pay a sum of Rs 6,30,000 to each of the complainants, against which they had approached the NCDRC.

However, the apex consumer commission upheld the state forum's decision, barring the quantum of compensation, and said its decision, on all other points, does not suffer from any illegality, factual or legal, warranting interference.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
September 25, 2021, Saturday

The meeting of the two leaders in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday lasted for more than 90 minutes, instead of the ...
The BJP today accused the Congress of "fuelling tensions" in the society with an eye on elections and urged the opposition party to tell people what it had done for the Dalits during its long rule at the Centre.

With the opposition accusing the ruling party of being "anti-Dalit", several BJP leaders, including many of its Dalit faces, compared the Modi government's works for the development of the community with the alleged neglect of their interests by the Congress.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also rejected as "unfounded" the opposition's charge that the government delayed the filing of a review plea in the Supreme Court against its order on a law on atrocities against Dalits.

He stated that the court was closed for six days after the verdict was delivered on March 20. The review was filed yesterday.

"Where is the delay? And let me ask Rahul Gandhi that did he appeal for peace and clam yesterday?" he said, targeting the Congress president.

"There is tension in the country and the Congress is trying to fuel it," he said.

Prasad also alluded that the opposition may have abetted violence during yesterday's 'Bharat Bandh', pointing out that the BJP-ruled states were the worst hit. "The surrounding circumstances were too suspicious," he said.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thavarchand Gehlot attacked Gandhi for his jibe that the BJP's DNA was anti-Dalit.

"History suggests that it is the Congress which is anti-Dalit and treated them like a vote bank. Rahul Gandhi should answer as to what he or his party has done for them.

"You are trying to make political benefit by fuelling tensions in society but it is not good. You are doing so with an eye on elections," he said.

Gehlot noted that the first BJP-led NDA government had amended the Constitution to restore benefits for Dalits that were done away with following a court order and added that the Modi government made the atrocities law more stringent with an amendment in 2016.

The government celebrated the 125 birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar with year-long events and developed five places, including where he was born and died, associated with him like pilgrimage places, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate one such centre, where the Dalit icon breathed his last, in Mumbai on April 13, a day before his birth anniversary, Gehlot said, adding that it has been developed at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

The government has developed Ambedkar International Centre in Delhi with a cost of Rs 195 crore, he said.

Dalits have been a main target of the government's welfare and development schemes, he said.

"It has taken steps for social equity and empowering Dalits, and has also focussed on their overall development," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Uttarakhand High Court today asked the chief secretary to file an affidavit explaining why NCERT books should be compulsory in CBSE schools.

In a writ filed by private schools, school trusts, school associations and others along with book publishers, it was pointed out that NCERT books have become mandatory not only in CBSE-affiliated government schools but even in those which fall in the category of private schools.

The single bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia of the high court asked the chief secretary to answer the questions posed in the petition by April 11 when the matter comes up next for hearing.

The questions raised in the writ petition include as to how many NCERT books are printed as opposed to the number of students who require such books.

It also asks about the kind of training given to teachers of the institutions where such books were mandatory.

When the NCF code clearly stated that multiple courses might be taught then why was emphasis laid on NCERT specific syllabi and lastly when these books were not compulsory in ICSC curriculum then why had they become such a big need for the CBSE based syllabi, the writ asked.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Green Tribunal has slapped Rs 2 lakh as costs on the Delhi government for not filing action plan for providing incentives and infrastructural assistance to farmers to stop them from burning crop residue to prevent air pollution.

A bench headed by acting NGT Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim took exception over the report filed by the AAP government which was signed by the joint director, Agriculture and refused to accept it.

"As far as the NCT of Delhi is concerned, neither the action plan nor the affidavit is filed. Mr Khehar (lawyer for Delhi govt) submits that he has got the report under the signature of Joint Director, Agriculture and it should be accepted. We decline.

"Our order expressly directed Chief Secretary must file an affidavit and produce the action plan. There can be no exception to the NCT Delhi and hence for non-compliance of this direction dated February 20, 2018, the NCT of Delhi is imposed with costs of Rs 2 lakh," the bench said.

The green panel directed that 25 per cent of the costs imposed would be deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board, 25 per cent with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and remaining 50 per cent with the Legal Aid Committee of the National Green Tribunal.

The tribunal also granted a week to the Rajasthan government for filing the action plan and posted the matter for hearing on April 20.

The Punjab government had earlier faced the wrath of the tribunal for not taking effective steps to provide financial assistance and infrastructure facility to the farmers to encourage them not to burn agricultural residue in their fields.

The green panel had said that two years had elapsed since its verdict in the Vikrant Tongad case, in which it had passed a slew of directions to stop crop burning, but the state government had shown a lethargic approach.

It had said the Punjab government had also failed to tie up with any company, private or public, which could utilise the crop residue.

The tribunal had directed the Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments to convene a meeting to work out a clear mechanism on transportation and use of stubble as fuel in power plants.

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English diving star Tom Daley missed weeks of training with concussion and was cleared to compete just days before the Commonwealth Games, he told AFP today.

The triple world gold medallist, a major drawcard for the diving competition in Australia's Gold Coast, said he was knocked dizzy and nauseous after a bad landing in training.

Daley, the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth champion in the 10m platform, said he has only just been cleared of the effects of concussion to take his place in the England team.

"I haven't had the best of preparations, actually," Daley told AFP today, a day ahead of the opening ceremony.

"I have had a few illnesses that have prevented me from training as much as I would like. But training is going well now, which is the most important part.

"I had a concussion, so I was out of the pool for a little bit.

"It was concussion just from diving. I missed my hands on a dive and smashed my head on the water and then that was me out for a little bit to get over the nausea and the dizziness. It wasn't nice."



Daley, who turns 24 next month, said the mishap kept him out of the training pool for a few weeks.

"I had to have a few weeks where I wasn't able to do very much and that was only a few weeks ago," he said.

"I was cleared four days ago. So I am coming back and doing the best I can with what I've got. But I'm feeling good now, which is the most important part."



- Baby chaos -==============Daley said he was getting familiar with the rarity of competing in the outdoor Southport pool, open to the vagaries of the weather.

"It's going to be interesting diving in these conditions, outdoors, windy, rainy or it can be blistering sunshine or cloudy," he said.

"You just have to dive in it. We purposefully came here really early, we got here on March 26 and tried training here as much as possible to beat the rush and get everyone to train here for as long as we can in this pool."



Daley sees the Commonwealth Games as perfect preparation for a shot at his fourth Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.

"For me the Commonwealth Games is a very prestigious event, it means a lot to compete in a multi-sports event and to be able to have three Commonwealth Games where I have been successful, would be awesome," he said.

"The Commonwealth Games for divers is such a good experience and one of the only experiences of any competition where you get to practise in a multi-sport event.

"Staying in a village, getting on the buses, going to the food hall, you don't get that experience as similar to the Olympics at the Commonwealth Games.

"The Commonwealth Games is as close an experience to the Olympics as you can get."



Daley, a tabloid favourite in Britain because of his good looks and talent, says that impending parenthood will change his perspective on diving.

Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black revealed on Valentine's Day via social media that they are expecting their first child, using a surrogate.

"The kid is number one now, diving is number two," he said.

"I think that it will be interesting how that affects my diving.

"It will be instead of diving in a completely crazy place and going home to chill out, home will be the crazy chaotic place, and diving will be the opposite.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As many as 5,000 people have been booked for creating ruckus and damaging public and government properties here during protests against "dilution" of the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the SSP said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna said police have lodged reports against 5,000 unidentified and 285 named miscreants under various sections the IPC.

Till now 32 agitators have been arrested and raids are being conducted to arrest others.

Furthermore, police have identified 43 places in urban and 17 places in rural areas of the district as highly sensitive where agitators may disturb peace again. Heavy police forces have been deployed on these points, the SSP said.

Nine policemen who were injured during the agitations yesterday are still undergoing treatment, Krishna said.

The Supreme Court had on March 20 banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Ruling that no arrest can be made under the Act without prior permission, the apex court had also held that a court can grant anticipatory bail if it, prima facie, finds the complaint is an abuse of the law, false, motivated and intended to blackmail or harass a person.

Yesterday's 'Bharat Bandh' was called by various Dalit groups and backed by political outfits to demand restoration of the Act to its original form.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A mob tried to storm the residence of Madhya Pradesh minister Lal Singh Arya in Bhind district today, police said, a day after violence erupted in the state during a nationwide bandh called by Dalit outfits to protest the alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act.

The death toll in yesterday's violence rose to eight in the state with two more persons succumbing to their injuries today.

Arya, a Dalit, was not home when the incident took place. The police blamed anti-social elements over the incident. However, the BJP minister accused the Opposition Congress of attempting to attack his house.

"We thwarted a bid by some anti-social elements to enter the residence of Arya in the district's Gohad area," Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Prashant Khare told PTI.

"We chased them away at the right time," he added.

The SP declined to comment when asked whether the mob was armed.

"I was not in Gohad, where prohibitory orders are in place. I am in Bhopal," Arya said.

"I have come to know that some Congressmen were behind the incident," Arya, who is the "Happiness Minister" of the state, claimed.

Meanwhile, Khare said no arrest was made in connection with yesterday's violence that left four people dead in Bhind district, around 500 km from state capital Bhopal.

"Right now, our priority is maintaining law-and-order," the SP added.

More than 60 injured people are being treated in Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts. The bandh-related violence has left eight people dead till now -- four in Bhind, three in Gwalior and one in Morena district, officials said.

A press release issued from the police headquarters in Bhopal said 99 people and 54 policemen were injured during the bandh, which was marred by firing, stone-pelting and arson.

The curfew imposed yesterday was in force in the urban areas of Bhind and Morena, besides the Thatipur, Murar, Gola Ka Mandir localities of Gwalior city. The curfew was lifted from Maharajpur in Gwalior today, the release said.

Internet services remained suspended in Gwalior, Bhind, Morena and Sagar districts, officials said.

"We have arrested 53 people so far in connection with the violence," Morena SP Aditya Pratap Singh said.

Meanwhile, the police today admitted that one person, who died yesterday, had fallen victim to police bullets.

Two policemen were booked in connection with the death in police firing, an official said.

Yesterday, a senior police official had claimed that the casualties had occurred during clashes between the supporters and opponents of the "Bharat bandh", and not due to police firing.

However, Khare said one of the protesters, Mahavir Rajawat (40), was killed in police firing.

Two more deaths were reported today, taking the toll to eight. Seven of the victims died of bullet wounds, officials said.

One Pradeep Jatav succumbed to bullet injuries, sustained during clashes between the bandh supporters and opponents, late last night in Bhind district, Collector Ilayaraja T told PTI over phone.

Besides, the body of a man, identified as Jasrath alias Darshan Singh, was found from an agricultural field in the Machhand area of Bhind this morning, he said.

"I spoke to the doctor at the hospital, where his post-mortem will be conducted. The doctor told me that Singh possibly died due to an axe injury on his head," the collector said.

Khare said two policemen, Hawaldar Ramkumar Dohre and Constable Sultan Rathore, who were deployed at the Machhand police station yesterday, were booked under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) in connection with Rajawat's death.

Police bullets were found in Rajawat's body during the preliminary post-mortem, he added.

A probe was on to ascertain the circumstances under which the police had fired at Rajawat, the SP said.

Of the eight deceased, six were Dalits and two upper-caste Hindus, police officials said.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Ajay Singh of the Congress demanded the imposition of President's rule in the BJP-governed state in the wake of the large-scale violence.

MP Congress chief Arun Yadav alleged that the state government was entirely responsible for the violence. "It did not take any preventive measures to avert the violence," he said.

Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts witnessed massive violence during yesterday's bandh, organised by Dalit groups to protest a recent Supreme Court order that allegedly diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NuPower Renewables - the company founded by ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar - must disclose the real identity of its majority shareholder DH Renewables Holding Ltd of Mauritius, whistle-blower Arvind Gupta has demanded, alleging masked share transfers.

Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot is said to have invested in NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd and extended Rs 640 million loan after Videocon secured a loan from a consortium of banks that included ICICI.

Gupta, who identifies himself as an informed and vigilant investor owning shares both in ICICI Bank and Videocon Industries, alleged that NuPower Renewables was a 50:50 joint venture of Deepak Virendra Kochhar and Dhoots when founded in 2008.

Subsequently, "masked" share transfers were done to a trust called Pinnacle Energy, whose trustee is Deepak Kochhar, after Chanda Kochhar became the managing director and chief executive officer (MD&CEO) of ICICI Bank in May 2009.

Gupta said the data he has gathered from Registrar of shows that Mauritius based DH Renewables Holding Ltd is now the majority shareholder of NuPower with 54.99 per cent interest. Around 33.17 per cent is held by Pinnacle Energy, whose managing trustee is Deepak.

Supreme Energy Private Ltd owns 10.10 per cent, 0.04 per cent is held by Deepak Kochhar (also founder and CEO of NuPower) and 1.70 per cent by Sunil Bhuta, CFO & Head Corporate Finance of NuPower.

One share each is held by Bhupinder Singh Bajaj, Shurti Sunil Bhuta, Mahesh Chandra Punglia and Prem Rajani.

"So now this DH Renewables of Mauritius has suddenly become a majority shareholder of 54.99 per cent in NuPower. NuPower was an Indian company and now DH Renewables has become a majority shareholder. Supreme Energy used to be 100 per cent shareholding company of the Dhoots but it has now come under Pinnacle Energy and the Kochhars... . These are all layered transactions and you will never come to know who is the real owner of Pinnacle or DH Renewables," Gupta told PTI.

ICICI Bank and NuPower did not respond to emails seeking comments.

The CBI has launched a preliminary investigation into Rs 32.5 billion loan ICICI Bank had extended to Videocon in 2012 and the role of Kochhar's husband. Reports have alleged that Videocon Group chairman invested Rs 640 million in NuPower Renewables after Videocon secured a loan from a consortium of banks, including ICICI.

Gupta, who had in March 2016 written to the Prime Minister's office seeking a probe, asked: "Who is this DH Renewables? You (the company) have masked it, and who is the ultimate beneficiary of this transfer of shareholding."



The same complaint letter sent to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the then RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, ex-Sebi chief U K Sinha, among others in 2016, elicit no response apart from an occasional acknowledgement from some department, he said.

He followed up on his complaint again in February 2017 and waited to see if some action would be taken by the government.

"All I want is a fair probe into the whole affair as a vigilant market player. It gives me a bit of relief now, may be something is happening. It feels good," he said when asked about recent suggesting ICICI Bank may come under scanner in this matter.

"There is an illicit banking and commercial relationship between Videocon group... and ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar's family for amassing wrongful gains. A high level investigation must be launched at any level be it CBI, the Enforcement Directorate, SFIO, SEBI or the RBI so that we have a fair and healthy banking system in this country," Gupta said.

Formed in December 2008, the initial subscribers of NuPower were Dhoot brothers including Venugopal Dhoot, Saurabh Dhoot (son of Venugopal's brother Pradeep Dhoot), Rajkumar Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar and Kochhar's owned Pacific Capital Service which was then owned 90 per cent by Neelam Advani (wife of Chanda Kochhar's brother Mahesh Advani) and 10 per cent by Virendra Kochhar (father-in-law of Chanda Kochhar), as per information gathered from Registrar of by the whistle-blower.

He said after Chanda Kochhar became the CEO and MD of ICICI Bank, layered transfers were carried out to hide the real owners of NuPower.

Subsequently, Dhoot and family, as well as Pacific Capital of Kochhars', transferred their shareholding in NuPower to Supreme Energy which essentially is a shell company fully owned by Dhoots with the intent of carrying out shoddy transactions, he alleged.

He also alleged Videocon Group funded NuPower with Rs 640 million in 2009-10 by subscribing to its zero coupon fully convertible debentures and asked from where the money came from.

"My suspicion is that Mr Dhoot has nothing to do with this company. The company (NuPower) did nothing and over the period is now worth more than a Rs 100 billion. Mr Dhoot has funded the company," he said citing balance sheet of the company.

As per the data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, as accessed by Gupta, NuPower registered loss of Rs 143.3 million in 2016-17, widening it from a loss of Rs 60.3 million in the previous fiscal.

The gross revenues from sale of power were Rs 389 million during 2016-17, as against Rs 108 million in 2015-16.

NuPower website says the company has nearly 700 megawatt of renewable energy assets operating and in pipeline located across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The company said it sells power to various state grids vide 13-20 year power purchase agreements and also sells directly to corporate customers on long term power purchase agreements.

Gupta also raised questions on the role of Singapore-based Rajiv Kochhar, brother-in-law of Chanda Kochhar, saying he is a corporate lobbyist and arranges loans for many companies, including the Videocon group through his company Avista Advisory.

As per information on Avista Advisory Website, Rajiv Kochhar is the founder and CEO of the company which is engaged in the business of financial restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, asset management etc for based in South East Asia and India.
Hollywood action star Dwayne Johnson, who recently opened up about his secret battle with depression, has encouraged people, especially men, to share their experiences.

The 45-year-old star said men have a predisposition to keep their feelings bottled up due to the fear of shame in the society, which is not healthy.

"Got tons of responses to this. Thank you. We all go through the sludge/sh*t and depression never discriminates. Took me a long time to realize it but the key is to not be afraid to open up.

"Especially us dudes have a tendency to keep it in. You're not alone," Johnson tweeted alongside the link to his interview in which he first talked about depression.

"Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" actor said he first went through a bout of depression at the age of 15, when he saw his mother trying to commit suicide, months after they were evicted from their apartment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ED today questioned Delhi Health and Power Minister Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others.

Officials said Jain was summoned under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and his statement will be recorded by the investigating officer of the case.

The PMLA case was registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year in August on the basis of a CBI FIR.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) complaint had said that Jain could not explain the source of funds received by four companies in which he was a shareholder.

It had registered a case against him, his wife and four others on charges of money laundering.

The CBI has grilled him in the case earlier.

CBI sources had said that Rs 4.63 crore was allegedly received through Prayas Info Solutions, Akinchan Developers, Managalyatan Projects and Indo-Metal Impex Pvt Limited in 2015-16.

They had said Jain and his wife were allegedly holders of one-third of the shares in these companies during the period.

During CBI questioning, the minister and his wife could not explain the source of Rs 1.62 crore, approximately one-third of the funds received by the companies during 2015-17, they had said.

The CBI has alleged that Jain had control over these companies either in the form of being one of the directors and by holding one-third of shares of these companies in his name or in the names of his family members or others.

The probe agency had also claimed that these were shell firms used for parking money in the form of investments in equity shares in connivance with Kolkata-based shell companies.

"This apart, before becoming a public servant, he was allegedly involved in laundering Rs 11.78 crore during 2010-12 through these companies as well as other firms also based in New Delhi," the CBI had said.

The funds were allegedly used to purchase over 200 bighas of land in Auchandi, Bawana, Karala and Mohammed Mazvi villages in Delhi between 2010-16, CBI sources had said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, had refuted the CBI's allegations and said that reports of Jain's involvement in shell companies and benami land deals were "baseless".

Jain, also the minister for home, PWD, industries and urban development, is an MLA from the Shakurbasti constituency.

The ED probe will focus if he and other accused in the case created illegal assets by laundering the alleged tainted funds.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to construct a 1.2 km elevated flyover at Manesar, in a bid to ease the traffic burden on the busy Delhi-Jaipur NH 48, an official said today.

The NHAI is in the final stage of preparing a Detail Project Report (DPR) for constructing the elevated flyover at Maneser.

According to a senior official of the NHAI, the cost of the project was 100 crore and its construction will be completed in a time frame of 15 months.

The proposed elevated flyover will start 300 metres after IMT Maneser Chowk flyover and will go all the way till NSG Maneser camp bypassing the congested Maneser market. It will give commuters, local villagers and city residents hassle-free travel experience.

The geographical location of the place is such that it has busy markets situated on the either side of the NH 48. As a result, people frequently cross the road leading to either traffic jam or accidents, a NHAI officer said.

IMT Maneser is known for industries and a large number of heavy vehicles ply everyday on this road with traffic jams common during peak hours.

The official pointed out that Maneser is a major hurdle in the Gurgaon district which is preventing NH 48 from becoming signal free.

Member of Parliament from Gurgaon and central minister Rao Inderjeet Singh had written letter to NHAI for this project.

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India and the US will hold bilateral consultations on April 11 in Geneva to deliberate upon the case filed by the Trump administration in the WTO, alleging that export incentives were harming American companies, an official said.

The consultations would be held under the aegis of World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism.

Special secretary level officer from the commerce ministry will lead the team.

The US is expected to seek more details about the export incentives by India, the government official said.

Last month, the US has dragged India to the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism over export subsidies, saying that these incentives were harming American companies.

America has challenged India's export subsidy programmes such as Merchandise Exports from India Scheme in the WTO, asserting that these initiatives harm its companies by creating an uneven playing field.

They had sought consultations with India under the aegis of the global trade body's dispute settlement mechanism.

Seeking consultation under the aegis of the WTO is the first step of dispute settlement process.

If the two nations are not able to reach a mutually agreed solution through consultation, the US may request for a WTO dispute settlement panel to review the matter.

The US in its statement said that thousands of Indian companies are receiving benefits totalling over USD 7 billion annually under various export promotion programmes.

Export subsidy programmes: the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme; Export Oriented Units Scheme and sector specific schemes, including Electronics Hardware Technology Parks Scheme; SEZ; Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme; and duty free imports have been challenged by US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer.

These export subsidy programmes harm American workers by creating an uneven playing field on which they must compete, the USTR had said.

According to another government official, the US has dragged India under Article 27 of WTO's Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, which also provides for special and differential treatment to developing countries.

At the time the agreement came into force, developing countries with over USD 1,000 per capita gross national income (GNI) were provided a period of eight years to bring down their export subsidies.

India has stated that the WTO informed the country only in 2017 that it has crossed this threshold and hence should get the eight-year period from 2017 to cut its exports subsidies.

India has also submitted a paper in WTO in 2011 seeking clarification with regard to the year of applicability of the provision and also the extension period.

Under the pact, developing countries can seek further extension of the eight years grace period by providing cogent arguments.

India's exports to the US stood at USD 42.21 billion in 2016-17, while imports aggregated at USD 22.30 billion during the same fiscal.

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Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said today that the Centre's withdrawal of a press release on 'fake news' within 24 hours of issuing it was a victory of democracy and the media.

Through the press release on fake news, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had attempted to bring restrictions on the media's autonomy, he alleged.

"The government had to withdraw it (the press release) within 24 hours and this is a big victory of democracy and the media. I congratulate all journalists who unitedly opposed the decision," said Vikhe Patil, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

"In the name of fake news, the government had sought to impose restrictions on the autonomy of the media," he said in a tweet posted in Marathi.

Yesterday, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe was found generating or propagating

Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the accreditation of the journalist, whoever "created and/or propagated" the fake news, will be suspended till the determination regarding the is made, the ministry had said.

However, the press release did not define what is

The guidelines drew sharp reaction from the opposition Congress and journalists.

The Prime Minister's Office today ordered the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to withdraw its press release on fake news, holding that the decision on what constitutes fake news should be left to press bodies.

According to official sources, the PMO felt that the government should not interfere in the matter.

Follwing orders from the PMO, the I and B ministry withdrew the guidelines to regulate fake news.
Several farmers from various parts of Punjab today gathered here and held a rally for their several demands including full loan waiver and higher compensation amount for farmers who commit suicide.

The farmers assembled at Sector 25 here to participate in the protest rally on the call given by seven farmers' outfits, including Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta), BKU (Dakonda), Kirti Kisan Union, Kisan Sangharsh Committee, and BKU (Krantikari).

The farmers raised slogans against the Punjab government and the Centre and said the rally was a "warning" to both the governments.

"Farmers in Punjab are being forced to commit suicides as they are unable to pay their debts. Our main demand is that the debt of those farmers and farm labourers who cannot pay their loans taken from banks, Arthiyas etc should be waived," said BKU (Ekta) General Secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan.

"This rally is a warning to both Punjab and Central governments for not implementing their promises made to the farmers," he said.

Kokrikalan also demanded remunerative prices for all the crops so farmers get better prices for their produce.

"The government should also pay farmers for vegetable, maize, Basmati etc as per the recommendation of the Swaminathan Commission report," he said.

The farmers also demanded that they should be given Rs 200 per acre as bonus for managing the crop residue.

"Till the farmers are not given Rs 200 per acre, no case should be registered against them for burning crop residue," said Kokrikalan.

The farmers also sought Rs 10 lakh compensation each for farmers who commit suicides after failing to pay their debt and a government job to one family member of these farmers.

"If our demands aren't met, we will again hold a massive rally against the government after the completion of ongoing crop harvesting," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Dutch attorney who lied to federal agents investigating former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced today to 30 days in prison in the first punishment handed down in the special counsel's Russia investigation. He was also ordered to pay a USD 20,000 fine.

Alex van der Zwaan's sentence could set a guidepost for what other defendants charged with lying in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation may receive when their cases are resolved. Among them are a former White House national security adviser and a Trump campaign foreign policy aide.

Van der Zwaan had faced zero to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, and his attorneys had pushed for him to pay a fine and leave the country.

But US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, citing the need to deter others from lying in an investigation of international importance, said incarceration was necessary.

"These were not mistakes. These were lies," Jackson told van der Zwaan as he stood before her. Being able to "write a check and walk away," she added later, would not fit the seriousness of the crime or send the right message.

The criminal case against van der Zwaan is not directly related to Russian election interference, the main focus of Mueller's probe. But it has revealed new details about the government's case against Manafort and opened a window into the intersecting universes of international law, foreign consulting work and politics.

The case has also exposed connections between senior Trump campaign aides, including Rick Gates, and Russia. Just last week, the government disclosed that van der Zwaan and Gates spoke during the 2016 presidential campaign with a man Gates had previously described as having ties to the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency. Gates is now cooperating with Mueller.

During a 40-minute hearing Tuesday, van der Zwaan made only a brief statement, telling Jackson, "Your Honor, what I did was wrong. I apologise to the court. I apologise to my wife."



Van der Zwaan, who was fired last year by the high-powered international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, admitted in February to lying to federal agents about his contacts with Gates and the person with ties to Russian intelligence.

Van der Zwaan had previously grown close to Manafort, Gates and the person, Konstantin Kilimnik, during his work on a 2012 report commissioned by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. The report, authored by the law firm, was about the corruption trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Kilimnik, who was born in Ukraine while it was a Soviet republic, has previously denied having any relation to Russian intelligence services.

Though prosecutors did not take a position on whether van der Zwaan should be locked up, they stressed that he had lied "repeatedly" to investigators.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government has accorded out-of-turn promotions to four CRPF jawans for displaying extraordinary courage in thwarting 'fidayeen' attacks on the forces' camp in the Kashmir Valley in the recent past, the paramilitary today said.

The decision to promote the troops to the next higher rank in view of their gallant action, by an order of the Union home ministry, has come in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) after a gap of about 14 years as the government had discontinued the policy owing to some reasons.

The first batch of three jawans who have been accorded the promotion include Head Constable A S Krishana and Constables K Dinesh Raja and Prafulla Kumar.

The three, belonging to the 45th battalion of the force, were instrumental in thwarting a terror attack on their camp in Sumbal in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir on June 5 last year.

"Due to their alertness and subsequent raising of an alarm, not only the terrorist attack was foiled but all the four heavily armed militants were neutralised on the spot itself," the CRPF said in a statement.

With the latest order, Krishana will be promoted as an Assistant Sub-Inspector while his two other colleagues will be given the higher rank of head constable.

The fourth jawan, Constable Ghait Raghunath Ulhas was the alert sentry at the CRPF camp in Karan Nagar in Srinagar on February 11 when he spotted the movement of two armed militants and fired at them and denied them the opportunity to enter inside.

"The subsequent action by the security forces, that lasted for more than an hour, saw the neutralisation of both the militants," the force said.

Ulhas, of the 23rd battalion of the force, will now be promoted as a head constable.

The citation for the four personnel said they displayed courage of the highest order, presence of mind, alertness and unflinching determination and extraordinary valour.

The ranks will be accorded to the four men during a special event, a senior official said.

The CRPF, the country's largest paramilitary force, has deployed about 70 battalions (about 70,000 personnel) for counter-insurgency and security operations in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Kashmir Valley.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
French rail workers kicked off three months of rolling strikes today, part of a wave of industrial action that will test President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to reshape France with sweeping reforms.

The strike will cause chaos for France's 4.5 million train passengers, with stoppages planned two days out of five until June 28 unless Macron drops his bid to force a major overhaul at state rail operator SNCF.

Staff at Air France, garbage collectors and some energy workers are also staging separate walkouts today in a growing atmosphere of social strife 11 months after Macron came to power.

Pensioners, students and public sector workers have already taken to the streets in recent weeks protesting against the 40-year-old centrist's widespread reform plans.

"In the most tense social climate since the start of the Macron presidency, there is a real risk of the discontent crystallising," the regional Charente Libre newspaper warned yesterday.

The rail strike officially started last evening but it begins in earnest on what the media have dubbed "black Tuesday".

Only one high-speed TGV train out of eight is scheduled to run and one regional train out of five, spelling problems for companies across the country as staff struggle to get to work.

"I regularly travel between Lyon and Grenoble for work. The strike is going to raise huge problems for me," lawyer Perrine Fontana, 27, told AFP at the main station in the southern city of Lyon yesterday.

"I can understand the railroad workers to a certain degree, but their strike challenges the personal and professional lives of many people."



Three-quarters of Eurostar trains to London and Brussels will run and Thalys trains towards Belgium and the Netherlands will operate almost normally, but there will be none at all to Spain, Italy or Switzerland.

At Air France, managers say 75 per cent of flights will operate despite the fifth strike over pay in little over a month, but further walkouts are planned for April 7, 10 and 11.

"We need to rid this country of its strike culture," Gabriel Attal, spokesman for Macron's Republic On The Move (LREM) party, told France Inter radio yesterday.

Macron says the SNCF, saddled with 46.6 billion euros (USD 57.5 billion) of debt, needs to make major changes as EU countries prepare to open passenger rail to competition by 2020.

It is 30 per cent more expensive to run a train in France than elsewhere in Europe, according to his government, which wants to strip new SNCF hires of special rail workers' status guaranteeing jobs for life and early retirement.

Unions accuse Macron, a centrist ex-investment banker, of seeking to "destroy the public railways through pure ideological dogmatism".

They fear that plans to turn the SNCF into a publicly listed company, even with the state owning 100 per cent of shares, could eventually lead to the rail operator being privatised -- something the government denies.

The rail strikes are being seen as the biggest challenge yet to Macron's sweeping plans to liberalise the French economy and make it more competitive.

He managed to pass controversial labour reforms in October, but the length and severity of the rail strikes are already earning comparisons with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's showdown with coal miners in 1984.

The industrial action is a major test, too, of how much influence France's once fearsome unions -- whose membership has plunged to just 11 percent -- still carry.

Some 48 per cent of train drivers and other staff are set to join today's strike, according to SNCF management, with its chief Guillaume Pepy warning entire lines could be closed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Commuters across France faced severe disruption Tuesday as rail workers launched three months of rolling strikes, a major test of President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to reshape the country through sweeping reforms.

More than three-quarters of train drivers joined the first day of the walkout, according to the SNCF, the heavily indebted state rail operator which Macron wants to overhaul.

Only one in eight high-speed TGV trains and a fifth of regional trains were running on what French media have dubbed "black Tuesday".

And with stoppages planned two days out of five until June 28, weeks of disruption lie ahead for France's 4.5 million daily train passengers.

"We have been asking for the same thing for several weeks -- that the government completely reconsider its plan. They need to start again from scratch," Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT trade union, told France Inter radio.

The strike was accompanied by demonstrations by several hundreds of rail workers in Paris and other cities and represents the biggest wave of industrial unrest since Macron came to power last May.

The railways are a bastion of trade unionism in France and have forced governments into U-turns in the past during major stoppages.

"For Macron, the test is really starting today," labour market economist Andrea Garnero from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) told AFP.

"Unions are still able to gather support when they go on strike in France, although maybe less so than in the past," he added.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Tuesday that the government would push ahead with its planned overhaul for the SNCF, which he said required 14 billion euros ($17.2 billion) of public money each year.

"I must say that I hear the strikers, who speak fervently at times, as much as I hear those who do not accept this strike," Philippe told lawmakers in parliament.

A second day of strikes on Wednesday is set to cause a similar level of disruption as the first day, the SNCF warned.

Staff at Air France, garbage collectors and some energy workers staged separate walkouts Tuesday in a growing atmosphere of social strife 11 months after 40-year-old Macron came to power.

Public support for the rail strike stands at just below half, according to an Ifop poll released Sunday, and commuters expressed a mixture of sympathy and frustration with the reduced service.

"I start work at 1:00 pm. Do you know what time I had to get up? 5:00 am," complained Jean Nahavua, a manager at a wholesale company who lives in Lille and commutes to Paris.

Pascal Lasnier, a banker waiting at the same station, added: "I understand that they want to defend their piece of the pie, but maybe there are other ways of doing it."



As commuters took to the roads instead, the streets of Paris were snarled with an "exceptional" 370 kilometres (230 miles) of traffic jams during the morning rush hour before easing, according to traffic website Sytadin.

At the capital's busy Gare du Lyon station, the platforms were so crammed that a woman fell onto the tracks and had to be helped out by fellow passengers.

But major regional stations including Nice, Lille and Marseille were virtually deserted as travellers anticipated cancellations.

Three-quarters of Eurostar trains to London and Brussels were running on Tuesday and Thalys trains towards Belgium and the Netherlands were operating almost normally, but there were none at all to Spain, Italy or Switzerland.

At Air France, where staff are striking for the fourth time in a month to demand a pay rise, managers said 75 percent of flights would operate. Further walkouts are planned at the airline for April 7, 10 and 11.

Thanks to the internet and mobile phone apps, many French commuters were able to work from home or arrange car-pools -- though extra seats were in high demand.

On the Blablacar car-pooling site Tuesday morning, 80 of the 95 listed trips from the northern city of Lille were booked solid.

"I kept updating the site to find a ride and as soon as this one came up I clicked immediately," said Pierre, a 24-year-old in Lille on his way to Paris.

Macron says the SNCF, saddled with 46.6 billion euros of debt, needs to drastically improve its efficiency and cut running costs as EU countries prepare to open passenger rail to competition by 2020.

His government is planning to stop granting the rail workers' special status -- which guarantees jobs for life and early retirement -- to new SNCF hires.

It also wants to combine the three bodies that make up the SNCF into a single state-owned company, prompting fears among unions that it could be a step towards privatising the rail operator.
Free mobile and Facebook as well as games such as Candy Crush, Ludo and Chess can be potential tools for data harvesting, say cyber security experts, warning internet users in India against the seemingly innocuous everyday pastimes.

The warning comes as debates on intensify following social media giant Facebook's reported data breach by UK-based analytics firm Cambridge Analytica to influence elections and market campaigns.

"There are a lot users who play games like Candy Crush, Chess, Ludo, or other war games like Mini Militia. Some people click on 'free' like 'How would you look 30 years from now' and all that stuff.

"But we must remember one thing. Nothing is free in life. If you think the product is free, sorry, then you are the product!" leading cyber security expert Jiten Jain told PTI.

India's "most active" smartphone users spend four hours a day on mobile apps, according to an article on the website of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN's specialised agency for information and communication technologies.

Indians also downloaded 6.2 billion in 2016, up from 3.6 billion in 2015, as they led the field in the "most time spent" on Android devices by clocking 145 billion hours, it added, indicating the massive spread of mobile phone applications and games in the country.

Several apps on mobile phones and Facebook use data harvesting techniques and take users' consent in terms and conditions to access their data, including name, age, 'likes', friends and messages, posing a threat to privacy, cautioned Jain.

"Data harvesting" is the process of extracting large amount of data for analytics by "consent" of the user, sometimes even by tricking them, Jain said. "Data theft", on the other hand, is the unauthorised use of that information for commercial or any other purpose, he explained.

Data harvesting, Jain elaborated, is mostly by some sort of consent, while data theft is largely by unauthorised access or hacking into a user's profile or device.

It is imperative that data subjects become vigilant about their privacy while visiting a website, added Jaspreet Singh, partner, Cyber Security, Ernst & Young.

"Users should make sure they are validating the terms and conditions of any personal information provided online especially on social media," he said.

Read privacy policies of websites and understand how they may use or share their personal information in the future, Singh said in his "advisory". Users should also be wary while sharing their location on the internet.

"Web cookies are used to de-anonymize a user and track their activities online. Users may use private browsing or browsers with add-ons to block monitoring using cookies," he said.

According to Rama Vedashree, CEO of Data Security Council of India, youths comprise the majority of internet users in the country and it is imperative to increase awareness about online safety.

"Make sure that all of them have adequate awareness, knowledge and skill to leverage the power of these technologies and platforms (analytics and social media) but also stay safe -- both from security perspective and privacy," she said.

On social media platforms, for instance, users can control their posts, choosing to make them visible only to their friends or friends of friends or everyone.

Supreme Court lawyer Pavan Duggal, who specialises in cyber issues and argues for dedicated legislation for data protection or data privacy, said users should think through the terms and conditions before granting any apps access to their personal pictures or documents.

"Do not wait for the law to come in for it will take its own time. Be conscious about what you share online. Be aware that you are not being respected and seen only as a 'data subject' or 'data object' who is only providing them data on a 24*7 basis," Duggal said.

"You should understand the internet as a paradigm never sleeps, and never forgets," he said.

What's uploaded online will remain there for a "long, long time", he added.

There are several cases pending in courts where people's data has been unauthorisedly accessed and they have sought either damages or other relief, he said.

"Since the Information Act does not have very effective remedies, we haven't yet seen much successful judgements. Further, there are no convictions in the country for breaches or misuse of personal data on social media," Duggal said.

According to ITU data, by June 2017 as many as 830 million young people were online, representing 80 per cent of the youth population in 104 countries. In China and India alone, up to 320 million young people use the internet, it said.
The government today made it clear that it was not responsible for the dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and asserted that it was fully committed to protect the interest of the backward communities and appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony.

Making a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour on the large scale violence during yesterday's Bharat Bandh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said there has been widespread anger amongst the people following the March 20 order of the Supreme Court and the people have taken to the streets.

"I wish to inform the House that the Government of India was not party in that case. Through the House, I want to assure the people that there has been no dilution whatsoever by my government, rather after coming to power and examining the SC/ST prevention Atrocities Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," he said.

The Supreme Court had on March 20 "diluted" the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, ruling that government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens too, can be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

Opposing the verdict, several Dalit organisations had called for a nationwide strike yesterday in which violent incidents and blockades of roads and rail tracks were reported from several states.

Eight people were killed, including six in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, during the bandh which witnessed clashes between the police and the protesters, arson and incidence of violence, the Home Minister said.

Singh said there have been widespread rumours on the issue of reservation which were "false and baseless" and the government was fully committed to protect the interests of the SC/ST communities.

"I wish to assure you that our government is fully committed to the welfare of SCs and STs. Our government is fully committed to protect the interest of the SC/ST community," he said.

The minister said immediately after the judgement of the Supreme Court, a decision was taken by the government to file a review petition in the Supreme Court.

The Attorney General has made an appeal in the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the matter today itself.

"This shows the prompt action by the government and does not leave any doubt regarding the intention of the government to protect the interest of the SC/ST," he said.

Singh said after the Supreme Court order on March 20, within a span of only six working days, without losing any time and acting swiftly, the government has filed a review petition in the apex court.

"We have issued advisory to all the states to ensure that no breach of law and order takes place and safety of the lives of citizens and properties are ensured," he said.

He said the central government has provided all assistance to the states immediately on their request and the Home Ministry is keeping a close vigil and is in constant touch with the state governments.

"Through this House, I appeal to all citizens to maintain peace and harmony amongst themselves. I also appeal to all the political parties to help maintain peace and harmony," he said.

Flagging the efforts to strengthen the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the home minister said in 1995, the government had passed the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act.

As part of the amendment of SC/ST Act, new offences were added. It was observed that due to the delay in filing of the chargesheet, the victims or witnesses who were vulnerable were influenced and silenced.

"In order to protect them, the provision of witness protection was introduced. The compensation payable to the victims was enhanced. There has been new provision where action against government servants shall be taken against those found negligent in implementing the Act," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hardcastle Restaurants, the master franchisee of fast food chain McDonald's in west and south India, plans to invest Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore over the next three years to introduce healthier food options and digitise its stores.

The city-based company in a bid to attract millenials and double its customer base to 500 million, has been introducing low-calorie, low-fat alternatives in its menu, along with introducing local flavours.

"Our customers are increasingly adopting healthier lifestyles and trust the brands that behave responsibly and transparently, especially when it comes to food options," Amit Jatia, vice-chairman of Westlife Development, the parent company of Hardcastle Restaurants, said here today.

"All modifications in the 'Good Food Story', have been a result of over three years of persistent re-engineering of our products, to offer wholesome balanced food choices to customers at a greater value," he added.

The company currently runs 270 restaurants in the western and southern markets, and is looking to double the number in the next few years, according to Jatia.

"We are investing Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years to revamp our offerings," he said.

It is also looking to double its customer base to about 500 million in the next five years, and making menu changes to cater to their needs, he added.

Some of these innovations include 20 per cent lower sodium in its foods, 40 per cent lower oil content in mayonnaise, resulting in 25 per cent lower fat content and 11 per cent lower calories in its food.

It has also introduced 100 per cent artificial preservative-free patties, and fortified it with natural fibre, whole-grain wraps, and 96 per cent fat-free soft serve.

Hardcastle Restaurants has also revamped the store formats, and introduced digital interventions, said Jatia.

The company has seen an upswing in its revenues, with 10 consecutive quarters of positive same store sales growth, according to him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Haryana Higher Department has made wearing of helmets and fastening of seatbelts in cars mandatory for all college students even when they are inside the campus.

The decision was taken in a review meeting of Road Safety Programme held under the chairmanship of Dr Rakesh Gupta, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Haryana, an official spokesman said.

Those students who would not abide by the rules would not be allowed to enter the campus, he said.

The spokesman said the director general of Higher Department has issued directions to the principals of all government, government aided private and self-funded colleges for strict compliance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Haryana government will soon purchase four aircraft worth over Rs 40 crore, the state's Civil Aviation Minister Rao Narbir Singh said here today.

"To impart ultra-modern flying training facilities to the youth in the state, Haryana government will soon purchase three small Cessna-172 S JTA training aircrafts. Besides, a 10-seater King Air B-250 aircraft would also be purchased," he said.

The minister said that over Rs 3.16 crore would be spent on purchase of the three small Cessna-172 S JTA training aircraft.

"The 10-seater King Air B-250 aircraft would be purchased at an estimated cost of USD 62,50,000 (over Rs 40 crore), which was presently being used by the government in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh," he was quoted as saying in an official release.

Presently, the Haryana government has a twin-engine helicopter to provide air services to the governor, chief minister and other dignitaries, he said, adding, "The government had purchased an aircraft in 2005, which crashed at Chandigarh airport soon after taking off."



The minister also said that under the Regional Connectivity Scheme-UDAN, M/S Pinnacle Airlines had already consented to give its services at Hisar Airport from June.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi High Court today granted exemption to former union minister Salman Khurshid from appearing before a trial court on April 5 in a trespass case in which he was summoned as an accused.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva granted the relief to the Congress leader for one hearing before the trial court and made it clear that his counsel shall remain present before the lower court and not seek any adjournment.

The court also asked the Delhi Police to file its response on Khurshid's plea seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against him for the alleged offence of trespassing in an office of Delhi Public School (DPS) society in south Delhi. It listed the matter for further hearing on May 9.

According to the police, the DPS Society had alleged that on March 30, 2015, Khurshid, along with one Sharda Nayak, had trespassed into the office of the society and she forcibly occupied the office of the Chairman.

Advocate Pramod Dubey, appearing for Khurshid, sought that the summons issued against the politician by the trial court on January 8, be quashed.

The plea alleged that the magistrate had passed the summoning order without application of mind. It said the police had filed a charge sheet in the case in February 2016 exonerating Khurshid, but filed a supplementary charge sheet in December 2017 naming him and five others as accused.

The Congress leader was neither named, nor any role was attributed to him in the FIR lodged on March 31, 2015 at Amar Colony police station here, the petition claimed, adding that he was a life member of the DPS Society on the date of the alleged incident and has the legal right to visit the society premises as a stakeholder.

He said no reason has been given by the trial court while summoning him and it has been done in a "casual manner".

The counsel for Delhi Police contended that the summoning order was passed in January and Khurshid has approached the high court only now.

"They took control of the premises of the society" and it was in the presence of Khurshid that Nayak announced herself as the society's chairperson, the DPS Society had stated, adding that Khurshid was part of a "well-planned conspiracy to illegally occupy and take over the premises of the society". Following the incident, an FIR was also lodged in the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Bombay High Court today gave the Union government time till April 24 to file reply on petitions filed by three convicts in the Shakti Mills gang-rape case challenging constitutional validity of the law under which they were sentenced to death for a repeat offence.

A bench of Justices R M Savant and Sarang Kotwal directed the Centre to file affidavits, explaining the amended provision of the Indian Penal Code which prescribes life sentence or the capital punishment for repeat offenders in rape cases.

Three of the five persons who were convicted by the sessions court here in 2014 -- Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali and Salim Ansari -- have moved the high court.

Bengali and Ansari challenged the sessions court order allowing the prosecution to invoke Section 376 (E) of the IPC when the trial was underway. They also challenged constitutional validity of this section, brought in by the Union government after the infamous 2012 Delhi gang-rape case.

Jadhav filed a petition this year through senior advocate Yug Chowdhary on similar grounds.

The Union government's lawyer, advocate Sandesh Patil, told the court today that draft affidavits-in-reply on petitions of Bengali and Ansari were ready but awaiting nod of the law ministry.

As to Jadhav, advocate Patil sought more time, saying the convict had not served him a copy of the petition. The court then gave the government time till April 24.

On April 5, 2014, the three petitioners were convicted under the Section 376 (E) and sentenced to death for raping a city-based photo-journalist, as they were found to have raped another woman earlier.

Siraj Khan, another convict, was sentenced to life imprisonment as he wasn't involved in the earlier rape, while a fifth accused, a minor, was sent to a correctional facility.

The petitioners contended that the sessions court acted beyond its power in awarding them the death sentence.

They also challenged IPC Section 376 (E). While death punishment is given only in "rarest of rare" cases, constitutional validity of the criminal law amendment which effectively treats more than one offence of rape as "rarest of rare" should be examined, they said.

The photo-journalist, who had gone to the defunct Shatki Mills on an assignment with a male colleague, was gang-raped by the accused on August 22, 2013, sending shock waves through the city.

The prosecution invoked Section 376 (E) when it was found that four of them had raped an18-year-old telephone operator in the same place some months earlier.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following are the top at 21:00 hours:



NATION:



DEL67PM-LDALL FAKENEWSI&B withdraws fake norms after PM orderNew Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi orders the I&B Ministry to cancel its contentious guidelines on fake after widespread criticism and outcry by journalists and the opposition who dubbed these norms an attempt to "muzzle" the free press.

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FAKENEWS-LD MEDIA



Top media bodies express outrage over govt's unsuccessful move to curb 'fake news'



New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India and several other media bodies strongly condemn the information and broadcasting ministry's unsuccessful move to "police" the media by seeking to punish journalists for fake

DEL68



FAKENEWS-PARTIES-LD REAX



Opposition tears into govt over fake news guidelines



New Delhi: Opposition parties attack the central government over the now-withdrawn guidelines on fake news, with the Congress saying fascism has touched its peak and panic is setting in.

DEL20



JK-2NDLD SHELLING



Soldier killed, 4 others injured in Pakistan shelling along LoC



Jammu: An Army jawan killed, while four others, including a lieutenant, injured as Pakistani troops shelled mortars at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials say.

DEL24



MEA-INDIA-PAK-TERROR



India welcomes US designation of Pak's MML as terror outfit



New Delhi: India welcomes the US designating Pakistan-based Milli Muslim League (MML), an alias of Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a foreign terror organisation, saying the decision reflects rejection of the attempts being made in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities.

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Modi made U-turn on fake news order after anger mounted: Rahul



New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a U-turn on his "own order" on fake news, and said one could clearly see "a loss of control and panic setting in".

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LD PARLIAMENT



Par adjourns for 19th day without transacting business



New Delhi: No substantial business could be transacted in both the Houses of Parliament on the 19th straight day due to continuous uproar and noisy scenes created by the opposition.

DEL50



LD DALIT BANDH



Day after Dalit protests, death toll rises to 11; counter-violence in Rajasthan



Jaipur/Bhopal: Fresh violence breaks out in Rajasthan as a 5,000-strong mob set ablaze the houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, even as the death toll from yesterday's nationwide stir by Dalit groups rose to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh.

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DALIT-LD PARTIES



BJP, Centre reach out to Dalits, say they stand shoulder to shoulder



New Delhi: The BJP and the Centre reach out to Dalits in the aftermath of their violent protests asserting that at every juncture they stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the community and accused the Congress of fuelling tension in the society with an eye on elections.

DEL58



2NDLD CBSE



CBSE not to conduct Class 10 re-test; says it's internal segment of edu system



New Delhi: The HRD ministry decides against conducting a re-examination of the CBSE Class 10 mathematics paper following reports of paper leak, with the board saying that Class 10 was just an "internal segment" of school education system.

DEL63



ITX-VIDEOCON LOAN-NOTICE



Videocon loan case: I-T dept issues notice to Deepak Kochhar



New Delhi: The Income Tax Department issues a notice to Deepak Kochhar, husband of ICICI bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, in connection with its tax evasion probe in the Videocon bank loan case, officials say.

DEL48



ITX-NOTESBAN-CBDT



Finish issuing all DeMO notices by May: CBDT to I-T dept



New Delhi: The CBDT directs the Income Tax Department to finish in two months the exercise of issuing notices, as part of the 'Operation Clean Money', to those who deposited huge funds post demonetisation.

DEL65



ED-LD DELHI MINISTER



ED grills Delhi min Satyendar Jain in PMLA case



New Delhi: The ED questions Delhi Health and Power Minister Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others.

DEL51



POL-NAIDU-LD OPPOSITION



Regional parties must join hands with the TDP: Naidu



New Delhi: Regional parties must join hands with the TDP to raise concerns over the "injustice" meted out by the NDA government at the Centre to states ruled by opposition parties, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu says.

LEGAL:



LGD46



SC/ST Act row: No bar on paying compensation or lodging FIR, says SC



New Delhi: The Supreme Court makes it clear that there was no bar either on paying compensation and other immediate relief to victims belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes or registration of FIR under any provision of law in its March 20 verdict putting in place certain safeguards on arrests under the SC/ST Act.

FOREIGN:



FGN13



INDOPAK-ENVOY



Indian High Commissioner meets Pak's NSA



Islamabad: Amidst tensions in bilateral ties, Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria has a "courtesy meeting" with Pakistan's National Security Advisor Naseer Khan Janjua and exchanges views on various bilateral issues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, were set afire by a violent mob today afternoon in the Hindaun town in Karauli district of Rajasthan following which curfew was imposed in the area, a senior official said.

A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set ablaze houses of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and Congress MLA Bharosilal Jatav in the Hindaun City, District Collector, Karauli, Abhimanyu Kumar told PTI.

While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who also served as a minister in the state. The incident occurred a day after Rajasthan and several other states saw large scale protests and violence during a 'bandh' called by Dalit organisations.

Considering the law and order situation, curfew was clamped in the city, Kumar added.

He said the situation was tense since morning.

After incidents of stone pelting and arson, a mob set on for the houses of the MLA and the ex-MLA following which curfew has been clamped till Wednesday morning, an official said.

"The traders' association and upper castes are agitated in Hindaun City. They took out a procession today and tried to enter the SC/ST dominated areas," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

"Police forces lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to cane charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse the mob," Reddy said.

Superintendent of Police, Karauli, Anil Kayal said after the incidents of arson and violence, nearly 40 people were detained in Hindaun City.

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With an aim to promote breastfeeding, Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Vipin Parmar today launched Mother's Absolute Affection (MAA) programme in the state.

Breastfeeding help in reducing the incidence of infant mortality and early childhood mortality and provides complete nutrition to a child. The aim of the programme was to make people aware about the importance of breastfeeding, he said.

The minister directed the chief medical officers to monitor the implementation and impact of the programme to achieve goal that every children in the state are healthy.

He said the main components of the programme were community awareness generation, strengthening inter-personal communication through ASHA workers, skilled support for breastfeeding at delivery points in public health facilities and work places.

Principal Secretary of health department Prabodh Saxena said the state government intends to reach out to every facility, every newborn and every mother through this programme.

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Haryana Women and Child Development Minister Kavita Jain has appealed to various government, non-government, private and voluntary institutions and people of the state for giving maximum donation in the state 'Kanya Kosh' fund.

'Kanya Kosh' is a fund meant for educational and nutritional development of girls.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced setting up of this fund on the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8, 2015, she said.

Jain said that so far, Rs 69.54 lakh was deposited in the fund.

"A donation being given in this Kosh gets income tax benefit under the Income Tax 1961, Section 80G (5)," she said in an official release here.

Jain said that a bank account in the name of 'Kanya Kosh' was opened in the Bank of India, where all people or institutions desirous to give donation could deposit the amount.

She said that under the Haryana Kanya Kosh Society, women are given financial assistance in various areas, which include sponsorship of women players for games and risky jobs, for marriage of poor, needy and orphan girls, among others.

Jain said that a district-level committee was constituted under the chairmanship of deputy commissioner in every district where needy women or girls could give their application for taking the benefit of the scheme.

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The Supreme Court today said it would monitor the investigation into a human trafficking case in Maharashtra and asked the Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court to constitute an exclusive bench for hearing bail applications of accused in the case.

The apex court directed the Maharashtra government to appoint a special public prosecutor to ensure free and fair trial in the case in which 68 girls, hailing from Rajasthan, were rescued from Maharashtra.

A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that it was a very "unfortunate situation" and directed that an Inspector General of Police-rank officer should supervise the investigation into the case.

"This is a serious matter and police officers involved in the case should investigate the matter properly. What is more worrying is the role played by the parents of the girls as there is no missing complaint filed. There may be some financial consideration for them," the bench said.

It listed the matter for May 3 and said that court would like to monitor the progress of investigation into the case.

The bench said that since several accused involved in the larger racket of human trafficking might seek anticipatory bail or regular bail at different courts of the country, which might jeopardise the efforts of a Special Task Force constituted to investigate the matter.

"We request the Acting Chief Justice of Bombay High Court to set up a bench which should exclusively deal with the regular bail and anticipatory bails of the accused in the case," it said.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for Maharashtra said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising officials from various departments had been constituted to look into the matter.

On March 21, the apex court was informed by senior officials of Maharashtra Police they had no clue as how these 68 girls from Rajasthan came to the state.

"If 68 girls from one particular state are found in another state in this country, allegedly resorting to prostitution, it should normally raise a suspicion in the minds of anybody concerned that there must be some systematic crime going on to induce or compel the innocent girls into prostitution," the bench had said.

It had summoned the Director General of Police of Maharashtra after it learnt that two women running a brothel, who were arrested, had manage to secure bail.

"If that is the degree of efficiency of investigation, it is not safe to leave the investigation to the hands of the officers present in Court. Having regard to the dimensions of the case and the implications of the social problem, apart from question of law, we deem it appropriate to direct the Director General of Police, Maharashtra to be present before this Court to assist the Court for further course of action," it had said.

The bench was hearing a case filed by Mumbai-based organisation Rescue Foundation, which works for rehabilitation of sex workers.

The case pertained to 68 girls, including 18 minors, who had been rescued from a place under Shahada police station in Nandurbar district last year.

The court was earlier informed that police had already filed a charge sheet and booked only two women who were alleged to be running the brothel.

The 68 girls were rescued in a joint raid carried out by Rescue Foundation and Shahada police on January 10, 2017.

However, after the operation, Shahada police had showed only seven girls as victims of trafficking and booked the remaining 61 for causing nuisance in a public place.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CBI today busted a human trafficking racket and booked its five members for allegedly attempting to send 11 teenaged boys from Punjab to the United States on forged and fabricated documents.

A CBI spokesman said that immediately after registering the case, searches were conducted at six places in Punjab.

The five, identified as Sundeep Singh Luthra, Amit Jyot Singh, Rohit Gauba, Anshika Matharu and Rachna David, allegedly conspired in and attempted human trafficking of 11 teenaged boys to the US under the garb of an educational trip, the agency said.

It was alleged that the accused persons submitted false and fabricated documents to the US Embassy for obtaining non-immigrant visa for these boys who were shown as students of a school in Pathankot in Punjab.

David, who was to escort the group of boys, was shown as the principal of the school, the CBI said and added that none of them belonged to the school mentioned in their applications.

During preliminary investigation, it was found that the accused persons, who run a travel agency in Southwest district of Delhi, had taken lakhs of rupees from the families of each of teenaged boys for sending them to the US.

The boys were brought from Punjab to New Delhi by the accused and were tutored to present themselves as school students at the time of their interview at the US Embassy.

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Faced with widespread criticism and outcry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today ordered the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to cancel its contentious guidelines on fake news, seen as "muzzling" the free press.

Soon after, the ministry issued a statement, saying guidelines issued late last night by it "to regulate fake ..stands withdrawn."



In a press release last night, the I&B ministry announced punitive measures like cancellation of accreditation to contain fake news, a decision which was dubbed by journalist and opposition parties as an attempt to curb press freedom ahead of the general elections due by 2019.

"PM has directed that the press release regarding the fake be withdrawn and the matter should only be addressed by the Press Council of India," a senior PMO official said. The Prime minister was also of the view that the government should not interfere in the matter, the official added.

Amending the guidelines for accreditation of journalists, the ministry announced norms to contain fake which said if the publication or telecast of fake news was confirmed, accreditation of the journalist would be suspended for six months in case of first violation and for one year in case of a second violation.

In case of a third violation, his or her accreditation would be cancelled permanently, the ministry had said in a press release.

The I&B ministry decision drew sharp criticism from opposition parties as well as from press bodies.

The Congress said fascism has touched its peak as it sought to "muzzle" independent voices through "fallacious" rules. The AAP and CPI-M likened the situation to the 'emergency'.

"The government has no mandate to control the press. The media were also worried about growing incidents of fake news but the Press Council is the right platform to deal with complaints regarding any fake news," president of the Press Club of India Gautam Lahiri said.

The I&B ministry norms had also said any complaint of instances of fake news would be referred to the Press Council of India (PCI), if it pertains to print media, and to the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), if it relates to the electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not. This determination is expected to be completed within 15 days by these agencies, the ministry said.

Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the accreditation of the journalist, whoever created and/or propagated the fake news, will be suspended till the determination regarding the fake news is made, the ministry had said.

"Fascism reaches its 'nadir' as a shaky Modi Government, caught in its web of lies, seeks to muzzle all independent voices in media through fallacious rules!," Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala tweeted.

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel also questioned the government's attempt to check fake news asking whether it is an attempt to prevent reporters from reporting news uncomfortable to the establishment.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee termed the attempt as a brazen and draconian move to curb press freedom and said it showed the government "has lost its way".

"What about fake news spread by a political party on a regular basis?" she asked on Twitter without naming any party.

Recalling the fight for press freedom during days of the emergency (imposed for 21 months between 1975 and 1977), CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said his party condemned the duplicitous move.

He accused the government of attacking the media in the garb of fake news over news it finds uncomfortable.

"We stand for, and are committed to a free and independent Press, the Left leader tweeted.

"It is like an undeclared emergency. The Government wants to gag the Press. They want the Press to write what the Government wants," said CPI-leader Mohammed Salim.

AAP leader Ashutosh said "Till now there was an informal emergency on media, except few all were scared, and fell in line. Now formal emergency.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Veteran action star Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he is "back" after open-heart surgery.

The 70-year-old former governor of California took to Twitter to inform his fans about his health.

"It's true: I'm back! I went to sleep expecting to wake up with a small incision and woke up with a big one - but guess what? I woke up, and that's something to be thankful for. Thank you to the doctors and nurses. And I'm truly filled with gratitude for all of the kind messages," Schwarzenegger tweeted.

His spokesperson, Daniel Ketchell, said on Twitter on Friday that Schwarzenegger "underwent a planned procedure to replace a pulmonic valve that was originally replaced due to a congenital heart defect in 1997."



He said Schwarzenegger's pulmonic valve was "successfully replaced" and that the star "is currently recovering from the surgery and is in stable condition".

The spokesperson also said that "steroids have nothing to do with this."



Schwarzenegger, a former Mr Universe and Mr Olympia, had acknowledged using steroids when he was a bodybuilder.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Abhay Deol was determined to create his own identity when he made his debut over a decade ago but coming from a film family, the actor says he was conflicted about fame.

Abhay says people initially expected him to follow in on the footsteps of his uncle Dharmendra and cousin Sunny Deol but he chose alternative cinema over commercial projects to assert his individuality.

"I feel my advantage of coming from a film family is -- having seen fame up close, having seen the industry so close and how it works, I was not enamoured by fame.

"I wasn't looking to be a star, I just happened to love acting, I was a reluctant actor. So I was like how do I manage this without taking in the frenzy of becoming a star," Abhay told PTI in an interview.

Abhay, who made his debut with Imtiaz Ali's "Socha Na Tha", says he remained doubtful about fame even when it came knocking at his door.

The 42-year-old actor says he "ran away" when "Dev D", directed by Anurag Kashyap, became a cult hit as he felt its success would affect him "most likely in a negative way".

"Somewhere it is negative because I should have been around to promote my film and myself. I didn't do that. But do I regret it? No. Because it kept me grounded. Maybe I didn't take the advantage and become a star and get all the brands so that I could solidify my space in the world," he says.

The actor played a messed up man who gets a second chance at both love and life in the film, a modern take on "Devdas". Looking back, Abhay believes he should have approached the film's success in a more balanced way.

"The reaction to 'Dev D' success wasn't a balanced one from my end. I ran away! I should have stayed around and seen how I could balance things. But I wasn't capable of that. That's my background," he says.

Though he was able to create a space for his brand of cinema, Abhay believes the industry was unwilling to put money on him.

"For the first film, putting the name (Deol) behind me is understandable but as time progressed, people started to accept (me), in fact, they liked that I was my own individual.

"But the industry could not put money behind it (my individuality) because they can put money behind a brand, which is what my family name is, but they couldn't do with the individual that I was. It didn't make any monetary sense to them," he says.

Even though he comes from a film background, Abhay says he is "not a protege" that filmmakers would keep taking chances on him.

He went on to star in critically-acclaimed films such as "Manorama Six Feet Under", "Oye Lucky Lucky Oye" and "Shanghai".

Abhay further cemented his career by venturing out in commercial movies such as "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" and "Happy Bhaag Jayegi".

His next "Nanu Ki Jaanu", a horror comedy directed by Faraz Haider, co-starring Patralekhaa, is scheduled to release on April 20.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Six people on board an IAF helicopter escaped unhurt on Tuesday as it crashed near the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath. No casualties have been reported.

IAF's MI 17 chopper reportedly caught fire after it hit an iron girder while landing at the helipad in Kedarnath, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal said.

All six people on board ejected safely as the crash took place shortly before touching down at the helipad, he said.

The chopper was carrying heavy mechanical equipment from Guptkashi to Kedarnath for ongoing reconstruction work there, the DM said.

The crash occurred at 8.20 AM, he said.

A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, official sources said in Delhi.
Six people on board an IAF helicopter escaped unhurt today after it crashed near the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath.

An MI-17 chopper of the Indian Air Force crashed at 8.20 AM while landing at the helipad in Kedarnath, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal said.

All the six people on board made a safe exit, he said.

The chopper was carrying heavy mechanical equipment from Guptkashi to Kedarnath for ongoing reconstruction work there, the district magistrate said.

A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, official sources said in Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, here has emerged as the Top-Ranked Engineering Institute in the country for the third consecutive year.

The premier educational institute was declared as the number one among the Engineering institutes in the India Rankings, 2018, by National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF) of the Ministry of HRD, a press release said.

"The ranking is an affirmation of the consistent hard work of our faculty, staff and students and the zeal with which we are implementing and exceeding the targets of our Strategic Plan 2020", IIT Madras Director professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi said in the release.

IIT Madras also retained its position in the overall category where it was adjudged as the Second Best Institution in the country after Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, under the overall ranking of institutions.

"IIT Madras leads in research as well as industry collaboration anchored by its hugely successful Research Park. We will continue to forge ahead with the same energy to achieve greater heights", Ramamurthi said.

The results for NIRF 2018 were announced at a function held in New Delhi earlier in the day, in which Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bengaluru was adjudged the overall best institution in the country by the HRD Ministry's national ranking framework.

Announcing the rankings at an event, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) has been adjudged the best engineering college and the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) the best management institution.

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The strategically important trilateral dialogue between India, Japan and the US will be held in New Delhi this week ahead of a summit between American President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this month.

The Trump administration has sent two of its senior diplomats from the State Department -- Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton -- to co-lead the American delegation for the trilateral dialogue.

The dialogue between the three leading democratic powers of the Indo-Pacific region on Wednesday comes a fortnight ahead of the Trump-Abe summit at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort.

During the two-day summit on April 17 and 18, the two leaders will reaffirm the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said today.

While Wells has just returned from Pakistan, Thorton completed her trip to Malaysia before heading to New Delhi where she attended the US-ASEAN Dialogue to engage on regional security and economic issues.

On April 6, Wells will participate in the India-US Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs. During her visit, she will also meet senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and representatives from the private sector, the State Department said.

The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. For the first several rounds the trilateral was held at the director or assistant secretary level.

It was elevated to ministerial level in 2015. The inaugural ministerial trilateral was held on September 29, 2015, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session. It was hosted by then US Secretary of State John Kerry. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida represented their respective countries.

The last ministerial dialogue was also held in New York in September 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi will host the strategically important trilateral dialogue between India, Japan and the US this week ahead of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago later this month, the State Department has said.

The Trump administration has sent two of its senior diplomats from the State Department -- Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton - to co-lead the American delegation for the trilateral dialogue.

The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers of the Indo-Pacific region on Wednesday comes a fortnight ahead of the Trump-Abe summit at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort.

During the two-day summit on April 17 and 18, the two leaders will reaffirm the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said today.

While Wells has just returned from Pakistan, Thorton completed her trip to Malaysia before heading to New Delhi where she attended the US-ASEAN Dialogue to engage on regional security and economic issues.

On April 6, Wells will participate in the India-US Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs. During her visit, she will also meet with senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and representatives from the private sector, the State Department said.

The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. For the first several rounds the trilateral was held at the director or assistant secretary level.

It was elevated to ministerial level in 2015. The inaugural ministerial trilateral was held on September 29, 2015, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session. It was hosted by the then US Secretary of State John Kerry. The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida represented their respective countries.

The last ministerial dialogue was also held in New York in September 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria today met Pakistan's National Security Advisor Naseer Khan Janjua and raised India's concerns over cross border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir besides discussing ways to improve strained bilateral ties.

Diplomatic sources in the Indian High Commission told PTI that the meeting took place in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Islamabad.

"It was a courtesy meeting held in the PMO," they said.

"The High Commissioner sensitised the Pakistan NSA on issues of India's concern. Constructive discussions took place on improving the bilateral relationship," they said.

They further said the envoys call regularly on dignitaries of the host country and this meeting was scheduled a week earlier.

Sources in New Delhi said the issue of cross border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir was raised by the Indian envoy in the meeting.

The envoy is understood to have also mentioned about the the three encounters in Shopian and Anantnag districts of Kashmir earlier this week in which 13 militants were killed.

In a statement, the NSA Office in Islamabad said Bisaria made a courtesy call on Janjua and the two discussed matters pertaining to improving the bilateral relations including the recent worsening situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

NSA welcomed the envoy and said that Pakistan is pursuing the policy of friendly relations with all its neighbouring countries including normalcy of relationship with India, it said, adding that Pakistan is committed to resolve all outstanding issues through comprehensive dialogues.

Janjua expressed "serious concerns over the ongoing human rights violations" in Kashmir and he said that "the use of force alone can lead us no where. It rather diminishes hope, injures the society and further worsens the fragile situation," it added.

"Process of dialogue is the only way forward to resolve our disputes. It is by way of peaceful resolution of our disputes which can enable both the countries to belong to the future," Janjua said.

The Indian envoy acknowledged that Pakistan and India definitely need to improve their relations and said "both countries have immense potential to improve the relationship, and cater to each other's needs," the statement added.

He also suggested to work on taking small steps for improving the bilateral relations including exchange of prisoners, visits of medical teams and trade initiatives.

"We can build on these small steps between us and take the relationship towards normalcy to address the bigger issues," he added.

Both sides agreed to explore the possibilities of more cooperation and of improving bilateral relations to ultimately take it towards comprehensive process of dialogue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amidst tensions in bilateral ties, Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria today had a "courtesy meeting" with Pakistan's National Security Advisor Naseer Khan Janjua and exchanged views on various bilateral issues.

Diplomatic sources in the Indian High Commission confirmed that the meeting took place in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Islamabad.

"It was a courtesy meeting held in the PMO," the sources said, without giving any details of the discussion.

There was so far no word about the meeting by the Foreign Office.

Local media reported that the two discussed various issues including the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Express Tribune reported that Janjua expressed serious concerns over the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Indian yoga instructor has been convicted by a court in Singapore for molesting a woman during class, according to a media report today.

Rakesh Kumar Prasad was sentenced to a nine-month jail term along with a fine of 1,000 Singapore dollar by the court yesterday but granted a bail of 16,000 Singapore dollar pending appeal.

Prasad's lawyer said that he would be apealing against the court decision, the Straight Times reported.

According to the report, Prasad committed the offences against the woman in April 2015 at a yoga studio in Tampines housing estate. The woman was then aged 25.

Following a 12-day trial, which began in 2016, District Judge Luke Tan found Prasad guilty earlier this year on one count each of outraging the woman's modesty and using criminal force on her.

Prasad repeatedly molested her when she was alone, it said.

In his submission, Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew said, "The victim... did not leave the class or seek help immediately because she was in a state of shock and disbelief. She felt helpless in that environment and did not know what to do."



"She had felt violated and embarrassed by the accused's actions, and was in disbelief that this could happen to her in a yoga class," the report quoting Chew as saying.

Chew urged Judge Tan to sentence Prasad to at least a year's jail with three strokes of the cane.

He said, "The accused had abused his position as a yoga instructor in repeatedly violating the victim in the midst of the yoga class."



Defence lawyer Steven Lam pleaded for a nine-month jail term and stressed that the touches were "fleeting".

He also told the court that Prasad will be appealing against his conviction. Judge Tan offered him bail of 16,000 Singapore dollar.

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Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia has alleged serious lapses in the rescue operation carried out by the district administration after a three-storey hotel collapsed here last week.

Ten persons, including two women, were killed when the 60-year-old hotel, which was in a dilapidated condition, collapsed in a congested commercial area, near a bus stand, on the night of March 31.

The police had rescued 12 persons, who were trapped under the debris, and rushed them to the government-run Maharaja Yashwantrao (MY) hospital. Ten of the 12 persons were declared dead by the doctors at the hospitral, while the remaining two were undergoing treatment, an official had earlier said.

"The officials were more interested in removing the debris than saving the lives of the people who were trapped. I was told that barely a few hours after the incident, bulldozers and earth-moving machines were used to clear the debris," Scindia alleged.

"Had they been more cautious, perhaps the lives of a few people, who were trapped under the debris, could have been saved," he told reporters here last night after meeting the two injured persons at the hospital.

The Guna MP said he did not want to do politics over the issue, but some people had brought the alleged serious lapses in the rescue operation to his notice.

"In such emergency cases, the rescue operations should be conducted with more sensitivity and care. But I was told that it was not done and that standard practices were not followed," the former Union minister said.

In order to trace those, who were still alive after the hotel collapsed, advance machines should have been pressed into service, he added.

The use of heavy machinery should have been avoided by deploying those personnel who were trained to deal with such emergency situations, Scindia said.

He demanded a high-level probe into the alleged lapses and strict action against those found guilty.

The Congress leader also demanded a security audit of all the old buildings in the city.

The police had yesterday arrested the hotel owner, Shankar Paryani (55).

The police, the district administration and the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) are separately looking into the incident, the district officials said.

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The treasury of the 12th-century Lord Jagannath Temple here will be opened for inspection tomorrow after 34 years amid strong security, a temple official said.

A 17-member team will inspect the physical condition of the floor, roof and wall of the 'Ratna Bhandar' (treasury) between 2 pm to 5 pm, Chief Administrator P K Jena of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) told reporters.

The team, including three experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), will only examine the structural stability and safety of the 'Ratna Bhandar', Jena said, adding that no one will be allowed to touch the jewellery kept there.

Jewelleries and ornaments of the deities are kept in the 'Ratna Bhandar' which was last inspected in 1984. At that time, only three of its seven chambers had been opened. No one knows exactly what was stored in the other chambers.

The team will comprise Puri 'King' Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb or his representative, various officials of the temple, experts of the ASI, Puri district collector, and a high court representative, a temple spokesperson said.

To make the inspection process smooth, elaborate arrangements have been made. No devotees would be allowed in the temple premises and armed security personnel would be deployed at the four gates and in the premises, he said.

All the people, irrespective of positions held, would wear only a traditional cotton towel known as 'Gamchha', to be provided by the temple authorities before entering the Ratna Bhandar.

The administration has decided to use battery-powered lights, along with traditional "diya" during inspection.

Only diyas had been used during the inspection in 1984, which had to be stopped after the inspectors heard hissing sound inside the vaults. Because of this, this time, assistance of snake experts has been sought and they would be there for any emergency.

All members of the team will go through a three-tier check before entering the treasure trove, Jena said.

He said the team members would be frisked by police officials to bar them from carrying any metal item or electronic gadget.

They would be provided with 'Gamchha' in the second stage and in the final stage, the inspectors would be scanned by the servitors authorised to check the 'Ratna Bhandar' as per the temple tradition.

Though the frisking and scanning of members will be videographed, no camera would enter the Ratna Bhandar, Jena said, adding that the key of the Ratna Bhandar would be procured by the temple authorities tomorrow from the government treasury in Puri.

Prior to 1984, the Ratna Bhandar was opened in 1978, 1926 and 1905, temple administration sources said.

On March 22, the Orissa High Court had ordered the ASI to inspect the structures of the Ratna Bhandar on March 26 and 27. After the inspection, the ASI said its outer surface was good. The condition of inside structures would be inspected after it is opened.

The high court is monitoring the repair works undertaken by the ASI in the 12th-century shrine since 2016, while adjudicating over a PIL seeking judicial intervention for effective repair and renovation of the temple.

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The Jammu High Court Bar Association today decided to suspend work in all courts for four days from tomorrow to press for deportation of illegally settled immigrants and handing over the alleged rape-cum-murder case of a minor girl in Kathua district to the CBI.

The bar announced the decision after a four-hour long meeting, a spokesman said.

"As a corollary of the general house meeting, a resolution was passed that work in all the courts, including the high court, shall remain suspended from April 4 to April 7," he said.

The spokesman said the association had resolved to hold a meeting with the Jammu Civil Society, including presidents of different organisations, on April 7 to mobilise public opinion to chalk out a strategy for further course of action on the issues.

"All the speakers while addressing the house were vociferous against the sinister design of the coalition government, which has deliberately created a hostile situation in an attempt to create a wedge and disturb the harmonious atmosphere and character of the Jammu region," he added.

He said the general house resolved that the association would continue its fight against the illegally settled immigrants.

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Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the Centre for setting up of a Chennai Seawater Desalination Plant at an Official Development Assistance (ODA) of Rs 1,800 crore.

The ODA loan agreement was signed between Ambassador of India to Japan, Sujan R Chinoy and JICA Senior Vice President, Junichi Yamada at the House of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo, a press release said.

JICA signed agreement with Government of India to provide official development assistance loan of 30,000 million Japanese Yen (approximately Rs 1,800 crore) for the construction of Chennai Seawater Desalination Plant.

The objective of the project is to provide safe and reliable water supply by seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 400 million litres per day and its related water supply facilities in the Chennai Metropolitan Areas.

"We are happy to announce that it would be the first case for JICA in India to support the construction of seawater desalination plant to overcome the water scarcity issue in Chennai" JICA India Office, Chief Representative, Takema Sakamoto said in the press release.

"The project will also enhance the economic growth and investment climate in the area. While JICA has been collaborating with Japanese firm Totetsu Manufacturing Company on a trial basis to explore the possibility of rainwater storage system, we remain committed to search for other complementary means...", he said.

Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is the executing agency of the project.

The JICA assisted project would address water shortage in city by bridging demand and supply. The project would contribute to secure safe water supply by utilising seawater as a source, it added.

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The Centre today said terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir have been resorting to glamorisation of militancy to recruit misguided youths in their outfits.

Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said the state has been affected by terrorist violence that is sponsored and supported from across the border and levels of the violence in various districts of the Valley are linked to infiltrations.

"Militants have been resorting to glamorisation of militancy to recruit misguided youths in their outfits," he said, replying to a written question.

The government regularly reviews the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and in order to prevent activities of militants, numerous steps have been taken including strengthening of operational grid with enhanced human intelligence and use of technical intelligence grid.

"The government has also continuously encouraged policies to mainstream the youth, including providing employment opportunities to wean them away from militancy," he said.

Replying to a question on whether terrorist activities have increased in Jammu and Kashmir after the surgical strike in PoK on September 29, 2016, Ahir said the suggestion was not correct.

"188 terrorist incidents were reported during six months period before the surgical strike. 56 security personnel and 10 civilians lost their lives in these incidents.

"On the other hand, 155 terrorist incidents have been reported during six months period post the surgical strike. 29 security personnel and 10 civilians have lost their lives in these incidents," he said.

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Journalists in the United States were assaulted 45 times last year, and 34 were arrested while covering news, a report from a media rights watchdog said Tuesday.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, in its first annual assessment of threats to journalistic freedom in the United States, cited a total of 122 incidents including physical assaults, arrests, equipment seizures and border checks.

"While it does not capture every press freedom incident that has occurred, the tracker strives to document the number of times journalists in the United States were arrested, assaulted, subjected to equipment searches or seizures, or detained at the border," the report said.

"It also highlights particularly serious denials of access and chilling statements by public officials."



The largest number of arrests of journalists came at public protests, with many swept up in a crowd-control technique known as "kettling," where police corral demonstrators into an area and subsequently arrest everyone.

The report said more than half of the journalists arrested were freelancers.

Freelance journalist Alexei Wood was arrested while covering 2017 inauguration protests in Washington and anther freelancer, Jenni Monet was arrested while covering protests against the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.

Of the 45 physical attacks on journalists in 2017, two were committed by elected officials, including the well-documented "body slam" of a reporter by Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte.

The report noted that investigations of leaks are also impacting press freedoms.

While just one prosecution was brought in 2017 over a leak -- that of former intelligence specialist Reality Winner on Russian interference in the US election -- the report said 27 leak cases were under investigation at the end of the year.

In 2018, the government charged a former FBI agent in Minnesota in connection with a leak investigation.

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Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's party today formally informed embattled Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that it will support a no-confidence motion backed by the Joint Opposition against him.

Wickremesinghe, 68, leads a national unity government in alliance with Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). He faces the no-confidence motion in Parliament tomorrow.

There was a flurry of discussions among key players since last night to discuss the no-confidence motion.

Senior SLFP leader and Minister of Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva conveyed the party's decision to Wickremesinghe this morning, political sources said.

The motion scheduled for tomorrow was handed over to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya by the Joint Opposition last month against Wickremesinghe, accusing him of financial mismanagement and failing to tackle anti-Muslim riots last month in the central Kandy district.

The SLFP this morning insisted that Wickremesinghe should step down before the motion.

The prime minister refused to step down, a spokesman for Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) said.

"We will defeat the motion tomorrow," said Harsha de Silva, a UNP frontliner and a minister of state.

Wickremesinghe had resisted a call from Sirisena to resign following a crushing defeat to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's new party Sri Lanka People's Front in the February 10 local election.

It is no secret that Sirisena wants Wickremesinghe's ouster so that he could replace him with his own choice.

Wickremesinghe was recently replaced as law and order minister after clashes erupted in the Kandy district.

The President also removed key institutions, including the Central Bank, from the control of Wickremesinghe.

Wickremesinghe's broader front, UNFGG has 106 seats in the 225 member assembly while the SLFP and the JO combine of Sirisena and Rajapaksa represents only 96.

However, some of Wickremesinghe's allies - Sri Lanka Muslim Congress - have expressed dissatisfaction with the UNP.

Sirisena is said to believe that at least 12 Muslim MPs in Wickremesinghe's front may decide to vote against the premier.

The main Tamil party which has 16 seats will decide later tonight on the stance to be taken at the no trust vote against the premier. Its leader R Sampanthan met President Sirisena today.

Sirisena in 2015 quit the Rajapaksa government to join hands with Wickremesinghe, the then main opposition leader, to defeat Rajapaksa in the presidential election ending his 10-year rule.

Constitutionally, the current Parliament could not be dissolved before February 2020. It requires a motion adopted with 2/3rds in the 225 member assembly to call for snap elections.

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Prominent South African Indians have paid tributes to Winnie Mandela, the former wife of South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and one of the country's defining and most divisive figures.

The woman, who became the face of the anti-apartheid struggle while her husband was in prison for 27 years of apartheid rule, passed away yesterday at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg. She was 81.

Her demise has triggered an outpouring of tributes from the leading South African Indians.

" of her passing came just a few days after the first death anniversary of Ahmed Kathrada, and a few months after the passing of Laloo Chiba and Eddie Daniels. It deepens the sense of realisation that with their passing, we lose not only liberation activists, but sources of history that cannot be replaced," said Shan Balton, Executive Director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

"Comrade Winnie and Ahmed Kathrada shared a strong sense of camaraderie and friendship that extended from before Kathrada's imprisonment when he became close to both the Sisulu and Mandela families," said the Foundation's Chairperson, Derek Hanekom.

"Mama Winnie was loved by the Tamil community as well for her lifetime of sacrifice for all South Africans, which is why we as the Tamil Federation honoured her with the Valiamma Award in 2016," said Nadas Pillay, who was President of the Federation at the time.

Pillay recalled that Winnie Mandela was still in mourning for her former husband, Nelson Mandela, and could not speak herself, but acknowledged through her aide the role of Valiamma Munusamy in supporting Mahatma Gandhi's fight against oppression by giving her life in prison at just 16.

Internationally renowned filmmaker Anant Singh, who is a close friend of the Mandela family and produced the film version of Mandela's book 'Long Walk to Freedom,' said Winnie Mandela was a "remarkable woman" who kept the flame of the liberation struggle burning in South Africa while Madiba and his comrades were in prison.

"She remained a steadfast activist and an independent thinker who never waived from her principles and was always committed to the cause of our people. South Africa has lost a giant," Singh added.

Winnie Mandela, who was married to Nelson Mandela for 38 years, played a high-profile role in the struggle to end white-minority rule, but her place in history was stained by controversy and accusations of violence.

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Oil regulator PNGRB has proposed that new LNG import terminal in the country should reserve a fifth of the capacity for third-party access on common carrier principle.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) issued draft regulations for setting up and operation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the country. Comments on the regulations have been invited from stakeholders by month end.

Energy companies wishing to set up LNG terminals in India will have to first apply for a registration to the Board in a scheduled format.

The firm will have to "offer at all times, after registration, 20 per cent of its short-term (less than 5 years contract) uncommitted re-gasification capacity or 0.5 million tonnes per annum (MMTPA), whichever is higher, as common carrier capacity," it said.

This capacity can be booked by a third party to import their own LNG.

Besides adhering to its technical standards and specifications of the Board, the company setting up the LNG terminal would have to "furnish a bank guarantee for an amount equal to 1 per cent of the estimated project cost of the LNG terminal or Rs 25 crore whichever is less."



"An entity desirous of establishing or operating more than one LNG terminal shall make separate applications for each of such LNG terminals," it said.

India currently has four operating LNG terminals - 15 million tonnes import facility of Petronet LNG Ltd at Dahej in Gujarat, Royal Dutch Shell's 5 million tonnes terminal at Hazira in Gujarat, state-owned GAIL India Ltd's Dabhol facility in Maharashtra and Petronet's 5 million tonnes Kochi terminal in Kerala.

Some other terminals like Adani-GSPC's Mundra facility in Gujarat are under construction while a few others have been proposed.

The Board, the regulations said, shall issue a certification of registration valid for 25 years to an entity making an application for registration along with the bank guarantee and application fee.

"At the end of the validity period of the certificate of registration, the Board may consider an extension of it for a block of 10 years at a time on such terms and conditions, as it may deem fit at that time," it said.

Any change in the ownership or management control of the LNG terminal will have to be informed to the Board along with copies of the supporting documents within 60 days of such a change.

The PNGRB said it can suspend or terminate a registration in case of defaults in fulfilment of any of the eligibility conditions.

"In case of termination of the certificate of registration issued to an entity, the bank guarantee furnished by such an entity shall be forfeited," it said.

Once stakeholder comments are received, the PNGRB will finalise the regulations and "they shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

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The treasury of the 12th century Lord Jagannath Temple will be opened for inspection tomorrow after a gap of 34 years, a top temple official said.

A 10-member team will inspect the physical condition of the floor, roof and wall of the 'Ratna Bhandar' (treasury) on April 4, Chief Administrator P K Jena of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) told reporters yesterday.

The team, including two experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), will only inspect the temple's 'Ratna Bhandar' to examine its structural stability and its safety, Jena said.

No one will be allowed to touch the jewellery kept in the 'Ratna Bhandar', he said.

Precious jewelleries and ornaments of the deities are kept in the 'Ratna Bhandar' which was last inspected in 1984, when only three of its seven chambers had been opened.

The inspection team will comprise Puri 'King' Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb or his representative and Pattajoshi Mohapatra.

Two ASI engineers along with two ASI's core committee members G C Mitra and N C Pal and advocate N K Mohanty, who has been appointed as amicus curiae by the Orissa High Court to inspect the on-going repair works in the temple, would be among the other team members.

Jena said arrangements are being made to open the 'Ratna Bhandar' in the afternoon and no devotee will remain in the temple premises during the inspection. All members of the team will go through a three-tier check before entering the treasure trove.

He said the team members would be frisked by police officials to bar them from carrying any metal item or electronic gadget.

In the second stage, they would be required to wear the gamuchha' (traditional towel) provided by the temple administration.

In the final step, the inspectors would be scanned thoroughly by the servitors of the temple, authorised to check the 'Ratna Bhandar' entrants as per the temple tradition.

The temple administration has not yet taken any decision whether to videograph the important event.

The Ratna Bhandar was last opened in 1984. It was earlier opened in 1978, 1926 and 1905, the temple administration sources said.

The key of the Ratna Bhandar would be procured by the temple authorities on the day itself from the government treasury in Puri.

The Shree Jagannath Temple is located in Puri, one of the four 'dhams' the Hindus considered holy. The other three 'dhams' are Badrinath, Dwarka and Rameswaram.

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A Malian jihadist is to first appear before the International Criminal Court tomorrow where he faces charges for the destruction of Timbuktu and sex slavery, the world war crimes court said today.

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, who was arrested over the weekend and handed over by Malian authorities, "will be informed of the charges against him," the Hague-based ICC said in a statement.

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today questioned why the Centre is not ready to disclose details of credit information by a public sector bank in Parliament.

Even in Parliament reply today, the Government of India says the details of credit information by a public sector bank cannot be disclosed, Banerjee tweeted this evening.

She asked, "Why is this confidentiality? Whom is the Government trying to protect?"



The chief minister demanded immediate disclosure of the complete list of public sector banks defaulters.

"We demand immediate disclosure of the complete list of defaulters of public sector banks, whose loans have been written off. Is it not a big, big, big scam ???" she asked.

Banerjee also expressed shock as the BJP-led central government did not consider the farmers' appeal to waive their loans despite reports of suicide by peasants who failed to pay their debts.

"I am shocked to see that at a time, when the farmers in the country are crying and committing suicide for their loan burden and asking for waiver of farmers' loan, the Government of India has not even considered that.

"On the contrary, the Government of India has decided to write off Non-Performing Assets of public sector banks to the tune of Rs 2,41,911 crore from the Financial Year 2014-15 till September, 2017," she stated.

The Trinamool Congress supremo pointed out that it was her party which had raised the issue of NPA at the time of demonetisation.

"This is unbelievable. We raised the issue of Non-Performing Assets right at the time of demonetisation. Now the cat is out of the bag and reality bites," she added.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today to questions put by MP Ritabrata Banerjee, who has been suspended by the CPI(M), the government said between 2014-15 and September 2017, public sector banks had written off Rs 2.41 lakh crore loans to corporate bodies.

The Centre, however, declined to name the defaulters, citing a section of the RBI Act which prohibits it from disclosing credit information given by banks.

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A 24-year-old man died after receiving electric shock while putting up barricades outside the Siddhivinayak temple at Prabhadevi here today, police said.

The incident took place around 3.45 am when barricades were being put up for streamlining the queues of devotees, said a senior police official.

Nasim Ali Bechain Ali, an electrician and helper, got electrocuted and died on the spot after coming in contact with a live electric wire, said Divakar Shelke, a senior inspector from Dadar Police Station.

Police registered a case of negligence against the contractor whom the temple management had given the job of putting up barricades, the officer said.

Nobody has been arrested and a probe is on, he said.

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Thai authorities have seized two massive hauls of crystal methamphetamine near border regions this week, officials said today, highlighting the kingdom's role as a pipeline for drugs flooding through Southeast Asia.

Authorities found some 788 kilogrammes (1,737 pounds) of crystal meth -- a high-purity form of the stimulant -- in an abandoned pick-up truck in northern Chiang Rai province, the heart of the notorious 'Golden Triangle' drug producing zone.

More than nine million meth tablets were also found in fertiliser bags inside the vehicle, which lay some 100 metres away from the banks of the Mekong river that divides Thailand and Laos.

"Both type of drugs were found in the abandoned pickup truck... in Wiang Kaen district in Chiang Rai province," a military official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

He said the drug smugglers had already fled while authorities have detained three Thai men suspected of preparing to move the cache to the next destination.

The Golden Triangle -- a remote region where northern Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet -- is a base for cartels who churn out huge quantities of opium and meth that are smuggled through porous borders to countries across Asia.

Commonly known as "ice", crystal meth is a stronger form of the drug that sells for around $60-80 a gramme in Thailand.

The drug is often smuggled south into Thailand, mostly destined for Malaysia or even Australia -- the world's largest per capita consumer of crystal meth -- where the price surges.

Ice's lower-grade and cheaper cousin, the caffeine-laced meth pills known as "yaba", is also massively popular across Asia.

The pick-up truck seizure, which drug officials said was "one of the biggest" in recent memory, came less than a week after authorities confiscated 700 kilogrammes of crystal meth in a truck travelling down Thailand's southern tip, which leads to Malaysia.

The drugs were found on March 28 among fruit packed into a six-wheel truck in Chumpon province.

"The drugs were being transported via Thailand to Malaysia and destined for third countries," said Soonthorn Chalermkiat from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau.

Two Thai and two Malaysian trafficking suspects have been arrested, he added.

Record amounts of yaba and the more addictive ice are being seized by Thai police.

But drug experts say the busts have done little to dent production, with cartels easily making up for the confiscations and no palpable increase in street prices.

Rampant corruption has also helped protect the lucrative trade, while arrests of high-level kingpins remain rare.

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The construction work at Mayur Vihar's Dilli Haat incurred "infructuous" expenditure to the tune of Rs 39.66 lakh, a CAG report has said, alleging "lack of planning" by the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has also brought to the fore other such instances in which Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) has been accused of "lack of inadequate diligence and planning".

"Initiation of construction of Dilli Haat at Mayur Vihar in infringement of Supreme Court and Delhi Development Authority directions and despite refusal of change of land use by DDA in October 2013 and prohibition by UTTIPEC, resulted in infructuous expenditure of Rs 39.66 lakh," the report said.

"Without waiting for permission for change of land use, the DTTDC appointed three consultants for structural design, proof checking of structural design, and architectural consultancy in June, August and September 2013 respectively," the report said.

The DTTDC should not have financially committed itself by appointing the consultants without prior permission from the DDA, it said.

Citing another instance of lack of planning on part of DTTDC, the report said, "Inadequate due diligence and planning on the part of DTTDC resulted in avoidable delay of 12 years in developing 5.22 acres of land at Saidu-ul-Ajab village for stated use and wasteful expenditure of Rs 23.19 lakh.

"Besides, idling of investment in land means interest cost of Rs 1.27 crore to the DTTDC on blocked funds of Rs 1.79 crore with no corresponding revenue generation."



"DTTDC did not take action to develop the land during first five years (2005-10), and its subsequent delay and wasteful expenditure was avoidable, had they checked the permissibility of land use before embarking on the project," the report said.

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A fourth year MBBS student of Baba Raghav Das Medical College here was found hanging from the ceiling fan of a hostel room here today, the police said.

"Sumit Siddharth, a 2014 batch MBBS student, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in room number 119 at new UG hostel and it appears that he took the extreme step out of depression," Principal of the medical college Ganesh Kumar said.

According to some students, Siddharth was upset over something since the last few days and had not appeared for an exam on Monday.

However, no suicide note was found, the police said.

The body has been sent for post mortem, SP city Vinay Kumar Singh said.

The principal said that Siddharth's parents in Lucknow have been informed about the incident.

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Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today called on President Ram Nath Kovind and other Union ministers in New Delhi, and apprised them about the new welfare initiatives of the state government.

Kovind expressed his desire to visit Meghalaya soon, and asked Sangma to ensure effective monitoring and implementation of Central schemes in the state, an official release said.

Sangma also met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju and Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge) R K Singh.

The Meghalaya CM sought Swaraj's intervention on road connectivity between Bangladesh and Meghalaya, and the Union minister assured that the issue would be taken up in the North East Chief Minister's Meet to be held in New Delhi on May 4, the release said.

Swaraj said that all Central assistance would be extended to Meghalaya and other North Eastern states for improving relations with neigbouring nations to enhance trade and cultural ties.

Sangma also urged Gadkari to expedite the ongoing road projects in Meghalaya, it said, adding, the minister assured that all roads in the state would be improved and enhanced with priority.

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Actor Millie Bobby Brown, the breakout "Stranger Things" star, is getting a huge pay raise for the show's third season.

Millie's initial contract with streaming giant Netflix called for her to make USD 250,000 per episode in season three. But according to TMZ, her salary would now be as high as USD 350,000 per episode, which would put her on par with Stranger Things' adult stars, Winona Ryder and David Harbour.

Netflix has segregated the cast into three tiers. Adult actors Winona Ryder and David Harbour have been placed in the Tier A and both of them will be making USD 350,000 per episode.

The group of the young actors -- Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Noah Schnapp -- have been placed in the Tier B and will get USD 250,000 per episode.

The Tier C consists of teenage actors Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton and Joe Keery, and they will be pocketing a sum of USD 150,000 per episode.

Millie was missing from all the three tiers when the makers announced the pay hike for the cast last month.

According to the sources the actor may have had negotiated her deal with the producers separately.

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Morocco's government is threatening to take control of UN-monitored buffer zones in Western Sahara amid concerns that the mission is failing to keep out Polisario Front independence fighters.

The warning on Sunday came as UN Security Council members received Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' annual report on the situation in Western Sahara and the 27-year-old UN peacekeeping mission in the mineral-rich territory claimed by both Morocco and the Polisario.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said on Sunday that the Polisario recently moved members to the UN-controlled areas of Bir Lehlou and Tifariti. He also said Polisario members are again entering the Guerguerat area near the Mauritanian border, despite a UN-brokered deal to leave after tensions erupted there in 2016.

"If the UN, its secretary-general and the Security Council are not ready to put an end to these provocations, Morocco will have to act out its responsibility and intervene in the buffer zones," Bourita told reporters after an emergency parliament session to address Western Sahara.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday that members of the UN peacekeeping mission, known as MINURSO, "have not observed any movement of military elements in the northeast territory."



"MINURSO continues to monitor the situation closely," he added.

Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit said, "Morocco is ready to do everything to preserve its Sahara."



Bourita said Morocco has alerted the Security Council to its plans to step in the deserted land, but declined to specify what kind of intervention or when it would begin.

Peru's UN ambassador, Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, the current council president, told reporters yesterday that he received a letter from Morocco's UN ambassador that has been circulated to the 15 council members.

He called it an "informative letter" and said "no action has been taken yet."



Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975 and fought the independence-seeking Polisario Front.

The UN brokered a cease-fire in 1991 and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor it and to help prepare a referendum on the territory's future that has never taken place.

The UN secretary-general expressed concern at escalating tensions and urged the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front to refrain from actions that could impact the cease-fire in their 42-year conflict over the Western Sahara, pointing to the escalating dispute over Guerguerat area in the buffer zone on the Morocco-Mauritanian border.

In a report to the Security Council obtained yesterday by The Associated Press, Guterres called on the Polisario Front to withdraw from Guerguerat. And he urged Morocco to reconsider its refusal to send an expert mission as part of the UN's effort to address questions raised by the Guerguerat situation.

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Mortal remains of two Indians, who were among 39 killed in Iraq, were consigned to flames at their native villages in this district.

The remains of Parvinder Kumar of Jagatpur and Jasvir Singh of Mehandpur, both in Balachaur area, had arrived late evening yesterday.

The mortal remains of 38 out of 39 Indians killed by ISIS in war-torn Iraq were yesterday brought back in a special aircraft at the Amritsar airport.

Kumar was working as a carpenter in Mosul in Iraq at the time of his abduction in June 2014.

His six-year-old son Jaskaran lit the pyre. Kumar is survived by his father Jeet Ram, mother Krishna Devi, wife Anju and brother Gurdeep Singh.

Balachaur MLA Darshan Lal Mangupur, SSP Satinder Singh, SDM Jagjit Singh, besides villagers in large number, were among those who attended his last rites.

In Mehandpur village, falling in Saroya block in Balachaur tehsil, Jasvir Singh's brother Bhupinder Singh lit the pyre.

Jasvir Singh was just 24 when he went missing in Iraq. He used to work in a construction company there.

Local MLA Mangupur and senior officials were also present.

Mangupur assured that besides arranging a government job for one member each of both the families, a financial relief of Rs five lakh as announced by Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu yesterday in Amritsar, would soon be given to them.

Meanwhile, the mortal remains of Kamaljit Singh of village Chhauni Kalan in Hoshiarpur district were also consigned to flames today at his village cremation ground. Prem Singh, father of the deceased, lit the pyre.

BJP leader Avinash Rai Khanna and MLA Sunder Sham Arora were among those who paid tributes to the departed soul.

Kamaljit Singh is survived by wife Harwinder Kaur, a son and a daughter.

A special aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 38 Indians, including majority 27 from Punjab, landed at the Amritsar international airport from Baghdad yesterday.

The mortal remains of most of the dead were consigned to flames at their respective places, including Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Phagwara yesterday evening.

Earlier this month, Swaraj had told Parliament that as many as 40 Indians were abducted by terror group ISIS from Mosul in Iraq in June 2014, but one of them escaped posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh.

The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badush and killed, she had said.

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The mortal remains of four people from Himachal killed by the Islamic State terror group in Iraq's Mosul were consigned to flames in their native villages today.

Of the four youths, Aman Kumar, Inderjeet and Sandeep Kumar were from Kangra district while Hem Raj hailed from Mandi district.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kishan Kapoor and Kangra Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar received the mortal remains of the four youths at the Amritsar International Airport late last night, officials said, adding that the bodies were handed over to the families this morning.

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The death toll in the violence that broke out during Dalit protests in Madhya Pradesh rose to eight with two more persons succumbing to injuries, officials said today.

Meanwhile, the police today admitted that one person, who died yesterday, fell victim to police bullets.

Two policemen have been booked in connection with the death of a person in police firing, an official said.

Yesterday, a senior police official had claimed that the casualties occurred during clashes between the supporters of the "Bharat bandh", called by Dalit outfits, and those opposed to it and not due to police firing.

However, Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Prashant Khare today said Mahavir Rajawat (40), who died yesterday, fell victim to police bullets.

Besides, two more deaths were reported today, taking the toll in the violence to eight.

One person, identified as Pradeep Jatav, succumbed to bullet injuries sustained in clashes between the supporters of the bandh and those opposed to it late last night in Bhind district, Collector Ilayaraja T told PTI over phone.

Besides, the body of a man, identified as Jasrath alias Darshan Singh, was found from an agriculture field in the Machhand area of Bhind this morning, he said.

"I spoke to the doctor at the hospital, where his post-mortem will be conducted. The doctor told me that Singh possibly died due to an axe injury on his head," the collector said.

Khare said two policemen, Hawaldar Ramkumar Dohre and Constable Sultan Rathore, who were deployed at the Machhand police station yesterday, were booked under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) in connection with Rajawat's death.

Police bullets were found in Rajawat's body during the preliminary post-mortem, he added.

A probe was on to ascertain the circumstances under which the police had fired at Rajawat, the SP said.

The eight deceased included six Dalits and two upper-castes Hindus, police officials said.

Four deaths were reported from Bhind, three from Gwalior and one from Morena district.

Curfew was still in force in some areas of Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts in view of the violence witnessed during the bandh, which was organised to protest a recent Supreme Court order that allegedly diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, officials said.

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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered a probe by a high-level committee into the collapse of a three-storey hotel here last week in which ten people were killed.

"The chief minister has ordered constitution of a high-level committee to investigate the incident. The committee has been told to complete the probe within seven days," a Public Relations department officer said today.

On CM's direction, the panel has been set up under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary (Home).

Principal Secretary, Urban Development, and Project Director, Public Works Department, will be included as two other members of the committee, he said.

The panel will also submit its report on the situation of other dilapidated buildings in Madhya Pradesh so that such mishaps do not recur in future, the officer said.

Ten people, including two women, were killed when the 60-year-old hotel, which was in a dilapidated condition, crumbed in a congested commercial area near the city bus stand on March 31 night.

Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia had alleged serious lapses in the rescue operation carried out by the district administration after the collapse.

The police yesterday arrested the hotel owner, Shankar Paryani (55).

The police, the district administration and the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) are separately probing the mishap.

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Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu today urged members to speak in Hindi during discussions without the fear of committing grammatical mistakes, saying kings can do no wrong.

Chairing a meeting of Hindi advisory committee of Rajya Sabha, which was held after a gap of three-and-a-half years, he said the best way of propagating Hindi was encouraging its use instead of forcing others to adopt it.

Naidu urged RS members from non-Hindi speaking areas to speak in Hindi if they chose to do so, without the fear of making grammatical mistakes.

King can do no wrong. You are members of Parliament and can speak freely without the fear of committing mistakes, he was quoted as saying in an official statement.

He said the best way of propagating Hindi was to encourage its use instead of forcing others to adopt it.

During the course of discussion, non-Hindi speaking members called for permitting them to make grammatical corrections in their printed Hindi speeches so that what went in record was correct.

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On the first visit to Delhi after his TDP pulled out of the ruling NDA, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today met leaders of several opposition parties and allies of the BJP, including Veerappa Moily of the Congress, Sharad Pawar of the NCP and Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the SAD.

The meetings that took place at the Central Hall of Parliament were aimed at garnering support for the no-confidence motion moved by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The TDP snapped its ties with the BJP alleging neglect of the southern state and failure of the Centre to grant special category state status to Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu also met Farooq Abdullah (NC), Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC), D Raja (CPI), V Maitreyan (AIADMK), Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) and Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party) among others, according to a statement issued by the chief minister's media unit.

In an apparent swipe at the Narendra Modi dispensation, TDP MP T G Venkatesh told reporters earlier in the day, "The chief minister is meeting key leaders in Parliament to send across a message to the country that not only making commitments, but honouring it also is very important."



The TDP has alleged that the Centre failed to fulfil its commitments toward Andhra Pradesh, after the state was bifurcated in 2014.

TDP floor leader in Parliament, Thota Narasimham said, "The Centre is simply adjourning the House as they do not have answers to various questions that the opposition parties might put forth if the no-confidence motion is taken up for discussion.

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Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had a spate of meetings with regional party leaders here today, but was "in no mood" to join a united opposition front at this juncture, a senior TDP leader said today.

The Telugu Desam Party chief would take a decision on a front only after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the TDP leader added.

"Naidu is in no mood to commit himself right now. He would rather wait for the results of the Lok Sabha polls and then decide his move. Right now he just wants to focus on Andhra Pradesh," the senior TDP leader, who has been accompanying the party chief, told PTI.

The chief minister met leaders from parties across the political spectrum in a bid to garner support for the TDP's move to introduce a no-confidence motion against the NDA government in Parliament.

He had talks with leaders of the TMC, NCP, DMK, AIADMK, SP and BSP. He met leaders from the Congress and NDA allies.

Though at political loggerheads with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, he also met K Kavitha of the TRS.

"It seems he is interested in looking at the numbers in a non-BJP non-Congress faction at the moment. He is not in a hurry to join any faction right away," an opposition leader.

Naidu wanted to know more about the political alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, which led to the SP winning two seats in recent by-elections in Uttar Pradesh, a leader added.

The TDP boss, who also met BJP's Hema Malini and Jayant Sinha, later said on Twitter that his meetings were mainly on the issue of "injustice" done to his state.

"Interacted with NCP president Sharad Pawar, JKNC president Farooq Abdullah, TMC leaders Derek O'Brien, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Jyotiraditya Scindia from Congress regarding no-confidence motion, highlighted the injustice done to AP for its 'special status'," Naidu tweeted.

After Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's visit to the capital last week, Naidu's Delhi sojourn fuelled speculation about the formation of a federal front ahead of the 2019 polls.

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The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) today allowed the parties in dispute over selling of debt-ridden Binani Cement to amicably settle the dispute.

A two-member bench of the appellate tribunal headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya gave liberty to the parties entangled in vexatious litigations, to settle the case amicably.

"We give liberty to parties to reach settlement and approach appropriate forum for approval of the settlement," the NCLAT said.

The appellate tribunal was hearing a petition filed by Binani Industries, which holds over 90 per cent share in Binani Cement.

"Learned counsel for the appellant submit that appellant has offered a better amount that is 100 per cent approximately of the dues to the committee of creditors (CoC)," the court said.

As per the IBC code, after a resolution plan is approved by the the CoC, it is forwarded to NCLT for approval.

Earlier, on March 27, the Kolkata bench of NCLT had also suggested that the parties go for settlement.

While Dalmia Bharat has offered an amount of Rs 6,500 crore for Binani Cement, UltraTech of the Aditya Birla Group, which had entered into a bilateral pact with the promoters of Binani, agreed to pay Rs 700 crore more at Rs 7,200 crore.

Binani Cement owes around Rs 7,000 crore to its creditors.

The dispute relates to UltraTech Cement's allegations that the process for choosing the top bidder was not transparent and that the resolution professional (RP) had not followed established best practices. Dalmia Bharat was declared the top bidder.

UltraTech then moved NCLT and also wrote to Binani Cement's RP, offering to increase its bid price. But when it was not accepted, UltraTech struck a deal with Binani Industries to buy its 98.43% stake in the cement unit, provided the insolvency case was terminated.

Binani Industries then approached NCLT asking that the case be terminated.

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Nepal's Cabinet today endorsed Prime Minister K P Oli's state visit to India beginning from April 6 during which he will hold talks with the top Indian leadership to strengthen the partnership between two countries.

Oli is visiting India at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. It is his maiden foreign trip after assuming office in February.

Oli will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Pradip Gyawali, Industry Minister Matrika Yadav, Physical Planning and Infrastructure Minister Raghubir Mahaseth besides his wife Radhika Shakya.

During his three-day visit, Oli will call on President Ram Nath Kovind, meet his counterpart Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Swaraj had visited Nepal before Oli took office to congratulate him for the historic victory of the Left Alliance in the Parliamentary and Provincial elections.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled an agreement with the UN refugee agency today aimed at avoiding forced deportations of thousands of African migrants only hours after having announced the deal himself.

The stunning turnaround after Netanyahu announced the accord in a televised address yesterday afternoon came as he faced mounting pressure from his right-wing base.

The UN refugee agency urged Netanyahu to reconsider.

Yesterday's announcement drew immediate anger from right-wing politicians, including Netanyahu allies, and many of his traditional supporters.

After the deluge of criticism, the premier said in a late-night Facebook post on Monday he was suspending the agreement that would have allowed thousands of the migrants to remain in Israel at least temporarily.

Today, he said the deal was being cancelled outright after having held discussions on it.

"After having heard numerous comments on the agreement, I have examined the pros and cons and have decided to cancel the agreement," Netanyahu said in a statement.

The agreement was designed to end the possibility of forced deportations of thousands of migrants to Rwanda under a controversial plan put forward by Netanyahu in January.

Under the agreement with the UN, a minimum of 16,250 migrants would have instead been resettled in Western nations.

In return, Israel would grant temporary residency to one migrant for each one resettled elsewhere.

The presence of the primarily Sudanese and Eritrean migrants in Israel has become a key political issue, and Netanyahu is already under heavy pressure due to a string of graft probes.

He has repeatedly referred to them as "not refugees but illegal infiltrators".

A range of Netanyahu's own ministers spoke out strongly against the deal, with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon saying he had known nothing of it until Monday.

This morning, Netanyahu held talks with residents of southern Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants live. A group of southern Tel Aviv residents had harshly criticised the deal.

Dozens of migrants and their supporters also protested outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv.

"We thought that if we came here, there is democracy and Israel will defend our rights, but they are playing with our minds and our lives," Sernai Dori, a 28-year-old mother of three from Eritrea who has been in Israel for a decade, said at the protest in Jerusalem.

The UN refugee agency meanwhile said it had found out about Netanyahu's initial suspension of the agreement through reports.

The agency, known as the UNHCR, said Tuesday it hoped Netanyahu would change his mind about the cancellation.

"We continue to believe in the need for a win-win agreement that can benefit Israel, the international community and people needing asylum and we hope that Israel will reconsider its decision soon," spokesman William Spindler told AFP in an email.

Netanyahu said he was forced to resort to the deal with the UN after Rwanda indicated it would not be able to follow through on the previous plan.

In his last night Facebook post, Netanyahu said Rwanda had faced "tremendous pressure" from "elements in the European Union" and others to not accept the arrangement.

The EU mission in Israel responded with a mocking tweet.

"Guess it's just one of those days. At 20:57 you congratulate #Israel & @refugees on their agreement, at 21:46 you like @IsraelMFA announcement on the deal, at 22:50 the PM suspends it and blames, among others, #EU (where #UNHCR hoped to resettle significant number of refugees)," it said.

Under Netanyahu's previous plan, migrants who entered illegally would face a choice between leaving voluntarily or facing indefinite imprisonment with eventual forced expulsion.

According to interior ministry figures, there are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, half of them children, women or men with families who are not facing immediate deportation.

As the migrants could face danger or imprisonment if returned to their homelands, Israel had offered to relocate them to an unnamed African country, which deportees and aid workers had long said was Rwanda or Uganda.

Netanyahu specifically mentioned Rwanda for the first time in his Facebook post.

Uganda had also said it could not accept those sent involuntarily.

The initial plan had drawn criticism from the UN refugee agency, rights groups and some Israelis, including Holocaust survivors who said the country had a special duty to protect migrants.

Migrants began entering Israel through what was then a porous Egyptian border in 2007. The border has since been strengthened, all but ending illegal crossings.

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Bhaskar Gaikwad, the original complainant in the SC/ST case over which a nationwide bandh was organised yesterday, had never thought that his legal fight would attain such a huge political connotation.

The 53-year employee of a government college in Pune said that irrespective of the central government's move, he was planning to file by April 19 a review petition in the Supreme Court against its March 20 order which is seen as diluting the SC/ST Act.

The central government yesterday filed a review petition in the apex court amidst a violent agitation over the judgement across the country.

Distancing himself from the Union government's review petition, Gaikwad told PTI over phone that ever since the ruling came in which he is a respondent, he was planning to file a review petition within the stipulated time of one month.

He refused to comment on the political connotation that the issue has acquired. The opposition parties are attacking the Narendra Modi government over the apex court judgement.

"I am a government servant. So, I cannot say anything on the political aspect. I don't see these developments politically," Gaikwad said.

According to Gaikwad, the case which reached the Supreme Court originated from his complaint filed in 2007.

In his complaint, the store keeper in a Pharmacy college at Karad had alleged that he was asked to forge some documents by the seniors.

"When I refused to do so (forging), the upper caste people of the college wrote negative remarks in my confidential report," Gaikwad claimed.

"In September, 2009, I lodged a complaint with joint director of Technical Education in Maharashtra government Subhash Mahajan," he said.

According to Gaikwad, he got no help from Mahajan and subsequently he filed a complaint against the joint director himself.

Mahajan then moved the court seeking quashing of an FIR against him, Gaikwad said.

"Though, the state government machinary fully supported Mahajan during the hearing in the High Court, he got no reprieve there," Gaikwad said.

Mahajan then approached the Supreme Court which gave its verdict on March 20, ruling that the government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

"The state government did not support me during the hearing," Gaikwad said.

Referring to the March 20 judgement in which he is a respondent, Gaikwad said he has no right to comment on the merits of the court's ruling but he has all the right to file a review petition.

"I am already discussing the issue of filing a review petition with my advocate and I will do it for sure by April 19," he added.

"The verdict came in Mahajan's favour because the Maharashtra government machinery supported him. Neither did the Maharashtra government take any decision to file charge- sheet against Mahajan for over one year, nor it gave me legal support to fight my case under the provisions of the SC/SC Act," Gaikwad said.

When contacted, Mahajan refused to speak on the issue. "You write whatever you want. I will put forth my side as and when required," he said.

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A new free-trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK, following Britain's exit from the European Union (EU), could take nearly seven years, according to an analysis released by an anti-Brexit think-tank today.

Open Britain, set up as a campaign group against a hard Brexit by prominent British politicians and campaigners, analysed the time taken by countries in their various FTA negotiations of the past to come up with an average estimate.

India takes on average six years and 11 months, compared to China's five years and nine months, the group found.

"In the case of India, to get trade talks started the UK would need to agree to grant more visas for Indian workers, something the UK government blocked in the EU-India FTA talks," Open Britain pointed out.

"China, meanwhile, is deeply protective of its services sector. In return for any kind of trade deal, Beijing would likely want Britain to advocate for it to be granted 'market economy status' at the World Trade Organisation," it notes.

As part of its research, the group added up the time estimates for five major countries identified as priority targets with post-Brexit FTA potential India, China, the US, Australia and New Zealand and concluded that it could take a total of 26 years before Britain is able to strike FTAs with these key non-EU economies.

"As new information, like the enormous length of time it is likely to take to negotiate any new trade deals, comes to light, we all have the right to ask if Brexit remains the best choice for our country and to keep open the option of saying 'no thanks' to what (British Prime Minister) Theresa May brings back from her negotiations," said Labour party MP Peter Kyle, a leading supporter of Open Britain.

Britain will be in a position to negotiate new trade deals with countries like India only after its official exit from the EU on March 29 next year. Open Britain's estimates claim that if the UK government sought to negotiate with each of the key countries consecutively it could hope to have deals with all five countries in place by 2045.

"Even then, the government's own analysis says a trade deal with the US would only benefit GDP by about 0.2 per cent in the long term, with deals with other non-EU countries adding just a further 0.1 per cent to 0.4 per cent to GDP over the long term," the group warns.

The think-tank claims that the Department for International Trade (DIT) has limited resources to take on more than one set of negotiations at the same time and in addition, it will likely be busy negotiating an FTA with the EU well into the 2020s.

Lord Patten, former EU Commissioner, trade negotiator and supporter of Open Britain, added: "Trade negotiations are nasty, brutish and long. After a hard Brexit the UK will not be in a position to dictate terms to major economies like the US and China.

"Under pressure from ministers to salvage something after Brexit, ministers risk being taken for a ride by President (Donald) Trump and others who will insist we lower our food and environmental standards and possibly open up our NHS so that their industries can get a foothold in the UK."



Under the terms of Brexit agreed so far, Britain and the EU have agreed to a transition phase until December 31, 2020 as a status quo period for both sides to finalise a new trade agreement. The UK government has claimed that this should be a relatively smooth process as it hopes to replicate the existing EU FTAs that already exist with member-countries.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and leading broadcasters launched a drive against fake today with a new set of trust and transparency standards for journalists.

The Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), which hopes to be able to certify outlets and sources with high standards of ethical norms and independence, is being backed by Agence-France Presse, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Global Editors Network.

RSF head Christophe Deloire said the idea was that search engines and social media platforms would give preferential treatment in their algorithms to media outlets that met the standards.

He hopes that it will lead to the setting up of a "trusted media label" in a world increasingly assaulted by fake

The drive with the EBU, the world's top alliance of public broadcasters, aims to set news standards from individual bloggers to large international media groups.

"In the new public arena in which false information circulates faster than real news, the defence of journalism requires reversing this trend by giving a real advantage to all those who reliably produce news and information, whatever their status," Deloire said.

"We have devised a self-regulatory mechanism based on a global analysis of the news and information, one that makes it possible to combine ethical with economic concerns.

"We are convinced that our initiative will help to foster integrity in the public debate while guaranteeing the broadest pluralism and independence," he added.

Deloire insisted that "white-listed" outlets would not only get greater online visibility but they were also likely to attract more advertising revenue.

The system would also help with public funding for the media, he said.

The move comes as Brussels is working on a Europe-wide plan to tackle fake news online, worried by Russian meddling in elections across the continent.

Germany has already passed a law threatening social networks with fines of up to 50 million euros ($60 million) if they do not remove bogus reports and hateful posts promptly.

France is also working on legislation to stop such material spreading in the run-up to elections.

AFP's global news director Michele Leridon said the "battle against the proliferation of misinformation and false news goes to the very heart of our mission... to provide news that is 'accurate, impartial and trustworthy'."



The agency is a partner in range of projects tackling fake news and is a member of the EU's group of experts working on the issue of disinformation.

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The National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi government to act against unauthorised water extraction in the national capital and directed it to seal the illegal borewells within two weeks.

A bench headed by acting NGT Chairperson Justice Jawad Rahim directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to submit the list of all illegal borewells running without permission.

The order came after Delhi government told the tribunal that the concerned Deputy Commissioners of Revenue department could not seal the illegal borewells as they did not receive complete information about them from the DJB, as was directed by the tribunal.

The DJB counsel opposed the submission and said they had already furnished information about 4,872 borewells to the concerned Deputy Commissioners.

"We direct the DJB to once again furnish fresh set of statements to the counsel representing Delhi government and Department of Revenue to avoid such controversy in future. Upon furnishing of such information, the counsel shall take further steps and ensure that Deputy Commissioner concerned comply with the orders of this tribunal dated January 30, 2018 within two weeks from now," the bench said and listed the matter for further hearing on April 27.

The tribunal had on January 30 directed the Delhi government to seal all unauthorised borewells in the national capital within three months.

It had also directed the authorities to mark the borewells, which were discharging contaminated water containing high levels of fluoride and arsenic, in red colour to apprise the public that the water was unfit for consumption.

The NGT had also rapped the civic bodies for not submitting data on the quality of water supplied to households in the national capital by the Delhi government despite repeated directions.

The appalling picture of water supply in the capital had prompted the tribunal to seek the response of the city government in the matter, after taking suo motu cognisance of a media report that "stinking and dirty" water was flowing through water supply lines and the borewells were pumping out contaminated water.

Later, it had constituted a committee comprising Secretary (Environment) and representatives from Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, DJB, Central Pollution Control Board and all municipal corporations and asked them to submit a complete and comprehensive report.

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will visit Karnataka on April 12 to campaign for JDU candidates, who will be contesting in about 30 constituencies in the May 12 assembly polls.

"We will be contesting elections in between 24 to 30 seats in Karnataka on our own. Nitishji will be visiting the state on April 12 to kickstart the campaign," JDU (Nitish Kumar Faction) Karnataka Unit President Mahima Patel told reporters here.

Nitish's JDU has allied with BJP in running a coalition government in Bihar.

The list of candidates would be released after Kumar's visit, Patel said, adding, that the main focus of the party will be to play a "kingmakers" role post election.

"Our main focus to jump into the fray is to win a sizeable number of seats to put the party in a position where other major parties would have to seek our support to form the next government," he said.

Patel also said some splinter parties had contacted party leadership for electoral tieup and they would certainly consider it based on merit.

JDU, which was a part of Janata Parivar, had ruled Karnataka under Ramakrishna Hegde and H D Deve Gowda's leadership, but split into more than two factions.

At present, the party does not have any member in state assembly.

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One person was killed and two others were injured last evening in a clash between local farmers with those of neighbouring Haryana over harvesting of crop from a farming field here, the police said today.

The trouble broke out at the inter-state border at Balheda village under Jhinjhana police station in Shamli district near here when some Haryana farmers descended upon an UP farmer's field and began harvesting the wheat crop from it, Jhinjhana Circle Inspector Rajesh Tiwari told PTI.

As local farmers objected to it, the peasants from the neighbouring state opened fire on their UP counterparts killing 32-year-old Rajesh at the spot and injuring two others.

On coming to know of the clash, the police rushed to the spot and arrested three persons from the spot and seized two tractors, five motor bikes and a harvesting machine from there.

The police rushed the two injured farmers of the UP village to a nearby hospital, besides sending the body of the slain farmer for autopsy.

Following the clash, the police registered a case under various penal sections, including murder, unlawful assembly and rioting and deployed extra police force to contain the prevailing tension.

Six districts of western Uttar Pradesh - Shamli, Saharanpur, Baghpat, Gautam Budh Nagar, Bulandsahar and Aligarh witness frequent clashes between farmers of the two states over ownership of farming fields at the inter-state border.

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The world's chemical watchdog will meet tomorrow to discuss Britain's allegations against Russia that it had a hand in the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal, documents said today.

"The chairperson of the Executive Council... has received a request by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation... to convene a meeting of the Executive Council," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said. The confidential meeting will start at 10.00 am (0800 GMT) at the OPCW's headquarters in The Hague.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be among the foreign leaders attending this year's Boao Forum for Asia, often called Summer Davos, a senior Chinese official said today.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 BFA, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told media here today.

The BFA was formed by China in 2001 on the lines in the World Economic Forum's annual June meeting, also called Summer Davos.

Xi has invited leaders of the industry from different countries to deliberate on regional and global issues.

This year's forum, scheduled to be held from April 8 to 11 in Boao, a coastal town in the southern island province of Hainan, will be themed 'Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity'.

The Boao Forum for Asia is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business, and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this dynamic region and the world at large.

Modeled after the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland, the Boao Forum has its fixed address in Bo'ao, Hainan province, China, although the Secretariat is based in Beijing.

In this year's forum, Xi will meet foreign heads of state and government, and officials of international organisations, Wang said.

Apart from Pakistani Prime Minister Abbasi, other head of states who are expected to attend the forum include Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

In his address, Xi will focus on showcasing the new measures being initiated by China's reform and opening-up in the "new era" led by him, Wang said.

Xi who kicked off his second five-year term last month is expected to continue in power for life after the National People's Congress (NPC) removed the two-term limit for the President followed by Xi's predecessors.

Regarded as the most powerful Chinese leader, Xi also heads the CPC, the military and the Presidency.

Xi will showcase reform and opening up in the new era and explain how China will promote new policies, Wang said.

Xi will expound on these issues and provide "the most authoritative answers", he said.

"Participants will hear series of new opening measures that China will take," Wang said.

Last year, the theme of the annual conference was 'Globalization and Free Trade: The Asian Perspectives'.

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No substantial business could be transacted in both the Houses of Parliament on the 19th straight day today due to continued uproar and noisy scenes created by the opposition.

In the Lok Sabha, a day after the nation witnessed large-scale violence over the recent Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act, Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement saying the government was not a party to the decision and, in fact, it has already moved the apex court for a review of its decision.

The only listed business the Rajya Sabha could take up was that 41 newly-elected members took oath or affirmation in the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was renamed the Leader of the House following his re-election.

Both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha have not transacted any substantial business ever since Parliament reassembled on March 5 after a recess to carry forward the Budget Session, due to the protests over matters like bank frauds, Cauvery river water, special status for Andhra Pradesh and issues relating to the Dalits and backward communities.

In the Rajya Sabha, soon after the 41 new and re-elected members took oath, members of various parties trooped into the Well raising slogans in support of their demands.

Members of the Congress, TMC, SP, BSP, TDP and those of Tamil parties -- DMK and AIADMK, rushed into the Well soon after the oath ceremony as Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked the ministers to lay the listed papers in the House.

The Congress and the BSP accused the government of being "anti-Dalit", while the TMC was protesting against bank frauds. TDP members were demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh, while KVP Ramachandra Rao of the Congress was also seen holding a placard demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

The two Tamil Nadu parties -- DMK and AIADMK -- were demanding constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board for sharing of river water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Amid loud sloganeering by the protesting members, Naidu tried to bring order in the House. As his appeals did not yield results, he adjourned the House for the day.

Earlier when the Rajya Sabha had assembled, the Chairman announced that Arun Jaitley has once again been named as Leader of the House following his re-election. 65-year-old Jaitley's term had ended yesterday and has been re-elected from Uttar Pradesh.

Among the Ministers who took oath or affirmation were Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan.

Of the 58 members elected from 15 states in elections last month, 41 took oath of affirmation today. Among other prominent new members were Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress, who won from West Bengal with Trinamool Congress support.

The proceedings in the Lok Sabha were once again disrupted due to protests by AIADMK members seeking early constitution of the Cauvery water management board.

The ruckus saw the first adjournment of House proceedings within four minutes after it assembled to take up the day's business and then for the day few minutes past 12 PM after listed papers were laid and Home Minister Rajnath Singh made the statement.

In his suo motu statement during the Zero Hour amidst sloganeering by AIADMK MPs, Singh said the government was not responsible for the dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and asserted that it was fully committed to protect the interest of the backward communities.

He said there has been widespread anger amongst the people following the March 20 order of the Supreme Court and the people have taken to the streets.

"I wish to inform the House that the Government of India was not party in that case. Through the House, I want to assure the people that there has been no dilution whatsoever by my government, rather after coming to power and examining the SC/ST prevention Atrocities Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," he said.

Eight people were killed, including six in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, during the bandh which witnessed clashes between the police and the protesters, arson and incidence of violence, the Home Minister said, while terming the "widespread rumours" on the issue of reservation as "false and baseless".

Soon after the Home Minister's statement, the Speaker urged the AIADMK members to return to their seats, saying she cannot take up notices on the no-confidence motion unless the House is in order.

"I am duty bound to place the no-confidence motion. I am sorry. Please go to your seats. I have to do a head count. I have not been able to take up notices on the no-confidence motion," she said.

Congress Chief Whip Jyotiraditya Scindia said the opposition wanted a discussion on the and 50 members were ready for it. "We also want to discus the dilution of the SC/ST Act," he said.

To this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was ready for a discussion and give reply to the no-confidence motion.

Even though opposition members went back to their seats to bring order in the House to take up the no-confidence motion, slogan-shouting AIADMK members continued their noisy protests in the Well. As the pandemonium continued, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.

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A Moroccan accomplice of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the deadly 2015 Islamic State attacks in Paris, went on trial today in Poland accused of belonging to the terror group, local media reported.

Mourad T, 28, pleaded not guilty to the charges of being a member of a terrorist group but admitted to having been in possession of illegal narcotics and fake travel documents, the PAP agency said.

The trial underway in the southern city of Katowice is the first of its kind in Poland, one of the few EU members which has not experienced an attack by jihadists.

The suspect was detained September 5, 2016 in Poland. If he is convicted, he could get between six months to eight years in prison.

Prosecutors alleged that "between December 2014 and September 2016 Mourad T. was involved with an armed crime organisation -- an international terrorist organisation called Islamic State."



They added that Mourad T was an "accomplice" and "scout" of Abaaoud, who allegedly planned the November 2015 gun and suicide bomb attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.

Mourad T met with Abaaoud in the Turkish city of Edirne in late 2014, along with Sofiane Amghar and Khalid Ben Larbi, two jihadists who were killed in an anti-terror raid in Belgium in 2015, the prosecutors said.

Abaaoud was killed in a dramatic police raid at an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on November 18, 2015, five days after the Paris carnage.

Mourad T used several false identities and spent time in EU countries Austria, Greece, Hungary, as well as in non-members Turkey and Serbia.

Prosecutors added that they found instructions on how to make explosive devices and mentions of potential targets on a phone belonging to Mourad T.

Poland's domestic ABW counterintelligence agency nabbed the suspect after receiving a tip-off from its EU counterparts.

According to local media, the first intel came from the CIA.

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Despite the deteriorating security situation, there are some signs of progress in the field of disarmament, such as the intention of North Korea and the United States to hold summit talks, a senior UN official has said.

"At a time when global anxieties about nuclear weapons are higher than at any time since the Cold War, measures for disarmament and arms control are more vital than ever," Thomas Markram, Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said at the opening of the 2018 session of the UN Disarmament Commission here yesterday.

He said since September, there have been no fundamental changes in the interrelated trends that are eroding efficacy in arms control and negatively affecting international peace and security. However, there have been some recent signs of progress that point to where the Commission can make a unique and constructive contribution.

On the reported commitment by North Korea to denuclearisation following the recent talks held in China, the UN official said "we hope these positive developments will be the start of a longer process of sincere dialogue leading to sustainable peace and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula."



Positive developments also include the successful reduction of strategic nuclear forces by Russia and the US to the levels required by their New START Treaty (Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms).

Looking to build on this momentum, the Commission has also included prevention of an arms race in outer space in its agenda for this session.

"One specific collateral measure for disarmament on which this body should certainly be able to make a contribution is the goal of preserving outer space as a realm free of conflict," Markram said, noting that several recent trends are impacting the security and sustainability of outer space activities.

These include: the massive growth in the number and diversity of actors operating in outer space, including governments and the private sector; the proliferation of hazardous space debris; and increasing dependence on outer space in the civilian, government and military sectors.

"As long as some continue to see outer space as a potential realm for war-fighting, we will face increasing risk of weaponisation and conflict," he said.

However, there continues to be common ground among the major space-faring nations and other space actors on ways to make progress in a number of areas, including the implementation of transparency and confidence-building measures to mitigate misunderstandings and reduce risk, he noted.

The Commission was created in 1978 as a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly, composed of all member States, to consider various issues in the field of disarmament and make recommendations.

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Disney Cruise Lines prevented a Missouri woman from boarding one of its ships because she is 25 weeks pregnant.

Emily Jackson and her family arrived in Miami last week after her doctor had cleared her to vacation aboard Disney Magic.

But the line does not allow women who are more than 24 weeks pregnant to sail out of safety concerns, and a doctor's note is not accepted.

An armed police officer escorted the family from check-in.

Jackson said: "We had a terrible Disney experience." Disney refunded the family for the cruise. In a statement to the Miami Herald, the line said its policy is on its website and in travel documents.

The line said the Miami-Dade Police Department is responsible for security at the port and "handled the situation as they felt appropriate given the guest's actions.

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Several prominent journalists and representatives of press bodies today slammed the I&B ministry's contentious guidelines on fake as an attempt to restrain the media and welcomed their retraction.

Senior reporters from various print media organisations, anchors from well-known TV channels, and representatives from the Press Club Of India, Press Association, Indian Journalists Union (IJU), National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Indian Women's Press Corps, held a joint meeting here under the aegis of the Press Club over the government's move, which they described as "deeply worrying".

A statement by the Editors Guild of India was also read out during the meet, which strongly condemned the "arbitrary manner contemplated by the Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry ostensibly to penalise any journalist or media organisation publishing fake news".

"By notifying that the I&B Ministry will initiate such proceedings, the government was arrogating for itself the role of policing the media. It would have opened the door for frivolous complaints to harass journalists and organisations to fall in line," the statement said.

Senior TV journalist Ravish Kumar alleged it was a "ground testing" being done by the government, in an attempt to "shackle the journalists" from telling the truth.

He also said the government has not made any laws to regulate Facebook and other social media, even though some of the foreign countries have started that process.

Veteran journalist K H Dua, when contacted, said the move has "revealed the psychology" behind it, although they have "wisely withdrawn" it.

"Press has to be very vigilant against such moves again in some form or the other. I would like to ask whether the ministry of information and broadcasting is going to be re-designated as the ministry of truth," he said.

Senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai alleged the move was used as a "fig leaf to target us (journalists)".

"While we acknowledge the problem of fake news, but the government should not be made a stakeholder in deciding what constitutes fake news, more so, when a lot of government-sponsored websites and channels peddle fake themselves," he alleged.

"While we welcome the retraction of the guidelines, the question is why was it needed in the first place," he said.

Sardesai also suggested that the media fraternity should "name and shame" the "habitual offenders" in the field of media, who purvey fake

A joint statement by several media bodies was also released at the end of the meet, saying, "There is ample scope for introspection and reform of journalistic practices; yet, a government fiat restraining the fourth pillar of our democracy is not the solution."



The joint statement said, "We welcome and appreciate the retraction as it is in the interests of protecting the independence of the Fourth Estate."



Jaishankar Gupta, President of the Press Association, an organisation of PIB-accredited journalists, also expressed his concern over the move, saying, "What is fake news and who will define it."He also questioned the recent decision of the I&B ministry to reconstitute the Central Press Accreditation Committee (CPAC), which issues Press Information Bureau (PIB) cards to journalists, making it leaner from a 22-member to an eight-member body.

Indian Journalists Union (IJU) vice-president Sabina Inderjit said this eventuality was "building up" over a period of time. "Had people protested the CPAC reconstitution, this would not have happened today," she said.

In a press release last night, the I&B ministry had announced punitive measures such as cancellation of accreditation to contain fake news, a decision which was dubbed by journalist and opposition parties as an attempt to curb press freedom ahead of the general elections due by 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today ordered the I&B Ministry to cancel its contentious guidelines on fake news after widespread criticism and outcry by journalists and the opposition who dubbed these norms an attempt to "muzzle" the free press.

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The Income Tax department today said it is taking 'proactive' steps to ensure clean elections to the Karnataka assembly on May 12 by monitoring and controlling the role of money power.

The Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Karnataka and Goa region, said the department has taken measures in accordance with the mandate given by the Election Commission of India.

It has set up a 24x7 control room here for receiving information or complaints with regard to Karnataka assembly elections, the department said in a release.

The Income Tax Department is specifically tasked with controlling the use of unaccounted funds to subvert the people's mandate, it said.

It has asked people to share any credible and valid information they have on its telephone number/fax/mail ID.

Thetoll free number is 18004252115.

People can call on telephonenumber 08022861126 or fax on 08022866916, or provide information on mobile phone numbers 8277413614 and 8277422825.

People can also mail details to cleankarnatakalection@incometax.gov.in.

The department has asked people for their active cooperation to help holding a clean election in Karnataka.

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A rally was taken out in the city today by around 2000 people, including Left intellectuals against recent communal clashes across West Bengal.

The rally, under the banner 'Anti-communal Public Initiative' (Samprodayikata Birodhi Gano-Udyog), was attended by CPI-M leader and former Kolkata Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, film maker Tarun Majumder, CPI(M) leader Satarup Basu among others.

Bhattacharya said, "This rally calls for strict measures by the state government to stop the orgy of violence and arrest and exemplary punishment of those involved. We also demand those responsible for the loss of lives be brought to book."



He said, "We protest the cycle of violence prevailing in many parts of the state in the past one week during Ram Navami processions by BJP and Trinamool Congress and the brandishing of arms in many Ramnavami processions, including flaunting of swords by children."



Majumder said, "Despite my problem in walking, I wanted to join the rallyists as I could not sit at home."Left-wing students of different city colleges and universities, including Jadavpur University and Presidency University, also formed part of the procession which began in front of Mahajati Sadan and ended at Rani Rashmoni Road.

Bhattacharya said, "We have asked everyone to join us, and there is no political colour."



Meanwhile, around 100 intellectuals have signed a statement asking people to join a rally from Esplanade to Rabindra Sadan on April 8 for unity and brotherhood.

The statement was signed by eminent poet Sankha Ghosh, literateur Nabanita Dev Sen, theatre activist-actor Kaushik Sen among others.

It also called upon leaders and activists of all political parties to join the rally.

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Realtors' apex body Credai today expressed concern over huge delays in getting construction approvals for projects and demanded that the government should implement single-window clearance mechanism.

Credai has written a letter to Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri seeking certain reforms in the Indian real estate sector including the implementation of the single window clearance mechanism.

The association has also cited India's poor ranking at 181 place in the 'Dealing with Construction Permit' category in The World Bank's Ease of Doing Business' report.

Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (Credai) National President Jaxay Shah said: "Currently, there are a number of pressing issues pertaining to the Indian real estate sector that need to be addressed on an immediate basis. For a start, attaining construction permits and approvals is an extremely tedious task for real estate developers in the country."



The government authorities need to understand the severity of the situation, in the light of India's poor ranking, he added.

"Hence, we humbly request the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to implement the Single Window Clearance Mechanism which will not only largely resolve some of the operational issues prevalent in the industry but could also reduce property prices by around 25-40 per cent," Shah said.

Credai also urged the government authorities to address other pressing issues which include reducing the high GST rate of 12 per cent on all category of homes and not only those under affordable housing scheme CLSS. It also sought providing appropriate means for land financing to build houses under the affordable housing segment.

"A credible reform such as adoption of the environmental norms in the local building bye laws of respective states/development authorities has also been stuck in legal imbroglio after the NGT passed certain observations on the amendment made by the concerned ministry," the association said.

With the real estate industry being one of the most important and largest contributors to the Indian economy, Credai said it is absolutely imperative for these concerns to be addressed at the earliest.

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Regional parties must join hands with the TDP to raise concerns over the "injustice" meted out by the NDA government at the Centre to states ruled by opposition parties, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said today.

The Telugu Desam Party chief, on his first visit to the capital after his party snapped ties with the ruling NDA, said his priority was to press the Centre to give a special status and funds to Andhra Pradesh.

"Today my priority is my state. We quit NDA because the government was ignoring our demands. This is injustice," Naidu, who met several opposition leaders here, said.

The chief minister also had discussions with Hema Malini and Jayant Sinha of the BJP and leaders of some NDA allies.

He pointed out that regional and Left parties had supported the TDP's efforts in Parliament to bring in a no-confidence motion.

"We are thankful to them. We need their support to pressure the Centre so that states are not ignored." Naidu told PTI.

A TDP insider said Naidu had told his party MPs that he would not "beg" for a special status for Andhra Pradesh and that there was little chance of any kind of a reconciliation with the NDA.

Naidu, who met the party leaders in Parliament, also discussed the special status issue with Left leaders.

"We all met. We discussed the issue of a special status for Andhra Pradesh. We also questioned the trustworthiness of the prime minister. We discussed how frustrating it is for Members of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh," CPI(M) leader Mohammad Salim said after meeting Naidu.

He said the Left leaders assured Naidu that they supported him.

"We said we are all with him. We should all combine the issues and take on the government on the floor of the house rather than going to the well. He was very appreciative of that," Salim said, adding that Naidu endorsed the proposal to move together.

Naidu also had a "fruitful meeting" with Trinamool Congress leaders on the opposition strategy followed in Parliament which helped the TDP garner support from other parties.

"Naidu thanked the TMC for its strong support to the no-confidence motion notice brought in by the TDP," TMC MP Derek O'Brien said.

Among the other issues discussed by Naidu and the leaders were the proposals of the 15th Finance Commission and coordination between like-minded parties.

He also met leaders from the Congress, SP, BSP, AIADMK, DMK and Shiv Sena.

Naidu met Veerappa Moily of the Congress, Sharad Pawar of the NCP and Harsimrat Kaur Badal of SAD.

The meetings that took place at the Central Hall of Parliament were aimed at garnering support for the no-confidence motion against the NDA government.

The TDP snapped ties with the BJP alleging neglect of the southern state and failure of the Centre to grant a special category state status to Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu met Farooq Abdullah (NC), Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC), D Raja (CPI), V Maitreyan (AIADMK), Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) and Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party), among others, a statement issued by the chief minister's media unit said.

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Nephrologists have raised concern over the rise in kidney-related ailments ailments among people in some villages of the district.

They have decided to conduct tests on people in these villages to find out the causes behind it.

A day-long seminar, chaired by Yavatmal Government Medical College (GMC) dean Dr Manish Shrigirwar, was held in Nagpur on Sunday to draw the attention of experts from the region on the rise in kidney diseases in the district.

The dean urged the doctors to co-operate with the GMC to tackle the situation.

During the seminar, the experts held a discussion on some recent deaths due to kidney ailments in Asola village.

They decided to conduct tests on people in Asola and the adjoining villages to ascertain the cause of the rise in kidney diseases in the area, and to also find out if consumption of contaminated water had a role in it.

"We have decided to hold another seminar for experts in the field on April 29 in Yavatmal and thereafter, a research programme would be finalised," Shrigirwar said.

Meanwhile, the district administration has also sought an approval of the Maharashtra government to procure 10 dialysis machines for the GMC.

The proposal for buying the dialysis machines has been sent to the director of health services, Shrigirwar said yesterday.

The machines would be installed in the GMC to treat the poor and needy patients coming from remote villages across the district, he added.

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US-based Rockefeller Foundation-backed 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) has chosen four cities from India -- Japiur, Surat, Pune and Chennai -- to help them deal with social and economic challenges like waste management, availability of water, floods etc, facing them.

Under the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) initiative, 100 cities have been selected from all over the world. The initiative is aimed at helping these cities become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century, said Amit Prothi, Head of India National Strategy 100RC.

The cities on the list include Kyoto of Japan, Barcelona of Spain, Belfast of the UK and so on. From India, there are Chennai, Pune, Surat and Jaipur, he said.

Explaining the plan, Director of National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) Jagan Shah said, "Every city is facing or has already faced some or the other issue. Like Jaipur faces issue of high temperature. Chennai has seen floods. There are many places where population is an issue and at some places, infrastructure is an issue."



The NIUA does inter-disciplinary research, capacity building, knowledge management and policy making on issues relevant to cities across India.

The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) has also become part of the initiative to help addressing these issues, Shah said.

No place in the world is perfect. From time to time some or the other problem is faced by every city no matter how developed it is, he added.

A list of over 50 problems that various cities are facing has been made. Some are facing population issue, some ageing infrastructure, some drought, some are prone to earthquake, unemployment, corruption etc, Prothi said.

"We will take the help of local bodies of the cities and governments and academicians and whosoever who wants to contribute. Funding will come...of course the government is there. We will not invest from our side. We are just in the advisory role. We will provide the expertise required to face these challenges," he said.

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Romanian police have questioned seven US Navy sailors based in Romania over an altercation in a bar and fined five of them.

Police spokeswoman Mihaela Gird says officers were called after the sailors left a bar in southern Romania where they allegedly refused to pay for drinks early Sunday.

Gird said yesterday that the Americans "were noisy, and measures were taken to calm the tense situation."



The sailors are based at a US missile defence site in the southern Romanian town of Deveselu.

A local police spokesman says five sailors were collectively fined 3,300 lei (USD 874).

The US Navy says a total of seven sailors were involved and all were released. The Navy says it is conducting an internal investigation.

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The Maharashtra government has sanctioned Rs 40 crore for development of Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, where Dr B R Ambedkar converted to Buddhism with lakhs of his followers.

Social Justice Minister Rajkumar Badole today said the government has also sanctioned funds for various other works including development of Dragon Palace Temple in Nagpur.

Rs 40 crore have been sanctioned for development works at Deekshabhoomi and Rs 15 crore for works at Dragon Palace Temple, a Buddhist shrine in Kamptee area, he said.

In addition, Rs 11.12crore were sanctioned for the construction of Sant Rohidas Bhavan in Parel, Mumbai, Rs 8.1 crore for the construction of Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Multipurpose Social and Cultural Center in Thane district, anda grant of Rs 2.9 crore for non-government organisations (NGOs) has been approved, he said.

The Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority (NMRDA) is the nodal agency for the development works at Deekshabhoomi and Dragon Palace Temple, he said.

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The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after new and re-elected members took oath as MPs from various parties, including Congress and TMC, trooped into the Well raising slogans in support of their demands.

The Upper House has not transacted substantial business ever since it met on March 5 after a recess to carry forward the Budget session due to disruptions by different parties on matters like bank frauds, Cauvery river water, special status for Andhra Pradesh and issues related to Dalits.

MPs belonging to the Congress, TMC, SP, BSP, TDP and those of Tamil parties -- DMK and AIADMK, rushed into the Well as soon as 41 members took oath and Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked ministers to lay papers on the table of the House.

The Congress and the BSP accused the government of being "anti-Dalit". TMC was protesting against bank frauds, while TDP members were demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

KVP Ramachandra Rao of the Congress was also holding a placard demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

The two prominent Tamil parties were demanding constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board for division of river water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Amid sloganeering by protesting MPs, Naidu tried to bring order in the House.

As they did not yield, the Chairman adjourned the House for the day. The Upper House will meet again tomorrow at 1100 hrs.

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As the government had to make a hasty retreat on a controversial diktat on fake news, global media rights group Reporters Without Borders today launched an 18-month long consultation process to frame guidelines to check spread of false online.

This follows Malaysia yesterday passing a bill prescribing six-year jail term for 'fake news', a term that is often used by US President Donald Trump to hit at his media critics and has gained currency in India as well in recent past especially on social media.

Malaysia had earlier proposed a ten-year jail term, it has now been reduced following opposition. In India, the government had to withdraw a decision within a day following widespread criticism about the rule that threatened to cancel accreditation of journalists found to be creating or propagating fake

The discarded rules did not talk anything about non-accredited journalists indulging in spread of fake

"In the new public arena system, in which false information circulate faster than real news, the defence of journalism requires reversing this trend by giving a real advantage to all those who reliably produce news and information, whatever their status," Reporters Without Borders (RSF's) Secretary General Christophe Deloire said.

Journalist Trust Initiative was today launched by RSF to promote journalism by adherence to an agreed set of trust and transparency standards to be developed and implemented, the RSF said in a statement.

This will happen by means of a Workshop Agreement of the European Centre of Standardisation (CEN).

The CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) is now up for comments and approval by all groups concerned.

Those in favour of the document will then collaborate over a time-span of 12 to 18 months to develop the actual indicators, it said.

In the latest annual survey by the RSF, India ranks 136th globally in terms of press freedom out of 180 countries and fell three places in 2017.

With Hindu nationalists trying to purge all manifestations of "anti-national" thought from the national debate, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media, the RSF said in a statement.

Journalists are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by the most radical nationalists, who vilify them and even threaten physical reprisals, it said.

Prosecutions are also used to gag journalists who are overly critical of the government, with some prosecutors invoking Section 124a of the penal code, under which "sedition" is punishable by life imprisonment. No journalist has so far been convicted of sedition but the threat encourages self-censorship, it added.

Indian Prime Minister's Office today ordered the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to withdraw its press release on fake news, holding that the decision on what constitutes fake news should be left to press bodies.

According to official sources, the PMO felt that the government should not interfere in the matter.

India's opposition parties today attacked the central government over the now-withdrawn guidelines on fake news, with the Congress saying fascism has touched its peak and the Aam Aadmi Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) likening the prevailing situation to the Emergency.

President Trump, who is often at odds with CNN, has slammed the 38-year-old cable news network more than any other broadcast outlet, often referring to it as fake news.

He also gave CNN the most awards during his "2017 Fake News Awards," with the network being mentioned for four inaccurate stories it reported last year, including one involving former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci and Russia that led to the abrupt firing of three reporters.

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Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates drew praise today at a UN conference for offering USD 1 billion in aid for Yemen, where their air campaign against Houthi rebels has killed thousands of civilians and their crippling blockade has hindered aid delivery.

The one-day conference co-hosted by Sweden, Switzerland and the United Nations collected pledges totaling USD 2.01 billion from 40 countries and organisations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres acknowledged that some donors were also "parties of the conflict." "We all know who ... the parties to the war (are)," he told reporters. "But the two things need to be seen separately, independently of the fact that there is a war.

There are humanitarian obligations that are assumed by countries."



With the situation worsening Guterres called it "catastrophic" the conference easily surpassed the funding pledges of $1.1 billion at a similar event last year. Overall, the UN has appealed for USD 2.96 billion to provide assistance and protection to people in Yemen in 2018.

"Several countries have already announced that there will be more donations from now until the end of the year," the U.N. chief said. "So we are quite optimistic."



Guterres added that "as important as the financial contributions to this conference is the commitment of the parties to the conflict to come together to put an end to the war."He said information gleaned by his new special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, during a trip to the region led him to believe there were "positive perspectives" that could possibly lead to an "effective intra-Yemeni dialogue" at some point. Guterres cited an "opportunity to be seized."A Saudi-led, Western-backed coalition has been at war with Iran-allied Shiite rebels known as Houthis for three years in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people and left 22.2 million people needing humanitarian aid.

The conflict has fanned the world's worst recent cholera outbreak and put many on the brink of starvation. Some 8.4 million people do not know how they will get their next meal, according to UN estimates.

Health and sanitation systems are teetering in Yemen. Guterres noted that a child under 5 dies every 10 minutes from preventable causes.

In his prepared remarks, Guterres noted how Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who have given military backing to Yemen's government, notably with air power and a sea blockade of rebel areas, had "generously provided" $930 million toward the humanitarian response plan even before the conference began.

The final list of pledges showed that each country had offered USD 500 million.

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The Supreme Court today said it will consider in detail the Centre's review petition against its March 20 judgement on the SC/ST Act but declined to keep in abeyance the directions passed by it to deal with the issues of arrest and sanction under the special law.

The apex court said people who are agitating may not have read the judgement properly and must have been misled by people with vested interests.

Several states were rocked by violence and clashes yesterday following a 'Bharat Bandh' call given by several SC/ST organisations protesting the top court's March 20 order, that has claimed eight lives.

"We have not diluted any provision of SC/ST Act but only safeguarded the interests of the innocents from being arrested," a bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit asserted. It was the same bench that had passed the March 20 judgement.

During an hour long hearing, the apex court said the provisions of the SC/ST Act cannot be used to terrorise the innocents.

The bench made it clear that it would hear the Centre's plea for a review of the earlier judgement, along with those who were original parties in the main petition, including the Maharashtra government.

The apex court has listed the Centre's review petition after 10 days for detailed hearing and asked the Maharashtra government and others to file written submissions within two days.

During the hearing, the bench also said the law which has come under scrutiny does not mandate immediate arrest on filing of a complaint as the Act in question is a substantive law and, in the judgement, it has clearly sought its implementation in accordance with the procedural law as given in the CrPC.

The bench also clarified that there was no dilution of any provision of the SC/ST Act or Rules and said a compensation can be paid to the alleged victims of atrocities even prior to the registration of FIR under SC/ST Act.

The bench said the only offences mentioned in the SC/ST Act were the subject matter of the judgement and other cognisable offences under IPC would not require inquiry before registration of FIR.

The apex court also said in the direction that it has only given the outer limit of seven days for completing the inquiry for the offences registered under the SC/ST Act.

Earlier in the day, the apex court had agreed to hear the review petition after Attorney General K K Venugopal sought urgent hearing of the review petition today itself and referred to the large scale violence and loss of lives and property during yesterday's Bharat Bandh.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra agreed to constitute the original bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit at 2 pm to hear the review plea.

In its review petition, the union government said the March 20 verdict has "wide ramification and implication resulting in dilution of the stringent provisions of law enacted under the 1989 enactment. It adversely affects a substantial portion of the population of India being the members of SC/ST. It is also contrary to the legislative policy of Parliament as reflected in the Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989".

On march 20, the apex court had that "in view of the acknowledged abuse of law of arrestin cases under the Atrocities Act, arrest of a public servant can only be after approval of the appointing authority and of a non-public servant after approval by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) which may be granted in appropriate cases if considered necessary for reasons recorded."



It had also directed that the reasons recorded by the competent authority and the SSP must be scrutinised by the magistrate for permitting further detention of an accused.

To avoid false implication of an innocent, the top court had also directed that a preliminary enquiry may be conducted by a DSP rank officer to find whether the allegations make out a case under the Atrocities Act and are not frivolous or motivated.

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The Congress in Gujarat today said there is "great unease" and a feeling of "insecurity" among Dalits in the aftermath of a recent Supreme Court order related to the SC/ST Act.

The Opposition party sought Governor O P Kohli's intervention in the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, saying the court verdict would lead to an increase in atrocities on Dalits.

A Congress delegation, led by state party president Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani, called on the Governor at Gandhinagar and handed over a memorandum demanding his intervention in the issue.

In the memorandum, Congress leaders claimed "there is great unease and a feeling of insecurity amongst the members of the Dalit community and other oppressed classes after the apex court judgement."



If immediate steps are not taken by the government, "then, we are afraid, this may turn into something not less than a national disaster," they said.

"Thus, we seek your immediate intervention in this regard and urge you to take steps to help Dalits of our country tide over the existing crisis," the party said in the memorandum.

The apex court, in a March 20 order, said government servants should not be arrested under the Act without prior sanction and private citizens, too, should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

The verdict is being seen by Dalit organisations and some political parties as "dilution" of the special law which came into force in 1989.

The Congress admitted certain sections of the Act are being misused, but maintained there should be no diversion from its original provisions as a large number of Dalits still face discrimination and atrocities across the country.

According to the Congress, the judgement came at a time when "Dalits are facing a distressful situation and many families stand devastated because of the atrocities committed on Dalits in every nook and corner of the country."



A nationwide bandh, called yesterday by Dalit groups to protest the "dilution" of the act, witnessed large-scale violence in states like Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

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The Supreme Court will hear the Centre's plea seeking to review the March 20 verdict putting safeguards on arrest under the the stringent SC/ST Act at 2 pm today.

The apex court agreed to hear the review petition after Attorney General K K Venugopal referred to large scale violence and loss of lives and property during yesterday's Bharat Bandh.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra agreed to constitute the original bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit at 2 pm to hear the review plea.

The AG said it is an emergency situation as large scale violence has taken place and sought urgent hearing of the review petition today itself.

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The Supreme Court today lambasted the government for legalising the illegalities perpetuated so far by protecting illegal construction and now letting the traders hold the capital to ransom by their agitation against the sealing drive.

The apex court took strong exception to the protests and 'dharnas' by the traders and pulled up the Centre for protecting them by "holding 186 lakh people of Delhi to ransom".

"These people are saying that we have done something illegal, but please protect us. 'Dharnas' by the traders are admission of their guilt. Innocent people do not go on 'dharnas'. That is why they are doing 'dharnas'. What can be more arbitrary than this," a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said.

"Illegalities have been perpetuated and are now being legalised ... this is destruction," the bench said.

It came down heavily on the government for extending protection to unauthorised constructions, saying it was like telling the whole country that "it is free for all".

The court told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A N S Nadkrani, appearing for the Centre, that "you have to realise that people of Delhi are important, whether you are Delhi Development Authority (DDA), government, municipal corporation of Delhi (MCDs) or any other agency."



The top court also said there was rampant encroachment in Delhi and in the unauthorised colonies, there were no green areas, sewage, drainage facilities, parking and the innocent citizens were suffering due to all this.

"There will be eight to 10 lakh traders in Delhi. To protect them, you are holding 186 lakh people to ransom. It cannot be done. At Ghazipur and Bhalswa, you have garbage pile up of 60 metres. You have water shortage, you have huge traffic problem, huge problem of breathing air and pollution.

"What for? For the sake of traders? For protecting them and protecting their illegalities? Not only this generation, but it will have effect on the coming generations also," the court said, adding that the local bodies were "sleeping" in the matter and there was lot of corruption as well.

Nadkarni, while maintaining that 'dharnas' by the traders were not right, said the central government has become a villain. "Certainly, the central government has become a villain. It is not that the central government is to be blamed for it. It is a failure of system as a whole," he said.

To this, the bench said the government would have to send a "tough message" and rule of law has to be there.

"The culture and heritage will go. Nothing will be left for the future if this is not done," the court said, adding that the government has not done anything for the past 10 years to deal with the situation.

"Do you have any plans or you just want these traders to hold the city to ransom," it asked, as Nadkarni responded saying, "we just want to have a solution for it".

When the ASG raised the issue of a plan to regularise the unauthorised colonies in Delhi, the bench shot back, "you cannot regularise something which is totally not in accordance with law. You can regularise those which are in accordance with law".

The court also sought to know from the Centre what its plan was for unauthorised construction for commercial activities and said those who have committed illegalities cannot be protected just because they have invested money.

"What about those who are innocent people? They are suffering. Have you told the local bodies that you better do your jobs. They are sleeping. There is lot of corruption," it said.

Nadkarni gave the data on the number of unauthorised colonies in Delhi and said that as per 2012 figure, there were around 895 unauthorised colonies having built up area of more than 50 per cent.

However, the bench questioned the government for repeated temporary statutes on the issue and said if this "goes on and on, it will perhaps be a fraud".

When the ASG argued on the issue of rehabilitating the jhuggi-jhonpri (JJ) clusters and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the bench said the government was supposed to do development in around 55 JJ clusters in Delhi but nothing has been done.

The ASG said the protection granted to JJ clusters would have to be continued since the people residing there were from the weaker sections.

When Nadkarni referred to the written note filed by the Centre today, the court said, "sum and substance of this is that you are not doing anything and will not do anything till 2020. You are doing nothing. Zero from 2006 at least."



The bench, which posted the matter for further hearing tomorrow, wanted to know what steps have been taken to remove encroachments in Delhi.

The apex court had yesterday observed that there was a "complete breakdown" of law and order in Delhi and expressed anguish over the strikes and 'dharnas' against the sealing drive.

It is hearing arguments on the validity of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations which protects unauthorised construction from being sealed. The apex court had earlier ordered restoration of its 2006 monitoring committee to identify and seal such offending structures.

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An Indian-origin man and his business associate have been arrested and charged by federal authorities for masterminding a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) that raised more than USD 32 million from thousands of investors last year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday charged Sohrab "Sam" Sharma and Robert Farkas, co-founders of a purported financial services start-up Centra Tech. In a parallel action, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York also slapped criminal charges against the duo.

The agency charged that Sharma and Frakas masterminded a fraudulent ICO in which Centra offered and sold unregistered investments through a "CTR Token." The two allegedly claimed that funds raised in the ICO would help build a suite of financial products and promised to offer a debit card backed by Visa and MasterCard that would allow users to instantly convert hard-to-spend cryptocurrencies into US dollars or other legal tenders. In reality, however, Centra had no relationships with the credit card companies.

The SEC also alleges that to promote the ICO, Sharma and Farkas created fictional executives with impressive biographies, posted false or misleading marketing materials to Centra's website, and paid celebrities to tout the ICO on social media.

According to the complaint, Farkas made flight reservations to leave the country but was arrested before he was able to board his flight. Sharma has also been arrested.

"We allege that Centra sold investors on the promise of new digital technologies by using a sophisticated marketing campaign to spin a web of lies about their supposed partnerships with legitimate businesses," Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement said, adding that the claims were simply false.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, charges Sharma and Farkas with violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.

The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties, as well as bars against Sharma and Farkas serving as public company officers or directors and from participating in any offering of digital or other securities.

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The right to appoint high priests in China should remain with the government, a Chinese official said today, stressing that not giving Pope the control over their appointment does not infringe on the religious freedom of the believers.

The official also said that Beijing has made real efforts to strike a "historic" accord on the appointment of bishops to end seven decades of rift with the Vatican.

The government today released a white paper "China's Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief", outlining its stand on religion in Communist China.

Releasing the document, vice-administrator of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Chen Zongrong told reporters that China's religious groups cannot be controlled by "foreign forces", and Beijing should retain the right to appoint high priests.

According to the Chinese Constitution, religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign control, the official said.

"China has made real efforts towards establishing relations with the Holy See to end the 71 years of rift, but the talks reportedly broke down over the appointment of bishops," Chen said.

Catholics in China are split between those who attend officially sanctioned churches run by government-approved bishops and those which are loyal to the Vatican, but are technically illegal "underground".

Last month, the state-run 'Global Times' had reported that a deal between China and the Vatican could be signed soon as the negotiations have reached "the final stages".

But, the Vatican quickly denied as the spurred criticism that Pope was giving away too much after resisting China's pressure since relations were severed 1951.

"Not giving 'complete control' to Pope to appoint top Catholic priests need not necessarily amount to breach of religious rights," he said, adding that Church has been exploited by "colonialists and imperialists" to subvert its independence and progress.

The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) wants that its nearly 90 million members remain atheists, apprehending that foreign religions, specially Christianity, may subvert its rule like in the case of Poland, where a movement by the Church was instrumental in overthrowing the Communist rule.

In China, Christianity is regarded as the fastest growing religion, with unofficial estimates putting the number of followers to 90 million. But, the Vatican is anxious over the rapid spread of Protestantism.

Buddhism, which came from India, however, remained a majority religion in China.

According to the white paper, the Chinese government supports all religions in upholding the principle of independence and self-management.

"This principle is a historic choice made by Chinese religious believers in the Chinese people's struggle for national independence and social progress, as Catholicism and Protestantism, which were known as foreign religions in China, had long been controlled and utilised by colonialists and imperialists," it said.

China has 200 million believers, including 20 million Muslims, 38 million Protestants and six million Catholics.The major religions practised in China are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism.

Also, there are about 5,500 religious groups in China, including seven national organisations, and about 1,44,000 places of worship registered for religious activities, including 33,500 Buddhist temples of different schools, 9,000 Taoist temples, 35,000 Islamic mosques, 6,000 Catholic churches and places of assembly spread across 98 dioceses, and 60,000 Protestant churches and places of assembly, it said.

All normal religious activities, which believers conduct at places of worship or in their own homes, are protected by law, and no organisation or individual may infringe on these rights, the paper said.

There are around 2,22,000 Buddhist clerics and over 40,000 of Taoism, 57,000 Muslims clerics, and 8,000 Catholic and 57,000 Protestants priests, it said.

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Several people took to the streets in a Pakistani city today to protest against the brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl and a university student, authorities said.

The protests came after the minor girl was abducted in Pakistan's Punjab province when she left the house to go to a nearby grocery shop last Sunday.

The girl's father said the girl was later found strangled in the fields the same day with multiple torture marks.

The police registered a case of abduction, assault and murder. No arrests have been made so far.

On March 25, a student of English Literature at the Government College University Faisalabad was abducted by unidentified men. The body was recovered in a canal a few days later.

Following the two incidents, a shutter-down strike was observed in the Jaranwala city, some 100km from Lahore, and a large number of people, including students, staged demonstrations against the murders and rapes.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the police, the students said the police had only been trying to please the rulers instead of tracing the criminals and protecting the people's lives. They have vowed to continue the agitation till her killers are arrested.

Both incidents took place weeks after the nation was rocked by the brutal murder of a minor girl in Kasur district of Punjab in which police arrested culprit Imran Ali, 23, who was later sentenced to death.

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BJP president Amit Shah will tomorrow hold a meeting with poll-bound Chhattisgarh's Chief Minister Raman Singh and other leaders in the Raipur airport premises during a brief stopover before proceeding on Odisha tour.

"Shah will land at the Swami Vivekananda airport at around 10 AM on Wednesday. He will interact with the CM and other leaders during his one-hour stopover before leaving for Odisha," said BJP's state media incharge Nalinish Thokne.

The chief minister will be accompanied by state unit BJP president Dharamlal Kaushik, state BJP general secretary (organisation) Pawan Sai, Cabinet ministers and senior leaders, he said.

On April 5, Shah will land at the Raipur airport at around 4:15 PM while returning from Odisha. He will leave for Mumbai at around 4:55 PM the same day, said Thokne.

During tomorrow's meeting, considered significant ahead of the elections, due later this year, Shah is expected to take feedback from the BJP leaders about the poll preparations, BJP sources said.

After chairing a series of meetings with party leaders and workers in Chhattisgarh in June last, Shah had set a target of winning 65 seats out of the total 90 seats.

The chief minister had last week expressed confidence that his government would pass with "first class" in the coming assembly elections by winning 65 seats.

The ruling BJP has 49 members in the assembly.

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A bitter feud that has rocked Singapore founding leader Lee Kuan Yew's family flared anew today when his younger children criticised a ministerial committee's findings about a house at the centre of the row.

The century-old bungalow, which Lee Kuan Yew used to live in, has sparked a bitter feud between his children -- including current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- since the patriarch's death in 2015.

The senior Lee, widely credited with transforming Singapore into one of Asia's wealthiest countries, had stated in his will that he wanted the house torn down to avoid the emergence of a personality cult.

But in a row that gripped the city-state last year, Lee Hsien Loong's siblings said their brother is attempting to block the house's demolition to capitalise on their father's legacy for his own political agenda.

A ministerial committee set up to decide on the future of the house released a report Monday, in which it laid out three options and said the fate of the property should be decided by a future government.

The options were: preserving the house as a national monument, demolition for redevelopment, or tearing it down but preserving the most historic portion.

But the siblings of current prime minister Lee said the alternatives to demolition proposed by the committee go against their father's wishes.

"(Lee Kuan Yew) made absolutely clear what he wanted done with the house. He and Mama had long decided they wanted it demolished after they were gone," the prime minister's sister Lee Wei Ling wrote on Facebook.

The premier's brother Lee Hsien Yang said in a separate post that Lee Kuan Yew "wanted demolition unwaveringly."



He added that "the committee's statement does not accurately represent Lee Kuan Yew's wishes."



The prime minister, who had recused himself from government decisions about the house, said in a Facebook post yesterday that he accepted the committee's decision.

He denied all allegations by siblings in a public broadcast at the height of the feud last year, while parliament held a special two-day debate on the controversy.

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The Punjabi remake of "Singham" is all set to be released next year, with Parmish Verma in the lead.

Actor Ajay Devgn, who starred in the Hindi version of the 2010 Tamil film "Singam" featuring Suriya, announced the on Twitter on his 49th birthday.

"Punjab da sher (Tiger of Punjab)," wrote the actor and tagged Parmish, and producers of the film Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak.

Ajay, who is presenting the movie, also shared the poster.

Parmish also took to social media to thank the actor for the opportunity.

"Dreams Do Come true, Thank you @ajaydevgn sir, it's an honour, and a Very Very Happy Birthday. #Blessed, (sic)" he tweeted.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today met Russia's Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and discussed strategies to strengthen defence production cooperation between the two countries.

Sitharaman is on a three-day visit to Russia to attend the seventh Moscow Conference on International Security here. This is her first visit to Russia in her capacity as the Defence Minister.

"Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry & Trade, Russian Federation and Sitharaman discussed strategies to strengthen defence production cooperation at a bilateral meeting in Moscow," the Official Twitter handle of the Defence Minister tweeted.

The discussion focused on enhancing defence production cooperation and creating synergy between the defence industries of the two countries, it added.

Sitharaman will also meet her Russian counterpart Army General Sergei Shoigu, and other senior leaders, according to a statement from Indian Embassy here.

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Six miners were killed in South Africa's northern province of Limpopo when a suspected petrol bomb was thrown into their bus, police said today, adding no motive was known for the attack.

"The bus immediately caught fire, instantly killing six people on board and injuring several others," police said in a statement.

The bus was carrying night-shift workers to a platinum mine yesterday when it was attacked outside the town of Burgersfort.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) called for police to investigate and arrest those responsible, saying there had been a number of recent violent incidents in the area.

"The bus was carrying 39 workers who were going to work at Modikwa Platinum Mine when it was petrol-bombed," NUM official Phillip Mankge said.

"Six workers were burned beyond recognition and the other workers had to escape through windows.

"We also do not know what is the motive of the attack on those innocent workers who were going to work.

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Two more witnesses were today declared hostile during the trial of Sohrabuddin Shaikh alleged fake encounter case before a Mumbai court, taking the number of such witnesses to 47.

Mohamad Naimuddin and Shilpan Singh, two prosecution witnesses, were examined by the CBI before special judge S J Sharma.

According to the agency, Naimuddin, an employee of a private bus service, had stated that he remembered picking up five passengers, including a woman, in Hyderabad on the morning of November 22, 2005.

According to the CBI, one of these passengers was Shaikh, who was abducted by a team of the Gujarat Police when he was travelling by a private luxury bus from Hyderabad on the same day, and was later killed.

However, during his deposition today, Naimuddin did not stand by his earlier statement.

Shilpan Singh, as per his statement to the CBI, was a 'panch witness' who was present when specimen signature of one of the accused in the case was obtained. He too told the court that he was not present on the occasion.

As both didn't support the prosecution's case, the CBI lawyer declared them hostile.

So far, 65 witnesses have been examined, of whom 47 have been declared hostile by the CBI.

The Mumbai court last October framed charges against 22 people, including police officers, for murder, abduction and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code and for offences under the Arms Act in connection with the alleged staged encounter near Gandhinagar on November 26, 2005.

Shaikh, an alleged gangster with terror links, and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat Police's Anti-Terrorism Squad from Hyderabad on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra.

According to the prosecution, Shaikh was killed in the fake encounter. Kausar Bi, who disappeared, was also allegedly killed later.

Tulsi Prajapati, an aide of Shaikh who was said to be a witness to the encounter, was allegedly killed by police at Chapri village in Gujarat's Banaskantha district in December 2006.

The fake encounter case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 on the request of the CBI for ensuring a fair trial.

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An Army jawan was killed while four others including a lieutenant were injured as Pakistani troops fired mortar bombs at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir today, officials said.

The cross-border shelling by Pakistani troops started in Krishna Ghati sector this morning and continued for over two hours, resulting in injuries to five soldiers including an officer, an Army officer said.

One of the injured soldiers later succumbed to injuries at the military hospital.

The deceased jawan was identified as 20-year-old Sepoy Mustapure Shubham Suryakant, a resident of Konerwadi village in Parbhani district of Maharashtra. The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty, defence spokesman Col. N N Joshi said. Suryakant is survived by his mother Sunita,



A police official said a lieutenant and two junior commissioned officers were among the injured and they were evacuated to command hospital in Udhampur district for specialised treatment.

Col. Joshi said that Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from 0700 hours using small arms, automatic weapons and mortar shells.

"Indian Army has retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked ceasefire violation, he said.

This is for the third straight day that Paksitani troops have violated the ceasefire and targeted forward posts and villages in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

However, the shelling failed to have any impact on cross-LoC trade which takes place for four days a week from Tuesday to Friday along the Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch district and Salamabad in Uri sector of Baramulla district.

Dozens of trucks from either side crossed the border from the trade facilitation centres, the officials said.

With the latest killing, the death toll in the Pakistani shelling along the LoC this year has gone up to 27.

The dead included 13 security personnel and five members of a family who lost their lives when a shell hit their house in Balakote sector of Poonch district on March 18.

Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire along the LoC and the International Border over 650 times this year.

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iStock/Thinkstock(CHICAGO) -- Three Chicago convenience store clerks were charged on Monday for allegedly selling synthetic drugs laced with rat poison, according to police.



The store workers -- Fouad Masoud, 48, Jad Allah, 44, and Adil Khan Mohammed, 44 -- were charged on Monday after undercover federal agents said the men sold them synthetic marijuana, known as K2, according to a criminal complaint.



The arrests come as Illinois works to combat a statewide K2 epidemic that as of Monday had killed two and sickened nearly 60 others, public health officials said.



The drug can cause users to bleed uncontrollably from their eyes, nose and gums.



"The synthetic cannabinoids were packaged in sealed containers and labeled with such names as 'Matrix,' 'Blue Giant' and 'Crazy Monkey," federal agents said. "Preliminary testing of some of the cannabinoids purchased by the undercover officer revealed a detectable amount of brodifacoum, a toxic substance frequently used in rat poison."



Federal investigators said the men sold between 50 and 60 packets of the drugs per day from the King Mini Mart convenience store, located on Chicagos west side. One of the men, Masoud, had $280,000 in his possession, according to federal drug enforcement agents.



Multiple people recently experienced adverse symptoms, including unusual bleeding, after using synthetic cannabinoids obtained from the store, according to the complaint.



The store workers are each charged with conspiracy to knowingly and intentionally possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, a controlled substance.



The men are in custody and awaiting court hearings. It wasn't immediately known if they had obtained legal representation.

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An Army jawan was today killed while four others including a lieutenant were injured as Pakistani troops shelled mortars at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The cross-border shelling by Pakistan troops started in Krishna Ghati sector this morning and continued for over two hours, resulting in injuries to five soldiers including an officer, an Army officer said.

One of the injured soldiers later succumbed to injuries at the military hospital.

A police official said a lieutenant and two junior commissioned officers were among the injured and they were evacuated to command hospital in Udhampur district for specialized treatment.

Earlier, defence spokesman Lt Col N N Joshi said that Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from 0700 hours using small arms, automatics and mortars.

"Indian Army has retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked ceasefire violation, he said.

This is for the third straight day that Paksitani troops have violated the ceasefire and targeted forward posts and villages in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

However, the shelling failed to have any impact on cross-LoC trade which takes place between for four days a week from Tuesday to Friday along the Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch district and Salamabad in Uri sector of Baramulla district.

Dozens of trucks from either side crossed the border from the trade facilitation centres, the officials said.

With the latest killing, the death toll in the Pakistani shelling along the LoC this year has gone up to 27.

The dead included 13 security personnel and five members of a family who lost their lives when a shell hit their house in Balakote sector of Poonch district on March 18.

Pakistan troops have violated ceasefire along the LoC and IB over 650 times this year.

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The 20-year-old army jawan had told his parents that he will be coming home in two days.

Tomorrow, they will receive the body of Sepoy Shubham Suryakant Mustapure at his village Konerwadi in Parbhani district of Maharashtra, for last rites.

Mustapure, who joined the Army two years ago, was killed as Pakistani troops fired mortar bombs at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir today.

A pall of gloom has descended on the village as people await the arrival of his body, for the last rites to be performed tomorrow.

Mustapure will be cremated with military honours at 4 pm tomorrow, an official said. The soldier's body is expected to land at Aurangabad airport at 11 am and will be taken to Konerwadi by road, he added.

"Shubham recently called his parents and informed them he will be coming home in two days. Now, his body, wrapped in tricolour, will reach here," a relative of the soldier said.

The jawan, who was a bachelor, is survived by parents and grandparents and two younger brothers. While one brother studies in Gangakhed in Parbhani district, another studies at Ahmedpur in Latur district, the kin said.

The soldier's father owns one and a half acres of farm and also supplements his income through tailoring.

When Shubham was recruited in the Army two years ago, after completing his 12th class, he had treated the entire village to a grand feast, the relative said.

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ICICI Bank borrowers, including Jaiprakash Associates and Jaiprakash Power, had hired services of a firm run by the bank's CEO Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law, company officials today said amid concerns over propriety and conflict of interest with regard to Videocon loan matter.

ICICI Bank on its part denied any conflict, saying it had not hired Avista Advisory Group run by Rajiv Kochhar, brother of Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak, and did not pay any fee.

Among the companies that are said to have hired services of Avista include Videocon, GTL Infrastructure and Suzlon for restructuring of debt.

ICICI Bank was a lender to all these entities.

Jaypee Group spokesperson confirmed hiring Avista for debt restructuring and said that a fee in line with market practice was paid.

"We wish to state that Avista Advisory was only involved in restructuring of FCCBs of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd and Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd but it was never involved in any loan syndication for any Jaypee Group company.

"Avista has been paid a fee of 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent of the restructured FCCBs, which is as per market standards. Thus the reports linking Jaypee Group's dealing with ICICI Bank via Avista are completely baseless," the spokesperson said.

Jaiprakash Associates, the flagship firm of the Jaypee Group, has restructured foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth about USD 110 million while Jaiprakash Power venture got its debt recast of about USD 225 million.

The CBI has launched a preliminary investigation into Rs 3,250 crore loan ICICI Bank had extended to Videocon in 2012 and the role of Kochhar's husband.

Reports have alleged that Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in NuPower Renewables, a firm owned by Deepak Kochhar after Videocon secured a loan from a consortium of lenders, including ICICI Bank.

When reached for comments, ICICI Bank spokesperson said, "We would like to categorically state that ICICI Bank has never engaged Avista Advisory Group for any services at all. Since we have never hired their services, there is no question of ICICI Bank paying any fee to them. Hence, the allegation of conflict of interest is totally baseless and mala fide in intent."



Reply from other companies were still awaiting at the time of filing the story.

Whistle-blower Arvind Gupta has demanded that NuPower Renewables -- the company founded by ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's husband Deepak Kochhar -- must disclose the real identity of its majority shareholder DH Renewables Holding Ltd of Mauritius.

Gupta, who identifies himself as an informed and vigilant investor owning shares both in ICICI Bank and Videocon Industries, alleged that NuPower Renewables was a 50:50 joint venture of Deepak Virendra Kochhar and Dhoots when founded in 2008.

Meanwhile, the ICICI Bank in a regulatory filing reiterated internal review of loans granted by it to Videocon did not find any lapse.

The bank was responding to queries raised by stock exchanges.

The board of the bank at its meeting held on March 28, 2018 had considered "all the facts" including the internal review undertaken in 2016 when rumours of quid-pro quo regarding the loan provided to Videocon group first originated, the lender said in a filing when exchanges sought comments from the lender.

"This review confirmed that there was no material finding indicating any lapse," the bank said.

The bank further said the board has come to the conclusion that there is no question of any "quid pro quo/nepotism/conflict of interest" as is being alleged in carious rumours.

"The board has full confidence and reposes full faith in the bank's MD and CEO...," the filing said.

ICICI Bank's shares closed at Rs 269.60 apiece on BSE, up 2.94 per cent.

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Jon O'Neill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father, whom he can barely remember.

At times, it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended 75 years ago for his father, US Army Air Forces 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group ace John G "Jump" O'Neill.

But it has also been an experience planned over a decade that has rewarded the 57-year-old editor and recreational pilot from De Land, Florida, beyond his expectations.

"I go ... back home with more memories than I ever thought I would be able to take with me. It's been amazing," the son told The Associated Press from Rabaul, the former Japanese stronghold on the Papua New Guinea island of New Britain, over which the father had four of his eight Japanese kills in a P-38 Lighting fighter.

The image of the father had been etched in the son's mind more by family stories than by memory. John O'Neill died of leukemia in Florida when his only son was 6 and his daughter Tracey was a year younger.

With the guidance of World War II historian Justin Taylan, founder of the charity website PacificWrecks.com, which documents and preserves war sites and graves, the son has retraced his father's 1943 wartime steps, from Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, to the wilds of the country's north and east coasts.

Japan took Rabaul in 1942 and held it until the war ended in 1945. But Rabaul had been rendered useless as a base for Japanese fighting in the South Pacific by relentless air attacks and isolation from supply lines.

The son's two weeks in Papua New Guinea, Australia's nearest neighbour, ends tomorrow.

On March 28 -- his late father's 97th birthday -- Jon O'Neill was at Oro Bay, a former US military staging post on the northeast coast, where his father shot down a Mitsubishi Zero, his second Japanese kill, on the day he turned 22.

A poignant moment came when visiting the town of Dobodura on the east coast, where an array of 15 airstrips for bombers and fighter planes became the US front line of the Pacific War. From there, John O'Neill launched into intense air battles over Rabaul with his friend Capt. Richard Bong, the United States' highest-scoring ace, who won a Medal of Honour for 40 confirmed kills.

Bong survived 146 combat missions, only to be killed in California while test-flying a jet fighter prototype shortly before the war ended in 1945.

"When I got to Dobodura and I saw the runway where he flew from, I just got really, overwhelmingly depressed that I just couldn't look at him and say, 'What was this like for you when you were 21 or 22?'" O'Neill said.

"I got to see the campsite where he actually lived while he was in Oro Province, and that to me was one of the most amazing experiences, just to know that he was there," he said.

O'Neill was promoted to captain before returning to the United States with Bong in late 1943 as combat heroes to sell war bonds.

Within weeks, O'Neill's P-38, nicknamed Beautiful Lass, and its new pilot, Ormond Powell, disappeared somewhere in the New Britain jungles or the Bismarck Sea.

Taylan, who has been to Papua New Guinea dozens of times since his first visit in 1993 with his veteran grandfather, Carl R Thien, a US Army combat photographer in the Pacific, believes Beautiful Lass will someday be found.

The key is to reach out to villagers who have known for generations where in the jungle the wreckage lies.

"We believe the plane can be found," Taylan said. "I can't promise to him (Jon O'Neill) how long or how difficult that would be. But knowing him and seeing his experience of this trip makes me really want to find his father's aircraft."



"There are hundreds of missing in action aircraft from just the United States in this country and probably dozens from Australia. Many may never be found. Others will be found beyond my lifetime," he said.

Jon O'Neill said Oro Province, where his father spent most of 1943, was much the same as it was during the war years. The American military presence during World War II is still evident to those who look beneath the jungle canopy.

O'Neill hacked through the jungle with a machete for an hour to reach the wreck of a P-38. He saw a B-24 Liberator bomber, a Jeep and a canteen marked "US Army 1942." Near Japan's Tobera Airfield on New Britain, he saw the wrecks of Mitsubishi Zeros that his father might have fought.

O'Neill cherishes the idea that Beautiful Lass might one day be found.

"It was last seen over New Britain somewhere," he said. "It disappeared into a cloud and never came out, and I'm hoping that one of these days Justin will find it and I'll be able to come back and actually see my father's plane."



"Who knows? You fly over New Britain and there's just jungle. It could be down there anywhere," he said.

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As one of his final acts of kindness, British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking paid for a grand Easter meal for hundreds of homeless and needy people in his home city of Cambridge.

The funeral of the world-famous scientist, who passed away peacefully at his home on March 14 aged 76, took place in the city on Saturday. On the same day, a donation from his family helped to fund the charity FoodCycle's Easter lunch at Wesley Methodist Church.

Flowers were left on all the tables with a note reading: "Today's lunch is a gift from Stephen. From the Hawking family." Organisers said the physicist was given "a little cheer" before nearly 50 diners enjoyed the meal.

"Lucy Hawking (daughter) contacted me and mentioned that the family would like to make a donation so that while the funeral was taking place, people would be sitting down to a hot meal 'on Stephen'.

"It was a really kind gesture that I think fitted well with the sympathy Prof. Hawking felt for people who were having a tough time of things," said Alex Collis, East of England Regional Manager, FoodCycle.

Collis said the generous donation would go on to provide hundreds of meals for older people, refugees, people with mental health issues, and the long-term unemployed, besides the city's homeless.

FoodCycle, which provides regular free meals for people in need using donated or unused food, has been running since 2010 by a team of volunteers across the UK.

"The meals are open to anyone and there's no need to book or have a voucher - no questions are asked and the meals have a great community feel with groups of difference people who might not otherwise meeting sitting down round a table together," he said.

Hawking's funeral was held at Great St. Mary's Church, part of the University of Cambridge, with thousands of well-wishers lining the streets to bid farewell to the scientist. His ashes will be buried at Westminster Abbey in London in June, near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton.

The cosmologist and author of the seminal 'A Brief History of Time' had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his 20s.

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Normal life was paralysed in Kashmir for the second day today on a strike call given by separatists to protest the killings in encounters in Shopian and Anantnag districts on Sunday even as restrictions on movement of people continued to be imposed in three districts and some parts of the city as a precautionary measure, officials said.

There were reports of fresh clashes between protesters and security forces in Kangan area of Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district in which atleast two persons were injured, police said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti asked the security forces to ensure that standard operating procedures were followed and collateral damage avoided while dealing with security situations.

The chief minister was reviewing the overall situation in the Valley in a high-level meeting of officers here, an official spokesman said.

The chief minister impressed upon the officers dealing with security situation to ensure that collateral damage is avoided and all the standard operating procedures (SoPs) in this regard are strictly adhered to, he said.

However, tension continued to prevail in some parts of the state where prohibitory orders were imposed to keep the situation under check.

"Restrictions under section 144 CrPC are in place for the second day in Kulgam and Shopian districts and parts of Anantnag as a precuationary measure to maintain law and order," a police official said.

He said similar restrictions were imposed in five police station areas of the city including Khanyar, Maharajgunj, Nowhatta, Rainawari and Safakadal.

Schools, colleges and other educational institutions remained closed for the second day as authorities decided to suspend classwork to prevent any law and order problems.

All examinations to be held today by universities in the valley and educational institutions were postponed.

Shops and other business establishments also remained closed while public transport services were also suspended following a strike call given by separatists.

While some private vehicles could be seen plying in the city, the roads in the outskirts and other towns wore a deserted look.

An official said the situation across the valley was by and large peaceful.

Separatists including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Mailk have called for a strike following the killing of a nearly dozen terrorists in encounters on Sunday. Three Army men and four civilian protestors had also lost their lives in the security operation.

Security forces were deployed in strength at sensitive places across the valley to thwart any untoward incident, the police official said.

While mobile Internet services were restored in the city last night, these services remained suspended in south Kashmir districts.

Clashes occurred between protesters and security forces in Kangan area in which two were injured. Mohammad Amir and Irfan Ahmad were brought to the SKIMS hospital in Soura with injuries to the head and the chest respectively, a police official said.

Another youth from Kangan, injured in similar clashes yesterday, succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital here today.

Protests were reported from some other parts of the state as well.

Meanwhile, a militant and an over-ground worker (OGW) were arrested today by security forces from the Sopore area of Baramulla district, police said.

Parvaiz Ahmad, an active militant, and OGW, identified as Aamir, both residents of the Awantipora area in Pulwama district, were apprehended by security forces from Hygam in the Sopore area of Baramulla district, a police official said.

He said some arms and ammunition were seized from their possession.

Police also recovered the body of a man who was kidnapped by militants in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, an official spokesman said.

"The body of Naseer Ahmed Parray alias Muntazir, who was abducted yesterday by militants at Hajin, has been recovered," the spokesman said.

He said Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the killing of Naseer, who was abducted from his in-laws house last night. Three of his relatives, including two women, were injured by the militants.

The militants barged into house of one Farooq Ahmad Parray last night and opened fire on the inmates.

"The terrorists used knives to cause grievous injuries to wife, daughter and brother of Farooq," the spokesman said.

The injured persons were shifted to a hospital here for treatment.

The spokesman said the militants had killed Farooq's son last year.

"Muzzafar Ahmad Parrey was killed ruthlessly by terrorists last summer. He was first decapitated and then his body was thrown into the river," he added.

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Several hundred Anganwadi workers, who have been on strike for two months now, today staged a rally here to press for their demands including release of pending salaries and hike in honorarium.

Led by their president Suman Suri, the workers walked from MAM stadium to the Press Club under the banner of 'Anganwadi Workers And Helpers Association', officials said.

The protesters shouted slogans against the state government for failing to address their issues.

"Police was initially reluctant but later allowed the rally. We want this government to have mercy on our plight and for them to consider our genuine demands," Suri told PTI.

She said the participants were carrying bangles as a mark of protest against the government for its alleged failure to take note of the ongoing protest which entered its 63rd day today.

Besides the demand for hike in honorarium and release of pending salaries, the association is seeking seniority list, implementation of the pension scheme and gratuity of Rs two lakh for workers and Rs one lakh for helpers on retirement.

"We are getting a meagre Rs 3,600 and Rs 1,800 for workers and helpers respectively, while our counterparts in other states, including Delhi are getting Rs 10,000 and Rs 6,000 for the same work," Suri said.

"We are disappointed with this government as we were hopeful that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who herself is a woman, can understand the problems being faced by the workers and come out with a solution," she said.

It is not possible to meet the ends on such a meagre amount, Suri said.

There are about 28,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers in the state who are working since 1975 under the Integrated Child Development Scheme.

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said the government would take stern action against the students who insulted the retiring woman principal of a college in Kasargod district last month.

Vijayan was replaying to a submission by opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala who brought to the notice of the assembly the incident related to bursting of crackers and display of posters with writings 'condolence' in the campus as a farewell to the retiring College Principal P V Pushpaja.

Referring to the allegation of Chennithala that students behind the incident belonged to Students Federation of India, (SFI), the student wing of CPI(M), Vijayan said SFI never agree or accept this kind of actions.

The students should consider teachers as their mothers and that was our culture, Vijayan said.

Insulting a teacher cannot be agreed, he said, adding, all would condemn such acts and nobody would support it.

Minister C Raveendranath said that two students have been suspended and further steps would be taken after getting the report of the Director of College

The incident came to the media limelight after a video of students bursting crackers and a condolence message put at the auditorium of the College campus went viral on the social media.

The incident triggered widespread condemnation from different quarters.

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will pay a three-day visit to Azerbaijan starting tomorrow during which she will attend a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and hold talks with top leadership of that country.

Swaraj will hold talks with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and call on President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Swaraj will also represent India at the mid-term ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which will take place on April 5 and 6 in Baku.

The MEA said as a founding member of NAM, India remains committed to the purposes and principles of the movement.

"The External Affairs Minister's participation in the NAM Ministerial Meeting will underline India's continued active and constructive engagement within the movement with a view to further strengthen solidarity and cooperation among its member states," it said.

A range of issues, including ways to boost bilateral cooperation between India and Azerbaijan, are expected to be discussed during her talks with leadership of that country.

Bilateral ties between India and Azerbaijan have grown in many areas, including energy, transportation, and capacity building.

India's ONGC-Videsh is an investor in ACG oil fields and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

"The two sides will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest," the ministry said in a statement.

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A city court has upheld the conviction of two persons by a magisterial court in a temple theft case, saying the duo had "no fear of God".

The sessions court ordered the duo, who stole silver articles from a temple in south east Delhi, to remain in jail for six months.

The court's decision came on the appeal of the two convicts -- Mahender and Charanjeet-- against the magisterial court order sentencing them to six-month imprisonment for stealing silver articles from Sai Baba temple in East Kidwai Nagar in south east Delhi.

"I concur with the observations of trial court that conduct of the appellants (convicts) in possessing stolen property belonging to the temple shows that they have no fear of law and God. In order to discourage that conduct, it is necessary that the sentencing should be in proportion," Additional Sessions Judge Neera Bharihoke said.

The sessions court also refused to quash the jail term awarded to them.

"I have also perused the testimony of all the witnesses of the prosecution and found them to be trustworthy and reliable witnesses. They have corroborated each other on material points and their testimonies have also remained unshattered and unshaken in their cross-examination," the judge said.

It also rejected the contention of the convicts that there were no independent witnesses, saying it was not fatal to the prosecution's case.

According to the prosecution, a complaint was lodged by Trilok Nath Dhir, president of Shri Hindu Dharam Pracharini Sabha, in June, 2012 that the duo had stolen over one kg silver articles from the temple.

The duo was arrested in July that year under Sections 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC.

The magisterial court had on August18, 2015 held them guilty and sentenced them to six months imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 500 each.

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Thai authorities say they have seized drugs worth about USD 29 million and arrested 11 people in recent days as narcotics case surge in the country.

The drugs included amphetamine pills, marijuana, ketamine and ice seized in 11 unconnected cases since March 25. The haul displayed today at the Narcotics Suppression Division outside Bangkok was spread along a row of tables about 15 metres long (49 feet).

The total was estimated to be worth 890 million baht (USD 29 million), with the largest single haul being 700 kg of ice, or crystal methamphetamine recovered March 28.

They also seized nearly 1,800,000 pills of yaba, which is a local caffeine-methamphetamine mix, 1,380 kg of marijuana, and smaller quantities of cocaine, ecstasy pills, ketamine and other drugs combinations.

Thai police have dealt with more than 1,000 drug cases since October, compared to about 450 in the previous one-year period.

The most recent yesterday, when officers arrested a Thai woman returning from Ethiopia with 50 containers of cocaine concealed inside her body.

The 11 recent arrests include a Malaysian and a Tanzanian.

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Terming as 'eyewash' the protests by various political parties over the Cauvery issue, BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan today said her party would secure the state's rights in the dispute with Karnataka.

The BJP is taking constructive steps in this regard and "will fight for the cause and get Tamil Nadu the rightful share of water," she told reporters here.

"While BJP wants a legal solution to the problem, the agitations by other parties over the issue is just an eyewash," she said.

To a query on Chief Minister K Palaniswami sitting on fast 'condemning' the Centre for not setting up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) in compliance with the Supreme Court order, Soundararajan said everyone has the right to protest.

The opposition DMK and some other parties friendly to it have been holding protests across the state demanding setting up of the CMB by the Centre in compliance with the Supreme court on the vexed issue.

In its February 16 judgement, the apex court had raised the 270 tmcft share of Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery water.

It had granted six weeks time to the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgement, which modified the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award.

Following the verdict, Tamil Nadu had been urging the Centre to set up the CMB and CWRC to ensure it received its due share of water from the inter-state river.

The six-week period ended on March 29.

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Sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dhinkaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam activists held a demonstration at the Tiruchirappalli airport near here, joining today the oppositions' state-wide stir for an early setting up of Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

The police said AMMK's activists, including some farmers, held the demonstration, terming it as "siege at airport," and were detained.

Continuing the stir on the third day, farmers and various political parties' activists held demonstrations and road and rail blockades across the state, demanding immediate constitution of the CMB to implement the February 16 verdict of the Supreme Court on the Cauvery waters allocation among the riparian states.

The apex court though had reduced the Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery water, it had allowed it to extract 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin to tackle its acute scarcity of drinking water.

The stir being spearheaded by DMK and a slew of pro-Tamil outfits saw a slew of sit-ins and demonstrations by students and others at various places, including Chennai, Tiruvarur and Madurai.

The main opposition party DMK held demonstrations at 10 locations in the city while the agitation at downtown T Nagar was led by sitting MLA J Anbazhagan.

The DMK-led opposition parties had on April 1 called for a state-wide shutdown on April 5 demanding immediate constitution of the CMB by the Centre.

At Egmore Railway Station here, a rail roko agitation was held by activists of pro-Tamil outfits while at Villupruam, the Naam Tamizhar party cadres stopped an express train.

In Tiruchirappalli, besides Dhinakaran, farmer leaders P Ayyakannu, the chief of National South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association, and P R Pandian, the president of Tamil Nadu All Farmers Federations took part in the protest.

Koyambedu vegetable, fruit and flower market here, one of the biggest markets in the country observed shutdown today responding to the bandh call to express solidarity over the Cauvery issue.

Responding to a bandh call by a traders body, retail outlets and groceries too downed their shutters at several places of the state.

Adequate security arrangements are in place across the state, the police said.

Both the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government had on March 31 moved the Supreme Court on the issue of constitution and composition of the CMB in compliance with the February 16 verdict of the apex court on the contentious issue.

The apex court had on February 16 raised the 270 tmcft share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share, while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin, saying "the issue of drinking water has to be placed on a higher pedestal".

It had granted six weeks to the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgement, which modified the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal Award. The six-week period ended on March 29.

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A container train today left for Bangladesh from the Majherhat station here in a trial run which is likely to soon turn into a regular service to meet the growing demands for faster and safer transportation of goods between India and its neighbour.

The container train, which adds to the existing goods and passenger services between the two countries, will meet the long-standing demands of exporters, Eastern Railway general manager Harindra Rao said at the ceremonial flag-off.

Rao hoped a regular container service would soon start between the two countries after the completion of formalities.

Container Corporation of India (Concor) chairman and managing director Kalyan Rama said there was a demand for exporting items such as food grains, steel and cement.

The first container train to Bangladesh consists of 30 wagons, carrying 60 containers of soya bean extract.

It will travel a distance of 301km from Majerhat-Naihati-Ranaghat-Gede in India to Darsana-Ishurdi-Bangabandhu West in Bangladesh.

Bangabandhu West in Bangladesh is 117km from Dhaka but closer to industrial hubs around the capital, an ER official said.

"The need for a container service between these two countries has acutely been felt by exporters as such a service has certain benefits, including substantial time saving, safe transit, cost effectiveness and a single window solution," Rao said.

It will also make trade safer and significantly organised in comparison to capacity constraints of the sea and land routes, he said adding that the container service would also have a wider impact on bilateral trade.

At present a lot of goods are transported by road through international crossing points between the two countries at various places such as Petrapole-Benapole, Hili and Changrabandha.

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The trial run of the Kolkata-Dhaka container train loaded with over 1,100 tonnes of animal feed will be flagged off today, senior ministry officials said.

While passenger and goods trains run between the two countries, this is the first time that a container service will begin.

Exporters' forums had long been lobbying for container trains as they could save time and trade costs significantly apart from making trade safer and more organised.

Container trains are usually used to ferry machine parts, chemicals, automobiles and consumer durables that involve a shorter transit time.

If successful, the service would drastically reduce the transportation time," said senior officials. The Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor), a PSU under the railway ministry will handle the logistics of the container service.

The train will be flagged off at a Concor terminus near Majherhat station around 9.30am. It will travel 300km through Sealdah, Naihati, Ranaghat and Gede in India and Darsana and Ishurdi in Bangladesh before reaching Bangabandhu West station, 117km from Dhaka.

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President Donald Trump today said that "nobody has been tougher" on Russia than him but noted that "getting along" with the Kremlin would be beneficial for the US.

Trump's comments came during a meeting with leaders of the Baltic states -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - a day after the White House confirmed the president invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House for a potential meeting.

Trump has been facing flak from the Opposition for his effort to improve ties with Moscow.

"Probably nobody has been tougher to Russia than Donald Trump. If you take a look at our military strength now, which would not have happened had the opponent won, Trump told reporters during a luncheon with the visiting Baltic leaders.

"If you take a look at the oil and gas that we're producing now. We're independent. We're now exporting oil and gas. This is not something that Russia wanted, he said.

Trump, however, said that improving ties with Russia is also important.

"Nobody has been tougher on Russia, but getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing. And just about everybody agrees to that except very stupid people," he said.

Asked if Putin is "a friend or a foe, Trump said, "We'll find out."



Tension between the US and Russia escalated last week when Russia expelled 60 US diplomats and closed the US Consulate in St Petersburg in response to the US expelling Russian diplomats and closing their Seattle consulate.

The US decision was made after Britain recently blamed Russia for the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil.

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US President Donald Trump today vowed to deploy the military to the border with Mexico, something he described as a "big step."



Cultivating his tough-on-migration image during a White House meeting with Baltic leaders, Trump said "we are going to be guarding our border with our military" as he lashed out at his predecessor.

"President Obama made changes that basically created no border," he said.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that his country's plan to purchase Russia's long-range missile defence system is a "done deal," brushing aside concerns from some NATO allies.

Erdogan appeared at a joint conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in Ankara for his first foreign visit since his March 18 re-election. Both the defence system agreement and Putin's visit underscore the intensifying ties between Turkey and Russia.

In December, they finalised a deal for Turkey to purchase Russia's long-range S-400 missile defence system, raising eyebrows among some of Turkey's fellow NATO members.

"We have made an agreement regarding the S-400s. That subject is closed. It's a done deal," Erdogan said.

The warming relations between the two countries stand in contrast to the souring relations between Russia and the West over the poisoning in Britain of a Russian ex-spy. Turkey's relations with its Western allies also have deteriorated over human rights issues and its military operations against Kurdish militia in Syria.

The Turkish leader spoke of "attempts to poison Turkish-Russian cooperation" and added: "Thank God our relations navigated these difficult tests with success. With every failed provocation, our relationship strengthened, just like steel after iron is quenched with water."



Putin said Russia will manufacture the S-400 missiles at a quicker pace than initially planned to deliver them more quickly per Ankara's request.

"We have decided to speed up the delivery of those highly efficient systems," he added.

Earlier, the two leaders symbolically launched the start of the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant, which will be built by Russia near the Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu.

Putin hailed the project as a symbol of growing cooperation between Russia and Turkey.

"We face the ambitious goal of launching the first reactor in 2023 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey," the Russian leader said. "We agreed with my dear friend, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to do everything necessary to achieve that goal."



Erdogan said the power plant would meet 10 percent of Turkey's energy needs after all reactors become operational. The Akkuyu plant is being built by Russia's nuclear energy agency, Rosatom. The project is estimated to cost USD 20 billion.

Turkey and Russia have put aside their traditional rivalries and differences on regional issues to forge closer ties. Putin and Erdogan have met several times in the past year and regularly speak on the phone.

On Wednesday, Putin, Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are expected to hold a summit in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss Syria's future. The three countries are sponsoring a series of efforts in a bid to end the seven-year war.

Their cooperation comes despite having positions on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict. Moscow and Tehran have backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Turkey has supported the forces seeking to unseat him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Supermodel Tyra Banks has revealed that she underwent a nose job when she was a young model due to "cosmetic slash medical" reasons.

The "America's Next Top Model" host recalled to Today's Hoda Kotb that she had unknowingly broken her nose when she was three.

Banks said her aunt had noticed the deformity, but as the model did not have any breathing issues at the time, she did not consult a doctor.

"Cut to years later, I'm constantly scratching my nose and it was kind of growing sideways," she added.

She further said that while she was working on the ramp, a make-up artiste told her that her nose felt strange, which made Banks seek a medical opinion.

She finally decided to fix her nose with surgery.

"So it was cosmetic slash medical," Banks added.

The mogul first revealed about her plastic surgery in her new book co-written with her mother Carolyn London, "Perfect Is Boring".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UAE-based asset manager Equitativa, which manages the largest Shari'ah-compliant REIT in the world, Emirates REIT, is planning to make a foray into India by acquiring schools to launch the first real estate investment trust (REIT) in the education sector here.

"We continue to believe in the strategic importance of the education sector in the development of any country. India, given its demographics, has a huge potential in the education sector and we hope to enter this market by acquiring schools to launch our first REIT here," Equitativa Group chief investment officer Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi told PTI here.

Quoting a study, he said, nearly USD 50 million is expected to be invested in the education sector in the next 10 years, which the company believes is a huge opportunity.

"We are already managing a few schools in Dubai and our experience is that the education sector has sparked the interest of many real estate investors. We have seen a similar interest in Indian as well as global investors for the sector here," said Al-Halabi.

He said the company has identified a few properties across the country, but refused to divulge further details.

Emirates REIT currently manages two schools - Jebel Ali School and British Columbia Canadian School.

Apart from the education sector, the company is also exploring opportunities in the logistics and warehousing real estate here.

"It is one of the biggest growth areas that has emerged in recent times especially after the implementation of various reforms as well as the rapid growth of e-commerce," said Al-Halabi.

When asked about the timeline to launch the education REIT, he said, "We are at the very initial stage of planning, but we believe its a matter of few months. There is immense interest from investors and we are confident we will get the same response in India as well."



Equitativa is currently the largest REIT manager in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with about USD 2 billion of assets under management.

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The United Nations said today it was probing "disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians" in an Afghan airstrike on a religious school that security sources left dozens of children dead or wounded.

"Human Rights team on ground establishing facts. All parties reminded of obligations to protect civilians from impact of armed conflict," the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a brief statement.

Hundreds of people were attending a graduation ceremony at the madrassa in a Taliban-controlled district in northeastern Afghanistan on Monday when Afghan Air Force helicopters struck, witnesses have told AFP.

At least 59 people, including Taliban commanders meeting at the compound in Dashte Archi district in Kunduz province, were killed in the attack, Afghan security sources told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

Most of the civilian victims were children, they said.

"I myself counted 35 bodies," Abdul Khalil told AFP at the hospital in the provincial capital Kunduz where health officials said 57 wounded had been taken.

So far the defence ministry has denied civilians were among the casualties.

"Twenty Taliban, including the commander of their Red Unit in the district, and also a key member of the Quetta Shura were killed," defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told AFP yesterday.

The Red Unit is the insurgent group's elite unit, and the Quetta Shura is its leadership council.

The same number were wounded, Radmanish added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Dalit protests in several states yesterday were not against the Centre, but against the orders of the Supreme Court, Union minister Ramdas Athawale today said, while accusing the Congress and the BSP of trying to incite violence during the agitation.

The Dalit leader, who is also the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment, appealed to the community to maintain peace and said the Centre was committed to protecting their rights.

"The Dalit protests were not against the government, but against the orders of the court...The NDA government is committed to protecting the rights of the Dalits and it had filed a review petition against the directions of the Supreme Court on April 2...The Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are trying to incite violence over the protests, which they should not do," Athawale, whose Republican Party of India (RPI) is a part of the ruling coalition, told a press conference here.

He alleged that both the Congress and the BSP had done precious little to promote the interests of the Dalits when they were in power at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh respectively and added that the NDA government was serious about the smallest of the issues raised by the community.

"No party that is opposed to the Dalits can get its candidates elected," Athawale said.

He assured the Dalits that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was serious about all the issues plaguing them, including reservations in promotions.

The Union minister pointed out that there was already anger among the Dalits over an earlier order of the Supreme Court on reservation in promotions and added that it got aggravated with the top court's ruling on the SC/ST Act.

Condemning the violent protests, Athawale said if the agitation was peaceful, it could have had a stronger impact on the society.

He also demanded an impartial probe into yesterday's violence to find out who were behind it.

"Various reports say that the violence was incited and the Congress, BSP and other opposition parties had a hand in it. I have met the deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and demanded an inquiry," Athawale said.

The death toll in yesterday's violence has gone up to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh today.

The Supreme Court today refused to stay its recent order on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UN Security Council will undertake visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh this month to assess the Rohingya crisis situation on the ground, President of the Council Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra said.

Meza-Cuadra, the Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations and President of the Council for April, shared the information with reporters here yesterday and said the Council is also planning a trip to Iraq.

The details of the visits are still being worked out, he said.

"There is a willingness to visit those two places and we are now defining the terms of reference and the itinerary for those trips," he said, sharing the programme of the Council's work for the month.

He said the Council has "readiness" of the government of Myanmar to "accept the visit", during which they will try to visit the Rakhine state and get a first-hand overview of the Rohingya crisis.

"Obviously we are interested in the Rakhine state and we believe that the Council will benefit a great deal and also in really maintaining interest in this topic. There is nothing better than visiting, making a visit on the ground to see how the situation is really... so we are working with the leaders on the visit," he said.

Meza-Cuadra said once the Council visit takes place, and "once we are on the ground, we will convey the relevant messages".

He added that there are "different positions on this topic" within the Council and all this will be reflected in the terms of reference of the visit that are still being drawn up.

"We have expressed our interest in visiting Rakhine state. I hope that will be possible, I don't think there should be any difficulties. It will give a comprehensive overview of the situation," he added.

Since August 2017, nearly 700,000 minority Muslim Rohingyas have fled violence in Myanmar across the border into Bangaldesh's Cox's Bazar, joining several hundred thousand more that were already settled there in overcrowded camps.

Last week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said about 150,000 Rohingya refugees, who fled Myanmar into Cox's Bazar are living in flood-prone areas and must be relocated ahead of the coming rainy season.

On the proposed visit to Iraq, which will be holding elections in May, Meza-Cuadra said the country has made significant progress in the fight against terrorism, against Daesh (or ISIS).

"The country needs support from the international community for rebuilding the country and to ensure reconciliation. These are the kinds of messages we will consider transmitting," he said.

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Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya today blamed opposition parties for the violence in Uttar Pradesh yesterday and warned that those spreading anarchy won't be spared.

Large-scale violence was reported in UP yesterday which left two people dead and over 70 others injured during the Dalit protests.

"BSP, SP and Congress are working behind the scenes to spread anarchy in the state. It's not right... Stern action will be taken against all those indulging in such acts," Maurya said while speaking at a function here.

"What is the relevance of the bandh? Why do you want to spread anarchy? Who were the ones who had come out (and indulged in violence)? They were from the BSP, SP, and Congress," he said.

Maurya also flayed BSP chief Mayawati for blaming the anti-social elements for violence.

"They have purposely tried to spoil the atmosphere in the state," said Maurya.

The deputy chief minister said all the opposition parties had come together against the BJP which has been working for the people.

"Had Prime Minister Narendra Modi not been working in the interest of the country would all these parties join hands to fight election against us? ...The entire world is appreciating India today," Maurya said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Normalcy returned to Uttar Pradesh today after large-scale violence was reported in the state which left two people dead and over 70 others injured during 'Bharat Bandh'.

Around 650 people have been arrested in connection with yesterday's violence in the state and 125 cases have been lodged, DIG (Law and Order) Pravin Kumar said.

No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere today, the DIG said, adding that the footage of arson and violence received by the police is being looked into.

The loss of property is also being evaluated, Kumar said.

All necessary steps are being taken to ensure that no such incident is allowed to recur anywhere in the state, he said.

As many as two people were killed and over 70 others were injured as Dalit groups protested against what they claimed as "dilution" of the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Several towns in western UP saw violence and in Meerut, a former BSP MLA Yogesh Verma, was among those arrested.

Violent incidents took place in Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Meerut, Agra besides some other districts too.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump today said the US cannot afford to have a USD 500 billion a year trade deficit with China, asserting that America need to do "something very substantial" about the trade deficit.

"We have a problem with China. They've created a trade deficit, and I really blame our representatives and, frankly, our preceding presidents for this. They have a trade deficit of USD 500 billion a year. It's not something we can live with, Trump told reporters during a media interaction with visiting Baltic leaders.

Trump, however, praised Chinese President Xi Jinping calling him a "tremendous person" for whom he has a great respect.

"Two of the most incredible days of my life were spent in China. Many of you were with me. He's a tremendous person," Trump said, recollecting his visit to the country last year.

Trump said his administration will be working with China. "We'll be negotiating with China. Our relationship is very good with China, and we intend to keep it that way. But we have to do something to seriously relieve that trade deficit. We can't have a USD 500 billion a year trade deficit, he said.

The US has to do something on trade with certain countries, he said.

"And obviously, China is the leader in terms of deficits. We've never had a situation where a country -- nor has there ever been in -- in history, a situation where a country has done that to another country, he said.

Trump said the US has helped rebuild China. "Over the last 25 years, if you take a look at what's happened. We have helped rebuild China. So we intend to get along with China, but we have to do something very substantial about the trade deficit. And with that, nothing is easy. I campaigned on that. I talked about that. China won't be the only country, but I did, in fact, campaign on it, Trump said.

Amid escalating trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies, China yesterday imposed tariffs on 128 American goods, retaliating for Trump's decision last month to slap import duties of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium.

Trump's decision to impose heavy tariff on steel and aluminium was primarily targeting China which has long been accused of flooding the global market with the metals.

Trump has accused China of unfair trade practices which he says harm US businesses and swell the bilateral trade deficit.

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Leading opponents of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro have called on France and other EU nations not to recognise elections set for May, saying the vote was simply a sham aimed at consolidating his grip on power.

The country has been gripped by a political and economic crisis for months as Madura has overhauled institutions while sidelining the main opposition coalition, which has been barred from fielding candidates.

"We've come to ask the French government to increase the pressure in order to free Venezuela from the dictatorship," Antonio Ledezma, the exiled mayor of Caracas, told AFP at the start of a tour of European capitals.

"There is a crisis in Venezuela, a humanitarian catastrophe, people starving, people dying due to a lack of medicine," he said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking yesterday following a meeting with his Argentinian counterpart Jorge Faurie, said France hoped to see "fair and transparent elections".

If there is no progress in that direction, he warned, "France, in conjunction with its European partners, will adopt the additional measures required".

Ledezma and other Venezuelan lawmakers are to meet with advisers to French President Emmanuel Macron, who said in January that he hoped several countries would impose international sanctions against Maduro's government.

But despite international isolation and broad unpopularity, Maduro has shown no sign of wanting to negotiate after moving forward elections to May in a bid for a second six-year term.

Opposition groups, some of which are boycotting the vote, say it will not be a fair contest.

"Fraud is so deeply rooted in all of society that unfortunately Maduro will win these elections with fraud," said Julio Borges, a delegate with the Democratic Unity Roundtable umbrella coalition.

"That's why the most important clamour the world can make is to not recognise the elections of May 20," he told AFP.

The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Maduro and his officials, with Washington calling him a "dictator".

But officials have also expressed concern about penalties that could harm ordinary Venezuelans already suffering from deteriorating living standards in the oil-rich nation.

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The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today condemned the Centre's move to amend the guidelines for accreditation of journalists in case of fake news, saying that the step amounted to an "undeclared emergency".

Stating that media was the fourth pillar of democracy, VHP international working president Pravin Togadia said curtailing their voices in any name was dangerous to citizen rights.

"We strongly condemn this undemocratic move by the government. This is nothing but an undeclared emergency," he said in a statement.

Without taking names, Togadia said those who opposed "such emergency" for 52 yrs were behaving this way after coming to power.

"This is shocking and horrific," he said.

The VHP leader said agreeing or disagreeing with a media story was up to an individual, but choking media was unacceptable.

"This is the dangerous tendency by the rulers and we fear that it could even manifest in other areas of common people's lives or for those who speak for the people," he said.

Togadia also appealed to all concerned not to bring in such draconian rules and to democratically and peacefully oppose such undemocratic moves.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had yesterday announced measures to contain fake news, saying the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if a scribe was found generating or propagating fake

Earlier today, the Prime Minister's Office advised the ministry to withdraw the press release on fake and said the decision on what amounts to fake should be left to bodies such as the Press Council of India (PCI).

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Telecom infrastructure firm American Tower Corporation and Vodafone India said today that they have completed the Rs 3,850 crore deal under which ATC has bought the mobile operator's tower business.

"Vodafone India has completed the sale of its standalone tower business in India to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited for an enterprise value of Rs 38.5 billion," the mobile operator said in statement.

ATC had signed a pact last November to acquire around 20,000 mobile towers of Vodafone and Idea Cellular for total value of around Rs 7,850 crore.

We are pleased to acquire this portfolio, which will complement our existing footprint and help us serve our tenants in India as they expand 4G services in the coming years," ATC's EVP and President, Asia, Amit Sharma said.

The purchase of Vodafone mobile towers adds nearly 10,200 sites to the existing Indian portfolio of 58,000 mobile towers of ATC.

The completion of this deal brings the Idea and Vodafone merger a step closer. The closure of Rs 4,000-crore mobile tower sale deal between ATC and Idea is now awaited.

According to government sources, the merger of Idea and Vodafone is likely to be cleared after the closure of Idea-ATC deal.

"We expect regulatory processes to be completed by end of this month (for closure of deal with Idea). The Department of Telecom is driving it. We are hopeful of completing the deal by May," Sharma said.

Vodafone said that the company along with Idea announced their intention to sell their individual standalone tower businesses to strengthen the combined financial position of the merged entity.

"The merger is expected to complete in the first half of the current calendar year," Vodafone said.

The purchase of around 20,000 mobile towers are expected to generate approximately Rs 2,100 crore in property revenue and approximately Rs 800 crore in gross margin during their first full year in ATC's portfolio.

"The guidance was for full year. We will now focus on synergising operations of these towers and increasing their operational efficiency," Sharma said.

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not uttering a word" on the alleged atrocities on Dalits and tribals and "dilution" of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

His remarks at a public meeting here on the fifth leg of his tour of the poll-bound Karnataka came against the backdrop of violence in northern parts of the country during yesterday's protests against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The protests during 'Bharat bandh' against the Supreme Court verdict on the issue claimed at least nine lives and left hundreds of persons injured.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the Prime Minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word," he said.

Gandhi compared the status of SC/ST welfare in Karnataka with the Modi government's actions on the issue.

He claimed that more than half of the money released by the Modi government across the country for SC/ST welfare was being spent by Karnataka itself on the Dalits and tribals.

He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the "leak" of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.

Lacing his remarks with sarcasm, Gandhi said the prime minister wrote a book (Exam Warriors) telling children how to face the exam and also gave a lecture for two hours on how to prepare for exams.

He said children took the advice seriously and prepared for the exam with the help of their parents but when they went to appear for the exam, they were told that the exams were cancelled as the question paper was leaked.

"Modi may have failed in plugging the question paper leak but he may again lecture children how to prepare for exams and will tell them about the dos and don'ts during exam," saidGandhi.

On the one side, question papers are leaked, while on the other election dates are also leaked, Gandhi quipped.

"It seems the RSS has taught Modi that he should stress more on giving lectures. The RSS has taught him to stand, hold stick, wear knickers and speak lies. I think the prime minister is now realising that the nation cannot be run with hatred, lathi, speeches and false promises", he said.

He took a jibe at Modi for the India-China stand-off at Doklam despite "swinging" with China president Xi Jinping.

"Modi and China president swung together. Later, the president responded by saying 'I enjoyed the swing and now I am coming to Doklam'.

"Chinese are building roads and airports in Doklam, but Modi is still swinging. The '56-inch' chest could not speak a word when China entered Doklam," said Gandhi.

He took potshots at BJP state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa, who is being projected as the party's chief ministerial face.

Shivamogga is the home district of Yeddyurappa.

"If he looks at the stage properly, on one side (of Modi) there is Yeddyurappa who spent time in jail (in a graft case), on the other side there are four ministers who had been to jail. Modiji you speak about corruption, when there are corrupt sitting next to you on the stage," he said.

Gandhi quipped that the BJP has now started speaking truth.

"First time the BJP spoke truth. Whatever they had in their mind they spoke it. Amit Shah said (at Davangere) that Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt government. I am happy that he spoke truth for the first time in his life," he said.

Gandhi was referring to Shah's gaffe at a press conference in Davangere on March 27 where he said that the Yeddyurappagovernment was the most corrupt government in the country. He was actually referring to the Siddaramaiah government.

Shah had, however, corrected himself immediately.

The Congress president also reminded Modi that the nation cannot be run with hatred, anger, violence and partiality.

He said, "I have seen many prime ministers such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. One thing is clear. If you want to run the nation, you need to run it with love. You can take the nation to any heights with love. The more you connect people, the country will become stronger," he said.

Before addressing the public meeting, Rahul held a roadshow in the Shivamogga city, with thousands of people standing on the sides of the road to greet him.

(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.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not uttering a word" on alleged atrocities on Dalits and tribals and "dilution" of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

His remarks at a public meeting here on the fifth leg of his tour of poll-bound Karnataka came against the backdrop of violence in northern parts of the country during yesterday's protests against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The protests during 'Bharat bandh' against the Supreme Court verdict on the issue claimed at least 11 lives and left hundreds of persons injured.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the Prime Minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word," he said.

Gandhi compared the status of SC/ST welfare in Karnataka with the Modi government's actions on the issue.

He claimed that more than half of the money released by the Modi government across the country for SC/ST welfare was being spent by Karnataka itself on the Dalits and tribals.

He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the "leak" of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.

Lacing his remarks with sarcasm, Gandhi said the Prime Minister wrote a book (Exam Warriors) telling children how to face the exam and also gave a lecture for two hours on how to prepare for exams.

He said children took the advice seriously and prepared for the exam with the help of their parents,but when they went to appear for the exam, they were told that the exams were cancelled as the question paper was leaked.

"Modi may have failed in plugging the question paper leak but he may again lecture children how to prepare for exams and will tell them about dos and don'ts during exam," said Gandhi.

On the one side, question papers are leaked, while on the other election dates are also leaked, Gandhi quipped.

"It seems RSS has taught Modi that he should stress more on giving lectures. The RSS has taught him to stand, hold stick, wear knickers and speak lies.I think the Prime Minister is now realising that the nation cannot be run with hatred, lathi, speeches and false promises", he said.

He took potshots at BJP state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa, who is being projected as the party's Chief Ministerial face.

Shivamogga is the home district of Yeddyurappa.

"If he looks at the stage properly, on one side (of Modi) there is Yeddyurappa who spent time in jail (in a graft case), on the other side there are four ministers who had been to jail. Modiji you speak about corruption, when there are corrupt sitting next to you on the stage," Gandhi said.

He quipped that BJP has now started speaking the truth.

"First time the BJP spoke the truth. Whatever they had in their mind they spoke it. Amit Shah said (at Davangere) that Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt. I am happy he spoke the truth for the first time in his life," he said.

Gandhi was referring to Shah's gaffe at a press conference at Davangere on March 27, where he said the Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt government in the country.

He was actually referring to the Siddaramaiah government.

Shah had, however, corrected himself immediately.

The Congress president also reminded Modi that the nation cannot be run with hatred, anger, violence and partiality.

He said, "I have seen many Prime Ministers such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. One thing is clear. If you want to run the nation, you need to run it with love. You can take the nation to any heights with love. The more you connect people, the country will become stronger," he said.

Before addressing the public meeting, Rahul held a roadshow in Shivamogga city, with thousands of people standing on the sides of the road to greet him.

At a rally in Davangere, Gandhi, while referring to the Punjab National Bank scam, asked the crowd, "Okay, do you know who is the lawyer of Nirav Modi? You do not know? Then let me tell you. (It is) Arun Jaitleyji's daughter."



He also alleged that Narendra Modi very well knew fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksey, who are linked with Punjab National Bank fruad case.

Gandhi asked Modi to check the letters written by people to his office, informing him about Nirav Modi's 'loot' from thebank.

"In the last six to seven months, people wrote letters to thePrime Minister's Office informing him about Nirav Modi's loot (from the bank). Modiji, please check," he said.

On the Karnataka polls,he said it was a fight between two ideologies- BJP and RSS on one side and Congress on the other.

"On the one side BJP-RSS ideology of dividing the country, spreading anger and hate; other side ideology of brotherhood, love and peace by Congress party. RSS and BJP's thinking is different. They are told wear half pants, hold lathis and give speeches. Left right, left right," he said.

Gandhi said Modi spoke of the history of the country, but never understood the culture of love,brotherhood and "ahimsa".

On the petrol and diesel price hike, Gandhi said when UPA was in power, the oil price was USD 140 per barrel and today it is half in the international market.

"When in the international market petrol price was coming down,you are paying high.Whose pocket is the money going? Your money is being looted from you and is being given to 10/12 rich people," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Xi Jinping greeted Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa as an "old friend" of China today as the African leader visited Beijing, which previously backed his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter in the 1960s, was met with a military honour guard at the Great Hall of the People on his first state visit outside of Africa.

The two leaders oversaw the signing of six documents, including a letter on economic and development cooperation and another on emergency food assistance, as Mnanangwa seeks help from a major ally with historic ties to Zimbabwe.

"I heartily welcome President Mnangagwa on his visit to Beijing," Xi said as the two sat down for talks.

"You are an old friend of China and I appreciate your efforts to develop relations in all areas," he said.

Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa from his job as vice president in November over a succession tussle with the first lady Grace Mugabe, leading to a military intervention that culminated with the veteran president's ousting and Mnangagwa taking office.

The country's then-army chief, General Constantino Chiwenga, had visited Beijing shortly before the military action, leading to questions about whether China had any role in the power transfer.

Chiwenga was named vice president in December. China denied it played any part in the transition.

Beijing had long been one of Mugabe's most powerful allies and a major trade partner, as the West shunned him over his government's human rights violations, but it avoided publicly taking sides during his ousting.

"Last November Zimbabwe achieved a peaceful, smooth transfer of power that was broadly recognised by the international community," Xi said.

"I am willing to work with Mr. president (Mnangagwa) to jointly map out our future cooperation and write a new chapter in China-Zimbabwe relations for the benefit of our two peoples."



Mnangagwa, wearing a scarf in the the colours of Zimbabwe's flag, told Xi he appreciated China's "political support and goodwill" following the "peaceful political transition in Zimbabwe".

Mnangagwa has also been accused of playing a key role in his mentor Mugabe's authoritarian regime that left the economy in ruins and under sanctions.

He was targeted by EU and US measures imposed on Mugabe and his close allies over violence and intimidation during Zimbabwe's 2008 presidential campaign.

The visit comes as China takes a more proactive role in Africa, where it has long invested in infrastructure projects and sought resources. It has recently built its first overseas military base in Djibouti.

Relations between China and Zimbabwe date back to the liberation struggle of the 1960s, when Beijing provided arms and trained some of the top guerrilla leaders including Mnangagwa.

Before his arrival yesterday, Mnangagwa told China's official Xinhua agency that his trip was aimed at thanking Xi and the Chinese people for supporting his country "during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us".

He said he would seek to sell Zimbabwe as a destination for Chinese investment and take part in economic forums aimed at attracting business to the country.

Zimbabwe was China's largest foreign supplier of tobacco, with some 40 percent of the product imported by the Asian country coming from the African nation.

China also set up a joint venture with Zimbabwe in a diamond mining company, but Mugabe announced the nationalisation of the nation's diamond mines in 2016.

Chinese companies have also been involved in projects to install a cellular phone network, expand a hydropower station and build a coal-fired power plant.

Mnangagwa will meet Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday, then visit the eastern provinces of Anhui and Zhejiang before his visit ends on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A youth, who was injured during clashes between protesters and security forces in Kangan area of Ganderbal district yesterday, died at a hospital here today, officials said.

Gowhar Ahmad Rather, a resident of Kangan in Ganderbal, had been admitted to SKIMS hospital here with critical head injury, the officials said.

"Rather, who was on a ventilator since yesterday, breathed his last this afternoon," a police official said.

The deceased was injured during clashes between protestors and security forces in Kangan area last evening.

While the locals alleged that he had sustained pellet injuries after being shot at by security forces, a police spokesman said Rather suffered critical injuries after he fell into a drain.

"A group of miscreants had gathered in Kangan market to pelt stones and disturb law-and-order in the area. A police party reached the spot, on seeing which, the miscreants started running, during which the boy fell down and injured his head on the edge of the drain," a police spokesman said.

"Reports regarding bullet injury are completely false since no bullet was fired on the spot," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia, serving a five-year sentence in a corruption case, has been undergoing treatment for chronic diseases inside jail, according to a media report.

Zia, 72, was sentenced in February by the Special Court-5 in Dhaka in connection with the embezzlement of 21million takas (USD 252,000) in foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust.

She is currently serving the sentence at the central jail.

After she fell sick last Thursday, the government had formed a four-member medical team comprising four professors of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka Tribune reported.

M Shamsuzzaman Shahinas, who is heading the team, yesterday said that they have added several more medicines alongside the ones Zia currently takes for her ailments, the report said.

"We have also recommended some tests for her. The prison authorities will have them conducted. We have also advised her to do physical exercise. Although she is sick, her condition is not critical," Shahinas said.

"She (Khaleda) told us that she has been experiencing pain on her neck, limbs and waist," said the doctor.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said that Zia is "physically sound" in jail but she has been suffering from some chronic diseases, Daily Star reported.

Khaleda Zia is in jail as per directives by the court. She is getting all the facilities according to the jail code," the minister said.

Meanwhile, BNP demanded the release of its chairperson from jail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Zimbabwean woman has been apprehended at Delhi airport for allegedly trying to smuggle out party drugs worth around Rs 15 crore, an official said today.

Based on a tip off provided by the sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Betty Rame, who was supposed to travel to Goa, was apprehended by CISF personnel last night, he said.

As she was about to enter the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here, a CISF staff intercepted her and took her for detailed frisking.

"About 3 kilogrammes of Methamphetamine, a party drug also known as 'ice', was recovered from the bag of the woman who hails from Zimbabwe. She was handed over to the NCB," the official said, adding the seized drug is valued at about Rs 15 crore in the market.

Rame had arrived in Mumbai on March 20 from Zimbabwe and had visited India earlier in November last year, they said.

The drug consignment was handed over to her by an African man in Delhi and she was supposed to smuggle it to Manila in Philippines via Goa.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Following attacks by President Donald Trump on Amazon.com Inc , the U.S. Chamber of Commerce criticized attacks by government officials against American companies. "It's inappropriate for government officials to use their position to attack an American company," said Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer for the Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business group."The U.S. economy is the world's most powerful because it embraces the free enterprise system and the rule of law, whereby policy matters are handled through recognised ...
By Winni Zhou and Andrew GalbraithSHANGHAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - When China closed its local cryptocurrency exchanges late last year, an underground ecosystem of bitcoin "mules" and peer-to-peer platforms sprung up to allow bitcoin trading to thrive, away from regulators' watchful eyes. Li, a Canada-based Chinese banker in his 20s, is one of these underground traders. He buys cryptocurrencies in other markets and sells them at a premium to investors in China, who cannot otherwise get them. At the height of the frenzied demand for bitcoins in January, when prices of the digital currency were ...
By Xiaowen Bi and Shu ZhangHONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - CEFC China Energy has been hit by legal action from a creditor, even as the cash-strained conglomerate's biggest financial backer, China Development Bank (CDB), is attempting to dissuade lenders from taking action, sources said.State-backed China Everbright Bank Co has filed multiple lawsuits against CEFC (Shanghai) International Group Co, a CEFC subsidiary, in a Shanghai court as it seeks to limit its exposure to the troubled group, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter.Privately owned CEFC has come under financial pressure ...
By Foo Yun Chee and Alissa de CarbonnelBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and Gazprom are poised to settle a long-running antitrust case after the Russian gas company agreed to price reforms and to allow rivals to gain a foothold in eastern Europe, people familiar with the matter said.A decision by the European Commission could come as early as this month although the timing could still slip, the people said. A settlement would allow Gazprom to avoid a possible fine of as much as 10 percent of its global turnover.The seven-year-old case underlines the rocky relationship between Europe ...
By Ankit AjmeraBENGALURU (Reuters) - Marriott International Inc is looking to lower the commissions it pays to online travel agencies starting with Expedia Group Inc when it renegotiates its contract with the company later this year, Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson said on Tuesday.Online travel agencies, already dealing with tight margins, are facing more pressure from hotel chains seeking to shift customers to book directly on their web and mobile platforms by providing incentives like free wifi and discounts. "We would certainly like to pay less. We will have to see how the ...
By Ayenat MersieNEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil edged up on Tuesday, supported by a recovery in the equities market and on a technical bounce for crude after the biggest daily percentage drop in almost a year, but Brent futures stayed well below $70 a barrel.Brent crude futures gained 48 cents, or 0.7 percent, to settle at $68.12 a barrel. This followed a nearly 4 percent drop in Brent prices on Monday, the largest since June.Brent had risen to $71 a barrel last week, close to its highest this year.West Texas Intermediate futures rose 50 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $63.51 a barrel."There's ...
By Ann SaphirSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank will appoint a committee in the next few days to conduct a "full-blown search throughout the world" for a new president, the bank's chair Alex Mehran said on Tuesday. "Diversity will be a key factor" in the search for a leader to succeed John Williams, who on Tuesday was named as the next chief of the New York Fed, Mehran told Reuters in an interview. "It's one of the important cultural issues at this Fed." The New York Fed has been criticized for picking Williams, a white 55-year-old man, even though it made ...
In a tweet, the company has confirmed that the upcoming mid-tier smartphone would be called the OnePlus 6. In a way, the company has also confirmed that the phone would be launched soon. 6et ready! pic.twitter.com/bmvI75xphm  OnePlus (@oneplus) April 2, 2018 In terms of features and specifications, nothing has been officially confirmed about the OnePlus 6, except that it would have a notch-based screen, something that was confirmed by OnePlus CEO and co-founder Carl ...

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Digital Editor
Boycotting: Putting power back in the hands of consumers

Published on April 3, 2018

Story by Charles Duprez Translation by: Cafebabel

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Its easy to feel helpless. Even if documentaries on scandals surrounding major brands such as LIDL and Haribo cause outrage, citizens find themselves stuck without a solution as soon as they turn off their TVs. Still, civic engagement platforms and activists are proving that boycotting has an impact. We spoke to the individuals who stop at nothing.

Nestle, Lactalis, Coca Cola... not one of these brands are strangers to scandals. While the French media continue to report on the Lactalis affair, Germany recently experienced a scandal of its own. Its Haribos turn to face the critics. A few uncomfortable truths can be found behind the brands cute yellow teddy bear, including labour practices described as modern slavery, unhygienic working conditions and accusations of animal abuse. German public broadcaster ARD denounced the deplorable working conditions for Haribo employees in some parts of the world, revealing how the company exploited Brazilian workers whose salaries and working conditions violate human rights laws. The documentary drew a total of 2.75 million viewers across the country. But at the end of the screening, as we have seen time and time again, the outrage directed at Haribo gradually dissipated as viewers went on with their daily lives, forgetting what they had just seen on their TV screens.

"Boycotting makes me feel powerful"

In other words: simply being informed isnt enough. Its time for consumers to act on the information that is given to them, to take action and boycott brands if they want to put an end to the barbaric practices certain companies carry out. Mathilde, a young psychology student, loves Dragibus (a type of Haribo candy, ed.). Like many others, she has seen countless videos and articles about the accusations made against Haribo. In liking or sharing the content, she endorses and echoes this information on social media. But she isnt naive: The fact that I can share information about the company gives me the illusion of participating in the fight against these unfair practices. In a way, it makes me feel better The young woman tells us that this kind of couch outrage has its limits because clicktivism wont really change things.

In search of freedom in her consumption, Mathilde has chosen to use online boycotting campaigns. The method is quite simple: participants unite on the Internet to collectively stop buying certain products. Mathilde believes that the strategy works because it gives new meaning to the act of consumption. Boycotting makes me feel as though I have power over what I consume. I choose whether or not to buy a product, the young student explains. Following revelations from Greenpeace about the devastating fishing methods used by French brand Petit Navire, Mathilde made the decision to stop buying canned tuna from them.

Levent Acar has examined this sort of consumer behaviour in detail. Two years ago, he founded the first online platform to facilitate boycotting: I-boycott.org. For him, civic engagement is part of a broader phenomenon of responsible consumption. This method of bringing awareness has started to have an impact, as Frances faire-trade product sales have seen a 20% increased in 2016 and organic product sales have seen a 20% increase compared with 2015 (according to the online guide Mes courses pour la planete, ed.). Acar believes that a business will evolve if the market allows it to do so. And since consumers find themselves at the end of the supply chain, its up to them to uphold the role of ethical guardian. The solution is to understand economic mechanisms in society in order to later use boycotting to overcome abuses. The platforms leader says: Individual boycotting is about doing your part, but collective boycotting is about establishing an opposition.

From Gandhi to Cash Investigation

From Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela to Gandhi, boycotting has always been an essential form of democratic protest, allowing people to regain power by attacking the Achilles heel of big businesses: money. In a world where everyone is online, the consumer has many digital tools at their disposal. However, we should be careful not to become consumers of scandals, we need to harness the current combative spirit to ensure we make long-lasting change, Levent Acar urges. In France, the success of documentaries is largely thanks to the publics interest in scandals surrounding major brands, as was the case with Cash Investigations film on LIDL (3.8 million viewers, ed.). Still, even if the general public is intrigued and concerned by the problems presented in the documentaries, few have managed to find the means to act on their concerns. That is why Acar decided to launch his civic engagement platform and put the power back in the hands of the consumer.

Managed by a team of volunteers, I-boycott enables all citizens to create or participate in social mobilisation campaigns. The movement seeks to mobilise as many people as possible; the digital community boasts more than 100,000 members with branches in 13 cities across France, according to the platform leader. He also claims that, as consumers, we all have the means to play a role in the policing of ethical standards through our purchasing power: Every time we choose to buy something, we are choosing to either accept the system or reject it.

Thanks to the Internet, boycotting is becoming a democratised means of mobilising people without any temporal or geographical constraints. Boycotting often crystallises work that is carried out on the ground by organisations such as charges made against a brand, awareness campaigns and other nonviolent methods of civic resistance. These initiatives encourage more and more businesses to incorporate ethical standards in their economic logic. Since 2017 in France, a decree has forced many businesses to adopt CSR (corporate social responsibility).

A boycott campaign can have disastrous consequences for a company, which is usually reflected in an intense drop in sales. Volkswagen, for example, saw a 5% decrease in sales worldwide in the year following the diesel dupe scandal. In this particular case, the consumers discontent directly affected the companys profits.

This is in line with what Mathilde says: Brands are better off taking a preventative approach rather than waiting until there a boycotting campaign emerges because it can be difficult to restore a brands image. That is certainly the case for the Lactalis scandal and the companys poor communication; the director of Lactails took several weeks to respond and make a statement. The pressure from consumers and the legislator has even made ethical standards a quantifiable measure. According to a study by McKinsey, 36% of big bosses ranked corporate social responsibility among their top three objectives.

"Boycotting shouldnt be seen as being a punishment

For brands to evolve, they need to be ethical. That is why, according to Levent Acar, economic boycotting is only effective if it is conducted without hostility: Boycotting shouldnt be seen as being a punishment. Its the construction of an open dialogue that makes it possible for a consumer-business relationship to evolve in a positive way. On the I-boycott platform, a company is informed when a campaign has been launched against their brand. The company has the right to respond and accept the demands, and communicate with the boycotters. Following their response, a vote is cast so that participants can make a collective decision on how to proceed.

For example, in accepting and addressing the demands from boycotters, Oasis managed to lift the boycott that was placed on their brand. In 2016, Oasis was criticised for its partnership with Pinder circus, which had been accused of animal abuse. That is an example of the principles of democracy being applied to the market, says Levent. Things seem to be going well, as the platform has had four victories since it was launched.

As Anne Lappe, a professor and writer committed to sustainable economies, says: Every time you spend money, you are voting for the kind of world that you want. But neglecting a product isnt easy. You have to find an equivalent that meets your criteria: a buycott. First conceptualised in the columns of the Los Angeles Times, the concept refers to the act of choosing a product over another for ethical reasons.

A study conducted by Unilever shows that one third of consumers purchasing decisions are based on the brands social and environmental impact, making it an economic and marketing consideration for companies. To make it easier for the consumer, many labels, awards and other accolades have emerged in a bid for brands to prove their social and environmental credentials. The same study confirms that 21% of participants will actively make the decision to buy a specific product if they clearly display their sustainability credentials on the packaging. Mathilde tells us that among several similar products, she always chooses the one that stands out with a responsible label: When I buy a coffee for example, I always buy fair-trade. To present new products to consumers, I-Boycott has added an alternative section to its website where Internet users can propose and vote for the best substitutes for incriminated products. Buycotting has made a name for itself in an economy that thrives off consumption. It provides a [new] framework, Levent Acar stresses.

Crossing borders

If boycotting is a political act in and of itself, one which puts pressure on society, it has to remain impartial. According to the founder of I-boycott, we have to be careful of political exploitation. In other words, we must prevent the weaker camp from being exploited by the stronger camp.

The I-boycott platform is managed by an organisation, but the campaigns are proposed and approved by the community before they are launched. These campaigns must also be in line with the respective regional legal framework. When a citizen launches a campaign, they undergo an incubation period during which they are subject to voting and criticism, Levent says. It enables them to avoid defamation and accusations of misinformation. The campaign then has 30 days to acquire a minimum of 1,000 boycotters. The brand or companys right to reply is also a moral guarantee. It is the idea of working together without either side losing out, Acar explains. The consumer is always the one who has the last word.

Once the framework has been established the limit remains the same because it is the quantity of participants that makes a boycott legitimate in the eyes of businesses (and other consumers). With regards to Levent and the image of businesses that evolve internationally, the counter-powers must also transcend borders for the mobilisation effort to be as effective as possible. What about an international boycott? "We know that boycott platforms are effective in mobilising people. The collective force carries us and transforms a solitary act into a mass mobilisation," says Mathilde. Life is good.

Once the framework has been established, the limit remains the same because it is the quantity of participants that makes a boycott legitimate in the eyes of businesses (and other consumers). According to Levent, like large companies operating internationally, counter-powers must also transcend borders to make mobilisation as effective as possible. What about an international boycott? We know that boycott platforms are effective in mobilising people. The collective force carries us and transforms a solitary act into mass action, Mathilde responds. So, are we in the happy world of Haribo?

Story by Charles Duprez

Translated from Le boycott : du pouvoir pour les grands et les petits
| BY Ricki Green |

Curious director Sam Kristofski has recently created some new slick digital assets, dripping in couture for Parisian fashion icon Maison Margiela.

The videos are a collaboration with Purple Magazine and musical duo Die Antwood who star alongside their daughter Sixteen Jones.

Margiela has been defining fashion trends since the early nineties and continues to dominate fashion on a global scale.

Says Kristofski: Die Antwoord, are some of the most inspiring artists I have ever worked with. Since then, Ninja will often call me at random times with film ideas he wants to make and every idea I want to shoot.

Kristofski also just directed a film collaboration between The Vista and The Horse two of Australias most followed travel brands.

Having directed TVCs and digital content for many brands including: Visa, Coca Cola, Uniqlo, Mentos and Pepsi, Kristofski is an emerging talent to watch.

Kristofski has directed fourteen music videos in the last year alone for artists across The States, Australia and New Zealand.

Notable clips include The Babe Rainbow Monkey Disco, Pond Fire In The Water, City Calm Down Blame, and New Zealands latest pop sensation, Nakita Sucka.

Kristofski has a keen eye on interesting and dynamic ways to utilise the camera creating a slick, stylised perfection.

Based between New Zealand, Los Angeles and Sydney, Kristofski is represented by Curious Film for his commercial work.
| BY Kim Shaw |

Theres just a few days left to enter the Asia-Pacific Tambuli Awards.

The awards are the pioneer award show globally that honors brands that do good and do well.

Final entry deadline is this Tuesday April 10th, 2018 with the Conference and Awards night being held on June 5 in Manila.

The APAC Tambuli Awards celebrates brands that show the seamless integration of creativity + human good + results. Case study entries must demonstrate how brands uplift society, create positive change, and correlate purpose with purchase.

The APAC Tambuli Awards is not an award on charity, advocacy, pro bono, or CSR advertising, even if those campaigns are welcome and encouraged to enter. The award, however, focuses on mainstream brand campaigns that celebrate humanity, inspire purpose, and deliver results.

An award that began in Manila in 2005, the Tambuli (a native Filipino horn) is organized by the School of Communication of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) in collaboration with industry partners, to create positive impact in society through marketing communications.

Last years executive jury was headed by Matt Eastwood, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, J. Walter Thompson. Others on the jury included Kentaro Kimura (Hakuhodo Kettle, Tokyo), Nicolas Menat (CEO Asia, Publicis One), Charles Cadell (President, McCann Worldgroup), David Guerrero (BBDO Guerrero), Cheuk Chiang (Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific) and Merlee Jayme (Dentsu Jayme Syfu Manila), Joakim Borgstrom (BBH Singapore) plus others.

Guerrero and Cadell have been supporters of the awards since its inception. Previously they have explained why more agencies should support Tambuli.
| BY Ricki Green |

SBS Radio has today launched Welcome Home, a new marketing campaign to encourage Australians who speak a language other than English (LOTE) to feel at home wherever they are.

The exciting digital first, radio brand campaign has the dual objectives of building brand awareness for SBS Radio and directing people to download the refreshed SBS Radio app. Over 1.3 million people migrated to Australia during the past five years and nearly five million people speak a language other than English at home, reinforcing the importance of SBS Radios services. Listeners will be able to access Australian news and current affairs, music, podcasts and community updates in 68 languages, reflecting todays contemporary multicultural Australia.

Internally developed and conceptualised by SBS, the campaign features SBS employees from the Punjabi, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, Cantonese and NITV programs. The word home features prominently throughout, in languages including Italian, Mandarin, Greek, Hindi, Somali and Samoan.

Says Mandi Wicks, chief content officer (acting), SBS: SBS remains the worlds most linguistically diverse public broadcaster. The refreshed SBS Radio app provides audio content on demand and on the go to our listeners in 68 languages. Accessible anywhere, at any time on the device of their choice, downloading the free SBS Radio app helps our audiences feel at home wherever they are.

Says Jane Palfreyman, director of marketing (acting), SBS: The concept of Welcome home signifies SBSs commitment to providing Australian focused content to multi-generational migrants as well as those having newly arrived in Australia. The campaign videos are produced in English and subtitled and produced in seven other languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, Hindi and Punjabi.

The campaign will run across the SBS network (TV, radio, online) during April, supported by off channel digital activity including pre-roll videos, promoted social activity and native content to drive digital engagement.

Director of Marketing: Jane Palfreyman

Head of Group Marketing: Uma Oldham

Marketing Manager: Anna Saunders

Brand Manager: Prinola Moodley

Digital Campaign Manager: Claire Dumont

Digital Marketing Strategist: Ken Lin

Head of Creative Services: Joel Noble

Creative Lead: Matt Coe

Creatives: Genevieve Graham, Vanessa Meagher

Support Designers: Emy Dossett, Gavin Barnett, Madeleine Dudley, Neera Sumer

Producer: Greer Bolomey

Production Coordinator: Brianna Lawrence

DOP: Tony Luu

1st AD: Darin Berlin

Grade: Alyn Mykas

Audio: Bruce Dale
| BY Ricki Green |

Global digital marketing and technology agency Valtech has announced the appointment of Andrew Davenport as the new managing director of Valtech Australia, in a major coup for the companys local operations.

Davenport is the highly regarded former managing director of The White Agency (latterly whiteGREY), who departed earlier this year, and brings with him more than a decade of proven success in managing pure play digital businesses, as well as a wealth of strategic marketing and business experience across Europe and Asia Pacific.

Joining Valtechs APAC management team, Davenport is charged with driving the Valtech global offer in the Australian market with the aim of replicating the companys global success and business growth, which has seen it expand across five continents in 25 years.

Says Davenport: Valtech is a global organisation with offices in 16 countries and an impressive client list of many of the worlds leading brands so the opportunity to come on board to lead the Australian operations was a no-brainer. The company has achieved incredible success in other markets and Im looking forward to the challenge of driving the Australian operations forward and being a major contributor to this overall success.

With expertise in technology, marketing and experience design, Valtech addresses transformational business challenges for clients, from consulting through to service design, optimisation and multi-channel platform roll-outs. Valtechs global client list includes LOreal, Louis Vuitton, Audi, BMW, Heineken and Phillips, while locally clients include TAL, Ruralco and Foxtel.
| BY Lynchy |

Sani Ahmed has returned to Vietnam to be part of The Purpose Group after a long legacy with WPP  having been in JWT Pakistan, Ogilvy Pakistan and most recently held key roles in Ogilvy Vietnam, and Ogilvy Indonesia. Prior to this appointment Ahmed (pictured) was the Integration lead for Indosat (Ooredoo) and Kraft Heinz after which he transitioned to Geometry Indonesia as Integration lead for their client base. During his previous stint in Vietnam Ahmed was leading the portfolio for Nestle Milo, Unilever, Castrol and other accounts for 4 years predominantly looking at integrated solutions for his key brands.

Being an Ad-man for approximately 17+ years, Ahmed specializes in integration and has a very clear view of how to connect the dots when it comes to the ever evolving universe of advertising.
| BY Lynchy |

MullenLowe Malaysia has been appointed to lead the creative execution of all planned marketing campaigns for the next 12 months. The aim for the agency is to create communication that brings to life Tescos global brand expression that resonates with Malaysian shoppers.

Adrian Sng, Managing Director of MullenLowe Malaysia (pictured) said, We are delighted to be working with Tesco as their creative agency partner. Tesco proves to be very interesting as a global brand driven by local insights. It gives MullenLowe the opportunity to create fresh work from the ground up with Tesco. This is another great portfolio for the agency, adding to the streak of wins in the past three months, and certainly builds up the momentum as we head into the second quarter of 2018.
Penner: Cruising through the Kootenays in comfort

Somewhere just north of Edgewater, the scenic one-hour drive to Golden just underway, we rambled around a bend and broke through the thick blanket of early morning fog that smothered the valley. Wow! Look at that, son! I said, nudging my boy, Aemon, 18, as he woke from a stupor. On the port side (an RV is kinda like a ship) a pair of serrated, ice-caked peaks hovered above the misty sea and pierced the gem-blue sky. This looks promising son, I said. Im starting to like RV trips.
news, latest-news

Good morning, Canberra. Happy hump day! It's going to be a mostly sunny day for your Wednesday, with a top of 27 degrees. There will be some morning cloud but that will clear for a sunny afternoon. Here's your quick news fix. The salaries of public service bosses appear safe after an inquiry told the Senate to reject changes capping executive pay and possibly halving the wages of the top paid agency leaders. As Doug Dingwall reports, the inquiry found a push from Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson to limit pay for senior executives in the Australian Public Service would have capped their salaries at about $420,000 per annum, a significant reduction for many of the highest-ranking public servants. Read the story here. The father of Jonathon Hogan, who died in prison, is urging the ACT government to open an inquiry into his son's death. Jonathon, 23, died by hanging inside Junee prison in February this year. He had a history of substance abuse and mental health issues, and had absconded from the mental health unit at Canberra Hospital before his incarceration at Junee. His father, Matt, is desperate to know whether Jonathon was being treated for substance abuse inside Junee, and why someone with a history of self-harm was locked in a cell with hanging points. Read Steven Trask, Katie Burgess and Kirsten Lawson's story here. Kirsten Lawson and I teamed up again to do a follow on the story - this time about how Johnny Roso's Art Group were forced to abandon plans for a supermarket on the site after it met strong resistance from government agencies. You can read our story here. How's this for a feel-good story. Meet Daniel Willcox, who on Tuesday made his 111th donation of plasma. What's more incredible...he's just 24. He helped open the new blood plasma centre in Canberra, one of only two plasma-only donation centres in Australia. The 24 year old has been donating every fortnight since he was 18, inspired by his parents. Find Rebecca Jellie's story here. ACT Road Safety Minister Shane Rattenbury is facing a backlash from within the government over plans to enforce a curfew for P-plate drivers. On Tuesday, he announced a shake-up of the ACT's graduated licensing scheme, including banning provisional drivers from driving between midnight and 5am, restricting them to one peer-based passenger at all times and forcing learner drivers to log at least 100 hours behind the wheel. What were your thoughts on that proposal? Katie Burgess has more.

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Distraught father Matt Hogan is seeking answers over the death of his son at Junee prison in February, saying he has met with a wall of silence from authorities. Mr Hogan is devastated and haunted by questions about the death of his son Jonathon Hogan, 23, a young Aboriginal man from Canberra. The last time he saw Jonathon was in July last year, before he was arrested that month on property offences. Jonathon harmed himself in police custody almost immediately after his arrest, and was taken to the mental health unit at Canberra Hospital where he absconded. He was caught in NSW a few days later and taken to Junee where he was held on remand for more than six months, due to face court on February 5. On February 3, he was found dead by hanging in his cell. Mr Hogan said his son died about 6pm and he was told after 2am the next morning when the police came to his door. He said his son, the fifth of 10 children, ran into trouble in his teens when he starting taking drugs and committing burglaries. He ended up at the Bimberi youth detention centre at 17 and later at the adult jail. Last year was not the first time Jonathon had absconded. His father said he had self-harmed in the Canberra jail on a previous occasion and been taken to Canberra Hospital where he had escaped, the same pattern as last year. Mr Hogan is in tears when he expresses over and again his disbelief that Jonathon, who he said had been diagnosed with major mental health issues, could have been held in a cell where hanging was even possible. He doesn't believe his son was getting drug and alcohol help at Junee because he was still on remand when he died and not eligible to enter a program until after his sentencing. "Why was there something in the jail he could hang himself from? He's got mental health issues," Mr Hogan asks, having asked the same question of NSW authorities to no avail. Mr Hogan doesn't understand why security is so inadequate when prisoners are taken to Canberra Hospital's mental health unit that they can escape  in Jonathon's case twice. He doesn't understand why authorities cited privacy when he tried to ask about his son when he was at Junee. Mr Hogan remembers his son, who has five children of his own, the youngest just three months, as "a fun loving kid" who loved loved his family. "He would have pulled through," Jonathon's dad says, having decided to speak out to try to change the treatment of Aboriginal people in custody. "It's been going on and on for years and years," he says. "It's got to stop." The Junee Correctional Centre is privately run by the GEO Group, a multi-national company that operates prisons in Australia, South Africa and the United States. At least three separate inquests as far back as 2007 have made recommendations related to the removal of hanging points in prisons run by the GEO Group in Queensland and NSW. The removal of prison cell hanging points was one of the key recommendations made by the historic Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991. The GEO Group referred all questions about Jonathon Hogan's death at Junee prison to Corrective Services NSW. "One of our major strategies to reduce deaths from unnatural causes includes the audit and removal of obvious hanging points in correctional centres and court cells that accommodate inmates who are at risk of self-harm or suicide," a corrections spokeswoman said. Asked whether Jonathon had received mental health treatment at Junee prison, whether Junee prison had sought his medical files from ACT authorities, and whether they were aware of his history of self-harm, NSW authorities said, "Justice Health and Forensic Mental Network extends its sincere condolences to Mr Hogan's family, however it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of this case while it is the subject of investigation by the NSW Coroner's Court." The NSW police force is investigating Jonathon's death and will prepare a report for the NSW Coroner ahead of a public inquest. Lifeline 131 114; Menslink 1300 789 978

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Vice President Mike Pence, left, stopped to take a photo today with Myton Ireland, owner of Gramma Dots at the Sanibel Marina. Pence arrived in Fort Myers last week for a weeklong visit on Sanibel. The National Business Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction and notice to airmen on March 29 from 1:45 to 3 p.m., which spans three nautical miles in Lee County and impacts Southwest Florida Intentional Airport. Pilots are prohibited from flying during that time. Pence appears to be staying on the island for a week. Another temporary flight restriction and notice to airmen has been issued by the National Business Aviation Administration for April 6 from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m., again spanning three nautical miles in Lee County and impacting Southwest Florida Intentional Airport. In April 2017, Pence and his wife arrived in Lee and spent some time on Sanibel. They attended a Sunday service at the Sanibel Community Church, as well as dined at the Timbers Restaurant.
U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney addressed a range of issues during a recent meeting on Sanibel.

On March 29, the District 19 representative spoke before the Sanibel Captiva Islands Association of Realtors at its general membership meeting. A Naples resident, Rooney covered water quality and offshore drilling, along with health care and tax reform, job creation, Big Pharma and cutting prices.

Its a long-term issue for me and my family, he said of improving water quality.

We did pretty well in our appropriations, Rooney added.

He voiced support for the Herbert Hoover Dike, A2 reservoir and Everglades restoration, but noted more funding is needed. Rooney reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $200 million but did not receive the full amount due to the Army cutting out $50 million from the request.

He told a story of spending some time with President Donald Trump and sharing his concerns.

I think hes associated us, me, our office, our team with the Everglades, Rooney said.

On the subject of offshore drilling, he spoke about the challenges being faced.

Its akin to David against Goliath, Rooney said.

He reported on the moratorium regarding exploration in the eastern Gulf, which was established in 2006 and will expire in 2022. Rooney shared trying to get a law in place to make it permanent, but ran into pushback over the issue from U.S. Rep Steve Scalis, who stated the industry wont go for it.

In response, Rooney garnered enough votes to have one of Scalis bills killed.

Theres always a risk of spills, he said of offshore drilling. Its humans doing it.

He ticked off the names of Texas, Alabama and other states, stating that they are owned by the oil business. Rooney added that the offshore supply service industry has an interest in the issue.

If we dont drill it, the Mexicans will, he said he was told by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Rooney urged local communities and groups to come forward and voice opposition.

He touched on the flood insurance program, as well as the unfortunate move by Democrats to abandon the Affordable Care Act and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA in order to maintain funding for Planned Parenthood. Rooney also reported that job creation is on the rise.

The tax reform seems to be gaining traction around the country, Rooney said.

As for down the road, he laid out a plan to introduce term limits for lawmakers. Rooney explained that his proposal will consist of lawmakers receiving $1 per year and no pension after they serve 12 years.

Theyre like a barnacle clinging to a dock, he said of career politicians.

It aint going to go anywhere, Rooney added. But, Im going to try my best.

He said he also wants to make Big Pharma have to compete for business.

When Rooney took questions from the audience, David Schuldenfrei asked about how to hold elected officials to their promises, like on water quality. He added that there is talk, but nothing gets done.

Keep refining our message and keep everybody on a united front, Rooney responded.

Schuldenfrei acknowledged that some bills do get passed.

But they never have appropriation meetings to fund them, he said. Its all smoke and mirrors.

Schuldenfrei added that properly funding programs and projects would also create jobs.

They literally are on life support, he said of local waters. We dont have the time to wait five years.

Another attendee asked about subsidies for Big Sugar.

The farm bill is the only thing that looks worse than the sugar bill, Rooney responded.

He noted that he does not take PAC money from sugar, coal, Big Pharma and such.

Im just trying to be honest about it, Rooney said.

He shared why he felt it was important to speak at the meeting.

My job is to represent the people of Southwest Florida, Rooney said, adding that he also sought to provide updates on the issues. I just want to get feedback on what Im trying to accomplish.

Dustyn Corace, president of the Sanibel Captiva Islands Association of Realtors, explained that it was the first time the group has had a guest speaker of Rooneys political caliber address its members.

This is an important time for us because were really fighting the water quality issue, he said.
The Canadian Human Rights Act has protection against discrimination in the area of purchase and ownership of property in the province of B.C. This means that you can't single out out-of-province owners and tax them differently than anyone else in the province or Canada!

And why did Mr. Horgan suddenly drop several cities from this ridiculous proposed tax? Did their imaginary rental shortage problem magically disappear? This whole tax plan just reeks of stupidity.

This tax plan idea has to be torn up once and for all and for so many reasons. There is nothing wrong with out-of-province owners and its perfectly within a property owners rights to choose whether they want to rent their properties or not.

That's just my two cents.

Bill Ferguson
We had heard that the BC Government was looking at bringing in a legislation to end fixed term tenancies back in the Fall of 2017, we were concerned given we had 2 rentals in downtown Kelowna with fixed term leases.

Much to our chagrin it was passed and we braced for the impact of the legislation, not surprisingly our tenants were quick to point out that our fixed term leases were no longer valid and they can move out when they want to even though they were more than willing to sign the year lease when they were perspective tenants. We have always had good relationships with our tenants and like to think we have become friends with some of them but this new legislation has created an adversarial relationship with both our tenants.

We are from Alberta but lived in Kelowna for 5 years previous and during that time we bought a house, totally gutted and renovated it and built a really nice carriage house in the back for revenue. Unfortunately we had to move back to Alberta and rent out our front house but we are very selective with choosing our tenants so we were not too worried about renting out a newly renovated house. Renting out our 2 properties while trying to manage them from Alberta has had its challenges but we have made it work and there has been only a few issues that have come up.



We like to think that we are fair landlords who offer a really nice product to tenants with the promise that they will take care of the property. We are also fair landlords who charge the market value for our properties and feel guilty about what the rental rates are in Kelowna however if we know we have found good tenants then we will even reduce the rent to below market value just so we can feel secure. We have fixed term leases because we live so far away and it is always a challenge getting to Kelowna for move out/move in so having our leases end at the same time every year makes it easier for us to take time off work to come to do the maintenance and repairs required for the new tenants.



Our leases are pretty much thrown out the window with the ending of the fixed term tenancies and the tenants now have pretty much all of the rights after having most of the rights before the legislation. Once our tenants move out of our properties we will be renting out our properties on Airbnb as we can not handle dealing with tenants anymore. We have been extorted and deceived on too many occasions as the tenants know they hold all the cards and there is nothing we can do about it. We called the BC Tenancy Branch and their answer to us was to contact our MLA with any issues we may have, wow a lot of good that did.



Look, I get it why this legislation was brought forth in the first place as there are landlords gouging tenants by raising the rent after their fixed term is done but it seems like almost everything the government in BC does is a knee-jerk reaction and they dont consider all off the factors. Perfect example is this speculation tax they are looking at, it is totally going to kill whatever is left of the market. I dont think I am alone in this thinking as landlords will be ditching tenants for short term rentals as it is not worth the headache and at least they have some sort of security through a company like Airbnb. I am sure the government is going to get involved in legislating short term rentals as well and if that happens I will be the first one protesting City Hall but I imagine I will not be alone.

Ken Don
Photo: The Canadian Press

Trump administration officials said they're crafting a new legislative package aimed at closing immigration "loopholes" after the president called on Republican lawmakers to immediately pass a border bill using the "Nuclear Option if necessary" to muscle it through.

"The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our "Weak Laws" Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!" Trump tweeted at daybreak Tuesday. The president also tweeted about "caravans" on Sunday and Monday.

The president has been tweeting about immigration and the border for the last few days, declaring protections for so-called Dreamer immigrants "dead," accusing Democrats of allowing "open borders, drugs and crime" and warning Mexico to halt the passage of "caravans" of immigrants or risk U.S. abandonment of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump has been seething since realizing the major spending bill he signed last month barely funds the "big, beautiful" border wall he has promised supporters. The $1.3 trillion funding package included $1.6 billion in border wall spending, but much of that money can be used only to repair existing segments, not to build new sections.

Among the new measures the administration is pursuing: ending special safeguards that prevent the immediate deportation of children arrested at the border and travelling alone. Under current law, unaccompanied children from countries that don't border the U.S. are turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services and undergo often lengthy deportation proceedings before an immigration judge instead of being deported.

The administration is also pushing Congress to terminate a 1997 court settlement that requires the government to release children from custody to parents, adult relatives or other caretakers as their court cases proceed. Officials complain that many children never show up at their hearings.
Photo: The Canadian Press In this March 22, 2018 photo, comedian Kathy Griffin poses for a portrait in Los Angeles.

Kathy Griffin says she hopes to make her U.S. comeback by laughing about the disturbing photograph that got her in hot water with the feds and almost killed her career. But she also has this warning amid the jokes: "If it happened to me it can happen to you."

Griffin is embarking this summer on a North American tour that kicks off a year after she was widely condemned for posing for a picture in which she gripped a bloodied rendering of President Donald Trump's head. Ten months on, she is unbowed.

"I'm the same girl I've always been  just a hardworking, obnoxious, red-haired comedy girl. The whole time I've been consistent in just trying to make you laugh," she told The Associated Press. "Am I shocking sometimes? For sure. Do I go too far? I hope so. That's my job."

The "Suddenly Susan" and "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" star lost income, received death threats, was denounced by Trump, landed on an Interpol criminal list and was afraid to leave her home. She said she was under investigation by the Department of Justice for two months.

"It shouldn't happen to an American citizen," she said. Griffin said she understands if people don't like the photo, but it is protected speech. "If there's one amendment I'm familiar with it's the First Amendment. I know it back and forth and it's how I make my living."

The comedian's life changed radically last May when the image came out: "I really never thought that photo would take off at all. Like I've been doing 'shocking' things my whole career." She called the fallout "faux-outrage."

She said there were a few missteps, including a hastily put-together apology video followed by a "disastrous" press conference with attorney Lisa Bloom in which she called Trump a "bully" and only worsened the still-spiraling disaster.

"My social media was so flooded that I really thought, 'OK, I am the most reviled person in the world right now,'" she said. "It's been a long time to sort of process that and figure out what's real and what isn't." She added: "I really do believe if it happened to me it can happen to you."

During those dark days, Griffin said many colleagues like Anderson Cooper turned away but one celebrity reached out  Jim Carrey, someone she didn't know that well. He advised her to find the comedy in her absurd situation.
Photo: The Canadian Press This March 20, 2016, file photo shows Hart family of Woodland, Wash., at a Bernie Sanders rally in Vancouver, Wash.

Investigators said Monday they were examining "red flags" in a Washington state family's past in hopes of explaining why their SUV went off a 100-foot cliff in an apparent suicide plunge.

The wreckage was discovered last week on rocks along the coast near Mendocino, California, a few days after child welfare authorities in Washington began investigating whether the children were being abused or neglected.

The Hart family's two moms and three of the six adopted children were found dead; the three others are missing and presumed dead, possibly washed out to sea.

Police said Monday that social service authorities in Oregon contacted the West Linn Police Department about the family in 2013 while they were living in the area.

The questions were referred to the Oregon Department of Human Services, which cited privacy laws in refusing to confirm or deny the agency was involved.

Long before the crash, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children. And last month, concerned neighbours in Woodland, Washington, contacted child welfare authorities, saying the children may have been going hungry.

On Sunday, authorities announced that data from the vehicle's software suggested the crash was deliberate.

The SUV had stopped at a pull-off area then sped straight off the cliff, Capt. Greg Baarts of the California Highway Patrol said. Baarts said that as far as he knew, investigators had not found a suicide note.

Marcus Mazza, an engineer and accident-reconstruction expert with Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Robson Forensic, said investigators could use data to determine factors such as the speed of the vehicle; the engine speed; how much force the driver was exerting on the gas pedal; and whether the driver had depressed the brake.

In interviews with friends and relatives, "there have been red flags," Baarts said. He did not elaborate.

Days before the wreck was discovered, neighbours called Washington state child-welfare authorities to say one of the youngsters had been coming to their house almost daily asking for something to eat and complaining that his parents were withholding food as punishment.

Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.

The large, multiracial family, led by Sarah and Jennifer Hart, both 38, grew their own food, went on road trips and took part in activist causes.

The three children found at the crash scene were Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14. There was no sign of Hannah Hart, 16; Sierra Hart, 12; and Devonte Hart, 15.

Devonte drew national attention after the black youngster was photographed in tears, hugging a white police officer during a 2014 protest in Portland, Oregon, over the deadly police shooting of a black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Devonte was holding a "Free Hugs" sign.

Family friend Max Ribner said he was not ready to believe the crash was intentional.

He said the Harts left Alexandria, Minnesota, for Oregon looking for a change of weather and pace. He said the greater Portland area was more accepting of LGBTQ people.

"As much love as they put in the world, there were times when it was challenging for them to be a family with six kids and hold the energy of what they put out," Ribner said. "I don't think people realize what it takes to be a mother, raise six kids, many of whom came from hard backgrounds."

___

Associated Press writers Janie Har in San Francisco and Michelle A. Monroe in Phoenix contributed to this report.
Photo: The Canadian Press In this Nov. 11, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump, right, and Russia President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang.

The Trump administration says it is amenable to a White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising the prospect of the Russian president's first Washington visit in more than a decade even as relations between the two powers have eroded.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House was among "a number of potential venues" discussed in Trump's telephone call last month with Putin. The Kremlin said earlier Monday that Trump invited Putin during the call.

Both sides said they hadn't started preparations for such a visit.

If it happens, Putin would be getting the honour of an Oval Office tete-a-tete for the first time since he met President George W. Bush at the White House in 2005. Alarms rang in diplomatic and foreign policy circles over the prospect that Trump might offer Putin that venue without confronting him about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election or allegations that Russia masterminded the March 4 nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent.

"It would confer a certain normalization of relations and we're certainly not in a normal space," said Alina Polyakova, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Nothing about this is normal."

Much has happened since Trump and Putin spoke in the March 20 phone call. Trump said afterward he hoped to meet with Putin "in the not too distant future" to discuss the nuclear arms race and other matters. But their call was followed by reports that Trump had been warned in briefing materials not to congratulate the Russian president on his re-election but did so anyway.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A video with dozens of news anchors reading a script about "fake stories" put in stark visual terms what for weeks had largely been an academic debate about media consolidation and the Sinclair Broadcast Group's efforts to promote a consistent message across its stations.

The 98-second video, posted on Deadspin Saturday, has already been viewed by millions of people and provoked a tweet by President Donald Trump supporting the corporation on Monday.

Sinclair owns nearly 200 local stations and had ordered its anchors to read a statement expressing concern about "the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing the country." Some outlets publish these "fake stories" without checking facts first and some people in the media push their own biases, the statement said.

The anchors give no specific examples. Sinclair, whose corporate leadership leans right, uses terminology familiar to Trump and his criticisms of "fake news." In the message, the anchors say they "work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair, balanced and factual."

Timothy Burke, a video editor at Deadspin, said he read a CNN story last month about the script being sent to local stations and contacted a media monitoring service to collect examples of the statement being read on the air. After receiving more than 50, he fashioned them into a video that shows anchors reading different portions of the text, either simultaneously or one after the other.

He posted a "teaser" with a small portion of the video Friday night and it quickly attracted attention when tweeted by a Wisconsin journalism professor. Not wanting to see his work appropriated by someone else, Burke said he rushed to get the full video posted Saturday afternoon. It spread quickly, particularly when tweeted by celebrities like Judd Apatow and Jimmy Kimmel.

The video's repetition illustrates Sinclair's reach in a way mere numbers can't, said Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor at the City University of New York.

"That's what makes the video so powerful," he said. "It illustrates a story that in some cases can read like a conspiracy theory. You can see by the video that it's not."

A Sinclair executive said Monday that he finds it curious that the company would be attacked for asking news people to remind the audience that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media.

"It is ironic that we would be attacked for messages promoting our journalistic initiative for fair and objective reporting, and for specifically asking the public to hold our newsrooms accountable," said Scott Livingston, Sinclair's senior vice-president of news. "Our local stations keep our audiences' trust by staying focused on fact-based reporting and clearly identifying commentary."

After the story was reported on CNN and MSNBC Monday, Trump jumped to Sinclair's defence.

"Funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticizing Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased," he tweeted. "Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke."

Meanwhile, CNN's Jim Acosta was criticized by some conservative media outlets on Monday for shouting questions about immigration to Trump while the president and first lady were attending an Easter event on the grounds of the White House.

MSNBC's "Morning Joe" did a lengthy segment on Burke's Deadspin video Monday, showing the words being repeated by several anchors. Co-host Mika Brzezinski said she was surprised some of the local anchors didn't refuse to read it.
Photo: CTV

The increased carbon tax isn't the only thing British Columbians will be shelling out more for this spring.

Gas prices were as high as $1.59 a litre in Metro Vancouver over the long weekend as B.C.'s carbon tax jumped to $35 a tonne from $30. The increase is the first of four announced by the NDP, and adds 1.2 cents to the price at the pumps.

aBut that's not all. BC Hydro rates jumped three per cent April 1, tobacco taxes went from 24.6 cents to 27.5 cents per cigarette, and the luxury car surtax now adds 13 per cent to the cost of vehicles over $125,000.

"For a small business, it's very hard for us to keep up," small business owner Andres Bermudez said of the Hydro rate hike.

Analyst Dan McTeague of gasbuddy.com said the switch to summer blend fuel also adds about four cents to the price of gasoline.

Temporary refinery closures in the Pacific Northwest have also contributed to the recent spike in prices. Although Vernon seems to be oasis in the storm as a gas war there currently has prices at $1.16 per litre.

"I know the governments are always looking for ways to raise money for more taxes, but where do you draw the line? Where does it stop?" one driver told CTV as he filled up.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Contributed

April is wine month in British Columbia and Premier John Horgan will be joined by other members of the New Democrat cabinet in launching events in the Okanagan today.

Horgan has committed $100,000 to help promote local wine across B.C., and he and Agriculture Minister Lana Popham will visit a vineyard in Oliver this afternoon.

Horgan declared April as wine month in response to Alberta's ban on B.C. wines as the two provinces battle over construction of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to port in Burnaby.

The Alberta prohibition was lifted after Horgan said he would ask the courts to decide if B.C. has the power to limit the amount of oil shipped from this province.
Photo: Contributed

Canadian fruit growers fear that U.S. produce destined for China may be diverted closer to home and flood their market following the imposition of new tariffs.

Ontario Apple Growers general manager Kelly Ciceran says the 15 per cent tariff on fruit such as apples, cherries, peaches, raspberries and cranberries will likely lead to more U.S. produce hitting Canadian stores, putting pressure on prices.

The Chinese government announced Monday tariffs ranging between 15 and 25 per cent on 128 items, including fruit, nuts, pork, wine, steel pipe and aluminum scrap in retaliation for an estimated US$3 billion in U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Ciceran says prices will depend on how much of savings are passed on to consumers by retailers.

The Winery and Grower Alliance of Ontario CEO Aaron Dobbin says there may be an opportunity for some Canadian wine to be sold to China, but additional U.S. wine could also be shipped to Canada.

He says the United States has a $450-million trade surplus with Canada on wine and is always looking to increase its market share.

The Canadian Pork Council says producers aren't expecting a big impact from the 25 per cent Chinese tariffs because there is a lot of pork available around the world.

Executive director John Ross says tariffs could change flows of exports but is unlikely to have an impact on prices.

He adds that fresh Canadian pork isn't currently permitted into China and some cuts of meat favoured in that country, such as pig feet, aren't very popular with Canadian consumers.
Photo: Contributed

The operators of one of Vancouver's last independent movie theatres say they have received an extension from their landlord to save the Rio Theatre.

A message posted on the theatre's Facebook page early Tuesday says the new deadline to raise $3 million to get approved for a mortgage has been pushed to April 16.

A 30-hour fundraising campaign which ended at midnight raised more than $383,000 toward a $1 million goal, with the remaining $2 million expected to come from private investors.

The operators say zoning changes have attracted developers who want to tear down The Rio for a new project.

Corinne Lea and her business partner announced in early February that their offer on the building had been accepted. They declined to say how much they bid, but said it was higher than the $4 million it was assessed at.

The 80-year-old Rio is beloved for running independent films and also hosting burlesque, comedy, improv and variety shows.
Photo: RCMP

Chilliwack RCMP needs the publics assistance to identify two men caught on security footage at Promontory Elementary School.



RCMP are searching for the pair after a break in on March 29 at school, on the 46000 block of Stoneview Drive in Chilliwack, about 2 a.m.



When officers arrived with a Police Dog unit they noticed extensive damage throughout the interior of the school. But in spite of an extensive search of the area, with the dogs, the suspects were not located.



RCMP investigators are reaching out to the public for assistance in identifying two individuals, says Cpl. Mike Rail spokesperson for the UFVRD.



Anyone with information to this event is urged to contact the Chilliwack RCMP at 604-792-4611 or, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
Chino, CA (91710)

Today

Mainly clear skies. Low 61F. W winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low 61F. W winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.
I am a Flag-Waving Everyman, also known as a patriot. I believe in freedom, apple pie, rooting for America at all times, and that God gave us a two-day weekend so we could enjoy football and NASCAR.
Suzanne Hodges

Circles and squares

by Lindsey-Jean Hard

From the April, 2018 issue

Some ingredients stand alone perfectly well, but when they come together, something truly special happens. Think peanut butter and jelly, chocolate and mint. The same thing can happen with art. Sarah Innes has curated just such a complementary collection at the Ann Arbor District Library's downtown branch, featuring pieces from two different Suzanne Hodges series: one full of geometric works that explore abstract space, the other a response to her move from the city to the suburbs.



At first glance, walking into the light-drenched atrium, you might think Hodges' works are oil paintings--vibrant, colorful, and full of energy. Step closer, and you'll see that they're painted canvas collages. Hung simply, with large clips against black backgrounds, some of the works gently curl toward you; others sway slightly when you walk past. The modern, color-blocked pieces become softer and more nuanced as you approach: Individual elements are imperfectly layered to reveal slivers of different colors beneath. Pencil guidelines become visible, as do lightly frayed edges. It feels like we're getting an intimate glimpse into Hodges' process. I found myself wondering if she, like me, has a dog-some of the pieces seemed to have collected the same stray hairs that my clothing does-but perhaps they were simply fibers that became trapped in the painting process. Either way, they lend an endearing, relatable layer to the pieces.



Hodges' work seems at home in the library's third-floor atrium, perhaps in part because she's a U-M grad-there always seems to be a special energy to an exhibit when the artist has a connection to the location where it's shown. Innes has arranged the pieces to mostly alternate back and forth between the two series. The first is laden with squares and rectangles--Hodges' "exploration into how color and value can create an inexhaustibly mysterious sense of space." The second, Around in Circles, Hodges' response to moving from Brooklyn to the suburbs of Denver at the age of eighty, hops from bold, boxy, and stationary pieces with a sense of confined and defined spaces to more rhythmic works with movement-laden circles, set in motion with tiny pieces reminiscent of a game board. Arresting, bold, and full of life, her work will be on display through April 14.



[Originally published in April, 2018.]








Panos Manjian, General of the Lebanese Army, adviser to the defense minister, began his first steps in the military field in 1972 when he was admitted to a military institution. His father greatly encouraged him on choosing this sphere. He inherited the military talent from his predecessors, both his father and grandfather passed through a war. Panos Manjians father initially was a military officer of the French army, later he moved to Lebanon and continued his activity there.

April 3, 2018, 11:08 Soldiers standing on border are our heroes: Lebanese Army General Panos Manjian on Armenian Army

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 3, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS:My father was the main inspirer for me in this work. With his ideas, approaches he also served as an example for me. When I had to make a decision to continue my studies, frankly, during that years there were some financial difficulties, and it was difficult for me to apply to high educational institution, and as the military work was always on my mind, I decided to apply to a military college. And so my military life started, Panos Manjian said.

Working in the military field was full of many difficulties. During the working activity he faced many hardships, problems, but every day, being confident on his own strengths, he continued the military work by overcoming the difficulties.

Panos Manjian said he held different positions, but always sought to be out of office. Practical work with servicemen  this was his choice.

I am doing an office work over the past five years. During my whole life I preferred to be in frontlines, together with soldiers. As you know, Lebanon faced internal problems, was engaged in war, I have always sought to be in military groups. I have been with soldiers, faced any hardship together with them. I had many soldiers under my command: when I was giving 10 or 20 of them any assignment, I was in touch with them at any moment so that the instruction would be successfully fulfilled and they would return safely, the General said.

Despite difficulties, Panos Manjian says he did his work with pleasure. He regularly worked on him, developed his professional capacities and skills, departed for different countries for trainings. And this work has been appreciated by the Lebanese authorities who contributed to his progress.

In line with his achievements, he didnt cut his ties with the homeland. In the past years he frequently visits Armenia.

I had a chance to get acquainted with the work of the Armenian Armed Forces, I can proudly state that the soldiers standing on the border are our heroes, they have repeatedly proved that they are fully prepared, have enough will and power to give counter response to the adversary. Its also worth mentioning the skillfulness of our soldiers who are able to create a very important thing from nothing, Panos Manjian noted.

Over the past 12 years he visited Armenia for several times. He says every time visiting Armenia he notices great changes.

These changes are obvious in the minds of the people, as well as in the city. The prosperity is visible, but more needs to be done, there must be more jobs so that the youth will be actively engaged in different activities by contributing to the states development, he said.
Your Pie, the original fast casual pizza concept, opens in Chattanooga on April 13 at 1919 Gunbarrel Road, Suite 103. The brick-oven pizzeria offers a customizable, down-the-line experience at its more than 50 stores nationwide.

Your Pie Chattanooga is the first location for Harshil Patel, who looks forward to introducing the community to a new way to experience pizza.

I previously worked as a financial analyst but always dreamed of owning my own business here in Chattanooga, said Mr. Patel. After researching several different franchise opportunities, I found that none compared to the quality of product and people at Your Pie. The support system is incredible, and the food is absolutely unparalleled. We are excited to create a fun, family-friendly atmosphere that fosters connection and encourages community, all while enjoying delicious, customized pizza, salad and paninis.

Prior to its official grand opening, Your Pie Chattanooga will host Dine and Donate events on April 9, 10 and 11 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. During each shift, the restaurant will serve free pizzas for up to 200 registered guests and collect monetary donations on behalf of Westview Elementary School PTA. Find the most up to date information about Dine and Donate and grand opening events at facebook.com/yourpiechattanooga.

Inspired by his Italian honeymoon, Your Pie was founded in 2008 by culinary entrepreneur Drew French, who aimed to create an innovative restaurant concept offering high quality, brick-oven pizza at incredible speed. Your Pie began franchising in 2010 and now shares its mission with more than 50 stores across the United States, with about 50 locations in development.

Your Pie uses hand-tossed dough, only fresh ingredients, homemade pizza sauces and salad dressings, and offers vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free pizzas, as well as traditional pizzas, chopped salads and paninis. All menu items, including its rotating seasonal menu, are inspired by family recipes from the Italian island of Ischia. The brand also offers local craft beer and Italian-style gelato pairings designed to compliment guests custom pizza creations.

At Your Pie, we believe that food can be fresh, fast, delicious and experiential, said Founder and President Drew French. We want to be the go-to fast casual restaurant where families, friends, colleagues and groups can gather, dine and share memories without having to share pizzas. Were excited for the opportunity to bring the original fast casual, individualized pizza concept to Chattanooga and the surrounding communities.

Your Pie Chattanooga is at 1919 Gunbarrel Road, Suite 103 (next to Smoothie King) and can be reached at 498-4948. For more information, visit www.yourpie.com.
The board game Go was long considered to be a bastion reserved for human players due to its complexity. Nowadays, however, the worlds best players no longer have any chance of winning against the AlphaGo software. Researchers at the University of Munster have now demonstrated that the recipe for the success of this software can be put to excellent use to plan chemical syntheses.

In 1996, when a computer won a match against the then reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov, it was nothing short of a sensation. After this breakthrough in the world of chess, the board game Go was long considered to be a bastion reserved for human players due to its complexity. Nowadays, however, the worlds best players no longer have any chance of winning against the AlphaGo software. The recipe for the success of this computer programme is made possible through a combination of the so-called Monte Carlo Tree Search and deep neural networks based on machine learning and artificial intelligence. A team of researchers from the University of Munster has now demonstrated that this combination is extremely well suited to planning chemical syntheses  so-called retrosyntheses  with unprecedented efficiency. The study has been published in the current issue of the Nature journal.



Marwin Segler, the lead author of the study, puts it in a nutshell: Retrosynthesis is the ultimate discipline in organic chemistry. Chemists need years to master it  just like with chess or Go. In addition to straightforward expertise, you also need a goodly portion of intuition and creativity for it. So far, everyone assumed that computers couldnt keep up without experts programming in tens of thousands of rules by hand. What we have shown is that the machine can, by itself, learn the rules and their applications from the literature available.



Retrosynthesis is the standard method for designing the production of chemical compounds. The principle is that, going backwards mentally, the compound is broken down into ever smaller components until the basic components have been obtained. This analysis provides the cooking recipe, which is then used for working forwards in the laboratory to produce the target molecule, proceeding from the starting materials. Although easy in theory, the process presents difficulties in practice. Just like in chess, in every step or move youve got variety of possibilities to choose from, says Segler. In chemistry, however, there are orders of magnitude more possible moves than in chess, and the problem is much more complex.



This is where the new method comes into play, linking up the deep neural networks with the Monte Carlo Tree Search  a constellation which is so promising that currently a large number of researchers from a variety of disciplines are working on it. The Monte Carlo Tree Search is a method for assessing moves in a game. At every move, the computer simulates numerous variants, for example how a game of chess might end. The most promising move is then selected.



In a similar way, the computer now looks for the best possible moves for the chemical synthesis. It is also able to learn by using deep neural networks. To this end, the computer draws on all the chemical literature ever published, which describes almost 12 million chemical reactions. Mike Preuss, an information systems specialist and co-author of the study, summarizes it as follows, in a somewhat simplified way: The deep neural networks are used for predicting which reactions are possible with a certain molecule. Using the Monte Carlo Tree Search, the computer can test whether the reactions predicted really do lead to the target molecule.



The idea of using computers to plan syntheses isn't new. The idea is actually about 60 years old. says Segler, People thought it would be enough, as in the case of chess, to enter a large number of rules into the computer. But that didnt work. Chemistry is very complex and, in contrast to chess or Go, it cant be grasped purely logically using simple rules. Added to this is the fact that the number of publications with new reactions doubles every ten years or so. Neither chemists nor programmers can keep up with that. We need the help of an intelligent computer. The new method is about 30 times faster than conventional programmes for planning syntheses and it finds potential synthesis routes for twice as many molecules.



In a double blind AB test, the Munster researchers found that chemists consider these computer-generated synthesis routes to be just as good as existing tried-and-tested ones. We hope that, using our method, chemists will not have to try out so much in the lab, Segler adds, and that as a result, and using fewer resources, they will be able to produce the compounds which make our high standard of living possible.
Related Societies Chemistry Europe

This March a select group of early career chemical researchers from across Europe gathered in Weinheim, Germany, to participate in a two-day immersive workshop on the theme of publishing in the chemical sciences. Wiley-VCH Editors associated with the ChemPubSoc Europe family of journals participated in the lively meeting.







European Publishing in the Chemical Sciences

Chemical research and publishingtwo uneasy companions contending with the same modern challenges in scale, pace, viability, and relevance. Particularly in Europe, cultural and social diversity add complexity to scientific dissemination.



To better understand the challenges faced by European researchers and publishers in this shared endeavor, ChemPubSoc European umbrella organization representing the publishing arm of 16 continental European chemical societieshas hosted an ambitious experiment. The publisher opened its doors to 17 early career researchers from across Europe for an honest exchange of impressions and ideas on the theme of modern European publishing in the chemical sciences.



The invited attendees are active early career chemical researchers with an impressive range of international experience and expertise between them. They manage small research groups, are educators, and many are active members of various European chemical societies or committees.

Workshop participants, including ChemPubSoc Europe editors, assembled for a group photo in the Wiley-VCH atrium, Weinheim, Germany.

First row: Dr. Tamas Beke-Somfai.

Second row (left to right): Prof. Ivana Fleischer, Dr. Vera Lucia Marques da Silva, Dr. Vincent Fourmond, Prof. Maria Manuel Marques dos Santos, Dr. Jose Miguel Gonzalez Dominguez, Dr. Milan Vrabel, Dr. Sophie Carenco, Dr. Iraklis Kyriakou.

Third row (left to right): Dr. Elena Leci, Associate Editor Dr. Kim Meyer, Publisher of ChemPubSoc Europe and Editor-in-Chief of Chemistry  A European Journal Dr. Haymo Ross, Editor-in-Chief of ChemViews Magazine Dr. Vera Koster, Prof. Shigeyoshi Inoue, Dr. Hannes Mikula, Dr. Marcin Kalek, Dr. Haifeng Yuan, Vice President and Executive Director of ChemPubSoc Europe Dr. Eva Wille, Editor-in-Chief of ChemistrySelect and Deputy Editor of Chemistry  A European Journal Dr. Anne Deveson, Associate Editor Dr. Pamela Alsabeh, Editor-in-Chief of ChemistryOpen Dr. Kate Lawrence, Dr. Oscar Verho.

Fourth row (left to right): Dr. Erik Szabo, Editor-in-Chief of ChemMedChem Dr. David Peralta.

Back row (left to right): Editor Emeritus Dr. Peter Golitz, Dr. Johannes E. M. N. Klein, Managing Editor of ChemBioChem Dr. Ruben Ragg.

Beyond a natural curiosity about the editorial and production mechanisms supporting ChemPubSoc Europe's 14 high-quality journals, attendees hoped to gain tips for publishing and insight into the long-term prognosis of scientific publishing. Junior group leader Sophie Carenco, College de France, Paris, has noticed dramatic changes in the sector in recent years, saying: "I share the hope that publishing will survive."







Can Publishers and Researchers Learn from Each Other?

Throughout the two-day event, in-house editors briefed attendees on the core aspects of scientific publishing; from the history of Wiley-VCH and ChemPubSoc Europe, to technological developments in publishing, tips for scientific writing, promotion through social media and press releases, publication ethics, open science, and practices in scholarly collaboration within the framework of copyright law.



An important component of a modern researcher's work lies in promotion and publicization  tools that are provided by ChemPubSoc Europe journals in the form of special issues, cover graphics, author profiles, Twitter exposure, and press releases.



Lively discussions revealed that attendees are striving to realize their full potential in a competitive environment, where funding is sparse, research and publication are fast-paced, and researchers must juggle numerous responsibilities. Shigeyoshi Inoue, TU Munchen, Germany, explained that metrics for performance rely on many different markers and that it is challenging to keep up with all the requirements.



Modern researchers (and publishers) must also contend with the economic burden of mandated Open Access publishing, particularly where countries do not make provisions for the costs of publishing open science. Kate Lawrence, Editor-in-Chief of ChemPubSoc Europe's exclusively Open Access journal ChemistryOpen, gave workshop attendees an overview of the Open Access landscape; including licenses, funding organs, and article processing costs.







Why Publish with ChemPubSoc Europe?

ChemPubSoc Europe's Executive Director, Eva Wille, frames the publisher's major challenge as one of identification. And indeed, workshop attendees had ambiguous knowledge of ChemPubSoc Europe before the meeting, though they actively publish in its journals. Wille explains that the publisher pays substantial royalties to the 16 European owner societies, offers monetary rewards for society publishing, and is otherwise a consistent supporter of the activities of society members.



Maria Manuel Marques dos Santos, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, believes it is logical to publish work funded by European grants in European chemistry journals. She credits leadership in the Sociedade Portuguesa de Quimica with the promotion of society publishing, which has fostered social and monetary feedback loops that continue to nurture the society and ChemPubSoc Europe journals.



Workshop attendees consider representation and a sense of ownership to be major challenges facing chemical publishing in Europe. Erik Szabo, Comenius Universitat Bratislava, Slovakia, suggests that the 16 owner societies are the "tip of the iceberg", and that a larger body of sympathetic supporters is within reach. Sophie Carenco considers active and engaged ambassadors to be a vital ingredient in the exchange between ChemPubSoc Europe and European chemical communities; she believes that owner societies stand to gain valuable expertise by opening their doors to active young researchers.

Workshop participants engaged in lively discussions.







How Can ChemPubSoc Europe Improve?

Vera Koster, Editor-in-Chief of ChemViews Magazine, chaired a series of targeted workshops on the themes of 1) "publishing: the researchers' main challenges and expectations", 2) society publishing and a prognosis for the future of ChemPubSoc Europe, and 3) "promoting your research". On the basis of group discussions, recommendations were put forward for strengthening ChemPubSoc Europe's publishing program in both the short and the long term.







Conclusion

The attendees now have a better understanding of the duties of the publisher, publication workflows, and the responsibilities of authors. Armed with this information, workshop participants recognize that the publishers will need to work closely with European chemical societies and communities to ensure the health of ChemPubSoc Europe. After all, a flourishing European publishing program is integral to the prosperity of these communities. Workshop participants believe that a European approach to scientific publishingone that is committed to inclusion, diversity, and collaborationwill serve chemical research well into the future.

ChemPubSoc Europe editors and early career researchers sharing dinner at Weinheim's picturesque Marktplatz. Opportunities for networking with in-house editors were abundant during coffee breaks, lunches, and dinners interspersed throughout the two-day event.



What is ChemPubSoc Europe? An umbrella organization representing the publishing arm of 16 continental European chemical societies. ChemPubSoc Europe publishes 14 high-quality scientific journals and the international publication ChemViews Magazine. Explore ChemPubSoc Europe here.
Voice of the People I can drive on the left lane of Ind. 49 and not have to deal with the truck traffic any more. I dont think I know you Jim Ton but apparently youre the one that made this happen. My life is a little better now....

Guest Commentary Fair maps for our children, for our Hispanic communities, for our futures My son will vote for the first time next year. And for his first time, the state of Indiana will have brand new legislative and congressional districts. It should feel like a clean...

Voice of the People During the 13 years I have called Chesterton my home, there are few small-town activities I have come to enjoy quite like the high schools homecoming parade. It is always a beautiful moment of celebrating our students, gathering for an afternoon of fun and seeing...

Voice of the People I find it hard to believe that the majority of Town employees will put their self-interest over the GREATER GOOD which is, the viability of the Town of Chesterton by not getting vaccinated. Our town tried to save money by self-insuring itself. We could be...
"I just opened the door and asked if they needed help. I was getting people away from YouTube. At one point I had seven people in the car. I picked up one man from Sneath Lane and when he got in the car he just started crying. He was in shock."
Value, of course, is a funny thing at Walt Disney World. Plain and simple: Eating at a signature restaurant at Epcot (or anywhere else on park property) is going to cost you a pretty penny. But if you get a truly-out-of-this-world culinary experience for $50, that's worth the price. If you get a plate of scrambled eggs and a waffle for $50, not so much.



Whether you like burgers and fries or are looking to sample something new and exciting, there's something for you at Epcot. But is it any good?
That was interesting. I think I had a fantasy that show business would kind of take care of me and go, Oh, of course you need to rest! but nobody can do that but yourself. You have to say what you need and not apologize for it. Everyone was super nice about it. But at the same time, everyones job is to keep things under budget, and if I need more than eight hours of rest between turnarounds, thats going to cost money. So its bizarre. Its such a cushy job already. Youre being paid so well and then youre going to ask for this other thing?
To the extent that it is politically incorrect (if that is still the term), "The Last O.G." clearly wants you to know that it is aware of this fact  that the opinions expressed by its characters do not necessarily reflect those of the management, that we are being asked to laugh at knuckleheads, even if they are knuckleheads out to better themselves.
The current situation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone is a result of the aggression and the policy of ethnic cleansing that Azerbaijan has been carrying out for 30 years against the people of Artsakh, aiming at suppressing their unalienable right to self-determination, as well as living and creating in freedom, Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan said to "Armenpress" news agency.

April 3, 2018, 11:24 Baku continues to reject the proposals of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs - Tigran Balayan

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 3, ARTSAKHPRESS:Asked to comment on the statement by the foreign ministry of Azerbaijan on Monday about the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Balayan noted: "The statement you refer to apparently aims to distract the attention from the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh two years ago, which was accompanied by gross violations of international humanitarian law, namely a murder of a child in a school yard, DAESH style beheadings, mutilation of corpses, torture and murder of elderly in their own home. Azerbaijan bears responsibility not only for committing these terrible crimes, but also for the massacres against Armenians in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad, Maragha and elsewhere. Baku tries to avoid them through lies and falsifications, which became a common practice."

In Balayan's words, Baku continues to reject the proposals of Minsk Group Co-Chairs aimed at the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and refrains from implementing the confidence-building measures, namely the agreements reached at the Vienna, St. Petersburg and Geneva Summits, continuously violating its commitments undertaken by the trilateral ceasefire agreements with no time limitations on ceasing the military actions and fire signed by Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1994-1995.

"A striking example of this was the new aggression of Azerbaijan unleashed against Artsakh on this very day two years ago," Balayan added.
Michelle Krage, foundation vice president, introduced Joshua Dixon, the organization's first Adrienne L. Green Scholarship recipient, and told his heart-wrenching story. In 2007, when Dixon was 8 years old, he was horribly mauled by his family's two pit bulls in the backyard after returning home from school. He has since undergone 59 surgeries for facial reconstruction at the Craniofacial Center.
"It's the same as pollution. A parent can't say to me: How do I stop my kid from breathing polluted air? I can't stop the kid from breathing polluted air. You need a movement that stops pollution. It's the same with this. We live in a toxic culture.  We have to have a massive cultural shift. You can do all you want at home to protect your kid, but what happens if everyone around him is using porn? (Pornographers) are hijacking kids' normal interest in sexuality," Dines said. "What's not normal is for kids to start looking at porn as their major form of sex education  that derails healthy development. We're going to have to adult up here. We cannot leave it to the kids to live in this toxic culture. We created this, and its our job to help change this."
I was terribly unhappy. This was the first time I had ever been away from my family, he can be heard saying in a recording, recalling the day all his classmates were loaded onto double-decker buses and driven out of the city. The children were put into a community center and, one by one, selected by caretakers.
Emanuel added that he had taken his daughter Leah to Israel to have an audience with former President Shimon Peres as a bat mitzvah gift. Peres, he said, told his daughter, Know that there are two books in life: There is the guest book and there is the history book, and what you do with your life will determine where your name goes.
"I want to teach my kids what my parents have taught me," he said. "My dad always says  you want to take the mistakes your parents made and make it better for your kids, and just keep making things better and better as life goes on. I want to take what I learned from them and try to make things as good as I can for my kids and future generations."
The injured firefighter was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital in good condition, Langford said. By about 7:45 a.m., all fire department members were accounted for and responding crews were sent back to their firehouses.
Earlier, two people were shot near the CTA Blue Line station at Pulaski Road and Congress Boulevard. The two were in a vacant lot in the 4000 block of West Congress Parkway about 6:45 p.m. when someone shot them. A 35-year-old man was hit in the hand and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition. A 17-year-old boy was hit in the back and taken to Stroger Hospital, also in good condition, police said. Someone fired at them from a dark car.
The state Department of Juvenile Justice will ultimately determine how long she will be in custody. By statute, she must serve at least five years for the first-degree murder conviction. With credit for time already spent in custody since her arrest, she will be eligible for parole as early as next April, but the Department of Juvenile Justice could hold her until she turns 21 in the summer of 2020..
Armenias defense ministry made clarification over the deployment of the Russian military polices subdivision in the Russian military base in Armenia.

April 3, 2018, 13:58 Russian military police subdivisions function in military base in Armenia is regulation of internal service issues  clarification

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 3, ARTSAKHPRESS:The defense ministry said having representatives of military police in military bases or subdivisions deployed in foreign states is a service necessity and an internationally accepted practice. The Republic of Armenia as well is forming special subdivisions of the military police which will soon be included in the troops departing for international peacekeeping missions, as well as in the CSTO collective forces.

The ministry said the Russian armed forces carry out functions in Armenias territory envisaged exclusively by international contracts and agreements.

The issue of having a military police subdivision in the 102nd Russian military base deployed in Armenia has been mutually agreed by the defense ministries of Armenia and Russia in 2014. The function of the military police subdivision is to regulate the internal service issues and its inclusion in the structure of the military base in no way violates the existing agreements on the structure of the base and the maximum number, the ministrys statement said.

At the same time, the Armenian and Russian defense ministries started developing an interstate draft agreement on Military police bodies of the Russian Armed Forces in the territory of Armenia aimed at defining a necessary legal status and jurisdictions for conducting special functions towards the Russian soldiers in the territory of Armenia, as well as for cooperating with the military police of Armenias defense ministry. The agreement, according to the legislations of Armenia and Russia, should pass the procedures of signing preparation, signing, ratification and approval.
The pair fell asleep in Hazleys vehicle while waiting for Robinson to return from her sexual encounter, only to awaken about two hours later with Robinson nowhere to be found. Hazley then went looking for Robinson and found her badly beaten body inside a garage, according to the charges. An autopsy determined she had been beaten and strangled and that her throat had been slit.
There they located three men and, upon further investigation, found a 16-year-old girl hidden in a closet at the vacant home. Authorities said their investigation found she was walking in Sauk Village when she was taken by three men earlier in the afternoon, according to the statement.
Under the judges order, the fund will keep an additional $25 million in supplemental district contributions to the pension fund made from cash reserves. It also will be able to keep an additional $12.8 million that came from higher property taxes authorized under the state changes to the fund.
"This is only one part of the intelligence picture," the spokesman said. Other pieces of the puzzle, he said, "includes our knowledge that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination - and as part of this program has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichoks; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets."
SEATTLE  Investigators said Monday they were examining "red flags" in a Washington state family's past in hopes of explaining why their SUV went off a 100-foot cliff in an apparent suicide plunge.



The wreckage was discovered last week on rocks along the coast near Mendocino, California, a few days after child welfare authorities in Washington began investigating whether the children were being abused or neglected.



The Hart family's two moms and three of the six adopted children were found dead; the three others are missing and presumed dead, possibly washed out to sea.



Police said Monday that social service authorities in Oregon contacted the West Linn Police Department about the family in 2013 while they were living in the area.



The questions were referred to the Oregon Department of Human Services, which cited privacy laws in refusing to confirm or deny the agency was involved.



Long before the crash, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children. And last month, concerned neighbors in Woodland, Washington, contacted child welfare authorities, saying the children may have been going hungry.



On Sunday, authorities announced that data from the vehicle's software suggested the crash was deliberate.



The SUV had stopped at a pull-off area then sped straight off the cliff, Capt. Greg Baarts of the California Highway Patrol said. Baarts said that as far as he knew, investigators had not found a suicide note.



Marcus Mazza, an engineer and accident-reconstruction expert with Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Robson Forensic, said investigators could use data to determine factors such as the speed of the vehicle; the engine speed; how much force the driver was exerting on the gas pedal; and whether the driver had depressed the brake.



In interviews with friends and relatives, "there have been red flags," Baarts said. He did not elaborate.



Days before the wreck was discovered, neighbors called Washington state child-welfare authorities to say one of the youngsters had been coming to their house almost daily asking for something to eat and complaining that his parents were withholding food as punishment.



Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.



The large, multiracial family, led by Sarah and Jennifer Hart, both 38, grew their own food, went on road trips and took part in activist causes.



The three children found at the crash scene were Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14. There was no sign of Hannah Hart, 16; Sierra Hart, 12; and Devonte Hart, 15.
Van der Zwaan's attorneys argued that he had suffered enough already. His life has been destroyed by his "terrible decision" to lie to federal authorities, they said. The attorneys pushed Jackson to allow van der Zwaan to return to London as soon as possible where he lives with his wife, who is going through a difficult pregnancy.
In this June 21, 2006, file photo, members of the California National Guard work next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence Wednesday, June 21, 2006, near the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego. President Donald Trump said April 3, 2018, he wants to use the military to secure the U.S.-Mexico border until his promised border wall is built. The Department of Homeland Security and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. At the Pentagon, officials were struggling to answer questions about the plan, including rudimentary details on whether it would involve National Guard members, as similar programs in the past have done. (DENIS POROY / AP)
He has been charged with a number of felony counts related to financial offenses  including money laundering, fraud and tax evasion, as well as for failing to register as a foreign lobbyist  in connection with his decade of work on behalf of a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party before joining Trump's campaign. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is seeking to have the case against him dismissed.
Sara Fitzgerald, left, and Michael Martin, both with the group One Virginia, protest gerrymandering in front of the Supreme Court, Wednesday, March 28, 2018, in Washington D.C. where the court will hear arguments on a gerrymandering case. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP)
A trade center has been evacuated in Moscow because of a smoke in Burger King fast-food restaurant.

April 3, 2018, 17:54 Moscow trade center evacuated because of smoke in Burger King

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 3, ARTSAKHPRESS:Around 6,000 people were evacuated from the building as the firefighters are looking for a fire source, TASS reported.

A fire alarm went off in Afimall trade center because of a smoke.

As reported earlier, nine people were injured in an explosion in Burger King restaurant in downtown Yerevan on Monday evening. The citizens of Armenia, Russia and Iran, among them five minors, were injured in the blast.
That means the Park District  you, taxpayers  will have to come up with reimbursements for workers higher contributions, plus interest. Going forward the district will have to figure out how to stabilize the retirement fund without those cost-saving changes. Chicagos pension funds  for municipal workers and laborers, teachers, police and firefighters, and now Park District employees  face serious unfunded liabilities. The Civic Federation estimates the Park District fund has about 39 percent of what it needs to make future benefits payments.
The Trump administration says the rollback will free carmakers from regulations that have kept them from producing more affordable vehicles. California, said Trumps Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, shouldnt and cant dictate to the rest of the country what these levels are going to be. We often disagree with Pruitt, but here he has a point. If California wants to enforce tougher fuel efficiency standards, by all means, Sacramento, be our guest. But not as a mandate affecting drivers in Illinois and other states.
When, after a school mass shooting, the CEO of the National Rifle Association says that the only way to stop a "bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," that shows he is not serious about solving the problem.
Chicago promoter 1833 once again presents a stacked lineup of Chicago artists. This time, many up-and-comers are moving to take claim to the rap scene. MCs like Chance, G Herbo, Vic and Noname have led the charge that made Chicago the modern-day hot spot for rap, but now its time for the next wave to take over. Headed by Supa Bwe, the show features a litany of young wordsmiths who are ready to be the next household name in the city. $16. 6:30 p.m. Tickets: metrochicago.com
Reported incidents of property crime decreased about 16% from 2015 to 2019, according to the FBI, with the national average now at 400 burglaries and 1,700 larceny-thefts per 100,000 people annually. The top 15 cities on this list averaged more than double the number of burglaries per 100,000 people, and the number of larcenies are 60% higher on average per 100,000 residents. Larceny, which is the theft of objects like bicycles or anything stolen without force, comprised about 75% of all property crimes in 2019, burglary, which is unlawful entry to commit a felony, accounted for 16% and motor vehicle theft for 10%.
Larry Marshall, 48, of Bellwood, died after the ambulance transporting him from a dialysis center suddenly careened into a building. Prentis Williams, 50, of Chicago, who was a passenger in the ambulance, was also killed in the crash, according to Bellwood police Chief Jiminez Allen.
Robert Acri, 61, of Winnetka, was charged in 2015 with securities fraud, mail fraud and forgery, after the Illinois attorney generals office said he defrauded about 30 investors of $10 million through a company he ran called Kenilworth Asset Management. Former Chicago Bear Keith Van Horne, who is not expected to testify at this weeks trial, was among those who lost money, authorities said.
The chances are the media report was leaked by those who support further cuts  or by those who oppose them! It is a test of whether this is an easy budget saving or whether it will have a political sting.

Fairfax Media reported last week another 10% may be lopped off Australian aid in the May budget. Coming a mere three days after the OECD castigated Australia for spending so little, it illustrates contemptuously the aid sector's lack of impact and influence.

CANBERRA - So here we are. Almost five years after the start of the Abbott government's 30% cut to Australia's international development cooperation, we have talk of more cuts.

But more importantly, this mooted measure is a test of whether the Turnbull government has a strategic, long-term vision of how we work with countries in the region, to mutual advantage. Further reducing our capacity to do so would be national negligence.

Conservative governments typically start with a sceptical view of foreign aid but, in time, come to realise just what development cooperation can achieve.

John Howard reset the relationship with Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami with a $1 billion investment that delivered one of the world's best development programs. Unfortunately, there's little sign of such a renaissance in the border-force era.

How the Asia-Pacific region fares, how it works together, and the rules and values that predominate are critical to our future. Belatedly, we seem to be recognising this, but are showing signs of panic over the rise of China and its influence on regional countries.

Our development programs can help here  addressing common problems, building enduring partnerships, strengthening our regional reputation  but, unfortunately, we have settled for a very limited, inadequate and shrinking role for aid.

If aid is just charity for the poor, the regional case for it is clearly diminishing. However, if it's about working collaboratively to reduce threats to stability  including accelerating inequality  and build the governance, norms and modes of cooperation that allow us all to prosper, then the case has never been stronger, especially in Asia.

Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop understand this, but many others in parliament and the bureaucracy do not. A complete change of tack is required.

We must recognise that NGO and government assistance are different products and stop trying to turn one into the other. We should separate aid and development cooperation so that each can be presented, funded and organised to suit its purposes.

Aid would be what the public takes it to be: emergency assistance, direct poverty-alleviation programs and support for non-government grassroots efforts.

It would often be welfare-related and have as a purpose the immediate alleviation of deprivation. It would be needs-based, with less emphasis on geographical focus. As a much smaller part of the whole, it might be easier to win aid increases.

Development cooperation, on the other hand, would have a long-term focus and a much more overt national-interest rationale. The objective would not be to underwrite a trade deal here or an asylum-seeker agreement there, but to focus relentlessly and rigorously on what is needed to maximise long-term regional development in our neighbourhood.

It would be policy, institution and systems-focussed, rather than project-based. It would have a high intellectual content and help drive policy coherence across our diplomatic, security and economic agendas. Funding decisions could then be made rationally on the basis of much better-informed consideration of international threats, opportunities and shared interests.

Unfortunately, Australia has settled for a very limited, inadequate and shrinking role for 'aid'.

Richard Moore is a former deputy director-general of AusAID
Last week, the fire district closed Station #2 on North Cedar Road and eliminated four firefighter/paramedic positions to close a budget deficit. That did not have an impact on this house fire, which was south of Laraway Road in the Jackson Branch subdivision, Riegel said, but a second fire crew enroute to the scene was stopped by a train.
She said the mayor is "not accountable to anyone" as far as recording or otherwise accounting for his efforts in that area. Gira acknowledged that when trustees approved the ordinance to make the position full-time there was no language specifically requiring record-keeping on the part of the mayor, and that the board may have erred in not including that.
It is my understanding that yellow traffic light duration is based on posted speed limits. If policing is not going to more aggressively enforce speed limits, then it's time to accordingly adjust yellow light times. Serious accidents at intersections are becoming far too frequent. Traffic is moving at much higher speeds than the limits and either drivers cannot stop in time, don't bother to try, or fear being rear ended and pass through red lights. Driving dangers are far outweighing necessary safety measures.
The ordinance to store firearms was only passed for one reason, Nordal said. That was to have an amendatory vehicle that could be used in the future for just this purpose so you could banish assorted firearms in the future. First its going to be assault rifles. (There will be) new bans in the future. Its just a matter of time.
"The people in this room, each and every single one of you, are very talented and are passionate about your community, otherwise you wouldn't be here today, on the day after spring recess," Krishnamoorthi said. Monday was the first day of classes after ECC's spring break.
When you think of what the office does in terms of protecting victims of crimes or working to defend environmental rights, all of these were really important questions to delve into and reflect on, in terms of making sure we had a very clear and cogent platform, Rotering said. The chance to communicate with so many people across the state on issues that are truly impactful and important was an honor.
In her report, Jeter said the city said payments to the lobbyists were made through Filippinis law firm for competitive reasons to prevent other communities from knowing about the efforts. While that type of practice is often used for the retaining of experts, possible litigation costs or administrative charges, Jeter said in February, she said that in this type of situation, the payment method was not common.
"There is that old, pat, simplistic, reductive, 'We came because this was the land of opportunity' or 'We were looking for a better life,' and that answer almost always obscures something far deeper, which this book gets at," he said. "This book tries to get people to sort of think and be honest. There is always as much a 'pull' as there is a 'push.'"
Mannion and his wife, Jennifer, have three children.

The 50th Senate District race is expected to be an open contest this year. DeFrancisco, R-DeWitt, is running for governor and has said it's unlikely he will seek re-election even if he's unsuccessful in securing the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

DeFrancisco has served in the state Senate since 1993. He hasn't faced major party opposition since 2010.

With DeFrancisco's likely retirement from the Senate, there is a crowded field of candidates from both major parties looking to succeed him. Other Democrats have expressed interest in the race, but only Mannion and Rigney have publicly declared their candidacies.

Several Republicans have been mentioned as possible candidates, including Onondaga County GOP Chairman Tom Dadey.

The 50th Senate District, which is predominantly in Onondaga County, will be a key battleground for both parties if DeFrancisco doesn't seek re-election. Republicans hold a slim enrollment advantage in the district. There are 62,316 active GOP voters and 61,498 Democrats, according to the latest data available on the state Board of Elections website.

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During the evening peak, the number of trains serving Naperville and Route 59 will remain the same. The difference is the Naperville and Route 59 stops will be split between different trains on some trips in order to distribute the passengers and ease overcrowding.
Niles police Officer Rodney Whiteman sustained injuries when his squad car was struck, said Daniel Egan, an attorney with the Chicago-based law firm Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie and Lowry, which represented the village in this worker's compensation case.
Were going to have more of a classier offering than what was there before, Gaspar said. Its going to be American fare. Im in a position where I have access to chefs at my other restaurants. Theyll help me put a menu together that is an elevated offering. It will still be a bar menu thats welcoming and recognizable. I dont want to out-price our guests, and I dont want to scare away our guests with pricing. Well have to find that middle ground where it makes financial sense to us.
Eric Ruth, of Park Ridge, said he has been attending Community Karma Yoga for the last eight years. He selected Chicago-based Unity Parenting and Counseling as one of the charities that received donations from the classes. Ruth said he felt drawn to the organization, which provides housing and social services to children, teens, and disabled adults, after hearing an interview with a staff member on the radio.
Anyone familiar with the couple is asked to contact the Valparaiso Police Department and Detective Jason Hamilton at 219-462-2135. Information also can be texted to 847-411; enter "Valpo" in the message field before sending a tip.
"I'm sure that Dr. Pruitt made her decision based on the facts and what was right," she said. "I'm sure that she gave serious thought to her decision and she did what she had to do."
There, tow operators charge a $175 fee. Of that, $40 is supposed to go to the city. Several of those companies have complained it is wrong to expect them to pay that much, particularly because in many cases, the towing companies wind up losing money. According to Rodney Pol, city attorney, 60 percent of towed vehicles are never reclaimed.
State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, the author of the Indiana House bill that set up the long-range transportation funding program last year, said he pushed to including money for crossing safety because Indiana ranks high among the states not only for the number of railroad crossings but also for the number of crossing accidents.
"When we corrected wrongs done, it was through litigation and different legislation, and I don't know that we ever got to the core that certain folks thought they were superior to others or why people thought it was OK to treat people like they are not human beings. What is it that allows us to behave in a way that folks are less than human beings and what role does race play in that?"
U.S. Rep. John Katko has secured the support of a third minor party line as he seeks a third term in Congress.

Katko, R-Camillus, has been endorsed by the New York State Reform Party. He had the party's support for his previous re-election campaign in 2016.

In a statement explaining its endorsement of Katko, the Reform Party said the GOP congressman "represents the best aspects of government today."

"He's a public servant in the truest sense of the word," the party said. "Not only does he deliver for his constituents, but he has demonstrated independence and a willingness to stand up to special interests. A vote for him on the Reform Party line isn't just a vote for a great congressman, it's an opportunity to send a message with your vote."

Katko was first elected to Congress in 2014. He won that race by 20 points and his re-election bid two years later by 22 points.

Prior to running for Congress, Katko was a federal prosecutor. He was an assistant U.S. attorney based in Syracuse. One reason he said he left that job to run for Congress is to address the inaction plaguing Washington.
Since criminals, drugs, guns, bombs and who knows what keep coming into this country from South American countries via Mexico, it is only fitting that we use American troops to protect us from these elements-it is our largest national security risk that cost this country many billions of dollars every year. When I read about illegal immigrants arrested in the USA were released from a Guatemala prison a month ago, you know something is wrong with our controls.
For Subscribers Beulah United Methodist Church celebrates 150 years of history

The Beulah United Methodist Church is celebrating its 150-year-history with a service on Sept. 26.
By Alexander Chipman Koty

China has announced tariffs on 128 types of US products worth up to US$3 billion, as the two countries veer closer towards a trade war.

The tariffs, which came into effect immediately on April 2, 2018, mostly target various US fruit, pork, wine, steel, and scrap aluminum products. They add an additional 15 to 25 percent tax on top of those products regular tariff rates.

The statement released by Chinas Ministry of Finance says that the tariffs are aimed at balancing the losses caused by US tariffs on Chinese goods. The statement also reaffirmed Chinas support for multilateral trade.

The US recently announced that it would slap tariffs on up to US$60 billion worth of Chinese products. US President Donald Trump has already authorized a 25 percent duty on Chinese steel and a 10 percent duty on Chinese aluminum, and has indicated that further tariffs on Chinese goods are in the works.

Business Intelligence from Dezan Shira & Associates

Additionally, the US has announced that it will petition the World Trade Organization (WTO) to take action against the Chinese governments alleged unfair trade practices in support of state-sponsored industries and technology licensing.

Analysts consider Chinas tariffs an indicator that the government is unafraid to retaliate against the US tariffs, but does not intend on escalating tensions further. The two sides continue to engage in discussions to resolve bilateral trade and investment disagreements.

The complete list of US goods hit by the tariffs follows.

Editors note: On April 4, 2018, China announced 25 percent tariffs on US$50 billion worth of US goods in a proportional response to the US latest tariffs. Please read this article for further information on the affected US products.
Metropolitan Chair (1959). [Photo provided to China Daily]

In 1960, when John Kennedy and Richard Nixon participated in one of their televised presidential debates, two chairs present in the recording studio wasn't of much value to the viewers.

But a year ago, the same chairs designed by Hans Wegner were hailed by the Museum of Modern Art in New York as among the best designs of the 20th century. Denmark-born Wegner, who died in 2007, was a leading figure in the world of furniture design. He had once said: "A chair is to have no backside. It should be beautiful from all sides and angles."

The chairs Wegner designed reflected his words. The one used in the Kennedy-Nixon debate has been considered by many art historians as being perfect. It is made of teak and can be easily lifted with one hand. Its back, seat and legs are connected by mortise and tenon joints.

Chairs constitute a notable part of Wegner's oeuvre. A selection of his designs from the 1940s and '50s, including the Kennedy-Nixon debate chair that was designed in 1950, are on display at The Art of the Chair, an ongoing exhibition at the Danish Cultural Center, in the 798 art area of Beijing.
Chinese investment in US commercial real estate in 2017 plunged an estimated 55 percent from 2016, according to a report, but participants in the sector still expect Chinese capital to be a factor in the US.

The 2017 China-US Inbound Investment Capital Watch report from real estate company Cushman & Wakefield put the estimated decline at $7.3 billion in 2017 from $16.2 billion in 2016.

Cushman & Wakefield said the slump was largely the result of stricter capital controls and regulations from the mainland. The Chinese government implemented the controls to better "regulate and manage outbound investment flows," David Bitner, Cushman & Wakefield's head of capital market research, said in an interview Thursday.

"I think Chinese investments are generally refocusing their interests into other types of investments, such as infrastructure (and) R&D (research-and-development) facilities. However, when it comes to commercial real estate, I think the interest will remain as opportunities arise," Selma Hepp, vice-president of business intelligence at real estate brokerage Pacific Union International Inc, wrote in an email.

Bitner also expects Chinese investment in US real estate this year to focus on industrial properties, infrastructure and R&D facilities.

He said China's capital controls will continue to be a factor in Chinese outbound investments in 2018. "If you are a company where real estate and property development is your main line of business I think you will have a better chance of getting your foreign investment approved," he said.

Despite the decline in Chinese investment, the US commercial real estate markets weathered the loss of capital well. Because New York and San Francisco receive two-thirds of every Chinese investment dollar according to the report, the effect of the falloff was limited, according to Barry Hersh, a real estate professor at New York University.

Overall, China fell to third in total foreign investment in American real estate behind Canada and Singapore, according to the report. Bitner said other sources of capital stepped in to fill the void. "Capital from Canada, Singapore, Japan and South Korea is coming into the US market," he said.
China's leading oil refiner, Sinopec, launched its "green action plan" on Monday in a bid to become a clean, efficient and low-carbon enterprise by 2023.

According to the plan, Sinopec's gasoline and diesel products manufactured in 2018 will meet the State VI emissions standard, which is equivalent to the Euro VI standard.

Within the next six years, the company, whose official name is China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, will see the percentage of its clean energy output exceed 50 percent and will build another 1,000 natural gas stations for vehicles.

By 2023, Sinopec will be able to supply 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. More than 10,000 kilometers of gas pipelines will be put to use, while the transfer capacity of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shall reach 26 million tonnes per year, the plan said.

"In the New Era, we seek to provide society with more clean energy and greener products, with green and low-carbon growth as Sinopec's core competence," said Jiao Fangzheng, Sinopec's vice president.

Energy and chemical companies should aim for lower consumption and higher efficiency to promote high-quality development of the sector, said Sinopec president Dai Houliang at the China Development Forum.

The company's net profit for 2017 grew 9.8 percent year on year to 51.2 billion yuan (8.1 billion U.S dollars), according to Sinopec's 2017 annual report.
Chinese President Xi Jinping [File photo]

Nepal's Constitution promulgated through the Constituent Assembly (CA) in 2015 has enshrined "socialism" as an aspired principle of the nation for the first time in its history. The preamble states that Nepal shall move forward on a path of socialism by adopting democratic values and norms including a people's competitive multi-party democratic system, fundamental human rights, periodic elections, freedom of expression, and an independent and impartial judiciary to ensure the rule of law.

Though there is no single understanding of the terminology "socialism" among the political parties involved in the promulgation, the "document of compromise," scholars believe that "socialism" stated in Nepal's constitution refers to a liberal school of socialism which sometimes is known as "humanitarian socialism" or "market socialism" interchangeably.

Yet, with the fresh announcement of the unification of the two largest communist parties in Nepal holding a nearly two-thirds majority in the federal parliament, a debate on a new model of communist "socialism with Nepali characteristics" is in the limelight once again.

The Communist Party of Nepal, Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN UML) and the Communist Party of Nepal Maoist Centre (CPN MC) have agreed to form a unified party in the mold of socialism along the line of the Marxist-Leninist ideology as the new party's guiding principle.

Contrary to the assumptions that a power sharing deal between two supreme leaders would be the toughest task, the final round of unification talks was paused for days, after intensive debate emerged regarding the "guiding thought."

Currently, CPN UML's guiding principle is the "People's Multi-Party Democracy" (PMD) that was propounded by the late Madan Kumar Bhandari in 1993. Whereas, CPN Maoist's directorial thought has been "21st Century People's Democracy" which is an advanced version of the "Prachanda Path" (aka Prachanda Way), a revolutionary political thought crafted by CPN Maoist Centre's leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" in 2001.

Bhandari, who was also criticized by some hardliners as a "corrupt communist" by opting for a parliamentary model for communism, claimed his ideology to be the most "constructive adaptation of Marxism" citing the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a serious setback to Marxists and the need for a unique approach. Whereas, "Prachanda Path" is said to have been inspired by Peru's "Shining Path" propounded by Abimael Guzman (aka Gonzalo). Some left-wing analysts criticize MC's latest narrative as a mere replication of PDM in cloak synonyms.

As per the agreement, the new party will be named Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) and both thoughts will be deliberated upon as the ideological guidelines of the party at the national congress which is scheduled to be held within a year and a half.

Whereas in China, as an acculturated version of "Mao Zedong Thought" and "Deng Xiaoping Theory," Xi's thought has been described as the best assessment of the change in the "principal contradiction" faced by Chinese society. Xi believes, "the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics offers a new option for other nations who want to speed up their development while preserving their independence; and it offers Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to solving the problems facing mankind."

The consecutive socialist thoughts invented in China have considerable impact in Nepal's communist parties; the nomenclature of Maoist Centre itself is an illustration. If we observe responses on social media in the aftermath of 19th National Congress of the CPC, and the introduction of the Xi Thought in China's Constitution, it is clear that there is a desire for similar thought with Nepali characteristics.

During Xi's era, China has significantly enhanced its "soft power" across the globe via traditional and cultural exchanges. At the same time Chinese willingness to share its development experiences with its neighbors like Nepal through the BRI with an aim to gaining prosperity together is manifested. BRI and Xi Thought now have become inseparable entities.

Social impacts of Xi thought in Nepal are obvious. Leaders admit the possible influences of "Xi Jinping Thought" in their guiding principle as it is the latest constructive version of communist-socialism.

MC leader Mani Thapa, who is considered to be much closer to Chairman Prachanda, opines that with the conglomeration of "Xi Jinping Thought" by CPC, a new discussion on socialism has begun. "As the CPC has adopted Xi Jinping Thought' as a guiding principle it has obviously offered a new subject of debate on socialism," says Thapa.

After the completion of three-tier elections, Nepal is on the brink of its most defining time of the age. Given the locus between two emerging economies in the world i.e. China and India, and almost a sole dependency on India in terms of trade and supply, Nepal has the challenge of balancing the two giant neighbors to gain long aspired prosperity.

If the Xi Jinping Thought is a manifestation of renewal of national confidence and aspiration of "prosperity together," Nepal's ruling CPN has a challenge of at least orienting the nation towards such direction. Thus, Xi Thought is sure to have an understandable influence in Nepal, especially in the hunt for the new guiding principle of the CPN.

Saroj Gautam writes on International Relations and Diplomacy from Kathmandu. Gautam is associated with AP1HD Television in Nepal.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.




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The Russian Foreign Ministry announced Monday that it would expel one Montenegrin diplomat in tit-for-tat retaliation over the incident of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal.

Earlier in the day, Montenegro's ambassador to Russia Ramiz Basic was summoned to the foreign ministry, where he was given a note of protest for Montenegro's expulsion of a Russian diplomat on March 26 in line with Britain's "groundless accusations" against Russia, the ministry said in a press release.

In response to Montenegro's "unjustified move," the Russian side declared an official of the Embassy of Montenegro persona non grata, it said.

Skripal and his daughter were reportedly exposed to a nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain and its allies accused Russia of launching a chemical attack against them, but Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Western countries expelled a total of more than 100 Russian diplomats in a concerted action, while Russia has so far expelled diplomats of 26 countries in response.
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Egyptian incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi made a landslide victory in the country's presidential election, winning 97.08 percent of the valid votes, official results showed on Monday.



The turnout was 41.05 percent, as 24,254,152 voters inside and outside Egypt cast their ballots, head of Egypt's National Elections Authority, Lashin Ibrahim, told a press conference in Cairo.

A total of 21,835,387 voted for Sisi at home and abroad, while Sisi's only rival Moussa Mostafa Moussa garnered 656,534 votes, or 2.92 percent.

A couple of possible strong competitors in the presidential race have either withdrawn or been disqualified over violations.

Moussa said he is satisfied with the results, applauding the transparency of the electoral process.

He also said he would have won if he was competing against another candidate, reported official Ahram Gate website.

The number of invalid votes was 1,762,231, added Ibrahim.

Right after the official announcement of the results, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia congratulated Sisi by phone.

King Salman wished Egypt and its people prosperity, stressing the kingdom's keenness to strengthen historical ties with Egypt, spokesman for Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

Sisi also received congratulatory messages from a number of heads of state, including of China, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Czech and Armenia.

On March 19, the most populous Arab state wrapped up the three-day voting process of Egyptian expatriates in about 124 countries across the world. The domestic voting took place on March 26-28.

Polls were held amid intense security presence and tight security measures around polling centers throughout Egypt.

Voters cast their ballots at some 13,706 polling stations nationwide, with about 18,808 judges oversaw the voting process that was also monitored by at least 53 local organizations and nine international ones, besides more than 680 foreign reporters.

Sisi came to office in mid-2014, a year after he, as the army chief then, led the military ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Sisi was expected to win a landslide victory in the polls, yet the Egyptian leadership sought a high voter turnout as a sign of popular support for Sisi's administration.

Most Egyptians who voted for Sisi expressed their belief in him as a savior from Islamist radicalism of the currently blacklisted Brotherhood group and trust in Sisi's leadership of the country for eradication of terrorism, further security, stability and development.
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U.S. President Donald Trump, during a telephone call on March 20, proposed a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the White House, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Monday.

"If everything goes well, I hope the Americans will not give up their proposal to discuss the possibility of holding a summit," TASS news agency quoted Ushakov as saying.

On March 20, Trump congratulated Putin on his victory in the March 18 presidential election. During the telephone conversation, the two leaders paid "special attention to the possibility of organizing a top-level meeting," according to a Kremlin transcript then.

Trump told reporters on the same day that he intended to meet Putin "in the not too distant future."

However, according to Ushakov, the prospects of organizing the summit have not been discussed since then.

Last week, Washington expelled 60 Russian diplomats and closed the Russian consulate in Seattle in a concerted action with Britain and other Western nations over an ex-spy poisoning case.

Moscow retaliated with the expulsion of an equal number of U.S. diplomats and the closure of the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg.

"Against the background of these events, of course, it is difficult to discuss holding the summit," Ushakov said, adding that Russia still considers the meeting very important and necessary for both countries and the entire international community.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday mourned the death of anti-apartheid heroine Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, calling her "an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free."

"It is with a profound sense of loss and deep sadness that we have learnt of the passing away of Mam' Winnie Madikizela-Mandela," Ramaphosa said.

Winnie, former President Nelson Mandela's wife, died in Johannesburg Monday afternoon after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year, her family announced.

"Today we have lost a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a comrade, a leader and an icon," Ramaphosa said.

Even at the darkest moments of the struggle for liberation, Winnie was "an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free," Ramaphosa said.

In the midst of repression, she was a voice of defiance and resistance, said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa also called Winnie "a champion of justice and equality" in the face of exploitation.

"Throughout her life she made an everlasting contribution to the struggle through sacrifice and her unyielding determination. Her dedication to the plight of her people gained her the love and the respect of the nation," Ramaphosa said.

For many years, Winnie bore the brunt of the senseless brutality of the apartheid state with stoicism and fortitude, the president said.

"Despite the hardships she faced, she never doubted that the struggle for freedom and democracy would succeed," Ramaphosa said.

Winnie remained throughout her life a tireless advocate for the dispossessed and the marginalised and was a voice for the voiceless, said Ramaphosa.

He urged South Africans to draw inspiration from the struggles that Winnie fought and the dream of a better society to which she dedicated her life.

Also on Monday, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lowered its revolutionary banner in honor of the memory of Winnie.

The ANC called Winnie a great woman who was so loved and revered and whose name will forever be inscribed in history.

Winnie's resilience and courage inspired freedom struggles not only in South Africa, but across Africa and her diaspora, the ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule said.

As one of the greatest icons of the struggle against apartheid, Winnie fought fearlessly against the apartheid state and sacrificed her life for the freedom of the country. Her activism and resistance to apartheid landed her in jail on numerous occasions.

Despite all these attempts to break her spirit, she remained steadfast and refused to cease with her political activism, displaying exemplary courage that made her a role model for many young women activists in South Africa, Magashule said.
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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, passed away at the Netcare Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, on Monday, said the statement released by Mandela's family.



Winnie died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year.

She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones, said the statement.

Madikizela-Mandela was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against Apartheid. She fought valiantly against the Apartheid state and sacrificed her life for the freedom of the country. Her activism and resistance to Apartheid landed her in jail on numerous occasions, eventually causing her banishment to the small town of Brandfort in the then Orange Free State, it said.

Winnie kept the memory of her imprisoned husband Nelson Mandela alive during his years on Robben Island and helped give the Struggle for justice in South Africa one its most recognizable faces.

She dedicated most of her adult life to the cause of the people and for this was known far and wide as the Mother Of The Nation, added the statement.
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General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Hanoi on Monday, with both sides expressing willingness to upgrade bilateral pragmatic cooperation.



Vietnam welcomes China growing strong and making important contributions to the regional and global peace and stability, said Trong. He spoke highly of the successful state visit by General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping to Vietnam in November last year.

As bilateral relations keeping a positive development trend, Vietnam supports China's Belt and Road Initiative and stands ready to push for closer synergy between the Chinese initiative and Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan so as to promote bilateral pragmatic cooperation, he said.

Trong called on Vietnam and China to properly handle the maritime issues existing between the two countries through friendly consultations. As a transitional method, the two sides can explore joint development and joint safeguarding maritime peace and stability, he suggested.

For his part, Wang said the important strategic consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries has been turning into a strong driving force for the positive growth of China-Vietnam relations.

China is willing to join hands with Vietnam to further implement the important achievements from the state visit to Vietnam by General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November last year, consolidate and advance the friendly cooperation between the two countries, and become real actions of all walks of life in the two countries to boost the comprehensive strategic cooperation, Wang said.

The two sides should seize the opportunity to push forward the alignment of China's Belt and Road Initiative with Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan, and explore new potentials for cooperation in a bid to upgrade the scale and quality of bilateral pragmatic cooperation, he suggested.

China is willing to work with Vietnam to properly manage and control disputes, explore joint development as well as improve and consolidate the public opinion foundation on boosting bilateral ties, so as to ensure Sino-Vietnamese relations always being on the right track, Wang said.

The Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister attended the sixth summit of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Economic Cooperation and paid an official visit to Vietnam from Friday to Monday. During his visit, he also met with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he suspends a landmark agreement with the UN to resettle African asylum seekers hours after he first announced the deal.



The resettlement deal was supposed to cancel a government plan to deport from Israel thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers and instead resettle half of them in Western countries and allow the others to remain in Israel.

The announcement on the agreement with the United Nations Refugee Agency triggered harsh criticism by ultra-nationalist activists, who demanded to deport all of the asylum seekers, and top cabinet ministers, who said they were not consulted about the deal in advance.

About seven hours after Netanyahu lauded the agreement as a "good deal" in a televised press conference, he said the deal is "suspended."

In a post on his Facebook page, Netanyahu said that he and Interior Minister Arieh Deri would meet with "representatives of southern Tel Aviv" on Tuesday, where most of the asylum seekers are located.
When asked if he had anything to say to the court, Thresher initially shook his head. Then, after some whispers from his defense attorney, Simon Moody, Thresher stood and apologized.

"I'm sorry for what I've done," he said.

In response, Fandrich said he appreciated the fact that Thresher pleaded guilty, which spared the child from having to testify at trial. However, he was still concerned that Thresher continued to shirk his responsibility.

"It is troubling to me that you minimized your involvement in this horrific crime," Fandrich said.

Fandrich ultimately sentenced Thresher to nine years in prison and 10 years post-release supervision. He also said Thresher would have to register as a sex offender for life and ordered him to pay roughly $1,500 in fines and fees.

Also in court

 A woman who evaded police for years was sentenced Tuesday for selling heroin in Cayuga County.

In 2012, Michelle Garrow was sentenced to jail for grand larceny and ordered to answer a separate indictment upon her release. But Budelmann said Garrow never showed up to address the charges.
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The State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) and Lao Ministry of Science and Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on intellectual property cooperation in Vientiane on Monday.

SIPO Commissioner Shen Changyu and Lao Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Houmphan Inthirath signed the agreement respectively.

The MoU is to enhance cooperation in intellectual property, to facilitate the joint innovation and creativity projects, and to enrich the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

According to the MoU, the Lao government will recognize the patent examination results made by related Chinese authorities.

"This cooperation will help the Lao government protect intellectual property," Lao Minister of Science and Technology Boviengkham Vongdara said at the signing ceremony.

Houmphan said after signing the document that the MoU reflects that both sides attach great importance to IP cooperation, and are willing to enhance bilateral exchanges and communications in the IP sector. He hopes the Chinese side could help the Lao IP authority's capacity building and personnel training.

"We have discussed on international cooperation, funding human resource development and intellectual property management," Shen said, "I believe that through the cooperation, both sides will make it a success and facilitate the joint projects in the near future."

Shen believes that after the China-Laos IP cooperation being officially established, both sides will further enhance bilateral exchange and mutual trust, jointly promote IP causes, and contribute to science and technology innovation.
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Forces loyal to the Libyan UN-backed government launched a military operation on Monday to pursue Islamic State (IS) remnants in areas east and southeast of Tripoli, a government spokesman said.



"According to the instructions of Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, a military operation called Homeland Storm was launched at Monday dawn to pursue the remnants of terrorist groups, mainly IS," said spokesman Mohamed Al-Sallak.

The operation started from the eastern city of Misurata, 200 km east of the capital Tripoli, covering valleys and the desert area of the nearby cities of Sirte, Bani Walid and Tarhouna, according to the spokesman.

"The operation will involve all government army units to pursue the remnants," Al-Sallak noted.

He did not give further details about the operation but said any further information will be announced in due time.

In late 2016, forces allied with the Libyan government expelled IS militants from Sirte, some 450 km east of Tripoli, while the remnants fled to the southern valleys and mountainous areas.

Despite the defeat in Sirte, the IS remnants have continued to carry out suicide attacks on military points of both the UN-backed government and the eastern-based army led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

The terrorist group on Friday claimed responsibility for a Thursday car bomb attack on a security check point in the eastern city of Ajdabiya, which killed at least five people.
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The White House said on Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was to visit the United States on April 17-18 on issues including the Korean Peninsula and trade.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Abe will meet at Trump's Florida resort Mar-a-Lago to discuss the campaign to maintain maximum pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) ahead of the planned meeting between Trump and the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un, said the White House in a statement.

Trump and Abe, in their third summit meeting, will also "explore ways to expand fair and reciprocal trade and investment ties between the United States and Japan," according to the statement.

Tension on the Korean Peninsula has thawed in recent months with Seoul and Pyongyang agreeing to hold a summit on April 27, the first meeting between the leaders of the two sides in 11 years.

In March, Trump and Kim agreed to meet, yet the timing and place of the high-profile gathering has not been announced yet. Amid the rapport, Washington still pledged to maintain its maximum pressure on Pyongyang, economically and diplomatically.
An Auburn man has been charged with multiple felonies for assaulting his girlfriend with a box cutter, the Auburn Police Department said.

John Hook, 58, of 7 Washington St., was arrested early Monday morning following a domestic dispute at his girlfriend's apartment.

According to Deputy Police Chief Roger Anthony, at around 12:30 a.m., officers were called to Murphy Apartments at 191 Genesee St. Upon arrival, he said, officers discovered Hook had attacked a 46-year-old woman with a utility knife.

Reading from the victim's statement, Anthony said Hook had threatened to kill the woman and proceeded to slice her head with a box cutter. At that time, the victim pushed Hook away and ran next door to call police. She was transported to the hospital for treatment.

Hook was charged with second-degree assault and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both class D felonies. He was also charged with second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor.

Anthony said Hook has 58 prior convictions, three of which were felonies. He was arraigned Monday morning in Auburn City Court and remanded to Cayuga County Jail without bail.

Staff writer Megan Blarr can be reached at (315) 282-2282 or megan.blarr@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @CitizenBlarr.

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"It is here, in this very building, for over 4,000 days I learned about the importance, the privilege and the responsibility of holding elective office," Molinaro said at his campaign kickoff event at Tivoli Village Hall.

Molinaro initially had said he wouldn't seek the Republican nomination for governor but changed his mind last month after state Sen. John DeFrancisco, of Syracuse, announced he would seek the party's nomination to challenge Cuomo. Since then, Molinaro has picked up support from most county GOP leaders across New York. The state Republican Party will select its candidate in May.

"Whether it's Molinaro or DeFrancisco, it's clear that the New York GOP is intent on pushing an ultra-conservative Trump agenda, and a candidate that has the same positions as Trump with a different hair color," said Geoff Berman, executive director of the state Democratic Party.

At Molinaro's second campaign Monday afternoon at an Albany hotel just down the street from the Capitol, he continued to criticize Cuomo, who faces a Democratic primary challenge from "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon.
ch-aviation | Apr. 03, 2018

Air Belgium has commenced commercial flight operations following the completion of a one-off charter flight for Surinam Airways on Thursday, March 29.

Chief executive Niky Terzakis told ch-aviation in a statement that although Air Belgium may operate ad-hoc charters as and when spare capacity permits, its focus is still the scheduled services niche in which it is due to commence operations on April 30 with 4x weekly Brussels Charleroi-Hong Kong Int'l flights. Additional destinations in mainland China will be added during the course fo the summer.

The start-up has since clarified its shareholding structure following the increase in its paid-up share capital to EUR20 million(US$24.65 million).

In a statement, Air Belgium said its five shareholders include Aviation Investment Holding (AIH) nv, whose directors include Peter Yip, Alexey Sumchenko and Mikko Rautio, with 49.995%. Company records indicate Aviation Investment Holding is itself owned by Hong Kong-based firms Pioneer Topworld Ltd and Sky Master Holdings Ltd.

The second largest shareholder is 3T Management & Associates bvba, represented by Terzakis, with 19.993%; then Societe Regionale d' Investissement de Wallonie (SRIW) nv, whose director is Sparaxis nv, and represented by Eric Bauche, with 12.501%; Federale Participatie- en Investeringsmaatschappij (FPI M) nv, represented by Jean-Marie Focant, with 12.501%; Sabena Aerospace nv, whose director is B-Global Management bvba, represented by Stephane Burton, with 5.010%.

Banque CPH is an observer by virtue of the EUR3 million funding facility extended to the airline.
New York State Police have identified the driver of a car crash in the town of Sennett Monday night.

Bryon Wiler, 42, was in critical condition at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse after rolling over his vehicle at the intersection of Weedsport-Sennett Road and Shepherd Road. The crash was called in at 7:13 p.m., with Weedsport and Sennett firefighters first on the scene. Later, Mercy Flight helicopter responded to the scene.

Police said Wiler was airlifted to the hospital, and was still in critical condition Tuesday. He was the only person involved in the accident. Troopers did not provide Wiler's address, but said he is from the Auburn area.

Troopers said speed is believed to be a factor in the crash. Multiple calls came in reporting Wiler's vehicle for driving fast. Police said they are still investigating the incident, and tickets may be pending.

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Carrick said the board is currently working on template power purchase agreements that Cayuga County and others could use. The agreements, he said, protect people from the volatility of utility costs by keeping power purchasing at a flat rate.

Besides keeping electrical costs down, Carrick said the projects bring solar jobs to the area, create private investments and upgrades to distribution lines that benefit the public and create benefits to the environment. It blends well, too, with the Cayuga County Legislature's resolution passed March 27 adopting the New York State Climate Smart Communities Pledge. That includes increasing community renewable energy use and reducing greenhouse gases.

"If we're going to meet the state's target of 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, we basically have to double the amount of renewable energy that we have now, and solar is going to be a big part of that," Carrick said.

In order to take advantage of a 30-percent federal tax credit, Carrick hopes all the proposed projects can be completed by the end of 2019. After that, the tax credit will decrease to 26 percent.

Cayuga County Planning and Economic Development Director Steve Lynch said Abundant Solar may be presenting more about the County House Road array at the Legislature's upcoming Planning Committee meeting. That is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 11 in the Cayuga County Office Building, 160 Genesee St., Auburn.

Staff writer Gwendolyn Craig can be reached at (315) 282-2237 or gwendolyn.craig@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @gwendolynnn1.

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To say Im not sleeping well these days would be an understatement. I am grappling with the reality of our violent world; a far cry from the seeming utopia of my childhood. If Im completely honest, I havent found peace since the summer of 2011 when I lost my almost 2-year-old son, Cameron, to the very lake Im finding serenity in staring upon, as I write this. The irony is not lost on me.

These days, I awake thinking about the impact school violence is having on my kids educations, the fear resonating in our community, and my responsibility as a Skaneateles school board member. Waterman, State Street, the middle school and high school: I send four of my boys to each of these four buildings, every school day. The concern for security is real. Their right to a fulfilling, enriching education is real. Our budget limitations are real. Im not sure what the answer is.

Similar to becoming a parent, you truly cant understand the magnitude of losing a child, until youre living it. Physically, never being able to touch, smell, or see your child again; its an exhausting daily struggle to find purpose and happiness. With every school shooting, it brings me back.
TOKYO - The US Navy plans to deploy F-35C fighter jets to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture sometime after 2021, according to local media.

It will be the first deployment to Japan of the C type of the advanced stealth fighters.

The F-35C will replace some aircraft belonging to carrier-borne jet squadrons that have been relocated from the Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture, according to a US Navy official stationed in Japan.

The move of jet squadrons of the Atsugi-based Carrier Air Wing Five involves about 60 aircraft, including F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter jets and C-2 transport aircraft. The command functions of CVW-5 will also be relocated.

The navy official told The Yomiuri Shimbun: "Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5...will receive the F-35C Lightning II sometime after 2021," adding that the "F-35C's (squadrons) will forward deploy to MCAS Iwakuni".

The official said: "When the first F-35C squadron forward deploys to Iwakuni, it will replace an F/A-18 Super Hornet squadron."

CVW-5 will contain a mix of fourth-generation F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and fifth-generation F-35C strike fighter aircraft in the future, the official added.

The number of F-35C aircraft to be deployed was not stated.

Featuring advanced stealth capabilities to evade detection by radar, F-35 aircraft are cutting-edge fifth-generation fighters. They also have excellent networking capabilities to integrate information from such military equipment as ground-based radar stations and Aegis-equipped destroyers and convey it to pilots.

They include the F-35A for the US Air Force, the F-35B for the US Marine Corps and the F-35C for the US Navy, which is the one best designed to land on a carrier as it has larger main wings and equipment to absorb the shock of landing.

The Japan News/ann

(China Daily 04/03/2018 page11)
Clashes since Friday have left 17 dead, more than 1,000 injured

JERUSALEM - The Israel-Gaza border area remained mostly quiet on Sunday, two days after a violent clash between Israeli forces and the Palestinians left 17 Palestinians dead and more than 1,000 others injured.

It was the largest death toll seen in the area since Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel started a war in the summer of 2014.

Hamas organized the massive rally on Friday, calling on Gaza residents to march toward the border to mark Palestinian Land Day, an annual remembrance day of an Israeli move in 1976 to expropriate what they believe are Arab lands in the north of the country.

Tens of thousands participated in the demonstration. Hamas had set up tents along the border that supplied internet and electricity, both scarce commodities in the impoverished territory.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for an investigation of the incident, while Israeli officials flatly denied the use of excessive force.

Israeli Military spokesman Brigadier General Ronen Manelis said the majority of those killed were known Palestinian militants, men aged between 18 and 30.

Hamas claimed five of the dead were its militants.

Manelis vowed a tougher response if the violence along the border continued, including action within the Gaza Strip. Israel often struck Gaza as retaliation, but there have been no ground incursions since the 2014 war.

Nimrod Goren, head of the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, believed the incident was a serious one and has "lots of potential to lead to...escalation".

Controversial decision

Violence is expected to continue in the run up to May 15, when the Palestinians mark the Nakba Day, known as the day of the catastrophe, which coincides with Israel's 70th Independence Day.

This year, Israel's celebration and Palestinian commemoration come after US President Donald Trump announced he will move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

It is yet another a controversial decision by the current US administration, for Palestinians and many in the international community who see East Jerusalem as the future capital of the Palestinian state.

Both sides do not seem to be interested in another full-blown conflict which left both licking their wounds four years ago. However, if the violence continues, they can easily spiral out of control.

"The Israeli interest is to show that Palestinians can't cross the border," Goren said. "Hamas is looking for a way to elevate its position vis-a-vis Israel. Israel has managed to confront tunnels and rockets and this type of protests really boost Hamas' position among the Palestinians."

Gaza, which has been under an Egyptian and Israeli blockade since 2007 when Hamas violently overthrew the Palestinian Fatah-led government, is one of the poorest territories in the world. Its residents face severe electricity shortage among many other challenges.

In the aftermath of the demonstration, as the Israelis and the Palestinians engaged in yet another public opinion war, an international diplomatic effort may be needed in order to contain the violence.

"International pressure on the Hamas leadership and the Palestinian Authority will help to make this crisis as short as possible," said Shaul Shay, director of research in the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Interdesciplinary Center at the Herzliya.

Israeli military officers said forces were on alert for further violence expected in the coming weeks. The number of troops on the border was doubled ahead of the protest last week and the enlarged corps currently remain there.

Xinhua

(China Daily 04/03/2018 page11)
Two centuries ago, philanthropist Elizabeth Fry visited an English prison and left horrified by the filthy conditions. Driven by her Christian faith, Fry spent her life building relationships with the incarcerated and advocating improvements to their physical environment. Dominique Gilliard, the Evangelical Covenant Churchs director of racial righteousness and reconciliation, points to Frys example in Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores, which explores the intersection of Christian faith and criminal justice reform. CT associate digital media producer Morgan Lee spoke with Gilliard about the hope and tension of restorative justice.

What does your book contribute to the current conversation about criminal justice reform?

Most people mention two particular prison pipelines: the war on drugs and the privatization of prisons. But very few people talk about what I would describe as a war on immigration that is modeled closely after the war on drugs. And hardly anyone talks about the deinstitutionalization of the mental health facilities, which is another important driver for mass incarceration.

But Im also trying to make this conversation relevant to the church. When you look at books like Just Mercy or The New Jim Crow, you dont see much explicit analysis of the connection between Christian theology and support for mass incarceration. Christians, as a voting bloc, have been pretty beholden to tough-on-crime legislation.

What is your opinion of evangelical ministries that work directly with prisoners?

Certainly, passages like Matthew 25 call us into communion with the incarcerated. But one problem arises when evangelical ministers or volunteers assume that they alone are bringing ...

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- At around 10 o'clock a.m. on April 2, a prototype vehicle equipped with Tencent's driverless system showed up for the first time along the fourth ring road of Beijing. According to local media, this prototype is a white SUV modified model equipped with a remarkable Lidar on the roof and a remolded sensor at the rear end, which also seems like a Lidar. In addition, the designer installed many sensors like camera and millimeter-wave radar around the vehicle body.

In March 2017, Tencent had bought 5% share in Tesla and became the automakers' fifth largest shareholder. What's more, Tencent and Baidu had led a $600 million funding round in the Shanghai-based electric car maker NIO. In November last year, Tencent reportedly developed its own driverless system which had been started internal tests.

Apart from Tencent, the other two Internet giants in China, Baidu and Alibaba, have also deployed their layouts in driverless vehicle areas. As early as July, 2014, Baidu confirmed for the first time that the company had already initiated the R&D program dubbed Baidu driverless vehicle. Besides, Baidu planned to launch the "small-scale mass production and trial operation" of L4 minibus in cooperation with King Long, a Xiamen-based bus manufacturer, Baidu's chairman Robin Li revealed at the company annual technology conference last year. Moreover, Baidu also planned to launch L3 driverless vehicle models, teaming up with manufacturers JAC Motors, BAIC and Chery Auto.

Alibaba and SAIC Motors announced in March 2015 that two companies would jointly set up an Internet vehicle fund involving RMB 1 billion that would prioritize the R&D of in-vehicle system.
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.
During the first winter at my current congregation, I shook hands with one of my members before the service. She had missed a couple of Sundays in a row, so I asked if she was feeling better. Oh, Ive been in the hospital, she said. I was mortified! I apologized and stated that I would have visited her if only I had known. She smiled and said it was alrightshe knew I was a busy person. However I could tell it bothered her.

It was, unfortunately, not the first or the last time I missed visiting someone in the hospital or at home with an illness. I serve a primarily older congregation with numerous overlapping needs at any given time. Previous congregations informed me that it was my joband my job aloneto meet the pastoral needs of the congregation. But in this congregation, I knew we needed a different plan. So I went before my elders to ask for something I did not fully understand.

Sharing the Load

In Exodus 18, Moses father-in-law, Jethro, ...

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Is This World Truly in the End Times? George Weigel reflects on today's world through the Catholic lens



Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276,



SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2018 /



Weigel brings his extensive knowledge of world events to the pages of THE FRAGILITY OF ORDER, compiling his lectures from the past 20 years into a single book, enabling the reader to see current events in a deeper way than looking at them through the lens of any mainstream or social media story.



From the Synods of 2014 and 2015 in Rome to the ongoing war between Communism and Catholicism to the turbulent World Wars and Pope Benedict XVI's controversial Regensburg lecture, Weigel applies philosophical and theological perspectives to major historical events and, ultimately, implores the reader to remember the promises of Christ, that they have no cause for despair.



Weigel, one of the most prominent public intellectuals in modern times, is the author of two dozen New York Times bestselling books, and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington's Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he holds the William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies. In THE FRAGILITY OF ORDER, two of his key convictions  that ideas have consequences for good and ill, and that the deepest currents of history flow through culture  shine through in the essays and illuminate life in the Church that is not often appreciated or understood.



"The essays in this volume, written independently over two decades, have a wonderful unity rooted in Weigel's penetrating intellect and global vision," said Most Rev. Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., archbishop of Philadelphia. "His thoughts on Benedict XVI's 2006 Regensburg lecture  a lecture savagely misrepresented by critics at the time, but brilliant in retrospect  are worth the price of the entire book; but they're just one part of a lucid, compelling and highly recommended read."



For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with George Weigel, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or



Share Tweet Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- While the world may rightly be falling apart at the seams and order is scarce, nations have survived through many wars and destruction to this day. But looking at these events  and how they impact today's world  through the lens of the Catholic Church is completely different, which is exactly what George Weigel does in his new book, THE FRAGILITY OF ORDER: CATHOLIC REFLECTIONS IN TURBULENT TIMES.Weigel brings his extensive knowledge of world events to the pages of THE FRAGILITY OF ORDER, compiling his lectures from the past 20 years into a single book, enabling the reader to see current events in a deeper way than looking at them through the lens of any mainstream or social media story.From the Synods of 2014 and 2015 in Rome to the ongoing war between Communism and Catholicism to the turbulent World Wars and Pope Benedict XVI's controversial Regensburg lecture, Weigel applies philosophical and theological perspectives to major historical events and, ultimately, implores the reader to remember the promises of Christ, that they have no cause for despair.Weigel, one of the most prominent public intellectuals in modern times, is the author of two dozen New York Times bestselling books, and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington's Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he holds the William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies. In THE FRAGILITY OF ORDER, two of his key convictions  that ideas have consequences for good and ill, and that the deepest currents of history flow through culture  shine through in the essays and illuminate life in the Church that is not often appreciated or understood."The essays in this volume, written independently over two decades, have a wonderful unity rooted in Weigel's penetrating intellect and global vision," said Most Rev. Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., archbishop of Philadelphia. "His thoughts on Benedict XVI's 2006 Regensburg lecture  a lecture savagely misrepresented by critics at the time, but brilliant in retrospect  are worth the price of the entire book; but they're just one part of a lucid, compelling and highly recommended read."For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with George Weigel, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com ) of Carmel Communications.
PraiseWorthy Announces New Single Release 'Never Unaware' by Bridgette Hammers Contact:



SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla., April 3, 2018 /



Bridgette and co-writer/producer Chris Clayton wrote "Never Unaware" as a worship song to honor God and to bring encouragement to those who are in a hard season in life. "Personally, I just stepped out in faith to go into full-time ministry and a few months later my husband was laid off," Bridgette said. "His company was sold, and his position was dissolved." The words "I trust I never walk alone," were not just lyrics to a song, they were declarations of truth that she hung onto daily. Bridgette's voice soars as she sings "You're Never Unaware" and as she worships, her trust that God is "fighting for our good" draws others into a deeper faith as well. Even though the song was not specifically written for those dealing with cancer, it has been a blessing to them as they cry out in worship, "This is my confidence, I believe with every breath."



About Bridgette Hammers: Deeply rooted in gospel music from her East Texas upbringing, Bridgette began singing at the age of four in a small Baptist church. Now, her home is Dallas, TX but she leads worship throughout the country for multiple churches and organizations such as Methodist Health System and MOPS International. Her music reaches all the way to Africa, where worshippers are learning English through her songs. Bridgette's prayer before each event is "God, let your voice be heard, let your breath be felt, and your light be seen." For booking information, visit her website at



About PraiseWorthy: PraiseWorthy is a boutique Music Publisher which serves the Church and Artists who desire to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ across the nations in song. Based in Tampa Bay, Florida, PraiseWorthy seeks to foster relationships between Worship Leaders, Christian Artists, Songwriters and Producers to bring the heart of God into each song and provides publishing and promotion in music licensing, TV/Film, and Streaming. Additional information is available at



Share Tweet Contact: Deborah Wolf PraiseWorthy Publishing , 727-641-9823SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla., April 3, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- PraiseWorthy is excited to announce the new release of "Never Unaware" by Worship Leader/Songwriter Bridgette Hammers. This song has already touched thousands at Bridgette's home church, Cottonwood Creek in Allen, TX where she serves as Artist in Residence. It will be available for pre-sale on March 25th with a release date of April 10th and is available on CCLI (#710248) for worship services.Bridgette and co-writer/producer Chris Clayton wrote "Never Unaware" as a worship song to honor God and to bring encouragement to those who are in a hard season in life. "Personally, I just stepped out in faith to go into full-time ministry and a few months later my husband was laid off," Bridgette said. "His company was sold, and his position was dissolved." The words "I trust I never walk alone," were not just lyrics to a song, they were declarations of truth that she hung onto daily. Bridgette's voice soars as she sings "You're Never Unaware" and as she worships, her trust that God is "fighting for our good" draws others into a deeper faith as well. Even though the song was not specifically written for those dealing with cancer, it has been a blessing to them as they cry out in worship, "This is my confidence, I believe with every breath."About Bridgette Hammers: Deeply rooted in gospel music from her East Texas upbringing, Bridgette began singing at the age of four in a small Baptist church. Now, her home is Dallas, TX but she leads worship throughout the country for multiple churches and organizations such as Methodist Health System and MOPS International. Her music reaches all the way to Africa, where worshippers are learning English through her songs. Bridgette's prayer before each event is "God, let your voice be heard, let your breath be felt, and your light be seen." For booking information, visit her website at www.BridgetteHammers.com or email booking@bridgettehammers.com About PraiseWorthy: PraiseWorthy is a boutique Music Publisher which serves the Church and Artists who desire to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ across the nations in song. Based in Tampa Bay, Florida, PraiseWorthy seeks to foster relationships between Worship Leaders, Christian Artists, Songwriters and Producers to bring the heart of God into each song and provides publishing and promotion in music licensing, TV/Film, and Streaming. Additional information is available at www.PraiseWorthyPublishing.com
The 28th Annual 'Just Pray NO!' to Drugs Worldwide Weekend of Prayer and Fasting Contact: Steven L. Sherman,

727-647-6467,

justprayno@aol.com



CLEARWATER, Fla., April 3, 2018 /



Since April 7th, 1991 "Just Pray NO!" has united Christians around the world in intercessory prayer on behalf of those bound by alcoholism, drug addiction and other life controlling compulsions.



Addiction in America is an ever increasing national epidemic! Millions of Americans have addictions. 115 people die every day from overdoses from opioids alone. This rate has tripled in the past 20 years.



"Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16



Not only is substance abuse America's number one health problem, the devastation of alcoholism and other drug addiction has impacted families and communities worldwide. Substance abuse has been directly linked to violence and sexual immorality and is a major source of income for organized crime and terrorist activities.



"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." -- Ephesians 6:12



Make a formal commitment to join with believers in Christ from around the globe this coming weekend. Put on the full armor of God and fervently pray in spirit and in truth. We are seeking to enlist millions of prayer warriors from around the world to join us in battle!



If you believe that God is calling you to intercede for the addicted please contact us.



To find help for addiction through prayer and Christian ministries log on to our web site:



For a personal interview with "Just Pray NO!" Founder and Author Steven L. Sherman, in the U.S.A. call: (727) 647-6467 or email:



Share Tweet Contact: Steven L. Sherman, "Just Pray NO!" Ltd. 727-647-6467,CLEARWATER, Fla., April 3, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- Addiction is an ever increasing international crisis. Please join us in praying for those bound by substance abuse and other compulsive behaviors this weekend, April 7 8, 2018.Since April 7th, 1991 "Just Pray NO!" has united Christians around the world in intercessory prayer on behalf of those bound by alcoholism, drug addiction and other life controlling compulsions.Addiction in America is an ever increasing national epidemic! Millions of Americans have addictions. 115 people die every day from overdoses from opioids alone. This rate has tripled in the past 20 years."Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16Not only is substance abuse America's number one health problem, the devastation of alcoholism and other drug addiction has impacted families and communities worldwide. Substance abuse has been directly linked to violence and sexual immorality and is a major source of income for organized crime and terrorist activities."For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." -- Ephesians 6:12Make a formal commitment to join with believers in Christ from around the globe this coming weekend. Put on the full armor of God and fervently pray in spirit and in truth. We are seeking to enlist millions of prayer warriors from around the world to join us in battle!If you believe that God is calling you to intercede for the addicted please contact us.To find help for addiction through prayer and Christian ministries log on to our web site: www.justprayno.org . To learn how groups can participate in our annual prayer event, click on "Information on the Annual Worldwide Weekend of Prayer" or email: justprayno@aol.com For a personal interview with "Just Pray NO!" Founder and Author Steven L. Sherman, in the U.S.A. call: (727) 647-6467 or email: justprayno@aol.com
Modern Day Parable Affirms God's Grace is Greater Than Any Storm Author Natashia Brewer Offers a 21st Century Twist on the Story of Esau and Jacob in Her Soon-to-Release Book, "Biblical Proportions"



Contact: Natashia Brewer, 301-821-6482



WASHINGTON, April 3, 2018 /



"Biblical Proportions" explores the lives of Edward and James Shaw, twin brothers and successful executives at Rock Star Records. Facing immense challenges, including infidelity, addiction and betrayal, the brothers stand to lose everything. But by the grace of God, they learn that the storms that loom are not designed to destroy them, but instead shift them so that they might lead more purpose-filled and faith-driven lives.



The book is inspired by the Bible story of Esau and Jacob, which is often referenced to illustrate the repercussions of choosing earthly desires, and how godless decisions can have a devastating impact on one's future. Brewer's characters are also compelling examples of the havoc that results from sinful behavior, but also the redemption and victory in choosing God even after embarking on the wrong path.



"We're all sinners, we all make mistakes, and we have all faced challenges that in the moment felt like we wouldn't be able to recover from them," said Brewer. "These challenges present an incredible opportunity for growth and to deepen our relationship with God. There's no such thing as a perfect person, but there are perfect opportunities to fully understand the enormity of the grace and favor that God wants to share with us if we would only humble ourselves and ask."



Brewer has faced a number of challenges in her own life, including being the victim of gun violence as a teen and the loss of her mother from cancer. She uses her own personal testimony to uplift and inspire others. The launch of her new book will provide her with yet another tool to encourage those facing personal peril and seeking light in dark times.



"I think readers will be immediately pulled in by the drama and the excitement that surrounds the story's main characters," said Brewer. "But even beyond that, I hope that the story helps to encourage readers who are facing their own challenges, and inspires them to explore how they might reevaluate their own faith walk."



A sample chapter of "Biblical Proportions" is available for download while the book's official launch is approaching. Visit



Share Tweet Contact: Natashia Brewer, 301-821-6482WASHINGTON, April 3, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- Written more than 3,000 years ago, the Bible is often referenced as the "greatest story ever told." On May 11, author Natashia Brewer will release her biblically-inspired novel, "Biblical Proportions," offering a new twist on one of the Bible's most-often referenced stories."Biblical Proportions" explores the lives of Edward and James Shaw, twin brothers and successful executives at Rock Star Records. Facing immense challenges, including infidelity, addiction and betrayal, the brothers stand to lose everything. But by the grace of God, they learn that the storms that loom are not designed to destroy them, but instead shift them so that they might lead more purpose-filled and faith-driven lives.The book is inspired by the Bible story of Esau and Jacob, which is often referenced to illustrate the repercussions of choosing earthly desires, and how godless decisions can have a devastating impact on one's future. Brewer's characters are also compelling examples of the havoc that results from sinful behavior, but also the redemption and victory in choosing God even after embarking on the wrong path."We're all sinners, we all make mistakes, and we have all faced challenges that in the moment felt like we wouldn't be able to recover from them," said Brewer. "These challenges present an incredible opportunity for growth and to deepen our relationship with God. There's no such thing as a perfect person, but there are perfect opportunities to fully understand the enormity of the grace and favor that God wants to share with us if we would only humble ourselves and ask."Brewer has faced a number of challenges in her own life, including being the victim of gun violence as a teen and the loss of her mother from cancer. She uses her own personal testimony to uplift and inspire others. The launch of her new book will provide her with yet another tool to encourage those facing personal peril and seeking light in dark times."I think readers will be immediately pulled in by the drama and the excitement that surrounds the story's main characters," said Brewer. "But even beyond that, I hope that the story helps to encourage readers who are facing their own challenges, and inspires them to explore how they might reevaluate their own faith walk."A sample chapter of "Biblical Proportions" is available for download while the book's official launch is approaching. Visit bit.ly/bpchapter1 to read the explosive preview and to receive notifications when the book is available for sale.
LGBT Activists Vow to Shut Down Christian Ministry, 'Your Faith be Damned' No longer content with widespread acceptance, activists are fighting to eliminate any program aimed at helping those struggling with same-sex attraction or gender identity



Contact: Don Otis, 719-275-7775



OKLAHOMA CITY, April 3, 2018 /Christian Newswire/ -- "The level of hatred and bullying is not like anything we've seen," says Stephen Black, who lived as a gay man for 8 years, over 35 years ago, and now Executive Director of First Stone Ministries is in the crosshairs of gay activists.



Black is the author of a ground-breaking book that reveals that 70-percent of people who want freedom from a destructive same-sex lifestyle find it. In Freedom Realized Black and his colleagues examined 25 years of case files and found incontrovertible evidence that people can and do change.



On April 6, First Stone Ministries (firststone.org) is hosting a public screening of the documentary film, Tranzformed: Finding Peace with Your God-Given Gender (tranzformed.org/). "This documentary is about 15 people who were unhappy as homosexuals and transgendered and wanted more in their relationship with Jesus Christ," says Black. Gay activists have already sent death threats to a Michigan pastor and his family and are now setting their sights on Black.



Gay advocate and protestor, Sara Cunningham, vowed to close First Stone Ministries (she appealed for a $25,000 grant from Starbucks for her mission). Her goal is to mobilize and eliminate any mention of the possibility of change, even if people want it and even if it means a transformed life. "To agree to disagree on this issue and this type of ministry is no longer acceptable," says Cunningham. But Black sees it differently, "In the last ten years, there has been an increasing attack on the gospel-centered message of freedom from homosexuality." Activists are intent on shutting down any counseling that leads to new life in Christ and freedom from homosexuality.



Black is the board chairman for the national Restored Hope Network, a coalition of sixty regional agencies that help those who struggle with same-sex attraction. He says the idea of "gay Christianity" is an affront to everything Christ died for and giving people hope is what we should be about as sincere Christians, not just enabling them to stay stuck in a harmful lifestyle. "Freedom from homosexuality comes only through a new life of absolute surrender and a complete dependence on Jesus Christ," says Black.



To schedule an interview with Stephen Black contact Don Otis at 719.275.7775



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The magic returns; the strains of our music will once more ring forth. Consortium Aurora Borealis is back in action after the silence imposed on so many arts organizations by COVID-19.
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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Dongfeng Nissan reported a MoM sales surge of 48.6% to 86,354 units in March. Its cumulative sales in the first quarter reached 242,767 units, up 5% over the previous year, according to Dongfeng Nissan's latest output and sales report.

As to specific models, sales of the Sylphy reached 30,535 units in March, rising 2.7% year on year. Delivery of the Nissan Teana reached 9,006 units in March, keeping on seizing medium-sized vehicle segment. In March, Dongfeng Nissan posted total SUV sales of 36,943 units with a YoY growth of 21.9%.

This year, Dongfeng Nissan will transfer its brand from youth to intelligence. It will introduce the innovative technologies of Nissan Intelligent Mobility in China. Moreover, it will launch a pure electric sedan based on Nissan EV technology, which is likely to be named as the Sylphy EV300. In addition, Dongfeng Nissan will sell an all-new SUV, the Nissan Terra in its sales channel.

Dongfeng Nissan also invested heavily in intelligent driving and intelligent connected vehicles. It had introduced a great many cutting-edge technologies into China, including Nissan i-Safety. The innovative technologies of Nissan Intelligent Mobility deployed in the all-new Nissan Leaf, such as ProPILOT, ProPILOT Park and e-Pedal will introduce into the Chinese market soon.

At Auto Guangzhou 2017, Dongfeng Nissan launched i-Power plan, which further confirms the product directions of fuel-powered vehicles, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. It offers a practical power blueprint to the customers, including introducing Nissan's most advanced EV technologies and revolutionary e-Power into the Chinese market.

This year, Dongfeng Nissan will introduce a pure electric vehicle model with EV technology. The model will make its debut at Auto China 2018. Additionally, the all-new Nissan Terra will also hit the market on Apr. 12.
Termeni de referinta pentru selectarea unui expert/ e, grup de experti sau companii care va presta servicii de instruire pentru voluntarii din cadrul AO Concordia. Proiecte sociale
AKRON, Ohio - The addition of a question about citizenship on the 2020 Census could have far-reaching negative impacts on communities with large immigrant and low-income populations.

Akron City Council may soon be adding its voice to a growing national effort to have the the question, "Are you a U.S. citizen?" removed from the census.

A resolution opposing the new census question was introduced Monday by council members Russel Neal and Linda Omobien. Council members Marilyn Keith, Veronica Sims, Jeff Fusco and Tara Mosley-Samples asked for their names to be added as well.

Inclusion of the citizenship question could lead to a severe under count of residents, by keeping immigrants and lower-income residents from responding, according to opponents of the change.

The issue was raised at a recent National League of Cities meeting in Washington D.C., in which local communities were urged to speak out against the census change, Neal said.

Census data informs public health, employment, education and infrastructure policies and provisions locally and nationally. Federal and state funding for cities is informed by population levels and congressional districts are drawn based on population.

According to the Population Association of America, the census, which is counted every decade, determines the allocation each year of about $600 billion in federal funding.

For Akron, where about 50 percent of residents live below the federal poverty standards, under-representation of such populations could lead to further funding cuts in a city that's already struggling, according to many Akron officials.

"We're sitting here talking about potholes. You won't have the money to fund bridges or fund a lot of the infrastructure that is in need of repair right now," Neal said. "Lower-income communities are sometimes more cautious to fill out information like that. Even legally documented immigrants will steer away from checking that box because of climate set by this administration."

Summit County Public Health Commissioner Donna Skoda said there have been problems for years getting people to fill out the census. But under-counting residents doesn't help cities, which have to provide services like trash pick-up for the entire population.

"The best count we can get really does help us figure out what's next and it doesn't cause us problems with the feds," she said. Akron has already been close to losing federal funding because of low population.

"If we slip too far we will not be eligible for some federal money," she said.

Akron and Summit County have declared the county a "welcoming community," which means government, business and nonprofits work to create inclusive policies and practices that make refugees and immigrants feel welcome here, and to help them prosper.

On the national stage, aggressive immigration enforcement and an increase in deportations have frightened people who are already hesitant to give out personal information.

"The challenge is going to be getting people to trust whoever comes to the door," Neal said.

The U.S. Department of Justice asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to add the citizenship question to the census to help with enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, according to a news release issued by the Department of Commerce.

Mosley-Samples pointed out that the reason the citizenship question is more about immigrants than the Voting Rights Act, because non-citizens in the U.S. can't vote.

"We need to keep that in mind while we're having our dialogue," she said. "It concerns me greatly when we have people already living in the shadows," she said.

Keith also expressed distrust.

"Adding this means that [immigrants] won't fill this out and the results are going to be skewed, hurting the city," Keith said. "There's no doubt in my mind that it's going to be used in a negative way."

Council members Donny Kammer and Bob Hoch said they have more questions about the legislation, which was tabled until next Monday, April 9.

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BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- The city now has another tool in its belt to help it attract and retain business.

City Council, on Monday, approved without dissent, an ordinance that created Beachwood's first Community Reinvestment Area at Commerce Park and two nearby residential streets.

A CRA is created in accordance with state law. It will allow Beachwood to offer up to 50 percent in property tax abatement to property owners who build anew or renovate existing buildings and increase their value. The abatement is applicable to the added value of the property.

"In economic development, when you're seeking to attract new businesses or keep businesses, you need tools to help," Mayor Martin Horwitz said. "It (tools) could be a CRA, it could be TIF (tax increment financing), or it could be reducing income tax payments."

Primarily built in the 1960s, Commerce Park, located off Chagrin Boulevard, consists largely of warehouse and light industrial buildings. In March, 2011, a city Commerce Park Redevelopment Study noted that after demand for manufacturing and light industrial space had decreased nationally and regionally, permitted uses at Commerce Park were expanded to allow for offices, laboratories, service facilities, training facilities, day care centers and studios.

The study indicated that Commerce Park's problems included building obsolescence, a need for coordinated parking, and multiple ownership of long and narrow properties, which was not conducive to redevelopment for new uses.

Beachwood Business Retention Specialist Keri Zipay said the CRA contains 80-83 commercial buildings and 86 residences.

"It's a requirement from the state to have at least two homes included in the CRA," she said when asked why the residential streets were included.

In the new CRA, those two streets are Beacon and Concord drives. The streets are located off Richmond Road, just east of Commerce Park.

"These are older homes in the southern portion of the city," Zipay said. "From 2007-17, these homes saw a decrease in value of 12 percent, while homes in the rest of Beachwood saw an increase of 12 percent."

The main section of the new CRA extends from Chagrin Boulevard to South Green Road, and includes Mercantile Road and the Highpoint Road cul-de-sac.

Although the CRA is an added tool to attract and retain business, some are concerned that the city's gain comes at the expense of Beachwood's public schools, as property taxes help fund the district.

"We are giving away money that belongs to the schools that is not rightly ours," said Councilman Alec Isaacson. "We should do what we can to make the schools whole. If that means a transfer of funds from the city to the schools, so be it.

"We're playing with somebody else's money."

Horwitz said he and Finance Director Larry Heiser have met with Beachwood Schools Superintendent Robert Hardis, school Treasurer Michele Mills and their legal representative to discuss how some of the city's gains can be passed along to the schools.

"We have had these discussions and we will come up with a structure where some of this money will be coming back through the city to the schools," Horwitz told council.

The first business that will take advantage of the new CRA will be the Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy, now of Cleveland Heights. The growing business will totally renovate a building at 23865 Mercantile Road and receive 50 percent abatement for 10 years on property taxes.

In addition, Beachwood is also offering to take less from the business in income taxes. The business will bring to Beachwood from Cleveland Heights 45 employees in 2019, and expects to add 25 in the following two years.

The three-year job creation income tax abatement on new payroll will amount to, after three years, $98,210 in income taxes the city will forego. Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy, which mixes prescription drugs for people with special medical needs on a per-patient basis, operates nationwide.

The company's growth has forced a move from its current location, a former fire station at 3216 Silsby Road.

The business is buying its new home from the city of Beachwood for $1.4 million.

Residential owners on Beacon and Concord will also be eligible for abatement on improvements that increase home values.

New law director

Diane Calta

Council approved the hiring Monday of Diane A. Calta as the city's new law director.

Calta, of Cleveland Heights, has served since May, 2016, as law director in Green, Ohio. She is a former associate with the law firm Walter Haverfield and has served as assistant law director in Pepper Pike and as special legal counsel for economic development in Mayfeld Village.

The mother of a daughter, 13, Calta's husband, Brad Bryan, is the law director for the village of Northfield and Peninsula.

Horwitz said Calta was selected for the position from among more than 20 applicants. Calta will begin her Beachwood duties on April 19.

"I am very grateful to City Council and the Mayor for the opportunity to serve such a prestigious community," Calta said. "I look forward to bringing my experience to the position and getting started."

Also on Monday, council approved legislation that will have the city enter into a contract with former law director Hope Jones to provide legal services to Beachwood. Jones, who resigned in March to take the law director's position in Kent, which is nearer her home, will work for Beachwood on projects she began, such as her guidance of the city's Charter Review Commission.
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The city will pay a Cleveland engineering firm $44,332 to design a widening of the Broadview Road-Oakes Road intersection.

Euthenics Inc. will prepare plans to add left-turn lanes on both northbound and southbound Broadview at Oakes. The firm will also estimate the cost of construction.

"Broadview and Oakes is a congested intersection during peak hours," city Engineer Gary Yelenosky told cleveland.com. "One left turn from Broadview onto Oakes can cause major holdups.

"The Broadview Heights Fire Department is also located at that intersection, and this improvement will help during emergency operations," Yelenosky said.

The lane additions were recommended by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency in a 2016 study, according to a Feb. 22 letter from Euthenics to the city. The idea is to improve traffic flow and safety at the intersection.

Oakes westbound dead-ends into Broadview. A southbound left-turn lane would lead to Oakes, while a northbound left-turn lane would lead into Danbury Senior Living.

"The senior-living facility worked with the city and moved their driveway north to align with Oakes Road, thereby making for a much safer ingress and egress," Yelenosky said.

Adding the lanes would require laying down more pavement.

Euthenics will also consider other NOACA recommendations for Broadview-Oakes. Suggested improvements include:

Switching the traffic light to full operational mode all day instead of having the light flash yellow, meaning proceed with caution, and red, meaning stop before proceeding, at certain times. This would make it easier and safer for drivers turning from Oakes to Broadview during non-rush hours. Yelenosky said the light now flashes yellow on Broadview and red on Oakes during flashing mode.

Adding GPS timeclocks to traffic lights on Broadview at Oakes, Akins Road to the south and possibly Royalton Road to the north. The timeclocks would allow synchronization of the lights to keep drivers moving.

Enforcing the "stop-here-on-red" sign on Broadview northbound just south of Oakes. The sign is there to prevent drivers from blocking a fire station emergency exit driveway on Broadview. Drivers blocking the exit can increase emergency-response times. Euthenics said new reflective pavement on Broadview and signs would also help.

Painting a new crosswalk across Broadview at Oakes to improve safety. Also, the project would include new pedestrian traffic signal heads and push buttons, along with curb ramps at Broadview northbound and Oakes westbound. New curbs and sidewalks would not be part of the project.

Installing vehicle detection in the Broadview-Oakes traffic light at the eastbound and westbound approaches and northbound and southbound left-turn lanes. This would allow the traffic signal to change based on vehicles electronically detected at the intersection.

Euthenics said it would "try its best to keep the existing traffic signals."
BRUNSWICK HILLS TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- In its first regular meeting following the Brunswick City School District's participation in last month's national school walkout protesting gun violence in schools, the Brunswick Board of Education passed legislation "supporting school safety and reducing violence in schools."

The resolution urges state and federal elected officials to support funding of enhanced mental health services, emergency situation training for school employees, and school safety measures, including infrastructure upgrades and school resource officers.

A key part of that legislation was already in place in the Brunswick City Schools at the time of the resolution's passage, however. And plans for providing the district with additional school resource officers had been on the to-do list of Brunswick Hills Township Police Chief Tim Sopkovich for even longer.

"I've known there is a need for a long time," Sopkovich said of the assignment of Brunswick Hills officer Tom Walsh as the district's third full-time school resource officer. The district's two other SROs are City of Brunswick police officers.

"When I came back from serving in Iraq, that is what I did -- site surveys so that tactical officers could better respond to active-shooter situations and making soft targets hard," Sopkovich said. "A lot of times we were going in blind."

With Brunswick's school resource officer program dating back to the 1980s, Sopkovich said he was eager to assign a Hills officer.

"(Former Hills Police Department Sgt.) Steve (Klopfenstein) was in the schools for a long time on a grant, but it all goes back to the levy," Sopkovich said of the department's fully staffed status following voters' support of a five-year, 2.5-mill police levy in November 2016.

"We have 14 officers total, including Tom, so we were able to (provide the district) a full-time student resource officer this year," Sopkovich said. "And these students are both Brunswick and Brunswick Hills residents."

A role model for students

A part-time Brunswick Hills patrolman, Walsh is a 19-year veteran of the Cleveland Police Department. Sopkovich said he feels Walsh can become an important role model for students.

With more than 7,200 students and 11 buildings in the district, the SROs have plenty of ground to cover. Walsh has officially been assigned as the SRO at the Edwards, Visintainer and Willetts middle school buildings, which each have roughly 600 students.

Sopkovich and Walsh agreed that the work of an SRO goes much deeper than simply securing entrances and exists.

"It's interesting working with the kids, and I hope to give them some guidance, get them going the right way," Walsh said of his new role. "A lot of times, kids don't like the police, and I want to let them know it's not all what you read in the paper. I want to give them a better impression of what a policeman does do."

Sopkovich said he is excited about the department being a part of the future of the school district's SRO program.

"It's about working with the schools to make the schools safer," he said.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Federal authorities arrested three people on drug charges following the seizure of more than 140 pounds of methamphetamine, likely the single largest seizure in the history of Ohio, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Court documents say the men were arrested after the trio's supplier in Mexico gave them the green light to kill a man they believe stole some of the drugs from a home in Boston Heights, according to court documents.

The killing never happened and the three men were taken into custody March 24, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said. The missing drugs were actually seized by federal agents from the Olde Eight Road home that served as a center of their drug operation, court filings said.

Prosecutors say the house was used as a processing facility to make, package and sell meth and was part of an operation that trafficked hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of the drug.

The revelations appeared in charging documents against Cleveland resident Tyrone Rogers and Hector Ramos-Nevarez and Gilbert Treviso-Garcia, both of Mexico.

All three are charged with possession with intent to distribute crystal methamphetamine. They are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Joseph Dubyak, an attorney for Ramos-Nevarez, said he understands the case remains under investigation, and that indictments for additional defendants in Ohio and Arizona may be forthcoming.

Lawyers for the other two men did not immediately return phone calls.

The complaint says the DEA began its investigation into Rogers in January. Chief U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan approved a wiretap on two of his phones on March 20.

The federal investigators started surveillance of Rogers on March 22 and watched as he picked up Ramos-Nevarez and Treviso-Garcia from a La Quinta Inn in Macedonia, according to prosecutors. Agents also watched as Rogers drove the men from the Boston Heights home to an apartment complex in Aurora several times.

Agents searched the Olde Eight Road house on the early morning of March 24 and seized 82 pounds of crystal meth, according to authorities.

Since the warrant did not require agents to immediately give notice that the house was searched, agents did not leave a copy of the warrant or any notification. Rogers believed someone broke into the house and stole the drugs, according to charging documents.

He called his suppliers in Mexico and told them that he believed someone who worked with them took the drugs. The suppliers gave Rogers the OK to kill the man. Rogers said he couldn't stop it and the people were "going to knock his head in," the charging documents state.

After the men were arrested, agents found another 60 pounds of liquid meth at the Boston Heights house, as well as four guns at places associated with the operation, federal prosecutors say.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Mazda Motor (China) Co., Ltd (Mazda China) announced on April 3rd that the company delivered a total of 77,450 vehicles in China in the first quarter of this year, jumping 20.2% year on year, which reached a new high of cumulative sales in China in the first three months.

As to its two major sales channels, both FAW-Mazda and Changan Mazda accomplished year-on-year sales growth during the first quarter of 5.0% and 33.5%, with 31,641 units and 45,809 units delivered respectively.

With regard to the March sales, the Japanese automaker sold 23,406 vehicles in China, edging down 1.0% from a year earlier. Among that, FAW-Mazda faced year-on-year sales decrease of 2.7% to 10,106 units last month, while Changan Mazda handed over 13,300 units with a slight growth of 0.4% over the previous year.

In 2017, Mazda brand boasted a year-on-year increase of 8.3% with 309,407 vehicles delivered in this country, exceeding 300 thousand units for the first time since it entered into China's market. Mazda aims to maintain such impetus in this country and strives to achieve a sales target of 310 thousand units in 2018.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When he isn't starring in movies like "Blade Runner 2049" and "Suicide Squad," Jared Leto fronts the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. He's booked a surprise trip to Cleveland this morning in that capacity.

Leto will be at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame around 10 a.m. this morning, greeting fans and talking with the media as part of "Mars Across America" publicity tour to promote the band's latest album, "America," which will be released April 6 on Interscope Records.

Jared Leto is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Leto, an accomplished actor and the leader of rock band 30 Seconds To Mars, is speaking to fans. Posted by cleveland.com on Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Check back around 10:30 a.m. for live coverage of Leto's Rock Hall appearance

We'll also have photos, video and a story later on cleveland.com.

Thirty Seconds to Mars will bring its Monolith Tour to Blossom Music Center on Saturday, June 16, with support acts Walk the Moon, Misterwives and Joywave.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Ohio Department of Medicaid soon will submit its proposed Medicaid waiver to the federal government, hoping to gain approval to apply work requirements to the Medicaid expansion population.

The waiver requires most able-bodied adults to work or participate in a sanctioned community engagement activity, like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) education and training activities, for 80 hours monthly to be eligible for Medicaid.

State think tanks, medical associations and local officials oppose the waiver, saying the work requirements would make healthcare less accessible, cost millions to implement and disproportionately affect black communities.

"I'd be much more comfortable with a program that offered support to people to find employment. I think tying their Medicaid eligibility to that isn't particularly helpful," said John Corlett, president and executive director of the Center for Community Solutions, a Cleveland-based think tank, and former state Medicaid director. "We actually think the program could cost more and end up covering less people."

Cost

Community Solutions estimates the new work requirement would cost county governments $380 million over a five-year period because of the administrative burden of providing case management services to 200,000 new enrollees.

David Merriman, assistant director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Health and Human Services, estimates the new requirements would cost the county more than $10.8 million to administer. That's more than any other county in the state, according to Community Solutions data.

Merriman, in testimony to the state, voiced concerns about how the state plans to compensate counties for the cost of the waiver.

"Will this be an unfunded mandate that requires counties to financially support? Is this a budget-neutral initiative if it costs counties local funds to implement?" Merriman said.

Access to healthcare

The Center for Health Affairs, a non-profit hospital association that represents Northeast Ohio hospitals like the Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth and University Hospitals, questioned the state's estimate that only 18,000 of the 700,000 Ohioans covered by the Medicaid expansion would be unenrolled under the new requirements.

"These new requirements create an obvious barrier to accessing healthcare for the consumer. Simply put, the success of the current proposal relies on a number of assumptions which ignore the practical application of this process and how severely it would deter enrollment," the Center said in comments submitted to the state.

When the state implemented similar work requirements for SNAP, it estimated 134,000 people would lose eligibility. In reality, nearly 370,000 Ohioans were disenrolled, according to Loren Anthes, public policy fellow for Community Solutions.

And putting additional administrative responsibilities on already swamped counties could create a bottleneck for the entire Medicaid system, which covers pregnant women and children among other vulnerable populations, Corlett said.

"If this program creates churn, it will make it more difficult for people to get back into coverage," Corlett said. "It risks upsetting the entire program."

For example, Monica Starks of Bedford Heights returned to work as an adjunct sociology professor in March after being off for 1-1/2 years after suffering a stroke. Starks, 46, has end-stage renal failure, a kidney disease and relies on Medicaid for her regular dialysis treatments.

Right now, she's only teaching one class because of her health.

"One of the benefits of the type of job that I have is it works well with my health," Starks said. "It's difficult to work 40 hours a week and do dialysis five days a week."

She was able to get disability benefits after her stroke but worries what would happen if she were to fall off the Medicaid rolls for some reason.

"I'd probably die because I wouldn't be able to afford dialysis. There's no way I could afford dialysis on my own," Starks said.

But overloaded systems can be burdened by churn, and people often fall in and out of the system, explained Steve Wagner, executive director of UHCAN Ohio, the Universal Health Care Action Network.

"There's going to be bureaucracy and red tape no matter what, even if they meet one of those exemptions," Wagner said.

Racial disparity

LaQueta Worley, who lives in the Union-Miles neighborhood of Cleveland, has tried to get on disability since last July, when she had surgery on her foot. For years, she's had problems with her feet, dealing with bunions and heel spurs.

She had to quit her job as a school crossing guard and as a home healthcare aide because she had trouble standing and walking for long periods of time.

"It was hard," said Worley, 45, who first started working when she was 14. "I can't work now."

She relies on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, using bus passes she gets through various programs, to get around, and on her friends and family to help her with bills.

"The way I'm making it now, I depend on friends and family," she said.

For medical concerns, she turns to Medicaid.

But as a resident of Cuyahoga County, Worley wouldn't be exempt from the Medicaid work requirements proposed by the state.

"This is the wrong way to go about helping people get out of poverty. It's bad policy," said Wendy Patton, senior project director for Policy Matters Ohio, a liberal think tank.

As drafted, the waiver excludes able-bodied adults living in counties with high poverty rates, which excludes Cuyahoga County. These same 26 counties are also exempted from SNAP and Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) work requirements.

While Cuyahoga County doesn't meet exemption requirements based on poverty levels, cities in the county like Cleveland, Euclid and Maple Heights all would, if the state were to base the program on municipalities, rather than counties. As it stands, the county-based structure benefits predominantly white, rural communities and excludes urban areas with black populations, according to Corlett.

"The current Medicaid waiver proposal, and its narrow criteria for unemployment exemptions, doesn't treat these high unemployment communities the same as largely white communities in other parts of Ohio," Corlett wrote in a policy brief.

What happens next

The state Medicaid office doesn't yet have an exact date that it will submit the waiver, and is currently reviewing input from the public comment period, which ended March 18, officials said.

If granted a waiver, Ohio would be the fourth state, following Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas, to gain approval from the Trump administration to enact work requirements. It would go into effect July 1.

In January, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued guidance to state Medicaid directors encouraging them to apply for waivers to establish work or community engagement requirements for Medicaid. Ohio expanded Medicaid to cover an additional 700,000 Ohioans under the Obama administration.

Just the facts
CLEVELAND, Ohio - City Council voted Monday to join with the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council in an agreement that could save Clevelanders some money on their electric bills.

Under the agreement with NOPEC, Cleveland residents and small businesses that are customers of The Illuminating Co., a FirstEnergy subsidiary, will automatically receive their electricity from NOPEC beginning with their June meter readings unless they specifically opt out of the program.

The Illuminating Company would continue to provide transmission and delivery services.

The agreement will run through May 2020.

Customers in the aggregate program will pay 5.43 cents per kilowatt hour. FirstEnergy on Monday listed its kilowatt hour rate at 5.55 cents.

The city estimates that average customers will save about $1.20 per month. A typical small business could save $4.30 per month.

While that may not seem like a lot, it still is a savings.

"While we are allowed to do aggregation, we want to take advantage of it so the people can save a little money," Matt Gray, Mayor Frank Jackson's chief of sustainability, said Monday afternoon during a meeting of council's Finance Committee.

NOPEC was formed in 2001 with the idea of lowering prices to residents and small businesses by buying energy in bulk - natural gas or electricity - from various suppliers could provide energy.

More than 200 communities rely on NOPEC for gas or electric supplies. NOPEC estimates its energy aggregation programs have saved customers more than $300 million on energy costs.

Cleveland has been part of the nonprofit's natural gas supply program for years.

This contract, though, is believed to be the first between Cleveland and NOPEC for electricity, the city said. Other energy aggregators have won the contract for supplying electricity in previous years.

The state allows aggregate energy programs only in areas served by investor-owned utilities. Customers of Cleveland Public Power, the city's utility, are not eligible for the program.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland police officer accused of driving while impaired following an early morning crash on Ohio 176 has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.

Tremain Golston, 29, pleaded no contest March 13 to a minor misdemeanor charge of reckless operation of a vehicle on private property. He was initially charged with first-degree misdemeanor operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Cleveland Municipal Court records show.

He was ordered to pay a $150 fine and court costs at his March hearing, but has not yet paid any of that amount, according to court records.

A police report about the Feb. 2 crash was released by the city on Friday, nearly two months after it was requested.

Golston told Cleveland police that he was driving a Ford Ranger about 3 a.m. in the southbound lanes of Ohio 176 when another car crashed into him and then drove away from the scene, the police report says.

Golston said the crash sent his car into a concrete median near the Spring Road exit, the report says.

Several police officers, including two sergeants, responded to the crash. One sergeant told officers that he suspected Golston was under the influence and told them to investigate it as an OVI case, the report says. One officer wrote in his report that Golston did not show any obvious signs of intoxication.

Officers told Golston about the sergeant's decision to investigate it as an OVI complaint, and Golston told officers that he believed his leg was injured, the report says. He was taken to MetroHealth for treatment, and did not undergo field sobriety tests due to that possible injury, the report says.

Golston also refused an alcohol breath test, court records show.

Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said in February that Golston would be placed on restrictive duty as his case made its way through court. She did not immediately respond to inquiries on Tuesday about his current work status or possible discipline.

Golston is a patrolman in the Third District, Ciaccia said.

To comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Mexican national was indicted Tuesday after state troopers recovered several pounds of heroin in a vehicle last month, prosecutors said.

Octavio Barragan-Manzo was arrested by State Highway Patrol on March 21 after they found 44 pounds of heroin following a traffic stop on State Route 8 in Akron, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Ohio.

Investigators said a canine indicated there were drugs in the vehicle. Troopers later located 20 brick shaped packages that positively tested for heroin, officials said.

Authorities also found three pistols, a rifle and a shotgun after conducting a search at a location in Akron, prosecutors said, citing court documents.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.
DAYTON, Ohio -- Police were able to rescue a man after he drove into a river while trying to avoid arrest and after firing several shots at officers, reports say.

Chase M. Younger, 29, was treated and released at a hospital with minor injuries after officers pulled him from the Great Miami River early Sunday morning, according to the Dayton Daily News.

Police tell ABC 22 that officers tried to pull a vehicle over at about 1 a.m. Sunday because of its dark-tinted windows, but the car came to a sudden stop and the driver got out, firing several shots.

The driver got back into the vehicle and began a high-speed chase that lasted about two minutes. The car then went over an embankment and landed in the river.

Police tell the Daily News that Younger got out of the vehicle and tried to swim away from police, but officers convinced him to swim to shore.

A dog in the vehicle also was rescued.

Younger is scheduled to appear in court in Montgomery County on Tuesday morning on two counts of felonious assault, the Daily News reports.

Dayton Police Major Eric Henderson tells the Daily News it's unknown why Younger fired on officers.

To comment on this story, visit Monday's crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two men were shot Monday evening at large apartment complex in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood, police say.

The men were shot at 6 p.m. at the Regency Square Apartments in the 1500 block of Ansel Road, Cleveland police said.

The men were taken to University Hospitals for treatment, police said.

Authorities did not identify the men or provide a motive in the shooting.

No arrests have been made in the shooting. It's unknown if the shooter is still at large.

Investigators remained at the scene at 7:45 p.m. search the area and collecting evidence. One officer could be seen speaking with residents near the apartment's entrance. Other officers were rummaging in the back of an abandoned apartment near the shooting scene.

This story is developing and cleveland.com will provide an update if information becomes available Monday night.

To comment on this story, visit Monday's crime and courts comments page.
DREXEL HILL, Pennsylvania -- Investigators say a student who accused of plotting a shooting at a Roman Catholic high school had more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition and a semiautomatic firearm, according to reports.

The Inquirer reports An Tso Sun, 18, a foreign exchange student from Taiwan, was charged last week with one misdemeanor count of making terroristic threats.

He is being held in a Delaware County jail on a detainer lodged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which means he cannot be released on bond, the Inquirer reports.

Sun purchased the parts for a handgun and assembled them himself, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said during a news conference Monday, ABC News reports.

Chitwood says 225 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition; 663 rounds of 9mm ammunition; 295 rounds of AR-15 ammunition; and 425 rounds of AK-47 ammunition were recovered, according to ABC News. He also researched how to purchase an AK-47 or AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, reports say.

ABC News reports Sun had told another student not to come to Monsignor Bonner Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School on May 1 because he was planning a shooting. The student told school officials, who notified police.

The teen's host mother, who has not been arrested, reportedly gathered the ammunition and weapon after being contacted by school officials and gave them to another person, but did not call police.

The gun and ammunition were recovered after police received a tip. Police did not say where the items were found.

When questioned, Sun reportedly told police he was not serious about the threat.

Before finding the ammunition, police found a military-style ballistic vest; a high-powered crossbow with scope and light; arrows; 29 rounds of 9mm ammunition; a strangling device; a "military" ski mask; and ear protectors for firing in Sun's bedroom, reports say.

To comment on this story, visit the crime and courts comments page.
According to the Kremlin, President Trump invited Vladimir Putin to the White House during an already controversial phone call. Some think the outrage over the invitation is silly: Putin already visited the White House in 2005. But critics point out that was before Russia annexed Crimea, propped up the Assad regime in Syria and interfered in our elections. They say Russia is an enemy and a Putin visit will be met with mass protests. Should the White House host Putin?

PERSPECTIVES

Benjamin Hart called the invitation the latest example of Trump's "strange, unquestioning respect for Putin."

The fact that we found out about the invitation from the Kremlin, rather than our own government, was disturbing to many. What other plans has Trump made with the Russian president that we haven't heard about yet?

The Kremlin just announced a White House visit was just offered to Putin from President Trump.



Once again the Kremlin has announced this before the President has. That's because Trump knows Americans are against this.



SAD!  Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) April 2, 2018

.@realDonaldTrump-You shouldnt let Putin, who has committed acts of war against the US, is actively hacking into our infrastructure at this very moment & plans to interfere again in our electioninto the White House. I think thats fair. Youre a traitor for thinking about it.  Scott Dworkin (@funder) April 2, 2018

Opponents say Trump is a Russian asset, and that this invitation is just one more example of how our president has been co-opted by the Kremlin. A Putin visit will be greeted with massive protests across the country.

If Vladimir Putin enters the United States to meet with Donald Trump, #MarchForTruth will coordinate a massive protest. Follow us here and join the newsletter at https://t.co/Fcnxth80QB #TrumpPutin https://t.co/Jsoe2zedQd  #MarchForTruth (@MarchForTruth17) April 2, 2018

Others applaud the invitation and say liberal outrage is ridiculous and overblown.

#MondayMotivation President Trumps approval ratings is at 50% and he is inviting Putin to White House .The liberals are losing their minds#MAGA  CindyForTrump (@immigrant_legal) April 2, 2018

The president's supporters agree with Trump that a better relationship with Russia benefits all of us, and that treating Putin as an enemy is shortsighted and unnecessary.

Trump himself argues that a positive relationship with Putin is a good thing, and could help the West fight terrorism.

I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing.......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018

The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Digital, Inc. property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say.
MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- A convenience store clerk has been charged with first-degree murder after police say he chased down, shot and killed a teen who had taken a beer without paying.

Police also say the clerk, Anwar Ghazali, 28, walked back into the store after shooting Dorian Harris, 17, and did not call police. He reportedly told another person in the store, "I think I shot him," WREG Channel 3 reports.

Harris' body was found two days later behind a home about 100 yards away with a wound in his left thigh, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports.

According to WREG, police say the shooting was recorded by a surveillance camera. Harris was never reported missing.

Ghazali reportedly admitted to police that he shot at Harris several times.

While Ghazali has been arrested and charged, the shooting resulted in protests Monday outside the Top Stop Shop, the store where the incident occurred, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Protesters are calling for a boycott of the store. It was closed Monday during the demonstration.

To comment on this story, visit the crime and courts comments page.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Youxia Motors, one of China's EV startup, announced the completion of RMB 5 billion B-round funding on Mar. 31, which was jointly invested by 12 venture capital institutions, including Qianhai Mergers and Acquisition Funds, SINOEP and China Fortune Ocean.

This is the first time for Youxia to release its whole financing information to the public. In October, 2017, it closed RMB 1.22 billion A-round funding, led by a variety of venture capital institutions, such as Xinhua Silk Road Fund. With the two-round funding, Youxia now has received a total investment of RMB 6.22 billion and its entire valuation totaled RMB 12.2 billion.

After the B-round funding, Youxia Motors will focus on financing, team building, R&D, manufacturing and brand marketing, providing solid manufacturing system for the mass production of the Youxia X.

As to product manufacturing and marketing, Youxia Motors will build its own manufacturing plant and production line to focus on the operation of the independent brand. The first manufacturing base was located in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province in April, 2017. The plant features a 1+5+1 layout, namely one vehicle manufacturing plant with complete four manufacturing techniques, five core supporting companies and one R&D trial production and testing center. The program will cover an area of 1,733,333 square meters with a planned annual production capacity of 200,000 units. It is expected that the plant will complete construction within this year. After the completion of construction, Youxia will start mass production and deliver its models to customers.

Till now, Youxia has a staff of 500 employees, who once served at famous automakers and internet companies, such as BMW, GM, Huawei, Volvo, SAIC, Baidu and Tencent. What's more, the EV maker also established R&D centers in Shanghai, Suzhou and Turin in Italy. According to Wei Jun, CEO of Youxia Motors, the company will expand its staff to 600 employees, and Youxia will adopt a personnel management which is similar to high-tech companies.

In terms of building the supply system, parts suppliers who partnered with Youxia Motors reached a total of around 500. Among them, the world-leading suppliers took up 70% of the total suppliers.

When it comes to the to-be-mass-produced all-new Youxia X, Wei Jun exposed that the Youxia X has finished four-round trial production and completed 90% testing items with three-year R&D and trial production. The most striking features of the Youxia X are its stylish appearance, robust power performance and highly intelligent performance. It adopts premium imported battery cells, self-developed high-performance battery pack and 350kW high-power electric motor. Besides, the specific intelligent interactive system, KITT OS is deployed in the model.

In addition, Youxia will carry out driving experiencing and presale through building up experiencing center and operation network in first- and second-tier cities. It targets to sell 30,000 units in 2019, and aims to double the sales in 2020 and triple the sales in 2021.
NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio -- In 2022, North Ridgeville's First Church Congregational will be 200 years old. The North Ridgeville Historical Society met recently to listen to the church's pastor, Arik Borstad, relate some of the history of what is now a United Church of Christ at 36363 Center Ridge Road.

Borstad told the story of the first arrivals coming on foot to the area in May of 1810. The first church service was held in a home and was led by Joel Terrell, a name with deep ties to the area, Borstad said. In fact, he said, most of the founders of the church can be found buried in the local cemetery.

Historic medallions in North Ridgeville are being sold in advance to usher in the celebration of First Church Congregational's 200th anniversary in 2022.

The church was originally of Presbyterian denomination. As membership increased, parishioners met in a log schoolhouse, then in a barn. The first baptism took place in 1825.

But the church went through "a dark time," Borstad said. Members argued about the direction of the church and were enforcing church laws strictly -- too strictly for some members: no business, no friends and no journeys on the Sabbath. Those who broke the laws were reprimanded in public.

After the schoolhouse burned down, several pastors cycled through. By 1840, membership was almost totally depleted.

A lay person, D.C. White, stepped up and urged the people to focus only on the Bible. The concept began to revitalize the fledgling church, which "normalized" its functions to be more in line with other churches, with a pastor who preached, visited the sick and helped in emergencies. He was paid with food, firewood and clothing.

Priorities shifted to issues of justice and the legacy that became a United Church of Christ lives on today, Borstad said.

The Historical Society brought books and papers to the recent presentation to display the history of the area and the church.

For the 200th anniversary, display cases will feature many items reflecting on the rich history of the church. Activities are being planned, and collectible historical medallions are now being sold that feature some of the oldest landmarks in the area: Old Town Hall, Ridgeville School, Shawville Station, First Church Congregational, Fields United Methodist Church and St. Peter Catholic Church.

The price for medallions is $6 each. They are available by calling the church at 440-327-2921.
COLUMBUS, Ohio--When it comes to competitive Ohio Senate primaries this year, all the action seems to be on the Democratic side.

Of the 11 contested Senate primary races on the May 8 ballot, seven are between Democrats. And many of them are intriguing battles involving incumbent senators fighting for re-election, veteran state representatives looking to move up, or both.

There are four contested Republican state Senate primaries, but none are expected to be nearly as competitive.

Capitol Letter, cleveland.com's daily Statehouse newsletter, has compiled a list of the top five Ohio Senate primaries worth keeping an eye on through the May 8 primary. Make sure to also check out our lists of our top 10 Ohio House Democratic primaries and top 10 Ohio House Republican primaries to watch.



Here are our top five Senate primaries, in order of district number:

District 3 Democratic primary

Where the district is: Northeast and Southeast Franklin County, parts of Southwest and central Columbus

Who's running: Tina Maharath, Katherine Chipps (write-in)

What a mess. With GOP Sen. Kevin Bacon departing, this district was one of Franklin County Democrats' top targets entering this campaign cycle, but their plans were thrown into disarray when their endorsed candidate, Gahanna attorney Nate Dowds, was kept off the ballot because of petition problems. That left Maharath, a Canal Winchester financial analyst with a troubled past (including a bankruptcy). Worried that Maharath's nomination would all but guarantee a GOP victory in November, Chipps - a former Franklin County Dems executive director - launched a write-in campaign at the last minute. The county party endorsed Chipps, but it remains to be seen whether she can get more write-in votes than Maharath.

District 11 Democratic primary

Where the district is: Much of Lucas County, including the city of Toledo

Who's running: Michael Ashford, Teresa Fedor

This battle between two term-limited House members for term-limited Sen. Edna Brown's seat could end up being a nail-biter on Election Night. Both have the task of appealing to voters outside their House districts, though Fedor (unlike Ashford) has the advantage of previously representing the area in the Ohio Senate from 2003 until 2010. But Ashford has the endorsement of the Lucas County Democrats, as well as labor groups such as the Ohio AFL-CIO. How Ashford fares may depend on how much support he can get in mostly white areas of the Senate district, such as Maumee and Springfield Township.

District 21 Democratic primary

Where the district is: Much of Cleveland's East Side; Cleveland Heights, Garfield Heights, Shaker Heights

Who's running: Willie Britt, Jeff Johnson, Bill Patmon, Sandra Williams

Williams, who's running for re-election, is considered to have a slight edge in the race. She has the incumbency advantage, is only woman in the race, has close to $80,000 in the bank, and won the Cuyahoga County Democrats' endorsement (which puts her name on the sample ballot). But Johnson, a former city councilman, is a prolific campaigner, and he has the support of the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus - his task now is to raise money and cut into Williams' vote in the suburbs. Patmon (who, like Johnson, ran unsuccessfully for Cleveland mayor last year), shouldn't be ignored, either, though his occasional votes for major GOP bills over the years haven't endeared him to the Democratic base. Britt, a perennial candidate, is a non-factor in the race.

District 23 Democratic primary

Where the district is: Part of Cleveland's West Side; Brooklyn, Lakewood, Parma

Who's running: Nickie Antonio, Martin Sweeney

The race to take over term-limited Sen. Mike Skindell's seat, perhaps more than any other, illustrates the ongoing battle within the Cuyahoga County Democrats between allies of U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge and the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus. Sweeney, a state representative and former Cleveland city councilman, is the establishment candidate - he has the county party endorsement, an eye-popping $291,000 in campaign funds as of January, and an Irish last name that helps him on Cleveland's West Side. Antonio, a term-limited House member, is the progressive candidate - her support base is in her hometown of Lakewood, as well as within the activist and LGBT community. Antonio had about $93,000 on hand in January, meaning this primary could get pricey.

District 25 Democratic primary

Where the district is: Parts of east suburban Cleveland, much of western Lake County

Who's running: Kenny Yuko, John Barnes

Yuko would appear to be the frontrunner here: as the Senate minority leader, he'll have access to all the volunteers and money he needs to win. He also has strong labor support. But a lot of heads turned when Yuko failed to secure the Cuyahoga County Democrats' endorsement (in part because of local internal party fighting). Barnes, a term-limited state representative, has support among black voters in areas such as Warrensville Heights. To win, he'll need to maximize turnout there and broaden his appeal to other areas of the district.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - In celebration of Israel's 70th Anniversary, The Temple Museum of Jewish Art and Culture at The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood will host Step Into Art: Footwear by Kobi Levi. The exhibit opening and shoe fashion show kicks off Levi's week long visit to Cleveland from Tel Aviv on Sunday April 15.

Who is Kobi Levi? What do a slingshot, a playground slide, a xylophone, a flamingo, a cheerleader, a banana peel, a wad of gum and a blond ponytail all have in common? They are just some of the unpredictable design elements found in this Israeli shoe designer's delightful, wearable sculptures.

Levi designs museum quality pieces that are as abstract as they are recognizable and as quirky as they are wearable. His shoes have been spotted on celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg, Fergie and in a Lady Gaga music video. The limited-edition styles are handmade by Levi in his studio in his hometown of Tel Aviv, Israel.

Levi, 43, graduated from Jerusalem's Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in 2001 and has concentrated on footwear design and development since. He worked as a freelance designer collaborating with companies in Israel and internationally as he learned the mechanics of creating fine footwear.

In 2010 he started a blog, posting his own innovative designs. The blog took off and next thing he knew, reactions were pouring in from all over the world. Soon after, Lady Gaga used his Double Boot design in her "Born this Way" video and the desire for his creations grew. Today, his designs have shown in exhibitions around the globe. In 2011 he opened his Tel Aviv studio and began offering his handmade designs for sale in limited editions.

He'll be traveling to Cleveland for the first time and was kind enough to tell us a little more about his work in the following Q&A.

How is it that you are coming to Cleveland?

It'll be my first time in Cleveland. I got an invite to show my work from the Temple museum for Israel's 70th Independence Day celebrations, and I am very excited to show my work to a new crowd.

It looks like design ideas can come from anywhere and anything. How do you know if something, an idea, will translate into beautiful art and footwear?

You are right, anything can be inspiring, it depends on the point of view. A lot of things look very different in a new light. When an idea comes to mind, I start to sketch it in various angles and I can see if what I imagined looks the way I thought. I continue to improve it until I start a 3D test. It is a long challenging process but when the fantasy comes to life it is an amazing feeling! I am addicted to it.

When did you discover your love for art and for shoe design?

I've been sketching, drawing and sculpturing since I can remember. I love art, design and fashion and with my shoe design I find my own mix of the elements I like the most in these three fields.



Do you sketch with paper and pencil or on a computer?

Both! I sketch all time and at any place as I think of an idea. It can be while I work and have my computer, or while traveling, or in a restaurant sketching on a napkin because I can't wait when I think an idea will be a great new design.

Is each shoe handmade by you alone, do you have a help?

It is mostly me but when I have a lot to do in short time, I get help. I don't want to make people wait too long for their shoes.

Among all of your designs and styles, do you have some favorites?

Well, I always say they are all my kids. If an idea is not one I believe in, or not coming out right it would have been canceled at some point during the long development process. There are some styles that I think represent my design, my creation, in a very distinct way. They are "Chewing-Gum," "Miao," "Banana" and "Coffee."

How did you choose to design shoes and have you designed other fashions, like clothing or handbags?

As I mentioned before, I found in shoes my unique mix of aspects from art, design and fashion. I like to create my own individual "design language." I want the creations to be timeless like in fine art. I want the designs to communicate with people, both young and adults, women and men, people from the "art world" or not. I love it when a person relates to what he or she sees in another way. As for the fashion world, I want to create all the time and be very passionate with new things but not seasonal or trendy, things that can live forever. I guess that shoes will be my center of creation, but I've designed bags, jewelry, glasses, but I always go back to shoes.

What is the best aspect of your work and what is the most difficult?

The best thing is to be able to bring fantasy to life, to show people things through my eyes. The most difficult is to achieve this. There are a lot of challenges on the way, both design wise as well as endless technical steps that each one can cause me to have to start all over again. It can be very stressful.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about you and your work?

It's fun! It makes you smile, open your mind and see thing differently. Come to experience the shoes for yourself.

KOBI LEVI FOOTWEAR DETAILS:

Price Range: Limited-edition shoes range from about $550 to just over $3,000 U.S. dollars.

Materials: Levi uses quality leather, suede, patent leather, wood and other elements in his work.

Links: https: kobilevidesign.com

LEVI'S CLEVELAND VISIT SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

SUNDAY, APRIL 15: Step into Art: Footwear Art by Kobi Levi exhibit and fashion show:

Where: The Hartzmark Center at The Temple-Tifereth Israel, 26000 Shaker Boulevard, Beachwood.

Hours: Event is from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the shoe fashion show begins at 2 p.m.

Details: Wear your favorite fun shoes and have the unique opportunity to experience Kobi Levi's shoes. Step into a pair, even take them home, as many of the shoes will be available for purchase.

Charitable initiative: You are invited to bring gently used shoes and boots for Cleveland refugee families. They can be placed in the decorated donation boxes in the Hartzmark Center.

MONDAY, APRIL 16: Art Talk

Where: The Temple-Tifereth Israel, 26000 Shaker Boulevard, Beachwood.

Hours: 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Details: Join artist Kobi Levi as he tells wonderful stories about his artistic footwear.

MONDAY - FRIDAY, APRIL 16-20: Meet artist Kobi Levi

Where: The Hartzmark Center at The Temple-Tifereth Israel, 26000 Shaker Boulevard, Beachwood.

Hours: 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Details: Meet artist Kobi Levi in the Hartzmark Center and view the exhibit. He'll be on hand while you try on his shoes. Hear him discuss his inspirations and designs.

FOOTWEAR EXHIBIT:

The Step Into Art: Footwear by Kobi Levi exhibit will remain on display at The Temple Museum of Jewish Art and Culture at The Temple-Tifereth Israel until July 9. The exhibit is free and open to the public. People should schedule an appointment with Sue Koletsky of The Temple at Skoletsky@ttti.org. or call 216-455-1697. No call is required to attend opening day, April 15.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18: Celebrate Israel at The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland

Where: The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland, 1515 West 3rd Street, Cleveland.

Hours: 6 p.m.to 9 p.m.

Details: The Temple Museum of Jewish Art, Religion and Culture will host a special evening at the Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland on Erev Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day.

Celebrate the newly designed Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland and the opening of their new kosher kitchen. Enjoy an evening of hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and desserts. Special guests include Israeli footwear artist Kobi Levi and Israeli guest chefs, Kobi Oyahon and Adir Cohen as well as Yael Ron, General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland.

Tickets and reservations: Tickets: $70 - Reception and valet parking included. Space is limited so RSVP by April 9.

Reservations and payment can be made online at bit.ly/ritzcleveland, by calling The Temple reservation line at 216.831.3233, ext.162 or by Reservations@ttti.org. Please leave name, phone and email.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @AlliArtStyle and at Allison Carey Fashion Reporter/Photographer on Facebook.
FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- Thanks to a collaborative effort by the Fairview Park City Schools, Connecting for Kids, Kiwanis Division 14 and Boy Scout Troop 77 of Westlake, more than 1,000 Fairview Park students will get a lesson in kindness and compassion during the next week.

Students at Fairview Park Early Education Center and Gilles-Sweet Elementary School will participate in the Connecting for Kids Beyond the Bench Buddy Bench Training Program on April 6 and 11, respectively.

Funding for the program is provided by Kiwanis Division 13, and the Buddy Benches were constructed by Ben Routhier of Westlake as part of his Eagle Scout service project, with help from other Scouts in Troop 77.

The Beyond the Bench Buddy Bench Training Program was designed by local pediatric psychologist Meghan Barlow. It teachers students ways to show kindness and compassion, solve peer conflicts and get along with others.

Trained facilitators will meet with students to introduce the concepts and help them through role-play scenarios.

Buddy Benches were created to help students establish friendships and to encourage play with others at recess. The expanded program takes the concept beyond the playground and helps educate families about how they can reinforce the ideas at home.

So far, CFK has provided training with the Beyond the Buddy Bench Training Program in 17 local schools.

CFK provides education and support to families with concerns about their children. The group serves all families, including those children with and without formal diagnoses.

For more information about CFK, visit: connectingforkids.org, email info@connectingforkids.org or call 440-250-5563.

Host families needed: About 30 AFS high school exchange students from countries around the world will be coming to Greater Cleveland this summer to attend high school for the next school year and to learn about American culture.

Host families are needed to make their visits possible.

Any type of family -- a single person, a couple without children or a family with children -- can host an AFS student. The students come from a variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, but all have some level of English proficiency. The students bring their own spending money and have medical insurance, and AFS provides support during their stay.

Host families provide all meals for the student, a bed and the same type of support, care and comfort they would provide for their own child, as well as including the exchange student in daily life and family activities.

AFS is the oldest exchange program, with more than 60 years of experience.

For more information or to apply to host a student, call 440-234-3821 or send an email message to Nancy Goette, hosting coordinator, AFS Greater Cleveland-West, at nagoette@yahoo.com.

Another Heroin to Hope program is set for April 17 at Lakewood United Methodist Church.

Heroin to Hope: The city of Lakewood and community partners will present another Heroin to Hope program at 6 p.m. April 17 at Lakewood United Methodist Church, 15700 Detroit Ave.

There will be a resource room and a community conversation about Project SOAR, as well as free Naloxone training.

Visit onelakewood.com/facingaddiction for more information.

PERI members meet: Chapter 91 Public Employee Retirees, Inc. will meet at 11 a.m. April 9 on the lower level of the Fairview Park Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, 21255 Lorain Road, Fairview Park.

Guest speaker will be Eileen Wilson, director of immigrants and refugees at The Hope Center for Refugees and Immigrants, which is located at 15135 Triskett Ave. in Cleveland's West Park neighborhood. The facility is a satellite hub for services to refugees and immigrants living in West Park, Lakewood and surrounding areas.

Chapter 91 PERI includes members from the northwestern suburbs surrounding Cleveland. The group meets monthly to discuss topics of interest and keep updated on proposed legislation. Public sector retirees are invited to attend.

Moonlit Masquerade: Burning River Roller Derby, in conjunction with several participating artists, will host its fifth annual art auction fundraiser, Moonlit Masquerade, from 6 to 10 p.m. April 14 at The Good Goat Gallery, 17012 Madison Ave., Lakewood.

There will be a silent auction featuring work created for the event by local artists, as well as current and past members of BRRD. Theme for the evening is masquerade, so attendees are invited to wear costumes or masks.

Music will be by DJ Bonk. Light refreshments will be provided and drink tickets will be available for purchase -- identification required for alcoholic beverages. Admission is free for all ages.

Proceeds will benefit BRRD, Cleveland's flat track roller derby league, which is owned and operated by skaters, referees and volunteers.

For more information about BRRD, visit burningriverderby.com. For more information about the event, visit the event page at facebook.com/events/187754858353609/.

Coffee in the Neighborhood: Stop by O'Neill Healthcare Lakewood from 8 to 9:30 a.m. April 9 for a meet and greet with Lakewood police officers. Free Danish and coffee with a travel mug will be offered to guests in the skilled nursing facility main dining room, 13900 Detroit Ave.

Call Tammy Sibert, 216-912-0800 for more information.

Talking AC: LakewoodAlive's next Knowing Your Home workshop will focus on "Air Conditioning for Steam-Heated Homes," from 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 19 at Slife Heating & Cooling, 13729 Madison Ave., Lakewood. David Slife will lead the program.

This will be the fourth workshop in the popular home maintenance educational series. It will cover options for installing air conditioning in homes that area heated by steam or hot water rather than forced-air systems.

Admission is free. To reserve a spot, call 216-521-0655 or visit lakewoodalive.org.

In lieu of charging for the programs, participants are asked to consider making a donation to LakewoodAlive or to bring non-perishable food items that can be donated to Lakewood Community Services Center.

Cutting the cord: Northeast Ohio Personal Computers will meet at 6:30 p.m. for coffee and conversation, followed by the monthly meeting at 7 at Westlake Porter Public Library, 27333 Center Ridge Road. The program will be a question and answer session about "Cutting the Cord" and the ongoing issues with Windows 10.

NEOPC members unable to attend can watch via ZOOM on the internet.

For more information, visit neopc.org.

Silver medalists: Lakewood High School senior Jordan Bozak and junior Emily Perry are national Silver Medal winners in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. The competition is the nation's longest-running recognition program for creative teens in grades 7-12.

Jordan won her medal in the printmaking category and Emily in the drawing and illustration category. They will be honored along with the other national winners and their teachers at a ceremony June 7 at Carnegie Hall. The 2,800 national winners represent 3 percent of the 85,000 artists that advanced from their regional competitions across the country in January.

In addition to Jordan and Emily, nine district students were named Golden Key winners at the regional level and also had their work judged at the national level. They are: Inga Wilhelmy of Harding; LHS art students Calvin Dolatowski, Solace Duval, Kazimir Klein, and Anastasia Seckers; and West Shore students Sara Bitter and Riley Geyer.

Kudos to all!

Information, please: Readers are invited to share information about themselves, their families and friends, organizations, church events, etc. in Fairview Park, Lakewood, North Olmsted and West Park for the A Place in the Sun column, which I write on a freelance basis. Awards, honors, milestone birthdays or anniversaries and other items are welcome. Submit information at least 10 days before the requested publication date to carolkovach@hotmail.com.
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The great chicken debate is over in University Heights, at least for now.

After deliberating for months on an ordinance that would give guidelines to residents who wish to keep backyard chickens, City Council on Monday approved the legislation -- after it had been amended 13 times.

Council voted 5-2 in favor of creating the guidelines, with Councilmen Steven Sims and Philip Ertel in opposition.

"It's a miracle," said resident Laura Francis, who got the whole chicken discussion going in 2017 when she approached council seeking permission to keep fowl in the yard of the home she shares with husband, Kyle Coughlin.

The city has allowed chicken keeping for 74 years, but permission to do so has always had to be granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals. The BZA had turned down Francis but, in June 2017, she gave a detailed presentation to council, complete with large sign boards covered with chicken-keeping facts and figures.

In turning down Francis' bid to overturn the BZA decision last year, council members kept her presentation in mind. Although the University Heights Planning & Zoning Commission also said no to Francis keeping chickens, council kept working at honing guidelines for chicken keeping.

The ordinance passed Monday states that a resident cannot keep more than four chickens in a well-maintained yard and coop, down from the pre-amendment allowance of six. That coop must stand at least 20 feet from a neighboring home; 20 feet from a neighbor's outdoor recreational improved area (deck, patio, fountain); 10 feet from a neighboring side yard; and three feet from a rear property line.

No roosters are allowed, chickens cannot be slaughtered, and eggs the chickens produce cannot be sold.

"For 74 years, all you had to do was go to the BZA and make an appeal," Councilman John Rach said, explaining his affirmative vote to residents who had come to speak against the ordinance at Monday's meeting. "There were no guidelines.This was an opportunity for us to take a look at forming guidelines."

Rach also pointed out the many amendments council added while discussing the issue in order to please as many residents as possible.

In order to be allowed to legally keep chickens, a resident must first seek a permit from the city's building commissioner, James McReynolds.

"My colleagues have done an outstanding job of listening to concerns," Vice Mayor Susan Pardee said of council. Pardee agreed with Councilwoman Pamela Cameron, who said the decision on how to vote on the ordinance was difficult.

"Many of us had sleepless nights," Pardee said.

Cameron called the chicken debate "the star issue for University Heights in 2017-18."

The debate attracted many people to council chambers. More than 20 residents spoke at the March 19 meeting, at which no seat was left unoccupied. On Monday, about eight residents spoke.

Those who spoke against the ordinance believe that chickens present a possible danger in that they can spread disease such as salmonella, attract predators that can be dangerous to pets and are a source of noise.

"As a council, we have to do anything we can to make this city more attractive to people who live here," said Councilman Mark Wiseman, who spearheaded the ordinance on council.

Sims countered by stating: "I certainly don't see it making us a more attractive community. I don't know why we're even considering this."

Ertel said the legislation is in "blatant disregard for the health and safety of our University Heights residents."

Wiseman pointed out that several neighboring cities, including South Euclid, Cleveland Heights and Beachwood, allow chickens, and that these communities have reported very few problems regarding the birds.

Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan said he has been receiving a good number of emails both in favor and against the ordinance, but said that in the last nine days, all of the correspondence has been pro-chicken.

"I'm pleased to say that if this council passes this ordinance, I'll be happy to sign it," Brennan said.

As Wiseman and Pardee noted, council will review the process and results of the chicken experiment in February 2019. If it isn't working out well, it can be ended.

"I'm not afraid to roll this back and rescind this," Pardee said.

As for Francis, she called the ordeal and the storm it created "very stressful."

But, she added, "I'm going to ask the building commissioner tomorrow for a permit." Francis and Coughlin, at least to start, are looking to keep two chickens in their Meadowbrook Boulevard yard.

Keeping an eye on rental properties

Council also heard the first reading of legislation introduced by Brennan that is meant to strengthen the city's housing stock by focusing on rental properties.

Community Development Coordinator Patrick Grogan-Myers told council that the city has 131 certified tax delinquent properties, 89 of which are residential. Of those 89, 20 are registered with the city as rental properties, and 15 of those are not on a payment plan and owe a combined tax balance of approximately $98,600.

The proposed amended ordinance would require that an application for a rental permit contain affirmation that a property's owner is not delinquent on property taxes or enrolled in a payment plan to pay off delinquent taxes.

If an owner is delinquent and is not signed up in a payment program, his or her rental license can be revoked. According to current city law, the owner, if not paying property taxes, can be fined up to $1,000 per day until an arrangement is made to pay taxes.

Watch your speed

Interim University Heights Police Chief Dustin Rogers said the Police Department has purchased a solar-powered, moveable radar sign that lets drivers know the speed they are traveling.

Rogers said the sign also gathers other information, such as the average speed motorists are traveling on a road during a day, but does not record information about the driver or his or her vehicle.

The sign, which is hoped to be a deterrent to speeders, was purchased when the Police Department was guided by former chief Steven Hammett, who recently retired.

Rogers said the sign, which stands on a pole, will first be posted on Silsby Road at South Belvoir Boulevard.
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Market Overview

Calcium Silicate is an inorganic chemical compound, which offers high liquid water absorption and high melting point. It can be commercially produced by adding limestone to diatomaceous earth, which exhibits excellent purity.

The Global Calcium Silicate Market is segmented on the basis of various applications such as building materials, insulation, sealants, food additive, pharmaceuticals, and others. Among these, the building & construction material is the major application segment owing to the higher demand for manufacturing fireproof and low bulk density materials such as bricks, tiles, etc. The growing urbanization and need for infrastructure are likely to propel the market growth during the assessment period. Occupation Safety & Health Act, 1970 (OSHA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) implement regulations on building structures to provide a safe and healthy environment at the workplace, which may further drive the market growth. Insulation is the second largest segment of the calcium silicate market on account of its applications in industrial grade equipment such as pipes, blast furnace, and others. Rapidly growing industrialization is another major driver of the Global Calcium Silicate Market. Additionally, use of Calcium Silicate as a sealant in the construction is fueling the market growth. It is also used as a food additive, which may provide various opportunities in the food & beverage industry and propel the market growth further. The product has been approved to be used as a food additive by United Nations FAO and WHO. Calcium Silicate is identified as an external analgesic and skin protectant by OTC-Active Ingredient Status Report. Moreover, the product finds its application in agrochemicals and paints & coatings industries, which may further fuel the market growth during the review period.

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Market Segmentation

The Global Calcium Silicate Market is segmented on the basis of the Application and Region.

On the Basis of the Application, the Global Calcium Silicate Market is segmented into building materials, insulation, sealants, food additive, pharmaceuticals, and others.

The Global Calcium Silicate Market is segmented into five key regions namely Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

Regional Analysis

The Global Calcium Silicate Market is spanned across five major regions namely Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

Asia Pacific is expected to be dominated by the Global Calcium Silicate Market due to the increasing demand for the product from the building and construction industry. Major developing countries such as China and India drive the growth of the regional market on the account of the swift urbanization and increasing infrastructural activities. According to Economy Watch, beaconing the performance of major end-use industries including mining, infrastructure, fertilizers, iron & steel, and others, China, Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam registered double-digit growth rate of industrial production.

The technological advancement for the sustainable development of the European market. The European Calcium Silicate Producer Association (ECSPA) aims to facilitate the sustainable competitive growth to the European construction industry. Driving the regional market.

The use of Calcium Silicate in fireproof spray plasters for construction activities is the major driver in the North American region. Thermal Pipe Shields (TPS) has announced to provide worldwide distribution of calcium silicate (calsil). Driving the market positively.

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MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimal quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Applications, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enabling our clients to see more important questions.

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Where do you start with nearly 800 exhibitors gracing the in-cosmetics Global show floor? Why not head toward the newcomersthis April in Amsterdam, Cosmetics & Toiletries and Global Cosmetic Industry are proud to sponsor the new exhibitors. Here, we've highlighted those providing solutions for sun care.

Austrian Drug Screening Institute (ADSI) GmbH

Stand: L149

The Austrian Drug Screening Institute (ADSI) is a research company offering services for cosmetic, pharma, nutrition and lifestyle industries, with a focus on products based on plant-derived ingredients. The ADSI combines high end analytics and cell biological know-how to support product development and verify cosmetic claims. We have developed in vitro assays based on reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) to support product claims with clear-cut experimental data. On the other hand, we also have supported product development with tailored high content screening approaches. Our service portfolio includes:  2D & 3D in vitro skin assays for confirmation of cosmetic claims:  Product safety evaluation and quality control  Development of products for phytocosmetics, and  Analytical investigations.

Argane Aouzac

Stand: P46

Argane Aouzac is argan oil manufacturer, whose oil is certified 100% organic and fair trade by Ecocert. Argane Aouzac produces high quality argan oil, i.e., cosmetic and edible, and the company is known within the argan oil market for its quality. Alban Colon de Franciosi founded Argane Aouzac eleven years ago in the region of Taroudant, Morocco. There, in the heart of the Anti Atlas mountain in the southwest region of Morocco, argan trees grow in abundance across the dry mountain terrain. Alban saw an opportunity to aid local economy and provide women with fair wage and reliable employment, and so set up an argan oil processing facilitythe first in Morocco to be certified as both organic and fair trade.

Cosun Biobased Products

Stand: P146

Cosun Biobased Products is a subsidiary of Royal Cosun, with its head office in the Netherlands. Cosun Biobased Products is well-placed to take advantage of the upcoming bio-based economy, with a consistent strategy and the development of innovative bio-based chemicals and materials from renewable, vegetable resources. We dedicate ourselves to the bio-based economy and generate focus, synergy and critical mass, which enables the successful development of technology and business. This is achieved by ensuring optimal value creation, producing no waste (i.e., closed loops) and utilizing the lowest energy input. Royal Cosun is a farmers' cooperative founded more than a century ago, which has approx. 10,000 members/shareholders, some 3,900 employees and an annual turnover of around 2 billion.

De Lange B.V.

Stand: P300

De Lange was founded in 1979. Since then, the company has developed into an important supplier of natural products and related products. Since 1997, De Lange has been part of the Helichem Group. In the past years, our market position was strengthened by the expansion of our own range, takeovers (Flavodor) and the formation of partnerships (Alpacasa). We supply ingredients for the following branches:  Cosmetics  Food  Chemicals  Pharmaceuticals  Veterinary  Natural Health; We guarantee:  Fast delivery, usually from stock  Both large and small quantities  Competitive prices

Fazer Finland Oy, Fazer Mills

Stand: R52

Fazer Mills has offered superior quality and world-class milling expertise since 1971. Our newest oat-based solution is natural product for skin and hair well-being. Fazer Aurora Oat Oil Pure is a great source of omega-6 and vitamin E. It moisturizes and soothes skin as well as strengthens hair, and is also suitable for sensitive skin. Oat oil is easily applied in different formulations such cleansers, moisturizers and hair treatments. Fazer Aurora Oat Oil Pure is naturally and carefully extracted from high quality Finnish oats. We use solvent-free and eco-friendly CO 2 extraction to deliver the purest, most nutrient-rich and neutral end results. Our product is an essential ingredient in a natural beauty regime and a completely natural way to add oat goodness to cosmetics and personal care.

Geltor, Inc.

Stand: N318

Geltor designs and builds MechanoActive ingredients with a proprietary protein engineering platform. The companys premier product, N-Collage, is the worlds first animal-free collagen designed specifically for cosmetics and personal care products. N-Collage is manufactured through a sustainable, fermentation-based technology that produces a highly purified protein product. N-Collages superior physical characteristics, unique combination of anti-aging activities and unmatched consistency is a milestone for high-performance, biology-empowered cosmetic ingredients. The Geltor team is led by Alexander Lorestani, Ph.D., and Nikolay Ouzounov, Ph.D., who earned degrees in molecular biology at Princeton University.

Gova BVBA

Stand: H209

We're introducing, for the first time, a range of multifunctional prebiotic and proteobiotic (skin microbiota friendly) ingredients: preBIULIN. With this prebiotic range you'll discover how to: thicken transparent natural shampoo/shower gel with a silky after feel; opacify shower gels with an efficient natural conditioning effect; stabilize emulsions with a luxurious texture; and suspend scrubs in shower gel. We offer out-of-the-box concepts for the treatment/prevention of dandruff, acne and diaper rash. All our concepts are designed for skin friendly and scientifically proven concepts; and of course are palm-free, PEG-free, natural and China-compliant.

Grounded

Stand: R133

Grounded produces high-quality essential oils while bringing agriculture back into balance. Grounded creates companies that bring regenerative agricultural products to market. These companies support the restoration of degraded land, and allow for increased income for the farmers who are the custodians of that land. Our products allow consumers to feel meaningfully connected to these companies and contribute directly to the creation of thriving landscapes.

Haloa Aina LLC

Stand: R36

Haloa Aina is a family owned business dedicated to restoring the native dryland forest. Before our care-taking, the forest was stressed from years of cattle grazing and wild sheep. By removing the damaged trees as outlined in our forest management plan, the land returned to pre-ranching condition. Our trees, Santalum paniculatum, are endemic to Hawaii Island (the Big Island) and are found only on our volcanic slopes at an elevation of 5,000 feet. Santalum paniculatum has impressive alpha and beta santalols compared with album, and is above the current ISO standard for santalol content. We are also the only USDA certified 100% organic seller of sandalwood oil and hydrosol that meets the international ISO standard. At this time we sell 100% Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood organic products.

Hangzhou Choisun Bio-tech Co., Ltd.

Stand: N312

Hangzhou Choisun Bio-Tech Co., Ltd., founded in 2003, is a hi-tech joint stock business that produces and sells oil products as well as manages research and development affairs. We focus on special oils, including camellia, green tea seed, flaxseed, safflower seed, evening primrose, seabuckthorn seed and pumpkin seed. Our goods are sold all over the world. Choisun has been certified by ISO9001 HACCP management system. We have won over customers due to high quality and reliable service. Our camellia oil has been exported to Japan, the USA, South Korea and other countries since 2005, with USDA, EU and JAS organic certificates. Since its founding, our company has stuck to the view of business should be honest, practical and creative.

Hangzhou Jarsin Chemical Technology Co., Ltd.

Stand: R88

Jarsinchem is a professional manufacturer of surfactants and active ingredients that has been researching daily-use chemicals since the 1990s. In 2017, in answer to policies regarding economical energy sources, we built a strategic and cooperative partnership with Zhejiang Communication Co., Ltd., to develop personal care ingredients that are green, efficient and friendly to the environment.

Hunan Health-Guard Bio-Tech Inc.

Stand: R38

With 28 years experience in the field of supercritical CO 2 extraction, Hunan Health-Guard Bio-Tech Inc. is a market-leading and technology-driven innovative manufacturer of natural flavor, fragrance, Chinese medicine oil, functional oil and other customized active ingredients for the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, health care, personal care and cosmetics industries.

Jiangsu Jland Biotech

Stand: Q10

Jiangsu Jland Biotech Co., Ltd., was jointly set up by Aland Nutraceutical Group, the RHC Technical inventor and NYST.

L.E.V./Extracts Plant/Ltd.

Stand: Q132

L.E.V./Extracts Plant/Ltd. has 40 years of experience in the manufacturing of plant extracts. We develop the plant extracts and botanical actives for personal care and household cleaning products manufacturing. Our aim is to produce exquisite natural ingredients, which are obtained thanks to environmentally clean processes and natural solvents. Our experience in combination with quality products enables our customers to develop innovative, functional, organic and natural cosmetic products meeting the highest standards. L.E.V./Extracts Plant/Ltd. has experience in the organic segment for more than 10 years. We are COSMOS certified, and our quality and standards are insured by annual auditing on conformity to ISO 22000, COSMOS, API, Organic Food Manufacturing and EU regulations.

MH Medical Hemp GmbH

Stand: P134

MH Medical Hemp GmbH is an innovative company and trailblazer for technology that specializes in the extraction of cannabidiol (CBD) as well as the development, production and global marketing of hemp-based cannabinoids and products containing cannabidiol. We offer bulk cannabidiol-rich hemp extracts, CBD oils and CBD isolate to formulators and manufacturers around the world looking to create their own line of CBD products. Our high-quality CBD can be added to a number of products, allowing you to create your own CBD-infused brand simply and effectively, to break into the booming CBD market. We guarantee our customers high-quality raw materials that meet even the stringent quality requirements of the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

NCD Ingredients GmbH

Stand: J168

NCD Ingredients is a trusted sales specialist for raw materials and active ingredients of globally established, quality manufacturers in the fields of detergents, cosmetics and industrials. The NCD competence team of experienced merchants, chemists and doctors provides individual and competent advice. As renowned connector between customers and suppliers all over the world, NCD actively operates for you in our core markets: Germany, Austria and Switzerlandbut also across the borders, where we are in a permanent exchange with our customers. In times of highly complex demands, your supply of raw materials is ensured with NCD ingredients for easy, fast and reliable consistency and the best quality.

NFC Co., Ltd.

Stand: L339

Give customers solutions for a strong and healthy skin barrier with our one-of-a-kind, powerful moisturizing ceramide stabilized using a unique unique technology. This ingredient creates a strong and healthy skin barrier by binding to the stratum corneum. This, in turn, prevents the loss of water from skin and protects it from external pollutants.

Novachem SRL

Stand: Q145

Novachem SRL is an Argentine company focused on the research and development of active ingredients. Our products are of natural origin, respectful to the environment and intended for cosmetic use, with differential, standardized functions, supported by efficacy, dermatologic and ophthalmologic testing.

Oxiteno

Stand: J45

Oxiteno is a global chemical company and leader in the production of surfactants and specialty chemicals that develops innovative and sustainable solutions for the agrochemicals, home care and I&I, oil and gas, paints and coatings and personal care markets. The company is present in nine countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia and has 12 industrial units and four R&D centers in Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela; in addition to commercial offices in these countries and in Argentina, Belgium, China and Colombia.

Paramelt B.V.

Stand: J229

Paramelt is a global manufacturer of specialty wax blends for a range of applications including food, cosmetics and packaging. Established in 1898, the company operates eight manufacturing and R&D facilities in the Netherlands, UK, USA and China. Through our global presence, Paramelt has strong global positioning in sourcing strategic raw materials. Combined with our multiple manufacturing locations, this offers enhanced supply chain security to our customers. Our Paracera brand of waxes for cosmetics and personal care applications are recognized by leading brand owners for high quality and consistent performance. The range consists of petroleum wax blends, natural waxes and specialty narrow-cut materials. Paracera waxes are produced in FSSC 22000 certified food grade facilities.

Petro-Canada Specialty Products

Stand: P136

Petro-Canada Specialty Products is the largest white mineral oil manufacturer in the world. Our highly refined, colourless and odourless white mineral oils meet the rigorous standards of a wide range of industries and applications. With a comprehensive range of viscosity grades, Puretol brand white mineral oils are perfectly suited to meet the needs of formulations for personal care products, cosmetics and food processing applications. Our credentials include:  European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) requirements  United States Pharmacopeia (USP) mineral oil and National Formulary (NF) light mineral oil grades  Meet FDA 21 CFR 172.878 and FDA 21 CFR 178.3620(a) requirements for direct and indirect food contact  Kosher Pareve and Halal

RN Laboratories AG

Stand: Q135

RN Laboratories AG offers the best price and highest quality for chlorhexidine and its salts. Chlorhexidine is an antimicrobial with many applications, produced under stringent pharma GMP conditions and supported for biocidal use with an Art. 95 registration. RN Laboratories AG also produces n-acetyl-d-glucosamine (NADG) in the United States in its FDA-approved plant NS under cGMP conditions according USP with a stringent limit on microbial contamination.

Sappi Biotech

Stand: R112

Sappi is a US $5 billion global diversified wood fibre group. Sappi has manufacturing operations on three continents with sales to more than 150 countries. Sappi Biotech develops biomaterials, including lignin, nanocellulose, hemicellulose sugars and bio-energy. One of our newly developed products, branded as Valida, is a 100% bio-based functional additive for personal care and home care products. It is used as an effective thickener, skin hydration agent and wrinkle reduction agent and imparts excellent non-sticky skin to feel. Valida is easily dispersed into a variety of matrices. Project proposals are invited from customers and academic institutions who are committed to exploring and developing applications for Valida. Inquiries for samples or commercial quantities should be directed to Sappi Biotech.

Select Botanical, SL

Stand: P142

Select Botanical manufactures high-quality extracts and licorice derivative products for cosmetic applications. We follow the strictest quality management system, in compliance with GMP requirements. One of our main products is Enoxolone Eur Ph (18  glycyrrhetinic acid), produced in our Spanish manufacturing plant. Our product portfolio also includes a wide range of botanical extracts, available under various forms: powder, fluid, soft, glycolic, hydroglycolic and glycerinated extracts in organic (BIO) or conventional quality. We also can develop tailor-made extracts according to our customers' needs.

Shandong AWA Biopharm Co., Ltd.

Stand: R69

We specialize in manufacturing, selling and researching hyaluronic acid. By virtue of our mature production process, stable quality products and professional sales teams, we have grown into a famous manufacturer and supplier of hyaluronic acid at home and abroad. AWA Biopharm possesses advanced technology and fermentation equipment, has established excellent quality control management and has built up its production building with GMP Workshop Standards. Our annual production capacity of hyaluronic acid has reached more than 60 MT, including cosmetic and food grades. We can provide hyaluronic acid and other products according to customers requirements for various molecular weights, purity and packages, and we export to Japan, the United States and European countries.

Shenzhen Winkey Pharmaceutical R&D Co., Ltd.

Stand: P144

Winkey Bio, founded in 2009 and located in Shenzhen, is a leading professional cosmetic peptide synthesis company in China, which has developed and manufactured more than 70 types of cosmetic peptide raw materials. Winkey Bio holds two patents for cosmetic peptides, ZL201310412975.0 and ZL201310412973.1, and six cosmetic peptide patents are currently in substantive examination. What's more, Winkey Bio owns seven skin testing software copyrights, including those for: melanin, wrinkles, aging, pores, skin moisture, skin oils and skin elasticity. Winkey Bio is specialized in the research, production and sales of cosmetic peptides and has exported peptide products to many countries and regions.

SOCRI Srl

Stand: P148

SOCRI Srl operates through two divisions: SOCRI Ingredients and SOCRI Professional Solutions. SOCRI Ingredients produces and distributes natural active ingredients and natural raw materials for the cosmetics industry. Its range comprises actives from vegetal origin, supported by efficacy tests as well as safe raw materials from vegetal origin that can be used in a wide range of formulations such as skin care, organic makeup, hair care and personal care. SOCRI Professional Solutions offers a standard and ready-to-use range of professional products that also can be leveraged as the starting point to design personalized solutions for each client. Moreover, SOCRI Professional Solutions offers support for formulators and leverages the expertise of its other division.

Stockmeier Chemie GmbH & Co. KG

Stand: Q168

We are a company of the worldwide operating Stockmeier Group. In nearly 100 years, the Stockmeier Group has developed from a regional distributor to a multinational enterprise. One focus of Stockmeier is the distribution of specialty chemicals. We offer a wide range of excellent raw materials for personal care and cosmetics. We provide customized solutions based on reliable quality and individualized advice. Therefore, a competent team of technicians and salespersons is at your command. As a partner of different innovative, global acting producers, we offer an extensive product portfolio from silicone oils and emulsions, via surfactants, active ingredients, dyes and fragrances; through to fatty acids, alcohols and esters.

Synthos CARE

Stand: J24

Synthos CARE, part of Synthos Group, is an expert in delivery systems for active ingredients in cosmetics. The company develops, manufactures and sells advanced phospholipid carriers that revolutionize the efficiency of active substances in the human body. The company offers a wide portfolio of active substances encapsulated in the high-quality Vecticell carrier. Synthos CARE also carries out custom projects for the encapsulation and production of active ingredients in nanocarriers.

Wuhan Youji Industries Co., Ltd.

Stand: R319

Wuhan Youji Industries Co., Ltd., is an internationally leading enterprise engaged in the antisepsis, preservation and antioxidation of foods and cosmetic ingredients. The company is committed to serving globally rapidly developed terminal markets involving food preservation, pharmacy, personal care, detergent, shampoo, etc. The company constantly boosts the development and progress of health, nutrition and material sectors with technical innovation, and provides high-quality solutions for customers, thus guaranteeing product performance. Our main products including: benzoic acid, sodium benzoate and benzyl alcohol.
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(function() { (function(){function b(g){this.t={};this.tick=function(h,m,f){var n=void 0!=f?f:(new Date).getTime();this.t[h]=[n,m];if(void 0==f)try{window.console.timeStamp("CSI/"+h)}catch(q){}};this.getStartTickTime=function(){return this.t.start[0]};this.tick("start",null,g)}var a;if(window.performance)var e=(a=window.performance.timing)&&a.responseStart;var p=0 =c&&(window.jstiming.srt=e-c)}if(a){var d=window.jstiming.load; 0 =c&&(d.tick("_wtsrt",void 0,c),d.tick("wtsrt_","_wtsrt",e),d.tick("tbsd_","wtsrt_"))}try{a=null,window.chrome&&window.chrome.csi&&(a=Math.floor(window.chrome.csi().pageT),d&&0 =b&&window.jstiming.load.tick("aft")};var k=!1;function l(){k||(k=!0,window.jstiming.load.tick("firstScrollTime"))}window.addEventListener?window.addEventListener("scroll",l,!1):window.attachEvent("onscroll",l); })(); M. Bakri Musa Seeing Malaysia My Way About Me Name: M. Bakri Musa Location: Morgan Hill, California, United States Malaysian-born Bakri Musa writes frequently on issues affecting his native land. His essays have appeared in the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, International Herald Tribune, Education Quarterly, SIngapore's Straits Times, and The New Straits Times. His commentary has aired on National Public Radio's Marketplace. His regular column Seeing It My Way appears in Malaysiakini. Bakri is also a regular contributor to th eSun (Malaysia). He has previously written "The Malay Dilemma Revisited: Race Dynamics in Modern Malaysia" as well as "Malaysia in the Era of Globalization," "An Education System Worthy of Malaysia," "Seeing Malaysia My Way," and "With Love, From Malaysia." Bakri's day job (and frequently night time too!) is as a surgeon in private practice in Silicon Valley, California. He and his wife Karen live on a ranch in Morgan Hill. This website is updated twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays at 5 PM California time. View my complete profile



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The Monumental Task of Transforming Malaysian GLCs The Monumental Task of Transforming Malaysian GLCs M. Bakri Musa www.bakrimusa.com

The 2009 midterm review of the ten-year GLC Transformation Initiative would have Khazanah, Malaysias sovereign fund that controls most of the nations biggest GLCs, focus on three major objectives: one, national development, meaning, growing equity, improving total productivity factor, and developing human capital, specifically that of Bumiputra; two, performance; and three, improving governance, stakeholder management, and shareholder value. The last two should be the cornerstone of any corporation; no marks for stating the obvious. ipso facto be a drain on the public treasury. The corporation then becomes part of the problem, not part of the solution. As for the firstnational developmentthat is broad enough to include Tun Razaks original initial three objectives. I am surprised that there was any mention that these corporations should also be profitable. That has to be the top priority, a corporations reason for being. If it is losing money, then it wouldbe a drain on the public treasury. The corporation then becomes part of the problem, not part of the solution. As for the firstnational developmentthat is broad enough to include Tun Razaks original initial three objectives. My model corporation must first be profitable; that is the only way it can sustain itself. If a GLC is not, then it becomes a burden on the government. Then no matter how superior its services, valuable its products, or noble its intent, those would all be for naught. It might as well be part of the public service. A model GLC must also pay its most valuable assetits workerswell and above the prevailing wages. You cannot be a model corporation no matter how profitable or lucrative your return on equity is if you operate a sweatshop and expose your workers to dangerous work environment. Someone else would then have to bear those costs. There are other more pragmatic reasons for paying your workers well, quite apart from getting the cream of the crop and then retaining them. The greatest contributor to low productivity of workers is high turnover. Henry Ford had another reason for paying his workers well. He wanted them to be able to afford to buy his productsFord carsthereby increasing his customer base. A model corporation develops the potential of its employees and not treat them as contingent cost items, to be disposed of when you hit a rough patch, as is the practice with American companies. The Japanese knew something about this, hence the lifetime tenures of their workers, although I would not go that far. That would only replicate the job security mentality and regressive culture of the civil service. Virgins Richard Bransons top priority is his employees. Treat them well and they would in turn treat their customers well. No wonder his brand is premium. Last, my model corporation treats the community and the environment where it operates with great respect. It does this through commission, by being positively engaged in the community, and by omission, by not polluting or degrading the environment. The current buzz phrase to reflect this new consciousness is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with its aura of altruism and philanthropy. However, if you cannot link CSR to your companys profitability then it would remain a fuzzy feel good concept. Henry Ford did not have to pay his workers well as there was plenty of them at that time. He did it to expand his market, which in turn contributed to his profits. Call it what you will, the central idea is to align the interest of all stakeholdersshareholders, workers, vendors, customers, and the community. They are all interrelated. If your community is prosperous, so too would your company as those community members are your potential customers. If your workers are happy, they will do a good job and the products they make and customer service they give will be superior, as per Bransons insight. Harvard Business Review, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer advanced a comparable concept of creating shared value, of creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. To them, creating shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success. In a Big Idea article in, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer advanced a comparable concept of creating shared value, of creating economic value in a way thatcreates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. To them, creating shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success. Enlightened corporate leaders have internalized this or comparable philosophy because it contributes directly to their companies profit as well as advances the cause of their communities. As a result these companies are widely-admired, valued by investors, and most important of all in terms of social contribution, respected by the communities in which they operate. Take Nestle. Not too long ago it was the object of wrath by NGOs and pediatric associations for aggressively promoting its baby formula. The campaign was great for Nestles profits but bad for the babies in the Third World as the milk powder would often be mixed with less-than-clean water. While in the short term the company benefited from the increased sales, in the long run it earned the wrath of the community and professional bodies, as well as mothers. The company suffered not just in bad publicity but more to the point, dead babies no longer needed formula. water, nutrition, and rural developmentwhere value can best be created both for society and shareholders. Creating shared value is, as its CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe put it, a fundamental part of Nestles way of doing business that focuses on specific areas of the companys core business activitiesnamely, andwhere value can best be created both for society and shareholders. The company has endowed a prestigious award, The Nestle Prize in Creating Shared Values. Its inaugural winner was the International Development Enterprises in Cambodia. It recruited groups of rural entrepreneurs to be Farm Business Advisors (FBA) to sell a range of products and services to help small-scale farmers improve their farming techniques. Those were simple things like drip irrigation kits to reduce labor and water usage while improving harvest and consequently their income. FBA creates shared value in that if the farmers were to be successful, then it too would profit as those farmers would then buy more products and services from their advisors. The system would flourish only if there were real values being created. As a result everyone would be heavily invested in its success. Nestle concept of shared value arose in response to its need for a steady and reliable supply of high quality cocoa for its famed chocolate products. Instead of pursuing the traditional route of scouting the global market to get the best price and quality, or with investing in cocoa futures, the company provided capital and expert help for its existing stable of cocoa planters in Africa so they could produce superior cocoa beans of consistent quality. The company invested in research in West Africa to produce high-yielding pest-resistant cocoa varieties and shared the results with the farmers. The company also trained them in better horticultural techniques and built schools and health clinics in their communities. Those initiatives were not necessarily philanthropically motivated; instead they contributed directly to the companys return. If workers had to deal with sick family members, they would less likely be focused on their work. Their productivity would suffer and the absenteeism rises. When they and their family members are healthy they could focus on planting high-yielding and superior quality cocoas. That in turn enables the company to pay them more as it is assured of a steady and reliable source, thus ensuring the future success of both the company as well as the community. To less enlightened corporate leaders, the digging of wells and building of schools and clinics would be considered outside of the companys purview even though those investments would directly benefit their vendors and workers. Those expenses were externalities, to be borne by someone else, usually the government. Nestle could also build those facilities far cheaper than the government by using its economic clout to extract the best bid. There would also be no associated corruption or the local politicians take as there would be with a government project. Nestles concept was comparable to the old company town model where the employer was omnipresent and benevolent, owning the workers homes and the stores they shopped, as well as controlling and profiting from their workers domestic activities. The benefit however, was all one-way, into the companys profit column. With Nestles shared value concept however, it is the sharing of common or at least agreed upon values, goals and mission between the company, workers, and the community. Nobody is subservient to or controlled by anybody. The benefits flow both waysfor the company a steady and reliable supply of a top quality ingredient (cocoa); the community, enhanced income from producing a superior commodity. Next: The Lessons For FELDA

. Adapted from the authors book, Liberating The Malay Mind, published by ZI Publications, Petaling Jaya, 2013. The second edition was released in January 2016
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Alison Saunders is standing down as Director of Public Prosecutions after five years

Agatha Christies Ordeal By Innocence was a highlight of BBC1s Easter schedule.

For a minute, I thought it might be a drama about celebrities falsely accused of historic sex crimes.

Especially when I read that one of the original actors, Ed Westwick, had been written out of the script because he had fallen foul of the #MeToo madness.

The details of the accusations against him need not detain us, particularly as Westwick denies them and has yet to be charged with anything.

The only surprise is that the police and Crown Prosecution Service havent called a press conference to appeal for more of his victims to come forward, promising that they will be believed, however lurid and implausible their stories.

Two news items yesterday brought into sharp relief the shocking travesty that so-called British justice has become in recent years.

The first was a report that Alison Saunders is standing down as Director of Public Prosecutions after five years.

Did she jump or was she pushed? She maintains it was her decision. Frankly, who cares? All that matters is shes going.

Saunders should have been sacked long ago. She has used her office to further a naked political agenda, like a pushy U.S. district attorney in pursuit of re-election.

Hand in glove with sections of the police, her prime targets have included ageing disc jockeys and TV presenters accused of sex crimes and tabloid journalists seeking the truth by paying public officials for information.

At times, it has seemed as if the CPS and Scotland Yard were taking their marching orders directly from Nonce Finder General Tom Watson, Labours loathsome deputy leader, whose mission in life is apparently to smear as many Tories as possible, dead or alive.

In her desperation to secure more rape convictions, to appease the feminist lobby, Saunders has presided over a culture that considered it perfectly acceptable to withold evidence from defence counsel which could prove their clients innocence.

'Perverting the course of justice is supposed to be a criminal offence. Under Alison Saunders it seems to have become an instrument of public policy,' writes Richard Littlejohn

Perverting the course of justice is supposed to be a criminal offence. Under Alison Saunders it seems to have become an instrument of public policy.

The presumption of innocence, the foundation of the British criminal justice system for centuries, has been turned on its head, replaced with a presumption of guilt  even before credible evidence has been produced, or anyone has been formally charged.

Prosecutors have taken to holding pre-trial press conferences, presumably with the intention of establishing an impression of guilt.

We have been treading dangerously closely towards adopting the American perp walk  whereby suspects are paraded ostentatiously in handcuffs before the cameras immediately after their arrest.

Saunders herself gave one such media conference following the arrest of a doctor in North London accused of carrying out the grotesque practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), so eager was she to secure a conviction.

Without going into the gory details, when the case eventually came to court it was revealed that the doctor on trial had not performed FGM, merely repaired the damage done by an earlier procedure.

'It was heartening yesterday to read a statement from Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick instructing her officers to investigate impartially, not blindly believe complainants'

It took the jury just a few minutes to find him not guilty.

There can be no doubt that this prosecution was politically motivated, simply to satisfy Saunders determination to be seen to be doing something about FGM, even if that meant putting an innocent doctor through hell.

Politics also lay behind her decision to extend the interpretation of what constitutes a hate crime, a ludicrous concept that disregards intent and relies solely on interpretation.

So if someone, anyone, alleges that such an offence has been committed, then one is deemed automatically to have taken place.

Fortunately, juries have not always behaved as Saunders might have wished, regularly throwing out an assortment of charges against journalists, entertainers and alleged rapists.

In the case of serial sex offenders such as Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall, prosecutions were justified and the guilty verdicts welcomed widely.

But countless other, wholly innocent men had their lives destroyed by the post-Jimmy Savile hysteria.

I wont name them all here yet again. Theyve suffered enough.

But Im sure Cliff Richard will forgive me for reminding you of the heavy-handed raid on his home, complete with BBC television helicopter hovering overhead.

All of this came about not just because the law had failed to catch Savile while he was alive, but because of a shift in policy on Saunders watch.

Instead of acting impartially and weighing the evidence before deciding whether to prosecute someone, the culture decreed that the victim would always be believed, especially in sex cases.

'Under Saunders and Hyphen-Howe (pictured), the dispensation of British justice came to resemble something one would expect to find in Putins Russia'

Thats what led directly to a string of high-profile miscarriages of justice.

It was a policy wholeheartedly embraced by the police and caused everyone from the late Prime Minister Edward Heath to Lord Bramall, former head of the Armed Forces, to be falsely accused on the word of a fantasist, promoted by Tom Watson.

So it was heartening yesterday to read the second piece of good news, a statement from Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick instructing her officers to investigate impartially, not blindly believe complainants.

This is a marked shift of emphasis from her hapless predecessor Bernard Hyphen-Howe, whose period in office resulted in innocent individuals being falsely accused of crimes various and left dangling in legal limbo, sometimes for years.

Under Saunders and Hyphen-Howe, the dispensation of British justice came to resemble something one would expect to find in Putins Russia, not the nation that gave the world Magna Carta.

Lets hope, too, that Commissioner Dick also gets round to ending the systemic abuse of police bail and ransacking homes of anyone accused of even fairly minor crimes.

During Hyphen-Howes disastrous tour of duty, it became commonplace to see police officers emerging from suspects houses carrying black bin liners groaning with personal possessions.

In the case of an old newspaper friend of mine wrongly accused of involvement in phone hacking, detectives even searched his teenage daughters knicker drawers. What the hell were they hoping to find?

Nothing, really. The intention was simply to intimidate.

'Saunders should have been sacked long ago. She has used her office to further a naked political agenda, like a pushy U.S. district attorney in pursuit of re-election'

Much as they deny it, it would appear that the police view any allegation of wrongdoing as an excuse to turn the suspects life and that of his or her family upside down, in the hope of stumbling across something to charge them with.

This outrageous practice has to end. These fishing expeditions would shame a Spanish factory ship.

Theres always an outcry over stop and search, the consequences of which we are now having to live with.

Since stop and search was scaled back, London now has more murders than New York.

But somehow, we never hear much of a peep (outside this column), especially from politicians, about the clumsy, comprehensive, completely unjustified searches of innocent peoples homes.

We must remain ever vigilant.

Only yesterday, we also learned that police are using spy technology to download the entire contents of mobile phones belonging not just to suspects, but to witnesses and victims of crime, too.

There can be absolutely no justification for this monstrous invasion of privacy.

I wonder how Alison Saunders would react to the news that police are surreptitiously harvesting data, Facebook style.

If her track record as DPP is anything to go by, shed probably argue that the ends justify the means.

In a self-serving interview with Radio 4 yesterday, Saunders refused to show any contrition or offer any apology to those falsely accused men and women whose lives were ruined on her watch.

Betraying her barely disguised Leftist inclinations, she blamed any shortcomings during her time in office on spending cuts. Of course she did.

Its a miracle she still managed to find millions to persecute so many innocent people.

Saunders now saunters off to a lucrative job in private practice, complete with a 1.8 million pension pot from grateful taxpayers.

Meanwhile, those she dragged through the courts, even though they were guilty of no crime, are still trying to rebuild their lives.

While Saunders polishes her CV, they are condemned for eternity, associated on the internet as, at best, accused or alleged sex criminals, the FGM doctor and so on.

For them, their ordeal by innocence is far from over.
Whether it's staying up until midnight scrolling through Instagram or missing five gym sessions in a row, we all have bad habits we would like to break.

'Holistic' fitness star Sarah Stevenson is no stranger to the odd terrible trait - and is working hard to overhaul her lifestyle, particularly around bedtime and first thing in the morning.

The prolific wellness vlogger has released a video showcasing some of her best tips for making positive steps towards changing your overall lifestyle.

'Holistic' fitness star Sarah Stevenson is no stranger to the odd terrible trait - and is working hard to overhaul her lifestyle, particularly around bedtime and first thing in the morning

The prolific wellness vlogger has released a video showcasing some of her best tips for making positive steps towards changing your overall lifestyle

Winding down

Sarah recommends starting your bedtime routine as soon as you've finished your work routine.

For her, as a stay-at-home YouTuber, she'll stop editing around 6.30pm and then get straight into the shower before preparing her dinner.

She feels as though this method encourages her to go to sleep earlier than she would if she didn't wind down at the end of the day.

Eat your meals at a table

Instead of curling up on the couch and eating lunch in front of the latest Netflix offering, the 25-year-old recommends sitting in front of a bench for all three main meals of the day.

'It just fosters a better relationship with food and you can concentrate on eating slowly and digesting,' she said.

Instead of curling up on the couch and eating lunch in front of the latest Netflix offering, the 25-year-old recommends sitting in front of a bench for all three main meals of the day

Set your morning alarm 30 minutes before bed time

Sarah, who admits her eyes are sensitive to her phone light, sets her alarm earlier than her head hits the pillow so she can put her mobile away for the evening.

She will then spray her bed sheets with lavender and light an oil diffuser to create a calming atmosphere in the room.

'Roll on oils also calm down my central nervous system so now my body has made a connection between the smell of lavender and falling asleep,' she explained.

Sarah, who admits her eyes are sensitive to her phone light, sets her alarm earlier than her head hits the pillow so she can put her mobile away for the evening

She'll then take a walk along the beach which gives 'mental clarity' and focus to start the day

Sunlight before phone

In order to wake up with more energy Sarah avoids using her phone immediately upon waking and instead opts for making breakfast, or merely letting the sunshine stream through the house via her window.

She'll then take a walk along the beach which gives 'mental clarity' and focus to start the day.

Workout before midday

The Sydney-based health guru always tries to exercise before noon because she's a 'morning exerciser.'

And while she acknowledges that some people's bodies aren't programmed in the same way, including her boyfriend Kurt, getting your workout in before midday ensures you don't slacken on your goals.

If left later in the day you might simple delay the inevitable sweat session until tomorrow - only to feel guilty about it later.
A surgeon who is just one of two head and neck specialists at Nottingham Trust Hospital when there should be four, has revealed he is leaving the NHS for the US.

David Grant, who lives in a flat in Nottingham, was 44 when he joined the Queen's Medical Centre at the trust, and now at 50 he says he is exhausted and ready to work under less pressure to meet government targets.

The father-of-two will be leaving his post, which has a starting salary of 77,000, in May to join his plastic surgeon wife Stephanie in Miami, swapping the 'grossly understaffed and under resourced' halls of the Trust for the sunshine state.

Conscientious Grant, who features in BBC Two's Hospital series tonight, said he finds it difficult to meet hospital targets, worried more about the human beings than meeting numbers and often waking at 2am to email his colleagues to check up on a patient.

Head and neck surgeon David Grant appears in BBC's Hospital, he's one of two specialists at Nottingham University Hospital Trust

The leading cancer specialist reveals in the documentary why it was time for him to check out, leaving Nottingham in something of a sticky situation as his replacement doesn't begin for four months after he leaves.

He plans to join his wife, Stephanie, in Miami, where she works as plastic surgeon.

'The job I want to do I can't do in the NHS because of the pressure we're under all the time. There's just nowhere to take a breath.'

There is guilt on his part, especially as the under-staffing has left them with a backlog of cancer patients, as he adds: 'At the end of the day you have to love what you do and I love it.

'But it's got to the point where that love is not enough right now.'

Even with a lucrative salary, Grant explained that the mental and physical demand required for the role means there are not enough qualified doctors willing to sign up.

That, along with managing an understaffed team, means there is no 'wiggle room' and the pressure quickly mounts.

'I am so busy working it's difficult to even lift my head up and see what's going on,' he added of the nearly 12-hour working days.

He also bemoans that some days he can't find a working computer in his operating room where he can go through his thousands of emails.

The leading cancer specialist often works 12 hour days, operating on patients and treating up to 60 a day

The team will face a crisis when Grant, third from right, leaves his position to go to the US in May - his replacement doesn't arrive until September

JUST HOW MANY NHS WORKERS ARE LEAVING THE HEALTH SERVICE? An ongoing recruitment crisis has struck all aspects of the NHS and reached unprecedented levels. Experts warn frustrated medics are fleeing the health service in their droves because of funding issues, relentless pressure and even Brexit. Figures released earlier this year showed 33,000 nurses in England quit in 2017 - around one in ten posts. It is the first time there have been more leavers than joiners in the profession. And official figures show that 41 per cent  around 10,000 doctors  are 50 or over and are expected to quit within the next five to ten years. And data last October showed around 10,000 EU nationals quit the NHS between since the Brexit vote in June 2016 and 2017 - up 42 per cent from 2015. Estimates suggest the NHS needs 190,000 more staff overall by 2027 in order to meet the demands of a growing and ageing population. But the Health Education England, the body responsible for the NHS workforce, warned in December only 72,000 new staff could be expected to join the service in the next 10 years. Advertisement

Grant and his colleagues are working in a world of government targets, where cancer referrals shouldnt take more than 62 days.

With more being referred from GPs, he admits he spends more time telling his patients they don't have cancer, but when he has to inform someone of particularly bad news is the worst part of his role.

'I hate my job sometimes,' he laments in the programme, after a difficult moment telling his patient her cancer had returned.

His team have to meet that target for 85 per cent of their cancer patients - something which Nottingham Hospital were struggling to meet when the series was filmed - and it leaves Grant concerned about the other 15 percent who have to wait longer.

Grant, who grew up in Aberdeen, retrained as a surgeon following a successful career as a bassoonist, where he travelled the world, then became an air traffic controller in the Royal Armed Forces.

At 26 he began attending night classes at the University of St Andrews, 13 miles from his base in Fife, and buoyed by his tutor saying the head and neck were the most complex anatomy to specialise in he had his future carved out.

After a stint at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where there were 30 surgeons dedicated to just the head and neck, he returned to the UK in 2012 to work at Nottingham.

Now Grant is returning back to the US to work and spend time with his wife, who he reveals as a plastic surgeon can potentially earn up to 500,000 in the US.

'It's a no-brainer really,' he says of the decision to leave the UK.

Hospital airs tonight on BBC Two at 9pm
Cometh the hour, cometh the man summed up the last few minutes of University Challenge last night as a Newcastle student solved what many viewers are calling the 'hardest question ever' to appear on the show.

Trainee teacher Jonathan Noble left his team-mates open-mouthed, and even difficult-to-please host Jeremy Paxman impressed, with his mathematical wizardry in the quarter-final episode of the academic quiz.

Viewers were equally astounded and took to social media to applaud the Newcastle team captain, with one fan of the high-brow series saying Noble 'was not of this world'.

The question: 'If 1,1 is the second row of Pascal's Triangle, what is the seventh row?' left the rest of the Newcastle team defeated but, under pressure from Paxman, Noble fired back the correct answer: 1, 6, 15, 20, 15, 6, 1.

Scroll down for video

Newcastle captain Jonathan Noble leaves team-mate Adam Lowery open-mouthed after his genius answer in the final minutes of last night's episode of University Challenge

Paxman asked the question, dubbed the show's hardest ever by many viewers: 'If 1,1 is the second row of Pascal's Triangle, what is the seventh row?' and Noble initially looked defeated

Newcastle's other team-members shook their heads after several seconds of trying to solve the math's problem

However, under pressure from host Jeremy Paxman, Noble answered correctly with a last-gasp attempt, saying '1, 6, 15, 20, 15, 6, 1'

Noble himself looked rather shocked when Paxman confirmed that the answer was indeed correct but it was team-mate Lowery who proffered the best reaction; his jaw dropping several inches...

Dripping in finesse! Noble finally smiles at his achievement - and the applause on social media quickly followed from viewers

When Paxman revealed he'd got the question right, the jaw of Noble's team-mate, Lowery, fell to the floor and even Noble himself looked shocked that he'd grabbed the ten points.

A few minutes later, when Newcastle were officially declared victors over rival team Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge with a score of 205 to 65, Paxman congratulated Noble on some 'very, very, impressive maths.'

On Twitter, the floodgates quickly opened, with hundreds of people expressing admiration for the maths brainbox.

SO, WHAT IS PASCAL'S TRIANGLE? Named after 17th century French Mathematician and Philosopher Blaise Pascal, Pascal's Triangle starts with '1' at the top and then continues to use numbers to build a triangular pattern, with each number featuring in the central core the result of adding the numbers above it directly together. The triangle can be useful in determining complex coefficients in binomial expressions and also in probability for finding combinations. THE QUESTION NOBLE GOT RIGHT: Q. If 1,1 is the second row of Pascal's Triangle, what is the seventh row? A. 1, 6, 15, 20, 15, 6, 1 Each of the numbers featured in the central core of the triangle are usually formed by adding the two numbers directly above together Advertisement

Newcastle eventually won the quarter-final 205 to Cambridge FitzWilliam's 65 and continue their quest for the coveted trophy

Paxman told Newcastle: 'That was some very, very impressive maths'

@arthurjjacob wrote: 'The Pascal's triangle question on #UniversityChallenge this evening was one of the hardest questions I've heard on it.'

@Running_badger said it was the most 'astounding moment of the series' while @Imtherealanon asked: 'What did Noble of Newcastle just do there? That's not of this world.'

A GENIUS MAYBE, BUT NOBLE REMAINS ECLIPSED BY 'LEGEND' ERIC MONKMAN... While Jonathan Noble can bask in the glory of his genius, he still has some way to go to rival former contestant Eric Monkman in the popularity stakes. The 'intense' Canadian gained a huge fan club among viewers last year for his passionate answers to questions and hilarious facial expressions. Bombastic introduction: The Canadian contestant from Oakville, Ontario, was praised on Twitter by viewers for being great value, a legend and bossing it on the show Passionate responses: Economics student Eric Monkman led his teammates from Wolfson College, Cambridge to a narrow victory on a tie break in the BBC Two quiz show on Monday Former Economics student Eric almost led his teammates from Wolfson College, Cambridge to glory in the 2016/2017 series...but was beaten in the semi-final. His appearances though had already made it into University Challenge folklore, with the Ontario contestant dubbed the 'best value' contestant ever to appear by one fan. Eric most recently enjoyed a stint at The Economist and has regularly collaborated with another charismatic contestant from the same season of the academic quiz, Bobby Seagull. Advertisement

In the short time between Paxman reading the question and answering, Noble worked out a dizzying number stream under pressure.

Named after French Mathematician and Philosopher Blaise Pascal, Pascal's Triangle starts with '1' at the top and then continues to build a boxed triangular pattern, with each number featuring the result of adding the numbers above it directly together.

The triangle can be useful in determining complex coefficients in binomial expressions and also in probability for finding combinations.
A brave mother who suffered third degree facial burns after gasoline was thrown in her face in front of a bonfire has since recovered and become a happy wife and a mother.

On January 18, 2009, student Kacey Harris, 26, from California was 17-years-old when someone threw gasoline on her face in front of a bonfire, which caught fire immediately.

Kacey underwent ten days of operations, which involved removing the burned skin and replacing it with artificial skin, and being in a medically induced coma for three days.

With the perpetrator unapologetic about the act, and her family blaming her for the incident and labelling her a 'liar', she felt entirely alone.

But she recovered and went on to meet the love of her life, who she married and had a baby boy with and now vows to make each moment count.

Kacey Harris, 26, from California suffered third degree burns to her face and neck when she had gasoline thrown in her face at a bonfire

The burns survivor is now happily married with a son after rebuilding her life

'Growing up, my family life was chaotic. There was relatively little sense of togetherness. I have six siblings, each of which I have recently began to bond with,' Kacey said.

'I got my burns at a bonfire. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and became the victim of someone's morbid curiosity.

'I was standing across from the bonfire when someone threw gasoline in my face. I was instantly engulfed.

'Growing up after the incident was difficult. I was left without a support system, and many people rallied around the individual who threw the gasoline.

Kacey spent three days in a medically induced coma after she was attacked

The student spent years recovering and needed therapy, but she is now determined to be grateful for her second chance

Kacey with her husband. She was shunned by many family members after the incident when they sided with the perpetrator

'I was labelled a liar and had lost my sense of identity at just 17-years-old. Because the injuries I sustained were primarily on my face and neck, I had many insecurities which I had to learn to overcome.

'At the time, I felt as though I lost my identity. I was unable to recognize myself in the mirror, and that was both frustrating and defeating.

'I was told many times by my doctors to expect scarring, and so I tried not to get my hopes up of regaining the image I had come to know for so much of my life.

'After the incident, I was transported to a hospital. From the hospital, I was transferred to a burn unit where I underwent three surgeries to remove the burnt skin and to receive artificial skin to cover the burns.

Kacey pictured after the incident in 2009. She spent three days in a medically induced coma after being admitted to hospital and needed numerous surgeries

The mother-of-one said she took foolish risks and lived life on the edge after the incident, but is now grateful for the life she has

'I was placed in a hyperbaric chamber to help reduce swelling. These procedures happened one to two-times each day for nearly two-weeks.

'I was in a medically induced coma for three days but was out of the burn unit in just under two weeks. My doctors were incredibly happy with how quickly I recovered.'

The psychological trauma she had to endure, as well as being shunned by those around her, was the most difficult part for Kacey.

'I believe the hardest thing about it all was knowing the person who did this to me was unapologetic and watching those I believed were there to support me, avoid the incident,' she said.

Kacey credits her husband with her emotional and psychological recovery

While standing in front of a bonfire, someone threw gasoline on her face, which caught fire immediately, but now her scars are barely visible

'I watched my support system collapse, and this left me with a sense of isolation and incredible distrust for those I was close to.

'The recovery process was arduous. The physical toll was difficult, but the psychological and emotional toll was the most difficult part to recover from.

'My biggest supporter throughout this process has been my husband. He has comforted me and held my hand as I've walked through most of my recovery process. I would credit him for my emotional and psychological recovery.

'The incident changed my life in many ways. During the first few years after the incident, I made many terrible decisions based purely on impulse.

The mother-of-one was isolated by most of those close to her after the incident

Artificial skin was grafted over Kacey's burns to repair the damage to her face

'I had this thought that I had survived an incident which should have killed me or left me disfigured, and so I thrived on living on the edge of life.

'Now, I cherish my life. The incident has transformed me from someone who wasn't sure why they survived, to a person who is extremely grateful to have a second chance to live and experience life.

'Immediately after the incident, many of my loved ones were unresponsive or were unreachable. I was told by one family member that I deserved it, and many others believed that I had somehow done this to myself.

'In the beginning, I had to adjust my life and daily routines. Because of the injuries, I had to avoid sunlight and had to seek therapy to address my emotional recovery.

At first Kacey wasn't able to recognise herself in the mirror because of her injuries

After the incident, Kacey said the emotional scars she had to deal with were worse than the physical ones

The mother-of-one wants to show other burns survivors that there is hope ahead

'I was left with many more mental and emotional scars than physical, so I needed considerable help in that aspect.

'Since the incident, my life is incredible. I have a wonderful family, and I feel both lucky and grateful to have the life I have now.

'It was difficult in the beginning, but my journey made me more grateful and appreciative of my current life.

'The advice I would give to another burn survivor like myself is to hold onto hope and faith, because life will get better.

'It is important to surround yourself with people who are sympathetic to your situation and can help aid in the physical and emotional recovery process.'

For more information visit: instagram.com/awkwardboymom
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Meghan Markle's working royal uniform of tailored coats, black trousers and the occasional pencil skirt seems very much her own - but it seems as if the former Suits star has been looking to another royal for inspiration.

The bride-to-be, 36, has adopted a very similar look to the sleek image preferred by Princess Charlene of Monaco, 40, the wife of Prince Albert.

Meghan Markle has eschewed the prim shift dresses and nude heels beloved of fellow royals such as the Duchess of Cambridge and curated a wardrobe of smart casuals as favoured by former Olympic swimmer Charlene.

While the mother-of-two dons gowns for glamorous events such as Monaco's Rose Ball and the annual Red Cross Ball, like Meghan she prefers a working uniform of smart trousers and blouses in neutral colours.

She's more likely to be seen on the red carpet in a tuxedo jacket and wide-legged trousers of a jumpsuit, just like Meghan.

Meghan's boat neck Princes of Wales top and skinny jeans in Cardiff in January (left) looked rather similar to Charlene's checked number and leather leggings at a Princess Grace Awards Gala in November 2017 (right)

Meghan opted for an Alexander McQueen two-piece suit for her first awards ceremony with Harry in February (left). Princess Charlene also favours the tailored look over fussy gowns for eveningwear

The former actress surprised royal watchers by shunning an evening dress for the Endeavour Fund Awards in February, instead opting for an Alexander McQueen two-piece for her first evening event with Harry.

The bride-to-be has also worn trousers on five out of her eight royal engagements with Harry, even donning skinny jeans for her first official visit to Wales.

On the same visit, Meghan removed her coat to reveal a boat neck top in Prince of Wales check - a very similar ensemble to the checked top and skinny trousers worn by Charlene to a Princess Grace Awards event in November 2017.

And both women also favour the same neutral colour scheme in their wardrobes, with Charlene opting for elegant outfits in creams and black.

Meghan is rarely seen in anything patterned and also sticks to black teamed with creams and greys with the off splash of colour coming in an earthy shade such as green or brown.

Both women favour a neutral colour palette and chic tailoring. Left: Charlene at the Sainte Devote Rugby Tournament. Right: Meghan on her first official visit to Belfast last month

Style sisters! Meghan in a belted Stella McCartney coat in Cardiff in January 2018. Charlene in a shorter style at the Louis Vuitton Paris Fashion Week show in 2014

Both women have adopted the same working uniform, consisting of a smart tailored coat and scarf
King Juan Carlos of Spain led his family in marking the 25th anniversary of his father's death.

Juan Carlos, 80, was joined by wife Queen Sofia, 79, and their children for a mass honouring his father Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, who died in April 1993 at the age of 79.

Juan Carlos' son King Felipe, 50, who took the throne after his father's abdication in 2014, attended the service with his wife, Queen Letizia, 45.

The service was held on Tuesday in El Escorial, the historic royal site where Infante Juan is buried.

Juan Carlos, 80, was joined by wife Queen Sofia, 79, and children for a mass honouring his father Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, who died in April 1993 at the age of 79

King Felipe, 50, who took the throne after his father's abdication in 2014, attended the service with his wife, Queen Letizia, 45, pictured

Princess Elena of Spain, 54, arrives for the mass at the San Lorenzo del Escorial Monastery

Princess Cristina, 52, arrived for the service on Tuesday wearing a black knee-length coat

The family gathered to remember Juan, Count of Barcelona, pictured, who died in April 1993

The royals looked sombre as they paid their respects at the San Lorenzo del Escorial Monastery, a royal place of worship.

Juan Carlos and Sofia waved to well-wishers from their car as they arrived for the service this morning.

They sat one behind the other in the car, allowing them to look out the same side.

Their daughters, Princess Elena, 54, and Princess Cristina, 52, arrived separately for the service.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain paid tribute to the late king at the service

The couple lowered their heads as they crossed themselves during the mass

Both royals showed their respect for their grandfather by donning all black ensembles.

Their younger brother, King Felipe, joined his father in wearing a black suit with a black tie.

His wife Queen Letizia, with whom he shares two daughters, looked elegant in a black outfit.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain looked solemn as they arrived for the mass on Tuesday

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain greeted well-wishers as they arrived at the mass

Princess Elena of Spain arrived separately to her parents, wearing a black and brown ensemble

Princess Cristina of Spain, centre, joined her family to remember her late grandfather

Who was Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona? Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona was the third son of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. Born at the Palace of San Ildefonso, his father was forced into exile when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931. His older brothers, Alfonso of Spain, Prince of Asturias, and Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, both renounced their claims to the throne in 1933, making Juan the heir-apparent. Juan, Count of Barcelona, with his wife the Countess at Claridges in London in 1950 To assert his claim to the throne, after his father's death he used the title of Count of Barcelona, a sovereign title associated with the Spanish crown. Under his son, Juan Carlos I, a constitutional monarchy was restored in Spain. Don Juan was buried with honours due a King, in the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, near Madrid. His wife, Princess Maria de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, survived him by seven years. Advertisement

The royal couple looked sombre as they arrived for the service, waving from the backseat of the car.

The Spanish royals were joined by visiting dignitaries who wished to show their respects.

Princess Kalina of Bulgaria and her husband, Kitin Munoz, were in attendance, as were Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, and his wife, Sofia Landaluce y Melgarejo.

Princess Kalina of Bulgaria and her husband, Kitin Munoz, arrived for the mass on Tuesday
A mother whose six-year-old son suffers from a rare form of epilepsy is campaigning for him to have access to cannabis oil in the UK to ease his chronic seizures.

Hannah Deacon, 38, from Kenilworth in Warwickshire, appeared on Tuesday's Loose Women where she explained that her son Alfie Dingley is the only boy in Britain to suffer from the condition known as PCDH19.

As medical cannabis oil is a banned substance in the UK, Hannah raised funds to travel to the Netherlands, where it is legal, so that her son could benefit from the controversial treatment.

Hannah says she saw an immediate improvement in Alfie - reducing his some 30 seizures a day down to one a month.

The mother admits that she isn't worried about side affects and is more concerned about the steroids that Alfie is currently prescribed by the NHS.

'I worry a lot more about the drugs hes on at the moment that could kill him and make him psychotic than three drops of THC,' she said of the compound in cannabis oil that produces the high and makes it illegal in the UK.

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Hannah Deacon is hoping for a change in the law that will allow her son to treat his rare epilepsy with cannabis oil

Alfie Dingley's mother, Hannah, has repeatedly urged the Government to grant the youngster a licence to use cannabis oil to soothe his symptoms

Hannah spoke of the potential side effects from steroids, saying that there is 'no clinical data because you can't do an ethical trial of children' and the doctors work on an anecdotal basis.

'The side effects are organ failure, psychosis, heart attacks and death basically,' she explained as well as mentioning Alfie was on phenobarbital 'which makes you very aggressive'.

CBD oil, which can reportedly help with back pain, anxiety and epilepsy, has yet to be approved for use on the NHS in Scotland.

It comes in many forms, the most popular being an oil - which users spray under their tongue - or gel tablets which melt slowly in the mouth.

However, cannabis oil - which contains THC, the compound that produces the 'high, is illegal under UK laws.

She travelled to the Netherlands, where cannabis oil is legal, so that her son could seek treatment for his seizures

Although Alfie has been successfully treated in the Netherlands with cannabis oil, he cannot be given the drug in Britain because it is illegal

WHAT IS PCDH19 EPILEPSY? PCDH19 epilepsy is a rare form of epilepsy that usually affects girls. It is caused by a genetic mutation and presents itself in a wide spectrum of severity in seizures, cognitive delays and other symptoms. The most consistent feature is 'seizure clusters' which usually occur from the age of three months and three years, lasting for days or weeks at a time. Patients who suffer from the PCDH19 strain can also experience learning difficulties. In some people, behavioural problems may include: aggression, attention problems (such as ADHD, ADD) anxiety, OCD, autistic spectrum features, depression, or psychosis. Seizure medication is the first line of treatment to prevent seizures and stop seizure clusters. Advertisement

If Hannah were to give Alfie medical cannabis in the UK, she could be jailed for up to 14 years.

Of travelling to the Netherlands Hannah said: 'I didn't want to go with the support of doctors from the UK and he said we had no choice.

'He knew there was nothing else that could be done other than steroids and that they would eventually do very bad damage to him.'

Alfie's first attack happened when he was just eight months old. By the age of four he was having seizures every three weeks.

Doctors discovered he was just one of just five in the world boys in the world to have the form of epilepsy known as PCDH19, which is caused by a genetic mutation.

And in 2016 the frequency increased to almost every week, with multiple fits each time, Hannah, a hairdresser, revealed in February.

Doctors treated him with intravenous steroids, but Hannah was distressed to see the drugs left Alfie aggressive and at risk of psychosis.

In despair she sought out other treatments and learned about cannabis oil  which contains THC, the compound that causes a 'high'.

His family who spent five months in Den Haag, said the medication, prescribed by a paediatric neurologist, reduced his seizures in number, duration and severity

Since Alfie (pictured as a baby) and his mother returned to Britain in January after running out of money, he has been unable to continue the treatment

WHAT IS CBD OIL AND IS IT LEGAL IN THE UK? Government advisers made it legal to buy CBD supplements in 2016 CBD oil is a legal cannabinoid that can be sold in the UK. CBD contains less than 0.2 per cent of the psychoactive substance THC. Although the oil has been thought to have some medicinal properties, including relieving inflammation, pain and anxiety, there is no conclusive science. Suppliers in England and Wales have to obtain a licence to sell CBD as a medicine. Manufacturers are able to avoid the strict regulation by selling it as a food supplement - ignoring the lengthy process of gaining a medicinal licence. CBD products comes in many forms, the most popular being an oil - which users spray under their tongue - or gel tablets which melt slowly in the mouth. Government advisers at the MHRA found that CBD has a restoring, correcting or modifying effect on humans. Cannabis oil, which is different to CBD oil because it contains THC - the compound that gives users a 'high' - is illegal under UK laws. Billy Caldwell, from Castlederg, Northern Ireland, made headlines last April when he became the first Briton to be prescribed it on the NHS. Cannabis oil, which reportedly has no side effects, influences the release and uptake of feel good chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. Advertisement

It is different to CBD oil which is legal because it doesn't contain THC.

Hannah found a doctor in Holland willing to prescribe it, so moved there with Alfie last September.

The results were, she previously said, 'nothing short of a miracle', bringing his seizures down to about one a month. The Dutch doctor said the outcome was 'astounding'.

But since Alfie and his mother returned to Britain in January after running out of money, he has been unable to continue the treatment.

The Home Office has revealed ministers are exploring 'every option' for treating Alfie, including putting him on a medical cannabis trial.

But Policing Minister Nick Hurd has since met with the family to discuss possible treatments  but stressed no decisions have yet been made.
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark may have been born in the sunnier climes of Tasmania - but she certainly looks at home on the glamorous ski slopes of Verbier in the European Alps.

The mother-of-four, 46, cut a stylish figure in a cobalt-blue padded ski jacket with white mittens and sleek black salopettes as she joined Prince Frederik, 49, and their children for the Swiss mountain holiday last week.

Carrying a ski helmet and goggles, and wearing a practical backpack, the Crown Princess, who could soon be Queen following the death of her father-in-law in February, looked firmly in control of her brood as she left a mountain restaurant.

Let's ski! Princess Mary of Denmark looked in control as she helped her children gather their ski equipment in the Swiss resort of Verbier last week

Carrying her own skis and with a back-pack for essentials, the Princess, 46, looked ready for a morning on the slopes with her four children. Right: Prince Frederik, 49, and eldest son Prince Christian, 12, stand at the top of a piste

Wearing sleek black salopettes and a stylish blue padded jacket, Prince Mary offered her young son Prince Vincent, seven, a hug before they set out on the mountain

Seen tenderly embracing one of her children, believed to be seven-year-old Prince Vincent, as she prepared to take to the piste, Princess Mary looked firmly in control of her brood.

She hoisted her skis onto her shoulder and made her way to the resort's higher pistes.

Meanwhile Prince Frederik, also wearing a bright blue winter ensemble, sported a smattering of stubble and orange-hued ski glasses as he took to the slope with his 12-year-old son Prince Vincent.

Moments later he was seen whizzing down the slopes with a broad grin on his face.

While Easter in Europe's Alps can be a sun-drenched affair, there was no sign of blue skies above the Swiss resort, with snow falling heavily on the Danish royals.

The couple have four children together; Prince Christian, 12, Princess Josephine, 10, and twins Princess Isabella and Prince Vincent, seven.

The sizeable group were seen gathering their equipment in snowy conditions at a mountain restaurant in the resort

Safety in numbers: The group stuck close to each other as they prepared to tackle Verbier's steep gradients

And he's off: The Danish prince starts his descent and looks delighted to be cruising on snow

While the love story between Princess Mary and Prince Frederick has been well documented; the couple met in a Sydney bar and Mary, born in Tasmania, moved to the northern hemisphere to be with Frederik.

In December, in a candid interview with Australian Women's Weekly, the Crown Princess revealed that moving to the other side of the world was difficult.

She said: 'I did experience a feeling of loneliness - short-term - when I first moved to Denmark,' she told the magazine.

'Moving to Denmark was a huge change in my life - a new culture, new language, new friends, and another way of life.'

'So, I see it as quite natural that at times I felt quite alone or a little bit like I was on the outside looking in.'

The group, believed to include all of the couple's four children Prince Christian, Princess Josephine, Princess Isabella and Prince Vincent, enjoyed a skiing holiday last week

The group share a joke as they dodge the falling snowflakes in the high-altitude resort

The Danish royals are known to be keen skiers, regularly travelling from Scandinavia to the smartest Alpine resorts during the winter

Princess Mary knew it would take time to feel settled in, and said she got there thanks to plenty of supportive and caring people in her new home.

Fast-forward 14 years, and Princess Mary is fluent in Danish, beloved by her adopted country - and a whizz on the mountains.

In recent weeks, there has been speculation that Mary could soon be preparing to be Queen following the death of her father-in-law, Prince Henrik of Denmark, 83, in February.
While many of us headed back to work today it seems that the royal family are still in the Easter spirit.

Prince Edward was seen heading out on a hack with his daughter Lady Louise in the grounds of Windsor Castle on Tuesday.

The Queen's youngest son accompanied his 14-year-old daughter, who is on her Easter holidays, for a trot around the grounds.

Edward, 54, is thought be visiting Windsor Castle with his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, 53, and his two children, Louise, and James, 10 over the festive break.

Prince Edward and his daughter Lady Louise were seen heading out on a hack on the grounds of Windsor Castle on Tuesday

The family live just 11 miles down the road at the royal residence of Bagshot Park, near the village of Bagshot.

Louise proved herself to be the spitting image of her father as she headed out on one of her grandmother's fell ponies this afternoon.

The father and daughter wrapped up in waxed jackets and both sported a pair of jodhpurs and a riding hat before heading out into the unseasonable weather.

Louise inherited a love of horses from her grandmother the Queen and was taught to ride at a young age.

The Queen's youngest son is thought to be staying at Windsor Castle alongside his wife Sophie Wessex, and two children Louise and James for their Easter break

More recently Lady Louise has taken up carriage-driving, a past-time beloved of her grandfather, Prince Philip, 96, who is credited with popularising the sport in Britain.

The family was spotted joining other royals at the Easter Sunday service at St George's Chapel at the weekend.

The youngest member James, Viscount Severn, looked rather downcast and his mother Sophie was seen comforting her son.

However, he was soon in a brighter mood when he was seen driving around the private grounds of Windsor Castle on Easter Monday.

On Tuesday, Edward's son James was in good spirits as he was seen driving around the private grounds of Windsor Castle

According to onlookers, young James was in good spirits today as he drove 'reasonably fast' while taking the 4x4 for a spin around the grounds.

The 10-year-old was sat on someones lap according to sources, but it is unclear who was accompanying him in the powerful vehicle

Also in attendance at Sunday's church service was Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn.

They made an appearance alongside Prince Andrew and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who attended the service with fiance Jack Brooksbank.
When a male author made the dubious decision to brag online about his skills in writing authentic female characters, he was setting himself up to be taken right down.

The claim was spotted online by Among the Red Stars author Gwen C. Katz, who shared her thoughts on Twitter along with a quote from the unnamed male writer's first page, ostensibly describing one of his 'authentic' female characters.

'I sauntered over, certain he noticed me. I'm hard to miss I'd like to think  a little tall (but not too tall), a nice set of curves if I do say so myself, pants so impossibly tight that if I had had a credit card in my back pocket you could read the expiration date,' the author wrote in the voice of his character.

Getting confident: A male author's brag about being able to write an 'authentic female protagonist' has inspired a Twitter game

Taking to task: Author Gwen C. Katz inspired others by sharing a number of excerpts from the unnamed author's book, including overly sexualized descriptions of the character

Next up: Twitter user Whit Reynolds chimed in, suggesting that women try and describe themselves the way a male author would

And Gwen didn't stop there.

She went on to share a number of other excerpts from the first chapter of the man's book, with the female character bragging about manipulating men and going on strange tangents about her own looks.

Although the author still has yet to be identified, excerpts of the same book can be found online at Query Tracker - a website aimed at helping writers connect with agents and get their books published.

The same lines that Gwen shared on Twitter can be found in an online chapter submission of a book called 'Necromantic' by a user identifying only as J. Beachum.

One segment where the character describes herself as having eyes like Elizabeth Taylor and boasting about her red lips and pale skin ends with: 'And, of course, my boobs. I had them propped up all front and center, in a perfectly ladylike way. Well, kind of. Okay, not really that ladylike.'

Gwen's thread of excerpts swiftly went viral and inspired another user, Whit Reynolds, to propose a game: 'Describe yourself the way a male author would.'

Body of work: Many of the descriptions that came fell along the same chest-centric lines

Over the top: The tendency for overweight women to be depicted in an unflattering light was also not lost on the users

Dozens of women chimed in with their descriptions, with many falling along the same bosom-centric lines.

One user wrote: 'Her breasts entered the room before her far less interesting face, decidedly maternal hips and rounded thighs. He found her voice unpleasantly audible. As his gaze dropped from her mouth (still talking!) to her cleavage, he wondered why feminists were so angry all the time.'

Another added: 'Her dress clung to the curves of her bosom which was cupped by her bra that was under it, but over the breasts that were naked inside her clothes. She had a personality and eyes.'

One joker couldn't bring herself to write out a description, instead offering up a simple illustration of a pair of eyes and a set of breasts to get her point across.

Several pointed out the fact that some male authors won't put effort into describing certain kinds of women, such as those 'over 40' or 'an attractive fat woman in her twenties who loves life,' with one writing her own simple parody: '"She didn't exist because she's fat."'

Simply put: Some suggested that male authors are less than effective at describing any woman not meeting certain beauty standards

Missing out: This user pointed out that she had yet to see an accurate description of herself

Inspired: One woman imagined her description in the form of a drawing featuring just 'almond-shaped eyes' and breasts

Another side: Some pointed out that female stereotypes aren't the only descriptive problems to look out for - race is often an issue as well

Other users pointed out the stereotypical descriptions that can appear for women of color, such as depictions of Asian and black women.

One user wrote: 'Something about porcelain skin because Asian, something about petite and submissive because Asian, something about silky raven Asian hair, something about exotic and something about almond shaped eyes because Asian.'

Another added: 'As she moved her strong cocoa body gleamed as if calling to the country of Africa. Her chocolate waist moved like an alluring siren calling me to crash on the rocks of her brown buttocks.'

Much of the ribbing was simply in good fun, and Gwen C. Katz insisted in her thread that: 'Personally, I think men can absolutely write realistic female narrators.'

However, she added: 'If you dismiss out of hand the value of personal experience by proclaiming that your writing proves it isn't necessary, then you haven't done it.'
It seems that even royals have trouble with their in-laws on occasion as seen in new footage of the Spanish monarchs.

A video has emerged that appears to show a tense moment between Queen Letizia and her mother-in law during the Spanish royals' annual Easter break in Majorca.

Queen Sofia looked every inch the proud grandmother as she put her arms round her granddaughters' Leonor, 12, and Sofia, 10, ready to pose for pictures at the Palma Cathedral on Easter Sunday.

But the clip appears to show an awkward exchange between the former Queen, 79, and the reigning Letizia, 45.

The former newsreader is seen standing in front of Sofia and after a brief exchange appearing to try and take the arm of her eldest daughter, who then shoves both her mother and grandmother's hands aside.

Letizia's husband King Felipe VI then steps in as his 80-year-old father looked on nonplussed.

Marie Chantal of Greece, who is married to Crown Prince Pavlos - King Felipe's cousin - has since weighed in, saying on Twitter: 'No grandmother deserves that type of treatment! Wow shes shown her true colours.'

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Astonishing new footage appears to showcase a 'tense scene' between Queen Letizia of Spain and her mother-in-law Queen Sofia

The wife of King Felipe's cousin has weighed into the controversy, saying that Queen Sofia didn't deserve such treatment

Marie Chantal, who is married to Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, appeared to stir things up even further with this family snap

Prince Pavlos of Greece and Princess Marie Chantal of Greece. The prince's father King Constantine is Queen Sofia of Spain's younger brother

In another tweet, she asked: 'What is the Spanish press saying? This is so awful.'

Appearing to stir things up even further, she then posted a photo of a family gathering with her own parents, captioned: 'Happy grandparents! Family is what its all about.'

The footage was captured on Sunday at the end of Easter mass but only started to make waves in Spain on Tuesday as the video emerged.

Who's who in the royal family drama? King Juan Carlos: Reigned from 1975 until his abdication in 2014. Queen Sofia: The daughter of King Paul of Greece and Frederica of Hanover, she married Juan Carlos in 1962. King Felipe: The youngest child of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. He ascended the throne in 2014. Queen Letizia: A former journalist who married Felipe in 2004. Marie Chantal of Greece: The wife of Prince Pavlos of Greece. His father King Constantine is Queen Sofia's younger brother. Advertisement

Several Spanish papers including island daily Diario de Mallorca had no hesitation in branding the incident a 'uncomfortable'.

It said: 'As is obvious from the footage, the situation was most uncomfortable for King Felipe VI, who tried to mediate as his father looked on with great surprise.'

Respected Spanish daily El Mundo said: 'For the first time in four years, Juan Carlos joined the rest of the Spanish Royal Family for the celebration of the last day of Easter.

'However, the perfect harmony they demonstrated at the doors of Palma Cathedral appears not to have been so, certainly at one particular moment.'

El Pais described what happened as a 'tense scene.'

The MailOnline has contacted the Casa De Su Majestad El Rey for a comment.

On Tuesday King Juan Carlos of Spain led his family in marking the 25th anniversary of his father's death.

Who is Queen Letizia of Spain? The eldest daughter of Jesus Alvarez, a journalist, and his first wife Maria Rodriguez, a nurse, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano was born in Oviedo, northern Spain. One sister, Telma, became an economist; the other, Erika, committed suicide by taking an overdose while suffering from depression. Before meeting the heir to the Spanish throne, Letizia enjoyed a lengthy career in TV and newspapers. She completed a BA in journalism, followed by a masters in audiovisual journalism. After a stint at Asturian daily paper, La Nueva Espana, she went on to work for ABC, a popular national newspaper that enjoys the third largest circulation in Spain. Next came a stint at Spanish news agency EFE before a move to Guadalajara in Mexico saw her take on a role on local paper, Siglo 21. Back in Spain a year later, she worked for the Spanish version of Bloomberg, a news channel and agency specialising in economics, before moving to CNN+. Before she met Felipe of Spain, Letizia was married to high school teacher Alonso Guerrero Perez, who was nine years her senior. The couple wed in 1998 following a ten-year romance - with the pair meeting when the future Spanish queen was just 16. The couple tied the knot in a civil ceremony in the town of Almendralejo, Badajoz, but divorced the following year after just one year of marriage. By the time she met her husband-to-be, Felipe in 2002, Letizia was working for popular TV channel 24 Horas, where along with anchoring the popular Telediario 2 evening news bulletin she reported on a wide range of breaking news event - among them the 2000 US presidential elections and the 9/11 attacks. The couple met when Felipe visited the site of an oil spill, which the journalist was reporting on. However, her status as a divorcee caused controversy in Spain ahead of the royal wedding, along with rumours she'd had a secret abortion. She was only allowed to marry Felipe in the Catholic Church in 2004 as she had previously had a civil ceremony with ex-husband Alonso. As time wore on she was criticised for being unsmiling on official engagements. Then there was further controversy when she had surgery on her nose in 2008. The official explanation was that she had a deviated septum which had to be fixed. But commentators were quick to point out that her post-operation nose looked a little daintier too. Another book, The Court of Felipe VI, published in 2015, alleged that former King Juan Carlos never liked the arrival of a journalist in a place that had traditionally been an opaque haven from the fourth estate. Controversy arose earlier this year when footage appeared to show a tense stand-off between the current Queen and her mother-in-law Queen Sofia at mass at Palma Cathedral. Advertisement

Juan Carlos, 80, was joined by wife Queen Sofia, 79, and their children for a mass honouring his father Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, who died in April 1993 at the age of 79.

Juan Carlos' son King Felipe, 50, who took the throne after his father's abdication in 2014, attended the service with his wife, Queen Letizia, 45.

The service was held on Tuesday in El Escorial, the historic royal site where Infante Juan is buried.

Sofia is seen standing with her arms around her granddaughters Princess Leonor (left) and Sofia (right)

The former journalist is seen approaching Leonor where she appears to try and take her hand

The crown princess is then seen pushing her mother and grandmother's arms away
A teenage Gambian refugee developed a deadly condition after squatting for three days during a cramped boat trip across the Mediterranean.

The 14-year-old made the perilous journey across the sea - which has killed up to 15,000 in the past four years - with 943 others in search of a better life.

But within days of reaching Sicily, an island at the forefront of the migrant crisis, the unnamed boy was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis.

The condition, which can be life-threatening, can be caused by extreme muscle strain - such as squatting for three days.

The 14-year-old made the perilous journey across the sea - which has killed up to 15,000 in the past four years - to Italy with 943 others in search of a better life (stock)

Paediatrics in Messina - the third largest city on the island of Sicily - published the bizarre tale in the BMJ Case Reports.

It has prompted calls for doctors to check refugees and those seeking asylum for rhabdomyolysis - which can lead to kidney failure.

Thousands of Gambians have fled the country, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Senegal, due to political unrest in recent years.

Medics, led by Dr Valeria Dipasquale, wrote in the prestigious journal that 'border crossers seem to be a unique population'.

They have a 'higher risk of rhabdomyolysis because of the poor living and working conditions in their fatherland', they added.

The team of four experts explained that this is usually because of their 'prolonged immobility' - often in the squatting position.

But they added that dehydration - a huge problem for thousands of refugees - and exposure to high and low temperatures is also a risk.

Rhabdomyolysis, which strikes around 26,000 people each year in the US, occurs from the death of muscle fibres and release of their contents into the bloodstream.

WHAT IS RHABDOMYOLOSIS? Rhabdomyolysis is a serious syndrome due to a direct or indirect muscle injury. It occurs from the death of muscle fibres and release of their contents into the bloodstream. This can lead to life-threatening complications such as renal (kidney) failure. This means the kidneys cannot remove waste and concentrated urine. In rare cases, rhabdomyolysis can even cause death. It can be caused by extreme muscle strain, as well as a crush injury, an electrical shock injury, venom from a snake or insect bite and viral infections such as the flu, HIV, or herpes simplex virus. Typical symptoms are: muscle pain in the shoulders, thighs, or lower back; muscle weakness or trouble moving arms and legs; and dark red or brown urine or decreased urination. Advertisement

The boy, whose identity has been withheld, complained of a low fever and muscle aches all over his body after just three days of reaching Italy.

It caused him difficulty walking and he was unable to sustain his body weight when he stood up, medics wrote in the journal.

He sought medical help at Messina University Hospital, where he was rushed to the paediatric intensive care unit for urgent treatment.

Initial inspections led doctors to believe that he was dehydrated - but blood tests showed he was suffering from rhabdomyolysis.

He was given intravenous fluids to boost urine production and prevent kidney failure by flushing out the muscle fibres.

The boy started to improve within a week of treatment and his muscular pain was banished and was taken out of intensive care.

He continued to receive the IV fluids in the hospital's paediatric ward. Within three weeks he recovered complete motility, doctors said.

The patient was asked about his time in Gambia - a country on the west coast of Africa - and explained his 'extreme bad life conditions'.

Doctors were told the boy was forced to work in the fields under the influence of 'white pills' - but tests were unable to prove what they were.

And the boy referred 'total immobility in squatting position' for three suns - which the experts believe meant three days - during the boat trip.

Gambians were among the top nationalities in 2016 arriving in Italy, which has previously threatened to close its ports to refugee rescue ships.

A political crisis ensued in that December following the end of a two decade-long dictatorship, which triggered thousands to leave the country.

Yahya Jammeh refused to step down for seven weeks after being ousted in a vote - despite the threat of military intervention from neighbouring countries.
Despite working in the mental health care industry since 2008, Don Wright found himself at a loss for what could have been done to prevent his son's suicide in October.

Wright, of Cincinnati, Ohio, co-founded Assurex Health, which pioneered a genetic test to match psychiatric patients to the best drugs for their genetic profiles.

His son, Justin, was 28 and interning at Wright's business when he killed himself in October.

Justin's death called everything he thought he knew about the mental illnesses that can lead to suicide into question.

Wright and everyone that knew and worked with his son was shocked by Justin's death, but Wright decided to make the tragedy his impetus for change and founded the Suicide Project, which held a hackathon to brainstorm the best ways to make use of technological tools to address suicide in the modern age last month.

Don Wright (left) found success solving problems in mental health care, but since he lost his son, Justin (right), to suicide, he has made a new mission of tackling the deadly issue

Wright's son was one of 45,000 Americans that die by suicide every year.

Suicide as a public health issue has been pulled out from the shadows and is increasingly a part of daily conversations on and offline, yet it remains the 10th leading cause of death in the US.

Wright's former company had helped many patients to find the right treatment for their symptoms, yet neither Wright, nor his son's psychiatrist or colleagues seemed to have been able to pinpoint Justin's distress.

Wright and his team at Assurex had been the ones to crack one of the most insidious problems in mental health care: the psychiatric medication cycle.

Mental health disorders are complex, often intertwined, completely individualized and their neurochemistries are not very well understood.

So finding the right treatment for any particular patient is often a long, arduous trial-and-error road, littered with pitfalls, setbacks, side effects and an ever-increasing tolerance.

But, under Wright's leadership, Assurex pioneered the GeneSight Test, which tests various medications on your genes, instead of on you.

The test is approved for screening which medications might best treat anxiety, bipolar disease, depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, and pain.

From the outside, it seemed that all of the best systems to care for Justin's mental health were in place.

Justin had the support of his family. He was working with his father's company where one of the staff had taken him on as a sort of mentee. He had a psychiatrist whom his father believed he was happy.

Justin and his father were close and Wright thought his son had all the support he needed

Before his suicide on October 13, Justin had at Assurex, the company his father co-founded, and which marketed the first genetic test to help match patients to a psychiatric medication

But then Justin was gone, and Wright was wondering what he  and everyone else in Justin's life, it seemed  had missed.

Wright, whose work had already so closely overlapped with suicide prevention, wanted to harness his grief and find a way to bring something positive out of his loss.

'I was already working on this before Justin killed himself,' Wright told Cincinnati.com, 'but my psychiatrist said, "as long as you're doing the thing you're passionate about, it's OK."'

He started his passion project with an information gathering mission, immersing himself in all the latest research on suicide he could read.

But statistics and quantifications simply fall short of a very human and personal issue. For scientific research to provide conclusions, its approach must be narrow and focused, but the struggles leading up to and following a suicide are anything but.

Justin saw a psychiatrist with whom Wright believed his son was happy and making progress before his death last year

Since leaving Assurex in 2017, the ever-enterprising Wright has been investing in and cultivating tech and start-up businesses. So he decided to once again apply his connections and skills to a problem he so cared deeply about solving.

In the tech start-up world, when a problem seems unsolvable, a hackathon is in order to bring together the best minds to collaborate and compete for a reward for brainstorming and building a solution.

So, beginning in January, Wright undertook The Suicide Project, a 'first of its kind multidisciplinary summit in Cincinnati to rethink suicide,' as its site defines the initiative.

On March 10, he hosted the meet-up, where more than 130 child psychiatrists, scientists, technologists, people who had lost loved ones to suicide, and former Assurex colleagues came together to discuss the challenges facing suicide prevention and pitch ideas to address them.

Experts shared some of the research that had led Wright to organize the conference, and 11 categories of problems were presented.

These ranged from the taboo that still lingers around suicide, to the inaccessibility of resources, fragmentation in both research and funding and dearth of action-based solutions.

The attendees broke into groups and brainstormed possible solutions 'to rethink suicide from the ground up,' as Wright told Cincinnatti.com.

After 10-hours, each team pitched their ideas, and Wright distributed $10,000 in prize money to the four ideas with the most potential.

The money was allotted to four very different projects.

The father and son duo spent time outside of the office together as well, attending all kinds of sporting events, including a Cincinnati soccer game in 2016

The first prize, a $5,000 grant went to Sarah DeDiemar, who had worked closely with Justin.

A brand manager at Assurex, she is in the early stages of designing a marketing campaign which uses simple, direct, but on-confrontational phrases to help people talk to their loved ones about depression or thoughts of suicide.

Money was also awarded to a doctor who has broken suicidality down from a 'yes or no' question into a scale of 10 possible degrees of suicidality to try to approach the difficult subject less bluntly.

The other two projects seek to aggregate global data on suicide and interventions, and to create an app with daily mental health check-ins, respectively.
A plaster made with a protein found in very young skin has been found to speed up wound healing and leave no scars.

The material contains fibronectin, a protein that helps assembly skin tissue during development. In a recent study by Harvard University, mice treated with the fibronectin patch healed on average three days faster compared with mice whose wounds were just covered with a plastic film.

They also had no scarring, reports the journal Biomaterials. Foetal skin is rich in fibronectin but it disappears at birth. The scientists are now developing an artificial version for a plaster.

A plaster made with fibronectin, a protein found in baby skin, speeds up wound healing and doesn't leave scars (file photo)

Spending more time outdoors is associated with a lower risk of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease. U.S. doctors examined data from around 7,000 people - those who spent the longest time outdoors had the lowest risk of chronic diseases. Its thought time outdoors is a good indicator of good activity levels and a healthy lifestyle.

Scientists in the UK have developed a helmet that doubles as a brain scanner to better diagnose and treat patients with mental health disorders. It monitors their brain activity as they go about their normal daily tasks and is said to be more sensitive than current brain scans, reports the journal Nature.

The device, developed by Nottingham University and University College London, can take detailed pictures of the wearers brain activity while they move about, which makes it more suitable for younger patients who dont keep still and can reveal how the brain handles social situations.

Currently the main techniques for scanning brains require patients to keep their head still for the sensors to work.

Strange injuries

Bizarre injuries your body can inflict on itself. This week: Blowing your nose can break bones

Bones can be broken and muscles torn by blowing ones nose too vigorously.

In 2003, doctors at Birmingham City Hospital treated a 20-year-old woman who blew her nose so hard it blasted a crack in her orbit  the bony cavity in which the eye sits.

Bones can be broken and muscles torn by blowing ones nose too vigorously

The pressure forced a pocket of air into her chest cavity outside the lung. The trapped air  chest emphysema  left her in agony, reported the Journal Of Laryngology & Otology.

The woman recovered after rest and painkillers.

The injuries can be embarrassingly visible. In May 2015, German doctors at the University Hospital of Leipzig reported how a womans upper and lower right eyelids puffed up after she tried to clear her nostril by blowing through it while blocking the other with her finger  diverting the air into her face. The problem resolved itself after a few days.

Try this

Become is a range of menopause-friendly underwear thats designed to help with hot flushes.

The tank tops and knickers are made from moisture-wicking yarns said to have a greater surface area than traditional fibres to distribute heat away from the body. From 19, webecome.co.uk

Secrets of an A-list body

This week: Mark Wahlbergs abs

Pictured on a Barbados beach, Mark Wahlberg looked every inch the Hollywood superhero, proving that at 46 he is as dedicated to the gym as ever.

Mark Wahlberg looks every inch the Hollywood superhero, proving that at 46 he is as dedicated to the gym as ever

He dislikes cardio and once said: Running on a treadmill? Id rather watch a chicken roast. His preference is intense resistance sessions using heavy weights alongside bursts of high intensity interval training.

What to try: The press up to plank is fantastic for honing your midsection and strengthening your abs. Start on the floor in a raised press-up position  legs behind you, hands beneath your shoulders, arms straight and weight on the balls of your feet.

Lower yourself on to your forearms, one arm at a time. Then raise yourself back up to the start. Repeat for 45-60 seconds.
Jeannie Edwards, 63, felt heart attack-like pain in her chest several times a week

Sharp, stabbing chest pains were something Jeannie Edwards had tolerated for decades.

The pains would come on several times a week, and although they matched the description of heart attack symptoms, because she was only in her late 30s when they started, Jeannie was told there was nothing to worry about.

As Jeannie, now 63, a human resources director from Twickenham, South-West London, recalls: I didnt feel a crushing chest pain but I did feel like my heart was being squeezed hard  and the pain would radiate down my left arm and up my neck.

I thought at the very least it must be angina. I was absolutely convinced that I was going to have a heart attack. But because I was slim and fit, I wasnt an obvious candidate.

Indeed, the first doctor she saw took one look at her slight build (at 5ft 3in, she weighs just 7st), noted her healthy, non-smoker lifestyle and said it was highly unlikely that anything was wrong with her heart.

Angina  pain from partially blocked arteries  was ruled out because the attacks occurred even when she was lying down (angina is associated with exertion on exercise).

The doctor listened to my heart and said it was normal and the pains were nothing to worry about so I wasnt referred for any further investigations, says Jeannie. I felt reassured at the time, but the pains continued  with sometimes three attacks a week, every week  so I began to worry again.

When she was in her 40s, and living in the Far East, Jeannie, who is married to Cliff, 72, saw a number of doctors but none suggested any further action.

Some thought the pains might be stress-related, but while it was true that I had a really busy job, the attacks didnt happen at stressful times, so that didnt make sense, recalls Jeannie.

Another time, a doctor said the chest pains could be costochondritis  inflammation of the cartilage which joins the ribs to the breast bone. But from what Id read, this usually goes away on its own after a couple of months.

Others called the attacks pseudo-angina  angina symptoms without a medical cause and implied it was psychological or suggested I was looking for attention. This deterred me from seeing doctors about the chest pains and I didnt insist on tests.

But four years ago, back in the UK, Jeannies attacks were getting more frequent and more intense. This time, her doctor referred her to a private cardiologist.

The cardiologist suggested Jeannie have two investigations: an angiogram, a type of X-ray that uses a special dye and a camera to investigate blood flow in the arteries, and an MRI stress test scan.

This measures blood flow in the microvascular system  the network of tiny arteries and veins  when the heart is placed under stress using a drug called adenosine.

Five ways to prepare sweetcorn 1. Make sweetcorn fritters as an alternative to burgers by adding a drained 200g can of sweetcorn to a batter of 100g plain flour, 150g milk and one egg. Pan fry dollops of the batter. A fritter counts as one of your five a day. 2. Serve kale with sweetcorn (the combination is delicious in veggie lasagne). The two vegetables are perfect partners, containing the antioxidant duo of zeaxanthin and lutein, which protect against the eye disease age-related macular degeneration. Adding a teaspoon of butter when you heat sweetcorn helps protect it from damage 3. Add a teaspoon of butter when you heat the corn  the fat helps the body absorb the bright yellow antioxidant zeaxanthin in sweetcorn which protects cells from damage. 4. For more folic acid, vitamin C and vitamin E  important for a strong immune system  choose canned corn and eat cold. Its richer in these nutrients than corn on the cob boiled at home as its processed while fresher. 5. Choose a canned variety without added salt. A 200g can with added salt contains 10 per cent of your daily recommended salt limit. Advertisement

The angiogram was as clear as a bell, but the cardiac MRI showed that my micro-circulation was not functioning as it should, and this was causing my chest pain, recalls Jeannie.

Jeannie was diagnosed with cardiac syndrome X, which causes intense chest pain similar to angina or a heart attack. It is due to problems in the tiniest blood vessels in the body and the endothelial cells that line these veins and arteries.

Its a little known but surprisingly common problem. The findings of a recent U.S. study, published in the New England Journal Of Medicine involving 400,000 people whod undergone angiograms for chest pain, suggested that more than 50 per cent did not have blocked arteries and therefore could have it.

Experts estimate if these figures were applied to the UK, between 500,000 and 700,000 people could have cardiac syndrome X yet not know it.

Around 90 per cent of those affected are women, mainly aged between 30 and 60. This is because their hormone levels are thought to play a role (the condition is more common in the perimenopause  the years leading up to the menopause  and beyond).

It seems oestrogen, the female sex hormone, has a protective effect on the cardiovascular system, although precisely how is not clear.

Cardiac syndrome X is linked to the microvascular circulation reacting abnormally to stress, both physical (such as exertion) and psychological.

The tiny blood vessels either go into spasm or fail to dilate, leading to a lack of blood flow and cramping pain in the heart muscle. In some cases, it may be down to a structural problem, with the patient having fewer capillaries or thickened capillary walls, explains Juan Carlos Kaski, a professor of cardiovascular science at St Georges, University of London.

He says that cardiac syndrome X, now more commonly known by doctors as microvascular angina, was originally thought to be a rare condition that affected only women. Now we know it affects both sexes and is common, but cardiologists are slow at picking up on it, he says.

Emily McGrath, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, says the problem is that it doesnt show up on angiograms because the blood vessels affected are too small. This means diagnosis is delayed.

Microvascular angina occurs in tiny blood vessels less than half a millimetre across, says Emily McGrath. This means its extremely difficult to detect using standard tests such as angiograms.

Lack of diagnosis is a concern, adds Dr Robin Roberts, a cardiologist at the private Alexander House Medical Centre in London, who treated Jeannie.

Cardiac syndrome X is not a benign condition as was believed as recently as ten years ago, and is a red flag for a heart attack. Mortality rates are similar for cardiac syndrome X to those with chest pain due to blocked arteries. It needs to be taken seriously as it can cause a heart attack by cutting off blood supply to the heart in the same way a blocked artery can.

But as Emily McGrath points out: Research shows that patients with the condition are at risk of being admitted to hospital, and even experiencing a heart attack before being diagnosed.

Indeed many women get a poor deal, adds Dr Roberts. The knee-jerk response from doctors is to say they have nothing wrong with them. Patients are often passed from pillar to post, and the average time between onset of symptoms and a diagnosis is 12 to 15 years.

Treatment for cardiac syndrome X involves lifestyle changes such as giving up smoking, taking exercise, reducing cholesterol, and prescribing angina drugs such as beta blockers to increase blood flow.

Hormone replacement therapy is also sometimes prescribed to treat the condition. But for some patients, the drugs either dont work or, as with Jeannie, they are unable to take the medication.

In her case, this is because she has Sjogrens syndrome, an autoimmune disease that destroys glands that produce tears and saliva and makes her sensitive to medication.

She underwent instead a lesser-known treatment called external counter pulsation (ECP). Here, pressure cuffs are attached around the calves, lower thighs and upper thighs and then rapidly inflated and deflated, increasing the volume and speed of blood flow.

This stimulates blood vessels  including the micro ones  to release nitric oxide, which in turn dilates them, increasing blood flow by around 30 per cent, says Dr Roberts.

He says it also stimulates the release of stem cells, called endothelial progenitor cells, which repair and regenerate the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels.

Each session lasts around an hour, and in that time the cuffs will inflate around 4,000 times in sync with the patients heart rhythm. A course of 35 treatments costs around 10,000 privately.

Despite being little known in Britain, ECP is used widely in the U.S. and there are more than 200 published papers in peer-reviewed journals on its use.

One study, published in the Scandinavian Cardiovascular Journal in 2015, involving patients with angina treated with ECP, found that 12 months after treatment they had sustained improvement in quality of life and exercise capacity, and their angina improved. The number of daily angina attacks per person dropped from 2.7 to 0.9.

American regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, approved ECP as a treatment for angina in 1995, and it is available at more than 1,000 centres there.

In 2013, the European Society of Cardiology recommended ECP should be considered for patients whose angina hasnt responded to other treatments.

Under NICE guidelines published in 2011, however, ECP is not recommended for angina pain as standard treatments are seen as effective for most people and so far the studies have been small. Professor Kaski points out that only a small percentage of people with microvascular angina will benefit from the treatment.

Currently, ECP is available at two NHS hospitals, Bradford Royal Infirmary and Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and at Dr Robertss clinic and other private centres, but this may change with better evidence.

As Professor Juan Carlos Kaski explains: The results from pilot studies are promising. What is needed now is a big, multi-centre, randomised controlled trial and we are applying for funding for this.

Meanwhile, Jeannie has been pain-free since completing her four-week ECP treatment more than four years ago.

Im convinced it put an end to my chest pain, she says.
Thousands of ambulances are being held up at A&E units every day, preventing them from responding to life-threatening emergencies, figures reveal.

In the past three months, almost 600,000 ambulances faced delays of more than 15 minutes while patients were handed over to hospital staff.

Delays of 15 minutes or more are considered a threat to life due to them preventing ambulance staff from responding to critical medical emergencies, such as stabbings and heart attacks.

Unpublished figures reveal A&E handover waits are three times worse than officialNHS England statistics suggest.

Ambulance crews in England alone were forced to care for 186,000 patients, either in the back of vehicles or hospital corridors, for at least half an hour between last November and March.

This follows the NHS' winter crisis, which saw chiefs demand radical action to free up beds and medical staff due to casualty units being under 'extreme and sustained' pressure with flu cases.

Up to 55,000 non-urgent operations were postponed until February, along with thousands of outpatient appointments and scans.

Thousands of ambulances are being held up at A&E units every day, figures reveal (stock)

PATIENTS FORCED TO WAIT FIVE-AND-A-HALF HOURS AS 23 AMBULANCES QUEUED OUTSIDE AN A&E DEPARTMENT Patients waiting to be admitted were forced to wait for up to five-and-a-half hours on a Friday night in December as 23 ambulances queued outside a hospital's A&E department. The casualty unit at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth has previously been described by the Quality Care Commission as 'chaotic'. But it experienced an 'exceptionally difficult weekend' at the back end of December after a backlog of patients turned up with flu and other respiratory and winter illnesses. Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth blamed the recent drop in temperatures for the increase in demand on hospital services. Advertisement

A&E handover delays occurred up to 88% of the time

According to data from England's 10 regional ambulance services, handovers of more than 15 minutes between paramedics and A&E staff occurred 594,279 times from December to February.

Such delays took place up to 88 per cent of the time at certain hospitals due to their emergency departments being so overwhelmed.

The worst hit was Watford general hospital, where 87.9 per cent of handovers took more than 15 minutes.

At Queen Elizabeth hospital in King's Lynn, Norfolk, 87.4 per cent of handovers in February took over a quarter of an hour, while 85 per cent did at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport last winter.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, senior hospital figures wrote to all NHS trusts on November 15 stressing patient handovers must take place within 15 minutes of their arrival at A&E, adding ambulance staff supervision is 'inappropriate' once at hospital.

Such delays postpone patient treatment and prevent ambulances from responding to other emergencies, the letter adds.

GRANDMOTHER, 81, DIED AT HOME AFTER WAITING MORE THAN FOUR HOURS FOR AN AMBULANCE An 81-year-old grandmother died at home last January after waiting more than four hours for paramedics. By the time an ambulance crew reached Marie Norris on January 2, she had stopped breathing. Beside her body, devastated doctors found her bags packed, ready to go to hospital. Mother-of-three Mrs Norris, who lived less than a mile from the ambulance station in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, dialled 999 shortly before 8pm with chest pains. The ambulance crew eventually arrived at 11.46pm but had to wait for firefighters to break down the door of her bungalow. They finally went in at 12.21am. Ambulance chiefs said they could not send a vehicle sooner due to extremely high demand and delays at A&E units. Marie Norris, 81, died at home after waiting more than four hours for paramedics The East of England Ambulance Service said one of its clinicians made a welfare call to the pensioner at 9.47pm, which her family dispute. Mrs Norris, a widow, had not called her family or friends for help. She would not have wanted to bother anyone, her son-in-law Brendan Breheny said. Her daughter Linda, 59, found no evidence of the welfare call on her phone. She filmed herself checking it and said she found no missed or received calls around 9.47pm. East of England Ambulance Service launched an internal investigation and apologised. It said the service is stretched and staff were under pressure. The East of England Ambulance Service said it was 'under extreme pressure' after crews arrived several hours after the initial 999 call (above, Clacton Hospital) Deputy Chief Executive Sandy Brown added: 'Our sincere condolences and apologies go out to the patient's family and friends and we are truly sorry for the ambulance wait that occurred at this incident. 'We have very publicly expressed how stretched the ambulance service is and the pressures our staff and the NHS as a whole have been under the past few days. 'We are working in partnership but we are facing hospital handover delays, which can prevent us from responding as quickly as we need to. 'As a Trust, we have experienced our busiest days ever and we know our partners in the hospitals are in the same situation. 'We had more than 4,200 calls across the East of England that day, more than 1,300 of which were in Essex and more than 250 were in North East Essex.' Advertisement

Delays in handing patients to A&E prevents paramedics responding to emergencies (stock)

HOW HOSPITALS TACKLED THE CRISIS CANCELLED OPERATIONS Non-urgent operations and hospital appointments scheduled for January were postponed.

Cancer operations and time-critical procedures went ahead as planned.

Hospitals contacted patients to tell them if their appointments were cancelled. MIXED SEX WARDS NHS rules banning mixed sex wards were temporarily lifted to help hospitals use all available beds.

Usually hospitals are fined 250 every night that a patient has to stay in a mixed ward, however, this was waived.

Patients could request a move if they had strong objections. DOCTORS ON THE DOORS Consultants whose appointments were cancelled were expected to pitch in by manning the doors of A&E.

Patients could be questioned by doctors as soon as they arrived at hospital.

The patients were then told to wait for a full examination, be seen immediately or be given advice and sent home. Advertisement

'Inability to admit patients to hospital threatens lives'

Kevin Brandstatter, the NHS national officer at the GMB union, which represents 15,000 ambulance staff in England, said: 'The inability of trusts to simply admit patients to hospital threatens lives.'

He blames a lack of available A&E beds for being behind the problem, as well as insufficient reception staff to register incoming patients.

According to the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, patient handover delays have reached 'critical' levels, with quality-of-care being compromised.

A spokesman said: 'The problem is most acute when ambulance trusts are left with no resources available to respond to the most serious, life-threatening 999 calls because they are stuck at hospital waiting to transfer patients into the care of the hospital.'

Dr Nick Scriven, the president of the Society for Acute Medicine, which represents hospital doctors specialising in emergency medicine, added: 'This is another breach of a target put in place to maximise patient safety.'

NHS Improvement admits patient care is 'far from ideal', adding it is working with trusts to help them cope with the huge demands facing A&E departments.

Cancer operations cancelled as the NHS buckled under the pressure

This comes after research released earlier today suggests NHS trusts in England were forced to cancel hundreds of cancer operations last winter.

Out of a poll of 81 NHS hospital trusts, 43 postponed at least one cancer surgery between December and February, according to a survey by the Health Service Journal.

Hospitals in England were told to delay pre-planned operations and routine outpatient appointments throughout January to help overcome severe winter pressures.

Yet NHS England stressed cancer operations and time-critical procedures should go ahead as planned.

Delays in cancer-patient procedures could affect people's survival prospects, Macmillan Cancer Support warns.

Last Tuesday, Cambridge University Hospitals announced non-emergency operations have been temporarily cancelled due to a large influx of emergency cases.
Babysitters may put infants at risk of cot death by placing them in unsafe sleeping positions, new research suggests.

Newborns who die from sudden infant death syndrome while under the supervision of a childcare worker are more likely to be placed lying on their fronts, a study found.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends babies sleep on their backs to reduce their risk of overheating or receiving inadequate oxygen to the brain.

Infants who die under the care of a nanny are also more likely to have objects, such as toys and blankets, in their crib, the research adds. Such items raise the risk of suffocation or strangulation.

Study author Dr Rachel Moon, from the University of Virginia, said: 'If someone else - a babysitter, relative or friend - is taking care of your baby, please make sure that they know to place your baby on their back in a crib and without any bedding.'

Sudden infant death syndrome kills around 3,500 babies every year in the US. Approximately 20 percent of incidents occur while infants are under the supervision of someone other than their parents.

Babysitters may put infants at risk of cot death by placing them in unsafe positions (stock)

WHAT IS COT DEATH AND HOW CAN IT BE PREVENTED? Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or cot death, is the sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby. SIDS kills around 2,500 babies in the US and just under 300 in the UK every year. It usually occurs within the first six months of an infant's life and is more common in those born prematurely or of a low birth weight. The cause of SIDS is unknown, however, it is associated with tobacco smoke, tangled bedding, co-sleeping with parents and breathing obstructions. Prevent the risk by: Placing sleeping babies on their backs

Keeping babies' heads uncovered

Sleeping in the same room as babies for the first six months of their lives

Using a firm, flat, waterproof mattress in babies' cribs

Breastfeeding, if possible Do not: Smoke during pregnancy or in the same room as a baby

Sleep on a bed or chair with an infant

Allow babies to get too hot or cold. Temperatures between 16 and 20C should be comfortable Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Co-sleeping with parents raises the risk of cot death

Speaking of the findings, study author Dr Jeffrey Colvin said: 'A lot of relatives and friends may not be aware that babies are safest on their backs.

'They may have raised children before we knew that this was safest.

Dr Moon added: 'It's always best to discuss where and how your baby should sleep.

'You can't make assumptions that the person with whom your baby is staying will know what is safest.'

Researchers believe babysitters may wrongly assume infants are more comfortable or less at risk of choking when lying on their fronts.

Results further suggest babies who pass away while under the supervision of their parents are more likely to be sharing a bed with their mother or father.

Known as co-sleeping, previous studies suggest this puts infants at risk of overheating or suffocating.

The AAP recommends parents share the same room, but not bed, as their babies, which should still allow them to monitor their child.

How the research was carried out

The researchers analysed data on 10,490 babies under one-year-old who died while asleep between 2004 and 2014.

They assessed who was caring for the infants, and if any risk factors were present, such as toys in the crib, at the time of their passing.

Sleep position and location were also investigated.

The findings were published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Parents who worry about their children's sleeping habits are more prone to depression (stock)

Worrying about children's sleep may cause depression

Parents who worry about their children's sleeping habits are more prone to depression, research suggested last June.

Educating parents on how to help their youngsters nod off significantly eases the mental-health condition, a study found.

Among severe sufferers of the illness, almost 30 percent of mothers and 20 percent of fathers see their symptoms improve after 24 weeks of sleep treatment, the research adds.

Researchers believe their findings demonstrate how treating children's insomnia can give parents a mental-health boost.

Study author Wendy Hall, from the University of British Columbia, said: 'The situation improved after the intervention, notably by the 24-week mark.

'Once the infant sleep problem was treated, parental depression lifted significantly.

'If you can find a way to regulate your childs sleep, your own state of mind and self-confidence get a boost,' UBC News reported.
The FDA has ordered a herbal supplements company to pull its kratom products from the market after the agency linked the substance to a nationwide salmonella outbreak.

Kratom is sometimes used as an alternative to opioids, has been the culprit in nearly 90 cases of salmonella in recent months.

The FDA asked that several companies voluntarily recall their products, but one, Triangle Pharmanaturals refused to do so, prompting the FDA to issue its first-ever mandatory recall for a contaminated food today.

In a separate investigation following several deaths linked to the substance, the FDA also warned that kratom is chemically similar to an opioid, and is now urging customers to avoid kratom on both grounds.

The FDA took a rare step today, ordering the recall of kratom made by Triangle Pharmanaturals after the company refused to cooperate with regulators (file image)

Kratom is made from the eponymous plant, a native species to Southeast Asia where it has historically been used as a stimulant - not unlike chewing tobacco - in low doses, or to treat pain by inducing eurphoria a higher doses.

However, due to its opioid-like effects, the plant's use has been outlawed in several countries in the region.

Kratom has made its way onto the expansive American herbal supplement market, and is widely sold online for around $20.

It is often advertised as a legal substitute with similar effects to opioids, but in February, the FDA published a notice that their extensive studies had found that it has no medical benefits - a use that the substance is not approved for - and suggested that it should be considered an opioid itself.

Less than two weeks later, kratom found itself in hot water again, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning that it had traced salmonella outbreaks in 20 states to kratom product-consumption.

Now, various brands of kratom supplements have been linked to a total of almost 90 cases of salmonella, across 35 states, according to federal figures.

Salmonella bacteria most commonly grow on poultry, meat and eggs that come into contact with fecal matter from sick humans or animals.

But in recent years, it has been found in a number of herbs, spices and other plant-based food products.

Nearly 30 cases of the bacterial infection have involved such serious fever, cramps, diarrhea and nausea that sufferers have been hospitalized for the potentially life-threatening illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State and federal officials detected salmonella in a half-dozen samples of Triangle's products. But the company refused to allow FDA inspectors to access the company's records or discuss the contamination issue, according to an agency statement.

On March 30, the FDA wrote to Triangle Pharmanaturals, asking that it voluntarily recall a number of its products, including Raw Form Organics Maeng Da Kratom Emerald Green, Raw Form Organics Maeng Da Kratom Ivory White, and Raw Form Organics Maeng Da Kratom Ruby Red, within 24 hours.

But the company's products did not budge, nor did Triangle respond or accept its opportunity for a hearing with the FDA.

So, for the first time ever, the agency issued a formal order that Triangle recall its kratom today.

'This action is based on the imminent health risk posed by the contamination of this product with salmonella, and the refusal of this company to voluntarily act to protect its customers and issue a recall,' said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in a statement.

Calls and an email to the company were not immediately returned Tuesday morning.

This week's action marks the first time the FDA has ever formally ordered a food recall. Congress gave the FDA that authority in 2011 after a series of high-profile food outbreaks involving peanut butter, spinach and other grocery staples.
Two cancer survivors have filed a lawsuit against a hospital that lost the eggs that they had had harvested and stored there, and a third will soon join them.

All three women were told that their cancer treatments would likely leave them unable to have children, but delayed chemotherapy to undergo fertility treatments at University Hospitals, Cleveland.

But on March 3, they became three of at least 950 women whose preserved eggs were lost due to several stages of failure of a cryogenic tank, and the hospital announced last week that another 1,000 families may soon be notified.

Yesterday, the three women, accompanied by fabled women's rights attorney Gloria Allred, held a press conference to tell the stories of their losses.

Sarah Mehl is a cancer survivor and one of the women suing University Hospitals, Cleveland after a cryogenic tank failure destroyed the eggs she froze before starting chemotherapy

Rachel Mehl was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer in 2016 when she was just 38.

She has dreamt of nothing so clearly as being a mother someday, but was told that she would likely be left infertile by the chemotherapy treatments she needed to save her life.

But there was one last source of hope, Rachel said yesterday in a press conference: she could wait a few, critical weeks to begin her treatment in order to undergo fertility treatments and salvage as many of her eggs as possible.

The eggs represented 'the babies so very alive inside of my heart,' she said.

The choice was not an easy one, but it was a clear one for Rachel, now 40.

Like an increasing number of women  especially those given the devastating diagnosis of cancer at a young age  Rachel began to prepare herself to have eggs harvested, even as the cancer grew inside her.

She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but for the coming weeks travelled back and forth to University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was told specialists were best equipped to harvest and preserve her eggs.

Allred (left) comforted Sarah Deer (center) and Rachel Mehl (right) as the two survivors embraced during yesterday's press conference

THE SAN FRANCISCO FERTILITY CLINIC FAILURE Last month, San Francisco's Pacific Fertility Center informed its patients that nearly 400 embryos had been lost. The incident was almost identical to the one the 'human error' that resulted in the destruction of 4,000 eggs and embryos at a Cleveland, Ohio clinic. The San Francisco clinic admitted that the alarm that should have alerted staff to a malfunction in the cryogenic tank had been turned off, most likely by a person. So far, some 500 families have been informed that their eggs or embryos were lost in the incident. Advertisement

They extracted 19 eggs and Rachel joked with her friends that 'there may be a reality show in my future.'

She spent most of 2016 in treatment, including chemotherapy, surgery and 30 rounds of radiation, but her cancer came back less than a year after she had gone into remission.

'As either a direct or indirect result of cancer, I have lost so much: my hair, my ability to work at my full capacity, my dog, my deepest love, my best friend. I've lost the ability to be carefree and see the world through rose-colored glasses as I once did,' Rachel said.

Then, on March 3, she received a 'cold and impersonal' letter from the fertility clinic. Rachel's eggs were gone.

'Now because of the carelessness of UH, I have lost all hopes of ever having biological children,' she said.

Rachel's eggs had been stored in a cryogenic tank, but she says she has since learned that the vessel was broken, but the hospital staff left the eggs where they were.

These tanks are typically hooked up to an alarm system that alerts hospital staff of any malfunctions that might endanger the eggs.

But Rachel says she learned that that too had been turned off and the facility ran out of its own tanks and was unable to even fill the existing one with liquid nitrogen.

The more she found out about the events leading up to the loss of her eggs, the more angry Rachel grew.

'Cancer is a thief. It robs you of nearly everything and leaves you with almost zero control over your lie.

'Having my eggs frozen empowered me, it was a light at the end of a very dark tunnel, but now that light is extinguished,' Rachel said through her tears yesterday.

Sarah Deer was diagnosed with cancer at just 27 and is now joining Mehl in a suit against the hospital that lost her eggs

Now, she and another cancer survivor, Sarah Deer, have come together in a lawsuit against the hospital, and a third survivor, Danelle Yerkey, is expected to file suit in the coming days.

Gloria Allred, a civil rights attorney who has made headlines representing women's rights  ranging from the family of OJ Simpson's late wife, Nicole, in the trial against Simpson to the sexual assault case brought against Bill Cosby and will now represent former The Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos in a suit against the president  has signed on to the case.

At the press conference, Allred said: 'It's bad enough when women are treated with callous disregard in any area of life, but especially in this area which is so intimate and so personal and so life-changing, it has this enormous impact on them physically and emotionally.'

The case Allred is bringing in conjunction with an Ohio law firm is one of several against the hospital system, but she noted that a lawsuit is not enough, and urged legislative action.

'An apology is not enough under these circumstancesThe [Food and Drug Administration] should be regulating these as medical devices, which they are not. Regulation is not a dirty word,' Allred said.
The daughter of God-fearing parents fell pregnant at 18 to her 49-year-old boss... before going on to sell 160 million books

With her short-cropped hair and androgynous clothing, the diminutive Astrid Ericsson cut a somewhat unromantic figure. The young Swedish woman was determined to lead a modern womans life and had what appeared to be a promising career in journalism. Shed had an essay published and had secured a job as a trainee writer at her local newspaper. But when she fell pregnant at just 18, everything she had worked for was suddenly under threat.

It was 1926 and Astrids condition would have caused a scandal even if some local lad had been responsible  but it was much worse than that. The father-to-be was Astrids boss, 49-year-old Reinhold Blomberg: newspaper editor, pillar of the community, acquaintance of her parents and a married man with seven children, the oldest of which was the same as age as Astrid.

When Astrids most famous creation, Pippi Longstocking, first arrived on the literary scene in 1945, her disdain for supposed respectability helped make her a hit around the world. Since then the adventures of the worlds strongest girl have sold 160 million copies and been translated into 100 languages.

Lindgren was determined to lead a modern womans life. Above: the author in 1969 with actress Inger Nilsson on the set of the Pippi Longstocking film

When Astrids most famous creation, Pippi Longstocking, first arrived on the literary scene in 1945, her disdain for supposed respectability helped make her a hit around the world

Today, however, it is hard not to see Pippis disregard for societys norms as an echo of her indefatigable creators bitter experience as a young single mother in the conservative, rural Swedish community of Vimmerby.

Astrid had already enjoyed a degree of notoriety in the small town. At the age of 16, in her own words, she underwent a rapid and colossal change, turning from one day to the next into a proper jazz gal.

Inspired by La Garconne, a cult bestseller about a woman who rejects outdated gender stereotypes, Greta Garbo and the movies, she had her hair cropped and dressed in trousers, jackets and ties and a cap. I was the first person in town to cut my hair short, she later wrote. Sometimes people I met on the street would come over and ask me to take my hat off and show them my shorn head.

When Astrid started as a trainee at the Vimmerby Tidning newspaper, female journalists were rare, but she had already shown promise as a writer and the editor-in-chief, Blomberg, knew Astrids parents. And at first she thrived.

Then the affair with Blomberg began. He had remarried after his first wifes death in 1919, but when Astrid began working for him he was embroiled in a divorce case with his second wife, Olivia. Astrid was less smitten than surprised at the overwhelming interest in her soul and body, as Blomberg phrased it in a letter. Yet there was something dangerous about the relationship that attracted her. As she explained in a television interview years later: Girls are so silly. Nobody had ever been seriously in love with me before, and he was. So of course I thought it was rather thrilling.

But the pregnancy changed everything. Astrids parents were horrified. Her father Samuel was a church warden, her mother Hanna a deeply religious woman. They were the epitome of respectability  tenant farmers living at the rectory. I thought it would kill them, Astrid later wrote. Hanna occasionally asked, sorrowfully and with unconcealed astonishment, How could you? She felt that if I had to be pregnant, it ought to have been with a different father. And, truthfully, I felt the same.

In rural Sweden in the Twenties, a young, unmarried girl who was pregnant had two options: flee and give birth, or stay and bring shame on her family. With typical defiant courage, Astrid chose the former and described her flight as a joyous escape. Being the object of gossip felt almost like being in a snake pit, so I decided to leave the snake pit as soon as possible, she wrote.

When Pippi was first published in 1945, the characters generosity of spirit and fearless approach to life leapt from the pages

She rented a room at a Stockholm boarding house and began a typing course, before travelling to Denmark to give birth at the only hospital in Scandinavia where a woman wasnt required to give her own and the fathers name. For the first few years of his life, her son, Lasse, was to be raised by a foster mother, Marie Stevens, in Denmark.

The next three years were heartbreaking.

For decades after she became famous, thanks to Pippi, Astrid allowed the public to believe she had gone to Stockholm to attend art school, where she met Sture Lindgren. It wasnt until shortly before her 70th birthday that the partial truth about Lasse was revealed, but his biological father was never identified during her lifetime.

In 1929, ill-health forced Marie Stevens to give up fostering Lasse, and Astrid brought her son home to Sweden. Astrids parents, who had previously refused to acknowledge the child, offered to let Lasse live with them. He was to remain with his grandparents until 1931 when he went to live with his mother and her husband Sture. Three years later, Astrid gave birth to her second child, Karin.

It was against this background, in the dark days of 1941, that Astrid created Pippi to amuse Karin, when she was sick in bed  never imagining the little rebel would make her famous and entertain generations of young readers around the world. She was also increasingly influenced by the war in Europe  though Sweden was neutral she expressed concerns in her diary that it had apparently begun to trade with Adolf Hitler.

Since the Thirties, she had worked at the Institute of Criminology and was instrumental in implementing mail censorship. After 1940, she worked as an inspector for Swedish intelligence (my dirty job). She was sworn to secrecy and only able to empty her feelings into her diary, where she expressed her fear of the bullying brutality of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini. Evidently its Hitlers intention to turn Poland into one big ghetto, where the poor Jews die of hunger and squalor, she wrote. Her unease over Swedens neutrality, and the suffering endured in Europe, was reflected in Pippis adventures.

Astrids war diaries from 1941 to 1943 indicate that Pippi was a response not only to the war but to the people behind its lunacy with their urge to terrorise and destroy.

Pippi Goes To The Circus, as the story was called in the original manuscript in 1944, features a sinister ringmaster with a German accent and a whip, who is furious with Pippis flagrant disruption of his power when she leaps on to the back of a horse in the ring.

When Pippi was first published in 1945, the characters generosity of spirit and fearless approach to life leapt from the pages. That she became so globally popular was also a sign of the times. For the worlds strongest girl, who greeted violence and all unpleasantness with a smile, was for millions the perfect antidote to the horror of the war years.

Astrid went on to become one of the worlds most celebrated childrens authors. But her husband Sture shook her world when he fell in love with another woman. The marriage survived, but he died at just 51 and she never remarried.

When Astrid died in 2002 aged 91, her funeral was described as the closest you can get to a state funeral.

(c) Jens Andersen, 2018

Astrid Lindgren: The Woman Behind Pippi Longstocking, by Jens Andersen (translated by Caroline Waight), is published on April 10 by Yale, priced 25. Offer price 20 (20% discount, with free p&p) until April 15. Pre-order at mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640.
Found dead in a halfway house: Fashion writer, stylist and actress Tania Ellwood

This is the New Zealand halfway house run by a former Motown star where an actress and a convicted rapist were found dead in a shocking double fatality.

The bodies of Tania Ellwood, 39, and Timothy Hamilton, 36, were discovered at Dryden's Lodge, a sprawling home for vagrants and Auckland's most vulnerable, on March 6.

Mystery surrounds why Ms Ellwood and Hamilton were even together in a tiny unit on the basement level of the four-storey estate.

Relatives raised the alarm when they did not hear from Ms Ellwood in the first week of March, but little did they know the tragedy that had occurred.

Described by mates a 'bubbly' blonde and a 'gorgeous, gorgeous soul', Ms Ellwood a well known stylist and a former fashion writer for top magazines.

She was once cast for a role in Shortland Street, New Zealand's equivalent of Neighbours or Coronation Street, although she did not play an onscreen role.

The bodies of Ms Ellwood and Mr Hamilton were found at Dryden Lodge (pictured), in Auckland's inner suburb of Grey Lynn, in early March

The bodies of Ms Ellwood (left) and Timothy Hamilton (right) were found together inside the halfway house in Grey Lynn, in Auckland's inner suburbs. Police are not investigating homicide

This is the entrance to the downstairs level of the boarding house where both Ms Ellwood and Mr Hamilton were found dead on March 6

She was last seen by her partner who dropped her off at the bank as he left town on a work trip.

Days later, Ms Ellwood missed her father's birthday celebrations and did not respond to messages or calls.

Her sister Katrina issued a cry for help on Facebook and police went public with a plea for information.

Tragically, Ms Ellwood and Hamilton were already dead.

The same day as the police plea, a maintenance worker found the man and woman's bodies inside an apartment Hamilton had rented just a week before.

'It was like something out of a horror movie,' one resident said, describing the scene in an interview with the New Zealand Herald.

In a bizarre twist, the property was later revealed to be owned by Ronald Lapread - Lionel Richie's former bassist in the American R&B supergroup, the Commodores.

The Alabama band were one of the biggest of the 1970s - supporting the Jackson Five for three years - and some of Lapread's clothes are even 'embalmed' in museums in the United States.

Another view of the halfway house - which is home to vagrants and houses some of Auckland's most vulnerable people

Bikes and kids' scooters were strewn in a small courtyard on a lower level of the estate

Ron Lapread (back row) is pictured here with his wife and pop superstar Michael Jackson

Mr Lapread's Facebook page still features several pictures of himself with Michael Jackson. He even claimed to be his protege.

'Michael Jackson is my mentor,' he told Noted.co.nz.

'He taught me everything about the business.'

Lapread and his Iranian wife have long housed more than a hundred tenants across two boarding houses in the city - most down on their luck.

New Zealand police Detective Senior Sergeant Glenn Baldwin told Daily Mail Australia that officers are 'not treating the incident as a homicide.'

A bunch of flowers were rested on the door of the room once occupied by Tania Ellwood and Timothy Hamilton

A note with reference to 'Princess Meow Meow' was also left outside the room of the deceased

But the deaths have left some tenants and the owner of the home a little jumpy. Mr Lapread declined an interview request through his son.

A prominent tenant at the residence, Junior, did not want to speak about the deaths but said: 'We've got some odd ones that come in here, the village idiots.

'But we are like a community in here. We look after each other.'

Tenants smoked out the front and walked the hallways shirtless as music boomed from their tiny rooms.

The estate showed signs of age and features communal bathroom and kitchen spaces.

The reception area was abandoned and a large sign out the front stipulated some strict rules, including 'all tenants must be  free of odour'.

Lapread was the bassist for Lionel Richie's R&B band The Commodores in the 1970s (seen with Michael Jackson)

'We are like a community here, we look after each other,' a local resident known as Junior said

Both Ms Ellwood and Mr Hamilton have been buried and police have confirmed a coronial investigation is underway.

'Police have provided information to the families to help better understand the circumstances surrounding both deaths and support them to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones,' Mr Baldwin said.

'The evidence that is gathered will be provided to the Coroner, who is ultimately responsible for determining the causes of the two deaths.'
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The most amazing underwater pictures in the world have been revealed - including a close-up snap of an angry crocodile.

More than 6,000 pictures were entered for the underwaterphotography.com contest across 17 categories - from macro close-ups to wide angle shots, with two Brits claiming gold medals.

Tom St George scooped a gold in the Wide Angle/Marine Life category with his shot of a American Crocodile in Banco Chinchorro, Mexico, so close you can count the teeth.

And Christopher Llewellyn won the top prize in the Wide Angle/Wrecks section for a spooky staircase on the MV Karwela ferry wreck in Gozo, Malta.

An American crocodile pictured at Banco Chinchorro, off the coast of Mexico, so close you can count the teeth. British entrant Tom St George took the picture and scooped a gold in the Wide Angle/Marine Life category

Tanya Houppermans from the US got a silver medal for this shot of a lemon shark in the dappled sunlight of the Bahamas

A jaw fish, with its mouth stuffed with eggs, pictured in Indonesia by Chun Zhou, who won the Macro/Close-Up category. He said: 'This has a hundred new lives in its mouth. It took me four dives to find it and then wait for this shot'

This picture of a spooky staircase on the wreck of the ferry MV Karwela, in Gozo, Malta, won gold in the Wide Angle/Wrecks section for Britain's Christopher Llewellyn

This is a rare shot of the larval form of a Tripod fish, captured 600 feet down by Suzan Meldonian off America's East Coast. She described it as a creature from the deep, originally found at 15,000 feet in the Marianas Trench

A weird fish with its mouth fully open was captured by Kerim Sabuncuoglu from Turkey, who was runner-up in the Wide Angle/Close Focus section (left); Chun Zhou also won silver in the Macro/Swimming section with a strange glowing octopus shot in the Philippines that looks like an alien

This Loggerhead Turtle in Australia, shot by Australian Mark Gray, won him the bronze in the Wide Angle/Close Focus section

Describing his crocodile picture, Tom said: 'These are one of the larger species of crocodile, although they are not particularly aggressive.'

Swirling around the diver, a huge school of big eye jacks in Mexico won Jason Sintek from Turks and Caicos islands Wide Angle/Divers gold.

And an incredible shot of a Jaw Fish with its mouth stuffed with eggs in Indonesia clinched a gold medal for Chun Zhou from China in the Macro/Close-up category.

But not all the prize winners were obviously dramatic shots, with some of the ocean's more delicate creatures caught on camera.

Chun also got a silver in the Macro/Swimming section with a strange glowing octopus shot in the Philippines that looks like an alien.

And the winner of that category was Suzan Meldonian from the US with a rare shot of a Tripod fish larva at 600 feet down off the American coast.

Website owner Tal Mor, who runs the competition, said: 'Winning here, or even just being placed, is Underwater Photography's most coveted accolade because it says you succeeded in the most competitive environment there is, against the top talent of the moment.

'One of our medals is the reward for all the hard work they have put in chasing those great shots in far-flung destinations.'

Jason Sintek from the Turks and Caicos Islands won the Wide Angle Divers/gold for this school of big eye jacks in Mexico

Divers in the crystal clear water of a cave in Tulum, Mexico won Yuping Chen from China a silver in Wide Angle/Natural Light

This shot of a whale shark in Indonesia bagged Tracey Jennings from Singapore gold in the Wide Angle/Natural Light section

In the Over/Under section which features shots half in and half out of the water, silver medal went to Massimo Georgette from Italy with another American Crocodile, this time in Cuba
A hairdresser who was handed the wrong order at a Sydney McDonald's drive-thru last week says police threatened to fine him $300 after tracking him down to his home late at night.

Santo La Rocca, 44, said he stopped by the Bass Hill McDonald's on Thursday around 8.30pm to pick up dinner for his kids on the way home, but didn't realise until he arrived that he'd was given another order worth $17 more.

'My daughter was a bit annoyed because she didn't get her nuggets but I said just suck it up and we ate it,' Mr La Rocca told the Daily Telegraph.

Santo La Rocca (pictured), 44, says police threatened to fine him $300 for 'stealing' after he was handed the wrong order at a Sydney McDonald's drive-thru last week

Mr La Rocca said he stopped by the Bass Hill McDonald's (pictured) on Thursday around 8.30pm to pick up dinner for his kids on the way home, but didn't realise until he arrived that he'd was given another order worth $17 more

'I couldn't be bothered to take it back because how many times do they stuff up your order when you go through the drive through?'

The father-of-two, who owns Tender Loving Cuts hair salon in Ashfield, said he shrugged off the accident but was shocked when he and his children were awoken by police officers knocking on the front door at 10.30pm.

Mr La Rocca said the officers accused him of stealing the McDonald's order, which he thought was a joke.

'Shouldn't they be fighting crime, not fighting the Hamburglar?' he told the Daily Telegraph.

Mr La Rocca told the publication officers threatened him with a $300 fine before letting him off with a warning.

NSW police officers told Daily Mail Australia officers 'attended a fast food restaurant about 9pm on Thursday the 22nd of March following reports a man had earlier driven into the drive-thru and began filming staff without permission and allegedly failed to pay for food.'

'About 10.30pm officers attended a home in Georgia's Hall and spoke with a 44-year-old man about both incidents, he was cautioned.'

Police said they would not be taking any formal action because of 'conflicting versions provided'.

'Our employees felt intimidated by the person filming them without consent and decided to notify the police, who chose to investigate further,' a McDonald's spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
Iryna Tarakan secured the safe return of her son Michael (pictured together) from Lebanon more than three years after her estranged husband fled from Australia

A Sydney mother has 'pulled off the impossible' and snatched her two young sons back from her estranged husband after he fled with the siblings to Lebanon more than three years ago.

'I've been through hell - I'm so glad it's over,' Iryna Tarakan told The Australian on Monday, after grabbing her eldest son in Dubai and securing the safe return of his younger brother from Beirut last month.

Ms Tarakan travelled across the globe in a desperate bid to get her sons back, in a case strikingly similar to Sally Faulkner's infamous attempt to have her children returned from the Middle East with the help of 60 Minutes.

In December 2014, Ms Tarakan's former husband Tony Sukkar boarded a plane to Lebanon with brothers Ghattas and Michael, then five and two.

Mr Sukkar left the couple's daughter Najla, then seven, in Australia - and refused to return home.

'At first I was just shocked and didn't know what to do and then you wake up in the morning and you're kids are not there,' the distraught mother-of-three told Seven News at the time.

Ms Tarakan (pictured in Lebanon) searched the streets of Beirut for her five-year-old son, Michael

'Three years and four months without my little man. We are back home,' Ms Tarakan captioned this photo of Michael upon their return to Australia

In October the following year, Ms Tarakan convinced Mr Sukkar to meet her and their daughter in Dubai, where she planned to grab Ghattas and Michael and return to Australia.

She was shattered to learn the father - who has family in Beirut - had left Michael in Lebanon.

But when Mr Sukkar walked out of their hotel room to collect takeaway food, Ms Tarakan pounced, snatching Ghattas and Najla before boarding the first available flight to Singapore.

'My kids were sitting on the couch in their pyjamas. I said ''listen kids, come on, get up, we have to go'',' she told the paper.

Pictured: Ms Tarakan's children, Michael, five, Ghattas, eight, and their 10 year-old sister Najla

'I've been through hell - I'm so glad it's over,' Ms Tarakan said on Monday, after grabbing her eldest son in Dubai and securing the safe return of his younger brother from Beirut last month

Ms Tarakan is pictured with her son Ghattas, who she snatched from Dubai in 2015, and her daughter Najla

Ms Tarakan was questioned by airport officials before she was waved through customs. She then locked herself and her children in a toilet cubicle until the plane was ready to depart.

When Mr Sukkar later returned to Australia without Michael, Ms Tarakan travelled to Beirut, obtained a court order for the child's return and searched the streets of the Christian neighbourhood where Mr Sukkar had lived.

As she searched, local police detained one of Mr Sukkar's relatives for keeping Michael in hiding. The family later agreed to return him to his mother.

After more than three years apart, Ms Tarakan said she fell on her knees and cried as she hugged her now five-year-old son, who was in a state of shock and didn't hug her back.

In October the following year, Ms Tarakan (pictured) convinced Mr Sukkar to meet her and their daughter in Dubai, where she planned to grab her sons and return to Australia

Ms Tarakan travelled to Beirut and searched for Michael in the streets of the Christian neighbourhood where he had lived with his father

Ms Tarakan thanked her supporters as she returned to Australia with her son, who she hadn't seen for more than three years

'Three years and four months without my little man. We are back home,' Ms Tarakan wrote on Facebook as she returned to Australia with Michael on March 15. 'Thank you everyone who supported me through this nightmare.'

The child recovery expert who advised Ms Tarakan on how to have her children safely returned to Australia said it was 'almost impossible' to retrieve children from Lebanon.

'It's very rare, in my experience... She has pulled off almost the impossible,' Col Chapman, the same expert used by Ms Faulkner, told The Australian.

Mr Sukkar told the paper there was 'another side' to the story and claimed Ms Tarakan was 'not genuine', though he refused to comment further.

'At first I was just shocked and didn't know what to do and then you wake up in the morning and you're kids are not there,' a tearful Ms Tarakan said when her children were first taken

Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner continues to fight for the return of her children, Lahela and Noah

Meanwhile, Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner continues to fight for the return of her children, Lahela and Noah, after they were snatched by her estranged husband Ali Elamine and taken to Beirut in 2016.

Ms Faulkner and Channel Nine hired agents who attempted to take her children back from their father. The attempt, which was to be broadcast on 60 Minutes, landed Ms Faulkner, along with Tara Brown and the 60 Minutes crew, behind bars.

Mr Elamine, who was paid US$500,000 to drop the charges, said he and his two children were just getting on with their lives.

'We dont really care, were not interested, and at the end of the day I will do what I like regardless of what she says,' he told News Corp late last year.

Ms Faulkner's children were snatched by her estranged husband Ali Elamine and taken to Beirut in 2016
A motorcyclist has been caught on CCTV tampering with a speed camera in southeast Melbourne early Monday morning.

The man, who was wearing a helmet, was filmed climbing up the pole at about 6am and tinkering with the speed camera.

Apparently not satisfied with his efforts the man then set the speed camera alight.

A motorcyclist has been caught on CCTV setting a speed camera alight in Melbourne

The fire caused damage to the camera, located on the corner of Punt Rd and High St in Windsor, however, any images captured are automatically uploaded to the Department of Justice.

Police have released an image of the man and are appealing to the public for anyone that may be able to assist them in their inquiries.

Anyone with any information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or complete a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Dining at Sydney's two hatted restaurant Aria can cost up to $420 per person for the seven course tasting menu.

However, there are many hidden costs which contribute to the price of culinary experience.

When savouring dishes, diners seldom think of the cost of restaurant essentials such as the crockery and cutlery on their tables.

Dining at Sydney's two hatted restaurant Aria can cost up to $420 per person for the seven course tasting menu, but there are hidden costs involved in maintaining amenities such as table linen and stemware that diners often forget about

The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food revealed the hidden expenses which are absorbed in the cost of dining out.

At Sydney restaurant Aria, the jewel in the crown of Sydney chef Matt Moran's food empire, arranging table settings is surprisingly expensive.

For instance, at Aria, it costs $20,000 to replace shattered wine glasses every year.

The glasses can be damaged as waiter hurriedly clear dishes, or as diners accidentally knock stemware off the table.

Sydney chef Matt Moran is the author of numerous cook books and owns the two hatted restaurant Aria in Sydney's Circular Quay

At another high end Sydney establishment, Brent Savage, co-owner of the Bentley Restaurant and Bar said that he spent $12,000 on a machine that polishes wine glasses.

'Yes, we spent a lot of money on the dishwasher that does that, but now we don't have to pay someone to stand there to polish glasses,' he said.

'Restaurants are ridiculous in how quickly you can bleed money and that's why restaurants go broke so easily. It's all the hidden costs where it really affects you,' he said.

But wine glasses are not the only casualty. Subject to spills and stains, dirty table linen can incur sizeable cleaning costs.

It costs $20,000 to replace shattered wine glasses every year at Sydney's high end Aria restaurant, the jewel in the crown of Sydney Chef Matt Moran's culinary stable

The interior of Matt Moran's Aria restaurant in Brisbane, one of the establishments owned by the Sydney food mogul

According to Sydney Laundry, it can cost up to $10 to wash and press a single table cloth and $1 to wash and press each napkin.

With hundreds of diners passing through the restaurant, the costs add up. For instance, Aria's table linen laundry bill can reach up to $280,000 per year.

In addition, the basic set up costs of stocking a restaurant can be a large outlay.

Customised cutlery and crockery at Barangaroo House, one of the restaurants in Matt Moran's stable, can cost up to $100,000.

Sydney Chef Matt Moran(pictured) also owns the restaurant Barangaroo House, where customised cutlery and crockery can cost up to $100,000

Home to fusion restaurant Chin Chin in Melbourne and Sydney, The Lucas Group is no stranger to the cost of replacing tableware.

When Sydney's Chin Chin opened in October last year, they started with $54,000 worth of cutlery. However, only five months later, Chin Chin is purchasing more due to breakage.

John Kanis, of The Lucas Group, which runs Chin Chin in Sydney and Melbourne said it's a 'staggering cost'. In fact, The Lucas Group would spend $45,000 a year on replenishing stolen cutlery.

Sydney Chef Matt Moran (pictured) opened his first restaurant at the age of 22 and now owns a stable of venues including award winning restaurant Aria

Perhaps this is due to the uniqueness of the cutlery, fashioned from black folded steel in Thailand and made specially for Chin Chin.

'It's not a product you would ever see in Australia and, as such, we do see a lot of it 'walk out the door'. But for us, if guests love it, we are happy for shrinkage!" Mr Kanis said.

Before walking out the door, customers can now consider that maintaining basic amenities is an invisible cost in their night on the town.
Bowel cancer battle: Lord Lansley with his wife Sally

Former Tory health secretary Andrew Lansley has revealed he has bowel cancer, and last night criticised the Treasury for opposing a scheme to catch the disease early.

Lord Lansley, 61, said he was receiving chemotherapy for the disease and had every reason to hope he will survive long-term.

But he criticised the Treasury for wrongly thwarting a screening programme he introduced which might have caught the cancer sooner.

Lord Lansley told The Daily Telegraph he discovered his Stage 3 tumours only after his wife Sally nagged him to see a GP because of back pain.

As health secretary under David Cameron, Lord Lansley launched a screening programme for the cancer called Bowelscope in 2010.

It was due to be rolled out nationally in 2016, but the scheme is currently available to only 50 per cent of the population, due in part to a shortage of endoscopists and support staff.

Lord Lansley blamed cuts to the Health Education England budget, which the Treasury treated, wrongly, as a budget not within the NHS ring-fence. He added that he would have been called to this new screening programme, had it been implemented as planned.

Lord Lansley, 61, said he was receiving chemotherapy for the disease and had every reason to hope he will survive long-term

Andrew Lansley (second right) attends a meeting with healthcare representatives at 10 Downing Street with then Prime Minister David Cameron

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley speaks at the Conservative Party Conference in 2010

Lord Lansley added that cancer survival must not be about luck and said he feels deeply for BBC presenter George Alagiah, 62, who has Stage 4 bowel cancer

HOW DOCTORS SCREEN FOR THE UK'S SECOND BIGGEST CANCER KILLER Bowel cancer screening is offered to those aged 60 to 74 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - but not anyone younger. The main screening method is the faecal occult blood test (FOBT), which looks for hidden blood in stools. It is posted to people in the age range every two years  they then post a sample back. Bowel cancer is the UK's second biggest cancer killer - around 16,000 people die from it each year. If caught early, at stage one, patients have a 97 per cent survival rate for at least five years, but discovered later, at stage four, this falls to just 5 per cent for men and 10 per cent for women. Former Tory health secretary Lord Andrew Lansley launched a screening programme, called bowelscope, to detect signs of cancer for 55 year olds eight years ago. It was due to be rolled out nationally in 2016 - but fell foul of financial cuts. Bowel cancer screening starts at 50 in Scotland. The decision to start 10 years later in the rest of the UK has been the subject of controversy. BBC news presenter George Alagiah previously said his bowel cancer could have been caught earlier if the screening programme in England was the same as in Scotland. He was first diagnosed four years ago, at the age of 58; last Christmas he was told that the cancer had returned and its now stage four. Advertisement

Stage 3 tumours are normally in the bowel wall and may also have spread to nearby lymph nodes, but not to other parts of the body. Almost 65 per cent of men whose bowel cancer is diagnosed at this stage can expect to live beyond five years, according to Cancer Research UK.

Lord Lansley said if Bowelscope was running properly, it could save 3,000 lives a year. Bowel cancer, if diagnosed early, is curable, he said. That has to be our aim.

Lord Lansley said he was lucky to have seen a GP who referred him to a specialist and a first-rate NHS surgical team which carried out his seven-hour operation.

But he added that cancer survival must not be about luck and said he feels deeply for BBC presenter George Alagiah, 62, who has Stage 4 bowel cancer. Mr Alagiah said last month that if the NHS in England had a Scottish-style screening system at 50  instead of 60  his cancer might have been caught while it was curable.

Currently only 10 per cent of bowel cancer cases are diagnosed through screening, with roughly a fifth of diagnoses not made until the patient is in an emergency department. By this time, the cancer has often spread around the body and cannot be cured.

The Government has committed to introducing a new test for bowel cancer called FIT (faecal immunochemical test).

Lord Lansley called for Bowelscope to be introduced immediately and for the screening age to be reduced to 50. He added: I was fortunate that I was in a hospital which does conduct such testing, he said. Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the country. It should be so much less.

These priorities for progress can save money and make a real difference. By prevention and early diagnosis, we can save lives and save money.

One in 14 men and one in 19 women in Britain will be diagnosed with bowel cancer at some point in their life, according to Cancer Research UK.

About 16,000 people die from the disease each year.

Deborah Alsina, of Bowel Cancer UK, said: As Lord Lansley rightly highlights, we need to urgently invest in both the endoscopy and pathology workforce to ensure we can deliver an optimal bowel cancer screening programme.
Deputies have arrested an Oregon woman accused of striking her father with a car.

According to the Deschutes Sheriff's Office, deputies received a call around 4.20pm late Sunday afternoon that 28-year-old Emmy Gilbert, who reported spraying her father Paul Gilbert, 61, with pepper spray after she struck him with her car.

When deputies arrived, they found Emmy's white 2003 VW Jetta had crashed into a fence near the father's home, located in the 19800 block of Rocking Horse Road, Lt Mike Biondi told KTVZ.

Emmy Gilbert, 28, was arrested after she struck her father, Paul Gilbert, 61, with a car and pepper-sprayed him

Deputies later learned that Paul (pictured) had seen his daughter drive by his house on the 19800 block of Rocking Horse Road in Bend, heading east, and went out to meet her. She came back westbound and hit her father into the driveway, sending him onto the car's hood and windshield

Deputies later learned that Paul had seen his daughter drive by his house, heading east, and went out to meet her.

She came back westbound and turned into the driveway, sending her father, who was standing about one-and-a-half feet into the road's driveway, sending him onto the car's hood and windshield.

The car then struck the fence. Paul made his way to the front porch and his daughter followed him, spraying him in the face, according to Lt Blondi.

He ran into his house and she allegedly followed him, spraying him again with pepper spray, this time in the back of the head.

Paul (left and right) made his way to the front porch and his daughter followed him, spraying him in the face, according to police. He ran into his house and she allegedly followed him, spraying him again with pepper spray, this time in the back of the head

Emmy Gilbert was arrested and charged with second- and fourth-degree assault, menacing, unlawful use of a weapon, reckless driving, second-degree criminal mischief and unlawful use of pepper spray. She is currently being held on $85,000 bond (Pictured, the Gilbert house)

Bend Fire Department paramedics responded and checked out the father at the scene, but he wasn't taken to the hospital.

Emmy Gilbert was arrested, taken to the county jail and booked on charges of second- and fourth-degree assault, menacing, unlawful use of a weapon, reckless driving, second-degree criminal mischief and unlawful use of pepper spray.

She is currently being held on $85,000 bond.
This is the moment a brave young man realises he has caught a huge bull shark while out fishing with friends at a popular swimming spot.

Kai George, 16, couldn't believe his eyes after snagging the monster catch near the Lilli Pilly wharf, in Sydney's south, during the early hours of Monday morning.

Footage shows the moment the angling enthusiasts reeled in the predator before discovering the sheer size of the beast, which was later measured to be 3.28 metres long.

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Young Sydney boy Kai George (pictured) reeled in a monster bull shark while fishing at Kirribilli wharf

In the footage uploaded to Facebook, Mr George is heard exclaiming in total disbelief as the group snag the monster catch near the Lilly Pilly wharf

'Holy f***, big f*****g bull shark... You can't even fathom how fat it is,' the teenagers can be heard saying as they take a good look at their haul.

On Tuesday morning Mr George told Sunrise that he knew the shark had been spotted in the area so he and a few friends decided to hunt it.

'Me and my mates heard a few reports on this big three-metre bull shark, didn't know if they were true, I guess we had to put it to the test and we ended up bringing up a three-metre bull shark,' he said.

'We didn't expect at all to catch it, we thought what have we got to lose, we're just a bunch of teenagers looking for a big shark,' he said.

The shark was measured to be 3.28 metres before being released back into the water

The 16-year-old was with friends on Monday morning when he snagged the catch

Mr George explained his parents knew he went out targeting the shark but never thought he would actually catch it, so were very surprised to learn he had been successful in reeling it in.

The 16-year-old snapped a few pics next to the monster bull shark in knee-deep water before releasing 'to fight another day'.

He later shared the images as well as videos of the moment it was caught and pulled up on to the sand bar.

Since uploading the photos and clips to his Facebook page, the footage has been viewed more than 30,000 times garnering 280 comments and over 250 reactions in just 13 hours.
Rocker Ted Nugent doubled down on his attacks against Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg on Monday - calling the teen 'so brainwashed' he can't 'be fixed'.

Nugent, a gun rights activist and a longtime National Rifle Association board member, made the comments in an interview on WABC's Curtis and Cosby show.

The interview came three days after Nugent first attacked Hogg and other Parkland survivors who have started advocating for increased gun control, calling them 'mushy brained children' who have 'no souls'.

In his latest interview, Nugent focused his attacks at Hogg, one of the most outspoken of the Parkland survivors.

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Ted Nugent (left) has doubled down on his attacks on Parkland survivor David Hogg (right)

'(David Hogg) has been brainwashed, it's tragic,' Nugent said. 'I don't think the guy can be fixed. ... This guy is a lost cause. He is consumed with hate. He is part of the problem, not the solution.'

(David Hogg) has been brainwashed, it's tragic. I don't think the guy can be fixed. ... This guy is a lost cause. He is consumed with hate. He is part of the problem, not the solution. Ted Nugent

He said Hogg and the other survivors who have become gun control activists are 'not very educated' and 'wouldn't know an AR-15 from a pterodactyl'.

Nugent isn't the only one to criticize Hogg. Fox News' Laura Ingraham called Hogg out on Twitter last week when the teen complained about being denied by four of the colleges he had applied to.

That tweet landed Ingraham in hot water, with more than a dozen companies pulling their advertisements from her show.

She eventually apologized for her remarks, but Hogg has refused to accept her apology.

On Friday, Ingraham announced that she was going on vacation for the week of Easter, throwing her place on the network into question.

Nugent (pictured at a Trump rally in 2016), a longtime National Rifle Association board member, says Hogg and the other Parkland survivors are 'not very educated' and wouldn't be able to tell an 'AR-15 from a pterodactyl'

The rocker also expressed support for Laura Ingraham (pictured), who has lost more than a dozen advertisers after speaking out against Hogg last week

Nugent stood by Ingraham in his interview on Monday, saying he thought her comments were 'in line'.

'I think Laura Ingraham is a great person,' Nugent said. 'This Hogg guy had gone off the rails, and spewing the hate, and missing the whole point on how to make schools safe. So I think Laura was in line.'

Nugent said he didn't care if he got hate for supporting Ingraham.

'I don't have a worry in my brain,' he said. 'I'll let the dominoes fall where they may.'

I think Laura Ingraham is a great person. This Hogg guy had gone off the rails, and spewing the hate, and missing the whole point on how to make schools safe. So I think Laura was in line. Ted Nugent

Hogg has yet to respond to Nugent's latest comments. But after Nugent's first interview on Friday, some Parkland students spoke out against the rocker, saying he hasn't seen 'the tears' they've shed and they want an apology.

In his first interview about the Parkland students, on the Joe Pags Show on Friday, Nugent said the Parkland survivors were wrong to blame the NRA for mass shootings citing that most members come from good American families.

The rocker specifically called out Hogg and fellow survivor Emma Gonzalez for spreading '100 per cent lies and falsehoods' about the NRA.

He went on to say that 'the evidence is irrefutable, they have no soul'.

'They are actually committing spiritual suicide because everything they recommend will cause more death and mayhem, guaranteed,' Nugent said during the interview.

He blamed the students education as well as the mainstream media for the ideas they have spread about the NRA.

'The dumbing down of America is manifested in the cultural deprivation of our academia that have taught these kids the lies, media that have prodded and encouraged and provided these kids lies,' he said.

'I really feel sorry for them because it's not only ignorant and dangerously stupid, but it's also soulless.'

His main critique was against recent interviews Gonzalez and Hogg have done since the shooting on February 14.

Joe Pags played a CNN interview with Gonzalez and Hogg for Nugent so he could hear their responses to questions about guns.

Gonzalez said the NRA was giving out 'blood money' to politicians to promote their agenda and Hogg said people in the organization were 'child killers'.

Nugent responded: 'Well that is sad the level of ignorance just goes against the level of stupidity.'

The teen activists have drawn critics from the far-right because of their blatant criticism on anyone who supports the NRA or refuses to consider gun-control laws.

These critiques come after Nikolas Cruz opened fire on their school in Florida and killed 17 teachers and classmates.

Nugent defended his stance with the NRA and gun laws because he considers the organization to represent the 'the good law-abiding families of America.'
Jeremy Corbyn yesterday defended his controversial decision to attend a Seder hosted by a far left group which has called for the destruction ofIsrael.

He was accused of 'deliberately baiting' the Jewish community by attending the event by Jewdas which has dismissed Labour's anti-Semitism scandal as 'cynical manipulation'.

Confronted with the criticism on a trip to Swindon Mr Corbyn refused to apologise and said he had learnt a lot by talking to the young Jewish people at the event.

Labour MP and arch Corbyn critic John Woodcock said it was 'irresponsible and dangerous' and a snub to mainstream Jewish groups.

The Labour leader was also condemned by the Holocaust Education Trust chief executive Karen Pollock, who branded the visit 'mocking' and 'disrespectful'.

Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said Jewdas is a source of 'virulent anti-Semitism'.

He added: 'If Jeremy Corbyn goes to their event, how can we take his stated commitment to be an ally against anti-Semitism seriously?'

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured on a trip to Swindon yesterday with shadow education secretary Angela Rayner) has defended his controversial decision to attend a Seder hosted by a far left group which has called for the destruction of Israel

Jeremy Corbyn attended an event last night hosted by a far-Left group that has called for the destruction of Israel

Speaking yesterday on a trip to Swindon, Mr Corbyn said: 'It was a Seder event which is a celebration of Passover I celebrated it with a lot of young Jewish people from my constituency and my own community.

'It was very interesting talking to a lot of young people about their experiences of modern Britain - and isn't that a good thing?'

The row erupted after leaked audio of the meeting revealed Mr Corbyn was present while guests allegedly booed the names of mainstream Jews.

Confronted over whether the timing was bad given the anti-Semitism row which has engulfed his party, Mr Corbyn insisted that he is committed to rooting out the abuse.

He said: 'Anti-Semitism is a vile and evil thing in our society at any level any where at any time, it has got to be eradicated wherever it arises.

'If it arises in my party then we have a process for dealing with it - we examine each case and if someone has committed an anti-Semitism act they are suspended and could be expelled.'

Who are Jewdas, the group which Jeremy Corbyn controversially met with? Jewdas is a radical left-wing group in London's Jewish community that was formed in 2006. The group is known for 'far-left anti-Zionism' and is controversial in some quarters because of its opposition to the state of Israel - branding the Jewish state a 'steaming pile of sewage'. It has criticised mainstream Jewish organisations for their protests over alleged Labour anti-Semitism. In a statement last week, the group blasted the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement for 'playing a dangerous game with people's lives'. It claims allegations linking Mr Corbyn to anti-Semitism were 'the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party'. Advertisement

He said Labour is 'very clear' anti-Semitism for any other form of racism must not be tolerated.'

While the Jewdas group posted a response to the row on its Facebook page saying hey were 'delighted' with Mr Corbyn's visit.

It states: 'While we remain opposed to the monarchy, we were delighted that the leader of Her Majestys Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn accepted our invitation to join the Jewdas community Seder.

'Jeremy was a 10/10 guest and provided delicious maror from his allotment.'

The largely satirical statement added: 'In 1812 the British Government designated Jewdas to be the sole representative body for British Jews.

'We fulfil our role of being the voice for Anglo-Jewry by writing funny tweets, holding great parties and passing on the memes which we receive from God, via Geoffrey Cohen.

'Sadly our God-given right to be the sole spokespeople for Anglo-Jewry is not respected by many heretical organisations which are known as The Jewish Establishment.'

They added: 'We are not happy with the Jewish Establishment, but we remain deeply involved in many synagogues and communal organisations (although this is mostly for the free food).'

The latest anti-Semitism row has been played down by others who said Jewdas were a recognised part of the Jewish community.

Jon Lansman, the chief of the Corbyn-backing Momentum group, said it was not 'significant'.

And comedian David Baddiel, a Labour supporter who has harshly criticised Mr Corbyn over anti-Semitism, said the group were simply 'Jews who disagree with other Jews. Which means: Jews'.

Mr Corbyn (pictured yesterday leaving home in London) celebrated Passover with the group last night but was said to have attended in a private capacity as the constituency MP

The row came as Labour's new General Secretary Jennie Formby yesterday wrote to Labour member to say 'anti-Semitic attitudes must be completely eradicated within the Labour Party'

In other developments yesterday, the former Commons Speaker Michael Martin warned anti-Semitism could cost Labour the next election.

Mr Martin, a Labour MP before he took the Commons chair, said: 'The only way Labour can improve the quality of life for men and women, and children, is if they are elected.

'If Labour is seen as anti-Semitic, then that is going to be at risk.'

And Labour grandee Dame Margaret Beckett urged Mr Corbyn to be stronger in condemning anti-Semitism.

Momentum chief secretly recorded saying anti-Semitism row being used to attack Corbyn Momentum's chief was secretly recorded telling Corbynistas the anti-Semitism row has been used 'opportunistically' to attack Jeremy Corbyn. Jon Lansman, who is Jewish, said some right-wingers are using the row to discredit the Labour leader. He also said that all allegations must be investigated properly and that there is a wider problem with unconscious bias against jews in Labour. But his comments, recorded on March 26, strike a different tone to his tours of the TV studios over the past 48 hours when he has called for tougher action to root out anti-Semitism. He told the meeting: 'It's a difficult issue for Jeremy and the party. It is very unfair. 'Who are bringing these charges? Well, an awful lot of these cases that are brought to the attention of the Compliance Unit are from an organisation called the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, which is so right wing that it had a public spat with the Jewish Leadership Council.... 'Yes its true that there are people on the right who are opportunistically using this to get to the Labour Party. 'But I don't think that means that if there are charges that are valid that we don't have to take hem seriously - all charges must be taken seriously.' He also told how he has been the victim of anti-Semitic abuse recently. Advertisement

The Labour MP and former Foreign Secretary told The Times: 'Jeremy, who I don't doubt is not personally anti-Semitic, has never liked condemning people. That's why he has not been as robust as people might have wanted him to be.

'But I really need to think he needs to steel himself and say this is unacceptable because some people are hiding behind the claim that they haven't done or said something anti-Semitic and that they're being attacked because they're on the left.

'No, they are being attacked because they are doing and saying things that are anti-Semitic. It's not fair and it's got to stop.'

The Labour leader is already under pressure following a steady stream of revelations of an anti-Semitism issue within Labour.

Labour MPs and have campaigners expressed incredulity that he would meet with the controversial Jewdas group during the Jewish Passover festival.

Mr Woodcock said: 'This is deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community days after they pleaded with him to tackle antisemitism.

'And he must know that meeting them now will give his members the message that the group's extreme views are OK. Irresponsible and dangerous.'

Labour MP Wes Streeting, a vocal critic of anti-Semitism, said: 'This calls into serious question the sincerity of every public statement Jeremy Corbyn has made on anti-Semitism during the past week, just as many of us hoped we had begun to make progress.'

Ms Pollock said: 'It was clearly deliberate. No question of intent. Mocking. And disrespectful.'

Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said: 'Given the anti-Semitism crisis engulfing the Labour Party, there is absolutely no way that Mr Corbyn can claim that this too was an oversight.

'The Party must consider the message that is sent to British Jews and other minorities by him remaining as Leader.'

Mr Lansman, founder of the Corbyn-supporting Momentum group, said the Labour leader had not told his own office he was going to the event.

John Woodcock, a serial critic of Mr Corbyn on Labour's backbenches, claimed it was an incendiary intervention and a snub to mainstream Jewish groups deeply alarmed at a series of anti-Semitic incidents linked to Labour

The Labour leader was also condemned by the Holocaust Education Trust chief executive Karen Pollock, who branded it 'mocking' and 'disrespectful'.

comedian David Baddiel, a Labour supporter who has harshly criticised Mr Corbyn over the row, said the group were simply 'Jews who disagree with other Jews. Which means: Jews'

Mr Lansman, who is Jewish, told the Today programme: 'It was his night off, he had nothing in his official diary, his office didn't know he was there.

'So I don't think this is as significant as it's being made out.'

The chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council Jonathan Goldstein said: 'Look, firstly, I think it's important to say that every community is open to all strands of opinion, we have no issue with Jewdas and Jewdas having its opinions that it does, no community should have any problem with that.

Labour's new General Secretary vows to crack down on anti-Semitism Jennie Formby (pictured with Jeremy Corbyn) has written to Labour members on her first day in the job to say the party will get on with tackling the abuse Labour's new General Secretary has vowed to 'eradicate the stain of anti-Semitism in the party. Jennie Formby has written to Labour members on her first day in the job to say the party will get on with introducing the recommendations of Shami Chakrabarti's report into anti-Semitism. Labour has faced heavy criticism for failing to act on the report. And a leaked email from the outgoing General Secretary Ian McNicol said Jeremy Corbyn's office had been to blame for the delay. In her email today, Ms Formby - a close ally of Mr Corbyn - said: 'This week I will be moving to ensure the full implementation of the Chakrabarti report and introducing new procedures to deal with complaints and disciplinary cases. 'The stain of anti-Semitic attitudes must be completely eradicated within the Labour Party - we are the party for people of all races and faiths, the party of full equality for all, or we are nothing. 'Likewise, I will tackle any manifestation of misogyny, bullying or abuse of anyone, as Jeremy Corbyn has pledged. ' Advertisement

'What is surprising is that we've had silence from Mr Corbyn since we responded to him last Wednesday and he said in his statement on Monday that he was going to be a militant opponent of anti-Semitism and to always be our ally.

'And he in his first act towards the Jewish community has gone to sit with a group who describe the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies' actions as being a cynical ploy.'

Baddiel, who has been at the forefront of the debate over anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, rejected suggestions that Jewdas was 'despised' by other members of the Jewish community.

'No, it isn't,' he said. 'They are just Jews who disagree with other Jews. Which means: Jews ... To make out that it's somehow anti-Semitic for him to spend Seder with them just because they're far left is balls.'

Writer David Schneider tweeted: 'Boo! Corbyn needs to get out and meets some Jews!' (Corbyn spends Passover with some Jews at Jewdas) 'Boo! Not those Jews!'

The new rows come after Mr Corbyn deleted his Facebook account after it emerged he was a member of five groups hosting anti-Semitic material.

He was previously forced to apologise for questioning the removal of an anti-Semitic mural which showed Jewish figures playing Monopoly on the backs of the poor.

Labour's new General Secretary tried to get on the front foot by sending an email to Labour members vowing to crack down on anti-Semitism.

Jennie Formby - a close ally of Mr Corbyn - said: 'This week I will be moving to ensure the full implementation of the Chakrabarti report and introducing new procedures to deal with complaints and disciplinary cases.

'The stain of anti-Semitic attitudes must be completely eradicated within the Labour Party - we are the party for people of all races and faiths, the party of full equality for all, or we are nothing.

'Likewise, I will tackle any manifestation of misogyny, bullying or abuse of anyone, as Jeremy Corbyn has pledged. '

Labour has faced heavy criticism for failing to act on the report.

Last night, Labour sources insisted that the leader attended the event in a personal, rather than professional capacity, and was not working.

He chose to spend the evening celebrating Passover with 'friends and members of the Jewish community and people from within his constituency and nearby', they said.

The head of Momentum Jon Lansman (pictured yesterday in London) admitted the problem of anti-Semitism inside Labour was worse than both he and Jeremy Corbyn had realised

He apparently brought beetroot from his own allotment as a gift.

Asked whether Mr Corbyn was aware of what Jewdas stood for, a source said: 'I don't have that information.'

The recording, obtained by the Guido Fawkes website, revealed that guests reportedly shouted 'f*** capitalism' at the event.

Attendees were recorded booing the name of Jonathan Arkush, the President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

The event was reported to have ended with the words: 'Enough is enough. F*ck you all,' in an echo of the campaign to end anti-Semitism.

But Labour sources disputed this, saying that attendees had said the words used were actually 'next year, Sheffield'.

Critics highlighted that the leader chose to spend the Passover festival with a group critical of mainstream British Jews.

He did not meet the Board of Deputies of British Jews or the Jewish Leadership Council, both of which claim to represent mainstream British Jews.

Instead, the group reportedly attacked their response to Labour's anti-Semitism as 'playing a dangerous game with people's lives'.

Jewdas describes itself as a 'radical' group that 'opposes capitalism' and wants to 'overthrow the state' and describes Jewish critics as 'non-Jews'.

It has reportedly tweeted that 'Israel is itself a steaming pile of sewage which needs to be properly disposed of'.

It is said to have dismissed the Labour anti-Semitism scandal as a 'bout of faux-outrage' and criticised mainstream Jewish leaders.

It branded the anti-Semitism scandal 'the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party'.

Leaked audio revealed that Mr Corbyn was present at the event in his constituency hosted by a Jewish group where guests allegedly booed the names of mainstream Jews

In a blog post on its website four days ago, it reportedly labelled the editor of the Jewish Chronicle newspaper Stephen Pollard a 'non-Jew'.

Sources said other members of the Jewish community were present, including senior Rabbi Laura Janner Clausner was present.

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: 'Jeremy was invited to a Passover Seder with Jewish members of his local community.

'He wrote to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council last week to ask for an urgent formal meeting to discuss tackling antisemitism in the Labour Party and in society.'

Yesterday, the Labour leader gave an interview to Channel 4 News in which he accepted that there was 'genuine concern'

Meanwhile, Momentum yesterday issued a statement that will add to pressure on Mr Corbyn to take further action following a series of offensive posts by Labour members.

it said the anti-Jewish smears were the work of more than just a few 'bad apples' and should not be dismissed as 'right wing smears or conspiracies'.

It acknowledged the 'anger, upset and despair within the British Jewish community at the numerous cases of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party'.

It was agreed by the movement's national coordinating group, which includes Christine Shawcroft, who resigned as chair of Labour's disputes panel after opposing the suspension of an apparent Holocaust denier. She insisted anti-Semitism was 'being stirred up to attack Jeremy'.

Yesterday, the Labour leader gave an interview to Channel 4 News in which he accepted that there was 'genuine concern' about the issue.

Anti-Semitism was 'on the rise' in Britain and in other parts of Europe, he added.

He said the first task of Jennie Formby, the new Labour General Secretary, who started work this week, would be to appoint an in-house lawyer to tighten-up party procedures.

At least 10 sitting councillors or candidates contesting seats for Labour at local elections in May have been reported to the party over anti-Semitism, according to BuzzFeed.
The former NSA contractor accused of leaking classified documents has been spotted working out in prison as it is revealed she plans to subpoena Homeland Security as part of her trial.

Reality Winner, 25, has been in Lincoln County Jail in Georgia ever since she was charged in June last year for allegedly leaking classified information about Russian hacks to the media.

The former Air Force linguist was spotted exercising in torn clothes on prison grounds on Friday after eight months behind bars.

Reality Winner, the 25-year-old former NSA contractor accused of leaking classified documents, was spotted exercising in torn clothes at Lincoln County Jail in Georgia on Friday

Wearing a white tank top covered in holes and orange shorts, Winner sweated it out as she ran laps in the prison enclosure.

Winner, who speaks Arabic and Farsi, was working as a government contractor in Augusta with top-secret security clearance when she allegedly copied and mailed a classified report on Russian hacks and the US 2016 election to a media outlet.

Her lawyers disclosed in a court filing on Friday that they plan to subpoena officials from the CIA and Homeland Security as part of her trial, Politico reports.

Winner's team also want to involve representatives of the 21 states that Homeland Security notified last year that were said to have been targeted by the Russian hacks prior to the election.

In addition, they also want to subpoena top cybersecurity experts that could have useful information related to Winner's case.

Wearing a white tank top covered in holes and orange shorts, the 25-year-old sweated it out as she ran laps in the prison enclosure

Winner, pictured leaving court in June last year, plans to subpoena officials from the CIA and Homeland Security as part of her trial in October

Prosecutors are yet to respond to Winner's most recent filing about the subpoenas.

Winner's trial is currently scheduled to take place on October 15.

She has pleaded not guilty to charges that she illegally retained and transmitted national defense information.

Late last year, Winner sought release from prison ahead her trial saying she had been suffering 'health problems' and was taking medication to help her digest prison food.

The former Airwoman also made note of her active lifestyle, stating she intends to continue to teach yoga and spinning class if she is released.

In June, she was photographed practicing yoga and doing exercises in the prison yard.

Winner faces up to 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and three years of supervised release if found guilty of the charges.

Winner was working as a government contractor in Augusta with top-secret security clearance when she allegedly copied and mailed a classified report on Russian hacks to a media outlet
Contactless has become the default for nearly all debit and most credit cards in Britain

Bethan Davies considers herself a pretty savvy consumer.

The 37-year-old communications director, checks her bank balances each month and uses cash for daily transactions to help her budget while she saves to buy her own home.

A recent incident, however, has made her even more careful.

On a night out with friends in London's West End, she lost her contactless debit card.

'It was either lost or possibly stolen from my back pocket,' she says.

'We'd gone out to dinner and then on to a bar. Because I use contactless so much, I do tend to put my card in my back pocket  it's just so much easier.'

Bethan didn't realise it was missing until early the next morning and immediately called her bank, HSBC.

'The bank told me that no transactions had gone through during the evening. I thought, thank goodness, I've sorted it out before anything happened.'

Her card was cancelled and a new one sent out. No harm was done  though she vowed to stop putting her card in her back pocket.

But then something rather strange happened.

About a week later, while checking her bank account online, she noticed a series of small purchases.

'I was sure at first that I hadn't made them,' she says. 'Some were just 2 or 3 and all were under 20 at places like Tesco, or a takeaway chicken shop.

'That couldn't be me, I thought  I can't remember the last time I went to a chicken shop.

'And there was a payment at a dog grooming parlour, and I do have a dog  but he's a beautiful mutt and not the sort of dog you groom.'

The purchases, all made by someone else, added up to well over 100.

But because they had all been under the contactless limit of 30, they had gone through  even though the card had been cancelled.

When Ms Davies queried this with her bank, she learned that it was a 'quirk' of contactless technology.

Incredibly, in a small number of cases, a cancelled card used to continue to function for a time and no one was exactly sure why.

But the rise of contactless has led to the relentless rise of contactless fraud

While banks will refund any losses incurred after the card has been cancelled, her experience is just one alarming example of contactless fraud, now the fastest growing area of card fraud in the UK.

The technology makes consumers vulnerable in several ways.

Contactless has become the default for nearly all debit and most credit cards in Britain.

In the space of three years the number of cards has doubled, from 59 million in the UK in 2015 to 119 million by the end of 2017.

Undeniably convenient  you just tap the card on a reader without having to type in a PIN  they have been welcomed by banks and retailers.

Shopkeepers like them because their ease of use seems to encourage consumers to spend a bit more money.

Banks like them because as people use contactless more, they use cash less, and handling notes and coins is cumbersome and expensive.

But the rise of contactless has led to the relentless rise of contactless fraud.

Figures published this month show that losses  such as that experienced by Ms Davies  climbed to 14 million last year, up from 6.9 million the previous year and 2.8 million in 2015, according to Financial Fraud Action UK.

For the first time, contactless fraud has overtaken cheque fraud, which totalled 9.8 million last year.

UK Finance, which represents banks and card issuers and also runs Financial Fraud Action UK, says the statistic is to be expected.

Fewer people are writing cheques and contactless is very popular. They add that contactless fraud is  in relative terms  a small problem.

Not so, say other financial experts. With 52 billion spent on contactless cards last year, they believe the official fraud figures are a significant underestimate.

And when one of the most senior women in the City lets it be known that she does not use contactless, then perhaps it's time we all thought again about our blase use of the technology.

Last month Victoria Cleland, chief cashier of the Bank of England, whose signature is on every banknote, said: 'I do hear stories of friends  this is a personal anecdote, this isn't the official Bank view  whose money has been taken off contactless when you walk past something.

'And it's only up to 30. So I use cash for lower transactions anyway and for big ones contactless wouldn't work.'

Can this really be true? Can money be 'taken off' your contactless card by a 'digital pickpocket', standing beside you with a card reader?

Some phones can double as a card reader, courtesy of an app called 'credit card reader NFC'

In theory at least, it can  and quite easily.

To realise how, one needs to understand the technology behind contactless cards.

When you tap one on a reader in a shop, or when you get on a bus, your card details are transferred to the reader wirelessly using a radio wave.

The banking industry insists that someone needs to be within two inches of the reader for it to work. But research challenges that claim.

In a study published in the Journal of Engineering in 2013, scientists at the University of Surrey said they had 'successfully received contactless transmission from distances of 18 to 31 inches . . .'

So, anyone with a hand-held card reader  what waiters use when you pay your bill  could key in sums up to 30 and take money off your card by standing close to you.

In practice, however, nearly all experts say this sort of 'digital pickpocketing' is highly unlikely.

That's not because it's not possible  simply that it's likely that a criminal would be caught.

A card skimming device. For the first time, contactless fraud has overtaken cheque fraud, which totalled 9.8 million last year

Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, explains that for someone to get hold of a 'merchant's terminal'  the type of reader retailers use to take cash from your card  would require being registered as a retailer and going through security checks.

And anyone who used such a device to steal cash would be traceable.

'We have never seen an incident reported, where someone has lost money in that way,' she says.

But stealing cash from someone's card contactlessly is not the only problem.

The biggest threat to consumers is having their contactless card details 'skimmed'  when a fraudster doesn't steal cash, but takes card details  using a simple bit of kit which you can buy, legally, for 20 on eBay.

Or even simpler, you can download an app onto a mobile phone and use the phone as a card reader. They don't take cash but do read card details.

'It's a dinner party trick of mine,' explains Nigel Swabey, an entrepreneur who runs mail order company, Scotts of Stow and has an interest in card fraud.

'You hold up the phone to the pocket of a guest and say: 'Ah, it's an Amex, I see. Your number is this, and your expiry date is this.' They freak out.'

It works like this. The latest smartphones have contactless technology in-built so they can double up as contactless cards  so instead of tapping a card on a reader, we can tap our phones.

But that same technology also means some phones can double as a card reader, courtesy of an app called 'credit card reader NFC'.

It is completely legal and free.

The biggest threat to consumers is having their contactless card details 'skimmed'  when a fraudster doesn't steal cash, but takes card details  using a simple bit of kit which you can buy, legally, for 20 on eBay

Mr Swabey believes contactless cards are skimmed on a regular basis  and card details sold to criminals, who use them to either clone a card or make fraudulent purchases.

Such is his concern  and seeing a marketing opportunity  he bought the European rights to an Australian-designed wallet, called Skim Guard, which has a chip embedded into it.

It can tell if any device is trying to connect with the contactless cards inside the wallet and jam the signal.

Many other (usually simpler) protection wallets are available, and have been given out by Police Scotland at the Edinburgh Festival, while various councils, including St Albans, have issued them to residents.

Despite this, the banks continue to dismiss such concerns and claim wallet manufacturers and retailers are whipping up conspiracy theories.

What is not in doubt is that it requires only a very simple bit of kit to read the long card number and the expiry date off any contactless card if you are within a few inches of it.

The banks do concede this is a potential risk, but also maintain that having just the long card number and expiry date is pretty useless to criminals.

'While it may be possible to copy the information off the card, it doesn't get you anywhere,' says Ms Worobec at UK Finance.

'There are very limited circumstances you can use this in. Most retailers require the security, or CVV, number on the back.'

Yes, most online retailers insist you give the CVV code  the three digit security code on the back of the card which can't be read by a skimmer.

But not all do  including the UK's fifth largest retailer, Amazon.

You can type in any name and address, provide the long card number and expiry date of a card and buy something of any value  well over 30.

The retailer does not necessarily cross-reference the card number with any billing address. Similarly, many non-UK websites do not ask for a CVV.

In a 2015 investigation consumer organisation Which? used a simple card-reading device to skim details off ten cards.

In Africa, Asia and America, card security is not as strict as in Europe and for most purchases all that is needed is the long card number and the expiry date

Even without the names of the cardholders and the CVV code, the Which? team were able to make two purchases, one for a 3,000 TV online.

Experts believe criminals are exploiting contactless technology to steal tens of thousands of card details which they sell to be used on 'cloned' cards overseas.

In Africa, Asia and America, card security is not as strict as in Europe and for most purchases all that is needed is the long card number and the expiry date.

Aggie Leighton, 36, from West London, believes this happened to her.

The IT manager, who also runs money-saving website Savvycomper, received a text from her bank, Barclays, to warn her she had gone overdrawn.

'I couldn't work it out. Nearly 800 had left my account in the space of a few hours, while I had been asleep,' she says.

When she checked her account online, she found eight transactions had been made  in Chicago.

'The first had been a small amount at a petrol station, but then the fraudster went to a shop and restaurant. It looked like they went on a real spending spree.'

Ms Leighton had never been to the U.S., let alone Chicago.

She is convinced her card was cloned by a criminal who had obtained her card details via an electronic skimmer.

'I can't be 100 per cent sure,' she says.

'But it was around this time that I started to use my contactless card on the London Underground, so I had my card out a lot of the time.'

She was reimbursed the full amount, although it took numerous phone calls and bank visits.

Significantly, Ms Leighton's case  a victim whose card was cloned and used overseas  is not recorded under contactless card figures.

The banks record this type of crime as 'card not present' or 'remote card' fraud, not 'contactless'  despite contactless technology, in all probability, allowing it to happen.

Last year, this type of fraud totalled 409 million  overshadowing the official UK contactless fraud figure of 14 million.

It is, for the moment, impossible to say what proportion of this larger figure was due to criminals here electronically skimming the contactless cards of shoppers, commuters and tourists in Britain, and then selling the numbers.

Many experts believe contactless security needs to be beefed up  including Ross Anderson, a former banking industry security consultant and now a professor of security engineering at the Computer Laboratory at Cambridge University.

'The problem is the banks only count as fraud what they admit is fraud. Even in the official figures, contactless fraud is the fastest form of fraud in the UK,' he says.

'People should worry about this.'

Not least because the money lost by consumers and banks is going to increase.

The contactless card limit has risen rapidly from 10, when cards were launched ten years ago, to 20 and now 30.

Many banks are talking about raising it to 40 or 50.

Sarah Lewis, head of ID and fraud decision strategy at Equifax UK, the credit checking agency, says: 'I do understand that people want things quicker, and it's great for many consumers, but there is an element of risk.

'The fewer barriers you put in front of the fraudster the easier it is for them.'

Contactless has been great for many consumers  but it has also been a bonanza for criminals, and until banks start taking it more seriously, nothing will change.
American officials could step in to block the sale of British defence titan GKN to asset-stripper Melrose on national security grounds.

The deal is being examined in the US because the 259-year-old firm makes equipment for American Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters and F-35 fighter jets.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)  an American government body which can block deals anywhere in the world if they could harm the nations military  is looking at the takeover and concerns have been raised in the US Congress.

Turnaround specialist Melroses 8.1billion bid narrowly won the support of Redditch-based GKNs shareholders last week. It is expected to break up the defence firm and sell its divisions piecemeal to the highest bidders for a profit.

Concerns are raised in the US because the British firm makes equipment for its military helicopters and fighter jets including F-35 fighter jets (pictured)

Foreign buyers are thought likely to show an interest  particularly Chinese companies, which are always looking for defence and technology firms.

If US officials fear that parts of the company may end up in Chinese hands, they could seek to halt the acquisition.

Anne Stevens, CEO of GKN

Steve Turner, of the Unite union, said: The takeover is far from a done deal. National security concerns remain not just for the UK, but for the US too, where the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is yet to approve the takeover and to whom Unite has made representations.

GKN staff are holding crisis talks tomorrow to discuss how to respond to the takeover.

Melrose last month cancelled a self-imposed deadline to get the support of the CFIUS  in a sign that the process will not be a simple rubber stamp.

The company initially made its takeover conditional on winning backing from the US committee by April 19.

But it has now said it will forge ahead even if approval has not been secured by that date because a deal can be thrashed out afterwards.

Chaired by US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, CFIUS has blocked three attempted takeovers of US firms by the Chinese in the past three years alone. By contrast, the UKs Business Secretary Greg Clark has powers to stop a takeover under the Enterprise Act but never has.

Since the act was created in 2002, British politicians have intervened in just seven deals on national security grounds, but have always stopped short of blocking them. Labour MP Jack Dromey, whose Birmingham Erdington constituency includes a GKN factory, said: Its shameful that thousands of British jobs should now depend upon what the American government decides to do.

Workers from engineering firm GKN joined by Jack Dromy MP (centre) who will be lobbying the unwanted potential takeover of firm by Melrose

US Congressman Neal Dunn wrote to CFIUS in February, claiming Melroses lack of a defence background creates risks. Melrose  whose four bosses stand to split a 285million bonus if the deal leads to bumper profits  has already launched an offensive to try to charm the Americans.

Chairman Christopher Miller, 66, and chief executive Simon Peckham, 55, went to the Pentagon for talks with senior officials. And in a grilling by MPs in March, the pair insisted they will not jeopardise British security. Mr Peckham said: We live in this country.

My family live in this country. We are not going to sell GKN military assets to anyone who isnt an appropriate buyer. Even if we were free to do it, we wouldnt do it.

Melrose declined to comment last night. When it scrapped the deadline for CFIUS approval, the firm said constructive talks were being held with US officials.
Former RAF Pilot Alan Pollock at his home near Guildford

RAF pilot Alan Pollock has only seven seconds to make a life-and-death decision. Hes just feet above the waters of the River Thames in a fighter jet travelling at 300 miles per hour.

Less than half a mile ahead, blocking his way, is Tower Bridge. He can see that its busy with pedestrians and that a double decker bus is driving slowly across it. Should he fly through?

In the end, he decided to go for it.

It was April 5, 1968. Harold Wilson was prime minister, there were protests against the Vietnam War in London, and the Beatles Lady Madonna was No. 1.

The start of the month had also marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Air Force. The RAF was much loved  the feats of the pilots in the Battle of Britain were still fresh in the memory, and the new generation of jet pilots were in the front line of Britains Cold War defence.

Thirty-two-year-old Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock was one of those pilots. He had joined the RAF in 1953 and had risen through the ranks, gaining experience in aircraft including de Havillands Vampire jet fighter and its successor the Venom.

He had served in Germany and the Middle East and as an aide-de-camp to Air Marshal Sir Humphrey Edwardes-Jones during his time as Nato Air Commander.

Alan loved the RAF and felt its 50th anniversary should be celebrated with a flypast over London. There had been an official dinner and a few parades  but no flypast. This, he felt, was a terrible slight.

One thing that was in the Air Forces blood was that you celebrated in the air, not on the ground, Alan, now 82, says at his home in Surrey.

He was serving at the time in No. 1 Squadron. This is the RAFs oldest unit and as such he believed it had a responsibility to take the lead in ensuring the half-centenary was celebrated properly.

Alan decided to take matters into his own hands by staging a flypast of his own.

On April 4, Alan and three other Hunter pilots from his squadron had flown from their base at West Raynham in Norfolk to RAF Tangmere in Sussex, the former home of No. 1 Squadron, where they were helping to celebrate the base being given the freedom of the city of Chichester. He decided that the following day, on their way back, he would make a detour over the capital.

It was worth flying over London, even if I was going to get court-martialled, Alan says. At the very least, a trial would give him a chance to have his say on the problems facing the Air Force.

Soon after the Hunters took off on the morning of April 5, Alan slipped away from the others.

By tapping out coded messages using the transmitter button on his radio, he told his colleagues he had lost visual contact and that he was having problems maintaining spoken communication.

All Alan had with him for reference was a borrowed AA map, on which he had marked a route across London. Within a few minutes and keeping low to avoid commercial air traffic, he reached Heathrow Airport where he turned right and headed for Richmond Park and then the Thames.

Flying over the river would be the safest and quietest route through the capital. I went over the Thames because I didnt want to cause any trouble, Alan says.

His memories of the flight are vivid. The Hunter was flying in a gin-clear blue sky and one felt like Gulliver looking down at Lilliput. He dropped to about 150 feet and began to fly over the bridges, keeping to the middle of the river and looking out for helicopters.

Alan, angry at defence cuts and what he saw as the Labour governments complicity in the lack of celebrations for the anniversary, headed for Parliament and Downing Street. As he crossed Vauxhall Bridge he saw Westminster in the distance. Just as Big Ben struck midday, he opened the Hunters throttle and began three low, loud circuits of Parliament.

I put the power on then. I thought: Stuff it, let them hear some noise! The funny thing was that at the time, they were discussing noise abatement.

One building annoyed him  380-foot Millbank Tower, just upstream from Parliament. I hadnt expected Millbank Tower to be there, which was a dirty great thing. It spoiled my turns.

Alan was told later by Iain Duncan Smiths father, Spitfire ace Wilfred Duncan Smith, that he heard Alans engines from on the 6th floor of the Ministry of Defence building as he talked to Sir John Grandy, chief of the Air Staff.

Sir John looked up towards the sky, trying to see the plane. Duncan Smith had to put him right, telling him, No, look down there!

Meanwhile, Alan was searching for Downing Street. I wanted to make a noise over No. 10 as well. I didnt have a target map so I couldnt see where it was.

He waggled the Hunters wings in tribute as he passed over the RAF Memorial by Whitehall and then headed downstream towards the City. The jet flashed safely over Hungerford Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark Bridge and London Bridge.

Then he was in for a surprise. There, staring me in the face, was Tower Bridge. Id forgotten it was there!

I could have gone over it, but I was intrigued by it as a target.

He decided to fly through it, squeezing the aircraft at high speed between the busy road and the walkway over it.

The cranes of the Pool of London were to his left as he took the Hunter even lower over the water, his altimeter barely registering.

Peter Arnold, a steward on the cargo ship Baltic Sun, was terrified the jet would crash but it straightened out and shot over our heads. I thought I was dreaming.

Alan recalls: Right at the last minute, as my cockpit canopy was just below the bridge and the girders were all around me, in that microsecond I remembered Id got a tail fin behind and I thought: Im going to lose the fin! 

RAF fighter pilot Alan Pollock flew his Hawker Hunter jet through Tower Bridge in London as a protest about the RAF's 50th anniversary (mock up)

Somehow, the Hunter made it through. A cyclist on the bridge tumbled off his bike in fright, tearing his trousers. George Tapper, the Tower Bridge Watchman, was nearby. There was the most thunderous roar. I looked up and, whoomph, a big silver jet roared by, he said.

Alan pointed the Hunters nose downstream and kept going. Once he was over Essex, he headed north, back to base at RAF West Raynham. Flight Lieutenant Pollocks unofficial fly-past was over. When he landed, the first thing he did was burn his AA map. If he did end up being court-martialled, he didnt want such an embarrassing piece of evidence being made public.

Then he rang his wifes mother. There might be a bit of trouble  but not to worry, he told her.

He was right, there was trouble  the RAF top brass was not impressed with his exploits.

He was put in close arrest for two days and a psychiatrist concluded that Alan was lucid enough to face a court martial.

Hundreds of letters of congratulation from RAF colleagues and members of the public arrived at Alans squadron, along with a barrel of beer from BOAC.

An all-party motion of support, tabled in the House of Commons, was signed by six MPs (four of whom had been in the RAF).

In the end, Alan was given a medical discharge instead of a court martial, possibly to deny him the chance to explain his reasons for the flypast.

After leaving the RAF, he went on to work for Ford and the fire engine manufacturer Dennis.

Looking back now, he has no regrets. I left on a high point and I was so lucky to be flying such a magnificent aircraft as the Hunter, he says. The RAF is the best career you can have.

And 50 years since his daring flight, he has been delighted to see that there was no need for one of his successors to stage a similar protest. For the 100th anniversary, the RAF has had quite a few events going on over a number of days, he says. Good for them!
Fox News isn't letting go of Laura Ingraham.

The network revealed Ingraham will stay on-air, even though more than a dozen companies pulled their advertisements after she mocked David Hogg's college rejections.

'We cannot and will not allow voices to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts,' Fox News Co-President Jack Abernethy told the Los Angeles Times.

'We look forward to having Laura Ingraham back hosting her program next Monday when she returns from spring vacation with her children.'

Scroll down for video

Fox News revealed will not end Laura Ingraham's show, even though more than a dozen companies pulled their advertisements after she mocked David Hogg's college rejections

The Ingraham Angle host had come under fire after she claimed the Parkland school shooting survivor was 'whining' about not getting into four California universities

Ingraham took a pre-planned break from her show after apologizing to Hogg on Twitter.

The Ingraham Angle host had come under fire after she claimed the Parkland school shooting survivor was 'whining' about not getting into four California universities.

'On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland,' she tweeted on Thursday.

Ingraham added that she believed she was the first to feature Hogg on her show after the shooting, saying 'he's welcome to come on my show anytime for a productive discussion'.

But that was only after Hogg had mobilized a boycott of her advertisers, tweeting out a list of their names and encouraging followers to call and request the companies to drop the host's program.

The Atlantis Paradise Island resort, Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Hulu, Nutrish, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Liberty Mutual, Wayfair, StitchFix, Nestle and Johnson & Johnson have all pulled their ads from Ingraham's show.

Hogg later told CNN that he did not accept Ingraham's apology, which had been tweeted to her two million followers.

The 17-year-old said her harsh words were in line with previous remarks Ingraham had made about gay people studying at Dartmouth in 1984.

Hogg later told CNN that he did not accept Ingraham's apology, which had been tweeted to her two million followers

Hogg also referenced when the Fox News host told LeBron James to 'shut up and dribble', adding that these people also deserved apologies.

'It's disturbing to know that somebody can bully so many people and just get away with it, especially to the level that she did,' he said.

'No matter who somebody is, no matter how big or powerful they may seem, a bully is a bully and it's important that you stand up to them.'

Hogg also took issue with the fact that, in her apology tweets, Ingraham included a clip of her own interview with the high school student.

'That's what she does when she tries to apologize to me, she promotes her own show? Really?' Hogg added, calling her attacks 'really, really stupid'.

'I'm a 17-year-old kid, she's bullied people before and I think people are just sick and tired of it,' he said. 'She needs to acknowledge what she has done wrong.'

Hogg took to Twitter to bid farewell to the Fox Host who announced she was going off air

Ingraham, pictured above, announced she would be taking a vacation just days after Parkland shooting survivor Hogg convinced 11 of her show's advertisers to withdraw

When Ingraham announced she would be going away with her children for the Easter break, Hogg tweeted 'Have some healthy reflections this Holy Week' echoing Ingraham's own words of apology.

In her Friday evening segment she did not address her online clash with Hogg.

Ingraham sparked trouble on Wednesday when she took to Twitter to mock Hogg.

She wrote: 'David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it'.

Hogg said Thursday via Twitter that he would only accept an apology should she denounce her treatment of the Parkland student activists rallying for gun reform.

'I 100 percent agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight,' he wrote.

'It's time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children,' he added.

The Fox personality failed to address her clash with Hogg during her Friday broadcast

The online scuffle began on Wednesday when Ingraham mocked Hogg for being rejected from four colleges

Hogg has said he believes Ingraham is just trying to distract from the gun violence he and other students strive to end

Hogg told New Day on Friday he believes Ingraham is just trying to distract from the gun violence he and other students strive to end.

'She's only apologizing after a third of her advertisers pulled out, and I think it's really disgusting the fact that she basically tried promoting her show after apologizing to me,' said Hogg.

'I think it's great that corporate America is standing with me and the rest of my friends.'

'When you come against any of us, me or anyone else, you're coming against all of us. It is important that we stand together as corporate and civic America and show them they cannot push us around, especially when all we're trying to do here is save lives.'

He continued: 'When people try to distract like what Laura is trying to do from what the real is issue is, gun violence in America, it's not only is sad but wrong. I would say from a journalistic perspective, she needs to stand out.'

Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Hulu, Nutrish, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Liberty Mutual, Wayfair, StitchFix, Nestle and Johnson & Johnson have all pulled their ads from Ingraham's show

Fox News isn't the only one standing by Laura Ingraham.

It has recently been revealed that Russian bots are also supporting the host on Twitter, posting tweets with the hashtag #IstandwithLaura.

Hamilton 68, a website that tracks the spread of Russian propaganda on Twitter, found the hashtag jumped 2,800 percent in 48 hours this weekend, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

And on Saturday #IstandwithLaura was the top trending hashtag among Russian bots.

The Twitter handles for Ingraham, Hogg, and Fox News were also among the top six Twitter handles tweeted by accounts linked to Russia, according to the site botcheck.me, which tracks political propaganda bots.

And 'David Hogg' and 'Laura Ingraham' were the top two-word phrases that were being shared.

Researchers have found that a number of bots began tweeting about Parkland to spread false information after the February 14 massacre.
Sales of ivory, including almost all antiques, will be outlawed in the UK following a campaign by Prince William.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove confirmed the prohibition after a consultation found it was backed by most of the country.

The ban, which will be the toughest in Europe and among the toughest in the world, will help to tackle poaching and combat the illegal ivory trade.

The number of elephants has declined by almost a third in the last decade. Around 20,000 a year are still being slaughtered to feed the global demand for their tusks.

The number of elephants has declined by almost a third in the last decade. Around 20,000 a year are still being slaughtered to feed the global demand for their tusks

The Duke of Cambridge has campaigned to halt the trade in the prized material, alongside the charity Tusk, of which he is a patron.

The WWF said around 55 African elephants a day are killed for their ivory, with their tusks turned into carvings and trinkets.

Almost all antique ivory will be included in the ban, except for when an item is either very old or contains only a small percentage of the material.

Britains museums will also be exempt from the ban and will be able to decide which are the rarest and most important examples of ivory as art.

The maximum available penalty for breaching the ban will be an unlimited fine or up to five years in jail.

There were more than 70,000 responses to the consultation, with over 88 percent of responses in favour of the ban.

The ban, which will be the toughest in Europe and among the toughest in the world, will help to tackle poaching and combat the illegal ivory trade

Mr Gove said: Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol, so we will introduce one of the worlds toughest bans on ivory sales to protect elephants for future generations.

The ban on ivory sales we will bring into law will reaffirm the UKs global leadership on this critical issue, demonstrating our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past.

A recent European Environment Council called for EU member states to follow the UK lead and ban commercial trade in raw ivory.

In 2017, the EU launched a consultation on whether it should take further restrictive measures against the ivory trade but is yet to act.

In October, the UK will host the fourth international conference on the illegal wildlife trade, bringing global leaders to London to tackle the strategic challenges of the trade.

The UK military is already training African park rangers to intercept poachers in key African countries.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove (pictured) confirmed the prohibition after a consultation found it was backed by most of the country

Charlie Mayhew, chief executive of charity Tusk Trust, said: We are delighted that the Government has listened to our concerns and given the overwhelming public response to their consultation is now moving decisively to introduce tough legislation to ban the trade in ivory in the UK.

The ban will ensure there is no value for modern day ivory and the tusks of recently poached elephants cannot enter the UK market.

We welcome the fact that Ministers are sending such a clear message to the world that the illegal wildlife trade will not be tolerated and every effort will be made to halt the shocking decline in Africas elephant population in recent years.

Tanya Steele, chief executive of WWF, said: This ban makes the UK a global leader in tackling this bloody trade and its something WWF has been fighting hard for.

But if we want to stop the poaching of this majestic animal, we need global action. We hope the UK will continue to press countries where the biggest ivory markets are, most of which are in Asia, to shut down their trade too.
Young children have struggled through a phonics test where they had to pronounce fake words.

Children as young as four undertook a new test which measured their ability to say different letter combinations.

Based on the UK's phonics test, children in kindergarten and Year 1 are made to read made up words such as 'woats' and 'floost'.

Children as young as four undertook a new phonics test which measured their ability to say different letter combinations of fake and real words (stock image)

Students are tested on how they pronounce real words as well, to see if they have memorised the correct spelling of words, or if they actually comprehend the letter sounds (pictured)

The test of more than 4,400 South Australian students found only 11 of the 40 words were correctly pronounced by reception (or kindergarten) children, The Advertiser reported.

Year 1 students pronounced on average 22 of the words correctly compared to the same aged students in the UK who correctly pronounced on average 32 of the words.

Students are tested on how they pronounce real words as well, to see if they have memorised the correct spelling of words, or if they actually comprehend the letter sounds.

'The test was the same as the 2017 UK phonics test but unlike the UK test there was a stop rule, so that after three incorrect answers the teachers would stop the test and that brought down the SA result,' Dr Ann-Louise Hordacre, co-author of the study, told the publication.

The 40 words were broken in half, where 20 of the words were real and 20 were fake.

'It works by assessing a child's ability to identify and apply different sounds in basic words, such as the 'at' in cat, to form longer and more complicated words,' the South Australian government website read.

The children were tested on a range of words including haunt and stair (pictured)

The test of more than 4,400 South Australian students found only 11 of the 40 words were correctly pronounced by reception (or kindergarten) children (stock image)

There were 56 schools which took part in the study that found girls pronounce, on average, one more correct word than boys.

Easy fake words on the test included lig, doll and charb when harder faker words included jigh, floost and phope, according to the publication.

When it came to testing real words, only five per cent of students were able to pronounce haunt correctly.

The test only takes five minutes where students sit down with teachers and pronounce the words but when they say three incorrectly, the test ends.

The UK introduced their phonetic testing in all English primary schools in 2012 while it was only brought into some Australian schools in 2018 after a trial mid-last year.
Sir Andrew Dilnot told MPs older workers could pay more to help plug the financial black hole

More than a million older workers may have to start paying National Insurance to avert disaster in Englands social care system, a key Government adviser has warned.

Those still working beyond the state pension age  currently 64 for women and 65 for men  are exempt from paying the levy.

But Sir Andrew Dilnot, a senior member of the committee advising Jeremy Hunt on social care, told MPs older workers could pay more to help plug the financial black hole.

The economist said the present system was creaking, leaving families terrified and the middle classes forced to pay exorbitant care home charges.

An alternative system would be to introduce a cap on the amount people have to pay for their care, with older people paying the cost through NI.

There are currently more than 1.2million still working past retirement age.

Sir Andrew, 57, told the Commons health and social care committee it was anomalous that the over-65s paid less tax on their income than under-65s, and it heightened feelings of intergenerational injustice.

He said a cap on care costs could also be funded by inheritance tax, stopping the winter fuel allowance for the wealthier, or taking a set amount from estates.

And he warned: The system is under very great strain and there is a risk of fairly significant disaster [without reform].

Under Englands care system, older people have to pay the full cost of their care right down to their last 23,500  often denying their children an inheritance.

Seven years ago, it was Sir Andrew who suggested imposing a cap on the amount people have to pay towards the cost of their care  with the state stepping in to pay the rest.

At last years general election Sir Andrew warned Theresa May she had missed an open goal by dumping his proposal for a care cap in favour of controversial plans that were quickly dubbed the dementia tax.

But, after a bruising election result for the Prime Minister, his plan to enable people to protect themselves against the lottery of care costs in later life is back in favour.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt indicated last month he favoured some form of cap on the amount people have to pay towards the cost of their care

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt indicated last month he favoured some form of cap, and Sir Andrew is now back on the team advising the Government. The cap could be set at around 75,000.

But the cost to the Treasury could top 2billion a year, and Sir Andrew said it would be perfectly justified to ask the working elderly to contribute to this fund.

He said: Until a cap is introduced the population as a whole faces no opportunity to pool their risks. Everybody is facing what is terrifying for them and leads to people feeling very frightened.

So yes we need more into the means test, but we also need a capped system which could perfectly legitimately be funded through taxation or increasing charges for the affected population.

Former Tory chancellor Kenneth Clarke called last month for pensioners to start paying national insurance

National Insurance, which men over 65 and women over 64 currently do not pay, is a 12 per cent levy on earnings between 8,060 and 43,000 a year and 2 per cent on pay above this.

Former Tory chancellor Kenneth Clarke also called last month for pensioners to start paying national insurance, saying: You get your state pension on top of your pay, so the least you can do is pay the same tax on your salary as your colleagues do.

Mr Clarke suggested better off pensioners should also lose perks like the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes.

In a separate intervention, Kent County Council urged ministers to consider a 30-a-month tax on all workers to help repair a care funding system it described as broken.

It warned the committee the current funding system leaves no incentive for people to save for old age as they would forfeit their savings if they needed long term care.

The authority said there was substantial cross-subsidisation within the system, which meant self-funders typically paid fees 40 per cent higher than those who had their bills paid by the council.

Self-funders are therefore not only paying for their own provision but also towards the provision of others, the council said.

Sir Andrew also said cash-strapped town halls were slashing the amount they paid care home providers, meaning middle class people who funded their own care were being ripped off.

The means-tested system is creaking in various parts of the country, he said. In some areas there is an extraordinary gap between what self-funders are paying and what local authorities are paying.

Sir Andrew said it was right that older people should contribute to the cost of a cap, because they would be benefiting from it.

He suggested one way would be taking some money out of peoples estates.

But it would be more natural to extend National Insurance. It is anomalous that older people dont pay any NI contribution, he said.

Older people are paying a lower rate of tax on their incomes than younger people are. That goes into some of the questions we have about intergenerational justice.
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A third of Eurostar trains between London and Paris today have been cancelled as three months of union strikes begin in France.

Five services from London to Paris and two services from London to Brussels and Lille, have been cancelled today and tomorrow.

Trains to Disneyland Paris have also been re-routed, with holidaymakers forced to change at Paris' Gare du Nord, meaning longer journey times.

Some 29,000 people will see their trains either cancelled or re-routed today and tomorrow.

Members of the SUD Rail labour union demonstrate in Paris as part of a strike by French railway staff beginning today

Riot police are pictured clashing with protesters in Paris today at demonstrations coinciding with the railway strikes

Demonstrators in Paris are pictured holding up signs for the SUD Rail labour union as they support the railway strike

Black Tuesday: Passengers and commuters wait at rush hour at Gare de Lyon train station, in Paris, France, as union stage a mass strike

Commuters stand on a crowded platform next to a suburban train at Gare de Lyon in Paris, after SNCF staff walked out

Protesters are pictured clashing with police during the demonstration in support of striking French railway staff in Paris

The strike is expected to be the biggest walkout in years, with half of all rail staff expected to take part in two days of industrial action in three day intervals until June.

France's four main rail unions are protesting President Emmanuel Macron's attempt to reform the national rail monopoly and open it up to EU competition.

Commuter lines into Paris will be hit hard and only one in eight high-speed TGVs will operate, state rail operator SNCF has said.

How, what, when? The dates when the French rail unions are on strikes are marked in red

No trains will run between France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain and only one in every three trains to Germany will operate, the SNCF said.

Alain Krakovitch, director general of SNCF's Transilien suburban network, that covers the French capital, said the cost of the strikes was nationally 'between 10 and 20 million euros a day' (8.7m and 17.5m).

Paris police were called in to maintain public order on replacement buses, with a spokesman saying: 'They are extremely overcrowded and tensions are running high.'

Chaos was reported in other parts of the country too, with Olivier Martin, a 50-year-old who was trying to get to the airport to fly to the USA from Lyon, in eastern France, saying: 'The train strike is unacceptable. It's too easy to take people hostage.'

The 550-mile train journey through the Alps between Paris and Milan was among international train services replaced by a coach, which was likely to take at least three times as long as the usual TGV.

There will also be similar strikes among Air France staff in coming days, as well as planned stoppages by workers in a range of other industries, from waste disposal to road maintenance workers.

It is all part of a massive protest that is turning into a head-to-head between Macron and the trade unions, as he tries to smash their power.

The confrontation is being likened to the efforts made by the late conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to curb the unions in the 1980s.

SNCF is heavily unionised, and the last time a French president squared off against rail unions over workers' benefits it ended badly.

The strikes of 1995 paralysed Paris and forced prime minister Alain Juppe to pull the reforms, a defeat from which he failed to recover.

However, French unions are, weaker than in 1995 and divided in their response to Macron's social and economic reforms.

More than half of French people view the strike plan as unjustified, according to an Ifop poll published on Sunday.

'French people don't want to put up with three months of chaos that has no justification,' Transport Minister Elizabeth Borne told weekend newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

SNCF boss Guillaume Pepy, who backs the reforms, has warned of widespread disruption.

'I want to be very clear ... the strike action will no doubt be widely adhered to and his going to make the lives of a lot of people very difficult,' he said in a radio interview.

A protester of the General Confederation of Labor - Workers' Force 'Force Ouvriere' - holds a flag during today's protests

A protester holds a flag at the Gare de l'Est train station in Paris during the railway strikes

Commuters stand in a large crowd at Gare de Lyon station in Paris on the first day of a two-day strike

Demonstrators hold a banner with the message 'no to public service scrap' during the demonstration in Paris today

A regional TER train in Paris is seen packed with commuters at the Gare Saint Lazare amid strikes today

A man holds up a sign reading 'Macron, off the rails' outside Gare de l'Est station in Paris

A man holds a flare outside Gare de l'Est station in Paris today, during protests against President Macron's labour reforms

Commuters are seen on a busy suburban train at the Gare de Lyon railway station as the strikes got underway today

Protesting: French riot police pursue demonstrators during a demonstration by SNCF workers and students in Paris on Tuesday

A railway employee belonging to the Force Ouvrierer union uses a flare to write the slogan 'SNCF is angry'

Protesters of the trade union SUD Rail at the demonstration against the break-up of the public railway service

Protesters clash with police during the strikes, seen as the biggest challenge yet to the President's sweeping plans

A riot police officers speaks to a protester under arrest during the protests in support of today's strike

Protesters in Paris join in the demonstrations in support of the French railway strike which began today

Protesters march in Paris in support of the strikes, with one banner lending student support to the railway workers

Anger: A woman carries a placard reading 'Nothing is good with Macron' during a demonstration in Montpellier

Clear message: A demonstrator wears a mask depicting French President Emmanuel Macron during Tuesday's demonstrations in Paris

Paris commuters are pictured on a crowded platform at Gare de Lyon station on the first day of the strike

Paris is burning: A bin, a bike and rubbish is on fire as demonstrators walk through Paris

Commuters stand on a platform next to a suburban train at Gare de Lyon station in Paris

March on: People wave flags during a demonstration of railway workers in Montpellier

A woman photographs a vandelised bank agency during a demonstration of French railway workers in Paris

Walkout: French rail unions are set to hold two days of strikes in every five days for the next three months

Anger: The unions are protesting government plans to eliminate some rail worker benefits and part of broader European plans to open national railways to competition

A railway worker with the words 'on strike' on the back of his high-vis jacket is pictured outside Gare de l'Est station

Macron wants to transform heavily indebted SNCF into a profit-maker. Unions say he is paving the way for privatisation.

If Macron triumphs over the unions, it will set the tone for other key reform plans including revamping the education system and overhauling pensions. He has already stared them down over easing labour laws.

SNCF workers fear they could lose job-for-life guarantees, automatic annual pay rises and a generous early retirement policy.

Borne has sought to ease tensions with assurances that current SNCF employees that have to move to a competitor in the future would keep most of their advantages.

The Communist-rooted CGT wants the strike to spread beyond the rail sector. Energy sector workers plan to join the strike action from April 3 to June 28, to protest against the planned liberalisation of the power sector.

The CGT has called for public and private sector workers nationwide to strike on April 19, but in a sign of union division private sector unions have so far declined.
A refugee family is outraged at a high school for making Year 12 students write essays and make videos on Muslim 'exclusion'.

Leumeah High School in Sydney's south-west is asking Society and Culture students to deliver a five-minute oral presentation on the 'social exclusion faced by people of Muslim faith in Australia'.

The Year 12 Higher School Certificate students are also required to explain 'the barriers' Muslims face in 'accessing socially-valued resources' in a YouTube video.

A refugee family is outraged at Leumeah High School in Sydney's southwest for making Year 12 students write an essay on Muslim 'exclusion' (file picture)

Yuhan Houth, who was born in a Thai refugee camp after his parents escaped Pol Pot's murderous regime in Cambodia, said he regretted recommending that school for his younger brother, who turns 16 this year.

The 32-year-old welder said the assessment task was based on a leading question rather than an analysis of facts.

'From what I see here, I wouldn't call it propaganda but you can't really call it anything else,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

'I see it as indoctrinating them young.

'I would have thought examinations would be more concerned about empirical things, objective matter not subjectivity dressed up as an opinion piece.'

The Department of Education has since apologised for the question.

Yuhan Houth, who was born in a Thai refugee camp after his parents escaped Pol Pot's murderous regime in Cambodia, said he regretted recommending that school for his brother

The 32-year-old welder said the assessment task was based on a leading question rather than an analysis of facts

Mr Houth said the assessment topic also wrongly implied that immigrants weren't welcome in Australia.

'I'm more concerned about this particular narrative that's been perpetuated,' he said.

'I don't believe what they're demanding from the students is accurate of the reality of what the situation is.'

He said students doing the assessment were effectively being forced to give a set answer, as part of a presentation which must be recorded or uploaded to YouTube for the teacher.

'They would be obliged to give only the answers that they would be satisfied with in terms of any possible biases as opposed to just giving an honest opinion,' he said.

Mr Houth said the assessment topic also wrongly implied that immigrants weren't welcome in Australia

The older brother of a Leumeah High School student said the assessment was 'indoctrinating the young'

Year 12 students are also required to explain 'the barriers' Muslims face in 'accessing socially-valued resources' in a YouTube video

Former federal Labor leader Mark Latham said the school, in his old electorate of Werriwa, had forced students to argue a left-wing narrative that 'Muslims are hard done by because Australia is a racist nation'.

'Given the contentious nature of current political debates about Islam, the students have been placed in a difficult position,' he told his Facebook followers on Tuesday.

'If their YouTube videos are too soft or too hard on Islam they might face different types of backlash. I feel sorry for the students and families facing this conundrum.'

Mark Latham's social media followers were also outraged by Leumeah High School's assessment task

One woman said it was outrageous students were taught Muslims weren't welcome in Australia

Another woman suggested students were being groomed to hate Australia.

Mark Latham's social media followers were also outraged.

'Islamic indoctrination by the left and the education system,' one man wrote.

'My god, we are seriously losing the country.'

One woman said it was outrageous students were taught Muslims weren't welcome in Australia.

'Simply outraged. Muslims have been welcomed into this country for decades,' she said.

'They have the same chances and opportunities as all others, in some cases more than people born here.'

Another woman suggested students were being groomed to hate Australia.

'These kids are being groomed and brainwashed in Islamics and sharia law,' she said.

'No, this is wrong. Politics should be kept out of schools.'

Daily Mail Australia contacted school principal Paul Zielinski and New South Wales Education Minister Rob Stokes for comment.

A Department of Education spokesman later said the school would be changing the question about a contemporary issue to include 'social inclusion and exclusion'.

'The department and the school are sorry if this question has caused any offence,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
Teachers say their pension age should be reduced to 60.

They attacked plans to extend the official retirement age to 68, saying the pressures of the job would make it an impossibility for many.

Delegates at the NASUWT unions annual conference in Birmingham voted unanimously to campaign for teachers to have a normal pension age of 60.

This would separate the profession from the current pensionable age of other public sector workers. Teachers usually retire at 65, although many finish earlier.

Teachers attacked plans to extend the official retirement age to 68, saying the pressures of the job would make it an impossibility for many

Critics yesterday attacked the demand as unrealistic and said pupils would ultimately have to foot the bill.

Last year, the Government revealed plans for the pension age to rise to 68 over two years from 2037, due to greater life expectancy. Presenting the motion, Candida Mellor, from North Tyneside, said: It [the pension age] will be 68 when I access my pension  21 years of teaching left. That seems like an awfully long time when Im already feeling so exhausted.

Rachel Watson, a teacher from Newcastle upon Tyne, told the conference: How can anyone survive teaching until we are expected to? It seems an impossibility.

The motion also backs industrial action, including strikes, to oppose further increases to teachers normal pension age.

Delegates at the NASUWT unions annual conference in Birmingham voted unanimously to campaign for teachers to have a normal pension age of 60

Chris Keates, the NASUWT general secretary, said: Teachers are increasingly burned out long before they reach 68. But Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, last night claimed that teachers were not living in the real world.

He said: Someone has to pay for pensions and the people who are going to pay for those pensions are the children those teachers are now teaching.

We wouldnt support piling debt on top of grandchildren.

n Teachers have vowed to scupper new tests for four-year-olds over claims they are immoral and could harm childrens mental health. The NUT is calling for a boycott of the Governments baseline tests for children in reception.
This is the terrifying moment a Brisbane motorcyclist is almost run down by a driver on a busy highway.

The dramatic footage was caught on by the dashcam on the motorbike and shows the ute veering across lanes to scare the motorcyclist.

The rider can be seen travelling down the right hand side of the road and at the beginning of the clip is passed by a man wearing a hi-visibility jacket and driving a ute.

A Brisbane motorcyclist (right) was almost run over by a driver in a ute (left) on a busy highway

The pair look at each other but say nothing.

For several seconds the ute stays at a steady distance ahead of the bike but as they enter the roundabout the two vehicles start driving side-by-side.

At this moment the ute begins to encroach into the right lane giving the rider limited space to get around the turn.

The motorcyclist honks his horn at the car, warning the drive that he is getting dangerously close.

As tensions escalate the driver can then be seen gesturing towards the rider with his hand.

At that moment the driver swerves dramatically towards the bike and the two vehicles look like they might collide.

As the two vehicles leave the roundabout the rider honks his horn at the ute

The ute then swerves into the riders lane, taking up the whole thing and almost running him over

The motorcyclist can be heard saying 'Get out... What the f***?' as the driver turns into his lane.

As the driver swerves he takes up most of the lane and the motorcyclist is forced to squish up against the median strip.

A potentially fatal situation is avoided as the driver starts to speed off at the crucial moment.

'What the F*** was that?' the rider can be heard saying as the ute drives off.

The footage does not present any clues for why the ute decided to swerve at the cyclist.
Nightmare tenants caused $5000 to a property owner's home after abruptly shifting once their lease lapsed.

Eastern Shore Property Manager Abby Cooper was shocked to walk into the Hobart property just six weeks after the home's last inspection to find its condition to have completely deteriorated.

Ms Cooper discovered holes in the walls, smashed televisions and a large pile of rubbish sitting outside the back of the Rokeby rental last week, The Mercury reported.

Nightmare tenants caused $5000 to a Hobart property after abruptly shifting, leaving behind a huge mess (pictured)

Once the renters lease lapsed they moved leaving behind a spectacular mess which included smashed TVs (pictured)

The PRDnationwide agent was told that a 'few' items had been left behind and the neighbours would dispose of them over the weekend when the tenants made contact to say they had moved out.

The Sydney owner of the Tasmania property is now looking into what is covered by insurance but is struggling to comprehend how the house could be trashed in such a short time.

'Some insurance firms cover malicious damage but not things like rubbish removal,' Ms Cooper explained.

Real Estate Institute NSW president Leanne Pilkington told Daily Mail Australia although these instances do occur, they are more the exception than the rule.

She said frankly if an agent is organised, screening tenants, ensuring issues with the homes are fixed up throughout their term and inspecting quarterly, there shouldn't be any surprises at the end.

Property Manager Abby Cooper had checked the home only six weeks prior and later returned to find holes in the walls as well as disappointing conditions

Ms Pilkington urges homeowners renting properties to get specific landlord insurance.

'Some have it through their own home insurance, but you have to be careful in those instances, it's better off having landlord specific as if you want to claim loss of rent or damage, sometimes each claim is separate and will have different excesses. Always read the fine print.'

To avoid homes being trashed by renters Ms Pilkington recommends landlords get a good agent and speak to landlords they've worked with before.

Real Estate Institute president Tony Collidge explained tenants like these deter investors from wanting to rent out homes

The Sydney homeowner is now looking into what is covered by insurance but is struggling to comprehend how the house could be trashed in such a short time

When it comes to tenants she says it is simple: 'Treat the home as if it's your own place.'

Real Estate Institute Tasmania president Tony Collidge explained the mess will now take weeks to clean up before someone else can move in.

'While the damage to this house is relatively mild compared to the worst that we have seen, it is still inexcusable behaviour.'

Mr Collidge would like to see renters who damage properties be listed on a database so their bad history is formally recorded to avoid repeat offending.

She has since been unable to get in touch with the former renters and doubts she will be successful.
Emmanuel Macron has compared Facebook and Google to oil barons after saying the tech giants were becoming 'too big to be governed'.

The French president's comments heaped even more pressure on the the Silicon Valley heavyweights in the aftermath of the privacy issues surrounding Cambridge Analytica.

In an interview with Wired magazine, Macron said Facebook and Google were welcome in France, but warned they were 'not just too big to fail, but too big to be governed'.

'They have a very classical issue in a monopoly situation - they are huge players,' the French leader added.

'At a point of time  but I think it will be a US problem, not a European problem  at a point of time, your government, your people, may say, "Wake up. They are too big".

'So at this point, you may choose to dismantle. That's what happened at the very beginning of the oil sector when you had these big giants. That's a competition issue.'

Facebook is still firefighting the privacy scandal which engulfed the tech world last month, but its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended his company's advertising-supported business model.

It comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company wouldn't be in Facebook's situation because Apple doesn't sell ads based on customer data the way Facebook does.

Zuckerberg responded Monday that an advertising-supported business model is the only way that the service can survive because not everyone would be able to pay for Facebook if it charged a fee.

Facebook is still firefighting the privacy scandal which engulfed the tech world last month, but its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended his company's advertising-supported business model

It comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company wouldn't be in Facebook's situation because Apple doesn't sell ads based on customer data the way Facebook does

He said the idea that Facebook doesn't care about its customers is 'extremely glib'.

Facebook is facing scrutiny over its data collection following allegations that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtained data on tens of millions of Facebook users to try to influence elections.

Zuckerberg spoke with Vox , while Cook talked with Recode last week.

Macron said the new age issues that come with artificial intelligence (AI) could open Pandora's box when it comes to privacy.

He told Wired: 'AI will raise a lot of issues in ethics, in politics, it will question our democracy and our collective preferences.

'For instance, if you take healthcare, you can totally transform medical care, making it much more predictive and personalised if you get access to a lot of data. We will open our data in France.

'But the day you start dealing with privacy issues, the day you open this data and unveil personal information, you open a Pandora's box, with potential use cases that will not be increasing the common good and improving the way to treat you.'
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said the deputy who hit an activist during a Stephon Clark protest likely didn't know that he hit her before he drove off

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said the deputy who hit an activist during a Stephon Clark protest likely didn't know that he hit her before he drove off.

Jones showed dash cam video during a press conference on Monday of protesters surrounding two police SUVs on Saturday night.

In of them, 61-year-old Wanda Cleveland is struck and falls to the ground, to the right based on the Sheriff's video and neither patrol car stops.

Jones admitted he had not spoken to the deputy but that, based on the video: 'There is a high likelihood that he didn't even know that he collided with that protester.'

'It is not possible that the officer did not see her,' said Cleveland's attorney, Mark Reichel, in a statement after the press conference.

'It appears from all evidence that he hit her intentionally. He drove away from an injured woman intentionally.'

Jones showed dash cam video during a press conference on Monday of protesters surrounding two police SUVs on Saturday night

In of them, 61-year-old Wanda Cleveland is struck and falls to the ground, to the right based on the Sheriff's video and neither patrol car stops.

Jones admitted he had not spoken to the deputy but that, based on the video: 'There is a high likelihood that he didn't even know that he collided with that protester'

Cleveland's attorney, Mark Reichel said that Cleveland was crossing the street to the get the sidewalk when she was struck

According to Facebook users, Cleveland (left and right) is an activist and former member of the Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment. On her Facebook page, Cleveland says she is the grandmother of seven and the great-grandmother of two.

Reichel said that Cleveland was crossing the street to the get the sidewalk when she was struck.

The incident occurred at around 8.45pm local time on Saturday on Florin Road near Stockton Boulevard during a protest outside the sheriff's south area substation.

The event started as a vigil for Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old unarmed black man who was fatally shot by Sacramento police on March 18.

Prior to the incident, the officer, who was inside a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department SUV, could be heard ordering protesters on Florin Road to 'back away from my vehicle' while emergency lights flashed.

As demonstrators screamed, the marked car appeared to accelerate and hit a Cleveland, knocking her to the ground as seen in video of the crash taken by Guy Danilowitz of the National Lawyers Guild.

She lay immobile on the ground until she was loaded into an ambulance.

Witnesses say the deputy who hit Cleveland did not stay around to see if she was alright and simply drove away

'I heard wheels spin. And then I saw her body flung to the curb,' Tifanei Ressl-Moyer, another legal observer who witnessed the incident, told The Sacramento Bee

Cleveland, was released from Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center after midnight, with bruises on her arm and the back of her head

Witnesses say the deputy who hit Cleveland did not stay around to see if she was alright and simply drove away.

'I heard wheels spin. And then I saw her body flung to the curb,' Tifanei Ressl-Moyer, another legal observer who witnessed the incident, told The Sacramento Bee. 'The vehicle sped off and some protesters went after them.'

According to Facebook users, Cleveland is an activist and former member of the Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment.

On her Facebook page, Cleveland says she is the grandmother of seven and the great-grandmother of two.

Cleveland, was released from Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center after midnight, with bruises on her arm and the back of her head.

Witnesses say the deputy who hit Cleveland did not stay around to see if she was alright and simply drove away.

California Highway Patrol officials on Monday said they are investigating the incident, and are asking for witnesses to help, including people with video or photos of the crash

California Highway Patrol officials on Monday said they are investigating the incident, and are asking for witnesses to help, including people with video or photos of the crash.

The CHP told The Sacramento Bee that its officers did not go to the crash scene immediately, although they were in the area, because they feared inflaming the situation.

The CHP said it is asking any witnesses to come forward or anyone who has video or photos of the incident. If so, contact the CHP's South Sacramento Area office at 916-681-2300. Witnesses may refer to incident report number 9252-2018-01427.
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They're back.

That's the message from heavily-tatooed Finks members as the feared motorcycle gang moves to re-establish a stronghold in Victoria.

After all but disappearing from the state three years ago, the Finks have bold plans to open four new club houses across Melbourne.

Daily Mail Australia was invited into the club's inner sanctum at a makeshift suburban quarters in Frankston in Melbourne's south-east on Wednesday to meet national president, BJ.

High ranking members of the Finks motorcycle club, including national president BJ, centre, Victorian state president, Nugget and Moe, left.

Five members newly-formed Victorian chapters spoke with Daily Mail Australia from their make-shift meeting place on Wednesday

BJ - who says he has no more room on his body for more tattoos also has half of his teeth tapped in gold

With tattoos covering nearly every inch of his body, BJ's broad chest is draped in a heavy gold chain, which matches his gold-plated teeth, as he stands alongside his 'brothers' in a humble backyard shed adorned with bikie paraphernalia.

His message was loud and clear: 'The Finks have returned to Victoria'.

They have enlisted new members from across the country and plan to open four clubhouses, one for each of their new chapters in Frankston, City, Sunsbury North and Cheltenham.

Under pressure from mounting legal fees and police attention 'brought on by rogue members', the infamous club all but disappeared from the state three years ago.

But BJ and his 'no-nonsense' offsiders - who like him are dressed head-to toe in Finks gear and covered in body art - say they have 'thrown out' the past members and are determined to start anew.

The club sees Victoria as an important place to hold territory as it is one of the few states where bikies are 'afforded their human rights' without tough consorting laws to 'drive them underground'.

The bikies say they have a new vision for the club - and want to steer it away from illegal activities which have caused trouble in the past

Adam, pictured, is a newer member of the club - but looks to his leader's for advice and says he will follow the new rules set out by BJ and Nugget

AK is pictured here sporting the club's latest shirt - which includes a cheeky message for rivals on the back

Moe has handguns tattooed on his chest - as well as an intricate right-hand sleeve. Most of the senior bikie's face and neck is covered

WHAT ARE THE ANTI-GANG LAWS? (NSW) According to NSW law a person can be charged with consorting if they 'habitually consorts with convicted offenders after being given a warning not to speak with the offenders. This means they cannot talk to or communicates with an offender. To habitually consort the person has to talk to two convicted offenders (whether the same or separate occasion) and have to be caught on two occasions. Police can give a consorting warning orally or in writing and must explain that consorting is an offence and the person being spoken to is a criminal. The maximum penalty is three years jail. Advertisement

In New South Wales and Queensland, tough anti-bikie laws mean they can't ride together, or even communicate with each other 'without risking jail time'.

'Bikie clubs are the last stand for human rights  in Australia no one is allowed to do anything anymore. We - just like everyone else - just want to hang out with our mates and go for a drink on Friday night without being told we can't,' BJ said.

'Victoria is the last state where there are still basic human rights  police can't just bash down a door and come into our homes  they can't tell us we can't talk to our mates.'

BJ looks every bit the enforcer but his right-hand-man, former Rebel and tattooist 'Nugget', is not to be dismissed as they explain their new direction where 'people who f**k up will be kicked out.'

The club all-but collapsed in 2015 after police raided 20 Finks properties and arrested 17 members, charging them with everything from drugs and weapons offences to extortion attempts and planning a kidnapping.

The club, and particularly the troubled Ringwood chapter, were struggling financially under the weight of mounting legal fees and had a 'bad boy' reputation across Melbourne.

'Nugget' keeps his own tattoos covered with long sleeves - the tattooist used to be a member of the Rebels club

Close-up photos of Moe's face tattoos show a spider's web on his nose and tribal tattoos on his hairline

BJ, pictured, explained how he had to come across from Perth to take the reins when the club started to fail

BJ explained how he had to come across from Perth to take the reins.

'It took 18 months to get it right - and it was the hardest thing I have ever done - cleaning out the club here,' he said.

The former Victorian members have been replaced by members from interstate, with new blood and riders from other clubs.

Nugget, who refuses to follow the bold face-tattoo look adopted by many of his colleagues, wears long sleeves over his heavily-inked arms.

He has a neatly styled goatee, and a bald head. But wears the Finks colours with pride - despite once believing he would never join another club after leaving the Rebels.

The former Victorian members have been replaced by members from interstate, with new blood and riders from other clubs

The club all-but collapsed in 2015 after police raided 20 Finks properties and arrested 17 members

The club now has 54 members in Victoria  and 20 men on their way to getting colours

Nugget, who refuses to follow the bold face-tattoo look adopted by many of his colleagues, wears long sleeves over his heavily-inked arms

'I lost a lot the first time I got into a motorcycle club  but I took a long time looking at what BJ was doing and joined him. I wouldn't have done that if the change wasn't real.'

BJ and Nugget say only time will tell if their new approach will work, but they're hoping their 'higher standards' will help keep out criminals 'attracted to the club for the wrong reason'.

They claim the days of police pulling their members over to allegedly find 'a boot full of meth, steroids and cash' are over - ending when the notorious Ringwood Clubhouse was shut down.

The club now has 54 members in Victoria  and 20 men on their way to getting colours.

But they also expect to attract new recruits from other states, particularly NSW and Queensland, where members have been hit hard by anti-bikie legislation.

'People from Sydney might find it a bit easier to ride with us,' BJ said.

'It took 18 months to get it right - and it was the hardest thing I have ever done - cleaning out the club here,' he said

The tattoo on his hand is 'a girl in a burka' or 'a girl in a balaclava' depending on how he feels

All Finks members must ride a bike - but they are given a grace period if they fall on hard tomes - or lose their licence

The Finks national run was held in Victoria over the weekend with 246 members taking part. There were no arrests

'You are not going to be able to stop bike clubs  and if you force them into hiding they will automatically be doing something wrong when they meet  so where does it stop.'

BJ admits 'the way he looks' has caught the attention of the police - who 'followed him' and the other new senior club members when they first moved into the city.

'They didn't trust us because of what had happened before  I got pulled over more than ten times a day  but they have laid off because we haven't done anything wrong.'

High ranking club members from NSW have recently been hit with drug charges following investigations by police. The Melbourne members said they couldn't comment on the Sydney man's arrest and will 'focus on keeping their own boys out of trouble'.

The Finks national run was held in Victoria over the weekend with 246 members taking part. There were no arrests.

BJ and Nugget say only time will tell if their new approach will work, but they're hoping their 'higher standards' will help keep out criminals 'attracted to the club for the wrong reason'
We like to think of great artists as above the fray, even though by now we should know better.

Tapes have just emerged of Francis Bacon slagging off his fellow artists Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol in 1991.

Told that an abstract painting by Jasper Johns has just sold for 12 million, the 81-year-old Bacon says: It is such a ridiculous thing. The whole thing, it is nothing. It is just a series of a number of diagonal scratches going in different directions in red and blue.

In fact, Bacons feelings towards Jasper Johns surfaced over 30 years ago. In 1986, he was filmed gossiping with the demonic writer William Burroughs. I try never to think about Jasper Johns, he said. I hate the stuff and I dont like him either.

Tapes have just emerged of Francis Bacon (pictured) slagging off his fellow artists

He was equally dismissive of Andy Warhol. These pictures are bad . . . very bad, he said. It is dull really. I thought it might just have some superficial excitement, but it doesnt even have that.

Some think it astonishing that such a respected painter should be so bitchy about his fellow artists. But Bacon had a track record of camp put-downs of rivals. He once compared Picasso to Walt Disney and Jackson Pollocks splashy abstract canvases to old lace.

At other times, he said Matisse painted squalid little forms and, of David Hockneys paintings, theres really nothing there.

He was equally rude about some of the most acclaimed writers of the 20th century. He pooh-poohed Samuel Beckett: I loathe all those ghastly dustbins on stage.

Bacon has compared Jackson Pollocks splashy abstract canvases to old lace (pictured Pollock's Blue Poles)

As a young man, he had been invited to lunch with Virginia Woolf. He remembered her as a monster . . . she shouted all the way through lunch. She began by shouting and just carried on all the way through.

Artists who considered themselves his friends were given short shrift as soon as their backs were turned. He complained that Lucian Freud was too cautious a painter, whose best work was behind him.

He also put it about that Freud ended up as a heterosexual only because his private parts were too small to be of interest to the gay community.

Bacon said that Lucian Freud (pictured) was too cautious a painter, whose best work was behind him

But Freud was able to give as good as he got. He told his friend John Richardson that Bacons later paintings lacked inspiration.

What had been the subject matter of his pictures became paraphernalia, he said.  . . . with the urgency gone, some elements just seemed to be in the way, like bits of gauze left inside a patients stomach by a forgetful surgeon.

Such rivalry is nothing new, even among the very greatest. When Michelangelo visited Titian in his studio in Rome in 1545, he warmly praised his latest painting to his face. But when he left, he changed his tune. It was a shame, he said, that Venetian painters like Titian had never been taught to draw.

Around the same time, two sculptors, Cellini and Bandinelli, fell out over an ancient Greek statue. Cellini thought it magnificent; Bandinelli thought it useless. Their patron Cosimo de Medici asked Cellini to explain their difference of opinion.

Your Most Illustrious Excellency must understand that Baccio Bandinelli is thoroughly evil, and always has been, he said, as Bandinelli stood there in front of them. So no matter what he looks at, as soon as his disagreeable eyes catch sight of it, even though its of superlative quality it is at once turned to absolute evil.

Cellini recalled that during this monologue, Bandinelli kept twisting and turning and making the most unimaginably ugly faces  and his face was ugly enough already. But by now Cellini had the wind behind him, and proceeded to write off every element of a particular sculpture by Bandinelli  head, shoulders, torso, arms, legs.

All in all, he concluded, it was sculpted so clumsily and unskilfully that nothing worse has ever been seen.

All of which suggests that, in what Auberon Waugh used to term the vituperative arts, our own age lacks the magnificence of eras past. Compared to the great Cellini, Francis Bacon was almost sycophantic.
A Texas woman was arrested after she was captured on Facebook Live shooting a man in the head while playing with a handgun.

The horrific video, which has now been seen thousands of times on social media, shows the exact moment Devyn Holmes was shot on Sunday.

Holmes, a 26-year-old father-of-two, is now on life support after he was shot around 2.30am in the parking lot of a Valero gas station in Houston.

A Facebook Live stream turned violent when Devyn Holmes was shot in the head by Cassandra Demper (pictured together right) while she was playing with a handgun

Cassandra Damper, the woman who shot Holmes, has since been charged.

The beginning of the video shows Holmes picking up the gun and looking at it.

It then cuts to another part of the live feed, when a man in the backseat puts the gun back between Holmes and Damper.

Then Damper picks up the gun and points it directly at the camera as Holmes grabs her hand.

At one point Damper picks up the gun and points it directly at the camera as Holmes grabs her hand, telling her 'you're making me nervous'

Damper then fires the gun and gasps as it hits Holmes in the head, blood pouring into his white T-shirt as she leaves the car

'You're making me nervous,' he tells her.

'She ain't got no clip bud,' the man, believed to be Cadillac Coleman, tells Holmes.

'Where you from again?' Holmes asks Damper points the gun at him and says, 'Say something, b***h.'

The gun then goes off and Damper gasps as a bullet hits Holmes in the head, blood pouring into his white T-shirt.

Damper, 25, was charged with tampering or fabricating of evidence after she tried to wipe gunshot residue from her hands

She and Coleman immediately flee the car, leaving Holmes bleeding out in the front passenger seat.

Damper was charged with tampering or fabricating of evidence after she tried to wipe gunshot residue from her hands, according to Click2Houston.

She told police that she didn't know the gun was loaded.

Coleman has not been charged.

Authorities said a grand jury will decided if any additional charges should be filed.
Tanesha Melbourne (pictured) died after she was shot in the street in Tottenham last night

Chilling CCTV footage shows a 17-year-old walking with her friends an hour before she was gunned down in a deadly postcode war which has gripped the capital.

Tanesha Melbourne had left her home in Tottenham, north London, before a car pulled up and fired a bullet into her chest at 9.35pm last night.

The teenager, who had just become a mentor at her local youth club, died in the street as she was cradled by her mother who arrived before paramedics.

She became the 48th person to be murdered in London this year and footage from a local shop shows her walking with her friends around 60 minutes before she was shot dead.

According to terrified residents, the innocent teenager was caught in the crossfire of a deadly postcode war.

One friend said: 'Tanesha was just an innocent child caught up in this stupid postcode war.'

Another friend who desperately tried to save her added: 'She did not deserve that and her mum did not deserve to watch her daughter die.'

Her death was said to be linked to an online feud with a rival gang from the Wood Green area and came just 24 hours after a fight in a central London diner.

On Easter Sunday, footage of a brawl in Tinseltown in Farringdon was posted on social media and showed three men punching a young black male. Those who shared it said the Tottenham shooting was a 'revenge attack'.

In a separate incident, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the face less than two miles away in Walthamstow, east London.

He died at 5.45pm and became the 49th person to be killed in the capital. A 15-year-old boy was also stabbed.

The 17-year-old (pictured in the grey) was seen on camera walking with her friends before she was shot dead

The innocent teenager was reportedly caught in the crossfire of a gang war and Scotland Yard told MailOnline her killer was still on the loose

Tanesha's mother Sharon Melbourne and her little sister arrived to lay flowers at the scene

The streets of London are now more deadly than New York, with the capital recording a higher murder rate for the first time in modern history in February.

So far this year, the Metropolitan Police has launched 52 murder investigations - 12 in January, 15 in February, 19 in March and six in April.

MP David Lammy has claimed the surge in violent crime in the capital is being fuelled by 'vast' quantities of cocaine being fought over by drug barons.

The teenager's aunt today said how she told police about escalating gang problems three months ago and warned them: 'if anything happens to a member of my family, I'll become a problem'.

Rita How, 56, made the prophetic warning at a neighbourhood watch meeting at Tottenham College earlier this year.

She told police officers present of the worsening drugs and gangs problem in the area which had led to a rise in stabbings and shootings.

Ms How, a school cook, also revealed the fears she had for her family living in the area.

She said: 'I met with the police three months ago at the last neighbourhood watch meeting and told them what was going on with the gangs and the violence.

'I said to them 'if anything happens to a member of my family then I'll become a problem'.

'Well my niece is gone now and they are not going to hear the end of me. Someone's got to sort out the mess here, it's getting out of hand.

'Tanesha was a lovely girl, she wasn't involved in gangs. She was innocent in all this.'

Ms How, who also works in security at nearby Tottenham Hotspur football club, said her niece had worked at the old White Hart Lane ground.

She added: 'She worked in the catering department on a few occasions.

'She had a bright future, she was a good girl who didn't deserve this.'

Floral tributes were left on Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, north London, today

Friends and family arrived to pay respects at the scene of the killing, London's 48th this year

Mourners hugged each other at the scene where Tanesha was gunned down in north London

Friends and family leave flowers at the scene where Tanesha was shot

A forensic tent is in place at the scene of the fatal shooting in Chalgrove Road, Tottenham

Grief-stricken friends and family have been at the scene to pay tribute to the youngster today

Tottenham MP Mr Lammy told the Evening Standard: 'Most of these killings are being fuelled by a huge spike in the movement of drugs, particularly cocaine.

'As we see in parts of downtown America, young men - particularly in communities like mine - become foot soldiers for gangsters and McMafia bosses much further up the tree.'

Deadly crime epidemic grips the Capital So far this year, the Metropolitan Police has launched 52 murder investigations - 12 in January, 15 in February, 19 in March and six in April. This is the equivalent of three a week - up from two a week last year. But Official figures show that 2017 was the worst year for knife deaths among young people since at least 2002. Forty-six people aged 25 or under were stabbed to death in London, up by 21 compared with the previous year, according to police figures. Figures published in January showed police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017 - the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011. Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year-on-year, to 6,694 recorded offences. Advertisement

Tanesha was a regular at the Bruce Grove Youth Centre In Tottenham where she taught youngsters how to be good role models.

A friend told MailOnline: 'Tanesha was very popular at the club, she'd been going for the last four years.

'One of her roles was to teach the younger kids how to be good role models and how to lead positive lives.

'She got on with everyone and in turn everybody liked her, that's why she became a volunteer.

'We are devastated that Tanesha has been taken from us like this.'

Grandmother Kathleen Kingdom said: 'She was a family-orientated girl who would never get caught up in trouble.

'She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

'She was a good girl and didn't deserve this.'

Associate headteacher Goldwater Ojokor from Gladesmore Community school, where Tanesha left last year, said: 'She was a lovely, joyful, girl. She was bright and bubbly, she was only a baby really.

'She always had a smile on her face. You could not be annoyed with her, she just had this wonderful smile and was never in any bad trouble.

'She was always so positive to be around, you couldn't not warm to her. She had a soft warm nature and she was funny.'

A young mother, who asked not to be named, said: 'There's a lot of shootings and stabbings that go on. It's a dangerous area.

'There is a postcode war, apparently, between Tottenham and Wood Green and some of these incidents are tit-for-tat.'

Police said the 17-year-old died at the scene shortly before 10.45pm last night and teams are now combing the area for clues

A young mother said: 'There's a lot of shootings and stabbings that go on. It's a dangerous area'

There was a heavy police presence in Tottenham, north London, this morning where 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne died after she was shot on Monday evening

Social media has been flooded with tributes to the teenager, with many saying she was caught in a needless gang war

School friend Candice Hassan, 17, said she found out about the murder on Snapchat just half an hour after the shooting.

'It was shocking. Everyone's upset obviously - one minute I see her and the next minute I don't,' she said.

'One hour before her death, I saw her on Snapchat - one hour before she got shot. Everyone knows Tanesha, she's just a humble girl.

'It was just the wrong place at the wrong time. She didn't deserve any of that. I have heard it was a drive-by shooting - obviously gang-related - Wood Green and Tottenham.'

Tyesha Mingo was with Tanesha in her final moments. The 21-year-old said: 'I tried to save her, she was a good girl, no trouble.

'She was in her house before it happened and she had gone out and was just literally chilling with her friends. I heard some shooting and I thought it was fireworks.

'My boyfriend's mum called the ambulance, I did not realise she had been shot until the ambulance came.

'Apparently the car just pulled up and then started shooting from the window.

'Her mum came before the paramedics, she was screaming and shouting. Her whole family was here.'

Tanesha was a regular at the Bruce Grove Youth Centre In Tottenham (pictured) where she taught youngsters how to be good role models

Police and Forensic investigators have been at the crime scene in north London throughout the day

The murder scene is less than 100 metres away from another shooting four months ago, believed to have involved a teenage boy shooting at members of another gang who had earlier beaten him up.

Another friend said: 'Tanesha was a very known, very lovable little girl in the community, she was not involved in any sort of problems with anyone.'

The past two months of bloodshed in London have overtaken New York's murder rate, official police figures show, as Scotland Yard battles a 38 per cent surge in killings since 2014, with 50 deaths recorded already this year.

Fifteen people were killed in London in February, compared to 14 in New York.

London also has almost three times the number of reported rapes, but until February this year the murder rate in New York remained higher.

New York and London: A tale of two violent cities London and New York both have a population of about 8 million and an annual police budget of around 3 billion. New York  which has 40,000 police officers to London's 32,000  was renowned for violence with more than 2,000 killings a year in the early 1990s, but the NYPD introduced a zero tolerance approach to low-level crime and flooded problem areas with patrols. And the streets of London are now more deadly than New York, with the capital recording a higher murder rate for the first time in modern history in February. The total number of London murders, even excluding victims of terrorism, has risen by 38 per cent since 2014. In contrast, the number of murders in New York have fallen by 87 per cent since its 1990s peak. The past two months of bloodshed in London have overtaken New York's murder rate, official police figures show, as Scotland Yard battles a 38 per cent surge in killings since 2014. Fifteen people were killed in London in February, compared to 14 in New York, where urban violence has long been prevalent. The surge in killings comes as rates of rape, robbery, and violent offences in London have already eclipsed those in New York. Advertisement

The murder scene is less than 100 metres away from another shooting four months ago

North London rapper Wretch 32 - real name Jermaine Scott Sinclair - who was raised in Tottenham, said he was 'lost for words' following the shooting

Terrified residents have called upon the London Mayor and the Met Police to take action. Pictured, forensic teams on the scene in Tottenham

North London rapper Wretch 32 - real name Jermaine Scott Sinclair - who was raised in Tottenham, said he was 'lost for words' following the shooting.

He tweeted: 'Wish I knew what to say about what's happening in my ends. North London were better than this man smh R.I.P to the young angel who lost her life last night.

MET POLICE CHIEF SLAMS ONLINE ABUSE In recent days, Scotland Yard commissioner Cressida Dick has said gangs were using online platforms to glorify street violence and show off 'with weapons'. Miss Dick also raised concerns about the violent undercurrent in some music, especially grime. She warned that it could lead vulnerable youngsters to think it was 'an admirable thing to be talking about violence and people perpetrating it'. Miss Dick, who has been in the role for 12 months, said she was 'no luddite' and that the internet was 'wonderfully positive in almost every way'. But she added that 'incredibly abusive' language online can 'rev people up'. She told The Times: 'There's definitely something about the impact of social media  people being able to go from slightly angry with each other to 'fight' very quickly  gangs can posture on social media and talk about who they are and what they've achieved. 'It may not be unlawful but it is glamorising it for people, showing off with weapons.' She said that insults or threats online 'makes [violence] faster, it makes it harder for people to cool down. I'm sure it does rev people up'.' Advertisement

'Love & prayers to the family. I'm honestly lost for words.'

TV and radio presenter Snoochie Shy said that communities need to 'actually start mentoring young people'.

A friend of Tanesha's brother added: 'This is the third shooting in the last few months. One happened right outside my house.

'Tanesha was a nice girl, they were a good family.'

Sharon Lindsay, 54, added: 'The violence around here is getting worse and the shootings and stabbings need to stop.

'It's got to the point where people are too scared to go out, particularly at night, because they don't know what's going to happen.

'When you do go out you're always looking over your shoulder, making sure you're aware of what's going on.

'Most of the people around here are lovely, it's not nice for them to live like this.'

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Wood, head of Scotland Yard's murder squad, said: 'It was a terrible attack in which this young lady has lost her life.

'I'd like to appeal to anybody who was in the vicinity to contact the incident room or Crimestoppers who can assist the investigation.

'At this stage we're keeping a completely open mind, it's too early to say what the motive is or indeed if it's just a case of wrong place, wrong time.

'We do know that a vehicle drove past a group of young people, shots were fired from the vehicle and sadly the young lady lost her life.'

Police are also combing the scene in Walthamstow for clues after two teenagers were taken to hospital

The scene where a 16-year-old boy was shot on Monday evening in Walthamstow, east London

GOVERNMENT AND THE MAYOR OF LONDON ARE URGED TO TAKE ACTION The latest incidents will bring fresh scrutiny on the Government's efforts to halt rising levels of violent crime around the country. In the coming weeks the Home Office will publish a serious violence strategy, which it says will place a 'new emphasis' on steering young people away from crime. Proposed measures include a 'two strikes' regime, meaning criminals caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months, and a tightening of rules covering online sales of knives. The recent spate of violence has prompted scrutiny of a sharp reduction in stop and search activity, with use of the powers at the lowest level since current data records started 17 years ago. Stop and search has repeatedly attracted controversy, with criticism focusing mainly on the number of stops of black and minority ethnic individuals. Reforms were introduced in 2014 by then-home secretary Theresa May to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way. Terrified residents are now putting pressure on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to take action. On Sunday the Mayor blamed Tory cuts on affecting front line policing. He tweeted: ''It's time for the Government to stop misleading the public and properly fund our police.' But social media users, including Pier Morgan, have called on him to do more. The Good Morning Britain host tweeted: 'This is happening on YOUR watch, Mr Mayor @SadiqKhan - what are you going to do about it?' A spokesman for the Mayor said today: 'The Mayor is deeply concerned by violent crime in the capital - every life lost to violent crime is a tragedy. 'Our city remains one of the safest in the world ... but Sadiq wants it to be even safer and is working hard to bring an end to this violent scourge.' Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said today: 'There can be no place in our society for violent crime. The government is determined to do everything it can to break the cycle.' Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on knife crime, told the BBC's Today programme that London could learn from New York in how to reduce violent crime. Advertisement

As paramedics tried to resuscitate the teenager in Tottenham, officers were called to the second incident.

A 16-year-old, named locally as Amaan Shakoor, was shot in the face in Walthamstow by 'rival drug dealers', a friend claims.

A relative of the shooting victim who is also a serving police officer said the family were too upset to speak publicly about the incident.

He said: 'We are praying for him now and I don't think talking to the media will help right now.'

Damian Slay, 17, from east London, said rival drug dealers shot the youngster after warning him not to sell cocaine in St James area of the borough earlier in the day.

Speaking at the crime scene, Damian said he was standing round a corner from where the victims were attacked.

He said: 'They must have run up to them, stabbed one in the arm and faced the other one and just shot him in the face and run off.

'I wasn't startled because I've seen all of this before, I was just helping the other guy, the one who got stabbed because there was nothing I could do for the one who got shot.

'The stabbing victim suffered minor injuries, he got stabbed in the arm a couple of times, twice, but he was alright, it was more shock because he saw his friend get shot in the face.

'It's like turf wars.

'The youngsters that are here decide to sell cocaine and crack but there's a lot of people that do the same thing and certain areas are controlled by certain groups and if you sell in an area that you shouldn't have been the people get upset.

'I don't think any of it should have happened but it was drug related that's all I can say and it was definitely a set up.

'They are just little hoodrats, it's harsh but it is what it is.'

A Met statement said: 'The 15-year-old was treated for stab injuries which are no longer life changing. He has now been released from hospital.

'The 16-year-old boy died in hospital at 5.45pm on Tuesday, 3 April. His next of kin were present at hospital when he passed away.

'The Homicide and Major Crime Command are now investigating alongside colleagues from the Trident and Area Crime Command. No arrests have been made.'

Acting detective chief inspector Glenn Butler, from the Trident and Area Crime Command, said: 'I fully appreciate the alarm, shock and revulsion caused by this murder and other fatal shootings we have seen across London over the last few months.

'We are doing everything we can to identify the culprits and bring them to justice. We can't do this alone.

'We need those within the community who have information about those involved to search their own conscience and call us with information.'

Sadly, the violence does not appear to be showing any signs of slowing down in April.

On April 1, a photograph exclusively obtained by the Mail showed the chilling moment a hooded youth clutching an 8in knife fled after a boy of 16 was stabbed in a takeaway.

As paramedics tried to resuscitate the teenager in Tottenham, officers were called to the second incident in east London

A 16-year-old, named locally as Oman Shakore, is fighting for his life after he was shot in the face in Walthamstow by 'rival drug dealers', a friend claims

The brutal attack lasted just 30 seconds when seven masked thugs went into the fast-food shop to stab the teenager at the counter before sprinting away.

The boy was left with blood pouring from his chest as Easter Sunday shoppers ran to help.

As the alleged attacker ran alongside the busy A12 road in Bow, East London, the large knife was clearly visible in CCTV from a nearby shop.

This is the chilling moment a hooded youth clutching an 8in knife fled after a boy of 16 was stabbed in a takeaway in Bow, London

Detectives have arrested four men in connection with the stabbing but three others, including the suspected knifeman, remained at large last night. Police believe the attack was gang-related.

Shortly before the daylight attack a mother with two young children and a baby in a pram had been buying food in the shop.

A witness said: 'I saw seven teenagers wearing hoods running away very fast. I went to the shop and I saw the boy being helped by someone on a chair. He was holding his chest near his heart.

'The police came first and the ambulance came just after.'

The boy, who was in a critical but stable condition in an East London hospital last night, was chatting with friends outside the chicken shop just after 6pm.

Seconds later, the masked group of youths could be seen on the CCTV walking purposefully towards their target.
Child sex offenders who 'persistently' abuse victims are facing maximum life sentences under a major overhaul of laws in New South Wales.

People who fail to report or protect children against abuse are also facing punishments under the crackdown.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman announced the changes in response to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

'NSW continues to lead the nation in its response to the Royal Commission by introducing one of the states largest ever criminal reform packages,' Ms Berejiklian said on Tuesday.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) has today announced major changes to child sexual abuse legislation in NSW. She is pictured at a previous press conference on March 29 2018 with NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres (right) and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Andrew Constance (left)

The NSW Government has accepted the majority of the Royal Commissions criminal justice recommendations, and will implement more than 50 of them before the end of the year. The legislation will be introduced to NSW Parliament in the coming months.

In addition, the NSW Government will formally respond to all the Royal Commissioners recommendations in June.

The final report of the government's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse which was presented to the Governor General on December 15 2017

The final report was the culmination of a five-year inquiry into the handling of child sexual abuse across the Australia, announced by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2012, with terms of reference established in 2013.

'These historic reforms are designed to deliver survivors the justice they deserve and impose tougher penalties on offenders for their appalling abuse of children,' Ms Berejiklian said.

Ms Berejiklian (pictured) will introduce a maximum life sentence for child sex offenders who persistently abuse victims. She is pictured speaking to the media at a previous press conference at Nepean hospital in Sydney, 25 March 2018

One of the flagship changes to the laws are the introduction of a maximum life sentence for offenders committing persistent child sexual abuse.

New offences will be introduced including failure to report and failure to protect against child abuse.

Grooming an adult to access a child and providing children with gifts or money in a bid to groom them are also new offences.

Ms Berejiklian announced a change for the courts that involves 'not taking into account an offenders good character when sentencing for historic offences where their reputation facilitated the offending'.

Courts sentencing historic child sexual assault offences will now be expected to apply current sentencing standards and the present understanding about the lifelong effects of sexual abuse on children.

NSW Attorney General Mr Speakman said the reforms showed a major shift in the way the legal system responds to child sexual abuse.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks to the media in Sydney on 2 March 2018

'The Royal Commission has generated unprecedented community understanding of child sexual abuse and the harm it causes,' NSW Attorney General Mr Speakman said

'The Royal Commission has generated unprecedented community understanding of child sexual abuse and the harm it causes,' Mr Speakman said.

'It is vital we strengthen our laws so they better reflect community expectations, protect children, and help survivors find justice.'

In conjunction with the proposed changes, the NSW Government will establish a monitoring group to review the legislative changes to ensure they effectively operate after they are introduced.
Police are searching a highway travel route for three children who have been missing ever since the SUV carrying their entire family plunged 100-feet off a California cliff, killing at least five of them.

The Hart family's wrecked GMC Yukon was discovered last Monday on rocks along the coast near Mendocino, a few days after child welfare authorities began investigating whether the children were being abused or neglected.

Investigators are now examining 'red flags' in the Washington family's past in the hope of explaining why they drove off the cliff in an apparent suicide plunge.

The bodies of Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, and three of their six adopted children - Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14 - were found but the other three are missing and presumed dead.

The SUV carrying Jennifer and Sarah Hart and their six adopted children was discovered last Monday on rocks along the coast near Mendocino, California

Authorities have spent the past week trawling the ocean for the missing three children - Hannah, 16, Devonte, 15, and Sierra, 12 - and spent Monday searching the highways they may have traveled along as well.

'The search for the additional three children belonging to the family continues both at the scene, through water rescue and recovery, and other locations including routes of travel,' the California Highway Patrol said.

Officials had previously said they believed all the children were in the vehicle and the other bodies may have been washed into the ocean.

While investigators initially said there was no indication the crash was anything but an accident, data from the vehicle's software now suggested the incident was deliberate.

Three other children are missing but authorities believe it is likely all eight members of the Hart family, including the six children aged 12 to 19, are presumed dead after their car was found crashed on rocks

The SUV appears to have stopped at a dirt pull-off area about 70 feet from the cliff (pictured above). It then accelerated over the edge and left no skid marks

'This situation may have been an intentional act and not the result of a traffic collision,' the highway patrol said.

The SUV appears to have stopped at a dirt pull-off area about 70 feet from the cliff, according to the vehicle's on-board computer.

It then accelerated over the edge, leaving no skid marks or other indications of a collision. The SUV fell into rocks and was found partially submerged about 100 feet below the highway.

Police searched the family's home in Woodland, Washington, about 500 miles north of the crash site, but found no suicide note.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services said it opened an investigation into the family for potential child neglect or abuse after a complaint on March 23.

Investigators are now examining 'red flags' in the Washington family's past in the hope of explaining why they drove off the cliff in an apparent suicide plunge

These are the tracks left by the car when it went over the edge of the cliff

Days before the wreck was discovered, neighbors called authorities to say one of the youngsters had been coming to their house almost daily asking for something to eat and complaining that his parents were withholding food as punishment.

Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.

Long before the crash, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children.

The Hart family gained attention in 2014 after one of the children, Devonte, was photographed crying in the arms of a white police officer at a protest after the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.
A shrewd businessman only works two hours a day because he earns $228,000 selling hammocks online.

Daniel Brady, from Brisbane, Queensland, runs Heavenly Hammocks and Swings.

He has been selling a range of chairs, hammocks, nests and sensory swings for four years, generating $145,000 revenue last year and $228,000 this year.

Crafty: A shrewd businessman only works two hours a day because he earns $228,000 selling hammocks online

Daniel Brady (pictured), from Brisbane, Queensland, runs Heavenly Hammocks and Swings

Mr Brady previously tried to sell pearl jewellery and headphones but both those businesses failed.

Now his success means he spends most of his day raising his three-year-old son - except at Christmas time when more orders come in and he works 'almost 24 hours a day'.

Mr Brady told News.com.au: 'I work an average of 15 to 30 hours a week, which is a couple of hours a day on average.'

'At Christmas, it becomes more than a full-time job - it's almost a 24-hour-a-day job - but that changes throughout the year.

'I can work on my other websites part-time and I have a three-year-old, so I do spend quite a lot of time with him, but during Christmas I have to rely on my wife to look after him.'

It comes after a British study found that working from home can increase productivity.

Mr Brady (pictured with his son) said: 'I work an average of 15 to 30 hours a week, which is a couple of hours a day on average,' he explained.

Professor Alan Felstead, the studys lead author, from Cardiff Universitys School of Social Sciences, said: Work is gradually being detached from traditional places such as the office, factory, or shop.

Our study also shows that employers benefit from increased effort as workers strive to show that working remotely is not a slacker's charter. However, remote workers find greater difficulty in redrawing the boundaries between work and non-work life.

The researchers examined the responses of around 15,000 working people supplied in 2001, 2006 and 2012.

Just under a quarter of people in fixed workplaces, 24 per cent, put in extra effort to work longer than their formal hours.
Former drug addicts are being encouraged to work at Victoria's first safe injecting centre.

Those supervising some of Melbourne's heroin addicts could earn a 'competitive salary' despite being past or current drug users themselves.

'While it's not a prerequisite, people who have experienced addiction, or know of someone who has, are encouraged to apply,' a Victorian Government spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

Former drug addicts are being encouraged to work at Victoria's first safe injecting centre (pictured)

Those supervising some of Melbourne's heroin addicts could earn a 'competitive salary' despite being past or current drug users themselves

'While it's not a prerequisite, people who have experienced addiction, or know of someone who has, are encouraged to apply,' a Victorian Government spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia (Richmond pictured)

'North Richmond Community Health has procedures in place to check the backgrounds of all staff and volunteers.

'Any person employed as part of the medically supervised injecting room will require a range of qualifications, skills and attributes.'

The Medically Supervised Injecting Room has a number of jobs being advertised to help 'reduce the risks of illicit drug use'.

Their tasks would include providing clean needles for addicts to use as well as dealing with overdoses.

Staff would be responsible for 'supervising clients before, during and after episodes of injecting' while engaging with drug users to identify their health needs, the job description reads.

The Victorian government enacted legislation in 2017 to trial a safe injecting room in a bid to provide a hygienic and medically supervised facility for illicit drug users.

The Medically Supervised Injecting Room has a number of jobs being advertised to help 'reduce the risks of illicit drug use'

Their tasks would include providing clean needles for addicts to use as well as dealing with overdoses (pictured Richmond streets littered with drugs)

The decision came as Richmond's grungy streets were at the centre of the state's heroin crisis which was overrun with syringes and drug users shooting up behind restaurants

Premier Daniel Andrews changed his tune on the injecting room last year and supported a move for a two-year trial at the centre.

It's part of an $87 million drug rehabilitation plan which includes an extra 100 residential rehab beds to combat ice and heroin use.

The decision came as Richmond's grungy streets were at the centre of the state's heroin crisis which was overrun with syringes and drug users shooting up behind restaurants.

In 2015, the number of overdoses quadrupled from 13 to 59 in the Richmond area - known as the 'heroin rectangle'.

NRCH says the injecting room will save lives and the centre is expected to open in June.

In May 2001, the first Medically Supervised Injecting Centre opened in Sydney's notorious Kings Cross and by 2003 they had seen positive results.
An author has begged Australians to 'wake up to the silent Chinese invasion', as he claims it might already be too late to stop it.

In his newly published book Silent Invasion: How China is Turning Australia into a Puppet State, professor Clive Hamilton said the Chinese Government was influencing 'all of Australia's major institutions, from politics to media, business and universities'.

Speaking on Live Leak on Tuesday, Mr Hamilton said 'no area of Australian society, politics or culture, is free from influence if there's an opportunity there'.

'They'll infiltrate anything they can,' he said.

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In his book, Professor Clive Hamilton claims the Chinese Government is silently invading Australia and it's already too late to stop it

He said the Chinese Government used Australia as a puppet, and it was leading to 'the erosion of Australian sovereignty'.

He wanted Australians to 'wake up' to the alarming reality.

'I wrote the book in order to wake up Australia, to give a full picture of the nature of these operations and why the Chinese Communist Party is targeting Australia,' he said.

Mr Hamilton said Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents were even targeting church groups in Australia.

'One of the most shocking elements I came across, and I don't want to exaggerate this, was the way in which agents of the CCP have made themselves present in the congregations of Chinese Christian churches in Australia, and of court the CCP is officially an atheist organisation,' he said.

'I was constantly surprised, nothing is sacred.'

'I wrote the book in order to wake up Australia, to give a full picture of the nature of these operations and why the Chinese Communist Party is targeting Australia,' he said (Ethnic Uyghur members of the Communist Party of China carry the flag)

The Charles Sturt University Professor of Public Ethics claimed the CCP covertly followed him since he started investigating for his book.

'It's not a pleasant thing to spend weeks and weeks feeling the state security in Beijing is keeping a close eye on you,' he said.

'We did have a spy sitting outside of this building carrying with her a "sniffer"  a device that looked like a mobile but is an electronic device that picks up all telephone communication in the building.

'It is unsettling.'

Professor Hamilton claimed the CCP covertly followed him since he started investigating for his book

Mr Hamilton said his publisher wanted to pull the book for fear of retribution (Chinese President Xi Jinping pictured)

Mr Hamilton said his publisher wanted to pull the book.

'They said they were afraid of retaliation from Beijing, which is a kind of brilliant but unwelcome vindication of the essential argument of my book,' he said.

The ethics professor said people tried to twist his words and accuse him of racism and xenophobia.

'I anticipated it, to be accused of racism and anti-China xenophobia, but when it comes at you, it's really quite hard to take it. You need to have the skin of a rhino to not want to crawl in a hole and stay there,' he said.

The ethics professor said he was not racist or xenophobic (Ethnic Uyghur members of the Communist Party of China carry a flag as they take part in an organised tour)

'You'd have to work hard to draw out of the book anything that could be used to draw that conclusion from the book.

'To think any criticism of the communist party is criticism of Chinese people give me a break.'

He said it was time for liberal democracies to 'muscle up'.

'We need to make a fundamental decision to decide how much our freedom is worth,' he said.
Parents have been left panicking following reports of an 'alleged kidnapping' after police were seen combing through a suburb on Sydney's northern beaches.

Police were called to Old Pittwater Road in Brookvale on Tuesday after receiving an emergency call.

A police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia there were reports of a 'gunshot'.

Parents have been left panicking following reports of an 'alleged kidnapping' after police were seen combing through a suburb on Sydney's northern beaches - dozens of parents 'followed' the post

Police were called to Old Pittwater Road in Brookvale on Tuesday after receiving an emergency call

But when police arrived to investigate they did not find anything suspicious and suspended the operation.

'We always take calls seriously, in this case we didn't find anything and believe it to have been a prank call.'

The police presence wasn't missed by locals who soon claimed there had been a kidnapping which accounted for the police presence.

'Does anyone know what's going on on Old Pittwater Road? Police everywhere!' One person wrote on Facebook.

This post was quickly followed by dozens of worried mums. 'I saw there was an alleged child abduction in Brookvale,' said one woman.
A Russian-made drone on its way to making its first parcel delivery has crashed into a wall just moments after taking off.

The smash shocked local residents and regional officials who had gathered in the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude on Monday to watch the drone's maiden flight.

The drone was sent to deliver a small package to a neighbouring village in the sparsely populated Buryatia region, more than 4,400km east of Moscow.

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A Russian-made drone (pictured) on its way to making its first parcel delivery has crashed into a wall just moments after taking off

Video footage showed the drone lifting off from a miniature launch pad bearing Russian Post's blue and white logo.

The unmanned aerial vehicle buzzed through the air for several seconds before losing height and crashing into a three-storey residential building at top speed.

A small crowd of spectators, present for the ceremony intended to showcase a new way to deliver mail in the region, were heard uttering expletives after the crash.

No one was harmed in the incident, which left debris from the smashed drone strewn on the ground.

The smash (pictured) shocked local residents and regional officials who had gathered in the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude on Monday to watch the drone's maiden flight

The drone (pictured) was sent to deliver a small package to a neighbouring village in the sparsely populated Buryatia region, more than 4,400km east of Moscow

Russian Post was quick to distance itself from the drone crash, saying it was present at the launch merely as a guest.

The drone was made by a company called Rudron/Expeditor 3M, which had organised the testing, Russian Post said.

The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

Russia's postal service had announced plans in 2016 to start using drones for parcel deliveries across the vast country.

Alexei Tsydenov, the head of the Buryatia region present at the crash site, said the more than 100 Wi-Fi connections in the area could have disrupted the drone's flight.

'We won't stop with this, we will keep trying,' he said, adding the device cost some $20,000.

'Those who don't risk don't get a result.'

Logistics companies and retailers worldwide are starting to try out drones to reach remote customers or those paying a premium for speed.
Aziz Ansari was spotted out in New York City in a rare public sighting since being accused of sexual misconduct in January.

The 34-year old was seen in Manhattan's West Village on Monday wearing a gray coat, gray pants, black socks and white sneakers.

The 'Master of None' star was also sporting a pair of black sunglasses and speaking on a cellphone as he crossed the street.

Ansari has kept a low profile since a woman, who spoke to Babe on the condition of anonymity, said that the actor ignored her verbal and non-verbal cues in his Manhattan apartment in September last year repeatedly tried to pressure into having sex over the course of the night.

Aziz Ansari was spotted out in New York City in a rare public sighting since being accused of sexual misconduct in January. The 34-year old was seen in Manhattan's West Village on Monday wearing a gray coat, gray pants, black socks and white sneakers.

Ansari has kept a low profile since a woman, who spoke to Babe on the condition of anonymity, said that the actor ignored her verbal and non-verbal cues in his Manhattan apartment in September last year repeatedly tried to pressure into having sex over the course of the night

The woman said she met Ansari at an after-party for the Emmys in Los Angeles on September 17 when she noticed they had both brought the same kind of film cameras.

She said she exchanged phone numbers with Ansari at the party and later made plans for a date when they had both returned to New York.

On Monday, September 25, she said she went to Ansari's swanky TriBeCa apartment, where they drank white wine and talked.

After dinner at an oyster bar a few blocks away, she said they returned to his apartment.

She claims he performed oral sex on her and then asked her to reciprocate, which she did.

The 23-year-old New York-based photographer said she met Ansari at an Emmys after-party in September 2017 (Pictured, Ansari at last year's Emmys)

A post shared by Babe (@babedotnet) on Jan 13, 2018 at 3:49pm PST

The woman claims he stuck his fingers down her throat and allegedly kept moving her hand towards his penis.

She said she couldn't say whether Ansari was just clueless or actively ignoring her signals.

'I know I was physically giving off cues that I wasn't interested. I don't think that was noticed at all, or if it was, it was ignored,' she said.

She alleges that Ansari repeatedly asked her 'Where do you want me to f**k you?'

When the woman stood up to leave, Ansari insisted on calling a car for her, she claims.

'I cried the whole ride home. At that point I felt violated. That last hour was so out of my hand,' she said

The woman said that Ansari's reputation as a feminist and 'woke' individual on social issues heightened the sense of disconnect she felt on the date.

'This was not what I expected. I'd seen some of his shows and read excerpts from his book and I was not expecting a bad night at all, much less a violating night and a painful one,' she said.

The next day, before the woman could figure out what to say to Ansari about the date, he allegedly sent her a text message.

'It was fun meeting you last night,' the message read.

The woman says their date ended back at Ansari's Manhattan apartment She alleges that Ansari ignored her verbal and non-verbal cues and tried to pressure into having sex throughout the evening (Pictured, Ansari, left, and Donald Glover at the Governor's Ball in September 2017)

The woman responded: 'Last night might've been fun for you, but it wasn't for me. You ignored clear non-verbal clues; you kept going with advances.

'I want to make sure you're aware so maybe the next girl doesn't have to cry on the ride home.'

Ansari allegedly replied: 'I'm so sad to hear this. Clearly, I misread things in the moment and I'm truly sorry.'

The day after the story appeared on babe.net, Ansari shared his side of the story.

'In September of last year, I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date,' Ansari acknowledged in a statement to Variety.

'We went out to dinner, and afterwards we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual,' Ansari said.

'The next day, I got a text from her saying that although "it may have seemed okay," upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned,' he said.

'I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said.'

'I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture,' he said. 'It is necessary and long overdue.'




A furious President Donald Trump has lashed out saying 'caravans are heading here' after images surfaced of hundreds of Central American migrants headed toward the US border.

Trump took to Twitter on Monday to attack Mexico for allowing the 1,500-strong group to march unimpeded toward the US.

The group of mostly Honduran refugees started marching towards America on March 25, starting in the far southern Mexican town of Tapachula.

They to hold demonstrations in Puebla, Mexico on April 5-9 before continuing on to the US where they plan to demand asylum.

Trump took to Twitter on Monday to attack Mexico for allowing the 1,500-strong group of Central American migrants to march unimpeded toward the US

Triggered by the images of the refugees, Trump threatened to abrogate NAFTA - the US-Mexico-Canada free trade pact - and demanded Congress pass tougher immigration legislation and support his plan for a wall along the Mexican frontier.

He also declared he no longer supported a replacement for DACA, the program that had offered protection against deportation for about 700,000 undocumented immigrants, most of them Mexicans, who came to the US as children.

'As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS,' Trump tweeted on Monday night.

The administration's own statistics showed that arrests of undocumented migrants soared in the first year of Trump's presidency, while illegal border crossings plummeted.

Triggered by the images of the refugees, Trump demanded Congress pass tougher immigration legislation and support his plan for a wall along the Mexican frontier

Data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement suggested, however, that processes to deport arrested illegal immigrants have become even more backed up than before.

'Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!'

Since taking office more than a year ago, Trump has focused on cracking down on legal and undocumented immigration.

He has repeatedly tried to link immigration with crime but immigrant defenders say many immigrants are fleeing poverty and violence. Activists accuse authorities of rounding up longtime residents with families and jobs on minor infractions.

Earlier on Monday, Trump demanded that Mexico keep the caravan from crossing into the United States.

The group of more than 1,000 mostly Honduran refugees plans to cross into the U.S. and demand asylum. They are pictured above on March 30 in the Mexican state of Oaxaca

The group has been making the journey on foot, by bus and on trains. They plan to reach the state of Puebla by April 5, where they will take a four day break in their journey

The long march: The group mostly started from Tapachula on March 25th and his inched their way up towards Mexico City. They will spend most of this week camped at Puebla

'Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large 'Caravans' of people enter their country. They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws.....,' he said.

He later tweeted: 'Mexico is making a fortune on NAFTA.'

'With all of the money they make from the US, hopefully they will stop people from coming through their country and into ours, at least until Congress changes our immigration laws!'

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto demanded that the United States respectfully pursue the continuing NAFTA trade talks, despite disagreements over immigration.

'We have been conducting serious negotiations,' he said, expressing hope that 'this spirit of positivity, mutual respect and cordiality' will continue, while looking for areas 'that really favor the development of the three countries.'

Mexico's Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete Prida rejected Trump's accusations that Mexico was not trying to control illegal immigration.

'Of course we will act, let me be clear, in strict compliance with our migration laws, without accepting pressure from any country or anyone,' Navarrete said, referring to the caravan.

The group will likely cross the border illegally and then demand asylum, since it's easy to get turned away if applying for asylum at the border before crossing into the U.S. The group pictured above in Oaxaca on Saturday

Before setting off on their journey, the group practiced formations to protect the women and children in case of a violent resistance. Above, the group in Oaxaca on Friday

Hundreds of Central Americans attended a mass before they began their journey in Tapachula, Mexico on March 25

Organized each of the past five years by activists of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the 1,500 migrants say they have fled El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua because of poverty and widespread violence from criminal gangs.

They set off on March 25 from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas for the US border, where many hope to apply for asylum.

On Monday, they were passing through the mountainous southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Trump appears to have become aware of them over the weekend from a report on Fox News, which he regularly watches.

On Sunday he said Mexico 'must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA,' he tweeted.

He accused the migrants of seeking to benefit from DACA, but a leader of the caravan countered that Trump is using it as an excuse to stop any deal on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

The program would provide those qualified -- as many as 1.8 million people -- a path to citizenship.

'This is just a pretense to lay the blame somewhere else. He's just using our movement, the caravan, as a pretext,' caravan organizer Rodrigo Abeja told AFP.

Abeja said the Mexican government was in a difficult position with the caravan, given the growing publicity attached to its daily progress.

'The Mexican government is under a lot of pressure from the United States to show that it has control over its borders,' he said.

'But it also can't take direct action (such as deporting the migrants) because there is already a lot of public exposure.'
Jamie Luner is being sued for $250million by the man who has accused the Melrose Place star of giving him meth and performing oral sex on him when he was just 16.

Anthony Oliver claims that he met Luner, who was 26 at the time, during a party at her house in 1998. He is suing her for emotional distress and sexual battery.

Oliver's brother was a friend of Luner's makeup artist, who had developed a crush on the teen, according to TMZ.

He claims Luner called him 'adorable' and gave him a Jack and Coke. He said they talked for three hours before going into her room.

Jamie Luner is being sued for $250million by the man who has accused the Melrose Place star of giving him meth and performing oral sex on him when he was just 16

Soap stardom: Luner was already one of television's biggest stars when she nabbed the role of Lexi Sterling in the final two season of Melrose Place (clockwise from top left: Luner, Rob Estes, Heather Locklear, Jack Wagner, John Haymes Newton, Kelly Rutherford, Thomas Calabro, and Josie Bisset)

That's when Luner pulled out a small bag of crystal meth and told him 'it's going to make you real horny', Oliver said.

Oliver declined and asked for two Tylenol pills instead, which he claims were laced with crystal meth. He said he then began to feel sexually aroused.

He claims Luner then performed oral sex on him before putting his penis in the mouth of the male makeup artist.

Oliver alleges he had sex with Luner multiple times, and that at one point she told him 'come bend me over the couch and ram me'.

When his brother returned to the party he recorded the pair having sex, Oliver also claims.

Oliver says the experience turned him into an alcoholic and left him 'not knowing if he is attracted to men, women, or both,' according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also claims two other men came froward to the Los Angeles Police Department to accuse Luner of drug-induced sex.

A spokesperson with the LAPD told DailyMail.com earlier this month that the Robbery Homicide Division, who handles all celebrity and high profile cases, has not opened an investigation at this time into the Melrose Place star.

This comes after TMZ reported that the alleged victim filed a report with the LAPD, and that Luner might be facing a charge of oral copulation with a minor child.

Anthony Oliver claims that he met Luner (pictured in 1998), who was 26 at the time, during a party at her house in 1998. He is suing her for emotional distress and sexual battery

Luner first rose to fame with her role on the Growing Pains spin-off Just the Ten of Us (Top row, left: Brooke Theiss, Matt Shakman, Bill Kirchenbauer, Luner, JoAnn Willette; on steps, left: Deborah Harmon holding Riquel Kyle Shane, Heidi Zeigler (holding Jason/Jeremy Korstjens (Harvey), Heather Langenkamp)

Luner's manager told TheWrap that the allegations had 'no merit' and were a 'blatant attempt at extortion'.

Even if Luner had been found guilty, she would have likely only been charged with a misdemeanor if the sex act was consensual due to the fact that the victim was over the age of 16 at the time of the incident.

Oral copulation with a minor child can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor under California state law, with the former largely reserved for instances in which the victim is under 16.

It can also be charged as a felony, however, if the victim is over 16 but was incapacitated or forced into the act at the time of the incident.

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum prison sentence of one year, while the felony charge can carry up to 10 years behind bars.

There is also a chance the statute of limitations has run out on this case - with California law requiring that a report be filed within one year of the offense if the act was consensual.

In some non-consensual cases however, criminal charges can be filed within one year of a victim making a report to police.

Ex-files: She would have been dating personal trainer John Braz (couple above circa 1998) at the time of the alleged incident, who she split with in 1999 after four years together

Kids incorporated: Luner was already a household name before her Melrose days thanks to roles in such shows as Just the Ten of Us and Growing Pains (above with Pains co-star Jeremy Miller)

Enlightened: In 2015 she received a degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica (above at commencement with her parents)

Luner would have been in a relationship with John Braz at the time of the alleged offense.

She and the personal trainer began dating in 1995 but went their separate ways four years later around the time Melrose Place ended its run.

That is Luner's only known relationship, with the actress having always been incredibly private about the details of her love life.

This despite getting her start in commercials while still a child and attending the famed Beverly Hills High before landing her first big role in 1988 on the popular television series Just the Ten of Us.

She then made memorable guest appearances on Growing Pains and Married With Children before snagging her next big part in 1996 on Savannah.

It was while auditioning for Savannah that Luner first met Aaron Spelling, would would give her the role on Melrose that made her an A-list television star.

Bagging a Baldwin: Luner and Stephen Baldwin at the premiere of their film Friends & Lovers in 2000 (above)

Chameleon: Luner on All My Children in 2009 (left) and in a recent Instagram post (left)

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia: Luner with Marcia Gay Harden (above) while filming a guest spot on the series Code Black

Luner was one of television's biggest stars in the late 1990s thanks to her role as Lexi Sterling in Melrose Place, joining the cast in the sixth season and staying on until the show ended its run.

She immediately picked up an even bigger role as she took over for Ally Walker in the fourth season of Profiler, starring on 20 episodes of the NBC series before it was cancelled by the network.

Luner has made a number of guests appearances on television shows over the past 20 years and been featured in numerous Lifetime movies.

She also appeared in over 300 episodes of the popular soap opera All My Children from 2009 to 2011 in the role of Liza Colby, becoming the third actress to play the character.

Her recent work includes a ten-episode run on the TNT series Murder in the First back in 2016 and the lead role in the 2017 Lifetime film A Lover Betrayed.

She also recently wrapped work on two films slated fort release later this year, Tell Me I Love You and Deadly Runaway.

In 2015 she also received her degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.
An infamous bikie 'lost it' after an argument with his girlfriend, leading to a siege that allegedly saw him barricade himself in a house and threaten to stab police officers.

Brett Sole Pechey faced the Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday over an alleged siege at an apartment in Fairlight Avenue at Robina, on the Gold Coast, on Saturday.

It's alleged Pechey, a former president of the Bandidos West End chapter, was armed with swords and told police gathered outside he would attack unless they shot him.

Pechey, 31, made headlines last month for an Instagram war with ex-Hells Angel Ben Geppert. The pair were dating cousins Rikki-Louise and Allaina Jones respectively.

The heavily-tattooed bikie's lawyer said police were called to his home after hearing shouting between Pechey and Rikki-Louise - sparked by rumours the Instagram star had cheated on him.

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Bikie Brett 'Kaos' Pechey (left) broke up with his girlfriend Rikki-Louse (right) prior to a violent siege in which he allegedly threatened to stab police with a sword if they didn't shoot him

Allaina Jones (right), the cousin of Rikki-Louise (left), claimed that after the break up Pechey 'lost it'

'He'd had an argument over misinformation he was provided in regards to infidelity,' Campbell McCallum told Daily Mail Australia.

'The neighbours heard some arguing and called police, because there had been a break in at the same residence the night before.'

'Brett and Rikki had an argument but had cooled down and resolved their differences when 26 police arrived. That was when s*** hit the fan.'

Pechey, who entered a mental facility as a result of the siege, faced three charges in the Southport Magistrate Court on Tuesday over the weekend's incident.

Among them were serious assault, willfully and unlawfully damaging property, and a charge of committing public nuisance.

Mr McCallum made a bail application for his client which he expects will be granted when court reconvenes on Wednesday, pending a medical report.

Allaina, who was also involved in the online stoush, claimed on Tuesday that Pechey and Rikki-Louise's split had pushed the tattooed bikie enforcer to breaking point.

'It wasn't surprising... they broke up and he (Pechey) just lost it,' Allaina claimed.

Referring to Pechey as a 'fried unit', Allaina said she had not been in touch with Rikki-Louise since the Instagram stoush.

'I'm not talking to Rikki at the minute, it sucks but we're family, so it's OK.'

A total of 26 police officers reportedly tried to negotiate with Pechey (right), who allegedly stabbed a number of walls and kicked out windows in the home

Allaina (left) and her boyfriend Ben Geppert (right) were involved in an Instagram stoush with Pechey last month that made headlines

Pechey (pictured) became the most wanted man in Queensland when he fled to Thailand in the wake of a wild 2013 fight that became known as the 'Broadbeach bikie brawl'

Pechey's Instagram war with Geppert saw him called a 'boneyard dog' and resulted in a family divide between Rikki-Lousie (left) and Allaina Jones (right)

A total of 26 police officers reportedly tried to negotiate with Pechey, who allegedly stabbed a number of walls and kicked out windows in the home.

He also allegedly told officers to 'come up, have a go and shoot him', and 'he would stab them if they didn't shoot him'.

Police were only able to detain Pechey after he took prescription drugs that left him semiconscious, they claim.

His defence lawyer Campbell MacCallum said the dramatic siege was the result of a long run of psychological stress in Pechey's life.

Pechey's Instagram war with Geppert saw him called a 'boneyard dog' and accused of being a police informant by his fellow heavily-tattooed bikie.

The shooting death of ex-Comanchero bikie associate Liam Scorsese at the hands of police in February is also believed to have taken a toll.

In 2013 he became the most wanted man in Queensland when he fled to Thailand in the wake of a wild fight that became known as the 'Broadbeach bikie brawl'.

Pechey's defence lawyer claims the standoff was the result of severe distress in his client's life, including the shooting death of ex-Comanchero bikie associate Liam Scorsese (pictured)

That incident saw dozens of bikies surround police officers before attacking, hitting a number with punches.

Pechey, who was among 18 charged over the attack, was forced to return from Asia a year after fleeing when he ran out of money.

He was also charged with being involved in an extortion ring where he use standover tactics to extort money from gym goers on the Gold Coast.

At the time of the alleged extortion racket he was sergeant-at-arms of the Bandidos chapter.
Arthur Freeman launched his daughter (pictured together) off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge in full view of rush-hour traffic in 2009

A driver has told of the harrowing moment he saw a 'monster' father murder his four-year-old daughter by throwing her off a 58-metre high road bridge.

Michael Piacentin saw Arthur Freeman launch his daughter Darcey off Melbourne's West Gate Bridge in full view of rush-hour traffic in 2009.

Freeman, who is serving life behind bars, was driving Darcey and her two brothers, aged two and six, when he telephoned his former wife and told her to say goodbye to her children.

He then parked his car in the emergency lane of the bridge, coaxed his daughter out of the car and picked her up.

Darcey's brothers watched as Freeman carried her to the edge and threw her over.

The youngster was rescued and resuscitated but died later in hospital in her mother's arms.

Security guard Mr Piacentini - a key witness in securing Freeman's 2011 conviction - was driving across the bridge at the time.

Reliving his nightmare for SBS show Insight, he said: 'I noticed he got out of the car, and I noticed a very large sweat patch on the rear of his shirt, which kind of rang a bit of an alarm bell, I thought: "Ah, what's going on there? He must be a little bit flustered or something".'

Mr Piacentini continued creeping through the slow-moving traffic: 'I still didn't think anything sinister was happening,' he said.

Darcey's brothers watched as Freeman carried her to the edge and threw her over. Pictured: The moment it happened

Security guard Mr Piacentini - a key witness in securing Freeman's 2011 conviction - was driving across the bridge at the time

But then he changed lanes and that's when he saw 'that monster throw his child over the hand rail.'

He said: 'It's something that I'll never forget, the way he did it, the way he held the child under the arm.

'If you're going to lift a child up under the arms, the child will tend to try and put a foot on the rail or grab a foot hold.

'She actually went to do that, as if he was going to show her the view and he actually just tossed her right over the top rail.'

Mr Piacentini said he was furious. 'My initial reaction was to throw that man over the bridge,' he said.

Freeman, who is serving life behind bars, was driving Darcey and her two brothers, aged two and six, when he telephoned his former wife and told her to say goodbye to her children. Pictured: Melbourne's West Gate Bridge

But instead he rang the police and recorded what he had seen in a diary which was used as key evidence in Freeman's trial.

Talking about his initial disbelief in what he had seen, he said: 'A father's duty is to protect his children with his whole being and if necessary his life.

'For me to think a monster could throw his own child off the top of the West Gate Bridge, it doesn't compute.'

Now Mr Piacentini suffers heart palpitations whenever he thinks about what he saw.

His partner Terezia Kalkbrenner said he is still affected to this day.

'It has impacted how he sees life,' she said. 'He's not looking for things to go wrong necessarily, but he's watchful and on the lookout.'

Mr Piacentini said: 'Life changed for me forever that day. It showed that evil exists.'

Insight airs on SBS at 8.30pm on Tuesday.
Stormy Daniels (pictured) told all about her alleged affair with Donald Trump

Anderson Cooper: For sitting here talking to me today you could be fined a million dollars I mean aren't you taking a big risk?

Stormy Daniels: I am.

Anderson Cooper: I guess I'm not 100% sure on why you're doing this.

Stormy Daniels: Because it was very important to me to be able to defend myself

Anderson Cooper: Is part of talking w-- wanting to set the record straight?

Stormy Daniels: 100%.

Anderson Cooper: Why does the record need to be set straight?

Stormy Daniels: Because people are just saying whatever they wanted to say about me, I was perfectly fine saying nothing at all, but I'm not okay with being made out to be a liar, or people thinking that I did this for money and people are like, "Oh, you're an opportunist. You're taking advantage of this. Yes, I'm getting more job offers now, but tell me one person who would turn down a job offer making more than they've been making, doing the same thing that they've always done?

Anderson Cooper: A lotta people are using you for a lotta different agendas.

Stormy Daniels: They're trying to. Like, oh, you know, Stormy Daniels comes out #MeToo. This is not a 'Me Too.' I was not a victim. I've never said I was a victim. I think trying to use me to-- to further someone else's agenda, does horrible damage to people who are true victims.

Stormy Daniels' real name is Stephanie Clifford. She's 39 years old, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and has been acting in, directing, and writing adult films for nearly 20 years. She was one of the most popular actresses in the adult industry when she was introduced to Mr. Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in July, 2006. She says he invited her to dinner, and she met him at his hotel suite.

Anderson Cooper: How was the conversation?

Stormy Daniels: Ummm (LAUGH) it started off-- all about him just talking about himself. And he's like-- "Have you seen my new magazine?

Anderson Cooper: He was showing you his own picture on the cover of a magazine.

Stormy Daniels: Right, right. And so I was like, "Does this-- does this normally work for you?" And he looked very taken-- taken back, like, he didn't really understand what I was saying. Like, I was-- does, just, you know, talking about yourself normally work?" And I was like, "Someone should take that magazine and spank you with it." (LAUGH) And I'll never forget the look on his face. He was like--

Anderson Cooper: What-- what was his look?

Stormy Daniels: Just, I don't think anyone's ever spoken to him like that, especially, you know, a young woman who looked like me. And I said, you know, "Give me that," and I just remember him going, "You wouldn't." "Hand it over." And-- so he did, and I was like, turn around, drop 'em."

Stormy Daniels, an adult film star and director whose real name is Stephanie Clifford is interviewed by Anderson Cooper of CBS News' 60 Minutes program

Anderson Cooper: You-- you told Donald Trump to turn around and take off his pants.

Stormy Daniels: Yes.

Anderson Cooper: And did he?

Stormy Daniels: Yes. So he turned around and pulled his pants down a little -- you know had underwear on and stuff and I just gave him a couple swats.

Anderson Cooper: This was done in a joking manner.

Stormy Daniels: Yes. and-- from that moment on, he was a completely different person.

Anderson Cooper: How so?

Stormy Daniels: He quit talking about himself and he asked me things and I asked him things and it just became like more appropriate.

Anderson Cooper: It became more comfortable.

Stormy Daniels: Yeah. He was like, "Wow, you-- you are special. You remind me of my daughter." You know-- he was like, "You're smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you."

Anderson Cooper: At this point was he doing The Apprentice?

Stormy Daniels: Yes. And he goes, "Got an idea, honeybunch. Would you ever consider going on and-- and being a contestant?" And I laughed and-- and said, "NBC's never gonna let, you know, an adult film star be on." It's, you know, he goes, "No, no," he goes, "That's why I want you. You're gonna shock a lotta people, you're smart and they won't know what to expect"

Anderson Cooper: Did you think he was serious, or did you think he was kind of dangling to get you to wanna be involved him?

Stormy Daniels: Both.

Anderson Cooper: Melania Trump had recently given birth to-- to a son, just a few months before. Did that-- did he mention his wife or child at all in this?

Stormy Daniels: I asked. And he brushed it aside, said, "Oh yeah, yeah, you know, don't worry about that. We don't even we have separate rooms and stuff."

Anderson Cooper: Did you two go out for dinner that night?

Stormy Daniels: No.

Anderson Cooper: You had dinner in the room?

Stormy Daniels: Yes.

Anderson Cooper: What happened next?

Stormy Daniels: I asked him if I could use his restroom and he said, "Yes, you know, it's through those-- through the bedroom, you'll see it." So I-- I excused myself and I went to the-- the restroom. You know, I was in there for a little bit and came out and he was sitting, you know, on the edge of the bed when I walked out, perched.

Anderson Cooper: And when you saw that, what went through your mind?

Stormy Daniels: I realized exactly what I'd gotten myself into. And I was like, "Ugh, here we go." (LAUGH) And I just felt like maybe-- (LAUGH) it was sort of-- I had it coming for making a bad decision for going to someone's room alone and I just heard the voice in my head, "well, you put yourself in a bad situation and bad things happen, so you deserve this."

Anderson Cooper: And you had sex with him.

Stormy Daniels: Yes.

Anderson Cooper: You were 27, he was 60. Were you physically attracted to him?

Stormy Daniels: No.

Stormy Daniels says she had unprotected sex with Donald Trump and spanked him with a magazine that had his face on the cover, even though she wasn't physically attracted to him

Anderson Cooper: Not at all?

Stormy Daniels: No.

Anderson Cooper: Did you want to have sex with him?

Stormy Daniels: No. But I didn't-- I didn't say no. I'm not a victim, I'm not--

Anderson Cooper: It was entirely consensual.

Stormy Daniels: Oh, yes, yes.

Anderson Cooper: You work in an industry where condom use is-- is an issue. Did-- did he use a condom?

Stormy Daniels: No.

Anderson Cooper: Did you ask him to?

Stormy Daniels: No. I honestly didn't say anything.

Anderson Cooper: After you had sex, what happened?

Stormy Daniels: He said that it was great, he had-- a great evening, and it was nothing like he expected, that I really surprised him, that a lotta people must underestimate me-- that he hoped that I would be willing to see him again and that we would discuss the things we had talked about earlier in the evening.

Anderson Cooper: Being on The Apprentice.

Stormy Daniels: Right.

Daniels says she and Mr. Trump stayed in touch. She says he invited her to a Trump Vodka launch party in California, as well as to his office in Trump Tower in New York.

Anderson Cooper: So he definitely wanted to continue to see you.

Stormy Daniels: Oh, for sure. Yes.

Stormy Daniels: And this was not a secret. He never asked me not to tell anyone he called several times when I was in front of many people and I would be like, "Oh my God, he's calling." They were like, "Shut up, the Donald?" And I'd put him on speakerphone, and he wanted to know what I was up to and "When can we get together again? I just wanted to give you a quick update, we had a meeting, it went great. There's-- it's gonna be spectacular, they're totally into the idea," and I was like mhmm that part I never believed.

Anderson Cooper: Did you still get the sense that he was kind of dangling it in front of you--

Stormy Daniels: Oh, for sure, oh yeah.

Anderson Cooper: To keep you interested, to keep you coming back.

Stormy Daniels: Of course, of course. I mean, I'm not blind. But at the same time, maybe it'll work out, you know?

Anderson Cooper: Did you view it as this is a potential opportunity. "I'm gonna see where it goes?"

Stormy Daniels: I thought of it as a business deal.

In July 2007 -- a year after they met -- Daniels says Mr. Trump asked to meet with her privately at his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss a development regarding her possible appearance on Celebrity Apprentice.

Stormy Daniels: I remember arriving, and he was watching Shark Week. He made me sit and watch an entire documentary about shark attacks.

Anderson Cooper: It wasn't at that point a business meeting, it was just watching Shark Week.

Stormy Daniels: Yeah.

Anderson Cooper: Did you have sex with him again?

Stormy Daniels: No.

Anderson Cooper: Did he want to?

Stormy Daniels: Yes.

Anderson Cooper: How do you know he wanted to?

Stormy Daniels: Because he came and sat next to me and, you know, touched my hair, and put his hand on my leg, and r-- referenced back to how great it was the last time.

Anderson Cooper: How did you get out of it?

Stormy Daniels: Well, I'd been there for, like, four hours. And so I then was like, "Well, before, you know, can we talk about what's the development?" And he was like, "I'm almost there. I'll have an answer for you next week." And I was like, "Okay, cool. Well-- I guess call me next week." And I just took my purse and left.

According to Daniels, Mr. Trump called her the following month to say he'd not been able to get her a spot on Celebrity Apprentice. She says they never met again and only had sex in that first meeting in 2006. In May 2011, Daniels agreed to tell her story to a sister publication of In Touch magazine for $15,000 dollars. Two former employees of the magazine told us the story never ran because after the magazine called Mr. Trump seeking comment, his attorney Michael Cohen threatened to sue. Daniels says she was never paid, and says a few weeks later, she was threatened by a man who approached her in Las Vegas.

Stormy Daniels: I was in a parking lot, going to a fitness class with my infant daughter. T-- taking, you know, the seats facing backwards in the backseat, diaper bag, you know, gettin' all the stuff out. And a guy walked up on me and said to me, "Leave Trump alone. Forget the story." And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, "That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom." And then he was gone.

Anderson Cooper: You took it as a direct threat?

Stormy Daniels: Absolutely.

Stormy Daniels: I was rattled. I remember going into the workout class. And my hands are shaking so much, I was afraid I was gonna-- drop her.

Anderson Cooper: Did you ever see that person again?

Stormy Daniels: No. But I-- if I did, I would know it right away.

Anderson Cooper: You'd be able to-- you'd be able to recognize that person?

Stormy Daniels: 100%. Even now, all these years later. If he walked in this door right now, I would instantly know.

Anderson Cooper: Did you go to the police?

Stormy Daniels: No.

Anderson Cooper: Why?

Stormy Daniels: Because I was scared.

When a gossip website reported a few months later that she'd had an affair with Mr. Trump, Stormy Daniels publically denied it. Five years later, Donald Trump won the Republican nomination for president.

Stormy Daniels: Suddenly people are reaching out to me again, offering me money. Large amounts of money. Was I tempted? Yes-- I struggle with it. And then I get the call. "I think I have the best deal for you."

Anderson Cooper: From your lawyer?

Stormy Daniels: Yeah.

The deal was an offer not to tell her story. It came from Mr. Trump's attorney Michael Cohen. In return for signing this non-disclosure agreement, Cohen would pay her $130,000 dollars through a Delaware-based limited liability corporation he had established in mid-October 2016 called essential consultants. Daniels says the agreement was appealing because it meant she would receive some money but also not have to worry about the effect the revelation of the affair would have on her child who was now old enough to watch the news. She signed the agreement eleven days before the election.

Anderson Cooper: Was it hush money to stay silent?

Stormy Daniels: Yes. The story was coming out again. I was concerned for my family and their safety.

Anderson Cooper: I think some people watching this are going to doubt that you entered into this negotiation-- because you feared for your safety. They're gonna think y-- that you saw an opportunity.

Stormy Daniels: I think the fact that I didn't even negotiate, I just quickly said yes to this v-- very, you know, strict contract. And what most people will agree with me extremely low number. It's all the proof I need.

Anderson Cooper: you feel like if you had wanted to go public, you could have gotten paid a lot of money to go public--

Stormy Daniels: Without a doubt. I know for a fact. I believe, without a shadow of a doubt, in my heart, and some people argue that I don't have one of those, but whatever, that I was doing the right thing. I turned down a large payday multiple times because one, I didn't wanna kiss and tell and be labeled all the things that I'm being labeled now. I didn't wanna take away from the legitimate and legal, I'd like to point out, career that I've worked very hard to establish. And most importantly, I did not want my family and my child exposed to all the things that she's being exposed to right now. because everything that I was afraid of coming out has come out anyway, and guess what? I don't have a million dollars. (LAUGH) You didn't even buy me breakfast.

Anderson Cooper asked Daniels whether she was 'taking a big risk' speaking to him

15 months after she signed the non-disclosure agreement, in January 2018, the Wall Street Journal published this story, quoting anonymous sources, saying that Mr. Trump's attorney Michael Cohen had paid her for her silence. Daniels says she was not the source of the story. But once it was published, she says she was pressured by her former attorney and former business manager to sign statements that Michael Cohen released publically, denying she'd had an affair with Mr. Trump.

Anderson Cooper: So you signed and released-- a statement that said I am not denying this affair because I was paid in hush money I'm denying it because it never happened. That's a lie?

Stormy Daniels: Yes.

Anderson Cooper: If it was untruthful, why did you sign it?

Stormy Daniels: Because they made it sound like I had no choice.

Anderson Cooper: I mean, no one was putting a gun to your head?

Stormy Daniels: Not physical violence, no.

Anderson Cooper: you thought that there would be some sort of legal repercussion if you didn't sign it?

Stormy Daniels: Correct. As a matter of fact, the exact sentence used was, "They can make your life hell in many different ways."

Anderson Cooper: They being

Stormy Daniels: I'm not exactly sure who they were. I believe it to be Michael Cohen.

President Trump's attorney Michael Cohen has denied ever threatening Stormy Daniels. The payment Cohen made to her is now the subject of complaints to the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission, alleging that it was an illegal campaign contribution.

What makes the dispute between Stormy Daniels and the president more than a high-profile tabloid scandal is that her silence was purchased eleven days before the presidential election, which may run afoul of campaign finance laws. The president's long-time lawyer Michael Cohen says he used $130,000 of his own money to pay Stormy Daniels. Cohen has said the money was not a campaign contribution. But Trevor Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission appointed by President George H.W. Bush, told us he doesn't agree.

Trevor Potter: The payment of the money just creates an enormous legal mess for I think Trump, for Cohen and anyone else who was involved in this in the campaign.

Anderson Cooper: Are you saying that can be seen as a contribution to benefit a campaign?

Trevor Potter: I am. it's a $130,000 in-kind contribution by Cohen to the Trump campaign, which is about $126,500 above what he's allowed to give. And if he does this on behalf of his client, the candidate, that is a coordinated, illegal, in-kind contribution by Cohen for the purpose of influencing the election, of benefiting the candidate by keeping this secret.

The payment Stormy Daniels received is the subject of complaints by watchdog groups to the Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission, which Trevor Potter used to be chairman of. He's now president of the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, which supports the enforcement of campaign finance laws.

Anderson Cooper: If the president paid Michael Cohen back, is that an in-kind campaign contribution that the president should've then reported?

Trevor Potter: It is. If he was then reimbursed by the president, that doesn't remove the fact that the initial payment violated Cohen's contribution limits. I guess it mitigates it if he's paid back by the candidate because the candidate could have paid for it without limit.

Anderson Cooper: What if the president never reimbursed Michael Cohen?

Trevor Potter: Then he is still out on the line, having made a illegal in-kind contribution to the campaign.

Anderson Cooper: You're saying this is more serious for Michael Cohen if the president did not pay him back?

Trevor Potter: Yes. I think that's correct.

We wanted to speak with Mr. Trump's attorney Michael Cohen about this, but he did not respond to our calls and written request for comment. Cohen told The New York Times last month he used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Stormy Daniels and said, "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump Campaign reimbursed me for the payment." this past week, Cohen told Vanity Fair magazine, "What I did defensively for my personal client, and my friend, is what attorneys do for their high-profile clients. I would have done it in 2006. I would have done it in 2011. I truly care about him and the family -- more than just as an employee and an attorney."

Michael Avenatti: It's laughable. It's ludicrous. It's preposterous.

Anderson Cooper: Lawyers don't do that, you're saying. You-- you--

Michael Avenatti: Ever.

Michael Avenatti is Stormy Daniels' attorney. He's a Los Angeles trial lawyer who is suing the president in a California court, seeking to have Stormy Daniels' non-disclosure agreement -- or "NDA" -- declared invalid, in part because the president never signed it on the lines provided for his alias -- "D.D.," David Dennison.

Anderson Cooper: Michael Cohen has said, "Look, this had nothing to do with the election." He would've made this agreement months before.

Michael Avenatti: So why didn't he? It just slipped his mind? It's just a coincidence that, in the waning days of the campaign, he thought to himself, "Oh, you know, I know I've been thinkin' about this for years. Perhaps now is a good time to get that NDA executed with Stormy Daniels."

Avenatti disputes the notion that Cohen was working in a purely personal capacity when he arranged the hush money for Stormy Daniels. He's found documents that show Michael Cohen used his Trump Organization email address in setting up the payment. He also says the non-disclosure agreement Stormy Daniels signed in 2016, when she was represented by a different lawyer, was FedExed to Cohen at his Trump Organization office in Trump Tower in New York.

Michael Avenatti: That is a copy of the Federal Express confirmation

The cover letter from Daniels' previous attorney also identifies who he thought Michael Cohen was working for.

Michael Avenatti: To Mr. Cohen as executive vice president and special counsel to Donald J. Trump, the Trump Organization, again-- listing the 5th Avenue address. this idea that there's a separation now between Mr. Cohen, individually, and the Trump Organization or Mr. Cohen, individually, and Donald Trump, it-- it-- it's nonsense.

Anderson Cooper: There are people who argue that this much ado about nothing, that if this was not a story about, an adult film actress and the President of the United States, no one would pay attention.

Michael Avenatti: This is about the cover-up. This is about the extent that Mr. Cohen and the president have gone to intimidate this woman, to silence her, to threaten her, and to put her under their thumb. It is thuggish behavior from people in power. And it has no place in American democracy.

Avenatti points to this recent court filing in which the president's lawyers claim Daniels is already liable for damages "in excess of $20 million" for unspecified violations of her non-disclosure agreement. And in that article in Vanity Fair this past week, Michael Cohen said that when he wins damages from Stormy Daniels, "I might even take an extended vacation on her dime."

Anderson Cooper: You're saying they're tryin' to intimidate her.

Michael Avenatti: There's no question. You threaten someone-- with a $20 million lawsuit, it's a thuggish tactic. It's no different than what happened in the parking lot in Las Vegas.

Anderson Cooper: People make threats in lawsuits all the time. People, you know, say, "You're gonna have to pay a lot of money when you lose this-- this case."

Michael Avenatti: People don't threaten people with $20 million lawsuits, that they're gonna take their home and take an extended vacation on the money they receive. People don't conduct themselves like this. They don't. And they shouldn't.

Anderson Cooper: Stormy Daniels did sign the agreement. She got $130,000. Isn't she welching on a deal?

Michael Avenatti: No, she's not welching on a deal, 'cause there never was a deal.

Anderson Cooper: But she still took the money.

Michael Avenatti: She took the money. But the fact of the matter is Mr. Trump never signed the agreement. He was obligated to sign the agreement in order for the agreement to spring into effect.

That's not true, according to Michael Cohen, who has said only his signature was required. What was also required under the non-disclosure agreement was for Stormy Daniels to turn over all "video images, still images, email messages, and text messages," she had regarding Mr. Trump.

Anderson Cooper: Did you do that?

Stormy Daniels: I can't answer that right now.

Anderson Cooper: You don't want to say one way or the other if you have text messages or other items?

Stormy Daniels: My attorney has recommended that I don't discuss those things.

Anderson Cooper: You seem to be saying that she has some sort of text message, or video, or-- or photographs. Or you could just be bluffing.

Michael Avenatti: You should ask some of the other people in my career when they've bet on me bluffing.

Anderson Cooper: In college and law school, you did opposition research for Democratic political operative Rahm Emanuel. Some people looking at that would say you're politically motivated,

Michael Avenatti: I haven't done anything in politics in over 20 years.

Anderson Cooper: But this is not the usual case you take on. You were a former Democratic operative. And you're talking about deposing the president. That sounds political."

Michael Avenatti: No, it sounds righteous.

Anderson Cooper: How so?

Michael Avenatti: Because my client is credible. She's tellin' the truth.

Trevor Potter, the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, says the agency's investigations often take a long time and usually result only in monetary penalties. But there is another scenario that could present a problem for the president: special counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election. In March, the Washington Post reported that the "special counsel has examined episodes involving Michael Cohen," including his efforts to launch a Trump-branded project in Moscow in the fall of 2015 when Mr. Trump was seeking the Republican nomination.

Anderson Cooper: is there any way that special counsel Robert Mueller could investigate the Stormy Daniels payment?

Trevor Potter: Yeah that's the wildcard here.

Anderson Cooper: As a prosecutor, you wanna get leverage over somebody that you could then use to get them to give you other information on which--

Trevor Potter: Correct.

Anderson Cooper: --you're really interested in?

Trevor Potter: Correct.

That's what special counsel Mueller appears to be doing with Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's former campaign chairman, who faces multiple charges including tax and bank fraud.

Anderson Cooper: Paul Manafort has been charged with crimes that don't have anything to do with Russia in some cases.

Trevor Potter: Well, and that certainly preceded the campaign. And so-- clearly, the Justice Department, the deputy attorney general who is ultimately in charge of this, has determined that looking at what Manafort did in other contexts-- is relevant to the investigation. And I think you can say exactly the same thing about Cohen. He was-- involved-- indisputably with Trump Organization activities with Russia and negotiations with the Russians. Mr. Cohen is in the middle of a place that's of great interest to the Special Counsel.

Anderson Cooper: Is there any recent precedent for p-- prosecuting somebody for an undisclosed campaign contribution?

Trevor Potter: As it happens, there is. There's sort of a pretty spectacular one.

Former Senator John Edwards was prosecuted, but never convicted, for payments a supporter and his campaign finance chairman made a year before the 2008 election to a woman who'd had Edwards' child.

Trevor Potter: I think the Edwards case is not as strong as the facts we have so far in the Trump case.

Anderson Cooper: Why do you think the potential case against Cohen or Trump is a stronger case than the Edwards case?

Trevor Potter: The timing of it. It wasn't the year before the election. It's right in the middle of the run-up to Election Day. When-- Trump's conduct with women was a prime campaign issue. In fact, it was what everyone was focused on.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders did not respond to our request for comment from the president. But we did receive a letter from Mr. Trump's attorney Charles Harder, who asked that we show on camera and read on air one of the statements Stormy Daniels signed in January, denying reports she'd had an affair with Mr. Trump. It says, in part:

"My involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more."

Anderson Cooper: If Stormy Daniels denied the affair in 2011, which you say is a lie, denied the affair in early January 2018, denied the affair in late January of 2018, doesn't that hurt her credibility? I mean, she's lying, she's lying, she's lying.

Michael Avenatti: I think there's no question that it calls into question her credibility. I also think that there's no question that when the American people take all of the facts and evidence into consideration, that they are going to conclude that this woman is telling the truth. And Anderson, to the extent that Mr. Cohen and the president have an alternative version of the facts let them come forward and state it unequivocally.

Anderson Cooper: But come on. You would not sign statements one, two, three times about something which you knew to be a lie.

Michael Avenatti: If the President of the United States' fixer made it clear to me, either directly or indirectly, that I needed to sign it, and I was in the position of Stormy Daniels, I might sign those statements

Stormy Daniels: I felt intimidated and s-- honestly bullied. And I didn't know what to do. And so I signed it. Even though I had repeatedly expressed that I wouldn't break the agreement, but I was not comfortable lying.

Anderson Cooper: How do we know you're telling the truth?

Stormy Daniels: 'Cause I have no reason to lie. I'm opening myself up for, you know, possible danger and definitely a whole lot of s***.

Anderson Cooper: But, you know, there is a potential ups-- financial upside maybe somebody will want you to write a book. Maybe, you know, you can go on a bigger tour and make more money--

Stormy Daniels: That's--

Anderson Cooper: --dancing?

Stormy Daniels: That's a lot of ifs. I could also get shunned. I mean, I could automatically be alienating half of my fanbase right at this very moment.

Anderson Cooper: Jenna Jameson-- another well-known-- adult film actress said recently about you, "The left looks at her as a whore and just uses her to try to discredit the president. The right looks at her like a treacherous rat. It's a lose-lose. Should've kept her trap shut."

Stormy Daniels: I think that she has a lotta wisdom in those words.

Anderson Cooper: The president watches 60 Minutes, if he's watching tonight, what would you say to him?

Stormy Daniels: he knows I'm telling the truth.
A YouTube star who was kicked off a Disney cruise with her family because she was pregnant said the company made them feel like 'second-class citizens'.

Emily Jackson, 22, had flown from St Louis to Miami to embark on a dream vacation with her husband, two children, parents, and siblings.

The 10-member strong family even wore matching T-shirts that said 'Keep calm and enjoy your Disney vacation'.

But what ensued was the opposite of calm when Disney cruise personnel refused Jackson entry because she was 25 weeks pregnant, one week past policy limit.

The family was later escorted outside by a guard bearing an AR-15 rifle.

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Emily Jackson (pictured with her husband) said a Disney cruise made her family feel like 'second-class citizens' after they wouldn't let her embark on the boat because she is pregnant

Jackson, 22, had flown from St Louis to Miami to embark on a dream vacation with her husband, two children, parents, and siblings

'From the time we walked in the door, my dad made the comment that they were treating us like second-class citizens,' Jackson told WSVN.

'They were treating us like trash.'

Jackson said her issue was not with the policy, but with the way the cruise handled the situation.

'I understand that they have to enforce their policy,' she said. 'I wasnt trying to change their policy.'

'I had accepted, once I found that, yes, I was too far for their policy. I was just floored by how they treated us after that point.'

The Disney cruise did not let the family board because they do not allow expecting mothers past the 24 week mark on board. Her family is pictured above being kicked out

An officer with an AR-15 rifle then emerged when the family tried to reason their way on board

The YouTuber filmed video of her treatment at the cruise office, pictured above, where she was made to wait for hours for service and for their luggage to be returned to them

Jackson said the family was shocked when an armed Miami-Dade police officer arrived on the scene.

The family had been waiting to hear about their luggage, which was already on the ship, when Jackson's father asked 'Can we hurry up?', she said.

The police officer, who was holding an AR-15, then appeared and escorted the family outside.

'[I have] big issue with bringing out the guard,' Jackson's husband Nathan said.

'Thats not necessary for people who are not causing harm or damaging things, throwing things across the room. Thats just unacceptable behavior on their part.'

Jackson said the family had to sit outside for two hours while waiting for their luggage, and that both of her young children suffered sunburn.

'My daughter kept saying, "See Mickey and Minnie', and she didn't understand why we weren't going where everyone else was going and we were taking her outside,' Jackson recalled.

Jackson's father, right, tried to reason with the staff at the office, left. When he raised his voice two armed officers came out to escort the family of 10

The pregnant mother was shocked by the treatment by the Disney cruise line that saw her family removed from the premises by officers bearing an AR-15 rifle

Jackson's relative, in blue, tried to reason with staff that made the family wait outside for hours

On her channel The Jackson Hive, videos reveal that the family had long-anticipated the Disney trip.

One video reveals they even bought a huge haul of Disney themed clothes just for the occasion.

Jackson's video of the Disney cruise episode shows her distraught father speaking to the officers escorting them out. He says: 'Threatened by Disney with an AR-15 and two security guards'.

'I was crying because it's my fault that no one else can get on,' Jackson said in the video on her channel.

'We officially found out that I cannot go on the ship, 100 per cent. So we are leaving and trying to find flights for tomorrow and they sent out guys with AR-15s when my dad was talking to the desk about not being able to get on. And literally all he said was can we hurry up and they sent out AR-15 guys,' she added.

The clip sees an officer carrying the gun in his arms and wearing a bulletproof vest, pointing them out.

She revealed that her children became red faced after being forced to wait outdoors without water in the Miami heat

She and her nine family members were supposed to board the Disney cruise, a model above

She took to Twitter to vent about the terrifying experience that saw her escorted out while juggling two young children

At the end of the clip, Jackson is finally in the car after getting her luggage returned.

'So it's 4.40 we were finally able to get into the car and get our luggage and get our babies out of the heat. As you can see their faces are red,' she said.

The family then went back to their hotel and found flights to return to St. Louis.

The following day, Jackson posted a follow-up video clarifying that she didn't realize the cruise had such a strict policy.

Jackson added that she did not purchase the tickets for the cruise and was not well-educated on its policies.

Emily and her husband and their two young children are pictured above last Christmas

Jackson is expecting a baby boy and is 25 weeks along. Her doctor granted her a note saying it was safe for her to travel and board the cruise, pictured above with her son

'Im mad because of how they treated me and my children. Im mad because they made my two babies under two wait outside with no water and in the heat, and get red faced. Im mad about all of those things,' she said.

'The fact that they felt they needed AR-15s to escort us out when they knew we had no weapons because we had been through security. Those were all the things that I was frustrated with at that point.'

Disney Cruise Line spokesman Cynthia Martinez reiterated the company's policy for women who have reached past their 24th week of pregnancy.

'While we understand the guests' disappointment with not being able to board the ship, for health and safety reasons, our policy does not allow women who have reached the 24th week of pregnancy to travel, which is consistent with other cruise lines and is noted on our website and in travel documents our guests receive before sailing,' Martinez said in a statement.

'The Miami-Dade Police Department is responsible for security at the port and handled the situation as they felt appropriate given the guests actions.'
A devastated family are mourning the loss of a 'driven' and 'passionate' young man who fell from the seventh-floor balcony at a Cairns resort.

Loved ones of Seth Luhrs, 24, are heartbroken following his death on Sunday at the Rydges Esplanade, which police are now treating as 'suspicious'.

Seth's older brother Zeb Luhrs said his sibling had been looking forward to the Easter holiday after working six days a week since the beginning of the year, according to the Cairns Post.



The heartbroken family of Seth Luhrs (pictured) are mourning his loss, describing him as a 'driven' and 'passionate' man

'He was always there for his family. He's helped us through so much and that's the hardest thing because he's gone and we have to get on without him,' Zeb said.

'It's still so raw. He was my rock. He's not just my brother, he's my best mate.'

It is understood Seth lived with a medical condition which meant he was unable to leave his home at times.

Police are treating Seth's death as 'suspicious' after he fell from the hotel balcony at the Rydges Esplanade (pictured)

Zeb, who lived across the road from Seth in Mareeba, praised his brother's caring nature, persistence and ability to dream big.

'He set an example for the whole family on how to live your life. It's not what happens that defines you, it's how you deal with it. He just didn't quit,' Zeb said.

A 19-year-old who had been assisting police was released from custody.

'We're running an investigations centre with assistance from Cairns detectives and the homicide squad,' Detective Senior Sergeant Brad McLeish said.
A cruel animal abuse stunt has killed several birds after they were stuck to a pole.

Huge amounts of glue was left on poles in a car park, leaving some birds dead and others struggling to fly away.

About 60 swallows were affected in the despicable act in Kenmore, west of Brisbane, RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty told Daily Mail Australia.

Huge amounts of glue was left on poles in a car park, leaving some birds dead and others struggling to fly away (pictured) in Kenmore, west of Brisbane

'Some sort of glue that's used as a pest deterrent was used,' he said.

'They got stuck there, bits of glue got in their feathers, their beaks got stuck together - there's a big clean up situation.'

Some birds were able to be rescued by an RSPCA officer when they fell to a car park under a medical centre Tuesday morning.

The officer was able to rescued the birds because they were hopping around the basement car park unable to fly.

The swallows were taken to a wildlife hospital but Mr Beatty said about 20 had to be put down.

'We're still working with the others, they're little swallows so they eat all the time and need to be cleaned and put back into the wild as soon as possible,' he said.

A member of the public spotted the birds about 8am.

Mr Beatty said an animal cruelty investigation was likely.
Chelsea Clinton shared that one of her children was admitted to the hospital, but thanked emergency services in a late night tweet.

'Our family had a small health scare tonight. We are so thankful to everyone who took care of our little loved one at every moment. Thank you,' she wrote on Monday night.

Clinton and her husband Marc Mezvinsky have two children, three-year-old Charlotte and one-year-old Aiden

The 38-year-old did not reveal which of her children was in the hospital, which hospital they went to or what the condition that promoted the emergency visit was.

Chelsea Clinton shared that one of her children was admitted to the hospital, but thanked emergency services in a late night tweet

Chelsea Clinton shared that one of her children was admitted to the hospital, but thanked emergency services in a late night tweet. She is pictured with both of them

The only daughter of former US President Bill Clinton and former US State Secretary Hillary Clinton has recently been touring promoting her latest children's book.

'She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History' is the companion book to her best-seller 'She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World'.

Clinton has appeared in Chicago, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Pasadena and countless other cities to read her book, sign copies and take pictures.

The only daughter of former US President Bill Clinton and former US State Secretary Hillary Clinton has recently been touring promoting her latest children's book (Pictured, in Coral Gables, Florida, March 18)

She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History' is the companion book to her best-seller 'She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World' (Pictured, Clinton in Pasadena, California, March 21)

Meanwhile, her mother, Hillary Clinton, delivered a speech in front of a packed crowd at Rutgers University on Thursday afternoon that focused on politics and her role in shaping women's political history.

Rutgers paid the former US secretary of state $25,000 for her appearance.

The payment came from an endowment fund and not tuition or public funds, a Rutgers spokeperson told NJ.com.

In the past, Clinton has secured lucrative speaking fees that are often around her standard $200,000 fee.

The former president candidate appeared at at least eight universities in 2014 for paid speeches and took home a combined $1.8 million.

When Rutgers brought in reality TV star Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi to speak on campus in 2011, she was given $32,000. More than 1,000 people came to the university to hear Snooki speak after several students questioned if it was a wise use of money.

A spokesperson for Clinton told NBC last week that she planned to donate her Rutgers speaking payment to charity.

Hillary Clinton delivered a speech in front of a packed crowd at Rutgers University on Thursday afternoon that focused on politics and her role in shaping women's political history

The failed presidential candidate delivered a speech in front of a packed crowd in New Jersey

When Rutgers brought in reality TV star Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi to speak on campus in 2011 (pictured above), she was given $32,000, which is $7,000 more than Hillary Clinton

Clinton was met with a standing ovation and cheering crowd when she appeared on stage on Thursday in front of the sold-out auditorium.

During her speech, Clinton admitted that she has said things in the past that she has later regretted.

'I can do better. There are things I've said I'd like to take back,' she said.

It comes just weeks after she called Trump voters 'backwards' and make remarks in India where she suggested that women face pressure to 'vote the way that your husband' thinks they should.

Clinton spoke mostly about being a woman in politics as she praised the Women's March national movement and the increase in the number of women running for office.

'The biggest challenge we face is keeping up our momentum and sustaining the energy that I've now seen across our country,' Clinton said.

Clinton waved to the crowds as she appeared on stage with Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics director Ruth Mandel

Clinton's $25,000 payment came from an endowment fund and not tuition or public funds, a Rutgers spokeperson said

She also described her loss at the election as a 'traumatic' experience, spoke of being targeted in the political arena because of her sex and being called 'shrill' by the media.

When questioned about being told to 'shut up' and get off the public stage, Clinton said she was struck that no one had said that to a man.

'It's about time that women were allowed to be themselves the way men are allowed to be themselves,' she said.

Clinton also took aim at Republicans and the Trump administration, saying the party was slowly coming undone by 'a very small group of powerful forces'.

The Democrat also said she hoped the upcoming midterm elections would be a 'turning point'.

'I'm hoping in this election, this midterm election, enough people will, maybe for the first time or maybe for the first time in a long time say: "Look, I was really moved by what happened at Parkland, or I'm sick we're the only country in the world not in the Paris agreement on climate change, or I don't like what they tried to do to healthcare" or whatever the motivator is' to ensure enough people will go out to vote,' she said.

The event was hosted by the Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics and its director Ruth Mandel.
Russia's ambassador says the Australian media did a 'disgraceful' job covering the expulsion of two Russian spies in Canberra over the Skripal poisoning in the UK.

Grigory Logvinov spent almost an hour last week talking to reporters in Canberra, denying Russia was involved with the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in Wiltshire.

Moscow's man in Canberra has lashed out at reporters who he says humiliated themselves by asking him about the poisoning, which was the first chemical weapons attack in Britain since World War II.

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Russia's ambassador says Australia's media did a 'disgraceful' job covering the expulsion of two Russian spies in Canberra over the Skripal poisoning in the UK

'There is no real evidence of the Russian involvement in poisoning of the Skripals,' Mr Logvinov said in a statement on Tuesday.

'It was verified once again during the press conference, when the journalists put forward just repetitions of the unfounded accusations and personal attacks (first of all, humiliating for themselves) against all my reasonable arguments.'

The ambassador was unhappy as being described as 'increasingly Soviet-Red in complexion', a 'Bond villain meets Lowes catalogue', and the description of Russians as famously blunt.

'In the 'wild' Russia, such statements would trigger criminal prosecution as the deliberate incitement of discord between different ethnic groups,' Mr Logvinov's statement said.

The two Canberra-based diplomats have left Australia, while Russia has expelled two Australian diplomats in return.

Britain has expelled 23 Russians, the US 60 and France and Germany four.
The wife of fired deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe has broken her silence on her husband's dismissal and accused President Trump of spreading 'destructive lies' that have turned her family's life upside down.

Jill McCabe, an ER pediatrician in Virginia, wrote a fiery op-ed in the Washington Post on Monday responding for the first time to Trump's past public attacks on her and her husband.

Mrs McCabe was previously called a 'loser' by Trump and he has long insisted that her 2015 run for the state Senate in Virginia influenced her husband's decision-making within the FBI in relation to Hillary Clinton's email investigation.

She wrote that she was recruited to run for office in 2014 based on her opinions and support of Medicaid expansion and that she carefully considered her husband's role at the FBI before she agreed to launch the campaign.

Jill McCabe, an ER pediatrician in Virginia, wrote a fiery op-ed in the Washington Post on Monday responding for the first time to Trump's past public attacks on her and her husband Andrew

'To have my personal reputation and integrity and those of my family attacked this way is beyond horrible. It feels awful every day. It keeps me up nights,' Mrs McCabe wrote.

'I made the decision to run for office because I was trying to help people. Instead, it turned into something that was used to attack our family, my husband's career and the entire FBI.'

The basis of Trump's argument on corruption centered around the $500,000 in donations Mrs McCabe received for her campaign from a group affiliated with then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe - an ally of Hillary Clinton's.

Trump and other Republicans claimed the donations were Clinton's way of attempting to sway the FBI's investigation into her email server.

'This could not be further from the truth,' she said.

Mrs McCabe pointed out that her husband's involvement in the Clinton email investigation happened after the $500,000 in contributions were made and also occurred after she lost her race in November 2015.

Jill McCabe has accused President Trump of spreading 'destructive lies' about her and her husband, fired deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, that have turned her family's life upside down

Mrs McCabe said the lies and Trump's tweets had ultimately cost her husband his job and cost her family a 'significant portion' of his pension that he had worked hard for over 21 years of federal service

She said after Trump won the election she thought the jabs from Trump would stop, but he started tweeting after he fired FBI director James Comey that McCabe should be removed because he was corrupt.

'I have spent countless hours trying to understand how the president and so many others can share such destructive lies about me,' Mrs McCabe wrote.

'Ultimately I believe it somehow never occurred to them that I could be a serious, independent-minded physician who wanted to run for office for legitimate reasons.

'They rapidly jumped to the conclusion that I must be corrupt, as part of what I believe to be an effort to vilify us to suit their needs.'

Mrs McCabe said the lies and Trump's tweets had ultimately cost her husband his job after he was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on March 16 - just hours after he was planning to retire.

The timing of the firing, which came after Trump's heavy criticism, meant that the 50-year-old would be denied early retirement pension benefits that agents can normally obtain after 20 years at the FBI.

McCabe's firing came after nearly a year of attacks against him and his wife by Trump, who hailed his dismissal as 'a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI' and 'a great day for Democracy.'

McCabe's firing came after nearly a year of attacks against him and his wife by Trump

The timing of the firing, which came after Trump's heavy criticism, meant that the 50-year-old would be denied early retirement pension benefits that agents can normally obtain after 20 years at the FBI

'He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!' Trump tweeted at the time.

Mrs McCabe said her husband and their family had been denied a 'significant portion' of his pension that he had worked hard for over 21 years of federal service.

'For the past year and a half of this nightmare, I have not been free to speak out about what happened. Now that Andrew has been fired, I am,' she said.

A legal defense fund created for fired FBI deputy director raised more than half a million dollars in online donations in a week to cover his legal costs.

McCabe's spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said that his GoFundMe campaign would stop accepting donations on Monday night after more than tripling the original goal of $150,000.

'The outpouring of support on GoFundMe has been simply overwhelming and has led to contributions that have left us stunned and extraordinarily grateful,' McCabe said in a statement.

'The fact is that if I am going to continue taking a stand against the unfair way I have been treated, I will need the help of a talented and courageous team behind me,' he said.

'Hopefully our efforts, fueled by this incredible support, will encourage others to stand up for themselves, and the truth, as well.'
A woman has survived being stabbed and bashed by her abusive husband, who tried to murder her before killing himself, just days after she handed him divorce papers.

Samantha Mahere, 50, was stabbed 14 times in the stomach and bashed in the head with a hammer in Marsden, south of Brisbane, about 10.30am on Monday.

Ms Mahere's husband, Omey Mkuu, 42, was found dead at the couple's Fairbairn Street rental home when paramedics arrived.

A woman (pictured, right) has survived being stabbed and bashed by her abusive husband (pictured, left) who tried to murder her before killing himself, just days after she handed him divorce papers

Samantha Mahere (pictured, left), 50, was stabbed 14 times in the stomach and bashed in the head with a hammer in Marsden, south of Brisbane, about 10.30am on Monday

A passerby saw Mkuu's body through a window and called police after initially thinking he was a doll, The Courier Mail reported.

His wife was found fighting for life, but is now conscious and talking to family after being rushed to Princess Alexandra Hospital for emergency surgery.

Yasmin Hooke, Ms Mahere's niece, said her aunt had been trying to stand up to her violent husband and had been in an abusive relationship.

'She was stabbed 14 times in the stomach. Hit on the head with a hammer, multiple blows. He has hit her before and he is alcoholic,' Ms Hooke said.

Ms Mahere's (pictured, right) husband, Omey Mkuu (pictured, left, right) , 42, was found dead at the couple's Fairbairn Street rental home when paramedics arrived

'She was leaving him. She was scared to go home.'

Neighbours said Ms Mahere has handed her husband divorce papers last week, but Ms Hooke said she may have been too scared to leave him.

'I seen [Mkuu] about a week ago when he was mowing the lawn. He said they were split up and getting a divorce,' said a neighbour.

The neighbour said Mkuu told him he signed the papers, but Ms Mahere tore them up and threw them away.

The couple had last months spoken of plans to move to Mkuu's home country of Tanzania, the neighbour said.

Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia investigations are ongoing.
Panera Bread exposed the records of 37 million customers - including addresses and the last four digits of their credit card - on its website, a report has revealed.

The information, which also included names, email addresses, and birthdays, could have been breached for at least eight months, according to KrebsOnSecurity.

Investigative cybercrime journalist Brian Krebs found that these records were available in plain text from panerabread.com, which customers can use to order food online for delivery or pick-up.

Panera Bread exposed the records of 37 million customers - including addresses and the last four digits of their credit card - via its website, a report has revealed

Krebs said Panera Bread was informed of the breach back in August by security researcher Dylan Houlihan.

Houlihan shared emails with Krebs dated August 9, 2017 in which Panera's director of information security, Mike Gustavison, said the company was 'working on a resolution'.

But Houlihan said the flaw 'never disappeared'.

'I checked on it every month or so because I was pissed,' he told Krebs.

The journalist then found that customer records could still be easily indexed on the site with 'very little effort'.

The information, which also included names, email addresses, and birthdays, could have been breached for at least eight months on panerabread.com (pictured)

Panera Bread was informed of the breach back in August by security researcher Dylan Houlihan, who notified Panera's director of information security Mike Gustavison

'The format of the database also lets anyone search for customers via a variety of data points, including by phone numbers,' Krebs added.

Krebs noted that customers' Panera loyalty card numbers were also exposed, which could be potentially abused by scammers.

And further research revealed that the breach also extended to Panera's commercial division, which encompasses catering companies as well.

Krebs said the website was briefly taken offline after he spoke to Panera's chief information officer.

Panera revealed on Monday it had 'resolved' the security flaw and claimed it affected 'fewer than 10,000 consumers'.

The website was briefly taken offline on Monday before Panera issued a statement saying it had 'resolved' the security flaw

'Panera takes data security very seriously, and this issue is resolved,' Panera Bread Chief Information Officer John Meister told FOX Business.

'Following reports today of a potential problem on our website, we suspended the functionality to repair the issue.'

'Our investigation is continuing, but there is no evidence of payment card information nor a large number of records being accessed or retrieved.'

'Our investigation to date indicates that fewer than 10,000 consumers have been potentially affected by this issue, and we are working diligently to finalize our investigation and take the appropriate next steps.'
A 31-year-old man has been charged after a woman was sexually assaulted with a pair of scissors in the middle of a street.

Northern Territory Police allege that a 28-year-old woman was walking with a male friend near the North Stuart Highway in Alice Springs at about 11pm on Saturday night when a man got out of his car and stopped the pair.

He then allegedly assaulted the woman and, when she fell to the ground, strangled her to the point of unconsciousness.

Police allege about 11pm a 28-year-old woman was walking with a male friend near the North Stuart Highway when the man got out of the vehicle and stopped the pair

It is then alleged the man stabbed the woman in the genitals repeatedly with scissors causing serious harm.

The man then fled in his vehicle and the pair were able to flag down passing motorists and contact police.

The woman was taken to Alice Springs Hospital where she remains in a stable condition.

After a pursuit on Ilparpa Road police captured the man and charged him with multiple offences including Unlawfully cause Serious Harm, Sexual Intercourse without Consent, 2 counts of Aggravated Assault, 2 counts of Armed with an Offensive Weapon, and several traffic offences.

The man is due to appear in Alice Springs Local Court today.

The Northern Territory has the highest rate of assaults in the country with over 1360 offences per 100,000 people, this is more than three times the next highest state South Australia.

Queensland and the ACT have the lowest rates across the country.

The Northern Territory has the highest rate of assaults in the country with over 1360 offences per 100,000 people

The victim was taken to Alice Springs Hospital where she remains in a stable condition




A nightclub owner who was allegedly killed in a Mafia slaying 25 years ago had left a 'distraught' note for his son saying it would be a while before they would see each other after he was called away to meet with a Boston mob boss.

Steven DiSarro, who ran the popular Boston nightclub The Channel, was allegedly strangled to death on May 10, 1993 at a home in Sharon, Massachusetts when he was 43.

His remains were found buried behind a mill in Providence, Rhode Island in 2016.

Former New England Mafia boss Francis 'Cadillac Frank' Salemme, now 84, and Paul Weadick, 62, are both charged in DiSarro's murder.

Steven DiSarro, who ran the popular Boston nightclub The Channel, was allegedly strangled to death on May 10, 1993 at a home in Sharon, Massachusetts when he was 43. He is pictured above with his son Steve Jr

Prosecutors plan to share details of the note DiSarro wrote before his death with the jury when Salemme and Weadick's murder trials get underway on April 24, the Boston Herald reports.

Former New England Mafia boss Francis 'Cadillac Frank' Salemme (above in a 1995 mugshot) was charged in DiSarro's murder after the victim's remains were uncovered in 2016

The victim was said to be 'extremely distraught' about meeting with Salemme, Assistant US Attorney Fred Wyshak Jr. said.

Salemme and Weadick, as well as the mob boss' late son Francis Salemme Jr., are accused of murdering the nightclub owner to stop him speaking to the FBI about his business dealings with the New England Mafia.

Salemme Jr., who later died in 1995, had previously worked for the victim at the nightclub.

DiSarro is believed to have been strangled in Salemme Jr.'s house while Salemme watched and Weadick held down the victim's legs.

The three mobsters were all silent partners in DiSarro's nightclub, WPRI reports.

Salemme's son had expressed concerns that DiSarro was stealing from them in the lead up to his murder and that he had started cooperating with the FBI.

Salemme, pictured above in the center in 1972, led the New England family of La Cosa Nostra in the early 1990s

Mobster Robert 'Bobby' DeLuca and his brother Joseph, who was allegedly inducted into the mob soon after the murder, are both set to testify at the trial.

Police alleged that Salemme later met Joseph DeLuca to transfer DiSarro's body into DeLuca's car so it could be disposed of.

Joseph and two others allegedly buried the body behind the mill, which was owned by DeLuca associate, William Ricci.

Ricci confessed to police that the body was buried on his property after he was arrested in 2015 in an unrelated case.

Salemme and Weadick were charged after investigators uncovered DiSarro's remains in March 2016.

Salemme led the New England family of La Cosa Nostra in the early 1990s.

Both of the accused deny playing roles in DiSarro's death.
While searching the cell phone belonging to an ex-NYPD cop accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old girl in the fall, investigators discovered illicit text messages and calls between the officer and a local prosecutor.

Kings County Assistant District Attorney, Nicole Manini, 34, allegedly had an extramarital affair with former detective Richard Hall, 33, according to the New York Post.

'During our investigation of this case, we learned that a junior assistant district attorney in our office was engaged in an intimate relationship with defendant Hall and knew [second] defendant [Eddie] Martins socially,' a spokesperson for the District Attorney's office told the Post.

'This ADA had no involvement in or access to the investigation or prosecution,' the rep said. 'Out of an abundance of caution, we have disclosed this information to all relevant parties.'

Prosecutor Nicole Manini, 34, (shown right on LinkedIn) allegedly had an affair with former NYPD detective Richard Hall, 33 (left)

NYPD Narcotics detectives Hall and Eddie Martins (left) were charged with first-degree rape of an 18-year-old girl

Sources told the Post Manini and Hall began the affair prior to the September incident and continued the relationship after.

Narcotics detectives Hall and Eddie Martins were charged in October with first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sexual act, second-degree kidnapping, official misconduct and related counts for the allegedly sexual assault of a teen girl in the back of their van on September 15.

The victim, who uses the Twitter alias Anna Chambers, claimed one of the men raped her and both forced her to perform oral sex on them in a Chipotle parking lot.

Chambers confirmed to DailyMail.com she is the victim. She also gave permission to have her photos posted publicly.

Anna Chambers (shown above on Facebook) is the teen who claimed she was handcuffed and attacked inside the police van in September

Hall and Martins did not deny the teen's allegations and claimed the three-way sex acts were consensual

The teen got arrested in Brooklyn at the time after she was caught smoking marijuana and in possession of illegal prescription pills.

Hall and Martins did not deny the teen's allegations and claimed the three-way sex acts were consensual.

A press release at the time stated that around 8pm that day, Martins and Halls pulled up to the Calvert Vaux Park where Chambers was sitting in her car.

The two detectives observed marijuana in the teen's cup holder and ordered her to get out of her car.

Investigators reportedly found illicit messages between Hall (pictured) and Kings County Assistant District Attorney Manini

When the cops asked if she had any drugs on her, Chambers admitted she had marijuana and two Klonopin pills.

She was then arrested and placed in handcuffs. Two male companions who were with Chambers were let go by police, who asked them to pick her up in a few hours from the the 60th Precinct.

The officers then allegedly told the teen to tell her friends not to follow their van.

The press release said 'Detective Martins allegedly told the young woman he and his partner are "freaks" and asked her what she wanted to do to get out of the arrest' before the alleged rape.

In a court appearance last month, Hall and Martins filed motion to dismiss the case, accusing prosecutors of 'sanitizing the truth'.

The motion alleged Chambers was 'too high' to remember specific details of the alleged attack in September.

If convicted on the charges, the former detectives each face up to 25 years in prison.
Australia Post has received a record number of complaints by frustrated customers left waiting for online shopping purchases to arrive

Australia Post has received a record number of complaints by frustrated customers left waiting for online shopping purchases to arrive.

More than a million complaints were logged for the delivery service in the 2016-17 financial year - earning it criticism from the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

A series of recommendations were made by the complaint investigator, including a crackdown on the way it dealt with angry customers.

A report released by the Ombudsman Tuesday sought to determine why there were so many delivery issues despite three earlier reports looking into frequent problems.

'The report seeks to determine why complaints about delivery issues persist despite Australia Post's reported service and product improvements,' it read.

'Complaints concerning delivery issues continue to be the primary reason Australia Post customers contact our office.'

Other complaints involved Australia Post not attempting to deliver parcels to home addresses, instead, taking them straight to the nearest post office.

There were also customers who claimed their parcels were stolen from delivery addresses and compensation had been refused by Australia Post.

The report sought to determine why there were so many delivery issues despite three earlier reports looking into frequent problems

'While the scale of Australia Post's operations needs to be borne in mind to put complaint numbers into perspective, the fact that more than one million people have complained, is cause for concern,' Michael Manthorpe from the Ombudsman said.

'Australia Post has initiated some action independently to further improve the customer experience.'

The report published Tuesday made six recommendations dedicated to reducing the number of complaints received by the company.

'Australia Post has accepted five of the Ombudsman's recommendations and partially accepted one.'

The report published Tuesday made six recommendations dedicated to reducing the number of complaints received by the company

'The Ombudsman's Office will continue to monitor the implementation of the recommendations in the report.'

An Australia Post spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the company understood there was work to be done to resolve the issues mentioned in the report.

'Although Australia Post successfully serves and delivers to millions of customers every day, we know we do not always get it right and we recognise the number of complaints received last year was not good enough.

'Improving how we serve our customers and striving to be excellent in what we do is a key strategic focus for Australia Post as we go forward.'
One of Australia's most affluent suburbs has been the target of vandals who have keyed a number of cars and viciously engraved despicable language into others.

Residents living in Mosman have been left shocked and outraged following the callous attacks on at least 22 vehicles in just days.

An Earlwood resident told Daily Mail Australia she was babysitting a family friend on The Crescent, near the Allan Border Oval, when her car was damaged on the night of April 1.

One of Australia's most affluent suburbs has been the target of vicious vandals who have keyed and damaged at least 22 cars (pictured)

In a post on a Facebook page a number of residents said they had been effected (pictured: a Mosman resident's car with the word c*** carved into the front)

Accompanied by her son, who drove his own brand new vehicle to outside the home, the pair were shocked to find their cars keyed the following morning at 8am.

'On the same street there were about seven other cars with damages,' she explained.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said the situation was infuriating and hopes whoever is responsible is caught.

'I am very mad and feeling sick to think how can someone can do this,' she said.

In a post on a local Facebook page, other residents revealed they were also targeted on the night of April 1.

'This morning I saw two of my neighbours cars were damaged on the bonnet in our street scratched deeply with despicable language,' one local wrote on Monday morning.

Another two vehicles had profanity inscribed into the bonnet on Moruben Road, near Awaba Street roundabout.

Local Bruno told Daily Mail Australia one of those victims was an elderly lady who returned from holiday on Monday to find her luxury BMW had the word 'f***' carved on to the top of it.

An Earlwood resident told Daily Mail Australia she was babysitting a family friend on The Crescent when both her and her son's car were damaged on the night of April 1 (pictured)

Residents are now calling for anyone in the area who may have recorded the offenders in action on CCTV to review their footage.

The harbourside community was recently named the second of Australia's most advantaged areas, according to the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.

Mosman police could confirm that at least 22 vehicles have been targeted and initial reports suggested the number could be as high as 50.

A police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the North Shore Police Area Command is expected to make a formal comment about the attacks on Tuesday evening.

To report damage to a vehicle, victims are urged to contact a crime reporting hotline on 131 444.
With a soaring career, private education and stunning fiancee, Sydney man Bennet Schwartz had everything he could have dreamed of.

But it was 'greed' that motivated him to develop a double life as a criminal figure and begin transporting massive shipments of cocaine into Australia, NSW District Court Judge Peter Berman said during his sentencing on Thursday.

Schwartz, 29, was charged with allegedly smuggling 23kg of cocaine with a street value of more than $7 million to Australia from the United States in 2016, A Current Affair reported.

He was dragged off a plane by Australian Federal Police in front of his then-fiancee Sarah Wakefield, who is not alleged to have known anything about her soon-to-be husband's criminal activity.

Bennet Schwartz (left) was a mining executive with a private education from an exclusive Sydney school, who led a double life smuggling cocaine into Australia from the US

Schwartz, 29, was charged with allegedly smuggling 23kg of cocaine with a street value of more than $7 million to Australia from the United States in 2016

Once a high-flying executive at mining company Rio Tinto and weeks away from marrying the woman of his dreams, Schwatz's downfall was swift and brutal.

Two packages containing 25 kilograms of cocaine were intercepted by Border Force and Australian Federal Police before his arrest.

The privately-educated executive was to earn a huge payoff for his role in moving the powder to multiple alleged underworld figures in Sydney.

Following his arrest, AFP officers took control of his military-grade encrypted Blackberry and began to act as him while communicating with other alleged crime figures believed to be linked to the drug syndicate.

In two separate busts, officers intercepted one parcel from Los Angeles containing 15 kilograms of cocaine, labelled as car parts, and another containing 10 kilograms of the narcotic.

The Sydney man was pulled off a plane by AFP and Border Force in front of his fiancee, who he was just weeks away from marrying, in 2016 and jailed

During his time in prison, Schwartz has had a target on his back after being falsely labelled as a police informant because he had given officers access to his Blackberry.

The Downing Centre District Court heard the Sydney man had been intimidated and brutally attacked during his time behind bars, and stood over as details of his privileged upbringing came to light.

Kings Cross identity Elias Dimarelis, who was Schwartz's cellmate for nine months last year told ACA the man had been beaten over the head with a Breville sandwich press, stabbed and had a threat made against his life by another inmate demanding $30,000.

Schwartz pleaded guilty to two charges of importing a commercial quantity of cocaine, and was handed down a heavily discounted sentence on Thursday.

He will be eligible for parole in March 2020, but will have no fiancee and no executive career to return to.
Mohamed Elshinawy, 33, of Maryland, also agreed to help develop weaponized drones for the Islamist terrorist group to use in Syria and Turkey

An Egyptian-American newspaper deliveryman has been jailed for 20 years after pleading guilty to receiving nearly $9,000 to plot an attack for ISIS.

Mohamed Elshinawy, 33, of Maryland, also agreed to help develop weaponized drones for the Islamist terrorist group to use in Syria and Turkey.

The US attorney's office in Maryland said Elshinawy pleaded guilty to supporting ISIS, terrorism financing and making false statements in connection with a terrorism matter.

He repeatedly lied to the FBI, saying when he was questioned about receiving $1,000 from Egypt that it was from his mother, then saying it was from a friend so he could buy an iPhone, then that it was from ISIS but he was scamming the group.

FBI Agents had wanted to ask Elshinawy why his phone number had surfaced in an investigation involving ISIS extremists and how he came to receive a $1,000 Western Union transaction from Egypt.

It was a pivotal moment in a months-long FBI investigation.

The investigation stretched from a modest town home northeast of Baltimore across multiple continents, unveiled a shadowy network of illicit payments and shell companies, and revealed a direct link to an ISIS hacker killed in Syria just before Elshinawy's arrest.

ISIS generally doesn't need to fund attacks in the U.S. given the inexpensive nature of the violence it advocates and its reliance on social media to motivate followers. Pictured: A member of the genocidal group in 2014

It also had a chilling twist: Officials say that among the roughly 150 ISIS-linked cases U.S. authorities have brought since 2014, this is the only prosecution they're aware of in which money was transmitted from ISIS operatives abroad to someone in the U.S.

Law enforcement officials involved in the case spoke to The Associated Press about it in detail, recounting a high-intensity investigation that required constant surveillance, the scouring of money transfers and concern that funds sent to Elshinawy would fund an attack.

Brian Nadeau, a Baltimore FBI assistant special agent in charge, said the case raised a lot of red flags.

'Why is the money coming this way? Who is this person? What level are they at?' he said. The FBI, he said, 'can't let someone who's receiving ISIS money be out running around. Who knows if we're in the middle of it, the beginning of it, the end, and what their plan is?'

Elshinawy's lawyers didn't return messages seeking comment, but they have argued that his social media and other communications - such as his claim that he was an ISIS soldier and was committed to violent jihad - were protected by the First Amendment, were not directed by ISIS and were merely aspirational.

Under a plea agreement, Elshinawy admitted conspiring with ISIS, but he defended himself at his sentencing hearing, saying, 'I am not a terrorist,' according to the Baltimore Sun.

It's not clear how close Elshinawy came to an attack, though FBI officials said they believed the threat of violence was real.

Elshinawy's lawyers said in a sentencing memorandum that he was provided little to no specific direction, though Elshinawy told authorities he was given multiple options for violence, including a suicide bombing, and images of individuals who were potential targets, court papers say.

ISIS generally doesn't need to fund attacks in the U.S. given the inexpensive nature of the violence it advocates and its reliance on social media to motivate followers.

The US attorney's office in Maryland said Elshinawy (pictured) pleaded guilty to supporting ISIS, terrorism financing and making false statements in connection with a terrorism matter

But officials believe jihadists exploited a personal connection: a childhood friend of Elshinawy's from Egypt who joined ISIS in Syria communicated with him on social media and encouraged him to pledge allegiance to the group.

His technological know-how and skill in covering his electronic tracks - he used encrypted communications applications and proxy servers - likely made Elshinawy a natural conduit, officials said.

Elshinawy received nearly $9,000 in money transfers, including through PayPal accounts, and used the funds for phones, a laptop and a virtual private network for communication with militants overseas.

The funds, disguised as money for printers, were routed through a web of wire transfers. Much of it came from a UK-based IT company run by Siful Sujan, an ISIS computer hacker killed in December 2015 airstrikes in Syria.

'I think they thought they were going to just have a run-of-the-mill ISIS case, and when they peeled back the onion, they realized that (Elshinawy) was a key node,' said Seamus Hughes, deputy director of George Washington University's Program on Extremism, who has written about the case.

The FBI's first interview with Elshinawy came weeks after an attempted rampage at a Prophet Mohammed cartoon-drawing contest in Texas and one day after shootings at military facilities in Tennessee.

Officials say he deflected questions about the money transfer with answers they knew were untruthful. At one point he pulled out an iPhone to display a Facebook conversation in Arabic. The English translation he provided was clearly improvised, an FBI official said.

After several hours, he admitted under pressure to receiving the money from ISIS but said he was scamming the group because he never intended to commit violence, officials said.

He said that his cleverness should be rewarded and that he should be hired by the FBI to help untangle the ISIS money network, officials say.

He repeatedly lied to the FBI, saying when he was questioned about receiving $1,000 from Egypt that it was from his mother, then saying it was from a friend so he could buy an iPhone, then that it was from ISIS but he was scamming the group

The interviews continued over several weeks, and the results from search warrants and subpoenas yielded insights that alarmed officials further.

Elshinawy had pledged allegiance to ISIS in February 2015 and, in conversations with his friend, pronounced himself ready for jihad and asked for advice in bomb-making, court papers say.

He responded to the unrest in Baltimore that followed the death of Freddie Gray by praising violence against police. And, the FBI says, he attempted to recruit a brother in Saudi Arabia to join ISIS.

Elshinawy has been in custody since his December 2015 arrest.

Agents searching his home found a box of articles about ISIS attacks. His laptop held an image of a severed head next to an ISIS flag, and he accessed on his phone images of government buildings in Baltimore that officials believe were potential targets.

'If this turned out to be successful,' said Hughes, 'it would be a whole different way of looking at ISIS external operations in the U.S.'
The four people who were crushed when a ride at Dreamworld malfunctioned died 'almost instantly', a court has heard.

Four people were killed when a raft on the Thunder River Rapids ride flipped over in October 2016.

A pre-inquest conference at Brisbane Coroners Court heard Cindy Low, 42, Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, 35 and his partner Roozi Araghi, 38, died when they were caught in the mechanism of the ride, the Courier Mail reported.

The group of four were travelling in a raft together and were near the end before two pumps failed, meaning the water level dropped.

Their raft struck another before they were pulled vertically into the mechanism of a conveyor belt.

The 2016 accident killed Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, 35, and his partner Roozi Araghi, 38, and Cindy Low

Victims: Roozi Araghi, 38, is pictured left and his partner Luke Dorsett, 35, is pictured right. Both died on the ride

Mother Cindy Low (pictured left) was survived by her husband and two children Kieran and Isla. Mother Kate Goodchild (pictured right) left behind a husband, daughter, and newborn baby girl

The four on board were either trapped or thrown into the water, the court heard.

Two Dreamworld staff called emergency services and safety officers at the park.

Nearby park attendees also attempted to help.

Counsel assisting the coroner Ken Fleming QC said the four people on the ride died 'almost instantly as a result of compressive and crushing injuries'.

An inquest into the deaths will be held in two parts - the first between June and July 2018 and the second either in October or November and December.

Four people died in October 2016 when their raft on the Thunder River Rapids ride collided with an empty raft that become stuck on a conveyor belt.

Two of them were crushed to death while the other two drowned in the water below.

Ms Goodchild's 12-year-old daughter Ebony and Ms Low's 10-year-old son survived.

For about three decades before the fatal incident, the Thunder River Rapids ride had been a drawcard at the Gold Coast park.

It has been recommended by police that no criminal charges be laid against Dreamworld staff

Dreamworld closed for 45 days after the tragedy and visitor numbers tanked an estimated 30 per cent, causing owners Ardent Leisure to report a $62.6 million loss for the financial year.

Following the deaths, police investigated and have prepared a large brief of evidence for the coroner to consider.

They have already recommended no criminal charges be laid against Dreamworld staff over the fatal incident, but the coroner could still suggest prosecutions after hearing evidence.

The incident also caused the Queensland government to pass industrial manslaughter laws with maximum 20 years imprisonment for individuals or a $10 million fine for corporate offenders.
A woman allegedly strangled a pregnant 20-year-old girl and ripped her baby from her womb to cover up her own miscarriage.

Cinthia Fatima was accused of luring Jessica Gabriela to her house in Tampico, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, before murdering her.

She was arrested along with her husband Omar Erique, who she didn't tell about the miscarriage, after the decomposing body was found in their house.

Jessica Gabriela, 20, was allegedly strangled and had her unborn baby ripped from her womb

Cinthia Fatima was accused of luring the young woman to her house in Tampico, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, before murdering her

Ms Gabriela met Fatima on social media and went to meet her after being offered some baby clothes and her family reported her missing, according to local media.

Authorities were alerted to the possible link after a woman, claiming to be Fatima's sister, turned up at a hospital with a dead baby.

Some reports said she told doctors her sister had a recent still-birth at home, but others said she lost the baby months earlier and kept it secret.

Fatima then allegedly contacted several pregnant women on social media to try to kill them and steal their unborn children.

Ms Gabriela met Fatima on social media and went to meet her after being offered some baby clothes and her family reported her missing, according to local media

Fatima was arrested along with her husband Omar Erique (pictured), who she didn't tell about the miscarriage, after the decomposing body was found in their house

By then taking the infant's body to doctors and claiming it as her own, she hoped to convince her husband she had not lost her own child months earlier.

Prosecutors from the General Attorney's office began an investigation into the shocking case but were yet to make a statement.

Fatima lived with her three children and her husband usually worked away from the family home.

The circumstances of how the she allegedly removed the unborn baby from its dead mother remained unclear.
Paedophile Rolf Harris played his didgeridoo at a party to thank the friends who stood by him while he served a prison sentence for child sex abuse.

Harris was freed from prison in May 2017 after he was jailed for more than five years following his conviction of 12 indecent assaults. He also preyed on two teenage girls and abused his daughter's friend.

Now, it has emerged that the 88-year-old invited 70 friends over to his Berkshire home for a party just days before his birthday.

Paedophile Rolf Harris played his didgeridoo at a party to thank the friends who stood by him while he served a prison sentence for child sex abuse (pictured left, in 1996 and right, in Jan)

The Sun reports that during the shindig he performed Two Little Boys with the help of a backing band, with a source telling the paper: 'It was a very jovial night with lots of singing, dancing and joking.

'Rolf seemed in his element performing his old hits with the help of a band and with his trusty didgeridoo.

'There were huge cheers after his songs and everyone seemed to have a great time.'

Harris's wife Alwen, 86,and daughter Bindi, 53, were also at the party.

The party comes after the disgraced entertainer successfully appealed one conviction of indecent assault after it was overturned by the Court of Appeal.

It has emerged that the 88-year-old invited 70 friends over to his Berkshire home for a party just days before his birthday

He was cleared of groping an eight-year-old autograph hunter in the late 1960s after his lawyers presented fresh evidence about an alleged sex attack at a community centre in Portsmouth.

Appeal judge Lord Justice Treacy said that a key witness in the trial, a man that had lived in the area of the community centre Harris was said to have visited, gave a statement that was 'a fantasy'.

The disgraced former entertainer is rarely seen in public since his release from HMP Stafford after serving less than half of his sentence.
Police officers are trained to hide evidence that would undermine their investigations in court, a damning dossier reveals.

Documents show how police and prosecutors employ certain tactics to stop defence teams from seeing materials that could help their client during their trial.

Other accusations include officers being reluctant to record witness statements that hurt their case or presenting vital evidence to lawyers at the last second.

The revelations come after the recent collapse of several rape cases, leading to heightened concerns that evidence is not being disclosed properly.

The case against Liam Allan (pictured), who was accused of rape, was dropped days before he was due to stand trial after evidence including his accuser's diary was uncovered

One ploy used by police is to put evidence 'on the MG6D', which refers to a list of sensitive unused material which a defendant's legal team does not have access to.

Examples of legitimate materials which may be put on the MG6D include those relating to the interest of national security or information about an undercover officer.

According to The Times, the dossier is compiled from reports of 14 focus groups of police officers, judges and prosecutors.

One comment in the file read: 'In even quite serious cases, officers have admitted to deliberately withholding sensitive material from us and they frequently approach us only a week before trial.

'Officers are reluctant to investigate a defence or take statements that might assist the defence or undermine our case.'

Referring to the practice of exploiting the MG6D, an inspector said that officers are'trained to put items on there that they do not want disclosed to the defence'.

Scotland Yard commissioner Cressida Dick (shown) said officers must investigate rather than blindly believe allegations and should keep an open mind when a victim has come forward

The revealing dossier was obtained under a freedom of information act request by charity the Centre for Criminal Appeals.

More than 900 suspects had charges dropped last year because police and prosecutors failed to hand evidence to defence lawyers.

In the lead up to criminal trials, police and prosecutors have a duty to disclose evidence that might either assist the defence case or undermine the prosecution.

But the recent collapse of several rape cases has heightened concerns that evidence is not being disclosed early enough, and that the rules are not being followed.

The trial of student Liam Allan, 22, 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 that would have cleared him.

The case against an Oxford student accused of rape was dropped days before he was due to stand trial after evidence including his accuser's diary was uncovered.

Yesterday it was announced by Scotland Yard that officers would be abandoning the policy of automatically believing victims of rape.

Commissioner Cressida Dick said officers must investigate rather than blindly believe allegations, and should keep an open mind when a victim has come forward.
A tour bus company has admitted to liability after a Polish tourist's ear was severed in a crash when the driver took both hands off the wheel to look at a map.

Four tourists were left injured and dazed when a Golden Tours double-decker bus smashed into a low-hanging tree branch, ripping off its roof in August of 2015.

Ireneusz 'Irek' Luszczewski was sitting in the front section of the top deck during the collision and the impact lopped off the top part of his ear.

The crash happened in Woburn Place, Bloomsbury, and CCTV footage shows the driver using both of his hands to look at a map.

Ireneusz 'Irek' Luszczewski's ear was severed in a London tour bus crash when the driver took both hands off the wheel in August of 2015

The crash happened in Woburn Place, Bloomsbury and CCTV footage shows the driver using both of his hands to look at a map

With Golden Tours admitting to 95 per cent liability, Mr Luszczewski's lawyer said it could mean a hefty payday for his client, who suffered 'permanent and life-changing injuries'

The 51-year-old sued the company and is now set to rake in thousands of pounds as Golden Tours admitted to 95 per cent liability for the accident.

Mr Luszczewski was on the top level of the bus with his son, along with around 40 other passengers on the day of the crash.

The Polish national said he was 'shocked and terrified' and 'feared for my safety and the safety of my young son.'

'After the accident, I said that I believed it happened due to negligence on behalf of the bus company and now this admission has proved that to be the case', Mr Luszczewski told a court, reported the Evening Standard.

With Golden Tours admitting to 95 per cent liability, Mr Luszczewski's lawyer said it could mean a hefty paycheck for his client, who suffered 'permanent and life-changing injuries'.

Now the court will be asked to determine compensation and damages for Mr Luszczewski's injuries and for the accident.

The 51-year-old sued the company and is now set to rake in thousands of pounds as Golden Tours admitted to 95 per cent liability for the accident

Mr Luszczewski was on the top level of the bus with his son (pictured together), along with around 40 other passengers on the day of the crash. The Polish national said he was 'shocked and terrified' and 'feared for my safety and the safety of my young son'

Mr Luszczewski was on the top level of the bus with his son, along with around 40 other passengers on the day of the crash

Mr Luszczewski was given emergency first aid at the scene by paramedics and was later taken to hospital by ambulance

International personal injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell have been instructed to pursue a claim for compensation on behalf of Mr Luszczewski.

The lawyers claim they would help him with his recovery and any rehabilitation he will need following his serious injuries.

Mr Luszczewski was on a trip to the capital with his young son when they made the decision to pay for a trip on the double-decker Golden Tours Ltd bus.

They were sitting in the front section on the top deck when the bus collided with a tree in Woburn Place, Bloomsbury, an impact that almost ripped the roof clean off.

As the upper section hit the overhanging branch, Mr Luszczewski claims he was struck in the face and head by components of the bus, which caused his ear to be severed in half.

Several people, including a newlywed bride on her honeymoon, were taken to hospital following the incident.

Several people, including a newlywed bride on her honeymoon, were taken to hospital following the incident

The impact - which was described as 'like a bomb going off' - left a large branch in the road, near to Russell Square tube station, along with debris and shattered windows from the bus

Mr Luszczewski was on a trip to the capital with his young son when they made the decision to pay for a trip on the double-decker Golden Tours Ltd bus.

The roof of the 11.8-tonne bus  which was carrying about 40 tourists at the time  was later pictured hanging off to one side, dangling from the upper deck onto the road.

The impact - which was described as 'like a bomb going off' - left a large branch in the road, near to Russell Square tube station, along with debris and shattered windows from the bus.

A spectator who helped Mr Luszczewski and his son said she had found the 49-year-old collapsed on the top deck with half of his ear 'hanging off'.

Following the accident, all three emergency services were called. Police closed the road around the accident scene whilst fire service personnel took steps to evacuate passengers and stabilise the bus to remove any remaining danger.

Mr Luszczewski was given emergency first aid at the scene by paramedics and was later taken to hospital by ambulance.
Momentum chief Jon Lansman today called for Labour personnel at all levels to be given training in anti-Semitism.

Mr Lansman said he and Jeremy Corbyn had both realised the problem of racism in the party was worse than either of them had thought.

He warned an 'unconscious bias' against Jews had become visible - but denied there was a widespread issue of Holocaust denial in the party.

The call came as Mr Corbyn was mired in fresh controversy over attending a Seder last night with a hard-left Jewish group in his constituency to mark Passover.

Mr Lansman's warning also coincides with the passing of a dossier detailing 150 anti-Semitic incidents to party chiefs. The Labour Against Anti-Semitism report alleges five more council candidates have made anti-Semitic remarks.

It follows a series of reports about other council candidates who have been suspended by Labour ahead of the elections on May 3.

In the latest case, a council worker was suspended after being caught claiming Zionists 'collaborated' with the Nazis.

The Standard revealed Stan Keable has been removed from his duties as an environmental enforcement officer for Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

The action was taken after he said: 'The Nazis were anti-Semitic. The problem I've got is the Zionist government at the time collaborated with them. They accepted the ideas that Jews are not acceptable here.'

The head of Momentum Jon Lansman (pictured today in London) admitted today the problem of anti-Semitism inside Labour was worse than both he and Jeremy Corbyn had realised

Mr Corbyn (pictured today in Swindon) faces further criticism today after he attended a Seder hosted by a far-left Jewish group which has called for the destruction of Israel

The call came as Mr Corbyn (pictured today with Angela Rayner in Swindon) is mired in fresh controversy over attending a Seder last night with a hard-left Jewish group in his constituency to mark Passover

Mr Lansman, who is Jewish, said the explosion of the racism row and seen a marked rise in 'unconscious bias' against Jews in his social media feeds.

He called for widespread training in Labour to fight off low-level anti-Semitism and rigorous investigation to tackle serious cases.

Labour's new General Secretary vows to crack down on anti-Semitism Jennie Formby (pictured with Jeremy Corbyn) has written to Labour members on her first day in the job to say the party will get on with tackling the abuse Labour's new General Secretary has vowed to 'eradicate the stain of anti-Semitism in the party. Jennie Formby has written to Labour members on her first day in the job to say the party will get on with introducing the recommendations of Shami Chakrabarti's report into anti-Semitism. Labour has faced heavy criticism for failing to act on the report. And a leaked email from the outgoing General Secretary Ian McNicol said Jeremy Corbyn's office had been to blame for the delay. In her email today, Ms Formby - a close ally of Mr Corbyn - said: 'This week I will be moving to ensure the full implementation of the Chakrabarti report and introducing new procedures to deal with complaints and disciplinary cases. 'The stain of anti-Semitic attitudes must be completely eradicated within the Labour Party - we are the party for people of all races and faiths, the party of full equality for all, or we are nothing. 'Likewise, I will tackle any manifestation of misogyny, bullying or abuse of anyone, as Jeremy Corbyn has pledged.' Advertisement

Mr Corbyn faces further criticism today after he attended a Seder hosted by a far-left Jewish group which has called for the destruction of Israel.

Mr Lansman told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'Jeremy is a lifelong anti-racist and I think it came as something of a shock to him to be described as being some kind of racist, of harbouring people with anti-Semitic views in the party that he now leads.

'I think Jeremy's awareness has grown, as it has for all of us.

'It's not that there is a widespread problem with Holocaust denial but there is a widespread unconscious bias.

'The longer that the debate has gone on, the more I have noticed on my Facebook feed are people who dismiss anti-Semitism as an issue in a way that you would not dismiss Islamaphobia as an issue.

'We need a widespread programme of education and training within the Labour Party to help people recognise the dangers of certain words and language that can be sensitive.'

Asked specifically by the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire if Mr Corbyn should undergo training, Mr Lansman said: 'I think everybody who deals on the National Executive of the Labour party from investigators to members of the National Executive should consider it, and the National Constitutional Committee which is final judicial, quasi-judicial in the process.'

Asked again if that included the Labour leader he replied: 'I think all people who participate in making decisions about the cases, yes.'

The new dossier of claims against Labour candidates, revealed by BuzzFeed, named candidates in Newcastle, London, Lancashire and Suffolk.

Overall it contains 150 separate complaints. Labour MP Wes Streeting told the site: 'The volume as well as the content is appalling.

'Since Jeremy Corbyn issued his statement acknowledging the problem and promising a militant fightback many of his supporters haven't got the message, abusing Labour MPs who have had the courage to call it out.

'We need more decisive action from the Labour Party and the NEC.'

Roy Smart, a candidate in Tunbridge Wells, appeared to share links on social media to a site in 2015 calling itself a 'Holocaust Deprogramming Course'

One of Mr Smart's Facebook posts linked to a 'Holocaust deprogramming course' and said it should not be illegal to question whether it happened

In another post, Mr Smart claimed closing down debate on whether the Holocaust happened was about 'power and control'

Euan Philipps, spokesperson for Labour Against Antisemitism, told BuzzFeed: 'This is appalling. The councillors and candidates on this list have proven recent histories of antisemitism and should have been expelled.

'Indeed, many have previously been reported by Labour Against Antisemitism to Labour's compliance unit.

'Instead, they have not only been readmitted to the party but allowed to stand as Labour candidates and then sit as Labour councillors. It is a tacit endorsement by the Labour Party of a level of racial hatred not seen since the 1930s.'

A Labour Party spokesman said: 'The Labour Party is committed to challenging and campaigning against antisemitism in all its forms.

'All complaints of antisemitism are taken extremely seriously. These are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken. We do not comment on individual cases.'

Ms Formby - a close ally of Mr Corbyn - has today emailed party members to vow to crack down on the abuse.

She said: 'This week I will be moving to ensure the full implementation of the Chakrabarti report and introducing new procedures to deal with complaints and disciplinary cases.

'The stain of anti-Semitic attitudes must be completely eradicated within the Labour Party - we are the party for people of all races and faiths, the party of full equality for all, or we are nothing.

'Likewise, I will tackle any manifestation of misogyny, bullying or abuse of anyone, as Jeremy Corbyn has pledged. '

Labour has faced heavy criticism for failing to act on the report.

Mr Smart, a candidate in Tunbridge Wells, was suspended yesterday after he appeared to share a series of vile links on social media to a site in 2015 calling itself a 'Holocaust Deprogramming Course'.

Another post from September 2017 said: 'People being allowed to question if the Holocaust happened is not the same as being a Holocaust denier.'

Mr Smart will be replaced on the ballot paper by another Labour candidate for the May 3 elections.

Confirming Mr Smart's suspension, a Labour spokeswoman said: 'Labour takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously, which are fully investigated and appropriate disciplinary action taken in line with our rules and procedures.

'Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in the Party, and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it, in all its forms.'

The new developments came as a shadow minister said Labour should resist calls to instantly expel anyone accused of anti-Semitism and deal with it in its own way.

Stephen Pound vowed his party would 'clean up' the allegations and admitted there was a 'real problem' that would cost the party votes.

But he insisted the allegations were being used to attack Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of Labour and said the party should resist calls to immediately 'sling out' members based on any allegation without following party processes.

Accusations of anti-Semitism are being used by some people as a means to attack Jeremy Corbyn, veteran Labour shadow minister Stephen Pound claimed last night

Mr Corbyn has been repeatedly accused of failing to deal with anti-Semitism. His close ally Ken Livingstone has been suspended for more than a year without a resolution over his Hitler rants.

Mr Pound said Labour had to 'make it absolutely clear that our proud record on being an inclusive party does extend to every single person in this country'.

But he told the BBC Westminster Hour on Sunday night: 'The minute somebody outside the party says, ''You the leader need to expel that person'', then ... hang on a second, we will deal with this our way and if we have a problem with dealing with the Jewish community then that is our problem.

'We will not have people screaming from the outside saying, ''Sling this person out, chuck that person out''.

'We will take care of this. We will clean up this mess because we are the Labour Party, we are not an anti-Semitic party, we're not a racist party. We're a party for everyone.'

The party has moved to distance itself from a series of pro-Corbyn social media groups after an investigation by The Sunday Times found they contained hundreds of violent and abusive messages.

Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger and BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg were among individuals targeted by hate-filled posts.

Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger (right) and BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg (left) were among individuals targeted by hate-filled posts in pro-Corbyn social media groups

Jewish groups called a protest on Parliament Square last week (pictured) to demand the Labour leader acts on anti-Semitism in his party

Mr Pound's comments came as frontbench colleague Liam Byrne warned there was 'real alarm' at the scale of the problem within the party.

What are the anti-Semitic incidents in Labour that have reached a crisis under Corbyn's watch? Jeremy Corbyn defended an artist who painted an anti-Semitic mural in 2012, questioning why the offensive art should be removed

He was a member of a Facebook group which was awash with anti-Semitic rhetoric, and he has described anti-Semitic groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah as 'our friends'

The Labour leader stood by when a speaker disrupted the launch of his party's anti-Semitism policy by accusing a Jewish MP of colluding with the press

Labour has still failed to expel former London mayor Ken Livingstone, two years after he claimed Hitler supported Zionism. He has still not apologised

Delegates at last year's Labour conference complained of a 'witch hunt' against anti-Semitism and heard from a speaker who said it was legitimate to question the Holocaust

The problem is so rife in the party the Jewish Labour Movement has had to hold training sessions for party members on how not to be anti-Semitic

Labour members and councillors have shared disgusting messages and images on Facebook describing Jewish people of controlling world capitalism and being to blame for the policies of the Israeli government

The party is failing to deal with a huge backlog of complaints and has failed to expel people even though they have committed offences such as referring to Jewish people as Yids

Corbyn ally Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, has dismissed anti-Semitism claims as 'mood music' spread by Blairites.

Labour's new general secretary Jennie Formby was accused of recruiting a party member suspended for saying Hitler was a Zionist god. Advertisement

Labour grandee Lord Triesman, a former General Secretary of the party, warned today a failure to act on anti-Semitism would have a '1930s outcome'.

Mr Pound told the programme: 'My point is the Labour Party is not the enemy of Judaism.

'I think the Labour Party without a doubt has a problem, but on the other hand there are some people who are riding that horse to attack Jeremy Corbyn anyway.'

Asked whether Mr Corbyn's opponents were using anti-Semitism as a stick to beat the Labour leader, the Ealing North MP said: 'A small number of them are, and unfortunately in the world of social media nowadays a small number of people can get a huge amount of attention.'

Mr Pound added: 'I think it's my duty as a Labour member of Parliament to actually reach out to these people who are hurting.

'I'm not going to rest until the Labour Party has rebuilt those bridges because we are not anti-Semitic.'

He said the row would 'inevitably' cost Labour votes in areas such as the north London borough of Barnet, where there is a large Jewish population.

'Yes of course it can, but Barnet is one borough,' he said.

'Inevitably, of course it will, but the real story behind these local government elections is (Conservative-led) Northampton County Council, which has gone bankrupt.'

Lord Triesman, who ran Labour HQ under Tony Blair, told The Times: 'I don't care who's the prime minister or leader of the opposition: if you can't face up to these things, you have a 1930s outcome.

'The truth is that we need to be alert to the early signs, and we need to deal with them really, really hard when they emerge.

'The dictatorships in Europe were never of such significance that we ought to bother ourselves with them, until they became too big to handle and then they were of such significance we couldn't deal with them. These are historic mistakes which don't have to be repeated.'

Labour grandee Lord Triesman (file image), a former Labour General Secretary, warned today a failure to act on anti-Semitism would have a '1930s outcome'

Mr Corbyn yesterday deleted his personal Facebook account, prompting claims he was trying to distance himself from abuse on the network

Ex-Commons Speaker Lord Martin called for a special one-day conference of members to address the problem and demonstrate the party's abhorrence of anti-Semitism.

The former Labour MP told The Guardian: 'If you ran a restaurant, and it was dirty and there were cockroaches, you wouldn't get away with saying 'the restaurant down the road is dirty and has cockroaches too'.

'You would be expected to sort out the problem.'

As the row continued, shadow minister Liam Byrne warned there was 'real alarm' at the scale of the problem within Labour

A probe into 20 of the biggest pro-Corbyn Facebook groups uncovered routine attacks on Jewish people, including Holocaust denial and comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany.

Mr Corbyn yesterday deleted his personal Facebook account, prompting claims he was trying to distance himself from abuse on the network. Labour said the move was long planned to make his official account easier to manage.

The Sunday Times reported that 12 senior staff working for Mr Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell were members of the groups which contained more than 2,000 racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic, violent and abusive messages.

They were found on the 20 largest pro-Corbyn Facebook groups, which have a combined membership of 400,000.

A Labour Party spokesman said on Sunday: 'These groups are not run by the Labour Party or officially connected to the party in any way.

'The Labour Party is committed to challenging and campaigning against anti-Semitism in all its forms. Any complaints of anti-Semitism are taken extremely seriously.

'These are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action taken.'
This is the moment a tourist was pulled over by police in the Philippines for riding pillion on a motorbike in skimpy bikini bottoms and ordered to cover up.

Officers spotted the blonde woman riding with a shirtless curly-haired man in sunglasses on an island in Bohol on March 26.

She had been wearing a white off-the-shoulder top paired with skimpy bikini briefs, which was branded 'indecent' - especially during the holy Easter period.

Officers in the Philippines pulled over the woman, who was wearing a white top and skimpy bikini bottoms on March 26

The blonde woman was riding with a shirtless curly-haired man, who later put on a T-shirt

Passing motorists captured officers pulling the pair over and ordering the woman to cover up with a brown sarong.

A police spokesman said the pair of 'indecent foreigners' were flagged down by an officer and issued with tickets.

'Baclayon Police Station led by Senior Inspector Raymond Halasan, chief of police and his Women and Children Protection Desk officer SPO3 Christine Vidal flagged down the two indecent foreigners riding a motorcycle, conducted OPLAN SITA and issued violation tickets to them,' the spokesman said.

The couple, who were not identified, were allowed to continue on their journey in the popular tourist resort.

Passing motorists captured officers pulling the pair over and ordering the woman to cover up with a brown sarong

The couple, who were not identified, were allowed to continue on their journey in the popular tourist resort

But the incident angered residents, who complained that the couple had insulted the local community by dressing inappropriately.

'Tourists should act like local people do in the place they visit,' Marie Poe said.

'This is offensive. It is worse because this is Easter time and a religious holiday.'

Dave Responte said: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.'

Jeff Mendez added: 'This is OK for the beach but not riding around outside.'
A mother at a primary school has donated a kidney to the father of one of her son's friends after hearing he was in desperate need for a transplant.

Katy Ludlow, 34, heard about Ravi Nihal's plight, while dropping her son to Cecil Road Primary School in Kent.

The 43-year-old father-of-three fell in in 2015 when his kidneys began to fail. He was forced to travel up to Guy's Hospital in London for three sessions of dialysis a week.

Katy Ludlow, left, donated a kidney to Ravi Nihal, second left, after hearing of his plight from Mr Nihal's wife, Nish, pictured second right next to Ms Ludlow's partner, right

Mr Nihal, pictured with his wife Nish, was forced to give up his job as a supervisor with the National Grid when his kidney's started to fail in 2015 forcing him to undergo dialysis

As a result he had to give up his job with the National Grid as a supervisor.

Ms Ludlow agreed to be tested to be a kidney donor after speaking to Mr Nihal's wife Nish at the school gate.

Amazingly, medics determined Ms Ludlow was a match for Mr Nihal and agreed to go through with the life-changing surgery.

Before the operation, Ms Ludlow and Mr Nihal were on nodding terms at the school gate, although their children were firm friends. Now both families have a life-long bond.

After hearing about Mr Nihal's plight, Ms Ludlow, right, decided that she would undergo testing and when it was determined she was a match, she donated a kidney

Mr Nihal told The Sun: 'Ill never be able to repay Katy for what she did. Shes an incredible person to do something like this for someone who was almost a stranger. She has done something that people I've known all my life wouldn't have done.'

Ms Ludlow added: 'Our two families are like one big family now. Ive no regrets. Id do it all over again.

'Ravi could have been on the transplant list for many years and I feel fantastic knowing I've saved his family from that. It's been brilliant seeing the change in him since the transplant. He has a new lease of life and is smiling again.'

According to NHS Direct, there were 3,000 kidney transplants carried out in the UK between April 2014 and April 2015, although there were still 5,000 people on the waiting list.

On average, there are approximately 100 to 150 living donations each year.
Evgeny Buzhinskiy, a retired Russian Lieutenant General, says expelling diplomats after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal could create a situation 'worse than the Cold War'

A Russian former general has warned the world is on the brink of 'the last war in the history of mankind' amid the diplomatic fallout over the poisoning of a UK spy.

Evgeny Buzhinskiy, who served 41 years in the Russian military, said expelling diplomats from the EU and US after Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury is creating a situation which is 'worse than the Cold War'.

Asked to explain himself, Mr Buzhinskiy added: 'A real war. Worse than the Cold War is a real war. It will be the last war in the history of mankind.'

Mr Buzhinskiy, who retired with the rank of Lieutenant General in 2009, was being quizzed by Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4.

When the presenter asked whether the Skripal case could lead directly to war, Mr Buzhinskiy responded: 'Not the Salisbury poisoning, but the pressure.

'The United States is saying the pressure will continue. What is that going to achieve? You are going to achieve regime change? It is useless.

'You don't know Russians. The more pressure there is, the more the society is concentrated around the President.

Mr Buzhinskiy added that 'worse than the Cold War is a real war' saying that it would be 'the last war in the history of mankind'

Russia vehemently denies being behind the poisoning of Mr Skripal, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (pictured) claiming British intelligence could have organised it

'You expel diplomats, we expel diplomats, you further expel, what's the next step? It's a breach of the diplomatic relations.

'Actually you are cornering Russia, and to corner Russia is a very dangerous thing.'

Asked about other countries not believing the Kremlin's comments about the Salisbury poisoning, Mr Buzhinksy branded it 'such a nonsense' arguing that in this crime Russian President Vladimir Putin 'is the last guy to benefit'.

Britain and its allies have accused the Russian state of either sanctioning or being complicit in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia in Salisbury last month.

Investigators say a VX nerve agent of a group called Novichok, which were developed by Russia, was left on the door handle of their home.

After touching the poison the pair were found collapsed in a nearby park and rushed to hospital where they were placed into a coma.

Vladimir Putin (pictured in Moscow on Tuesday) has declined to comment directly on the poisoning, instead issuing denials through diplomats and embassies

Sergei Skripal is still in critical condition in hospital after being found collapsed in a park in Salisbury last month, while daughter Yulia is 'recovering rapidly'

Doctors say Yulia is no longer in a critical condition and is 'improving rapidly', while her father is still listed as critical.

Russia vehemently denies being behind the poisoning and has requested to visit Yulia in hospital.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has suggested that British intelligence services could be behind the attack in order to distract from Brexit.

He argued that Russia had no motive to attack Mr Skripal, who was a former MI6 double-agent released in a 2010 spy swap.

'If there were any gripes against the man, he wouldn't have been swapped,' Mr Lavrov said.

'There are other explanations besides those put forward by our Western colleagues, who declare that it can only be the Russians who are responsible,' Mr Lavrov said.

'It could also be advantageous to the British government, who find themselves in a difficult situation having failed to fulfil their promises to voters over Brexit.'

Investigators say Sergei and Yulia were poisoned with nerve agent Novichok which was smeared on the door of their home before being found collapsed in a park (pictured)

Theresa May's official spokesman said on Tuesday: 'As the Prime Minister has made clear, the UK would much rather have in Russia a constructive partner ready to play by the rules.

'This attack in Salisbury was part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive Russian behaviour as well as a new and dangerous phase in Russia's hostile activity within our continent and beyond.

'As the Prime Minister has said we must face the facts and the challenge of Russia is one that will endure for years to come.'

Mrs May's spokesman declined to comment specifically on warnings the stand-off with Russia could deteriorate into an active war.
Dozens of children are feared dead after an Afghan air strike on a religious school reportedly killed at least 59 people.

Hundreds of people were attending a graduation ceremony at the madrassa in a Taliban-controlled district in northeastern Afghanistan on Monday when Afghan Air Force helicopters struck, witnesses told AFP.

At least 59 people, including Taliban commanders meeting at the compound in the Dashte Archi district in Kunduz province, were killed in the attack, Afghan security sources said on condition of anonymity.

Most of the civilian victims were children, they said. The wounded were driven more than 50km to hospital for treatment.

On Tuesday, the United Nations said it was investigating 'disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians' in the airstrike.

Dozens of children are feared dead after an Afghan air strike on a religious school reportedly left at least 59 people dead. Pictured, an Afghan child receives treatment after the strike

In a brief statement, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said: 'Human Rights team on ground establishing facts. All parties reminded of obligations to protect civilians from impact of armed conflict.'

'I myself counted 35 bodies,' Abdul Khalil told AFP at the hospital in the provincial capital Kunduz where health officials said 57 injured had been taken.

'I arrived at the scene right after the airstrikes - it was like a butcher's shop. Everywhere was covered with blood, the ground was littered with body parts, heads, limbs and other parts.'

A man called Yousuf, who was at the ceremony when the airstrikes happened, said he saw 'blood and body parts everywhere'.

On Tuesday, villagers in the Afghan province of Kunduz said on Tuesday they had buried dozens of victims of the government air strike.

An Afghan child is seen on a stretcher on his way to hospital after Monday's airstrike in Aghanistan's Kunduz province

The UN says it is investigating claims that civilians were affected by an Afghan air strike on a school in a Taliban-controlled area

Sayed Jaan, a resident of the district of Dasht-i Archi, said he attended two mass funerals of almost 40 people, adding that other burials had taken place.

He said the helicopter attack happened during a religious ceremony, called Dastaar Bandi, to mark young men completing the memorization of the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

'There were two mass graves to bury the victims of the bombing and I took part in both burials. In one grave, 16, and in another, 21. Many were young children,' Sayed Jaan said.

'There were other burials and people were digging graves.'

But so far, the defence ministry has denied civilians were among the casualties.

An Afghan resident is treated at a hospital following an airstrike in Kunduz on Sunday

An Afghan airstrike on a religious school in a Taliban stronghold on April 2 caused multiple casualties, including civilians, an Afghan security source and witnesses said

'Twenty Taliban, including the commander of their Red Unit in the district, and also a key member of the Quetta Shura were killed,' defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told AFP on Monday.

The same number were wounded, Radmanish added.

The Red Unit is the insurgent group's elite unit and the Quetta Shura is its leadership council.

A senior Afghan defence ministry official told Reuters the air attack killed at least 35 Taliban and wounded many more.

But he denied reports that civilians were harmed and said two senior Taliban commanders were among those killed.

But provincial government leaders including the governor and police had determined that the strike was against a Taliban meeting but it had also inflicted an undetermined number of civilian casualties, the governor's office said.

An Afghan boy is treated at a hospital following an airstrike in the Char Dara district of Kunduz province

The Taliban said the airstrike hit a religious school during a graduation ceremony, killing dozens of civilians

The Taliban on Monday confirmed the attack on the madrassa, but denied militants had been meeting at the religious school.

According to Reuters, the Taliban said the strike killed 150 religious scholars and civilians and denied that any of their forces had been there.

The madrassa was run by Islamic scholars sympathetic to the Taliban but the facility was open to the public, a senior Taliban commander speaking from an unknown location in Pakistan told AFP on Tuesday.

He said as many as 2,000 people were at the school on Monday, including 750 students, for a graduation ceremony but denied senior Taliban leaders were present.

He estimated that 400 people had been killed and an unknown number wounded. The Taliban are known to exaggerate battlefield claims.

The Taliban said the strike killed 150 religious scholars and civilians and denied that any of their forces had been there. Pictured, a boy receives treatment in hospital

On Tuesday, villagers in the Afghan province of Kunduz said on Tuesday they had buried dozens of victims of the government air strike. Pictured, a boy in hospital

A video posted online by the Taliban showed at least four bodies of children, wrapped in white shrouds.

Other images circulated of children and adults being treated in hospital for injuries, but they could not be verified.

Several boys with their arms and legs bandaged were seen lying in beds and along the corridors of the hospital.

One of the security sources said the Taliban had started meeting at madrassas in the hope of avoiding airstrikes.

US and Afghan forces are increasing ground and air offensives against Taliban and Islamic State insurgents as they try to get the upper hand in the 16-year war.

One of the security sources said the Taliban had started meeting at madrassas in the hope of avoiding airstrikes

The casualties underlined the risk of greater use of air power under a new U.S. strategy announced last year to try to force the militant group to the negotiating table.

The Taliban briefly seized Kunduz city in 2015 and they overran it for a second time the following year.

U.S. air strikes destroyed a Kunduz hospital in 2015 killing 42 people, most of them patients and medical staff.

The city has been considered relatively secure over the past year or two but the Taliban control much of the surrounding area.

Building up the fledgling government air force has been a major priority for the NATO-led Resolute Support training and advisory mission.

Last year, more than 10,000 civilians died or were wounded in the war between Afghanistan's Western-backed government and the militants, down 9 percent from the previous year, UNAMA said in a report in February.
Up to 160 royal stalkers with obsessions about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are being tracked by police ahead of their wedding.

Referrals to a unit dedicated to identifying threats to the royal family have hit record levels since the couple announced they were together in 2016.

Figures show the 160 are made up of 106 men and 54 women, and include seven people classed as 'high risk.'

Specially trained psychiatric nurses and police are visiting some of the most obsessed in the run-up to next month's ceremony, and one man has been detained under mental health laws in the last few months.

Referrals to a unit dedicated to identifying threats to the royal family have hit record levels since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were together in 2016.

The special unit is called the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, which helps to look for potential dangers to Harry and Meghan.

Former Royal Protection Command chief Dai Davies said: 'The publicity and interest in Meghan and the wedding will add to the protection squad's concerns.

'This Windsor venue and the carriage ride does elevate the risk of threatening behaviour by those who are fixated.'

Cases of royals obsession have surged from 73 in 2014 to 160 in 2017 and the first two months of this year, the Daily Mirror reports.

Thames Valley Police have cancelled leave for 4,200 officers to provide security for the ceremony on May 19, that will be held at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle

A total of 462 people were referred to the unit in the past three years, including 26 deemed 'high risk'.

Created in 2007, the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) is responsible for identifying individuals who pose a risk to the Royal family and politicians.

The term 'fixated' describes a pathologically intense focus on an individual, manifested in repeated unwanted contact with the victim, usually beginning with letters.

Funded by the Home Office and the NHS, the FTAC analyses some 10,000 strange, worrying or threatening communications received by the Royal household each year.

Security will be tight at the ceremony on May 19 at Windsor Castle, like it was for the marriage of Prince Edward and Sophie Countess of Wessex in 1999 (pictured)

About half are deemed to be low risk and no further action is taken, but the remainder warrant further investigation.

Figures between 1988 and 2003 revealed that 600 people had managed to get close to a member of the Royal family and that there had been 17 attacks on staff, protection officers and property.

Of the 250 who had been deemed stalkers, analysis of the files suggested that about 80 per cent had a serious psychotic illness.

Earlier this year it emerged that the government of New Zealand attempted to cover up just how close a man came to assassinating the Queen during a diplomatic trip to the country in 1981.

Christopher John Lewis, a 17-year-old boy from Dunedin shot at her with a .22 rifle, but it missed. He had become obsessed with exterminating the Royal Family

It later emerged the police then launched a cover up operation to disguise the seriousness of the event.

Security for next month's hearing will be tight, and Thames Valley Police have cancelled leave for 4,200 officers. Security barriers are also being installed near Windsor Castle.
A leading Women's Institute trustee has launched a blistering attack on 'hipster' younger members of the popular movement, saying they see older members as 'frightful old dinosaurs' who spout 'boring nonsense'.

Stephanie Gaunt, 68, said the 'radical energy' of younger WI groups like the trendy Shoreditch Sisters, who were set up by then 24-year-old Jazz Domino Holly, the daughter of Joe Strummer, in 2007, 'do not represent the future I'd like to see for the WI.'

Mrs Gaunt, the president of Hastings & Ore WI and an East Sussex trustee, took a swipe at the London group saying they couldn't be further removed from their jam and cake-baking forebears.

Seven years ago Shoreditch Sisters knitted a vulva blanket as part of a campaign to raise awareness of female genital mutilation - a move which Mrs Gaunt has blasted.

On her blog, Hastings Battleaxe, she said of the Shoreditch Sisters: 'This is one of the new young hipster cool WI groups that have sprung up around the country, all bright-eyed youth and "radical" energy.

Stephanie Gaunt, the president of Hastings & Ore WI and an East Sussex trustee, took a swipe at the Shoreditch Sisters group based in London on her blog Hastings Battleaxe

The Shoreditch Sisters (pictured) were founded by Joe Strummer's daughter Jazz Domino Holly in 2007, who was 24 at the time

'They are held up to the rest of us presumably uncool un-regenerated "unwoke" old bats [and] battleaxes as the role-model future of the movement.

'I put "radical" in inverted commas, because if you actually look at what they do, it is no different from the activities of any other WI group.

'They present it as ground-breaking - and it feels like they are presenting it as better than the boring nonsense the rest of us frightful old dinosaurs fiddle about with.'

Mrs Gaunt, who works as a freelance writer, added: 'To me, the Shoreditch Sisters and their ilk do not represent the future I'd like to see for the WI.'

Mrs Gaunt published her blog following a talk at the Royal Albert Hall on March 24, where a Shoreditch Sisters member spoke about the WI in the modern day and how it can remain relevant in the future.

The event, which was titled 'The WI: Past, Present, Future' also featured Anne Stamper, the WI's recently retired archivist and Lynne Stubbings, the chair of the national federation of WI.

On their website, they describe themselves as 'a group of incredible, funny, intelligent, creative and just generally badass (i.e. "normal") women that like to get together, learn new things whilst eating cake and campaigning on local issues that matter to us.'

In 2011, Jazz said of the group: 'With a punk rocker for a dad, the last thing people expect you to do is take up knitting needles and start your own chapter of the Women's Institute.

The 68-year-old, pictured in Hastings with her Women's Institute group, questioned whether Shoreditch Sisters did anything differently to normal WI groups

In her blog post, Mrs Gaunt said of the Shoreditch Sisters (pictured): 'Modern, cool, hipster knitting seems to be about knitting for protest. They are proud of knitting a "Solidarity Blanket" for the women in Yarls Wood Detention Centre'

She asked whether their knitting action was more commendable than the thousands of women who knit clothes for premature babies, or toys to sell on to benefit their local charities (pictured: Mrs Gaunt and her WI group)

Hastings & Ore versus Shoreditch Sisters Although both Women's Institute groups are relatively new, with Shoreditch Sisters being founded in 2007, and Hastings Ore in 2011, the groups themselves are incredibly different. While Hastings organise group activities including making Easter bonnets, bingo sessions and food foraging, Shoreditch Sisters enjoy 'knitting for protest'. One of their recent knitting projects was a 'solidarity blanket' for women in Yarls Wood Detention Centre, and back in 2011, the group created a vulva blanket as part of a campaign to raise awareness about female genital mutilation. Last month Shoreditch Sisters also organised a raffle to support Bloody Good Period, a charity that helps asylum seekers to get pads and tampons. Hastings Ore prefer more traditional causes in comparison, organising a protest to save a set of toilets in the local village, or a local library faced with closing. The fashionable area of Shoreditch attracts plenty of trendy speakers to the WI group. Recent speakers including Poppy Chancellor, an artist who creates feminist works including a piece depicting women grabbing various body parts with the caption 'love thy self', and Melinda Burton, who runs the 'Cosmic Shambles Network' which organise events including an exhibition on photos of real-life female Superheroes. In contrast, Hastings have invited local speakers such as Jacky Scales for an introduction to scrapbooking, and Amanda Meikle to talk about healthy living. Advertisement

'Punk was all about the individual, DIY ethic. My dad was always ripping up clothes to make new stuff. He stencilled T-shirts and tore the sleeves off denim jackets to create gilets. Then he studded them himself.

'He always had a Sharpie pen and a roll of gaffer tape with him, in case he needed to patch up or customise a guitar. He didn't like us watching television when we were growing up so I was stimulated to do other things. He always encouraged creativity. We were even allowed to scribble on the walls.'

But in her blog, Mrs Gaunt questioned what was wrong with the 'traditional' knitting carried out by the mainstream WI for charity.

She said: 'Do the women in our WI who do brilliant knitting make a song and dance about it?

'No. Modern, cool, hipster knitting seems to be about knitting for protest.

'They are proud of knitting a "Solidarity Blanket" for the women in Yarls Wood Detention Centre.

'Is this any more commendable or interesting than the thousands upon thousands of WI women who quietly get on with knitting clothes for premature babies, twiddle muffs for dementia patients, daffodils for Marie Curie Cancer Care, toys to sell to benefit their chosen local charities and so on ad infinitum?

'Thinking about it, what would us lot in Hastings knit for those unfortunate women in Yarls Wood? Practical things - hats, scarves and mittens maybe.'

She added: 'These women describe themselves as being different from the rest of us because they are "feminist".

'Well, we may not all be out with banners on pussy-hat marches but in fact the WI is one of the greatest women's movements ever.'

Mrs Gaunt warned that in order to survive, she believes that the 'life experience and knowledge of the older members' needs to be combined with the 'enthusiasm and energy of the new.'

One commenter on Mrs Gaunt's blog post agreed with her, saying: 'Fabulous blog. I agree with it 100%. Did the Shoreditch Sisters think they invented feminism? Do they have any notion what we were doing in the 50s & 60s?'

The Shoreditch Sisters website also says the group has a 'bicycle gang' (pictured)

She added: 'Well, we may not all be out with banners on pussy-hat marches but in fact the WI is one of the greatest women's movements ever' (pictured with her WI group)

Pictured: The Shoreditch Sisters playing music together

Originally established to offer educational opportunities for women in rural communities, the WI is now Britain's largest voluntary organisation with more than 222,000 members.

In recent years it has worked hard to shake off its 'jam and Jerusalem image' and attract younger members.

Plenty of alternative Women's Institute groups have popped up in their attempts - including a Gothic Valley version based in north London.

Her Majesty joined the Sandringham branch in 1943, when she was still Princess Elizabeth.

And a few weeks ago, Lynne Stubbings, chairman of the National Federation of WIs invited Meghan Markle to continue the tradition of Royals joining the group.

But in February, some WI members were turned off after vibrators were advertised for the first time in the group's magazine.

While some members embraced the advertisement in the monthly WI Life, more prudish members described it as 'distasteful.'

A spokesperson for the WI and Mrs Gaunt refused to comment.
Paul Merton and Ian Hislop have revealed that Ann Widdecombe was the worst host of Have I Got News for You, with Neil Kinnock coming in at a close second.

Merton, 60, claimed his 'worst experience' on the programme was when Widdecombe returned for a second stint on the show in 2007 and joked that she may have 'put off an entire gender'.

He said: 'She comes on she's telling the producer what jokes will and won't work. She turned to me at one point and said, "Come on, be amusing; that's what you're being paid for."

Merton, 60, claimed his 'worst experience' on the programme was when Widdecombe returned for a second stint on the show in 2007 and joked that she may have 'put off an entire gender'

'Even as I say it, it sends a shiver through my heart! It's like, the arrogance of the woman, you know? Suddenly she thought she was Victoria Wood!'

Widdecombe is the only female politician to have hosted the programme, although other women such as Kirsty Young, Victoria Coren Mitchell, Jennifer Saunders, Jane Leeves, Jo Brand, Katherine Ryan and Anne Robinson have taken on the role of guest presenter.

Merton claimed the reason so few women appear on the show is because they simply don't want the job.

The satirical show has been presented by 11 politicians over the years, only one of whom was female.

Paul Merton and Ian Hislop have revealed that Ann Widdecombe was the worst host of Have I Got News for You, with Neil Kinnock coming in as a close second

However, Merton has insisted more women than men are invited onto the BBC One show but they decline the offer because they think they 'can't do it'.

'The producers always ask more women than men. More women say no,' he said. 'Right from the early days, that's been the case.'

His co-star Ian Hislop told the Radio Times: 'And everyone you think should have been asked has been. Really, they really have.'

His co-star Ian Hislop told the Radio Times: 'And everyone you think should have been asked has been. Really, they really have.'

But Hislop, 57, who has appeared as a captain on the BBC panel show since its inception in 1990 alongside Merton, has suggested that fewer women take on the role than men because they are less confident they can do it.

'There was a period when people said, 'Why haven't you had French and Saunders on? Why haven't you had the following people?' Hislop said.

'And you say, 'Well, it's not compulsory.' And on the whole, women are slightly more reticent and think, maybe modestly, 'I can't do that.' Maybe more men in public life say, 'Yes, I can do that.'

Following her second appearance on the programme, the former Conservative politician was so upset by Jimmy Carr's jokes she nearly walked out, writing in her Daily Express column there was 'no amount of money for which I would go through those two recording hours again.'

However, she praised Merton and Hislop as 'the fastest wits in showbusiness'.

Have I Got News For You is not the only programme which has defended its male dominated panels by claiming women decline offers to appear on the show.

QI creator John Lloyd, insisted last year women such as Dawn French and Miss Saunders had turned down the show because they didn't want to 'look silly'.

He said: 'We ask women to come on the show but they say no.

'I've asked Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and they say 'why would I do that? Why would I expose myself and look silly?' In 2014 the BBC announced that every panel show would include at least one woman, after critics slated all-male line-ups - a move Lloyd claimed was 'tokenism'.
The Environmental Protection Agency considered flying its scandal-plagued chief Scott Pruitt around on a private jet.

The idea was quickly dumped last year after the price tag of $100,000 a month from plane leasing company NetJets was considered prohibitively expensive.

Pruitt is embroiled in several ethics probes including staying in an apartment near Capitol Hill owned by energy lobbyists for just $50 a night.

He had earlier claimed he had a blanket waiver allowing him to fly first or business class for his security, a claim withdrawn when it turned out to be untrue.

The Environmental Protection Agency considered flying its scandal-plagued chief Scott Pruitt around on a private jet

Who would fly like this? Scott Pruitt's officials looked at using NetJets to get him around at a time when he was regularly flying first class

Way to go: NetJets offers planes with interiors like these but Pruitt's officials' attempt to get him one ended over the cost

'EPA's [chief financial officer] regularly receives solicitations for this type of travel,' spokesman Jahan Wilcox told theWashington Post.

'We did our due diligence, found it was not as cost efficient and continued to fly commercial.'

Pruitt is already being investigated for his travel costs by the agency's inspector general, including his frequent use of first class seats.

The EPA handed over documents revealing it spent $68,000 on travel for Pruitt since August, in addition to an earlier $120,000 first-class trip to Italy last June.

On four occasions, he flew on private or military planes in the past six weeks, costing taxpayers more than $58,000.

Officials said Pruitt avoided economy class because of threats and abuse made against him by passengers on previous occasions.

Observers including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speculated Pruitt would be the next cabinet official pushed out of the Trump administration.

'Listen, I don't know how you survive this one,' Christie said on ABC's This Week.

His statement followed revelations of a sweetheart rental deal in Washington Pruitt was getting for an apartment co-owned by an energy lobbyist's wife.

Pruitt is embroiled in several ethics probes including staying in an apartment (pictured) near Capitol Hill owned by energy lobbyists for just $50 a night

Pruitt was only paying $50 a night to stay in the apartment, in a neighborhood adjacent to the U.S. Capitol complex where comparable rentals were on the market for $5,000 a month.

Pruitt paid $6,100 to use the property for more than six months, giving money to a limited liability corporation for the condo co-owned by Vicki Hart.

Hart's husband J. Steven Hart is the chairman of Williams & Jensen, a top D.C. lobbying firm.

A description of his duties on the firm's website lists 'energy' as one of his issue areas.

A spokesperson for Pruitt initially said the EPA administrator was only renting out one bedroom in the apartment, not the full unit.

'While transitioning in Washington, Administrator Pruitt signed a lease to rent a bedroom in a condo and he moved out at the end of July,' spokesman Jahan Wilcox said.

'As EPA career ethics officials stated in a memo, Administrator Pruitt's housing arrangement for both himself and family was not a gift and the lease was consistent with federal ethics regulations,' Wilcox added in a second statement on Friday.

Observers including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (pictured) speculated Pruitt would be the next cabinet official pushed out of the Trump administration

On Saturday, ABC News reported that Pruitt's daughter McKenna used a second bedroom in the unit during a stint in Washington for a White House internship.

A woman who identified herself as McKenna's mother told ABC on the phone that her daughter lived in Oklahoma last year.

When asked where she resided during her White House internship, the woman told ABC, 'She has nothing to do with my husband's administration.'

She then hung up.

Vicki Hart told the network that 'the rental agreement was with Scott Pruitt.'

'If other people were using the bedroom or the living quarters, I was never told, and I never gave him permission to do that,' Hart said.

A spokesman for her husband told ABC that Steven Hart has not lobbied the EPA or the Department of Energy since President Trump's swearing-in.
The family of the 18-year-old Palestinian shot dead by the Israeli military during protests on the Gaza strip has denied he was a member of Islamist militant group Hamas.

Video captures the moment Abdel Fattah Abd al-Nabi is shot by an Israeli sniper in the back as he runs through no-man's-land on Friday carrying a tyre.

The Israeli Defence Force has defended its actions and called the footage 'Hamas propaganda' after it went viral.

It comes as Palestine officials report that another man has been killed by Israeli forces at the Gaza border today, taking the death toll from several days of mass protests to 19 people.

The IDF claims the video had been edited and does not show al-Nabi's potentially provocative actions before he was killed. But the teenagers family claim he was unarmed.

'He had no gun, no Molotov, a tyre. Does that harm the Israelis, a tyre?' his brother Mohamed al-Nabi, 22, told the Washington Post.

'He wasn't going toward the Israeli side. He was running away.'

A statement released on by the IDF reads: 'During yesterday's violent riots and terrorist attacks, IDF troops faced gunshots, infiltration attempts, damage to security infrastructure, firebombs, rocks and rolling burning tyres.

'The IDF operated in strict accordance with the rules of engagement, firing only when necessary and avoiding civilians strategically placed by Hamas in harm's way.'

Shocking: The video footage shows Abdel Fattah Abd al-Nabi running towards the camera, away from the Israeli border, holding a tyre

Shot dead: The teenager is shot in the back of the head by a sniper, seen in this video recorded by a bystander on Friday

While not denying that al-Nabi was shot in the back as he ran away from the Israeli border, an IDF spokesperson 'noted that the video in question was edited and did not show the period immediately before a-Nabi was shot.

The IDF also said that ten of the 18 people killed as a result of Friday's violence were members of the Qassam Brigades - the armed wing of Hamas - and included Al-Nabi on their list.

However, the list of martyrs published by Hamas themselves carries only five names, none of which is Al-Nabi's.

This has also been vehemently denied by the al-Nabi family, who say he 'was not involved in any military activity with the Qassam Brigades or anyone else'.

'He was a child, like any other child,' his father Bahjat al-Nabi told The Telegraph.

'This is the Israeli plan of making it look like the dead had rifles but actually they are murderers and the dead are the victims.'

A picture taken of the mourning tent erected in honour of al-Nabi this weekend, shows a large banner from Hamas behind his father, which, according to the Telegraph, indicates that there is a possible link to the group 'although not necessarily to its armed wing'.

Continued protests: A Palestinian protester burns tyres during clashes with Israeli forces near the border with Israel, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday

Injuries: Palestinian paramedics carry a protestor injured during clashes with Israeli forces in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday

Hundreds have been injured in the latest protests held on the Israeli-Gaza border which began on Friday last week

Yesterday it was reported that the death toll from Friday's violence had risen to 18, as another Palestinian man succumbed to his injuries.

More than 750 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in Friday's protest, according to Gaza health officials, making it the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

Israel's military has faced questions from rights groups over its use of live fire on Friday, the bloodiest day in the conflict since a 2014 war, while Palestinians accused soldiers of firing on protesters posing no threat.

Both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini have called for an independent investigation.

On Saturday, the United States blocked a draft UN Security Council statement urging restraint and calling for an investigation of the violence, diplomats said.

Grief: Palestinian relatives of Faris al-Reqib, 29, who was killed during clashes at Israel-Gaza border, mourn during his funeral in Khan Younis on Monday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the soldiers for 'guarding the country's borders,' while Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the protests were not a 'Woodstock festival'.

Today, violence has continued on the Gaza Strip, with Palestinian health officials reporting that a 25-year-old man has been killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the man was shot east of Bureij, near the Israeli border in central Gaza, where he was throwing stones toward soldiers.

It was the first deadly incident since Friday, when 18 Gazans were killed, meaning a total of 19 people are now dead as a result of Israeli military violence.

Large demonstrations are planned again this Friday, raising the possibility of further bloodshed.

Another man died in a separate incident, but it is not thought to have been related to the protests.

An Arab Israeli man was shot dead by soldiers after crashing into a hitch-hiking stop in the occupied West Bank and then attempting to flee, officials said.
This is the moment a motorist failed to drive up a steep road before sliding backwards and crashing into the same cars twice.

Footage from a car park in the Shapingba District of south-western China shows the motorist, who was identified by his surname Li, attempting to drive his white SUV up the slope.

As he nears the top, however, he suddenly stalls, with the car then rolling backwards down the road at speed - slamming into the row of parked cars behind.

This is the moment a motorist failed to drive up a steep road before sliding backwards and crashing into the same cars twice

The panicked driver then tries to move his car away but steps too hard on the accelerator pedal, speeding up the same slope a second time - only to get stuck again.

His SUV then slides back down and crashes into the same cars again, damaging four of the parked vehicles, local police said.

The clip captures the motorist as he repeats his poor driving performance as bewildered onlookers stare at the spectacle.

Footage from a car park in the Shapingba District of south-western China shows the motorist, who was identified by his surname Li, attempting to drive his white SUV up the slope

Li, caused 3,400 (30,000 RMB) worth of damage to four vehicles because of his double driving blunder.

He reportedly told the police that when he first drove up the slope, he tried to change gears, but ended up putting his car in neutral, causing it to slide back down.

The estimated 30,000 RMB in damage will be paid by Li alone, reports said.

The video has reportedly been watched an astonishing 6 million times.
A day before the official opening of the Commonwealth Games, headlines have been captured by a sex scandal that has taken focus away form the athletes.

The Mauritius chef de mission, Kaysee Teeroovengadum, has been accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour at the athletes' village by a female Commonwealth Games athlete.

The accuser alleged the incident took place soon after the team moved into the athletes' village.

The Mauritius chef de mission, Kaysee Teeroovengadum (pictured), has been accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour at the athletes' village by a female Commonwealth Games athlete

A report by 9 News said Queensland police had received no official complaint so they are not able to act on the allegations.

Mr Teeroovengadum approached police to file an official statement, claiming his innocence, but police did not take down an official statement because of the lack of a complaint.

The female athlete, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was allegedly told to wait until the team returned home before making a formal complaint.

It's alleged the incident took place at the Commonwealth Games Athletes' Village (pictured)

However Mauritius team official George Siniska told the media he does not believe that to be the right course of action if the allegations are true.

'We've got the Australian ways that we have to follow. Whether guests in the country, we are here so we have to follow the rules here,' he said.

The claims were posted to social media.
The socialite daughter of two world-famous New York ballet dancers has reached an agreement to resolve burglary charges in Maine.

Police said drugs and alcohol were factors when 21-year-old Talicia Martins and a friend broke into The Smoothie Shack, Francine Bistro and Camden Cone last summer.

The Bangor Daily News reports that the agreement calls for two burglary charges to be dropped and a third to be reduced if she meets stipulations including staying out of trouble for a year.

As part of the deal, she must continue substance abuse therapy and refrain from drug or alcohol use for a year.

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The Bangor Daily News reports that the agreement calls for two burglary charges to be dropped and a third to be reduced if she meets stipulations including staying out of trouble for a year. Pictured: CCTV showing Martins in black

As part of the deal, she must continue substance abuse therapy and refrain from drug or alcohol use for a year

Martins' mother was a principal dancer for the New York City ballet for nearly three decades before she retired in 2010. Her father, a famous Danish choreographer, has been ballet master in chief of the NYCB for 35 years. Left: The family. Right: Martins with Natalie Portman

Her and her boyfriend accomplice must also pay a $4,662 restitution fee related to their burglary charges.

Her sentence would then be capped at 35 days and her attorney could argue for a reduction.

Her lawyer didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Martins is the daughter of Darci Kistler, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and Peter Martins, the ballet's retired chief.

She was caught on surveillance camera, wearing all black, with an accomplice near the site of one of a string of burglaries in the affluent Maine town.

Martins and Jacob Flanagan, 20, were accused of breaking into three businesses between July 30 and 31, stealing more than $1,000.

Martins (pictured) is the daughter of Darci Kistler, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and Peter Martins, the ballet's retired chief

In June, Martins was arrested at an apartment on West End Avenue in Manhattan after she was caught with crack cocaine, heroin and a hypodermic needle.

Camden Cone cashier Nick Greer was the first employee in after the burglary.

'I saw that the window was taken apart, and that looked odd, so I called the owner and asked if that was normal, and she said no,' Greer told the New York Post last year.

'Then I opened the front door, and I saw that the register was not there, and I had to call the owner again. She was not happy.'

Greer says that Flanagan 'summered in Camden for his whole life' but that he had never seen Martins before.

'Its kind of funny because it doesnt sound like she needs to be stealing anything,' he said.

Investigators caught Martins and Flanagan after receiving an anonymous tip and reviewing surveillance footage which shows them walking down the street in dark clothing near one of the businesses on the second night of the burglaries.

According to the criminal complaint in her June arrest, officers were called to the apartment around 8pm for a possible overdose.

Martins (pictured) was accused of breaking into three businesses between July 30 and 31, stealing more than $1,000

Police said drugs and alcohol were factors when 21-year-old Talicia Martins and a friend (Jacob Flanagan, right) broke into The Smoothie Shack, Francine Bistro and Camden Cone (pictured left) last summer

Inside they found needles on the bathroom floor, bathroom sink, kitchen counter and living room floor.

They also found glass vials containing crack-cocaine residue and two packages of rolling papers containing heroin residue near the bathroom sink.

Martins' mother was a principal dancer for the New York City ballet for nearly three decades before she retired in 2010. Her father, a famous Danish choreographer, has been ballet master in chief of the NYCB for 35 years.

In 2013, Martins was featured in a Vanity Fair spread with other debutantes that were being presented to society at the annual Crillon Ball in Paris that year.

She also wrote an article for Teen Vogue in 2015 about her decision to take a gap year before starting college. The story was titled: 'How I Took a Year off before Starting College, and Why You Should Too'.
Japanese workers are being given schedules dictating when they can get married or give birth, it has been revealed.

The disturbing trend first came to light after a nursery worker's husband spoke out to say his wife was being bullied by her boss for getting pregnant 'out of turn'.

Since then dozens of other women have come forward to share similar stories, with one 26-year-old woman saying she was told to wait until 35 to conceive - despite already suffering from fertility issues.

Japanese workers have revealed they are being emailed schedules dictating when they can get married or pregnant, and are branded 'selfish' for having children 'out of turn'

The initial complaint came in a letter to newspaper Mainichi Shimbun last month, from the husband of a woman who works at a nursery in Aichi Prefecture.

He wrote: 'Eight months into our marriage, in January of this year, we found out that my wife was pregnant.

'My wife, who is a child care provider, appeared glum and anxious over the news.

'The director at the child care center where she works had determined the order in which workers could get married or pregnant, and apparently there was an unspoken rule that one must not take their "turn" before a senior staff member.

'My wife and I went together to apologise. "We're sorry we got pregnant," we said.

'The director grudgingly accepted our apology, but since the next day, has been chiding my wife with harsh words, such as, "How could you so selfishly break the rules?"

'My wife feels guilty thinking about the hard labor conditions of her colleagues.'

While the man admits 'we are at fault for not planning well' he goes on to ask: 'Who benefits from having their "turn" to have children dictated, and following those rules?'

The letter prompted a national outpouring of sympathy and confessions from other workers that they were being forced to live by similar rules.

Toko Shirakawa, a journalist who specialises in Japan's low birth rate, said the policy is common in workplaces where the majority of staff are female to make sure the workload is spread evenly.

In another case, a 26-year-old working at a cosmetics company in the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka said she was sent an email mapping out the marriage and birthing schedule for herself and 22 female colleagues.

One 26-year-old cosmetics worker was told she would have to wait until 35 before getting pregnant, despite already suffering from fertility issues

The email also came with a warning that 'work gets backed up if four or more people take time off at the same time. Selfish behavior will be subject to punishment.'

She was then told by a supervisor that she would have to wait until age 35 before getting pregnant, despite suffering from fertility issues.

'How are they going to take responsibility if I put off getting pregnant and lose my chances to have children altogether?,' she said.

Japan is notorious for its tough working conditions and punishing schedules which have led to some staff dropping dead on the job.

Miwa Sado, 31, a journalist for public broadcaster NHK, died in 2013 from heart failure after logging 159 hours of overtime in a single month.

The country even has a word - karoshi - which means 'death from overwork'.

That culture has left precious little time for raising a family and is rapidly causing a population crisis, with fewer babies born last year than at any time since records began in 1899.

In turn, that places more pressure on workers as they have to take on increased duties to make up for the declining numbers of staff.

The government has vowed to tackle the problem by raising the fertility rate from its current 1.44 children per woman to 1.8 children per woman by 2025.

Japan now provides free education, has expanded nursery care, and allows fathers to take paternity leave in order to tackle the problem.

Local governments have even set up speed-dating services across the country to get people to partner up.
Two daycare workers have been caught on camera slamming toddlers into mats during nap time.

Disturbing reports emerged from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, of two women physically abusing children at Little Blessings Learning Center.

Police arrested 31-year-old Teresa Gallagher and 22-year-old Kenedi Wendt on 25 counts of abuse or cruelty to a minor Friday, The Argus Leader reports.

Teresa Gallagher, 31 (pictured left), and Kenedi Wendt, 22 (pictured right), were arrested on 25 counts of abuse or cruelty to a minor on Friday

The allegations emerged after a one child told their mother a worker had banged their head on a mat as they slept.

Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens said footage from between February 14 and February 23 showed Gallagher and Wendt repeatedly knocking three and four-year-old children to the ground.

It also reportedly revealed them yanking kids by their arms and stomping on them as they lay on the playroom floor.

Faith-based non-profit Volunteers of America said it placed the two workers on leave, before launching an investigation and reporting the incidents to authorities.

Gallagher and Wendt are no longer employed at the center.

'There were times when their heads were banged around; they were yanked up by their arms,' said Sioux Falls Police spokesperson Sam Clemens.

In most instances of the alleged abuse, police confirmed the children did not seem to be misbehaving in any way.

Clemens said none of the children required medical attention, but some had complained of headaches and back pain.

Toddlers between the ages of three and four allegedly suffered at the hands of the two women at the Little Blessings Learning Center (pictured)

Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens (pictured) said one child's report led officers to look through footage recorded at the center, and find evidence of abuse

'There are background checks that we do go through, and stop gaps that we go through, so that you are trying to get the best people who love children, and want to care for children, so to find out that something like that happened it just rocks us all to the core,' Lori Braley, Apple Tree Children's Center Program Director, told KSFY.

She said Apple Tree monitors its security cameras, adding she had no idea how something like this could happen.

Gallagher and Wendt are scheduled to make their first court appearance on Tuesday.

They are being held on $25,000 bond.
A bizarre fish-like creature that washed up on a beach has the internet stumped about what species it is.

The water creature was found on a rock at a beach in Cairns, in far north Queensland, on Tuesday.

Pictures show the 'fish' has grey, scaly skin and a skinny long tail, 9 News reported.

A bizarre water creature (pictured) has the internet stumped about what species it is after it was found on a rock at a beach in Cairns, in far north Queensland, on Tuesday

Pictures show the 'fish' has grey, scaly skin and a skinny long tail. The odd creature also has eyes that are widely set apart on each side of its head, and what appear to be hind legs

The odd creature also has eyes that are widely set apart on each side of its head, and what appear to be hind legs.

The person who took the photos said they shared the pictures to Facebook, hoping someone could identify the species.

'No one can tell me what Im looking at,' the person said.

Others have taken to social media to comment on the creature, with some labelling it an 'alien' and others calling it a mullet on drugs.

The person who took the photos said they shared the pictures to Facebook, hoping someone could identify the species

People took to social media to comment on the bizarre creature, although no one was able to identify its species

One person speculated on the species, writing: 'Not going to say it's an alien ... but it's an alien.

'Maybe the stingray and pufferfish had an affair,' another social media user wrote

One person speculated on the species, writing: 'Not going to say it's an alien ... but it's an alien.'

'Maybe the stingray and pufferfish had an affair,' another wrote.

But one curious social media user suggested the creature was a species of Mexican walking fish.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to see if the creature is a known species in Queensland waters.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for killing four members of a Christian family in southwestern Pakistan.

A statement issued by the group claimed that militants belonging to ISIS fired on the group of Christians as they were travelling in the city of Quetta, killing four on Monday.

The family was travelling in a rickshaw when armed men on a motorcycle intercepted them and opened fire in Quetta city, the capital of Baluchistan province.

The family were travelling in a rickshaw when armed men on a motorcycle intercepted them and opened fire in Quetta city, the capital of Baluchistan province

The family had come to visit relatives in Quetta's Shahzaman road area, where a large number of the city's Christian community lives.

A woman was rushed to hospital. Her father and three cousins were killed.

'It appears to have been a targeted attack,' provincial police official Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters. 'It was an act of terrorism.'

The attack comes a day after Pakistan's Christian community celebrated Easter on Sunday. Around 2 per cent of Pakistan's population are Christians.

Minority religious festivals are a security concern in the majority Sunni Muslim country where there have been a number of high casualty attacks on Christians and Shi'ite Muslims.

The attack comes a day after Pakistan's Christian community celebrated Easter on Sunday. Around 2 per cent of Pakistan's population are Christians

Baluchistan, a region bordering Iran as well as Afghanistan, is plagued by violence by Sunni Islamist sectarian groups linked to the Taliban, al Qaeda and Islamic State. It also has an indigenous ethnic Baloch insurgency fighting against central government.

In December, a week before Christmas, two suicide bombers stormed a packed Christian church in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 10 people and wounding up to 56, in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

The family killed on Monday had come to visit relatives in Quetta's Shahzaman road area, where a large number of the city's Christian community lives.

Rome's ancient Colosseum was lit in red for an evening in February in solidarity with persecuted Christians, particularly Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman who has been living on death row in Pakistan since 2010, when she was condemned for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam.
German prosecutors are seeking to extradite former Catalan president to Spain where he could face trial over an independence referendum.

Carles Puigdemont was detained in Germany on March 25 as he attempted to drive from Finland to Belgium, where he currently resides.

Prosecutors in the northern town of Schleswig said they have asked the regional court to formally put him in pre-extradition custody.

The move follows 'intensive examination' of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain's supreme court on March 23.

Carles Puigdemont was detained in Germany on March 25 as he attempted to drive from Finland to Belgium, where he currently resides

Carles Puigdemont was detained in Germany after he crossed the border from Denmark on his way back to Belgium

If the court agrees to the request, prosecutors would still need to issue an order signing off on Mr Puigdemont's extradition.

In addition to rebellion, Madrid accuses the 55-year-old of misuse of public funds.

Schleswig prosecutors said in a statement they consider the charge of rebellion to have an equivalent in German law  one of the requirements for extradition to take place.

Vehicle believed to contain Puigdemont leaves Neumuenster court in Germany following his arrest

Protests broke out across the Spanish region of Catalonia after his detention in Germany

A man throws a metal barrier at a van of the Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police blocking the way of pro-independence supporters trying to reach the Spanish government office in on March 25

The prosecutors said: 'The accusation of rebellion contains at its core the allegation of carrying out an unconstitutional referendum despite expectations of violent disturbances.'

They noted that during a meeting with police on September 28, Mr Puigdemont was warned that violence might escalate on the day of the October 1 referendum, but his government went through with it anyway.

In an interview from jail, published on Monday, Mr Puigdemont insisted the campaign for the Spanish region's independence was nonviolent.

The Schleswig court is likely to take several days to decide on the prosecutors' request.

Mr Puigdemont's lawyers have urged the German government to intervene in the case, citing the 'political dimension'.
Two Indiana firefighters have been killed after their plane collided with the tail of a larger aircraft before catching fire just after takeoff.

Kyle Hibst and David Wittkamper's single-engine Cessna 150 struck the tail of a larger plane which had just landed at the Marion Municipal Airport in Marion, Indiana, tearing its tail clean off.

The condition of the five passengers aboard the larger Cessna 525 Citation Jet is unknown at this time, reports ABC.

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The Cessna 150 collided on the ground with a Cessna 525 Citation Jet (pictured) tearing its tail off entirely

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the statement: 'A single-engine Cessna 150 collided on the ground this afternoon with a Cessna 525 Citation Jet at Marion Municipal Airport in Marion, Indiana.'

'Preliminary information indicates that the Cessna 150 was attempting to take off about 5:09 ET when it struck the tail of the Citation, which had just landed.

'The Cessna 150 was carrying two people and the Citation had five aboard.'

Marion Municipal Airport has no control tower, which means pilots must communicate directly via radio.

Hibst and Wittkamper were firefighters at the Pipe Creek Fire Department, which issued a statement today.

'It is with great sadness and sorrow we announce the passing of two of our own,' the department wrote on its Facebook page.

Kyle Hibst and David Wittkamper both died inside the aircraft after it burst into flames

Firefighters Hibst and Wittkamper are both survived by their wives

'Words cannot express the pain and loss each of us feel. Our hearts go out to both families involved. Rest Easy Brothers we will take it from here.'

Hibst had worked at the fire department for seven years and was married with one son. His wife, Kim, was also a member of the fire department.

Wittkamper joined the department in 2007 and is survived by his wife Autumn.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
An extremely rare 185-year-old book that reveals some of the stomach-churning procedures carried out by the Georgian pioneer of plastic surgery has come to light.

German professor Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach established modern techniques for reconstructive surgery on patients' noses and documented his work in a graphical book published in 1833.

While the book shows that plastic surgery is not just a 21st century obsession and that techniques Dieffenbach established are still used today, other chapters are not for the squeamish.

One of the sketches in it shows how to remove a tumour from a nose while another demonstrates how to repair a nose 'mutilated by disease'.

An extremely rare 185-year-old book (pictured) by German professor Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach which shows early techniques for plastic surgery has been unearthed. This photo shows how to reconstruct a missing nose

This picture shows how to improve the form of a nose by operating on the cartilage for cosmetic appearances, rather than medical need

These two photos show different noses that will be reconstructed. The book, Surgical Observations on The Restoration of the Nose, was translated into English in 1833

There is a chapter is devoted to explaining how to form a new nose using skin from a patient's arm.

He also outlines how to improve the form of a nose by operating on the cartilage - an example of surgery to improve cosmetic appearance rather than through medical need.

His celebrated book, Surgical Observations on The Restoration of the Nose, was translated into English in this 1833 first edition which includes various case studies and supporting diagrams.

The fascinating 159 page book which has 26 diagrams has sold for auction in America to a private collector for 7,300.

Sharon Gee, president of PBA Galleries of San Francisco, which sold the book, said: 'Dieffenbach was a pioneer in rhinoplasty and plastic surgery.

'He was among the first surgeons to anaesthetise the patient before performing the nose surgery.

'With the exception perhaps of Carpue's 1816 'Account of Two Successful Operations for Restoring a Lost Nose' this volume is the rarest of work in English on the subject.

'The volume recently surfaced from the library of a private collector of rare works on plastic surgery.

'This was a record price for this title and only seven copies of which have appeared at auction sine 1967.'
Judges on MasterChef sparked a backlash after they criticised a Malaysian contestant's chicken rendang for not being crispy.

Foodies in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia took to social media to vent at the critique of the Zaleha Kadir Olpin's traditional and standard method for preparing chicken rendang.

'The skin isn't crispy. It can't be eaten but all the sauce is on the skin I can't eat,' Gregg Wallace complained in an episode of the popular cooking show last week.

Judges on MasterChef sparked a backlash after they criticised a Malaysian contestant's chicken rendang for not being crispy

Foodies took to social media to vent at the critique of the Zaleha Kadir Olpin's (pictured) traditional and standard method for preparing chicken rendang

Ms Olpin, from Bristol, was eliminated from the competition but took to Instagram to vow she'd never stop cooking the traditional way.

Her offending rendang was presented as part of Malaysia's national dish, Nasi Lemak, or rice cooked in coconut milk that comes with sides such as peanuts, spicy prawns and rendang.

She told the judges that the dish was 'very special' to her and was the first thing her mother cooked for her husband when she brought him home to meet her parents.

The judges lavished praise on most of the ingredients but dismissed the non-crispy chicken rendang as a 'mistake.'

But online, Southeast Asians furiously pointed out the ignorance of the judges and said the chicken is cooked in curry sauce, not fried, and is never crispy.

One of the judges, John Torode, later stirred more controversy online by trying to fuel the ages-old war of words between Malaysians and Indonesians over which country invented rendang.

'The skin isn't crispy. It can't be eaten but all the sauce is on the skin I can't eat,' Gregg Wallace (left, with John Torode) complained in an episode of the popular cooking show last week

Online, Southeast Asians furiously pointed out the ignorance of the judges and said the chicken is cooked in curry sauce, not fried, and is never crispy

The curry, which originates from West Sumatra in Indonesia, is popular in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and southern Thailand.

Victoria Treadell, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, tweeted at the judges: 'Rendang is an iconic Malaysian national dish not to be confused with Indonesian options.

'It can be chicken, lamb or beef. It is never crispy & should also not be confused with the fried chicken sometimes served with Nasi Lemak.'

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak even chipped in, posting a photo of chicken rendang on Twitter and light-heartedly asking whether anyone has ever eaten a crispy chicken curry.

Some accused the judges of neo-colonial attitudes and racism.

'Colonised us for more than 100 years for spices but in the end, still having no idea how food works,' one person on Facebook.

Others branded the judges 'uncultured swine' in comments under an article on Facebook.

Victoria Treadell, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, tweeted at the MasterChef judges

Eddie Cheong wrote: 'When Malaysian food gets insulted, the entire [nation] stands up.'

Jin Wee wrote: 'As a Malaysian, if I could, I would personally go to the show and rendang their head.

'Uncultured swine, doesn't know variety of cuisine and claims to be Masterchef?'

Sujita Sorrian wrote: 'Utter ridiculousness. Crispy chicken rendang? Did the judges think that this was fish and chips?

'Calling themselves 'Chef/Celebrity Chef' when they only know about food from their own culture.

'Shame on them really. Such limited knowledge on cuisine from around the world.'

On Instagram, Ms Olpin said she was gutted to be cut from the competition but stands by her cooking method.

'Gutted to be eliminated on #masterchefuk but I stand by my traditional way of cooking Nasi Lemak . Will not change it for the world,' she wrote.

In a previous post, she said: 'So proud to have served this and will keep cooking the way my family loves them. No changing to a traditional nations favourite.'

A MasterChef spokesman told MailOnline: 'MasterChef has always celebrated international cuisine and on this occasion our judges' comments were relevant to the dish that had been cooked on the show.'

'Gregg wasn't suggesting that the dish should traditionally have crispy skin - he was saying that he couldn't experience the flavours of the dish as it was presented.'
A movie starring Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, is set to be released this year.

The film - titled 'Serial Daters Anonymous' - features Linton as a 'witty' and 'driven' fashion columnist who dumps her fiance on their wedding day after he whispers a mysterious secret in her ear at the altar.

She then sets herself up as a 'vigilante dating blogger' who dishes the dirt on the awful dates she has in the wake of her break-up, with a trailer showing her at one point tapping away at a keyboard like Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw.

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The film - titled 'Serial Daters Anonymous' - features Linton as a 'witty' and 'driven' fashion columnist who dumps her fiance on their wedding day after he whispers a mysterious secret in her ear at the altar

Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, right, and his wife Louise Linton hold a 2017 50 subject uncut sheet of $1 dollar notes bearing Mnuchin's name for a photograph at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017

There will be a wide release later this year, Koze explained, but refused to say who had funded the movie. Pictured: The title shown on the film's trailer

Executive producer Sam Koze said the cast are shooting new scenes for the flick, which was first screened in 2014 but never released.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, he added: 'It was on hold to get additional funding and enhancements.'

There will be a wide release later this year, Koze explained, but refused to say who had funded the movie.

After ending her engagement, she sets herself up as a 'vigilante dating blogger' who dishes the dirt on the awful dates she has in the wake of her break-up

One scene in the trailer shows her flicking her hair when walking out of an elevator in front of a man

Linton is also shown on various dates with men acting ridiculously. It comes a day after a former official griped that Linton considers herself the 'first lady' of the Treasury

Linton's husband is a former movie mogul worth an estimated $300 million.

He has previously financed the likes of 'The Devil Wears Prada' and 'Avatar'.

Linton, meanwhile, has posted photographs on Instagram showing her editing scenes from the film.

It comes a day after a former official griped that Linton considers herself the 'first lady' of the Treasury, and would frequently show up at the government building to meet with her husband to plan their 2017 wedding.

Officials who no longer work at Treasury complain that the Scottish actress walk up to the anteroom outside Mnuchin's office and ask, 'Where's my hubsies?' one of them recalled.

And they're like, 'Um, he's on the phone with the chief finance minister of France, but if we need to interrupt him. . . .' one former official said in a new profile of Linton in Washingtonian.

Linton drew ridicule online after she posted an image of a trip she took with her husband aboard a government jet

On one visit to his office, Linton met Mnuchin 'so his assistant could notarize their prenup,' according to Washingtonian. Here Mnuchin signs a document in front of U.S. President Donald Trump (R), Vice President Mike Pence and his fiancee Louise Linton after being sworn in as Treasury Secretary

Actress Louise Linton says it was a 'fabulously exciting day' for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin when he was able to see the first bills bearing his signature. Former officials complained about her visits to the Treasury building

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his wife Louise Linton arrive for a New Year's Eve party with U.S. President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. December 31, 2017

'It's just unseemly that she perceives herself as 'first lady of the Treasury,' which is not a thing,' grumbled the first ex-official quoted in the piece, claiming she was around once a week at one point.

'I've worked at Treasury for the last couple of Secretaries, but I never could have identified their wives. They didn't just wander in,' said the official.

On one such visit before their June wedding, Linton met Mnuchin 'so his assistant could notarize their prenup,' according to the report.

Linton, meanwhile, has posted photographs on Instagram showing her editing scenes from the film

The Treasury Department confirmed Linton's frequent appearances.

'We have welcomed Louise to the Treasury building nearly a dozen times. She has been absolutely respectful of her husband's role and gracious to the staff on every visit,' said Treasury spokesman Tony Sayegh, who is quoted in the story.

'Comments to the contrary are ridiculous fabrications made by people with an unserious relationship with the truth,' he added.

Linton  who drew media attention for her trip to Kentucky with Mnuchin aboard a government aircraft where she bragged about her fashion ensemble in an Instagram post  had her own response to her critics.

'We're newlyweds. I love him. He's my favorite person on the planet,' she told the publication. 'Why is it strange that we might want to spend time together?'

She uprooted her life as an L.A. based actress to join Mnuchin in their $12 million mansion in Washington.

The couple's most infamous photo got snapped when Linton accompanied Mnuchin as the first bills bearing his signature rolled out of the U.S. Mint.
The five-year tenure of Alison Saunders (pictured) as Director of Public Prosecution has been branded 'disastrous' by critics

The five-year tenure of Britain's top prosecutor has been branded 'disastrous' by critics as she prepares to leave her role for 'a seven-figure salary' as a partner of an international law firm.

Alison Saunders will enjoy a 1.8million taxpayer-funded pension when she is replaced as Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) later this year, after it was revealed she will not be reappointed for a second term in office.

Under her leadership, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has come under extreme scrutiny over a raft of scandals, including the collapse of several high-profile rape trials.

But despite facing criticism for 'not being up to the job', the QC, who has been with the CPS since 1986, has secured a top role at Magic Circle law firm Linklaters, starting in the autumn.

She is expected to earn a salary in excess of seven figures, with the average pay of equity partners at Linklaters surpassing 1.5million last year.

Michael Bennett, Linklaters global head of dispute resolution at Linklaters, told MailOnline that 'Alison's credentials speak for themselves'.

'She will be a fantastic asset to the team, and to our clients,' he added. 'She is an excellent fit for Linklaters dispute resolution ambitions.

'She has a wealth of prosecution experience and is accustomed to dealing with regulators and counterparts at the highest level globally.'

Mr Bennett added that Mrs Saunders would join Linklaters business crime team and would be based in London.

Mrs Saunders told Radio 4s Today programme that it was her decision to stand down from the 250,000-a-year role and that 'five years was a good term to serve'.

Yesterday she denied claims the organisation had failed under her watch  insisting her prosecutors were performing as well or better than ever before despite budget cuts. She called criticism insulting.

An ally of Mrs Saunders praised her for doing well within a limited budget and said she had done a pretty reasonable job.

Under Mrs Saunders leadership, the Crown Prosecution Service has come under extreme scrutiny over a raft of scandals, including the collapse of several high-profile rape trials

Meanwhile, the latest figures show that every category of victim-based crime has increased on her watch, with all crime going up by a third since 2014.

Most shockingly, sexual offences rose by 89 per cent from the year ending September 2014 to the year ending September 2017.

The streets of London are now more deadly than New York, with the capital recording a higher murder rate for the first time in modern history in February.

So far this year, the Metropolitan Police has launched 47 murder investigations - eight in January, 15 in February, 22 in March and two in April.

In January, the BBC reported that the number of prosecutions in England and Wales that had collapsed due to a failure by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence had jumped 70 per cent, from 537 in 2014/15 to 917 in 2016/17.

Last month Mrs Saunders facing criticism after a father was acquitted of female genital mutilation charges  the third time prosecutors have brought an FGM case to trial but failed to secure a conviction.

Other controversial, and failed, prosecutions include VIP child-abuse charges and cases against journalists.

The case against Liam Allan (pictured), who was accused of rape, was dropped days before he was due to stand trial after evidence including his accuser's diary was uncovered

Mrs Saunders' most recently faced criticism following the collapse of rape trials.

In December, the case against Liam Allan, 22, was thrown out after it emerged police had failed to hand over text messages from a woman that proved he was innocent.

In January, Oxford student Oliver Mears, 19, was cleared of rape after spending two years on bail, with police facing fierce criticism for a delay in handing over evidence.

Radio host Paul Gambaccini, who was arrested in 2013 for baseless accusations of historical sex offences, celebrated her departure with glee, describing her as a 'zealot' and a 'true nemesis' in an email to the Daily Telegraph.

Among the most tragic stories that emerged during her tenure was that of 17-year-old Jay Cheshire, 17

He killed himself after being accused of rape only for the complaint to be withdrawn two weeks later.

Jay's mother Karin, suffering from depression after his death, then hanged herself a year later on the anniversary of her son's passing.

The collapse of these cases, including several others, led to an 'urgent' review of every rape and sexual assault case in England and Wales.

Collapsing trials and suicide: The blunders on her watch THE DISCLOSURE CRISIS In 2014 Mrs Saunders promised to halt the decline in rape convictions. But four years on, all rape and serious sex assault cases are under review following the collapse of several high-profile prosecutions due to disclosure blunders. In the lead-up to criminal trials, police and prosecutors have a duty to disclose evidence that might either assist the defence case or undermine the prosecutions case. But in a series of recent cases, evidence has not been handed over. The crisis unfolded after the rape trial of criminology student Liam Allan, 22, was halted by a judge when it emerged his accuser had sent messages to friends about her rape fantasies. The number of prosecutions that have collapsed due to disclosure errors has soared by 70 per cent in the past two years. Yet Miss Saunders has insisted there is no one innocent in jail after being wrongly convicted because of mistakes in disclosure. THE RAPE CLAIM SUICIDE Eleanor de Freitas, 23, was devastated when the man she accused of sexual assault launched a prosecution against her for allegedly lying. Terrified at the prospect of intimate details of her personal life being picked over in court, the vulnerable graduate killed herself at her family home in Fulham, West London, in April 2014  just three days before she was due to face a crown court. Miss de Freitas had accused wealthy Chelsea financier Alexander Economou, 35, of raping her just before Christmas 2012, but detectives decided not to proceed with the case. Mr Economou then brought a private prosecution against her for perverting justice. FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION In 2014, the DPP declared FGM a priority saying: We are very keen to make sure that wherever possible we are looking at FGM cases. But last month prosecutors failed for the third time to secure Britains first conviction for the offence as a lawyer was cleared at the Old Bailey of ordering his daughter be cut as punishment. Mrs Saunders was forced to apologise after her decision not to prosecute Lord Janner was overturned LORD JANNER Mrs Saunders was forced to apologise after her decision not to prosecute Lord Janner was overturned. A report by High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques later found police and prosecutors missed three chances to charge Lord Janner over historic sex abuse claims after allegations first surfaced in 1991. In April 2015 the CPS announced that the peer should not be charged as he was suffering from dementia, but this was overturned by a review two months later. A judge then ruled that he was unfit to stand trial and instead ordered a trial of the facts to be heard at the Old Bailey. These proceedings were dropped when he died in December 2015. Mrs Saunders has said it was a matter of sincere regret the allegations were never heard by a jury. OPERATION ELVEDEN The 20million probe dubbed the biggest witch-hunt against journalists in memory ended in failure as prosecutors failed to secure a single conviction in the largest investigation in criminal history. Operation Elveden saw 34 journalists and editors arrested over alleged payments to public officials and 29 were charged. But their cases were either dropped or they were cleared. Some of those accused had spent years on bail. Press Gazette editor Dominic Ponsford said that it was a shameful episode in the history of this countrys criminal justice system. But Mrs Saunders hit back saying: Im not here to make popular decisions. Advertisement

Scotland Yard commissioner Cressida Dick said officers must investigate rather than blindly believe allegations and should keep an open mind when an alleged victim has come forward

The review further led to accusations Mrs Saunders was more interested in convictions than she was in people being tried fairly.

She has been repeatedly criticised for treating those accused of rape as guilty until proven innocent, a trend that was dramatically reversed by Met Police chief Cressida Dick yesterday.

Commissioner Dick said officers must investigate rather than blindly believe allegations, and should keep an open mind when an alleged victim has come forward.

Some ministers have been less than complimentary of her tenure, with Bob Neill, chairman of the justice select committee, suggesting there were 'serious concerns' about the CPS's priorities under Mrs Saunders.

He added: 'It is not a great surprise that she is not continuing, certainly not following the problems around disclosure of evidence.

Perhaps it is time to have someone who is independent of the organisation and who can challenge it, someone who has presented cases in court at a really senior level and has seen how it operates at the sharp end.

Alison Saunders will stand down as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in October after the Government declined to extend her contract

Conservative MP Anna Soubry went one step further and said she feared that the DPP was herself 'part of the problem'.

In June 2015, she faced calls to resign when her decision not to prosecute Labour peer Lord Janner over claims of historical child sex abuse was overturned by an independent QC.

The Crown Prosecution Service had said there had been enough evidence to merit a trial but it was not in the public interest to proceed because of his dementia.

The ruling was reversed, making Mrs Saunders the first DPP to have a major prosecuting decision reviewed and overthrown.

Lord Janners son Daniel Janner, himself a QC, led condemnation of Mrs Saunders.

He said: She has been an appalling DPP. The CPS under her has fallen into disrepute as the latest collapses over disclosure has established.

Mrs Saunders succeeded Sir Keir Starmer  now Labours Brexit spokesman  in 2013, becoming the first DPP appointed from within the CPS.
The exploits of an RAF pilot who spent most of the Second World War hunting Nazi U-boats in the Atlantic are revealed in a new book released by his son.

Jack Colman, from York, achieved his long-held desire to become a pilot by joining the RAF in October 1940, just weeks after celebrating his 21st birthday.

Sent to Canada to learn to fly, he became intrigued by the technical and practical aspects of flying and navigation. Promoted to pilot/navigator, Colman joined Costal Command on Liberators based in Iceland.

Jack Colman, from York, achieved his long-held desire to become a pilot by joining the RAF in October 1940, just weeks after celebrating his 21st birthday (He is pictured in 1941)

Back row: Ginger, Ron, Freddie, and Joe. Front row: Fred, Little Titchi, Norman, and Jack. Jack's exploits as an RAF pilot who spent most of the Second World War hunting Nazi U-boats in the Atlantic have been revealed in a new book released by his son

The practical difficulties of flying over the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean protecting the convoys and hunting U-boats are relived as he battled with atrocious weather and navigational uncertainties.

He had many brushes with death, both in training and when operational due to mechanical failure, flying into the sea, U-boat gunfire, or running out of fuel in an ever-changing hostile environment.

The personal account of this young man's flying experiences during the Second World War is told in his son Richard Colman's new book, Liberators over the Atlantic, published by Fonthill Media.

'Sometime in the early eighties, shortly after retiring, my father wrote a record of his war years as a pilot in the RAF,' said Mr Colman.

Colman joined Costal Command on Liberators, like this one, and was based in Iceland

The Wings parade, November 21 1941. Group Captain C. G. Johnson pins them on Jack's lapel

The harbour and the main runway in ReykjavIk, where Jack was based for part of the war

The personal account of this young man's flying experiences during the Second World War is told in his son Richard Colman's new book, Liberators over the Atlantic

'Originally entitled 'My Friends the Stars' this abridged version is to appeal to the wider audience and covers the period to late 1943, including selection, training in Canada, and spells with Ferry and Costal Command flying Hudsons and Liberators over the North Atlantic.

'His time flying Beaufighters and Mosquitos mainly in the Far East is another story.

'Aside from this introduction, the epilogue, endmatter, and the background historical information regarding the Battle of the Atlantic, this book is entirely the work of my father, Jack Colman.

Outside Jack's Nissen hut with his friends Harry and Ron, left, and in Canada, August 1941

Jack (sixth from left, middle row). His exploits during WW2 are documented in a new book

'Jack was a quiet man, possibly shy, and so his account is not one of self-aggrandisement boasting exaggerated bravery, or smugness at mastering the necessary skills of flying and navigation.

'It is an account of a young man learning about the adult world and falling in love and marrying while he could, a man who wanted to fly from the age of ten, who enjoyed and was fascinated by the mechanical and technical skills of flying and navigation, skills which he was conscientious in acquiring.

'He was aware that life might be short.'

Liberators over the Atlantic, by Jack and Richard Colman, and published by Fonthill Media is available now. RRP 25.

Jack and his wife Peggy on their wedding day with their friends Heather and Peter Stembridge
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Hundreds of people gathered in the South Korean capital of Seoul to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Jeju Uprising, a rebellion on the island off the coast of the Korean peninsula

Some 300 men and women clad in grey worker's uniforms, with their faces painted grey, acted out the events of the Uprising and subsequent massacre, which officially began on April 3, 1948.

Tens of thousands are said to have been killed in clashes between the U.S.-backed South Korean government and communist guerrilla fighters during the uprising, which lasted several years.

Remembering: South Koreans stage a performance to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Jeju Uprising on April 3, 2018 in Seoul, South Korea

In the wake of the Japanese surrender in 1945, the U.S. and Soviet had divided Korea at the 38th parallel, but a UN ruling in November 1947 called for a general election on the entire peninsula.

The Soviet refused to comply, but as the U.S.-led South went ahead, the Korean peninsula faced permanent partition.

This angered the population on the province of Jeju - an island off the coast of Korea - where some felt more inclined to build a communist society like the one in the North, rather than one similar to the United States.

With the elections set to be held on May 10, 1948, members of the South Korean Labor Party held rallies on March 1st. The protests turned violent, with police killing six people and arresting thousands.

In retaliation, some 3,500 rebels attacked 11 police stations, killing and mutilating 30 officers, and burned down polling stations on April 3.

Honouring: Approximately 300 people participated in the performance to pay respect to the victims of Jeju Uprising, which officially started on April 3, 1948

Strong performance: Two young women, wearing grey workers' uniforms with their faces painted, embrace

Two sides: While the official death toll is around 14,400, others estimate that up to 30,000 were killed in the uprising

Lest we forget: Tens of thousands are said to have been killed in clashes between the U.S.-backed South Korean government and communist guerrilla fighters from 1948 to 1950

Walking by: Tuesday's performance was held in Seoul, with workers in suits walking past the participants

The Jeju police commented attempted to negotiate peace with the guerrilla, but this failed, which saw the U.S.- led South Korean military transferring 3,000 troops to the island, and fighting between the rebels and military and police continued throughout the elections in May.

When the Korean war began in 1950, the South Korean government clamped down even harder on communist sympathisers on Jeju and thousands of people were detained.

The military sorted the detained into four groups - A, B, C and D, depending on security risk.

It's history: The Jeju Uprising began with the announcement that a partitioned Korea would be holding elections in May 1948 - as Soviet-run North refused to take part, only the South would be going to the polls

Rebellion: Opposed to a divided Korean peninsula, members of the Workers Party on the island of Jeju protested

From peace to violence: After six people were killed during a protest, Workers Party rebels launched an attack on police and polling stations, killing and mutilating 30 officers

People's march: The performers walk through Seoul to commemorate the Jeju Uprising 70 years ago

Theatre in public: A young woman plays dead during Tuesdays memorial performance in the South Korean capita;

Emotional: The performance ended with the participants ripping off their grey clothes to reveal white t-shirts underneath

On August 30, 1950, South Korean Navy ordered that all people in C and D be executed by firing squad.

This saw soldiers and police murder launch a horrific assault on the island's villages, with thousands murdered and raped, and more than half of homes burned to the ground.

The official Jeju Massacre death toll is 14,373, but the estimated figures are said to be as high as 30,000.

For decades, the South Korean government covered up the Jeju Uprising, and the massacre was not acknowledged until the 90s.
Hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs as one of Australia's biggest chicken suppliers goes into voluntary administration.

Red Lea Chickens said it has 'no alternative' but to wind down operations after it was placed into voluntary administration last week.

A meeting was reportedly held by administrators at its processing plant in Blacktown, in Sydney's west, on Tuesday, where hundreds of employees learned their fate.

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Red Lea Chickens (file image) was placed into voluntary administration last week, and will wind down operations at its processing plant in Blacktown, in Sydney's west

A meeting was reportedly held by administrators at the plant on Tuesday, where hundreds of employees learned their fate (file image)

Zagorca Ciolac said she has been working for the family-owned business at its Blacktown plant for 33 years.

'It's difficult ... now we have to go look for another job,' Ms Ciolac told Network Ten on Tuesday.

Another employee, Suzann Cook, said it was 'just wrong' and not fair.

The company - which has been operating since 1957 - says on its website its Blacktown plant is 'state of the art' with more than 500 employees working there.

The company - which has been operating since 1957 - says on its website its Blacktown plant is 'state of the art' with more than 500 employees working there (file image)

'It's the original property where our story began, from our humble beginnings with door-to-door fresh poultry sales,' the website says.

McGrathNicol partners Barry Kogan, Jason Preston and Kathy Sozou have been appointed as administrators.

The New South Wales branch of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union said it had no comment about the matter.

Red Lea Chickens has been contacted for comment.
A pet-loving photographer has captured the 'perfect imperfections' of injured rescue dogs to showcase their resilience.

Enamoured by their ability to overcome overwhelming adversity, lifelong animal lover and professional photographer Alex Cearns hoped to capture the undeniable spirit of injured pooches.

Ms Cearns is hoping to show that the world the beauty of rescue dogs and why they should never be loved any less than 'regular' dogs.

A pet-loving photographer has captured the 'perfect imperfections' of injured rescue dogs to showcase their resilience

Compiling her favourite snaps over the past eight years into a heart-warming gallery, she has released a book, titled 'Perfect Imperfection', sharing the stories behind the portraits.

Ms Cearns, 43, owner of Houndstooth Studios in Perth, Australia, said: 'As a child, my only companions were my dogs and the other animals on my farm.

'The tenacity of animals to overcome adversity never ceases to amaze me.

'They make the most out of life and from them I've learnt so much about seeing the positives in every situation and never giving up.

Lifelong animal lover and professional photographer Alex Cearns (pictured) was enamoured by their ability to overcome overwhelming adversity

Ms Cearns is hoping to show that the world the beauty of rescue dogs and why they should never be loved any less than 'regular' dogs

Ms Cearns compiled her favourite snaps over the past eight years into a heart-warming gallery

She has released a book, titled 'Perfect Imperfection' , sharing the stories behind the portraits

'Most animals with afflictions don't dwell on them, they adapt to their new bodies without complaint and they survive with determination.'

She added: 'In my images, I like to lead with the beauty of each animal, making their physical issue an almost subtle afterthought and photographing each one with care and sensitivity.

'The main thing I've learned with working with these dogs is that they live in the moment and don't focus on their differences.

Ms Cearns, 43, owner of Houndstooth Studios in Perth, Australia, said she grew up on a farm where her only companions were dogs and other animals

'Disabled pets give the same love as any other; they have value and deserve the chance to live full and happy lives,' she said

Ms Cearns added: 'It's a dream come true to be able to share these inspirational, determined dogs and their stories with the world'

'The main thing I've learned with working with these dogs is that they live in the moment and don't focus on their differences,' she said

'It's a dream come true to be able to share these inspirational, determined dogs and their stories with the world.

'There are several messages in 'Perfect Imperfection' - beauty is everywhere, the outside is only a window dressing and disabled pets give the same love as any other; they have value and deserve the chance to live full and happy lives.'

The portraits feature dogs who have adapted to life without limbs or their eyesight




School shooting survivor David Hogg has rejected Bill O'Reilly's claim he is being manipulated into forcing Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham off air.

In a post on his website, O'Reilly said the companies which had withdrawn advertisements from Ingraham's show were 'being directed by powerful, shadowy radical groups who want [her] off the air.'

In the same post he insisted similar groups were behind his embarrassing and abrupt exit from Fox last year - prompted by the disclosure of a series of sexual harassment allegations.

Appearing on MSNBS's The Last Word, Hogg denied he was the figurehead of some clandestine conspiracy.

'I'm pretty well lit  I don't see any shadowy figures behind me,' Hogg said.

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Bill O'Reilly (pictured) said in a post on his website that Hogg is being manipulated into forcing Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham off air

David Hogg (pictured) refuted claims by O'Reilly the advertising boycott of Laura Ingraham's show was the work of 'powerful, shadowy radical groups'

'If he sees shadowy figures as corporate America standing by us, okay, I guess. It doesn't really make sense.'

Later in the interview, Lawrence O'Donnell asked Hogg what he would say to O'Reilly if he was to meet him face to face.

'Corporate America is on the side of justice,' Hogg replied.

'You, with the sexual harassment, they stood with the victims of that to ensure that nobody else would have to suffer through that. They're trying to stand with us too to prevent the bullying we've seen.'

It comes after Fox revealed Ingraham will stay on-air, even though more than a dozen companies pulled their advertisements after she mocked David Hogg's college rejections.

'We cannot and will not allow voices to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts,' Fox News Co-President Jack Abernethy told the Los Angeles Times.

'We look forward to having Laura Ingraham back hosting her program next Monday when she returns from spring vacation with her children.'

Fox News revealed it will not end Laura Ingraham's show, even though more than a dozen companies pulled their advertisements after she mocked David Hogg's college rejections

Ingraham took a pre-planned break from her show after apologizing to Hogg on Twitter.

The Ingraham Angle host had come under fire after she claimed the Parkland school shooting survivor was 'whining' about not getting into four California universities.

'On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland,' she tweeted on Thursday.

Ingraham added she believed she was the first to feature Hogg on her show after the shooting, saying 'he's welcome to come on my show anytime for a productive discussion'.

But that was only after Hogg had mobilized a boycott of her advertisers, tweeting out a list of their names and encouraging followers to call and request the companies to drop the host's program.

The Atlantis Paradise Island resort, Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Hulu, Nutrish, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Liberty Mutual, Wayfair, StitchFix, Nestle and Johnson & Johnson have all pulled their ads from Ingraham's show.

Hogg later told CNN he did not accept Ingraham's apology, which had been tweeted to her two million followers.

The 17-year-old said her harsh words were in line with previous remarks Ingraham had made about gay people studying at Dartmouth in 1984.

Hogg later told CNN he did not accept Ingraham's apology, which had been tweeted to her two million followers

Hogg also referenced when the Fox News host told LeBron James to 'shut up and dribble', adding these people also deserved apologies.

'It's disturbing to know that somebody can bully so many people and just get away with it, especially to the level that she did,' he said.

'No matter who somebody is, no matter how big or powerful they may seem, a bully is a bully and it's important that you stand up to them.'

Hogg also took issue with the fact that, in her apology tweets, Ingraham included a clip of her own interview with the high school student.

'That's what she does when she tries to apologize to me, she promotes her own show? Really?' Hogg added, calling her attacks 'really, really stupid'.

'I'm a 17-year-old kid, she's bullied people before and I think people are just sick and tired of it,' he said. 'She needs to acknowledge what she has done wrong.'

Hogg took to Twitter to bid farewell to the Fox Host who announced she was going off air

Ingraham, pictured above, announced she would be taking a vacation just days after Parkland shooting survivor Hogg convinced dozens of her show's advertisers to withdraw

When Ingraham announced she would be going away with her children for the Easter break, Hogg tweeted 'Have some healthy reflections this Holy Week' echoing Ingraham's own words of apology.

In her Friday evening segment she did not address her online clash with Hogg.

Ingraham initially sparked trouble on Wednesday when she took to Twitter to mock Hogg.

She wrote: 'David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it'.

Hogg said Thursday via Twitter he would only accept an apology should she denounce her treatment of the Parkland student activists rallying for gun reform.

'I 100 percent agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight,' he wrote.

'It's time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children,' he added.

The online scuffle began on Wednesday when Ingraham mocked Hogg for being rejected from four colleges

Hogg has said he believes Ingraham is just trying to distract from the gun violence he and other students strive to end

Hogg told New Day on Friday he believes Ingraham is just trying to distract from the gun violence he and other students strive to end.

'She's only apologizing after a third of her advertisers pulled out, and I think it's really disgusting the fact that she basically tried promoting her show after apologizing to me,' said Hogg at the time.

'I think it's great that corporate America is standing with me and the rest of my friends.'

'When you come against any of us, me or anyone else, you're coming against all of us. It is important that we stand together as corporate and civic America and show them they cannot push us around, especially when all we're trying to do here is save lives.'

He continued: 'When people try to distract like what Laura is trying to do from what the real is issue is, gun violence in America, it's not only is sad but wrong. I would say from a journalistic perspective, she needs to stand out.'

Office Depot, Jenny Craig, Hulu, Nutrish, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Liberty Mutual, Wayfair, StitchFix, Nestle and Johnson & Johnson have all pulled their ads from Ingraham's show

Fox News isn't the only one standing by Laura Ingraham.

It has recently been revealed Russian bots are also supporting the host on Twitter, posting tweets with the hashtag #IstandwithLaura.

Hamilton 68, a website that tracks the spread of Russian propaganda on Twitter, found the hashtag jumped 2,800 percent in 48 hours this weekend, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

And on Saturday #IstandwithLaura was the top trending hashtag among Russian bots.

The Twitter handles for Ingraham, Hogg, and Fox News were also among the top six Twitter handles tweeted by accounts linked to Russia, according to the site botcheck.me, which tracks political propaganda bots.

And 'David Hogg' and 'Laura Ingraham' were the top two-word phrases that were being shared.

Researchers have found a number of bots began tweeting about Parkland to spread false information after the February 14 massacre.
A police detective who turned down the chance to head the Madeleine McCann inquiry believes finding her is now 'almost impossible.'

Former senior Metropolitan Police officer Colin Sutton believes her body could be buried in one of 600 ancient wells in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Madeleine went missing from an apartment in the resort in 2007, and he now believes the search for the youngster is a 'thankless task.'

He believes there is still little chance of finding her despite the investigation into her disappearance receiving funding of up to 150,000 for another six months.

Former senior Metropolitan Police detective Colin Sutton (right) believes finding Madeleine McCann (left) is now 'almost impossible.'

Speaking in a Channel 7 documentary, which aired in Australia this weekend: 'It's almost impossible without specific intelligence that would allow you to focus on a specific area.

'It's a large area of low population and scrubland and ancient wells.

'And there are areas where humans don't go from one decade to the next.

'It would be very easy to secrete something there and be very confident it wouldn't be found.'

He said the only hope was someone who knew what had happened to Madeleine eventually revealing what happened to her.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann have never given up hope of finding their daughter, and welcomed the extra money - believed to be up to 150,000 - given to fund the police investigation for another six months

Forensic scientist Professor David Barclay also claimed the area near Praia da Luz is 'the easiest place to hide a body' he had ever visited.

Madeleine vanished from the holiday apartment on May 3 2007 when she was three years old while her parents Kate and Gerry McCann were out for a meal at a nearby tapas restaurant.

The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, never given up hope that she could be found alive - she'd now be aged nearly 15.

If Operation Grange, launched in May 2011, is shelved the McCanns have vowed to continue the search themselves. So far 11million has been spent on the investigation.

Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal (pictured) in 2007

The cash in the Find Maddie Fund, which is made up of public donations and profits from Kate's bestseller book - has grown over the past financial year, according to the latest accounts.

According to the Daily Mirror, they have raised 728,508, which could be used to fund private investigators.

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: 'The Met Police will put in a further request for funds if they feel work still needs to be done.

'Money in the Madeleine Fund gives Kate and Gerry the option to pick up their own inquiries again, if they choose, with private investigators.'

Madeleine, (left) and before she went missing on May 3, 2007, (right) vanished from the apartment when she was just three years old

Government funding for Operation Grange has been agreed every six months, with 154,000 being granted from October last year until the end of March.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Government remains committed to the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

'We have briefed the Metropolitan Police Service that its application for special grant funding for Operation Grange will be granted.'

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann were 'incredibly grateful' to the Home Office for granting the money request.

He said: 'They are very encouraged that the Met Police still believe there is work left to be done and they are incredibly grateful to the Home Office for providing an extra budget for the investigation.'

Madeleine's parents of Rothley, Leicestershire, have vowed never to give up hope of finding their daughter.
This is the horrifying moment a young woman was repeatedly stabbed by a knifeman as he tried to steal her handbag.

The brutal attack occurred outside an apartment block in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday night.

CCTV footage shows the woman in her 30s walking towards the complex with a man following closely behind her as she turns the corner.

This is the horrifying moment a young woman was repeatedly stabbed by a knifeman as he tried to steal her handbag

When the victim is near the gates of the property, the knifeman quickly stalks towards her and grabs her arm.

He then tries to rip the woman's bag from her grip but when he struggles to do this he starts to viciously stab the victim.

The woman attempts to block his attack with her arms before kicking him in the leg in a bid to defend herself.

But the knifeman continues his onslaught before eventually running away from the Mill Park apartments in the Clondalkin area of the city.

The knifeman quickly stalks towards the woman in her 30s and grabs her arm

He then tries to rip the woman's bag from her grip but when he struggles to do this he starts to viciously stab the victim

The woman was taken to Tallaght Hospital and treated for stab wounds on her hands and legs. Her injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, later took to Facebook to warn other women, reported the Sun.

She wrote: 'Last night I was attacked in front of main gate - Millpark apartments on Old Nangor Road around 10pm.

'The attacker was a young man (16-20 yrs old) skinny body, pale skin, ginger hair.

'He was wearing a khaki green hoodie, joggers and sneakers.

The woman attempts to block his attack with her arms before kicking him in the leg in a bid to defend herself

But the knifeman continues his onslaught before eventually running away (right) from the Mill Park apartments in the Clondalkin area of the city

'He wanted to rob my bag, he had a sharp knife or blade, stabbed me numerous times in my hands and leg.

'I'm warning every women and girl in Clondalkin not to walk alone as he might attack someone again. He wasn't caught yet.'

Police are investigating but no arrests have been made as of yet.

A spokeswoman said: 'Gardai are investigating a robbery which occurred in Mill Park, Clondalkin on March 30, 2018 at approximately 10pm.

'A woman in her 30s was approached by a male who tried to take her handbag.

'She received non-life threatening stab wounds to her hand and leg and was taken to Tallaght Hospital.

'No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.'
President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Tuesday following the release of a national poll that showed his approval rating hitting 50 per cent  a number higher than Barack Obama's at the same point in his first term eight years ago.

The Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll shows half of all Americans say Trump is doing a good job in office, while 49 per cent disagree.

'Thank you to Rasmussen for the honest polling,' the president tweeted. 'Just hit 50%, which is higher than Cheatin Obama at the same time in his Administration.'

The president's strong showing on Monday followed an unenviable week of chaos dominated by constant sword-rattling from alleged former Trump paramour Stormy Daniels, and the dismissal-by-tweet of his Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin.

President Donald Trump has hit 50 per cent in Rasmussen Reports' daily presidential approval tracking poll, and gloated about it on Tuesday (he's pictured Monday, blowing a whistle to start a race during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll)

The president took a victory lap on Tuesday, a day after the Rasmussen poll was splashed across the top of the Drudge Report for more than eight hours

Barack Obama polled better than 50 per cent 27 per cent of the time while he was commander-in-chief  nearly twice Trump's rate so far  but his rating on April 2, 2010 was just 46 per cent, and Trump called him 'Cheatin Obama' on Tuesday

Trump's 50-50 showing is four points better than Barack Obama's in the same poll exactly eight years ago, when his first term as president was just as old as Trump's

Rasmussen's poll is a three-day rolling average, meaning that Monday's numbers came from polling last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday  while the repercussions from the '60 Minutes' interview with porn star Daniels on March 25 were still being felt.

Trump's numbers in the poll have been in the 50-plus territory on less than 14 per cent of his days in office.

Barack Obama polled better than 50 per cent 27 per cent of the time while he was commander-in-chief.

But Obama's Rasmussen score eight years ago was 46 per cent  four points behind where Trump currently sits.

Last week began with the sensationalized '60 Minutes' interview of Stormy Daniels, a porn actress who claims to have had a months-long affair with Donald Trump a decade ago, but Rasmussen's poll numbers show Trump rebounded handily

Of the national polls that sampled Trump's job approval in the past month, the Rasmussen survey is the only one that samples 'likely voters.'

The others broaden their pools to include 'registered voters'  whether or not they plan to cast ballots in the future  and, in some cases, adult 'Americans' at large.

An average of polls maintained by Real Clear Politics shows that Trump's overall rating during the past two weeks is 42.1 per cent.

The Rasmussen poll is the rosiest of the bunch: It puts Trump's current level of support also above his performance level in the 2016 election, when 46.1 per cent of voters chose him over Hillary Clinton and some minor candidates.

Obama began his presidency at 67 per cent approval in the Rasmussen tracking poll, compared with 56 per cent for Trump.

The Rasmussen poll is clearly an outlier among recent surveys, but it's also the only recent poll to sample 'likely' voters (indicated as 'LV' above)

Trump has been fighting off a collection of political headaches, including a special counsel probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russians who aimed to meddle in the 2016 election.

Nearly 20 women have accused him of some level of sexual harassment or abuse, depressing his support among female voters.

The president has also been plagued by far greater turnover of senior staff than his predecessors, most recently losing his staff secretary following domestic violence accusations from two ex-wives.

The instability of Trump's inner circle hasn't projected strength: Departures of his initial chief of staff, chief strategist, press secretary, health secretary, veterans affairs secretary, FBI director, chief economic adviser, two national security advisers and a pair of communications directors have all been public-relations train wrecks.

And Omarosa Manigault-Newman's ouster from the Office of Public Liaison led her back to reality television, where she trashed the administration at every turn.

The Rasmussen Reports national poll was among the few that came closest to accurately predicting the results of the election that vaulted Trump to power.

Unlike other polls that ask questions in live telephone interviews, it relies on push-button phone calls  meaning voters who like Trump's performance in office aren't required to say so out loud to another person.

Some political scientists have called the result 'The Trump Effect,' a phenomenon that explained how social distaste for the president might depress his numbers in polls that use live operators.
Supermarket giant Coles is taking on its rivals with a new gourmet bread baked by a specialist French baker.

The new sourdough loaf is the latest move the chain has taken to challenge Woolworths and Aldi in the supermarket stakes.

But at $5 a loaf the proof of whether customers will take a bite out of the new range will be in the eating.

Supermarket giant Coles is taking on its rivals with a new gourmet bread baked by a specialist French baker, Laurent Boillon

At $5 a loaf, Coles is hoping the bread is a winner with customers and is made at a new factory in Melbourne

Laurent Boillon, a French-born baker, has signed a 10-year deal with Coles to produce the loaves at his Melbourne factory, Seven News reports.

The facility is capable of producing 150,000 products every day and send them all around Australia.

He says he believes the $5 price tag for a loaf and $3 for a baguette is 'exceptional' value given the quality of the product.

The preservative free loaves features French recipes in the brand new factory for artisan style bread.

The new sourdough loaf is the latest move the chain has taken to challenge Woolworths and Aldi

Poll Would you pay $5 for the new sourdough 'gourmet' loaf? Yes, it looks delicious I'd try it but probably wouldn't be my daily bread Never in a million years Would you pay $5 for the new sourdough 'gourmet' loaf? Yes, it looks delicious 54 votes

I'd try it but probably wouldn't be my daily bread 28 votes

Never in a million years 8 votes Now share your opinion





Mr Boillon said: 'I'm super excited. It's fantastic to achieve to provide this kind of quality to the Australian market.'

Coles executives believe the new range produced by Mr Boillon will help them attract more customers in the war for shoppers.

'This is Australian made bread, made by a Frenchman, and it will be available across Australia, so everyone will have a chance to try it' Martine Alpins, from Coles, told Seven.

More products are set to be added in the coming months after the first loaf was put on trial at 13 stores throughout the country.

But Australia's small independent bakers are not said to be at risk, according to industry leaders.
John Schooley, the designer of the Kansas waterslide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy in 2016, has been arrested

Federal authorities in Dallas have arrested the designer of a Kansas water park slide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy.

John Timothy Schooley was arrested by U.S. Marshals Monday night at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, after arriving back in the country from China.

The 72-year-old will be held in Dallas pending his arraignment and extradition to Kansas City, Kansas on charges that include second-degree murder.

A Kansas grand jury last week indicted Schooley and Jeffrey Henry, a co-owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts, for the August 2016 death of Caleb Schwab.

The 10-year-old died riding the Verruckt slide - certified as the tallest water slide in the world in 2014 by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Schwab was decapitated when a raft he was riding down the 17-story slide in went airborne and he hit an overhead loop.

10-year-old Caleb Schwab died when the raft he was riding in went airborne - causing his head to hit an overhead loop

The two other women he was riding with were also seriously injured, one suffered a fractured jaw bone while the other had an orbital bone fracture.

The indictment alleges Schooley lacked technical or engineering expertise in amusement park rides, and that Henry rushed the slide into service in order to attract the attention of a Travel Channel show.

The indictment says the two hid the fact that the ride was causing serious injuries in its six months in service. Before Schwab's death, 13 people were injured riding the slide, including two people who were concussed and a 15-year-old who went temporarily blind.

According to the indictment filed last month, Schooley had no experience to design a waterpark slide. Above, the Verruckt slide before it was shut down

The 17-story slide was confirmed as the tallest in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2014

According to the indictment, Schooley 'possessed no engineering credential relevant to amusement ride design or safety'.

Nevertheless, Schooley was responsible for doing 'the math' that went into the slide's design.

Verruckt's design 'violated nearly all aspects of the longstanding industry safety standards,' according to the indictment.

'In fact, the design and operation of the Verruckt complied with few, if any, of the industry safety standards,' the indictment says.

Park co-owner Jeff Henry (left in court last Wednesday) and former operations manager Tyler Miles (right) have also been charged in Schwab's death

Tyler Austin Miles, the former operations manager at the park, was also indicted last week for several charges including involuntary manslaughter. Miles is currently free after posting $50,000 bond.

The company has promised to fight the charges.

'We as a company and as a family will fight these allegations and have confidence that once the facts are presented it will be clear that what happened on the ride was an unforeseeable accident,' a company spokesman said last week after Henry's arrest.

Schwab was the son of Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab, and died on a day when admission was free to the families of state legislators. Schwab's family have settled with the park and various companies connected to the slide for $20million.
Prosecutors in Missouri plan to seek the death penalty for one of the four suspects in the brutal murder of a transgender teenager whose eyes were gouged out and her body set on fire last year.

A notice requesting the sentence for Andrew Vrba, 18, was filed Monday in Crawford County Circuit Court. Vrba is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Ally Steinfeld.

Investigators say Steinfeld was stabbed several times, including in the genitals. Authorities aren't saying what led to the killing, but Texas County Sheriff James Sigman and prosecutor Parke Stevens Jr. have insisted the crime was not motivated by Steinfeld's gender identity.

Facing death: Andrew Vrba, 18, could be looking at the death penalty if convicted of murdering 17-year-old transgender teen Ally Steinfeld in 2017

One female suspect, Isis Schauer, 18, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder, while another, Briana Calderas, 24, awaits a first-degree murder trial in October.

A fourth person, James Grigsby, 25, has pleaded not guilty to abandonment of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Steinfeld's remains were found in September 2017 in the town of Cabool, near the mobile home of Calderas, with whom Steinfeld was living. Steinfeld had been missing for weeks.

Vrba told investigators he initially tried to poison Steinfeld, then described how he stabbed her in the living room of Calderas' trailer in rural Missouri, Deputy Rowdy Douglas wrote in a probable cause statement.

Accomplice: Isis Schauer, 18, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder in Steinfeld's death

Ally's girlfriend Briana Calderas (left), 24, awaits a first-degree murder trial in October. James Grigsby (right), 25, has pleaded not guilty to abandonment of a corpse and tampering with evidence

The female suspects said Vrba bragged to them about how he gouged Steinfeld's eyes and stabbed Steinfeld in the genitals, Douglas wrote.

Authorities say after the killing, the three suspects burned Steinfeld's body, dumped some of the bones into a garbage bag and put the bag in the chicken coop.

Calderas admitted helping dispose of the corpse and led authorities to the knife used in the stabbing, Douglas wrote.

Steinfeld was one of 28 transgender killed in the US in 2017, making it the deadliest year for the community on record.

Prior to the grisly discovery in the chicken coop, Steinfeld had been missing for weeks, and initial news reports referred to her as a male, in part because missing-person posters distributed by the family used Steinfeld's birth name, as did police documents.

Steinfeld's mother, Amber Steinfeld, still refers to her deceased child as Joey, but said the teen identified as female to family and to friends on social media. She said her child was 'loving and kind-hearted'.

Ally, who was born Joseph Matthew Steinfeld Jr, was engaged to a woman until they broke up, her mother said, and soon after began dating Calderas.

She said Steinfeld and the two 18-year-old suspects were all living at Calderas' mobile home.

She said that Steinfeld was upbeat before she disappeared, telling relatives that she loved them and was happy.

Authorities aren't saying what led to the violent killing on September 3, 2017.

Vrba allegedly bragged to the two female suspects how he gouged Steinfeld's eyes and stabbed her in the genitals in September 2017. Some of her bones were later found in a chicken coop

Steinfeld grew up mostly in House Springs, Missouri, near St. Louis, Amber Steinfeld said.

The family moved briefly to Florida, then to Texas County, an area of rugged hills in southern Missouri.

Steinfeld dropped out of high school upon turning 17. At about the same time, the rest of the family moved back to House Springs, but Steinfeld stayed in Houston, Missouri, living with friends.

In May, Steinfeld posted on Instagram that she was coming out and was 'mtf,' or male-to-female.

In a posting on June 13, Steinfeld referred to herself as 'Trans male to female and I am mostly lesbian but pansexual'.

In another that same day she wrote: 'I am proud to be me I am proud to be trans I am beautiful I don't care what people think.'
A fossil hunter refuses to tell authorities where he found a woolly mammoth skeleton unless they promise to give him half its value.

John Taylor claimed to find an entire skeleton while diving in a river near Beaufort, South Carolina, three years ago and still won't cough up the spot.

The former navy diver feared the state would take the fossil, worth $500,000, without properly compensating him for the find.

Fossil and shark tooth hunter John Taylor refuses to tell authorities where he found a woolly mammoth skeleton unless they promise to give him half its value

He claimed regulators were refusing to re-issue the licences he needed to dive for the fossils and shark teeth he sold online and weren't meeting him halfway.

'They just aren't open to negotiation or compromise,' he told The State.

The South Carolina State Museum Commission, which by law must be informed of all fossil finds, said it wanted to see what he'd found first.

'[We have been] made aware of the discovery and is looking forward to collaborating with the individual to identify the location of the reported find,' it said.

The commission said the bones weren't Mr Taylor's to keep and by law it had first rights to keep any significant finds for the public good.

It said it would be the 'custodian' of the skeleton and use it to 'preserve and encourage the scientific and recreational values' for the people of South Carolina.

Mr Taylor brought up the standoff at a State House hearing in March on loosening shark tooth collecting regulations.

'They don't want to give me a commercial license, and they want me to tell them where the location of it is. They're blackmailing me to find the location.'

Mammoths grew to between 11 and 14 feet high and weigh 6 to 10 tons with the huge curved tusks for which they are well known

The 47-year-old said he first found two teeth in the murky riverbed, then knee bone, a leg bone, a jaw and a tusk in the mud.

'It could only be a mammoth. The teeth are a dead giveaway. I've been doing this for 25 years. I've found teeth before,' he said.

However, scientists were skeptical as complete mammoth skeleton were very rarely found and question whether it was another animal or just fragments of a mammoth.

If Mr Taylor was right about his find it would be of huge scientific interest, especially if it was killed by humans and showed people were in the area at the same time.

Only scattered bones and teeth of the hairy, giant elephants that went extinct 10,000 years ago have so far been found in the state.

Mammoths grew to between 11 and 14 feet high and weight 6 to 10 tons with the huge curved tusks for which they are well known.
Major Robert Campbell, 45, is refusing to take part in the latest probe after he and his comrades have been hauled before investigators seven times before (file pic)

A decorated Army Major facing his eighth investigation over the death of an Iraqi teen has revealed he has not had a good night's sleep for 15 years.

Major Robert Campbell, 45, is refusing to take part in the latest probe after he and his comrades have been hauled before investigators seven times before.

He said that no ordinary civilian would be expected to have to undergo so many investigations - and it is unfair veterans are being put through the ordeal.

He said: 'I don't think anything good is going to come out of this.....what I want more than anything is a good night's sleep and I haven't had one for 15 years.

'So, what possible good could come out of this? I have no idea.'

Major Campbell and his comrades has been repeatedly investigated  and cleared  over the drowning of 19-year-old Said Shabram in May 2003.

They have now been told they will be forced to give evidence in public to the Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI) to satisfy human rights laws.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme today, Major Campbell said that he has now decided never to speak of that day in the early days of the invasion ever again.

He said: 'On legal advise from my lawyers, and for me personally, I have decided I am never going to speak of that day again.

'And I mean that, I'm never going to speak of that day again with anyone ever.'

He said he has fully accounted for himself in his statement and that has been pored over and dissected by prosecutors, police forces.

And Major Campbell said it is not fair for him to have to explain himself all over again.

He added: 'My my mental health is not the best and I think it is unreasonable for the MoD to expect me to go over these things over and over and over.'

Major Campbell insists have is 'absolutely' not responsible for the death, but in a direct message for Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson he added: 'Why am I being investigated again?'

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured outside No10 last month) has been urged to intervene amid widespread anger at yet another probe into the death

He also took a swipe at the disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner, who was struck off for hounding soldiers.

Investigations into the deaths of Iraqi civilians have been marred by the 'Phil Shiner effect', Major Campbell claimed.

He said that after years of 'bad investigating and all the money which has exchanged hands, the incentives there were for people to make allegations against British soldiers' it would be 'impossible' now for an investigation to be fully agreed on.

Major Campbell still serves in the Royal Engineers despite suffering injuries in Afghanistan.

He has waived his right to anonymity and said his 21-year career had been poisoned by the probes.
President Donald Trump says he's sending troops down to the southern border to protect the country from illegal immigrants until his border wall is finished.

Trump did not provide any details on the military deployment he envisions such as how many troops he anticipates and from what branch or branches, and the White House had to clarify later that he was referring to a National Guard deployment.

'Until we can have a wall and proper security we're going to be guarding our border with the military,' Trump said at a meeting with Baltic state leaders. 'That's a big step.'

U.S. law may have prohibited the deployment of active duty armed personnel to carry out domestic law enforcement functions.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump threatened to cut off aid to Central America as he fumed about a caravan of migrants from Honduras making their way through Mexico.

Mexican authorities took steps on Monday to disband the caravan.

'They did it because, frankly, I said, You really have to do it," ' Trump asserted during the meeting on Tuesday, bringing up North American Free Trade Agreement. 'Were going to have to include security in NAFTA.'

President Donald Trump says he's sending troops down to the southern border to protect the country from illegal immigrants until his border wall is finished

This morning, Trump said the caravan 'had better be stopped' or he'd punish Honduras and other countries that 'allow this to happen.'

'Cash cow NAFTA is in play,' he warned in a tweet. 'Congress MUST ACT NOW!'

He said later that he found the entire situation 'sad' and as he railed against America's 'very bad' border laws, which he blamed on congressional Democrats.

'We have immigration laws that are laughed at by everybody,' he harped at the meeting with Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

The caravan in question split in two on Monday evening, with a portion of the migrants taking a train to Veracruz. The bulk of the caravan was held up by Mexican authorities in Matias Romero Avendano, where travelers were registered and assessed, according to the Washington Post.

Travelers who do not fit the criteria to receive a humanitarian visa will have to leave Mexico. The country's immigration services say they will disband the caravan by Wednesday.

Trump said a news conference on Tuesday that he directed Mexico to break up the caravan because their immigration laws are stronger than the United States' at present.

'We are preparing for the military to secure our border,' he again stated. 'We have a meeting on it in a little while with General Mattis and everybody.'

On Tuesday evening, as experts weighed in to say that the Posse Comitatus Act would get in the way of Trump's planned military deployment, the White House sent out a statement describing it as a National Guard mobilization.

A statement from press secretary Sarah Sanders said the president had been briefed by members of his national security team last week on the influx of drugs and illegal immigrants coming over the the United Sates' southern border.

'Today, he received a follow up briefing to discuss his administrations strategy, which includes the mobilization of the National Guard,' Sanders said. 'President Trump and senior officials present also agreed on the need to pressure Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations.'

Sanders did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on the approximate size of the deployment referenced in the statement and by Trump.

A National Guard presence on the border has a precedent. Former President Barack Obama deployed 1,200 guardsmen to the same location in 2010 to disrupt the flow of illegal weapons and cash into Mexico. Former President George W. Bush put 6,000 troops there in 2006 to support Border Patrol as part of 'Operation Jump Start.'

Bush's troops were not on the border to act as law enforcement, however, which is what Trump seems to be suggesting he'd do with his deployment. They assisted border patrol agencies with administrative tasks and gathered intelligence.

They also helped with civil engineering projects, inspiring another Trump idea, perhaps, to have the military shoulder the burden of his border wall.

The president suggested last month that the Pentagon could pay for the structure.

It's not clear how that would work, either, given that the military's funds are appropriated by Congress, and the White House has not offered additional details on how such a plan would work.

In any case, Democratic Sens. Jack Reed and Dick Durbin said Monday in a letter to Mattis that the Pentagon 'has no legal authority' to repurpose federal funds, throwing cold water on Trump's latest border wall plan.

A Central American migrant from Honduras wears his nation's flag during the annual Migrant Stations of the Cross caravan as the group makes a few-days stop in Matias Romero, Oaxaca state, Mexico on Monday

Trump's administration now says it wants to close additional 'loopholes' that allow the unaccompanied minors to stay indefinitely in the United States in a bid to cut down on the number of central American migrants flooding the southern border

The pledge to deploy troops and possibly choke off funding to countries that the U.S. assists with drug and crime prevention as a deterrent to such migration upped the ante in Trump's war on illegal immigration a week before he's set to face the presidents of Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala at a South American summit.

He was meeting at the White House with leaders from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Tuesday when he went on a tirade about the caravan.

President Trump debuted his hard-charging position on Easter Sunday in tweets renouncing his support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that gives certain illegal immigrant youth from Mexico legal status.

He continued his assault on Monday, tying the caravan making its way through Mexico to the policy and demanding action from U.S. lawmakers who have continually refused to acquiesce to his plan for better border security.

The White House argued on his behalf that the DACA protections for illegal immigrant youth who came to the United States after a certain date are a 'magnet' for unaccompanied children flooding the southern border.

Senior administration officials said that smugglers are using the program as a way to rope in new travelers. They also cautioned that children coming across the border are likely to request amnesty in a decade the same the way that DACA recipients are now, creating an endless cycle of illegal immigration.

Trump was once supportive of the DACA protections, urging Congress to codify the Barack Obama program his Department of Justice ended on constitutional grounds.

The Republican president said legislators should show 'great heart' for the young people who were brought to America from other countries.

He had almost totally changed his tune on Monday following a long weekend with his top policy adviser, Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner. By Tuesday the president was taking his demands even further and threatening to end nearly $1 billion in aid to struggling countries in Central America.

Trump said Tuesday that the caravan 'had better be stopped' or he'd punish Honduras and other countries that 'allow this to happen'

Last year, Trump ended a program put in place by his predecessor that gave Central American minors temporary legal residence in the country if they had a parent living in the U.S. legally.

Trump's administration now says it wants to close additional 'loopholes' that allow the unaccompanied minors to stay indefinitely in the United States, in addition to to a request to seal-up the border with a wall.

Officials also demanded an end to the government's 'catch-and-release' program that places illegal children from Central America into the temporary custody of relatives until their day in court arrives, which often takes years, and many do not appear.

On a call with reporters on Monday afternoon, a senior Trump official claimed a spike in the number of unaccompanied minors was the driver, although U.S. Customs and Border Protection data from the current fiscal year shows a jump in November and December followed by a decline in the cruel winter months of January and February.

A total of 136,201 individuals have been apprehended since the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, CBP data shows, and 17,575 of them were children.

In all but one month of fiscal year 2017 the year-over-year number of total apprehensions at the southwest border were also lower than in 2016, showing a slow-down in the number of illegal immigrants trying to the enter the country since a 2013 surge prompted government action.

That was the year after Obama introduced his DACA program for Mexican children who were residing in the U.S. and had arrived before the age of 16.

The White House singled out the program on Monday as a pull factor for illegal immigrants from Central American countries like Honduras and resolved that it should be permanently discontinued.

Central American migrants gather before continuing their journey to the U.S. despite President Trump's vow to stamp out illegal immigration. The group is pictured above in Ixtepec, Oaxaca on March 30

Obama's response to the 2013 wave had been to double U.S. aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, giving the three countries $750 million to tackle the drug and crime problems that were causing the country's citizens to leave in the first place. The money also funded a campaign explaining U.S. immigration law to Central Americans.

The Trump White House said Monday that existing policy is not and has not been enough. Without a strong deterrent, it said, the children and families from Central America will keep coming to the U.S.

'We don't want to create a humanitarian crisis, and create endless waves of new illegal immigration,' one official told reporters. 'If you're gonna do it, it should be the last time you're ever gonna have to do it.'

Earlier on Monday, Trump tore into Mexico, claiming it had 'absolute power' to prevent the highly-publicized caravan of Latin American immigrants headed towards the countries' joint border from illegally cross into the United States.

The group of more than 1,000 mostly Honduran refugees started marching towards the U.S. on March 25, starting in the far southern Mexican town of Tapachula.

The group plans to hold demonstrations in Puebla, Mexico on April 5-9 before continuing on to the U.S., where they plan to demand asylum.

Seizing on the reports on Monday morning, Trump demanded that Mexico keep the caravan from crossing into the United States.

'They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws,' Trump proclaimed.

The organization behind the caravan, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, fired back that 'Trump is trying to turn Central American refugees and other immigrant communities against each other, and use them as a bargaining chip with Mexico.'

'In the face of this bullying and these threats of mass violence, we continue to stand in solidarity with displaced people of all races, ethnicities, creeds, abilities, and gender and sexual identities,' the organization said.

The group of more than 1,000 mostly Honduran refugees plans to cross into the U.S. and demand asylum. They are pictured above on March 30 in the Mexican state of Oaxaca

The group has been making the journey on foot, by bus and on trains. They plan to reach the state of Puebla by April 5, where they will take a four day break in their journey

The long march: The group mostly started from Tapachula on March 25th and his inched their way up towards Mexico City. They will spend most of this week camped at Puebla

At its current rate, the caravan could reach the U.S. by early May, or earlier, with some immigrants speeding up their journey with trains or buses.

Reports from the road indicate that Mexican authorities have been abandoning border checkpoints to let the group travel unimpeded and that locals are helping the caravan along the way, donating food and water.

This has infuriated President Trump, who took to Twitter shortly after 7am Monday morning to demand action from Mexico and the U.S. government.

'Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large "Caravans" of people enter their country,' he claimed.

Assaulting his opposition in the U.S. legislature, Trump also said: 'Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation, use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People.

'Border Patrol Agents (and ICE) are GREAT, but the weak Dem laws dont allow them to do their job. Act now Congress, our country is being stolen!'

Trump went on to call America's border laws 'pathetic' compared to Mexico's in the Twitter rant that invoked a trade agreement between the two countries and Canada that's being renegotiated on his orders.

He argued that Mexico is 'making a fortune' on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

'With all of the money they make from the U.S., hopefully they will stop people from coming through their country and into ours, at least until Congress changes our immigration laws!' he said.

The group will likely cross the border illegally and then demand asylum, since it's easy to get turned away if applying for asylum at the border before crossing into the U.S. The group pictured above in Oaxaca on Saturday

Children rest as the group takes a break in Oaxaca, Mexico on Saturday

Locals in Mexico have been helping the group on their journey by donating food. The group pictured above on Saturday

Before setting off on their journey, the group practiced formations to protect the women and children in case of a violent resistance. Above, the group in Oaxaca on Friday

Central American migrants gather before continuing their journey to the U.S. in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico on Friday

A man carries a stool and a pot for cooking as the group walks during the first day of their journey

Members of the group gather around to receive donated rations in Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico last Wednesday

An estimated 1,200 migrants are taking part in the caravan to the U.S. Above, the group on the first day of their journey

Another tweet tied the ordeal to an amnesty program in the United States for illegal immigrant children who were brought across the border from Mexico that Trump has pledged to end unless lawmakers give in to his border security demands.

'DACA is dead because the Democrats didn't care or act, and now everyone wants to get into the DACA bandwagon... No longer works,' he said. 'Must build Wall and secure out borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!'

Trump implied in the tweet that he was permanently killing off the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

DACA protections do not extend to anyone who arrives in the U.S. after 2007, and recipients must also be under the age of 31. It's currently in limbo after the president's Department of Justice deemed it unconstitutional.

Trump gave Congress six months to make the Barack Obama program law, then proceeded to turn down every immigration deal with bipartisan support that came to him.

In addition to the $25 billion he wants in funding he wants for his border wall, Trump says he won't let the illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. while they were minors to stay until Congress gives him the total overhaul of the legal immigration system he's also requested.

Legislation that meets all four pillars of immigration plan has been unable to pass in Congress, and Trump has stood his ground on DACA, blaming Democrats for the program's lapse.

A Twitter rant on the matter on Sunday had the president's critics accusing him of feigning concern for DACA youth, whom he'd previously said he has 'great heart' for and promised a legislative fix to their legal conundrum.

Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia said that Trump had been attempting to 'gaslight the country' for months with his claims that he wants to save DACA.

California Democrat Kamala Harris likewise tweeted that Trump and his government doesn't actually want a solution to the Dreamers' plight.

'They want red meat for their base,' she said. 'They want to purge America's history as a nation of immigrants.'

On Easter morning, before he went to church with his family, President Trump lit up Twitter with a declaration that he was no longer in favor of protecting DACA youth because of 'caravans' that are headed toward the United States' southern border.

'Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. Caravans coming,' he said. 'Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!'

President Trump, walking into Easter Sunday services, briefly stopped to talk about immigration

Trump wrote a series of tweets Monday morning about the caravan and the country's 'weak' immigration laws

Trump used the news of the caravan to sound the alarm on immigration, hoping Republicans in the Senate would finally 'go Nuclear,' which means killing off the rule that 60 votes are needed to close debate.

Currently, there are 51 Republicans in the Senate, with Vice President Mike Pence available to break a tie in the GOP's favor.

Previously, Democrats, and then Republicans, changed the rules so a simple majority closes debate on judicial nominations, cabinet appointees, and also for Supreme Court justices .But under Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, the legislative filibuster, as it's called, has stayed intact.

Even Senate Republicans such as South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and Arizona's Jeff Flake would be likely to oppose immigration reform legislation that does not include protections for illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States as children and know it as home, though, defeating the purpose of Trump's plan to ram through a border bill that fully funds his wall.

In his Easter Sunday tweets Trump blamed Mexico for putting the U.S. in a position where it even needs to build a border barrier.

'Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws,' he said. 'They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!'

Trump said, 'These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!'

President Trump went on a similar Twitter rant on Sunday

Trump has blamed the filibuster for his inability to get legislation on a variety of topics passed through the Senate.

He's also blamed Democrats for Congress' inability to get something done on DACA.

'They had a great chance, the Democrats blew it. They had a great, great chance,' Trump told reporters as he entered the Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday.

In September, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the termination in six months of the Obama-era program that allowed immigrants who came to the United States as children, so-called 'Dreamers' to stay in the country.

DACA has not ended only because the legality of the program is being argued in court.

Hundreds of Central Americans attended a mass before they began their journey in Tapachula, Mexico on March 25
Nicola Crowle, 16, who was one of dozens of Crookhorn College students to fall ill on a school trip to New York and Washington

Pupils who were quarantined in their Washington DC hotel as a result of a mystery illness are on their way home from what has been described as a school trip from hell.

A total of 48 pupils from Crookhorn College in Waterlooville, near Portsmouth, and three teachers were struck down with the virus on what was meant to be a school trip of a lifetime to New York and Washington DC.

Parents had forked out 1,400 for their children to attend the trip organised by the school's head of history Samuel McGinley, who saw dozens of his pupils rushed to hospital.

The Year 11 pupils were quarantined at the Harrington Hotel in DC having been discharged and faced an anxious wait to see whether they will be allowed to fly home this evening.

Thankfully, they were all passed fit to fly, and their Virgin Atlantic flight departed Washington Dulles this evening and is expected to land in the UK tomorrow morning.

Nicola Crowle, 16, was the worst hit by the illness - described as a gastro virus - and was still in hospital last night while her classmates were in the hotel.

Doctors discharged her this morning, but the aspiring accountant had spent three of the four days across the Atlantic in a hospital bed.

One of her teachers took Nicola on a whistlestop tour of the city so that she could take some pictures before they headed for the airport and her mother Susan, 57, told MailOnline she cannot wait to have her daughter home.

'The trip from hell is almost over,' she said.

'I'm relieved she is on her way home and it's nice that the teacher did that for her.

'I'll be happy to see her tomorrow morning, that's for sure.'

Nicola had eaten at a restaurant in New York on the night the party arrived in the US and was among the first to fall ill.

Health officials had initially thought it was food poisoning, but as more and more students and adults began to suffer from similar symptoms having eaten at a number of different outlets, they widened their investigation to consider other possible causes.

While food poisoning has not been ruled out, there is no indication that the restaurant she ate at was in any way to blame for the mass sickness.

Forty-eight teenagers and three adults were taken to hospital from the Harrington Hotel in Washington DC while suffering from the 'virulent gastro virus'

Tia Jennings, 15, (pictured) was struck down with the 'virulent gastro virus' during the Crookhorn College trip to America

Lisa Jennings, 39, whose daughter Tia, 15, was on the trip, told MailOnline: 'It's been a nightmare. She flew out on Thursday to New York City. It was Tia's first time going to America and she'd been waiting two years to go. The head of history [Mr McGinley] had planned a full itinerary but they were only able to do one thing on that list and that was to go to the Twin Towers memorial on the Friday.

'We had a Facetime conversation the following morning when she told us she wasn't feeling well. She then got worse during the day and the group started dropping like flies.

'Tia went to hospital on Friday evening at 9pm with a temperature and complete nausea. She was very upset and distressed.

'She was very sick on Friday. She was then taken back to hospital on Saturday evening as she couldn't eat or drink anything.

'She's now out of hospital and has been quarantined at the Harrington Hotel in Washington DC.

'We are waiting to hear whether she will be able to fly home later today. She just wants to come home.'

Crookhorn College in Waterlooville, near Portsmouth. Pupils and staff from the school set off for New York and Washington DC on March 29

Medics said some in the group began feeling ill while visiting New York but decided to push ahead with the next stage of their trip to DC before seeking medical attention.

Vito Maggiolo, District of Columbia Fire and EMS spokesman, said the first call came in around 7pm from the Harrington Hotel, close to the White House.

'From there it was a slowly escalating incident,' he said.

Initially 12 teens and one adult were taken to the hospital in a stable condition before the whole group was taken in as a precaution.

A spokesman for the hotel said the group arrived sick having traveled from New York and wished them a speedy recovery

Hotel Harrington staff said the group arrived sick and immediately decided to go to the hospital.

Officials from the DC Department of Health, DC Department of Energy and Environment and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene are said to be investigating.

A spokesperson for Crookhorn College said: 'The college trip to the USA comprising of 48 students and five staff have been struck by a virulent gastro virus that has affected most of the party during their time in New York and Washington.

'The main priority since the outbreak of the virus has been the safety and welfare of the students and staff and keeping the families in this country informed of events.

'All members of the trip are now well into recovery and are being kept under observation at their hotel in Washington.

'A further member of staff has flown in to join the group to give assistance to the staff who are there and further support to the students.

'The staff who are in the US have done the most amazing job at looking after the children and the College has had fantastic support in this country from Hampshire County Council.

'Our main priority now is to ensure that all the students and staff get home safe and well.'
A middle-aged woman was brutally stabbed and beaten by her husband mere moments before he killed himself.

Samantha Mere, 50, had been bashed with a hammer and stabbed 14 times in the stomach when paramedics arrived at the couple's rental home in Brisbane's south.

She was barely alive.

Mere's husband, 42-year-old Omey Mkuu, was discovered dead nearby.

Brisbane woman Samantha Mahere was found within an inch of her life after her husband beat her with a hammer and stabbed her 14 times in the stomach

Her husband Omey Mkuu, who committed suicide immediately afterwards, was found dead nearby

Samantha had handed Omey divorce papers just days prior to the incident, The Courier Mail reports - which he allegedly signed and gave back to her.

But relatives of Samantha say this wasn't the first time her husband had acted violently toward her.

'He has hit her before and he is alcoholic,' Samantha's niece Yasmin Hooke claimed.

'She was leaving him. She was scared to go home.'

Samantha had handed Omey divorce papers just days before the savage attack

Other reports suggest the pair had discussed moving to Omeys native Tanzania just a month earlier, however, and even spoke about it with residents in the street.

'It was one of those on-again-off-again (relationships),' said a neighbour.

It was only when a passersby walked past their house on Monday and spotted Mkuu's limp body through a window - which they originally mistook for a doll - that emergency services were called.

Samantha was found within an inch of her life shortly thereafter.

She was miraculously awake and speaking to family on Tuesday morning after hours of emergency surgery.

Police are investigating the incident.

Relative say this wasn't the first time Omey had been violent with her, and that she was afraid to leave
Police are looking for two women (pictured above) for an alleged felony assault at a DC restaurant

DC police are investigating a possible hate crime after a woman said she was attacked at a restaurant after she said she supported president Donald Trump.

The incident happened around 1am on March 16 at the Surfside taco restaurant near Dupont Circle in Northwest DC.

The 29-year-old victim, identified only as Marciela, told police that she overheard two women and a man having a political conversation.

Marciela told Fox 5 that the women were not Trump supporters and she decided to interject herself into their conversation and told them she supports the president.

'I stood by my views, then they called me a racist and then they started attacking me,' she said.

On Monday, DC police released a brief video of the incident in hopes that it would lead to the two women's capture. In the footage, a woman with a white jacket and shirt is seen lunging at another woman filming her on a cellphone.

Marciela told Fox 5 that she took herself to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland for a bruised eye and other injuries.

One woman was seen having a conversation with someone when she lunged at a woman recording her

The victim, a 29-year-old woman, said she was attacked after she told the two women she supports president Donald Trump

The incident happened around 1am on March 16 at Surfside taco restaurant

'My blood vessels inside my eye burst. I got a fractured finger, a bruised knee and minor bruises all over my body,' she said.

Police are seeking the two suspects as persons of interest in felony assault.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099 or text 50411. A reward of $1,000 is offered.
Dutch lawyer Alexander Van der Zwaan was ordered to serve a 30-day jail sentence on Tuesday as he became the first person charged in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe sentenced to do time.

Van der Zwaan, a London-based lawyer who is the son of a Russian oligarch, pleaded guilty in February to lying to the FBI investigators about his communications with former Trump deputy campaign manager Rick Gates.

In addition to his month-long jail sentence, he must pay a $20,000 fine.

'What I did was wrong. I apologize to the court, my wife and my family,' he said in a brief statement he read inside a federal courthouse during his sentencing hearing, NBC reported.

Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann noted in the hearing that Van der Zwann's father in law is a Russian oligarch, which would help mitigate any financial penalty. 'He can pay any fine imposed,' Weissmann said.

BUTTONED UP: Alex van der Zwaan arrives Federal District Court in Washington, Tuesday, April 3, 2018 for his sentencing hearing

He faced up to five years in jail, but was expected to face far less, due to his cooperation with investigators. Prosectors are recommending he get zero to six months in jail.

His lawyers argued he shouldn't be incarcerated, and mentioned that his wife his pregnant.

Van der Zwaan arrived at a federal courthouse in Washington D.C. for his hearing Tuesday morning, buttoning his jacket as he prepared to face his fate. Judge Amy Berman Jackson presided over the hearing.

Mueller's team revealed in a court filing that he held back information about his communications with Gates, as well with a person identified as 'Person A'  a former Russian intelligence officer.

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According to his criminal information, he admitted to willingly making 'false, fictitious and fraudulent statements' to the FBI. In fact, he spoke to both Gates and 'Person A' in September 2016.

He used encrypted communications and recorded the call himself.

Van der Zwwan, 33, is a former lawyer for prominent law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Person A is believed to be Konstantin Kilimnik, a former employee and longtime associate of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, who along with Gates is charged with an array of fraud and money laundering crimes.

Van der Zwwan, 33, has already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI

Disgraced: Attorney Alex Van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to Robert Mueller's investigators. He arrived at the Washington D.C. federal courthouse ahead of a hearing where he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe achieved the first sentencing hearing Tuesday with someone charged in the investigation

Gates is cooperating with investigators and has pleaded guilty.

Van der Zwaan helped prepare a controversial report on the political rival of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. The report was about former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was jailed by Yanukovych.

He is the son-in-law of Russian billionaire oligarch German Khan, owner of Alfa Group.

Khan is named in the notorious 'golden showers' dossier on Trump which was drawn up by British spy Christopher Steele, and is estimated byForbes to be worth $10 billion.

Khan is one of three oligarchs to appear in the infamous Steele Dossier who have sued a political intelligence firm over its release. They also sued BuzzFeed for publishing the dossier.

Alex Van Der Zwaan's home in Bayswater in West London. He lives in one of London's most exclusive areas and his father-in-law is estimated to be worth at least $10 billion

Khan was joined by two other oligarchs, Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, in suing Fusion GPS, the firm that contracted with ex British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who compiled the dossier.

Van der Zwwan also faces a fine of up to $250,000.

According to a statement of offense, Gates called Van Der Zwaan in September 2016 and told him to contact 'Person A'  who prosecutor Andrew Weissman identified in court as a Ukraine-based Manafort associate.

'After the call, Gates sent Van Der Zwaan documents including a preliminary criminal complaint in Ukraine via an electronic application called Viber,' according to the statement. Van Der Zwaan then called Person A and discussed in Russian that formal criminal charges might be brought against a former Ukrainian Minister of Justice, Law Firm A, and Manafort.

Van Der Zwaan recorded the call, according to the statement, then called the senior partner at his firm and partially recorded that call, before calling Gates and recording that call as well, taking notes each time.

But when asked for notes or emails by prosecutors, Van Der Zwaan 'did not produce' them to the law firm and 'deleted and otherwise did not produce emails he possessed that he understood had been requested by either the Special Counsel's Office or Law Firm A, or both.'

Among the emails he didn't hand over was one, dated Sept. 12, 2016, written in Russian, where the person had asked Van Der Zwann to call using an encrypted app.

Although the documents do not identify 'Person A,' Mother Jones reported the person could be Konstantin Kilimnik, who was Manafort's Ukraine-based business partner.

Manafort reached out to Kilimnik in April, soon after he was brought aboard the Trump campaign. ''How do we use to get whole?' Manafort wrote. His attorney, Jason Maloni, told the Washington Post it was a reference to collecting on debts.

Van Der Zwaan married Eva Khan, German Khan's daughter, at Luton Hoo Hotel, a posh estate outside of London. The festivities lasted three days. The pair are expecting a baby due in August, one reason they might get leniency from the sentencing judge.

Prosecutors didn't recommend a particular sentence. But the special counsel's office did note that there is no reason Van der Zwaan couldn't do some time behind bars while his baby is in the womb.

'To the extent the Court seeks to take into account the circumstances of van der Zwaan's wife's pregnancy, consideration of that circumstance would not preclude a term of incarceration,' they wrote in a court filing. 'In any event, a sentence that ensured van der Zwaan's return to the United Kingdom for the birth of his child in August 2018 would be within the recommended Guidelines' range,' they wrote, Buzzfeed reported late last month.

Although he is cooperating with investigators, he does not have a cooperation agreement that lays out the terms of his participation.

His lawyers also played the baby card. 'His career has been destroyed, he has been separated from his friends and family, and he faces the possibility of missing the birth of his first child,' they wrote arguing that 'just punishment does not require incarceration.'
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has reportedly rented out the entire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills this week.

The heir to the Saudi throne is wrapping up a visit to the United States, his first since taking over as the de facto leader of the kingdom.

The crown prince booked all 285 rooms  including 100 suites - at the luxury hotel, which charges on average $600 a night per room, The Wrap reported.

That means the royal popularly known as MBS will be shelling out at least $171,000 per night just for him and his entourage.

No rooms will be available at the hotel Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has reportedly rented out the entire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills this week

The crown prince booked all 285 rooms  including 100 suites - at the luxury hotel, which charges on average $600 a night per room

The above image shows the Culina Restaurant at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. The Saudi royal popularly known as MBS will be shelling out at least $171,000 per night just for him and his entourage

No rooms will be available at the hotel Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

Anyone wishing to stay at the hotel will have to book their reservation beginning on Friday evening

Those in the know say it is rare for anyone to reserve such a large block of rooms in one of the most expensive areas in the country

The image above shows a view of the pool at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills

Anyone wishing to stay at the hotel will have to book their reservation beginning on Friday evening.

About a half-mile away lies the L'Ermitage, another high-end hotel.

The crown prince booked 40 rooms there, with each going for $559 per night.

That means the Saudi royal will have spent more than $190,000 per night during his trip to Los Angeles.

MBS is scheduled to meet with a number of big names in Hollywood and the media, among them mogul Rupert Murdoch, Brian Grazer, superagent Ari Emanuel, Disney boss Robert Iger, and Oprah Winfrey.

Those in the know say it is rare for anyone to reserve such a large block of rooms in one of the most expensive areas in the country.

MBS is scheduled to meet with a number of big names in Hollywood and the media, among them moguls Oprah Winfrey (left) and Rupert Murdoch (right)

The crown prince is also scheduled to sit down with Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger (seen above in February 2018)

'The expense of a short-term buyout is mesmerizing,' a source told The Wrap.

'Not only do they have to convince a hotel to shut down their operation - but also, to relocate high-end guests who already made reservations.

'That is not something you see every day in Beverly Hills.'

Both the Four Seasons and L'Ermitage declined comment.

MBS has a habit of reserving every room in a luxury hotel.

This week, he snapped up bookings for every single room in the Four Seasons Silicon Valley in East Palo Alto, Recode reported.

The State Department has asked the hotel to relocate guests so that they could make room for a 'large VIP delegation,' according to an email sent by hotel management.

'The State Department has approached the hotel for a large VIP delegation next week,' the email read.

'Due to the hotel's layout and location they're adamant that we are the best fit for their high security needs which will be restricting the hotel and all outlets from other guests.'

MBS is currently in the Bay Area where he is scheduled to meet with tech heavyweights, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, top executives at Google, and venture capitalists.

There is widespread hope that the crown prince will open up his country to more Western investment as it seeks to liberalize its laws and develop its economy.

In December, Saudi Arabia lifted a 35-year ban on movie theaters.

This June, a Saudi law allowing women to drive is expected to take effect.

MBS has been on a public relations tour in the US as part of an effort to present a more modern face to the repressive Middle Eastern kingdom.

MBS also reportedly rented all of the rooms at Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley in East Palto Alto, California this week

In an interview with The Atlantic, he explicitly endorsed Israel's right to exist, the first time a Saudi leader did so on the record.

The comment was so rare that the crown prince's father, King Salman, felt compelled to issue a statement reiterating the kingdom's support for a Palestinian state.

The king also emphasized the need to advance the peace process in a phone call with President Donald Trump on Monday night, made after Israeli security forces killed 16 Palestinians last week during a demonstration along the Israel-Gaza border

King Salman reaffirmed 'the kingdom's steadfast position toward the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,' state news agency SPA said on Tuesday.

The report did not refer to the comments by MBS, which are the latest public sign that ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel may be growing closer.

Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Prince Mohammed was quoted as saying: 'I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land.

'But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.'

Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines, does not recognize Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

Increased tension between Riyadh and Tehran has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.
Garry Dobbie, pictured, has pleaded guilty to

A former teacher at a top private school has denied more allegations of sexual abuse.

Gary Dobbie, who used to work at Christs Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex, was originally accused of 10 counts of indecent assault, one attempted indecent assault and two counts of indecency against men and women.

The 66-year-old pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of indecent assault of a man between November and December 2001 at a hearing at Brighton Crown Court on Tuesday.

Dobbie, of Albi in France and formerly of Hereford, is due to stand trial next month alongside another ex-teacher, James Husband.

The 68-year-old, of Wigginton in York, denies four counts of rape and five counts of indecently assaulting a woman.

The prosecution is part of a wider police investigation into separate allegations of abuse by other former teachers at the school.

Founded in the 16th century, Christs Hospital charges boarders up to 31,500 a year and counts Sir Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb, and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge as alumni.

Pupils still wear a Tudor-style uniform consisting of a long blue coat and high yellow socks.
A Scandinavian man is in hospital fighting for life after an unprovoked one-punch attack in Perth.

The 44-year-old tourist was walking through the Perth Cultural Centre on Easter Sunday with a female relative when he was punched in the head out of the blue by another man.

The Scandinavian man fell backwards and lost consciousness, police said, and the thug and his friends left the area and headed to the train station.

Police are looking to speak to a man (second from right) who they believe could help with investigations after a Scandinavian tourist, 44, was punched unconscious and left with a brain injury

The man (far right) was seen wearing a gold chain and a black t-shirt that said 'Diamond' as he walked through the Perth Cultural Centre with friends about 5am on Easter Sunday

An ambulance rushed the tourist from Northbridge to the Royal Perth Hospital, where he had surgery for a brain injury.

Not long before the cowardly 5am punch, police claim the attacker had been in a fight with another man before a group of friends he was with moved him away from the area.

The man police wish to speak with is described as having pale skin with dark collar length hair.

At the time of the attack he was wearing dark jeans with ripped details on the knees, a black 'Diamond' T-shirt with white writing, white runners, a dark cap with white writing and a gold chain.

Police are looking to identify him and the people he was with, and speak to anyone who may have witnessed the attack.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online.
A father who was shot and killed in New York City on Easter Sunday had enjoyed a loving conversation with his daughter just minutes earlier.

Jerome Spence, 26, was gunned down outside an apartment building in Brooklyn less than a block away from his home.

He was shot in the face, chest and neck in the brutal 10.20pm attack, leaving his family devastated and baffled.

Jerome Spence, 26, was gunned down outside an apartment building in Brooklyn less than a block away from his home

Before he left his home, however, he had chatted with his five-year-old daughter, Camille, about her clothes, the New York Daily News reported.

Michelle Hutchinson, Spence's mother, said he had asked Camille: 'Why do you like that dress?'

She responded: 'Because I feel beautiful when I put it on.'

Spence, a construction worker, then told his little girl: 'You're not just beautiful when you put on the dress. You're beautiful all the time.'

Spence had plans to return to school, his mother said

Minutes later, he was killed.

Spence's friends and family say they have no idea why he was targeted.

His mother, 43, said he was a 'kind person' who 'don't have beef' with anyone.

She said he had plans to return to school.

Meanwhile his brother, Denmoy Chushnie, said Spence was not in a gang, adding: 'I cannot make sense of this'.

A friend of Spence's, who requested to remain anonymous, told the New York Post he was a 'role model', adding that he was 'a very positive person, all about the community  especially the children'.

The friend added: 'He would always do things with them, give them money to go to the store, talk to them, tell them to go to school.'
The niece of poisoned ex-spy Sergei Skripal is demanding Britain explains what happened to his beloved cats and guinea pigs.

Viktoria Skripal, 45, who aims to travel to Britain soon to see her stricken relatives, says reports that her uncle and his daughter were hit with a lethal nerve agent while at home are 'nonsense'.

If this was the case, it would have been reported that the animals died, she believes.

Russian chemical weapon Novichok was wiped on the front door of the ex-spy's Salisbury home, according to reports.

Viktoria Skripal (left) says reports that her uncle and his daughter (right, with her cat) were hit with a lethal nerve agent while at home are 'nonsense'

Viktoria said: 'Nonsense. First of all, it is not possible to go close (to the house).

'Secondly, if they were poisoned there, what happened to the animals?

'They had a cat Masyanya (imported) from Russia and one more cat, from a shelter.'

Then there were two guinea pigs.

'The cats might run away but the guinea pigs should have been found dead in their cage.

'Nothing has been said about this.'

She told a Moscow newspaper: ' I hope I will learn more when I get there.'

Russian chemical weapon Novichok was wiped on the front door of the ex-spy's Salisbury home. Pictured, Sergei and Yulia Skripal

If this was the case, it would have been reported that the cat and guinea pigs (pictured) died, Viktoria Skripal believes

One report citing neighbours said the Skripal pets - including Sergei's favourite imported Persian cat - had been taken away 'to be assessed'.

But they have not been seen since, nor have police clarified their status.

It is unclear where they are now or whether they suffered nerve agent poisoning.

Viktoria's claims disputing poisoning at the house match doubts raised by the Russian authorities about such a theory.

Meanwhile, there is better news on Yulia's beloved 'lost dog' called Noir back in Russia.

'They had a cat Masyanya (imported) from Russia and one more cat, from a shelter,' she said

The animal had been reported as 'missing' from kennels where Yulia placed it before flying on her trip to England.

This followed a report in Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper that the kennel had a debt accumulating at 10 a day and staff 'do not know what to do with him'.

Viktoria's daughter Ekaterina forecast a 'very sad' destiny for the dog, saying it was 'missing'.

But Viktoria has been to the kennels in Podolsk, near Moscow, and found that a mystery donor paid for the dog and Noir is being well looked after.

The mongrel 'wagged his tail' on seeing her.

There is better news on Yulia's beloved 'lost dog' called Noir back in Russia, who is being well looked after

Asked who may have paid, Viktoria said: 'I don't know. Maybe it was Yulia's boyfriend and he did it for purpose, to stop me from picking up the dog.

'I think he is a strange man.'

The fiance - reported to have connections to the Russian secret services - has not been identified nor spoken since she was poisoned.

Viktoria said she has been told that Yulia 'has opened her eyes, can eat, drink and has even said a few words'.
Dutchman Jorn Moeskops, 32, bombarded Alice Sinclair with emails and WhatsApp messages and even turned up outside her Maida Vale home, in west London

A management consultant who 'obsessively' stalked a physio when she called time on their relationship after two dates avoided jail after he apologised today.

Dutchman Jorn Moeskops, 32, bombarded Alice Sinclair with emails and WhatsApp messages and even turned up outside her Maida Vale home, in west London.

The physio started going out with Moeskops shortly before Christmas last year, the court heard.

But when she tried to end the brief relationship, Moeskops 'simply did not get the message' sparking his 'obsessive and insistent' campaign of harassment.

Moeskops, who appeared in court today wearing a light blue shirt under a navy blazer and beige trousers, admitted stalking amounting to harassment.

Ed Cohen, prosecuting, said: 'The defendant and the complainant met online and engaged in a short period of dating on two or three occasions.

'It was at a Christmas party where the complainant took the view that she no longer wanted to continue the relationship with the defendant and started to distance herself from him.

'She made it clear by text messages that she did not want to see him any longer and ended the relationship.

'In that sense, on 27 December however, the defendant simply did not get the message and continued to write messages to the complainant that they should meet.

'However, the complainant was clear in her responses that she did not wish to see him.

'On 3 January the defendant attended the complainant's address.

'However, the complainant's landlord made an excuse to say that she was not in and it was on that occasion that the complainant blocked him on WhatsApp.

'Then, on 4 January 2018, the defendant started sending lengthy emails to the complainant.

'They were quite obsessive and insistent that they rekindle this relationship.

'On 7 January, the defendant attended the complainant's address and she recognised that it was the defendant and told him he needed to go away.

'He then started sending further emails to her and she then had to block him from sending any further emails.

'Then, on 21 February, the complainant was on her way back to her home address and outside the train station she noticed the defendant was on the opposite side of the road.

'She was uneasy and scared by this situation and had to make conversation with a random dog-walker.'

Moeskops, who appeared in court today wearing a light blue shirt under a navy blazer and beige trousers, admitted stalking amounting to harassment

Moeskops, representing himself, told Westminster Magistrates' Court: 'I would like to reiterate that I am sorry for the negative impact that my actions have caused upon her.

'Secondly, I take full responsibility and I stand ready to take any legal consequences the court would wish to impose.'

He added: 'Finally, I would like to stress that there has never been any intention or wish on my side to form any impediment on her personal freedom.'

According to his Linkedin page, Moeskops is a Managing Director at Navus Consulting Limited specialising in mergers, acquisitions and political risks.

He has previously worked as a trainee at the Council of the European Union in Brussels.

Magistrate Jacqueline Jenkins told him: 'As you are aware, the courts take domestic abuse very seriously, and that includes sending abusive emails.

'When somebody is told a relationship is over, you are expected to believe that and not, in a sense, harass the person.'

Moeskops, from Camberwell, southeast London, was made subject to a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 120 hours' unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay 85 costs, an 85 surcharge and slapped with an indefinite restraining order barring any form of contact with Miss Sinclair or entering the Maida Vale area.
A Chinese couple have reunited with their missing daughter, 24 years after they claim the girl was kidnapped from a market in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Wang Mingqing and wife Liu Dengying had been working on their fruit stall, when their three-year-old daughter Qifeng suddenly disappeared.

The couple were distraught, but never gave up hope and earlier this year - after searching for nearly a quarter of a century - they found their daughter again.

Wang Mingqing started to work as a taxi driver in bid to look for his missing daughter

He carried his daughter's childhood picture and asked around in Chengdu in the past 24 years

After Qifeng disappeared, Mr Wang says he searched for her day and night, and ended up becoming a taxi driver for a ride hailing company in order to spread the word.

Mr Wang printed his daughter's information on a business card and gave it to each of his customers and also put up a poster at the rear window of his taxi.

'Perhaps my daughter would get on my taxi one day?' said Mr Wang. His persistent search carried on over the past two decades.

Thanks to his persistent search the Wangs' story had become local news, and earlier this year, a sketch artist who heard about their plight helped them draw a picture of what their daughter might look like as an adult.

Wang Qifeng, 27, had been raised just 12 miles away from Chengdu by adoptive parents who named her Kang Ying.

Thanks to Mr Wang's effort, his daughter, Wang Qifeng, circled, saw the news and made contact with him directly

Mr Wang worked as a taxi driver and put up notice at the rear window for a public appeal

The desperate father printed his daughter's information on a business card for his customers

She always knew she was adopted, and had grown up thinking that her parents had abandoned her by the road.

When she saw the drawing of the kidnapped girl as an adult, she was shocked by how much it resembled her, and got in touch with Mr Wang.

With the help of local police, the pair did a DNA comparison data test last week, and confirmed a match as a father-daughter relationship.

Local TV channel Cover News visited the family as Mr Wang made his first phone call to his daughter in 24 years' time. The 50-year-old burst into tears the moment he heard his daughter's voice.

Wang burst into tears when he made the first phone call with his daughter on April 1

Wang Qifeng, 27, brought along her daughter and flew to Chengdu to meet her family

Mr Wang's relentless search has finally paid off as he found his long-lost daughter again

'From now on, your father is here. You don't need to worry about anything. Your father will support you," Mr Wang cried.

Wang Qifeng, who is now staying in Jilin Province in north China, agreed to fly to Chengdu for reunion on April 3.

The 27-year-old Qifeng brought along her one-year-old daughter to visit the family.

Qifeng and her one-year-old daughter were welcomed by her family at the doorstep of her hometown in Ziyang city at 3pm.

Mr Wang and his wife hugged their long-lost daughter and shed in tears.

Mr Wang's 24-year desperate search has finally paid off as the whole family reunited and had their first family photo taken.
Sabrina Kouider (pictured) and her boyfriend Ouissem Medouni, 40, are accused of torturing and killing Sophie Lionnet

A mother accused of murdering French nanny Sophie Lionnet broke down in tears as gruesome details of the victims injuries were given in court today.

Sabrina Kouider, 35, and her boyfriend Ouissem Medouni, 40, are accused of torturing Ms Lionnet in a bath before killing her and throwing her body on a bonfire.

The pair allegedly interrogated Ms Lionnet, 21, until she falsely confessed to being paid to spy on them by Kouiders ex, former Boyzone member Mark Walton.

They beat the nanny in their 900,000 home in Wimbledon, south London, before burning her body on a bonfire while grilling chicken on a barbecue, jurors heard.

As a pathologist explained the fractures to five of Ms Lionnets ribs, which occurred up to three days before her death, Kouiders defence barrister Icah Peart asked if his client could leave the room.

The Recorder of London, Judge Nicholas Hilliard, permitted it and within seconds of Kouider leaving the dock, sobbing could be heard from the adjoining room.

The court proceedings continued unabated in her absence.

Both Kouider, a French fashion designer, and Medouni have admitted to burning Ms Lionnets body, but deny murder. They blame each other for the nannys death.

As a pathologist explained the injuries to the body of Ms Lionnet (pictured), Kouiders defence barrister Icah Peart asked if his client could leave the room

Pathologist Dr Charlotte Randall conducted a post-mortem on Ms Lionnet on September 22.

She said a number of other injuries most likely caused before death, including the fractures to the cheek bones and jaw, which occurred while she was still alive, 'possibly immediately before death'.

Ms Lionnet's right eye socket was bruised and she suffered other facial injuries caused by blunt force trauma, possibly by a number of blows or punches to the face.

Kouider's defence barrister Icah Peart QC asked if the injuries to Ms Lionnet's face could have been caused by a punch, and Dr Randall said they could.

Ms Lionnet's teeth were also fractured and parts of her hair, scalp and the top part of the skull were missing, exposing shrunken brain tissue.

Both Kouider and Medouni (pictured) have admitted to burning Ms Lionnets body, but deny murdering her. They blame each other for the nannys death

Kouider and Medouni (shown in court) held the nanny underwater in the bath repeatedly in order to get her to admit colluding with Walton, it is alleged

Dr Randall said the fire damage was so extensive that it impaired the post-mortem, and the definite cause of death was given as unascertained.

Ms Lionnet suffered fire damage around the eyes, a fractured cheek bone and jaw and a cracked skull.

Dried blood was found in both nostrils as a result of blunt force trauma in life such as a blow or a punch, the court heard.

On her left arm were two bruises, sustained in life, and three on her back, also sustained in life.

The post-mortem revealed Ms Lionnet tested negative for all drugs and the small amount of alcohol in her body was produced by her body after death.

Kouider had accused Lionnet of taking drugs, as well as drugging her and Medouni, the court heard.

Medouni and Kouider, both of Southfields, southwest London (police on the scene, pictured), both deny murder

Ms Lionnets lungs were inflated, which can occur as a result of drowning.

Kouider and Medouni held the nanny underwater in the bath repeatedly in order to get her to admit colluding with Walton, it is alleged.

The nannys charred body was discovered at the house in Wimbledon Park Road after a neighbour became concerned about the fire and called 999.

She suffered fractures to her sternum, four ribs and her jawbone.

Fractures to the sternum were consistent with a kick, stamp or a blow with a severe degree of force, the court heard.

The young victim, from Troyes, northeast France, had moved to the UK in 2016 to improve her English.

Medouni and Kouider, both of Southfields, southwest London, both deny murder.

The trial continues.
A Vermont man accused by family members of killing his millionaire grandfather and drowning his mother on their boat to collect inheritance money, has appeared in court.

Nathan Carman, 24, was a suspect in his grandfather John Chakalos' death after the wealthy 87-year-old real estate developer was shot and killed in his Vermont home in 2013, but a prosecutor at the time rejected a warrant for his arrest pending more information.

Three years later, Carman went on a fishing trip with his mother Linda Carman, 54, who disappeared when the boat sank off the coast of Rhode Island.

Today, he was in probate court after his three aunts filed a 'slayer action' lawsuit asking a judge to block him from inheriting a portion of the family's $44million fortune.

Nathan Carman, 24, was in probate court today after his three aunts filed a lawsuit asking a judge to block him from inheriting a portion of the family's $44million fortune

Carman, 24, was a suspect in his grandfather John Chakalos' death and three years later, Carman went on a fishing trip with his mother Linda Carman, 54, who disappeared when the boat sank. But he has never been criminally charged

While he was the last known person to see both Chakalos and his mother before their deaths, Nathan has denied any wrongdoing, saying he loved both relatives.

Representing himself, Carman told the court: 'It's not so much the money or my freedom as it is my reputation ... and I'm concerned about protecting my future,' Boston 25 reports.

He also claims that his aunts had more motive than he did to kill his grandfather.

'I will say that 2 of the petitioners had substantial motive,' he said. He previously labeled his aunts as 'greedy' and 'driven by malice to make the vexatious, false, and insupportable allegations.'

The aunts' lawyer Daniel Small hit back, saying any attempt to shift the focus to his aunts was 'completely outrageous', the Boston Globe reported.

'Nathan refused to take a lie detector,' Small said. 'Everyone else in that family agreed. Nathan refused to cooperate with the police. Everyone else agreed.'

'Nathan wants the blood money,' Small said. 'The family does not.'

The judge expressed concern about the autistic 24-year-old representing himself in such a serious case, and Carman informed him he was planning to sell his home to finance an attorney.

Nathan was a suspect in his grandfather John Chakalos' death after the wealthy 87-year-old real estate developer (right) was shot and killed in his Vermont home in 2013

Three years later, Carman (right) went on a fishing trip with his mother Linda Carman (left), who disappeared when the boat sank off the coast of Rhode Island

Carman said he was also seeking to have the death of his grandfather and his mother heard in two separate cases.

'My grandfather's death is an event that occurred in December of 2013 and petitioners are asking about modifications that I made to my boat in 2016. Are we trying two murder cases here or one?' he asked.

'Do we not first need to figure out whether or not my mother is dead? What's the manner of death?' Carman continued.

'Having two separate cases is what I've been pushing for.'

However, he was tight lipped when his aunts' lawyer began asking him about what happened to a gun that has been missing since his grandfather's 2013 shooting death.

Carman said he was pleading the 5th Amendment when asked by attorney Dan Small about the guns he owned - including a Sig Sauer rifle that used .308 caliber bullets  the same bullets used in his grandfather's shooting.

A billboard offered a $250,000 reward for anyone with information leading to an arrest in Chakalos' death. He and his wife were well known for their Christmas lights display

Carman is seen with his grandmother shortly before she died. Three years after his grandfather died, his mother was presumed dead after their fishing boat went under

The pair were in this boat when it sank off the coast of Rhode Island. Nathan was found lost at sea a week later

Police investigating Chakalos' death in 2013 say Carman never told them he owned the Sig Sauer rifle.

When they searched his Middletown apartment, they only recovered a shotgun and a pellet rifle.

Small is now demanding Carman hands over any records of his purchase of the Sig Sauer rifle, along with shooting range memberships, and locations, arguing that documentation is not covered by the Fifth Amendment.

Carman argue she simply does not have the the documentation they are asking for any more, saying he didn't file taxes that year because he was a teen without an income.

Nathan Carman, accused by family members of killing his millionaire grandfather and possibly his mother in an attempt to collect inheritance money, arrives in district court, Tuesday, in Concord, New Hampshire

Carman represented himself after firing his attorneys earlier this year

Attorney Dan Small, who represents Carman's aunts, speaks to reporters at district court, Tuesday

No criminal charges have been brought against Nathan but his aunts Valerie Santilli, Elaine Chakalos, and Charlene Gallagher filed a 'slayer action' in New Hampshire, asking a court to find him responsible for killing Chakalos.

Small said previously that the details and evidence in Chakalos' death and in Linda's disappearance 'all point to Nathan as the prime suspect.'

'Yet he now stands to inherit millions of dollars from their estates,' Small said in a statement.

Small said if the sisters win the lawsuit, 'they pledge to use those funds exclusively to pay for expenses incurred relating to the investigation into the death of their father and disappearance of their sister, and any remaining funds will go to charity.'

Chakalos, a Second World War veteran, was shot dead at his home in Windsor, Vermont in 2013, just weeks after Carman's grandmother died of cancer.

Carman previously told the Hartford Courant: 'He loved me very dearly,' he added. 'I was like a son to him; he was like a father to me.'

In September 2016, Linda was on a fishing trip with her son, when the boat sank, according to Nathan.

Nathan Carman is accused of killing both his grandfather and mother by three aunts who have filed a lawsuit to block him from inheriting a portion of the family's $44million fortune

Nathan, right, disembarks at the US Coast Guard station in Boston in 2016

He was rescued at sea a week later, and t he search for Linda was called off after the Coast Guard said there was no chance of her still being alive.

In a recording of the phone call Carman made to the Coast Guard after he was rescued by a freighter, he said he heard a 'funny noise' in the engine compartment of his boat and then saw water pouring in before he lost sight of his mother.

While Nathan said he patched some holes on the 31-foot-long boat with marine putty before the trip, he insisted the boat was seaworthy.

But insurance companies claimed in court that 'incomplete, improper, and faulty repairs' were made the day before the boat sank.

Carman told ABC's '20/20' last year that he's misunderstood and an easy target for police because he suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum. A few of its hallmarks are awkward social and communication skills.

He was diagnosed with Asperger's, a high-functioning variation of autism spectrum disorder, when he was a child, New York Magazine reported.

Those who knew him at high school said he was very socially awkward and that he had the social aptitude of a child.

Nathan Carman, 24 was rescued after a week at sea, however his mother Linda Carman (pictured) was never discovered

His classmates from high school said that during Halloween in 2009 a parent of a trick-or-treater called police because Nathan had been handing out Ziploc bags filled with fish guts to people.

They said he had a strange obsession with the Second Amendment and believed 'U.S. citizens should be allowed to buy any form of weapons, including rocket launchers, automatic weapons, grenades.'

His classmates also said Nathan was a six-foot giant loner who was teased and taunted. Apparently this made him very hostile towards students and faculty members. 'He was very insistent that he was right, and that was it,' a former classmate said.

'He would knock stuff over or whatever off the desk. The teacher would try to go out and talk to him, but there was no reasoning with Nathan,' they continued.

Although he was close to his mother growing up their relationship became strained when he was a teenager. He apparently threw a tray of cookies at a wall after his mother burnt them. 'Soon enough he's going to slit your throat while you're sleeping,' her boyfriend at the time said.
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Mark Zuckerberg has been targeted by the conservative street artist Sabo, who plastered posters across New York mocking him over the Facebook privacy scandal.

Banners reading 'You can't watch your kids 24/7, but we can' were put up in Times Square and other central sites on Monday night, alongside fake street signs saying 'Caution, Facebook sells your data'.

Many of the billboards also included the face of New York senator Chuck Schumer, whose daughter works as a product marketing manager for Facebook, with the hashtag #ZuckSchumer.

Banners reading 'You can't watch your kids 24/7, but we can' were put up across Manhattan on Monday night, where they remained on Tuesday morning

Street artist Sabo attacked Facebook after its recent privacy scandal with fake traffic signs reading 'Caution, Facebook sells your data'. Many of the billboards also included the face of New York senator Chuck Schumer, whose daughter works as a product marketing manager for Facebook, with the hashtag #ZuckSchumer

Sabo's attack comes as Facebook reels from a scandal that erupted following revelations it handed data on at least 50 million unsuspecting Facebook users to a Trump-affiliated political consultancy firm

One version asked, 'Conflict of interest?... The daughter of Chuck is working for Zuck' alongside a thumbs-down image modeled on Facebook's 'like' icon.

Others showed Zuckerberg's face cut 50-50 alongside Schumer's, with each one molding into the other and the blue Facebook logo at the bottom.

Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, who was recently sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexting a minor on platforms including Facebook, was also featured in the campaign.

His likeness was seen topless while taking a selfie, echoing one of the now-notorious snaps he sent to the 15-year-old girl while his wife Huma Abedin was working as a campaign aide to Hillary Clinton.

Sabo put up posters by sites including the Rockefeller Centre and Prospect Park in Brooklyn before finishing his stunt at Facebook's headquarters in Greenwich Village.

His latest attack comes as Facebook reels from a scandal that erupted following revelations it handed data on at least 50 million unsuspecting Facebook users to a Trump-affiliated political consultancy firm.

Cambridge Analytica harvested data from users' profiles without their permission then used it to target U.S. voters based on psychological profiling.

Zuckerberg has been branded a hypocrite over the scandal, particularly after a promise he made in 2009 that Facebook would 'never sell your data' resurfaced on the Internet.

Other posters, including this one by Washington Square Arch, showed Zuckerberg's face cut 50-50 alongside Schumer's, with each one molding into the other and the blue Facebook logo at the bottom

Zuckerberg has been branded a hypocrite over the scandal, particularly after a promise he made in 2009 that Facebook would 'never sell your data' resurfaced on the Internet

This is not the first time Zuckerberg has been targeted by the secretive street artist, who goes by the online moniker @unsavoryagents. Pictured: Two of the signs seen in New York on Tuesday morning

The pledge was made in an interview which was posted onto Twitter by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

This is not the first time Zuckerberg has been targeted by the secretive street artist, who goes by the online moniker @unsavoryagents.

In August last year, posters cropped up in several Californian cities bearing the slogan 'F*** Zuck 2020' in a reference to his alleged presidential aspirations.

That stunt led to Sabo's Facebook page being taken down on the grounds that the works constituted hate speech. Sabo's page is now again live but has not been updated since March 13.

The street artist has not mentioned his latest escapade on Twitter either, aside from a message saying 'only a small handful of people know I am in New York' after his Jeep was allegedly stolen while he was away.

The street artist has not mentioned his latest escapade on Twitter, aside from a message saying 'only a small handful of people know I am in New York'. Pictured: Performers hold up one of Sabo's posters in Times Square on Monday evening

Sabo, who describes his work as 'creatively kicking liberals in the teeth', mainly focuses his ire on showbiz personalities and politicians. Pictured: Posters that appeared in Times Square on Monday night

Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, who was recently sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexting a minor on platforms including Facebook, was also featured in the campaign

Sabo, who describes his work as 'creatively kicking liberals in the teeth', mainly focuses his ire on showbiz personalities and politicians.

In February, he mocked Jimmy Kimmel after he crashed his car following an illegal left turn in West Hollywood with a street sign reading 'right turns only, this includes idiot comedians'.

And in December 2017, Hollywood awoke to find the image of Al Franken from a now infamous photograph of him groping a sleeping model plastered on to a huge billboard advertising the film The Greatest Showman.

He was seen leering towards Zendaya, the original subject of the 20th Century Fox advertisement, who was on a flying trapeze.

Other politicians Sabo targeted by Sabo include Hillary Clinton, Lena Dunham, Donald Trump and Barack Obama.

After vowing to back Sen. Ted Cruz in the 2016 election, even though he was not a candidate, the artist finally switched his allegiance to Trump before the votes were cast.

Sabo's put up posters by locations including Times Square, the Rockefeller Centre and Prospect Park in Brooklyn before finishing his stunt at Facebook's headquarters in Greenwich Village. Pictured: A poster on a subway sign near the Chrysler building

The Facebook scandal revolved around how Cambridge Analytica harvested data from people's profiles without their permission then used it to target adverts to voters in the US, based on psychological profiling

One of the selfies that Anthony Weiner send to a 15-year-old girl, left, was replicated in the photos. Senator Chuck Schumer, right, was also targeted
Former South Carolina first lady Jenny Sullivan Sanford remarried over Easter weekend, nine years after she was left humiliated by her cheating governor ex-husband.

Jenny's new husband is investment banker Andrew McKay and the wedding took place on Sullivan's Island near Charleston this weekend, three short months after their engagement.

Mother-of-four Jenny, 55, proudly shared photographs from the happy occasion on Instagram.

She wore an ivory satin gown and furry white shawl. Wearing her hair tied off her face, she accessorized with pearl earrings and a matching bracelet.

'Rejoice!' wrote Jenny as she shared a photograph from the wedding with followers.

Jenny Sanford married investment banker Andrew McKay over the weekend in a private ceremony on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina

In the caption for her second photograph, she wrote: 'Joy in the morning! Sweetest husband ever.'

Among those to congratulate her online was United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

'Congratulations! You deserve a life of great love and laughter. We are so happy for you!' she wrote.

Jenny responded: 'Thank you!' and described it as a 'happy time'.

The couple dated for 15 months before announcing their engagement in January.

Among those who congratulated her was United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley

It is a second chance at happiness for Sanford who was left devastated in 2009 when her ex-husband Mark, then the governor of South Carolina, admitted to an affair with Argentinian Maria Belen Chapur.

The confession came in June after a bizarre period of ten days when he was considered missing.

The 55-year-old is the ex-wife of former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford (above together in 2009, months before their split)

Sanford admitted in 2009 that he had been having an affair with Argentinian Maria Belen Chapur. They are shown above in 2013 when they were engaged. They broke up in 2014

It was referred to as a 'disappearance' until he returned to the spotlight to admit he had been in Buenos Aires with Chapur, his lover of one year.

Jenny had been aware of the affair since January that year.

On Sunday, as his ex-wife celebrated her new marriage, Mark Sanford took to Facebook to celebrate the 'second chance' he had been given.

After his 2009 announcement, Sanford and Chapur carried on dating and they too became engaged.

He however called off the engagement in 2014, citing his then-ongoing divorce from his wife as the reason for the split.

Jenny and Andrew announced their engagement in January after 15 months of dating

As his ex-wife tied the knot, Sanford shared this Facebook post about 'second chances' on Sunday

In a 2,000 word Facebook post which he has since deleted, he claimed the terms of the divorce were so strict that it meant he could not allow his children and fiancee to be around one another.

'No relationship can stand forever this tension of being forced to pick between the one you love and your own son or daughter.

'Belen and I have decided to call off the engagement,' he wrote.

While Sanford was public about his affair, giving a tearful press conference in June 2009, his ex-wife was not.

She said little publicly about his indiscretion and saved her retelling of the experience for her book, Staying True.

In it, she recalled humorously how she argued with Sanford after discovering his affair with him proclaiming: 'She is not a wh**re!'

The couple has four sons together.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed Russia's President Putin on Tuesday as construction began on the country's first nuclear power plant.

The pair shook hands as they met in Ankara and then spoke to workers at the $20billion Akkuyu power station, which is being built by Russia, via video link.

The two-day trip to Turkey is Putin's first visit to a foreign country since he was reelected last month, and will also include talks with Iran's Hassan Rouhani on Syria.

President Erdogan shakes hands with President Putin in Ankara on Tuesday as the Russian strongman makes his first foreign visit since be reelected

Putin joined Erdogan to launch construction on a $20billion nuclear power station, Turkey's first, which is being built by Russian State Nuclear Energy Agency Rosatom

Turkey, which is a member of NATO and once courted membership of the European Union, has pivoted towards Russia in recent years.

Erdogan and Putin met eight times last year and regularly speak on the phone. On Tuesday both leaders vowed to deepen their ties on strategic and security issues.

Of particular concern to Turkey is the war in Syria and the presence along its border of armed Kurdish groups, which were backed by the US in the fight against ISIS.

Turkey was furious at US support for such groups and has since launched an all-out offensive against them, starting in Afrin province.

The contract to build the Akkuyu plant was awarded to Russian State Nuclear Energy Agency Rosatom back in 2010, and it is due to be completed in 2023.

That year will mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of modern Turkey, when Erdogan says the country will be among the world's top 10 economies.

Last month, sources said Akkuyu was likely to miss its 2023 target start-up date, but Rosatom, which is looking for local partners to take a 49 per cent stake in the project, said it is committed to the timetable.

The power station is due to come online in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the founding of modern Turkey, when Erdogan says the country will be in the world's top 10 economies

Putin and Erdogan have forged a close relationship over the past year, meeting a total of eight times in 2017 and speaking regularly on the phone

The Interfax news agency later cited the head of Rosatom saying that the sale of the 49 per cent stake was likely to be postponed from this year until 2019.

'In the name of God!' Erdogan said standing next to Putin at the presidential palace in Ankara before fireworks launched to mark the event.

'This scale of the project is difficult to exaggerate,' Putin said at the ceremony. 'This marks a new stage in the development of Turkey's economy.'

Erdogan said: 'The power plant will contribute to our energy security and also play an important role in the fight against climate change.'

Turkey's Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan's son-in-law, praised the Akkuyu project saying: 'We are standing at a crucial juncture in realising the 63-year dream.'

Turkey and Russia have forged burgeoning ties in recent months on a number of, despite past differences.

'We are also in close cooperation with Russia to end as soon as possible the terror threat and clashes in Syria,' Erdogan said.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani will also join Putin and Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday for a day of talks dedicated to Syria

Their meeting comes as ties between Russia and the West are nosediving to post-Cold War lows after the March poisoning of Russian ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK.

While EU powers have rushed to join Britain in condemning Russia and expelling diplomats over the attack on Skripal, Turkey has been much more circumspect.

Erdogan has said that Ankara will not act against Moscow 'based on an allegation'.

In a move that has troubled Turkey's NATO allies, Ankara has also agreed to buy S-400 air defence missile systems from Russia.

But Ankara-Moscow relations were also tested by a severe crisis from November 2015 when Turkey shot down a Russian war plane over Syria, a confrontation both sides are trying to put behind each other.

Despite being on different sides of the Syrian civil war, key regime backers Russia and Iran have joined with rebel-supporting Turkey to boost peace and also influence when the conflict ends.

Russia and Turkey are also building the TurkStream gas pipeline under the Black Sea that will allow Moscow to pump gas to Europe avoiding Ukraine and increase Turkey's importance as a transit hub.
Officers screamed at Jarvis Hayes to put his car in park the evening of September 3, 2017, in a Myrtle Beach motel parking lot

Chilling footage shows the moment a driver is shot dead after turning his car around and accelerating towards police officers.

Officers screamed at Jarvis Hayes to put his car in park the evening of September 3, 2017, in a Myrtle Beach motel parking lot.

But instead, the 31-year-old from Greensboro, North Carolina, turned his car towards the police and started to accelerate, ABC 15 reported.

Fearing they were about to be hit, the South Carolina officers fired dozens of shots at the car, ultimately killing Hayes.

Chilling footage shows the moment a driver is shot dead after turning his car around and accelerating towards police officers

The shooting happened after police attempted to pull Hayes over because he was driving erratically through Myrtle Beach

The video shows one officer jump on the hood of the police car as shots ring out in an attempt to flee Hayes white Jaguar as it attempts to ram into him.

Harris County Coroner Darris Fowler said Hayes died from multiple trauma caused by the bullet wounds.

The shooting happened after police attempted to pull Hayes over because he was driving erratically through Myrtle Beach.

Field Officer Amanda Crago attempted to pull Hayes over at the Mystic Sea Motel. Hayes is pictured driving into it the motel parking lot

But instead of listening to police orders to slow down and pull to into the parking lot, Hayes turned around and stepped on the gas

The video shows one officer jump on the hood of the police car as shots ring out in an attempt to flee Hayes white Jaguar as it attempts to ram into him

A witness told officers she saw the white Jaguar driving recklessly near Ocean Boulevard.

Police quickly identified Hayes as the driver - and surveillance footage showed him driving on the sidewalk and darting into oncoming traffic.

Field Officer Amanda Crago attempted to pull Hayes over at the Mystic Sea Motel.

But instead of listening to police orders to slow down and pull to into the parking lot, Hayes turned around and stepped on the gas.
Up to half of all flights in Europe have faced delays after a Europe-wide air traffic control system failed.

Eurocontrol, which runs the system, said that a technical problem meant that as many as half a million passengers could be affected, disrupting travellers who went away for the Easter weekend.

'Today 29,500 flights were expected in the European network. Approximately half of those could have some delay as a result of the system outage,' Eurocontrol said. The agency later said the Network Manager system was back up and running from 7pm BST.

London's Gatwick Airport said seven or eight flights an hour were being delayed as a result and told passengers to check with their airlines.

Passengers found themselves stuck on board planes waiting to take off

One passenger said she was settling down for a long delay of up to six hours

Eurocontrol - which covers 41 countries including all 28 EU nations plus others in Europe including Ukraine, Turkey and Norway, said the cause had been identified, without saying what it was.

Eurocontrol added that flight plans from before 11.26am BST were 'lost' and asked airlines to refile them.

How does Eurocontrol's Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System work? Eurocontrol's Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System compares demand for flights in a particular area with the available capacity. The system pulls together data such as flight plans, taxiing time, and flight position from numerous sources in multiple countries and collates them. It can then track planes in real time to manage the number of planes in the air to make sure it doesn't get too crowded. Precise monitoring prevents the carefully balanced system from being thrown out by planes with delayed departures or arrivals. Planes can then be herded into departure and landing slots at airports to keep the thousands of flights in Europe flowing smoothly. ETFMS also helps plan flight schedules up to a week in advance to help airlines and air traffic controllers plan each day down to the minute. Advertisement

The agency said it was a 'technical fault' and that the system had not been hacked, saying that safety was not compromised at any time.

Some 59 per cent of departing flights at Gatwick were delayed between 3pm and 4pm, according to airline data company FlightStats.

A spokesperson for Gatwick said: 'Following a failure of Eurocontrol's Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System (ETFMS), and associated flight plan system, some flights in and out of London Gatwick are experiencing delays.

'Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest information on flights and we apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause passengers.'

Several airports across the continent warned of problems, with Amsterdam's Schiphol saying that the 'system failure' at Eurocontrol could have 'possible consequences' for departures.

Toan Ravenscroft said: 'Currently on the runway with a full plane and a grumpy 19 month old, only to be told issues mean at least an hour sitting here.'

Rachel Waterman tweeted: 'Settling in for a 6 hour delay as European Air Traffic Control has crashed. Sorry to be that person but has anyone tried turning it off and turning it on again?.'

EasyJet passenger Caoimh Smith said: 'Sitting very frustrated at Lyon airport waiting on information for a delayed flight to Gatwick.'

Another Twitter user said they were stuck in Toulouse, France, after a Ryanair flight to London Stansted was cancelled.

Jason Byrne said he was stuck at Dublin Airport and had been given no information after a flight to Gatwick was cancelled.

And Matthew Shaw said: 'Crushing. Spent the last seven hours sat in Paris Airport as my connection flight home was cancelled. The flight is due in an hour... Just been delayed. Urgh.'

London's Heathrow Airport said there were no more delays or cancellations than usual while Birmingham Airport wrote on Twitter: 'Due to a European air traffic issue, the number of flights allowed to operate to and from Birmingham are currently restricted.

Eurocontrol said that flight plans from before 11.26am BST were 'lost' and asked airlines to refile them

'We apologise for any delays and advise to keep checking the departure boards. Many thanks.'

Dublin Airport said: 'A systems failure @eurocontrol, the organisation that manages air traffic control services across Europe, may cause some delays to the flight schedule @DublinAirport. Passengers are advised to check latest flight information with their airline.'

Luton-based carrier easyJet said in a statement: 'Due to an earlier flight failure of the Eurocontrol flight planning system, easyJet like other airlines experienced delays to some departing flights.

'Ten flights were delayed between one hour and three hours with 16 flights delayed as a knock-on effect caused by the initial delays. EasyJet will operate 1,598 flights today.

London City Airport tweeted: 'Due to a system failure at Eurocontrol, which is responsible for European air navigation, airspace capacity across Europe is reduced. We're expecting delays & cancellations to some flights.'

Some of the passengers affected by the problems tweeted about delays to their flights

'For passengers on delayed flights we are providing the latest information and refreshments as required.

'We understand that the issue has now been identified and we are working with Eurocontrol to minimise any further disruption for our passengers.

'While the situation is outside of its control, easyJet apologises for any inconvenience caused by the delays.'

The breakdown comes a day after the Easter holidays when many travellers are on the move around Europe, and as commuters across France faced disruption from a massive rail strike in protest at President Emmanuel Macron's reforms.

The disruption also comes as flights at the UK's two busiest airports could be hit with delays over the next three weeks as air traffic controllers introduce new technology.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick will suffer disruption as Nats (National Air Traffic Services) replaces paper flight information strips with a digital system at its control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire.

The Eurocontrol headquarters in Brussels are pictured. The agency said it hoped to have the system back up and running by tomorrow

Five services from London to Paris and two services from London to Brussels and Lille, have been cancelled today and tomorrow.

Trains to Disneyland Paris have also been re-routed, with holidaymakers forced to change at Paris' Gare du Nord, meaning longer journey times.

Some 29,000 people will see their trains either cancelled or re-routed today and tomorrow.

Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest and one of the busiest in Europe, said the effects were 'limited' but added that planes from Brussels 'might not be able to arrive'.

Problems were also reported at Birmingham airport with passengers warned to check their flights

'We have delays at departures, but this is nothing dramatic. Punctuality is currently under 80 percent,' a spokesperson of Fraport, which runs the airport, told AFP.

German air traffic control operator Deutsche Flugsicherung warned of a possible 'vicious circle' of delays.

'Since 2 pm this system, the network manager, has failed in Brussels. This is the system, the department, that controls the flight schedules,' a spokeswoman said.

'You work from experience, but things are going slower. But of course, a vicious circle can arise. If nobody takes off, nobody can land. We don't know how long it'll take,' the spokeswoman added.

The airline Ryanair said: 'Some flights are currently experiencing delays and we regret we have been forced to cancel a small number of flights.'

Austrian Airlines also warned of possible delays at Vienna Airport and told passengers to check flight information online.

The main airports in Paris and Rome, and the organisation that runs all of Spain's airports, said, however, they had no initial reports of disruption.

Dublin airport was also reporting delays to flights

Among the airports affected were Amsterdam's Schipol (pictured), Brussels and Helsinki

Brussels airport said departures were limited to 10 flights an hour. The Belgian airport manages 650 flights a day, according to its website.

Several airports across the continent warned of problems, with Schiphol saying that the 'system failure' at Eurocontrol could have 'possible consequences' for departures.

Helsinki airport also said its traffic was facing delays.
A California nurse who said she was fired from her job at a hospital after writing on social media that police shooting victim Stephon Clark 'deserved it for being stupid' has drawn thousands of dollars in donations after stetting up an online fundraiser.

Faith Linthicum, who until last week had worked in labor and delivery at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, wrote in the description of her GoFundMe campaign that she lost her 'job for exercising my First Amendment right to free speech.'

Linthicum wrote that she was a US military veteran and 'a proud supporter of this great Country, the First Amendment, the rule of law, and law enforcement.'

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Pleading for help: Fired Sacramento nurse Faith Linthicum has set up an online fundraiser asking for donations. She was let go after writing on social media that police shooting victim Stephon Clark 'deserved it for being stupid'

Her goal is to raise $25,000 to help her pay her rent and buy food for herself and her two dpgs

Seeking to set the record straight, the fired nurse blamed an activist group in Sacramento for taking her comment about Stephon Clark out of context and accused her former employer of terminating her without giving her a chance to explain or defend herself.

I believe Kaiser Permanente violated my First Amendment right to free speech in order to protect themselves from the wrath of these activists, she stated.

Linthicum, who is white, insisted that she is 'not a hateful or discriminatory person.'

She added: 'As a person of faith, and a nurse, I love all people and treat everyone equally. '

The goal of her campaign is to raise $25,000 so she could pay her rent and buy food for herself and her two dogs, a Great Dane and a French bulldog.

I am asking for support during this trying time as I try to find employment and heal, she pleaded.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, Linthicum's fundraiser has drawn more than $8,500 in donations, and counting.

Linthicum caused outrage when she took to Facebook last week to weigh in on Clark's police-involved shooting: 'Yeah but he was running from the police jumping over fences and breaking in peoples houseswhy run??!!! He deserved it for being stupid.'

Linthicum's comments were widely circulated when she was placed on administrative leave before the hospital ultimately issued a statement stating she was 'no longer with the organization'.

Faith Linthicum posted callous comments regarding the death of Clark who was shot and killed by police. She was ultimately fired from her job as a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center

Linthicum's Facebook post (pictured) was widely circulated online before she was fired from the Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center

'Kaiser Permanente does not tolerate hate or discrimination and has a long history of embracing diversity and inclusion...,' said VP Yvette Radford in a statement to the Daily News.

'We want to emphasize that the comments expressed by this employee, who is no longer with the organization, do not in any way reflect Kaiser Permanente's views or actions,' she said.

'We are deeply saddened by the events associated with Stephon Clark's death, and will continue to do our part to make sure the community is healthy, safe and inclusive,' the statement continued.

Sacramento police shot Clark seven times from behind, according to autopsy results.

The results, released Friday by a pathologist hired by Clark's family, calls into question the department's assertion the 22-year-old black man was facing officers and moving toward them when he was killed.

Dr. Bennet Omalu also determined Clark took three to 10 minutes to die. Police waited about five minutes before rendering medical aid.

'The proposition that has been presented that he was assailing the officers, meaning he was facing the officers, is inconsistent with the prevailing forensic evidence,' Omalu said at a news conference with family attorney Benjamin Crump.

Stephon Clark with girlfriend Salena Manni and their two sons, one-year-old Cairo Clark, and three-year-old Aiden Clark

A spokesperson for Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center (pictured) said the hopsital does not tolerate hate or discrimination

Police were called to the South Sacramento neighborhood on March 18 after a neighbor reported someone was breaking car windows. A police helicopter identified a suspect, who ran as police on the ground gave chase.

The helicopter video shows the two officers at the corner of Clark's grandmother's house and Clark on the backyard patio. He moves toward the officers' position as they peer around the corner and open fire.

Clark staggers sideways and falls on his stomach as officers continue shooting.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is considering 'several' applications from South African farmers for refugee or humanitarian status in Australia.

Mr Dutton says the government has not gone back on his comments last month that persecuted white farmers need protection from a 'civilised country' like Australia.

Last month civil rights organisation AfriForum claimed there had been 109 attacks which left 15 white farm workers dead so far this year, making it the most dangerous job in South Africa.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton (pictured) is considering 'several' applications from South African farmers for refugee or humanitarian status in Australia

Those statistics came after 82 killings and 423 attacks occurred in 2016 alone.

The denial comes after South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister Lindiwe Sisulu welcomed a 'retraction' from Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop.

Mr Dutton said on Tuesday he'd seen a letter from Ms Bishop to Ms Sisulu but it contained no suggestions of repudiation or retraction.

Last month civil rights organisation AfriForum claimed there had been 109 attacks which left 15 white farm workers dead so far this year, making it the most dangerous job in South Africa

Afriforum claims 156 commercial farmers are killed per 100,000 of the population, more than four times the wider murder rate of 34 per 100,000

'I'm not sure what domestic issues are at play in terms of the politics in South Africa that would bring this comment out but it's not based on any factual statement of anyone within the Australian government,' he told Sky News.

Mr Dutton said the government's position was 'as I stated it a couple of weeks ago' - that the refugee and humanitarian program was available to eligible people, with cases considered on an individual basis.

'And in fact we're having a look at several now,' he said.

AfriForum's head of security Ian Cameron said the South African government's denial could not silence the numbers, 'The numbers prove that excessive violence plague these areas,' he said

Mr Dutton also said at the time that farmers deserved 'special attention' because they faced violence and land seizures

Mr Dutton also said at the time that farmers deserved 'special attention' because they faced violence and land seizures.

Afriforum claims 156 commercial farmers are killed per 100,000 of the population, more than four times the wider murder rate of 34 per 100,000 The Daily Telegraph reported.

AfriForum's head of security Ian Cameron said the South African government's denial could not silence the numbers.

Mr Dutton tasked his department with exploring the possibilities that farmers can be accepted into Australia through refugee, humanitarian or other visas, including the in-country persecution visa category

'The numbers prove that excessive violence plague these areas,'he said.

'The government cannot deny the facts, our people are being mowed down... Our rural areas are trapped in a crime war.'

Mr Dutton tasked his department with exploring the possibilities that farmers can be accepted into Australia through refugee, humanitarian or other visas, including the in-country persecution visa category.

'The government cannot deny the facts, our people are being mowed down... Our rural areas are trapped in a crime war,' AfriForum's head of security Ian Cameron said

'I do think on the information that I've seen, people do need help, and they need help from a civilised country like ours,' he said.

Mr Dutton's views caused a backlash from Australian Greens leader Senator Di Natale.

Senator Di Natale said he believed Mr Dutton was trying to invoke the White Australia Policy.

'It concerns me that people are being persecuted at the moment - that's the reality - the numbers of people dying or being savagely attacked in South Africa is a reality,' Mr Dutton said

'The difference is that they are white and that the other communities who are suffering, and we're talking about an ethnic cleansing in Myanmar right now, that they're not white,' he said.

Mr Dutton responded by saying he was in no way trying to invoke any type of white only policy.

'It concerns me that people are being persecuted at the moment - that's the reality - the numbers of people dying or being savagely attacked in South Africa is a reality,' he said.
An American couple who were found dead in their home near Vicenza, Italy, from a suspected murder-suicide on Monday have been identified as a retired US Army major and his Russian-born wife.

Bradley Joel Kinser, 44, smothered 40-year-old Leila Gakhirovan Kinser in her sleep on Easter Sunday in the town of Pozzoleone, according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Kinser, who was struggling with depression, then allegedly took a kitchen knife with a six-inch blade and proceeded to repeatedly cut himself.

Expats' murder-suicide: Retired US Army Major Bradley Kinser, 44, and his Russian-born wife, Leila Gakhirovan Kinser, 40, were found dead on Monday near Vicenza, Italy, from a grisly murder-suicide

Kinser (left) was a strategic research officer for US Army Africa and had served in Poland and Iraq prior to his retirement in 2015. Leila (right) was originally from the city of Komsomolsknaamure, Khabarovskiy Kray, Russia

According to Italian investigators, the retired serviceman used his own blood to write 'Sorry,' and draw a heart and the letter 'U' on the bedroom door.

After inflicting multiple non-fetal injuries to his neck and arm, Kinser slit his jugular vein and bled to death.

The Boston native was a strategic research officer for US Army Africa and had served in Poland and Iraq prior to his retirement in 2015, according to Stars and Stripes.

As a civilian, Kinser had been employed as a contractor for Inverness Technologies Inc to provide Soldier for Life-Transition Assistance Program services.

His wife Leila was originally from the city of Komsomolsknaamure, Khabarovskiy Kray, Russia. On Facebook she described herself as a 'travel addict.'

The couple did not have children but kept a beloved pet turtle named Mashka, which appears to have died recently.

Police discovered Gakhirovan Kinser lying dead on the bed inside the couple's home in the town of Pozzoleone, Italy. It is suspected that he husband suffocated her as she slept

The couple did not have children kept a beloved pet turtle named Mashka (pictured)

Leila's final Facebook post, dated March 31 at 8.51pm, read: 'I dont have any more my Mashka I want to die.'

A chaplain at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, where the US Army has troops stationed, was close friends with Bradley Kinsey and was aware of his prolonged battle with depression.

At some point, Kinser confided in the priest, 'sooner or later, I will kill myself,' according to Corriere Della Sera.

On Monday, the chaplain became concerned for Kinser's well-being after being unable to reach him and alerted the authorities.

At around 4pm that afternoon, military policy from the Army base, Italian carabinieri and other law enforcement officials showed up on the Kinsers doorstep and rang the bell, but no one answered.

Final update: Leila's final Facebook post, dated March 31 at 8.51pm, read: 'I dont have any more my Mashka I want to die.' The post referred to her turtle

Police broke down the door and discovered the husband and wife dead in different parts of the house.

They say Leila was found lying on the bed without any obvious signs of injury on her body. It is believed that her husband suffocated her in her sleep, possibly by placing his hand on her mouth.

When officials entered the bathroom, they found Kinser lying dead in a pool of blood. Additional blood was found throughout the house, suggesting that the 44-year-old retired major had been pacing around while cutting himself.
A substitute teacher has been charged with child sex offenses just days after another teacher at the same Kansas school was arrested over sex with a student.

Nicole Reed, 42, was arrested outside Concordia High School over unlawful sexual relations with a boy aged either 14 or 15.

She was charged with aggravated indecent liberties with a child and solicitation of a child.

Nicole Reed (left), 42, was arrested outside Concordia High School over unlawful sexual relations with a boy aged either 14 or 15. It comes less than a week after Kevin Johnson (right), a music teacher at the same school, was arrested on a charge of consensual sexual intercourse, lewd fondling or touching or sodomy with a student

Charging documents seen by KSN accuse Reed of having unlawful sexual relations with the boy on July 4, 2015.

She is also accused of soliciting the student on a separate occasion.

It comes less than a week after Kevin Johnson, a music teacher at the same school, was arrested on a charge of consensual sexual intercourse, lewd fondling or touching or sodomy with a student while a teacher.

Johnson, who resigned from the school, is 53, but the age of the student has not been released.

Reed's bond was set at $20,000 and Johnson's at $50,000.

The school, however, has said that Reed's arrest was not connected to her time at the school.

The school, however, has said that Reed's arrest was not connected to her time at the school. Pictured: Concordia Junior-Senior High School

In a statement to KSNT, Superintendent Quentin Breese said: 'The school district has no involvement in this case other than the unfortunate circumstance that the arrest took place on the public street in front of our High School.

'Although the individual has been employed as a license substitute teacher, the individual was not working in the district on the date of the arrest.

'To our knowledge, this arrest is not related in any way to the arrest that took place on Monday [of Johnson].

'We do not want this unfortunate series of events to diminish the tremendous USD 333 community of nearly 300 staff and the 1200 students we serve each and every day. The safety and security of our students continues to remain our top priority.'
Chris Ward (pictured on the left with his son Ryland) said he and his son are trying to 'start over' after losing three family member in the Sutherland Springs church shooting

Chris Ward and his six-year-old son Ryland Ward are trying to piece their lifer back together after three of their family members were killed in the Sutherland Springs church shooting in November.

Ward told the Dallas Morning News that he still couldn't talk about the November 5 massacre, but was looking forward to one thing: 'Starting over I guess. Trying to'.

Ward's wife Joann, 30, his daughter Brooke, 5; and stepdaughter Emily, 7, were among the 26 people killed when gunman Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire inside First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

His eldest stepdaughter Rhianna, 9, escaped the deadly shooting but Ward's five-year-old son Ryland was shot five times: in his leg, arm, groin and twice in the stomach.

Ryland, who was five at the time, was shot five times: in his leg, arm, groin and twice in the stomach but survived

The little boy spent two months in the hospital before he was released in January

Ryland, pictured in an older photo, underwent multiple surgeries and attends hours of physical therapy to regain full use of his arm and leg

Ryland is pictured on the day he was released from the hospital. He got to sit in the front of Stockdale Firefighter Rusty Duncan's firetruck

Ward said the shots to the stomach 'kind of messed everything up' and the colostomy bag Ryland has to wear as a result of his injuries should be removed by July.

The little boy, now six, had to undergo multiple surgeries in the months following the shooting and spends hours a week in physical therapy working to regain full use of his injured arm and leg.

'It's getting better,' Ryland's father said. 'He's a lot stronger.'

Thursday, April 5, will mark five months since the shooting. Ward said the anniversary will go unmarked at his house because he's not ready to look back on everything he has lost.

The 33-year-old former truck driver said he tries to completely avoid Sutherland Springs and the street the church sits on.

'I don't even go over there,' he said.

To keep himself busy Ward and his son have been rebuilding Ward's childhood home.

Stockdale Firefighter Rusty Duncan, who carried Ryland out of the church saving his life, told KENS 5 that the new property will be called 'Three Angels', in memory of Joann, Emily and Brooke.

Duncan, who has become best friends with Ryland and is like family to the Wards, said he hopes to have everything completed on the new house in the next month.

Chris Ward said Ryland's recovery has been a process but the six-year-old is continuing to get better, Ward is pictured center with his stepdaughter Rhianna and son Ryland

Thursday, April 5, will mark five months since the shooting that left 26 people dead

Joann Ward (pictured), Chris' wife, was killed in the November 5 shooting

Chris' daughter Brooke, 5, (left) and stepdaughter Emily, 7, (pictured on the far right with sister Rhianna) were also killed

Duncan is helping the family remodel the house and is enlisting as much help as he can.

We want Ryland to grow up where his dad grew up to make memories, Duncan said.

I just want them both to have each other. And they will have each other and not worry about nothing. They can start their life together and be happy.

Duncan also reflected on Ryland's bravery and strength.

The little boy left the hospital in January, two months after the shooting, and got a homecoming ceremony fit for a superhero complete with a ride in Duncan's firetruck.

'Im thinking of Ryland and what he went through. I mean, you cant get it any worse, Duncan said. So, you just got to look up and keep on going just like he did.
A nuclear warhead has been captured in camera being transported in convoy while helicopters fly overhead in Great Falls, Montana.

The person who uploaded the video captioned it: 'There's probably no better way to do this than a highly secure convoy. Nonetheless, it's highly disconcerting.'

In the video the vehicles can be seen travelling in a tight group at a steady speed on a Montana highway.

Before the individual stops filming they make sure to get a glimpse of the two helicopters travelling in the sky.

The warhead was most likely either headed toward the Malmstrom Air Force Base or leaving it.

Malmstrom AFB, located in Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, is one of the three US Air Force Bases that maintains and operates the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.

Amazing footage appears to show a nuclear warhead being transported in convoy along a Montana highway in Great Falls

Also in the video were two helicopters flying overhead following the vehicles

The other two bases are located in Wyoming and Louisiana.

The Malmstrom Air Force Base in particular traces back to 1939 when World War II broke out in Europe.

The local Chamber of Commerce asked the Montana senators, Burton K. Wheeler and James E. Murray, to consider developing a military installation in Great Falls.

Following World War II, Malmstrom AFB played an important role in US defense during the Cold War era from 19481991.

The base was assigned to several major commands and its assigned units performed a wide variety of missions.

In the video the vehicles can be seen travelling in a tight group at a steady speed on a Montana highway

The United States was the first country to manufacture nuclear weapons.

Since 1945 it is estimated that the United States produced more than 70,000 nuclear warheads, which is more than all other nuclear weapon states combined.

Between 1940 and 1996, the U.S. spent at least $9.08 trillion in present-day terms on nuclear weapons development.

The Soviet Union has produced approximately 55,000 nuclear warheads since 1949.

Together, USA and Russia possess more than 90% of the world's nuclear warheads.
A man who told the authorities who paid his 40,000 benefits he didn't like to travel took 839 flights over nine years, a court heard yesterday.

Sahin Lim, 61, had five undeclared bank accounts that hundreds of thousands of pounds went in and out of.

He benefited by having international flights paid for him to countries including Australia, America, Thailand and Ecuador.

Sahin Lim, who is a member of Glasgow's Turkish community took 839 international flights over a period of nine years and had five undeclared bank accounts which had more than 400,000 flowing through while claiming almost 40,000 in benefits

The court heard Mr Lim had attempted to sue Thomas Cook after he was put forward to additional screening while trying to board a flight in Manchester to Izmir, Turkey

The Department for Work and Pensions later learned that over the period of the charges, 426,625 went in to his undeclared accounts, and 423,436 left again.

Lim, from Partick, Glasgow, pled guilty to receiving 16,491 income support, employment support allowance and jobseekers allowance, between April 1, 2005 and May 9, 2014.

And, between April 25, 2005 and April 21, 2015 to receiving a total of 23,508 for housing and council tax benefit, all without declaring a change of circumstances.

Lim unsuccessfully tried to sue airline Thomas Cook after being taken off a plane from Turkey for extra security checks.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard Lim has been receiving some means tested benefits since April 2002 and others since 2010.

When applying for them he claimed he had savings of around 200 between two bank accounts.

Procurator fiscal depute Richard Hill said: 'Over the period of the charges, Lim received numerous information leaflets informing him of the requirement to inform authorities if there was a change in personal circumstances including any changes to money coming in or any other sources of income not declared.

'During the period of the charges, Lim completed 45 forms and applications where he failed to declare a change of circumstances.'

Lim was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at Glasgow Sheriff Court, pictured

He was spoken to on the phone in May 2010, June 2011, August 2012 and August 2013 and on each occasion claimed he had no savings, no other money in any other bank accounts and no other income.

Mr Hill said: 'During this period, Lim completed several medical assessment forms in relation to his employment support allowance claim.

'Within the forms the accused stated he would only go outdoors if he had an appointment, that he did not like going outdoors alone, spends the majority of his time in his house and does not like travelling.'

In June 2012 DWP received information that Lim had large sums of cash and was travelling abroad extensively, while claiming benefits.

Mr Hill added: 'Investigations were carried out and it was established he had five undeclared bank accounts.

'It was established that during the period of the libel 426,625 entered these accounts and 423,436 left the accounts.'

The court heard that the accounts received substantial payments of up to 14,900 but funds were either withdrawn or transferred within days.

Lim took 839 international flights during the period between April 2005 and May 2014.

He paid for a substantial number of flights but many were not in his name and he was not the named passenger.

Defence lawyer Ryan Sloan said: 'Mr Lim is a prominent member of the Turkish community in Glasgow.

'His position is that over the period of the charges he was repeatedly entrusted by other parties to carry out financial transactions on their behalf.

'The only benefit he would receive would be in the purchase of his flights.

'He accepted that all of this money has been going through these accounts.'

Sheriff Joseph Platt deferred sentence for reports and remanded Lim in custody.

It was reported last May that Lim, originally from Turkey, intended to sue Thomas Cook after being taken off of a plane to Manchester for allegedly 'making gestures' to another Muslim man.

The men had to go through further security checks before being allowed back on the plane at Izmir airport.

Lim's bid to take the travel agent to court was unsuccessful.
Boris Johnson is set for a foreign visas U-turn to allow in 5,000 lorry drivers after panic-buying gridlocked petrol stations as the country slides towards food shortages. Motorists ignored Government pleas for calm as they jammed roads to panic buy petrol amid fears that fuel shortages could bring the economy to its knees. The Prime Minister is expected to buckle and grant visas for thousands of foreign drivers in a bid to tackle the shortages, while soldiers will also be drafted in to help at HGV testing sites to clear a backlog of drivers trying to get licences. But Britain is said to be short of more than 90,000 drivers, partly the result of coronavirus which cancelled the training and the testing of tens of thousands of workers, and there are concerns an additional 5,000 may be too little, too late to halt the chaos. Driver shortages are hitting every part of the economy, creating gaps on supermarket shelves, leaving pubs and restaurants short of key produce and jeopardising the supply of key chemicals to water firms. Parents on the school run on Friday could not get to the pumps, while the elderly and traders were among the many thousands of motorists caught up in the fre
A wheelchair bound boy with cerebral palsy filmed his carer allegedly abusing him, leading police to lay charges against her.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot speak and uses a computer to communicate, managed to secretly record his suspected abuser in Perth.

Police allege the 42-year-old woman was starving him and verbally tormenting the disabled teenager.

A wheelchair bound boy with cerebral palsy has secretly filmed his carer allegedly abusing him

Officers say his courage enabled them to issue the charges against the woman, his full-time carer, according to Nine News.

She is accused of refusing the boy food and water and allegedly abused him both verbally and physically.

He is said to have filmed multiple incidents through a camera attached to his chair.

Police have charged her with an act causing bodily harm and will appear in court in April.
A pensioner believed to be Britain's oldest bus driver is still going strong aged 78 after clocking up over a million miles during 50 years behind the wheel.

Avtar Lachar, also known as Terry, first joined what was known as Barton Transport as a conductor on July 7, 1967.

He later gained his bus driver's licence in 1972 and has since memorised all of the 53 routes the company operates.

Avtar Lachar, 78, might be Britain's oldest bus driver after clocking up over a million miles during a 50 year career

The pensioner gained his bus driver's licence in 1972 with bus company Barton Transport. Pictured: The dedicated driver in 1975 at Derby bus station

The dedicated driver continues to ferry customers between Nottingham and Derby on the number 5 route, which was later rebranded as the i4 by Trentbarton.

But he has no plans to give up the day job after 50 years and says he still loves meeting new customers as he transports them from A to B.

Mr Lachar, who was born in India and lives in Beeston, Nottingham, said: 'I still love my job.

'The time has gone really quick. The thing I most enjoy is meeting the customers, that is the best bit.'

Reflecting on how the job has changed over the years, he added: 'Traffic has really changed. When I started sometimes you would only see a few cars all day.

Mr Lachar, who was born in India and lives in Beeston still ferries customers between Nottingham and Derby and has no plans to stop anytime soon

'Now everything is bumper to bumper.

'In the old days it was the the weather that we had difficulties with. 1972 was quite bad and I can remember buses stuck in the snow on Derby Road in Nottingham.

'We had garages all over the East Midlands and I used to drive from all of them.

'I also worked on our express services and over the summer used to go to all of the seaside towns around the UK.

'We used to do a regular service to Skegness and I also did a run to Glasgow.

The dedicated driver said his favourite part of the job was meeting new customers

'It was a busy time back then and I soon learned all of the 53 routes that Barton operated.'

The first bus the pensioner drove was a Leyland PD1 - a front-engined double-decker which were manufactured in the UK between 1945 and 1969.

He added: 'I have driven many different buses since then. It's amazing how things have changed.

'We used to have to stand in the seat sometimes to turn the bus and the old-style crash gearboxes were really tough.

'Now the new buses are like driving a car. The new technology is great, and it has made the job easier for us all.'

Mr Lachar's 50-year career with Trentbarton was celebrated and he was given an award (pictured)

Mr Lachar's career with Trentbarton was celebrated as the company also paid tribute to eight of his colleagues, who have been employees for between 25 and 45 years.

Jeff Counsell, managing director of Trentbarton said: 'Terry's story is a shining example of what makes trentbarton the really good bus company.

'He loves his work, he loves helping our customers and he has an incredible drive for outstanding work.

'Congratulations and our thanks go to him and all his colleagues who have contributed so much during a combined 300-plus years.'
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A Mexican official says the government plans to break up a caravan of more than 1,000 immigrants marching towards the U.S.

President Trump complained about the migration is a series of tweets over the past few days, threatening to pull out of NAFTA if Mexico doesn't stop the caravan.

On Monday, BuzzFeed spoke to an official with Mexico's National Institute of Immigration, who said that they plan to disband the caravan by Wednesday.

However, the group that organized the caravan, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, says some of the group will likely head towards the U.S. anyway. Many have already broken away from the main group.

Mexico says it will break up a caravan of migrants headed towards the U.S. Above, members of the caravan in Oaxaca on Tuesday

Trump has complained about the caravan in a series of tweets over the last few days. Trump is pictured above on Tuesday, during a meeting with Baltic leaders at the White House

On Sunday, a group of about a couple hundred men hopped on a freight train headed north - probably to try to enter the U.S.

Mexico's pledge to break up the group is probably symbolic, since the march is for all intents and purposes over. The main group, currently camping out in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, plans to stay there until Wednesday or Thursday, when they will likely take buses to the final official leg of the journey - a migrant rights symposium in the central Puebla state.

Officially, the Mexican government has said it is not heeding Trump's commands.

'We will act with complete sovereignty in enforcing our laws,' Navarrete Prida said Monday. 'Of course we will act ... to enforce our immigration laws, with no pressure whatsoever from any country whatsoever.'

The main group is currently camped out in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. On Sunday, a large group of men caught a train headed north, likely to get to the U.S. border faster. Above, a man cooks instant soup at the migrant camp on Tuesday

Mexico has pledged to break the group up by Wednesday, but that is likely just symbolic, since many have already branched off and hundreds plan to apply for asylum in Mexico anyway. Above, migrants sleeping at the camp on Tuesday

The last official leg of the journey will be to a migrants rights symposium in the state of Puebla. Above, a little girl awakens in the camp on Tuesday

In a statement issued late Monday, Mexicos government said about 400 participants in the caravan had already been sent back to their home countries.

'Under no circumstances does the Mexican government promote irregular migration,' the Interior Ministry statement said.

It noted that Mexico considers the annual caravans to be 'a public demonstration that seeks to call attention to the migration phenomenon and the importance of respecting the rights of Central Americans'. The U.S. government has been kept fully informed of the situation, it said.

The department also said that unlike in previous years of the caravan, 'this time Mexican immigration authorities have offered refugee status' to participants who qualify. But it suggested it is not up to Mexico to keep people from going to the U.S. to apply for asylum.

In a statement issued late Monday, Mexicos government said about 400 participants in the caravan had already been sent back to their home countries. Above, clothes left out to dry at the group's camp on Tuesday

Most of the more than 1,000 migrants come from Honduras. The caravan was organized to protest the mistreatment of immigrants. Above, their camp on Tuesday

Officially, Mexico says it is now bowing to Trump's commands about stopping the caravan. Above, two members of the caravan sleep at the camp on Tuesday

The group that organized the caravan hit out at Trump on Monday, saying he was being a bully and using their march to further his own agenda. Above, the migrant camp on Tuesday

'It is not this governments responsibility to make immigration decisions for the United States or any other country, so it will be up to the appropriate authorities of the United States to decide whether to authorize the entry of the caravan participants to U.S. territory,' it said.

Navarette Prida had said earlier that he talked with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday. We agreed to analyze the best means to handle flows of migration, in accordance with each countrys laws, Navarrete Prida wrote in his Twitter account.

Nielsen later tweeted that their talk was focused specifically on the annual migrant caravan.

'Working with Mexican officials to address the yearly illegal alien caravan. Exploring all options,' she wrote.

The 'Stations of the Cross' migrant caravans have been held in southern Mexico for about 10 years. They began as short processions of migrants, some dressed in biblical garb and carrying crosses, as an Easter-season protest against the kidnappings, extortion, beatings and killings suffered by many Central American migrants as they cross Mexico.

The organized portions of the caravans usually dont proceed much farther north than the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. Some migrants, moving as individuals or in smaller groups, often take buses or trucks from there to the U.S. border.

On Monday, Pueblo Sin Fronteras responded to Trump's repeated attacks against the caravan.

The caravan has been the focus of President Trump's tweets over the last few days

Trump took to Twitter over the weekend to complain about a caravan marching towards the U.S. to take advantage of the country's 'weak' immigration laws.

He said Congress needs to pass 'proper Border legislation' immediately to stop these caravans from getting into the country. If necessary, Trump said Congress should go 'nuclear', which means only a majority would be needed to pass a bill into law.

Trump also threatened to pull out of NAFTA if Mexico doesn't stop the caravan and others like it.

Pueblo Sin Fronteras released a statement on Monday, saying Trump was using their march to push his own agenda.

Central American migrants taking part in a caravan called "Migrant Via Crucis" towards the United States take a bath at a sports field in Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, on April 3, 2018

Central American migrants hold their children as they take a break from traveling in their caravan, as they journey to the U.S., in Matias Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico April 3, 2018

Central American migrants gather to talk while they take a break from traveling in their caravan, on their journey to the U.S., in Matias Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico April 3, 2018

A Central American migrant and her daughter taking part in a caravan called "Migrant Via Crucis" towards the United States remain inside a tent at a sports field in Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, on April 3, 2018

Central American migrants taking part in a caravan called "Migrant Via Crucis" towards the United States take a bath at a sports field in Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, on April 3, 2018

Central American migrants prepare food as they take a break from traveling in their caravan, on their journey to the U.S., in Matias Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico April 3, 2018

Central American migrants receive donated clothes as they take a break from traveling in their caravan, on their journey to the U.S., in Matias Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico April 3, 2018

'On April 1st, the U.S. President opportunistically invoked refugee caravans as a pretext for threatening immigrants already in the country, specifically DACA recipients, with a so-called Nuclear Option to remove their protections from detention and deportation.

'Trump is trying to turn Central American refugees and other immigrant communities against each other, and use them as a bargaining chip with Mexico. In the face of this bullying and these threats of mass violence, we continue to stand in solidarity with displaced people of all races, ethnicities, creeds, abilities, and gender and sexual identities. We invite all those who envision a world where human rights are honored to join us,' the statement read.

Mexico routinely stops and deports Central Americans, sometimes in numbers that rival those of the United States. Deportations of foreigners dropped from 176,726 in 2015 to 76,433 in 2017, in part because fewer were believed to have come to Mexico, and more were requesting asylum in Mexico.

Mexico granted 3,223 asylum requests made in 2016, and 9,626 requests filed last year are either under review or have been accepted.
Officer Ian Huggins was killed in a murder-suicide on Easter Sunday, April 1

A Georgia police officer was killed over the weekend in an apparent murder-suicide after his wife of a few weeks shot him and then turned the gun on herself.

Police were called to a home at Copper Beech Townhomes in Statesboro around 2.30am on Easter Sunday, April 1, after reports of gunshots.

When they arrived, officers found Advanced Patrol Officer Ian Huggins, 53, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Police said his wife, 46-year-old Rebecca Huggins, shot herself in the head when she encountered officers in the home.

Both Officer Huggins, who was off-duty at the time, and his wife were taken to East Georgia Regional Medical Center where they were pronounced dead.

The couple had only been married for a few weeks, having wed on Valentine's Day. Rebecca Huggins was his second wife.

Police said Officer Huggins' wife Rebecca (right) shot hi multiple times in their Statesboro, Georgia home before turning the gun on herself

The couple had only been married for a few weeks, having wed on Valentine's Day

The shooting happened around 2.30am in their home in the Copper Beech Townhomes

'Today one our very worst fears as a police department came true. We lost a brother in blue suddenly and far too soon,' the Statesboro Police Department said in a statement on Facebook. 'Ian was a good officer and an even better friend, and we feel his loss deeply. Our hearts are broken.'

The department added: 'Our sincerest condolences go out to Ian's family for the tragic loss of their father, son and brother. He leaves behind a son and daughter who he loved more than anything. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.'

Huggins had been with the department since May 2013, the department said. Throughout his career, he received several awards and recognition including numerous Letters of Commendation for his outstanding and proactive police work.

In 2016, he received the department's highest honor, the Life Saving Award, for going above-and-beyond to save a person's life. Huggins was also a member of the department's Honor Guard.

Officer Huggins had been with the Statesboro Police Department since 2013 and worked as an Advanced Patrol Officer

Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to contact the Statesboro Police Department at (912) 764-9911.
James Woods has taken to Twitter to slam Googles refusal to mark Easter with a Google Doodle for the 18th year running, also resulting in conservative Christians and alt-right commentators attacking the search engine for being anti-Christian.

The actor James Woods retweeted a post by Infowars editor-at-large Paul Joseph Watson that said: So Google has a doodle for every obscure woke person/event imaginable, but nothing for Easter? #EasterSunday.

James Woods has taken to Twitter to slam Googles refusal to mark Easter with a Google Doodle for the 18th year running

He quoted the tweet, saying: They loathe Christians. Plain and simple. Google did celebrate April Fools Day, however, and also added a Wheres Waldo interactive game to Google Maps.

They loathe Christians. Plain and simple. https://t.co/7wZPzOtycR  James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 1, 2018

What is a Google Doodle?

Google Doodles are daily celebrations of cultural events or famous people and are referenced in transformations of the logo on the search engines homepage.

The first Google Doodle was a stick man standing behind the second o in Google and was drawn by co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1998 to mark their trip to Burning Man Festival.

After users responded to the changes to Googles homepage, Doodles became more regular. Now, a team of Doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and artists work on the designs.

Recent Google Doodles include Nazia Hassan, the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Hannah Glasse.

Who is James Woods?

Born April 18 1947, James Howard Woods is an American actor and is known for playing the villain in a number of films, most famously in Videodrome, Salvador, Casino, Ghosts of Mississippi and Contact. He has also played himself on Family Guy and on The Simpsons.

In 2014, the Daily Beast reported that James Wood had used the slur towel-heads after 9/11 and had said that Obama was a true abomination. Alongside this, after endorsing Carly Fiorina and then Ted Cruz in the 2016 presidential race, he shifted his support to Donald Trump.

James has also become known for expressing his conservative political views on Twitter and as a result, gained one million followers in November 2017. Earlier in the year he tweeted about the disgust he felt over the pathological hatred of Trump, and the tweet was subsequently retweeted by the US President.

Why hasnt Google marked Easter in its Google Doodles?

In its defence, Google stated that there are no Doodles for religious holidays. However, Google also remarked on the fact that it had created Doodles for holidays that are celebrated by some religions, for example, Tu B'Av, a Jewish 'holiday of love' and 'the December holiday period', were derived from a religious holiday.

A statement from Google seen by Fox News said: We dont have Doodles for religious holidays, in line with our current Doodle guidelines. While many took to Twitter to make jokes about Googles lack of Easter celebration, Google celebrated in its own way with a tweet noting the holiday and with a round up of festive search trends.

Happy Easter! Gather round for this weeks particularly egg-cellent search trends  https://t.co/lhaCtmpPAd pic.twitter.com/FuagbR4NEl  Google (@Google) March 30, 2018

When was the last time Google Doodle marked Easter?

Google marked Easter in April 23, 2000 with two Easter eggs that took the place of the two os in Google.
A pregnant woman has been shot dead by her boyfriend, who then killed himself in a murder-suicide, just after the couple hosted a baby shower, according to Pennsylvania authorities.

Police responded to an apartment building in the 1400 block of Main Street in Cecil Township at around 7.15pm last Wednesday following reports of shots fired inside a unit.

A SWAT team was called in, and later a robot equipped with a camera was sent into the apartment and discovered the bodies of 38-year-old Naader Rizk and 35-year-old Michelle Krek. Her unborn baby could not be saved.

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Triple tragedy: Police in Pennsylvania say Naader Rizk (left), 38, on Wednesday shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend, Michelle Krek (right), 35,and then himself. Their baby did not survive

The couple's lifeless bodies were found inside Rizk's apartment on Main Street in Cecil Township (pictured)

The woman and man were pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 11.30pm.

Kerk was found by the front died with gunshot wounds to the back of the head and her right shoulder, reported the station KDKA.

Rizk was found in the hallway suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A 9mm handgun was recovered from the scene.

Krek was about seven months pregnant with her and Rizks first child together, a boy they planned to name Logan. According to an online baby registry, Kreks due date was May 18.

Police initially said Rizk had recently learned the baby Krek was carrying was not his, but now they are saying the paternity if the unborn baby is not clear.

Rocky relationship: Rizk and Krek had been dating on and off for a year. The woman was seven months pregnant and her due date was May 18

In response to rumors concerning Rizk's paternity, Michelle's sister, Danni Krek (left), said of the boyfriend: 'He was 100 per cent the father'

Speaking to the station WTAE on Friday, Michelle's sister, Danni Krek, said: 'He was 100 per cent the father.'

Danni said she is struggling to make sense of what happened between the mom-to-be and her boyfriend.

My sister was literally the most happy, loving person you could find and anyone who knew her would say the same thing. She lit up a room. She had this boisterous personality and was just so happy and loving, said Danni Krek through tears.

During the weekend preceding the murder-suicide, friends and family came together to celebrate Krek and Rizks baby shower.

Danni recalled that Rizk seemed happy and excited about their growing family. She said he would accompany her sister to every medical appointment and was very involved in every aspect of the pregnancy.

Michelle Krek, known to her loved ones as Mikie, worked for nearly 12 years as a sales manager. Pictured: Krek and her parents

I don't think you could ever have a warning sign for someone who is going to do the most horrific thing you can possibly do. It was so senseless, said Danni.

According to her obituary, Michelle Krek, known to her loved ones as Mikie, earned her Master's degree from Robert Morris University and worked for nearly 12 years as a sales manager at Tigg Corporation.

Mikie" was truly one of a kind and the anchor to her family, the epitaph read. She was a beautiful person inside and out, funny, one of the kindest souls with a heart of gold, loyal and would do absolutely anything for anyone.

Rizk's parents told Observer-Reporter that their son was an information technology professional and stayed out of trouble.

Marsha Rizk, Naader's mother, revealed that the couple's relationship was rocky but not violent. They had been dating on and off for about a year, during which time Michelle got pregnant.

Police said Rizk was a competitive shooter in his free time, and he was also a CrossFit athlete.
Donald Trump said Tuesday that it's equally possible he 'could have a very good relationship with Russia, and with President Putin. And if I did, that would be a great thing.'

But 'there's also a great possibility,' he conceded, 'that that won't happen. Who knows? Okay?'

During a joint press conference with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Trump was vague about the future of U.S.-Russia ties but cocksure about the economic and military squeeze his administration has applied to date.

He insisted his administration has been 'tougher' on Moscow than any other and conspicuously declined to predict whether Vladimir Putin would end up a friend or a foe.

At the same time, however, Trump declared that only 'stupid people' doubt it would be a positive thing for Washington and Moscow to get along.

President Trump described America's future relationship with Russia as a coin-flip on Tuesday, saying during a press conference: 'Who knows?'

Trump was vague about future U.S.-Russia ties but cocksure about the economic and military squeeze his administration has applied to his Moscow counterpart Vladimir Putin

In a joint press conference with Baltic leaders, Trump boasted about expelling Russian diplomats and said his military buildup is 'not exactly a great thing for Russia, but that's the way it is'

During a working lunch with the NATO allies, Trump claimed his demands for greater defense spending among pact's members have drawn in 'many billions of dollars more than they would have had if you had Crooked Hillary Clinton as president.'

He then boasted in the afternoon press conference that his administration has sent 60 Russian diplomats packing in retaliation for the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russia spy in Great Britain.

'Germany did four, France did four, we did 60. There's nobody [who has] been tougher on Russia,' he told reporters assembled in the East Room of the White House.

Trump also cited America's resurgence in energy production and a beefed-up Pentagon budget as indications that the U.S. is putting other, more subtle pressures on the Kremlin.

'My opponent was into other forms of energy like windmills,' he said, mocking Hillary Clinton a second time. 'We're very strong on energy. We're essentially now energy independent. We're an exporter of energy. That is not a positive for Russia, but it's certainly a positive for the United States.'

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Da Nang, Vietnam

'We just passed a $700 billion military budget, next year $716 billion, the largest ever passed,' Trump added.

'We are going to have a military stronger than we've ever have before, by far. That's not exactly a great thing for Russia, but that's the way it is.'

But ultimately Trump was noncommittal about his ability to reach a rapprochement with his Moscow counterpart.

'I think I could have a very good relationship with President Putin. I think!' he said. 'It's possible I won't. Then you will know about it. Believe me, this room will know about it before I know about it.'

Trump never mentioned his December decision to green-light the sale of lethal weapons to Ukraine, a former Soviet state that Putin's army has invaded, and a part of which it annexed in early 2014.

He also skipped over the shuttering of four Russian diplomatic facilities in the U.S. and Treasury Department sanctions against 19 Russian nationals and five organizations in relation to election-year hacking.

In February the special counsel indicted 13 Russians and three Russian companies for their roles. That decision happened outside Trump's sphere of influence.

The President said during a pre-presser meeting with Baltic leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House that no one has been tougher on Russia than he has

Trump punted on whether Putin is friend or foe to the U.S. but said only 'stupid people' don't want to see the two countries get along

During the lunch an hour before the afternoon press conference, the president emphasized that 'getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing, and just about everybody agrees to that except very stupid people.'

One reporter asked him whether Putin is a friend to America.

'We'll find out. I'll let you know,' Trump punted.

The administration confirmed Monday that Trump invited Putin to an arms summit when they spoke on March 20, after the Kremlin told reporters that the meeting could happen at the White House.

The president has faced pressure from Congress to drop the hammer on the Kremlin following an intelligence assessment that its spies meddled with the 2016 U.S. election.

Democrats claim his campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome, an unproven allegation that is the subject of a special counsel probe.
For the first time, the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged the existence in Washington of what appear to be rogue devices that foreign spies and criminals could be using to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages.

The use of such cellphone-site simulators by foreign powers has long been a concern, but American intelligence and law enforcement agencies - which use such eavesdropping equipment themselves - have been silent on the issue until now.

In a March 26 letter to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that last year it identified suspected unauthorized cell-site simulators in the nation's capital.

The agency said it had not determined the type of devices in use or who might have been operating them. Nor did it say how many it detected or where.

The agency's response, obtained by The Associated Press from Wyden's office, suggests little has been done about such equipment, known popularly as Stingrays after a brand common among U.S. police departments.

The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the nation's airwaves, formed a task force on the subject four years ago, but it never produced a report and no longer meets regularly.

Both at risk: Apple and Android cellphones can both be targeted by the 'Stingray' devices because they fool the phone into joining a fake network

Target: A previous study by a private company found evidence the Capitol, Pentagon and even the White House were all close to fake cell phone towers

The devices work by tricking mobile devices into locking onto them instead of legitimate cell towers, revealing the exact location of a particular cellphone.

More sophisticated versions can eavesdrop on calls by forcing phones to step down to older, unencrypted 2G wireless technology. Some attempt to plant malware.

They can cost anywhere from $1,000 to about $200,000. They are commonly the size of a briefcase; some are as small as a cellphone. They can be placed in a car next to a government building. The most powerful can be deployed in low-flying aircraft.

Thousands of members of the military, the NSA, the CIA, the FBI and the rest of the national-security apparatus live and work in the Washington area.

The surveillance-savvy among them encrypt their phone and data communications and employ electronic countermeasures. But unsuspecting citizens could fall prey.

Wyden, a Democrat, wrote DHS in November requesting information about unauthorized use of the cell-site simulators.

The reply from DHS official Christopher Krebs noted that DHS had observed 'anomalous activity' consistent with Stingrays in the Washington area.

A DHS official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the letter has not been publicly released added that the devices were detected in a 90-day trial that began in January 2017 with equipment from a Las Vegas-based DHS contractor, ESD America .

Krebs, the top official in the National Protection and Programs Directorate, noted in the letter that DHS lacks the equipment and funding to detect Stingrays even though their use by foreign governments 'may threaten U.S. national and economic security.'

The department did report its findings to 'federal partners' Krebs did not name. That presumably includes the FBI.

The CEO of ESD America, Les Goldsmith, said his company has a relationship with DHS but would not comment further.

Could he be eavesdropped on: A Capitol Hill staffer on his phone could be one of the targets for the bogus cell towers as they scoop up secrets

Legislators have been raising alarms about the use of Stingrays in the capital since at least 2014, when Goldsmith and other security-company researchers conducted public sweeps that located suspected unauthorized devices near the White House, the Supreme Court, the Commerce Department and the Pentagon, among other locations.

The executive branch, however, has shied away from even discussing the subject.

Aaron Turner, president of the mobile security consultancy Integricell, was among the experts who conducted the 2014 sweeps, in part to try to drum up business. Little has changed since, he said.

Like other major world capitals, he said, Washington is awash in unauthorized interception devices. Foreign embassies have free rein because they are on sovereign soil.

Every embassy 'worth their salt' has a cell tower simulator installed, Turner said. They use them 'to track interesting people that come toward their embassies.' The Russians' equipment is so powerful it can track targets a mile away, he said.

Shutting down rogue Stingrays is an expensive proposition that would require wireless network upgrades the industry has been loath to pay for, security experts say. It could also lead to conflict with U.S. intelligence and law enforcement.

In addition to federal agencies, police departments use them in at least 25 states and the District of Columbia, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

After the 2014 news reports about Stingrays in Washington, Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla, wrote the FCC in alarm.

In a reply, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said the agency had created a task force to combat illicit and unauthorized us e of the devices. In that letter, the FCC did not say it had identified such use itself but cited media reports of the security sweeps.

That task force appears to have accomplished little. A former adviser to Wheeler, Gigi Sohn, said there was no political will to tackle the issue against opposition from the intelligence community and local police forces that were using the devices 'willy-nilly.'

'To the extent that there is a major problem here, it's largely due to the FCC not doing its job,' said Laura Moy of the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown University.

The agency, she said, should be requiring wireless carriers to protect their networks from such security threats and 'ensuring that anyone transmitting over licensed spectrum actually has a license to do it.'

FCC spokesman Neil Grace, however, said the agency's only role is 'certifying' such devices to ensure they don't interfere with other wireless communications, much the way it does with phones and Wi-Fi routers.
Authorities are investigating whether a surveillance video from Fort Bragg, California, shows a woman the day before her family's SUV was found at the bottom of a cliff along the Pacific Coast at a scenic viewpoint.

Mendocino County Sheriff Lt. Shannon Barney told The Oregonian/OregonLive Tuesday the woman in the video looks like Jennifer Hart but that the footage is 'very grainy.'

Sarah and Jennifer Hart were found dead at the crash scene March 26 along with three of their children.

Surveillance footage has surfaced which may show Jennifer Hart (fourth from right) before she and her wife Sarah (far right) drove off a cliff with their kids inside the SUV

The bodies of couple, both 38, and three of their six adopted children - Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14 - were found but the other three are missing and presumed dead. Above, the cliff they drove off near Westport, California last week

Authorities have spent the past week trawling the ocean for the missing three children - Hannah, 16, Devonte, 15, and Sierra, 12 - and spent Monday searching the highways they may have traveled along as well

Three other children remain missing. Authorities have said the crash was probably deliberate.

One of the missing children is 15-year-old Devonte Hart, a black youngster who drew national attention after he was photographed in tears while hugging a white police officer during a 2014 protest.

News of the possible spotting comes as it was revealed that the couple pulled all of their kids out of school the day after Sarah Hart admitted to child abuse in 2011.

Records showed that the Hart children were removed from public school in Alexandria, Minnesota the day after Hart reached a probation agreement in a child abuse case on April 14, 2011.

That came a week after Hart pleaded guilty to physically abusing one of her daughters, who was six at the time.

The kids were taken out of school and moved to Oregon, where they were privately educated from there on out, the Oregonian reported.

The family later moved to Woodland, Washington, where they were living at the time of their deaths.

The Hart family's wrecked GMC Yukon was discovered last Monday on rocks along the coast near Mendocino, a few days after child welfare authorities began investigating whether the children were being abused or neglected.

Investigators are now examining 'red flags' in the Washington family's past in the hope of explaining why they drove off the cliff in an apparent suicide plunge.

The bodies of Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, and three of their six adopted children - Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14 - were found but the other three are missing and presumed dead.

Authorities have spent the past week trawling the ocean for the missing three children - Hannah, 16, Devonte, 15, and Sierra, 12 - and spent Monday searching the highways they may have traveled along as well.

'The search for the additional three children belonging to the family continues both at the scene, through water rescue and recovery, and other locations including routes of travel,' the California Highway Patrol said.

Officials had previously said they believed all the children were in the vehicle and the other bodies may have been washed into the ocean.

While investigators initially said there was no indication the crash was anything but an accident, data from the vehicle's software now suggested the incident was deliberate.

Investigators are now examining 'red flags' in the Washington family's past in the hope of explaining why they drove off the cliff in an apparent suicide plunge

These are the tracks left by the car when it went over the edge of the cliff

'This situation may have been an intentional act and not the result of a traffic collision,' the highway patrol said.

The SUV appears to have stopped at a dirt pull-off area about 70 feet from the cliff, according to the vehicle's on-board computer.

It then accelerated over the edge, leaving no skid marks or other indications of a collision. The SUV fell into rocks and was found partially submerged about 100 feet below the highway.

Police searched the family's home in Woodland, Washington, about 500 miles north of the crash site, but found no suicide note.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services said it opened an investigation into the family for potential child neglect or abuse after a complaint on March 23.

Days before the wreck was discovered, neighbors called authorities to say one of the youngsters had been coming to their house almost daily asking for something to eat and complaining that his parents were withholding food as punishment.

Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.

Long before the crash, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children.

The Hart family gained attention in 2014 after one of the children, Devonte, was photographed crying in the arms of a white police officer at a protest after the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.

Courtesy: KOIN
Prime Minister Theresa May revealed herself to be a rather unlikely fan of the 'Steampunk' science fiction genre on her recent walking break in North Wales.

Mrs May visited the Celf Aran Arts shop in Dolgellau on Easter Monday with her husband Philip and the pair picked out a number of hand-crafted items.

The co-operative shop, which features the work of 16 artists, is reported to be a favourite spot of the Prime Minister.

Among the items she bought were striking Steampunk-inspired cufflinks by jeweller Tony Vine who runs a business called StoneTones.

Prime Minister Theresa May revealed herself to be a rather unlikely fan of the 'steampunk' genre by picking out these cufflinks on Easter Monday

The stunning creations feature polished stones and old watch wheels and cogs which match Steampunk's style of Industrial Revolution machinery meets Victorian fashion.

Mr Vine, 73, said: 'Steampunk has been massive in the United States for a longtime but has only recently made a big impact in the UK. I decided to make something that was wearable and I never make the same design twice.

'Mrs May clearly enjoys contemporary things that have a provenance and are handmade. The cufflinks are not so 'out there' that they can't be worn as ordinary male jewellery. She's got quite eclectic tastes and good for her.

'It's also nice to see her show support for small local industry. It's quite a feather in your cap when you think the Prime Minister has bought one of your products.'

By a strange coincidence, Mr Vine said he first started making his fantasy creations when he saw a Steampunk-style painting by an artist friend called David Cameron, no relation to the PM's predecessor at Number 10.

Among the items Mrs May (right) bought were striking steampunk-inspired cufflinks by jeweller Tony Vine (left) who runs a business called StoneTones

Mr Vine is pictured with some of his work. He said it was 'nice to see [the PM] show support for small local industry'

What is steampunk? Steampunk is a specific subgenre of science fiction that combines futuristic elements with 19th century industrial revolution style technology and fashion. Fans of the genre often enjoy dressing up in elaborate costumes for events, with parasols, goggles, and top hats. According to the Steampunk World's Fair website it is a 'creative focus based on re-imagining the 19th century.' The website says Steampunk 'uses a near past, a past close enough that we can find its clothing in thrift stores, but far enough that its clearly a different world.' Steampunk stories can also feature supernatural elements and cross over with genres such as romance, according to steampunk.com. Advertisement

He makes his unique designs from watch parts often donated by people who want to preserve something of sentimental value.

Alan Poole of Red Kite Art, Glass and Restoration in the shop said the visit by the Mays was very 'relaxed'.

He said: 'We knew the Prime Minister was in the area and at about half past two a couple of guys came in and had a good look around and we figured something was going on. Then two people came in wearing weatherproofs and one of them was the Prime Minister.

'She spent about 15 minutes in the shop and looked around and my wife Erica showed her some jewellery and she tried on some pieces including some quite bulky rings.

'She ended up buying quite a few things including a ring from Anna Hicks at Celtic Treasure and some honey from Arthog just down the road. She also picked up some slate coasters from Matt Fletcher which she had requested in advance.'

It is not the Tory leader's first visit to the shop as she bought two silver rings from Anna Hicks and coasters from Matt Fletcher last year too.

He added: 'She was very pleasant and it was all very relaxed while she had a thorough browse and I had a good conversation with her husband about the weather and what a great place we live in.'
A father from New Jersey has been found guilty of murder after allegedly leaving his two-year-old son to die after a multi-car crash.

Christopher Kuhn, from Hamilton, was convicted Wednesday of third-degree murder and other charges in the death of his son, Qadan Trievel, CBS 3 reported.

Prosecutors said the 28-year-old brought his son with him as he attempted to steal $228 worth of television speakers from a Walmart in Levittown, Pennsylvania last October.

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Christopher Kuhn, from Hamilton, was convicted Wednesday of third-degree murder and other charges in the death of his son, Qadan Trievel, WESH 2 reported

Prosecutors said the 28-year-old brought his son with him as he attempted to steal $228 worth of television speakers from a Walmart in Levittown, Pennsylvania last October

When he was unsuccessful he apparently fled the scene with the toddler in tow, and ended up in a deadly multiple-vehicle crash while attempting to drive his getaway car. Kuhn ran a red light and collided with two other vehicles, rolling over in the process

When he was unsuccessful he apparently fled the scene with the toddler in tow, and ended up in a deadly multiple-vehicle crash while attempting to drive his getaway car.

Kuhn ran a red light and collided with two other vehicles, rolling over in the process.

The toddler was then ejected from the car and into the road, fracturing his skull, a statement from the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.

But instead of rushing to help his ailing son, police said Kuhn stepped over the little boy before running away from the scene.

'After the collision, Kuhn paced briefly near his son's motionless body, then took off running as police approached,' the statement said.

Police raced after the father and arrested him.

Qadan was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police said he wasn't wearing a safety seat.

The toddler was then ejected from the car and into the road, fracturing his skull, a statement from the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said

But instead of rushing to help his ailing son, police said Kuhn stepped over the little boy before running away from the scene

'I am here to speak for two-year-old Qadan,' Deputy District Attorney Robert D James told a judge last week.

'A two-year-old boy who is not here to speak for himself due to the malicious acts of his father.'

Kuhn was jailed with a bond of $5million.

And on Wednesday a Bucks County Common Pleas Court found him guilty of murder following an emotional three-day trial.

'Everything that went on that day was just a tragedy, as the defense portrayed it, but it was malicious,' James said after the verdict was announced.

'I obviously agree with the judge's decision.'

Kuhn was also found guilty of ten other charges including homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of controlled substances and failure to use safety restraints on a child.

He now faces up to 40 years in prison, and sentencing is set to take place on June 15.

No one else was hurt in the crash.
George Washington University has sparked outrage for offering a seminar on 'Christian privilege'.

The 90-minute seminar, titled 'Christian Privilege: But Our Founding Fathers Were All Christian, Right?!', is scheduled for Thursday evening at the Washington, DC school.

Timothy Kane, interim associate director for inclusion initiatives, is hosting the event, which will explore how 'Christians in the USA experience life in an easier way' and 'have built-in advantages' over non-Christians.

George Washington University's Multicultural Student Services Center plans to host a seminar on Thursday on 'Christian privilege'. Above, a view of the college's campus

'How do we celebrate Christian identities and acknowledge that Christians receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country?

'Lets reflect upon ways we can live up to our personal and national values that make room for all religious and secular identities on an equal playing field,' the event's description reads.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to 'describe white privilege' and 'list at least three examples of Christian privilege'.

Participants will able be able to 'list at least three ways to be an ally with a non-Christian person'.

News of the seminar sparked fury online from some who pointed out how Christians continue to be persecuted for their faith around the world

The Multicultural Student Services Center, which is hosting the event, has also put on several other similar seminars including: heterosexual privilege, cisgender privilege, abled-body privilege, socio-economic privilege, LGBTQIA diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias, and transgender diversity and inclusion.

When news broke of the class, originally in the Christian Post, many became infuriated online, pointing to groups like the Egyptian Copts who continue to be persecuted for their Christian faith.

"Christian Privilege"? Really? Tell that to the Christians in the Middle East who get murdered by Muslims,' Twitter user Graham Withrow wrote.

'Just when we thought the idea of "white privilege" was stupid enough, the left has now coined the term "Christian privilege." NEWSFLASH: Christians are the most persecuted religion in the world! This is just sick,' user Mark Lutchman added.

George Washington University is a private college that was founded in 1821, in tribute to the country's first president who had dreamed of founding a college. Though it was a Baptist minister who raised the funds for the school, the school was founded as non-denominational.
President Trump repeated his wish to pull American troops out of Syria during a press conference Tuesday with Baltic leaders.

'I want to get out, I want to bring our troops back home, I want to start rebuilding our nation,' Trump said.

The president explained that the country's 'primary mission' in Syria was to obliterate ISIS, which is almost done.

'Saudi Arabia is very interested in our decision,' Trump noted. 'I said, "Well, if you want us to stay maybe you'll have to pay."'

Trump surprised his own government last Thursday when he announced  during a trip to Ohio to discuss his infrastructure plan  that he wanted out of the war-torn country.

President Trump (right), speaking alongside Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite (left), said at a news conference that he wanted to pull American troops out of Syria

At the Baltic leaders news conference on Tuesday, President Trump (right) suggested that he had told Saudi Arabia that American troops would stay in Syria if the oil-rich Saudis paid for it

'We're knocking the hell out of ISIS. We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon,' he told the crowd. 'Let the other people take care of it now.'

'Very, very soon we're coming out,' he added.

That's counter to the plan his ex-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed back in January, when he called for an indefinite military presence with the aim of eventually ridding Syria of its leader Bashar al-Assad.

'We understand that some Americans are skeptical of continued involvement in Syria and question the benefits of maintaining a presence in such a troubled country,' Tillerson said, according to BuzzFeed. 'However, it is vital for the United States to remain engaged in Syria.'

In March, President Trump fired Tillerson by tweet.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Trump's pick to replace Tillerson, has said in the past he believes the U.S. should be more assertive in Syria, suggesting he believes Assad should be taken out of power.

'It is difficult to imagine a stable Syria that still has Assad in power,' Pompeo said last July. 'He is a puppet of the Iranians and therefore it seems an unlikely situation where Assad will be sitting on the throne and America's interests will be well served.'

On the Pentagon side, CNN reported that senior administration officials have been discussing a way ahead in Syria, and what conditions would need to be met for a U.S. withdrawal, but military commanders were not recommending such a thing.

The White House said that President Trump did indeed speak with King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Monday by phone, but the readout made no mention of Trump asking the Saudi leader to pony up cash for the U.S.'s continued involvement in Syria.

'On Syria, the President and the King discussed joint efforts to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and counter Iranian efforts to exploit the Syrian conflict to pursue its destabilizing regional ambitions,' the readout said.

During the presser at the White House Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. had 'nothing' to show for its involvement in the Middle East for the last 17 years.

American forces went into Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

'It's very costly for our country,' Trump said of the U.S. involvement in Syria. 'It helps other countries a lot more than it helps us.'

'So we're going to be making a decision soon,' the president said.
Hollywood actor Colin Farrell has checked into a luxury $36,000-a-month rehab center in the Arizona desert, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The elite Meadows clinic is popular among celebrities and has treated stars such as Tiger Woods, Elle Macpherson, Kate Moss, Selena Gomez and Kevin Spacey.

The Phone Booth actor arrived at the center in Wickenburg this past week.

A source close to the star tells DailyMail.com that Farrell became 'overwhelmed' following a busy year having completed three back to back films and began getting 'urges' to start 'using' again.

The star decided to seek professional help before he went to a 'bad place', the source added.

'We all know that Colin is an addict, he's had 12 years of sobriety,' the source said. 'He was overwhelmed for the past year and the urges started to come back with being so busy at work and he felt, eventually, out of control and thought maybe he should get ahead of it before he starts using again.

Colin Farrell, who has a history of alcohol and drug abuse, checked into the elite Meadows clinic in Wickenburg, Arizona this past week

'He decided to pre-emptively check himself in before it went to a bad place. He didn't want to go down that rabbit hole again.

'He's so hyper aware that he's an addict that he felt that he could very easily start using again.

'Another week and he could have started using again. Colin has worked so hard to stay sober that the only way he thought he could get it under control was to go back and get some professional help. He has a lot of responsibilities and he thought it best to go away for a while and get help.

The 41-year-old actor - who grew a reputation as a Hollywood hell raiser in his younger years - battled addiction for a decade until he faced his demons while filming Miami Vice in 2005.

As soon as the movie wrapped he checked into rehab to get help with his issues and later admitted he was 'out of control'.

The Meadows claims to have the best treatment programs in the United States.

Farrell will be able to take part in horse riding, yoga, Tai chi, acupuncture and 'mindfulness meditation' at the clinic.

The impressive facility boasts a fitness center, a swimming pool and relaxation areas.

The center runs a 45-day treatment program for addicts called the 'Gentle Path' under which patients undergo counseling and 'expressive arts' to try and deal with their issues.

The elite Meadows clinic is popular among celebrities and has treated stars such as Tiger Woods, Elle Macpherson, Kate Moss, Selena Gomez and Kevin Spacey

The clinic (pictured), which is in the Arizona desert, costs approximately $36,000-a-month for in-patient programs

Farrell will be able to take part in horse riding, yoga, Tai chi, acupuncture and 'mindfulness meditation' at the clinic (its pool pictured above)

The center runs a 45-day treatment program for addicts called the 'Gentle Path' under which patients undergo counseling and 'expressive arts' to try and deal with their issues

The website states: 'In a safe and nurturing community composed of their peers, men are guided on their journey of recovery by examining the underlying causes of addiction and co-occurring disorders.

'The goal is for these individuals to gain the courage to face difficult issues, including grief and loss; heal from emotional trauma; and become accountable for their own feelings, behaviors, and recovery.'

Last year Farrell appeared on the Ellen show and celebrated ten years of sobriety.

He opened up about his early alcohol and drug addiction, admitting he was 'out of control' for many years.

Farrell recalled how he used to dread when comedian Ricky Gervais would introduce him at awards shows.

'He'd say something like "I hate the cliches, and Hollywood is full of them", things like "All Irish people are overblown drunken alcoholics ladies and gentlemen, Colin Farrell",' the actor recalled.

A source close to the star tells DailyMail.com that Colin became 'overwhelmed' following a busy year having completed three back to back films and began getting 'urges' to start 'using' again

Last year Farrell appeared on the Ellen show and opened up about his early drink and drug addiction, admitting he was 'out of control' for many years

Farrell said he checked into rehab after filming Miami Vice in 2005.

'It was interesting because I couldn't remember a single frame of doing it,' he told the Mirror in 2013. 'I was at the premiere and didn't know what was happening next. But it was strange because I was in it.'

As soon as filming ended, Farrell was sent to rehab.

'The second it was finished I was put on a plane and sent to rehab as everyone else was going to the wrap party,' he said.

His family and friends had been pressuring him to look into rehab, and he realized that he had finally lost control over his drug use and drinking.

'I'd gotten out of control - for years I could indulge in certain things,' he said. 'I had quite a high tolerance for various drugs for years, I thought. It accumulated to the point where I couldn't put my foot on the brake anymore.'

Ultimately he realized that he needed to get sober in order to be a good father to his son James, who was born with Angelman syndrome, a condition that causes seizures, difficulty with motor skills, and difficulty speaking.

The Irish hunk said he had been fairly 'drunk or high' since the age of 14 and even The notorious admitted he was on the brink of going on a lethal heroin binge before getting clean.
A Catholic university in Ohio is not happy Facebook rejected an ad depicting the crucifixion of Jesus saying the image of Christ hung to the cross was 'shocking and violent'.

Franciscan University, in Steubenville, said it had recently posted several ads on Facebook to promote its online theology program but one ad was rejected by the social networking site because its content was 'shocking, sensational, and excessively violent'.

The ad in question, according to the school, was Jesus nailed to the San Damiano Cross.

Franciscan University said their ad depicting the crucifixion of Jesus was rejected by Facebook

The ad was image of Jesus Christ nailed to the San Damiano Cross. Facebook said the ad was 'shocking, sensational and excessively violent'

'This is what the monitors at Facebook consider excessively violent, sensational, and shocking, the school responded in a blog post titled 'He was rejected'.

'And indeed the Crucifixion of Christ was all of those things. It was the most sensational action in history: man executed his God. It was shocking, yes: God designed to take on flesh and was 'obedient unto death,' even death on a cross'. And it was certainly excessively violent: a man scourged to within an inch of life, nailed to a cross and left to die, all the hate of all the sin in the world poured out its wrath upon its humanity.'

Franciscan University went on to say that it wasn't the nails that kept Jesus on the cross but his love for mankind.

'He could have descended from the cross at any moment. No, it was love that kept him there. Love for you and for me, that we might not be eternally condemned for our sins but might have life eternal with him and his Father in heaven,' the school wrote.

The Catholic university, located in Ohio, posted the ad to promote its online theology program

A Facebook spokesperson told the Daily Mail that it was an error and the ad has now been approved.

'Our team processes millions of ads each week, and sometimes we make mistakes. This image does not violate our ad policies. We apologize for the error and have already let the advertiser know we approved their ad,' the spokesperson said.

Last month, a woman who runs a religious blog complained that Facebook was censoring her ads depicting Jesus being crucified.

Sylvia, who runs the blog Passion of the Christ, said in a blog post that she received messages from the site saying her religious ads were either violating 'advertising policies' or were too violent.

'Facebook is calling photos of the Passion of Christ violent, and indeed the crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus was violent. But it is deeply troubling to me that a Christian advertiser I am being limited in what images I can share,' she wrote.
Kevin van Orman, 35, of South Daytona, (pic in an undated police mug shot) told cops: 'I came to meet a 15-year-old girl. One thing I never should have [expletive] done. I lost my wife, my house, my kids, my truck'

A married Disney World bus driver with two children was arrested after allegedly trying to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl in a police sting.

Kevin van Orman, 35, of South Daytona, told cops: 'I came to meet a 15-year-old girl. One thing I never should have [expletive] done. I lost my wife, my house, my kids, my truck.'

The officers found him with two condoms in his pocket when he arrived at a house in Bartow where they were lying in wait, according to an affidavit.

The bus driver started speaking to the 'girl' by replying to a message posted by an undercover deputy on Whisper, reported the Orlando Sentinel.

The deputy wrote 'I'm only 15 tho.. Just so u know' and Van Orman replied 'That's ok' before offering to meet her while she was going to Disney World.

He then added: 'We can cuddle watch tv and whatever else you would like I can even massage you'.

The first time he appeared at the undercover location he had been given by the cops the door was locked. But on his return a second time, on March 25, he was arrested.

Van Orman also tried to meet another deputy posing as a 14-year-old girl.

In a police interview, seen by ABC Action News , he admitted he was attracted to teenage girls and claimed he had a 'sex addiction'.

'Some of the 16 years old I'm attracted to. I see them every day. The worst ones are the Brazilians,' he added.

Van Orman also said he has a five-year-old daughter, a two-year-old son and a wife who is four months pregnant.

He was charged with attempted lewd battery, traveling to lure a child, and using a computer to solicit or lure a child. He was allowed to leave jail on $7,000 bail.

Disney World said Van Orman is on unpaid leave pending the prosecution.
Investigators could launch six more inquiries into alleged unlawful deaths in Iraq involving British troops because of human-rights laws.

Eight inquest-style probes have already been launched at a cost of about 200,000 each  but now defence officials are set to sign off another six.

Dozens of soldiers already quizzed by the controversial Iraq Historical Allegations Team (Ihat) could be dragged before a judge  and those who refuse may be charged with contempt of court.

Officials had been passed 78 claims of unlawful deaths thrown out by Ihat to decide if they need to offer families in Iraq an inquest-style inquiry by the Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI) unit.

Investigators could launch six more inquiries into alleged unlawful deaths in Iraq involving British troops because of human-rights laws (file photo taken in 2008)

Some of the claims involved incidents where British soldiers were not believed to have even been present.

Ministry of Defence officials ruled 70 cases of deaths did not have to be re-opened to meet requirements set out by the European Court of Human Rights.

This left eight cases which have already been passed on to the IFI unit, led by retired judge Sir George Newman. Six of them have been completed.

Around 350 alleged unlawful deaths were passed to Ihat to investigate, many of them cases taken on by disgraced solicitor Phil Shiner, who has since been struck off.

It is not clear how many of those deaths have already been looked at as part of the 70 incidents ruled out by the MoD. In 2014 then-defence secretary Philip Hammond told MPs he had signed off as many as 11 cases to be investigated by the IFI.

Former defence minister Andrew Murrison said it was 'just not fair to subject brave men and women to repeated legal challenges, inquiries and investigations'

But Ministry of Defence estimates put the figure as being as high as 14, which means six more cases could be added.

The IFI cannot be shut down because to do so would put Britain in breach of the ECHR, it is understood.

Former defence minister Andrew Murrison said: Its just not fair to subject brave men and women to repeated legal challenges, inquiries and investigations.

Its beginning to look like a witch-hunt and will certainly put good people off joining and staying in the Army.

Ex-sergeant Brian Wood, who was awarded a Military Cross for courage under fire in Iraq then falsely accused of wrongdoing by lawyers, said it was a betrayal.

Army Major facing his EIGHTH probe over the death of an Iraqi teen says he has not had a good night's sleep in 15 years as he reveals he will not take part in the latest investigation

By Kate Ferguson, Political Correspondent for MailOnline

Major Robert Campbell, 45, is refusing to take part in the latest probe after he and his comrades have been hauled before investigators seven times before

A decorated Army Major facing his eighth investigation over the death of an Iraqi teen has revealed he has not had a good night's sleep for 15 years.

Major Robert Campbell, 45, is refusing to take part in the latest probe after he and his comrades have been hauled before investigators seven times before.

He said that no ordinary civilian would be expected to have to undergo so many investigations - and it is unfair veterans are being put through the ordeal.

He said: 'I don't think anything good is going to come out of this.....what I want more than anything is a good night's sleep and I haven't had one for 15 years.

'So, what possible good could come out of this? I have no idea.'

Major Campbell and his comrades has been repeatedly investigated  and cleared  over the drowning of 19-year-old Said Shabram in May 2003.

They have now been told they will be forced to give evidence in public to the Iraq Fatality Investigations (IFI) to satisfy human rights laws.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme today, Major Campbell said that he has now decided never to speak of that day in the early days of the invasion ever again.

He said: 'On legal advise from my lawyers, and for me personally, I have decided I am never going to speak of that day again.

'And I mean that, I'm never going to speak of that day again with anyone ever.'

He said he has fully accounted for himself in his statement and that has been pored over and dissected by prosecutors, police forces.

And Major Campbell said it is not fair for him to have to explain himself all over again.

He added: 'My mental health is not the best and I think it is unreasonable for the MoD to expect me to go over these things over and over and over.'

Major Campbell insists have is 'absolutely' not responsible for the death, but in a direct message for Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson he added: 'Why am I being investigated again?'

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured outside No10 last month) has been urged to intervene amid widespread anger at yet another probe into the death

He also took a swipe at the disgraced lawyer Phil Shiner, who was struck off for hounding soldiers.

Investigations into the deaths of Iraqi civilians have been marred by the 'Phil Shiner effect', Major Campbell claimed.

He said that after years of 'bad investigating and all the money which has exchanged hands, the incentives there were for people to make allegations against British soldiers' it would be 'impossible' now for an investigation to be fully agreed on.

Major Campbell still serves in the Royal Engineers despite suffering injuries in Afghanistan.

He has waived his right to anonymity and said his 21-year career had been poisoned by the probes.
Amber Rudd has come under fire for presiding over cuts to police officer numbers as London finds itself in the grip of a murder wave.

The Home Secretary is set to unveil a strategy which demands social media companies do more to crack down on videos glorifying violence.

But critics have said police numbers have fallen under her and Theresa May's watch - leaving forces unable to cope with the rising tide of violence.

The chairman of the Met Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, told ministers 'enough is enough' and they must find the cash to beef up policing.

Ken Marsh said while some of the blame should go to social media firms ministers must concentrate on properly funding the police which are at 'breaking point'.

He told Mail Online: 'They need to focus more on us and stop trying to pin it on others. Social media is a problem, but it is not the problem we are talking about - which is funding policing correctly.'

Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Ed Davey told Mail Online: 'Ministers arguing that it is all social media's fault would be rather more credible if they hadn't slashed funding for the police in London and the rest of England.

'The reality is that officer numbers are down, serious crime is up, and it is time they stopped blaming other people.'

Amber Rudd (pictured in Salisbury last month) is set to demand social media companies do more to crack down on gang videos which glorify violence in the wake of the violent crime gripping London

Ministers are under mounting pressure after 50 people have been killed in the capital so far this year - taking the murder rate above New York's.

Police numbers have fallen under Amber Rudd and Theresa May's watch - leaving forces unable to cope with the rising tide of violence, critics say

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Tory cuts to police budgets have cost the capital thousands of police officers

Mr Marsh told Mail Online police officers are having their leave cancelled because forces are under such pressure.

He said: 'Cops have been taken from the streets, put into specialist roles and reduce the numbers - without the visibility on the streets then you can't carry on policing London the way we were.

'How on earth can we expect us to do the same job with 5,000 fewer police officers?

How stop-and-search powers have changed As Home Secretary Mrs May introduced changes in 2014 which meant police are only allowed to stop people when there is 'reasonable grounds for suspicion'. And it warned that where officers misuse the powers they would face disciplinary action. She introduced the measures amid widespread anger to the power, particularly among the black and ethnic minority population, who said it was used disproportionately against them. In the years following the reforms stop and search fell to their lowest level since the power was introduced 17 years ago. But violent crime has risen - sparking calls for the power to be taken up again. Under current stop-and-search laws, police are allowed to search a suspect if the have 'reasonable grounds' that the person is carrying a weapon, drugs or stolen property. Such justification might be that they have witnessed the suspect putting the knife into a pocket. However emergency section 60 powers can be enforced in a set location, such as a town or city, which removes the 'reasonable grounds' criteria. Advertisement

'The Government needs to stop talking the nonsense they are. It is getting a bit daft now.'

He said that social media does create a 'nightmare' but that the buck stops with the Government and funding.

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott MP told Mail Online: 'This Government has repeatedly failed to get the internet giants to act on serious crime, whether it's internet fraud, hate speech, child pornography or terrorism.

'Under the Tories, the police do not have the necessary resources to tackle this problem and simply asking social media companies to act on the promotion of violent crime is not enough.

'Rather than invite internet companies in for a cosy chat, Labour will make sure real action is taken. We will also restore 10,000 police officers, so that we aren't trying to fight crime with one hand tied behind our backs.'

Lib Dem peer Brian Paddick, the former Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner, said: 'The uniformed police presence on the streets and in other public spaces has all but disappeared because of cuts to police funding.

'Police officer numbers have fallen and the number of PCSOs has been decimated.

'As usual, the Government looks for 'no cost' options rather than properly funding the police service.

'I've talked to young people involved in knife crime and tell me seeing police officers on the streets makes them feel safer and reduces the feeling that they need to carry a knife in the first place.

'We need to invest in long-term approaches to tackling the causes of this epidemic of violence but in the meantime we need more police on the streets to keep us all safe.'

Ex US police officer Bill Bratton, who oversaw a significant drop in crime in New York and Los Angeles, said 'you pay for what you get'.

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said 'we have seen cuts in police officers on the street' and demanded thousands more officers must be put on the streets.

While Larry Logan, a former senior policeman in London, said the murder surge in the capital is the result of budget cuts which has 'decimated' police numbers.

And Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said police cuts have cost the capital thousands of officers, adding: 'It's time for the Government to stop misleading the public and properly fund our police.'

Ms Rudd is unveiling the Serious Violence Strategy next week, which is expected to include measures to restrict the way apps like Snapchat and Instagram are used by gangs.

Bill Bratton, who oversaw a significant drop in crime in New York and Los Angeles, said 'you pay for what you get' as he warned Britain's police forces are overstretched. He is pictured here centre at a press conference in Manhattan in 2015

Tanesha Melbourne (pictured left) died after she was shot in the street. Her mother Sharon Melbourne and her little sister arrived to lay flowers at the scene

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The instant nature of social media also means that plans develop rapidly and disputes can escalate very quickly.'

He added: 'We are clear that internet companies must go further and faster to tackle illegal content online.'

Deadly knife epidemic gripping the Capital is the worst since records began in 2011 So far already this year, the Metropolitan Police has launched 50 murder investigations. This is the equivalent of three a week - up from two a week last year. But Official figures show that 2017 was the worst year for knife deaths among young people since at least 2002. Forty-six people aged 25 or under were stabbed to death in London, up by 21 compared with the previous year, according to police figures. Figures published in January showed police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017 - the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011. Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year-on-year, to 6,694 recorded offences. Advertisement

He said the Serious Violence Strategy, will examine how social media usage can drive violent crime and contain measures to tackle it.

But ministers are under growing pressure to get back to basics and find extra cash to plough into police budgets and tackle the rising death toll directly.

Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow in north London, where a 16 year-old boy became the latest murder victim, said she has 'begged and pleaded' with ministers to pump more money into policing.

She said: 'I've never seen resources so scarce on the ground - to be able to have the relationships with people to get that community intelligence, to support what our police are doing.

'We have lost 100 police around here already from the cuts coming through form government and I have stood up in parliament and begged and pleaded with ministers to give us those people.'

Ms Abbott said: 'We definitely need more community police officers.

'But, without trying to sound party political, under this Government, under Theresa May as home secretary, we have seen cuts in police officers on the street. That's why we're promising at least 10,000 extra.'

'Something has gone badly wrong when we cannot afford to keep our citizens safe.'

How many police officers have been lost from the streets of England and Wales? Police officer numbers have dropped since 2010. Here are the figures: 2010: 144,235 2011: 139,585 2012: 134,580 2013: 129,956 2014: 128,346 2015: 127,485 2016: 124,368 2017: 123,505 Source: House of Commons library Advertisement

Bill Bratton, who oversaw a significant drop in crime in New York and Los Angeles, said 'you pay for what you get' as he warned Britain's police forces are overstretched.

Mr Bratton told The Sun: 'New York City focused on what people saw every day and that was the disorder  what we called the 'Broken Windows' policy.

'This is a theory that visible signs of vandalism and anti- social behaviour, like broken windows, street drinking, graffiti and fly tipping, create an environment which actively encourages further and more serious crimes.

'Target the petty crimes aggressively and fewer serious ones will occur.'

He said police needed to take responsibility for the prevention of crime, 'rather than just responding to it'.

Mr Bratton was police commissioner under New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for some 27 months, during which time serious crime went down by 39 per cent.

He said offenders were arrested for minor offences and stopped and searched more regularly, leading to a decline in overall crime.

Mr Bratton, pictured in London in 2002, said police needed to take responsibility for the prevention of crime, 'rather than just responding to it

A forensic tent is in place at the scene of Monday's fatal shooting in Chalgrove Road, Tottenham - the latest murder in London's wave of violence

He also said his methods reflected a model originally set up by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel, in 1829 when he set up the Met Police.

MET POLICE CHIEF SLAMS ONLINE ABUSE In recent days, Scotland Yard commissioner Cressida Dick has said gangs were using online platforms to glorify street violence and show off 'with weapons'. Miss Dick also raised concerns about the violent undercurrent in some music, especially grime. She warned that it could lead vulnerable youngsters to think it was 'an admirable thing to be talking about violence and people perpetrating it'. Miss Dick, who has been in the role for 12 months, said she was 'no luddite' and that the internet was 'wonderfully positive in almost every way'. But she added that 'incredibly abusive' language online can 'rev people up'. She told The Times: 'There's definitely something about the impact of social media  people being able to go from slightly angry with each other to 'fight' very quickly  gangs can posture on social media and talk about who they are and what they've achieved. 'It may not be unlawful but it is glamorising it for people, showing off with weapons.' She said that insults or threats online 'makes [violence] faster, it makes it harder for people to cool down. I'm sure it does rev people up'.' Advertisement

Mr Logan, an ex-Scotland Yard superintendent in east London, has said the spike in violence is the result of reduced force numbers and 'decimated' social services due to funding cuts.

He claimed detectives were retiring and quitting 'in droves' because of 'overwhelming' caseloads.

So far this year, the Metropolitan Police has launched 50 murder investigations.

That is around double the number seen in the first quarter of last year and, in the latter two months, it is the first time in modern history that London's homicide rate, which has grown nearly 40 percent in three years, has been higher than New York's.

Fifteen people were killed in London in February, compared to 14 in New York.

And the trend looks set to continue, with 19 killings in London in March  one more than the city on the other side of the Atlantic, where urban violence has long been prevalent.

London also has almost three times the number of reported rapes, but until February this year the murder rate in New York remained higher.

David Lammy, the local MP in Tottenham where a 17-year-old teenager was gunned down on Monday night, said he had requested an urgent meeting with Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Mr Lammy said the violence was bring driven by 'vast' quantities of cocaine being fought over by drug barons.

He said: 'Young men become foot soldiers for gangsters and McMafia bosses much further up the tree.

'We need to bring down the gangsters.'

If the current rate of homicides continues at the pace we have seen so far, there could be as many as 180 people killed on the streets this year.
Three Ohio State University academics have published a study concluding that it is 'highly likely' Hillary Clinton lost the election because of 'fake news'.

Richard Gunther, Erik C. Nisbet and Paul Beck used a YouGov survey of 585 Obama 2012 voters and found how many believed three 'fake news' statements.

One of those statements was clearly fake - that the Pope had endorsed Donald Trump, and originally made by a website whose home page says it publishes satire and fiction - but the other two are likely to attract criticism that they cannot be simply called fake.

One was: 'During her time as U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton approved weapon sales to Islamic jihadists, including ISIS.' Although Clinton

The second was that 'Hillary Clinton is in very poor health due to a serious illness.'

Rating that as 'fake news' is likely to prove controversial given that Clinton collapsed two months before polling day with pneumonia which she had concealed for days.

Read the academics' full findings:

Could 'fake news' have helped determine the outcome of the 2016 presidential election?

Social media users and intensely partisan news broadcasts disseminated a massive number of messages during the campaign.

Many of these messages demonized candidates and seriously distorted the facts presented to voters.

One recent study of nearly 25,000 election social media messages shared by Michigan voters identified nearly half as 'unverified WikiLeaks content and Russian-origin news stories' that fall 'under the definition of propaganda based on its use of language and emotional appeals.'

Fake news: This fabricated account was believed by eight per cent of Obama voters in the study. The Pope did no endorse Trump

Fake headline: 'During her time as U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton approved weapon sales to Islamic jihadists, including ISIS,' was one of the other statements put to voters. But the story under this headline is more complicated

Health: Voters were asked if they believed that 'Hillary Clinton is in very poor health due to a serious illness.' But the question is difficult to rate as fake - as she did in fact collapse in public from pneumonia which she had concealed

What hasn't been clear, however, is how much of an impact  if any  these 'fake news' items had on the outcome of the election. To our knowledge, there have been no empirical studies that have systematically assessed the extent to which believing fake news stories influenced voting decisions in 2016. So, we set out to do one.

We are scholars associated with the Comparative National Elections Project, which is coordinated at The Ohio State University. In December 2016, we commissioned YouGov to conduct a nationwide post-election survey. Our study concludes that fake news most likely did have a substantial impact on the voting decisions of a strategically important set of voters.

Here's what we learned.

Our research questions

The survey had 1,600 respondents. We focus our analysis on the 2016 electoral behavior of 585 respondents who had voted for Barack Obama in 2012. This strategic subset of voters was selected for two reasons.

First, restricting our analysis to former Obama supporters allowed us to weed out those respondents who were hostile to all Democratic candidates.

Second, if Hillary Clinton had retained the support of Obama voters, she would have most likely won the 2016 election. Instead, just 77 percent of Obama voters supported Clinton. Our survey data show that 10 percent of these former Obama voters cast ballots for Trump in 2016, 4 percent switched to minor parties and 8 percent did not vote.

Our key research question is: What accounts for these defections?

Study methodology and results

Our survey asked 281 questions, including three false statements best characterized as fake news  two negative statements about Hillary Clinton and one positive statement about Donald Trump. All three were widely disseminated through social media and spread by mainstream and partisan news outlets.

The first is that 'Hillary Clinton is in very poor health due to a serious illness.' Twenty-five percent of all survey respondents believed that this was 'definitely true' or 'probably true,' as did 12 percent of our former Obama supporters.

The second is a statement that asked our respondents if they believed that 'During her time as U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton approved weapon sales to Islamic jihadists, including ISIS.' Thirty-five percent of our national sample believed that Clinton had sold weapons to the Islamic State, as did 20 percent of former Obama voters.

Finally, the third is a statement that 'Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump for president prior to the election.' About 10 percent of our national sample and 8 percent of Obama supporters thought this statement was true.

Belief in these fake news stories is very strongly linked to defection from the Democratic ticket by 2012 Obama voters. Among respondents who didn't believe any of the fake news stories, 89 percent cast ballots for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Sixty-one percent of those who believed one fake news item voted for Clinton. But only 17 percent of those who believed two or all three of these false assertions voted for Clinton.

To be sure, data from a one-time survey cannot 'prove' that these fake news items caused former Obama voters to defect. It is also possible that someone who chose not to vote for Clinton might endorse these false statements after the fact in order to rationalize their voting decision.

We also explored a number of other possible explanations for these voters' defections.

What else could explain these defections?

The Clinton campaign heavily emphasized gender issues in an attempt to mobilize female voters. Could this have alienated men to the extent that they abandoned their prior support for the Democratic presidential candidate? Our data provide no support for such a claim. An identical 23 percent of both male and female respondents who had voted for Obama in 2012 defected from the Democratic ticket.

Did the lack of an African-American presidential candidate lead black voters to waiver in their commitment to the Democratic candidate? No. Indeed, fewer African-American voters (20 percent) defected from Clinton than did white voters (23 percent).

Age is weakly related to defection from Clinton. While 20 percent of voters over 35 abandoned the Democratic ticket in 2016, 30 percent of younger voters did so.

Education is also weakly associated with defection. Among college-educated former Obama voters, just 16 percent did not vote for Clinton, but the percentage almost doubled to 27 percent defecting for those with lower educational attainment.

More overtly political variables had a stronger impact. Half of those who placed themselves near the conservative end of the ideological scale defected from the Democratic candidate, while only 14 percent of those on the left did so.

Similarly, dissatisfaction with the condition of the economy also had an impact: Just 12 percent of those who thought that the economic situation at the time of the survey was 'good' or 'very good' abandoned Hillary Clinton, while 39 percent who regarded the economy as 'poor' or 'very poor' at the time of the survey defected from the Democratic ticket.

Party identification exerted a stronger influence. Among the former Obama voters who identified themselves as Democrats, 7 percent did not vote for Clinton. This rose to 40 percent among independents and to 68 percent among those who identified with the Republican, Libertarian or Green parties.

So do all of these alternative factors mean it's impossible to measure the unique impact of belief in fake news on the vote in 2016? Actually social science offers us a way. Multiple regression analysis is a tool that allows researchers to account for many different factors influencing behavior, in this case defecting from the Democratic ticket in 2016.

Defeated: Hillary Clinton's election defeat is now the subject of academic scrutiny

We used this tool to estimate the joint impact on the vote of all of these alternative explanatory factors. The first equation we ran included gender, race, age, education, ideological orientation, dissatisfaction with the condition of the economy and party identification. All together, these variables 'explained' 38 percent of the likelihood of defection.

We then added the fake news items to the equation to measure their impact. The three fake news items explained an additional 14 percent of the likelihood of Obama voters defecting after the influence of all of the other variables had been taken into consideration.

We also added one more compelling element to our study. Using 'feeling thermometers,' we measured how much each respondent liked or disliked Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. If defection of Obama voters was only due to disliking Hillary Clinton or liking Donald Trump, then the introduction of this thermometer variable into the equation should make the link with fake news disappear.

Though how people felt about Clinton and Trump did somewhat reduce the strength of the relationship between fake news and defection, it did not eliminate it. Belief in fake news remained a significant predictor of defecting from Clinton. In sum, even after the impact of all of these other factors is taken into consideration, former Obama voters who believed one or more of these fake news stories were 3.3 times more likely to defect from the Democratic ticket in 2016 than those who did not believe any of these false claims.

That may not seem like much, but Clinton lost the presidency by about 78,000 votes (0.6 percent of nationwide vote) cast in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Though our evidence does not 'prove' that belief in fake news 'caused' these former Obama voters to defect from the Democratic candidate in 2016, our study results suggest that it is highly likely that the pernicious pollution of our political discourse by fake news was sufficient to influence the outcome of what was a very close election.

This article was already published by The Conversation.
Shamsu Iqbal, 61, was the lynchpin of a gang which exploited his trusted position to falsify records for at least 437 people

A Home Office official was at the centre of a 6million conspiracy which allowed hundreds of illegal immigrants into the country.

Shamsu Iqbal, 61, was the lynchpin of a gang which exploited his trusted position to falsify records for at least 437 people.

Yesterday all four men involved in the scam were found guilty following a trial and will now be sentenced at a hearing next week.

They face a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail.

The potential loss to the taxpayer was assessed by Home Office statisticians as 56million, based on the amount the 437 illegal immigrants could have falsely claimed in benefits over the six years of the fraud.

However, exactly how many immigrants were given ghost identities may never be known.

The conspiracy netted the gang themselves more than 6.18million, with much of the money spirited back to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Dubai, where the criminals have strong links.

When ringleader Iqbal was arrested investigators found bank accounts containing more than 1million in cash.

His job at the Home Office would have earned him around 23,000 a year.

Iqbal and his three co-conspirators would split the 14,000 fee they charged to the illegal immigrants they helped.

Prosecutors explained how Iqbal would access Home Office records of migrants who had been granted the right to stay in Britain and swap them for details of imposters.

Investigators with the Home Offices Anti-Corruption Unit spent three years identifying at least 437 cases of documents being faked.

Iqbals co-accused were Sheikh Muhammad Usman, 45 (left), legal case worker Mohammad Khawar Aftab Hussain (right), 49, and worker Mohammad Ibrahim Ali, 48

The ghost imposter would get a new identity of a real migrant who had been given either leave to remain or no time limit status to stay in Britain.

A senior Home Office source told the Mail: The bottom line is that we may never know the true number of people this gang helped stay in the country.

'There could be literally hundreds more on their books that we simply havent found.

The deception that has been allowed to go on for years is highly embarrassing to the Home Office.

'Some of those given new identities could even be potential terrorists. Many of them have simply melted away meaning we will never trace them.

Iqbals co-accused were Sheikh Muhammad Usman, 45, legal case worker Mohammad Khawar Aftab Hussain, 49, and worker Mohammad Ibrahim Ali, 48.

Usman is a qualified lawyer of Pakistani origin who worked at a number of firms in London. British citizen Hussain, who was born in Pakistan, and Ali, who came to Britain from Bangladesh aged 12, both worked at solicitors practices in London.

Croydon Crown Court heard the gang were caught out when they tried to alter the details of a legal migrant from Ghana who had been jailed for robbery and was liable for deportation. Pictured: Mohammad Ibrahim Ali arrives at Croydon Crown Court

This enabled them to engage in the criminality as they would facilitate correspondence with the Home Office on behalf of the impostors to help straighten out their immigration status, the trial heard.

Iqbal had his own secure log-on to a Home Office system which records details of individual cases and applications to remain in the country.

Croydon Crown Court heard the gang were caught out when they tried to alter the details of a legal migrant from Ghana who had been jailed for robbery and was liable for deportation.

Iqbal, from Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, Usman, from Wandsworth, South London, Hussain from Colliers Wood, South London, and Ali, from Ilford, Essex, all denied 13 charges of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration spanning from January 2010 to April 2016.
The FBI is testing recently unearthed human remains found in Syria on suspicion they belong to ISIS hostages.

Humanitarian aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig and journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were all kidnapped and killed in the Middle Eastern country by the terror group.

Efforts have been to recover their bodies in the past but have been always been fruitless until now, after two captured ISIS guards Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, helped authorities locate the grave sites. The pair are allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed 'The Beatles' which also included the militant branded 'Jihadi John.'

Humanitarian aid workers Kayla Mueller (left) and Peter Kassig (right) were kidnapped and killed in Syria country by the terror group

Journalists Steven Sotloff (left) and James Foley (right) were all murdered by the terror group

However, it appears the remains that have been recovered are in such a state of decomposition that it's not clear who they remain to, ABC News reports.

They have been brought back to the US base, and sent to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for forensic and DNA testing to see of they match samples of the four American hostages taken by ISIS. It may be months before they are able to confirm the identities.

The discovery will give hope to the families of the ISIS victims who have been waiting years to finally lay their loves ones to rest.

'We do really appreciate all the efforts being made,' Diane Foley, the mother of journalist James Foley who was executed on video, told ABC News earlier this month.

She said she is remaining realistic and says her son probably is not among the remains but is grateful for all the efforts.

Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh, who were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed 'The Beatles'

The families of the victims are now calling on the US government to bring Kotey and Elsheikh to justice through the criminal courts.

In a joint op-ed to The New York Times the families of Mueller, Kassig, Foley and Sotloff urged Trump not to try the ISIS guards in the military court at Guantanamo or to execute them which they fear will turn them into martyrs.

'Either path would make them martyrs in the eyes of their fanatic, misled comrades in arms  the worst outcome,' they wrote. 'Instead, they should be tried in our fair and open legal system, or in a court of international justice, and then spend the rest of their lives in prison. That is what our children would have wanted.'

Two weeks ago, the families were flown to Washington to meet with the top Trump officials to discuss how the ISIS members should be dealt with.

The official decision of how to deal with the pair has not yet been reached, sources told ABC News, but it would be rare for the government to ignore the wishes of the victims' families.

A masked militant holding a knife and gesturing as he speaks to the camera in a desert landscape before beheading 31-year-old US freelance writer Steven Sotloff

Londoners Kotey and Elsheikh have had their British citizenship revoked since they were captured by Kurdish YPG fighters in January. Mohammed Emwazi, aka 'Jihadi John' was killed in a CIA drone strike in Raqqa, Syria, in 2016, while Aine Davis, the fourth alleged 'Beatle,' was captured in Turkey.

The UK have demanded that the men face a civilian trial, sources said.

The 'Beatles' jihadi group, named by surviving captives because of the members' English accents, quickly became renowned for its brutality.

In 2014 and 2015, it held more than 20 Western hostages in Syria and tortured many of them.

It beheaded seven American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers and a group of Syrian soldiers, boasting of the butchery in videos released to the world.

Speaking to The Associated Press at a Kurdish security center, Elsheikh and Kotey, repeatedly refused to address allegations they were part of the cell.

Alexanda Amon Kotey is believed to have been in the cell that captured, tortured and killed hostages including American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers

They were captured in January in eastern Syria by the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces amid the collapse of IS. Their detention has set off a debate in the U.S. and Europe over how to prosecute their citizens who joined IS - as the Kurds pressure the West to take them back to relieve overcrowding in prisons.

The two said the killings of the captives were a mistake - but for tactical reasons.

Many in ISIS 'would have disagreed' with the killings 'on the grounds that there is probably more benefit in them being political prisoners,' Kotey said.

'I didn't see any benefit (in killing them). It was something that was regrettable.' He also blamed Western governments for failing to negotiate, noting that some hostages were released for ransoms.

Elsheikh said the killings were a 'mistake' and might not have been justified. But, he said, they were in retaliation for killings of civilians by the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS. He said the militants shouldn't have initially threatened to kill the hostages because then they had to go ahead with it or else 'your credibility may go.'

The beheadings, often carried out on camera, horrified the world soon after ISIS took over much of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group also committed widescale atrocities including massacring thousands of Iraqi troops and civilians and taking sex slaves.

The first victim was American journalist James Foley, followed by fellow Americans Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and Japanese journalists Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto.

Families of the ISIS victims have urged the US government not to execute El Shafee Elsheikh (pictured) and Kotey, but to prosecute them in civilian court

Speaking to the AP on Friday, Foley's mother, Diane Foley, called on the international community and U.S. government 'to have the courage to hold these men accountable in an open trial where we can face them and they can hear all the pain and suffering they've inflicted on the world. And so that the rest of the world can understand the atrocity of their crimes.'

She said she opposes the death penalty for them since it feeds jihadi 'desire for martyrdom and heroic afterlife.'

'These men do not deserve that. They deserve to be held in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives.'

Elsheikh, whose family came to Britain from Sudan when he was a child, was a mechanic from White City in west London.

He traveled to Syria in 2012, initially joining al-Qaida's branch before moving on to IS, according to the U.S. State Department's listing of the two men for terrorism sanctions. It said he 'earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions and crucifixions while serving as an (ISIS) jailer.'

Kotey, who is of Ghanaian and Greek-Cypriot descent and converted to Islam in his 20s, is from London's Paddington neighborhood.

Serving in the IS cell as a guard, he 'likely engaged in the group's executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods,' the State Department said. It also said he was an IS recruiter who brought other Britons into the group.

Elsheikh and Kotey spoke to the AP at a Kurdish security building in the town of Kobani, where they were brought, initially in handcuffs and face covers that were removed. They were unrepentant about belonging to ISIS.

The U.S. has been pressing for the home countries of foreign jihadis in Iraq and Syria to take their nationals for trial. Britain's defense secretary has said they should not be allowed back into the country.
A man who illegally climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and refused to come down for more than five hours plunged the city into peak-hour chaos.

Police Rescue crews and negotiators tried to coax him down from the southern end of the iconic structure, which he began scaling at around 4.30am on Wednesday.

The man - wearing a tracksuit, a cap, fingerless gloves and headphones - was seen sitting inside a metal infrastructure and rolling a cigarette at around 7am.

Footage showed police negotiators attempting to get close to him, before he quickly climbed the bridge truss and scampered away.

A man who illegally climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and refused to come down for more than five hours plunged the city into peak-hour chaos

The man was seen sitting inside a metal infrastructure, rolling a cigarette while seemingly listening to music

The man, aged in his 40s, who was wearing a tracksuit, a cap and fingerless gloves, scaled the bridge about 4.30am on Wednesday.

Just after 9.30am, he climbed toward Police Rescue officers who handcuffed him and brought him down.

Moments earlier, the man yelled towards police below 'Get out of the f***ing car!' - The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Still wearing a pair of headphones, he was restrained as he was transported to hospital for treatment.

'We can confirm the man is in police custody and is safe,' NSW Police tweeted.

NSW Ambulance said in a statement: 'The man is in a stable condition and will be taken by road to St Vincent's Hospital for further assessment.'

Though it is not yet known why the man, aged in his 40s, climbed the bridge, there are reports he was demanding to speak with government officials.

The man was wearing a tracksuit, a cap, fingerless gloves and headphones as he scaled the bridge

The man is scene climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge during Wednesday morning's incident

Footage showed police negotiators attempting to get close to the man, who quickly climbed the bridge truss and scampered away

Earlier, Police Rescue officers followed him along the structure, but it was proving difficult to reach him because he kept moving, a police spokeswoman said.

The man was also seen making hand gestures at police, appearing to ask them to call his mobile phone.

He is believed to have left a bicycle in the middle of the road before making the climb.

Negotiations began at around 6am, as a 30km traffic jam swelled on the southbound approach to the bridge.

The man (second left) is escorted by police after being coerced off the bridge

Negotiations began at around 6am, as a 30km traffic jam swelled on the southbound approach to the bridge

Still wearing headphones, the man is seen on a stretcher after being coerced off the bridge

The man made hand gestures at police, appearing to ask them to call his mobile phone

Furious commuters took to social media to vent their frustrations at the delays, which are expected to continue for at least two hours.

'Traffic chaos because some fool who decides to climb Harbour bridge. Late for work again,' one wrote on Twitter.

'Aren't there security guards on the Harbour Bridge 24/7 these days? What was doing this morning?' another questioned.

'NOT HAPPY with the Harbour Bridge situation this morning. Unbelievable how one person's actions can ruin 100,000s of people's day,' yet another noted.

A police negotiator is seen during the dramatic police operation on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

'Traffic chaos because some fool who decides to climb Harbour bridge. Late for work again,' one angry commuter wrote on Twitter

'NOT HAPPY with the Harbour Bridge situation this morning. Unbelievable how one person's actions can ruin 100,000s of people's day,' another noted

Furious commuters took to social media to vent their frustrations at the delays

'One man on one bridge and the whole city is in chaos,' another wrote.

All four northbound lanes had been closed just before 7am, but two reopened around an hour later.

Authorities earlier warned commuters the bridge could fully shut down if the situation escalated.

All lanes across the bridge have now been reopened and traffic is returning to normal.

The man is known to police, according to Road Minister Melinda Pavey. She said it was near impossible to stop people illegally climbing the bridge.

'Unless you are prepared to wrap the whole bridge in barbed wire, then there is a chance that something like this might happen,' Ms Pavey told the ABC.

The unauthorised man who climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge brought early morning traffic to a standstill

Just after 9.30am, the man climbed toward Police Rescue officers who handcuffed him and brought him down

There were hundreds of online comments from commuters stuck in the long delays

Some questioned the how the man was not stopped from climbing the bridge on Wednesday

This social media user said they were scheduled to make a rare punctual arrival to work

Traffic Management Centre's David Wright said the chaos is likely to go on for hours.

'The information that we're getting, it's basically going to throw peak into chaos for anyone coming into the Sydney CBD,' he told the broadcaster.

'If you are travelling into the CBD whether it's from the upper north shore, the lower north shore, the northern beaches, the inner west - you will be delayed significantly due to this major problem on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.'

A large police presence as well as rescue squads and emergency services remain gathered at the scene.

Police negotiators remained on the road trying to talk down the man, who climbed the bridge just after 4.30am

By 8am, northbound traffic (pictured) was queued nearly 20km to Victoria Road in Huntley's Point

Southbound traffic (pictured just before 8am) heading towards the city was at a standstill

It was proving difficult reach the man because he keeps moving, a NSW Police spokeswoman said

A large police presence as well as rescue squads and emergency services gathered at the scene

Police rescue crews tried for hours to coax the man down after he scaled the iconic structure at around 4.30am on Wednesday

All northbound lanes were closed to traffic, with the traffic backed up for more than 5km just before 7am

The view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge looking towards the city as all four northbound lanes were closed
A lawyer representing the estate of Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, who died in a boat crash, has responded to a compensation suit bought by the two other victims' families by claiming he was framed by investigators.

Attorney Ralph Fernandez (no relation) accused the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission of assuming the pitcher was responsible for the crash then altering evidence to fit the theory.

The FFWC's report concluded Fernandez had been at the wheel when the Kaught Looking crashed at 3am on September 25, 2016, and that he had driven in a 'reckless' manner while drunk and high on cocaine.

The families of Eduardo Rivero, 25, and 27-year-old Emilio Jesus Macias who were with Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (pictured) sued the All-Star's estate for $4million

Macias (left), a banker at Wells Fargo, and Rivero (right), a sales rep at Carnival Cruise Lines, were lifelong friends. Rivero had met Ferndandez through their girlfriends

The families of the two victims, Emilio Macias, 27, and Eduardo Rivero, 25, brought a suit demanding $2 million each in compensation, claiming evidence proved Fernandez was to blame for their deaths.

But Fernandez's attorney accused the FFWC of failing to investigate the theory that cocaine had been slipped into one of the athlete's drinks, according to a copy of the suit seen by the Sun Sentinel.

He suggested this could have been done to allow someone to steal $15,000 the All-Star had in his backpack, which was later recovered but without the cash inside it.

The attorney claimed the FFWC's report was characterised by a 'lack of experience, inability to answer simple questions, poor investigative direction, and sloppy work'.

An official report concluded Fernandez had been at the wheel when the Kaught Looking (pictured) crashed at 3am on September 25, 2016, and that he had driven in a 'reckless' manner while drunk and high on cocaine

Attorney Christopher Royer, who is representing Rivero and Macias's families, dismissed the claims.

He said: 'Despite what Ralph Fernandez has said in his most recent court filing, he has to admit there is no evidence whatsoever to support his contention that either Emilio Macias or Eduardo Rivero was operating the vessel at the time of the accident.'

Authorities said Fernandez, 24, had an alcohol reading of .147 when he, his friend Rivero and acquaintance Macias were killed in the wreck off South Beach.

While Rivero and Macias had alcohol in their systems, neither was legally drunk, according to toxicology reports from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office.

Olga Fernandez (left), the grandmother and Maritza Fernandez the mom of pitcher Jose Fernandez watch as the Miami Marlins play against the Colorado Rockies at the Marlins Park on April 1 in Miami

Maritza Fernandez (center) and Olga Fernandez (right) before a memorial service at St Brendan Catholic Church in Miami on September 29

Fernandez owned the 32-foot boat, which was being driven at between 55 and 65 miles per hour when it hit the jetty.

The high-speed collision caused the boat to flip over and crash on the rocks. None of the men were wearing life jackets.

Fernandez immigrated to the United States from Cuba in 2008. He became a US citizen in 2015.
Amaan Shakoor was said to have been shot in the face by two hooded men on Monday night near a school in Walthamstow, East London

Mourners at the scene where a 16-year-old boy was shot in the face 'after being warned he was selling cocaine in the wrong place' were searched by police following an altercation between two groups.

Amaan Shakoor was said to have been shot in the face by two hooded men on Monday night near a school in Walthamstow, East London.

Police said the 16-year-old was the 49th person to be murdered in London this year fuelling fears of a surge in youth violence and postcode wars between gangs.

Amaan's father, Mohammed Shakoor, speaking at the family's east London home said: 'He was a wonderful son. We need time to come to terms with this, we are obviously devastated.'

Mohammed Asghar, 15, was in hospital after being stabbed in the arm twice but has now been released.

Residents said drug dealers operated in a nearby estate.

Local Labour MP Stella Creasy said police were re-introducing blanket 'stop and search' powers after the 'horrific incident'.

The youngster was gunned down just minutes after 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne was shot dead two miles away in Tottenham.

A police officer carries out a search of a young man as large crowds gathered near the site where Amaan was killed

Police officers intervene and search two men following an altercation at the scene where Amaan Shakoor was shot on Monday night in Walthamstow, east London

Friends of Mr Shakoor arrive at the scene of his death to lay flowers and have a drink in his honour

Several men were searched and questioned by police following a small altercation outside the leisure centre where Amaan was killed

A group of people arrive at the scene earlier this afternoon, carrying drinks and floral tributes

Amaan was understood to have been with friends outside Walthamstow Leisure Centre when the attack happened at around 10pm on Monday.

Neighbours said they heard two shots about five seconds apart, but initially thought the noises were fireworks.

A witness told how he had been standing round the corner when 'two boys, hooded up' ran past him.

Damian Slay, 17, from east London, said: 'They must have run up to them, stabbed one in the arm and faced the other one and just shot him in the face and run off.'

Highlighting how commonplace violence has become in the capital, the 17-year-old added: 'I wasn't startled because I've seen all of this before.'

Damian, a friend of the victim, said he believed the attack was because Amaan had ignored warnings from rival drug dealers to stay off their patch.

A large police presence was on the scene in Walthamstow today as dozens of people came to pay their respects to Amaan

A friend of Amann's arrives at the scene this afternoon at lays a bouquet of flowers against the wall of the leisure centre

Several young men, many of whom were covering their faces, were seen chatting outside the leisure centre this afternoon

A youngster is searched by police officers following a disagreement between two groups this afternoon

The 16-year-old boy was shot outside this leisure centre in Walthamstow, north London, on Monday

He said Amaan was a 'nice guy' with a 'wrong side' who had been threatened at gun point recently over dealing cocaine in the wrong area.

However Amaan's friends have said it was a 'case of mistaken identity'.

Speaking outside the scene of the shooting at Walthamstow Leisure Centre, a man who gave his name only as Osman, 32, said of Amaan: 'He was just a good lad. He wasn't involved in gangs or drugs or anything like that.

'It was a case of mistaken identity. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

'There are gang wars going on and this young lad has just unfortunately got caught up in it.

'He was in his last year at school studying for his GCSEs. He had his whole future ahead of him.'

Osman said the youngster was just a normal kid who was into football and loved hanging out with friends and going out to eat.

A friend claimed that he was attacked by 'rival drug dealers' when they warned him not to sell cocaine in a part of their borough

Tanesha Melbourne had left her home in Tottenham, north London , before a car pulled up and fired a bullet into her chest at 9.35pm on Monday night

Another friend added: 'This was nothing to do with drugs or anything. I can say he definitely did not sell drugs. He was just chilling in the wrong place. It was a postcode thing. He was with the wrong people in the wrong place. There is a postcode war out there.'

His father Mohammed, 48, an administrative officer, and his mother Nusrat, who have four children, were born in Pakistan but moved to the UK before their son was born.

A neighbour said the teenager was 'a good kid' but had got involved with a 'bad crowd' over the past few years.

Father-of-two Min Win, 43, who has lived in the area for 15 years, said: 'I heard a couple of gunshots around ten. One after each other, it was about five to six seconds from each other and I thought it was fireworks.

'It's quite scary, if that bullet came through my window, what are you going to say? This has never happened in this area before  we didn't even realise why these police cars turned up.'

Tanesha's mother Sharon Melbourne and her little sister arrived to lay flowers at the scene

Floral tributes for Tanesha were left on Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, north London

Shirley Chase, 78, who lives a few doors away from Amaan's family in Walthamstow, said he knew the youngster who was 'very pleasant'.

He said: 'I have been to see the family. They are very, very sad. He is only 16. I was very polite. I would see him walking up and down the street. I have been seeing him since he was a kid.

'It is just such a waste of life. I have been here since 1969 and the violence has got worse.

'If they cut all the funds, what do you expect? They have cut all of it to all services.'

Mohammed Asghar's father, Ali, fears Amaan and his son, both Muslims, may have been attacked as part of 'Punish a Muslim Day'.

A Met Police spokesman said: 'The 16-year-old boy died in hospital at 5.45pm on Tuesday, 3 April. His next of kin were present at hospital when he passed away.

'The Homicide and Major Crime Command are now investigating alongside colleagues from the Trident and Area Crime Command. No arrests have been made.'

They added: 'The 15-year-old was treated for stab injuries which are no longer life changing. He has now been released from hospital.'

Acting detective chief inspector Glenn Butler, from the Trident and Area Crime Command, said: 'I fully appreciate the alarm, shock and revulsion caused by this murder and other fatal shootings we have seen across London over the last few months.

'We are doing everything we can to identify the culprits and bring them to justice. We can't do this alone.

'We need those within the community who have information about those involved to search their own conscience and call us with information.'
Far-right views are now mainstream in Europe, is the stark warning coming from a leading historian.

Polish officials recently blamed Jewish people for their 'own destruction' while the Hungarian Prime Minster declared Europeans should not 'mix' with Africans.

The Croatian president on a trip to Argentina came under fire from a Holocaust survivors charity for thanking the country for taking in 'notorious' pro-Nazi criminals.

Ton Junes (pictured left), who works with the Human and Social Studies Foundation in Bulgaria, says the events all show a worrying trend for a rise in far-right views

Ton Junes, who works with the Human and Social Studies Foundation in Bulgaria, says the events all show a worrying trend for a rise in far-right views.

'There is something broader going on in the region which has produced a patriotic, nativist, conservative discourse through which far-right ideas managed to become mainstream,' the expert explained.

Ever since WWII, such views were taboo in Europe, confined to the far-right fringes. Today they are openly expressed by mainstream political leaders in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, part of a populist surge in the face of globalization and mass migration.

But Mr Junes said the shift to the right has included the rehabilitation of Nazi collaborators, often fighters or groups celebrated as anti-communists or defenders of national liberation.

On a recent visit to Argentina, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic thanked the country for providing post-war refuge to Croats who had belonged to the Ustasha regime

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently claimed Hungarians don't want their 'own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed by others.'

While the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki listed 'Jewish perpetrators' as among those who were responsible for the Holocaust.

His comments come just months after nationalists held a large Independence Day march in November, carrying banners calling for a 'White Europe'.

In both countries, governments are also eroding the independence of courts and the media, prompting human rights groups to warn that democracy is threatened in parts of a region that threw off Moscow-backed dictatorships in 1989.

Some analysts say Russia is covertly helping extremist groups in order to destabilize Western liberal democracies.

While that claim is difficult to prove with concrete evidence, it's clear that the growth of radical groups has pushed moderate conservative European parties to the right to hold onto votes.

That's the case in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party - the front-runner in the country's April 8 parliamentary election - have drawn voters with an increasingly strident anti-migrant campaign.

Casting himself as the savior of a white Christian Europe being overrun by Muslims and Africans, Orban has insisted that Hungarians don't want their 'own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed by others.'

Orban, who is friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also the first European leader to endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential race. In 2015 he erected a razor-wire fence at Hungary's borders to stop migrants from crossing, and has since been warning in apocalyptic terms that the West faces racial and civilizational 'suicide' if the migration continues.

The world's top Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff of the Wiesenthal center, called her statement 'a horrific insult to victims.' Grabar-Kitarovic later said she had not meant to glorify a totalitarian regime

Orban has also been obsessed with demonizing financier and philanthropist George Soros, falsely portraying the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor as an advocate of uncontrolled immigration into Europe.

In what critics denounce as a state-sponsored conspiracy theory with anti-Semitic overtones, the Hungarian government spent $48.5 million on anti-Soros ads in 2017, according to the investigative news site atlatszo.hu.

In a recent speech, Orban denounced Soros in language that echoed anti-Semitic cliches of the 20th century. He said Hungary's foes 'do not believe in work, but speculate with money; they have no homeland, but feel that the whole world is theirs.'

In Poland, xenophobic language is also on the rise. When nationalists held a large Independence Day march in November and some carried banners calling for a 'White Europe' and 'Clean Blood,' the interior minister called it a 'beautiful sight.'

Poland's government has also been embroiled in a bitter dispute with Israel and Jewish organizations over a national law that would criminalize blaming Poland for Germany's Holocaust crimes. Critics say that could allow a whitewash of history.

With tensions running high, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki listed 'Jewish perpetrators' as among those who were responsible for the Holocaust. He also visited the Munich grave of an underground Polish resistance group that had collaborated with the Nazis.

In the same vein, an official tapped to create a major new history museum in Warsaw has condemned the postwar tribunals in Nuremberg, Germany - where top Nazis were judged - as 'the greatest judicial farce in the history of Europe.'

Arkadiusz Karbowiak said the Nuremberg trials were only 'possible because of the serious role of Jews' in their organization, and called them 'the place where the official religion of the Holocaust was created.'

Across the region, Roma, Muslims, Jews and other minorities have expressed anxiety about the future.

But nationalists insist they are not promoting hate. They argue they're defending their national sovereignty and their Christian way of life against globalization and the large-scale influx of migrants who don't assimilate.

The Balkans, bloodied by ethnic warfare in the 1990s, are also seeing a rise of nationalism, particularly in Serbia and Croatia. Political analysts there believe that Russian propaganda is spurring old ethnic resentments.

Croatia has steadily drifted to the right since joining the EU in 2013. Some officials there have denied the Holocaust or reappraised Croatia's ultranationalist, pro-Nazi Ustasha regime, which killed tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma and anti-fascist Croats in wartime prison camps.

On a recent visit to Argentina, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic thanked the country for providing post-war refuge to Croats who had belonged to the Ustasha regime.

The world's top Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff of the Wiesenthal center, called her statement 'a horrific insult to victims.' Grabar-Kitarovic later said she had not meant to glorify a totalitarian regime.

Meanwhile in Bulgaria, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, the government includes a far-right alliance, the United Patriots, whose members have given Nazi salutes and slurred minorities. Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov has called the country's Roma minority 'ferocious humanoids' whose women 'have the instincts of street dogs.'

Junes, the researcher, says even though hate crimes are on the rise in Bulgaria, the problem has raised little concern in the West because the country keeps its public debt in check and is not challenging the fundamental Western consensus, unlike Poland and Hungary.

'Bulgaria isn't rocking the boat,' Junes said. 'They play along with Europe.'

While populist and far-right groups are also growing in parts of Western Europe, countries like Poland and Hungary are proving more vulnerable to the same challenges, said Peter Kreko, director of Political Capital Institute, a Budapest-based think tank.

'In younger, weaker, more fragile democracies,' Kreko said, 'right-wing populism is more dangerous because it can weaken and even demolish the democratic institutions.'
David Hogg, the Parkland survivor who has spearheaded calls for tougher gun laws in the wake of the February 14 massacre at his high school, continues to draw fire from the far-right.

A conspiracy theorist with ties to Infowars Alex Jones built a web site devoted solely to denounce the nasty little punk and leftist gun grabber darling Hogg.

HoggWatch.com is a site posted by Mike Adams, the head of another web site that touts what he claims are natural alternatives to conventional medicine.

The anti-Hogg site paints a very unflattering picture of the 18-year-old student who hid in a closet at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as an assailant gunned down 17 students and faculty earlier this year.

One article written by Adams refers to Hogg as a gun control fascist youth front man who is being exploited by Marxist Democrats.

A conspiracy theorist with ties to Infowars Alex Jones (left) built a web site devoted solely to denounce the nasty little punk and leftist gun grabber darling David Hogg (right)

HoggWatch.com is a site posted by Mike Adams, the head of another web site that touts what he claims are natural alternatives to conventional medicine

Another conspiratorial article alleges that Hogg was exposed as the son of an FBI deep stage agent.

Adams is considered a fringe figure who has offered up baseless scientific claims that have no backing among mainstream experts.

He has claimed in the past to have completely cured himself of type 2 diabetes using natural remedies.

Adams has also said that HIV does not lead to AIDS and that vaccinations are evil.

David Gorski, an American oncologist, once wrote that Adams' Natural News site is a 'blatant purveyor of the worst kind of quackery and paranoid anti-physician and anti-medicine conspiracy theories anywhere on the Internet.'

Adams' latest site, HoggWatch.com, repeats a number of conspiracy theories circulating among the far right about the Parkland shooting.

One of them holds that Hogg is a crisis actor who was sent to Parkland as part of a government-orchestrated plot to stage a false flag attack  the overall goal of which is to enact tougher gun laws.

HoggWatch.com repeats a number of conspiracy theories circulating among the far right about the Parkland shooting. One of them holds that Hogg is a crisis actor who was sent to Parkland as part of a government-orchestrated plot to stage a false flag attack

Hogg has been a lightning rod for the conservative right since he emerged as one of the leading voices in the student-led campaign for stricter gun laws in the United States.

When Fox News host Laura Ingraham tweeted that Hogg was 'whining' after he was rejected from admission into a number of universities, Hogg responded by waging a campaign urging advertisers to stop hawking their products on her show, The Ingraham Angle.

Hogg's campaign prompted over a dozen companies to pull their ads from Ingraham's nightly program.

When Ingraham announced last week that she was taking a vacation, it fueled speculation that the network was thinking of replacing her.

But Fox News put out a statement in support of Ingraham. The Rupert Murdoch-owned channel says Ingraham will be back on the air next week.

Hogg meanwhile rejected Bill O'Reilly's claim he is being manipulated into forcing Ingraham off air.

In a post on his website, O'Reilly said the companies which had withdrawn advertisements from Ingraham's show were 'being directed by powerful, shadowy radical groups who want [her] off the air.'

Hogg has been a lightning rod for the conservative right since he emerged as one of the leading voices in the student-led campaign for stricter gun laws in the United States. He's seen above speaking at the March for Our Lives demonstration in Washington, DC on March 24

In the same post he insisted similar groups were behind his embarrassing and abrupt exit from Fox last year - prompted by the disclosure of a series of sexual harassment allegations.

Appearing on MSNBC's The Last Word, Hogg denied he was the figurehead of some clandestine conspiracy.

'I'm pretty well lit  I don't see any shadowy figures behind me,' Hogg said.

While the Ingraham boycott was roiling conservatives, Hogg was challenged to a debate last week by Alex Jones' 15-year-old son, Rex.

Infowars posted a video featuring Rex Jones, who is seen in his fathers seat during a monologue blasting Hogg.

Hogg, you claim that the establishment is shaking in its boots in fear of you, Rex Jones says in the video.

Last week, Alex Jones' 15-year-old son, Rex Jones (left), challenged Hogg to a debate. Hogg has also successfully mounted a campaign encouraging companies to no longer advertise on Laura Ingraham's (right) Fox News show

No, they love you. They love gun control. Theyve wanted this for years.

The Infowars video is interspersed with clips of Democratic politicians speaking of the need to enact laws against assault weapons.

It is admitted they want to disarm the American people just as they have done with so many corrupt regimes in the past, Rex Jones said.

He blasted Hogg as a child human shield by the mainstream media so that you can go out and make outrageous statements without anyone being allowed to rebut you.
Officials at a Florida school where 17 people were killed in February implemented a new safety measure requiring students carry clear backpacks - but teens at the high school are lashing out saying the bookbags will not keep them safe and is an invasion of privacy.

On Monday many students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took to Twitter to express their frustrations and protest what they're calling a 'band-aid' security measure.

'Unless they're bulletproof, I don't feel much safer,' student Cameron Kasky tweeted, sharing a photo of his clear backpack filled with tampons.

Student Carmen Lo wears her clear backpack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

Cameron Kasky also lashed out at the school forcing students to carry clear backpacks

Student Delaney Tarr called the see-through backpacks an invasion of privacy

Lauren Hogg said she appreciated the effort but also slammed the school's new rule

Students wear clear backpacks outside of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Monday, April 2, 2018

'The people with the power to make changes keep making the wrong changes,' student Emma Gonzalez wrote on Twitter.

'When people pay money for these modifications on our school (the only school in the country that is being altered btw) that means someone is getting paid and I am sick and tired of us being treated like prize pigs.'

Jack Macleod tweeted that he believes in school safety implementations 'but the bags seem more cosmetic than actually effective'.

Alex Athanasious said the backpacks were 'constant reminders of what happened'

'To quote a friend of mine: I love wearing a tragedy around my neck. I just want to feel normal again,' the teen posted.

Some students attached an orange $1.05 price tag to their school-enforced bags. The tags were also seen during last months March For Our Lives rally in DC.

The school is also requiring students wear ID tags while on campus

Students at the Parkland school flocked to Twitter on Monday to lash out a the school's new safety implementation

Student Jack Macleod tweeted that he believes in school safety implementations 'but the bags seem more cosmetic than actually effective'.

Another student slamming the school's new safety measure after they were forced to carry backpacks

Students and activists David Hogg and Lauren Hogg explained that they represented how much Republican senator Marco Rubio accepted from the NRA divided by every student in the state of Florida.

'This backpack is probably worth more than my life,' student Carmen Lo tweeted.

Lauren Hogg said she appreciates the effort but criticized the school's new rule.

'My new backpack is almost as transparent as the NRAs agenda. I feel sooo safe now. As much as I appreciate the effort we as a country need to focus on the real issue instead of turning our schools into prisons,' she said.
An Oregon woman is suing Pacific Foods after she fell ill and allegedly found the partial remains of a mouse in her soup carton.

Measel Dorn, 72, filed her $400,000 lawsuit on Monday in the Multnomah County Circuit Court, claiming that her complaint was tossed aside by the organic foods company.

Dorn adds that she could see the rodent's intestine and foot. She is also claiming that two months after she sent the carton to the company in Tualatin, Oregon, it mysteriously disappeared in a 'cover up.'

She describes that on the evening of January 19, she ate some roasted red pepper and tomato soup. That night, she was forced to the restroom from her sleep.

Measel Dorn, 72, is suing Pacific Foods for $400,000 after she allegedly found mouse body pieces in her soup carton

Dorn claims to have hallucinated dialing 911 by hitting the numbers on the toilet. Upon returning to bed, she was forced to resort to crawling to make it back.

The retired nurse claims to have never have had issues like that before.

Unable to eat the following day, Dorn tries to eat another portion of soup from the same carton on January 21.

When she poured the soup into her cup, pieces of body parts fell in. Dorn immediately snapped photos.

The woman claims that after eating a serving a soup, she grew incredibly ill, hallucinating and forced to crawl back to her bed

'I was just shocked more than anything,' she explained to OregonLive. 'I kept looking at it, and I couldn't believe it. ... And then, it was just so sickening. I haven't been able to eat any soup since then.'

After several attempts to contact the company, Dorn spoke with an employee who directed her to drop the carton off at the Wood Village Fred Meyer; where she brought the soup.

Her lawsuit adds that an employee from Pacific Foods was to come pick up the carton and test it.

Following up, Dorn called Pacific Food and the government agricultural official assigned to the case but was told that testing hadn't concluded.

On March 29, however, Dorn was shocked to hear from Pacific Foods that the soup wasn't picked up from the store in Fred Meyer.

She adds that the Pacific Foods employee asserted that Dorn failed to drop off the container 'so we didn't have anything to test. Sorry, case closed.'

Vice president of operations at Pacific Foods, Joe McCarthy, released a statedment on Tuesday that said: "While we cant comment on ongoing legal matters, we can say that our utmost priority is ensuring the safety and integrity of our products. We take all consumer complaints seriously and have stringent protocols for investigating concerns."

The company was sold to Campbell Soup Co. in 2017 for a whopping $700million. The 31-year-old company is known for its organic line of products.
The Trump administration published a list of 1,300 Chinese-made products to be hit with tariffs in the escalating trade war  as two leading firms warned the White House American jobs could suffer from the growing confrontation.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a list of the products on Tuesday for public comment. New tariffs would go on $50 billion of imports.

The tariffs would hit an array of products, from cars to motorcycles, boats, microscopes, rifle sites, and home appliances.

Even such things as prostheses, defibrilators, X-ray machines, and rocket lanchers would be affected. New tariffs would go on $50 billion of imports.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a list of the products on Tuesday for public comment, following up on actions directed by President Trump March 22. New tariffs would go on $50 billion of imports.

The move follows China's action on Monday to slap $3 billion in tariffs on 100 U.S. products Monday, and fulfills actions directed by President Trump March 22

Many of the Chinese tariffs were designed to hit at Trump's political base  like an increased tariff on pork production, which is prevalent in the Midwest. U.S. soybean exports also would get hit.

Those tariffs were a response to the Trump administration's new 25 per cent tariff on steel as he complained about cheap Chinese imported product.

China slapped tariffs on U.S. products including pork

Trader Tommy Kalikas works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday as stocks fall amid new Chinese import duties

THIS SHOULD GO WELL: Photo taken in Nov. 9, 2017, shows U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping shaking hands during a joint press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

GE was among companies reportedly weighing in about the trade war

ON DRUGS: Tariffs also would his Epinephrine and insulin

Catgut and pneumatic tires are among the products that would get hit

Just some of the 1,300 Chinese products that could get hit by tariffs

Cars Motorcycles Aircraft Boats Microscopes Rifle sights Navigation instruments Steel & aluminum items Home appliances Medical supplies Prostheses Defibrilators X-ray machines Chemicals Machinery, tools Broadcast equipment TVs Computer and electronics components Flight data recorders Particle accelerators Gun parts Rocket launchers Advertisement

The White House is getting pushback from powerful firms, including industrial giant General Electric and financial powerhouse Goldman Sachs.

Execs from both firms warned the White House about the potential harmful impact a trade war could have on American jobs, the New York Times reported.

Josh Kallmer of the Information Technology Industry Council warned against tariffs 'as the primary or even a significant remedy,' according to the paper, even as the tech industry group backs a crackdown on Chinese practices.

'The reason is that it would be a tax on consumers, precisely the people we are trying to support,' he said.

GE and IBM operate through joint ventures in China - the kind of requirement Trump administration officials say is unfair and can lead to intellectual property theft.

An analysis by Deutsche Bank in March concluded that GE was at risk from Trump's steel tariffs.

'We believe GE to be among the most at fundamental risk from rapidly rising steel and aluminum prices  both directly in terms of competitive cost pressures and indirectly in terms of the risk of reduced global economic activity due to trade/tariff retaliation by other countries,' wrote Deutsche analyst John Inch.

USTR said it drew up the list with an eye toward minimizing the impact on consumers.

'The proposed list was then compiled by selecting products from the ranked list with lowest consumer impact,' according to an agency release.

Trump economic advisor Peter Navarro, considered an economic nationalist, is urging calm despite the daily gyrations and countermeasures.

'Everybody needs to relax,' he said on CNBC Monday. 'The economy is as strong as an ox.'
A heartbroken father has not seen his twin daughters since dropping them off at school four years ago today.

Michael Watter, the father of twins Isabella and Bronte Watter, claims his former wife Cassie Watter (maiden name Doubleday) has taken his girls to an unknown location since April 2014.

Ms Watter allegedly took the twins with a mystery benefactor who she was believed to have gone on the run with and Mr Watter claims there are still no real leads on their whereabouts.

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Isabella (left) and Bronte Watter, 9, (right) were allegedly taken by their mother Catherine Watter in April 2014

Michael Watter (pictured) has not seen his twin daughters since dropping them off at school four years ago today

The mother is alleged to have taken them from Hermit Park Primary School in Townsville, Queensland.

'It's four years without these kids being at school or being in a normal home,' Mr Watter told The Townsville Bulletin.

'It's just time for Cassie to do the right thing by the girls; she's obviously thought this is the right thing for her but this can't go on forever.'

Townsville Child Protection Investigation Unit officer-in-charge detective Senior Sergeant Dave Miles said inquires were still ongoing.

His team have aligned with the Australian Federal Police in a bid to track down the twins.

Sen-Sgt Miles says that no matter how long Cassie waits, eventually she will need to appear before the family law court for her actions.

'It's four years without these kids being at school or being in a normal home,' Mr Watter said

Townsville father Michael Watter made an appeal for the return of his twin daughter's after Queensland police release new computer generated images of the girls in 2016

'The longer she continues to remain at large the situation does not improve and it's only going to serve to make things more difficult for her and the children into the future.'

Mr Watter suspects people know where his daughters and their mother are  and he believes they be supporting them financially.

'Someone can't support themselves and two children with no money and no car without having help from people,' he said.

In 2016, Mr Watter said he feared his daughters were being robbed of a proper childhood and healthy development.

'They're definitely in danger in terms of developing as a normal adult or a normal childhood. It's out of the question while they're still on the run,' he told A Current Affair at the time.

Mr Watter said his daughters were registered as missing persons and a warrant had been issued for Catherine's arrest if she was found

'They might be on a farm somewhere, on a homestead, in a remote area. They might be in an alternate community where they're hidden away,' he said.

'But it could equally be they are in suburbia.

'The most important thing for me is that they get back to a normal life and not be made to live on the run from the law as they have been for the last three years.

'I'm not worried that they don't know how much I love them, I'm concerned they'll think I'm disappointed with them or angry with them that they're gone.'

The father added the girls were registered as missing persons and a warrant had been issued for Catherine's arrest if she was found.

He also said that it was likely their mother had changed their appearance.

Police are urging anyone with information in relation to this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000
A Russian on the same flight into the UK as Yulia Skripal before returning to Moscow a few hours later is being investigated over the attack.

Britains spy agencies have red-flagged an individual who arrived at Heathrow on the Russian state-owned Aeroflot flight AFL2570 from Moscow that landed at 2.32pm on Saturday, March 3.

The Russian then got a flight to Moscow after a few hours on British soil, raising questions as to the purpose of the short visit, security sources told the Mail. The Skripals were hospitalised on March 4.

Britains spy agencies have red-flagged an individual who arrived at Heathrow on the Russian state-owned Aeroflot flight AFL2570 from Moscow that landed at 2.32pm on Saturday, March 3

The Russian then got a flight to Moscow after a few hours on British soil, raising questions as to the purpose of the short visit, security sources told the Mail

A senior Whitehall source said the individual had been identified as a person of interest by intelligence agencies, and pointed to more than one person being investigated. It is not clear if the person is suspected of delivering the agent, administering the Novichok, or of being linked to the attack in some other way.

The source said: We certainly believe its possible those responsible were out of the country within hours.

It comes after Salisbury MP John Glen, who was party to Cobra briefings on the attack, suggested there are questions to be asked about those who were on the plane with Miss Skripal.

Counter-terrorism officers have previously avoided referring to any suspects with regards to the poisoning. The fact a suspect could not be immediately identified pointed to the prospect of the nerve agent being delivered by post or in Miss Skripals suitcase.

The fact a suspect could not be immediately identified pointed to the prospect of the nerve agent being delivered by post or in Miss Skripals suitcase

No cordon was placed around the house when the investigation first began earlier this month

But it has now emerged intelligence officials believe the would-be assassin, or assassins, may have fled back to Moscow within hours of delivering the lethal agent. Security sources also said the searching of an Aeroflot plane that landed at Heathrow Airport on Friday  described by the Government as routine  was based on intelligence.

Mr Glen said: Weve got to think about is the overall picture ... Who was on the flight with Yulia Skripal? Did that person return to Moscow a few hours later? What happened in the run up to the events here? That would have involved other people  it wouldnt just involve Novichok coming here. How did it arrive here?

Last night security sources confirmed the passenger list for Miss Skripals flight were among files being examined by intelligence agencies. It is not clear if the individual was known to the security services beforehand or if they are linked to the Kremlin.

Sergei Skripal had given his daughter access to a 150,000 secret bank account just days before he was poisoned, a relative has revealed. He passed power of attorney of the funds, held in an unknown Russian bank, to his daughter in late February, said his niece Viktoria Skripal.

'This idiocy has gone too far': Kremlin says Theresa May and Boris Johnson must APOLOGISE over claims Russia poisoned spy Sergei Skripal after Porton Down admitted they cannot prove where the nerve agent was made

By Gareth Davies, Alexander Robertson, Amie Gordon, Tim Sculthorpe and Kate Ferguson for MailOnline



The Kremlin has called out Boris Johnson and Theresa May by demanding an apology for their handling of the Salisbury poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov pictured yesterday

In an extraordinary blast at Westminster after yet another twist in the Salisbury nerve agent attack saga, Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov blasted Britain's leading politicians.

Putin has claimed that up to 20 countries could have poisoned the former double agent and his daughter as experts say they cannot confirm that the nerve agent was from Russia.

The chief of the Porton Down defence laboratory said it has 'not verified the precise source' of the Novichok nerve agent.

Peskov told Russian news agency TASS he was confident Britain's accusation that Moscow was involved would never be proved, and added: 'London somehow will have to offer its apologies to the Russian side, but obviously it is going to be a long story and the idiocy of it has gone too far.

'The British Foreign Secretary, who accused President Putin, and the British Prime Minister will have to look in the eyes of their EU colleagues after telling them what they told.

'The situation was iniquitous for us from the very beginning.

'And now there emerge evidence that these mad accusations the British side voiced just a few hours after the incident are based on nothing.'

Vladimir Putin has claimed that up to 20 countries could have poisoned Sergei Skripal as experts say they cannot confirm that the nerve agent was from Russia.

The chief of the Porton Down defence laboratory said it has 'not verified the precise source' of the Novichok nerve agent which poisoned Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Gary Aitkenhead, the facility's chief executive, dismissed Russian claims the nerve agent used in Salisbury might have come from the defence laboratory.

Putin said on Tuesday he hoped a line could be drawn under the poisoning of former Russian double agent in Britain at a meeting on Wednesday of the global chemical weapons watchdog.

The Russian Embassy in London said tonight: 'We understood from the very start that UK Government statements on the nerve agent having been produced in Russia were a bluff. Now this has been confirmed by the head of the secret lab.'

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Sergei Skripal with his daughter Yulia before they were poisoned in Salisbury

Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the Porton Down defence laboratory (pictured), has said it has 'not verified the precise source' of the Novichok nerve agent

Aitkenhead said that its deployment was 'probably only within the capability of a state actor', but that establishing its origins required 'other inputs'.

Russia has fiercely denied any state involvement in the poisoning of the double agent, who was exposed to a nerve agent in Salisbury, Wiltshire four weeks ago.

And speaking at a news conference in Ankara, Putin also said he was surprised by the pace of what he called an anti-Russian campaign unleashed Britain's accusation that Moscow was behind the nerve toxin attack on Skripal on March 4.

He noted that the head of Britain's Porton Down military research laboratory had said earlier in the day that it was not possible to say yet where the military-grade nerve agent that struck down Skripal had been produced.

Putin said there were about 20 countries where such substances were made.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that Britain's theory on who poisoned Skripal 'will not be confirmed anyway'.

Moscow has denied being behind the attack on Skripal and his daughter in the southern English city of Salisbury.

A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in London said: 'This only proves that all political declarations on the Russian origin of the crime are nothing but assumptions not stemming from objective facts or the course of the investigation.

This has also been essentially confirmed by todays comment by the Foreign Office, whose intelligence picture has lost a key piece  while the rest are kept secret even from Britains allies.

'We have also noted that, like in his earlier interview, Mr Aitkenhead is not denying that the lab had developed or keeps stocks of the agent they call novichok, although, of course, he would not admit it.

'By the way, some time ago we asked the Foreign Office to facilitate a meeting with Mr Aitkenhead or his colleagues, but have got no reply.

'One has to conclude that the UK Government prefers to block the Embassy from discussing the matter with experts who may possess the uncomfortable truth.'

Gary Aitkenhead, Porton Down's chief executive, dismissed Russian claims that the nerve agent used in Salisbury might have come from the defence laboratory

Meanwhile, the local MP in Salisbury, John Glen, today revealed the authorities are looking at who was on the flight with Yulia Skripal when she came to Britain shortly before the poisoning.

However the British government and Prime Minister Theresa May accused the Kremlin of being the likely orchestrators of the attack.

And today the local MP in Salisbury, John Glen, said other evidence pointed to the Kremlin.

He told Sky News he has 'no doubt whatsoever' that Russia was behind the attempted murders.

He said: What youve seen today is one piece of the jigsaw from Porton Down  world class scientists, but what they are not able to do is interpret and understand the human activity that accompanied what led up to the awful events here in Salisbury.

What is the Novichok nerve agent used against the Skripals? The Novichok nerve agent used against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia is among the most deadly poisons ever created. They were secretly developed by the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold war in the 1970s and 1980s. Communist scientists developed the poison so it would not be able to be detected by Nato's chemical detection equipment. They come in the form of a ultra-fine powder, Novichok is up to eight times more potent than the deadly VX gas. Victims who are poisoned by the powder suffer muscle spasms, breathing problems and then cardiac arrest. There is a known antidote to the nerve agent - atropine can block the poison. But doctors find it very tricky to administer the antidote because the dose would have to be so high it could prove fatal for the person. Novichok poisons are highly dangerous to handle, requiring the expertise of skilled scientists in a sophisticated lab. Dr Vil Mirzayanov, former Chief of the Foreign Technical Counterintelligence Department at Russias premiere, was among the team of scientists who helped develop the agent. Advertisement

Its the combination of those two things together which gave the compelling evidence that the Prime Minister took to our allies and was acted upon

'I dont really mind what propaganda emerges from the Kremlin following this interview this afternoon. What we have got to think about is what the overall picture is and what actually happened.

Who was on the flight with Yulia Skripal and did that person return to Moscow a few hours later. What happened in the run up to events here.

And that would have involved other people  it would not just involved Novichok coming here. How did it arrive here?

'These sorts of issues are not something the head of DSTL at Porton Down could comment on.

Britain blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the attempted murder, and the West has expelled around 130 Russian diplomats in response.

A Downing Street source told MailOnline the Prime Minister's statement to MPs discussed a 'range of factors' that led the Government to conclude Russia was the source of the attack.

Sources added that the job of Porton Down, which is located in a village near Salisbury, was not to identify blame for the attack but establish what was used.

It is understood that other intelligence led ministers to the conclusion there was 'no other plausible explanation' than Russian responsibility.

Russia's EU ambassador Vladimir Chizhov noted in an interview with the BBC last month that the British research lab is only eight miles from where the attack took place, insinuating that may have been the source.

The Foreign Office has said there was 'not an ounce of truth' in his implication the nerve agent could have been linked to Porton Down.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Aitkenhead said: 'We were able to identify it as novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent.

'We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to.'

Today Russian former general Evgeny Buzhinskiy poured scorn on claims his country could be behind the poisoning.

He told the BBC it was 'such a nonsense', arguing that in this crime Russian President Vladimir Putin 'is the last guy to benefit'.

And yesterday Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Britain could be behind the poisoning, saying it 'could be in the interests of the British government which found itself in an uncomfortable situation having failed to fulfill promises to its electorate about the conditions for Brexit.'

Last week, the Russian Embassy has seized upon reports that Yulia Skripal is conscious to demand that its remaining diplomats in London are allowed to see her.

Britain is fighting an information war with the Kremlin after Theresa May accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Britain may now be forced to let agents of the Russian state visit the citizen the country is accused of attempting to murder.

Russia has demanded to see Yulia Skripal, the daughter of double agent Sergei Skripal

Asked if it was possible to establish where the Novichok was made, Mr Aitkenhead added: 'It can be established through a number of different input sources which the Government has access to.

'From our perspective scientific evidence is only one of those sources and it requires a number of other things in order to verify that.

'At this stage, with the work that we've done thus far, we've been able to establish that it's Novichok or from that family.

'We are continuing to work to help to provide additional information that might help us get closer to the question that you ask but we haven't yet been able to do that.

'Unfortunately this is an extremely toxic substance. There is not, as far as we know, any antidote that you can use to negate the effects of it.

'We can and we have advised the hospital and the medics on the best course of trying to mitigate against the effects but this is an extremely toxic substance and not something that you can easily give something to somebody to help them recover.'

Responding to the Kremlin's suggestion it may have come from Porton Down itself, Mr Aitkenhead said: 'Well there's no way anything like that would ever have come from us or leave the four walls of our facilities.

'We deal with a number of very toxic substances as part of the work that we do, we've got the highest levels of security and controls.'

Mr Skripal and his daughter (left) stand outside the front door with another relative during a previous visit she made to the UK

No cordon was placed around the house when the investigation first began earlier this month

On its often sarcastic and abrasive Twitter feed, the Russian Embassy posted today: 'Good news as Yulia Skripal is reported as recovering well.

'We insist on the right to see her, in accordance with the 1968 Consular Convention.'

Yulia is said to be conscious and talking after the attack, but her father Sergei is still in a coma.

Meanwhile, one of Mr Skripal's friends has said he believes he is being kept alive by life support machines.

The development could prove key to the investigation into the attack - as it may mean Ms Skripal could soon be able to tell police about the moments before she and her father collapsed in a park.

She could also potentially identify whoever carried out the attack - which is now thought to have taken place at Mr Skripal's suburban home.

The Metropolitan Police believe Mr Skripal and his daughter, who was visiting him from Russia, first came into contact with the deadly chemical at his home in Salisbury.

Detailed forensic testing revealed the highest concentration of Novichok was found on the front door.

Ms Skripal is 'improving rapidly' after being exposed to Novichok on March 4 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and is now stable in hospital, doctors said

The attempted murder investigation is continuing and, as a precautionary measure, police placed a cordon around a children's play area at nearby Montgomery Gardens.

Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning - allegations fiercely denied by Moscow.

In turn, Russia has suggested that UK intelligence officers may have been involved in the poisoning.

The Kremlin allegation came as Moscow faced increasing global isolation, with at least 26 countries expelling a total of more than 130 suspected spies.

Britain insists there is no plausible alternative explanation for the attack and has dismissed the series of suggestions emanating from Moscow as nonsense.

More than 250 counter-terrorism detectives continue to work on one of the biggest investigations since the July 7 attacks in London in 2005.

Officers are trawling through more than 5,000 hours of CCTV.
Jeremy Corbyn faced a revolt last night after meeting a fringe Jewish group that has dismissed Labour's anti-Semitism crisis as a 'malicious ploy'.

The Labour leader was accused of a 'gratuitous insult' to mainstream Jews by sharing a Passover meal with Jewdas, a radical Left-wing body that has branded Israel 'a steaming pile of sewage'.

It enraged a string of Jewish community groups at a time when anti-Semitism allegations have engulfed the party and threatened Mr Corbyn's leadership.

Jewdas has described the anti-Semitism scandal as a Right-wing smear and accused mainstream Jewish groups of 'playing a dangerous game'.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured on Tuesday) was accused of a 'gratuitous insult' to mainstream Jews by sharing a Passover meal with Jewdas

It once staged a satirical event celebrating 'the glorious relationship between Jews and money'.

Despite this, an unashamed Mr Corbyn yesterday insisted he had no regrets 'in the slightest' about meeting the organisation's members.

Last night, extraordinary details emerged of Jewdas's controversial history and Monday night's event, at which attendees shouted 'f*** capitalism' as a plate of beetroot from Mr Corbyn's allotment was raised in the air. The Daily Mail can reveal:

In a programme for the event, Jewdas mocked the dipping of food in salt water, symbolising tears of the Israelites enslaved in Egypt, as 'a weird Jewy thing';

They also boasted that 'everything about it [the event] is heretic, nothing that the rabbis would allow';

During the four-hour ceremony, which Mr Corbyn attended for its full duration, those gathered chanted 'f*** the police', 'f*** the Tories', and said they wanted to 'bring about a revolution';

Last year, Jewdas published an offensive 'prayer' about the Royal Family that ended with the words, 'F*** the Queen and especially f*** Prince Philip' and called for Parliament to be burnt down.

One Jewish group said Mr Corbyn's attendance had 'topped off the worst week on record for awful relations between the Labour Party and the Jewish community'. Community leaders said it was clear his pledge to be 'an ally against anti-Semitism' could not be taken seriously.

Several of Mr Corbyn's MPs lined up to criticise his actions  just as Labour's new general secretary Jennie Formby said the 'stain of anti-Semitism' must be 'eradicated' from the party.

Backbencher John Woodcock said Mr Corbyn's involvement at the Jewdas seder was 'deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community'. Louise Ellman, who is Jewish, added that it was a 'gratuitous insult' to Britain's Jews.

Wes Streeting said: 'This demonstrates either extraordinarily bad judgment or a deliberate affront to the majority of British Jews. Probably both. It calls into serious question the sincerity of every public statement Jeremy Corbyn has made on anti-Semitism during the past week, just as many of us hoped we had begun to make progress.'

Fellow Labour MP Angela Smith said it 'reads as a blatant dismissal of the case made for tackling anti-Semitism in Labour'. The Board of Deputies of British Jews  300 representatives from the country's synagogues  questioned Mr Corbyn's commitment to tackling the problem.

President Jonathan Arkush said Jewdas viewed the anti-Semitism row as a 'smear', adding: 'If Jeremy Corbyn goes to their event, how can we take his stated commitment to be an ally against anti-Semitism seriously?'

Backbencher John Woodcock (pictured) said Mr Corbyn's involvement at the Jewdas seder was 'deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community'

The Jewish Labour Movement's Ivor Caplin said: 'When we called on the leader of our party to show moral leadership and take decisive action to stamp out anti-Semitism, this is not what we had in mind.'

Jon Lansman, founder of the Corbyn-supporting Momentum group, told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'It's certainly not helpful to Jeremy or the cause of opposing anti-Semitism in the Labour Party  I think the important thing is that Jeremy is seeking to meet with mainstream Jewish organisations.' He suggested Mr Corbyn and members of Labour's National Executive Committee should attend training on 'unconscious bias'.

Labour has faced a wave of anti-Semitism allegations in recent weeks, including vile abuse on Facebook pages of which senior party figures are members.

Visiting Swindon yesterday, Mr Corbyn said: 'It was a seder event, which is a celebration of Passover, which I celebrate with young Jewish people from my own community  It was very interesting talking to a lot of young people about their experiences of modern Britain and I learnt a lot. Isn't that a good thing?

'Anti-Semitism is a vile and evil thing within our society at any level, anywhere, at any time  If it arises in my party  we examine each case and, if someone has committed any anti-Semitic act, they are suspended and could be expelled  We are very clear about that and very clear in the whole of our society we cannot accept anti-Semitism in any form or indeed any other form of racism.'

Charlotte Nicols, who attended the Jewdas event, said Mr Corbyn stayed for four hours and was an 'active participant' in the rituals. She wrote on website Labour List: 'Jeremy could not have been a more gracious guest  It lasted over four hours, with Jeremy an active participant  leading the prayer for Elijah's cup, singing along with us as best he could, and even bringing along beetroot from his own allotment for our (vegan) seder plate.'

Jewdas shrugged off the criticism and suggested to the Board of Deputies that Mr Corbyn attended the event because Jewdas throws the best seders.

Far-Left Jewish group Jeremy Corbyn partied with published an offensive prayer about the Royal Family and called for Parliament to be burnt down

By John Stevens, Deputy Political Editor for the Daily Mail

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) attended a controversial Passover dinner

The left-wing Jewish group behind a controversial Passover dinner attended by Jeremy Corbyn published an offensive prayer about the Royal Family and called for Parliament to be burnt down.

Jewdas has dismissed complaints of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party as 'a malicious ploy to remove the leader of the Opposition'.

Since it was established in 2005, it has produced a raft of offensive material and even staged a satirical event celebrating 'the glorious relationship between Jews and money' in 2007.

The Daily Mail can today reveal that last year Jewdas published a 'Prayer against the State of Israel' that ended by saying: 'F*** the Queen and especially f*** Prince Philip. Burn down Parliament. Full Communism. Amen.'

It also included the line: 'Please God, smash the State of Israel. Smash it in the abundance of your love.'

Jewdas describes itself as a 'radical' and 'alternative' group for Jews.

In a statement posted on its website after the protest against anti-Semitism by Jewish community groups in Westminster, it wrote: 'What has happened over the last week is anything but an attempt to address anti-Semitism.

'It is the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party. It is a malicious ploy to remove the leader of the Opposition and put a stop to the possibility of a socialist government.'

It accused the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of 'playing a dangerous game with people's lives'.

'In the build-up to local elections where Labour were expected to make significant gains, they have turned rumours and half-truths into a narrative that pretends another Holocaust is round the corner in Britain,' Jewdas added. 'Unfortunately, some fools even believe them.'

Corbyn 'needs to take an anti-bias course' The founder of Momentum suggested Jeremy Corbyn and other senior officials should attend training courses on 'unconscious bias'. Jon Lansman said members of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee and others involved in the party's efforts to tackle anti-Semitism need further education. He said there had been a 'collective failure' at the top of the party to deal with anti-Semitism cases properly. 'Unfortunately in the Labour Party it seems, and maybe elsewhere, many people do not seem to be willing to confront this unconscious bias in themselves,' he told the BBC. 'We need a big programme of education and training to make people aware of that.' Those 'who participate in making decisions about the cases' should go on a course, he said. Advertisement

Joseph Finlay, who co-founded Jewdas in 2005, said in a 2016 interview with Vice magazine: 'It's a radical diaspora Jewish group that has taken an explicitly non-Zionist stance, alongside satirising the many absurdities of the British Jewish community and throwing excellent parties  11 years later it is still standing, providing space for diasporic, radical and progressive Jews in the UK who do not feel catered for by the Jewish mainstream.'

Its first event, Punk Purim, was a party held in a rundown squat with posters of a rabbi smoking a joint and Che Guevara as a Hasidic Jew.

It featured Jewish hip-hop, Palestinian poetry, Kabbalistic graffiti and a 'peepshow with Jewish girls'.

In 2006, a Jewdas spokesman told online magazine Spiked: 'The Jewish community needs to be woken up. It is largely affluent, comfortable and unthinking  In relation to Israel, it takes a very right-wing stance. The community is materialistic; it has swallowed the middle-class dream.'

In October that year, four of its members were arrested in Trafalgar Square for handing out offensive leaflets.

In January 2009, Jewdas was forced to apologise to the Board of Deputies after it tried to wreck a pro-Israel rally by sending out a hoax email claiming it had been cancelled.

Activists from Jewdas were also escorted out of a pro-Israel conference in London in March 2015.
Saudi Arabia has its eyes set on building a record-setting power plant.

The desert kingdom announced last week that it's partnering with Japanese internet giant SoftBank to build a solar power plant with 200 gigawatts of capacity.

At that capacity, the project would be about 200 times the size of the biggest solar plant that's currently in operation.

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Saudi Arabia announced last week that it's partnering with Japanese internet giant SoftBank to build a solar power plant with 200 gigawatts of capacity

And it's not expected to come cheap, either.

The project will require a $200 billion investment in order to be ready by 2030.

However, it illustrates Saudi Arabia's commitment to diminish its dependence on oil -- a goal the de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has stated previously.

At present, Saudi Arabia's solar power capacity is about 77 gigawatts.

With a capacity of 200 gigawatts, the solar panels would likely cover 5,000 sq km, according to Quartz.

That would easily cover the land area of many of the world's cities.

For example, Hong Kong's land area covers approximately 1,090 sq km, while New York City is about 784 sq km.

The solar project deal was signed on the sidelines of a US visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (pictured)

HOW DOES SAUDI ARABIA'S PLANNED SOLAR PANEL PROJECT MEASURE UP TO MAJOR CITIES? Saudi Arabia announced last week that it's partnering with Japanese internet giant SoftBank to build a solar power plant with 200 gigawatts of capacity. At that capacity, the project would be about 200 times the size of the biggest solar plant that's currently in operation. The project will require a $200 billion investment in order to be ready by 2030. With a capacity of 200 gigawatts, the solar panels would likely cover 5,000 sq km. That would easily cover the land area of many of the world's cities. Here's how the power plant would measure up to major cities worldwide: Advertisement

Saudi Arabia's 5,000 sq km plant would dwarf the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., which is just over 176 sq km.

Saudi Arabia isn't the only country working to ramp up its solar production capacity.

In 2017, the global solar industry produced roughly 100 gigawatts of solar panels.

Still, many experts say there's no guarantee Saudi Arabia will deliver on its plans to build the massive solar power project.

'I would reserve judgment until I see the first 5 to 10 gigawatts under construction,' Assaad Razzouk, group CEO of Sindicatum Sustainable Resources, told Bloomberg.

Saudi Arabia's proposed 5,000 sq km plant would dwarf the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., which is just over 176 sq km. There's no guarantee the plant will get built, however

The project will require a $200 billion investment in order to be ready by 2030. SoftBank's Vision Fund will invest $1 billion for the first phase of the project, according to Bloomberg

'There is a lot of work that the two parties, and a whole ecosystem for the companies around them, that has yet to be done,' he added.

The gigantic solar plant comes as Chinese researchers have developed a new solar panel that works in rain or shine.

The panels harvest energy from the sun's rays as well as energy created from the friction of raindrops.

Although it is still in its early stages, researchers believe it could also be incorporated into power-generating raincoats that charge the wearer's gadgets during a downpour.
Humanity's tree-climbing ancestor 'Ardi' could also walk upright just like us, according to a new fossil analysis.

The pelvis of the 4.4-million-year-old skeleton suggests Ardi's species evolved an upright, human-like gait without losing its tree-climbing prowess.

The study helps suggests our ancestors were able to amble like us earlier than thought and shows that ancient hominins didn't have to sacrifice their nimble climbing skills to walk upright.

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Humanity's tree-climbing ancestor Ardi could also walk upright just like us, according to a new fossil analysis. 'Ardi' - the world's most complete early hominid skeleton - was a female member of the primate species Ardipithecus ramidus (artist's impression)

'Ardi' - the world's most complete early hominid skeleton - was a female member of the primate species Ardipithecus ramidus.

Her unusual skeleton, which some have claimed to be the oldest member of the human family tree, has baffled scientists since it was discovered in Ethiopia in 1994.

Short, hairy and with long arms, Ardi roamed the forests of Africa 4.4 million years ago, but scientists were unsure whether she was more closely related to humans than to apes.

The skeleton's lower pelvis is longer than that of humans, suggesting Ardi stuck mostly to tree-climbing and walked slowly with bent hips and knees if at all.

Now, researchers at City University of New York have analysed the skeleton's hips in a bid to better understand how Ardi moved across east Africa.

They suggest Ardi's elongated pelvis would not have impeded her ability to walk upright.

The hip bone of the 4.4-million-year-old skeleton (pictured) suggests the early human ancestor evolved an upright, human-like gait without losing her tree-climbing prowess

Unlike other early human ancestors and living apes, her upper pelvis slotted behind the lower pelvis, enabling her to walk with her legs straight like a human.

'Ardi evolved a solution to an upright stance, with powerful hips for climbing that could fully extend while walking, that we don't see in apes or humans today,' study lead author Dr Herman Pontzer told Science News.

Ardi's strange hip arrangement does not appear in two later hominid fossils, including the famous skeleton known as Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis, the researchers found.

For their study, the team filmed chimps, bonobos, gorillas, gibbons, and other primates in zoos to measure the angles of their legs and hips when they walked upright.

They then calculated the stress on their bones during maximum extension and found that modern apes put force on their thighs, hamstrings, and knees - which also help them rapidly climb up trees.

Modern apes (left) put force on their thighs, hamstrings, and knees - which also help them rapidly climb up trees. This means that apes walk with bent knees and legs and a wobbly gait. Humans (right) have a shorter pelvic bone (green), allowing them to hyper-extend their legs and put less force on the hamstrings at the knees

While this is useful for scaling forests, it means that apes walk with bent knees and legs and a wobbly gait, which is not very energy-efficient.

Humans on the other hand have a shorter pelvic bone, allowing them to hyper-extend their legs and put less force on the hamstrings at the knees.

According to the study, this allows us to walk upright without too much swing in our hips which saves energy.

The New York team used these findings to examine fossil pelvises of Ardi, Lucy and a 2.5-million-year-old Australopithecus africanus.

The researchers also evaluated a nearly 18-million-year-old fossil pelvis from an African ape, Ekembo nyanzae.

While Lucy and A. africanus showed pelvic arrangements that allowed for upright walking, they did not share Ardi's ape-like climbing power.

In particular, the pelvic bone of these two species was almost as short as the pelvises of modern humans, researchers found.

Ardi's (right) unusual skeleton (left) has baffled scientists since it was discovered in Ethiopia in 1994. Short, hairy and with long arms, Ardi roamed the forests of Africa 4.4 million years ago, but scientists were unsure whether she was more closely related to humans than to apes

By contrast, E. nyanzae's long and straight pelvis evolved for climbing as in modern apes, meaning the species walked with bent hips and knees.

Ardi had a mix of both pelvic bones, meaning her hips could extend almost as much those of modern humans, but could also help its thighs to power up trees.

'Ardi seems to have been able to bridge both worlds,' paleoanthropologist Dr Carol Ward of the University of Missouri in Columbia, who was not part of the team, told ScienceMag.

The unusual combination spurred the evolution of human-bodies geared towards minimising lower-limb injuries, according to the study authors.

By the time Lucy evolved, Ardi's long pelvis and ape-like, opposable big toe had been replaced by a short pelvis connected to small hamstring muscles and a human-like big toe.

Those changes limited A. afarensis's climbing abilities, but stabilised its upright stance, preventing hamstring tears when stopping suddenly or accelerating.

Paleoanthropologist Dr Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University in Ohio told ScienceMag: 'If you run with a massive thigh and must stop suddenly, it's much easier to tear a hamstring.

'And if you tear one, you'll be consumed by a pack of wild dogs. Good luck with that.'
A controversial start-up that wants to upload people's minds on to the cloud to preserve them forever has lost a crucial backer.

San Francisco-based Nectome has proposed a '100 per cent fatal' technique to embalm the brains of dying humans so that they can be revived at a later date.

But this week, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that it plans to dropped a contract with the firm which some claim is 'promoting euthanasia.'

MIT said it was cutting off a subcontract that involved the university in Nectome's grant-funded research through MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden's lab.

The prestigious institution claims the technology is in its infancy and there is no guarantee that they can recreate consciousness.

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In a damning U-turn on the controversial technology, MIT released a statement removing itself from any affiliation with Nectome. The prestigious research institution has pulled the plug on the relationship which requires participants to be killed

In a damning U-turn on the technology, MIT released a statement removing itself from any affiliation with Nectome.

Just last month, the university published a review piece glowing with praise for the 'exquisite' process developed by the MIT alumni.

The tone of the latest statement is very different.

MIT said: 'Neuroscience has not sufficiently advanced to the point where we know whether any brain preservation method is powerful enough to preserve all the different kinds of biomolecules related to memory and the mind.

'It is also not known whether it is possible to recreate a person's consciousness.

'Given that we do not know the exact set of molecules required, we cannot say whether a given brain preservation technique is sufficient to preserve all the biomolecular detail required to preserve memories and other information related to the mind.'

Pictured is a screenshot from Nectome's website, which asks visitors: 'What if we told you we could back up your mind?' The company's cofounder admits that the tech is '100% fatal'

This condemnation of the company and its technique was followed by a reiteration that the field does have vast potential.

'If, someday, we can measure the location and identity of enough biomolecule types throughout a neural circuit, and then discover that simulating those things in concert is sufficient to recapitulate a brain's function, that would be extremely interesting and exciting, to be sure.

'But this has not been done yet.'

The statement also addressed the relationship between the two parties involved: Professor Ed Boyden who works for MIT, and Nectome, co-founded by two ex-MIT students.

'Professor Boyden has no personal affiliationfinancial, operational, or contractualwith the company Nectome,' the statement claims.

Nectome are trying to make the science-fiction concept of uploading a human mind to a computer a reality.

HOW SOON WILL WE BE ABLE TO UPLOAD OUR MINDS TO A COMPUTER? Brain and memory preservation has been explored at length by futurists, scientists and science fiction junkies alike. Many say it falls under the category of 'transhumanism.' Transhumanism is the belief that the human body can evolve beyond its current form with the help of scientists and technology. The practice of mind uploading has been promoted by many people, including Ray Kurzweil, Google's director of engineering, who believes we will be able to upload our entire brains to computers by 2045. Similar technologies have been depicted in science fiction dramas, ranging from Netflix's Altered Carbon, to the popular series Black Mirror. Another prominent futurist, Dr Michio Kaku, believes virtual reality can be used to keep our loved ones' personalities and memories alive even after they die. Scientists and futurists have different theories about how we might be able to preserve the human brain, ranging from uploading our memories to a computer to Nectome's high-tech embalming process, which can keep it intact for thousands of years 'Imagine being able to speak to your loved one after they die ... it is possible if their personality has been downloaded onto a computer as an avatar,' he explained. These ideas haven't been met without criticism. McGill University Neuroscientist Michael Hendricks told MIT that these technologies are a 'joke.' 'I hope future people are appalled that in the 21st century, the richest and most comfortable people in history spent their money and resources trying to live forever on the backs of their descendants. I mean, its a joke, right? They are cartoon bad guys,' he said. Meanwhile, neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis said recently that such technologies would be virtually impossible. 'The brain is not computable and no engineering can reproduce it,' he said. 'You can have all the computer chips in the world and you won't create a consciousness.' Advertisement

Although they can offer no guarantee of life via the cloud, they do guarantee death through the process.

Nectome was slated to collaborate with world-leading neuroscientist Edward Boyden at MIT after receiving a $960,000 (683,000) federal grant from the US National Institute of Mental Health.

Robert McIntyre, Nectome's cofounder, also won an $26,000 prize from the Brain Preservation Foundation for preserving a pig's brain by using strong chemicals to suspend neurons and synapses, then chilling them in frigidly cold temperatures.

Despite the award-wining process and the substantial funding, the field is still barely into its infancy.

It could well be that a $10,000 (7,100) deposit to be put on a waiting list for the lethal procedure, did not sit well with the ethics committee at the university.

Despite the inevitable demise of all customers, 25 customers have been added to Nectome's wait list already.

'You can think of what we do as a fancy form of embalming that preserves not just the outer details but the inner details,' Robert McIntyre told MIT.

Some users seemed enthused by the idea of preserving their mind in the cloud forever

Some Twitter users expressed skepticism around Nectome's technology which charges $10,000 (7,100) deposit to be put on a waiting list for the lethal procedure

The company uses a chemical solution that can keep the body intact for hundreds or thousands of years as a statue of frozen glass, MIT said previously.

Speaking to prospective customers, Nectome positions its service as: 'What if we told you we could back up your mind?'

But the key to being able to recreate a person's consciousness involves accessing the organ's 'connectome.'

A connectome is the complex web of neural connections in the brain, often referred to as the brain's wiring system.

Nectome claims it has figured out a way to embalm the connectome as well.

The firm is trying to sell preserving your brain as a service that's available to the public.

However, Nectome's services likely won't be publicly available for a while, as the company still has to prove memories can be found in dead tissue.

WHY DID SAM ALTMAN SIGN UP TO THE NECTOME PROGRAMME? Sam Altman, 32, is an advocate of AI and has signed up to Nectome's programme which embalms the brain and is 100% fatal Entrepreneur Sam Altman is one of 25 people on a waiting list at Nectome, a startup company that says they can upload the contents of a person's brain and store it on a computer. The company Altman founded - Y Combinator - funds startups like Nectome. In exchange for eternally preserving his mind, the 32-year-old will have to die in a process similar to physician-assisted suicide. Nectome's process, which has been described by co-founder Robert McIntyre as '100 per cent fatal' embalms the human brain. There is currently a waiting list for the procedure, with 25 signatures so far. The customer, alive, is hooked up to a machine and then injected with Nectome's embalming chemicals. Although the procedure will end the life of the person, it is believed that the consciousness will survive in the frozen brain. When the technology becomes available in the future, the human consciousness of the patient will be uploaded to the cloud, where eternal life can be achieved. For the privilege of being on the waiting list, Altman paid the handsome fee of $10,000. Nectome claim that this money can be refunded if the person changes their mind. Advertisement

'The product is '100% fatal,' McIntyre said.

'That is why we are uniquely situated among the Y Combinator companies,' he added.

Some Twitter users expressed skepticism around Nectome's technology, while others seemed were enthused by the idea of preserving their mind in the cloud forever.

For Nectome to successfully upload a person's memories, the brain has to be fresh.

That's why in February the company obtained the body of a recently deceased elderly woman.

In the first demonstration of the technology on a human brain, they were able to begin preserving her brain just 2.5 hours after her death. In total, the preservation process takes six hours.

It's unclear how old the woman was, her cause of death or how much Nectome paid for her corpse.

McIntyre said the woman's brain was 'one of the best-preserved ever,' albeit it becoming damaged after she had been dead a few hours.

The woman's brain will eventually be sliced into 'paper-thin sheets' for research and analysis with an electron microscope.

Nectome centers around the idea of transhumanism, or that the human body can evolve beyond its current form with the help of scientists and technology. The idea is widely debated

Next, McIntyre wants to try out Nectome's technology on a person planning doctor-assisted suicide due to a mental illness.

The firm has spoken to lawyers who are familiar with the laws around doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients and many believe the company's services will be legal.

IS GOOGLE PLANING TO DOWNLOAD PERSONALITIES? A patent filed by Google last year described a system which would allow robots to download new personalities online. The system would allow machines to download them in a similar way to an app - and even have a different personality for each user. The patent says the personality could replicate the robot's owner, 'a deceased loved one,' or 'a celebrity'. Google's patent details a cloud-based system where a personality could be downloaded to a robot, in the same way one might download an app. 'The robot personality may also be modifiable within a base personality construct (i.e., a default-persona) to provide states or moods representing transitory conditions of happiness, fear, surprise, perplexion (e.g., the Woody Allen robot), thoughtfulness, derision (e.g., the Rodney Dangerfield robot), and so forth,' states the patent. Advertisement

'The user experience will be identical to physician-assisted suicide,' McIntyre said

'Product-market fit is people believing that it works,' he added.

McIntyre believes Nectome fits in the same category as companies that develop technologies like quantum computing.

'Those companies also can't sell anything now, but there is a lot of interest in the technologies that could be revolutionary if they are made to work,' McIntyre said.

'I do think that brain preservation has amazing commercial potential,' he explained.

Brain preservation has been criticized by many experts who say 'transhumanism' is wrong.

Transhumanism is the belief that the human body can evolve beyond its current form with the help of scientists and technology.

The idea has been explored at length by futurists, scientists and science fiction junkies alike.

Some experts say Nectome shouldn't attempt to offer its services commercially before its findings are published in a medical journal.

Others say transhumanism is fraudulent.

'Burdening future generations with our brain banks is just comically arrogant,' McGill University neuroscientist Michael Hendricks told MIT.

'Aren't we leaving them with enough problems?,' he added.
Evidence of an unknown species of human ancestor has been found hiding in the DNA of West African people.

Experts made the finding by analysing the human genome, looking for strings of genetic information that were out of place.

This revealed an inheritance of markers from an unidentified human-like species, some of which may be of benefit to their descendants - including one which suppresses the development of tumours.

Researchers believe an ancient species of hominin, known as Homo heidelbergensis, may be the most likely candidate for the 'ghost' species.

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Mysterious evidence of an unknown species of human ancestor has been found hiding in the DNA of West African people. Homo heidelbergensis (artist's model) was an early human ancestor that experts believe may be the most likely candidate

The finding was made by Arun Durvasula and Sriram Sankararaman, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

They devised a statistical method able to highlight abnormal genetic code without needing the genome of the species it was inherited from.

This bypasses the need for DNA extracted from extinct African hominins as a basis of comparison.

The hotter and wetter climate on the African continent tends to destroy any preserved DNA, unlike samples of human-like species the Neanderthals and Densiovans uncovered in Europe and Asia.

The statistical technique was applied to the DNA of 50 modern Yoruba who had their genetic information sequenced as part of the 1,000 Genomes Project.

This established that roughly eight per cent of their DNA comes from a yet unknown 'ghost' species.

Ancestor species like the Neanderthals and Denisovans have been ruled out of the equation, as we already have their DNA and there is no evidence to suggest they lived in Africa. The journey of Neanderthals and the evolution of Homo sapiens was intertwined for thousands of years

While Homo sapiens may be the only hominin species alive today, tens of thousands of years ago the planet was home to a variety of human and protohuman species.

As the result of interspecies breeding, some of these species' DNA has been passed down to modern humans.

Traces of Neanderthal DNA are still found in people of non-African descent and Denisovan DNA lives on in people of Asian heritage.

Researchers also learned in 2016 that the DNA of an unknown population of archaic hominins continues to exist in Pacific Island peoples.

The Neanderthals and Denisovans have been ruled out of the equation, as we already have their DNA and there is no evidence to suggest they lived in Africa.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE HUMAN ANCESTOR SPECIES HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS? Homo heidelbergensis lived in Africa, Europe and western Asia between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago. It was an early human ancestor that went extinct long before modern humans migrated to Eurasia from Africa. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the ancestors of modern humans diverged from a lineage that gave rise to Neanderthals and Denisovans. Research published by scientists from the University of Utah in August 2017 now suggests that Neanderthals and Denisovans diverged from each other around 744,000 years ago - around 300,000 earlier than previously believed. This implies that Homo heidelbergensis may have been an early Neanderthal. Researchers have previously suggested that, between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago, a group of heidelbergensis migrated into Europe and West Asia via yet unknown routes and eventually evolved into Neanderthals Homo heidelbergensis' evolutionary tree has largely baffled scientists due to scarce fossil records. The similarity between Neanderthal, Homo heidelbergensis and Homo sapien fossils means researchers previously thought heidelbergensis fossils were simply variants of Homo sapiens. Advertisement

Modern-day pygmies, who may have interbred with the Yoruba people have also been eliminated from the process, as their DNA has been sequenced and it is not a match.

A small-brained hominin that could be found roaming around the South African plains 250,000 years ago, Homo naledi, is a possible but unlikely contender.

Researchers believe they were too different from us genetically to be able to mate and reproduce successfully

'I would be amazed if there was anything of them in us,' said Mark Thomas of University College London, who was not involved in the study, speaking to New Scientist about the finding.

Experts made the fining thanks to a statistical method which is able to highlight abnormal genetic code without needing the genome of the species it was inherited from. This established that 8% of Yoruba DNA comes from a yet unknown 'ghost' species

Homo heidelbergensis was a more advanced hominin living in Africa around 200,000 years ago and a more probable candidate.

It could also be that the mystery DNA came from an isolated group of Homo sapiens or population of hominins that are as yet unknown to researchers.

Whatever the answer turns out to be, the study is a reminder that our species did not emerge from a single founding population, Professor Thomas told New Scientist

The full findings of the study are available in a paper published in the online print repository bioRxiv.
Lockheed Martin is set to build a radical low boom supersonic X-plane that could revolutionize air travel.

The firms Skunk Works division was awarded $247.5 million contract from NASA to design and build a demonstrator craft, according to CNBC, with the first test flight planned for 2021.

It aims to be faster than the speed of sound, hitting up to 990 miles per hour (Mach 1.5) without producing an ear-splitting sonic boom.

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Lockheed Martin is set to build a radical low boom supersonic X-plane that could revolutionize air travel. The firms Skunk Works division was awarded $247.5 million contract from NASA to design and build a demonstrator craft, with the first test flight planned for 2021

The Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator, developed under NASAs Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) initiative, marks a step toward supersonic passenger air travel.

Lockheed Martin developed a preliminary design for the craft under a 2016 contract, and the demonstrator will be created based on these configurations.

It will be 94 feet long with a wingspan of 29.5 feet. When fully fueled, it will weigh 32,300 pounds.

According to NASA, the X-plane will be able to reach a cruising speed of 940 mph (Mach 1.42) at an altitude of 55,000 feet, with a top speed of 990 mph.

It is super exciting to be back designing and flying X-planes at this scale, said Jaiwon Shin, NASAs associate administrator for aeronautics.

Our long tradition of solving the technical barriers of supersonic flight to benefit everyone continues.

NASA will conduct the critical design review in 2019, followed by construction and test flights in 2021.

In 2022, the project will move into Phase 2, in which NASA will fly it over a test range to prove its quiet technology.

A new generation of quiet faster than sound aircraft has moved one step closer, after the US government gave the go-ahead to plans from Nasa that aims to cut out the noisy sonic booms that echoed above cities in the era of Concorde

Following these tests, additional tests incorporating community response will begin in 4-6 US cities until 2025.

NASA's Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator ultimately aims to cut out the noisy sonic booms that echoed above cities in the era of Concorde, while travelling at speeds of nearly 1,000mph (Mach 1.4 / 1,700 km/h).

QueSST will make its first flight in 2021 if production goes according to plan and could one day halve travel times from London to New York to just three hours.

NASA's vision was approved In the latest proposed US budget released by theOffice Of Management And Budget in Washington, DC in February.

The space agency was awarded $19.9 billion (14.3bn) for the next year, $500 million (360m) more than the previous year.

At the time, it was not known what proportion of this will be spent on the supersonic aircraft project.

QueSST is the latest addition to the X-series of experimental aircraft and rockets, used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts.

HOW WILL NASA REDUCE THE SOUND OF SONIC BOOMS? In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail. These are known as bow and tail shocks, respectively. As these shockwaves pass over the ground, air pressure rises sharply, declines, then rises rapidly again. It's this that produces the classic 'double-bang' sonic boom. In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail Reshaping the aircraft to produce a longer, more slender shape is the best way to generate shockwaves of lower, more equal strength that do not form into such strong bow and tail shocks. Nasa and other organisations are working on creating shapes to reduce sonic booms. Stretching the nose to break the bow shock into a series of weaker shockwaves is particularly effective. This lowers and spreads that initial pressure peak and softens the first bang of the sonic boom. Advertisement

Their X designation indicates their research mission status within the US system of aircraft naming.

This all dates back to Chuck Yeager's sound-barrier-breaking craft, the X-1, a rocket enginepowered aircraft, designed and built in 1945, that achieved a speed of nearly 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 kmh) in 1948.

QueSST will be used as a test bed for technologies that could make their way into commercial planes.

Writing in the budget, its authors said: 'The Budget fully funds the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator, an experimental supersonic airplane that would make its first flight in 2021.

'This X-plane would open a new market for US companies to build faster commercial airliners, creating jobs and cutting cross-country flight times in half. '

In June 2017, NASA announced that it planned to begin work on the supersonic X-plane as early as 2018.

The space agency is working on designs futuristic supersonic X-plane, the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator. It could make its first flight in 2021, if production goes according to plan

The space agency is hoping to achieve a sonic boom 60 dBA lower than other supersonic aircraft, such as the Concorde, a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003.

The QueSST low-boom flight demonstrator (LBFD), or X-plane, aims to produce a much lower 'boom' than other supersonic aircraft at speeds beyond Mach 1.

It is designed to fly at Mach 1.4 (1,100mph / 1,700 kph), 55,000 feet (10 miles) above the ground.

The aircraft is shaped to separate the shocks and expansions associated with supersonic flight to reduce the volume of the shaped signature, and was developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works over 20 years.

Lockheed Martin has been working on the preliminary design, with hopes to move on to build the demonstrator, but NASA also opened the door for other companies to submit their own designs as well

WHAT WAS CONCORDE? Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354mph or 2,180k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers. It was first flown in 1969, but needed further tests to establish it as viable as a commercial aircraft. Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 and could seat 92 to 128 passengers Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially. The other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which ran for a much shorter period of time before it was grounded and retired due to safety and budget issues. Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aerospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Concorde's name, meaning harmony or union, reflects the cooperation on the project between the United Kingdom and France. In the UK, any or all of the type are known simply as 'Concorde', without an article. Twenty aircraft were built including six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA) each received seven aircraft. The research and development failed to make a profit and the two airlines bought the aircraft at a huge discount. Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the type's only crash in 2000, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor to Aerospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support. Advertisement

Recent research has shown it is possible for a supersonic airplane to be shaped in such a way that the shock waves it forms when flying faster than the speed of sound can generate a sound at ground level so quiet it will hardly will be noticed by the public, if at all.

In a written statement, a NASA spokesman previously said the aim was to create a boom 'so quiet it hardly will be noticed by the public, if at all... like distant thunder [or] the sound of your neighbor forcefully shutting his car door outside while you are inside.'

It's been decades since NASA has worked on a manned supersonic X-plane, and after the contract is awarded, the winning team will undergo critical design review in 2019 to bring the plan closer to life.
Artificial intelligence is being adapted for police body cameras that can spot suspects and missing children in real time.

The controversial technology is expected to roll out to police departments around the U.S. as soon as this fall, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It's being developed by startups and major tech firms in the hopes of making law enforcement officials' jobs easier.

But it's also being criticized by privacy advocates who say it could lead to pervasive, dangerous surveillance of innocent individuals.

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Startups and major tech firms, such as Motorola Solutions, are developing body cameras that are fitted with artificial intelligence (pictured) to help police quickly identify missing children

The new software uses an algorithm, placed in body cameras or video surveillance cameras, to notify an officer when it has identified a suspect.

Then, the officer decides whether it stop the suspect or take action some other way, such as making an arrest or even drawing a firearm, depending on the situation.

Police departments have yet to purchase the technology, however, as it's still in early stages of development, the Journal said.

For example, Motorola Solutions, which creates police communications and body camera technology, recently partnered with AI company Neurala to produce a body-worn camera that can identify suspects or missing persons.

The AI parses information from a database that's been loaded with images of a suspect or missing person.

Characteristics about the missing person or suspect are also entered into the database, such as gender, age, hair color or distinctive features, like a mole.

Then, the body camera scans each person in its view to see if they correspond with the suspect's description or photo in real time.

Motorola Solutions' AI-equipped body cameras can identify a missing child in a crowd of people (pictured). The software compares photos of a missing person with footage in real time

Characteristics about the missing person or suspect are also entered into the database, such as gender, age, hair color or distinctive features, like a mole

From there, police are alerted if there's a match.

The software can also get smarter over time by ingesting more and more data.

Despite this, critics say the technology may be flawed because it's not always accurate.

For example, facial recognition technology has more difficulty correctly identifying darker faces, while it identifies lighter faces with greater accuracy.

This concept was demonstrated in a recent MIT Media Lab study, which found that popular facial recognition technology often inaccurately identified darker-skinned people or females more often than white males.

The technology has also raised some red flags among privacy advocates.

'All of the sudden we have lost our ability to be relatively anonymous in society, to be able to walk about without fear that the government is tracking our every move,' Jennifer Lynch, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit privacy organization based in San Francisco, told the Journal.

In fact, many people would probably be surprised to learn that they're already included in a facial-recognition database of some kind.

According to the Journal, scientists at the Georgetown Law School estimated that one in every two American adults are in facial-recognition networks used by law enforcement.

TaeWoo Kim, chief scientist at One Smart Labs, told the Journal that the technology is 'creepy and a bit Big-Brother-y'.

He added, however, that it's 'purely intended to fight crime, terrorism and track wanted subjects'.

The technology is capable of identifying faces in a large crowd with 'more than 99% accuracy'

HOW DO ANYVISION'S 'SMART' CCTV CAMERAS WORK? AnyVision is partnering with Nvidia to create smart CCTV cameras across the country. The CCTV cameras are equipped with facial recognition technology that's capable of scanning and identifying faces in crowds, airports, schoolyards, prisons, ATM machines, casinos and other scenarios. Facial recognition technology automatically identifies potential persons of interest and sends that data to a system being analyzed by algorithms and human monitors. AnyVision's app (pictured) provides access to live locations, photos and video footage AnyVision says the technology is 'more than 99% accurate' in large crowds. The face is compared with information in a data system, which can determine if the person is a known terrorist, criminal or missing person. AnyVision built an app for use by tactical teams on the ground. Tactical teams have access to live locations, photos and video feeds to help them catch a suspicious person. Advertisement

Police departments already use facial recognition technology in some ways.

Many departments try to match photos of suspects to mug shots or drivers license photos.

Additionally, companies say they've taken steps to make sure their systems aren't biased by training it with millions of publicly available photos.

'We've worked really hard on training [the algorithm] with a diverse data set to make sure that it is balanced and unbiased,' Paul Steinberg, Motorola Solution's chief technology officer, told the Journal.

But for now, AI-equipped body cameras are likely to remain controversial.
Attendees of the Up Helly Aa Viking festival on the Shetland Isles. A study by physicists in Hungary has shown the Vikings came up with a highly effective solution for crossing the high seas on their longboats

They are mostly remembered for raping and pillaging. But their formidable navigation skills are also renowned.

Now a study has shown the Vikings came up with a highly effective solution for crossing the high seas on their longboats.

In the time before magnetic compasses, it was extremely hard to navigate by the sun when it disappeared behind heavy fog and cloud.

It is believed the Vikings solution was to create sunstones which picked up polarised light to reveal the suns location.

A study has now found these fabled sunstones would in fact work with up to 100 per cent accuracy in the three-week voyage from Norway to Greenland.

Physicists from Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary tried out 1,000 of these trips with a computer simulation they describe as the most detailed and precise method available without setting off to the high seas.

The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, states that sunstones are surprisingly successful even under cloudy conditions.

The authors write: This explains why the Vikings could rule the Atlantic Ocean for 300 years and could reach North America without a magnetic compass.

Between AD 900 and AD 1200 the Vikings were the dominant seafarers of the North Atlantic. When the sun was shining, they could determine geographical north using a special sundial.

But it was unknown how they could find their way in cloudy and foggy conditions, until the theory of the sun stones arose in 1967.

A sunstone is a crystal with a peculiar molecular structure, which splits the light passing through it in two. Rotating the crystal eventually lines up the two beams of light into one straight line, which can then be used to detect the suns position even in overcast weather

This suggested the Vikings could use skylight polarisation to find their way, just like some insects.

A sunstone is a crystal with a peculiar molecular structure, which splits the light passing through it in two.

Rotating the crystal eventually lines up the two beams of light into one straight line, which can then be used to detect the suns position even in overcast weather.

A suspected sunstone was found in 2002 deep in the waters off Alderney, the third largest of the Channel islands.

Hungarian researchers had previously tried out 1,080 different celestial scenarios, based on the cloud cover and suns position, to find how far a longboat would be from true north at any time.

Those findings were used in the new study to work out the chances of making it from modern-day Bergen in Norway to the Viking settlement of Hvarf in south Greenland.

Men dressed as Vikings parade through Edinburgh during Hogmanay in 2013. Between AD 900 and AD 1200 the Vikings were the dominant seafarers of the North Atlantic

The results show top success rates of between 92.2 per cent and 100 per cent during spring equinox and summer solstice if a navigator checked the sailing direction every three hours.

The water sapphire, or cordierite, which is an type of blue mineral, was the best type of sunstone.

The authors accept that they did not include the possibility of strong winds or storms in their calculations, but say if Vikings did use sunstones their results show they could have used them to navigate precisely.

To highlight why navigation was so vital, the paper concludes: In cases when the sailing routes tended considerably southwards, Viking voyages never reached Greenland, but terminated with death of the whole crew in the Atlantic Ocean, or reached North America (now Canada).

The latter might have resulted in the accidental discovery of America by the Vikings much earlier than Columbus.
The story of King Arthur is known to children and adults alike.

But the facts around the legendary figure are mired in myth and folklore and historians generally agree that Arthur himself probably did not exist.

Instead, it is believed he may have been a composite of multiple people.

Whilst there are many version of the Arthur legend, some common threads run through them.

They stem from 12th Century figure Geoffrey of Monmouth's fanciful and largely fictional work Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).

In 410 AD, the Romans pulled their troops out of Britain and, with the loss of their authority, local chieftans and kings competed for land.

In 449 AD, King Vortigern invited the Angles and Saxons to settle in Kent in order to help him fight the Picts and the Scots.

Guinevere leading a wounded Lancelot from The Rochefoucauld Grail. The illuminated 14th century manuscript containing what is believed to be the oldest surviving account of the legends of King Arthur

However, the Angles and Saxons betrayed Vortigern at a peace council where they drew their knives and killed 460 British chiefs.

The massacre was called the Night of the Long Knives, which, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, occurred at a monastery on the Salisbury Plain.

Geoffrey claims that Ambrosius Aurelianus became King and consulted the wizard Merlin to help him select an appropriate monument to raise in honour of the dead chieftains.

Merlin suggested that the King's Ring from Mount Killarus in Ireland be dismantled and brought to England.

The king's brother and Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, led an expedition of soldiers to bring the stones from Ireland to England.

Merlin magically reconstructed the stones as Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain around the burials of the dead British chieftains in the monastery cemetery.

Other legends say Arthur was born at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall and was taken by Merlin to be raised by Sir Ector.

Shortly thereafter, civil war broke out in England and Uther Pendragon was killed.

When Arthur was a young boy, the popular narrative says he drew a sword called Caliburn from a stone.

Some legends say Arthur was born at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall and was taken by Merlin to be raised by Sir Ector.

One version of the legend states that the sword was made at Avalon from a sarsen stone that originated either from Avebury or Stonehenge.

It was said that whoever drew the sword from the stone was the true King of England.

Arthur was then said to have been crowned as King in the ruins of the Roman fort at Caerleon in Wales.

In another version of the story, King Ambrosius Aurelianus led a battle against the Saxons at Badon Hill.

Aurelianus was killed and his nephew, Arthur, took control of the soldiers and won the battle.

Later, Arthur lost Caliburn in a fight with Sir Pellinore but was saved by Merlin's magic.

Arthur received a new sword (Excalibur) and a scabbard from Nimue, the Lady in the Lake at Avalon.

The scabbard was magical and as long as Arthur wore it, he could not die.

Arthur had three half-sisters who are sometimes referred to as sorceresses.

Arthur fell in love with Morgana, not knowing that she was his half-sister and they had a son named Mordred.

When Arthur discovered the truth, he was horrified and ordered all male infants born at the same time as his son to be brought to Caerleon.

The babies were put onto an unattended ship and set out to sea, which crashed on some rocks and sank.

Film, 'King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword', (2017)Jude Law's sneering Vortigern

Mordred survived the sinking of the ship and was found by a man walking on the shore and taken home.

Arthur fell in love again with a woman named Guinevere who was the daughter of King Lodegrance of Camylarde.

They married and her dowry included a round table and many knights. Arthur established his court at Camelot

The round table became a symbol of equality amongst his knights, for no knight was seated in a position superior to another.

In addition, a mealtime rule at the table was that no one could eat until they told a story of daring.
Their cute and calm demeanour attract thousands of tourists from around the world to Japan's famous Nara Park.

But park authorities are facing a growing number of reported bite injuries to visitors from the deer that roam freely around the park.

The picturesque park in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto is home to more than 1,000 deer, with some even roaming in the streets in search of special crackers that are fed to them by tourists.

Some of the cute deer that roam around Japan's famous Nara Park and are often fed crackers by tourists

But with some tourists not used to the animals, many are finding themselves surrounded by aggressive deer when trying to feed them.

And according to the latest figures, 180 bite injuries were caused by the deer in Nara Park during 2017 - up from 118 injuries the previous year.

Now authorities have erected signs in Japanese, Chinese and English showing tourists exactly how to feed the deer so they do not become angry.

They have been put up at stalls where the crackers are sold, and say that small children should be accompanied by adults.

Authorities have erected signs in Japanese, Chinese and English showing tourists exactly how to feed the deer so they do not become angry.

When the animals approach, the crackers should be given to them straight away, and tourists are being told not to tease the animals.

The signs also urge that 'deer sign language' should be employed by showing both hands to the animals when feeding time is over.

Nara Park official Yuichiro Kitabata told AFP: 'As they are wild animals, they get angry if people tease them.

'For example, if you keep them waiting when feeding, they can bite you.

Tourists pose with one of the deer in Nara Park. About 1,200 deer live in the park and they are protected as a national treasure

'Not all of the tourists know they are wild, believing they are kept in the park.'

The sprawling park that also includes wooden temples and shrines built centuries ago is a major tourist attraction, welcoming some 13 million visitors annually.

The deer at the park - numbering on average about 1,200 - are protected as a national treasure.
Flights at the UK's two busiest airports could be hit with delays over the next three weeks as air traffic controllers introduce new technology.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick will suffer disruption as Nats (National Air Traffic Services) replaces paper flight information strips with a digital system at its control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire.

The number of flights allowed to land at the London airports will be reduced while controllers gain confidence using the new system in a live environment.

Inbound flights at Heathrow, pictured, are expected to be delayed by an average of 20 minutes over the next three weeks due to a air traffic control change

It comes as the sectors that control Heathrow, Gatwick and the airspace to the south and south-east of these airports introduce the new technology.

This area is the UK's busiest airspace and it covers the approach for the two London airports as well as flights heading to Luton, Stansted and London City.

Average delays at Heathrow could be 20 minutes as arrivals are limited to 80 per cent of maximum capacity for 10 days from tomorrow.

This will be raised to 90 per cent of maximum capacity for the following 10 days.

People living under flight paths will also be affected, as Nats has requested permission to land some planes 'slightly earlier and slightly later than usual', reducing the overnight respite from aircraft noise.

Jamie Hutchison, director of Nats' Swanwick base, told the Press Association: 'We know there will be a number of flights affected, particularly in the first 10 days.

'But for the majority of those flights we expect the delay to be minimal and travellers should not change their plans or travel later to the airport.

Flights into Gatwick, pictured, will also be disrupted while air traffic controllers gain confidence using the new system in a live environment

'We will be doing everything we can, in partnership with the airports and airlines, to minimise the impact on passengers.'

Nats says the introduction of the new EXCDS digital system is an important step in the modernisation of how the UK's airspace is managed.

It is part of a 700 million programme to cope with growing demand for air travel.

UK air traffic is expected to grow from 2.6 million flights last year to 3.1 million in 2030.

Mr Hutchison added: 'Unless we make significant investment in modernising both our tools and our airspace then we are not going to be ready for the future demand we're anticipating.'
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The first world cruise to stop at all seven continents has been announced.

Luxury cruise company Silversea has added a 140-day globetrotting trip to its 2020 schedule, with stops in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Australia and the icy wilds of Antarctica.

Prices on the 382-passenger ship range from 49,000 for a basic cabin to 180,000 for a stay in the luxurious 'owner's suite'. The spacious rooms feature walk-in wardrobes, a veranda and marble-clad bathroom.

World first: Luxury cruise company Silversea has added a 140-day globetrotting trip to its 2020 schedule, with stops at Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Australia and the icy wilds of Antarctica

Silversea's Legends of Cruising trip will stop at 32 countries in total, with the boat docking at 62 different ports.

The company's Silver Whisper ship will set sail on January 6, 2020, from Fort Lauderdale in Florida before heading on to Argentina.

From there, the cruise liner will dip down to the Antarctic Peninsula, so passengers can spend a morning soaking in the other-worldly landscape.

A stop at the world's coldest continent is currently scheduled for February 5, 2020.

The company's Silver Whisper ship will set sail on January 6, 2020, from Fort Lauderdale in Florida before heading on to Argentina. Above, a map details the ship's route

A stop at the world's coldest continent is currently scheduled for February 5, 2020, on Silversea's itinerary

Continuing on its journey, the boat will head on to Chile, Tahiti, Singapore, Mumbai, Rome and Dublin before finally docking in Amsterdam on May 25.

During the voyage, cruise-goers will have the option to make various on land excursions.

For instance in Florida, there is the option to go on a Everglades wildlife tour or visit a flamingo rescue centre.

While over in Patagonia, helicopter and horseback rides might tickle some travellers' fancies.

Silversea's Silver Whisper can carry 382 passengers and 302 crew, with its water-tight body measuring 610 feet long.

Onboard amenities include two restaurants, casino, spa, fitness centre, running track and swimming pool.

A spokesperson for Silversea told MailOnline Travel that the boat is quickly filling up but there are still tickets available for the 2020 world voyage.
Ryanair has an average gender pay gap of 67 per cent among its British-based staff, a new report has revealed.

The Irish-based carrier has the widest pay gap between its male and female employees compared to other large airlines that have had to disclose the difference in earnings under new regulations.

UK employers are currently under heightened scrutiny over their pay structures and companies with more than 250 staff have to report their gender pay gap by April 4 to the Government Equalities Office.

Ryanair has published its gender pay gap which shows that the Irish carrier pays women 71.8 per cent less than men on average

Compared with other airlines that operate in the UK, Ryanair's mean pay gap outstripped low-cost rival easyJet, where it stood at 51.7 per cent, and British Airways, where it was 35 per cent.

This means the Irish carrier pays women 71.8 per cent less than men on average - when comparing median hourly rates, for every 1 men earn, women earn just 28p.

Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost carrier, explained that only eight out of its 554 pilots based in the United Kingdom are women.

A majority of its 1,182 UK staff that are classified as being in either the lower middle or lower wage band are also women, Ryanair revealed in their report.

The aviation industry has a particular issue with gender equality as the vast majority of pilots are men.

The airline, whose largest base is at London's Stansted Airport, employs just under 10 per cent of its staff in the United Kingdom.

Its management and administration staff are largely based in its home market of Ireland.

The airline, whose largest base is at London's Stansted Airport, pictured, employs just under 10 per cent of its staff in the United Kingdom

A statement from Ryanair said: 'Like all airlines, our gender pay in the UK is materially affected by the relatively low numbers of female pilots in the aviation industry.

'In recent years, the number of female pilots applying to Ryanair has increased and we are committed to developing this welcome trend.

'It is a feature of the aviation industry that more males than females choose to enter the pilot profession.'

UK businesses with more than 250 employees have until tomorrow to report their gender pay gap.

The gender pay gap is calculated as the difference between the average salaries of men and women - it is not the same as equal pay, where firms are required to pay people doing the same job the same salary regardless of gender.

The national median gender pay gap is 18.4 per cent.
They were reportedly facing the axe from the forthcoming season on the X Factor.

But long-time judges Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne believe they are 'unsackable' for one more series, thanks to 'watertight' three-year contracts.

The 65-year-old Irish music manager told The Sun that he had called Simon Cowell, 58, during his holiday in Mexico - and even instructed lawyers - to maintain his spot on the judging panel in 2018 amid claims Nicole Scherzinger has been dropped.

The X Factor 2018 panel: Lois Walsh had hit back at Simon Cowell amid claims he's 'facing the axe from the latest series'

Louis told the publication: 'My contract is watertight. I've checked it out with someone and have told Simon that.

'I have spoken to Sharon. She's said they can only sack us if they pay us.' Louis continued.

The boy band manager admitted that even Sharon was surprised she hadn't received any filming dates yet, but believed that show bosses hadn't finalised what they wanted to do with the panel.

Undecided: Louis admitted that even Sharon was surprised she hadn't received any filming dates, but believed that show bosses hadn't finalised what they wanted to do with the panel (here in 2017, featuring L-R Louis, Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger and Simon Cowell)

The publication also reported that Sharon and Louis were rumoured to be paid 1.7million a series and have sought legal advise, insisting 'they won't go easily'.

With the reports suggesting that show creators wanted to attract a younger audience to the flagship ITV competition, Louis also hit back at claims he was being axed because of a hearing aid promotional role for Specsavers.

Louis denied being a part of an ad campaign for hearing aids, and added: 'I had to do a test and they said my hearing was perfect - 100 per cent perfect - so I couldn't do it.'

Fighting back: The publication also reported that Sharon and Louis were rumoured to be paid 1.7m a series and have consulted their lawyers on the issue

On Sunday, it was rumoured that fellow judge Nicole would not be returning to her place on the panel.

The former Pussycat Doll, 39 - who has been a judge on the hit ITV singing competition since 2012 - allegedly doesn't have a contract for the 15th season.

The Sun reported thatSimon is planning a massive overhaul of the show to try and entice a younger audience.

Booted? Nicole Scherzinger 'axed from from the latest series as show bosses try to revamp the show' according to The Sun

'Producers have lost faith': Bosses are reportedly trying to bring in fresh blood to the show to encourage a younger audience

'We'll see what happens': Nicole revealed Simon doesn't let the judging panel in on their fate until the same month the show returns

Pop hunk Craig David and One Direction's Louis Tomlinson are both reportedly being considered for the show.

An X Factor spokesperson told the MailOnline: 'There is always speculation regarding the judging panel. It's too early to confirm the judges for the next series.'

Sharon's transatlantic commitments on a US-based daytime show - The Talk - puts her status on the show in a precarious situation when it comes to returning to the judges table - with Sharon's exhausting trips to-and-from America allegedly causing a strain.

Nicole's spot on the show has already been in question, as it's been rumoured that Cheryl, who was abandoned last year's series to concentrate on her venture into motherhood, is in talks to return.

Set to leave? Judges Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh are also set for the chopping block, with their contracts on the line as show bosses try to rearrange the show

Comeback? Nicole's spot on the show has already been in question, as it's been rumoured that Cheryl (pictured 2017), is in talks to return

Despite being shrouded in mystery, Poison hitmaker Nicole has previously voiced her frustration about Simon's last minute panel decisions.

Chatting to The Sunday Mirror, Nicole explained that the judges don't find out their fate until the same month the show returns.

She told the publication: 'Simon is so f****** last minute we know in the same month that he announces it. We'll see what happens.'
The Sex And The City series may have ended in 2004.

But Sarah Jessica Parker is still channeling her inner Carrie Bradshaw, only now as a fashion designer.

The 53-year-old actress was all smiles as she reopened the SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker pop-up shop in New York City on Monday, bringing her iconic style to customers just in time for spring.

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Fashionista: Sarah Jessica Parker took on the role of saleswoman at her pop up store in NYC on Monday

The mother-of-three took on the role of saleswoman as she graciously helped customers pick out their favorite heels.

Sarah was dressed rather casually for the big day in a grey sweater and light wash denim jeans.

She tied her brown tresses back in a tight bun and sported silver bracelets and a black watch on her wrists.

But the star also managed to add some sparkle on her feet, as she donned her collection's glitter 'Celine' heels.

Designer duds: The store sold pieces from the star's collection, SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker, which includes shoes, handbags, and dresses

The shop, which sells the SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker collection, originally launched last November for one week, but was brought back due to popular demand.

Fans of SJP can buy handbags, stilettos, and dresses designed by the Sex And The City star at the impeccably decorated location.

The space, covered in salmon pink hues, was filled with excited customers and some of Sarah's friends as soon as the doors were opened on Monday.

Best buds: Sarah's close friend Andy Cohen stopped by the opening, which was packed with excited customers

Television personality, Andy Cohen, made an appearance at the big event, and happily embraced the designer with open arms.

Sarah launched her designer brand in 2014 with the aim of making pieces that 'fit into a woman's life for many years to come.'

And on Monday, her handcrafted shoes fit onto a number of different feet, all while she hovered around to help her fans with their purchases.

Best foot forward: The mother-of-three dressed rather casually for the big day in a grey sweater and light wash jeans

Sarah has recently spoken out about fellow Sex And The City star Cynthia Nixon's bid to be the Governor of New York.

The actress officially endorsed her former co-star last week in a post on Instagram.

'A mother. An activist. An advocate. A fighter. A NY'er. A dear friend. Running for Governor of our great state' wrote Parker. 'My sister on and off screen, you have my love, support and vote.'

'You have my love, support and vote': Sarah has recently spoken out in support about her former co-star Cynthia Nixon's bid to become Governor of New York

The close bond shared between Cynthia and Sarah isn't quite the same with another Sex And The City co-star, Kim Cattrall.

The two brought their off-screen feud to the public's attention in February after Kim Cattrall posted that she did not want or need Sarah's support after her brother died.

The post came after Kim said late last year that her and her co-stars were never friends, but merely colleagues.

Sarah, however, said 'there is no feud' in an interview with People that hit news stands after Kim's comments took over social media.
He's known for playing the Marvel superhero, Thor.

And when Chris Hemsworth stepped out with his family in Byron Bay on Saturday, his children appeared to be following in their father's footsteps.

The Australian actor's young kids were spotted playing with a toy hammer inspired by the blockbuster film franchise.

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A-Thor-able! Chris Hemsworth's young children carry toy hammers like his Marvel character... as the actor and his wife Elsa Pataky enjoy brunch with Matt Damon's family in Byron Bay

Just like daddy! Chris, 34, is known for playing the Marvel superhero, Thor

Chris - who was joined by his wife Elsa Pataky - was enjoying a relaxed brunch with Matt Damon's family, who are on holiday in Australia.

Chris dressed casually in a black cap and singlet, while barefoot Elsa looked effortlessly chic in a bohemian coral dress.

The Hollywood couple, who married in 2010, are parents to daughter India Rose, five, and four-year-old twin sons, Sasha and Tristan.

Family: Chris and his wife Elsa Pataky, who married in 2010, are parents to daughter India Rose, five, and four-year-old twin sons, Sasha and Tristan

Relaxed: Mother-of-three Elsa looked effortlessly chic in a bohemian coral dress

Beach life! Chris dressed casually in a black singlet with navy board shorts and flip flops

Familiar face: Chris and Elsa was enjoying a relaxed brunch with Matt Damon's family, who are on holiday in Australia

Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso also blended in with the crowds as they continued their Byron Bay getaway with Hemsworths.

They share daughters Isabella, 11, Gia, nine, and Stella, seven. Luciana also has an older daughter, Alexia, from a previous relationship.

For their brunch trip, Luciana wore bohemian printed pants and a black cropped singlet which offered a glimpse of her midriff.

Like a local! Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso (pictured) blended in with the crowds as they continued their Byron Bay getaway with Hemsworths

Brunching: Chris appeared in high spirits as he enjoyed a late breakfast with his friends

Friends: The families are enjoying relaxing Australian holiday, with Chris and Elsa showing Matt and Luciana around the New South Wales coastal town

Greeting: Luciana offered Chris a friendly kiss on the cheek as the families met for brunch

The families are enjoying relaxing Australian holiday, with Chris and Elsa showing Matt and Luciana around the New South Wales coastal town.

Chris and Elsa live in Byron Bay, while Matt and Luciana are still based in the US - however they are frequent visitors Down Under.

Luciana and Elsa share a close friendship, and even have matching tattoos on their hands.

Friendship goals! Luciana and Elsa share a close friendship, and even have matching tattoos on their hands

Thor blimey! Chris showed off his remarkably buff physique

Frequent flyers! Chris and Elsa live in Byron Bay, while Matt and Luciana are still based in the US - however they are frequent visitors Down Under

Adorable moment: Chris was seen holding his daughter in his arms

Chris has previously described Matt as a being friend and mentor when he first moved to Hollywood.

'We became friends around the time I started to work, and Ive really benefited from watching how he handles himself,' he told GQ in 2014.

'Matt's just a normal guy who has the movie-star thing figured out.'

'Matt's just a normal guy who has the movie-star thing figured out': Chris has previously described Matt as a being friend and mentor when he first moved to Hollywood
It's no secret that cooking takes second place to drama on My Kitchen Rules.

But even longtime viewers would be surprised by the producers' bizarre behind-the-scenes pot-stirring tactics.

Woman's Day reported on Monday that contestants were banned from drinking Red Bull on set despite long hours of filming - for a VERY surprising reason.

Red Bull bans, meddling makeup artists, and producers desperate to beat Married At First Sight: My Kitchen Rules' behind-the-scenes secrets 'revealed'

'Someone brought Red Bulls onto the set, but they were confiscated. Production want contestants to be tired and irritable so they'll argue at the table,' said a source.

The magazine also alleged that two of this season's most controversial stars, 'Botox Sisters' Jess Alvial and Emma Byron, 'were sought after (by producers) for two years'.

Meanwhile, brothers Nic and Josh Sama were reportedly scouted from their professional food truck business, Fritto and Co.

Looking for drama? Woman's Day claimed two of this season's most controversial stars, 'Botox Sisters' Jess Alvial and Emma Byron, 'were sought after (by producers) for two years'

Food professionals: Brothers Nic and Josh Sama were also reportedly scouted from their professional food truck business, Fritto and Co

MKR producers also allegedly encouraged on-screen drama by lavishing praise on the contestants after dinner table arguments.

Woman's Day even claimed that hair and makeup staff openly 'b**ched' about the contestants in a bid to turn them against each other.

'(They) were told they won't get any airtime if they don't involve themselves in the drama,' claimed the insider, who added that crew members told them conflict would make sure 'viewers will be tuning into MKR instead of Married At First Sight'.

Quest for ratings: MKR producers allegedly encouraged on-screen drama by lavishing praise on the amateur chefs after arguments. Pictured: Pete Evans (left) and Colin Fassnidge (right)

Despite these supposed efforts by the producers to make MKR must-see TV, the long-running cooking show has struggled in the ratings so far this season.

Married At First Sight consistently attracted huge audiences for Channel Nine while Channel Seven struggled in the same time slot.

Daily Mail has contacted Channel Seven for comment.
Louise Thompsons rival suitors, Ryan the Ry-Man Libbey and Alik the Fonz Alfus continued to find one other insufferably irritating - as we did - on Made In Chelsea.

This weeks episode also threw up a third unwelcome, frankly awkward, admirer: Aliks dad. Ew !

It appeared the old hippy/bohemian fancied his sons ex- even more than Alik. Just what he needed

At war: Louise Thompsons rival suitors, Ryan the Ry-Man Libbey (L) and Alik the Fonz Alfus (R) continued to find one other insufferably irritating - as we did - on Made In Chelsea

Interference: This weeks episode also threw up a third unwelcome, frankly awkward, admirer: Aliks dad. Ew !

It was all particularly unfortunate as it was Louises two-year anniversary  with both Alik and Ryan.

While her current boyfriend (Ryan the Ry-Man) festooned Louise with romantic gifts (flowers, chocolates, and a free suite at the Langham hotel), you sensed the old one (old Alik Fonzarelli-Alfus) wasnt quite over her yet.

Or was it just me?

Alik knew that Louise and Ryan were celebrating because she had posted about it. And also it was in the script

Awkward: It was all particularly unfortunate as it was Louises two-year anniversary  with both Alik and Ryan

Besotted: While her current boyfriend (Ryan the Ry-Man) festooned Louise with romantic gifts (flowers, chocolates, and a free suite at the Langham hotel)...

Struggling... you sensed the old one (old Alik Fonzarelli-Alfus) wasnt quite over her yet

Not to bring up the past Alik began.

God forbid

Two years ago today Louise and I were in St.Barts making love every day on vacation ! Alik raged, squinting even harder than usual. The whole nine yards! - which was clearly an exaggeration, even for a man.

Are you still in love with her? mused Mark-Francis Vandelli, pretending he was interested  or cared.

Not even close, snapped Alik. Thats not at all the point. The point was that there would be an element of respect. Then to post something today when two years ago when she was in St. Barts f**king me every day is a bit aggressive.

Not bothered: Are you still in love with her? mused Mark-Francis Vandelli, pretending he was interested  or cared

Furious: Not even close, snapped Alik. Thats not at all the point. The point was that there would be an element of respect'

Well he should know, you thought. There wasnt much respect there certainly.

Its a slap in the face to me and its a slap in the face to Ryan.

It was hard to see Ryan being anything less than delighted  as he had got the girl (even if it was Louise).

He was doing everything to keep her too, presenting flowers for their anniversary.

No wair ! Louise gasped, trying to sound as posh as the other gals. Theyre my favourite colours ! How now brown cow did you know that??

Not happy: It was hard to see Ryan being anything less than delighted  as he had got the girl (even if it was Louise)

You imagined she had mentioned it.

No, they werent orange.

Wed have seen if she werent so orange Louise would have been green with envy when they met Emilia, her brother Sams new girlfriend (for half an episode).

Ryan was so macho he had grown a beard in the five minutes since his previous scene and Emilia swooned:

you look like Thor !

Or did she say phwoar !

She called me Thor ! cheered Ryan, so excited he was actually unable to stay sitting down.

Not impressed: Louise later came over all frosty while meeting Sam's new girlfriend Emilia - who complimented Ryan on his beard and compared him to Thor

Yes, muttered Louise, looking as if she was unable to stay sitting down and not pounce and scratch Emilias eyes out.

The exotic brunette proceeded to show the Ry-Man her tattoos.

A rams skull for Aries (because I was born in April) and a human skull to match (because youre human?) and some Italian bulls**t on my back.

Ryan definitely liked Emilia more than Sam  and possibly more than Louise.

His presents for Louise included a suite at The Langham.

It was all so romantic, cheered Proudlock Proudlock Proudlock the Third, even though the room was presumably free for being flagged on Made In Chelsea.

Sweet: His presents for Louise included a suite at The Langham. It was all so romantic, cheered Proudlock, even though the room was presumably free for being flagged on Made In Chelsea

Is this the longest youve been in love? Proudlock asked Ryan.

Apart from with himself ? Definitely.

Im just glad we can forget about the whole Alik thing ! concluded Proud, hexing it and ensuring we couldnt.

Meanwhile, sure enough, across town, old Alik was telling his dad how he was definitely over Louise, not at all upset by her two-year so-called ANNIVERSARY with Ryan, and perfectly mentally stable.

Ive been here a month. Its a new city for me now. When I was here for Louise I felt like I was in this Chelsea bubble, he claimed, leaving viewers thinking: wait?! What?!? YOU STILL ARE !

Angry: Meanwhile, sure enough, across town, old Alik was telling his dad how he was definitely over Louise, not at all upset by her two-year so-called ANNIVERSARY with Ryan

A different world: Ive been here a month. Its a new city for me now. When I was here for Louise I felt like I was in this Chelsea bubble, he claimed

Yes theres a lot more to London than that ! agreed Victoria  a bit rich (literally in her case).

I see Louise on Instagram, rambled Aliks dad. Shes very fit and lovely. I like her. I always have.

Oh come on, you thought. Thats just unnecessary  for us never mind Alik. Just creepy.

Do you like the look of her boyfriend? asked Victoria, filing her talons.

Hes fit, Aliks dad smiled  meaning fitter than Alik.

High praise: I see Louise on Instagram, rambled Aliks dad. Shes very fit and lovely. I like her. I always have'

Cheeky: He later claimed Ryan was 'fitter' than Alik, in another blow

Alik laughed, evidently screaming on the inside: ANOTHER BETRAYAL !

Ive been playing the field a bit, Alik claimed. No one to write home about.

Well my mother loves you ! Victoria laughed.

Well give her my number for Gods sake ! Alik roared, trying to sound as if he was joking.

Aliks nightmare then proceeded to go from bad to worse.

I wasnt expecting Louise and her boyfriend to walk in! he wailed, clearly having not been given that page of the script.

You're joking: Aliks nightmare then proceeded to go from bad to worse. I wasnt expecting Louise and her boyfriend to walk in! he wailed

Nightmare: While Louise gasped: OK yah ! Great ! Brilliant ! Ryan stroked his beard - to look intellectual (at least trying to)

While Louise gasped: OK yah ! Great ! Brilliant ! Ryan stroked his beard - to look intellectual (at least trying to).

Aliks dad meanwhile was ecstatic.

She looks lovely I must say !

(Yes you said that.)

I would imagine that this is their anniversary dinner even though she was still with me two years ago ! carped Alik.

(Ditto.)

Shes a slut ! triumphed Victoria (enjoying herself enormously).

Bad to worse: I would imagine that this is their anniversary dinner even though she was still with me two years ago ! carped Alik

Smug: Shes a slut ! triumphed Victoria (enjoying herself enormously)

What are you going to do? Aliks dad asked him.

Im not going to do anything. Theyre celebrating their two-year anniversary even though we were still together two years ago ! harrumphed Alik, like a robot who had developed a glitch and was saying the same line of dialogue over and over and over again.

Aliks dad waved eagerly at the not-so-happy couple.

Hi ! mutted Ryan.

Hell-air ! smiled Louise.

You could see by the way Ryans brooding mood were merging with the testosterone pulsating through his neck veins he was gradually losing it.

Your pecs just twitched ! guffawed Louise, normally a compliment but in this case the last straw.

I cant do this ! Ryan pouted, getting up and flouncing out  our cue to do the same.
Her arrival on Monday night's Bachelor In Paradise left fans raising their eyebrows on her inability to raise hers.

And after fans accused Ali Oetjen of having had Botox, on Tuesday the bubbly blonde denied the claims.

Speaking to HIT 105's Stav, Abbey and Matt, the 31-year-old said her lack of facial expressions was due to the fact that she had no reaction to the other contestants and their drama.

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Not true! On Tuesday, after cosmetic enhancement accusations, Ali Oetjen denied having had Botox in her forehead

'I hadn't even had Botox in my forehead before,' said Ali - opting not to reveal whether she's had the procedure since and if she'd had it in other places.

'Maybe my face isn't moving cause I'm not reacting to the girls comments,' she posed.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Ali for further clarification.

The full story? 'I hadn't even had Botox in my forehead before,' said Ali - opting not to reveal whether she's had the procedure since and if she'd had it in other places

The news comes after the stunner's debut had fans talking about her lack of movement in her face.

And it wasn't just social media who commented on the appearance of the love seeking reality, co-star Florence Alexandra also threw in her two cents.

'She looks like Malibu Barbie,' she snipped.

Is there a reason why? The news comes after the stunner's debut got fans talking about her lack of movement in her face

Adding: 'Her face doesn't really move' and that she looked like someone from the Gold Coast.

After first appearing on screens five years ago during The Bachelor season one with Tim Robards, viewers struggled to recognise her on Monday night.

Recent photos have also shown Ali with a smooth visage and noticeably plumper pout since her 2013 appearance.
The aftershocks from Blac Chyna's meltdown at Six Flags Magic Mountain could be felt all the way in Calabasas.

The Kardashians, according to a report from People on Monday, are worried about Dream, Rob's 16-month-old daughter with the salon owner, after a video surfaced Sunday documenting a public conflict Chyna was engaged in at the amusement park in Valencia, California.

The reality TV clan's 'biggest concern is that Dream is safe,' sources told the magazine, noting that Chyna, 29, 'is just drama all the time.'

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Concerned: Kris Jenner, 62, Kim Kardashian, 37, and the rest of the reality TV family are concerned about Dream Kardashian's safety after Blac Chyna, 29, was involved in a melee at Magic Mountain Sunday with another park-goer

The latest episode came Sunday when she was caught on camera arguing with another park-goer, taking off her jacket and violently swinging around a stroller (modeled after a car). She was held back by her boyfriend, rapper YBN Almighty Jay, amid the melee.

'The familys just relieved Rob isnt involved with her anymore,' the insider said of the Washington D.C. native, who has been embroiled in a series of public disputes with the 31-year-old sock designer amid their messy break-up since giving birth to their child in November of 2016.

Chyna, whose real name is Angela Renee White, posted an Instagram message Sunday in which she explained her side of the story, claiming that another park-goer tried to physically touch her kid, leading to the protective outburst.

She wrote, 'Being famous is hard enough dealing with scrutiny but when someone feels comfortable to come and touch your child it's a whole other story.

Proud parent: Rob looked healthy and happy as he spent time with Dream last month

Calm before the storm: Chyna and Dream were having a nice time on the merry-go-round at Magic Mountain earlier Sunday

'I do not condone violence nor am I a violent person but shout out to all of the amazing mothers out there that will protect their children at all cost. Love, King and Dreams Mommy.'

Officials with Magic Mountain confirmed to People that those involved in the dust-up were tossed from the amusement park.

'Last evening, a verbal and physical altercation broke out among two visiting groups,' a park official told the publication. 'Our security department responded immediately and both groups were escorted out of the park.

'The safety and security of our guests and employees is our top priority and we have zero tolerance for this type of behavior.'

Sources told the publication that Rob - who has been involved in litigation with Chyna stemming back to an online meltdown of his own last summer - 'started doing much better' when 'he realized his family was right about Chyna and removed himself from all the drama.'

Keeping a distance from his mercurial baby's mother, Rob has been trying to shore up his physique and parenting abilities, the source said.

'Rob is eating better and has a trainer - he wants to stay healthy for his daughters sake,' the source said. 'Hes focused on what he should be focused on: Dream and his health. He wants to stay healthy for his daughters sake.

'Dream was a huge wake-up call for Rob. He wants to be the best dad possible.'
Kristen Doute and James Kennedy had arguably the most combative relationship in the history of Vanderpump Rules.

They were at each other's throats again on Monday's episode over rumors that they 'hooked up' again during the group's vacation in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

Kristen, who was also shown completely naked taking a shower, and James both denied hooking up, but were led to believe the other had said it had happened.

Dinner drama: James Kennedy confronted ex-girlfriend Kristen Doute after rumors spread they hooked up on Monday's episode of Vanderpump Rules

They finally had a confrontation reminiscent of when they were dating, with Kristen threatening to 'knock his f***ing ass out' as everyone seemed to back-up her fears that James admitted to a fling she insisted never happened.

She finally threw her drink over James after he told her he 'doesn't give a flying f***' and angrily told her: 'You're an attention seeker, shut up.'

'I don't converse with stupid little girls like you,' he told her after she threw her drink, spitefully calling her 'white f***ing trash, you pathetic stupid whore' as he walked off.

'There's the real James Kennedy, now you all get to see it,' Kristen told the others.

Totally angry: Kristen was ready to beat James up after believing he started the rumor

Cleaning up: The reality star was shown taking a shower after partying hard in Mexico

Drying off: Kristen let the cameras watch as she dried off

The rumor had in fact first started with Jax Taylor seeing the former couple together at a hot tub near his private pool with cushions around them at 8am after a night of partying.

He then thought James 'full-out confessed' when he told the guys: 'Did I what? Hang out with Kristen? I mean, a little bit, but not really.'

Tom Sandoval also took it the same way, saying later: 'I asked James straight up if he hooked-up with Kristen and he said, ''Err, maybe a little bit''.'

Little bit: James seemed to confirm that something happened when he said a 'little bit' when asked if he was hanging out with Kristen

But James later insisted Jax got the wrong end of the stick, saying: 'Weren't we all hanging out with Kristen last night? It's like he's got Alzheimer's or something.

'Hanging out means that your talking, having a drink, smoking cigs. Hooking up means that your f***ing each other, butt naked, in the jacuzzi.'

He also accused Jax of trying to shame him to hide the 'turmoil' in his own relationship, before angrily telling the guys he has 'never' cheated on girlfriend Raquel Leviss.

Big difference: The British DJ explained the difference between hanging out and hooking up

'I have a sexy girlfriend, she's about to be Miss USA,' he said, angrily telling the guys:

'I'm over Kristen! I don't think she's sexy or hot at all.'

Kristen was shown naked having a shower the next day having admitted: 'I don't totally remember last night, but f*** it, Viva La Mexico.'

Night before: Kristen didn't remember the night before when she was getting racy

The women also gossiped about the hook-up rumors, with their previous affairs -- and denials -- only adding to the strength of the rumors.

Scheana Marie said: 'I don't think they would. But I also didn't think Kristen would bang him in the car like she did after she started dating Carter.'

Lala Kent, meanwhile, was far more blunt, saying to camera: 'I believe something happened. Once the d*** has entered one of your holes, it's easy for it to re-enter.'

Great gossip: Ariana Madix and Lala Kent joined the talk about Kristen and James

Good point: Lala pointed out that it's easy to re-enter

When Katie Maloney-Schwartz finally told Kristen about the rumor that she 'hooked-up' with her ex, Kristen looked genuinely stunned as she told them: 'Bull-f***ing-s***. Oooh, I'm going to get really angry.'

She was then furious when the women suggested they could believe it, saying: 'I would never. Don't entertain this. I would never, ever, ever, cheat on Carter, neever think about it.'

But Stassi Schroeder reminded her how she had lied to them all before about affairs, saying later to camera: 'When Kristen started dating Tom, she denied sleeping with Jax and that turned out to be true. When Kristen started dating Carter she denied sleeping with James, and that turned out to be true.

Beach talk: Katie Maloney-Schwartz broke it to Kristen about the hooking up rumor

Fair enough: Stassi Schroeder pointed out Kristen's history of lying about affairs

'So I would be a f***ing idiot not to ask those questions,' Stassi said.

When Kristen was told how the guys assumed James had confessed, she said angrily: 'Starting this rumor is James's lame attempt at fitting in with the guys. At my expense.

'I'm gonna knock his f***ing ass out.'

That's enough: Kristen was not having any of it

Elsewhere, Stassi also admitted to problems with her boyfriend Patrick Meagher -- who she has split up with since the scenes were filmed -- admitting she had no interest in FaceTiming him as he wanted.

'Patrick and I are in a text fight. I don't want to be on my phone, fighting, in Mexico,' she said.

'I haven't FaceTimed with Patrick because he's mad at me. Why would I want to FaceTime someone who's just going to yell at me.'

Text fight: Stassi revealed she was in a text fight with her boyfriend Patrick

Tom Schwartz, meanwhile, admitted the big night out was a total 'blur' for him, too, and admitted he ended up at the wrong resort.

His wife Katie was worried, saying: 'He keeps blacking out. There's a lot at stake for him -- there's our marriage, and there's also Tom Tom,' she said of the bar Schwartz and Sandoval were starting with Lisa Vanderpump.

'I don't want to see him jeopardize any of it. This is the final straw with the blacking out.'

Fed up: Katie was getting tired of her husband Tom blacking out

Tom Sandoval, meanwhile, was angry when he wore a wild animal print short suit for dinner -- and the other guys did not wear the ones he got for them, too.

'It's like 800 degrees,' Jax explained. 'I'm not wearing a polyester suit in Mexico.'

Lala Kent, meanwhile got flowers from her boyfriend, with a note telling her: 'Baby I love you and miss you a lot.'

Sweet surprise: Lala was sent roses by her boyfriend

When she asked Scheana if her boyfriend, Robert Valletta, sends flowers, she insisted: 'I'm not a flower person really. ...I don't like presents, I like affection.'

She insisted later to camera: 'If I got a bouquet of roses I'm like, '#basic''.'

But Lala insisted that her friend was not facing the real issues in her relationship, with Scheana and Rob also having split up since the scenes were filmed.

Vanderpump Rules continues next week on Bravo.
Keith Urban is reportedly desperate to return to The Voice Australia.

According to New Idea magazine, the star, who left the reality TV competition in exchange to star on American Idol, thinks it is one of the biggest mistakes he's made in his career.

'(Keith) really thought at the time that leaving The Voice to take on American Idol would be his big career move in Hollywood, and his huge chance to really make it on US TV  but it's all backfired,' a source told New Idea magazine.

'I've blown it': Keith Urban 'desperate to return to The Voice Australia admitting that leaving the show for American Idol was a big regret'

'Keith is desperately wanting another chance of The Voice, but after leaving for American Idol he feels he may have 'blow it' and it's apparently a 'big regret' for him,' they added.

'He feels bad that he turned his back on his Aussie roots by abandoning The Voice after just one season to chase the bright lights of fame and big money with American Idol. He would really love another shot.'

After appearing on American Idol for four seasons, Keith wasn't invited back to the rebooted version.

And the magazine's 'insider' has claimed that the 50-year-old country talent didn't receive the news lightly.

Lost in the mail? After packing up in the pursuit of Hollywood success on American Idol, Keith wasn't invited back to be a judge on the reboot version in 2018

The reboot version returned to screens in 2018, after a two-year hiatus, featuring judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Luke Bryant and Ryan Seacrest.

The publication further shared that not being asked back served as a double whammy, given Katy Perry was paid nearly 10 times what he was for the same show.

Will he go back? 'He feels bad that he turned his back on his Aussie roots by abandoning The Voice after just one season to chase the bright lights of fame and big money with American Idol. He would really love another shot,' a source revealed to New Idea

Keith quit The Voice Australian in 2012, after being offered the Hollywood gig.

Following his departure, he went on to serve as a judge on American Idol for four consecutive years, between 2012 and 2016.

Upon his departure, the star released a farewell statement, writing: 'I've been so fortunate to have been a part of The Voice. And as much as I'd love to do it again, it's clear that the recording and promoting of a new album, a tour and other commitments will keep me from being a part of the second season.'
She's playing a rising pop star in her next film Vox Lux.

But Natalie Portman took some time off the Hollywood scene as she was spotted on an outing with her parents in Los Angeles on Monday.

The 36-year-old actress rocked a casual ensemble as she strolled alongside her father Avner Hershlag and mother Shelley Stevens.

Family affair: Natalie Portman, 36, strolled alongside her father Avner Hershlag and mother Shelley Stevens in Los Angeles on Monday

Daring to impress, the V For Vendetta star wrapped herself up in a navy hoodie and black leggings for the casual outing.

Her trademark brunette tresses were swept back in a messy ponytail allowing her youthful face to shine.

She accessorized the fashion forward look with a fresh pair of black sneakers, a boho chic purse, and set of retro shades.

The Star Wars alum gave birth to her first girl, Amalia, just over a year ago, on February 22 2017.

Impressive: Daring to impress, the V For Vendetta star wrapped herself up in a navy hoodie and black leggings for the casual outing

She also shares son Aleph, six, with husband Benjamin Millepied.

Besides her daughter's birthday, Natalie also celebrated last month the release of her latest sci-fi flick, Annihilation.

In it she plays a scientist who risks everything to search for her husband lost within an eerie environmental disaster zone.

The film was directed by Ex Machina auteur Alex Garland and is based from a best-selling book trilogy by authored Jeff VanderMeer.

Actresses Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tuva Novotny also star in the film.

Next up, Natalie can be seen in Vox Lux playing the role of a rising pop star named Celeste.
She confirmed her split from Telv Williams last month after weeks of speculation.

But fortunately for Sarah Roza, she has the support of her girlfriends.

On Tuesday, the Married At First Sight star paid tribute to one of the bridesmaids from her televised 'wedding'.

Sisters are doin' it for themselves! Married At First Sight's Sarah Roza pays tribute to her bridesmaid after slamming 'ex-husband' Telv Williams for 'hooking up with randoms'

Sharing a series of Instagram selfies of herself and BFF Carol Dattilo, Sarah wished her friend a happy birthday.

'Carol was one of my three beautiful bridesmaids on Married At First Sight,' Sarah wrote in the caption.

'We've know each other for nearly 20 years and she's always been the greatest example of the sweetest, most gentle and kindest soul... Happy birthday, my darling Carol.'

'The sweetest, most gentle and kindest soul': Sharing a series of Instagram selfies of herself and BFF Carol Dattilo, Sarah wished her friend a happy birthday on Instagram

It's getting messy! Sarah's birthday tribute comes after she slammed Telv Williams in a scathing Instagram comment on Friday

Sarah's birthday tribute comes after she slammed Telv Williams in a scathing Instagram comment on Friday.

She hit back at her ex after a social media follower asked if she was still single.

'Thank you, lovely lady. But I'm not in a rush unlike other people to just hook up with countless fame hungry insignificant randoms,' Sarah replied.

'Thank you lovely lady but I'm not in a rush unlike other people': Sarah hit back at her ex after a social media follower asked if she was still single

'Real love is truly important to me so I'm happy to ease slowly back into the dating life eventually when the time is right': Sarah said she was happy being single for now

'Real love is truly important to me so I'm happy to ease slowly back into the dating life eventually when the time is right.'

Since his split with Sarah, Telv is rumoured to be dating blonde bombshell Maddie Carolan.

They partied at Melbourne's Baroq bar on Thursday, with an onlooker telling Daily Mail Australia: 'They were flirty and very close.'
Controversial former politician David Oldfield is hoping to achieve a 'six pack at 60' with the help of non-invasive fat reduction technology.

The One Nation co-founder, 59, received a SculpSure treatment this week that will supposedly help him lose 24 per cent of his tummy fat.

David's wife Lisa, who is part of the Real Housewives Of Sydney cast, shared an Instagram photo of the treatment on Tuesday.

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'If only it was easy to make him 24 per cent less of an a**hole!': Lisa Oldfield mocked husband David as he underwent a non-invasive fat reduction treatment to achieve a 'six pack at 60'

Lisa captioned the snap of David receiving the light-based therapy: 'If only it was that easy to make him 24 per cent less of an a**hole.'

According to its website, SculpSure's 'body contouring technology... can destroy targeted fat cells safely in just 25 minutes without affecting the skin's surface.

'There is no recovery time following treatment, so you can resume your daily activities immediately.'

Bickering couple: Lisa (right) captioned the snap of David receiving the light-based treatment, 'If only it was that easy to make him 24 per cent less of an a**hole'

David is not the first Australian politician to ask for help to achieve the perfect abs.

Darryn Lyons, the former paparazzo and Mayor of Geelong, famously had a cosmetic 'six-pack' implanted over his belly in 2011.

The flamboyant Big Pictures entrepreneur showed off his surgically-enhanced 'muscles' while in the UK Big Brother house.

Remember him? David is not the first Australian politician to ask for help to achieve the perfect abs, as former Mayor of Geelong famously had a cosmetic six-pack implanted in 2011

Back in February, David and Lisa Oldfield frequently bickered during their appearance on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

When Lisa was eliminated from the jungle, she revealed to the show's presenters Dr Chris Brown and Julia Morris that she wanted a divorce.

However, days later, she told The Kyle and Jackie O Show that she had a change of heart and would rather be a widow than a divorcee.
She beats to her own drum just like her dad Michael Jackson.

On Monday, Paris Jackson stepped out for lunch in West Hollywood looking hippie chic in a braided headband, John Lennon inspired glasses, and a pair of Doc Martens.

The 19-year-old activist was joined by friend Charlie Oldmanactor Gary Olman's son.

Peace and love! On Monday, Paris Jackson stepped out for lunch in West Hollywood looking hippie chic in a braided headband, John Lennon inspired glasses, and a pair of Doc Martens

Showing some skin! Jackson sported an off-the-shoulder mint green sweater

The two sat down for Italian cuisine at Mauro's Cafe at Fred Segal's.

And they parted ways with a quick embrace before Paris hopped into her soft top Jeep Wrangler.

As she walked through the parking lot, the California native carried a cigarette and a tiny Louis Vuitton backpack slung over one shoulder.

Lunch date! The 19-year-old activist was joined by her friend Charlie Oldman

Give me a hug! And they parted ways with a quick embrace before Paris hopped into her soft top Jeep Wrangler

Jackson is rumored to be dating actress and model Cara Delevingne, 25, as the two were spotted lip-locked in Los Angeles just days ago.

'There's no denying there's a spark,' a source told The Sun.

'They really hit it off at the MTV Movie and TV Awards in Los Angeles in May [2017] and have been hanging out since...Cara is quite enamored by the fact Paris is the daughter of one of her musical heroes.'

Smooch fest! Jackson is rumored to be dating Cara Delevingne as the two were spotted lip-locked in Los Angeles just days ago

What's the word? Neither woman have made an official statement about the status of their relationship. They first met back in May at the MTV Movie and TV Awards in Los Angeles

Neither woman have made an official statement about the status of their relationship.

But in a recent interview with Glamour Magazine, Paris made it pretty clear that she isn't the one to ask about love.

A fan asked: 'How do you know when you're in love with someone?'

'I feel like you just know right?' she said. 'If you second guess it or you doubt it, it's probably just infatuation not love. I don't know I'm 19.'
Last week, he slammed Bachelor In Paradise producers for making him look like a 's**t bloke' when it was revealed on the show that he had a 'secret girlfriend.'

And after claiming producers knew he had a girlfriend and 'ripped up her contract after he arrived in Fiji,' Brett Moore enjoyed some downtime with his one and only, Stephanie Boulton.

The reality TV hunk shared a sweet shot to Instagram of himself and Stephanie cosying up together, telling her in the caption: 'Thanks for existing.'

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'Thanks for existing': Bachelor In Paradise star Brett Moore cosies up to Stephanie Boulton...after he blasted the show's producers over the 'secret girlfriend' storyline

In the snap, he wears a pair of sunglasses and cuddles up to the blonde beauty.

Stephanie, who previously appeared on The Bachelor with Matty J - smiles in the snap, with her long hair out and over her shoulders.

'You guys deserve everything good in this world,' one follower commented.

Awkward! Brett was sent packing from Bachelor in Paradise after his not-so-secret relationship with Stephanie was exposed

Brett was sent packing from Bachelor in Paradise after his not-so-secret relationship with Stephanie was exposed.

Brett addressed the scandal on Instagram, shortly after being booted off the show.

In a lengthy post, Brett blamed the show's producers for making him look like a 's**t bloke' and insisted the original plan was for Stephanie to join him in Fiji.

Brett explained that he and Stephanie were both approached to appear on Bachelor In Paradise in the 'early days' of their relationship.

Hitting back: Brett addressed the scandal on Instagram, shortly after being booted off the show

Claims: Brett explained that he and Stephanie were both approached to appear on Bachelor In Paradise in the 'early days' of their relationship

The idea was that they would film the series and allow their romance - which had already started back in Australia - to 'blossom' in front of the cameras.

However, things apparently went pear-shaped when Brett 'arrived on the island first' and Stephanie's contract was summarily 'ripped up' - making it 'look like (he) went on a dating show without her'.

The ensuing controversy over Brett's 'secret' girlfriend and what he was doing on a dating show for singletons was one of the main storylines in the first two episodes.

Bachelor fan favourite Tara Pavlovic was even dragged into the embarrassing situation after she was accused of 'covering' for Brett.

Awkward: However, things apparently went pear-shaped when Brett 'arrived on the island first' and Stephanie's contract was summarily 'ripped up' - making it 'look like (he) went on a dating show without her'

Brett explained: 'Imagine then airing it to Australia, portraying you as a s**t bloke and, as always, (TV execs) forever putting production over humanity.'

Insisting that he and Stephanie 'never changed (their) story about seeing each other in the lead up', Brett added that they 'couldn't wait to be reunited in Fiji'.

A Warner Bros. spokesperson said: 'Once it was confirmed during filming that Brett and Stephanie were actually dating, Stephanie was no longer eligible for the show.'
They ended their relationship in January 2016 after eight years of marriage.

And despite ending things romantically, Karissa Dalton and Mick Fanning are still on friendly terms.

On Tuesday, Karissa took to Instagram stories to cheer on her ex-husband during a surfing competition, alongside best friend Pia Miller.

'Go you good thing!' Mick Fanning's ex-wife Karissa Dalton cheers on surfer alongside BFF Pia Miller as they watch him compete on television

Karissa shared a photo of her and Pia drinking martinis as they watched Mick compete on a laptop.

'Go Mick!' Karissa captioned the photo, while Pia shared the same image and wrote: 'Go Mick you good thing!'

Karissa and Mick have remained on good terms, despite that the surfer is believed to have moved on with American model Breeana Randall.

Lending her support! Karissa shared a photo of her and Pia drinking martinis as they watched Mick compete on a laptop

Good friends: Karissa is best friends with former Home and Away actress Pia Miller

In January 2016, Mick confirmed via his Facebook page that the couple would be ending things after a trial separation in February 2015.

The announcement came after a tumultuous 12 months for the surfer which saw him escape a shark's deadly clutches on live television during a competition and his older brother die suddenly.

'I have nothing but love and respect for this woman. Karissa has stood by me since we first met in 2004,' the professional surfer wrote.

Split up: In January 2016, Mick confirmed via his Facebook page that the couple would be ending things after a trial separation in February 2015

'We have shared plenty of great times but more importantly she has helped me through some of the toughest moments in my life, especially this past year.'

During their relationship, Karissa had launched her own successful wedding publication The Lane, explaining to Sunday Style in 2014 that she would never be a surfer wife that followed their husband on tour.

Lots of the wives and girlfriends go on tourthat wasnt right for me. Im expanding my business overseas, so we do our own thing and were both passionate about that,' she said.

'Its nice that, when we do have a break together, we can have that outside of surfing.'
They've been married for over 50 years.

And on Monday, Gogglebox favourites Di, 73, and Mick Kershaw, 78, revealed that their eldest son Alex, 41, had tied the knot.

Speaking to TV Week magazine about the nuptials, Di revealed the US-held ceremony came as a shock.

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Wedding of the year! On Monday, Gogglebox favourites Di, 73, and Mick Kershaw, 78, revealed that their eldest son Alex, 41, had tied the knot.

'He got married out of the blue!' she exclaimed.

Explaining her son was having problems with his student visa, she said she received a call and two weeks later the TV couple were there to watch him walk down-the-aisle.

'I thought we were going to have him forever,' gushed the mother-of-two.

Wedding of the year! Explaining her son was having problems with his student visa, she said she received a call and two weeks later the TV couple were there to watch him walk down-the-aisle

Family: Di (left) and Mick (second from right) with their daughter Victoria (centre) and her partner and his mother

And with younger daughter Victoria, 38, already wedded with one son named Harvey, she said she was hoping the new bride and groom would bless her with another grandchild.

Meanwhile, Mick and his blue eye shadow enthusiastic wife celebrated their golden anniversary last year.

While Mick said their strong relationship came down to 'patience' on his side, Di said it was being aware that there will be hard times to get through.

Too long ago? And while the pair have appeared nothing but loved up on the Logie-winning reality show, they don't remember their first date

And while the pair have appeared nothing but loved up on the Logie-winning reality show, they don't remember their first date.

After meeting at the Newport pub when Di was 17 and Mick was 20, the pair told the Sunshine Coast that their romance was a casual progression.

'It wasn't quite like a reality show,' he laughed.

'It wasn't anything official like fancy dinners and drinking cocktails at a bar. It was hanging out as a group, drinking rum and Coke - very unsophisticated.

Mick then popped the question [without getting down on his knee] after the pair had been dating on-and-off for five years.
She recently enjoyed a trip to Fiji, soaking up the sun while working on several bikini modelling shoots.

But it appears that Natalie Roser may have gotten too much sun during the trip, and has now warned her followers about the importance of sun safety.

Posting a picture of herself posing in a nude bikini, the Miss Universe Australia finalist wrote in the caption: 'All tanned and bronzed in Fiji and now Im peeling like a reptile... dont forget your sunscreen kids.'

'Don't forget your sunscreen kids': Natalie Roser flaunts her incredible figure in a bikini during a bikini shoot in Fiji... but warns of the danger of the sun

In the snap, Natalie shows off her long and lean figure in a string bikini, featuring a triangle top and skimpy bottoms.

Wearing minimal makeup, her blonde locks are coiffed in a natural wave with braids to one side.

Natalie recently moved onto cooler climes, holidaying in the UK with her boyfriend, Harley Breen.

The pair returned to Australia just in time for Easter.

The blonde bombshell currently lives in Melbourne with her her beau, who is an actor on Neighbours.

She previously lived in Sydney and was engaged to personal trainer Dan Adair until late 2016.

Her relationship with Harley began in early 2017.
Their 'boys' night' caused major controversy on Married At First Sight.

But now with the drama all done and dusted, Troy Delmege has made light of the situation.

On Tuesday, the tooth brushing fanatic shared a throwback photo of a casino trip taken during filming alongside Telv Williams, Ryan Gallagher and Sean Thomsen, joking that their 'real boys night' had been 'respectful to women'.

'It was respectable to women!' MAFS' Troy Delmege makes fun of boys' night drama as he shares a throwback photo from a casino trip with Telv, Ryan and Sean

The photo showed Troy, Telv, Ryan and Sean at The Star casino in Sydney while filming Married At First Sight last year.

In the caption Troy took a playful dig at the controversy that an on-camera boys' night had caused.

'Throwback to real boys night out ! Such an awesome time with these legends! P.S it was respectful to women,' he captioned the shot.

That's cheeky! In the caption Troy took a playful dig at the controversy that an on-camera boys' night had caused

Controversial comments: During a boozy boys' night episode, Dean Wells had landed himself in hot water again after he discussed wife swapping

Not happy: Patrick Miller's wife Charlene Perera later confronted Dean over the comments during a heated dinner party exchange

During the boozy boys' night episode, Dean Wells had landed himself in hot water again after he discussed wife swapping.

Revealing he was most attracted to Justin Fischer's wife Carly Bowyer, Dean asked the other male contestants if any of them wanted to 'bang' his wife Tracey Jewel.

Patrick Miller's wife Charlene Perera later confronted Dean over the comments during a heated dinner party exchange.

Meanwhile since appearing on the series Troy has moved on from 'wife' Ashley Irvin with Carly.

Didn't work out: Despite his best attempts Troy never managed to woo 'wife' Ashley Irvin

New relationship: Since appearing on the series Troy has moved on from 'wife' Ashley Irvin with Carly

The Sydney-based IT manager moved to Melbourne last month to be with Carly and the two have been very open with public displays of affection.

Carly told Woman's Day last week that things had gotten a little bit too affectionate during their first date, ending with them 'in trouble' at their chosen venue.

'We're both affectionate people and on our first date we couldn't get our hands off each other!' the 32-year-old brunette said.
She has long enjoyed playing up her curves on social media.

And Kim Kardashian was back at it on Monday, posting an Instagram snapshot in which she modeled a slightly sheer white tank top.

The 37-year-old wore her black hair down, showing off her legs in a pair of high-waisted skintight shorts as she pounded the pavement.

Pounding the pavement: Kim Kardashian was back at it on Monday, posting an Instagram snapshot in which she modeled a slightly sheer white tank top

Popping on a massive pair of sunglasses, the reality star let her small white jacket slide off her shoulders and down her arms.

Kim and her third husband Kanye West welcomed a daughter via surrogacy in January and have named her Chicago.

The couple affectionately dubbed 'Kimye' also have a four-year-old daughter called North and a two-year-old son called Saint.

New baby: Kim and her third husband Kanye West welcomed a daughter via surrogacy in January and have named her Chicago

The Kardashian-Jenner family has been rapidly expanding, to the point Kendall Jenner is Kris Jenner's only child not to be either a parent or currently expecting.

Kim's sister Kourtney has three children by her irresistible on-off beau Scott Disick - Mason, eight, Penelope, five, and Reign, three.

The Kardashian sisters' younger brother Rob Kardashian, 31, and his ex-fiancee Blac Chyna have a one-year-old daughter named Dream.

Back to basics: After a pink-haired stint, Kim is a brunette again, as seen this past Friday at the KKWxMario Dinner at Jean-Georges Beverly Hills

Kim and Kourtney's little sister Khloe, 33, is pregnant by her Cleveland Cavalier beau Tristan Thompson, and has decamped to Ohio to move in with him.

On the first of last month, the Kardashian girls' 20-year-old half-sister Kylie Jenner welcomed a daughter called Stormi Webster by her 25-year-old rapper boyfriend Travis Scott, whose Christian name is Jacques Webster.
She plays an undercover Russian agent on her hit Cold-War era spy-drama The Americans.

And Keri Russell appeared to take a style tip from her character's mother country as she stepped out in a Soviet-chic fur hat and warm layers in NYC Monday.

The Felicity star, 42, matched her chapeau with wild leopard print booties during a visit to her local SoHo, Manhattan neighborhood Apple Store, where she asked for help at the Genius Bar.

From Russell, with love! Keri Russell appeared to take a style cue from her Russian spy character on The Americans Monday, stepping out in NYC wearing a furry hat

The mother-of-three appeared in a good spirits, flaunting a bright smile as she made her way to the tech shop.

Keri wasn't waiting for summer to wear her brights, adding a pair of cuffed white jeans on the bottom of her outfit.

The California-native rounded out her look with an woolen, stone-colored peacoat and a the La Tropezienne by Clare V.

Call for help! The Felicity star bundled up on the way to her local SoHo, Manhattan neighborhood Apple Store, where she asked for help at the Genius Bar

The cat's meow! The 42-year-old star matched her chapeau with wild cheetah print booties during a visit

Peas to meet you! The mother-of-three rounded out her look with an woolen, stone-colored peacoat and the La Tropezienne bag by Clare V

Once indoors, the starlet removed her coat to reveal she was actually wearing a utilitarian-looking ivory jumpsuit and not just bold, white slacks.

While a visit to the busy Apple Store would spark a headache for most, Keri calmly waited until a Genius was available to assist her.

After working out her computer issue the August Rush actress headed out onto the streets of SoHo, where she was stopped by a fan to take a selfie.

Patience is a virtue! While a visit to the busy Apple Store would spark a headache for most, Keri calmly waited until a Genius was available to assist her

White alright! Once indoors, the starlet removed her coat to reveal she was actually wearing a utilitarian-looking ivory jumpsuit and not just bold, white slacks

Say cheese! After working out her computer issue the August Rush actress headed out onto the streets of SoHo, where she was stopped by a fan to take a selfie

Labor day, shmay-bor day: Keri wasn't waiting for summer to wear her brights, adding a pair of cuffed white jeans on the bottom of her outfit

Keri's hit FX show The Americans just kicked off its sixth and final season last week, on March 28.

Russell and series co-star Matthew Rhys have been both onscreen partners and real-life loves, dating since 2013 and sharing son Sam together.

The star also has two older children  Willa Lou, six, and River Russell, 10  from her marriage to Shane Deary.
She tragically lost her mother, Carrie Fisher, and grandmother, Debbie Reynolds, just one day apart from each other in December 2016.

And on Monday, Billie Lourd took to Instagram to share a heart-warming tribute to her legendary actress grandmother on what would have been her 86th birthday.

The 25-year-old Scream Queens star uploaded a snap of herself lovingly posing with her arm around Debbie, while her late mother Carrie is seen standing between the pair, resting her head on Billie's arm and Debbie's shoulder.

Tribute: On Monday, Billie Lourd took to Instagram to share a heart-warming tribute to her actress grandmother Debbie Reynolds on what would have been her 86th birthday

Opting to forgo any words, Billie's caption was filled with an array of emojis, including a heart, crowns and stars.

And fans quickly flocked to the comments to share supportive and kind messages to the star, posting: 'Carrie and Debbie were incredibly special. You were truly blessed to grow up with two amazing, strong, and creatively talented women.

'You inherited so many of their gifts. You're such a delightful reminder of both of these beautiful ladies.'

Poignant: Scream Queens star Billie, 25, has kept her mother and grandmother's memory alive by sharing sweet posts at milestone moments for the pair

Supportive: Fans quickly flocked to the comments to share supportive and kind messages

'Happy Bday in heaven, Miss Debbie!'; 'heart breaking...this must be a difficult day for you. I'm so sorry. Sending much love @praisethelourd

'Remembering your awesome grandmother on her birthday'; 'NEVER will I forget her. Your grandmother @praisethelourd taught many generations of women past, present and future how to be classy and regal

'I love this photo, Billie! @praisethelourd Your Grandmother was the sweetest, most beautiful, talented actress in Hollywood. She is an absolutely legend! She is missed so much! I know how incredibly proud she and your Mother are of you!! Such a blessing!'

Billie recently paid tribute to her mother Carrie after she celebrated her posthumous win at the Grammys.

The actress gushed that she was 'beyond proud' of her legendary mother after she won the prize for Best Spoken Word Album for her audiobook recording of her 2016 memoir, Princess Diarist.

Paying tribute to the Star Wars phenomenon on Instagram, Billie shared a sweet snap of the pair, as well as a picture of the award-winning book.

Heartfelt: Billie's post comes after she made sure to keep her late mother Carrie Fisher's memory alive as she celebrated her posthumous win at the Grammys in January

'Princess Diarist was the last profesh(ish) thing my momby and I got to do together,' she lamented.



'I wish she was here to carry me down the red carpet in some bizarre floral ensemble but instead well celebrate in true Carrie style: in bed in front of the TV over cold Coca Colas and warm e cigs. Im beyond proud. @recordingacademy,' she went on to enthuse.

Princess Diarist was penned by Fisher after she unearthed old diaries she wrote while shooting Star Wars, which saw her portray the now-iconic Princess Leia.

Billie tragically lost her mother and grandmother, Debbie Reynolds, just one day apart from each other in December 2016.
She overhauled her fitness regime after she felt unconfident with her body when a series of bikini snaps came to light.

And Jessica Wright teased a glimpse of her washboard abs as she headed for dinner at Ysobel restaurant in Los Angeles on Monday.

The former TOWIE star, 32, oozed 90's chic as she slipped her incredible figure into a light grey cropped jumper and slinky black joggers as she headed to the American eatery with her younger sister Natalya, 17.

Gym-honed physique: Jessica Wright teased a glimpse of her washboard abs as she headed for dinner at Ysobel restaurant in Los Angeles on Monday

Jess layered the slouchy grey jumper atop of a black crop top which teased a peek of her enviable cleavage, while the satin black trousers showed off her taut stomach.

The fitness enthusiast complemented the look with a pair of black sandals and accessorised the outfit with a small studded clutch bag and delicate silver jewellery.

In keeping with her 90's ensemble, she tied her long brunette locks back in a high ponytail with a grey scrunchie and amped up the glamour with a full face of make-up.

Stylish: The former TOWIE star, 32, oozed 90's chic as she slipped her incredible figure into a light grey cropped jumper and slinky black joggers

Meanwhile Natalya looked chic in a off-the-shoulder red crop top, raw-hem jeans and patent black boots.

The family flew over to the US last week to visit Mark, who is currently residing in LA while he works as a television presenter on Extra.

Jess has been keeping her fans updated on her trip on Instagram, posting photos with the likes of Piers Morgan, Gary Lineker and Millie Bobby Brown as she works the showbiz circuit.

Sister time: The starlet headed to the American eatery with her younger sister Natalya, 17

Her latest snaps come after she finally confirmed her romance with Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice in a romantic Valentine's Day post on the social media site.

The starlet recently declared 'age is just a number' and shouldn't come in the way of a loving relationship as she discussed the dilemma of age gaps in Now magazine.

The former TOWIE star - who is five years older than her new beau, 27 - argued a 'big age gap in relationships are only a problem if you're both in different places in life mentally and emotionally'.

Of what brings out the best in any romance, Jess continued: 'A relationship is about chemistry, connection and how close you are to one another - not how old you are'.

Ample assets: Jess layered the slouchy grey jumper atop of a black crop top which teased a peek of her enviable cleavage, while the satin black trousers showed off her taut stomach

While not directly talking about her dancing hunk, the brunette gave an insight into what she looked out for in a relationship - namely how mature the potential love interest can be.

While admitting she's dated on both sides of the spectrum, it wasn't the age difference that caused the issues.

'I just noticed the difference in general maturity - and that can be a problem with any guy you date, whether they're your age, older or younger' the starlet concluded.

The reality TV beauty has had her fair share of relationships with age gaps, including her two-year relationship with fellow TOWIE star Ricky Rayment, 27.

Following their split in 2014, Jess told her pals on an episode of the ITV reality hit filmed in Tenerife: 'Everyone needs to stop blaming his age  that's not the reason we broke up.'
She found her feet well and truly in the spotlight after starring as Fat Amy in the first Pitch Perfect movie in 2011.

And Rebel Wilson, 38, was having just as much fun when she headed out for dinner with a dapper male friend at Craig's, in West Hollywood, California on Monday night.

Clad in a salmon pink coat, the stunning Australian actress made a stylish arrival at the eatery with her smartly dressed male companion.

Got the (Pitch) Perfect look: Rebel Wilson made a stylish arrival in chic coat as she enjoyed dinner at Craig's with male friend, in West Hollywood, California on Monday evening

The Pitch Perfect star was hitting all the right style notes as she accessorised with a multicoloured clutch bag to bring an vibrant vibe to her evening ensemble.

Rebel kept her look casual in a grey T-shirt, form-fitting leggings and quirky pointed heels for her low-key night out.

The lively star swept her golden locks up into a ponytail, displayed her pretty facial features and plumped out her pout with a bright pink shade of lipstick.

She's got style: The Pitch Perfect star was hitting all the right style notes as she accessorised with a multicoloured clutch bag to bring an vibrant vibe to her evening ensemble

Hitting the style notes: Clad in a salmon pink coat, the stunning Australian actress made a stylish arrival at the eatery with her smartly dressed male companion

Over the Easter weekend, the Bridesmaids star let her hair down with her fellow stars from the Pitch Perfect franchise for Chrissie Fit's birthday.

Rebel posed for a picture with the birthday girl Chrissie, Anna Kendrick, Kelley Jakle, Leah Magwood and Cyrina Fiallo as they played cards.

The blonde bombshell captioned the snap: 'Magic!! Happy Surprise Birthday @chrissiefit, you Latina Legend x.'

Low-key: Rebel kept her look casual in a grey T-shirt, form-fitting leggings and quirky pointed heels for her low-key night out

Pitch Perfect charts the an all-girls A cappella group who go onto compete in a singing competition.

The stars reprised their roles for the 2015 sequel, released four years after the first film, and a third film, which shortly followed in 2017.

Rebel has previously discussed her close relationship with her Pitch Perfect co-stars on and off screen.

The Sydney-born actress told Yahoo7 Be: 'They all have a light that shines through and I think that's why we have so much fun working together because they're beautiful inside and out.'

She's fabulous: The lively star swept her golden locks up into a ponytail, displayed her pretty facial features and plumped out her pout with a bright pink shade of lipstick
She is an acclaimed actress who broke into the big time with her Oscar nominated turn in 2001 drama Mulholland Drive.

And Naomi Watts enjoyed a break from her hectic schedule as she soaked up the sun in Mexico on Saturday.

The age-defying blonde beauty, 49, showcased her phenomenal swimsuit body in a plunging black swimsuit, which flashed a hint of her cleavage as well as her toned legs.

Fabulous at 49: Naomi Watts enjoyed a break from her hectic schedule as she soaked up the sun in Mexico on Saturday

The clinging swimsuit featured an elegant cross-strap detail blue back which revealed the star's trim waist as she frolicked in the surf.

The King Kong actress wore her blonde bob in natural, beachy waves while she revealed her radiant and smooth complexion by going make-up free for her beach day.

Stunning Naomi later covered up as she enjoyed a scenic walk along the white sands.

She slipped on a graphic print tee emblazoned with a drawing of a woman's face and the phrase Last Exit To London.

Toned: The age-defying blonde beauty showcased her phenomenal swimsuit body in a plunging black swimsuit, which flashed a hint of her cleavage as well as her toned legs

Blonde beauty: The clinging swimsuit featured an elegant cross-strap detail blue back which revealed the star's trim waist as she frolicked in the surf

Making the most of her trim legs, she paired the top with plum leggings.

The mother-of-two shielded her face from the sun with a stylish cream Panama hat and a pair of round, dark shades.

Her tresses were pulled back from her face into an elegant ponytail and she sported an ebony pendant necklace.

Naomi and former partner Liev Schreiber announced their split in September 2016 after 11 years together.

They have sons Sasha, 10, and nine-year-old Kai together.

Laidback: Stunning Naomi later covered up as she enjoyed a scenic walk along the white sands

Liev, 50, has since been linked to blonde 24-year-old ex-beauty queen Taylor Neisen, with Taylor seen joining the star and his children on a holiday in Costa Rica in February.

And Naomi is rumoured to be dating actor Billy Crudup, 49, with the pair last spotted together in February as they left a Vogue party hand-in-hand.

The two reportedly became close while filming the Netflix series Gypsy, which centers on a married psychologist (Watts) who becomes obsessed with one of her client's ex-girlfriends.

A source confirmed to PEOPLE back in July that the pair were 'dating' in real life.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor has been left heartbroken after thieves stole her tuk-tuk from outside her plush home in Chiswick, west London on Sunday.

The star, 38, took to Instagram to share the news, urging fans to help her trace the 6,000 'quirky little trike'.

Sharing an animated photo of herself and her husband Richard Jones in the black and yellow rickshaw, she wrote: 'Someone stole our Tuk Tuk!

Distressed: Sophie Ellis-Bextor has been left heartbroken after thieves stole her tuk-tuk from outside her plush home in Chiswick, west London on Sunday

'If anyone sees this quirky little trike reg plate MX67NKH then please let me know? Taken from outside our house in west London.

'There can't be many knocking about so if you see a Tuk Tuk it could well be ours.

'We miss it! Taken yesterday. X'

The mother-of-four later wrote on Twitter: 'Hope everyone has been having a lovely Easter. I ate way too much chocolate. Still miss the tuk tuk. Let me know if you see it! Such a conspicuous little vehicle... x'

Missing the rickshaw: The star, 38, took to Instagram to share the news, urging fans to help her trace the 6,000 'quirky little trike'

The Murder On The Dancefloor hitmaker also told her 132,000 followers she is offering a ride in the little car as a reward.

'If anyone finds my tuk tuk, I'll take them out for a spin in it,' she tweeted.

The English beauty is believed to have bought the genuine Indian tuk-tuk, which seats a driver and three passengers, from a dealer in Manchester.

Sophie visited India in November last year, posting on social media Morning from Delhi! Tuk-tuks, cars and cows.

In the video for DJ Spillers 2014 hit Groovejet (If This Aint Love), she also rode a tuk-tuk through the streets of Thai capital Bangkok.

Happy family: Sophie lives in her west London home with her husband Richard and her four sons (pictured together in 2017)

Sophie lives in her west London home with her husband Richard and her four sons.

The songstress has been happily married The Feeling bassist after the lovebirds tied the knot in 2005.

Previously discussing her work and family life balance, she told Ok! Magazine last year: 'When I'm on tour, one of the hardest things is being away from the children.

'So FaceTime is just brilliant for me and the kids to keep in touch.

'And sometimes we can FaceTime for a really long time and do bedtime with them - it might be, being with them when they're brushing their teeth or reading them a bedtime story.'
She's rumoured to be dating her multi-millionaire co-star, Justin Fischer.

But Ashley Irvin doesn't necessarily have expensive taste.

Speaking with 9 Honey on Tuesday, the Married At First Sight Star spilled the beans on her favorite beauty product, which retails for less than $10.

Married At First Flight! MAFS flight attendant Ashley Irvin spoke with 9 Honey on Tuesday, revealing her favourite beauty product- and it's surprisingly affordable

The Brisbane-based blonde, who works as a flight attendant for Virgin Australia, keeps herself looking fresh with the help of Mecca's Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Cucumber and Green Tea.

'It's so dry up in the air so you need to stay moisturised,' Ashley explained in her chat with the website.

Cooing over the Mecca product, the stunning stewardess enthused: 'It's a lifesaver and it's super cheap. Every second flight attendant has one of these bottles in their bag.'

Australia's favourite flight attendant! Ashley always looks her best when flying the skies with Virgin

Ashley was recently photographed looking sensational in her Virgin uniform as she strutted around an airport terminal, and 9 Honey revealed the blonde's beauty motto is 'touch up before touch down'.

In addition to the Mecca product, the star also revealed she always packs plastic bags, packing dividers and a battery pack.

Proving she's quite the millennial, Ashley explained: 'I never travel without my battery pack. If my phone runs out (of battery) and I can't take photos  I know that sounds so bad  I'd be devastated! I literally cannot not take a photo'.

Stunning stewardess: Ashley keeps herself looking fresh with the help of Mecca's Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Cucumber and Green Tea.

Despite being glued to her phone, it's doubtful she's been in touch with her 'ex-husband' Troy Delmege, whom she wed on Married At First Sight.

The pair split during final vows, with Troy going on to date co-star, Carly Bowyer.

In a shock twist, it's rumoured Ashley has now taken up with Carly's own ex-husbands, soft serve millionaire Justin Fischer.
Winnie Harlow has discussed the shifting beauty standards in the fashion industry and how she feels she is 'part' of the change.

The 23-year-old America's Next Top Model runner-up appeared on the front cover of ELLE Magazine's May issue, on which she dazzled in a chic metallic jacket while gazing into the camera with her best model gaze.

In the accompanying interview, the star, who has Vitiligo, discussed the changes in the modelling industry as she explained that her insistence to never cover up her skin as she is determined to 'stay true to herself'.

Out and a pout: Winnie Harlow has discussed the shifting beauty standards in the fashion industry and how she feels she is 'part' of the change

Winnie found fame on ANTM in 2014, where she was kicked out in the second week of finals, before returning to a comeback series where she finished 6th.

Since then she has soared to fame in the industry and fronted campaigns for Desigual, Diesel and Swarovski atop a host of magazine covers.

She recently lashed out at being branded 'a sufferer' of pigment disease Vitiligo, as she penned: '"I'm not a 'Vitiligo Sufferer" I'm not a 'Vitiligo model.' I am Winnie. I am a model. And I happen to have Vitiligo. Stop putting these titles on me or anyone else.'

In her interview with ELLE, she explained: 'There is a big shift happening in the fashion industry in terms of beauty standards, and I feel Im part of that shift.

A vision: The 23-year-old America's Next Top Model runner-up appeared on the front cover of ELLE Magazine's May issue, on which she dazzled in a chic metallic jacket while gazing into the camera with her best model gaze

Smouldering: She recently lashed out at being branded 'a sufferer' of pigment disease Vitiligo, as she penned: '"I'm not a 'Vitiligo Sufferer" I'm not a 'Vitiligo model.' I am Winnie. I am a model'

'I remember on Americas Next Top Model, Tyra Banks asked me if a photographer told me to cover my skin for a shoot, would I do it? I said no. I dont care who it is, or who thinks I should. Im going to stay true to myself.'

Atop discussing her roles, she also weighed in on her superstar friendship, including her feelings towards fellow supermodel Bella Hadid, as she said: 'Bella Hadid is an inspiration. She continues to master her craft  its amazing to witness as her friend.

'When we walked the Tommy Hilfiger show, we were hanging out all day and then flew to Paris together, which was a lot of fun.'

Discussing Jourdan Dunn, she said: 'I remember watching Jourdan Dunn rip runways before I was part of our industry and just admiring this goddess killing it. Getting to know her made me love her... Having her cheer on my career is everything.'

Pals: She also weighed in on her superstar friendship, including her feelings towards fellow supermodel Bella Hadid, as she said: 'Bella Hadid is an inspiration. She continues to master her craft  its amazing to witness as her friend

Hot stuff! Discussing Jourdan Dunn, she said: 'I remember watching Jourdan Dunn rip runways before I was part of our industry and just admiring this goddess killing it'

The full interview appears in the May issue of ELLE UK, on sale 4 April

Atop her pals in the modelling world, she is also good friends with songstress and rapper Nicki Minaj, saying: 'I can rely on Nicki Minaj to keep it 100 per cent real.

'She once called to say that if I ever had a problem, I shouldnt hesitate to call and talk it through, as so much drama in our industries could be prevented with communication.'

Speaking about another model, she gushed over Halima Aden, who was the first first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant.

Gushing about her pride in the pioneering star, she said: 'A whole new world of fashion is opening with Princess Halima. Im so proud of her.

'The other day, she asked me what to do if someone told her not to wear her hijab. I said you have to do whats right for you, not because the industry makes you feel like you have to. If you dont want to, then dont.'

The full interview appears in the May issue of ELLE UK, on sale 4 April

Reliable: Atop her pals in the modelling world, she is also good friends with songstress and rapper Nicki Minaj, saying: 'I can rely on Nicki Minaj to keep it 100 per cent real'
She quit Made In Chelsea at the end of 2016 after more than a year on the show, following the breakdown of her romance with Alex Mytton.

And Nicola Hughes showed that things have gone from strength to strength in her personal life since she moved on, as she was recently spotted enjoying some beach time with her boyfriend Charlie Tupper on Sydney's popular Coogee Beach.

The blonde beauty, who is set to celebrate her 28th birthday on April 9, wowed as she strolled the Australian city's golden shores in a pink-and-white striped bikini, in which she proudly displayed her washboard abs and pert posterior.

Life's a beach: Nicola Hughes was recently spotted enjoying a sun-kissed break with her boyfriend Charlie Tupper on Sydney, Australia's Coogee Beach

Tying her blonde locks back in a relaxed ponytail, the reality TV beauty shielded her eyes from the abundant sunshine with a pair of cat eye sunglasses as she frolicked in the sand with her hunky beau, who woe just a pair of orange swimming shorts.

Doting Charlie was seen snapping photographs of his pretty belle as she marched along the shore ahead of him, before spinning around with her arms in the air.

And the couple later turned up the heat, when Irish model Nicola was seen straddling her boyfriend after leaping into his muscular arms and hugging him.

Hold me in your arms: The Irish stunner was seen leaping into her hunky beau's muscular arms

You've got to hand it to her: Doting Charlie could barely keep his hands off his model girlfriend

Wow: The blonde beauty wowed as she strolled the Australian city's golden shores in a pink-and-white striped bikini, in which she proudly displayed her washboard abs and pert posterior

Lip service: The photogenic pair exchanged kisses as the Pacific waves crashed behind them

Swept off her feet: The former Made In Chelsea star leaped once again into her beau's arms

Picture perfect moment: Shirtless Charlie played photographer, taking snaps of his girlfriend

The long and short of it: Charlie soaked up the sunshine in a pair of orange swimming shorts

The pair also posed for a series of selfies together, before relaxing together on a beach blanket, where Nicola hugged her beau from behind as she peered over his shoulder while he scrolled through the snapshots on his camera.

Nicola left MIC in 2016 after a short-stint on the E4 series while dating castmember Alex, who went on to date Kate Moss' younger sister Lottie for almost a year.

The former couple were an item for two years, after meeting in August 2014 while he was DJing in Ireland.

However, Nicola, who was once romantically linked to Cheryl's ex-husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, was left heartbroken when he ended their romance via text, while she was enjoying a family holiday in Florence, Italy.

Hello sunshine! Tying her blonde locks back in a relaxed ponytail, the reality TV beauty shielded her eyes from the abundant sunshine with a pair of cat eye sunglasses

Golden girl: The erstwhile reality TV star accessorised with a series of gold pendant chains

All by our selfies: As the lovebirds enjoyed the beach, they paused to pose for a series of selfies

The star: However, it was Nicola who was the star of the show, as she continued to pose solo

Made In Chelsea: Nicola quit Made In Chelsea at the end of 2016 after more than a year on the show, following the breakdown of her romance with Alex Mytton

Bouncing back: However, the blonde beauty showed she's bounced back stronger than ever after stepping out with her muscle-bound new boyfriend

We're having a laugh: The loving couple shared laughs as they ran along the shoreline together

Speaking to Hot Press magazine late last year, Nicola said of their split: 'He cheated on me and it all kind of went spiralling downwards. Oh, God, I was devastated. Absolutely. Ive had counselling about it.

'In extreme cases, when I broke up with my ex, I took tablets to calm me down. Or if Im travelling I take some stuff to calm me down. Im a really bad traveller  planes, tubes, sometimes in taxis. I dont like being in any confined space.

'I go to events regularly and they can make me panicky because Im surrounded by loads of people. So, its weird the job I do because I do suffer from that really badly.'

Layered ensemble: Nicola arrived on the beach wearing a green-and-white striped ensemble

Tough times: Nicola recently admitted that she sought therapy following her split from Alex

Put your hands up in the pair: Nicola threw her hands into the air during her leisurely day out

Suntan lotion: She was seen rubbing suntan lotion into her boyfriend's back as they rested

Returning the favour: Attentive Charlie immediately returned the favour for his pretty belle

Affectionate display: The pair put on an extended affection display during their day together

Shoulders: She later leaned on her boyfriend's shoulders as she peered through his snapshots
She once caught the eye of Hollywood hunk Leonardo DiCaprio.

And Nina Agdal, 26, put on an attention-grabbing display once again when she stripped off and went nude for her latest sultry Instagram snap on Tuesday.

Posed with her back to the camera, the naked model showcased her rounded derriere as she enjoyed her low-key day out in the woodland.

Nina Agdal goes NAKED: Leonardo DiCaprio's ex, 26, displayed her envy-inducing figure in sexy woodland snap uploaded via Instagram on Tuesday

Naked Nina put her phenomenal model-honed figure in the view of the camera with a sexy confidence.

With her head tossed back, the Danish born beauty let her poker straight golden lucks tumble down her shoulders.

The golden-haired siren posed up a storm with her boyfriend model Christie Brinkley's 22-year-old son Jack behind the camera to capture the racy moment.

Nina captioned the post: 'When the light and your boyfriend are cute, you gotta do what you gotta do.'

Sexy moment: The golden-haired siren posed up a storm with her boyfriend model Christie Brinkley's 22-year-old son Jack behind the camera to capture the racy moment

The stunning model found love again with model Christie Brinkley's son Jack just two months after she split from Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Leonardo and Nina love story goes back to when they were first spotted together in May 2016 at Up & Down club, in New York City.

Their year-long relationship came to an abrupt end in May 2017 and the former flames were last seen together, in West Hollywood on May 9.

A source told DailyMail.com: 'They both decided it was a good idea to break up. They are staying friends and are on good terms. They broke up a couple of days ago.'

Moving on: The stunning model found love again with model Christie Brinkley's son Jack just two months after she split from Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio

During their love story, Nina resided in New York City while Leonardo spent most of his time at his Los Angeles home.

They kept their love tightly under wraps and they weren't photographed on the red carpet together during their year-long romance.

Leonardo has gone onto secure the affections of his now much younger girlfriend 20-year-old Camila Morrone.

The actor is no stranger to dating models, with his previous conquests including the likes of Toni Garrn, Kelly Rohrbach, Gisele Bundchen, and Bar Refaeli.

Leonardo's longest relationship was with Brazilian supermodel Gisele, 37, from 1999 until 2005 but she has gone onto marry New England Patriots star Tom Brady, 40.

DiCaprio also dated Israeli catwalk queen, Bar Refaeli, 32, for six years from 2005 to 2011.

DiCaprio has cast his previous type aside for brief romances with pop princess Rihanna, 29, and Gossip Girl star Blake Lively, 30.
She is the stunning Spanish actress who is known for her ageless beauty and bohemian style.

And on Tuesday, Elsa Pataky didn't disappoint fans as she attended Bluesfest Music Festival looking fabulous with youngsters India, five, and four-year-old twin boys Tristan and Sasha.

The 41-year-old doting mother looked fashionable in her Bohemian-inspired outfit in a frilly, shoulder-less coral dress with a plunging neckline that showcased her ample assets.

'Queen of Festival style!' Elsa Pataky enjoyed a day at the Bluesfest Music Festival with youngsters India, five, and four-year-old twin boys Tristan and Sasha

She accessorised the look with an Acubra hat saddle bag with a fringe, a wide-brimmed and a gold upside-down moon crescent necklace.

The doting mother was enjoying herself at the event holding a beverage and a couple of $50 notes in one hand.

Elsa was all smiles at the festival, posing with daughter India and one of the twins, both dressed in Bohemian-inspired clothes and aptly captioned her post: 'Festival kids,' along with the caption '#familyandmusic.'

Day out with daddy: Also enjoying a day of great music and festivities with herself and the kids was her husband, Chris Hemsworth

Looking 'presh': Clearly impressed with her styling techniques Elsa also shared a picture of little India, obscuring her face while showing off her outfit of the day

Fans of The Fate of the Furious actress loved her cute family snap but questioned an edit made on the image, one wrote: 'Yes its a lovely fun pic, but why share it if you have to blur the kids.'

'Im all for your privacy, but just put up another pic ?? Just a thought,' they added.

Meanwhile others complimented her ensemble, a follower said: 'Queen of Festival style!'

Another applauded her kids' look, commenting: 'Cute Outfits!! The kids look Presh.'

Clearly impressed with her styling techniques Elsa also shared a picture of little India, obscuring her face while showing off her outfit of the day.

Brothers: The blonde stunner also posted a snap of Chris walking with India and one of the twins, as well as a snap of the twin boys walking hand-in-hand

Music fans: The Thor actor even featured in Elsa's Instagram story showing the both of them in the mosh pit of a concert

Also enjoying a day of great music and festivities with herself and the kids was her husband, Chris Hemsworth.

The Thor actor even featured in Elsa's Instagram story showing the both of them in the mosh pit of a concert.

The blonde stunner also posted a snap of Chris walking with India and one of the twins, as well as a snap of the twin boys walking hand-in-hand.

Elsa also shared a group snap from the music festival featuring her younger brother Cristian, and Chris's movie star pal Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso.
A violent altercation at a California theme park could result in Blac Chyna returning to family court after Rob Kardashian expressed concern for the safety of their infant daughter.

The 29-year old was filmed aggressively wielding a stroller belonging to Dream  her only child with former fiance Rob  during a heated confrontation with a woman who reportedly touched the childs hand while visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita on Sunday.

TMZ claim Rob, 31, has since expressed his dismay after viewing footage of the incident, which he reportedly sees as the latest in a string of concerns relating to the welfare of his 16-month old daughter.

Not happy: Rob Kardashian expressed concern for the safety of their infant daughter Dream after ex Blac Chyna's violent altercation at a California theme park on Sunday afternoon

The younger brother of socialites Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian is also said to be unhappy with Blacs rapper boyfriend YBN Almighty Jay  who at 19 is 10-years her junior  visiting her Los Angeles home while their child is present.

The publication claims he now wants clearer bullet points regarding what she can do while caring for Dream, among them a rule forbidding either parent from introducing a new partner to their child for the first six months.

Rob has also reportedly criticized the $20,000 per month he is currently paying Blac - real name Angela Renee White - in child maintenance, because her earnings outweigh his.

The sock designer believes the sum is 'unfair' because Dream is cared for equally by her parents.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for further comment.

Fury: The 29-year old was filmed aggressively wielding a stroller belonging to Dream  her only child with former fiance Rob  during a heated confrontation with a woman who reportedly touched the childs hand while visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain

People magazine previously claimed the extended Kardashian family are worried about Dream after watching footage of Blac's public spat.

The reality TV clan's 'biggest concern is that Dream is safe,' sources told the magazine, noting that Blac 'is just drama all the time.'

The latest episode came Sunday when she was caught on camera arguing with another park-goer, taking off her jacket and violently swinging around a stroller. She was held back by her boyfriend, amid the melee.

Upset: TMZ claim Rob, 31, has since expressed his dismay after viewing footage of the incident, which he reportedly sees as the latest in a string of concerns relating to the welfare of his 16-month old daughter

Concerned: Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian and the rest of the reality TV family are also concerned about Dream's safety after Blac was involved in a melee at Magic Mountain

Happier times: Blac appeared to be in a cheerful mood while posing for a snap with Dream before her altercation at the theme park

'The familys just relieved Rob isnt involved with her anymore,' the insider said of the Washington D.C. native, who has been embroiled in a series of public disputes with the 31-year-old sock designer amid their messy break-up since giving birth to their child in November of 2016.

Blac posted an Instagram message Sunday in which she explained her side of the story, claiming that another park-goer tried to physically touch her kid, leading to the protective outburst.

She wrote, 'Being famous is hard enough dealing with scrutiny but when someone feels comfortable to come and touch your child it's a whole other story.

Not happy: Rob has criticized the $20,000 per month he is currently paying Blac - real name Angela Renee White - in child maintenance, because her earnings outweigh his

'I do not condone violence nor am I a violent person but shout out to all of the amazing mothers out there that will protect their children at all cost. Love, King and Dreams Mommy.'

Officials with Magic Mountain confirmed to People that those involved in the dust-up were tossed from the amusement park.

'Last evening, a verbal and physical altercation broke out among two visiting groups,' a park official told the publication. 'Our security department responded immediately and both groups were escorted out of the park.

Response: Blac posted an Instagram message Sunday in which claimed another park-goer tried to physically touch Dream, leading to the protective outburst

'The safety and security of our guests and employees is our top priority and we have zero tolerance for this type of behavior.'

Sources told the publication that Rob - who has been involved in litigation with Chyna stemming back to an online meltdown of his own last summer - 'started doing much better' when 'he realized his family was right about Chyna and removed himself from all the drama.'

Keeping a distance from his mercurial baby's mother, Rob has been trying to shore up his physique and parenting abilities, the source said.

'Rob is eating better and has a trainer - he wants to stay healthy for his daughters sake,' the source said. 'Hes focused on what he should be focused on: Dream and his health. He wants to stay healthy for his daughters sake.

'Dream was a huge wake-up call for Rob. He wants to be the best dad possible.'
They are the unlikely musical duo who shocked fans when they announced the release of their collaboration album 44/876 earlier this year.

And Sting and Shaggy's performance of single Don't Make Me Wait drove fans wild as they rocked the stage on Tuesday's episode of Lorraine.

The Police hitmaker, 65 and the Mr Boombastic rapper, 49, were all smiles as they shimmied their way through the catchy reggae inspired number, overlaid with Sting's smooth vocals and pulsing basslines.

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Wow factor: Sting and Shaggy's performance of single Don't Make Me Wait drove fans wild as they rocked the stage on Tuesday's episode of Lorraine

Showing off their close friendship and chemistry onstage, the It Wasn't Me hitmaker Shaggy, real name Orville, was seen dancing around before leaning on his new best pal Sting.

The unusual collaboration drove fans into a frenzy on social media with one likening the pair's animated performance to 'two p*****-up dads at a wedding.'

Keeping with the family party theme one viewer wrote: 'Shaggy and sting teaming up is like the most embarrasing dad and uncle at a kids party.'(sic)

Vocal: The Police hitmaker, 65 and the Mr Boombastic rapper, 49, were all smiles as they shimmied their way through the catchy reggae inspired number, overlaid with Sting's smooth vocals and pulsing basslines

Lively: The unusual collaboration drove fans into a frenzy on social media with one likening the pair's animated performance to 'two p*****-up dads at a wedding'

One fan wasn't impressed with Shaggy's performance writing: 'I loved Sting & The Police but this fella he's with now wants arresting for crimes against music #Lorraine.'

Another baffled music fan tweeted: 'Shaggy and Sting. The most random duet ever' while another added: 'wtf have I just woken up to.'

Presenter Christine Lampard, who was standing in for Lorraine said: 'This has made all of our mornings.'

Sting said: 'Were both alpha males and we dont have anything to prove, we're just having fun.

Wow: Keeping with the family party theme one viewer wrote: 'Shaggy and sting teaming up is like the most embarrasing dad and uncle at a kids party.'(sic)

Shaggy said: 'We have a mutual friend in common, his manager, I recorded a song and said, you think sting would get on this?

'We went back and added more verses to it.'

Sting added: 'Our voices really complemented each other and the project began.'

'We enjoyed each others company so much, we did an entire album.'

'Everyone seemed to like it, it is surprising. And that's what you need to do in music, surprise people.'

Jamming: Sting looked typically suave as he joined a cool Shaggy on-stage

Groove: The pair looked comfortable in each other's presence as they grooved

Shaggy said: 'I dont think Ill make music the same way again, Ive learned so much from this one. He's a bit meticulous.'

Sting interjected: 'And he's made me more spontaneous. He can write songs instantly in public and Im much more private. So we both had to enter outside of our comfort zones to create something new. It was so much fun.'

The duo are now teaming up for a tour together this summer.

Sting said: 'Were on stage together the whole time, I'll be his bass player

Shaggy added: 'He'll be there hyping up my songs.'

Famous sofa: Sting said: 'Were both alpha males and we dont have anything to prove, we're just having fun'

Fun times: Sting added: 'Our voices really complemented each other and the project began. We enjoyed each others company so much, we did an entire album'

Sting, real name Gordon Sumner, also spoke about travelling to Jamaica with Shaggy to raise money for a children's hospital.

He said: ' I spent a lot of time there in the 80s. in Fleming Town, Every Breath You Take I wrote at Ian Fleming's desk, I was infected by the magic of Jamaica.

'I felt I had a debt to pay to Jamaica. When Shaggy asked me it felt like the perfect opportunity.'

'He's the pope of Jamaica.'

Lucky lady: Christine Lampard, who was standing in for Lorraine, looked delighted as she posed with the hunks

Shaggy added: 'I wanted to show him the side of Jamaica that I was raised in, the idea of being raised by a village.'

'It is home, my children and wife are there.'

Sting also said spoke about spending time in his Newcastle hometown as his play The Last Ship gets underway.

His visit saw him take to the stage to perform after one of the actors became unwell.

Shaggy will be joining Sting on his European tour starting on June 19. Their album will be released on April 20.
Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan had a make or break holiday to Los Cabos in December, just four months before they confirmed their shock split.

The couple, who met on the set of Step Up in 2006 and married three years later, announced they were separating in a joint Instagram statement on Monday.

But back in December the stars headed on an adult only trip to Mexico without their daughter Everly, in what seemed to be a last ditch attempt to save their marriage.

Last holiday: Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan had a make or break holiday to Los Cabos in December, just four months before they confirmed their shock split

Channing planned the trip to mark his wife's 37th birthday, with Jenna Instagramming photos throughout.

Renting a luxurious private house on the beach, the couple enjoyed lazy days by the ocean and nights drinking cocktails and having food delivered to their holiday home.

Jenna posed photos of herself posing for her husband in a plunging black swimsuit on the beach and inside their plush oceanfront pad.

She also shared a snap of herself standing next to a 'Happy Birthday Jenna' message written in the sand, in a sweet gesture organised by her husband.

Time alone: In December the stars headed on an adult only trip to Mexico without their daughter Everly, in what seemed to be a last ditch attempt to save their marriage (pictured at the airport)

Just the two of us: Channing planned the trip to mark his wife's 37th birthday, with Jenna Instagramming photos throughout

Alongside that photo though, the dancer and actress noted it had been a 'challenging' year, telling her followers: 'This year has been one i will never forget. Challenging, beautiful and wonderfully expansive all at the same time.'

'But i know for sure that every experience you have is here for your own growth and when viewed that way, the magic of life will show you the way.'

Channing shared his own post on the same day to mark his wife's 37th, in which he gushed about 'beautiful' Jenna, writing: 'This creature is one more year beautiful. The transformation she invoked this year has been something they only write about in books of fairytale and magic.'

'Your strength and grace ever evolving. By doing so you make everything around you grow- everything. And i am so very grateful for your lessons. Happy life day my love.'

Birthday trip: Jenna posed photos of herself posing for her husband in a plunging black swimsuit as well as a snap of herself standing next to a 'Happy Birthday Jenna' message written in the sand, in a sweet gesture organised by her husband

Clue? Alongside that photo though, the actress noted it had been a 'challenging' year, writing: 'This year has been one i will never forget. Challenging, beautiful and wonderfully expansive'

Jenna, who has previously enthused about the couple's healthy sex life, also chose a raunchy holiday read for the trip, sharing a look at her history book of the Moulin Rouge on her Instagram stories as she enjoyed a cocktail.

Despite their happy Instagrams, the holiday seemed to fail to mend the couple's nine year marriage, as they announced their shock split this week.

The actors revealed the news by posting matching statements via their respective Instagram pages on Monday, insisting they remain 'two best friends' but accept they are on 'different paths for now'.

The superstar duo, who share daughter Everly, who will turn five on May 31, and say they will remain 'loving dedicated parents' amid the devastating split, were subject to devastated reaction from fans on social media.

It's over! After nearly nine years of marriage it is over for Channing and Jenna (The former couple seen here in their last public outing in November)

The couple made their last public appearance together on November 6 at the LA premiere of War Dog: A Soldier's Best Friend, before attending last month's Kids' Choice Awards separately - as he took the stage and she sat in the crowd with Everly.

Channing met Jenna on the set of 2006's Step Up, where they played love interests Tyler Gage and Nora Clark, and the duo married three years later in an idyllic ceremony at the Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu, California in July 2009.

The estranged husband and wife penned the upsetting note on Monday evening, reading: 'Hey world! So We have something we would like to share.

'First off, it feels odd that we have to share this kind of thing with everyone, but its a consequence of the lives weve chosen to lead, which we also happen to be deeply grateful for.

Telling the world: The actress, 37, announced the shocking separation on Monday in an Instagram post

Downcast: Jenna appeared pensive as she was spotted leaving a Yoga class in Studio City just hours before Monday's split announcement

Hidden figures: She tried to disguise herself in a pair of large aviator sunglasses before joining her husband in revealing their upsetting news

'Were living in an incredible moment in time, but its also a time where truth can easily get distorted into alternative facts So we want to share the truth so you know that if you didnt read it here then its most certainly fiction...

'We have lovingly chosen to separate as a couple. We fell deeply in love so many years ago and have had a magical journey together...

'Absolutely nothing has changed about how much we love one another, but love is a beautiful adventure that is taking us on different paths for now...

'There are no secrets nor salacious events at the root of our decision  just two best-friends realizing its time to take some space and help each other live the most joyous, fulfilled lives as possible...

Wedding bells! Jenna and Channing seen here at their vow ceremony in July 2009 at Church Estate Vineyards in Malibu

Separate lives: The couple attended last month's Kids' Choice Awards separately - as he took the stage and she sat in the crowd with Everly

Way back when: However, it was just short of two weeks ago that the parenting duo were featured in an Instagram snap together

Jenna and Channing's statement in full Hey world! SoWe have something we would like to share. First off, it feels odd that we have to share this kind of thing with everyone, but its a consequence of the lives weve chosen to lead, which we also happen to be deeply grateful for. Were living in an incredible moment in time, but its also a time where truth can easily get distorted into alternative facts. So we want to share the truth so you know that if you didnt read it here then its most certainly fiction. We have lovingly chosen to separate as a couple. We fell deeply in love so many years ago and have had a magical journey together. Absolutely nothing has changed about how much we love one another, but love is a beautiful adventure that is taking us on different paths for now. There are no secrets nor salacious events at the root of our decision  just two best-friends realizing its time to take some space and help each other live the most joyous, fulfilled lives as possible. We are still a family and will always be loving dedicated parents to Everly. We wont be commenting beyond this, and we thank you all in advance for respecting our familys privacy. Sending lots of love to everyone, Chan&Jenna. Advertisement

'We are still a family and will always be loving dedicated parents to Everly. We wont be commenting beyond this, and we thank you all in advance for respecting our familys privacy. Sending lots of love to everyone, Chan&Jenna'.

Seeming to confirm the statement from the couple Page Six spoke to an insider who claimed the duo have split 'due to spending more time apart because of the pressure of work'.

The source went on to explain: 'Channing has been working non-stop, with four movies announced for 2018 alone.

'It is hard on a marriage to be apart so much, especially when you have a young child. Plus Jenna is in pre-production for the movie, Berlin I Love You.'

Another insider said: 'Both Channing and Jenna are devoted to their daughter and have worked hard to spend as much happy family time together, despite the problems in their relationship.'

However, it was just short of two weeks ago that the parenting duo were featured in an Instagram snap together.

Channing shared a series of images showing himself and Jenna with their faces drawn on and painted by their daughter.

The first snap was captioned 'This is what it looks like when a little tyrant fairy artist holds you down and makes your face look better.'

Last year, Jenna got candid during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In the episode, the dancer and actress opened up about the night Channing first seduced her while filming 2006's Step Up.

Happier times: The former couple seen with daughter Everly in December at Disney;and's California Adventure

Sparking the flames: The two first began their romance on set of 2006 dance moving Step Up

She revealed: 'He did this whole thing where he didn't want to be in a relationship, so I was like: "Look, if you want to date other people and be free, that's fine, but we're not going to hang out and watch movies. You've got to figure out what you want, because I know I want to be in a relationship with you."'.

'So, three days goes by and he had gone out with all the dancers on Step Up, and he had this crazy, wild tequila night. He said he had the chance "to be free" and he couldn't stop thinking about me.'

'So he comes down to my hotel room at two in the morning and he's banging on the door, and I'm like: "What's going on?" So I go and open the door, and he's in a sombrero, underwear, Ugg boots, and he's like: "Let's do this."'

Red carpet kiss: Channing and Jenna seen here on the Academy Awards red carpet in 2013

A timeline of their love 2006: The couple meet on the set of Step Up, where he 'seduced' the star, who played his on-screen love interest 2008: Channing pops the question during a romantic trip to Maui 2009: Jenna and Channing wed in an idyllic ceremony in Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu, California 2013: Their daughter Everly Elizabeth Maiselle Tatum is born in May while they are living in London 2018: The couple announce their split, as they insist they are 'just two best-friends realising its time to take some space' Advertisement

The pair eventually went on to marry in 2009, and share Everly, who was born in London in May 2013, while the couple lived there when Channing filmed Jupiter Rising alongside Mila Kunis.

Four years ago the beauty told Us Weekly: 'We make sure we get good date nights. You've got to get out and be around adults, and not be speaking in a baby voice all day long - just for your own sanity!'

At the same time, she also detailed how they find time for one another since Everly's arrival the previous year.

Jenna explained: 'As a whole, it just forces you to become a little closer, because you have to be on the same page with everything when it comes to making decisions.

Saddening: The couple frequented the red carpet during their romance, yet in the midst of their split they have not appeared together for six months (pictured at the the Dizzy Feet Foundation's Celebration of Dance as newlyweds in November 2009)

'It's just like everything else. You give it like: "Okay, I have this luncheon today, so you watch Everly and I have this dinner." You just become way better at planning!'

She added: 'It's been a great perspective change. The things that used to maybe worry me... were replaced by just caring and being there for this little baby.'

In the same year, in an interview with GQ, Channing confessed he believed himself to be an alcoholic before hinting his then-five year long marriage had not changed his wild ways at all as Jenna 'knew what she bought into'.

He said: 'My wife, that's what she bought into... I'm probably a pretty high-functioning, I guess, you know, I would say, alcoholic, I guess. There's probably a tendency to escape. I equate it to creativity, and I definitely equate it to having a good time.'

But Channing indicated that he did cut back on the partying after Jenna gave birth to Everly, and he pledged not to drink during the four months of filming that's required on the Magic Mike sequel: 'Then, at the end of that movie, it's go time'.

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Heartbroken fans voice their devastation over the couple's split as social media ERUPTS with memes and tweets

Following their announcement, fans took to social media to voice devastation, with many insisting they feel 'true love is dead'.

Jenna and Channing's decision to travel 'different paths' left their fans heartbroken, with one reacting: 'I'm too upset about Channing and Jenna to function. I loved those two so much together.'

'I think school should be cancelled tomorrow, so we can mourn Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan relationship,' penned another openly upset follower of the couple.

Users soon responded to Jenna's post, to write: 'So sad for u both admiration to ye on the honesty & sharing a subject you should never hard to with the world, like u said 'no-ones perfect' love & postivity to you... Noooo please don't do this!!

'Now i believe that true love doesn't exist... Awe ... ok I am really sad and sorry you have to share this with the world, but a lot of people love you guys! Hope your space apart makes you both realize what you had! And if not, damn that was one hell of a great chapter!... Damn i mean.. just fight for your love...

'If u love each other u never can be apart!!never can breath without each other...!!... Good luck with your new adventures... Sad to hear but I understand. Much love to you both... Sending you all so much love at this time x'.

Romance: Fans soon swarmed social media to voice their devastation at the news

Referencing the time they competed against each other during an episode of Lip Sync Battle - which included a surprise appearance from Beyonce - one wrote: '[News of their split] has ruined my whole night. I will be watching their Lip Sync Battles on repeat until I die. Goodnight.'

'Damn I mean.. Just fight for your love,' one fan wrote to Jenna. 'If u love each other u never can be apart!! Never can breath without each other!!'

Seemingly showing reluctant acceptance for the news, another said: 'Sad to hear but I understand. Much love to you both.'

Echoing that sentiment, another wrote to the actress: 'To acknowledge when your journeys are to continue on a separate path is a beautiful yet challenging experience.

'Stay true to yourselves, stay present among the transition and know that deep down, this decision is out of love and that is all there is Thank you for your grace and honesty xxx'
In 2009, the landscape of reality TV changed forever when the stars of Jersey Shore burst on to screens before the UK delivered Geordie Shore two years later.

And reality worlds collided on Tuesday morning, when stars of both shows united on This Morning for a hilarious interview before taking to the skies for a booze-filled turn on the London Eye, while all clad in their typically garish uniforms.

Snooki, JWoww and Pauly D were flying the flag for the States while Chloe Ferry, sam Gowland, Sophie Kasaei and Nathan Henry were representing for the UK.

Cheers to that! Reality worlds collided on Tuesday morning, when stars of both shows united on This Morning for a hilarious interview before taking to the skies for a booze-filled turn on the London Eye, while all clad in their typically garish uniforms

Bosses at MTV thought up the wildly-popular Jersey Shore concept nine years ago, making stars of the cast members who were encouraged to slip into the ethos of bedding, boozing and brawling for a whopping six seasons over a three year span.

In 2011, Geordie Shore hit screen and saw a group of young Newcastle-native storm screens and throughout its ongoing seven-year run a host of cast members have come and gone in a number of different scandals.

Jersey Shore is set to return to screens for the Family Reunion series, with Deena Cortese, Vinny Guadagnino, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Ronnie Orti-Magro joining in proceedings, and the stars appeared on GMB to discuss the show.

Mothers Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, who both met their husbands on the programme, Jionni LaVelle and Roger Mathews, respectively, discussed why they made the comeback even though they had kids at home.

The whole gang! Snooki, JWoww and Pauly D were flying the flag for the States while Chloe Ferry, Sam Gowland, Sophie Kasaei and Nathan Henry were representing for the UK

Way back when: In 2009, the landscape of reality TV changed forever when the stars of Jersey Shore burst on to screens (left-right, Vinny Guadagnino, Angelina Pivarnick, Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino, and Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola)

Later on: The UK delivered Geordie Shore two years after Jersey Shore hit screens (left-right James Tindale, Gaz Beadle, Holly Hagan, Sophie Kasaei, Charlotte Leticia Crosby, Vicky Pattison, Greg Lake and Jay Gardner)

JWoww, 32, said: 'I think it was the perfect time. The kids are old enough they can be left with our significant other and we didn't want too much time to pass.'

Snooki, 30, added: 'We're partying. We're not, like, killing anybody and I want my kids to party and not be judgey when they're older.'

The trio are in the UK to meet their British counterparts, who have seen a huge change in line-up over the years, with Sophie being the only original left. On meeting the UK cast, Pauly said: 'They're big time out here, so I'm excited to meet them.'

In 2011, things kicked off in a smaller house, with Gary Beadle, Jay Gardner, Charlotte Crosby, Vicky Pattison, Greg Lake, James Tindale and Holly Hagan being the pioneering stars who have all since forged varying careers.

Dear mums: Mothers Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, who both met their husbands on the programme, Jionni LaVelle and Roger Mathews, respectively, discussed why they made the comeback even though they had kids at home

UK hun? Snooki was posing up a storm as she blew kisses at the camera during their ride on the London Eye to

Then and now: Snooki's style has evolved over the years, as she was seen appearing fresh-faced when Jersey Shore kicked off (left, 2009) compared to her style now (right, Tuesday)

He hasn't changed! Pauly's style was more similar to his previous looks as his alarmingly high hair was in firm place while he still sported his style of funky bomber jacket and sunglasses

Same look! Paul has maintained his funky hairstyle over the years (left, 2010)

Proving they have honed their styles over the years, Snooki and JWoww were clad in coordinating monochrome ensembles with the former in a flirty mini and shirt and the latter in a slick black coat and sharp white shirt with glasses.

Pauly's style was more similar to his previous looks as his alarmingly high hair was in firm place while he still sported his style of funky bomber jacket and sunglasses.

Chloe meanwhile was keen to show off her figure as she sported a tight black bodysuit paired with a khaki coat while her hair was in a bright blonde style.

Living it up: The group were posing up a storm as they played around in the streets

Who's that girl: JWoww soared to fame with her gym-honed figure in bikinis (left, in 2009) yet now favours a more conservative look

Chatting away: The trio spoke to Charlotte Hawkins and Kate Garraway

Up close: She was getting cosy with her boyfriend Sam outside the studios, as he seemed to borrow style tips from Pauly in a similarly garish bomber jacket

Stunner: Chloe meanwhile was keen to show off her figure as she sported a tight black bodysuit paired with a khaki coat while her hair was in a bright blonde style

Out and a pout: Chloe was enjoying the views of the capital during her meeting with the US stars

Who's that girl: Chloe (pictured left, 2015) has undergone a host of cosmetic procedures during her time in the spotlight and is practically unrecognisable

Larking around: The boys were playing around outside the studios as they continued the promo

Way back when: Sam shot to fame on Love Island last summer (left) but has since moved on to Geordie Shore

The Geordies take London: Chloe and Sam could not get enough of one another as they cosied up while hiding under a Union Jack umbrella

She was getting cosy with her boyfriend Sam outside the studios, as he seemed to borrow style tips from Pauly in a similarly garish bomber jacket.

Sophie meanwhile went for a monochrome jumper with small sunglasses and a baker boy cap which gave the look a bang on-trend touch.

Nathan seemed to be bringing a taste of summer to the meet-up as he rocked a bold short-sleeved shirt layered beneath a black crew-neck T-shirt.

Low-key: Sophie meanwhile went for a monochrome jumper with small sunglasses and a baker boy cap which gave the look a bang on-trend touch

Slimmed down: Sophie has famously slimmed down of late and is looking sensational (pictured left, 2013)

Summer style: Nathan seemed to be bringing a taste of summer to the meet-up as he rocked a bold short-sleeved shirt layered beneath a black crew-neck T-shirt

Here he is! Nathan is also a fan favourite on the show (pictured left in 2015)

Larking around: The group were feeling playful as they hid beneath the umbrellas while Snooki continued with her favoured blowing kiss pose
Monday night's episode of Made In Chelsea saw the latest showdown in the Louise Thompson, Ryan Libbey and Alik Alfus love triangle - with Alik and his father accidentally crashing the happy couple's two year anniversary dinner.

And now the charismatic New Yorker has spoken out about the situation once again, echoing that he and Louise were still very much an item when she allegedly got together with Ryan in 2016.

'We were making love regularly in St Barts and there wasn't an indication of anything going wrong,' the 29-year-old insisted, in a chat with New! Magazine. 'Then she broke up with me and said she wasn't prepared to move to New York. It was devastating.'

A bone to pick? Made In Chelsea's Alik Alfus was 'making love regularly' to Louise Thompson when she started seeing Ryan Libbey... and admits being a celeb helps him 'date multiple people'

Before and after: Monday's edition of the E4 reality series saw Alik getting irritated once again about the crossover that seemed to happen between him and Ryan

Alik hasn't kept his feelings about Ryan and Louise to himself over the last couple of years, famously getting into a physical fight with the former the first time he met him after calling him 'an angry bear'.

Yet Alik appears to have moved on.

'I have been dating multiple people. My status in London seems to help with girls. In New York I don't have a public name. Over here I seem to be having more success,' he said.

Drama: Monday night's episode of Made In Chelsea saw the latest showdown in the Louise , Ryan and Alik love triangle

'I have been dating multiple people!' Alik has been linked to three other MIC cast members - Sophie Habboo [R], Mimi Bouchard and Tina Stinnes [L]

Indeed, since returning to London to pursue his career as an artist, Alik has been linked to three other MIC cast members - Sophie Habboo, Mimi Bouchard and Tina Stinnes.

Yet Monday's edition of the E4 reality series saw Alik getting irritated once again about the crossover that seemed to happen between him and Ryan.

He complained to Mark Francis Vandelli about the situation before expressing further disdain to his visiting father Mitch and pal Victoria Baker Harber.

Making his mark: Alik has remained firm friends with the likes of Proudlock [R] and allegedly romanced Mimi [L]

Weighing in: 'Louise seems into vanity and not as genuine!' Alik said of his ex 'I feel a long-standing relationship requires patience and discipline, which I'm not exactly convinced exists there'

Awks: In the final scene of the episode, Ryan was seen walking out on his and Louise's romantic meal, having been sat on a table next to Alik and Mitch, who happily waved at the pair and made them feel far from at ease

In the final scene of the episode, Ryan was seen walking out on his and Louise's romantic meal, having been sat on a table next to Alik, Victoria and Mitch, who happily waved at the pair and made them feel far from at ease.

'Louise seems into vanity and not as genuine,' Alik added of his ex. 'I feel a long-standing relationship requires patience and discipline, which I'm not exactly convinced exists there.'

Made In Chelsea continues on Monday at 9PM on E4.
He's the superstar swimmer who split from wife Lindy in 2016.

And Michael Klim has now spoken candidly about his relationship with his ex, with whom he shares three young children.

Speaking with Yahoo Be, the 40-year-old revealed the couple share 50/50 custody of their kids, but communication isn't always easy.

Joint custody: In an interview with Yahoo Be published on Tuesday, Michael Kim spoke candidly about jointly raising his three children with ex-wife Lindy (pictured: the family in 2014)

The couple are parents to Stella, 11, Rocco, 9, and Frankie 6.

'Having clarity and structure is important for the kids, so trying to have the best form of communication with your ex-partner does help a lot and it's not always easy,' Michael told the website.

The Olympian has a successful skincare business based in Melbourne, however he commutes weekly to Bali, where his children primarily reside.

'It's not always easy': Michael and Lindy split in 2016 after ten years of marriage (pictured: the couple in 2014)

Of his hectic schedule, Michael candidly told Yahoo Be: 'Being a parent and a business owner and doing normal life is harder than anything in sport'.

'In sport, it's a very selfish existence. Everything you do is to get the best performance from yourself and there are only small variables you might have to deal with'.

Moving on from his heartbreaking split with Lindy, the swimming superstar has found love again with brunette beauty, Desiree Deravi.

Modern family! Michael with his three children and new partner, Desiree Deravi

Desiree appears to be a supportive force in the lives of Michael's children, with the modern family frequently seen spending time together.

Meanwhile, Lindy hasn't been left behind in the love department.

She's now engaged to British businessman, Adam Ellis, and the couple recently welcomed a newborn daughter named Goldie.

New addition: Lindy is now a mum-of-four, recently welcoming a newborn daughter named Goldie with her businessman beau Adam Ellis

Moving on: Lindy hasn't been left behind in the love department




Paul Hollywood's new girlfriend Summer Moneys-Fullam has praised the Great British Bake Off star for turning her 'from a girl to a woman' in a gushing Instagram post.

The barmaid, 22, is currently enjoying a romantic break with Paul, 52, in Mauritius but wrote about her 'amazing boyfriend' in a besotted social note to mark the end of 2017.

Summer has since deleted her Instagram account, but didn't hold back in her praise of the TV star in the newly unearthed post.

Loved up? According to sources the 52-year-old TV favourite 'looked extremely happy' with his new love - who is 30 years his junior - as they stayed at the 1,000 a night tropical resort

Paying tribute to 2017, Summer wrote: 'You have been amazing. You have been journey. You have been experience. You have taught me. You have shown me. You have made me.'

She continued by thanking the people in her life including Paul, writing: 'I can only thank the people that are close to me. Including my amazing boyfriend. You have turned me from a girl to a woman, and to a house woman. I love you so much!'

'This post is not for likes but the love of my life. I am truly a lucky girl and have the best things and people and animals around me, 2018.'

Great British Bake Off star Paul has reportedly whisked his girlfriend away for a luxurious break in Mauritius.

According to The Sun On Sunday, the 52-year-old TV favourite 'looked extremely happy' with his alleged new love - who is 30 years his junior - as they stayed at the 1,000 a night tropical resort.

Before they soaked up the sun, the pair reportedly agreed to meet in America first, with neither party telling friends who they were meeting up with.

Sources told the tabloid that Paul and Summer spent ten days together on their romantic beach trip, but were careful to avoid any attention from the public.

Despite the considerable age gap between the two, Paul was reportedly getting on extremely well with Summer, with sources adding they could've been mistaken for a couple on their honeymoon.

A source told the publication: 'Despite looking more like father and daughter, when they did stroll around together they left people in no doubt that they were a couple.

'Summer has clearly put a smile on his face after a difficult time in his personal life.'

Making sure their blossoming romance didn't catch the attention of other holiday-makers, the couple spent most of their time in their secluded villa.

'They did not really go into the public areas or pools and seemed to just want some quiet time.'

MailOnline have contacted Paul and Summer's representatives for comment.

The new couple were allegedly first spotted in November, after Paul was spotted on a secret date with the Kent barmaid.

The pair met last year at Paul's local pub where he organised ex-wife Alexandra's birthday party and have struck up a close bond despite the 29-year age gap, sources claimed to The Sun.

'Paul and Summer have struck up a close friendship  the age gap between them doesn't seem to be a problem,' an insider claimed.

Paul and Alexandra, who have a 16-year-old son, announced they were splitting in the same month - but reportedly parted ways earlier that year.

Paul and Alexandra, who is also a chef, married in 1998, and have a teenage son together, Joshua.

They previously separated in 2013 when the TV chef admitted his affair with Marcela Valladolid, his co-star on the US version of Bake Off.

The American spin-off was cancelled after just one series for having poor ratings.

The couple reconciled a few months later and he described the incident as 'the biggest mistake of my life' in an interview with BBC radio.

Speaking at the time, he told the BBC he 'was shocked about the whole thing kicking off the way it did... but I deserved it and I've taken it. It was my punishment.'
Viewers watched her break down in tears after her former flame Dan Edgar ended their on-off romance on TOWIE.

But Amber Turner, 24, put her heartache aside as she showcased her incredible figure while filming scenes for the 22nd series on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in Essex, Georgia Kousoulou, 26, was on hand to give newbie Jordan Wright some much needed advice after his explosive fight with Myles Barnett, as the pair embarked on a horse riding session with their fellow cast mates.

Moving on: Amber Turner put her heartache aside as she showcased her incredible figure while filming scenes for TOWIE on Wednesday

Amber, who was spotted heading on another date with newcomer Dean Ralph, put on a sizzling display as she flashed her enviable cleavage in a sheer lace vest top.

She shrugged a leather jacket over her shoulders and accentuated her lithe limbs by donning a pair of thigh-high suede boots and skintight jeans.

Sporting a sun-kissed tan, the reality star let her platinum blonde locks cascade over her shoulders and rocked a glamorous make-up look.

Support: Meanwhile, Georgia Kousoulou, 26, was on hand to give newbie Jordan Wright some much needed advice after his explosive fight with Myles Barnett

Ample assets: Amber put on a sizzling display as she flashed her enviable cleavage in a sheer lace vest top

Blossoming romance? The blonde beauty was spotted going on another date with newcomer Dean Ralph

Sultry: The blonde beauty shrugged a leather jacket over her shoulders and accentuated her lithe limbs by donning a pair of thigh-high suede boots and skintight jeans

Meanwhile Georgia, cut a chic figure in a leather jacket and faux fur gilet as she watched Jordan, Jon Clark and Liam 'Gatsby' ride around a paddock in Romford.

She teamed the glamorous look with a black hoodie dress and slipped her toned physique into black wet-look leggings.

The blonde beauty paired the all-black ensemble with quilted wellington boots and donned a pale lilac fedora hat.

She styled her long blonde hair in a sleek straight look and opted for a full face of make-up for the outing.

Observing: Georgia, cut a chic figure in a leather jacket and faux fur gilet as she watched Jordan, Jon Clark and Liam 'Gatsby' embark on a horse riding session

Glam: The TOWIE star paired the all-black ensemble with quilted wellington boots and donned a pale lilac fedora hat

Dressed up: She styled her long blonde hair in a sleek straight look and opted for a full face of make-up for the outing

Three musketeers: Liam, Jon and Jordan (L-R) appeared apprehensive as the horses strolled the paddock

Aftermath: The cast looked deep in discussion following Jordan's explosive fight with Courtney Green's boyfriend Myles

Not her thing: Opting to miss out on the horse ride, the starlet looked unimpressed as she stood in the mud

Horsing around: Jon appeared to have difficulty instructing his stallion to move, opting to munch on some grass instead

Opting to miss out on the horse ride, the star looked unimpressed as she stood in the mud before engaging in a chat with the boys.

The cast will no doubt have a lot to talk about after Jordan claimed Courtney Green had been flirting with him during the cast trip to Barcelona, Spain.

Myles then confronted the former Ex On The Beach star, throwing a drink at him in rage, before branding his girlfriend a 'dirty little s**g' - to the horror of show fans.

Ruffling feathers: Jordan claimed Courtney Green had been flirting with him during the cast trip to Barcelona, Spain

Dramatic: Myles then confronted the former Ex On The Beach star, throwing a drink at him in rage, before branding his girlfriend a 'dirty little s**g' - to the horror of show fans

Love rival: Jordan has posed himself as a love rival to Myles, trying to win the affections of Courtney

Suave: Gatsby and Jon cut dapper figures as they arrived at the stables ready for their horse ride

Happy: Despite his recent argument, the hunk appeared in high spirits as he petted his handsome horse

Disrespectful: TOWIE's Myles Barnett was slammed by viewers on Sunday night for his 'disgusting' language towards girlfriend Courtney Green during the ugly street brawl

Not one to mince his words, Myles immediately asked Jordan if he had been flirting with Courtney - who claimed their interaction was 'harmless', but that the brunette had also been entertaining his advances.

Jordan then provoked Myles further, by revealing he knew he had asked Courtney for a photo of him during a jealous rage while away in the Spanish hot spot.

Myles erupted into a furious tirade, shouting: 'All of you can f*** yourselves,' before turning to Courtney and adding: 'As for you, you've been a dirty little dog as well, sohonestly f*** off.'

Smitten: Meanwhile, James Lock and his girlfriend Yasmin Oukhellou brushed off their recent row as they headed on a stroll

Looking good: Yasmin cut a stylish figure in a grey furry coat and cream Louis Vuitton scarf while James rocked a black leather jacket and baker boy hat

Sweet: Pete Wicks and his new girlfriend Shelby Tribble were spotted out and about in Essex walking his dogs

Casual: The 29-year-old donned a black quilted jacket and skinny jeans for the rainy walk

Unable to contain his emotions, he then lobbed his juice at Jordan, causing the pair to start on each other - with Bobby and Courtney desperately tearing them apart.

With his girlfriend drawing him away, Myles snapped in one last blow: 'You can f*** off too you dirty little s**g'.

Meanwhile Amber's second date with Dean comes after viewers watched her break down in tears in an emotional display following a heartbreaking chat with Dan Edgar.

Dan and Amber's romance has been on-going since she first joined and ditched her boyfriend of four years - Jamie Reed - for the hunk before he allegedly cheated on her in Ireland with a mystery woman.

Time to relax: Shelby rocked curly hair and black boots and beamed as the pair headed indoors to a pub

Despite parting ways with the TOWIE lothario, Amber recently admitted she still had feelings for Dan during a recent interview on This Morning.

Speaking ahead of the new series' debut, she said: 'It's been over a year with us but I'm not going to say there aren't feelings there, but I can't do it anymore.'

Tension between the pair became so heated that she even threw a drink in his face while filming the ITVBe show in Barcelona earlier this year, with new girl Clelia Theodorou having since won Dan's affections.
She always manages to look effortlessly chic.

And Michelle Keegan even managed to make going to the gym a glamorous affair as she stepped out in Manchester on Monday.

Not letting the rain get in the way of her workout, the 30-year-old actress seemed in good spirits as she dashed from her car to the leisure centre.

Glam: She always manages to look effortlessly chic. And Michelle Keegan even managed to make going to the gym a glamorous affair as she stepped out in Manchester on Monday

No doubt having been out before, Michelle looked incredible for her workout, donning a pair of plaid jogging bottoms with a tight black T-shirt and leather jacket.

Wearing her hair swept up in a bun and boasting a neutral make-up palette, the Our Girl star accessorised with a Gucci bumbag and Louis Vuitton backpack.

Ensuring she'd stay hydrated, Michelle toted a large bottle of water as she dashed through the rain.

Low-key look: Not letting the rain get in the way of her workout, the 30-year-old actress seemed in good spirits as she dashed from her car to the leisure centre

Michelle returned to her native Manchester for the Easter holidays, whilst husband Mark Wright has remained in Los Angeles.

The pair had been spending plenty of time together in Hollywood after they were forced to spend several months apart.

The Our Girl star had been working on the latest series of her BBC war drama, spending eight months abroad while Mark established his Stateside TV presenting career.

On the move: Not letting the rain get in the way of her workout, the 30-year-old actress seemed in good spirits as she dashed from her car to the leisure centre

Dressed to impress: No doubt having been out before, Michelle looked incredible for her workout, donning a pair of plaid jogging bottoms with a tight black T-shirt and leather jacket

Despite the long distance between them, Michelle recently revealed that it was her decision that Mark pursue his job as an Extra TV host

Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she said: 'Before I went to South Africa last April, we were sat in the gym car park and he was asking how long [I'd be away for]. I said, "What do you want to do?" He said, "I don't know."

'And I said, "When I'm away, why don't you go to America?" He had an agent here. So he did - and look what's happened. It's unbelievable.'

All about the accessories: Wearing her hair swept up in a bun and boasting a neutral make-up palette, the Our Girl star accessorised with a Gucci bumbag and Louis Vuitton backpack

Sipping pretty: Ensuring she'd stay hydrated, Michelle toted a large bottle of water as she dashed through the rain

While she's immensely proud of Mark's achievements, she can't believe he doesn't get more star-struck when he's interviewing big-name stars like Sir Elton John, Liam Neeson and Kim Kardashian West.

She added: 'He met Kevin Costner the other day. I was like, "Oh my God, how was it?" He said, "Yeah, alright. Have you had any lunch?"'

Whilst Michelle has been with her family in Manchester, Mark has also been visited by his relatives who flew to Los Angeles for Easter.
She's married to Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney, with whom she has nine-month-old twins Ella and Alexander.

And Amal Clooney famously has many strings to her bow as an extremely high profile lawyer, a fashion icon and now a visiting Professor of Law at NYC's Columbia University, where she was visiting on Tuesday.

The 40-year-old looked typically chic in an elegant ensemble comprising of a teal leather trench coat as she left a New York apartment where she is believed to be residing during her time in the States.

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Stunner: Amal Clooney famously has many strings to her bow as an extremely high profile lawyer, a fashion icon and now a visiting Professor of Law in NYC's Columbia University, where she paying a visit on Tuesday

She sported a stylish cream A-line skirt with a button down and a simple black top underneath to complement her black shoes.

Professional as ever, Amal opted for the stylish ensemble comprising of the stunning trench with the white A-line skirt adding to the glam.

She paired the look with asymmetric mid-heels with a crossover front while also clutching a chic black handbag and completed the look with Zanzan sunglasses.

Chic outfit: The professional, who was wearing Zanzan sunglasses, arrived back at her apartment after her busy afternoon

Busy bee: The mum-of-two has actively resumed her professional role in the city

Important documents: She was seen toting some important business documents

Amal, who has worked on a number of high profile cases throughout her career, stepped out as it was revealed that she will represent two journalists jailed in Burma.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo  reporters for the Reuters news agency  are being held in a Yangon prison after being arrested in December.

They are being held under the countrys Official Secrets Act, a statute which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

Elegant: The 40-year-old looked typically chic in an elegant ensemble comprising of a teal leather trench coat, while she sported a stylish cream A-line skirt with a button down and a simple black top underneath to complement her black shoes

Chic: Professional as ever, Amal opted for the stylish ensemble comprising of the stunning trench with the white A-line skirt adding to the glam

Amal said in a statement released on Thursday: 'Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are being prosecuted simply because they reported the news.

'I have reviewed the case file and it is clear beyond doubt that the two journalists are innocent and should be released immediately. Yet they have been denied bail and face 14 years in prison.

'The outcome of this case will tell us a lot about Myanmars commitment to the rule of law and freedom of speech.'

A vision: She paired the look with asymmetric mid-heels with a crossover front while also clutching a chic black handbag

Amal's news comes amid claims she recently threw open the doors of her familys newly refurbished 10 million Berkshire mansion to renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, for an at home interview, set to be published in Vogue this year.

In the unlikely event that the A-listers nine-bedroom property isnt impressive enough, Amal also borrowed 7million of diamonds to wear for the occasion.

A source close to the Clooneys told The Mail on Sunday: This has been organised for a long while. It is Amals chance to do a sit-down interview and show the inside of her house.

Happy day: Amal's news comes amid claims she recently threw open the doors of her familys newly refurbished 10 million Berkshire mansion to renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, for an at home interview, set to be published in Vogue this year

It will be a really special piece for her. She and George have put blood, sweat and tears into getting their house to be perfect, so its the ideal location to do this.

The choice of photographer is also significant, as Leibovitz took the pictures of Amal during the final fitting of her Oscar de la Renta wedding dress for the couples marriage in September 2014.

However, it is understood that neither George, 56, nor nine-month-old twins Alexander and Ella will appear in the new pictures.

The couple bought the 17th Century, Grade II listed mansion in the village of Sonning Eye  where neighbours include British Prime Minister Theresa May and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page  for about 7.5 million in 2014, soon after they married.

Moving out: Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend appeared to move out of the house where Amal is now staying earlier in March

During her time in NYC, Amal is believed to be staying in an apartment once lived in by model Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend.

In March, New York Daily News was reported that their domicile 'was an illegal short-term rental.'

In the story, the paper said that Legend and Teigen had not used Airbnb in their arrangement on the property in question, but that the building's owner has past rented out units with the service.

Chrissy and John denied the claims, yet they were pictured 'abruptly packing their belongings and vacating the premises'.

Though the Sports Illustrated stunner took exception to the accuracy of the article, noting that images the outlet used were taken at different times.

A worker at a nearby dry cleaner said that 'there are celebrities [moving] in and out of [the unit] all the time,' citing examples such as P. Diddy and 'some super model.'
Cardi B is being sued by model Kevin Brophy for $5 million, who claims she used an unauthorized image of his back on the cover of her 2016 Gangsta B***h Music Vol. 1.

And the rapper hit back at the individual, saying that the cover model used in her album art is a 'young, dark-skinned male,' according to TMZ.

Cardi B, 25, also pointed out that the model used doesn't have the 'Born to lose' tattoo on his neck like the plaintiff, who is a'middle-aged Caucasian,' reports the site.

The source of the drama: Cardi B is in the midst of being sued by model Kevin Brophy, who claims used his back tattoos on the cover of her 2016 Gangsta B***h Music Vol. 1

Brophy's distinguishable back tattoo features a tiger clashing with a snake.

The Bodak Yellow artist poses in the mixtape cover art in a black bra while sipping alcohol from a bottle with her legs spread and her hand on the back of his head.

A heavily tattooed man, who poses shirtless, faces the rapper in a sexually explicit manner.

In a previous TMZ report in October, Brophy claims he never posed for the racy photo or expressed consent for his image to be used.

Star power: Cardi B, 25, also pointed out that the model used doesn't have the 'Born to lose' tattoo on his neck like the plaintiff, who is a'middle-aged Caucasian,' reports the site; seen February 11 at the Prabal Gurung show at NYFW

He also said he never met Cardi B or anyone from her management team.

Brophy said he didn't know about the mixtape cover until a friend marveled to him that he was performing a sexual act on 'this rapper called Cardi B' in the picture, according to TMZ.

He added that his young sons mentioned seeing it and asked who what he was doing and who that girl was.

Cardi B became on of the biggest break out stars of 2017 with her hit tune Bodak Yellow.

She is still working on her LP Invasion Of Privacy amid pregnancy rumors; she is engaged to Migos' Offset.
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She welcomed the couple's first child, and her fourth son Ronnie, back in September.

Yet Danielle Lloyd proved she'd had no trouble snapping straight back into shape as she showed off her phenomenal bikini body in a skimpy pink two-piece whilst holidaying with fiance Michael O'Neill in Dubai on Monday.

Flaunting her incredible figure, the mother-of-four revealed her toned abs and enviably taut physique as she relaxed by the pool in her scanty swimwear.

Cosy couple: Danielle Lloyd proved she'd had no trouble snapping straight back into shape as she showed off her phenomenal bikini body in a skimpy pink two-piece whilst holidaying with fiance Michael O'Neill in Dubai on Monday

The baby pink bikini featured a bandeau top with bejewelled detailing across the cup which drew further attention to her ample cleavage. She teamed the garment with matching briefs that had tie side detailing and clung to her peachy posterior.

Going make-up free, the former Celebrity Big Brother star allowed her natural beauty to shine through, whilst she injected further glamour with a myriad of gold bracelets and oversized cream cat eye sunglasses.

With her sodden chestnut locks damp and slicked away from her face, Danielle looked happy, healthy and stunning as she paraded around with pool with Michael - who showed off his muscular physique in navy swimming trunks.

Life's a beach: Flaunting her incredible figure, the mother-of-four revealed her toned abs and enviably taut physique as she relaxed by the pool in her scanty swimwear

Stunning: The baby pink bikini featured a bandeau top with bejewelled detailing across the cup which drew further attention to her ample cleavage. She teamed the garment with matching briefs that had tie side detailing and clung to her posterior

Taking a dip: Danielle seemed in great spirits as she lowered herself into the water at the pool edge

Bottoms up! Danielle and Micheal shared a cocktail in the pool as they soaked up the sunshine together

The pair looked more loved-up than ever at the pool, having got engaged on Valentine's Day back in 2016. However, their wedding was put on hold when Danielle fell pregnant last February, and the pair welcomed their first child Ronnie in September.

The former beauty queen also shares three sons - Archie, seven, Harry, six, and George, four - with ex-husband Jamie O'Hara.

The pair's wedding could be on the cards however, amid claims they are set to tie the knot in the early months of 2018.

Hug it out: The couple were all over one another as they topped up their tans by the pool edge

Hug it out: Danielle showed off her peachy posterior as she leaned against her shirtless beau

Pucker up: Danielle jumped onto the sunlounger as they shared a steamy smooch together by the pool edge

According to The Sun, the Playboy pinup and her electrician beau have been secretly planning a beach wedding in the Caribbean, but have 'kept the whole thing quiet' from fans, to ensure their special day an 'intimate' affair.

A source said: 'Danielle and Michael have kept things massively low-key but they've been thinking about getting the wedding sorted since baby Ronnie arrived in September and now their plans are coming together.'

MailOnline contacted Danielle's representatives for comment at the time.

Natural beauty: Going make-up free, the former Celebrity Big Brother star allowed her natural beauty to shine through, whilst she injected further glamour with a myriad of gold bracelets and oversized cream cat eye sunglasses

Brunette beauty: With her sodden chestnut locks damp and slicked away from her face, Danielle looked happy, healthy and stunning as she paraded around with pool

Aside from the claims, Danielle was also doubt enjoying digital detox during the getaway, after speaking out about the horrific online abuse she has received.

The reality star - who has sons with her ex-husband Jamie O'Hara and baby Ronnie with fiance Michael - read out some of the shocking tweets and comments.

Speaking on ITV's Lorraine, she revealed: 'They'd say, "Odd shaped, botched up body",' she revealed. '"She's rough and undesirable", "Her face is monstrous and frightful" and "She looks like a bloke."'

Two's company: Danielle beamed as she walked around with Michael - who showed off his muscular physique in navy swimming trunks

Cuddled up: The duo held each other tenderly as they frolicked in the water together

Holding on: The couple were all smiles as they held hands in the water and frolicked in the deep end

She even admitted trolls targeted her for being overweight after giving birth to Ronnie last year.

Danielle lamented: '[They said I looked] overweight, I looked haggard and horrible and I thought, 1. Ive just had a baby and 2. Im not getting any sleep whatsoever.

'It was a really tough time, but I think that experience has obviously made me want to talk about it. People shouldnt have to go through this.

'I shouldnt be getting abused every day. Its made me stronger and think, Im not going to allow them to do this to me anymore.'

Hunk in trunks: Michael showed off his musclebound physique whilst chilling by the pool edge

Laugh a minute: The pair couldn't contain their giggles as they struggled to stay afloat in the swimming pool

Despite the comments, it is no wonder the television personality looked more than confident on the beach - as she now prioritises being 'healthy' rather than toned.

Speaking to Now magazine last month, she said: 'I've never wanted to be a size 8 and I still don't. I'm not even desperate to lose weight because I'm happy being a healthy size 10.

'My body goal is to feel stronger, fitter and healthy, so that I can run around with the boys without feeling knackered.'

In he goes! Danielle cheered on as her handsome fiance dived into the pool with a smile on his face

Cosy: Danielle wrapped her legs around Michael as they spun around in the pool together

While Danielle is a devoted mother to her four boys, she has been open for her desire for a girl, and recently her plans to use gender selection for her next child.

However the decision was met with huge backlash, forcing Danielle to defend the procedure - which is illegal in the UK but legal in the US and Cyprus - on Loose Women.

She argued that it's '[her] life' after facing criticism over her plans, revealing: 'As long as the baby's healthy then it shouldn't matter.

'Everyone's gonna have their opinions, but it's something I want to do and it's my life. For me, I just want my family to be complete, do I carry on having babies and end up with 10 boys?'

Tanned and toned: Danielle showed off her phenomenal figure as she strolled around in her skimpy two-piece

All smiles: Danielle seemed in high spirits as she threw her head back in glee whilst floating in the pool

Danielle explained she was interested in the treatment to 'balance' her family, adding: 'I love my boys and I live for my kids... It's about family balance, really ... I just think for me, I've always wanted that little baby girl. Why should it be any different?'

She voiced her sympathies for those who cannot have children, before adding: 'I've got a lot of investigations to do first. I've done bits and pieces, obviously I've just had a baby and he's my main concern at the moment...

'I don't know whether I'll go through with it, but it's something I'm definitely considering.'

To the bar! Danielle and Michael seemed in their element as they headed off to get drinks together
Thor: Ragnarok stunner Tessa Thompson glammed up in a gossamer nude chiffon gown for a new shoot by photographer Jeff Lipsky at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel.

'What I've always heard about fame is that you dont change as much as the people around you do,' the 34-year-old LA native said in the April edition of American Way for American Airlines.

'And no one around me has changed. My mom calls IMDb "IMBD."'

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Horseback: Thor: Ragnarok stunner Tessa Thompson glammed up in a gossamer nude chiffon gown for a new shoot by photographer Jeff Lipsky at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel

The Annihilation actress' fame will certainly get a big boost if she signs on to join Chris Hemsworth in Sony's Men in Black spin-off, as Variety reported last month.

'I remember when I first started working, the kind of roles that I could play,' Tessa explained.

'I wouldn't get to see myself in a sweeping period film. I wouldn't get to be the love interest in a romantic comedy. There were these very clear delineations around what I could be in media, and that just felt really stifling.'

Thompson, the daughter of Chocolate Genius founder Marc Anthony Thompson, is of Panamanian, Mexican, and European descent.

The 34-year-old LA native covers the April edition of American Way for American Airlines

The Annihilation actress said of stardom: 'What I've always heard about fame is that you dont change as much as the people around you do. And no one around me has changed. My mom calls IMDb "IMBD"'

'I'm incredibly proud to be a black woman': Tessa's fame will certainly get a big boost if she signs on to join Chris Hemsworth in Sony's Men in Black spin-off

'While I'm incredibly proud to be a black woman, I also feel like I want to buck convention, those binary ways of thinking,' the Women's Marcher said.

'Because I don't feel I fit into those too-rigid spaces of what it means to be a woman, or what it means to be a black woman, or what it means to be an American.'

Hairstylist Lacy Redway coiffed the Make Me Feel video vixen's curly bob and her usual make-up artist Kirin Bhatty made sure she was camera-ready for the mag.

And Tessa's own stylist duo, Wayman + Micah, selected the designer duds she donned for the whimsical spread.

The Women's Marcher said: 'I want to buck convention, those binary ways of thinking. I don't feel I fit into those too-rigid spaces of what it means to be a woman, or what it means to be a black woman, or what it means to be an American'

Updo: Hairstylist Lacy Redway coiffed the Make Me Feel video vixen's curly bob and her usual make-up artist Kirin Bhatty made sure she was camera-ready for the mag

Baring her shoulders: Tessa's own stylist duo, Wayman + Micah, selected the designer duds she donned for the whimsical spread

Rumor has it that Thompson's reprising her role as inebriated Norse goddess Valkyrie in Avengers: Infinity War, which hits UK theaters April 26 and US theaters April 27.

IMDb doesn't list her among the star-studded ensemble, but Tara Macken is credited as 'Tessa's stunt double' in the Marvel Comics sequel.

'It's silly sometimes, the things you're asked to do with CGI,' the goat enthusiast explained.

'You know, youll be imagining something really dramatic, and in your eyeline there's somebody just eating a sandwich. It felt like being a kid playing.

Tessa's stunt double is credited on IMDb: Rumor has it that Thompson's reprising her role as inebriated Norse goddess Valkyrie in Avengers: Infinity War, which hits UK theaters April 26 and US theaters April 27

The goat enthusiast explained: 'It's silly sometimes, the things you're asked to do with CGI. You know, youll be imagining something really dramatic, and in your eyeline there's somebody just eating a sandwich'

'You've seen how children play. They're not thinking about how they're perceived by others. Bravery is acting without dignity. It's about not taking yourself too seriously.'

Tessa is definitely back as ruthless Delos' executive director of the board Charlotte Hale in the 10-episode second season of sci-fi western Westworld, which premieres April 22 on HBO.

'The way [co-creators] Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan run the set is to give certain details to certain people and not to others, so you're always trying to broker for information,' the Moonlight video vixen laughed.

'Most of the work we do, I would say, is in the hair and make-up trailer, trying to figure out what's happening. It's really fun.'

Premieres April 22! Tessa is definitely back as ruthless Delos' executive director of the board Charlotte Hale in the 10-episode second season of HBO sci-fi western Westworld
Kylie Jenner posted a new photo to Instagram on Monday evening.

The 20-year-old beauty was almost unrecognizable in a top ponytail, heavily filled-in eyebrows and deep ruby red lipstick.

The mother to baby Stormi wrote in her caption, 'Excited because @kyliecosmetics is dropping new colors next week  wearing new lip kit BOSS today.'

Is that you KJ? Kylie Jenner posted a new photo to Instagram on Monday evening

Different: The 20-year-old beauty was almost unrecognizable in a top ponytail, heavily lined in eyebrows and deep ruby red lipstick

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star appears to be in a photo studio space.

The daughter of Kris Jenner is wearing a black hoodie with red writing about an album on the front.

She also posted a photo of her makeup line with the caption, 'NEW Lip Kits are coming!! Get ready to welcome these new shades to the family! Right to left: SAY NO MORE Velvet, IRONIC Matte, BOSS Matte and BARE Velvet! (You guys were all asking to bring Bare velvet back!) April 10.'

More: She also posted a photo of her makeup line with the caption, 'NEW Lip Kits are coming!! Get ready to welcome these new shades to the family!'

BOSS: The star later shared images with the names of the new lip paints

Tribute: Kylie showed off one tone that was named after her grandmother Mary Jo

It looks like Kylie is fully back to work after a fun Easter celebration.

The makeup mogul and her two-month-old babe were joined by baby-daddy Travis Scott for food, fun, and family time.

The bash was held at one of the grand Kardashian/Jenner estates in Hidden Hills, California.

Family time! Stormi Webster, above, enjoyed her first family holiday with the whole Kardashian-Jenner family on Easter Sunday

Kylie was thrilled to have her little lady  who was born February 1  along for the holiday.

Stormi was dressed in her Sunday best, swaddled in pale pink linen with ruffled sleeves and a bow on the chest.

Dad Travis held his daughter in his arms lovingly, while his social-media happy girlfriend recorded, then leaning in to give his little girl a kiss on the head.

Jenner also snapped a photo of her beau posing with a huge floral sculpture in the shape of a pink bunny.

Model mom! Kylie was thrilled to have her little lady  who was born February 1  along for the holiday

Bows and arrows! Stormi was dressed in her Sunday best, swaddled in pale pink linen with ruffled sleeves and a bow on the chest

Hoppy days! Jenner also snapped a photo of her beau posing with a huge floral sculpture in the shape of a pink bunny

Jenner wore a red and white collared shirt for the day, which she paired with a peachy-pink pout and smooth raven locks.

She had fun with a holiday-themed Snapchat filter which gave her a pair of fun bunny ears and rainbow-tinted aviator sunglasses.

The star teamed up with BFF Jordyn Woods, mom Kris, and some other party guests for some selfies.

Since it was her very first Easter, Kylie made sure to shower her daughter in gifts.

Holiday in the sun! Kylie had fun with a holiday-themed Snapchat filter which gave her a pair of fun bunny ears and rainbow-tinted aviator sunglasses

Star in stripes! Jenner wore a red and white collared shirt paired with a peachy-pink pout and smooth raven locks

Generous giver! Since it was her very first Easter, Kylie made sure to shower her daughter in gifts, posting a pic of all the kids' opulent baskets

Family first! Stormi was joined by her cousin North West, above, who is Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's first born

The star showed off the over-the-top baskets on social, revealing so many toys, treats and plush dolls the baskets couldn't contain all the goodies.

Of course Stormi wasn't the only kid there.

She was joined by cousins North and Saint West, the offspring of famous sister Kim Kardashian and hubby Kanye, as well as Mason, Penelope and Reign Disick, who are half-sister Kourtney's kids with ex Scott Disick.



The family's Easter celebration even came complete with a petting zoo for the kids.
She's the Balinese princess known by most as the ex wife of Olympic swimmer Michael Klim.

And Lindy Klim has talked about her lineage to the Balinese royalty, admitting that being a royal isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Speaking to My Empirical Life this week, the 39-year-old was happy to admit that she was part of the monarchy, saying: 'I usually dont tell local Balinese my real name as I dont think I deserve the respect as I didnt grow up in Bali and I dont even speak the language fluently.'

'I dont think I deserve the respect!' Lindy Klim has talked about her lineage to the Balinese royalty. The 39-year-old was coy to admit that she was part of the monarchy

She was born on the Indonesian island to a prince in the Denpasar Royal Family and her Australian mother.

Lindy lived the princess lifestyle for her first three years, before moving to Tasmania with her mother where she was raised and went to school, according to her Tumblr blog.

In her interview with the fashion website, Lindy spoke about to pros and cons of being born into a privileged family.

Not a real local: 'I usually dont tell local Balinese my real name as I dont think I deserve the respect as I didnt grow up in Bali and I dont even speak the language fluently'

'I say to most people what are the chances of being born in to royalty of a third world country!! Unlucky or lucky??' the mother-of-four said.

She added: 'I guess it depends on how I look at it money would be nice I guess but respect is worth everything in Bali...'

It comes after her ex husband, superstar swimmer Michael Klim spoken candidly about his relationship with his ex, with whom he shares three young children.

Speaking with Yahoo Be, the 40-year-old revealed the couple share 50/50 custody of their kids, but communication isn't always easy.

Joint custody: In an interview with Yahoo Be published on Tuesday, Michael Kim spoke candidly about jointly raising his three children with ex-wife Lindy (pictured: the family in 2014)

'It's not always easy': Michael and Lindy split in 2016 after ten years of marriage (pictured: the couple in 2014)

The couple are parents to Stella, 11, Rocco, 9, and Frankie 6.

'Having clarity and structure is important for the kids, so trying to have the best form of communication with your ex-partner does help a lot and it's not always easy,' Michael told the website.

The Olympian has a successful skincare business based in Melbourne, however he commutes weekly to Bali, where his children primarily reside.

Of his hectic schedule, Michael candidly told Yahoo Be: 'Being a parent and a business owner and doing normal life is harder than anything in sport'.

Modern family! Michael with his three children and new partner, Desiree Deravi

New love: Lindy has also moved on with her businessman fiance Adam Ellis

'In sport, it's a very selfish existence. Everything you do is to get the best performance from yourself and there are only small variables you might have to deal with'.

Moving on from his heartbreaking split with Lindy, the swimming superstar has found love again with brunette beauty, Desiree Deravi.

Meanwhile, Lindy hasn't been left behind in the love department.

She's now engaged to British businessman, Adam Ellis, and the couple recently welcomed a newborn daughter named Goldie.
She has been soaking up the sunshine in Mexico since late March.

And Devin Brugman put her sun-kissed physique on display on Tuesday when she continued to enjoy her break in Tulum.

The swimwear blogger, 26, flaunted her gravity-defying cleavage in a skimpy halterneck bikini during her fabulous getaway.

Wish you were here? Devin Brugman displayed her eye-popping cleavage and enviable curves in a tiny two-piece while soaking up the sun in Mexico on Tuesday

The brunette bombshell seductively ran her hand through her wet hair as she posed for an Instagram snap.

Devin has been mixing work and pleasure while abroad, modelling for fashion campaigns with her fellow influencers.

So it's no wonder she has been treating her fans to a glimpse inside her sunny retreat in paradise.

Feeling hot, hot, hot! The Californian native has been soaking up the sunshine in Mexico since late March

As a glamorous bikini blogger, Devin has over 1.3 million Instagram followers.

Devin has a close friendship with business partner Natasha Oakley, who is a co-founder of the website, A Bikini A Day.

Late last year, a previously deleted interview with Natasha and Devin by YouTube comedians 'Clip Critics' resurfaced online.

Sensational: Devin has been mixing work and pleasure while abroad, modelling for fashion campaigns with her fellow influencers

The interview was conducted with the pair wearing skimpy bikinis, and saw them speaking candidly about sex, plastic surgery and nudity.

Natasha and Devin looked at each other with a cheeky smile after being asked, 'Have you ever seen each other naked?'

'Yep!' they replied enthusiastically.
They've been happily married since 2012, after getting to know each other on the holiday where she saved his 90-year-old grandmother from a fire.

And Kate Winslet, 42, looked as loved-up as ever as she was spotted arriving at the airport with her husband Ned Rocknroll, 39, for a late flight out of New York City.

Stepping out on Monday with her man, the Titanic star looked effortlessly chic, banishing the cold in a two-tone pashmina scarf and grey beanie.

Rare sighting: Kate Winslet banished the cold weather in New York City with a two-tone scarf as she jetted off with husband Ned Rocknroll on Monday

Tucking her long blonde locks into the stylish hat and large scarf, Kate kept her make-up to a minimum and instead relied on her natural beauty for the excursion.

Ever the fashionista, the mother of three wrapped up warm in a sleet grey denim jacket which offset her dark shirt and trousers well as she walked out in a pair of dark ankle boots.

Kate's husband also opted for an equally casual look, as he donned a black coat over a crisp white shirt and jeans.

The nephew of Sir Richard Branson looked ruggedly handsome as his dark brown tresses were brushed messily to the side.

Stylish: Ever the fashionista, the mother of three wrapped up in a sleet grey denim jacket to offset her dark shirt and trousers which she paired with matching ankle boots

Ned, who wed Kate in an intimate ceremony in New York shortly before Christmas 2012, had previously been married before to British socialite Eliza Pearson and their union lasted two years.

The couple separated in April 2011 and applied for a divorce in June, in September of that year Ned told Eliza he was in a relationship with Winslet and the pair welcomed their first child together in December 2013.

The Titanic star had fallen for Ned during a trip to Necker in August 2011 despite arriving on the island with her on-off boyfriend model Louis Dowler and it was during this trip that Kate saved Sir Richard's 90-year-old mother from a fire.

Kate was with her two children Mia, 10, and Joe, seven, when she carried Richard's mother Eve downstairs, after his home on the island burned to the ground on August 22.

Blossoming romance: The Titanic star (here in 2012) had fallen for Ned during a trip to Necker in August 2011

Kate is set to team up with director James Cameron once again as the pair film the second movie in his epic science fiction tetralogy, Avatar 2.

The duo's first time working together was more than two decades ago when Winslet starred as Rose Dewitt Bukater alongside Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson in the film Titanic.

The blockbuster nearly swept the 1998 Academy Awards with 13 nominations and 10 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Music Score and Best Cinematography.
Lily-Rose Depp has reportedly split from her beau Ash Stymest.

According to Just Jared, the rising actress, 18, has parted ways from the British model other half 26 - who she dated for two years.

'LRD and Ash have decided to call it quits', a source told the publication.

'They have decided to call it quits': Lily-Rose Depp, 18, has reportedly split from her beau Ash Stymest, 26, after two years of dating

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Lily-Rose for comment.

Their romance first raised eyebrows given their eight-year age gap and the fact Lily was only 16 when their dating commenced.

The 6ft 1in male model has a five-year-old daughter Summer with ex-wife, Maille Doyle, whom he reportedly divorced in 2013.

Wasn't meant to be: Their romance first raised eyebrows given their eight-year age gap and the fact Lily was only 16 when their dating commenced

Ex: The 6ft1in male model has a five-year-old daughter Summer with ex-wife, Maille Doyle, whom he reportedly divorced in 2013

Lily is set to keep herself busy following the reported heartbreak as she continues to follow in her famous parents footsteps with a blossoming career in film and fashion.

The star made her film debut with a cameo role in Tusk in 2014 alongside her friend Harley Quinn Smith, her father Johnny Depp, and the film's director Kevin Smith.

It is no surprise Lily-Rose used her bilingual skills for her latest movie role in French film, Les Fauves.

Rising star: Lily is set to keep herself busy following the reported heartbreak as she continues to follow in her famous parents footsteps with a blossoming career in film and fashion

The film follows the story of a campsite where young people start to vanish without a trace

The blonde teen takes on the starring role of Laura alongside French actors Laurent Lafitte and Camille Cottin.

Her parents Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis first met while the Hollywood star was filming mystery thriller The Ninth Gate in France in 1998.

The couple, who also share son Jack, 15, were going strong for 14 years together before they went their separate ways for good in 2012.
Kendra Wilkinson's marriage is officially over.

The former Playboy playmate confirmed the news in a tearful Instagram video posted on Monday, saying: '10 years. I did everything I could. It wasn't good enough.

'I will always love him. My heart will always remain open for him. I believed in forever I really did. Guess it's just not meant to be. I'm so scared but I have to get strong for my kids. I will.'

Kendra Wilkinson has confirmed her split from husband Hank Baskett, whom she's been with for about a decade

Kendra, 32, then sent a heartfelt message to all who have had her back during this difficult time.

'Thank you to all my friends and family for supporting me at the moment. Every little ounce of love helps. Thank you.'

What do you need to know about Kendra Wilkinson and what is her net worth? Here's the scoop.

Who is Kendra Wilkinson?

Kendra Leigh Wilkinson was born on June 12, 1985 in San Diego, California. Her parents, Patti and Eric Wilkinson, married in 1983 and divorced 11 years later, in 1994.

After leaving high school, Kendra began a career as a model. In 2004, she was introduced to Hugh Hefner at his birthday party. Not long after they met, she was asked to be one of his girlfriends and live in the Playboy mansion.

Kendra spoke about her relationship with the Playboy Magazine founder while competing on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

Life is precious A post shared by Kendra Wilkinson Baskett (@kendra_wilkinson_baskett) on Apr 2, 2018 at 9:26am PDT

Asked whether she was 'obligated to sleep with him' or not, Kendra said: 'I moved in, and weeks went by, and I didn't know "sex" was involved...because I knew nothing about Playboy  I had just graduated high school.

'It's just like, "Do you want to come upstairs?" And it's like, "Sure, let's have fun."'

She added: 'He really looks at them as relationships, as real relationships.'

Her relationship with Hugh, who died September 27, 2017, and the other women dating him was chronicled in a reality series called The Girls Next Door.

Kendra left the Playboy mansion in 2009 after meeting Hank Baskett. E! gave her a spin-off reality show called Kendra, which focused on her living outside the mansion and planning her wedding.

The couple married in June 2009 at the Playboy Mansion. That same month, Kendra announced that she and her beau were expecting their first child together.

Kendra has gone on to write a book, called Sliding Into Home, she's competed on Dancing With the Stars, starred on a WE tv series called Kendra On Top, appeared on Marriage Bootcamp and Marriage Boot Camp: Family Edition and so much more.

Kendra Wilkinson net worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Kendra Wilkinson's net worth is $6 million (4.2 million).

How did Kendra Wilkinson make her money?

Kendra has made the majority of her money from modeling and reality TV. She's competed on shows, like Dancing With the Stars and I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and starred in shows of her own. She first appeared on the Girls Next Door spin-off, Kendra, on E!

In 2012, she landed a series called Kendra on Top, which aired on WE TV.

Kendra has also appeared on Marriage Boot Camp and Marriage Boot Camp: Family Edition.

Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett break up

Kendra Wilkinson announced the official end of her marriage to Hank Baskett on Monday, April 2, 2018. She did so in an Instagram video, in which she spoke to followers through tears.

This isn't the first time their marriage has been in trouble. In 2014, after learning that Hank Baskett had an affair with model Ava Sabrina London, Kendra allegedly flushed her wedding rings down the toilet.

Hank admitted to his infidelity in July 2015, telling People: 'I messed up. I put myself in a bad situation. And everything through me brought pain upon this family.'

It was alleged that he met a transgender couple in a grocery store parking lot where he was looking for marijuana. One of the people he met gave him a phone number to call.

He dialed the number and was given an address. When he arrived at the home, he used the restroom only to come out and find the transgender woman who answered the door kissing another transgender woman.

'I froze,' he said at the time.

Hank claimed he was fondled by the woman whom he met at the entrance to the home.

'I didn't engaged in anything,' he said. 'It was like a bank robbery. You never know when you'll freeze. I don't know if it was a couple of seconds or 15 seconds, because all I was saying was get out, get out, get out.'

A source told Us Weekly Kendra 'flipped out' when she found out, throwing their wedding photos in the pool and flushing her wedding ring.

After resolving their problems, Kendra was seen wearing a new wedding ring featuring a massive yellow diamond.

Speaking with Us on her decision to forgive her husband she said: 'All I can say is I believe Hank. I love Hank. And he's proven to me that he's worth forgiving and fighting for. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and unfortunate things took place. He's very gullible and naive.'

Kendra Wilkinson Hank Baskett kids

Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett have two children. The pair welcomed their first child, a boy, on December 11, 2009. He's called Hank Baskett IV.

Kendra was pregnant with their second child, a girl they named Alijah Mary Baskett, when her husband cheated on her. The child, now 3 years old, was born May 16, 2014.

Happy Easter  A post shared by Kendra Wilkinson Baskett (@kendra_wilkinson_baskett) on Apr 1, 2018 at 10:39am PDT

Hank Baskett net worth 2018

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Hank Baskett's net worth is $3.5 million (2.4m).
She has strutted down the runways in New York, Paris, London and Milan, walking in an incredible 22 shows in the first three months of 2018.

And following her short relaxing Miami holiday, Kaia Gerber, 16, was seen arriving in Paris to continue with her modelling work commitments on Tuesday.

The teen model, who was among the most-booked models during this year's Fashion Week season earlier this year, looked a little weary as she resumed with her exciting career.

Back to work! Kaia Gerber, 16, was seen arriving in Paris on Tuesday to continue with her modelling work commitments following a short relaxing Miami holiday

The star, who is signed to IMG Models, dressed her 5ft9in frame in a green and black panel bomber and black mom jeans.

The daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and Casamigos tequila co-founder Rande Gerber completed her look with a pair of comfortable trainers.

Kaia, who boasts 3.3M followers, sported a simple slick of make-up and propped her shades up on her centre-parted brunette mane.

Star: The teen, who walked in a staggering 44 shows for the Fashion Week season earlier this year, made a trendy display as she resumed with her exciting career

Time to chill: Kaia enjoyed a short break in the Miami sunshine with friends and family and has now headed back to Paris for work

Star: The teen, who walked in a staggering 44 shows for the Fashion Week season earlier this year, made a trendy display as she resumed with her exciting career

The brunette looked fresh-faced for her Parisian venture, despite a hectic start of the year which has seen her cement her status as the model to watch.

The LA born star has walked for high-profile designers such as Chanel, Calvin Klein, Miu Miu, Chloe, Valentino, Isabel Marant and more this year alone.

She enjoyed a short break in the Miami sunshine with friends and family and has now headed back to Paris for work.

Kaia has also just seen the release of her new campaign for designer Marc Jacobs' $102 fragrance Daisy Love shot last year by Alasdair McLellan in her native Malibu.

Model of the moment: The LA born star has walked for 22 high-profile shows alone this year - such as Chanel (L) and Calvin Klein (R)

According to WWD, Gerber will design her first-ever capsule collection with none other than Karl Lagerfeld, and their fashion line hits stores globally in September.

Speaking on how she juggles life as a student and international model, Kaia told Harper's Bazaar in January: 'I usually use the afternoon to catch up on homework.

'I'm completing my diploma at Malibu High through an online program, and it's difficult to get much done during the week, as the Wi-Fi on planes is really annoying.

'My favourite class this year is AP Calculus because I just like math. It's definitely super hard to teach yourself derivatives, though!'

Perfume ad: Kaia has also just seen the release of her new campaign for designer Marc Jacobs' $102 fragrance Daisy Love shot last year by Alasdair McLellan in her native Malibu




He joined Aisling Bea, Kadeena Cox and Teri Hatcher in the famous tent for a charity edition of the beloved baking series.

But Alan Carr proved to be the star of The Great Celebrity Bake Off on Tuesday night, thanks to his witty one-liners and carefree attitude towards his disastrous bakes.

The comedian, 41, was seen wildly celebrating his 'edible' muffins, before he accidentally whisked his cellophane while attempting to create a rainbow cake for the Show Stopper - leading viewers to brand him 'comedy gold' on Twitter.

Hilarious: Alan Carr proved to be the star of The Great Celebrity Bake Off on Tuesday night, thanks to his witty one-liners and care-free attitude to his disastrous bakes

What have I done? The comedian, 41, was seen wildly celebrating his bland but 'edible' muffins, before accidentally whisking cellophane while attempting to create a rainbow cake

The show kicked off with the foursome baking a batch of twelve savoury or sweet muffins for their Signature Challenge.

Teri whipped up a very American 'biscuits and gravy' muffin, including bacon, chorizo and cheesy sauce  with Alan kicking the hilarity off by joking British people dont even get such luxurious ingredients in the UK.

The comedian himself decided to make apple and pecan muffins, but joked about his short recipe and apparent lack of effort compared to his co-stars, and was scolded by the judges for not adding any extra toppings.

Dream team: Alan joined Aisling Bea, Kadeena Cox and Teri Hatcher (L-R) in the famous tent for a charity episode - with the foursome kicking things off with a muffin challenge

Awkward: The comedian himself decided to make apple and pecan muffins, but joked about his short recipe and apparent lack of effort compared to his co-stars

Aisling turned her hand to chocolate and stout muffins, complete with white foam top made of icing, while Kadeena attempted Bakewell Tart muffins, as her fathers favourite dessert.

However things soon started to go wrong for the contestants - although Alan's upbeat attitude towards his bake immediately delighted viewers.

The Chatty Man host changed his cakes title to Apple and Pecan Surprise, to cover his back if they go wrong, before commenting that Teris looked like a squashed full English breakfast.

Carefree: The Chatty Man host later changed his cakes title to Apple and Pecan Surprise, to cover his back if they go wrong

Helping hand: Aisling struggled to finish her batch of stout muffins in time, the comedian proceeded to come to her aid and help her with the icing

Bored: Alan hilariously offered to help, having made himself a cup of tea with all his spare time at the end of the challenge

Bad to worse: The comedienne was forced to serve her muffins under-baked and leaking out of their cupcake cases, but she and Alan could not help but giggle at the unfortunate situation

While Aisling struggled to finish her batch in time, the comedian proceeded to come to her aid and help her with the icing  having hilariously made himself a cup of tea with all his spare time.

The comedienne was forced to serve her muffins under-baked and leaking out of their cupcake cases, but she and Alan could not help but giggle at the unfortunate situation.

Teri eventually reigned victorious in the challenge, with her muffins were deemed heavenly and divine by Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood  before the master baker even gave her one of his coveted handshakes.

'Heavenly': Teri eventually reigned victorious in the challenge, and even received one of Paul's coveted handshakes

I did it! The actress could not contain her delight at the event

While the judges said Alans creations were dry and bland but edible in a disappointment, Alan shrieked with delight in shock at his mild success.

Aislings muffin mix proved delicious, however her batch was under-baked and her hideous piping was commented on by the judges.

Yet, in her usually witty style, she forced Paul into giving her a handshake by grabbing his hand on the table, leaving the tent in stitches.

Amazed: While the judges said Alans creations were dry and bland but edible in a disappointment, Alan shrieked with delight in shock at his mild success

Still proud: Aislings muffin mix proved delicious, however her batch was under-baked and her hideous piping was commented on by the judges

I did it! Yet, in her usually witty style, she forced Paul into giving her a handshake by grabbing his hand on the table, leaving the tent in stitches

Champion: She proceeded to storm around the tent with her hands up in celebration

Next was the dreaded Technical challenge  revealed to be a custard pie, with shortcrust pastry base and whipped cream decoration.

A clueless Alan was forced to ask rival Teri how to make the custard, while Aislings mix curdled to resemble scrambled egg, forcing her to start again - twice.

The Desperate Housewives star proved to be talented in the kitchen as she steamed ahead of her co-stars, and effortlessly piped the cream on top in good time, before helping Kadeena with her soggy pie.

Round two: Next was the dreaded Technical challenge  revealed to be a custard pie, with shortcrust pastry base and whipped cream decoration

Advice: A clueless Alan was forced to ask rival Teri how to make the custard, while Aislings mix curdled to resemble scrambled egg, forcing her to start again - twice

Desperate times: Just wanting to get his creation finished however, a panicky Alan simply slathered the cream on top, causing hosts Sandi and Noel to laugh

Just wanting to get their creations finished however, a panicky Alan and Aisling simply slathered the cream on top, causing hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding to laugh as they placed their pies down for judging.

As expected, Teri placed in first, followed by a surprised Alan in second, Aisling and lastly Kadeena.

Gasping in shock, Alan went on to joke: Well I was hoping for first!

Final ranking: As expected, Teri placed in first, followed by a surprised Alan in second, Aisling and lastly Kadeena

Not impressed: Gasping in shock, Alan went on to joke: Well I was hoping for first!

Lastly, the group had to make a multi-coloured Rainbow sponge in three and a half hours, for the notoriously challenging Show Stopper.

The project was a disaster for Alan from the off  who attempted to whisk his butter in the mixer alongside the cellophane, resulting in an almighty clunk in the tent.

Only adding to the hilarity, he later commented his red icing was to be bright, bold, colourful and thick, like me!

When faced by Prue and Paul, he revealed he took the theme literally, and was decorating his cake with the famous characters of Rainbow, as well as a figurine of himself.

Whoops: Lastly, the group had to make a multi-coloured Rainbow sponge - and the project was a disaster for Alan from the off who accidentally whisked his cellophane

Mistake: The incident resulted in an almighty clunk in the tent

What am I doing! Alan laughed at his own ridiculousness as he continued making his cake

Poking fun: Only adding to the hilarity, he later commented his red icing was to be bright, bold, colourful and thick, like me!

Teris cake was inspired by Kangaroo Island in Australia, and featured a double rainbow sponge  complete with a whopping 48 eggs  and a striking pale blue mirror glaze to represent the sea.

Meanwhile Aisling used the rainbow motif as a symbol for worldwide Pride, and made her cake a symbol for the LGBT community.

Wrapping up the impressive bakes was Kadeena, who styled her creation like a gold medal-winning unicorn, complete with multi-coloured buttercream and a gold surprise inside.

Slick: Teris cake was inspired by Kangaroo Island in Australia, and featured a double rainbow sponge  complete with a whopping 48 eggs  and a striking pale blue mirror glaze

Inspired: Meanwhile Aisling used the rainbow motif as a symbol for worldwide Pride, and made her cake a symbol for the LGBT community

As the challenge approached its end, Alan realised he was miles away from finishing or creating a slick cake  resulting in him breaking down into tears of laughter, and leading Noel to playfully slap his Rainbow figurines on top.

Against all odds, Alans cake received applause from the judges for its coloured layers, but quipped he was annoyed at how surprised they were with this result.

However, the comedians creation was soon revealed to be hugely over-baked, with the entire cast erupting into giggles as Paul discovered he could snap the sponge.

Hilarious: As the challenge approached its end, Alan realised he was miles away from finishing or creating a slick cake  resulting in him breaking down into tears of laughter

Finished product: Against all odds, Alans cake received applause from the judges for its coloured layers, but quipped he was annoyed at how surprised they were with this result

Having stormed ahead throughout, Teri was of course crowned Star Baker, and awarded the coveted charity Bake Off apron.

Viewers immediately took to Twitter to express their love for the comedian - branding his attitude 'comedy gold', and claiming he made the episode the best of the charity specials yet.

One kicked things off by writing: 'Obviously Terri is killing it, but I think we can all agree that we'd love Alan to sweep in and take Star Baker'

While others added: 'Can't deal with Alan Carr', 'Loving the jeopardy of Alan Carr baking' and 'Alan cracks me up', accompanied by a series of laughing emojis.

'Comedy gold': Alan's display was branded 'comedy gold' by viewers

Another chimed in: 'Alan Carr is one of my favourite people on Earth, even more so when seeing him bake his muffins in 20p cake cases'

As another even called for him to have his own baking show, writing: 'Alan Carr Chatty Man needs his own baking show. Comedy gold. I'd watch every week.'

A further fan branded Alan, Lee Mack and Nick Hewer the funniest celebrities of the series, writing: 'Could you imagine #gbbo with Nick, Lee and Alan? There wouldn't be a dry eye in any house. I've been in hysterics for the last 3 weeks!'

The four celebrities were taking part in the Bake Off in order to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer with Channel 4.
She's the big screen siren who has carved out a highly successful Hollywood career.

And French actress Lea Seydoux showed off her flair for fashion as she stepped out for the Isle of Dogs premiere in Paris on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old former Bond Girl flaunted her endless legs in her ultra-chic black miniskirt, with decadent gold accents to ramp up the glamour.

Red carpet ready: Lea Seydoux, 32, flaunted her impeccable pins in a chic black mini skirt at the Isle Of Dogs red carpet in Paris on Tuesday

Lea injected a pop of bright colour to the carpet with her vibrant yellow pastel silk blouse, with an elegant pussy bow feature.

The Inglorious Basterds star perfectly co-ordinated her ensemble with a matching black military jacket draped effortlessly across her shoulders.

Lea elongated her statuesque frame with retro black strapped block heels, while polishing off the look with a classic black faux-snake skin box clutch.

Sultry: Lea injected a pop of bright colour to the carpet with her vibrant yellow pastel silk blouse, with an elegant pussy bow feature

Letting sartorial elegance get all the attention, the Parisian beauty left the glitzy jewellery at home with only decadent gold earrings for extra shimmer.

Lea's cropped golden tresses formed a soft curl, while a rich red lip accented her natural beauty.

The screen queen is also mum to one-year-old George who she shares with boyfriend Andre Meyer.

Walk this way: The Inglorious Bastards star perfectly co-ordinated her ensemble with a matching black militaristic jacket draped effortlessly across her shoulders

Speaking to The Guardian before welcoming George into the world, Lea - who is one of seven children - revealed: 'I've always dreamed of being a mother. But I am happy it came now because before I think I was not ready.

'I would have loved to have had kids when I was young, but I think I was too dark.'

Despite raising a child with boyfriend Andre, Lea said she's in no rush to get married.

Lea said in 2014 that they're in no rush, adding: 'I never believed in marriage, but now I'm in love, I think maybe,' she previously said.

Parisian beauty: Lea's cropped golden tresses formed a soft curl, while a rich red lip accented her natural beauty

'We still need to believe in thingswe need discipline. I don't believe in the religious side, but as a civil actyes. But I don't really care about marriage.'

Lea previously played Bond girl Madeleine Swann in the latest James Bond film Spectre.

The BAFTA nominee will next share the screen with Colin Firth in the English-language French-Belgian thriller Kursk, based on the true story of the 2000 Kursk submarine disaster.
They've been celebrating the Easter holiday alongside the Hemsworth family in Byron Bay, Australia as of late.

And Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso were enjoying every moment of their beach getaway as they hit the surf with their children and close friends on Tuesday.

Luciana looked absolutely incredible as she strolled barefoot on the sand in her string bikini with a wide-brim hat over her head alongside her husband, 47.

Life's a beach! Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso were enjoying every moment of their beach getaway to Byron Bay, Australia, as they hit the surf with their children on Tuesday

The couple were clearly having the time of their life as they hit the surf with their children and Chris Hemsworth, his wife Elsa Pataky, and their little ones.

Matt and Luciana, who have daughters Alexia, Isabella, 11, Gia, nine, and Stella, seven, together, were seen hitting the beach with three of their girls.

The family man doted on his daughters as they surrounded him by the waves.

The actor couldn't have looked happier as he played by the beach with his loved ones.

His girls: Damon doted on his daughters as his family gathered around him

Gather around! The couple's daughters were clearly enjoying the fun-filled beach day

Fun in the sun: Damon tossed a ball he made out of sand onto the coast

From body surfing to playing with the sand, the A-list actor was enjoying every moment of his fun-filled family getaway.

Matt swam through the waves with his lady love close by his side.

Aside from spending quality time with their children, the couple also played around with Matt and Elsa's sons.

Hello sunshine: Damon grabbed his surfboard as he strolled barefoot on the beach

The families appeared to be making little balls from sand, which they tossed back onto the ground.

Matt even looked to be helping one of Matt's children, as he happily padded the sand into place as the youngster held out his hand.

The actor and his family have been in Australia as of late, celebrating the Easter holiday with Chris and his family.

Making waves! Damon enjoyed some body surfing as his wife hit the waves

Aww! The family man also played with Chris' children

The American couple recently sparked rumours they are considering a permanent move to Byron Bay because he disagrees with US President Donald Trump's policies.

'Matt's telling friends and colleagues in Hollywood that he's moving the family to Australia for a year,' an insider told The New York Posts's Page Six last month.

'Matt's saying the move will not impact his work  as he will travel to wherever his projects are shooting. He's also telling friends he wants to have a safe place to raise his kids.'

A spokesperson for Matt Damon denied the report to The Associated Press, without confirming the actor's political views.

'He's not moving out of the U.S.,' the rep said.
The federal government insists it has been vindicated over its past decision to delay increasing the superannuation guarantee as Labor toys with fast-tracking the trajectory.

In 2012 the Gillard Labor government moved to increase the superannuation guarantee from nine per cent incrementally to 12 per cent by 2019.

The Abbott government froze the guarantee at 9.5 per cent in the 2014 budget and aimed to get to 12 per cent by 2025.

Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar doesn't think increasing the superannuation guarantee early would necessarily be a popular move because of tight household budgets and flat wages growth.

"We've been vindicated that it was absolutely the right decision - for every dollar you increase in superannuation guarantee that's a dollar less you've got today," he told Sky News.

Asked if the government was seeking to delay the increase to 12 per cent again, Mr Sukkar responded: "with a very strong economy we're moving into an environment that maybe we can manage it."

The May federal budget is expected to reaffirm the government's intention to lift the super guarantee from 9.5 per cent to 10 per cent in 2021.

Meanwhile, Labor is considering applying the superannuation guarantee to the government-funded parental leave scheme to help address an imbalance in women's retirement savings.

Mr Sukkar questioned how the opposition would fund it.
A man accused of making an explosive device that was found in a Queensland shopping centre car park on Monday has been remanded in custody.

Cvjetin Ivkovic did not appear in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Tuesday after he was charged with 17 offences, including four counts of manufacturing an explosive device.

The 37-year-old was remanded in custody until April 20, and a 31-year-old woman with Ivkovic at the Redbank Plains shopping centre is yet to have her case heard, but she is not facing explosive charges.
Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy is unrepentant about sending two of his MPs back into parliament to vote against a controversial government fire services bill on Good Friday, after they asked to be excused for religious reasons.

Upper house Liberal MPs Bernie Finn and Craig Ondarchie were each granted a pair - meaning an opposite MP would abstain from voting - but returned to the Legislative Council at the 11th hour to help vote down the legislation.

"All of my MPs, I expected to be there," Mr Guy told reporters on Tuesday.
More than 50 dodgy family day care providers have been busted for fraud, over-charging and providing false documents.

The Child Care Enforcement Action Register has been updated to include 53 providers around the country who have had their access to government subsidies cancelled or suspend.

They got caught fraudulently obtaining payments when they weren't entitled and making false documents.

"Those dodgy family day care providers who circumvent the rules no longer have anywhere to hide," Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said on Tuesday.

"We've introduced new integrity measures and ramped up compliance checks to over 3800 per year.

"It's clear our action is weeding out those looking to take advantage of families and rip off taxpayers."

The government says the crackdown, which involves an online register, has saved $1.8 billion since 2014.
US President Donald Trump has confirmed his attendance at a regional leaders summit in Port Moresby at the end of the year, it has been reported.

The Papua New Guinean capital is hosting 21 leaders from Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation member countries, including Australia, for meetings in mid-November.

The White House has confirmed Mr Trump's attendance, the PNG Post Courier reports.

In a separate letter, Mr Trump expressed condolences to PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill following February's deadly earthquake in the Highlands region which killed more than 100 people.

Australia will help PNG with the summit's logistics and security arrangements and will chip in about a third of the cost.

Last year, the Turnbull government allocated $48 million in funding to extend the presence of 73 federal police officers in PNG until after the November summit.
A woman has been repeatedly stabbed with a pair of scissors in a serious assault in Alice Springs.

The 28-year-old was walking with a friend near the North Stuart Highway on Saturday night when she was attacked by a man who got out of a car.

The woman remains in the Alice Springs Hospital in a stable condition while her alleged attacker was arrested and charged with causing serious harm, aggravated assault and other offences and will appear in court on Tuesday.
The head of WA's corruption watchdog concedes there some low morale exists among staff, but rejects suggestions the organisation is beset by a crisis.

A senior Corruption and Crime Commission staff member-turned-whistleblower claimed personnel "churn" was dragging out investigations, while internal figures showed 70 per cent of employees wouldn't recommend working there, according to a media report on Monday.

Commissioner John McKechnie told 6PR radio on Tuesday the whistleblower was a disgruntled, whingeing employee who hadn't "cut the mustard" and there was nothing wrong within the CCC.
Russia's ambassador says Australia's media is "disgraceful" for its coverage of the expulsion of two Russian spies in Canberra over the Skripal poisoning in the UK.

Grigory Logvinov spent almost an hour talking to reporters in Canberra last week, denying Russia was involved with the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

His comments made front page news, but Mr Logvinov has lashed out at reporters who he says humiliated themselves by asking about the poisoning.

"There is no real evidence of the Russian involvement in poisoning of the Skripals," Mr Logvinov said in a statement on Tuesday.

"It was verified once again during the press conference, when the journalists put forward just repetitions of the unfounded accusations and personal attacks (first of all, humiliating for themselves) against all my reasonable arguments."

The ambassador was unhappy as being described as "increasingly Soviet-Red in complexion", a "Bond villain meets Lowes catalogue", and the description of Russians as famously blunt.

"In the 'wild' Russia, such statements would trigger criminal prosecution as the deliberate incitement of discord between different ethnic groups," Mr Logvinov's statement said.

The two Canberra-based diplomats have left Australia, while Russia has expelled two Australian diplomats in return.

Britain has expelled 23 Russians, the US 60 and France and Germany four.
Soil from the farthest corners of NSW, where diggers signed up to fight in World War I, has been transported to Sydney as part of the Anzac Memorial Centenary Project.

About 1600 glass jars filled with red, brown or sandy-coloured dirt from suburbs and towns all across the state will be displayed as part of a moving artwork to honour WWI soldiers.

The Anzac soil collection will be housed at the renovated Hall of Service in Sydney's Hyde Park - which opens later this year - with each jar placed alongside the name of the town from where the dirt was collected.

The memory of those who served their country more than a century ago remains alive in the outback town of Brewarrina, near Bourke, where the locals still talk with pride and honour about the indigenous soldiers who rushed off to war in 1914.

NSW Veterans Affairs Minister David Elliott says when he was collecting soil in the small township he was approached by a group of indigenous locals eager to talk about their great-grandfathers.

Many of the stories, however, have a sad ending. Indigenous soldiers were often segregated from other diggers after they returned to Australia.

"When they came back to the town they had been prepared to sacrifice their lives for (many) thought they weren't good enough to sit in the front bar to have a beer with soldiers that they served with," Mr Elliott told AAP on Tuesday.

"Back in the day, the bar was separated in two, and the Aborigines had to drink in the back bar and only the whitefellas in the front. It was tragic to hear."

About 165,000 people from NSW signed up to fight in WWI.

Of the 420,000 Australians who fought in the Great War about 38 men died on average each of the 1560 days of battle, according to Australian War Memorial.

This year marks 100 years since the Armistice was signed on November 11 in 1918.
Senior minister Christopher Pyne expects three Labor MPs to resign if the High Court rules against Katy Gallagher in her citizenship case.

A decision on the ACT Labor senator's eligibility to sit in the Senate is expected soon.

Mr Pyne said Labor MPs Josh Wilson, Justine Keay and Susan Lamb were in similar situations.

"If Katy Gallagher is ruled out by the High Court, you would assume those three would resign from the parliament and there would be by-elections in those seats," Mr Pyne told Sky News on Tuesday.

Mr Pyne said if Labor didn't force the MPs to resign the government would examine whether they should be referred.

"I don't think we'll get to that point ... I'm sure they will themselves come to the sensible conclusion," he said.

The Gallagher case was heard on March 14, but the court reserved its decision.
Australia is chipping in an extra $3 million in assistance to Yemen, which the United Nations has dubbed the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The war between a Saudi-led military coalition and Yemen's Shi'ite rebels is entering its fourth year.

More than 22 million or 80 per cent of the population needs humanitarian assistance.

More than 10,000 civilians have died.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said continued hostilities have limited food, fuel and medicine distributions, crippling basic services and undermining economic development.

The world's worst outbreak of cholera to date, last year, affected one million Yemenis and diphtheria is now on the rise.

Ms Bishop said the Australian assistance would go towards food and nutrition, support for malnourished children, health care and access to clean water.

It would treat 16,000 children under five for severe acute malnutrition, vaccinate over 320,000 children against polio and provide 335,000 people access to drinking water.

Australia's contribution to the crisis has totalled $23 million since April 2017.
A former NSW Scout leader accused of sexually abusing nine boys over a 23-year period will remain under virtual house arrest after a judge refused to remand him in custody.

Mario Henry Aliverti, 58, was charged in July 2016 with 11 sex offences involving three boys, but since then has been accused of further crimes.

He's now facing a total of 81 charges involving nine boys.

Aliverti has been on strict bail whereby he can only leave his residence in the company of either his wife or his daughter. He also has to report to police daily.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday, Justice David Davies refused a crown application for the 58-year-old to be detained.

Prosecutors argued he should be behind bars given the increased number of serious charges and complainants.

The latest alleged offence occurred in 2008 while most allegations relate to the 1980s and 1990s.

The charges include indecent assault, homosexual intercourse with a child and gross indecency with a person aged 10 to 18 years.

But Justice Davies noted that Aliverti had complied with his bail conditions for the past 20 months.

He concluded the crown's concerns about Aliverti posing a risk to the community and to individuals had been - and would continue to be - met by the bail conditions in circumstances where the last alleged offence occurred a decade ago.

The case will be back in Campbelltown Local Court for mention on April 18.
Key details related to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's decision to grant visas on public interest grounds to two au pairs in 2015 must continue to be suppressed for privacy reasons, a tribunal has ruled.

In the first case, an au pair whose visa was cancelled at Brisbane's international airport in June 2015 was able to make a phone call and within a couple of hours Mr Dutton approved a new visa using his ministerial discretion powers.

In November the same year, Mr Dutton defied written warnings from his department that granting a visitors visa to a second au pair was of "high risk" because she had been previously counselled about work restrictions.

Over the past two years, Mr Dutton's department had been trying to suppress key details of the cases and the reasons underpinning the decisions.

Mr Dutton insists he doesn't know the two individuals involved and that they didn't work for his family, but said it would have been inappropriate for them to be deported.

The minister's office still refuses to answer specific questions about the identity of the au pairs' employers.

Australian Associated Press sought access to details surrounding the cases under freedom of information laws, but documents supplied in 2016 were heavily blacked out because of privacy provisions.

The case went to Administrative Appeals Tribunal last month and member, Chris Puplick, a former Liberal senator, on Tuesday afternoon dismissed AAP's case.

"There is no basis for any suggestion of improper or irregular behaviour on the part of the Minister of the department," Mr Puplick said, adding that it was mere speculation and no basis for the case to succeed on public interest grounds.

AAP's lawyer Surya Palaniappan had argued the minister's "broad and largely unfettered discretion" only served to increase the public interest in terms of finding out how it was exercised.

Mr Puplick acknowledged the statements to parliament regarding visas granted with ministerial discretions had become "essentially formulaic" and reveal almost nothing of the minister's thinking in individual cases.

But he said legislation in effect imposed no greater obligation than to report the numbers.

He said releasing the full documents would be granting access to "personal information" in a way that makes the individuals "reasonably identifiable".

"The visa grantees are most likely to have left Australia by this stage, although they are still entitled to protection of their privacy," he said.

Mr Puplick did not agree with AAP's argument that the au pairs' employers should be named on public interest grounds.

He said the information would contain highly sensitive material about the individuals and how Australian Border Force operates.

"I give no weight to the argument that there is some overriding or overwhelming public interest to be served by releasing further information," he said.

"Exactly how far this slippery concept of 'public interest' extends is a matter of endless and ongoing debate."
One of Australia's biggest chicken suppliers has been placed into voluntary administration with hundreds of jobs likely to be lost.

Red Lea Chickens was on March 29 placed into voluntary administration with the company saying on its website its financial position means there's "no alternative" but to wind-down operations.

A meeting was reportedly held by administrators at the Blacktown processing plant on Tuesday where hundreds of employees of the family-owned business - which has been operating since 1957 - learned of their fate.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is considering "several" applications from South African farmers for refugee or humanitarian status in Australia.

Mr Dutton says the government has not gone back his comments last month that persecuted white farmers need protection from a "civilised country" like Australia.

The denial comes after South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister Lindiwe Sisulu welcomed a "retraction" from Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop.

Mr Dutton said on Tuesday he'd seen a letter from Ms Bishop to Ms Sisulu but it contained no suggestions of repudiation or retraction.

"I'm not sure what domestic issues are at play in terms of the politics in South Africa that would bring this comment out but it's not based on any factual statement of anyone within the Australian government," he told Sky News.

Mr Dutton said the government's position was "as I stated it a couple of weeks ago" - that the refugee and humanitarian program was available to eligible people, with cases considered on an individual basis.

"And in fact we're having a look at several now," he said.

Mr Dutton also said at the time that farmers deserved "special attention" because they faced violence and land seizures.
Controversial Sydney businessman Salim Mehajer will remain behind bars for at least one more night as he waits for his bail application to be processed.

The 31-year-old won his freedom in the NSW Supreme Court last Thursday after a two-month stint in jail but his release from Silverwater jail has been delayed partly due to the Easter long weekend.

AAP understands paperwork was lodged on Tuesday but more documents are needed before Mehajer can be released. He's now likely to be released on bail on Wednesday.

Justice Desmond Fagan on Thursday imposed strict conditions for his release - including a $200,000 surety.

The former Auburn deputy mayor will also have to report to Bankstown police station twice daily, not leave the state of NSW and not go within 500 metres of Sydney airport.

He has been in prison since January after being charged with perverting the course of justice for allegedly staging a car accident on his way to face assault charges.

Mehajer subsequently pleaded guilty to the assault offences and was placed on a good behaviour bond.

Justice Fagan noted it was not likely he would stand trial on criminal charges until late 2019 and was unlikely to be sentenced to more than 18 months in jail if found guilty.

The court was told last week that Mehajer had been charged with a new count of perverting the course of justice for allegedly providing fraudulent letters in a bail application at Burwood Local Court earlier in March.
HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY ON THIS DATE

1406 - King Robert III of Scotland dies and is succeeded by James I, who was being held prisoner by the English.

1581 - Francis Drake arrives back in England after circumnavigating the globe and is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I on board his ship, the Golden Hind.

1611 - Denmark's King Christian IV declares war on Sweden.

1617 - John Napier, Scottish mathematician who invented the concept of logarithms, dies.

1818 - US Congress decides the American flag will consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union.

1844 - Germany occupies South-West Africa, Togoland and Cameroons.

1883 - State Premier Thomas McIlwraith claims British New Guinea as a Queensland possession; the claim is later disallowed by Britain.

1905 - An earthquake strikes the province of Lahore, then part of India, killing 19,000 people.

1912 - Chinese republic is proclaimed in Tibet.

1929 - Fourteen die when a dam on the Cascade River, Tasmania, bursts and floods the town of Derby.

1932 - US researcher Professor CG King of Pittsburgh isolates vitamin C for the first time.

1949 - NATO is founded when the North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington.

1964 - The Beatles set a record by having all of the top five US singles at the same time.

1968 - US civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

1975 - About 155 children die when a US Air Force transport plane carrying Vietnamese orphans crashes on take-off from Saigon.

1979 - Pakistan's former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, ousted by the military in a coup 21 months earlier, is hanged.

1983 - The US space shuttle Challenger roars into orbit on its maiden flight.

1994 - Serbs launch major attack on besieged Muslim enclave Gorazde.

1996 - A military judge in Rome orders former Nazi SS Captain Erich Priebke to stand trial for his role in the massacre of 335 civilians in World War II.

1999 - NATO warplanes and missiles attack an army headquarters, oil refineries and other targets in Yugoslavia.

2001 - Sudan's defence minister and 14 other military officials are killed when their plane crashes on takeoff.

2003 - US forces seize control of Baghdad's Saddam International Airport and rename it Baghdad International.

2006 - Women make history in Kuwait by voting and running for office for the first time in a local by-election.

2007 - Restrictions on cross-media and foreign ownership rules are lifted in Australia.

2010 - Nine miners are pulled to safety after spending more than a week trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern China.

2013 - Chris Bailey, bass player for Australian band The Angels, dies aged 62 after fighting throat cancer.

2017 - The Australian Electoral Commission is asked to investigate whether Pauline Hanson's One Nation breached financial disclosure laws after it emerged donated money was used to buy a light aircraft.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Grinling Gibbons, English sculptor (1648-1721); Max Dupain, Australian photographer (1911-1992); Muddy Waters, US blues musician (1913-1983); Marguerite Duras, French writer (1914-1996); Anthony Perkins, US actor (1932-1992); Christine Lahti, US actress (1950-); Hugo Weaving, Australian actor (1960-); Robert Downey Jr, US actor (1965-); Sam Moran, Australian children's entertainer (1978-); Heath Ledger, Australian actor (1979-2008); Grumpy Cat, US internet-celebrity feline (2012-).

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

You can kill a man but you can't kill an idea. - Medgar Evers, murdered American civil rights activist (1926-1963).
Despite carrying his worst-ever world ranking into the Masters, former champion Adam Scott has warned critics to write him off at their own peril this year.

Scott will tee off in his 17th Masters as world No.60 this week, but the 2013 winner has never entered Augusta ranked in the 50s.

It is his worst ranking at the Masters since debuting in 2002, when Scott was 48th.

But the 37-year-old Australian is confident his winning experience at Augusta will help him feature on the leaderboard.

"I think any past champion could be dangerous around here," Scott told AAP.

He also pointed to the fact he beat 2009 Masters winner Angel Cabrera in the 2013 play-off when the Argentine was in his 40s.

"Angel always looks great at Augusta ... we've also seen (60-year-old) Bernhard Langer contend and Fred Couples play well into his 50s.

"You have to give (winning) some value at Augusta, but I still have to go out and do it."

Scott is showing signs of rediscovering his world-class ball-striking, ranking 15th on the US PGA Tour for approach play.

The Queenslander says watching video highlights of his green jacket win for the first time in years has him fired up as he chases a second career major title.

"I watched that play-off last week for the first time in a really long time," Scott said.

"It's instantly emotional and still feels really close by ... that was fun to watch.

"I took some good stuff out of that for this week; my intensity level was where you've got to take yourself to be competitive here."

Scott downplayed the theory good form is necessary to win the Masters.

He pointed to the fact he had won twice in the lead-up to the 2016 edition but recorded his worst Masters result (tie for 42nd) since missing the cut in 2009.

"Form is nice obviously, would Bubba Watson be feeling a little more confident going to Augusta? Probably," Scott said.

"You'd have to think 2016 was going to be my best result given my form, but that was my one of my worst results.

"It's about peaking and I have planned everything to peak at Augusta and my game is feeling sharp."
Coastal communities are being warned of wilder weather caused by Tropical Cyclone Iris, ahead of the erratic system's predicted weakening on Thursday.

Officials on Tuesday urged Whitsundays residents to leave their homes as forecasters warned of its potential to form into a category three on Wednesday.

Parts of Queensland hit by Tropical Cyclone Debbie just a year ago are among those in the firing line of Iris, which on Tuesday was some 365km north of Mackay and moving down the coast.

People between Bowen and St Lawrence, including Mackay, were also told to secure boats and property ahead of strong winds.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was updated on the situation as she chaired a meeting of the Queensland Disaster Management Committee on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

"No matter what community gets impacted we are all here to help," she said.

State Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford said conditions were expected to be less severe than Tropical Cyclone Debbie.

"We believe it's going to sit around the Whitsunday region for a couple of days and then head further out to sea," he said.

Residents of Cairns and Townsville, which will host Commonwealth Games events later this week, appear to be in the clear, but are being urged to keep a close watch.

A watch zone is in place from St Lawrence to Yeppoon.
The wrongful imprisonment of a cognitively impaired Aboriginal man over the manslaughter of Joshua Warneke is the focus of a review to be handed down by Western Australia's corruption watchdog.

Mr Gibson, who is from the remote desert community of Kiwirrkurra, was serving seven-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty to fatally striking the 21-year-old from behind as he walked home from a night out in Broome in 2010.

But his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal last year after he served almost five years behind bars.

In a previous report, the Corruption and Crime Commission made several recommendations, including that people not proficient in English have the assistance of an interpreter when dealing with police.

Commissioner John McKechnie said the CCC would on Wednesday hand down a review of its recommendations, including how police had responded to them.

The search for Mr Warneke's killer continues.
Legal groups will stand on the steps of the Victorian parliament to call on the state government to overhaul Victoria Police's complaints system, with revelations of police brutality.

It comes as Victoria's anti-corruption commission moves to investigate a group of police officers caught on camera pinning down and beating a Melbourne disability pensioner in September before spraying him with capsicum spray at his home in Preston - which was caught on CCTV.

More CCTV video emerged on Tuesday night of a police officer throwing nine punches to the head, neck and back of a Sudanese-born Melbourne man at a Preston chemist, The Age reports.

The vision also shows an officer kneeling on the 23-year-old before he is kicked in the head and hit with a baton then stomped on his back, with the vision showing four officers in total.

The man, who was having a psychotic episode, had reportedly been trying to rob the chemist when a civilian restrained him at the back of the store before police took over in February 2016.

Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said on Tuesday he was very concerned by the security footage obtained by The Age and shared with the ABC.

It was not police practice to stand down officers when a complaint was made, he said.

Any decision regarding the officers would follow the outcome of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission's investigation.

Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday he had not watched the footage of the incident at the pensioner's home.

"Victoria Police, as the nation's best police force, conduct themselves with professionalism and are in my experience proportionate to the risks that they face," he said.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy labelled John's case "abhorrent" saying it highlighted the need for a better police complaints system as "all Victorians will be outraged by it".

Last week's IBAC report found Victoria Police failed to adequately manage conflicts of interests, consider human rights and examine relevant evidence in serious incidents when people were hurt or killed.
President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of industrial workers in Ohio last week, insisting US forces would be out of Syria soon

When President Donald Trump vowed US forces would shortly quit Syria, observers were left wondering if he was signalling an epic policy shift -- or whether it was more a case of wishful thinking.

Trump, who campaigned on a pledge of "America First," is said to be frustrated by the open-ended US commitment in Syria, where special operations forces are training and advising Kurdish and Syrian Arab fighters who are battling the Islamic State group.

Now that the jihadists have lost 98 percent of the ground they once held, according to the Pentagon, Trump last week told supporters it is almost time to bring the 2,000 or so US troops home from Syria.

"We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump promised in an address to industrial workers in Ohio.

"We're going to have 100 percent of the caliphate, as they call it -- sometimes referred to as 'land' -- taking it all back quickly, quickly," he added.

Analysts were quick to question the consequences of a rapid withdrawal from Syria, and by Monday it was clear that the current Syria policy is not shifting, at least for now.

"Our mission has not changed," Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.

"We are continuing to implement the president's strategy to defeat ISIS."

Officials told AFP that Trump's aside in his speech was not a slip, but that for several weeks he had been resisting the idea of a long- or medium-term US commitment to stabilizing eastern Syria after the defeat of IS.

The State Department refused to confirm or deny a report in The Wall Street Journal that Trump had placed on hold $200 million in US funding to help stabilize areas of eastern Syria recaptured from IS.

But, speaking on condition of anonymity, US officials confirmed that Trump has been privately questioning the strategy for several weeks.

- 'Total US capitulation' -

A US military base in Syria's al-Asaliyah village, between the city of Aleppo and the northern town of Manbij

Since late 2014, the United States has led an international coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, where most of the combat has been conducted by local partners on the ground.

Trump's apparent readiness to quit the chaos of Syria runs counter to a new US strategy announced in January by then secretary of state Rex Tillerson -- who has since been sacked.

Tillerson argued US forces must remain engaged in Syria to prevent IS and Al-Qaeda from returning and to deny Iran a chance "to further strengthen its position in Syria."

Charles Lister, a senior fellow and director of the Extremism and Counterterrorism Program at the Middle East Institute, noted that a sudden withdrawal of US forces would immediately bolster Iran, Russia and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump's "comments come so much out of nowhere that it's hard to take them totally seriously," said Lister, of the Washington think tank.

The president has picked a new national security advisor, John Bolton, and nominated a new secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, both of whom are hawkish on Iran.

"Trump and his new team basically now are kind of violently anti-Iranian and leaving Syria would represent a total US capitulation to Iranian influence in the region," Lister told AFP.

Trump's advisors including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other officials "will at least for now overpower Trump's tendency to just pack up and leave."

But Daniel Davis, a retired army lieutenant colonel and fellow at the Defense Priorities military think tank, said Trump is right to desire a withdrawal of US troops because ultimately, America's presence would have no impact on Syria's seven-year civil war, and that the real players are Iran and Russia.

"Why would the president want to continue to do something that is guaranteed to fail? I think (withdrawal) is the right thing to do," Davis told AFP, noting that America should only get involved in foreign military interventions when US national security interests are directly threatened.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's civil war started in 2011, spiralling into a complex conflict involving multiple world powers.
Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama blames climate change for a deadly cyclone over the weekend, saying his South Pacific nation has entered a "frightening new era"

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama on Tuesday blamed climate change for a deadly cyclone over the weekend, saying his South Pacific nation had entered a "frightening new era".

Cyclone Josie caused severe flooding when it passed Fiji's main island Viti Levu, with Bainimarama confirming Tuesday that the death toll from the storm had risen to five.

"Once again, Fijians are mourning the loss of some of our loved ones to an extreme weather event," he told a function in the capital Suva.

Bainimarama said climate change meant powerful cyclones were battering Pacific island nations with increasing frequency.

"We are now at an almost constant level of threat from these extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent and more severe because of climate change," he said.

He added: "As a nation we are starting to build our resilience in response to the frightening new era that is upon us."

Fiji took a leading role in global climate talks last November when Bainimarama became president of the UN's COP23 negotiation in Bonn.

The Fijian leader said Cyclone Josie underscored the urgency of dealing with climate change.

"We need to get the message out loud and clear to the entire world about the absolute need to confront this crisis head on," he said, describing climate change as "a fight for our very survival".

Fiji was hit by Cyclone Winston in 2016, which killed 44 people and wiped out one-third of the country's economic production.

It escaped the worst of Cyclone Gita in February but areas of neighbouring Tonga and Samoa were devastated.
Iraq was one of the first Arab countries to join the World Organisation of the Scout Movement in 1914 when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire

Scouts are making a symbolic comeback in Mosul after a three-year absence from the city that used to serve as the Islamic State jihadist group's capital in Iraq.

With white shirts and neckerchiefs, more than 200 male and female scout leaders from across Iraq recently converged on the city that was devastated by three years of jihadist rule and nine months of heavy urban warfare.

It was "a message to Iraq and the world: The scouts of Mosul and Iraq are back," Mohammed Ibrahim, head of scout activities in Mosul, told AFP.

The rally took place at Mosul's scout camp set in the heart of a wooded area popular with locals for family outings on Fridays, the weekly day of rest in Iraq.

Iraq was one of the first Arab countries to join the World Organisation of the Scout Movement in 1914 when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire.

But in 1999, the world scout body evicted the Iraqi chapter because it was allegedly being used by former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime for military training.

But the Iraqi scouts kept operating.

In 2017, they were readmitted into the international scouting world and have since grown to 25,000 members across the country.

- 'Lend a hand with reconstruction'-

Iraqi scout leaders parade with national flags during training in the northern city of Mosul

Loudspeakers blasted nationalist songs at full volume as children from local schools paraded in traditional Iraqi dress at the Mosul rally.

For Qassima Mohsen, a 42-year-old scout leader in the southern province of Zi Qar, the 800-kilometre (500-mile) trip to Mosul had both symbolic and personal value.

In the early 2000s, she used to come regularly to Mosul's scout camp for gatherings.

More than 15 years later -- after the US-led invasion, the fall of Saddam, years of sectarian violence, the jihadist occupation of nearly a third of the country and its subsequent recapture by Iraqi forces -- she is back.

With the ouster of the jihadists from Mosul last July, she has returned to the northern city to help build an activities centre for young scouts in the area.

Iraq was readmitted into the international scouting world in 2017 and now has 25,000 members across the country

The rally also provided a space for leaders and organisers from across the country to network and discuss future projects.

"We will organise camps in Mosul to lend a hand with its reconstruction," said Ali Latif, a 34-year-old scout leader from Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic northern province.
Show me the money: Bribery is a daily headache for many in Sierra Leone

Whether you want to sit an exam, get electricity or just drive in town, life in Sierra Leone is punctuated by endless "little gifts" to those with power.

In defiance of government anti-bribery campaigns, the sticky fingers of officialdom are a wearisome fact of life for many in this poor West African country.

The nation of a little more than seven million people holds 128th place out of 180 on the latest Corruption Perceptions Index compiled annually by Transparency International, an NGO that focuses on the misuse of public power for private benefit.

The run-off of a presidential election took place on Saturday, with both candidates contending with allegations of graft.

Samura Kamara, the candidate of the ruling All Peoples' Congress (APC), was tagged "Mr Ten Percent" by contractors when he ran the finance ministry.

His rival Julius Maada Bio of the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is accused of misappropriating $18 million (14.6 million euros) during his brief time as head of state in 1996 after a coup.

"Whether you want to get electricity connection, whether you want to get land, whether you want to get scholarship for studies abroad," graft is everywhere, Lavina Banduah, the director of Transparency International's small Sierra Leone office in Freetown, told AFP.

For bus driver Tamba Ellie, speaking at the main public transport terminus in the capital beside the central market, the biggest bane was the police.

"Whenever they want us to give the money, they always stop us, and they say that you commit(ted) a crime last week, or this week, without no reason. And there is no proof," Ellie said.

Drivers have no choice but to cough up, since otherwise the police immobilise their bus for hours, the young man said.

- Sexual favours -

In another district, a 28-year-old man who wished to go only by his first name, Abioseh, has painful memories of his efforts to get his teaching qualifications.

"The one I vividly remember is when I was asked to pay a fee for certain subjects. I couldn't afford the 500,000 leones (52 euros/$64) to pay as I was asked. Even though I did study hard, I was withheld on one subject because I didn't pay that one," he declared.

Bribery perhaps would be less of a problem if teachers weren't usually paid five or six months late, Abioseh said.

But, he also noted, from secondary school through university, some payments are made "in kind" -- a euphemism for sexual services.

With financial support from the British government, authorities in Sierra Leone have founded an Anti-Corruption Commission, charged with cracking down on graft and taking preventive steps including in education.

In recent years, members of the public have been able to report cases of corruption via a free phone service.

Every three months, the commission publishes statistics illustrated with the most telling cases, such as a nurse who demanded the equivalent of 25 euros before she would give a blood transfusion to a young child, and police who fleece car drivers and motorcyclists the equivalent of a euro per day in central Freetown.

Banduah believes that the combined efforts of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the courts are starting to bear fruit.

"From what we've been following, a lot of public officials... have been found wanting and in most cases punitive measures have been meted against them," Banduah said, noting that police officers have been sacked and civil servants face legal action.

Teacher Abioseh remains far from convinced. "I know about the free phone line, but I don't contact them," he said. "It's just a waste of time."

Meanwhile, tackling graft beyond petty bribery is another matter.

Corruption in the higher echelons of state remains the hardest kind to fight "since we don't see the money changing hands," Banduah said.
The boat carrying Rohingya refugees off the island of Langkawi

A boat carrying dozens of Rohingya from Myanmar arrived in Malaysia Tuesday and the refugees will be allowed to enter the country, but an expert played down fears of a new exodus.

It has been rare for Rohingya migrants to attempt the sea routes south since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015, sparking a crisis across Southeast Asia as large numbers were abandoned at sea.

But there have been concerns desperate migrants might start taking to the high seas again after mainly Buddhist Myanmar launched a new crackdown last year that forced about 700,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh.

Malaysian authorities intercepted the Rohingya boat off the northwestern island of Langkawi, after it was first spotted at the weekend off Thailand, said navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin.

"All 56 passengers, mostly children and women, are safe but tired and hungry," said the navy chief.

"We have provided them with water, food and other humanitarian assistance. The boat and its passengers will be handed over... to the immigration authorities."

The coastguard said there were 19 men, 17 women, 12 girls and eight boys on the boat.

- 'End of sailing season' -

The navy and coastguard had stepped up patrols around Langkawi -- where Rohingya have come ashore in the past -- after the boat was spotted of Thailand's west coast at the weekend and its passengers said they were trying to reach Malaysia.

Chris Lewa, of Rohingya advocacy group the Arakan Project, said the vessel was thought to have left a week ago from the Rakhine state capital Sittwe. But she did not expect many more to be following.

"April is the end of the sailing season so we don't expect many boats now," Lewa told AFP.

The 2015 crisis began when Thailand discovered mass graves in a human-trafficking camp along its southern border and launched a crackdown on the brutal networks that ferry migrants to Malaysia.

Unable to offload their human cargo in Thailand anymore, traffickers abandoned them at sea in large numbers, leaving them trapped on boats with little food and water.

Images of emaciated Rohingya pleading for help from overcrowded boats drew global condemnation, and forced Indonesia and Malaysia to allow hundreds of Rohingya to come ashore after initially refusing.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a favourite destination for Rohingya, as the country is relatively affluent and authorities are sympathetic to their plight.

Tens of thousands have been allowed into the country, where they toil in low-skilled industries such as agriculture and construction -- earning low wages and with little hope for the future.

The situation is however much worse for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled the latest crackdown in their homeland.

Members of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency detain the boat (C) carrying Rohingya refugees

They are living in cramped and often squalid conditions in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, where many Rohingya who fled previous waves of persecution are already living.

An agreement to repatriate Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar's Rakhine state has yet to see a single refugee returned.
A newspaper seller holds up an edition featuring a story on the death of South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, in Johannesburg on April 3, 2018

South Africa on Tuesday paid emotional tributes to Winnie Mandela, who died aged 81, as politicians hailed her as an inspirational anti-apartheid campaigner and defended her often controversial record.

The former wife of Nelson Mandela died in a Johannesburg hospital on Monday, mourned by many who praised her as one of the most charismatic and energetic activists who fought white-minority rule.

Her convictions for kidnapping and fraud, and her reputation for overseeing brutal gang violence in black townships, were largely brushed aside by eulogies of her bravery, independence and integrity.

President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed a memorial service on April 11 and an official funeral on April 14 "in honour of a patriot and citizen who served our nation and humanity at large with distinction during our liberation struggle."

He said the funeral would include military ceremonial honours and he ordered national flags to be flown at half-mast during a period of official mourning until after her burial.

Zweli Mkhize, a senior minister in the African National Congress (ANC) party government, said Winnie Mandela's death marked "the end of an era" as she was a leading stalwart from the darkest days of the anti-apartheid campaign.

"We are losing the last few of those very committed freedom fighters and I think all we have to do is to always take lessons from her life," Mkhize said outside Winnie Mandela's house in Soweto where she lived for decades.

"When she had to face the apartheid government, she was fearless -- but also among ourselves she was never shy to criticise."

- 'Not allow racists to insult her' -

June 1964: Winnie Mandela, her fist clenched, leaves the courthouse in Pretoria after the Rivonia Trial, which saw her husband Nelson and seven other activists sentenced to life for their campaign against apartheid

The outspoken leader of the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party Julius Malema, who became a confidant of Winnie Mandela in recent years, was also among mourners at her modest two-storey red brick home on Tuesday.

"Because (she) was living among her people, and never betrayed her people, they gave her the title of the 'Mother of the nation,'" he said.

"We are here to celebrate the life of a person who has never looked down on black people and the poor masses."

Malema attacked those who criticised her chequered past, saying that "the least we can do is defend her in death and not allow the racists to insult her".

"They fear her even in death -- that is why they continue to call her names, that is why they continue to characterise her in a manner that we do not know."

The ANC's Women's League, which Winnie Mandela once led, will stage a mass march to her home on Wednesday.

The firebrand activist died peacefully in Johannesburg's Milpark hospital on Monday, her family said, adding that she was "was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against Apartheid".

- A marriage apart -

Most of Winnie Mandela's 38-year marriage to Nelson was spent apart, with Nelson imprisoned for 27 years, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone and to keep alive his political dream.

Glamorous and tough, she played a high-profile role in the battle to end repressive white-minority rule.

But her reputation came under damaging scrutiny in the later years of apartheid.

Winnie Mandela died in a Johannesburg hospital at the age of 81 on Monday after suffering a long illness

In 1986, she was widely linked to "necklacing", the burning alive of suspected traitors who had flaming, petrol-soaked tyres forced over their heads.

In 1990 the world watched when Nelson Mandela finally walked free from prison -- hand-in-hand with Winnie.

The following year, she was convicted of kidnapping and assault over the killing of Stompie Moeketsi, a 14-year-old boy.

In 1992, the Mandelas separated, and then divorced in 1996, after a legal wrangle that revealed she had an affair with a young bodyguard.

In 2003, she was found guilty of theft and fraud over bank loans.

A photograph of the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is surrounded by the South African and African National Congress (ANC) flags at the Old Durban Prison's Human Rights wall in Durban on April 2, 2018

During her old age, she re-emerged as a respected elder who was feted as a living reminder of the late Mandela -- and of the long and celebrated struggle against apartheid.

Nobel laureate archbishop Desmond Tutu described her as "a defining symbol" of the battle against oppression.

"She refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband, the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment," Tutu said.

"Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists."
Guterres launched the Yemen funding drive at a conference in Geneva

The United Nations raised more than $2 billion on Tuesday to help civilians in Yemen, with half the funds pledged by governments that are bombarding the war-ravaged country.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres hailed the donor conference in Geneva as a "remarkable success".

The target for the 2018 Yemen humanitarian appeal was set at $2.96 billion (2.4 billion euros).

Guterres told reporters that in addition to the $2 billion already committed, multiple countries had promised more donations in the coming months, leaving him "optimistic that we will be able to reach the level that corresponds to the needs".

Last year's Yemen appeal for $2.5 billion, which was 73 percent funded, but the needs have intensified in a country battered since 2015 by a Saudi-led military offensive aimed at repelling Iran-backed Huthi rebels who control the capital.

The UN has labelled Yemen "the world's worst humanitarian crisis" and said that three-quarters of its population -- around 22 million people -- need some form of aid.

- Pay for what you break? -

Saudi Arabia and its allies have repeatedly been accused of hitting civilians targets including hospitals and markets in their three-year campaign against the Huthis.

The kingdom and its coalition partner, the United Arab Emirates, were also the largest donors at Tuesday's conference, jointly pledging $1 billion in humanitarian relief, according to figures provided by the UN.

Asked if he saw a contradiction in the Saudi stance towards Yemen, Guterres said a country's humanitarian commitments and military actions should be kept separate.

"We all know that there is a war. We all know who the parties (are) to the war but the two things need to be seen separately," the UN chief told reporters.

"Independent of the fact that there is a war, there are humanitarian obligations that are assumed by countries," he said.

"The countries that are also party to the conflict were party to these international efforts to support the people of Yemen."

Guterres underscored that the only way to ensure that Yemen donor conferences do not continue year after year is for the sides to negotiate a peace deal.

"There was never a humanitarian solution for any humanitarian crisis," he said. "The solution has always been political"

The UN's Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, has recently visited Riyadh and Sanaa in hopes of revitalising sputtering peace talks.

"I believe there is an opportunity and that opportunity must be seized," Guterres said, explaining that Griffiths was "encouraged" by his trip and sees a window for further talks.

- Unrestricted access -

According to the UN, 8.4 million people are on the verge of famine in Yemen, where food imports are essential to sustain the population.

The Saudi-led coalition shut down the country's land, sea and air borders last year in response to a missile attack by the Huthis that was intercepted near Riyadh.

While the coalition has eased the blockade, restrictions on deliveries persist.

The funding appeal came a day after several children were among those killed in a strike on the rebel-held port of Hodeida

"Humanitarians must be able to reach the people who need help the most, without conditions," Guterres said.

"All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, the medicines, food and the fuel needed to deliver them," he added, emphasising the need for "unrestricted access" to the country and within it.

About 10,000 Yemenis have been killed and 53,000 wounded since the start of the coalition intervention in Yemen.
Dr. Jerome Baudry is clear when he speaks of what he hopes to achieve as the Pei-Ling Chan Eminent Scholar in the Department of Biological Sciences at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

"My goal," he says, "is to bring the power of computational biology to molecular discovery." He plans to apply this concept to the discovery of new drugs and the formulation of natural products, and to establish a firm fundamental biophysical description of protein:protein and protein:ligand interactions.

Dr. Baudry's research centers on the field of genomics, proteomics, and pharmacology, with a focus on developing and applying methods and protocols for computational drug discovery, both on small molecules and biologicals, through academic, national laboratories, and industrial collaborations.

"Personalized approaches that are tailored for an individual genome/proteome are of particular interest for the future of translational and personalized medicine and pharmacy, and are actively developed in my research," he says.

"We are excited that Dr. Baudry has accepted the position of Pei-Ling Chan Eminent Scholar in the Department of Biological Sciences," says Dr. Sundar Christopher, dean of UAH's College of Science. "He brings a wealth of experience in both research and teaching, which will be invaluable to UAH and help diversify and enhance our initiatives in the Department of Biological Sciences."

Since arriving on campus last fall, Dr. Baudry has become an integral part of the Department's undergraduate and graduate programs, including its cross-disciplinary Biotechnology Science and Engineering doctoral program. He is also working closely with the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, whose 150-acre campus is home to genomics technology and genomic investigators with experience in large-scale projects such as the Human Genome Project, the Cancer Genome Atlas, and the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project (ENCODE).

He says UAH's biotechnology graduate program, the rich ecosystem of high-tech companies, and the interaction of fundamental and applied biological sciences with HudsonAlpha's genomics research are perfectly in sync with his research and educational goals.

"My research in drug discovery, natural products, and molecular biophysics is at the interface of computational biology, functional and structural genomics, proteomics, structural biology, and computational sciences, and great emphasis is placed on collaborating with both academic and industrial colleagues, and in serving students through quality research opportunities."

Dr. Baudry received his Ph.D. in molecular biophysics with the highest honors from the University of Paris, UPMC/Sorbonne Universities, France. He subsequently joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a postdoctoral fellow. After his postdoctoral work, Dr. Baudry joined the pharmaceutical industry as a research scientist, and then returned to Illinois to accept a non-tenure track senior research scientist position.

In 2008, Dr. Baudry joined the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the UT/Oak Ridge National Lab's Center for Molecular Biophysics as a tenure-track assistant professor, becoming a tenured associate professor in 2014.

The position of Pei-Ling Chan Eminent Scholar is endowed by philanthropists Tony and Kathy Chan and offers an unparalleled opportunity for joint research, educational projects, and collaborations with non-profit, government, and industrial partners. Tony Chan is a former physics faculty member of UAH and worked from 1970 to 1996. Kathy Chan has two degrees from UAH and received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from UAH in 2008.
The Dhaka University professor was also accused of "distorting the history" of Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971, the legacy of which remains contentious

Bangladesh's most prestigious university has suspended a professor for writing a column critical of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's father, as the ruling party cracks down on dissent in a tense election year.

Morshed Hasan Khan was "suspended until further notice" from Dhaka University, its vice-chancellor said Tuesday, after the student wing of the Awami League staged angry rallies on campus.

University head Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman said Khan defamed Bangladesh's first post-independence president and Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in the controversial article published in a Bengali daily.

The professor of marketing was also accused of "distorting the history" of Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971, the legacy of which remains contentious today.

Dhaka University is regarded as a stronghold of liberalism and secularism in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, which has been ruled by Hasina's Awami League for more than nine years.

Hasina jailed her political rival, Khaleda Zia, in February for corruption in a move seen by critics as an attempt to remove opposition ahead of a general election slated for December.

The jail sentence handed to Zia, a two-time former premier and erstwhile ally of Hasina, sparked angry clashes between police and supporters from her Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Rights groups have accused Hasina's government of exploiting a controversial law to curb dissent and limit freedom of expression in the country of 160 million.

In his column, Khan said it was military strongman and opposition hero Ziaur Rahman -- not Hasina's father -- who declared Bangladesh's independence, a hugely provocative assertion, at the start of the war in 1971.

Khan also suggested most of the Awami League's leadership, including Hasina's father, fled Bangladesh when the war broke out.

Student supporters of the Awami League stormed Dhaka University's campus and declared Khan was no longer welcome after the piece attracted a firestorm of publicity.

The professor has since expressed regret, posting an apology on his Facebook page.

Teachers have been punished in the past for stances critical of Hasina's father.

In August last year 13 high school teachers were detained and remanded in custody ahead of a trial after being accused of sedition for remarks about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Last week, a report by Germany think tank Bertelsmann Foundation listed Bangladesh as a new autocracy. The ruling party has rejected the assertion.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press at the MP's Jerusalem office on April 2, 2018

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he was cancelling an agreement with the UN refugee agency on resettling thousands of African migrants after facing mounting pressure from his right-wing base.

Netanyahu had himself announced the agreement in a televised address on Monday afternoon, drawing immediate anger from right-wing politicians, including allies, and many of his traditional supporters.

He said in a late-night Facebook post on Monday he was suspending the agreement that would have allowed thousands of the migrants to remain in Israel at least temporarily.

On Tuesday, he said the deal was being cancelled after having held discussions on it.

"After having heard numerous comments on the agreement, I have examined the pros and cons and have decided to cancel the agreement," Netanyahu said in a statement.

The agreement was designed to end the possibility of forced deportations of thousands of migrants to Rwanda under a controversial plan put forward by Netanyahu in January.

Under the agreement with the UN, a minimum of 16,250 migrants would have instead been resettled in Western nations.

In return, Israel would grant temporary residency to one migrant for each one resettled elsewhere.

The presence of the primarily Sudanese and Eritrean migrants in Israel has become a key political issue.

Netanyahu is already under heavy political pressure due to a string of graft probes.
Hafiz Saeed operates freely in Pakistan despite a $10 million US bounty on his head

A Pakistan political party linked to the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks blasted Washington Tuesday for violating the country's "sovereignty and constitution", hours after the United States blacklisted the group.

The move by the US comes as the White House continues to ratchet up pressure on Islamabad to crack down on extremist groups operating in the country after suspending military aid to Pakistan in January for inaction.

The Milli Muslim League (MML) was launched last August by Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) -- the charity wing of militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT).

LeT is accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks that left nearly 166 people dead and brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Since launching, the MML has struggled to officially register with Pakistan's Election Commission over its links to JuD.

The task is likely to be harder after the US State Department amended its designation of LeT Monday to include the political party.

"(The) US has no right to intervene in Pakistan's internal political matters and label terror allegations against people who themselves are against extremism," said MML's Information Secretary Tabish Qayyum.

"Such designations are aimed to undermine Pakistan's sovereignty and constitution."

The decision comes after Pakistani officials began seizing assets from JuD in February.

The crackdown followed a vote by members of the Financial Action Task Force -- a global anti-money laundering watchdog -- to place Pakistan on its grey list of nations which are not doing enough to combat terror financing in June.

Saeed, who operates freely in Pakistan despite a $10 million US bounty on his head, has denied involvement in terrorism and the Mumbai attacks.

Six Americans were among those killed during the three-day rampage in Mumbai, when gunmen who arrived by sea sparked battles with Indian commandos.

Saeed, was listed by the UN in December 2008 for being associated with LeT, as well as having links to the Al-Qaeda terror network and Taliban militants.
Lee Kuan Yew's bungalow has sparked a bitter feud between his children

A bitter feud that has rocked Singapore founding leader Lee Kuan Yew's family flared anew Tuesday when his younger children criticised a ministerial committee's findings about a house at the centre of the row.

The century-old bungalow, which Lee Kuan Yew used to live in, has sparked a bitter feud between his children -- including current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- since the patriarch's death in 2015.

The senior Lee, widely credited with transforming Singapore into one of Asia's wealthiest countries, had stated in his will that he wanted the house torn down to avoid the emergence of a personality cult.

But in a row that gripped the city-state last year, Lee Hsien Loong's siblings said their brother is attempting to block the house's demolition to capitalise on their father's legacy for his own political agenda.

A ministerial committee set up to decide on the future of the house released a report Monday, in which it laid out three options and said the fate of the property should be decided by a future government.

The options were: preserving the house as a national monument, demolition for redevelopment, or tearing it down but preserving the most historic portion.

But the siblings of current prime minister Lee said the alternatives to demolition proposed by the committee go against their father's wishes.

"(Lee Kuan Yew) made absolutely clear what he wanted done with the house. He and Mama had long decided they wanted it demolished after they were gone," the prime minister's sister Lee Wei Ling wrote on Facebook.

The premier's brother Lee Hsien Yang said in a separate post that Lee Kuan Yew "wanted demolition unwaveringly."

He added that "the committee's statement does not accurately represent Lee Kuan Yew's wishes."

The prime minister, who had recused himself from government decisions about the house, said in a Facebook post Monday that he accepted the committee's decision.

He denied all allegations by siblings in a public broadcast at the height of the feud last year, while parliament held a special two-day debate on the controversy.
African migrants and Israelis demonstrate in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on February 24, 2018, against the Israeli government's policy to forcibly deport African refugees and asylum seekers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled an agreement with the UN refugee agency on Tuesday aimed at avoiding forced deportations of thousands of African migrants only hours after having announced the deal himself.

The stunning turnaround after Netanyahu announced the accord in a televised address on Monday afternoon came as he faced mounting pressure from his right-wing base.

The UN refugee agency urged Netanyahu to reconsider.

Monday's announcement drew immediate anger from right-wing politicians, including Netanyahu allies, and many of his traditional supporters.

After the deluge of criticism, the premier said in a late-night Facebook post on Monday he was suspending the agreement that would have allowed thousands of the migrants to remain in Israel at least temporarily.

On Tuesday, he said the deal was being cancelled outright after having held discussions on it.

"After having heard numerous comments on the agreement, I have examined the pros and cons and have decided to cancel the agreement," Netanyahu said in a statement.

- 'Playing with our minds' -

The agreement was designed to end the possibility of forced deportations of thousands of migrants to Rwanda under a controversial plan put forward by Netanyahu in January.

Under the agreement with the UN, a minimum of 16,250 migrants would have instead been resettled in Western nations.

In return, Israel would grant temporary residency to one migrant for each one resettled elsewhere.

The presence of the primarily Sudanese and Eritrean migrants in Israel has become a key political issue, and Netanyahu is already under heavy pressure due to a string of graft probes.

He has repeatedly referred to them as "not refugees but illegal infiltrators".

A range of Netanyahu's own ministers spoke out strongly against the deal, with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon saying he had known nothing of it until Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press at the MP's Jerusalem office on April 2, 2018

On Tuesday morning, Netanyahu held talks with residents of southern Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants live. A group of southern Tel Aviv residents had harshly criticised the deal.

Dozens of migrants and their supporters also protested outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv.

"We thought that if we came here, there is democracy and Israel will defend our rights, but they are playing with our minds and our lives," Sernai Dori, a 28-year-old mother of three from Eritrea who has been in Israel for a decade, said at the protest in Jerusalem.

- 'Reconsider its decision' -

The UN refugee agency meanwhile said it had found out about Netanyahu's initial suspension of the agreement through news reports.

The agency, known as the UNHCR, said Tuesday it hoped Netanyahu would change his mind about the cancellation.

"We continue to believe in the need for a win-win agreement that can benefit Israel, the international community and people needing asylum and we hope that Israel will reconsider its decision soon," spokesman William Spindler told AFP in an email.

Netanyahu said he was forced to resort to the deal with the UN after Rwanda indicated it would not be able to follow through on the previous plan.

In his Monday night Facebook post, Netanyahu said Rwanda had faced "tremendous pressure" from "elements in the European Union" and others to not accept the arrangement.

The EU mission in Israel responded with a mocking tweet.

"Guess it's just one of those days. At 20:57 you congratulate #Israel & @refugees on their agreement, at 21:46 you like @IsraelMFA announcement on the deal, at 22:50 the PM suspends it and blames, among others, #EU (where #UNHCR hoped to resettle significant number of refugees)," it said.

Under Netanyahu's previous plan, migrants who entered illegally would face a choice between leaving voluntarily or facing indefinite imprisonment with eventual forced expulsion.

According to interior ministry figures, there are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, half of them children, women or men with families who are not facing immediate deportation.

As the migrants could face danger or imprisonment if returned to their homelands, Israel had offered to relocate them to an unnamed African country, which deportees and aid workers had long said was Rwanda or Uganda.

Netanyahu specifically mentioned Rwanda for the first time in his Monday Facebook post.

Uganda had also said it could not accept those sent involuntarily.

The initial plan had drawn criticism from the UN refugee agency, rights groups and some Israelis, including Holocaust survivors who said the country had a special duty to protect migrants.

Migrants began entering Israel through what was then a porous Egyptian border in 2007. The border has since been strengthened, all but ending illegal crossings.

burs-mjs/mm
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho will be the most senior North Korean official to visit Russia in recent years

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, who is in Beijing, will visit Russia during his current foreign tour, the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said Tuesday.

It posted a photo of Ri at Pyongyang international airport being seen off Tuesday by Russia's interim charge d'affaires, Alexander Minayev.

"The North Korean diplomatic chief set off on a foreign tour, part of which will be his visit to Moscow," the embassy said on Facebook, adding: "Bon voyage."

Ri arrived in Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart just a week after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a surprise trip to the Chinese capital where he met President Xi Jinping in his first visit abroad since inheriting power from his father in December 2011.

Ri will be the most senior North Korean official to visit Russia in recent years.

Pyongyang had close ties with Moscow during the Soviet era.

Kim was supposed to visit Russia in 2015 to attend celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazis in World War II but eventually rejected the invitation.

His father Kim Jong Il visited Russia in his armoured train in 2011 shortly before his death.

Ri will also visit Azerbaijan and other former Soviet republics in coming days, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported, citing a diplomatic source.

The latest visit is part of a flurry of diplomacy that has eased regional tensions after months of bellicose rhetoric between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

Kim is due to hold a summit with South Korea's Moon Jae-in on April 27 and a landmark summit with US President Donald Trump is also planned.
Khaleda Zia pictured in February: supporters say her health is at risk now she is in jail

Bangladesh's opposition party accused the government Tuesday of putting the health of their jailed leader at risk by refusing to let her personal doctors treat her inside prison.

Khaleda Zia, the 72-year-old leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party who was jailed in February for corruption, has been suffering complications from arthritis and is struggling to walk, doctors say.

A team of four government doctors from a state-run hospital in Dhaka have been treating Zia, a two-time former prime minister, in prison where she is serving her five-year sentence in isolation.

But her supporters want Zia's personal physicians given access to her cell. The government has yet to respond to the request.

"The government is trying to break our leader's morale and it is taking a toll on her health," BNP spokesman Rizvi Ahmed told AFP.

Mohammad Shamsuzzaman, an orthopaedic specialist at Dhaka Medical College Hospital who visited Zia as part of the government team, said her condition was not serious but her arthritis had worsened in prison.

"She has pain in hands and legs. She couldn't walk 50 metres without assistance," he told AFP, adding she had also developed back pain.

Zia, an erstwhile ally of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina turned fierce political rival, already suffered from arthritis, diabetes and knee replacements when she was sentenced to prison for embezzlement.

She has denied any wrongdoing. Her lawyers had sought her release on bail until an appeal is heard but a decision on this was postponed until next month.

Zia's supporters say the guilty sentence was politically motivated and designed to remove Hasina's chief opponent before a general election slated for December.

Last week a report by German think tank the Bertelsmann Foundation listed Bangladesh as a new autocracy, raising doubts about the credibility of the country's elections. The ruling Awami League has rejected the assertion.
A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on December 13, 2017, shows Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh

Saudi King Salman reaffirmed support for Palestinians to US President Donald Trump, state media said Tuesday, after his son and heir apparent said Israel has a "right" to a homeland.

The king "reaffirmed the kingdom's steadfast position towards the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital," the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The king also emphasised the need to advance the Middle East peace process in a phone call with Trump, which came after Israeli forces killed 17 Palestinians last week during a demonstration on its border with Gaza.

Saudi Arabia and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes their ties appear to have improved in recent years against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

Israel's conflict with the Palestinians has long proved an obstacle to a full rapprochement, however, as Riyadh still supports the Palestinian claim to sovereignty.

But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman indicated a notable shift in the kingdom's position in an interview published Monday with US news magazine The Atlantic.

The prince was asked by the magazine whether the "Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?"

"I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation," said the prince, who is on a three-week US tour.

"I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land," he added.

"But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has been the main sponsor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which envisions a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

No senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted that Israel has a right to any land beyond the practical need to secure a lasting deal.
The machine comprises a tactile screen with photos of the candidates. The voter receives a printout of his or her choice on a paper, which is then put into a ballot box to provide backup verification, according to the organisers

South Korea's government has officially distanced itself from a firm providing electronic voting machines to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where tensions are running high ahead of a presidential poll in December.

In an email sent to AFP on Tuesday, the South Korean embassy in Kinshasa spelt out what it called the government's "official position," expressing concern the contract could become embroiled in DRC's political crisis.

Use of the machines "could give the Congolese government a pretext for undesirable results related to the elections, notably a further delay in holding the elections," said the statement, in French.

The vote due in the vast and troubled central African country on December 23 has been twice postponed since 2016, and some analysts fear an explosion of violence if the poll is delayed again.

At stake is the future of President Joseph Kabila, who took power in 2001 and remains in office even though the vote to choose a successor should have been held in December 2016 and was again postponed in 2017.

Kabila is constitutionally allowed to remain in office beyond his two-term limit until his successor is elected.

But spiralling doubts about the election timetable -- and whether Kabila will step down or run again -- have spurred protests that have been bloodily repressed at the cost of dozens of lives.

"The international community is concerned by the fact that the Congolese government could once again postpone the election or endanger the peaceful and orderly conduct of the election," the embassy said.

"The Korean government shares these concerns," it said.

- 'Cheating machines' -

A South Korea firm called Miru Systems Co. Ltd. is providing the machines for the December 23 poll, which also combines legislative and local elections.

The DRC's Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) showed off the device to reporters on February 21.

It said it would be impossible to stage elections on schedule without electronic machines. A country nearly four times the size of France, struggling with decrepit roads and other infrastructure, the DRC faces huge logistical challenges in setting up polling stations and counting ballots.

CENI President Corneille Nangaa said a single device could handle the ballots of "600 to 700 voters". The CENI has estimated the total potential electorate at about 45 million.

The commission argues the machines will reduce and possibly suppress electoral fraud.

In contrast, the Congolese opposition has dismissed the devices as "cheating machines." The influential Catholic church has called on CENI to "lift suspicions" about them by "accepting certification by national and international experts."

The United States, for its part, has said voting machines could undermine the credibility of the polls.

"These elections must be held by paper ballot so there is no question by the Congolese people about the result," Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said on February 13.

The South Korean embassy, in its statement, pointedly added that the use of voting machines in the DRC had failed to gain support from international watchdogs.

"Until last year, A-Web, a Korean non-profit organisation, provided technical support to CENI regarding the use of the voting machines. However, A-Web severed ties with the Congo, consistent with the position of the Korean government," the embassy statement said.

It added, however, "The Korean government possesses no legal right to forcibly discourage a private Korean company from exporting its products."

CENI chief Nangaa told AFP by telephone that the reasons cited by the South Korea government "don't stand up."

"You can delay or cheat in the elections without any voting machine," he said.

"CENI is doing business with a Korean firm, not the Korean government. I know there will be other attacks of this kind, but they will not shake us in our determination to hold the elections wanted by the Congolese people and not imposed by foreign diktat," he added.

Miru Systems could not immediately be reached for comment. It does not have an office or representation in the DRC.
The entrance of the Essener Tafel (Essen Foodbank) was smeared with the word Nazis

A German food bank on Tuesday said it will reopen its doors to new migrant clients, some three months after its decision to stop giving free meals to foreigners sparked nationwide outrage.

The Essener Tafel charity in the western city of Essen said non-Germans could start registering for the service again from Wednesday.

"Right now, the ratio of Germans and foreigners in need is appropriate," the group's chairman, Joerg Sartor, told the Bild daily.

"If new bottlenecks occur, we will have to adapt again."

From now on, preference would be given to the elderly, single parents, young families and those with disabilities -- regardless of their nationality, Sartor added, citing a decision made by the group's board.

The charity triggered a storm of controversy earlier this year when it announced it would only accept new clients if they had German identity papers, claiming a huge influx of migrants was displacing needy locals.

Sartor said at the time that especially elderly Germans and single mothers had been intimidated by an increasingly aggressive atmosphere as the number of foreigners queuing for free food had risen to three-quarters of the total.

The migrant ban, which the charity always insisted was temporary, sparked howls of protest across the country and none of Germany's more than 900 other food banks followed suit.

Even Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in on the controversy, calling the Essener Tafel's decision "not good".

Vandals also sprayed the word "Nazis" on the charity's building and vans, an act police said they believe was in response to the ban.

Even Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in on the controversy, calling the Essener Tafel's decision 'not good'

Some 1.2 million asylum seekers have come to Europe's biggest economy since 2015 -- more than half from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The influx sparked a xenophobic backlash that has fuelled the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The AfD had defended Essener Tafel on social media, complaining that an "onslaught of migrants" was displacing Germans and "if you fight back, you're a Nazi".

Like other similar organisations, the Essener Tafel collects surplus food that would otherwise be discarded by supermarkets and other businesses to prepare and serve it to the poor.

Typically, people have to register to qualify for regular free meals by proving that they are recipients of unemployment or other social benefits.
 Tour de France in Gaza? | Main | Wheres the Coverage? Syria Violates Demilitarized Buffer Zone with Israel 

April 03, 2018

UPDATED: Reuters Corrects on Israel's Capital

UPDATED: In response to CAMERA's request, Reuters corrected an error about Israel's capital.

Original blog post: Reuters has fallen into the same trap as some other irresponsible media outlets that refer to Tel Aviv as Israel's capital and/or seat of government. It demonstrates at best an ignorance of the geography of the countries being covered and at worst a political bias that twists facts to dismiss Israel's capital city of Jerusalem. In a story about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed's acknowledgement of a Jewish right to self-determination in Israel, Reuters refers to the rapprochement between Riyadh and "Tel Aviv" to denote the seats of government of Saudi Arabia and Israel. Below is a screenshot:

CAMERA has previously prompted numerous corrections of this journalistic error in other publications and has contacted Reuters to correct.

Reuters editors have responded that they regret the error and have corrected it. The correction now refers to "the two countries" rather than "Riyadh and Tel Aviv." Below is a screenshot of the corrected copy:

Posted by RH at April 3, 2018 04:24 AM

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Since 2014, the far north of Cameroon has seen a rise in attacks by the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram

Five Cameroonian soldiers have been killed in an attack on a military post in the far north of the country, sources told AFP on Tuesday.

The five, one of whom was an officer, were killed on Monday night in the village of Sagme, close to the Nigerian border and the Lake Chad region, according to relatives and local sources. Three other soldiers were wounded.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killings but the area has seen many incursions by the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram in the past.

The Cameroonian army has not commented.

Cameroon, along with Chad and Niger, has joined a military effort by Nigeria to crush Boko Haram, a militant movement opposed to Western influence and seeking an Islamic state based on Sharia law, but the countries have increasingly seen the conflict spread across their borders.

Since 2014, the group has killed 2,000 civilians and soldiers and kidnapped about 1,000 people in northern Cameroon, according to an analysis by the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

Boko Haram has caused the deaths of at least 20,000 people since it took up arms in 2009.

In December, a report by the UN Committee against Torture denounced "serious crimes and atrocities" by Boko Haram in Cameroon but also said it had great concern over reports of abuse by Cameroonian security forces.
The UN says it is investigating claims that civilians were affected by an Afghan air strike on a school in a Taliban-controlled area

The United Nations said Tuesday it was investigating "disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians" in an Afghan airstrike on a religious school that security sources say left dozens of children dead or wounded.

Hundreds of people were attending a graduation ceremony at the madrassa in a Taliban-controlled northeastern district on Monday when Afghan Air Force helicopters struck, witnesses have told AFP.

"Human Rights team on ground establishing facts. All parties reminded of obligations to protect civilians from impact of armed conflict," the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a brief statement.

At least 59 people, including Taliban commanders meeting at the compound in the Dashte Archi district in Kunduz province, were killed in the attack, Afghan security sources told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Most of the civilian victims were children, they said. Government officials in both Kabul and Kunduz have given conflicting figures, with some denying any civilians had been killed or that a madrassa had been hit. Afghan officials have been known to minimise civilian casualties.

"I myself counted 35 bodies," Abdul Khalil told AFP at the hospital in the provincial capital Kunduz -- more than 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the airstrike -- where health officials said 57 injured had been taken.

Afghanistan

"I arrived at the scene right after the airstrikes -- it was like a butcher's shop. Everywhere was covered with blood, the ground was littered with body parts, heads, limbs and other parts."

A man called Yousuf, who was at the ceremony when the airstrikes happened, told AFP he saw "blood and body parts everywhere".

Television showed anguished relatives standing outside the hospital yelling "Shame on you!"

Defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish on Tuesday distanced the air force from responsibility for civilian casualties -- which on Monday he had denied existed -- and instead suggested the Taliban opened fire on them.

"Half of them (civilians in hospital) have gunshot wounds, hit by light weapons that we didn't use. We used rockets fired by MD-530 helicopters -- how were they hit by bullets?" he said.

But Naim Mangal, a doctor at the hospital, said "all the victims" had been "hit by pieces of bomb, shrapnel".

"Out of the 100 wounded and six dead in the hospital none have been hit by a bullet," he told AFP.

Radmanish said 18 senior Taliban commanders were killed in the airstrike on a "training centre" for the group's elite Red Unit. Another 12 were wounded. Earlier he had said 20 Taliban were killed.

The government has sent two teams to conduct an investigation into the incident, he added.

- Police deny madrassa hit -

Kunduz police chief General Abdul Hamid Hamidi told AFP on Tuesday that "72 of the enemy" had been killed in the airstrike.

Hamidi added that five civilians also died and another 52 were wounded but he denied a madrassa or mosque had been hit. Security forces have donated large quantities of blood to the hospital.

The Taliban has confirmed the attack on the religious school but denied that any of its militants had been there.

There are wildly varying figures for the number of killed and injured in the attack

The madrassa was run by Islamic scholars sympathetic to the Taliban but the facility was open to the public, a senior Taliban commander speaking from an unknown location in Pakistan told AFP on Tuesday.

He said as many as 2,000 people were at the school on Monday, including 750 students, for a graduation ceremony, but insisted there were no senior Taliban leaders present.

He estimated that 400 people had been killed and an unknown number wounded. The Taliban are known to exaggerate battlefield claims.

Several boys with their arms and legs bandaged were seen lying in beds and along the corridors of the hospital.

One of the security sources said the Taliban had started meeting at madrassas in the hope of avoiding airstrikes.

US and Afghan forces are increasing ground and air offensives against Taliban and Islamic State insurgents as they try to get the upper hand in the 16-year war.

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Supporters of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi celebrate in Cairo's Tahrir square following his re-election for a second term with 97 percent of the vote

US President Donald Trump congratulated Egyptian former general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on securing another four years as president, hailing the "strategic partnership" between the two countries Monday.

The White House said Trump and Sisi spoke by phone after the Egyptian president won 97 percent of the vote against Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a man who, until recently, led a campaign for his re-election.

"President Trump congratulated President Al Sisi on his reelection," the White House said in a statement.

"The two leaders affirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt, and noted that they look forward to advancing this partnership and addressing common challenges."

Trump has repeatedly bucked Washington norms since coming to office, congratulating foreign leaders on elections that his own officials say were dubious, unfair or rigged.

The United States and Egypt have long-standing security ties, but those ties have been tested in recent years as Sisi has moved to shut down political debate.

Sisi, who as army chief ousted Egypt's first freely elected president Islamist Mohamed Morsi after mass street protests in 2013, won his first term in 2014 with 96.9 percent of valid votes.

Sisi's serious rivals this time round had withdrawn from the race, been sidelined or detained.

The State Department earlier noted "reports of constraints on freedoms of expression and association in the run-up to the elections."

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States would "encourage respect for and protection of basic rights and freedoms."

"We will continue to encourage a broadening of opportunities for political participation for Egyptians, and emphasize the importance of the protection of human rights and the vital role of civil society in Egypt."
Abiy on Monday became first person of the Oromo, the country's largest ethnic group, to become prime minister under the ruling EPRDF party

They've been harassed, arrested and prosecuted, but Ethiopia's dissidents say they feel quietly hopeful after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed extended an olive branch to them in his inaugural speech.

Referring to opposition politicians as "brothers," and apologising to people hurt in recent anti-government protests, Abiy struck an unexpected conciliatory tone after he was sworn in to office on Monday.

"I'm very cautiously optimistic," said Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, who was freed from prison in January after spending more than a year behind bars.

Abiy, 42, is the first person from the country's largest ethnic group the Oromo to be chosen as prime minister by the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

In his speech, he also reached out to Ethiopia's arch-rival Eritrea, saying the two countries "are tied by blood" and should resolve a bitter border dispute through negotiation.

In power since 1991, the EPRDF controls every seat in parliament.

It stands accused by rights groups of using its unchecked control of Ethiopia's security services to target dissident politicians, journalists and bloggers.

While positive, government critics who spoke to AFP say that after 27 years of authoritarian rule, it's too soon to say how much power Abiy will have to change the EPRDF.

"His speech is much more civilised than the speeches of the EPRDF leaders to date," Merera said on Tuesday.

Merera Gudina was freed from jail in January after the government dropped charges against him as part of a wider prisoner amnesty

"Whether it's once again a cosmetic public relations exercise or the EPRDF is really ready for change, I'm not sure," he added.

- Back in jail -

Abiy's path to the prime minister's office began with the February resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn, whose administration faced widespread anti-government protests in its last years.

The Oromo people took to the streets in late 2015 over a government development plan community leaders said would deprive them of their land.

They were later joined by the country's second-largest ethnic group, the Amhara, in a wave of unrest that killed hundreds and resulted in tens of thousands of arrests.

A 10-month state of emergency declared in October 2016 halted the worst of the demonstrations.

But anti-government sentiment remains strong among both groups.

"The previous Ethiopian leaders didn't pay attention to (the) concerns of Oromo people," said Waquma Bayisa, a resident of the capital Addis Ababa, who praised Abiy's speech.

In what he said was a bid to improve relations, Hailemariam announced a prisoner amnesty in January that released many dissidents arrested during the protests.

But the government once again placed Ethiopia under a state of emergency after Hailemariam's resignation, and last month 11 dissidents were arrested in the capital.

Among those arrested were jailed dissidents whose lengthy prison sentences had been pardoned in the amnesty, and members of the Zone 9 blogging collective, who had been subjected to a years-long prosecution that the government abandoned in February.

"I'm very optimistic about (Abiy), but still many are in prison, my friends are in prison," said Atnafu Berhane, a member of Zone 9 who was not among those held.

"He is the commander in chief of the army. He should release my friends and all political prisoners," he added.

- Inner workings -

While the opposition is hoping for reforms, the strength of Abiy's mandate remains unclear.

The former minister of science and technology was elected by 180 top EPRDF delegates behind closed doors, but the party is thought to be divided over how to address the concerns of the protesters.

Yeshiwas Assefa, chairman of the opposition Blue Party, said it would be up to Abiy to reform the security forces and court system.

"These institutions are the servants of the regime, so we need to change these institutions," Yeshiwas said.
Traders work on the floor during the Spotify IPO at the the New York Stock Exchange on the day the music streaming service begans trading its shares as SPOT

Spotify soared Tuesday to a value of more than $26 billion in its long-awaited stock debut as the market delivered a ringing endorsement of the future of music streaming.

In one of the largest public offerings ever in the tech sector, Spotify on its first day topped the market capitalization of other high-profile recent market entrants, including Twitter, Snapchat parent Snap and Dropbox.

Spotify opened on the New York Stock Exchange at $165.90 a share, giving the Swedish company a value of $29.5 billion.

It closed at $149.01, a drop of more than 10 percent but still above the pre-trading reference point -- and ending the day with a value of $26.5 billion.

Trading as SPOT, Spotify took the unorthodox step of listing existing shares directly on the bourse rather than issuing new stock, allowing its founders and early investors to maintain control.

The unusual listing had added to the suspense over how Spotify would fare on the market as the company, while big on its cool factor, has yet to turn a profit.

"It is a success," Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management said of the listing.

He expected more companies to follow Spotify's strategy in the future, taking their time to list on the market.

"They are getting all the funding they need in the private market and they don't really need to go public as early," he said.

- Making streaming mainstream -

Spotify has helped change the way much of the world listens to music by popularizing streaming -- unlimited, on-demand songs online.

In the United States, the largest music market, revenue from recorded music grew a robust 16.5 percent in 2017, marking the first time since 1999 at the dawn of online music that the business has expanded for two years in a row.

The growth -- in line with global trends -- was almost entirely attributable to the rise in streaming subscriptions, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Thanks to the massive inroads of streaming, Spotify has managed to mollify critics, at least for now.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift, who once railed that Spotify was short-changing artists and boycotted the service, recently debuted a video as an exclusive to the platform.

Few prominent Western artists still refuse to stream on Spotify other than rap mogul Jay-Z, who runs his own fledgling rival Tidal, and his wife Beyonce.

But Spotify faces rising competition, most notably from Apple, which launched its own service in 2015 to seize a slice of the booming streaming market.

Retail behemoth Amazon has boasted of quick growth for its own new service, while tech titans Google and Facebook are both working hard to build up their music offerings.

- Questions on future -

With its heavy investment in building the platform, Spotify has yet to turn a profit.

It warned last week that its sales growth was likely to slow this year, although it still expected to post a narrower annual loss.

Amid Spotify's methodical wait to list, MIDiA Research managing director Mark Mulligan called Tuesday "arguably the most anticipated day in the history of digital music."

He noted that Spotify has been able to hold its own, maintaining 36 percent of the subscriber market despite the onslaught of Apple.

Spotify said in a regulatory filing that it had 159 million monthly users including 71 million paying subscribers -- twice that of closest rival Apple Music.

Spotify's 35-year-old chief executive and co-founder Daniel Ek, in a blog essay before the stock listing, said his company had ample "room to learn and grow."

"I have no doubt that there will be ups and downs as we continue to innovate and establish new capabilities," he wrote.

"Nothing ever happens in a straight line -- the past 10 years have certainly taught me that.

"My job is to ensure that we keep our foot on the pedal during the ups, so that we don't become complacent, and that we continue to stay the course with a firm grip on the wheel during the downs."
US Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt is under fire for renting a lobbyist's Capitol Hill apartment at below-market rates, the latest ethical dispute to tarnish a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet

Donald Trump's environment chief came under mounting criticism Tuesday, including from within his own Republican Party, over renting a lobbyist's apartment and other damaging revelations, but he appeared to have the president's backing.

Amid speculation that Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, could be the latest of Trump's cabinet members to get the axe, congressional Democrats were urging an investigation into his activities.

They include his renting Capitol Hill accommodations from the wife of an energy lobbyist last year at the below-market rate of $50 per day, reportedly bypassing the White House to raise wages for two aides, and using taxpayer funds for first-class travel.

The stream of allegations prompted one moderate House Republican to demand Pruitt's ouster.

"@EPAScottPruitt's corruption scandals are an embarrassment to the Administration, and his conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers," congressman Carlos Curbelo tweeted Tuesday.

"It's time for him to resign or for @Potus (Trump) to dismiss him."

No stranger to controversy, Pruitt is a climate change skeptic who honed his views as attorney general of Oklahoma and has since sought to limit the influence of scientists in EPA policymaking.

Just this week he rolled back Obama-era pollution and fuel efficiency standards for cars.

Trump, who shares Pruitt's pro-energy agenda, has given him a vote of confidence.

The president called him late Monday, urging him to "keep your head up, keep fighting," and that "we have your back," according to US media reports.

Asked Tuesday about his EPA head, Trump was cryptic, saying "I hope he's going to be great."

The EPA said in a statement it reviewed the accommodations agreement and it was above board, but Democrats have seized on the rental as yet another sign of high-level impropriety.

House Democrats Ted Lieu and Don Beyer wrote the EPA's inspector general demanding a probe of Pruitt's rental of the flat last year, when he paid just $50 day, and only on the days he stayed in the property, which was partly owned by Vicki Hart, the wife of energy lobbyist Steven Hart.

"This is far below market value and, as such, would constitute an impermissible gift under federal regulations," the lawmakers wrote.

Pruitt has already faced a public backlash for taking dozens of first-class flights and for his agency paying $43,000 to install a sound-proof communication booth in his office.

Trump has already sacked two cabinet members over ethics lapses: Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin, who was ousted last week, and Health and Human Services chief Tom Price.

Firing Pruitt could trigger another testy confirmation battle when the US Senate is already lining up nomination hearings for Trump's latest picks for secretary of state, the CIA and Veterans Affairs.
Rohingya Muslims gather behind Myanmar's border lined with barbed wire fences in Maungdaw district, located in Rakhine State bounded by Bangladesh on March 18, 2018

Canada should take in Rohingya refugees and press other nations to do the same, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's special envoy to Myanmar said Tuesday.

Special envoy Bob Rae -- on the heels of his fact-finding mission to Bangladesh and Myanmar -- also urged Ottawa to increase humanitarian aid for the Rohingya, to continue to target human rights abusers with sanctions and to gather and protect evidence for possible future trials.

"Canada should signal a willingness to welcome refugees from the Rohingya community in both Bangladesh and Myanmar and should encourage a discussion among like-minded countries to do the same," Rae told a news conference.

In the meantime, he estimated Can$150 million in annual aid is needed over the next four years to provide assistance, education and supporting infrastructure in more than a dozen refugee camps in Bangladesh near the Myanmar border.

Trudeau welcomed the report, saying his administration over the coming weeks would "assess the recommendations ... and outline further measures we intend to take."

Myanmar's military has forced some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims out of Rakhine and across the border to Bangladesh since August, in a brutal crackdown which US and UN officials say amounts to ethnic cleansing of the minority.

The Buddhist-majority country has branded the Rohingya as illegal immigrants.

Myanmar's army says its campaign was a legitimate counter-offensive aimed at rooting out Rohingya militants who staged deadly attacks on police posts.

But the civilians streaming into Bangladesh have told harrowing accounts of rape, arson and murder at the hands of soldiers and Buddhist vigilante mobs.

A repatriation deal signed in November between the two countries still has yet to see a single Rohingya refugee return, with most unwilling to sign up unless their safety and rights can be assured.

In a December interim report, Rae said witness accounts of the crisis were "chilling and graphic."

Canada announced targeted sanctions in February against a Myanmar general who led the army crackdown, following similar US sanctions levelled against Major-General Maung Maung Soe.

Ottawa also pledged Can$25 million humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya last year.
A media rights watchdog said journalists in the US faced risk of arrest covering protests, such as the 2017 demonstration during the inauguration of Donald Trump

Journalists in the United States were assaulted 45 times last year, and 34 were arrested while covering news, a report from a media rights watchdog said Tuesday.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, in its first annual assessment of threats to journalistic freedom in the United States, cited a total of 122 incidents including physical assaults, arrests, equipment seizures and border checks.

"While it does not capture every press freedom incident that has occurred, the tracker strives to document the number of times journalists in the United States were arrested, assaulted, subjected to equipment searches or seizures, or detained at the border," the report said.

"It also highlights particularly serious denials of access and chilling statements by public officials."

The largest number of arrests of journalists came at public protests, with many swept up in a crowd-control technique known as "kettling," where police corral demonstrators into an area and subsequently arrest everyone.

The report said more than half of the journalists arrested were freelancers.

Freelance journalist Alexei Wood was arrested while covering 2017 inauguration protests in Washington and anther freelancer, Jenni Monet was arrested while covering protests against the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.

Of the 45 physical attacks on journalists in 2017, two were committed by elected officials, including the well-documented "body slam" of a reporter by Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte.

The report noted that investigations of news leaks are also impacting press freedoms.

While just one prosecution was brought in 2017 over a news leak -- that of former intelligence specialist Reality Winner on Russian interference in the US election -- the report said 27 leak cases were under investigation at the end of the year.

In 2018, the government charged a former FBI agent in Minnesota in connection with a leak investigation.
"We have let the Security Council know that the current mandate is considered to be the penultimate one, before the force leaves our county definitively after 20 years," said Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo Leonard She Okitundu

The Democratic Republic of Congo wants the UN mission to leave the country in 2020, Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu said Tuesday, following a UN Security Council vote last week extending the peacekeepers' mandate for another year.

"We have let the Security Council know that the current mandate is considered to be the penultimate one, before the force leaves our county definitively after 20 years," She Okitundu told a press conference in the capital Kinshasa.

The United Nations has warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the DR Congo, with at least 13.1 million Congolese in need of aid, including 7.7 million who are severely food insecure.

The Security Council on Tuesday tasked its huge peacekeeping mission in the DR Congo with helping to prepare elections meant to end President Joseph Kabila's rule.

The council unanimously adopted a resolution presented by France that renews the mandate for MONUSCO until March 2019 emphasising the need to protect civilians as the DR Congo heads toward the historic polls in December.

Russia warned then that the peacekeepers must not take sides in the elections while the DR Congo's ambassador said the mission's focus should be on fighting rebel groups -- not supporting elections.

Western powers are turning up the pressure on Kabila to allow a peaceful transfer of power after the December 23 vote and rein in his security forces after dozens of protesters were killed.

She Okitundu, who is foreign minister and deputy prime minister, on Tuesday recalled that Kabila had told the United Nations last September that "the UN force cannot harbour the ambition to stay indefinitely".

He confirmed that DR Congo will not attend a donors conference in Geneva on April 13, organised by the UN and the EU.

The Geneva conference was organised to raise $1.7 billion to tackle a humanitarian crisis that Kinshasa says has been vastly exaggerated by aid workers.

Last month Prime Minister Jose Makila on Friday said the UN had overreacted and that aid bodies and NGOs in the country were propagating a "bad image of the Democratic Republic of Congo throughout the world".

For several months, the UN and its agencies as well as NGOs have pointed to an alarming situation in DR Congo. They claim 4.5 million people have fled their homes in provinces across the country plagued with violence -- from Kivu and Tanganyika in the east, to central Kasai and most recently in northeast Ituri.

MONUSCO is the UN's biggest peacekeeping force, with 16,215 troops and nearly 1,450 police as well as many civilians.

Kinshasa authorities have set a date for the vote but Kabila, in power since 2001, has not clearly stated whether he will step aside, raising fears that the country will slide into all-out violence.
Sudanese opposition leader and ex-prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi has been charged with collaborating with rebel groups to overthrow the government, the Sudan Media Centre reported

Sudan's state security prosecutor has charged the country's main opposition leader, Sadiq al-Mahdi, with collaborating with rebel groups to overthrow the regime of President Omar al-Bashir, a media network reported Tuesday.

Bashir, backed by Islamists, toppled Mahdi's civilian government in a 1989 coup after which the former prime minister's Umma Party, Sudan's main opposition group, has regularly campaigned against the policies of Bashir's government.

"Sudan state security prosecutor has filed a criminal case against Sadiq al-Mahdi for collaborating with rebel groups for overthrowing the regime" of Bashir, said a report published by Sudan Media Centre, a network close to Sudan's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

The charges against Mahdi, some of which are punishable by death, were filed following a complaint made by NISS to state security prosecutor Mutassim Abdallah, the report said.

"Charges against Mahdi have been filed under Sudan's criminal and anti-terrorism laws," the report added.

"Sadiq al-Mahdi, who is heading a registered party, is coordinating with rebel groups for overthrowing the regime."

Senior figures in the Umma Party, including Mahdi's daughter and party deputy head Mariam al-Mahdi, were unavailable for comment late Tuesday.

On Monday Bashir, in an address to lawmakers, had warned of taking "decisive measures" against political parties who align themselves with rebel groups.

The charges against Mahdi came days after he held talks with leaders of some rebel groups in Paris.

Mahdi, who is currently in Cairo, had returned to Khartoum in January 2017 after more than two years of exile in the Egyptian capital.

"I came back to end the war, re-establish peace and work for a democratic transition," he had told supporters soon after returning from exile.

A fixture of Sudanese politics since the 1960s, Mahdi was prime minister from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989.

His government was the last one to be democratically elected in Sudan, before the 1989 coup launched by Bashir.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (L), Mexican Economy Minister Idelfonso Guajardo (C) and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer have been engaged in multiple rounds of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement

President Donald Trump is ratcheting up pressure on Canada and Mexico to reach a new trade deal at time when uncertainties about cross-border commerce are weighing on Wall Street.

Despite Trump's persistently harsh rhetoric, including renewed threats to exit the North American Free Trade Agreement, senior officials in Ottawa and Mexico City say they are still banking on reaching consensus.

"We've made a lot of progress," Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told a Mexican radio station on Monday.

"It appears there's a willingness to show flexibility on complex issues."

His remarks followed Trump's Twitter outburst in which he again threatened to exit NAFTA, denouncing Mexican authorities for failing to prevent flows of narcotics and clandestine migration into the United States.

"They must stop the big drug and people flows or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA," Trump tweeted.

Trump claims NAFTA has destroyed American jobs and promoted offshoring to low-wage destinations.

Guajardo said this month's Summit of the Americas in Peru would offer the chance for heads of state to broach the topic outside of the technical work that remained before an agreement can be reached.

A basic outline for solving complex disagreements could be reached in the next 12 days, he added, although the three sides are still some distance apart.

The political calendars in Mexico and the United States do not favor reaching a quick resolution.

July's presidential elections in Mexico and November's mid-term congressional elections in the United States mean negotiators may have even less room to maneuver.

In Washington, the White House must also contend with market jitters, as Trump's new import tariffs on metals and Chinese-made goods have sent stocks tumbling in recent weeks.

"The recent stock market decline may also be raising pressure on the Trump administration to cut a deal, to demonstrate to the markets that uncertainty over trade is not going to last for many months," Edward Alden, an expert on trade at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview.

- Quick deal faces long odds -

Several obstacles remain, however, in the talks Trump launched nearly eight months ago to overhaul the 24-year-old NAFTA -- particularly Washington's proposals on rules of origin for the auto manufacturing, an overall "sunset clause" for the agreement and a dispute resolution mechanism.

Under the current agreement, 62.5 percent of the content of a vehicle must be produced within the NAFTA countries to move duty-free across borders.

Washington wants to bump this requirement up to 85 percent, with 50 percent of US origin -- a proposal that Ottawa and Mexico City have rejected.

American officials have not confirmed a Canadian media report that US negotiators have dropped this demand.

Trump's chief trade negotiator, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, is due to meet Guajardo on Wednesday. Lighthizer told CNBC last week he was hopeful of reaching an agreement.

"We continue to favor talks to reach a good outcome for the three countries," the office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told AFP.

However, the odds do not favor a deal any time soon.

"Given the importance and complexity of the issues on the table, and the limited progress made to date, a quick NAFTA deal will be very hard to conclude," CFR's Alden said.

Still, he said the deal reached last week updating a free trade agreement with South Korea showed Trump can be willing "to settle for fairly small changes and call it victory."

"If the same flexibility is shown with NAFTA, then a successful conclusion is possible."
Police search a building at YouTube's corporate headquarters during the active shooter situation in San Bruno, California

Gunfire erupted at YouTube's offices in California Tuesday, leaving three people wounded and sparking a panicked escape before the suspected shooter -- a woman -- apparently committed suicide.

California news outlets late Tuesday said she appeared to be a vegan-themed content creator who has raged against YouTube on her personal website for what she saw as censorship of her videos.

"There is no free speech in real world and you will be suppressed for telling the truth that is not supported by the system," read a post on a website identified as hers by the San Francisco Chronicle.

"There is no equal growth opportunity on YouTube or any other video sharing site."

Amid a chaotic scene in the city of San Bruno, a woman believed to be the shooter was found dead at the scene of the Google-owned video sharing service.

"We have one subject who is deceased inside the building with a self-inflicted wound," San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini told reporters. "At this time, we believe it to be the shooter."

A statement released later by the San Bruno police department identified her as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, 39, from San Diego, California. It said there was no evidence she knew the victims of the shooting or that anyone was specifically targeted. It said the motive remained under investigation.

Officers arriving to numerous calls for help saw employees running from the building, and found a person out front who appeared to be shot in the leg, according to police.

Four people, three suffering from gunshot wounds, were taken to local hospitals, police said. The fourth person hurt suffered a sprained or broken ankle.

Shootings by women are a rare occurrence in the United States, where the overwhelming majority of gun violence is carried out by men.

According to an FBI study that looked at 160 incidents involving one or more shooters in public places between 2000 and 2013, just six of the people who opened fire were women, or 3.8 percent.

Barberini said the injured "have been transported and are being treated for injuries that are treatable."

- Frantic escape -

YouTube's headquarters office is seen with police activity

Employees recounted frantic scenes as they fled YouTube's headquarters near San Francisco, with one saying he saw blood on the floor as he escaped.

The shooting took place around midday, when many at YouTube were having lunch.

"We were sitting in a meeting and then we heard people running because it was rumbling the floor. First thought was earthquake," employee Todd Sherman tweeted.

Sherman said that as he headed for an exit, "someone said that there was a person with a gun," adding that "at that point every new person I saw was a potential shooter."

Sherman's tweets continued: "I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peeked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front."

One image posted by a Twitter user showed employees being led out of the building with their hands up, with no further explanation.

Another YouTube employee, Vadim Lavrusik, tweeted: "Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers."

Later, Lavrusik said he had escaped to safety.

A worker told of a fire alarm going off at one point, prompting an exodus that grew more urgent as news of gunfire spread.

Witnesses reported helicopters on the scene as well as police SWAT teams.

Police walk outside of the YouTube headquarters

The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed and that his administration was monitoring the ongoing situation in San Bruno.

Shortly afterward, Trump tweeted: "Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene."

Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted a message of solidarity that said: "From everyone at Apple, we send our sympathy and support to the team at YouTube and Google, especially the victims and their families."

YouTube headquarters is located some 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the main Google campus in Mountain View.

The shooting, which follows a series of deadly gun incidents at schools and elsewhere, comes amid heated debate on gun control measures in the United States.

An estimated 1.5 million people participated in demonstrations on March 24 calling for stricter firearms measures following a deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Organizers of the March for Our Lives sent a message of solidarity to the employees hit by the latest shooting, tweeting: "Our hearts are with you, @YouTube."
BEIJING (AP) - The Latest on the defunct Chinese space station re-entering Earth's atmosphere (all times local):

10:30 a.m.

An Australian astrophysicist says the defunct Chinese space station had a "mostly successful" re-entry but would have been better if it hadn't been spinning in its final descent.

FILE - This March 29, 2018 file photo shows the Space Debris Room of the European Space Agency ESA in Darmstadt, Germany. China's defunct Tiangong 1 space station is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere within the next day. The European Space Agency forecast Sunday April 1, 2018 the station will re-enter sometime between Sunday night and early Monday morning GMT. (AP Photo/Christoph Noelting,file)

China said the experimental Tiangong 1 space lab mostly burned up upon re-entry Monday morning.

Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australian National University, said the tumbling and spinning made the re-entry location harder to predict. But the landing site in the southern Pacific is "kind of where you hope it would land."

Tiangong 1 was launched in 2011 and ended service in 2016 after completing its mission.

___

9 a.m.

Chinese space authorities say the defunct Tiangong 1 mostly burned up upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere in the central South Pacific.

The China Manned Space Engineering Office says on its website the experimental space lab re-entered at around 8:15 a.m. Monday.

Tiangong 1 was launched in 2011 and ended service in 2016 after completing its mission.

___

8 a.m.

Chinese space authorities say the defunct Tiangong 1 space station is expected to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere soon.

The China Manned Space Engineering Office says on its website the most possible re-entry time is 8:49 a.m. Monday. Xinhua news agency says the window is between 8:11 a.m. and 9:33 a.m.

Tiangong-1 is forecast to re-enter in an area centered on 19.4 degrees west longitude and 10.2 degrees south latitude in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

The space lab will mostly be burnt up in the atmosphere and it's highly unlikely to cause any damage on the ground.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Health officials dealing with a spate of youth suicides in a northeastern Ohio county are getting help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Officials say five students and one former student from the Perry Local School District in Stark County killed themselves within a six-month period from 2017 into 2018, spurring vigils, prevention efforts, community meetings and discussion about a possible contagion effect.

CDC representatives were expected to visit Ohio starting Monday and spend about two weeks studying what has happened in Stark County.

"It's just like anything else, any type of outbreak - you kind of have to stop and look at the data around what's happening to see if there can be anything gleaned differently to kind of stop this current rate of what's happening here," said Kay Conley, the county health department's spokeswoman.

Ohio Department of Health spokeswoman Melanie Amato said the state agency sought the CDC's help at the request of local officials. Amato said the CDC will focus only on Stark County, though youth suicide is a concern around the state.

ODH data shows Ohio lost more young people to suicide in 2017 than in any of the previous 10 years. The state had at least 111 suicides last year involving people who were 19 or younger, and that number could rise as coroners finalize their reporting on deaths from the last few months of the year.

During the previous decade, the annual totals had ranged from 61 in 2013, to 98 in 2008.

The majority of Ohio's youth suicides involve people ages 15 to 19, but the reports also include younger students and rare instances involving elementary-aged kids.

The state keeps online listings of suicide-prevention resources for schools and college campuses, and officials urge individuals in need of help to call the national suicide prevention hotline.
DENVER (AP) - Bowing to Democratic pressure, Colorado's Republican-led Senate debated Monday night whether to expel a GOP senator accused of grabbing a former legislative aide by the buttocks.

The debate is the latest confrontation in the Colorado Legislature over sexual harassment allegations involving several lawmakers since last fall when millions of women took to social media to publicize their experiences with sexual harassment. The #MeToo movement swept into legislatures across the nation.

On March 2, Colorado state Rep. Steve Lebsock was expelled following complaints he harassed or intimidated five women, including a fellow lawmaker. Lebsock's ouster came after Arizona Republican Rep. Don Shooter was expelled Feb. 1 over misconduct claims. A California lawmaker resigned before debate on his expulsion could commence.

In this Thursday, March 8, 2018, photo, Colorado State Senator Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulphur Springs, listens to debate on a concealed carry bill during action on the floor of the chamber in the State Capitol in Denver. The Republican-led Senate has agreed to debate a Democratic resolution calling for the expulsion of Baumgardner, who is accused of inappropriately touching a former legislative aide. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A third-party investigator determined that the former aide's claims against Colorado state Sen. Randy Baumgardner were credible. The aide said that Baumgardner grabbed and slapped her buttocks on more than one occasion during the 2016 session.

Baumgardner, who represents a rural northwest Colorado district, has denied wrongdoing but agreed to step down as chair of the powerful transportation committee.

Republican Senate President Kevin Grantham had deemed the case closed and previously refused to allow the expulsion resolution to be introduced.

Democrats argued that the resolution should be debated, in part, to send a message to victims, interns and aides that complaints are taken seriously.

A two-thirds vote, or 23 votes, in the 35-member Senate is needed to expel a member. Republicans hold 18 seats, Democrats 16 and there is one independent.

Baumgardner and Grantham were criticized by Democrats - Baumgartner for his conduct and Grantham for not exacting more severe punishment.

"Either we're going to empower victims to come forward or we're going to shame them into silence," said Sen. Rhonda Fields, a Democrat.

Republicans criticized the investigator's report as either lacking evidence or sufficient certainty to merit expulsion.

"I don't think the preponderance of evidence is there. I'm concerned about the charges, but I'm also concerned about due process," said Sen. Don Coram.

Five Colorado lawmakers have been accused of misconduct in recent months.

Colorado Republican Sen. Larry Crowder was accused by Democratic Rep. Susan Lontine of sexual harassment. He denied wrongdoing, and the case was closed. On Thursday, Grantham closed an investigation involving Sen. Jack Tate, a suburban Denver Republican, finding complaints against him didn't rise to the level of harassment.

Grantham has described some of the anonymous accusations against senators as tantamount to "assault," and he had urged prosecutors, rather than lawmakers, to investigate harassment complaints at the Capitol.

Grantham has pledged to work with Democrats to produce a new workplace harassment policy for the Legislature. Leaders of the House and Senate were set to discuss a proposal by an outside consultant on Wednesday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - President Donald Trump asked a federal judge on Monday to order private arbitration in a case brought by a porn actress who claimed she had an affair with him.

Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, filed papers in federal court in Los Angeles asking a judge to rule that Stormy Daniels' case involving a non-disclosure agreement must be heard by an arbitrator instead of a jury.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has been seeking to invalidate the agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election. She has offered to return the $130,000 she was paid as she tries to "set the record straight."

FILE - This July 3, 2009, file photo shows Adult-movie star Stormy Daniels at Rooster's Country Bar in Delhi, La. In court filings Monday, April 2, 2018, President Donald Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, sought to have Stormy Daniels' case heard by an arbitrator instead of a jury. (Arely D. Castillo/The News-Star via AP, File)

She's said she had sex with Trump once in 2006 and their relationship continued for about a year. Trump married his current wife, Melania Trump, in 2005, and their son, Barron, was born in 2006.

The White House has said Trump denies having an affair.

Trump's attorneys have argued that Daniels could owe about $20 million for violating the non-disclosure deal.

Daniels argues the agreement is legally invalid because it was only signed by her and Cohen, not by Trump.

In the Monday court filing, Cohen said Daniels had never raised any issues with the settlement agreement or suggested it was invalid or legally unenforceable before she filed her lawsuit last month.

Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, said they would oppose the motion to have the case heard in private arbitration, "hidden from the American public."

"This is a democracy and this matter should be decided in an open court of law owned by the people. #sunlight," he tweeted.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Bernice King toured a new multi-media exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum - located at the site of the old Lorraine Motel, where her father was shot. King was only 5 when her father was killed on April 4, 1968, while supporting a sanitation workers' strike in Memphis. Her visit to the museum Monday is one of several events taking place this week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of King's assassination, which is Wednesday.

King told reporters that if her father were alive, he would not be shocked or surprised about the racial, social and economic polarization seen today in the United States

Her museum visit came after a speech by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at the Peabody Hotel during a symposium sponsored by the University of Memphis and the museum.

Rev. Bernice King, second from left, daughter of the late civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., tours an exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Memphis, Tenn. The museum was formerly the Lorraine Motel, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Rev. Bernice King, daughter of the late civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., speaks at the National Civil Rights Museum, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Memphis, Tenn. The museum was formerly the Lorraine Motel, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) - For people of the Commonwealth, Wednesday will be like catching up with a dear old friend celebrating a 21st birthday.

And what a party it is set to be when the 21st Commonwealth Games open at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast, where sun, sand and surf should be part of the theme.

Beyond the iconic red and yellow of the surf-lifesavers and miles of world-class sandy beaches, the Gold Coast is a city bursting with innovation.

A cyclist rides past Commonwealth Games banner on the side of the road in Gold Coast, Australia, Monday, April 2, 2018. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be taking in Gold Coast in Australia from April 4 to 15.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Here's just a few:

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VERY VIRTUAL: What started as an educational project to help save the Great Barrier Reef has grown into a virtual tour of the world's deep blue.

Welcome to Google Ocean Street View, which allows users to explore some of the oceans that cover 70 percent of the Earth's surface - all without putting on a bathing suit.

The underwater footage gives viewers a 360-degree look at dolphins, coral nurseries and even shipwrecks - and people love the images so much the company behind the imagery has received more than 600 million online hits.

And that company, Panedia, is on the Gold Coast.

Aaron Spence started it in 2006 and six years ago he brought in Carlos Chegado, an expert in virtual reality photography.

Spence worked with Chegado in developing underwater rigs and lenses that could withstand ocean pressure and be used for 360-degree photography and videography underwater.

"This is the most ambitious aquatic project in the world ... and it is exciting for me to be part of a project that is so important for all of humanity," Chegado said. "The ocean is the earth's life support system but it is changing at a rapid rate due to climate change, pollution and over fishing.

"But we also want to celebrate the beauty of what do have so we are also filming 50 of the world's most beautiful reefs - and we are putting this imagery up on 50reefs.org."

Ocean Street View is a joint collaboration of the Catlin Seaview Survey, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Chagos Conservation Trust.

The collaboration has allowed researchers to share information and having panorama content displayed in partnership with Google has put Panedia on the world stage and on desktops, tablets and phones.

In trying to help to save the world, the team at Panedia has created some spectacular pictures.

The team uses six cameras capturing 6,000 images a day and there are more than 40 Google Ocean Street View locations around the world.

"Google has put us in the pockets of everyone ... and if people can see how beautiful our world is, they may want to save it," Chegado said.

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LOCATION, LOCATION: Forget Chris Hemsworth. The Gold Coast's biggest mover and shaker in the movie industry could very well be location manager Duncan Jones.

While he doesn't play a super hero, Jones has transformed streets and beaches, parks and buildings into sets for the movies such as Thor, Aquaman and even Captain Jack Sparrow.

The 44-year-old Jones started as a dolphin trainer at the Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast, where he worked on the set of TV series Flipper - and fell into the movie business.

"The Gold Coast has it all - from beaches that could be Rio through to rainforest that could be the Amazon jungle - and our weather is a definite bonus when it comes to shooting in outdoor locations," Jones said.

"My job is to not just go through the script and find the right spot for a director's vision but also to also make sure we also have the right permits in place and to make sure filming can happen."

The Gold Coast is undoubtedly the driving force behind Australia's movie industry, the city has recently played host to Thor: Ragnarok, Unbroken, San Andreas, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

But it was the construction of a permanent large-scale outdoor water tank that was used in the U.S. production of Fool's Gold in 2007, and starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, that really put the Gold Coast on Hollywood's radar.

The tank allowed for large-scale underwater and above water filming and is directly responsible for attracting 10 big productions.

Lynne Benzie, President of Village Roadshow Studios, said: "If our incentives remain competitive the film industry can continue to grow. We have world-class crews and state of the art studios ... this is a one-stop destination for filmmakers.

Benzie said since the studio started in 1998 it had attracted $3.3 billion worth of film production and had injected more than 1.8 billion into the Gold Coast economy.

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A Gold Coast company is lighting up the gaming floors of casinos around the world.

Simtech Creations counts the world's largest casino - the Venetian in Macau - as a client as well as Las Vegas Venetian and Galaxy, and Singapore's Marina Bay Sands casino and Sentosa Island.

While Simtech, which turns over between $30-40 million annually, does work for all the Australian casinos, managing director John Curtis said this accounted for only five percent of its business.

"Globally we are the biggest gambling supplier in the world in terms of displays and link systems," Curtis said.

Curtis said his company's LED lighting technology, which can be contoured to virtually any shape, is 10 years ahead of its international competitors and such is the demand that Simtech has expanded to 13 small factories.

Their lighting technology, which can flow around corners and curves and often highlights gaming machines and tables, is now used in casinos in Asia, America, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Judges on a popular British cooking show are being ridiculed for ignorance of Asian food after insisting a Malaysian contestant's chicken rendang curry should have been crispy.

Foodies in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have taken to social media to vent at the critique of the Malaysian-born cook's traditional and standard method for preparing chicken rendang.

"The skin isn't crispy. It can't be eaten but all the sauce is on the skin I can't eat," one of the MasterChef UK judges complained in a recent episode of the show.

Malaysia's national dish, Nasi Lemak and chicken rendang, at a restaurant in Subang Jaya, Malaysia, Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Judges on a popular British cooking show are being ridiculed for ignorance of Asian food after insisting a Malaysian contestant's chicken rendang curry should have been crispy, and have taken to social media to denounce the TV show hosts. (AP Photo/Sadiq Asyraf)

Online, Southeast Asians pointed out that the chicken is cooked in curry sauce, not fried, and is never crispy. Some accused the judges of neo-colonial attitudes and racism.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also chipped in, posting a photo of chicken rendang on Twitter and light-heartedly asking whether anyone has ever eaten a crispy chicken curry. Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the judges were guilty of "whitesplaining."

The contestant, Zaleha Kadir Olpin, was eliminated from the competition but took to Instagram to vow she'd never stop cooking the traditional way.

Her offending rendang was presented as part of Malaysia's national dish, Nasi Lemak, or rice cooked in coconut milk that comes with sides such as peanuts, spicy prawns and rendang.

The judges lavished praise on most of the ingredients but dismissed the non-crispy chicken rendang as a "mistake."

One of the judges, John Torode, later stirred more controversy online by trying to fuel the ages-old war of words between Malaysians and Indonesians over which country invented rendang. However the absurdity of the crispy curry saga has provided the neighboring countries with a rare point of agreement.

The curry, which originates from West Sumatra in Indonesia, is popular in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and southern Thailand.

Customers eat nasi uduk, which is Indonesian style steamed rice cooked in coconut milk dish, at street food stall in Jakarta, Indonesia. Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Judges on a popular British cooking show are being ridiculed for ignorance of Asian food after insisting the chicken in a Malaysian contestant's rendang curry should have been crispy. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
BERLIN (AP) - German prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking the extradition of former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain, where he could face trial for his role in organizing an independence referendum.

Puigdemont was detained in Germany on March 25 as he attempted to drive from Finland to Belgium, where he currently resides.

Prosecutors in the northern town of Schleswig said they have asked the regional court to formally put him in pre-extradition custody following "intensive examination" of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain's supreme court on March 23. If the court agrees to the request, prosecutors would still need to issue an order signing off on Puigdemont's extradition.

FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2018 file photo ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, center, stands with elected Catalan lawmakers of his Together for Catalonia party at a park in Brussels. German prosecutors have asked a court on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 to permit the extradition of former Puigdemont to Spain. Puigdemont has been detained in Germany since March 25. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, file)

Schleswig prosecutors said in a statement they consider the charge of rebellion to have an equivalent in German law - one of the requirements for extradition to take place.

"The accusation of rebellion contains at its core the allegation of carrying out an unconstitutional referendum despite expectations of violent disturbances," the prosecutors said. They noted that during a meeting with police on Sept. 28, Puigdemont was warned that violence might escalate on the day of the Oct. 1 referendum, but his government went through with it anyway.

In addition to rebellion, Madrid accuses the 55-year-old of misuse of public funds.

In an interview from jail, published Monday, Puigdemont insisted the campaign for the Spanish region's independence was nonviolent.

Puigdemont's lawyers said in a written statement that they have asked judges to reject the prosecutors' request, adding that they and their client "trust there will be an independent and objective examination by the Schleswig state court, to which further arguments against extradition will be presented in detail."

The lawyers have also urged the German government to intervene in the case, citing the "political dimension."

A police car stands in front of the entrance of the prison in Neumuenster, northern Germany, Monday, April 2, 2018. Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was detained in Germany on Sunday, March 25 on a European arrest warrant and is jailed in Neumuenster. German authorities are considering Spain's request to extradite him. Spanish authorities accuse Puigdemont, 55, of rebellion and misuse of public funds in organizing an unauthorized referendum on independence for Catalonia. (Frank Molter/dpa via AP)

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2017 file photo ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont speaks to pro-Catalan supporters during a demonstration near the EU quarter in Brussels. German prosecutors have asked a court on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 to permit the extradition of former Puigdemont to Spain. Puigdemont has been detained in Germany since March 25. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, file)
SINGAPORE (AP) - A court in Singapore on Tuesday fined two men 60,000 Singapore dollars ($45,800) each for breaching laws banning short-term rentals by renting out condominium units through online services such as Airbnb, Craigslist and HomeAway.

Terence Tan En Wei and Yao Songlaing had pleaded guilty at the State Court in February to four charges of illegally renting out four units last year, in the first case of its kind in the Southeast Asian island nation.

Defense lawyer Wong Soo Chih said prosecutors had requested a fine of 20,000 Singapore dollars ($15,267) per charge but the judge set it at 15,000 Singapore dollars ($11,450) per charge.

Offering short stays in private homes is illegal in Singapore, where most residents live in subsidized public housing. The minimum rental period had been six months, but has since been reduced to three months. Officials have said the rule minimizes disturbances to neighbors.

Despite these limitations, Airbnb continues to thrive in the city-state, where the platform has over 8,000 active listings. Last year, 350,000 guests stayed in Airbnb apartments in Singapore, according to the company.

Airbnb said in a statement after the sentencing that it will work with Singapore's authorities to allow the fair use of home sharing.

"We believe that an individual should, minimally, be able to share the private residence that they live in; and that no individual should be criminalized for sharing their home," said the statement from Mich Goh, Airbnb's head of public policy for Southeast Asia.

Describing the issue as "complex and multifaceted," the statement said the company looks forward to clarifying the rules through an upcoming public consultation and supports "a framework that allows responsible and sustainable home sharing to thrive to Singapore's immediate and long-term benefit."
BEIRUT (AP) - A new group of Syrian rebels and their family members left their stronghold near Damascus on Tuesday, heading to the rebel-held north as part of an agreement with the Syrian government and its Russian backers.

State-run Syrian television broadcast footage that showed several buses leaving the town of Douma. It said those on board were fighters and family members belonging to the Army of Islam, the largest rebel group in eastern Ghouta.

The Saudi-backed group, which has deep roots in the region, has held firm in recent weeks as virtually all the other insurgents of eastern Ghouta have reached deals to relocate to the rebel-held north, leaving Douma as the only remaining rebel holdout.

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian government forces overseeing the evacuation by buses of Army of Islam fighters and their families from the besieged town of Douma, just east of Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 2, 2018. The most powerful Syrian rebel faction on the fringes of Damascus began abandoning its stronghold in the once rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta on Monday, opening the way for government forces to secure full control of the area, after seven years of revolt. (SANA via AP)

The first Army of Islam fighters began evacuating Douma on Monday, headed to Jarablus, a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkish troops and allied Syrian forces. The rebels refused to say, however, whether they had surrendered.

It is also unclear whether all of the Army of Islam fighters have agreed to leave and how long the evacuations will take. The group is estimated to command 10,000 fighters in the town, and has a formidable arsenal of tanks and other heavy weaponry.

The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, said the Army of Islam is divided over whether to evacuate Douma, with hard-liners demanding they stay and fight.

The Russian military on Tuesday said 1,100 Syrian rebels and their family members have evacuated from Douma in two dozen buses in the past 24 hours.

The town of Douma was one of the earliest hubs of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in 2011.

The deal struck between the Army of Islam and the Russian military marks the end of a weekslong push by the Syrian government to consolidate its control of the suburbs.

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian government forces overseeing the evacuation of Army of Islam fighters and their families from the besieged town of Douma, just east of Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 2, 2018. The most powerful Syrian rebel faction on the fringes of Damascus began abandoning its stronghold in the once rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta on Monday, opening the way for government forces to secure full control of the area, after seven years of revolt. (SANA via AP)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian government forces overseeing the evacuation by buses of the Army of Islam fighters and their families from the besieged town of Douma, just east of Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 2, 2018. The most powerful Syrian rebel faction on the fringes of Damascus began abandoning its stronghold in the once rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta on Monday, opening the way for government forces to secure full control of the area, after seven years of revolt. (SANA via AP)
LONDON (AP) - Britain's defense laboratory acknowledged Tuesday it hasn't tracked down the source of the nerve agent that poisoned a Russian ex-spy, a statement the Kremlin said proved that British accusations of Moscow's involvement were baseless.

Scientists at the U.K's Porton Down lab previously identified the poison as a Soviet-developed type of nerve agent known as Novichok. The British government has said the only plausible explanation was that it came from Russia and blamed Russia for the attack on the former double agent and his adult daughter.

Porton Down chief executive Gary Aitkenhead said Tuesday that scientists at the lab "have not verified the precise source, but we provided the scientific information to the government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions that they have come to."

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, listens to a reporter's question during a joint news conference with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin, on his first foreign visit since being re-elected on March 18, and Erdogan remotely gave the go-ahead for the construction of the Russian-built nuclear plant on the Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu, Turkey, as ties between the two nations deepen. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Aitkenhead told Sky News the attack with a highly toxic chemical weapon was "probably only within the capabilities of a state actor."

At the same time, the lab's job is "to provide the scientific evidence that identifies what the particular nerve agent is ... but it's not our job to say where that was actually manufactured," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin quickly pointed at Aitkenhead's statement as evidence that British accusations of Russian involvement were unfounded. Moscow has fiercely denied being behind the March 4 attack.

"The speed at which the anti-Russian campaign was launched causes bewilderment," Putin said from Turkey, where he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Putin added that Russia will push for a thorough probe and expects the international chemical weapons watchdog to consider Russia's input.

"We want a thorough investigation. We would like to take part in it and expect to receive all the relevant materials," Putin said. He insisted the nerve agent that Britain said was used to attack former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, could have been produced by some 20 nations.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow expects an apology.

The poisonings of the Skripal in Salisbury, England has sparked a crisis in relations between Russia and the West, producing a wave of diplomatic expulsions unseen even at the height of the Cold War.

Britain, along with the United States and at least two dozen other U.K. allies wanting to show solidarity, have expelled over 150 Russian diplomats. Russia has ordered the same number of their envoys out.

The British government insisted that several pieces of information contributed to its conclusion that the Russian government was responsible for the nerve agent attack, including intelligence that Russia had produced Novichok within the last decade and had investigated ways of delivering nerve agents for assassinations.

Moscow has rejected those claims, saying that it never produced the agent dubbed Novichok in the West and completed the destruction of its Soviet-era chemical weapons stockpiles last year under international oversight.

Russian officials also have suggested the poison could have come from Britain, pointing out that Porton Down conducts secret chemical and biological weapons research.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko called the poisonings a "provocation arranged by Britain" to justify high military spending because "they need a major enemy."

Aitkenhead said there was "no way" the nerve agent could have come from the high-security facility.

"We deal with a number of very toxic substances as part of the work that we do. We've got the highest levels of security and controls," he said.

Skripal, 66, a former Russian intelligence agent convicted of spying for Britain, remains in critical condition. British officials say his 33-year-old daughter's health is improving.

At Russia's request, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons plans to hold an emergency meeting on the case Wednesday at its headquarters in The Hague.

Yury Filatov, Russia's ambassador to Ireland, said Russia wants Britain to "provide every possible element of evidence they might have in their hands" about the attack.

If Britain does not show evidence to back up its allegations that Moscow initiated the attack, "there are ample grounds to assume that we are dealing with a grand scale provocation organized in London aimed to discredit Russia."

Britain's Foreign Office said the Moscow-requested OPCW meeting was a "diversionary tactic, intended to undermine the work of the OPCW in reaching a conclusion" about the nerve agent attack.

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Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Raf Casert in Brussels and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this story.

Consulate employees remove the U.S flag at the U.S. consulate in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, March 31, 2018. Russia announced the expulsion of more than 150 diplomats, including 60 Americans, on Thursday and said it was closing a U.S. consulate in retaliation for the wave of Western expulsions of Russian diplomats over the poisoning of an ex-spy and his daughter in Britain, a tit-for-tat response that intensified the Kremlin's rupture with the United States and Europe. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

A plane which carried Russian diplomats and their family members ordered to leave the U.S. stay on parking after landing at Vnukovo 2 government airport outside Moscow, Russia, Sunday, April 1, 2018. The United States and more than a dozen European nations kicked out Russian diplomats on Monday and the Trump administration ordered Russia's consulate in Seattle to close, as the West sought joint punishment for Moscow's alleged role in poisoning an ex-spy in Britain. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Jon O'Neill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father, whom he can barely remember.

At times, it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended 75 years ago for his father, U.S. Army Air Forces ace John G. "Jump" O'Neill.

But it has also been an experience planned over a decade that has rewarded the 57-year-old editor and recreational pilot from De Land, Florida, beyond his expectations.

In this March 2017, photo provided by Justin Taylan, Jon O'Neill, right, poses with World War II historian Justin Taylan for a selfie in De Land, Fla. Jon O'Neill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father whom he can barely remember. At times it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended for his father, U.S. Army Air Forces 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group ace John G. "Jump" O'Neill, 75 years ago. (Justin Taylan via AP)

"I go ... back home with more memories than I ever thought I would be able to take with me. It's been amazing," O'Neill told The Associated Press from Rabaul, the former Japanese stronghold on the Papua New Guinea island of New Britain, over which his father had four of his eight Japanese kills in a P-38 Lighting fighter.

The image of his father had been etched in O'Neill's mind more by family stories than by memory. John O'Neill died of leukemia in Florida when his only son was 6 and his daughter, Tracey, was a year younger.

With the guidance of World War II historian Justin Taylan, founder of the charity website PacificWrecks.com, which documents and preserves war sites and graves, the son has retraced his father's 1943 wartime steps, from Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, to the wilds of the country's north and east coasts.

Japan took Rabaul in 1942 and held it until the war ended in 1945. But Rabaul had been rendered useless as a base for Japanese fighting in the South Pacific by relentless air attacks and isolation from supply lines.

O'Neill's two weeks in Papua New Guinea, Australia's nearest neighbor, end on Wednesday.

On March 28 - his late father's 97th birthday - O'Neill was at Oro Bay, a former U.S. military staging post on the northeast coast, where his father shot down a Mitsubishi Zero, his second Japanese kill, on the day he turned 22.

A poignant moment came when visiting the town of Dobodura on the east coast, where an array of 15 airstrips for bombers and fighter planes became the U.S. front line of the Pacific War. From there, John O'Neill launched into intense air battles over Rabaul with his friend Capt. Richard Bong, the United States' highest-scoring ace, who won a Medal of Honor for 40 confirmed kills. Bong survived 146 combat missions, only to be killed in California while test-flying a jet fighter prototype shortly before the war ended in 1945.

"When I got to Dobodura and I saw the runway where he flew from, I just got really, overwhelmingly depressed that I just couldn't look at him and say, 'What was this like for you when you were 21 or 22?'" O'Neill said.

"I got to see the campsite where he actually lived while he was in Oro Province, and that to me was one of the most amazing experiences, just to know that he was there," he said.

O'Neill was promoted to captain before returning to the United States with Bong in late 1943 as combat heroes to sell war bonds.

Within weeks, O'Neill's P-38, nicknamed Beautiful Lass, and its new pilot, Ormond Powell, disappeared somewhere in the New Britain jungles or the Bismarck Sea.

Taylan, who has been to Papua New Guinea dozens of times since his first visit in 1993 with his veteran grandfather, Carl R. Thien, a U.S. Army combat photographer in the Pacific, believes Beautiful Lass will someday be found.

The key is to reach out to villagers who have known for generations where in the jungle the wreckage lies.

"We believe the plane can be found," Taylan said. "I can't promise to him (Jon O'Neill) how long or how difficult that would be. But knowing him and seeing his experience of this trip makes me really want to find his father's aircraft."

"There are hundreds of missing in action aircraft from just the United States in this country and probably dozens from Australia. Many may never be found. Others will be found beyond my lifetime," he said.

Jon O'Neill said Oro Province, where his father spent most of 1943, was much the same as it was during the war years.

The American military presence during World War II is still evident to those who look beneath the jungle canopy.

O'Neill hacked through the jungle with a machete for an hour to reach the wreck of a P-38. He saw a B-24 Liberator bomber, a Jeep and a canteen marked "U.S. Army 1942." Near Japan's Tobera Airfield on New Britain, he saw the wrecks of Mitsubishi Zeros that his father might have fought.

O'Neill cherishes the idea that Beautiful Lass might one day be found.

"It was last seen over New Britain somewhere," he said. "It disappeared into a cloud and never came out, and I'm hoping that one of these days Justin will find it and I'll be able to come back and actually see my father's plane."

"Who knows? You fly over New Britain and there's just jungle. It could be down there anywhere," he said.

In this March 2017, photo provided by Justin Taylan, Jon O'Neill, right, speaks to World War II historian Justin Taylan at O'Neill's home in De Land, Fla. Jon O'Neill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father whom he can barely remember. At times it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended for his father, U.S. Army Air Forces 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group ace John G. "Jump" O'Neill, 75 years ago. (Justin Taylan via AP)

In this March 2017, photo provided by Justin Taylan, Jon O'Neill, right, talks with World War II historian Justin Taylan, left, about a plan of their trip to Papua New Guinea at O'Neill's home, in De Land, Fla. Jon O'Neill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father whom he can barely remember. At times it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended for his father, U.S. Army Air Forces 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group ace John G. "Jump" O'Neill, 75 years ago. (Justin Taylan via AP)

In this 1943 photo provided by U.S. Army Air Forces, John O'Neill waves from his P-38 Lightning fighter at a U.S. airfield near the town of Dobodura in Papua New Guinea. His son Jon O'Neill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father whom he can barely remember. At times it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended for his father, U.S. Army Air Forces 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group ace John G. "Jump" O'Neill, 75 years ago. (U.S. Army Air Forces via AP)

This 1943 photo provided by U.S. Army Air Forces shows John O'Neill's P-38 Lightning fighter at a U.S. airfield near the town of Dobodura in Papua New Guinea. His son Jon O'Neill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father whom he can barely remember. At times it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended for his father, U.S. Army Air Forces 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group ace John G. "Jump" O'Neill, 75 years ago. (U.S. Army Air Forces via AP)
LONDON (AP) - Britain says it will ban the sale of ivory, no matter how old, to help protect the world's elephant population.

The government said Tuesday that the ban is the toughest in Europe and will impose a maximum five-year prison sentence for offenders.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove says "the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past."

Items made from ivory are displayed Nov. 5, 2017, in London. Britain's government said Tuesday April 3, 2018, it will ban the sale of all ivory, the toughest ban in Europe, to help protect the world's elephant population. (AP Photo/Sheila Norman-Culp)

There will be exceptions for some old musical instruments and for works of art, such as portrait miniatures, that are more than a century old.

Conservationists say about 20,000 elephants a year are killed for their tusks. David Cowdrey of the International Fund for Animal Welfare says the British ban sends "a clear and unequivocal message that ivory trade is over and rightly being consigned to the history books."
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump will promote recent tax cuts during a round-table discussion in West Virginia this week.

The White House says Trump is hosting Thursday's discussion at the Sulphur Springs Civic Center in White Sulphur Springs.

Trump signed legislation late last year that cut taxes significantly for corporations and the wealthy and provided more modest tax breaks for middle-income earners.

A March survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that an improving economy and the tax cuts passed by Republicans appear to have helped lift Trump's approval ratings to 42 percent - up seven points from February. No Democrats voted to cut taxes.

Trump tells audiences that Democrats will raise their taxes if Republicans lose control of both houses of Congress in the November elections.
DALLAS (AP) - One of the designers of a massive Kansas water park slide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy has been arrested in Texas, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Trent Touchstone, chief deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service in Dallas, said 72-year-old John Timothy Schooley was met by agents at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as he arrived on a flight late Monday.

Schooley was being held without bond at the Dallas County jail pending his arraignment and extradition to Kansas on charges that include second-degree murder. If convicted on that charge, he could face as much as 41 years in prison. Kansas attorney general spokeswoman Jennifer Montgomery said in an email that she has no information on when Schooley will be extradited.

This photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department shows John Timothy Schooley, one of the designers of a Kansas water park slide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy in 2016. Schooley was arrested by federal authorities late Monday, April 2, 2018, in Dallas. Schooley and Jeffrey Henry, a co-owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts, were indicted last week by a grand jury in Kansas. Schooley will be held in Dallas pending his arraignment and extradition to Kansas on charges that include second-degree murder. (Dallas County Sheriff's Department via AP)

Online jail records don't indicate whether Schooley has an attorney to speak on his behalf.

A Kansas grand jury last week indicted Schooley and Jeffrey Henry , a co-owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts. The indictment accuses Henry of making a "spur of the moment" decision to build the Verruckt ride - touted as the world's tallest water slide - and that he and Schooley lacked technical or engineering expertise in amusement park rides. A former operations director for Schlitterbahn also has been charged.

Caleb Schwab was killed on the 17-story Verruckt in 2016 when the raft he was riding went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

Schooley and Henry also were charged with 17 other felonies, including aggravated battery and aggravated endangerment of a child counts tied to injuries that other riders sustained on the giant slide.

Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said in a statement last week that the indictment "is filled with information that we fully dispute." She didn't immediately respond to a message seeking fresh comment early Tuesday.

The indictment alleges the ride violated "nearly all aspects" of longstanding standards established by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

"In fact, the design and operation of the Verruckt complied with few, if any, of the industry safety standard," the indictment said.

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AP writer Heather Hollingsworth contributed to this report from Kansas City, Missouri.

FILE - In this July 9, 2014, file photo, riders go down the water slide called "Verruckt" at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kan. Late Monday, April 2, 2018, federal authorities in Dallas arrested John Timothy Schooley, one of the designers of the water slide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy in 2016. Schooley and Jeffrey Henry, a co-owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts, were indicted last week by a grand jury in Kansas. Schooley will be held in Dallas pending his arraignment and extradition to Kansas on charges that include second-degree murder. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - The Croatian president thanks Argentina for taking in notorious pro-Nazi war criminals after World War II. In Bulgaria, a top politician calls the country's Roma minority "ferocious humanoids." And Hungary's prime minister declares the "color" of Europeans should not mix with that of Africans or Arabs.

Ever since WWII, such views were taboo in Europe, confined to the far-right fringes. Today they are openly expressed by mainstream political leaders in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, part of a populist surge in the face of globalization and mass migration.

"There is something broader going on in the region which has produced a patriotic, nativist, conservative discourse through which far-right ideas managed to become mainstream," said Tom Junes, a historian with the Human and Social Studies Foundation in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In this photo taken Saturday, March 24, 2018, people wave Croatian flags during a protest against an international convention they say indirectly legalizes gay marriages and gives rights to transgender people, in Zagreb, Croatia. For decades after World War II, racist, extremist and anti-Semitic views were considered taboo in public life, strictly confined to the far-right fringes. Today they are openly expressed by mainstream political leaders in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, part of a global populist surge in the face of globalization and mass migration. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

In many places, the shift to the right has included the rehabilitation of Nazi collaborators, often fighters or groups celebrated as anti-communists or defenders of national liberation. In Hungary and Poland, governments are also eroding the independence of courts and the media, prompting human rights groups to warn that democracy is threatened in parts of a region that threw off Moscow-backed dictatorships in 1989.

Some analysts say Russia is covertly helping extremist groups in order to destabilize Western liberal democracies. While that claim is difficult to prove with concrete evidence, it's clear that the growth of radical groups has pushed moderate conservative European parties to the right to hold onto votes.

That's the case in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party - the front-runner in the country's April 8 parliamentary election - have drawn voters with an increasingly strident anti-migrant campaign.

Casting himself as the savior of a white Christian Europe being overrun by Muslims and Africans, Orban has insisted that Hungarians don't want their "own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed by others."

Orban, who is friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also the first European leader to endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential race. In 2015 he erected a razor-wire fence at Hungary's borders to stop migrants from crossing, and has since been warning in apocalyptic terms that the West faces racial and civilizational "suicide" if the migration continues.

Orban has also been obsessed with demonizing financier and philanthropist George Soros, falsely portraying the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor as an advocate of uncontrolled immigration into Europe. In what critics denounce as a state-sponsored conspiracy theory with anti-Semitic overtones, the Hungarian government spent $48.5 million on anti-Soros ads in 2017, according to the investigative news site atlatszo.hu.

In a recent speech, Orban denounced Soros in language that echoed anti-Semitic cliches of the 20th century. He said Hungary's foes "do not believe in work, but speculate with money; they have no homeland, but feel that the whole world is theirs."

In Poland, xenophobic language is also on the rise. When nationalists held a large Independence Day march in November and some carried banners calling for a "White Europe" and "Clean Blood," the interior minister called it a "beautiful sight."

Poland's government has also been embroiled in a bitter dispute with Israel and Jewish organizations over a national law that would criminalize blaming Poland for Germany's Holocaust crimes. Critics say that could allow a whitewash of history.

With tensions running high, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki listed "Jewish perpetrators" as among those who were responsible for the Holocaust. He also visited the Munich grave of an underground Polish resistance group that had collaborated with the Nazis.

In the same vein, an official tapped to create a major new history museum in Warsaw has condemned the postwar tribunals in Nuremberg, Germany - where top Nazis were judged - as "the greatest judicial farce in the history of Europe." Arkadiusz Karbowiak said the Nuremberg trials were only "possible because of the serious role of Jews" in their organization, and called them "the place where the official religion of the Holocaust was created."

Across the region, Roma, Muslims, Jews and other minorities have expressed anxiety about the future. But nationalists insist they are not promoting hate. They argue they're defending their national sovereignty and their Christian way of life against globalization and the large-scale influx of migrants who don't assimilate.

The Balkans, bloodied by ethnic warfare in the 1990s, are also seeing a rise of nationalism, particularly in Serbia and Croatia. Political analysts there believe that Russian propaganda is spurring old ethnic resentments.

Croatia has steadily drifted to the right since joining the EU in 2013. Some officials there have denied the Holocaust or reappraised Croatia's ultranationalist, pro-Nazi Ustasha regime, which killed tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma and anti-fascist Croats in wartime prison camps.

On a recent visit to Argentina, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic thanked the country for providing post-war refuge to Croats who had belonged to the Ustasha regime.

The world's top Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff of the Wiesenthal center, called her statement "a horrific insult to victims." Grabar-Kitarovic later said she had not meant to glorify a totalitarian regime.

Meanwhile in Bulgaria, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, the government includes a far-right alliance, the United Patriots, whose members have given Nazi salutes and slurred minorities. Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov has called the country's Roma minority "ferocious humanoids" whose women "have the instincts of street dogs."

Junes, the researcher, says even though hate crimes are on the rise in Bulgaria, the problem has raised little concern in the West because the country keeps its public debt in check and is not challenging the fundamental Western consensus, unlike Poland and Hungary.

"Bulgaria isn't rocking the boat," Junes said. "They play along with Europe."

While populist and far-right groups are also growing in parts of Western Europe, countries like Poland and Hungary are proving more vulnerable to the same challenges, said Peter Kreko, director of Political Capital Institute, a Budapest-based think tank.

"In younger, weaker, more fragile democracies," Kreko said, "right-wing populism is more dangerous because it can weaken and even demolish the democratic institutions."

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Gera reported from Warsaw; Pablo Gorondi contributed from Budapest.

In this photo taken Thursday, March 15, 2018, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sings along with performers wearing traditional outfits at the end of his speech outside the Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary. For decades after World War II, racist, extremist and anti-Semitic views were considered taboo in public life, strictly confined to the far-right fringes. Today they are openly expressed by mainstream political leaders in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, part of a global populist surge in the face of globalization and mass migration. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump criticized the major television networks on Tuesday as "fakers."

Trump tweeted that the "'Fakers' at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!"

The president is also defending the Sinclair Broadcast Group following news reports about a video of dozens of Sinclair news anchors reading a script expressing concern about "fake stories." Sinclair owns nearly 200 local TV stations and has ordered its anchors to read a statement expressing concern about "one-sided news stories plaguing the country."

In this March 22, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Trump tweeted that "The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast."

Sinclair, a conservative-leaning company and one of the country's largest owners of TV stations, has previously come under fire from federal regulators for failing to disclose paid programming. Last year, the Federal Communications Committee slapped Sinclair with a $13.4 million fine for not properly identifying some content as ads, including news stories on a cancer foundation that were paid for by the foundation.

Sinclair also has pushed to ease regulation of the broadcast industry and approve its plan to buy Tribune Media, a move that would dramatically increase the company's reach.
JERUSALEM (AP) - The Latest on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

Palestinian health officials say a 25-year-old man has been killed in clashes with Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip.

In this Saturday, March 31, 2018 file photo, a Palestinian uses his phone to take photos while a protester slings stones towards Israeli soldiers on the other side of the fence during clashes with Israeli troops along the Gaza Strip border with Israel, east of Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip. The Israeli military's open-fire policies came under more scrutiny as two amateur videos emerged purportedly showing two Palestinians being shot - one killed and one wounded - while not posing any apparent threat to soldiers. The Israeli military accused Hamas on Sunday of releasing videos that were incomplete, edited or "completely fabricated," but did not elaborate. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the man was shot east of Bureij, near the Israeli border in central Gaza, where he was throwing stones toward soldiers.

It was the first deadly incident since Friday, when 18 Gazans were killed during widespread protests and clashes along the Israeli border.

Large demonstrations are planned again this Friday, raising the possibility of further bloodshed.

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1:15 p.m.

Israel's defense minister says the military will not change its tough response to Hamas-led mass protests near Gaza's border with Israel, warning that "anyone who approaches the border is putting their life in danger."

Avigdor Lieberman spoke Tuesday near Gaza, where 18 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire Friday, the first day of what Hamas says will be six weeks of border protests.

Earlier on Tuesday, the international group Human Rights Watch accused Lieberman and other senior officials of "unlawfully" calling for the use of live fire against Palestinian protesters who posed no imminent threat to life.

Lieberman signaled defiance, saying that "we have established clear ground rules and we do not intend to change them. "

Palestinian health officials say more than 750 Palestinians were wounded by army fire Friday.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A symphony debuting this week both captures and celebrates the distinctive sounds and sizzle of Philadelphia, from veteran radio announcer Merrill Reese's call of the Eagles' Super Bowl victory to a cook chopping steak on the grill at one of this city's iconic cheesesteak joints.

Composer Tod Machover listened to hundreds of hours of recordings and used about a third of all the sounds he received. He selected those he said had "strong personalities" and conveyed some important aspect of the city.

Screaming is even a part of the vocal material.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, accompanied by a 250-person choir, will perform "Philadelphia Voices" on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at its main performance hall and on April 10 at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin said it's "a large-scale work that pairs The Philadelphia Orchestra with all of the talent of the city - of various origins, ages, and backgrounds."

This is Machover's sixth city symphony and the second to feature an American city. He recorded the sounds of Detroit in 2015, creating a symphony that included the sound of Henry Ford's first engine. The project was detailed in the documentary "Symphony in D."

"I definitely want to celebrate the cities I go into," said Machover, an MIT professor and electronic music innovator who was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. "For me, the real interest in doing this project is to get ordinary people thinking about something they care about and everybody cares about where they live."

This is the first of his symphonies to focus on and incorporate voice.

Often the instruments, choruses and city sounds are interwoven, sometimes blending together and other times clashing.

There were certain iconic places (like Love Park and inside the giant, walk-through model heart at The Franklin Institute) and themes (the nation's founding in Philadelphia, its status as the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection) that Machover felt obliged to represent in the work.

The 30-minute-long symphony's two prominent sound solos were also an easy fit: a "cheesesteak interlude" drawn from the kitchen of Pat's King of Steaks, with percussion accompaniment, and a collage of Reese's announcement of the final seconds of the Super Bowl.

"With the steaks sizzling and the chopping and the spatula moving and the chef talking about how many cheesesteaks people ate per day, how many people (who work) there ate per day and what cheesesteaks mean to Philadelphia, it's just a great combination of sounds everybody will recognize," Machover said.

After getting the NFL's permission to use Eagles' announcer Reese's triumphant end-of-game call, Machover wrote a loud chord for the orchestra to play as the rival New England Patriots' tried to score a final time.

"Then the orchestra stops, the chorus stops, and it's just the game," Machover said. "It goes into Merrill Reese screaming, all by itself, and it's kind of special."

Reese has been the Eagles play-by-play announcer for over 40 years, and his voice is instantly recognizable to any city sports fan. For a full 30 seconds, he is heard shouting: "The game is over! The Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl champions! Eagles fans everywhere, this is for you! Let the celebration begin!"

Machover asked some students what words defined Philadelphia and teenage writers their thoughts on democracy. He recorded lively bird songs at the Philadelphia Zoo and a music historian talking about jazz saxophonist John Coltrane.

A trip to the Museum of the American Revolution resulted in the sounds of children training on drums and shouting "Huzzah!" At the National Constitution Center, newly sworn-in citizens were asked their thoughts on the state of the country.

Philadelphia resident and poet Jacob Winterstein helped connect Machover with other local artists. He also took Machover on a bike tour through Center City, which was recorded for the project.

"He tried to go deeper than the classical things Philadelphia is associated with - American history, sports teams, sandwiches - and beyond the most easy narrative of Philadelphia," Winterstein said.

His Philadelphia-inspired poem "Block Party" is featured in the symphony. These individual neighborhood celebrations happen in all corners of the city, wealthy and struggling, and are enjoyed by residents of all colors and beliefs.

"Even in our separateness, the fact that we do something in a similar way shows our collectiveness," he said.
"Look Alive Out There: Essays" (MCD/FSG), by Sloane Crosley

Established writer and best-selling author Sloane Crosley is back with a second book of essays. Ten years after the debut of "I Was Told There'd Be Cake," Crosley delivers 16 new stories with her trademark sense of humor and wit.

"Look Alive Out There" is a book about accepting whatever life may throw your way. Through personal anecdotes, Crosley invites readers to first laugh at her extenuating circumstances and then join her as the crazy, unimaginable details unfold. We trudge through the tales of an obnoxious teenage neighbor in New York and a mountain climbing trip gone terribly wrong in Ecuador. Readers follow along as Crosley interviews her '70s porn-star uncle, learns to navigate vertigo and addresses the ailments of an epileptic dog.

Although the book is peppered with a variety of essay lengths and topics, one thing remains true: Crosley's voice is original, sophisticated and full of humor. Look no further than the stories about the British man who stole her website identity or the hippie couple who invited her to participate in amorous activities. Through all of these outlandish ordeals, it's plain to see why Crosley has been compared to both Nora Ephron and David Sedaris.

"Look Alive Out There" is a delightful collection of hilarious essays that manage, in some cases, to point to relatable life lessons. It's equally smart, creative and hilarious. Crosley teaches readers not to sweat the small stuff in life. Hold things loosely, crash the shiva, be true to yourself and laugh accordingly.

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Online:

https://www.sloanecrosley.com/
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump and leader Raul Castro will attend the Summit of the Americas next week in Peru.

Peruvian ambassador to the U.S. Carlos Pareja says Trump and Castro are among the 14 leaders from the hemisphere that will be in the April 13-14 meeting, which will focus on democratic governance and corruption.

Pareja also expects that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to attend a related meeting of hundreds of CEOs from the region.

Trump has partially rolled back former President Barack Obama's diplomatic opening with the communist island.

Cuban vice president Miguel Diaz-Canel is expected to assume Raul Castro's seat as president on April 19, but little immediate or dramatic reform is expected.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A teacher rebellion in red states from West Virginia to Arizona has put Republicans on the defensive, forcing them to walk a fine line in the months before midterm elections between placating constituents who are angry over education cuts and conservative supporters who want a smaller government and low taxes.

In Oklahoma, most Republicans last week broke with the party orthodoxy and endorsed hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increases to fund public schools and give teachers a raise of 15 to 18 percent.

They acted after Oklahoma teachers demanded action, inspired by a nine-day strike in West Virginia, where they won a 5 percent raise. The rebellion also has spread to Kentucky where teachers thronged the state Capitol Monday to protest cuts in pensions. And in Arizona, restive teachers also are demanding a 20 percent pay raise.

In this photo provided by Michael Stinnett, high school student Xavier Turner holds a sign Tuesday April 3, 2018, during teacher protests outside the Oklahoma state Capitol in Oklahoma City. Teachers in red states including Oklahoma and West Virginia have walked out of classrooms to demand higher pay and more funding for education, and lawmakers in those two states have approved. (Michael Stinnett via AP)

But the epicenter of the revolt now is Oklahoma, where lawmakers got little praise for approving major tax increases and instead caught flak from both sides of the political divide. Thousands of teachers converged on the state Capitol for a second day Tuesday demanding even more money, while anti-tax conservatives vowed to challenge incumbents who supported the plan.

"I've had some political blowback, people saying this will be my last term in office," said Rep. Kyle Hilbert, a Republican from rural northeast Oklahoma, who has gotten an earful from conservatives. "I'd rather serve one term and know I did what was best for my district."

The Oklahoma strike showed no signs of ending, with many of the largest school districts in the state planning to close for a third consecutive day on Wednesday to honor the walkout.

Some Republicans are trying to express their sympathy for the teachers. Three weeks before a closely watched special election for an open congressional seat in Arizona, Republican hopeful Debbie Lesko is running a TV ad that shows her reading a book to children as she vows to "fix our schools and give our teachers the raise they deserve."

As he runs for a second term, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in Arizona epitomizes the dilemma for GOP candidates in 2018. He refuses to raise taxes and finds himself on the defensive amid growing frustration with education funding in a state where the budget was decimated during the recession and where he and other leaders have dramatically expanded voucher programs. Teachers have been filling the Capitol to protest a Ducey plan to provide a 2 percent raise for teachers, and they have been joined by the two Democrats trying to unseat him.

The protests also have emboldened teachers across the country to run for office. In Kentucky, teachers bruised by their fight over education pensions are preparing to mobilize to support legislative candidates they see as passing a key test: support for education. About two dozen educators or former educators are running for office this year, most of them as Democrats.

For the Democratic Party, which has been losing legislative seats in many of these red states for years, the intensity of the education movement is an opportunity. The Oklahoma Democratic Party set up a tent outside the Capitol during the teacher protests and urged demonstrators to register to vote.

"I think the people who will be held responsible at the end of the day are the people in power," said Party Chairwoman Anna Langthorn. "I think we have a lot of momentum."

Xavier Turner, 17, the student body president at Del City High School in suburban Oklahoma City, held a sign at the protest Tuesday saying: "I'd take KD back before Mary Fallin," showing his preference for NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors, over the Oklahoma governor who is term-limited and not running in 2018. He's not quite old enough to vote, but Turner said that as young people register, they will remember who stood with their teachers.

"We just need to do better as far as the Legislature and who we vote in," Turner said Tuesday after joining the protest outside the Oklahoma Capitol. "The national spotlight is on Oklahoma. Hopefully it goes well."

Democrats already have made some gains in Oklahoma, winning four seats from Republicans in special elections in the past year, including two teachers elected to office after campaigning on improving school funding. But they are still deep in the minority in the Legislature.

Recent U.S. history is mixed on whether such grassroots movements can translate into victories at the ballot box. Teachers were at the heart of massive protests at the Wisconsin state Capitol in 2011, fighting a proposal from then-newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Despite the closure of schools for four days as part of a coordinated sick-out among teachers, a bill that placed severe restrictions on unions passed anyway. An attempted recall of Walker in 2012 led to an even wider margin of victory than he enjoyed in the regular election in 2010.

Kansas is a more encouraging example for teachers. After Republicans there approved massive personal income tax cuts beginning in 2012, budget shortfalls put a lid on education funding increases. A backlash against the tax cuts led to the defeat of about two dozen conservative state lawmakers, and the Legislature last year reversed many of the cuts.

Pat McFerron, a Republican strategist and pollster in Oklahoma, said for many GOP incumbents who voted for the tax-hike plan to fund teacher pay raises, their greatest concern is a right-wing primary challenge. Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, a hero of the anti-tax movement, urged citizens to challenge their Republican legislators who voted for the plan.

But Carri Hicks, a fourth-grade math and science teacher in the Oklahoma City suburb of Deer Creek, said she decided to run as a Democrat for a state Senate seat this year in part because of the declines in funding for public schools.

"I want to be a voice for the teachers at the state Capitol," Hicks said, saying the raise for teachers and more money for education was a good first step. "My campaign continues to finish the job."

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This version of the story corrects the day Xavier Turner was holding the sign to Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

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Associated Press writers Melissa Daniels in Phoenix, Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky, Tim Talley and Adam Kealoha Causey in Oklahoma City, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.

Supporters of teachers wave at passing cars from an overpass at the state Capitol during a teacher's rally in Oklahoma City, Monday, April 2, 2018. Thousands of Oklahoma teachers and supporters descended on the state Capitol on Monday to demand more education funding as schools closed for the demonstration. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Teachers picket around the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, Monday, April 2, 2018, as teachers rally against low school funding. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Teachers from across Kentucky gather outside the state Capitol to rally for increased funding and to protest changes to their state funded pension system, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Hundreds of Kentucky teachers protest outside of Gov. Matt Bevin's office on Friday, March 30, 2018, in Frankfort, Ky. State lawmakers passed a bill late Thursday night that makes changes to the state's pension system. Bevin could sign the bill into law on Friday. (AP Photo/Adam Beam)

A teachers holds up a sign during a rally at the Kentucky state Capitol in protest for increased funding and to protest last minute changes to their state funded pension system, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Frankfort, Ky. Thousands of teachers from across Kentucky filled the Capitol during the event. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Teachers from across Kentucky stand at the base of the steps leading to the Kentucky State Senate chamber as they rally for increased funding and to protest last minute changes to their state funded pension system, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Teachers from across Kentucky hold up signs as they fill the state Capitol to rally for increased funding and to protest last minute changes to their state funded pension system, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Signs lay in a pile as teachers from across Kentucky enter and exit the state Capitol as they rally for increased funding and to protest last minute changes to their state funded pension system, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Thousands of teachers from across Kentucky fill the state Capitol to rally for increased funding and to protest last minute changes to their state funded pension system, Monday, April 2, 2018, in Frankfort, Ky. Thousands filled the state Capitol in Kentucky on Monday to protest teacher pension changes, and schools were closed statewide in Oklahoma as thousands more educators rallied for increased education funding. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Keagan Nedrow, left, and Reed Nedrow, bottom right, stand with their mother, Tara Nedrow, right, who teaches history at Union High School, and other teachers, during a teacher rally against low school funding at the state Capitol Oklahoma City, Monday, April 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Teachers and supporters of increased education funding rally on second floor rotunda of the state Capitol during the second day of a walkout by Oklahoma teachers, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Oklahoma City. (Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP)

Blake Stephens, a school counselor from Locust Grove, holds a sign asking to restore education funding during the second day of a walkout by Oklahoma teachers at the state Capitol, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Oklahoma City. (Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP)

Teachers and supporters of increased education funding pack the first and second floors of the state Capitol during the second day of a walkout by Oklahoma teachers, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Oklahoma City. (Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP)

A state trooper walks by teachers and their supporters as they sit on the fourth floor in front of the entrance to the House of Representatives during the second day of a walkout by Oklahoma teachers at the state Capitol, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Oklahoma City. (Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP)

State Rep. Collin Walke, D-Oklahoma City, and other representatives acknowledge protesters outside the House chamber during the second day of a walkout by Oklahoma teachers at the state Capitol, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Oklahoma City. (Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP)

Teachers and supporters of increased education funding pack the first and second floors of the state Capitol during the second day of a walkout by Oklahoma teachers, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Oklahoma City. (Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP)
LINCOLNTON, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina day care worker has been accused of pulling an 18-month-old girl's hair out.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that 23-year-old Rebecca Nicole DeGregory is charged with misdemeanor child abuse.

According to the sheriff's office, deputies spoke with the child's mother, who said a call from the day care in Denver on March 21 indicated another child had pulled out her daughter's hair but her child was OK.

But a staff member later called the mother and said a review of surveillance video showed another worker pulling the child's hair so hard that some came out.

DeGregory, who was fired from her job, is free on a $5,000 bond. It's not known if she has an attorney. A phone number listed for her had been disconnected.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A group of exiled Venezuelan jurists met in Colombia's capital Tuesday to hear corruption allegations against President Nicolas Maduro, launching a symbolic process that could further tarnish the embattled socialist leader's reputation.

The group calling itself Venezuela's "Supreme Court in Exile" held a public hearing in Colombia's elegant congressional building to review accusations linking Maduro to the giant Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which has acknowledged paying bribes in many Latin American countries, including almost $200 million in Venezuela

The proceedings were notably one-sided: While an attorney was assigned for Maduro, his government considers the body illegitimate and both the judges and prosecutor fled into exile to avoid Maduro's reach.

Former Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega holds documents that she claims prove that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro took bribes for the Brazilian construction company Odebrect, in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, April, 3, 2018. A group of exiled jurists known as the "Supreme Court in Exile," met in Colombia's capital to hear corruption allegations against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, launching a largely symbolic process that could tarnish the embattled leader's reputation. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Ousted Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who long had access to the country's investigative files, told the jurists that she has evidence that Maduro sought $50 million in illegal contributions from Odebrecht to finance his 2013 presidential campaign. Ortega said that in exchange for Odebrecht's help, Maduro promised the construction firm new public works contracts in Venezuela as well as help in catching up in tens of millions of dollars in overdue payments.

"Even as the country went through a humanitarian crisis, his priority was (to pay) Odebrecht," said Ortega, who fled Venezuela last year after falling out with Maduro's socialist administration. "This is a president that has destroyed Venezuela," she said.

Ortega said she had obtained testimony from Brazilian campaign advisers, who said they received millions of dollars from Maduro and his allies, in some cases, in suitcases full of cash. She also said she had tracked payments from Odebrecht accounts into offshore banks linked to Maduro's cronies and asked for the Venezuelan president to be tried for corruption and money laundering.

The lawyer named to represent the president, Andres Lindo, acknowledged he had not spoken with Maduro, but added, "I will do my best in the current circumstances to defend him."

The jurists on the panel said they will review the evidence presented by Ortega and decide whether the case should go to "trial."

The "Supreme Court in Exile" is made up of 33 jurists who were appointed to Venezuela's Supreme Court last year by the opposition-led congress. Maduro accused them of treason, claiming they were trying to illegally replace a group of Supreme Court justices that had been appointed by his political allies in 2015, before the opposition took control of congress in a landslide electoral victory.

The newly appointed judges were not able to take their seats and instead fled the country to avoid time in prison. Now they live in several countries in the region including Panama, Colombia, Chile and the United States, where the court's president is based.

The jurists hold regular meetings via Skype and have issued rulings that include ordering Venezuela's government to let international humanitarian aid into the country and to stop issuing the petro, a crypto-currency that was recently hit with U.S. sanctions.

Maduro's government has ignored the rulings. While most countries in the region have tolerated the court in exile and allowed its judges to hold meetings and conferences, none have explicitly recognized its legitimacy.

However, the court has received the support of the Washington-based Organization of American States, whose secretary general has accused Maduro of becoming a dictator.

Former Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega shows documents that she claims prove that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro took bribes for the Brazilian construction company Odebrect, in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, April, 3, 2018. A group of exiled jurists known as the "Supreme Court in Exile," met in Colombia's capital to hear corruption allegations against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, launching a largely symbolic process that could tarnish the embattled leader's reputation. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Former Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega shows documents that she claims prove that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro took bribes for the Brazilian construction company Odebrect, in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, April, 3, 2018. A group of exiled jurists known as the "Supreme Court in Exile," met in Colombia's capital to hear corruption allegations against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, launching a largely symbolic process that could tarnish the embattled leader's reputation. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Former Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega shows documents that she claims prove that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro took bribes for the Brazilian construction company Odebrect, in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday, April, 3, 2018. A group of exiled jurists known as the "Supreme Court in Exile," met in Colombia's capital to hear corruption allegations against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, launching a largely symbolic process that could tarnish the embattled leader's reputation. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Russias foreign minister has accused the UK of putting all decency aside over its claims that Moscow is to blame for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Sergey Lavrov appeared to suggested that UK secret services may have been involved in the March 4 attack in Salisbury, which he said may have been beneficial to the British Government to distract attention from Brexit.

Mr Lavrov said it was outrageous that Britain had failed to provide consular access to Yulia Skripal, 33, since it emerged that her condition was improving.

Question without answer #8: Were French experts present when biological material was taken from Mr and Ms Skripal? pic.twitter.com/RLBxBYQIx1  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) April 2, 2018

His comments came as the Russian Embassy in London issued a series of what it termed questions without answer about the Skripal case  including whether the UK had ever produced the Novichok nerve agent believed to have been used in the Salisbury poisoning.

Britain has said that Russian state involvement is the only plausible explanation for the attack, and has led a worldwide reaction involving the expulsion of more than 100 diplomats.

But Mr Lavrov accused Western countries of playing childrens games, according to reports from Russian news agency Tass.

Question without answer #2: What specific antidotes were administered to Mr and Ms Skripal, and in which form? How were those antidotes available for the medical staff on the site of the incident? pic.twitter.com/AjvXlASXBx  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) April 2, 2018

Today, our Western partners, and I first of all refer to the Great Britain, the United States and some other countries, which are blindly guided by them, put all of their decency aside and resort to bold lies and fake news, said Mr Lavrov.

Our responses to all of this are calm and weighted as we keep insisting that all accusations and allegations must be backed with the facts.

Insisting that Moscow could not have a possible motive to attack Mr Skripal  who he said was pardoned at the time of a spy swap with the West  Mr Lavrov said there were other possible explanations for the poisoning.

Experts say this may be rather advantageous for Britains special services, which are known for their ability to act with a license to kill, he said. This can be also beneficial to the British Government which found itself in an inconvenient situation after failing to fulfil its promises to voters on Brexits conditions.

According to Tass, Russias top diplomat said: I want to reiterate that Russia has no relation to the Skripals poisoning, but we are very interested  probably more than anyone else  in establishing the truth about our citizens fate.

Mr Lavrov said he hoped that Mr Skripal would recover in the same way as his daughter, adding: I consider this is outrageous that so far our multiple requests demanding access to our citizens have been rejected or have remained unanswered.

In a string of questions on Twitter, the Russian embassy asked: Has the substance identified by British representatives as `Novichok or analogous substances been researched, developed or produced in the UK?

Question without answer #14: Has the substance identified by British representatives as Novichok or analogous substances been researched, developed or produced in the UK? pic.twitter.com/XAcPHKvPgR  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) April 2, 2018

Britain has previously dismissed a series of Russian comments about the possible explanation for the poisoning as efforts to distract attention from Moscows own failure to explain its part in the events.

Meanwhile, Russias envoy to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons suggested that Moscow would launch a new initiative in the Skripal case at an extraordinary meeting of its executive council on Wednesday.

Britain has granted the OPCW access to samples of the substance used to poison the Skripals, which UK experts have identified as Novichok, a nerve agent believed to have been developed by Russia.

On Sunday, Moscow sent a series of questions to the international organisation, including what data and material the UK had provided, what procedures were followed, where the samples are being analysed and when the OPCW will come forward with conclusions.

On April 1, the Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation to the @OPCW sent the following questions regarding the fabricated Skripal case to the OPCWs Technical Secretariat:https://t.co/T5xiDaLkHG pic.twitter.com/g4O49l1vv9  MFA Russia  (@mfa_russia) April 2, 2018

Russias permanent representative to the OPCW, Alexander Shulgin, told Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper: We plan to come out with one more initiative at the extraordinary session.

Id prefer not to disclose it now but, you can take it from me that it will be a good initiative, which will give rise to no unfavourable criticism. It fits perfectly well into the framework of the Chemical Weapons Convention and is geared to resolve the problem by civilized means.

A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was ready to take further retaliation measures against the UK if its trade mission in Britain was shut down.

Following reports that the mission was slated for closure, Dmitry Peskov said: Moscow is thoroughly analyzing every unfriendly step taken against the Russian Federation, and each such unfriendly step eventually gets a response, which has a respective formulation.

That is why lets not run ahead, Moscow will not leave such steps unanswered.
The Palestinian death toll in last weeks mass protest on the Gaza-Israel border has risen to 18, officials said, as Israel rejected allegations of unlawful use of lethal force against unarmed demonstrators.

More than 750 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in Fridays protest, according to Gaza health officials, making it the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

Gazas Hamas rulers have not said if the final aim of protests, which are to continue off-and-on for six weeks, is an attempted mass breach of the border fence.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday hinted at an escalation, saying last Fridays protests had a limit, but that next time, we wont know where that line would be.

Israel accused Islamic militants Hamas of trying to attack its border under the guise of protests.

Officials said Israel has a right to defend its border and that troops were instructed to target what the army described as the main instigators.

However, the militarys open-fire policies came under more scrutiny as two amateur videos emerged purportedly showing two Palestinians being shot  one killed and one wounded  while not posing any apparent threat to soldiers.

Palestinians sit in front of their family tent east of Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip (Adel Hana/AP)

In one video, a man later identified as Ibrahim Abu Shanab is seen kneeling on the ground in the first of two rows of worshippers on Friday, facing the border fence at a distance of 150 to 200 metres.

Suddenly, he stands up, limps a few metres, collapses and is carried away by a young man who shouts Allahu Akbar, or God is Great.

Adli Abu Taha, who filmed the scene on his mobile phone, told the Associated Press that Mr Abu Shanab had thrown stones close to the fence before joining the group for Friday prayers.

The incident took place east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and medics said Mr Abu Shanab was shot in the leg.

In another video that spread on social media, a young man is seen being fatally shot from behind while running away from the border area carrying a tyre.

The Israeli military accused Hamas on Sunday of releasing videos that were incomplete, edited or completely fabricated, but did not elaborate.

The military said troops followed strict rules of engagement and that protesters were putting themselves in harms way by operating in a dangerous area.

Israeli military officials have said troops would not allow protesters to cross or damage the border fence, and that protesters would not be permitted to get closer than 100 metres to the fence.

The officials did not say how troops would respond if red lines were crossed.

An Associated Press reporter saw two young men getting shot in the legs on Saturday, in incidents about 15 minutes apart, as they stepped away from a group of dozens of people standing about 200 metres from the border and walked closer to the fence.

In Fridays protests, thousands gathered near the border in several locations.

Smaller groups moved closer to the fence, throwing stones or burning tyres.

The military said that in one incident two armed men opened fire near the fence.

Rights groups said it is unlawful to use lethal force when Palestinian protesters do not pose an imminent threat to the lives of Israeli soldiers.

An army can use reasonable force to defend a border, said Omar Shakir, of the international group Human Rights Watch.

This was an incident where soldiers were firing from behind the fence, separated by buffer zones and other objects, firing on individuals well behind the fence, in some cases retreating, not moving forward, or advancing without posing imminent threat.

Israels defence minister Avigor Lieberman has rejected international calls for an investigation.

The death toll for Friday rose to 18 after a 29-year-old man died on Monday of his injuries.

The militant group Islamic Jihad said the man had been a member.

The Israeli military has said 10 of the Palestinians killed on Friday were members of Hamas and other militant groups, but did not say if any were armed except for the two who had opened fire near the fence.

Amos Gilad, a retired senior defence official, accused Hamas on Monday of cynically exploiting civilians, alleging the group wants headlines through blood.

The big achievement of last Friday is that they (marchers) didnt cross the border, he told Israel TVs 10.

Israel cannot allow violent Palestinians who are being sent by an organisation whose aim is to destroy the state (of Israel) to enter Israeli territory, he said.

The idea for the mass marches was first floated by a Gaza social media activist several months ago, and was later adopted by Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since a violent takeover of the territory in 2007.

In response to Hamas rule, Israel and Egypt enforced a crippling blockade of Gazas borders. Israel and Hamas fought three cross-border wars.

Protests are to continue until May 15, the 70th anniversary of Israels founding.

The date is mourned by Palestinians as their nakba, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were uprooted in the 1948 Middle East war over Israels creation.

Most of Gazas two million people are descendants of Palestinian refugees.

Gazas continued border closure has made it increasingly difficult for Hamas to govern.

Life in the coastal strip has deteriorated further in recent months, with rising unemployment, grinding poverty and daily blackouts that last for hours.

In a risky strategy, Hamas appears to be using the protests to draw attention to the difficult conditions in Gaza, without plunging into another war with Israel.

The sides have fought three wars in the past decade, resulting in heavy losses to Hamas and heavy damage to Gaza.
Russias foreign minister accused Britain and the US of spreading lies and disinformation about the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in England, declaring that East-West tensions are worse now than during the Cold War.

Britain has blamed Russia for the March 4 nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Britain and two dozen of its allies have since expelled over 150 Russian diplomats. Moscow, which vehemently denies any involvement, has responded tit-for-tat.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the British accusations on Monday as a mad and horrible provocation.

Sergey Lavrov mocked Britains claim that there was no plausible alternative explanation for the poisonings of the Skripals (Jonathan Brady/PA)

He argued that Russia had no motive to attack Mr Skripal, who was released in a 2010 spy swap from a Russian prison where he was serving time for spying for Britain.

If there were any gripes against the man, he wouldnt have been swapped, Mr Lavrov said.

Russias top diplomat also mocked Britains claim that there was no plausible alternative explanation for the poisonings of the Skripals.

British intelligence agencies could have been involved and the case helped distract public attention from the British governments difficult talks to exit the European Union, Mr Lavrov said.

There are other explanations besides those put forward by our Western colleagues, who declare that it can only be the Russians who are responsible, Mr Lavrov said. It could also be advantageous to the British government, who clearly find themselves in a difficult situation having failed to fulfil their promises to voters over Brexit.

British officials have previously rejected similar Russian allegations.

Mr Lavrov said that Russia has called a meeting of the international chemical weapons watchdog for Wednesday to discuss the case and asked it to provide details of its cooperation with Britain in the poisoning probe.

Russia convenes emergency @OPCW session on 4 April to deal with the Salisbury provocation. pic.twitter.com/wogXCAt5so  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) April 2, 2018

Alexander Shulgin, the Russian representative at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said on Monday in televised remarks that the organisation must conduct an open, thorough and unbiased investigation with Russian experts participation.

British authorities invited OPCW experts to take chemical samples from Salisbury, the English city where the father and daughter were sickened, and to analyse them.

Mr Shulgin warned that Moscow would not accept the agencys conclusions unless Russian experts are allowed to take part in the process.

Mr Lavrov also assailed the British authorities for stonewalling Russias request for consular access to Yulia Skripal, 33, a Russian citizen whose condition has improved since she and her father fell critically ill on March 4.

Many say that the situation now is worse than it was during the Cold War because some rules existed and decorum was observed back then, he said.

Now, Britain, the US and a few countries blindly following them have dropped all decorum and engaged in blatant lies and disinformation.

Later, another top Russian diplomat claimed the nerve agent poisoning may have been arranged by Britain to justify military spending.

Deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko called the poisoning a provocation arranged by Britain in order to justify high military spending because they need a major enemy.
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Fiji is entering a 'frightening new era' of extreme weather, the leader of the Pacific island nation said after flooding from a cyclone killed at least four people.

The Pacific island nation of nearly one million people avoided a direct hit from the winds after Cyclone Josie struck on Sunday, but heavy rains and flooding caused damage to homes, businesses and vehicles on the western side of the main island Viti Levu.

More than 1,000 people remained in evacuation centres this week as the storm moved away.

Heavy rains from Cyclone Josie has caused widespread flooding in Fiji and led to the evacuation of more than 1000 people

Tropical Cyclone Josie hit the tourist town of Nadi, on the west coast of Fiji's main island

Voreqe Bainimarama said climate change was causing extreme weather events to become more severe and occur more often (Martin Meissner/AP)

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, also known as Frank Bainimarama, said climate change was causing extreme weather events to become more severe and occur more often.

The severe effects of Tropical Cyclone Josie are a brutal reminder of the reality of climate change. I will continue to fight for Fijians here at home as we recover from this crisis, and on the global stage as President of @COP23 to address the root causes of our changing climate pic.twitter.com/hxSvNtC7Ny  Frank Bainimarama (@FijiPM) April 3, 2018

Last November, he chaired a climate summit in Bonn, Germany, and he spoke at the launch of a climate change film in the capital Suva on Tuesday.

He said he was trying to deliver a message to the world about confronting the global warming crisis.

It is a 'fight for our very survival', he said, and that 'we are now at an almost constant level of threat'.

He said countries must limit the global temperature increase, as agreed under the Paris climate accord.

Ba Branch volunteers on the ground assessing & distributing Dignity kits, Hygiene packs & Solar Lights to villagers of Nasolo Ba in the wake of TC Josie. An Emergency Operations Center has been activated in Lautoka office which is coordinating its response operations in the west. pic.twitter.com/G4X6noqiph  Fiji Red Cross Society (@FijiRedCross) April 2, 2018

'It is the only way to prevent catastrophe for the whole world and especially for vulnerable nations such as our own,' he said.

The authorities in Fiji are trying to restore power to areas that have been affected by the cyclone

A recent report completed by the World Bank and Fiji officials indicated annual losses from extreme weather events could total 6.5 per cent of the economy by 2050, Mr Bainimarama said.

The Fiji Red Cross Society said it was distributing supplies to villagers in the hard-hit town of Ba.

Authorities were also trying to restore power to some areas which had suffered outages.

In 2016, Cyclone Winston ripped through Fiji, killing 44 people and destroying thousands of homes.
Fear and responsibility have taken on a greater meaning for Tom Daley after the world champion diver learned he was going to become a father.

The 23-year-old, who has been battling concussion ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australias Gold Coast, is to become a father of a boy with husband Dustin Lance Black, the Hollywood screenwriter.

Its been such a crazy experience. It changes your outlook on life, Daley told Press Association Sport.

Even on a plane. Im never scared of flying  and as soon as there was any turbulence I was like oh my God, because theres more than my life I have to care about now.

It made me feel a bit more nervous. It changes your perspective on absolutely everything.

Its all filled with excitement, getting everything ready, feeling like you dont really know whats going to happen.

The fear of what might happen and the excitement. Theres so many emotions that come with being an expectant father.

Daley and Black announced their news on social media on Valentines Day. The baby is due at the end of June, with Daley to attend the birth in California.

Black answered bigotry the pair encountered online following their announcement.

Daley added: Ive never been so sure about anything in my life.

We have a surrogate and we have an egg donor. We met them throughout this process.

Tom Daley, right, and his husband Dustin Lance Black are excited about becoming parents (Ian West/PA Images)

They are such kind and caring and lovely people to give other people that arent able to have children the chance to be able to have children.

Ive always dreamed of having a family, so for me it takes a special kind of person to want to do that for other people.

We feel very lucky to be on the journey that were on.

Tom Daley with his parents Debbie and Rob (David Davies/PA Images)

Hearing the babys heart beat at a scan made the situation more real for Daley.

It hit home were going to be parents, he added.

Theres a living creature were going to have to look after and sacrifice everything for. Its brought Lance and I closer together and its just filled with excitement.

Daley, who will be joined by Black on the Gold Coast, thinks about his own parents, Debbie and Rob, as he prepares to become one himself. Rob died in 2011, aged 40, following a five-year battle with brain cancer, when Daley was 17.

Its in these moments you look back and realise how much your parents do for you, when you think what youre about to do, Daley added.

Tom Daley has battled concussion in the build-up to competition on the Gold Coast (Martin Rickett/PA Images)

Diving will no longer be Daleys priority and he is uncertain how his sporting career will be impacted by fatherhood.

Daley is competing at his third Commonwealth Games here, seeking a third successive 10m platform title.

He won a second world title in the event last July in Budapest, responding from the disappointment of missing the Olympic final in Rio.

His preparation has been disrupted by a bout of pneumonia and concussion sustained while diving three weeks ago.

Tom Daley hopes to return to training off the 10m platform on Wednesday (Martin Rickett/PA Images)

Daley is yet to return to the 10m platform. He trained off the 5m platform on Tuesday and was planning to practice off his competition height on Wednesday.

I missed my hands before the Beijing World Series and smashed my head at 35mph on to the water, added Daley, who has had headaches, nausea, dizziness, the whole shebang and was out of the water for six days but has now been given the all-clear.

I havent had the preparation that I wouldve dreamed of, but you have to make the best out of every situation and of course I want to go out and defend my title.
Jordan Spieth showed there is more than one way to get beyond a water hazard with an audacious exhibition shot as he warmed up for this weeks Masters.

Stood on the edge of the pond on the 16th hole, the world number four delighted onlookers by skimming his ball across the water and on to the green in practice at Augusta.

The American is highly unlikely to attempt the daring feat when the tournament gets under way on Thursday, with the water proving his nemesis two years ago.

Jordan Spieth is bidding for a second Masters title this week (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Watch @JordanSpieth hit it close skipping the ball across the pond on No. 16. #themasters pic.twitter.com/QhABb8y1IL  The Masters (@TheMasters) April 2, 2018

Spieth was firmly in contention to win a second successive green jacket heading into the back nine of his final round, only to hit two balls into water on the par-three 12th as he carded a quadruple bogey.

He eventually finished three shots behind champion Danny Willett.

Augustas 16th hole, named Redbud, was made famous in 2005 when Tiger Woods chipped on to the green and his ball dramatically rolled into the hole after initially appearing to rest on the edge.

10 years ago, Tiger Woods holed out on No. 16 in dramatic fashion. Watch this historic shot from a different angle.https://t.co/5bnny62LBO  The Masters (@TheMasters) April 5, 2015

Woods would go on to clinch his fourth Masters crown, the last time he triumphed at Augusta, although he is among the favourites this year.
A bizarre e-fit picture issued by police has attracted a lot of attention after people compared the wanted man to Zippy from Rainbow and the Cheshire Cat from Alice In Wonderland.

Warwickshire Police issued the image in order to try and catch two burglars who managed to get into a house by distracting a woman in her 40s.

The men claimed to be from Orbit Housing as they tricked their way into the flat on Hertford Place, Stratford-upon-Avon.

(Warwickshire Police/PA)

We've issued an efit for of a suspect in a distraction burglary in Stratford in February. If you have any information please contact us. https://t.co/NipFniL1ed pic.twitter.com/oGiYfxIi2e  Warwickshire Police (@warkspolice) April 3, 2018

Social media users have branded the e-fit issued by the force as hilarious and a joke.

Twitter user ChrissyP said: I know him, thats Zippy from Rainbow.

One Facebook user, Jen Wyatt, said: Seriously had to check the date wasnt 1st April!

We can confirm that this is real and that we anticipated the attention! But jokes aside, it was created from a description provided and it's serious as a woman was victim of a horrible crime. Hopefully the attention will mean we identify the offender/bring him to justice quicker  Warwickshire Police (@warkspolice) April 3, 2018

A Warwickshire Police spokesman later tweeted: We can confirm that this is real and that we anticipated the attention! But jokes aside, it was created from a description provided and its serious as a woman was victim of a horrible crime.

Hopefully the attention will mean we identify the offender/bring him to justice quicker.
Sudden loss of a financial nest egg in middle age can shorten your life, research suggests.

Study participants who lost at least three quarters of their total wealth over a two-year period increased their chances of dying in the next 20 years by 50%.

US scientists looked at the impact of unexpected financial loss on a population of 8,714 adults aged 51 to 61 whose progress was followed between 1994 and 2014.

Losing money in middle age increases the risk of dying, a study has shown. (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Lead author Dr Lindsay Pool, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said: We found losing your life savings has a profound effect on a persons long-term health.

Its a very pervasive issue. It wasnt just a few individuals but more than 25% of Americans had a wealth shock over the 20 years of the study.

The study, published in the Journal Of The American Medical Association, also examined a group of low-income men and women of similar age with no accumulated wealth. Compared with people who had savings, their increased risk of dying over 20 years was 67%.

The most surprising finding was that having wealth and losing it is almost as bad for your life expectancy as never having wealth, said Dr Pool.

The likely cause of the link between wealth loss and earlier death may be two-fold, she added. A financial crash may both trigger mental health problems and cause people to miss out on unaffordable medical treatment.

Cost of health care is less likely to be an issue in the UK, which has the NHS.

Dr Pools team now plans a more detailed investigation into the mechanisms that lead to higher mortality after a big financial loss.
Russias President Vladimir Putin says Moscow wants a thorough probe into the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain and will demand to be part of it.

Mr Putin cited the head of Britains defence laboratory who said that its scientists have not identified the precise source of the nerve agent used to attack former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Mr Putin said, given the lack of precise information about the agents origin, the speed at which the anti-Russian campaign has been launched causes bewilderment.

Russias President Vladimir Putin in Turkey (Burhan Ozbilici/AP)

He was speaking on Tuesday in Ankara following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

Britain has blamed Russia for the poisoning, the accusations Russia vehemently denied.

Both the West and Russia have expelled over 150 envoys each in the dispute.

Mr Putin said the type of the nerve agent used in the March 4 poisoning could be made in some 20 nations.
Police in California are responding to reports of a shooting at YouTube headquarters in the city of San Bruno.

City manager Connie Jackson said there were multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting and that police and fire officials have responded.

We are responding to an active shooter. Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive.  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

TV helicopter video shows officers searching people grouped outside a building and police vehicles surrounding the area.

A spokeswoman for Californias Stanford Hospital said it had received four to five patients from the shooting at YouTube but had no information about their condition.

San Bruno police said they could not provide more information about the incident.

Police activity at 901 Cherry Ave, please stay out of the area. pic.twitter.com/H6iAj0g7ra  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

The worlds biggest online video website is located on a suburban campus.

Re: YouTube situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.  Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018

Calls and emails to YouTube representatives were not immediately returned.

YouTube employee Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter that he heard gunshots and saw people running.

He said he was barricaded in a room with his co-workers before being safely evacuated.

Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.  Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018

Will Hudson said his friend who works for YouTube texted him about the assailant.

I think there might be a shooter in my building, read one text.

The fire alarm went off so we started to evacuate and then people (started) running saying there was a shooter.

An image taken from video from KGO-TV shows a person being searched (KGO-TV/AP)

Mr Hudson said his friend has made it safely back to San Francisco and is in contact with his family.

Mr Hudson said he had become accustomed to hearing about such violence but has never been so close to it before.

It just feels strange. It feels like it could really be anyone. Thats really the strangeness of it, he said.

The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting.
SRINAGAR AFP April1, 2018 -Twenty people have been killed in Indian Kashmir in some of the fiercest fighting this year in the restive Himalayan region, police said Sunday, as authorities braced for more violence.



Three Indian soldiers and 13 suspected militants died in several clashes south of Srinagar.



Kashmir has been divided between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947, but both claim it in full.



Four civilians were also killed and dozens injured when police opened fire on thousands of demonstrators who poured onto the streets, throwing stones and chanting slogans against Indian rule.



There were also demonstrations in Srinagar.



Seven of the alleged militants were killed along with two soldiers in a protracted shootout in the village of Dragad, where helicopters were seen swooping low over the battle zone.



Many civilians in Kashmir --Indias only Muslim-majority state-- support rebels who have been fighting for decades for independence or for a merger with Pakistan. Tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have died.
1. Moving away from the usual banal political repertoire let us concentrate on other things, for a change!!! I read a refreshingly different article in the Ceylon Daily News of 27th March HONOUR AMONG THE CORRUPT but the blurb is what caught my attention - it says, and I quote:

IT IS NO SECRET THAT COUNTRIES THAT HAVE GROWN SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY ARE THOSE THAT HAVE COMBATTED CORRUPTION. THEY FOLLOW A METHOD OF EXPOSING THOSE CORRUPT AND MAINLY BY INCULCATING IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE PEOPLE THAT BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION ARE WRONG. ONLY ONCE WE LEARN TO ACCEPT THIS AND ACT WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO RID THIS COUNTRY OF CORRUPTION.

INCULCATIONIN HEARTSAND MINDS

1a. Who, in this country is inculcating in the hearts and minds of the people that bribery and corruption are WRONG??? More than that, are the children being TAUGHT, SCHOOLED TILL IT PENETRATES THEIR MINDS THAT BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION ARE WRONG??? WHAT IS HAPPENING INSTEAD??? DRUGS ARE AVAILABLE IN SCHOOL, IN VARIOUS FORMS, SWEETS, CHEWING GUM, YOU NAME IT AND THE KIDS HAVE IT!!! TEACHERS CONVENIENTLY TURN A BLIND EYE!!! WE ARE CONSTRAINED TO ASK, WHAT IS IN IT FOR THE TEACHERS??? IF OUR KIDS ARE NOT BROUGHT UP CORRECTLY, NOT GIVEN THE CORRECT PERSPECTIVES ON LIFE, NOT TAUGHT PRECISELY WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG AND MADE TO STAND UP FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN; WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE INCULCATING IN THEM???

1b. Have we even evolved any method of inculcating in all Sri Lankans and particularly the young generation that bribery and corruption are wrong? All we conveniently do is turn a blind eye!!! When a Policeman stops someone for a traffic offence, some money is stealthily slipped into the licence and then handed over. Problem solved!!! If an accident occurs and you belong to the kind that does not want to go to court, money changes hands and all is well!!! Hospital queues, any queues are no problem, nothing in this country of ours is insurmountable!!! Tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, water problems, any problem, you name it and it will be overcome!!! We specialize in capitalizing on the agony and misery of others; even though they are our own countrymen; sometimes, even our own flesh and Blood!!! IT IS ALWAYS ME I NEVER WE YOU US!!! MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SENT FOR TSUNAMI RELIEF FOUND ITS WAY TO THE POCKETS OF BIGWIGS!!! APART FROM MONEY WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE FOOD RELIEF ITEMS THAT CAME IN??? WHOSE HOUSES AND POCKETS WERE FILLED!!!

If there is ever a national disaster in the country, whether it is of epic proportions or not, there are hordes of human vultures waiting to capitalize on the situation with no qualms whatsoever.



TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF MANS INHUMANITY TO MAN!!! HOW THEN ARE WE SUPPOSED TO COMBAT BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION??? HOW CAN WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN, WHAT WE DONT PRACTICE OURSELVES??? THE ALL IMPORTANT QUESTION BEING IS THERE HOPE FOR OUR CHILDREN??? WE FEAR NOT!!!

SMARTPHONE SAND DRUGSIN SCHOOLS

2. SMARTPHONES AND DRUGS IN SCHOOLS ARE THE BIGGEST CURSE IN OUR COUNTRY TODAY!!! TEACHERS SEEM TO BE OBLIVIOUS TO THE EVILS OF SMARTPHONES AND DRUGS. KIDS DO NOT CONCENTRATE ON THEIR STUDIES BECAUSE THEY HAVE CONTINUOUS INCOMING MESSAGES, WHATS APP, INTERNET, FACEBOOK, ETC. SOCIAL MEDIA WHICH DISRUPTS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION AND THE TEACHERS COULD NOT BE HAPPIER BECAUSE IT MEANS TUITION THAT PARENTS DREAD AND TEACHERS WELCOME!!! THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION MUST BAN SMARTPHONES IN ALL SCHOOLS AND ALLOW ONLY A PHONE ON WHICH A CALL COULD BE TAKEN IN AN EMERGENCY, FOR THE WELL BEING OF OUR CHILDREN, IT IS SOMETHING THAT MUST HAPPEN.

2a. DRUGS IN SCHOOL

This is the other menace that has penetrated our schools, especially the big schools. There is a drug called apple which apparently is the most popular sold as a sweet. Sadly, most parents are not even aware of this. Drugs are sold surreptitiously both inside the school and outside, mostly at interval times.

One way of curbing this menace is for parents to stop giving their children so much pocket money. Combine the phones with calls, games and other distractions; add drugs to that and you have a DANGEROUS POTPOURRI THAT THE KIDS OF TODAY PLAY WITH!!! MOST TIMES, IT IS BECAUSE THE PARENTS DONT CARE AND CANNOT BE BOTHERED!!! AS LONG AS THE CHILDREN DONT DISTURB THEM, EVERYTHING IS FINE!!! THAT IS WHY PARENTS DONT KNOW, BECAUSE, THEY DONT CARE!!

2b. Why cant the CID be brought in to curb this menace??? Not every day but raid different schools at different times, come down hard on the perpetrators and perhaps there may still be some hope for our children!!!

ANY PROGRESS SEEN??

3. FINALLY, UDAYANGA IS IN THE NET. SOME PROGRESS IS BEING MADE ON LASANTHAS MURDER WITH A FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE AS THE MAIN MAN DISPOSING OF VITAL EVIDENCE!!! GOOD LORD! AND THESE ARE THE MEN ENTRUSTED TO BE THE GUARDIANS OF OUR LAW!!! MAHENDRAN AND JALIYA ARE STILL ABSCONDING!!! ALL THE RAJAPAKSA CASES REMAIN IN ABEYANCE!!! AND OUR YOUNG MINISTERS EVEN GO TO THE RAJAPAKSAS FOR ADVICE!!! HOW COZY IS THAT???
The UNPs time of crisis has come... it must find itself bloodied and exhausted but still standing

History never really says goodbye. History says, See you later.

~Eduardo Galeano

The UNP, not only refrained from practising nepotism, it also elected the first ever non-Govigama candidate as President

The customer is always right and branding the customer as wrong is done at great peril

The youth of the country is glued to the social media and what is emanating from that technological evolution is the gospel for them.

From the time he entered the chambers of State Council of Ceylon in 1943, J. R. Jayewardene (JR) had been branded as a Reactionary Capitalist.

He had to withstand a vituperative onslaught of political attacks from the then Left Wing political leadership that mainly consisted of Philip Gunawardena, Dr. N. M. Perera, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva and Pieter Keuneman.

JRs political and economic viewpoint that promulgated a philosophical allegiance to the then Western-based and fundamentally anti- Marxist/Leninist political economy, made him enemy of the proletariat.

JR did not vacillate. In the face of this scathing and sarcastic scorn, he confronted them with analytical and logical calmness that the present-day politicians are completely widowed from.

But what was not highlighted at the time was that while JR was a 100% product of the local education and upbringing (JR had his education up to the Ceylon University and Law College), all of his political rivals, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, Dr. N M, Dr. Colvin, Keuneman and Philip Gunawardena were educated abroad, belonging to the Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge) culture.

JR did not vacillate. In the face of this scathing and sarcastic scorn, he confronted them with analytical and logical calmness that the present-day politicians are completely widowed from. His brilliant wit and cutting repertoire had no match in either State Council or Parliament thereafter. Yet, his position in the political party he belonged to, the United National Party (UNP), was another matter altogether.

When the partys founder-leader, D. S. Senanayake died in 1952, given the evident unwillingness and lack of self-confidence on the part of Dudley Senanayake, DSs chosen successor, J. R. Jayewardene, the Minister of Finance of the first Cabinet of Independent Ceylon, albeit his young age and being a newcomer to politics in the context of experienced and well-entrenched and overseas-educated Cabinet of Ministers, was being mentioned for the UNPs leadership.

JR, in spite of his cold and calculated approach towards politics, which is rare in an environment of emotional and subjective appeal by his rivals to the voting population in the land, was mentioned as a qualified and credentialed successor to D. S. Senanayake.

Professor K. M. de Silvas biography of J. R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka, Volume One, pages from 250 to 261, chronicles the intricate planning, careful execution and eventual success of the conspiratorial saga behind Dudley Senanayakes ascension to the posts of Prime Minister and Leader of the countrys Grand Old Party (GOP), the UNP.

Thus, both the first two leaders of the UNP and the first two Prime Ministers of Ceylon were father and son. But to their eternal credit, neither of them practised nepotism, the way the Bandaranaikes and Rajapaksas of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the common mans party of the country, indulged to an extravagant extent.

UNP, not only refrained from ... nepotism, it also elected the first ever non-Govigama candidate as President. And it was JR Jayewardene who paved the way for R. Premadasa

The UNP, not only refrained from practising nepotism, it also elected the first ever non-Govigama candidate as President in the country. And it was J. R. Jayewardene who paved the way for R. Premadasa to be the leader of his Party.

Being a man ahead of his time, JR always saw ways ahead of his peers and knew that handing the reins of the UNP to Premadasa was not only politically wise, it was also the right thing to do.

What Premadasa did with the partys reins was another matter altogether. But the clear signal of a deviation from the traditional path that national political parties trekked alone is a daring and novel move.

A very few leaders have such vision and daring to attain the goals spelt out in the vision. It is his party that is in crisis today and it revolves around the leadership of that party.

Ironically the man in the middle is his own nephew, Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ranils mother was the daughter of D. R. Wijewardene, the media mogul, who was JRs maternal uncle.

Ranils pedigree is quite impressive in a traditional sense. But this is 2018. Tradition is as relevant as superstitions of an era gone by.

Social media has revolutionized the mode of communication among social groups. It has taken quantum leaps in the raw alacrity in which news reaches its customers.

While some items of what is broadcast and telecast are dead wrong and completely inaccurate, social media has become the playground of those who habitually engage in conspiracy theories. Against such a fast-changing backdrop, a political leader needs to be acutely alert and extremely quick on what he can and should do.

In such an exciting scenario, todays UNP leadership is facing a tremendous challenge. The youth of the country is glued to the social media and what is emanating from that technological evolution is the gospel for them.

Equipped with the smartphone, this generation is pursuing news and news stories with the alertness that they are usually expected to apply to their studies.

Whether the UNP leadership likes it or not, that is the harsh reality they have to face. If they are to come out as winners in this domain, no pun intended, they need to structure the party in such a way that those who make decisions are either equipped with a fair knowledge of the application and execution of the social media themselves or have the right kind of staff who could do that.

Todays voter is much more sophisticated than the politicians credit him with. His alertness and quick response to the issues and their ultimate resolution play a decisive role in the way they eventually decide whom to vote for. At the same time, an extremely aggressive approach to the current crises with self-confidence- the way in which both Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake dealt with the media personnel during their dark days in the UNP, 1991 to 1994- and a media management manned with professionals is an indispensable part of the reform that the UNP needs to undertake. In fact, the whole structure of the party needs to be staffed by full-time professionals, especially the posts of Secretary and Chairman. Ranil and his friends need not look anywhere else.

They need to look at the example set by the greatest reformer of the modern UNP, J. R. Jayewardene and the extremely aggressive and forward-looking changes that he made within the UNP.

To paraphrase George Santayana, If one does not learn from history, one will be condemned to relive it is an understatement in the context of the crisis faced by the party stalwarts.

Ranil Wickremesinghe and his friends in the United National Party are indeed heading towards a cliff.

It is not necessarily deemed for a turn back. On the contrary, it is not only advisable but seems more indispensable to go to the cliff, look at the abyss and challenge it by crossing over to the other side. That is precisely what J. R. did after the demise of his predecessor in 1973. For that kind of an adventurous step, one needs guts and self-confidence. People look up to strong men. They know how to differentiate strong men from the weak ones.

Crises challenge the character of men and women. Those who keep their heads strong and stern will certainly triumph and those who do not will wither away like a fragile leaf under the hot sun in the summer.

A victory in a narrow sense of who prevails in the very short run is no victory. Winston Churchill did not weaken against a brutal onslaught by Hitler and his mighty military.

It is the responsibility and duty of the UNP and its leadership to tell the people in no uncertain terms that what the people rejected in the 2015 Presidential Election should not be allowed to come back. Thats a no-no.

However, the odds seem to be overwhelmingly against the UNP. Its gradual decline in its own voter-bank does not tell about a forward-looking political entity. Hence the transformation of the party is a must and any person or organization that advocates against such a transformation are in effect acting against the current and future interest of the party and its history.

However, what the leaders of the UNP are facing today is not a binary choice. There is a wide range in between what is black and white. The shades in the middle cannot be disregarded as unnecessary and redundant. Politics is essentially living in the shades. Those shades shadow over a wide range of options that are not visible to the incurious mind. But the voter is alert to such shades. It is only cynical politicians who opt to ignore such intelligent voters. It is absolutely ridiculous to say that todays voter is wrong.

In marketing terms, customer is always right and branding the customer as wrong is done at great peril to those who solicit their vote at each election cycle.

Crises come and crises go. Yet man has learnt not only how to survive them, he has also learnt how to make a crisis a friendly challenge rather than an all-consuming personal disaster.

The UNPs time of crisis has come. At the end of the road, it must find itself bloodied and exhausted but still standing.

The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com
Late last year, President Trump took aim at the Post Office and Amazon, tweeting, Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!

In another tweet, on March 31, the President goes on, While we are on the subject, it is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars.

President Trump might be overlooking the real challenges at the United States Postal Service (USPS), and Amazon isnt on the list. The President argues that Amazon is getting the better end of the deal in the agreement with the USPS and insinuates that taxpayers may in effect be subsidizing a private sector company. But, there is a bit more to the story.

FedEx and UPS and a bunch of other companies use the Post Office for last mile delivery. The Post Office has the most formidable infrastructure in place in the United States designed to deliver everywhere, every day. Standard delivery covers the map six days a week. The Post Office delivers some high priority mail packages on Sunday, as well as some Amazon packages.

That last mile capability is what we call a competitive advantage, and the Post Office is mining it for all its worth. And in reality, the small package segment of the USPS business model is actually a money maker. There is a really important concept in accounting called contribution margin, and the President Trump needs to consider it.

The Post Office is losing money, and has for years; largely driven by shifts in the market. Junk mail  once a cash cow for the Post Office - is tanking. First class mail  supplanted by email - is tanking. eBills and ePayments  its been months since I last wrote a physical check  have totally reengineered the way we do business.

However, . Postal Service expenses continue to exceed revenues and they have limited ability to control overhead. Challenges include a unionized government workforce, high pension and healthcare costs mandated by Congress, regulatory obstacles, and the inability to close underperforming (money-losing) post offices, to name a few.

The Post Office is significantly constrained in their ability to react appropriately, in a business sense.

Federal Statute establishes the USPS Board of Governors to direct the exercise of the powers of the Postal Service, direct and control its expenditures, reviews its practices, conduct long-range planning, approve officer compensation, and set policies on all postal matters. By law, there should be nine members on the Board of Governors, nominated by the President and subject to Senate confirmation. These nine select both the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General, for a total of 11 seats.

At the present time, all nine of the Senate-confirmed seats are vacant with just three nominations pending Senate confirmation. There are still six more nominations to go, and Congress is still on the hook to confirm the three that have been made.

Good luck with recruiting willing participants for the Board of Governors. Wed all like to see the President tap his network and recruit some serious players for the board, but there are challenges. Pay is limited to a rate of no more than $300/day for forty-two days, plus an annual salary of $30,000, or a maximum total annual pay of $42,600.

So, the Presidents recent attention on the business acumen of the folks at the Post Office is a little off target. Post Office profitability challenges are tied to far more issues than Amazon. In reality, the President and Congress are significantly contributing to the problem.

Might we respectfully suggest that the President and Congress exercise some leadership and sound business management acumen to fill the void and position the Post Office for success?

Disclosure: the US Postal Service is a current client with one of my consulting businesses. You might consider that a conflict of interest or you might believe that gives some credibility to my opinions. That judgement is in the hands of the readers.
Jean Paul Satre stated, Politics is a science. You can demonstrate that you are right and others are wrong.

If they defeat the NCM today; the Ranil faction will consolidate their position within the party

Considering the inter-party cross-over scenarios, it is always the UNP, that was the winner

If the NCM gets the required number of over 113 votes the President would appoint a senior UNPer as PM

Brain power and cunningness exhibited by UNP leadership in capturing power or remaining in power, when compared to their counterparts in the other main parties, is far superior. They are clever in manipulating and scheming. They have also enjoyed the privilege of being businessmen financiers who would volunteer to meet any financial gratifications that need to be paid to potential political converts in the process. They have been well-known for effectively scheming to defeat an existing regime. The best examples are the 1964 toppling of Sirimavos Government which attempted to muzzle the press in taking over the Lake House, by soliciting the help of her number two, CP de Silva; then, Daughter Chandrikas in 2001, where they used four of her senior ministers and lastly the Rajapaksa family regime in 2015 with the help of SLFP General Secretary and a few other stalwarts.

Political acumen is vital in running a country under democratic set-up. The skill and shrewdness are extremely important attributes, which, unfortunately, the SLFPers, with the exception of Rajapaksas, badly lacked

Leaders like D.S, J.R, Premadasa and Ranil could be ranked as the top shining models that fit the above description that post-independent Sri Lanka had produced. Considering the inter-party cross-over scenarios, it is always the UNP, that was the winner, while the SLFP led coalitions became the loser. It is surprising that it never happened the other way around, meaning a conspiracy by the SLFP on UNP. Also, something common to all local political parties is the competitive cutthroat acts within the same party. Political acumen is vital in running a country under democratic set-up. The skill and shrewdness are extremely important attributes, which, unfortunately, the SLFPers, with the exception of Rajapaksas, badly lacked. Jean Paul Satre said so; a reader comments in this newspaper a couple of days before, responding to Ranil loyalist Ajith Perera- Hi Tomy The entire outfit is a joke..STEP DOWN !!

If they defeat the NCM today; the Ranil faction will consolidate their position within the party. Reforms will never see the light of the day. Rajapaksas can celebrate a victory after losing their motion. If the NCM gets the required number of votes, over 113 (presence of a full house is anticipated) the President would act graciously by appointing a senior UNPer as PM, and not an SLFP man and close the chapter without upsetting the apple cart, but causing a major split in the UNP, on the lines of Ranil (R-L) loyalists versus the rest; adding more woes to the Yahapalana Government. Here again in reality, the Rajapaksas will claim a victory.

Keselwatta-Kurunduwatta Power Struggle.

Israel and the US were not happy about President Premadasas decision to close units of Israels Interests in the US embassy in Sri Lanka. He antagonized the British Foreign office by naming their envoy here as persona non-grata and ordered the expulsion of High Commissioner David Gladstone over a trivial matter. Lalith Athulathmudali, the senior UNPer who served as National Security Minister in President Jayawardenes Cabinet had spoken of fear for his life at the hands of goon squads formed to terrorise Premadasas opponents. Vigilante squads drawn from the JSS, that the UNPs trade union had been organising in Government Corporations. These squads functioned as para-military units and did not hesitate to act violently to achieve their ends.

On 24th September 1991 the Parliament met to discuss the impeachment motion against President Premadasa. His attempt to address the house was met with continued booing and shouting by the opposition

J.R, who was toying with the idea of another amendment to make way for a third term in 1988, listened to intelligence at a time the whole country was in turmoilLTTE in North and JVP in South were creating mayhem. He gave up the idea. Between R Premadasa, Gamini Dissanayake and Lalith Athulathmudali, the three contenders, following a secret vote, decided to field Premadasa. Lalith backed Premadasa to the hilt at 1988 Presidential stakes, while Gamini had other ideas; an opportunity to dump both Premadasa and Athulathmudali as the JVP hanumans was setting the nation in flames. Jansaviya aided by Sirimavos last moment pact with Kumar Ponnambalam brought an unexpected victory to Premadasa.

Let down by the suspicious boss when he appointed weak D.B Wijetunge as PM, Athulathmudali revived his relations with Gamini who was left out of the cabinet at the reshuffle in 1991. Few other anti Premadasa seniors joined the conspiracy to oust the boss in an impeachment. On 24th September 1991 the Parliament met to discuss the impeachment motion against President Premadasa. His attempt to address the house was met with continued booing and shouting by the opposition, and the sittings had to be adjourned.

Let down by the suspicious boss when he appointed weak D.B Wijetunge as PM, Athulathmudali revived his relations with Gamini

Premaratne Gunasekera, a fairly senior member of the party was not in the good books of Premadasa, and had to remain a back-bencher once said,  this man should be sent home, so I signed the impeachment. A famous Mudalali (from timber to healthcare) offered me a packet of notes and appealed for withdrawal of the signature. Speaker MH Mohomed who secretly backed the GAGers (Gamini-Athulathmudali-Gang: name coined by the then state print media) made a 180 degrees turn and announced that the required number of signatures is not there. The rest is history; and they sayhistory repeats itself.
The Supreme Court has informed Speaker Karu Jayasuriya that several sections of the Judicature Bill were inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore, it should be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament, if not amended as recommended by the Judiciary.

Speaker Kayasuriya conveyed the Supreme Court opinion to Parliament today.
No Confidence motion brought in to weaken Govt

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Puravesi Balaya Co-convener Gamini Viyangoda said that if this no confidence motion has been brought in because of the alleged Bond Scam there is no justification for it. Already two people are in jail and all accounts of Perpetual Treasuries Limited have been frozen. No transactions can be made and certain ministers had to resign as well.

Therefore already this Government has taken a lot of action regarding this incident. Previous Governments appointed commissions which didnt function at all. Those bringing in this motion are supporting Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR). It was MR who elected people like Udayanga Weeratunga and Jaliya Wickramasuriya to higher diplomatic positions.

Those bringing in this motion are supporting Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR). It was MR who elected people like Udayanga Weeratunga and Jaliya Wickramasuriya to higher diplomatic positions

Therefore through this no confidence motion these groups are trying to weaken the Government. Through this they are trying to support the perpetrators of previous corrupt practices and are showing them the way to escape. If anybody is saying that the Prime Minister is at fault for appointing the Central Bank chairman then people should bring in a no confidence motion against President Sirisena because it was he who appointed the PM, he said.

Viyangoda further said that if the Government wins they should actually be worrying about the outcome of the Local Government Polls, held on February 10. It was the peoples response. But if the Government loses they dont have to appoint a new member from the UNP to lead the party. If that happens these groups would have a good chance to work towards their goal and topple the Government in 2020,he added.

PM is not at fault

Terrance Purasinghe, Senior Lecturer in Political Science at Sri Jayawardenapura University, said that there was no need for a no confidence motion to be brought in. The Government has already taken action against the alleged Bond Scam and the perpetrators were in the process of being identified and brought before the law.

If the Government loses this motion, they should get rid of the SLFP group. If it is won the Govt. should fulfill its promises.

The Prime Minister is not at fault at this point. Actually the confidence of those who have brought in this motion should be questioned because they have been charged of various allegations in relation to corrupt practices. If the Government loses this motion, they should get rid of the SLFP group. If it is won the Government should fulfill the promises it made back in January 2015. There have been certain allegations regarding the Government and the time has come for them to take the necessary actions,said Purasinghe.

It was an unnecessary move

Airing his views regarding the no confidence motion Dr. Chandana Aluthge, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics, University of Colombo, said that the present Government has made a mandate of five years.

The present Government seems to be working on several issues at the moment. No Government can fully satisfy its citizens, but some communities are happy

The present Government seems to be working on several issues at the moment. No Government can fully satisfy its citizens, but some communities are happy. As a citizen I feel that this motion is an unnecessary move and it has put unwanted pressure on the Government. Its also giving out a negative message to foreign investors and those working closely with regard to economic matters. I too want the Government to win, but if it loses, there would be a power struggle. Unwanted people would be elected to office and many complexities may arise.he said.
France, (Daily Mail), 1 April 2018 - A man has died after a fairground ride in central France collapsed, sending cars hurtling into the ground.



The accident happened on an attraction consisting of 14 cars attached to a central rotating carousel, Laurent Buffard, deputy mayor of Neuville-sur-Saone near Lyon, said.



The collapse resulted in the pods hurtling to the ground and the occupants being thrown out.



Among the dead was a 40-yr-old, who was at the fair with his two children.



Buffard said: The carousel fell suddenly and hit the ground hard.



He added that the tragedy was caused by a technical fault. Four children are among those being treated for injuries.



An eight-year-old boy is among them.The ride was composed of three rotating axis with baskets carrying people in pairs and Buffard told BFM television that one of the axis somehow hit the ground.

An investigation has been launched and the fairground shut down.
The Royal College Class of 1958 comprised One hundred and forty (140) 10 and11-year olds from all over the Island. These students represented all strata of society and all religions, spoke Sinhala or Tamil at home and also managed a smattering of English. Some came to school by bus, others by car, a few by bicycle and a few walked to school, whilst another group lived in the school hostel.

Those age old values that kept this country together, would keep us together in the future too

Very quickly we grew up to be the Royal Brotherhood  and defined ourselves unashamedly as Royalists, very much like those a hundred years and more before us, and how, many generations after us, will define themselves very proudly.

About forty of us met recently, on the 8th of March, for an evening of reminiscence, nostalgia and camaraderie  60 years after that first meeting in January 1958. We have been meeting twice annually for about forty years  during the Royal-Thomian Big Match and during the Christmas holidays when those overseas, return home to see their families. Some of our Royalist brothers have in the years moved to U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan,New Zealand and many other exotic countries. Those who could make it this year were Ranil from Scotland, Knightly and Amjad from England and Ranjith and Upali from Sydney.

In past years we had Tin Maung Lwin from Myanmar, Afaq Rizvi from Pakistan/USA, Mayura Boteju from USA/Pakistan, David Ferdinands from Toronto, Prasanna Weerasinghe from California, Rudran Shanmuganathan and Miles Mylvaganam from Sydney, Upali Gunasekera from Perth, Ravi Gooneratne from Christchurch and many others visiting us. When we - the island bound - travel overseas, we are often hosted by our Royalist brothers in those cities.

We have seen the assassination of two national leaders (SWRD and R.Premadasa) and numerous other leaders (Gamini Dissanayake, Lalith Athulathmudali, Amirthalingam, Tiruchelvam, et al) and thousands of our best and talented youth - sacrificed on the altar of ethno-religious disharmony.

We believe, our schoolboy rivals S. Thomas, Trinity, St. Peters, St. Josephs, St. Benedicts, Ananda,

Nalanda, Thurstan, Isipatana, Carey, Wesley, Zahira and the 125-year-old Hameed al Hussainiya - schools in Colombo and in the suburbs, too have rich traditions that should be cherished, borne friendships lasting lifetimes  crossing ethno-religious boundaries.

We learned of books and men (and life) from our teachers  lovingly known as Dudley, Kataya, Bella, Ruperty, Pol Tokka, Wariyapola, Bruin, Alavi, Sariffodeen, Thamba, Ratnathicam, Conner, Mudguard, Lena, Canto, Arasa, Pope, Kotta Silva, EFC, Rev. Kahaduwe Ratnajothi and many others, who represented the rich tapestry of Sri Lankas ethno-religious backgrounds. They taught us that it was the strength of character that defined a man.

Our nation is beset by new challenges  the radicalisation of one community by bad leaders could easily lead to the radicalisation of other communities. Todays youth, the future leaders of Sri Lanka, forged by the fires of great institutions such as Royal, should join hands across ethno-religious divides and wipe out the menace of disharmony that raises its head from time to time, in robes and thobes, to promote arson, looting, murder and mayhem.

Those age old values that kept this country together, would keep us together in the future too  in spite of the aberrations that surface from time to time, to plunge our diverse community into a rabid dog type failed state that leads to fractious violent conflict!

Very quickly we grew up to be the Royal Brotherhood  and defined ourselves unashamedly as Royalists, very much like those a hundred years and more before us, and how, many generations after us, will define themselves very proudly

Royalist Mangala Samaraweeras passionate plea to withdraw the civic rights of Politicians who promote ethno-religious disharmony deserves the support of all right thinking citizens.

Love for Sri Lanka

Our abiding friendship, heedless of the ethno-religious origins of our brother Royalists, should be the gold standard to be followed by our fellow Sri Lankans, whose love for Sri Lanka should cross all man-made boundaries of religion, language and ethnicity.

Amongst the Class of 58, Muslims have married Sinhalese, Sinhalese have married Tamils, Buddhists have married Christians, Christians have married Muslims with all of these unions flourishing into the third and fourth decades, because we believe in humanity and regardless of religion and language, ethnicity and pedigree, we are all one  deserving mutual respect, and celebrating extraordinary friendships that have been cherished for centuries.

FLOREAT

Class of 58 With contributions from:

Faiz-ur Rahman / Tin Maung Lwin / Nimal Dias Jayasinha/ Bryan Baptist /Tilak De Zoysa /

Amjad Haseeb / Mayura Boteju / Branu Rahim/ Dick Siebel / Wijitha Perera / Ruzly Hussain / Stanley Obeyesekere / Zubair Sulaiman / Lincoln Ratnasingham / Sarath Sirisena / Tony Latiff /

Anil Weeratunga / Vijaya Lekamge / Jimmy Hewawasam / Ravi Gooneratne / Srijith Liyanage / Sunil Gunasekera / Mohan Wijekoon
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Parliamentary group today asked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to step down before the No-Confidence Motion, which is to be taken up tomorrow.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror Minister Chandima Weerakkody said the group headed by Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva conveyed the message to PM following the Cabinet Meeting this morning.

Yesterday, the SLFP Parliamentary group at a three-hour meeting, participated by all 42-SLFP Parliamentarians, unanimously decided to request Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to resign. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)

Video by Sanjeewa
This is the generation whose first cry of life was the uprising

- Joseph Brodsky (Soviet and later American Poet)

Commencing his submissions before the Criminal Justice Commission for defense in arguably the biggest criminal case in Sri Lanka, the main trial (maha naduwa) of leaders of the 1971 insurgency, Rohana Wijeweera said This is not a plea from an accused to a judge; rather one from a representative of the oppressed class to those of the oppressors.

Mr. Wijeweera and his comrades were found guilty and incarcerated for varying periods of time by the commission, yet Supreme Court Justice A.C. Alles, who was one of the commission members, after retirement, dedicated his book titled 71 insurrection to Podi Athula, later known as Victor Ivan, who was convicted of high treason and Premawathie Manamperi, the young woman who was brutally murdered by the State for her alleged involvement with the uprising.

A prick of conscience

What makes a Supreme Court Judge dedicate his monumental book on probably the most prominent case he sat in judgment, to two young persons on the other side of the divide? Can a judge who convicted a person for high treason praise him in a subsequent book authored on the momentous events unfolded during the main trial? What made him honour a deceased detainee accused of armed insurrection? The answer lies in the fact that whatever said and done, any reasonable man could not be oblivious to the unjust, oppressive and discriminatory socio-economic-political and moral setup that gives rise to discontent among the downtrodden segments.

On April 5, 1971, the rural Sinhala youth rose up in arms against the centre-left government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, which was relatively-fresh in power. The timing of the insurrection from the beginning was questionable as the people had not entirely given up hope on the regime at that point. Despite the element of surprise the assault initially had and the seeming paralysis of the State apparatus in responding to the uprising, the State was able to suppress the rebellion and try the leaders for high treason.

Most of the incidents that transpired in April 1971 are well-documented and hardly needs repetition. Yet, the society in general and the policymakers in particular did not seem to fathom the root cause of unrest among the youth as they erupted again in 1989. The point lies elsewhere.

Wijeweera recriminates the system

Have we created a just society that would leave no room for youth like Wijeweera to claim the society is divided into two segments as oppressors and the oppressed? Do the poor and marginalised really feel they too are part of decision-making in development efforts? Have the lower strata of society reaped the harvest of economic growth albeit we have achieved marginal and material development? Do the youth feel like they too are legitimate contenders for decision-making, not only in the State apparatus but in all spheres that matter?

Today, only a few believe in the classical Marxist Leninist class struggle culminating in armed revolution a la Bolshevik style. Many seem to realise that despite the lure of individual success, the national wealth is firmly concentrated on a few, reducing others to enjoyers of crumbs, yet credulous that they too would be able to partake in the feast one day. That seduces them to pursue individual and selfish goals at the expense of collective good.

When the Criminal Justice Commission punished the insurgency leaders, the underpinning theory was that they could not aspire or conspire to overthrow a government that had been elected by the ballot of the people. In that sense, it seemed the justice system was the champion of peoples sovereignty; as such the penalising seemed rationally-justified. Suppression of encroachers in that manner was supposedly to ensure the sovereignty of people to govern themselves remained as sacrosanct as it was supposed to be.

Naughty children, out!

Since we have punished those unruly individuals like Wijeweera and his ilk, we should now be out of the woods, home and dry, shouldnt we? Since all the naughty children have been disposed of, the classroom must be so good, isnt it?

I see the reader sneering sarcastically at my naivety; far from it, I know! The leeches, parasites and vampires, who suck the lifeblood out of Mother Lanka, pose a far greater threat to the sovereignty of the people. They rape the motherland and plunder her mercilessly. They usurp the sanctity people have vested on their representatives. The whole edifice of the State is on the brink of utter pulverization.

Yet, there is no justice commission or any other august forum to champion the cause for the people; a system that roared full throttle to punish the youth of this nation for their trespasses, seems oblivious, nay, puny, timid and tremulous vis-a-vis the grave transgressions of the high and the mighty. The very institutions mandated to uphold the sovereignty of the people have left them to be devoured by these greedy wolves!

No resistance seems to be emanating from any quarter to this all-pervading degradation that has afflicted the State apparatus, the legislative, executive and judicial included. Those who man those institutions enjoy the comforts, pompous aura and luxuries the toiling common man has bestowed on them with their sweat for common good. The politicians, the clergy, the justice system, law enforcement agencies, professionals and the civil service have been reduced to a band of marauders who ravage Mother Lanka on her deathbed, breathing her last.

A nation that crucifies its prophets

We run hither and thither, helter-skelter for saviours every election in every colour and symbol; only to be frustrated, disappointed and deceived immediately after. We supplicate to deity and the clergy like beggars for some respite. We hope against hope the justice system will do some justice, at least as an after thought or in its leisure.

We all turn our heads in search for the warriors of the Weera Puran Appu mould who would come to rescue Mother Lanka from these parasites and plunderers who have set upon her. Yet, it is all in vain!

A generation that could have stood up to these marauders in high places and in sheeps cloth is not with us. We have prosecuted, jailed and finally crucified them, long ago. They have burnt in tire pyres and been executed in summary style by State military and para militia.

We have crucified and buried our saviours, and that too, long time ago!

Tomorrow is April 5, citizens!
The tense situation reported at the Banadaranaike International Airport (BIA) has escalated with employees reportedly blocking all entrances to the premises, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded, reporters said.

The tense situation arose after discussions between the Airport & Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited and the Airport Sri Lanka Freedom Party Union (ASFPU) failed this morning.

It is learnt that while the aviation sector is operational, ground staff in the area have blocked roads leading to and from the airport.

Reports suggest that all three entrances to the International Airport were obstructed by union members using backhoes and several other vehicles.

The Police, Special Task Force (STF) and anti riots squads have been summoned for additional security.

Convener of the Union M.W.P Muhandiram said that demands by employees to increase the basic salary from Rs. 10,000 had fallen on deaf ears.

Initiating the strike yesterday, the union vowed to disrupt the aviation industry if their demands were not met.

Airport officials are yet to release an official statement regarding the situation. (Thilanka Kanakarathna and T.K.G. Kapila)

Video by Reka Tharangani
The strike launched by the workers of the Bandaranaike International Airport this morning was called off a short while ago.

Airport Sri Lanka Freedom Party Union (ASFPU) Convener M.W.P Muhandiram said the authorities had agreed to increase the basic salary of the Airport employees by Rs. 10,000.

Deputy Minister of Finance and Mass Media Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Ashok Abeysinghe had met the protesters this evening. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)

Pics by Reka Tharangani
UPDATED

Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Puerto Rico have officially submitted applications for the Every Student Succeeds Acts Innovative Assessment pilot, the U.S. Department of Education says.

The pilot, which was initially one of the most buzzed-about pieces of ESSA, allows up to seven states to try out new forms of testing in a handful of districts, with the goal of eventually taking them statewide. More than a dozen statesincluding biggies like New Yorkinitially mulled applying, but ended up deciding against it.

That could be because the pilot has clear rules that dont make participation easy . States must make sure the new tests are comparable to the state exam, and are accessible to English-language learners and students in special educationall without additional financial resources.

New Hampshires decision to apply is no surprise. The state was the early national leader on these innovative assessments. The Granite State got permission under the No Child Left Behind Act the law that ESSA replacedto allow several districts to use performance-based assessments in some years, in lieu of the state exam. New Hampshires application will likely build upon that work.

Louisiana is newer to the innovative-assessment game. The Pelican State is seeking to combine tests for two related subjects: English and social studies . The tests will include passages from books students have actually been exposed to in class, rather than brand-new material. Students will be asked to complete a series of brief reading and writing exams throughout the school year, to help their teachers get real time update on progress, according to a statement from the Louisiana Department of Education. Louisiana will initially try out these tests in five school districts.

Puerto Rico, where the entire school system was recently upended by Hurricane Maria , is engaging in a top-to-bottom overhaul that includes a new focus on choice. The pilot may fit into that overall picture.

Two other statesHawaii and Arizonaalso raised their hands to express interest in the pilot earlier this year . But both, it appears, ultimately opted not to apply.

Arizona has passed a law that would allow schools a choice of tests in grade 3 on up, beginning in the 2019-20 school year. The law was not mentioned in Arizonas ESSA plan, which has been approved by the feds. But the idea is not likely to be kosher under ESSA , which requires states to use the same test for every student, in every grade, unless the state is part of the pilot.

It appears that Arizona considered whether the pilots requirements would gel with this state law, but decided they did not.

All of our time and resources have been focused on developing the menu of assessments that the Arizona legislature passed into law. The menu didnt really fit into the innovative pilot, so we opted not to participate, said Stefan Swiat, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Education, in an email.

A spokeswoman for the Hawaii Department of Education said the state plans to apply down the road, rather than for next school year.

Want to learn more about the Every Student Succeeds Act? Heres some useful information:

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
As Oklahoma teachers prepare to continue the statewide walkout for a third day, state lawmakers have rejected calls to pass additional revenue-raising measures to fund education.

Last week, the state legislature passed a historic tax increase that allowed a $6,100 pay raise for teachers and $50 million for education funding. The measure was an attempt to avert a statewide walkout that had been building for a month , but teachers said it wasnt enough . They had called for a $10,000 pay raise over three years and $200 million in education funding.

Now, the Oklahoma Education Association has said it doesnt have a specific dollar figure in mind to end the walkout, but members need to feel confident the legislature ... has found revenue sources to restore 10 years of education funding cuts.

The union has said the walkout will go on indefinitely, until teachers decide to return to their classrooms. A big factor in that decision, however, is school districts willingness to continue to close schools. Some district leaders have said they would just close for a day or two or through the end of this week. However, the superintendent of the Tulsa school district, one of the largest in the state, has said she is prepared to close schools for however long teachers will be out .

Oklahoman reporter Ben Felder wrote that Tuesdays crowd may have been smaller than Monday, but not by much. About 200 districts closed on Monday.

But teachers are not garnering significant legislative support. One Republican representative said on Facebook Live that he was not voting for another stinkin measure when theyre actin the way theyre actin.

Youre losing support of people who supported you all year long, said the representative, Kevin McDugle. Now youre going to come here and act like this after you got a raise?

According to the Oklahoman, Democrats in the state house tried to get legislators to hear a bill that would have generated $70-$100 million in revenue, and a bill that would have given retired teachers a cost-of-living pension increase of 4 percent. The house rejected the motion to hear those bills.

Gov. Mary Fallin said in a statement on Monday that the state is only able to do what our budget allows. The legislature already passed significant revenue-raising measures to make the pay raise possible, Fallin noted, and there are other state entities that need funding, too.

She met with teachers today at the state capitol, tweeting that she looks forward to continuing talks with legislative leaders and teachers as we develop a positive path for education forward.

Glad to have the chance to talk today with teachers from the Chisholm School District in Garfield County. Pleased that legislators last week came together to approve, and I was happy to sign, the largest teacher pay increase in OKs history. pic.twitter.com/kOJKKkuEFJ -- Governor Mary Fallin (@GovMaryFallin) April 3, 2018

Many teachers in the state are not backing down. On Wednesday, teachers will begin a 110-mile walk from Tulsa to the state capitol. More than 125 people have signed up to participate in the march, including the Tulsa superintendent. The educators will arrive at the capitol April 10, averaging about five miles a day. They will sleep in high schools overnight.

Images: Teachers and supporters of increased education funding rally on the first and second floor rotundas of the state capitol on April 3, during the second day of a walkout by Oklahoma teachers. Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP
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There should be a rethink in how doctors talk to some patients with reduced kidney health, replacing the term chronic kidney disease (CKD) with different bands of kidney age, according to a group of experts including University of Bristol researchers, writing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

From the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Johannesburg, the researchers argue that for some people a reduced level of kidney function is not necessarily a disease, but a normal and asymptomatic sign of ageing, given the clear link between decreasing kidney health and increasing age.

Since 2002, the different stages of CKD have been used by doctors to label reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR)  the rate at which blood passes through tiny capillaries in the kidney each minute, but this leads to confusion and worry for some patients.

Qualitative studies show that communicating a diagnosis of CKD to patients can be uncomfortable and unsatisfactory for all concerned, and primary care physicians often face an up-hill battle to retrieve the situation with reassurance, said lead author Richard Stevens, an Associate Professor at Oxford Universitys Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.

Some doctors prefer not to mention the condition to patients so as to avoid any unnecessary worry, given that a reduced but stable kidney function in elderly patients requires regular monitoring rather than immediate intervention.

CKD stage 5 (where the filtration rate falls below 15 ml/min/1.73m2) is classed as disease at any age, since the kidneys no longer function and dialysis is required.

However, after analysing previously published data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015/16), the researchers argue that CKD up to stage 4 (where GFR declines from 90 to 15 mL/min/1.73m2), does not meet the criteria for disease. Instead they link this with increasing age, from 51 to 95 years old respectively, since this gradual decline in kidney function is not abnormal in older age groups.

When a persons kidney age is higher than their actual age, the researchers suggest doctors communicate this with discussion of further monitoring and in the context of potential health implications, such as the risk of cardiovascular disease or end-stage renal disease.

Co-author Professor Richard Hobbs, an inner-city Birmingham GP and Head of Oxford Universitys Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences says that applying the same concepts used by doctors to describe heart or vascular age would likely have greater resonance with patients. Relabelling CKD stages up to 4 as categories of normal kidney ageing would clear up a common misconception by patients that they require dialysis and transplant due to the use of terms chronic and disease, when their condition is just a normal sign of ageing. For example, a doctor would tell their patient that their kidney age is 68 to 77 years, instead of diagnosing CKD stage 3A.

The researchers stress that kidney disease remains a significant health concern for many and the term kidney age should only apply to age-related kidney decline. Conditions affecting the kidney such as nephrotic syndrome and polycystic kidneys fall outside the scope of the definition of kidney ageing.

Before a widespread adoption of the kidney ageing terminology by health professionals, the researchers call for further discussion with patient groups and broader studies of kidney decline across different populations and ethnic groups to better understand the link between kidney health and ageing.

The research is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research.
Lena Waithe Wants To Make A Mary Tyler Moore Biopic: Link Roundup

Lena Waithe Continues To Make Our Onscreen Dreams Come True

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In a conversation with the Hollywood Reporter, Ready Player One star Lena Waithe revealed her dream future project: a biopic about Mary Tyler Moore. I dont think people are expecting that from a black lesbian from the south side of Chicago, Waithe told the Hollywood Reporter. But I read her autobiography more times than I can count. I feel like I want to tell her story. I dont want to follow a certain path. I just want to just make dope shit. Check out the full interview, including Waithes thoughts on Ready Player One and maintaining her personal style, on the Hollywood Reporter.

Love a Muslim Day Fights Back Against Punish a Muslim Day

Last month, a horrifying anonymous letter declaring today Punish a Muslim Day spread around east London. The Guardian reports that the letter encouraged readers to remove womens headscarves and beat people up for points. All around the U.K., though, communities are showing that Islamophobia wont fly by planning events and circulating letters and fliers about Love a Muslim Day, which awards points for everything from buying a Muslim coffee to raising funds for individuals in Palestine and Syria. The hashtag #LoveAMuslim is currently trending on Twitter. You can read more on the Guardian.

Grindr Is Sharing User Information, Including HIV Status, With Other Companies

Yesterday, BuzzFeed News reported that the popular dating app Grindr is sharing its users' personal information  including HIV status  with companies that analyze data and help optimize apps. Grindr is a relatively unique place for openness about HIV status. To then have that data shared with third parties that you werent explicitly notified about, and having that possibly threaten your health or safety  that is an extremely, extremely egregious breach of basic standards that we wouldnt expect from a company that likes to brand itself as a supporter of the queer community, James Krellenstein, a member of advocacy group ACT UP, told BuzzFeed News. Grindr has since announced that the company will no longer be sharing this information. Read BuzzFeeds full report here.

The CWs Renewals Are Here!

Yesterday, The CW stated that 10 of its popular series, including Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, will be renewed. Though were bummed that the latters upcoming season will be its last, its always awesome to hear well have some more of our favorite female-led dramedies. Learn more on Deadline.

Fabolous Added To Long List Of Famous Men Who Abuse Women

Last week, TMZ released a video of rapper Fabolous threatening his girlfriend, Emily Bustamante, and her father. Emily B has also alleged that Fabolous has threatened and yelled at her before, and once went so far as to punch out two of her teeth. Check out a good read on the abuse  and the publics reaction to it  written by The Roots Damon Young.

Costa Rica Elects Latin Americas First Black Female Vice President

In yesterdays election, Costa Rica voted in a new president: Citizens Action Party candidate Carlos Alvarado Quesada. Along with Quesada, whose platform included reducing systems of inequality and separating religion from politics, Costa Rica can now welcome Latin Americas first Afro-Latina vice president, Epsy Campbell Barr! Campbell Barr, who hopes to combat wage gaps, sexism, and racism in Costa Rica, has worked as the head of the Center for Women of African Descent, the Alliance of Leaders of African Descent in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Black Parliament of the Americas. Learn more about our new favorite political figure on Jezebel.

High School Girl Plans First-Ever Pride Festival in Mike Pences Hometown

As her senior year project for school, 18-year-old Erin Bailey is organizing an LGBTQ+ pride festival in her hometown  which also happens to be the hometown of our anti-gay vice president Mike Pence. If you live around Columbus, Indiana, check out the event on April 14, and read Baileys interview with Refinery29 here.

New Cardi B Video!



Were counting down the days (three, in case you forgot) until Cardi Bs debut album Invasion of Privacy. To get us psyched, Cardi B and 21 Savage dropped their new video for Bartier Cardi last night during an episode of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Check the video out on Pitchfork (or below!).

This article was posted on April 3.

Top photo via Warner Bros. / Ready Player One

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Lydia Wang is a writer, a Pisces, and one of BUST's digital editors. Find her on Twitter or say hi: lydiaw@bust.com.
Posted Monday, April 2, 2018 1:00 pm

Clay Epperson, 17, of Knob Noster, passed away Sunday, April 1, 2018.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 7, at the Knob Noster High School with Pastor Greg Morris officiating. The family will receive friends from noon until service time at the school.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Clay Epperson Memorial Fund with checks made payable to Tammy Epperson and can be left in care of Sweeny-Phillips & Holdren Funeral Home.

Full obituary to follow in Fridays newspaper.
The Trump administration is now ready to implement its ambitious free and open Indo-Pacific Strategy, wherein it wants the nations of the region to be free from coercion so that they can pursue in a sovereign manner the paths they choose, a US official said today.



While the first year was being used to introduce the strategic concept, the rest years of the Trump administration are for formulation and implementation of the strategy, a senior State Department official said.

"Free and Open" are the two strategic modifiers that the administration has decided to describe its strategy, Alex Wong Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs told reporters.

"By free, we mean, first of all, the international plane. We want the nations of the Indo-Pacific to be free from coercion, that they can pursue in a sovereign manner the paths they choose in the region," he said.

"Secondly, we mean at the national level, we want the societies of the various Indo-Pacific countries to become progressively freer in terms of good governance, in terms of fundamental rights, in terms of transparency and anti-corruption," he added.

"Moving on to open ... We first and foremost mean open sea lines of communication and open airways. These open sea lines of communication are truly the lifeblood of the region," Wong said.

With 50 percent of trade going through the Indo-Pacific along the sea routes, particularly through the South China Sea, open sea lanes and open airways in the Indo-Pacific are increasingly vital and important to the world, he noted.

"Secondly, we mean more open logistics infrastructure. There's an infrastructure gap throughout the Indo-Pacific. What is needed throughout the region to encourage greater regional integration, encourage greater economic growth? We want to assist the region in doing infrastructure in the right way, infrastructure that truly does drive integration and raises the GDPs of the constituent economies, not weigh them down," the State Department official said.

"We also mean more open trade. Free, fair, and reciprocal trade is something the United States has supported for decades and that the Trump administration supports," Wong said.

Acknowledging that the India Pacific Strategy seems to be similar to that of the previous administration, he asserted that this is different because as the population and the economic weight of the Indo-Pacific grows, the focus of the US and its efforts in the region have to commensurately grow with it.

The use of term Indo-Pacific, as against the Asia Pacific previously, by the Trump administration, he said "acknowledges the historical reality and the current day reality that South Asia and in particular, India plays a key role" in the Pacific, in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

"That has been true for thousands of years and it's true today," Wong said.

Responding to a question, Wong stressed on the need to enforce the rules of free trade.

"You have to ensure that nations cannot abuse the rules, cannot force technology transfer, cannot prize their national champions, can't steal intellectual property. If you don't do this, if you don't enforce the rules of free trade, what ends up happening is that over time, the free, fair, and reciprocal trading regime is weakened, and that's to the detriment not just of the United States's prosperity but to the prosperity of the region and the world as a whole," he said.

Wong said that the Indo-Pacific Strategy us not just about China.

"The Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy is not just about China, and this is for the very simple reason that the region is much larger than China. In the ASEAN states alone, we have 600 million people. In India, we have 1.2 billion people," he said.

"If the US, together with our partners, can sew together and unify all the peoples of the Indo-Pacific China included under a vision that is free and open, that prizes free market economics, sovereignty, increasingly freer people and nations free from coercion, that's not just to the US' benefit, that's to the benefit of all nations in the Indo-Pacific, China included," he said.
The Supreme Court will hear the Centre's plea seeking to review the March 20 verdict putting safeguards on arrest under the stringent SC/ST Act at 2 pm today.



The apex court agreed to hear the review petition after Attorney General K K Venugopal referred to large-scale violence and loss of lives and property during yesterday's Bharat Bandh.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra agreed to constitute the original bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit at 2 pm to hear the review plea.

The AG said it is an emergency situation as large-scale violence had taken place and sought urgent hearing of the review petition today itself.

In fast-changing developments, the top law officer initially mentioned the urgent hearing of the review petition before a bench headed by Justice Goel, who was sitting alongside Justice R F Nariman.

The bench agreed to hear the review petition today itself in open court but Justice Goel asked the AG to mention before the chief justice constitution of the original bench comprising him and Justice Lalit.

The amicus curie and senior advocate Amarendra Sharan, who had assisted the court in the original SC/ST verdict, opposed the Centre's plea and said the apex court can't hear the review petition just on the ground that large-scale violence has taken place after the verdict.

The bench headed by Justice Goel said it will hear the review plea filed by the Centre.

The union government, in its review petition, said the March 20 verdict has "wide ramification and implication resulting in dilution of the stringent provisions of law enacted under the 1989 enactment. It adversely affects a substantial portion of the population of India being the members of SC/ST. It is also contrary to the legislative policy of Parliament as reflected in the Prevention Of Atrocities Act 1989".

The plea filed by the All India Federation of SC/ST Organisations, a conglomerate of nearly 150 employees' groups, said after the March 20 verdict large-scale nationwide violence had taken place in which several people had lost their lives.

The apex court had on March 20 said that "in view of the acknowledged abuse of law of arrest in cases under the Atrocities Act, arrest of a public servant can only be after approval of the appointing authority and of a non-public servant after approval by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) which may be granted in appropriate cases if considered necessary for reasons recorded."

The top court had also directed that the reasons recorded by the competent authority and the SSP must be scrutinised by the magistrate for permitting further detention of an accused.

To avoid the false implication of an innocent, the top court directed that a preliminary enquiry may be conducted by a DSP rank officer to find whether the allegations make out a case under the Atrocities Act and are not frivolous or motivated.
Springing a surprise as expected, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam on Tuesday joined the day-long fast being observed by the AIADMK across the state.

Though the names of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam were missing in the list of leaders to participate in the fast released by the AIADMK, the duo made a joint appearance at the fast venue at around 8 am on Tuesday in Chepauk, hardly a kilometre from Fort St. George, the seat of power of the Tamil Nadu Government.

The duo was at the fast venue at the time of writing. Sources said they would fast till the evening and remain at the venue.

Top AIADMK leaders, including all ministers, participated in day-long fast being observed in all 31 districts across the state. The day-long fast, to be held at all district headquarters, is to exert pressure on the BJP-led government at the Centre to implement the Supreme Court order asking it to set up a scheme to ensure that the award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal is adhered to.

With the DMK criticising the fast, AIADMK leaders sought to turn the tables on Opposition parties saying their protests would never cause any inconvenience to the people. The DMK has been holding protests across the state causing traffic snarls in cities like Chennai.

"We gave enough pressure to the Centre. But due to political considerations, the Centre has failed in its duty to constitute Cauvery Management Board. We are protesting in a very democratic manner and we will not cause any trouble to the people," AIADMK deputy coordinator K P Munusamy said, in a subtle dig at the DMK.

The day-long fast is being seen as a desperate measure by the AIADMK, which is being increasingly isolated by other parties on the Cauvery issue. Opposition parties, especially the DMK, has accused the AIADMK of having sold the state's rights to the BJP due to its "subservient" attitude.

AIADMK MPs have been stalling Parliament since last month on the issue of constitution of Cauvery Management Board.
Telecom infrastructure firm American Tower Corporation (ATC) today announced that it has completed mobile tower purchase deal worth Rs 3,800 crore with Vodafone India through its Indian arm.



ATC Telecom Infrastructure, a majority-owned Indian subsidiary of ATC, has completed the transaction.

This is a previously announced acquisition of Vodafone India's telecom site business, which consists of approximately 10,200 communications sites, for a total cash consideration of about Rs 38 billion, ATC said in a statement.

We are pleased to acquire this portfolio, which will complement our existing footprint and help us serve our tenants in India as they expand 4G services in the coming years," ATC's EVP and President, Asia, Amit Sharma said.

Completion of this deal brings the approval of Idea and Vodafone merger closer. The closure of approximately Rs 4,000-crore mobile tower sale deal between ATC and Idea is now awaited.

According to government sources, the merger of Idea and Vodafone will be cleared after the closure of Idea's pending deal with ATC.

"We expect regulatory processes to be completed by end of this month (for the closure of deal with Idea). The Department of Telecom is driving it. We are hopeful of completing the deal by May," Sharma said.

The purchase of Vodafone mobile towers adds nearly 10,200 mobile network sites to the existing Indian portfolio.

The two deals are expected to generate approximately Rs 2,100 crore in property revenue and approximately Rs 800 crore in gross margin during their first full year in ATC's portfolio, as per the announcement earlier made by the company.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) today allowed the parties in a dispute over selling of debt-ridden Binani Cement to amicably settle the dispute.



A two-member bench of the appellate tribunal headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya gave liberty to the parties entangled in vexatious litigations, to settle the case amicably.

"We give liberty to parties to reach a settlement and approach appropriate forum for approval of the settlement," the NCLAT said.

The appellate tribunal was hearing a petition filed by Binani Industries, which holds over 90 percent share in Binani Cement.

"Learned counsel for the appellant submits that appellant has offered a better amount that is 100 percent approximately of the dues to the committee of creditors (CoC)," the court said.

As per the IBC code, after a resolution plan is approved by the CoC, it is forwarded to NCLT for approval.

Earlier, on March 27, the Kolkata bench of NCLT had also suggested that the parties go for the settlement.

While Dalmia Bharat has offered an amount of Rs 6,500 crore for Binani Cement, UltraTech of the Aditya Birla Group, which had entered into a bilateral pact with the promoters of Binani, agreed to pay Rs 700 crore more at Rs 7,200 crore.

Binani Cement owes around Rs 7,000 crore to its creditors.

The dispute relates to UltraTech Cement's allegations that the process for choosing the top bidder was not transparent and that the resolution professional (RP) had not followed established best practices. Dalmia Bharat was declared the top bidder.

UltraTech then moved NCLT and also wrote to Binani Cement's RP, offering to increase its bid price. But when it was not accepted, UltraTech struck a deal with Binani Industries to buy its 98.43% stake in the cement unit, provided the insolvency case was terminated.

Binani Industries then approached NCLT asking that the case be terminated.
Protests rock Tamil Nadu; DMK continues to hold road roko

E.T.B. Sivapriyan

CHENNAI, DHNS: Protests on the Cauvery issue intensified on Tuesday with establishments affiliated to an influential traders' body downing their shutters along with those of chemist shops, even as the Opposition DMK continued with its road roko across Tamil Nadu.

AIADMK rebel and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) deputy general secretary T T V Dhinakaran, nephew of late chief minister's close aide V K Sasikala, was arrested in Tiruchirapalli after he along with his supporters and farmers' from the Cauvery Delta region gehraoed the international airport in the Central Tamil Nadu city, 300 km from Chennai.

Koyamedu Vegetable Market, that provides supplies to the whole of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, wore a deserted look on Tuesday with the vendors' too joining the protest. Traders and chemist shop owners' downed their shutters in solidarity with the farmers who are fighting for constitution of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

Cadres of DMK, the principal Opposition party, continued to hold flash protests across the state and some also tried stopping the trains by squatting on the tracks. However, no inordinate delay in train schedules were reported from anywhere in Tamil Nadu.

DMK had announced that it will hold continuous protests culminating in a total shutdown called by the party on April 5. The shutdown is likely to affect normal life with another influential regional party, PMK, putting its weight behind the DMK and more than a dozen transport unions also announcing their support.

Protests in Tamil Nadu have intensified in the past few days after the six-week deadline set by the Supreme Court for constituting the Cauvery Management Board ended on March 30. Separately, the ruling AIADMK undertook a day-long fast on Tuesday in all district headquarters across the state condemning non-constitution of CMB despite a clear verdict by the Supreme Court.

EoM
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today condemned the Centre's move to amend the guidelines for accreditation of journalists in case of fake news, saying that the step amounted to an "undeclared emergency".



Stating that media was the fourth pillar of democracy, VHP international working president Pravin Togadia said curtailing their voices in any name was dangerous to civil rights.

"We strongly condemn this undemocratic move by the government. This is nothing but an undeclared emergency," he said in a statement.

Without taking names, Togadia said those who opposed "such emergency" for 52 yrs were behaving this way after coming to power.

"This is shocking and horrific," he said.

The VHP leader said agreeing or disagreeing with a media story was up to an individual, but choking media was unacceptable.

"This is the dangerous tendency by the rulers and we fear that it could even manifest in other areas of common people's lives or for those who speak for the people," he said.

Togadia also appealed to all concerned not to bring in such draconian rules and to democratically and peacefully oppose such undemocratic moves.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had yesterday announced measures to contain fake news, saying the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if a scribe was found generating or propagating fake news.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister's Office advised the ministry to withdraw the press release on fake news and said the decision on what amounts to fake news should be left to bodies such as the Press Council of India (PCI).
Cab aggregator Ola, which is on an expansion spree, has announced the acquisition of Mumbai-based Ridlr, an end-to-end public transport ticketing and commuting app.



The acquisition is aimed at integrating Ola's mobility platform with public transportation infrastructure. The aggregator hopes that the integration of Ridlr will bring new opportunities for users to serve their mobility needs.

Established in 2012, Ridlr enables users to search and book public transport options on their mobile phones. With this acquisition, Ola hopes to bring new technology and mobility options as it works to expand into and partner with cities in India and abroad.

Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-Founder and CEO of Ola said, "Public transportation serves millions of Indians every day, and powering these needs with real-time information, mobile ticketing, cashless payments, and reliable services is bound to impact their end experience. The challenge really is to make the entire ecosystem inclusive and robust for all."

With this acquisition, Ridlr's team of 64 employees will be joining Ola. Ridlr is currently serving commuters in Mumbai and Delhi with partnerships with BEST, Delhi Metro, and Mumbai Metro, along with pilots in several other cities. Brijraj Vaghani, founder of Ridlr will continue to lead its operations.

Earlier, Ola had acquired Foodpanda in December 2017, before venturing into Australia. Last week, it was reported that Ola is in merger talks with Uber India, facilitated by SoftBank, that has a stake in both the companies.
Indian Air Force has identified 15 disused airfields, including one in Karnataka, which would be handed over to other government agencies for use.



These are among the 39 old airfields that the IAF has in its possession for decades, but didn't use. With space at a premium, the defence ministry has opened up to the idea of handing some of these defunct stations to others for their use.



Out of the 15, as many as four including Raichur in Karnataka are still managed by the IAF. Other three are Sarbhog in Assam; Pandaveshvar in West Bengal and Diu.



One of them (Pallel in Manipur) is under the Army and Akbarpur in Uttar Pradesh is being managed by the state government.



The remaining 9 airfields are being looked after by the Defence Estate Organisation. They are at Salboni and Andal (West Bengal); Sookerating in Assam; Hathwa in Bihar, Iradatganj and Shahbazquli in Uttar Pradesh; Mohanbatta in Chhattisgarh; Bobbili in Andhra Pradesh and Chettinad in Tamil Nadu.



Out of 39 disused airfields, 15 airfields will be surrendered. "The remaining 24 disused airfields are planned to be utilised for creating IAF infrastructure like weapons storage areas, radars and missile operation locations, helipads and communication hubs," IAF informed a panel of lawmakers.



"Case has been taken up with the Director General Defence Estate to suggest modalities for utilisation of these airfields by sister services," it said.



In order to improve its operational efficiency, IAF is also activating civilian airfields near the border. Last month two Su-30 MKI operated from Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun for two days for area familiarisation before returning to their parent base.



In addition, the service has shortlisted as many as 22 stretches of National Highways where the fighter jets can touch down and take-off in case of an emergency. Such highways operations were practised on the Delhi-Agra and Agra-Lucknow expressways.



Plans are afoot to undertake more such landing and take-off exercises in other highways, mostly in central and eastern India.



The identified road segments include Jamshedpur-Balasore highway and Chattarpur-Digha highway both touching Odisha; Kishanganj-Islampur highway in Bihar, Delhi-Moradabad highway; Bijbehara-Chinar Bagh highway in Jammu and Kashmir, Rampur-Kathgodam highway in Uttarakhand, Lucknow-Varanasi highway in Uttar Pradesh, Dwarka-Maliya highway in Gujarat, Kharagpur-Keonjhar highway in West Bengal; Mohanbari-Tinsukia highway in Assam; Vijayawada-Rajahmundry highway in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai-Puducherry highway in Tamil Nadu and Phalodi-Jaisalmer highway in Rajasthan.
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants Tuesday killed a civilian after abducting him from his home late on Monday night, police said.



A police official said that the body of Naseer Sheikh (26) was recovered from a stream in Shahgund, five kilometres from his residence in Hajin town of north Kashmir's Bandipora district. Naseer, as per his family and the police, was kidnapped at gunpoint by militants from the house of his in-laws last (Monday) night at around 10:15 pm.

"The body bears visible bullet marks. It will be handed over to the next of his kin after post-mortem," he said. "Four militants, believed to be affiliated with LeT, barged into the house and without caring about the life and dignity of the inmates, fired indiscriminately. Three members of the family received grievous injuries, including wife and daughter of the slain."

The injured, who were hit by sharp-edged weapons, were rushed to local hospital from where they were referred to Srinagar, where the condition of Rafeeqa is critical, police added.

Hajin, 32 kms from Srinagar, was once known as the epicentre of pro-government militia - Ikhwan - who broke the back of militancy in 1990's. From mid 90's to later part of last decade Hajin was out of bounds for militants as it was the hometown of the most dreaded renegade Kuka Parray, a star anti-militancy commander.

However, over the last two or three years, the area has emerged as a hub of LeT as most of the Pakistani militants find the area suitable for carrying out the attacks. The vast swathes of orchards, huge clusters of villages, close proximity to Srinagar on south and Bandipora on north makes Hajin an important transit point for militants as it is also connected to highway.
Apportioning blame to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over the PNB loan fraud, Central Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary today said there had been "no apparent audit" by the central bank during the period of the scam.



Chowdary stressed the need to put into place a more robust auditing system.

"They did not do this (an audit)," the head of the probity watchdog told PTI.

The CVC exercises superintendence over the CBI which is looking into the over Rs 13000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.

The RBI had the regulatory responsibility for the banking sector but any lack of integrity would be looked at by the Central Vigilance Commission, he added.

Chowdary said according to the RBI it had switched over from a periodic audit to a "risk-based" audit which is conducted when there is a financial risk involved.

"To determine risk, they must have some parameters. Based on that they would have done that (auditing). (But) there was no apparent audit by the RBI during this period (of fraud)," Chowdary said.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in February slammed regulators for failing to detect the fraud, saying that unlike politicians, regulators in the Indian system were unaccountable.

Chowdary pointed out that the RBI issues general guidelines as a regulator and also when foreign exchange is involved.

"They are not going to see from branch to branch and bank to bank what they are supposed to do," he said.

It was primarily the responsibility of the banks to ensure that their business was conducted in a proper and ethical way, he added.

He said when something goes wrong, "one cannot blame everybody".

"There is a systemic issue (here). They (RBI) have decided instead of every year or every once in two, three or four years, they will do it (risk-based auditing).

"It is a good policy. But how they determine the risk parameters... and why this (fraud) did not come up are matters of detail," Chowdary said.

He, however, clarified that it was not just the PNB where an alleged fraud had taken place or that other banks were "100 per cent correct".

"But we have to only hope that they (the other banks) have a better system and that they are following the system," Chowdary said.

On a bank's role in checking frauds, Chowdary said there are "no timelines" when it comes to deeper decision making processes.

"There should be defined timelines. The preventive vigilance mechanism has to be strengthened. The guidelines and operating procedures have to be strengthened. It has to be ensured that they are followed," he said.

Asked about the investigation in the PNB scam, he said what the CVC was doing in the case could not be disclosed now as "it is work in progress".

"There are so many issues that the CVC is examining both with reference to the PNB and RBI," Chowdary said.

The CBI is among various agencies looking into the over Rs 13,000-crore fraud allegedly committed by billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle and Gitanjali Gems promoter Mehul Choksi.
Forty-one newly-elected MPs, including Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan, on Tuesday took oath in Rajya Sabha, which was adjourned within minutes after the oath-taking was concluded.







BJP MP from Karnataka Rajeev Chandrasekar took oath in Kannada while three Congress lawmakers -- L Hanumanthaiah, G C Chandrasekhar and Nasir Hussain -- did not take the oath of affirmation.

Arun Jaitley appointed Leader of the House

The oath-taking of 41 of the 59 MPs started soon after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was re-elected from Uttar Pradesh, was appointed Leader of the House following receiving a letter from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar stating that Prime Minister has appointed him as the Leader of the Rajya Sabha. Jaitley did not take oath on Tuesday.





MPs took oath in as many as nine languages, including Hindi, English, Urdu, Telugu and Bengali, which received a mention from Naidu when he complimented the newly-elected MPs. Naidu said it reflected the country's linguistic heritage.





Almost all BJP MPs took oath swearing in the name of God but HRD Minister Javadekar, who was re-elected from Maharashtra, took an oath affirming his allegiance to the Constitution of India. Trinamool Congress' Nadimul Haque swore in the name of 'Allah'.





Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot took oath in Sanskrit while BJP's Saroj Pandey, who fractured her leg, was allowed to take oath from her seat. Besides the three Congress MPs from Karnataka, those who did not take oath included Samajwadi Party's Jaya Bachchan.





The Rajya Sabha sank into pandemonium soon after the oath-taking ceremony was over as MPs from Congress, AIADMK, TDP and DMK rushed into the Well. Opposition parties like Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M) and BSP were also on their feet.





While AIADMK raised the Cauvery Board issue and TDP special category status, Congress and other opposition parties were protesting against the police firing and action against Dalit protesters during the Bharat Bandh. As the din continued, Naidu adjourned the House to meet on Wednesday.
The death toll in the violence that broke out during Dalit protests in Madhya Pradesh rose to eight with two more persons succumbing to injuries, officials said.



Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday admitted that one person, who died yesterday (Monday), fell victim to police bullets.

Two policemen have been booked in connection with the death of a person in police firing, an official said.

On Monday, a senior police official had claimed that the casualties occurred during clashes between the supporters of the "Bharat bandh", called by Dalit outfits, and those opposed to it and not due to police firing.

However, Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Prashant Khare said on Tuesday Mahavir Rajawat (40), who died yesterday (Monday), fell victim to police bullets.

Besides, two more deaths were reported, taking the toll in the violence to eight.

One person, identified as Pradeep Jatav, succumbed to bullet injuries sustained in clashes between the supporters of the bandh and those opposed to it late last night in Bhind district, Collector Ilayaraja T said.

Besides, the body of a man, identified as Jasrath alias Darshan Singh, was found from an agriculture field in the Machhand area of Bhind, he said.

"I spoke to the doctor at the hospital, where his post-mortem will be conducted. The doctor told me that Singh possibly died due to an axe injury on his head," the collector said.

Khare said two policemen, Hawaldar Ramkumar Dohre and Constable Sultan Rathore, who were deployed at the Machhand police station, were booked under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) in connection with Rajawat's death.

Police bullets were found in Rajawat's body during the preliminary post-mortem, he added.

A probe was on to ascertain the circumstances under which the police had fired at Rajawat, the SP said.
The names of about 18 lakh Muslim voters are either missing from the recently updated voters' list or they don't have voter ID cards issued in their name for the Karnataka Assembly election 2018, according to a New Delhi-based NGO. The Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy (CRDDP), headed by Dr Abusaleh Shariff, renowned economist and member of the Justice Sachar Committee, has now begun a campaign to rectify this.

Khalid Saifullah, Research Associate and COO of CRDDP, told DH that they have identified 16 Karnataka constituencies from which the names of 1.28 lakh voters are missing from the list. Based on the number, they are estimating that around 15 lakh would be missing from the 224 Karnataka constituencies.

Saifullah said that they arrived at their findings after comparing the 2011 census data with the voters' list that was published on Feb. 28, 2018. They downloaded PDF files, converted them to the excel format and sorted out Muslim names using an algorithm. As per the 2011 census data, the Shivajinagar constituency has 4.3% of single households among the total 18,453 Muslim households. But we found that more than 8,900 households have only one registered voter in their house, which is around 40 percent of the total Muslim households, he said.

The organisation then developed a website -- missingmuslimvoters.com -- and an Android app - Muslim Voters -- to organise and educate people. Everything is volunteering, said Saifullah about the campaign. They are asking the people of Karnataka to register with their app to help the missing voters to enrol. People think that once the election dates are announced, they cannot enrol, which is wrong. They can do it till the last date of nomination. The Election Commission on Tuesday announced the election dates and the last date of nomination is set for April 24.

Once people register as volunteers in the app, they will receive details of missing voters in the neighbourhood whom they can help to enrol. The data is also available on their website. More than 8,000 people downloaded the app since its launch on March 13, said Saifullah.

According to a video released on Saifullah's YouTube channel, Asif Pasha, a volunteer from Shivajinagar helped 500 people to enrol.

Pasha, a Civil Defence Warden, told DH that the missing names could be due to various reasons. One is that the Election Commission shuffles the data or deletes it mistakenly in the process of compilation. During the shuffle, the names of one family land up in different polling booths. So it virtually makes them unable to find their names on the list, said Pasha.Another reason, according to Pasha, is that when the Booth Level Officer reaches out to voters, they will write the respective columns as E - expired, S - shifted/Change of Residence, Q - Disqualification or R  repeated. This is primarily because of a communication gap, said Pasha.

We found at least 2,000 inaccurate entries. In Shivajinagar constituency, we collected 700 applications from people with election IDs who are unable to find their names on the list. We are helping them and we hope they will appear on the supplementary list that EC would publish before the elections, said Pasha.

We met Minister Roshan Baig as soon as we found this, said Saifullah. In a video reaction posted on Saifullahs YouTube channel, Baig said: Our team of workers at the ground level went house to house and conducted a random survey and found that the voters' app, which is supplied to us is accurate and I must thank the CRDDP group for giving this information to us.

When contacted for a reaction, Congress MLA Rizwan Ashraf said that the situation is concerning and has to be rectified. He ruled out the possibility of a unified Muslim community action against enrolment. Who doesnt want to see their names on the list? The ID cards are being used as an identity for many other purposes. Whether you vote or not is another issue, said Ashraf.

Missing names of voters are not a new phenomenon in Karnataka. During the BBMP elections of 2010 and 2015 and the General Elections of 2014, many complaints were registered about missing names.

In an April 2014 report on ID card deliveries, one of the BLOs said that there were many instances where they went to hand over cards to citizens but had to return as the homes were locked.

In 2015, MLA SR Vishwanath had said that 7,000 to 8,000 names were missing from the Dasarahalli constituency list and the names of over 50 percent of the voters were missing in the additional voters' list for Yelahanka constituency.

Back in 2009, the Congress protested over deleting voters especially those belonging to the Muslim community in Hubballi, according to this report. That same year, the Congress and the JD(S) attacked the BJP over 14,000 missing names in Tumkur. "Mischief mongers had targeted names of minority communities, including Muslims and Christians," according to these two political parties.

Earlier this year, the Congress had asked its workers to keep an eye on any large-scale deletion of names in the voters' rolls in the run-up to the Assembly election. "We have to be cautious while fighting the formidable enemy (BJP) who is known for manipulation," said Manick Tagore, AICC secretary in charge of Karnataka (Belagavi division). "A large number of names were deleted in many constituencies in the recently held Gujarat Assembly election. Most of these names were of either Muslims or Dalits, who are the Congress supporters. We have reliable information that the BJP is responsible for this."
The bail petition of Arjit Shashwat, son of Union Minister Ashwini Choubey, was rejected on Tuesday.



Shashwat, charged with communal violence in Bhagalpur last month, was arrested on Saturday midnight from Patna's Mahavir Mandir in a dramatic manner. He was taken to Bhagalpur on Sunday and produced before the court which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.

On Tuesday, a bail plea was moved in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Anjani Kumar Srivastava who rejected Sashwat's petition.

Shashwat, son of Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey, had been booked by the Bhagalpur police (Case No 176/18) on March 17 on the charge of vitiating communal harmony during the Hindu New Year's celebration. He had been charged with taking out procession without the permission of police and raising provocative slogans in sensitive zones of Bhagalpur which led to communal flare-up, thereby resulting in stone-pelting incidents in the district. Some cops also sustained injuries in the violence.

Evading arrest for a fortnight, he was eventually apprehended when relations between the ruling alliance partners a the JD (U) and the BJP - nosedived over the issue.

Shashwat had contested the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls from his father's erstwhile constituency Bhagalpur but lost to Congress' Ajit Sharma.

Meanwhile, the Bhagalpur police appealed to the court to issue orders for attachment of property of 20 other absconders who were named accused in the same case.




Facing allegations of wrongdoing in the loan extended to Videocon Group, ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has pulled out of the annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) to be held this week, where she was to be felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind, according to the organiser.





Kochhar was to be the Guest of Honour at the April 5 event and flyers sent out last month mentioned her name prominently. However, the revised ones sent out today did not carry her name. "She was the guest of honour but she has backed out from the programme. So now she is no longer coming for the event," FLO Executive Director Rashmi Sarita told PTI. Sarita, however, did not say as to why Kochhar has pulled out.





"Yes, she was to be (felicitated), she was also the guest of honour. She just pulled out from the programme," she added. FLO is the women business wing of the industry association, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The CBI has launched a preliminary investigation into Rs 3,250 crore loan ICICI Bank had extended to Videocon in 2012 and the role of Kochhar's husband -- Deepak Kochhar.





Reports have alleged that Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nu Power Renewables, a firm owned by Deepak Kochhar after Videocon secured a loan from a consortium of banks, including ICICI. ICICI, India's third-largest lender, has denied any wrongdoing in the loan, saying it was part of a consortium of lenders that extended the facility to Videocon. It also backed Kochhar saying "there is no question of any quid pro quo/nepotism/conflict of interest as is being alleged in various rumours".





Asked about the reasons for Kochhar pulling out at the last moment, Sarita said she was not sure as Kochhar's office called the day before yesterday and said that she will not be able to grace the event. Thereafter, Kochhar's name was removed from the list. The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry and has questioned few ICICI bank officials on the loan issue.





Agency officials said they are also studying relevant documents of the transaction and the Kochhar couple can be summoned for questioning if any evidence of wrongdoing comes to light. They said the statements of nodal officers of the ICICI Bank, who were part of processing the loan of about Rs 3,250 crore, have been recorded as part of the PE registered six weeks back.





A PE is a precursor before the agency lodges an FIR to probe criminal charges on the basis of evidence collected during the former exercise. "President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest and deliver the keynote address at the 34th Annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) the women business wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on April 5, 2018, in New Delhi.





Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO of ICICI Bank will be the Guest of Honour," a statement issued by FLO had said on March 31. It had stated that FLO will honour 10 Indian Women Achievers with FLO ICON AWARDS including Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank for Banking & Finance; Aarti Vij, Chief of AIIMS' Organ Retrieval and Banking Organisation (ORBO) for Health & Wellness; Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms for Media Entrepreneurship and Twinkle Khanna, Entrepreneurs, Author, Film Producer, for Conscientious Cinema.
Fresh violence broke out in Rajasthan today as a 5,000-strong mob set ablaze the houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, even as the death toll from yesterday's nationwide stir by Dalit groups rose to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh.



While the Supreme Court today declined to stay its recent order on the SC/ST Act, which had triggered the Bandh call by Dalit organisations that alleged the move diluted their constitutional rights, the government maintained that it was not responsible for any dilution and that it was fully committed to protecting the interests of the backward communities.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in more than 10 states, most of them BJP-ruled, with widespread violence during the protests called by Dalit organisations yesterday with poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan bearing the maximum brunt.

Counter-protests were reported today from Rajasthan, where traders' groups and members of other castes hit the streets over the damage caused yesterday.

In Alwar district, where a man was killed yesterday, people staged a sit-in protest, refusing to cremate the body of the victim.

The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, were set afire by a violent mob this afternoon in Hindaun town in Karauli district of Rajasthan, following which curfew was imposed in the area, a senior official said.

A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set ablaze the houses of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and former MLA Bharosilal Jatav in Hindaun, District Collector, Karauli, Abhimanyu Kumar told PTI.

While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who had also served as a minister in the state.

The agitated members of the traders' associations and upper castes took out a procession in Hindaun today and tried to enter the SC/ST-dominated areas, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

"The police lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to cane-charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse the mob," he added.

Superintendent of Police (SP), Karauli, Anil Kayal said after the incidents of arson and violence, nearly 40 people were detained in Hindaun.

According to the police, tension also prevailed in Churu and Gangapur city, where the law-and-order situation remained "critical".

Curfew was clamped in Gangapur city last night.

In Madhya Pradesh, the death toll from the violence that broke out during Dalit protests yesterday rose to eight with two more persons succumbing to injuries, officials said.

The police admitted that one person, who died yesterday, had fallen victim to police bullets.

Two policemen were booked in connection with the death of a person in police firing, an official said.

Yesterday, a senior police official had claimed that the casualties occurred during clashes between the supporters of the "Bharat bandh", called by Dalit outfits, and those opposed to it and not due to police firing.

However, Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Prashant Khare today said Mahavir Rajawat (40), who died yesterday, fell victim to police bullets.

This has taken the nationwide death toll from the protests to 11, including two in Uttar Pradesh.

The eight deceased in MP included six Dalits and two upper-castes Hindus, police officials said.

Four deaths were reported from Bhind, three from Gwalior and one from Morena district.

Curfew was still in force in some areas of Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts in view of the violence witnessed during the bandh, which was organised to protest a recent Supreme Court order that allegedly diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, officials said.
Each candidate, who will contest Assembly polls in Karnataka, can spend up to Rs 28 lakh, said the Election Commission on Tuesday.



However, the EC said there was no upper limit in spending by political parties.

"As per the revised ceilings, the maximum limit of election expenses for the Assembly constituencies is Rs 28 lakh per candidate for the state of Karnataka," OP Rawat, Chief Election Commissioner, told the media here.

All candidates are required to furnish their accounts of expenditure within 30 days of the declaration of results.

"All political parties sponsoring candidates for the Legislative Assembly elections are required to maintain day-to-day accounts of all elections campaign expenses and submit the accounts to the Commission within 75 days of the completion of such elections. Such accounts will be uploaded on the website of the Commission for public viewing," he said.

The commission will appoint expenditure observers and assistant expenditure observers for each constituency.

Control room and a complaint monitoring centers with 24-hour toll-free numbers will be operative during the entire election process.
BJP national president Amit Shah has embarrassed the party's Chief Ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa with a slip of the tongue.



Recently, a retired Supreme Court judge said if there was ever a competition of the most corrupt government, then the Yeddyurappa government is number one... said Shah, inadvertently, while addressing a press conference.



The comment has shocked Yeddyurappa and the BJP leadership. BJP MP Pralhad Joshi immediately corrected Shah by saying into his ear, Siddaramaiah government. Realising his gaffe, Shah corrected himself and said: Arre re...Siddaramaiah government is number one in corruption.



Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah then tweeted, saying that the BJP president had spoken the truth. He wrote: The #ShahOfLies finally speaks truth. Thank you @AmitShah. Shah is in Karnataka, where assembly elections will take place on May 12 with the vote counting set for May 15.







The #ShahOfLies finally speaks truth. Thank you @AmitShah pic.twitter.com/WczQdUfw5U

 Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) March 27, 2018


In yet another case of brutality by men in khaki, a young man was dragged and beaten up mercilessly by three traffic police personnel after the youth objected to the "foul" language used by them.



Prakash, 21, who had gone for shopping with his mother and sister in a scooter in the business hub of T Nagar, in the heart of Chennai, was stopped by the policemen for not wearing a helmet.

The Traffic Police after beating him also slapped a case against him and lodged him in Puzhal jail. He was booked under Section 322 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and Section 427 (mischief causing damage to the tune of fifty rupees or more).

In two videos that went viral on the social media on Tuesday, Prakash, who is working as a cab driver, is seen arguing in an aggressive tone with the traffic policemen and refusing to pay fine for not wearing helmet citing "ill behaviour" of one of the men on duty while stopping his scooter.





Ugly Face of Chennai Traffic Police. @cctpolice assure action against these Cruel Animals. Third Degree Torture in the open by Cops. Untill @044traffic action taken action this Brutality we ll fight Back. #Chennai #ChennaiTrafficPolice @CMOTamilNadu @mkstalin @TTVDhinakaran pic.twitter.com/fvhcCk09F9  Senthil Nathan A (@senthu_ap) April 3, 2018





In the argument that ensued after the youth refused to pay fine, his hands seem to accidentally brush the epaulette (one of the stars) of a policeman and it fell down, the men in khaki then began thrashing Prakash by almost tying him to an electric pole.

Loud cries of Prakash's mother did not move the policemen on duty and they kept thrashing the young lad. After the videos went viral on the social media leading to an outrage, Chennai Police came out with an official statement "detailing the events" that led to the arrest and subsequent jailing of Prakash.

"When Prakash was asked to pay fine, he behaved in a rude manner and began to shout in the middle of the road. He also punched on the face of sub-inspector Suresh and damaged the walkie-talkie device used by the personnel. He was overpowered immediately and was arrested," the statement said. After being produced before a court, the youth was sent to jail.

The incident created an uproar on the social media with several people condemning the "arrogant behaviour" of the policemen, while noting that the youth should have also followed rules. The incident comes within a month of a woman, who was purportedly pregnant, losing her life after falling from her two-wheeler which was being chased by policemen since her husband did not wear a helmet.
The Centre on Tuesday agreed before the Supreme Court that it would not assail the provision of anticipatory bail brought in under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.



Arguing on behalf of the Union government on a review petition against the March 20 judgement, Attorney General K K Venugopal preferred to confine his challenge to the directions that a public servant cannot be arrested without an approval from the appointing authority and a private person from the SSP, among others.

He also questioned the order making it mandatory for a DySP level officer to conduct a preliminary inquiry if allegations make out a case under the Atrocities Act.

The top law officer also sought reconsideration of the order that any violation of the twin directions will be actionable by way of disciplinary action as well as contempt.

A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit were specially constituted to take up the urgent hearing plea made by the Union government as a countrywide 'bandh' was called on Monday to protest against the judgement, resulting in the loss of lives and public properties.

As the bench maintained that as there is a provision of an anticipatory bail in all other cases, some forms of protection must be made available in anti-atrocities law as well, Venugopal submitted that he would confine himself to other directions.

In its judgement, the top court had said Section 18 (bar on anticipatory bail) would not apply where there is no prima facie case or to cases of patent false implication or when the allegation is motivated for extraneous reasons.

Venugopal also submitted that according to the 2016 amendment to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995, immediate compensation or other assistance has to be given to a victim belonging to the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe.

If preliminary inquiry takes time, payment of such compensation or other immediate relief may be delayed.

There may be offences under the provision of the Indian Penal Code or any other law and direction to hold preliminary inquiry may delay registration of a case in respect of such other offences also, he claimed.

The court, however, granted time to the Centre, Maharashtra government and other parties to file a written submission on their plea to reconsider the judgement passed in Dr Subhash Kashinath Mahajan Vs State of Maharashtra.
The Southeast division police from Begur have arrested a 22-year-old woman for drug peddling and have seized 200 gm of contraband recently.



The arrested suspect, Latha Rajappa, is a resident of Devarachikkanahalli and used to sell marijuana to college students and to people with criminal antecedents in Beguru, the police said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ramesh KN, who is himself the complainant in the case, received credible information about a woman selling narcotics in front of Madhura Garments Gate on Beguru Main Road on March 28 afternoon.

He along with a few policewomen, including a sub-inspector and a gazetted officer, conducted a raid and caught Latha with the drugs.

She had both, powdered and leaf forms of marijuana, which she procured from her contacts in

Denkanikottai in Tamil Nadu, she told the police during her arrest.

During interrogation, she told the police that she was not married, but lived with her boyfriend at a rented house in Devarachikkanahalli.

As her boyfriend was arrested in a theft case and was in jail, she resorted to selling 'ganja' to make both ends meet, she told the police.

Her customers were mainly her boyfriend's other friends who were also habitual offenders, the police said.

Latha was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.
The Rajarajeshwari Nagar police arrested a television serial actor after a Mumbai-based model filed a complaint that he raped her by promising marriage.



Police arrested Kiran Raj on Tuesday morning and booked him under IPC sections 323 (assault), 420 (cheating) and 376 (rape). Raj acted in the Kannada serial 'Kinnari'.

The model stated in her complaint that she and Raj knew each other for five years. On March 28, she came to Bengaluru and stayed with him, when the actor promised her of marriage and raped her.

After picking a quarrel with her in his car the next day, Raj changed the version of the incident and assaulted her. The injured model went to a hospital to get treatment and flew back to Mumbai.

She later mustered courage to return and file a complaint with the jurisdictional police and narrated her ordeal to them. Arresting Raj, police produced him before a magistrate who remanded him in judicial custody.
Four youngsters were arrested on Monday by the Vijayanagar police for assaulting a 20-year-old cab driver near Dasarahalli, North Bengaluru, on March 26.



D J Srikanth (26), Pradeep Das alias RX Deepu (21), Vijay Kumar alias Viji (23) - all from Magadi Road - and Kiran Kumar (19), of MC Layout in Vijayanagar, are the suspects. Police have also detained a juvenile in this case who was sent to the boys' remand home.

On the evening of March 26, N Akbar Pasha was driving his cab near The Square Plate hotel in Dasarahalli. Four to five people accosted him on motorbikes and attacked him with daggers and machetes in his thighs and arms before fleeing the scene.

People passing by the place noticed the bleeding Pasha and rushed him to hospital. The cab driver called his father Mehboob Pasha from the hospital to inform him about the attack. The father lodged a complaint with the Vijayanagar police, who opened an attempted murder case and picked up the five attackers.

The incident was initially reported as a communal clash, but police ruled it out after checking the background of everyone involved in the incident, including the victim. They are holding further investigations.
Claiming to be an MLA candidate from Mysuru, driving a Toyota Fortuner and guarded by gunmen in safari suits, a 39-year-old man cheated many people of crores. His victims are from Bengaluru, Mysuru and other parts of Karnataka.

The Basaveshwaranagar police have arrested Somanna L, a resident of Godrej Apartments in Sahakaranagar and a native of Mysuru, but are

yet to recover his victims' money.

Two of his associates, Renukesh and Anthony, are yet to be arrested. The police suspect Somanna to have conned a large number of people to the tune of Rs 6 crore.

According to the police, Somanna placed orders with a group of city-based gold jewellers for gold biscuits and mangala sutras saying he wanted to conduct mass weddings and gift the jewellery to the people of the constituency from where he would be contesting.

He said he would possibly contest from Molakalmuru, Challakere, Nayakanahatti or Mysuru as he has managed to get a ticket from the Congress party, the police said.

Somanna also claimed that he was a close associate of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The suspect would say that he was denied a JD(S) ticket even after he was ready to offer Rs 5 crore, the police said.

A good number of jewellers fell for his claims and did business with him thinking that he would return their money but in vain.

Suraj, a resident of Basaveshwaranagar and one of the victims, lodged a complaint with police. Based on his complaint, the police arrested Somanna after which many victims turned up claiming to have been cheated by him in a similar manner.

The police later learnt that cases were registered against Somanna at the Vyalikaval police station for cheating Rs 2.5 crore, at Kodigehalli police station for Rs 1.5 crore and the victims were still thronging the Basaveshwaranagar

police station to lodge complaints.

There were also two cases of cheating Rs 94 lakh each lodged against Somanna at the Basaveshwaranagar police station.

He even had cases at the Nazarbad police station in Mysuru, the police added.
I-T dept sets up control room



Income Tax department has set up a round-the- clock control room in the wake of Assembly elections. In a release, the department has sought information from members of the public about the use of funds to induce voters.

The control room functions from the Queens Road office of the department for receiving information or complaints. "The department is specifically tasked with controlling the use of unaccounted funds to subvert the people's mandate,'' the release stated.

People can contact the control room through toll free number 18004252115 or on 080/22861126 or through mobile numbers 8277413614 or 8277422825 or mail to cleankarnatakaelection@incometax.gov.in

CEC to visit city today

The full Election Commission will be in Bengaluru for three days from Wednesday to review the election preparedness in the state.

Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat along with Election Commissioners Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa will conduct meetings with the chief secretary, director general and inspector general of police and other officials of the state government.

The panel will also hold meetings with leaders of various political parties. Assembly election will be held in the state on May 12.
NEW DELHI/Chennai, DHNS: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea made by the Union government for clarification as well as seeking three additional months to implement the February 16 judgement for framing a scheme to ensure the sharing of Cauvery water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.



A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud posted the Centre's application for hearing on April 9 as a counsel referred to divergent views of the concerned states on the issue of setting up of the scheme. "We will take this matter on April 9 along with the plea of Tamil Nadu," the bench said, when the Centre's counsel Wasim Qadri sought urgent hearing of the plea.

The Union government had on Saturday sought three more months' time saying framing a scheme after the announcement of the Karnataka Assembly elections may create massive public outrage over there as it was an emotive issue.

It also sought to know if the scheme to be framed under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act can be at variance from the Cauvery Management Board as recommended by the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal in its decision in 2007.

Protests in TN

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam on Tuesday joined the day-long fast observed by AIADMK cadres across the state demanding constitution of a Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

Though their names were missing from the list of leaders to participate in the fast, released by the AIADMK, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam arrived at the venue at around 8 am on Tuesday in Chepauk, hardly a km from Fort St George, the seat of power of Tamil Nadu Government.

Top AIADMK leaders, including all ministers, participated in the day-long fast being observed in 31 districts across the state.

Before ending their fast at around 5.30 pm, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam gave a speech attacking their arch-rival DMK but refrained from attacking the BJP and the Union Government.

Protests on Tuesday intensified as establishments affiliated to an influential traders' body downed their shutters.
The Supreme Court has restrained the Karnataka police from arresting a man from Ballari, accused of violating the Karnataka Forest Act by storing over 400 kg of 'Raktha Chandana' (Red Sanders) billets.



A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan on Monday issued notice to the state government on a petition filed by 34-year-old Abdul Nayeem alias Nayeem Ahmad, seeking anticipatory bail.

A counsel, representing the petitioner, contended that a co-accused has already been granted anticipatory bail by the principal sessions judge, Ballari.

Nayeem sought parity with the co-accused. He also contended it has been observed by the trial court that 'Raktha Chandana' wood is not sandalwood and therefore provisions of the Karnataka Forest Act could not be attracted in the matter.

On his plea, the court sought response from the state government. It also directed, "Till the next date of hearing the petitioner shall not be arrested."

Nayeem challenged the Karnataka High Court's order of January 23, rejecting his petition for anticipatory bail in the FIR registered by the Ballari Rural police, last year on a complaint by a DySP that he had illegally stored 'Raktha Chandana' wood at a plot in industrial area at Mundaragi on the outskirts of Ballari.

It was also alleged that he had transported the forest product without permit and licence. Over 417 kg of such produce worth Rs 12.53 lakh was recovered.

The high court had dismissed his plea after the state counsel contended that he was a habitual offender involved in cutting and transporting forest wood without permit and licence, thereby causing danger to nature.
Bengaluru, DHNS: Is the JD(S) getting cosy with the BJP? At least, this is what the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) believes. As a result, the NCP has decided not to go ahead with a pre-poll alliance plan with the regional party.

"Our only condition for the pre-poll alliance was that the JD(S) should not have a truck with the BJP in the event of a hung Assembly. But it looks like this condition will not be met. So, the deal is more or less over," NCP Karnataka general secretary Tilak S Nambiar said.

The NCP's decision to pull out of the alliance talks with the JD(S) gives credence to speculation in political circles that there could be a throwback to 2006 situation

when the JD(S) and the BJP joined hands to form a government.

It was in February that Pawar met JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy. As part of the pre-poll alliance, the NCP was to contest 5-7 seats. The party will now fight the polls on its own.

"We will contest mostly in North Karnataka, which we feel is our stronghold. The number of seats and candidates will be finalised this week," Nambiar said.

The Congress has angered the JD(S) camp with party president Rahul Gandhi himself launching repeated attacks on the regional party. The BJP, however, has refrained from criticising the JD(S).

Not only did the Congress cold-shoulder the regional party's call to help its Rajya Sabha nominee B M Farook get elected in the recent polls, but Rahul also dubbed the JD(S) as the BJP's 'B' team.

Recently in Mysuru, BJP president Amit Shah seemed guarded while responding to a question on the JD(S).

"There's no question of any alliance. We will fight the election in all 224 seats on our own," he said.

It is also learnt that the BJP could tacitly support the JD(S) by not fielding a strong candidate in the Chamundeshwari constituency, where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will contest from.

The JD(S) candidate here is incumbent legislator G T Deve Gowda.
Deputy Commissioner K B Sivakumar has submitted a report to the Election Commission of India (ECI), following a complaint that BJP president Amit Shah violated the model code of conduct during his recent visit to the city.



He had visited the house of Raju, a BJP worker, who was murdered in 2016 by suspected PFI activists in Mysuru. After Shah's visit to their house, Raju's sister-in-law had told private television channels that the BJP leaders gave them a compensation of Rs 5 lakh.

On Monday, the Congress leaders had filed a complaint against Shah with the ECI in New Delhi. The BJP has, however, denied the charge.
BJP national president Amit Shah has said that the party won't allow splitting of a religion.

"It is not right to divide a religion, tradition. The BJP does not believe in such practices and neither the party has any intention to use this issue for political gain," Shah said here on Tuesday.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Bharatiya Veerashiava Mathadheeshara Parishat ath Shivayoga Mandira.Shah further added that he had not come to the meeting with political objectives but only to seek blessings.

Channasiddarama Panditaradhya Shivacharya Swami of Sree Shaila Peeta said that the attempt to divide Veerashaiva-Lingayat religion had now reached the Centre.

The seer added that the pontiffs had planned to meet Amit Shah and the prime minister Narendra Modi in the regard.

In Hubballi, Shah said the BJP is not against reservation and the party would protect the interest of the oppressed classes.

Shah, who spoke to reporters, said that the BJP would never withdraw the reservation facility nor would allow any other party to do so.

Opposition parties are spreading rumours on social media reservation facility would be withdrawn. This just politics. Monday's Bharat bandh in connection with the Atorocities Act was also unnecessary.

"We have utmost faith in the Constitution given to us by Dr B R Ambedkar," he said.
Kaginele (Haveri district): BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah boasts himself as a Ahinda leader but his true concern was only for the minorities.

"In making allocations in the budget too, Siddaramaiah showed discrimination in allocating funds to minorities and OBCs, in proportion to their population," he charged.

Addressing the BJP's state-level backward classes convention here, Shah asked Siddaramaiah to reply on why the Congress defeated the bill to give Constitutional status to the OBC commission, in the Rajya Sabha, demanding appointment of two minority members in the OBC commission also. "How much ever the Congress tries to oppose or create an obstacle, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre will pass the OBC Bill in both houses of Parliament. This is our decision and we will see to it that the community gets justice," he said.

Among the 24 BJP and RSS workers murdered in the state, many were from OBC communities. How long the Congress government would promote politics of violence and how many murderers Siddaramaiah would protect? We would trace murderers even if they were hiding in the 'Pathaala' and would punish them, when B S Yeddyurappa would become the chief minister, Shah noted.

The state government was not allowing Central schemes to reach the people effectively. The Centre introduced 116 programmes for the welfare of all, including backward classes, but Siddaramaiah was engaged in divisive politics through his lies, and the Congress government was dividing society like the British, the BJP chief charged.

Out of nearly one crore beneficiaries of Mudra scheme in the state, 50% are OBCs. Out of 3.5 lakh beneficiaries of Ujjwala scheme, one lakh women are from the OBCs. Now, the Centre's decision to pay up to Rs 5 lakh medical bills of 10 crore families each would also benefit the OBCs, he said.

Yeddyurappa assured to spend Rs one lakh crore for irrigation, if the BJP comes to power. Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa, a OBC leader, noted that Siddaramaiah is a fake and self-proclaimed leader of backward classes.

Ahead of the Assembly polls, the BJP had strategically organised its OBC convention at Kaginele, the Karmabhoomi of saint, philosopher, composer and social reformer Kanakadasa.
Chinas H-6K Bomber Designed to Fly Beyond Island Chains



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Professionals in addiction treatment and awareness will come together in Rancho Santa Fe on April 16 to discuss opioid use and prevention.

The event, presented by the national Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy in collaboration with the 15-month-old Betty Ford Center in San Diego, will aim to address local, as well as national, concerns on this issue.

Collaborators for the community discussion that is free and open to the public include The Nativity School; The Church of the Nativity, the San Diego Diocesan Mental Health Ministry and the Betty Ford Center in San Diego.

Panelists include:

William C. Moyers, panel moderator, best-selling author and vice president of public affairs and community relations of Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Summer Stephan, district attorney from the San Diego County District Attorneys Office

Kiersten Simon, executive director of FCD Prevention Works and part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Dr. Joseph Lee, medical director of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Youth Continuum

Terri Perez, deputy district attorney and narcotics division chief from the San Diego County District Attorneys Office

Dr. Marvin Seppala, chief medical officer with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Brian Couey, director of Outpatient Services at the Betty Ford Center in San Diego, recently discussed what will be addressed at the event, including what is being done locally and the value of people working together to help solve the issue.

The discussion will take place April 16, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at The Nativity School Holy Family Activity Center (behind the Church of Nativity) at 6309 El Apajo Road in Rancho Santa Fe. For more information, visit www.hazeldenbettyford.org/letstalk.

Why are opioid and addiction prevention hot topics right now?

The nation is really facing its worst addiction crisis ever, and were losing 115 people a day to opioid use. Were dealing with a public health crisis, and were really looking toward the leaders of the Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy in the San Diego County community to discuss quality care effective strategies to empower our neighborhoods, schools and families to deal with this pervasive public health problem. Its really a shared responsibility.

How can all these groups working together make a difference?

Youre looking at really changing the perspective from a moral issue or criminal issue to a public health issue. You cant just massively incarcerate people who are engaged in substance use. You cant overload the healthcare system in emergency rooms with people who are overdosing. Everybody has to work together to be successful. All the elements of the community have to work together and have alignment in order for things to get better. Its not just the job of law enforcement to arrest people and make sure people are incarcerated. Its not just the job of hospitals to deal with overdoses. Everybody has to work together from a prevention level all the way to a treatment level then to a successful recovery level.

Why is this crisis becoming greater? Whats driving this increase to where 115 people are dying every day from this?

One is the availability of opioid use. You have products like Fentanyl and other illicit versions of opioids that are increasing the legality of the drug. Thats one aspect of it, but there are also ineffective, underfunded resources for dealing with this public health crisis of which the scope is so enormous right now. I think one of the things thats really helping kind of move it forward is that were not dealing with just people who are indigent or homeless or stereotypical. Its getting into high-profile families and local community schools. Theres kind of a lot of attention being paid to it now because its kind of an equal opportunity danger. Were making some good steps, and theres been some movement at the governmental level to provide better funding, prevention and treatment. Hopefully, its really going to get better. Ultimately, its not really about the drug itself or a specific drug because every decade we have some new kind of epidemic. Its really about people and addiction. We need to help people who are sick get well.

How big is this problem in San Diego, specifically?

Were seeing a lot of trends here at the Betty Ford site in San Diego. Were seeing a lot more opioid use among our patients, so thats really prompted us to use medication, assistive treatments and cutting-edge ways of dealing with these patients who come in. Historically, opioid use patients have terrible withdrawals, theyve been in treatment and they have difficulty engaging in care. ... San Diego is also near an international border, so theres a lot of intake of illicit narcotics and, particularly, illicit opioids. Theres much more availability of those substances here than you would find in Nebraska or some other state.

Who do you envision attending this event?

The event is free and open to the public. Attending are faith-based providers, educational institutions, community members and professionals. Its a good mix of all the stakeholders in the community coming together. Were really trying to reach as many people as we can. Hopefully, its going to be informative, engaging and people will hopefully learn something. In San Diego, in some communities, the opioid epidemic is really something people dont want to talk about or know about. When you present the information in a way thats more palatable and that helps people understand theres a solution to this, then were going to get more people involved and fewer people are going to be dying.

Why are people afraid to talk about this issue?

Theres still a stigma associated with addiction. Even though weve been talking about it as a disease for decades, theres still this misunderstanding as not as a disease but a moral issue. Its work like this thats really going to help change peoples attitudes and perspectives, and to look at it through a public health lens as opposed to something unsavory that people would rather not talk about.
By Adolfo Flores

31 March 2018

San Pedro Tapanatepec, Mexico (BuzzFeed)  Taking a drag from her cigarette, a Mexican immigration agent looked out toward a caravan of migrants that grew larger with each step they took on the two-lane highway.When the agent, whod covered her uniform with an orange and white shawl, learned that the Central American migrants heading her way numbered more than 1,000, she took off for the restaurant across the street.Im going to have a relaxing Coke, she told BuzzFeed News.For five days now hundreds of Central Americans  children, women, and men, most of them from Honduras  have boldly crossed immigration checkpoints, military bases, and police in a desperate, sometimes chaotic march toward the United States. Despite their being in Mexico without authorization, no one has made any effort to stop them.Organized by a group of volunteers called Pueblos Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders, the caravan is intended to help migrants safely reach the United States, bypassing not only authorities who would seek to deport them, but gangs and cartels who are known to assault vulnerable migrants.Organizers like Rodrigo Abeja hope that the sheer size of the crowd will give immigration authorities and criminals pause before trying to stop them.If we all protect each other well get through this together, Abeja yelled through a loudspeaker on the morning they left Tapachula, on Mexicos border with Guatemala, for the nearly monthlong trek.When they get to the US, they hope American authorities will grant them asylum or, for some, be absent when they attempt to cross the border illegally. More likely is that it will set up an enormous challenge to the Trump administrations immigration policies and its ability to deal with an organized group of migrants numbering in the hundreds.The number of people who showed up to travel with the caravan caught organizers by surprise, and has overwhelmed the various towns theyve stopped in to spend the night. Pueblos Sin Fronteras counted about 1,200 people on the first day.About 80% of them are from Honduras. Many said they are fleeing poverty, but also political unrest and violence that followed the swearing in of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez after a highly contested election last year. The group often breaks into chants of out with JOH. They also chant we arent immigrants, were international workers and the people united will never be defeated.Sweating after miles of walking in more than 90-degree heat with her two kids, Karen said conditions in Honduras were so bad she decided to take a chance with the caravan. She declined to give her full name.The crime rate is horrible, you cant live there, Karen told BuzzFeed News on the side of a highway near Huixtla, a town in Chiapas, Mexicos southernmost state. After the president [was sworn in] it got worse. There were deaths, mobs, robbed homes, adults and kids were beaten up. [more]
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SEATTLE  The Castle Court apartments, at 822 Queen Anne Ave N., have sold for about $7.2 million, according to King County records. The seller was Goff Commercial Properties LLC, which had owned the property for decades.

The buyer was Node Seattle Queen Anne LP, a foreign LP that lists a residential address in Los Angeles. Public records indicate loans from Bofl Federal Bank in San Diego and RealtyShares of San Francisco.





. . .
There are many reasons that increasing numbers of entrepreneurs across Australia and beyond are starting their own business. They may not want to spend their lives in the rat race working for others, they may realize that they can potentially make much more money running their own enterprise, or they may want a career that they can fit around their life commitments, rather than being a 9 to 5 job. Another important reason is that its now easier than ever to launch a business, and thats largely because of online tools and opportunities like those detailed below.

A Perfect Business Foundation

A business is like a house. If you want it to last, you need to get the foundations right. That means having comprehensive knowledge of how to run a business in the 21st century, from accounts to budgeting and marketing. Thanks to an online degree from the prestigious Norwich University, students can now acquire all the business knowledge they need at a time and pace that suits them. Gaining a Norwich University MBA can not only help graduates gain a well-paid job in business management; it also allows them to start their own business while possessing the key skills it would otherwise take years to learn.

Financing Your Business

Cash flow is king in business. It ensures that you have enough capital to continue to manufacture or buy products and this means that you can also ride out any of the temporary lulls or setbacks that always come to a startup business at some point. Having enough financial backing is especially important in the early days of a business, as at this point there is no money coming in and expenditure is high. In past decades, the only option was to turn to a bank for a loan, but in todays economic climate, that isnt always easy. Thankfully, there are now many ways to find financial backers online, from appealing to dragon investors to launching a business crowdfunding appeal.

Cost Effective Marketing

Carefully targeted and effective marketing is always vital, but it is even more important for a startup business that isnt yet known to the public. It is possible to buy a direct marketing campaign from experts in the field, but this can prove costly and speculative for a business that is unsure of its future income prospects. Social media, however, has transformed the marketing opportunities for startups, as they can now launch their own online marketing campaign with virtually no cost at all. The key to launching a successful social media campaign is to use posts that are consistent, eye-catching, informative, and amusing. If you tick all those boxes, you should be able to reach out to your target audience.

From crowdfunded equity sources to social media marketing and online MBAs from the likes of Norwich University, its now possible to form a successful startup business more speedily than ever before, and whilst risking less of your own capital as well. Thats great news for young and ambitious entrepreneurs, but its great news for our country as well, as the startup businesses of today could be the economic powerhouses of tomorrow.
Allister AnnThe new single from Kenny Chesney is on its way. Get Along will arrive on Friday, urging Americans to come together in divisive times.

Some days, its like the world is just angry, screaming people, all harping on whats wrong, how other people are awful, Kenny says. The more I move around, talking to people, though, the more I know people are SEEKING THE SAME THINGS, working hard to get by and HOPING FOR the best for their family and friends. Its simple, but we keep getting driven apart -- and made unhappy.

Kenny hopes his new music can help change that.

When I heard this song, beyond how good the rhythm felt, I was amazed how simply they broke all this stuff down, he continues. Get along find the common ground know the basic stuff is where the joy, the love, the happiness is.

Get Along is Kennys first single since leaving his longtime label home at Sony for Warner Brothers. The eight-time Entertainer of the Year is set to sing at the 53rd ACM Awards, which take place April 15 in Las Vegas.

Hes currently climbing the chart with his top-15 collaboration with David Lee Murphy, Everythings Gonna Be Alright, which he also co-produced.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Its well-known that Republican Mike Bishop is deeply embedded in the pockets of the super-wealthy like skabillionaire Matty Moroun so itll likely come as no surprise to you that he disdains unions and is all in for gun manufacturers and their corporate front group, the NRA. In fact, his website used to crow about his pro-gun, anti-union stances.

Heres a screenshot from the Internet Archive from last September:



Click image to embiggen

2nd Amendment Supporting our 2nd amendment right to bear arms, Mike Bishop championed right-to-carry legislation, received A/A+ rating from NRA and is personally a gun owner with a CPL.

Right to Work Mike Bishop was one of the first elected officials in Michigan to publicly call for Right-to-work. In 2007, Mike Bishop publicly called for Michigan to become a right-to-work state.

However, in the current political climate when Americans are waking up and realizing that people are dying from Republicans intransigence on commonsense gun purchase and ownership protections and families are suffering due to Republicans attacks on workers, Bishop quietly scrubbed his website of any mention of these two issues:

Republican Rep. Mike Bishops support of the Second Amendment, right-to-carry legislation and his A/A+ rating from the National Rifle Association have been removed from his campaign website. The change comes as Republicans are increasingly worried about casualties in vulnerable U.S. House districts in the fall midterm elections, and as student survivors of last months school shooting in Parkland, Florida, keep up calls for action on gun reform. [] The issues page of Bishops website no longer mentions guns or the Second Amendment. Also scrubbed from the page are descriptions of Bishop as a supporter of right to work laws, his opposition to abortion and to amnesty for undocumented immigrants. The campaign site now features largely bipartisan issues, including the opioid epidemic, college affordability, Great Lakes conservation and protecting children from predators.

Bishop wants you to forget that hes a dyed-in-the-wool Republican who is wrong on some of the bedrock issues confronting our country right now. When it comes to guns and unions, he continues to toe the corporatist line, making sure the interests of the wealthy elites who control our government at the moment are front and center, superseding the interests of the rest of us common folk.

Its not surprising Bishop is running scared. His Democratic opponent Elissa Slotkin raised more money than him the past two quarters. And, unlike Bishop, Slotkin has the right positions on these issues. During the March for Our Lives in March, she published a Facebook video in support of the students who are rising up to make their voices heard.

Bishop cant even talk about gun violence killing our children without sticking his Brooks Brothers shoe in his mouth. Im not operating under this false premise that we can come up with a silver bullet, he told The Detroit News.

Always with the bullets with these guys

And, lest we forget, Mike Bishop thinks young people making their voices heard in the political arena are brats who need to be picked up by their parents. Heres a tweet of his from 2016 when students were protesting the election of Donald Trump:

To the parents of all the children currently initiating civil unrest (in the name of free speech), please come pick up your brats.  Mike Bishop (@MikeBishopMI) November 15, 2016

Classy, Mike. Very classy.

You can make sure that Mike Bishop is retired from Congress and take his rightful place as a corporate lobbyist for the Moroun family by supporting Elissa Slotkin HERE. You can listen to our interview with Slotkin on The Sit and Spin Room podcast HERE.




Vietnam asks US to rescind new pangasius export tariff

While the US has maintained that a new tariff imposed on Vietnamese pangasius exports would not significantly disrupt trade from Vietnam to the US, the Southeast Asian country insisted that the tariff was a protectionist move and "not objective". Vietnam has asked for its revocation, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The US Department of Commerce imposed a higher tariff for Vietnamese pangasius exports following the completion of an anti-dumping investigation on March 15. The new tariff stands at $7.74 per kilogramme on products from the two companies that were the subject of the investigation, while other exporters face a fee of $3.87/kg, still the highest tax the US has ever imposed on Vietnamese pangasius.

US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink said that the tariffs were based on a routine, regular review, adding that Vietnam still had full access to the US market, including pangasius-related products.

The US has been the biggest importer of Vietnamese pangasius for the past several years, but strict regulations on quality and food safety, particularly the catfish inspection programme launched in August 2017 to check the fish from the farm through to processing and shipment, have challenged Vietnamese exporters.

Vietnam earned $1.78 billion from pangasius exports last year, up 4.3% from 2016, but exports of the fish to the US dropped 11% to $387 million, VASEP said.
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Putin arrives in Turkeys Ankara

President Putin landed in Ankara on Tuesday to take part in a ceremony marking the start of construction on a joint venture for Turkey's first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu.

The Russian President is on a two-day visit to Turkey where he will meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and attend the opening of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant as well as to join a summit on Syria the following day.

Russian President was welcomed by President Erdogan in front of the presidential palace in company with rider solidarity.

It is the 9th time that President Erdogan and Putin has met since 2017.

Putin arrives in Turkeys Ankara WATCH

Both presidents will watch via video conference the laying of concrete at the 20-billion-dollar Akkuyu nuclear power plant in southern Turkey. The plant is supposed to go online in 2023 and provide 10 per cent of the country's electricity.
Saudi crown prince gets ready for recognizing Israel

Saudi Arabias crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in US magazine The Atlantic.

Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, is on the front burner by the reason of his words on Israel. Saudi Arabia, does not recognize Israel, the Saudi crown prince said that Israelis have the right to have their own land.

Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying: I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.





"We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people." Prince Mohammed said.

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts. In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumored secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.
Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, and her three kids appeared to be one big, happy family on Sunday, April 1, as they celebrated Easter together in Los Angeles.

While Shelton continues to appear in new episodes of The Voice Season 14, he and Stefani took the time to step out with the three sons she shares with Gavin Rossdale, including 11-year-old Kingston, 9-year-old Zuma, and 4-year-old Apollo.

In photos and videos shared by the Daily Mail on April 1, Stefani and Shelton were seen making their way out of a church after attending an Easter service in fancy attire. As per usual, Stefani was sporting a pair of high heels and a dress as Shelton wore a pair of cowboy boots and a blazer. As for Stefani's three sons, they were dressed in pants and nice shirts.

In one particular photo, Shelton was seen carrying Stefani's youngest son Apollo as the little boy buried his face in Shelton's neck. Apparently, Apollo wasn't too keen on the idea of smiling for the awaiting photographers.

Blake Loves Playing 'Daddy'

During an episode of Today last month, Shelton spoke out about being in the life of Stefani's three children.

At this point in my life, I kind of had put [having kids] as like, Well, that wasnt meant to be. Then all of a sudden it happens one way or another and its like, Wow, [I] missed out on a lot,  he said, according to a report from People.

And so having them around  I dont even know how to describe it. Its so much fun, he added.

Shelton was married twice before his romance with Stefani began but doesn't yet have any children.

Spring Break In Oklahoma

At the end of March, during Stefani's kids' break from school, she and Shelton treated the children to a fun trip to Oklahoma, where Shelton owns a home. During their trip, Stefani shared a number of family moments with her fans and followers on social media.

Stefani also posted a video of her aunt speaking of Shelton and encouraging her to hang on to her man.

To see more of Blake Shelton and his co-stars, including Alicia Keys, Adam Levine, and Kelly Clarkson, tune in to The Voice Season 14 on Monday and Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on NBC.
Fans certainly can't wait to watch Avengers: Infinity War, which probably gave one a reason to create a trailer with a Friends intro.

The superhero film Avengers: Infinity War is, to say the least, expectedly action-packed. However, a fan, Kristian Repshus, a.k.a. Mr. Krepshus, took his imagination to the next level when he made a trailer with a Friends intro, a totally unimaginable thing.

The move was far-fetched, considering the infamous sitcom's iconic intro music titled "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts, that originally featured the funny gang, and now fans see Iron Man, Captain America, and many more getting introduced in juxtaposition. The Friends intro arguably worked out for the trailer.

'Friends' Influence

After all, it emitted a feeling that the superheroes are all friends. Props to the creator, as he extended all efforts to give the Friends vibe to the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War. As the cast gets introduced one by one, their names were written in the font familiar to die-hard fans of the series that starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Friends started in 1994 and ended in 2004 and spanned for 10 seasons. However, even after more than a decade has passed, some of its phrases and dialogues had casually been thrown every now and then. Meaning to say, the influence had found its way even up to now.

Fitting Treatment

So Avengers: Infinity War getting some Friends treatment is totally understandable, albeit unexpected. It is fitting as well, as fans wonder if Iron Man and Captain America's friendship will materialize in the upcoming film. It was last established that the two superheroes created a crack in their relationship after Tony found out that Bucky Barnes, played by Sebastian Shaw, killed his parents.

To make matters worse, Steve, a.k.a. Captain America, played by Chris Evans, knew all this all along. So with Avengers: Infinity War, which will hit theaters on April 27, fans will get to know whether they will make amends.

The fan-made trailer also showed the gang hand in hand fighting and, at one point, Captain America shaking hands with Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman. So the better question by now is, why wouldn't Avengers: Infinity Wars get a Friends treatment? Additionally, Avengers: Infinity War has also gotten a Deadpool treatment when the character solely played all the heroes in the trailer.
The Roseanne reboot has attracted more than its fair share of controversy. However, star John Goodman doesn't regret returning for another round on the show.

Struggling To Cope

He revealed in a new interview that he wasn't always so sure about coming back. Goodman sat down with Today's Willie Geist to discuss his reasons for almost walking away from the show for good.

The actor discussed his struggles with fame and alcoholism, which, at the height of its success during its initial run in the mid-1990s, nearly led him to cut all ties with the show.

"At first it was exciting. Then it got frightening when I lost my anonymity," he confessed.

Goodman's work on the classic family sitcom earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor back in 1993. Although he was at the height of a successful career, the actor turned to alcohol to cope as the show got bigger and bigger.

"I got complacent and ungrateful. ... I wanted to leave the show. I handled it like I did everything else, by sittin' on a bar stool. And that made it worse," he explained.

Goodman even admitted to having slurred speech on the set of the show, where he would frequently drink.

Admitting He Needed Help

He didn't end up leaving, of course. Instead, when the show ended in 1997, Goodman moved out of L.A. and set up in New Orleans, LA, where he and his long-term wife still live.

The beloved actor sought treatment at a rehab facility after a boozy weekend with friends led to him missing a rehearsal.

"I was shaking, I was still drinking, but I was still shaking. I had the clarity of thought that I needed to be hospitalized," he said.

The actor and star of classic movies, including The Big Lebowski and Monsters Inc., has now been sober for a decade.

Returning to Roseanne is a chance to do everything differently. Goodman acknowledged that everybody feels grateful to be included this time around.

Popular And Problematic

The rebooted series is hugely popular the second time around, with President Trump himself calling the titular star and his vocal supporter, Roseanne Barr, to congratulate her on its huge ratings.

It has come under fierce criticism, however, for professing to showcase a side of "normal" working class American voters, especially when Barr is seen to be just pushing her own political agenda.

The resurfacing of an ill-advised photo shoot featuring Barr dressed as Hitler pushing cookies appearing to be "Jews" into an oven has helped the matter, not even Trump's open support for the show.
Palace officials have confirmed that Prince Philip, 96, has been admitted to the hospital for hip surgery. The Duke of Edinburgh has reportedly been ailing for the past several days.

The Prince, who is married to Queen Elizabeth II, had to unexpectedly skip out on the Easter service at Windsor Castle and also couldn't attend the annual Maudy service at St. George's Chapel. The Prince reportedly had to cancel his appearance at the Maudy service due to trouble with his hip.

"His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London this afternoon for planned surgery on his hip which will take place tomorrow," the Buckingham Palace stated.

The Duke of Edinburgh reportedly has had some health issues in the past. In June 2017, he was hospitalized for two nights due to an infection that stemmed from a preexisting condition. In March 2018, Prince Philip was also unable to attend his son Prince Andrew's appointment as the new Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. Prince Philip retired from his royal duties on Aug. 2, 2017. Since 1952, he had completed 22,219 solo engagements. The Queen fully supported her husband's decision to retire.

The Love Of Elizabeth's Life

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip married on Nov. 20, 1947. The two fell in love when the Queen was thirteen years old and would send letters to one another. Philip, who at the time had Greek and Danish royal titles, abandoned his previous titles to marry the future Queen. Prince Philip adopted the surname, Mountbatten, which was his mother's maiden name and became a British citizen.

The couple had four children together, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.

Prince Philip was given the title, Duke of Edinburgh by the Queen's late father, King George VI who was still in reign at the time. Despite many reports that the Prince and the Queen had "drifted apart" once Elizabeth took the throne, the two have insisted that this was "false" rumors. The Queen has cited the Prince as her "rock." The life story and marriage of the Queen and Prince Philip have been depicted in the Netflix original series, The Crown.

The couple recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in November 2017.
The European Union is to provide additional 180 million EUR to support refugees in Greece, including support for the flagship Emergency Support to Integration & Accommodation (ESTIA) program that helps provide urban and out-of-campus accommodation to refugees as well as ensure that refugees have access to regular cash assistance.

ESTIA is the EUs biggest aid initiative in Greece that works in alignment with Greek governments out of campus policy. So far, the program has created over 23,000 urban accommodation places and set up a cast assistance platform catering to more than 41,000 refugees and asylum seekers. The cash assistance scheme aims to reach 45,000 people by mid-2018. Refugees and asylum seekers receive pre-set monthly cash allocations through a card. This provides choice and enables them to meet their basic needs with dignity, while supporting the local economy.

Our humanitarian programs for refugees in Greece are a clear and loud signal of European solidarity. We continue to deliver on our strong commitment to help refugees in Greece live more secure, normal and dignified lives, and facilitate their integration into the local economy and society, said Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides. The Commissioner also paid special tribute to the Greek people who have welcome refugees in their municipalities.

On top of this new funding by the EU, six other deals were signed: with the Danish Refugee Council, Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund, Medecins du Monde, the Spanish Red Cross, as well as Greek NGOs METAdrasi and Smile of the Child  all to address pressing humanitarian needs in the country, including shelter, health care, psycho-social support, better hygiene, non-formal education, the provision of interpretation for health and protection.
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We have just bought a house in a small village near Belves, which is about 30 minutes from Beaumont de Perigord. Do you want a town as large as BdP . I personally like St Cyprien, Le Bugue and Belves . i also like BdP- but I guess it depends on what you mean by not densly populated, and not far from amenities and what sort of amenities. We have been to that area 4 or 5 times over the last few years whilst our house is renovated so have visited a fair few village/towns within 40 minutes of Belves
By Mary Hightower

Spring flooding, temperatures just right to encourage black fly population

Blood sucking flies can kill livestock

Temps above 80 degrees can cap reproduction in black flies

Livestock producers in the Arkansas delta are working to protect their animals after a population explosion of bloodsucking black flies that is being blamed for the deaths of a bull and cow in Arkansas County and the closure last week of a nature center.

Black flies are part of the Simuliidae family and are also known as buffalo gnats or turkey gnats.

Black fly, also known as a buffalo gnat or a turkey gnat, under a microscope.

Between heavy rain and temperatures bouncing between the 40s and 70s in the last few weeks, were seeing a bumper crop of black flies, likely as a result of floods in February and March, Kelly Loftin, extension entomologist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said on Monday. These are late winter, early spring pests that usually go away when temperatures warm above 80 degrees.

Grant Beckwith, Arkansas County extension staff chair for the Division of Agriculture, said a cattle producer in DeWitt lost a prize bull and cow to the flies  identified as southern buffalo gnats.

Ive also heard reports that several horses had died and there were some deer lying dead in fields, he said. I had one farmer tell me he was met at his carport by a deer who was inside trying to get away from the gnats. The gnats dont like to be under a roof or indoors.

Buffalo gnats are a fact of life down here, Beckwith said. The running joke is that the buffalo gnats will have you looking forward to mosquito season.

Last Thursday, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission closed its Cook Lake Conservation Education Center until further notice because of the fly outbreak. The center posted photos on Facebook page of with piles of dead black flies on the nature centers doorstep, saying at this time, it is impossible for visitors to do anything unless covered with mosquito nets.

Breeding by the billions

Unlike mosquitoes that breed in stagnant water, black flies can breed in virtually any flowing water.

In species that breed in large rivers, as many as a billion flies can breed per kilometer of river per day, Loftin said. Other species breed in small heavily wooded streams.

Females deposit eggs, 200 to 800 per female on the water surface, which then sink to the silt. Eggs can also be deposited on inundated flood plains. These eggs can be viable for years and hatch when the next big spring flood occurs.

Most black fly larvae are filter feeders, with the larvae feeding on organic matter in the water as it flows by.

Fortunately, we only see one generation per year, Loftin said.

Once the flies become adults, they feed on blood. The flies, which swarm around humans and livestock, cut the skin and suck the blood that pools in the cut. They have a strong anticoagulant that can result in severe reactions in allergic individuals. Most people end up with a welt accompanied by a long-lasting itching.

There are a couple of ways these flies can kill.

If a massive swarm attacks mammals or poultry, death is usually the result of anaphylactic shock or toxemia caused by a large influx of black fly saliva, Loftin said. Its rare  but it has been observed  that livestock can die from being bled dry.

Black flies are also carriers of a disease in poultry called leucocytozoonosis, a malaria-like affliction in ducks, geese and turkeys.

Protecting against the fly

The flies are daytime feeders and prefer feeding outdoors. In addition to staying inside, there are a few methods to protect both people and animals from black flies.

For livestock, when populations are extreme, shelter is unavailable, and whole-body permethrin sprays are not possible, producers use heavy smoke to protect the animals, Loftin said. Heavy smoke does provide livestock relief from the attack. Of course, when they are huddle around the smoke they do not graze.

Loftin said the producer who lost the cattle has since begun to use smoke and sprayed with permethrin on his livestock, so far no more animals have been lost.

During heavy black fly flights, producers can shelter animals in stables or barns during the daytime. Insecticides such as permethrin applied directly to livestock may provide short-term relief from black fly biting. Thorough coverage of the animals body is necessary especially during heavy black fly infestations.

When the situation allows, such as small-scale poultry production, fans may provide relief because black flies dont like windy conditions. Some poultry producers have reported success with products containing Citronella oil.

For human protection, avoiding them during the day and using of repellents when outdoors during the day are the best options. Wearing bright or light colored long-sleeved shirts, pants and fine screened netting over your head will prevent feeding.

Loftin said repellents containing DEET have shown mixed results and some data has demonstrated that botanical repellents containing geraniol are effective as well as repellents containing picaridin or IR3535. Clothing-only repellents containing permethrin, such as Permanone or Sawyer clothing repellent, will repel black flies but can only be applied to shirts, pants or hats and not to skin.
50 years ago today the minister of agriculture officially approved that Red Angus cattle be eligible for registration in the Canadian Angus herdbook. The Canadian Angus Association (CAA) is celebrating 50 years of Red Angus registrations throughout 2018, but Red Angus have been in Canada much longer than 50 years, and that is also worth celebrating.

The first record of Red Angus in Canada is the recorded importation of a red cow from Scotland in 1886. Rancher Matthew Cochrane imported red Angus from Scotland in 1889 for his ranch west of Calgary, Alberta.

Volume I of the Canadian Angus Herdbook was published in 1908. Red Angus females were included but red males were excluded. On March 15, 1921, the CAA bylaws were amended and all Red Angus cattle were excluded. This decision would stand until April 3, 1968 when the Minister of Agriculture officially approved that Red Angus cattle be eligible for registration.

When the Canadian Angus herdbook was opened to Red Angus in 1968, the Association offered to register all Red Angus cattle under the age of 24 months at the lowest price point, allowing Red Angus breeders an affordable opportunity to populate the herdbook and register their herds.

Mark Mackenzie sold the first Canadian-registered Red Angus bull at auction in Canada in 1969. The first Canadian-raised purebred Red Angus bull, Red Mac 15Z, was sold at the Calgary Bull Sale in 1970 for $1,800.

In 1972 a group of 12 Red Angus cattle breeders from Alberta and Saskatchewan formed the Canadian Red Angus Promotion Society to specifically promote Red Angus cattle. And in 1978, Don Mackenzie became the first Red Angus breeder elected to the Canadian Angus Association Board of Directors.

Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Angus breeders dedicated to red hide colour, 50 years later, Red Angus account for more than 40% of Canada's national Angus herd. The Canadian Angus Association is proud to recognize and applaud those efforts.

Source : Canadian Angus Association
TORONTO - The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) welcomes the Government of Ontario's commitment to nature contained in Budget 2018, released Wednesday. New funding has been earmarked to protect our forests, wetlands, lakes and rivers.

An investment of $15 million over three years affirms Ontario's commitment to protecting our lands and waters and the variety of species they sustain. An additional investment in the Canada  Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan, will further support the health of Lake Erie.

Natural capital is one of Ontario's greatest competitive advantages. Healthy natural systems cost-effectively support sustainable, livable communities and economic development. Nature underpins our reputation as a top destination in which to live, work and invest. Protecting the environment and growing the economy go hand-in-hand.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada and our many partners in Ontario including the land trust community, are already delivering results and ready to do more. By working together and advancing private and public conservation we can make a difference in Ontario and contribute to Canada Target 1  the pledge to protect 17 per cent of our nation's land and inland waters by the end of this decade.

Source : newswire.ca
By Steve Culman

Ohio State University corn nitrogen rate recommendations follow a unified framework used throughout the Corn Belt. Together with six other states (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin), the Ohio recommended nitrogen rates are not based on yield goals, but on economic returns. Corn yield responses along with corn and nitrogen prices are used to calculate the point at which the last unit of added nitrogen returns a yield increase large enough to pay for the added nitrogen cost. This approach, called the maximum return to nitrogen (MRTN), is favored because of the economic volatility in both corn grain and nitrogen fertilizer prices. The past 10 years provides ample evidence of these fluctuations.

The MRTN interface requires 3 inputs: i) the previous crop grown (corn or soybean), ii) price of nitrogen fertilizer, and iii) price received per bushel of corn. When corn prices are low, nitrogen rates will be reduced; when corn prices rise, recommended nitrogen rates will increase. Similarly, the model responds to nitrogen prices, recommending high nitrogen rates when nitrogen costs are low, and reduces rates when costs are high. The model is housed on an Iowa State University website coordinated by Dr. John Sawyer, but each state provides their own yield response data and some support for website maintenance and updates. When a user selects Ohio as a state, they will only find data collected from trials in Ohio. The tool can be found here: http://cnrc.agron.iastate.edu

Previously there were 116 trials from Ohio (80 trials with corn after soybean, and 36 trials with corn following corn). After this major update, there are now 281 trials in the database (228 trials after soybean, 53 after corn). This database update is part of the comprehensive revision of the Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations, with major support from the Ohio Corn and Wheat and the Ohio Soybean Council. With help from farmers, Ohio State University extension county educators and numerous private crop consultants, we conducted 56 nitrogen rate trials over 20 counties across the state from 2015-2017. Additional trial data came from OSU extension and from the Adapt Network project, coordinated and supported by the Environmental Defense Fund. These data trials were all independently analyzed and vetted before inclusion into the database. This represents a tremendous collective effort and countless hours of work by many committed professionals working toward a common goal. The recommended nitrogen rates can be found in the table below.

Recommended nitrogen rates (lb nitrogen/acre) for corn following soybean, based on price of corn grain and nitrogen fertilizer.

Additional analyses are now being conducted to look at trends with soil type and regions in the state. Well see if it is justified to split the state up into separate regions.

Selecting rates to maximize profitability and not yield can be a difficult mindset for the farming community to break. Farmers love reporting big yields from their fields. However, we need to understand that maximizing yields usually translates into reduced profits and greater nutrient losses from the field. Now more than ever, we as a farmer community need to continue to proactively address water quality issues in the state. We trust that farmers and retailers can use this information to look past maximum yield and a reduced bottom line, and instead choose profitability and sound nutrient management when selecting how much nitrogen to apply to their corn crop this season.
B utch Casey, Sharon Anderson and Marie Rogers lay dead on the dining room floor of Butchs home in Miramar, Florida. They had been beaten. They were shot in their heads. Executed.

It was 1994.

The discovery of the three bodies by a police officer who was investigating the disappearance of one of the women began a wild investigation into what became known as the Caseys Nickelodeon Murders  one of the most famous in South Florida.

This is the story of the dramatic, 24-year saga that included two convictions, a hung jury, two death sentences and two successful appeals.

And three families that have still not seen justice served.

Butch

Casimir Sucharski Jr.  Butch Casey, as he preferred to be known  opened Caseys Nickelodeon in the 1980s after his parents sold their bar with the same name in Buffalo, New York.

Over a decade of running the popular restaurant and nightclub on Hallandale Beach Boulevard in South Florida, Butch had become well known. He was the party king of the scene.

He was larger than life and women loved him.

His roguish good looks. A dazzling smile. Shaggy hair. He favored aviator sunglasses and silk scarves  and could actually pull them off.

He wore flashy chains and bracelets. A cartier watch. He carried a chrome-plated pistol in a holster and wads of cash in his boots.

Like most nights, Butch was at the bar in the early morning hours of June 26, 1994  a Sunday  when Sharon Anderson and Marie Rogers arrived on that fateful night.

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Sharon and Marie

Sharon had picked up Marie a few hours earlier at the Hollywood, Florida, home where Marie lived with her mother and 3-year-old daughter. They were looking to cap off a night out, and they were after-hours regulars at Caseys Nickelodeon.

An article in the South Florida Sun Sentinel described their friendship.

From the newspaper article:

With her exotic looks, catlike eyes and dont-mess-with-me attitude, Sharon L. Anderson never stood long in line outside South Floridas trendy nightclubs or bought her own drinks. The 5-foot-9 aspiring model with a penchant for 3-inch heels would see a line and announce, Im not standing in this! Storming to the front, she would talk her way in, where men clamored to buy her drinks. Sharon knew how to charm, said one of her best friends, Valerie Yap, who usually trailed in the wake left by Anderson and friend Marie Rogers, nicknamed Sasha. Together, Anderson and Rogers made a head-turning team, Yap said. They looked like sisters. They were flirtatious, wise-cracking, street-smart and unattached. They carried beepers. Both lived with their mothers.

Anderson grew up in a neighborhood north of downtown Miami. She graduated from Miami Northwestern High School in 1987 and began pursuing a career in modeling and show business. She wanted to be like Barbra Streisand or Cher  be able to sing and act, friend Richard Santel said. Anderson recently landed serveral modeling jobs and was cast in a dinner show production of Murder at Cafe Noir at the Hollywood Beach Resort. She was active in a local theater company run by former Miami Vice co-star Phillip Michael Thomas. Partying was also a large part of her live, but friends and relatives say drugs were never part of her fun. Anderson, Rogers and Yap liked Caseys because they would seldom have to spend money there. There was always someone ready to buy them drinks. Caseys was also near Rogers house in Pembroke Park, not far from home and her 3-year-old daughter, Simone. Andersons mother, Barbara, 48, a nurse, is baffled as to why the two women ended up at Caseys home. He must have offered a job singing at the club or something, she said.

Intruders

After spending some time talking with the attractive, young women, Butch invited them back to his home a few miles away in Miramar, Florida.

They arrived shortly after dawn for an impromptu party that included wine and plenty of flirting by Butch.

Butch was in fine form, entertaining Sharon and Marie attentively. He tipped Marie back in a chair playfully. He donned a hat, then placed it on Sharons head. He worked his way around the room, checking his hair in a mirror.

Not long after the sun rose Butch was standing next to the dining room table where Sharon and Marie sitting. A man rushed through the unlocked, sliding-glass door that led from the pool area in the backyard. He had a machine gun  Butch raised his hands, but the intruder bashed him in the face with the butt of the weapon.

A second man entered behind him as Sharon fled into a bedroom.

The two intruders began a 22-minute rampage, terrorizing the three partiers, ransacking the house, searching Butchs pockets and boots. Butch fought back at one point, but it was a futile effort.

When the intruders were finished with their search, they each put bullets into the three victims, then fled out the front door.

Connecting the dots

The first indication that something was wrong came seven hours later and 70 miles north. A deputy sheriff in Palm Beach County spotted smoke over the Everglades and went to investigate.

He arrived on a quiet road in Belle Glade, a remote sugar-caning town, and encountered a burning car. A black Mercedes convertible with nobody inside.

The car was registered to Butch Casey so deputies from the Palm Beach Sheriffs office called Miramar police. An officer knocked on Butchs door but left when he found nobody home.

But the families of Marie Rogers and Sharon Anderson were getting worried. Margaret Anderson, Maries mother, called the police. She told them Sharon picked up her daugher the night before and gave them a description of Sharons car.

She also told an officer that Marie often visited Caseys Nickelodeon.

A Miramar police officer headed to Caseys, and the pieces started to come together.

Scene of the crime

A bar manager at Caseys told the investigating officer that Butch met Sharon and Marie the night before and they left together around dawn. And he hadnt been able to reach Butch since.

Police returned to Butchs home and pounded on the door. There was music coming from inside and Butch still wasnt answering his phone. An officer made his way through the heavy folliage around the house into the backyard.

He looked through the sliding glass door and spotted the bodies of Butch Casey, Marie Rogers and Sharon Anderson.

A remarkable discovery

Butch Caseys neighborhood became a full-on crime scene. Police and media swarmed the streets. Neighbors outside were stunned that such a brutal crime could happen in their quiet, suburban neighborhood.

But inside the house, police were about to make the stunning discovery that made this case so famous. Its something one investigator called the single most remarkable piece of evidence he had ever seen.

First, they find a bedroom cabinet full of videotapes  as many as a hundred. They were recordings of Butch having sex with women, recorded by a camera hidden behind a teddy bear and a potted plant on a high shelf.

Then they discovered another camera in the living room. It was hidden on a shelf overlooking the back part of the house, including the dining room where the bodies were discovered. It was hidden behind a souvenir movie directors clapper board.

It doesnt seem so remarkable today, when video captures so much of our lives. But in 1994, such surveillance technology was rare in a private home.

The camera was wired to a video cassette recorder  and it was running when Butch, Sharon and Marie came in that Sunday morning. Police watched the trios after-hours party.

Then they watched, stunned, as the brutal crime played out before them. The two intruders rush in, their faces obscured so they wouldnt be identified.

This clip has sections that are disturbing to watch.

With Butch Casey, Sharon Anderson and Marie Rogers dead, one of the killers decides its safe to remove the shirt covering his head. He walks into the living room, directly in the view of the camera, and reveals his face.

The image is grainy and the focus soft. But its enough to give investigators a big break.

Unanswered Questions

Miramar police kept the surveillance video secret from the public in the early days of the investigation. They bring in the FBI and enlist the help of NASA to enhance the face that was capture by the camera.

They know second-by-second what happened in Butch Caseys home that morning. But they dont know why or who the killers were.

Was this a home-invasion robbery gone wrong?

Were the killers looking for something specific as they ransacked the house?

Was Butch Casey the target of a hit by people he owed money to?

Or was there something else going on?
This article was written by Sam Ozer exclusively for Fethiye Times.

Sam is a copywriter and blogger from the UK that has been a local resident for more than 12 years. Do take a look at Sams blog, www.growinguptwo.com, for a quirky take on family travel and life here in Fethiye.

Fabulous views from Fethiyes Fortress

Fethiye is one of those places that you fall for at first sight.

The entire town offers so much to see and do that its easy to overlook the history in favour of the modern. Its easy to miss the ancient footprints under the neon glare of modern shop fronts, fancy seafront eateries and olde-worlde trinket stores.

But Fethiye is steeped in a vast and interesting past. It is located on the Lycian and Carian border and was called Telmessos (Land of Lights) in ancient times. It has been fought over for centuries; the Lycians, Byzantines, Romans and Turks all leaving their footprint on the town. But today, many walk past the sarcophagi next to the central government building without giving it a second thought. If you stopped to look you would notice the epitaphs in Lycian scripture and the faint relieves of warriors.

Next time you are in Fethiye, escape the shade on your stroll through town or, on returning to the bay from your boat trip, glance up. Notice the Lycian rock tombs on the cliffside to the rear of the town, Fethiyes signature landmark. The iconic tomb of Amyntas with its grand columns and facade was dedicated to a king during the Hellenistic period. Notice the big Turkish flag at the summit of the ruined fortress. All too often visitors overlook Fethiyes past and drive past these impressive cultural sites without stopping to consider them for a moment.

Last weekend, my hubby and I decided to take our young boys for a wander and indulge in a bit of exploration. We headed off into on a mission to know more about the ruins of Fethiyes Fortress and see if its worth the scramble up to the flag.

A spot of history

On the hillside high above Fethiye, at the start of the winding road to the former Greek village of Kayakoy, lies Fethiye Fortress. A colossal Turkish flag, perched at its summit dominates the skyline from afar and is the main reason eyes are drawn to its crumbling existence.

The fortress once played an important role in the area and stands where the ancient city was founded. The origins of the ruins are thought to date back to the 11th Century, with some of the walls Roman. During the 15th Century, the site was rebuilt and used as a naval base by the Knights of St. John, the Crusaders who built on the original structure.

Is the castle worth the trek up to see?

Unfortunately, the fortress is in pretty bad shape, the best view of the remains appreciated from afar. The reason you would head up to the flag would be for the views, they are stunning. Just a short way up you are confronted with a full panoramic of the bay. I can imagine early morning, or at sunset, the view would be spectacular.

There is no booth or official entrance so no fee to be paid. The scramble up from the waste ground to the side of the flag is relatively easy, all of us made it up within a few minutes (and thats having spent a few minutes herding away curious mountain goats en-route)

I would certainly suggest visiting the site if you have a car, fancy taking some excellent photos of the bay, or if you are walking in the area visiting the nearby rock tombs.

How to get to the castle

If you have a car, its easy to head up towards the Fethiye to Kayakoy road (Kaya Caddesi) and pull in on the waste ground just under the flag.

By foot from Fethiye, head along Cars Caddesi, the one-way street heading back out of the town and take the small lane (Kaya Caddesi) signposted towards Kayakoy, on the right. This takes you through the old town and towards the Lycian Rock Tombs. This part of town is fascinating in its own right and gives you a true taste of village life. Theres a tomb in the centre of the road, a few little mini-markets and a good coffee shop at the foot of the hill. Head right along Kaya Caddesi up the hill and past some smaller rock tombs cut into the hillside. You will see the road forks with the castle on the right, the old road to Kayakoy veering off to the left. The fortress can be accessed from the waste ground here.

Tip. If you do head up to the fortress and want to soak in a few more stunning views, head back a different route along what is known locally as lovers lane. At the junction near that waste ground, where the road veers to the left towards Kayakoy, head right along Abdi Ipekci Caddesi, the high road that runs along the top of the town overlooking the bay and marina. There are a number of seated areas and vantage points with the whole road offering wonderful views over the bay, Sovalye Island and the amphitheatre. The road ends in Karagozler, where you can walk down the steep hill and reach Ece Saray Marina. You can easily walk back into the centre of town from here.

Dont forget to visit Sams blog:

GROWINGUPTWO.COM
At least 79 people, including 71 students and eight crew members, onboard a boat off the Fethiye district of Turkeys southwestern province of Mugla managed to swim to the nearest coast to be rescued after their boat sank, Daily Hurriyet reported on April 2.

According to initial findings, the reason the boat sank was bad weather. There are no reports of casualties or injuries, said Fethiye Governor Muzaffer Sahiner.

The divers reportedly included students from a student association at Sabanc University in Istanbul, who were in Fethiye as part of a diving event that has become a tradition. The event was supposed to last for four days.

After the boat sank, those on board reached the nearest coast, but because big boats could not reach it, they are being evacuated into small boats in groups, Sahiner said.

Students and crew members managed to swim and climb to a two-meter-high rocky place. The Coast Guard and the Turkish Naval Forces Command rescued all 79 people onboard.

Coast guard boats escorted by two torpedo boats and a helicopter of the Turkish Naval Forces Command rushed to the Gemiler Bay near the village of Kayakoy to rescue the divers.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News/SonDakika
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HON. PM BAINIMARAMA AT THE LAUNCH OUR HOME, OUR PEOPLE CLIMATE CHANGE VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) PROJECT IN SUVA





Your Excellencies, members of the Diplomatic Corps,Distinguished guests,My Fellow Fijians,Bula vinaka and a very good morning to you all.We dont need a film  even a brilliant one like this  to remind us of the threat we all face from climate change.Once again, Fijians are mourning the loss of some of our loved ones in an extreme weather event. And I know you will all join me in sending our condolences and our love to the families and friends of the four people who died in the terrible flooding in the West over the weekend.Easter is meant to be a time of joy, not suffering. And aside from these families, a great many others again suffered the devastating impact of water damage to their homes, businesses and vehicles. As well as many hours of inconvenience caused by blocked roads or flooded bridges.While mercifully, we were spared a direct hit from Tropical Cyclone Josie, the death toll from the flooding still exceeds that of the Cyclone Evan at the end of 2012. We had no deaths here in Fiji back then despite the Category Four winds. And Cyclone Josie reminds us that even if we are spared the destructive winds, the torrential rain these cyclones produce can be just as much of a killer.I want to issue an appeal to every Fijian today to treat these incidents of flooding with the absolute seriousness they deserve. Do not attempt to cross swollen rivers and streams. Stay out of the floodwaters altogether. Dont try to drive through water covering the road. Because as weve seen, your vehicle can easily be swept away with tragic consequences. And parents: Keep your children from playing in or around flooded streets, creeks and drains. We all have a duty of care to our fellow Fijians. So if you see someone behaving irresponsibly, do what you can to remind them of the gravity of this threat.Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now at an almost constant level of threat from these extreme weather events, that are becoming more frequent and more severe because of climate change. And while as a nation, we are striving to build our resilience and adapt to the frightening new era that is upon us, Fiji is also doing what it can to address the root cause of these events through our leadership of the global climate negotiations, COP23.Whatever the challenges at home, I continue to place the greatest importance on my work as COP23 President. And it is to get the message out loud and clear to the entire world about the absolute need to confront this crisis head on. As a matter of the utmost importance and urgency, we must limit the global temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above that of the pre-industrial age. It is the only way to prevent catastrophe for the whole world and especially for vulnerable nations such as our own. But, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a very serious challenge in getting that message across and let me lay it out in stark terms this morning.Even with the commitments that have been made under the Paris Agreement of 2015  our Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide  they are woefully inadequate. Instead of limiting the global temperature to 1.5 degrees, they could, in fact, produce warming of at least 3 degrees by the end of the century. And that would spell untold suffering for our planet. For humans, animals, plants all living things.Countless species of animals and plants would become extinct. Human beings would suffer heat stress, food and water shortages and more illness as tropical diseases like malaria move into cooler regions of the world. It would be impossible to maintain current standards of public health. And the devastating impacts would threaten the global economic and social order, not least by creating vast numbers of climate refugees.As COP23 President, my formal duty is to encourage the global community to fully implement the provisions of the Paris Agreement  to hold the increase in global temperatures to well below two degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. As you know, I have been encouraging everyone as COP President to embrace 1.5  the most ambitious Paris target  as soon as possible. But I repeat: we are nowhere near being able to achieve that with our current NDCs. And that is why the next stage of the COP process is so important  the Talanoa Dialogue to raise the ambition of our NDCs. Deeper cuts in carbon dioxide emissions - much deeper - so that we can finally begin addressing the gravity of this threat to our entire planet.The Talanoa Dialogue - presided over by Fiji and Poland -is a centerpiece of COP 24. So Fiji will be an important force in the continuing global battle against climate change long after our formal presidency of COP23 ends in December.Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is critical for the whole world that the Talanoa Dialogue succeeds. That we use the Pacific concept of inclusive consultation, devoid of finger pointing, to lift our collective carbon emission targets, our NDCs, and give this effort the urgency and importance it requires.So far from me winding down my COP activities as the year progresses, I will in fact be stepping up the fight. The week after next, I will be in London marshaling the 53 countries of the Commonwealth into renewed action at CHOGM, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. These leaders represent 2.4 billion people, a third of the worlds population, many of them in vulnerable nations. Whether it is flood-prone continental states like Bangladesh, drought-stricken nations in Africa, or Small Island Developing States like those of us in the Pacific or the Caribbean. And these leaders are powerful agents for change.I am also placing the highest importance on the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco in September, where my COP23 Special Envoy for States and Regions, Governor Jerry Brown, is bringing together all the components of our wider Grand Coalition - state and local leaders, businesses, civil society, scientists and students.Of course, somewhere in all of this, I also have to fight an election here at home. But I know that the Fijian people understand the importance of what I am doing on their behalf because they realise this is a fight for our very survival. For our people in the here and now, for future generations, for our land and our ocean and all we hold dear. And they are standing shoulder to shoulder with me in this struggle.Getting people to be more aware of the climate threat is a vital part of our nations education, which is why the Fijian launch today of the virtual reality film - Our Home, Our People - is so important. Virtual Reality really is the best way to bring home the reality of the impact of climate change on the Fijian people - a 360 degree experience that is unlike anything else you will have ever seen.When you put on the Virtual Reality headset, it is really like being there  whether it is the Bayly Memorial School in Barotu, the communities of Nambukadra and Namarai or Vunisavisavi in Cakaudrove, the place that is really at the centre of this film. It brings to life the struggle of the people of Ra and Cakadrove to build their resilience to climate change. It reminds every Fijian who will see it that we are coming together in our spirit of vei lomani  of caring  to support each other and confront the climate challenge. And it reminds every person who sees it the world over that the climate struggle isnt only about scientists or experts but ordinary people like those Fijians who feature in the film.It was one of the highlights of the Fijian Pavilion at COP23, not only for the many thousands who passed through it but for me personally. And I urge as many Fijians as possible to try to see it. Because it is genuinely brilliant. And I want to warmly thank the World Bank team that was behind this initiative, both for the production itself and for the way you worked so closely with the communities involved.Im especially pleased that the people who feature in the film will be able to see themselves in virtual reality when you take it on tour to Nambukadra, Namarai, the Bayly Memorial School and Vunisavisavi. As well as some great characters and spectacular scenery, Our Home, Our People contains a powerful message - communicating some of the key findings of a Climate Vulnerability Assessment carried out by a team from the World Bank and a team from our Ministry of Economy led by Nilesh Prakash.This Assessment finds that by 2050, Fijis annual losses due to extreme weather events could reach 6.5 percent of GDP, with more than 32,000 people pushed into hardship every year. It also finds that over ten years, an estimated 9.3 billion Fijian dollars will be needed to build resilience and the capacity to adapt to climate change  almost equivalent to our entire GDP for a year. Yet what this film does above all is to give the raw statistics a human face, and remind us that we all have an important role to play in our response to climate change. Every Fijian, including our young people.I want to say how much I appreciate the participation in this mornings event of the students and teachers from Saint Annes Primary, Lami Primary and Yat Sen Primary schools. Theyre showcasing the models theyve produced as part of their own studies of climate change. And I want to say vinaka vakalevu to them for their own commitment on behalf of us all.As we clean up in the affected areas after Tropical Cyclone Josie, I urge every Fijian to join the struggle to build a more climate-resilient Fiji. And to support our global effort to tackle the root causes through our presidency of COP-23 and our joint carriage of the Talanoa Dialogue. I also encourage as many of you as possible to come down to the Suva City Library and enjoy the virtual reality experience  the story of Our Home, Our People and their own climate struggle. And I have the great pleasure to formally launch this wonderful film in Fiji.Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.
HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2018 / Evolution Petroleum Corporation (NYSE American: EPM) today announced that the Company will be presenting at IPAA's 24th Annual Oil & Gas Investor Symposium on Monday, April 9, 2018 in New York City, NY.

Randy Keys, President and Chief Executive Officer, will make a presentation at 2:35 p.m. Eastern Time (1:35 p.m. Central Time). To listen to an audio webcast of the presentation and view accompanying presentation materials, visit the home page of Evolution's website at www.EvolutionPetroleum.com and select Webcast.

About Evolution Petroleum

Evolution Petroleum Corporation develops and produces petroleum reserves within known oil and gas reservoirs in the U.S., with a focus on maximizing value per share. Our principal asset is our interest in a CO2 enhanced oil recovery project in Louisiana's Delhi Field. Additional information, including the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, is available on its website at www.EvolutionPetroleum.com.

SOURCE: Evolution Petroleum Corporation
FORT WALTON BEACH, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2018 / The G.O.A.T. (The Greatest of All Time), located at 138 Miracle Strip Parkway Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548, is a newly opened restaurant. Their official opening was on March 23, 2018 and the opening weekend was deemed to be a great success. The restaurant aims to have different specials for every night of the week.

Trey Pippin, owner of The G.O.A.T., says: "Opening night of the G.O.A.T. was fantastic. We aim to be the 'greatest of all time' and, so far, it seems to be going well. We want to thank the community for welcoming us with open arms and for attending our opening weekend and continuing to come back since then."

The G.O.A.T. has a happy hour on Monday to Friday between 3pm and 5pm. Additionally, Monday is Military Appreciation Night, which starts at 6pm. This provides members of the military with a free appetizer up to $10 with the purchase of an entree. They also receive 5% off the total bill. Trey, the other co-owner of The G.O.A.T., says: "Just provide an active duty or retired military ID and thank you for your service."

On Tuesday night, kids eat free. With the purchase of one adult entree, it is possible to receive up to two kids meals for free. Furthermore, there is live music throughout the week and on weekends. People are encouraged to view the full menu here so that they can discover the fresh and vibrant menu items.

The G.O.A.T. also aims to organize other events on a regular basis. Hence, people are encouraged to visit their Facebook page so that they don't miss anything. According to the owners, The G.O.A.T. is about having a modern relaxing and fun atmosphere with awesome fresh food menu, craft beer, craft liquor drinks. Trey Pippin says: "At The G.O.A.T., we serve a fresh food menu with only fresh ingredients, craft beer, and craft liquor drinks. Join us to see for yourself."

So far, it seems that The G.O.A.T. is cementing its place in the community. Those interested can view their Facebook page for upcoming events.

Contact The G.O.A.T.:

Jon Jackson

850-659-2012

138 Miracle Strip Parkway

Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548

SOURCE: The G.O.A.T
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - April 2, 2018) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two co-founders of a purported financial services start-up with orchestrating a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) that raised more than $32 million from thousands of investors last year. Criminal authorities separately charged and arrested both defendants.

The SEC's complaint alleges that Sohrab "Sam" Sharma and Robert Farkas, co-founders of Centra Tech. Inc., masterminded a fraudulent ICO in which Centra offered and sold unregistered investments through a "CTR Token." Sharma and Farkas allegedly claimed that funds raised in the ICO would help build a suite of financial products. They claimed, for example, to offer a debit card backed by Visa and MasterCard that would allow users to instantly convert hard-to-spend cryptocurrencies into U.S. dollars or other legal tender. In reality, the SEC alleges, Centra had no relationships with Visa or MasterCard. The SEC also alleges that to promote the ICO, Sharma and Farkas created fictional executives with impressive biographies, posted false or misleading marketing materials to Centra's website, and paid celebrities to tout the ICO on social media.

According to the complaint, Farkas made flight reservations to leave the country, but was arrested before he was able to board his flight. Criminal authorities also arrested Sharma.

"We allege that Centra sold investors on the promise of new digital technologies by using a sophisticated marketing campaign to spin a web of lies about their supposed partnerships with legitimate businesses," said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "As the complaint alleges, these and other claims were simply false."

"As we allege, the defendants relied heavily on celebrity endorsements and social media to market their scheme," said Steve Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. "Endorsements and glossy marketing materials are no substitute for the SEC's registration and disclosure requirements as well as diligence by investors."

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, charges Sharma and Farkas with violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties, as well as bars against Sharma and Farkas serving as public company officers or directors and from participating in any offering of digital or other securities. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York today announced criminal charges against Sharma and Farkas.

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Jon A. Daniels, Luke M. Fitzgerald, and Alison R. Levine of the SEC's Cyber Unit and New York Regional Office, and supervised by Valerie A. Szczepanik and Robert A. Cohen. The litigation is being conducted by Mr. Daniels, Mr. Fitzgerald, and Ms. Levine, and supervised by Ms. Szczepanik. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Investors in the Centra ICO who believe they may be a victim should contact www.SEC.gov/tcr. The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued an Investor Bulletin on initial coin offerings and additional information is available on Investor.gov and SEC.gov.
(2) Reflects the number of positions in issuers in which the Company has previously publicly disclosed an investment, which occurs after the Company has completed its accumulation. Cash, cash equivalents, direct or indirect currency or other hedges and income/expense items are excluded. Multiple financial instruments (for example, common stock and derivatives on common stock) associated with one (1) issuer count as one (1) position. A position that is included in the number of positions will be removed from the table only if the investment becomes 0.0% of the portfolio.

(3) For the purpose of determining the equity and debt exposures, investments are valued as follows: (a) equity or debt is valued at market value, (b) options referencing equity or debt are valued at market value, (c) long call options and short put options (or vice-versa, short call options and long put options) held on the same underlying issuer and with the same strike and same expiry are grouped together and treated as synthetic equity positions, and are valued at the market value of the equivalent long equity position (or vice-versa, the equivalent short equity position), and (d) swaps or forwards referencing equity or debt are valued at the market value of the notional equity or debt underlying the swaps or forwards. Whether a position is deemed to be long or short is determined by whether an investment has positive or negative exposure to price increases or decreases. For example, long puts are deemed to be short exposure.

(4) Includes all issuer equity, debt, and derivatives related to issuer equity and debt, and associated currency hedges. Cash, cash equivalents, direct or indirect currency or other hedges and income/expense items are excluded. The market values of associated currency hedges are included as part of the associated investment. In the event that there is a change in market cap category with respect to any non-publicly disclosed position, this information is not updated until such position is publicly disclosed.

(5) Portfolio composition is reflective of the publicly disclosed portfolio positions as of the date of this report. A position in an issuer is only assigned to a sector once it has been publicly disclosed.

(6) "Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. AUM" equals the assets under management of Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. Any performance fees crystallized as of the end of the year will be reflected in the following period's AUM.

(7) "Total Strategy AUM" equals the aggregate assets under management of Pershing Square, L.P., Pershing Square International, Ltd., Pershing Square II, L.P. and Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (collectively, the "Core Funds"). Redemptions effective as of the end of any period (including redemptions attributable to crystallized performance fees/allocations, if any) will be reflected in the following period's AUM.

(8) "Total Firm AUM" is the aggregate of Total Strategy AUM and the assets under management of Pershing Square VI Master, L.P. which operates as a co-investment vehicle investing primarily in securities of (or otherwise seeking to be exposed to the value of securities issued by) Automatic Data Processing, Inc. ("PSVI") without double counting investments by any Core Fund in PSVI.
UDINE, Italy, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Bertolli the world's number one olive brand, with more than 150 years of history, continues to implement its strategic activities in support of the relaunch of its Brand in global markets.

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660689/Bertolli_Relaunch_Brand.jpg )



In the last week of April, Bertolli will hosteight influencer chefs from around the world to experience and learn about all things related to the brand, from its wide range of award winning blends, to its brand value and brand history. The influencers will be taken on a journey through history, starting with the founder's vision and company outset in 1865 to today's focus on quality, diversification and innovation.

Bertolli offers its customers a wide range of products and newly formulated award winning olive oil blends to suit varied tastes and preferences. Behind the company's philosophy is the simplicity and genuineness of its products which are aimed at supporting today's busy lifestyles, and consumer preference for highly nutritious, tasty and healthy options.

'The recipe is simple' is Bertolli's new international campaign message which draws inspiration from the concept of simplicity, being in the kitchen and sharing moments with the people you love.

"Bertolli has received a global re-launch, which is set to reassert its points of uniqueness and shore up global markets," said CEO Pierluigi Tosato, from parent company Deoleo. The campaign began in 2018 with large investments made into the brand, marketing and communication strategies, a move set to encourage a new dialogue.

"People now lead busier lives and tend to view home cooking as too complicated ofa pursuit at the end of the day. That's where Bertolli can make lives simpler - and keep the joy in cooking," stated Mr Tosato "This global event, is the first of its kind for Bertolli, and brings global influencers to the heart of Lucca, where Francesco Bertolli gave birth to the brand." The brand also plans to open 'Casa Bertolli', a unique meeting place for consumers, journalists and stakeholders to enjoy when passing through Lucca.

About Bertolli

Founded in the small Tuscan town of Lucca,Italy, the Bertolli name has been at the heart of Italian cooking and eating for 150 years with the world's favorite olive oil (made by Deoleo). At the heart of the Bertolli brand is a commitment to quality, dedication to leveraging the natural goodness of ingredients and a tradition of providing outstanding and flavorful food.

For more information, please visit https://www.Bertolli.com.

Contacts:

Pietro Lucchese

Tel: +39-335-704-0604

Mail: pietrolucchese@me.com
Regulatory News:

United Company RUSAL Plc (Paris:RUSAL) (Paris:RUAL):

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

UNITED COMPANY RUSAL PLC

(Incorporated under the laws of Jersey with limited liability)

(Stock Code: 486)

CONTINUING CONNECTED TRANSACTIONS

TRANSPORT LOGISTICS SERVICES CONTRACTS

Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated 13 November 2017, 29 December 2017, 12 January 2018, 7 February 2018, 2 March 2018, 5 March 2018, 7 March 2018 and 27 March 2018 in relation to the Previously Disclosed Transport Logistics Services Contracts. The Company announces that on 29 March 2018, a member of the Group and an associate of En+ entered into an addendum to the original contract dated 11 January 2018 pursuant to which the associate of En+ agreed to provide transport logistics services to the member of the Group.

THE ADDENDUM TO THE TRANSPORT LOGISTICS SERVICES CONTRACT

Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated 13 November 2017, 29 December 2017, 12 January 2018, 7 February 2018, 2 March 2018, 5 March 2018, 7 March 2018 and 27 March 2018 in relation to the Previously Disclosed Transport Logistics Services Contracts.

The Company announces that on 29 March 2018, a member of the Group and an associate of En+ entered into an addendum to the original contract dated 11 January 2018 pursuant to which the associate of En+ agreed to provide transport logistics services to the member of the Group (the "Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract") with major terms set out below:

No. Date of contract Customer (member of the Group) Service provider (associate

of En+) Services Estimated consideration payable for the year ending 31 December 2018 excluding VAT (USD) Scheduled termination date Payment terms 1. 29 March 2018 (Addendum to the contract dated 11 January 2018) RUSAL TH "Russian Transport Company" LLC Forwarding services 400,000 31 December 2018 Payment to be made within 5 days from the date of drawing of the account. Total estimated consideration payable for the year 400,000

The consideration under the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract is to be paid in cash via bank transfer.

THE ANNUAL AGGREGATE TRANSACTION AMOUNT

The contract price payable under the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract has been determined with reference to the market price and on terms no less favourable than those prevailing in the Russian market for transport logistics services of the same type and quality and those offered by the associate of En+ to independent third parties. In accordance with the Company's procurement policies and using tools such as the Company's procurement portal, the Company invited several organizations to take part in the tender in relation to the required transport logistics services. The Company's procurement managers, in line with the best-in-class experience and know-how of the Company's procurement policies, with approval from the Company's bidding committee chose the service provider offering the best terms and conditions (the chosen service provider offered competitive rates with rolling stock guarantee and was able to provide the services required).

Pursuant to Rule 14A.81 of the Listing Rules, the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract is required to be aggregated with the Previously Disclosed Transport Logistics Services Contracts as they were each entered into by the Group with the associates of En+ and the subject matter of each contract relates to the provision of transport logistics services by the associates of En+ to the Group.

The annual aggregate transaction amount that is payable by the Group to the associates of En+ under the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract and the Previously Disclosed Transport Logistics Services Contracts for the financial year ending 31 December 2018 is estimated to be up to approximately USD 40.516 million. This annual aggregate transaction amount is estimated by the Directors based on the need for the transport logistics services by the Group and the contract price.

REASONS FOR AND BENEFITS OF THE TRANSACTIONS

The Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract was entered into for the purpose of obtaining logistics services. The Company considers that the transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract is for the benefit of the Company as the services provided are required in the production process of the Group.

The Directors (including the independent non-executive Directors) consider that the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract is on normal commercial terms which are fair and reasonable and the transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract are in the ordinary and usual course of business of the Group and in the interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole.

None of the Directors has a material interest in the transactions contemplated under the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract save for Mr. Deripaska, Mr. Vladislav Soloviev, Mr. Maxim Sokov, Ms. Olga Mashkovskaya and Ms. Gulzhan Moldazhanova, who are directors of En+, being the holding company of "Russian Transport Company" LLC. Mr. Deripaska is also indirectly interested in more than 50% of the issued share capital of En+. Accordingly, Mr. Deripaska, Mr. Vladislav Soloviev, Mr. Maxim Sokov, Ms. Olga Mashkovskaya and Ms. Gulzhan Moldazhanova did not vote on the Board resolution approving the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract.

LISTING RULES IMPLICATIONS

"Russian Transport Company" LLC is an indirect subsidiary of En+ and is therefore an associate of En+ which is a substantial shareholder of the Company. Therefore "Russian Transport Company" LLC is a connected person of the Company under the Listing Rules.

The estimated annual aggregate transaction amount of the continuing connected transactions under the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract and the Previously Disclosed Transport Logistics Services Contracts for the financial year ending 31 December 2018 is more than 0.1% but less than 5% under the applicable percentage ratios. Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 14A.76 of the Listing Rules, the transactions contemplated under these contracts are only subject to the announcement requirements set out in Rules 14A.35 and 14A.68, the annual review requirements set out in Rules 14A.49, 14A.55 to 14A.59, 14A.71 and 14A.72 and the requirements set out in Rules 14A.34 and 14A.50 to 14A.54 of the Listing Rules. These transactions are exempt from the circular and shareholders' approval requirements under Chapter 14A of the Listing Rules.

Details of the Addendum to the Transport Logistics Services Contract will be included in the relevant annual report and accounts of the Company in accordance with Rule 14A.71 of the Listing Rules where appropriate.

PRINCIPAL BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

The Company is principally engaged in the production and sale of aluminium, including alloys and value-added products, and alumina.

"Russian Transport Company" LLC is principally engaged in the organization of different kinds of transportation services.

DEFINITIONS

In this announcement, the following expressions have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires:

"associate(s)" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "Board" the board of Directors. "Company" United Company RUSAL Plc, a limited liability company incorporated in Jersey, the shares of which are listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. "connected person(s)" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "continuing connected transactions" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "Director(s)" the director(s) of the Company. "En+" En+ Group Plc, formerly En+ Group Limited, a company incorporated in Jersey, a substantial shareholder of the Company. "Group" the Company and its subsidiaries. "Listing Rules" the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. "Mr. Deripaska" Mr. Oleg Deripaska, a non-executive Director. "percentage ratios" the percentage ratios under Rule 14.07 of the Listing Rules. "Previously Disclosed Transport Logistics Services Contracts" the contracts entered into between the members of the Group and the associates of En+ as disclosed in the Company's announcements dated 13 November 2017, 29 December 2017, 12 January 2018, 7 February 2018, 2 March 2018, 5 March 2018, 7 March 2018 and 27 March 2018 in relation to the receipt of transport logistics services by the members of the Group for the year ending 31 December 2018. "substantial shareholder" has the same meaning ascribed thereto under the Listing Rules. "USD" United States dollars, the lawful currency of the United States of America. "VAT" value added tax.

By Order of the Board of Directors of

United Company RUSAL Plc

Aby Wong Po Ying

Company Secretary

3 April 2018

As at the date of this announcement, the executive Directors are Mr. Vladislav Soloviev and Mr. Siegfried Wolf, the non-executive Directors are Mr. Oleg Deripaska, Mr. Maxim Sokov, Mr. Dmitry Afanasiev, Mr. Ivan Glasenberg, Mr. Maksim Goldman, Ms. Gulzhan Moldazhanova, Mr. Daniel Lesin Wolfe, Ms. Olga Mashkovskaya, Ms. Ekaterina Nikitina and Mr. Marco Musetti, and the independent non-executive Directors are Mr. Matthias Warnig (Chairman), Mr. Philip Lader, Dr. Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Mr. Mark Garber, Mr. Dmitry Vasiliev and Mr. Bernard Zonneveld.

All announcements and press releases published by the Company are available on its website under the links http://www.rusal.ru/en/investors/info.aspxhttp://rusal.ru/investors/info/moex/ and http://www.rusal.ru/en/press-center/press-releases.aspx, respectively.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180402005255/en/

Contacts:

United Company RUSAL Plc
Exterior of SKe-Lid

Exterior of SKe-Lid after application of sealant (with ceramic package)

Earlier Quartz Glass with Gold-Tin Sealant (Quartz glass after gold-tin sealing with cracks)

Newly Developed Ske-Lid Quartz Glass Lid with Gold-Tin (Quartz glass after gold-tin sealing has no cracks)



TOKYO, Apr 3, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Akira Tanae) announced today that Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Akira Tanae), which operates the Tanaka Kikinzoku Group's manufacturing business, began sample shipments of SKe-Lid, a newly-developed glass lid made of quartz with gold-tin (AuSn) for use with deep ultraviolet[1] light emitting diodes (LEDs).Deep ultraviolet LEDs are a next-generation light source expected to replace mercury lamps and have various applications including water disinfection in industry and air disinfection systems in healthcare. When used in combination with quartz glass, which has high transmissivity of deep ultraviolet wavelengths, and AuSn sealant, which has excellent airtightness and durability, however, problems with cracking of the quartz glass and metallization[2] separation can occur. These glass lids, made of quartz glass with AuSn solder, employ proprietary Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo technologies that properly control the shape and dimensions when applying the AuSn sealant to the quartz glass, making it possible to control cracking and metallization separation. Higher yields are expected to contribute to improved productivity and lower costs.Advantages of Ske-Lid- By using SKe-Lid as a cover material for quartz glass (also compatible with glass with AR codes), the transmissivity of high-output deep ultraviolet LEDs can be increased.- When using quartz glass with AuSn, the AuSn solder is already applied to the glass, facilitating the positioning with the ceramic package during sealing.- AuSn airtight sealing raises reliability and durability.- The use of proprietary technology controls the formation of cracks during application of AuSn to quartz glass with high transmissivity of deep ultraviolet wavelengths and ceramic package sealing.Because of these advantages provided by Ske-Lid, it is expected to contribute to higher productivity and lower costs of final products in the deep ultraviolet LED market, which will require higher outputs and reliability in the future. As the shift to SMD[3] proceeds and advances are made in autonomous vehicles, AuSn sealing will likely be used in semiconductor lasers, which require high reliability and durability, and devices that require transparent covering materials such as automotive sensors.Background to developmentAs a result of the Minamata Convention on Mercury coming into effect in August 2017, development of deep ultraviolet LEDs is proceeding as a replacement for mercury lamps used for water and air disinfection.When deep ultraviolet LEDs are manufactured using conventional resin sealants, the ultraviolet rays cause degradation of the resin sealants, resulting in deterioration of device properties and lifespan. Also, when AuSn solder, which is highly resistant to ultraviolet rays, is used as the sealant material, cracks occur in the quartz glass and metallization separation occurs due to thermal expansion between the package ceramics, window quartz glass, and AuSn sealant, giving rise to low yields.Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo adopted proprietary technologies that adequately control the shape and dimensions when applying AuSn sealant to quartz glass and successfully developed a high-quality quartz glass lid with AuSn that monitors the occurrence of cracking and produces an airtight seal. Ske-Lid was developed with cooperation from Kyocera Corporation, Yamamura Photonics Co., Ltd., and Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., which provided the glass material and ceramic package material, and CROSS OSAKA Co., Ltd., which performed the seal testing.Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo will display Ske-Lid at the OPTICS & PHOTONICS International Exhibition 2018 (OPIE '18) at the Pacifico Yokohama from April 25 to 27.Cooperating PartnersKyocera Corporation: ALN ceramic packageAsahi Glass Co., Ltd.: LTCC (GCHP TM) ceramic packageYamamura Photonics Co., Ltd.: Quartz glassCROSS OSAKA Co., Ltd.: Seal device evaluation[1] Deep ultraviolet: Also referred to as UVC. Has a wavelength from 250 nm to 280 nm. Has strong disinfecting effects.[2] Metallization: A technology for coating non-metallic surfaces with a metal. Ceramics and other materials that have been metalized form an electric circuit and are used during soldering and for different applications.[3] SMD: An abbreviation for surface mount device. Refers to electronic components manufactured in such a way that they can be mounted merely by soldering them to the surface of a printed circuit board. SMDs make it possible to miniaturize and increase the density of electronic components such as LED chips.Press release (PDF): http://www.acnnewswire.com/clientreports/598/180402_EN.pdfTanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Holding company of Tanaka Precious Metals)Headquarters: 22F, Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, TokyoRepresentative: Akira Tanae, Representative Director & CEOFounded: 1885Incorporated: 1918*Capital: 500 million yenEmployees in consolidated group: 5,120 (FY2016)Net sales of consolidated group: 1,064,259 million yen (FY2016)Main businesses of the group: Strategic and efficient group management and management guidance to group companies as the holding company at the center of the Tanaka Precious Metals.Website: http://www.tanaka.co.jp/english (Tanaka Precious Metals), http://pro.tanaka.co.jp/en (Industrial products)* Tanaka Holdings adopted a holding company structure on April 1, 2010.Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.Headquarters: 22F, Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, TokyoRepresentative: Akira Tanae, Representative Director & CEOFounded: 1885Incorporated: 1918Capital: 500 million yenEmployees: 2,269 (as of March 31, 2017)Sales: 1,059,003.329 million yen (FY2016)Main businesses: Manufacture, sales, import and export of precious metals (platinum, gold, silver, and others) and various types of industrial precious metals products.Website: http://pro.tanaka.co.jp/enAbout the Tanaka Precious MetalsSince its foundation in 1885, the Tanaka Precious Metals group has built a diversified range of business activities focused on precious metals. Tanaka is a leader in Japan regarding the volumes of precious metals handled. Over the course of many years, Tanaka Precious Metals has not only manufactured and sold precious metal products for industry but also provided precious metals in such forms as jewelry and resources. As precious metals specialists, all Group companies within and outside Japan work together with unified cooperation between manufacturing, sales, and technological aspects to offer products and services. Besides, to make further progress in globalization, Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo welcomed Metalor Technologies International SA as a member of the Group in 2016.As precious metal professionals, Tanaka Precious Metals will continue to contribute to the development of an enriching and prosperous society.The five core companies in the Tanaka Precious Metals are as follows.- Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (pure holding company)- Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.- Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K.- Electroplating Engineers of Japan, Limited- Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry K.K.Press inquiriesTanaka Holdings Co., Ltd.https://www.tanaka.co.jp/en/protanaka/inquiry/index.phpSource: Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd.Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Clinical results demonstrate patient benefits and cost-effectiveness of RECELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device in the treatment of severe burns

AVITA Medical (ASX: AVH, OTCQX: AVMXY) announced today new data to be presented describing clinical and cost-savings advantages of RECELL Device in the treatment of severe burns at the American Burn Association (ABA) 50th Annual Meeting to be held from April 10 through 13, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago. This is the first time clinical investigators are presenting the full effectiveness and safety data from the two pivotal trials used to support AVITA Medical's U.S. PreMarket Approval (PMA) application for the treatment of burn injuries.

RECELL Device is an investigational medical device developed by AVITA Medical and designed to facilitate skin regeneration for the treatment of burns and other wounds while reducing the amount of skin harvested at the time of surgery. Reduction in donor site skin requirements has important benefits from both clinical and health economic perspectives.

One of the RECELL Device pivotal studies has been selected as a top five abstract for presentation during a plenary session at the ABA conference. Researchers also will present the positive results from other clinical studies and the conclusions from a model showing the health economic benefits of RECELL Device.

Oral Presentations

Session Date, Time, Location (all times CDT) Session Description Presenter Wednesday, April 11, 2018

4:15 4:30 p.m.

International Ballroom L

Abstract T1A *TOP FIVE ABSTRACT* "A Comparative Study of Autologous Skin Cell Suspension to Split-Thickness Autografting in the Treatment of Acute Burns." Full clinical results from U.S. controlled, randomized pivotal trial of RECELL Device in the treatment of deep partial-thickness (second-degree) burns. William Hickerson, MD, FACS, Firefighter Burn Center, Memphis, Tennessee, and University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee Friday, April 13, 2018

11:15 11:30 a.m.

Salon A-1 LL

Abstract 109 "Demonstration of the Safety and Effectiveness of Autologous Skin Cell Suspension Combined with Meshed Skin Grafts for the Reduction of Donor Area in the Treatment of Acute Burns." Full clinical results from U.S. controlled, randomized pivotal trial of RECELL Device in the treatment of full-thickness (third-degree) burns. James H. Holmes, IV, MD, FACS Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Thursday, April 12, 2018

11:15 11:30 a.m.

Salon A-5 LL

Abstract 77 "Initial Experience with Autologous Cell Suspension for Treatment of Partial Thickness Facial Burns." Review of clinical outcomes obtained in the treatment with RECELL Device of facial burns in adults and children under FDA-approved Compassionate Use Investigational Device program. Nicholas Walker, MD

Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina Thursday, April 12, 2018

11:00 11:15 a.m.

Salon A-5 LL

Abstract 76 "Validation and Characterization of an Immediate, One-Stage Technique to Treat Full-Thickness Wounds in Swine." Results of preclinical study of RECELL Device in combination with a dermal substitute in the treatment of full-thickness burns in an animal model. Jongwon Genevieve Park, MD, PhD

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, North Carolina

Poster Presentations

Session Date, Time, Location (all times CDT) Session Title, Description Presenter Wednesday, April 11, 2018

12:30 1:30 p.m.

Stevens Salon C&D LL

Abstract 288 "Cost-Effectiveness (CE) of an Autologous REGENERATIVE EPITHELIAL SUSPENSION (RES) Versus Standard of Care (SOC) for Treatment of Severe Burns in the United States." Highlights a cost-effectiveness and budget impact model that demonstrates the economic value of RECELL Device versus standard of care for the treatment of severe burns. Kevin Foster, MD

Arizona Burn Center Wednesday, April 11, 2018

12:30 1:30 p.m.

Stevens Salon C&D LL

Abstract 348 "A Prospective Evaluation of RECELL Device in Compassionate Use: Experience with the Use of RECELL Device to Treat Large TBSA Injuries." Review of clinical outcomes obtained in the treatment with RECELL Device of patients with extensive burn injuries under FDA-approved Compassionate Use Investigational Device program. Dr. Rajiv Sood

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis School of Medicine

"We look forward to the first presentation of the full results from our two pivotal clinical trials of RECELL Device, as well as cases from our Compassionate Use program and our health economic model," said Dr. Michael Perry, AVITA Medical's Chief Executive Officer. "We thank the medical professionals, researchers and patients who participated in the development of RECELL Device and in the clinical studies being presented at the ABA conference."

ABOUT AVITA MEDICAL LIMITED

AVITA Medical is a regenerative medicine company with a technology platform positioned to address unmet medical needs in burns, chronic wounds, and aesthetics indications. AVITA Medical's patented and proprietary collection and application technology provides innovative treatment solutions derived from the regenerative properties of a patient's own skin. Our medical devices work by preparing a REGENERATIVE EPITHELIAL SUSPENSION, an autologous suspension comprised of the patient's own skin cells and wound healing factors that are necessary to regenerate natural healthy skin. This autologous suspension is then sprayed onto the areas of the patient to be treated.

In the United States, RECELL Device is an investigational device limited by federal law to investigational use. In September 2017, AVITA Medical submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a PreMarket Approval (PMA) application for RECELL for the treatment of burn injuries.

In all countries outside of Europe, our portfolio is marketed under the RECELL Device brand to promote skin healing in a wide range of applications including burns, chronic wounds and aesthetics. RECELL Device is TGA-registered in Australia, and CFDA-cleared in China.

In Europe, our portfolio of medical device products received CE-mark approval as three tailored product presentations, with three individual brand names. RECELL Device is designed for the treatment of burns and plastic reconstructive procedures; REGENERCELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device has been formulated for chronic wounds including leg and foot ulcers; and RENOVACELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device is tailored for aesthetic applications including the restoration of pigmentation.

To learn more, visit www.avitamedical.com.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This letter includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "could," "may," "will," "believe," "estimate," "look forward," "forecast," "goal," "target," "project," "continue," "outlook," "guidance," "future," other words of similar meaning and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements in this letter include, but are not limited to, statements concerning, among other things, our ongoing clinical trials and product development activities, regulatory approval of our products, the potential for future growth in our business, and our ability to achieve our key strategic, operational and financial goal. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Each forward- looking statement contained in this letter is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, the timing of regulatory approvals of our products; physician acceptance, endorsement, and use of our products; failure to achieve the anticipated benefits from approval of our products; the effect of regulatory actions; product liability claims; risks associated with international operations and expansion; and other business effects, including the effects of industry, economic or political conditions outside of the company's control. Investors should not place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this letter. Investors are encouraged to read our publicly available filings for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this letter speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180402005980/en/

Contacts:

OUS Media

Monsoon Communications

Sarah Kemter

Phone: +61 (0)3 9620 3333

Mobile: +61 (0)407 162 530

sarahk@monsoon.com.au

or

US Media

Syneos Health Public Relations

David Polk

Phone: +1 (310) 309 1029

Mobile +1 (805) 428 5775

david.polk@syneoshealth.com

or

Investors:

Westwicke Partners Caroline Corner

Phone: +1 (415) 202-5678

caroline.corner@westwicke.com

or

AVITA Medical Ltd

Dale A. Sander

Chief Financial Officer

Phone: +1 (858) 663-6993

dsander@avitamedical.com
Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. ICT Systems Laboratories Server Technologies Lab E-mail: Retimer_ISSCC2015@ml.labs.fujitsu.com

TOKYO, Apr 3, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu today announced that Fujitsu Forum 2018, the company's largest annual event, will be held May 17-18 at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan. This year's theme will be "Human Centric Innovation: Co-creation for Success."Fujitsu continues to pursue technological innovations, and through various forms of co-creation with customers, the company is generating value for the success of its customers. In this forum, Fujitsu will introduce a broad array of customer benefits and keys to project success gained through initiatives toward innovation, along with advanced technologies, that will contribute to a more prosperous future.Amid further advances in the digital transformations of a wide range of industries, the use of ecosystems, that generate innovation by leveraging technology and connecting insights, has become an important key to resolving many social issues. At Fujitsu Forum 2018, Fujitsu will use case studies to introduce its initiatives and their results from working together toward innovation with customers and partners.From the perspective of developers and engineers, Fujitsu will showcase key technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and security, as well as the cloud and other platforms underpinning them. Also in the event spotlight will be advanced technologies such as the Digital Annealer, a quantum physics-inspired computer developed with Fujitsu's proprietary architecture. Please see the official Fujitsu Forum 2018 website, which will be available starting April 11, to register for the forum in advance or to see details of the program.Overview of Fujitsu Forum 20181. Times and Dates8 am - 7 pm on Thursday, May 17, and Friday, May 18, 2018Hours have been expanded to accommodate customers with a variety of working styles.2. LocationTokyo International Forum, 3-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JapanThe exhibits will be in Hall E and Hall B5.3. ThemeHuman Centric Innovation: Co-creation for Success4. Expected Visitors18,000 (entrance is free)5. Seminars:1) Keynotes and Presentations (6 in total)Fujitsu will present its top executives, who will introduce the company's vision and direction, as well as thought leaders in a variety of fields from Japan and overseas who will talk about future changes and the environment facing business and society.2) Conferences (14 meetings in total)These conferences will focus on three perspectives: the digital transformation of society and the economy, the digital transformation of business, and transformation in ways of working and developing talent. The forum will welcome experts, thought leaders, and representatives of companies and organizations that are leading Japan in respective fields to speak about the latest trends and specific case studies.3) Partner sessions (6 programs in total)These sessions will present executives of Fujitsu's global strategic partners to discuss the digital transformations of customers, case studies in co-creation, and the co-creation approach of Fujitsu and its partners.4) Seminars, workshops, hands-on programs, and off-site tours (80 in total)Fujitsu will introduce solutions and initiatives that address a variety of issues facing customers and demonstrate how new ICT is put into practice, mainly through customer case studies. Fujitsu Forum 2018 has new sessions in the morning and evening periods that are useful for business, such as a leadership seminar based on the study of business administration. These sessions can be used to refresh one's mind in the morning or after work, or to increase the motivation of younger workers. There will also be bus tours, which are popular every year, to the FUJITSU Digital Transformation Center, which is a co-creation workshop venue in Hamamatsucho, and to TechShop Tokyo, a place for practicing open innovation in Roppongi. Note: Entry in to each seminar will be closed as soon as the maximum number of participants is reached.6. Exhibits (About 120 in total):1) Success Zone: Hall ESuccess scenes from co-creation will bei7ment, healthcare, open innovation, manufacturing, retailing and distribution, finance, digital marketing, transformation in ways of working and developing talent, as well as security.2) Technology Zone: Hall B5Primarily technologies that accelerate digital transformations and business optimizations will be introduced from the perspective of developers and engineers.Examples include the Digital Annealer, AI, IoT, and hybrid IT.7. Making Fujitsu Forum more fun and convenientServices have been prepared to make your time at Fujitsu Forum more fun and convenient. Premium services available through the Fwalker appBy using this app to attend seminars or visit exhibit demos, users can accumulate F-coin points for use only at Fujitsu Forum, which can be used to receive special services. They can also use a variety of programs that introduce what to see at Fujitsu Forum, such as the "How to Tour Fujitsu Forum 2018" recommendation menu from thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, society, and economics, and the FUJITSU ch. Internet TV that will be broadcast during the event.Mobile work cafeTo accommodate a variety of customer work styles, spaces will be prepared to enable customers to use their time effectively at the venue. Customers can join the forum in different styles, while working, enjoying light meals, or having meetings.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.
ORANGE COUNTY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2018 / Not all marketing teams are comprised of human workers - in fact, artificial intelligence is slowly taking over the world of digital marketing and outreach on social media, finding new ways of reaching out to potential customers and customizing shopping for individuals. Nick Kohlschreiber , marketing genius and renowned entrepreneur, discusses how business owners must make savvy decisions to transform their companies as they reach out to their customers.

The first thing Nick Kohlschreiber points out is that artificial intelligence is here to stay. More importantly, it is changing the way companies do business. A recent article in Business Insider suggests that artificial intelligence transforms marketing by changing how consumers are discovered, connected to, and communicated with. Done correctly, AI makes marketing and sales strategies more effective by allowing companies to assimilate immense volumes of consumer data.

Analysis of customer information, according to Technology Review, has been challenging prior to AI, businesses staffed experts to collect, mine, analyze, and then use the data to predict future consumer behavior. AI, when paired with a comprehensive CRM platform, allows marketing specialists to build apps and customer experiences that enhance product recommendations, sentiment analysis, intent, natural language processing, and the ability to answer questions in the moment. According to Nick Kohlschreiber, AI is far superior to in-house data scientists and their old-school methods of prediction. With AI, companies can provide their clients with what they need, when they need it, and how they wish to receive it. For instance, AI can predict needed extras before a buyer purchasing skis gets to the checkout, based on such things as safety, skill level, and current weather conditions.

However, Kohlschreiber states unequivocally that AI can do more than manipulate data. Those using artificial intelligence would be wise to understand that it can save time and money in a multitude of ways. A recent article in Forbes suggests that in addition to personalization of marketing based on superior data collection and analysis, AI can help create content, answer questions (think Siri), and even improve team performance.

One company using AI to surge ahead of their competition is a favorite of Nicholas Kohlschreiber, who says, " Adboom.io has a proprietary technology platform that can deploy and automate social media across multi-million dollar accounts. Because of their grasp of AI, the three friends who started this small firm are now leaders in the field of Internet marketing." AI offers executives across the globe an increased ability to focus on the subtleties of their craft, creating companies that excel. Businesses that don't embrace the technological advancements will falter, as consumers demand an AI platform experience.

A native of New Jersey, Nicholas Kohlschreiber moved to California over a decade ago, quickly excelling in marketing and entrepreneurship. Starting in the solar energy business in 2010, Kohlschreiber leveraged the company to create a ten-fold profit. His latest venture is a media company based in Newport Beach, which provides innovative marketing solutions to new and growing businesses. With the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, Kohlschreiber helps companies grow organically by driving brand awareness.

Nick Kohlschreiber - Expert in Modern Marketing: http://www.nickkohlschreibernews.com

Nick Kohlschreiber - Business Entrepreneur & Founder of TeleTree: http://nickkohlschreiberreviews.com

Nick Kohlschreiber - Creative Marketing Solutions Expert: http://nickkohlschreibermarketing.com

Contact Information

NickKohlschreiberNews.com

www.NickKohlschreiberNews.com

contact@nickkohlschreibernews.com

SOURCE: Nick Kohlschreiber


PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) and Sanofi announced that the European Medicines Agency or EMA has accepted for review an application for DUPIXENT or dupilumab as an add-on maintenance treatment in certain adults and adolescents (12 years of age and older) with inadequately controlled moderate-to-severe asthma.



DUPIXENT is a human monoclonal antibody specifically designed to inhibit signaling of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13), two important signaling proteins (cytokines) that contribute to Type 2 inflammation in inadequately controlled moderate-to-severe asthma.



In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing a supplemental Biologics License Application for DUPIXENT as an add-on maintenance treatment in certain adults and adolescents (12 years of age and older) with moderate-to-severe asthma, with a target action date of October 20, 2018.



The potential use of DUPIXENT for the treatment of adults and adolescents (12 years of age and older) with inadequately controlled moderate-to-severe asthma is currently under regulatory review and the safety and efficacy for this use have not been fully evaluated by any regulatory authority.



DUPIXENT is currently approved in the European Union for use in adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (eczema) who are candidates for systemic therapy.



DUPIXENT is approved in the U.S. for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin (topical), or when those therapies are not advisable. DUPIXENT is also approved for use in certain patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in a number of other countries, including Canada, Japan and Australia.



In a separate press release, Regeneron and Sanofi announced that the European Medicines Agency has accepted for review the Marketing Authorization Application for cemiplimab for the treatment of patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma or CSCC or patients with locally advanced CSCC who are not candidates for surgery. Advanced CSCC is the deadliest non-melanoma skin cancer.



Cemiplimab is an investigational human monoclonal antibody targeting the checkpoint inhibitor PD-1 (programmed cell death protein-1).



Cemiplimab is being jointly developed by Regeneron and Sanofi under a global collaboration agreement, and was invented by Regeneron using the company's proprietary VelocImmune technology that yields optimized fully-human antibodies.



Cemiplimab is currently under clinical development, and its safety and efficacy has not been fully evaluated by any regulatory authority.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
- Professor Sir Marc Feldmann, Pioneer of Anti-TNF Therapy, Appointed as Executive Chairman

- Anti-TNF Therapy is the World's Largest Drug Class With More Than US $36bn in Sales

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2018 / Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals Plc (LSE: HEMO), the biotechnology company developing novel therapies to transform bone marrow, or blood stem cell, transplantation for the treatment of blood diseases, announces the appointment of Sir Marc Feldmann, AC, FRS, as Executive Chairman effective as of 9 April 2018. He has a unique blend of scientific, medical and commercial experience and expertise.

Sir Marc shares the Academic credit for inventing and developing anti-TNF therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, the first major use of monoclonal antibodies in a common disease. Centocor, Inc licensed Sir Marc's key patent, and then developed Infliximab, ultimately branded as Remicade. Remicade was the main driver of the $4.9 billion acquisition of Centocor by Johnson and Johnson in 1999, and is still J&J's best selling drug. Since 2012 Anti-TNF therapy has become the world's largest drug class with sales in 2016 exceeding US$36 billion. Sir Marc was previously Chairman of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board and has a remarkably broad experience of discovering new medicines, having worked through all stages from developing new concepts of how diseases emerge, through testing ideas and early clinical development, leading clinical trials, approval, registration and commercial reality.

Robin Campbell, Chairman, will become a Non-Executive Director and Adrian Beeston, Non-Executive Director, will step down from the Board, both with immediate effect.

About Sir Marc Feldmann

Professor Sir Marc Feldmann is a pre-eminent medically trained immunologist at the University of Oxford where he was Head of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology until 2014 and now Emeritus Professor. He trained in medicine at Melbourne University and then earned a Ph.D. in Immunology at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute with Sir Gus Nossal, before working in London at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Sir Feldmann's main research interests are immunoregulation, understanding mechanisms of autoimmunity and the role of cytokines in disease, and working out how to fill unmet medical needs.

His work in London led to the generation of a new hypothesis for the mechanism of autoimmunity, linking upregulated antigen presentation and cytokine expression. Testing this hypothesis led to the discovery, with colleague Sir Ravinder Maini, of the pivotal role of TNFI (Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha) in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. This major discovery has revolutionised therapy not only of rheumatoid arthritis but other chronic inflammatory diseases (eg Inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis), and helped change the perception of monoclonal antibodies from niche products to mainstream therapeutics. Anti-TNF therapeutics are the current leading drug class with 2016 sales exceeding US $36 Billion.

This has led to much scientific recognition, for example election to the Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences in London, the National Academy of Sciences USA and the Australian Academy of Science, and multiple major International prizes: including the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Albert Lasker Clinical Research Award (NY), the Ernst Schering Prize , the Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research and the Canada-Gairdner Award. He was also the first recipient in biology or medicine of the EU/ European Patent office Inventor of the Year Award in the Lifetime Achievement category. In addition, Sir Marc has advised more than 20 of the largest pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the world and has mentored some of the most successful scientists, many of whom have become senior figures in the commercial pharmaceutical world. Sir Marc was knighted in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours, and was honoured in Australia with the knighthood equivalent, the Companion of the Order of Australia.

Sir Marc has elected to receive most of his remuneration for his role as Chairman and as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board in shares in the Company.

Dr. Vladislav Sandler, CEO of Hemogenyx, commented:

"I am delighted that after eight months as Chairman of our Scientific Advisory Board, Sir Marc has agreed to join us as Chairman. I know that Sir Marc shares our enthusiasm for developing transformational therapies for Bone Marrow and Blood Stem Cell transplants that will have a major impact on the way we routinely treat lethal blood diseases. Since Sir Marc has been at the forefront of promoting effective scientific-medical-pharmaceutical interactions, he has built up a huge network of friends and collaborators who meet regularly in Oxford and they will help Hemogenyx grow and go clinical.

"I would also like to extend my thanks to Robin for his role as Chairman and his continued contribution as a Non-Executive Director and we also thank Adrian for his support on the Board and we wish him well."

Sir Marc Feldmann, said:

"I am pleased to become Chairman of Hemogenyx. There is a huge unmet need for more effective transplantation, and while bone marrow transplants are the most frequently performed, there are still problems to solve to improve their efficacy. Vladik Sandler's pioneering work has led to a strategy for improving clinical BM transplantation that I will together with members of my network help Hemogenyx to deliver."

Enquiries:

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals Limited www.hemogenyx.com Dr Vladislav Sandler, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder Via Walbrook PR Sir Marc Feldmann, Chairman Optiva Securities Ltd Tel: +44 (0)20 3137 1902 Christian Dennis Shard Capital Partners LLP Tel: +44 (0)20 7186 9950 Damon Heath, Erik Woolgar Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7469 0930 Lucy Williams/Duncan Vasey Walbrook PR (UK Media & Investor Relations) Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or hemogenyx@walbrookpr.com Paul McManus Mob: +44 (0)7980 541 893 US Media enquiries Lowell Goodman Tel: +1 (323) 646-3249 or lowell@lowellgoodman.net

About Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals Plc

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals Plc is a publicly traded company (LSE: HEMO) headquartered in London, with its wholly owned U.S. operating subsidiary, HemoGenyx LLC, located in its state-of-the-art research facility in Brooklyn, New York.

HemoGenyx is a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies and treatments for blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma. The company's leading technologies aim to change the way in which bone marrow/hematopoietic stem cell (BM/HSC) transplants are performed and improve their efficacy. HemoGenyx's two distinct and complementary products include an immunotherapy product for patient conditioning-the CDX bi-specific antibody-and a cell therapy product for BM/HSC transplantation-the HuPHEC. Each of these products holds the potential to revolutionize the way BM/HSC transplants are being performed, offering solutions that mitigate the dangers and limitations associated with the current standard of care.

For more information, visit www.hemogenyx.com.

SOURCE: Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals Plc via RNS, the company news service from the London Stock Exchange
U.S. Market Leader in Automobile Mobility Products Solidifies Ownership Stake in European Challenger Brand

WINAMAC, Indiana, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --BraunAbility, the U.S. market leader in wheelchair accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts, has acquired the remaining shares of European mobility manufacturer Autoadapt AB.

Autoadapt, based in Stenkullen, Sweden, along with its wholly owned subsidiaries Unwin, based in Martock, United Kingdom, and Martech, based in Kliplev, Denmark, provide products for people with limited mobility. All three companies combined to do more than $50 million (USD) in revenue in 2017.

"BraunAbility's mission is to make life a moving experience for all," said BraunAbility CEO Staci Kroon. "That means we need to look for partners in every continent who deliver quality products consistently and share the values we hold so dear. Autoadapt will help us change more lives, develop innovative products and expand our global reach."

BraunAbility previously owned 47.5 percent of Autoadapt from a 2011 purchase. Since that time, Autoadapt has been the sole distributor of BraunAbility lifts in Europe. BraunAbility is owned by Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, the leading owner of Nordic-based international companies, founded by the Wallenberg family more than 100 years ago.

Autoadapt will join BraunAbility as part of a roster of high-quality, high-growth companies in the Patricia Industries portfolio, including Permobil, the innovative provider of powered and manual wheelchairs for people with severe functional disabilities.

"There's nothing I'm more proud of than how far we've managed to come with Autoadapt," said Autoadapt founder Peter Wahlsten. "Together with our employees and dealers we've brought vehicle adaptation to the masses, including to countries where people with disabilities previously weren't allowed to drive."

Wahlsten continued, "Looking forward, I believe this step will go down in Autoadapt's history as a major turning point. As an owner, BraunAbility brings both strength and experience that will facilitate growth and improve clarity in Autoadapt's continued direction. But most important for me and all my colleagues at Autoadapt, we have an owner who shares our values."

The acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities, with closing expected by mid-April 2018.

About Autoadapt AB

Founded in 1996, Autoadapt is a developer and manufacturer based in Sweden. The company's main focus lies on products that aid people with limited mobility to drive and ride in cars. Notable products are the Turny swivel seats and the Carony transfer wheelchairs.Within the industry, Autoadapt is synonymous with high safety standards and product testing.

Autoadapt's products are available all over the globe via an extensivedealer network.

About Unwin

Unwin, an Autoadapt company is trusted across the world for safe wheelchair transport, delivering crash-tested solutions to improve independent living for wheelchair users and maximise accessibility for all.

About BraunAbility

BraunAbility is the world's leading manufacturer of wheelchair accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts. Founded nearly 50 years ago byRalph Braun the company has grown into the most well-known and trusted name in the mobility industry, bringing independence to millions of individuals across the world. BraunAbility is a wholly owned subsidiary to Patricia Industries, a division of Investor AB Group.Visitwww.braunability.comfor more information.

Media Contact: Emily Sander,

emily.sander@braunability.com, 800.946.7513 ext. 3687

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661089/BraunAbility_Logo.jpg
STOCKHOLM, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As previously announced, Invuo Technologies AB ("Invuo" or "Company") has reached an agreement with AJ Group Holdings Ltd ("AJ Group") which entails that AJ Group will invest in total approximately SEK 52 million in shares, warrants and by acquiring the loans held by Invuo in Seamless Distribution Systems AB.

Invuo is pleased to confirm that it has received a non-refundable deposit of SEK 1 million from AJ Group, i.e. ahead of the expected completion of AJ Group's purchase of 16,334,906 Invuo shares, scheduled to be completed before the upcoming Invuo annual general meeting (AGM) on 26th April 2018. The Board of Invuo has agreed to accept the non-refundable deposit and postpone the settlement date for the purchase of the 16,334,906 Invuo shares to no later than April 21, 2018. The remaining parts of the transaction are scheduled to be completed after the AGM, as previously announced.

Alnoor Jamal, Chairman of AJ Group, said, "We are excited not only by the investment potential existing in Invuo, but also by the strategic potential offered by our commitment to the Company, and the opportunities to expand Invuo's revenue footprint in the period ahead".

As was announced by the Company on 26th March 2018 in its notice for the AGM, Sheliza Jamal, representative of AJ Group, has been proposed by the Invuo Nomination Committee to stand for election to the Board at the AGM.

For further information, please contact:

John Longhurst

CEO

john.longhurst@invuo.com,

+46-8-564-878-00

This information is such that Invuo Technologies AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. This information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 08:50 CET on April 3, 2018.

About AJ Group

The AJ Group led by its Chairman Mr Alnoor Jamal, has been involved in various disciplines, including property portfolios in various countries, hospitality, IT in Africa and India, manufacturing of Agrochemicals, distribution and training of farmers in Africa, installation and subsequent maintenance of Philip's medical systems in hospitals in Zambia, etc; together known as AJ Group.

About Invuo

Since 2001 Invuo has been providing its proprietary solutions and systems for mobile phone transactions. Invuo operates in two main business areas; mobile phone payment solutions provided through the brand MeaWallet', and distribution of e-products. www.invuo.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/invuo-technologies-ab/r/invuo-confirms-new-timing-of-aj-group-transaction--and-receipt-of-non-refundable-deposit,c2486010

The following files are available for download:
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 3.15 am ET Tuesday, the Federal Statistical Office releases Swiss retail sales for January. Ahead of the data, the franc rose against its major rivals. The franc was worth 111.14 against the yen, 1.1757 against the euro, 1.3423 against the pound and 0.9536 against the greenback as of 3:10 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.
NEC Seiichiro Toda s-toda@cj.jp.nec.com +81-3-3798-6511

TOKYO, Apr 3, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - CMIC HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. has adopted a voice recognition solution from NEC Corporation for an iPhone App that assists in clinical trials. A pilot program for the App began in March 2018 using voice recognition technology from "NEC the WISE," a portfolio of advanced Artificial Intelligence technologies from NEC, for data entry and task tracking that involves over 50 Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs) as part of CMIC's Site Management Organization (SMO) program. From April 2018, the program will be expanded to include CRCs nationwide, to validate the quality and level of workflow improvements.Clinical trials that are required for drug development involve the entry of massive amounts of data, including a subject's height, weight, medicines taken, lab test results, etc. Until now, this data was input by hand, and was prone to typing errors and data omission. To prevent these errors, several CRCs and their supervisors had to review and check for errors, making their job extremely troublesome.The voice assisted App, which has been co-developed by CMIC and NEC, is designed to reduce data entry errors or omissions. For example, the voice guidance system will prevent access to the next section until the current section has been completely filled out. In addition, for data values that are significantly different from others, a voice warning will be given to notify of the potential error.Going forward, CMIC and NEC aim to utilize AI in order to analyze the data that has been compiled to improve the quality and efficiency of clinical trials. Furthermore, this data and the CRCs' know-how could be combined to detect potential side effects and adherence issues of prescription drugs, and remind patients and medical professionals of such events proactively.About CMIC HOLDINGS Co., Ltd.The CMIC Group started business in 1992 as the first CRO in Japan, and the company today provides comprehensive support services for the development, manufacturing, sales, and marketing of pharmaceutical products. Also, the company operates to respond to diversifying needs by managing the Healthcare Business sector and developing and selling diagnostic pharmaceuticals and orphan drugs. The CMIC Group has developed a unique business model called Pharmaceutical Value Creator (PVC) based on its abundant accumulated experience and knowledge as a CRO pioneer. CMIC utilizes the PVC to create new value in the healthcare field. For more information, visit the CMIC Group's website: www.cmicgroup.com/e.About NEC CorporationNEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.Based on its Mid-term Management Plan 2015, the NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.Source: NEC CorporationContact:Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Nearly 300 students from across Tennessee will compete in the annual Tennessee History Day state contest in downtown Nashville on Saturday .

The competition allows students to showcase their creativity and research skills by developing projects with historical themes. The students with the best-judged projects in the statewide competition will advance to the National History Day finals in College Park, Maryland, June 10 through June 14 with top finishers earning prestigious awards and scholarships. The students with the best-judged projects in the statewide competition will advance to the National History Day finals in College Park, Maryland,with top finishers earning prestigious awards and scholarships.

Middle and high school students created projects based on this years theme, Conflict and Compromise in History. Students compete in five categories: papers, exhibits, documentaries, websites and performances. Tennessee History Day helps participating students learn the importance of history and critical thinking through the use of primary source documents, in-depth research and analysis.

Students who make it to the state competition represent the best our state has to offer. I hope these bright young men and women are learning valuable lessons on civility, said Secretary of State Tre Hargett. I wish all of this year's participants the best of luck in what I'm sure will be an exciting competition on the state and national levels.

The Tennessee Historical Society has sponsored the competition since 2009 with grant support from the Secretary of States Office and Humanities Tennessee.

These stellar students have advanced from more than 7,500 sixth through 12th-graders who participated in History Day this year, said Ann Toplovich, executive director of the Tennessee Historical Society. Their projects display a solid grounding from research in primary sources, critical thinking skills and presentation of their ideas, and they show how understanding history connects to the responsibilities of citizenship. It will be a tough job for the judges choosing the next round of winners at the state contest.

Each fall, students and teachers nationwide begin work on the yearlong curriculum, which starts with competitions held in individual schools. The winners there advance to district, state and eventually the national competition. Nationwide, the History Day program includes more than a half million students annually from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa and Department of Defense Schools.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 3.45 am ET Tuesday, IHS Markit is scheduled to release Italy's factory PMI. Final PMI figures from France and Germany are due at 3:50 am ET and 3:55 am ET, respectively. At 4.00 am ET, final Eurozone manufacturing PMI is due. Ahead of the data, the euro advanced against its major rivals. The euro was worth 130.74 against the yen, 1.1759 against the franc, 0.8757 against the pound and 1.2328 against the greenback as of 3:40 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.
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, with rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China as well as a fresh sell-off in U.S. tech stocks weighing on markets. German retail sales data also disappointed investors. German retail sales fell unexpectedly by 0.7 percent month-on-month in February, bigger than the 0.3 percent decrease seen in January, Destatis reported. This was the third consecutive decline in sales. The benchmark DAX was down 152 points or 1.26 percent at 11,945 in early trade, with tech stocks falling heavily after reports that Apple is planning to use its own chips for its Mac devices. Infineon Technologies fell 2.6 percent and Dialog Semiconductor lost over 1 percent. 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/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. shares opened lower on Tuesday as traders returned to their desks after a long Easter holiday weekend. Investors remained on edge after China imposed tariffs on 128 imported goods originating in the U.S. and U.S. President Donald Trump attacked Amazon for a second time in three days over the pricing of its deliveries through the United States Postal Service. The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 50 points or 0.71 percent at 7,005 in early trade as a new survey showed U.K. manufacturing activity softened in early 2018 amid slower increases in new orders and employment. Anglo American fell over 1 percent after announcing the suspension of its Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil. Petrofac rallied 2.5 percent on winning an EPC contract worth about $233 million from Vedanta. 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.
PUNE, India, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The report"Soil Aerators Market by Equipment Type (Secondary Tillage, Primary Tillage, Weeding, Soil Aerating), Application (Agriculture, Non-Agriculture), Mechanism (Mechanical, Pneumatic), Mode of Operation (Mounted, Trailed), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets', the market is estimated to be valued at USD 24.03 Billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 33.01 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.6%. The market is driven by the global increase in mechanization in farming, shrinking arable land, growth in net farming income, and rapid increase in commercial and residential space, leading to the growing demand for landscaping.

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Browse 73 market data Tables and40 Figures spread through 143 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Soil Aerators Market"

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Secondary tillage is estimated to be the largest in 2018

The soil aerators market, by equipment, is estimated to be dominated by the secondary tillage. The demand for this segment comes primarily from the agricultural industry. There are various kinds of secondary tillage equipment, namely, harrows, cultivators, and rollers & pulverizers, which are used to decompact soil efficiently in a lesser time. Government initiatives in the agricultural industry in order to achieve accurate yield to feed the increasing population is the most influential driver for the largest market share of this segment in the soil aerators market.

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Agriculturesegment set to dominate the market by 2023

The soil aerators market, by application, is projected to be dominated by the agriculture segment during the forecast period. The dominance of agriculture in soil aerators is attributable to the increase in large-scale holdings of farmers in most developed countries and an increasing trend of farm mechanization in developing countries. The rapid increase in population growth and increasing demand for food, with shrinking arable land, are expected to drive the Soil Aerators Market growth.

Mountedsegment is projected to be the fastest-growing during the forecast period

The mounted segment is estimated to dominate the mode of operation segment for soil aerators in 2018 and is also projected to be the fastest-growing from 2018 to 2023. Low turnaround time, higher accuracy, availability of large land holdings for cultivation, specifically in North America and Europe are the factors driving the market for the mounted mode of operation.

Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period

The Asia Pacific market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2018 to 2023. Major growth drivers of the region include the adoption of smart, mechanized aerators owing to technological advancements in countries such as India, China, and Japan. In addition, factors such as an increase in footfall, overgrazing by livestock, the pressure exerted by heavy equipment, climatic conditions, strong government support through subsidies, and increased productivity requirements also drive the Soil Aerators Market in the region.

This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolios of leading companies. It includes the profiles of leading service companies such as Deere & Company (US), Mahindra and Mahindra (India), Bucher Industries (Switzerland), CNH Industrial (UK), ALAMO (US), and AGCO Corporation (US).

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Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets' are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets' now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets' is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

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BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks tumbled on Tuesday, with rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China as well as a fresh sell-off in U.S. tech stocks weighing on markets. The day's economic reports also disappointed investors. German retail sales fell unexpectedly by 0.7 percent month-on-month in February, bigger than the 0.3 percent decrease seen in January, Destatis reported. This was the third consecutive decline in sales. The euro area manufacturing activity grew at the slowest pace in eight months in March, final data from IHS Markit showed. The final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index fell to 56.6 in March from 58.6 in February. U.K. manufacturing output growth picked up in March, but this was offset by slower increases in both new orders and employment, according to survey results from IHS Markit. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.9 percent at 367.39 in late opening deals, with tech stocks pacing the decliners after reports that Apple is planning to use its own chips for its Mac devices. Infineon Technologies fell 2.5 percent, Dialog Semiconductor lost 2.3 percent and STMicro declined 3.4 percent. The German DAX was losing 1.4 percent, France's CAC 40 index was declining 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.7 percent. Swiss bank UBS Group fell over 2 percent after proposing new members to its board. Eurofins Scientific lost 2.4 percent after acquiring Lab Frontier in South Korea. Air France plunged 5.2 percent as its workers go on strike over pay dispute. French food services group Sodexo lost 5.4 percent after Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on the stock. Anglo American fell over 1 percent after announcing the suspension of its Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil. Petrofac rallied 2.5 percent on winning an EPC contract worth about $233 million from Vedanta. 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.
DUBLIN, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, created to honor the Father of American old school tattooing, Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins, is launching a bold new bottle design with iconography and imagery that further highlight the life and times of Collins, enhancing the rum's dedication to telling and celebrating his story and building a community of likeminded individuals around the globe. The new and improved packaging, which will contain the same award-winning liquid that many have enjoyed for years, will launch initially in March 2018, and become available in markets around the world throughout 2018.

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Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is a straight-up, no nonsense, old-school rum. Back in the day, sailors used to smooth out their rum ration with spices, and Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum follows that same tradition. The result is a rum that is bold and smooth as hell.A Caribbean Rum blended with 100% natural spices and flavors, Sailor Jerry embodies the "All-In" spirit and unapologetic attitude of the rum's namesake who was noted for saying, "My work speaks for itself."

Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins was a Navy vet who built his reputation inking soldiers and sailors in WWII-era Honolulu, where he established his now legendary tattoo parlor. The revamped bottle recalls classic elements of his famous Hotel Street shop business card, with images of Hawaii and the Diamond Head volcanic turf. The label also features the Hula girl, a signature piece of Collins' tattoo artwork representing those sailors that have visited Hawaii during their time in the Navy. The back of the bottle communicates Collins' iconic story, honoring his legacy and philosophy to live life on your own terms.

Additional updates to the new bottle design include a larger Sailor Jerry script logo on a strong, black circle background, making it boldly visible on any store shelf, back bar or drinks cabinet shelf. The outer shipper will be updated to mirror the new look of the bottle.

"Norman Collins is an inspiration to many and had a tremendous effect on future generations," shared Chin Ru Foo, Global Brand Director - Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. "We at Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum,the brand that today bears his name, celebrate his life, his ethos, and his passions, in everything we do. The evolution of the bottle to include classic iconography and imagery is designed to share Norman's story in a more meaningful, and personal, way with the world."

Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins was born on January 14th, 1911, and quickly found his passion for tattooing while traveling the United States by hopping freight trains. At 19, Collins joined the U.S. Navy where he was exposed to the art and culture of Southeast Asia. Following his naval service, Collins made WWII-era Honolulu his home and continued honing his skills as a tattoo artist. Sailors on Shore Leave in Honolulu would wait in line for hours outside Collins' Hotel Street tattoo shop to be inked by the master himself. Not one to rest idly, Collins also became a licensed skipper of a large three-masted schooner, played the saxophone in his own band, and frequently hosted a radio show. These personal passions are now celebrated through Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and shared with likeminded individuals.

"We are excited to share this bold new look with our ever-expanding Sailor Jerry community, and look forward to celebrating with them throughout the year," added Foo.

The new packaging will launch in the United States in March 2018, followed by the United Kingdom and rest of world from May 2018.

To learn more about Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, log ontohttp://www.sailorjerry.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbmktHaU6ps&feature=youtu.be
Longi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd has announced plans to build a 228 MW solar PV project in China. The Chinese vertically integrated solar PV manufacturer has also signed a 39,600 metric ton (MT) high purity polysilicon agreement with Daqo New Energy Corp.Longi has said it will build a 228 MW solar PV project in Majiatan town, Lingwu city, Ningxia Province, China, for an investment of around US$216.7 million. A spokesperson for the company told pv magazine Longi will use mono modules for the plant, which is expected to be constructed over a period of four months. Meanwhile, under the announced ...

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.
AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation (NYSE American: APHB), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on precisely targeted bacteriophage therapeutics for antibiotic-resistant infections, today announced the presentation of a case study of a lung transplant recipient suffering from a resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection who received treatment with bacteriophage therapeutics, including AB-PA01. The data will be presented at the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation 38th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, being held April 11-14, 2018 in Nice, France. The presentation was identified as a "Hot Topics in Infectious Diseases" by the conference organizers and the abstract can be viewed here.

Oral Presentation:

Title: 373 Bacteriophage Treatment in a Lung Transplant Recipient

Date and time: Friday, April 13, 2018, 5 5:15 p.m. CET

Session: Oral Session 38 Hot topics in infectious diseases

Location: Hermes Auditorium, The Acropolis, Nice, France

Presenter: Saima Aslam, M.D., Director, Solid Organ Transplant Infectious Diseases, University of California San Diego School of Medicine

The presentation describes the case of a 67-year old male bilateral lung transplant recipient who developed recurrent and increasingly multi-drug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) pneumonia. The U.S. FDA granted an emergency IND to use bacteriophage therapeutics, including AmpliPhi's AB-PA01, an investigational bacteriophage therapeutic targeting PA, as adjunctive treatment to systemic antibiotics. The bacteriophage therapeutics were given by intravenous (IV) and inhaled routes and were well-tolerated.

"The patient clinically responded to the combination of phage and antibiotic therapy; phage therapy was well tolerated," said Dr. Aslam. "Additionally, we were able to stop his cycles of recurrent pseudomonal pneumonia and observed re-establishment of commensal respiratory flora. Based on my experience, phage therapy warrants further clinical investigation and is a promising treatment modality for patients suffering from severe and life-threatening bacterial infections."

"This case study, which represents the first report of bacteriophage therapy in a lung transplant patient, demonstrates the very real promise of bacteriophage therapeutics in an age of increasing antimicrobial resistance," added Paul C. Grint, M.D., CEO of AmpliPhi Biosciences. "I believe bacteriophage can play an important role in combating infectious diseases and in this case provided a potentially life-saving treatment to an otherwise critically ill patient."

About AmpliPhi Biosciences

AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on treating antibiotic-resistant infections using its proprietary bacteriophage-based technology. AmpliPhi's lead product candidates, AB-SA01 and AB-PA01, target multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are included on the WHO's 2017 Priority Pathogens List. Phage therapeutics are uniquely positioned to address the threat of antibiotic-resistance as they can be precisely targeted to kill select bacteria, have a differentiated mechanism of action, can penetrate and disrupt biofilms (a common bacterial defense mechanism against antibiotics), are potentially synergistic with antibiotics and have been shown to restore antibiotic sensitivity to drug-resistant bacteria. For more information visit www.ampliphibio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005539/en/

Contacts:

At the Company:

AmpliPhi Biosciences

Matthew Dansey

(858) 800-4869

md@ampliphibio.com

or

Investor Relations:

Westwicke Partners

Robert H. Uhl

(858) 356-5932

robert.uhl@westwicke.com

or

Media:

Russo Partners, LLC

David Schull or Maggie Beller

(212) 845-4271

David.Schull@RussoPartnersLLC.com

Maggie.Beller@RussoPartnersLLC.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - Millennial Lithium Corp. (TSXV:ML) (OTCQX: MLNLF) ("Millennial" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market, operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. As of market open April 3, 2018, Millennial will begin trading on OTCQX under the symbol "MLNLF" and will continue to trade on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol "ML"

The OTCQX Best Market provides future and existing U.S based Millennial shareholders with simple and trustful trading of shares and convenient access to its new and current financial disclosures.

"Congratulations to Millennial Lithium Corp. on upgrading to the OTCQX Best Market," said Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group. "We are pleased to see Millennial Lithium Corp. utilize the OTCQB Venture Market to build their company's visibility and graduate to the OTCQX Best Market. We look forward to continuing to support the company and its investors in the U.S."

"Upgrading to the OTCQX Best Market will generate greater exposure and accessibility for Millennial's expanding US shareholder base. We look forward to working with the OTC Markets Group to further broaden the Company's exposure to US shareholders," Millennial's President and CEO Farhad Abasov.

Additional information concerning Millennial is contained in documents filed by Millennial with Canadian securities regulators under Millennial's profile at www.sedar.com.

For more information, please visit Millennial's web site at www.millenniallithium.com or contact Investor Relations at (604) 662-8184 or email info@millenniallithium.com.

MILLENNIAL LITHIUM CORP.

"Farhad Abasov"

President, CEO and Director

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "intend", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to future prices of lithium, commodities, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals including approvals of title and mining rights or licenses, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, currency risks including the exchange rate of USD$ for Cdn$, fluctuations in the market for lithium, changes in exploration costs and government royalties or taxes in Argentina and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
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.
WGU Tennessee  the nonprofit, online university launched as part of Governor Bill Haslams Drive to 55 effort  has reached 4,000 enrolled students after less than five years in the state, making it the fifth-largest private, nonprofit college in Tennessee (based on full-time enrollment), officials said.

The number signifies a 400 percent increase in enrollment since WGU launched in Tennessee in July of 2013.

Reaching 4,000 enrolled students is a major accomplishment for WGU Tennessee, said Dr. Kimberly K. Estep, WGU Tennessee chancellor. Governor Haslam brought us on board to make higher education more accessible in our state, and were doing just that.

WGU Tennessee has reached several other milestones, including:

 Exceeding 2,700 graduates statewide

 Having active students in 92 of 95 counties

 Awarding more than $1.5 million in scholarships to Tennesseans

 Establishing partnerships with more than 50 corporate and nonprofit organizations, including all 13 Tennessee community colleges, to increase access and affordability for their members

Officials said, "In addition to these accomplishments, WGU Tennessee has stayed true to its student-focused principles by providing a flexible and affordable option to working adults who want to return to school. WGU Tennessee aims to alleviate the financial burden of higher education for its students  making it unique among higher education institutions in Tennessee."

In July, the university will celebrate its five-year anniversary, which coincides with the five-year anniversary of Drive to 55. The initiative, which seeks to equip 55 percent of Tennesseans with postsecondary certificates by 2025, is two years ahead of schedule.

WGU Tennessee is an online, nonprofit, competency-based university established to expand Tennesseans access to higher education throughout the state. Formed through a partnership between the state of Tennessee and nationally recognized Western Governors University, WGU Tennessee is open to all qualified Tennessee residents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the high-demand career fields of business, K12 teacher education, information technology, and health professions, including nursing.

Degrees are granted under the accreditation of Western Governors University, which is accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Teachers College programs are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).*

In addition to WGU Tennessee, there are six other WGU state-based, state-endorsed universities, including Indiana, Washington, Texas, Missouri, Nevada and North Carolina.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) announced the acquisition of Securus Medical Group, Inc., a privately-held company that has developed a thermal monitoring system for the continuous measurement of esophageal temperature. Boston Scientific has been an investor in Securus since 2016, and the transaction price for the remaining stake not already owned consists of $40 million in cash up-front, as well as up to $10 million in contingent payments based on regulatory achievements and commercial milestones. Securus Medical Group is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with offices in Beverly, Massachusetts. Boston Scientific said the transaction is expected to be immaterial to its adjusted and GAAP earnings per share. The thermal monitoring system developed by Securus Medical Group is an integrated catheter-based probe and imaging system that generates real-time images of the temperature of the esophagus. The latest generation infrared esophageal temperature monitoring system recently received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. FDA, and is expected to be integrated into the Boston Scientific portfolio and commercially available in the U.S. in the first half of 2019. 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.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

ZHEJIANG EXPRESSWAY CO., LTD.

(A joint stock limited company incorporated in the People's Republic of China with limited liability)

(Stock code: 0576)

ANNOUNCEMENT ON RESULTS OF THE EGM

APPOINTMENT OF NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS AND

INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Zhejiang Expressway Co., Ltd. (the "Company") held an extraordinary general meeting (the "EGM") at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, April 2, 2018 at 5/F, No. 2 Mingzhu International Business Center, 199 Wuxing Road, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, the People's Republic of China (the "PRC").

Shareholders of the Company (the "Shareholders") who attended the EGM by proxy represented a total of 3,790,202,100 shares of the Company entitled to attend and to vote at the EGM, or 87.27% of the total issued share capital of the Company as at the date of the EGM. The EGM was convened by the board (the "Board") of directors (the "Directors") of the Company. Chairman of the Company, Mr. Zhan Xiaozhang, chaired the EGM.

After considering the ordinary resolutions proposed by the Board at the EGM, the Shareholders resolved through voting by way of poll, and approved all the proposed resolutions, details of which are as follows:

1. Resolved to elect Mr. Yu Zhihong as a non-executive Director of the Company, and to approve his allowance package, with 3,753,864,948 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.04% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM) and 36,335,152 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.96% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM);

2. Resolved to elect Mr. Yu Ji as a non-executive Director of the Company, and to approve his allowance package, with 3,743,864,948 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 98.78% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM) and 46,335,152 shares voted in the negative (representing 1.22% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM);

3. Resolved to elect Mr. Yu Qunli as a non-executive Director of the Company, and to approve his allowance package, with 3,743,864,948 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 98.78% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM) and 46,335,152 shares voted in the negative (representing 1.22% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM); and

4. Resolved to elect Mr. Chen Bin as an independent non-executive Director of the Company, and to approve his allowance package, with 3,789,430,099 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.93% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM) and 2,770,001 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.07% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM); and

5. Resolved to authorise the Board to approve the proposed Directors' service contracts and all other relevant documents and to authorise any one executive Director of the Company to sign such contracts and other relevant documents for and on behalf of the Company and to take all necessary actions in connection therewith, with 3,789,622,100 shares voted in the affirmative (representing 99.98% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM) and 578,000 shares voted in the negative (representing 0.02% of the total shares held by the Shareholders present at the EGM).

The term of office of the newly elected Directors commences on April 2, 2018, and will end on the date of expiry of the term of the Seventh session of the Board, being June 30, 2018.

As at the date of the EGM, the total number of issued shares of the Company entitling the holders to attend and vote at the EGM in respect of the ordinary resolutions thereat was 4,343,114,500. There was no share entitling any holder to attend and vote only against the resolutions at the EGM. Mr. Eric Shi of the Company's auditors, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Certified Public Accountants, was appointed and acted as scrutineer for the vote taking during the EGM. No person was required to abstain from voting at the EGM in relation to the above.

Profiles of Newly Elected Directors

Non-executive Directors

Mr. Yu Zhihong, born in 1964, is a graduate from the Department of Electro-mechanic Engineering, Zhejiang University, and holds a Master's Degree in management from the Management Institute of Zhejiang University. Starting from 1985, Mr. Yu Zhihong worked at Xiushui Township in Central District of Jiaxing City as Deputy Manager of Township Industrial Company and Deputy Head of Township, from 1987 successively served as Secretary to Central District Office, Secretary of the Central District Youth League, Deputy Party Secretary and Party Secretary of Tanghui Township in Central District, from 1995 working as Deputy Director, Deputy Party Secretary, Director and then Party Secretary of Management Committee for the Economic Development Zone of Jiaxing City, from 2005 as Party Secretary of Haining City and as Member of Party Standing Committee of Jiaxing City, from 2010 as Deputy Mayor of Hangzhou City, Party Secretary of Qianjiang New Development Zone's Construction Committee, and then Party Secretary of Xiaoshan District, Member of Party Standing Committee of Hangzhou City, before he became the Deputy Party Secretary and then Mayor of Shaoxing City in 2013. Mr. Yu Zhihong assumed the position of Chairman and Party Secretary of Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd. since October 2016, and became Member of Provincial Party Committee since June 2017.

Mr. Yu Ji, born in 1975, is an Engineer. He graduated from Zhejiang University with a Master's Degree in Structure Engineering. Mr. Yu Ji began his career at Jinwen Railroad Engineering Construction Project Management Division (Qingtian County Lianggang section) and General Headquarter from 1996, worked at Zhejiang Local Railroad Survey and Design Bureau and Zhejiang Tiezi Engineering Co., Ltd. from 1998, and became a Structure Design Engineer at Zhejiang Urban Construction Design and Research Institute from 2005. Starting from 2007, Mr. Yu Ji worked as staff, Deputy Manager and then Manager at Project Management Department of Zhejiang Railroad Investment Group Co., Ltd., and became General Manager of Railroad Project Department in 2015, Manager of Communications Investment Department of Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd. in 2016. Since 2018, Mr. Yu Ji became General Manager of Strategic Development and Legal Affairs Department of Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd.

Mr. Yu Qunli, born in 1968, graduated from Xi'an Roadway Institute with a Bachelor's Degree in Roads and Bridges Engineering. Mr. Yu Qunli also holds a Master's Degree in Structure Engineering and a MBA Degree in Business Administration, both from Zhejiang University. Mr. Yu Qunli started his career in 1990 at Zhejiang Provincial Roads and Bridges Bureau and Zhejiang Communications Engineering Construction Group Co., moved to Zhejiang Communications Engineering Group Co., Ltd. in 2000, and to Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd. in 2002. Starting from 2005, Mr. Yu Qunli served as Deputy General Manager at Zhejiang Zhoushan Continent to Island Construction Expressway Co., Ltd., and from 2006, as Deputy General Manager at Zhejiang Ningbo Yongtaiwen Expressway Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Zhoushan Bay Bridge Co., Ltd. Beginning from 2010, Mr. Yu Qunli served as Deputy Manager of Safety Management Department and Manager of Safety Monitoring Management Department at Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd. He served as General Manager at Zhejiang Ningbo Yongtaiwen Expressway Co., Ltd. in 2013, and as General Manager at Zhejiang Taizhou Expressway Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Zhoushan Bay Bridge Co., Ltd. Since 2015, Mr. Yu Qunli served as General Manager of Expressway Operations Management Department at Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd., and as General Manager at Communications Operations Management Department since 2016.

Independent non-executive Director

Mr. Chen Bin, born in 1967, is a graduate from University of South China in computer science. He also holds a second Bachelor's degree from Chongqing University in management engineering. Mr. Chen worked at Tianshi Network Company of TCL Group as Deputy General Manager from 1998 to 2004, at Webex Group as General Manager of China Investment from 2005 to 2006, and at Cybernaut China Investment Fund as Senior Partner from 2007 to 2008. Mr. Chen became Chief Executive and Funding Partner of Zhejiang Cybernaut Investment Management Co., Ltd. since 2008. Mr. Chen also serves as Director at Sundy Land Investment Co., Ltd., (a company listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange, SH Stock Code: 600077) and Shenzhen Fountain Corporation (a company listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange, SZ Stock Code: 000005).

Mr. Chen has met the independence requirements as set out in Rule 3.13 of the Listing Rules.

Directors' Emoluments

Non-executive Directors and independent non-executive Directors do not receive any fixed remunerations from the Company, though all non-executive Directors and independent non-executive Directors are provided with allowances that are subject to their levels of participation in the Company's meetings as determined by the Board at their discretion and there are no applicable scale for determining such remuneration.

Other Information

Save as disclosed in the above, the newly elected Directors has not held any other directorships in the last three years in public companies the securities of which are listed on any securities market in Hong Kong or overseas, nor any other positions within the Group. Furthermore, none of the newly elected Directors has any relationships with any Directors, senior management or substantial or controlling shareholders of the Company.

None of the newly elected Directors has any interest in the shares of the Company or its associated corporation (within the meaning of Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong)).

Save as disclosed above, there are no other matters relating to the newly elected Directors that need to be brought to the attention of the Shareholders nor is there any information which is required to be disclosed pursuant to any of the requirements of Rule 13.51(2)(h) to (v) of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.

Appreciation

Mr. Zhan Xiaozhang, Mr. Zhou Jun and Mr. Wang Dongjie no longer serve as Directors of the Company upon the conclusion of the EGM. For many years they had discharged their duties wholeheartedly to the benefit of the Company's continuous and healthy development. The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their valuable contribution to the Company.

By order of the Board

Zhejiang Expressway Co., Ltd.

Tony Zheng

Company Secretary

Hangzhou, the PRC, April 2, 2018

As at the date of this announcement, the directors of the Company are: Mr. YU Zhihong, Mr. CHENG Tao, Ms. LUO Jianhu, Mr. DAI Benmeng, Mr. YU Qunli, Mr. YU Ji, Mr. PEI Ker-Wei, Ms. LEE Wai Tsang, Rosa and Mr. CHEN Bin.
Regulatory News:

Today Euronext (Paris:ENX) (Amsterdam:ENX) (Brussels:ENX), the leading pan-European exchange in the Eurozone with nearly 1,300 listed issuers, announces it has filed its 2017 registration document, including the 2017 annual report, to the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) on 29 March 2018. This Registration Document was prepared in accordance with Annex 1 of EC Regulation 809/2004, and with article 5:25c of the Wet op het financieel toezicht, filed in English with, and approved by, the Stichting Autoriteit Financiele Markten (the "AFM") on 29 March 2018 in its capacity as competent authority under the Wet op het financieel toezicht (as amended) pursuant to Directive 2003/71/EC (as amended, including by Directive 2010/73/EU).

The 2017 registration document is available in English on Euronext website: https://www.euronext.com/en/investors/regulated-information/annual-financial-reports, and at the registered office of Euronext N.V.: Beursplein 5, 1012 JW Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

About Euronext

Euronext is the leading pan-European exchange in the Eurozone, spanning Belgium, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal and the UK. With more than 1,300 listed issuers worth 3.8 trillion in market capitalisation as of end February 2018, an unmatched blue chip franchise consisting of 24 issuers in the Morningstar Eurozone 50 Index? and a strong diverse domestic and international client base. Euronext operates regulated and transparent equity and derivatives markets. Its total product offering includes Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Warrants Certificates, Bonds, Derivatives, Commodities and Indices. Euronext also leverages its expertise in running markets by providing technology and managed services to third parties. In addition to its main regulated market, Euronext also operates Euronext GrowthTM and Euronext AccessTM. For the latest news, find us on Twitter (twitter.com/euronext) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/euronext).

Disclaimer

This press release is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities. This press release is provided "as is" without representation or warranty of any kind. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the content, Euronext does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Euronext will not be held liable for any loss or damages of any nature ensuing from using, trusting or acting on information provided. No information set out or referred to in this publication may be regarded as creating any right or obligation. The creation of rights and obligations in respect of financial products that are traded on the exchanges operated by Euronext's subsidiaries shall depend solely on the applicable rules of the market operator. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Euronext.

This press release speaks only as of this date. Euronext refers to Euronext N.V. and its affiliates. Information regarding trademarks and intellectual property rights of Euronext is located at www.euronext.com/terms-use.

 2018, Euronext N.V. All rights reserved.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005752/en/

Contacts:

Euronext

Media:

Alice Jentink, +31 20 721 4488

mediateam@euronext.com

or

Investor Relations:

Aurelie Cohen, +33 1 70 48 24 17

ir@euronext.com
Burlington, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - Wabi Exploration Inc. (CSE:WAB) ("Wabi") provides an update on its Arrangement Agreement with Buena Vista Gold Inc. ("BVG") and on BVG's field activities in Nevada.

BVG is preparing its audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, which audited statements must be completed before Wabi can complete its due diligence review and then prepare the normal-course documentation required by the regulators to complete the Arrangement. Wabi has no reason to believe that its due diligence review will not be positive. It is expected that the BVG audit will be completed before the end of April, 2018, following which Wabi can complete the necessary documentation including a management information circular for its shareholders to review in anticipation of a Wabi shareholder meeting. BVG and Wabi have mutually agreed to extend the Arrangement Agreement until May 30, 2018.

BVG continues with its field activities in Nevada and has reported to Wabi on those field activities. Readers are cautioned that while Wabi has no reason to believe that the information provided to it by BVG and reflected herein is not materially complete and correct, Wabi has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of such information and has relied upon BVG for same.

BVG commissioned a NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Hot Springs Peak property (the "HSP Report") which was completed in June of 2017. During the preparation of the HSP Report, a discovery of gold and high arsenic mineralization was found in the historic mine shaft dumps within a 2-kilometer trend of hornfels altered shale-argillite and sandstone which are well documented in the HSP Report. The highest gold value found was 24 grams gold/ton (0.701 opt) and all samples contained high arsenic, with the highest value being 1025 ppm*. The mine dumps contain rock from quartz vein-replacements along steeply dipping shear zones observed in the shaft walls (previously reported in Wabi's November 30, 2017 press release). In BVG's opinion, this discovery shows similarity to "Carlin Type" alteration and mineralization. The proximate Turquoise Ridge Deposit was adopted by BVG as the occurrence type to use for an exploration model.

[*Sampling was carried out by the Qualified Person. Preparation of samples were performed by ALS Minerals Labs, according to certified standards for reporting results. Internal standards were completed by ALS. All samples were assayed by fire-AA finish. A gravimetric assay was required by ALS to determine the grade for samples above 10ppm gold. Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) analyses were completed on all samples for other metals. Readers are cautioned that sampling is selective by nature and may not be representative.]





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Regional Magnetic Trends with the Property and Gold Deposits

This discovery of gold and arsenic mineralization in historic mine shaft dumps prompted the flying of a detailed airborne magnetic survey of 450 kilometers on 50-meter line spacing to further delineate structure and alteration. This August, 2017 survey was interpreted by BVG to be a very large structural intersection of 2 kilometers square, with the northeast structural direction containing the historic mine shafts and gold-arsenic mineralization and extending another kilometer to the southwest. The structural intersection contains a deep magnetic low which in BVG's opinion correlates to the pervasive hornfels alteration mapped at the surface. Follow-up ground investigation by BVG identified calcite vein stockwork in outcrop of Triassic Age Limestone (Little Poverty Peak Formation), and turquoise veining in the opaline cinnabar historic mines located 2 kilometers south of the magnetic low, all of which are located outside of the structural intersection area. Jasperoidal silicified structures containing gold, documented in the HSP Report, also occur 1.5 kilometers south of the magnetic low and were historic third-party exploration drill targets for gold.





Magnetic and IP/Resistivity Surveys Combined with A Possible Drill Plan - White Circles



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The results from the airborne magnetic survey provided the focus for designing a detailed Induced Polarization (IP) / Resistivity Survey of 7 lines and approximately 12.6 kilometers of total line length to detect potential concealed sulfide mineralization and silicification. This IP survey was carried out at Hot Springs Peak in January, 2018. Dipole-Dipole spacings were set at 75m, 150m and 250m to reach depths of 150-500 meters for high quality data collection.

The results identify a very strong chargeability defining the structural intersection and extending along the hornfels altered and mineralized trend to the southwest. A very strong resistivity high crosses northwest through the structural intersection, unrelated to the stratigraphic trend and plunging to the southeast, into the deep magnetic low. This high resistivity trend is a drill target for the silicified central core of the system. A representative cross section is shown for IP line #2 where the chargeability and resistivity high peaks are drill targets for sulfide mineralization and silicification. The size of the chargeability high allows for a major Carlin size discovery comparable to Turquoise Ridge which is the exploration model. The primary un-tested drill target is the concealed Triassic and Permian Age Limestone beneath the surface altered and mineralized Triassic Age argillite-shale and sandstone, which is known to be an excellent host rock for a Carlin-Type Deposit Discovery.





Line 2 Chargeability High Drill Target

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Line 2 Corresponding Resistivity High Drill Target

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Buena Vista Valley Project Area - The Buena Vista Valley Project is located south of Winnemucca, northeast of Reno and east of Mill City. Based on third-party historic data and internal BVG company mapping, BVG recently completed an airborne magnetic survey on the northern half of the Buena Vista Valley Project as part of the process for targeting a variety of mineralization types including intrusive related copper and copper-gold mineralization and Carlin Style gold mineralization. The survey consisted of flying 518 line kilometers with flight lines on 75 meter spacing and tie lines on 375 meter spacing. Magnetic and radiometric data is now being processed and layered with gravity data, geological mapping, geochemistry and drill data to target future drilling. Future geophysical surveys are also being evaluated for refinement of the drill targets. Additional information on this survey will be released when appropriate.

The technical part of this report was written by Timothy Master, author of the HSP Report and a Qualified Person for Buena Vista Gold Inc. as that term is defined in NI 43-101.

For further information contact:

Peter M. Clausi

CEO

1 416 890 1232

pclausi@brantcapital.ca

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX: AVL) (OTCQX: AVLNF) ("Avalon" or the "Company") is pleased to report assay results from its successful 2018 winter drilling program at its Separation Rapids Lithium Project near Kenora, Ontario. The results were highlighted by a 37.75 metre intersection of lepidolite-rich mineralization in hole SR18-80 that averaged 1.58% Li 2 O. Six holes totalling 1,548 metres were completed. All holes intersected significant lithium mineralization, both petalite and lepidolite-petalite bearing, as detailed in the tables below. An updated resource estimate is being prepared which is expected to be completed by the end of April. Metallurgical process optimization and environmental work is also continuing and the results of this work, along with the revised resource estimate, will be used to complete an updated technical report this spring.

The drilling program consisted of four holes (SR18-77 to 80) on the main deposit. Two additional holes (SR18-75 and 76) were drilled on the Western Pegmatite, about 700 metres to the west of the main deposit. Both intersected significant petalite mineralization over true widths of up to three metres, confirming lateral continuity of the deposit to the west over relatively narrow widths. All four holes in the main deposit yielded significant intersections of both Petalite Zone ("PZ") and Lepidolite-Petalite Zone ("LPZ") mineralization outside of the existing mineral resource that will result in additions to the total resource tonnage.

Holes 77 and 78 tested depth extensions on the west side of the main deposit to approximately 250 metres below surface and intersected mainly PZ mineralization outside the existing deposit resource volume. The intercepts of 1.1% Li 2 O over 50.9 metres cumulative thickness in hole 77 and 1.33% Li 2 O over a 18.7 metre thickness in hole 78 will add to the total lithium resources.

Holes 79 and 80 tested the east side of the main deposit to similar depths and intersected a wider zone of lepidolite-rich LPZ lithium mineralization than expected. Hole 79 intersected 62.27 metres of LPZ mineralization within an interval of 77.05 metres averaging 1.27% Li 2 O, which also includes other zones of PZ mineralization. This represents an estimated true thickness of 33.46 metres of LPZ mineralization. Hole 80 intersected 1.51% Li 2 O over a cumulative thickness of 62.85 metres of which 37.75 metres was LPZ mineralization and the remainder was PZ petalite mineralization. The LPZ mineralization in these two holes is largely outside the existing resource model, thus increasing the overall resource and confidence levels in this part of the deposit.

Metallurgical and Environmental Update

Metallurgical process optimization work is focused on further improving process efficiencies to reduce costs and maximizing the number of valuable products recoverable from the resource.

Flotation testwork has just been completed with regards to the recovery of both lepidolite and petalite concentrates from the LPZ mineralization. Initial results are demonstrating high (>85%) overall lithium recoveries and concentrate compositions in line with market requirements. Investigations on incorporating lithium selective membrane(s) into the lithium hydroxide production process are also nearing completion and results to date suggest the anticipated reductions in CAPEX, OPEX and environmental footprint are likely. Lastly, optimization of the petalite concentrate decrepitation and acid leaching processes is also proving to be very successful, with results either matching or exceeding expectations for this critical and complex part of the lithium hydroxide hydrometallurgical process. Final results from all three of these programs are expected during April.

These process advances will also have positive environmental benefits, including significant reductions in waste materials, reagent and energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions. This will result in decreases in associated environmental management costs. Drill holes were also utilized to collect water samples that indicated very clean water from the area of the lithium resource. Most of the field work to complete the validation of the extensive historical environmental baseline database has been completed and will be finalized in the second quarter. This work will be utilized to continue the positive engagement activities with the local Indigenous communities and will also be utilized in ongoing permitting activities.

The technical information included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by the Company's Vice President, Exploration, Dr. William Mercer, P. Geo (Ont), and Dave Marsh, FAusIMM (CP), Senior Vice President, Metallurgy and Technology Development, both Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.

About Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.

Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. is a Canadian mineral development company specializing in niche market metals and minerals with growing demand in new technology. The Company has three advanced stage projects, all 100%-owned, providing investors with exposure to lithium, tin and indium, as well as rare earth elements, tantalum, niobium, and zirconium. Avalon is currently focusing on its Separation Rapids Lithium Project, Kenora, ON and its East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project, Yarmouth, NS. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones. For questions and feedback, please e-mail the Company at ir@AvalonAM.com, or phone Don Bubar, President & CEO at 416-364-4938.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to statements that an updated resource estimate is being prepared which is expected to be completed by the end of April, that results of metallurgical work, along with the revised resource estimate, will be used to complete an updated technical report this spring, that intercepts will add to the total lithium resources, that results to date suggest the anticipated reductions in CAPEX, OPEX and environmental footprint are likely, that final results from all three of the programs are expected during April, that these process advances will also have positive environmental benefits, that this will result in decreases in associated environmental management costs, that field work to complete the validation of the extensive historical environmental baseline database will be finalized in the second quarter, and that this work will be utilized to continue the positive engagement activities with the local Indigenous communities and will also be utilized in ongoing permitting activities. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "potential", "scheduled", "anticipates", "continues", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled", "targeted", "planned", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" or "will not be" taken, reached or result, "will occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Avalon to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. Although Avalon has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to market conditions, and the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses as well as those risk factors set out in the Company's current Annual Information Form, Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking statements have been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Avalon does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Table 1: Drill Hole Location and Specifications. Core Size HQ

Hole ID Easting [m] Northing [m] Collar dip [] Collar azimuth [] Final depth [m] SR18-75 387528 5569171 -50 180 109 SR18-76 387528 5569171 -65 180 157 SR18-77 388201 5569175 -65 180 316 SR18-78 388326 5569136 -65 178 343 SR18-79 388500 5569090 -67 175 313 SR18-80 388552 5569068 -67 175 310 TOTAL 1,548

Notes

All locations in UTM NAD83, Zone 15N Collar locations surveyed by licenced Ontario Land Surveyor/Canada Land Surveyor Downhole surveys completed using Devico DeviShot Survey Tool

Table 2: Significant Drill Hole intersections with lithium grades expressed as % lithium oxide

Drill Hole From To Drilled Width (m) Estimated True Width (m) Li 2 O % Lithology SR18-75

72.36 78.84 6.48 2.94 1.04 PZ 81.46 83.90 2.44 1.15 1.41 PZ SR18-76 116.50 117.35 0.85 0.40 2.28 PZ SR18-77

188.10 196.60 8.50 3.86 1.50 PZ 244.30 286.70 42.40 19.91 1.02 PZ, LPZ SR18-78 256.40 275.10 18.70 7.61 1.33 PZ SR18-79

Including

and 162.50 239.55 77.05 41.40 1.27 PZ, LPZ 167.93 201.50 33.57 18.04 1.38 LPZ 210.85 239.55 28.70 15.42 1.60 LPZ SR18-80





72.00 74.90 2.90 1.32 1.20 PZ 117.65 128.70 11.05 5.02 1.72 PZ 172.85 184.00 11.15 5.58 1.15 PZ 222.15 259.90 37.75 20.00 1.58 LPZ

Notes:
Infiniti Research, a global competitive intelligence solutions provider, has announced the completion of their new market opportunity engagement study on the car accessories industry. A leading car accessories supplier wanted to understand their penetration levels in different geographic segments better.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005797/en/

Infiniti's Market Opportunity Engagement Assists a Leading Car Accessories Supplier to Devise an Effective Route-to-Market. (Graphic: Business Wire)

According to the market opportunity engagement experts at Infiniti, "Market opportunity assists in defining the future growth opportunities of organizations."

The factors driving the global car accessories market are the increasing disposition toward vehicle customizations, growing demand for cars, and rising sales of pickup trucks in developed markets. Major players in the car accessories industry are mainly focusing on executing new technologies like lighting technology, biometric access, and active window displays. Such technological advancements are expected to witness better growth opportunities in the coming future.

Request a free proposal to see how Infiniti Research's solutions can help you.

The solution offered by Infiniti helped the client to assess the current market trends and build an active route-to-market strategy to market their products and services. The client was able to identify the future growth areas for the car accessories supplier concluding customer preferences and market opportunities.

This market opportunity engagement solution provided benefits that helped the client to:

Find potential areas to advertise and market their products

Evaluate their market saturation and penetration levels

To know more, ask an analyst

This market opportunity engagement solution provided predictive insights on:

Identifying a scalable approach to discover new growth opportunities

Assessing market trends for every single route-to-revenue

To read more, request a free proposal

View the complete market opportunity engagement study here:

https://www.infinitiresearch.com/casestudy/car-accessories-market-opportunity-engagement

About Infiniti Research

Established in 2003, Infiniti Research is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to help analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop intelligent business strategies.

With 15+ years of experience and offices across three continents, Infiniti Research has been instrumental in providing a complete range of competitive intelligence, strategy, and research services for over 550 companies across the globe.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005797/en/

Contacts:

Infiniti Research

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Consultant

US: +1 844 778 0600

UK: +44 203 893 3400

hello@infinitiresearch.com

https://www.infinitiresearch.com/contact-us
- Gorka Navea Joins the Firm's Brussels Office -

PALO ALTO, California, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Gorka Navea has joined the firm's antitrust practice as a partner in the Brussels office. Most recently, Navea served as deputy head of a cartel unit of the Directorate-General for Competition (DG Comp) of the European Commission (EC).

Navea will focus his practice on advising clients on antitrust matters, including cartel investigations and competition-related factors relevant to mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property.

"Gorka has a distinguished career as a one of the preeminent cartels and merger review specialists in the European Union," said Doug Clark, the firm's managing partner. "Given the expanded and global scope of enforcement by competition authorities, clients need an expert practitioner like Gorka who has worked at the highest levels of the EC and is closely familiar with European competition law. We're especially pleased that he has joined our firm, and his addition to our Brussels office represents growth in one of our core and most successful practice areas."

As a deputy head in the DG Comp's cartels directorate since 2015, Navea prosecuted a number of cartel investigations and was responsible for reviewing proposed settlements between the EC's cartel enforcement unit and companies under investigation. Previously, from 2013 to 2014, he served as a member of the cabinet of EC Vice President and Commissioner for Competition Joaquin Almunia. During that time, Navea was responsible for merger and antitrust investigations in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, life sciences, food, manufacturing, and transportation industries. He was also responsible for all cartel investigations, including those in the financial services and automotive parts sectors.

From 2008 to 2013, Navea was a case handler for the DG Comp, where he worked on mergers in the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors, and later had a policy brief in the unit coordinating all cartel, antitrust, and merger investigations. Navea started his career in 1999 in the Brussels office of Coudert Brothers, and then worked as an associate for six years at Freshfields and Clifford Chance in Brussels and Madrid.

Navea received his Licenciatura en Derecho (J.D.) in 1996 and diploma in EC law in 1997, both from the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. He is a member of the bars of Spain and Brussels.

Based in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Brussels, the highly regarded antitrust practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advises clients with respect to mergers and acquisitions, criminal and civil investigations by government agencies, antitrust litigation, and issues involving intellectual property, consumer protection, and privacy. Working with Fortune 100 global enterprises, as well as venture-backed start-up companies, our attorneys have expertise in virtually every significant industry sector, including technology, media, healthcare, services, transportation, and manufacturing. The internationally recognized practice has been involved in several of the most important antitrust matters of the past decade and has obtained favorable antitrust outcomes for clients as diverse as Mylan, Google, Twitter, Live Nation, Netflix, Trulia, Seagate, Nuance, Coca-Cola, Glencore, The McClatchy Company, Brocade, Pixar, Micron, and Autodesk. Our Brussels-based competition attorneys have represented leading companies, such as Air France-KLM, Brocade, Coherent, Dell, Dolby, Glencore, Google, Mastercard, Mylan, and W.R. Grace, on various competition law issues and advised clients on some of the most complex cross-border transactions and investigations.

About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE.For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com.

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DUBLIN (dpa-AFX) - Allergan plc (AGN) and Gedeon Richter Plc announced positive topline results for RGH-MD-53, a Phase 3 study of cariprazine for the treatment of adults with major depressive episodes associated with bipolar I disorder or bipolar I depression.



In December 2017, the companies announced positive topline results for the second pivotal trial (RGH-MD-54) of cariprazine in the treatment of bipolar I depression. In that trial, both cariprazine 1.5mg and 3mg were statistically greater than placebo.



The companies noted that the efficacy of cariprazine in the treatment of bipolar I depression was demonstrated in three positive pivotal trials, including RGH-MD-53, RGH-MD-54 and RGH-MD-56.



For RGH-MD-53, the primary and key secondary efficacy endpoints were met for the cariprazine 1.5 mg dose group. In this study, 493 patients were randomized to placebo, cariprazine 1.5 mg and cariprazine 3 mg treatment groups to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of cariprazine in patients with bipolar I depression.



Cariprazine 1.5 mg showed a significantly greater improvement than placebo for the change from baseline to week 6 on both the primary efficacy parameter, the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale or MADRS total score as well as the key secondary parameter, Clinical Global Impression Scale-Severity or CGI-S.



Cariprazine 3 mg showed a numerical improvement over placebo for both the primary and secondary parameters, but did not reach statistical significance.



Allergan said it plans to include data from all three pivotal trials in its Supplemental New Drug Application or sNDA to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the second half of 2018.



Cariprazine is currently approved in the U.S. under the brand name 'Vraylar' for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults, and acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults.



'We are very pleased with the results of our third pivotal study, which reinforce the wealth of data supporting cariprazine as a potential treatment in adults with bipolar depression. Bipolar depression is often difficult to treat and can be extremely debilitating for patients,' said David Nicholson, Chief Research & Development Officer at Allergan.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - Pacific Empire Minerals Corp. (TSXV: PEMC) ("PEMC" or the "Company"), a hybrid prospect generator focused in British Columbia, is pleased to announce it has commenced a reverse circulation ("RC") drilling program on its Red JV copper-gold property (the "Property" or "Red JV") in south-central British Columbia.

"By using the Company's own, custom built, RC drill rig to advance projects within our portfolio, we will be capable of advancing projects beyond the stage of traditional project generators," commented Brad Peters, President and CEO of PEMC. "In addition, we feel it may be possible to achieve this with a considerable reduction in the costs associated with contracting these services out."

The 1,315 hectare property encompasses 100%-owned claims, contributed by PEMC and by EnGold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: EGM "EnGold"), to form a 50:50 joint venture which consolidates ground covering a strong porphyry-copper exploration target. Under the JV with EnGold, either party may proceed with exploration programs at its own expense without dilution to the other party, such as this 100% PEMC funded program.





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The exploration target consists of a 2.4 x 1.4 kilometre wide area of anomalous IP chargeability, coincident with anomalous copper-in-soil geochemistry and a favourable magnetic signature, located approximately 1.6 kilometres to the southwest of EnGold's G1 Discovery zone. The surrounding area is host to numerous skarn and copper-gold porphyry prospects including EnGold's Spout Copper Deposit 1.9 km to the north and EnGold's Aurizon South Gold Deposit 6 km to the east.





Red JV Exploration Target

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The Red JV Property lies entirely within the outer boundaries of EnGold's Lac La Hache property, located approximately 56 km east-southeast of Williams Lake and 16 km northeast of the village of Lac La Hache, which is serviced by BC Rail, BC Hydro and Westcoast Transmission natural gas.

Kamloops Exploration Group Conference

PEMC will be hosting a booth at the Kamloops Exploration Group ("KEG") conference on April 10th and 11th, 2018. Company management will be at booth #39 to meet shareholders and interested parties to answer any questions regarding the Company's 2018 exploration programs.

Additional information on the Company and its projects can be found on SEDAR at (www.sedar.com), and on the Company's website at www.pemcorp.ca. You may also email info@pemcorp.ca or call Investor Relations at (604) 356-6246.

Qualified Person

Rory Ritchie, P.Geo., is the Company's qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release, approving the disclosure herein. Mr. Ritchie is not independent of the Company as he is a consultant to the Company, a shareholder and holds incentive stock options.

About Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

PEMC is an exploration company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that employs a "hybrid prospect generator" business model and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PEMC. The Company's strong portfolio of projects is a result of continuous generative work conducted since the Company's inception in 2012.

By integrating the project generator business model with low-cost RC drilling, the company intends to leverage its portfolio by identifying, and focusing on, the highest quality projects for partnerships and advancement.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Brad Peters"

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pacific Empire Minerals Corp.

Tel: +1-604-356-6246

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements about the planned exploration of the Ashley Gold mine, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Christy Gillenwater is visiting each of the Chambers 12 Councils as a featured speaker to discuss her vision for the Chamber.

"The members of the Hixson Council appreciated hearing firsthand Christys fresh perspective on the Chamber's future goals, said Donald Kane, president of the Hixson Chamber Council. It is encouraging and motivating to learn that she intends to make entrepreneurship, talent retention in Chattanooga and industry-focused partnerships her priority to further the growth and success of our Councils."

Ms. Gillenwater has spoken at the Downtown, Hixson, North Chattanooga and North Hamilton Councils thus far.

The North Hamilton County Council was honored to be the first council of 12 to host Christy as speaker for our February luncheon," said Emily Graffius, vice president of communication for the North Hamilton Chamber Council. "Our Council members are eager to help her in the Chamber's initiatives for 2018."

Ms. Gillenwaters upcoming Council speaking engagements include: the International Business Council on Wednesday and the East Ridge Council on Thursday.

Its been a pleasure getting to know our wonderful Council volunteers, Ms. Gillenwater said. Their dedication to specific parts of the community help our Chamber have a farther reaching positive impact.

Prior to moving to Chattanooga in 2017 to lead the Chattanooga Chamber, Ms. Gillenwater headed the Southwest Indiana and Greater Bloomington Chambers of Commerce. Learn more about her here.

The Chambers Councils are the backbone of the Chamber's volunteer presence and support businesses in specific geographic areas of the community. They provide opportunities to discuss issues and support events and civic projects that benefit businesses, schools and other constituencies within the Council's footprint.

At monthly Council meetings, Chamber members enjoy opportunities to connect with each other and hear stimulating speakers. Each Council serves the unique needs of its members with its own board, strategic plan, annual budget, programs and initiatives.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2018 / SeeThruEquity, a leading independent equity research and corporate access firm focused on smallcap and microcap public companies, today announced it has initiated coverage on Avalon GloboCare Corp. (OTCQB: AVCO) with a target price of $4.00.

The report is available here: April 2018 Initiation Report.

We initiate coverage of Avalon GloboCare Corp. (OTCQB: AVCO, "Avalon") with a price target of $4.00. Headquartered in Freehold, NJ, Avalon is a diversified healthcare holding company focused on developing impactful cell-based technologies for the development of innovative diagnostics and therapeutics. Through its US subsidiary, GenExosome Technologies, Avalon is emerging as a leader in developing applications for exosome-based technologies for clinical development and product commercialization. Exosomes are nano-sized, membrane-enclosed vesicles secreted by cells in body fluids, which contain bioactive molecules, including proteins, DNAs, RNAs and microRNAs, and are thought to act as messengers to regulate cellular function. Exosomes are emerging as a significant new category of research with multi-billion-dollar potential for the development of advanced diagnostics (including liquid biopsy) and therapeutics to identify and potentially treat a range of unmet medical indications, including cancer, fibrotic diseases, and degenerative diseases, among others.

Highlights from the report include:

Avalon's Exosome Isolation System appears to be a significant advancement in extracting and isolating exosomes

Avalon's lead platform is the Exosomes Isolation System, which is a proprietary process for extracting and isolating exosomes efficiently from liquid biopsies for the development of exosome-based diagnostics. The company is also developing a solution for isolating exosomes from stem cell cultures, which has potential for application in the development of a wide range of therapeutics and exosome-based products. Avalon appears well positioned to capitalize from growing applications of exosome technology, given its proprietary method for isolation and extraction, which offers significant improvements in speed, purity, and complexity from existing methods.

Strong management, IP and partner network

We note that Avalon's technology is supported by several impressive industry and research partners, including Weill Cornell Medical College, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Mayo Clinic in the United States, as well as Lu Daopei Hospital of Daopei Medical Group (DPMG) and Da An Gene Co. Ltd (Shenzhen: 002030.SZ) in China. Avalon has an experienced and well-regarded management team, led by co-founders Chairman Daniel Lu and President & CEO David Jin, MD, Ph.D. Lu serves as Chairman and CEO of DaoPei Medical Group (DPMG), which comprises multiple hospitals, stem cell banks, and clinical labs in China. Dr. Jin brings Avalon extensive public company leadership experience including holding the role of Chief Medical Officer at BioTime, Inc. (BTX) and subsidiary OncoCyte Corporation (OCX). Avalon's technology is supported by an established patent portfolio in China covering exosome extraction from saliva, and the application of exosome-based methods for developing biomarkers for liver and oral cancer, among others.

Initiating coverage of Avalon GloboCare with price target of $4.00

We initiate coverage of Avalon with a price target of $4.00. We view Avalon as a speculative growth company in the biotechnology sector offering exposure to the multi-billion dollar market for advanced cell technologies and exosomes for development of liquid biopsy-based diagnostics and stem cell-based therapeutics for cancer, fibrotic diseases, degenerative diseases, as well as exosome-based products for anti-aging, hair growth, and skincare. If achieved, the target of $4.00 represents potential upside of 66% from the recent price of $2.41 on April 1, 2018.



Please review important disclosures at www.seethruequity.com.

About Avalon GloboCare Corp.

Avalon GloboCare Corp. (AVCO) is a global intelligent biotech developer and healthcare service provider dedicated to promoting and empowering high impact, transformative cell-based /technologies and their clinical applications, as well as healthcare facility management through its core platforms, namely "Avalon Cell" and "Avalon Rehab." In addition, Avalon provides strategic advisory and outsourcing services to facilitate and enhance their clients' growth, development, as well as competitiveness in both domestic and global healthcare markets. Avalon also engages in the management of stem cell banks and specialty clinical laboratories. Through its U.S. subsidiary, GenExosome Technologies Inc., Avalon further establishes its leading role in the fields of liquid biopsy, precision medicine and regenerative medicine.

About SeeThruEquity

Since its founding in 2011, SeeThruEquity has been committed to its core mission: providing impactful, high quality research on underfollowed smallcap and microcap equities. SeeThruEquity has pioneered an innovative approach to deliver equity research of microcap and smallcap companies. SeeThruEquity has also been the host of acclaimed investor conferences that are the ultimate event for publicly traded companies with market capitalizations less than $1 billion since 2012.

SeeThruEquity is approved to contribute its research reports and estimates to Thomson One Analytics (First Call), the leading estimates platform on Wall Street, as well as Capital IQ and FactSet. SeeThruEquity maintains one of the industry's most extensive databases of opt-in institutional and high net worth investors. The firm is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

For more information visit www.seethruequity.com.

Contact:

SeeThruEquity

info@seethruequity.com

SOURCE: SeeThruEquity
Aarhus, Denmark, 2018-04-03 15:10 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Annual General Meeting of Vestas Wind Systems A/S was held today. Agenda and resolutions 1. The Board of Directors' report on the company's activities during the past year The report is not a subject for voting. The Annual General Meeting took note of the report. 2. Presentation and adoption of the annual report The annual report 2017 was adopted. 3. Resolution for the allocation of the result of the year according to the adopted annual report The Board of Directors' proposal for allocation of the result of the year, including a dividend of DKK 9.23 per share to be paid out for 2017, was approved. 4. Election of members to the Board of Directors 4.1. Decision regarding the number of members of the Board of Directors The Board of Directors' proposal to extend the Board by one additional member meaning that the Board of Directors will consist of nine members in total, was approved. 4.2. Election of members to the Board of Directors Bert Nordberg, Carsten Bjerg, Eija Pitkanen, Henrik Andersen, Henry Stenson, Lars Josefsson, Lykke Friis and Torben Ballegaard Srensen were re-elected as members of the Board of Directors, and in addition, Jens Hesselberg Lund was elected as a new member. 5. Adoption of the remuneration of the Board of Directors 5.1. Final approval of the remuneration of the Board of Directors for 2017 The Board of Directors proposed that the remuneration of the Board of Directors and the members of board committees remain unchanged as pre-approved by the general meeting in 2017. The final remuneration of the Board of Directors and the members of the board committees for 2017 was approved. 5.2. Approval of the level of remuneration of the Board of Directors for 2018 The Board of Directors proposed that the level of remuneration for 2018 be based upon a fixed basic remuneration of DKK 400,000 per board member, with two times and three times the basic remuneration for the deputy chairman and chairman, respectively, as well as remuneration of DKK 250,000 per board committee membership, and DKK 450,000 to each board committee chairman. The proposal was approved. 6. Appointment of auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab was re-appointed as auditor of the company. 7. Proposals from the Board of Directors 7.1. Reduction of the company's share capital The Board of Directors proposed that the company's share capital be reduced from nominally DKK 215,496,947 to nominally DKK 205,696,003 through cancellation of treasury shares (distribution to the shareholders). The proposal was approved. 7.2. Renewal of the authorisation to acquire treasury shares The Board of Directors' authorisation to acquire treasury shares on an ongoing basis until 31 December 2019 was approved. 7.3. Renewal of the authorisations to increase the share capital The Board of Directors proposed that its authorisation to increase the company's share capital of up to a total nominal amount of DKK 21,549,694 be renewed to be valid until 1 April 2023, and furthermore that newly issued shares shall be paid in full. The proposal was approved. 8. Authorisation of the chairman of the general meeting The chairman (with a right of substitution) was authorised to file and register the adopted resolutions with the Danish Business Authority and make such amendments as requested by the Danish Business Authority. - - - - - - - After the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors held its initial board meeting. At the meeting, Bert Nordberg was re-elected as chairman of the Board and Lars Josefsson was re-elected as deputy chairman of the Board. Contact details Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Denmark Patrik Setterberg, Vice President, Investor Relations Tel: +45 6122 1913 Attachment: https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=671832
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - CannabisNewsAudio announces the Audio Press Release (APR) titled "Cannabis Continues to Provide Progress in Medical Sector," featuring PreveCeutical Medical Inc. (OTCQB: PRVCF) (CSE: PREV) (FSE: 18H).

To hear the NetworkNewsAudio version, visit http://nnw.fm/7f5gT

To read the original editorial, visit http://nnw.fm/8ORpf

Led by its director of International Operations, Dr. Maher Khaled, PreveCeutical (Australia) Pty Ltd will work closely with the company's chief research officer, Dr. Harry Parekh, to advance the company's goal of providing new health care options based on rigorous research. This expansion into Australia has been shaped by the country's strong academic and clinical research, as well as support from government programs. The Australian government supports scientific innovation through a range of programs and incentives, including a research and development tax break. This provides a 43.5 percent tax offset for eligible R&D activities, from which PreveCeutical's new subsidiary will benefit. The company's Australian research program is centered around the Sol-gel system (http://cnw.fm/on3FQ). An innovative drug delivery system, Sol-gel consists of medicine in liquid form that patients administer via the nasal cavity. There, it forms a gel that stays in place, slowly and steadily releasing active ingredients into the bloodstream.

About PreveCeutical Medical Inc.

PreveCeutical Medical Inc. is a health sciences company that develops innovative preventive therapies utilizing organic and nature identical products. PreveCeutical aims to be a leader in preventive health sciences and currently has five research and development programs, including: dual gene therapy for curative and prevention therapies for diabetes and obesity; a Sol-gel platform for nose to brain delivery of medical compounds including cannabinoids; Nature Identical peptides for treatment of various ailments; non-addictive analgesic peptides as a replacement to highly addictive analgesics such as morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone; and a therapeutic product for treating athletes who suffer from concussions (mild traumatic brain injury). PreveCeutical sells CELLB9, an Immune System Booster. CELLB9 is an oral solution containing polarized and potentiated essential minerals extracted from a novel peptide obtained from Caribbean Blue Scorpion venom. For more information visit www.PreveCeutical.com.

About CannabisNewsWire (CNW)

CannabisNewsWire ("CNW") is a specialized information service that (1) aggregates cannabis news, (2) provides CannabisNewsBreaks that quickly updates investors in the space, (3) enhances corporate press releases, (4) helps companies with distribution and optimization of social media, and (5) delivers comprehensive corporate communication solutions. CNW is uniquely positioned in the cannabis market with a strong team of journalists and writers who can help private and public companies reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public through our ever-growing dissemination network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets. CNW is bringing unparalleled visibility, recognition and content to the cannabis industry.

For more information please visit https://wwwCannabisNewsWire.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://CNW.fm/Disclaimer

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains 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 forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

CNW Corporate Communications Contact:

CannabisNewsWire (CNW)

Denver, Colorado

www.CannabisNewsWire.com

303.498.7722 Office

Editor@CannabisNewsWire.net
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - Therma Bright Inc. (TSXV: THRM) ("Therma Bright" or the "Company"), a progressive medical device technology company, announces that further to its news releases on March 14, 2018 the Company has agreed to amend the definitive asset purchase agreement (the "Agreement') with the ICTV Brands group of companies, including ICTV Brands, Inc., pursuant to which it has agreed to acquire from the sellers the ClearTouch nail phototherapy device (the "Nail Product") and the no!no! skin phototherapy acne device (the "Acne Product", and together with the Nail Product, the "Purchased Products"), together with certain assets relating to the Purchased Products, but excluding any liabilities related thereto. The Purchased Products do not include any rights to the trademark or name "no!no!" or "no!no! skin". This transaction is an arm's length transaction.

The Company and ICTV are currently negotiating terms including a revised closing date and will report back once the amendment is signed. Therma management expects to negotiate more advantageous terms for the Company.

About Therma Bright Inc.:

Therma Bright is a progressive medical device technology company focused on providing consumers with quality medical devices that address their dermatological needs. Clear and healthy skin for all is at the core of the Company's philosophy as is the belief that such outcomes should not be a privilege for only those who can afford costly procedures and treatments. The Company's breakthrough proprietary technology delivers effective, non-invasive and pain free skin care.

Therma Bright received a Class II medical device status from the FDA for its platform technology that is indicated for the relief of the pain, itch, and inflammation from over 20,000 different insect stings and bites, (including bees, wasps, hornets, mosquitoes, black flies and jellyfish). The Company received approval for the above claims from FDA (United States) in 1997.

Therma Bright Inc. trades on the TSXV (TSXV: THRM). For more information visit: www.thejenexcorporation.com or www.therozap.com.

For further information please contact:

Therma Bright Inc.

Rob Fia

CEO

rfia@thejenexcorporation.com

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking" statements. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance and include the closing of the acquisition of the Purchased Products and financing related thereto, all as described in the news release. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to other risks, the Company may not complete the purchase of or commercialization or marketing of the Proposed Acquisitions as described in this news on the timelines described and the Company may not attract a financing in the future. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.

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 press release.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES
TORONTO, ON and NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2018 / AcuityAds Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: AT) ('AcuityAds' or the 'Company'), a technology leader that provides targeted digital media solutions by leveraging its proprietary AI technology to enable advertisers to connect intelligently with audiences across video, mobile, social and online display advertising campaigns, today announced that Tal Hayek, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of AcuityAds will be presenting at this year's MicroCap Conference on April 9th at 1:00 PM ET at the Essex House in New York City.

About MicroCap Conference

The MicroCap Conference provides a unique opportunity to meet one-on-one with management of some of the most attractive companies, network with other like-minded investors, and sharpen your sills by learning from our industry panels and expert speakers. This event will bring together over 120 presenting companies across sectors, and north of 600 attendees from the micro-cap investment community.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please visit: www.microcapconf.com.

Or, contact Tony Yu, CEO at tony@microcapconf.com.

News Compliments of ACCESSWIRE.

About AcuityAds:

AcuityAds is a leading technology company that provides marketers a powerful and holistic solution for digital advertising across all ad formats and screens to amplify reach and Share of Attention throughout the customer journey. Via its unique, data-driven insights, real-time analytics and industry-leading activation platform based on proprietary machine learning technology, AcuityAds leverages an integrated ecosystem of partners for data, inventory, brand safety and fraud prevention, offering unparalleled, trusted solutions that the most demanding marketers require to be successful in the digital era.

AcuityAds is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with offices across North America including New York City, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. For more information, visit www.AcuityAds.com.

SOURCE: AcuityAds Holdings Inc.
MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / April 3, 2018 / PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (http://pyrogenesis.com) (TSX-V: PYR), (the 'Company,' the 'Corporation' or 'PyroGenesis') a Company that designs, develops and manufactures plasma waste-to-energy systems and plasma torch systems, announced today that Peter Pascali, CEO & President of PyroGenesis will be presenting at this year's MicroCap Conference on April 9th at 12:00 PM ET at the Essex House in New York City.

About MicroCap Conference

The MicroCap Conference provides a unique opportunity to meet one-on-one with management of some of the most attractive companies, network with other like-minded investors, and sharpen your skills by learning from our industry panels and expert speakers. This event will bring together over 120 presenting companies across sectors, and north of 600 attendees from the micro-cap investment community.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please visit: www.microcapconf.com

Or, contact Tony Yu, CEO at tony@microcapconf.com.

News Compliments of ACCESSWIRE.

About PyroGenesis Canada Inc.

PyroGenesis Canada Inc. is the world leader in the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced plasma processes. We provide engineering and manufacturing expertise, cutting-edge contract research, as well as turnkey process equipment packages to the defense, metallurgical, mining, advanced materials (including 3D printing), oil & gas, and environmental industries. With a team of experienced engineers, scientists and technicians working out of our Montreal office and our 3,800 m2 manufacturing facility, PyroGenesis maintains its competitive advantage by remaining at the forefront of technology development and commercialization. Our core competencies allow PyroGenesis to lead the way in providing innovative plasma torches, plasma waste processes, high-temperature metallurgical processes, and engineering services to the global marketplace. Our operations are ISO 9001:2008 certified, and have been since 1997. PyroGenesis is a publicly-traded Canadian Corporation on the TSX Venture Exchange (Ticker Symbol: PYR) and on the OTCQB Marketplace. For more information, please visit www.pyrogenesis.com.

For further information please contact: Rodayna Kafal, VP, Investor Relations and Strategic Business Development, Phone: (514) 937-0002, E-mail: ir@pyrogenesis.com.

RELATED LINKS: http://www.pyrogenesis.com/.

SOURCE: PyroGenesis Canada Inc.


COPENHAGEN (dpa-AFX) - Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWDRY.PK) said that the Board of Directors' proposal to extend the Board by one additional member meaning that the Board of Directors will consist of nine members in total, was approved. The annual report 2017 was adopted. The Board of Directors' proposal for allocation of the result of the year, including a dividend of DKK 9.23 per share to be paid out for 2017, was approved.



Bert Nordberg, Carsten Bjerg, Eija Pitkanen, Henrik Andersen, Henry Stenson, Lars Josefsson, Lykke Friis and Torben Ballegaard Srensen were re-elected as members of the Board of Directors, and in addition, Jens Hesselberg Lund was elected as a new member.



The Board of Directors' authorisation to acquire treasury shares on an ongoing basis until 31 December 2019 was approved.



The Board of Directors proposed that the remuneration of the Board of Directors and the members of board committees remain unchanged as pre-approved by the general meeting in 2017. The final remuneration of the Board of Directors and the members of the board committees for 2017 was approved.



The Board of Directors proposed that the level of remuneration for 2018 be based upon a fixed basic remuneration of DKK 400,000 per board member, with two times and three times the basic remuneration for the deputy chairman and chairman, respectively, as well as remuneration of DKK 250,000 per board committee membership, and DKK 450,000 to each board committee chairman. The proposal was approved.



The Board of Directors proposed that its authorisation to increase the company's share capital of up to a total nominal amount of DKK 21.55 million be renewed to be valid until 1 April 2023, and furthermore that newly issued shares shall be paid in full. The proposal was approved.



PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab was re-appointed as auditor of the company.



After the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors held its initial board meeting. At the meeting, Bert Nordberg was re-elected as chairman of the Board and Lars Josefsson was re-elected as deputy chairman of the Board.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Geospatial software solutions company 1Spatial has been awarded a contract worth 1.6m to provide its software and services to Land & Property Services(LPS) in Northern Ireland. The contract will see 1Spatial build upon existing software to take LPS to the full 1Spatial Management Suite (1SMS), securing and increasing future recurring revenues for the group. 1SMS will support LPS in maintaining the accuracy of its data by providing an automated workflow to allow users to identify an area of ...

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.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Facing criticism over her handling of abuse allegations against her former chief of staff, Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., revealed Monday she has decided not to seek re-election.



Esty said in a post on Facebook she determined that retiring from Congress at the end of her current term is in the best interest of her constituents and her family.



The announcement from Esty comes following reports she kept then-chief of staff Tony Baker on the payroll for three months despite accusations of abuse and harassment against a female staffer.



'Too many women have been harmed by harassment in the workplace. In the terrible situation in my office, I could have and should have done better,' Esty said. 'To the survivor, I want to express my strongest apology for letting you down.'



Esty said she would use her final months in office to fight for stronger workplace protections and to provide employees with a platform to raise concerns, address problems, and work to reduce and eliminate such occurrences.



Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said Esty made the right decision not to run for another term after previously indicating that she would not resign.



Meanwhile, National Republican Congressional Committee Communications Director Matt Gorman argued Esty's handling of the abuse allegations was 'as reprehensible as it was morally bankrupt.'



'The NRCC is ready to win this competitive seat this fall,' Gorman said. 'Democrats won't be able to distance themselves from the stain Esty left on their brand.'



Two-time Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Mary Glassman jumped into the race following Esty's announcement, with the move expected to draw a number of other candidates.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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SANTA CLARA, California, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Trianz, a global digital transformation consulting and technology services firm, is a Platinum Sponsor of this year's USC Bay Area Marshall Partners Signature Event. Organized by the USC Marshall School of Business, the annual gathering is a platform for members to experience unique opportunities at exclusive venues, while networking closely with industry leaders across the business world.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/452308/PRNE_TrianzUpdated_Logo.jpg )

The 2018 edition - also the sixth - of the event will revolve around the theme 'Evolution of Entrepreneurship: From Funding to Market'. Slated for April 4 (Wednesday) at the Redwood City Electronic Arts campus in San Francisco (California, U.S.), the conference will have an acclaimed and interactive panel of USC alumni, who are at various stages of their entrepreneurial journeys, share their experiences with the attendees. Discussions will delve into the changing face of entrepreneurship, how some of the industry's most passionate and driven leaders have leveraged emerging trends and opportunities, overcome industry challenges, and the lessons they have learned along the way.

Prominent alumni who will speak at the event include Ken Klein, USC Trustee; Suzy Ryoo, VP Technology/Innovation and Partner at Atom Factory/Cross Culture Ventures; Tracy Lawrence, CEO and Co-founder of Chewse; and Mark Stevens, Managing Partner of S-Cubed Capital. Both Klein and Stevens are USC trustees.

Speaking on the sponsorship, Sri Manchala, President and CEO of Trianz, said, "Trianz and the USC Marshall School of Business share a common ideology; that success is a function of innovation, collaborative research, an understanding of global marketplaces, and social responsibility. Trianz' association with USC's Inside Entrepreneurship event, therefore, is a symbiotic validation of our individual commitments towards enabling business transformations that can address the challenges of a rapidly changing business environment."

"We are so grateful to Trianz for supporting our USC Marshall Partners: Inside Entrepreneurship signature event. Their support will make it possible for over 120 Marshall guests - alumni, parents and friends - to learn from some of the most established and up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley. The funds that we raise from guests via this event allow our Deans to fund new programming, new scholarships, student travel, cutting-edge initiatives, and thought leadership. Trianz is committed to helping the USC Marshall School provide its students with the finest business education," Guillermina Molina, Senior Director, Marshall Fund and Alumni Affairs, USC Marshall School of Business, said in a statement.

About USC Marshall School of Business

The USC Marshall School of Business is the business school of the University of Southern California. It is the first AACSB-accredited business school in Southern California. The current Dean is James G. Ellis. The school is built on a promise: that rigorous intellectual inquiry and unprecedented global opportunity can combine to create an extraordinary environment. Located in the heart of Los Angeles - one of the world's most diverse, dynamic and vibrant metropolises - and at the gateway to the Pacific Rim, Marshall provides an unparalleled perspective on 21st century business.

About Trianz

Trianz simplifies digital evolutions through effective strategies and excellence in execution. Collaborating with business and technology leaders, we help formulate and execute operational strategies to achieve intended business outcomes by bringing the best of consulting, technology experiences and execution models. Powered by knowledge, research, and perspectives, we enable clients to transition to a digital enterprise by leveraging Cloud, Analytics, Digital, Infrastructure and Security paradigms. With offices in Silicon Valley, Washington DC Metro, Rosemont, Chicago, Austin, Boston, Denver, Irvine, Raleigh, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Dubai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, we serve Fortune 1000 and emerging organizations across industries globally. For more information, visithttp://www.trianz.com.

Trianz Media Team

Media.Contact@trianz.com

+1-408-387-5800


Chattanooga Police have charged Britian Crutcher in the Nov. 18, 2017, homicide of 28-year-old Ladarius Cross. Crutcher, who has been in the county jail on other charges since Nov. 22, is charged with criminal homicide. Crutcher, who has been in the county jail on other charges since Nov.22, is charged with criminal homicide. On Nov. 18, 2017, at approximately 5:16 a.m. , police responded to the 800 block of Wheeler Avenue, where two victims were found suffering from gunshot wounds. Cross was pronounced deceased on scene and Terrance Careathers, 26, was suffering from non-life threatening injuries. Police said investigators worked continuously for more than four months to piece information together in order to charge Crutcher on Tuesday .





The circumstances surrounding the homicide remain under investigation, it was stated.

In 2011, Crutcher was charged in a residential robbery at 1994 Appling St. in which the victims were forced to disrobe. Crutcher, who was 19 at the time, was charged with aggravated robbery, three counts of aggravated kidnapping, three counts of aggravated assault and theft over $1,000.

A woman told police that as her daughter was preparing to leave for school, three suspects rushed into her home demanding money. She and her daughter were forced into a bathroom where her boyfriend was. The victims were made to disrobe while the suspects ransacked the home.
TORONTO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. ("First Quantum" or the "Company", TSX Symbol "FM")today provided an update on the previously reported legal proceedings between its subsidiary Kansanshi Holdings Ltd., and ZCCM International Holdings Plc ("ZCCM"), the minority shareholder in Kansanshi Mining Plc ("KMP").

KMP reports the February 22, 2018 ruling by the Arbitral Tribunal which denied permission for ZCCM to proceed for failing to establish a prima facie case, thereby ending the arbitration. The ruling followed the hearing of submissions from both sides over a three-day period in January 2018. As a result of this ruling, ZCCM is liable for costs incurred with this proceeding. ZCCM has since appealed the ruling which they allege is misconceived and meritless.

On March 7, 2018, the parties in the Statement of Claim filed in the Lusaka High Court mutually consented to a stay of proceedings. The stay is pending resolution of an appeal by the Company and other named defendants of the Court's decision to reserve judgment on the point that the claims were filed beyond the statute of limitations.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

G. Clive Newall

President

For further information visit our website athttp://www.first-quantum.com.

North American contact:

Sharon Loung

Director

Investor Relations

Tel: (647)-346-3934

Fax: (604)-688-3818

Toll Free: +1-(888)-688-6577

E-Mail: sharon.loung@fqml.com

United Kingdom contact:

Clive Newall

President

Tel: +44(0)-140-327-3484

Fax: +44(0)-140-327-3494

E-Mail: clive.newall@fqml.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off foreign aid to Honduras if a caravan of approximately 1,000 migrants reaches the U.S. border. Trump also reiterated his willingness to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement unless the caravan currently moving through Mexico is stopped. 'The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there,' Trump said in a post on Twitter on Tuesday. He added, 'Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!' The tweet from Trump is the latest responding to the news of the caravan organized by a group called Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders. 'Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large 'Caravans' of people enter their country,' Trump tweeted on Monday. He added, 'They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws.' Pueblo Sin Fronteras project coordinator Alex Mensing told CNN the caravan's primary goal is to 'flee Central America' and seek asylum either within Mexico or the United States. In 2016, the U.S. provided approximately $128 million in foreign aid to Honduras, which is one of Latin America's poorest nations. (Photo: Gage Skidmore) 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.
Regulatory News:

Euronext (Paris:ENX) (Amsterdam:ENX) (Brussels:ENX) today announced that its Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Tuesday 15 May 2018 at 10.30am CET, at Beursplein 5, 1012 JW Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

1. Opening

2. Presentation of the Chief Executive Officer (discussion item)

3. Annual report 2017

a. Explanation of the implementation of the remuneration policy (discussion item)

b. Explanation of the policy on additions to reserves and dividends (discussion item)

c. Proposal to adopt the 2017 financial statements (voting item 1)

d. Proposal to adopt a dividend of EUR 1.73 per ordinary share (voting item 2)

e. Proposal to discharge the members of the Managing Board in respect of their duties performed during the year 2017 (voting item 3)

f. Proposal to discharge the members of the Supervisory Board in respect of their duties performed during the year 2017 (voting item 4)

4. Composition of the Supervisory Board

a. Re-appointment of Manuel Ferreira da Silva as a member of the Supervisory Board (voting item 5)

b. Re-appointment of Lieve Mostrey as a member of the Supervisory Board (voting item 6)

c. Appointment of Luc Keuleneer as a member of the Supervisory Board (voting item 7)

d. Appointment of Padraic O'Connor as a member of the Supervisory Board (voting item 8)

5. Composition of the Managing Board

a. Appointment of Deirdre Somers as a member of the Managing Board (voting item 9)

6. Proposal to amend the remuneration policy (voting item 10)

7. Proposal regarding the remuneration of the Supervisory Board (voting item 11)

8. Proposal to appoint the external auditor (voting item 12)

9. Proposal to designate the Managing Board as the competent body:

a. to issue ordinary shares (voting item 13); and

b. to restrict or exclude the pre-emptive rights of shareholders (voting item 14)

10. Proposal to authorise the Managing Board to acquire ordinary shares in the share capital of the company on behalf of the company (voting item 15)

11. Corporate governance (discussion item)

12. Any other business

13. Close

The AGM will be conducted in English.

Registration date

Pursuant to Dutch law and Euronext N.V.'s Articles of Association, the persons who will be considered as entitled to attend and vote at the AGM are those persons who are registered as such in the administrations held by their financial intermediaries (the "Shareholders") on Tuesday 17 April 2018, after processing of all settlements on that date (the "Registration Date").

Registration

Shareholders holding their shares through Euroclear France S.A. (i.e. the public) who wish to attend the AGM, provide instructions or grant a power of attorney to vote on their behalf, must complete the form (voting form attendance card request) provided for this purpose by their financial intermediary or by Euronext Securities Department BNP PARIBAS Securities Services. The Shareholders should be aware that these documents must be received, no later than Tuesday 8 May 2018 by their financial intermediary for receipt no later than Wednesday 9 May 2018 by BNP Paribas Securities Service CTS Assemblees Generales, 9 rue du Debarcadere 93761 Pantin Cedex, France.

The financial intermediary should deliver to the Shareholder a certificate of holding containing: name and city of residence of the Shareholder; number of shares; name and city of residence of the attendee (if different from the Shareholder) and declaration that the shares were in custody with the Euroclear France admitted institution on the Registration Date. This certificate will serve as the admission certificate for the AGM for the Shareholder.

Shareholders holding their shares through Interbolsa in Portugal who wish to attend the AGM, provide instructions or grant a power of attorney to vote on their behalf, must complete the form (voting form attendance card request) provided for this purpose by Euronext Securities Department BNP PARIBAS Securities Services. The Shareholders should be aware that these documents must be received, no later than Tuesday 8 May 2018 by their financial intermediary for receipt no later than Wednesday 9 May 2018 by BNP Paribas Securities Services, PT Local Team, Edificio ART'S Av. D. Joao II Lote 1.18.01, Bloco B, 1998-028 Lisboa, Portugal. The financial intermediary should deliver to the Shareholder a certificate of holding containing: name and city of residence of the Shareholder; number of shares on the Registration Date; name and city of residence of the attendee (if different from the Shareholder). This certificate will serve as admission certificate for the AGM for the Shareholder.

We advise Shareholders to make contact with their financial intermediary for any questions.

Persons without a valid admission certificate will not be given access to the meeting. Attendants may be asked for identification prior to being admitted.

At the time of the publication of this convening notice, Euronext's total issued share capital in number of issued shares and in voting rights is published on Euronext's website:

https://www.euronext.com/investors/share/capital-shareholding

AGM Documentation

The AGM Documentation (i.e. this convening notice, the agenda and the explanatory notes thereto including the information on the person to be appointed to the Managing Board with article 2:142 paragraph 3 of the Dutch Civil Code, as well as the Annual Report 2017) is available:

at the registered office of Euronext N.V.: Beursplein 5, 1012 JW Amsterdam, The Netherlands

at the following addresses

in Belgium: Euronext, Rue du Marquis, 1, bte 1 Markiesstraat 1, b1, 1000 Bruxelles 1000 Brussel, Belgium

in France: Euronext, 14, place des Reflets, 92054 Paris La Defense Cedex, France

in Portugal: Euronext, Av. da Liberdade, n. 196 7, 1250-147 Lisboa, Portugal

in the United Kingdom: Euronext, 10th floor, 110 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6EU, United Kingdom

on Euronext's website https://www.euronext.com/investors/general-meetings

at BNP PARIBAS Securities Services CTS Assemblees Generales 9 rue du Debarcadere

93761 Pantin Cedex, France + 33 1 57 43 02 30

Managing Board and Supervisory Board of Euronext N.V.

Beursplein 5, 1012 JW Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, under number 60234520

About Euronext

Euronext is the leading pan-European exchange in the Eurozone, spanning Belgium, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal and the UK. With more than 1,300 listed issuers worth 3.8 trillion in market capitalisation as of end February 2018, an unmatched blue chip franchise consisting of 24 issuers in the Morningstar Eurozone 50 Index? and a strong diverse domestic and international client base. Euronext operates regulated and transparent equity and derivatives markets. Its total product offering includes Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Warrants Certificates, Bonds, Derivatives, Commodities and Indices. Euronext also leverages its expertise in running markets by providing technology and managed services to third parties. In addition to its main regulated market, Euronext also operates Euronext GrowthTM and Euronext AccessTM. For the latest news, find us on Twitter (twitter.com/euronext) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/euronext).

Disclaimer

This press release is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities. This press release is provided "as is" without representation or warranty of any kind. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the content, Euronext does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Euronext will not be held liable for any loss or damages of any nature ensuing from using, trusting or acting on information provided. No information set out or referred to in this publication may be regarded as creating any right or obligation. The creation of rights and obligations in respect of financial products that are traded on the exchanges operated by Euronext's subsidiaries shall depend solely on the applicable rules of the market operator. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Euronext.

This press release speaks only as of this date. Euronext refers to Euronext N.V. and its affiliates. Information regarding trademarks and intellectual property rights of Euronext is located at www.euronext.com/terms-use.

2018, Euronext N.V. All rights reserved.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006093/en/

Contacts:

Euronext

Shareholders, analysts investors

Aurelie Cohen, +33 1 70 48 24 17

Head of Investor Relations

ir@euronext.com

or

Media

Alice Jentink (Europe), +31 20 721 4488

mediateam@euronext.com
Pathe Belle-Epine Cinema Honored at Opening Ceremony for500th 4DXScreen

SEOUL, South Korea andLOS ANGELES, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --CJ 4DPLEX, the world's leading 4D company, has reached the500th 4DXscreenmilestone with the launch of its newest location, atPathe Belle Epine Cinema inThiais, France. The first film screening in 4DX at this location isReady Player One -an ideal showcase for the innovative film technology that features motion seats and environmental effects such as rain,fog and various scents.

To celebrate the achievement, 4DX and Les Cinemas Gaumont Patheheld a grand opening ceremony with top executives from both companies. This included CJ 4DPLEX CEO Byung-Hwan Choi, who presented a commemorative plaque and 500th4DX Auditorium trophy to Jerome Seydoux, Chairman ofPathe, and Martine Odillard, Chairman of Les Cinemas Gaumont Pathe.

4DX is now the fastest premium format to reach 500 screens. Iteliminates the boundary between the audience and the film with motion chairs that move in perfect synchronicity with the movie being shown on-screen. The immersive theatre technology was launched by CJ 4DPLEX in 2009and opened its 100thlocation in April 2014. Since then it has rapidly expanded around the world, opening its 200thin November 2015, its 300thone year later in November 2016, its 400th10 months later in September 2017, and its next 100 locations faster than ever - just seven months after its 400th opening. It is the fastest developing format.

With this opening, more than 61,000 4DX seats have been installed in theatre auditoriums across58 countries, with the capacity to accommodate more than 111 million worldwide moviegoers per year.

The accelerated growth of 4DX has been driven by Europe, which added 35 screens in 14 European countries, including the first 4DX theatre in Denmark, since its 400thsite September 2017. In the past seven months, the volume of 4DX theatres has grown by 64% (from 54 sites to 89 sites) and the number of seats has increased by 57% (from 7,000 to 11,000).

To date, more than 11,000 4DX seats have been installed at 89 screens in 21 European countries, with the capacity to accommodate nearly 20 million moviegoers per year throughout the continent. The European 4DX footprint accounts for 17.8% of the 500 4DX screens worldwide.

Moreover, CJ 4DPLEX has strengthened its goals by signing a rollout partnership with Les Cinemas GaumontPathe,targeting 50 sites with the exhibitor by 2020. With the 500th 4DX screen opening, 4DX is now available in 16 screens atLes Cinemas GaumontPathelocations in Europe.

"This is a meaningful milestone for us as we continue our journey to become the leading premium technology brand in the global cinema industry," said Choi. "Our partnership withLes Cinemas GaumontPatheis stronger than ever and we look forward to break more records together in the near future."

About CJ 4DPLEX:

CJ 4DPLEX (www.cj4dplex.com) is the world's first 4D cinema company, headquartered in Seoul with international offices in Los Angeles and Beijing. The company created 4DX, the first and leading 4D cinema technology for feature films, providing moviegoers with an immersive, multi-sensory cinematic experience, allowing the audience to connect with movies through motion, vibration, water, wind, snow, lightning, scents, and other special effects that enhance the visuals on-screen. CJ 4DPLEX brings 4DX auditoriums to exhibition partners along with 4DX codes for both major Hollywood blockbusters and local titles, as well as content ranging from concerts to commercials. Each 4DX auditorium incorporates motion-based seating synchronized with more than 20 different effects and optimized by a team of skilled editors, maximizing the feeling of immersion within the movie, beyond the limits of audio and video. Since 2009, more than 500 Hollywood titles have been screened in 4DX. To date, more than 61,000 4DX seats operate in 500 auditoriums spanning58countries.

About Les Cinemas Gaumont Pathe

Les Cinemas Gaumont Pathe are leaders of exhibition theatre in France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, It isalso present in Belgium. At the end of 2017, Les Cinemas GaumontPathe operated 111 movie theatres totaling 1,091 screens, 66,2 million admissions and760 million euros in revenue. Les Cinemas Gaumont Pathe pairs the continuous modernization of its movie theaters with the never-ending pursuit of innovation. This quest for constant refinement rests on an active policy of construction, reconstruction and renovation of movie theaters and innovative projection technology. Les Cinemas Gaumont Pathe is owned by Pathe, one of the biggest film producers in Europe and a major player in film distribution.

Media contacts

The Lippin Group for ScreenX and 4DX

Matt Biscuiti, matt@lippingroup.com, (212) 986-7080

Kevin Broderick, kevin@lippingroup.com, (323) 965-1990

Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661315/4DX_Theater.mp4

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/662086/4DX_500th_Theatre_Opening_Ceremorny.jpg
Regulatory News:

The Remy Cointreau Group (Paris:RCO) announces the following changes to its Executive Committee starting from June 1st, 2018:

Philippe Farnier, the current CEO of the Americas region, is appointed CEO of the House of Remy Martin. Within this role, he will have responsibility for the Remy Martin and Louis XIII brands. He replaces Eric Vallat, the current CEO of the House of Remy Martin and President of Mount Gay Rum, who has decided to take his career in a new direction, within another industry.

Ian McLernon, the current CEO of the Global Travel Retail division, is thus appointed CEO of the Americas region

David Ennes becomes CEO of Global Travel Retail in addition to his current responsibilities as CEO of the Asia region

Jean-Denis Voin, CEO of the Liqueurs and Spirits division, will add the Mount Gay Rum brand to his portfolio.

Commenting on these changes, Valerie Chapoulaud-Floquet, CEO of the Remy Cointreau Group, stated: "On behalf of the Group, I would like to offer Eric my personal thanks for his continuous and inspired engagement since January 2014. Within a challenging market environment, he successfully revamped the strategy of the House of Remy Martin, accelerating its move upmarket, and building the foundations for a prosperous earnings outlook. I wish him every success in his future career, and I wish all the best to the members of the Executive Committee in their new roles."

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006152/en/

Contacts:

Remy Cointreau

Laetitia Delaye, +33 (0)7 87 25 36 01
DGAP-Ad-hoc: Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. / Key word(s): Miscellaneous Steinhoff International Holdings N.V.: Hemisphere real estate valuation 03-Apr-2018 / 17:23 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. *DISCLOSURE OF INSIDE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO ART. 17 OF THE EU MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU 596/2014, MAR)* *Steinhoff - Hemisphere real estate valuation* Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (the "Company" and with its subsidiaries, the "Group") Stellenbosch, 3 April 2018 - Following a valuation by CBRE Limited ("CBRE") in respect of the real estate interests of Hemisphere International Properties B.V. (an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of the Company) and its subsidiaries (such interests, the "Hemisphere Portfolio"), the Company considers it likely that the consolidated net book value of the Hemisphere Portfolio (once determined) will be materially lower than the EUR2.2 billion previously estimated by the Company and disclosed on its website in February 2018. CBRE valued the Hemisphere Portfolio as at 1 February 2018 at approximately EUR1.1 billion on the basis of "fair value" according to IFRS 13 and assuming vacant possession which disregarded internal leases to Company related entities and considered only leases between an external third-party tenant and the relevant Hemisphere Group entity. The Company will consider CBRE's valuations in detail and will work with its auditors to determine the consolidated net book value of the Hemisphere Portfolio for the purposes of publication of the Company's consolidated financial statements for 2017. Shareholders and other investors in the Company are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the securities of the Group. 03-Apr-2018 CET/CEST The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de Language: English Company: Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. Herengracht 466 1017 CA Amsterdam Netherlands Phone: +27218080700 Fax: +27218080800 E-mail: investors@steinhoffinternational.com Internet: www.steinhoffinternational.com ISIN: NL0011375019 WKN: A14XB9 Indices: SDAX Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange End of Announcement DGAP News Service 671091 03-Apr-2018 CET/CEST

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 03, 2018 11:23 ET (15:23 GMT)


BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets dropped on their first day back after the long Easter holiday weekend. Traders had their first opportunity to react to the rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China after China imposed retaliatory tariffs on 128 products imported from the U.S.



Yesterday's weak performance on Wall Street also contributed to the negative mood among investors. Technology stocks struggled due to recent weakness in shares of Amazon and Facebook.



The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.49 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.42 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.16 percent.



The DAX of Germany dropped 0.78 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.29 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.37 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 1.26 percent.



Chip stocks were under pressure on reports that Apple is planning to use its own chips for its Mac devices. Infineon Technologies fell 1.93 percent, Dialog Semiconductor lost 3.06 percent and STMicroelectronics declined 3.11 percent.



In Paris, Air France-KLM sank 4.37 percent as its workers go on strike over pay dispute.



Food services group Sodexo tumbled 4.54 percent after Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on the stock.



In London, Anglo American fell 1.28 percent after announcing the suspension of its Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil.



Petrofac rallied 2.60 percent on winning an EPC contract worth about $233 million from Vedanta.



UBS Group fell 1.70 percent in Zurich after proposing new members to its board.



The euro area manufacturing activity grew at the slowest pace in eight months in March, final data from IHS Markit showed Tuesday. The final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 56.6 in March from 58.6 in February. The score came in line with flash estimate.



Germany's retail sales decreased for the third straight month in February, Destatis reported Tuesday. Retail sales fell unexpectedly by 0.7 percent month-on-month in February, bigger than the 0.3 percent decrease seen in January. This was the third consecutive decline in sales. Sales were expected to grow 0.8 percent.



The British manufacturing sector maintained a steady growth in March, but the pace of expansion for the first quarter as a whole was the weakest in a year, survey results from IHS Markit showed Tuesday. The IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose slightly to 55.1 in March from 55.0 in February. The score was forecast to fall to 54.7.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Vancouver British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - Max Resource Corp. (TSXV: MXR) (OTC Pink: MXROF) (FSE: M1D) ("MXR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of the 97 metre channel sample at Cerro de Cobre as it continues its due diligence in support of the acquisition of its Copperbelt Minerals Corp's Gachala Copper Project, 50 kilometres east of Bogota, Colombia (the "Property"), as detailed in its February 26, 2018 news release. Highlights include:

19 metres averaging 3.21% copper; within

59 metres averaging 1.722 % copper

The orientation of the channel sampled mineralization is unknown at this time. MXR cautions investors it has not yet fully verified the historical data. The 19 metres averaging 3.21% copper supports the 3.16% copper over 22.9 metre obtained by Colombian Mines Corporation during its 2008 program.





Figure 1

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/33824_maxre1enhanced.jpg

"Our on-going due diligence continues to confirm our faith in the Copperbelt acquisition becoming our critical asset," Brett Matich, MXR Chief Executive Officer, stated. "The Cerro de Cobre channel sampling exceeded expectations expanding the bedrock mineralization from 22 metres to 59 metres. We are now awaiting assays to confirm the belief our LWIR survey, detailed in our March 8, 2018 news release, will successfully vector us in to previously unknown bedrock copper mineralization. We remain staunchly focussed on our object of Pioneering the World's Next Copper Frontier."

A continuous 8 centimetre channel sample was cut in bedrock to a depth of 3 to 4 centimetres and sampled in continuous 1 metre intervals. As shown in the attached figure, the channel locations had to be moved to accommodate topography. The metre by metre assays are shown in the accompanying table.

Sample % Cu Sample % Cu Sample % Cu AKCCCH036 0.187

AKCCCH056 6.781

AKCCCH062 3.492 AKCCCH037 0.218

AKCCCH097 10.719

AKCCCH063 2.356 AKCCCH038 0.179

AKCCCH001 7.706

AKCCCH064 2.354 AKCCCH039 0.331

AKCCCH002 6.479

AKCCCH065 2.115 AKCCCH040 0.214

AKCCCH003 2.737

AKCCCH066 1.481 AKCCCH041 0.057

AKCCCH004 2.416

AKCCCH067 1.308 AKCCCH042 0.424

AKCCCH005 1.219

AKCCCH068 1.678 AKCCCH043 0.171

AKCCCH006 1.908

AKCCCH069 3.243 AKCCCH044 0.170

AKCCCH007 1.559

AKCCCH070 0.958 AKCCCH045 0.433

AKCCCH008 1.169

AKCCCH071 2.457 AKCCCH046 0.567

AKCCCH009 0.538

AKCCCH072 1.478 AKCCCH047 2.281

AKCCCH010 0.179

AKCCCH073 1.056 AKCCCH048 3.102

AKCCCH011 0.426

AKCCCH074 1.847 AKCCCH049 0.279

AKCCCH012 1.985

AKCCCH075 0.855 AKCCCH050 0.986

AKCCCH057 0.222

AKCCCH076 1.074 AKCCCH051 2.840

AKCCCH058 0.062

AKCCCH077 1.025 AKCCCH052 1.392

AKCCCH059 0.034

AKCCCH078 2.000 AKCCCH053 0.414

AKCCCH060 1.034

AKCCCH079 0.848 AKCCCH054 1.150

AKCCCH061 0.908

AKCCCH080 0.318 AKCCCH055 6.018 AKCCCH081 0.178

The orientation of the channel sampled mineralization is unknown at this time. MXR cautions investors it has not yet fully verified the historical data.

All samples from the Phase I surface program were sent to the ACTLABS COLOMBIA S.A.S. laboratory, an ISO 9001: 2008 certified facility. All samples were collected by Max Resource Corp. contractor personnel and securely stored until delivery to ACTLABS. At this early stage of exploration, Max Resource Corp. is relying on the certified standards utilized by ACTLABS as part of it analysis protocols. No QA/QC anomalies were noted in the analyses.

About Gachala

The Gachala Copper Project consists of 4 mineral claims and 21 exploration applications totaling approximately 400 square kilometers, covering a 25km section of a 250km by 120km belt of Devonian through Cretaceous age rocks in a geological setting conducive to hosting sedimentary copper deposits. Mineralization appears to be localized at the contact between the Devonian-Permain red beds and the overlying Cretaceous reducing black shales, one of the settings typical of these copper deposits.

The Gachala Copper Project includes the historic Cerro de Cobre copper mine, where 2008 channel sampling returned 22.8 metres grading 3.16% copper and 15.3 g/t silver. Subsequent Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) soil sampling defined a 1500 metre by 800 metre copper-in-soil anomaly encompassing the two zones, open in all directions. Colombian Mines Corporation felt there was a high potential for repetition on the opposite side of the hosting anticline and further felt the geology suggested mineralization may extend beyond the limits of known anomalous zones. (Source: Colombian Mines Corporation News Releases dated 15-May-2008 and 14-Nov-2012 respectively). The orientation of the channel sampled mineralization is unknown at this time. MXR cautions investors it has not yet fully verified the historical data.

The historic sampling combined with the recent mapping and sampling completed by MXR indicates copper mineralization appears to be widely dispersed throughout the 400 square kilometre property holdings.

About the Transaction

MXR has signed a binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire 100% of the outstanding share capital of Copperbelt Minerals Corp., a private Canadian company holding the Property. MXR will issue 12,000,000 common shares to the Copperbelt Minerals' shareholders and take over the obligations of the Cerro de Cobre agreement, requiring the aggregate payment of US$1,060,000 over the next three years to the Cerro de Cobre vendors. Certain shareholders of Copperbelt Minerals will collectively retain a 3-per-cent net smelter returns royalty ("NSR") on the Property. MXR has the sole exclusive right to purchase half of the 3-per-cent NSR for the consideration of US$3-million at any time prior to production. On April 2, 2018, the due diligence period was extended to April 30, 2018.

About Max Resource Corp.

Max Resource Corp., a Canadian-based exploration company, its focussed on acquiring advanced exploration projects which are located within the under-explored northern section of the richly endowed Andean Copper Belt of Colombia.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF MAX RESOURCE CORP.

"Brett Matich"

Brett Matich, CEO and President

Tim Henneberry, P. Geo (British Columbia), a member of the Max Resource Corp. Advisory Board, is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release on behalf of the Company.

Further information regarding the Company can be found on SEDAR at www.SEDAR.com, or by contacting the Company directly at (604) 365 1522.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements pertaining to completion of the Acquisition and any approvals required in connection with the Acquisition. 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 the forward-looking statements include: changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in the price of commodities (particularly copper), unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general social, economic or geo-political conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.
Regulatory News:

The Prodware Group (Paris:ALPRO) specialises in digital transformation, in consulting and editing as well as integration of sector-based and professional IT solutions, is pleased to inform its shareholders that it has selected the firm AlphaValue to initiate coverage of its stock beginning April 3rd 2018. The AlphaValue analysis, the processing in SaaS mode, is available by following the link: http://cs.alphavalue.com/category/prodware/

Prodware, which has been working with the stock exchange company Gilbert Dupont since the 1st July 2011, is extending its scope to include a new research firm.

Contact information for analysts covering Prodware stock:

http://cs.alphavalue.com

https://www.gilbertdupont.fr/

About AlphaValue

AlphaValue is the leading provider of Independent European equity and credit risk research. It provides analysis based on a core of comprehensive, unconflicted information, facilitating comparisons by geographic location and by sector, including of actuarial and non-financial data. To do so, AlphaValue has developed a proprietary method of analyzing public companies, based on an unconflicted and transparent valuation process. Thanks to its broad coverage-nearly 500 European companies in 130 sectors across 17 countries-AlphaValue is well positioned to analyze markets, sectors and share prices and highlight the best trading opportunities in Europe. http://cs.alphavalue.com

The list of analysts that follows is intended for informational purposes only and does not imply any obligation on the part of any analysts or research firms mentioned. Please note that the opinions, estimates or predictions these analysts express related to Prodware's performance pertain to them and them alone. They no way represent the opinions, estimates or forecasts of Prodware or its management. By referring to these analysts or disseminating their opinions at any point, Prodware is in no way vouching for the quality of the information, conclusions or recommendations therein.

Next publication: Revenue for Q1 2018: May 15th, 2018, after close of trading.

About Prodware

Prodware (www.prodware.fr) is an international group specialising in integration, publishing and hosting industry and business line IT solutions.

The Group brings customers its technical expertise and knowledge of new uses and business lines to support them in their digital transformation processes.

Drawing on the strength of its partnerships with Microsoft and Sage in particular, Prodware is one of the only players capable of supporting businesses across their entire information system, both in France and abroad.

The Prodware Group has more than 1,300 employees across 15 countries and 4 continents. It generated revenues of 167.7 million in 2017.

Prodware SA is listed on Euronext Growth and is eligible for FCPI (innovation funds) and SME PEA (equity savings plan).

EURONEXT GROWTH (formerly ALTERNEXT)

ISIN FR0010313486 ALPRO FTSE 972 Services informatiques

Prodware is eligible for inclusion in FCPIs Prodware is a responsible company

and is a signatory to the UN Global Compact

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006275/en/

Contacts:

PRODWARE

Stephane Conrard, 0979 999 000

Chief Financial Officer

investisseurs@prodware.fr

or

PRESS

CAP VALUE

Gilles Broquelet, T: 01 80 81 50 01

gbroquelet@capvalue.fr
Bradley Countys Correctional Facility has passed its yearly inspection by the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC), which means the facility was found to be in compliance with minimum standards prescribed for local correctional facilities across the state of Tennessee, officials said.

Sheriff Eric Watson said he was informed by jail inspectors during an exit interview that the Bradley County Jail received passing status and would maintain TDOCs certification. The agencys Correctional Facility is inspected on a yearly basis to ensure that all minimum standards required by TDOC are met. Those standards required to be met involve documentation on jail operations. Those documents show proof that the jail is ensuring the functions of utilities like lighting, in addition to documentation of disciplinary reports, safety and fire inspections, food service, plumbing and the sanitation of cells, he said.

In preparation for next years inspection, the sheriffs office drafted a renovation plan to install stainless steel inside every shower within the Correctional Facility to help meet TDOCs standards.

The renovation plan will be presented to the Bradley County Commission in order to utilize monies already allocated in the 2017-2018 fiscal budget to make renovations to the 50-plus showers.

Sheriff Watson stated, The operation of a county jail is a complex task performed by our agencys correctional staff. Bradley County Sheriffs Office passing its fourth consecutive inspection only compliments the quality of our Corrections and Support Services Divisions who work diligently and tirelessly inside the Correctional Facility. While there is a problem such as overcrowding which is common across the state, our employees work hard to ensure a safe and secure operation.
M6 Group and Free welcome the signing of a new comprehensive agreement for the distribution of M6 Group channels and their associated services to Free subscribers.

Regulatory News:

This agreement covers the distribution of all M6 Group (Paris:MMT) channels (M6, W9, 6ter, Paris Premiere, teva, M6 Music and Girondins TV) and related on-demand services and other features.

In addition to the M6 Group channels and services already available, Free subscribers who will soon gain access to:

extended broadcast windows for catch-up services as well as many additional on-demand programmes;

preview of programmes ahead of their TV broadcast;

advanced innovative features associated with M6 Group content, such as start over, npvr and cast.

About M6 Group

Established in 1987 around the M6 channel, M6 Group is a powerful multimedia group offering a wide range of programming, products and services. Television (8 channels including M6, the second largest commercial channel in the French market), radio (3 stations including RTL, the leading radio station in France), as well as content production and acquisition, digital, e-commerce, cinema, music, events, etc. Leveraging its brands and content, M6 Group has gradually expanded its operations through targeted diversification activities and innovative offerings such as 6play, its digital platform launched in 2013 (20 million registered users and more than one billion videos viewed in 2017). Its goal is to develop synergies between its brands in order to respond to the expectations of its various audiences and their new viewing patterns. For more information, please visit groupem6.fr

About Free

Free, a subsidiary of Iliad, is the inventor of the Freebox, the first multiservice box on ADSL. Free is behind numerous innovations in the Broadband and Ultra-Fast Broadband access segment (VoIP, IPTV, flat-rate calling plans to multiple destinations, etc.) and provides straightforward and innovative offerings at the best prices. The Freebox Revolution, the 6th generation of Freebox units, notably includes an NAS and a Blu-RayTM drive. Free also offers the Freebox mini 4K, the first Android TVTM and 4K box on the French market. Free was the first operator to include calls from landlines to mobile phones in its offerings and also calls to French overseas departments (DOM). Since January 2012, Free has brought mobile phone usage within everyone's reach with straightforward, nocommitment offerings at very attractive prices. The Free Mobile Plan includes roaming communications all year round from more than 35 countries (unlimited calls, texts and MMS as well as 25GB/month of 3G mobile Internet from these destinations). Free also includes unlimited 4G in its 15.99 plan for Freebox subscribers. As at December 31, 2017, Free had over 20 million subscribers (6.5 million Broadband and Ultra-Fast Broadband subscribers and 13.7 million mobile subscribers).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006379/en/

Contacts:

M6 GROUP:

Anne-Sophie Aubree, +33 1 41 92 66 22

asaubree@m6.fr

or

FREE:

Isabelle Audap, +33 1 73 50 27 22

presse@iliad.fr
BURBANK (dpa-AFX) - Disney Cruise Lines ruined a Missouri woman's vacation after she was denied boarding on one of its cruise ships because she was 25 weeks pregnant. According to the video posted by Emily Jackson on YouTube, she and her family arrived in Miami from St. Louis last week on a flight. Her doctor had allowed her to vacation aboard Disney Magic. However, Disney does not allow women who are more than 24 weeks pregnant to sail out of safety concerns, even if a doctor has given permission. Disney refunded the family for the cruise. The line said its policy is on its website and in travel documents. 'Forget the policy. That is not my issue. Forget the fact that they did not let me on the ship. We were past that. We just wanted to get our luggage and leave. What our problem was, was how they treated us after that point,' Jackson said in a video posted on her YouTube channel the Jackson Hive. 'I'm mad because of how they treated me and my children. I'm mad because they made my two babies under two wait outside with no water and in the heat, and get red faced. I'm mad about all of those things. Those are all things that I was frustrated with.' 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.
MEXICO CITY (dpa-AFX) - Following a recent series of tweets on immigration, President Donald Trump indicated Tuesday he plans to send U.S. troops to guard the border with Mexico. Trump said during a meeting with Baltic leaders that he has talked with Defense Secretary James Mattis about utilizing the military until his proposed border wall is complete. 'Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military,' Trump said. 'That's a big step.' The U.S. previously deployed National Guard troops to the border from 2006 to 2008 under President George W. Bush and in 2010 under President Barack Obama. Trump accused Democrats of establishing immigration laws that are 'so pathetic and so weak' that it is like 'we have no border.' The president also suggested that Mexico would have take steps to address border security or he would pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. A senior Department of Homeland Security official told Politico putting troops on the border has been discussed but that no roll-out had been planned because of unresolved policy issues. (Photo: Michael Vadon) 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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - Gunpoint Exploration Ltd. (TSXV: GUN) ("Gunpoint" or the "Company") reports that Timberline Resources Corporation (TSXV: TBR) (OTCQB: TLRS) ("Timberline") has not made the US$2 million Talapoosa option payment due March 31, 2018 to Gunpoint (see news release dated October 20, 2016). Accordingly, Timberline's option to acquire the Talapoosa gold project ("Talapoosa") has terminated and 100% ownership of Talapoosa has reverted to Gunpoint. During the past three years, Gunpoint has received from Timberline US$1.3 million and 3 million common shares under the option agreement.

Talapoosa is located in Lyon County, Nevada. A technical report prepared for Timberline by WSP Canada Inc. ("WSP") dated March 24, 2015, titled, "Technical Report and Resource Estimate on the Talapoosa Project, Nevada" ("Resource Report") estimated a Measure and Indicated Resource of 28.4 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.11 g/t gold and 14.97 g/t silver for a total of 1.01 million ounces gold and 13.65 million ounces silver. In the Inferred Resource category, an additional 10.1 tonnes are estimated with a grade of 0.72 g/t gold and 6.65 g/t silver for a total of 233,532 ounces gold and 2.17 million ounces silver.

In April 27, 2015, WSP completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for Timberline with US$1,150/oz gold and US$16/oz silver as the base case assumptions. The PEA envisioned Talapoosa as an open pit, heap leach gold operation and demonstrated robust project economics with an after-tax NPV (5% discount rate) of US$136 million and a 39% IRR. Initial capital cost estimate was US$51 million based on average annual production of 55,000 ounces of gold and 679,000 ounces of silver over a 11 year mine life.

The Resource Report and the PEA have both been filed on SEDAR by Timberline. Gary Parkison, CPG, a qualified person, has reviewed the Resource Report and the PEA on behalf of the Company. To the best of the Company's knowledge, information and belief, there is no new material scientific or technical information that would make the disclosure of the mineral resources or results of the PEA inaccurate or misleading.

About Gunpoint Exploration Ltd.

Gunpoint owns the Talapoosa gold project in Nevada. In Mexico, Gunpoint owns the La Cecilia gold project in Sonora State which Riverside Resources Inc. can acquire a 100% interest by making $250,000 in cash payments and issuing 1.0 million common shares. Gunpoint also owns a 100% interest in the La Gitana gold project in Oaxaca state and the El Escorpion gold-silver project in Guatemala. The El Escorpion project is located 7 kilometres southwest and along trend of Tahoe Resources Inc.'s Escobal mine. Tahoe's Escobal land package surrounds Gunpoint's El Escorpion project.

For more information on Gunpoint, please contact investor relations at (604) 731-1094.

GUNPOINT EXPLORATION LTD.

"P. Randy Reifel"

P. Randy Reifel

President

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future plans and objectives of the Company, estimates of resources and a preliminary economic assessment at the Talapoosa property and other statements that are not historical facts, all of which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results, programs and financial position and estimates could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, some of which may be beyond the Company's control. These factors include: the availability of funds; the financial position of the Company; the timing and content of work programs; the results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; the interpretation of drilling results and other geological data; the reliability of calculation of mineral resources; the reliability of calculation of precious metal recoveries; the receipt and security of mineral property titles; unanticipated costs and expenses; fluctuations in metal prices; currency fluctuations; and general market and industry conditions.

Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

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.
BizVibe, a smart B2B networking platform for global B2B buyers and suppliers, announced today the next generation of its B2B networking platform for the top rubber manufacturers in Indonesia.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006443/en/

Rubber Manufacturers in Indonesia BizVibe Announces a New B2B Networking Platform for the Rubber Industry in Indonesia (Graphic: Business Wire)

With the update, businesses can establish a faster and more efficient path from company discovery to getting better quotes and building long-lasting profitable business partnerships with the leading rubber manufacturers in Indonesia.

Due to its notable advantages including low costs, large stretch ratio, high resilience, and waterproof status, rubber continues to be one of the most in-demand raw materials for both domestic and industrial applications around the world. Indonesia has been one of the world's top rubber producers and exporters over the recent years, owing to the fact that Indonesia has the world's largest natural rubber plantation area of more than 4.3 million hectares. As the global demand for rubber products - such as tires, tubes, plugs, matting, flooring, medical gloves and much more continues to grow, Indonesia's rubber industry is expected to flourish further in the near future. BizVibe's latest update connects businesses to the top rubber producers, suppliers, and exporters in Indonesia and helps users discover thousands of opportunities daily. BizVibe has innovated the modern networking platform to make your sourcing process faster, smarter and more hassle-free. Connect and network with Indonesia's leading Rubber companies on BizVibe now, and help your business grow to another level.

View more about this market: How BizVibe is helping buyers connect with leading Rubber producers, suppliers, and exporters in Indonesia

Why Connect with Companies from Indonesia's Rubber Industry?

The global rubber market is experiencing huge demand, driven by rapidly growing downstream sectors from industries such as the tire industry and the consumer products industry. The latest rubber industry report shows that the global natural rubber output increased 1.1% year on year to 12.4 million tons in 2016, while the global rubber consumption rose by 3.8% year on year to 12.6 million tons, indicating the gap of 200,000 tons between rubber demand and supply. Under the circumstances, the exports of rubber from Indonesia has increased by more than 10% in the past three years. Today, Indonesia is the second largest exporter of natural rubber in the world after Thailand. In 2016, Indonesia's total natural rubber production was estimated to be 3.16 million tons, increased by 1.6% from previous year. Over 85% of Indonesia's rubber production is exported every year, making it one of the world's largest rubber suppliers. Since global rubber continues to surge, Indonesia's production and export of rubbers are expected to grow further over the next few years, and so do the business opportunities in Indonesia's rubber market.

Looking for more information on this market? Check BizVibe's detailed breakdown of the Rubber industry in Indonesia

Not only does BizVibe's networking platform introduce businesses to verified Rubber manufacturers in Indonesia, the intelligent B2B networking platform also connects global trade professionals with over 7 million prospecting and sourcing candidates in over 700+ industries. BizVibe cuts research time, allowing you to go after the real opportunities.

Network with Top Rubber Manufacturers in Indonesia

BizVibe connects like-minded buyers and suppliers to help companies keep up with the market demand. Join for free today to find your next big opportunity in a community of leading Rubber manufacturers in Indonesia.

BizVibe's New Networking Platform Helps You Find

Top Rubber manufacturers in Indonesia.

Valuable product quotes that convert.

Relevant business chatter in Indonesia's Rubber market.

Indonesia's Top Rubber Manufacturers on BizVibe

Helios Informatika Nusantara

Myosi-International

CV Kayu Tropis Asia

Increase your company's exposure. Add your companyto the BizVibe network and instantly match with the top exporters, suppliers, and buyers around the world.

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Connecting on BizVibe

BizVibe has been specifically designed to help industry professionals connect with like-minded businesses, providing them with a seamless, efficient, and easy-to-use platform. Using cutting-edge technology and advanced match-making algorithms, BizVibe has launched the smartest networking platform on the planet, something that can truly help companies find the right matches.

With extensive feedback from communities across multiple industries, BizVibe was able to identify the core problems and uncertainties when finding potential trade partners. Using this feedback, BizVibe developed an efficient networking platform dedicated to buyers, sellers, importers, exporters, manufacturers, and suppliers, helping thousands of users to connect, engage, and make business deals daily.

About BizVibe

The single-minded focus of BizVibe's platform is to make networking easier. Over the years, we've searched far and wide to figure out how businesses connect and enable trade. That first interaction is usually fraught with the uncertainty of finding a potential partner vs. a potential nightmare. With this in mind, we've designed a robust set of tools to help companies generate leads, shortlist prospects, network with businesses from around the world and trade seamlessly.

BizVibe is headquartered in Toronto and has offices in London, Bangalore, and Beijing. For more information on the BizVibe network, please contact us

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006443/en/

Contacts:

Sony Gomes

BizVibe Media Marketing Executive

media@bizvibe.com
CALGARY, Alberta, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --Pembina Pipeline Corporation ("Pembina" or the "Company") (TSX: PPL; NYSE: PBA) announced today that its Board of Directors declared a common share cash dividend for April 2018 of $0.18 per share to be paid, subject to applicable law, on May 15, 2018 to shareholders of record on April 25, 2018. This dividend is designated an "eligible dividend" for Canadian income tax purposes. For non-resident shareholders, Pembina's common share dividends should be considered "qualified dividends" and may be subject to Canadian withholding tax.

For shareholders receiving their common share dividends in U.S. funds, the April 2018 cash dividend is expected to be approximately U.S. $0.1394 per share (before deduction of any applicable Canadian withholding tax) based on a currency exchange rate of 0.7747. The actual U.S. dollar dividend will depend on the Canadian/U.S. dollar exchange rate on the payment date and will be subject to applicable withholding taxes.

Pembina pays cash dividends on its common shares in Canadian dollars monthly to shareholders of record on the 25th calendar day of each month (except for the December record date, which is December 31st), if, as and when determined by the Board of Directors. Should the record date fall on a weekend or a statutory holiday, the effective record date will be the previous business day. The dividend payment date is the 15th of the month following the record date. Should the payment date fall on a weekend or on a holiday the business day prior to the weekend or holiday becomes the payment date.

Pembina's Board of Directors also declared quarterly dividends for the Company's preferred shares, Series 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21. Series 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 21 preferred share dividends are payable on June 1, 2018 to shareholders of record on May 1, 2018. Series 15, 17 and 19 preferred share dividends are payable on June 30, 2018 to shareholders of record on June 15, 2018.

Series

Dividend Amount Preferred Shares, Series 1 (PPL.PR.A)

$0.265625 Preferred Shares, Series 3 (PPL.PR.C)

$0.293750 Preferred Shares, Series 5 (PPL.PR.E)

$0.312500 Preferred Shares, Series 7 (PPL.PR.G)

$0.281250 Preferred Shares, Series 9 (PPL.PR.I)

$0.296875 Preferred Shares, Series 11 (PPL.PR.K)

$0.359375 Preferred Shares, Series 13 (PPL.PR.M)

$0.359375 Preferred Shares, Series 15 (PPL.PR.O)

$0.279000 Preferred Shares, Series 17 (PPL.PR.Q)

$0.312500 Preferred Shares, Series 19 (PPL.PR.S)

$0.312500 Preferred Shares, Series 21 (PPL.PF.A)

$0.306250

These dividends are designated "eligible dividends" for Canadian income tax purposes. For non-resident shareholders, Pembina's common share dividends should be considered "qualified dividends" and may be subject to Canadian withholding tax.

Dividends on the preferred shares Series 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 21 are payable on the first day of March, June, September and December in each year, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors to shareholders of record on the first day of the preceding month, or, if such payment or record date is not a business day, the last preceding business day prior to the weekend or holiday. Dividends on the preferred shares Series 15, 17 and 19 are payable on the last day of March, June, September and December in each year, if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors to shareholders of record on the fifteenth day of the same month, or, if such payment or record date is not a business day, the next succeeding business day after the weekend or holiday.

Conference Call and Webcast Details for First Quarter 2018 Results

Pembina will release its first quarter 2018 results on Thursday, May 3, 2018 after markets close. A conference call and webcast have been scheduled for Friday, May 4, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. MT (10:00 a.m. ET) for interested investors, analysts, brokers and media representatives.

The conference call dial-in numbers for Canada and the U.S. are 647-427-7450 or 888-231-8191. A recording of the conference call will be available for replay until May 11, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. ET. To access the replay, please dial either 416-849-0833 or 855-859-2056 and enter the password 9280599.

A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed on Pembina's website at www.pembina.com under Investor Centre, Presentation & Events, or by entering: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1586740&s=1&k=47B62FC50195DAE9E9D4355E0648F355 in your web browser. Shortly after the call, an audio archive will be posted on the website for a minimum of 90 days.

Annual General Meeting Information

The Company will hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders ("AGM") on Friday, May 4, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. MT (4:00 p.m. ET) at the Telus Convention Centre - Macleod Hall C-D, 120-9th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

A live webcast of Pembina's AGM presentation can be accessed on Pembina's website at www.pembina.com under Investor Centre, Presentation & Events, or by entering: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1586872/3974AF1920923BF05B61AB4F622A26B8 in your web browser. Participants are recommended to register for the webcast at least 10 minutes before the presentation start time.

About Pembina

Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corporation is a leading transportation and midstream service provider that has been serving North America's energy industry for over 60 years. Pembina owns an integrated system of pipelines that transport various hydrocarbon liquids and natural gas products produced primarily in western Canada. The Company also owns gas gathering and processing facilities and an oil and natural gas liquids infrastructure and logistics business. Pembina's integrated assets and commercial operations along the majority of the hydrocarbon value chain allow it to offer a full spectrum of midstream and marketing services to the energy sector. Pembina is committed to working with its community and aboriginal neighbours, while providing value for investors in a safe, environmentally responsible manner. This balanced approach to operating ensures the trust Pembina builds among all of its stakeholders is sustainable over the long term. Pembina's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under PPL and PBA, respectively. Pembina's preferred shares also trade on the Toronto stock exchange. For more information, visit www.pembina.com.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and statements that are based on Pembina's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends. In this news release, such forward-looking information and statements can be identified by terminology such as "should", "may", "will", "continue", "if", "to be", "expects", and similar expressions.

In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements and information relating to: future dividends which may be declared on Pembina's common shares and preferred shares, the dividend payments and the tax treatment thereof; the timing for release of the first quarter 2018 results; and the timing of Pembina's Annual General Meeting. These forward-looking statements are being made by Pembina based on certain assumptions that Pembina has made in respect thereof as at the date of this news release, regarding, among other things: oil and gas industry exploration and development activity levels; the success of Pembina's operations, growth projects and the integration of acquisitions; prevailing commodity prices, margins, volumes and exchange rates; that Pembina's future results of operations will be consistent with past performance and management expectations in relation thereto; the continued availability of capital at attractive prices to fund future capital requirements relating to existing assets and projects, including but not limited to future capital expenditures relating to expansion, upgrades and maintenance shutdowns; the success of growth projects; future operating costs; that any third party projects relating to Pembina's growth projects will be sanctioned and completed as expected; that any required commercial agreements can be reached; that all required regulatory and environmental approvals can be obtained on the necessary terms in a timely manner; that counterparties to material agreements will continue to perform in a timely manner; that there are no unforeseen events preventing the performance of contracts; and that there are no unforeseen material construction, integrity or other costs related to current growth projects or current operations. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to: the regulatory environment and decisions; non-performance of agreements in accordance with their terms; the impact of competitive entities and pricing; reliance on key industry partners, alliances and agreements; the strength and operations of the oil and natural gas production industry and related commodity prices; the continuation or completion of third-party projects; actions by governmental or regulatory authorities including changes in tax laws and treatment, changes in royalty rates or increased environmental regulation; adverse general economic and market conditions in Canada, North America and elsewhere; fluctuations in operating results; construction delays; labour and material shortages; and certain other risks detailed from time to time in Pembina's public disclosure documents including, among other things, those detailed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Pembina's management's discussion and analysis and annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2017, which can be found at www.sedar.com.

Accordingly, readers are cautioned that events or circumstances could cause results to differ materially from those predicted, forecasted or projected. Such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by the above statements. Pembina does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information contained herein, except as required by applicable laws.

For further information:

Investor Relations, Scott Arnold, (403) 231-3156, 1-855-880-7404, e-mail: investor-relations@pembina.com, www.pembina.com
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - China will on Wednesday see March results for the Services and composite PMIs from Caixin, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The services PMI is expected to show a score of 54.5, up from 54.2 in February; the composite came in at 53.3 in the previous month. Japan also will see March results for the services and composite PMIs from Nikkei; in February, their scores were 51.7 and 52.2, respectively. Australia will release February data for building approvals and retail sales. Approvals are expected to fall 5.0 percent on month and add 0.3 percent on year after climbing 17.1 percent on month and 12.0 percent on year in January. Retail sales are called higher by 0.3 percent on month after adding 0.1 percent a month earlier. New Zealand will see March numbers for the consumer confidence index from ANZ; in February, the index added 0.6 percent to a score of 127.7. Finally, the markets in Taiwan are closed on Wednesday for Children's Day, and then will remain shuttered until next week for Tomb-Sweeping Day. 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.
Insider, a Singapore-based provider of a growth management platform, raised US$11m in Series B funding.

The round was led by Sequoia India, with participation from existing investors Wamda Capital and Dogan Group.

The company intends to use the funds to double down in Asia.

Led by Hande Cilingir, CEO & Co-founder, Insider provides a deep AI and Machine Learning growth management platform that enables marketers to create more intelligent interactions with their customers through exposing them to the most relevant content on their preferred channels. The platform offers digital marketers a full suite of features across the entire growth funnel, from Acquisition to Activation, Retention and Revenue and delivers real-time insights and personalization across web, mobile web, mobile app and ad channels.

The company operates in 15 markets worldwide, including Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, UK and Australia, working with some of the biggest Asian and global brands, such as Singapore Airlines, Tokopedia, UNIQLO, Virgin, Tiki, Samsung, New Balance, Newsweek, McDonalds, Ticketmaster, Nissan, BBVA, Allianz and CNN.

Insider, which launched in Istanbul in 2012, moved to Singapore last year. It has offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai, Moscow, Warsaw, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Istanbul, Kiev, Sydney, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei.

FinSMEs

03/04/2018
Its easy to get the impression that the majority of the Chinese economy is occupied by big business when you look at the futuristic skylines of cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. However, beneath the surface there also lies a bustling small business sector that has been seeing exponential growth in recent years. In fact, according to reports from the Peoples Bank of China, as of April 2017 SMEs accounted for roughly a third of all outstanding loans in China.

Governments Encouraging Small Business Lending

Lenders in China have always been a bit more lenient and willing to negotiate than in most other wealthy countries, but with the nations government encouraging the approval of small business loans, the current borrowing landscape is more accepting than ever before. Promoting a heightened loan approval rate has had the intended effect of generating economic stimulus in the region. To accommodate the governments push for more SME lending, many lenders have been adjusting their terms to mitigate risk instead of denying applications altogether. As a result, regulatory authorities are currently rolling out guidelines for loan terms that will prevent lenders from abusing their leverage during the current borrowing rush.

Loan Approval Rates on the Rise

Obtaining a loan of any kind in China is also easier than it has been at any point in recent decades due to some of the highest loan approval rates in the world. Case in point, a prime example of how foreign investors are seeking help from Asian financiers is Akons $1 billion African solar panel initiative, which is backed almost entirely by Chinese investors. Many international entrepreneurs have begun to recognize the opportunity to obtain Asia-based financing when lenders and investors in other counties arent as receptive to their applications and business plans.

SMEs Outpacing Big Business in Borrowing Growth Rate

In addition to representing a sizable share of the outstanding loans in China, the SME borrowing sector is also growing at a faster rate than that of corporate lending. While the total amounts being loaned are typically larger for big companies, small businesses are obtaining loans at an increasingly faster rate and lending in the sector appears to be expanding much quicker than in previous years. More specifically, the total amount owed on outstanding SME loans is growing by roughly 15-20% annually with percentage increases seen year after year.

Opportunities for New Asian Businesses Abound

Easier loan approval isnt the only factor the government is trying to sway in favor of small business as there have also been several tax adjustments that are leveling the playing field. The Ministry of Finance has been adamant about the need for new private banks and small lenders that can provide additional financing options to startups. With a lower corporate tax rate than most developed countries, China continues to remain at the forefront of international business relations and funding. As such, business owners of all kinds should consider Chinese lenders as an option for funding, especially those who wish to do business internationally.
The city of Chattanooga grapples increasingly with the symptoms  panhandling, a homeless tent city on a site long known to be contaminated, housing now too unaffordable for too many working people, black, white, and colors in between, and the gang activity on the very turf the city cedes to them by neglecting its long blighted commercial and industrial areas.

"Livability, New Urbanism, and highly regulatory design guidelines have displaced sustainability and sound comprehensive planning, leaving no planning professional in city government to even raise a question about such things as an ill-fitted tax increment financing project or a proposed stadium location with access from only one major thoroughfare. Public spending and tax incentives for redevelopment are still not focused where they are needed most and are too often focused where they are needed least. As a result, resources are being deployed less effectively, not just with lesser outcomes, but with mounting negative outcomes as well. Yet, city government fails to grasp the adverse outcomes of its own economic development policies. Decades old economic development strategies are long past needing an update."Livability, New Urbanism, and highly regulatory design guidelines have displaced sustainability and sound comprehensive planning, leaving no planning professional in city government to even raise a question about such things as an ill-fitted tax increment financing project or a proposed stadium location with access from only one major thoroughfare. Public spending and tax incentives for redevelopment are still not focused where they are needed most and are too often focused where they are needed least. As a result, resources are being deployed less effectively, not just with lesser outcomes, but with mounting negative outcomes as well.

The wage structure in Chattanooga leaves too many poor and even more living in fear of becoming poor. For all the benefits of VW, all tend to ignore the fact that when the plant opened, the entry level line workers wage was the same as at the Tennessee Nissan plant upon opening in 1983. Now long since the VW plant opening, development incentives are yet to be redesigned and redirected to make the most of the strengths of Chattanoogas own people and communities, unless maybe you write computer code. Increasingly, lower wages are incentivized with public spending and tax giveaways. The city still fails to leverage federal resources for a number of related purposes, in part because local redevelopment priorities are incompatible with the strategies written into the federal program criteria.

All the data supports the statements above. There are many, many real stories of real people whose lives are adversely affected by it, if only Chattanoogas leaders and luminaries would ask them. Many are not aware how public policy came into play and are left to blame themselves in the midst of an economy and political system that does not value them. Economic redevelopment can, has, and does happen without gentrification elsewhere, though not often enough. Gentrification is a real thing. It has a real, negative impact on peoples lives. It has nothing to do with branding, and it is not just about race either. Its about where economic development resources go and how they are used when they get there.

The city of Chattanooga needs better economic policies now. Chattanooga communities need a new and better economic development strategy that empowers people and makes the most of the strengths we already have instead of forever focusing just on the strengths we want to attract. In short, the city of Chattanooga needs to begin valuing people again.

Frank Wrinn

(career planner and policy analyst in local government planning as well as community-based strategic planning in high poverty areas nationally)
Traders' body CAIT on Monday expressed apprehension over the commerce ministry not taking any action on the e-commerce issues and its detrimental impact on the country's retail trade

New Delhi: Traders' body CAIT on Monday expressed apprehension over the commerce ministry not taking any action on the e-commerce issues and its detrimental impact on the country's retail trade.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) took a strong view against e-commerce platforms for indulging in "deep discounting and loss funding thereby violating FDI Policy 2016 of the Union Government".

The traders' body criticised Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu for remaining silent on the issue despite drawing his attention to it several times.

"It appears that instead of promoting Indian retail trade, the Government is more interested in helping and encouraging MNCs to control and dominate the retail trade through e-commerce and FDI which is highly deplorable," CAIT said.

In a statement, CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that instead of taking action on complaints made against e-commerce companies, the government went one step ahead in allowing 100 percent FDI in single brand retail and has made all arrangements to wreck the backbone of Indian retail trade.?

"It is more painful that even after specific assurance given to CAIT delegation by Prabhu himself, no step has been taken to draft a National Trade Policy for Retail Trade.?

Therefore, it looks sure that domestic trade is never on the priority of the government though Prime Minister is advocating policies for small businesses time & again but all goes in vain," the traders' body said.

CAIT claimed that large number of e-commerce platforms are deeply engaged in predatory pricing and continuously offering deep discounts by funding the losses in contravention of the FDI policy which clearly make them responsible for maintaining the equal level playing field and debar them in influencing the prices.

"These e-commerce companies claims to be a marketplace but mass scale public advertisements by them in the recent past is nothing but to solicit the consumers directly. If in reality these companies are B2B marketplace place, then where is the need of conducting big scale advertisement campaign directly addressing the consumers... ," said the traders' body.
BJP's claim, that Karnataka has surpassed Kerala in incidents of communal clashes under Congress rule, is not supported by the numbers.

By Vipul Vivek

New Delhi: On 6 March, 2018, the Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tweeted that the state had seen more communal clashes than Kerala, and only Hindus had been victims in all communal clashes Karnataka had seen in the last five years.

"Does it not indicate at (sic) systematic and planned execution of Hindus at the hands of Islamic jihadi radicals," the Karnataka BJP tweeted about the Congress government's rule in the state.

We fact-checked the claims and found one to be false and another unclear.

Claim 1: Karnataka has surpassed Kerala in incidents of communal clashes.

Karnataka has surpassed Kerala in instances of communal clashes. It is saddening to see the loss of face of our dear state. The Cong curse on Karnataka must be washed off at the earliest. #JihadiMuktaKarnataka must be built at the earliest.  BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) March 6, 2018

Fact: False. Karnataka has been among the top five states by the number of communal incidents reported since 2008, IndiaSpend reported. In this period, Kerala has reported far fewer incidents and injuries, home ministry data show (click here, here, here, here and here).

Before Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the chief minister on 13 May, 2013, the state was ruled by the BJP under three chief ministers  BS Yeddyurappa, DV Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar  during its five-year rule beginning 2008.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href='#'&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;img alt='Dashboard 1 ' src='https:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;public.tableau.com&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;static&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;images&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;ka&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;karnatakaweb&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;Dashboard1&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#47;1_rss.png' style='border: none' /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Source: Lok Sabha replies on February 6, 2018, August 8, 2017, December 2, 2014, May 7, 2013 and August 10, 2010

Claim 2: Only Hindus have been victims in the communal clashes Karnataka has seen in last five years. "Does it not indicate at (sic) systematic and planned execution of Hindus at the hands of Islamic jihadi radicals?"

Fact: Unclear. There is no religion-wise break-up of victims of communal clashes in the state in the last five years.

The author is an analyst with IndiaSpend and FactChecker.
Dalit agitation took an ugly turn when two groups  Dalits and right-wing bodies  clashed in Gwalior and Morena; and it turned violent when both the groups resorted to taking up weapons and attacking one another.

Madhya Pradesh again became the epicentre of violence against the decision of the incumbent establishment.

As was the case during the farmers agitation in 2017 when six people were killed due to police firing in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, the state again reported maximum casualties during the Bharat Bandh protests on Monday which was organised by various Dalit organisations.

Six people were killed in the mob violence in Gwalior, Bhind and Morena in Madhya Pradesh, and many more were injured. On Monday morning, incidents of violence and rail blockade were reported from Meerut, Agra and other parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. However, as the day passed, Madhya Pradesh turned into the hotbed of violence.

The rallies and demonstrations by Dalits turned violent and incidents of armed attacks hit the headlines.

According to eyewitnesses, Dalit agitation took an ugly turn when two groups  Dalits and right-wing bodies  clashed in Gwalior and Morena; and it turned violent when both the groups resorted to taking up weapons and attacking one another. Police resorted to lathicharge and gradually the situation worsened. The violence spread to other districts from Chambal belt comprising Gwalior, Bhind and Morena to other districts as well, like Rewa, Bhopal, etc. but it didnt become volatile.

Security forces conducted flag march, imposed curfew and the state administration stopped internet services in three districts of Chambal to prevent further rumour-mongering on social media.

Why Madhya Pradesh?

Within Madhya Pradesh, the Chambal region  historically infamous for dacoits or baagis (rebels) (as they called themselves), became the epicentre of mob violence, rioting and police highhandedness. The agitation has to be viewed in the larger demographic and sociological backdrop of the region:

Highest concentration of Scheduled Castes and Dalits

Out of 15.2 percent of Scheduled Caste population in Madhya Pradesh, the highest concentration is in the Chambal region. It is a stronghold of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the party has always posed a tough challenge for the BJP and the Congress during Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The credit for consolidation of Dalits under BSP banner goes to its former state president Phool Singh Baraiya, who quit the party in 2008 after a major dispute with BSP supremo Mayawati and formed his own Bahujan Sangharsh Dal. The dilution in Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 led them to mobilise and stage strong protests against the government and fight united during the Bharat Bandh.

Chamballand of dacoits

Historically, the Chambal region has been infamous for its 'dacoits' who ruled the ravines. While some of them in the earlier phase like Man Singh, Malkhan Singh, Paan Singh Tomar, etc who were thakurs, a majority of bandits in the later phase like Phoolan Devi, Rambabu and Dayaram Gadariya, Dadua, to name a few were Scheduled Caste and Dalits. Post 2000, the community instead of taking up guns as dacoits, chose politics.

"That phase of dacoits in Chambal is almost over now. Instead, they want to be politicians, corporators, MLAs and MPs. Phoolan Devi, who was a Dalit, went on to become an MP. The Dalits of this area are politically aware and refuse to accept nonsense. This helps Dalits to consolidate and mobilise during Bharat Bandh and they aggressively took on the Right wing activists, when the latter attacked them during rallies in Gwalior, Bhind and Morena, said Vikram Chowdhury, a Dalit political activist from Sagar in Madhya Pradesh. Chowdhury also holds a doctorate degree on social philosophy of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.

Oppression

The Dalits of Chambal region have been facing oppression from upper castes since pre-Independence days. Though things have changed over the decades, oppression still continues. Even today, a scheduled caste, who has moved up the social ladder, will suppress an economically-weaker Dalit.

Highest cases of atrocities against Dalits

"Within the state, the cases of atrocities against Dalits have been the highest. Dalits fail to get justice in most cases. Oppression and atrocities against them have led to suppressed anger. During Bharat Bandh, the RSS and BJP goons along with the police attacked Dalits and it was a retaliatory action that led to violence, CPM central committee member and state secretary, Badal Saroj, told Firstpost. Saroj hails from Morena.

Farmers agitation of 2017

The farmers' agitation which led to a mob violence which left six farmers dead in Mandsaur is a case in point for Dalits. The farmers agitation was against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government's inaction on the promises made in 2014. Protesters on Monday took lesson from the 2017 agitation and came prepared  some even with weapons while staging demonstration against the dilution of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act. There are a large number of Dalit farm labourers in the state who participated in the rally.

Governments inaction

The opposition Congress has blamed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his government for failing to maintain law and order in the state during the bandh.

Both the central and state governments ignored the anger among Dalits. Modi government could have ensured through an ordinance in Parliament that the Act wouldnt be diluted, which it didnt. Despite knowing that Chambal is a sensitive area, the Chouhan government failed to ensure maintenance of law and order. Its similar to what had happened in Mandsaur. Chouhans only focus is upcoming election in MP, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, who was in Bhopal on Monday for a party meeting, told Firstpost.

What actually happened?

Besides, dalit organisations in MP, individuals in large numbers participated in rallies and demonstrations across the state.

According to many eyewitnesses and dalits who had participated in protest demonstrations told Firstpost that right-wing bodies allegedly attacked dalit rallies with weapons and as a reaction, the latter counter-attacked and the situation gradually went out of hand.

The news channels showed images of a bespectacled person firing from his pistol on dalits. The photo became viral on social media. According to sources in Gwalior, this incident infuriated dalits and they retaliated. Devashish Jarariya, a BSP member, on Twitter said, "The person whos firing from his pistol is Raja Chouhan from Gwalior. He turned Bharat Bandh into caste violence and killed three dalits." Veracity of Jarariya's claims could not be independently verified by Firstpost. The tweet was quickly picked up by the social media.

"The agitation was the result of suppressed anger among Dalits against the dilution of SCs/STs Act. But it became violent when rallies were attacked by the BJP and its affiliates in the presence of police. The police remained a mute spectator and in turn thrashed Dalits. Their houses were burnt in many places, alleged Morena-based Jugal Kishor Pippal of Dalit Shoshit Mukti Morcha.

CPM member from Madhya Pradesh Ashok Tiwari alleged incidents of police high-handedness and said that there was targetted repression against Dalits. "Rallies and protest demonstrations have been going on for last three days but on Monday, police brutally beat up Dalit protestors who gathered peacefully at Ambedkar Park in Gwalior for a meeting. Weve supported the cause of Dalits. Were gathering evidences against this state-sponsored crime and take it up at the highest level."
The Gujarat High Court on Monday observed the 'destructive attitude' that promotes rape in a marriage can be removed only by making marital rape 'illegal'

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Monday observed the "destructive attitude" that promotes rape in a marriage can be removed only by making marital rape "illegal".

Hearing a petition filed by a doctor seeking quashing of an FIR of rape registered against him by his wife, Justice JB Pardiwala said the attitude that promotes rape in a marriage can be removed only by making marital rape "illegal or an offence".

The judge on Monday partly allowed quashing of the FIR registered by police against the doctor at Idar in Sabarkantha district, stating that Sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 377 (unnatural sex) will not be applicable against the petitioner.

The high court, however, directed the police to instead book the doctor under Sections 354 (sexual harassment) and 498 (A) (husband and relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) after his wife, also a doctor, told the court that he was subjecting her to mental and physical torture and forcing her to have oral sex.

"No one is even willing to discuss to reform the criminalisation of marital rape... A law that does not give married and unmarried women an equal protection creates conditions that lead to the marital rape," justice Pardiwala said in his order.

"Making marital rape illegal or an offence will remove the destructive attitudes that promote the marital rape," he noted.

"The total statutory abolition of the marital rape is the first necessary step in teaching societies that dehumanised treatment of women will not be tolerated and that the marital rape is not a husband's privilege, but rather a violent act and an injustice that must be criminalised," the judge wrote.

The accused doctor moved the high court seeking quashing of the FIR after police had booked him for rape and unnatural sex last August.

The high court on Monday directed the police to drop charges of rape and unnatural sex against the doctor and asked them to investigate him for cruelty and sexual harassment.

The court also directed the investigating officer to examine if a dowry case was made out before adding sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
A day after the information and broadcasting ministry put out guidelines against fake news, Union minister Smriti Irani said that the Centre is willing to engage with journalists' bodies or organisations to fight the 'menace'.

A day after the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued guidelines against fake news, Union minister Smriti Irani said that the Centre is willing to engage with journalists' bodies or organisations to fight the "menace".

Irani took to Twitter on Tuesday to address debates that kicked up after the guidelines were released. "PIB accreditation guidelines asking Press Council of India (PCI) and News Broadcasters' Association (NBA) to define and act against 'fake news' have generated debate," she said.

Inviting suggestions to further strengthen the measures, Irani said that those interested can meet her at the ministry headquarters in New Delhi.

.@MIB_India is more than happy to engage with journalist body or organisation/s wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of fake news & uphold ethical journalism. Interested journalists and/or organisations may feel free to meet me at @MIB_India. 2/2  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) April 3, 2018

Meanwhile, several sections of the media reported that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) intervened in the matter, directing the ministry to withdraw its guidelines. Earlier on Monday, the government said the accreditation of journalists could be permanently cancelled if s/he is found generating or propagating fake news, under stringent measures formulated to contain the menace.

As per the guidelines for accreditation of journalists, if a publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of that journalist would be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation. In case of a third violation, his/her accreditation would be cancelled permanently, the ministry said in a release.

Congress leader Ahmed Patel questioned the Centre's attempt to check fake news, and asked whether the move was aimed at preventing journalists from reporting news "uncomfortable to the establishment". He also asked who would determine if a reported news item is "fake" and expressed apprehension that rules might be misused to harass reporters. Responding to him, Irani tweeted back, saying:

Glad to see you awake @ahmedpatel ji whether a News article / broadcast is fake or not will be determined by PCI & NBA; both of whom Im sure you know are not controlled/ operated by GOI.  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) April 2, 2018

With inputs from PTI
In conversation with Sheena Thakur, the JNU student assaulted by Delhi Police in the protest march against prof Atul Johari

On 23rd March, 2018, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and University of Delhi took out a protest march from JNU to the Parliament. They took out the march to protest compulsory attendance and to demand the suspension of professor Atul Johari. The students were stopped and baton-charged by the Delhi Police near INA. Many students were roughed up and their clothes were torn and ripped in scuffle. One of those students is Sheena Thakur, whose photograph of being assaulted by a policewoman went viral, and is now, ironically, facing arrest for assaulting the police.

FP Staff April 03, 2018 14:45:00 IST

On 23rd March, 2018, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and University of Delhi took out a protest march from JNU to the Parliament. They took out the march to protest compulsory attendance and to demand the suspension of professor Atul Johari. The students were stopped and baton-charged by the Delhi Police near INA. Many students were roughed up and their clothes were torn and ripped in scuffle. One of those students is Sheena Thakur, whose photograph of being assaulted by a policewoman went viral, and is now, ironically, facing arrest for assaulting the police.

Updated Date:
On Saturday, seven militants entered Mohammad Maqbool Lone's house in Kachdora, and his family of 14 was trapped as a gunfight ensued with security forces.

Kachdora, Kashmir: As security forces surrounded her residence in Kachdora village of Shopian on Saturday, Mubeena Lone, in an effort to shield her daughter, pressed her up against the wall so hard that she winced in pain. Five armed militants had taken positions on the second floor of her house, carefully positioning themselves for the imminent gunfight. Outside, hundreds of troops laid a massive cordon around the house to prevent militants from fleeing.

"When she cried out, other kids also started crying. I thought this was it... that our end was near," Mubeena told Firstpost, at her neighbours' house, which now serves as a temporary abode for 14 members of her family. "It was dark everywhere, the only light that filtered through the curtains was from the lights used by the army."

The village of Kachdora in Shopian is nestled deep in vast apple orchards. The village offers perfect terrain for militants to hide from the security forces. Although a military camp sits a few hundred meters on the right of Lone's house, the fact that seven armed militants were roaming in the neighbourhood tells how volatile the region is.

On Saturday night, at around 10:30 pm, seven militants had entered the house of Mohammad Maqbool Lone, Mubeena's husband and the eldest of four siblings. They had asked for food and the family obliged. After the militants had their dinner, Lone's second son, Neyaz Elahi Lone, came rushing, informing the militants that security forces had cordoned off the area.

"When they heard me, they stood up, bid us goodbye and left," Neyaz told Firstpost. Thousands of people, undeterred by any littered explosive, thronged the site of the gun battle, he said. "They must have walked barely a dozen meters to the small lane outside when few shots were fired. Two of them had fled and only five came back, who locked the door from inside," Maqbool said.

In the 10 hours that followed, 14 members of Lone family, including two elderly couples, wives of three brothers and four children, were trapped in the house with the five militants. Outside, a large contingent comprising the Indian Army, Kashmir police and CRPF were waiting for first light. Inside, the family members were praying for the night to prolong endlessly, thinking it might be their last.

"I have three daughters and I was thinking if we got caught in the crossfire, who will cry for us... who will mourn our death? No one would be left. Our three generations would have been wiped out," Mubeena said.

Late on Monday afternoon, as dark smoke rose from the charred remains of the house in Kachdora, Arbeen Lone, 10, played in the courtyard of her neighbour's house. At her innocent age, she is unable to make sense of why thousands of people had gathered on the rubble that once used to be her house.

"It was destroyed by mitree (army) and we have no house now. They did not allow us to go out, but we left in the morning," she said.

As shootouts and killings become the new norm in the Valley, the children of this troubled region are suffering the most; the loss of their innocence has devastated an entire generation. At tender ages of 13, 10 and seven, terms like army, militants, shaheed (martyr), firing, encounter, kaniganj (stone pelting), cordon, etc, have become common for Lone's daughters.

"My books, copies and pencils were burnt down with the house. How will I go to school now?" Arbeen asked. "Papa would have got you new ones, but he has no money. Everything is gone," Razia, Mushtaq's other daughter, told her elder sister.

"Our children have never seen peace, and what it means," said Abdul Ahad Sofi, a resident of Kachdora, who sat alongside Maqbool as mourners trickled in to pay condolences.

Experts say the level of 'fearlessness' among Kashmiri children has long crossed the threshold. "Starting from the early 1990s, our children have only seen military, militants, crackdowns and soldiers on streets. When we were young, we would run away after listening to the sirens of approaching police vans. But this generation has no idea of fear of death. They say, 'what will the army do'? They even throw stones at them, knowing that they are walking into a deathtrap," Mushtaq Marqoob, one of the Valley's leading psychiatrists, said.

One of the biggest human rights organisation in the state, Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), said last week in a report that since 2003, 318 children  aged one to 17  have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir. Of these, 144 were killed by forces and the state police, 12 were killed by militants, 147 by unidentified gunmen and 15 died in cross-LoC shelling. The report said, out of the 318 children killed, 121 were below the age of 12.

The members of Lone family said that no one had attempted to rescue them from the house, as has been the procedure during encounters when civilians get trapped. In at least six houses surrounding Lone's, there were more than 50 people trapped. While the police rescued all the civilians from the surrounding houses, the Lone family members were not.

"They didn't tell us to get out; no policeman, no sarpanch, no one came to get us out of the house. We left at around seven in the morning when we pleaded with the militants to stop firing for ten minutes. That is how we left," Neyaz Lone, Maqbool's brother, said.

Senior Superintendent of Shopian Police, Sriram Dinkar, told Firstpost the militants had taken the fourteen members of Lone family hostage. He said had the forces not restrained while dealing with civilians who were pelting stones at five locations, there would have been massive casualties.

"There was one militant among the group who did not want them to leave the house. He wanted to prolong the hostage situation," Dinkar said. The SSP said he was aware there were children inside the house, which was why the forces showed "maximum restraint".

Back at Kachdora, Mushtaq's daughters walked towards their house  or what remained of it  late on Monday afternoon, as hundreds of young boys searched to retrieve whatever they could from the debris. They entered a moulded iron gate, the only thing standing of the double-storied house. The dead body of five militants was found at the site of the gun battle.
New Delhi will host the strategically important trilateral dialogue between India, Japan and the US this week ahead of the summit between Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe.

Washington: New Delhi will host the strategically important trilateral dialogue between India, Japan and the US this week ahead of the summit between US president Donald Trump and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago later in March, the State Department has said.

The Trump administration has sent two of its senior diplomats from the State Department  Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton  to co-lead the American delegation for the trilateral dialogue.

The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers of the Indo-Pacific region on Wednesday comes a fortnight ahead of the Trump-Abe summit at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort.

During the two-day summit on 17 and 18 April, the two leaders will reaffirm the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said on Monday.

While Wells has just returned from Pakistan, Thorton completed her trip to Malaysia before heading to New Delhi where she attended the US-ASEAN Dialogue to engage on regional security and economic issues. On 6 April, Wells will participate in the India-US Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs. During her visit, she will also meet with senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and representatives from the private sector, the State Department said.

The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. For the first several rounds the trilateral was held at the director or assistant secretary level.

It was elevated to ministerial level in 2015. The inaugural ministerial trilateral was held on September 29, 2015, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session. It was hosted by the then US secretary of state John Kerry. The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida represented their respective countries.

The last ministerial dialogue was also held in New York in September 2017.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced it will not conduct re-examination for the Class X Mathematics paper which was leaked last month, reports quoted sources from the board as saying.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced it will not conduct re-examination for the Class X Mathematics paper which was leaked last month, reports quoted sources from the board as saying. A report in The Times of India said that the decision was for even those in Delhi-NCR and Haryana, the two regions where the leak reportedly took place. The move comes as a relief for at least 17 lakh students.

HRD Ministry secretary Anil Swarup addressed the media on Tuesday and said, "Consequent to the preliminary evaluation of the impact of reportedly leaked CBSE Class X maths paper and keeping in mind the paramount interest of students, CBSE has decided not to conduct re-examination, even in the states of Delhi NCR and Haryana."

Quoting unnamed sources in the CBSE, reports said that the board did an analysis and evaluation of the answer-sheets for Class X Mathematics paper and did not find any trend that would point to any impact on the examination due to the paper leak. The Class X Mathematics examination was held on 28 March.

The order on no re-test will be made official on Tuesday at around noon, reports further added. The Times of India report quoted sources and said that "rigorous analysis will be done to check unusual variations in marks in the coming days to enable the CBSE to figure out which answer papers indicate a leak."

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, on Monday agreed to hear a batch of petitions challenging the CBSE's decision to re-conduct Mathematics and the Economics examination for Class X and XII respectively after the alleged leak. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice DY Chandrachud said since many petitions have been filed on the same issue, it would list them all for hearing on 4 April, PTI reported.

Separately, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked the CBSE about its plans, if any, to re-conduct the class 10 Maths test. The counsel, representing Kerala-based 15-year-old Rohan Mathew, sought urgent hearing of the plea by the top court challenging the decision to re-conduct the examination.

Details are awaited as to how will the latest CBSE decision impact the hearing.

Meanwhile, the CBSE on Sunday today put in place a 'leak-proof' system of "encrypted" question papers, which are supposed to be printed by the schools. With just one dummy run, the system was implemented today and it faced multiple glitches. The CBSE sent a confidential note to all examination centres in Delhi on Saturday, which carried a set of ten instructions to be followed to introduce the new system.

"In light of the recent developments, CBSE has devised a mechanism of providing encrypted question paper at the examination centres just before the commencement of examination, the note read. The instructions issued by the board to the centres included identifying a safe and secure room for installation of computers and printers and ensuring high-speed internet connection.

With inputs from agencies
This is the blog of China defense, where professional analysts and serious defense enthusiasts share findings on a rising military power.
The Supreme Court will hear the Centre's plea seeking to review the 20 March verdict putting safeguards on arrest under the the stringent SC/ST Act at 2 pm on Tuesday.

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On Monday, Mayawati had extended support to the protest against the dilution of the SC/ST Act by the Supreme Court.

Asserting that the government has filed review petition in the Supreme Court, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya asked the basis of BSP chief Mayawati's protest before the top court's verdict was out. "Why does she want to promote anarchy in Uttar Pradesh?" ANI quoted Maurya as saying.

Ahead of SC hearing, Keshar Prasad Maurya slams Mayawati for backing protests over dilution of SC/ST verdict

The government, in its review petition, told the Supreme Court that its 20 March verdict will violate Article 21 of the Constitution for the SC/ST communities and sought restoration of the provisions of the SC/ST Act.

The Centre had formally filed its review petition on Monday in the Supreme Court against the apex court's ruling which sought a review of the recent judgment by which safeguards were put on arrests under the act. The ruling government, in the plea, sought restoration of the SC/ST Act provisions that made certain offences cognisable and non-bailable.

"The government has not diluted the provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act. In fact, we have strengthened the act. We have introduced provisions for the protection of victims, who are already suffered enough. Moreover, if officials are found lacking in their response to a complaint filed by anybody, we want action initiated against them as well," Rajnath Singh said.

Amid noisy protests in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh addressed the violence that singed large parts of the country on Monday.

Shah said that the NDA government has actually strengthened the provisions of the Act.

In a series of tweets, BJP chief Amit Shah backed the Narendra Modi government over its stand on the rights of the Dalits and backward classes. "Modi Governments commitment to fulfilling Babasaheb Ambedkars vision is unwavering. All the efforts of the Government are aimed at transforming the lives of Dalits."

BJP stands shoulder to shoulder with the Dalit community, says Amit Shah

The Supreme Court, while hearing the submissions by Attorney-General K K Venugopal, observed, 'we are not against the Act. Innocent should not be punished.'

"There has been violence and people have died. Those responsible are people who've been rejected by Dalits, whether it is Congress or BSP. We will do an inquiry and give report to the government. Action will be taken against culprits," ANI quoted SC/ST National Commission chairman RS Katheria as saying.

Bharat Bandh: We will probe violence and submit report to Centre, says SC/ST National Commission charperson

The court said that the compensation to victims will not have to wait for the lodging of an FIR.

The Supreme Court refused to stay its earlier verdict on the SC/ST (PoA) Act saying that they were not against the Act but the way it was being implemented. The court also noted that many of the protesters may not have even read the complete judgement.

The Supreme Court has refused to stay its 20 March order on SC/ST Act, and has asked all parties to submit detailed replies within two days. The matter will be heard after 10 days.

The Supreme Court said that the question of a preliminary inquiry before an FIR or a prior permission for arrest of a public servant comes up only when the charges are framed solely under the SC/ST (PoA) Act. The court said its order neither dilutes the provisions of the said act, or affects any other offenses charged under other sections of IPC or CrPC.

Supreme Court asked the lawyers in the case, including the Attorney General, to file a written submission and it will hear the case after 10 days.

The Supreme Court said that its earlier judgment is not in any way prejudiced against the people from the SC/ST community. It said that the judgment's sole intent was to ensure that innocent people do not suffer unnecessarily under the provisions of stringent SC/ST (PoA) Act which immediately makes a charge a non-bailable offense.

SC says intent behind judgment only to ensure innocents are not punished under stringent non-bailable act

The union government, in its review petition, said the March 20 verdict has "wide ramification and implication resulting in dilution of the stringent provisions of law enacted under the 1989 enactment. It adversely affects a substantial portion of the population of India being the members of SC/ST. It is also contrary to the legislative policy of Parliament as reflected in the Prevention Of Atrocities Act 1989".

The top court has listed the Centre's review petition after 10 days for detailed hearing and asked the Maharashtra government and others to file written submissions by then.

Supreme Court said that people who are agitating have not read the judgment properly and have been misled by vested interests. The bench also said it has not diluted any provision of SC/ST Act and only safeguarded the interest of innocents from being arrested. However, the provisions of the Act cannot be used to terrorise the innocents, it said.

What the Supreme Court said in today's hearing?

As many as 6,564 cases were registered over alleged crimes against the Scheduled Tribes in 2016, in which charge-sheets were filed in 81.3 percent cases where the conviction rate was 20.8 per cent, the minister said.

Of these, charge-sheets were filed in 78.3 per cent cases, and the conviction rate was 25.8 per cent, he said in reply to a written question.

Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said as per the information provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 40,774 cases were registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other sections of law over alleged crimes against SCs and STs in the year 2016.

As many as 47,338 cases of crime against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were registered across the country in 2016, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

47,000 cases of crime against SC/ST registered in 2016, but data shows markedly low conviction rate: Government in LS

Congressman and prominent Dalit leader Mallikarjun Kharge said "We were expecting this. This government should go for amendment." The Congress party also blamed the government for its anti-Dalit policies, saying that the protests were a manifestation built up anger over the failure of BJP government.

He refused to comment on the political connotation that the issue has acquired.

The 53-year employee of a government college in Pune said that irrespective of the central government's move, he was planning to file by 19 April a review petition in the Supreme Court against its March 20 order which is seen as diluting the SC/ST Act.

Bhaskar Gaikwad , the original complainant in the SC/ST case over which a nationwide bandh was organised on Monday, had never thought that his legal fight would attain such a huge political connotation.

Never thought it will become political issue, says original complainant in SC/ST matter

He also blamed "vested interest groups" for spreading the panic on the issue of reservation for Dalits, saying it is done before every election and asserted that the government will do everything to protect their rights.

In a series of tweets, Shah reached out to the community, which has been protesting a Supreme Court order on a law on atrocities against it.

Amit Shah on Tuesday said a "microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties" made the people suffer and sought their apology to "Dalit sisters and brothers.

Case registered against Raja Chauhan, who was seen firing during Monday's 's protests in Gwalior

MP police files FIR against two officers in Bhind in connection with death of one person during Bandh, says CNN-News 18

Police Sub-Inspector Mahendra Choudhary, who was injured in Jodhpur on Monday, dies

Counter-protests were reported today from Rajasthan, where traders' groups and members of other castes hit the streets over the damage caused yesterday.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in more than 10 states, most of them BJP-ruled, with widespread violence during the protests called by Dalit organisations yesterday with poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan bearing the maximum brunt.

Fresh violence broke out in Rajasthan today as a 5,000-strong mob set ablaze the houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, even as the death toll from yesterday's nationwide stir by Dalit groups rose to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh.

Death toll in violent Dalit protests reaches 11 as fresh violence breaks out in Rajasthan

Police action during Monday's protests lead to the death of seven people in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.

Madhya Pradesh police registered an FIR against two of its officers in connection with the death of a man during the Bharat Bandh protests. The victim, Mahavir Rajawat, died during Monday's protests in Bhind. Pathak had suffered bullet wounds during the protests in Morena when he was passing through the area during the Bharat Bandh.

With the Opposition accusing the ruling party of being "anti-Dalit", several BJP leaders, including many of its Dalit faces, compared the Modi government's works for the development of the community with the alleged neglect of their interests by the Congress.

The BJP today accused the Congress of "fuelling tensions" in the society with an eye on elections and urged the opposition party to tell people what it had done for the Dalits during its long rule at the Centre.

As many as 6,564 cases were registered over alleged crimes against the Scheduled Tribes in 2016, in which charge-sheets were filed in 81.3 percent cases where the conviction rate was 20.8 per cent, the minister said.

Of these, charge-sheets were filed in 78.3 per cent cases, and the conviction rate was 25.8 per cent, he said in reply to a written question.

Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said as per the information provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 40,774 cases were registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other sections of law over alleged crimes against SCs and STs in the year 2016.

As many as 47,338 cases of crime against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were registered across the country in 2016, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

47,000 cases of crime against SC/ST registered in 2016, but data shows markedly low conviction rate: Government in LS

Congressman and prominent Dalit leader Mallikarjun Kharge said "We were expecting this. This government should go for amendment." The Congress party also blamed the government for its anti-Dalit policies, saying that the protests were a manifestation built up anger over the failure of BJP government.

He refused to comment on the political connotation that the issue has acquired.

The 53-year employee of a government college in Pune said that irrespective of the central government's move, he was planning to file by 19 April a review petition in the Supreme Court against its March 20 order which is seen as diluting the SC/ST Act.

Bhaskar Gaikwad , the original complainant in the SC/ST case over which a nationwide bandh was organised on Monday, had never thought that his legal fight would attain such a huge political connotation.

Never thought it will become political issue, says original complainant in SC/ST matter

Through the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015 the NDA Government has actually strengthened the provisions of the Act. This was done in line with our commitment to the welfare of SC & ST communities. https://t.co/2LCmNeMOoP

He also blamed "vested interest groups" for spreading the panic on the issue of reservation for Dalits, saying it is done before every election and asserted that the government will do everything to protect their rights.

In a series of tweets, Shah reached out to the community, which has been protesting a Supreme Court order on a law on atrocities against it.

Amit Shah on Tuesday said a "microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties" made the people suffer and sought their apology to "Dalit sisters and brothers.

Gwalior: Case registered against Raja Chauhan, who was seen firing during yesterday's protests. #SC_ST_Act #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/SXheCOkGFV

Case registered against Raja Chauhan, who was seen firing during Monday's 's protests in Gwalior

MP police files FIR against two officers in Bhind in connection with death of one person during Bandh, says CNN-News 18

#BREAKING - #DalitProtests : Police Sub-Inspector Mahendra Choudhary has died. He was injured during the violence in Jodhpur yesterday. Choudhary was posted in Udaimandir Police pic.twitter.com/yU52q75wDl

Police Sub-Inspector Mahendra Choudhary, who was injured in Jodhpur on Monday, dies

Counter-protests were reported today from Rajasthan, where traders' groups and members of other castes hit the streets over the damage caused yesterday.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in more than 10 states, most of them BJP-ruled, with widespread violence during the protests called by Dalit organisations yesterday with poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan bearing the maximum brunt.

Fresh violence broke out in Rajasthan today as a 5,000-strong mob set ablaze the houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, even as the death toll from yesterday's nationwide stir by Dalit groups rose to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh.

Death toll in violent Dalit protests reaches 11 as fresh violence breaks out in Rajasthan

Police action during Monday's protests lead to the death of seven people in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.

Madhya Pradesh police registered an FIR against two of its officers in connection with the death of a man during the Bharat Bandh protests. The victim, Mahavir Rajawat, died during Monday's protests in Bhind. Pathak had suffered bullet wounds during the protests in Morena when he was passing through the area during the Bharat Bandh.

With the Opposition accusing the ruling party of being "anti-Dalit", several BJP leaders, including many of its Dalit faces, compared the Modi government's works for the development of the community with the alleged neglect of their interests by the Congress.

The BJP today accused the Congress of "fuelling tensions" in the society with an eye on elections and urged the opposition party to tell people what it had done for the Dalits during its long rule at the Centre.

SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act case hearing latest updates: Counter-protests were reported today from Rajasthan, where traders' groups and members of other castes hit the streets over the damage caused yesterday. The death toll from yesterday's nationwide stir by Dalit groups rose to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh.

The original petitioner in the case said that he had never thought that his legal fight would attain such a huge political connotation.

The Supreme Court refused to stay its 20 March order diluting the provisions in the SC/ST Act and listed the matter for hearing after 10 days.

While hearing the submissions by the Attorney General, the apex court observed, 'we are not against the Act. Innocent should not be punished.' BJP president Amit Shah, earlier, took to Twitter on Tuesday to reiterate Centre's stand on the rights of Dalits. Modi governments commitment to fulfilling Babasaheb Ambedkars vision is unwavering, he said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will hear the Centre's plea for the recall of its judgment holding that arrest on a complaint under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was not mandatory.

The order comes as the Centre sought a temporary stay of the 20 March ruling.

Directing the listing of the matter at 2 pm, before a bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the hearing will be in open court.

The chief justice's order came after Attorney General KK Venugopal mentioned the matter seeking the constitution of a bench comprising Justices Goel and Lalit which had pronounced the 20 March judgment.

Venugopal first mentioned the matter earlier on Tuesday before a bench of Justice Goel and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman.

Justice Goel said that they would hear the review petition in the open court at 2 pm provided the chief justice constitutes the bench.

With inputs from IANS
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Centre's review petition in an open court against the top court's earlier judgment on the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act.

According to latest reports, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear Centre's review petition in open court against the top court's earlier judgment on the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act. The news comes a day after the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Monday declined to hear an urgent plea on the ruling to do with the SC/ST Act. The hearing will be held at 2 pm on Tuesday. Attorney-General KK Venugopal is reported to have requested the hearing to be held on Tuesday itself.

The apex court agreed to hear the review petition after Venugopal referred to large-scale violence and loss of lives and property during Monday's Bharat Bandh. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra agreed to constitute the bench of Justice AK Goel and Justice UU Lalit to hear the review plea.

At least, eight people died in several incidents of violence across North India during the bandh which was called by several Dalit organisations protesting against the top court's order.

The Centre on Monday formally filed its review petition in the Supreme Court against the apex court's ruling which sought a review of the recent judgment by which safeguards were put on arrests under the act. The ruling government, in the plea, sought restoration of the SC/ST Act provisions that made certain offences cognisable and non-bailable.

The Centre on Monday had moved the Supreme Court to seek the recall of its judgment that ruled that there would be no automatic arrest of an accused following a complaint moved under the SC/ST Act. The government, in its review petition, told the Supreme Court that its 20 March verdict will violate Article 21 of the Constitution for the SC/ST communities and sought restoration of the provisions of the SC/ST Act.

The apex court had on 20 March said that on "several occasions", innocent citizens were being named as accused and public servants deterred from performing their duties, which was never the intention of the legislature while enacting the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The top court had said that unless the exclusion of anticipatory bail is limited to "genuine cases and inapplicable to cases where there is no prima facie case was made out, there will be no protection available to innocent citizens". It had said that "in view of the acknowledged abuse of law of arrest in cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, arrest of a public servant can only be after approval of the appointing authority and of a non-public servant after approval by the senior superintendent of police (SSP) which may be granted in appropriate cases if considered necessary for reasons recorded".

The top court had also directed that the reasons recorded must be scrutinised by the magistrate for permitting further detention.

With inputs from agencies
Another witness was declared hostile in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake encounter case on Monday, taking the count of such witnesses to 45

Mumbai: Another witness was declared hostile in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake encounter case on Monday, taking the total count of such witnesses to 45.

The witness, Nagin Rathore, a teacher by profession, was examined by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before special judge S J Sharma on Monday.

Rathore had earlier made a statement to the CBI that he was asked by the principal of his school to go to the police headquarters (in Sangli).

He further told the agency that, at the police headquarters there, he was made to meet two witnesses, both of whom were Marathi-speaking.

Rathore had also said, in his statement to the CBI, that he explained to the two people, in Marathi, their statements which were recorded in Gujarati.

However, in the court on Monday, he did not stand by his earlier statement and said that he never went to the police headquarters, nor did he meet anyone.

So far, 66 witnesses have been examined, of whom 45 have been declared hostile by the CBI, the prosecuting agency.

The court had, in October last year, framed charges against 22 accused for murder, abduction and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and for offences under the Arms Act in connection with the alleged staged encounter of Sheikh near Gandhinagar on 26 November, 2005. All the accused had pleaded innocent.

BJP president Amit Shah, Rajasthan home minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P C Pande, Additional Director General of Police (Gujarat) Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and N K Amin have been discharged from the case.

Besides them, Yashpal Chudasama and Ajay Patel (both senior officials of Ahmedabad District co-operative Bank), Gujarat IPS officer Rajkumar Pandiyan and Andhra Pradesh-cadre IPS official N Balasubramanyam, Rajasthan IPS officer Dinesh MN and former senior Gujarat police officer DG Vanzara have also been discharged.

Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat police's Anti-Terrorism Squad from Hyderabad while they were on their way to Sangli in Maharashtra in November 2005.

According to the prosecution, Sheikh was allegedly killed in a fake encounter. Kausar Bi was also allegedly killed later.

Tulsi Prajapati, an aide of Sheikh and who was said to be a witness to the encounter, was allegedly killed by police at Chapri village in Gujarat's Banaskantha district in December 2006.

The fake encounter case was transferred to Mumbai in September 2012 on the request of the CBI to ensure a fair trial. In 2013, the Supreme Court clubbed the Sheikh and Prajapati encounter cases.
Repeated legislation has been unable to solve the problems faced by the SC/ST community. As such, the dilution of the protections afforded to them is problematic.

After widespread protests over the dilution of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (hereinafter the Atrocities Act), the Supreme Court will hear the Centres review petition on the matter on Tuesday.

The Centre had on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its recent verdict on the SC/ST Act. The hearing is likely to take place at 2 pm on Tuesday. Attorney-General KK Venugopal is reported to have requested the hearing to be held at that time.

In the verdict given on 20 March, the court had diluted the stringent provisions under the Atrocities Act which mandated the immediate arrest of the accused.

The Centre in its petition has insisted that despite various measures to improve the socio-economic conditions of SC/ST community, they still remained vulnerable. "They are denied a number of civil rights. They are subjected to various offences, indignities, humiliations and harassment.... It has escaped the consideration of this court that contrary to the assertion of any misuse of the 1989 Act, the facts and data have demonstrated a weak implementation of the said Act, thereby endorsing the requirement for a strict interpretation of the deterrent provisions contained therein".

Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955

The Centre's stance is backed up by legislative action over the past decades. Despite the Constitution abolishing untouchability and providing protection to the SC/ST community, crimes against them refuse to die down. To prevent this, the government brought in the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955 which was later renamed as the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 (hereinafter the PCR Act).

A study by the National Law School, Bengaluru however concluded that the legislation was unclear in the goals it wanted to achieve  "whether the Act exists merely to remove specific disabilities symptomatic of untouchability or whether it makes a concerted effort to strike at the root of the problem. If the stated goal is the eradication of untouchability as a social evil... the Act must deal with societal structures that perpetuate oppression. The legislation has to ensure a greater role by the State, not limited to the punishment of individuals."

It is thus clear that PCR Act is concerned more with untouchability. Indeed the study noted that "it has a different scope than the Atrocities Act, since it focuses on removal of disabilities rather than the punishment of atrocities". However the problems of the SC/ST community go beyond untouchability as they have been the victims of heinous crimes such as murders and rapes.

SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989

The PCR Act was thus not enough and the government attempted to fill this gap in the law by enacting the Atrocities Act in 1989. The Act was brought into force on 30 January, 1990 in order to check and deter crimes against people belonging to the SC/ST community by people belonging to other communities. This Act extended the positive discrimination in favour of SCs and STs to the

field of criminal law in as much as they prescribe penalties that are more stringent than the corresponding offences under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other laws. Special Courts have been established in major states for speedy trial of cases registered exclusively under this law.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Atrocities Act states that there were increasing number of attacks on Scheduled Castes and Tribes and commission of atrocities like making them eat human excreta were on the rise. Since existing laws like the PCR Act and the IPC were found to be inadequate to curb these grave crimes, the new legislation was enacted.

Section 3 of the new law lists out the various acts that constitute atrocities. The section offers protection and remedies against the following offences. It recognises social disabilities (denial of access to places), personal atrocities (forceful drinking or eating of inedible and obnoxious substances, parading people naked, sexual exploitation of women etc), atrocities affecting property (wrongful occupation of land, dispossession from land etc). It also recognises atrocities by malicious prosecution and causing political and economic disability.

The Act was however unable to achieve its goals. This was noted in the Statement of Objects and Reasons of a 2013 amendment bill to the Atrocities Act which said, 'despite the deterrent provisions made in the Act, atrocities continue at a disturbing level. Adequate justice also remains difficult for a majority of the victims and the witnesses, as they face hurdles virtually at every stage of the legal process. The implementation of the Act suffers due to procedural hurdles, procedural delays, delays in trial and low conviction rate. Further, certain forms of atrocities, known to be occurring in recent years, are not covered by the Act.'

The amendment with the required changes was brought into effect in 2016 but was still not enough to curb crimes against SCs and STs. The Bombay High Court in 2017 noted that 'there has been a failure on the part of the authorities in complying with the provisions of the Act and Rules. The laudable object with which the Act had been made is defeated by the indifferent attitude of the authorities. The constitutional goal of equality for all citizens can be achieved only when the rights of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are protected. The abundant material on record proves that the authorities concerned are guilty of not enforcing the provisions of the Act. The travails of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes continue unabated."

It is thus quite clear that repeated legislation has been unable to solve the problems faced by the SC/ST community. As such when the apex court further decreases the protections afforded to them, it is not hard to see why they have taken to the streets to plead their case.

With inputs from PTI
UN chief Antonio Guterres is 'very concerned' over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and wants all member states to protect their civilians, his spokesperson has said

United Nations: UN chief Antonio Guterres is "very concerned" over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and wants all member states to protect their civilians, his spokesperson has said.

His remarks came after Indian security forces, on Sunday, gunned down 13 militants in three counter-insurgency operations that also claimed the lives of three army jawans and four civilians in Anantnag and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The Secretary-General is, indeed, very concerned about the situation that we've seen in Jammu and Kashmir. He would like to remind that Member States are responsible under international humanitarian law to protect civilians," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters at his daily press briefing on Monday.

He said the Secretary-General reiterated his call to nations to find ways to address disputes in a peaceful manner.

He added that civilians need to be protected wherever they are, "whether it's in Gaza, whether it's in Jammu and Kashmir, or whether it's in Yemen. It's a basic principle of this organisation."

When asked if the Secretary-General is calling for an investigation into the matter, Dujarric said "any loss of civilians needs to be investigated wherever they occur".
A Mi 17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force crash-landed near Kedarnath on Tuesday morning.

An Mi 17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force, crash-landed near Kedarnath on Tuesday morning while trying to land far from the Kedarnath shrine. ANI reported that the helicopter caught fire following the collision with the iron girder while trying to land at a helipad. The fire was later brought under control.

#UPDATE Four people including the pilot suffered minor injuries after Indian Air Force's MI-17 helicopter caught fire following collision with an iron girder while landing at helipad near Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand. (The helicopter is not of the Army as mentioned earlier) pic.twitter.com/l59bFVV4eP  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018

There were eight people  six passengers, pilot and co-pilot  onboard but all are safe with minor injuries, an official said. The hilly area is quite risky for helicopters. A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. Congress leader Ashok Gehlot tweeted that he was "relieved to know" that the IAF officials on board were out of danger.

Relieved to know four people, including #IAF pilot are out of danger after cargo helicopter of #IndianAirForce caught fire while landing at helipad near #Kedarnath temple in #Uttarakhand. #MI17 #HelicopterCrash pic.twitter.com/zjVaQWCGpJ  Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) April 3, 2018

In October, 2017, an Mi-17 V5 helicopter of the IAF crashed near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, killing seven military personnel. Five IAF personnel, including two pilots, and two army men were killed in the crash near the remote town of Tawang, close to the China border.

The Mi-17 is a military transport variant in the Mi-8/17 family of helicopters. It is produced by Kazan Helicopters, a subsidiary of Russian Helicopters. The Mi-17 V5 variant has a maximum take off weight of 13,000 kg. It can transport either 36 armed soldiers internally or 4,500 kg of load on a sling.

On 10 June, 2017, a chopper belonging to a Mumbai-based private aviation company crashed in Badrinath while taking off, killing an engineer onboard and injuring two pilots.

With inputs from PTI
Was it Bhim Army, National Confederation for Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) or an unidentified Dalit youth, who first gave the call through a WhatsApp message for Bharat Bandh around a week ago?

Was it Bhim Army, National Confederation for Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) or an unidentified Dalit youth, who first gave the call through a WhatsApp message for Bharat Bandh around a week ago? The top brass of security agencies in the National Capital went into a huddle as millions of demonstrators from Dalit organisations, carrying signs with slogans like "Country will be govern by Constitution and not fascism" (sic), descended on the streets across the country on Monday opposing Supreme Court ruling on the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Act.

Despite call for peaceful protest, the march ended up in violence, in which at least eight people were killed in three states  Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The security officials deliberated upon two scenarios  whether a call was given by NACDOR, led by Ashok Bharti or social media was the actual leader of this demonstration? By Monday evening, they stumbled upon a WhatsApp message sent by an unknown number which they feared could be the trigger for the huge Dalit mobilisation. But, one thing clearly emerged out of the meeting  the state's law enforcement machinery including its local intelligence units had failed to assess the situation on the ground.

Reports flowing in the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) was about peaceful Bharat Bandh like it happened on many occasion in the past. Some reports had suggested that a call was given by Ashok Bharti-led NACDOR and few other organisations may join during a day-long protest. The agencies and informers failed to gauge probability of miscreant's infiltration and large scale arson and use of baton by the protesters. Jai Bhagwan Jatav, chief patron of Bhim Army claimed that it was a leaderless agitation although several organisations, including his own, had participated.

Speaking to Firstpost, Jatav said he has called a meeting on Tuesday where 25 organisations had said they will come for future course of action. "Monday's protest was a people-led movement, there was no leader. It was mobilised through messages and social media platforms. Not a single Dalit organisation was behind it. On Tuesday, we will decide over Delhi Gherao, in case, the government fails to act. And, it may happen this month," Jatav said.

Sumedha, representative from the NACDOR, however, claimed that the call for Bharat Bandh was given by Bharti. She told Firstpost various organisations may have supported it but NACDOR was at the forefront of the protest on Monday. "Our leader (Bharti) called for the bandh on 21-22 March. 2 April was finalised and the message to observe countrywide shutdown was conveyed to other Dalit organisations," she said.

Jatav, on the other hand, dismissed the claim, indicating tussle between various Dalit organisations. The various groups and factions, he said, are trying to claim credit for the unrest, which is incorrect. Jatav said his Bhim Army curated a message received from an unidentified youth and later circulated to make the bandh successful. The message, which was circulated by the Uttar Pradesh wing of Bhim Army, said, "If you dont do it today, your children will be harassed tomorrow on the street and others are going to be mute spectator." Jatav allegedly told everyone to forward the message to at least 10 people.

"We want justice for the Dalits and our agitation will continue till the government fulfils our demand," Jatav said. A senior government official, who was part of the security meeting, on the condition of anonymity, admitted telltale signs post Supreme Court verdict they were not able to measure the magnitude of the protest which was marred by violence.

"It wasnt totally driven by social media. There was anger and unrest but we couldnt see what was coming. There was definitely some level of planning involved by the Dalit Organisations and help by the social media to reach out to the masses. Since law and order is a subject, we were sure the states would be able to handle it," he said and added that unfortunate incidents has triggered a massive political controversy with Opposition looking to reap electoral dividends.
With Serampore a popular pit-stop for Danish and English traders, in 1786, a British innkeeper called James Parr, opened the Denmark Tavern & Hotel. In no time at all, the tavern became a favourite among Europeans | #FirstCulture

Serampore  situated on the banks of the Hooghly River  is not one that courts the limelight much. Over the month of February and March 2018, however, it has received a lot of attention after a 232-year-old structure known as Denmark Tavern (or Danish tavern) underwent an exquisite restoration. In the presence of ambassadors from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, an inauguration ceremony declared the restored structure 'open', with much fanfare.

History of Serampore

The small cities on the banks of the Hooghly have a rich heritage; they were sites of a number of colony outposts set up by the East India Company and other foreign traders. While Chandannagar remained under the rule of the Portuguese East India Company, Serampore was dominated by the Dutch (both cities are located a stone's throw from Kolkata, then the business and administrative capital of the East India Company). The Hooghly river was a major business route as well.

These satellite towns waned in importance once the focus shifted to Delhi.

Serampore's story

The Danish East India Company had arrived in India in 1620 and established their first-ever settlement in Tranquebar or Tamil Nadu. They began trading in India, mainly from the South. Around 1732, the Danish king Christian VI signed an MoU with the East India Company that allowed them to carry on a monopoly business in India and China for 40 years. During that time, the Danish chief in Bengal was residing and trading from Chandannagar, and it was then that the value of the land in Serampore dawned. Initially, there was an attempt to buy 60 bighas in Serampore, an attempt later given up as too expensive. Thus the Danish authority bought only three bighas of riverfront land, on which was situated the establishment known as Denmark Tavern.

As Serampore remained a popular and lucrative pit-stop among the Danish and English traders, in 1786, a British innkeeper called James Parr, opened the Denmark Tavern & Hotel. In no time, the tavern became a favourite among the Europeans.

It's interesting that the 'Danish' tavern was founded by an Englishman and not a Dane. The reason being, Parr was already an expert in the hospitality business and had previously operated a 'London Tavern' too in (then) Calcutta. His prior experience in the business brought him to Serampore and this inn soon was named the best Danish hotel in India.

Many details about the tavern were mentioned in William Carey's book, The Good Old Days of Honourable John Company (1882). Carey also wrote of another tavern situated in the area, run by a gentleman named Mr Meyers: "A trip up the river in cumbrous budgerows and pinnaces on pleasure excursions was a very common custom at the time. Large parties used to proceed as far as Bandel and other stations on the riverside, and remain absent from home for days. A wayside inn, like those at Serampore, must, therefore, have been a treat for the voyagers; and that there should have been found room for two in one settlement, proves that the visitors to Serampore must have been many, and that the town itself was worthy of notice."

From an advertisement in the Calcutta Gazette, dated 16 March 1786, we find the Denmark Tavern offering the following amenities  Gentlemen passing up and down the river may be accommodated with breakfast, dinner, supper and lodging, and may depend on the charges being very reasonableDinners dressed and sent out at short notice; also liquors sold by the single dozen, for ready cash. A good Billiard Table and Coffee-room with the Newspapers etc. The Gazette  an English language weekly newspaper which was published between 1780 and 1800  in fact, has several articles on the Danish Tavern as well.

Danish Tavern's rebirth

In 2015, restoration work on the Tavern began. The structure then was in complete ruins. The restoration project was taken up as the Serampore Initiative of the National Museum of Denmark and at the end of this six-year-long endeavour, Serampore not only got a ravishing new Danish Tavern, but also face-lifts for other historical structures like the Serampore court, Olav church, and the land registry building. Manish Chakraborti, a local contractor, was the restoration architect who worked on the project with valuable inputs from Danish architect Flemming Aalund.

While the Danish Museum played a pivotal role in the remaking of an important part of Serampore's history, Manish Chakraborti too invested three years' incessant effort. Taking us through the restored tavern, he told Firstpost: "While some modern choices were made during the restoration, I majorly stuck to the traditional structure and feel. I was sure about the paint outside the building and used bright yellow and green as a combination while for the interiors I maintained a neutral white to keep the Danish feel intact. Also, I was very particular about the floors.

"We did use steel beams instead of wood for the roof. However, we also used surki and lime, instead of cement. A team of craftsmen from Murshidabad, Sunderbans and Serampore worked on the project. The local masons had the difficult task of stitching together partially collapsed walls; carpenters recreated old doors, windows and even an entire wooden staircase, made with Indian teak," he added.

The tavern now has a bright cafe area and four private luxurious rooms for lodging. The government has paid for a part for the restoration project along with the Danish Museum. The total cost of the project was around Rs 3.5 crore. The balcony of the tavern has a great view of River Hooghly, busy with vessels ferrying people and cargo up- and downstream. The furniture is traditional, with a series of handpicked paintings on Old Calcutta on the walls giving the tavern a vintage vibe.

"The tourism department has thrown the property open for private players to bid on and there will be an official announcement soon. The cafe, bakery, and lodge will be open to the public from 15 April onwards, which also marks the Bengali New Year," said Chakraborti. "We really hope people from all over, not just Kolkata, think it's worth spending a night or two here."
Tuesday will mark the 19th day of the Budget Session of Parliament, a session that has been marked by repeated adjournments and delays, with Opposition parties preventing the transaction of any substantial business in both Houses of Parliament.

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Amid the outrage over the Nirav Modi scam and Karti Chidambaram's arrest in the INX Media case, the NDA government is possibly staring at a stormy second half of Budget Session which begins from Monday. The first part of the budget session was held from 29 January to 9 February, while second half of the session will come to a close on 9 April.

The Congress is also likely to denounce the government over the arrest of former Union finance minister P Chidambaram's son Karti by the CBI in the INX Media alleged bribery case. The Congress has termed the CBI action "political vendetta".

The Opposition is also likely to corner the government over the tussle between Prasar Bharti and the Information and Broadcasting ministry. It is likely to raise issues concerning farmers, the Rafale deal, Staff Selection Commission "job scam", loss of life and property due to ceasefire violations on the LoC and increase in cost of petroleum products.

Meanwhile, YSRCP MPs from Andhra Pradesh are likely to hold a dharna against the Centre in the Parliament premises. The party is also expected to initiate a no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha on 21 March, reported Livemint.

BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe calls for suspension of today's session under rule 267 of the Parliament in order to discuss allegations of corruption indulged by family members of former ministers under the tacit protection of ministers.

D Raja of the CPI too has issued an adjournment notice in the Rajya Sabha in order to discuss the Punjab National Bank scam. This is the third adjournment motion on the issue.

CNN-News18 is reporting that the BJP president will be meeting a delegation from the TDP to discuss the issue of special status to the state of Andhra Pradesh. According to the report, TDP is currently adamant on the 19 demands for the state. On the other hand, the YSRCP is also pressurizing the government over the same issue.

The bill to target economic offenders was approved by the government following the escape of diamond merchant Nirav Modi and other accused in the over Rs 12,700-crore Punjab National Bank scam.

The passage of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, which seeks confiscation of assets of absconding fraudsters and loan defaulters, and the triple talaq bill will be high on the government's agenda.

The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill 2017 and The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill 2017 will be tabled in the Lower House of the Parliament, reported PTI.

Today has been the day of adjournment motions. A notice for an adjournment motion can be issued under rule 267 of the Parliament. It is generally utilised by an MP to discuss a matter of public importance. Three of the adjournment motions have been issued to discuss the Nirav Modi scam, while Pappu Yadav has issued an adjournment motion to discuss the alleged scam in the SSC exams. On the other hand, BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe has issued an adjournment notice to discuss the allegations of corruption by relatives of former ministers.

While the Opposition is expected to target the government over financial scams in the recent past, the BJP is likely to pin the blame on the Congress-led UPA regime. The BJP has already claimed that the PNB scam had begun when the UPA was in power and its government has acted with alacrity after the fraud came out in the open. The party, energised by the win in Tripura and impressive performance in Nagaland and Meghalaya elections, is likely to be aggressive in Parliament and rake up scams that happened on the Congress watch to pin it down, party sources said.

However, Opposition created a ruckus in the House as soon as the session began.

Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Venkaiah Naidu is saying that everyone who issued an adjournment notices under rule 267 will get a chance once he holds a discussion with Arun Jaitley, the Leader of Rajya Sabha. He added that many of the members have to look at some other rule in the Parliament rule book to talk in the Parliament. On the issue of Cauvery water, Naidu said that the adjournment notice issued by AIADMK MP Navneethakrishnan will be discussed in Zero Hour.

According to Financial Express, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP president Amit Shah are scheduled to meet a TDP delegation, and more importantly the Andhra Pradesh finance minister, over the issue of granting Andhra Pradesh with special category status.

"Don't create hungama," said Venkaiah Naidu as Opposition continued to create ruckus over PNB scam, 'Special Category Status' to Andhra Pradesh and other issues. This forced Naidu to adjourn the Upper House of the Parliament till 2 pm.

However, the Opposition continues to create ruckus. The Opposition has also walked into the Well of the House to protest against the government.

The resignation of Neiphiu Rio, who was elected to the Nagaland Assembly unopposed, and who is likely to be the next Chief Minister of Nagaland, has been accepted by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

The Rajya Sabha has resumed operations, with PJ Kurien seated at the Chair. However, MP's continued there agitation even as the Speaker took his seat. Slogans of "Nirav Modi vapas lao" raged in the Parliament while Kurien urged the MPs to maintain decorum of the House.

PJ Kuries, in an attempt to calm down the agitated members, acknowledged that the issues raised by them were important and agreed to allow discussion on them one by one. For today, he granted permission to conduct a debate on the frauds in public sector banks. However, Opposition MPs refused to vacate the Well and continued raising slogans. There demand was that the prime minister must explain why he could not keep his promise to bring back Nirav Modi and other people alleged scamsters.

Members of the Opposition come to the Well of the House to protest against Nirav Modi. Slogans of "Nirav Modi ko wapas lao" are being heard. Meanwhile, Venkaiah Naidu has adjourned Rajya Sabha till 11.30 am.

Times Now is reporting that Lok Sabha will be holding a marathon four-hour-long discussion on the issue, starting at noon.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the much talked about Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Bill, 2018 which will be tabled in the remaining Budget session in Parliament. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that the government has also decided to set up an independent body NFRA (National Financial Reporting Authority) to crackdown on big scams and avoid Nirav Modi-like situation in future. For the purpose the government will amend Companies Act.

While the ministers have tabled their papers, the Opposition continue raise slogans against the government. The Opposition is raising slogans like "Chota Modi, bada Modi Murdabad".

"The second half of the Budget Session is important for passing financial bills. I request the Congress, TDP, TRS and other parties to calm down and let the Hosue continue its work," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said.

While speaking in the Parliament, Union Minister Ananth Kumar said that Arun Jaitley will be making a statement on the issue. However, he also took the opportunity to target the Congress and the previous UPA government. "No one involved in the Congress-led UPA era corruption scandals will be spared," he said.

According to News18, MPs from four parties storming the Well to protest for different demands. While the Congress and the Trinamool Congress want debate on the PNB scam, the AIADMK is protesting over the Cauvery issue. The TRS wants the Constitution amended to skirt the 50% ceiling for reservation in jobs and education, while the TDP wants special status for Andhra Pradesh.

"We have to look at the importance of passing the women's reservation bill," Kanimozhi said.

"Families want to abort and kill the girl child. There are so many dowry deaths. Domestic violence is on the rise. When is all this going to stop?" she further said.

"Men are celebrating us today as mothers, sisters, daughter. I think it's time for women to say, 'enough of that'. We don't want to be celebrated for our sacrifices. We want to be celebrated for our identity," Kanimozhi said in the Rajya Sabha.

Women don't want to be celebrated for their sacrifices, they want to be celebrated for their identities: Kanimozhi

"I find it strange that we celebrate Women's Day. But men don't celebrate any particular day. I am not in favour of this tokenism. I request all the men to stop throwing crumbs at us and treat us with respect throughout the year," Anu Aga said in the Rajya Sabha.

"Earlier, people used to say, 'behing every successful man, there is a woman'. But now, the saying has become 'behind every successful man, there is a nationalised bank," said Derek O'Brien in the Rajya Sabha, clearly taking a dig at the Modi government over the PNB scam.

"Everyone should promise that the restrictions imposed on women by men will be abolished. On Valentine's Day, girls and couples should not be beaten up. In the name of anti-Romeo squad, women were beaten up in UP," AAP's Sanjay Singh said in the Rajya Sabha.

"On other hand, there are crimes against women which bring about shame to us. Which is why this day is one on which we should take a pledge to end such crimes," Swaraj said. "This should be a movement," she added.

"India is a country where a woman became president, prime minister, twice became the Speaker of a House," she said. "Today, women are doing combat duty in the army, flying planes in the air force," she added.

"International Women's Day gives us an opportunity to look at the requirements for gender equality," Sushma Swaraj said in the Rajya Sabha. "Women's reservation bill is important. But there are achievements by women even without reservation," she said.

The Opposition parties protested against the passage of the budget without debate, as the session is slated to continue till 6 April.

The Finance Bill as well as the Appropriation Bill were passed in a matter of 25 minutes during which Opposition parties and ruling NDA ally TDP shouted slogans and created a din. The Lower House was adjourned for the day immediately thereafter.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the crucial Finance Bill 2018 and a Rs 89.25 lakh crore spending plan for the next fiscal year without discussion amid ruckus, which led to the adjournment of both the Houses of Parliament for the eighth day.

The Rajya Sabha began Thursday's session with an obituary of former MP Hamida Habibullah. The members observed a minute of silence for the same.

Lok Sabha MPs could be heard protesting in the background even as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tries to conduct the Thursday's session. Congress and other Opposition party members stormed the Well. Ministers speaking can hardly be heard over the din.

Even as Opposition party members stormed the Well in the Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the Centre is willing to discuss the Cauvery issue and special package to Andhra Pradesh but it cannot be done so with protests in the Well.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was forced to adjourn the Lower House till 12 pm on Thursday within less than 10 minutes of the session's beginning.

Former Union minister and TDP MP YS Chowdary speaks on why he resigned from the BJP-led Centre in Rajya Sabha

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, former Union MoS for Science and Technology YS Chowdary said that the Andhra Pradesh bifurcation was done unjustly and unscientifically. "The division could have been done after taking care of employment potential, development in both states. Both states must have been developed equally for 10 years by the government in power at the time," he said. Following his opening remarks, other members of the House began to clamour and protest, creating a din.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu was forced to adjourn the House due to loud protests over former Union minister and TDP MP YS Chowdary's remarks on why he resigned from the Council of Ministers of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

Opposition MPs continued to storm the Well of the House even as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan resumed the session.

The Rajya Sabha was earlier adjourned till 2 pm on Thursday amid sharp exchanges between former Union minister from the TDP, YS Chowdary, and the Congress members over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 under the UPA government.

If accepted, it will be the first no-confidence motion moved against the Modi-government.

The motion can be accepted only if it has the support of at least 50 members in the House. YSR Congress has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha.

The YSR Congress's MP YV Subba Reddy gave the notice to the Lok Sabha secretariat for including the motion in Friday's list of business, his office said.

The YSR Congress on Thursday gave a notice for moving a no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government following the Centre's refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh and found unlikely support from its arch-rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

YSR Congress Party MP YV Subba Reddy submitted a notice to the Lok Sabha Secretary-General Snehalata Shrivastava for moving a motion on 'No-Confidence in the Council of Ministers' in the house.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has become the first BJP ally to break away from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Follow LIVE updates on the same here.

After announcing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) pulls out of the NDA, party MP Thota Narasimhan told ANI that the TDP will be moving a no-confidence motion on Friday. "We have decided... we are out of the NDA," he added.

"TDP withdrew support from the NDA, which did injustice to Andhra Pradesh. TDP president Chandrababu Naidu took this decision in an emergency teleconference with party politburo members and MPs, which was unanimously supported. TDP to also introduce no-confidence motion against NDA government," ANI quoted the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Office as saying.

"TDP's decision to quit was inevitable after its mischievous propaganda against Centre. People of Andhra Pradesh have now realised that TDP is resorting to lies to cover up its inert governance. TDP's exit is a timely opportunity for the BJP to grow in Andhra Pradesh," BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao tweeted.

Speaking to ANI , BJP MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi commented on the TDP-NDA break up saying that every year before actual elections, there is always a rehearsal in Parliament. "We will see what happens in Parliament, which party chooses to go which way. In a way it is election year, and every state has demands and issues. It is not right for us to comment on it. It is a custom, before actual elections there is always a rehearsal in Parliament," he said.

Sarfaraz Alam (Araria, Bihar), Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel (Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh), Pravin Kumar Nishad (Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh), who won the recent bypolls held in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, took their oath as Lok Sabha MPs on Friday.

Supporting the no-confidence motion against the NDA government, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted: "Its (BJP's) betrayal of the promise of special status for Andhra Pradesh is inexcuseable. Its all-round failure and evasion of parliamentary accountability needs to be highlighted."

After the obituary references were read out, Opposition parties' MPs created a ruckus over the no-confidence motion against the NDA government. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till 12 pm.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said his party will support the no-confidence motion against the NDA government in the Lok Sabha. "MIM party will support the no confidence motion in Lok Sabha, not only for failure of Modi government to implement State Reorganisation Act but their failure to fulfill their promise to provide employment to youth ans for injustice to Muslim women and minorities," CNN-News18 quoted him as saying.

"We have no confidence in their no-confidence motion, so we have decided to go on our own," he said. - PTI

TDP MP CM Ramesh added that YSR Congress MP Vijaysai Reddy was seen making attempts to meet the prime minister and this hinted at a nexus between both parties.

Andhra Pradesh's ruling party had on Thursday offered to back the YSR Congress' no-confidence motion but has now said it withdraws the support as it smells a nexus between it and the BJP.

Speaking to ANI , BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao claimed that the Andhra Pradesh government and TDP are wary of the BJP's rise in the state. "The state government and TDP are feeling the pinch of the public opinion going against them and BJP will use this as an opportunity to grow as a political party and emerge as a dominant political force in Andhra Pradesh. For us it will prove to be the next Tripura," Rao said.

Even as Opposition MPs continued to chant slogans in the House, with TRS, TDP MPs storming the Well of the House, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan began with business for the day. She also said that she is duty-bound to introduce the two no-confidence motions but asked protesting MPs to sit in their places. As she said this, Opposition protests began to get louder.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after Telagana Rashra Samithi (TRS) MPs stormed the Well. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she cannot introduce the two no confidence motions by YSRCP and TDP if House members continued to disrupt proceedings as she needed to check if there are 50 members to support each motion. Protesting MPs created more ruckus in response, forcing her to adjourn Lok Sabha till Monday.

The NDA had stormed to power with 336 seats in 2014, of which the BJP alone claimed 282 seats. However, a series of bypolls that went against the saffron party meant that its tally in the Lok Sabha currently stands at 273 seats. When one adds the allies the BJP does have by its side  Shiv Sena, JD(U), Apna Dal, LJP, SAD, RLSP, PDP  the tally rises to 312. If the TDP can be persuaded to come around once again, this could rise to 328, a comfortable majority.

The TDP has 16 MPs, and it said it would move a no-confidence motion against the Central government. In doing so, it would be following in the footsteps of rival Andhra Pradesh party, the YSR Congress, which has also said it would be moving a no-confidence motion against the Centre. The two Andhra parties have been miffed with the BJP following the latter's inability to grant special status for the state.

As some other Congress members were on their feet trying to join the issue simultaneously, Naidu adjourned the House till 2.30 PM.

"Do you want this sort of a thing to continue? ... Is that your suggestion. This is your party view," he said.

To this, Naidu asked if somebody committed a mistake in the past, does it mean that he should also do the same.

As he was making the appeal, Congress member Satyabrat Chaturvedi stood up and said he agreed with the Chair, but sought to know whether it was for the first time that he is witnessing such a scenario in Parliament.

"I am very much pained that the Upper House of Parliament is not able to transact its business for last two weeks. Dont't test my patience...We are meeting, greeting and not doing anything and adjourning," the Chairman said.

Before adjourning the House till 2.30 PM, Naidu said there were larger issues like banking scam, Cauvery river water sharing, demand for a special package to Andhra Pradesh and sealing in the national capital, which were agitating the minds of people and needed to be discussed.

After tabling of the listed papers, Naidu expressed his anguish saying the House has not functioned ever since it resumed on March 5 after recess during the Budget session.

The Rajya Sabha today witnessed an abrupt adjournment following a brief argument between Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and some Congress members soon after the House assembled for the day.

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha told Chowsary to resume his speech from yesterday, which was interrupted due to the disruption of the House. He, however, added that Chowdary must stick to the speech approved by the Chairman and resist making any allegations.

Chowdary said that the former prime minister Manmohan Singh has promised that Centre's hand-holing to Andhra. He then added that both the national parties were responsible for the secession of Andhra Pradesh and a certain help was promised to us at the time. Chowdary further said that the new constitutional restriction being cited by the Centre should not be applicable retrospectively to what was promised to Andhra.

The deputy chairman, however, expunged those remarks as he said the Chairman had seen and vetted the speech but Chowdary had deviated from the approved version.

In the course of his speech, Chowdary quoted the Opposition MP Venkaiah Naidu requesting special status for Andhra for at least 10 years. This elicited an objection from Railway Minister Piyush Goyal who said that Chowdary was trying to cast aspersions on the Chair (Venkaiah Naidu). This was met with sharp opposition from the Congress members who requested the quotes to be repeated.

It is expected to be a stormy day in the Parliament on Monday, especially for the Lok Sabha where the two no-confidence motions against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress Party are likely to be taken up.

However, equations with the existing allies aren't particularly rosy. In particular with Shiv Sena, the largest non-BJP constituent of the NDA. If the Sena follows TDP by backing out, the figure of 314 will go down to 296, just 23 more than the magic figure of 273, and the BJP can no longer be certain of its future.

The NDA had stormed to power with 336 seats in 2014, of which the BJP alone claimed 282 seats. However, a series of bypolls that went against the saffron party meant that its tally in the Lok Sabha currently stands at 274 seats. When one adds the 11 allies the BJP still has by its side  Shiv Sena, JD(U), Apna Dal, LJP, SAD, RLSP, PDP, PMK, SWP, NPP and AINR Congress  the tally rises to 314 . If the TDP can be persuaded to come around once again, this could rise to 330, a comfortable majority.

RJD's JP Yadav gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha on Monday over the recent "communal incidents of violence in Araria, Bhagalpur and Darbhanga", reported ANI .

Speaking to ANI, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said the party will "wait and watch" what happens in the Parliament on Monday. He said: "We will also have to see if the Speaker allows the no confidence motion or rejects it. TDP has its own state issues and we welcome them. As of now we have not decided yet on no confidence motion. Uddhav ji (Thackeray) will take a call."

The Parliament secretariat received three separate notices for a no-confidence motion against the BJP government on Monday, two of which were from TDP and one from the YSR Congress, reported ANI . Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan is likely to take up the notices after Question Hour if the House is in order.

CPI leader Duraisamy Raja said that the Left parties will be supporting the no-confidence motion in the Parliament on Monday. "People have started expressing their no confidence in the Modi government, it is time the Parliament does it too," ANI quoted him as saying.

He had earlier also said the BJP enjoys support "inside and outside" the Parliament, according to Business Standard . "I want to tell the Congress and other Opposition members that there is confidence inside and outside the House. That's why the BJP is ready to face the no-confidence motion," said Kumar.

Ahead of Monday's Parliament session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said that the saffron party was ready to face the no-confidence motion as it is sure it has the necessary support.

In less than two minutes of being in session, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 pm. As soon as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan entered the House, loud protests and sloganeering dominated the scene, making it impossible for any business to be conducted amid the din.

Slogans of "We want justice" could be heard as Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said, "This is not in the interest of the country, and Parliament. I am willing to allow also these discussions. How long should we continue like this?"

The Upper House of the Parliament was adjourned till tomorrow after TDP and AIADMK MPs began protesting in the Rajya Sabha.

He also said that the TDP also increased the state's budget by Rs 1100 crores. "We will strive to do the same in future. We are moving to work to move forward in skill development to help the people of Andhra Pradesh," he said.

He also claimed that the YSR Congress Party is only 'playing politics' and has no interest in the state's welfare. Trying to assuage people's sentiments, Naidu said that the "TDP government is undertaking multiple irrigation projects to ensure the state's development is not stalled amid all this."

Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said that the state is being cheated by the Central government. "We are being cheated by the government. The BJP is making false allegations against me," he said.

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant told ANI that the party will abstain from the no-confidence motion. "We will neither support the government nor the Opposition. We will abstain," he said.

As soon as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan took up the Question Hour, members from these parties trooped into the Well holding placards. While members from the TDP, YSR Congress, TRS and AIADMK were in the Well raising slogans and holding placards, MPs from the TMC and Congress were seen standing at their seats. This forced the House to be adjourned till 12 pm.

The Lok Sabha proceedings were disrupted for the 11th day on Monday as the TDP, YSR Congress, TRS and AIADMK continued their noisy protests over various issues, including the banking scam and special status for Andhra Pradesh.

Even as the Lower House resumed its proceedings, sloganeering dominated the scene as TDP, AIADMK MPs could be heard shouting "We want justice". However, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan began with day's business, asking ministers to lay their papers on the table.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said: "We want discussion on the no-confidence motion. I request all MPs to maintain decorum so that we can discuss it. We are ready to discuss any issue with any member."

Following continuous uproar in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till Tuesday. TSR, YSRCP MPs trooped into the Well, while chanting slogans such as "We want justice". Mahajan tried to introduce the no-confidence motion notices but requested all MPs to sit at their designated spots so that a quorum could be established. Opposition members and other parties' MPs continued to create a ruckus, forcing the House to be adjourned for the day.

The Samajwadi Party on Monday accused the government of egging AIADMK to stage protests in the Lok Sabha to avoid a no-confidence motion even as Tamil Nadu's ruling party warned that it would not allow business in both the Houses of Parliament till the Centre gives an assurance on the constitution of the Cauvery River Management Board.

MoS Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said the government is ready discuss all issues. However protests cause Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the Rajya Sabha till 21 March.

Sushma Swaraj starts speaking about the Indians in Mosul. She had spoken about the issue in the Rajya Sabha earlier.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to move Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Bill gives the government power to confiscate the assets of such defaulters.

"Let us all protest and, if required, sit on hunger strike at every place, sport black badges during working hours in offices. Let us awaken the people," party chief N Chandrababu Naidu said at a meeting of women self-help groups.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) held protests in Vijayawada on Thursday about the Andhra Pradesh special status row, reported CNN-News18. The TDP had decided to extend support to the National Highways blockade programme called by the Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh seeking special category status to the state.

As the deadlock in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha continued on Wednesday, here is a look at how both the Houses spent their time while in session ( as per PRS ):

Protests and sloganeering marked the day's proceedings in the Lok Sabha as it began on Thursday. Opposition MPs could be heard chanting "We want justice" in the background, even as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried to conduct the day's business. As the protests grew louder, she said, "Nobody wants to listen, nobody wants to run the House." She then adjourned the Lok Sabha till 12 pm.

"At the time of passing the AP Reorganisation Act, they (government) gave some provisions under it. People are suffering in Andhra Pradesh," said TDP's CM Ramesh.

Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said that several leaders had approached him personally and let the the amendment Bill be passed.

MoS Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said, "The government wants to discuss everyone's issues. I request we discuss and pass other Bills."

Just as the House passed the Gratuity Bill, AIADMK and TDP MPs trooped into the Well of the House holding placards and created ruckus. To this, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said " People want to know why the Chairman is adjourning the House? I would like to tell the people that I don't want these ugly scenes to be seen by them. Each day, some or the other party troops into the Well." Nearly 20 MPs stood in the Well surrounding Naidu, and chanting loud slogans.

"I would like to request all the MPs to go back to their places and let the House function. We are ready to talk about all issues, including the no-confidence motion notices that are being brought to the House," said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, even as AIADMK and TDP MPs continued their sloganeering near the Well of the House.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she cannot act upon the no-confidence motion notices until there is order in the House. "I can't see anybody. I need to count heads (to establish a quorum of 50 members)," she said.

After 14 days of low productivity in the second edition of the Budget Session of the Parliament, the Centre is likely to make a fresh push to pass pending bills even as the Opposition remain vehement to corner the government over issues like the Punjab National Bank scam, the murder of 39 Indians in Iraq by Islamic State among others.

The Congress has issued a three-line whip to all its MPs in the Rajya Sabha asking them to be present in the House at 11 am in full strength on Friday and support the party's stand, PTI reported.

The Parliament is lagging behind in terms of finishing scheduled tasks with productivity level really low. The Budget Session of Parliament, which reconvened after a brief break on 5 March, has been marred with protests, with the daily functioning in both Lok Sabha and Rajya well below 0.1 hours (six minutes), according to PRS data.

With TDP's no-confidence motion notice still pending before the Lok Sabha, Chandrababu Naidu's party, which recently exited the NDA alliance, has appealed to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to hold an all-party meeting on special status to Andhra Pradesh as well, reports said.

"I request the leaders of the parties to come to the chamber of the chairman," Naidu also said.

"This is totally undemocratic, totally unbecoming of Members of Parliament. You are weaking your cause. Please, you are all members. You must uphold the dignity of the House," Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said before adjourning the House for 15 minutes.

"Madame Speaker, you have always asked the House to be conducted in order. The government is ready for a discussion...Congress has become a marginal party," said Union minister Ananth Kumar in response.

"There are more than 50 members here who want to move a no-confidence motion," said Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

As the ruckus in the Lower House continued, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House for the day.

Narendra Modi to retiring Rajya Sabha MPs: I am sorry Parliament failed you in this last session

Modi also said that the doors of Parliament and his Prime Minister's Office (PMO) will always remain open to them, and they are welcome to visit him whenever they like.

While bidding the departing MPs goodbye, Modi also took a sarcastic jibe at protesting Opposition MPs, saying they nearly ensured this Session didn't take place and nearly denied this vote of thanks.

Opposition ensured this Sesssion didn't take place and nearly denied this vote of thanks: Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi also added that it was unfortunate that they didn't get a chance to pass important legislations in their final session, but may look back at their tenure gladly given the passing of landmark bills like the Triple Talaq bill.

"People have been agitating for special status, for their water, for their poor farmers and labourers. The MPs have been fighting on their behalf. If the people get what is rightfully theirs, it's not their parliamentarians who will stand to benefit," Azad said.

He added that it's unfair to say MPs have been fighting and disrupting Parliament, because they are sent to Parliament to represent the needs of the people.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, meanwhile, said the Central Hall of Parliament is full of former MPs and he looks forward to seeing many of the retiring MPs at the same place in the future.

Unfair to say MPs have been disrupting Parliament, because they are sent to Parliament to represent needs of the people: Ghulam Nabi Azad

The second part of this session has 22 sittings, and is scheduled to conclude on 6 April. Five more sittings are slated.

This is the final week that the Houses are functioning in the Budget Session

Members from the Congress, the Left, the TDP and some other parties stood up holding the blue placards, apparently to show her that there were 80 members supporting the no-confidence motion

After a brief discussion on scams in public-sector banks, Bills such as the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill and the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill to be tabled in Rajya Sabha today

Arun Jaitley to move Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill in the Lok Sabha today, which is a Bill to deal with economic offenders who leave the country

"Most MPs are already seated. If everyone stops shouting and goes back to their seat, I can see how many support for the no-confidence motion. the House must be in order," Sumitra Mahajan said.

Day 19 of Parliament's Budget Session is likely to get underway shortly, but MPs from various Opposition parties have already begun protesting inside Parliament premises, drawing attention to various causes.

With Opposition parties slamming the central government over atrocities being committed on Dalits, Union minister Ananth Kumar has said the government is "committed" towards protecting the rights of Dalits. "Whenever Congress is in power, they are responsible for inciting people and spreading violence," Ananth Kumar said.

Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon within six minutes of starting proceedings, with Tamil Nadu MPs launching their demand the formation of a Cauvery Management Board.

When Lok Sabha reconvenes at noon, Home Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to address the House. Rajnath is expected to talk about the violence that singed large parts of the country of Monday.

As Opposition MPs kept up noisy protests, Home Minister Rajnath Singh addresses Lok Sabha over violence that singed large parts of the country on Monday. "The government has not diluted the provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act. In fact, we have strengthened the act. We have introduced provisions for the protection of victims, who are already suffered enough. Moreover, if officials are found lacking in their response to a complaint filed by anybody, we want action initiated against them as well," Rajnath Singh said.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried to address Lok Sabha on Tuesday, but noisy protests kept her from speaking. She was responding to Home Minister Rajnath Singh's speech earlier in the day. Faced with unrelenting Opposition protests, Mahajan adjourned Lok Sabha for the day.

Within minutes of proceedings beginning, Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 pm after MPs raised slogans of 'We want justice, we want Cauvery board'

Amid loud protests, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien adjourned the Rajya Sabha for 30 minutes, after having pleaded with protesting MPs to go back to their seats.

New members who took oath on Wednesday, have not been given division: Anand Sharma

Announcing the decision, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said it has been decided that the NDA MPs would be giving up their salary and other allowances for 23 days "for which parliament was not allowed to function by the Congress".

BJP and NDA party MPs announced on Wednesday night that they will take a pay cut for the 23 days wasted in the second phase of the Budget Session as they accused the Congress party of playing negative politics.

Congress issues three-line whip to its Rajya Sabha MPs asking them to be present in Upper House, reports ANI

Over a dozen Opposition parties had appealed to Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday for holding discussion on key matters like the SC/ST Act, PNB bank fraud, CBSE paper leak and Cauvery issue. Opposition leaders, including from the Congress, BSP, SP, DMK, NCP, TMC and the Left parties, had met in Parliament to discuss the lack of debate.

Congress had said on Wednesday that it would not mind if Parliament session was extended by a day or two, but a debate on key issues should take place. "We want to hold discussions on key issues of national importance and we also want to pass legislation. The government should take the lead in doing so. We are not averse even if the session is extended by a day or two," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had told reporters.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi have joined the Opposition protest in New Delhi against the Centre.

Asserting that he attended the House proceedings daily, Subramanian Swamy said that it isn't his fault if the Parliament didn't function. "Anyhow, I'm the president's representative. Until he says so, how can I say I'll not take my salary?" ANI quoted him as saying.

Both the Houses of the Parliament were adjourned within minutes of reconvening on Thursday amid protests by the Opposition parties.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urged Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to take up the no-confidence motion as the AIADMK continued protesting in the Lower House.

Kurien went on to read the rules of the Rajya Sabha. "You are all eligible for suspension," he said.

Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said that he has an alternative to deal with the protests in the Upper House. "As per rule. I will see that a motion is moved to expel all protesting members. Thereby, you will lose all your voting right," he told the protesting MPs.

LS Speaker reminded the MPs that today was the last day of the second leg of the Budget Session, even though the MPs continued shouting.

"This Sabha is for a platform the raise issues for the welfare of the people. I understand that MPs have several issues they want to raise but they should keep in mind that the country has a variety of issues which need to be focused on," said Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

"I make an appeal to all of you to appear here next time to do what we were given to do at the time of Independence," said Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

BJP works for connecting people, Congress works for dividing people. Congress indulges in divisive, negative politics. It didn't let the House function. We'll sit in protest against the negative attitude of Congress during last 23 days: Ananth Kumar,Parliamentary Affairs Minister pic.twitter.com/T710ENwveX

"Congress has become a marginal party, even in the Parliament," he said. "They don't have their own parliamentary strategy for both the Houses. They don't have parliamentary logic," he added.

"From 5 March to 27 March, why did the Congress not allow business to happen?" said Union minister Ananth Kumar. "On 15 and 16 March, the YSRCP and TDP motions of no-confidence were brought up. Congress brought it up on 27 March? Why did they bring it up so late?" he added.

Latest updates: As Opposition MPs kept up noisy protests, Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day. It came after Home Minister Rajnath Singh addressed the House over violence that singed large parts of the country on Monday.

It marked yet another day when Parliament was adjourned with no discussion of note being conducted.

Day 19 of Parliament's Budget Session is likely to get underway shortly, but MPs from various Opposition parties have already begun protesting inside Parliament premises, drawing attention to various causes.

The session has been marked by repeated adjournments and delays, with Opposition parties preventing the transaction of any substantial business in both Houses of Parliament.

Monday saw noisy scenes in the Rajya Sabha and an adjournment within six minutes after it assembled in the morning. The Lok Sabha saw protests causing an adjournment till noon within four minutes of assembling, and four minutes after listed papers were laid, it was adjourned for the day.

Before adjourning Lok Sabha for the day, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she was unable to take up the notices for no-confidence motion against the government, served by several Opposition parties, since there was no order in the House.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition protests forced the adjournment of proceedings for the day without transaction of any business, as members trooped into the Well and shouted slogans, drowning every other voice.

MPs belonging to the Congress, Trinamool Congress, BSP, TDP and parties from Tamil Nadu  DMK and AIADMK  were in the Well even before Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu could settle down in his chair.

Unlike the past days when listed papers were allowed to be laid on the table peacefully, Naidu had to go through the exercise amid chaos on Monday, as members persisted with slogan shouting. The Congress and BSP led the charge against the government, accusing it of being "anti-Dalit", an apparent reference to the Supreme Court ruling on the Scheduled Castes

and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Members of the main Opposition party also raised the issue of India's biggest bank fraud alongside the TMC.

Tamil parties were demanding immediate constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board for division of river water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, while members of the TDP and Congress' KVP Ramachandra Rao held placards demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

Amid the din, Naidu called the ministers to lay the listed papers, while warning the protestors that the "entire country is watching... you are not going to achieve anything. You are making a mockery of parliamentary system".

He said the Chair was ready to allow discussion on all the issues being raised by Opposition parties, and even the government as well as the Opposition were ready for it. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said important bills were listed for discussion in the last week of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament. The government, he said, was ready to discuss all issues. "I don't understand why, for small issues concerning them, they are not allowing the House to function," Goel said.

However, as the ruckus continued, the chairman adjourned proceedings for the day, barely six minutes after the House had assembled. Proceedings in the Lok Sabha were disrupted yet again for the 18th day amid slogan shouting by AIADMK members seeking early constitution of the Cauvery water management board.

Amid the din, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till 12 noon during the Question Hour. As soon as the House met for the day and took up Question Hour, AIADMK members rushed into the Well shouting slogans such as "we want justice" and "we demand Cauvery board".

Citing Assembly polls in Karnataka, the Centre had sought more time from the Supreme Court to set up the board to implement water sharing formula between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. While the TMC members were seated in their places, those of the TDP, which has moved a notice of no-confidence against the government, were standing at their seats with black ribbons pinned to their shirts as a mark of protest.

As the ruckus continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon, barely four minutes after it had met after a long weekend.

Even before the House was re-assembled at noon, AIADMK members, carrying placards, trooped into the Well shouting slogans.

Congress, NCP, Left, TDP and RJD members were standing in their seats seeking the Speaker's ruling on the notices they had given on the no-confidence motion, moved by some of them. The Speaker appealed to the AIADMK members to return to their seats, saying she cannot take up the no-confidence motion unless the House is in order. "I am duty bound to place the no-confidence motion. But this is not the way. Please go to your seats. I am not in a position to count," she said.

A notice of no-confidence can be taken up in the House if it is supported by at least 50 members present, for which a headcount is needed. Parliamentary Minister Ananth Kumar also said the government was ready for discussion and give reply to the no-confidence motion but there has to be complete harmony in the House.

Leader of the Congress in the House Mallikarjun Kharge, who has also submitted a notice for no-confidence motion, said the Opposition wanted to discuss a host of issues, including the recent Supreme Court ruling on SC/ST Act and alleged paper leak of the CBSE examinations.

However, as the AIADMK members continued raising slogans, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.

With inputs from agencies
With anger sweeping Tamil Nadu over the Centre's failure to set up a Cauvery Water Management Board (CMB), the ruling AIADMK is set to observe a hunger strike on Tuesday.

With anger sweeping Tamil Nadu over the NDA government's failure to set up a Cauvery Water Management Board (CMB), the ruling entire AIADMK launched its day-long hunger strike on Tuesday. The protest began at 8 am, will conclude at 5 pm.

The entire AIADMK Cabinet will participate in the strike. Chief Minister K Palaniswamy and his deputy O Panneerselvam launched the hunger strike in Chennai, while other ministers and party leaders led protests in districts across the state.

According to the list released by the party, senior ministers Dindigul C Sreenivasan (Forest), KA Sengottaiyan (School Education), P Thangamani (Electricity), D Jayakumar (Fisheries) and SP Velumani (Municipal Administration) among others will head the fast organised at different locations.

The party has nominated seven functionaries from Puducherry including MLAs to observe fast in the neighbouring union territory on the issue.

Senior party leaders, heads of various wings, MPs and MLAs were also named in the list released by the party.

The AIADMK, which had initially announced that the hunger strike programme will be held on 2 April, subsequently postponed it by a day.

The protest will be held on Tuesday in all 32 districts of Tamil Nadu, besides in Puducherry, urging the Centre to constitute CMB and Central Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC).

AIADMK is reportedly also considering moving a no-trust motion in Parliament against the NDA government. Senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai said on Monday that his party would consider moving a no-trust motion in Parliament against the NDA government if Congress supported it.

On the rival front, the DMK has demanded that Palaniswamy convene a meeting of his Cabinet and pass a resolution condemning the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Cauvery issue.

Meanwhile, the rival TTV Dhinakaran camp has challenged the ruling dispensation to criticise Modi during the hunger strike.

Dhinakaran aide V Pugazhenthi had said last week that the chief minister and his deputy should speak out against the Centre. "The fast should not be a mere eyewash," he had said.

Amid protests across Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a contempt plea of Tamil Nadu against the Centre on 9 April on the Cauvery issue.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said,"We understand Tamil Nadu's difficulty of not getting water. We will resolve the issue."

Tamil Nadu's stand is that the Centre must constitute the CWMB and CWRC. In its 16 February judgment, the apex court had raised the 270 tmcft share of Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery water.

The apex court granted six weeks' time to the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgment, which modified the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award. Following the verdict, Tamil Nadu has been urging the Centre to set up the CWMB and CWRC to ensure it received its due share of water from the inter-state river.

With inputs from agencies
A woman visits the exhibition of family photos of survivors of the Nanjing Massacre opened in Nanjing on April 3, 2018. [Photo: IC]

An exhibition of family photos of survivors of the Nanjing Massacre opened on Tuesday in Nanjing.

At the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, visitors can see the family photos of 30 survivors.

The photos were taken in 2017 by local photographers in Nanjing for Xinhua News Agency.

Some of the survivors and some of the relatives of the survivors presented the opening of the exhibition.

Ge Daorong, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, is interviewed by Jiangsu TV in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, April 3, 2018. An exhibition of family photos of survivors of the Nanjing Massacre opened on Tuesday in Nanjing. [Photo: IC]

Zhang Jianjun, curator of the memorial hall, said the exhibition would show to the world that the Chinese people never forget history, but at the same time, they have walked out of the shadow of the past to embrace a new life.

No matter what kind of adversity it endures, China will always be reborn and prosper, he said.

The exhibition will last until July 5.
Mainstream political parties like the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fear a lower turnout in the Karnataka Assembly elections as voting is scheduled for 12 Maya second Saturday when all government offices and quite a few in the private sector are closed

Bengaluru: Mainstream political parties like the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fear a lower turnout in the Karnataka Assembly elections as voting is scheduled for 12 Maya second Saturday when all government offices and quite a few in the private sector are closed.

"It would have been better if polling was on a working day than on a weekend, which can affect voter participation, especially in urban constituencies where people tend to get away because the following day is a Sunday," BJP state spokesman Vamanacharya told IANS.

The Election Commission on 27 March announced the poll schedule for the 224 assembly segments across the southern state in mid-summer when the average day temperature is expected to be above 40 degrees Celsius.

As in the previous Assembly election, held on 5 May, 2013, polling will be in a single phase this time too, and the vote count is scheduled for 15 May.

"Voting on a week day would have been convenient to lakhs of working people, including thousands of techies in this tech hub as they get a paid holiday to exercise their democratic right," asserted Vamanacharya.

For instance, most of the 250,000 IT professionals working in Bengaluru get away on weekends to unwind at holiday resorts, tourist spots and wildlife reserves, or go sight-seeing to the nearby Nandi Hills or visit other cities.

As India's Silicon Valley, Bengaluru is home to about 2,000 IT firms and 750 multinationals.

The second Saturday of the month is also a holiday for state government employees and banks, besides IT and biotech firms, which makes them want to get away and skip voting as it may not be a priority.

Concurring with the BJP on the poll date, the ruling Congress is also wary of the weekend fallout on the voting percentage in cities like Bengaluru, which has 28 assembly segments.

"Polling on a Saturday is worrisome as it will affect the turnout at the booths, as many citizens, especially the youth, would prefer getaways rather than staying back to vote," Congress state unit vice-president BK Chandrashekar told IANS in Bengaluru.

The voter turnout in the last Assembly election was 71 percent.

The Election Commission has, however, ruled out a change in the poll date, concerns of lower voter turnout notwithstanding.

"EC changing the poll date is unlikely as it was decided after factoring in exams, public holidays, festivals and other events," state Additional Chief Electoral Officer KG Jagadeesha told IANS.

The Janata Dal-Secular, a regional party, however, feels the BJP or Congress should not be complaining, as the poll date was decided after the EC had consulted them too.

When the poll panel consulted the parties on the poll date, BJP and Congress representatives had mentioned that any day except Sunday was suitable.

"Parties complaining is only to find an excuse for their weaknesses," JD(S) state spokesman Ramesh Babu told IANS.

Meanwhile, renowned historian Ramachandra Guha said the country had witnessed Assembly polls even on a Sunday in the past.

"I don't think the day or date has much effect on the number of voters as we've seen elections with high voter percentage," Guha said candidly.

Political scientist Sandeep Shastri said it was the responsibility of the parties to get the urban electorate to vote.

The voting percentage in Bengaluru has been the lowest in the state (less than 50 percent) for the past 35 years, as there is apathy towards polling because urban voters are cynical about politics without understanding, Shastri asserted.

"I would blame the political parties for not being able to get voters to cast their ballot by raising the right issues that concern citizens," he added.

Compared to the voter turnouts in the West, like the US (55 per cent in the 2016 presidential election), Indian states fare better, Shastri noted.

According to Srinivas Alavilli, a volunteer coordinator for Citizens for Bengaluru, a city-based people's forum, urban voters' data tends to be inaccurate with the people moving within and out of the city each year, and hence the voter turnout percentage often does not reflect the true number.

"Many people from Bengaluru don't vote because they don't see any political party addressing their issues. Through a citizens' manifesto, we have been trying to make our demands heard by political parties," Alavilli stated.

Only when political parties address the people's issues can the voter turnout rise, he averred.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after new and re-elected members took oath as MPs from various parties trooped into the Well raising slogans.

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after new and re-elected members took oath as MPs from various parties, including Congress and TMC, trooped into the Well raising slogans in support of their demands.

The Upper House has not transacted substantial business ever since it met on 5 March after a recess to carry forward the Budget session due to disruptions by different parties on matters like bank frauds, Cauvery river water, special status for Andhra Pradesh and issues related to Dalits.

MPs belonging to the Congress, TMC, SP, BSP, TDP and those of Tamil parties  DMK and AIADMK, rushed into the Well as soon as 41 members took oath and Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked ministers to lay papers on the table of the House.

The Congress and the BSP accused the government of being "anti-Dalit". TMC was protesting against bank frauds, while TDP members were demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. KVP Ramachandra Rao of the Congress was also holding a placard demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. The two prominent Tamil parties were demanding constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board for division of river water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Amid sloganeering by protesting MPs, Naidu tried to bring order in the House.

As they did not yield, the Chairman adjourned the House for the day. The Upper House will meet again tomorrow at 11 am.
Ruckus prevailed in both Houses of Parliament on Tuesday as Opposition parties created noisy scenes over various causes.

Ruckus prevailed in both Houses of Parliament on Tuesday as Opposition parties created noisy scenes over various issues, including the creation of a Cauvery Management Board, atrocities against Dalits, and to demand financial assistance for families of Indians killed by the Islamic State in Iraq.

Union minister Rajnath Singh addressed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, a day after violence that singed large parts of the country on Monday over the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act. His speech was marred by disruptions and slogans of "we want justice" were raised.

Singh told Lok Sabha, "The government has not diluted the provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act. In fact, we have strengthened the act. We have introduced provisions for the protection of victims, who are already suffered enough. Moreover, if officials are found lacking in their response to a complaint filed by anybody, we want action initiated against them as well."

Singh said there have been widespread rumours on the issue of reservation which were "false and baseless" and the government was fully committed to protect the interests of the SC/ST communities.

"I wish to assure you that our government is fully committed to the welfare of SCs and STs. Our government is fully committed to protect the interest of the SC/ST community," he said.

The minister said that immediately after the judgment of the Supreme Court, a decision was taken by the government to file a review petition in the Supreme Court.

The Attorney General has made an appeal in the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the matter on Tuesday itself.

"This shows the prompt action by the government and does not leave any doubt regarding the intention of the government to protect the interest of the SC/ST," he said.

Singh said after the Supreme Court order on 20 March, within a span of only six working days, without losing any time and acting swiftly, the government has filed a review petition in the apex court.

"We have issued advisory to all the states to ensure that no breach of law and order takes place and safety of the lives of citizens and properties are ensured," he said.

He said the central government has provided all assistance to the states immediately on their request and the Home Ministry is keeping a close vigil and is in constant touch with the state governments.

"Through this House, I appeal to all citizens to maintain peace and harmony amongst themselves. I also appeal to all the political parties to help maintain peace and harmony," he said.

Lok Sabha was eventually adjourned for the day after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried to address the House, but was disrupted by noisy protests.

AIADMK members raised slogans seeking early constitution of the Cauvery Management Board. Members from Congress and the Left accused AIADMK of stalling proceedings. Some Congress members were also heard slamming the government for violence during the agitation to protest the Supreme Court order diluting a key provision related to arrest under the SC/ST Act.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha was also adjourned for the day as TDP and AIADMK members disrupted the Upper House by shouting slogans and holding placards.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu told the protesting members that he was ready to "discuss everything and every issue", but the noisy protests continued. Naidu then adjourned the House for the day.

Earlier, newly-elected members to the Upper House of Parliament took oath, including the 18 members who have been re-elected. Naidu asked the new members to get themselves acquainted with the etiquettes, procedures and rules of conduct of the House.

With inputs from agencies
Tensions have been simmering in Bihar between allies JD(U) and BJP, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's remarks on Monday only added further fuel to the fire.

Tensions have been simmering in Bihar between allies JD(U) and BJP, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's remarks on Monday only added further fuel to the fire.

Speaking to the media following violence in Darbhanga, where a septuagenarian was hacked to death, Nitish said he won't be "making compromises" with those who're out to create a social rift. "We will not make any compromise with corruption nor will we make any compromise with those who are out to create social rift," Nitish was quoted as saying by The Telegraph on Monday.

Sources told The Telegraph report that Nitish was irked by comments made by a section of BJP leaders, including state president Nityanand Rai and Union minister Giriraj Singh, who alleged that the murder was because the septuagenarian tried to put up a board at a town square to name it after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This despite the police's clarification that the murder was due to a land-related dispute.

"Nitish was upset after seeing footage showing Giriraj inciting a crowd to raise slogans against the Darbhanga DSP," a JD(U) leader was quoted as saying in the report.

The Darbhanga incident came a day after highly politicised by-elections to Araria and Jehanabad constituencies, where the Rashtriya Janata Dal defeated the JD(U)-BJP combine. Following the result, RJD supporters, it was alleged, tried to rename the square after Lalu Prasad Yadav, and this led to clashes between rival groups. The Darbhanga killing, it was alleged, was a fallout of this violence.

State BJP spokesman Rajib Ranjan said following the incident that "incidents like these demonstrate RJD's belief in hooliganism and corruption. They have merely retained two seats they had held earlier, but they want to strike terror in the hearts of the people of Bihar".

Following the incident, Nitish even admitted that he was unwilling to contest the Jehanabad bypoll, and was forced to do so by the BJP.

A report on India Today said it's not Nitish alone, but another ally of the NDA in Bihar, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan also spoke out against attempts at polarisation. This would come barely months after former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi quit the NDA to join the rival RJD-Congress alliance.

But these rumbles come at a time when the BJP is increasingly confident of its chances in Bihar, the report added. The party, which was content to play junior partner to the JD(U) in the early years of their alliance, has been buoyant since clinching 33 out of the state's 40 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections.

The report said that the BJP leaders who were earlier dismissed as being "fringe elements", are being encouraged by the party as it tried a return to the Hindutva agenda ahead of general elections in 2019. The party, which has been stunned by the RJD's victory in the by-elections, believes that only a return to the Hindutva agenda will help the saffron combine keep away the RJD-Congress alliance ahead of Nitish's attempts at "good governance".

A report on NDTV said JD(U)'s Dalit legislators led a march to the governor's house on Monday, embarrassing the BJP, which is the ruling party at the Centre. "We are Dalits and we are united," JD(U)'s Shyam Razak was quoted as saying in the report.

It also said that on 14 April, on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, Nitish and Paswan will attend a meeting of the 'Dalit Sena'. Paswan has also invited BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi, it said, but added that Nitish might announce the inclusion of the Paswan caste among Mahadalits, or the most underprivileged in the state.

It was a decision cleared by Jitan Ram Manjhi when he was chief minister of Bihar in 2014-15, but Nitish never implemented it, the NDTV report said.

With inputs from agencies
PTI

Cambridge Analytica, the firm at the centre of Facebook users' data breach scandal, has sought one more week to respond to government's notice on whether it was involved in the misuse of data to profile Indians and influence their voting behaviour.

The notice had gone out to Cambridge Analytica over media reports about questionable practices attributed to the UK-based firm in its efforts to allegedly influence elections by harvesting data of Facebook users globally.

Sources privy to the development said that Cambridge Analytica has now sought an additional time of one week to send its response to the notice issued by the Indian government.

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook came under fire after the British firm was accused of harvesting personal information of over 50 million Facebook users illegally to influence polls in several countries.

The IT Ministry shot off notices to both Cambridge Analytica and Facebook on the data breach issue, giving them time till March 31, and April 7, respectively, to respond.

The government questioned Cambridge Analytica on whether it had been "engaged in any assignment to utilise data of Indians" pertaining to the recent breach, and also the entities that had used its services. Details were also sought on the methods used by the company to acquire such data and whether consent was taken from users.

An official statement issued last month had said: "Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, has issued a notice... to Cambridge Analytica, wherein the serious breach of propriety and misuse of data intended to profile and influence voting behaviour has been highlighted".

"Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?," the Ministry had asked the company, following reports that political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.

The government's notice to Facebook last week too sought information on user data breach and details of the measures that have been put in place to ensure safety and prevent misuse of personal data.

The ministry raised five questions for Facebook, including whether the personal data of Indian voters and users has been compromised by Cambridge Analytica or any other downstream entity in any manner.

Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has already warned the social media giant of "stringent" action for any attempt to influence polls through data theft, and had even threatened to summon its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, if needed.
IANS

At a time when governments are striving for stringent data security and privacy, users in Israel are now reportedly connected to WhatsApp through the Facebook servers, said a report on Monday.

According to WABetaInfo, a popular fan website that tracks WhatsApp Beta, the switch has been made to ensure better connection quality. "All users from Israel are now connected to WhatsApp through the Facebook servers," the website tweeted. WhatsApp, however, was yet to confirm the report.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp (or Facebook too) can just read metadata of messages. "For example if the message you are sending is an image, a video, a sticker etc.. its date, the phone number of the recipient (otherwise the server wouldn't know where the message should be forwarded)," WABetaInfo tweeted.

Replying to WABetaInfo, a Twitter user said: "Encryption is not a problem. Its just that metadata like last seen, online time, etc. which are dynamic and are not needed after a particular time, must be wiped from servers".

The website, however, said that the fact that WhatsApp is starting to use the Facebook servers must not worry you. "This just ensures a better quality of the connection. All chats and calls are end-to-end encrypted, so WhatsApp/Facebook/anyone cannot read/listen them. Everything is encrypted, also Stickers," WABetaInfo tweeted.

WABetaInfo has asked people to wait till May "to see which data are really stored in the WhatsApp server and if they might be a problem for us". The European Union (EU) has asked businesses and service providers globally to comply with its new privacy law  the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)  that comes into force from May 25 this year.

The EU GDPR has been designed to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe  to protect and empower all EU citizens' data privacy and to reshape the way organisations across the region approach data privacy.

WhatsApp last month signed a public commitment with Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) not to share users' personal data with Facebook until data protection concerns are addressed.

"WhatsApp has assured us that no UK user data has ever been shared with Facebook (other than as a 'data processor')," Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said in a statement.
Reuters

A Russian-made drone on its way to making a first parcel delivery crashed into a wall and crumbled to pieces in the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude on Monday, shocking local residents and regional officials at the scene.

The unmanned aerial vehicle was sent to deliver a small package to a neighboring village in a ceremony meant to showcase a new way to deliver mail in the sparsely populated Buryatia region located more than 4,400 km east of Moscow.

Video footage from the scene showed the drone lifting off from a miniature launch pad bearing Russian Posts blue and white logo, buzzing through the air for several seconds before losing height and crashing into a three-storey residential building in front of a small crowd of spectators who were heard uttering expletives.

No one was harmed in the incident, which left debris from the drone in pieces on the ground.

Russian Post was quick to distance itself from the drone crash, saying it was present at the launch merely as a guest. It said the drone was made by a company called Rudron/Expeditor 3M, which had organized the testing. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

Russias postal service had announced plans in 2016 to start using drones for parcel deliveries across the vast country. Alexei Tsydenov, the head of the Buryatia region present at the crash site, said that the more than 100 Wi-Fi connections in the area could have disrupted the drones flight.

We wont stop with this, we will keep trying, he said, adding that the device cost some $20,000. Those who dont risk dont get a result. Logistics companies and retailers worldwide are starting to try out drones to reach remote customers or those paying a premium for speed.
tech2 News Staff

Xiaomi is going to conduct its latest edition of the Mi Fan Festival in India from 5 April to 6 April. Included in the Mi Fan Festival are coupons, discounts, bundled offers and more on Xiaomi products such as smartphones, TVs and wearables.

The Chinese smartphone maker is also going to run a campaign on its social media platforms from 10 am on 2 April to 11 pm on 4 April. The objective of the campaign is for the users to like a product a certain number of times so as to unlock discounts on the device. Users can also invite other friends to increase the number of likes on a product.

The products being included in this 'More likes, more discount' offer include the Redmi Y1, Mi Mix 2, Mi Earphones basic, Mi Power Bank 2i and Mi Router 3C. The discount will be offered via coupons, however, you cannot get these coupons for free.

Eligibility will be decided by creating teams and adding your friends to the team. Xiaomi has said that to get a Rs 300 coupon you need to have at least two friends in your team.

Users who are purchasing the Redmi Note 5 Pro can also get the Mi earphones without any extra cost. There are also various combo deals such as Redmi 5A + Mi LED Smart TV for Rs 5,999, Mi Band - HRX Edition + Mi Band Strap for Rs 199 and more. Xiaomi has advised users to sign in by 12:55 pm and be ready to get this combo offers.

Xiaomi also has a musical.ly challenge from 31 March to 6 April for a chance to win the Mi Mix 2.
Ethiopia's new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, apologised to people harmed in recent political unrest in the country, and reached out to the political Opposition

Ethiopia's new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, apologised to people harmed in recent political unrest in the country, and reached out both to the political Opposition and longtime rival Eritrea at his swearing-in on Monday.

Abiy was elected by Ethiopia's Parliament, succeeding Hailemariam Desalegn who resigned in mid-February as a result of widespread protests that have taken the lives of several hundred people, mainly in the restive Oromia and Amhara regions.

"This is a historic moment," said Abiy in his inaugural address to Ethiopian lawmakers. "This is high time for us to learn from our past mistakes and make up for all the wrongs done in the past. We understand there are a lots of problems that need to be solved with great urgency."

Abiy is the first Oromo politician to become Ethiopia's prime minister since the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front came to power in 1991. People in major towns across Oromia took to the streets Wednesday and slaughtered animals in celebration.

It is hoped he will be able to bring an end to the protests that have been raging since late 2015 to press for wider political freedoms and the release of Opposition figures.

The Oromo people, the largest ethnic group of Ethiopia's 100 million people, have long felt marginalised both politically and economically.

A former Lieutenant Colonel in the army and head of Ethiopia's Science and Technology ministry, Abiy, 42, has a reputation as an effective orator and reformer. Abiy will be Ethiopia's third prime minister since the former military junta, the Derg, was overthrown in 1991.

'Brothers, not enemies'

While he made no mention of the emergency decree in his speech on Monday, Abiy reached out to the country's Opposition politicians, many of whom were incarcerated during Hailemariam's time. "We will not be seeing you as enemies, but be seeing you as brothers," Abiy said.

Unrest among the Oromos started in late 2015 over a government development plan they decried as unfair, and soon spread to the country's second-largest ethnicity, the Amhara.

The protests resulted in hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of arrests and only stopped after Ethiopia was placed under emergency rule for 10 months from October 2016.

Referring to people who were hurt or jailed in the protests, Abiy said "I apologise from the bottom of my heart."

Northern rival

He also extended an olive branch to Ethiopia's arch-rival Eritrea, a one-time province that declared independence in 1993.

A two-year war broke out between the countries in 1998 over the demarcation of their shared border that killed tens of thousands.

The dispute remains unresolved, and Ethiopia and Eritrea accuse each other of supporting anti-government groups.

"For the common good of the two countries, not only for our benefit but for the two nations which are tied by blood, we are ready to solve our differences with discussion," Abiy said.

"We invite the Eritrean government to show the same sentiment."

After months of unrest

Abiy's elevation follows months of protests that left hundreds dead and the surprise decision by outgoing prime minister Hailemariam early in 2018 to release prominent politicians, journalists and others from prison to free up political space.

But tensions continued and Hailemariam later announced his intention to resign, and a new state of emergency, the second in less than two years, was imposed in one of Africa's fastest-growing economies. Earlier this week, a number of recently freed politicians and journalists were re-arrested and accused of gathering without authorities' prior knowledge.

More than 1,100 people are being held without trial under a state of emergency declared after Hailemariam's resignation. They include dissidents who had been freed just months earlier in a mass prisoner amnesty ordered by Hailemariam.

Last wek, Hailemariam urged the nation to support the ongoing reforms and "refrain from anti-peace activities and contribute your share for the ongoing democratization in the country," the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported.

With inputs from agencies
Baltic state leaders will ask the US to send more troops and bolster air defences on NATO's eastern flank to deter Russia when they meet Donald Trump

Vilnius, Lithuania: Baltic state leaders will ask the United States to send more troops and bolster air defences on NATO's eastern flank to deter Russia when they meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday, officials said.

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid and Latvian president Raimonds Vejonis are visiting the White House as Washington is apparently adopting a harder stance towards Moscow.

Trump's more confrontational rhetoric of late has eased initial concerns in the region over what had appeared to be a more conciliatory approach to the Kremlin when the US leader first arrived in power.

A senior Lithuanian official who wished to remain unnamed said the three Baltic leaders were asking the US to send Patriot long-range anti-aircraft missiles more frequently for war games. They also want to become a part of NATO's larger European anti-missile shield.

"I hope that the United States and other allies understand that the airspace of the Baltic states must be better protected and defended," Lithuania's Grybauskaite told her country's public broadcaster LRT ahead of the visit.

"It is important that (US troops) are here on permanent rotational basis in all Baltic states," she said.

Last year, NATO deployed four multinational battalions to Poland and the Baltic states as tripwires against possible Russian adventurism, while the US military sent a Patriot battery to Lithuania for drills.

US vice-president Mike Pence in July raised the possibility of deploying Patriots in nearby Estonia.

Hardening line

The Baltic states were deeply rattled by Trump's campaign rhetoric questioning NATO's relevance, his erratic behaviour and his initial unwillingness to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2016, Vilnius artists painted a mural depicting Trump passionately locking lips with Putin, while a public opinion poll in 2017 showed two thirds of Lithuanians did not trust the US president.

But the public mood changed after Trump decided to provide anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to defend against Russia-backed separatists and to boost funding for US forces in Europe.

"Concerns about his commitment to NATO were initially widespread, but have eased in recent months," Vilnius University analyst Kestutis Girnius told AFP.

For Simas Celutka from the Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis, the recent expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of a spy was a sign of a more confrontational posture.

"Advisers might have convinced Trump that a resolute show of strength is the only form of communication Putin takes seriously," he said.

Setting standards

Trump, who has repeatedly attacked "free rider" NATO allies, is expected to praise the Baltic trio for meeting NATO's rule to spend two percent of gross domestic product on defence.

"The president wants to show that these countries are setting standards where we want to see allies moving in terms of defence," said Anne Hall, the US ambassador to Lithuania.

The Baltic-US summit will also include a business forum where Lithuania plans to sign deals to boost imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US to reduce reliance on Russia's Gazprom.

Diplomats say the prospect of trade wars between Europe and the United States could also be discussed in the talks, as the Baltic states are increasingly concerned over a trans-Atlantic rift.

The Baltic states, with a combined population of just six million people, were occupied and annexed by Moscow during World War II.

The trio broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991 and joined both the European Union and NATO in 2004.
China's culture watchdog has slapped fines on websites that posted parodies of 'Communist classics and heroes', as the authorities further restrict what people can sayor even laugh atonline.

Beijing: China's culture watchdog has slapped fines on websites that posted parodies of "Communist classics and heroes", as the authorities further restrict what people can sayor even laugh atonline.

Major video sites iQiyi and Sina were handed undisclosed fines for "distorting or mocking" classic works, the culture ministry said, less than two weeks after new rules were issued to ban online spoofs.

The ministry did not describe the offending videos.

But, another company in southwest China's Sichuan province, Sichuan Shengshi Tianfu Media, was given "the highest fine according to law" for creating a popular parody of a revolutionary ballad, the ministry said in a Monday statement.

"Yellow River Cantata", a patriotic song written in 1939 encouraging youth to fight during the Sino-Japanese war, has inspired several humorous remakes that have chafed the authorities.

One viral video this year featured employees from the Sichuan company in panda hats, lamenting delays in year-end bonuses.

China has one of the world's most restrictive internets, with a "Great Firewall" that blocks foreign social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter and censors politically sensitive content.

Despite the censorship, the internet is wildly popular in China, with people turning to video parodies to mock state media or highlight pressing social issues.

But, China's media regulatorthe State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Televisionissued a directive on 22 March banning websites from "editing, dubbing, or adding subtitles to classic works, radio and television programmes, or original online audio-visual programs."

Nearly 12,000 officers have been deployed to monitor online content, the culture ministry said. Censors have investigated over 7,800 entities and found more than 230 violations, it said.

Authorities are also targeting online game developers who promote gambling or use pornographic content.

The new rule was announced just over a week after a TV reporter's theatrical eye roll during a Beijing news conference on the sidelines of the annual parliament session took social media by storm.

The video triggered a series of satirical performances, some mocking the scripted nature of the rubber-stamp parliament, before censors intervened.

The congress greenlighted the abolition of presidential term limits, paving the way for President Xi Jinping to stay in power after his second term ends in 2023.
President Donald Trump declared as dead on Monday a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children and pressed Congress to pass legislation to secure the US border with Mexico

Washington: President Donald Trump declared as dead on Monday a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children and pressed Congress to pass legislation to secure the US border with Mexico.

Trumps latest comments on immigration, made via Twitter, came as the US Department of Justice moved to establish first-ever quotas for immigration judges aimed at speeding up cases and clearing a backlog.

Trump said in September he would terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program introduced by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, but gave the Republican-controlled Congress until 6 March to replace it.

Congress failed to meet that deadline, but courts have ruled the program can stay in place for now.

DACA is dead because the Democrats didnt care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon, the Republican president said in a Twitter post.

Trump also urged Congress to pass tough laws and build the WALL, referring to a US-Mexico border wall he has championed as a way to curb illegal immigration and the flow of drugs.

In a move aimed at speeding deportations, the Department of Justice sent an email on Friday to federal immigration judges telling them their job performance would be evaluated based on how quickly they close cases.

Judges will be required to complete at least 700 cases a year and have fewer than 15 percent of their decisions appealed and remanded back, according to Dana Marks, spokeswoman for the National Association of Immigration Judges.

Another metric demands that 85 percent of removal cases for detained immigrants be completed within three days of a hearing on the merits of the case. The new policy is expected to take effect on 1 October.

A growing backlog of immigration cases reached 687,000 in March, according to a Reuters analysis of court records, and caused asylum seekers to wait years to present their cases.

Amiena Khan, executive vice-president of the immigration judges union, said the new rules threatened to interfere with judicial independence. Its going to create havoc within the courts, said Khan, who also serves as an immigration judge in New York. The integrity of the entire process is at risk.

On Monday, senior administration officials told reporters that legislation was being prepared aimed at helping speed deportations of some illegal immigrants. They did not provide a timetable for submitting it to Congress and did not say whether provisions to help DACA recipients would be included.

No immigration deal has materialised in the Republican-controlled Congress despite months of efforts. The Senate considered several immigration proposals in February but rejected all of them, including bipartisan bills and legislation tailored to Trumps requirements.

No 'Reliable Partner'

Democrats have blamed Trump for the tenuous status of the DACA program that shielded hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, often called Dreamers, from deportation and gave them work permits.

Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said in a telephone interview: After the experience of giving this president six different bipartisan options and having him reject them all ... I dont believe we have a reliable partner in negotiations that are now dormant.

In the past, Trump had said he was open to a deal with congressional Democrats in which they would support funding for the border wall in exchange for protection for the Dreamers.

But on Sunday, he indicated that the time had passed, writing on Twitter: Caravans coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!

The mention of a caravan apparently referred to a group of 1,500 men, women and children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador who are traveling in a refugee caravan organised by the US-based immigration advocacy group Pueblo sin Fronteras, whose Spanish name means People Without Borders.

By traveling together, the immigrants hope to protect themselves from the crime and extortion that makes the route through Mexico toward the US border dangerous. They say some but not all of them will seek asylum if they reach the United States.

The only person gaming DACA is not in the caravan. Hes in the Oval Office of the White House, Durbin said, referring to Trump.
India is not alone in issuing directives to counter the menace of fake news in the media. Countries around the world have drawn legislations against sowing of disinformation in media

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting came out with stringent measures on Monday to deal with fake news in print and electronic media, saying the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe is found generating or propagating fake news.

If a publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of that journalist would be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation, the guidelines stated amid opposition. In case of a third violation, the journalist's accreditation would be cancelled permanently.

"Determination is expected to be completed within 15 days by these regulating agencies. Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the correspondent/journalist whoever created and/or propagated the fake news will, if accredited, have the accreditation suspended till such time the determination regarding the fake news is made by the regulating agencies," a ministry statement said.

The Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday issued a directive that the ministry's press release regarding fake news be withdrawn.

Coopted by US president Donald Trump, the term "fake news" has quickly become part of the standard repertoire of leaders in several countries to describe media reports and organisations critical of them.

However, India is not alone in issuing directives to counter the menace of fake news in the media. Here are a few global efforts in that direction:

Malaysia

On Monday, Malaysia approved a law against fake news that would allow for prison of up to six years for offenders, shrugging off critics who say it was aimed at curbing dissent and free speech ahead of a general election.

Prime Minister Najib Razaks government secured a simple majority in Parliament to pass the Anti-Fake News 2018 Bill, which sets out fines of up to 5,00,000 ringgit ($1,23,000) and a maximum six years in jail. The first draft of the bill had also proposed jail term of up to 10 years.

The government said the law would not impinge on freedom of speech and cases under it would be handled through an independent court process. "This law aims to protect the public from the spread of fake news, while allowing freedom of speech as provided for under the constitution, Law Minister Azalina Othman Said said.

The law defines fake news as news, information, data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false and includes features, visuals and audio recordings. It covers digital publications and social media and will apply to offenders who maliciously spread fake news inside and outside Malaysia, including foreigners, if Malaysia or a Malaysian citizen were affected.

Germany

In June 2017, the German parliament approved a plan to fine social media networks up to 50 million euros ($57 million) if they fail to remove hateful postings and fake news promptly, again amid concerns the law could limit free expression.

The law gives social media networks 24 hours to delete or block obviously criminal content and seven days to deal with less clear-cut cases, with an obligation to report back to the person who filed the complaint about how they handled the case. Failure to comply could see a company fined up to 50 million euros, and the company's chief representative in Germany fined up to 5 million euros.

The issue had taken on urgency amid concerns in Germany that proliferating fake news and racist content, particularly targeting migrants, could sway public opinion in the run-up to a national election that was held in September 2017.

The law, which is called Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (NetzDG), came into effect in January 2018, following which social media giants such as Facebook recruited additional staff to ensure that content on its platform does not violate the NetzDG.

Italy

Matteo Renzi, leader of Italys governing center-left Democratic Party, told The New York Times that the very quality of Italian democracy depended on the help of social-networking sites, especially Facebook. To that end, Facebook rolled out for its Italian users in November 2017 a new fact-checking programme aimed at identifying and debunking false information that appears on the site.

"We scan Facebook pages we suspect spread false and misleading information," said Giovanni Zagni, the director of Pagella Politica, an independent fact-checking organisation Facebook is paying to spearhead its efforts in Italy. "Once we find a news article that is obviously false, we write a fact-checking piece that is published in a specific section of our website and we provide its link to Facebook."

Italy also has also undertaken parallel efforts to help readers become their own arbiters. Italian lawmakers launched an experimental project in October to make media literacyincluding how to recognise falsehoods and conspiracy theories onlinepart of the countrys high-school education curriculum, according to a report in The Atlantic.

France

In January, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that he would overhaul French media legislation this year to fight the spread of fake news on social media, which he said was a threat to liberal democracies.

Macron has said he and his team were victims of fake news and a major data hack during his election campaign in 2017. Since coming to office in May 2017, he has particularly pointed the finger at Russian media, accusing TV channel RT of sowing disinformation about him via its website and social media during the campaign.

"If we want to protect liberal democracies, we must have strong legislation," Macron said in a New Years address to journalists, adding that the reform he envisaged would also change the role of Frances media watchdog CSA. "There will be increased transparency requirements for internet platforms regarding sponsored content, with the aim of making public the identity of those who place the ads and also limiting the amount of them."

European Union

On Monday, The Guardian reported that a senior EU official called for action against internet companies that harvest personal data, as Brussels prepares to move against those spreading "fake news" following the Cambridge Analytica revelations.

Sir Julian King, the European commissioner for security, wants "a clear game plan" on how social media companies are allowed to operate during political campaigns to be ready for the 2019 European elections.

In a letter, King wrote that the "psychometric targeting activities" such as those of the data analysis company are just a "preview of the profoundly disturbing effects such disinformation could have on the functioning of liberal democracies".

Philippines

In June 2017, a Bill seeking to penalise those who spread fake news was filed in the Senate, seeking stiffer penalties for erring government officials, according to a CNN report.

Senator Joel Villanueva, a member of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, filed Senate Bill No 1492, entitled an "An Act Penalising the Malicious Distribution of False News and Other Related Violations."

The Bill defines false news as information which "intend to cause panic, division, chaos, violence, and hate, or those which exhibit a propaganda to blacken or discredit one's reputation." Violators will face a fine of up to 5 million ($96,050), and imprisonment of up to 5 years, the guidelines state.

Indonesia

Indonesia launched a new cyber security agency in January 2018 as the worlds biggest Muslim majority nation moved to tackle online religious extremism and a flood of fake news on social media. Millions of Indonesians are going online for the first time just as concern about Internet hoaxes reaches a fevered pitch. More than 150 million out of 255 million Indonesians are now estimated to be Internet users.

President Joko Widodo named Major General Djoko Setiadi, former chairman of the countrys encryption agency, to lead the new body. "We will control cyberspace," Setiadi said.

Chief Security Minister Wiranto, who like many Indonesians goes only by one name, added: "We need this body to help maintain security nationally, regionally and globally".

Singapore

New laws to tackle the scourge of fake news are expected to be introduced in 2018, Singapore's law minister K Shanmugam was quoted as saying by Today Online. A government survey reportedly showed that 91 percent of Singaporeans are supportive of stronger laws to "ensure the removal and correction of fake news".

Given the high Internet penetration in the country, as well as its racial and religious profile, Singapore would be "of particular interest to a number of countries" that may want to influence specific racial, social or religious groups here, Shanmugam said. "It will be stupid or naive for us not to recognise that and to see what we can do to defend ourselves, because that is (for) national survival."
Malaysia, on Monday, approved a law against fake news that would allow for prison of up to six years for offenders, shrugging off critics who say it was aimed at curbing dissent and free speech ahead of a general election

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia, on Monday, approved a law against fake news that would allow for prison of up to six years for offenders, shrugging off critics who say it was aimed at curbing dissent and free speech ahead of a general election.

Prime Minister Najib Razaks government secured a simple majority in Parliament to pass the Anti-Fake News 2018 bill, which sets out fines of up to 500,000 ringgit ($123,000) and a maximum six years in jail. The first draft of the bill had proposed jail of up to 10 years.

The government said the law would not impinge on freedom of speech and cases under it would be handled through an independent court process.

This law aims to protect the public from the spread of fake news, while allowing freedom of speech as provided for under the constitution, Law Minister Azalina Othman Said told parliament.

The law defines fake news as news, information, data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false and includes features, visuals and audio recordings.

It covers digital publications and social media and will apply to offenders who maliciously spread fake news inside and outside Malaysia, including foreigners, if Malaysia or a Malaysian citizen were affected.

Co-opted by US President Donald Trump, the term fake news has quickly become part of the standard repertoire of leaders in authoritarian countries to describe media reports and organisations critical of them.

The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, had earlier on Monday urged the government not to rush the legislation through Parliament.

I urge the government to reconsider the bill and open it up to regular and genuine public scrutiny before taking any further steps, David Kaye said in a Twitter post.

Others Consider Laws

Other countries in Southeast Asia, including Singapore and the Philippines, are considering how to tackle fake news, but human rights activists fear that laws against it could be used to stifle free speech.

Malaysia is among the first few countries to introduce a law against it. Germany approved a plan last year to fine social media networks if they fail to remove hateful postings.

Malaysia already has an arsenal of laws, including a colonial-era Sedition Act, that have been used to clamp down on unfavourable news and social media posts.

News reports and social media posts on a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) have hounded Prime Minister Najib, who faces arguably his toughest contest in a general election this year that could be called in days.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing in connection with losses at the fund.

A deputy minister was quoted in media last month as saying any news on 1MDB not verified by the government was fake.

Lim Kit Siang, a senior opposition lawmaker with the Democratic Action Party, described the bill as a Save Najib from 1MDB Scandal Bill which would criminalise news on the affair.
Myanmar has agreed to a visit by the UN Security Council after months of resistance, but it remains unclear whether ambassadors will be allowed to go to Rakhine state

United Nations: Myanmar has agreed to a visit by the UN Security Council after months of resistance, but it remains unclear whether ambassadors will be allowed to go to Rakhine state, the body's president said on Tuesday.

Nearly 7,00,000 Rohingya have been driven out of Rakhine state and are living in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh since a Myanmar army operation in August.

After the council proposed a visit in February, Myanmar's government said it was "not the right time," but it has now given the green light.

Peruvian Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, who holds the council's rotating presidency, said details of the itinerary had yet to be finalised, including whether the government would allow the council to visit Rakhine state.

"Obviously, we're interested in Rakhine state," said Meza-Cuadra. "There's nothing better than a visit on the ground to see how it is."

Britain, Kuwait and Peru are organising the council's visit, which would include a tour of Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. No date for the trip has been announced.

Myanmar authorities say the operation in Rakhine state is aimed at rooting out extremists, but the Security Council is demanding that the Rohingya be allowed to safely return home.

The council is also planning a trip to Iraq, in a show of support ahead of parliamentary and provincial assembly elections on 12 May.

Iraq "needs support from the international community for rebuilding the country and to ensure reconciliation" after Baghdad's successful campaign to re-take territory from the Islamic State group, said Meza-Cuadra.
The UN Security Council will undertake visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh this month to assess the Rohingya crisis situation on the ground, President of the Council Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra said.

United Nations: The UN Security Council will undertake visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh this month to assess the Rohingya crisis situation on the ground, President of the Council Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra said. Meza-Cuadra, the Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations and President of the Council for April, shared the information with reporters on Monday and said the council is also planning a trip to Iraq. The details of the visits are still being worked out, he said.

"There is a willingness to visit those two places and we are now defining the terms of reference and the itinerary for those trips," he said, sharing the programme of the council's work for the month.

He said the council has "readiness" of the government of Myanmar to "accept the visit", during which they will try to visit the Rakhine state and get a first-hand overview of the Rohingya crisis.

"Obviously we are interested in the Rakhine state and we believe that the council will benefit a great deal and also in really maintaining interest in this topic. There is nothing better than visiting, making a visit on the ground to see how the situation is really... so we are working with the leaders on the visit," he said. Meza-Cuadra said once the Council visit takes place, and "once we are on the ground, we will convey the relevant messages".

He added that there are "different positions on this topic" within the Council and all this will be reflected in the terms of reference of the visit that is still being drawn up. "We have expressed our interest in visiting Rakhine state. I hope that will be possible, I don't think there should be any difficulties. It will give a comprehensive overview of the situation," he added.

Since August 2017, nearly 7,00,000 minority Muslim Rohingyas have fled violence in Myanmar across the border into Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, joining several hundred thousand more that were already settled there in overcrowded camps.

Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said about 1,50,000 Rohingya refugees, who fled Myanmar into Cox's Bazar are living in flood-prone areas and must be relocated ahead of the coming rainy season.

On the proposed visit to Iraq, which will be holding elections in May, Meza-Cuadra said the country has made significant progress in the fight against terrorism, against Daesh (or Islamic State).

"The country needs support from the international community for rebuilding the country and to ensure reconciliation. These are the kinds of messages we will consider transmitting," he said.
The United States, on Monday, blasted as 'unfair' Chinese tariffs imposed on 128 US imports worth $3 billion, including fruit and pork, in the latest tit-for-tat over US duties on steel and aluminium

Beijing: The United States, on Monday, blasted as "unfair" Chinese tariffs imposed on 128 US imports worth $3 billion, including fruit and pork, in the latest tit-for-tat over US duties on steel and aluminium.

China's action, which was decided by the customs tariff commission of the State Council, followed weeks of rhetoric that has raised fears of a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

President Donald Trump's administration had said its duties were aimed at steel and aluminium imports that it deemed a threat to US national security, but China's Commerce Ministry called that reasoning an "abuse" of World Trade Organization (WTO) guidelines.

The US measures "are directed only at a few countries, seriously violating the principle of non-discrimination as a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system, which seriously infringed the interests of the Chinese side," said a statement on the Commerce Ministry website.

Trump has repeatedly railed against China's massive trade surplus with the United States and promised during the election campaign to take steps to slash the US deficit.

His White House again pointed the finger at Beijing.

"China's subsidisation and continued overcapacity is the root cause" of what deputy White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters called a crisis affecting steel.

"Instead of targeting fairly traded US exports, China needs to stop its unfair trading practices, which are harming US national security and distorting global markets," she said.

Beijing had warned last month that it was considering the tariffs of 15 percent and 25 percent on a range of products that also include wine, nuts and aluminium scrap. They came into force on Monday, Xinhua said, citing a government statement.

The levies are in response to tariffs of 10 percent on aluminium and 25 percent on steel that have also angered US allies.

"We hope that the United States can withdraw measures that violate WTO rules as soon as possible to put trade in the relevant products between China and the US back on a normal track," the Commerce Ministry statement said.

"Cooperation between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, is the only correct choice."

Trump has temporarily suspended the tariffs for the European Union as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

But, the White House has unveiled plans to impose new tariffs on about $60 billion of Chinese imports over the "theft" of intellectual property.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the top economic official, told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a phone call last month that the IP investigation violated international trade rules and Beijing was "ready to defend its national interests."

'Heavy blow'

But, Beijing has so far held fire against major US imports such as soybeans or Boeing aircraftitems that the state-run daily Global Times suggested should be targeted.

The nationalistic newspaper said in an editorial last week that China has "nearly completed its list of retaliatory tariffs on US products and will release it soon."

"The list will involve major Chinese imports from the US," the newspaper wrote, without saying which items were included.

"This will deal a heavy blow to Washington that aggressively wields the stick of trade war and will make the US pay a price for its radical trade policy toward China," the Global Times wrote.

Despite the rhetoric, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday suggested the new measures on intellectual property were a "prelude to a set of negotiations".

The United States ran a $375.2 billion deficit with China last year.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, held meetings with Chinese officials on Friday and Saturday, including Vice Premier Liu.

"With Vice Premier Liu He, I had an extensive discussion about how China's trade-distorting measures end up hurting American workers," Warren wrote on Twitter.

"I've long been skeptical of trade policyboth at home and abroadthat caters to big corporations instead of working families."
In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the US designated Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organization.

Washington: In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the US on Friday designated Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa(JuD), as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO).

In a simultaneous move, seven members of MML central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorist. The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

The election commission had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The state department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Friday's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeT's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a FTO and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on 26 December, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the state department alleged.

In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.

In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group.

"LeT members make up MML's leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature," the state department said.

Concurrently with Friday's state department actions, the US Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for on behalf of the LeT: Saifullah Khalid (president), Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi (vice-president), Muhammad Harris Dar (Joint Secretary), Tabish Qayyuum (Information Secretary), Fayyaz Ahmad (General Secretary), Faisal Nadeem (Broadcast and Publications Secretary), and Muhammad Ehsan (Finance Secretary).

Friday's actions notify the US public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of the LeT. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

"Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeT's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," said Treasury under-secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognized political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

"We will continue to target terrorist organisations like LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades," Mandelker said. He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should "think twice" about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeT's Peshawar headquarters and served on JuD's Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

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, including six Americans. It was declared as an FTO by the US in June 2014.
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Google today made it clear that it will no longer encourage crypto mining extension as the company will no longer accept extensions that mine cryptocurrency and the existing extensions that mine cryptocurrency will be delisted from the Chrome Web Store in late June.

Google Chrome Web store allowed cryptocurrency mining in extensions as long as it is the extensions single purpose, and the user is adequately informed about the mining. With 90% of extension failing to follow the policies, Google is now banning all of the extension for good even if they adhere to earlier standards.

However, Google says that extensions with blockchain-related purposes other than mining will continue to be permitted in the Web Store. Google in the blog post said: The extensions platform provides powerful capabilities that have enabled our developer community to build a vibrant catalog of extensions that help users get the most out of Chrome. Sadly, taking advantage of these capabilities, malicious software developers attempted to abuse the platform at the expense of users.

This new policy is to ensure that Chrome users continue to use the browser to its fullest with the inclusion of extensions and without exposing themselves to hidden risks.

Source
Microsoft today announced that it had enabled digital payments services on Microsoft Kaizala; a communication and productivity tool in India by integrating YES BANK and MobiKwik payment services using both organizations mobile payment infrastructure.

This payment integration in Microsoft Kaizala platform will enable users to quickly send or receive money without having to leave the Kaizala mobile application. It also allows to make peer to peer payments in one to one and group chat conversations via the MobiKwik wallet and via YES BANKs Unified Payment Interface (UPI) integration. The UPI payment integration on Microsoft Kaizala works with all 86 banks that are already participating in UPI.

Microsoft Kaizala application was launched in July 2017 in India with an aim to offer instant messenger, a collaboration portal, and a productivity enhancer. Microsoft is also offering existing Office 365 customers through early adopter program can avail 12 months of free subscription to Kaizala Pro. The app is optimized for 2G network for better connectivity in remote locations. Microsoft Kaizala is available for free on Android, iOS and Windows platforms.

Commenting on the same, Rajesh Jha, Executive Vice President, Office Product Group, Microsoft said:

We see an opportunity for technology to give Firstline workers more intuitive, immersive, and empowering experiences  and thereby help organizations achieve greater efficiency, enhance their customers experience, and increase both innovation and employee satisfaction. Office 365, including Microsoft Kaizala, Microsoft Teams and Outlook, aims to connect this mobile-first and mobile-only workforce for modern collaboration and teamwork.

Ritesh Pai, Chief Digital Officer, YES BANK said:

YES BANK has been a pioneer in UPI and we have emerged as a leader in the UPI ecosystem by leveraging our strategic partnerships, as well as the Banks first-of-its-kind API Banking Solution. We are glad to collaborate with Microsoft Kaizala and bring seamless payments to businesses and users by employing our state-of-the-art UPI Platform. The addition of payments makes Microsoft Kaizala an even more compelling platform for collaboration.

Bipin Preet Singh, Founder, and CEO, Mobikwik said:
LG Electronics today announced that it has signed up South Koreas most popular K-Pop boy band, BTS as its brand ambassador for smartphones globally. BTS group will star in a series of TV and social media campaigns for LGs mobile products, beginning with the companys upcoming flagship smartphone, which will likely be the G7 that is expected to go official later this month.

LG said that it will collaborate with BTS on a diverse marketing campaign that reflects the uniquely colorful personalities of each of groups seven members. The campaign will highlight the bands talent, attitude and relationship with its fans, the very qualities that LG hopes to bring to its upcoming products starting this quarter, said LG.

We should see new teasers of the LG G7 featuring BTS in the coming weeks, ahead of the official launch.

Regarding the latest partnership, Kim Su-young, vice president and head of marketing for LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said:

BTS achieved international superstardom through raw talent, innovation and authenticity even though many gave them little chance of real success.These qualities make BTS a great match with our smartphone brand and we hope to be able to convey to the global audience that LG mobile devices are also about delivering bold innovation with a unique attitude.

Source
CP Kelco is investing more than US$50 million in citrus fiber capacity expansion at a facility in Brazil. The companys citrus fiber has evolved into a robust... Read More
ABCs American Idol was clobbered by NBCs Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert on Sunday night as viewers continue to shy away from the singing competition reboot.

Jesus Christ Superstar drew a 6.1 rating in the metered market households from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET on Easter Sunday, while Idol drew a 4.5, according to Deadline. Among total viewers, the NBC musical averaged 9.4 million compared to 7.4 million for Idol, according to The Wrap.

ABCs expensive, revamped version of American Idol continues to be plagued with negative attention stemming from massive paychecks and off-camera scandals surrounding the shows superstar judge, Katy Perry, and beleaguered emcee Ryan Seacrest.

ABC Television President Ben Sherwood is facing increased pressure after handing out gigantic salaries to the stars of "Idol, including an astronomical $25 million for Perry. If Idol doesnt work, it will blow up big time in Sherwoods face, a source told the Post.

Radar Online published a bombshell earlier this month that Idol executives are panicked about the shows ratings and blame is being placed on sexual harassment allegations levied against Seacrest.

Producers for Idol are flipping out after they were crushed in the ratings war by NBC rival show The Voice, a network insider told Radar Online. Now they are trying to make Ryan Seacrest the scapegoat while they scramble to figure out exactly what they are doing wrong.

Seacrest has vehemently denied the accusations against him, but the scandalous details may be hard for some viewers to ignore. Seacrests accuser, Suzy Hardy, has publicly come forward, claiming the star grinded his erect penis against her while clad only in underwear. She also accused him of grabbing her vagina and slapping her bottom with such force that she had a large, visible welt for hours.

Comedian Kathy Griffin recently spoke out against Seacrest, telling the New York Daily News that its important that his accuser is heard and that ABC and Idol are essentially covering for him.

The ABC machine comes in and covers his a-- and the American Idol machine comes in and covers his a-- ... Im not going to accuse Ryan of something I dont know of but Im also not going to have his back. Hes fine and wouldnt p--s on me if I was on fire, Griffin told the paper.

But Seacrest isnt the only Idol star generating negative headlines, as Perry recently upset viewers when she tricked an unsuspecting male contestant into kissing her on the lips. The contestant later told The New York Times that the Idol judge made him feel uncomfortable because he was raised with conservative values and wanted his first kiss to be special.

Perry, a Hillary Clinton super fan, is also battling poor publicity arising from a legal battle with some elderly nuns over a convent Perry wants to convert into a luxury estate. One nun, 89, collapsed in court and subsequently died after begging, Katy Perry, please stop. A second nun, 80, says the contretemps with Perry has left her broke.
It is almost beyond the fashion worlds wildest imagination, but the chatter coming out of Conde Nast and the publishing industry has reached a deafening crescendo  Anna Wintour could be on her way out of Conde and Vogue as artistic director.

A host of stunned sources have told Page Six that Wintour  the grand high priestess of both the fashion and publishing industries since she became editor in chief of Vogue in 1988  is to exit her all-powerful role at the publishing house this summer after the July wedding of her daughter, Bee Schaffer, to Francesco Carrozzini, the son of former Italian Vogue Editor Franca Sozzani.

But Conde Nast strongly denies Wintour is going. A Conde corporate spokesperson told Page Six on Monday, We emphatically deny these rumors, but declined to comment more specifically on Wintours plans.

However, were told Vogue UKs editor, Edward Enninful, is the likely replacement as the editor of US Vogue. Its unclear who  if anyone  might replace Wintour as the artistic director of Conde Nast, the title she ascended to in 2013, giving her oversight over all Conde magazine titles.

Other insiders tell Page Six that consultants are currently in the Conde offices reviewing the firms financials to identify how the company moves forward in the current media climate, identifying cuts and changes. But they insist this is a regular, yearly process.

The news comes as Conde struggles amid a shift in the publishing industry. Under Wintours watch as artistic director, Conde has closed the print editions of Teen Vogue, Self and Details and it has fought to compete online after closing down Style.com. Sources told The Post that the company is about $100 million a year in red ink.

But well-connected Wintour wont be short of other offers  she may be eyeing a big fashion position back in England, such as leading the British Fashion Council, which in reflection makes her front row seat next to Queen Elizabeth II at London Fashion Week in February an incredibly effective personal PR move. It was previously reported Wintour had hoped to land an ambassadorial position in London had her friend Hillary Clinton won the presidency.

This story originally appeared in the New York Post.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel didn't hold back the jabs at first lady Melania Trump on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Monday night while mocking the 140th annual White House Easter Egg Roll, which she hosted earlier that day.

"I want to really thank the first lady, Melania, who has really done an incredible job," President Trump announced from the balcony of the White House to kick off the event. "She worked so hard on this event, so I want to thank you."

With a big grin, Kimmel told his fans, "Not a chance she did one thing to help set that up. There's no -- she didn't dye eggs, she didn't fill baskets. The only thing she's been working on is an escape tunnel."

The audience applauded, as Kimmel pointed to a "surprise visitor" who was photoshopped into the background of the Trumps as they greeted a large crowd at the White House: Stormy Daniels.

"You know, it was supposed to be pouring, the weather. It was supposed to be very rainy and nasty and cold and windy," Trump told a crowd of about 30,000 people in attendance.

"And Stormy, too, you know," Kimmel added.

Kimmel then directed the audience's attention to a clip of Melania reading the children's book, "YOU!," by Sandra Magsamen. After playing about 10 seconds of footage, Kimmel chuckled and mocked the first lady's accent, repeating the last words she read.

"This and that," said Kimmel, as he impersonated Mrs. Trump.

He then turned to his sidekick on the show, Guillermo, you know what this means? You could be first lady of the United States.

Guillermo, you know what this means? You could be first lady of the United States.  Jimmy Kimmel

But Kimmel's bit didn't end there. The comedian, once again, pointed to a television screen and featured Melania finishing the book.

"That's the end," Melania said as she closed the book.

The audience roared with laughter as Kimmel added, "...of the world."

He continued, "Hey, I love that Vice President Pence just released the childrens book about a bunny. Did they read that to the kids? Nope, they went with dis and dat instead.

While some applauded the Kimmel's nearly three-minute monologue, others critcized the comedian's joke, calling it "offensive."

"I love your show and I love it when you take on Trump. But mocking Melania for her accent was a rare mis-step. Doesn't she speak several languages? (And isn't that a good thing in a First Lady?)" one fan asked Kimmel on Twitter Thursday.

"Classy. Making fun of the First Lady," another wrote, along with a face palm emoji.

"If this was some random foreigner, you people would NEVER make fun of their accent and risk offending them. What a bunch of [hypocrites] you are. You should be ashamed that youre allowed on television," a Twitter user added.

Kimmel posted the video on his Twitter account Tuesday morning, with the caption: "No one celebrates #Easter quite like the Trumps"

But that wasn't the only joke aimed at the Trump administration during Kimmel's show on Monday. He also trolled Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway, who he dubbed the "#1 White House leaker," and conducted a "Make America Grate Again Spelling Bee," asking three young students to come on stage and spell words incorrectly.
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeths husband, was admitted to the hospital Tuesday ahead of his scheduled hip surgery, Buckingham Palace announced days after his absence from Easter events raised concern.

Philip, 96, entered King Edward VII Hospital in London and is expected to have the surgery Wednesday. The palace said the surgery was planned ahead of time.

"Further updates will be issued when appropriate," the Palace said in a statement.

The Duke of Edinburghs deteriorating health in the last few years had led him to step away from public life. The palace announced last May that Philip will not play an active role attending engagements. He officially retired in August.

Rumors about Philips hip problems surfaced in recent days after he missed an Easter church service in Windsor. He also skipped Prince Andrews March 22 appointment as colonel of the Grandier Guards, also prompting concerns about his condition.

Philip previously had heart problems. He spent two nights at the hospital in June for an infection stemming from a pre-existing condition.

His health concerns also comes as Kate Middleton and Prince William prepare to welcome her third child. Middleton is expected to give birth this month.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are also set to be married on May 19 at St. Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Elizabeth has said she was fully supportive of Philip's decision to step away from public events. The couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last November. The queen called her husband the rock she depends on.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Roseanne Barr is back in more ways than one.

The 65-year-old star is making headlines as her Roseanne reboot soars in the ratings, and as her show reemerged the comedian reentered the wild world of Twitter, which she quit late last year.

In January, Barr explained that she signed off the social networking site while she worked on the shows highly anticipated reboot.

 I am not on Twitter anymore and actually it was my children who took my Twitter password away from me, she told reporters at the Television Critics Associations Winter Press Tour. I did not want it to overshadow the show. So I am taking a bit of a break.

That break is now over. Last week, Barr revealed to USA Today she was ready to reappear on Twitter, but she claimed she was not going to use the platform to get political  at least that was the plan.

Stating that politics were what drove her off of Twitter for several months, Barr told USA Today: I had to get off there because everybody was mad at me. Im not doing any more politics. I dont want to get anyone mad at me. Ill try to find another way to say what is important for me.

But her plan to be apolitical did not last long. Over the weekend, Barr made headlines for getting into a heated debate with writer Jared Yates Sexton over an article he wrote about the shows pro-Trump plots.

She also turned heads for a tweet claiming Trump has freed so many children held in bondage to pimps all over this world She has since deleted the controversial post.

By Sunday, it seemed Barr wanted to get back to her original plan of using her platform to promote her show.

She wrote, Let's stop fighting and start solving problems together.

Her subsequent tweets have since focused on Tuesdays upcoming episode of Roseanne  the third episode of the rebooted show. The current season is only eight episodes long but the show has already scored more episodes and a second season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Theres a clear reason why  the show has been a huge hit.

The typically liberal ABC brought back Roseanne after a 20-year hiatus to a massive audience, with a 5.1 rating in the key demo of adults age 18-49 and 18.1 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The show, starring a pro-Trump title character, was the highest-rated regularly-scheduled scripted show of the last few seasons, as well as the highest-rated sitcom in recent memory, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The trade magazine wrote that Roseanne dominated every other program on broadcast television for its two-part premiere, which aired on March 27.

Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
Donald Trump was a television ratings watchdog long before becoming president, but his Tuesday morning attack on CNN proved he could also be prognosticator-in-chief by mocking the networks struggling ratings hours before new data proved him to be correct.

Check out the fact that you cant get a job at ratings challenged @CNN unless you state that you are totally anti-Trump? Little Jeff Zuker, whose job is in jeopardy, is not having much fun lately, Trump tweeted. They should clean up and strengthen CNN and get back to honest reporting!

A few hours later, the Nielsen ratings for the first quarter of 2018 were released and CNN was trampled by rival MSNBC in most measurables. CNN averaged 985,000 primetime viewers compared to 1.9 million for MSNBC. Among the key demo of adults age 25-54, CNN also finished behind MSNBC, averaging 341,000 to MSNBCs 405,000.

CNN didnt only struggle during the primetime hours of 8-11 p.m., as it also finished behind MSNBC among total day viewers  averaging only 713,000 compared to 1 million for its progressive rival. CNN managed to pull off a narrow victory over MSNBC in the total day demo, which Jeff Zuckers network will surely tout as the only thing that matters.

Its unclear if President Trump actually has insight in Jeff Zuckers job security, but despite the spin he gives, his networks ratings are consistently at a distant third with its regularly-scheduled programming, Mediaite columnist Joseph Wulfsohn told Fox News. Whether he stays or goes, the buck has to stop somewhere.

Trump has an open feud with CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker, whose network was quick to respond to Trumps tweet, mocking the president for misspelling the longtime TV executives last name while noting that the network isnt interested in personal beliefs of employees.

Zucker actually helped increase Trumps star power by greenlighting The Apprentice when he was an executive at NBC and was widely criticized for airing Trumps rallies early in the 2016 campaign. Both decisions benefited Zucker in the ratings department, but the embattled executive seemingly implemented an anti-Trump program strategy once the former reality TV star emerged as a serious candidate.

The result has been a president of the United States who often refers to CNN as fake news, and a network filled with anchors who dont exactly hide their disdain for Trump.

CNN dedicated a good chunk of the latter part of the first quarter of 2018 to covering women who Trump allegedly had affairs with prior to taking office. Respected DePauw University professor Jeffrey McCall recently slammed CNN in an op-ed for The Hill Friday headlined, CNN lost its way in struggle to find an audience.

CNNs warped obsession with reporting about supposed adultery demonstrates a larger problem at the once-proud and groundbreaking channel, McCall wrote.

Fox News reached out to McCall for his thoughts on Trumps tweet and he said he feels that POTUS suggesting Zuckers job is in jeopardy could actually help him keep the gig.

If a change in leadership were to be made now, it would look like CNN caved to Trump pressure, McCall said. CNN continues to have ratings trouble, but that has been going on for a while now and CNN has shown no signs of adapting or redirecting.

In fact, CNN is set to add the anti-Trump Chris Cuomo to its primetime lineup and will allow former FBI Director James Comey to promote his book for an hour under the veil of a Town Hall, moderated by Anderson Cooper.

On Monday, Trumps 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale called for CNNs Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta to lose his credentials after he shouted questions as Trump colored with young children at the White House Easter Egg Roll. He continues to embarrass himself and CNN, Parscale said.

McCall thinks Trump should lay off Twitter and focus on bigger issues, but he admits the president accomplished what he intended with the early morning tweet because CNN responding raised the temperature of the situation

It does appear that Trump has gotten in the collective heads of the CNN brass, McCall said.

In addition to the struggling ratings, CNNs parent company, Time Warner, will be purchased by AT&T if the federal government allows the proposed deal. In October 2016, AT&T offered to buy Time Warner for $85 billion but the government sued to block the deal. A trial kicked off last month to decide if the merger will be allowed, and the outcome could also impact Zuckers fate.

There have been conflicting reports regarding whether or not AT&T would keep Zucker atop CNN, but its important to remember that Trump correctly prognosticated part of his Tuesaday morning tweet.

It will be interesting to see if hes also correct about Zuckers job being in jeopardy.
Everyone wants to impress their in-laws, and probably more so if theyre royalty.

Prince Harrys soon-to-be bride Megan Markle brushed up on her tea-drinking etiquette before meeting her fiances grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, according to a new biography on the former actress.

MEGHAN MARKLE'S LATEST HAIRSTYLE BROKE ROYAL TRADITION, AGAIN

Author Andrew Morton, who also wrote Princess Dianas biography, revealed in Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, that Markle visited Rose Tree Cottage in Pasadena, Calif. last autumn for afternoon tea, a traditional British mini-meal that falls between lunch and dinner. It was there, according to Morton, where Markle learned all the protocols that go along with having tea with the queen, US Weekly reports.

There are many rules that go with proper tea drinking, but one specifically that Markle had to learn is how to crook her finger while holding the cup and saucer. Some other tips to consider, according to British etiquette expert Jo Bryant, are to sit up straight and place the napkin in your lap, avoid leaning forward while drinking and, despite what you might see on TV, do not stick your pinky out.

She also says you should never slurp or blow on your tea to cool it off. In between sips, you can place the teacup on the saucer. As far as how much to drink, Bryant says one cup is never enough and three is considered excessive, so stick to two.

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Apparently, all that practice paid off for Markle. In a joint interview with Prince Harry, the couple revealed their one-hour meeting with the monarch went swimmingly. Even the queens corgis seemed to like the newest family member, snuggling up on Markles feet during tea, Food & Wine reports.
A caring big brother whose teenage sister underwent a nine-hour operation to remove a brain tumor showed his support by getting this haircut to match her 10-inch scar.

Alana McMullan, 17, was shocked when an MRI revealed she had medulloblastoma, a two-inch cancerous tumor at the base of her skull.

In the months before her diagnosis, she had been feeling dizzy and nauseous and even lost the hearing in her right ear.

Doctors ended up performing surgery and were able to remove 90 percent of the tumor, which left her with a frightening scar.

Alana's big brother Ethan McMullan, 19, noticed she was feeling a little bit down after the procedure and decided to make it his mission to put a smile on her face.

The college freshman from Decatur, Miss., brought a picture of Alanas scar to his local barber and asked him to replicate the markings in his hair.

Alana, who is getting set to undergo chemotherapy and radiation, said Ethans thoughtful gesture was typical of his kind-hearted personality.

I thought Ethans haircut was pretty cool," said Alana, who underwent the surgery on March 6 at Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

He really can be a pretty awesome big brother. He is basically my best friend, so its been fun for us to have the same mark on the back of our heads and necks, she said.

Ethan added: She had been feeling sick for quite a long time.

She was throwing up and feeling really dizzy for about three months before her diagnosis.

It wasnt until she became deaf in one ear that we knew something was really wrong.

As they were testing her for hearing aids they decided to give her an MRI, which showed us the tumor.

Thankfully they removed 90 percent of it, but shes been left with a bad scar and shell have to have chemo and radiation now.

I decided to get my haircut to replicate her scar, my usual barber Luke did it for me.

The day after her surgery she saw it and it brought a smile to her face. It was worth it just for that.

Alana said shes keen to embark on her chemotherapy and radiation regime, so she can get back to life as a junior at Newtown County High School.

The teenager said: Im ready to get started with the chemo to get the plan rolling.

Im looking forward to the future.

I have a lot of people praying for me, and I am very thankful for them. The first thing I need to do is get rid of the rest of this tumor.

Ethan commended his sister for her strength in what he says has been a difficult time for the family.

Shes been so brave and has a great chance at recovery, so were all really hopeful.
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The Air Force has reversed its decision to punish a highly-decorated and respected colonel after he refused to publicly affirm the same-sex spouse of a retiring subordinate.

Col. Leland Bohannon was on the verge of being promoted to a one-star general when he was suspended from command in 2017. Orders were also handed down recommending he not be promoted.

The colonel was punished after he declined to sign a certificate of spouse appreciation for a retiring master sergeants same-sex spouse.

An Equal Opportunity investigator determined at the time that the colonel had discriminated against the airman  and went on to say that even had the accommodation been granted, Col. Bohannon would nonetheless be guilty of unlawful discrimination.

First Liberty Institute, one of the nations most prominent religious liberty law firms, argued that the colonel went out of his way to accommodate the airman by having a two-star general sign the document.

Col. Bohannon had flown combat missions in the Middle East and he is the recipient of the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Medal. His punishment brought strong condemnation from Republicans in Congress.

Col. Bohannon has suffered severely on account of the EO investigators mishandling of his religious liberty rights, eight U.S. senators wrote in a letter. The Air Force owes it to him to see that justice is restored, along with his good name.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced Monday that the director of the Air Force Review Boards Agency ruled in favor of the colonel.

The director concluded that Colonel Bohannon had the right to exercise his sincerely held religious beliefs and did not unlawfully discriminate when he declined to sign the certificate of appreciation for the same sex spouse of an Airman in his command, Secretary Wilson wrote in a letter to Rep. Vicky Hartzler.

Secretary Wilson went on to say that Col. Bohannon did his duty to the airman by having a more senior officer sign the certificate.

Hiram Sasser, general counsel for First Liberty, said he was pleased with the Air Forces decision.

This is clear evidence that the Trump administration is helping to right the ship at the Pentagon, Sasser said. However, we must remember that at every level of the government there are bureaucrats who actively resist President Trumps efforts to preserve and protect religious freedom.
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While the world might be captivated by Russias rogue actions of lateattacking dissidents on British soil with chemical weapons, backing Syrias Bashar al Assad, as well as clearly proving its military is backknow this: Russia is condemned to the same fate as the old Soviet Union when it comes to the possibility of a new Cold War. Moscow would loseand be thrown into the scrap heap of history just like the old USSR.

But before we declare the start of another dangerous turn in U.S.-Russia relations, its worth looking at how both sides stack up on paper according to key measurements, and why President Vladimir Putin is playing a dangerous gamea game that, in fact, he has no way of winning.

First, is the military balance. While Russia has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on new military equipment including new atomic weapons, nuclear-powered attack and ballistic missile submarines, cruise missiles, bombers, and some of the worlds most advanced tanks, it is still hopelessly outmatched by America both in overall spending and sheer technological prowess.

One stat should tell you everything you need to know: America spends over $700 billion dollars on its military, thanks in part to President Trumps defense build-up, while Russia spends only $46 billion. Clearly by any statistic, Moscow is outmanned, outgunned and out-teched in any military domain in which it would try and wage war against Washington.

Second, America has a strong bench of allies to call upon if things heat up against RussiaMoscow has very few. That clearly means first and foremost the NATO alliance, the lynchpin of European security which ensures that if Moscow ever considered some sort of military action against the Baltic states, Poland or any member of NATO, such a move would be considered an attack on the alliance as a collective whole. And with NATO spending seemingly moving upward, thanks in part to some tough words from President Trump, Russia would clearly be defeated in any offensive action it could dream up.

Then, there is the economic component of a new Cold War. The Russian economy only produces approximately $1.4 trillion in GDP over a given year. America, on the other hand, is still the worlds largest economy, producing roughly $19 trillion in GDP. There is no nation on earth like the U.S. that produces more wealth, economic opportunity and prosperity. And when combined with an investment environment that rewards research and development, companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and perhaps Tesla seem set to dominate the future. Russia, to put it generously, is at best a massive natural resources gas station, where its fate is determined by the price of oil and natural gas.

So with the balance of forces so clearly against Russia, does Moscow have any way to strike that could be destabilizing or give it an edge in a new Cold War?

Clearly Putin has the ability and strategic sense to always fight in an asymmetric fashion and in such a way where his fingerprints arent clearly discernible. The best example is Russias little green men invading and conquering Crimea. Moscow, in a brazen action breaking the long peace in Europe, decided to cleave off part of a sovereign nation, while also backing separatist forces in Eastern Ukrainea conflict that is still being waged to this day.

And then there is Russias attempted hacking of our own elections in 2016. While clearly part of a playbook that Moscow seems to have employed on several occasions now, Russias goal seems to be to destabilize and to sow chaos wherever it can. Considering its vast cyber warfare capabilities and social media prowess through what is likely unimaginable numbers of bots that spread fake news, or stories that help it achieve its objectives, Moscow may have found a way to make up for some of its weaknesses in other more traditional capabilities.

Knowing Americas strengths and Russias weaknesses, the path forward seems clear for Washington to claim victory if a new Cold War were to begin. Washington must call out and push back against any attempt by Moscow to try and create chaos, instability or harm our allies or partners.

In fact, our best playbook might be straight out of the first Cold War  good old-fashioned containment , ramping up slowly, matching Russia action for action. And considering Americas and its allies vast resources compared to Moscows, Putin and his gang would find themselves quickly in trouble.

Today, Russia must make a choice. Does Moscow want to end up, as one senior Trump administration official described to me, as the North Korea of Europe, a state diplomatically and economically isolated from its neighbors. Will it someday decide to stop acting like a rogue nation? My hope is for someday a U.S.-Russia relationship that escapes the tensions of the past. But for now, it seems the Cold War is likely back on. And Vladimir Putin should be afraid.
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On Monday, the White House held its 140th annual Easter Egg Roll. The event, hosted by Melania Trump, featured children adorably pushing eggs along the White House lawn.

In a bizarre response, late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel launched an attack on Melania Trump over the event. First he derided Melania as being uninvolved in the set-up of the event. Not a chance she did one thing to help set that up. There's no -- she didn't dye eggs, she didn't fill baskets.

Did Michelle Obama dye eggs or fill baskets? Where was Kimmel to question her efforts during the eight years of the Obama administration?

Next, Kimmel mocked Melania Trumps accent. This type of anti-immigrant attack is only OK for leftists to make on people like Melania.

Im an immigrant, I came to the U.S. as a child from the Soviet Union and I frequently get these kinds of attacks from the left when I write something with which they disagree. Go back to where you came from is standard.

Diversity is important to the left, as long as it doesnt include any diversity of opinion or departure from what is expected from you. Hillary Clinton wasnt some little Tammy Wynette stand by your man type, even though she ultimately was, but Melania Trump is expected to leave her husband, shun him, speak out against him publicly otherwise she deserves the wrath of people like Jimmy Kimmel.

Im an immigrant, I came to the U.S. as a child from the Soviet Union and I frequently get these kinds of attacks from the left when I write something with which they disagree. Go back to where you came from is standard. As I said, this kind of othering is only OK when aimed at immigrants for whom the left has no need.

Why take a supposed comedian and his taunts seriously? In the past few years Kimmel has moved beyond comedy to political activism.

When his son was sick he took to his show crying and speaking out in support of saving ObamaCare.

After the Las Vegas shooting, Kimmel openly blamed Republicans  first the politicians, then anyone on the right. After blaming U.S House speaker Paul Ryan by name, he followed up the next night targeting all people who disagreed with his gun positions by saying Republicans know in their hearts that they bear some responsibility for the slaughter.

This is not a comedy show and Kimmel shouldnt have cover for his anti-immigrant comments because hes an alleged comedian.

His attack on Melania is despicable and wouldnt be tolerated for any other First Lady or immigrant. It shouldnt be tolerated for Melania Trump either.
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Supermodel Chrissy Teigens recent tweet saying she is not good with the Bible is not unusual. According to polls, most U.S. Christians have little idea what the Bible teaches.

On Easter Sunday, NBC aired Jesus Christ Superstar, Live in Concert, featuring John Legend as Jesus. After watching one of the rehearsals earlier in the week, Teigen, who is Legends wife, tweeted: "John said there would be leopards today. But it's lepers. I uh, am not good with the Bible."

A study conducted by Lifeway found that while nearly 87 percent of American households possess a Bible, most people who live in these homes (53 percent) barely open the holy book.

A scant 19 percent of Christians say they read the Bible every day, and only 20 percent report thinking about biblical truths throughout the day. As a result, Christians may not only be surprised to find lepers in the Bible, they may also be shocked to learn what it teaches about God.

A 2017 Barna Group study (in association with Summit Worldview Ministries) found that only 17 percent of Christians who consider their faith important and attend church regularly actually have a biblical worldview.

The study found that 61 percent of church-going Christians held views rooted in New Spirituality, 54 percent resonated with postmodernist views, 36 percent accepted ideas grounded in some form of Marxism, and 29 percent held secularist views.

Another Barna survey found that only 51 percent of senior pastors in Protestant churches held a biblical worldview. Christians (and their leaders), dont seem to know what the Bible teaches.

An American Culture and Faith Institute Study found that only 58 percent of Christians believe that Satan exists, only 52 percent believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, and only 47 percent believe that absolute moral truth exists and is found in the scriptures.Most Christians surveyed also said that it was possible to earn your way into heaven.

In case youre wondering, none of these positions are biblically sound  Christians, for the most part, are not good with the Bible.

This is why Christianity is less influential than ever before in America. Its ambassadors dont know who or what they are representing.

I am Christian, and I dont want to represent Christianity the same way I represent California. I was born and raised in Los Angeles County, and I investigated murders here for most of my law enforcement career. Ive got a right to call myself a Californian, even though I am a pretty poor ambassador.

Without doing some research online, Id have a difficult time telling you when the state of California was founded or how the state government operates. I cant even tell you if there are any official core values or mission statements. In many ways, Im a crummy ambassador for my state  Im not good with the facts about California.

I know better than to take this approach as a Christian. I might be able to call myself a Californian based on my being born and raised here. But when challenged by an increasingly secular culture, Christians need to be able to offer more than I was born and raised in the church.

We had better be able to explain what Christianity proposes and why its propositions are true. Well need something more than an uninformed, blind faith.

If we want to call ourselves Christians and have a positive influence on the world around us, well need an informed, forensic faith that can stand up in the marketplace of ideas. Christians need to understand the difference between a leper and a leopard. We need to be good with the Bible.
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Outgoing Planned Parenthood President and CEO Cecile Richards just published a book detailing her lifetime of pro-choice activism. The book, as expected, is essentially Richards stump speech in defense of her radical positions on abortion. But Richards makes one claim in the book that is worth examining.

In the book, titled Make Trouble, Richards writes that as pro-choice activists fight for abortion access in America every day, theyre also transforming the culture so they can quit apologizing for abortion.

Planned Parenthood certainly has made efforts to influence the culture  celebrities have donned Planned Parenthood pins on the red carpet and recorded fundraiser albums for the organization. Richards appeared on stage at this years Oscars during a segment celebrating activists. Much like those efforts, her book will likely receive fawning coverage from the media. But try as she might to truly transform the culture, Richards is failing to do so.

Ten years of research on public opinion of abortion by Maristthe polling company for The Wall Street Journal, NBC News and Thomson Reuters/McClatchyshows that Americans consistently support significant restrictions on abortion.

This years Marist poll on abortion, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus , found that more than three quarters of Americans would limit abortion to  at most  the first three months of pregnancy. A majority of Americans56 percentsaid they believe abortion is morally wrong.

Americans continued support for restrictions on abortion show that, despite Cecile Richardss best efforts and deep pockets, pro-choice activism is not transforming the culture. Love is winning.

Americans also recognize that, no matter how much Planned Parenthood and its supporters claim to speak for feminism, to be pro-life is to be pro-woman: 52 percent of respondents, as well as 52 percent of women, said having an abortion will more likely cause harm to a womans life than good. Likewise, 78 percent of Americans said that our laws can protect both the well-being of women and the lives of the unborn rather than choose between them.

Finally, the poll makes clear that much of what Planned Parenthood advocates falls far out of the mainstream. For example, 63 percent of Americans support banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless the mothers life is at risk, while just 33 percent oppose such a ban. Planned Parenthood, of course, finds itself within that small minority. Most Americans also oppose the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for elective abortion procedures  another position Planned Parenthood embraces that places them in a minority.

In truth, there is a consensus in our culture on abortion: Americans support major rollbacks on abortion. Thats because the pro-life movement is winning hearts and minds on this issue.

In January, for the 45th time, a hundred thousand Americans  primarily young people -- participated in the March for Life, the worlds largest annual human rights demonstration. Our theme this year was Love Saves Lives, illustrating that the mission of the pro-life movement is love. Our culture craves real, sacrificial, heroic love. Love is universally attractive because we as humans find true fulfillment in the giving of ourselves.

Our movement shows that love doesnt just save lives, it transforms them. Thats why year after year, thousands of Americans marchrain, sleet, snow or shineto protest the violence of abortion and in support of life-affirming alternatives. We will continue to do so until abortion is unthinkable.

Marchers arent the only example of love in the pro-life movement: Officer Ryan Holets encountered a pregnant woman using drugs and, respecting both her humanity and the humanity of her unborn child, offered to adopt the baby and help her seek treatment for her addiction. Adoptive parents like him personify our mission. So do the men and women who aid expectant mothers and their unborn children at pregnancy care centers by providing such resources as adoption service, parenting classes, and baby supplies.

Americans continued support for restrictions on abortion show that, despite Cecile Richardss best efforts and deep pockets, pro-choice activism is not transforming the culture. Love is winning.
Trump administration officials said Monday they will impose quotas on federal immigration judges in an attempt to speed up deportations, Fox News has confirmed.

A Justice Department official speaking to Fox News cited enormous court backlogs. These performance metrics... are designed to increase productivity and efficiency in the system without compromising due process.

Meantime, President Trump lamented the sluggishness of the deportation process on Monday night.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS, Trump tweeted.

The Justice Departments Executive Office for Immigration Review says judges must complete 700 cases a year to earn a satisfactory grade. They currently are completing an average of 678 cases per year, according to the Justice official.

The new request averages to about three per day, and judges with high caseloads can appeal internally to waive the requirement.

Critics claim speed requirements undermine judges independence and will cause some cases to be decided too hastily.

The new standards, which take effect Oct. 1, include a host of other measures indicating how much time judges should spend on different types of cases and court motions. The Washington Post was first to report the plan.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who oversees the immigration courts, has called repeatedly for more speed as an increase in deportation arrests has pushed the court backlog above 650,000 cases.

Still, he had held off on numerical quotas until now.

Fox News Kristin Brown and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Meadow Merrill's 'Redeeming Ruth' Wins Prestigious Christopher Award for 'Shinning Light in Darkness' Contact: Meg Rusick,

Marketing & Communications Manager,

Hendrickson Publishers,

978-573-2147,

mrusick@hendrickson.com



PEABODY, Mass., April 3, 2018 /Christian Newswire/ -- Redeeming Ruth by Meadow Rue Merrill has been selected to receive a Christopher Award in the Books for Adults category at the 69th annual Christopher Awards ceremony. The Award will be presented to author Meadow Rue Merrill on Thursday May 17, 2018, in New York City at the Mutual of America Building.



Redeeming Ruth: Everything Life Takes, Love Restores is the inspirational, true story of adoption, grief, and selfless love. When Merrill met her, Ruth was a sixteen-month-old child some church friends were hosting from an orphanage in Uganda. She had cerebral palsy and was so weak she couldn't lift her head. Part family drama, part travel adventure, and part memoir, Redeeming Ruth is the riveting, against-all-odds story of the most unlikely pairing of a small-town New England family and their adventure in adopting Ruth. Honest, raw, and illuminating, this book explores what happens when we sacrificially reach out and share God's love with others.



Merrill joins the ranks of past winners including David McCullough (John Adams), Eric Metaxas (Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy), Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption), and others.



The mission of The Christopher Award is to encourage people of all ages, and from all walks of life, to use their God-given talents to make a positive difference in the world. Since 1949, the Christopher Awards have annually saluted media (TV programming, feature films, books for adults and children) that affirm the highest values of the human spirit and reflect the Christopher motto, "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."



Meadow Rue Merrill is an award-winning journalist and the author of the inspirational memoir Redeeming Ruth: Everything Life Takes, Love Restores (Hendrickson Publishers, May 2017). She has worked as a reporter for The Times Record, a daily newspaper in Brunswick, Maine, The Boston Globe, and Down East magazine. Merrill has published parenting essays in The New York Times, written for Harvard University, and contributed feature articles to The Boston Sunday Globe Magazine. She also regularly writes about faith for The Portland Press Herald, Maine's largest newspaper. The Christmas Cradle, the first volume of her forthcoming Lantern Hill Farm picture-book series, releases with RoseKidz publishers this fall. Visit her website meadowrue.com/.



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President Donald Trump asked a federal judge on Monday to order private arbitration in a case brought by a porn actress who claimed she had an affair with him.



Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, filed papers in federal court in Los Angeles asking a judge to rule that Stormy Daniels' case involving a non-disclosure agreement must be heard by an arbitrator instead of a jury.



Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has been seeking to invalidate the agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election. She has offered to return the $130,000 she was paid as she tries to "set the record straight."



She's said she had sex with Trump once in 2006 and their relationship continued for about a year. Trump married his current wife, Melania Trump, in 2005, and their son, Barron, was born in 2006.



The White House has said Trump denies having an affair.



Trump's attorneys have argued that Daniels could owe about $20 million for violating the non-disclosure deal.



Daniels argues the agreement is legally invalid because it was only signed by her and Cohen, not by Trump.



In the Monday court filing, Cohen said Daniels had never raised any issues with the settlement agreement or suggested it was invalid or legally unenforceable before she filed her lawsuit last month.



Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, said they would oppose the motion to have the case heard in private arbitration, "hidden from the American public."



"This is a democracy and this matter should be decided in an open court of law owned by the people. (hash)sunlight," he tweeted.


Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, the son-in-law of Russian oligarch German Khan, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison and must pay a $20,000 fine for lying to federal investigators about his contacts with senior Trump campaign official Rick Gates as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe.

Van der Zwaan, 33, received the first sentence in Muellers investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates during the 2016 presidential election.

What I did was wrong. I apologize to my wife and my family, van der Zwaan said in court Tuesday prior to receiving his sentence from Judge Amy Berman Jackson in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. I await your judgment.

Jackson sentenced van der Zwaan to 30 days in prison, the $20,000 fine and two months of supervised release.

Were not talking about a traffic ticket, Jackson said. This was lying to a federal officer in connection with an investigation.

Jackson said she would allow van der Zwaan to collect this passport and return home to London, following his prison sentence. But it is unclear at this point whether van der Zwaan will be forced into Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) proceedings, which could delay him from leaving the country.

Jackson seemed to have little sympathy for the argument that van der Zwaan needed to return to his wife, who is pregnant, citing the familys considerable wealth.

This glass was dropped on a very thick carpet and it has cushioned the blow, Jackson said.

Van der Zwaan was charged by Muellers team with making false statements to investigators in an interview about his time working for a law firm hired by the Ukraine Ministry of Justice in 2012, when he helped produce a report on the trail of Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko.

Van der Zwaan is accused of lying about his last communication with former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates, who was indicted in October along with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on charges related to their work in Ukraine.

The court document notes that Van der Zwaan said he did not know why an email between him and Person A in September 2016 was not produced to the Special Counsels Office and that his last communication with Gates was in August 2016. It also says he claimed that his last communication with an unidentified Person A was in 2014.

But Mueller's team said that van der Zwaan spoke with Gates and Person A in September 2016, and that he deleted "and otherwise did not produce emails" sought by Muellers office -- including an email between him and Person A in September 2016.

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
The nations eyes are set on a district with just over 740,000 people  Arizonas 8th Congressional District, which has historically voted Republican. Veterans make up more than 10 percent of its population, and it includes many retirement communities, such as Sun City. The district voted for President Trump by more than 20 percentage points.

But this once safe Republican seat, is now up for grabs. The Center for Politics calls it a likely Republican seat, and now the two candidates  Arizona State Sen. Debbie Lesko, a Republican, and Dr. Hiral Tipirneni, an emergency room physician on the Democrat ticket  are elbowing each other for the seat.

This is a race that was typically seen as safe Republicanthey clearly think that this is a flippable seat and theyre at risk of losing it, Dr. Tipirneni said. So, Im not the only one who clearly thinks we have a shot.

The Arizona race would probably have gotten little attention had it not been for Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania special election on March 13 shook up the political world when Democrat Conor Lamb beat Republican Rick Saccone in a district that voted overwhelmingly for President Trump.

And that has Republicans turnings their attention to Arizona to prevent another unexpected flip. The Republican National Committee has poured $322,419 into Leskos political campaign.

Prior to that election, it wouldve seemed as if a Republican was sure to win, said Richard Herrera, an associate professor of political science at Arizona State University. This time around, it looks like no district is being taken for granted by either party.

Lesko is banking on her conservative credentials and strong backing by her party to woo voters  saying shes got the best interest of her constituents at heart.

Im honestly a better fit for our district, she told Fox News. Ive been involved in the West Valley for the last 20 years and then I served in the state Senate and House for the last nine years. So, I know the constituents in the West ValleyIm conservative. This district is a conservative district.

Lensko said the difference between the Arizona and Pennsylvania races is that her opponent is an unabashed liberal with extreme views.

In Pennsylvania, that Democrat opponent was trying to be a conservative, Lesko said. My opponent is not. She believes in universal healthcare, socialized medicine, Bernie Sanders-type Medicare for all.

Lensko strongly champions a border wall and free market heathcare.

I really think we need to work to secure the border, Lesko said. Thats actually been a very important issue for our congressional district for the entire time that Ive been in the legislature. People want to know whos crossing the border, they want to be safe, they want an end to the drug trafficking, the human trafficking  and so thats important."

Tipirneni denies shes a die-hard liberal. She said shes a moderate and is pushing for a safe and secure border  but believes a wall is not the answer. She also said as a doctor, she welcomes affordable healthcare for all.

Healthcares at the top of my list, Dr. Tipirneni said. Not only is it something very near and dear to my heart, personally, but we know its at the top of our national dialogue these days...The goal is universal coverage, getting to a place where every single American has access to quality, affordable healthcare. I know we can get there, I have a very clear plan of how we get there.

The special election is happening because Republican incumbent Trent Franks left his seat in December following complaints from two of his employees with whom he discussed the subject of becoming a surrogate for him and his wife, who he said had difficulty with fertility.

In 2014, Franks won by almost 76 percentage points. In 2016, he won by almost 69 percentage points to Mark Salazar, a Green Party candidate, who got 31 percent of the votes. There were no Democratic candidates in the 2016 election, nor the two previous ones.

Dr. Tipirneni believes Democrats have a real shot at flipping the seat.

I think that sort of conventional wisdom of it being a red district, I dont know that it applies anymore quite honestly because the Democratsare energized. Independents are coming on board with our campaign because they really want a problem solver and its not about the ideology so much, she said. Frankly, were getting a lot of folks who are Republicans and just feeling a little frustrated or maybe disenfranchised and just really want to talk about the issues and possible solutions, which is what my campaign has really been all about.

But she has a long away to go to catch up to Lesko, who leads by 48 percentage points to Tipirnenis 34 percent. About 18 percent are undecided, according to Polling Report. But experts said the seat, at this point, is a tossup.

Like we saw in Pennsylvania, we dont know exactly where, especially that large block of no preference voters in that district, where their preferences lie on these issues, Herrera said.

Prior to that (Pennsylvania) election, it wouldve seemed as if a Republican was sure to win. This time around, it looks like no district is being taken for granted by either party."  Richard Herrera, Arizona State University Associate Professor of Political Science

Both candidates campaigning on the promise that, if elected, they will meet the needs of their constituents. Lesko said she supports the Trump tax cuts and is campaigning on balancing the national budget, improving education, securing the border, protecting Luke Air Force Base and strengthening the military. Dr. Tipirneni told Fox News she wants to improve the public schools, living wages and retirement security.

Another factor that could play into this race, as well, is Arizonas mail-in ballots.

Arizona's reliance on mail-in ballots, including a permanent early voting list, minimizes the chances one party can take advantage of a wide enthusiasm gap, according to Cook Political Report. Even if Democrats are more amped up to vote, plenty of Republican retirees will receive a ballot in the mail and vote, reflexively.

The special election is on April 24.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt laid out plans on Tuesday to roll back Obama-era fuel standards in a move seen as a win for automakers, but one that is likely to ignite a major political and legal battle with the nations most populous state.

These standards that were set were inappropriate and need to be revised, Pruitt said during a speech at the EPA in Washington D.C., adding that the rules are too expensive and hurt car buyers by making vehicles costlier.

The focus should be on making cars that people actually buy and that are efficient, he said.

Pruitts decision to rewrite the nations first carbon limits on automobiles, which requires cars and light trucks sold in the United States to average more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025, reflects both the power of the countrys automakers and the Trump administrations determination to jump start the car industry.

This was the right decision, and we support the Administration for pursuing a data-driven effort and a single national program as it works to finalize future standards, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which includes General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler, said in a statement. We appreciate that the Administration is working to find a way to both increase fuel economy standards and keep new vehicles affordable to more Americans.

The move, however, once again pits the Trump administration against the state of California.

Under the 1970 Clean Air Act, California can set its own greenhouse gas emissions standards and has threatened to sue the federal government if its waiver is withdrawn and the state is blocked from imposing the more austere limits. A showdown between California and the Trump administration would have wide-ranging implications as currently 12 other states  making up more than a third of the U.S. auto market  follow the Golden States emissions standards.

The Trump Administrations assault on clean car standards risks our ability to protect our childrens health, tackle climate change, and save hardworking Americans money, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement on Monday. Were ready to file suit if needed to protect these critical standards and to fight the Administrations war on our environment. California didnt become the sixth-largest economy in the world by spectating.

A coalition of at least 14 state attorneys general joined Becerra on Monday in calling the rollback irrational and irresponsible and vowing to vigorously and aggressively challenge President Trumps dangerous anti-environmental agenda in court.

While Pruitt did not specifically address California during Tuesdays announcement, the administrator noted in a statement released Monday that the EPA would be reexamining Californias waiver and that [c]ooperative federalism doesnt mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country.

EPA will set a national standard for greenhouse gas emissions that allows auto manufacturers to make cars that people both want and can afford  while still expanding environmental and safety benefits of newer cars, he added. It is in America's best interest to have a national standard, and we look forward to partnering with all states, including California, as we work to finalize that standard.

The move by the EPA is the latest in a series of battles between the federal government and California, which has emerged as the staunchest opponent to the Trump administrations policies. The EPAs announcement of the rollback occurred on the same day the Justice Department sued California to block a new state law limiting the transfers of federal lands.

"Yet again, Donald Trump and his administration are attacking our state and our very way of life," Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a member of the State Lands Commission and a Democrat running for governor, said in a statement.

The Trump administration also wants to make it easier to drill for oil and gas off Californias coast and last years tax overhaul law is seen as particularly harmful to the state as it limits mortgage interest and state and local taxes.

Then there is the immigration debate, with the Justice Department suing California to overturn a state law that limits the power of federal immigration authorities and Trump recently calling the state out of control during a visit to view border wall prototypes.

Pruitts announcement was originally scheduled for Monday at a Chevrolet car dealership in Chantilly, Virginia, but was cancelled. Guy Eberhart, the general manager of Pohanka Chevrolet, told Fox News that he had no knowledge of Pruitt planning to visit the dealership.
The IRS audited only 0.6 percent of returns in 2017, the lowest figure in the past 15 years amid shrinking budgets and criticism over excessive enforcement.

The agency reviewed only one in about 160 individual tax returns in 2017, according to its 2017 Data Book released last week. This marks the sixth consecutive year that audits have declined.

The audit rate of high-income households declined the most, with less than five percent of returns being subjected to a review by the agency.

In 2015, nearly 10 percent of such returns were audited amid the Treasury inspector generals recommendation that high earners should be the top priority for the agency, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Lower income groups also were less likely to be audited  the rate of audits dropped to 0.59 percent in 2017 from 0.76 percent in 2015.

An IRS spokesman told the newspaper that the drop in the audit rate is mostly due to the agencys declining personnel responsible for reviewing the returns.

The report also states that taxpayers earning over $1 million in tax year 2015 paid 28 percent of total income taxes, up by 3 percent since 2013. Taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000 paid nearly 21 percent of the total.

Taxpayer advocates celebrated the latest figures, with many pointing out to overzealous enforcement in the past that put undue scrutiny on conservative groups and made filing tax returns difficult for ordinary people.

I would very much like to live in a world where the IRS doesnt have to do too much auditing because the tax code is simple enough for people to understand.  Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

It should be a healthy sign if theyre auditing less, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, told The Washington Times. I would very much like to live in a world where the IRS doesnt have to do too much auditing because the tax code is simple enough for people to understand.

The agencys proponents, however, are ringing alarm bells that if it isnt properly funded, rampant evasion could develop, especially after the passing of the $1.5 trillion tax cut.

Youve got this depleted workforce, theyre auditing fewer people, and now here comes this tax law that invites all kind of rampant tax sheltering, and they provide no additional money, Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told the Times.
As more than 1,000 migrants travel through Mexico, President Trump continued to warn that the caravan of people should be stopped before entering the U.S.

The caravan, an annual event, is made up mostly of migrants from Honduras and Central America. Some hoped to seek asylum in Mexico; others might be bound for the U.S., according to organizers.

Heres what you need to know about the migrants and what they seek.

What are these caravans?

A group of about 1,200 people  most of them Hondurans  are walking through Mexico, seeking asylum or refugee status.

For many migrants, Mexico is the last stop. Later this week, buses will take people to a migrant rights symposium in central Puebla  southeast of Mexico City. After the symposium, some migrants could continue onto Mexicos capital to make an asylum claim, Irineo Mujica, director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the activist group behind the event, says.

The symposium is the last scheduled stop, according to organizers.

Contrary to some reports, organizers told The New York Times that a majority of the migrants do not intend to travel to the U.S. Alex Mensing, a project coordinator with Pueblo Sin Fronteras, told the newspaper that only about 10 or 15 percent might try to seek refuge in the U.S.

What has Mexico said about the migrants?

Mexicos Foreign Ministry and Interior Ministry said about 400 migrants have been deported, but the government views the caravan as a public demonstration that seeks to call attention to migration and the importance of respecting the rights of Central American migrants who in many cases are forced to leave their countries in search of better opportunities or with the intention of getting international refugee status and protection.

Mexico has handed out humanitarian or travel visas to many of the travelers. About 465 migrants had asked for transit visas and 230 have gotten them, and another 168 were likely to get some sort of visa to stay in Mexico, according to the country's government.

The government also noted that -- per its migration laws -- those in the caravan must leave Mexico only at designated international transit points and should adhere to the rules of country they are entering.

CARAVAN PARTICIPANTS GET HELP FROM WITHIN MEXICO

The law also specifies that it is not the responsibility of the Mexican government to make immigration decisions for the United States or any other nation; the appropriate U.S. authorities will decide, if necessary, whether or not to authorize entrance into their territory at the authorized ports of entry and exit for any members of the caravan that request it, the government said.

Are these caravans new?

No. According to the Mexican government, the caravan of migrants have journeyed around this time every year since 2010.

They began as short processions of migrants, some dressed in biblical garb and carrying crosses, as an Easter-season protest against the kidnappings, extortion, beatings and killings suffered by many Central American migrants as they cross Mexico.

TRUMP SLAMS MEXICO, DEMOCRATS AS CARAVAN CONTINUES TO MARCH

However, this particular caravan is one of the largest ever, according to The New York Times.

Those making the trek see safety in numbers and believe that traveling as a group would deter would-be robbers or kidnappers.

In 2016, Mexico granted more than 3,200 asylum requests. An additional 9,626 requests filed last year have either been accepted or are still under review.

What has the Trump said about them?

Trump has drawn attention to the caravans with multiple tweets.

On Easter Sunday, the president warned that the caravans are coming and slammed the so-called catch and release laws. He also warned that Mexico should stop people from flowing into its country and the U.S. or he would stop their cash flow.

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there, Trump said, adding that foreign aid to Honduras and other nations is at stake.

Can the migrants actually receive DACA status?

In a tweet, Trump said, These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!

But even should migrants be able to enter the U.S., they would not be eligible for the protection granted under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In order to receive DACA status, individuals have to be brought to the U.S. illegally as children and have continuously lived in the country since 2007, among other requirements.

As the Trump administration has moved to phase out the program  and called for a legislative fix  no new applicants are being accepted for DACA.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
John Kasich says he doesnt know whether hell run for the White House again in 2020.

But the two-term Ohio governor and 2016 Republican presidential candidate said he realized his Tuesday trip to New Hampshire  which holds the first presidential primary  would spark more speculation that hes considering a primary challenge against President Donald Trump.

And it appears Kasichs fine with that.

Its great to come back because it gets everybody atwitter, literally. I honestly dont know what Im doing. But all my options are on the table. But I dont know, he said in an interview with Fox News in Manchester, N.H.

Kasich said any decision on mounting another White House bid would come at least nine months from now, after he finishes his second term as Ohio governor.

What I know is that I want these next nine months to be a wonderful time in Ohio, Kasich said.

While he repeatedly said he had no clue whether hed run for president again, he added that I would like to keep my voice out there.

Kasich returned New Hampshire for the first time in a year to deliver a speech at New England College, as part of the schools Presidents Speaker Series.

Kasich told the audience, I am trying to be a voice that brings about stability and objectivity in our country.

Asked by the moderator about gun violence and school safety, he praised the push for stricter gun laws by students who survived Februarys mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Have you seen them on television the last couple of weeks? Have you ever seen more articulate young people? Kasich said. And shame on the adults who are attacking them.

Last month the governor introduced a six-point plan to reduce gun violence in Ohio.

I can tell you in my state, Im not going quietly on this, Kasich emphasized.

But he cautioned it was important that we dont want to denigrate people who believe so firmly in the Second Amendment.

Earlier he met with Granite State advisers and supporters from his 2016 presidential campaign. He also did a round of media interviews and in the morning met quietly with New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. Kasich endorsed Sununu during the states 2016 GOP gubernatorial primary.

Kasich praised Sununu, saying, I met with him today and I have to tell you I was really impressed.

Once a longshot for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, Kasich concentrated his efforts on New Hampshire and came in second to Donald Trump in the Feb. 2016 GOP primary. He kept his campaign alive deep into the primary calendar and unlike Trumps other rivals for the nomination, Kasich never endorsed Trump for president. And hes remained a critic of the President.

But Kasich said he took issue with that description.

I wouldnt label myself a critic of Donald Trump, he said. When he does something that I like, I say its good. And when he does something that I dont like, that I think is inappropriate, I say that its bad.

Kasich said he said he hasn't recognized his party anymore, adding, the Republican Party of today is not the Republican Party that Ive ever known. Its a weird, weird, situation.

And, he predicted trouble ahead for his party in this years midterm elections.

Theres going to be a wave coming here. Its going to be a blue wave because voters are motivated, he explained. That can pose a risk for anybody whos a Republican now.

Kasich said he worried about the anger hes sensed across the nation, adding, I have a lot of strong feelings about our country and I feel like were being torn apart.

Kasich wasnt the only potential 2020 presidential contender in the Granite State on Tuesday. Former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley  who ran for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination before dropping out after a poor finish in the Iowa caucuses  spoke earlier at Politics & Eggs at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. The speakers series is seen as a must-stop for White House hopefuls.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman led a multistate coalition in filing a lawsuit Tuesday to block the Trump administration from including a question on citizenship in the 2020 census, amid escalating rhetoric from Democrats and immigration activists on the question.

This is a blatant effort to undermine the census and to prevent the census bureau from carrying out its clear constitutional mandate, Schneiderman said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit, which was joined by 18 attorneys general, six cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.



The Commerce Department announced last week that it would reinstate the citizenship question as part of an attempt to enforce the Voting Rights Act after a request from the Department of Justice. It noted that the question was the same asked on the yearly American Community Survey and that between 1820 and 1950, almost every decennial census asked a form of the question.



That lawsuit adds to a suit by Californias attorney general last week, both looking to block the question about whether the respondent is a U.S. citizen being added to the questionnaire. Democrats and activists claim that the question will spook immigrants -- mainly those in the country illegally or of so-called mixed-status families -- from participating.



It is not just undocumented people who would be afraid in this situation, anyone with a mixed status family or anyone who is concerned about the anti-immigrant animus, and courts repeatedly have found in cases that I have brought that this administration has an anti-immigrant animus, will be scared, Schneiderman said.



Those opposed to the citizenship question claim that such a chilling effect will leave often-Democratic states underrepresented in the census -- which will affect funding and also representation in Congress.



The Census is a fundamental part of our democracy, and we must encourage every person living in our country to participate, not put up barriers that prevent people from being counted, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a statement. I am filing this lawsuit to ensure that immigrants in Illinois are represented fairly and accurately.



Stephen Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said at the New York press conference that nearly $700 billion of New York's funding is determined by the census, and said that if the Trump administration turned the census into a weapon, then New York is going to use an army to protect it.



Were going to need to fight this battle in the streets, in the halls of Congress and in the courts, he said.



This language was backed up by Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-NY, who also called the question a racist attempt to make America white from Trump.



We are going to fight this blatant attempt to undermine our Constitution and undermine our democracy at every step of the way, whether it is on the streets, whether its in the courts or whether its in Congress, she said.



Both Velazquez and fellow Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks attempted to tie the census question to Democratic allegations that Trump is sympathetic to authoritarians like Russian President Vladimir Putin.



Why doesnt he speak out against Mr. Putin? Meeks asked. Because he wants to be like Mr Putin.



The lawsuit comes amid a series of disputes between the Trump administration and blue states on the subject of illegal immigration. Last month Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a lawsuit against California over policies that the administration says hinder federal immigration authorities from enforcing U.S. immigration laws.
The organization behind the 1,000-person strong caravan of Central Americans surging toward the United States' southern border accused President Trump on Monday of "bullying" immigrants and threatening "mass violence" -- while Trump again warned the advancing procession "had better be stopped."



Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which translates to People Without Borders but is not affiliated with a group of the same name, fired back at Trump after the president's Twitter tirade urging Congress to invoke the nuclear option -- requiring only a simple majority to pass legislation -- in order to pass bills for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and tough immigration reform.

Trump tweeted Tuesday morning the caravan, estimated to be carrying more than 1,000 Central Americans, had better be stopped before reaching the U.S. border with Mexico.

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW! Trump tweeted.

TRUMPS SLAMS MEXICO AND DEMS AS CARAVAN OF IMMIGRANTS HEADS TO US SOUTHERN BORDER

The organization said in a statement that Trump was using news of the caravan to threaten DACA recipients and force Congress to pass his favored legislation.

On April 1st, the U.S. President opportunistically invoked refugee caravans as a pretext for threatening immigrants already in the country, specifically DACA recipients, with a so-called Nuclear Option to remove their protections from detention and deportation, the organization said.

It added: Trump is trying to turn Central American refugees and other immigrant communities against each other, and use them as a bargaining chip with Mexico."

The group was likely referring to the caravan being a "bargaining chip" in the ongoing talks surrounding the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has threatened to pull out of unless Mexico does more to prevent illegal immigrants from coming into the U.S. Trump on Monday said the caravan was coming because the people in it thought they could take advantage of certain Obama-era protections for immigrants.

In the face of this bullying and these threats of mass violence, we continue to stand in solidarity with displaced people of all races, ethnicities, creeds, abilities, and gender and sexual identities, the organization said.

'CARAVAN' MARCHES ON UNIMPEDED, DESPITE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SPENDING MILLIONS TO HELP MEXICO CONTROL BORDER

Trump on Monday night urged tough laws and the building of a U.S.-Mexico border wall to prevent countries from sending many of their people to the U.S.

The president tweeted: Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!

The president's tweets came after "FOX & Friends" reported early Sunday a group of 1,200 migrants, mostly from Honduras, was traveling through Mexico without authorization en route to the U.S. with the intention of illegally crossing into the states or seeking asylum. According to a BuzzFeed News report, officials in Mexico have not attempted to stop the migrants. Mexicos National Institute of Immigration told BuzzFeed Monday that it plans to disband the caravan by Wednesday, but those helping the immigrant group are skeptical of the rhetoric.

Organizers said they expect Mexico to allow some migrants to continue traveling to the U.S. border or, another organizer told BuzzFeed News, apply for asylum in Mexico.

Mexicos government also insisted it does not promote irregular migration and that about 400 caravan participants have been sent back to their home countries, though that was not able to be independently confirmed.

A group of a few hundred men also broke off from the march Sunday, hopping a freight train north, likely with hopes of trying to enter the U.S. more quickly, The Associated Press reported. But the rest seemed unlikely to move again until Wednesday or Thursday, and they probably would take buses to the last scheduled stop in Mexico's central Puebla state.

Fox News' Griff Jenkins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Businesses are handling enormous amounts of data on a regular basis. Internet of Things (IoT) recognized the need for data storage and emerged with models for cloud computing and fog computing. These pioneering solutions were developed to streamline the data organization process and help businesses manage their data in real-time.

Time is money and the best way to be effective is to gain competitive edge with faster and more efficient information-gathering methods. The IoT has forecast that by the year 2020, the amount of devices connected to the internet will surpass 30 million. This unprecedented growth is creating a steady need for more businesses to incorporate computing systems that are capable of overseeing immense quantities of data.

Cloud computing and fog computing both offer value by providing insight and promoting actions that boost efficiency and reliability. Need help deciding which data management platform is best for your business? Read on to discover the pros and cons of cloud computing and fog computing.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing helps businesses connect to data storage off-premises through the internet, and forms a network with all the devices connected together. Hard drives are less necessary than they used to be, as businesses are generating way too much data to rely solely on HDD. Cloud computing is more convenient, and does not require dedicated network attached storage (NAS) hardware. Businesses love using cloud computing to instantly access data, anytime and anywhere, allowing them to use the internet to retrieve off-site information.

The cloud computing environment makes data management, scalability and security possible through three separate models:

Software as a Service ( SaaS (News - Alert) ): A subscription-based software application a provider hosts and makes available to users through the internet. The SaaS provider handles everything from development and maintenance to support and reporting, and allows data to be accessed from devices connected to the internet. Customers pay a monthly or annual fee. SaaS examples include Gmail, Netflix and Dropbox (News - Alert) .

A subscription-based software application a provider hosts and makes available to users through the internet. The SaaS provider handles everything from development and maintenance to support and reporting, and allows data to be accessed from devices connected to the internet. Customers pay a monthly or annual fee. SaaS examples include Gmail, Netflix and Dropbox (News - Alert) . Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): IaaS owners provide pre-configured hardware for users, and allow access without customers investing great deals of time and money into personal management. Boasting storage, networking capabilities and customizable resources, IaaS enables customers to purchase individual components on an as-needed basis. Users enjoy on-demand scalability to meet their business needs, and only pay for what they use.

IaaS owners provide pre-configured hardware for users, and allow access without customers investing great deals of time and money into personal management. Boasting storage, networking capabilities and customizable resources, IaaS enables customers to purchase individual components on an as-needed basis. Users enjoy on-demand scalability to meet their business needs, and only pay for what they use. Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS provides numerous resources that allow users to deliver a wide range of applications (from coding to testing and establishing). Users can pay as they go, and access tools from a cloud service provider over a secure internet connection.

Advantages

On-demand scalability of information

Helps developers create more powerful applications

Easy to implement

Manage anytime and anywhere

Reduced TCO

Increased efficiency

Embedded automation for the most demanding networks

Cloud-as-a-service is offered by industry leaders like Microsoft, Amazon, Google and IBM (News - Alert) . Cloud computing provides on-demand access to large amounts of company data without the expensive hardware/software, or the financial responsibility required for data management.

Disadvantages

Downtime and limited control during service outages

Possible issues with security and privacy

Vulnerability to hacking

Loss of bandwidth

Fog Computing

Fog computing is an extension of the cloud computing model. It processes data more closely to the point of origin, and distributes the universal framework for services directed at the edge of the network. When cloud computing was first developed, industry leaders predicted the disintegration of network bandwidth would lead to potential bottlenecks. Users loved the data management and ease of accessibility with the cloud model, but started searching for a more comprehensive solution. The architecture of fog computing optimizes both storage and networking capabilities while building a framework to help eliminate latency, security vulnerabilities and bandwidth issues. As an extension of cloud computing, fog computing provides a robust environment to accelerate communications and computation services to devices controlled by end-users.

Fog computing focuses on end-users, geographical distribution, local resource pooling, latency reduction, and bandwidth reserving to achieve better QoS. By deploying services at the edge of the network, or even end devices such as set-top-boxes or access points, fog computing reduces latency and creates superior end user-experiences. Due to its computational power and expanded storage capabilities, fog computing is positioned for real-time big data and analytics.

Advantages

Increases bandwidth

Ease in the clouds digestion of information

Service disruptions are rare

Network bottlenecks are easily remedied

Larger scale capabilities

Targeted to IoT growth

Decreases network latency

Disadvantages

Adds complexities to companys file storage

Increased expenses

Limited scalability for growth

Rigid in budget restrictions

Fewer resources

If your businesss IoT architecture is not on a large scale or experiences bandwidth issues, fog computing may not serve to optimize your data management system.

The Best for Your Business

Choosing which model is best for your business depends on the amount of data your business organizes and manages. Fog computing and cloud computing are both excellent models for data storage and management, analytics, centralized connectivity and security.

For larger business that accumulate higher levels of data, as well as the ability to maintain a strict budget and control scalability, fog computing will optimize the data flow. Fog computing is ideal for businesses regularly processing large amounts of data, like a video production studio. Fog computing is also ideal for businesses handling sensitive data, like businesses in the medical and financial industries.

Cloud computing is ideal for small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) who require on-demand access from anywhere, without the hardware or costly equipment. Cloud computing offers a pay-as-you-go structure, allowing for flexibility in the budget and on-demand scalability for company growth. As the growth of IoT continues to take shape, businesses of all sizes can optimize the way they manage data, accessibility and security.

About the Author: Darrell Lopez is the CEO of Public Telephone Company . With more than two decades of experience in the VoIP industry, Mr. Lopez is considered a noted authority in the field of WIFI and VoIP.Edited by Mandi Nowitz
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating an Aug. 2016 email by former Trump adviser and political consultant Roger Stone in which he purportedly claimed to have "dined with" the founder of WikiLeaks, according to a report.

The secretive organization released a trove of hacked communications prior to the 2016 presidential election, including Democratic National Committee emails that damaged then-candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Stone emailed fellow Trump aide Sam Nunberg on Aug. 4 that he dined with Julian Assange last night, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The next day, Stone tweeted: Hillary lies about Russian Involvement in DNC hack -Julian Assange is a hero.

"The idea that I would meet with Assange undetected is ridiculous on its face."  Former Trump adviser Roger Stone

But Stone insists his emailed comment was nothing more than a flippant attempt to wrap up an unwanted conversation, and that despite his intimations, he has never had ties to WikiLeaks.

I never dined with Assange, Stone told The Journal. "There was no such meeting. Its not what you say, its what you do. This was said in jest.

DONALD TRUMP JR. RELEASES MESSAGES FROM WIKILEAKS FROM BEFORE 2016 ELECTION

Stone also provided The Journal with a screenshot of a booking for someone named "Roger" flying out of Los Angeles on a Delta flight heading to Miami the evening of Aug. 3, and airline confirmed that the screenshot matched a real flight -- but, citing consumer privacy rules, could not state definitively whether Stone was on board.

WikiLeaks has reportedly tweeted that Stone and Assange, who has called the Ecuadoran Embassy in London home since 2012, "never communicated."

Mueller's team reportedly asked about the email during grand jury testimony, and Nunberg told The Washington Post in March that investigators have asked about the email.

The Post has previously reported that two associates of Stone claim he told them he had made contact with Assange, and other outlets have found video apparently showing Stone referencing meetings with Assange.

I wish him no ill will, but Sam [Nunberg] can manically and persistently call you, Stone told the Post. I said, I think I will go to London for the weekend and meet with Julian Assange. It was a joke, a throwaway line to get him off the phone. The idea that I would meet with Assange undetected is ridiculous on its face. 

In February, Stone told Fox News' Laura Ingraham that the media and Democratic operatives were attempting to "re-inflate the deflated Russian collusion delusion" by using underhanded tactics to tie President Trump to the WikiLeaks hacks.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller was given the green light to investigate President Trumps former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his work with the Ukrainian government as well as claims Manafort colluded with the Kremlin, according to court documents filed late Monday.

A newly disclosed Aug. 2, 2017, memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein shows that Mueller was authorized to go after Manafort on multiple fronts in an investigation that has resulted in criminal charges against 19 people and three Russian companies.

The August memo was disclosed in a court filing by Muellers team of prosecutors in response to Manaforts lawyers, who asked a judge to dismiss the charges against him. Manafort is arguing that Mueller, who was assigned to investigate potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, overstepped his authority by investigating allegations that took place before the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

But in their new filing, prosecutors revealed that Rosenstein  who appointed Mueller  wrote a memo last August that outlined the scope of Mueller's appointment.

The memo, which had not previously been released publicly and remains redacted in parts, said that Mueller was empowered to investigate allegations that Manafort "committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials" to interfere with the presidential election.

None of the charges Manafort currently faces allege coordination with the Kremlin, and Manafort's attorneys had used that point to argue that Mueller had exceeded his authority by bringing charges against him, accusing Manafort of various financial crimes and acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of Ukrainian interests.

But Monday's filing appears to undercut that argument. In addition to authorizing the Russia collusion investigation of Manafort, Rosenstein also specifically authorized Mueller to investigate any crimes related to payments Manafort received from the Ukrainian government during the tenure of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

The description largely outlines the charges against Manafort, which mostly relate to allegations that he conspired to launder tens of millions of dollars he received from his Ukrainian political consulting, including his work on Yanukovych's behalf. Manafort has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing related to Russian election interference.

Prosecutors say in their court filing that given their mandate to investigate links between Trump associates and Russia, it was logical and appropriate to investigate Manafort for ties to Russia-backed politicians and oligarchs.

"It would also naturally look into any interactions they may have had before and during the campaign to plumb motives and opportunities to coordinate and to expose possible channels for surreptitious communications. And prosecutors would naturally follow the money trail from Manafort's Ukrainian consulting activities," they wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Russian assault on our election system has prompted new measures to protect our vote for the mid-term elections.

"If you can get into a voter roll, you can change it. You can add people to it, you can delete people to it and you can create chaos on Election Day," warned Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. "We need to be able to step up our game. We have unprotected systems. There were 21 different states the Russians probed in 2016. They didn't get into all of those states, but they were probing and looking around to be able to see what they could do."

What they could do, experts predict, is exactly what Lankford fears could happen.

"There is no evidence that they changed any vote, there is nothing like that. But they were exploring our system," Lankford said. "Just to know that they were exploring that is enough of a warning sign to us."

Lankford, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is the sponsor of "The Secure Elections Act," legislation that will provide new safeguards to bolster the nation's election security. Since its first introduction last December, a revised version adds additional protections and has garnered more bi-partisan support. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., are now co-sponsors.

The bill is aimed at addressing some shocking oversights.

During the 2016 presidential election, some state and local election officials were not even initially aware that their systems were targeted because they did not have appropriate security clearance from federal intelligence agencies to be told about it. The bill establishes a one-day security clearance, so, for example, if the CIA detects an attempted foreign intrusion of a state or county system, a local official can be alerted.

The bill also creates a new panel of cyber security experts to assess vulnerabilities and provide federal money for states to beef up their election security.

"The bill really does offer the key steps that Congress should be doing to protect our elections," notes election expert Larry Norden, of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.

Norden is the deputy director of the center's Democracy Program, and the author of the extensive report, "Securing Elections from Foreign Interference." It calls for Congress to provide grants to replace antiquated voting machines, require post-election audits, and upgrade the voting IT infrastructure, among other proposals.

The report bluntly states: "The intelligence community's assessment is that Russia will continue to escalate its interference in our democracy, and other foreign powers or terrorist groups may become even bolder in the years to come. Complacency is not an option."

It also warns that "foreign interests are vying for power on the world stage by trying to shape American politics, of even attempting to cast doubts that democracy really works. Against that backdrop, it is clear that strengthening election security is essential to protecting our national security."

The recently passed Omnibus spending bill did provide $380 million for states to improve their election security, a provision in the original election bill. But Norden wishes additional new measures that are in the bill would be in place right now.

"There is a vulnerability and the question is, do you have the protections in place to detect if there is an attack, and to recover from it?" Norden said. "The vulnerability is real and it's undeniable."

A Brennan Center survey of more than 200 election officials in 33 states found they want to buy new machines by the next presidential election, but right now, they simply do not have the money.

"Thats a concern," Norden pointed out, "not only because older machines are more likely to break down, they are also more likely to be vulnerable to a cyberattack. You are talking about systems that haven't gone through the more sophisticated certification process that we have now and often run on outdated software, like Windows 2000."

Last month, the Senate Intelligence Committee held hearings on election security. It proposed mandating that states only use voting machines that provide paper proof of a vote, a so-called paper trail, not connect machines to the internet and also require audits of the votes after every election.

Lankford said hes not only concerned about foreign governments  even domestic terrorist groups may attempt to target the vote.

"They could determine: 'Hey, I want to create some sort of turmoil in the American government, or in a certain state,' now that they have seen the Russians do it once. That can be copycatted by a lot of folks, and obviously it does not have to be a foreign actor next time. I think we just have to remain vigilant in the process, our election system is important. We need to make sure we secure this."

Whitney Ksiazek contributed to this report.
Democrats are banking on a changing political tide in Southern California to win a handful of Republican-held seats in the region and propel them toward taking control of the U.S. House.

But recent efforts by Republicans lawmakers -- including growing opposition to the states so-called sanctuary city laws -- suggest that voters in the region still hold conservative values and support President Trump.

Huntington Beach, in the heart of Orange County and a place where Democrats are especially focused, voted Monday to challenge Californias sanctuary laws that effectively protect illegal immigrants from being deported.

The city council voted 6-to-1 in favor and intends to back the Trump administration in its court challenge to the state laws -- joining Orange County in the suit and following neighboring city Los Alamitos, which recently passed a resolution opposing the laws that limit cooperation between local agencies and federal immigration agents.

San Diego County is also reportedly considering challenging the laws.

Huntington Mayor Mike Posey said Tuesday morning on Fox News Fox & Friends that his message to the Democrat-controlled state government is that its telling cities like Huntington Beach and others throughout the state that they are "disobeying federal law and disobeying the Constitution and (must) follow the dictates of Sacramento.

The votes in Huntington and Los Alamitos each attracted about 100 people, huge for a local-government event, with many wearing Make America Great Again caps.

The second (immigrants) step foot across the border, they are criminals, said one passionate resident.

California GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a top midterm target for Democrats, also attended the Huntington vote.

Rohrabachers office declined an interview. But the congressman told a local CBS-TV station, I am very proud of the USA.  I would suggest that those who advocate for sanctuary states are betraying the American people.

Eight Democrats are trying this year to unseat the 15-term congressman in the states 48th congressional district, as part of the Democratic Partys larger effort to win roughly 26 GOP-held seats and take control of the House.

Since shortly after the 2016 White House race, Democrats began targeting four Orange County congressional districts held by Republicans but that Hillary Clinton won in 2016, becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to win there since the Great Depression.

Beyond the Rohrabacher seat, Democrats have also targeted the seats of GOP Reps. Darrell Issa, Ed Royce and Mimi Walters, whose districts include at least part of Orange County, as well as a few other Republican-held seats up and down the state.

Democrats also see opportunity in the countys influx of Hispanic residents, who according to the 2010 census make up roughly 34 percent of the county population, compared to roughly 23 percent in 1990.

However, Latino voter turnout remains a concern. Their voter registration increased in states across the country in 2016. But voter turnout that year was flat, at roughly 48 percent. And more registered Latino voters stayed home in the presidential election than went to the polls, following a trend since 1996, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

Republicans still hold an advantage in voter registration in Orange County, roughly 35 percent, compared to 32 percent for Democrats. But the wild card could be how the countys 23 percent no party preference voters will cast ballots, say Democratic sources, who hope the partys progressive shift also will help in the November elections.

Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, in Los Angeles, says such voters are disaffected with both parties. So predicting which candidates will get their ballots could be difficult.

However, Levinson thinks Hispanics might turn out more this year than in 2016 because the Trump policies they oppose are now taking effect and former Los Angles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, popular among Latino voters, is running for governor.

The real question is whether theyll turn out and match their voting power, said Levinson, who specializes in election law.

The local efforts to oppose California sanctuary laws come at the same time Trump and his administration have gone after the states Democratic-controlled government.

This week, the Justice Department sued California over a law that would give the state power to override the sale of federal lands. And the administration is vowing to undo the state's tough vehicle-emissions laws.

Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the administration was suing California over its sanctuary laws, saying they are unconstitutional and violate common sense.

Last weekend, Trump attacked outgoing Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown after he pardoned 56 felons who faced deportation.

Governor Jerry 'Moonbeam' Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want? Trump tweeted.

Still, candidates attaching themselves to Trump and opposing the sanctuary laws could run risks, considering the presidents approval rating is at roughly 42 percent, according to the most recent RealClearPolitics average. Or it could be a non-factor.

I dont think it will impact the midterms that much, Mac Zilber, a political consultant for Andy Thorburn, a Democrat running for Royces open seat, said Tuesday about the sanctuary votes.

Poll after poll shows voters support a path to citizenship for the immigrants.  Local elected officials are not really representative of the broader electorate. Those votes dont change the fact that the public opinion is more progressive.

Shawn Nelson, vice chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, and who is running as a Republican for Royces seat, told Fox News on Monday that the county's vote to oppose the state laws was not just a symbolic issue.

It gives our sheriffs a seat at the table, he said. We couldnt even tell (federal agents) that, Hey, this guy just posted bail. Nelson also said voters top two concerns are the homeless issues and immigration-public safety.
WASHINGTON-- President Donald Trump is offering his support to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency who is at the center of swirling ethics questions.

Two administration officials confirmed that the president called Scott Pruitt on Monday and told him that "we've got your back."

Trump urged Pruitt to "keep his head up" and said the White House supported him. The officials said White House chief of staff John Kelly reiterated those sentiments in a call to Pruitt Tuesday morning.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.

Pruitt has come under intense scrutiny for his use of a Capitol Hill condominium linked to a prominent Washington lobbyist whose firm represents fossil fuel companies.
President Trump said Tuesday that he wants to get out of Syria and bring our troops back home, saying that the administration is very seriously considering doing just that.

During a joint press conference Tuesday with presidents of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, the president addressed his administrations military policy in Syria.

Well be making a decision as to what we do, Trump said, noting that he was inclined to pull troops out. I want to get out and bring our troops back home. I want to start rebuilding our nation.

Trump said the U.S. has spent $7 trillion in the Middle East over the last 17 years.

We get nothing out of it. Nothing. Nothing, Trump said. Seven trillion. We have nothing except death and destructionits a horrible thing. We were very successful against ISIS, well be successful against anyone militarily, but sometimes its time to come home and well be thinking about that very seriously.

While the president wants to bring troops home to the U.S., his special envoy to the ISIS fight said the U.S. mission has not ended, and vowed to complete that mission.

We are in Syria to fight ISIS, that is our mission and our mission isnt over and we are going to complete that mission, Special Envoy Brett McGurk said down the street from the White House at the U.S. Institute of Peace, at the same time as Trump took part in the press conference. We will not rest until ISIS is gone.

Critics have suggested that a withdrawal of American forces from Syria would give Russia and Iran access to vast oil fields in eastern Syria, and would betray Kurdish and Arab forces who have partnered with the U.S. military against ISIS.

But Trump said ISIS got the oil, and suggested that funded their campaigns.

The president also doubled down on how tough his administration has been on the Kremlin.

Nobody has been tougher on Russia. Getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing, Trump said earlier in the day at the White House Tuesday. And almost everybody agrees with that, except for very stupid people.

The president added: Weve been very tough on thatvery tough on Russia, frankly. If we got along with Russia, its possible we wont, if we can all get along, that would be great.

At the joint press conference, he reiterated his comments.

Nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have, Trump said again, alongside the Baltic leaders. We are very strong on energy, essentially now energy independent. Thats not a positive for Russia, but certainly positive for the U.S.

He went on to outline the $700 billion budget for the U.S. Military, calling it the largest ever passed, adding that the military is now stronger than weve ever had before, by farthats not exactly a great thing for Russia.

I think I could have a very good relationship with President PutinI thinkmaybe I wont. Its a real possibility that I could have a very good relationship, Trump said. Getting along with Russia is a good thing.

He added: If I did [have a good relationship with Putin], that would be a very great thing. But theres also a great possibility that wont happen, okay? Who knows.

On Monday, a Russian official told Kremlin media that Trump invited Putin to the White House for a meeting, which had yet to be scheduled.

The White House confirmed that Trump had discussed a possible meeting with Putin, and suggested the White House as a venue for the summit.

As the President himself confirmed March 20, hours after his last call with President Putin, the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the not-too-distant future at a number of potential venues, including the White House, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday. We have nothing further to add at this time.

If a Trump-Putin meeting does take place at the White House, it will mark the first time the Russian president visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since the George W. Bush administration. Putin visited the White House in both November 2001 and September 2005.

The president has been criticized for not being tough enough on Russia, but last week, the Trump administration joined Britain and more than two dozen allies in sanctioning the Kremlin over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in England.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
President Trump is known for giving his political opponents and critics nicknames, especially on social media.

Read on for a list of Trump's most iconic nicknames.

Wacky Omarosa

Omarosa Manigault-Newman lasted one year in the White House, and her departure has been anything from cordial.

In particular, Manigault-Newman has been under fire from the Trump administration for secretly recording the chief of staff John Kelly in the Situation Room, raising national security concerns. She's since released some of the tapes.

Trump, in a series of tweets, called Manigault-Newman "wacky" and a "lowlife."

"Wacky Omarosa, who got fired 3 times on the Apprentice, now got fired for the last time. She never made it, never will. She begged me for a job, tears in her eyes, I said OK," Trump said. "People in the White House hated her. She was vicious, but not smart. I would rarely see her but heard really bad things."

"Nasty to people & would constantly miss meetings & work. When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems. I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said great things about me - until she got fired!" Trump said.

"While I know it's 'not presidential' to take on a lowlife like Omarosa, and while I would rather not be doing so, this is a modern day form of communication and I know the Fake News Media will be working overtime to make even Wacky Omarosa look legitimate as possible. Sorry!" he continued.

Slippery James Comey

Trump dubbed former FBI Director James Comey the "worst" in history while blasting his new tell-all book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership." In a series of tweets, Trump also nicknamed the former FBI chief "Slippery James Comey."

Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far! Trump tweeted.

Trump fired Comey in May 2017, citing the ex-director's handling of the FBIs investigation into Hillary Clintons email practices.

Trump also called Comey a slimeball and suggested the former FBI director deserved jail time for mishandling the Clinton email probe.

Animal Assad

In the aftermath of a suspected chemical attack in Syria, Trump blasted Syrian President Bashar Assad and warned that those responsible would pay a big price. Trump also nicknamed the Syrian president Animal Assad.

Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world, Trump alleged in a tweet. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!

Trump also blamed former President Barack Obamas foreign policy decisions for Animal Assad.

And in a later tweet, Trump warned Russia against shooting down any missiles the U.S. would fire at Syria in retaliation for the purported attack, saying the country shouldnt be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!

Little Rocket Man

Trump has never really had kind things to say about North Korea leader Kim Jong Un  referring to him on Twitter as a maniac a whack job" and "rocket man"  which is a President Trump original," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News.

Trump tried out the "rocket man" nickname at the 2017 United Nations General Assembly.

He's also tried out the moniker on Twitter.

"The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man. Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions. Russia and China condemned the launch," he tweeted.

In addition, Trump has called the North Korean leader a "sick puppy."

Lamb the Sham

Ahead of a tight special House election in Pennsylvania, Trump visited the Keystone state to stump for Republican Rick Saccone  and hit Democrat Conor Lamb.

Trump accused Lamb of saying nice things in order to get elected in Trump country, but promised those at a rally that the Democrat is not going to vote for us if elected. And the president dubbed the 33-year-old Marine Lamb the Sham.

Lamb the Sham. Lamb the Sham. He is trying to act like a Republican. He won't give me one vote, Trump said.

Trump also said he is better looking than Lamb.

Sloppy Steve

Steve Bannon used to be in the presidents good graces, but the pair has had a very public falling out. Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and ex-Breitbart executive, was quoted in a blistering tell-all book, painting the presidents son in a negative light.

Trump heavily rebuked Bannon in a public statement, saying Bannon lost his mind after he was fired from the White House.

Steve was rarely in a one-on-one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books, Trump said.

Ahead of the release of the controversial book by Michael Wolff, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Trump slammed both the author and Bannon on social media  giving Bannon his nickname.

Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve, Trump warned.

Trump reiterated the Sloppy Steve nickname in other tweets, including one which he praised the Mercer family  wealthy conservative mega-donors  for having dropped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon.

Pocahontas

The president reused one of his favorite nicknames for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., while he honored Navajo code talkers at the White House in November. At the event  held to honor the Native Americans who used their native language during World Wars I and II to help the U.S.  Trump mocked Warren as Pocahontas.

Trump has often criticized Warren, specifically over her claim to be of Native American heritage.

Shes got about as much Indian blood as I have. Her whole life was based on a fraud, Trump told The New York Times in May 2016.

Warrens potential Native American heritage was first questioned during her 2012 Senate run.

Trump also calls Warren goofy.

Dicky Durbin

Trump made waves when he referred to Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., as Dicky Durbin online.

Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our military, said Trump in a tweet.

Durbin was part of a group of lawmakers who visited Trump at the White House in January to discuss immigration reform. After reports surfaced that Trump referred to certain nations as s---hole countries at the bilateral meeting, Durbin accused the president of saying things that were hate-filled, vile and racist.

Trump has admitted to using tough language at the meeting but denied certain remarks attributed to him.

Sneaky Dianne Feinstein

A transcript of a Fusion GPS official's August interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee was unilaterally released by the committees ranking member, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

The release of the bombshell interview drew ire from some Republicans, including the president and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

In a tweet following the release, Trump blasted the 84-year-old senator and called her Sneaky Dianne Feinstein.

The fact that Sneaky Dianne Feinstein, who has on numerous occasions stated that collusion between Trump/Russia has not been found, would release testimony in such an underhanded and possibly illegal way, totally without authorization, is a disgrace, Trump tweeted. Must have tough Primary!

Jeff Flakey

Like Trump and Sen. Bob Corker, Trump and Republican Sen. Jeff Flake have been feuding for quite some time. In announcing his retirement from the Senate, Flake slammed both the Republican Party and Trump.

Flake was also caught on a hot mic saying if the GOP becomes the party of Roy Moore and Donald Trump, were toast. That comment gave Trump the opportunity to dub the Arizona senator Jeff Flakey.

Sen. Jeff Flake(y), who is unelectable in the Great State of Arizona (quit race, anemic polls) was caught (purposely) on mike saying bad things about your favorite President. Hell be a NO on tax cuts because his political career anyway is toast, Trump tweeted.

Al 'Frankenstien'

After Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., was accused of kissing and groping Los Angeles radio host Leeann Tweeden during a USO tour in 2006, Trump blasted the lawmaker on Twitter.

"The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?" Trump wrote, including an apparent misspelling of "Frankenstein." "And to think that just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. Lesley Stahl tape?"

Liddle' Bob Corker

The feud between Trump and Sen. Bob Corker has been going on for some time, but the Tennessee senator finally got a nickname.

The Failing [New York Times] set Liddle Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and thats what I am dealing with! Trump tweeted on Oct. 10.

Corker slammed Trump in an interview with the newspaper and said the president is so reckless that he might be on the path to World War III. A transcript from the interview revealed that Corker acknowledged the conversation was on the record.

Wacky Congresswoman Wilson

Trump and Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., became locked in a public feud involving a Gold Star family  earning the Florida congresswoman her nickname.

The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson (D), who was SECRETELY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content! Trump tweeted.

Wilson accused Trump of making insensitive remarks to the pregnant widow of one of the four American soldiers killed during an attack in Niger. The White House, including chief of staff John Kelly, has ardently defended the presidents comments.

Jerry Moonbeam Brown

Trump hasn't seen eye-to-eye with California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, throughout much of his time in office  but the president was especially critical after Brown pardoned 56 convicted felons, including five ex-convicts facing deportation.

Trump blasted the pardoning on Twitter, calling the governor Jerry Moonbeam Brown.

Is this really what the great people of California want? Trump said.

Trump cant take full credit for Browns nickname. The Moonbeam moniker was given to the governor first in the 1970s by a columnist who said Brown was garnering the "moonbeam vote," or the younger, more idealistic voters in his gubernatorial campaign, according to The New York Times. The nickname continued as Brown pressed for California's space programs.

Crazy Joe Biden

It all started when former Vice President Joe Biden addressed an anti-sexual assault rally in Florida and cited lewd comments Trump made about women in the infamous Access Hollywood tape more than a decade ago.

Biden, who has crusaded against sexual assault and harassment, said, If we were in high school, Id take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.

A few days later, Trump lashed out on Twitter, nicknaming the former senator Crazy Joe Biden.

Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy. Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault, Trump said on March 22. He doesnt know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Dont threaten people Joe!

In the past, Trump has referred to Biden on social media as our not very bright vice president.

Little Adam Schiff

Trump accused Rep. Adam Schiff of leaking confidential information from closed committee hearings and called for him to be stopped. The president also referred to the Democrat from California as Little Adam Schiff.

Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, Trump said in a tweet, comparing him to former FBI Director James Comey, former National Intelligence Director James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan. Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!

Schiff is the ranking minority member on the House Intelligence Committee which released a controversial memo that detailed alleged improper surveillance techniques used in the Russia investigation. Schiff was critical of the memos public release  supported by Republicans  calling it misleading and undermining of the probe.

Crooked Hillary

Throughout the presidential campaign, Trump would often hit his opponent, Hillary Clinton, with criticisms on social media. Trump gave her the nickname Crooked Hillary, usually when he mentioned her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

The first time Trump tweeted about Crooked Hillary was in April 2016.

Sometimes Trump switched it up and would call the former first lady Lyin Hillary.

Wild Bill Clinton

While criticizing former FBI Director James Comey's memoir, Trump referenced the now-infamous meeting between former President Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch on a Phoenix airport tarmac in June 2016. The meeting was questioned because the then-attorney general was leading the investigation into Hillary Clintons email scandal.

Comey throws AG Lynch under the bus! Why cant we all find out what happened on the tarmac in the back of the plane with Wild Bill and Lynch? Trump said. Was she promised a Supreme Court seat, or AG, in order to lay off Hillary. No golf and grandkids talk (give us all a break)!

Lynch has said she and Clinton discussed only innocuous things on the tarmac but acknowledged that her speaking to the former president raised concerns in peoples minds about whether or not there was going to be any impact on the email investigation.

Cheatin Obama

Trump praised his own approval ratings on social media  while taking a jab at former President Barack Obama.

The president said the honest polling of Rasmussen shows his approval rating at 50 percent, which is higher than Cheatin Obama at the same time in his Administration.

The April 2 Rasmussen poll showed 50 percent of likely U.S. voters approved of Trump. However, 49 percent disapproved.

Little Marco

The rhetoric among the Republican presidential contenders hit a different kind of low as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio went after Trump for having small hands and Trump started to call the senator Little Marco. The two also discussed the size of Trumps hands  and other things  during a GOP debate in March 2016.

Trump first tweeted the Little Marco nickname in February 2016.

Lyin Ted

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Trump didnt start out as enemies during the 2016 campaign, but the two Republican contenders were soon at each others throats. Trump dubbed Cruz Lyin Ted when he went after him for his immigration policies in a campaign ad in March 2016.

Low Energy Jeb

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also got a Trump nickname when he was a 2016 Republican presidential contender  Low energy Jeb Bush.

Despite the exclamation point in Bushs campaign logo, Trump started to use the nickname to criticize his opponent during the campaign. Trump told Business Insider that there wasnt a backstory to the nickname, he just seemed like a low energy person to Trump.

1 for 38

When Ohio Gov. John Kasich attempted to team up with Cruz during the Republican primary to deny Trump the partys nomination, Trump took to Twitter to dole out a new nickname. And Kasich became 1 for 38.

Trump assigned Kasich the name because he won only one state in the primary and lost the others, Trump said in a statement in August 2016. Eventually Kasich would also be referred to as 1 for 42 by the eventual president.



Crazy Bernie

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the white-haired Independent socialist who became a progressive icon during the 2016 election, earned himself the nickname Crazy Bernie from Trump.

Trump first tweeted about Crazy Bernie in May 2016 when he criticized Crooked Hillary for looking very bad against Sanders.

Crying Chuck

After Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., criticized Trump for firing F.B.I. Director James Comey, Trump hit him right back  with an original nickname.

Cryin Chuck Schumer stated recently, I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer. Then acts so indignant, he tweeted on May 9, 2017.

Schumer shed some tears when he discussed Trumps immigration ban earlier in 2017.

But Schumer wasnt crying after Trump agreed to the Democrats short-term debt-limit increase and Hurricane Harvey aid.

Crazy Jim Acosta

Trump had a surprising tweet of gratitude Tuesday morning for CNNs White House correspondent, Jim Acosta  while also bestowing a nickname on his media adversary.

Even Crazy Jim Acosta of Fake News CNN agrees: Trump World and WH sources dancing in end zone: Trump wins againSchumer and Dems cavedgambled and lost. Thank you for your honesty Jim! Trump tweeted.

Trumps tweet referenced Acostas earlier social media post.

The president and his administration has often slammed Acosta and CNN for coverage they deem unfair  or fake news. Trump has also kicked Acosta out of the Oval Office.

Sleepy Eyes

Trump has thought NBC reporter Chuck Todd has looked sleepy long before the election or campaign. He first dubbed Todd sleepy in a 2001 tweet, but upgraded his nickname to Sleepy Eyes by 2012.

And in 2018, at a campaign rally for a Republican congressional candidate, Trump slammed the NBC anchor as a son of a b-----.

Trump mentioned a 1999 "Meet the Press" appearance when he discussed North Korea.

Its 1999, Im on 'Meet the Press,' a show now headed by sleepy-eyes Chuck Todd, Trump said. Hes a sleeping son of a b----, Ill tell you.

Dumb as a Rock Mika

From writer Toure to National Review, Trump has called many things dumb as a rock. But Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBCs Morning Joe earned the nickname in July after she and Joe Scarborough criticized the president.

Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses, he tweeted. Too bad!

His attack on the news anchor continued, as he called her low I.Q. Crazy Mika and said she was bleeding badly from a face-lift when she came to Mar-a-Lago around New Years Eve.

Psycho Joe

In a Twitter rant about his dislike of MSNBCs Morning Joe program, Trump dubbed host Joe Scarborough Psycho Joe.

Crazy Megyn

Trumps comments about then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly were often criticized and deemed misogynistic by critics. During their feud, Trump took to calling Kelly Crazy Megyn.

Little Jeff Zucker

Trump criticized CNN in an April tweet  and called its president Little Jeff Zucker.

Check out the fact that you cant get a job at ratings challenged [CNN] unless you state that you are totally anti-Trump, the president alleged on social media. Little Jeff Zucker, whose job is in jeopardy, is not having much fun lately. They should clean up and strengthen CNN and get back to honest reporting.

Fox News' Matt Richardson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The FBI has cracked its oldest case after successfully extracting DNA from a 4,000-year-old mummys head, answering a centuries-old question to whom exactly it belonged.

The mummys severed head was found in 1915 by a team of American archaeologists working in the ancient Egyyptian necropolis of Deir el-Bersha. The remains were sent to Bostons Museum of Fine Arts a few years later, and the mystery began, The New York Times reported.

There were several reasons why scientists were stumped on identifying the severed head.

The tomb, according to researchers, was believed to be the resting place for an Egyptian Middle Kingdom governor named Djehutynakht and his wife.

Archeologists found the tomb ransacked and robbed sometime over the 4,000 years and the bodies were tampered with. The ancient looters also tried to burn down the tomb.

For over hundred years, researchers debated whether the mummified head belonged to the Egyptian governor or his wife.

The head reportedly has missing cheek bones and parts of its jaw hinge  crucial skull features that would otherwise give insight into the mummys sex  were removed as part of an ancient ritual to allow the deceased to eat, drink and breathe in the afterlife.

The problem was that at the time in 2009 there had been no successful extraction of DNA from a mummy that was 4,000-years-old."  Dr. Rita Freed

In 2009, Dr. Fabio Nunes, then a molecular biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, extracted a tooth from the mummys hoping to use it to solve the mystery.

In 2016, the crown of the tooth was brought to Dr. Odile Loreille, a forensic scientist at the FBI, in 2016.

The problem was that at the time in 2009 there had been no successful extraction of DNA from a mummy that was 4,000-years-old, Dr. Rita Freed, the curator of Bostons Museum of Fine Arts, told the Times.

Loreille, a veteran forensic expert who previously extracted genetic material from a two-year old child who drowned on the Titanic and a 130,000-year-old cave bear, drilled into the tooth and collected enough tooth dust to make it possible to multiply the amount of DNA she was working with.

Male, computer software determined after analyzing the ratio of chromosomes in the DNA sample. The results confirmed that the severed head had belonged to Egyptian governor Djehutynakht and not his wife.

You almost feel like its a child, like you just identified the gender of a baby, Nunes told the Times. It is a boy!

We now know that we have the governor himself, Freed said. We already show the head at the museum, but now well have to change the label!
A team of researchers said in a published study that they discovered the farthest star ever seen in an image provided by the famed Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomy magazine, citing Nature Astronomy, reported that the international team of researchers located the blue supergiantnicknamed Icarus-- that emitted its light when the universe was one-third its current age.

The light was emitted 4.4 billion years after the Big Bang took 9 billion years to reach Earth.

"You can see individual galaxies out there, but this star is at least 100 times farther away than the next individual star we can study, except for supernova explosions, Patrick Kelly, an astrophysicist at the University of Minnesota and lead author of the study, said.

Scientists were able to see the star due to gravitational lensing, which occurs when light rays diverge and bend back inward when passing a massive object, the report said.

NASA described gravitational lensing as a massive cluster of galaxies acts as a natural lens in space, bending and amplifying light. Sometimes light from a single background object appears as multiple images. The light can be highly magnified, making extremely faint and distant objects bright enough to see.

Astronomy reported that the discovery could shed light on dark matter.
While vacationing at Holden Beach in North Carolina last week, 42-year-old Brent Garlington spotted what is thought to be a wrecked Civil War-era steamer.

Garlington, of Fayetteville, flew a drone over the Lockwood Folly Inlet, which is located between Holden Beach and Oak Island. The tide was low because of the full moon, Garlington told Fox News on Tuesday. This prompted him to take a walk on the beach sandbar and ultimately capture the footage using a drone.

While Garlington didnt discover the vessel, he believes "this is the first time it has been seen from this perspective."

"You really cant see it that clearly unless its low tide," he added.

Garlington first heard about this particular steamer from his brother-in-law, who's a pilot and a "big history buff." His brother-in-law spotted the steamer while flying a helicopter over the same area last year. Others have noticed it while fishing or riding on a boat, he said.

When he told me about it, I thought it was pretty neat, Garlington said. Since then, he's wanted to see the wreckage for himself.

At first, Garlington wasnt planning on sharing his footage -- but then a fellow beachgoer suggested posting a clip to The Friends of Holden Beach Facebook group. Within 30 minutes, his "phone was blowing up."

Most people are amazed; they had no idea that it was there, Garlington said of the reactions to the video. Others commented that they have seen the wreckage, but never from that angle, he said.

A representative from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) later identified the steamer in the footage as BENDIGO, "a side-wheel, iron hulled blockade runner lost in Lockwood's Folly Inlet," Michele Walker, the department's public information officer, told Fox News in an email.

She said that two other vessels -- the runner ELIZABETH and the Union warship IRON AGE -- are also lost in the inlet. All three wrecks have been "well-known since the 1960s" and are "occasionally uncover[ed] due to active depositional sediment transport in the inlet," she added.

Separately, in 2016, researchers with the North Carolina DNCR found a submerged Civil War-era steamer which is believed to possibly be the remains of one of three blockade runners used to penetrate the wall of Union naval vessels blocking the port of Wilmington during the Civil War, the organization said at the time.
Scientists are trumpeting a globally important find with the discovery of dozens of rare giant dinosaur footprints in Scotland from 170 million years ago.

Left by 6-foot-tall sauropods and similarly-sized theropods in a muddy, shallow lagoon on the Isle of Skye, the footprints are evidence of the Middle of Jurassic period, from which few fossil sites have been found around the world, the University of Edinburgh announced Tuesday.

The more we look on the Isle of Skye, the more dinosaur footprints we find, said Edinburgh scientist Steve Brusatte.

This new site records two different types of dinosaurs  long-necked cousins of Brontosaurus and sharp-toothed cousins of T. rex  hanging around a shallow lagoon, back when Scotland was much warmer and dinosaurs were beginning their march to global dominance, he said.

STUNNING DINOSAUR DISCOVERY: EXPERTS MAY HAVE UNEARTHED A BABY TYRANNOSAUR FOSSIL IN MONTANA

Brusattes field team of researchers discovered about 50 footprints at Brothers Point, a headland on the islands Trotternish peninsula.

One track left by a sauropod was more than 27 inches wide.

The footprints were difficult to study owing to tidal conditions, the impact of weathering and changes to the landscape, the university said in a news release.

The site was mapped and photographed using drones.

"This tracksite is the second discovery of sauropod footprints on Skye, said Paige dePolo, who led the study team. It was found in rocks that were slightly older than those previously found at Duntulm on the island and demonstrates the presence of sauropods in this part of the world through a longer timescale than previously known."

INCREDIBLE DINOSAUR 'ROAD' DISCOVERY: 'MOTHER LODE' OF DINO TRACKS FOUND AT NASA SITE

She added: "This site is a useful building block for us to continue fleshing out a picture of what dinosaurs were like on Skye in the Middle Jurassic."

The first set of sauropod footprints were found on Skye in 2015.

The Staffin Museum on the Isle of Skye and Chinese Academy of Sciences also participated in the study which was published in the Scottish Journal of Geology.
A sperm whale sighting on Saturday has the attention of scientists in Washington state, who say it's the first time the creature has made its way into inland waters.

The Pacific Whale Watch Association said the male sperm whale named "Yukusam" was photographed swimming in Haro Strait in the San Juan Islands.

"They eat giant squid. They're very deep divers and can dive down to over a kilometer. We don't have a lot of waters that is very deep out here," Jeff Friedman, president of Pacific Whale Watch Association, told Q13 FOX.

The whale, who is estimated to be about 45 feet long, was spotted back in February up in British Columbia northeast of Vancouver Island, which means the whale is headed southward.

'BEGINNING OF THE END?' NO NEW BABIES FOR ENDANGERED WHALES

It was the first time a sperm whale has ever been spotted in the waters surrounding the San Juan Islands, according to the group.

Sperm whales can grow to lengths of 60 feet and "have the largest brain of any creature known to have lived on Earth," according to National Geographic.

"Females and calves remain in tropical or subtropical waters all year long, and apparently practice communal childcare," National Geographic says "Males migrate to higher latitudes, alone or in groups, and head back towards the equator to breed."
Gay dating app Grindr is coming under fire for sharing users HIV statuses with two app optimization companies.

In a statement released Monday, Grindr said that Localytics and Apptimize were paid to test and monitor how the app is used. As an industry standard practice, Grindr does work with highly-regarded vendors to test and optimize how we roll out our platform, it said.

The company added that the firms are under "strict contractual terms that provide for the highest level of confidentiality, data security and user privacy." Grindr says data that may include location or information from HIV status fields are "always transmitted securely with encryption."

LEAKED FACEBOOK 'UGLY TRUTH' MEMO ABOUT THE SOCIAL NETWORKS GROWTH SPARKS CONTROVERSY

In its statement, Grinder said its important to remember it is a public forum and users have the option to post information about their HIV status and date when last tested. It says its users should carefully consider what information they list in their profiles.

Late Monday Axios reported that Grindr will stop sharing users HIV statuses with third-party companies.

"We welcome the questions about our policies and always look for opportunities to improve," said Grindr, in a statement to Fox News. "As always, the trust of our users is the foundation of the Grindr network, and we are committed to maintaining that trust that we have established since Grindr started in 2009."

The data sharing was first identified by Norwegian nonprofit SINTEF, according to media reports. Privacy advocates slammed the dating app, with the Norwegian Consumer Council claiming that Grindr breached data protection law.

MARK ZUCKERBERG SLAMS APPLE CEO'S 'EXTREMELY GLIB' CRITIQUE

Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation also weighed in on the row, saying that Grindrs initial response was disappointing.

The U.K. Information Commissioners Office is looking into the situation. Were aware of reports of a data breach involving the Grindr app and we are working to establish the scale of any impact on U.K. users, explained an ICO spokesman, in a statement emailed to Fox News.

Grindr, which describes itself as the worlds largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people, has 3.6 million global users, according to Marketwatch.

Data privacy is in the spotlight at the moment as result of Facebooks data sharing scandal. Reports emerged last month that data mining firm Cambridge Analytica improperly used information from more than 50 million Facebook accounts, prompting the social network to suspend the U.K.-based company. Cambridge Analytica, which has ties to Donald Trumps 2016 presidential election campaign, denies any wrongdoing.

The scandal has already prompted a redesign of Facebooks privacy settings. Cambridge Analytica has also agreed to a forensic audit by a firm hired by Facebook.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, on Monday called Apple's Tim Cook's criticism of the social media giant "glib" and appeared to take a parting shot at the computer company.

Cook weighed in on the Cambridge Analytica scandal that rocked Facebook, saying he would never have been in that situation. He also noted that Apples concentration is on selling hardware and is opposed to relying on advertising like some of its competitors, Wall Street Journal reported.

The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer if our customer was our product. We've elected not to do that," Cook told Recodes Kara Swisher and MSNBCs Chris Hayes.

Cook also underscored the need for regulation to limit what information tech giants can pull from its users.

Zuckerberg fired back on Monday, calling Cooks comments "extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth."

"If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford," he told Voxs Ezra Klein.

Zuckerberg argued advertising revenue allows the company to offer customers the service for free, while stressing Facebooks mission to connect people from across the globe.

He also took a jab at Apples pricey products, warning customers to be weary of Stockholm Syndrome.

"I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you. Because that sounds ridiculous to me," Zuckerberg said.

While Facebook and Apple are both leaders in the tech world, they generate revenue in different ways. Facebook is dependent on targeted ads based on user data, whereas Apple is reliant on iPhone sales for two-thirds of its revenue, the Journal reported.

Facebook is working to rebuild its image after news broke that 50 million users had their information misused by the United Kingdom-based data analytics firm.

Facebooks CEO has claimed responsibility for the incident and acknowledged the company has made mistakes. Zuckerberg has outlined steps the social media platform will take to ensure users privacy and prevent misuse in the future.
The search for extraterrestrial life is about to get serious, as the U.S. space agency announced in a statement this week. NASAs Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has completed all certifications and is currently undergoing final preparations for an April 16 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Initially slated for a two-year mission, TESS will ascend to an elliptical 13.7-day orbit around the Earth. Its a unique and extreme orbit thats never been used before, varying as close as 67,000 miles and as far away as 232,000 miles from its home planet. According to Space.com, the stable orbit will allow TESS to stay in space for decades without any need for course corrections.

Outfitted with four wide-angle cameras, TESS will be able to observe 85 percent of the surrounding sky as it looks for exoplanets. The instruments on the spacecraft will map 26 different sectors of the sky over a two-year period.

Specifically, TESS will be looking for a phenomenon called a transit, which is when a planet passes in front of its star. The resulting decrease in brightness can be observed and measured with spectroscopy, giving astronomers a better idea of the size and composition of the planet.

TESS is opening a door for a whole new kind of study, said Stephen Rinehart at Goddard Space Flight Center. Were going to be able study individual planets and start talking about the differences between planets. The targets TESS finds are going to be fantastic subjects for research for decades to come.

TESS is replacing the aging Kepler telescope, which is running on fumes and will soon be unable to maneuver. Unlike TESS, Kepler is in a solar orbit and can only make observations in one direction. TESS will cast a wider net than ever before for enigmatic worlds whose properties can be probed by NASAs upcoming James Webb Space Telescope and other missions, said Paul Hertz of NASA.

Kepler used the same methods to discover more than 2,600 exoplanets, but it was always observing the same area of space and most of the planets were more than a thousand light-years away. TESS will set its sights on more nearby stars that are within 300 light-years of Earth.

The discoveries made by TESS may invite further study with the upcoming $8.8 billion James Webb Telescope planned for launch in 2020. With those larger telescopes, well be able to look for telltale signs in the atmospheres of those planets that might tell us what the planets are made of, and perhaps even whether they have the kinds of gases in their atmospheres that, on Earth, are an indication of life, Hertz said at a news conference.

TESS may even moonlight at times to investigate other cosmic phenomenon it encounters besides exoplanets. Researchers will be invited to use the spacecraft as part of a guest investigator program, NASA said.

I dont think we know everything TESS is going to accomplish, Rinehart added. To me, the most exciting part of any mission is the unexpected result, the one that nobody saw coming.
A woman was shamed back to her seat on an AirAsia flight after trying to upgrade herself to priority seating three different times.

The woman had booked standard seats for the four-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Hong Kong. However, just before takeoff, the woman moved up to a priority seat, which costs about $38 extra, the Daily Mail reported.

An AirAsia crew member asked the woman to move back to her seat, informing her that she could purchase priority seating on her next flight if she wanted. After a fuss, the woman went back to her economy seat, the New York Post reported.

AIRASIA STAFF SHOWN HUGGING AND KISSING SUITCASES AFTER CAUGHT MISHANDLING LUGGAGE

However, the woman returned after takeoff and tried to claim a priority seat again. And again.

A crew member asked her to move the second time, getting into another argument with the woman, who eventually relented and moved back to her seat.

The third time the woman tried to take a priority seat, she became more brazen and laid down across all seats in the row, angering other passengers in the premier seating area.

A few minutes later, the woman returned to the seats behind me again for the third time. She lay down and started playing with her phone, passenger Bruce Lam wrote in the Facebook post. The stewardess told her that it wouldnt be fair to other passengers if she could upgrade her seat by herself, while others could not.

According to Lam, the woman angrily asked the stewardess why she could not sit wherever she wanted and then began to yell at the crew member.

Frustrated with the womans behavior, Lam said he stood up and began arguing with the woman in Cantonese, the New York Post reported, saying Just return to your seat. Once, twice, thrice, they asked you. Have you no shame?

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The woman told Lam to mind his own business, but eventually got up and went back to her original seat  where she remained for the duration of the flight.

Lam said to the Daily Mail that about 10 minutes after the woman left for the final time, a flight attendant approached him and said, Thank you, we often encounter these rude guests.

I do not know if the flight attendants were too gentle and polite, but the woman had a bad attitude more than before. She was abusive and angry, Lam said to the Daily Mail.
Alaska Airlines is cracking down on sexual assault and harassment in the high skies with updated policies and procedures, CEO Brad Tilden announced on April 2.

"Like each takeoff, we at Alaska think that respect is not only a value, but also a process  one that requires attention, by each one of us, every day, Tilden wrote in a blog post on the carrier's webiste. To be clear, sexual harassment and assault have absolutely no place in our workplace, on board our flights, or any place.

Moving forward, Alaska Airlines flight attendants will be given new training on sexual assault while plans are in the works for all employees to be trained in sexual harassment and assault prevention. Furthermore, Tilden also confirmed that the airline is creating onboard resources for how passengers can support one another and our crews.

PREGNANT WOMAN UPSET WITH DISNEY CRUISE LINE AFTER FAMILY ESCORTED OUT BY ARMED OFFICER

In recent months, the SeaTac, Wash.-headquartered carrier has been slammed with claims of harassment, involving both passengers and crew.

In late November, Randi Zuckerberg, a Silicon Valley exec and sister of Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote a scathing viral letter to Tilden (among other execs), chastising Alaska Airlines for allowing a passenger to make "lewd sexual remarks" to her during her flight. In January, the carrier banned a California man from future flights over allegations that he sexually harassed a flight attendant.

And just weeks ago, in mid-March, Alaska Airlines pilot Betty Pina filed lawsuit against senior pilot Paul Engelien for allegedly drugging and raping her during an overnight layover in June 2017. A spokesperson for the carrier confirmed to Fox News that Engelien is not flying and was taken off the line immediately after learning of the incident.

AIRPORT PAYS $7,500 FOR DOG TO CHASE BIRDS FROM RUNWAY

How many other victims are out there? I may not be the first case, but I hope to be the last, Pina, a former military helicopter pilot who flew combat missions in Afghanistan, told The Seattle Times of her decision to come forward with her story.

Its time to take responsibility. The culture needs to change. We cant sweep this under the rug any longer, she said.

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Alaska Airlines did not immediately return Fox News request for comment on the updated sexual assault and harassment policies.
Delta passenger Donald Deschamps says hes planning on filing a report with the airport authority police after he was allegedly groped by an intoxicated woman during a Sunday night flight.

Deschamps was flying with Delta Air Lines from Detroit to Denver, and had just taken his seat aboard the aircraft, Fox 2 Detroit reports. Then, moments before takeoff, he claims he felt a hand reach up from the seats behind him and grab him.

DELTA SUED BY PASSENGER OVER SEXUAL ASSAULT INCIDENT

"The first time I thought it was maybe just a child, and it was just somebody grabbing me, said Deschamps, telling Fox 2 Detroit that he eventually discovered the culprit to be an intoxicated woman sitting behind him. He did not specify to the station where he was groped.

The second time it happened, which was about a minute later, I jumped up, he added.

Deschamps says he then notified a flight attendant of the womans behavior, but the flight attendant was initially suspicious of his claims.

"The flight attendant said, 'Is this a joke, are you two joking?' I said, No this is not a joke," according to Deschamps.

62-YEAR-OLD MAN ACCUSED OF MOLESTING FLIGHT ATTENDANT

Deschamps said the woman was ultimately escorted off the plane by flight attendants who literally had to help her down the aisle because she was so intoxicated.

The incident was not reported to authorities at the airport, Fox 2 Detroit reports, but a representative for Delta Air Lines tells Fox News that in cases where the crew does not witness the harassment, passengers are responsible for pressing charges at the first available opportunity, or when following-up at a later time.

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"Shoe on the other foot or not, man or woman, no one should be assaulted," Deschamps said of the incident. "But you don't hear it often from a man saying he was assaulted by a woman."
An airline passenger traveling through Indianapolis International Airport is showering praise on an exceptional TSA employee for giving her special-needs child a little extra care and attention during a hectic trip.

Angie Solis had arrived at the airport with her autistic 13-year-old son Zion back on March 22, only to discover the security area was overflowing with travelers preparing for spring break, reports WABC. Solis, however, had called TSAs passenger support department beforehand with her concerns, which turned out to be the right move.

AIRPORT RECRUITS BORDER COLLIE TO CHASE BIRDS FROM RUNWAY

I was worried about airport security and how his anxiety would create a giant meltdown, Solis wrote in an open letter to the TSA on Facebook.

When we walked through your doorway at 5 a.m., there were people everywhere, she continued. Hundreds upon hundreds of people waiting to pass security  and get on with their spring break.

Solis said fear struck her hard, especially after Zion  who was flying with his mom for the first time  acknowledged the commotion and expressed his own concern.

But before Solis had time to panic, a TSA passenger support specialist named Alesea greeted both passengers and calmed the situation.

Sweet, precious Alesea. Sent to us from TSA heaven, Solis of the TSA employee, who, according to the worried mother, used her TSA super powers to escort the two of them to a special screening area.

ALASKA AIRLINES PILOT ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICIES

She spoke directly to my son. She treated him like a person with feelings and a voice and worth, wrote Solis, adding that Zion was given a gentle security check in which no one placed their hands on him, or asked him to remove his shoes.

Alesea even followed them into the terminal and escorted the two to their gate, saving them from stress and a possible panic attack.

Thank you TSA, from the bottom of my heart for making this experience stress-free, Solis wrote.

And for caring enough to understand that some people just process differently and need extra TLC.

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According to Solis, Alesea was also awarded a TSA coin, or a challenge coin, in recognition of her work, according to a Facebook message Solis received on Monday morning.

Solis concluded her post by urging parents of special-needs children to call TSA Cares before heading off to the airport.

They will arrange a stress-free security check for you, she wrote.
She must be a vegetarian.

An Alabama woman who didnt want the ham her family gave her set it on fire and threw it in a trash can, causing an explosion at the motel she was living.

STUDENT DRIVER MISSES TURN, SLAMS INTO MOBILE HOME IN INDIANA

Beverly Burrough Harrison, 62, was arrested on charges of first degree arson for the February incident that took place at the Bomar Inn in Athens.

According to police, Harrison took her dog and left the motel room after the ham began smoking, without alerting anyone to the fire. The fire caused a can of butane fuel to explode, blowing out the front wall of the room, Al.com reports.

No injuries were reported, but the fire caused extensive damage to the room.

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Harrison is being held at the Limestone County Jail following her Saturday arrest and faces life in prison if convicted.
A Florida middle school teacher accused of espousing racist views on a podcast that she hosted has submitted a letter of resignation, WTSP-TV reported Monday.

Dayanna Volitich, 25, was "removed from the classroom" by the Citrus County School District last month after the Huffington Post identified her as the host of the Unapologetic podcast.

Fox News could not immediately confirm that Volitich had resigned, but her name had been removed from the staff directory at Crystal River Middle School in Crystal River, Fla., where she taught social studies.

FLORIDA TEACHER ACCUSED OF HOSTING WHITE NATIONALIST PODCAST PULLED FROM CLASSROOM

WTSP reported that Volitich's resignation would not be official until it had been accepted by the school board at an April 10 meeting.

The Huffington Post report included a 12-minute snippet of a Feb. 26 podcast episode in which the host, identified as "Tiana Dalichov," discussed spreading white nationalist ideas in public schools.

"We have to take those institutions back," said "Dalichov," whose name appears to be an anagram of Dayanna Volitich with two letters missing. "Children [are] very important. The communists always knew that. They always wanted the minds of the children. Thats the future. So, if we can have more teachers in those positions, that would be great."

The Huffington Post report also highlighted a Twitter account belonging to "Dalichov," which included a photo of a woman who appeared to be Volitich. The account included one tweet that read: "It isn't supremacist or hateful to prefer your own people over others."

Another read: "Terrorist behavior and terrorist attacks will continue until we eradicate [Muslims] from the face of the earth." "Dalichov" also retweeted posts by neo-Nazis and white supremacists including David Duke, Mike Peinovich, Patrick Casey and Arthur Jones.

The account was deactivated after the Huffington Post report was published. Volitich later issued a statement confirming she hosted the podcast, but denied she was racist.

"While operating under the Russian pseudonym 'Tiana Dalichov' on social media and the Unapologetic Podcast, I employed political satire and exaggeration, mainly to the end of attracting listeners and followers, and generating conversation about the content discussed between myself and my guests," she told WFLA.
A man who was hiking Hawaii's Olomana Trail reportedly plummeted hundreds of feet to his death on Sunday after he reportedly tried to grab his hat, marking the fourth death linked to the dangerous trail since 2011.

A coworker identified the victim as Nathan Stowell, 24.

The victim plunged off Mount Olomana's third peak, near Kailua, around 10:50 a.m., Hawaii News Now reported, citing the Honolulu Fire Department.

Firefighters had to comb through a wooded area and ask a hiker to shake a tree before they found the body just after noon, Fire Captain Kevin Mokulehua said.

Stowell's body was found roughly 400 feet below the hiking trail, where he was pronounced dead.

TEEN GIRL DIES IN FALL FROM CLIFF HIKE AT ZION NATIONAL PARK

The Olomana Trail is strenuous  a 4.5-mile rocky path spread across three different mountainous peaks, according to SummitPost.org.

While the first peak is the "highest and offers the best views," it's the mountain's third peak  where Stowell fell to his death  that "offers the greatest climbing challenge."

Hikers told KHON the trail was muddy from rain this past weekend. One hiker, Dale Yoshuizu, told the station that while he'd done the hike "a lot of times ... it makes you aware that no matter how many times you've done the hike you need to be careful."

Barney Griggs, a spokesperson for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, said anyone who wants to hike the Olomana Trail "should be an experienced hiker."

"You need to have a certain amount of physical conditioning, because you are climbing almost the entire time," Griggs told Hawaii News Now. "Novices have no business being on that hike."

James Keener, of Hawaii Fresh Farms where Stowell worked, according to his Facebook page, wrote that the 24-year-old was like a son to him and "died the way he lived, taking chances, and living everyday to its fullest."

In 2015, a man from Florida man died after falling about 200 feet from the trail. An off-duty firefighter died in 2014 and a social worker died in 2011, both from falling off the trail.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The North Carolina man who allegedly killed his wife and blamed it on a cold medicine stupor reportedly had a fascination with "American Psycho."

Matthew James Phelps, a 29-year-old aspiring preacher was charged with first-degree murder in the September death of his wife of less than a year, Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, 29, who was found with 123 stab and cut wounds on her body.

ASPIRING PASTOR STABS WIFE 123 TIMES, SAYS COUGH SYRUP MADE HIM DO IT, POLICE SAY

During a Sept. 1 call to authorities, Matthew Phelps said: "I think I killed my ... there's blood all over me ... and there's a bloody knife on the bed. I think I did it," adding that he had taken too much cold medicine.

Newly unsealed search warrants show that the aspiring preacher was obsessed with the main character of the movie "American Psycho," who was a serial killer," and had an Instagram account under the username @marty_radical, the News & Observer reported.

BLOODY SHEETS, BOXES OF COLD MEDICINE DISCOVERED AT HOME OF ASPIRING PREACHER WHO CLAIMS HE KILLED WIFE

"It was learned that Matthew Phelps was obsessed with the movie 'American Psycho' and this Instagram account shows numerous photographs of scenes from the movie and Phelps dressed as the main character," a detective wrote in documents filed with the Wake County Magistrate's Office. "The movie is about a serial killer, and Phelps expressed interest to a friend regarding what it would be like to kill someone."

The couple was also reportedly having marital problems. Friends of the Phelps told detectives that the pair "would argue frequently," and were experiencing financial troubles.

Lauren Phelps, the newspaper reported, was "preparing to end the relationship."

When officers arrived to the Phelps home in North Raleigh in September, they discovered Lauren Phelps in a fetal position, covered in blood on the bedroom floor, the autopsy report said. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Matthew Phelps was found with blood when authorities arrived at the home, but detectives allegedly reported finding evidence that led them to believe he may have cleaned himself up before calling authorities.
A Phoenix mother was accused of giving her son a jolt with a Taser to wake him up for Easter church services on Sunday, according to reports.

Sharron Dobbins, 40, was arrested after she allegedly hit her 17-year-old son's left leg with a "contact Taser," Fox 10 reported, citing court documents.

Dobbins reportedly told law enforcement she "only sparked the Taser" and didn't actually use it on her son. An 18-year-old family member claimed to have witnessed the incident, AZCentral.com added.

MAN SHOCKED WITH STUN GUN IN POLICE CUSTODY DIES IN GEORGIA

The woman's son told police that Dobbins did use the Taser, but that he didn't want to testify against her. He did not complain about any pain but had two bumps on his leg where the Taser made contact, according to the reports.

Dobbins was arrested Sunday on one count of child abuse. She reportedly released from jail on the condition that she could not "initiate any contact with the arresting officer" or "possess any weapons, including a Taser," a judge said.

She's due back in court April 16.
Two firefighters have died in Indiana after two planes crashed on an airport runway in Grant County.

A Cessna 150 and a Cessna 525 Citation jet were involved in the crash at Marion Municipal Airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The two flying in the single-engine Cessna 150 were killed after their plane hit the Citation jet's tail around 5:09 p.m., Fox 59 reported, citing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The Cessna 150 reportedly was trying to take off at the time, while the Citation jet had just landed.

The two firefighters who died were identified as 31-year-old David Wittkamper and Kyle Hibst, Fox 59 added.

The five people flying on the Citation Jet escaped unhurt, the coroner told WRTV.

"The airport in Marion does not have an air traffic control tower," the FAA said in a statement. "Pilots using the field are expected to announce their intentions on a common radio frequency and to coordinate with one another while on the ground and in the traffic pattern."

The NTSB is investigating the incident.
A Brooklyn prosecutor was caught having an affair with one of the NYPD cops accused of raping a handcuffed teenager, The Post has learned.

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Manini, 34, is under investigation for potentially violating professional conduct rules for New York lawyers, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Maninis illicit relationship with now-former Detective Richard Hall, 33, was uncovered when investigators with her office reviewed his cellphone records as part of the rape case, sources said.

The phone logs revealed multiple calls between Manini and Hall, who is married with two kids, sources said.

The calls began before the alleged Sept. 15 rape and continued afterward, sources said.

The DAs office referred Manini for investigation to the court systems Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh and Thirteenth Judicial Districts, which prosecutes cases of professional misconduct by lawyers.

During our investigation of this case, we learned that a junior assistant district attorney in our office was engaged in an intimate relationship with defendant Hall and knew [second] defendant [Eddie] Martins socially, a spokesman for the DAs office told The Post Monday.

This ADA had no involvement in or access to the investigation or prosecution, the rep said. Out of an abundance of caution, we have disclosed this information to all relevant parties.

Michael David, the lawyer representing Halls rape accuser, said he plans to use the former cops affair with Manini in his clients pending civil rights suit against Hall, Martins and the city.

CLICK FOR MORE FROM THE NEW YORK POST
A woman opened fire at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, Calif., on Tuesday, in a shooting that left four people injured before she turned the gun on herself, police said. Authorities are investigating the incident as a domestic dispute, two law enforcement sources told the Associated Press.



The victims included a 36-year-old man in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition at San Francisco General Hospital, officials said. Police said three of the four "victims" -- not including the shooter -- were shot, and a fourth person suffered an ankle injury.

Witnesses told KTVU-TV that the suspect shot her boyfriend before killing herself, but police would not confirm identities or a possible motive. Investigators said the incident did not appear to be terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In response to the shooting, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki tweeted, "There are no words to describe how horrible it was to have an active shooter @YouTube today."

"Our deepest gratitude to law enforcement & first responders for their rapid response," she continued. "Our hearts go out to all those injured & impacted today. We will come together to heal as a family."

The gunfire lasted approximately 30 seconds, witnesses told the San Francisco Chronicle. The suspect's face was reportedly covered, leading some witnesses to think she was male.

Zach Vorhies, a senior software engineer at the company, told the Associated Press that the fire alarm went off but employees didn't realize it was an active shooting situation. As they calmly exited the building, he said he saw a shooter in the courtyard shouting, "Come at me, or come get me." Vorhies said he froze and saw a victim on his back with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his stomach. An officer armed with an assault rifle then entered through a security door, he said.

San Bruno police confirmed on Twitter that they were responding to an active shooter. They previously tweeted there was police activity at 901 Cherry Ave., where the company's campus is located. They advised the public to "stay out of the area."

President Donald Trump tweeted that he was briefed on the matter and added "our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved." He also thanked law enforcement and responders who are on the scene. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders previously told Fox News that the president was briefed and they were monitoring the situation.

San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson told KTVU the situation was "relatively secure" about an hour after the gunshots were first reported.

Users on social media indicated that ambulances were arriving and nearby offices were on lockdown. Many claimed there was an "active shooter."

The San Bruno Police Department told Fox News that it received at least 50 calls reporting gunshots.

Aerial images from KTVU showed officers on the scene, with some patting down a line of people outside.

Todd Sherman, who identified himself as a product manager at YouTube, claimed on Twitter that he was in a meeting at the building when they heard people running. He said he and others made their way to the exit and at one point when he "looked down" he "saw blood drips on the floor and stairs." He said he saw authorities on the scene before departing the scene.

The California Highway Patrol told Fox News that San Bruno police requested their assistance with the perimeter regarding reports of an active shooter.

Regarding the situation, Google Communications tweeted that the company was "coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available."

The FBI San Francisco office tweeted that agents were at the scene "in support of our local law enforcement partners." The San Bruno police were the lead agency, they added. The bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) tweeted that its San Francisco field office was also responding to the scene.

Fox News' Shira Bush, Jake Gibson and Serafin Gomez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
A 74-year-old man fatally shot his friend-- whom he had met at an Alabama Veterans Affairs hospital-- before killing himself over the weekend, police said.

Larry Vann, 74, on Saturday fired two shots into the stomach of Roger Withington, 68, at his home in Central, Ala. before taking his own life with a bullet to the head, the Montgomery Adviser reported, citing the Elmore County Sheriffs Office.

Two witnesses were home during the shootings, resulting in an open and shut case of a tragic murder-suicide, Sheriff Bill Franklin told paper.

The two men met each other at the VA hospital and became friends over time, with Vann eventually moving into Withingtons house, police said.

The pair had a history of getting into arguments, which was the case in Saturdays shootings after Vann approached Withington, who was sitting in a recliner, over noises the 68-year-old was making, according to authorities.

Both Vann and Withington were pronounced dead at the scene.
New details released Monday suggest that Jennifer Hart, the woman behind the wheel of an SUV that drove off the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, intentionally pointed the vehicle toward the ocean before hitting the accelerator.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the 2003 GMC Yukon continued to accelerate until the vehicle tumbled over the cliff  sending Hart, her wife and their 6 adopted children to their deaths, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Authorities now believe the apparent suicide plunge may have a more sinister backstory, as investigators search for a possible motive.

At this point we think a felony was committed, Officer Olegario Marin, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrols Ukiah office, told the paper on Monday. Were investigating all aspects of the incident and believe it was possibly an intentional act.

Marin said investigators are learning more about the crash each day, but noted theres still a lot of unknowns and it could take months to get all the (crash) data and process everything.

Authorities discovered the wreckage of the Washington state familys vehicle last week on the rocks along the coast near Mendocino, California  just days after the child welfare authorities in their home state began investigating whether the children were being abused or neglected.

Known as the Hart Tribe, the multiracial family of two married women  Sarah and Jennifer Hart, both 38  and six adopted children took spontaneous road trips to camp, hike and travel to various events, offering hugs and promoting unity.

The Hart family's two moms, and three of the six adopted children were found dead. The three others have yet to be found and are presumed dead.

Last month, concerned neighbors of the Harts had called protective services over concerns that the children may have been going hungry.

Police said Monday that social service authorities in Oregon contacted the West Linn Police Department about the family in 2013 while they were living in the area. The questions were referred to the Oregon Department of Human Services, which refused to confirm or deny the agencys involvement due to privacy laws.

At this point we think a felony was committed. Were investigating all aspects of the incident and believe it was possibly an intentional act.  Officer Olegario Marin, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrols Ukiah office

In 2011, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota, in which she claimed was just a spanking to one of her children.

On Sunday, authorities announced that data from the vehicle's software suggested the crash was deliberate.

The SUV had stopped at a pull-off area then sped straight off the cliff, Capt. Greg Baarts of the California Highway Patrol said. Baarts said that as far as he knew, investigators had not found a suicide note.

In interviews with friends and relatives, "there have been red flags," Baarts said. He did not elaborate.

Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.

One of the children, 15-year-old Devonte Hart, drew national attention when the black youngster was photographed hugging a white police officer during a 2014 protest in Portland, Oregon, over the deadly police shooting of a black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Devonte was holding a Free Hugs sign.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Another California city has taken a stand against the states sanctuary city laws after a vote Monday night prompted Huntington Beach to file its own lawsuit over the issue.

Huntington Beach City Council voted 6-1 to file a lawsuit against the state of California over a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown that took effect January 1. The law prohibits state and local police agencies from notifying federal authorities when illegal immigrants facing deportation are released.

Mayor Mike Posey and Councilman Erik Peterson called the law constitutional overreach, The Orange County Register reported.

Posey said his could become the first city in California to sue the state itself.

MORE CALIFORNIA CITIES LOOKING TO REJECT STATES SANCTUARY LAW

Just last month the city of Los Alamitos started the movement across the state after it voted to opt out of the sanctuary city law over the belief that it may be in direct conflict with federal laws and the Constitution.

Council members also felt that the law conflicts with their ability to honor our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, which they took upon their appointments.

Other cities and towns have since acted to join a federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department which argues that three recent California laws deliberately interfere with federal immigration policies.

ORANGE COUNTY VOTES TO FIGHT CALIFORNIAS SANCTUARY CITY LAWS, JOINING SHERIFFS PUSHBACK

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last week to join the lawsuit just after the county sheriffs department announced a new method to inform federal agents about illegal immigrants that have been released from custody that still complies with the law.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra threatened the sheriffs office with the possibility of arrest.

State law is state law. Its my job to enforce state law and I will do so.

Huntington Beach could be the first to file a lawsuit outside of the federal governments lawsuit. Council members asked city Attorney Michael Gates to work with the county or other municipalities that wish to join our efforts, The Orange County Register reported.

Fox News Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this report.
A California nurse claimed Saturday that she was fired after allegedly saying on social media that Stephon Clark  an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by police  deserved it for being stupid.

Faith Linthicum said in a GoFundMe page that she was fired from her job at Kaiser Permanente in Sacramento for exercising my First Amendment right to free speech.

As a person of faith, and a nurse, I love all people and treat everyone equally, Linthicum posted on the GoFundMe site. Kaiser Permanente fired me without any investigation, and without giving me an opportunity to explain or defend myself. I believe Kaiser Permanente violated my First Amendment right to free speech in order to protect themselves from the wrath of these activists.

Linthicum provoke a social media frenzy last week when she commented on a post about Clarks death, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Yeah but he was running from the police jumping over fences and breaking in peoples housewhy run??!!! He deserved it for being stupid, she allegedly wrote.

Her alleged comments were widely circulated on social media. One user reportedly wrote, How can we trust our lives, the lives of our black and brown babies to these people? Nurses are supposed to help people not be happy when people die.

Kaiser Permanente told Fox 40 in a statement last week that Linthicum was no longer with the hospital, but didnt say whether she was fired.

"I believe Kaiser Permanente violated my First Amendment right to free speech in order to protect themselves from the wrath of these activists."  Faith Linthicum

Kaiser Permanente does not tolerate hate or discrimination and has a long history of embracing diversity and inclusion  it remains a place where we welcome everyone, a statement from the company read. We want to emphasize that the comments expressed by this employee, who is no longer with the organization, do not in any way reflect Kaiser Permanentes views or actions.

Linthicum claims that she is now unable to pay rent and care for her two dogs. She hopes to raise $25,000 and has received more than $1,500 in just a few days.

Clarks killing had sparked protests throughout Sacramento. Police body cam footage showed Sacramento police officers fired at Clark 20 times in his grandmothers backyard March 18. Clarks autopsy results, released Friday, revealed he had been shot eight times, including seven times from behind.

Fox News Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
The co-designer of the deadly Kansas waterslide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy was arrested late Monday at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

John Schooley, 72, was detained after arriving on a flight from China, the U.S. Marshals Service announced. He was charged with second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 41 years in prison.

Schooley, who was indicted by a grand jury in Kansas last month, also faces charges of aggravated battery and aggravated endangerment of a child.

Caleb Schwab, the son of Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab, a Republican, died at Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts two years ago while riding the 17-foot slide called Varruckt, which is German for insane. The raft he was riding went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

Three men connected with the Texas-based waterpark and its park in Kansas City, Kan., have been indicted by a Kansas grand jury.

Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeffrey Henry, 62, was also charged with reckless second-degree murder, along with Henry & Sons Construction Co., which is described as the private construction company of Schlitterbahn.

They also were charged with 17 other felonies tied to injuries other riders sustained on the giant slide.

The indictment accuses Henry of making a "spur of the moment" decision to build the ride. It also said he and Schooley lacked technical or engineering expertise in amusement park rides.

The indictment claims Schooley was responsible for doing "the math" that went into the slide's design and signed an operations manual claiming the ride met all American Society for Testing and Materials standards. But the indictment listed a dozen instances in which the design violated those standards and claimed Schooley lacked the technical expertise to properly design a complex amusement ride such as Verruckt.

The indictment said Schooley admitted: "If we actually knew how to do this, and it could be done that easily, it wouldn't be that spectacular."

The same grand jury also indicted the Kansas City park and Tyler Austin Miles, its former operations manager, on 20 felony charges. The charges includes a single count of involuntary manslaughter in Schwab's death. Miles has been released on $50,000 bond, according to one of his attorneys, Tricia Bath.

According to the indictments, Henry decided in 2012 to build the world's tallest waterslide to impress the producers of a Travel Channel show. Henry's desire to "rush the project" caused the company to "skip fundamental steps in the design process."

Not a single engineer was directly involved in Verruckt's dynamic engineering or slide path design," the indictment said.

The indictment said that in 2014, when there were news reports emerging about airborne rafts, a company spokesperson "discredited" them and Henry and his designer began "secretly testing at night to avoid scrutiny."

The indictment listed 13 injuries during the 182 days the ride was in operation, including two concussions. In one of those cases, a 15-year-old girl went temporarily blind.

The Schwab family reached settlements of nearly $20 million with Schlitterbahn and various companies associated with the design and construction of the waterslide. The two women who rode on the same raft with Caleb suffered serious injuries and settled claims with Schlitterbahn for an undisclosed amount.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A North Carolina day care worker has been accused of pulling an 18-month-old girl's hair out.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that 23-year-old Rebecca Nicole DeGregory is charged with misdemeanor child abuse.

According to the sheriff's office, deputies spoke with the child's mother, who said a call from the day care in Denver on March 21 indicated another child had pulled out her daughter's hair but her child was OK.

But a staff member later called the mother and said a review of surveillance video showed another worker pulling the child's hair so hard that some came out.

DeGregory, who was fired from her job, is free on a $5,000 bond. It's not known if she has an attorney. A phone number listed for her had been disconnected.
A woman nicknamed the Hamburglar after she was caught on video breaking into a closed Maryland McDonalds was sentenced to three months in jail, authorities said Tuesday.

Jessica Marie Cross, 27, of Springdale, Md., pleaded guilty to burglary and theft charges for the November 2017 crime, FOX5DC reported. Cross turned herself in after surveillance cameras caught her pushing through an open drive-thru window at the McDonalds in Columbia.

Along with the three-month jail term, Cross was sentenced to three years of probation. She is also required to get mental health and alcohol and drug treatment, according to FOX5DC.

The hamburglar was also ordered to stay away from the McDonalds.

She was initially seen in surveillance video reaching over the soda fountain and grabbing a drink. Cross then climbed through, entered the restaurant and proceeded to steal a box of items including $1,400 in cash, a purse, food and Happy Meal toys.

The incident lasted about 35 minutes.
A Houston man is on life support after he was reportedly shot in the head on Easter while sitting inside a car at a gas station as his friends were playing with two handguns.

Houston police told Click2Houston that the victim, Devyn Holmes, 26, was shot at 2:30 a.m. in a parking lot at a Valero gas station. The video of the incident was posted on Facebook.

Holmes could reportedly be heard in the video telling the woman holding a handgun that she was making him nervous. A moment later, the gun goes off and Holmes could be seen slumped over in the passengers seat. The two other people in the car exit the vehicle.

Cassandra Damper, 25, was reportedly arrested after she allegedly attempted to wipe off gun residue from her hands. She allegedly told authorities that she was not aware the gun was loaded when it fired.

The second man in the video was not charged.

Holmes is listed in critical condition at Ben Taub Hospital.
A Queens toddler who was being watched by her stepfather died Monday after suffering possible abuse, police said.

Shamika Gonzalez said she found her daughter Bella Edwards, 3, lying in her bed unconscious, police said. The girls body showed signs of abuse and trauma, the New York Post reported.

Police didn't elaborate on specifics of the alleged abuse, the New York Daily News reported. The NYPD Special Victims Unit was investigating.

The girls stepfather, who was not identified, called 911 at around 6 p.m. and emergency personnel rushed her to St. Johns Hospital, according to the Post. The stepfather was found performing CPR on the toddler as police arrived, the Daily News reported.

Gonzalez and the unidentified man were both questioned by authorities overnight, but no arrests have been made.

Bella was friendly, beautiful, affectionate, smart and loveable and the best daughter anyone can ask for, Gonzalez told the Daily News. She loved and was a very affectionate sister to her baby brother, Logan. She was loved by many who came to know her.

Eric Ferrero, the Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs for the NYC Administration for Children's Services told Fox News that the top priority for the organization "is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City."

"As soon as this family came to our attention last night, we immediately launched an investigation with the NYPD and we secured the safety of the other child in this home," Ferrero said.
After nine days, the Oklahoma teacher walkout, with educators demanding more money for salaries and classroom needs, came to an end Thursday.

Instead of continuing to strike, the largest teachers union called for its members to shift focus to electing educators in November who are more in-line with their demands.

Oklahomas Republican governor has already signed legislation to increase teacher salaries in the state, but the union said it was not enough.

The average teacher starting salary for the 2016-2017 school year was $38,617, according to the National Education Association. In comparison, the average starting salaries for teachers in Oklahoma that same year was $31,919.

Heres a look at what Oklahoma educators demanded.

What do the teachers want?

The Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) demanded $10,000 in raises for teachers over the next three years, KOKH-TV reported. The union also asked for a $5,000 pay increase for other school officials, such as bus drivers, food service workers and custodians, according to KOKH.

At rallies in front of the state Capitol, teachers asked for newer and updated textbooks, more arts classes and smaller class sizes, according to the OEA.

Arent they already getting a raise?

Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, already signed legislation that would up teacher pay by about $6,100 through an increase in taxes on certain goods, such as cigarettes and fuel.

The state legislature approved $2.9 billion for public schools, an increase of nearly 20 percent over last year's spending. Much of the new money was earmarked for the teacher raises.

Oklahomas new revenue measures are expected to generate about $450 million, with the bulk going to teacher raises and about $50 million going to general education funding. The teachers union has called for an additional classroom funding of $75 million. It has also criticized the governor for passing a measure repealing a $5-per-night hotel and motel tax that was part of the original education package. Repeal of the hotel tax reduces the total package by about $45 million.

In the midst of the walkout, Rep. John Pfeiffer, a House majority floor leader, said lawmakers are unlikely to consider any other major revenue bills this session.

How does the state budget look?

State funding for Oklahomas public schools has decreased by about 9 percent since 2008, The Oklahoman reported. In contrast, student enrollment has increased by more than 8 percent.

But Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, pointed to a growth in non-teacher employment in Oklahomas public education that could drain the education budget.

Schools, largely driven by the perverse incentive by unions to get more members and memberships, have focused dollars on things other than whats most important to Oklahomans which is a direct teacher in the classroom, Small told Fox News.

We need to see a greater focus on teachers with the current dollars that we have already  now that [the legislature] passed one of the highest tax increases in Oklahoma history, Small said. With the actions of the legislature  its not going to be argued that more additional funds havent been pumped into education at a time when Oklahoma is still recovering from a massive economic decline.

His organization also warned comparing teacher salaries in Oklahoma to Texas can be misleading because of a difference in the economic makeup of both states.

Fallin, too, warned the budget is tight and there are other critical needs in the state as well.

We must be responsible not to neglect other areas of need in the state, such as corrections and health and human services, as we continue to consider additional education funding measures, the Republican said.

Are Oklahoma teachers alone?

There has been a surge of teacher coalitions nationwide striking and rallying to demand more money in recent months.

Hundreds of teachers in Kentucky called in sick in April to protest last-minute changes to their pension system. And thousands have descended upon the state Capitol in Frankfurt to rally for additional education funding multiple times this month.

Teachers in Arizona staged what organizers called a walk-in to demand more funding. The walk-in occurred before school and gave teachers and parents an opportunity to show unity for their demands, according to organizers.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, caved to the demands and moved a planned 1 percent raise proposal to a 9 percent wage hike starting in the fall. He also granted an additional 5 percent increase in the 2019 and 2020 school years.

West Virginia teachers went on strike for two weeks earlier this year until Republican Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill that included a 5 percent pay increase.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A woman opened fire with a handgun Tuesday in a courtyard at YouTube headquarters, wounding three people before fatally shooting herself in what is being investigated as a domestic dispute, authorities said.

Terrified employees huddled inside, calling 911, as officers and federal agents swarmed the company's suburban campus sandwiched between two interstates in the San Francisco Bay Area city of San Bruno.

YouTube employee Dianna Arnspiger said she was on the building's second floor when she heard gunshots, ran to a window and saw the shooter on a patio outside.

She said the woman wore glasses and a scarf and was using a "big huge pistol."

"It was a woman and she was firing her gun. And I just said, 'Shooter,' and everybody started running," Arnspiger said.

She and others hid in a conference room for an hour while another employee repeatedly called 911 for updates.

"It was terrifying," she said.

Authorities gave few details about the shooter and victims, except that the gunfire was being investigated as a domestic dispute, two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the probe.

A 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition, a spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital said.

Witnesses described terror before officers arrived and discovered a victim near a front door and then found the shooter several minutes later with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said.

He said two additional gunshot victims were found at an adjacent business minutes later. Barberini initially said there were four people who had been shot but later clarified that a fourth person had suffered an ankle injury.

Zach Vorhies, 37, a senior software engineer at YouTube, said he was at his desk working on the second floor of one of the buildings when the fire alarm went off. He got on his skateboard and approached a courtyard, where he saw the shooter yelling, "'Come at me, or come get me.'"

He saw somebody lying nearby on his back with a red stain on his stomach that appeared to be from a bullet wound. Vorhies said he realized there was an active shooter when a police officer with an assault rifle came through a security door.

He said the public can access the courtyard where he saw the shooter during work hours.

Michael Finney, a 21-year-old supervisor at Carl's Jr. across from the campus, said he came out of the bathroom to see a woman in a booth bleeding from the calf. Two friends were trying to stop the bleeding, using the victim's sweatshirt as a tourniquet, but it wasn't helping, he told the San Jose Mercury News.

"Everyone was figuring out what to do," Finney said. "I was trying to stay calm and see what I could do. Everybody is shocked."

Google, which owns the world's biggest online video website, said the company's security team worked with authorities to evacuate buildings and was doing whatever it could support the victims and their families.

YouTube's headquarters has more than a thousand engineers and other employees in several buildings. Originally built in the late 1990s for the clothing retailer Gap, the campus south of San Francisco is known for its sloped green roof of native grasses.

Inside, Google famously outfitted the office several years ago with a three-lane red slide for workers to zoom from one story to another.

"Today it feels like the entire community of YouTube, all of the employees, were victims of this crime," said Chris Dale, a YouTube spokesman. "Our hearts go out to all those who suffered."

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and that officials were monitoring developments.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles, Eric Tucker in Washington and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected with new information from authorities that three victims suffered gunshot wounds and a fourth was taken to the hospital but wasn't shot. A reference also has been removed to patients being taken to Stanford Hospital because the facility says it gave incorrect information.




As marijuana legalization spreads to more states, one of biggest unanticipated impacts is on the power grid.

"In Denver, marijuana production predominately happens inside of warehouses," explained Colorado Harvest Company CEO Tim Cullen. "We have to recreate the sun in order to get marijuana plants to flower indoors."

Recreating the sun is extremely expensive, Cullen said while standing in one of his company's two grow houses. "This is a 10,000-square-foot facility and our electrical bill is about $10,000 a month."

Denver's Department of Public Health and Environment estimates that the marijuana industry accounted for 3.9 percent of the city's energy usage in 2016. That's about double the amount the industry used in 2014, when the country's first legal recreational pot sales first started in Colorado.

Thirty states have some form of legal medical marijuana and eight of those and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational pot. Recreational sales haven't started yet in every state where it's legal but as they do, and as other states consider legalization, the industry's power consumption will grow.

"The utility companies are concerned," according to Ron Flax, chief building official for Boulder County, Colo. "And this is something that we've been seeing around the country  concern about the increase in the load in the grid. Do they have the infrastructure to handle it?"

Boulder County has started a program to help pot producers help themselves, as well as the county, by cutting electricity costs. Under the voluntary Marijuana Energy Impact Offset Fund, the county charges a little over 2 cents per kilowatt hour used by growers.

"That money for the most part is going into helping us understand how the industry is using the energy and then teaching ways to maybe do it more efficiently."

"The reality is this industry has been in the shadows for a long time," said Derek Smith, executive director of the non-profit Resource Innovation Institute.

He said many newly legal operations are, "...using, in some cases, the same technology that was used in basements in the black market days just blown up to 50,000 square feet  very hot lights, very inefficient HVAC, very little ventilation."

Another problem is a lack of detailed analysis on precisely how energy is used in individual facilities. To help companies get a handle on that, the Resource Innovation Institute launched the Cannabis PowerScore website where growers input their operational data privately, and get detailed reports on what is working, what's not, and how they compare to other operations.

"This industry doesn't need to have a bad reputation for using a lot of energy. It needs to come together and collaborate, share data, share best practices, Smith said, and move to a more sophisticated level of production and commerce."

Massachusetts, where voters approved legal recreational weed last election, isn't waiting for the industry to get its act together. The state is planning to simply put a blanket limit on grow facilities of 36 watts per square foot of cultivation space.

Smith believes other states will follow suit.

"Oregon and California have made some legislative efforts to regulate energy and I think that's going to be an ongoing evolution in the industry," he said.

That is incentive for the industry to rein in its energy consumption, but Cullen said so is the bottom line.

"There are a lot of fixed costs in marijuana production, Cullen said. Electrical use is one place that we can be smarter about it and...find a competitive advantage."
George Washington University is hosting a seminar on combating Christian privilege in America.

According to an event description, students in a 90-minute training session will learn about ways American Christians receive things they dont deserve and are not worthy of getting: How do weacknowledge that Christians receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country?

The Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC) at GWU is hosting Christian Privilege: But Our Founding Fathers Were All Christian, Right?! Thursday as part of its Excellence in Leadership Seminar, as first reported by The Christian Post.

Caroline Hakes, a GWU student and CampusReform.org correspondent, told Fox & Friends she was surprised about the seminar and believes that the premise, while it may be well-intentioned, is ultimately misguided.

I think that this seminar is a symptom of a larger issue of elements of Christianity being downplayed on college campuses and in the mainstream media, Hakes said. We see it, for example, with lack of reporting with Christians being persecuted in the Middle East, and with TV personalities ridiculing Vice President Pence for expressing how his faith informs him in his office.

According to the website, MSSC Associate Director and LGBTQ Resources Director Timothy Kane will discuss how American Christians have easier lives and get built-in advantages over non-Christians as well as making room for all religious and secular identities on an equal playing field.

But the Christian privilege seminar doesnt just focus on one religion, it also singles out a race: white people.

Students will learn about white privilege specifically and the role of denial when it comes to white privilege, the event description says, adding they will be able to list examples of Christian privilege and learn three ways to be an ally with non-Christians.

COLLEGE LIBRARIANS ARGUE CHRISTIANS WHO SAY GOD BLESS YOU ARE ISLAMOPHOBIC

Other seminars offered by GWUs MSSC include: heterosexual privilege, cisgender privilege, abled-body privilege, socio-economic privilege, LGBTQIA diversity and inclusion, unconscious bias, and transgender diversity and inclusion.

Each of the privilege seminars states that they focus more specifically on white privilege.

These trainings equip students and staff with the necessary skills to promote diversity and inclusion in the different environments in which they find themselves frequently, the website says.

Former Secret Service Agent, Dan Bongino, tweeted about the disturbing story as reported by The College Fix, saying, Someone shouldve told the martyrs about Christian privilege.

Another person on Twitter, Chad Prather, tweeted that with martyrdom, beatings, and beheadings they should host the workshop in Libya, Ethiopia, Iran or northern Nigeria.

I think America has too much university privilege, Prather wrote.

GWU and Kane did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for one of the suspects in the slaying of a transgender teenager whose eyes were gouged out and her body set on fire in southwest Missouri, court records show.

A notice requesting the sentence for Andrew Vrba, 18, was filed Monday. Vrba is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Ally Steinfeld. Vrba's attorney, Michael Barrett, who also is director of the state public defender office, declined to comment ahead of a Tuesday afternoon hearing at which a trial date will be scheduled.

Investigators say Steinfeld was stabbed several times, including in the genitals. Authorities aren't saying what led to the killing, but Texas County Sheriff James Sigman and prosecutor Parke Stevens Jr. have insisted the crime was not motivated by Steinfeld's gender identity.

One female suspect, Isis Schauer, 18, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder, while another, Briana Calderas, 24, awaits a first-degree murder trial. A fourth person, James Grigsby, has pleaded not guilty to abandonment of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Steinfeld's remains were found in September in the town of Cabool, near the mobile home of Calderas, with whom Steinfeld was living. Steinfeld had been missing for weeks. Cabool is a rural area about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Springfield.

Vrba told investigators he initially tried to poison Steinfeld, then described how he stabbed Steinfeld in the living room of Calderas' mobile home, Deputy Rowdy Douglas wrote in a probable cause statement. The female suspects said Vrba bragged to them about how he gouged Steinfeld's eyes and stabbed Steinfeld in the genitals, Douglas wrote.

Authorities say the three suspects burned Steinfeld's body, placed some of the bones into a garbage bag and put the bag in the chicken coop. Calderas admitted helping burn the body and led authorities to the knife used in the killing, Douglas wrote.
A 5-year-old girl is recovering after she was allegedly shot by her mom during a party at their Chicago-area home Monday.

Lansing police said the mother, who has not been identified, was handling a gun when it went off early Monday, striking the sleeping girl on her side.

Authorities said the shooting is under investigation and officials declined to comment on whether the shooting was an accident.

The child, who remains in serious but stable condition, was taken to Munster Community Hospital in nearby Indiana, before she was transferred to Childrens Comer Hospital in Chicago where she had surgery Monday morning, WGN-TV reported.

Community activist Andrew Holmes told WGN-TV he met with the family at the hospital.

I got two teddy bears, sat down and talked to the grandmother and offered my prayers, he said. I hope that this baby can pull through. Its heartbreaking to see that this has happened to another child.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hundreds of schools in Oklahoma and Kentucky were forced to remain closed Tuesday as teachers continue to strike for better wages and education funding.

Teachers in Arizona were also rumored to be planning a strike for better pay as well.

Hundreds of educators in Oklahoma walked out Friday after Gov. Mary Fallin signed legislation last week granting teacher salary raises of about $6,100, or 15 to 18 percent. Some teachers  who havent seen a pay increase in 10 years  felt it was not enough.

Many teachers said they had to work a second or third job to make ends meet.

OKLAHOMA, KENTUCKY TEACHERS STRIKE FOR HIGHER PAY, EDUCATION FUNDING

If I didnt have a second job, Id be on food stamps, said Rae Lovelace, a single mom and third-grade teacher at Leedey Public Schools in northwest Oklahoma. Lovelace works 30 to 40 hours a week at a second job teaching online courses for a charter school.

The average teacher starting salary for the 2016-2017 school year was $38,617, according to the National Education Association. In comparison, the average starting salaries for Kentucky and Oklahoma were $36,494 and $31,919 respectively.

Larry Cagle, a high school teacher at Thomas Edison Preparatory High School in Tulsa, Okla., was one of the educators who gathered in Oklahoma City to protest.

"We've gotten tired of begging for everything," Cagle told USA Today. "Teachers, students and the community have decided enough is enough."

Oklahoma closed schools on Monday and Tuesday as teachers continued to protest for better wages.

FLORIDA TEACHER ACCUSED OF HOSTING RACIST PODCAST SUBMITS RESIGNATION LETTER, REPORT SAYS

Meanwhile in Kentucky, teachers and other school employees chanted, Stop the war on public education, while at the state capitol building in Frankfort. They also chanted, We will remember in November -- the time of year when all 100 seats in the Kentucky Senate are up for grabs.

"We're madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today," said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal.

Hundreds of teachers in Kentucky called in sick last week to protest last-minute changes to their pension system.

At the state Capitol on Monday, demonstrators are demanding lawmakers include what protesters consider adequate education funding as legislators work on the state budget.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has not yet signed the bill, but last week tweeted his support, saying public workers owe a deep debt of gratitude to lawmakers who voted to pass it.

We will be here watching every move legislators make, Stephanie Winkler, president of the Kentucky Education Association, told the Courier-Journal. If this budget is not in the best interest of public education students and public service, then we will react.

The teachers said they were inspired by West Virginia educators who went on strike earlier this year until the state's governor, James Justice, signed a bill that included a 5 percent pay increase.

Thousands of Arizona teachers also rallied in March in front of the Arizona State Capitol building in Phoenix. They were protesting perceived low pay and education funding.

Fox News' Kaitlyn Schallhorn and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he expects to decide "very quickly" whether to remove U.S. troops from war-torn Syria, saying their primary mission was to defeat the Islamic State group and "we've almost completed that task."

A decision by Trump to withdraw from Syria would conflict with the views of his top advisers.

In fact, as Trump addressed reporters at the White House, high-ranking U.S. officials spoke elsewhere in Washington about the need to stay in Iraq and Syria to finish off the militant group, which once controlled large swaths of territory in both countries, and keep it from rising up again.

At a news conference with the presidents of the Baltic nations, Trump was asked whether he still favored pulling U.S. troops out of Syria.

"As far as Syria is concerned, our primary mission in terms of that was getting rid of ISIS," Trump answered, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. "We've completed that task and we'll be making a decision very quickly, in coordination with others in the area, as to what we will do."

The mission is "very costly for our country and it helps other countries a helluva lot more than it helps us," Trump said.

"I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home. I want to start rebuilding our nation," he said during the appearance with his counterparts from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Trump also noted that the Baltic states are partners with the U.S. in the anti-IS coalition and "we will not rest until ISIS is gone."

Later Tuesday, Trump met with his national security team to discuss Syria.

According to officials familiar with the preparations for the meeting, Trump's entire national security team, including CIA chief Mike Pompeo, who has been nominated to be the next secretary of state, strongly advised against a hasty withdrawal from Syria. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal talks.

Also on the meeting agenda was the fate of some $200 million in U.S. stabilization assistance for Syria that the White House put on hold after Trump said during a speech in Ohio last week that he wanted to leave Syria "very soon." The State Department was to have spent the money on building up the country's infrastructure, including power, water and roads.

Trump in recent weeks has asked Saudi Arabia to contribute $4 billion for reconstruction in Syria, according to a U.S. official, as part of the president's effort to get other countries to pay for stabilizing the country so the U.S. isn't on the hook. The United States is awaiting a response from the Saudis, said the official, who wasn't authorized to discuss the conversations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A senior Syrian Kurdish official said Trump's comments on wanting to withdraw from Syria came at an "inappropriate time" as Islamic State militants re-emerge in eastern Syria and amid threats from Turkey.

Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish official in Syria's Raqqa province, said such a decision would clear the way for "total chaos in Syria," endangering areas newly liberated from the IS group and empowering Turkey to move in on towns controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the U.S.-led coalition.

The main IS holdout in Syria is in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, where momentum by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces has stalled in recent weeks as many Kurdish members of the group have shifted west to the Afrin area to fight Turkish forces. Pentagon officials have publicly raised the prospect of this giving the IS group the breathing room it needs to regroup.

Many have warned that a premature U.S. withdrawal from Syria would cede the country to Iran and Russia, which have supported Syrian President Bashar Assad. Iran's continued presence in Syria is especially troubling to neighboring Israel, a U.S. ally that regards Iran as an existential threat.

Some high-ranking Trump administration officials urged caution.

Gen. Joseph Votel told a conference at the United States Institute of Peace that the United States would have to continue its work against remnants of the Islamic State group in eastern Syria. Votel is commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations across the Middle East, including Syria.

Votel said the military campaign has been largely successful but is not over.

"The hard part, I think, is in front of us, and that is stabilizing these areas, consolidating our gains, getting people back into their homes, addressing the long-term issues" like reconstruction of towns and cities badly damaged by the fighting and by the Islamic State group's scorched-earth tactics. "There is a military role in this, certainly in the stabilization phase."

At the same Institute of Peace event, State Department envoy Brett McGurk said, "We want to keep eyes on the prize, on ISIS, because ISIS is not finished."

A third U.S. official, Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, also argued at the conference that U.S. stabilization efforts in Syria are critical to a lasting defeat of the Islamic State group.

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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Josh Lederman and Robert Burns in Washington and Sarah El Deeb in Qamishli, Syria, contributed to this report.

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Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

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This story has been corrected to show the name of the Syrian town is Deir el-Zour, not Der el-Zour.
A married couple -- both of whom were former United States soldiers -- were reportedly found dead in their Italian home Monday after a grisly murder-suicide.

Authorities determined the man killed his wife and then cut his own throat, the Vicenza Today reported.

The woman may have been killed on Easter Sunday and the man might have then waited several hours to take his own life, police told the Italian newspaper.

The couple were found in different rooms of their home in Pozzoleone, where the man had been working as a contractor, according to The Local.

The couple was not immediately identified and no motive was given.

The pair worked at the U.S. military base in Vicenza, located about 45 miles west of Venice, The Local reported.

U.S. officials have not commented on the deaths.
A U.S. Air Force veteran from Ohio said he was told to remove his flag pole Friday because it failed to meet community standards.

Wayne Marchant, of Franklin, told WLWT-TV he received a letter from his homeowners association management company saying his flag pole didnt meet the communitys standards and would need to be removed or modified to ensure compliance.

"As a veteran, I wouldn't think to erect a flagpole and fly the American flag would be something that I would have to get permission to do," Marchant told the station.

Marchant, who spent four years in the Air Force and another four in the Air Force Reserve, said he moved into the Franklin community nine years ago and the homeowners association gave him verbal permission to build the pole and fly the flag.

"As a veteran, I wouldn't think to erect a flagpole and fly the American flag would be something that I would have to get permission to do."  Wayne Marchant

The veteran wrote in a Facebook post that hell will freeze over before he removes the pole.

We have been instructed to remove the flagpole. Hell will freeze over before that happens. I have never asked anyone to share any of my posts before, Marchant wrote. However, if you think this is an outrage please share this. It is a sad state of affairs when a veteran cannot express his pride in America and his branch of service.

Marchants post had been shared nearly 6,000 times as of Tuesday.

The homeowners association listened to Marchants complaints and said it would be up to the board to decide whether the flag pole stays up or gets taken down, a spokesman told WLWT-TV.

"If it comes down and they hold their ground and there's no legal recourse, I'll have to take it down, but the day my wife retires, we'll be out of here, Marchant told WLWT-TV.
A U.S. soldier pulled off a sweet reunion Easter weekend when he dressed as a firefighter to surprise his daughters after a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan.

Sgt. First Class Terry Gottke, a national Guardsman, returned home to Ohio for the holiday after spending the last year stationed in Afghanistan. He has served in the military for 13 years.

Brittany Gottke, his wife, told KTVU the couples daughters, Tawny, 7, and Brea, 5, have missed their father during the time. She revealed Tawny had health issues during her fathers deployment.

"We are happy he is home. The last year has been really tough. The girls will not let him out of their sight," Brittany Gottke told KTVU.

The couple, who are both firefighters with the Wayne Township Fire Department, decided to surprise the girls on Gottkes return. Gottke put on his firefighter gear and arrived at the familys home in a fire truck.

The two girls were captured on video watching the fire truck as it stopped and Gottke walked over and took off his helmet.

"Daddy!" Tawny screamed as she and her sister ran over to hug Gottke.

"Who is that, Tawny?" their mom asked.

"Daddy!" she screamed again, still squeezing her father.

Gottke then told the girls, "I don't have to go back!" to which Tawny screamed, "Yeah!"

The video of the sweet surprise was posted on Facebook on Saturday, garnering more than 272,000 views as of Tuesday.
Authorities are retracing the route the doomed Hart family traveled before plunging off a California cliff last week, as officials continue searching for three of the children, who are presumed dead but who were mysteriously absent from the family's battered SUV.



Devonte Hart, 15, Hannah Hart, 16, and Sierra Hart, 12, were reported missing March 26 after the familys SUV was found overturned at the bottom of a cliff just off the Pacific Coast Highway, about 150 miles north of San Francisco.

"The search for the additional three children belonging to the family continues both at the scene, through water rescue and recovery, and other locations including routes of travel," the California Highway Patrol said in a Monday news release, according to Oregon Live.

Authorities had said they believe all six adopted children of Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, were in the SUV at the time of the crash. The bodies of both parents and three children  Markis Hart, 19; Jeremiah Hart, 14; Abigail Hart, 14  were found at the scene when authorities found the vehicle.

The search for what caused the deadly crash has led investigators to examine red flags in the Harts past. Investigators believe the incident may have not been an accident  as originally thought  after evidence suggested the driver, Jennifer Hart, accelerated off the side of the road.

AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATE CALIFORNIA CLIFF PLUNGE AS A FELONY

Court documents stated the speedometer of the SUV was pinned at 90 mph, though authorities warned the device could have been altered at impact.

At this point we think a felony was committed, Officer Olegario Marin, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrols Ukiah office, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday. Were investigating all aspects of the incident and believe it was possibly an intentional act.

Capt. Greg Baarts of the California Highway Patrol said the SUV had stopped at a pull-off area before the crash.

Bruce and Dana DeKalb, the next-door neighbors of the Harts who lived in Woodland, Wash., previously said they called Child Protective Services two days before the family was found dead because they thought Devonte was going hungry. They said Devonte  who gained nationwide fame after a photo of him at a 2014 Portland, Ore., rally holding a Free Hugs sign went viral  had been coming over to their house too often in the past week asking for food.

The Dekalbs also recounted one of the girls rang their doorbell at 1:30 a.m. in August 2017 asking for protection.

[She] was at our door in a blanket saying we needed to protect her," Bruce DeKalb said. "She said that they were abusing her. It haunted my wife since that day."

FAMILY KILLED IN CALIFORNIA CLIFF CRASH HAD RECENT VISIT FROM CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, POLICE SAY

Authorities attempted to reach the family three times and made their third attempt the day after their SUV was found. Signs showed the family planned for a short trip.

Despite relatives and friends calling the family radiant, warm adventurous inspiring people, Baarts said investigators interviews with them showed there have been red flags.

Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Some YouTube employees describe feeling an "earthquake" as a stampede of coworkers reportedly rushed by amid reports of an active shooter on their campus in California Tuesday. The San Bruno Police Department told Fox News they received at least 50 calls reporting gunshots and officers are responding.

Todd Sherman, who identifies himself as a product manager at the company, said he was in a meeting when he heard people running in the hallways. He exited the room with coworkers and followed the crowd.

"Seemed serious and not like a drill," Sherman said in a Twitter thread Tuesday afternoon. "We headed towards the exit and then saw more people and someone said that there was a person with a gun."

"I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs," Sherman continued. "Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front."

Lil Chen, a UX designer for YouTube Live, said online that she also saw "blood drops on the stairs" as she evacuated the building with her hands up.

"Im shaking. This is surreal. I hope my colleagues are okay," Chen posted, adding that she was hiding behind another building with colleagues while police searched for the shooter. "There are helicopters. There are lots of police nearby."

Vadim Lavrusik, who also says he works in the product department at YouTube, said he heard shots and saw people running while he was sitting at his desk.

"Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers," Lavrusik said in a tweet that has been shared tens of thousands of times.

About 20 minutes later, Lavrusik confirmed that he was safely evacuated, adding that he's "all shakin up."

Sherman also confirmed he exited the building safely, saying he was met outside with police cruisers and officers "with rifles ready."

Danny Keane, who says he's a designer at Google on Twitter, said the shooting was still active around 2 p.m. local time, though he noted that he's safe.

"Very tense times at @YouTube right now. Shooter is still active," Keane wrote. "I'm safe, but really sad to hear about fellow colleagues that were injured."

Hospital officials told KTVU that they received multiple patients. Here's what others in the area are sharing online:
An Afghan official says at least five civilians and 35 insurgents have been killed in an airstrike by Afghan forces in northern Kunduz province.

Nematullah Temori, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kunduz, said Tuesday that 55 civilians were wounded in the attack a day earlier in Dashti Archi district. He said a government delegation is investigating the incident.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish earlier said the airstrike targeted Taliban fighters and killed more than 30 of them, including nine commanders. He said large number of fighters had gathered in the area to hold a military parade.

The Taliban said in a statement that the airstrike hit a madrassa, or Islamic religious school, killing and wounding more than 100 clerics, religious students and other civilians.
A caravan of more than 1,200 Central Americans streaming towards the United States' southern border is getting transportation help from within Mexico -- even as government officials say they're trying to disband the group amid increasing pressure from President Trump.

Mexico's Interior Ministry said in a late Monday statement about 400 participants in the caravan, which began March 25, had already been sent back to their home countries, and, unlike in previous years, "this time Mexican immigration authorities have offered refugee status" to participants who qualify.

"Under no circumstances does the Mexican government promote irregular migration," the Interior Ministry statement said.

But the ministry added Mexico considers the annual caravans to be "a public demonstration that seeks to call attention to the migration phenomenon and the importance of respecting the rights of Central Americans."

The Mexican government added that, while it's been keeping officials in the U.S. informed on the situation, it's not up to Mexico to keep people from going to the U.S. to apply for asylum.

"It is not this government's responsibility to make immigration decisions for the United States or any other country, so it will be up to the appropriate authorities of the United States to decide whether to authorize the entry of the caravan participants to U.S. territory," the statement said.

'CARAVAN' MARCHES ON UNIMPEDED, DESPITE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SPENDING MILLIONS TO HELP MEXICO CONTROL BORDER

While Mexico may be offering refugee status to some in the caravan, an organizer behind the march, Pueblos Sin Fronteras, told Buzzfeed News the caravan was far from over. A couple hundred men did break off from the group Sunday, but that was in order to hop a freight train north with hopes of finding a faster way to enter the U.S.

We will continue, Gina Garibo said. We have to follow through with our promise. Garibo added the organization will continue to travel to the U.S. border with asylum seekers.

The large group that spent the night in Matias Romero, located in the Oaxaca state. The group is expected to take buses to the last scheduled stop, a migrant rights symposium in central Puebla state on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

For some towns in the southern part of the country where the caravan is passing through, local officials have offered lodging in town squares and empty warehouses or arranged transport for participants of the march, according to Reuters.

The authorities want us to leave their cities, Rodrigo Abeja, an organizer from the group, told the news agency. Theyve been helping us, in part to speed the massive group out of their jurisdictions.

TRUMPS SLAMS MEXICO AND DEMS AS CARAVAN OF IMMIGRANTS HEADS TO US SOUTHERN BORDER

Some of that help has included using buses, cars, ambulances and police trucks organized by local officials to move people along.

Theres a lot of pressure from authorities to stop the caravan because of Donald Trumps reaction, Abeja told Reuters.

Trump railed once again on Twitter on Tuesday about the caravan, saying: "The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!"

Under Mexican law, Central Americans who enter Mexico legally are generally allowed to move freely through the country, even if their goal is to cross illegally into the U.S.

Mexico, however, does routinely stop and deport Central Americans, sometimes in numbers that rival those of the United States.

Deportations of foreigners dropped from 176,726 in 2015 to 76,433 in 2017, in part because fewer were believed to have come to Mexico, and more were requesting asylum in Mexico.

Mexico granted 3,223 asylum requests made in 2016, and 9,626 requests filed last year are either under review or have been accepted, according to the AP.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A British doctor who was once based in Nauru said Tuesday that the tiny Pacific nation had proved itself unfit to house refugees by depriving its residents of an appeals court.

Nick Martin worked as a doctor at an Australia-run immigration camp on Nauru in 2016 and 2017 before becoming a vocal critic of the conditions that the estimated 1,000 asylum seekers there endure.

Martin, now a permanent resident of Australia, said Nauru was attempting to avoid outside scrutiny by depriving its own 10,000 citizens as well as the asylum seekers with the option of appealing Nauru Supreme Court decisions to the Australian High Court.

Martin also said the Australia government would welcome asylum seekers on Nauru no longer seeking help from Australia's justice system.

"Nauru has shown itself to be an inadequate place to house refugees, and anything that allows Australia to distance itself from Nauru when it comes to refugees and asylum seekers, Australia will welcome it," Martin said.

Australia has been hearing Nauru court appeals since 1976.

But Nauru gave its former colonial master 90 days' notice in December that it was ending that agreement.

As a result, the High Court has not been able to hear Nauru appeals since March 13.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement that her country supported the decision ahead of Nauru celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence on Jan. 31, 2018.

A Nauru government official could not be immediately contacted for comment on Tuesday.

Australia refuses to resettle refugees who attempt to reach its shores by boat. It pays Nauru and Papua New Guinea to keep them in immigration camps that have been widely criticized by rights groups.

The United States has agreed to accept up to 1,250 refugees from Nauru and Papua New Guinea, and by last month had resettled 200 of them.
The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for murdering four Christian family members in southwestern Pakistan a day after Easter celebrations.

The militant group issued a statement saying ISIS fighters on Monday opened fire on the group of Christians traveling in the city of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, killing four, Reuters reported.

The Christian family was traveling to the city, which is known for its large Christian community. The family set off to visit their relatives, but their vehicle was intercepted by the militants who then shot them.

It appears to have been a targeted attack, Moazzam Jah Ansari, a provincial police official, told Reuters. It was an act of terrorism.

The terror attack came just a day after Christians around the world celebrated Easter on Sunday. The Pakistani Christian community, the second largest minority group in the country, consists of over 2 million people.

Baluchistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is known for violence against minority groups, mostly perpetrated by Sunni Islamist groups linked to the Taliban, al Qaeda and Islamic State.

SUICIDE BOMBERS ATTACK PAKISTAN CHURCH, KILLING AT LEAST 9, OFFICIALS SAY

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a packed Christian Church in southwestern Pakistan in December, just a week before Christmas, killing at least 9 and wounding over 50.

It was the first time the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a church bombing, though a number of Christian churches were attacked over the recent years.

There were nearly 400 people inside the church, but the attackers couldnt get inside the services, provincial police chief Moazzam Jah told Reuters. We killed one of them, and the other one exploded himself after police wounded him, he said.
Hours after touting an agreement with the United Nations to resettle thousands of African migrants, Israels prime minister scrapped the deal due to pressure from hawks in his coalition.

Benjamin Netanyahu said he decided to cancel the agreement after meeting with residents south of areas with large migrant populations who feel slighted by the deal.

The Israeli prime minister had announced the arrangement with the U.N. on Monday  a deal which called for sending about half of the 35,000 African migrants in Israel to Western nations and allowing the rest to remain.

However, some hours later Netanyahu posted on his Facebook page that he was putting its implementation on hold until further review.

I have listened carefully to the many comments on the agreement. As a result, and after I again weighed the advantages and disadvantages, I decided to cancel the deal, a statement from the prime ministers office quoted Netanyahu as saying, Reuters reported.

It continued: Despite legal restraints and international difficulties that are piling up, we will continue to act with determination to explore all of the options at our disposal to remove the infiltrators.

Residents in south Tel Aviv complained the agreement doesn't address their needs and demanded assurances remaining migrants will be dispersed around the country as promised.

The move to cancel the agreement came after pressure from Netanyahus nationalist allies who lashed out against the deal.

Hardliners in Netanyahu's coalition strongly criticized the deal for allowing thousands of Africans to remain after the prime minister announced it.

Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay slammed the sudden turnaround on Army Radio, questioning if defense decisions are also made in the same manner.

"It is sad, troubling and even a little scary that decisions are made that way," Gabbay said. He accused Netanyahu of leadership based on polls and comments on social media.

Dozens of migrants and their Israeli supporters protested the suspension outside the prime minister's office in Jerusalem and government offices in Tel Aviv as Netanyahu met with the neighborhood representatives.

Some protesters stripped to the waist, draped themselves with chains and taped their mouths shut at a protest in Tel Aviv. Others waved signs reading "Human lives are not to play with. Yes to the deal."

Writing in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Sima Kadmon noted Netanyahu's decision "lasted for just six hours and 45 minutes" before "an important and courageous decision by the prime minister was trampled under the boots of the right wing divisions."

Most of the African migrants are from war-torn Sudan and Eritrea, the latter having one of the world's worst human rights records. The migrants say they are asylum-seekers fleeing danger and persecution, while Israeli leaders have claimed they are merely job seekers.

The Africans started arriving in 2005 after neighboring Egypt violently quashed a refugee demonstration and word spread of safety and job opportunities in Israel. Tens of thousands crossed the porous desert border with Egypt before Israel completed a barrier in 2012 that stopped the influx.

The prime minister's turnaround threw into limbo the surprise agreement, which had finally offered a solution to an issue that has divided Israel for a decade. The deportation plan had been widely criticized at home and abroad, even by some of Israel's closest supporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Puerto Rico teachers union has filed a lawsuit against the island's education department seeking to stop the U.S. territory from creating charter schools and offering private school vouchers as part of an overhaul of the education system.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Association of Puerto Rican Teachers argues that it is unconstitutional to use public funds or property for private schools.

Education Department spokeswoman Yolanda Rosaly says the agency has no immediate comment.

The lawsuit was filed less than a week after Gov. Ricardo Rossello signed a bill to implement a charter schools pilot program in 10 percent of schools across the U.S. territory and offer private school vouchers to 3 percent of students starting in 2019-2020.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince affirmed Israel's right to exist and criticized former President Obama's Iran policy in an interview published Monday, pointedly bucking other leaders in the Arab world and signaling support for President Trump's Middle East agenda.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, told The Atlantic that both Israelis and Palestinians "have the right to have their own land" -- a surprising assertion given that many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, do not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation," he said. "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land.

Prince Mohammed then took aim at Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

WATCH: WHO IS SAUDI ARABIA CROWN PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN?

Hitler didnt do what the supreme leader [of Iran] is trying to do," the crown prince told The Atlantic. "Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad. But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world.

"He is the Hitler of the Middle East."  Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on Iran's Supreme Leader

"He believes he owns the world. They are both evil guys. He is the Hitler of the Middle East. In the 1920s and 1930s, no one saw Hitler as a danger. Only a few people. Until it happened."

Asked about the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran -- which President Trump has long lambasted -- the crown prince sided with the current White House.

NEW SAUDI LEADER SAYS WOMEN 'ABSOLUTELY' ARE EQUAL TO MEN

President Obama believed that if he gave Iran opportunities to open up, it would change, he said. But with a regime based on this ideology, it will not open up soon. Sixty percent of the Iranian economy is controlled by the Revolutionary Guard. The economic benefits of the Iran nuclear deal are not going to the people.

They took $150 billion after the deal  can you please name one housing project they built with this money? One park? One industrial zone? Can you name for me the highway that they built? I advise them  please show us something that youre building a highway with $150 billion. For Saudi Arabia, there is a 0.1 percent chance that this deal would work to change the country. For President Obama it was 50 percent. But even if theres a 50 percent chance that it would work, we cant risk it. The other 50 percent is war. We have to go to a scenario where there is no war.

Prince Mohammed pushed aside his cousin last year to become first in line to the Saudi throne, and he now controls a vast fortune, a well-heeled military and the future of a nation in the throes of sweeping economic and social change.

He is on a mission during his three-week U.S. visit to improve the perception of his nation in the eyes of Americans, who have viewed Saudi Arabia warily because of its conservative social mores, unequal treatment of women and, more recently, deadly military campaign in Yemen.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Jon O'Neill has flown from Florida to Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father, whom he can barely remember.

At times, it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics of a conflict that ended for his father, U.S. Army Air Forces ace John O'Neill, 75 years ago.

But it has also been an experience that has rewarded the 57-year-old editor and recreational pilot from DeLand, Florida, beyond his expectations.

With the guidance of World War II historian Justin Taylan, founder of the charity website PacificWrecks.com, the son has been able to retrace the wartime steps of his father in 1943. The son's two weeks in Papua New Guinea ends on Wednesday.
A U.S. Marine Corp pilot ejected and was in "stable condition" after his AV-8B Harrier jet crashed in Djibouti on Tuesday during a training exercise, officials told Fox News.

The pilot was being treated in a U.S. military facility, officials said.

The pilot ejected during takeoff from Djibouti Ambouli International Airport just after 4 p.m. local time, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement.

NAVY F/A-18 JET CRASH OFF KEY WEST LEAVES 2 AVIATORS DEAD

No other injuries were reported to personnel on the ground nor damage to infrastructure at the airport, the statement said.

The jet was flying in support of a training exercise with the U.S. Central Command, officials said. It was assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 and embarked aboard the USS Iwo Jima.

There are roughly 4,000 U.S. troops deployed to the East African nation.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for Beijing's political support and pledged to strengthen ties with China on his first visit since his dramatic rise to power last year.

Mnangagwa and Xi met Tuesday afternoon at the Great Hall of the People. Xi said Mnangagwa was "an old friend of China" and thanked him for developing ties.

The trip is Mnangagwa's first since longtime leader Robert Mugabe resigned in November under pressure from the military. Mugabe's government maintained warm relations with Beijing but was accused of widespread corruption.

Some of that ill-gotten wealth was reported to have gone through China, which became increasingly enmeshed with Zimbabwe's government and economy as Western nations withdrew over human rights concerns and mismanagement of the once-prosperous country.
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Planning commission to review land-use proposals

GALVESTON

The citys planning commission will take up land-use rules for development today as members review amendments to the document that have consensus among different parties and will be voted on by the city council later this month.

Proposals that have drawn criticism or objection in recent weeks and months will be postponed and part of a next review phase before the city council votes on whether to adopt those changes, officials said.

The Galveston Planning Commission today will discuss those changes and the comments the planning department has received on them, said Mayor pro tem Terrilyn Tarlton-Shannon, an ex-officio member of the planning commission, meaning she attends the meetings but cant vote.

The city moved the meeting to the council chambers because it expects a big turnout for the public hearing and the public will be able to comment during the 3:30 p.m. meeting, she said. Before the meeting, the planning commission will hold a workshop to discuss the changes, she said.

Many changes to be voted on later this month are administrative, such as cleaning up or defining certain language, according to the planning department.

One area that could be voted on is a proposal to add Neighborhood Services as a new zoning designation, Tarlton-Shannon said. The new designation would allow a person seeking to open a business in an area that abuts a residential neighborhood and commercial zone to apply for a zoning designation other than commercial or resort, which are the current options, she said.

Sometimes, neighborhoods oppose businesses because they are worried about the commercial zoning that would come with it, she said. The worry is about the potential for a desirable business closing and being replaced by undesirable business, she said. She used an example of a beauty salon seeking to open in a property that abuts a commercial zone but is considered residential. The neighborhood might not oppose the salon itself, but might be concerned about the property being designated commercial, she said.

The neighborhood services designation would allow for more variation in what can be accepted, such as permitting only businesses that are open during daytime hours, she said.

We desperately need it, she said. Being on council the longest and seeing businesses turned down because of those fears, I can understand the neighborhoods but at the same time its hard for the business owner.

The city in March 2015 approved the Galveston Land Development Regulations, a complete overhaul of a 1991 zoning and land-use document.

In the time since the 2015 approval, city planning staff has been working on revisions and proposed amendments to the document.

Those revisions went before the planning commission last year and to city council in October 2017. The city held public meetings on the changes through December 2017.

The council had planned to vote on those changes, but pushed back the vote after a request from the chambers subcommittee for more time to review the changes.

Galveston City Council will vote on the proposals where theres consensus on April 26 and revisit the issues about the document as a whole after that vote, he said.

The Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce and the citys planning department have differed on some sections of the document, including setbacks for RV facilities, parking lots and language about sign standards, among other things, according to documents compiled by the planning department. Those proposals will be postponed for more discussion, officials said.
The 951-foot Grand Princess will department from the Port of Los Angeles World Cruise Center Berth 93 about a month after the 1,060-foot Carnival Panorama marked the return of cruises out of the Port of Long Beach. The return of...
If you didn't know already, know you do:

There are grave concerns for the health of a blind alpaca left alone by the theft of his guide and brother.



Bambi has been left standing alone in his Dairy Flat paddock since March 12, when his brother Charisma was whisked away overnight.

Now one alpaca breeder says Bambi's plight alone on his hill may be dangerous to his health.

"Alpacas are very much herd animals and they do not like being alone. It just stresses them out and, in fact, some have died from the stress if it," Kathy Rademacher of Kaipara Pines Alpacas told Stuff.

"It will be really stressful for him to be by himself, let alone the fact he is blind. That's why we are kind of in a hurry to get in touch with these people so we can do something to alleviate his problem."

Ms Rademacher has reached out to Bambi's owners and offered a couple of her own young alpacas to keep Bambi company through these trying times.

Local police told Stuff they've received a plenty of reports of possible sightings of Charisma across New Zealand but do not have any leads yet.

They're still working their way through reports from public but say anyone else who has seen Charisma or knows something about his disappearance can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or Orewa police on 09 426 4555.

Newshub.
Inspired By George Weah Presidential Victory, Nwankwo Kanu Set To Contest 2019 Presidential Election

felicilin at 3-04-2018 01:46 PM (3 years ago) (f)

Inspired by George Weahs feat, Nigerias two-time African Player of the Year has announced intention to contest the Presidency of Nigeria in 2019, vowing to improve the countrys standard of living.

Inspired by George Weahs feat, Nigerias two-time African Player of the Year has announced intention to contest the Presidency of Nigeria in 2019, vowing to improve the countrys standard of living.

According to Goal.com,the former Nigeria international, who once played for Ajax, Inter Milan and Arsenal during his active days, said he had the dream to transform the most populous black nation.



The 1995 Champions League winner has not hidden his love for politics after ending his professional career at Portsmouth in 2012.



While announcing his intention to run for president, the 1996 and 1999 African Player of the Year addressed a number of his supporters.



He said: My presence here today is about the future of our country and the happiness of our people. According to Goal.com,the former Nigeria international, who once played for Ajax, Inter Milan and Arsenal during his active days, said he had the dream to transform the most populous black nation.The 1995 Champions League winner has not hidden his love for politics after ending his professional career at Portsmouth in 2012.While announcing his intention to run for president, the 1996 and 1999 African Player of the Year addressed a number of his supporters.He said: My presence here today is about the future of our country and the happiness of our people. Quote The last 18 years of leadership has witnessed a decline in all critical sectors of life in Nigeria, plus general insecurity in the land.



Also, Ill do all it takes to wrestle corruption which has become blatant and widespread. The rest of the world looks at Nigeria as the home of corruption. If I get your mandate, I promise to do things differently and restore honour and integrity to public service by keeping the best and attracting the best.



George Weahs victory in Liberia is a pointer that this dream is very realistic with you all on my side. Kanu is hoping to become Nigerias fifth president in the fourth Republic by unseating incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. Kanu is hoping to become Nigerias fifth president in the fourth Republic by unseating incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.

Post Reply Posted: at 3-04-2018 01:46 PM (3 years ago) | Hero

chukkychukky at 3-04-2018 02:05 PM (3 years ago)

(m) yes its possible if only ur been judge why ur intellectuals instead if tribe and religion Joramentity aka chukkychukky Posted: at 3-04-2018 02:05 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac yes its possible if only ur been judge why ur intellectuals instead if tribe and religion Reply

ngfineface at 3-04-2018 02:50 PM (3 years ago)

(f) Aso Rock don suffer. Even those that cannot speak and write good English want to be there. Mbok, the presidency is not Umunna position. Start from your local Govt first. You don't need publicity, you already have it. Don't waste your money on campaign. George went back to school and of course, he speaks good English. Posted: at 3-04-2018 02:50 PM (3 years ago) | Hero Aso Rock don suffer. Even those that cannot speak and write good English want to be there. Mbok, the presidency is not Umunna position. Start from your local Govt first. You don't need publicity, you already have it. Don't waste your money on campaign. George went back to school and of course, he speaks good English. Reply

ruthie at 3-04-2018 03:02 PM (3 years ago)

(f) Quote from: ngfineface on 3-04-2018 02:50 PM Aso Rock don suffer. Even those that cannot speak and write good English want to be there. Mbok, the presidency is not Umunna position. Start from your local Govt first. You don't need publicity, you already have it. Don't waste your money on campaign. George went back to school and of course, he speaks good English.

Posted: at 3-04-2018 03:02 PM (3 years ago) | Hero Reply

ruthie at 3-04-2018 03:04 PM (3 years ago)

(f) KANU KANU KANU. HOW MANY TIMES I CALL YOU....BE CAREFUL O..A WORD IS ENOUGH FOR THE WISE Posted: at 3-04-2018 03:04 PM (3 years ago) | Hero KANU KANU KANU. HOW MANY TIMES I CALL YOU....BE CAREFUL O..A WORD IS ENOUGH FOR THE WISE Reply

victorstic1 at 3-04-2018 03:26 PM (3 years ago)

(m) FOR THE FACT THAT THEY SAY POLITICS IS A GAME YOU SHOULD NOT MIX IT UP WITH FOOTBALL GAME IS NOT A SPORT SO YOUNG MAN DONT GET IT TWISTED START FROM LOCAL GOVT CHAIRMAN Posted: at 3-04-2018 03:26 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac FOR THE FACT THAT THEY SAY POLITICS IS A GAME YOU SHOULD NOT MIX IT UP WITH FOOTBALL GAME IS NOT A SPORT SO YOUNG MAN DONT GET IT TWISTED START FROM LOCAL GOVT CHAIRMAN Reply

cypanyahucha at 3-04-2018 03:51 PM (3 years ago)

(m) I know tha's what will happen. Unfortunately the old politicians will abort this dream before conception. Posted: at 3-04-2018 03:51 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac I know tha's what will happen. Unfortunately the old politicians will abort this dream before conception. Reply

Drpeter at 3-04-2018 04:13 PM (3 years ago)

(m) leadership is not all about fame but about intellectuals.Don't get it twisted KANU Posted: at 3-04-2018 04:13 PM (3 years ago) | Newbie leadership is not all about fame but about intellectuals.Don't get it twisted KANU Reply

fineboy77 at 3-04-2018 05:10 PM (3 years ago)

(m) Quote from: ngfineface on 3-04-2018 02:50 PM Aso Rock don suffer. Even those that cannot speak and write good English want to be there. Mbok, the presidency is not Umunna position. Start from your local Govt first. You don't need publicity, you already have it. Don't waste your money on campaign. George went back to school and of course, he speaks good English.

He speaks and writes better than two of the previous 3,and the wife of the third one What is the color beneath your skin? Posted: at 3-04-2018 05:10 PM (3 years ago) | Hero He speaks and writes better than two of the previous 3,and the wife of the third one Reply

nature7888 at 3-04-2018 05:11 PM (3 years ago)

(m) Good Posted: at 3-04-2018 05:11 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac Good Reply

Mashbol at 3-04-2018 06:02 PM (3 years ago)

(m) Play your card wisely and be careful Posted: at 3-04-2018 06:02 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac Play your card wisely and be careful Reply

slimber at 3-04-2018 08:26 PM (3 years ago)

(f) Hmmmm watching goodluck Posted: at 3-04-2018 08:26 PM (3 years ago) | Hero Hmmmm watching goodluck Reply

fineboy77 at 3-04-2018 09:21 PM (3 years ago)

(m) Quote from: Drpeter on 3-04-2018 04:13 PM leadership is not all about fame but about intellectuals.Don't get it twisted KANU

He was one of the most intelligent footballers of all time...,thats something,and far better than what we have now as president....,the most intelligent cow in Fulani land What is the color beneath your skin? Posted: at 3-04-2018 09:21 PM (3 years ago) | Hero He was one of the most intelligent footballers of all time...,thats something,and far better than what we have now as president....,the most intelligent cow in Fulani land Reply

crocatum at 3-04-2018 11:05 PM (3 years ago)

(m) this is the best option i have seen so far, he has a balanced temperament, he mouth is controlled, he seems to engaged with charity, he seems simple, and he seems to win the odds, like his health disease which he overcame, he is inspiring, and i hope he can demonstrate bright ideas we need in the 21st century. Posted: at 3-04-2018 11:05 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac this is the best option i have seen so far, he has a balanced temperament, he mouth is controlled, he seems to engaged with charity, he seems simple, and he seems to win the odds, like his health disease which he overcame, he is inspiring, and i hope he can demonstrate bright ideas we need in the 21st century. Reply

fineboy77 at 4-04-2018 09:55 AM (3 years ago)

(m) Quote from: crocatum on 3-04-2018 11:05 PM this is the best option i have seen so far, he has a balanced temperament, he mouth is controlled, he seems to engaged with charity, he seems simple, and he seems to win the odds, like his health disease which he overcame, he is inspiring, and i hope he can demonstrate bright ideas we need in the 21st century.

Thats the type of change this country actually needs,not changing old criminals,and people that i thought were the youth out here has already started attacking him and his ambition. Now i know that there are seventy something old women on this forum and some great grand fathers that go with them. What is the color beneath your skin? Posted: at 4-04-2018 09:55 AM (3 years ago) | Hero Thats the type of change this country actually needs,not changing old criminals,and people that i thought were the youth out here has already started attacking him and his ambition. Now i know that there are seventy something old women on this forum and some great grand fathers that go with them. Reply

EDDYPRINCE at 4-04-2018 10:08 AM (3 years ago)

(m) Kontinue dreaming, but I pray u wake up well. Posted: at 4-04-2018 10:08 AM (3 years ago) | Addicted Hero Kontinue dreaming, but I pray u wake up well. Reply

EDDYPRINCE at 4-04-2018 10:09 PM (3 years ago)

(m) kanu with him igbohetic English wan rule naija in fact this country Don suffer. Posted: at 4-04-2018 10:09 PM (3 years ago) | Addicted Hero kanu with him igbohetic English wan rule naija in fact this country Don suffer. Reply
felicilin at 3-04-2018 04:24 PM (3 years ago) (f)

'UK used' iPhones for sale in Nigeria's largest city amid Britain's epidemic of moped yobs, often armed with acid, robbing pedestrians of their smartphones

Moped thugs are snatching tens of thousands of phones on UK streets to supply a booming black market run by crime lords in Nigeria. The mobiles, seized by acid-armed yobs, are shipped 4,500 miles to be sold for up to 560 to Nigerias tech-starved middle classes.

iPhones for sale in Nigeria's largest city amid Britain's epidemic of moped yobs, often armed with acid, robbing pedestrians of their smartphonesMoped thugs are snatching tens of thousands of phones on UK streets to supply a booming black market run by crime lords in Nigeria. The mobiles, seized by acid-armed yobs, are shipped 4,500 miles to be sold for up to 560 to Nigerias tech-starved middle classes. Britain's moped yobs have been able to steal thousands of smartphones with many going on to be sold in Nigerian shops and markets where technology is scarce

Sun investigators discovered UK used iPhones being sold for 560 in stores and markets in Nigerias largest city Lagos. Business is booming for the Nigerian racketeers because of soaring demand from the oil-rich middle classes in a country where hi-tech gadgets are relatively scarce.

And because Nigeria has not signed up to a global deal blacklisting stolen phones, British moped gangs are able to keep the crime bosses supplied by exporting tens of thousands of snatched mobiles.





MPs urged police to cut off that supply by cracking down on the moped gangs.

Tory MP Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons Justice Committee, said: This is a very serious matter. Weve seen an increase in moped crimes across the UK.

Sun investigators discovered that markets and shops in Nigeria's largest city Lagos were advertising the phones as 'UK used' phones

The police need to take these crimes more seriously and make investigating them a higher priority. And sentences need to reflect that this is serious organised crime which should attract tougher penalties.

Fellow Tory Andrew Percy said: It is truly shocking to think that violent attacks here in the UK are being used to make black marketeers in other parts of the world wealthy.

In 2016 there were 446,000 UK phone thefts. In London alone there were 60,000 mobile thefts and robberies, almost two-thirds of them iPhones. In the 12 months to June 2017, the Met recorded 16,158 phone crimes related to mopeds, more than three times those reported in the year to June 2016.

Thousands of 'UK used' phones end up for sale at a Nigerian market in Lagos where many were stolen by moped gangs. The moped thugs are willing to resort to appalling violence.

Three weeks ago raider Derryck John was jailed for 10 years for hurling acid in the face of six people in London. He is one of an increasingly violent breed of young criminals hunting in packs armed with corrosive chemicals and knives.

They travel two to a moped so the passenger can grab valuables as they pass a victim. The phones they grab are first plundered of data which is used to try to hack bank accounts.

Brits may not realise that their stolen phones are often used to also steal information about them before being flogged in another country

Brits may not realise that their stolen phones are often used to also steal information about them before being flogged in another country

WE MUST TARGET 'CRIMINAL HANDLERS'

THE Suns investigation highlights that there are still parts of the world where stolen phones can be unblocked and sold on.All that is required is a new SIM card  and away you go.A combination of corrupt officials, unscrupulous businesses and a booming demand for Western technology makes Nigeria an ideal place for handlers to send stolen handsets.Meanwhile, police here are increasing efforts to target moped robbers. But more could be done.Police are not targeting fences. There are nowhere near enough search warrants being executed on the criminals handling stolen phones.

Last year in London there were over 60,000 mobile phone thefts.Yet only 1,200 villains were charged in the capital with handling stolen goods of all kinds.That equates to a tiny percentage of what was taken so in the vast majority of cases stolen property simply vanishes.By failing to target criminal handlers, police are fuelling the problem. By Mick Neville, Former Met DCI

They are then sold on in bulk to middle men who ship them to eastern Europe to be stripped of private information and reconditioned. The phones are then moved on for sale  with Nigeria, Algeria and India the main markets.

The Sun witnessed the end of the chain at the sprawling Computer Village market in the Lagos suburb of Ikeja.

Multiple stores offered UK phones and accessories and UK used phones at affordable prices.

Traders we questioned insisted their merchandise was from reputable sources. A seller at Emeka Michael EB International Shop said: Most of our phones are London used.

Statistics reveal that 16,000 phones were stolen by London moped gangs in just one year

We found iPhones at sale for 560  310 cheaper than the authorised Apple dealers price. Another store in Computer Village offered an iPhone 6 for 230.

Nigerias lack of phone network regulation makes it an easy target for crooks.

Countries across Europe, the US and South America have signed a deal to effectively blacklist stolen devices. It gives each phone a unique number which is added to a global database when it is reported stolen  making it useless in those nations who are part of the agreement.

But Nigeria is yet to sign up. And a mobile industry source said: By staying off the blacklist they are creating the market for stolen mobile phones. If all nations stood together, a mobile would be useless once reported stolen. But countries like Nigeria are effectively inviting illicit imports.

Lagos police claim they are 'not aware' that stolen mobile phones from the UK are ending up in their shops and markets

BBC documentary Inside Britains Moped Crime Gangs interviewed a Londoner who said he was a middleman between the bike yobs and the Nigerian racketeers.

The 22-year-old boasted: I bought that phone for cheap and Ill sell it for twice the amount of money.

The GSMA, the mobile operators trade association, welcomed The Suns investigation.

It said: Were pleased The Sun has highlighted this and will be redoubling our efforts to get mobile phone operators on board in Nigeria.

Thug Derryck John, 17, carried out acid attack on six bikers in bid to steal their mopeds before crashing into a lorry which ended his crime spree.

A Lagos police spokesman said: I am not aware that stolen phones from the UK end up in Lagos

If there is a complaint about a stolen phone in Lagos we shall investigate it. Britain's moped yobs have been able to steal thousands of smartphones with many going on to be sold in Nigerian shops and markets where technology is scarceSun investigators discovered UK used iPhones being sold for 560 in stores and markets in Nigerias largest city Lagos. Business is booming for the Nigerian racketeers because of soaring demand from the oil-rich middle classes in a country where hi-tech gadgets are relatively scarce.And because Nigeria has not signed up to a global deal blacklisting stolen phones, British moped gangs are able to keep the crime bosses supplied by exporting tens of thousands of snatched mobiles.MPs urged police to cut off that supply by cracking down on the moped gangs.Tory MP Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons Justice Committee, said: This is a very serious matter. Weve seen an increase in moped crimes across the UK.Sun investigators discovered that markets and shops in Nigeria's largest city Lagos were advertising the phones as 'UK used' phonesFellow Tory Andrew Percy said: It is truly shocking to think that violent attacks here in the UK are being used to make black marketeers in other parts of the world wealthy.In 2016 there were 446,000 UK phone thefts. In London alone there were 60,000 mobile thefts and robberies, almost two-thirds of them iPhones. In the 12 months to June 2017, the Met recorded 16,158 phone crimes related to mopeds, more than three times those reported in the year to June 2016.Thousands of 'UK used' phones end up for sale at a Nigerian market in Lagos where many were stolen by moped gangs. The moped thugs are willing to resort to appalling violence.Three weeks ago raider Derryck John was jailed for 10 years for hurling acid in the face of six people in London. He is one of an increasingly violent breed of young criminals hunting in packs armed with corrosive chemicals and knives.They travel two to a moped so the passenger can grab valuables as they pass a victim. The phones they grab are first plundered of data which is used to try to hack bank accounts.Brits may not realise that their stolen phones are often used to also steal information about them before being flogged in another countryBrits may not realise that their stolen phones are often used to also steal information about them before being flogged in another countryWE MUST TARGET 'CRIMINAL HANDLERS'THE Suns investigation highlights that there are still parts of the world where stolen phones can be unblocked and sold on.All that is required is a new SIM card  and away you go.A combination of corrupt officials, unscrupulous businesses and a booming demand for Western technology makes Nigeria an ideal place for handlers to send stolen handsets.Meanwhile, police here are increasing efforts to target moped robbers. But more could be done.Police are not targeting fences. There are nowhere near enough search warrants being executed on the criminals handling stolen phones.Last year in London there were over 60,000 mobile phone thefts.Yet only 1,200 villains were charged in the capital with handling stolen goods of all kinds.That equates to a tiny percentage of what was taken so in the vast majority of cases stolen property simply vanishes.By failing to target criminal handlers, police are fuelling the problem. By Mick Neville, Former Met DCIThey are then sold on in bulk to middle men who ship them to eastern Europe to be stripped of private information and reconditioned. The phones are then moved on for sale  with Nigeria, Algeria and India the main markets.The Sun witnessed the end of the chain at the sprawlingmarket in the Lagos suburb of Ikeja.Multiple stores offered UK phones and accessories andTraders we questioned insisted their merchandise was from reputable sources. A seller at Emeka Michael EB International Shop said: Most of our phones are London used.Statistics reveal that 16,000 phones were stolen by London moped gangs in just one yearWe found iPhones at sale for 560  310 cheaper than the authorised Apple dealers price. Another store in Computer Village offered an iPhone 6 for 230.Nigerias lack of phone network regulation makes it an easy target for crooks.Countries across Europe, the US and South America have signed a deal to effectively blacklist stolen devices. It gives each phone a unique number which is added to a global database when it is reported stolen  making it useless in those nations who are part of the agreement.But Nigeria is yet to sign up. And a mobile industry source said:The GSMA, the mobile operators trade association, welcomed The Suns investigation.It said: Were pleased The Sun has highlighted this and will be redoubling our efforts to get mobile phone operators on board in Nigeria.Thug Derryck John, 17, carried out acid attack on six bikers in bid to steal their mopeds before crashing into a lorry which ended his crime spree.A Lagos police spokesman said: I am not aware that stolen phones from the UK end up in LagosIf there is a complaint about a stolen phone in Lagos we shall investigate it.

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Weeks after travelling across cities abroad garnering support from Nigerians in the diaspora, Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and a 2019 presidential hopeful, has returned to Nigeria.

Weeks after travelling across cities abroad garnering support from Nigerians in the diaspora, Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and a 2019 presidential hopeful, has returned to Nigeria.

Mr. Sowore arrived at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos aboard a Delta Airline flight around 2.00 p.m. Tuesday.



The presidential hopeful was welcomed by a crowd of supporters including civil society activists, unionists and other youth leaders.



The supporters, who had besieged the airport as early as 1:00 p.m. before the arrival of the activist, came in a convoy of vehicles and were decked in branded t-shirts conveying solidarity messages in support of Mr. Sowores 2019 ambition.





They danced, sang and moved around with banners containing various inscriptions in support of their candidate.



You can see the mammoth crowd, we are going to take back our country, Osas, one of the supporters at the airport, told PREMIUM TIMES.



The crowd later moved from the airport to the Freedom Park in Ojota where a solidarity rally was held.



Mr. Sowore said he would be attending town hall meetings across Nigeria in recent weeks. Mr. Sowore arrived at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos aboard a Delta Airline flight around 2.00 p.m. Tuesday.The presidential hopeful was welcomed by a crowd of supporters including civil society activists, unionists and other youth leaders.The supporters, who had besieged the airport as early as 1:00 p.m. before the arrival of the activist, came in a convoy of vehicles and were decked in branded t-shirts conveying solidarity messages in support of Mr. Sowores 2019 ambition.They danced, sang and moved around with banners containing various inscriptions in support of their candidate.You can see the mammoth crowd, we are going to take back our country, Osas, one of the supporters at the airport, told PREMIUM TIMES.The crowd later moved from the airport to the Freedom Park in Ojota where a solidarity rally was held.Mr. Sowore said he would be attending town hall meetings across Nigeria in recent weeks.

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 3-04-2018 08:33 PM (3 years ago) | Hero
PRESS RELEASE

3 April 2018

WENTWORTH RESOURCES LIMITED

("Wentworth" or "the Company")

Monthly Payment Update

Wentworth, the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: WRL) and AIM (AIM: WRL) listed independent, East Africa-focused oil & gas company, is today providing an update to shareholders on gas sales payments.

The Company is pleased to inform shareholders that TPDC has authorised payment for gas sales generated from the Mnazi Bay Concession in Tanzania of $3.1 million net to Wentworth, with funds expected to be received shortly. The Company is also pleased to report that gross production volumes during March 2018 from the Mnazi Bay gas field averaged 83 MMscf/d, the highest monthly volumes achieved from the field to date, continuing the strong production reported for February 2018. The Company will provide a further update at the beginning of May 2018, in line with monthly updates.

-Ends-

Enquiries: Wentworth Geoffrey Bury,

Managing Director gpb@wentworthresources.com

+1 403 993 4450 Katherine Roe

Chief Financial Officer



katherine.roe@wentworthresources.com

+44 7841 087 230 Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited AIM Nominated Adviser and Broker (UK)

Callum Stewart

Nicholas Rhodes

Ashton Clanfield +44 (0) 20 7710 7600



GMP FirstEnergy



Broker (UK)

Hugh Sanderson

David van Erp



+44 (0) 20 7448 0200



Peel Hunt LLP











Broker (UK)

Richard Crichton

Ross Allister







+44 (0) 20 7418 8900



FTI Consulting Investor Relations Adviser (UK)

Edward Westropp

Kim Camilleri



wentworth@fticonsulting.com

+44 (0) 20 3727 1000

About Wentworth Resources

Wentworth Resources is a publicly traded (OSE: WRL, AIM: WRL), independent oil & gas company with: natural gas production; exploration and appraisal opportunities; and large-scale gas monetisation initiatives, all in the Rovuma Delta Basin of coastal southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique.

Inside Information

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by Wentworth to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) no. 596/2014 ("MAR"). On the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking information. The words "expect", "anticipate", believe", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "forecast", "plan", and similar expressions are used to identify forward looking information.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made in light of management's experience, current conditions and expected future development in the areas in which Wentworth is currently active and other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Wentworth undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcome will not occur, including some of which are beyond Wentworth's control. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to: the risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general such as operational risks in exploration, development and production, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures, the imprecision of resource and reserve estimates, assumptions regarding the timing and costs relating to production and development as well as the availability and price of labour and equipment, volatility of and assumptions regarding commodity prices and exchange rates, marketing and transportation risks, environmental risks, competition, the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources and changes in applicable law. Additionally, there are economic, political, social and other risks inherent in carrying on business in Tanzania and Mozambique. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could vary or differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. See Wentworth's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2017, available on Wentworth's website, for further description of the risks and uncertainties associated with Wentworth's business.

Notice



Neither the Oslo Stock Exchange nor the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange has reviewed this press release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
MONTREAL, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HPQ Silicon Resources Inc. (HPQ) (TSX-V:HPQ) (FWB:UGE) (OTCPink:URAGF) is pleased to inform shareholders that its newly created subsidiary, Solar Blockchain Energies Inc. (SBEI), has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an Undisclosed Blockchain Company (UBC) to advise, develop and implement a new set of blockchain solutions for the monetization of solar and renewable energy carbon credits through a marketplace, which will also serve to complete the Companys vertical integration plans from quartz to solar cells.



The UBC is one of the world's first developers of a hybrid permission-based blockchain protocol with big data capability. The UBC will develop a new set of blockchain solutions running on its core protocol that will develop, amongst other things, a marketplace for the monetization of solar based carbon credits generated in the near future by HPQ PUREVAP process by both the Company and its customers in the solar and renewable energy industries.

Solar Carbon Footprint Lifecycle Requires Blockchain Traceability

While the end result of traditional solar energy solutions is often referred to as low carbon or carbon neutral because it does not emit CO 2 during its operation, it is anything but a carbon-free form of energy generation due to significant CO 2 emissions that arise in earlier phases of its life cycle. Specifically, production of silicon wafers from quartz can contribute to over 70%1 of the Solar Carbon Footprint Lifecycle (SCFL).

The Economist, in an article titled How Clean Is Solar Power? stated Silicon is melted in electric furnaces where most electricity is produced by burning fossil fuelsso when a new solar panel is put to work it starts with a carbon debt that has to be paid back before it can become part of the solution. A panel made in China, for example, costs nearly double the greenhouse-gas emissions of one made in Europe.2

Since production processes and the geographical location of the plants play an important role in the extreme variability of each silicon wafer SCFL, it is almost impossible to accurately and transparently monetize the carbon credit that should be generated by Solar energy over its lifecycle without a universal ledger that can track the actual carbon footprint at both the production stage, as well as, the actual green energy produced by each silicon wafer.

By combining HPQs vertically integrated low carbon foot print PUREVAP production process to produce Solar Grade Silicon Metal with the UBC proprietary blockchain capacity, HPQs SBEI subsidiary will seek to create an open solar energy blockchain ecosystem that invites and allows other actors in the field to participate. HPQs SBEI subsidiary will also collaborate with the parent company of the UBC in order to monetize the carbon credit ledgers on a commercial marketplace, which should consolidate the Companys leadership position in the low carbon foot print solar space. Though final data is not yet available, HPQ and its partners believe the PUREVAP process can reduce the carbon footprint of a silicon wafer at production by 75%3. If so, this blockchain and marketplace initiative will help drive our global business by providing customers with significant carbon credit monetization opportunities.

Blockchain is the Key to Carbon Credit Monetization

Carbon credits, which put a price on carbon reductions, is a clear way in which companies and individuals can be empowered to reduce or offset the negative or unavoidable impact of their business and choices on the environment.

However, since its inception, the market is beset by a lack of visibility, which prevents people from trusting the carbon credit as an asset. Differing standards and regulations in different jurisdictions and the potential for double counting have resulted in a lack of confidence from potential market participants.

Without a universal ledger it isnt easy to track how much carbon youve used or  if you offset it  what the impact of your reduction has been on a tangible level. As an individual, it is hard to incorporate carbon credits into your daily life.

Carbon credits are the perfect candidate for a digital currency as they are data-driven, rely on multiple approval steps and exist separately from the physical impacts to which they correlate. Put simply, blockchain is the name for a digital ledger in which transactions  often made with "tokens" or a cryptocurrency  are recorded chronologically and publicly.

By placing a value on the ecosystems that support our planet, carbon credits internalise the invisible costs of everyday choices and allow a sustainable marketplace to emerge. This is the ultimate goal of the HPQ SBEI subsidiary and UBC partnership. Creating both an ecosystem, (Solar Blockchain Energies) and a "carbon currency" in order to consolidate the Solar generated carbon market.

Bernard J. Tourillon, Chairman and CEO of HPQ Silicon stated, Our entry into the solar and carbon credit blockchain space is a logical extension of our business model, and consistent with our proven approach of working with industry leaders in their specific fields. The Company has been considering this for some time but we waited until the right partnership project presented itself before moving forward. This transaction was done in such a way that both our PUREVAP project and our blockchain project will be independent from each other but will also benefit significantly from their respective strengths.

This News Release is available on the company's CEO Verified Discussion Forum , a moderated social media platform that enables civilized discussion and Q&A between Management and Shareholders.

1 Assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from solar PV and wind energy: A critical meta-survey, Energy Policy, February 2014, Pages 229-244

2 https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21711301-new-paper-may-have-answer-how-clean-solar-power

3 Versus traditional chemical processes to purify SoG Si (Siemens Process) (HPQ PR dated March 15, 2016)

About HPQ Silicon

HPQ Silicon Resources Inc. is a TSX-V listed resource company planning to become a vertically integrated High Purity, Solar Grade Silicon Metal (SoG Si) producer and a manufacturer of multi and monocrystalline solar cells of the P and N types, required for high performance photovoltaic conversion.

HPQs first goal is to develop, in collaboration with industry leaders Pyrogenesis (PYR.T) and Apollon Solar the innovative metallurgical PUREVAPTM Quartz Reduction Reactors (QRR) process (patent pending), which will permit it to produce SoG Si in one step. The start of the pilot plant that will validate the commercial potential of the process is planned for second half of 2018.

Disclaimers:

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "may", "plan", "will", "estimate", "continue", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "in the process" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's on-going filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

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.

Shares outstanding: 194,867,557

For further information contact

Bernard J. Tourillon, Chairman and CEO, Tel: (514) 907-1011

Patrick Levasseur, President and COO, Tel: (514) 262-9239

www.HPQSilicon.com
NEW YORK, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Full-service agency Rauxa today announced it was named agency of record (AOR) for loyalty marketing by national airline carrier Alaska Airlines. The agency will help drive awareness, program growth and member engagement for the airlines loyalty program, Alaska Mileage Plan, as well as its branded credit card, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card.



Alaska Mileage Plan is an essential piece of Alaskas overall value proposition. Genuine and caring service, low fares, great value and our generous Mileage Plan are commitments we make to our guests, said Ryan Butz, Alaska Airlines Managing Director of Loyalty. Over our two-year relationship with Rauxa, weve seen that they are passionate about our customers and about driving results for our program. We look forward to partnering together to take our program to the next level for our Mileage Plan members. We are thrilled to name Rauxa as Alaska Airlines Loyalty Marketing AOR.

Today, travelers want more than miles. They want to be recognized for who they are as individuals, and we understand how to apply data, technology and creativity to deliver that for Alaskas customers, said Gina Alshuler, Rauxa President and CEO. Were excited to expand our partnership with Alaska Airlines, and to elevate the loyalty component of what is already the best airline experience in America.

Rauxa began working with Alaska Airlines in 2016, managing acquisition communications for the Seattle-based carriers Mileage Plan. That scope of work included print advertising, an email acquisition program and, ultimately, the full ecosystem of communications for Alaska Airlines customer acquisition (email, outdoors, digital and social).

About Rauxa

Makers of results, Rauxa applies data, technology, and content to create measurable impact at maximum speed for clients that include Gap Inc., TGI Fridays, and Verizon. The countrys largest woman-owned independent advertising agency, Rauxa is powered by a team of more than 250 marketing professionals in seven locations across the countrydefined by the distinction, Head. Heart. Hustle. Find out more at www.rauxa.com.
MONTREAL, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- I-MED Pharma Inc., a Canadian Company specializing in dry eye diagnosis and management, is pleased to announce receiving regulatory approval from INVIMA in Colombia and ANMAT in Argentina for its patented I-PEN Osmolarity System.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9e4c7695-0adf-443f-b28f-52d13059969d

The I-PEN Osmolarity System is the worlds first handheld platform that offers eye care professionals a quick and reliable tool for screening dry eye patients.

Daniel Hofmann, President of I-MED Pharma, stated, We are very pleased that the I-PEN Osmolarity System has received regulatory approval in Colombia and Argentina, two of the biggest economies in Latin America. The I-PEN Osmolarity System is an invaluable asset for measuring tear osmolarity, a key step in identifying the presence and severity of dry eye disease. Through our partnership with Gamma Vision in Colombia and Argentina, the I-PEN is now available in 5 countries in South America. We believe this partnership will provide a much-needed economical solution for clinicians looking for an efficient and reliable diagnostic tool in this area.

Mariano Cabo, President of Gamma Vision, states, We are extremely excited about the I-PEN Osmolarity System and we are confident that doctors will appreciate its unique features, while embracing its affordability. Our collaboration with I-MED Pharma, a global leader in Ocular Surface Disease, will be instrumental in growing the dry eye diagnostic market in Colombia and Argentina. Practitioners will now have the capability to diagnose and treat dry eye disease with confidence.

About I-MED Pharma Inc.

I-MED Pharma Inc. is a privately held Canadian company, headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, servicing Canadian ophthalmologists, optometrists and the global eye care community. Established almost thirty years ago, I-MED Pharma creates and distributes innovative medical, surgical and veterinary eye care products worldwide. It continually researches, develops and sources the most effective and advanced solutions to eye disorders like cataracts, corneal degeneration, dry eye, glaucoma and Meibomian gland disease.

I-MED Pharma is proud to have been at the forefront of treating Dry Eye Syndrome as a serious disease and invests heavily into education and developing effective dry eye products. I-MED Pharmas ocular surface disease product range includes diagnostic tools, ocular hygiene, nutrition, dry eye drops and ocular occlusion devices.

About Gamma Vision

Founded in 2001, Gamma Vision has become a regional market leader in South America within the ophthalmic devices field with operations in Argentina (headquarters), Peru and Colombia.

Being one of the top IOL  distributors for many years, Gamma Vision opened a diagnostic & surgical equipment division in 2015, carrying many of the most innovative international brands.

For more information, please email media@imedpharma.com or visit www.imedpharma.com.
Saudi Arabias crown prince affirmed Israels right to exist in a widely publicized interview on Monday. The comments reflect a growing relationship between the two Middle Eastern nations.

Still, the comments were shocking. After all, Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations.

What did the prince say?

Speaking to The Atlantic in a candid interview , Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he believes the Israelis and Palestinians both have the right to have their own land.

I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations, he said.

The 32-year-old crowd prince added that his nation has no religious objections to a Jewish state.

We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We dont have any objection against any other people, he said.

Our country doesnt have a problem with Jews, the crown prince added, explaining Islams prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman.

Currently, Saudi Arabia doesnt maintain formal diplomatic relations with Israel, and has said for years that cooperation between the two nations would require Israel to relinquish lands conquered during the 1967 Middle East War, also known as the Six-Day War.

But it appears that may soon change. Crown Prince Mohammed, who became heir to the Saudi crown last July, has made huge efforts to modernize Saudi Arabia, including loosening many societal restrictions. Shortly after his ascension, Saudi Arabia announced that women would be granted the right to drive.

In his interview with The Atlantic, the crown prince voiced his desires for further reforms, but expresses Saudi Arabia would need to do it their way  not the American way  so as to not splinter the country.

What does Iran have to do with it?

Crown Prince Mohammed has not hidden his disdain for the Iranian regime or his displeasure with former President Barack Obamas nuclear deal with Iran. The Atlantic asked the crown prince whether or not he believes having Iran as a mutual enemy is pulling his country closer to Israel. MbS replied:

Israel is a big economy compared to their size and its a growing economy, and of course there are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan.

During the interview, the crown prince said Irans Supreme Leader  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  makes Hitler look good.

Hitler didnt do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad. But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world. He believes he owns the world, Crown Prince Mohammed said.

In the 1920s and 1930s, no one saw Hitler as a danger. Only a few people. Until it happened, the crown prince explained. We dont want to see what happened in Europe happen in the Middle East. We want to stop this through political moves, economic moves, intelligence moves. We want to avoid war.
Islamic extremists in northeast Nigeria retained the only Christian among more than 100 kidnapped girls who were freed last week, prompting the head of her church denomination to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to obtain her release.



Boko Haram refused to release Leah Nathan Sharibu, 15, because she would not renounce her faith and convert to Islam, according to released Muslim girls. The Rev. Jeremiah Gado, president of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), said in a press statement on Friday (March 23) that her parents are members of the ECWA congregation in Dapchi, Yobe state, in northeast Nigeria.



"We call on the federal government and all its agencies to ensure the immediate release of Leah Sherubu, who is a member of ECWA, without any conditions," Gado said. "We condemn in strong terms any attempt to forcefully convert anyone from one religion to another. As a church we continue to pray for her release and the release of all abducted Nigerians."



Leah was among more than 100 girls kidnapped at a public high school, Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, by Boko Haram on Feb. 19. Five of the kidnapped girls died from the "stress and trauma" of being kidnapped, including one who was trampled to death, but the girls were not mistreated, one Muslim girl reportedly said. The other girls, numbering at least 101 according to government registers, were released on Wednesday (March 21).



Lado said the ECWA was moved by the courage of the teenager who declined to renounce her faith in the face of threats from the terrorists.



"The Evangelical Church Winning All salutes the courage, doggedness, and faith of Leah Sharubu," he said. "She has not been released because she refused to denounce her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as a Christian."



Buhari had said earlier through a spokesman, Garba Shehu, that his administration would not cease efforts to get Leah released.



"His heart goes out to the isolated parents who must watch others rejoice while their own daughter is still away [in captivity]," Shehu said. "The lone Dapchi girl, Leah, will not be abandoned."



Denying that any ransoms were paid or prisoners swapped, the administration has said friendly countries and international organizations helped negotiate the release of the girls.



Parents



Khadija Grema, one of the freed girls, reportedly said Leah was not released because she refused to recant her faith in Jesus Christ.



"They freed all of us except one girl, Leah whom they said would not go because she was a Christian," Khadija said. "The people that took us away were all speaking Kanuri and Arabic. They didn't tell us any meaningful reason why we were freed and returned. They just said we are Muslims, and they felt it was right for them to free us so that we will not suffer."



Leah's mother, Rebecca Nathan Sharibu, told Nigerian online news outlet Premium Times that her heart was broken when she searched through the released girls on Wednesday and could not find Leah. She reportedly collapsed and had to be taken to a hospital after learning her daughter had not been released.



"What her schoolmates that returned told me was that my daughter was told she must recite the Kalima Shahada [the Islamic profession of faith]," she told the Premium Times. "They said my daughter would only be brought back home the day she recites Kalima Shahada."



Leah insisted that she did not know how to recite it, and that she was not brought up as a Muslim, the girls told her.



"She then pleaded with her friends that if they eventually made it home successfully, they should inform we, her parents, to continue to help her pray for God to protect her and bring her home safely as well; that whether she survived or not, she still needed prayers," Sharibu said.



Leah's father, Nathan Sharibu, told Nigerian radio station Raypower that he was told his daughter was not released because she refused to deny Jesus Christ and recant her Christian faith.



"I called the parents who are in Dapchi," he told Raypower. "They said she was a Christian, that's why they could not release her. They said she cannot be released until she becomes a Muslim. And my daughter said she would never be a Muslim."



Sharibu called on the Nigerian government to ensure his daughter is released.



"The Nigeria government must do all within its powers to go and bring back my daughter, the same way they did to others," he said.



Bukar Kachalla, father of one of the abducted schoolgirls and secretary of the parents group, told journalists in Dapchi that they were saddened when they learned Leah had not been released.



"We were told by the Boko Haram that she was not released because she refused to put on hijab," he said.



The Rev. Yakubu Pam, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Northern Nigeria Chapter, said Boko Haram's demand that Leah convert vindicates Nigerian church leaders' position that the terrorist group targets Christians.



"The federal government of Nigeria, which has been in touch with her captors, should hasten effort and ensure that Miss Leah Nathan Sharibu and other Chibok Christian girls are released," Pam told Morning Star News.



About 100 of the 276 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram from the town of Chibok, in Borno state, in 2014 are still missing.



Boko Haram, whose name is loosely translated as, "Western education is a sin," has fought for nine years to impose sharia (Islamic law) on all of Nigeria, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing more than 2 million. Boko Haram militants reportedly warned parents of the returned Dapchi girls not to send their daughters back to school.



In 2015 the Nigerian military began taking back most of the territory Boko Haram had controlled, but many areas remain, and the terrorists are still mounting isolated attacks.



Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigeria's population, while Muslims living primarily in the north and middle belt account for 45 percent.



Nigeria ranked 14th on Open Doors' 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.


At this time of Billy Graham's passing, American evangelical Christianity looks to be in steep decline, at least judging by numbers. The proportion of white Americans who identify as evangelical has fallen from 23 percent of the population in 2006 to 17 percent in 2016. Furthermore, a recent survey shows that evangelicalism is aging: Only 8 percent of whites ages 18 to 29, versus 26 percent over 65, identify as evangelicals.



Current trends, then, suggest that the evangelicalism of the future will be smaller, grayer, more closely identified with the Republican Party, and more out of step with the views of younger Americans than it is at present. It might seem that Billy Graham is the last nonpartisan evangelical. But as one who teaches the history of evangelicalism, I can imagine different possibilities.



In 1935 the premier magazine of liberal Protestantism, the Christian Century, called the famous early 20th-century revivalist Billy Sunday "the last of his line." But less than 20 years later, Billy Graham would lead evangelicalism to revival.



In a way, evangelicalism has been here before.



What facilitated Graham's rise

Graham rose to prominence in the post-World War II period as the public face of what scholars describe as "neo-evangelicalism."



The historian of religion Joel Carpenter describes neo-evangelicalism as the vision of a number of prominent religious leaders who wanted to create a form of conservative Protestantism that could escape from the long shadow of fundamentalism.



In 1925 fundamentalists succeeded in passing a law in Tennessee banning the teaching of evolution in public schools. That same year the young teacher, John Scopes, was prosecuted for teaching evolution in the famous Scopes "monkey trial." Since then, "fundamentalism" had become synonymous with intolerance and anti-intellectualism.



However, as the Congregationalist minister Harold Ockenga put it, a new generation wanted to create "a progressive fundamentalism with an ethical message."



Graham, already a rising star, was soon adopted as the right man to represent the new "evangelicalism." Over time, as described by his close associate A. Larry Ross, Graham became the closest thing to an official spokesman for this movement.



It is true that Graham did not single-handedly rescue evangelicalism from fundamentalism, but his contribution remains unmatched.



The question now is whether a repeat of the neo-evangelical project possible - could there be another Billy Graham?



Factors today

Graham's success was enabled by the conditions of his day. And there are similarities between his day and ours.



First and perhaps most importantly, evangelicalism has an image problem comparable to that of earlier fundamentalism: Large numbers of Americans, particularly younger ones, regard evangelicalism as simply un-Christian. Evangelicalism, in other words, is ripe for revival.



Second, Graham had backers among the established religious leaders of his day. Today too there are pastors and authors - such as Rick Warren, T. D. Jakes and Joel Osteen - who have large followings and good reputations. They might unite behind a rising star, as Ockenga and others did behind Graham.



And third, Graham benefited significantly from business interests who backed his free-market message. If anything, the links between conservative Protestantism and corporate capitalism have only strengthened in recent decades.



A prospective successor to Graham could probably count on support from the business sector so long as he or she stayed away from sensitive topics like economic inequality.



What stops the rise of evangelicalism

But on the other hand, consider what has been happening of late to once-prominent evangelical leaders who have suggested that evangelicalism does not have to be as fundamentalist or as wedded to social and political conservatism as it has sometimes been.



I have in mind figures who want to be recognizably centrist evangelicals, not those who clearly belong to the small but persistent "evangelical left."A rather large number of this first group are now, publicly, "former" evangelicals.



Take the case of David Gushee, author of "Still Christian: Following Jesus Out of American Evangelicalism." Gushee converted to evangelical Christianity in 1978 and has had a distinguished career as an evangelical Christian ethicist. But tensions arose when he began publicly addressing issues like climate change and torture.



The event that triggered his departure from evangelism was his public embrace of same-sex relationships. On the day the news broke, Gushee recalls, "My phone, as the kids say, blew up."



Alongside expressions of support and appreciation he received a flood of rejections via the entire range of contemporary media, including, as he explains:



"anonymous letters in the mail with lots of vile photocopied materials, angry e-mails, Facebook posts and direct messages, tweets, critical reviews, invitations to debate, Twitter bomb attacks when I refused to debate."



Shortly afterwards, the "disinvitations" started: scheduled speaking engagements canceled, a revised edition of a book pulled, and on and on. Four months later Gushee realized that he had "left an entire world behind." It is not clear whether Gushee chose to leave evangelicalism or whether he was pushed out.



Many other former evangelicals have similar stories. Among these are Rob Bell, the author of "Love Wins," the controversial book that questioned common evangelical positions on hell; Brian McLaren, the intellectual force behind "the emerging church," a once-promising movement of renewal among younger evangelicals; and prominent bloggers and authors Rachel Held Evans and Jen Hatmaker.



At one time these were all regarded as bright lights of younger evangelicalism. All of them have tried to moderate those aspects of evangelicalism that are responsible for its generally poor reputation in American society at large. And all of them, after attracting significant amounts of criticism from their fellow evangelicals, have moved on from evangelicalism.



Not everything about this pattern is new. For as long as there has been "evangelicalism," there have been debates about what, exactly, being an evangelical requires.



A delicate question for neo-evangelicalism has always been where exactly the boundary lies between it and the liberal Christianity of the mainline Protestant denominations. And the issue today is that symbolic boundaries work very differently in the age of the internet. The sheer volume of criticism that a public figure can receive these days is infinitely greater than it was a generation ago. Today anyone can get in on the business of policing the boundaries.



Under current conditions, anyone practicing the sort of evangelical self-criticism that figured prominently in the early history of neo-evangelicalism - like, say, that of theologian Carl Henry in his 1948 book, "The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism," which argued that fundamentalists should show more interest in pressing social issues - would be vulnerable to a barrage of online criticism. Henry, and Graham for that matter, never ran into this dynamic.



Success in the business of reviving evangelicalism will require more in the way of personal qualities than just integrity, charisma and good preaching: It will require a deep bench of supporters, whether persons or institutions, capable of withstanding criticism for more than, say, two days.



It will also require the thickest of skins.



Andrew Dole is a Professor of Religion at Amherst College. This article first appeared in The Conversation.


Governments around the nation are working to design the best vaccine policies that keep both their employees and their residents safe. Although the latest data shows a variety of polarizing perspectives, there are clear emerging best practices that leading governments are following to put trust first: creating policies that are flexible and provide a range of options, and being in tune with the needs and sentiments of their employees so that they are able to be dynamic and accommodate the rapidly changing situation.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker reportedly signed a bill on Tuesday that bans health insurance for the state'spublic employees from covering abortion services, except in cases of rape, incest or medical necessity to save the mother's life.This makes Wisconsin the 22nd state with a law of this kind, whichextends to municipal employees in these places.Barring abortion coverage for public employees is one of the most popular abortion restrictions in the years since Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute , a pro-abortion organization that tracks reproductive rights around the world.It is designed to steer a patient to continue a pregnancy rather than allowing the pregnant person to make the best health care decision, says Elizabeth Nash, state policy expert for the Guttmacher Institute.With the exception of Colorado -- which is purple and has had a ban on abortions for public employees' insurance plans since the 1980s -- most of the states with a law like Wisconsin's are solidly conservative. Many of them were passed years ago. Kansas and Georgia are two of the most recent states to approve the ban -- in 2011 and 2013, respectively.Republicans believe that no tax dollars should go to abortion services, and Democrats believe that abortion services should be affordable and easily accessible to all women.Wisconsin state Sen. David Craig, a sponsor of the bill, said it isnt designed necessarily to prevent abortions -- just places restrictions on who pays for them, according to theWhen the bill was first introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature in 2013, it was met with fierce resistance from Democrats. State Sen. Jon Erpenbach said hed unleash all hell if the Legislature voted on the bill. The GOP-controlled Legislature abandoned it then but took up the issue again this session where it passed the Assembly and Senate along party lines.It isnt just public employees' insurance plans that have restrictions on abortion coverage: 26 states dont offer abortion services for plans sold on their health insurance exchanges, and 11 states prohibit abortion coverage for all private insurance plans.Still, research shows that either women dont know their insurance would cover an abortion or they choose not to use it. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 53 percent of women pay for an abortion out-of-pocket -- regardless of whether their insurance covers it.
Teacher protests are spreading like a cold in a kindergarten classroom.After West Virginia educators' nine-day strike ended in a resounding labor victory last month that secured 5 percent pay raises, teachers in several more red states launched walkouts and rallied at state capitols this week.Oklahoma's public schools remained closed on Tuesday as teachers held a massive rally at the state Capitol, lobbying legislators to increase funding for public schools. Teachers there have spoken about donating plasma and working second jobs to make ends meet.In Kentucky, thousands of teachers are spending their spring break rallying at the Capitol. Some schools that aren't on break were closed Monday and Tuesday. Teachers there are protesting a bill they say would cut their pensions.And teachers are threatening to strike in Arizona if they dont get a 20 percent pay raise. So far, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has said he will not give in to their demands and reiterated his plans to cut state taxes.In all these states, teachers are among the lowest-paid in the country -- the average salary is just $44,921 in Oklahoma. These states also have relatively weak labor protection laws.In West Virginia, collective bargaining is outright banned. In Arizona and Kentucky, there are no statutes allowing for teachers right to collectively bargain. Oklahoma teachers do have collective bargaining rights, but like the other states, their union lacks wide influence.All four are right-to-work states, meaning employees aren't forced to pay union dues but can still reap the benefits of union-negotiated contracts. Where right-to-work laws exist, union membership is generally lower . In Michigan, for example, 14.4 percent of the workforce belonged to a union in 2016 -- down from about 20 percent at the start of the decade. The state passed a right-to-work law in 2013.All four states also technically outlaw public-sector strikes.Many labor experts believe weak labor laws -- such as the right to work and the lack of collective bargaining rights --to lower salaries, eventually generating enough unrest for strikes to happen.But a new study from Stanford University suggests this alleged causation, while intuitive, is a myth.People think collective bargaining rights lead to ballooning public expenses and higher pay [for public employees], says Agustina Paglayan, a fellow at the Center for Global Development and author of the study. But that ignores that states that have collective bargaining rights were already spending more on education even before those rights [were instituted].According to Paglayans study, in 1990, teacher salaries were 18 percent higher in collective bargaining states. But as far back as 1959 -- before any state instituted collective bargaining rights --teacher salaries were still 18 percent higher in states that would eventually come to have these rights.This is, in part, because theyre more liberal and wealthier, Paglayan says. Often, red states are states that have historically paid their teachers little.Paglayan says she found no evidence that collective bargaining had a measurable effect on teacher salaries or education funding. She argues that's partially because so many states that have enacted these laws -- 19 of 33 -- also made striking illegal and subject to penalties, such as taking away two days of pay for every day of a strike. Without the ability to strike, unions lose their leverage in collective bargaining negotiations.But the strikes in these Republican states point to a potentially counterintuitive reality: Weak labor laws dont necessarily halt labor movements -- and may even help facilitate them.In the states currently striking, strikes are technically illegal and can cost a teacher his or her job. But, Paglayan says, teachers know that will never happen. They cant fire every teacher in the state.""The teachers unions [in the striking states] are not especially strong, compared to most other states on the coast, for example. And its very interesting that were getting these sort of wildcat, organized, Facebook-facilitated strikes in a way weve never seen before," says Nat Malkus, director of education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "What does it say about this situation that were seeing workers get a ton of traction without, or even in spite of, the unions?"At a time when unions' strength could be significantly dampened if the U.S. Supreme Court rules as expected this year and allows public-sector workers to opt out of paying union fees, these strikes could be a good omen for worried public employees.
Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill that makes her state the 50th and final one to enact a consumer data breach notification law.The measure requires that residents be notified within 45 days after a breach has been discovered if it is reasonably likely to cause substantial harm. The notification could be delayed if it would interfere with a law enforcement investigation.Until recently, Alabama and South Dakota were the only states that didnt have data breach notification laws.Last month, South Dakota Gov. Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, signed a measure into law that would require affected residents to be notified within 60 days of a data breachs discovery.Legislators in a number of states have been trying to toughen consumer protections, in the wake of law years massive Equifax breach that exposed the personal data of nearly 148 million Americans.Last year, there were a record 1,579 data breaches in the United States, a nearly 45 percent hike over the previous year, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that helps victims of identity theft and promotes public awareness.Yesterday, retail company Hudsons Bay, which owns Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, announced that it had been the victim of hacking by cybercriminals. A cybersecurity research firm said the hackers had obtained more than 5 million customer credit and debit card numbers.At least 29 states are taking up consumer security breach notification bills this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In more than a dozen states, measures would require residents to be notified within a given time, from 48 hours up to 60 days.State laws dealing with security breach notification vary considerably, from when affected victims must be notified to what is considered personal information.
Masterfile / Radius Images / Corbis

The fact that the average American working woman earns only about 8o% of what the average American working man earns has been something of a festering sore for at least half the population for several decades. And despite many programs and analyses and hand-wringing and badges and even some legislation, the figure hasn't budged much in the past five years.

But now there's evidence that the ship may finally be turning around: according to a new analysis of 2,000 communities by a market research company, in 147 out of 150 of the biggest cities in the U.S., the median full-time salaries of young women are 8% higher than those of the guys in their peer group. In two cities, Atlanta and Memphis, those women are making about 20% more. This squares with earlier research from Queens College, New York, that had suggested that this was happening in major metropolises. But the new study suggests that the gap is bigger than previously thought, with young women in New York City, Los Angeles and San Diego making 17%, 12% and 15% more than their male peers, respectively. And it also holds true even in reasonably small areas like the Raleigh-Durham region and Charlotte in North Carolina (both 14% more), and Jacksonville, Fla. (6%). (See TIME's special report on the state of the American woman.)

Here's the slightly deflating caveat: this reverse gender gap, as it's known, applies only to unmarried, childless women under 30 who live in cities. The rest of working women  even those of the same age, but who are married or don't live in a major metropolitan area  are still on the less scenic side of the wage divide.

The figures come from James Chung of Reach Advisors, who has spent more than a year analyzing data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. He attributes the earnings reversal overwhelmingly to one factor: education. For every two guys who graduate from college or get a higher degree, three women do. This is almost the exact opposite of the graduation ratio that existed when the baby boomers entered college. Studies have consistently shown that a college degree pays off in much higher wages over a lifetime, and even in many cases for entry-level positions. "These women haven't just caught up with the guys," says Chung. "In many cities, they're clocking them."

Chung also claims that, as far as women's pay is concerned, not all cities are created equal. Having pulled data on 2,000 communities and cross-referenced the demographic information with the wage-gap figures, he found that the cities where women earned more than men had at least one of three characteristics. Some, like New York City or Los Angeles, had primary local industries that were knowledge-based. Others were manufacturing towns whose industries had shrunk, especially smaller ones like Erie, Pa., or Terre Haute, Ind. Still others, like Miami or Monroe, La., had a majority minority population. (Hispanic and black women are twice as likely to graduate from college as their male peers.) (See the top 10 female leaders.)

Significantly, the conditions that are feeding the rise in female wages  a growing knowledge-based economy, the decline of a manufacturing base and an increasing minority population  are dominant trends throughout the U.S. "This generation [of women] has adapted to the fundamental restructuring of the American economy better than their older predecessors or male peers," says Chung. While the economic advantage of women sometimes evaporates as they age and have families, Chung believes that women now may have enough leverage that their financial gains may not be completely erased as they get older.

The holdout cities  those where the earnings of single, college-educated young women still lag men's  tended to be built around industries that are heavily male-dominated, such as software development or military-technology contracting. In other words, Silicon Valley could also be called Gender Gap Gully.

As for the somewhat depressing caveat that the findings held true only for women who were childless and single: it's not their marital status that puts the squeeze on their income. Rather, highly educated women tend to marry and have children later. Thus the women who earn the most in their 20s are usually single and childless.

The rise of female economic power is by no means limited to the U.S., nor necessarily to the young. Late last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that for the first time, women made up the majority of the workforce in highly paid managerial positions. The change in the status quo has been marked enough that several erstwhile women's advocates have started to voice concerns about how to get more men to go to college. Is there an equivalent to Title IX for men?

See poll results on men, women and society.
ARCATA, Calif. -- Over the decades, this quiet coastal hamlet has earned a reputation as one of the most liberal places in the nation. Arcata was the first U.S. city to ban the sale of genetically modified foods, the first to elect a majority Green Party city council and one of the first to tacitly allow marijuana farming before pot was legal.Now it's on the verge of another first.No other city has taken down a monument to a president for his misdeeds. But Arcata is poised to do just that. The target is an 8 1/2 -foot bronze likeness of William McKinley, who was president at the turn of the last century and stands accused of directing the slaughter of Native peoples in the U.S. and abroad."Put a rope around its neck and pull it down," Chris Peters shouted at a recent rally held at the statue, which has adorned the central square for more than a century.Peters, who heads the Arcata-based Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous People, called McKinley a proponent of "settler colonialism" that "savaged, raped and killed."A presidential statue would be the most significant casualty in an emerging movement to remove monuments honoring people who helped lead what Native groups describe as a centuries-long war against their very existence.The push follows the rapid fall of Confederate memorials across the South in a victory for activists who view them as celebrating slavery. In the nearly eight months since white supremacists marched in central Virginia to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue, cities across the country have yanked dozens of Confederate monuments. Black politicians and activists have been among the strongest supporters of the removals.This time, it's tribal activists taking charge, and it's the West and California in particular leading the way. The state is home to the largest Native American population in the country and more than 100 federally recognized tribes.In February, San Francisco officials said they planned to remove a prominent downtown monument depicting a defeated Native American at the feet of a vaquero and a Spanish missionary. In March, the San Jose City Council booted a statue of Christopher Columbus from the lobby of City Hall.Other states are joining the movement. The city of Kalamazoo, Mich., said last month it would take down a park monument of a Native American in a headdress kneeling before a westward-facing pioneer. In Alcalde, N.M., and El Paso, statues of the conquistador Juan de Onate have become subjects of renewed debate.In Baltimore, a city councilman has vowed to replace a smashed Columbus monument with something that better reflects "current-day values."In Arcata, a city of about 17,000 about two hours south of the Oregon state line, a long-simmering debate over McKinley caught fire after Charlottesville. Area tribes and activists launched a petition campaign and descended on City Hall. The protesters said they couldn't watch Confederate monuments fall without thinking of their own statue.By the winter, the plaza played host to regular protests. McKinley became a symbol of Arcata's sins against Natives and, by extension, other races too, forcing the city to confront some of its embarrassing history. In 1886, for example, Arcata passed a law calling for the "total expulsion of the Chinese."McKinley also became a target for anger at President Trump, who has stoked racial tensions with his comments -- including his continued insistence that there were "very fine people" among the white supremacists who rallied in Charlottesville.One Arcata resident was so incensed over McKinley that he protested 26 days straight on the plaza. He held a sign that read, "This Christmas, give the gift of not supporting racism and murder. Remove the statue."The debate culminated in February during a long and anger-filled City Council meeting, when dozens of residents packed City Hall to testify on both sides of the issue. In the end, the council voted 4 to 1 to get rid of the statue."Is there a difference between honoring McKinley and Robert E. Lee?" the mayor, Sofia Pereira, who was part the majority, said in a recent interview. "They both represent historical pain."The land that is now Arcata was once inhabited by the Wiyot Tribe. Then in the 1850s the logging boom began -- and pioneers seeking wealth began rapidly grabbing tribal lands. In 1860, settlers massacred dozens of Wiyots, whom tribe members still mourn today. Wiyot children were commonly abducted and forced into servitude.McKinley, a Republican who was president from 1897 until his assassination in 1901, never set foot in the region. But after his death dozens of memorials to him popped up across the nation.In Honolulu, there's McKinley High School. In Philadelphia, a McKinley statue stands in front of City Hall. Chicago has McKinley Park neighborhood, with a statue of the president at the entrance to its main park.The highest mountain in North America, Alaska's Mt. Denali, was named Mt. McKinley until it was officially returned to his original name in 2015. Unlike other sites, the mountain got its name before McKinley died.Just north of Arcata is an unincorporated area called McKinleyville.The McKinley statue has been in Arcata Plaza since 1906, when a local businessman commissioned and gifted it to the city to honor "the first modern president."The city eventually grew into a haven for hippies from the Bay Area who sought a quieter life and cheaper land. Marijuana growers flocked to the area, as did activists who enrolled at Humboldt State University for its environmental and Native American studies programs.But the statue remained as a vestige of a more conservative past. Locals embraced the president as a mascot, dressing him as a lumberjack, and placing bunny ears on his head for Easter. Pranksters have been known to put condoms on his outstretched fingers and stuff cheese in his ears.Local tribes long resented the statue but remained silent on the matter, figuring there was little chance it would ever come down."The Native people here have avoided that square for years," said Ted Hernandez, chairman of the 620-member Wiyot Tribe, which is based on a reservation about 20 miles south of the city. "Why do we have this man standing in this square where they used to sell our children?"Hernandez's tribe is one of more than a dozen whose members showed up in Arcata or sent letters of protest over the months against McKinley.Bernadette Smith, who recently drove four hours north from the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians rancheria to protest the monument, described getting rid of the statue as "bigger than just a small victory for our community.""What happened is going to inspire Natives across America," she said. Smith, 31, said the win in Arcata spurred her to launch a campaign to rename the Garcia River that divides her tribe's land back to its original name of P'da Hau.The McKinley statue also has its supporters. Dozens showed up at City Hall in February to make their case before the vote. They came again in March when the City Council briefly floated the idea of opening up the statue debate to a citywide vote.David LaRue, an Arcata resident for the last 22 years, started a Facebook group called "Let the people vote on our McKinley statue" and is now gathering signatures for ballot initiative to do just that.He said that unlike Confederate leaders whose monuments are no longer widely accepted, McKinley fought for the Union in the Civil War. LaRue also pointed out that McKinley defied the norms of his time in appointing several African Americans to federal posts."Certainly by today's standards, he had different ways of looking at things," he said. "But looking at Abraham Lincoln by today's standards, you could also say he was a horrible racist."The debate has also divided families.Former Arcata Mayor Bob Ornelas, who has lived in the city since 1979, said tearing down McKinley would take away from the city's culture. He said he couldn't imagine the square, home to the Saturday farmers market and nearly every major city festival, without the McKinley statue there."I don't read much into it," said Ornelas, who is Mexican American. "It's not Robert E. Lee. If it was somebody who is known to fight their cousins for the right to have a slave, I would be offended. But during his time he got pushed around by a Congress that was hungry for ... expanding the American empire."He sees things differently than his wife, a councilwoman who was mayor last year when the push to remove the statue resurged."We are in a small northern part of Northern California where Native people are active in our lives daily," Susan Ornelas said. "It's not just a lost thought. McKinley didn't back Native Americans at all. He backed the Curtis Act, which took away Native rights on a lot of land. Natives were so misused in that era. He didn't really directly hurt them locally but he did through federal laws."Susan Ornelas suggested allowing residents to vote on the statue's fate before taking back that proposal.For now, the former president stands in Arcata with his days numbered. The city estimates it will take eight months before he's gone. California law requires a lengthy environmental review, a process that is expected to bring the total cost of removal to $65,000. Anti-statue activists say they will raise the money.A veterans hall seven blocks away has offered to house the president.Other monuments protested by Native peoples are also getting private caretakers. The Columbus statue in San Jose was moved to the hall of the Italian American Heritage Foundation, where the group said it will be enclosed as protection from vandalism.In San Francisco, the city has considered moving the "Early Days" statue to a museum, though a legal challenge has kept it up for the time being.Another Columbus statue -- the most widely seen in the world -- appears to be staying put. It stands 76 feet high at the center of Columbus Circle in Manhattan.After the Charlottesville violence, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to examine all "symbols of hate." While the city decided Columbus would stay, the mayor promised "new historical markers" near the monument to contextualize it as well as a new monument honoring "indigenous peoples."Pereira, the Arcata mayor, said simply adding context to the McKinley monument would amount to too little, too late."I would not try to guess or tell other cities what to do," she said. "If you think of presidents of our country, I don't think people would even know who McKinley is. But we do. And here, we want to set the right example."
The state Supreme Court left intact a voter-approved California law Monday that requires police to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested on suspicion of committing a felony, sidestepping questions about what it means for the tens of thousands of people who are arrested but never charged or convicted.In a 4-3 ruling, the court said the law did not violate the privacy rights of a San Francisco man who was arrested in 2009 for setting fire to a police car, and then was also charged for refusing to let officers swab his cheek for DNA.The demand for genetic material was "justified by an interest in accurate identification," Justice Leondra Kruger said in the majority opinion. While the court is "mindful of the heightened privacy interests in the sensitive information that can be extracted from a person's DNA," Kruger said, the law provides protection by making it a felony to misuse DNA samples.Because the defendant, Mark Buza, later pleaded guilty to arson, Kruger said, there was no need for the court to rule on the law's application to defendants who are acquitted or never charged with a felony -- about one-third of the 200,000-plus people arrested for felony crimes in California each year, according to state records. Buza was sentenced to 16 months in prison, and concurrently served six months for refusing the DNA sample.The law says non-convicts can get their DNA removed from the records. But defense lawyers and civil liberties advocates say the procedures for removal are cumbersome and unreliable.Dissenting Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar said the law is "a major intrusion into the privacy of all the people subject to its procedures," even those later convicted of felonies. Police can use fingerprints to identify suspects and are mainly using DNA to try to link a defendant to other crimes, a type of search that usually requires a warrant, Cuellar said.The law, Proposition 69, was approved by 62 percent of the voters in 2004 and took effect in 2009. A previous state law had allowed DNA searches of convicted felons, and of suspects with felony records, but Prop. 69 required the searches of anyone arrested for a felony. The DNA samples are forwarded to a national database accessible to the FBI as well as state and local police.The federal government and about half the states have laws allowing DNA collection from some or all of those taken into custody. Supporters say the laws are minimally intrusive and give police a powerful resource to solve cold cases."Without this law, my attacker might still be out there harming others," Ashley Spence, an advocate of the law, said Monday. Her Southern California rape case in 2003 went unsolved until officers in 2010 matched evidence from the crime with DNA in the database. The suspect was later convicted.A state appeals court in San Francisco ruled Prop. 69 unconstitutional in 2011, saying it allowed police to conduct intrusive searches aimed at uncovering evidence of past crimes, without needing any evidence of guilt.In overturning that ruling Monday, the state's high court cited a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding a Maryland law that required DNA samples from anyone charged with a serious felony.The California law is broader -- it applies to all felonies, and requires DNA collection before a suspect has been charged in court -- but Kruger said Buza's arson crime was serious and his rights were not violated by the DNA collection.Another difference between the two laws is that Maryland automatically removes DNA samples from the database if a defendant is acquitted or is not prosecuted, while California requires the defendant to ask a judge to order removal of the sample. Defense lawyers said they hope to challenge that provision of the law in future cases.The case is People vs. Buza, S223698.
National conversation and reporting spikes

Training focuses on understanding trauma

Trauma and the brain

From the start, the 28-year-old woman sensed doubt.Inside her North Side apartment, still unsteady and terrified, she explained to a Chicago police officer that she had just been repeatedly sexually assaulted by her former boyfriend. The tone of his questions, she remembers thinking, seemed troubling."You were together nine years," she recalled officers repeatedly asking during the 2016 interview, "and you are reporting a rape?""Right then and there, I knew what I was up against," the woman recalled recently to the Tribune. "I could easily see how someone wouldn't speak up."Advocates and law enforcement officials say such fear and doubt about how their allegations will be investigated has long deterred sexual assault victims from coming forward. As few as 1 in 5 rapes are reported, they say.In an attempt to close that gap, a little-known change in Illinois state law is trying to improve how police respond to victims of rape, mandating police officers across the state undergo new training that not only emphasizes the need for sensitivity to the difficult cases but also teaches the science behind how a brain reacts to trauma.The law also requires that police must take a report for every allegation of rape -- no matter how long ago it might have occurred or what jurisdiction it occurred in.For Chicago police, the new training is already underway for recruits and will begin soon for detectives. Officers who investigate sex crimes should receive the training over the next two years. The state training board has held three statewide trainings for other departments as well.The training is considered critical for the Chicago department, slammed last year by a U.S. Department of Justice investigation for its inadequate preparation of officers -- namely that internal investigators fail to interact with rape victims in a manner "that encourages their participation in the investigation."Chicago police did not respond to requests for comment on the 28-year-old woman's allegations about how officers treated her.But in a statement the department said it recognized the need to improve interactions with victims and that this is what the training tries to achieve."Survivors of criminal sexual assault and sexual violence deserve to be treated with respect and dignity as they pursue justice and attempt to seek some level of closure," a statement read. "The goal of these classes is to provide police officers with the most up to date understanding of the impact sexual assault has on survivors to minimize any additional trauma associated with the investigatory and prosecutorial process."The law's new reporting requirements took effect in 2017, but its impact on rape investigations is hard to measure just yet. Still, citing the #MeToo movement, the law's proponents say it couldn't have come at a more propitious moment."We are not asking police officers to be social workers," said Polly Poskin, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. "We are asking police officers to be good investigators -- which is 'Tell me more.'"Reports of criminal sexual assaults have been increasing in Chicago over the past five years, up from 1,401 in 2013 to 1,738 in 2017.No one is certain whether the new reporting law is having an impact on the number of reports taken by the Chicago police. But advocates say there is no doubt increased conversation on the issue has led to more calls for help over the past few years."Definitely having this in the news is a trigger (to ask for help)," said Anacany Barrera, the coordinator of crisis lines and volunteer services at the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. "The more our culture says there is actually going to be consequences to these actions, the more people are ready to talk to law enforcement."Victims have been held back, advocates say, because of failures at just about every step of the reporting process. The first officers who respond often don't take reports, and detectives sometimes don't know how to build strong cases. When they do seek charges, prosecutors often decline the request, victim advocates say.Part of the problem, advocates say, is that law enforcement officers haven't been trained in how victims of sexual assault react to the trauma. Research shows that the brain's responses affect memory in a way that may prompt investigators to doubt, dismiss or repeatedly question victims. That could inflict more harm, and ultimately contribute to fewer cases being charged, experts say.In an interview with the Tribune, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who led the effort for the new law, took aim at how the justice system has responded to victims who come forward."Twenty percent of women will experience an assault or an attempted (assault)," Madigan said. "Yet almost no one reports sexual assault to law enforcement because everyone knows you are more likely to be re-vicitmized than receive justice."Among the changes in the law is that victims now have five years from the date evidence was collected or, if the incident occurred when they were a juvenile, five years from their 18th birthday, to tell police they want their rape kit tested. Under the previous law, victims had 14 days to make this decision.Another notable change is that officers are also required now to take a report of alleged assault from every victim who comes forward -- even if the general 10-year statute of limitations on charging the case has passed.That change, advocates said, recognizes the fact that many rapists are repeat offenders. Gathering evidence could help identify potential assailants, even if charges in an individual case can't be pursued."We heard time after time people would go to the police and want to file a report because they were sexually assaulted (and) they were told to go think about it. They were being blamed for what had happened," Madigan said. "So we said: You have to mandate the taking of a report."Critical is what advocates say is a long overdue re-education of law enforcement across the state on how to investigate the cases with more sensitivity. That training has begun in earnest at Chicago's academy on the city's Near West Side.On a recent Monday morning in a lecture room at the Chicago police training academy, Detective Bryan Barlow watched as 100 or so police recruits in uniform filed into the classroom for the start of the newly mandated six-hour Sexual Assault Investigations course."This is a new thing in the world of law enforcement," Barlow told the group at the start. "Why do we need to understand trauma? So we can understand trauma victims."Barlow began teaching the new curriculum, which he wrote, to recruits last July and is developing a longer two-day course for detectives. The 10-year-veteran detective worked off directives from the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, which trains and certifies officers across the state.Barlow started with statistics -- 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men experience rape or attempted rape, he told the recruits, as many took notes. An overwhelming 75 percent of victims know their attackers. Yet many rapes go unreported, Barlow told the class. Victims fear they won't be believed, or they feel shame, are related to or intimidated by their attacker, have a criminal record or were intoxicated at the time of the assault.Barlow debunked myths about rape, such as that offenders are driven by sexual gratification. Assaults are about power, he told the group. Or that victims did something to cause the attack -- wear certain clothing, drank too much or wound up some place unsafe."Doesn't matter," Barlow told the group.Then Barlow knocked down one of the biggest myths -- that victims make up allegations. In reality, between 2 and 8 percent of reported rapes are false, roughly in line with any other major crime, he said.The question remained, though, why so few rapes are reported or when they are, why investigators fail to believe victims and the courts fail to build cases. For this, Barlow turned to science.An image of the brain flashed on the screen overhead as Barlow headed into the third hour of training. Research has shown that when a victim is traumatized, the brain itself is impacted, affecting memory, behavior and thinking, Barlow told the class.Much of what Barlow would teach next has been developed from wider research on stress and trauma, and applied to sexual assault investigations over the past two decades. Jim Hopper, a teaching associate at Harvard Medical School, teaches widely on the subject, and explained in an interview what that research has found.When the brain's "defense circuitry" detects an attack, it instantly stops all body movement so it can assess danger and the possibility for escape. These are automatic, involuntary reactions -- like what police and soldiers experience when under attack, Hopper explained.At the same time, stress chemicals surge to the part of the brain that controls rational thought, often leaving victims to rely instead on habits and reflexes. The way a combat soldier will rely on training to navigate a firefight, a sexual assault victim might fall back on habits developed over years to survive an attack -- such as passive resistance. In extreme cases, a victim may even become paralyzed or pass out, Hopper said. This explains why some victims don't fight back, and shouldn't be expected to.Meanwhile, the brain's "defense circuitry" focuses more attention on some parts of the attack than others, burning parts of it into memory while not recording others. This is why victims of a sexual assault, similar to soldiers in combat, often remember an attack in fragments, and frequently out of order.Back in the training class, Barlow acknowledged that the memory problems sexual assault victims face can conflict with what young officers are typically taught about taking reports -- including to watch for inconsistencies."We want to put together a timeline," he said. "(Trauma victims) can't tell you a coherent story. They can't tell you this is what happened at Point A. This is what happened at Point B. ... They may leave out B and tell several weeks later. They may tell you about this terrible tale like they're talking about the kind of cereal they had this morning. Or they might ... not be able to get a word out without going into hysterics.""That's trauma. ... Once you understand how a victim's brain works, a lot of this behavior that we used to think was indicative of deception makes a lot of sense."Barlow instructed that during their first interviews with victims, officers should "start by believing." Don't ask for a chronological accounting, he said, but listen to whatever details they provide. If they need a break, don't push."I can't emphasize enough how much of a role that we as police officers have in this," he said, then paused. "It's vital. ... When you get one of these (cases), slow down. Slow the hell down."Barlow also told the group several times to keep in mind that the person who is likely to feel the most doubt as they work to piece it all together is the victim.An alleged victim's experienceThat was the case with the 28-year-old woman who told the Tribune about the attacks she said her former boyfriend committed. Four hours of difficult questioning from police in 2016, she said, left her initially doubting her own recollections, even whether she had actually been raped."There was a lot of 'Why didn't you ... '," the woman recalled.The detective's report cited insufficient evidence, lack of injury and that "she made statements agreeing to the sex acts." Ultimately, prosecutors declined to charge the case. The woman remains adamant the sex acts were not consensual, and the detective's reports do not reflect what happened.After law enforcement wouldn't pursue the criminal case, the woman sought and was granted a civil no-contact order against her former boyfriend by a Cook County domestic violence court judge. In granting the civil no-contact order, the judge agreed that it was nonconsensual sex.Talking about her experience is still painful today. While she says she understands how hard detectives work, she still feels they unfairly dismissed her."It made me feel so small," she said. "So insignificant."
Governor's Program

The Governors Official Program is comprised of a wide range of constitutional and legal duties and ceremonial and community engagements. Each year, the Governor hosts thousands of visitors to Government House to take part in investiture and award ceremonies, Open Days, receptions and meetings, and travels widely throughout Queensland to support the activities of Patron groups. View a chronological record of the Governors daily program below.
The Governors Official Program is comprised of a wide range of constitutional and legal duties and ceremonial and community engagements. Each year, the Governor hosts thousands of visitors to Government House to take part in investiture and award ceremonies, Open Days, receptions and meetings, and travels widely throughout Queensland to support the activities of Patron groups. View a chronological record of the Governors daily program below.

On Friday, in the morning, at the Queensland Cruising Yacht Club (QCYC), Shorncliffe, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey visited the QCYC Marina, to board the MV South Pacific II, and officiated at the start of the 70th Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race.

In the afternoon, at Government House, the Governor and Mrs de Jersey hosted a community celebration for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Baton Relay and the Governor handed over the Queens Baton to Mr Kieren Perkins OAM.

You can read the Governor's speech at the Queen's Baton Community Celebration here.
Description

GIS  03 April 2018: The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) will host a Workshop on Women and ICT: Bridging Gender Gap, and the Universal Service Committee Meeting, in May 2018, at the request of the Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA).

CRASA focuses on the harmonisation of the Postal and Information Communications and Technologies regulatory environment in order to improve the Postal and ICT business environment and investment climate in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It provides the ICTA and other ICT regulators in the region with a valuable platform to engage and exchange expertise and experiences with the broad aim of harmonisation in the SADC region.

Some 25 foreign delegates are expected to attend the two events.

Information and Communication Technologies Authority

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority, a body corporate under the aegis of the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation, was created in 2001 following the Information and Communication Technologies Authority Act. It plays a leading role in the future of ICT in Mauritius and contributes to an efficient, competitive and optimally regulated ICT sector.

ICTAs mission is to promote affordable and adequate access to quality ICT services through functional market-driven competition and regulatory principles in a trouble-free Networked Information and Knowledge Society.
Description

GIS  03 April, 2018: The first round of negotiations on the Mauritius-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), kicked off yesterday at Maritim Resort & Spa, in Balaclava. The FTA aims at creating the necessary conditions to further expand bilateral trade and investment exchanges between Mauritius and the Peoples Republic of China as well as strengthen economic cooperation in a number of areas of interest to Mauritius.

The two-day event is organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade so as to initiate discussions and agree on the modalities of work on four pillars of the Agreement, namely: trade in goods, trade in services, investment, and economic cooperation.

In her opening remarks the Head of the Mauritian delegation, Ambassador Mrs U. C. Dwarka Canabady, Secretary for Foreign Affairs (SFA), at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, said that the start of talks marks an important date in Mauritius-China economic ties as both countries embark on negotiations of the first ever FTA between China and an African State. She was upbeat that, once implemented, the FTA will contribute meaningfully to further strengthen the economic and trade relations by taking it to new heights.

According to the SFA, it is necessary for both sides to be ambitious for the FTA to be a success, and, therefore it is important to eliminate trade barriers on core products of interest to Mauritius and China as well as on key services sectors. These sectors comprise the financial services, distribution, retailing, insurance, education, legal and accounting, ICT/BPO, agribusiness, medical, and logistics.

Statistics indicate that in 2017 total imports from China amounted to USD 853 million and total exports to China stood at USD 27 million. Ambassador Dwarka Canabady, recalled that China is currently the third main trading partner of Mauritius and the largest source of imports. Mauritiuss exports towards China have, however, remained limited on a narrow range of products (metal scraps, clothing, and aquatic and handmade products), and, the trade gap between the two countries remains huge, she pointed out adding that the FTA should contribute to closing this gap.

For his part the Head of the Chinese delegation, and Deputy Director General, Ministry of Commerce, Mr Hu Yingzhi, observed that although China and Mauritius are far geographically, the distance has in no way affected the shared long and enduring friendship. A Free Trade Agreement, he stated, will no doubt provide an institutional guarantee for future Mauritius-China economic, trade and investment relations, further consolidate friendship ties, and contribute to added cooperation between China and Africa on a larger scale.

Moreover, Mr Hu Yingzhi pointed out that China will continue to adhere to the fundamental policy of opening up and actively promote international cooperation through the Belt and Road initiative for policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity. It is in this spirit, he assured, that the Chinese delegation is starting FTA talks with Mauritius, a country which he termed as the most competitive and promising economy in Africa.

The Negotiations

A fifteen-member strong delegation from the Peoples Republic of China is currently in Mauritius for the first round of negotiations. Officials from the Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission; Ministry of Finance; and, Ministry of Agriculture and General Administration of Customs, are also participating.

The thirty-member delegation led by the SFA comprises the Director of the International Trade Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, as well as representatives from the public and private sectors.

The two delegations are taking stock of the documents exchanged by both Mauritius and China on various aspects of the negotiations. The work agenda comprises parallel meetings focused on trade in goods, trade in services, investment, general economic cooperation, and dispute settlement and legal provisions.
This article highlights the fire risks for the upcoming fire season in Washington state, seeIn reality, there is a fire risk in every state in the Union. Alaska for instance has had some really terrible fires. As a kid, living in the Midwest I don't ever recall hearing about fires in Minnesota, which in recent years have had some significant ones. Then there is Florida, as far away from Alaska as you can get, which has already had some fires in the SW corner of the state.As to the NW fire danger, everyone is thinking the Eastern part of the state. It was just last year, but my op-ed in the Seattle Times warning of fire dangers on the West and typically wet side of the state is hardly on anyone's radar screen. There are some fire chiefs who acknowledge the risks, and there have been some close calls, but nothing big enough (meaning homes burning) to get the general population to think about the risk.Someday it will happen, it will be a predictable surprise!
Testing sensors against known concentrations of gases and particles in the Sustainable Atmospheres Research (STAR) Lab at Portland State University (PSU).

Co-locating sensors together at an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality urban ambient monitoring station.

Co-locating different types of sensors at three signalized intersections on a major urban arterial roadway.

The deployment of a distributed sensor network or Internet of Things (IoT) project in the public right-of-way.

Management and analysis of data collected across multiple locations in real time.

Methods to add attachments to the citys streetlights and traffic signals, which will all help to inform additional citywide policies and guidelines.

Cultivating resources to address a wide range of needs (sensor validation, privacy, security, community engagement and more).

This type of infrastructure for a city is a departure from past projects.

In this installment of the Innovation of the Month series (read last months story here ), we explore how Portland, Ore., is testing sensor pilots to help improve air quality monitoring, and then look at how other cities and municipalities can explore their own sensor pilots.MetroLabs Executive Director Ben Levine sat down with Christine Kendrick, air quality lead/smart cities coordinator at the city of Portland; Linda George, professor of environmental science and management at Portland State University; and Andrew Rodgers, director of research and applications strategy at The Enterprise Center in Chattanooga, Tenn., to learn more.: Can you describe what Portlands air quality sensor device pilot focused on and what motivated your respective institutions to address this particular opportunity?: Our communities want more information about localized air quality. Ambient air quality monitoring at high spatial resolutions is resource-intensive to install and maintain, and air pollution is not homogenous across the urban landscape. We know that there are limitations in current sensor technology for air pollutant measurements at the lower ambient levels found in U.S. cities.As a first step, we wanted to explore the uses of sensors, recognizing the current technology limitations. The City of Portland Air Quality Sensor Device Pilot is testing new models of more affordable air quality sensors to see if they can provide reliable air quality data from the roadside environment.Using multiple types of co-located deployments in our project design allows us to better understand the limitations and uses of the type of data achievable from lower-cost devices. Can they be used to identify relative differences in air pollution between locations? Or assess pollution levels before and after construction projects in the roadway or built environment? Or can they help identify where additional resources should be invested for air pollution monitoring with higher-grade instruments?The pilot involves three types of co-located deployments:Finally, this project also serves as a pilot for:: The PSU STAR Lab has been interested in exploring and understanding urban air pollution for the last decade. In order to assess this variability with observations, we need much lower cost measurement devices. In addition, we are also very interested in understanding the drivers of spatial variation and what can be done to reduce air pollution where levels are elevated. We collaborate with transportation engineers, urban planners and epidemiologists to explore these issues. This project gives us an opportunity to provide feedback to developers of low-cost sensors as cities consider taking them up for widespread use. We have designed a state-of-the art testbed for air pollution sensor testing against Federal Reference Method (FRM) instruments.: Who was involved with the City of Portland Air Quality Sensor Pilot?: The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability pilot project is supported by a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Replicable Smart City Technologies Cooperative Agreement grant.Partners involved are Portland Bureau of Transportation, NIST, Portland State University, and the sensor providers (three devices from each provider): Apis, SenSevere, and Argonne National Laboratory at the University of Chicago.: What have been the biggest lessons learned? How can other cities/counties implement effective sensor pilots? Are there overarching governance and policy issues that must be considered?: There are new challenges at every step of the way in creating a sensor network. As we talked to colleagues in other communities we realized we were not alone in figuring out these steps.Common issues included:Through participation in the NIST Global Cities Team Challenge (GCTC) program, we had the opportunity to collaboratively compile these overarching governance and policy issues into the Recommendations for the Development & Implementation of Distributed Sensor Networks blueprint.A recurring theme in the blueprint is that you need to ask yourself critical questions at each project stage to ensure the sensor network you are building truly fits the needs of your community. Putting together a multidisciplinary team will help you address the variety of challenges encountered and also help to build those lessons learned into new guidelines for your municipality.For example, when reviewing air quality sensors, we had to create unique selection criteria to fit our projects needs. This was not a review that could be conducted solely by the citys procurement officers. Collaboration between me, an air quality scientist, and our procurement team with their expertise in our citys legal and purchasing requirements and sustainability goals resulted in a unique process, and its one that can now be applied to a future technology project rather than creating it as we go.: How did you become involved with the blueprint for sensor network development?: While participating in the first Transportation SuperCluster Blueprint Workshop, the topic of sensors in the right-of-way kept coming up. Sensors were discussed as a tool to help collect data for transportation projects. However, from the first months of our pilot and conversations with colleagues like Andrew who had conducted a variety of pilots, it was clear that creating, installing and maintaining a sensor network had its own set of issues and guidance needs.For the second workshop in Portland, we created a work session focused solely on sensor networks. We got feedback from participants with backgrounds in the research, private and public sectors. Andrew and I then took the lead in creating the Sensor Network Recommendation blueprint. We were excited about creating this resource that could provide a stepping stone for those tasked with planning and managing similar projects.: While attending the first Transportation SuperCluster Blueprint Workshop, I realized that many communities were grappling with the same challenges that Chattanooga had regarding deploying technology projects, specifically IoT sensors, in municipal agencies that were used to dealing with a very different type of infrastructure. At the second workshop, the conversations at the session Christine facilitated really highlighted the need for a resource focused on providing a neutral entry point for newcomers. I saw working with Christine as a way to share and codify some of the early experiences we had as a community, along with some of my personal experiences managing early IoT systems in the manufacturing space.: What are the next steps for the City of Portland Air Quality Sensor Device Pilot and your work to exchange lessons learned from sensor deployments among communities?: The City of Portland Air Quality Sensor Device Pilot is still in progress. Next steps will be to document the maintenance required once devices are installed at the roadside and write a collaboration paper with NIST. We are also in the planning stages to create a community workshop focused on data sharing and how to best communicate short-term air quality measurements. We want to engage with various community groups to learn what other uses they see for air quality sensors. As discussed in the blueprint, coordinated effort and communication with stakeholders is key to understand the cultural, technical, and resource constraints of your community.Continuing to collaborate across communities will allow us to learn about changes in available technologies. Writing proposals together is a great way to build on our initial sensor pilots. Opportunities for colleagues across institutions to meet in person like the Global Tech Jam in Portland in June 2018 are also additional tools to exchange lessons learned and explore sensor installations.: Were actively working with other communities that are going through this process, through MetroLab and other organizations, these collaborations enable a two-way experience sharing that supports both those communities new to deploying these systems, the communities that may be looking to replace legacy systems in this rapidly evolving market, and the researchers who might be developing new systems to better address some of the concerns outlined in the blueprint.
(TNS)  The New York broadband program office last month celebrated a major milestone  it had received commitments to bring high-speed internet to every home and business in the state.But many residents who lack high-speed internet in rural Niagara County weren't celebrating.Many are frustrated with the pace of the broadband expansions, knowing that the build-out from Charter Communications may not reach them until 2020.Others are skeptical of the build-out, after the company allegedly fell well short of its last two progress targets, in May and December 2017.And others feel left out entirely, seeing a broadband program that ignored their requests for the dependable, unlimited high-speed internet that fiber optic cable can bring.This last group  considered by the state to be the most remote, hard-to-reach residents and businesses  were instead offered high-speed satellite internet at a reduced cost.The broadband program office made satellite internet a significant component of its broadband push, awarding nearly $15.5 million in state funds  along with $13.6 million in federal and private funds  to Hughes Network Services, LLC.With that funding, Hughes will offer reduced-cost satellite internet to 75,628 locations across the state, including 1,169 in Niagara County and 154 in Orleans County.Empire State Development officials say Hughes will be required to offer internet with download speeds of 25 megabytes per second  the state threshold for the most rural areas. (Elsewhere, the threshold is 100 mbps.) Hughes will also have to charge those grant-funded users no more than $60 per month for the next five years, and no more than $49 for installation.But critics say reduced-cost satellite internet hardly counts as broadband, noting the service comes with data caps and signal lags that prevent some activities.This technology was readily available to all of us before the program," said Matt Stern, a Royalton resident who has struggled for years to get internet coverage at his rural home. "It was unused, unwanted and doesn't work. And now they're offering us this.One of Stern's biggest gripes with Hughes' services is the data caps. On its website, Hughes lists plans with monthly data caps of 10 to 50 gigabytes. After the cap is exceeded, speeds are reduced to just 1 to 3 mbps.Though the broadband program office bars "hard" data caps, it permits these soft data caps. A spokesperson for Empire State Development confirmed that Hughes can impose caps and slow-downs on those customers.Hughes has not yet released details of its state-funded plans, which are expected to be unveiled in the coming months.A Hughes spokesperson said the company is continuing to gather information from the state.In a statement responding to several questions, Hughes praised the state for its awards.We are delighted that HughesNet has been selected to participate in the New York State Broadband Initiative and that there is a clear endorsement that satellite broadband is an essential technology that brings genuine high-speed Internet access economically to all homes across America," said Executive Vice President Mike Cook in the statement.State officials say it's not economically feasible to run cable to far-out, rural locations.An Empire State Development spokesperson cited a Federal Communications Commission position paper that found it would cost $40 billion to bring connectivity from 98 to 100 percent  the same amount it would cost to expand connection from 86 to 98 percent.But Stern said the data caps and other issues make satellite internet woefully inadequate to meet his family's needs. Indeed, one hour of streaming high-definition video uses about three GB. Lower quality video uses one GB over an hour, and music streaming eats up 115.2 megabytes per hour (or one GB for eight hours)."It's completely untenable," Stern said. "Hughes Net is not the answer.The company offsets these caps by offering in some plans "bonus bytes" that can be utilized during the hours of 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.  periods of low usage. Hughes recommends scheduling large downloads for this time.But the Hughes website offers no suggestions for compensating with other issues, such as the signal latency that's caused by the time it takes the signal to travel to the satellite and back to Earth. That latency prevents satellite internet from supporting real-time online games, such as Call of Duty, Halo or Madden.Turn-based games, such as casino games, chess or strategy games, are not affected.Others say satellite internet service is inconsistent and at the mercy of the weather.Orleans County Legislator Lynne Johnson, R-Lyndonville, used Hughes several years ago, and eventually abandoned it over the inconsistency of coverage, as well as slowness and the data caps.But Johnson said that with improved technology and state funds, she expects the service to be much better."I'm sure Hughes Net has upgraded since I had it, and now with funding that they've gotten, they'll be required to do a whole lot more," Johnson said.Others, such as Stern, are less optimistic."I still wouldn't buy it (with reduced prices from state funding)," Stern said. "It's just not real internet"We have cried and cried and cried for real internet because this is all we've had," he added. "It's a slap in the face that they're telling us it's good enough.Meanwhile, others are frustrated that they will have to wait years for broadband cable.Emily Christiansen, of Gasport, said they were told at the beginning of Charter Communications' build-out that high-speed internet would reach them by late 2017. She's not told they won't have broadband until May 2020.Last month, the state Public Service Commission fined Charter $1 million, claiming that more than 14,000 of the addresses Charter counted in its build-out report last December should be disqualified. The disqualifications put Charter more than 8,000 locations short of its build-out obligation of 36,771.In January 2016, Charter agreed to bring its high-speed internet to 145,000 addresses statewide as a condition of its acquisition of Time Warner Cable. The company was obligated to reach 36,5000 new locations each year.But Charter had trouble meeting those obligations early on. Last September, Charter agreed to a $13 million settlement with the state after reaching less than half of its first target in May 2017.Christiansen said lack of internet prevents her from working at home, and worries it will hinder her children from completing their homework. Her oldest just entered Kindergarten."We have to contemplate, do we move by 2020 if this isn't in place for our kids?" she said.Stern said he's also considering moving over internet access. He rattled off a list of crucial activities hindered by lack of internet: job and college applications, little league sign-ups, accessing school documents, even programming a TV or using a treadmill.We lost a part of the everyday goings on of our world," Stern said.Stern acknowledged they chose to live where it's difficult to reach internet access. We chose (to live here) a long time before the internet was in everything we live," he said.
Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill that makes her state the 50th and final one to enact a consumer data breach notification law.The measure requires that residents be notified within 45 days after a breach has been discovered if it is reasonably likely to cause substantial harm. The notification could be delayed if it would interfere with a law enforcement investigation.Until recently, Alabama and South Dakota were the only states that didnt have data breach notification laws.Last month, South Dakota Gov. Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, signed a measure into law that would require affected residents to be notified within 60 days of a data breachs discovery Legislators in a number of states have been trying to toughen consumer protections, in the wake of law years massive Equifax breach that exposed the personal data of nearly 148 million Americans.Last year, there were a record 1,579 data breaches in the United States, a nearly 45 percent hike over the previous year, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that helps victims of identity theft and promotes public awareness.Yesterday, retail company Hudsons Bay, which owns Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, announced that it had been the victim of hacking by cybercriminals . A cybersecurity research firm said the hackers had obtained more than 5 million customer credit and debit card numbers.At least 29 states are taking up consumer security breach notification bills this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In more than a dozen states, measures would require residents to be notified within a given time, from 48 hours up to 60 days.State laws dealing with security breach notification vary considerably, from when affected victims must be notified to what is considered personal information.
Last week Centricity Music pop artist Jordan Feliz dropped his highly anticipated sophomore release Future, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Christian Album Chart and garnered over 4.5 million streams. Feliz's current single "Witness" topped the Hot AC radio chart at No. 1 and was a Top 10 song on Billboard's Christian Airplay Chart.



Since its worldwide release, the album has received praise from critics across the board:



"From energetic beats to powerful ballads, Future gives listeners all the spirit they loved in Feliz's breakout debut of 2016, The River, plus an added maturity in both its sound and story."- Hollywood Jesus



"Jordan Feliz presents an incredibly sincere and passionate album, with tracks to which listeners can easily relate. Upbeat sounds and a motivating atmosphere take the album from enjoyable to enthusiastic, making it impossible to think about anything else but just how good God truly is. Quite simply, Future is a winner, guaranteed to be a fan favorite if it isn't already." -The Christian Beat



While Feliz has been entertaining the thousands on the Winter Jam tour, he has also been making his rounds with the promo circuit, speaking to national and regional media alike, ranging from Relevant Magazine, CCM Magazine, NewReleaseToday, Moody Radio, Christian Post, IRN/USA Radio Network and more.



His headlining Future tour kicks off April 12 in Memphis and is currently set for an over 20-city run. Tickets are available now.



Jordan Feliz has rapidly become one of Christian music's major artists since the release of his first EP, Beloved, for Centricity Music in 2015. The success of his first single," The River," led to his first Dove Award, with Feliz winning New Artist of the Year in 2016, along with receiving nominations for Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year for "The River." The single became a No. 1 hit on several Billboard charts for multiple weeks. Feliz's full-length album, The River, debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's Christian Albums chart in 2016. The album's two singles, "Beloved" and "Never Too Far Gone," both achieved Top-10 Status on Billboard's Christian Airplay Chart. His current single "Witness" is a Top-10 hit and climbing. Listed by Nashville Lifestyles Magazine as "One To Watch", Feliz has toured with such major artists as Michael W. Smith, for KING & COUNTRY, Steven Curtis Chapman, TobyMac, and Matthew West.



For more information on Jordan Feliz, please visit Jordan's website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Tags : jordan feliz jordan feliz future album review jordan feliz news jordan feliz new album
Community-based report on Maunakea released

From UH News, April 2, 2018

EnVision Maunakea , a report reflecting the beliefs, views and opinions of about 100 Hawaii Island residents about the future of Maunakea, is now available to the public.

The report is the result of planning and coordination meetings along with 15 Aha Kuka or listening sessions along with written and website submissions dating back to 2015. Meetings were held in Hilo, Kona, Waimea and North Kohala.

EnVision Maunakea was designed as a community-based initiative to gather a wide range of perspectives on the mountains future and put these valuable insights in the hands of decision-makers. This process was intended to inform policy and regulatory actions that will deeply impact the entire mountain, according to the reports introduction....

PDF: Download the EnVision Maunakea report
Family of Texas girl killed in explosion sue gas company

The family of the girl who was killed in an explosion at her home in northwest Dallas in February has filed a $1 million wrongful death lawsuit against Atmos Energy, the utility supplying natural gas to the neighbourhood. The suit claims that gas leaks from the companys pipeline network caused the explosion, and that Atmos knew the system was dangerous.

Stock image

A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board, released a month after the explosion, said natural gas leaks in the neighbourhood near Dallas Love Field airport were first detected on January 1.



Michellita Rogers, 12, was killed when her home exploded on February 23. Some of her family members were also hurt in the blast.



According to Fox News, the familys lawyer described the gas supply system near the house as being a mismatched Frankensteinian array" of pipes.



The suit claims Atmos acted with gross negligence because it failed to repair dangerous leaks to its pipeline system even though the utility company knew about the leaks in the neighborhood in January.



Rogers mother had called Atmos three days before the explosion to report smelling gas in the alleyway behind their home. The company is alleged not to have acted on this, or on two other gas-related fires in the neighbourhood.



Atmos originally blamed heavy rain and what it called unusual soil composition for damaging the gas lines. The company has not yet commented on the lawsuit.



A week after the blast, Atmos cut natural gas service to nearly 3,000 homes in the area, and replaced and repaired more than two miles of ageing pipeline.


(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Michael Liberty, the founder of the fintech startup now known as Mozido Inc., with a scheme to trick hundreds of investors into investing in his shell companies instead of Mozido. Liberty and his accomplices then allegedly stole most of the more than $48 million raised to fund a lavish lifestyle that included private jet flights, multi-million dollar residences, expensive cars, and movie production ventures.

The SECs complaint, filed March 30, 2018, alleges that Liberty, his wife Brittany Liberty, his attorney George Marcus, his cousin Richard Liberty, and his cousins friend Paul Hess induced investors to purchase unregistered interests in shell companies controlled by Michael Liberty that supposedly owned transferrable interests in Mozido. In reality, the shell companies either did not own or were not permitted to transfer interests in the company. The SEC also alleges that Michael Liberty and his accomplices lied to investors about Mozidos valuation and finances, the amount Michael Liberty had personally invested in Mozido, and the use of their funds. According to the complaint, Michael Liberty and his accomplices later orchestrated a series of transactions in which they used investors own money to heavily dilute their interests and duped investors into trading securities for those worth more than 90 percent less.

As alleged in our complaint, these investments were sold as a chance to get in early with a seemingly promising fintech company, said Paul Levenson, Director of the SECs Boston Regional Office. The prospect of investing in a non-public start-up company may hold considerable allure, but buyers need to understand what they are buying. Unscrupulous operators make it difficult for ordinary investors to assess such investment opportunities.

The SECs complaint, filed in federal court in Maine, charges the defendants with violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
The City of Helsinki, he proposes, should establish its own rental housing company that would account for considerably more of the housing production than the 20 per cent accounted for currently by the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA).

Ex-Minister of Social Services Osmo Soininvaara (Greens) has continued his ruminations on the problems associated with the rental housing market in Finland.

The company would rent out flats at market-based prices with the intention to drive down market-based prices with the supply. The rents would be such that encourage long-term tenancy agreements, but you would not have to wait for the flats, he wrote in his blog on Sunday.

The rental housing company would generate substantial profits, similarly to the numerous special-purpose rental housing companies today. The city would earmark the profits for increasing the housing supply, he envisioned.

Soininvaara also proposed that the citys rental housing assets be re-organised under a rental housing company to allow for their sales to tenants.

Our tax policy has been designed in a way that people who have selected the home-ownership path will have paid a lot less for housing during their life than people living in rental flats. This more affordable form of housing should also be available to low-income people. That is why the flats should be sold to tenants, he explained.

He estimated that there are several examples from large European cities of how social housing production has helped to ensure housing costs do not spiral out of control for anyone. What the examples have in common, he added, is that housing production has kept pace with the growth of the city, thus spurring the growth further.

If housing production keeps pace with the growth of a city, also market-based solutions will work well. Housing policy works when there is no shortage of flats  and only then, he said.

The combination of housing shortage and price regulation, on the other hand, is undesirable, according to Soininvaara.

You will either have to wait unreasonably long for a flat or there is an unofficial way to distribute the scarcity. In Stockholm, children are entered into the housing queue at birth and due to a shortage of reasonably priced flats in the city centre, the political elite has decided that the public will enjoy the flats through their representatives. Others have to settle for black-market options that are bordering on being illegal.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Vesa Moilanen  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
The experiences of women on the front lines illuminate their roles in the war.

When women participate in a war, they exhibit a particular kind of courage, to face not only the dangers of battle but also the negative opinionsperhaps even their ownof those who dont believe they are capable of enduring wars grueling difficulties. In Courageous Women of the Vietnam War, author Kathryn J. Atwood profiles 14 women who served as medics, journalists, resisters and revolutionaries. Here are the stories of an American nurse, a North Vietnamese surgeon, and an Australian correspondent.

Lynda Van Devanter

U.S. Army Nurse

Lynda Van Devanter was in her last year of nursing school in Baltimore when the war in Vietnam began to press into her consciousness. If our boys were being blown apart, then somebody better be over there putting them back together again, she later wrote. I started to think that maybe that somebody should be me.

When an Army recruiter came to the nursing school in January 1968, Van Devanter signed up. After graduation, she drove to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, for basic training. The recruits repeatedly practiced what to do in a mass-cal (mass casualty) situation, when a hospital would be suddenly overwhelmed with wounded men.

During a mass-cal, nurses would have to triage casualties, quickly assessing each wounded man and taking one of three actions: send him immediately to surgery; have less-serious cases wait for surgery; or ease his pain before allowing the inevitable to happen.

Essentially, we were deciding who would live and who would die, Van Devanter wrote later. It was a difficult concept for her. She had become a nurse to save lives. But her instructors made it clear that if precious time was spent on one hopeless case, those with survivable wounds might lose their chances.

In June 1969, the aircraft carrying Van Devanter and 350 men began its descent into South Vietnam. When the plane began jerking wildly, luggage fell from the overhead racks. Terrified, Van Devanter looked out the window. She could see explosions. If there had ever been any cockiness in me before this trip began, there sure wasnt any now, she wrote later. In its place was a cold, hard realization: I could die here.

Van Devanters destination was the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku province, near the Cambodian border, an area of heavy combat. She would remember her first days in the operating room as a blur of wounded soldiers, introductions to new colleagues, and almost constant surgery during 12-hour shifts. A week later, she experienced a mass-cal for the first time.

Describing it later, she wrote: The moans and screams of so many wounded were mixed up with the shouted orders of doctors and nurses. One soldier vomited on my fatigues while I was inserting an IV needle into his arm. Another grabbed my hand and refused to let go. A blond infantry lieutenant begged me to give him enough morphine to kill him so he wouldnt feel any more pain. A black sergeant went into a seizure and died while we were examining his small frag wound.

As she spent more time at the hospital, Van Devanter had to work harder to remind herself that she was in Vietnam to save people who were threatened by tyranny. But she found that belief increasingly difficult to maintain as she heard stories of corrupt South Vietnamese officials, U.S. Army atrocities, and a population who wanted nothing more than to be left alone so they could return to farming their land.

In letters home, Van Devanter began to express her doubts about how the United States was handling the war. It would be a lot easier if our government would just make up its mind, she wrote. We should either pull out of Vietnam or hit the hell out of the NVA [North Vietnamese Army]. This business of pussyfooting around is doing nothing but harm. Its hurting our GIs, the people back home, and our image abroad.

Yet she was also proud of her work: I dont think there are many other places where you can feel as needed in nursing. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have to keep going or people might not survive.

In June 1970, when her yearlong tour was up, Van Devanter boarded her freedom flight out of Vietnam. As the jet took off, I was filled with the most exhilarating sensation of my lifelike the weight of a million years had been suddenly lifted from my shoulders, she said.

But when the airport bus dropped Van Devanter and others off at the Oakland Army Terminal at 5 a.m., they had no way of immediately reaching San Francisco International Airport, 20 miles away. Van Devanter decided to hitchhike. Dressed in her uniform, she watched car after car whiz by. Some of the drivers screamed obscenities at her; others threw garbage. One finally took pity on her. Eventually, she made it home to Virginia.

On her first night back, Van Devanter showed to her family a slide show of Vietnam photos. When she came to photos of the operating room, her uncomfortable parents asked if she could show them something less gruesome. Van Devanter hid the slides in the back of her closet. I had learned quickly, she wrote later. Vietnam would never be socially acceptable.

Years passed, and Van Devanter continued working in nursing. But she suffered intense emotional pain she couldnt shake off or begin to comprehend. She eventually married a close friend who created a radio documentary called Coming Home, Again, which related Vietnam veterans experiences. One of the men involved in the project asked Van Devanter to be interviewed for the documentary. Then he asked her to create a womens organization with Vietnam Veterans of America.

Van Devanter also began studying post-traumatic stress disorder and realized it had been part of her life for years. Many female veterans were also suffering from trauma, and the VVAs women veterans project gave them a voice and helped them realize they were not alone. Van Devanter was the first American military nurse to publish a widely read Vietnam memoir, titled Home Before Morning. The book helped inspire the creation of China Beach, an award-winning 1988-91 television series about an American evacuation hospital in Da Nang during the Vietnam War. VVA honored Van Devanter with its Excellence in the Arts award in 1982 and its Commendation Medal in 2002.

In her later years, Van Devanter suffered from a vascular disease she believed was related to her exposure to Agent Orange. She died at age 55 on Nov. 15, 2002.

Lyndas book stands as one of the most powerful, evocative, and influential Vietnam War memoirs, wrote Marc Leepson, the arts editor of the VVAs national publication, in an obituary for Van Devanter. Home Before Morning changed peoples attitudes about the women who served in the Vietnam War, especially the nurses who faced the brutality of the war every day and whose service was all but ignored during the war and in the years immediately after.

Dang Thuy Tram

Communist Field Surgeon

On Jan. 1, 1969, Dr. Dang Thuy Tram recorded in her diary a message Ho Chi Minh had sent to those fighting for the Communist cause: This year greater victories are assured at the battlefront. For independencefor freedom. Fight until the Americans leave, fight until the puppets fall. Advance soldiers, compatriots. North and South reunified, no other spring more joyous.

Tram had thought of little else since Dec. 23, 1966, when she left her family in Hanoi and began the arduous, dangerous trek down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Three months later, Tram reached Duc Pho, a district in the south-central Quang Ngai province. The people there had heavily resisted the French during the First Indochina War and were now fighting the Americans and South Vietnamese forces. Tram was assigned the job of chief surgeon in a Duc Pho clinic, working to save Viet Cong and NVA soldiers.

While Tram derived great satisfaction from her work, she was troubled by her thwarted attempts to be accepted into the Communist Party. Tram believed that being a party member would allow her to more effectively serve the Communist cause. To her great frustration and sorrow, Trams educated background branded her as bourgeoisthat is, middle class and materialisticand therefore unworthy of membership in the Communist Party.

Trams dedicated medical work and obvious devotion to the cause, however, eventually gained the respect of local Communist Party leaders. On Sept 28, 1968, she was finally accepted, writing in her diary, My clearest feeling today is that I must struggle to deserve the title of communist.

During her service, Tram found it difficult to not befriend the young men fighting for Vietnams unity. I have a physicians responsibilities and should maintain some degree of objectivity, she wrote, but I cannot keep my professional compassion for my patients from becoming affection. Something ties them to me and makes them feel very close to me.

In late March 1969, she transferred to a clinic that treated civilian and military cases. Americans considered the area a free-fire zone, an area with supposedly no friendly civilians, so anyone remaining was considered the enemy and could be fired upon. Whenever American units approached, clinic personnel had to flee. They were never really safe, and throughout the summer, the medics and their wounded were constantly on the move as the intense fighting grew closer.

On July 16 Tram witnessed a nearby airstrike: Where each bomb strikes, fire and smoke flare up; the napalm bomb flashes, then explodes in a red ball of fire, leaving dark, thick smoke that climbs into the sky.

During such raids, Tram worried about the people she knew and loved. From a position nearby, I sit with silent fury in my heart, she wrote. Who is burned in that fire and smoke? In those heaven-shaking explosions, whose bodies are annihilated in the bomb craters? Oh, my heroic people, perhaps no one on earth has suffered more than you.

From underground shelters and bunkers, Tram had heard American troops but never encountered them face-to-face. Sent on a nighttime emergency mission, she once walked through hostile territory with an armed guard. Perhaps I will meet the enemy, and perhaps I will fall, but I hold my medical bag firmly regardless, she wrote in her diary.

On June 2, 1970, Trams clinic took a direct hit, which killed five patients. Ten days later, American troops attacked the medics at a different location. No one was injured, but the medics had to move again.

A few days later, Tram and two Vietnamese civilians were walking on a trail with a soldier when she came face-to-face with a group of Americans. Local villagers later found her body; she had been shot in the head.

Trams diaries fell into the hands of Fred Whitehurst, an American working with a military intelligence unit. Assigned to destroy enemy documents, Whitehurst was about to throw the diaries in a fire when his South Vietnamese interpreter, Sgt. Nguyen Trung Hieu, stopped him. Dont burn this one, Fred, he said. It has fire in it already. Hieu read aloud the entries to Whitehurst, who was moved and kept the diaries when he left Vietnam in 1972.

In 2005, Whitehurst located Trams family and gave them the diaries. Later that year, they were published in Hanoi as one volume, which became a best-seller. Young Vietnamese readers, who had learned about the war only from textbooks or overly formal diaries, were taken by Trams unpretentious voice, describing a warm, intelligent and occasionally self-doubting young person caught up in the horror of war. In 2007, Trams diary was translated into English and published under the title, Last Night I Dreamed of Peace.

Kate Webb

Captive Journalist

In March 1967, Kate Webb left her newsroom job in Sydney, Australia, and headed for Vietnam. It was simply the biggest story going, and I didnt understand it, the 23-year-old New Zealand-born journalist wrote.

After a few weeks of writing articles for Vietnamese newspapers, Webb got a freelance job with a GI newspaper. This widened her options, giving her formal accreditation with the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV, which oversaw all U.S. combat forces in South Vietnam), an extended visa, access to daily military briefings and the right to accompany men into battle.

On Jan. 30, 1968, Webb rushed to the besieged U.S. Embassy in Saigon to cover the Communists Tet Offensive, becoming the first wire correspondent to do so. Her articles

appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek and Time. Webb discovered that she possessed a crucial trait for a war correspondent: the ability to function and write amid the knife-edge fear of battle.

Webbs curiosity eventually led her to Cambodia, where the U.S. Air Force was covertly bombing North Vietnamese and Viet Cong sanctuaries. On March 18, 1970, Cambodian Prime Minister Lon Nol deposed Prince Norodom Sihanouk and allied himself with the United States. But Lon Nol had to contend with an enemy within the countrythe Khmer Rouge, Cambodian Communists led by the brutal Pol Pot.

On the night of April 6, 1971, Chea Ho, a Cambodian freelance reporter, told Webb that Cambodian paratroopers were likely to clash with North Vietnamese soldiers along Highway 4 the following day. Taking with her a Cambodian translator, Chhim Sarath, Webb drove to the rear lines and continued on foot, hoping to report firsthand stories from the front. A half-hour later, gunfire seemed to burst from all sides, forcing Webb and Chhim Sarath to seek cover in a roadside ditch. They huddled there alongside four other noncombatants.

Once the fight was over, the civilians tried to quickly move away from the area. But later that morning, they came face-to-face with two young North Vietnamese soldiers, who motioned for them to drop everything. Terrified, their hands in the air, the civilians all cried out, Nha bao (journalist), and Nuoc (water).

The soldiers stripped the civilians of their belongings, tied their hands behind them with baling wire that cut into their skin, linked them into two groups of three, and moved them into a dark bunker. Webb feared a live grenade would follow.

But instead, the soldiers forced the group to march. I tasted itthe feeling of being a prisonerunderneath the burning thirst, the new loneliness in me, Webb wrote. And although she felt certain they would be killed, she couldnt resist her reporters compulsive documenting of every detail of her experience.

After a blurred number of days and nights on foot, the prisoners and their captors stopped in a clearing. One by one, the soldiers singled out each prisoner for what they said were interviews. They took Webb to a military man who was in his 60s. Sitting before him, her hands shook with fear.

Do not be afraid, the interpreter said. You are in the hands of the Liberation Armed Forces (the army of the Southern Vietnamese Communists). He told Webb to speak slowly so he could understand her English.

An odd thing happened as question followed question and the young interpreter struggled to translate from English, she wrote later. I found myself thinking of the senior officer interrogating me as a professional soldier. The flipside of that was that I stopped feeling like a filthy, scared prisonerand like a professional reporter instead. He was taking what the war dealt out to him, and I was taking what the war dealt out to me.

After several days with little rest and food, the prisoners were in poor health. They had lost too much weight, and Webb was experiencing severe symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea, fever and shivering. But she felt more disturbed by her mental state. Living inside the gray limbo of the prisonerwith no links to the living world made her fear she was quickly descending into a dark place.

Finally, following a tense new round of interrogations at the same location, the soldiers told the prisoners they were being released. Webb didnt allow herself to believe it. Hope, we had fast learned, was as treacherous as an oasis mirage, and as cruel, she said.

The soldiers took the prisoners to the command hut, seating them on wooden benches in a semicircle around a table. An officer stood behind the table and began to read from an official document. Webb felt so ill that she had trouble concentrating on his exact words, but he appeared to be announcing their release. Six guards then took them away.

After two days, Webb woke in the middle of the night and saw the others scrambling to gather their things. Amid hasty goodbye handshakes, the guards left their prisoners alone in the dark on a roadside in no-mans land.

Terrified, they began walking and soon saw a group of Lon Nols soldiers. Webb waved a white cloth, and they all repeatedly yelled, Kassat (press).

They had been in captivity for 23 days.

As Webb recovered from two types of malaria, her transition from captivity to freedom was perhaps the strangest and in some ways the most difficult aspect of her experience.

She found quite disturbing the deeply divided American press. Webb was shocked when, speaking to the members of the Washington Press Club, she was told that a field reporter was morally bound to take a pro-war or pro-peace stand. Webb argued that a field reporters job was not to choose sides but only to report what was happening and what people were saying, feeling and doing on the ground. Without that hard, unbiased input, she said, there was nothing to opinionate, or stand, on.

On May 13, 2007, Webb died from cancer in Sydney at age 64. Her New York Times obituary quoted a fellow Vietnam reporter, Pulitzer Prizewinning Peter Arnett, who honored Webb as a fearless action reporter and one of the earliestand bestwomen correspondents of the Vietnam War.

Kathryn J. Atwood is also the author of Women Heroes of World War I, Women Heroes of World War II, and Women Heroes of World War II: The Pacific Theater.
Sea Islands dot deep-water Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, where on November 7, 1861, Rear Admiral Samuel DuPonts fleet of 17 warships blazed past Confederate Forts Walker and Beauregard, sailing in a clever elliptical formation to deliver constant fire on the bastions. Landing nearby, a 12,000-men force eventually took control of neighboring sea islands, including Port Royal Island, where wealthy planters had abandoned their fashionable homes in Beaufort. Union forces would hold the Sound throughout the war, blocking Confederate commerce, and homes in Beaufort would serve as headquarters for the Union Army and the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. A lovely town of 2,000 in normal times, Beaufort became a hub for recovering Federal wounded. The Union occupation of the nearby Sea Islands would witness an early experiment in emancipation. Northern forces, aided by the arrival of abolitionists, set up schools for the formerly enslaved and supervised agriculture on the vast plantations. The occupation would last the duration of the war, and sites related to that early experiment form the Reconstruction National Monument, designated in 2017 and still in development. Today Beaufort and the islands of Port Royal, St. Helena, and Parris retain a remote and unpretentious charm. Grand oak trees dripping with Spanish moss reach into the sky, and the distinctive sulfur-ish pluff mud from tidal flats and salt marshes scents the air. Sarah Richardson

Home Guards

Completed in 1798 for the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery, the Beaufort Arsenal building was rebuilt and enlarged in the 1850s, and was also the site of a polling place for newly enfranchised freedmen just after the Civil War. The distinctive complex is now home to a visitors center and the Beaufort Museum. beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org

For Blue and Gray

Abraham Lincoln established Beaufort National Cemetery, and 7,500 Union soldiers and 117 Confederate soldiers are buried here. Section 56 contains graves of USCT of the 55th Massachusetts and 1st North Carolina Infantry, whose remains were recovered on Folly Island in 1987 and reinterred here with full military honors in 1989. Visit www.cem.va.gov and search Beaufort.

We are now in complete possession of the finest harbor in the South, where the largest ships can enter and ride at anchor in safety.

 Captain Rufus Saxton, Nov. 9, 1861, Port Royal, S.C.

Emancipation

Camp Saxton in Port Royal is now part of the Reconstruction National Monument, designated in 2017. General Rufus Saxton read the Emancipation Proclamation here on New Years Day 1863. The site is on the grounds of a U.S. Naval Hospital and accessible weekdays onlyfollowing a quick background check by base personnel. Visit www.nationalregister.sc.gov and search Beaufort.



The North was thrilled with its early war victory at Port Royal, as it was located halfway between Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga. Blockading Federal warships soon churned the waters off of the beautiful coastline.

The Battle of Port Royal On November 7, 1861, Union ships attacked and defeated Fort Walker and Fort Beauregard, the bastions guarding Port Royal sound. The Federal victory planted Northern land troops in the heart of Secessia. COMMANDERS

USA

Rear Adm. Samuel DuPont

Brig. Gen. Thomas Sherman

CSA

Brig. Gen. Thomas Drayton

Commodore Josiah Tattnall

STRENGTH

USA

77 Ships

12,653 Troops

CSA

4 Gunboats

3,077 Troops

CASUALTIES

USA

31

CSA

63



Remarkable Man

The grounds of Tabernacle Baptist Church are home to the grave and a bust of Robert S. Smalls. He escaped from slavery by brazenly piloting a Confederate boat to Union blockading ships. Smalls then served in the Federal Navy and became a legislator after the war. 907 Craven St.



Verdier House

Its Pink!

This Verdier House is the only home from antebellum Beaufort that is open for tours. Built in 1804, the home served as a headquarters during the Union occupation. historicbeaufort.org

Venerable

Beauforts oldest church, St. Helena Episcopal Church, dates to 1724 and functioned as one of 16 military hospitals in Beaufort. A beautiful wooden altar, carved by Union veterans, was delivered to the church in 1878 as an act of reconciliation. The graveyard has remains of two Confederate generals, Richard Anderson and Stephen Elliott. sthelenas1712.org

Seaside Park

White sands, a carpet of rust-colored pine needles, and towering palms create a gorgeous setting in Hunting Island State Park, which includes a lighthouse that was destroyed by the Confederates, then rebuilt after the war. There are 167 steps to the top. southcarolinaparks.com

Local Color

The Cracked Egg in Port Royal at 1638 Paris Avenue offers breakfast and burgers in a casual, village setting.
You wouldnt know it from Irish or British media, but the tide may have turned against Bill Clinton. The possibility emerges of Juanita Broaddrick finding ease. Even of the ageing degenerate being forced to cancel plans to come among us next month.

Last November, The New York Times ran a sensational op-ed piece by one of its senior columnists, Michelle Goldberg. The headline which caused liberals across the land to choke on their cornflakes was, I Believe Juanita.

The piece was sensational not because it revealed dramatic new information but because its well-rehearsed facts had never previously gotten ink in a prestigious mainstream journal. Whats more, Ms. Goldberg is not a neo-liberal, Clinton-hating conspiracist but a highly-regarded, well-established, left-of-centre (by US standards) commentator.
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Despite naming themselves after a foodstuff, and weathering a couple of media storms in 2017, the Mossley neo-punk quintet are poised to release their first full-length album. Well discount last years Young, Dumb and Full Of Cabbage, as it was a compilation of their first three EPs. Suffice to say, they havent reinvented the wheel. What they have done is stuck some cards in the spokes and what a lovely sound they make when youre freewheeling down a steep hill.

Produced by James Skelly and Rich Turvey at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool, the result is a gloriously ragged-arsed affair, brimful of bridling polemic and shouty choruses. An interesting parlour game you can play while listening is spot-the-influence. Im not going to list them all here, as it would be doing the band a disservice, but somewhere in their audio DNA there are hints of Dead Kennedys and even Link Wray. In spite of this, they are a distinctly English band, straddling a line somewhere between Kaiser Chiefs and The Libertines.

From the dive-bombing bassline of Preach To The Converted through the bouncy sing-along chorus of Gibraltar Ape and Postmodernist Caligula, the spectre of earlier musical movements are present in every note. Theyre no museum piece though; theyre too much fun for that.
The PayPie platform (PPP token) is designed to bring trust and transparency to the financial sector by implementing its blockchain-powered invoice factoring marketplace and credit risk assessment based on business accounting. PayPies current market capitalization is $61,667,760USD, with a single PPP token worth $0.747488 USD.

PPP Token  What Is It and How Is It Performing?

Logically, the PPPs initial purpose is to provide access to PayPie and its transactions and services. First of all, it should be mentioned that the PPP token is based on the Ethereum ERC20 standard, as Ethereum allows smart contracts. Furthermore, Ethereum is open-source and adopted by a range of global institutions such as Deloitte, IBM, Microsoft.

From the whitepaper:

"Each PPP Token grants the holder the right to access certain services including the purchase of invoices and access tocredit histories of SMEs. Lenders will require PPP Tokens to access the PayPie platform, and tokens can be used to buy discounted invoices, credit scoring data and real-time financial data of an SME."

Currently, the PPP tokens market cap is $61,667,760 USD, with a circulating supply of 82,500,000 PPP. The price of the PPP token has been decreasing significantly, as compared to its highest value - $3.62 USD per single token on January 13.

About the PayPie Project  Mission and Vision

PayPie is creating the first decentralized accounting platform for businesses that will provide real-time insight into financial data to achieve 100% accuracy for a credit risk algorithm meant for global usage. As explained in the platforms whitepaper, this analysis will be performed with the help of a single ledger.

This approach will analyze all-time financial data of the particular business to assure the way credit risk is assessed by lenders, inventors, banks and any other financial institution. In the meantime, a blockchain-based accounting eco system is being created.

Shortly said, the platforms core goal is to solve the ever-existing issue of fraud and inconsistencies present in isolated accounting systems. It would help solving this issue by enabling live analysis of financial statements on the blockchain, which would later aid the determination of credit risk in lending operations.

According to PayPies whitepaper, this is the first fintech to develop credit risk profile of a business using an in-built algorithm to "constantly adjust it on the Ethereum blockchain depending upon the changes in more than 150 data points".

PayPie Latest News

One of the latest news regarding the platform is its joining the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), considered one of the largest open source blockchain initiatives with over 400 member companies. As to why PayPie joined EEA  the platform is aiming to enhance its contributions as a trusted leading enterprise in the blockchain industry, meanwhile supporting the adoption of Ethereum-based technology in the enterprise world.

About a month ago, PayPie announced a partnershipwith the Debitum Network.The business credit risk assessment enabled by the platforms blockchain technology is about to be adopted by Debitum Network as its dedicated blockchain-based risk score provider for business loans solelyfor businesses in North America.
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Will Department Of Justice Consent Decree Review Eliminate Rationale For Music Modernization Act?

With long standing consent decrees now under review by the Department of Justice, some of the impetus and perceived need for the Music Modernization Act is now being called into question.

____________________________

Guest post by Chris Castle of Music Tech Solutions

Lets be clearone reason why there are problems with mechanical licensing in the US is the loophole created by the government consent decrees that block ASCAP and BMI from issuing a unilicense for both performances and streaming mechanicals. I have argued for years that PROs should be allowed to administer existing statutory mechanical licenses for services that they already license on the performance side of the song. Personally, I think it is the main reason for creating the situation (such as the mass address unknown NOIs) that gets abused by the services like other loopholes.

Im not alone in making this argument for bundling rights to be administered by PROs: According to the Copyright Office Music Licensing Study (pp. 103-104):

NSAI, for example, opined that [t]he most efficient path to digital service providers obtaining necessary licenses would be to allow the PROs to license and collect mechanical royalties; NMPA suggested that bundled rights could be sought directly from the music publishers that own and administer the song in question. But the PROs suggested that their existing structures could be leveraged to facilitate bundled licensing on a blanket basis, if only the consent decrees were amended.

My view is that bundling should occur at the pubisher level and also at the PRO level for all publishers who do not license directly.

Rememberstreaming mechanicals track the exact same song, the exact same use, the exact same copyright owners, the exact same transactions and the exact same services as the PROs already license on the performances. The PROs already have the most comprehensive ownership databases for songs and those databases are immediately accessible. This is likely to remain true for a long time.

The ASCAP and BMI consent decrees have been in place for decades. We accept them as a fact of life, something of an immovable object. For example, the only part of the Music Modernization Act that affects ASCAP and BMI relates to changes that these PROs evidently would like to make to the consent decrees but cannot get the Justice Department to address. (Part may be overstatedits about 1-1/2 pages out of the 151 page bill.)

Butwhat we were told at the outset of the MMA is that legislation to sunset the consent decrees would never pass due to the lobbying power of the digital media companies, the broadcasters, and the general business establishments. The MIC Coalition, in other words. And supposedly we cant beat them, so we need to give up on that idea and take what were given and like it. (Good thing that guy was not at the Alamo, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Thermopylae or the Battle of Britain. Horatius he aint.) This is, of course, entirely the wrong approachif that thinking is not the ennui of learned helplessness, what is? As the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. said, Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.

No one considered what would happen if the consent decrees actually went away either entirely or substantially because the DOJ wanted them to. If that happy event came to pass, I would suggest that there would be little to nothing in the Music Modernization Act of any value or relevance to ASCAP and BMI. If anything, the collective established by the MMA is or could easily become a direct competitor of all the PROs which is likely why the broadcasters are positively neutral on the bill. I seriously doubt that any of them anticipated the consent decrees might go away.

Makan Delrahim, the new head of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, may have just obviated any reason why the PROs should support the MMA or perhaps whether the MMA is even relevant.

During a speaking engagement on March 27 at Vanderbilt Law School, Mr. Delrahim gave us some insights into his plans for the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees in a discussion with Professor Rebecca Allensworth. As reported in Broadcasting & Cable he said:

As public agencies we need to take a look and see if those consent decrees are still relevant in the marketplace, which he was clearly signaling was up for debate. If they have solved the competitive problem, he said, they could become anticompetitive tools over time[. I]f they were not necessarily the best ideas at the time, it doesnt make a whole lot of sense for them to stay.

Mr. Delrahim has put his finger right on the problem. In my view, the consent decrees have become weaponizedfor example, the last head of the Antitrust Division was closely linked to Google and after an ostensible review of the consent decrees, suddenly launched into the absurd 100% licensing episode to the greatalbeit short livedsatisfaction of the MIC Coalition.

Not only is there serious competition in the PRO marketplace unlike it was in 1941 when the ASCAP consent decree started, the 2015 SESAC acquisition of the Harry Fox Agency actually demonstrates that if left alone, the marketplace will close the mechanical license loophole that the MMA purports to solve. There is no longer a need for the consent decrees, rate courts, none of it.

This isnt to say that the PROs should get an exemption from the antitrust laws, far from it. But it does mean that the broadcasters, the MIC Coalition and the Digital Media Association should not be allowed to play with the anticompetitive tools of the entire consent decree apparatus.

So it appears that Mr. Delrahim thinks theres actually a chance that the consent decrees could go away. If that happens, the PROs will have a golden opportunity to close the mechanical licensing loophole without all of the apparatus of the MMA. In that new world, the major publishers would possibly not have to continue to use pretzel logic to administer the rights in their catalogs and the PROs could provide coverage on everything else.

And unlike the MMA, that world would actually be getting the government further out of the lives of songwriters. It would avoid songwriters being beholden to the DiMA fox that would at least financially control the collectives chicken coop.

It would also put to rest the ridiculous premise that the biggest corporations in commercial history need the government to protect them from songwriterscorporations that are themselves subject to antitrust enforcement, at least in Europe. And that may be the other shoe Mr. Delrahim could be dropping.

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The Rules and Ordinance Committee amended the proposed bylaw Monday night.

Pittsfield Council Looks to Loosen Proposed Marijuana Regulations



Permitting Coordinator Nate Joyner presented the proposed laws on Monday. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The City Council looks to lessen the proposed restrictions on commercial marijuana facilities.

The city's Department of Community Development has proposed zoning guidelines to guide the siting of recreational marijuana enterprises.

But, the council's Ordinance and Rules Subcommittee felt the proposal was too restrictive and opted to lift the cap on the number of retail establishments and eliminate screening requirements for outdoor growing operations.

The committee also teased the idea of eliminating a proposed regulation disallowing a retail establishment with 500 feet of a day-care center but ultimately will keep that setback a requirement.

"We want to be business-friendly. It is a legal thing that the public wants," Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo said, often comparing the industry to tobacco and alcohol shops.

Permitting Coordinator Nate Joyner outlined the zoning laws on Monday night. He said the four different types of usages  testing, cultivation and manufacturing, outdoor cultivation, and retail  will either need a special permit or a site plan review to operate in only certain areas of the city  two processes giving the city the chance to weigh in somewhat on the specific site proposals.

There was a proposed cap on the number of retailers to 10  20 percent of the number of package stores  and required screening for outdoor marijuana cultivators, and restricted within 500 feet of a school, playgrounds, and day-care centers. Two of those three restrictions were eliminated by the subcommittee.

"The state's licensing requirements have their own stringent security requirements," Joyner said of the local laws, which are focused mostly on-site development.

Joyner said the cap was developed by taking the minimum requirement  seven  and adding the three medical marijuana facilities currently in the pipeline.

"This cap would not count separately recreational and recreational. If you sell both medical and recreational, it will count as one," Joyner said.

Joyner said there is a one dispensary per 4,000 residents in California. With Pittsfield having about 40,000 people, that same ratio would be 10. But, in Colorado, he said the ratio is one retailer for every 1,500 residents, which would call for 28 in Pittsfield. There is uncertainty what the actual local demand will be, he said.

"This is a cap that is self-imposed so we can re-elevate it," Joyner said, saying that the city can change the cap at any point with the only restriction being that it can't be more restrictive than seven.

Ward 6 Councilor John Krol said he always felt the restriction on liquor licenses was "bizarre." He remembers some years ago petitioning the state to increase the number of liquor licenses to allow for restaurants to open.

Joyner said he would expect the city to hit the cap fairly quickly, but much of that will depend on the state's licensing process. He said he's already met with "at least five" potential retailers, three or four cultivation operations, and a manufacturer  from both local investors and out of town.

Krol's motion to eliminate the cap entirely was supported by the majority of the subcommittee, minus Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo who felt the city should match the number of permits to the same number of package stores instead.

Mazzeo questioned the limitation keeping an establishment opening near a day-care center. The state restricts the signage on such a facility significantly, requiring a very non-descript building without images or advertisements of the products. She said she understood not being near high schools, but it isn't like preschools will be having access to the shop.

"I think by shuttering everybody up, we are putting this stigma and it shouldn't be," Mazzeo said. "If it is a legal thing and you are an adult, I think you have every right to go into a store and purchase it."

Liquors stores do not have that distance requirement, but the Health Department did adopt the same provision for new tobacco retailers a few years ago.

Health Director Gina Armstrong said such provisions are aimed to reduce access and availability of marijuana. At the younger ages, such as preschoolers, the focus isn't so much on the children but on the parents. She wants to curb the proliferation of acceptance of the use in households with children.

She said the city's marijuana usage among high schoolers is already above average and making it more acceptable in the city will grow those numbers more.

"The more retail options we have, the more visible marijuana is," Armstrong said.



The city's ordinances looked to add a few additional restrictions. She also advocated for keeping the cap at 10 for the same reasons. She said her department is taking a conservative approach to it because there are still questions about how the introduction of the industry will impact the city.

"There are very detailed guidelines for the advertising, signage, promotion. There are a lot of restrictions. But until that is rolled out locally, we don't know how pervasive it will be," Armstrong said.

Ordinance and Rules Committee Chairman Peter White questioned the requirement for screening between an outdoor growing facility and neighboring properties. He said cannabis is a plant, so why would the city restrict visuals of a plant in favor of a fence? He said the city doesn't restrict the visibility of corn or strawberry fields.

"I think it is a little ridiculous to put something that will be uglier up," White said."I'd rather treat this as an agricultural use."

Joyner said that restriction was lifted from the city's regulations on nurseries. He said the screening is just a requirement separating commercial property usages from residential one. The law also creates a 50-foot buffer zone around property lines where no equipment or products can be stored to avoid neighborly nuisances.

Nonetheless, with a special permit process on many of the usages, the city's Zoning Board of Appeals could always add those restrictions later.

"I think we are a little unsure of what these usages are going to look like, so this was somewhat precautionary," Joyner said.

The subcommittee unanimously approved that one. For his third amendment of the evening, Krol then motioned to eliminate the 500-foot set back from day-care centers. But, after conversations among the councilors, he withdrew his support and ultimately voted against his own amendment.

Caccamo said he felt that particular restriction limited the available properties a company can develop.

However, speaking from the gallery, Councilor Earl Persip said the concern of particular day-care businesses should be considered. He said the opening of a marijuana facility near a day-care center could hurt its client base because of parents will second guess sending their children there.

"There are going to be parents out there who won't send their kids to a day-care because there is retail marijuana nearby," Persip said. "We're going to put some businesses at a disadvantage if you don't have a barrier."

He added the city should also consider adding day camps to the list.
Jonas Cullwick, a former General Manager of VBTC is now a Senior Journalist with the Daily Post. Contact: [email protected]. Cell # 678 5460922
This content is from: Corporate

The market is just as competitive as before the crisis but with added awareness of risk
What is bank resolution?

The 2008 financial disaster resulted in several bank bailouts worldwide, with taxpayers unwillingly paying hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue banks from a liquidity crisis and collapse. In the US alone, the bill came to $700 billion, as the Treasury paid to salvage banks such as Lehman Brothers and AIG from ruin.

In the decade since, a number of international regulators and policy setters have established rules and guidelines to reduce the probability and impact of the failure of such systemically important financial institutions (Sifis) and firms. Bank resolution provides an insolvency process for a bank that is on the brink of collapse, and mitigates the potential for fallout risk.

The two regions most greatly affected, the US and the EU, have developed distinct approaches to bank resolution.

"It is like comparing apples and pears, both are fruits that share similar colours"

What are the bank resolutions systems in the two jurisdictions?

In the US, bank resolution depends on the legal entity in question. A bank holding company will be resolved under the bankruptcy law, a broker dealer will file for bankruptcy under the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), any insured national or state bank will be resolved under by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Act of 1950.

US banks that are subsidiaries of foreign banks will be resolved under state law or by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) under the International Banking Act. The US really has two systems for resolution with different rules for financial institutions with $50 billion or more of assets - these are currently designated as Sifis.

Keith Noreika, partner at Simpson Thacher, said that the US system operates like a big patchwork quilt.

Congress enacted a resolution authority via the Dodd-Frank Act  the FDIC - and the Fed to require larger more complex firms to develop plans to facilitate their resolution, he said.

As part of that system, regulators have developed a single point of entry approach to resolution, which involves funnelling losses to the top holding or parent company, which will then be placed in bankruptcy.

Similarly, in the EU, a bank resolution occurs when authorities determine that a failing bank cannot go through normal insolvency proceedings without harming public interest and causing financial instability. In order to ensure continuity of the bank's critical functions, maintain financial stability and restore the viability of parts or all of the bank, the EU introduced the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) in 2014. The Directive requires banks to introduce recovery plans and introduces resolution funds to assist during the process of restructuring.

The European regime sets out a region-wide framework, while each national regime fleshes it out. In the UK, for example, a tripartite series of authorities is involved: the Treasury and the Bank of England are the main parties involved alongside the Financial Conduct Authority which actually decides whether or not that the bank can be considered to be in a resolution process, and if so, which process should be followed.

In the UK, there is a statutory backing against the government power in order to deal with resolution, although every country has unique processes. The BRRD however is separate from any bankruptcy and insolvency regime.

Are there many similarities?

There are indeed. At the G20 summit in Pittsburgh in 2009, the 20 constituent members committed to working towards a common regime.

We should develop resolution tools and frameworks for the effective resolution of financial groups to help mitigate the disruption of financial institution failures and reduce moral hazard in the future, reads the commitment.

The IMF too has a level of involvement in developing countries to help ensure that the common principles are followed.

According to Latham & Watkins partners Alan Avery and Rob Moulton, the firms approach to recovery resolution planning has been quite different in the two jurisdictions. One difference is that the resolution planning requirement has evolved over time.

Although there is commitment by the countries that are members of the Financial Stability Board [FSB], the processes are very different in practice, said Moulton.

In the US, resolution planning requirements are different, depending on the nature of the institution," said Avery. "There is a resolution regime administered by the FDIC for institutions subject to their regulation, which includes all banks with FDIC-insured deposits."

There is a new resolution regime under the Dodd-Frank Act that would apply to any non-bank financial company that is determined to be systemically important. For non-US institutions with respect to their US banking activity conducted through branches, the resolution is typically handled under state banking laws.

We hadnt had a recovery planning component to our resolution planning recovery process here in the US until somewhat recently, when the OCC adopted recovery planning guidance that applies to a narrow set of the largest US banks, said Avery.

What are the main differences between the two systems?

Although there are many similarities, the processes in the EU and the US are very distinct.

It is like comparing apples and pears, both are fruits that share similar colours, said Michael Huertas, partner at Dentons in Frankfurt. The apple in the US has been formed, crafted, brought around in a manner that works in a way that everyone knows at every level what they are doing and how they are supposed to do it. Their Single Rulebook has had a longer time to form.

In the EU however, there are national political interests at play that dont exist in the US.

"US federal law will be supreme to all state laws, so it is relatively easier to implement a more uniform standard than in the EU"

There would be no reason for a senator to say Washington neutral is being wound up, and I dont like that because of xyz, Huertas said. There is a physical backstop.

He added: Even if both sides of the Atlantic have similar tools, you cant compare one to the other without looking at the differences in approach, whom they supervise and the path of development. The EU would like to emulate some of the better parts of the US system, especially in terms of institutional resources.

Equally the EU still has, despite its Single Resolution Mechanism in the eurozone and the BRRD across the EU, a number of national political pressures, rivalries and different legacies in supervisory culture, experience and willingness to cooperate.

This can hamper efforts, mostly led by the EU and certain member states, to create a more level playing field in terms of resolution, depositor protection and a host of other measures designed to create a more resilient financial system with greater certainty," said Huertas. "This would lead to more liquid and better functioning national as well as cross-border markets."

On the other hand, US federal law and regulation will be supreme to all state laws, so it is fairly and relatively easier to implement a more uniform standard than in the EU where most matters are determined by the political entities in each country.



There are smaller differences like the way that bail-in capital is raised, which is used more in the European context than in the American context.

Another distinction is simply that in the US the process has been used significantly more often than in the EU. The FDIC's resolution regime of banks has been very frequently tested and - depending on which stakeholders are asked - has been quite effective. The process happens very quickly, throughout the financial crisis there were close to 500 banks that failed from between 2007 and 2014, with the FDIC handling each of them.

In the UK for example, we have had historically fewer, said Moulton. These markets have been dominated by a small number of players that are too big to be allowed to fail, so the regime has been subject to much less of a road test over here.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) conducted a fundamental review of the trading book (FRTB) framework in the EU, to establish the flaws of the existing rules that were born after the financial crisis. In 2016 new standards were adopted for the calculation of capital requirements and the counterparty credit risk.

To be a Sifi or not to be? That's an important question

In practice, a critical point is that the FDIC as a resolution authority in the US is a behemoth compared to the SRB, said Huertas. If you have 6,000 bank examiners looking at the same amount of institutions as under the SRB's remit, with a staff of under 250 people, it is obvious that things will come down to the wire.

What has been set up in Europe in the past four or five years is still in its infancy in comparison to the US powers, the infrastructure, the people, the training. In the US there is a single rulebook, 50 state jurisdictions and federal law. The EU wont get to a similar position overnight but its supervisors will need to be more efficient and communicate with each other more across the national level of institutions.

The US has had a longer time to work on it since the 1933 financial crash, when president Roosevelt redrew the physical landscape, and adopted an inward approach, added Huertas. We've come a long way through different crises to get an infrastructure that just gelled in a better way. There is no doubt in anyones mind that Europe will get there and at the senior level.

What are the current issues?

The UK is implementing bank ring fencing for its largest domestic deposit taking banks, although the EU has been spared of this requirement for now. The country has a good record so far of not allowing a big bank to fail. Whether the outcome of this is a good one is up for debate - but there has not been a bank failure of significance.

The purpose of ring fencing is to separate a bank into the faith domestic retail part that is not undertaking activities that are subject to market risk and which have to be able to survive, if the other part of the bank which is taking legitimate market risk in riskier activities were to fail.

One part of a ring-fenced bank would go bust without the other part suffering the same fate because they would be separated, and the part that the average retail customer worries about would be able to continue to function if the other part failed.

What no one knows is whether this premise is true, said Moulton. The big question is if the investment banking bit of one of our banks went bust, would it or would it not lead to a run on the retail bank?

Whether or not a ring-fence has been established properly or not, if retail customers dont understand that and think that if think one part is going bust the entire organisation will, then the exercise of ring fencing is futile.

The US approach to that same issue was basically to prohibit banks from carrying out activities that are deemed risky/with more market risk. Rather than ring-fence for purposes of resolution, the solution was to prohibit carrying out so-called risky activities under the Volcker rule.

There is a current effort in the US Congress to adopt changes to Dodd-Frank, including raising the threshold for enhanced prudential standards from $50 billion to $250 billion and the thresholds of resolution planning aspects.

It would leave about eight banks in the US that have to do resolution planning, and some foreign banks that have a large US presence over that amount as well.

Even Dan Tarullo conceded that a $50 billion bank is not systemically important, said Noreika. The negatives effects far outweigh any potential benefit to financial stability, they basically act as competitive barriers to entry for midsize banks to compete with the largest lenders.

The cost of crossing the $50 billion mark is fairly prohibitive: there have only been one or two banks that have ever crossed it because the scale of the costs cannot be justified unless a lender can ramp up their assets much higher than $50 billion to compete with the largest competitors, which are about 30 or 40 times bigger than the $50 billion limit.

The Crapo bill takes a measured approach by allowing some Fed digression between $100 and $250 billion. But even then the presumption is going to have be that those additional restrictions dont kick in until the very highest limit, continued Noreika.

There must be some glaring risk factors that justify the application of the highest standard below $250 billion, he added.

See also

PRIMER: G-sibs and Sifis

A case in point: Greeces bad bank for bad loans

PRIMER: the EU Banking Union





 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs.

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The Details

The screening will be preceded by featured speaker Russell Merritt, BSI (The Trepoff Murder), Professor of American and European Film History in the Film and Media Department of the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Merritt is the foremost expert of Sherlock Holmes and the cinema, and was instrumental in the screening of the rediscovered William Gillette film of 1916 This is the film that features not only Henry Daniell, but George Zucco  two of the foremost villains in the entire series. In addition, you'll be able to see Basil Rathbone's famous windswept hair, making a repeat appearance followingWe hope you'll take advantage of this very special opportunity to see Basil Rathbone appear as Sherlock Holmes on the big screen, in a wonderful setting.And if you'd care to learn about the Rathbone-Bruce partnership, please tune in to Episode 122 of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere:AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road 11:30 am  2:00 pm$35 per person covers admission. Refreshments, including beer and wine, will be available but areincluded in admission.You may send a cheque for $35 per person made payable to Michael J. Quigley, to 2651 Fort Scott Drive You may pay viato: cemartin AT umich DOT edu. Please choose the "" option. If you choose this method of payment, tickets are available for justCall Michael Quigley at 443-827-2626 for reserved seating preferenceAFI Silver Theatre is conveniently located near several public parking garages. Both the Wayne Avenue Garage and the Town Square Garage offer FREE parking all day on weekends and holidays. The Wayne Avenue Garage is located on Wayne Avenue, between Georgia Avenue and Fenton Street. The Town Square Garage is located on Fenton Street, between Roeder Road and Ellsworth Drive. For additional parking options, visit silverspringdowntown.com The AFI Silver Theater is located two blocks north of Metro's Red Line station in Silver Spring--
Imperial Valley News Center

New York raw milk cheese company ordered to stop sales for food safety violations after two people died

Washington, DC - A New York raw milk cheese company whose products were linked to a multi-state outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono) has been ordered by a federal court not to manufacture its ready-to-eat aged soft, semi-soft and hard cheeses until it complies with food safety regulations.

On March 30, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Vulto Creamery LLC (Walton, N.Y.) and its owner and manager Johannes Jos H. Vulto. The defendants cannot prepare, process, manufacture, pack and/or hold FDA-regulated food products until they can ensure that L. mono is not present in their facility and their food.

We have an obligation to make sure that foods are safe for people to consume. The FDA moved quickly after an L. mono outbreak to get the company to recall and destroy all its cheese products and cease production to prevent any more tainted food from harming consumers, said FDA Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs Melinda K. Plaisier. FDA investigators also found unsanitary conditions at Vulto Creamerys facility and this consent decree prevents the company and its owner from resuming operations until they can demonstrate to the FDA that their products are safe.

Vulto Creamerys ready-to-eat cheeses are considered adulterated because they contain L. monoa pathogenic bacterium that can cause listeriosis, a rare but potentially life-threatening illness. People with compromised immune systems, the elderly, pregnant women and developing fetuses are particularly susceptible to listeriosis. In addition, the products were prepared, packed and/or held under unsanitary conditions and the food may have become contaminated with filth or otherwise be harmful to health.

Before the company can resume operations, the consent decree requires it, among other things, to retain an independent laboratory to collect and analyze environmental and finished samples for the presence of L. mono, retain an independent expert and develop a program to control L. mono, and eliminate unsanitary conditions at its facility.

Last year, the FDA, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state and local officials, investigated a multi-state outbreak of listeriosis that was eventually linked to soft cheese produced by Vulto Creamery. Eight people were infected from four states, and two people died.

The complaint was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the FDA.
Imperial Valley News Center

United States Announces Additional Humanitarian Assistance for Yemen

Geneva, Switzerland - Today, the U.S. government announced nearly $87 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Yemen at the Yemen High-Level Pledging Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland.

With this new assistance, which includes funds from the Department of State and USAID, the United States is providing food assistance and continued support for safe drinking water, treatment for malnourished children, emergency shelter, protection, and other critical aid to millions of vulnerable Yemenis and refugees living in Yemen.

The United States continues to urge all parties to this conflict to allow unhindered access for all humanitarian and commercial goods through all points of entry into Yemen and throughout the country to reach the Yemenis in desperate need.

The United States is one of the largest donors in response to Yemens humanitarian crisis. Since October 2016, the U.S. government has provided more than $854 million to address the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

We commend those who have joined us in making generous pledges. In particular, we thank the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for their recent combined $930 million contribution to the UNs coordinated response. We call on other donors to increase their share of funding, and we welcome the announcements of additional pledges at the pledging conference today.

While these contributions will provide some immediate relief, no amount of humanitarian or development assistance will end this conflict and the suffering of millions. An enduring solution will only come through a comprehensive political agreement, which will require compromise from all sides.
Is global public will enough to end hunger?

Sacramento, California - Global public will alone will not end hunger. Increased donor support while necessary to address immediate emergency food needs will not create the food system improvements required for ending global hunger. Yes, even in 2016 after several years of decline the number of hungry people worldwide rose to 815 million, increasing by nearly 38 million since 2015. Reducing this number and honoring the US pledge from the UN Sustainable Development Goal of ending global hunger requires country led, pro-poor food system improvements. As more people migrate to cities, these pro-poor food policies must both include agriculture development strategies and ensure consumer access to affordable, nutritious food.

Attempting to impose requisite change from the global level ignores the leadership of governments and local actors striving to develop their own policies and programs. Effective change requires long-term, local government ownership of macro policy improvements; these improvements in turn drive benefits for everyoneparticularly smallholder farmers and poor, non-farm working consumers. These macro policies must create an enabling environment that allows for the formation and growth of local businesses across the agricultural value chain. Businesses of every kind require the predictability that only adequate government policy and legally enforced regulatory frameworks can deliver. Additionally, a consistent operating environment and harmonization across regions benefits US agribusiness working to develop sustainable supply chains demanded by their business model and accountable supply chains demanded by consumers. It also benefits US farmers as communities are able to build local and regional markets for US exports. As interested global donors and policy advocates, we must partner with these local leaders and provide support to facilitate their vision of change.

Partnerships at the country and community level should reflect the needs of the local food system and involve active community members. Government, private sector, academia, donors, NGOs, and community representatives together can provide necessary tools, such as substantive information, technical advice, distribution, operational implementation, and funding. And context is critical: in no two countries will replicating a successful partnership in one ensure success in the other. The Farm to Market Alliance, for example, is comprised of public and private sector groups looking to link farmers, buyers, and other market actorssuch as providers of fertilizer and financein order to build demand-led value-chains. While the Farm to Market Alliance has the same objective in each of the three countries it operates, the specific partners in each location differ to reflect the particular needs and actors available in each location. Every country level partnershipwhile striving to achieve aspirational goals tomorrowmust also provide the tools and talent needed to produce measurable results today.

Consistent progress and results from transparent evaluations are also necessary to ensure that the right policies are enacted and that the correct leaders are involved. Countries that have made the leap from subsistence agriculture to food systems that work for small farmers and consumers demonstrate that information is needed to first identify effective policies, programs, and partnershipsand encourage additional investment. And all of this must occur with the recognition of what is not working and moving on. An aspirational vision of a pro-poor food system takes many years to achieve. What keeps stakeholders and US leadership invested are incremental, measurable results supported by adequate course corrections throughout the process.

The journey from vision to food security also requires research and development, from USDA and land-grant universities as well as international research organizations, to produce the tools necessary for creating catalytic, structural changes across the food system. These research investments must generate more farmer-centered solutions, whether its developing drought tolerant seeds in the Sahel or creating new methods for farmer financingsuch as MyAgro, a company which allows farmers to buy seeds, fertilizers, and training services in advance with scratch cards. Not every intervention must be high tech, but admittedly mobile technology will likely drive most innovation through information sharing, data collection and management, and addressing logistical challenges.

Food system improvement strategies have succeeded when implemented consistently over multiple yearsand even decades. The Sustainable Development Goals mandates the USas a global leader and an agricultural powerhouseto end hunger by 2030. While global public will alone cannot end hunger, we should recognize that it can encourage the investments, partnerships, research, and demands for transparency needed to develop and implement local policies capable of ending hunger.

About the author: Ambassador Ertharin Cousin is currently the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanfords Spogli Institute and a Visiting Fellow in their Center on Food Security. She also serves as Distinguished Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She formerly served as Executive Director of the World Food Program and as the US Representative to UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture.
They have been given clear warning. Hamas is once again using the people to push it's agenda.



~snip~
FTC-IRS Initiative Aims to Make it Easier for Consumers to Report Tax-Related Identity Theft

Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are teaming up to make it easier for consumers to report tax-related identity theft and to receive assistance to help recover.

The IRS will now allow consumers to report identity theft to the IRS electronically through the FTCs IdentityTheft.gov website. Tax-related identity theft happens when someone uses your stolen Social Security number to file a tax return and claim your refund. Victims of tax-related identity theft need to file an IRS Identity Theft Affidavit, also known as IRS Form 14039, before the IRS can begin resolving the problem. Until this new initiative, consumers could only file an IRS Form 14039 manually.

Under the new FTC-IRS initiative, IdentityTheft.gov will be the first and the only place where consumers can submit an IRS Form 14039 electronically. A new FTC blog post provides more detail about how the process works.

Identitytheft.gov allows consumers to report identity theft and to receive a personal recovery plan. Consumers can also obtain an Identity Theft Report that can be used in place of a police report to help clear their credit reports of fraudulent information, and customized letters they can send to creditors, debt collectors, and others to help recover from identity theft causes.
Top State Department Drugs Official to Moderate Global Opioid Crisis Panel at National Drug Abuse Summit

Atlanta, Georgia - Today in Atlanta, James Walsh, the Senior Bureau Official for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), will lead a global panel discussion on the international opioid crisis at the National Prescription Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit (Rx Summit). Walsh will deliver opening remarks and moderate a panel discussion, which will feature participants from Mexico, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The annual Rx Summit is attended by thousands of participants from the medical, law enforcement, public health, civil society, government, and drug treatment sectors. Several U.S. Senators and Representatives, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the heads of the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are taking part in the Summit.

In October 2017, President Trump declared the U.S. opioid crisis a National Public Health Emergency; over 42,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2016. In his remarks at the Rx Summit, Deputy Assistant Secretary Walsh will address the international dimensions of this crisis, as well as the newly emerging technologies and trafficking patterns which are making the opioid epidemic so challenging. Walsh will also discuss the State Departments key role in fighting the crisis in meetings during the Summit with Representative Hal Rogers, founding co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse, as well as Senators Maggie Hassan and Edward Markey.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells Travels to India

Washington, DC - Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells will travel to New Delhi, India, April 3-6. On April 4, she will co-lead the U.S. delegation with Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton at the U.S.-India-Japan Trilateral Dialogue.

On April 6, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Wells will participate in the India-U.S. Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs. During her visit, she will also meet with senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and meet with representatives from the private sector.
On the Occasion of the Republic of Senegal's National Day

Washington, DC - Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan: "On behalf of President Trump and the American people, I congratulate the people of Senegal as you celebrate the 58th anniversary of independence on April 4, 2018.

"The United States values the ties that bind the American and Senegalese people. I commend Senegals economic growth and leadership in the region, including its contribution to UN peacekeeping missions. Our close coordination underscores our shared values of working toward a more secure and prosperous future for both of our countries.

"As you celebrate the anniversary of your independence, please know that the people of the United States celebrate with you."
Bhavesh Bobby Bhatt (center), who has lived in the U.S. since 2001, has been detained for two months by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and faces immediate deportation. The Indian American businessman is shown here with his wife, Jeanne, and their infant son. (change.org photo)
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American citizens are sick and tired of being made into tax-slaves to finance the economic needs of millions of poverty stricken, poorly educated, low and unskilled aliens who have invaded America borders.





See: Annual Caravan of Central-American Asylum Seekers  Heading to U.S.-Mexico Border  Sparks Trumps Concern April 2nd, 2018Note: that Pueblo Sin Fronteras means people without borders.Keep in mind our Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land. The fact is, our federal government is specifically charged with power:See Article 1, Section 8, Clause 15As President, and in compliance with our federal governments duty to protect the United States against invasions, Trump should immediately call out the National Guard, place them on the border, block these invaders, and protect the United States against this pending invasion. To not block these invaders at our border and allow them entry into the United States will, by default, entitle them to stay while a long legal process takes place which essentially allows them to stay and burden American Citizens with the costs of their economic needs: food, shelter, clothing, public schooling, medical attention, including the costs of females giving birth.Its time for President Trump to nip this madness in the bud, and do what is right for Americas citizens.JWK
Water from the Cauvery river, which runs through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, is shared between the two states. In Tamil Nadu, state-wide protests broke out after the Central government failed to establish the Cauvery Management Board to govern water sharing between the states. (Wikipedia photo)
By IndraStra Global News Team







Image Attribute: Putin, Rouhani, Erdogan Hold Joint Presser After Talks on Syria in Sochi /  Sputnik/ Michael Metzel/POOL





On March 31, 2018, the Turkish Presidential Press Office said that the country will host a trilateral meeting on Syria, gathering leaders from Turkey, Russia, and Iran on April 4, 2018.





The meeting is going to be hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on April 4, which will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, according to a statement. During the meeting, the leaders will also exchange views on regional and international issues as well as bilateral relations.





The first of the trilateral summits was held last year in Russia's Black Sea city Sochi on November 22. In the second trilateral summit that will be held at the presidential complex in Ankara. On the agenda - the recent developments in Afrin following Turkey's operation, the latest situation of the de-escalation zones in Idlib, the political transition period in Syria and the incidents in Eastern Ghouta.





A day ahead of the summit, Putin and Erdogan are scheduled to meet in bilateral talks in the Turkish capital as part of the Turkish-Russian High-Level Cooperation Council. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu held a telephone conversation on March 30 to discuss the Putin-Erdogan meeting, the Russian foreign ministry said in an official statement.





Erupting in 2011, the armed conflict in Syria quickly turned into a full-fledged civil war, which so far has killed more than 330,000 people and displaced millions. The conflict also became a breeding ground for terrorism. The Islamic State once reportedly controlled more than 50 percent of Syrian territory.





As part of his visit, the Russian president will also attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in the southern province of Mersin on the Mediterranean coast on April 3. The Akkuyu NPP will be built by Russian State Nuclear Energy Agency Rosatom along with its Turkish partners, the Cengiz-Kolin-Kalyon (CKK) consortium. The plant will comprise of four units each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts. The official launch ceremony took place in April 2015. Major construction was expected to begin in March 2018, and the first unit is expected to become operational in 2023.





Despite tensions mounted between Russia and Turkey, due to the Turkish downing of Russian Airplane on November 24 (2015), Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the decision to continue is purely a commercial one. Turkey's energy imports amount to roughly $55 billion annually and its energy demand is among the fastest-growing in Europe. Ankara aims for at least 10 percent of its power generation to come from nuclear energy in less than a decade to cut dependency on natural gas.





North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), "because the U.S. declines to sell Turkey even pistols," as Erdogan Besides that, Turkey also signed a contract with Russia to buy S-400 air defense systems, despite being non-interoperable with the),as Erdogan said . However, there have been reports that Trump may intervene to sell Patriot systems to Turkey in a bid to stave off the S-400 purchase.





Observers' Viewpoints





"On the world stage, the triad of Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara has made its mark by acting as a prime mover to end Syrias long-running civil war. But their economic interests have been in play for more than two decades and geopolitical considerations have a longer history." According to Dilip Hiro, an Indian author, journalist, and commentator who specializes on the politics of South Asia and the Middle East -





Russia, Turkey, and Iran  are working together to create "de-escalation zones" to reduce the fighting in Syria and bring all the sides of the conflict on a negotiation table for the sake of Syria's future. The cooperation comes despite their positions on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict with Moscow siding with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian war seven years ago. Despite having differences, one should give credit for their collaboration in the "Astana Process", which seems to be a good example of pragmatic, rational and result-oriented mediation efforts for the future of Syria. The cooperation comes despite their positions on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict with Moscow siding with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian war seven years ago. Despite having differences, one should give credit for their collaboration in the, which seems to be a good example of pragmatic, rational and result-oriented mediation efforts for the future of Syria.





For Russia, Syria's geography matters. The naval installation in the port city of Tartus, first established in the Cold War, provides Russia's only access to the Mediterranean, crucial for both commercial and military purposes.





Iran's support for Syrian regime always included an array of financial aid, arms & weapons, intelligence inputs, and militia on the ground - at the same time, it has also criticized the cruelty of Assads regime. More than that, it was Tehran that convinced Russia to enter Syrian conflict, despite their competition for European natural gas markets. On the other hand, Turkey supports for Assad's rebels is all about to build a new sphere of influence in the informal space of the former Ottoman caliphate.





In a simple nutshell statement, Syria as a country seems to be an intricate puzzle, one that is hard to view through the prism of American & European sensibilities.





With reporting by Chicago Tribune, Huriyet Daily News, RFE/RL, and Reuters
April 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Think of it as the most momentous military planning on Earth right now. Whos even paying attention, given the eternal changing of the guard at the White House, as well as the latest in tweets, sexual revelations, and investigations of every sort? And yet it increasingly looks as if, thanks to current Pentagon planning, a twenty-first-century version of the Cold War (with dangerous new twists) has begun and hardly anyone has even noticed.

In 2006, when the Department of Defense spelled out its future security role, it saw only one overriding mission: its Long War against international terrorism. With its allies and partners, the United States must be prepared to wage this war in many locations simultaneously and for some years to come, the Pentagons Quadrennial Defense Review explained that year. Twelve years later, the Pentagon has officially announced that that long war is drawing to a close -- even though at least seven counterinsurgency conflicts still rage across the Greater Middle East and Africa -- and a new long war has begun, a permanent campaign to contain China and Russia in Eurasia.

Great power competition, not terrorism, has emerged as the central challenge to U.S. security and prosperity, claimed Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist while releasing the Pentagons $686 billion budget request in January. It is increasingly apparent that China and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian values and, in the process, replace the free and open order that has enabled global security and prosperity since World War II.

Of course, just how committed President Trump is to the preservation of that free and open order remains questionable given his determination to scuttle international treaties and ignite a global trade war. Similarly, whether China and Russia truly seek to undermine the existing world order or simply make it less American-centric is a question that deserves close attention, just not today. The reason is simple enough. The screaming headline you should have seen in any paper (but havent) is this: the U.S. military has made up its mind about the future. It has committed itself and the nation to a three-front geopolitical struggle to resist Chinese and Russian advances in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Important as this strategic shift may be, you wont hear about it from the president, a man lacking the attention span necessary for such long-range strategic thinking and one who views Russias Vladimir Putin and Chinas Xi Jinping as frenemies rather than die-hard adversaries. To fully appreciate the momentous changes occurring in U.S. military planning, its necessary to take a deep dive into the world of Pentagon scripture: budget documents and the annual posture statements of regional commanders already overseeing the implementation of that just-born three-front strategy.

The New Geopolitical Chessboard

This renewed emphasis on China and Russia in U.S. military planning reflects the way top military officials are now reassessing the global strategic equation, a process that began long before Donald Trump entered the White House. Although after 9/11, senior commanders fully embraced the long war against terror approach to the world, their enthusiasm for endless counterterror operations leading essentially nowhere in remote and sometimes strategically unimportant places began to wane in recent years as they watched China and Russia modernizing their military forces and using them to intimidate neighbors.

While the long war against terror did fuel a vast, ongoing expansion of the Pentagons Special Operations Forces (SOF) -- now a secretive army of 70,000 nestled inside the larger military establishment -- it provided surprisingly little purpose or real work for the militarys heavy metal units: the Armys tank brigades, the Navys carrier battle groups, the Air Forces bomber squadrons, and so forth. Yes, the Air Force in particular has played a major supporting role in recent operations in Iraq and Syria, but the regular military has largely been sidelined there and elsewhere by lightly equipped SOF forces and drones. Planning for a real war against a peer competitor (one with forces and weaponry resembling our own) was until recently given far lower priority than the countrys never-ending conflicts across the Greater Middle East and Africa. This alarmed and even angered those in the regular military whose moment, it seems, has now finally arrived.

Today, we are emerging from a period of strategic atrophy, aware that our competitive military advantage has been eroding, the Pentagons new National Defense Strategy declares. We are facing increased global disorder, characterized by decline in the long-standing rules-based international order -- a decline officially attributed for the first time not to al-Qaeda and ISIS, but to the aggressive behavior of China and Russia. Iran and North Korea are also identified as major threats, but of a distinctly secondary nature compared to the menace posed by the two great-power competitors.

Unsurprisingly enough, this shift will require not only greater spending on costly, high-tech military hardware but also a redrawing of the global strategic map to favor the regular military. During the long war on terror, geography and boundaries appeared less important, given that terrorist cells seemed capable of operating anyplace where order was breaking down. The U.S. military, convinced that it had to be equally agile, readied itself to deploy (often Special Operations forces) to remote battlefields across the planet, borders be damned.

On the new geopolitical map, however, America faces well-armed adversaries with every intention of protecting their borders, so U.S. forces are now being arrayed along an updated version of an older, more familiar three-front line of confrontation. In Asia, the U.S. and its key allies (South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia) are to face China across a line extending from the Korean peninsula to the waters of the East and South China Seas and the Indian Ocean. In Europe, the U.S. and its NATO allies will do the same for Russia on a front extending from Scandinavia and the Baltic Republics south to Romania and then east across the Black Sea to the Caucasus. Between these two theaters of contention lies the ever-turbulent Greater Middle East, with the United States and its two crucial allies there, Israel and Saudi Arabia, facing a Russian foothold in Syria and an increasingly assertive Iran, itself drawing closer to China and Russia. From the Pentagons perspective, this is to be the defining strategic global map for the foreseeable future. Expect most upcoming major military investments and initiatives to focus on bolstering U.S. naval, air, and ground strength on its side of these lines, as well as on targeting Sino-Russian vulnerabilities across them.

Theres no better way to appreciate the dynamics of this altered strategic outlook than to dip into the annual posture statements of the heads of the Pentagons unified combatant commands, or combined Army/Navy/Air Force/Marine Corps headquarters, covering the territories surrounding China and Russia: Pacific Command (PACOM), with responsibility for all U.S. forces in Asia; European Command (EUCOM), covering U.S. forces from Scandinavia to the Caucasus; and Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the Middle East and Central Asia where so many of the countrys counterterror wars are still underway.

The senior commanders of these meta-organizations are the most powerful U.S. officials in their areas of responsibility (AORs), exercising far more clout than any American ambassador stationed in the region (and often local heads of state as well). That makes their statements and the shopping lists of weaponry that invariably go with them of real significance for anyone who wants to grasp the Pentagons vision of Americas global military future.

The Indo-Pacific Front

Commanding PACOM is Admiral Harry Harris Jr., a long-time naval aviator. In his annual posture statement, delivered to the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 15th, Harris painted a grim picture of Americas strategic position in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to the dangers posed by a nuclear-armed North Korea, he argued, China was emerging as a formidable threat to Americas vital interests. The Peoples Liberation Armys rapid evolution into a modern, high-tech fighting force continues to be both impressive and concerning, he asserted. PLA capabilities are progressing faster than any other nation in the world, benefitting from robust resourcing and prioritization.

Most threatening, in his view, is Chinese progress in developing intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and advanced warships. Such missiles, he explained, could strike U.S. bases in Japan or on the island of Guam, while the expanding Chinese navy could challenge the U.S. Navy in seas off Chinas coast and someday perhaps Americas command of the western Pacific. If this [shipbuilding] program continues, he said, China will surpass Russia as the worlds second largest navy by 2020, when measured in terms of submarines and frigate-class ships or larger.

To counter such developments and contain Chinese influence requires, of course, spending yet more taxpayer dollars on advanced weapons systems, especially precision-guided missiles. Admiral Harris called for vastly increasing investment in such weaponry in order to overpower current and future Chinese capabilities and ensure U.S. military dominance of Chinas air and sea space. In order to deter potential adversaries in the Indo-Pacific, he declared, we must build a more lethal force by investing in critical capabilities and harnessing innovation.

His budgetary wish list was impressive. Above all, he spoke with great enthusiasm about new generations of aircraft and missiles -- what are called, in Pentagonese, anti-access/area-denial systems -- capable of striking Chinese IRBM batteries and other weapons systems intended to keep American forces safely away from Chinese territory. He also hinted that he wouldnt mind having new nuclear-armed missiles for this purpose -- missiles, he suggested, that could be launched from ships and planes and so would skirt the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, to which the U.S. is a signatory and which bans land-based intermediate-range nuclear missiles. (To give you a feel for the arcane language of Pentagon nuclear cognoscenti, heres how he put it: We must continue to expand Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty-compliant theater strike capabilities to effectively counter adversary anti-access/area-denial [A2/AD] capabilities and force preservation tactics.)

Finally, to further strengthen the U.S. defense line in the region, Harris called for enhanced military ties with various allies and partners, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Australia. PACOMs goal, he stated, is to maintain a network of like-minded allies and partners to cultivate principled security networks, which reinforce the free and open international order. Ideally, he added, this network will eventually encompass India, further extending the encirclement of China.

The European Theater

A similarly embattled future, even if populated by different actors in a different landscape, was offered by Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of EUCOM, in testimony before the Senate Committee on Armed Services on March 8th. For him, Russia is the other China. As he put it in a bone-chilling description, Russia seeks to change the international order, fracture NATO, and undermine U.S. leadership in order to protect its regime, reassert dominance over its neighbors, and achieve greater influence around the globe Russia has demonstrated its willingness and capability to intervene in countries along its periphery and to project power -- especially in the Middle East.

This, needless to say, is not the outlook were hearing from President Trump, who has long appeared reluctant to criticize Vladimir Putin or paint Russia as a full-fledged adversary. For American military and intelligence officials, however, Russia unquestionably poses the preeminent threat to U.S. security interests in Europe. It is now being spoken of in a fashion that should bring back memories of the Cold War era. Our highest strategic priority, Scaparrotti insisted, is to deter Russia from engaging in further aggression and exercising malign influence over our allies and partners. [To this end,] we are updating our operational plans to provide military response options to defend our European allies against Russian aggression.

The cutting edge of EUCOMs anti-Russian drive is the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI), a project President Obama initiated in 2014 following the Russian seizure of Crimea. Originally known as the European Reassurance Initiative, the EDI is intended to bolster U.S. and NATO forces deployed in the front-line states -- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland -- facing Russia on NATOs Eastern Front. According to the Pentagon wish list submitted in February, some $6.5 billion are to be allocated to the EDI in 2019. Most of those funds will be used to stockpile munitions in the front-line states, enhance Air Force basing infrastructure, conduct increased joint military exercises with allied forces, and rotate additional U.S.-based forces into the region. In addition, some $200 million will be devoted to a Pentagon advise, train, and equip mission in Ukraine.

Like his counterpart in the Pacific theater, General Scaparrotti also turns out to have an expensive wish list of future weaponry, including advanced planes, missiles, and other high-tech weapons that, he claims, will counter modernizing Russian forces. In addition, recognizing Russias proficiency in cyberwarfare, hes calling for a substantial investment in cyber technology and, like Admiral Harris, he cryptically hinted at the need for increased investment in nuclear forces of a sort that might be usable on a future European battlefield.

Between East and West: Central Command

Overseeing a startling range of war-on-terror conflicts in the vast, increasingly unstable region stretching from PACOMs western boundary to EUCOMs eastern one is the U.S. Central Command. For most of its modern history, CENTCOM has been focused on counterterrorism and the wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan in particular. Now, however, even as the previous long war continues, the Command is already beginning to position itself for a new Cold War-revisited version of perpetual struggle, a plan -- to resurrect a dated term -- to contain both China and Russia in the Greater Middle East.

In recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, CENTCOM commander Army General Joseph Votel concentrated on the status of U.S. operations against ISIS in Syria and against the Taliban in Afghanistan, but he also affirmed that the containment of China and Russia has become an integral part of CENTCOMs future strategic mission: The recently published National Defense Strategy rightly identifies the resurgence of great power competition as our principal national security challenge and we see the effects of that competition throughout the region.

Through its support of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and its efforts to gain influence with other key actors in the region, Russia, Votel claimed, is playing an increasingly conspicuous role in Centcoms AOR. China is also seeking to enhance its geopolitical clout both economically and through a small but growing military presence. Of particular concern, Votel asserted, is the Chinese-managed port at Gwadar in Pakistan on the Indian Ocean and a new Chinese base in Djibouti on the Red Sea, across from Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Such facilities, he claimed, contribute to Chinas military posture and force projection in CENTCOMs AOR and are signals of a challenging future for the U.S. military.

Under such circumstances, Votel testified, it is incumbent upon CENTCOM to join PACOM and EUCOM in resisting Chinese and Russian assertiveness. We have to be prepared to address these threats, not just in the areas in which they reside, but the areas in which they have influence. Without providing any details, he went on to say, We have developed very good plans and processes for how we will do that.

What that means is unclear at best, but despite Donald Trumps campaign talk about a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria once ISIS and the Taliban are defeated, it seems increasingly clear that the U.S. military is preparing to station its forces in those (and possibly other) countries across CENTCOMs region of responsibility indefinitely, fighting terrorism, of course, but also ensuring that there will be a permanent U.S. military presence in areas that could see intensifying geopolitical competition among the major powers.

An Invitation to Disaster

In relatively swift fashion, American military leaders have followed up their claim that the U.S. is in a new long war by sketching the outlines of a containment line that would stretch from the Korean Peninsula around Asia across the Middle East into parts of the former Soviet Union in Eastern Europe and finally to the Scandinavian countries. Under their plan, American military forces -- reinforced by the armies of trusted allies -- should garrison every segment of this line, a grandiose scheme to block hypothetical advances of Chinese and Russian influence that, in its global reach, should stagger the imagination. Much of future history could be shaped by such an outsized effort.

Questions for the future include whether this is either a sound strategic policy or truly sustainable. Attempting to contain China and Russia in such a manner will undoubtedly provoke countermoves, some undoubtedly difficult to resist, including cyber attacks and various kinds of economic warfare. And if you imagined that a war on terror across huge swaths of the planet represented a significant global overreach for a single power, just wait. Maintaining large and heavily-equipped forces on three extended fronts will also prove exceedingly costly and will certainly conflict with domestic spending priorities and possibly provoke a divisive debate over the reinstatement of the draft.

However, the real question -- unasked in Washington at the moment -- is: Why pursue such a policy in the first place? Are there not other ways to manage the rise of China and Russias provocative behavior? What appears particularly worrisome about this three-front strategy is its immense capacity for confrontation, miscalculation, escalation, and finally actual war rather than simply grandiose war planning.

At multiple points along this globe-spanning line -- the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, Syria, the South China Sea, and the East China Sea, to name just a few -- forces from the U.S. and China or Russia are already in significant contact, often jostling for position in a potentially hostile manner. At any moment, one of these encounters could provoke a firefight leading to unintended escalation and, in the end, possibly all-out combat. From there, almost anything could happen, even the use of nuclear weapons. Clearly, officials in Washington should be thinking hard before committing Americans to a strategy that will make this increasingly likely and could turn what is still long-war planning into an actual long war with deadly consequences.

Michael T. Klare, a TomDispatch regular, is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College and the author, most recently, of The Race for Whats Left. A documentary movie version of his book Blood and Oil is available from the Media Education Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @mklare1.

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Alfred McCoy's In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power, as well as John Dower's The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II, John Feffer's dystopian novel Splinterlands, Nick Turse's Next Time Theyll Come to Count the Dead, and Tom Engelhardt's Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World.

Copyright 2018 Michael T. Klare
On August 10 1994 German officials in Munich 'found' 363 grams of plutonium on a plane coming from Moscow. They immediately asserted, that the plutonium 'must' have come from a Russian reactor. There was a lot of media panic, international political noise and condemnation of Russia.

Telepolis points out (in German) that this would not be the first time that a 'western' service would stage such a 'provocation'. The Skripal case is indeed quite comparable to Operation Hades .

Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian ambassador to Britain, further increased the pressure on Theresa May by publicly asserting that the Skripal case was a 'provocation' carried out by British intelligence.

April 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - The Russian government sent fourteen specific questions to the British government and thirteen questions to the OPCW . There seems to be some French involvement in the investigation of the alleged nerve agent and Russia ask why that is the case.

Months later first leaks appeared, enterprising reporters dug deeper into the story and it started to unravel.

This put pressure on the Russian government to increase its security at its nuclear sites. The U.S. offered to 'help' with nuclear security and thus got easy access to Russia's nuclear secrets. The case broke in the mid of the federal election campaign in Germany and helped chancellor Kohl to get re-elected.

It turned out that the plutonium was not from Russia but had been planted by the German equivalent of the MI6, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND). Leaks and counter-leaks created a convoluted story to hide the truth behind it. A parliamentarian commission investigated the case but the Kohl government eventually shut it down without any political consequences. Shortly thereafter the deeply involved BND head, Bernd Schmidbauer, was sent into retirement.

The Russian depicting of the 'Novichok' case as a staged 'provocation' has a historic antetype and, quite likely in my view, significant merit.

It took nine month for the 'Hades' story to fall apart. The 'Novichok' fairy-tale may now see an earlier end.

Sky News Breaking @SkyNewsBreak - 4:59pm  3 Apr 2018 Chief executive of Porton Down research laboratory has told Sky News scientists have not been able to prove the Novichok nerve agent used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal came from Russia or establish its country of origin

Watch the gap Mrs. May. Watch the gap.

---

The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media, a number British academics, published an update to their briefing Doubts about Novichoks at Tim Hayward's site.

The update carefully distinguishes and discusses the various chemical substances and research programs relevant to the British 'Novichok' claims. The 'Novichok' nerve agents Vil Mirzayanov describes in his book seem to differ from the substances other Russian scientists talked about in their recent interviews. The U.S. though, as well as other countries, has evidently worked on some of the substances described by Mirzayanov and concealed these efforts from the OPCW. The Working Group concludes:

The UK government has asserted that No country bar Russia has combined capability, intent and motive to carry out the Salisbury poisonings. Published studies show that these compounds can be synthesized at bench scale (sufficient for an assassination) in other countries. The UK governments declared case therefore rests only on subjective judgements of intent and motive, which are open to question.

---

A few days ago Victoriya Skripal, a cousin of Yulia Skripal, was interviewed by the Russian website MKRU (Ru). The Stalkerzone provides an English translation of the full interview. From it we learn that:

Victoriya Skripal tried to get information on her allegedly poisoned cousin Yulia and uncle Sergej from the British embassy in Russia since March 5. She also unsuccessfully tried to contact the hospital in Salisbury. She heard from the Russian embassy in Britain that Yulia is awake, can eat and drink and can say a few words.

Shortly before the incident Yulia had gained access to some $200,000 owned by her deceased brother. This, for now, seems to have nothing to do with the case.

Sergej Skripal is not a lone man but has a number of friends and family in Russia and in Britain who visited him regularly in Salisbury.

Sergej Skripal has two cats and two guinea pigs. Victoriya Skripal asks: What happened to them? (They licked the doorknob and turned into walking-dead?)

Victoriya Skripal wants to travel to Britain and bring at least Yulia back home with her.

Victoriya Skripal apparently also did an interview with the Mail Online (or the Mail plagiarized its piece from MKRU). There seems to be no additional information in it.

---

British officials spread various theories about where and how the Skripal's were poisoned. According to 'official' leaks to the British press the alleged nerve agent was smeared to the door of Sergej Skripal's car, was in a pizza, in Yulia Skripal's luggage or perfume, or in the car's air vent. I may have been sprayed by a mini drone, or the stuff was smeared onto to the doorknob of Skripal's house or maybe it was, as claimed yesterday, in buckwheat cereals brought from Russia on Sergej Skripal's request.

In my view none of these explanation is plausible. The multitude of the discussed possibilities alone shows that either no one has a clue of what happened and how it happened, or someone is trying to bury the case in a heap of misinformation. We shall call this phenomena 'Novi-fog'. It unmasks headlines like this one as mere propaganda: Poisoned Door Handle Hints at High-Level Plot to Kill Spy, U.K. Officials Say. "It was on the doorknob (maybe)! Thus Putin himself did it!"

---

John Helmer, who reports from Moscow, documents that the British government is breaking several British laws as well as international agreements by keeping the family and the consular service of the Russian embassy in Britain away from the Skripals.
April 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - If the concept of intervention is driven by universal human rights, why is it  from the people who identify themselves as liberal interventionists  why do we never hear a peep, a word, about intervening to protect the Palestinians?

That was the question I put to the French philosopher, author, and champion of liberal (or humanitarian) interventionism, Bernard-Henri Levy, on my Al Jazeera English interview show Head to Head in 2013.

The usually silver-tongued Levy struggled to answer the question. The situation in Palestine is not the same as in Syria and you have not all the good on one side and all the bad on the other side, said Levy, who once remarked in reference to the Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF, that he had never seen such a democratic army, which asks itself so many moral questions.

I couldnt help but be reminded of my exchange with the man known as BHL this past weekend, as I watched horrific images of unarmed Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border being shot in the back by the democratic army of Israel. How many moral questions did those Israeli snipers ask themselves, I wondered, before they gunned down Gazan refugees for daring to demand a return to their homes inside the Green Line?

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On Friday, the IDF shot an astonishing 773 people with live ammunition, killing 17 of them. Yet a spokesperson for the IDF bragged that Israeli troops arrived prepared and everything was accurate.  We know where every bullet landed. On Sunday, Israels hawkish defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, roundly rejected calls from the European Union and the United Nations for an independent inquiry into the violence and insisted that our soldiers deserve a commendation.

To be clear, then: Israeli troops will continue to murder and maim Palestinians while the Israeli government guarantees that there will be no consequences for their actions.

So, where is the outcry from liberal interventionists across the West? Where is BHL, as Palestinians are being shot and wounded in the hundreds in 2018?

Where is the call from former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose 1999 speech in Chicago defending the concept of a just war and a doctrine of the international community became a key text for liberal interventionists, for a no-fly zone over Gaza? Why does a guest speaker at Ariel Sharons funeral have nothing to say about the increasing number of Palestinian funerals?

Where is the moral outrage from former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, the famously pro-intervention, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of a A Problem From Hell, which lamented U.S. inaction in Rwanda, over the sheer number of unarmed Palestinians shot, killed, and injured in recent days? How does she have time to retweet a picture of an elephant and a lion cub, but not to make a statement about the violence in Gaza?

Where is the demand from Canadian academic-turned-politician Michael Ignatieff, who was once one of the loudest voices in favor of the so-called responsibility to protect doctrine, for peacekeeping troops to be deployed to the Occupied Territories?

Where are the righteously angry op-eds from Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, or Richard Cohen of the Washington Post, or David Aaronovitch of The Times of London, demanding concrete action against the human rights abusers of the IDF?

And where is the appeal from former U.S. Secretary of State and arch-interventionist Madeleine Albright for economic and financial sanctions against the state of Israel? For an arms embargo? For travel bans on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Lieberman, and IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot?

Their silence is deafening  and telling. Palestinians, it seems, have been so dehumanized that they dont deserve a humanitarian intervention; their blood is cheap, their plight is unimportant, and, perhaps above all else, their killers are our friends.

Should we really be surprised, though? After all, this isnt the first time that members of the liberal intervention brigade have shamelessly ignored the tragic deaths of innocent Palestinians.

In March 2001, towards the start of the Second Intifada, and with the Palestinian civilian death toll mounting, the U.N. Security Council proposed a resolution that would have set up an appropriate mechanism to protect Palestinian civilians, including through the establishment of a United Nations observer force on the ground in the Occupied Territories. The United States, however, in the form of the George W. Bush administration, vetoed that resolution. What was the response from U.S. liberals? They stayed mum.

In the summer of 2014, the Israeli air force  for the the third time in six years  pounded the Gaza Strip, dropping bombs on schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings, and killing more than 1,500 Palestinian civilians  including 500 children  in the process. What was the position of then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who would later throw her support behind a no-fly zone over Syria)? Hamas provoked another attack while Israel has a right to defend itself. And what was the response from her fellow liberals? Most of them didnt say a word.

Fast forward to 2018: This time round, 17 dead and 1,400 wounded. Videos going viral of Israeli soldiers  armed and funded by U.S. taxpayers  shooting fleeing Palestinians in their backs. Again, not a peep on Twitter, or elsewhere, from the leaders of the Democratic Party in Congress, such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. For liberal Democrats, #resistance is supposed to be against the Trump administration and the so-called alt-right, not against the longest military occupation in the world.

This moral blindness that so many liberals and progressives in the United States have for the Palestinians has never ceased to amaze  or disgust  me. As the Israeli writer and economist Abraham Gutman notes, This blind spot is so pronounced that it created a whole new type of progressive, the PEP, Progressive-Except-on-Palestine. The PEP, he continues, is horrified by the appointment of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, but willing to argue that there is nuance and perhaps support the government of Israel, with [Ayelet] Shaked as the Minister of Justice, who posted on Facebook an article calling Palestinian children little snakes.

Indeed. The PEP will loudly condemn the bigotry and nativism of the Republican Party in the United States, and the ongoing segregation and racism in the Deep South, while averting their gaze from the brazen racism of the Israeli government and the ongoing apartheid in the Occupied Territories.

The PEP rails against Trump and his hawkish minions while standing to applaud Netanyahu or smiling in photos with Lieberman  this despite the fact that the similarities between the Trump and Netanyahu administrations have been welldocumented.

And the PEP who happens to be a proud supporter of liberal interventionism will back interventions almost everywhere except the Occupied Territories. Their heart bleeds for Syrians, Libyans, Afghans, Iraqis, Rwandans, Kosovars  but not for Palestinians.

This is not an exercise in whataboutism; it is about drawing attention to blatant double standards and moral hypocrisy. On Palestine, liberal interventionists who happen to be progressive-except-on-Palestine borrow from the Trump playbook when they cynically blame both sides for the violence. They claim that Palestinian deaths are the consequence of clashes and confrontations. Yet the reality is that one side is the occupier and the other is the occupied; one side has rockets and rifles and the other side has rocks and slingshots; one side is doing the killing and the other side is doing the dying.

There is no other conclusion: The ongoing and glaring refusal of liberal interventionists in the West to say even a word about the need to protect occupied Palestinians from state-sponsored violence is a reminder of just how morally bankrupt and cynically hypocritical the whole liberal intervention shtick is.
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April 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House US Presidents, European leaders and their academic spokespeople have attributed Chinas growing market shares, trade surpluses and technological power to its theft of western technology, unfair or non-reciprocal trade and restrictive investment practices. President Trump has launched a trade war,  raising stiff tariffs, especially targeting Chinese exports  designed to pursue a protectionist economic regime.

The China-bashers of the western world ignore the developmental experiences of the past two hundred and fifty years, starting with the post-revolutionary United States policy of protecting infant industries.

In this essay we will proceed to criticize the model underlying the current western attack on China. We will then turn to outlining the experience of countries which overcame backwardness in the course of successfully industrializing their economies.

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Development in Historical Perspective

Western ideologists claimed that backward economies should follow a development path originally established by successful countries, namely the UK.

They argued that stages of development begin by embracing liberal free market policies, specializing in their comparative advantages, namely exporting raw materials. Economic modernization would lead, stage by stage to a mature high consumption society.

The advocates of the liberal stage theory dominated the economic departments of major US universities and served as the planning strategy advocated by US policy makers. Early on, dissenting economic historians pointed out serious anomalies. For example the early developers like the UK secured trade advantages, products of a world-wide empire which forced colonies to exporting raw materials under unfavorable terms of trade, an advantage which later countries lacked.

Secondly the post-revolutionary US led by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton successfully promoted protectionist industrial policies to protect US infant industries from the established UK Empire. The US civil war was fought precisely to prevent US plantation owners from linking their exports to British liberal free traders and manufacturers.

In the mid-19th and early 20th century, developing countries like Germany, Japan and Soviet Russia rejected the ideology of free trade and open markets in favor of state-centered protected industrialization. They succeeded in overcoming backwardness, competing and overtaking the early developers like the UK.

In the post-World War 2 period, after unsuccessful attempts to follow the western free market model, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia successfully pursued statist, protectionist export models of development.

Regions and countries which followed western free-market policies specializing in primary goods exports like Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and the Philippines failed to overcome stagnation and backwardness.

A leading economic historian Alexander Gerschenkron argued that economic backwardness provided emerging countries with certain strategic advantages which involved systematic substitution of imports by domestic industries leading to dynamic growth and subsequently competitive export strategies. (Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective: A Book of Essays)

The successful late developing countries borrowed and acquired the latest productive techniques while the early developed industrializer remained with the existing outmoded methods of production. In other words, the developing countries, guided by the state, jumped stages of growth and surpassed their competitors.

China is a superb example of Gerschenkrons model. Through state intervention, it overcame the constraints imposed by the monopoly controls of existing imperial countries and rapidly advanced through borrowing the most advanced technology and innovations and then moved on to become the most active filer of advanced patents in the world. In 2017 China surpassed the US filing 225 patents in 2017 while the US lagged behind with 91 (FT 3/16/18 p. 13).

An excellent example of Chinas advances in technological innovation is the Huawei Group, which spent $13.8 billion on research and development in 2017 and plans to increase its annual R&D budget to $20 billion a year. Chinese companies will lead standard setting in next-generation technologies, including networking (FT 3/31/18 p 12). Washingtons resort to excluding China from US markets has nothing to do with China stealing US patents and secrets and everything to do with Huaweis R&D spending directed at obtaining talent, technology, equipment and international partnerships. The White Houses protectionist Sinophobia is driven by its fear of Chinese advances in fifth generation high-speed data networks, which are undermining the US ability to compete in cutting edge technology.

Chinas competitive excellence was the result of the states systematic substitution of advanced technology, which allowed the economy to gradually liberalize and out-compete the US in global and domestic markets.

China has followed and exceeded the example of earlier late developing countries (Germany and Japan). It combined advanced industrial export growth as the leading sector with a relatively backward agricultural sector providing cheap labor and low-cost foodstuffs.

China is now moving up the development ladder, deepening its domestic market, advancing its high technology sector and gradually reducing the importance of the low value consumer and rust belt industries.

Cry-Baby Economies Revert to Protectionism

The US failure to compete with China and its resulting trade deficits are a result of its inability to incorporate new technologies, apply them to domestic civilian production, increasing income and upgrading and incorporating the labor force into competitive sectors which could defend the domestic market.

The state has surrendered its leading role to the financial and military elites which eroded US industrial competitiveness. Moreover, unlike China the state has failed to provide leadership in identifying priority targets compatible with intensified competition from China.

While China exports economic products, the US exports arms and wars. The US has a surplus of arms exports and a growing commercial deficit.

China has multi-billion-dollar infrastructure investments in over fifty countries that enhance trade surplus. The US has multi-billion-dollar expenditures in over 800 overseas military bases.

Conclusion

US charges that China has emerged as a world-economic power by unfair trade and theft of US technology ignores the entire history of all late developing countries, beginning with the US rise and eclipse of the UK during the 19th century.

The US attempt to turn back the clock to an earlier stage of protectionism will not raise US competitiveness nor increase its share of the domestic market.

US protectionism simply will result in higher prices, unskilled labor, war debts and financial monopolies. A US trade war will simply allow the Chinese state to divert trade from the US to other markets and re-direct its investments toward deepening its domestic economy, and increasing ties with Russia , Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceana.

The US blame game with China is misplaced. Instead it should re-examine its reliance on a laissez faire economy with neither plan nor reason. Its resort to tariffs will increase costs without raising income and improving innovation.

Current US protectionism began still born. The White House has already downgraded its tariff which targeted competitors. Moreover its $60-billion-dollar tariff on China affects less than 3% of its exports.

Instead of seeking to blame outside competitors like China it would be wiser to learn from its experience and absorb its technological advances and its strategic investments in infrastructure and domestic consumption. Until the US reduces its military spending by two thirds, and subordinates its finance sector to industry and domestic households it will continue to fall behind China.

Instead of returning to the strategy of backward countries relying on protecting infantilized industries, the US should accept its responsibilities to compete through state directed development linked to upgrading its labor force, raising skills and expanding social welfare.
April 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - How do we treat opponents? In strong democracies, we engage them in cooperative dialogue. In weaker democracies, we exclude and overpower them. If we're undemocratic, we might kill them.

So why has the United States, democracy's alleged leader, become the world's largest weapons exporter?

In 2016, U.S. government arms exports totaled $38 billion, more than a third of the $100 billion global arms trade. That includes only government-to-government foreign military sales, approved by the Defense Department. It doesn't include the billions sold in direct commercial sales in which Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics and other weapons firms receive State Department licenses to sell directly to foreign governments.

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But the arms industry is deeply mired in the business of forever silencing opponents.

Some will protest: U.S. weapons safeguard innocent people from tyrannical aggressors. Oh, really? Where are the surveys of conflict participants to evaluate that fairytale assumption? Where are the social impact statements of arms exports? How many killed by U.S. arms deserved death?

What's the use of all that science in developing weapons if there's no science in evaluating the application of weapons to real world problems?

If we're taking it on faith that weapons promote better societies, if we're not interviewing communities affected by weapons, if we're not comparing the benefit of $1 billion toward the arms industry or toward non-violent conflict resolution, then paying taxes to fund weapons manufacturing is equivalent to paying taxes to support a religion.

Yet nearly every U.S. president since the 1969 Nixon Doctrine has been a salesman for the arms industry, deregulating it, increasing public subsidies to it, receiving campaign contributions from it, and swamping at least 100 nations with its lethal products.

And being Number One Weapons Salesman isn't enough. President Donald Trump claims the State and Defense Departments aren't pushing weapon exports enough.

Having received $30 million from the NRA, Trump intends to transfer responsibility for assault rifle exports from the State Department, which considers weapon exports' potential effects on violence, to the Commerce Department, which doesn't.

Obama, a major arms industry beneficiary, had already begun loosening oversight, but further plans were stymied by American mass shootings, which made deregulating foreign sales of AR-15s seem way too stupid.

No matter who we elect, arms exports and foreign policy are propelled by the Iron Triangle  the collusion of those in government, military, and the arms industry obsessed with expanding weapons markets and installing threat-based "peace."

Instead of resolving conflict, weapons dealers thrive within it, like parasites infesting a wound. As William Hartung describes in "Prophets of War," Lockheed Martin has lobbied to drive foreign policy towards company goals of increasing foreign exports by 25 percent.

Lockheed pushed for NATO expansion to Russia's doorstep to make billion dollar weapons deals with new members. The Project for the New American Century, an influential "think tank" with a Lockheed Martin executive as director, pushed to invade Iraq.

The arms industry baits support by spreading weapons contract jobs across congressional districts. Jobs evidently make the killing worthwhile. Bear in mind that 70 percent to 80 percent of U.S. weapons corporations' revenues comes from the U.S. government. If we're using taxes to fund jobs, why not jobs to fight forest fires? To go solar?

Pouring subsidies into the arms industry strangles civilian manufacturing and innovation. Your students dream of becoming scientists? Prepare them for the military straitjacket. It won't be easy getting funding without it. The majority of federal research and development funding goes to military-related activities.

Significantly, spending on the defense sector with its unaudited Pentagon, overpriced items, massive cost overruns, and no-bid cost-plus contracts causes a nationwide net loss in jobs. Most other economic sectors generate more jobs per tax dollar.

Making the deal for U.S. taxpayers even worse are the industry's campaign contributions, CEO salaries, environmental pollutants, massive bribes to foreign officials, and lobbying expenditures  $74 million in 2015. Unbelievably, our taxes even fund foreign purchasing of U.S. weapons  $6.04 billion in 2017.

Meanwhile, who listens to thousands of South Koreans demanding removal of Lockheed Martin's Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system?

Who listens to parents of Mexican students murdered by Mexico's army? They say U.S. weapons sold to Mexico are more destructive than Mexican drugs sold to Americans. How will Trump's wall protect Mexicans from Weapons Pusher Number One?

The arms industry gets free handouts with no democratic input, no evaluation, no responsibility for consequences, and no expectations that weapons will solve causes of conflict. In terms of hitting the targets of social, political, economic, and environmental progress, weapons shoot nothing but blanks.

Like every organ in the body, the arms industry is valuable, but when its compulsive mission of self-aggrandizement displaces the body's mission, deprives other organs of nutrients, and poisons the body, it's time for surgery and healing.

Kristin Y. Christman has degrees in Russian and public administration from

Dartmouth, Brown, and SUNY Albany.
April 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Imagine! The western monotheistic world worships all these gods  never mind the contradiction in monotheistic  and variations of gods  the Jewish god, the Muslim god, the variety and shades of Christian gods, stretching from the god substitute in Rome, to the reformist gods of Calvins, Luthers, Zwinglis, and of course, the god of the Freemasons  and surely many more  but none of them has the stomach, the courage in fact  to scream murder for what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians for the last 70 years no end. None.

They are all silenced in awe. Let alone the people who follow these gods. They pray to them, they go to their masses and churches  all begging for the good of their souls  not even realizing that long ago  ages ago, centuries ago, they have seized having souls. Their emptiness is yawning. Yawning  so big, its gotten dark  a darkness ready to swallow the world, the western world that is, because only the western world has all these powerful gods.

And all these gods are gods of love. Imagine  a god of love that doesnt dare telling his or her disciples and followers to stop hating, to stop killing, to love each other. Are they hypocrites, or just dont have the guts to stand up and scream?  Arent they Almighties with endless powers inspired by endless love, by the godly spirit that is supposedly in all of us?

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This godly spirit that allegedly besets us all, is killing helpless and unarmed, Palestinians, oppressed and raped for decades, deprived of their human rights, living in abject misery. Palestinians are slaughtered every day  17 the other day, a real massacre of Palestinians. Where are the gods? They shut up. Do they even realize that they have the power, the godly power, to holler and yell  and shout for Love and Peace? For stopping the killing? Where are the gods that watch over Palestine?  Are they all sitting in armchairs, above the clouds, zipping beer and watching CNN, BBC, CNBC, DW et all reporting on the love played out on mother earth, by the gods disciples.

Havent they noticed, these gods, are they too blind from comfort to see that love, their love, is running amok, that their disciples have forgotten what love is  the very love that is supposed to be guiding us all, since we all are part of you gods?

Gods wake up!  Palestine cannot wait. Palestine is being murdered, every day a little bit. And you, gods, say nothing. Your silence is assassination. Your silence  dear gods, disqualifies you from godliness. You dont want that. You dont want to lose the power of love and let evil reign. Do you?

If only one of you powerful gods would stand up, rise up and stand above Palestine with a fist full of roses screaming and yelling so loud that Israel would shrink back into the space they were graciously allocated out of love by you gods, that they would respect the lives of others, these Zionist-Israelis and all these AngloZionists and their vassals, that they would respect the voice of love, the voice that rules their gods kingdoms.

Just one god must have the courage to stand up with all his might and shout, NO!  But no, there is no such god.

Do we finally resign ourselves to recognize, that there is no god, that they are all fakes, that they are all excuses for us to keep murdering in the name of god, yes in the name of god, because all we ever do by worshipping is promising that we follow the ways of god, gods word, that we will love as god demands  but god never speaks. So, where is he gone?

Where is our protector, the protector also of Palestine, our father in heaven, to whom we pray to give us peace, every day we pray for peace and love? Where is he? Yet, the merciful god, never stands up to defend the rights of the powerless, those that have been deprived of their very right to live a decent live.

Palestine  you are loved in silence, by gods that have no voice, by gods that have no guts, by-god! by gods that have no soul. One asks, do they even exist, these gods of silence? Palestine your heart wrenching suffering is watched day by day by all these gods, and not one takes his power in his hands, heaves it above his head and shows the world that he IS god, because he knows what justice and love means  and he protects you  Palestine.

Palestine, you are on your own. There is no god to protect you, to bring justice to your people, Palestine  there is no god. Period. You live in a godless, loveless world, devoid of justice. Palestine, until we, the fake disciples of fake gods wake up to our soullessness and go searching for the lost spirit, the conscience that went floating away with our souls following greed and lust  until then, Palestine, you are alone. And only YOUR love for each other and YOUR soul which you havent lost will salvage you.

Little by little, some men and women of this godless world, will realize that the only god that has power is the god that lives  again  in us, if we allow him the space that he had when we were born. Only then, Palestine, with these men and women, who are willing to awaken to this dire reality, will you find solidarity and voices that dare to shout and to act as they shout  and bring re-birth to Love  the LOVE and PEACE you deserve, dear Palestine.

Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research; ICH; RT; Sputnik; PressTV; The 21st Century; TeleSUR; The Vineyard of The Saker Blog; and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion  An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed  fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution!  Essays from the Resistance.
A man who didnt have the emotional stability to handle the betrayal by his wife decided to take his own life leaving his loved ones in deep pain.

27-year-old Kimuli Joseph took his own life after discovering that his wife, Nassali conned him and disappeared with another man. The tragic incident took place in Uganda.

According to UgBlizz, Joseph who has been abroad and sending money to his wife returned to his home country only to discover that she had been lavishing the money on her lover.

The deceased did not only meet the absence of the mother of his child but also an empty house. Before his demise, Joseph discovered that she didnt build a house despite the money he had been sending to her for their building project.

These consequently propelled Joseph to take his life since all he had laboured for had fallen on futile grounds as his wife had chosen to squander them with her lover.

In a suicide note left by Joseph which he wrote in his local language, Luganda, he clearly indicated why he deserved to die because he was betrayed by his own wife.

In the letter, Joseph told Nassali to go enjoy her lavish lifestyle as he (Joseph) dies in despair and sheer pain.

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94-Year-Old Nigerian Sickle Cell Survivor Talks About Her Years Of Illness And How She Survived Against All OddsA Nonagenarian who has Sickle Cell anaemia, in an interview, talked about her life, living with sickle cell, marriage, childbirth and surviving against the odds.

Alhaja Ashiata Abike Onikoyi nee Laguda will be 94 years old this October and she lives a full life though she has the dreaded SS genotype.

Alhaja Laguda, as she is popularly called, said during an interview with The Nation, that she stopped having Sickle Cell attacks since she turned 40, though her genotype remains same.

Doctors see me and wonder what a miracle I am., the nonagenarian said.

She recalled that being sickly was tougher at the time she was growing up because nobody knew about sickle cell anaemia.

She was always sick to the point that in a whole year, she may attend school only about three months of the entire annual school calendar while she spent the other months sick and at home.

She was given all sorts of concoctions to cure her illness due to the ignorance surrounding the ailment.

I was taken to the hospital; then they still brought all sorts of concoction from the Igbo tribe, from Yoruba people and from Hausa part of the country, because it was a very serious sickness. I just took everything that they gave me. They would cut me on every part of my body but I gave myself to them because I wanted to live.

When the illness attacked her hands, she recalled that she would not be able to use them for anything  not even to eat. When it attacked her legs, she would not be able to walk, and whenever she was at home, she must be by the fire-side, to keep her warm.

They called me abiku and several other names, but thank God things have changed today. Also, the government is doing everything within its power to enlighten the people about the disease.

She said her father pampered her because he feared he could lose her at any moment. So he mostly kept her away from school.

She said:



If he didnt die, I probably wouldnt have been educated because he said I should be left at home, so that they can watch over me every time.

He insisted that because of my nature, no teacher should beat me. He would say I should be left at home even when I was not having any attacks; but when he died I had no choice because my mum insisted I went to school. That, in a nutshell, was how it became possible for me to go to school.

She added:

If I went to school and it was going to rain, they would bring a car to pick me, because the rain must not touch me. I must not go out in the cold, I must not step on wet ground; I couldnt even stay where there was a fan, let alone in a cold weather.

But all that is gone now. Since I clocked forty, I have not had any attacks.

Alhaja later wanted to go to England for Secretariat Studies but concerned persons advised her mother against it because they thought the cold weather will not be conducive to her health. She stood her grounds and travelled and there she got better care because they understood her illness.

Alhaja Laguda later married, more than once, and had children. The first man she married was her medical doctor, Dr. Alakija. He was married at the time but loved her and understood her condition so he also married her and came to her rescue when at Queens College, Lagos, she was expected to be involved in certain activities that were too tasking for her health.

She had two children with her first husband before his death. Then she remarried and had more kids. When asked how many husbands she had, she replied, I had many husbands o!

She said all the men she married knew she was sickly but they didnt care because in those days, not everyone knew about sickle cell anaemia.

They loved me so, and married me so, she explained

She had four of her children before travelling out of Nigeria and said childbirth was pretty easy for her. But the delivery of her last child was not so easy and she thought she would die.

She recalled:

I remember when I had my last child, I told the doctor that I would die that day but he said no, that I would not die. He and other doctors on duty were on ground, telling me that they were weighing the blood I was losing and they gave me the best treatment. In fact, at lunch time I was up and doing; I even had lunch with the doctors.

Alhaja Laguda has remained strong all her life and even continued doing herlaundryy herself up until the age of 90 when she suffered a fall and began to take things slow. She attributes her long and healthy life to praying and trying as much as possible to lead a normal life.

She said:

What gave me the strength is God because I am a prayer warrior. I prayed, I fasted regularly and I have visited the holy land (Mecca) thirteen times, to serve my God and ask him for what I want.

As regards nourishment, Alhaja Laguda said she doesnt avoid any foods and eats everything.

She said: I eat everything that people eat. This morning I had bread and egg. I dont have any donts at all. I eat sugar also.

I eat dates a lot also because they are from Mecca and they are very good fruits.

She said she does a lot of exercising and believes walking is the best form of exercise.

She said:,

Before I fell, I used to walk from my house here in Ilasamaja, Lagos to Mushin and Oshodi market as a form of exercise because I believe walking is the best exercise one can engage in. I walked like that until I was 90 when I fell and had to stop.

Prior to her fall, Alhaja Laguda used to go to hospitals to talk to people living with Sickle Cell anaemia, lecture them, and encourage them. She called on parents with children suffering from sickle cell anaemia to take care of the children very well, feed them well and show them lots of love.

This will make it easier for them to live with the disease. When it is cold, keep them warm; dont keep them at home because they are always sick; let them go to school, it is very important, she said.

She said she hopes to leave this earth soon, adding: I want to go but God has not killed me, so I have no choice but live.
Africas richest man, Aliko Dangote has reportedly given ace Nigerian comedian, Ali Baba N25million to distribute to Nigerians interested in business.

Ali Baba disclosed this on his instagram account revealing that he has known Aliko Dangote for 23 years now and only those who need the money should apply.

Heres what he wrote;

I have known Aliko Dangote for nearly 23 years now. Met him the first time in the company of the owner of Harka Airline years ago. And 5 years after that meeting we became friends. So when I told him I wanted to give out some cash to people who want to do better business, he gave me N25m to distribute this week on Instagram. Only those who need it need to apply. No DMs please. Because in truth you need to count the number of comments on the Steve Rhodes post (at about 1am today) to know what our problems are.
A beautiful 94-year-old Nigerian woman has shared her motivational story of how against all odds, she survived being a sickle cell for all these years.

Ninety-four years and still alive and kicking, Alhaja Ashiata Abike Onikoyi nee Lagudas story is one that defies logic. Born with the dreaded though relatively unknown Sickle Cell anaemia at the time, no-one expected her to survive childhood.

But Laguda, who could well qualify as the oldest Sickle Cell survivor in Nigeria, not only survived, she weathered the perennial illness days and became as strong as a fiddle. She regaled Medinat Kanabe with her story.

There is a notion in Nigeria that anybody living with the sickle cell anaemia, more popularly referred to as SS, hardly lives beyond 40 years. As a matter of fact, when you come across anyone living with the condition, the next thing that comes to the mind is death, premature death. As a result, there is a subtle discrimination against them; they are treated differently from other people; not given jobs and worst of all, no one wants to marry them.

It is for this reasons that the story of Alhaja Ashiata Abike Onikoyi nee Laguda, who will be 94 years old this October stands out like a lone star on a rainy night. Born to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Onikoyi of Lagos in1924, Alhaja Lagudas parents had first lost a child, most probably, to Sickle Cell Anaemia; but because the disease was then unknown, no one paid attention. In any case, infant mortality rate at the time was still very high and hardly seen as unusual.

As fate would have it, her father died before her mum could have other children, so she became an only child until her mother remarried.

Amazing alertness

Looking nearly two decades younger, Alhaja Laguda welcomed this reporter with the cheer and alertness of a youth. Her smiles and amazingly strong voice immediately dissipated the fear this reporter had about coping with interviewing a nonagenarian, who may be nursing health issues.

Without any prodding, she showed this reporter her photos, several of them taken during her visits to the Muslim holy land, Mecca. She has been to Mecca 13 times, she announced with visible contentment.

After making sure her reporter visitor was comfortable, Alhaja Laguda continued: My dad died too early, so my mother remarried another person and had other children for him.

She recalled that being sickly was a terrible thing at the time she was growing up because nobody knew about sickle cell anemia. She was always sick to the point that in a whole year, she may attend school only about three months of the entire annual school calendar. I would spend the other months sick and at home.

In a bid to find cure by all means for her condition, which the people had ascribed to the rascally supernatural reincarnation of spirit children or Abiku, she was given all sorts of concoction.

I was taken to the hospital; then they still brought all sorts of concoction from the Igbo tribe, from Yoruba people and from Hausa part of the country, because it was a very serious sickness. I just took everything that they gave me. They would cut me on every part of my body but I gave myself to them because I wanted to live.

When the illness attacked her hands, she recalled that she would not be able to use them for anything  not even to eat. When it attacked her legs, she would not be able to walk, and whenever she was at home, she must be by the fire-side, to keep her warm.

They called me abiku and several other names, but thank God things have changed today. Also, the government is doing everything within its power to enlighten the people about the disease.

Left to her father, Alhaja Laguda recalled that she would not have had any education, as he pampered her, much like a jewel he was going to lose at anytime, and kept her at home rather than let her go to school.

If he didnt die, I probably wouldnt have been educated because he said I should be left at home, so that they can watch over me every time.

He insisted that because of my nature, no teacher should beat me. He would say I should be left at home even when I was not having any attacks; but when he died I had no choice because my mum insisted I went to school. That, in a nutshell, was how it became possible for me to go to school.

Growing up, she said she never felt bad even though she knew she was different, maybe because nobody taunted or bullied her. Instead, she said she was protected and given a lot of care and attention.

If I went to school and it was going to rain, they would bring a car to pick me, because the rain must not touch me. I must not go out in the cold, I must not step on wet ground; I couldnt even stay where there was a fan, let alone in a cold weather. But all that is gone now. Since I clocked forty, I have not had any attacks, she said joyfully.

When she wanted to go to England for Secretariat Studies in one of the colleges of secretariat studies, her mother was advised against the idea because of the cold weather but she insisted and went.

I told my mum that the God that lives in Nigeria also lives in England, and although I had attacks, I visited the hospital and got better because they knew about the genotype and gave me good care. However, I am not saying going to England is the one factor that has kept me because I had had four of my children before traveling.

Asked if there were times when she thought she would die, she answered in the affirmative, relieving her experience during the delivery of her last child.

I remember when I had my last child, I told the doctor that I would die that day but he said no, that I would not die. He and other doctors on duty were on ground, telling me that they were weighing the blood I was losing and they gave me the best treatment. In fact, at lunch time I was up and doing; I even had lunch with the doctors.

Unlike what many people would think, childbearing was not difficult for her at all. According to her, anytime she was pregnant, she didnt feel any pains or get any attacks. See how wonderful God is? I also had good care.

As she grew older, she channeled her strength to work and praying to God to heal her or make it easier for her. She worked with the now defunct national post and telecommunication company, P&T for many years. She recalled that she and some others were the first set of people to be trained in tele-printing by the company.

What gave me the strength is God because I am a prayer warrior. I prayed, I fasted regularly and I have visited the holy land (Mecca) thirteen times, to serve my God and ask him for what I want.

On what her donts are, Alhaja Laguda said she doesnt have any. I eat everything that people eat. This morning I had bread and egg. I dont have any donts at all. I eat sugar also.

Doctors see me and wonder what a miracle I am. I stopped having attacks since I turned 40 but they say my blood genotype still reads sickly.

I eat dates a lot also because they are from Mecca and they are very good fruits.

Until she stopped going out by herself four years ago after she had a fall, Alhaja Laguda used to go to hospitals to talk to people living with the genotype, lecture and encourage them.

She washed her cloths herself until she turned 90, as she never felt satisfied with anyone washing them for her. Its either theyre not washing it clean or theyre not rinsing it clean; so I washed them myself.

Narrating the story of her fall, she said: The day I fell and broke my leg, I caused the accident. That day, I told my grandson, Bolaji that I wanted to wash but he told me not to, that he would do it himself when he gets back. When he left for work, I washed the cloths and left home to visit a friend. On returning from her place, I decided to take the cloths from the line but missed a step and fell. Since then I have been here. I dont go anywhere except I want to go downstairs and I must use my walking stick.

Consequently, she said she is fed up with sitting in the house. I want to go but God has not killed me, so I have no choice but live.

Not being able to walk around, whether long distance or short and exercise her limbs is perhaps the major reason she is fed up with life.

Said the nonagenarian, Before I fell, I used to walk from my house here in Ilasamaja, Lagos to Mushin and Oshodi market as a form of exercise because I believe walking is the best exercise one can engage in. I walked like that until I was 90 when I fell and had to stop.

Because she didnt know her illness was a genotype issue, she said she never blamed her parents. Even when she grew up and realised the cause of her perennial illness, she still did not blame them. I didnt blame them because they were not civilised. Besides, in their time there was nothing like checking genotype before marriage.

Asked how she met her husband, she laughed and said, I had many husbands o! Her first husband, whom she called Dr. Alakija, was her doctor, who took interest in her and married  even though he was already married at the time.

I know he loved me. He knew my situation but still went ahead and married me. I remember while attending Queens College, I was told that I would take swimming compulsorily; he stood his grounds and insisted that I be left alone.

Swimming in those days was a compulsory subject but I couldnt swim because of my genotype, so he saved the situation for me.

I married another husband when he died. I had two children for him.

All the men she married knew she was sickly but they didnt care because in those days, not everyone knew about sickle cell anaemia. They loved me so, and married me so.

Alhaja Laguda called on parents with children who have SS to take care of the children very well, feed them well and show them lots of love. This will make it easier for them to live with the disease. When it is cold, keep them warm; dont keep them at home because they are always sick; let them go to school, it is very important.

Would she accept an offer to go live in an old peoples home, where she would be well taken care of and have her age-mates as playmates?

She said she has been told on several occasion that she should be taken to one but refused.

I dont have anything against old peoples homes because I visit them when I was able to walk but I can take care of myself. I pay for every service I need by myself; I am not a burden to any child. This house belongs to me and the tenants pay to me; I have a two-storey building on this street and on the other street; so I can take care of myself. I also have some shops in front of the buildings. I think these assets are enough to take care of me.

Asked how she made enough money to build the houses and shops, she said, being sickly didnt make her lazy. When I was working, I was trading too, so I had money to build the house. But this one we are in now was built by my late husband.

Proud Lagosian

I am a Lagosian from the Onikoyi Chieftaincy family. We are the owner of Ikoyi but my family house is in Idumota, very close to the Tower clock.

My mother hailed from Ibadan, Oluokun side, Kudeti, Oluyole. My father is the one from the Onikoyi family; we were a chieftaincy family before but now we have been upgraded to a kingship family. So we now have Oba OniIkoyi. So now our chief has moved from Idumota to Eko Hotel side with some other family members. My dad died in 1936 while my mum died at the age of 70. I am a replica of my mum.

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Punch

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop giving Nigerians excuses, adding that the attitude was why he had not achieved results.

Vanguard

ON APRIL 3, 20187:25 AMIN NEWS, POLITICS34 COMMENTS The presidency has said that former President Olusegun Obasanjos failure tag on the current administration is not new.

The Sun

Senate President Bukola Saraki has dismissed report that he plans to contest the 2019 presidential elections. Thisday PDP Seeks APCs Proscription, Looters List Gets Knocks The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately proscribe the All Progressives Congress (APC) following allegations that it financed President Muhammadu Buharis 2015 campaign with looted funds. Guardian

PDP asks INEC to proscribe APC for campaigning with looted funds The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday demanded an immediate proscription of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly financing President Muhammadu Buharis 2015 campaign with looted funds. Tribune Buhari mourns Winnie Mandela PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has described the passing away of the South-African anti-apartheid icon, and ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, Mrs Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, as a huge loss of a courageous woman to Africa. The Authority Explain how Buhari campaign was funded with looted money- PDP tells APC Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has again engaged the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a verbal war, insisting that the ruling party should explain to the world how President Muhammadu Buhari campaign was funded with looted money. The Nation

20 killed in Borno suicide attack The military yesterday said no fewer than 20 persons, including a soldier, were killed on Sunday night in a battle to ward off a large number of suicide bombers trying to invade Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. About 84 others were injured.

Leadership

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday implored Nigerians not to vote the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Party (APC) in the forthcoming 2019 general election.
Speaking on Monday at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun state, while hosting the New Nigeria Group, former President Olusegun Obasanjo yet again blasted President Muhammadu Buhari. According to OBJ, APC should stop giving excuses and admit to the fact that they have failed everyone. Here are 3 tings to note;

1.This government is a failure

The first lesson I learnt in my military training is to never reinforce failure. What we have now is a failure, he said.

Never you reinforce failure. Let failure be failure. And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you dont like because its only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like.

2. Everyone is a victim of their failure

Those of you who are into business know that by now you could have been better if we have an effective government. The truth is this  when you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims and dont let anybody deceive you.

3.Enough of the excuses

Stop giving excuses; we met challenges. If there were no challenges, then we wouldnt need you to come. You came in because you know there were challenges stop giving us excuse that you have many challenges, that is why you havent achieved results.

4.APC and PDP wont take us anywhere

I have publicly said and I mean it, that as a party, neither PDP nor APC can get us there as they have been. Never mind about reforms and apology and all that.

The former president was one of Buharis main supporters in the buildup to the 2015 election, but back-peddled after the government started showing signs of incompetence. In January, Obasanjo wrote a strongly-worded letter to Buhari, asking him to forget about the 2019 election.
President of Mount Zion Faith Ministries International  a Christian Film & Drama organisation.

Mike Bamiloye has voiced his opinion on the attitude of Church instrumentalists.

Bamiloye shared his thoughts on Facebook.

I HAVE A SERIOUS CONCERN

The Church Instrumentalists.

Those Young Men and Boys that play Musical instruments in the Church.

I dont Understand Many of Them.

I come Across them everywhere I have gone.

As if their Attitudes have been Universally Agreed upon.

You will be Preaching, They will be

Fiddling with Guitar Strings.

You will be Teaching, many of them will be Sleeping or browsing.

Messages of great importance will be blaring out to the Congregation,

They will be using their Keyboard to Confirm what the Preachers are saying.

When Everyone is in sober reflections on the vital message, they will be playing Nollywood mood music.

AND THE ALTAR CALL IS MADE AND PEOPLE ARE COMING OUT FOR SALVATION OR REDEDICATION OF LIFE,

THEY WILL BEGIN TO PLAY:

I surrender All

TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO THE ALTAR.

BUT THEY MOST OF THE TIME DONT SEE THE REASON FOR THEM TO REDEDICATE THEIR LIVES TO JESUS.

AND THEY RARELY COME OUT FOR ALTAR CALLS.

I am Sorry, Maybe it is Only me that has observed this.

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News made the rounds recently of a man who was accused of drugging and raping a 14-year-old orphan in Abuja.

The teenage girl allegedly got pregnant for the young man who refused to own up to his responsibility.

According to journalist and On-Air-Personality, Blossom Martins, the teenage girl who lives with one Pastor Oji of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.



She does the cleaning and house keeping for the pastor and his wife before the pastors brother in law, Chidinmma Wilson Agu from Enugu state came to live with them.

The young man allegedly started abusing the girl a lot of times sexually.

It is alleged that the suspect drugged and raped her, even to the extent of getting her pregnant!

According to Blossom Martins, the girl is currently 5 months pregnant and pastor is trying to negotiate the matter.

The case has been filed at Jikwoyi police station, Karu, in Abuja, according to report.



Blossom Martins wrote:

UPDATE!! This is te story of a 13 year old orphan living with Pastor Oji of the redeemed Christian church of God.

This girl does the cleaning and house keeping for the pastor and his wife before the pastors brother in law one Mr Chidinmma Wilson Agu from Enugu state came to live with them!

This boy started abusing this a lot of times sexually. This is a young girl that just started seeing her period!

This pervert went to the extent of drugging her and raping her, even to the extent of getting the girl pregnant!

This girl is currently 5 months pregnant and pastor is trying to negotiate nonsense and Rubbish!

The case is currently at Jikwoyi police station, Karu, here in Abuja. and we also have a lawyer handling the case!
It is no longer news that Prince Harry will be getting married to American actress Meghan Markle on the 19th of May this year.

However, Meghan Markle has to keep to these Royal Rules whether she likes it or not as being part of the royal family.

From not travelling without funeral clothes to no selfies and others.

See the donts below

NO TRAVELING WITHOUT FUNERAL CLOTHES

After Princess Elizabeth was visiting Kenya with Prince Philip, she was caught off guard when her father, King George VI, died suddenly. She had to travel sans mourning clothes, and since then, all royals must carry funeral clothes with them on all trips.This ensures that when they return to the U.K. they are seen to be in a respectful mood that correlates with the presumable sombre mindset of the nation during that period, The Independent reports.

NO SELFIES

Cute dog-face filters will be a thing of the past for Markle when she becomes a duchess. And it looks like shes already practicing this rule. On her first official event with Prince Harry, the actress revealed that she is no longer allowed to take selfies with fans when a couple asked for a picture with her. Were not allowed to do selfies, she reportedly told the couple.The rule was established to encourage people to make eye contact and make conversation with royals, instead of turning their backs to them (a huge no-no) to take a selfie. Turning your back to the Duke and Duchess and taking a selfie is discouraged if at all possible. I know its fun to do, but they much would rather see your face, Jennifer Gehmair, a Royal Family etiquette expert, told Smooth Radio.

NO AUTOGRAPHS

In the same vein as selfie-taking, Markle will no longer be allowed to sign autographs when she becomes a royal. The rule stems from a fear that autographs will lead people to forge their signatures, which is why theyre only allowed to sign royal documents and, sometimes, visitors books, according to The Royal U.K., a website dedicated to the family.In 2010, this rule was broken by Prince Charles who scribbled Charles 2010 on a piece of paper for a family whose home was destroyed by a natural disaster, according to Daily Mail. He reportedly apologized for his shaky writing because he never writes standing up.



NO SOCIAL MEDIA

Markles social media, including her Twitter and Instagram, have been inactive for months. As you might expect, she will no longer be able to use her own personal accounts. Instead, like Prince Harry, William, and Kate Middleton, she will use the familys Kensington Royal account to share updates on her life and royal happenings. The account is where the family shared her engagement pictures and announcement.

NO P.D.A.

Despite the frequent hand-holding and touching weve seen from Prince Harry and Markle, P.D.A. is quite rare in the Royal Family. Though there is no official rule that restricts public displays of affection, there is a longstanding tradition that royal couples keep their P.D.A. to a minimum, according to royal etiquette expert, Myka Meier, for People.That might be why youve rarely seen Kate Middleton and Prince William kiss in public since their wedding. Given that Markle and Prince Harry already almost broke this rule when they held hands during their engagement announcement, Meier predicts that this rule will slowly be fizzled out by the couple. Meghan and Prince Harry holding hands at a royal engagement is a refreshingly modern approach to their new role both as a couple and as representative of the royal family, Meier said.

NO VOTING

When Markle marries Prince Harry, she will obtain her U.K. citizenship, but that doesnt mean that she will be able to participate in the same rights that other U.K. citizens can. Though it isnt outlawed, an official site for the U.K. parliament claims that it is unconstitutional for the Monarch to vote and that many Royal Family members also dont participate in elections out of convention.Although not prohibited by law, it is considered unconstitutional for the Monarch to vote in an election, the site states.

NO ADULT BRIDESMAIDS

There has been a lot of talk about whether Markles celebrity BFFs, Serena Williams and Priyanka Chopra, will show up to her wedding as bridesmaids. But, per royal tradition, its very unlikely that a royal bride has adult bridesmaids.

According to European royal expert Marlene Koenig, who spoke to Town and Country, it is unusual for a bride to have a bridesmaid or maid of honor over 30 at her wedding. Typically, the wedding party includes children or pre-teenagers.However, Koenig explained that this rule was recently broken twice.

Once, when Kate Middleton recruited her sister, Pippa, as a bridesmaid in 2011, and another time when the queen had a group of bridesmaids roughly the same age as her when she married in 1947. These semi-recent weddings might suggest a new tradition for Markles nuptials.

NO VOTING

When Markle marries Prince Harry, she will obtain her U.K. citizenship, but that doesnt mean that she will be able to participate in the same rights that other U.K. citizens can. Though it isnt outlawed, an official site for the U.K. parliament claims that it is unconstitutional for the Monarch to vote and that many Royal Family members also dont participate in elections out of convention.Although not prohibited by law, it is considered unconstitutional for the Monarch to vote in an election, the site states.

NO ADULT BRIDESMAIDS

There has been a lot of talk about whether Markles celebrity BFFs, Serena Williams and Priyanka Chopra, will show up to her wedding as bridesmaids. But, per royal tradition, its very unlikely that a royal bride has adult bridesmaids.

According to European royal expert Marlene Koenig, who spoke to Town and Country, it is unusual for a bride to have a bridesmaid or maid of honor over 30 at her wedding. Typically, the wedding party includes children or pre-teenagers.However, Koenig explained that this rule was recently broken twice.

Once, when Kate Middleton recruited her sister, Pippa, as a bridesmaid in 2011, and another time when the queen had a group of bridesmaids roughly the same age as her when she married in 1947. These semi-recent weddings might suggest a new tradition for Markles nuptials.

NO COLORED NAIL POLISH

Take a look at Markles hands in the recent months, and youll notice that shes already started following this rule. According to sources for OK! magazine, Royal Family members are prohibited from wearing dark and colored nail polish, meaning that they stick with skin-tone shades. Both the Queen and Kate Middleton are a fan of Essies $9 peachy colors, so were predicting Markle will also be a big customer of the brand.

NO WEDGES

This isnt an official rule, but its highly likely that Markle will be purging her closet of all her wedges soon. According to a source for Vanity Fair, the Queen despises wedges and makes it very clear to the women in the Royal Family that their outfit will not be well-received if it includes the shoes.The Queen isnt a fan of wedged shoes. She really doesnt like them and its well known among the women in the family, the source said.

NO EATING AT HER OWN PACE

Along with learning how to properly greet the Queen, Markle will need to learn how to eat with her, as well. According to Diane Gottsman, author of Modern Etiquette for a Better Life, who spoke to Bravo, there are strict rules when eating with the Queen. One, Markle will not begin eating until the Queen has started. Second, she needs to keep a close eye on the Queens plate because when she finishes, everyone around her also must stop eating, even if there is still food. This could be a struggle considering how quickly the Queen eats, according to rumor.No one should start eating before the Monarch and no one should carry on eating after the Monarch has finished, Gottsman said.

NO CROSSED LEGS WHEN SITTING

Though its not an official rule, its frowned upon for Royal Family members to cross their legs when sitting, according to an expert for Hello! This is likely why youll never see a picture of Kate Middleton crossing her legs. Instead, Middleton puts her legs side-by-side and slightly tilts thema pose dubbed as the Duchess Slant. Princess Diana also used the position to avoid crossing her legs.

NO SLEEPING IF THE QUEEN IS UP

Though shes allowed to rest whenever she wants in her home, when she stays at the Queens house, Markle must stay up until the Queen goes to sleep, according to the Daily Beast. Luckily, the Queen almost never goes to sleep after 11:30 p.m. (to not throw off her schedule the next day), so Markle wont have to stay up too late.

NO ENTERING A ROOM FIRST

Along with sitting next to Prince Harry 99 percent of the time shes at a Royal Family gathering, Markle will also need to be wary of who is entering the room and when. According to Readers Digest, there is a strict hierarchy for who can enter a room first. The order goes: Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Camila, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and then likely, Prince Harry and Markle.

Source: stylecaster

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China is pushing investors out of real estate and software companies and into sectors it believes are more valuable in the countrys rivalry with the U.S., according to Clocktower Group.
Andrew Spence_Mazars_100 x 90

Spence will be the head of tax for Birmingham, while Westhead will take on the same role for the North West in the firms Manchester office.

Spence has a broad range of experience advising clients from all backgrounds through previous roles at EY and the National Grid. He will lead the various teams providing proactive commercial tax advice across this client base.

Westhead joins Mazars from Grant Thornton where, as a tax partner, he worked in Manchester, Leeds and London. Westhead has worked with clients of all sizes, and has particular expertise in advising entrepreneurial businesses and private clients.

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Toronto, Ontario - April 3, 2018 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX: AVL) (OTCQX: AVLNF) ("Avalon" or the "Company") is pleased to report assay results from its successful 2018 winter drilling program at its Separation Rapids Lithium Project near Kenora, Ontario. The results were highlighted by a 37.75 metre intersection of lepidolite-rich mineralization in hole SR18-80 that averaged 1.58% Li2O. Six holes totalling 1,548 metres were completed. All holes intersected significant lithium mineralization, both petalite and lepidolite-petalite bearing, as detailed in the tables below. An updated resource estimate is being prepared which is expected to be completed by the end of April. Metallurgical process optimization and environmental work is also continuing and the results of this work, along with the revised resource estimate, will be used to complete an updated technical report this spring.

The drilling program consisted of four holes (SR18-77 to 80) on the main deposit. Two additional holes (SR18-75 and 76) were drilled on the Western Pegmatite, about 700 metres to the west of the main deposit. Both intersected significant petalite mineralization over true widths of up to three metres, confirming lateral continuity of the deposit to the west over relatively narrow widths. All four holes in the main deposit yielded significant intersections of both Petalite Zone ("PZ") and Lepidolite-Petalite Zone ("LPZ") mineralization outside of the existing mineral resource that will result in additions to the total resource tonnage.

Holes 77 and 78 tested depth extensions on the west side of the main deposit to approximately 250 metres below surface and intersected mainly PZ mineralization outside the existing deposit resource volume. The intercepts of 1.1% Li2O over 50.9 metres cumulative thickness in hole 77 and 1.33% Li2O over a 18.7 metre thickness in hole 78 will add to the total lithium resources.

Holes 79 and 80 tested the east side of the main deposit to similar depths and intersected a wider zone of lepidolite-rich LPZ lithium mineralization than expected. Hole 79 intersected 62.27 metres of LPZ mineralization within an interval of 77.05 metres averaging 1.27% Li2O, which also includes other zones of PZ mineralization. This represents an estimated true thickness of 33.46 metres of LPZ mineralization. Hole 80 intersected 1.51% Li2O over a cumulative thickness of 62.85 metres of which 37.75 metres was LPZ mineralization and the remainder was PZ petalite mineralization. The LPZ mineralization in these two holes is largely outside the existing resource model, thus increasing the overall resource and confidence levels in this part of the deposit.

Metallurgical and Environmental Update

Metallurgical process optimization work is focused on further improving process efficiencies to reduce costs and maximizing the number of valuable products recoverable from the resource.

Flotation testwork has just been completed with regards to the recovery of both lepidolite and petalite concentrates from the LPZ mineralization. Initial results are demonstrating high (>85%) overall lithium recoveries and concentrate compositions in line with market requirements. Investigations on incorporating lithium selective membrane(s) into the lithium hydroxide production process are also nearing completion and results to date suggest the anticipated reductions in CAPEX, OPEX and environmental footprint are likely. Lastly, optimization of the petalite concentrate decrepitation and acid leaching processes is also proving to be very successful, with results either matching or exceeding expectations for this critical and complex part of the lithium hydroxide hydrometallurgical process. Final results from all three of these programs are expected during April.

These process advances will also have positive environmental benefits, including significant reductions in waste materials, reagent and energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions. This will result in decreases in associated environmental management costs. Drill holes were also utilized to collect water samples that indicated very clean water from the area of the lithium resource. Most of the field work to complete the validation of the extensive historical environmental baseline database has been completed and will be finalized in the second quarter. This work will be utilized to continue the positive engagement activities with the local Indigenous communities and will also be utilized in ongoing permitting activities.

The technical information included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by the Company's Vice President, Exploration, Dr. William Mercer, P. Geo (Ont), and Dave Marsh, FAusIMM (CP), Senior Vice President, Metallurgy and Technology Development, both Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.

About Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.

Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. is a Canadian mineral development company specializing in niche market metals and minerals with growing demand in new technology. The Company has three advanced stage projects, all 100%-owned, providing investors with exposure to lithium, tin and indium, as well as rare earth elements, tantalum, niobium, and zirconium. Avalon is currently focusing on its Separation Rapids Lithium Project, Kenora, ON and its East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project, Yarmouth, NS. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones. For questions and feedback, please e-mail the Company at ir@AvalonAM.com, or phone Don Bubar, President & CEO at 416-364-4938.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to statements that an updated resource estimate is being prepared which is expected to be completed by the end of April, that results of metallurgical work, along with the revised resource estimate, will be used to complete an updated technical report this spring, that intercepts will add to the total lithium resources, that results to date suggest the anticipated reductions in CAPEX, OPEX and environmental footprint are likely, that final results from all three of the programs are expected during April, that these process advances will also have positive environmental benefits, that this will result in decreases in associated environmental management costs, that field work to complete the validation of the extensive historical environmental baseline database will be finalized in the second quarter, and that this work will be utilized to continue the positive engagement activities with the local Indigenous communities and will also be utilized in ongoing permitting activities. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "potential", "scheduled", "anticipates", "continues", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled", "targeted", "planned", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" or "will not be" taken, reached or result, "will occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Avalon to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. Although Avalon has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to market conditions, and the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses as well as those risk factors set out in the Company's current Annual Information Form, Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking statements have been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Avalon does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Table 1: Drill Hole Location and Specifications. Core Size HQ Notes

1. All locations in UTM NAD83, Zone 15N

2. Collar locations surveyed by licenced Ontario Land Surveyor/Canada Land Surveyor

3. Downhole surveys completed using Devico DeviShot Survey Tool

Table 2: Significant Drill Hole intersections with lithium grades expressed as % lithium oxide Notes

1. PZ indicates petalite mineralization, LPZ indicates lepidolite-petalite mixture and PZ,LPZ indicates interbanded petalite and lepidolite- petalite mineralization.

2. Not presented: any intervals below 1% Li2O and any isolated intercepts less than 2m drilled length (except DH SR18-76).

3. Estimated true widths assume the mineralized zones are vertical. The near vertical nature is clearly apparent in drill sections.

4. All drill core was split by Avalon staff on site near Kenora and shipped to ALS Global in Thunder Bay for preparation and on to Vancouver for analysis by methods ME-4ACD81 and ME-MS81 for multielement analysis including Li, Ta, Cs and Rb. Samples over 0.5% Li2O were reanalyzed by Li-OG63, the lithium specific analytical method conducted by ALS Global.

5. Avalon inserted company certified lithium standards and blanks into the sample stream for QAQC purposes. The results of the Avalon and laboratory standards and blanks were reviewed by Avalon's QP prior to accepting the laboratory results.

6. Lithium (Li) analyses in ppm were converted to Li2O values by multiplying by 2.1527

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Hampshire, UK - April 3, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A new study from Juniper Research has found that domestic aide robotics will drive consumer robotics hardware revenues from an estimated $6.4 billion in 2018 to nearly $23 billion by 2022; an increase of over 250%.

The study, Consumer Robotics: Sector Analysis, Leading Innovators & Emerging Opportunities 2018-2022, found that domestic aide robots, such as robotic vacuum cleaners, will account for 73% of total revenues by 2022. This will be due to increasing popularity of such devices from iRobot, Dyson and Samsung. These have been joined by lower cost devices, which will broaden the segment's appeal.

Read more in Juniper's complimentary whitepaper, Consumer Robotics: From Aide to Educator.

Three Segments Offering the Greatest Potential

Juniper's study examined key consumer segments disrupted by robotics; analysing metrics such as expected user benefits, barriers and ecosystem readiness. Identifying three segments where robotics will have the greatest revenue potential:

Educational Domestic aide Toys

It found that despite popularity of domestic aide robots, the biggest growth area of consumer robotics will be in the educational area; representing an average annual growth of 40% in hardware revenues. Companies such as Anki and Wonder Workshop are joining established players like LEGO in providing robotics focused on programming.

Juniper predicted that programming will become desirable in toys, as parents focus on educational benefits. Research author Nick Maynard explained: With the disruption that AI and the changing nature of work will bring worldwide, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education will be more important than ever. Educational robotics is a brilliant way for parents to make these subjects engaging in the home.

Consumer Healthcare Robots to Struggle

Meanwhile, the research found that healthcare robotics' success will be more constrained. Long-term, these robots are expected to act as home carers; however, issues like cost and dexterity need further innovation before that is achievable.

As such, telepresence robots, with the ability to facilitate remote medical appointments will remain dominant medium-term. This limited functionality means the segment will grow at a lower CAGR of 24% to reach $422 million in revenues by 2022.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

Contact:

sam.smith@juniperresearch.com

www.juniperresearch.com

TechSectorStocks.com - investing ideas in tech stocks - mobile payments, social media, AI and Robotics, Drone Stocks, GPS, Internet of Things (IoT) Like Tech Stocks? View our Tech Stocks Directory Get News Alerts on Tech Stocks

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Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

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Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen speaks to the board about the new and different things Iowa State has begun to implement to make the school function better and more economically during the Board of Regents meeting Feb. 22.
IS IT a crime to worship God? Does government have any business dictating the answer? Those who take religious freedom seriously should pay close attention to the trial of Dennis Christensen, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Orel, Russia, where belief and practice of a religion are being criminalized.

Mr. Christensen, 46, a citizen of Denmark, has been held in pretrial detention for 11 months and is about to be tried on charges of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, the Jehovahs Witnesses. If convicted, he could face 10 years in prison. Last year, the Russian Supreme Court declared the group extremist  and banned it from operating on Russian territory; there were 170,000 members in 395 branches at the time. The forthcoming trial of Mr. Christensen is the latest result of the court ruling. The Justice Ministry had earlier called the group a threat to the rights of citizens, public order and public security.

How was Mr. Christensen threatening the public order and security by delivering a sermon on May 25, 2017, during a Jehovahs Witnesses service in Orel, about 230 miles south of Moscow? The charge sheet, according to Human Rights Watch, says he was actively involved in organizational work aimed at continuing the unlawful activities of the group. He had apparently unlocked the building where the service was to be held. Police raided the service. In recent months there have been other raids and prosecutions in Kemerovo, Belgorod and Taganrog.

In fact, the worship services of the Jehovahs Witnesses are no more extremist than those performed by the Russian Orthodox Church, now closely aligned with President Vladimir Putins authoritarian rule. But the Jehovahs Witnesses eschew subservience to the state; they refuse military service, do not vote and view God as the only true leader. Members of the group also suffered decades of persecution and stigmatization in the Soviet Union.

Read the rest of the story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-it-a-crime-to-worship-god-according-to-russia-yes/2018/04/02/940a7c18-36b1-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html?utm_term=.af053782aed4
GIZ Pakistan Jobs 2018 HR Assistant in Islamabad

Latest GIZ Pakistan NGO Posts Islamabad 2021 Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ Pakistan required applications from experienced candidates for the posts of HR Assistant in Islamabad.

How to Apply on GIZ Pakistan Job Advertisement

Apply as per details in job advertisement. In some cases, you may apply online at vacancies after registering at https://www.jobz.pk online.



Company Address: P.O Box No 2993, Islamabad

Official Website: www.giz.de/en/worldwide/362.html

Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted.


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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Monday filed a motion [text, PDF] seeking permission to engage in settlement negotiations with defendants in the multi-district opioid case.

The DOJ filed the motion setting forth its role in the case as a friend of the court, which will allow the government to more efficiently assist the parties and the court in the lawsuit [docket]. In the same motion, the DOJ asked the court for permission to facilitate settlement discussions to ensure the governments monetary interests are properly represented and protected in the case.

The government set forth several concerns supporting its position in the lawsuit, including its monetary interest stemming from medical care which aided the opioid crisis, and upholding federal law. The motion also emphasized the governments role in the litigation:

Because of the United States unique national perspective, the governments participation in settlement discussions could help ensure that remedial action in the multi-district litigation is structured to serve the public interest. In particular, the United States has expertise and information that can assist the parties in carefully crafting non-monetary remedies that will effectively combat the opioid crisis on a nationwide basis, all in accordance with applicable law.

The DOJ shared [press release] Attorney General Jeff Sessions remarks about the motion, stating: We have already filed a statement of interest in this case, arguing that the taxpayer has paid a heavy price because of dishonest opioid marketing practices, and deserves to be compensated. Now we are formally seeking to provide the federal governments expertise and legal counsel to the court on a potential settlement.

The case is a multi-district litigation in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio [official website]. The court in February granted [text, PDF] the parties permission to establish teams of lawyers to discuss settlement negotiations. The DOJ will join these settlement negotiations if the court grants the governments motion.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he is cancelling Mondays relocation agreement [JURIST] with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The agreement followed harsh criticism Israel received after the government approved [Al Jazeera report] a plan that would require asylum seekers to choose between imprisonment or deportation to Rwanda or Uganda.

The agreement presented by the UNHCR was an alternative solution to Israels migrant issue. The organization agreed to aid in the relocation of 16,250 migrants to various Western countries if Israel regulated [press release] the status of the remaining populations.

Though this plan was approved by the Attorney General and was consistent with international law, Netanyahu announced [Reuters] on Facebook that he was putting the implementation of the agreement on hold. Soon after this announcement, an official statement from the UNHCR was released:

It is with regret that UNHCR notes todays cancellation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Israel-UNHCR Agreement of 2nd April on solutions for Eritreans and Sudanese currently in Israel.  UNHCR continues to believe that a win-win agreement that would both benefit Israel and people needing asylum is in everyones best interests. And we encourage the Government of Israel to consider the matter further, while standing ready to be of help.

Netanyahu said he canceled the deal after weighing its advantages and disadvantages.
The Malaysian Parliament [official website] passed an Anti-Fake News bill [text, PDF] on Monday, outlawing fake news in an effort to prevent corruption.

The law seeks to criminalize acts and publications that would deceive the public. Specifically, the : [c]reating, offering, publishing, etc., fake news or publication containing fake news  [p]roviding financial assistance for purposes of committing or facilitating commission of offence under section 4  [f]ailing to carry out duty to remove publication containing fake news. The bill describes fake news as: any news, information, data and reports, which is or are wholly or partly false, whether in the form of features, visuals or audio recordings or in any other form capable of suggesting words or ideas. Those convicted of violating the law can face a maximum $500,000 fine and imprisonment of up to six years. The fake news publication will immediately be removed from the media and the convicting court may also require a public apology.

The Acts explanatory statement sets forth the laws importance, stating:

As the technology advances with time, the dissemination of fake news becomes a global concern and more serious that it affects the public  The provision on the power of the Court to make an order to remove any publication containing fake news serves as a measure to deal with the misuse of publication medium in particular the social media platforms. With the proposed Act, it is hoped that the public be more responsible and cautious in sharing news and information.

Last week Amnesty International condemned [JURIST report] the bill for its potential to be used to silence dissent [press release] and said it should be scrapped immediately. The government briefly addressed these constitutional concerns, stating: The proposed Act seeks to safeguard the public against the proliferation of fake news whilst ensuring the right to freedom of speech and expression under the Federal Constitution is respected.

Malaysia is the first country to pass a law of this magnitude criminalizing fake news, though other countries have attempted to address the issues on a smaller scale. In February Human Rights Watch condemned [JURIST report] a German law requiring social media platforms to immediately remove illegal content. Last April the Turkish government blocked [JURIST report] Wikipedia as a threat to national security.
Foreign OTAs dominate Vietnams online travel market

Global online travel agencies (OTAs) currently hold up to 80% of Vietnams online travel market share, said Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Tuan gave the information at Online Tourism Forum 2018 held by Vietnam E-Commerce Association (VECOM) and VNAT in Hanoi on March 29.

Rapidly-developing technology has had an impact on many sectors, including tourism





Rapidly-developing technology has had an impact on many sectors, including tourism. Over the past two years, personal and group experience travel booked using smartphones to search information has been on the rise, replacing travel agents. Visitors often book flights tickets or rooms through OTAs.

At the meeting, Tuan cited VECOMs information as saying that OTAs such as Agoda.com, booking.com, Traveloka.com and Expedia.com account for up to 80% of Vietnams online travel market share.

Most foreign visitors who come to Vietnam and domestic holidaymakers use foreign OTAs. Meanwhile, Vietnamese firms supply online travel service, including vivu.com, chudu24.com, mytour.vn, tripi.vn, gotadi.com and vntrip.vn mainly serve the local market but see low numbers of transactions.

Vu The Binh, vice chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association, said that many tourism companies in Vietnam still face technological and financial difficulties, which has affected their development. The association has nearly 4,000 members nationwide, but just a small number among those specialising in tourism technology development.

Well soon set up a club to discuss online travel issues. This is expected to help boost the co-operation among members in this area, Binh noted.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  Governor Kate Brown will be the keynote speaker at the Oregon Institute of Technology's (OIT) 2018 commencement ceremony, according to an announcement from the school.

This is the 70th annual commencement ceremony for OIT, and this year it will be held at the John F. Moehl Stadium. Almost 800 students and their families will be in attendance to celebrate graduation.

Governor Browns presence on campus further demonstrates her commitment to Oregon Tech and the Klamath Falls region, said Oregon Tech President Dr. Nagi Naganathan. She has engaged deeply with our students and truly cares about their success both in and after college. We look forward to the words of wisdom Governor Brown will share with Oregon Tech family and friends, and the attention she will bring to the universitys most important event of the year.

Brown became Oregon's 38th governor in February of 2015and she is only the state's second female governor. Brown was Oregon's Secretary of state and majority leader of the Oregon State Senate prior to her ascent to the Governor's office.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- The Grants Pass School District is giving the community a chance to see what a multi-million dollar bond would pay for. It is giving tours and showing the community the schools the bond would go towards.

The $138.7 million bond would finance the cost of two new middle school buildings to replace North and South Middle Schools. Kyndale Rhoades remembers when she was a student at North Middle School 18 years ago. When she went on the bond tour this morning, the school looked worse than it does in her memories---which was shocking.

"It was very eye-opening to see that nothing has changed in the last 20 years. I mean that was a big thing. I thought for sure there would be some improvements and nothing. Same thing that there was when I came here," Rhoades said.

The School Districts Superintendent Kirk Kolb said not only are its middle schools over crowded, they need upgrades and renovations.

"The facilities themselves are deteriorating. You can see that through one of these tours," Kolb added.

He said Measure 17.84 would help. The Grants Pass School District is asking voters to pass a $138.7 million bond to fix both North and South Middle Schools. It's a property tax. For every $1,000 you pay for your home, you'd pay $1.95 in a tax. So if your home is $200,000 for example, you'd pay $380 a year for 30 years.

Rhoades said this is expensive but completely worth it.

Can you put a price tag on education? I can't. Somebody paid it for me to go to these schools for my parents to go to these schools. We have to pay it for them, she said.

The Grants Pass School District said these upgrades are necessary for its current and future students.

"We're educating kids for jobs that don't exist. So we need to give them opportunities to collaborate, communicate, work together, get their hands dirty and hands on, problem solving and real world thinking," Kolb added.

If voters approve the bond on the May 15th ballot, the district said construction could start in 2019.

You can go on a tour and see the schools that would be fixed with the bond. Next week the school district will hold two more tours at South Middle School at 12:45pm and 7pm.

There will also be an informational meeting at Highland Elementary School on April 17th at 6pm.
By GENE JOHNSON and PHUONG LE, Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP)  Investigators said Monday they were examining "red flags" in a Washington state family's past in hopes of explaining why their SUV went off a 100-foot cliff in what might have been an intentional plunge.

The wreck was discovered last week on rocks along the coast near Mendocino, California, a few days after child welfare authorities in Washington began investigating whether the children were being abused or neglected.

The Hart family's two moms and three of the six adopted children were found dead; the three others are missing and presumed dead, possibly washed out to sea.

Police said Monday that social service authorities in Oregon contacted the West Linn Police Department about the family in 2013 while they were living in the area.

The questions were referred to the Oregon Department of Human Services, which cited privacy laws in refusing to confirm or deny the agency was involved.

Long before the crash, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children. And last month, concerned neighbors in Woodland, Washington, contacted child welfare authorities, saying the children may have been going hungry.

On Sunday, authorities announced that data from the vehicle's software suggested the crash was deliberate.

The SUV had stopped at a pull-off area then sped straight off the cliff, Capt. Greg Baarts of the California Highway Patrol said. Baarts said that as far as he knew, investigators had not found a suicide note.

In interviews with friends and relatives, "there have been red flags," the investigator said. He did not elaborate.

Days before the wreck was discovered, neighbors called Washington state child-welfare authorities to say one of the youngsters had been coming to their house almost daily asking for something to eat and complaining that his parents were withholding food as punishment.

Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.

The large, multiracial brood, led by Sarah and Jennifer Hart, both 38, grew their own food, went on road trips and took part in activist causes.

The three children found at the crash scene were Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14. There was no sign of Hannah Hart, 16; Sierra Hart, 12; and Devonte Hart, 15.

Devonte drew national attention after the black youngster was photographed in tears, hugging a white police officer during a 2014 protest in Portland, Oregon, over the deadly police shooting of a black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Devonte was holding a "Free Hugs" sign.

Family friend Max Ribner said he was not ready to believe the crash was intentional.

He said the Harts left Alexandria, Minnesota, for Oregon looking for a change of weather and pace. He said the greater Portland area was more accepting of LGBTQ people.

"As much love as they put in the world, there were times when it was challenging for them to be a family with six kids and hold the energy of what they put out," Ribner said. "I don't think people realize what it takes to be a mother, raise six kids, many of whom came from hard backgrounds."

___

Associated Press writer Michelle A. Monroe contributed to this report.
WHITE CITY, Ore. -- The Jackson County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue is seeing an increase in rescue missions across Southern Oregon. It hopes to receive a portion of the $2 million Jackson County will get from the Secure Rural Schools funding to help pay for equipment maintenance and rescue costs.

Crews have had 40 rescue missions so far this year. In 2017 it had 174 rescues, and in 2016 it had 120 rescues.

"The amount of searches that we have every year have just gone up and up and up," says Sgt. Richards of Jackson County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue.

Sgt. Richards says this increase is from the population going up and people enjoying the outdoors.

"We're getting more and more people moving here. Recreation is a very big thing here," says Sgt. Richards.

Search and Rescue is 99% volunteer based, so a majority of their costs come from updating equipment and the missions themselves.

The Secure Rural Schools fund has been helping Search and Rescue buy equipment since 2006. Prior to the funding, the equipment had not been updated in decades.

"They were using vehicles literally from the Vietnam era," says Sgt. Richards.

The funding goes to more than just replacing equipment. Part of the money goes into a pool that reimburses Search and Rescue when they go to missions on federal land.

"When we have a multi-day, you know maybe three or four day search for somebody, it's a big impact on our budget," says Sgt. Richards.

He says having that money is essential.

"Some over-time, or a lot of mileage, food, those sort of things. We can be reimbursed for those dollars," says Sgt. Richards.

NewsWatch12 reached out to the Jackson County Commissioners Office to ask when they will decide who is eligible for funding, and have not yet heard back.
Customers eat nasi uduk, which is Indonesian style steamed rice cooked in coconut milk dish, at a street food stall in Jakarta, Indonesia. Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Judges on a popular British cooking show are being ridiculed for ignorance of Asian food after insisting the chicken in a Malaysian contestant's rendang curry should have been crispy. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Beef from the XL Foods cattle processing plant is dumped at a landfill site near Brooks, Alta., Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. A report from an international environmental group is calling for action to reduce the large amount of food wasted in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A man holds a flag on a hockey stick during the Pride parade in Toronto on June 25, 2017. The organization behind one of the world's largest pride parades is asking Toronto police to withdraw an application to take part in the event this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch
Ontario Conservative leadership candidate Christine Elliott is pictured in the TVO studios in Toronto on Thursday, February 15, 2018 following a televised debate with fellow candidates Tanya Granic Allen, Doug Ford and Caroline Mulroney. Elliott says she will be seeking the nomination to run as the Tory candidate in the provincial riding of Newmarket-Aurora. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Leader of the Opposition Andrew Scheer rises in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday, December 11, 2017. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he will accept the government's offer to get a classified briefing from the national security adviser on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's India trip after all but not without some strings attached. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Family members and MP Michael Cooper, left, look on as Scott Hamilton, centre, holds back tears as he talks about murder trial delays for victims Sara Baillie and her daughter Taliyah Marsman at a press conference in Calgary, Alta. on Tuesday, March 3, 2018. Hamilton is Sara Baillie's uncle. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry MacDougal
FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2013 file photo shows Ted Nugent performs at Rams Head Live in Baltimore. Nugent says David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting massacre who has become an outspoken advocate for gun safety measures, is "so brainwashed" he probably can't be fixed. (Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP, File)
This Aug. 12, 2009, photo shows Nasim Aghdam, right, as she joins members of People for the Ethical for Animals, PETA, protesting at the main gate of Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., against the Marine's killings of pigs in a military exercise. Law enforcement officials have identified Nasim Aghdam as the person who opened fire with a handgun Tuesday, April 3, 2018, at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, Calif., wounding several people before fatally shooting herself. (Charlie Neuman/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP)
FILE - This Wednesday, Feb. 21,1996 file photo shows John Lotter, center, being escorted from the Richardson County Courthouse in Falls City, Neb., after being sentenced to death for the December 1993 murders of Teena Brandon, Phillip DeVine and Lisa Lambert, a crime that inspired the movie "Boys Don't Cry." In March 2018, Lotter's lawyers filed a motion stating that recent IQ testing showed that he is intellectually disabled and therefore can't be put to death under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling forbidding the execution of the intellectually disabled. (AP Photo/St. Joseph News-Press, Eric Keith, file)
Emergency and law enforcement personnel exit YouTube headquarters, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in San Bruno, Calif. A woman opened fire at YouTube headquarters Tuesday, setting off a panic among employees and wounding several people before fatally shooting herself, police and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Rail tracks are pictured at Gare de Lyon train station, in Paris, France, as union stage a mass strike, Tuesday, April 3, 2018. French unions plan strikes two days every week through June to protest government plans to eliminate some rail worker benefits Ai part of broader European plans to open national railways to competition. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
A vehicle of U.S. troops passes on a street, in Manbij town, north Syria, Saturday, March 31, 2018. President Donald Trump's unscripted public declaration this week about pulling out of Syria "very soon" while at odds with his own policy are unnerving for the Kurds in this context. U.S. troops first deployed in the area about 16 months ago, after Turkish-backed Syrian forces advanced on areas near Manbij, in a race for control of territories as IS militants collapsed. The deployment prevented repeated clashes between the two rival forces. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
This photo released by Royal Malaysian Navy shows Malaysian navy officers detained a boat which carried Rohingya migrants off Langkawi, Malaysia, Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Malaysian authorities said Monday that they have stepped up patrols to intercept a boat thought to be carrying dozens of people from Myanmar's beleaguered Rohingya Muslim minority seeking refuge in the country. (Royal Malaysian Navy via AP)
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Anda dapat mendengar suara bermain lotere dengan kontrak online. Yang harus Anda lakukan adalah mendaftar dan setoran Anda akan dimulai. Tentu saja, dalam proses yang sederhana dan mengganggu, Anda dapat langsung menggandakan dana Anda dalam taruhan lotere dengan taruhan online.

Dengan sistem taruhan online. Kenyamanan berarti dalam hal ini, tetapi tidak ada hubungannya dengan kenyamanan. Meskipun demikian, gamer dapat melakukan hal-hal lain seperti lelucon untuk ditangani.

Trik bertaruh Togel Singapura menggunakan teknik diversifikasi taruhan

Tentunya, inilah impian setiap pemain lotere di dunia. Untuk menggunakan permainan lotere online ini, Anda harus mahir dalam lotere. Salah satu teknik yang dapat digunakan adalah penggunaan teknik diversifikasi taruhan.

Diversifikasi taruhan berarti Anda telah terdaftar untuk berbagai jenis taruhan. Alasan menelepon adalah karena jenis perjudian ini memengaruhi peluang Anda untuk menang. Apakah ada peluang kehilangan semua modal Anda saat bermain lotere dengan bandar taruhan online?

Trik lotere Singapura untuk menunda diversifikasi taruhan juga sangat sederhana. Misalnya, Anda sudah menjadi anggota taruhan online dan Anda memiliki saldo 100.000 di akun perjudian online Anda. Dengan modal yang Anda pegang, Anda bisa membaginya menjadi beberapa jenis taruhan.

Pada musim gugur, dia bermain di pasar lotere Singapura. Musim gugur ini, permainan lotere online menawarkan satu atau dua suguhan steak besar. Misalnya, saya pernah mendengar taruhan dalam kategori umum, yang menempati urutan kedua di pasar lotere Singapura.

Saya tidak mengelola semua ibu kota dalam 2d musim gugur ini. Karena ini adalah taruhan utama, Anda bisa kehilangan setengah dari jumlah taruhan Anda di Jenis Taruhan 2d Lotere Singapura. Bandar judi lotere online memungkinkan Anda untuk memasang taruhan yang sama pada jenis taruhan yang berbeda.

Maksimalkan keuntungan Anda dengan memilih taruhan yang tepat

Anda dapat mendengar tentang taruhan tertentu melalui Trik Lotere Singapura di atas. Bahkan jika Anda tidak beruntung, kemungkinan kehilangan semua modal Anda dijual. Jadi teknik ini bekerja dengan sangat baik saat bermain game online.

Teknik ini juga harus digunakan oleh bandar taruhan online yang baik. Bahkan jika Anda bermain lotere online di Singapura, pastikan Anda mendapatkan layanan taruhan terbaik. Jangan tertipu oleh bandar judi lotere online atau bandar judi lotere online yang tidak memenuhi syarat.

Ini termasuk dealer lotere online yang menawarkan hubungan dan kesepakatan terbaik. Tentunya hal tersebut menjamin kenyamanan dalam hal pelayanan yang terbaik. Anda pasti bisa melihat lebih banyak dan bermain dengan lebih tenang. Bagaimana Anda bisa lebih tertarik dengan pengangguran?

Penawaran langsung dalam bentuk bonus atau diskon dari partisipasi dealer lotere online. Ketika datang ke taruhan online, berbagai hak alami telah muncul. Karena bonus adalah salah satu pengaturan publik saat bermain.

Sebagian, topik diskon kurang menguntungkan. Semakin banyak diskon yang Anda perhatikan, semakin banyak prinsip yang ada daripada Anda. Anda dapat melakukan trik, bermain, bermain, dan berdagang lotere di Singapura.
ALBERT LEA, Minn. - The Motor Inn Company is estimating it only took 20 minutes for someone to steal the tires off of eight vehicles in the dealership show lot over the weekend.

It's a problem several Minnesota communities have faced. The Albert Lea Police Department said there were similar occurrences in Fergus Falls, Apple Valley, and Rochester.

Motor Inn posted on their Facebook page, offering a $1000 cash reward for any information leading to an arrest.

Ryan Wuerflein, the general manager, said he's surprised by some of the feedback.

"There was a lot of people that were you know, 'hey, we're really sorry you know this shouldn't happen,'" Wuerflein said, "and then there were other people accusing us of committing insurance fraud and lots of people with nothing good to say."

Wuerflein said it's actually a simple crime to commit.

"You just take a block like this, and you place it strategically in the location right under there," Wuerflein said. "They let the air out of the tires and then the way the truck sits on the block, and that leaves them room so that they can pull the wheel right off the side."

The culprits even left behind the wood and cement blocks they used. Overall, 32 tires were taken from the eight vehicles in the dealership's show lot.

"The best way to estimate how long it took them to do it was how long did it take us to put them back on," Wuerflein said. "What we did when we put them back on, took us about 50 minutes, call it an hour. I would estimate with them not having to jack the vehicle up, or do too much, I would estimate they were in and out of here in some where around 20 minutes."

The Albert Lea Police Department is reviewing surveillance video as they investigate the crime. As for Motor Inn, it's back to work.

"We've basically turned it over to police," Wuerflein said. "We're going to let them do their thing and we're going to put some wheels back on these trucks and get them sold."

Wuerflein said their Facebook post actually spurred some interest in the vehicles.



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ALBERT LEA, Minn.  The Motor Inn in Albert Lea estimates it took around 20 minutes for someone to take the tires off eight different vehicles this weekend.

We at Motor Inn are asking for any information that anyone can share in regard to a theft of multiple premium wheels off of some vehicles on our lot. We will gladly pay $1,000 cash reward to anyone that can give us information leading to an arrest, the company said this weekend on social media.

Thirty-two tires were taken from the dealerships show lot.

Albert Lea Police said this has happened at three different Minnesota locations.

Surveillance video of the thefts has been given to authorities.
CHARLES CITY, Iowa  A Floyd County woman is pleading guilty to embezzling from a bank.

Cassandra Marie Lane, 34 of Charles City, was arrested and charged in January with 1st and 2nd degree theft. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 14.

Authorities say Lane took $17,287.78 from accounts while she worked at First Security Bank and Trust between October 2016 and August 2017 and transferred the money to her husbands checking or savings accounts.
CHARLES CITY, Iowa - Human trafficking is a big problem across the United States, and Iowa and Minnesota are not immune.

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Iowa has had 271 cases since 2007, while Minnesota has had 382 in that same time frame.

At the Charles City Rotary Club meeting at the Elks Lodge, Crisis Intervention Services advocate Cathi Currier hosted a trafficking seminar to bring attention to the problem.

Currier shared that trafficking is no longer being done under cover, but out in the open.

"The internet...the internet is a big thing. Social media is kind of where they can groom or entrap kids and adults," Currier says.

So what can the public do to avoid being trafficked?

"Talk to somebody if you're being approached by an individual, don't friend people that you don't personally know on social media," Currier adds.

If you or someone you know has been affected by trafficking, call Crisis Intervention Service's 24-hour hotline at 855-424-9133, or cishelps.org, or contact the Iowa Victim Services Call Center at 1-800-770-1650, or at www.survivorshelpline.org.
GARNER, Iowa  A Britt man is pleading not guilty to child pornography charges.

Seth Edward Buck, 37, was arrested on March 27 on three felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and four aggravated misdemeanor counts of possessing an image of a minor in a sex act. His arrest comes after an investigation where the Wright County Sheriffs Office says Bucks computer was seized during a search on June 15, 2106, and was found to contain multiple images of underage females in sexual situations.

Buck is accused of acquiring those images between February 4 and June 15 in 2016.

Though court documents say the investigation happened in the middle of 2016, criminal charges were not filed against Buck until March 26. He entered a not guilty plea on Monday.
MASON CITY, Iowa  A man charged with a string of vehicle burglaries is pleading guilty.

Taylor Wigant, 24 of Clear Lake, entered a guilty plea Monday to four counts of 3rd degree burglary of an unoccupied motor vehicle. He was arrested in February as part of the investigation into eight burglarized vehicles in Clear Lake on January 21. Wigant is accused of stealing cash, a laptop computer, sunglasses, and other personal items.

He was scheduled to stand trial on April 17. No sentencing date has been set.
They said that 'security' so much that they started to believe in it - Gurgen Yeghiazaryan (video)

Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, the former deputy head of the National Security Service, finds surprising that two years ago the Azerbaijani side understood that it could move forward. According to Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, before that, there was no such thing, the Armenian Armed Forces have always given an adequate response to the enemy. "For ten years, we were 'fed' by a fairy tale of Armenia, for ten years, when they came to the elections and asked, 'do not you want to live in safe Armenia?' The average citizen of Armenia wanted to live in safe Armenia. They said that 'security' so much that they started to believe in it." The former deputy chief of the National Security Service considers that the leadership of the Defense Ministry was responsible for the war in April, in response to which Vova Vardanov says he believes that all of us are guilty ones, including him. According to the former soldier, the Armenian side will always have losses in the frontline as long as the Armenian Armed Forces pays more attention to the defense, but not the attacking potential.
RICHFIELD, Minn.-Crisis Connection is the only center in Minnesota that takes calls from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Daniel Mrotek is a Clinical Supervisor at Crisis Connection. He said not providing funding to keep the doors open will do more harm than good.

We connect people who need help nearby. That could be a therapist or we will call 911 if needed

Laura Weber is the manager at Crisis Connection. She said that the Richfield center will close its doors May 21st if it cant come up with the money. Weber said the the center needs $970,000 to stay open. Mrotek said that he hopes they will find the funding somewhere.

Im hopeful that we will find the fund. Its very important that we keep this center open, said Mrotek lives could be lost because they didn't have that person to talk to.

For National Suicide Prevent, click here.
(Kitco News) - Trade war rhetoric is a wild card that can benefit gold prices in the near-term, as more investors rush to buy the yellow metal as a safe haven, said Mickey Fulp, creator of the Mercenary Geologist newsletter.

Certainly trade tariffs, a trade war specifically  would be good for gold, because it will introduce a wild card into the economic equation, and people will go to gold as a safe haven or insurance policy, and perhaps were seeing that today, Fulp told Proven and Probable in an interview last week. So geopolitical risk, geopolitical turmoil, the threat or the idea of such is always good for gold.

Whether the trade spat between the U.S. and China is just bark with no bite is unclear at this point, Fulp pointed out. I think at some point both countries will realize in some way, shape or form that they need each other, and theyll get down to business, he said.

But at the core of the trade issue is the U.S. fighting for equal access to Chinese markets, Fulp pointed out.

Its about intellectual property theft, where anybody that wants to manufacture or put plants in China, US has to give up its intellectual property, and thats really not fair. And so Trumps began by drawing a line in the sand, and well see where it goes from there. We had a record trade deficit, $375 billion, with China last year, and thats not good for American or American consumers.

But, despite the rush into the gold market, this might not be the best time to buy the yellow metal, according to the mining analyst.

Im not buying any right now, because I only buy when the prices dip or go lower. When gold was at $1,312 or 13 over the last couple of days, it didnt reach my mark of the price I wanted to buy it at, so only buy on dips, he said.

The companies that Fulp is carefully watching are largely American advanced gold explorers: Allegiant Gold, Integra Resources and Ely Gold Royalties, and I cover one Canadian gold explorer, Eagle Plains Resources.

Fears of trade war escalating further triggered a selloff in equities and pushed gold prices higher on Monday.

Gold prices were edged down in Asian trading on Tuesday after surging close to $1,345 an ounce from just below $1,330 an ounce during the previous North American session.

Comex June gold futures were last at $1,342.00 an ounce, down 0.36% on the day, while spot gold on Kitco.com was trading at $1,337.40, down 0.26% on the day.

Earlier in the day, China responded to U.S. trade tariff talk by slapping duties of its own on 128 U.S. goods, including frozen pork, wine, fruits and nuts.

U.S. President Donald Trumps administration is also planning to unveil a list of advanced technology Chinese imports that will be impacted by U.S. tariffs.
(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trumps administration is pushing for a preliminary NAFTA deal to be announced at a summit in Peru next week and will host cabinet ministers in Washington to attempt a breakthrough, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The White House wants leaders from Mexico and Canada to join in unveiling broad outlines of an updated pact at the Summit of the Americas which begins on April 13, the report said. Technical talks to sort out the finer details and legal text could continue, according to the Bloomberg report.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify Bloombergs reporting.

Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexicos Economy minister will travel to Washington on Wednesday for meetings with U.S. Trade representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican sources told Reuters.

The Bloomberg report said any meetings could include Jared Kushner and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who have been managing Trumps relationship with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will arrive for her own meetings with Lighthizer and meetings on Friday may include all three countries, Bloomberg said, citing its sources.

A White House spokeswoman, Natalie Strom, said of the talks in general on Monday that Lighthizer remarked in March that time is running short to complete a new NAFTA deal.

Negotiations are continuing on a daily basis with the goal of a successful and rapid conclusion, and the NAFTA countries will announce plans as warranted, Strom said.

Last week, Lighthizer expressed optimism that negotiations to modify NAFTA were making progress and that a deal in principle could be reached quickly.

The thorniest issues in the NAFTA talks with Mexico and Canada concern U.S. demands on automotive trade and dispute settlement systems. Linking the future of the 24-year-old trade deal to Trumps border wall plan has never been among U.S. negotiating objectives.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, asked in a CNBC interview on Monday about the report and whether it was realistic to wrap up NAFTA in two weeks, said: Well, the issue here, which the president understands keenly is that the Mexican elections are approaching and youre going to get to a certain point, just like you do in the American elections, where it becomes difficult to do meaningful policy changes. So I think whether its two weeks or thirty days, its got to be soon.

Reporting by Philip George in Bengaluru; additional reporting by James Oliphant in Washington and Anthony Esposito in Mexico City; editing by Grant McCool
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank will appoint a committee in the next few days to conduct a full-blown search throughout the world for a new president, the banks chair Alex Mehran said on Tuesday.

Diversity will be a key factor in the search for a leader to succeed John Williams, who on Tuesday was named as the next chief of the New York Fed, Mehran told Reuters in an interview. Its one of the important cultural issues at this Fed.

The New York Fed has been criticized for picking Williams, a white 55-year-old man, even though it made diversity a key focus of its search for a new president.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would use U.S. military forces to protect the nations southern border with Mexico until there is a border wall and proper security in place.

We are going to be doing things militarily, Trump told reporters at the White House, adding he had discussed the idea with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Until we can have a wall and proper security were going to be guarding our border with the military. Thats a big step, he said. We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way, never showing up for court.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had said U.S. foreign aid to Honduras and other countries was at risk unless they stopped what he called a caravan of more than 1,200 Central American migrants headed to the U.S. border with Mexico on a 2,000-mile (3,200-km) journey from the Mexico-Guatemalan border.

Mexicos government has said such caravans of mostly Central Americans, including many escaping violence in Honduras, have occurred since 2010.

Trump has stepped up his immigration rhetoric in recent days and his administration has moved to further crack down on people who are in the United States illegally.

Trump has already blasted Mexico and threatened to upend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) over the caravan. The current trip has also put pressure on Mexican authorities ahead of the July 1 presidential election there.

We will be doing things with Mexico, and they have to do it, otherwise Im not going to do with the NAFTA deal, Trump told reporters.

In a post on Twitter, he had said the caravan heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!

On Monday, the Republican president railed against Democrats over immigration and again pressed U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation to build his long-promised border wall between the United States and Mexico.

Despite months of efforts, no immigration deal has emerged in the Republican-led Congress, where lawmakers are not expected to pass much major legislation ahead of Novembers midterm congressional elections.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department expressed concern on Tuesday at the Malaysian parliaments approval of a bill that would allow prison terms of up to six years for spreading fake news - an expression frequently used by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razaks government secured a simple majority in parliament on Monday to pass the bill, which sets out fines of up to 500,000 ringgit ($123,000) and a maximum six years in jail.

The United States is concerned about the bills potential impact on freedom of expression in Malaysia, as well as its global reach, which could impact U.S. citizens and companies, a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

The statement said the measure had moved rapidly through Parliament without meaningful public consultation and debate, and urged the Malaysian government to consult with the business community and civil society before taking further action on the bill.

In Malaysia, a bill requires the assent of the countrys figurehead sultan after passing parliament, but this is generally seen as a formality.

We urge the Government of Malaysia to ensure that all its laws, existing and future, fully respect freedom of expression, the State Department spokesperson said.

Trump often uses the term fake news to condemn news reports or organizations whose findings he disputes or that are critical of him. The term has also quickly become part of the standard repertoire of leaders in authoritarian countries.

Malaysia, where a general election could be imminent, is among the first countries to introduce such a law. Other Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore and the Philippines, are considering how to tackle fake news. Rights activists worry that anti-fake news laws could be used to stifle free speech.

On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the withdrawal of rules punishing journalists held responsible for distributing fake news, giving no reason for the change, less than 24 hours after the original announcement. The move followed an outcry by journalists and opposition politicians.

Malaysias bill defines fake news as news, information, data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false, and includes features, visuals and audio recordings.

It covers digital publications and social media and will apply to offenders who maliciously spread fake news inside and outside Malaysia, including foreigners, if Malaysia or a Malaysian citizen were affected.

News reports and social media posts on a multi-billion-dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)have dogged Prime Minister Najib, who faces arguably his toughest contest in a general election that is due this year and could be called in days. Najib has denied any wrongdoing in connection with losses at the fund.
LONDON (Reuters) - The head of Britains military research center said on Tuesday it was unable to prove the military-grade nerve agent that poisoned a Russian double-agent last month had been produced in Russia.

We were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent, Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down in England, told Sky News.

We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to.

Moscow has denied being behind the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is postponing until September a summit with Gulf Arab leaders that had been planned for this spring amid an ongoing dispute between Qatar and other U.S. allies in the region, according to five U.S. officials.

The decision to delay the May summit with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council reflects a crowded diplomatic calendar, and the fact that President Donald Trump is without a secretary of state until the Senate confirms current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, two of the officials said.

Other sources, however, told Reuters the delay is also a nod to the fact that Washington has made little progress so far in ending the bitter standoff between Qatar and other Gulf nations, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The dispute pits key U.S. allies against each other, and has complicated efforts to maintain a united front against Iran. So far, though, it has not affected the U.S. air base in Qatar that supports attacks on Islamic extremists and surveillance of Iran  both of which the Saudis and Emiratis support.

This was entirely our decision, one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the delay.

We have too many irons in the fire in May, the official added, noting that Trump may be meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, and that Pompeo has yet to be confirmed to replace Rex Tillerson.

A spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council said the delay was not tied to the tensions over Qatar, adding that, President Trump is committed to resolving the Gulf dispute this month.

Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on March 21. He is due to meet with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani next week, followed by a meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of backing their archrival, Iran, and supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty and rein in its support for reform.

A senior U.S. official said the summit was discussed during Salmans Washington visit, and there was agreement that it would be better to delay the meeting until after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in mid-June.

Well see what transpires between now and then, but based on the discussions to date, it is hard to be optimistic about a rapprochement between Qatar and its neighbors, he said.

However, two officials involved in the discussions said there recently have been signs of flexibility, including from Saudi Arabia.

I think it makes sense (to delay the summit) as there seems to be movement on the beginning of a dialogue and more time to let it develop would be helpful, one said.
Russian border guards tear off Armenian's passport (video)

Seyran Papinyan from Debed did not reach Yakutsk on March 1. The Armenian who was travelling through Siberian airlines, was sent back to Yerevan from Novosibirsk, five days later, as there was no earlier flight. The Armenian citizen, who was a transit passenger at Novosibirsk Airport, was said by the Russian border guards that the problem was the weariness of the passport. His passport was given to him in a tored condition at Zvartnots International Airport. He had to apply for a new passport. Tatevik Bejanyan, a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at AR Armenian Caritas Benevolent NGO, recalls that nobody had the right to tear off the RA citizen's passport. For several months, Armenian Caritas Benevolent NGO has been cooperating with the International Tong Jahoni International Organization in Russia. From December to March, 149 Armenians applied to Tong Jahoni International Organization and received legal assistance. Tatevik Bejanyan gives the phone number of the organization's head Valentina Chupik, and she is sure that if Seyran Papinyan called her, the problem would have been solved. By the way, she also checks online whether or not Seyran Papinyan has the right to enter Russia. It turns out he has. Seyran Papinyan announces that he will buy a ticket and leave for Yakutsk in a couple of days. He says that for 30 years, he takes care of his family due to his income from abroad. But he does not except that after several years, he will take the road to Russia. The reason is not the job offer in the homeland, but the age. Although the only circumstance that the men of Debed does not separate from a family a part of the year is their job. HOT LINE Armenian citizens residing in Russia can call +7 903 148 9636 and +7 926 834 7602, FREE OF CHARGE hotline numbers, if their rights are violated by: - police officers; - migration service staff; - border guards and customs officers; - employer or colleagues; - the owner of the rented apartment; - other persons.
Bill Griffith receives 2018 NCECA Outstanding Achievement Award





Bill Griffith in the studio. Image courtesy of Arrowmont



GATLINBURG, TN - Bill Griffith, Arrowmonts current outreach and partnership liaison, received the 2018 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Outstanding Achievement Award earlier with month. The Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes individuals who have successfully completed a body of work that has contributed to the field of ceramic arts in an extraordinary way. Bill Griffith was honored for his work at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and his overall influence in the field of ceramics.



Over the thirty years that Bill Griffith has been a part of Arrowmont he has been responsible for many innovative programs and important initiatives, but it is his humanity, his appreciation of craft and love of people that have made his contributions sing, explained Bill May, Executive Director, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.



In 1991, Bill founded the Arrowmont Artists-in-Residency Program, which provides early-career self-directed artists time, space and support to develop a new body of work in a creative supportive community. Since its inception, 120 artists have completed the year long residency. The professional impact of the AIR Program on the field of ceramics is significant. One-third of past resident artists currently teach ceramics and other disciplines in prestigious university art departments throughout the United States and Canada. Other innovative educational endeavors have grown out of the Arrowmont AIR Program. ArtReach, a partnership initiative with local schools provides hands on studio workshops for 1200 students, grades 4th-12th each year. Resident Artists teach the ArtReach workshops, translating to far-reaching influence in the lives of these young people  the students and the resident artists alike.



Bill designed and directed the first Utilitarian Clay: Celebrate the Object National Symposium in 1992. Offered every 4 years over the past 25 years, the Symposium highlights the work of renowned ceramic artists and emerging potters. Utilitarian Clay Symposium has launched the careers of many current leaders in the ceramic field.



During his administrative career at Arrowmont, Bill has also maintained a national reputation as a ceramic artist, educator, juror and curator. He is a recipient of an Individual Artists Fellowship awarded by the Tennessee Arts Commission. His work is included in private collections and the Tennessee State Museum, the Arkansas Arts Center, the City of Orlando, Florida Permanent Collection, San Angelo Museum of Art, TX, the Haan Museum of Indiana Art, the Tokoname Cultural Museum, Japan and the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, China.



An Honors and Awards ceremony took place earlier this month at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 52nd annual NCECA conference.

Published April 2, 2018














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UCOM prolongs the unlimited internet offer for the level up 4700 and level up 5500 subscribers

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For more than 3 hours, 50 or more Azerbaijani servicemen have blocked the interstate road

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UCOMS LEVEL UP 1700 REGIONAL TARIFF PLAN USERS TO RECEIVE MORE THAN THOSE IN YEREVAN

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Covid-19: 163 new cases in Armenia

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Safe at Home' program to protect domestic abuse victims



NASHVILLE, TN  For many victims of domestic abuse, stalking and similar crimes, escaping abusers is no easy task.



In 2016 alone, 78,100 domestic violence offenses were reported in Tennessee. In over 80 percent of these reported incidents, the primary victim was either a woman or a child. In over half of reported cases, the victim was physically injured. Victims may need to move to other towns, switch jobs, move their children to different schools or even change their names just to escape their abusers.



Even then, abusers may still easily find them by searching public records online.



The Tennessee Secretary of States office is proud to offer SB 1935 sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) and HB 2025 sponsored by Rep. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville) to help alleviate this potentially life-threatening issue.



The legislation will create a program that is known nationally as Safe at Home, which has been implemented by more than 35 states across the country. The goal is to help survivors of domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, stalking and other crimes who have relocated or are about to relocate, in their effort to keep their abusers from finding them. In doing so, the program will allow victims to take back their lives by preventing an abuser from locating them through public records searches and inflicting additional harm.



It is time for Tennessee to join the growing majority of states across the nation by enacting proactive legislation to provide greater protections for victims and taking positive action to shield all our citizens from the effects of domestic violence, said Secretary of State Tre Hargett. For these reasons, we look forward to serving our fellow Tennesseans through our assistance in preventing violence in our communities.



Domestic abuse is a horrible crime, and I am pleased to support victims of domestic abuse by sponsoring the Safe at Home Act, said Sen. Kelsey. The Safe at Home program will offer victims of domestic abuse a path to escape their abusers and start a new life."



As Republican leaders, I believe we must continue to strengthen protections for victims of these despicable crimes including domestic abuse, stalking, human trafficking and other sexual offenses, said Rep. Farmer. I am honored to work with Secretary Hargett and to sponsor passage of House Bill 2025 so that we can better protect victims while encouraging them to seek assistance so that they can begin the healing process.



The Safe at Home program provides victims with a government-managed substitute address (such as a post office box), for both themselves and their children, which can then be used to obtain a drivers license, register to vote and complete most other government forms without disclosing the participants home address.



Once enrolled, the participant can provide the substitute address to virtually all government entities in Tennessee. Participants may also request that other nongovernmental entities, such as their employers and other private businesses, use this address as well.



The Secretary of States office will receive all mail sent to the substitute address and then forward that mail to the participant. Our department will keep the participants actual residential address confidential and will only disclose it in narrow circumstances to authorized officials.



The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reports that in 2016 more than 78,000 domestic violence crimes, including stalking and rape, were reported to police. 91 Tennesseans were murdered in domestic violence situations during that same time. These cases account for more than 51 percent of all crimes against individuals reported in 2016.



These dramatic statistics demonstrate that this program is a critical step toward protecting victims of domestic abuse, stalking, human trafficking and similar crimes from any more trauma. This program will also make our communities safer by reducing crime for all Tennesseans.

Published April 3, 2018














Flatt takes on new role at Tennessee Department of Agriculture





Whitney Flatt. Image courtesy of TDA



NASHVILLE  Today, Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton announced the appointment of Whitney Flatt as the Agribusiness Development Consultant for food business growth at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA).



As the newest Agribusiness Development Consultant, Flatt will be responsible for developing a strategic plan for and cultivating business opportunities in food, beverage, and other related sectors.



We have revamped our Agricultural Advancement division to continue strengthening Tennessee agriculture, and Whitney will be a valuable addition to assist in accomplishing that goal, Commissioner Templeton said. This shift reinforces our efforts to become more strategic in facilitating agribusiness opportunities, particularly in our distressed and at-risk counties.



Flatt has been with TDA since 2016, serving as a program coordinator for the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program (TAEP). During her time with TAEP, she oversaw the grain storage, hay storage, livestock feed storage, and livestock working facility cover programs. She also served as TAEPs outreach specialist, providing customer support to more than 3,000 producers annually.



Prior to joining TDA, Whitney worked as a project coordinator for the 2Seeds Network, a development non-profit based in Tanzania, East Africa. Her efforts with 2Seeds centered on agribusiness training, value and supply chain management, and human capital development.



I am excited about the possibilities this new position holds, Flatt said. There is a wealth of opportunity for growth within Tennessees food and beverage sector, and I am eager to work with new and established businesses to further our states economic development in this area.



Flatt grew up in Newbern, Tenn. She is a dedicated foodie, traveler, and a lover of the arts. In her spare time she enjoys trying farm-to-table restaurants, traveling, and attending film screenings at Nashvilles Belcourt Theatre. For food and beverage manufacturing inquiries, Flatt can be reached at whitney.flatt@tn.gov.



The Tennessee Department of Agricultures Agricultural Advancement Division can connect business owners and entrepreneurs to resources, offer ideas for innovation opportunities, and facilitate relationships with organizations and agencies that can assist. For more information, visit www.tn.gov/agadvancement.

Published April 3, 2018
By Jhoo Dong-chan







Mirae Asset Daewoo Chairman Park Hyeon-joo decided to donate his 2017 annual dividend worth 1.6 billion won ($1.51 million).







Having already donated his dividends for the last seven years, Park's total donations are expected to mount 21.6 billion won in total.







A Mirae Asset Daewoo official said the donation will be delivered to a charity foundation named after Park which helps educate and support talented young people.







"The world is changing more rapidly than ever, but we should stay kind to those who need attention," Park said in his New Year address in January.







"I will expand the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities while nominating an increasing number of scholarship students this year."







Under Park's plan, Mirae Asset Daewoo will expand its scholarship program abroad to 600 this year, up by 100 students from last year.







Since 2007, Mirae Asset Daewoo has supported students who want to study abroad through its CSR program, expanding its scale to 500 in 2016.







Under the program, 4,517 students have received the scholarship to study in 45 countries, including the U.S., Germany, Mexico and Kazakhstan.







Separate from the scholarship program, Mirae Asset Daewoo has also supported 230,000 domestic students through career consulting, book sharing and various culture events.







The company employees regularly participate in community volunteer activities to senior citizens who live alone, a Mirae Asset Daewoo official said.







In 2000, Park invested 7.5 billion won to establish the Mirae Asset Park Hyeon-joo Foundation, which helps the underprivileged.


Speaking in a Nowruz meeting with ministers, governor generals and managers of executive organs on Tuesday, Dr Hassan Rouhani said: People are the source of blessing for the authorities and the main factor of security and unity in the society and all efforts must be directed towards providing more and better service to the people.



(AhlulBayt News Agency) - President Rouhani described boosting hope, vitality and creating better conditions for work and production as key responsibilities of the authorities in the year of supporting Iranian products and said: The government has taken valuable steps in the field of employment and fighting poverty until it is rooted out.



Speaking in a Nowruz meeting with ministers, governor generals and managers of executive organs on Tuesday, Dr Hassan Rouhani said: People are the source of blessing for the authorities and the main factor of security and unity in the society and all efforts must be directed towards providing more and better service to the people.



Better access to communications and information and power of choice are essential for the people, said the President adding: Having powerful, safe and inexpensive messengers that can meet peoples daily needs will be an honour for everybody.



He also stressed that people must be educated to take the best advantage of the cyberspace, adding: A good cyberspace will be provided by good, appealing and fruitful content, not merely through monopoly and limiting it.



Dr Rouhani also described constructive interaction with neighbours and the world as the Islamic Republic of Irans key policy, saying: Without a doubt, interaction with neighbours and the world will be to our interest and this policy, especially in the year of supporting Iranian products, will be followed more.



At the beginning of the meeting, the President also describe the Prophet of Islams (PBUH) first revelation as the biggest incident in the history of the mankind and expressed hope that year 1397 will be year of more security, development, brotherhood and unity for the people.







/257
Han Kang, right, author of "The Vegetarian," and Deborah Smith, who translated the Korean novel into English, pose while holding the award-winning book in London in May 2016 after they won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. The two have been nominated for the same award this year for Han Kang's "The White Book," along with 12 others. The winners will be announced in May amid new allegations that Smith's translation of "The Vegetarian" was flawed. / Korea Times file



Literary translator raises new allegation about the award-winning book



By Kwak Yeon-soo



Han Kang's award-winning book "The Vegetarian" is back in the spotlight, as a literary translator raised a new allegation about a "fundamental" mistranslation.



In the article titled "The 'creative' English translation of 'The Vegetarian' by Han Kang" published on March 30 in the Translation Review journal, Kim Wook-dong, professor emeritus of Sogang University, claimed the English translation has plenty of mistranslations, including vocabulary and homonymy errors.



He said translator Deborah Smith made such mistakes maybe because of her "negligence or inability to translate."



Kim asserts Smith misused Korean vocabulary, and thus made her translation weak.



One of the outstanding mistakes is the confusion of the Korean word "pal" (arm) and "bal" (foot), according to the expert.



"Smith made the mistake in one of Yeong-hye's haunting dreams in which she first describes her being lost in a dark woods. 'The sharp-pointed leaves on the trees, my torn feet,' he wrote." Kim said the sentence should read "My face, my arms, torn, making my way through the sharp-pointed leaves."



Kim's critical review of Smith's translation was published weeks before the winners of the 2018 Man Booker International Prize are to be announced in May. Han Kang and Smith were nominated again for the prize for "The White Book," following their winning the same prize in 2016.



Smith translated "The White Book," a collection of 65 short writings featuring the author's thoughts on white objects, into English.



It remains uncertain whether Kim's harsh criticism will negatively affect Han Kang and her translator Smith in the committee's forthcoming selection of winners. But one thing that seems obvious is Kim's critical review will be of no help in the pair's winning of the international honor again.



The English translation of "The Vegetarian" came under fire for translation errors last year as some literary experts said some parts of the story were mistranslated or omitted.



Some experts said the English version is a whole new one, lauding Smith for her creative rewriting.



Smith argued "translation is a process that needs varying degrees of interpretation and editorial decision." The author sided with Smith and said such mistranslations do not pose a serious problem to conveying the original context of the novel.



Kim's critical review, however, rekindled the translation controversy. He alleged British-born Smith's mistranslation came from her limited understanding of Korean language.



As the lingering controversy shows, literary translators are vulnerable to criticisms from critics of both the original and target language. If translators are faithful to the original text, target language readers often find themselves lost in translation because there are certainly things only locals can understand. If translators put the target language first and omit or add phrases to help them understand phrases containing "Koreanness," they are vulnerable to mistranslation allegations.



Kim claimed Smith's translation errors are "fundamental" and widespread all throughout the book.



He said Smith made several errors regarding homonyms as seen in the Korean word "bit" which has two potential meanings  light and color. But, he said, Smith "ignored" homonyms and misinterpreted the Korean phrase "chorok bit" as green light, instead of its meaning green color. Given the context, Kim suggests that phrase should be "springtime trees thick with green-colored leaves."



Regarding the timing of the publication of his critical review which came weeks before the announcement of the 2018 Man Booker Prize, Kim said he had no intention to influence the selection of the winners.



He noted he completed and submitted his article to the academic journal last year, months before Han Kang's "The White Book" was nominated again in March for the British literary award.



"My work came much earlier than the nominations of the 2018 Man Booker Prize," he told The Korea Times. "Assessing translated works and the translator's performance is part of my job, and as a scholar I've worked hard and published my articles for decades."



Kim said mistranslation is common in literary translations and "The Vegetarian" is not the only work that has translation errors. But he added "The Vegetarian" has much more serious translation errors compared with other works.



Kim said he likes Han and her work and has no intention to hurt or discredit her translator Deborah Smith.



"Ideally speaking, great translation comes when local and foreign-born translators of the target language work closely together," he said.


By Yun Suh-young





Executive chef Kim Min at Wynn Palace Macau shows one of the ingredients used at his restaurant./ Korea Times photo by Yun Suh-young

MACAU -- A handful of Korean chefs work at overseas restaurants but not many rise to the position of executive chef, especially at a young age. This is even less likely if the restaurant is corporately owned or is part of a corporate structure such as a hotel.

In Macau's Wynn Palace, one of the luxury casino hotels in the popular tourism destination, Korean executive chef Kim Min heads the Japanese restaurant Mizumi. And he's only 32.

"I was lucky," Kim said humbly, carefully preparing a dish. "It's rare but not too unusual. I guess I was lucky with timing and opportunity," he said when asked why he thought he was appointed to the position. He has been heading the restaurant for a little over a year since its opening, which came in line with the opening of the hotel in September 2016.

There are two Mizumi restaurants with exactly the same name at the two Wynn hotels located in Macau -- one at the Wynn Macau and the other at Wynn Palace -- a reason why customers sometimes end up going to the wrong Mizumi. The one at Wynn Macau has received a Michelin star as it has been there longer, but the one at Wynn Palace has yet to gain a star.

"There are cases where customers who wanted to see me end up at the other restaurant because the name is the same. I think the hotel is considering changing the name of this restaurant, and it should, but we'll have to see," said Kim.

He aims to win a Michelin star and to be listed on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.

"I'm aiming for both, honestly. Timing wasn't on our side when we opened because the inspection period was over by the time we were ready and operating. But we'll be doing our best to be on next year's list," he said.

Having left his home country at the age of 19 and spending over a decade overseas, Kim speaks several languages including Japanese, English, and Chinese other than Korean.

"I learned Japanese while working in Japan for two years at restaurants such as the Michelin-starred Ryugin and Narisawa in Tokyo. I honed most of my cooking skills there. Then I worked in Sydney for seven years at Tetsuya's, Sokyo and Sake Double Bay and went to Hong Kong for a brief period before moving here."

Kim barely sleeps as he arrives hours before the restaurant's opening time at 11 a.m. and leaves way past closing time at 11 p.m. Sometimes when important guests come in late at night, he serves them until 3 a.m., as was the case during the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants event held in Macau late last month. "We were thankful and honored to be given the opportunity to participate in hosting such a large event," he said. He must have been fatigued, but he never lost his courtesy and smile.

Living in Macau, Kim feels the difference of hallyu playing a role in the way Koreans are treated overseas.

"Macau is a sought-after destination among Korean tourists these days. Macau is very friendly to Koreans because they like them a lot due to the impact of hallyu. If Hong Kong is favorable to the Japanese, Macau is definitely more so toward Koreans. The locals also travel to Korea a lot," he said.

Given his important responsibility at the hotel, it isn't likely for him to leave the hotel anytime soon, but he does have plans to open his own restaurant in the coming years.

"I do wish to have my own restaurant one day. And if I do open one, I'm thinking of Taipei as the location. The Michelin guide recently entered the region and it's a popular tourism destination. But Korea is also an option because it does not yet have many Japanese kaiseki restaurants which might be a good opportunity for me."
By Ko Dong-hwan





Some South Koreans believe mixing soju and wasps and drinking the ripened liquor is good for health. / Courtesy of Daum blog

The government warned Tuesday about the dangers of concocting or drinking soju mixed with wasps and other insects, which some people believe is good for their health.



The cocktails of clear distilled liquor and the insect ingredients can be highly dangerous, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety warned.



The ministry said wasps, centipedes, earthworms, red ants, snakes and plants like the dictamnus root, rhododendron and monkshood are poisonous and potentially fatal when mixed with soju.



The ministry issued the warning after TV programs showed people hunting for wasps and their nests and then mixing them with soju at home.



"People consider the wasp-based soju valuable and make it at home to present as a gift," the ministry said. "But wasps must not be used like this and the cocktail can be harmful to humans."



Wasp venom can cause a strong allergic reaction in humans that can cause choking and death, according to the ministry.



The ministry disapproved wasp of being used as a supplementary health ingredient. But the regulation hasn't stopped people from concocting and trading the cocktail on- and offline.





A wasp nest with larvae in a bottle of soju / Courtesy of Daum blog
South Korea will send a seven-member delegation to this week's working-level talks to discuss protocol and security for an inter-Korean summit in late April, government officials said Tuesday.

The government informed the North of the composition of the delegation, led by Cho Han-ki, a presidential secretary on protocol, which will be dispatched for Wednesday's talks, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

The two Koreas will hold working-level talks on the southern side of the border truce village of Panmunjom Wednesday to prepare for the April 27 summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The South's delegation will also include Shin Yong-wook, a senior presidential security officer, and Kwun Hyuk-ki, director of the press center at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, as the talks will deal with security and news release as well.

The summit, the first since 2007, will be held at the Peace House on the southern side of Panmunjom. Kim is set to become North Korea's first ruler to cross the tense inter-Korean border for talks.

A ministry official said that he has no information about whether Kim Jong-un's moving route will be discussed or his wife Ri Sol-ju could be accompanied.

The leaders of the two Koreas are widely expected to discuss the North's denuclearization, a peace regime and inter-Korean ties at the summit. U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to meet with Kim Jong-un by May. (Yonhap)
By Kim Rahn







Slovak President Andrej Kiska will visit Korea from April 9 to 11 and have bilateral talks with President Moon Jae-in, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.







It will be the first official visit by a Slovak president. This year marks the 25th year of diplomatic ties between the two nations.







He earlier had an unofficial visit here in February to attend the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.







Moon and Kiska will have a summit April 10, where they will review the 25 years of relations and discuss ways to expand economic cooperation and their diplomatic partnership.







About 90 Korean companies are operating in Slovakia including Kia Motors and Samsung Electronics.







Slovakia is a member of Visegrad Group, a regional alliance of four Central European nations  Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary  and Kiska's visit is expected to help Korea reinforce cooperation with those countries.






By John Redmond







American band LANY will play at Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul on April 7 as part of the Asian leg of its world tour.







The indie pop trio from Los Angeles will also tour Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan before heading back to North America.







Comprising of Paul Jason Klein who performs lead vocals, keyboards, piano and guitar with Jake Clifford Goss on drums and sampling pad and Les Priest playing synthesizers, keyboards, guitar and backing vocals, they formed the group in March 2014 when Klein flew to Nashville to meet up with Goss and Priest.







LANY released its debut mini-album, "Acronymns," later that year, with the song "ILYSB" generating significant interest online.







The following year saw the band undertake a U.S. tour including a festival appearance at Lollapalooza.







LANY spent the summer of 2017 playing festivals and touring Australia and Asia, and then hitting Europe in the winter.







This year sees the band touring Asia.







LANY (pronounced Lay-Nee) is an acronym for Los Angeles New York.







Yes24 Live Hall is in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul, near Gwangnaru Station on Line 5.







Tickets cost 77,000 won.







Visit thisislany.com or songkick.com for more information and tickets.


Over 50 percent of international students at Korean universities are Chinese.



By Kim Hyun-bin



The desire of Korean students to enroll at a prestigious "in Seoul" university is high.

Local people call it "in Seoul" as most renowned universities are located within the capital including Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University.



However, the fierce competition seems to only apply for locals and it has become easier for foreigners to receive a diploma at a Korean university as more institutions are seeking to make a "quick buck" off overseas students



There are more than 120,000 foreign students attending universities in Korea and out of the total over half, 68,000 student are Chinese, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Justice in April, 2017.



Many Korean students are complaining that their institutions have been giving special treatment to foreign students, which include lower grade point averages to receive scholarships and priority campus housing.



There were over 17 universities that had an average of over 1,000 foreign students enrolled in 2016, according to the school information website "Allimi."



Korea University recorded the most with 4,333 student followed by Kyunghee (3,665), Yonsei (3,223), Sungkyunkwan (2,783), Chungang (2,033), Hanyang (1,997), Konkuk University (1,914), and Dongguk (1,784).



Seventeen four-year institutions had over 1,000 foreign students enrolled; more than half were from China.



Several of the universities granted scholarships to international students even with grade point averages of "C+". Many other institutions gave priority to international students to live on campus.



In the case of Gachon University, acceptance fees were exempted and international students receive a 40 percent scholarship for tuition each semester as long as they were above the minimum requirements to attend the school.



"Students need to have a GPA of 2.0 or higher, taking a minimum of 13 credits each semester to be qualified for the scholarship," said Kim Ha-sik, the manager of the office of International affairs at Gachon University. "This only applies for foreign students and currently most of the 500 international students receive scholarships."



Ajou University offers 30 percent to 100 percent scholarships based on the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) results, and these students get top priority for campus housing.



There are even institutions that provide living expenses. Korea University operates a three level (A, B, C) scholarship plan for foreign students. A offers a full scholarship with a monthly living expense of 500,000 won. B offers a full scholarship, while C provides 50 percent of the tuition.



Based on the student's grades Dankook University offers up to a full scholarship and accommodation, but if the student is unable to live on campus the institution pays 80 percent of off-campus housing expenses for six months.



International students = Survival



Recent statistics show that enrollment rates for four year universities have continued to drop in recent years.

University enrollment hit 549,000 in 2014, but that number fell to 516,000 by 2016, according to data from the Ministry of Education.



Some experts point out that by 2023, total enrollment could drop to 400,000 due to the nation's low birthrate and as more students are jumping into the job market straight from high school.



As the trend continues, attracting international students has become a crucial part of survival for an increasing number of universities in rural areas.



"Student enrollment is on the decline, while dropouts are increasing. To prevent financial difficulties we are trying to fill the gap with international students," said an official from a private university in South Jeolla Province. "That is the reason why we are focused on promoting our institution to prospective international students, more so than universities in the metropolitan area."



Lower acceptance standard



Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has lowered the enrollment test scores for foreign students.



Before, prospective students were required to obtain a level three or higher on the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), but this has been lowered to level two. Instead the MOE requires students to take 300 hours of Korean classes within a year.



TOPIK has six levels and a participant with level two is assumed to utilize around 1,500 to 2,000 words, and capable of arranging a few simple sentences.



Experts believe to be more complete the college students need to be familiar with a minimum of 5,000 words. Critics believe the reduced requirement aims to obtain an inflow of cash from abroad as local student enrollment has been declining for close to a decade.



Average tuition fees for a four year university stood at 6.67 million won per year: and when applied to the foreign student class in 2015, Yonsei University made an aggregate of over six billion won, Korea University roughly eight billion won and Sungkyunkwan University, 11 billion won.




Lyman McLallen



By Lyman McLallen



You can't blame students if all they want from college are good grades with as little work as possible, time to hang out with their friends and finally be granted their diplomas. If they have the good fortune to matriculate to a big-name college or university, that's fine too.



To study, though _ to spend most of their college years immersed in the solitary pursuit of books and math problems _ is not why most students want to attend college.



Of course, students must learn a few things, if just enough to make decent grades so they can get the degrees their mothers and fathers pay dearly for.



They aren't lazy, for they are relentless at chasing after the high test scores the universities and society demand of them. Should they aspire to seek knowledge and add to their self-worth, then maybe the university is for them.



Four expensive years of college will get a student a diploma which can be their ticket to a job with good pay but there's no promise of that. If they should prepare themselves to cope with and even prevail over the unpredictable difficulties life will surely fling at them _ abilities of real value _ that's up to them.



Students who truly want to educate themselves can do so without going to college or even getting a degree. The reason they should attend college is to take classes taught by learned scholars eager to discuss books and ideas with them and who will inspire them to continue their studies. At its best, college offers students opportunities to become soundly educated.



Colleges and universities should inspire their students to stoke their curiosity so it will only grow bigger and burn forever, which is a significant benefit colleges bestow upon students and society.



Professors should inspire their students to read, study and learn on their own. Serious students organize their lives so they will never stop studying, for they know that what they have already learned is only the beginning. The best students rarely think about getting a degree, for their goal, not graduation, is understanding and mastery.



So it seems, society is obsessed with test scores, which is absurd if you think about it, for the world is in need of daring, imagination and ability more than it needs high test scores.



Still many parents force their young children into the lockstep grind of cramming to become outstanding test-takers, but little else. Parents pay a lot of money so their children can score high on entrance exams and have a chance to gain acceptance to big-name colleges and universities.



That a college or university would judge their applicants by test scores, almost to the exclusion of everything else, is deplorable. No sensible person would take seriously a college that places anything more than trifling consideration on test scores.



Regardless of having a fine reputation, a university that puts a premium on a student's test-taking ability is little more than a diploma mill and can't be counted on to help students develop their interests or hone their talents.



There are parents who don't care if their children become good test-takers or even if they get into big-name colleges. They do care that their children work toward worthy aspirations and live honorable lives, whether they attend college or not. They care that their children develop as much of their potential as they can.



Parents such as these cultivate in their children habits of reading, of becoming fluent in foreign languages and learning how to think while holding a pen or a pencil in their hands.



They don't want their children to get caught in the trap of so-called "speed reading" or fall into the bad habit of writing by formula. They instill in their children the practice of reading, rereading and rewriting every word they write until the sound of their own words pleases their ears.



They raise their children to give their all to the work they choose to do. They know that if their children work through the inevitable difficulties and frustrations they will face doing any worthwhile task, if they live their lives with integrity and treat other people ethically, they stand a good chance of being valuable to themselves and to society.



What they won't do is waste time chasing after test scores.







McLallen attended the University of Memphis State and taught at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He is a copy editor at The Korea Times.




By Kang Aa-young







Police are hunting for a man who threatened to bomb Korea University.







Police received a call at around 4:25 a.m. Tuesday from a man who claimed he was heading to the university and carrying explosives.







The man called from a pay phone in Anam-dong, Seoul, where the university is located, according to police.







Police sent a bomb squad, detection dogs and fire engines and searched for three hours but found no explosives.







"It seems it was a prank call" a police officer was quoted as saying. Police are checking CCTV footage.


The school hostage suspect, 25, surnamed Yang, is taken to Bangbae Police Station on Monday. / Yonhap



By Park Si-soo



A man who caught on Monday after taking a teenage girl hostage at a Seoul elementary said he did so "on God's order," according to police.



The man, 25, surnamed Yang, is being questioned at Bangbae Police Station.



According to Yonhap News Agency, he told police he entered Bangbae Elementary School after a voice ordered him to "take a student hostage, arm yourself and fight against the world."



He entered through the school gate after introducing himself to a security guard as a school graduate, which turned out to be true. He then took the girl hostage at knifepoint at 11:43 a.m. and held her for about one hour. A police commando team seized him at 12.43 p.m. while he was distracted drinking from a water bottle. The girl was freed unharmed and taken to hospital to be checked.










By Kim Hyun-bin

By Kim Hyun-bin





An increase in the number of female civil servants has been noticeable in recent years.



The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family collected female representation data for 2017 from each government branch and the results were reported to a cabinet meeting earlier this week.





The data will be used to back the ministry's "2018-2022 Female Representation Improvement Plan," which aims to increase the number of female government workers each year. Compared to 2012 data, female representation in government jobs has soared, recording an all time high.







Public officials are ranked from levels nine to one, with one being the highest, and necessary for an ambassador posting.

There has been a drastic increase of women in level four positions, which could open opportunities for them to advance to higher government positions.





In 2012, 9.3 percent of level four public officials were women; by 2017 it reached 14.7 percent.







A drastic increase was also seen in government overseen posts where female participation rose from 25.7 percent to 40.2 percent.







Even in the police force and military, female representation has slowly risen each year.







Female military officers rose from 5.8 percent to 7.4 percent, while the percentage of policewomen jumped from 7.5 percent to 10.9 percent in the same period.





The largest margin was with school principal and vice principal positions over the last half a decade. In 2012, only 24.6 percent were female, but that number shot up to 40.6 percent, surpassing the 40 percent mark for the first time.







Experts say it's a matter of time before the number of female principals exceeds that of their male counterparts.







For over a decade the number of male teachers has gradually dropped each year. Female teachers marked 63.5 percent nationwide in 2007, but that number jumped to 69.2 percent in 2017, according to the Ministry of Education.







Out of 360 people that passed the teacher recruitment exam for Seoul public elementary schools, 320 (88.8 percent) were female, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.







The government plans to set a goal for each government agency to increase female representation in the workforce by 2022 and plans to focus on legal reforms and aid to reach that goal.







It plans to level the playing field for all sexes in the public workforce and make it mandatory to appoint at least one female executive at a public institution by 2019.





"The #MeToo movement sweeping the country is due to sexual discrimination within the societal structure. To reduce this, more women have to advance to higher ranking positions for balance in the gender perspective and this should influence each decision making process," said Jung Hyun-baek, the Minister of Gender Equality and Family.





"The government has vowed to achieve gender equality, and needs to work towards the OECD level of female representation in the workforce."



The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on Korea to expand its female workforce to help boost innovation in the labor market.







This is because Korea's productivity is expected to fall further due to its rapidly aging population.







The IMF and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have constantly called on Asia's fourth largest economy to reduce inequality.







They highlighted Korea has the most discriminative workplace in the OECD not only against females but also irregular workers both in gender and income.


President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with the families of Jeju massacre victims at the 4.3 Peace Park on Jeju Island, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in pledged Tuesday that the government will make every effort to find the truth behind the Jeju April 3 Massacres including why they happened, as he apologized for the mass killings committed by state-aligned forces amid ideological conflicts following liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese occupation.

Moon attended a ceremony at the 4.3 Peace Park on Jeju Island to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the massacres, also called the April 3 Incident. This was the first time since 2006 for a president to attend the ceremony, following liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.

In the massacres, about 25,000 to 30,000 islanders, or about 10 percent of the Jeju population, were killed by South Korean troops and police, and volunteer anti-communist youth groups after they boycotted a U.N.-backed general election that contributed to the division of Korea. The massacres started in 1948 when the U.S. Army Military Government ostensibly governed Korea, and continued through South Korean President Syngman Rhee's election and presidency and the 1950-53 Korean War, finally ending in 1954.

"I, as President, deeply apologize once again for all the pain they had to suffer from state violence," Moon said in a speech.

He is the second president to apologize and admit state responsibility for the massacres following Roh. Until the late 1990s, it was taboo to openly mention the incident. Roh's predecessor, Kim Dae-jung, set up a special law for fact-finding about the massacres in 2000, while neither of Moon's two conservative predecessors, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, did so, nor did they attend the annual ceremony.












Liberty Korea Party (LKP) floor leader Kim Sung-tae, left, speaks during a press conference to announce the LKP's constitutional revision proposals at the National Assembly, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Park Ji-won



The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) unveiled its own constitutional revision proposals, Tuesday, days after Cheong Wa Dae announced President Moon Jae-in's proposals.



The LKP's proposals are centered on limiting presidential power while increasing the power of the National Assembly.



One controversial element in the LKP's proposals is to empower the Assembly to choose and appoint the prime minister who would have the responsibility to handle domestic affairs independently from the President.



Moon's proposals, meanwhile, are focused on changing the current single five-year presidential term to a four-year term with the option of running for re-election once.



Announcing the proposals, LKP floor leader Rep. Kim Sung-tae said the party focused on strengthening checks and balances.



Asked about when to hold a referendum, Kim drew a line and emphasized the LKP will not accept the President's June 13 deadline.



Moon pledged during his election campaign to hold a referendum on the constitutional revision along with the local elections to save taxes.



Kim said the party will stick with the party's schedule which is set by June to reach an agreement among members of a special committee for the constitutional revision and have a referendum by September.



The LKP highlighted in the proposed bill that the President will have the right to dissolve the National Assembly at the request of the prime minister.



The LKP also demanded redrawing of electoral precincts and reforming the proportional representation system to increase the number of lawmakers chosen through the system. Also, the party demanded lowering the voting age to 18.



Also, regarding the redistribution of investigative authority and power between the police and the prosecution, the LKP demanded to erase the sole authority of the prosecution to seek an arrest warrant from the Constitution so the police can do so as well.



The DPK, however, has dismissed the idea, saying it is a contradictory situation that the LKP insists on a strong legislature as they often boycott the Assembly.



"The April Assembly is already postponed. Whenever the Assembly begins, the LKP starts boycotting," policy chief Kim Tae-nyeon of the DPK said.



The ruling party has declared its support of the President-led bill.



Six out of 10 South Koreans support President Moon Jae-in's proposal for a constitutional revision, according to a survey released on March 22.



The Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) and the Justice Party largely support the ruling camp's idea when it comes to the schedule of holding a referendum.


Protesters take part in a street parade in central Seoul, March 8, on the occasion of International Women's Day. / Yonhap



By Choi Ha-young



Following a series of #MeToo claims here, politicians are competitively creating bills aimed at preventing sexual crimes and strengthening criminal punishment for assailants. Among them, some to feature revising the definition of rape in existing criminal law that rape should involve "violence or intimidation."



Based on the definition, local courts have acquitted some alleged rapists citing a lack of violence. To prove that the violence or intimidation made the victim unable to resist, victims were required to attempt to resist to the bitter end  which could put their lives at stake.



Last month, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) called on Seoul to revise the definition of rape. "Amend article 297 of the Criminal Code so as to place the lack of free consent of the victim at the centre of the definition," a report published by CEDAW reads.



The most powerful bill that echoes the point is the one created by Rep. Kang Chang-il of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Rep. Kang's bill replaced "violence and intimidation" with "without clear consent of counterpart."



"So far, whether the victim protested against the assailant or not has been the center of the allegation, which has caused secondary damage for the victims," the lawmaker said in the revision bill.



Conservative lawmakers also joined the move.



Rep. Lee Hag-jae of the minor center-right Bareun Mirae Party is drawing up a similar bill. Instead of using the term "rape and sexual molestation," the bill proposed using "invasion of rights to self-determination over sexuality." The envisioned change aims to highlight individuals' rights to make independent choices.



Rep. Lee also offered to revise the definition of rape  "having sexual relations with another without consent."



Another bill submitted by Rep. Hong Chul-ho of the Liberty Korea Party defined rape as a sexual relation that involves "violation or intimidation" or actions "against someone's will."



These bills are commonly based on the idea of "yes means yes, no means no" as do laws in Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom.



According to the report published by the National Assembly Research Service, Germany previously required "violation and intimidation" as a legal condition of rape. After the revision was made in November 2016, Germany defines rape as a "sexual relation against victims' expression." Sweden is also pushing for revision bills to stipulate "without consent" instead of "violation and intimidation," the report reads.



The tricky issue is "what does yes mean?" In Korea, where the influence of Confucianism remains dominant, women are required to stay "pure and chaste," said Hongik University Law Professor Spiritas Cho.



Such cultural inclinations are palpable in love scenes in K-dramas. When they fall in love, men are supposed to lead the relationships  sometimes using force  while women are reluctant to be courted. Female characters who initially refused to kiss male characters end up agreeing. This is not a matter of gender, considering many screenwriters of such dramas are women.



In this respect, Cho said the revision of the laws should accompany a fundamental shift in our approach to sexuality. "Women must be able to express their sexuality and their sexual desires freely and clearly, not to be ostracized for that socially and culturally," Cho said.



Still, negative comments are flooding online communities regarding the bid to revise the criminal law. When Minister of Gender Equality and Family Chung Hyun-back indicated her agreement with such a revision, some netizens sarcastically commented: "Now couples should exchange written contracts."



Lee Mi-kyeong, director of Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, who provided advice in designing Kang's bill, admitted the envisioned changes would bring some confusion for a while.



"However, society should start talks to define the meaning of yes and no. Koreans have never discussed what mutual consent in a sexual relationship is, which has led to many violent situations between partners," Lee said.



"It's time to reflect on our attitudes and make efforts to respect each other," she noted.


Participants at an Arbor Day celebration at the confluence of Cheonggyecheon Stream and Jungnangcheon Stream in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, plant Japanese cornilian cherry trees on March 31. / Yonhap



By Ko Dong-hwan



South Korean companies encourage people to plant "pet trees" not only to instill a sense of ownership, but also as part of an ambitious goal to prevent more land from turning into desert.



Tree Planet introduced "pet trees" in December 2017, a business model that encourages people to buy, or "adopt," trees and uses the profit to buy more trees to establish a forest.



About 5,000 people have adopted 6,000 pet trees so far. The profits were used to build a forest at Sudokwon Landfill in Incheon to prevent air pollution caused by fine particulate matters and in Samcheok in Gangwon Province to revive areas burnt by mountain fires last year and this year.



Established in 2010, the Seoul-based company has enabled the planting of more than 770,000 trees in 190 forests across 12 countries including China, India, Indonesia and the United States. The company has earned B Corporation certification, a global certification for non-profit organizations with an outstanding social and environmental performance.



Tree Planet said the planting events "have so far requested people to plant trees and nothing more" but pet trees motivated people to "adopt trees, grow them, and get to know the importance in the act."





Daejeon National Cemetery employees plant trees on a hill at the rear entrance on March 29. / Yonhap
Baekjoilsonjiji (graveyard of 100 ancestors), holds the remains of 132 villagers killed Aug. 20, 1950. Encased in a glass box. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar



By Jon Dunbar





On the sunny plains of southern Jeju Island sits a graveyard enclosed by a loosely stacked fence of black volcanic stones. The grave mounds, about 100 in all, are unmarked save for a stone obelisk bearing the Korean flag, the Taegukgi.



The graves are unnamed not because we don't know who was buried here, but because upon death they were dismembered and it was impossible to match the body parts, six years later when their families were finally able to retrieve the bodies.



Inspired by places like this, last June a flurry of "clickbait listicles" hit the Korean expat blogosphere, encouraging ghost tourism to Jeju.



Under titles such as, "These are South Korea's 8 Most Haunted Locations," "Spooky Korea: 10 Haunted Places to Chill Your Bones" and "13 Spookiest Places In Korea That Will Give You The Creeps," they listed Jeju Island alongside an abandoned mental hospital, Yeonpyeong Island which North Korea shelled in 2010, and Lotte World's "Ghost House."



They cite the Jeju April 3 Uprising and Massacre (4.3 or "Sa-sam"), which began April 3, 1948, lasting through the 1950-53 Korean War until Sept. 21, 1954.



"The result, terrifying ghosts are said to haunt this popular vacation spot," writes one of these shameless sites.



"With such history, it is not a surprise that the townspeople claim to witness hundreds of ghost sightings referring to the anguished past that this island has suffered," wrote another, asking: "With mul gwisin (water ghost) roaming around in the beautiful sea of Jeju, are you brave enough to take a dip in the sea? Or visit Hallasan mountain caves where massacred bodies were discovered?"






By Cass R. Sunstein



For the first time since the 1940s, Americans have been asking: Can it happen here?



The question, which has been debated in the U.S. for months, is meant to draw attention to the potential fragility of democratic self-government  and to emphasize that in some periods, democracies are especially likely to turn in authoritarian directions.



It would be fair to pose that question in any case in light of China's continued rise, Russia's resurgent aggression, and the disturbing developments in Turkey, Poland, Hungary and the Philippines. To his most severe critics, some of the words and deeds of President Donald Trump make it seem as if democratic principles might not be entirely secure in the U.S. itself.



But there's good news. If "it" means genuine authoritarianism, Americans probably don't have much to worry about. Our system of checks and balances, adopted after a war against monarchy, was specifically designed to limit the power of any would-be authoritarian.



For well over 200 years, the system has held firm. It continues to do so.



In most domains, the president cannot act on his own. He needs explicit congressional permission. Independent courts are available to strike down presidential actions that violate the law. The Bill of Rights stands as a safeguard against abridgments of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and unreasonable searches and seizures.



At multiple turns, the Trump administration, no less than its predecessors, has been stymied by these obstacles. Repeated losses in court, on issues large and small, have been a defining feature of its first 14 months.



Even if Americans need not worry about authoritarianism as such, however, the current period does justify serious concern.



1) History teaches that even in the United States, serious abridgments of civil rights and civil liberties are possible, at least when national security is threatened.



During World War I, Congress made it a crime for anyone to "cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, or refusal of duty in the military forces of the United States." Prosecutors seized on those words as a basis for bringing criminal proceedings against dissenters. During World War II, more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps on the West Coast. In the 1950s and 1960s, the executive branch directed a range of actions against "subversive" people and organizations, including suppression of speech and violations of privacy.



Such events may seem like ancient history. But let's not be complacent. If there is a successful attack on the country or a novel threat, liberty will face serious challenges.



2) Russia has reportedly obtained the capacity to interfere with our electoral processes  not only through the use of social media to intensify social divisions and to promote its favored candidates, but also by targeting voting machinery. In addition, Russian hackers are even attacking our sources of power and water.



To date, the White House's response to these threats has been unaccountably tepid  which is worse than alarming. Russia's actions do not mean that authoritarianism is a serious danger in the United States. But they do mean that authoritarianism may be a serious danger to the United States. If we do not response to that danger, it will grow.



3) One of the most striking lessons of the rise of fascism in the 1930s is that many citizens were simply living their lives  focusing on their families, their friends, their jobs. They liked the fact that the economy was improving. They did not embrace authoritarianism as such. But they did not do anything to stop it.



In 1927, Justice Louis Brandeis warned, "the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people." The U.S. has a robust culture of freedom. But in the face of challenges to democratic norms, it is not illegitimate to ask whether Americans will be sufficiently resistant  at least if the challenges come from a president whose policies they like.



4) President Trump has successively attacked institutions, both public and private, that do not bend to his will. So far, the attacks have generally taken the form of words rather than deeds. But delegitimation of independent institutions can weaken structural constraints on leaders  and ultimately compromise democratic values.



5) The Trump administration has been intensifying partisan divisions, with the president himself calling for criminal prosecution of political adversaries and demonizing those who disagree with him on matters of policy.



That's bad enough. But in politics as well as life, brutality breeds more of the same. There is a real risk that Democrats will not only lurch to the left but also engage in Trump-like rhetorical strategies  and thus fail to treat Republicans and Trump supporters with grace, or the respect that they deserve.



That would be a disaster, because it would aggravate a situation in which people are finding it increasingly hard to engage with one another across partisan lines  or to learn that on numerous questions, they do not much disagree, and thus can find good paths forward.



Authoritarianism almost certainly can't happen here. But a damaged and polarized society, incapable of solving shared problems? That's a clear and present danger.





Cass R. Sunstein is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is the editor of "Can It Happen Here? Authoritarianism in America" and a co-author of "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness." The above article was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


By Lee Seong-hyon





By pre-emptively meeting with Kim Jong-un, China's leader Xi Jinping made it clear that no one country can decide the fate of the Korean Peninsula without consulting China first. That was the most important message from the Sino-North Korea summit. And the message was meant to be heard in Washington foremost.



Even though Washington expressed that it "welcomes" the ambush summit between Xi and Kim, from an analytic point of view, the picture looks much more complicated than it is, even without going into North Korea's nuclear affairs. Putting aside all the media hype of the Xi-Kim meeting, there are a few policy aspects for review.



First, China felt "sidelined" when Trump announced (March 8) that he would meet with Kim Jong-un, without consulting China first.



For China, which takes for granted its sphere of influence over North Korea, it took it as a discourtesy when the American president made the unilateral decision. Xi, alarmed, made an emergency call to Trump (March 9). China initially kept silent about the phone call, but Trump wrote on Twitter about it (March 10). According to Trump, they spoke "at length" about Trump's upcoming meeting with Kim.



Second, adding insult to injury, Trump signed a new law (March 17) that encourages the United States to send senior officials to Taiwan to meet Taiwanese counterparts and vice versa. China became enraged. China regards Taiwan as its "core interest" that cannot be negotiable. China saw the move as the U.S. violating the "One China" policy. Xi made a sharp warning that any attempt to separate any part of China from the nation would be "doomed to failure." Soon, China's sole operating aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, had been spotted entering the Taiwan Strait.



Third, China had been, on its own, also looking out for an opportunity to hold a meeting with Kim, but it needed a good rationale. After all, any meeting between the two "socialist brothers" would be keenly scrutinized. Trump's announcement that he would meet with Kim relieved Xi of such a burden. If Trump can meet Kim, Xi can meet Kim too, so went the logic in China. Then, as it happened, it was Kim who reached out to Xi. Xi grabbed the chance.



Regarding the summit, there were two wins and one loss. It was a "win-win" for China and North Korea. By reaching out to Xi, Kim ensured the safety of his country from being attacked by the U.S., now that China would "protect" North Korea. For Xi, with a lavish banquet and smiling photo-ops with Kim, he sent out the clearest signal to the world that when it comes to North Korea, China cannot be "sidelined" (bianyuanhua) and, in fact, now China is in charge.



"North Korea and China are knotted in an inseparable destiny," said Kim. "The friendship between China and North Korea is soaked in blood," said Xi.



China also sees the surprise Xi-Kim summit as symbolic revenge against America, which it feels first violated the One-China policy. This also happened in the midst of growing clashes between the U.S. and China in the areas of trade, the South China Sea, and cyber espionage.



This is also a time when the No. 1 and No. 2 two superpowers in the world are fundamentally readjusting their strategies: Now they see each other as competitors. On the issue of North Korea, it may also mean that the so-far precarious joint posture by Washington and Beijing in pressuring North Korea through the "maximum pressure" strategy may be timing out.



China under Xi is more powerful and more confident than ever, and is likely to assert its presence more in international discussions on North Korea's nuclear weapons and even steer the direction of the discourse through its own solution (zhonguo fang'an), instead of following the lead of the U.S.



Xi has a new foreign policy slogan, "a new type of international relations." The new initiative should start from China's backyard: the Korean Peninsula. Xi said the relationship between China and North Korea is "the one and only in the world." Kim also said he would "strengthen strategic communication" with China on the matter of denuclearization.



Now, we may ponder how the "one and only relationship in the world" would play into the upcoming Trump-Kim summit. In the past, America used to deal with one North Korea. Now, it has two.





Lee Seong-hyon (sunnybbsfs@gmail.com), Ph.D., is a research fellow at the Sejong Institute.


Security personnel stand near a pillar with the Huawei logo at a launch event for the Huawei MateBook in Beijing in May 26, 2016. Huawei Technology has a reputation for manufacturing high-quality network equipment at competitive prices, but Korean telecom firms are at a crossroads when it comes to decide on whether to select the Chinese equipment for their 5G network due to security concerns. / AP-Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



Telecommunication companies here are facing a dilemma whether to adopt Huawei Technology's equipment for their fifth-generation (5G) networks scheduled to be commercialized next year.



Network equipment produced by Huawei, the Chinese smartphone and telecom equipment maker, is said to be price competitive and have technological prowess, but is also subject to security concerns.



The United States, Korea's major ally, has openly held the Chinese equipment in check, calling on AT&T, a U.S. mobile carrier, to cut off its business relations with the Chinese firm.



The nation's telecom companies _ SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus _ plan to select suppliers of equipment for their 5G networks and begin investing in equipment in June as soon as a frequency auction takes place that month to commercially launch the networks on time.





SK Telecom engineers test 5G base stations near the company's network testing site in downtown Seoul in this photo. Korean telecom companies are making efforts to commercialize their 5G networks by next year. / Courtesy of SK Telecom
Jeju Air CEO Lee Seok-joo speaks during a press conference at the Mayfield Hotel in Seoul, on March 29. / Courtesy of Jeju Air



By Nam Hyun-woo





T'way Air CEO Jeong Hong-geun




A captured image from WeMakePrice homepage is seen in this file photo, Tuesday. Korea Times file
Wild Swan Theater, shown performing recently on the Tibbits stage, will return as part of Tibbits school performance series in April with several performances of A Honey Pot of Pooh Stories on April 12 and Shipwrecked on April 18.
Kindergartners at Wolf Lake Elementary School climbed in trees during their free time during the Kinderforest day at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center. The students were asked to observe what is different in that specific area of the woods compared to their visit last month and give a possible reason of why its different.

Samantha Whiting
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(ABC) The suspect in a shooting at YouTube's headquarters in California's Bay Area is believed to be a woman who was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said the scene was an "active event" and that law enforcement was methodically searching the building to "make sure it is clear." The building has been evacuated, he said.

The shooting appears to be the result of a domestic situation, two law enforcement officials told ABC News. The incident does not appear to be terror-related, the sources said.

At least four victims have been transported to area hospitals, Barberini said. Three of those victims sustained gunshot wounds, police said in a press release.

Three people have been transported to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital spokesman Brett Andrew told reporters in a press conference.

A 36-year-old male patient is in critical condition, Andrew said. One female victim, 32, is in serious condition, and another female victim, 27, is in fair condition, he said.

The patients are awake and aware of what happened, said Dr. Andre Campbell, a trauma surgeon at San Francisco General Hospital.

It is unclear which hospital the fourth victim was transported to.

Employees tweeted that an active shooter was in the building and that people inside had barricaded themselves in rooms. Some employees were later evacuated.

One employee, Todd Sherman, tweeted that he was sitting in a meeting when he heard rumbling from what he first thought was an earthquake but was really people nearby who were running away.

Sherman said that after someone told him that "there was a person with a gun," he "looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs."

Aerial footage showed people coming out of the building with their hands in the air, surrounded by a heavy police presence. Officers in bulletproof vests were then seen entering the building.

Police were seen patting down people outside after they left the building.

The San Bruno Police Department confirmed that police activity was occurring at the building and asked people to stay out of the area.

The city of San Bruno is located just south of San Francisco, near the San Francisco International Airport.

About 1,700 people work on the YouTube campus, ABC San Francisco station KGO reported.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the California Highway Patrol are responding to the scene, as is the FBI in San Francisco.

Google, which is the parent company of YouTube, said in a statement that it is coordinating with authorities and will release information as it becomes available.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Rome, April 3 - France has insisted there was "no violation" of Italian sovereignty when French customs police carried out a urine test on a Nigerian asylum seeker in the office of an Italian migrant NGO in the Italian city on the French border near Grenoble. After Turin police opened a probe into the incident, which Italy protested, France said Sunday there was only a strict application of a 1990 accord which allows controls to be carried out on each side of the border. The NGO, Rainbow4Africa, said "the French should apologise to the Italians".
Rome, April 3 - The rescue of the two Veneto banks Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare della Provincia di Vicenza had a 4.7 billion euro impact on Italy's deficit and 11.2 billon on the public debt, Eurostat said Tuesday. ISTAT, Italy's statistics agency, had been waiting for the estimates in order to recalculate the value of the two rescues compared to GDP tomorrow. The figure of 4.7 billion is equivalent to 0.2-0.3% of the deficit/GDP ratio, sources said. ISTAT says last year's GDP was 1,716 trillion euros. The public debt stood at 131.5% of GDP - the second highest in the eurozone after Greece. The Veneto bank rescue operation was one of many Italian banking rescues in recent years.
La Spezia, April 3 - Italian police on Tuesday arrested 11 people for suspected healthcare sector bid rigging in La Spezia. Four of the 11 including a local health office manager were detained in jail while the other seven were put under house arrest.
The winners of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which honor outstanding books that address racism and diversity, will go this year to authors Jesmyn Ward, Kevin Young, N. Scott Momaday and Shane McCrae. Each will be awarded a prize of $10,000.

Ward won the fiction award for Sing, Unburied, Sing, her acclaimed novel that also won a 2017 National Book Award. The novel tells the story of a 13-year-old Mississippi boy who goes on a road trip with his mother and sister to reunite with his father, who is scheduled to be released from prison.

Reviewing the novel for The Times, critic Michelle Dean called Ward an excellent writer of brief but socially and intellectually ambitious novels. In 2017, Ward was named a MacArthur Fellow.

The nonfiction prize goes to Young for his book Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News, which critic Colin Dickey called a wild, incisive, exhilarating tour through Western cultures sideshows and dark corners in a review for The Times. Youngs book was also a finalist for the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism.

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McCrae will receive the poetry award for In the Language of My Captor, a collection of verse that explores themes of freedom and captivity. The book was previously recognized with the 2017 Lannan Literary Award for Poetry.

The lifetime achievement award is going to the legendary Native American novelist and poet Momaday, perhaps best known for his debut novel, House Made of Dawn, which won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards were established in 1935 by the poet Edith Anisfield Wolf, and are given each year by the Cleveland Foundation, an Ohio-based community foundation.

Past winners of the awards include Junot Diaz, Zadie Smith, Jamaica Kincaid, Peter Ho Davies and Marlon James, who announced this years winners on Thursday.

This years awards were selected by a jury that included Henry Louis Gates Jr., Joyce Carol Oates, Simon Schama, Rita Dove and Steven Pinker.

In a news release, Gates said, The new Anisfield-Wolf winners deepen our insights on race and diversity. This year, we honor a lyrical novel haunted by a Mississippi prison farm, a book of exceptional poetry on what freedom means in captivity and a breakthrough history of the hoax that speaks to this political moment. All is capped by the lifetime achievement of N. Scott Momaday, the dean of Native American letters.

The winners will be honored at a ceremony in Cleveland on Sept. 27.
In a last-ditch effort to win over wary British regulators, 21st Century Fox Inc. promised Tuesday that Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan Murdoch, would not meddle in Sky News  if Fox is allowed to acquire the European satellite television giant Sky.

Alternately, Walt Disney Co. has offered to buy the Sky News channel to help clear the way for regulators to approve Foxs hard-fought takeover of the prominent pay-TV service.

The moves are designed to ensure editorial independence for the prestigious 24-hour Sky News channel. Fox also offered to set up Sky News as a separate company with an independent board to ensure its journalistic integrity, according to its regulatory filing.

Foxs latest offer to regulators, including the Disney twist, suggests that Foxs $16.5-billion acquisition of the London-based pay-TV company may be in deep trouble. Fox has tried for more than a year to secure approval for its purchase of Sky, which has 22 million subscribers in Britain, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy.

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Britains Competition and Markets Authority  the third regulatory group in Britain to review the Sky deal  said in late January that the Fox takeover did not appear to be in the public interest. It worried that the deal would give Rupert Murdoch and his family too much control over media in Britain. The Murdochs also control the publishing company News Corp., which owns the Times of London, the Sunday Times and the Sun tabloids.

Fox has been trying to alleviate such concerns about its influence, including the latest offer to ensure editorial independence for Sky News. The CMA is expected to issue its decision by May 1.

We have worked diligently with the CMA throughout its extensive review, Fox said Tuesday in a statement. In fact, we believe that the enhanced firewall remedies we proposed to safeguard the editorial independence of Sky News addressed comprehensively and constructively the CMAs provisional concerns.

Much has changed since late 2016, when Fox offered to buy the 61% stake in Sky that it currently does not own.

Last December, Disney offered $52.4 billion to buy most of Fox, including its Century City movie and television studio, FX cable channels, regional sports channels and Foxs 39% stake in Sky. Disney said Tuesday that it is willing to purchase Sky News separately.

Disney would buy Sky News and agree to sustain the operating capital of Sky News and maintain its editorial independence, Disney said in a statement. The divestment of Sky News to Disney is separate from, and not conditional on, Disneys acquisition of Fox.

Wells Fargo Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker said the Disney offer could help Fox win approval for its Sky bid.

While we dont know exactly how this will be perceived by the CMA, we have to believe this does help better position Fox from a regulatory standpoint, Ryvicker wrote in a research note.

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Meanwhile, Philadelphia-based cable company Comcast also is circling Sky, promising shareholders that it would pay considerably more for the television service than Fox offered in late 2016.

Foxs quest marks the second time the company has tried to consolidate Sky. Rupert Murdoch co-founded the satellite TV service in the late 1980s, and it has become one of the worlds leading pay-TV companies with popular entertainment and sports channels, which have valuable soccer rights.

Fox previously proposed a separate editorial board to insulate Sky News. In March, Fox sweetened the offer by proposing a 10-year funding guarantee for Britains oldest 24-hour news service.

On Tuesday, Foxs offer to legally separate Sky News from the rest of Sky came with an enhanced guarantee of 15 years of independence.

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Nearly a decade ago, the Murdochs tried to buy all of Sky. But they had to abandon that bid in 2011 because their media company was engulfed in a scandal over cellphone hacking carried out by operatives of the Murdochs London tabloids.

This time around, several high-ranking Labor Party members  and an activist group  have been campaigning against Foxs takeover of Sky, pointing to the phone hacking scandal, Rupert Murdochs long involvement in British politics and the sexual misconduct scandal at New York-based Fox News. They have alleged the Murdochs would turn Sky News into a European version of the right-leaning Fox News.

We are aware that a group of politicians that is opposed to the transaction is seeking to influence the CMA and is making a number of unsupported and fanciful assertions, Fox said in its filing. It encouraged the CMA not to accept at face value these assertions.

Fox also made a commitment that Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch would not influence or attempt to influence the editorial choices made by the head of Sky News, the company said in a statement. We offered this even though the record before the CMA shows that, over the course of nearly 30 years as Skys founding shareholder, neither 21st Century Fox, nor the Murdoch Family Trust, have ever sought to influence the editorial direction of Sky News.

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Bloomberg was used in compiling this report.

UPDATES:

10:15 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with Times staff reporting, including a statement from Disney and analyst commentary.

This article was first published at 5:45 a.m.
After Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. drew widespread criticism for having anchors read a statement taking aim at the integrity of other U.S. media outlets, many wondered why some of the companys journalists didnt just quit.

Short answer: The cost may be too steep. According to copies of two employment contracts reviewed by Bloomberg, some Sinclair employees were subject to a liquidated damages clause for leaving before the term of their agreement was up  one that requires they pay as much as 40% of their annual compensation to the company.

They were also subject to a six-month noncompete clause and forced arbitration. But three current and former Sinclair employees said it was the potential financial penalty that had the greatest impact on those thinking of quitting. Under that clause, theres a specific window of time during which employees can give notice. One current employee who requested anonymity because he wasnt authorized to speak publicly said the clauses limitations are the reason he hasnt quit. A former employee who also requested anonymity said both the noncompete and the damages clause dissuaded her at first from looking for work elsewhere.

Multiple employment lawyers said the damages clause wouldnt turn up in most employment contracts. They are pretty rare  for ordinary workers at least, said Peter Romer-Friedman, an attorney at Outten & Golden LLP, a labor law firm. But they are more common in the broadcast industry, specifically when dealing with on-air talent. The clause serves to protect companies from costs associated with replacing an anchor who suddenly leaves, for example. Yet at Sinclair, at least some employees who never appeared on television were still required to sign such contracts, the former employees said.

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Hunt Valley, Md.-based Sinclair couldnt be immediately reached for comment.

They dont want to face the lawsuit that Im facing. James Beaton, a former employee of a Sinclair station

The company has sought to enforce the liquidated damages clause. On Oct. 13, it sued James Beaton, a former employee of Sinclair station WPEC News 12 in West Palm Beach, Fla., for breach of contract. The company requested $5,700 in damages, as well as other related costs, according to a copy of the complaint filed in state court.

Beaton, who worked as a reporter for the CBS affiliate, said that while he was at the station, he was ordered to do man on the street interviews that he felt were politically biased. Id ask loaded questions like, How much do you disagree with Obama this year? he said. It was disguised as real journalism. But Im a Republican, and I was still pissed by it.

Beaton quit in 2015 to start a public-relations firm, leaving the news industry entirely, he said. Lawsuits against broadcast news employees who jump to rivals arent unusual, but litigation against those who start another career is. He said Sinclair offered to settle its lawsuit three months ago for $1,700 but demanded he sign a gag order promising not to talk to the media about Sinclair. I told them to go jump in a lake, he said.

The company owns or operates 193 TV stations in more than 80 markets across the country and reaches an estimated 38% of households. Last weekend, it had anchors read a script about what the conservative broadcasters owners characterize as false news at other media outlets. A video montage posted over the weekend by Deadspin showed dozens of Sinclair anchors saying such false news is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

The critics are now upset, Scott Livingston, vice president of news at Sinclair, wrote in a memo to employees Monday. There is a lot of noise out there about our company right now, and what is lacking in that analysis is something we constantly preach; context and perspective.

Beaton had a different view. What we saw over the weekend is classic Sinclair, he said. Those reporters and anchors are waking up, and theyre humiliated and feeling depressed. He added: They dont want to face the lawsuit that Im facing.

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The broadcaster is seeking approval from the Trump administration to buy Tribune Media Co., which would give it a presence in most U.S. households. President Trump on Monday hailed Sinclair as far superior to NBC and CNN, which have been a constant target of his scorn. (The Trump administration, meanwhile, has sued to stop AT&T Inc.s purchase of CNN parent Time Warner Inc.)

If its just a blanket calculation that applies to everyone no matter what, its probably vulnerable. Kathleen Peratis, partner at labor law firm Outten & Golden

Whether the damages clause can stand up to legal scrutiny is an open question. It must have some connection to company expenditures, multiple employment lawyers said. It would be reasonable if it had something to do with training costs or replacement costs or a particular investment that was made in this particular employee, said Kathleen Peratis, another partner at Outten & Golden. If its just a blanket calculation that applies to everyone no matter what, its probably vulnerable.

A current employee of Sinclair who also requested anonymity said she wasnt fully aware of the damages clause and its ramifications until someone pointed it out. She worried about needing a lawyer if she quit.

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But even for employees who might have a solid case, the practical reality is daunting. Those who want to challenge such a clause probably would have to hire a lawyer, which isnt cheap  especially if the litigation drags on. Plus theres another complication: those employment contracts that have a forced arbitration clause.

Like many employment contract clauses, the very existence of a damages clause could deter employees, said Beth Barrett Bloom, a Seattle-based employment lawyer at Frank Freed Subit & Thomas LLP. If reporters arent willing to test them, then they are effective.

Renato Mariotti, an Illinois-based prosecutor whos running for state attorney general, said its possible courts would view a financial penalty as a way for the employer to create a noncompete in an improper way.
The Federal Reserves top official on the West Coast has been chosen to head its powerful New York regional bank, putting a seasoned economist into a key monetary policymaking role to help offset new Fed Chairman Jerome H. Powells lack of an economics background.

But the choice of John C. Williams, 55, who has been president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco since 2011, is controversial because he helped regulate Wells Fargo & Co. during its fake accounts scandal and is another white male at an institution critics complain sorely lacks diversity.

Williams was announced Tuesday as the next president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The selection was made by a subset of the banks board of directors and approved by the Feds Board of Governors in Washington.

The choice does not need Senate confirmation. Williams will take over on June 18, succeeding William Dudley, who announced last fall that he would step down after holding the job since 2009.

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After a thorough process, my fellow search committee members and I felt that John best fulfilled the criteria wed identified as well as the feedback wed received through our public outreach efforts, said Sara Horowitz, who was co-chair of the New York Feds search committee.

The New York Fed presidency is the most influential among the 12 regional Fed banks, which are set up like private corporations and are not technically part of the federal government. The Feds Board of Governors delegates to them the day-to-day supervision of bank holding companies and some other financial institutions in their regions.

The New York Fed oversees some of the nations largest financial institutions on Wall Street. While the 11 other regional presidents rotate into yearlong positions on the the Feds monetary policymaking committee, the New York Fed president is a permanent member and serves as the committees vice chairman.

Williams has worked at the Fed since earning his doctorate at Stanford University in 1994, taking a one-year leave of absence in 1999-2000 to serve as senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors under President Clinton.

I look forward to joining the talented team of New York Fed colleagues and to carrying out the unique responsibilities entrusted to us to protect the economic prosperity and financial stability of the United States economy, Williams said.

Unlike Dudley, who worked for years at New York investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Williams has no experience working in financial markets or banking. That makes his selection somewhat surprising, said Ed Mills, a Washington policy analyst for financial services firm Raymond James.

But Williams has the academic economics background that Powell lacks, Mills said. Powell, who has served on the Fed Board since 2012, is the first chairman in four decades who does not have an economics degree.

You get this pick because there is a need for a steady hand on monetary policy, Mills said.

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Noting the New York Fed position doesnt need Senate confirmation, he said: This is the quickest way of getting real monetary policy expertise among the permanent voting members of the Fed.

Williams succeeded former Fed Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen as president of the San Francisco Fed. He was a strong supporter of the Feds aggressive policies to fight the Great Recession and Yellens move to slowly start raising rock-bottom interest rates in 2015 as the economic recovery has strengthened. Yellen has publicly praised him.

But the choice of Williams, which had been reported to be close, is not popular among some Democratic lawmakers and liberal activists.

The San Francisco Fed helps regulate Wells Fargo, and the banks creation of millions of accounts without customer authorization started before he was named president but continued after his tenure began. Former Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf, who retired in 2016 in the wake of the scandal, had served as the San Francisco Feds representative on a Federal Reserve advisory committee.

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Wells Fargo sales practices were first reported by the Los Angeles Times in 2013. The bank also is regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In 2016, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $185 million to settle investigations into its sales practices by those two regulators and Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer. The bank did not admit any wrongdoing but said its employees had opened millions of checking, savings and credit card accounts that customers never authorized.

The Fed, which oversees Wells Fargos holding company, did not take any action until this year. On Feb. 2, the Feds Washington Board of Governors ordered Wells Fargo to cap its growth and improve its corporate governance in response to widespread consumer abuses and other compliance breakdowns.

Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a public interest group that supports tougher financial regulations, said the San Francisco Fed was AWOL during the Wells Fargo unauthorized accounts scandal.

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The San Francisco Fed either did not know this was happening under its nose or knew but did nothing to stop it, he said. Either way, it was a gross dereliction of duty that should be punished not rewarded.

In response to reports that Williams would get the New York Fed job, Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) last month called for the Feds Board of Governors to hold off on approving his selection until the Senate Banking Committee could conduct a hearing about his qualifications and the process that led to his selection,

Mr. Williams track record raises several questions, including about his fitness to supervise Wall Street banks given the San Francisco Feds inadequate supervision of Wells Fargo during its many consumer scandals, she said.

Mills said the complex regulatory structure of the Fed and the other banking agencies make it difficult to pinpoint who was at fault for not detecting the problems at Wells Fargo earlier.

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It was in many ways a collective failure, he said, adding that it was not clearly the San Francisco Feds fault. What was hidden from regulators, too, is one of the biggest questions.

In February, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) led a group of more than two dozen congressional Democrats who wrote to Powell and the leaders of the New York Feds search committee, calling on them to consider a diverse field of candidates for the job.

She and others have pushed the Fed to make more diverse choices and lauded the selection last year of USC professor Raphael Bostic as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, making him the first African American to lead one of the Feds 12 regional banks.

Still, the lawmakers Feb. 26 letter said that presidents and directors at the Reserve Banks remain disproportionately male, white, and from corporate and financial backgrounds.

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Waters said Tuesday that Williams is qualified for the job and has a great background.

Im not disappointed, but what I do want to know is how much outreach was done, how much recruitment was done and who was in the running, she said.

If no diverse choices were in the running, that means the outreach and recruitment process was inadequate, Waters said.

Horowitz and other leaders of the New York Feds search had said they were committed to a wide-ranging search that stressed diversity, integrity and values. They said they hired two search firms, including one that focuses on diversity issues.

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Shawn Sebastian, field director of Fed Up, a campaign by labor, community and liberal activist groups that wants the Fed to enact pro-worker policies, was less forgiving than Waters. He said the choice of Williams damaged the Feds legitimacy and credibility.

Today, the Federal Reserve concluded another opaque and controversial Reserve Bank presidential selection process by ignoring the demands of the public and choosing yet another white man whose record on Wall Street regulation and full employment raises serious questions, he said.

In January, Fed Up sent the search committee a list of nine potential candidates who are women or people of color. Among them were Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and the 2014 Republican nominee for California governor, as well as UC Berkeley economist Christina Romer, a top economic advisor to President Obama.

Reacting to Tuesdays announcement, Warren said that Fed officials ignored calls to choose one of many qualified alternatives who might have brought a new perspective.

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jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera

UPDATES:

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2:15 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from Rep. Maxine Waters and Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other details.

12:40 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details and comments from Ed Mills of Raymond James.

This article originally was published at 10:20 a.m.
Hershey Co. is spending $500 million in the hopes of producing its iconic chocolate Kisses from more sustainable cocoa.

Through its Cocoa for Good program, the company will invest the funds through 2030 to support four key areas: nourishing children, empowering youth, building prosperous communities and preserving natural ecosystems. The initiatives goals include eliminating child labor and increasing shade-grown cocoa, which can be productive for as much as 15 years longer than plants grown in full sun.

World cocoa supplies are tightening following a price plunge that hurt global farmers and forced lower production, eroding a global surplus. The shifting supply outlook caused a whipsaw in the market. Through Monday, futures in New York had surged 39% this year after tumbling 41% over the prior two.

Though recent extreme price volatility is typical of agricultural commodity markets, we fully appreciate the complexity of addressing some of the challenges for grower communities, Susanna Zhu, the companys chief procurement officer, said in a telephone interview from Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast. Thats why we are committing significant resources for the next decade.

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Consumer-focused companies from Unilever to McDonalds Corp. have invested more in sustainable sourcing as customers increasingly look for those credentials before spending their dollars. Starbucks has raised about $1.3 billion from the public markets over the last two years to fund its ethical coffee farming initiatives through sustainability bonds.

The Hershey, Pa., chocolate giant has increased its buying of certified and sustainable cocoa, which accounted for more than 75% of its total cocoa purchases last year. The company has said it remains on track to reach 100% by 2020.

The companys new program will start with a focus on Ivory Coast and Ghana, the worlds top cocoa producers. Hershey is seeking a holistic approach to sustainability and has plans to reach other producing areas in the future, including in South America, Zhu said. She and other company executives have met with Ivorian government officials, private-sector executives and small farmers to discuss the project.

About 95% of world cocoa output is produced by small farmers, many of whom still use traditional growing methods. Because global yields have stayed stagnant, supply increases have come primarily through expansion of cultivated areas. Ivory Coast, the No. 1 grower, lost 64% of its forest cover from 1990 to 2015 largely because of cocoa farming, according to IDH, a sustainable trade initiative.

At the same time, chocolate demand continues to grow. Global retail sales reached $102.3 billion in 2017 and are expected to climb 8.2% by 2022, according to researcher Euromonitor International.

To meet the supply needs with sustainability in mind, Hersheys plans include a nutritional program to feed children in Ghana, with a goal of expanding into Ivory Coast as local governments help with implementation. The company will also help train growers to become more efficient and help processors meet international supplier requirements, among other initiatives.
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works has won a $247.5-million contract to build an X-plane for NASA that will be capable of flying at supersonic speeds without generating such a loud sonic boom.

The full-scale plane, known as the low-boom flight demonstrator, is to be built at the Skunk Works facility in Palmdale. The planes first flight is set for 2021.

Lockheed Martin had won a previous contract to work on the planes preliminary design in 2016.

The X-plane is intended to create a gentle thump during flight, a sound that would be no louder than closing a car door, while cruising at about 940 mph at 55,000 feet, according to NASA.

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The planes outer design is key to generating this softer noise by separating the sonic waves created during supersonic flight so they never join together to create the loud sound.

After receiving the plane from Lockheed Martin in late 2021, NASA plans to conduct a series of flights over certain U.S. cities to get community feedback on the sound. That data will then be turned over to U.S. and international regulators to be considered when making new rules on sound for supersonic flights over land.

The Federal Aviation Administration has had a long-standing ban on supersonic flight by commercial aircraft over land.

The NASA X-plane is just one of several new moves into the supersonic passenger jet space. Companies involved in the space say the growth in global business travel, as well as new developments in materials and computing, could make supersonic flight more economically viable than during the days of the Concorde, a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner that was retired in 2003 because of low passenger numbers, high maintenance costs and a slower market for air travel after 9/11.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

Twitter: @smasunaga
The Trump administration on Tuesday escalated the brewing trade war with China by releasing a long list of imports that could soon be slapped with 25% tariffs.

The move is likely to be met with retaliatory action from China and could further rattle stock markets and raise fears of higher consumer prices in China and the U.S.

The proposed new tariffs amount to $12.5 billion on about $50 billion in goods. They would affect hundreds of China-made products such as semiconductors, car and aircraft parts and machine tools.

Even so, some economists see the tit-for-tat actions and increasing rhetoric on both sides as brinkmanship leading to possible direct talks that could still prevent a trade conflict from spinning out of control.

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Trumps latest tariffs would take effect in June at the earliest and are meant to punish China for intellectual property theft. They would follow Trumps move last month to impose stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum from China and some other nations, and an earlier action to levy penalties on Chinese solar panels.

China responded Monday to the steel tariffs with its own duties on $3 billion of U.S. pork, dried fruit and steel pipes. And anticipating the upcoming batch of new tariffs, Chinas ambassador to Washington, Cui Tiankai, said that Beijing is prepared to meet them eye for eye.

We will certainly take countermeasures, of the same proportion, and the same scale, same intensity, Cui said in remarks broadcast on Chinese state television Tuesday.

But even as both sides ramp up the pressure, there are signs that talks between the two economic rivals are continuing and that some concessions from China may be enough to launch formal negotiations and forestall a trade war.

I would say the pattern being established is that if trade partners make small concessions that the administration can trumpet, that seems to be sufficient, said David Dollar, a senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution.

But he added: Im certain China will retaliate in some way, as they always have. The risk is, if the administration rolls out more measures and peoples egos get involved, and it ratchets up from there, then it starts to become significant for the U.S. economy.

Trump on Tuesday again suggested that his tariffs are meant to pressure Beijing to come to the table and make concessions.

Well be working with China, well be negotiating with China, Trump said, repeating his great respect for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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We intend to get along with China, but we have to do something very substantial on trade, Trump said.

In the past the president also has said that he would be willing to cut China some slack on trade if Xi helped put more economic pressure on North Korea to rein in its nuclear program. In May, Trump is planning to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in an unprecedented summit.

I think Xi is in a stronger position, said Nicholas Lardy, a China expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, referring to Xis recent meeting with Kim in Beijing and the implications from their restored relations. The Chinese president now has a working relationship with Kim, Lardy said, and implicitly the threat must be, If you put all those tariffs on us, were not going to cooperate with shutting down North Korea economically.

Whats more, skeptics note that Trump has backed down from his fiery rhetoric before. He declined to label China a currency manipulator as he had promised he would during the campaign.

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More recently, after vowing to slap across-the-board steel tariffs on all U.S. importers, he exempted most of the largest players. And he accepted a surprisingly modest rewrite of the U.S.-South Korea trade deal, after long bashing that agreement as horrible.

Chinas Cui argued Tuesday that China is already responding to U.S. concerns, strengthening protection and enforcement of U.S. intellectual property. We are making progress, he said.

But in a 215-page report, the Trump administration detailed Chinas long practice of pressuring U.S. firms to turn over technology and trade secrets, and in some cases stealing intellectual property by using cybertheft and other forms of industrial espionage.

That finding, under Section 301 of a 1974 U.S. trade law, gives the president wide discretion to impose tariffs and take other actions to remedy the problem. Separately, Trumps Treasury Department is readying rules that would restrict Chinese investments in the U.S.

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Now that the list has been released, it is likely to trigger an onslaught of additional lobbying from corporate interests. Already some of the nations largest firms such as General Electric, as well as farming and industry groups, were urging the White House not to escalate, worried that the actions will ultimately hurt American firms global supply chains and their sales in China.

The Section 301 tariffs would not take effect immediately. There would be a one-month period of public comments, and a hearing has been scheduled for May 15, before a final list is adopted. The tariffs would have to be implemented by mid-August under Section 301.

In releasing the list of some 1,300 items, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the total value of imports subject to the tariffs is commensurate with an economic analysis of the harm caused by Chinas unreasonable technology transfer policies to the U.S. economy.

Lighthizer said previously that the items were being selected on the basis of what would have the biggest effect on China and the smallest hit on U.S. consumers.

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The Section 301 tariffs include many products such as aerospace parts and machine tools that are imported by California businesses. And add to that Mondays announced Chinese retaliatory tariffs on California agricultural products, and the overall effect of the trade conflict could be particularly painful for the state.

China buys billions of dollars of soybeans from the United States, but Chinese imports of the American product  important for a swath of states in the Midwest  have slowed so far this year amid rising trade tensions with the U.S. After Trump imposed tariffs on imports of solar panels, Beijing responded by initiating an investigation into U.S. sorghum imports.

And the steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. were met with 15% tariffs on 120 U.S. imports to China, such as fresh fruits, nuts and wine, and 25% tariffs on eight products worth about $2 billion, including U.S. pork and recycled aluminum.

This is just signaling intention rather than upsetting the global economic apple cart, said Claire Reade, senior counsel at Arnold & Porter and an assistant U.S. trade representative for China affairs in the Obama administration. So the real question is: What happens next? she said of the impending Section 301 tariffs.

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For domestic political considerations and bargaining leverage, she said, its going to be critical for China to appear strong, [and] because of that, China is not going to turn the other cheek. It is not going to take this lying down.

John Frisbie, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, a group representing 200 large American companies doing business in China, said, China needs to substantially improve market access and competitive conditions for American companies selling to and investing in China in certain sectors, but unilateral tariffs may do more harm than good and do little to address the problems in Chinas IP and tech transfer policies.

Jay Timmons, president of the National Assn. of Manufacturers, said the tariffs are likely to create new challenges in the form of significant added costs for manufacturers and American consumers.

U.S. stocks, which had been rising in after-market trading, sunk into negative territory after the list was released Tuesday evening.

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Even if Trump follows through and implements new Section 301 tariffs and Beijing responds in like manner, the overall figures involved would still amount to a fraction of the $630 billion in trade between the two countries. Chinas total exports to the U.S. account for only about 3% of that countrys economy.

I dont know that we have enough leverage, Reade said. China does not need the U.S. market badly enough to turn into a market economy.

Even so, Reade and other trade and economic experts can only speculate how far Trump will go to force China to change its state-controlled and aggressive economic policies. Businesses and markets are nervous in part because Trump has not let up in railing against Chinese economic behavior and the large U.S. trade deficit.

Also, a recent reshuffling of his Cabinet has shifted the balance in the White House to a more hard-line posture. His top trade and economic officials such as Lighthizer and trade advisor Peter Navarro have similarly visceral reactions to Chinas mercantilism as the president, viewing the Asian giant nation as an economic adversary and serious threat to Americas long-run prosperity and national security.

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Wendy Cutler, who has led trade negotiations for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and is vice president at think tank Asia Society, thinks that Trump could be placated if Beijing offered a deficit-reducing package and structural reforms  with a timeline, milestones and some down payment.

For now, theres at least a two-month window before the new tariffs take effect, she said, and the two sides appear to be continuing to talk.

Communication is going on, and thats encouraging. Markers are being put down, she said. Is there enough on the table that could result in negotiations? Its too early to tell.

don.lee@latimes.com

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UPDATES:

3:35 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Lighthizer and additional reaction from industry groups and analysts.

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This article was originally published at 2:45 p.m.
Last week, I called for California to pass a law requiring that medical bills be written in clear language so that patients can understand them.

As it stands, bills from hospitals, doctors and insurance companies are frequently indecipherable with their codes, abbreviations, misleading descriptions and lack of any explanation for why charges are so high.

State Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) agrees. He told me hes looked at his familys own medical bills and scratched his head repeatedly over what they were being charged for.

Should medical bills be written in plain language? The answer is yes, absolutely yes, Glazer said. The question now is how we can get there.

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He said he and his staff will explore the issue and see if an existing regulation can be applied to making medical bills more transparent and easily understood.

If not, Glazer said, then well look at the possibility of a new law.

He was one of dozens of people who got in touch after last weeks column to share their frustration over the healthcare industrys seemingly intentional efforts to keep patients in the dark about what theyre paying for.

As I reported, there are laws requiring transparency in financial and real estate transactions. Yet there isnt a single California law that requires medical bills to be written in straightforward language.

So the healthcare system routinely inflicts gibberish on patients, presumably because treatment providers and insurers dont want anyone understanding how much money is changing hands for even the most trivial of purposes.

I wrote about my own experience involving a visit to UCLA Health for a training session for a new insulin pump. The bill described the $200 charge as being for HB Diabetes Self-Managem, Rev. Code 0942, Proc. Code 9427010800. It included the name of a doctor Id never met.

My efforts to glean more information from the hospital were initially met with stonewalling.

That struck a nerve with readers. I was deluged with medical-billing horror stories for matters large and small.

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Pacific Palisades resident Tim Silvestre, 59, had to make more than a dozen visits to UCLA related to cochlear implant surgery last month. The treatment Ive received has been amazing and very comforting, he said, and the hospital staff was uniformly cheerful, kind and caring.

Silvestre figures his total out-of-pocket cost for the treatment will be in the neighborhood of $15,000.

But heres the catch, he said. I have no idea how we got to that number. No idea. I have received literally dozens of bills, both online and in the mail, with no information as to what the charge is for, which person or department performed the procedure, no info on the actual date of the procedure, only the date of the bill.

Glendale resident Mike Barclay, who turns 72 this week (happy birthday, dude), recalled looking after his fathers medical bills some years back. He said he contacted the hospital after receiving bills for treatments that his dad supposedly received several weeks after he died.

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The only response was, OK, well take them off, Barclay said. No apology. No oops our mistake. No sorry to hear about his passing. Nothing.

I received a number of reader responses along those lines, with a hospital or doctors office offering little more than a shoulder shrug after a billing error was discovered. Apparently its that common an occurrence.

It is like the whole industry goes out of its way to make it so hard to figure out what is going on that you just give up, said Palm Desert resident Dan Marich, 63. And then the insurance people say they have to raise rates because costs are spiraling up.

William Garwin, 69, of Santa Fe, N.M., related the time he had to be hospitalized overnight for an operation. The hospital never bothered to suggest that he bring any medications with him.

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So the two generic pills he takes for blood pressure, which together cost about 70 cents per dose, and the pill he takes for cholesterol, which costs about 40 cents, had to be supplied by the hospital.

It wasnt until the bill arrived that he learned hed been charged nearly $135 for the meds. Thats also when he learned hed been billed for drugs hed never taken.

After Garwin complained, the hospital eliminated the charges for the mystery drugs and cut the other charge in half, which still ended up being galactically more than the cost of his generic pills.

Medical professionals get flummoxed as well. Aamir Farooq, 38, manages a medical practice in Long Beach.

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Even I cant understand medical bills from specialists or hospitals, he said. Each specialty and each individual physician group has their favorite set of codes. Sometimes they dont compute with the services the patient actually receives.

John Lucas, 54, of Bethesda, Md., said he and his wife both have medical training. One of their four kids has cochlear implants. Another has a cleft palate. We have had a lot of experience with medical bills, Lucas said.

Regardless, between NSA-style codes, charged vs. allowed fees, deductibles, copays, in-network vs. out-of-network bills, understanding a bill is a Mensa-level exercise, he said.

For an annual office visit, you may be able to discern the cost. But go for a procedure and suddenly you look into an abyss not knowing what costs will crawl out.

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Then theres the experience of Marc Allan, 59, who lives in Carmel, Ind. In October, he had a minor heart attack while visiting Canada. He was hospitalized for two nights. That resulted in a one-page bill for $5,685, which Allan shared with me.

Its alarmingly easy to read. Each night in the hospital: $2,500. The fee for emergency treatment: $495. The drugs he was given to set his ticker right: $190.

And thats it.

Allan returned to the United States for follow-up care.

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That resulted in multiple bills, and in each case I had to wonder what I was being charged for, he told me. It was really eye-opening.

There are state laws across the country that address disclosure of medical prices and healthcare providers being responsive to billing questions.

As far as I can tell, there are no laws at the state or federal level that simply say a medical bill must be understandable.

Glazer, the California state senator, said this is unacceptable.

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The average person should not be baffled and confused by medical bills, he said.

Well see what he, and hopefully other California lawmakers, can do about it  and how we can influence other states to do the same.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
Apple Inc. is planning to use its own chips in Mac computers beginning as early as 2020, replacing processors from Intel Corp., according to people familiar with the plans.

The initiative, code-named Kalamata, is still in the early developmental stages but comes as part of a larger strategy to make all of Apples devices  including Macs, iPhones, and iPads  work more similarly and seamlessly together, said the sources , who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The project, which executives have approved, probably will result in a multi-step transition.

The shift would be a blow to Intel, whose partnership helped revive Apples Mac success and linked the chipmaker to one of the leading brands in electronics. Apple provides Intel with about 5% of its annual revenue, according to Bloomberg supply chain analysis.

Intel shares dropped as much as 9.2%, the biggest intra-day drop in more than two years, on the news. They ended the day down 6.1% at $48.92.

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Apple could still abandon or delay the switch. The company declined to comment. Intel said, We dont comment on speculation about our customers.

For Apple, the change would be a defining moment. Intel chips remain some of the major processor components designed by others inside Apples product portfolio.

Currently, all iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Apple TVs use main processors designed by Apple and based on technology from Arm Holdings Plc. Moving to its own chips inside Macs would enable Apple to release new models on its own timelines instead of relying on Intels processor road map.

We think that Apple is looking at ways to further integrate their hardware and software platforms, and theyve clearly made some moves in this space, trying to integrate iOS and macOS, said Shannon Cross an analyst at Cross Research. It makes sense that theyre going in this direction. If you look at incremental R&D spend, its gone into ways to try to vertically integrate their components so they can add more functionality for competitive differentiation.

Standing out

The shift would also enable Apple, based in Cupertino, to more quickly bring new features to all of its products and stand out from the competition. Using its own main chips would make Apple the only major PC maker to use its own processors. Dell Technologies Inc., HP Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., and Asustek Computer Inc. use Intel chips.

By using its own chips, Apple would be able to more tightly integrate new hardware and software, potentially resulting in systems with better battery life  similar to iPads, which use Apple chips.

Although the transition to Apple chips in hardware is planned to begin as early as 2020, the changes to the software side would begin even before that. Apples iPhones and iPads with custom chips use the iOS operating system, while Mac computers with Intel chips run on a different system, called macOS. Apple has slowly been integrating user-facing features over the last several years, and it more recently started sharing lower-level features such as a new file management system.

Marzipan platform

As part of the larger initiative to make Macs work more like iPhones, Apple is working on a new software platform, internally dubbed Marzipan, for release as early as this year that would enable users to run iPhone and iPad apps on Mac computers, Bloomberg News reported last year.

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The company has also previously released Macs with ARM Holdings-based co-processors, which run an iOS-like operating system, for specific functions such as security. The latest MacBook Pro and iMac Pro include the co-processors. Apple plans to add that chip to a new version of its Mac Pro, to be released by next year, and new Mac laptops this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Intel has dominated computing processors for more than a decade, taking market share from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., its only rival in the market. Intel also designs and builds modem chips for some iPhone models so that they can connect to cellular networks and make calls. Although Apple is down the list of computer sellers by unit shipments, its third when measured by revenue last year, highlighting the premium status of its products.

Apples decision to switch away from Intel in personal computers wouldnt have a major effect on the chipmakers earnings because sales to the iPhone maker constitute only a small amount of its total, said Kevin Cassidy, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus and Co. A bigger concern would be if this represents part of a wider trend of big customers moving to designing their own components, he said.

In 2005, Apple announced a move to Intel chips in its Macs, an initiative that put former Intel Chief Executive Paul Ottelini on stage with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. It was a partnership that shook up the PC industry and saw Apple shift away from chips co-developed by IBM and Motorola.

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Apples current chip designs made their name in thin and light mobile devices. That would indicate Apple will start the transition with laptops before moving the designs into more demanding desktop models. Apple has to walk the fine line of moving away from Intel chips without sacrificing the speed and capabilities of its Macs.

ARM technology

A decision to go with ARM technology in computers might lend it credibility where it has failed to gain a foothold so far. Qualcomm Inc., the biggest mobile phone chip provider, is working with PC makers to introduce new thin and light laptops based on its chips in another attempt to steal share from Intel. Microsoft Corp. is supporting that effort by providing a version of its Windows operating system for ARM technology-based chips.

Intels dominance of the market has been based on its ability to use leading manufacturing technology to produce processors that are more powerful than those of its competitors. Its potential rivals havent yet produced designs that have displaced Intels products when it comes to crunching data quickly.

Apples custom processors have been recently manufactured principally by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. Its decision may signal confidence that the semiconductor manufacturer and other suppliers such as Samsung Electronics Co. have closed the gap on Intels manufacturing lead and can produce processors that are just as powerful.
Grindr, a gay dating app, will stop sharing users HIV statuses with third parties after a report disclosed that the company passed the information on to two vendors.

The West Hollywood companys policy change came after a BuzzFeed report Monday that said personal data was being passed to two outside vendors hired by Grindr to test the performance of its app.

The report comes at a time of heightened anxiety about digital privacy because of the data misappropriation scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that received unauthorized data from millions of Facebook users through an outside app developer.

Grindrs vendors, Apptimize and Localytics, are fed user data that includes HIV statuses, GPS data, phone numbers and e-mail addresses that, when combined, could expose someones private health information, researchers told BuzzFeed.

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In response to an outcry Monday, Grindr will stop sharing users HIV status to outside vendors, according to someone close to the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The policy change was first reported by Axios.

In a separate statement Monday, Grindr said it would never sell personally identifiable information to third parties, including advertisers. Apptimize and Localytics  services that help Grindr test features on its platform  are under contract to safeguard user privacy and security, the company said.

As a company that serves the LGBTQ community, we understand the sensitivities around HIV status disclosure, said Scott Chen, Grindrs chief technology officer. Our goal is and always has been to support the health and safety of our users worldwide.

Chen said Grindr, which has more than 3 million users, only shares personal information when necessary or appropriate.

Sometimes this data may include location data or data from HIV status fields as these are features within Grindr, Chen said. However, this information is always transmitted securely with encryption, and there are data retention policies in place to further protect our users privacy from disclosure.

Grindr allows its users to choose from a number of options under HIV Status, including listing positive, negative or receiving treatment. It also allows users to list their latest HIV test date. That information is aimed at informing potential sexual partners, the company says.

Grindr helped pioneer a fast and location-specific approach to dating that lets users quickly vet prospective partners who are nearby. Since its launch in 2009, Grindr has expanded from a hookup app to a broader digital platform advocating for LGBTQ issues.

Grindr sold a majority stake of its company last year to Kunlun Group Limited, a Chinese gaming company. Grindrs founder, Joel Simkhai, stepped down as chief executive after Kunlun purchased the remaining stake in the company in January.

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Gay mens HIV status remains highly sensitive because of a history of discrimination, said John Duran, a longtime HIV/AIDS activist who is West Hollywoods mayor pro tempore.

Weve fought so hard the last 30 years to ensure HIV status was kept confidential and private, said Duran, one of only a few elected officials who has disclosed his status as HIV-positive. Thats because people have historically suffered from discrimination in employment, insurance, housing and dating.

Duran said large cities such as Los Angeles have better access to treatment and education about HIV. But outside major urban centers, the stigma for HIV-positive people can be much more difficult.

Go 20 miles inland and you have to start HIV 101 all over again, he said. Sharing someones status is very egregious to me. Its a breach of privacy.

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Data collection has become a much more controversial subject in recent weeks after revelations that 50 million unwitting Facebook users had some of their personal information leaked to Cambridge Analytica, a British company hired by the Trump presidential campaign to sway voter opinion.

Cambridge Analytica obtained the unauthorized data from a psychology professor who built a quiz app for Facebook. The professor gleaned information from the nearly 300,000 people who downloaded his app and millions of their friends. He passed that information to Cambridge Analytica despite rules from Facebook that prohibit sharing data with third parties.

Localytics said it does not share Grindr user information with third parties.

We do not share, or disclose, our customers data, Bryan Dunn, vice president of product for Localytics, said in a statement Monday.

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Apptimize did not respond to a request for comment.

Grindr was confronted with questions about security flaws as recently as last week after NBC reported private information about users, including unread messages, deleted photos and location data, were being collected by a property management startup through a website that Grindr built. Grindr says it has since fixed the flaw and shut down the website, which allowed users to see who blocked them on the app.

In 2012, a hacker in Australia posed as other users on Grindr after identifying a security flaw. The hacker posted information on how to exploit the flaw before Grindr fixed it.

david.pierson@latimes.com

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Twitter: @dhpierson
Four years ago, he walked into a meeting with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy, then looking to hire new blood to helm the eighth Star Wars film, and embarked on a career-changing journey into a galaxy far, far away.

Now  many, many porgs later  Rian Johnson can finally exhale.

What could possibly be left to talk about at this point? quipped the Last Jedi writer-director, a playful smile on his face as he and producer Ram Bergman sat for a chat at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, during the very last leg of their Last Jedi press rounds.

Its a bittersweet feeling, said Johnson. The past month I do find myself waking up with a strange sense of emptiness, he said, with a smile. I think its mostly just having had a purpose for the past four years, having this singular goal, and now its immediate  like, the bus stops, but you dont. Its actually over. Its very strange.

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What brought the Star Wars bus to Texas was the premiere of the feature-length making-of documentary The Director and the Jedi, which premiered at the festival and is a bonus feature highlight of the films recent home video release.

Four months ago, Johnson and Bergman were riding a Kessel Run of emotions as The Last Jedi premiered to rapturous acclaim at L.A.s Shrine Auditorium, only to spark an online backlash from cranky fans over the bold new directions in which Johnsons episode takes the 40-year-old franchise.

Star Wars The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and producer Ram Bergman. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times )

Soon enough, Johnsons installment broke records on its way to becoming the ninth-highest grossing film of all time. And there have been smaller, poignant moments along the way that left their mark.

Hearing that kids were into it, just from friends, especially small kids I was holding my breath. Are kids just not going to be into this? Johnson said. And seeing that kids seem to really react to the movie made me really happy.

Seeing my 4-year-old and my 7-year-old reenacting the throne room scene, killing Snoke over and over and over for weeks, and Luke throwing the saber  it was worth it just for that, added Bergman, who has collaborated with Johnson since the directors indie noir debut, Brick.

Of course, helming the $200 million-budgeted eighth episode in a beloved pop culture series  across multiple countries, over a sprawling five-month production  was not without its challenges.

Many of them were captured by the crew of Director and the Jedi who spent intensive hours chronicling every inch of Johnsons process. A fraction of the resulting footage was then edited into the documentary.

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From the first moments Johnson and Bergman begin prep on the biggest production of their careers to the exhausted, elated final days of filming, the documentary shines rare and intimate light on the behind-the-scenes processes that culminate in the creation of The Last Jedi.

 Watch the trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Like kids in a sandbox, Johnson and Bergman delight in introducing new ideas  sometimes with subtle forcefulness, gently urging veteran department heads to think outside the box on costuming, casting and design.

But some of Johnsons radical concepts dont fly so well: for instance, his decision to make Luke Skywalker the reluctant Obi-Wan of the new trilogy, a disillusioned rebel hero who has renounced the Jedi way and only begrudgingly comes to mentor young heroine Rey (Daisy Ridley).

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Johnson reflected candidly on the creative frictions he had with Mark Hamill over Lukes fate. It was definitely a thread throughout the whole [making of the film], and it was a conversation with Mark throughout the whole thing, Johnson said.

We talked about it, we thought through it, we butted heads about it we did all the stuff that you always do with an actor with a part  even more so because its Mark Hamill and its about Luke Skywalker, and because it was such a big decision  the way that his character went in the movie.

I feel like it maybe comes across as if thats what our relationship was the whole time, but it wasnt, he added. Even when we were having conflict about it, it was constructive in terms of me having to articulate why I made the choices I made. I do think that comes across in the doc. Its an aspect of the storyline of the making of this movie.

If The Director and the Jedi is like a high school yearbook chronicling the four years Johnson and company spent making The Last Jedi, its heart belongs to its homecoming princess. Among its most emotional moments are on-set glimpses and interviews with the late Carrie Fisher, who is seen performing her memorable scenes with Hamill as Luke and with Laura Dern as Admiral Holdo.

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Watching those moments again in the documentary brought both Johnson and Bergman to tears. The first time I saw the cut, I said, Rian, you need to see this  youre going to cry, said Bergman.

Carrie Fisher as General Leia in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, (Lucasfilm )

In the screening, I lost it. Just seeing the footage that raw, and seeing her theres a lot there. Im happy that fans will have it. Rian Johnson

Johnson got misty-eyed again watching the film with a crowd at SXSW. In the screening, I lost it. Just seeing the footage that raw, and seeing her theres a lot there. Im happy that fans will have it.

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Theres more bounty for Star Wars lovers in the recently released deleted scenes Johnson selected for The Last Jedi home video release, such as the cheeky glimpse at Warwick Davis costumed alien cameo that was originally part of a much-longer chase sequence on the casino planet Canto Bight.

Another beloved sequence that ended on the cutting room floor still brings a huge smile to Johnsons face.

Oh, the Caretaker village it was so much fun! he said of an elaborate deleted scene in which the droll fish-nun proprietresses of Ahch-To dance with the male counterparts not seen in the theatrical cut. You can see theres the men from the hunting tribe who come for their once-a-month dance with the nuns. Oh, I love it! I love the idea. It was so cold [during filming]. But it was so much fun. It was a party.

Something didnt quite click in the way the story unfolded with the Caretakers very own yub nub, which led to a confrontation between Rey and her Jedi mentor, Luke. In cutting it, Johnson explained, he learned a valuable lesson.

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In the context of the movie ... it very obviously felt off, he said. When I use the word pacing to say why something had to go, its not even length; its rhythm. And the Caretakers scene is a good example of something I never in a million years would have imagined would be cut, because its also what I thought was the resolution of Rey and Lukes journey together.

When we took it off and ended it on that beat of her saying, I wont let you down, suddenly it clicked together: This was what it needs to be, he said. He paused, cracking a wistful smile at the thought of the scene, now a bonus feature for fans to discover. Im glad its on there.

Johnson said the initial idea of being followed around by cameras as his every creative decision and process was documented was, at first, a little daunting. But he remembered two making-of documentaries in particular that had huge influences on him as a child.

One was for Return of the Jedi about Jabbas palace and all the creature work, and the other one was about Raiders of the Lost Ark, focusing largely on the truck chase. I remember the impact that had on me. So I thought, God, if were going to get one shot at making a Star Wars movie, lets take this step and just lift the curtain.

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Even more behind the scenes footage has yet to be seen, Bergman says, and the filmmakers hope to eventually release additional material  possibly in miniseries form.

The truth is there are so many fascinating stories, Johnson said. Like Kelly [Marie Tran]s story: The doc crew went back to Los Angeles with her when she was packing up her apartment to come to London and basically had to lie to all of her friends and say she was going to Canada to work. But there are a thousand stories  Peter Mayhew training Joonas [Suotamo] and doing like Wookie school, and the unexpected emotion of that. They got so much good stuff. Hopefully well be able to put that together.

Its fun because its kind of thinking, OK, outside of the Skywalker story and outside of the recognizable iconography, what is this? What is Star Wars? Rian Johnson

Meanwhile, as their Last Jedi tour ends, the duo find themselves back at the beginning: brainstorming ideas for the new Star Wars trilogy Johnson is tasked with writing and directing for Lucasfilm.

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Its fun because its kind of thinking, OK, outside of the Skywalker story and outside of the recognizable iconography, what is this? What is Star Wars? Or what do we need to retain from that, to pull forward for it to still be Star Wars  and what can we leave behind? Johnson explained.

Theyre all the big questions that need to be thought of. And even the ones that we dont know the answers to are things we need to figure out if Star Wars is going to be vital and alive moving forward and not just be a waxworks. Were going to have to figure out how to tell vital new stories.

As they were to his Last Jedi ideas, Lucasfilm seems open to shaking up the Star Wars universe, according to Johnson. We need some directors who arent white dudes, he said emphatically, in spite of Lucasfilms track record to date of hiring only white male directors. And [Kennedy] knows it too. It just has to happen. I mean, come on. It has to happen.

Hes optimistic about the companys willingness to push the established boundaries of its legacy franchise both onscreen and off. The thing is, I dont feel that the powers that be are pushing back on new or unprecedented stuff, said Johnson. Quite the contrary. I feel like Disney and Lucasfilm and Kathy are actively looking for filmmakers and voices that are going to push it forward because they know thats the only way it can stay alive.

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When people ask me, Dont you think people are going to get sick of Star Wars movies? to me that question indicates that theyre thinking of Star Wars movies as a museum exhibit that is wheeled out once a year so you can say, Oh, I loved that thing. Oh, I remember that thing! And yes, if Star Wars is that, people are going to get sick of it really quickly.

But if Star Wars are great new movies that are exciting and fresh, and that challenge you and surprise you and make you feel things and engage you the way that those original movies did  but always taking you to new places, both in the galaxy and emotionally  thats never going to get old. Thats what its all about.

jen.yamato@latimes.com

@jenyamato
After Shelley Berman died in 2017 at age 92, Sarah, his wife of 70 years, ventured into the room in their home where he wrote. There were file cabinets, she recalled, tons of stuff spanning his seven-decade career.

What am I going to do with all this? she pondered. Do I pack it up and save it? Leave it to my family? Theyll say, What are we going to do with all of this? Do I give it to some museum that will store it in a basement and then 10 or 15 years from now, someone will go down there and ask, Shelley Berman  what did she do?

Enter the National Comedy Center, a fledgling institution scheduled to open August in Jamestown, N.Y., Lucille Balls hometown. The Comedy Center recently received the archives as part of its mission to celebrate comedy in all of its forms, educating and engaging visitors with the story of the art form and its artists, according to its website.

We are not a comedy hall of fame, executive director Journey Gunderson noted in an interview. This is less about inductions and more about valuing the varied contributions to the art form and the craft. Certainly, many hold Shelley Berman in high regard, but it does not take much time to pass for generations to forget really influential artists.

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The same way people go to art museums to learn about artists who were active centuries ago, we need a comedy center to be celebrating comedians from just one generation ago.

The comedy centers director of archives, Laura LaPlaca, said in a separate interview that we dont include people just because they are well known. Jerry Seinfeld is an iconic figure in observational humor and he cites George Carlin as an influence. To learn that George Carlin cited Shelley Berman as an influence illustrates the importance of what we are trying to do.

Berman was present at the revolution when a generation of comedians dropped the Borscht Belt shtick and confronted the anxieties, neuroses and foibles of life in 1950s and 60s America. Old school comedians did jokes about airplane food. Berman crafted a routine about the indignities of plane travel, the threat of air disasters and being afraid to fly.

And where stand-up comedians stood up, Berman sat down, performing his character-driven routines on a custom-made stool.

Berman was an actor who found his comic voice and developed his sardonic worldview in the company of the Chicago-based improv-driven Compass Players, the forerunners to Second City. At Compass, Berman developed some of his classic solo pieces that would make him a star in nightclubs and on television. One, The Morning After the Night Before, in which a hungover partygoer phones his host and learns about his outrageous drunken behavior, was originally intended as a two-hander with ensemble member Elaine May. She suggested he perform it as a one-sided telephone conversation.

Berman, like Mort Sahl, had a different approach to being funny, he told the Chicago Tribune in 2003. I knew I couldnt be a stand-up comedian because I didnt do mother-in-law jokes or toilet jokes, and thats what comedians at the time were doing, he said. But I saw Mort Sahl kill them with topical commentary. He was very fast, very charming, and, God, I loved his wit. I said, `I dont work like he does, butmaybe I could do this in a nightclub.

To learn about Bermans transition from actor to comedian, youd better call Sahl.

He was a good egg, said the 90-year-old satirist, still at it, appearing in conversation Thursday nights at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley. A good guy, a gifted guy. I met him (in Chicago) at Mr. Kellys nightclub. He asked me, How do you break into this comedy thing? and I said, You go in, you get up, and you do it.

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Berman parlayed his success in nightclubs and in Vegas into bestselling records. His first, the Grammy-winning Inside Shelly Berman was the first comedy record to go gold. He was the first comedian to perform at Carnegie Hall.

A perfectionist and passionate about his work, Berman had an edgy and prickly personality. A 1963 prime-time television documentary derailed for a time his career after he was captured on camera erupting when a ringing phone backstage interrupted his act. But he continued to act in films and on television, write books and teach, and perform.

Comedian Shelley Berman in 2004. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press )

Just as Seinfeld revived the career of Jerry Stiller, so did Curb Your Enthusiasm reintroduce Berman to a new generation. In his Emmy-nominated role, he portrayed Nat, Larry Davids father. He made his memorable debut in the 2002 episode, The Special Section, in which David, home for a visit, is outraged to discover that his father did not tell him that his mother had died (She didnt want me to bother you, Nat rationalizes).

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Career reclamation was not on Davids mind when he cast Berman. He was simply looking for the best actor.

Thats exactly right, David said in a phone interview. Im sure so many people who Shelley knew came in to read for the part; a lot of the Catskill comics; Shecky Greene, people of that ilk. They didnt really read (for the part) as much as improvise with me. I gave them the scene and they took it from there. Nobody really got it to my satisfaction.

Shelley came in and he had his toupee on. We started doing the scene, and as Im talking to him, Im going, This guy is so great. Sometimes you have something in mind and he not only hits what you had in mind, he surpasses it.

The only caveat David had when he offered Berman the role was that the toupee would have to go. It wasnt an issue at all, he said with a laugh. It wasnt the best toupee in the world. And it would have been impossible for me not to talk about it on the show.

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Asked to reflect on Berman, David mentions poems Berman wrote and would on occasion share with the cast. What amazed him most, he said, was his facility with crossword puzzles: He would rattle them off in 15 minutes, even the Friday and Saturday New York Times puzzles, which I dont even look at. He was a master; I was really envious.

Sarah is proud that her husband will be represented at the Comedy Center. He broke the joke mold, she said. Shelley never told a joke in his act. But he had something you cant learn. At the Goodman Theater (where Berman and Sarah met as acting students), all the teachers told us, Youll learn a lot by watching him.

That people will be able to watch him at the Comedy Center in vintage archival footage is thanks in large part to Christopher Bay, Bermans official archivist and webmaster since 2006. He has collected about 150 rare clips, plus audio files, commercials and radio interviews.

One of my more recent finds is a kinescope of Shelley and Sarahs appearance on Person to Person from November 1960, he said in an email. The interview was conducted by Charles Collingwood in the Bermans New York apartment.

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In addition to Bermans gold records for Inside Shelley Berman and Outside Shelley Berman, the Comedy Center will also have on display Bermans iconic stool, as well as the tool kit used to dismantle and reassemble it and the carrying case with which he transported it on airplanes from gig to gig.

Sarah is confident that she has found these and other treasures a good home. The National Comedy Center is an idea whose time is long overdue, she mused. Its time people gave comedy the respect it deserves. This is a good place for Shelleys things.

calendar@latimes.com
One nice thing  and from a human standpoint perhaps the nicest thing  about The Last O.G., a new TBS sitcom starring Tracy Morgan, is that the fact that the actor nearly died in a 2014 auto accident is not evident on-screen.

Morgan is in good form here, funny and odd and as healthy as hes ever seemed; he has the quality of being both a capable actor and helplessly himself, which is to say, he is never like anybody else. (I say this knowing little about his actual real self. This is just the vibe he puts out.)



For the record: An earlier version of this story appeared to imply that showrunner John Carcieri left The Last O.G. on its way to TBS from FX. In fact, he left the show in October 2017, just before its originally scheduled TBS premiere.

Morgan, formerly of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, plays Tray, who has spent 15 years in prison for dealing drugs and comes out with a vocation  to his self-described humble mind, he might be the best chef the world has ever known  and a mission: Its time for me to go out to the world and make it a better place with my sage advice.

But the world has changed too, and Trays old Brooklyn hood has been gentrified nearly beyond recognition. Almost the first words he hears are, Its not starred  its Michelin-rated. Its a huge difference. This is followed closely by a mother telling her stroller-bound baby, Honey, have some seaweed  open up  seaweed is alkalizing. Gas is good for digestion.

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I feel like Rip van Winkle, Tray will later say. And I dont even know who he is.

Whats more, at the halfway house to which he has been assigned, he is told that every ex-con arrives home with a mission to make the world a better place with his sage advice.

Too many mentors, not enough mentees, says Mullins (Cedric the Entertainer), who runs the place. Mullins concept of the job is mostly to afflict his charges with stand-up and improv. (How about a little prop comedy? Anybody got a prop I could use?) Tray, for his part, having failed to find employment as a head chef, winds up working for his old drug boss, now running a coffee franchise.

Tray also finds that his old girlfriend, Shay (Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip), whom he had assumed would wait for him in spite of not having heard from her in 15 years, has moved up in the world, now going by Shannon and raising money from the rich to provide beds for the homeless.

On top of that, shes gotten married, and on top of that, hes a very white sort of white guy (Ryan Gaul as, what else, Josh), who writes TV copy for food personality Anthony Bourdain (So when you think of Myanmar, dont think of hateful, hard-lined Buddhists or the fourth Rambo movie  think of delectable deep dish pizza.).

Tiffany Haddish and Tracy Morgan play old flames not exactly reconnecting after 15 years in the TBS sitcom The Last O.G. (Francisco Roman )

Most important, he learns that the twins Shay and Josh are raising (Taylor Mosby and Dante Hoagland) are his biological children. His feelings toward them are unabashedly fatherly, and he insinuates himself into their lives.

Premiering Tuesday, The Last O.G. has taken some time to reach the screen. Created by Jordan Peele (of Key and Peele and Get Out) and John Carcieri (who wrote for Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals), it began at FX, before moving to TBS and losing Carcieri as showrunner, just before its originally scheduled fall 2017 premiere. (During that journey, Peele became an Oscar-winning screenwriter and Haddish one of Hollywoods hottest stars.)

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Indeed, the series still seems to be searching for an identity, trying on different looks as it goes.

The show is by turns sentimental and unseemly. There is a lot of genital humor, though as Mullins points out, The phallus is the No. 1 piece of universal comedy gold. Still, you may reasonably wonder what to make of a joke whose punchline is Beating my kids. The writing can feel strained and obvious. There is an internet dating episode, a school bully episode, a scene in which a streetwalker is taken to a fancy restaurant. You have seen those, if youve watched much television.

To the extent that it is politically incorrect (if that is still the term), The Last O.G. clearly wants you to know that it is aware of this fact  that the opinions expressed by its characters do not necessarily reflect those of the management, that we are being asked to laugh at knuckleheads, even if they are knuckleheads out to better themselves.

There are mentions of diabetes  specifically to ignore it  and inclusive notions of manhood that seem placed to acknowledge unfortunate episodes in Morgans own life, and to suggest by their presence that the actor has grown since.

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Across the six (of 10) episodes Ive seen, there has been some effort expended to give the characters weight  this is especially necessary in the case of Josh, whom we need to take as something more than a convenient choice for Shay to have made. And Tray is a study in evolving responsible action.

Even when the show is disappointing, it somehow remains likable. It could be better; it isnt bad. As the story of an indomitable person coming back to a changed world, it has some of the attitude, and the sunniness, of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Lines may fall flat, but there is enough chemistry among the players  the stars, the guests and the regulars, notably including Allen Maldonado (black-ish) as Trays intensely cheerful young cousin Bobby  to keep The Last O.G decent, indecent company.

The Last O.G.

Where: TBS

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When: 10:30 p.m. Tuesday

Rated: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17)

robert.lloyd@latimes.com

Follow Robert Lloyd on Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd

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Tracy Morgan thanks God, and Tiffany Haddish reflects on her success at Last O.G. panel at TCA

From the Archives: Tracy Morgans line-crossing rant
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital has received 3 patients from YouTube shooting, spokesman says

Brent Andrew, a spokesman for Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, told reporters Tuesday afternoon that the hospital had received three patients following a shooting at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, Calif.

The patients included: a 32-year-old woman in serious condition, a 27-year-old woman in fair condition and a 36-year-old man in critical condition.

We do not expect additional patients from this incident, Andrew said.

Dr. Andre Campbell, a trauma surgeon at the hospital, said the patients were awake and aware of what happened.

This is a terrible day in the United States, when once again we have a multiple-casualty situation that has confronted us, Campbell said.

He did not provide details about the victims injuries, but said they had not undergone surgery as of Tuesday afternoon.

The San Bruno Police Department said in a statement Tuesday that four people were taken to local hospitals, three of whom had gunshot wounds.

Police received numerous 911 calls at 12:46 p.m. reporting gunfire at the YouTube campus at 901 Cherry Ave. and arrived on scene two minutes later.

Officers encountered one victim with an apparent gunshot wound to a lower extremity at the front of the building. At 12:53 p.m., officers searching the building found a deceased woman with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Police Department.

Two additional victims were located at a next-door business, police said.
As the hours ticked past, it became less and less likely that the teenage boy would be found alive.

On Easter Sunday, Jesse Hernandez, 13, plunged into the maze of sewage pipes beneath Griffith Park and was lost in a toxic area so hazardous that rescuers could not lower themselves down to look for him. Scores of emergency workers searched through the night, finding no sign of the boy.

Then, at 4 a.m. Monday  nearly 12 hours after Jesse had vanished  rescue workers watching a live feed from a camera lowered into the pipes spotted a sign of life: a pair of smeared handprints on the wall of the sewer. A little farther, another mark suggested the boy had thrown his shoulder against the pipe.

The frantic search ended happily a short time later, when sanitation workers removed a manhole cover and spotted Jesse peering up at them. They quickly lowered an orange hose down and hoisted him up.

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This young man rose like Jesus, said Bryant Jones, a city sanitation manager.

The search, which lasted 13 hours, was a desperate race against time, said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott, because survivability diminishes in that toxic environment.

The accident triggered a massive search effort, drawing more than 100 firefighters, police officers and sanitation workers. Crews used remote video cameras and other Batman-like tools to locate the boy in the vast network of pipes and cisterns, Scott said.

They had no idea where the boy might turn up, and questions lingered Sunday afternoon: Did the pipes contain fresh water or sewage? Did they lead to a treatment plant or the Los Angeles River? How far could Hernandez travel, and how fast?

Its hard to get eyes on, Scott said of the sewer system. Where is he? Where will he go?

Rescuers searched about 6,400 feet of pipe in a network that parallels the Los Angeles River and crosses under freeways. They studied maps of the closed sewage pipe system and sent rescuers to points along the way where they thought he could emerge. The Fire Department dispatched swift-water rescue teams in case Jesse wound up in the river and urban search and rescue crews in case they needed to extricate him from a small space.

Jesse was found shortly before 5 a.m. Monday beneath a hatch on a westbound lane of the 134 Freeway, just west of the 5 Freeway. He had traveled roughly two-thirds of a mile from where he disappeared.

I was just praying to God to help me and to not die, Jesse said in an interview with NBC News. I was scared.

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It had started off as a typical Easter Sunday for Jesses family, who go to Griffith Park every year to celebrate, said Dominique Barraza, 16, a family friend. They were just about to start an Easter egg hunt, but Jesse and his cousins had run off.

The boys had made their way to an abandoned concrete building near Zoo Drive on the north end of the park that was decommissioned by the citys Bureau of Sanitation in the 1980s. The boys were jumping on wooden planks in the building about 4:30 p.m. when one of them broke beneath Jesse.

The teen plunged 25 feet into a 4-foot-wide pipe. His cousins screamed his name, hearing only their echoes in response, friends at the scene said.

Although the building where the boys played was abandoned, the pipe itself was active and carrying sewage, officials said. The structure was built decades ago to vent hydrogen sulfide gas from the sewer pipes and introduce fresh air into the pipes, said Adel Hagekhalil, assistant director of the Bureau of Sanitation.

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 Here is video footage from inside the sewer pipe that 13-year-old Jesse Hernandez was swept into beneath Griffith Park on Sunday.

The departments investigation of the incident will include an examination of why the building has not been torn down, Hagekhalil said. The building was cordoned off with a chain-link fence, and it is believed that Jesse and his companions either jumped over it or crawled through a hole that had been cut into it, Hagekhalil said.

On Monday morning, the air near the building carried a pungent, sulfur-like odor.

The sewage in the pipe would have been moving fast enough  and the walls would be slimy enough  that Jesse would have been swept along without being able to walk or crawl, officials said.

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The pipe, which was built in 1965, runs parallel to the 134 Freeway, then veers to the south near the 5 Freeway, eventually branching off into a series of smaller pipes on the east side of the L.A. River. The pipe system has varying depths of water moving at roughly 14 mph, officials said.

Between 9 and 10 p.m. Sunday, workers launched two cameras into the 1.2-mile span of pipe to which they had narrowed their search. Each camera had lights and was strapped to a floating platform the resembled a mini-surfboard.

The cameras slowly cruised through the pipes, tethered to nearby trucks with 1,000-foot video cables. One camera tipped over into the sewage early on and had to be pulled back and reoriented, taking up precious time, Hagekhalil said.

Crews worked methodically, inserting the cameras into maintenance hatches that pop up every 1,000 feet or so and correspond with vault-like areas inside the pipes. They looked at the live feed on video screens inside their trucks for signs of Jesse.

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Video footage shows brown sewage water sloshing through the pipes. At about 4 a.m., rescuers spotted Jesses handprints streaked along the wall.

Intending to feed a camera in to look for more evidence closer to the handprints, maintenance workers headed to a hatch near where the 134 Freeway intersects with the 5. The California Highway Patrol shut down a lane of traffic, and sanitation workers opened the manhole cover.

They were expecting to see a well-like vault leading to dark, rushing water below. Instead, there was Jesse, 11 feet down, wedged into the maintenance shaft and calling for help.

Once I pulled the lid off the manhole cover he was just like right there, a worker told police in a recorded call.

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The boy was wet, cold and scared, Scott said.

Sanitation workers grabbed a reel of hose attached to a truck and fed it down into the vault. Jesse grabbed on.

Using a hose to pull the boy out was not standard procedure, Hagekhalil said. But when you have a kid youve been looking for and hes right in front of you, youll do anything.

Rescue crews handed Jesse a cellphone so he could call his family to let him know he was OK. He was decontaminated at the scene and taken to a nearby hospital for a medical examination. He was released from the hospital by 11:15 a.m., according to the Bureau of Sanitation.

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About 20 of Jesses family members, including his mother, aunt and cousins, huddled in Griffith Park throughout the night. They stood in a circle, holding hands with their heads bowed in prayer.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday said it was just a miracle that this boy was alive.

He hung on, Garcetti said. Hes courageous, and so were the first responders who worked around the clock.

Times staff writers Melissa Etehad and Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report.

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A woman allegedly stole an unoccupied ambulance from a downtown Los Angeles hospital and used the emergency vehicle to lead police on a nearly 40-mile pursuit to Chino Hills early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Paramedics were transferring a patient into the California Hospital Medical Center near Grand Avenue around 12:30 a.m. when the woman jumped into the ambulance and drove off, according to a statement issued by the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Los Angeles police began pursuing the ambulance at a slow speed before the woman drove onto the 10 Freeway, where she was chased by the California Highway Patrol.

After driving at speeds approaching 65 mph, the woman eventually surrendered to the CHP on the 71 Freeway South near Chino Hills around 1:15 a.m., according to Officer Rodrigo Jimenez, public information officer for the agencys Baldwin Park Station.

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The woman is being held on suspicion of vehicle theft, according to an LAPD spokeswoman, who did not provide the suspects name.

No emergency personnel or patients were injured, according to the LAFD.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

UPDATES:

10:30 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the chase and the womans arrest.

This article was originally published at 5:45 a.m.
A judge has overturned Los Angeles approval of a 27-story apartment tower in Koreatown, handing the city yet another defeat over its handling of real estate projects.

Superior Court Judge Joanne ODonnell ordered a full environmental impact report for the 269-unit residential project, saying more study is needed to assess the towers effects on traffic, public safety services and land use patterns.

In a four-page ruling written last week, ODonnell said the city did not obtain input from the citys police and fire departments about services that would be needed by future tower residents. She also noted that the Los Angeles Unified School District, Caltrans and other agencies expressed concern about car trips generated by the project.

The project places a high-density, mixed-use project onto residential streets and could have a significant impact on access and spillover traffic, she wrote.

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The decision comes nearly three years after Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council approved the project, which is planned on Catalina Street just south of 8th. They did so despite opposition from Garcettis own appointees on the city Planning Commission, who warned that the tower would loom over other nearby apartment buildings, which range from one to four stories.

Representatives of Garcetti and City Atty. Mike Feuer had no immediate comment. Michael Hakim, the projects developer, said he is looking at an array of options, including a possible redesign of the project to allow a hotel.

If an EIR is required, then we can do an EIR, he added.

When the tower was approved, Garcetti said it would bring much-needed housing to Koreatown, an area of the city with a subway and multiple bus routes. Opponents, in turn, accused the city of delivering a financial gift to the developer, rewriting the citys planning rules to double the number of residential units that could be built on the site.

The project was totally inappropriate for its location, said Laura Lake, board member with Fix the City, one of the groups that filed a lawsuit over the tower. Theres a place for high density [housing]. This was not it.

Grace Yoo, co-founder of the nonprofit Environmental Justice Collaborative, which also sued, said the citys elected officials disregarded years of warnings from the Planning Department staff. Their attitude was Take us to court, Yoo said. So we did, and we won.

The ruling is the latest in a string of legal defeats for City Hall on planning matters.

In recent years, judges have struck down the approval of a three-story Target shopping center, the 299-unit Sunset and Gordon apartment tower and the Millennium project, which would add two skyscrapers to properties near the landmark Capitol Records building. All three are in Hollywood.

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City officials said the Millennium case is now at the Court of Appeal, as is Round 2 of the Hollywood Target legal battle. The Planning Department is preparing new environmental documents for the Sunset and Gordon project.

Construction workers stand in the shell of a planned Target shopping center in 2014. The project, located in Hollywood, has been blocked by multiple court rulings and remains unfinished. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times )

The agency is also conducting more review of the Hollywood Community Plan, which was invalidated by a judge in 2013. The plan, which seeks to allow taller, denser buildings near transit corridors, was also challenged by Fix the City.

The citys legal team fared somewhat better with the legal challenge filed over 8150 Sunset, a mixed-use project planned on the Sunset Strip. In that case, a three-judge panel affirmed the citys decision to allow a midcentury bank building to be demolished to make way for the 229-unit development.

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Yet even that decision has presented complications for the city. In their ruling, the judges found the city failed to hold a required hearing on a plan for closing a right-turn lane that abuts the 8150 Sunset site.

A Feuer spokesman declined to discuss the ramifications of that ruling. But foes of the project say the decision will force the city to rescind its approvals of 8150 Sunset so that the review of the right-turn lane issue can be conducted.

In Koreatown, Hakims project went through the citys review process on two separate occasions. The project  envisioned originally as 35 stories  was rejected in 2009 by the nine-member Planning Commission, made up of appointees of then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Hakim and his company, Colony Holdings, shaved eight stories off the project and sent it back to the commission, this time made up of Garcetti appointees. Despite the reduction in size, the commission rejected it again in 2014, saying it was out of scale with its immediate surroundings.

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One commissioner compared the project to a tumor, calling it wildly inappropriate for the location. Another said the tower was a good project but in the wrong place.

Garcetti, using a little-known procedure in the City Charter, came out against the commissions decision  a move that lowered the number of votes needed for council approval from 12 to 10. The council backed it on an 11 to 0 vote.

Hakim argued at the time that the project would align with Garcettis goal of building 100,000 new homes by 2021. Council President Herb Wesson, who represents Koreatown, said it would revitalize the area.

In a statement on Tuesday, Wesson spokeswoman Vanessa Rodriguez said the council president respects ODonnells ruling.

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david.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @DavidZahniser
The search for three missing siblings feared dead after their familys SUV plunged down a cliff into the sea last week has been delayed by rough conditions on the California coast.

Strong currents, frigid water and rough waves have prevented Mendocino County Sheriffs divers and rescuers from looking for the missing Hart children, Lt. Shannon Barney said Monday.

Its very difficult on the families because obviously they want their loved ones back, Barney said. But almost in no scenario does it make sense to risk someones life for a life thats already been lost.

The children are Devonte Hart, 15, who was briefly famous for a powerful 2014 photograph of the teen tearfully hugging a police sergeant in Oregon at a protest amid unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and his sisters Hannah and Sierra Hart, 16 and 12, respectively.

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Authorities said they believe the three were in the car with their siblings, Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14, and their parents, Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, when their GMC Yukon dropped 100 feet onto the rocky Mendocino County shore off Highway 1 near Juan Creek.

The fatal plunge appears to have been intentional based on the lack of skid marks and the fact that the vehicle was at a full stop before accelerating off the cliff, the California Highway Patrol said Monday.

Though the investigation is in its preliminary stages, it appears the SUV had stopped about 70 feet from the cliffs edge, then sped off it, the CHP said.

The vehicles speedometer was pinned at 90 mph when investigators found it, but it could have been stuck there for any host of reasons and it does not indicate that the car was traveling at that speed when it crashed, the CHP said.

Three of the childrens bodies were found outside the vehicle. The parents bodies were found inside. Investigators believe the three missing siblings were also in the crash based on interviews with Hart family and friends.

Its mostly the people who know the family. They feel very strongly that this couple would not come this far and leave these children behind, Barney said. Theres very little property that was recovered from the vehicle. A lot of it was lost to wave action.

The familys SUV appears to have made a full stop before speeding off the cliff to the rocky shoreline, investigators say. (Kale Williams / Associated Press )

KPTV reported that a search warrant was served at the couples home on Thursday. Investigators were seeking travel plans, bank records, cellphone records, credit card billing statements, bank receipts, notes, journals and possible suicide notes, according to the station.

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The crash raised questions when it was reported early last week by a passerby who noticed the wreckage from a dirt pullout along Highway 1 at Juan Creek in the small town of Westport.

There were no skid marks or brake marks, and the couples children had recently been identified by child welfare authorities as possible victims of abuse and neglect.

It was a very confusing scene, Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman told reporters two days after the discovery. There was no indication of why this vehicle traversed approximately over 75 feet of a dirt pullout and went into the Pacific Ocean.

Finding the three bodies in the ocean  if theyre there  would present logistical challenges and safety hazards, Barney said.

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Sonar equipment that could image the seafloor is ineffective because of the rocks, Barney said. The sandy shore has made the water so murky its challenging for submerged divers to see anything. The water is cold and the currents push toward the cliff face, adding more risks for divers, Barney said.

With that in mind, Barney said the Sheriffs Department was going to consult with ocean current and human decomposition experts on Monday to formulate a plan. Authorities want to identify areas where the childrens bodies could appear.

The naturally decomposing gasses in the human body will often times float the body to the surface at some point, Barney said.

joseph.serna@latimes.com | Twitter: @JosephSerna

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alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com | Twitter: @AleneTchek

UPDATES:

8 p.m.: This article was updated with minor editing.

This article was originally published at 5:05 p.m.
Reginald Thomas Jr. was clutching a fire extinguisher and reportedly had a knife under his arm when Pasadena police officers arrived at his girlfriends East Orange Grove Avenue apartment. He was inside with her and two teenagers.

Six Pasadena officers would fight with the 35-year-old man. One officer, in the most detailed account yet, described in an interview with internal affairs a struggle in which Thomas was repeatedly shocked with stun guns, battered with batons, and punched and kicked in the head.

Officer Aaron Villacana said he hit Thomas with a hammer fist in the face twice so hard his hand broke. His colleagues were able to restrain Thomas, a man who by his familys account struggled with mental illness. He died shortly after at Huntington Memorial Hospital.

More than a year after the Sept. 30, 2016, encounter that Villacana described as hellacious, the city of Pasadena settled a lawsuit by Thomas girlfriend and children for $1.5 million. But the case is far from over.

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The Los Angeles district attorneys office is still reviewing whether the officers conduct was criminal. An internal police investigation is still ongoing, though so far none of the officers have been disciplined, said city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. An autopsy remains under seal at the behest of L.A. County sheriffs detectives who are investigating the deadly struggle.

Thomas death was the latest in a series of controversial killings involving black men and Pasadena police that spurred protests.

Caree Harper, the family attorney, said the officers killed Thomas and should face some level of criminal charges for using deadly force. His body was battered and bruised from beating and kicking, Harper said, noting that her expert witness found evidence of positional or restraint asphyxia and an illegal use of force.

Pasadena officials said in a statement that the settlement, which still needs a federal judges approval, is not an admission of liability or fault.

Expert investigators determined that Thomas death was not caused by the use of force by police in their effort to restrain him, but rather by Thomas ingestion of lethal levels of illegal narcotics, including PCP and methamphetamine, which had caused his erratic behavior, the statement said.

Harper said the citys assertion about the cause of Thomas death is false.

Police received multiple 911 calls before responding to the home. One of the teenage relatives in the apartment in a 2:45 a.m. call told a police dispatcher to hurry up and that Thomas was on drugs with a knife and fire extinguisher near the front door.

In federal court documents filed in defense of the city and officers is the testimony of an expert witness for Thomas family. Lawyers for officers and the city had sought to exclude the expert opinion from any trial and include it as an exhibit in the federal court record.

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The experts report includes parts of the compelled statement of Villacana, the officer who struck Thomas. Such statements are rarely publicly available and cannot be used in the criminal inquiry. They are only for the internal department investigation as the officer is ordered to answer questions.

Villacana said that when he arrived Taser wires were already hanging from Thomas, who held the fire extinguisher at both ends while he screamed at the top of his lungs.

The officer said Thomas exhibited all the signs of excited delirium  a phenomenon frequently cited by officers related to drug usage, in which the person seems to possess super-human strength in resisting officers.

After the initial struggle, Thomas managed to close the door for a few seconds before six officers rammed their way back into the apartment.

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The fight at the door was so hellacious, recalled Villacana, according to the court document. Officers shocked Thomas several times with their stun guns.

As officers repeatedly hit Thomas with batons, Thomas grabbed Villacanas baton, the officer said. And were at tug of war, Villacana said in the court document. The only way to defend myself at that point and my fellow officers that were there  was to deliver two strikes, uh, kicks to the head to retrieve the baton.

The officer said he realized at that point that other members of Thomass family were still in the apartment.

She was yelling at me, Why are you kicking him? according to Villacanas account. The officer said Thomas appeared to try to bite him, so he delivered two strikes to his face. When punched down I just felt discomfort. Villacana said he realized he had broken his hand.

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Eventually, officers handcuffed Thomas and tied his ankles to stop him from kicking, Villacana said.

As soon as that latch went on the handcuffs from the hobbled  I didnt hear screaming and yelling anymore, Villacana said in the court document.

As Thomas head hung down, he lost consciousness and his pulse faded, so police unshackled him and an officer began CPR, according to Villacanas account.

Roger Clark, a retired L.A. County sheriffs lieutenant and police force expert for Thomas family, said in the report that Thomas showed signs of intoxication but was not aggressive.

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Officers shocked Thomas 12 times in a minute, Clark said  far more frequently than national guidelines advise for Taser usage. He called the kicks and blows to Thomas head out of policy, reckless and excessive.

Clark said that based on officers statements and those of eyewitnesses, the way officers restrained Thomas caused his death.

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Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said the deputy who struck a protester with his patrol car Saturday night probably didnt realize he was involved in the collision when he drove off.

At a news conference Monday, Jones played dash-cam videos recorded from two marked patrol cars that drove through the protest. After the activist was hit, Jones said, the deputy continued forward without any apparent indication or awareness that he hit her.

There was no audible acknowledgment of any kind, he said. Theres a high likelihood that he did not even know that he collided with that protester.

Jones said he had not spoken with the deputy about the incident. In response to a reporters question later about whether he saw the protester, Jones said, I honestly have no idea.

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The injured woman, activist Wanda Cleveland, was released from a hospital early Sunday morning with bruises to her arm and the back of her head, according to the Sacramento Bee. She contends the collision was a hit-and-run.

Jones said the deputies were on their way to the agencys South Station to book some evidence after an arrest when they came upon the protest. They had not been involved in briefings leading up to the protest and were using a different radio channel than the one established for the protest.

As the deputies approached the demonstration, protesters spilled into the street, impeding traffic. Both cars turned on their overhead lights as protesters, weaving through traffic, crowded around the first patrol car, waving signs and shouting profanities.

A handful of them briefly stood in front of the car, holding their hands up. One with a bandanna covering his face flipped his middle fingers.

The deputy in the car ordered the group to step away and eventually he passed through. Protesters then swarmed around the drivers side of the second patrol car. Jones said protesters repeatedly kicked and banged on the car.

Jones said the activist was struck at a low speed and fell to the right.

Certainly the threat that he was facing was from his left side, Jones said. His attention may have been directed there.

Moments later, the cruisers back window was shattered.

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The Sheriffs Department refused to release copies of the recordings, despite playing them at a news conference that was streamed live on its Facebook page.

They may be in the publics interest but they are not public records, Jones said. I dont want to create a precedent but I thought in this unique instance it was important to at least allow folks to view them.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident, and the Sheriffs Department has begun an internal review.

The injured protester, who regularly attends Sacramento City Council meetings, told the Bee that the patrol vehicle was accelerating and never even stopped before hitting her knee and knocking her to the ground.

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It was a hit-and-run. If I did that, Id be charged, Cleveland told the paper. Its disregard for human life.

The incident capped a week of demonstrations over the fatal police shooting of Stephon Clark, which heightened long-standing tensions between Sacramento police the and citys black community and drew national media attention.

Clark, 22, was shot and killed by two Sacramento police officers in his grandmothers backyard on March 18 during a vandalism investigation. He was found with only a cellphone.

Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.

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alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek
A woman opened fire at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, Calif., shooting three people with a handgun before taking her own life and causing widespread panic in the technology hub south of San Francisco.

San Bruno police identified the shooter as Nasim Aghdam, 39, a San Diego resident.

Investigators initially believed the shooting was a domestic incident, with the shooter targeting someone who worked on the YouTube campus. But San Bruno police said in a release late Tuesday that there is no evidence that the shooter knew the victims of this shooting or that individuals were specifically targeted.

One law enforcement source said the investigation is now looking into a website that appears to show the same woman complaining about YouTube stifling traffic and suppressing videos. The source stressed that the investigation is in its preliminary stages.

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Youtube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views! reads the site, which along with complaints about the streaming video service includes videos promoting veganism and photos of a woman in an array of outfits, including long dresses and a camouflage unitard.

There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to!!!!!

Social media accounts linked from the page were deactivated late Tuesday.

A YouTube account linked from the page was terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTubes policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations, according to the streaming video site.

About two weeks ago, Aghdam vented to her family that YouTube stopped compensating her for her videos, her father told the Bay Area News Group.

Ismail Aghdam said that the family had called police to report his daughter missing Monday because she hadnt answered her phone for two days. He said he had told police she might be going to YouTube because she hated the company.

He told the news agency he knew nothing about her owning a gun.

Police in Mountain View, Calif., say they spotted a woman who went by the name Nasim Aghdam asleep in a car in a city parking lot early Tuesday morning and notified her family.

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Our officers made contact with the woman after the license plate of her vehicle matched that of a missing person out of Southern California, Katie Nelson, a spokeswoman for the department, said via email. The woman confirmed her identity to us and answered subsequent questions.

The shooting occurred in an outdoor area thats easier to access than other parts of the campus, the sources said.

San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini told reporters Tuesday afternoon that one person, believed to be the shooter, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Four people were taken to area hospitals for medical treatment, three with gunshot wounds.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Barberini said investigators were moving from a tactical to an investigative approach after searching the building floor by floor, room by room, and finding no immediate threat to the community.

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He declined to say whether the incident was an act of domestic violence, but said investigators are trying to determine the womans motive and how she got into the building. He said the shooting occurred in a courtyard area.

Most tech companies, including YouTube, require visitors to check in with security before entering their facilities.

Officials with Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center said the hospital had taken in three patients, two women and one man. A 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition. None of them has been in surgery.

The fourth person suffered an ankle injury while fleeing.

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Were doing everything we can to support them and their families at this time, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a letter to employees.

Pichai said the shooting came as employees were having lunch and police, along with the companys security team, worked to evacuate the buildings.

The best information we have is that the situation is contained, he said. I know a lot of you are in shock right now. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy.

In a tweet, President Trump offered his thoughts and prayers to everyone involved in the incident Tuesday afternoon.

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Several YouTube employees sent tweets Tuesday afternoon, saying people were racing out of the companys Cherry Avenue offices shortly after 1 p.m.

Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTubes HQ in San Bruno, California. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

Witnesses in the area said they saw dozens of firefighters and police officers descending on the area. Other witnesses said they saw police holding rifles and other weapons.

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The first reports of a shooting came in to San Mateo County dispatchers before 1 p.m., according to recorded traffic posted online by Broadcastify.com.

Shooter. Another party said they spotted someone with a gun. Suspect came from the back patio, the dispatcher said, according to scanner traffic posted online. Address is 901 Cherry Avenue.  Again we have a report of a subject with a gun, they heard seven or eight shots being fired. This would be from the YouTube building.

As the reports began to flood dispatchers, a sergeant was heard on the radio taking the call. He told other officers responding or monitoring the situation to wear their gear.

 Police scanner audio during reports of an active shooter at YouTubes headquarters in San Bruno, Calif.

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Video from the scene showed people holding their hands over their heads as they left the building, which is located in a suburb south of San Francisco. An employee told the Los Angeles Times that three YouTube buildings  900, 901 and 1000 Cherry Avenue  had been placed on lockdown.

Producers from YouTube tweeted that they believed there was an active shooter on the companys campus. Some said they heard so many people running that they believed an earthquake had struck. Others described a gruesome scene.

I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs, Todd Sherman, a YouTube producer, wrote on Twitter. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front.

Lucacio Simoes, 40, an Uber driver from San Bruno, learned about the shooting from a friends text message while he was having lunch at the nearby Tanforan shopping center. Simoes said he drove his Ford Explorer toward YouTube headquarters to see if he could help.

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There were people running down the street, he said.

Simoes said he turned off the Uber app and started to pick up people he passed on the street.

I just opened the door and asked if they needed help. I was getting people away from YouTube. At one point I had seven people in the car. I picked up one man from Sneath Lane and when he got in the car he just started crying. He was in shock.

Simoes said he performed at least six such rides Tuesday afternoon.

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Michelle Tam, a hostess at the Hashes & Brews restaurant about a block away from the companys headquarters, said a swarm of police and fire vehicles drove into the area around 12:45 p.m.

We see lots cops and firefighters, Tam said. We cant see any people. Its just a lot of trucks along the street at the moment.

Tam said three YouTube employees came into the restaurant appearing visibly shaken.

They came in from a back door, she said. They sat down at a table. They were in a daze. One guy, there was a little blood on his head.

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One employee had a partial fragment of a bullet in her shoe, Tam said.

At another nearby business, roughly two dozen customers barricaded themselves inside Nueve restaurant around 1 p.m., when authorities told them to stay far away from YouTube, bartender Carlos Gutierrez told a reporter over the phone.

Is this really happening, or is it a false alarm? Gutierrez wondered aloud as he and others huddled near the bar.

Times staff writers Alene Tchekmedyian, Joseph Serna and Hailey Branson-Potts contributed to this report.

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UPDATES:

10:40 p.m.: This article was updated with information from San Bruno police, the suspected shooters father and Mountain View police.

9:15 p.m.: This article was updated to mention a YouTube page and other social media accounts that had been deactivated.

9:05 p.m.: This article was updated to include information about a website investigators are studying.

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8:25 p.m.: This article was updated with the name of the alleged shooter.

5:30 p.m.: This article was updated with information from the San Bruno police chief.

4:45 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

4:15 p.m.: This article was updated with information from law enforcement sources.

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4 p.m.: This article was updated with information from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

3:05 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from President Trump and a witness.

2:40 p.m.: This article was updated with information from San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini.

2:10 p.m.: This article was updated with details from police radio calls.

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1:50 p.m.: This article was updated to say that law enforcement sources described the shooter as a woman.

1:35 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from the scene.

This article was originally published at 1:20 p.m.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is dropping plans to push ahead with a two-tunnel proposal to revamp the states water delivery system, opting to pursue a scaled-back version instead.

In a memo to the agencys board on Monday, MWD officials said the decision followed discussions with major agricultural districts that remain unwilling to make any financing commitments for the project, known as California WaterFix.

Rather than fund much of the full project on its own, the staff will ask the board to vote next week to approve $5.3 billion in funding for a smaller capacity, one-tunnel version.

MWD General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said his preference had been to build the full project, but it was time to make a decision.

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More important is that we just get going. Were talking one tunnel for now, he said.

Money has been a major sticking point for the much-debated project, which is intended to sustain water deliveries to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness and urban Southern California.

As originally proposed, the urban and farm districts that rely on deliveries from the southern portion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were supposed to pick up the $17-billion bill to construct two massive water tunnels under the delta.

MWD and most of the urban districts voted last year to contribute their share. But agricultural districts that had long supported the project said the tunnel water would be too expensive and voted against joining WaterFix.

That prompted Gov. Jerry Browns administration to downsize the initial construction to a less expensive, one-tunnel project that would be used and financed by the largely urban districts supplied by the State Water Project.

Not long after the state announcement, some MWD board members suggested that the agency consider paying for agricultures unfunded share so that both tunnels could be built.

The staff analysis of how MWD could do that assumed that agricultural districts would buy in to WaterFix when it was completed. That way, the staff said, MWD would eventually be reimbursed for taking on agricultures upfront costs.

But by the end of last week, it became apparent that the Westlands Water District and other irrigation agencies werent willing to sign options or purchase agreements assuring that they would in fact join the project in the future.

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Representatives of Los Angeles and the San Diego County Water Authority had also expressed concerns that if MWD boosted its tunnels investment to roughly $11 billion, that would jack up local water rates and divert funds from regional supply programs, such as building recycled water and stormwater capture facilities.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who appoints the citys MWD delegates, has also said he opposed two tunnels.

Still, Los Angeles and San Diego together dont have enough votes to stop MWD from taking on much of the twin-tunnel costs.

In remarks to the press Monday, Kightlinger said the staff recommendation to move ahead with one tunnel was based on agricultures inability to commit to future funding rather than a vote count or L.A.s doubts.

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He said the staff will ask the board at its April 10 meeting to progress with one tunnel by adding an additional $1 billion to the $4.3-billion financing package the board approved last fall.

By partially diverting some supplies from the Sacramento River in the northern delta, the tunnel project is intended to lessen the environmental harm of the massive pumping operations that fill southbound aqueducts.

The powerful pumps now draw entirely from the southern delta, causing water channels to flow backward, confusing migrating salmon and drawing the imperiled delta smelt into bad habitat.

Those effects have triggered endangered species protections that at times limit delta exports.

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Although MWD has argued that two tunnels would provide more environmental benefits and more flexibility in export operations than one, some water experts have questioned whether a second tunnel is worth the added expense.

There are significant improvements even with the one-tunnel approach over the status quo, Kightlinger said Monday. The bottom line is that were really looking forward to moving forward with this project.

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

Twitter: @boxall
Authorities and family members have identified the three Las Vegas teenagers killed early Thursday when a car slammed into the back of their car in Huntington Beach.

Orange County coroners officials identified Brooke Hawley, 17, and Dylan Mack, 18, as two of the victims. Family members last week identified the other victim as A.J. Rossi, 17.

They and Alexis Vargas, a fourth teenager in the car, were visiting Southern California for spring break, authorities and family members said. Alexis survived the crash and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

A GoFundMe page set up to help fund Alexis recovery had raised about $900 as of Monday afternoon.

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Alexis family are all extremely blessed and very thankful for Alexis being able to make it out of the car, according to the page. Based on medical reports, he suffered severe concussions and multiple burns on his hands and face.

A.J. and Dylan were seniors preparing to graduate from Centennial High School in Las Vegas in June.

A.J.s family set up a GoFundMe page to cover his funeral expenses. It had raised about $26,000 as of Monday.

The page described him as always being the center of attention, with a smile that lit up every single room that he walked into.

The driver of the other car, Bani Duarte of San Clemente, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Duarte, 27, was booked into Orange County Jail in Santa Ana with bail set at $100,000. She was released on bail Sunday morning, according to jail records.

The Orange County district attorneys office, which is reviewing the case, said Monday that she had not been charged.

Huntington Beach police received a report of the crash at 1:08 a.m. Thursday at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street. A Toyota was on fire when officers arrived, Officer Angela Bennett said.

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Bennett said a Hyundai Sonata traveling north on PCH struck the Toyota, which was stopped at a red light at the intersection with Magnolia.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Huntington Beach police accident investigator Joshua Page at (714) 536-5670.
Huntington Beach plans to file a lawsuit against California and the state attorney general to challenge the legality of state mandates that expand protections for undocumented immigrants.

Huntington Beach joined a group of other Orange County cities  as well as the Board of Supervisors  in fighting the sanctuary state movement. Fullerton will consider similar action tonight.

City Attorney Michael Gates said he would file the suit this week after the City Council gave its approval Monday night on a 6-1 vote. Councilwoman Jill Hardy dissented.

Huntington Beach joins a wave of opposition in Orange County to Californias sanctuary state laws, such as Senate Bill 54, which in many cases prohibits state and local police agencies from notifying federal officials when immigrants in their custody who may be subject to deportation are about to be released.

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Several area cities have pushed against the sanctuary laws, starting in March, when the Los Alamitos City Council passed an ordinance opting out.

And the county Board of Supervisors voted last week to join a Trump administration lawsuit that contends the laws obstruct federal immigration law and thus violate the Constitutions supremacy clause, which gives federal law precedence over state law.

Gates said Huntington will be the first city to challenge the legality of SB 54, authored by state Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), and he said he hopes other cities in California follow our lead.

Mayor Mike Posey and Mayor Pro Tem Erik Peterson proposed the lawsuit as a way to seek relief from the states sanctuary policies.

City officials argue the state is unconstitutionally overreaching by preventing municipalities from taking certain actions and spending their general fund money on certain law enforcement.

Before Monday nights vote, more than 100 speakers, including U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa), vehemently spoke about undocumented immigrants and sanctuary cities.

A majority of the audience dressed in Make America Great Again memorabilia and chanted USA, USA, USA. Many draped U.S. flags on their backs and held signs with messages such as Build wall, deport them all and We love President Trump.

Residents who called on the City Council to vote against the lawsuit proposal were heckled by some in the audience, which prompted Posey to slam his gavel on the dais and warn the crowd that he would suspend the meeting if the outbursts continued.

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Sherman Oaks resident Genevieve Peters said the state had completely overreached their authority and added that weve come far and wide and locally to support the citys proposal. Some in the audience traveled from as far away as Phoenix.

Orange resident Gerald Thomas told how he and his family paid our dues and waited in line to become U.S. citizens after leaving the Philippines in 1972.

Nobody offered us sanctuary or an easier way. If I can do it, everyone who came here illegally can do it too, Thomas said. Its a personal insult if they think they can bypass our laws.

Mike McCoy, also of Orange, urged the council to send a message to Gov. Jerry Brown and to show respect and support for President Trump by filing the lawsuit.

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But Bethany Webb of Huntington Beach urged the council to demonstrate that the city is inclusive and progressive.

Webb, who is part of HB Huddle, a political activist group that grew out of the 2017 Womens March, noted that many of the speakers supporting the lawsuit proposal werent from the area, and she said they were trying to make America hate again.

Victor Valladares, a member of Oak View Comunidad, a Latino advocacy group in Huntington Beach, wore a combination American and Mexican flag.

Valladares said immigrants are great contributors to society and said he wanted to debunk the idea that many are criminals.

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After four hours of public comments, Peterson said the proposal was about retaining local control, not about immigration.

Anytime they try to claim state law thatll affect us, we fight them, Peterson said.

Hardy said the message wasnt clear. Out of 120 speakers, she said, only four mentioned local control.

Im really concerned with the message were sending, Hardy said. A big part of our job is to worry about the reputation of our city.

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Councilwoman Barbara Delgleize said she was heartbroken by some of the rhetoric from the audience, but she voted in favor of the lawsuit after Police Chief Robert Handy supported it.

I never want my chief to say Im being held back or My officers cant do certain things, Delgleize said. But I cannot tell you the heartbreak for me tonight what we experienced with people who are in this auditorium.

Vega writes for Times Community News.
A suburban corporate tech center south of San Francisco turned into a scene of terror as police responded to reports of an active shooter at YouTube headquarters on Tuesday.

Michelle Tam, a hostess at the Hashes & Brews restaurant about a block away from YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, said police cars and fire trucks swarmed the street about 12:45 p.m.

We see lots of cops and firefighters, Tam said. We cant see any people. Its just a lot of trucks along the street at the moment.

She said three YouTube employees came in and were visibly shaken.

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They came in from a back door, she said. They sat down at a table. They were in a daze. One guy, there was a little blood on his head.

Tam said one of her coworkers gave them a first aid kit and one of the YouTube employees said there was a fragment of a bullet in her shoe.

About two dozen customers barricaded themselves inside Nueve restaurant after authorities told them to stay far away from YouTube about 1 p.m., bartender Carlos Gutierrez said.

Is this really happening? Gutierrez wondered. Or is it a false alarm?

A woman with blood on her hair who was interviewed on TV later, confirmed that it was really happening. Police, California Highway Patrol and SWAT officers carrying sniper rifles moved past the windows of the restaurant.

Cory Jimenez manages a Chilis restaurant a few blocks from YouTubes campus at the corner of Bayhill Drive and El Camino Real.

The door to the restaurant had been locked, but Jimenez was letting people in.

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He said around 15 YouTube employees came in and were trying to make sense of what was happening on their campus.

They have just been trying to get ahold of friends and employees to tell them theyre safe, Jimenez said.

Theres definitely a few of them who are shaken up, you can just tell. Some of them had no idea what was happening. Some had a small glimpse and you could tell have had a traumatic experience.

Lucacio Simoes, 40, an Uber driver from San Bruno, learned about the shooting when a friend texted him about it while he was having lunch at the nearby Tanforan shopping center. Simoes said he drove his Ford Explorer towards YouTube headquarters to see if he could help.

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There were people running down the street, he said.

Simoes said he turned off the Uber app and start to pick people up from the street who looked like they needed help.

I just opened the door and asked if they needed help. I was getting people away from YouTube. At one point I had seven people in the car. I picked up one man from Sneath Lane and when he got in the car he just started crying. He was in shock.

Simoes said he dropped people off at the Tanforan Mall and on El Camino, and had performed at least six such rides Tuesday afternoon.

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UPDATES:

2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from restaurant manager Cory Jimenez.

This article was originally published at 1:45 p.m.
Martin Luther King Jr. had traveled to Memphis, Tenn., in late March 1968 to lead a protest march in support of the citys striking sanitation workers. Violence had followed, with police descending on the protesters with billy clubs, mace and tear gas.

The next week, King returned to get court permission for another march. Despite the death threats he had received, and the growing concern for his safety, King pressed to hold a nonviolent demonstration.

On the night of April 3, he delivered what became known as the Ive Been to the Mountaintop speech, in which he said:

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But Im not concerned about that now. I just want to do Gods will. And Hes allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I have looked over, and I have seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

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The events of the next day, April 4, 1968, would be seared into the memories of Americans for decades.

Do you remember Kings assassination? Leave your memories in the comments section.

A fallen King

Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of a Memphis motel at approximately the spot where he was shot by an assassin. This picture was taken Wednesday, the day before the shooting, shortly after King arrived in Memphis. Associated Press

The bullet struck him just before dinner time.

King was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel and had turned to grab his coat. Moments later, he lay dying.

The sniper shot him from a building across the street. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist, saw the blood. Ralph Abernathy, the co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, ran to his side. By the time an ambulance had taken King from the motel to St. Josephs Hospital less than two miles away, King was dead.

News spreads

The Los Angeles Times headline. L.A. Times

That evening, Abraham L. Davis was asleep in his Atlanta apartment when the sound of his neighbors television woke him up. It was a news report.

I kept hearing Martin Luther King Jr. and his birthdate. As soon as I turned my TV on, it showed Kings picture, his birthdate and the days date, said Davis, 79. That day is deeply etched in my memory.

The next day was very solemn in Atlanta.

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Davis had trailed King at Morehouse College by 13 years. Though their paths didnt cross as students at the historically black college in Atlanta, they would in the future.

Davis had met King during a protest orientation at an Atlanta church in the early 1960s and saw him again at the March on Washington in 1963.

Years later, he would make another, more personal, connection with the King family when he taught Martin Luther King III in his political science classes at Morehouse. He took more courses under me than any other professor in his major, Davis said. Another student had told Davis of King IIIs presence, which was a surprise but also reflected family tradition: Kings father and brother also attended Morehouse.

Martin Luther King III can you raise your hand? Davis asked him in front of the entire class.

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A day before he was shot, King and his aides walk at the Lorraine Motel, discussing the restraining order King had just received barring him from leading another march in Memphis without court approval. Barney Sellers / Associated Press

Xernona Clayton, a civil rights activist, had grown close to the King family through organizing events and marches for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She learned of Kings death while dining at an Atlanta restaurant when a waitress brought a note to her table. Clayton, not realizing the message was urgent, ignored it. Then the waitress returned.

I hate to interrupt, Clayton recalled her saying, but I got the news that some harm had been done to King in Memphis.

Clayton called the King home in Atlanta but the phone lines were busy. She drove to the house, arriving just as Coretta Scott King was leaving for the airport with Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., accompanied by a police escort. Coretta asked Clayton to stay with Corettas parents and children. Kings wife knew he had been shot but not his condition.

When she got to the airport, she got the message that King had died, Clayton said. Coretta chose not to fly to Memphis and went back to her children.

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When she arrived, the King house on Sunset Avenue was surrounded by well-wishers, reporters and neighbors. She was such a gracious lady, Clayton recalled.

She thanked everyone for their interest and concern.

Clayton, 88, was present when Kings widow received phone calls from President Lyndon B. Johnson and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. She was there as Coretta tried speaking to her children about their father.

Coretta did not tell the kids right away that he had died, Clayton said. Coretta told the kids King had been hurt. She couldnt give them the truth just yet.

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Dexter, Kings second son, pleaded for more information about his father. What will I tell my friends at school tomorrow? he asked his mother.

Coretta told Dexter he wasnt going to school the next day. I think your teacher will understand, she said.

Clayton also remembers witnessing a scene with Coretta and her first daughter Yolanda, then 13.

Mommy, were not going to cry because were big girls and we can handle this, Yolanda told her mother, sitting together on a bed. I know you loved him and he loved you. The love will sustain us. Were not gonna cry at all. Despite the brave words, the mother and daughter wept.

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Libby Atwater. Handout

On the opposite coast, Don Atwater had just placed an engagement ring on his fiance Libbys finger. They had received a call from the jewelers that morning informing them that the gold ring was ready.

The couple had met at UCLA. As they drove to Atwaters parents house to celebrate, they turned on the car radio. The sounds of chaos in Memphis and news of Kings death met them.

Much of the joy I felt dissolved as I heard the terrible news, Libby Atwater, 70, said.

Outrage grows

Smoldering ruins remain where a building stood in northwest Washington. Numerous fires accompanied turmoil in the nations capital following Kings assassination. Associated Press

Kings death ignited widespread fury. Riots erupted, curfews were instated and National Guardsman were deployed. Fires raged in parts of Washington, D.C.

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In Chicago, where King had led civil rights marches, a young couple feared for their safety.

Charles and Janice Tyler on their wedding day. Tyler family

Charles, a 28-year-old black man, and Janice, a 25-year-old white woman, were engaged to be married  less than a year after the Supreme Court struck down state laws that banned interracial marriages in Loving vs. Virginia.

The soon-to-be Tylers had already faced discrimination as an interracial couple. As the riots consumed their neighborhoods, a new worry consumed them.

Janice hid in the back of Charles car until they arrived at her apartment. They understood too well the racial division that King had tried to mend.

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When King was assassinated it was traumatic  like losing someone who was fighting for the same things, Charles Tyler, 78, said. It was a traumatic experience for everyone in the country.

John Mackerer. Handout

John Mackerer didnt expect his first service to the United States to be inside the nations capital.

Mackerer, a 23-year-old West Point graduate, was stationed outside Washington with the 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment. As Washington burned, he was deployed.

For the next days, we defended our capital from our own citizens.

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Two months later, he would be in Vietnam.

A nation mourns

Kings colleagues pay their respects, from right: Andrew Young, Bernard Lee and Ralph Abernathy. Keystone / Getty Images

King was laid to rest on April 9, 1968.

Thousands gathered outside the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where a private ceremony was held for the civil rights leader.

Inside, several dignitaries joined Kings widow and children at the service.

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Vice President Hubert Humphrey sat in the first row with Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Jacqueline Kennedy, New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, Harry Belafonte and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy attended. As did three men running for president: Sen. Eugene McCarthy, former Vice President Richard Nixon and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who would be killed just two months later.

Clayton was there as well. She remembers seeing Kings body at a family viewing the night before, and being appalled at the morticians treatment to his skin.

He looked like someone grabbed a whole glob of red clay and slapped it across his face, Clayton said.

We all wanted him to look good, look natural and like himself, she said. I eased over to the mortician and asked if there was anything you can do to tone down that face. The mortician said, The jaw was blown off! Thats the best I could do.

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The Rev. Ralph Abernathy presides over Kings funeral. Keystone / Getty Images

Growing desperate, Clayton mixed together face powder she borrowed from Coretta and Julie Robinson, then the wife of Harry Belafonte. She mixed the brown and white powder, creating something close to Kings complexion and applied it with a handkerchief. I was trying to make that mark blend in to look more natural. And it worked, Clayton said.

She would apply the mixture twice more: at midnight before he was taken to the church and the next morning before the private funeral.

During the service, a recording was played of one of Kings signature speeches, The Drum Major Instinct. During it, King imagines his own funeral. The speech had been delivered and recorded exactly one month before he was killed.

Every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I dont think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, What is it that I would want said? King is heard saying.

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Id like somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. Id like for somebody to say that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody, he answers.

King eventually is heard giving the often-quoted line: Yes, if you want to say I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice.

Crowds gathered on rooftops near Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta during Kings funeral. Robert Connell / Associated Press

Among those listening in the congregation were Lawrence G. Campbell and his wife, Gloria. The speech had Kings intended effect.

It was not an atmosphere of death, Campbell, 88, said of the funeral. We felt more confident we would overcome the situations before us. It was a feeling for me and others to rejoice, not because of his death but what he died for.

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King had a profound influence on Campbells life.

When I saw that King wanted to develop Christian leaders in the South, we joined him, he said. It gave me the courage and persistence to try to overcome racism.

Campbell, the co-founder and bishop of Bibleway Cathedral in Danville, Va., remembered how King traveled to Danville in 1963 to show solidarity with protesters who were brutally beaten by police officers on what has become known as Bloody Monday. On June 10, 1963, about 40 protesters in Danville were arrested after marching to the municipal building to demand civil rights. Police went after them with billy clubs and fire hoses. Attendees of a prayer vigil later that day also were beaten by officers. More than 60 people were injured, including Gloria Campbell, who suffered a hip injury when hit with the high-powered spray from a fire hose.

King visited Danville the following month and called Bloody Monday one of the worst moments of police brutality hed ever seen. After his visit to Danville, Campbell and local leaders took him to a Holiday Inn in Greensboro, N.C. Thats when Campbell saw a reminder of the perils King faced  a scar on his chest.

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He just chose to relax, and when he took off his shirt, we could see it, Campbell said of the scar.

Seven years earlier, while attending a book signing in Harlem, King was attacked by Izola Curry, who stabbed him with a letter opener. Curry was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and lived in mental institutions until her death in March 2015.

King told Campbell that the letter opener was so deep in his chest, If I had sneezed, I wouldve lost my life.

Kings funeral procession through the streets of Atlanta. Associated Press

After the service, a simple wooden cart carrying Kings casket was pulled by two mules in a four-mile, two-hour procession to Morehouse College. At the gates, the crowd sang We Shall Overcome.

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Davis remembers how younger mourners scrambled to view the procession.

I could see these youngsters climbing the trees so they could get a good spot, he said.

Davis could hardly move in the crowded campus chapel, where the congregation listened to spirituals and then-university President Benjamin Mays eulogy.

When one woman got to the casket, she just stood there crying, Davis said.

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A National Guard soldier in Washington two days after the assassination. Bob Schutz / Associated Press

During Mays eulogy, he addressed the unrest that had caused millions of dollars in damage, prompted the arrests of thousands and left dozens dead. If we love Martin Luther King Jr., and respect him, as this crowd surely testifies, let us see to it that he did not die in vain. Let us see to it that we do not dishonor his name by trying to solve our problems though rioting in the streets, he said.

Mays acknowledged that the uprisings were a reaction to pain and loss. Let us see to it also that the conditions that cause riots are promptly removed, as the president of the United States is trying to do.

He ended his eulogy with a call to action: Permit me to say that Martin Luther King Jr.s unfinished work on earth must truly be our own.

Mary Ann Solari at age 7. Handout

The spring of 1968 was bookended by death.

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Mary Ann Solari came home from school to find her mother and neighbor watching a funeral on TV. The 7-year-old Bostonian was confused  hadnt this program been shown before?

Her mother corrected her.

The first funeral was for King  a man who took on the title of Dr. not far from their home at Boston University.

This funeral was for a different man, her mother explained. His name was Kennedy, and hed grown up just outside Boston.

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Two months separated their deaths, and to this day I remember that somber feeling, Solari, 57, said.

1968 was a year that rarely gave leave to the disheartened.

colleen.shalby@latimes.com

Twitter: @cshalby

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ALSO:

The president was polarizing, even crude. The shocking became routine. Somehow, we survived 1968  or did we?

1968: A timeline of anger, grief and change

Share your memories from 1968

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How 1968, a year of tumultuous events, continues to shape our world
Thousands of Oklahoma teachers went on strike Monday to demand higher pay and more education funding, digging in for a prolonged walkout as discontent spreads among public educators in conservative states.

The teachers strike  Oklahomas first since 1990  came the same day thousands of Kentucky teachers packed the halls of the state Capitol, chanting and singing to protest changes to their pension plans. Most Kentucky schools are out for spring break, but some had to close because of the teachers protest.

Were not gonna take it, sang the Kentucky teachers, joining in a rendition of the defiant rock anthem by Twisted Sister. No, we aint gonna take it. Were not gonna take it anymore.

Teachers from across Kentucky fill the state Capitol to rally for increased funding and to protest last-minute changes to their state-funded pension system. (Timothy D. Easley / Associated Press )

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The message was similar in Oklahoma: There have been too many cuts.

Teachers are so drastically underpaid they are forced to donate plasma, work multiple jobs and go to food pantries to provide for their families, Oklahoma Education Assn. President Alicia Priest said in a video to members kicking off the strike. Oklahoma is better than this.

As the U.S. Supreme Court stands poised to potentially deal a major blow to organized labor in union-friendly blue states, the labor movement has shown unexpected strength this year in red states where labor protections are comparatively weak.

The national economys upswing appears to have given little lift to many public schoolteachers, who have complained of losing ground financially under conservative legislatures that have often prioritized lower taxes to spur business growth.

The fire started in West Virginia, a right-to-work state where teachers were angered by soaring health insurance costs. One state plan required teachers to download an app on their phones, called Go365, that would track their steps during the day to make sure they would get enough exercise, or else they faced a $500 penalty.

As discontent spread, the teachers organized a statewide, 55-county strike that lasted nine days, ending when Republican Gov. Jim Justice started a commission to address the states public healthcare system and signed a bill approving 5% across-the-board pay raises. The Go365 plan was canceled.

Following West Virginias victory, the fire spread.

Teachers in Oklahoma, Kentucky and Arizona began private protest-themed Facebook pages that rapidly gained tens of thousands of followers. In those groups, teachers grumbled about low pay and posted photos of the sometimes shoddy classroom conditions for their students.

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The massive platforms made it easier for teachers to communicate statewide, sometimes suggesting strikes like West Virginias, while teachers from West Virginia sometimes chimed in to show their support for counterparts in other states.

In Oklahoma, as in West Virginia, teachers got a boost from their bosses as school boards and superintendents expressed frustration with the mass defections of teachers to neighboring states such as Texas, which offer much better pay.

A man in a Revolutionary War outfit joins teachers in a rally at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City on Monday. (J. Pat Carter / Getty Images )

Oklahoma schools, which are funded in large part by the state budget, have been hobbled by the decline in oil and natural-gas prices  a major source of tax revenue in Oklahoma  in addition to a requirement that legislative tax increases win at least 75% approval.

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As the state Legislature failed to pass funding increases that met that high burden over the last year, discontent grew among Oklahoma school districts.

School boards across the state began debating and then approving school cancellations to support the Monday strike date proposed by the Oklahoma Education Assn., which the union threatened unless lawmakers approved $10,000 in raises for teachers across three years.

Last week, Republican Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill that would increase average pay by about $6,000  which would mark the states first tax increase since 1992, and the first across-the-board raise for teachers since 2008. Teachers said it was not enough.

Priest, the Oklahoma Education Assn. president, called it a down payment and accused legislators of undermining the raises by failing to secure the necessary funding to back up the bill.

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Well be back tomorrow and the next day and the next day until we get the funding we deserve, Priest said in an interview, also calling for the state to get back on target for funding things like the arts in schools, world languages, physical education classes, [and hiring] teachers to make the class sizes smaller.

Fallin, in a statement, said she appreciated teachers coming to Oklahoma City to protest, adding that the funding increase so far represents a 19.74% increase in the appropriations for public schools.

But Fallin added: Significant revenue-raising measures were approved to make this pay raise and additional school funding possible. We must be responsible not to neglect other areas of need in the state such as corrections and health and human services as we continue to consider additional education funding measures.

In Arizona, teachers have asked for a 20% pay raise. They rallied at the state Capitol last week, dressed in red, with some supporters raising the idea of a strike.

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In Kentucky, teachers were outraged after the Republican-led Legislature quickly introduced and passed a pension reform bill last week that  among other measures  would give lawmakers the power to adjust the pension plans of new teachers. Currently, teachers receive pension benefits that are inviolable under state law, meaning lawmakers cant change them.

Educators quickly mobilized in protest.

This is just one more dig at public education as a whole, and youre seeing that all across the nation, from West Virginia to Arizona, Stephanie Winkler, president of the Kentucky Education Assn., said at a Monday news conference.

We need to stop giving away more money in tax credits to the rich and start doing more responsible revenue measures to pay for all the vital public services that the citizens of the commonwealth deserve, Winkler said.

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The bill awaits the signature or veto of Republican Gov. Matt Bevins, who expressed broader concern about the Legislatures latest budget proposal, which raises taxes, and which Bevins said may not meet the basic standards of fiscal responsibility.

Kentucky is poised for greatness, but future successes are very much dependent on a competitive tax structure and a budget that is fiscally responsible, Bevins said in a statement.

matt.pearce@latimes.com

Matt Pearce is a national reporter for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @mattdpearce.

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Kobey Lofton is 15  too young to vote, but not too young to get political.

Over spring break, he plotted with other young activists on the west side of Chicago to set up voter registration booths at school and make regular announcements over the intercom urging his slightly older classmates to vote.

Students are waking up, said Kobey, a sophomore at North Lawndale College Prep. Suddenly they are saying, OK, now that I know my vote does matter, I can do something.

Its been more than six weeks since the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., launched a generation often maligned as self-absorbed and politically apathetic on a fierce campaign for gun control and school safety. Young activists have staged walkouts, led massive rallies throughout the country, taken to social media to challenge lawmakers, and demanded town hall meetings with politicians.

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Hoping to sustain their momentum, they are now beginning to focus on the November midterm election.

Young people are one of the biggest untapped forces in U.S. politics.

By next year, millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, are projected to outnumber baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. But they go to the polls in staggeringly small numbers.

(Los Angeles Times )

In the 2014 midterm election, turnout among 18- to 20-year-olds was 15%, among the lowest in a national election since the voting age was changed from 21 in 1971.

Young Americans are absolutely taken advantage of because we dont get out and vote, said David Hogg, 17, a Stoneman Douglas senior and an organizer of the March for Our Lives rally last month. What were doing here is bringing voting beyond just, Oh, its your civic duty, but into a cultural thing among teens. Were making it a badge of shame if you dont get out and vote.

If the teen activists succeed in bringing their generation to the polls, it could signal a significant shift in American politics.

This movement has real potential to change the course of engagement for a generation, said Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, director of the Tufts Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. If they can bring about an incredible surge in turnout, I think theyll change the way that us adults view young people as voting blocs.

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(Los Angeles Times )

Even though young people have been heavily involved over the last decade in volunteering and spreading their ideas on social media, Kawashima-Ginsberg said, they tended to detach voting from social change. Unlike recent youth movements such as Black Lives Matter, Occupy and the Dreamers, March for Our Lives has from the beginning put an explicit emphasis on electoral politics.

Now they really seem to see their vote, in a significant way, to change policies and to change societies, she said. Thats new.

The power of their personal stories has already helped deliver some surprising results. Within three weeks of the Parkland shooting, Floridas largely Republican Legislature  under pressure from students  defied the National Rifle Assn. and passed a $400-million school safety bill. The students didnt get everything they wanted, but the new law did what some saw as politically impossible and increased the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21.

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Pretty much every state legislator is talking about them, Kawashima-Ginsberg said. Thats the kind of thing that really can convince young people, including teenagers, that they can have an impact. And thats the key in connecting the issue to vote, which has not been done before.

While shooting incidents involving students have decreased in the last two decades  according to researchers at Northeastern University, four times the number of children were killed in schools in the early 1990s  young organizers hope to harness societys heightened fear of school shootings to make gun reform an issue that could make or break a politician.

Matt Deitsch, a graduate of Stoneman Douglas and head of messaging and outreach for March for Our Lives, said Donald Trumps embrace of immigration policy  an issue Republicans had sidestepped  and the success that had in propelling him to the partys nomination offers a lesson for young activists.

If we can do that with gun reform and public safety  making it an issue they have to address from Day One of the campaign  I think well end up with better leaders, Deitsch said.

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Teenagers are worried they are not safe in schools and are impatient with a political system in which politicians on both sides of the aisle tend to be steered by lobbyists rather than the will of the public, Deitsch said.

When 97% of the country wants universal background checks and its still a polarizing issue in Congress, Congress doesnt represent us, he said, referring to a February Quinnipiac University survey. Thats just a fact.

Already, voter registration activists are fanning across the country to target the roughly 4 million Americans who turn 18 this year, as well as a large number of 19- to 21-year-olds who have never voted.

I dont ever remember a time where 17- and 18-year-olds were publicly calling on each other in a high-profile way to register and vote, said Andy Bernstein, founder of HeadCount, a nonprofit group that promotes voter participation. We now have, for the really first time in memory, a situation in our country where people are really focusing on first-time voters, on kids who are just turning 18, as a political force.

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Until now, HeadCount carried out voter registration drives mostly at concerts. But after registering 4,800 voters Saturday at the March for Our Lives demonstrations  the largest voter registration drive in the groups nearly 15-year history  the group plans to expand its reach to high schools by releasing a short guide to running voter registration drives.

If some schools do it, theres just no reason they all cant, Bernstein said. This should be the norm in every school in America.

Nearly overnight, mobilizing young people has become a key strategy for groups advocating stricter gun laws, with unprecedented amounts of money being devoted to that goal.

Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit created in response to the 2012 mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., announced this week it would invest $1 million in a new grant program to help students organize grass-roots Students Demand Action chapters to push legislative change in their states.

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The group will also partner with Giffords, the gun violence prevention organization founded by Gabrielle Giffords, the Democratic former Arizona congresswoman who survived a 2011 assassination attempt, to offer students tools to organize voter registration drives.

The momentum is going to continue to build because people are frustrated with the fact that Congress has not taken action, said Isabelle James, political director of Giffords.

(Los Angeles Times )

Even a moderate boost in youth turnout in the 2018 midterm election could have an enduring, long-term generational effect. Studies show that young people who vote early are more likely to form a habit of voting during their lifetime.

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A surge in young voters is likely to pose a particular threat to Republican candidates in suburban swing districts. They are already contending with a groundswell of opposition from energized Democrats and tepid support from moderate Republicans turned off by President Trump.

About 59% of millennial voters identify as Democrats or lean Democratic, according to a recent Pew Research Center study. Factor in the long history of Republican opposition to gun control measures and the political threat becomes even clearer.

Still, many of the student activists insist their call for gun reform is nonpartisan. Democrats and Republicans alike, they emphasize, can support their goal of banning assault weapons, prohibiting the sale of high-capacity magazines and closing loopholes in background-check laws that allow people to purchase firearms online and at gun shows.

Safety is not a political issue, said Elizabeth Grubb, an 18-year-old senior in Californias Central Valley and member of Fresno March for Our Lives, who is trying to set up an April 7 town hall meeting with Rep. Devin Nunes, a Republican who represents Californias 22nd Congressional District.

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We want everyone from all sides to be involved, said Grubb, who is a Democrat. The idea is not to have liberal voters or conservative voters to come out and vote. A compromise benefits all sides.

Jarvie is a special correspondent.
One of the designers of a massive Kansas water park slide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy has been arrested in Texas, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Trent Touchstone, chief deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service in Dallas, said 72-year-old John Timothy Schooley was met by authorities at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as he arrived on a flight late Monday.

Schooley was being held without bond at the Dallas County Jail pending his arraignment and extradition to Kansas on charges that include second-degree murder. If convicted on that charge, he could face as much as 41 years in prison. Online jail records dont indicate whether Schooley has an attorney.

A Kansas grand jury last week indicted Schooley and Jeffrey Henry, a co-owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts. The indictment accuses Henry of making a spur of the moment decision to build the Verruckt ride  touted as the worlds tallest water slide  and that he and Schooley lacked technical or engineering expertise in amusement park rides. A former operations director for Schlitterbahn also has been charged.

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Caleb Schwab was killed on the 17-story Verruckt in 2016 when the raft he was riding went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

Schooley and Henry also were charged with 17 other felonies, including counts of aggravated battery and aggravated endangerment of a child that are tied to injuries that other riders sustained on the giant slide.

Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said in a statement last week that the indictment is filled with information that we fully dispute. She didnt immediately respond to a message seeking fresh comment early Tuesday.

The indictment alleges the ride violated nearly all aspects of longstanding standards established by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

In fact, the design and operation of the Verruckt complied with few, if any, of the industry safety standard, the indictment said.
The world is increasingly speeding toward a future of clean, zero-emissions cars. China  the largest auto market on the planet  plans to ban the sale of new vehicles powered by gasoline and diesel engines in the coming decades. Until then, the Chinese government requires that carmakers sell an increasing number of hybrid and electric vehicles in the country each year.

France, Britain, Norway and India have also pledged to phase out fossil fuel vehicles. And automakers have responded. Volvo pledged in 2017 to sell only hybrid or battery models starting next year, while General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Daimler and other big carmakers have said they will roll out more and more electric models to serve the growing market demand worldwide.

But here in the United States, President Trump and his anti-environmental protection sidekick, Scott Pruitt, are determined to head recklessly in the opposite direction. Its up to California and other environmentally responsible states to stop them.

On Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has abandoned ambitious but much-needed fuel economy rules that required automakers to step up the improvements in their cars and SUVs mileage and emissions. Adopted under the Obama administration, the regulations were a crucial piece of the national effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and slow global climate change.

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Indeed, the regulations being heedlessly ditched were slated to improve the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks 50% by 2025, to almost 55 miles per gallon. To meet the new standards, automakers were expected to develop and sell more hybrid and electric models, which, over time, would slash oil consumption, smoggy tailpipe pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

Every other government in the industrialized world recognizes that climate change is real.

But those benefits apparently carried little weight with Pruitt, , a stalwart shill for the fossil fuel industry, who claims the Obama administration rushed the analysis of whether the regulations were feasible and set the standards too high. Thats mere pretext, given that Pruitt has used his tenure at the EPA to systematically attack responsible, science- and health-based regulations. Nor, apparently, is it enough that hes weakened national environmental protections; Pruitt has suggested he may go after Californias essential air quality regulations and climate change program as well.

In order to address the enormous contribution cars and trucks make to Californias unusually severe air-quality problems, the federal Clean Air Act gave the state unique power to adopt vehicle emissions rules that are more stringent than the EPAs. The federal government can block the state rules only if the EPA deems them inconsistent with the Clean Air Acts efforts to protect public health or welfare. Thankfully, Gov. Jerry Brown and state leaders have made it clear that California is not rolling back its clean-car rules. Other states can follow Californias lead on tailpipe standards, and a dozen states, representing about one-third of the U.S. auto market, have said they will continue to do so.

That would leave manufacturers with two options. They could go the costly route of making two versions of each vehicle: A more fuel-efficient model for states with Californias standards, and a less fuel-efficient model for the rest of the country. Or carmakers may just comply with Californias rules, which would negate the EPAs rollback. Or Pruitt and Trump could try to deny California its longstanding power to enact emissions standards, triggering (another) legal battle with the state.

It sure sounds like Pruitt is readying for a war. Cooperative federalism doesnt mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country, he said in a statement. California leaders, already practiced in Trump resistance, are digging in as well. The state has already intervened in a lawsuit filed by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to overturn the federal fuel-efficiency standards. Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said his office is prepared to sue again to fight the administrations war on our environment.

Pruitts efforts are a colossal waste of time and money. Every other government in the industrialized world recognizes that climate change is real and that it will take serious action now to minimize the devastating effects of global warming. The leading world economies also recognize that there is a much-needed shift from fossil fuel vehicles underway, and they are choosing to lead the transition to low- and no-carbon transportation systems.

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Even automakers know this. Thats why most of them are already developing and marketing electric and hybrid models to sell around the world. Instead of making progress toward innovation and a cleaner future, Trump and Pruitt have chosen to keep this country guzzling gas and pumping out carbon.

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President Trump has spent part of the last three days issuing blustery tweets over an annual caravan of mostly Central American migrants moving northward through Mexico, many of them heading for the U.S. border. The caravan, which dates back a decade, was designed to create something of a herd approach to safety  traveling in large numbers makes it harder for criminal predators and immigration enforcers to act. But it also was conceived by the organizers, Pueblo sin Fronteras (People Without Borders) to draw attention to the plight of people fleeing violence in places such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Now President Trump has helped make their protest for them by drawing global attention to what otherwise likely would have been a minor story, while incoherently savaging Mexico and Honduras (where most of the caravan marchers reportedly are from), threatening aid programs and, again, vowing to end the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trumps string of hyperbolic tweets about the caravan fits the presidents pattern of recklessly disregarding the truth to score political points.

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there, Trump posted Tuesday morning. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen.

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Had the president paused to think about the ramifications of reducing aid to Honduras, he might have realized that it would only serve to further destabilize the country, adding more impetus for people to flee. Meanwhile, the Mexican government appears to have intercepted the main part of the caravan, turning some members around and discussing humanitarian visas for others.

Mexico has stepped up its efforts in recent years to slow the flow of migrants across its country. During the humanitarian crisis that began in 2014 of unaccompanied minors traversing Mexico from Central America to seek asylum in the United States, President Obama sent trainers and equipment to help Mexico beef up enforcement at its southern border with Guatemala. Last year alone Mexico stopped 82,000 Central Americans from moving north, and from October 2014 to May 2015, Mexico detained more Central Americans than the U.S. Border Patrol caught crossing in from Mexico.

Trumps string of hyperbolic tweets about the caravan fits the presidents pattern of recklessly disregarding the truth to score political points. Here, his goal seems to be to turn a larger-than-usual, but utterly manageable, protest into an unprecedented border crisis. Witness his comment at the White House on Monday about possibly sending troops to the southern border, as if we were about to be overrun by Mongol invaders.

The number of migrants may seem large  estimates of the size of the caravan have run from 1,200 to 1,500 people  but many of its members say they intend to seek asylum in Mexico. In fact, by Tuesday morning, the group was already starting to splinter. And even the original number is no more than what border agents might see coming into the United States on a typical day. The Border Patrol reported detaining nearly 37,000 people just in February along the Southwest border. Adding a few hundred more people seeking asylum is hardly a flood.

Ultimately, Trumps tirade amounts to little more than a bit of showboating for his nativist loyalists and an attempt to divert the rest of the publics attention from the latest ration of scandals and missteps, from the ongoing Mueller investigation to the costly tariffs China just imposed on U.S. pork, fruit and other exports in retaliation for Trumps tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. But the presidents bluster wont get him anywhere on immigration reform. Trump announced the death of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program (prematurely; it continues while a legal challenge proceeds) and again blamed the Democrats in Congress, even though he rejected serious legislative proposals to grant relief to immigrants who have lived here without permission after arriving as children.

Immigration is vital to the countrys future, but the system has been dysfunctional for years, leaving some 11 million immigrants living and working in the shadows. Its a thorny issue freighted with ethnic and class politics, one that will take a knowledgeable and savvy leader trusted by the left and the right to fix. Heres hoping such a person runs for president in 2020, because such leadership clearly is beyond Trumps skill set.

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These are difficult days for schools as they try to figure out how and when to discipline students for misbehavior, disruption, bullying and other actions. Social media has further complicated the matter, blurring the lines between behavior on campus, where schools clearly can set rules, and behavior off campus, where it is not so obvious that they can. As unclear as the lines might be, though, several recent cases show a disturbing willingness among schools to leap over them:

 In Houston, a student was suspended last fall for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thats just ludicrous in this day and age; its been accepted for decades that students should not be compelled to participate in the pledge against their will. The student is suing, and we hope shell win.

 In Nevada, a high school student used foul language during a phone call to a congressmans office to argue for stronger gun control. The office then complained to his school, and the boy was suspended. But what right does the school have to punish a kid for speaking his mind, even rudely, on a public policy issue when hes not in school?

 In New Jersey, a school district adopted a policy that banned students from being in possession of guns  off campus as well as on. But really, shouldnt it be obvious even to strong supporters of gun control that a school cant punish students for engaging in a perfectly legal activity  such as going to a firing range with their parents  after school hours? After an outcry involving two students who supposedly did just that, the school district said this week that it is modifying the policy so it no longer covers legal gun use off campus.

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What could these school officials be thinking?

Then theres a whole separate series of controversies over clothing. In 2015, a school pulled a student from class and reprimanded her for wearing a T-shirt saying, Nobody knows Im a lesbian. The school argued that the shirt was offensive and distracting, before being forced  rightly  to back down. Still, the next year, shortly before the 2016 presidential election, a student at a Florida school reportedly was told she would have to change out of her anti-Hillary Clinton T-shirt or go home for the day. She chose the latter.

School administrators too often have confused controversy with disruption.

Schools (and occasionally courts) appear to need repeated reminders that students have a right to express their opinions, including unpopular ones, in school and out. It can get complicated because schools do have a right to step in when the language is truly threatening or disruptive. But school administrators too often have confused controversy with disruption. Some students might not like what they see on another students T-shirt. They might even find it offensive. But they dont need to be sheltered from controversy or offense. Chances are theyll talk about it, debate it, argue over it  and thats a good thing.

School authorities also should keep in mind that girls are not being disruptive by wearing leggings to school, and it is not their job to prevent boys from being distracted, an excuse that many a principal has used over the years to place restrictions on clothing. Schools have a right to set dress codes within reason, but pretending that girls are responsible for the behavior of boys sets an unacceptable double standard.

(Then there was the Houston school that threatened kids with three days of suspension if they joined students across the country in walking out of class for 17 minutes in response to the school shootings in Parkland, Fla. That may not have infringed on any constitutional rights, but it was certainly an excessive reaction.)

Even more dicey are situations in which students misbehave off campus. A Bay Area high school rightly disciplined students for being involved in racist posts in which photos of students at their school, all female and almost all people of color, were shown with nooses drawn around their necks. These images go beyond expressing opinions or simply being offensive; even though they were created off campus, they are intimidating, if not downright threatening, to people at the school.

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But its difficult to believe that the New Jersey school district mentioned above thought it had the right to regulate students target shooting off campus under completely legal circumstances. Or that the Nevada school believed it could punish teenagers for using foul language outside of class that was not directed toward anyone at the school.

There are certainly difficult decisions to be made from time to time about free speech on school campuses, but these cases werent complicated. School officials have a responsibility to keep their students safe and learning on campus, but no one hired them to be the police of controversial personal expression or of student morality.

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For a while, a set of liberals has argued that Donald Trump isnt an aberration from other Republican presidents. Now some surprising conservatives, including friends and colleagues of mine, are starting to agree.

The conservative arguments take several forms, but a key point shared by all of them is that theres nothing new about Trumps melding of populism and conservatism.

I think people who see Trumpism as something aberrant in the Republican Party havent thought much about the history of the Republican Party. Unless theyre NeverTrumpers, in which case theyre in a state of denial, Sean Trende of Real Clear Politics argued in a much-discussed Twitter peroration. Successful Republican campaigns and presidencies have always involved an integration of the partys populist and establishment wings.

Henry Olsen, a scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, has been arguing for quite a while that Trump is a more authentic incarnation of Reaganism, because Trumps active leadership style and his combination of populism with market economics is far closer to Reagans words and deeds than anything House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky offer.

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Rich Lowry, my boss at National Review, agrees. Writing in Politico, he recounts Reagans and other past Republican presidents deft use of populist issues and themes to win both the GOP nomination and the White House. We can argue about what role populism and nationalism should have in conservative politics, Lowry said, but that they have a place, and always have, is undeniable.

Lowry is right. It is undeniable. It is also undeniable that Democrats from Andrew Jackson to FDR to Barack Obama have used populism to galvanize their candidacies and presidencies. This fact alone should tell you something: Not all populisms are the same, because though they all claim to be the voice of the people, they invariably speak with a specific voice for a specific subset of the people.

Populism is a bottom-up phenomenon, but it is shaped and defined by the rhetoric from the top.

Or as then-candidate Trump put it in May 2016: The only important thing is the unification of the people  because the other people dont mean anything.

Populism is a bottom-up phenomenon, but it is shaped and defined by rhetoric from the top. And just as there are differences between left and right populism, there are different kinds of conservative populism.

Until recently, right-wing populism manifested itself in the various forms of the tea party, which emphasized limited government and fiscal restraint. That populism was not only very different from the populism of Occupy Wall Street, it is very different from Trumps version.

It is true that Reagan championed populist themes, but no one can seriously dispute that Reagans themes and rhetoric were decidedly un-Trumpian. The conservative populist who delivered A Time for Choosing used broadly inclusive language, focusing his ire at a centralized government that reduced a nation of aspiring individuals to the masses.

This was a running theme of Reagans rhetoric. Ive been privileged to meet people all over this land in the special kind of way you meet them when you are campaigning, he said in a 1978 radio address. They are not the masses, or as the elitists would have it  the common man. They are very uncommon. Individuals each with his or her own hopes and dreams, plans and problems and the kind of quiet courage that makes this whole country run better than just about any other on Earth.

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Reagans populist rhetoric was informed by a moderate, big-hearted temperament, a faith in American exceptionalism and a fondness for immigration. He warned of concentrated power that corrodes self-government.

From time to time weve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by and of the people, Reagan declared in his first inaugural. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?

Trump rejects American exceptionalism, saying that other nations have outsmarted us. His indictment of our own government is that it is too weak and dumb. His solution: I alone can fix it.

Im not merely indulging in Reagan nostalgia. Every president enlists populist passion, but to leave it at that ignores the purpose of that passion and reduces the people to nothing more than the masses.

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jgoldberg@latimescolumnists.com

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The Supreme Court, columnist Finley Peter Dunne observed a century ago, follows the elections. Todays Supreme Court appears on the verge of determining elections  in the Republican Partys favor.

Three cases under consideration this term, and a fourth that is sure to come before the court either later this term or next, could well tilt elections in the GOPs favor.

In the first of those cases, Janus vs. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the court has been asked to overturn a 40-year-old precedent, the Abood decision. A finding for Janus would mean public employee unions have no right to collect partial dues from nonmembers whom they are nonetheless legally obligated to represent in dealings with management. (Nonmembers are already permitted to withhold the portion of their dues that goes to the unions political activities.)

In the second and third cases, which are challenges to gerrymandering in Wisconsin and Maryland, the court has been asked to sustain or overturn the hyper-partisan creation of districts by state legislatures.

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The fourth case that will doubtless appear on the courts docket in coming months arises from the challenges that California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and a group of 12 other state attorneys general have lodged against the U.S. Census Bureau for its decision to require respondents to the 2020 census to state whether or not theyre citizens.

While each of these cases raises a host of legal issues, they all are fundamentally about the partisan balance of power.

If, as expected, the five Republican appointees on the court rule for the plaintiff in Janus (the plaintiff is an Illinois state worker named Mark Janus), public employee unions will be decimated. That at least some of the GOP justices dislike such unions was clear from Justice Anthony M. Kennedys remarks during oral arguments in the case. The problem with those unions, Kennedy said, is that they advocate for a greater size workforce, against privatization, against merit promotion, for teacher tenure, for higher wages, for massive government, for increasing bonded indebtedness, for increasing taxes. Kennedys rant constituted a political condemnation of public sector unions; it didnt touch on any legal issues.

The courts GOP contingents may not amount to much as defenders of democracy and majority rule, but theyve been powerful champions of Republican rule.

A pro-Janus ruling by the GOP Gang of Five  when added to the Republican justices decision in Citizens United, which overturned precedent to permit corporate campaign contributions  would amount to a new body of law that plainly favors capital over labor. More immediately, because deciding for Janus would greatly reduce the resources that public employee unions collect in general, it would also reduce what the unions spend on politics and elections  which, given the GOPs profoundly anti-union animus, generally goes to Democratic campaigns.

Indeed, public employee unions are a linchpin of Democratic political efforts, playing a key role in mobilizing minority voters and funding other progressive organizations. Like Citizens United, Janus could give an enduring assist to the Republicans electoral prospects. Such a ruling could well be labeled Son of Bush vs. Gore.

Other such sons stand in the wings. Confronted with large-scale gerrymandering of congressional and legislative districts following the 2010 elections, and with evidence of the data-driven precision that now enables statehouses to indulge in such partisan line-drawing, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. nonetheless demonstrated his horror, in oral arguments last week, at any efforts to curtail such efforts. I really dont see how any legislature will ever be able to redistrict, he said, if the court were to suggest any guidelines for fair representation. Because so many state governments are in Republican hands, the extremes of partisan gerrymandering are mostly on the GOP side, though the Maryland case concerns a Democratic gerrymander.

The Trump administrations creation of a citizenship question on the 2020 census will confront the court with yet another partisan test. In an era of anti-immigrant fervor, the question will doubtless compel thousands, perhaps millions, of the foreign born, with or without documents, to avoid participating in the census. That would thereby inaccurately over-represent whites and the population of rural areas  in both cases, preponderantly Republican  in the next round of congressional reapportionment. In a nation growing more racially diverse and in which millennials are disproportionately liberal, one way the GOP can retain power is by decreasing representation from diverse, urban areas though population undercount.

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The Republicans long-term strategy is clear in all three of these areas  dismantling Democrats political infrastructure by weakening unions, suppressing Democratic votes through gerrymander, and undercounting Democrat constituencies to lessen their impact in the House of Representatives. It wont work, however, unless their men on the court opt to enshrine those stratagems as constitutional.

To date, the GOP justices and their recent predecessors have cooperated fully: They weakened the Voting Rights Act that protects minority voters; Alito literally asked for a challenge to Abood in one of his opinions; they strengthened the political speech of wealthy corporations and the donor class over ordinary Americans in Citizens United; not to mention what happened in 2000 when they made George W. Bush president.

The courts GOP contingents may not amount to much as defenders of democracy and majority rule, but theyve been powerful champions of Republican rule  a status that this years rulings may well, and disastrously, confirm.

Harold Meyerson is executive editor of the American Prospect. He is a contributing writer to Opinion.

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To the editor: Labeling the protests in Irvine against the homeless encampments as an Asian victory makes the April 1 article In fighting homeless camp, Irvines Asians win, but at a cost, race-baiting at its finest.

It notes the high turnout among the Chinese, Korean and other Asian populations at an Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting without taking into account the fact that the city of Irvine has more Asian residents than white. Naturally the turnout was what it was.

The article makes it sound as if Asians arbitrarily rallied together to fight the scourge of homelessness when it was simply the residents of the city that the encampment would potentially be relocated to taking action.

It further fails to mention how homelessness has been fought in other Southern California communities by other ethnic groups (such as whites and Latinos in the city of Anaheim, the original site of the encampment in question), making it more of a class issue rather than one of race.

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Yoonj Kim, Venice

..

To the editor: I am disturbed at the lack of moral leadership by the Orange County supervisors on homelessness. I am also offended by the response of Irvines Asian immigrants.

Irvine prides itself as a model of diversity, but the reaction by residents to a proposed homeless shelter in that city shows a distinct lack of compassion for those who have not fared as well in our communities.

I do not speak against immigration; it has made our country stronger and more interesting (I am married to an immigrant). But if each city would do its share to house and protect homeless people, we would not have people dying on the streets.

We should encourage our city councils and county supervisors to claim the moral high ground. We forget we are all human beings and children of God.

Suzanne Darweesh, Fullerton

..

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To the editor: I read Sundays print Los Angeles Times (on Easter, Christianitys most important holiday, no less).

There was an article about a $35-million, luxury dog and cat hotel, and another about mass protests from multiple communities (including some of our most affluent) against the sheltering of homeless humans. As if I needed reminding that I live in Orange County.

If people dont want homeless shelters in their communities, how about using the former military bases at Tustin and El Toro? Oh, thats right, those are in Orange County.

David Goodman, Aliso Viejo

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Allies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook

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Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings  one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook

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U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook

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Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook

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He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect  despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook

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Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram  which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal  claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook

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President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook

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It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook

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New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook

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Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause.  #Georgia  Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook

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U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook

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Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook

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Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook

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Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook

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Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution  something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm  U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush.



The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T  Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY  LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook

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Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook

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Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook

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Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook

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Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook

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As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

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As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

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Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook

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James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump  as recently as Tuesday  continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along  that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right  to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook

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Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook

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Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook

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Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops  You really are our heroes, he said  as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water  we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook

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Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook

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Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see.  James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook

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Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes  he last won reelection by a 14-point margin  suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook

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Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook

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Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January  eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook

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Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook

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Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook

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Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook

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Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election  again, in blowout fashion  but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook

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Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook

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Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes  which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook

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Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook

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Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook

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Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook

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GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10.  Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook

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Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook

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Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook

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Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook

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Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook

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CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook

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Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks  Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank  when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while  including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook

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Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook

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ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook

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Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

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Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

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White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters...  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook

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Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press  President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook

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Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there  the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day  and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event  a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook

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Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children  the older ones are 5 and 2  about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals  her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican  she the race felt m
A federal judge sentenced Alex van der Zwaan, an attorney, to 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine on Tuesday for lying to federal investigators in the Russia probe, making him the first defendant in the special counsel case to face sentencing.

Van der Zwaan pleaded guilty in February to lying about his conversations with Rick Gates, who was Donald Trumps deputy campaign chairman in 2016, and an unnamed person who prosecutors say has ties to Russian intelligence.

This was more than a mistake, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said as she rejected defense lawyers pleas to keep Van der Zwaan out of prison. This was more than a lapse or a misguided moment.

She said Van der Zwaan appeared to be a smart and up-and-coming young man, but said his expressions of remorse were somewhat muted, to say the least.

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Earlier, Van der Zwaan had told the judge: What I did was wrong. I apologize to the court for my conduct.

Van der Zwaan, 33, was born in Brussels and is a Dutch citizen. Before his arrest, he lived in London with his wife and worked for a prominent U.S. law firm there. His license to practice law in England and Wales will likely be revoked. He did not have a license to practice law in the United States.

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs office did not take a position on whether Van der Zwaan should face time behind bars, but suggested he should face a clear penalty. He faced up to six months in prison under sentencing guidelines.

People need to know there are consequences for withholding documents and consequences for lying to the government, Andrew Weissmann, one of the prosecutors, told the judge.

In addition to Van der Zwaan, four other people have pleaded guilty to criminal charges brought by Mueller, who is investigating whether anyone on Trumps team assisted Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, or committed other crimes.

As part of their plea deals, all four agreed to cooperate with Muellers investigation. Sentencing for them, including Gates, has been put off until their cooperation is complete.

A sixth defendant, Paul Manafort, Trumps former campaign chairman, is fighting multiple charges of money laundering, bank fraud and tax evasion in federal courts in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Manafort, whose case is before the same judge in Washington, has asked Jackson to dismiss the charges against him, arguing that Mueller wasnt empowered to investigate his lucrative lobbying work on behalf of Ukraines pro-Kremlin government because it wasnt related to the U.S. presidential election.

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Muellers office rejected those arguments on Monday night, giving the court a heavily-redacted memo that Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein wrote last August. Rosenstein, who supervises Muellers probe, wrote that the special counsel was authorized to probe allegations of improper payments related to Manaforts work.

The memo says Mueller also was authorized to examine allegations that Manafort committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials in connection with the U.S. election. Manafort has not been charged with crimes related to the campaign.

Prosecutors have charged 13 Russians and three Russian entities  including the Internet Research Agency, which U.S. officials said churned out social media posts to manipulate American public opinion during the 2016 campaign.

Its unclear if Van der Zwaans case is related to the U.S. election. As a lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, he helped produce a controversial report used to defend the former pro-Russian government of Ukraine against accusations that it had improperly prosecuted a political opponent.

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Gates and Manafort helped lead an undisclosed lobbying campaign on behalf of their Ukrainian client, generating tens of millions of dollars that the two then sought to hide in overseas accounts and front companies, according to court documents.

When asked by investigators about his contacts with Gates and another unnamed person, Van der Zwaan withheld information about communications in the months leading up to the U.S. election. He also deleted messages, according to prosecutors.

In a court filing, the special counsels office said Van der Zwaan lied repeatedly, and prior to which he destroyed and failed to produce pertinent documents.

The unnamed person has ties to Russian intelligence and the lies all involved matters pertinent to the investigation, according to prosecutors.

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The unnamed person is reportedly Konstantin Kilimnik, who previously served in the Russian military, but denied ties to its intelligence service. Kilimnik worked with Gates and Manafort in Ukraine.

Van der Zwaans lawyers had asked the court to spare their client a prison sentence, describing him as a loving husband, expectant father, devoted son and caring friend and godparent.

Although Alex committed a serious offense, just punishment does not require incarceration, the lawyers said in a court filing. They also said Van der Zwaan made a concerted effort to correct the record after initially lying,

One of his lawyers, William Schwartz, told the judge on Tuesday that Van der Zwaans wife is in the middle of a difficult pregnancy in London. She is due to give birth in August.

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She needs him now, not three months from now or four months from now, he said. The judge said Van der Zwaan could leave the country after his incarceration.

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerian

ALSO:

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Spurned by big law firms, Trump relies on a handful of lesser-known attorneys

Trump is left with little legal help as Russia probe reaches a crucial phase

UPDATES:

12:20 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional details.

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11:40 a.m.: This article was updated with details from a court filing in the Paul Manafort case.

8:55 a.m.: This article was updated with details from the sentencing.

8:40 a.m.: This article was updated with details from the court.

This article was originally published at 7:10 a.m.
President Trump called on Tuesday for using the military to guard the border with Mexico until his promised wall is built, highlighting his growing frustration as nationalist allies criticize him for failing to get Congress to fully fund construction.

Until we can have a wall and proper security, we are going to be guarding our border with our military. Thats a big step, Trump said during a lunchtime meeting with leaders of three Baltic nations.

We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and, by the way, never showing up for court, Trump said.

Immigrants in the country illegally who claim asylum or have another potential legal basis for staying in the U.S. are often released from detention before their hearing. A large majority do show up for court dates, government figures indicate.

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Late Tuesday, after Trump had met with senior advisors and Cabinet officials including Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the White House released a statement clarifying that the president intended to mobilize the National Guard rather than deploy active-duty troops.

The move would be part of a broader strategy, the statement said, including pressuring Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations.

Even as Trump talked of dispatching soldiers for domestic duty, he repeated a surprise statement he first made last week, at an Ohio appearance, that he was likely to order U.S. troops to be pulled from Syria. This time, however, he added that he could change his mind if Saudi Arabia agrees to pay the bill.

Sometimes, its time to come back home, and were thinking about that very seriously, he said.

As for deploying troops to the border with Mexico, it was unclear how much  if any  planning had been done by Mattis or other top military officials to comply with Trumps request. In interviews, several military officials said Trumps announcement caught them off guard.

What youve heard from the White House is the first Ive heard, said Kurt M. Rauschenberg, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau, the Pentagon agency that oversees state National Guard organizations.

Deploying active-duty troops for domestic law enforcement is prohibited under a federal law known as the Posse Comitatus Act. In the past, however, the military has been used to aid the Border Patrol in a supporting role, without arrest authority.

Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama mobilized National Guard troops to help the Border Patrol monitor parts of the border; actual policing was left to border agents. Whether Trump envisioned a more dramatic militarization was not clear until the White House issued its statement hours later. The president often speaks before his staff has a chance to fully vet and plan how to put his ideas into effect.

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Despite Trumps urgent language, the number of people apprehended crossing the border  generally considered a roughly accurate gauge of illegal crossings  has fallen sharply in recent years and is now at the lowest ebb since 1971, about one-fifth the level of the late 1990s, according to Border Patrol data.

Presidents have used troops to help secure the border for over a century. Most recently, in 2010, Obama authorized up to 1,200 National Guard members to assist the Border Patrol, mostly in Arizona, for a year. They mostly provided surveillance, riding in Border Patrol vehicles and using binoculars, night-vision goggles and drones to spot people crossing the border, then reporting such incursions to federal agents.

Bush sent about 6,000 National Guard troops from 2006 to 2008 to the border in Arizona, California and New Mexico.

Governors also can mobilize National Guard units to assist with law enforcement in declared emergencies, which are generally limited in scope and time. State governments usually bear those costs.

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Democrats criticized Trumps call for border troops.

Trump intends to employ our Armed Forces to advance his extreme anti-immigrant agenda, while wasting time, resources and money and depleting our military strength in areas of real danger, said Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, a Marine combat veteran. Thats an insult to our troops and it will harm our military as an institution. Congress must stop this misguided scheme.

On a related matter, the Pentagon acknowledged last week that Mattis has discussed with Trump the presidents recent idea for potentially using military funds to pay for construction of a border wall  an action that would require approval of a likely reluctant Congress. But the military did not mention the prospect of border deployments.

Trump campaigned on building a border wall, and he promised Mexico would pay for it. Mexican government officials have consistently said they will not.

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Trump signed a $1.3-trillion spending bill last month to finance the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2018, after first threatening to veto it for providing too little for a wall. The bill allotted $1.6 billion for overall border security, with only a portion going for wall construction. Estimates for the full costs range in the tens of billions of dollars.

Influential supporters subsequently chastised Trump to show more resolve in fighting for wall money. Ann Coulter, an anti-immigration pundit who had been an early cheerleader for Trump, has blistered him since he signed the spending bill, invoking the prospect of his impeachment on Twitter and calling him a failure in the New York Times.

As soon as he gets to the White House, suddenly all he wants is the approval of the Manhattan fancy people, she said in a recent Fox Business Network interview.

Coulter and like-minded conservatives have also focused attention on reports of a group of Central Americans heading north to escape poverty and violence in their countries, prompting the president to echo their warnings in recent tweets. On Tuesday morning, for example, Trump tweeted ominously about what he calls a Caravan of People from Honduras coming across our Weak Laws border with Mexico.

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If it reaches our border, our laws are so weak and so pathetic, Trump said in later remarks, adding it is like we have no border.

He blamed Obama for an immigration practice that critics call catch and release, which is actually a policy that predated Obama, based on laws and court rulings intended to protect minors and victims of human trafficking from indefinite detention. Some detainees typically are released with summons for later court appearances.

The caravan of about 1,100 immigrants mostly from Honduras is now resting in southern Mexico and seeking advice on obtaining visas in Mexico, mostly on humanitarian grounds. Most of those involved in the symbolic march were not expected to proceed to the United States.

Trump took credit for pressuring Mexico to break up the caravan, having warned the country again of implications for ongoing negotiations to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement. He also threatened to cut aid for Honduras.

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Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen, he said in a tweet.

Trumps blast against Honduras over the immigration issue comes as his administration has sought an especially warm relationship with Honduras far-right government. Honduras was among only eight countries that sided with the U.S. in December when the United Nations voted overwhelmingly to condemn Trumps decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The decision earned Honduras a high profile visit from U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as recently as late February. During the visit, Haley tried to soften a prior threat Trump made to the countrys foreign aid over the issue of drug trafficking.

The threat against Mexico and Honduras as well as the call for soldiers on the border signal the degree to which Trump, with seemingly increased impulsiveness, speaks and sets policy apart from his advisors.

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Times staff writers Brian Bennett and Joseph Tanfani contributed to this report.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbierman

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UPDATES:

6:20 p.m.: This article was updated to include a late White House statement.

3:15 p.m.: This article was updated with statistics on historical numbers on border crossings.

This article was originally published at 2:55 p.m.
Heres a sight for four eyes. Scientists say theyve found evidence of a fourth eye in the fossil skulls of extinct monitor lizards  an ocular abundance found in no other known jawed vertebrate.

The discovery, published in the journal Current Biology, offers scientists a strange bloom on the vertebrate evolutionary tree.

Believe it or not, many fishes and frogs have whats known as a parietal eye, or a third eye, in the middle of their foreheads that can sense light and is linked to the pineal gland, which produces melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate sleep patterns.

Many lizards and tuataras also have a light-sensitive third eye, but scientists argue that it may have evolved from a separate organ right next to the pineal organ called the parapineal organ.

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That third eye is typically rudimentary but still has the basic parts of an eye  connective tissue like the whites of our eyes as well as a very simple retina and lens.

Its not a great eye, but its a real eye, said study co-author Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, a paleontologist and developmental biologist at Yale University.

Such third eyes might be useful for absorbing slightly different wavelengths of sunlight, keeping the bodys circadian rhythm in sync, signaling the reproductive season based on the time of year, or even helping an animal to orient itself in space.

Deep on the stem of the mammal lineage, our ancestors also had a third eye on the top of the head, Bhullar said.

Over time, many vertebrate lineages independently lost this third eye.

But scientists think our early vertebrate ancestors also had a fourth eye, he added  one that was lost much earlier in our evolutionary history.

All vertebrates including our ancestors ancestrally had four eyes, Bhullar said. Thats the basal state for all vertebrate animals.

The only vertebrate species today with four eyes is the jawless lamprey, he added, because lampreys are some of the most primitive survivors of a lineage that diverged from other vertebrates earlier than anything else.

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But years ago, lead author Krister Smith, a paleontologist at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Germany, found a fossil that led him to suspect that there might be reptiles who could have regained a fourth eye.

So the scientists went looking, trawling through museum specimens gathered in 1871 from Bridger Basin, Wyoming. They found fragmentary skull bones from two individuals belonging to an extinct monitor lizard species, Saniwa ensidens, that lived some 49 million years ago.

When they subjected the fossils to CT scans, they found that there were two cavities right where the third and fourth eye should be  and the fourth-eye cavity was shaped as if an eye had indeed been present, with a hemispherical top leading into a stem, rather like a mushroom or a flower.

Its sort of regained that ancestral four-eyed condition after hundreds of millions of years of having three eyes, Bhullar said.

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Why a fourth eye would have reemerged in this species, and what evolutionary benefits it provided them, remains a mystery.

They probably have a number of different functions that we dont know about, he said.

For an animal that likely had to regulate its body temperature by spending time in the sun or avoiding it, having two separate organs staring up at the sky might have been very useful, Bhullar said.

Still, even among the jawless lampreys that live today, he added, the purpose of a fourth eye is poorly understood.

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amina.khan@latimes.com

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Imagine you are the tightfisted potentate of a small republic, plotting the least expensive way to care for subjects in fragile health who depend on your beneficence.

You could watch while your subjects who are elderly or disabled (or both) scramble to find and pay for healthy meals. And you could open your checkbook each time one of these subjects lapses into a health crisis that calls for a trip to a hospitals emergency department in an ambulance.

But you might just try feeding these needy subjects instead.

A study conducted in Massachusetts suggests that making regular deliveries of meals to people who were deemed food insecure drove down their use of costly medical services such as emergency department visits, ambulance calls and, in some cases, hospital admissions.

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The net savings to a budget-conscious ruler, even after providing meals to her subjects free of charge, could be at least $10 per subject per month.

A more specialized program that provided meals targeted to recipients special medical needs yielded monthly savings as high as $220 per person.

The new study offers some clear evidence that even costly nutrition programs can pay handsome dividends when they are focused on low-income Americans who tend to have especially complex medical problems.

Those benefits translate not only into healthcare savings for governments or other program sponsors, said Dr. Seth A. Berkowitz, the studys lead author. They mean improved health for the people these programs feed, he said.

The study was published Monday in the journal Health Affairs.

Berkowitz and his colleagues measured the impact of two types of meal programs on a population at very high risk of experiencing health crises: adults who are eligible for both Medicare (the federal health insurance for seniors) and Medicaid (the state and federal program that provides health insurance for low-income people and those with disabilities). Study participants also had to face difficulties getting and paying for healthy food and/or preparing meals for themselves.

The authors of the new study took advantage of an ongoing health insurance program in Massachusetts to measure the impact of supplemental feeding initiatives. In one group they followed, 133 people got five days worth of lunches, dinners and snacks delivered once a week. These meals were tailored to their individual medical needs, such as diabetes, kidney disease and digestive problems.

The second group, of 624 people, got daily deliveries of a healthy lunch and dinner that were similar to those provided by Meals on Wheels.

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Over a period of 18 months ending in June 2016, the healthcare usage of each group was compared to those of two much larger comparison groups of Massachusetts residents composed by the researchers. Collectively and individually, those in the two comparison groups had similar health and income challenges to those who got meals delivered. But they fended for themselves at mealtimes.

Compared to their self-catering peers, participants who got the medically-tailored meals had 70% fewer emergency department visits and fewer than half as many hospital admissions. They called an ambulance for transport to the hospital  a very costly service  72% less often than those in their comparison group.

Participants who got the less customized meal-delivery service showed improvements that were slightly more modest. They had 44% fewer emergency department visits than their comparison group, had 12% fewer hospital admissions, and were 38% less likely to call for an ambulance.

Existing research shows that feeding programs (such as federally funded food stamps and the Women Infants and Children, or WIC, program) are effective at reducing food insecurity and improving nutrition, Berkowitz said. But its been harder to find research showing that such programs improve health  and yield healthcare savings by doing so.

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One 2013 study in Health Affairs projected that if every U.S. state in the lower 48 expanded the number of seniors receiving meals by 1%, 1,722 fewer Medicaid recipients would need to live in a nursing home. Expanding programs like Meals on Wheels would save 26 of 48 states money, that study found. And most states would experience a net annual savings from implementing the expansion.

For states or organizations looking to improve the health of some of the most vulnerable Americans, theres real potential here, said Berkowitz, an internist and public health specialist at University of North Carolinas School of Medicine who conducted the research while at Massachusetts General Hospital.

This is a population, he added, in which its been hard to move the needle. For these study participants, the provision of meals that were nutritious, prepared and delivered directly to the home appeared to be the key to improving health.

New York University food and nutrition expert Marion Nestle, who was not involved with the study, called the savings almost too large to be real.

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If it were that simple: you just have to give people meals to keep them out of hospitals? Nestle said. Wow! Im for it!

Yes, people should get fed. And having people eat healthfully is a really good idea, she added. The idea that it would help reduce healthcare costs makes perfect sense, and its wonderful to have evidence to demonstrate that.

The new study comes against the backdrop of changes in federal health spending and state Medicaid programs that are unlikely to make services more generous.

Just a year ago, the Trump administration proposed substantial cuts in federal programs that help fund initiatives such as Meals on Wheels. And states are being offered wide latitude in scaling back services or imposing new conditions on Medicaid recipients.

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Last year, Mick Mulvaney, President Trumps budget director, defended proposed cuts to the Community Development Block Grant program, which is widely used to help fund Meals on Wheels.

The program sounds good, Mulvaney said. But he bemoaned the dearth of evidence for its benefits. He promised the administration would propose cuts on programs that cannot show that they actually deliver the promises that weve made to people.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

@LATMelissaHealy

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Your financial health may have more bearing on your physical health than you realize.

American adults who experienced a sudden and substantial loss of wealth were 50% more likely to die in a 20-year period than were others in their age group whose financial picture remained relatively stable, or improved.

As bad as things were for those who experienced a negative wealth shock, they were even worse for Americans who didnt have any wealth in the first place. These folks were 67% more likely than their financially secure counterparts to die during a 20-year study period.

The findings, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., suggest that you should treat your bank account balance as a vital sign.

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The same goes for the value of your stock market investments, your individual retirement account, your home, your vehicles, your business or your other substantial assets.

Researchers tallied all of these things for a group of 8,714 Americans who participated in the Health and Retirement Study. They were born between 1931 and 1941 and were tracked from 1994 until death or 2014, whichever came first.

The study authors calculated the net worth of each participant in 1994 and updated that figure every other year. People were judged to have experienced a negative wealth shock if their net worth fell by 75% or more in a two-year period.

This sad fate befell 2,430  or about 1 in 4  of the study participants. Among them, their median loss was 92% of their net worth, which amounted to a median value of $101,568.

This sudden loss could have caused stress, inflammation and/or high blood pressure, any of which could make serious cardiovascular problems more likely, the study authors noted. In addition, a financial blow of this scale may well have prompted people to skip important (but expensive) medical appointments or to stop filling necessary (but pricey) prescriptions.

The Health and Retirement Survey data didnt provide researchers with clarity on these points. But it did show that the mortality rate for this subset of participants was 64.9 deaths per 1,000 person-years. That was more than double the mortality rate for those in the financially stable control group (30.6 deaths per 1,000 person-years).

After the researchers adjusted for factors such as race and ethnicity, age, education level, body mass index and smoking status, they calculated that the risk of dying between 1994 and 2014 was 50% higher for those who experienced a negative wealth shock. This held up regardless of how much money people had at the start of the study. However, the more risk-averse a person was, the stronger the association between a negative wealth shock and the risk of early death.

The approximately 50% relative increase in all-cause mortality that follows a financial loss of this magnitude is similar to the increase associated with a new diagnosis of coronary heart disease, according to an editorial that accompanied the study. It is sobering to contemplate that mortality rates were even greater among people who had no assets to lose.

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For the 749 people who began the study with no net assets or a negative net worth, the mortality rate was 73.4 deaths per 1,000 person-years. After adjustments, their risk of premature death was 67% higher than for those in the control group, the study authors calculated.

karen.kaplan@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @LATkarenkaplan and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.

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A Los Angeles man is in custody after police said he threatened a bus driver at the Burbank Metrolink station with a knife.

Miguel Herrera, 32, is accused by authorities of allegedly brandishing a knife at the driver after following him to the stations restroom area on Thursday around 4:40 p.m., according to Sgt. Derek Green, a spokesman for the Burbank Police Department.

He said witnesses heard Herrera yelling at the driver before pulling out the knife.

It sounds like this started as an argument when the bus driver was waiting to use the restroom for an extended period of time, Green said in an email.

Herrera was eventually detained by a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

A knife was recovered from his waistband, according to Green.

Described by Green as a transient, Herrera was on probation at the time of the incident and was not allowed to possess any weapons.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc
Huntington Beach plans to file a lawsuit against California and the state attorney general to challenge the legality of state mandates that expand protections for undocumented immigrants.

City Attorney Michael Gates said he will file the suit this week after the City Council gave its approval Monday night on a 6-1 vote. Councilwoman Jill Hardy dissented.

Huntington Beach joins a wave of opposition in Orange County to Californias sanctuary state laws, such as Senate Bill 54, which in many cases prohibits state and local police agencies from notifying federal officials when immigrants in their custody who may be subject to deportation are about to be released.

Several area cities have pushed against the sanctuary laws, starting in March, when the Los Alamitos City Council passed an ordinance opting out.

And the county Board of Supervisors voted last week to join a Trump administration lawsuit that contends the laws obstruct federal immigration law and thus violate the Constitutions supremacy clause, which gives federal law precedence over state law.

Gates said Huntington will be the first city to challenge the legality of SB 54, authored by state Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), and he said he hopes other cities in California follow our lead.

Mayor Mike Posey and Mayor Pro Tem Erik Peterson proposed the lawsuit as a way to seek relief from the states sanctuary policies.

City officials argue the state is unconstitutionally overreaching by preventing municipalities from taking certain actions and spending their general fund money on certain law enforcement.

U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) speaks in support of the Huntington Beach City Council filing a lawsuit against California over its sanctuary immigration laws during public comments Monday night. (Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer )

Before Monday nights vote, more than 100 speakers, including U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa), vehemently spoke about undocumented immigrants and sanctuary cities.

A majority of the audience dressed in Make America Great Again memorabilia and chanted USA, USA, USA. Many draped American flags on their backs and held signs with messages such as Build wall, deport them all and We love President Trump.

Residents who called on the City Council to vote against the lawsuit proposal were heckled by some in the audience, which prompted Posey to slam his gavel on the dais and warn the crowd that he would suspend the meeting if the outburst continued.

Huntington Beach Mayor Mike Posey asks the crowd for order during public comments regarding Senate Bill 54, the California sanctuary state immigration law, at Mondays City Council meeting. (Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer )

Sherman Oaks resident Genevieve Peters said the state had completely overreached their authority and added that weve come far and wide and locally to support the citys proposal. Some in the audience traveled from as far away as Phoenix.

Orange resident Gerald Thomas told how he and his family paid our dues and waited in line to become U.S. citizens after leaving the Philippines in 1972.

Nobody offered us sanctuary or an easier way. If I can do it, everyone who came here illegally can do it too, Thomas said. Its a personal insult if they think they can bypass our laws.

Mike McCoy, also of Orange, urged the council to send a message to Gov. Jerry Brown and to show respect and support for President Trump by filing the lawsuit.

But Bethany Webb of Huntington Beach urged the council to demonstrate that the city is inclusive and progressive.

Webb, who is part of HB Huddle, a political activist group that grew out of the 2017 Womens March, noted that many of the speakers supporting the lawsuit proposal werent from the area, and she said they were trying to make America hate again.

Supporters of Senate Bill 54, the California sanctuary state law, demonstrate during Mondays Huntington Beach City Council meeting. (Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer )

Victor Valladares, a member of Oak View Comunidad, a Latino advocacy group in Huntington Beach, wore a combination American and Mexican flag.

Valladares said immigrants are great contributors to society and said he wanted to debunk the idea that many are criminals.

After four hours of public comments, Peterson said the proposal was about retaining local control, not about immigration.

Anytime they try to claim state law thatll affect us, we fight them, Peterson said.

Hardy said the message wasnt clear. Out of 120 speakers, she said, only four mentioned local control.

Im really concerned with the message were sending, Hardy said. A big part of our job is to worry about the reputation of our city.

Councilwoman Barbara Delgleize said she was heartbroken by some of the rhetoric from the audience, but she voted in favor of the lawsuit after Police Chief Robert Handy supported it.

I never want my chief to say Im being held back or My officers cant do certain things,  Delgleize said. But I cannot tell you the heartbreak for me tonight what we experienced with people who are in this auditorium.

Priscella.Vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @vegapriscella
Two Orange County supervisors Monday urged cities to come forward with possible locations for temporary homeless shelters as pressure mounts to house people removed from Santa Ana River encampments.

The Board of Supervisors last week moved away from its plan to have county staff study moving hundreds of homeless people to temporary shelters in Huntington Beach, Laguna Niguel and Irvine after receiving pushback from those communities.

The board instead opted to come up with a new plan under the watchful eye of a federal judge overseeing a civil-rights lawsuit by seven homeless people and their advocates over the countys recent clearing of encampments along the river.

So far, no new plan has materialized. Many of the homeless who were moved from the camps are temporarily staying in motels, but the last of the motel vouchers handed out as part of an emergency aid package the supervisors approved in February have begun expiring. It isnt clear where the former camp residents will go next.

We are not wedded to any particular locations or any particular sites, board Chairman Andrew Do said Monday. We just want solutions. We need more options in order to house and provide emergency shelters for the homeless.

Do called for Mondays special meeting to have supervisors discuss and provide direction to staff about housing alternatives and transitional options for the countys homeless population. Do and Vice Chairman Shawn Nelson were the only board members who attended; Supervisors Michelle Steel, Todd Spitzer and Lisa Bartlett were absent.

Californias open-meetings law prohibits government panels from taking action without a majority of members present, so no vote was taken.

Its not easy to have these conversations, Nelson said. No one wants to be a participant.

Bartlett had a scheduled meeting with the city of San Juan Capistrano about another issue, so she could not attend Mondays discussion, according to her chief of staff, Victor Cao.

We considered rescheduling the existing meeting; however, we cant cancel on the basis of a special board meeting that has no substantive recommended actions on the agenda staff report, Cao wrote in an email. Supervisor Bartlett is willing to engage in a discussion about homelessness at a regularly scheduled board meeting and stresses the need for adhering to a public process.

Steels office said she also had a previous commitment. Spitzers office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The discussion came a day before U.S. District Judge David Carter is scheduled to hold a hearing in which some expect him to ask city officials to outline their resources for addressing homeless housing.

Nelson said Carter also could issue an injunction barring cities from enforcing their anti-camping laws in public spaces.

I think youd have utter panic if that happens, Nelson said.

Do and Nelson criticized some officials for fear mongering in their communities to rally people against temporary shelters.

We are not here to ram anything down peoples throats, but we have a problem, Do said.

Nelson has suggested that the 114-acre, state-owned Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa be used as an emergency homeless shelter. However, the Costa Mesa City Council last week voiced unanimous disapproval of the idea, supporting residents who said they were concerned that developing a shelter there would jeopardize public safety, reduce property values and unduly burden the city.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
The new Museum of Selfies opened this past weekend in Glendale.

The pop-up museum, which is scheduled to be open through May 31, is the creation of Tommy Honton and Tair Mamedov, two escape-room designers who, together, wanted to explore the history of the selfie and why people feel the need to capture and reproduce images of themselves.

Much of the art on display was designed and commissioned by Honton and Mamedov as well as work by artists inspired by the subject matter.

The Museum of Selfies is located at 211 N. Brand Blvd. in Glendale. Selfie-sticks are encouraged.

For more information, visit themuseumofselfies.com.

mark.kellam@latimes.com

Twitter: @lamarkkellam
La Canada Flintridge resident Stephen Gill, chairman and chief executive of the Gill Corp, was honored last month with the fourth annual Gilbert W. Speed award, presented by the Aviation Week Network.

The award was presented during the SpeedNews Commercial Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference in Beverly Hills. Gill was selected for the honor for his outstanding leadership and collaboration across the global aerospace and defense supply chain, according to a news release issued by the Gill Corp. It is named in memory of the man who founded SpeedNews, someone Gill knew well.

I am truly honored to receive this recognition in an industry thats been my lifes work, Stephen Gill stated in the release. Gil Speed and I shared a common passion for commercial aviation. Gil was a friend, trusted adviser and contributed greatly to the success of the Gill Corp. I am proud that SpeedNews and the Gil Speed family have selected me for this prestigious award and appreciate the opportunity to express my gratitude to my colleagues and family for their support throughout my 60-plus-year career.

Gill first began working in his familys business as a 14-year-old. He went on to attend and graduate from the University of Southern California. In 1991, he became chief executive of the firm, which in 2017 reported more than $260 million in sales and employs upward of 1,000 people around the globe.

Stephen exemplifies the qualities we remember in Gil Speed in terms of innovation and a customer-first leadership style, stated Greg Hamilton, president of Aviation Week Network. He also has inspired and mentored so many of todays best in science, engineering, manufacturing and operations.

carol.cormaci@latimes.com

Twitter: @CarolCormaci
Walk in a rain forest, see the Great Barrier Reef and learn ancient stories as told by indigenous peoples on a four-day Australia vacation organized by Touring Treasures, which plans custom itineraries.

The Queensland sampler includes helicopter trips and three nights stay at Silky Oaks Lodge, a high-end treehouse lodge on the banks of the Mossman River adjoining Daintree National Park, one of the worlds oldest living rain forests.

Helicopter rides will fly above the Great Barrier Reef and focus on islands and areas where whale, manta ray and turtle sightings are common.

Other highlights include an interactive rain forest tour with an indigenous guide, another helicopter tour that takes participants to a tropical rain forest pool for swimming and a Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk with indigenous peoples that includes storytelling.

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Dates: Custom dates available.

Price: About $4,300 per person, double occupancy. Includes accommodations, meals, activities, excursions and use of canoes. International airfare not included.

Info: Touring Treasures, (800) 536-5328

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The original Aug. 26, 1952, caption reported, Dont be alarmed, folks, this isnt the Man from Mars, nor One-Eyed Connolly. Its Jungle Boy, newest member of the local wrestling colony. He meets Joe Campbell at Olympic tomorrow night.

In a Aug. 26, 1952, Los Angeles Times column, Don Synder reported:

The night has a thousand eyes. They glow like burning coals full of hate, blood, vinegar, old lemon juice and cigar smog. From their darkened sanctuaries they peer maliciously at the snarling figure before them.

For out there, on the white square where central lights beam down on the rope-caged canvas lurks the hairy horror. He is Jungle Boy, wrestler at large.

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Small children sneer at him. Big men jeer at him. Medium-sized women leer at him. All other sized fans sneer, jeer and leer at him simultaneously.

It is one madhouse of screams inside the Olympic emporium. It is so noisy the barking crackerjacks man cannot put over his bargains.

Keel heem! shouts one. Moida da bum! heaves another. We aint a scart of ya! cries a kid with a waving lollypop.

It is as obvious as wool on a sheeps back. Nobody likes the hedgy-headed one

The identity of Jungle Boy is unknown. Hes mentioned in a several Los Angeles Times wrestling briefs during the summer of 1952.

This image by Art Rogers won first place for feature photography in the 1953 Associated Press contest for California and Nevada.

This post was originally published on Jan. 10, 2014.

See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here
Following the 1965 Watts riots, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Los Angeles. Larry Sharkeys news conference image above, was taken after a stormy meeting  as described in the Los Angeles Times  between King and Mayor Sam Yorty.

Yorty later criticized Kings suggestion that Police Chief William H. Parker resign because of the LAPDs actions during the riots.

April 12, 1967: Martin Luther King Jr. during a news conference at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Responding to criticism of his anti-Vietnam War stance, King said, Until we get rid of this war, national problems of poverty, slums and urban blight cannot be solved. Jack Carrick / Los Angeles Times

King, born on Jan. 15, 1929, and assassinated April 4, 1968, changed America forever with his leadership of the civil rights movement. His determination to bring change through nonviolent methods contributed to passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

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RELATED: How MLKs death affected a nation, as told by those who remember it 

Kings 1963 I Have a Dream speech is regarded as one of the finest in American history. In 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize.

For more on King, check out the Martin Luther King Jr. Center website.

During Kings years in the civil rights movement, he visited Southern California several times. This photo gallery consists of images taken by Los Angeles Times photographers.

This gallery was originally published on Jan. 16, 2012.

July 9, 1960: King with the Rev. Maurice Dawkins of the Peoples Independent Church of Christ when King was in Los Angeles for a Civil Rights rally and the Democratic National Convention. Jack Carrick / Los Angeles Times

June 18, 1961: King with California Gov. Pat Brown during a Freedom Rally at the L.A. Sports Arena, where Brown introduced King to an overflow crowd of 25,000. Jack Carrick / Los Angeles Times

June 18, 1961: The Sports Arena is filled to the rafters for the Freedom Rally where King spoke. Los Angeles Times

June 18, 1961: Overflow crowd outside the Sports Arena was able to hear Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. speech. Bill Murphy / Los Angeles Times

May 31, 1964: King speaks at a civil rights rally at L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Listening from left are entertainer Walter OKeefe, the Rev. Bryon C. Cole, the Rev. Joseph Francis and the Rev. John H. Burt. Cal Montney / Los Angeles Times

Oct. 27, 1964: King pauses to chat with a young girl during a tour of the Nickerson Gardens housing project. Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times

Feb. 24, 1965: A crowd of admirers welcomes King on his arrival at Los Angeles International Airport for a series of speeches. Jack Carrick / Los Angeles Times

April 27, 1965: King addresses students at UCLA. John Malmin / Los Angeles Times

Aug. 17, 1965: King speaks to the press after arriving at LAX on a trip to try to calm racial tensions in the city following the Watts riots. Behind him are the Rev. H. H. Brookins, left, and Norman B. Houston. Jack Carrick / Los Angeles Times

Apr. 7, 1968: A crowd of over 20,000 attended a memorial service for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at L.A. Coliseum three days after his assassination in Memphis, Tenn. Art Rogers / Los Angeles Times

Jan. 16, 1987: Coretta Scott King, lower right, gazes up at a bronze bust of her late husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., after unveiling it in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. She called the statue a reminder of our moral obligation to civil rights. Bernie Boston / Los Angeles Times

See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here
The Indian government on Tuesday abruptly withdrew a plan to blacklist journalists for spreading fake news, after an outcry from reporters who said it would muzzle the press ahead of national elections next year.

The measure announced Monday night would have stripped any print or television journalist accused of having created and/or propagated fake news of government accreditation, which confers access to official buildings and events.

Mainstream news organizations said the accreditation is necessary for reporters in the capital, New Delhi, to do their jobs  and the blacklist would effectively allow the government to control which journalists get access to news.

Critics said the policy, which did not define what news would be considered fake, could have been used to stifle coverage critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modis government.

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Shekhar Gupta, a prominent print and TV journalist, called the measure a breathtaking assault on mainstream media that recalled efforts by a former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, to impose a draconian defamation bill in the 1980s. (Gandhi withdrew the bill.) Mamata Banerjee, leader of West Bengal state and a leading Modi rival, called it a brazen attempt to curb press freedom.

Make no mistake: this is a breathtaking assault on mainstream media. Its a moment like Rajiv Gandhis anti-defamation bill. All media shd bury their differences and resist this. https://t.co/pyvgymhIkF  Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) April 2, 2018

The PIB circular on #FakeNews control is a brazen attempt to curb press freedom, a sure sign that the Govt has lost its way. We demand the immediate withdrawal of such a draconian move. And

what about #FakeNews spread by a political party on a regular basis ?  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 3, 2018

Indias information ministry withdrew the measure by lunchtime  but by then it had already renewed questions about freedom of the press in the worlds most populous democracy.

Under Modis powerful Hindu nationalist government, stories that challenge his allies and policies have been met with threats, lawsuits and cries of fake news.

Modi, who took office in 2014 and is expected to seek reelection next year, has actively avoided mainstream journalists and hasnt held a news conference since becoming Indias leader. He has preferred to reach supporters through his official app  which has been downloaded more than 5 million times  and his Twitter feed, which has more than 41 million followers, the most among world leaders after President Trump.

But as many as 60% of Modis Twitter followers are believed to be fake. And his government has a history of spreading misleading information, which journalists said made it a bad judge of what constitutes fake news.

Modis science minister recently claimed that ancient Hindu texts had a theory superior to Albert Einsteins theory of relativity. In 2015, the government information office released a clumsily Photoshopped image of Modi surveying flood damage.

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And Modi once told an audience of doctors that ancient Indians practiced plastic surgery  how else to explain Ganesh, the Hindu god with an elephants head atop a human body?

When a government and ruling party that themselves peddle disinformation now say they want to fight fake news, it is time for the media to batten down the hatches and prepare for the worst, wrote Siddharth Varadarajan, cofounder of the news website the Wire.

The four-paragraph government notice said any complaint would result in a journalist immediately losing accreditation pending an inquiry. Allegations against print journalists were to be decided by a council whose budget is controlled by the government, and for television journalists by a voluntary association of broadcasters. The measure would not have applied to digital media.

If found guilty, a journalist would have been blacklisted for six months for a first offense, one year for a second and permanently in case of a third.

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Following the outcry, the information minister, Smriti Irani, tweeted that the guidelines had generated debate and she was more than happy to engage with journalist groups to fight the menace of fake news.

I think the government realized its image would take a beating nationally and internationally, said Rajdeep Sardesai, a TV anchor and consulting editor at the India Today news group. And they also realized it was malafide and could be struck down in a court of law.

By aiming at journalists accreditation, Sardesai added, the real message was that we have the power to suspend you if you fall out of line.

A woman in New Delhi looks at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis smartphone app. (Manish Swarup / Associated Press )

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President Trump popularized the term fake news, using it to dismiss stories that paint him in an unflattering light, but the phrase has gained currency among authoritarian governments in Asia.

This week lawmakers in Malaysia passed a bill that makes disseminating misleading information a crime punishable by up to six years in prison and a $120,000 fine. Critics said the law could quiet coverage of a massive corruption scandal implicating Prime Minister Najib Razak. A parliamentary committee in Singapore is also considering anti-fake-news legislation.

In India, where hundreds of millions of people have gained Internet access in the past few years, social media apps such as Twitter and WhatsApp have become vectors of false or half-baked information, often published by websites claiming to be legitimate news organizations. Much of it promotes nationalism and Islamophobia and directly supports Modis agenda.

Last week, a government supporter and founder of one of the most popular fake news sites, Postcard News, was arrested in the southern state of Karnataka, which is led by a rival to Modis party.

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Pratik Sinha, cofounder of the fact-checking site Alt News, said fake news in India had reached epic proportions but criticized the government for issuing a four-paragraph press release without even defining what the issue is.

To me, it looked like an attempt to muzzle the press ahead of the 2019 elections, Sinha said.

Parth M.N. is a special correspondent.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

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Shashank Bengali is South Asia correspondent for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @SBengali

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Muslims faced hatred and violence in Sri Lanka. Then Facebook came along and made things worse

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Saudi Arabias young crown prince said in an interview published Monday that Israelis, alongside Palestinians, have the right to have their own land, seemingly opening the door to the possibility of an eventual normalization of ties with Israel.

Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old heir to the Saudi throne, told the Atlantic magazine that any Mideast peace agreement would need to address the fate of Islams third-holiest site, which is located in Jerusalem, and ensure the rights of the Palestinian people. Even so, his comments appeared to mark a break with the public posture adopted by most Arab leaders.

Two Arab countries, Jordan and Egypt, have peace treaties with Israel, but most Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, do not recognize Israel. However, there have been recent signs of a warming between Israel and the conservative kingdom, whose aging monarch, King Salman, has already handed many leadership responsibilities over to the crown prince.

The Trump administration has pinned hopes on Saudi Arabia as a key interlocutor in any Mideast peace accord. Mohammed is currently on a U.S. visit thats focused on attracting investment and presenting himself as a reformist who has pushed for social changes such as granting Saudi women the right to drive.

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The young crown prince is close to President Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and a bitter Saudi rivalry with Irans government dovetails neatly with Trumps own hawkish views on Tehran.

Critics are mistrustful of Mohammed, however, painting a recent anti-corruption drive by the crown prince as a thinly veiled power grab meant to sideline royal rivals and force wealthy business leaders to sign over billions of dollars in assets.

In the Atlantic interview, Mohammed was asked whether he believed that the Jewish people had the right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland.

I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land, he replied. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.

Referring to the contested plateau in Jerusalems Old City revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, the crown prince said Saudi Arabia had religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and the rights of the Palestinian people.

But he added, We dont have any objection against any other people.

Although Trump has said he regards Mideast peace as the ultimate deal, the rift between Israel and the Palestinians has widened during his tenure to date. Palestinians were infuriated by Trumps declaration that the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israels capital  seemingly dismissing a Palestinian claim to part of the city as the capital of their future state.

Saudi Arabia was among the many states across the Muslim world that denounced the Trump administrations stance on the holy city.

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Trump has been inconsistent on what had for decades been a cornerstone of U.S. policy: support for side-by-side Israeli and Palestinian states. Mohammed, in the interview, suggested that shared economic interests might be a powerful driver of normalization efforts with Israel.

Israel is a big economy compared to their size, and its a growing economy, he said. Of course there are a lot of interests we share with Israel, and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan.

Saudi Arabias position, like most other Arab states, has long been that there can be no ties with Israel until it cedes territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war to make way for a Palestinian state.

Under the rightist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has tightened its grip on Jewish settlements scattered across the West Bank, creating what Palestinians describe as an archipelago of territory that would be nearly impossible to stitch together into a viable state.

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Under Netanyahu, however, there have been indications that Israel and Saudi Arabia were bonding over their common deep mistrust of Iran. Last month, Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to a commercial flight to Israel, a groundbreaking symbolic step that Israel greeted with near-euphoria. Reports have also surfaced of secret contacts between Israel and the Saudis, although both sides publicly maintain their distance.

laura.king@latimes.com

@laurakingLAT

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Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Dutch national Alex van der Zwaan is expected to become the first person sentenced in special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation on Tuesday in federal court in Washington, having pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents.



Van der Zwaan, 33, the son-in-law of a Russian oligarch, entered his guilty plea in February for lying about his work in Ukraine with Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and deputy Rick Gates.



He has no known ties to the Trump campaign. But in sentencing discussions filed with the court, Mueller alleged that van der Zwaan and Gates held discussions with a business associate who was a former Russian intelligence officer during the final months of the 2016 campaign.



Mueller does not describe the communications and refers to the third party only as Person A, but according to a source familiar with the situation that the reference is to Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime Ukraine-based business associate of Manafort and Gates.



Kilimnik denies the allegations.



Manafort worked with Kilimnik as recently as last year, when Kilimnik helped him write a positive opinion article published in Ukraine to burnish Manafort's image, a violation of a court-imposed gag order for which the judge admonished Manafort. Manafort is awaiting trial, having pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, money laundering, and tax evasion charges.



That Gates and Person A were directly communicating in September and October 2016 was pertinent to the investigation, special counsel prosecutors added in van der Zwaans pre-sentencing court document.



Gates, who pleaded guilty to reduced charges, is cooperating with Mueller.



Van der Zwaans exact value to the Mueller probe has been tightly-guarded. Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann submitted papers asking Judge Amy Berman Jackson to limit public access to case records.



Van Der Zwaan is in an unusual position of having information related to the Offices investigation that is not widely known  including information that he knows first-hand due to his role in the conduct the Office is investigating, Weissmann wrote, adding that requests filed by someone with non-public information could, themselves, suggest to third parties investigative facts that are otherwise not widely known.



Van der Zwaan could face up to five years in prison for his crime, but federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson has signaled that a far shorter sentence is likely, noting that federal guidelines call for zero to six months.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Bethlehem police are looking for a city man who allegedly grabbed a machete and threatened to kill a house full of people on Easter Sunday.

The incident came two days after Bruce Kovacs Jr. also threatened to slit his father's throat, Bethlehem police said.

The 31-year-old Kovacs, of the 700 block of Yeates Street in Bethlehem, is facing criminal charges related to both incidents.

If anyone sees Kovacs, they should call the police department's communication center at 610-865-7187.

Kovacs was free on $15,000 bail as he awaits trial on a terroristic threats case from an April 22 incident in Bethlehem, records show.

On Friday afternoon, Kovacs' father said he went to tell his son to clear part of the driveway at a home in the 700 block of Yeates Street.

Kovacs Jr. "began to go off" and threatened to slit his father's throat, according to police.

The father told police this was not the first time his son made that comment to him. Charges of making terroristic threats and harassment were filed against Kovacs the following day.

Then on Sunday afternoon, police were called for a "disturbance" involving Kovacs.

A witness said Kovacs' girlfriend went to a home in the 700 block of Jennings Street looking for Kovacs, after seeing his car and trailer parked in front of the home.

The couple began arguing, and Kovacs told his girlfriend he was going to kill her and everyone inside the home, according to police.

Kovacs allegedly grabbed a machete from the trailer parked outside, and then walked to the house. The witness said he locked the home's door with the girlfriend and two other people inside to keep Kovacs from going in, police said.

After he wasn't able to get inside, Kovacs grabbed a hammer and began damaging his trailer before he fled the area while still holding the machete, police said.

In 2015, Kovacs was sitting on on a sofa with a firearm on an end table next to him when he told a woman, "I'm going to blow your head off," city police wrote in court records.

When police responded to the home, Kovacs had a silver .357 Magnum revolver in a concealed-carry holster on him.

Kovacs was charged with making terroristic threats and harassment; he pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct, and was given a time-served sentence of six days in prison.

In the Friday incident, Kovacs will be charged with making terroristic threats and harassment. In the Easter incident, Kovacs will face four counts of making terroristic threats and harassment, and two counts of simple assault.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Officers responding for a medical emergency to a Hellertown home found marijuana and "numerous" neglected animals, borough police said.

Michael Frame, who is identified as a dog breeder on various pet sales websites, lives at the home at 161 Main St., police said. Frame did not respond to a message left at a phone number for the breeding business at his address.

Borough police said they were called a little before 7:30 p.m. March 27 to the home for a medical emergency.

Police said they found a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, as well as neglected dogs, birds and a cat.

The Pennsylvania SPCA was called and helped remove 13 dogs and puppies; seven live birds; one dead bird; one cat; and a tank of minnows/guppies, said Gillian Kocher, director of public relations for the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The dogs were Cavalier King Charles Spaniel-type dogs and Papillon/Chihuahua-type dogs, Kocher said.

The animals were seized due to sanitation issues and concerns over the animals' medical conditions.

The Pennsylvania SPCA was investigating; the animals were in their care but were not immediately signed over by the owner, Kocher said.

The animals will remain with the SPCA until they are surrendered or court proceedings determine their future placement.

Frame, who lives in the home, will face charges of a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, said police, who did not return a message seeking details about the case.

Charges had not been filed against Frame as of Tuesday morning.

The Pennsylvania SPCA is a nonprofit and collects donations to help care for the animals it serves. Anyone wanting to donate to help care for the Hellertown animals can make donations here.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
The Sands Casino in Bethlehem may be up for sale, but that doesn't mean it can skip renewing its license.

On Thursday morning, Sands officials will make a pitch to Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board officials for another five years before the public gets to weigh in.

The hearing starts at 10 a.m. in Bethlehem's Town Hall. Anyone wishing to speak has to register here by noon Tuesday. Written comments are also being accepted.

The public meeting is the first step in the Sands' bid for a casino license renewal. Later this year, the full board will hold a second public hearing on the renewal in Harrisburg and then vote on the request at its subsequent regular meeting.

The Sands operates 230 tables and 3,000 slots machines. The casino brought in $539 million during the most recent fiscal year.

The input received at Thursday's meeting -- considered evidence by the board -- will factor in the board's eventual vote.

Under current state law, all casino licenses are now subject to renewal every five years.

Back in April 2014, Sands was granted a three-year license renewal amid plenty of praise from the gaming board, which called it a model of what it wanted to see statewide.

On Thursday, Sands Bethworks, LLC's, will make the case for extending its operators license for the gaming hall on former Bethlehem Steel Corp. land. The property also includes an outlet mall, hotel and an events center.

The casino opened in May 2009 on former Bethlehem Steel Corp. land and has twice had its license renewed, but its long been rumored to be up-for-sale for the right price.

Last month, the Sands announced its pending $1.3 billion sale to Wind Creek Hospitality, an arm of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama. If the license is renewed it could be transferred and Wind Creek would not have to seek license renewal for another five years

As of Monday, the Sands has not filed any change of control paperwork with state gaming officials, said Doug Harbach, gaming control board spokesman. The sale would require its own set of public hearings and a separate oversight process, he said.

Thursday's hearing will be an information gathering session for the board to hear the community's impressions of Sands, good or bad. The Pennsylvania State Police will offer an overview of Sands Bethlehem's crime statistics.

So far, here who is signed up to speak:

Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez

Donegan Elementary School Principal Sonia Vazquez. The school frequently partners with the casino.

ArtsQuest CEO and President Kassie Hilgert

Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley's Interim Executive Director Mary S. Colon

Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Lynn Collins Cunningham, who oversees Bethlehem initiatives.

South Side Task Force Chairman Roger Hudak

Donna Taggart and Hung Q. Tran.

Generally, city officials and community leaders have considered Sands a great corporate citizen and they've expressed hope that Wind Creek Hospitality continues that trend.

Donchez has said he wants to impress upon the gaming board and the new casino owners the importance of the owner continuing to redevelop the 124-acre former Brownfield site and selling a piece of land to the city.

The city's parking authority wants to purchase a Sands owned parking lot at the corner of Third and Polk streets, currently used by Northampton Community College, to build a 585-space parking deck crucial to the ongoing redevelopment of East Third Street.

Before the announced sale, Donchez said he was in talks with Sands Bethlehem's parent company Las Vegas Sand Corp. over the land.

While Sands is one of Pennsylvania's top performing casinos, typically tops in table games and second overall in the state, the Bethlehem property is one of Las Vegas Sand's smallest holdings.

Prior to a rumored sale to MGM last year, the casino had been pursuing a $90 million expansion that would've added a new gaming area with 1,000 new seats, but those plans have been long stalled.

The announced sale comes as the gaming control board is implementing Pennsylvania's new gaming expansion, which includes online gambling, something Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson staunchly opposes.

The Sands did try to get into the gaming expansion in February by bidding $9.9 million on the state's fourth mini-casino license and winning, but its bid was invalidated once it was revealed its proposed casino location infringed upon an earlier license awarded to Mount Airy #1 LLC.

The gaming control board is set to auction off the next category four gaming license on Wednesday ahead of its 10 a.m. regular meeting.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Shyheem Smith (Courtesy photo for lehighvalleylive.com)

Authorities have identified a man gravely wounded Monday night in a Williams Township shooting.

Shyheem Smith, 42, of Easton, was a passenger in a car with two women in the 1100 block of Centre Street, when a masked man in black clothes walked up and opened fire, according to state police.

State police said Smith was driven to Easton Hospital, but was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital and is currently in critical condition.

Police are labeling the crime as an attempted homicide and are looking for the gunman.

State police were seeking a Range Rover in connection with the crime, and a dark Range Rover was located in the 1100 block of Northampton Street in Easton with a ski mask next to it.

Anyone with information should call state police at the Belfast barracks at 610-759-6106.

Smith was a longtime Easton drug dealer who most recently served a 9- to 23-month sentence after warrants served in July 2015 resulted in the seizure of $30,000 in cocaine, a semi-automatic gun and $19,000 in cash, court records say.

At the time police said Smith was selling drugs across the Easton's West Ward, and he had been bouncing around from homes to hotels.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Easton's dining scene is getting a little extra kick.

Aman's Indian Bistro, the popular restaurant on Route 248 in Lower Nazareth Township, plans to move this summer into the former Cheeburger Cheeburger location in the Pomeroy Building at 336 Northampton St. in Downtown Easton.

The space has been vacant since sheriffs' deputies shut down Cheeburger Cheeburger last June, enforcing a court order evicting the restaurant for not paying rent.

Aman's opened at 3812 Easton-Nazareth Highway (Route 248) in March of 2016, and quickly won over diners with its upscale Indian dining. There are three other Aman's locations in Chalfont, Phoenixville and Harleysville. They are owned and operated separately from the local location, but connected through family.

Jasmeet Bansal, who co-owns the Lehigh Valley location with his family, said the restaurant has outgrown its original digs, and Downtown Easton offered an attractive opportunity to upsize.

"Downtown Easton is arguably the best food destination in the entire Lehigh Valley," said Bansal, who also lives in Easton. "We figure (Aman's) would be a nice addition to the diverse fabric of cuisine."

Lisa Lyon, an agent for ALT Realty and Aman's tenant representative, said the new space is almost three times the size of the restaurant's current spot.

"We saw how they were growing their business in their current location," she said. "We thought it would be a good fit, not just for Aman's, but also for Easton."

The exact timeframe for the move is yet to be determined, but Aman's plans to be up and running in its new location some time this summer. The Route 248 location will close as part of the move.

Because of Cheeburger Cheeburger's retro-diner look, Bansal said the space will have to be completely revamped to become the new Aman's.

The restaurant specializes in North Indian and Punjabi cuisine, along with some Southern Indian and Indo-Chinese dishes. It will be BYOB.

Mark Mulligan, the CEO of VM Development, which owns the Pomeroy Building, said that they didn't want another diner-type restaurant to fill the space. Aman's, he said, would add to the diversity of Easton's dining scene.

"They weren't the only ones who came before us (about the space), but we waited for the right ones," he said.

Aman's isn't the only new Indian spot headed for Easton. Another Indian restaurant is expected to open in the former El Chasqui location on Third Street. (El Chasqui, a Peruvian and Colombian restaurant, recently moved to a smaller space at 444 Northampton St.)

Bansal said he isn't too concerned about the overlap, pointing to the reputation that Aman's has already built for high quality food and attentive service.

"We have been blessed over the past two years. We must be doing something right, because we have quite a following," Bansal said. "We're hoping that continues downtown."

You can follow updates about Aman's Indian Bistro's move on the restaurant's Facebook page.

Andrew Doerfler may be reached at adoerfler@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @adoerfler or on Facebook.
Sick of stormy weather and bursts of April snow? Too bad, weather forecasters say, as we're in for a rocky ride in the Lehigh Valley during the next several days and into the weekend.

We're talking rain on Wednesday. Nasty winds that could gust as high as 50 mph after the storms move out. And threats of snow -- yes, more April snow -- in parts of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday.

"I definitely think we have a few more shots of snow," said Sean Rowland, a meteorologist at the WeatherWorks forecasting company in Hackettstown. "I don't think we're completely done yet" with wintry weather in April.

Part of the problem is a wave of unseasonably cold air pushing down from Canada this Thursday and sticking around through next Tuesday, Rowland said. "It is cold enough to support snow in some areas. And if the timing works out we could get not one, but maybe two systems, that could produce snow."

First rain, then snow

The weather roller coaster ride will start with a big warmup Wednesday morning, with temperatures rising into the 60s across much of the Lehigh Valley. Expect rain and possibly a thunderstorm between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., the National Weather Service says.

When the storms start moving away, winds will begin to whip across the region, possibly gusting as high as 50 mph in the afternoon and evening Wednesday, Rowland said. And temperatures will take a nose dive.

After a dry and quiet Thursday, with sunshine and chilly temperatures in the mid-40s, a small storm system could bring rain to the early Friday. But the rain could turn to snow into snow in parts of northern New Jersey, Rowland said.

The changeover to snow will likely stay north of the Lehigh Valley, the Eastern PA Weather Authority's forecast shows.

Could another April snowstorm hit New Jersey this weekend? (AccuWeather)

For the Lehigh Valley, "a separate system could provide overrunning snow/mix to rain for the region on Monday into Tuesday, but uncertainties remain with the exact evolution of this system," the EPAWA says.

The bottom line: Winter isn't finished with us yet, even though we're into our third week of spring. Rowland and other forecasters believe it might take until the third week of April for a consistent pattern of spring weather to arrive.

So don't put those snow shovels and car brushes away just yet.

Lehighvalleylive.com Managing Producer Nick Falsone contributed to this report.

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
In 1844, New York newsboys led a two-week strike against New York newspapers that raised the price newsboys had to pay for a stack of newspapers, to 60 cents a bundle. The strike drastically cut newspaper circulation in the city and the newspapers agreed to buy back unsold copies.

There are countless examples of child activism throughout history that have changed the world. The killings at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida recently triggered a march by students all over the country to demand sensible gun laws. So it begs the question, how is it child activists are able to move high-octane issues where adults have capitulated?

The answers lie in the innocence of a child -- the beautiful uncorrupted mind, unapologetic, nonaligned, unfiltered, issue-driven, realistic, spiritual and not necessarily religious, and above all not beholden to ideology, interest or political group.

With the fillip of technology these young souls have created a parallel world connected by a common vision and common values. The last two presidential election cycles witnessed a surge of independent and activist voters coupled with shifting alliances laced with an uncanny display of political jingoism. Party loyalists struggled with ideologies that served them well over a century. Now candidates counted on independent voters, a tacit admission of a shift in power dynamics and an indictment on interest groups and bankrollers.

The panacea to the hydra-headed issues facing the nation, hence, lies in a comprehensive campaign reform that gets money out of politics and frees the conscience of legislators.

Douglas Seidu

Allentown
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Marshall had a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter, but East Carolina scored 21 straight points in the final 7:31 to earn a 42-38 win over the Thundering Herd on Saturday night at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
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Lycoming College invites the community to visit its 2018 Senior Art Show, an annual juried exhibition featuring the thesis work of Lycoming senior art students. The exhibition is open from April 6 through May 12, 2018, in Lycoming College Art Gallery, at 25 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, PA. Reception is on April 6 from 4:00  8:00 p.m. with an artist talk starting at 6:00 p.m.

Every year at Lycoming College, senior studio art students work on a year-long thesis project and develop individual bodies of artwork. Feedback is regularly given by art faculty members and fellow students, making this both an independent pursuit and a collective creative process. The works are then juried by a guest expert, and those chosen are presented to the public in the spring semesters Senior Art Show.

This years juror is Doreen Bolgen, Ph.D., who served as director of the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) until retiring in 2015. Prior to joining the BMA, she held positions as Director of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design in Providence; as Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, TX; and as Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Bolger earned her bachelors degree from Bucknell University, her masters from the University of Delaware, and her doctorate from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. A scholar on 19th and early 20th century American art, she has published extensively on American painting, drawings, and decorative arts.

After visiting the senior studio, Bolger remarked: It was amazing to encounter so many talented students in your department! I momentarily wondered if I was at RISD or MICA, two awesome art schools where I have worked with graduate students in the pastI had to remind myself that I was jurying undergraduates at a liberal arts college. Wow! Congratulations to all, both the students and the faculty who have nurtured this astounding creativity! I look forward to seeing more work by all of you.

Lycoming Colleges 2018 Senior Art Show will feature work by the following students:

Erin Briggs, Caitlin Chaffee, Lindsay Darrow, Nam Do, Jauzzle France, Holley Fuller, Cayla Gray, Kaitlin Hallabuk, Marissa Loner, Donnell Reid-Ellis, Camisha Taylor, Mackenzie Thomson, Travis Fernandez, Monica Serafini, and Brittni Smith.

Additional information about the gallery is available at: https://www.lycoming.edu /art /gallery.html.
An example of an international trade mark that Austria considered for registration is Access the Inaccessible for goods and services all connected to mountaineering, climbing and work at height. This English language word mark had, among others, a designation for the UK and for Austria. In the UK, the trade mark was finally registered in spite of some difficulties. The Austrian Patent Office and the appellate court did not find it relevant that the mark was approved in the UK. Registration in a foreign country, even in a country where the relevant language is the official language spoken by the whole population, can never be binding for Austria. The reasons behind this are not only formal legal reasons (for example, territoriality), but also that the English authorities examine the trade mark from the viewpoint of English consumers while the Austrian authorities examine the same trade mark from the point of view of Austrian consumers. These perspectives might well be different since the understanding of the meaning of the foreign words might not be identical to that in a foreign country.

Whether a term in a foreign language is distinctive depends on whether it is known in Austria sufficiently so that the circles concerned can understand its meaning in a way that excludes distinctiveness. This can even be the case when the term is unusual in the foreign language. The majority of the Austrian population has a basic knowledge of English. As a result, it cannot be asserted that the words of this trade mark would be considered incomprehensible. On the contrary, people would look for a meaning.

The trade mark owner stressed that the trade mark consists of a contradiction: something which is inaccessible cannot be accessed. The court replied that, in particular, such overstated combinations are widely used in promotional slogans and are therefore not able to form the basis of distinctiveness and therefore to qualify as an indicator of a specific origin of the goods and services. The circles concerned will readily understand the wording of the trade mark in the sense that, with such goods and services, the hitherto inaccessible is now made accessible. To come to that understanding no reflection or varying opinions are needed. Whether the sign could also be understood differently is of no importance. If one form of interpretation is generally complimentary and descriptive, the mark cannot be registered despite other possible interpretations.

Thus English words or a combination of words can be refused as a trade mark by the Austrian authorities, even if accepted as sufficiently distinctive by the authorities in a country where English is an official language.

Helmut Sonn

SONN & PARTNER Patentanwalte

Riemergasse 14

A-1010 Vienna, Austria

Tel: +43 1 512 84 05

Fax: +43 1 512 98 05

office@sonn.at

www.sonn.at

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On March 9 2018, Cambodia officially deposited its instrument of accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications, becoming the first nation to join the Geneva Act.

Current climate in Southeast Asia

In recent years, Southeast Asian governments have actively promoted appellation of origin and geographical indication protection, with a view to bringing the world's attention to goods produced in Southeast Asia. The increasing popularity of geographical indications (GIs) among emerging markets confirms that GIs are viewed as an effective way to provide products of domestic importance and renown with an internationally competitive edge.

Added attractiveness of the Geneva Act

Appellation of origin and geographical indication protection are matters of national jurisdiction. For appellations of origin and GIs to assist international commerce and benefit local producers, multinational extension of such protection is critical.

International registration of appellations of origin was first made available in 1958 through the Lisbon Agreement. The Lisbon Agreement established a Special Union where international registration of appellations of origin in one Contracting Party could be extended throughout the union by means of an application filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) by the relevant national government in the name of its national registration's beneficiaries. Only 28 countries are currently Contracting Parties to the Lisbon Agreement, as many governments view the conditions for obtaining protection as burdensome.

Registration conditions for appellations of origin under the Lisbon Agreement are:

The appellation must consist of a denomination identifying a geographical entity in the country of origin.

The appellation must serve to indicate a reputation of the goods as linked to the geographical entity.

The quality or characteristics of the goods indicated by the appellation must be due exclusively or essentially to the geographical environment of the geographical entity.

These demanding international registration conditions for appellations were reduced after the 2015 Geneva Act brought GIs within the Lisbon framework, under which the quality, reputation or other characteristic of the goods embodied in the indication are only required to be essentially attributable to their geographical origin.

Aside from the lower threshold of protection and setting out the grounds for refusing registration more clearly, the Geneva Act also opens up the application process to intergovernmental organisations. Furthermore, the Geneva Act allows individual beneficiaries to file international applications directly with WIPO, provided that the national law of the relevant Contracting Party so permits. These significant modifications will likely greatly increase applications for GIs under the Geneva Act.

The Geneva Act does not become effective until three months after five eligible parties deposit their instruments of ratification or accession. To date, only Cambodia has done so.

Outlook for Southeast Asia

Government promotion of GIs has become a matter of national importance in countries such as Cambodia and Thailand.

Aside from its recent accession to the Geneva Act, Cambodia has rapidly developed its internal GI registration framework, which started in 2009 with the first piece of legislation on the matter. This was replaced in 2014 by the Law on Geographical Indications. In 2016, this was supplemented by the Declaration on the Procedures for Registration and Protection of Geographical Indications of 2016.

In the same vein, Thailand has also expanded its protection of GIs. While Thailand's current Geographical Indications Protection Act dates from 2003, due to the government's promotion of GI awareness, the Thai Department of Intellectual Property allowed 44 new GI registrations in 2017 alone. This amounts to almost 40% of all GI registrations ever allowed under the 2003 law.

National GI beneficiaries are becoming increasingly aware of their rights under the national laws of Southeast Asian countries. The Geneva Act presents a welcome addition to the continued progress being made in Southeast Asia to modernise and continually improve intellectual property processes.

Dhanasun Chumchuay Daniel Greif

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In a recent ruling by the Court of The Hague C/09/545302 / KG ZA 17-1636, Pfizer and Ono faced each other over an alleged abuse of German process law by Pfizer.

In short, Ono wished to put an end to what it views as the unlawful stalling, by Pfizer, of the grant of its patent application EP2206517 A1. Through this application Ono seeks to protect immunopotentiating compositions comprising anti-pd-l1 antibodies.

Pfizer started a reclamation procedure in Germany in order to obtain co-owner-ship of EP'517. However, Pfizer filed the reclamation procedure after previously having filed third party observations against the patent application. The latter was put forward as proof by Ono that Pfizer had no stake in EP'517, which would make the reclamation procedure unlawful. The reclamation procedure resulted in a suspension of the grant procedure of EP'517 by the European Patent Office (EPO). Subsequently, Pfizer also failed to comply with Ono's request to cooperate in ending the suspension of the grant procedure. Accordingly, Ono claimed that Pfizer had acted wrongfully towards Ono, which wished to maintain EP'517 in the Netherlands among other countries.

Ono primarily demanded that Pfizer be compelled to instruct the EPO to resume the grant procedure of EP'517. The subsidiary demand sought to make Pfizer withdraw its reclamation procedure and forbid it from filing a new reclamation procedure before EP'517 is granted.

The court observed that the US-based Pfizer does not have an address within the European Union. Accordingly, competency of the court must derive from Article 6 Brussels I bis-Vo in combination with the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Rechtsverordeningen, Rv). In layman's terms, cause (locus actus) or damages (locus damni) must have occurred in Dutch jurisdiction for the court to be competent.

The court did not accept Ono's plea that damages occured within Dutch jurisdiction due to an inability to enforce EP'517 in the Netherlands as a result of the suspension.

The court was of the opinion that the apparent desire of Ono to enforce EP'517 after grant, if so desired, in the Netherlands, is not substantial enough to render the court competent. In line with this reasoning the court declined jurisdiction.

Ferdinand Leeger

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New Delhi : The government today said the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe is found generating or propagating fake news, as it came out with stringent measures to contain the menace.

As per the amended guidelines for the accreditation of journalists, if the publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of that journalist would be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation. In case of a third violation, his or her accreditation would be cancelled permanently, the information and broadcasting ministry said in a release.

It said any complaint of instances of fake news would be referred to the Press Council of India (PCI), if it pertains to print media, and to the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), if it relates to the electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not. This determination is expected to be completed within 15 days by these agencies, the ministry said.

Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the accreditation of the journalist, whoever created and/or propagated the fake news, will be suspended till the determination regarding the fake news is made, the ministry said.

The Accreditation Committee of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), which consists of representatives of both the PCI and the NBA, would be reached out for validating any accreditation request of any news media agency, it said. PTI
Tariffs and the possibility of retaliatory trade wars have spooked Massachusetts employers who depend on international trade to keep up with payrolls, according to survey results released Tuesday by Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

"Tariffs on stainless steel and aluminum will negatively impact our bottom line in the short run and could prevent our customers from providing new projects due to increased costs," wrote one employer, according to AIM.

The Associated Industries of Massachusetts Business Confidence Index declined a point to 63.5, AIM said Tuesday.

Massachusetts companies exported $27.5 billion worth of products to foreign markets in 2017, with the largest share (13.5 percent) going to Canada.

AIM President and CEO Richard C. Lord said the announcement of tariffs and subsequent modifications of those tariffs by the administration has generated uncertainty among Massachusetts businesses.

"Trade barriers are cause for concern in a state that exported more than $27 billion worth of goods in 2017," Lord said. "AIM and its member employers continue to believe that free trade and open markets remain the best way to ensure growth in the global economy."

At 63.5 points, the Business Confidence Index is down from a 17-year high recorded in February. The BCI has gained 1.1 points during the past 12 months and remains comfortably within the optimistic range.

Associated Industries is a statewide employer group. It surveys members each month and plots business confidence on a scale where 50 points is neutral, anything higher is positive and anything under 50 is negative.

The March confidence survey lost ground in almost every aspect, Associated Industries said. Declines were led by a 1.7-point drop in the U.S. Index of national business conditions.

Early this week, China decided to raise tariffs on $3 billion of U.S. goods including pork, apples and steel pipe.

Raymond G. Torto, chair of AIM's Board of Economic Advisors and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, said steel and aluminum tariffs raise the prospect of retaliation by other nations against products made by Massachusetts companies.

"Trade wars reduce the competitiveness of Massachusetts companies and increase costs for consumers. Announcement of the tariffs sent financial markets into a tailspin last month and some of that uncertainty rubbed off on employers," Torto said.

It's not just factory goods that are affected.

Cranberries grown in Massachusetts, a key agricultural export, were among the products targeted for retaliation by the European Union before the Trump administration excepted the EU from U.S. tariff hikes.

According to the survey, manufacturing companies (65.4 points) were more optimistic than non-manufacturers (61.3 points). Large employers (68.8 points) were more positive than medium-sized (60.3 points) or small businesses (65.2 points).

The AIM Employment Index was the only measure that increased in March.

It rose nine-tenths of a point for the month but remained 1.7 points behind its level of a year ago.

The Company Index, meanwhile, reflecting employer views of their own operations and prospects, was off 0.7 points to 61.7.


Goodbyes can be painful sometimes, but in the case I'm writing about today, let's just say, "aloha."



I'm referring to the upcoming closing of the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee, which will have its final comedy shows on Thursday night, when funnymen Craig Robinson ("The Office," "Knocked Up") and Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias play separate shows.

The Hu Ke Lau bows out on Saturday night with its long-running Polynesian show.



Having grown up in Chicopee, I have been familiar with "The Huke" ever since I was a child. My parents weren't much for dining out, so I didn't eat there until I was an adult, and aside from the Hawaiian shows they put on regularly, I didn't have a lot of reasons (outside of hunger) to go there often.



But one feature the venue developed in its later years was via the Comedy Connection, where the Hu Ke Lau brought in comics to entertain patrons. And while you might think that some off-the-beaten-path place in Chicopee probably only got third-rate talent, nothing could be farther from the truth. Here is a partial list of comedians who played there: Norm Macdonald, Tracy Morgan, Paula Poundstone, Carlos Mencia, Jon Lovitz, Dave Attell, Rosie O'Donnell, D.L.Hughley among many others.



The exact future of the Chicopee space is still unknown.



I'm assuming most of the comics that would play the Hu Ke Lau will now be channeled to the upcoming MGM Springfield casino. And while that will still bring great comedy talent to Western Massachusetts, the Chicopee boy in me feels a slight twinge that my hometown will lose this gem.



Scouting Report





This month's "Unbuttoned" spoken word night at Luthier's Co-op in Easthampton on April 10 will feature Christian Arthur, a teaching artist, recovery advocate, and community organizer who is currently developing his debut chapbook, "Plasticity." Arthur's poems have found homes in the pages of Meat For Tea and The Watermark literary journals, and his interviews with poets are published on the online outlet The Fix. Arthur was a fellow at the 2017 Poetry Incubator, a Poetry Foundation initiative and currently runs a spoken word program at Ostiguy Recovery High School, which serves students in recovery from substances. Luthier's Co-op is at 108 Cottage St.

Eran Troy Danner brings his style of blues to Theodores' stage on Friday. Dinner is a singer, guitarist and leader of one of Connecticut's busiest bands. Playing more than 250 shows a year for the past six years, Danner and his band have built up a large following and has opened for national acts in such venues such as The Palace Theater in Waterbury, Ives Concert Park in Danbury and the Berlin Blues Festival. Theodores' is at 201 Worthington St. in Springfield.

Do you have a cool event of gig coming up at a local club? Send me a note about it at least two weeks in advance to geolenker@yahoo.com and I'll try to get it in this space.
An office building in Boston's Seaport District where Amazon is negotiating to lease some 430,000 square feet of space is scheduled to begin design review this month, and the project's design team has submitted a presentation that gives a closer look at the 17-story office.

The tower's architect is Gensler San Francisco, while the landscape architect is James Corner Field Operations of New York.

Gensler and developer WS Development aspire for the building to be "emotional," 'memorable," "human-focused" and "authentic," the design presentation states. The development team is scheduled to present the building design at the Boston Civic Design Commission's monthly meeting tomorrow evening.

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The city of Boston last month approved $5 million in property-tax breaks for Amazon at the office, which is located at Seaport Square Block L4. The site is currently a surface parking lot located behind 121 Seaport Blvd., an elliptical-shaped office tower that will soon be home to the headquarters of technology firm PTC and biotechology company Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

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Amazon also has an option to lease office space at Seaport Square Block L5, an adjacent property that has been approved to house 610,000 square feet of commercial office space and 112,000 square feet of retail. The city has also approved an additional $5 million in property-tax breaks for Amazon should it end up leasing the L5 office. Amazon has to employ 4,000 workers within 25 miles of the city of Boston to take advantage of the $10 million tax break.

The Seaport Square offices are not part of Amazon's ongoing search for a second headquarters, the company has confirmed. The e-commerce giant also plans to hire 900 at an office at 253 Summer St., about half a mile from the Seaport Square Block L4 office.

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Amazon showed interest last year in leasing up to 1 million square feet of office space in the Seaport District outside of the HQ2 search. Amazon in February confirmed the negotiations and said that "Amazon is considering additional options for expansion in the Boston area to meet the demand of our growing employee base and as part of our ongoing hiring efforts."

WS Development aims to begin construction on Block L4 late this year and have the building complete in early 2021.

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CHICOPEE - The Light it Up Blue campaign for autism awareness will hold a resource fair and ceremony as part of several events being held to commemorate World Autism Month.

The resource fair will be held on Sunday, April 8, from noon to 3:30 p.m. at the Moose Family Center on Fuller Road. It is open to the public and the community is encouraged to attend, said Benjamin Strepka, communications director for Mayor Richard J. Kos.

The resource fair is part of the campaign in the city. Chicopee City Hall will be illuminated in blue on Monday for the start of the month-long campaign. All six Chicopee Fire Stations will display a large puzzle piece which is the symbol of autism awareness and will be illuminated in blue. A ceremony to start the month was held at Station 3 on Cabot Street, he said.

Members of Sunshine Village, a local non-profit organization that supports people on the autism spectrum, will "light up" and decorate the first-floor hallway in City Hall near the mayor's office. Sunshine Village people have also decorated the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce's window on Exchange Street. Everyone is invited to stop by and view the art and decorations, he said.

Sunshine Village also visited the Police Department on Monday and brought cookies, artwork and handmade plaques which were given to each officer. In turn members of the department surprised the group with a $650 donation that came from their No Shave November campaign where officers could pay to grow beards for the month to raise money for a local organization, said Michael Wilk, police public information officer.

"City Hall is proud to continue to participate in Light It Up Blue," Kos said. "Now that the repairs are completed on our facade, we will again be able to join in this effort to help raise awareness for autism and show our support to people on the spectrum and their families by lighting our entrance blue."

The "Light It Up Blue" campaign works to bring awareness of the disorder and acceptance of those on the autism spectrum. Today autism is prevalent in 1 in 68 births, and there is no known single cause of autism.
A 47-year-old Easthampton man was ordered held without the right to bail Monday after he was found to be a dangerous person in Greenfield District Court, the Northwest District attorney's office said.

Nelson Lacaprucia has been held by authorities since his arrest March 28 after what appeared to be a pipe bomb was discovered in one of the business buildings of Trew Stone, an asphalt and paving company in Deerfield.

Massachusetts State Police bomb disposal personnel attached to the State Fire Marshal investigated the device and confirmed it appeared to a homemade bomb resembling a pipe bomb.

The district attorney's spokeswoman, Mary Carey, said Lacaprucia was arrested later that day and charged with one count of throwing, secreting, launching or placing an incendiary device or material and one count of possession or control of an incendiary device, chemical, biological or nuclear device.

His next court date is May 1.
SPRINGFIELD -- South Congregational Church, which is providing sanctuary for a Peruvian woman facing deportation, will not permit the city to inspect the site unless it obtains a court warrant, officials said Tuesday.

Both Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Tara Parrish, a lead organizer of the sanctuary, said the church is denying entry to city inspectors without a warrant, also referred to as a court order.

"I'm disappointed," Sarno said. "The city and our employees are just trying to do their jobs and that is what the taxpayers expect."

City Solicitor Edward Pikula said the city was asked by one lawyer last week to delay the inspection until after the Holy Week, and then was told by a different lawyer that no inspection would be permitted without the warrant.

Sarno said the church is reneging on a verbal agreement to allow the inspection, but his claim was denied by Parrish.

"It's not true," Parrish said. "No such agreement was made."

The church had a regular inspection in June and passed, Parrish said.

"There is no reason to inspect a building already inspected," Parrish said. "(Church) lawyers have questions under what part of the law you can do such an inspection."

Sarno stood by his comments that an inspection was being allowed Monday, before being denied, and said Parrish is also wrong on the inspection.

He unveiled a June 2017 letter from Building Code Commissioner Steven Desilets to the church, that stated in part: "As I have advised you, there are serious health and safety concerns involved in the operation of any type of congregate living arrangements in a building that was not built for such use, and we all want to assure the public safety."

Sarno said using the church as housing for the Peruvian woman, Gisella Collazo, and her two children, raises the issues of public health, safety and code compliance.

The family took lodging in the church on March 26, one day before Collazo was scheduled to be flown back to Peru. Earlier the same day, Collazo was outfitted with a GPS ankle bracelet monitored by federal immigration enforcement officials.

Pikula said the Law Department with the Code Enforcement Office and the Fire Department, has the matter under review and "will follow up with appropriate action."

While Immigration and Customs Enforcement is believed to have the power to enter church property to take custody of undocumented immigrants, the agency has avoided doing so under a policy describing churches as "sensitive locations."

Sanctuary officials have said Collazo is welcome to stay at South Congregational Church as long as necessary in her quest to get legal status. The sanctuary was organized by the Springfield Interfaith Sanctuary Coalition.

Last week, Sarno directed several city departments to review the issue, and to inspect the property for housing code violations. In addition, he asked for a review of the church's exemption from local property taxes.

Several city councilors have proposed an order that states, in part, "no member of the City of Springfield including all employees or agents shall take any step, measure or act to interfere with, restrain, intimidate or prevent South Church and the Springfield Interfaith Coalition in its mission of providing sanctuary to Gisella Collazo or any other individual."

A council meeting to discuss the proposed order is scheduled for April 9.

South Congregational Church is being represented by attorney Christine Tetreault of Springfield, and has received pro bono advice from lawyer Bill Newman, director of the Western Regional Office of the Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union. Newman said there may have been a misunderstanding last week regarding the inspection.
SPRINGFIELD -- The Hampden County Sheriff's Department is mourning the sudden passing of Sgt. Mark Ouimet, who collapsed while out for a walk on Easter morning.

Ouimet, 51, was revived and taken to Baystate Medical Center. He died there on Monday, Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi said.

"He was a one of a kind guy," Cocchi said.

Ouimet was hired by the department in March of 1996. He most recently led the K-9 unit.

Ouimet's wife, Tracie, and two adult sons, Alex and Josh, were all able to say goodbye to him at Baystate, Cocchi said. Alex recently became a K-9 officer with U.S. Marines in California.

Ouimet's four-legged partner, Dalka, also got a chance to say goodbye and even jumped up onto Ouimet's bed at Baystate to be with him one last time, Cocchi said.

Dalka was Ouimet's newest K-9 and was already certified in narcotics detection. The dog was three weeks away from getting certified to go out on patrol, Cocchi said.

The Hampden County Sheriff's department plans to complete Dalka's training and then donate the dog to Alex so the two can work together as a team for the U.S. Marines, Cocchi said.

Cocchi described Ouimet as a "very-involved" member of the sheriff's department family and a mentor to the younger staff.

Cocchi said Ouimet was physically fit all seemed well on what turned out to be his last day of work on Friday.

The department's announced Ouimet's death on its Facebook page and observed a moment of silence for him over its radio communications channel Monday night.

The Facebook post included the following poem:

"If WE knew you were leaving, we would have said goodbye,

If YOU knew you were leaving, you would've told us not to cry.



We'll celebrate your life, now that you've taken your last breath,

It's a better way to cope, than to mourn your sudden death.



You left our community stunned, stopping us where we stood,

Tragically ripped from our hearts, leaving sooner than you should.



You've taught us endurance, you showed no fear,

Rest easy Sergeant; we'll take it from here."
Calling the decision to return a citizenship question to the 2020 US Census "hasty" and "unconstitutional," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey this week did some addition of her own and filed another lawsuit against President Donald Trump.

Healey, who has filed and joined multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration since January 2017, on Tuesday signed on with 18 attorneys general in the filing of the lawsuit, which argues that the addition of the question to the US Census will depress participation in communities with immigrants and lead to undercounting of the population.

The lawsuit notes that the US Census Bureau hasn't asked for citizenship information on the form that goes to every household since 1950.

"Decisions to change questions on the decennial census typically take several years to test, evaluate, and implement," the lawsuit claims, pointing to the Trump administration taking less than four months to add the question.

"The resulting undercount will not only fatally undermine the accuracy of the 2020 Census, but will jeopardize critical federal funding needed by states and localities to provide services and support for millions of residents," the lawsuit adds.

"Further, it will deprive historically marginalized immigrant communities of critical public and private resources over the next ten years," the lawsuit says. "Defendants' decision is inconsistent with their constitutional and statutory obligations; is unsupported by the stated justification; departs from decades of settled practice without reasoned explanation; and fails to consider the availability of alternative data that effectively serve the federal government's needs."

The lawsuit is available below.

The US Department of Commerce said in a release that citizenship questions had been included on previous censuses.

"Between 1820 and 1950, almost every decennial census asked a question on citizenship in some form," the department said, adding that surveys of sample populations also ask the citizenship question.

In Massachusetts, state law requires that local censuses from cities and towns ask residents for their nationality if they're not US citizens. The local census is also known as a resident listing.
If the investigations underway find that Massachusetts State Police troopers broke the law, their pensions should be revoked, according to Gov. Charlie Baker.

"If it was up to me, I'd take it away. Period," Baker told reporters at a press conference outlining reforms of the law enforcement agency.

Troopers are under investigation for overtime patrols and accused of skipping shifts while still getting paid. So far, the discrepancies uncovered through an audit found the alleged overtime abuse limited to Troop E, which patrols the Massachusetts Turnpike.

"As far as I'm concerned, that's stealing," Baker said. "And no one who sits in one of these public positions should steal. Period. That's like -- you learn that in second grade."

The elimination of Troop E and the placement of its troopers in other regions were among the reforms announced by Baker and State Police Col. Kerry Gilpin on Monday. The State Police are also moving to implement a body camera program and activating tracking technology in cruisers.

"What we're talking about here is sworn officers of the law, who every single day as part of their mission to protect the public, arrest people. Those people are ultimately held accountable for the consequences of their actions," Baker said.

"The same should be true with respect to those members of the law enforcement community who violate those laws," he added. "Seems pretty simple to me."

But whether accused troopers - some of whom have "retired" from the agency amid the burgeoning scandal -- get to keep retirement benefits is a bit more complicated: In cases such as this, the state retirement board can't take action on benefits until a person has been convicted of crimes related to their job, and internal discipline, and the types of discharge, don't have an impact on pensions.

Overtime and bonus pay also don't count towards a person's pension.

Uniformed members of the State Police have to serve a minimum of 20 years in order to receive the benefit calculation within state statute, and their benefits come to 60 percent of the average annual rate of regular compensation during the 12-month period before their retirement.

The maximum benefit, according to the state retirement board, is 75 percent of the last 12 months' salary, available after 25 years of service within a department.

The retirement board has previously sought to block benefits, like in the high-profile case of former House Speaker Sal DiMasi, before he was convicted of federal corruption charges, but the board was brushed back by court rulings.

Gilpin has passed on information gathered during her audit to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey for potential criminal charges.

"As you know we are investigating alleged criminal violations with respect to overtime involving Troop E," Healey said last week. "That is a criminal investigation that is ongoing."
The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, tasked with overseeing the new marijuana industry, is looking to move to Worcester.

Shawn Collins, the new agency's executive director, said they're looking for roughly 13,000 square feet, with space to accommodate public meetings. They expect to issue a request for proposals for the office space.

The five-member commission also is planning to have a satellite office in metro Boston. Including the five commissioners, there are currently 13 people employed at the agency.

Collins said the commission aims to move into the new space in May 2019.

"I think this is a statewide agency and it's important that we operate around the state, and we're expected to be around the state," Collins said. "And having a location in really the central part of the state will allow us to get to every corner of the commonwealth with relative ease. And also I think also there's cost efficiencies with being out in central Massachusetts."

Worcester is among the communities disproportionately affected by the federal government's so-called war on drugs, and that was a "major factor in our thinking," said Steve Hoffman, chairman of the commission.

The commission has currently been meeting in the offices of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission at 101 Federal Street in downtown Boston.

The Cannabis Control Commission, created through the 2016 law voters passed broadly legalizing marijuana, is aiming to have retail pot shops open this summer.
SOUTHWICK -- For almost a decade, Susan Sanders lived every day to the fullest and she made it known that she was able to do this because someone else gave her life.

Sanders received a heart from an organ donor in 2008 and spent much of the next years sharing her story and encouraging others to join the Donate Life program.

"It's such a miracle," Sanders said in 2011 of her own successful heart transplant. "I feel like I won the biggest lottery in the world."

In February, Sanders, 61, lost a health battle unrelated to her heart, but remained steadfast in her support of organ donation.

To honor Sanders' memory, the town will raise the Donate Life flag during a public ceremony at Town Hall at 5:30 p.m. and declare April 3, 2018, Susan Sanders Day in Southwick.

Selectman Russell Fox, a longtime friend of Sanders, said the town has raised several Donate Life flags for the past few years in recognition of April as Donate Life Month. The blue and green flags will fly at Town Hall and the public safety complex.

"Sue spearheaded this effort in the region, and especially in Southwick," Fox said. "The town supported her fully by raising flags, then businesses started raising the Donate Life flag and individuals raised them, too."

Fox said flying the Donate Life flag sends a great message because thousands of people are on waiting lists for organ donations.

Sanders was an inspiration to many, said Fox, including himself.

"I never really thought much about organ donation before," he said, "but now, I've checked that box -- why not help somebody?"

Donate Life America is a nonprofit that encourages people to register to donate organs, eyes and tissue when they die or to become living donors. Massachusetts residents can also register as organ donors when they apply for or renew their driver's license through the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Fox said he hopes for a big crowd tonight at Town Hall to celebrate Sanders.

"I hope this continues to be a tradition and that raising the Donate Life flag is something we do the first week of April every year and that Sue's spirit lives on," said Fox.
SPRINGFIELD -- A state high court on Tuesday affirmed a judge's decision that tossed out statements by a rape suspect in West Springfield because police there did not use a competent interpreter.

"The (police) interview can fairly be characterized as consisting largely of confusion, with each participant often unable to understand what the others were saying," reads the decision by the state Appeals Court.

The court upheld a January 2016 decision by Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina S. Page in the case against Mihail Lujan, 31, whose primary language was Moldovan -- not Russian. Page found Lujan's Miranda rights were not properly administered, and the high court agreed.

In her decision, Page wrote that West Springfield detective Matthew Mattina was sent to the Wingate Nursing home on March 27, 2013, where he was told Lujan was observed inappropriately touching a patient.

Lujan, who is represented in Hampden Superior Court by Richard J. Rubin, was employed by a company that provided cleaning services to nursing homes.

Mattina asked Lujan to come to the police department, where a college student intern was used to interpret.

The Appeals Court wrote in its decision, "The intern had no knowledge of Moldovan, and was not a certified interpreter in Russian. After reviewing a videotape of the interview and conducting an evidentiary hearing that included testimony from a court-certified Russian interpreter, the judge found numerous irregularities in the way the intern carried out his interpretative role."

The high court wrote: "The interview was not conducted in the defendant's primary language. It was conducted in a language with which he had limited facility, through an untrained interpreter who did not confine himself to the task of accurately translating what the officers or the defendant said. The judge was on entirely solid ground when she concluded that, in these circumstances, the defendant's statements were not 'his.'"

"The intern's interpretation was irregular and unreliable. He often mistranslated questions and answers, supplied questions and answers of his own, led the defendant into making incriminating statements, and suggested words to the defendant to the defendant's detriment," the decision said.

The Appeals Court said West Springfield has a large Russian-speaking population and the police department routinely asks civilians to serve as interpreters.

The decision said like Page, the high court is concerned by "the absence of procedural protocols governing the interpreting" that happened in this case.

"Law enforcement agencies, therefore, may well consider it in their best interest to develop such procedural protocols," the court decision said.

The Appeals Court decision lists Assistant District Attorney David Sheppard-Brick as representing the prosecution in the appeal, and Patrick Levin as representing Lujan in the appeal.

Mass. State Appeals Court decision in West Springfield rape case by The Republican/MassLive.com on Scribd
EASTHAMPTON -- The intersection of South and Main streets is dangerous and tricky to navigate, with a "documented history of safety problems," but traffic volume does not meet state criteria for a traffic signal, according to a 2017 study by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

On Tuesday night, the City Council's Public Safety Subcommittee will take a new look at that study, which contains data, observations, and recommendations for what the city can do, without state help, to improve the X-shaped crossroad.

The intersection is owned by the city on the north side, and controlled by the state on the south side, where Main Street turns into Massachusetts Rt. 10.

People driving on South Street have a hard time turning left or crossing Main Street, because their line of sight is often blocked, the report observes. Two businesses at the intersection -- Old Colony Package Store and College Highway Variety -- have unmarked lots with no real curb cuts, so people park wherever they want, including in front of a hydrant and within travel lanes.

A recent visit to the site revealed motorists navigating the intersection in odd ways.

A Buick slowly rolled across South Street, headed from the package store to the variety store. The driver of a pickup truck turning left from Main Street hit his brakes and leaned on the horn. A woman trying to turn left from South onto Main was repeatedly frustrated by traffic barreling north on Rt. 10. Vehicles turned in and out of the store lot in a seemingly random fashion.

"Unmarked, wide entrances and exits to two neighborhood businesses as well as a lack of clear separation between roadway and parking create traffic conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists," the report states.

The Springfield-based regional planning commission gathered crash data from the Easthampton Police Department and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The data showed 34 crashes from 2010 to 2016. A number of the accidents were due to an impeded line of sight, the report states.

Among its laundry list, the planners suggested that the city might want to negotiate with the two store owners "to identify clear exits and entrances to their properties to reduce driveway conflict." The business owners could define their parking spaces, and also avoid creating large piles of snow at strategic locations.

Roadway edge lines could be painted on South Street, as well as road markings loudly announcing "STOP." Four crashes from 2014 to 2016 were caused by people running stop signs, the report states.

Even without a state-sponsored traffic light, the city could potentially install, on its own dime, an "overhead intersection control beacon" to visually alert drivers approaching the busy intersection, the planners noted.

Additional curbing on Main and South Street could be installed by the city to help the business owners with their effort, and "no parking" signs could dissuade people from blocking travel lanes on the street, according to the report, which was commissioned by the city around two years ago.

Department of Public Works director Joseph Pipczynski mentioned last week that he would forward his thoughts and recommendations to the Public Safety Subcommittee, which is chaired by At-large City Councilor Daniel Carey.

If you go:

What: Public Safety Subcommittee of the City Council

When: Tuesday, April 3, 6 p.m.

Where: 50 Payson Ave. municipal building; 1st floor conference room
HOLYOKE -- The law firm for the union that represents transportation workers has asked the Massachusetts inspector general to examine a Holyoke public schools' proposed contract change that could cost jobs and wages.

The firm of Pyle Rome said in a March 21 letter that the public schools' proposal "falls outside" the law that permits skipping the open bidding process for special education transportation services.

That's because, under the Holyoke public schools' proposal, some of the students who are transported would be homeless, but not necessarily special education, lawyer David B. Rome said. The firm has offices in Boston, Northampton and Burlington, Vermont.

Also, despite the law that exempts school districts from having to engage in public bidding for special education transportation services, an open process with a bid-net cast as far as possible would be better for all involved, Rome said.

The proposal by Stephen K. Zrike, the state-appointed receiver managing the Holyoke public schools, to change some transport to vans from mini-buses would save money but also has prompted protests.

It's a myth that the competitive bidding bidding process outlined in state law always guarantees the best prices for services, said a statement the Holyoke public schools provided to questions from The Republican. A company could provide a service more cheaply but for some reason be excluded from the bidding process, the statement said.

Also, provision of transportation under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law regarding education rights of homeless children, is at best a "very complex, unfunded mandate" that the Holyoke public schools works hard to provide fairly, the statement said.

The decision about whether to accept the Zrike's proposal and award the transportation of some students in vans to Van Pool Transportation Co. of Wilbraham is ultimately that of Mayor Alex B. Morse because it involves executing a contract.

"There is nothing in ... the state law authorizing the appointment of a receiver in chronically underperforming school districts, or the state procurement law that exempts the receiver from such laws," Rome said.

"Because of the critical importance of the competitive solicitation standards, which promote cost-effective, transparent and efficient contracting of important public services, it is imperative that the Inspector General examine whether it is permissible to divide transportation services in the way it has been done and, in any event, whether the proposed contract to Van Pool must be competitively bid under" the state competitive bidding law, he said.

The Republican received a copy of the letter to Inspector General Glenn A. Cunha Friday from United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1459 (UFCW). The union represents the bus drivers, monitors and mechanics who provide school transportation in the employ of Durham School Services of Holyoke.

The inspector general's office's job is to detect and prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the expenditure of public funds.

UFCW staff representative Jeff Jones said Holyoke residents who have worked decades here in school transportation could lose their jobs or see wages cut if the change to vans from mini-buses takes place.

For example, monitors wouldn't have to be paid prevailing union wages as are current monitors. That means essentially cutting their pay in half, to $12 to $13 an hour instead of the $17 to $25 an hour such workers now make, he said.

The change to vans from buses for some of the transportation would save $500,000 to $800,000 next year and $2.3 million to $3 million over three years, said Anthony W. Soto, the public schools' chief finance and operations officer.

"The district did go out to bid three years ago in an open bid process and it cost the city of Holyoke a lot of money over the course of three years," the public schools' statement said. "Going out to bid does not always guarantee that the city gets the best price for any given service.

"In this case, three years ago, a company like Van Pool was denied the right to bid on only a portion of the contract and because of this, the city missed out on an opportunity to save $300,000 per year on out-of-district and and wheelchair transportation alone," the statement said.

The Holyoke public schools are in the third year of a three-year contract for the majority of its transportation services, the statement said.

"Our plan is and always has been to go out to bid for McKinney Vento transportation services for the fiscal year 2019 (which begins July 1). Very few communities in Massachusetts bid for this type of transportation service. The nature of the work is very complex and involves split billing two separate communities for the same route.

"In many cases, the district is not arranging transportation for these students and instead is on the receiving end of the 50 percent bill. This is a very complex, unfunded mandate and we have been lucky to partner with the current service provider and other local communities to ensure that these students get to school and home safely and on time," the statement said.

Of the total school enrollment from kindergarten to grade 12 of 5,566 students, over 40 percent, or 2,278, get some form of transportation, Soto has said.

In the current contract, Durham School Services uses about 30 regular buses, 45 mini-buses and 15 vans, which are for special-needs students, the Pyle Roman letter said. But Soto has said 22 vans and 37 mini-buses are currently used.

Under the proposed format, 23 regular buses would be used along with Van Pool vans, the Pyle Roman letter said. Soto has said that under the proposed format, the district daily would use 70 vans and six wheelchair vehicles.
A Worcester resident claims to have suffered "ridicule, harassment and threats of violence" since the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14. And Marcel Fontaine had nothing to do with it.

On the day of the shooting, a photo of Fontaine was featured on the site Infowars with an article headlined "Reported Florida shooter dressed as Communist, Supported ISIS" as well as several other iterations of that headline, according to a lawsuit filed on Fontaine's behalf with the Travis County Texas District Court.

Police say the alleged shooter is 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz.

Fontaine, according to the lawsuit, has never even been to Florida. The Infowars story alleged Fontaine was dressed in "communist garb." The shirt Fontaine was wearing was a novelty T that offered a visual pun on the term "Communist Party" by showing historical communist figures wearing party hats, drinking and partying.

Fontaine is suing Infowars, its founder Alex Jones, writer Kit Daniels and Free Speech Systems, LLC for $1 million in a defamation suit after the site ran the photo and allegedly did not respond to Fontaine's request to remove it.

The suit argues Infowars' publication of the photo was "outrageous and intolerable, going beyond all possible bounds of decency."

Seventeen people were killed in the Feb. 14 attack.

That fact that the suspect in the mass killing has been revealed to be someone else has not alleviated the situation, Fontaine alleges in the suit, saying conspiracy theorists now target Fontaine as a "crisis actor" and part of a "false flag" operation.

Fontaine's image has been "irreparably tainted," the suit claims.

"As part of Infowars' reckless money-making scheme, Mr. Jones is causing his audience to disbelieve the basic facts of the incident in favor of a labyrinthine of conspiracy that calls into question the very nature of reality," the suit states.

The suit offers several pages of examples of Infowars' irresponsible and false reports that the suit says have resulted in real-life harassment and violence. The suit cites the infamous 2016 Infowars "Pizzagate" story alleging that Democratic Party elites were overseeing a pedophile slave dungeon in the basement of a Washington D.C. pizzeria.

A week later, an armed man fired shots inside the pizzeria as part of a plan to uncover the alleged conspiracy.

Jones later released a statement saying to his knowledge the restaurant and its owner were not part of any human trafficking operations.

Past Infowars stories claimed that no one died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, which resulted in the death of 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7 years old as well as six adults, and claims that the Sept. 11 attacks were an "inside job."

"There was a time when Mr. Jones was a fringe character, little more than a hyper-active carnival barker in the midway of early 2000s conspiracy theory culture. But over the past few years, Infowars slowly adopted the mantle of 'respectable' media outlet and somehow went mainstream," the lawsuit states.

The suit alleges although it's difficult to ascertain exactly how many people have seen Fontaine's photo in association with the shooting the figure "would be measured in the hundreds of millions."

Fontaine did not immediately return a message from MassLive seeking comment.
The sixth floor of Worcester's Printers Building is buzzing with activity on a recent Thursday night as visitors to Technocopia learn how to screen print fabric, cut vinyl stickers and more.

Technocopia, a membership-based makerspace, is comprised of a community of artisans, educators and entrepreneurs that pay a monthly fee to use its metalworking and woodworking shops; digital fabrication lab; electronic equipment and more.

But the nonprofit also invites the general public in on Thursdays for a free "Open Hacks and Crafts" night, during which attendees can socialize and work on projects in the 11,000-square-foot space.

"The whole collaborative workspace model in general is something that's coming back," said Lauren Monroe, co-executive director of Technocopia. "These kinds of workspaces - the open floor model, open bay model, varied shops of different kinds all in the same space - have a lot of value because there's a lot of cross-pollination that can happen among those disciplines."

Memberships cost $75 per month for access on weekdays or nights and weekends, and $125 for 24/7 access. Technocopia also rents out bays for an additional fee, where members can store equipment or create their own workspace.

The current iteration of the coworking space began three years ago when Technocopia - formerly located on Prescott Street - merged with Worcester Think Tank and IA Design, a wood and metal shop.

Since that time, the organization has received two MassDevelopment grants that have allowed it to add more shops and studios. Monroe said its next buildout will be completed in July, which includes a new classroom for Technocopia's new CNC plasma cutter and more space for rental bays.

Today, Technocopia has about 70 members - some of which travel to the Printers Building on Portland Street from as far as Boston.

"I think that there are a lot more people that would be taking advantage of the space if they knew about it," Monroe said. "It is a new kind of venture."

Annie Stegink, farm coordinator at Community Harvest Project in Grafton, discovered Technocopia through stART on the Street - Worcester's art, music and performance festival. She decided to take a welding class and got more involved with the organization from there.

Stegink focuses primarily on printmaking, but has picked up other skills that she never would have expected - like sautering. She has also learned how to digitally reproduce her work using Technocopia's laser cutter and vinyl cutting machine.

"I used to only have access to what I had at my house, so I would do a lot of paper cutting by hand," she said. "I remember at the beginning of my Technocopia days, having someone be like, 'You could do that so fast on the laser' .... Now I'm finding that that's one of my favorite modes of using my paper cutting to get to a point where I can digitally reproduce them very easily on either the laser or the vinyl cutter."

The coworking space isn't just for adults, either. Anyone age 5 or older is welcome. On Thursdays, bicycles can be seen scattered throughout the sixth floor as teenagers from 508 BikeLife attend the Open Hack and Craft night.

"We are a unique makerspace in a sense that we are a youth and adult makerspace. A lot of other makerspaces choose to specialize in one or the other, and Technocopia was adamant that we were going to incorporate both," Monroe said.

Members' interests vary as widely as their ages. The makerspace draws everyone from graphic designers to carpenters and educators who use the resources at Technocopia to teach their skills. One member even creates animatronic puppets for The Hanover Theatre.

Monroe said she also sees people who are trying to get their startups off the ground, who will work on prototypes at Technocopia for several months and then move on.

"That's a really interesting group of people, those people tend to stay for an average of three months, they're usually here for a very specific job or product."

She said the Worcester CleanTech Incubator on the fourth floor of the Printers Building helps keep that momentum going.

"I would say this building in general is a really good example of what Worcester does really well when they combine different kinds of talents in one space," Monroe said. 'The family that owns this building does a great job of taking care of this building and caring about their tenants and caring about what they're doing."
By Nicholas Cocchi and John J. Larivee

Imagine waking up one day with nothing except a change of clothes, and no money in your pocket. You go to apply for a job, but can't because you don't have a driver's license, photo ID, or even a Social Security card. You head to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to get an ID, but can't because you don't have the money to pay for it and you don't have a fixed address. You've struggled with a substance use disorder for years, and have no idea where to turn for help.

Less than one day into your new life and it seems that every door is closed to you.

You're lost.

The vast majority of people in our county jails and state prisons will someday be released into the community, and as it stands today, too many of them end up in shelters or on the streets. Over 6,000 men and women return to Hampden County communities from the County House of Correction each year; another 3,000 men and women return from state prison to communities across the state.



As the Hampden County Sheriff's Department knows well, community-based reentry services providing the building blocks for a new life outside jail and prison walls are the best deterrent to reoffending. The Department has long been a leader in community-based reentry services. However, statewide the Commonwealth has neglected these programs and reduced their funding. We need to change that.

In the last 18 months, four programs across the state that provided community-based reentry services have closed due to loss of funding.



* Span Inc. closed in August 2017 after over 40 years of providing community case management and substance abuse services to citizens returning from incarceration.

* Overcoming the Odds, a city, state, and community partnership, ended in 2016 after 3 years of providing housing and case management to high-risk individuals returning to the Boston area.

* Worcester Initiative for Supportive Reentry ended services when its grant funds ran out.

* McGrath House, the only residential reentry program specifically for women in Boston, closed this week.

In western Massachusetts, we have been hard at work and quite successful in developing a link with community-based providers to improve these services, while protecting the public safety for all. Unfortunately, much of these services are driven by the sheriff's office and with funding from my over stretched jail budget. Separate state funding is needed to assist in this effort.

Reentry services provided inside our jails and prison walls are a great start, but they simply aren't enough. Support, guidance, and accountability when someone is in the community, facing the stresses of starting a new life, is where the rubber meets the road. That's where our emphasis needs to be.



Community-based residential reentry services provide safe housing, workforce development, and case management that build connections and stability for those returning to our communities from prison and jail. Post-release supervision in a halfway house utilizing evidence-based programming reduces recidivism by up to 25 percent for high-risk individuals.



While the effectiveness of community-based reentry services is widely recognized, Massachusetts has not invested in them. In fact, the Commonwealth's $40 billion state budget includes just $90,000 for community-based residential reentry. That's roughly the same amount it costs to incarcerate two people in state prison for a year.

For our criminal justice reform efforts to be successful, we must invest in community-based reentry services. A coalition of advocates is urging the Legislature to dedicate $5 million for community-based residential reentry. This will provide funding for approximately 450 individuals to begin their reintegration back to the community with a fair shot: a temporary bed to sleep in, help getting a job, health care, counseling, permanent housing and an ID. By providing connections to housing and employment for people who often have difficulty accessing them, we can strengthen our communities and make them safer for all of us.

Massachusetts is on the cusp of enacting criminal justice reform legislation, but if we're serious in Massachusetts about criminal justice reform, we need to make sure more men and women who've served their time in jails and prisons get the support they need to never go back. That's being smart on crime. An inmate returning to the community will soon be your neighbor. We want to be sure those released are a safe, law-abiding and productive neighbor. The safety of the public is at the core of these efforts.

Please join us in supporting a real investment in community-based residential reentry.



Nicholas Cocchi is Sheriff of Hampden County. John J. Larivee is President & CEO, Community Resources for Justice.
Alex van der Zwaan, an attorney who pleaded guilty to lying to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office, has reportedly been sentenced to 30 days in prison -- the first person to see jail time as part of a probe into meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Van der Zwaan, the son-in-law of Russian businessman German Khan who allegedly misled investigators about his past communications with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates, was sentenced and fined $20,000 during a late-morning appearance in Federal District Court in Washington, various news outlets reported.

In addition to serving 30 days in prison, he was sentenced to two months of supervised release, according to the BBC.

The Associated Press noted that van der Zwaan faced up to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Mueller charged van der Zwaan in February with one felony count of making false statements about his work for a law firm, which the Ukraine Ministry of Justice used in 2012 to prepare a report on the trial of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, according to court records.

Van der Zwaan was accused of falsely telling the FBI and Mueller's office that he last communicated with Gates via text message in mid-August 2016 and last communicated with an unidentified "Person A" in 2014.

Court records further alleged that he falsely stated he did not know why a September 2016 email between him and "Person A" was not given to prosecutors, and allegedly spoke with both Gates and "Person A" over the Tymoshenko report, recorded the calls and deleted emails sought by prosecutors.

Van der Zwaan pleaded guilty in federal court in late February.

Mueller, in a sentencing memorandum issued last week, said "the government does not take a position with respect to a particular sentence to be imposed" on van der Zwaan.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
SPRINGFIELD -- On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. died after being shot while standing on the second-floor balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Fifty years later, the memory of the famous civil rights leader's assassination is still raw for Springfield City Councilor E. Henry Twiggs, who describes the event as "the worst day of (his) life."

Twiggs, who first heard King speak as a teenager and years later attended the 1963 March on Washington, said the reverend's death was especially devastating for him and others caught up in the Civil Rights Movement.

That devastation, however, soon turned to action, said Twiggs, as he and others were inspired to remain politically active in wake of King's death.

"I went to the funeral and there was so many young (people) who were so emphatic about getting involved in politics and/or demonstrating for whatever cause we thought was necessary for us to get our voice across and to have our grievances redressed," he said in an interview.

Twiggs, who began working on voter registration and education efforts after the March on Washington, said after King's death he decided to get involved in various political campaigns.

"We decided we would run ourselves or support candidates who had a similar view. As it turns out, I supported a number of candidates and ran a lot of political campaigns," he said, pointing to his work to elect those running for offices at the local, state and federal level.

Twiggs, 79, added that while he was more reluctant to personally seek office, he decided to run for Springfield City Council -- as well as to promote the campaigns of other city councilors -- in part, out of what he learned from King.

"I'd like to think that Dr. King was still impacting upon me because I was continuing to share with many people how you (run for office,)" he said.

Retired state Rep. Ben Swan, a Springfield Democrat who served 22 years on Beacon Hill, said he also took inspiration from King, as well as from other civil rights leaders.

The former state representative said he appreciates "immensely the work that Dr. King engaged in and the contributions he made," including his commitment to non-violence -- a philosophy which he noted drew some debate among civil rights leaders.

Swan, who said he saw King speak on several occasions, offered that he still listens to recordings of the reverend's speeches and believes his teachings remain as important in 2018 as they did prior to his death.

He added that he tries to embody King's call for service.

"There's a recorded sermon of Dr. King ... it talked about serving your community, service of your people. That is probably the thing that I've tried most to do," Swan said. "And, I didn't just get if from Dr. King -- we agreed on it. His sermon agreed with a philosophy that I had learned from my parents."

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, meanwhile, said King's efforts to bring about change through non-violence and peaceful protests helped shape his world view years before he even considered entering politics.

The congressman said he was in his early teens when King was asked to speak at Springfield College's commencement ceremony - an invitation which the Federal Bureau of Investigation unsuccessfully urged the college to rescind.

Although Neal said he did not attend the speech, he offered that he vividly remembers "the tension that was in the air."

"For me he was an inspirational figure ... I remember a time when there were guardsmen on the streets of Springfield - and those are your formative years when you're making up your mind about the future," he said. "This was a very compelling example of an individual who made great change."

As a member of Congress, Neal said he has further had to opportunity to work alongside and learn from civil rights icon U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who also spoke at the March on Washington.

"I've had a chance over many years to talk about Martin Luther King Jr. with him, to talk with him about Bull Connor, to talk about the Edmund Pettus Bridge," he said, adding that he has visited many of the sites that played important roles in the Civil Rights Movement.

Neal said King's life and death impacted not just his own political career, but have inspired generations of people to enter politics and push for non-violent solutions.

"There are thousands of people - if not tens of thousands of people -- that hold offices today across the country, elected or appointed, who were inspired by his life," he said.

King was killed just one day after he returned to Memphis to help lead a peaceful demonstration. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old who had escaped the Missouri State Penitentiary in April 1967, pleaded guilty to the civil rights leader's murder in March 1969.
MIAMI, Fla. -- Hanley Ramirez said all spring training he plans to mash 30 homers and steal 30 bases in 2018.

His first home run this season, a two-run blast, along with his second stolen base came here today against the Marlins, the team he played for when he belted 33 homers and stole 35 bases in 2008 (his lone 30/30 season).

Ramirez, who went 2-for-5, crushed a 78.9 mph slider over the left field wall with an exit velocity of 108.3 mph to put Boston ahead 5-1 in the fifth inning.

Mookie Betts also slugged his first homer of 2018 during the sixth, a solo shot to left field.

The Red Sox won 7-3 over the Marlins in the first game of a two-game series at Marlins Park.

Boston improved to 4-1. It plays one more game here tomorrow before heading to Boston for the home opener Thursday.

Red Sox starters have a 0.90 ERA

Brian Johnson continued the trend of dominant Red Sox starting pitching.

He hurled 6 innings and allowed just one run, six hits and two walks while striking out five.

One turn through the rotation, Red Sox starters have posted a 0.90 ERA (30 innings, three runs):

Chris Sale: 6 IP, 0 ER.

David Price: 7 IP, 0 ER.

Rick Porcello: 5 1/3 IP, 1 ER.

Hector Velazquez: 5 2/3 IP, 1 ER.

Brian Johnson: 6 IP, 1 ER.

Johnson escaped a fourth-inning jam. Justin Bour and Cameron Maybin both singled to lead off the frame.

But Johnson retired Miguel Rojas on a flyout to right field and got Bryan Holaday to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.

The lone run he surrendered came on a Brian Anderson's solo home run in the second inning.

Bogaerts stays hot

Bogaerts went 2-for-5 with two singles (one was an infield single). He also scored one run.

He's 10-for-22 (.455 batting average) with five doubles, one homer, five runs and two RBIs.

Red Sox offense comes to life

Boston scored only 10 runs in its first four games but the offense came to life Monday.

Eduardo Nunez tied it 1-1 in the fourth with an RBI double and Christian Vazquez's two-run double that same inning made it 3-1.

Rafael Devers delivered an RBI double in the ninth.
MIAMI, Fla. -- Drew Pomeranz threw five innings in a minor league game in Fort Myers today.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora wants to see how Pomeranz feels tomorrow before mapping out his next start. He potentially could start for a Red Sox minor league affiliate in five days, then return to Boston's rotation.

"Go back to what we've been saying the whole spring: tomorrow's a big day," Cora said.

Other injury updates:

~ Tyler Thornburg (returning from thoracic outlet syndrome) was expected to pitch in his second minor league game in Fort Myers today. But a stiff neck has pushed his appearance back one day. He'll pitch Tuesday.

~ Eduardo Rodriguez (knee) is expected to start a minor league game tomorrow. He's scheduled to pitch six innings.

~ Steven Wright (suspension, knee) threw a bullpen Sunday.

"He was solid," Cora said. "No complaints. So he'll pitch in two days."
Bald-headed males could help accelerate the shift a future powered entirely by clean energy, according to new research.

Januarys global baldness census reveals that 58% of men over 43 are currently bald. And by connecting them to local grid systems via wifi, the renewable power institute (RPI) believes these human domes could potentially operate more efficiently than conventional solar panels.
Its World Autism Awareness day, and it turns out more employers are become aware that they should be giving adults with autism a chance. CBS News national correspondent Lee Cowan explains how companies and workers are benefiting

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/companies-tap-into-a-pool-of-unique-candidates-workers-with-autism/
Even self-driving cars are not immune from the long arm of the law.

In San Francisco this week, a city police officer issued a ticket to an autonomous GM Cruise vehicle for failure to yield to a pedestrian. Specifically, the self-driving vehicle got too close to a person walking in a crosswalk before it stopped, according to a local CBS news report.

Cruise is disputing the ticket.

by Scott Ferguson

https://www.theconnectedcar.com/author.asp?section_id=627&doc_id=741896&
"For small to medium to national organizations, for events and fundraisers of any size, in any format  live, virtual or hybrid  the platform is built for scale."
Running from 2018 to 2020 with a total finance of GBP500,000, it is delivered through the British Councils Culture and Development initiative.

The project will engage with the music and film heritage of Vietnam, with particular focus on aspects that are under threat, disappearing, or under-represented.

Photo: British Council Vietnam

A more dynamic understanding and enjoyment, as well as use of, heritage assets in everyday life in the communities and in artistic, curatorial, and educational practices will be promoted.

Besides, the project will engage with a wide range of partners, including cultural heritage agencies, institutions of the central and local government, arts and cultural organizations, and the private sector, focusing on research, documentation, conservation, training and capacity building (including oral teaching techniques), experimentation and innovation, advocacy and education (including policy and community dialogues), and the re-imagination and revitalization of cultural heritage assets in contemporary practices.

The launching event featuring two performances that capture a remarkable essence of the music heritage of Vietnam took place on April 1st at Hanoi Opera House, No. 1 Trang Tien street, while the same section is scheduled to happen at Soul Academy, No.214 Pasteur, district 3, Ho Chi Minh city at 18h30 - 21h00 on April 6th./.
Ambassador Cao Chinh Thien and Deputy Head of Directorate General for Global Affairs Ugo Astuto speaking at the event (Photo: VNA)

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Cao Chinh Thien stressed that Vietnam - Italy diplomatic relations have been established since Vietnam was not fully unified. In these difficult years, Italy always stood in support of Vietnams righteous struggle. The image of friendly ship Australe transporting goods and essential supplies of the Italian people to present the people of Vietnam during the war years has become a beautiful symbol of solidarity and friendship between the two nations.

Over the past 45 years, notwithstanding various economic, political and social changes in each country, the traditional friendship is still good and increasingly cultivated. It can be said that Vietnam - Italy relations are going through the best period since 1973, especially since the establishment of the Strategic Partnership in 2013, the two sides have gained many important achievements in the fields of politics, economy, culture and society and people exchanges.

They have actively exchanged high-level delegations to deepen the relationship and mutual understanding: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Italian President Sergio Mattarella paid official visits to Vietnam in 2014 and 2015 respectively; Vietnamese high-ranking leaders paid visits to Italy such as General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in 2013, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung in 2014, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan in 2015 and State President Tran Dai Quang in 2016. In addition, many delegations at all levels have had working visits, exchanged experience and increased cooperation in the specialized fields. The two countries also cooperate closely in multilateral and international forums.

Over the past five years, the two-way trade has grown positively, reaching nearly USD5 billion each year. The two sides strive to reach bilateral turnover of USD6 billion in 2017-2018. Cultural, tourism, science and education cooperation has been expanded. The Vietnamese community in Italy has been very active in preserving and promoting Vietnamese culture, contributing to bringing the two peoples closer. Cooperation between localities in the two countries has also been promoted, with many agreements having been implemented and gained positive results.

According to Mr Thien, Italy is an important partner of Vietnam in Europe and in the world. Vietnam always attaches great importance to and desires to promote the strategic partnership between the two sides in all areas and towards bigger dimensions.

For his part, Mr. Ugo Astuto, Deputy Head of Directorate General for Global Affairs under the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also highlighted the traditional friendship between Italy and Vietnam and highly appreciated the achievements of the two countries during the past 45 years. He said that the two sides still have much potential to develop cooperation in all fields and believed that the relations will continue to develop in the coming time.

Delegates enjoyed Vietnams unique traditional art program performed by a Vietnamese band from Bologna city. On this occasion, photos reflecting important milestones in bilateral relations, landscapes, land and people of Vietnam were also displayed and left good impression.

On the same day, a seminar themed Tourism, Vietnams strategic sector was also organized./.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will attend the third Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from April 4th-5th at the invitation of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen (Photo: VNA)



The event, themed Joint Efforts and Partnership towards Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Mekong, will create an opportunity for countries to review the operation of the MRC over the past four years and work to realise sustainable development goals.

Vietnam has actively participated in regional and international organisations such as the MRC, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, the United Nations (UN), the World Water Forum (WWF), the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the International Rivers (IR) as well as enhanced cooperation with department partners such as the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to enhance effective management of water resources in the Mekong River.

Vietnam hosted the second MRC in Ho Chi Minh city in April 2014. In 2015, the country held a panel discussion on water security within the framework of the 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU-132) in March and an international workshop calling for joint actions in water resources management as part of the Asia-Europe Meeting in June that year.

Within the MRC framework, Vietnam has work with member countries to push the MRC Joint Committee to issue a statement on prior consultation for the Pak Beng hydropower project, calling on the Laos government to step up measures to mitigate the cross-border impacts of the project.

With the support of Lao and Cambodian experts, Vietnam completed a study on the impacts of Mekong mainstream hydropower on the Mekong Delta in 2015 and joint research on sustainable development and management of the Mekong River basin in 2017.

In April 2014, Vietnam became the 35th member of the 1997 UN Convention on Non-Navigation Uses of International Watercourses. Vietnam was the first country in the MRC to join the convention, which came into force in August 2014.

Vietnam is persuading other ASEAN member nations to join the convention to strengthen legal mechanisms to facilitate the management and sustainable development of water resources in the Mekong River.

The country has also promoted the protection and effective use of water resources in regional cooperation mechanisms such as the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the US Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), the Mekong-Japan Cooperation (MJ), the Mekong-Korea Cooperation and the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation.

The 4,800km-long Mekong River flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Its basin spreads over 795,000 square kilometres with 65 million people in the four countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Mekong Committee was established in 1956 under the auspices of the UN to coordinate aid and manage resources in the river basin. In 1995, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam signed an Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River and set up the MRC as a replacement for the Mekong Committee.

The MRC holds its summit every four years, starting from 2010. The first MRC summit was held in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2010 and the second one took place in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam in 2014.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomes head of Switzerlands Federation Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication Doris Leuthard (Photo: VNA)



The PM made the statement while meeting the visiting Director of Switzerlands Federation Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication Doris Leuthard in Hanoi on April 3rd after their previous meeting in January 2017 when the PM joined the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He welcomed the two countries signing of agreements to support each other at multilateral forums.

Leuthard showed her impression at Vietnams growth as well as delight at the progress of the ties between the two countries over the past years.

She expressed her hope that negotiations for a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will be finalised this year after seven years, so that the deal can be signed soon, opening up new cooperation prospects in tourism, trade and investment.

She said that many Swiss firms are accompanying her in this visit to seek investment and business opportunities, especially in pharmaceuticals, a strong sector of Switzerland.

She also had working sessions with the Vietnamese side on environment, climate change, and biodiversity to explore cooperation potential.

Sharing the Swiss officials hope to speed up the conclusion of negotiations for the Vietnam-EFTA free trade agreement, PM Phuc said that relevant parties should soon sign the deal. Along with a direct air route between Vietnam and Switzerland this year, the deal will bring about big chances to promote investment, trade and tourism partnership between the two sides, he stressed.

He also underscored that Vietnam welcomes Swiss firms to expand cooperation in Vietnam, pledging that the Vietnamese Government will continue improving the investment environment and creating optimal conditions for foreign firms, including those from Switzerland, especially in finance-banking, manufacturing industry and pharmaceuticals.

The Government leader proposed that Switzerland should share experience with Vietnam and support the country in building a high-quality education system and combining science-technology research-training.

He also suggested that Switzerland increase scholarships for Vietnamese students, especially in justice, banking, high technology, and tourism, while strengthening the exchange of students and lecturers as well as cooperation in scientific research./.
The delegates watching photos about Vietnam at the event (Photo: vov.vn)

At the event, the Vietnamese Embassy opened a book collection about Vietnam, introducing Vietnamese cuisine, displaying photos about the culture and people of Vietnam, especially introducing a photo collection taken by an Egyptian official in Vietnam during his previous travel.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador Do Hoang Long said that this was one of the activities marking the 55th anniversary of Vietnam  Egypt diplomatic relations. It was organized in Ismailia because the province has great economic potential, especially in agriculture, and the people in the locality havent had access to information about Vietnam.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese Embassy opened a reading-room at the library to help the local people access more information about Vietnam. The Ambassador hoped that after the event, similar events would be launched in other provinces of Egypt, thus more information about Vietnam would be transferred to the Egyptian public. Accordingly, cooperation activities in fields of economy and trade will be more developed.

At the event, Mr. Yassin Taher, Head of Ismailia province, said that he hoped that in the coming time, Egypt and Vietnam relations continue to be promoted in all fields, especially investment. The Vietnam Cultural Day help him and the local people better understand Vietnam, especially its development achievements and investment attraction. He also promised that he would make efforts to promote cultural cooperation between the two sides.

At the event, Ambassador Long suggested to organize twinning between provinces and cities such as Hanoi and Cairo cities, Ninh Binh and Luxor provinces, in the coming time./.
The opening ceremony of the training course (Source: VNA)

During five days, 42 local journalists and reporters will listen to Vietnamese colleagues share their experiences in producing photo and infographic news, helping readers fully understand contents in the fastest way.

Since 2012, the Department of Press under Vietnams Ministry of Information and Communications has held training courses on professional skills for Lao journalists, raising practical efficiency in press and information affairs in Laos.

So far, 20 courses have been organized in Laos and Vietnam, drawing the participation of nearly 600 reporters and editors./.
It was a tense rivalry and relationship last year between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, but the Ferrari driver insists he's cool with his Mercedes counter-part this season.

Vettel gave Hamilton a solid run for his money in 2017, and what started as a respectful on and off-track relationship between the two men escalated into a contentious rapport which started after the German driver's antics in Baku.

A post-qualifying exchange in Melbourne, when Hamilton told Vettel that his pole position was destined "to wipe the smile off his face", hinted that perhaps last year's bad blood had spilled over to 2018.

Vettel admitted to the pair's fall-out last year but insisted he has no current issues with Hamilton, and sees no reason why things would change.

"He said he was joking and I believe him," said Vettel, referencing Ham's snappy post-quali reply in Australia.

"I think we are old enough, I don't think we need to go on that sort of level.

"It's fine as long as we joke with each other and I think even if we are very different persons, I think we share - all of us - a common passion and that makes us quite equal again.

"We love racing and we try to do our best, once we're in the car and beat all the others.

"I think in that regard, I don't see why we shouldn't get on with each other."

The dueling drivers' battle will resume in Bahrain this week, where Hamilton hopes to make up for the win that was lost in Melbourne.

The Mercedes driver is expecting another harsh fight however with Ferrari at a venue which could suit the Scuderia's cars.

"Their performance is better than it looked," said Hamilton.

"Ferrari are going to be quick on the straights.

"They are going to be rapid at the next race, they are going to be good in Bahrain. They are always good on hot circuits - even though it is a night race it is tough on the tyres."

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HOLLAND, MI -- Amtrak will operate a special Tulip Time train between Chicago and Holland on two Saturdays during next month's Tulip Time festival, Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation announced.

"It seems like a wonderful opportunity to promote the festival and train service between Holland and Chicago," said Sally Laukitis, executive director of the Holland Area Visitors Bureau.

"We will have someone on the train in costume to greet people and we will have a couple of people to greet them at the station."

The train will pick up passengers at Chicago's Union Station at 7:05 a.m. and the Hammond-Whiting station at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 5 and Saturday May 12 and bring them to Holland's downtown railroad station 11:29 a.m..

A return trip will leaves Holland at 5:50 p.m. and arrive in Hammond-Whiting at 7:52 p.m. and Chicago at 8:24 p.m.. Parking at the Hammond-Whiting stop will be free. The train also will make intermediate stops in Bangor and Saint Joseph.

The schedule is designed to give Tulip Time visitors a day in Holland without needing to find parking or a hotel room, Laukitis said. Visitors also can choose to stay overnight and take the morning train back to Chicago on Sunday or Monday, she said.

On Saturday, May 5, Tulip Time visitors can experience Tulip City tours, an artisan market, the Kinderplaats amusement part for children, a quilt show, Dutch dance performances, and shopping in downtown Holland.

On Saturday, May 12, visitors can watch Muziekparade, the largest parade of the week, visit a tall ships dockside on Lake Macatawa, a quilting show, and the Dutch Marktplaats and food court.

Adult fares on Amtrak's "Pere Marquette" route range from $26 to $48 each way. All Pere Marquette trains will stop at Hammond-Whiting on Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6 and Saturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13. Walk-on bicycle service will not be available.

The Pere Marquette also provides daily service between Chicago to Holland for travel during the nine-day festival. The train regularly leaves Grand Rapids at 6 a.m. weekdays before stopping in Holland for a 6:49 a.m. departure to Chicago, where it arrives at 9:08 a.m., local time.

The regularly scheduled Pere Marquette leaves Chicago's Union Station at 6:30 p.m. (local time) and arrives in Holland at 10:33 p.m. before concluding its route in Grand Rapids at 11:34 p.m..

Information about shuttle services from the Holland station area and best ways to get around town on specific dates, along with the times and locations of all events, are available in this guide.

Tulip Time information also is available by calling the Holland Area Visitors Bureau at 800-506-1299 or by visiting Holland.org.
ANN ARBOR, MI - The Ann Arbor Planning Commission will consider special zoning approvals for four medical marijuana dispensaries when it meets Tuesday night, April 3.

On the commission's agenda are applications for the Om of Medicine dispensary at 111 S. Main St., the Michigan Natural Remedies dispensary 1202 Packard, the Arborside dispensary at 1818 Packard, and the Huron View dispensary at 3152 Packard.

The commission meets at 7 p.m. inside the council chambers on the second floor of city hall, 301 E. Huron St.

Members of the public will be allowed to speak at public hearings before the commission votes.

The commission also is considering a proposal for a four-story, 267-unit apartment building at 2050 Commerce Blvd.

Ann Arbor's new zoning regulations for medical marijuana businesses took effect last month, and the city has seen a flurry of applications from cannabis entrepreneurs recently.

That includes existing dispensaries seeking to become official under new city and state regulations, new ones looking to open, and at least one planning an expansion in the heart of downtown.

A review of city records shows at least 25 dispensaries have sought approval to operate in Ann Arbor this year. Four of those already have gone through zoning approval and 21 others are pending.

The city three months ago agreed to let 18 existing marijuana businesses continue to operate while they go through the new licensing process that's now playing out.

The city's Planning Commission has the task of considering each dispensary's application and deciding, with city staff input, whether they qualify for special zoning approval to allow them to operate.

They do not go to City Council for approval, though the council established the rules for them. One of those rules is that dispensaries must be spaced at least 600 feet apart to avoid clusters of them.

In recent weeks, the Planning Commission has approved zoning for four dispensaries: Arbors Wellness at 321 E. Liberty St., Treecity Health Collective at 2730 Jackson Ave., Greenstone Society at 338 S. Ashley St., and Stadium Ventures Inc. at 2460 W. Stadium Blvd.

The commission postponed consideration of two other dispensaries -- Green Planet at 700 Tappan Ave. and Liv Wellness and Cafe at 603 E. William St. -- at its last meeting.

Applications for many others are still pending and are expected to be considered over the coming weeks and months.

The Bloom City Club dispensary at 423 Miller Ave. and the Scientific Method Holdings II Inc. dispensary at 1115 Broadway St. are on the Planning Commission's agenda for April 17.

Once the zoning is approved, dispensaries still need building compliance approval, permit approval through the city clerk's office and license approval through the state.

City Clerk Jackie Beaudry said this week her office has not yet processed any dispensary permit applications.

Prior to applying for a licensing permit, she said, applicants need zoning compliance and a certificate of occupancy.

She said she believes several are now in the process of getting their building department approvals.

City records show the following 21 existing or proposed dispensaries in Ann Arbor are still seeking zoning approval right now:

Peoples Choice Alternative Medicine, 2247 W. Liberty St.

District Arbor 1, 3005 Packard Road

District Arbor 3, 3720 Washtenaw Ave.

Om of Medicine, 111 S. Main St.

Scientific Method Holdings Inc., 202 Miller Ave.

Scientific Method Holdings II Inc., 1115 Broadway St.

CannArbor Inc., 2019 W. Stadium Blvd.

Exclusive Brands LLC, 3820 Varsity Drive

Exclusive Brands LLC, 1251 N. Main St.

Michigan Natural Remedies, 1202 Packard St.

Parkhurst Services, 3294 Winewood Ave.

Liberty Gallery Inc., 702 S. Main St.

The Rabbit Club, 450 S. Main St.

Green Planet, 700 Tappan Ave.

Liv Wellness and Cafe, 603 E. William St.

Pure Roots LLC, 3430 Washtenaw Ave.

TC MI Ann Arbor 2 LLC (TreeCity), 1958 S. Industrial Highway

Huron View, 3152 Packard

Medicine Man of Ann Arbor Inc., 2793 Plymouth Road

Arborside, 1818 Packard St.

Bloom City Club, 423 Miller Ave.

Brett Lenart, the city's planning manager, said there's no "District Arbor 2" on the list because that was one of six additional dispensary applications that were submitted but were within 600 feet of other dispensaries, so they're not allowed.

The application submitted by Exclusive Brands LLC for 3820 Varsity Drive, doing business as the Exclusive PR Center, is for a growing/processing facility with a dispensary.

Lenart said he believes about five growing or processing facilities have been approved.

Dispensaries have submitted their safety and security plans, business plans, floor layouts, hours of operation, odor mitigation plans, lease agreements, landlord permissions and other information.

Om of Medicine, which has been operating at 112 S. Main St. for several years, is seeking approval of a new dispensary location across the street at 111 S. Main St., where it plans to relocate.

The plans submitted to the city indicated the company was investing $200,000 into building out its new and bigger space.

Once complete, Om of Medicine intends to move from its 4,000-square-foot, third-floor space on the west side of Main Street to a 5,500-square-foot space with street-level presence on the east side of Main Street, occupying the first floor and basement level.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Two former Ann Arbor Public Schools employees are facing child abuse charges related to incidents authorities allege happened in a Burns Park Elementary School special education classroom in the fall of 2016.

Police say a teacher struck a student in the head and a teacher's assistant kicked a student.

Lisa Mannor, 35, of Ypsilanti, and Tiffany Massey, 31, of Belleville, today are charged with one count of fourth degree child abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail or probation for up to five years.

Massey did not attend her arraignment set for Feb. 20 in Washtenaw County's 15th District Court, and a failure to appear warrant was issued, according to the court clerk. Massey could not be reached for comment.

Mannor was arraigned March 5 and appeared in court again on Monday, April 2. Her next pre-trial hearing is set for April 16. Mannor's attorney Joseph Simon declined comment.

Mannor was a teacher in a Burns Park special education classroom for students with autism - some of whom are nonverbal - when police allege she struck a child in the head between Sept. 23, 2016, and Oct. 13, 2016, according to the police complaint.

Massey was a teacher's assistant in the same classroom when police allege she kicked a child on Oct. 11, 2016, according to a police complaint.

Both women have since resigned from Ann Arbor Public Schools.

Ann Arbor Public Schools staff were made aware of the allegations on Oct. 12, 2016, according to a memo from the human resources administrator included in Mannor's personnel file. The Ann Arbor News reviewed Mannor's and Massey's personnel files through the Freedom of Information Act.

The district's preliminary investigation revealed evidence substantiating the abuse allegations against Mannor, according to the memo from human resources summing up the findings of its investigation on May 12, 2017. Mannor was placed on indefinite leave on Oct. 13, 2016, while the investigation continued.

"Student safety is always the top concern for the Ann Arbor Public Schools," said Superintendent Jeanice Swift. "We followed appropriate processes throughout the situation and cannot comment any further than this."

Ann Arbor police became involved after the Burns Park principal reported the incident to Child Protective Services.

In the course of interviewing staff and parents about the allegations against Mannor, district administrators became aware of abuse allegations involving Massey. She was placed on leave effective Oct. 17, 2016.

Mannor resigned from Ann Arbor Public Schools on May 29, 2017, in lieu of being terminated, according to an agreement between the Ann Arbor Education Association and the school district.

Massey resigned May 25, 2017. She had worked at Burns Park since November 2015.

In response to the abuse allegations, the school district outlined several next steps:

Bring in a new teacher for the special education classroom at Burns Park,

Assign a Board Certified Behavior Analyst to assist in the classroom full-time,

Arrange more training for teachers and teacher assistants,

Purchase additional walkie-talkies for staff and teaching assistants,

Hold meetings with families every six weeks throught he rest of the 2016-17 school year, and

Create a new executive curriculum coordinator within the Student Intervention and Support Services department, which oversees the school district's special education services.

Parents of students in that special education classroom at Burns Park have had previous concerns.

In the 2015-16 school year, four parents filed complaints with the Michigan Department of Education related to the classroom teacher who preceded Mannor. Three of those complaints were resolved through mediation, but one resulted in the MDE ordering the district to take corrective action to address violations of state and federal special education regulations.

Parents who filed the complaints also requested Burns Park Elementary hire a different teacher for the special education classroom. The state didn't require that step, but AAPS met the parents' request. Mannor was the new teacher hired for that classroom in September 2016.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Leaders of the Greek Life community at the University of Michigan continue to raise concerns over a recent decision to shift to a winter recruitment practice for all fraternities and sororities at UM.

Panhellenic Association Executive Board President Skylar Garrett spoke out against the changes, which will apply to first-year students during the fall of the 2019-20 academic year, during a UM Board of Regents meeting last week,

The changes will require that first-year students earn 12 credit hours at UM and be in good academic and behavioral standing before participating in Greek Life recruitment.

Garrett said she believes there was a lack of student voices in the decision-making process from UM's Division of Student Life.

"We are disappointed in the lack of current student voices included in these initial conversations as we pride ourselves on self-governance," Garrett said. "We have always had a cooperative and constructive relationship with the university. Our community is frustrated that a decision of this importance did not include current student leadership."

UM announced the shift on March 20 as part of a larger effort taking place over the next year that will include workshops, courses and community-building activities, with a focus of helping students "gain the skills for academic success, develop sustainable and healthy relationships and engage with diverse learning communities."

"We have studied the impact of recruitment practices on first-year students in the first semester on campus and determined that adjusting the timeline to winter semester supports first-year student success by providing the opportunity to fully engage in curriculum and communities," UM Vice President for Student Life E. Royster Harper said in the announcement.

Garrett said deferred recruitment does not support the values of UM's Panhellenic chapters, which represent sororities at UM.

Being a part of Greek life strengthens a student's first-year experience, Garrett said. She argued that the switch to winter recruitment creates difficulties for students making housing arrangements.

"First, housing in Ann Arbor is competitive and expensive for all students," Garrett said. "Most students sign leases soon after they arrive on campus their freshman year. Sorority housing is competitive with the university pricing. The combination of the leasing cycle and deferred schedule poses a threat to the significant financial investment that our organizations have made. This decision impacts our organization's finances and will raise dues to our members, adding to the financial burdens and barriers to join our community."

UM Spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen said concerns about residency within the Greek community are valid and still being addressed.

"Students have highlighted a valid concern about sophomore residency within the Greek community that will be one of the primary issues to be addressed by the transition team," Broekhuizen said. "The team has already been thinking about various options we have for addressing this issue and believe that as more of us come together to talk about this, additional ideas may emerge."

The Panhellenic Association and UM's Interfraternity Council recently issued a joint statement regarding the university's switch to winter recruitment, arguing the change "directly infringes upon these basic rights guaranteed to Wolverines and Recognized Student Organizations."

The North-American Interfraternity Conference, which includes more than 6,100 chapters on more than 800 college campuses, also believes UM's decision to switch to a winter recruitment period beginning in January 2020 is unnecessary and potentially harmful to first-year students looking to build relationship after arriving on campus.

During the meeting, UM Regent Andrew Richner also expressed some concern about the changes following Garrett's comments.

"I know the university has rolled out its intentions with respect to Greek Life, but I for one am very sensitive to the concerns raised, and would continue to encourage the administration to have a dialogue with the student organizations and to see what can be done to address their concerns," he said.

The shift to a winter recruitment comes after UM's Interfraternity Council announced in November that it was suspending all social activities and new member pledge terms as it investigated several incidents related to Greek life, including allegations of hazing and sexual misconduct.

A few months later, the IFC said it would begin phasing in restoration of social privileges after an extensive review to identify policies and practices needing improvement within the community.

A week later, the Zeta Beta Tau International Fraternity Headquarters voted to revoke the UM charter after discovering incidents of hazing had taken place.
It's Bahrain Grand Prix week and Pirelli's primer tells you all you need to know about the rubber that will be hitting the road next weekend at Sakhir.

On a track that puts a car's traction to the task and also challenges compounds through its day-to-evening changing temperatures, F1's exclusive tyre supplier has nominated the medium, soft and supersoft compounds.

The selection is actually the same as last year but Pirelli's compounds are all a step softer this season.

"Bahrain provides a very different challenge to Australia, but one of the things it has in common is that is quite a stop-start circuit characterised by longitudinal rather than lateral loads, which also means that it is rear-limited in particular," explains Pirelli's Mario Isola.

"Because of the abrasive surface and also thermal degradation we would expect more than one pit stop for most drivers, especially as the entire tyre range is softer this year and Bahrain has produced a variety of interesting strategies in the past.

"The race schedule, with track temperatures that fall considerably during the evening, means that teams need to maximise their learning from the sessions that are most representative and draw the most effective conclusions from the unusual track conditions in the evening."

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Adam C. Balcer

CARO, MI -- A probation absconder has been arraigned on 17 charges related to the killing of his two landlords in an apparent rent dispute.

Adam M. Balcer, 36, on Tuesday, April 3, appeared in Tuscola County District Court for arraignment on the following charges:

Two counts of open murder, life offense.

One count of first-degree home invasion, 20-year felony.

One count of unlawful imprisonment, 15-year felony.

Three counts of tampering with evidence, 10-year felony.

Three counts of felon in possession of a firearm, five-year felony.

One count of felon in possession of ammunition, five-year felony.

Six counts of felony firearms, two-year felony.

The charges stem from the killings of 45-year-old Peter C. Brodick Jr. and his 55-year-old stepmother/roommate Wendy K. Brodick. Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene said a person on Friday, March 30, provided information to police that led them to visit the Brodicks' home at 9884 Boucher Road in Watertown Township.

Visiting the home that evening, Michigan State Police troopers found Peter Brodick Jr.'s body inside. Wendy Brodick was missing and a search ensued, Reene said.

Troopers soon identified Balcer as a suspect and interviewed him. Based on their conversations with him, troopers on Sunday went to the site of an unused farm silo in the 3900 block of Millington Road in Millington Township and found Wendy Brodick's body. The two sites are about seven miles apart.

Both Brodicks had been shot to death, Reene said.

"We believe both homicides occurred Friday morning," Reene said, though he declined to provide additional details on the timeline of events.

The Brodicks lived together at the Boucher Road address and rented residence at 9676 Boucher Road to Balcer, Reene said. The prosecutor added it appears a dispute over rent was a motivating factor of Balcer.

Reene said the unlawful imprisonment charge relates to Balcer's conduct with Wendy Brodick.

Balcer absconded from probation more than two years ago. In August 2013, a Genesee County judge sentenced Balcer to three years of probation on a conviction of attempted larceny in a building. As of Sept. 17, 2015, the Michigan Department of Corrections listed Balcer as an absconder.

Balcer's arraigning judge on Tuesday set bond at $2 million cash-surety. Balcer's case is set for a probable cause hearing at 8:15 a.m. on Monday, April 16.
SHEPHERD, MI -- A Michigan sheriff won't face criminal charges for leaving his gun in a middle school.

Mecosta County Prosecutor Brian E. Thiede, through staff in his office, said he declined to authorize charges against Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main. Staff added Thiede found no statute had been violated when Main over the weekend of March 10-11 left his backup handgun in a locker room within Shepherd Middle School, 150 W. Hall St.

A sixth grader at the school had found the Glock 27 on a toilet paper dispenser the morning of Monday, March 12. The student immediately notified school officials, who in turn contacted Shepherd police.

Shepherd Sheriff Luke Sawyer responded to the scene and seized the gun. Shortly thereafter, Main contacted Sawyer to tell him he believed the gun was his.

In a public apology letter, Main wrote that he had been at the school over the weekend for an event and had inadvertently left the gun in the locker room after changing into his work uniform.

"In the 20 years of law enforcement service I have never left a weapon anywhere," Main said in his statement. "I have no excuse for my lack of responsibility with this matter. I have worked diligently my entire career to protect people, especially our youth. However, I have failed to do just that, and I'm devastated with my lack of accountability in this matter. I personally apologize to the student who found it and praise him for immediately contacting an adult."

Investigators referred the matter to the Isabella County Prosecutor's Office, which in turn passed it along to the Michigan Attorney General's Office to seek appointment of a special prosecutor to avoid appearances of impropriety.

The Attorney General's Office then forwarded the matter to Thiede's office for review.
BAY CITY, MI -- The state has rejected a proposal from Bay City officials requesting it takes ownership of Independence Bridge as a solution to the city's bridge crisis.

About $9 million in repairs are needed for Liberty and Independence bridges over the next five years and city officials said they don't have the funds to make the repairs.

Officials met on Feb. 22 with Michigan Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle to discuss the possibility of having the Michigan Department of Transportation take over the jurisdictional transfer of Trumbull, Independence Bridge and Wilder Road in Bay City to Interstate 75 in Monitor Township.

In a response dated March 23 that Bay City Manager Dana Muscott received on April 2, MDOT officials said they never expressed an interest to add the bridges to their inventory and cited the lack of the bridges being connected to other National Highway System routes, as well as the condition of the bridges. The following is an excerpt from MDOT:

We never expressed an interest in adding these bridges to our inventory for a variety of reasons; one being these routes are claimed by Bay City as part of their Act 51 network, as well as their lack of connectivity to other National Highway System (NHS) routes. Another reason is the overall condition of the two bridges and the investment needed to bring them into a state of good repair. We have not changed our position on this matter. MDOT is also not interested in taking ownership of Wilder Road from Harry S. Truman Parkway to I-75.

A joint statement issued by Bay Area Chamber of Commerce President Ryan Tarrant and Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance President Matt Felan said they look forward to working with the city and county to find solutions to this challenge.

"The Independence Bridge helps drive both our local and regional economy," the joint statement said. "From tourists to agribusiness, the connection between M-15 and I-75 is paramount to continuing the momentum in Bay City and the Great Lakes Bay Region."

Bay County Executive Jim Barcia said the county will continue working with city officials to find a solution to the bridge funding crisis. He has previously suggested the city go after money in the state's local bridge fund program for immediate repairs to the bridge while officials search for a long-term solution.

Bay City Commission President Andrew Niedzinki, 3rd Ward, said the next step is pursuing a millage. Part of that process would involve conversations with neighboring townships on how to create an infrastructure millage that would benefit all residents of Bay County.

"It needs to work for everybody," he said.

City officials have also discussed privatizing the bridges and possibly closing one altogether.

Privatizing the bridges came under fire again last month when a pedestrian bridge designed by Figg Bridge Design -- a firm the city has been in conversations with about building a new Independence Bridge -- collapsed in Miami.
DETROIT -- The Fillmore Detroit is scheduled to shut down on June 4 for renovations, according to a filing with the Michigan Talent Investment Agency.

The venue, operated by Live Nation Worldwide, Inc. at 2115 Woodward Ave., will lay off 180 employees until October, according to the notice posted Monday.

A message seeking details on renovations was left for The Fillmore Detroit.

Employees will not have any bumping rights, nor is there a union representing them, according to the filing.

Affected positions include:

VIP host

Ticket seller

Bartender

Barback

Guest service

Stagehand

Assistant production

Server

Runner

Marketing

Team

Kitchen staff

Maintenance

Housekeeper

Some employees may be offered other positions in the company during the closure. But the company has not made a decision on which employees will be offered the opportunity, according to the notice.

All employees will be eligible to be rehired once the venue opens again.
FLINT, MI -- The police shooting of a man following a suspected armed robbery is still under investigation.

Michigan State Police Spokesman Lt. Dave Kaiser said on Tuesday, April 3, that the investigation is ongoing into the shooting that left 40-year-old Kevin Hall dead on March 23.

Kevin Hall

Hall, of Flint, was killed following a 90-minute standoff with police near Richfield and Center roads in Genesee Township.

There are four Michigan State Police troopers and five Flint police officers who were involved in the shooting, Kaiser said.

All of the officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation is completed and reviewed by the prosecuting attorney, police previously said. If the officers are cleared they'll be allowed to go back on duty.

The standoff started after Hall robbed a nearby Chemical Bank branch on Genesee Road the morning of Friday, March 23, according to police.

Police previously said Hall entered the bank at 8:55 a.m., grabbed a teller by the shoulders and demanded money. Hall fled the scene in a white van after getting the money. A description of the man and vehicle was dispatched to Genesee Township police.

Genesee Township police spotted the van and attempted to make a traffic stop near Center and Richfield roads. During the traffic stop, two other individuals, a male and female, exited the white van and were taken into custody, police previously said.

The two have since been released from police custody, pending further investigation.

Hall then tried to flee after the traffic stop, but a police cruiser made contact with the van and prevented him from fleeing.

Hall, who was armed, remained in the van, police previously said. Police from multiple agencies arrived and began blocking all nearby crossroads.

Kaiser previously said Hall remained in the van and had contact with 911 dispatch during a 90-minute standoff. There was a Michigan State Police negotiator on the scene who also talked to Hall.

Around 10:30 a.m., Hall exited the vehicle and charged at officers with a weapon, Kaiser previously said. Four Michigan State Police officers and five Flint Police officers opened fire, striking and killing Hall.

Police have not disclosed how many shots were fired or how many hit Hall.

Details on the suspect's weapon have also not been released by police, but Kaiser previously said Hall was still holding the weapon following the shooting.

State records show Hall was released from prison on Sept. 27, 2017, after serving an eight-year sentence for unarmed robbery and fleeing from police. Hall had prison and probation sentences dating back to 1999.
HOLLAND, MI -- A 43-year-old man suffered fatal injuries when the vehicle he was riding in was involved in a crash in Holland Township.

Police identified the man as Chieu Tran of Holland. He was critically injured in the crash, and transported to a Spectrum Health hospital in Grand Rapids, where he died in surgery.

The crash occurred around 5:45 p.m. Monday, April 2, at the intersection of Quincy Street and 104th Avenue, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office.

Police said a 2007 Ford Taurus was northbound on 104th Avenue when its driver, a 49-year-old Holland man, failed to stop for a stop sign as he approached Quincy Street.

The Taurus was struck in the passenger side by a westbound 2007 Chevrolet Express Cargo Van, driven by a 20-year-old Hamilton woman. The woman and her passenger -- a 48-year-old Hamilton man -- suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment at the scene, police said.

The driver of the Taurus was treated for injuries at Zeeland Community Hospital before being booked into the Ottawa County Jail. Police are withholding his name pending potential criminal charges.

Tran was the front-seat passenger in the Taurus.

Investigators don't believe drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash. All parties were wearing seat belts.

The incident remains under investigation by the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office. Deputies were assisted on scene by Holland Township Fire and Rescue, and AMR Ambulance.
BEAR LAKE TOWNSHIP, MI - A 67-year-old man was rescued by firefighters Tuesday morning after his kayak overturned in an icy lake.

Manistee County Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 report at 9:09 a.m. on April 3 of a man in the water at Chief Lake in Bear Lake Township, according to a news release.

Due to the ice near the open water, a passerby was not able to get his small boat out to him. The man in the water, a resident of Chief Lake, was not wearing a life jacket, police said.

Police said a handful of firefighters were able to break through the half-inch-thick ice to get a boat out to his location, which was approximately 100 yards from shore.

He was loaded onto a floating body board around 9:30 a.m. and removed completely from the water at 9:36 a.m., making his time in the water about 25 minutes, according to police.

Police said the man was conscious and alert, however, extremely cold and he was transported to a local hospital for medical treatment.

The deputies were assisted by Bear Lake, Dickson and Onekama Township fire departments along with Michigan State Police.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - In honor of former first lady Betty Ford's 100th birthday on April 8, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is opening an exhibit that will display her full biographical story for the first time.

Don Holloway, curator of the exhibit "In Step with Betty Ford: A Celebration of Her Centennial," said the exhibit is a good excuse to reintroduce Betty Ford to the Grand Rapids community she has impacted.

"This exhibit provides the public an opportunity for an in-depth and personal view of Betty Ford in a way never before told by the museum," he said. "Her whole life prepared her for the leadership she would demonstrate as first lady and as a public figure after leaving the White House."

The exhibit is scheduled to open with a ribbon cutting at 5 p.m., April 10 that is free to the public and will remain open through Jan. 16, 2019.

Ford's daughter, Susan Ford Bales, will lead the ribbon cutting and Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, Lydon B. Johnson's daughter, is also expected to attend.

The Betty Ford centennial exhibit features more than 150 artifacts and documents, many never before displayed.

Holloway said if he had to pick two favorite items in the exhibit they would be a program and an itinerary.

The program is from a production Betty Ford choreographed at Fountain Street Church where she interpreted songs from the Bible into dance.

Holloway said this was Betty Ford taking the favorite parts of her life, dance and the Bible, and putting them together.

The itinerary is from the day Betty Ford went to the funeral of Alberta King, mother of Martin Luther King Jr.

When Betty Ford heard Alberta King had died, she said someone from the administration should be present, but the president was out of the country and her husband, vice president at the time, was unable to go.

So Gerald Ford wrote a check for her and an aide to go to Atlanta for the funeral.

Related: Exhibit will look back on life of former first lady Betty Ford

Holloway said this speaks to Betty Ford's sensitivity. She was not a political person, but was "very much a sympathetic and empathetic person."

Some other items in the exhibit will include:

Some of the "

Her record collection, some which have symphony songs on them she could dance to. Holloway said he is trying to put together a soundtrack from the records to play in the exhibit as people walk around.

A doll that is potentially over 80 years old and belonged to Betty Ford before she passed it down to her daughter.

Buttons from Betty Ford's campaigns in California, Texas and throughout the Midwest, in support of her husband's candidacy. One states, "Vote for Betty's Husband."

A letter from Gerald Ford to her that has not been displayed before. He sent it when she was going into the hospital and he was alone in the White House. In the letter he emphasizes his love for her.

In addition to artifacts from the National Archives, the exhibit includes items on loan from the Grand Rapids Public Museum and historical images reproduced from a special collection at the Grand Rapids Public Library.

Holloway said Betty Ford arguably affected more people in more ways than her husband did as president.

He said Gerald Ford affected people in the "pocketbook" issues, but she affected people on a more personal level and in a more heartfelt way.
Update: Company blames Straits of Mackinac spill on 'extraordinary' circumstances

ST. IGNACE, MI -- An unknown quantity of coolant oil has leaked from a transmission cable that carries electricity underwater across the Straits of Mackinac.

The leak has yet to be located and repaired.

An estimated 550 gallons of liquid dielectric fluid has already leaked from near the midpoint of the cable's crossing west of the Mackinac Bridge, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Rachel Wellman said.

The line still may be leaking the fluid, but spill response teams are already on scene, Wellman said.

The owner of the electric transmission line, American Transmission Co., notified the Coast Guard's National Response Center of the leak at about 5 p.m. Monday, April 2, Wellman said.

She explained the company operates six such lines crossing the Straits of Mackinac. The lines, which carry electricity, are surrounded by the dielectric fluid, which acts as an insulator.

A decrease in pressure in the system alerted the company to the problem, Wellman said. They initially reduced pressure in the lines, she said, and after concluding the issue was limited to two of the transmission lines, shut them off completely.

In total, the six lines and their reservoirs contain 4,280 gallons of the dielectric fluid, Wellman said. With the problem confined to two lines the pressure shut off, she said, any fluid still leaking would be doing so "at a much slower rate" than it was when the leak was first discovered.

Spill response teams have been scrambled.

"There are quite a few response personnel on scene," Wellman said.

While the company's spill removal contractor is en route from Wisconsin, she said, a local subcontractor has responded to begin the process.

Wellman said four skimmers, a boom and a handful of vessels will be involved in the response. Open water in the Straits will allow access to the area where the spill likely occurred, though Wellman said there is still some ice along shorelines.

At this point, she said, crews are optimistic that removing the remaining fluid in the two lines will minimize the risk to the Great Lakes. Any fluid that has already leaked into Lake Michigan, Wellman said, has probably dissipated making recovery "not likely."

The controversial Enbridge Line 5 oil and gas pipeline was not impacted by the incident. It crosses the Straits further east, closer to the Mackinac Bridge, Wellman said.

In addition to the twin Line 5 pipelines, the Straits of Mackinac is also the crossing site for two TransCanada natural gas transmission pipelines.

The Coast Guard is not advising any precautionary actions for boat traffic in the area.

"It's not really going to pose a health risk," Wellman said.

The Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security division is monitoring the situation and standing by in case spill response teams need any support, spokesperson Dale George said.

The Wisconsin-based American Transmission Company provides electric transmission service in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the eastern half of Wisconsin and in portions of Illinois. The company completed a $130 million project near St. Ignace in 2014, installing a high-voltage direct-current flow-control device aimed at better managing power flows into and out of the Upper Peninsula.
ST. IGNACE, MI -- A Wisconsin utility company is responding to a spill of a yet-unknown amount of hazardous petrochemicals into Lake Michigan.

Two underwater electric transmission cables spanning the Straits of Mackinac both tripped offline Sunday evening, April 1, according to operator American Transmission Company.

But the U.S. Coast Guard, which estimates 550 gallons of petroleum-based dielectric fluid leaked into the water, was not notified of the issue until 5 p.m. Monday, April 2.

An initial inspection of the system between Point La Barbe west of St. Ignace and McGulpin Riser Station west of Mackinaw City showed no damage, according to a press release from the company.

"The submarine cables, which contain a mineral-based fluid for insulation, were monitored overnight and subsequently determined to be leaking," the release states.

The company reduced pressure on the system once a leak was confirmed and began conducting aerial patrols over the Straits, cable testing and system reconfiguration actions to local and minimize the leak.

Extreme weather conditions, including ice in the water and near the shore, hindered the damage investigation, the release states.

"It was an extraordinary set of circumstances, but ultimately, the decision to shut down the cables had to be made," ATC CEO Mark Davis said in a statement.

Ultimately, the company shut down the pair of electric cables, which were determined to be "permanently inoperable," according to the release.

"We will continue to investigate the cause of the incident, determine any necessary remediation efforts and continue communicating with the appropriate regulatory agencies," Davis said.

The company has notified the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Public Service Commission.

The company notified the Coast Guard's National Response Center of the leak at about 5 p.m. Monday, April 2, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Rachel Wellman said.

Wellman said the fluid could still be leaking into the water, thought likely "at a much slower rate" than when the problem was first discovered. In total, the six lines and their reservoirs contain 4,280 gallons of the dielectric fluid, Wellman said, though early estimates put the volume of fluid leaked at 550 gallons.

The leaking fluid is a "mineral-based dielectric fluid that could be hazardous if released to the environment," ATC spokesperson Jackie Olson wrote in an email.

Such fluids, some of which have hydrocarbon formulations, are used to help insulate and act as a coolant in high-voltage cables.

Olson confirmed the fluid used in the underwater electric lines was a product called Dielectric Fluid 45.

According to the federally mandated data sheet for the product, it is composed primarily of alkyl derivatives of benzene, a hydrocarbon.

The product is categorized as potentially fatal for humans if swallowed or if it enters airways, and "very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects." Among the precautionary statements, users are urged to "avoid release to the environment."

The product is categorized as potentially fatal for humans if swallowed or if it enters airways, and "very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects." Among the precautionary statements, users are urged to "avoid release to the environment."

Efforts to remediate the spill are underway, Olson said.

Contractors from Mackinac Environmental and North Shore Environmental are both on site, she said. One is stationed on each side of the Straits with a command center located on the Mackinaw City side.

A vacuum and pressurized pump system has been linked to the cables, and crews expect to begin removal of the remaining oil in the lines Wednesday, April 3, once weather conditions allow. A tank will be brought on site to store extracted oil and water, the company said, and the material will be disposed of appropriately.

The Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security division is monitoring the situation and standing by in case spill response teams need any support, spokesperson Dale George said.

The controversial Enbridge Line 5 oil and gas pipeline was not impacted by the incident. It crosses the Straits further east, closer to the Mackinac Bridge, Wellman said.

In addition to the twin Line 5 oil pipelines, the Straits of Mackinac is also the crossing site for two TransCanada natural gas transmission pipelines and other electric and phone cables, like the American Transmission Company's lines.

The Wisconsin-based American Transmission Company provides electric transmission service in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the eastern half of Wisconsin and in portions of Illinois.

The company, which provides much of the electric transmission grid in the Upper Peninsula, said no power outages have occured as a result of the incident in the Straits.

"The system continues to operate normally at this time," the press release states.

Some impacts to electric service are expected later in the day Tuesday as a result of severe weather in the area.

A spokesperson for ATC said the company is coordinating with both Midcontinent Independent System Operator and Midwest Reliability Organization to determine short long-term solutions to the loss of the transmission lines connecting Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

The company completed a $130 million project near St. Ignace in 2014, installing a high-voltage direct-current flow-control device aimed at better managing power flows into and out of the Upper Peninsula.
President Donald Trump won't sabotage the nation's agricultural industry as trade tariff disputes between the U.S. and China escalate, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said at Michigan State University Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after a tour of the university's agricultural research facilities in East Lansing, Perdue did not elaborate on specific actions the administration was planning following the Chinese government's decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on U.S. pork and aluminum scrap and 15 percent on sparkling wine, steel pipes and a variety of fruits and nuts including apples, cherries, walnuts and grapes.

But he said Trump won't let the agricultural community "be a pawn in this issue."

"Farmers are patriots - they understand that if people aren't playing by the rules, actions have to be taken," Perdue said. "But they don't want to be the only sacrificial lambs in this trade war."

On Monday, the Chinese government announced the new tariffs in retaliation to tariffs on steel and aluminum announced by Trump last month, as well as additional actions the Trump administration has taken towards imposing tariffs on Chinese goods.

Perdue acknowledged many farmers are anxious about the new developments. Calling the recent trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea "good news," Perdue said finishing the NAFTA renegotiation between Canada and Mexico would relieve considerable stress as the U.S. government wades further into trade disagreements with China.

"If we can get NAFTA put to bed, that would lower the anxiety level considerably, and then we'll deal with the China issue," Perdue said.

Perdue was in Michigan Tuesday as part of his latest "Back to our Roots" RV tour, where he made stops at Michigan State University, Clemens Food Group's pork processing plant and Mastronardi Produce in Coldwater throughout the day. He was joined by members of Michigan's farming community and by U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton.

Michigan producers could feel a long-term strain of tariffs on pork, fruit and other goods, whether directly through exports to the country or indirectly through an influx in U.S.-made products no longer traveling to Chinese markets.

The Agricultural Leaders of Michigan, a coalition of leaders in pork, dairy, soybean and agribusiness communities, wrote in a letter to Perdue Tuesday that U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs "pose a direct threat" to Michigan farmers and rural businesses.

"We must maintain and expand, not reduce, our export markets - especially during this deeply uncertain time," the letter read.

For the pork industry, the tariffs are especially concerning long term - exports make up at least 26 percent of pork raised in the U.S., said Mary Kelpinski, CEO of the Michigan Pork Producers Association.

Michigan is currently the 13th largest pork-producing state in the country and has "a lot of potential to grow," Kelpinski said, referencing the recent opening of the Coldwater pork processing plant.

For now, many in Michigan's pork industry are watching current trade threats play out and keeping options for other international markets open, Kelpinski said.

"If one door closes, we're hopeful others can open," she said. "There are other countries that would love to have more access to U.S. pork."

China isn't a big export market for Michigan apple growers, but the tariffs could have an indirect impact if apples from Washington - the largest producer of apples in the country - are no longer being exported to Chinese markets, said Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee.

Smith said ongoing trade talks with Canada and Mexico are also a concern, as the possibility of a decrease in apple exports threatens to interfere with Michigan growers' existing domestic and international markets.

"There will be a lot of apples that need to find a home if they don't ship to those countries," Smith said.

Also on the line in Michigan is the threat of a Chinese tariff on soybeans, which Michigan Soybean Association Board Member Matt Stutzman said in a statement said would deeply impact Michigan's soybean industry.

"Soybean farmers rely on global export markets to maintain demand for our products, and we remain extremely concerned about export access," he said in the statement.

Walberg said he recognizes ongoing trade negotiations could be disruptive, but said he's hoping it will be quick and will ultimately upend "what has been status quo for too long."

"China, of course, is the big fish, and they're going to be targeting what we're doing," Walberg said. "America is the key player on the whole globe."

"We hope that it doesn't cause a disruption that is too impactful to our agriculture industry," he continued.
MARQUETTE, MI - One of the largest airplanes in the world is set to fly into an Upper Peninsula airport this week, and its arrival is causing a bit of a stir among aviation fans who want to catch a glimpse.

A Russian-built Antonov 124 Jet is scheduled to arrive at Sawyer International Airport near Marquette at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 4.

The massive cargo craft is coming in to pick up a South Korean helicopter and return it to that country. Korean Aerospace Industries and the South Korean Army have had the helicopter at Sawyer for the last several months, where their staffs were doing de-icing tests with the U.S. Army, the airport said.

The Antonov is about 230 feet long, and has an impressive 240-foot wingspan. It's typically used for carrying heavy cargo. In this case, it's being used to transport other aircraft.

"It's one of the largest cargo planes out there for civilian use," said Duane DuRay, airport manager. "It's quite a sight to see. It's like a building that flies."

The Antonov-124 Jet on a previous trip to the Upper Peninsula.

Spectators will be able to get a good view from outside the airport's fence.

The airport is located about 17 miles south of Marquette.

The behemoth's arrival may be a better bet to see than its departure, since it is scheduled to leave Sawyer at 12:30 a.m. on Thursday.

At slightly more than 12,300 feet, the airport's runway is long enough to handle the Antonov. Formerly part of Sawyer Air Force Base, the airport's runway is the longest in the state and at one time supported a fleet of B-52 take-offs and landings.

DuRay said the Antonov's arrival does not require anything special from airport workers. But they will have aircraft rescue and firefighting crews on hand for the plane's arrival and departure, as it has been requested by the company that owns it, Volga-Dnepr-Unique Air Cargo, Inc.

It's the second year that Korean Airspace Industries has come to Sawyer with aircraft. Both times, they've used the Antonov for transport.

"It is somewhat of a crowd-pleaser," DuRay said.
NEEBISH ISLAND, MI - Residents of Michigan's Neebish Island have had to stay put for days after excessive ice build-up in the St. Marys River that surrounds them forced the suspension of their ferry service, which they use to reach the mainland Upper Peninsula.

The island sits in the middle of the river, about 15 miles south of Sault Ste. Marie. It's one of the easternmost points of Michigan's U.P., nearly rubbing elbows with Canada.

The ferry stopped its daily runs on Friday morning, halted by ice clogging the river's West Neebish Channel, called "the Rock Cut."

The St. Mary's river is the waterway connector for Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Freighters coming and going from the Soo Locks use the river and pass on both sides of the island.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the local transportation service that runs the island's ferry announced Monday afternoon that the runs to and from Neebish were stopped until further notice.

Authorities have emergency plans in place in case there is a problem on the island.

"Last week's wind events fractured most of the shore ice above the ferry crossing and sent it cascading down river. With the lower river still packed with ice, there is no place for this newly-broken ice to go," said LTJG Sean V. Murphy, who handles public affairs communications for the Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie.

Coast Guard cutters have been in the area clearing ice, but the cold, snowy forecast does not look promising for a quick fix.

The island's ferry isn't the only thing that was jammed by the river's ice. The 1,000-foot freighter James R. Barker was trapped in the ice near Rock Cut and had to be freed by Coast Guard icebreakers on Monday.

Neebish - all 21 square miles of it - is named after the Native American word for its leaf-like shape.

The island has about 90 residents, Census data shows, but that number rises in the summer when its cottages fill up and guests arrive.

So far, the residents stuck on the island seem pretty relaxed about the situation. Many are keeping abreast of the situation via updates from the Neebish Island Leaflet.

Ferry delays and ice issues happen almost every winter. This year is just a little rougher than others. Some have said it's what's to be expected when you overwinter on a Michigan island.

Capt. Marko Broz, commander of Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, met with Pete Paramski, director of Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority, to discuss contingency plans in case there is an emergency on the island. The EUPTA handles the ferry services for Neebish, Sugar and Drummond islands.

If a problem arises, authorities said they can use a Coast Guard helicopter or air boat team, or a privately-owned air boat to reach the island.
HANOVER, MI - A 6-year-old girl is in the hospital recovering from injuries she allegedly received at the hands of her father Monday night.

Police were called to a home on E. State Street in the village of Hanover at 11:30 p.m. April 2, to check on a child allegedly being physically abused there, according to a statement from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies found visible injuries on the girl and initiated an investigation. The girl's 46-year-old father was at the residence while police investigated and was arrested on suspicion of being responsible for the girl's injuries, police said.

The girl was initially taken to Henry Ford Allegiance Health but later flown by helicopter to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor where she is still undergoing treatment, police said.

Beyond describing them as significant, police declined to release any additional details about the extent of the girl's injuries at this time.

The girl's father is currently lodged in the Jackson County Jail, awaiting charges from the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.

The man's name is being withheld pending arraignment.
JACKSON, MI - One of Jackson's newest downtown businesses features a small putting green, some office space and a Sprint logo.

Connected to the historic Elaine Apartments in downtown Jackson, the 1,000-square-foot commercial space at 101 E. Michigan Ave. is the new home to 343 Technologies - a Sprint business dealer and technology solutions company.

The three-employee business moved its operations from 3208 Wildwood Ave. to downtown Jackson in February. Steven Gohl opened the business in 2017, with 10 years of experience in the telecommunications business.

343 Technologies sells a variety of hardware and software to businesses, nonprofits and the public sector.

The building, in which the business is located, is on the National Register of Historic Places, going up in 1917 as Peoples National Bank. The Elaine Shop moved into the ground-floor bank space in 1931 and eventually the whole building in 1946. It moved out in 1967 and the building became the Elaine Apartments in 1972.

Moving to downtown Jackson was strategic for Gohl because of its central location in the state. Gohl hails from northern Michigan - and still lives there, sometimes working from home.

"We wanted to cover the whole state," Gohl said. "We're able to cover a lot of area and a lot of population (from Jackson)."

Moving downtown was a priority to increase visibility for the new company and be surrounded by other businesses, he said.

Selling phones in bulk to various-sized businesses and nonprofits makes up the majority of the business, Gohl said.

"A lot of people haven't taken a look at Sprint in a few years. We find that, once they do, they're really happy with the savings we can provide," Gohl said. "We generally save people about 40 percent on their wireless costs."

Individuals interested in buying a new phone through Sprint are welcome too, Gohl said, but they don't keep inventory in stock like consumer stores do.

The "solutions" part of the business includes various software systems - like programs that digitize forms previously done on paper so they can be filled out on tablets.

343 Technologies also distributes software that temporarily switches a company over to cellular when it detects an internet signal failure - so the business doesn't lose work productivity during the outage.

The company's vehicle management system tracks where company vehicles travel and sends engine diagnostics back to the main office.

"The return on investment on those types of systems is really quick," Gohl said. "Usually within four to six months they see a really immediate payback on the investment."
BARRY COUNTY, MI -- A driver in a police pursuit crashed and was taken to a hospital for treatment along with a passenger of the vehicle, the Barry County Sheriff's Office reports.

It began at 6:51 p.m. Monday, April 2, near the intersection of M-43 and Podunk Lake Road, where deputies were assisting Michigan State Police with an unrelated incident, according to a Barry County Sheriff's Office news release.

A subject drove past a police road block and a Barry County Sheriff's Deputy stopped the vehicle, police said.

The subject fled from the scene, police said, and deputies initiated a vehicle pursuit.

The subject crashed the vehicle on Cloverdale Road east of Kingsbury Road, police said.

The driver and passenger of the vehicle were transported to hospitals with non-life threatening injuries and the incident remains under investigation, police said.

Police did not release additional information.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN -- Republican Aric Nesbitt announced he will be seeking to replace a term-limited GOP incumbent in Michigan's 26th state Senate District.

Nesbitt, 38, resigned as commissioner of the Michigan Lottery to pursue the position; Gov. Rick Snyder accepted his resignation in a separate release Tuesday morning. The 26th District covers all of Van Buren and Allegan counties, Gaines Township and the city of Kentwood in Kent County.

Sitting Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker is prevented from seeking re-election due to term limits. She is seeking the Republican Party's nomination for Michigan attorney general in the 2018 election.

Nesbitt is a former three-term Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing the 66th District from 2010-17. From 2015-17, Nesbitt served as majority floor leader.

In his campaign announcement, Nesbitt said Lansing needs elected officials who represent conservative West Michigan values. He promised to oppose abortion, while supporting the Second Amendment, religious liberties and the Constitution.

Nesibtt vowed to "protect our families from lawless so-called 'sanctuary' cities," he stated in the release. He promised to crack down criminals, strengthen penalties on human traffickers and find solutions to the opioid epidemic.

"I humbly ask for your support to help me in making Michigan the best state to begin a career, raise a strong family, and enjoy our abundant natural resources," he said in the release. "I pledge to fight for a smaller, more efficient government, against higher taxes, and for more career and technical training options for our students."

In addition to social issues, Nesbitt spoke about his commitment to strengthen the economy, encourage job creation and raise incomes by eliminating "burdensome government regulations."

Other issues Nesbitt touched on included lowering auto insurance rates, reducing the tax burden, rebuilding infrastructure, balancing budgets and paying government debt.

Republican Bob Genetski, Democrat Garnet Lewis and Libertarian Erwin Haas are also running for the 26th District seat.

The middle of five children, Nesbitt grew up on a sixth-generation family dairy and grape farm south of Lawton in Van Buren County. He lives with his wife Trisha south of Lawton down the road from the farm his family still operates.

He earned a degree in economics at Hillsdale College before earning a master's degree in international business from the Norwegian School of Economics.

In 2017, Nesbitt received the "Distinguished Alumnus" award from Hillsdale College for his work as a conservative reformer.

Nesbitt became the Lottery's ninth Commissioner on Feb. 19, 2017.

His resignation takes effect on Saturday.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Advocates and patients applauded Kalamazoo's decision to allow five types of state-regulated medical marijuana facilities to open.

Monday, the City Commission voted unanimously to approve amendments to sections of zoning ordinances to authorize a process to open medical marijuana facilities, regulate where they can do business and bring city rules in line with state law regarding caregivers.

Each medical marijuana facility must receive a permit from the city and a license from the state before opening. The ordinances take effect April 12, and City Clerk Scott Borling has 35 days to announce when his office will begin accepting applications for permits.

Those who spoke Monday said patients have been deprived of the ability to receive a well-regulated medical product until the state passed the Medical Marijuana Facility Licensing Act.

"We have done a lot of work trying to educate the community (on) cannabis as medicine," said Jevin Weyenberg, owner of Lake Effect Marijuana Dispensary in Portage. "These are first and foremost, and always will be, health care related ordinances."

Weyenberg said home caregivers are like rare "unicorns" -- depending on where you are in the state, there may not be any nearby.

Kathleen Hillman, a member of the Michigan Nurses Association Board of Directors and an intensive care nurse at Borgess Hospital, said medical marijuana is an alternative to opioids for people dealing with chronic pain.

Michigan municipalities are able to decide for themselves whether to allow medical marijuana to be grown, tested and sold in their jurisdictions. Kalamazoo worked for more than a year to develop its own ordinances.

Eric Foster, an East Lansing lawyer with Cannabis Practice Group, said the west side of Michigan has been slow to see the benefits to medical marijuana. In addition to providing a legal alternative to "black market" drug dealers, Foster spoke to the financial benefits.

The average new provisioning center, previously known as dispensaries, creates between $700,000 and $2.2 million in investment to open. Cannabis growers can spend between $1.5 million and $4.5 million, he said.

The sale and use of marijuana for recreational uses is not part of these amendments.

The ordinances place no number limit on the number of growers, processors, safety compliance facilities, secure transporters and provisioning centers allowed within city limits. Instead, zoning restrictions are intended to create a market cap on how many marijuana businesses can exist.

All facilities are restrained to manufacturing and commercial districts.

Weyenberg said Kalamazoo is lucky to have plenty of unused industrial space located away from residential areas.

All buildings housing medical marijuana operations must be located 500 feet away from residential zoning districts.

Other buffer zones would keep marijuana facilities 1,000 feet from schools, parks, playgrounds, public libraries or housing facilities owned by a public housing authority.

Marijuana facilities must stay 500 feet away from licensed child care centers, places of worship, public recreation facilities, youth centers, halfway houses, correctional facilities or substance abuse treatment center.

Only one grower license is allowed per parcel or lot, but people with licences to operate both a grower and processor facility are allowed to occupy the same premises.

Class A and Class B grower licenses, allowing up to 500 and 1,000 plants respectively, are allowed in M-1, and M-2 zoning districts.

Class C grower licenses allow the holder to use 1,500 marijuana plants. These facilities are restricted to M-2 zones.

Marijuana processor facilities are restricted to M-1 and M-2 districts.

Limited manufacturing districts, M-1, are intended to accommodate low-impact manufacturing uses that don't cause a nuisance to neighboring properties.

General manufacturing districts, M-2, accommodate low, moderate and high-impact industrial uses.

Secure transporters and safety compliance facilities are allowed in M-1, M-2 and CC zones. These facilities are kept to an area of less than 3,500-square-feet in CC districts.

Provisioning centers are limited to CC zones, and must stay 1,000 feet away from each other and 500 feet from other facilities. They can't be on the same property, parcel or within the same building where alcohol is sold.

Community commercial districts, CC, are intended to accommodate larger community and regional shopping centers that serve a community-wide market area. Facilities must stay 500 feet away from one another in CC zones.

All provisioning centers or dispensaries have to stay 660 feet outside of the intersections of East Cork Street and South Burdick Street, East Cork and Portage Street and West Ransom Street and North Westnedge Avenue.

These areas were identified by the Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 master plan as future areas of commercial and mixed use development.

Residents from Portage and Kalamazoo Township, two places in Kalamazoo County which have adopted similar ordinances, thanked city officals for taking their time to come to a decision.

City of Kalamazoo Medical Marijuana Ordinances by Malachi Barrett on Scribd
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A majority of Kalamazoo County commissioners support suing pharmaceutical companies for manufacturing addictive opiates, but more information is needed before formal action is taken.

Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners spent an hour talking about the pros and cons of litigation during its committee meeting. The board directed Administrator Tracie Moored to address some of their uncertainties, resolving to make a decision at a later date.

Michigan cities and counties are filing federal civil lawsuit filed against some of the largest drug makers and pharmacies in the world on Dec. 19, 2017. The lawsuits seek to force companies to award damages for opioid-related deaths, treatment and law enforcement costs.

The Council of Economic Advisers estimated that the national economic cost of the opioid crisis was $504.0 billion in 2015, according to a 2017 report.

Commissioners Julie Rogers, a Democratic physical therapist, and Ron Kendall, a Republican, have been in discussions with attorneys and Michigan county officials since December.

Rogers said pharmaceutical companies have misled health care professionals and the public about the addictive potential of opiates for years. The crisis is perpetuated by false claims made by the industry, she said.

The result: growing costs for communities dealing with expenses for hospital visits, crime, treatment and even the deaths of opioid patients.

"Pursuing litigation is not about money," she said. "From my perspective it's an ethical and moral cause. I hope the outcome of potential litigation is to change the way (pharmaceutical manufacturers) practice and make sure they are up front with (the) potential for addiction."

Kendall is open to the idea, but cautioned the county to recognize that a lawsuit will not solve the expansive opioid crisis. Litigation would likely entangle a large amount of staff time and resources, so he asked the county to look before it leaps.

Six Democrats on the board expressed their support, while Republicans were less sure about the benefit. Commissioner Roger Tuinier wondered why manufacturers should solely take the blame -- doctors, hospitals and pharmacies are similarly guilty, he said.

Vice Chair Dale Shugars strongly opposed the lawsuit.

"I don't think a lawsuit is going to change the epidemic at all," he said. "If we prevail in the lawsuit, how many deaths are we going to prevent? I don't think it will prevent any deaths. (It will just) make us feel good."

Attorney Mark Bernstein, who has been in contact with the county since December, flatly disagreed with Shugars' sentiment.

"We've already seen some defendants change their conduct," he said.

A Kalamazoo County lawsuit would be filed as its own individual claim in U.S. District Court and move on to a multi-district litigation court in Ohio, Bernstein said.

The lawsuit pending in Federal District Court in Cleveland consolidates more than 400 complaints across the country.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions filed a file a so-called statement of interest in the Ohio court, essentially throwing the weight of the Justice Department behind the lawsuit.

Bernstein said the county would not be charged if the lawsuit fails. If successful, Rogers said, the firm would be awarded 30 percent of financial damages.

"This is an important decision for a municipality," Bernstein said. "I think (Kalamazoo County) is doing its appropriate, thoughtful due-diligence on this. We're pleased to see it appears the direction is to engage in an effort to change the course of the opioid epidemic through the civil justice system."

"The risk is quite minimal and manageable," he said.

According to a county report on opioid abuse, the number of retail opioid prescriptions has steadily decreased to 72.4 per 100 people since peaking in 2011. However, Kalamazoo County remained above the national rate in 2016 -- 66.5 prescriptions per 100 people.

The number of accidental opioid-related deaths doubled from 29 to 59 between 2015-16.

Opioid and drug abuse hit home to several commissioners.

An average of 24 people were treated for unintentional opioid overdoses each month in 2016. The rate of men treated for opioid-related overdose was twice as high than the rate for women.

In 2016, fentanyl accounted for 20 deaths, more than triple the number of deaths associated with the drug in 2015.

The average age of a person who died from an overdose is 39.4 years.

Injunctive relief is the most important aspect of the lawsuit, Bernstein said. The intent is to change the behavior of drug companies that are "misrepresenting the addictive quality" of opioids.

Close to 50 Michigan communities represented by Bernstein's firm since joined the lawsuit against a number of companies, while similar lawsuits are being filed by cities across the United States.

Some of the largest companies named in the lawsuit include Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of Oxycontin, several other drug makers, and large pharmacies, including CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and Costco.

The 156-page lawsuit alleges these and other companies knew drugs they manufactured and sold had the potential to be abused, but acted with reckless indifference.

"Defendants acted with a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of others in a manner that had a great probability of causing substantial harm," the lawsuit reads.

Shugars and Commissioner Scott McGraw publicly warned against joining the lawsuit at a Tuesday, March 27 Portage City Council meeting.

McGraw and Shugars worried about the impact the lawsuit could have on Portage's relationships with Pfizer, but these concerns were dismissed by county commissioners.

Shugars and Tuinier also referenced a "marijuana problem" in Kalamazoo.

Shugars said it is ironic that companies that make addictive opiates are being sued while medical marijuana facilities are being allowed into the area.
SAGINAW TWP, MI -- The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw has canceled the 2018 Bishop's Ball fundraising event due to the ongoing investigation into sexual abuse by priests.

"A celebration during this time would not be in keeping with the heartache felt in the local church community," the diocese said in a statement.

Ticket purchases and event sponsors for the 12th annual Bishop's Ball will be refunded, according to the diocese statement. Dinner tickets for the April 27 event were $100 each.

Those set to receive awards at the event will receive them at a later time.

In addition to canceling the ball, the diocese postponed a one-day youth event scheduled for August 11. No new date for the event, called MYFaith 2018, has been set.

To date, only one diocese priest, the Rev. Robert DeLand, has been criminally charged. He was arrested Feb. 25 on accusations he sexually assaulted two males -- a 21-year-old and a 17-year-old -- in his Saginaw Township condominium.

Another diocese priest, Rev. Ronald J. Dombrowski, was suspended by the diocese in mid-March after they received a report he allegedly sexually assaulted a person when they were a minor. He has not been criminally charged.

Following DeLand's arrest, the Saginaw County Prosecutor's Office formed a special investigative team to coordinate and investigate allegations of abuse involving "officials" within the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

The investigation ramped up March 22 with raids on the bishop's home on Corral Drive in Saginaw Township, the rectory at Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw and the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw offices in Saginaw Township.

Prosecutors alleged the diocese failed to fully cooperate in the investigation, prompting them to seek and execute the search warrants.
BELGRADE, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Serbia marked the World Autism Awareness Day on Monday by promoting new ways of assisting persons with autism and their families through online counselling, as well as listening to appeals of experts in the area who warn that there is a lot more to be done to improve their living quality.

The central ceremony that marked the World Autism Awareness Day was held at the Children Cultural Center in Belgrade, where around 100 children with autism from Belgrade prepared an exhibition attended by parents, non-government organization (NGO) activists, doctors, experts and officials.

Mirko Gojic, organizer of the ceremony and the chairman of the board of the association for assistance to people with autism of Belgrade, told Xinhua that around 1 percent of world's population is born with autism, and that thus in Serbia around 70,000 people and their families cope with this issue.

He said that the aim of the activity was to raise awareness about their problems, as the organization does every year, hoping to contribute to concrete steps towards fulfilling the needs of children and adults with autism.

One of the new ways of providing assistance, especially to those that do not live in the capital of Belgrade, where most day care centers are located - is the website "Counselling Clinic" (Savetovaliste) presented at a press conference in Belgrade.

The project realized by the association for assistance to people with autism of Serbia, offers parents and caretakers of autist children and adults free online video conferences with experts in medicine, psychology, psychiatry and legal issues.

Vesna Petrovic, president of the managing board of the association, and a mother of a 39-year-old son with autism, said that proper family support is crucial for them to lead normal life and even get employed.

"This way, trough the digital platform, people outside Belgrade that could hardly get counselling in their hometowns will be able to post questions directly to experts in various fields," she explained at a press conference.

State Secretary Nenad Neric said that the ministry of labor supports such efforts, and that although 5.5 million RSD (50,000 euro) allocated for NGO projects in this area "does not seem much, it is 17 percent more than the year before, and ministry intends to follow this trend in future".

"A lot has been done in past years when it comes to the needs of the children with autism -- such as the establishment of day-care centers as well as the introduction of assistants that escort these kids to school or day-care centers. However, almost nothing has been done when it comes to the needs of the adult people with autism, and many families ask themselves frequently: what will happen with their loved ones when they grow up and there is no one left to take care of them," Gojic explained in a statement to Xinhua.

He concluded that all progress so far was made thanks to families whose members are diagnosed with autism such as his own, as he has a 32-year-old son coping with this issue.

"But there is a lot more to be done," he warns.

Following the six-year-long tradition, the Parliament and many other prominent locations in Belgrade have been lighted in blue colour since Sunday evening - to raise awareness that people with autism and their families make a significant part of the global population, and they need assistance of their governments and societies.

[ Editor: WPY ]
SAGINAW, MI -- Developers plan to invest nearly $1 million into the Undertakers building in Old Town Saginaw and transform it into a 12-unit residential apartment complex.

During a Monday, April 2, Saginaw City Council meeting, members approved the building located at 409 Adams St., for an Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Property (OPRA) Exemption Certificate. The certificate freezes the building's taxable value for 10 years. The building's owner paid nearly $13,000 in property taxes in 2017, according to property records.

The building was constructed in the 1920's and is owned by David Case, owner of W.L. Case and Company Funeral Homes. The two-story brick structure had been used as a funeral home up until the business moved to a new location four years ago. Since the move, the building has been used for storage.

Case has an agreement with Ann Arbor Builders and Saginaw Township-based CASPCO, LLC to redevelop the building.

There are plans to repair the exterior brick and wood facade and repaint the structure as needed. New plumbing, electrical, mechanical systems and all work to bring the building up to current building codes would also take place, according to city documents.

A handful of architectural elements of the building will remain in place, including its 10-foot ceilings and its staircases.

Ann Arbor Builders holds properties in Old Town, including apartment buildings located at 110 and 112 N. Michigan Ave.

Alex de Perry, owner of Ann Arbor Builders, said the company restored ceilings, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, electrical and plumbing in those buildings.

"We realized there's a market for people who want to live downtown in nice apartments," de Perry said.

He said the 12 units on Adams Street will feature a two bedroom-two bathroom layout and will start at $1,000 per month.

Work on the building is scheduled to begin in September 2018 and be completed by December 2019.

The new apartments will be joining other complexes like the David Strouse properties in Old Town Saginaw.

Ken Teske, a property manager for Century 21, said apartments in Old Town that he manages are "booked up."

Teske said he manages David Strouse properties which holds 20 apartments filled with tenants who are 22-28 years old. Prices for the apartment units range from $450-$700.
Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of April, speaks at a press conference about the Council's work in April at the UN headquarters in New York, April 2, 2018. Peru, presidency of the UN Security Council for April, said Monday that it has chosen to hold a high-level briefing on peacebuilding and sustaining peace in the month. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Peru, presidency of the UN Security Council for April, said Monday that it has chosen to hold a high-level briefing on peacebuilding and sustaining peace in the month.

The briefing is to coincide with the April 24-25 General Assembly high-level event on this issue, the permanent representative of Peru to the UN, Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, said at a press conference about the Council's work in April.

During the month, there will be three open debates, including one on women, peace and security, focusing in particular on preventing sexual violence in conflict through empowerment, gender equality and justice, he said.

The other two are one on youth, peace and security and the quarterly debate on the Middle East, which is to focus as usual on Israel/Palestine.

Regarding the Middle East, the Council will continue to follow developments in Syria closely and is expected to receive the monthly briefings on political and humanitarian developments and on the use of chemical weapons, with additional meetings possible depending on developments, said Meza-Cuadra.

Arria-formula meetings are anticipated on counter-terrorism and organized crime, on the rule of law and peacekeeping, and on the role of religious leaders in promoting peace and security, he added.

Additionally, Council members will attend a retreat with the Secretary-General in Sweden.

The Peruvian UN ambassador also said that Council members will travel to Iraq and Bangladesh during the month as well.

It is the fifth time that Peru holds the presidency of the Council.

Peru on Sunday officially held the Council presidency for April replacing the Netherlands.

The UN body has 15 members, and each member has one vote. The permanent members of the Council known as the "Permanent Big Five," including China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly including the Netherlands, Sweden, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Poland and Peru.

2

1

[ Editor: WPY ]
April 03, 2018

Operation Hades Blamed Russia - A Model For The 'Novichok' Claims?

(This is a 'working thread' to collect various items related to the alleged 'Novichok' incident in Salisbury and the fate of the British spy Sergej Skripal and his daughter Yulia. For a wider overview of the case please check our longer write-ups linked at the end of this post.)

The Russian government sent fourteen specific questions to the British government and thirteen questions to the OPCW. There seems to be some French involvement in the investigation of the alleged nerve agent and Russia ask why that is the case.

Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian ambassador to Britain, further increased the pressure on Theresa May by publicly asserting that the Skripal case was a 'provocation' carried out by British intelligence.

Telepolis points out (in German) that this would not be the first time that a 'western' service would stage such a 'provocation'. The Skripal case is indeed quite comparable to Operation Hades.

On August 10 1994 German officials in Munich 'found' 363 grams of plutonium on a plane coming from Moscow. They immediately asserted, that the plutonium 'must' have come from a Russian reactor. There was a lot of media panic, international political noise and condemnation of Russia.



Time Cover August 29 1994

This put pressure on the Russian government to increase its security at its nuclear sites. The U.S. offered to 'help' with nuclear security and thus got easy access to Russia's nuclear secrets. The case broke in the mid of the federal election campaign in Germany and helped chancellor Kohl to get re-elected.

Months later first leaks appeared, reporters dug deeper into the story, it all started to unravel.

Der Spiegel filled ten pages (in German) with the explosive story.

"The BND's Nuke Hustle"

"How German secret agents invented the plutonium hazard"





SPIEGEL Cover May 10 1995

It turned out that the plutonium was not from Russia but had been planted by the German equivalent of the MI6, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND). More leaks and counter-leaks created a convoluted story of a sting operation gone wrong to hide the truth behind it. It was a fake incident from A to Z, a scam created for solely political reasons. A parliamentarian commission investigated the case but the Kohl government eventually shut it down without any political consequences. Shortly thereafter the deeply involved BND head, Bernd Schmidbauer, was sent into retirement.

The Russian depict the 'Novichok' case as a staged 'provocation'. There is a historic antetype for such a 'provocation' by a 'western' intelligence service. That gives the Russian claim some significant merit.

---

It took only nine month for the 1994 'Operation Hades' story to fall apart. The 'Novichok' fairy-tale may now see an even earlier end.

Sky News Breaking @SkyNewsBreak - 2:59 PM - 3 Apr 2018 Chief executive of Porton Down research laboratory has told Sky News scientists have not been able to prove the Novichok nerve agent used to poison Sergei and Yulia Skripal came from Russia or establish its country of origin

Mind the gap, Mrs. May. Mind the credibility gap.

Video of Mr. Aitkenhead's Sky News interview. (Nice word play included: He only provides scientific evidence. The government may additionally have 'other' (i.e. unscientific) evidence to make a case.)

In light of the Proton Down statement we can now state that Boris Johnson, on March 20 on DW, proved to be an 'absolutely categorical' liar:

You argue that the source of this nerve agent, Novichok, is Russia. How did you manage to find it out so quickly? Does Britain possess samples of it? BJ: Let me be clear with you  When I look at the evidence, I mean the people from Porton Down, the laboratory  So they have the samples  BJ: They do. And they were absolutely categorical and I asked the guy myself, I said, "Are you sure?" And he said there's no doubt.

In the interview Boris Johnson tried to preemptively put any eventual fault in the case on Porton Down. Today he received the response.

Payback is a bitch, Mr Johnson. A biting bitch.

---

The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media, a number British academics, published an update to their briefing Doubts about Novichoks at Tim Hayward's site.

The update carefully distinguishes and discusses the various chemical substances and research programs relevant to the British 'Novichok' claims. The 'Novichok' nerve agents Vil Mirzayanov describes in his book seem to differ from the substances other Russian scientists talked about in their recent interviews. The U.S. though, as well as other countries, has evidently worked on some of the substances described by Mirzayanov and concealed these efforts from the OPCW. The Working Group concludes:

The UK government has asserted that No country bar Russia has combined capability, intent and motive to carry out the Salisbury poisonings. Published studies show that these compounds can be synthesized at bench scale (sufficient for an assassination) in other countries. The UK governments declared case therefore rests only on subjective judgements of intent and motive, which are open to question.

---

A few days ago Victoriya Skripal, a cousin of Yulia Skripal, was interviewed by the Russian website MKRU (Ru). The Stalkerzone provides an English translation of the full interview. From it we learn that:

Victoriya Skripal tried to get information on her allegedly poisoned cousin Yulia and uncle Sergej from the British embassy in Russia since March 5. She also unsuccessfully tried to contact the hospital in Salisbury. She heard from the Russian embassy in Britain that Yulia is awake, can eat and drink and can say a few words.

Shortly before the incident Yulia had gained access to some $200,000 owned by her deceased brother. This, for now, seems to have nothing to do with the case.

Sergej Skripal is not a lone man but has a number of friends and family in Russia and in Britain who visited him regularly in Salisbury.

Sergej Skripal has two cats and two guinea pigs. Victoriya Skripal asks: What happened to them? (They licked the doorknob and turned into walking-dead?)

Victoriya Skripal wants to travel to Britain and bring at least Yulia back home with her.

Victoriya Skripal apparently also did an interview with the Mail Online (or the Mail plagiarized its piece from MKRU). There seems to be no additional information in it.

---

British officials spread various theories about where and how the Skripal's were poisoned. According to 'official' leaks to the British press the alleged nerve agent was smeared to the door of Sergej Skripal's car, was in a pizza, in Yulia Skripal's luggage or perfume, or in the car's air vent. I may have been sprayed by a mini drone, or the stuff was smeared onto to the doorknob of Skripal's house or maybe it was, as claimed yesterday, in buckwheat cereals brought from Russia on Sergej Skripal's request.

In my view none of these explanation is plausible. The multitude of the discussed possibilities alone shows that either no one has a clue of what happened and how it happened, or someone is trying to bury the case in a heap of misinformation. We shall call this phenomena 'Novi-fog'. It unmasks headlines like this one as mere propaganda: Poisoned Door Handle Hints at High-Level Plot to Kill Spy, U.K. Officials Say. "It was on the doorknob (maybe)! Thus Putin himself did it!"

---

John Helmer, who reports from Moscow, documents that the British government is breaking several British laws as well as international agreements by keeping the family and the consular service of the Russian embassy in Britain away from the Skripals.

---

Previous Moon of Alabama reports on the Skripal case:

Posted by b on April 3, 2018 at 16:23 UTC | Permalink

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As more and more airlines launch 'ultra-long-haul' flights, essentially flying between two very distant destinations non-stop, the pressure is on to try and win the race to provide the most comfortable experience.

Qantas is working with Airbus and Boeing on what they are calling 'Project Sunrise,' an aircraft capable of flying non-stop for over 20 hours. That would mean direct from Sydney to London.

The 20 hour flight may be possible for the advanced technology that is a modern airliner, but it's another thing for the human body to be inside the aircraft for so long.

One idea being looked at by Qantas is turning part of the cargo hold into an area of flat beds.

The words cargo hold don't exactly paint a very nice picture about what the experience would be like, but the end product would be far from cargo-like.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, told a conference in the UK today that absolutely nothing is off the table when it comes to the future of ultra-long-haul travel.

For Joyce he is determined to achieve non-stop flights from Sydney to London.

"We have, we believe one last frontier in aviation. That last frontier is getting from the east coast of Australia to London. And I think that we have it in sight that by 2022 I believe we will have broken and pushed though that last frontier."

There are also plans for on-board gyms and dining areas so passengers can break up their flights.

Imagining being on a treadmill during turbulence however makes a gym sound much less appealing than a bed of your own to sleep in for almost an entire day.

Newshub.
County officials have established a new toll-free universal phone number to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect while also proclaiming April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, according to the Santa Clara County Social Services Agencys Department of Family and Childrens Services.

The new toll-free number will reach the Child Abuse and Neglect Center (CANC) 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The new number is (833) SCC-KIDS (833-722-5437).

We encourage everyone to call the toll-free number if they suspect child abuse is happening near them, and to participate in prevention and awareness activities to show their commitment to help prevent this horrendous crime, said County Board of Supervisors President Jose Simitian.

On April 6, the DFCS will join County Supervisors, the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Santa Clara County and Social Service Agencies across the nation to acknowledge the important role communities play in helping protect children. The county will raise a memorial flag April 3 at the James P. McEntee Sr. Plaza and at 70 West Hedding Street throughout the month to remember children lost nationwide to violence.

Adults are guardians for our children. When that trusting relationship is violated through abuse, we cannot be silent, said Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who chairs the Boards Children, Families and Seniors Committee.

Activities planned for Child Abuse Prevention Month include:

 Friday April 6: Wear Blue Day. Since 1989, a Virginia grandmother has tied a blue ribbon to the antenna of her car to remember her grandson, who was killed by her daughters abusive boyfriend. Everyone is encouraged to wear a blue ribbon to stand against child abuse and raise awareness among friends and co-workers. People are encouraged to wear a blue ribbon all month long as a symbolic reminder to end child abuse.

 April 27: 36th Annual Child Abuse Prevention Council Symposium, where hundreds of professionals and community advocates that work to protect children will gather for a day of learning at Villa Ragusa, in downtown Campbell. Learn more at cacscc.org.

 Approximately 3.5 million reports of child abuse are made in the U.S. each year, involving 6 million children.

 There are 58,000 reports of child abuse made in the Bay Area every year.

 Every day 5 children die in the U.S. due to child abuse.

 Learn more about the impact of child abuse in Santa Clara County at sccgov.org/sites/cac/Documents/EconomicsOfAbuse_SantaClara%20(1).pdf
MADRID, April 2 (Xinhua) - The Spanish government expects to surpass the forecasted 2.7 percent of economic growth this year, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told local media on Monday.

Rajoy, who was in the city of Pontevedra (western Spain), said the Spanish government had predicted a 2.7 percent growth this year, but he pointed out that this figure could be surpassed.

"I think that if we do the right things, we can beat our own forecast and reach a higher growth," Rajoy told reporters, adding that the country could create more than 475,000 new jobs.

Rajoy has positively assessed the development of the Spanish economy, describing the five-year recession as "very hard" and highlighting the fact that Spain has led growth at a European level in some occasions.

According to Rajoy, Spain is going through a very important moment in which the surrounding countries grow and therefore the external sector is key. Rajoy is confident that following the line of the reforms of recent years, employment will increase, infrastructure can be developed and revenue will rise.

The government had previously predicted a 2.3 percent economic growth due to the uncertainty, but after the situation improved, the government revised up its forecast to 2.7 percent for 2018.

[ Editor: WPY ]
The family of Tara Romero, a local teen who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in 2011, and the residents of Morgan Hill are nearing the home stretch in their commitment to bring a life-size bronze sculpture of her likeness to a prominent public location.

The City of Morgan Hill recently established a fundraising campaign at gofundme.com to fund the remaining expenses to complete the statue of Romero and transport it from southern California. The goal of the campaign is to raise $10,000, specifically for statue refinements, a cement base, plaque, transportation and installation, according to the fundraising page found at gofundme.com/tara-romero-memorial-sculpture.

When the artwork is complete, it will be placed at a central location in the public pedestrian plaza between City Hall and the Morgan Hill Library, on the west side of town in the area of Peak, Alkire and West Main avenues, according to city staff.

While the statue, titled Never Forgotten, is created and commissioned to depict a young girl in Romeros likeness, it will also represent the many other young lives taken too soon by violence, according to her parents and others in the community who united in response to the 2011 shooting. It will also serve as an inspirational symbol of hope, peace and unity for young people growing up in Morgan Hill, according to city officials.

With the (ongoing) movement against violence, its time for young people to make their voices heard, said Lisa Washington, who sits on a Library, Culture and Arts commission subcommittee for the gofundme campaign. The timing is there, and the city is behind it. Its meant to be uplifting.

The Morgan Hill City Council approved the placement of the statue as a public art piece in 2012, but did not dedicate public funds to the project. In the years since Romeros death, her family has paid more than $22,000 to Los Angeles-based artist Dee Spellerman to create the sculpture.

Romeros father, Joseph Romero, a Fresno resident, said the statue is mostly finished. The artwork is about six feet tall, depicting a young girl gazing up at El Toro mountain above City Hall, with her right hand stretched upward and lifting a butterfly. Joseph is getting ready to create a plaque that will be attached to the base of the statue, describing why it is there.

The parents continue to struggle with their daughters death, as the criminal proceedings against one of the five men accused of killing her continues to drag through the courts, and another acquitted in a 2016 trial. Romeros mother, Annette Nevarez, of Morgan Hill, said the statue will offer her a place to sit and reflect.

My life has been on hold, Nevarez said. I feel like shes there with me. (The statue) will be a place where I can go sit down and see her. Ill be a lot happier. She was such a good little girl.

Romero was a 14-year-old freshman at Sobrato High School when she died in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of Cosmo and Del Monte avenues on Nov. 4, 2011. The shooting took place just outside the Village Avante apartment complex, less than one mile south of the statues proposed location.

The shooting happened when five men in a Chrysler drove by the intersection and opened fire on a group of teens standing in a grassy area on the corner. Romero was pronounced dead at the scene, and three of her friends and classmates at Sobrato were injured by the gunfire.

Police said the suspects were members of an illegal street gang, and fired at the victims thinking they were members of a rival gang with whom they had been feuding in the preceding weeks. The teen victims had no history of involvement in any gang activity.

Morgan Hill Police surrounded the suspects inside a nearby residence within minutes after the shooting, and arrested them a few hours later after convincing them to surrender.

Three of the suspects have been convicted of murder and attempted murder in relation to the drive-by shooting that took Tara Romeros life. One was acquitted of all charges following a lengthy jury trial in 2016. The fifth suspect has been ruled not competent to stand trial, and remains in custody at a state mental hospital until he is well enough to face the charges against him.

Joseph Romero added that for him, the statue will be a place he can visit and lay a flower there and memorialize Tara. For the community at large, its a reminder that such a violent death could happen to anybody.

As of April 3, the gofundme site for the Never Forgotten statue has raised just over $1,500. The citys LCAC formed a subcommittee to organize the effort and encourage residents, civic organizations, community leaders and businesses to contribute to the cause.

The subcommittee consists of Washington, Taras brother Joey Romero (also an artist), Morgan Hill Community Services Supervisor Jennie Tucker, Community Services Director Chris Ghione, as well as LCAC commissioners Paul Lake, Katie Khera and Daniel Redfield.

Washingtons daughter, Tyler, was one of Tara Romeros best friends.

During this season of renewal and fresh beginnings, its a perfect time to support Taras family in their desire to memorialize her young life, and to creatively express the right of everyones child to envision and achieve their dreams in a peaceful, nonviolent community, Lake said. With your contributions, well be able to officially unveil the sculpture in the coming weeks alongside members of the Morgan Hill City Council.

<

The citys fundraising campaign to complete, transport and install the Never Forgotten statuea likeness of Tara Romerocan be found online at gofundme.com/tara-romero-memorial-sculpture. Contributions can be made electronically, directly on the site.
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Ukrproduct Group, a large Ukrainian producer of packaged butter, processed cheese and kvass, expects operating profit of about UAH 16.2 million (GBP500,000) in 2017 compared to an operating loss of approximately UAH 7.4 million (GBP200,000) in 2016.

"The Ukrainian dairy foods and beverage producer is guiding for revenue of around GBP31 million for 2017, which would be a strong increase on the GBP20.2 million posted in 2016. Operationally, Ukrproduct expects a profit of approximately GBP500,000 after an operating loss of GBP200,000 in 2016, which will boost earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization," reads a report by Ukrproduct on the website of the London Stock Exchange.

"Despite these improvements, the company is expecting an overall loss due to the negative impact of foreign exchange," it states.

According to a press release, by the end of 2017 Ukrproduct estimated its net liabilities at UAH 429 million with free cash stocks of UAH 18.7 million. However, after the end of the financial year, the financial situation of the group improved after a new loan agreement for UAH 65 million with Creditwest Bank and the subsequent full repayment of the loan from OTP Bank.

Ukrproduct notes that in 2017 the Ukrainian economy demonstrated the encouraging GDP growth, while wage growth led to an increase in consumer confidence, which improved the trading capacity of the group within the country, despite the continuing competition in the market. In addition, the weakening of the hryvnia provided Ukrproduct with additional opportunities for business development in export markets, the report says.
A group of deputies of the French National Assembly (Lower House of Parliament) will pay a visit to Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, on Wednesday, April 4, Heorhiy Tuka, deputy minister for temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons of Ukraine, said.

"You are planning to visit Kramatorsk tomorrow... I hope you will have the opportunity to meet, at least with the head of the Donetsk region (Donetsk Regional State Administration Head Pavlo Zhebrivsky)," he said at a round table meeting in Kyiv on Tuesday addressing the French parliamentarians.

Tuka also proposed to hold a meeting in the Ministry of Temporary Occupied Territories to discuss the results of the French lawmakers' visit to Donbas.
The Advanced Power Systems Labs (APS LABS) drives its semi-truck Mobile Lab down to Fort Worth, Texas, this week for the O'Reilly 500 to demo autonomous vehicle technology.

Autonomous vehicles are coming. But what a lot of people don't understand about self-driving carsand more generally vehicles with enhanced sensing and feedbackis the underlying technology driving the autonomous vehicle industry.

APS LABS is developing and testing intervehicle communication software and a suite of autonomous and environment detection sensors to reduce fuel and electrical energy needs. They're creating the car of the not-so-distant future.

To do so, they're starting with a crowd that already loves cars: NASCAR fans at the Texas Motor Speedway watching the O'Reilly 500 April 5-8. They will be offering ride-and-drives with several 2017 Chevy Volts that are hooked up to sensors that feed into live data streams accessible in the Mobile Lab. People will be able to meet with the engineers who design these systems and learn about the safety precautions, advancements under the car's hood and cloud computing that build up the intelligence of next generation vehicles.

APS LABS present NEXTCAR

The APS LABS project, funded under the Department of Energys ARPA-E NEXTCAR program, seeks to reduce fuel consumption and increase electrical range through connected and automated technologies. The goal is to reduce fuel consumption by improving powertrain control technologythat is, the get-up-and-go of a vehicleas well as the communication between vehicles. This can be vehicle-to-vehicle communication ("Hey! I'm driving here."), vehicle-to-infrastructure communication ("Roadwork on the bridge.") and vehicle-to-traffic communication ("Accident ahead.") The three are respectively called V2V, V2I and V2X technology; they all rely on cloud computing to work.

APS LABS has a fleet of eight 2017 Chevy Volts used to test vehicle-to-traffic cloud computing communication.

What is unique about the APS LABS set-up is that the engineers can monitor vehicle operations as their fleet drivesfeeding a cloud computing traffic and control center in the Mobile Lab. For research, this is crucial because optimizing vehicle dynamics needs to happen in an actual environment instead of in a simulated lab space. At the same time, they need controls and set procedures in place to make sure the trends they're seeing are significant. The efforts pay off optimized vehicle powertrain control enabled with V2V and other vehicle connection can reduce fuel energy by more than 20 percent and increase the electric vehicle range by more than six percent.

"These seamless technologies will operate without the driver being aware of whats happening under the hood," says Jeff Naber, director of the APS LABS.

On your mark, get set, goTexas Motor Speedway

While a Volt cannot keep up with any Earnhardts, NASCAR fans will be impressed by the vehicle connectivity and the speed of the mobile lab cloud computing.

Engineers from the APS LABS gather data while operating a Volt, which is then relayed to the Mobile Lab.

"The Volt has one of the most complex drive systems of any vehicle today  with an internal combustion engine and two electrical motors," Naber says. "The modes in which this vehicle operates and how they can be controlled will amaze."

The Mobile Lab is a fully outfitted labequipped with test cells, connected vehicle traffic center, sufficient power generation to support a small community and much more. Housed in an expandable, double-wide trailer, its pulled by a class 8 semi-truck with a Detroit Diesel DD15 engine, the latest in heavy-duty diesel technology. Inside, the demonstration and teaching space can be configured for multiple uses.

The APS LABS demos aren't simply a pit stop at the Texas Motor Speedway during the O'Reilly 500, they're a showcase of the what the future holds for advanced vehicle technologies, a future people can actually see and touch.

Grants and Funding Grant Funding for this research provided by U.S. Dept. of Energy; ARPA-E NEXTCAR Program, award number DE-AR0000788.

APS LABS Providing a wide range of services from fundamental research to basic testing in all aspects relating to ground vehicles. Our team of engineers will work with you to find the right solution for your specific needs. You can reach us at: 906-487-4525 apslab@mtu.edu mtu.edu/apslabs Learn more about what the Mobile Lab can bring to your organization.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university, home to more than 7,000 students from 54 countries. Founded in 1885, the University offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, and social sciences. Our campus in Michigans Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway and is just a few miles from Lake Superior.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has dismissed during the first reading presidential bill No. 6674 and bill No. 6271, one of the authors of which was the leader of the Batkivschyna faction, Yulia Tymoshenko, which propose cancelling e-declaration requirement for public activists.

After the two bills were discussed and dismissed by MPs in the first reading, the speaker suggested they be sent for revision to the relevant committee, but the lawmakers did not support this proposal as well, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
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Cassation court dismisses Saakashvili's complaint against refusal to grant him status of person in need of additional protection

The Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court of Ukraine has dismissed a complaint filed by former Georgian President and leader of the Movement of New Forces party Mikheil Saakashvili concerning granting him the status of a person who needs additional protection.

The relevant ruling was made by the Cassation Administrative Court on March 28, lawyer Ruslan Chornolutsky told Interfax-Ukraine.

As reported, in July 2017, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko stripped Saakashvili of Ukrainian citizenship while the latter was in the United States.

On September 10, Saakashvili, surrounded by his supporters, crossed from Poland into Ukraine, breaking across the border.

On September 22, 2017, the Mostyska District Court in Lviv region found Saakashvili guilty of illegally crossing into Ukraine, the ministry said.

On January 3, 2018, the Kyiv District Administrative Court dismissed Saakashvili's claim against the Kyiv regional department of the State Migration Service, which refused to give him the status of a person needing additional protection.

The Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the ruling on February 5, and Saakashvili's defense appealed the decision with the Administrative Court of Cassation on February 6. Lawyer Ruslan Chornolutsky said there were no grounds to extradite or deport Saakashvili from Ukraine until the proceedings regarding his status were over.

On February 12, 2018, Saakashvili was detained in Kyiv and sent back to Poland in line with the readmission procedure.
In Focus with Allison Walker is a 30-minute public affairs program, featuring a roundtable of newsmakers representing a range of perspectives, including local officials and expert analysts as they tackle topical issues of importance to Floridians.

In Focus airs Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., right after Political Connections.
KYIV. April 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The status of Ayurvedic medications from the point of legislation should be approved for their popularization in Ukraine, in particular, it should be determined if they are medicines, participants of a roundtable held at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday said. President of the Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association (IPMA) Dr. Ramanan Unni Parambath Menon said that at present, Indian Ministry of Yoga and Ayurveda (the Ministry of AYUSH) is attempting to make regulatory agencies of different countries to recognize Ayurvedic medications. "We want that Ayurvedic medications are registered as medications of alternative medicine. We are working on making Ukrainian regulatory agencies to recognize them," he said. In turn, President of Euro Lifecare Sanjeev Bhagat said that according to Ukrainian regulatory requirements, currently Ayurvedic medications could be registered only as nutritional supplements, which moderates trust of consumers. "India has a separate pharmacopoeia for Ayurvedic medications. They are considered medicines, not nutritional supplements. However, Ukraine does not have alternative medicine and the country does not have special rules for these medications, and they are registered as nutritional supplements. This has a lot of drawbacks," he said. Bhagat said that when Ayurvedic medications are imported as nutritional supplements 20% VAT and 10% duty are imposed on them, while 7% VAT is imposed on medicines. "The price of the medications becomes higher, and it is not interesting for us to bring them," he said. Commercial Director of Organosyn Ltd. Svitlana Sichkar said that Ayurvedic medications are often registered in Ukraine as nutritional supplements. "The situation is somewhat double: on the one hand, registration is not required [for Ayurvedic drugs] and this saves time for the company. We can immediately represent the product in the market. At the same time, there is a certain distrust of nutritional supplements and there are restrictions on indications for their prescription. These drugs cannot be included in some mandatory medication protocols," she said. At the same time, Sichkar said that recently the trust of doctors in Ayurvedic drugs is growing: "Doctors are ready to prescribe these drugs if they see that the product is really effective."
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has granted a registration certificate of design for VinFast's models of sedan and SUV cars with a five-year term of protection which can be renewed four times.

During the maximum protection period of up to 25 years, other automakers will not be able to produce or distribute models with identical or similar designs to the VinFast models in the EU market.

Beyond Europe, the Vietnamese automaker has also filed applications for industrial design protection for its two models in a number of countries including the US, Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia, among others.

VinFast signed contracts with Italy's design firm Pininfarina and BMW in early 2018 to produce sedan and SUV cars with the aim of launching their first products by the end of 2019.

The two Vietnamese brand models are scheduled to feature in the Paris Moto Show in France in October 2018 before they are officially launched in Vietnam.
Jeremy Wade searches for answers in the most remarkable rivers, lakes and seas on the planet to reveal the secrets of these extraordinary places.

Tuesdays from 9pm AEST.
The Government leader announced the plans in a speech at the GMS Business Summit held in Hanoi last week.

He reiterated Vietnams commitment to an action-oriented government working in the interest of the people and businesses, for which tax reform is one of the crucial undertakings in its efforts to enhance the countrys competitiveness.

PM Phuc said that his government would focus on creating a favourable business environment by fine-tuning the institutions and legal frameworks, improving the administration capacity to bring equal opportunities for all economic sectors.

He also affirmed Vietnams commitment to protect intellectual property rights and innovative ideas during the start-up process.

Last year, Vietnam jumped 14 places on the World Banks ease of doing business rankings, with corresponding rises of 5 positions on the World Economic Forums global competitiveness index and 12 notches on the global innovation index.

Prime Minister Phuc stated that these improvements have boosted the confidence of investors and businesses in the Governments reform efforts and inspired the Government to continue its reform programme.
Ozlu made the suggestion during a recent meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Trung and deputy head of the National Assembly's Law Committee Hoang Thanh Tung, who were on a working visit to Turkey to learn about building free economic zones and concentrated industrial parks (IPs).

The Turkish official spent time introducing his Vietnamese guests to Turkeys mechanisms for managing more than 300 concentrated IPs, coordination among the state, localities and enterprises in the work, and preferential policies for domestic and foreign firms to invest in IPs.

He said he joined Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yilidirims official visit to Vietnam in 2017 and met with Turkish investors operating in the country. He hopes that Turkish firms will soon open IPs in Vietnam in the future.

In his meeting with the Vietnamese delegation, Turkish Deputy Minister of Economy Fatih Metin said his country welcomes Vietnamese firms to invest in 18 free economic zones in Turkey.

He also called on the Vietnamese Government to continue supporting Turkish investors in Vietnam.

For their part, the Vietnamese officials affirmed the experience shared by the hosts would help Vietnam to finalise the draft Law on Special Administrative-Economic Units.

The Vietnamese delegation also had a meeting with representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in Turkey, during which they were briefed on the development of bilateral relations and the embassys efforts to promote trade ties with Turkey.

Ambassador Pham Anh Tuan said the agency is doing its utmost to foster ties between the two countries enterprises, hoping that it will receive support from ministries and sectors in the homeland in the process.
A memorandum of understanding on the investment was signed between the German company and the provincial Peoples Committee at a working session on April 2.

Covering 50 hectares in Hoa An commune, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang I will have an operating capacity of more than 40MWp and cost US$50 million. Meanwhile, Hau Giang II is expected to be built on an area of 200 hectares at the Nhon Nghia A Industrial Cluster in Chau Thanh A district. The US$200 million plant has a designed capacity of more than 170MWp.

Construction of the two plants is scheduled to begin in December 2018 and be completed by June 2019.

Addressing the Monday working session, Nguyen Van Tuan, Vice Chairman of the Hau Giang provincial Peoples Committee, welcomed BS Heidelberg Solar GmbHs investment in clean energy, stating that the two projects to be implemented by the company match with the localitys guidelines and general planning for solar power.

He pledged the provinces full support for the German firm in dealing with any difficulties arising which could hinder the smooth implementation of the projects.

Rodny Scherzer, a member of the Board of Directors of BS Heidelberg Solar GmbH, said Hau Giang has favourable natural conditions for solar power projects. As a matter of importance, the company will try to push the implementation of these projects, he said, calling for assistance from the local government.
For Subscribers Six takeaways from Newport County football teams in Week 3

Here are the takeaways after the local teams went 1-3 on Friday night.
There are currently 532 valid projects being deployed across the city, with a total registered capital of US15.44 billion.

Chairman of Hai Phong Peoples Committee, Nguyen Van Tung, has attributed these positive results to the citys efforts to reform its administrative procedures, improve the investment environment, as well as focusing on removing difficulties for enterprises, boosting trade, and attracting investment.

Hai Phong has successfully organised many events, such as an investment promotion seminar for Japanese firms; a meeting between the municipal authorities and enterprises in 2018, which saw the participation of 400 domestic and foreign companies; and two business dialogues with a total of 22 practical recommendations.

The city has also implemented a capacity building programme for the local supporting industries with the support of senior volunteers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Accordingly, direct support has been provided at four enterprises, while three other companies are being surveyed in preparation for the second phase of the project.

In the future, the city will continue to accelerate the progress of key projects, including the Hai Phong international gateway port and the construction of technical infrastructure for the Bac Song Cam new urban area, as well as implementing the building of the second passenger terminal at the Cat Bi International Airport and Tan Vu-Lach Huyen Bridge No. 2.
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Lyndsay Jones is a reporter covering education at The News-Gazette. Her email is ljones@news-gazette, and you can follow her on Twitter (@__lyndsayjones).
The survey results showed that 13.2% of the firms increased their investment capital and 60% of them plan to scale up their business operation in Vietnam, which are much higher than the 2016s figures of 11% and 50%.

Professor Edmund Malesky from the US-based Duke University affirmed that this is the greatest optimism in the FDI sector since 2011, attributing the results to the Vietnamese Governments policies to reduce the burden on FDI companies.

Online registration to set up business has been put forth while required documents have been slashed down.

In addition, initial investment certificates were issued to FDI companies within 37 working days in 2017, as compared to 47 working days in the previous year.

Procedures for tax code registration and adjustment of investment registration certificates have been simplified as well, according to the survey.

The results of the survey also revealed that 45% of businesses said that they had to paid unofficial costs for inspectors as well as customs clearance and land-related procedures, which is lower than the rate of 50% in 2016.

However, Malesky said that Vietnam should make more efforts to streamline administrative procedures for foreign investors, noting that tax and customs procedures remain great troubles for FDI companies.
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
In an interview with Nhan Dan Weekly, director Luu Trong Ninh talked more about the project, which he described as the biggest project of his career and a good opportunity to convey his reflections on Vietnamese culture and the national spirit.

Question: It is said by making Kieu you aimed to fulfil the wish of your father, poet Luu Trong Lu, to adapt Truyen Kieu into a cinematic work. Is it true?

Director Luu Trong Ninh: My father once said to me that whatever I do, I had to work on Kieu because it was widely known as a masterpiece imbued with the national spirit. It is a pity that he was unable to watch any of my films. He passed away in 1991 when my debut film Canh Bac (The Gamble) was released.

The conversation might have a significant meaning to you. Why do you wait until now to work on the project?

I wrote a draft for Kieu before but the project had to be closed because of disagreements between me and my partners, who didnt want a totally new approach to Kieu. I had to seek new investors for the film. I am finalising the films script. There are still a lot of challenges ahead.

At your current age, why are you still full of energy and willing to challenge yourself with a literary masterpiece like Kieu?

I have never been bothered by age, I always feel that I am full of energy. During the making of the TV series Thuong Nho O Ai, I questioned myself about to be or not to be. Where will my life lead if I was so sick this way? And I decided to bring it on and do something! Thuong Nho O Ai was made at a time when my health was in the worst situation. But I overcame it and I won over myself. As for Kieu, it will be another challenge for me to fight off, even though I know for sure that it is really tough.

How do you develop the character Kieu in your project?

Kieu in the original version was portrayed with a lamentable and sorrowful fate. But I want to develop my own Kieu as a woman with relentless determination, like Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind who never surrenders to fate.

Characters in The tale of Kieu by Nguyen Du were a general outline, which provides a space for creativity. I will fill the space with Vietnamese culture and the daily lives Vietnamese people. What I am concerned about most in the production of the film is how to ensure that it will be imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity.

Are you worried that your fresh adaption will face arguments from those who are familiar with the established and time-honoured value of The Tale of Kieu?

I think that we should think outside of the box. I dont want to create an illustration of The Tale of Kieu. I dont understand why there hasnt yet been a cinematic adaptation of such a literary masterpiece which is rich in Vietnamese national identity. I am willing to be the one to take the first step, whether it will be a failure or success, I hope that my production will provide lessons for any successors.

My Kieu film is scripted as a story of humanity. I want to provide viewers with an overview of Vietnamese history, culture, and daily practices of ordinary people.

Do you feel any pressure of being the son of a well-known poet, Luu Trong Lu?

Since I was a child, I was taught that fame or money isnt a big deal. I grew up with the books and poem recitals of my father and his friends. Although my father was a great poet, my family wasnt richer than others. My parents loved each other; they never argued or fought. They told me that the most important thing in life is to do things to better your community. If you always keep those words in mind, you will never feel tired or discouraged.

Thank you so much for the interview.
The two-year project will engage with the music and film heritage of Vietnam, with particular focus on aspects that are under threat, disappearing, or under-represented.

The project will attract the participation of a wide range of partners, including cultural heritage agencies, institutions of central and local authorities, arts and cultural organisations, and the private sector.

Project activities will focus on research, documentation, conservation, training and capacity building, experimentation and innovation, education and the re-imagination and revitalisation of cultural heritage assets in contemporary practises.

Ultimately, the project will promote a more dynamic understanding, enjoyment, and use of heritage assets in the everyday life of communities and in artistic, curatorial, and educational practises.

The project is also expected to lay the foundations for experts and artists from UK and Vietnam to work together and increase their understanding of the cultures of each country.
Beaver Dam, WI (53916)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 44F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 44F. Winds light and variable.
One of Portland's top hard cider destinations the Portland Cider House on Hawthorne blvd. is celebrating their 3rd Anniversary Party for the weekend of April 13-15, 2018. The party includes special tappings from numerous NW cideries and Portland Cider Co. which owns the taproom. Portland Cider Co. will be releasing 3 NEW ciders and SUPER special tappings every day from Guest NW Cideries for the 3-day Portland Cider House anniversary. That's a total of 6 new, super special and limited tappings every single day , all weekend long.Kick-off the festivities on Friday, April 13 with the release of No Way Rose, plus free cider tastings with 3 Finnriver, Swift & Bandon Rain from 4:30-9pm.Portland Cider House, 3638 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland

Portland Cider Co. releases Peach Sweet Tea Hard Cider and No Way Rose is Next
The Vietnam-India Friendship Association in Da Nang said the band will perform a fusion concert, mixing Carnatic, music associated with southern India, Hindustani classic music and modern Western music at the theatre at 155 Phan Chau Trinh Street from 16:00.

The band will perform in the opening ceremony of the annual Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) festival  the citys biggest Buddhist festival  on April 3 at Quan The Am Pagoda.

Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Parvathaneni Harish will plant a Bodhi tree taken from Bodhi Gaya, a Buddhist pilgrimage site in India, in a ceremony at Quan The Am Pagoda on April 4.

A photo exhibition of Buddhist relics in India will be displayed at the pagoda on 48 Su Van Hanh Street in Ngu Hanh Son district of the city on April 3. The exhibition is part of cultural programmes marking the 46th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The annual Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) Festival is being held from April 2-4 at the foot of Kim Son Mountain  the largest of the Marble Mountains  in Da Nang with a Buddhism lecture and meditation session, martial arts performance, folk games, and a run for peace.

The main festival, which falls on April 4 (the 19th day of the second lunar month) will feature the procession of an image of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and a prayer for peace, prosperity, and happiness for the nation.

Tourists will be able to explore the stone sculptures of the 400-year-old Non Nuoc stone village  a piece of national intangible heritage  in Ngu Hanh Son district. The festival draws about 10,000 residents and tourists each year.
It is during this time that the croc grabbed his calf and he bled profusely. He screamed for help prompting fishermen who where nearby to rush to his rescue. The fishermen used big sticks to beat up the crocodile until it let go the victim, said a source that preferred anonymity.


President Emmerson Mnangagwa has implored the Chinese business people to partner Zimbabwe in the new era with renewed hope of a prosperous future for all.





President Mnangagwa was addressing the Sino Zimbabwe Business Forum in Beijing this morning which was attended by over 200 Chinese business people. Among them was a contingent of 70 Zimbabwean businesspeople.



President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe is inspired by strides made by China in every facet of development and its journey in the path to transformation which serves as an inspiration and template for Zimbabwe and the rest of the developing world.



He highlighted that the government recognises the role that FDI and private investment will play in Zimbabwes vision to leapfrog the countrys development path.



President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe is overwhelmed by Chinas readiness to share knowledge experiences, new technologies and innovations and other aspects of global best practices.

He said every effort is being made to improve the investment climate in Zimbabwe and to make the country an attractive investment destination through a raft of measures to lower the cost and risk of doing business.



Cde Mnangagwa pledged governments resolve and political will to entrench and ingrain clear, consistent and coherent friendly-to-business policies to further Zimbabwes developmental agenda.



Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa has met with Communist Party of China (CPC) Minister of International Department Mr Song Tao at his guest house in Beijing, China, and discussed issues related to the CPC and Zanu PF, stressing the need to further deepen relations through increased exchanges and cooperation.



President Mnangagwa said the two parties share a long history of political cooperation and it is time the relations are upgraded to economic strategic cooperation.

The President took that opportunity to brief Mr Tao on the events leading to the new era in Zimbabwe and that Zimbabwe is now open for business.



Cde Mnangagwa also met with China Energy, a power company and an infrastructure and earth moving equipment company. He invited the two to come and see the opportunities in Zimbabwe including those abundant in the construction sector.



President Emmerson Mnangagwa says there are vast investment opportunities in the infrastructure development sector in Zimbabwe for Chinese companies.



Addressing senior company management of a Chinese communication construction company in Beijing Tuesday morning, President Mnangagwa invited China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) to come and partner Zimbabwe in modernising and building infrastructure in the areas of highway construction, rail upgrading and expansion of infrastructure.



The company is involved in the construction of airports, sea ports, bridges, dredging and reclamation.

Some of the works that need upgrading and construction include Harare-Beitbridge road, Chitungwiza-Harare railway line and the expansion of the Harare-Beira railway to enhance trade in the region.



The presidents delegation was also shown a similar rail project in East Africa in Mombasa, Nairobi  Standard Gauge Railway  built by the Chinese conglomerate.



The President of CCCC said the company is willing to establish an office in Zimbabwe.
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During his talks with Secretary of Mongolias National Security Council Gansukh Amarjargal in Hanoi on April 2, Lam said the Vietnamese ministry aims to share experience with the Mongolian side in terrorism prevention by controlling immigration, financial activities and extreme religions.

Lam suggested the two sides consider establishing a cooperation mechanism in the field of security to exchange information of common concern, and a coordination mechanism to ensure security for visiting delegations, representative diplomatic offices, diplomats and people of the respective countries.

Vietnam and Mongolia should step up collaboration through multilateral institutions to which both countries are members such as international treaties on fighting trans-national organised crimes, terrorism, corruption and torture, the minister said.

Lam highlighted affiliation between his ministry and relevant Mongolian agencies, citing an agreement reached by the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the Mongolian Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs on crime combat cooperation has created a legal framework for the two countries in this regard.

Gansukh agreed with Lams suggestions, expressing his hope that the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the National Security Council of Mongolia will enhance their partnership, especially in fighting crimes and terrorism, thus helping promote the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
(Newser)  Rep. Elizabeth Esty announced Monday she will not seek re-election this year amid calls for her resignation over her handling of the firing of a former chief of staff accused of harassment and violence against female staffers in her office, the AP reports. The Democrat from Connecticut and an outspoken #MeToo advocate was accused of not protecting female staffers from the ex-chief of staff. Esty has said she regrets not moving along an internal investigation into the allegations, which revealed more widespread allegations of abuse, and regrets providing "even the slightest assistance to this individual as he sought a new job." Esty said she determined "that it is in the best interest of my constituents and my family to end my time in Congress at the end of this year and not seek re-election."

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Her announcement came hours after she asked the House Ethics Committee to review her actions. "Although we worked with the House Employment Counsel to investigate and ultimately dismiss this employee for his outrageous behavior with a former staffer, I believe it is important for the House Ethics Committee to conduct its own inquiry into this matter," Esty said in a written statement, acknowledging "it certainly was far from a perfect process." Esty said she wants the committee to "clarify whether there was any wrongdoing" on her part. A lawyer for the committee said he could not comment on Esty's request for an investigation. It's unclear whether an investigative subcommittee will be created or how long the process might take.

(Read more Congress stories.)
(Newser)  If Grindr users share their HIV status on the gay dating app, they may assume that revelation will stay among themselves, potential partners, and Grindr. But BuzzFeed reported Monday that Grindr shared that data (including HIV status and "last tested date," as well as email addresses) with two analytics firms it uses, with the only notification to customers in the fine print of its privacy policyan "egregious breach of basic standards," per an AIDS advocate. The Norwegian nonprofit SINTEF first uncovered the issue, with a researcher there blaming the sharing of info with app-optimization firms Apptimize and Localytics on developer "incompetence." An Electronic Frontier Foundation researcher notes even if Grindr has a contract with these firms to keep that data private, that sensitive health information now sits in yet another place, vulnerable to those with "malicious intent."

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"I actually find this very disturbing and possibly sinister," San Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy tells KGO. Axios reports on Grindr's reaction, which appeared on Tumblr to "clear any misinformation." CTO Scott Chen notes Grindr doesn't sell user info to third parties or advertisers, and that it only shares with vendors when "necessary or appropriate." He also reminds users that Grindr's privacy policy clearly spells out that information posted to Grindr could end up in the public eye, and that "you should carefully consider what information to include." Still, the company said Monday it would stop sharing customers' HIV status with third-party analytics vendors, per BuzzFeed. NPR notes a lawsuit against CVS Health for an HIV-related breach last summer in which thousands of letters were sent out with a reference code for an HIV assistance program visible in the envelope window. (Read more Grindr stories.)
(Newser)  After a gunman massacred 17 students and staff, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students called for nine changes to gun laws. Instead, they've been given clear backpacks as part of new security measures at the high school in Parkland, Fla., and many of them mocked the change after they returned from spring break Monday, NBC News reports. "My new backpack is almost as transparent as the NRAs agenda. I feel sooo safe now," tweeted Lauren Hogg, younger sister of student activist David Hogg. "As much as I appreciate the effort we as a country need to focus on the real issue instead of turning our schools into prisons."

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Other students called the backpacks an invasion of privacy and said they were a ridiculous, meaningless gesture, while some used them to make a statement, the Sun Sentinel reports. Numerous backpacks had $1.05 price tags attached, referring to the donations Sen. Marco Rubio has accepted from the National Rifle Association: $3,303,355, which works out to around $1.05 for each of the 3,140,167 students enrolled in Florida schools. Others had different messages: "Clear backpacks are stupid," read one sheet of paper displayed inside a backpack. "I AM SINGLE" advertised another student. The school district says students are also being given identity cards and it is considering installing metal detectors. (Read more Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School stories.)
(Newser)  It's not acceptable to use a Taser to get your child up for church, police sayeven on Easter Sunday. Arizona mother Sharron Dobbins was arrested on suspicion of child abuse after allegedly using a stun gun on her 17-year-old son early Sunday morning, the Sacramento Bee reports. She told police she "only sparked the Taser to get the kids up for church on Easter," according to court documents. An 18-year-old family member was a witness. Dobbins, 40, told police she didn't actually use the Taser on anybody, but officers found two bumps on the teen's leg, the Arizona Republic reports. In a court appearance Monday, Dobbins said the 17-year-old is on probation and wears an ankle bracelet. She was released on the condition she find somewhere else for the teen to live and give up any weapons, including the Taser. (Read more Arizona stories.)
(Newser)  Being light, airy, and full of holes is a good quality in an English muffin. Unfortunately for Panera Bread, their online security system seems to have similar attributes, According to the KrebsOnSecurity blog, a data breach may have exposed as many as 37 million customer records at the bakery chain for at least eight months, including the records of any customer who ordered food online from panerabread.com, which was taken offline late Monday. The blog says the exposed records include names, email and physical addresses, and the last four digits of customers' credit card numbers. Security researcher Brian Krebs says the information was available in plain text and could easily have been lifted by automated tools.

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Krebs says he was informed of the breach by security researcher Dylan Houlihan, who shared emails showing that he first contacted Panera director of information security Mike Gustavison about the problem in August last year. John Meister, Panera's chief information officer, tells Fox that the company takes security very seriously and "this issue is resolved." He says there is no sign that a large number of records were retrieved and contrary to Krebs' report, the company believes fewer than 10,000 customers were affected. Gizmodo notes that more security issues, including exposed administrative logins, came to light after the Krebs report Monday nightand as a "kicker," Gustavison, the information security chief, directed security at Equifax before the massive breach that exposed data on 143 million Americans.

(Read more Panera Bread stories.)
(Newser)  The Trump administration has introduced production quotas for immigration judges in an effort to reduce enormous court backlogs, raising concern among judges and attorneys that decisions may be unfairly rushed. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review said judges must complete 700 cases a year to earn a satisfactory grade. The standards, which take effect Oct. 1, include six other measures indicating how much time the department's approximately 350 judges should spend on different types of cases and court motions. The measures outlined in a performance plan seen by the AP are highly specific. A judge who completes more than 560 cases a year but fewer than 700 "needs improvement." Deciding fewer than 560 cases a year is deemed unsatisfactory.

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The move, while significant, didn't come as a surprise. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who oversees immigration courts, has sought major changes to the long-clogged courts as a sharp increase in deportation arrests under President Trump has pushed the backlog above 650,000 cases. In December, Sessions wrote judges that performance measures would aid in "the efficient and timely completion of cases and motions" while maintaining fairness. The National Immigration Judges Association strongly opposes the numerical targets and will explore options under federal labor law, says judge Dana Leigh Marks, a union spokeswoman. "We believe the imposition of numerical performance metrics is completely, utterly contrary to judicial independence," says Marks. "We believe assessing quality is fine, not quantity."

(Read more Justice Department stories.)
The President expressed his delight that leaders of the two countries have visited each other regularly, helping to unceasingly strengthen and develop the bilateral traditional friendship.

The two countries have paid heed to intensifying defence-security cooperation, especially defence industry, logistics and military medicines while speeding up negotiations on an agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons and an agreement on mutual protection and exchange of information, he said.

He also noted the two sides maintenance of political consultations at deputy ministerial and department levels of the two foreign ministries and their sharing of information and experience relating to cooperation with other countries.

He emphasised the progresses the two countries have achieved in their economic, trade and investment partnership, and expressed his hope that Mongolia will make it easy for Vietnam to increase its export of farm and aquatic products, processed food, consumer commodities, machinery and home appliances to the country while Mongolia could ship processed meat, textile and garment materials, minerals, and footwear to Vietnam.

The President suggested the two countries step up political dialogues at all levels and boost people-to-people, cultural, educational, artistic, and sport exchanges to further promote mutual understanding; organise market research tours for businesses; and enhance cooperation in energy, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals and medicines.

Regarding regional and international issues, he suggested the two sides continue coordinating at multilateral forums, like the UN, ASEM, ARF, and more, affirming Vietnams readiness to support Mongolias connection with other ASEAN member countries.

The Mongolian guest briefed President Quang on the outcomes of his talks with Minister of Public Security To Lam, stressing that Mongolia wants to have stronger cooperation with Vietnam in national security.

He expressed his belief that in 2018, the two countries will sign the agreements that were discussed and reach consensus on the safeguard of national security.

Built on the traditional friendship, mutual trust and understanding, Mongolia wants to boost its economic and trade ties with Vietnam to bring the bilateral ties to a new height, he said.

On the occasion, he conveyed the invitation to visit Mongolia from President Khaltmaa Battulga, who is Chairman of the National Security Council of Mongolia to his host. President Quang accepted the invitation and then asked the Secretary to relay his invitation to visit Vietnam to President Khaltmaa Battulga.
(Newser)  Many schools were expected to be closed Tuesday throughout Oklahoma as teachers there continue their walkout for higher pay for a second straight day, reports CNN. Teachers in Kentucky also protested Mondayfollowing the lead of their colleagues in West Virginia earlier this yearbut most schools were expected to be back open in that state on Tuesday. As the protests unfold, the Washington Post detects a theme, not only in those three states but in teachers' marches elsewhere, too. That would be the 1984 song "We're Not Going to Take It" by Twisted Sister. Listen to teachers sing it Monday in Oklahoma and in Kentucky.

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You can tell theyre teachers because thats the last new song they heard, joked Seth Meyers, picking up on the trend when it surfaced in West Virginia. "I know theyre striking for better pay and health insurance but they could also save the school money for a prom band." The Post sees it as the "unofficial anthem" of the teachers' movement. It's not clear how long schools will stay closed in Oklahoma, but the state's three largest school districts, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Edmond, are extending spring break at least one more day, per the AP. (Read more teachers stories.)
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Yes, One Large Group of People Is Walking to the US Border

This is the 'caravan' Trump is complaining about in Mexico
(Newser)  A Canadian man barred from a British Columbia hotel for 17 years has successfully reversed his lifetime ban with "a pound of Brothers TNT Pepperoni as a peace offering." To understand the significance of that gift, it's necessary to know the truly insane story of how Nick Burchill got banned in the first place. It seems the Nova Scotia native brought a suitcase filled with Halifax's coveted Brothers TNT Pepperoni to Victoria's Fairmont Empress hotel during a business trip in April 2001. He'd planned to share the meat with his BC friends, per the CBC. But as there was no fridge in his room, Burchill put the pepperoni next to an open window to be cooled by the breeze and left. Returning hours later, he tells the Times Colonist he found "a tornado of seagull excrement, feathers, pepperoni chunks, and fairly large birds whipping around the room."

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Burchill says he eventually chased 30 to 40 seagulls out of the fourth-floor window, dropping a towel and his shoe in the process. After retrieving the shoe, he tried to dry it with a hairdryer, which fell into a sink of water, knocking out power, per the Times Colonist. That's when he contacted hotel staff, who sent a woman to the room to clean. "I still remember the look on her face when she opened the door," Burchill tells the CBC. He wasn't surprised when his employer later received a letter saying he wasn't allowed to return to the hotel. But "I didn't like the feeling of being banned from somewhere," says Burchill. During a trip back to Victoria over Easter weekend, therefore, "I just apologized. I was forgiven," he says. A hotel rep backs up Burchill's story, per HuffPost. "It's a really funny story to tell 17 years later," she says. (Dude, what's up with Canada's birds?)
(Newser)  Thanks to movies and popular lore, we know how this is supposed to work: You rat out murderous gang members to the authorities and you get whisked away to some new place and handed a fresh identity. Henry did the first part but has been denied the second. ProPublica and New York magazine have the story of the Salvadoran immigrant, who sought asylum in the US in 2013 at age 15; he was fleeing MS-13, the gang he belonged to. It's a gang that revolves around intense violence, and Henry's entrance to it, at age 12, involved him murdering a strung-up man with a machete. He ended up living with family in Long Island, whose Suffolk County is home to so many Salvadorans there's a consulate there. Henry enrolled at Brentwood High, and his freshman year went well. Then a teen from MS-13 back home enrolled in the school and recognized him.

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The only way to leave MS-13 is in a coffin, and so Henry got forced back inand became a party to what the local "clique," known as the Sailors, was doing. In 2016, MS-13 killed 3 high schoolers and buried them in the woods; that fall, a female classmate and her friend were killed. Henry wanted out, and wrote an account of everything he had done with the gang and passed it to his English teacher. She said she wanted to help, and he was put it touch with a Suffolk County homicide detective who worked with the FBI. Henry began providing info on gang members, and then awaited his witness protection papers. Instead, he got arrested by ICE, which wanted to deport him based on the evidence he himself had supplied. And they put him in the very same place as the gang members he had snitched on. "He's screwed," as a former FBI agent puts it. Read the full story here. (Read more Longform stories.)
(Newser)  The Sept. 1 killing grabbed national headlines in part because of Matthew Phelps' unusual defense: The 29-year-old told a 911 dispatcher he thought he had stabbed to death his wife of less than a year in his sleep after taking more cough and cold medication than he should have. Now, some unseemly allegations are emerging about Phelps by way of newly unsealed applications for search warrants, reports WRAL. The most-picked-up detail involves Phelps' alleged penchant for serial-killer movie American Psycho; a Raleigh, NC, detective wrote that Phelps had a separate Instagram account under the username marty_radical that often focused on the film, per the News & Observer. "This Instagram account shows numerous photographs of scenes from the movie and Phelps dressed as the main character," the detective noted.

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"The movie is about a serial killer, and Phelps expressed interest to a friend regarding what it would be like to kill someone," the detective continued. The application also contains claims from Lauren Phelps' family: that on the night of her death she'd been calling and texting her husband, displeased that he was out late, and that Matthew's spending was a problem and in excess of the couple's income; they say Lauren had taken "drastic steps" to rein it in. The application notes "interviews suggest ... the victim was preparing to end the relationship." Detectives also wrote they believed Phelps, who has been charged with first-degree murder, had cleaned himself somewhat before calling 911. The search warrants were ultimately used to seize phones, two books, notes, and a diary, among other items.

(Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  The designer of the world's tallest waterslideon which the 10-year-old son of a Kansas state lawmaker was decapitated in 2016has been arrested. John Schooley, who drew up the 17-story attraction at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, was taken into custody Tuesday at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport following a flight from China, reports CNN. The arrest came a week after second-degree murder charges were laid in the death of Caleb Schwab. Jeffrey Henry, the co-owner of Schlitterbahn, and Tyler Miles, the former operations director of the Kansas park, were already in custody when those charges were announced.

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The 72-year-old Schooley will now be sent to Kansas, where all the defendantsincluding a construction companyadditionally face charges of aggravated battery and aggravated endangering of a child. Those charges stem from injuries, including concussions, suffered by 13 riders before Caleb's raft went airborne and collided with a metal hoop on Aug. 7, 2016, killing him and injuring two others, reports NBC 5. Prosecutors allege water park employees tried to hide from investigators documents describing the injuries. But "the allegation that we operated, and failed to maintain, a ride that could foreseeably cause such a tragic accident is beyond the pale of speculation," the water park said in a statement last week. The waterslide had been in operation about six months before the fatal incident. (Read more Schlitterbahn stories.)
(Newser)  The active shooter at YouTube's Silicon Valley headquarters Tuesday was a woman and is dead, police say. At least four others were injured in the incident in San Bruno, located near the San Francisco airport in northern California's Bay Area. The suspected shooter was found dead on the YouTube campus with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, CNN reports. The shooting happened around 12:46pm in an outdoor cafe on the grounds of the headquarters, CBS San Francisco reports.

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Recode rounded up tweets from employees about the shooting; one describes being "barricaded inside a room with coworkers" while another says so many people were running for the exits, the floor rumbled. "We are responding to an active shooter. Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive," the San Bruno Police Department said on Twitter. Google, which owns YouTube, tweeted that it is cooperating with authorities. (Read more shooting stories.)
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The PM made the statement while meeting the visiting Director of Switzerlands Federation Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication Doris Leuthard in Hanoi on April 3.

He welcomed the two countries signing of agreements to support each other at multilateral forums.

Leuthard expressed her hope that negotiations for a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will be finalised this year, opening up new cooperation prospects in tourism, trade and investment.

She said that many Swiss firms are accompanying her in this visit to seek investment and business opportunities, especially in pharmaceuticals, a strength of Switzerland.

She also had working sessions with the Vietnamese side on environment, climate change, and biodiversity to explore cooperation potential.

Sharing the Swiss officials hope to speed up the conclusion of negotiations for the Vietnam-EFTA free trade agreement, PM Phuc said that relevant parties should soon sign the deal.

Along with a direct air route between Vietnam and Switzerland this year, the deal will bring about big opportunities to promote investment, trade and tourism partnership between the two sides, he stressed.

He also underscored that Vietnam welcomes Swiss firms to expand cooperation in Vietnam, pledging that the Vietnamese Government will continue improving the investment environment and creating optimal conditions for foreign firms.

The Government leader proposed that Switzerland should share experience with Vietnam and support the country in building a high-quality education system and combining science-technology research-training.

He also suggested that Switzerland increase scholarships for Vietnamese students, especially in justice, banking, high technology, and tourism, while strengthening the exchange of students and lecturers as well as cooperation in scientific research.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 22F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 22F. Winds light and variable.
He hosted Doris Leuthard, a member of Switzerlands Federal Council and head of the Federation Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication in Hanoi on April 3.

Minister Anh said that a free trade agreement between Vietnam and four members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein  will be signed soon.

He said that he believes that the pact will create favourable conditions and open up new opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam and Switzerland.

For her part, Leuthard said that Swiss firms are interested in doing business in Vietnam and seeking investment opportunities in energy development.

She affirmed that Switzerland highly values ties with Vietnam in all fields, highlighting cooperation potential between the two countries in the future, especially when progress has been seen in negotiations for the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the EFTA.

She agreed with Minister Anh that once the deal becomes effective, the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Switzerland will continue thriving.
New Delhi:

Bollywood diva Madhuri Dixit is one of most loved actresses we have in the industry. The Devdas actress who has given us many memorable films is now all set to venture into Marathi cinema.

Interestingly, the Dhak Dhak girl will make her Marathi film debut with Karan Joharas Dharma Productionsa Bucket List. The Kal Ho Na Ho filmmaker, who had earlier produced Bahubali ,will also foray into Marathi cinema with the film.

Karan Johar is also producing the Hindi remake of the Marathi blockbuster Sairat. The upcoming film which features Ishan Khattar and Janhvi Kapoor in lead roles has been titled Dhadak.

Talking about Bucket List, the slice-of-life drama is slated to hit the silver screens on May 25. KJo took to Twitter to reveal the first look of the film, where the Tezab actress can be seen riding a bike.

The Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar directorial is said to centre around the self-realisation journey of a woman. The flick will also have a dash of humour attached to its narrative style, suggest reports.

The film will also feature Renuka Shahane, Shubha Khote and Sumeet Raghavan in key roles.

Madhuri Dixit and Karan Johar had a fun-filled discussion on Twitter, where the former asked the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai director the one thing he wanted to tick off his bucket list. Check out the tweets right here.

Hey @karanjohar what is that one thing you'd want to tick off your bucket list this year? a Madhuri Dixit-Nene (@MadhuriDixit) April 3, 2018

To present you in a Marathi film! a Karan Johar (@karanjohar) April 3, 2018

Oh that's exciting. Then what are we waiting for? a Madhuri Dixit-Nene (@MadhuriDixit) April 3, 2018

Madhuri and Karan judged the popular dance-based reality show Jhalak Dikh Laja for three consecutive seasons. The two Bollywood stars who share a close bond will also collaborate for Abhishek Varmanas upcoming film.

aKaran and Madhuri share a warm equation. They are even doing a film together (Abhishek Varmanas next). When Karan saw the teaser of Bucket List, which was released a week ago, he loved it and spoke to the team. He came on board as a presenter and along with Madhuri, this will be his debut in the Marathi film spaceaa, a source told DNA.

The first look of Bucket List has increased anticipation among the fans who just canat wait for Madhuri Dixit to return to the silver screen.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Section 144 has been imposed in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut in wake of the nationwide Dalit protests against the "dilution" of the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Nine people were killed and several injured on Monday as dalit protests against the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act turned violent in different parts of the country.

As per reports, internet services have also been suspended till 2 pm. In Uttar Pradesh, two persons were killed and over 70, including many policemen, were injured on Monday as the state saw widespread violence. "During the bandh, violence broke out in Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Meerut, Agra and they were the most affected areas.A

Reports of violence have come from some other districts too. As of now, 448 persons have been detained in different districts. There were no incidents in 90 per cent of districts. We have sounded a high-alert in the state," DIG, Law and Order Praveen Kumar said.

The Army and paramilitary forces were also put on standby in Punjab. Normal life was affected in several parts of Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra and Gujarat too.A

Live Updates

# Internet suspended in Meerut till 2 pm as a precautionary measure



# Death toll due to violence rises to 7 in Madhya PradeshA



#In Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, schools except those conducting board examinations will remain shut today.

#Office of a BJP legislator was allegedly ransacked in Krishna Nagar on Monday by a group of Dalits who were protesting the "dilution" of the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, representative of the MLA said.A



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New Delhi:

Cambridge Analytica -- the firm at the centre of Facebook users' data breach -- has sought an additional time of one week to respond to government's notice questioning the company on alleged misuse of data to profile Indians and influence their voting behaviour.

The IT Ministry had, last month, shot off notices to social media giant Facebook as well as Cambridge Analytica on the data breach issue and the deadline for the British data analytics firm to respond to the notice was March 31. Facebook has time till April 7 to send its detailed reply on the matter.



A source said that Cambridge Analytica has sought additional time of one week to respond to the government notice.

The notice had sought the company's response on the entities which engaged Cambridge Analytica, the method used by it for possession of data and whether consent was taken from users.

"The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, has issued a notice... to Cambridge Analytica, wherein the serious breach of propriety and misuse of data intended to profile and influence voting behaviour has been highlighted," the IT ministry had said in a statement last month.

"Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?," the ministry had sought to know from the company.

Law and IT Minster Ravi Shankar Prasad had previously warned social media giant Facebook of "stringent" action for any attempt to influence polls through data theft and had even threatened to summon its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, if needed.

The warning had come as the BJP launched a scathing attack on the Congress, questioning the party on its relation with Cambridge Analytica, the data mining firm accused of harvesting personal user data from Facebook illegally to influence polls in several countries.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh each to families of those killed in Iraq's Mosul.

Minister of State for External Affairs General V K Singh on Monday brought back the mortal remains of 38 of the 39 Indians killed in Iraq to the country. Singh left for Iraq on Sunday.

The special Indian Air Force aircraft carrying 38 bodies landed in Amritsar at around 2:30 pm.

One body could not be brought back for now as the DNA testing had only provided a 70 per cent match. Of the 39 Indians killed, 27 belonged to Punjab. Four were from Himachal Pradesh, six from Bihar and two from West Bengal.

Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu also announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the kin of deceased. One member from each of the family would be given a government job in Punjab. Apart from it, Rs 20,000 monthly financial compensation would also continue, he said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant interim stay on its earlier order on SC/ST Atrocities Act and asked political parties to file their detailed replies within two days.

Hearing the Centre's review petition, a bench of justices AK Geol and UU Lalit said that it will examine its previous order which laid new guidelines that protect public servants from immediate arrest after a complaint is filed against them under the SC/ST Atrocities Act.

The bench asked political parties to file their detailed replies and said that the matter will be heard after 10 days.

Early on Monday, under pressure after the violent Dalit protests, the central government had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on its previous order.

In an open-court hearing, the apex court said that its order was not against the Atrocities Act but the misuse of it.

Highlights: Bharat Bandh over SC/ST Act: Death toll rises, Home Ministry monitoring situation

On Monday, at least nine people were killed and scores others injured after the Bharat Bandh protests called by Dalit organisations against the Supreme Court order turned violent.

The protesters rampaged through the towns across the country, arsoning, damaging public property, setting police vehicles on fire and pelting stones on security forces.

Six people died in Madhya Pradesh while two protesters killed in Uttar Pradesh during the clashes, according to reports. One person lost his life in Rajasthan's Alwar.

Normal life was affected in Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha due to disruptions in rail and road traffic, forced closure of offices and vandalism of properties during the "Bharat Bandh".

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists Amended to Regulate Fake News was released by the Information and the Broadcasting Ministry late Monday. However, amid strong opposition by journalists and heated debate over the issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervened and ordered withdrawal of the release and the move was rolled back. That was a fast move. The fact that it did not take too long for the prime minister to step in what appeared to be the right thing to do, one wonders what the whirlwind was all about when the nation was burning with Dalit protests over the recent Supreme Court order on SC/ST Act.

After ordering withdrawal of the release, the prime minister said that the subject should be left to the Press Council of India.

All is well that ends well. But the deed is done, and the governments intent now is under the scanner. While some may see the move as a smart attempt to shift the nations focus from the burning SC/ST issue, and the release may have been withdrawn for now, its been made loud enough what the government had been busy with.

The ministry did mention in the release that the decision to amend the guidelines was taken after "increasing instances of fake news in various mediums including print and electronic media".

Noticing the increasing instances of fake news in various mediums including print and electronic media, the Government has amended the Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists. Now on receiving any complaints of such instances of fake news, the same would get referred to the Press Council of India (PCI) if it pertains to print media & to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) if it relates to electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not, the ministry stated in the release.

However, the guidelines by the I&B Ministry was seen by the media as an attempt to control freedom of press in an election year.

The Opposition too questioned the governments intent behind the move and asked whether the move was an attempt to prevent genuine reporters from reporting news uncomfortable to establishment.

What was the move all about? As fake news pervades various media platforms, surely stringent rules are needed to save the world from wrong information. Surely, there is a need to check the dissemination of fake news and safeguard the public while ensuring the right to freedom of expression. The guilty should be punished.

There is an increasing concern over fake news in all corners of the society. There is a strong need to weaken the weapon of fake news for reason best known. But how the government does it would always put a question mark on itHow serious is the governments intention to crack down on fake news.
New Delhi:

The out of control Chinese space station Tiangong 1 mostly burned up on re-entering the Earth's atmosphere above the South Pacific on April 2, according to Chinese space authorities.

The China Manned Space Engineering Office said that the space lab entered the atmosphere at around 8:15 am Beijing time (05:45 am IST) on Monday.

Launched in 2011 to carry out docking and orbit experiments, Tiangong-1 was part of Chinas ambitious plan to build a manned space station by 2022.

However, the satellite Tiangong 1 went out of control in March 2016 and had been floating in the space since then.

According to the US Joint Force Space Component Command, Tiangong 1 mostly broke up above the South Pacific.

Also Read | Aliens monitoring earth will reveal themselves to humans in 15 years, claim conspiracy theorist

NW of Tahiti - it managed to miss the 'spacecraft graveyard' which is further south! Astronomer Jonathan McDowell tweeted.

Earlier, the plan was to bring the space lab back to Earth through a controlled final descent and make it land safely somewhere in the worlds oceans, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Chinese space agency struggled to predict where exactly the space lab would crash and wrongly suggested that it would be off Sao Paulo, Brazil.

However, the ESA had predicted that Tiangong-1 would probably break up over water.

The agency had also said that the chances of anyone being hit by the debris of Tiangong-1 were "10 million times smaller than the yearly chance of being hit by lightning". Click Here For More Science News

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New Delhi:

After unveiling at the Mobile World Congress 2018, Nokia 7 Plus is all set to launch in Indian market on April 4. The upcoming smartphone is expected to be an Amazon Exclusive and to be priced in under Rs 25,000 range. However, it will also be available on Nokia Mobile Shop retail outlet.

Nokia 7 Plus will be available in two colour variants, Black and Copper, White and Copper. The compnay is also touting that the phone has a single speaker with a smart amplifier and Nokia spatial audio with 3 mics.

Nokia 7 Plus features. All you need to know

- 6-inch Full HD display with 2160x1080 pixels and 18:9 aspect ratio.

- Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor

- 2.5D curved glass cover with Gorilla Glass 3 Shield

- Android 8.0 Oreo

- 12-megapixel and 13-megapixel camera sensor with ZEISS optics.

- Dual-tone LED flash

- 16-megapixel front camera for selfie.

- 4GB of RAM with 64GB of internal storage

- Expandable up to 256GB via microSD card.

- 3800mAh battery with a standby time of 723 hours.

- 4G VoLTE, WiFI 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0.

Apart from Nokia 7 Plus, HMD Global is also looking to launch Nokia 6 and Nokia 8 Sirocco on April 4. Meanwhile, Nokia 6 and Nokia 7 Plus will be under mid-range smartphone section and to be priced around Rs 20,000- Rs 25,000. On the other hand, Nokia 8 Sirocco will be a premium smartphone with 6GB of RAM with high-in class camera lens. It is expected to be priced at more than Rs 35,000.
New Delhi:

The Sindh government declared April 4 as a national holiday in the province, on account of the 39th death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The government issued a notification which stated that the all the offices, provincial government, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies will remain closed on Wednesday.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a former prime minister of Pakistan, founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The fourth president of Pakistan was credited for being the pioneer of the nuclear program in the country.

Read- Stephen Hawking pays for homeless meals in final act of kindness

Bhutto was executed on April 4, 1979 at Rawalpindi district jail, under the government of Ziaul Haq. He was the father of Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister of Pakistan.

According to a report in Geo News, several Bhutto supporters have reached to Larkana ahead of his death anniversary. Central leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party are expected to address the party workers on Wednesday.

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Previously, the TTB sent a delegation of 46 representatives from 23 units to Vietnam for participation in the Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM) 2018 in Hanoi from March 29 to April 1, 2018.

In recent years, the number of Vietnamese tourists visiting Taiwan has skyrocketed. In 2017, the growth rate of Vietnamese visitors to Taiwan reached 94.94%, the highest level among Southeast Asian countries in terms of tourism growth.

An art performance by Thao ethnic people (Photo: KB)

Representatives of TTB introduced Taiwanese tourism resources with many attractive destinations such as Mount Alishan, Sun Moon Lake, Qingshui Cliff, and the National Palace Museum; as well as specialties of Taiwanese cuisine and culture to travel agents in Vietnam.

According to Tony Wu, head of the TTB in Bangkok, Taiwanese travel agencies will commit to ensuring and enhancing the quality and diversification of tourism products while creating the most favourable conditions in terms of visa approval for Vietnamese visitors to explore the beauty of this island.
Overseas visitors to the ancient Japanese capital of Nara will now see warning signs in English and Chinese explaining how to interact safely with the city's wild deer.

Nara Park is a popular tourist attraction where people feed and take pictures with deer that roam freely through the area. The animals are protected as designated national treasures.

But local government officials say 180 people were bitten or knocked down by the deer over the past year.

Many of the accidents occurred when foreign tourists were feeding them special deer crackers.

On Tuesday, Nara Prefecture officials began installing signs in English and Chinese near shops in the park that sell the crackers.

The signs warn visitors about being charged at by deer while feeding them and advise showing open hands to indicate when there are no more crackers.

A shop clerk says that in the past she had to struggle to warn overseas tourists using her limited vocabulary.

Officials say they hope the signs will help visitors to enjoy sightseeing in Nara without any unpleasant encounters.
The symposium aims to raise ASEANSAI members awareness of the importance of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in promoting transparency, accountability and anti-corruption. It focuses on efforts to build a society of harmony, peace and integration.

Tien said the implementation of the SDGs gear towards building an incorruptible, society, reducing social vices, and ensuring social equality and inclusiveness, so to accomplish UN programmes by 2030.

He called on supreme audit institutions worldwide and ASEANSAI members in particular, especially the SAV, to contribute to increasing social transparency and accountability of the Government and organisations in the management and use of public assets, as well as the fight against corruption in the region and the world.

In his opening remarks, Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister A.M Fachir described transparency, accountability and anti-corruption as important factors to the completion of SDGs.

Chairman of the Audit Board of Indonesia Moermahadi told Vietnam News Agency on the sidelines of the event that the SAV is a dynamic agency that has constructively integrated into the ASEAN audit sector, and shared experience as well as common tasks of the sector.
Glittering with eye-dazzling floe bergs, an open sea extends ahead, pounding the rugged coastal lines. Underneath, a steel leviathan is pushing its way through the cold ice, while a hurtling train is meandering across the snowy land.

Such transformation is underway in the Arctic region, one of the world's most desolate and dark lands, which in fact is also home to four million people and a plethora of unique flora and fauna. Due to the surge in exploration of natural resources as well as the intensifying polar ice thaw, the Arctic is now becoming a new global economic and transportation hub, attracting the attention of people around the world.

"The Arctic for the Europeans is becoming a true gateway to the world. Connectivity is one of the major themes of the Finnish chairmanship in the Arctic Council and an important element of the Finnish Arctic strategy," Harri Maki-Reinikka, ambassador for Northern Policies of Finland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told People's Daily Online.

Aker Arctic's icebreaker lab in Helsinki, Finland. Photo by Kou Jie

The Arctic countries' eagerness to exploit the region's transportation advantages has led to the emergence of various sea routes and rail-link projects. The feasibility of Arctic sea routes is now being thoroughly studied, as in many cases transportation by means of the new waterway can be 30 to 50 percent shorter compared to traditional ones such as by means of the Malacca Straits or the Suez Canal. A railway routing to the Arctic Ocean is also being examined, which is expected to promote connections with all of Europe and Asia.

Such grand blueprints have definitely captured the attention of China, the world's largest trader, since 90 percent of its $ 4 trillion annual trade is transported by sea. The country's cutting-edge high-speed rail technologies as well as its abundant infrastructure funds have also made it possible for Sino-Nordic rail cooperation.

"The melting polar ice may make it possible for ships from Chinese harbors to run alongside Russia to Norway. I think China and the Arctic countries will have more cooperation in the future regarding Arctic sea routes and rail projects," Jrgen Randers, professor of climate strategy at the BI Norwegian Business School, told People's Daily Online.

Cutting into the Arctic ice

Once an impassable and everlasting frozen area, sea routes in the Arctic region have become more feasible for shipping between Europe and China, as many scientists have predicted that the Arctic will be ice-free between 2030 and 2050.

Currently, the major sea routes in the Arctic regions are the Northeast Passage, the Northwest Passage and the Transpolar Sea Route. The utilization of such sea routes heavily relies on ice-breaking technologies, as the most commercially viable Northeast Passage only allows ships to pass for some 4 months of the year in the warm season, while the ice-covered Transpolar Sea Route, which is theoretically the shortest route linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, remains just a line on the maritime chart with no relevance to the present.

The model of Polaris, the first LNG-Powered icebreaker in the world. Photo by Kou Jie.

Though China has already vowed to jointly develop the Northeast Passage with Russia and has published a guide with nautical charts and descriptions of ice conditions on the Northwest Passage, the lack of powerful icebreakers still hinder the country's path into the Arctic ocean.

"In order to promote Arctic shipping from Europe to China, it is necessary to build stronger icebreakers that can withstand the rigid environments found in the Arctic," Gunnar Snorri Gunnarsson, Icelandic ambassador to China, told People's Daily Online.

In an effort to tackle such issues, China has been actively seeking opportunities for icebreaking cooperation, especially with Finland which built about 60 percent of the world's icebreakers. According to statistics from Finnish icebreaking giant Aker Arctic, Finland and China have agreed to build a double acting polar research vessel equipped with icebreaking abilities usable while the vessels are both moving forward and backward. These are expected to be built in the shipyard of Shanghai in 2018.

The five alternative routes for the Arctic Ocean Railway. Photo by Finnish Transport Agency

Meanwhile, Arctic railway projects have also provided China a chance to enter the region, as the construction of an Arctic Corridor may become the shortest, most direct route for goods between Asian and Europe.

Sabina Lindstrom, Director of Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications, told the People's Daily Online that five different railway plans were examined by Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish authorities, while the solution that routing to the Arctic Ocean via Oulu, Rovaniemi and Kirkenes will be examined further, with a possible study report to be concluded in December 2018.

"If the construction of the Arctic railway could be realized, it would promote connections with all of Europe and Asia. We are looking for alternative models of financing and large-scale infrastructure projects and have a positive attitude toward innovative solutions and international cooperation," she added.

Though China and the Nordic countries have yet revealed any intentions for cooperation on the railway project, China has suggested in its Arctic White Paper that it will work with countries bordering the Arctic Ocean to build infrastructure such as roads and communication facilities in order to improve connectivity and commercial feasibility in the Arctic transportation field.

"Concrete plans and financial arrangements for all kinds of Arctic railway projects will not be made overnight, so we have to be also patient, yet we need to stay active discussing the issue," said Maki-Reinikka.

The Polar Silk Road

The emergence of transportation projects in the Arctic region happens to coincide with China's first-ever Arctic White Paper, which was announced in January. The document had long been expected, as China's non-Arctic players, including South Korea and Japan, established the Arctic Strategy Master Plan in 2013 and Arctic Policy in 2015 respectively.

In the document, China has emphasized its interests in opening trade routes and exploring natural resources as well as recapitulating two known pillars of its polar policy which are in line with the needs of many Arctic countries.

"Chinas vision concerning the sustainable utilization of the Arctic resources shows that it shares much of interests with the EU. I understand that like Finland, the other Member States of the European Union and many of its institutions are carefully studying Chinas initiative," said Maki-Reinikka.

Chinas initiative to build a Polar Silk Road is expected to promote cooperation with Nordic countries in the aspects of transportation and infrastructure. Being members of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Nordic countries may be able to collaborate within the framework of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, which they were originally not included.

"We welcome the interest China is showing [to the Arctic] because we feel that the resources and intelligence China possesses will be helpful for us. All of this could also develop future cooperation in aspects such as shipping and logistics," said Gunnarsson.

Xinhua, Finnish Transport Agency and China Policy Institute Analysis contributed to the story.
BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged solid efforts to win the "three tough battles" of preventing financial risks, reducing poverty and tackling pollution.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the first meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs.

Preventing and defusing financial risks is relevant to national security, overall development, and the security of people's property, and is a key threshold that the country must cross to achieve high-quality growth, said Xi, head of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs.

Premier Li Keqiang, who is also deputy head of the committee, and Wang Huning and Han Zheng, who are members of the committee, attended the meeting.

Wang Yang, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, was also present.

The country has made progress in its fight against poverty, a battle that must be won, according to Xi.

Environmental issues are a major concern for the public, and are decisive to Chinese people's judgment of the success of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, according to Xi.

To prevent and defuse financial risks, China should reduce the leverage ratio of local governments and companies, especially state-owned enterprises, according to a statement released after the meeting.

Tailored policies should be used to control risks in different financial markets, the statement said.

Financial supervision at the state and local level should be better coordinated, while local governments should be responsible for controlling local financial risks.

To reduce poverty, authorities should stick to the current poverty relief standards, and should not make arbitrary decisions to raise or lower the standards.

China should also encourage the use of clean energy and reduce the use of coal in its fight against pollution, according to the statement.

The meeting also approved work rules of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, and stressed the CPC Central Committee's leading role in the country's economic work.
Brendon Hartley

"Bahrain is a track I have some nice memories from, it was where we clinched our first world title back in 2015 with Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard in the Porsche LMP1 team, so Im really happy to go back there. I wouldnt say its my strongest track on the calendar, but its one that I know very well. We didnt score points in Melbourne, but there were plenty of positives from the weekend and I believe Bahrain should be a better track for us. My goal for this weekend stays the same: to score my first points in Formula 1."

Pierre Gasly

"What comes to my mind when I think about Bahrain is pole position in 2015, I was on pole in the GP2 race the second time we went there, its a track I quite like and its the first time Im going to race there with a Formula 1 car this year. Its usually pretty hot there, but Formula 1 races during the night which will be something new to me, so we will see. Its not my favourite track but its quite a cool one!"
The remote Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean is home to the world's largest population of giant tortoises.

It is so remote and difficult to access that the beautiful chain of islands in the outer Seychelles has remained largely unspoilt by humans. It's one of the most important places in the world for scientists studying evolutionary processes.

More than 400 endemic species live there, including more than 100,000 giant tortoises and the white-throated rail, the last surviving flightless bird in the Indian Ocean.

However, the UNESCO biological Word Heritage site is under threat from climate change, ecotourism and introduced species including rats, cats, and goats.

These threats to life on the islands are nothing new. Aldabra has always been prone to catastrophe and at threat from climate change.


The military yesterday said no fewer than 20 persons, including a soldier, were killed on Sunday night in a battle to ward off a large n...

The military yesterday said no fewer than 20 persons, including a soldier, were killed on Sunday night in a battle to ward off a large number of suicide bombers trying to invade Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. About 84 others were injured.Soldiers on the outskirts of Maiduguri also gunned down six armed Boko Haram gunmen and seven suicide bombers during the attack, bringing the death toll on both sides to 29.Residents of Maiduguri were forced to keep vigil all Sunday night following hours of thunderous explosions and shootings that rented the air till early hours of Monday.The military said Boko Haram suicide bombers and gunmen attempted to invade Maiduguri through the outskirts of Bille-Shuwa and Alikaranti villages.Eighteen Boko Haram terrorists on foot attacked the military base while seven suicide bombers targeted residents of nearby Bale Shuwar and Alikaranti villages at 8:50 pm (1950 GMT), said the officer, who asked not to be identified as he was not authorised to speak about the incident.The terrorists fired mortars at troops, the officer said.Bello Dambatto, chief security officer at the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told AFP that an initial death toll of 18 had risen to 20 after two people died in hospital from their wounds.The Police confirmed 20 persons killed and 84 injured.Commissioner of Police Damian Chukwu said five mutilated bodies of male suicide bombers were recovered and two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) vests were diffused by men of the command at the scene of the attack.He said: On 01/04/2018 at about 20:20 pm; Boko Haram terrorists in an attempt to infiltrate into Maiduguri through Bale Kura, Bale Shuwari, Jamine and Alkaramti villages in Jere local government area of the state, in the outskirts of Maiduguri detonated IEDs.They were promptly repelled by military and police reinforcement. In the process about 84 persons were injured and 20 others killed.Chukwu added that normalcy had been restored to the area and called on people to go about their lawful businessesOperation Lafiya Dole spokesman Col. Onyema Nwachukwu said the attackers would have made it into more crowded areas of Maiduguri had the troops deployed along the attacked axis not repelled them.Survivors of the attack said most of those killed in the suicide attack were youth who were at a viewing centre when the suicide bombers infiltrated them as they were fleeing upon hearing gun shots between soldiers and the Boko Haram fighters.The gunmen came with the suicide bombers, and as they were engaged by soldiers, some of them sneaked into the confused fleeing crowd and detonated themselves killing about 15 people and over 80 others, said Momodu Bukar, an operative of Civilian-JTF.Col. Nwachukwu said the attackers were on a mission to carry out major attack on Maiduguri.Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole deployed in the Cashew Plantation around Bille Shuwa and Alikaranti villages have quashed an attempt by Boko Haram terrorists to penetrate Maiduguri metropolis yesterday at about 8.10 pm, he said.The insurgents met with stiff resistance of troops who killed 6 of the insurgents and neutralized 7 suicide bombers in the encounter. The troops also recovered 2 AK 47 rifles and 2 Magazines.The United Nations Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria Mr Yassine Gaba, condemned the deadly attack.A statement by Mr Abiodun Banire, the National Public Information Officer, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Abuja, quoted Gaba as saying that since the beginning of the year, no fewer than 120 civilian were reportedly killed while more than 210 sustained serious injuries in more than 22 attacks allegedly carried out by non-state armed groups.Innocent civilians continue to suffer daily from direct and indiscriminate attacks in the North-east of Nigeria.Endless numbers of explosions, brutal killings, abductions and looting continue to uproot the lives of women, children and men daily.I call on all parties to the conflict to end this violence and to respect human life and dignity.The protection of civilians is a major focus of the ongoing humanitarian response in the north-east of Nigeria where 7.7 million people remain in direct need of humanitarian assistance, including food, shelter, water and health care, in the most conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, he said.According to him, women, children and men face daily grave human rights violations and sexual and gender-based violence.He said that since the start of the conflict in 2009, more than 20,000 people had been killed, thousands of girls, women, boys and men abducted, while children continue to be used routinely as so-called suicide bombers.Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima described the attack as sad, inhumanSpeaking during his visit to the victims of the attack at the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, the governor said: It is very sad which no any sensible human being could inflict on another person; such level of dexterity, such level of atrocity but this is a war between light and darkness, and in the fullness of time truth shall always triumph over falsehood.We have repeatedly said they have been sufficiently decimated and these decimated monsters berks in the oxygen of publicity they are targeting soft targets, senselessly and criminally opening fire on innocent souls.Yesterday, we witnessed that very sad episode, we will continue to intensify our efforts to safeguard life and property, and we are talking with security agencies that are doing their utmost best to secure the state.Appreciable progress has been made but such hiccups are inevitable. I will visit the communities to see what measures need to be put in place to forestall future occurrence, he said.
Alhaji Nasiru Danu, a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on Nigerians to continue to support President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.He further advised the people to do that, irrespective of negative comments on the administration.Obasanjo had at the weekend, described the Buhari administration as a failure among his other claims.Danu told journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, that the statement credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the performance and re-election bid of the president was his personal opinion.Danu also said that though Obasanjo remained an elder statesman, his assertions on Buharis performance were more political than anything else.The truth is that everybody can have his or her opinion on an issue, but to me, this is a successful administration.Buhari never promised to be a miracle worker, but in three years the success of this administration in the economy and security of the country are obvious.In security, compared to what we had before, there are improvements. Before Buhari came to power, we were having attacks even in Abuja,  he said.This is a political year, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but I assure you that the Buhari administration has done very well and Nigerians will re-elect him come 2019.He, however, said that the former president was not fair to have described the Buhari-led Federal Government as a failure, adding that the government had done well.According to him, the government has done well in its fight against corruption, infrastructure development and the economy generally.Danu said that the present government was building railways across the country to connect some major cities.He, however, noted that there were lot of falsehoods flying the streets, adding that Journalists should join efforts with government to fight the trend.Nobody can stop the spread of fake news than the media, I know most Journalists in the country have integrity and will not want it destroyed.He, therefore, urged Journalists to always engage in investigative reporting and cross-check information before publishing, in the interest of the nation.
BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday again urged the United States to revoke it protectionist measures, amid escalating friction between the world's two largest economies.

The measures abuse the security exception clause of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and go against the principle of non-discrimination in multilateral trade, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in an online statement.

Despite strong warnings from business groups and trade experts, President Donald Trump last month signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to 60 billion U.S. dollars of imports from China and restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States.

The move came after the U.S. administration took an increasingly hawkish turn on China, as it blamed its trade deficit with major trading partners for its domestic economic woes and job losses. It decided to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, with China as the major target.

"China's interests have been seriously damaged," the MOC said.

To balance losses caused by the U.S move, the ministry proposed countermeasures on U.S. products worth about 3 billion U.S. dollars on March 23 and solicited public opinion.

Based on domestic support, the policy has been put into effect. The Ministry of Finance on Monday announced a 15-percent tariff on 120 items from the United States including fruit, and a 25-percent tariff on eight items including pork.

China had worked out measures to boost imports and widen market access to mitigate tension with the United States, but to no avail, analysts said.

The two sides have failed to reach a consensus as the United States declined to respond to China's requests through the WTO for consultation, the MOC said. "As a WTO member, China has the right not to meet some former obligations to the United States."

WRONG BATTLE

The United States' goods trade deficit with China is considered the main reason for President Trump's stance, but the figure is inflated and does not show the full picture of China-U.S. economic ties.

Trump exaggerates the deficit, Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at the Yale University Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, said at a Beijing-based think tank event.

A hefty part of the deficit comes from the supply chain effect, which means components are just assembled in China but originally produced elsewhere, Roach said and estimated the figure could be cut significantly if adjusted accordingly.

"Politicians have no patience for statistics -- they find it much easier to point the finger at China," Roach said.

The United States has a huge service trade surplus with China, and the gap has been widening.

China's service trade deficit totaled 255 billion U.S. dollars last year, with the United States as a major contributor. From 2006 to 2016, the deficit with the United States increased more than 30-fold.

Given the situation, the decision to raise tariffs is improper and dangerous, and likely to cause losses for the country and its trade partners.

"I am quite worried about the potential for escalating trade conflict between the United States and China," Roach said. "Maybe Trump is bluffing... but we can not afford to ignore the risks. The stakes are too high for all of us."

COOPERATION; ONLY COOPERATION

Despite the friction, China is still interested in economic cooperation for mutual benefit.

"Cooperation is the only valid option for China and the United States," the MOC said, calling for dialogue and consultation to avoid more harm to the broader picture of China-U.S. cooperation.

For decades, China-U.S. economic ties have expanded steadily and generated huge benefits for people on both sides.

Trade friction may be unavoidable but what matters is bridging differences through reasonable talks and exploring new fronts for cooperation, said Long Guoqiang, deputy director of the State Council development research center.

Economists believe that the tariffs plan will backfire in any case.

"U.S. consumers will bear the costs of the Trump administration's tariffs," said Justin Yifu Lin, dean of the Institute for New Structural Economics of Peking University.

As U.S. consumer demand for daily necessities will not change simply by raising the costs of imported products, the United States will either continue to import from China or it will import from Vietnam, India and other countries where prices are already higher. The result will be the same: U.S. consumers will pay more for the same products, Lin said.
Former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is to explain how about $250million of the $500million recovered from the family of the l...

Former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is to explain how about $250million of the $500million recovered from the family of the late Head of State, Gen.Sani Abacha, was withdrawn.The cash was released to the Office of National Security Adviser( ONSA) without appropriation.About $36,155,000 (N13,015,800 billion) out of the $250million was also withdrawn in cash without any purpose on March 2nd, 9th, 16th and 18th of 2015.The Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has approved Mrs Okonjo-Iwealas invitation. A letter of invitation has been sent to her.According to a fact-sheet obtained by our source last night, detectives probing the whereabouts of the $500million have recommended that the ex-minister be interrogated.A top source said: Following preliminary findings, a strong recommendation was made to the Acting EFCC chairman for an interactive session with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.Magu has approved the invitation of the ex-minister. We have dispatched a letter of invitation to her. We are hopeful that she will respond.Her presence is necessary because there were issues about the $250million released especially why $36,155,000(N13,015,800billion) was withdrawn in cash.She needs to assist the EFCC team on what became of the balance of $250million which was yet to be traced.She has to explain why some of the funds were diverted to extraneous matters including media services, opinion polls and personal matters.In another position of the fact-sheet, the Office of the National Security Adviser in a memo on January 12, 2015, requested the former Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to transfer $300million.The memo said: Please refer to our meeting on recovered funds. You are please requested to remit the sum of $300m and 5.5m to the following account being ONSA share as agreed.In response, Okonjo-Iweala via a memo to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan requested for the release of $300m from Abacha loot to the former National Security Adviser(NSA).But only $250million was released to the ex-NSA.The memo explained that this is to enable the NSAs office to purchase ammunition, security and other intelligence equipment for the security agencies in order to enable them confront the ongoing Boko Haram threat.This request is sequel to the meeting you chaired with the committee on use of recovered funds where decision was made that recovered Abacha funds would be split 50-50 between urgent security needs to confront Boko Haram and development needs (including a portion for the Future Generations window of Sovereign Wealth Fund).This letter is to seek your approval to borrow these funds, for now, to disburse to the NSA. These funds form part of projected FG Independent Revenue to be appropriated.In light of this and for accountability, given the peculiar nature of security and intelligence transactions, we would expect the NSA to account to your Excellency for the utilization of the funds.On January 29, 2015, the ex-President responded to the ex-Minister as follows: CME/HMF, approved.But Okonjo-Iweala had in 2015 insisted that she had no case to answer.She said: Former President Jonathan set up a Committee comprising of the former Minister of Justice, former NSA and the former Minister of Finance to determine how best to use both the returned and expected funds for development.The NSA made a case for using the returned funds for urgent security operations since, he noted, there cannot be any development without peace and security. Based on this, a decision was taken to deploy about $322m for the military operations, while the expected $700m would be applied for development programmes as originally conceived.Following the discussions and based on the urgency of the NSAs memo, Dr Okonjo-Iweala requested the President to approve the transfer of the requested amount to the NSAs Office for the specified purposes.But, as captured in the memo, she insisted on three conditions: a. only a part, not the entire Abacha funds would be spent on the arms; the rest would be invested in developmental projects as originally conceived b. the money was to be treated as borrowed funds which would be paid back as soon as possible c. the NSAs office was to account for the spending to the President who was the Commander in Chief, given the fact that the Minister of Finance is not part of the security architecture and does not participate in the Security Council.The attempt to link the former Ministers name to any misuse of these funds for any purpose other than security as far as she understood it is totally false and cannot stand.A former Chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu had claimed that Abacha took over $6 billion from Nigeria. He also said $2 billion was recovered when he was in charge of the anti-graft agency.
State governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress on Tuesday kept mum after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.The meeting which was held inside the Council Chambers started about 2.15pm and ended about 3.30pm.At the end of the meeting which sources described as stormy, the governors who were approached for comment told State House correspondents that they had resolved not to speak to journalists.Those who were approached included the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, Rochas Okorocha; Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong; and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.The contentious issue of tenure extension for members of the partys National Working Committee was said to have dominated discussions at the meeting.After the meeting reportedly ended in a deadlock, it was also learnt that there was a sharp disagreement among the governors over the choice of date to reconvene.Before the meeting went into a closed door session, Buhari had nominated Lalong and the Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, to say the opening prayers.All APC state governors attended the meeting while Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and some top presidential aides and government officials also attended.
Bayern Munich fought back from a goal down to beat Sevilla 2-1 in their Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday night at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.Both teams traded half-chances early on, but it was a Pablo Sarabia miss that could have put the hosts in front on 20 minutes, with the 25-year-old shooting wide from 10 yards when left all alone in the Bayern penalty area.Sarabia made amends just after the half-hour mark, settling an outswinging Sergio Escudero cross and volleying home past Sven Ulreich with his next touch to give Sevilla a 1-0 lead.But Bayern would even the score five minutes later when Franck Ribery's low cross for Robert Lewandowski took a deflection off of Jesus Navas and trickled in at the near post to send the teams to the dressing room locked in a 1-1 draw.Sevilla keeper David Soria did well to keep out a close-range Javi Martinez shot in the 66th minute, but seconds later Ribery picked out Thiago Alcantara at the far post and the Spain international headed home to give Bayern a second away goal for the tie.The two teams will meet again in Munich on April 11 for the decisive second leg, with Sevilla needing at least two goals without conceding to turn the time around.Credit: ESPN
Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti state governor, says President Muhammadu Buhari is presiding over the most corrupt government in Nigerias history. ...

Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti state governor, says President Muhammadu Buhari is presiding over the most corrupt government in Nigerias history.





Fayose said in a statement issued on Monday by Lere Olayinka, his special assistant on public communications and new media.





He alleged that Buharis fight against corruption is selective as it protects and rewards looters who decamped from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).





He said the first looters list released by the government was politically motivated while the second was an afterthought to cover the shame of the government because Nigerians questioned the first.





With the Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index, saying that corruption has become more endemic in Nigeria than it was in the last 16 years, with the country moving 12 places below its rating, a honourable government would have stopped using fight against corruption as its major achievement and releasing names of people that are still under trial as looters just to cover up its failure, the statement read.





Nigerians have seen through their deceit and will no longer buy that fake image of integrity they are trying to sell.





For any lists of alleged looters to be credible, the President, who is protecting looters should be number one while those looters in his government should follow.





His nomination form was bought with proceeds of corruption and those who bought the form and financed his election were paid back with the return of all their seized properties, ministerial appointments and even disappearance of prosecution witnesses in EFCC cases.





Fayoser accused Buhari of his complicity in fanning the flames of corruption by citing specific cases which according to him are still unresolved.





The statement read: A government that reinstated and promoted Abdullahi Maina, who was declared wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation, (INTERPOL) and dismissed in 2013 for alleged N2.1 billion pension fraud and used APC broom to sweep the $25 billion contracts scam in the NNPC under the carpet is nothing but a government of plunderers and that is the clear definition of Buharis government.





It was in this same government that the minister of health, Isaac Adewole suspended the National Health Insurance Scheme Executive Secretary, Professor Usman Yusuf for alleged corruption and the President recalled him even without the knowledge of the minister.





Up till today, nothing has happened to the probe panel on the alleged N500 million bribery said to have been paid to the Presidents Chief of Staff (COS), Abba Kyari by officials of MTN to influence government to discontinue its heavy stance on the $5 billion fine imposed on the company.




The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has reacted to the proposed plan by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to grant amnesty ...

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has reacted to the proposed plan by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to grant amnesty to members of Boko Haram.

The IPOB said such a move was a confirmation that the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government was in a collaboration with the terrorist group.





It also called on well meaning people to seek the reaction of Chief Nnia Nwodo-led Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the South East governors that proscribed peaceful IPOB on this issue of Boko Haram amnesty, as well as their take on the supposed release without trial of killers of Igbo people at Mubi and Madala, among others.





This was part of a statement yesterday by the groups Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful.





The group wondered if it was not the same insurgents the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed claimed had been defeated.

The statement reads, How come they are negotiating permanent ceasefire with Boko Haram? Are we now to believe that Boko Haram was not defeated in the first place?





It is not a surprise to us that the President Buhari- led APC government is now seeking to acknowledge publicly what they have been doing in secret all along, which is, granting early release and amnesty to confirmed killers and terrorists.





There is something about the mindset of this administration that predisposes it to killers and terrorists.





What this move confirms, even to the most ardent supporters of the government, is that Boko Haram is part and parcel of the present government.





President Buhari appears to have a deep affinity with the tendencies of Boko Haram, the same way he has become beholden to killer herdsmen that are decimating innocent non Muslim populations across the Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria.





Boko Harams well documented atrocities propelled Buhari into office and so, he is reciprocating that very gesture now through this amnesty, in the hope that a comprehensive agreement with the terror group will guarantee him a second term.





As long as politicians from Southern Nigeria and Middle Belt were still divided in their respective approaches to the issue of Nigerias existence, the core north would continue to take advantage of the one Nigeria mindset to perpetuate impunity whilst in government.





The silence of these groups namely, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and South Eastern Governors, who themselves conspired to invite the Nigerian military to commit mass murder in Afaraukwu Umuahia, Ngwa, Aba and Igweocha (Port Harcourt) means they should bury their heads in shame.





The same Hausa- Fulani rulers they were desperately trying to please by proscribing IPOB activities are now the same people setting free ,killers of Igbo people in the north without the courtesy of mere consultation to seek their opinion.





Hausa- Fulani leadership is busy protecting those that killed Igbos in the name of Islam, while Igbo politicians and Ohanaeze Ndigbo are busy helping the same north to kill their own people who are non-violently fighting for their freedom.




Former Minister of Aviation and current senator representing Anambra North Senatorial District, Senator Stella Oduah has said that up till date she has not seen any evidence against her concerning the recently released looters list by the federal government and that the allegation involving the said sum of N9.8 billion is not only untrue but laughable.Oduah further challenged the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to provide evidence linking her with the alleged N9.8 billion, saying: All allegations made against me remain mere media sensations orchestrated for mere political reasons.Oftentimes, I ignore them believing the orchestrators would repent after several failed outings. Mis-using the media and misleading the society through the media at the expense of innocent citizens in order to win a medal is unfortunate and most irresponsible. Governance is not warfare. Calumny is evilI challenge Lai Mohammed to provide evidence linking me with his wild allegations. I have been waiting for that evidence and I am yet to see any.The Federal Government on Sunday released more list of looters in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying that the list of alleged looters which it released earlier was based on verifiable facts, including the amount involved, the date the amount in question was collected and from where it was taken.Some of the looters as listed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, includeLt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika: N4.5 billion. N29m recovered by the EFCC so far.Alex Barde, former Chief of Defence Staff: N8 billion, and EFCC recovered almost N4 billion in cash and property already.Inde Dikko: former CG Customs: N40 billion, and N1.1 billion in cash recovered in cash and choice properties.Air Marshal Adesola Amosun: N21.4 billion. N2.8 billion recovered in cash. 28 properties and 3 vehicles also recovered.Senator Bala Abdulkadir, former FCT Minister: N5 billion. Interim forfeiture order on some property secured.Senator Stella Oduah: N9.8 billion. Interim forfeiture order on some property secured.Former Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu: N1.6 billion  from NSA.Read Stella Oduahs full statementMy attention has been drawn to the illusionary list of looters released by Lai Mohammed in which, by treachery or by happenstance, my name featured.It is worrisome how a serving Minister could condescend so low in what appeared like a childish altercation to start mentioning names of his alleged looters without verified or verifiable facts, in order to win what he considered a quarrel.In deliberately taking on those he considered prominent in the achievements of the past administration, he mentioned my name against an allegation of a whooping sum of N9.8 billion naira. But for the records, I would have simply ignored him since his notoriety in making false and laughable statements has gained prominence in recent times.Record has it that my achievements as the Aviation Minister are unbeatable till date. I did not engage in any financial impropriety as the Minister and the allegation involving the said sum of N9.8 billion is not only untrue but laughable.The said contract awarded by the Ministry of Aviation under my watch was executed and based on the request of the contractors, they were paid their money which they utilized in the manner they did.The records are still with the Ministry. I have no business with the companies that took part in executing that contract and till now, I do not understand how anything went wrong over that contract that was executed.I have never taken any illegal proceeds from the government purse. God had since blessed me tremendously before I joined politics in the quest to serve my country and I remain content and grateful to God.The trend of harassing past office holders with false and malicious allegations to score a political point destroys rather than helps the integrity of the anti-corruption stance of the government and indeed makes holding public office very discouraging.The machines seized/forfeited by the Federal Government over the allegation on the said money are not mine.I challenge Lai Mohammed to provide evidence linking me with his wild allegations. I have been waiting for that evidence and I am yet to see any.All allegations made against me remain mere media sensations orchestrated for mere political reasons. Oftentimes, I ignore them believing the orchestrators would repent after several failed outings. Mis-using the media and misleading the society through the media at the expense of innocent citizens in order to win a medal is unfortunate and most irresponsible. Governance is not warfare. Calumny is evil.May God help our country.
Following the recent attack on Bawan Daji community in Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State where some lives were lost, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, directed that Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Special Forces be deployed to Gusau, as part of efforts to stop the incessant banditry attacks.This was made known to newsmen through the statement issued by the director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal, Olatokunbo Adesanya.Accordingly, the NAF Special Forces, who were trained in asymmetric warfare, were airlifted from Kaduna with the NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft to complement the efforts of other security forces on ground to prevent further attack on innocent citizens.The personnel and other supporting staff would operate from the recently established 207 Quick Response Group in Gusau, where they would reinforce the existing Regiment personnel in the Unit in support of the ongoing Operation SHARAN DAJI in the State.In his address to the troops at Gusau shortly before their deployment earlier today, 3 April 2018, the Air Officer Commanding Special Operations Command, Air Vice Marshal Ismaila Kaita, announced that the Special Forces would be further deployed to remote areas of Zamfara State, where they would be engaged in Internal Security operations.He therefore further urged them to effectively utilize their experience and training to protect the lives and properties of the people of Zamfara State. He added that the NAF leadership expects the Special Forces to exhibit the highest standards of professionalism and respect for human rights in discharging their duties.In recent times, the NAF has taken additional measures to enhance its contributions to tackling Internal Security challenges in the country, in fulfilment of its constitutional responsibility. In addition to earlier established Quick Response Groups and Wings and the deployment of NAF Special Forces to various states, the NAF recently established Quick Response Wings at Agatu, Doma and Nguroje in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States respectively to bring security closer to those in the relatively remote areas. Arrangements are also ongoing to establish a new Quick Response Group in Jalingo, Taraba State to superintend the activities of the 3 new Quick Response Wings.
A Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, yesterday backed calls by former Minister...

A Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, yesterday backed calls by former Minister of Defence, Lieutenant General Theophilus Danjuma (Rtd) that Nigerians should defend themselves against the unending violence in some parts of the country.





Shehu, who appeared as a guest on Channels Televisions political programme, Sunday Politics, however, warned that it must be within the ambit of the law.





There is absolutely nothing wrong with you defending yourself in line with the law, he said.





The security services in the country will probably not be telling Nigerians to do nothing when they come and attack,





Recall that a day earlier, the Buhari-led government had appealed to prominent Nigerians, who have national influence, to watch what they say.





Meanwhile, on the reaction of the President to the Former Defence Ministers outburst, Shehu said he believed that President Buhari was taking the pleas made by Nigerians seriously in dealing with the issues raised.





This is a listening government and the reaction then was of silence to say to them that we have heard you.





We will listen to the useful advice you have given us. We will take what we can use from what you have said, he noted.





The Presidential aide, however, exonerated the military of condoning attacks that have led to bloodshed in the land.





He was of the view that members of the Armed forces were there to defend citizens of the country even to their own detriment.





Recall also that Danjuma had on March 24 accused the military of complicity in the killings within Taraba, Benue and other riverine states in the country.





According to Danjuma, during a convocation ceremony of Taraba State University, The peace in this state is under assault. There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in this state and, of course, in all the riverine state of Nigeria. We must resist it. We must stop it. Every one of us must rise up,




President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Nigeria for London, on Monday, April 9, to commence his annual leave, a Presidency source has confirmed.According to the source, the President is leaving early to enable him rest before participating in the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2018, to be held at the Buckingham Palace, St Jamess Palace, and Windsor Castle.The meeting is scheduled for April 16  April 20. Nigeria is one of the countries that make up the Commonwealth, a diverse community of 53 nations that work together to promote prosperity, democracy and peace.Recall that President Buhari had, in 2017, spent 154 days in London undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment.He had also spent two months in the UK receiving treatment.President Buhari who left the country on May 7, after receiving the last batch of Chibok girls released by terrorist sect, Boko Haram, returned to the country on August 19, 2017.
Russia has registered seven ceasefire violations in Syria, while Turkey has recorded two truce breaches over the past 24 hours, the Russia...

Russia has registered seven ceasefire violations in Syria, while Turkey has recorded two truce breaches over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

Over the last 24 hours, the Russian side of the Russia-Turkey Commission on violations of the Joint Agreement has registered seven cases of firing in the provinces of Latakia (5) and Damascus (2).





The Turkish side has registered two cases of ceasefire violations in the province of Daraa, the ministry said in its daily bulletin.





According to the bulletin, the situation in the de-escalation zones is assessed as stable.





The Russian Center for Syrian reconciliation has held no humanitarian actions over the past 24 hours.





However, military medics have helped 88 citizens, bringing the total number of those who have received medical assistance to 75,773.





A ceasefire agreement has been signed over the past 24 hours, with the settlement of Khabashiyah in Aleppo province, joining cessation of hostilities.





The total number of settlements, thereby, has increased to 2,495.





The number of armed formations that have pledged to observe the ceasefire regime remains the same 234.





Russia, alongside Iran and Turkey, is a guarantor of the ceasefire regime in Syria.




President Xi Jinping pitches in at a tree planting activity in Beijing's Tongzhou district on Monday. He said such efforts will greatly benefit future generations. XIE HUANCHI / XINHUA

Quantity, quality should be ensured, general secretary says as he joins effort

Both quantity and quality should be ensured as China unfolds its effort to make the homeland greener, President Xi Jinping said on Monday as he took part in a voluntary tree planting event in Beijing.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has called on top officials at different levels to lead public efforts in planting trees voluntarily and cherishing the natural environment as much as their lives.

China has set the goal of increasing areas covered by forest to average world levels around the middle of this century.

The homeland greening effort also aims to increase its percentage of forest cover to about 23 percent in 2020 and 26 percent in 2035.

As he shoveled soil alongside residents of Beijing's Tongzhou district, Xi said planting trees is one of the nation's great traditions.

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, walks with pupils after a voluntary tree planting activity in the eastern suburbs of Beijing, April 2, 2018. Other Chinese leaders including Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, Han Zheng and Wang Qishan also attended the event. [Photo/Xinhua]

The event on Monday helps fulfill a duty and is also a tangible move that helps shape a beautiful China, boosts ecological civilization and improves public well-being, Xi said.

The country's homeland greening effort should be based on a scientific approach and led by organized plantings and should be in accord with local conditions, Xi said.

He has called on lasting efforts to make sure the planned missions are completed, and to improve the quality and stability of the country's ecological system.

Effort should be made to beautify the environment and ensure the public's comfort with the environment, Xi added.

The greening project should be implemented on a solid basis, and the forms of voluntary plantings should be further diversified, Xi said, adding that the efforts made by this generation will benefit generations to come.
Legendary Reggae musician, Majek Fashek, has expressed support for the senator representing Kogi-West in the Senate, Dino Melaye.Fashek, in an Instagram post, assured Melaye of his support and prayers in the midst of his numerous challenges and battles.The reggae musician who was at Dino Melayes last Pirates of the Caribbean-themed birthday party, prayed that fire should burn all of the senators enemies.He wrote, Message from legendary prophet Majek Fashek to distinguish (sic) senator Dino Melaye, man of the people, we are praying for you, we stand with you and by you, no one can touch the anointed of God.No weapon fashioned against you shall prosper, fire go burn all your enemies Down in Jesus NameThe Kogi-West Senator was recently declared wanted by the Nigerian Police after some thugs alleged that he supplied them firearms.The allegation came on the heels of attempts by Melayes constituency to recall him, among other issues.
A group, the Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association, YYSA, has called out the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Adewale Akanbi, condemning his alleged ad...

A group, the Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association, YYSA, has called out the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Adewale Akanbi, condemning his alleged adoption of the title of an Emir. They also knocked the monarch for wearing a turban instead of the Yoruba traditional cap or the crown.

National Coordinator of YYSA, Olalekan Hammed told the Punch on Sunday that the Oluwos action could precipitate crisis in the future if not checked now.





The Oluwo has been dressing like an emir and wearing turban occasionally.





On Saturday, he was seen in turban when he installed Yakub Abdul-Baqi Mohammed as the Waziri of Yorubaland at his palace in Iwo.





Oba Akanbi made the installation despite warning from the League of Imams and Alfas in South-West, Edo and Delta states that he had no such right to confer an Islamic title which cut across the entire South-West on anybody.





Reacting, the YYSA leader said, If there is animosity among the Obas, he should work towards resolving it; he cannot just take the title of an Emir. What he is doing now is contrary to the tradition and history of the throne he occupies. Oluwo is not an Islamic title, it is a cultural title.

Hide quoted text





We have had a Christian as the Oluwo in the past (from 1958 to 1982 ). What if another Christian becomes Oluwo in the future?





Will he be allowed to change the title to that of evangelist or what or will he be referred to as an Emir of Iwo? It is not proper.





Even the Oluwo is not in the position to install anybody the Waziri of Yorubaland because it is an Islamic title. The League of Imams has that power.





As the Oluwo of Iwo land, he his restricted to Iwo land. Obas are custodians of culture and traditions and Oluwo should behave like one.




Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop giving Nigerians excuses, adding that the attitude...

The former President advised Buhari to buckle down, saying he was presently a failure.He spoke at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, while playing host to the New Nigeria 2019 Group, led by the convener, Chima Anyaso, in company with Moses Siasia.As he did in the open letter he wrote about three months ago to the President, Obasanjo accused Buhari and the All Progressives Congress of bringing hardship on Nigerians and running ineffective economic policies which had crippled businesses.He noted that it was uncharitable for the President and his party to continue to whine about challenges almost three years in office, while they had failed to solve the challenges.As I said, stop giving excuses; we met challenges. If there are no challenges, then we wouldnt need you to come. You come in because you know there are challenges and then giving us an excuse that you have many challenges; that is why you havent achieved results.Obasanjo warned Nigerians not to re-elect a failed government who always gave one excuse or another for its failure to meet up with Nigerians expectations.He said it would be foolhardy for Nigerians to reinforce failure by re-electing an ineffective and incompetent government in 2019.And then you still want to go. The first lesson I learnt in my military training is never reinforce failure. What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure. Let failure be failure, he added.The former President also criticized the Peoples Democratic Party, urging Nigerians not to be deceived by its apology, arguing that neither the PDP nor the APC could get Nigeria out of its economic mess.He said all hands must be on deck to mobilise the grassroots and enthrone the kind of government that would take the country to its promised land.He said, The truth is this: When you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims. And dont let anybody deceive you. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you dont like because it is only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like.But this time, for us to make it, we need all hands on deck. You see, I have publicly said and I mean it that as a party, neither PDP nor APC can get us there never mind about reforms and apology and all that.Obasanjo advised the group not to take anything for granted, as there was work to be done. He urged his visitors to be wary of power mongers who might want to divide them using religion, and tribe among others.He said, I am happy to meet with you, but dont take anything for granted. There will be a lot of work that we have to do. What those I call power addicts would want to do is to divide you based on gender, age, tribe, religion and region.You have one commonality  interest of Nigeria. And it doesnt matter where you come from.Obasanjo said he believed in a grass-roots movement, adding that Nigeria had never really had any political party with grass-roots flavour.He said, I asked one of the foundation members of the PDP; the PDP when we started, was it a grass-roots party? He said it was an elitist party.Really, we have never had a grass-roots party. Even NEPU (Northern Elements Progressive Union) which we could say is the nearest was not grass roots enough.And I believe strongly that we must have a strong popular grass-roots movement to bring about the change, sustainability and stability that we need in our democracy and development.He told the New Nigeria 2019 Group, backed by Nigerian Young Professionals Forum, to look closely at the existing political parties, especially APC and PDP as some members still had integrity and could still assist the movement to succeed.Obasanjo also urged them to work with other movements in actualising their goals, not leaving out his Coalition for Nigeria Movement.He said, But let us bring together all these movements because we are pursuing the same thing. If we allow ourselves to be taken piecemeal, it is finished. Yes, I said you cannot take the PDP as it is and APC as it is; but they are not all made of evil people.There are good people. I said the PDP is leprous hand, APC is leprous hand, but there are some clean fingers in them. So, let us take those clean fingers in them and graft the clean fingers onto our own.That is the way to go and if we go that way, we will get there, we will move together and we will move fast and we will move far.We wont take issue with Obasanjo  PresidencyThe Presidency on Monday said President Muhammadu Buhari would not take issue with former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his comment.The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said this in an interview monitored on Channels Television.Adesina said Buhari would not engage Obasanjo who was his senior in the military.The presidential spokesman, however, said since Obasanjo did not say anything different from what was contained in a letter he released on the administration recently, the response provided by the Federal Government then was still relevant.He said, President Muhammadu Buhari will not take issue with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. One, President Obasanjo was his superior in the military.President Buhari was made a minister under him during the military regime. So, President Buhari will never take issue with him.Two, what President Obasanjo has just said is not different from what he said in his letter of January 23; and adequate response was given to that letter by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.So, the response the minister gave to that letter suffices to whatever President Obasanjo has just said.When contacted on the telephone, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, also said he would not make a comment on the matter.Buharis integrity no longer sellable, says FayoseThe Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said Buhari is presiding over the most corrupt government in the history of Nigeria and protecting looters of the countrys commonwealth.He said Nigerians had seen through his deceit and would no longer buy the fake image of integrity they were trying to sell.Citing the Transparency Internationals Corruption Perceptions Index, which indicated that corruption had become more endemic in Nigeria than it was in the last 16 years, Fayose said any honourable government would have stopped using its fight against corruption as its major achievement.He stated that the released names of people that were still on trial as looters was a cover-up for the governments failure.He argued that the first list of alleged looters released by the government was politically motivated while the second one was an afterthought that was done to cover the shame of the government because Nigerians questioned the first list.Fayose, in a statement on Monday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, reiterated that Nigerians were more interested in their welfare, security of their lives and physical development of the country than tales of concocted lists of corrupt Nigerians, who were only corrupt in the estimation of the government because they did not belong to the ruling All Progressives Congress.He said, The Peoples Democratic Party never pretended to Nigerians that it had corrupt people in its fold and the party never protected them. Today, the party has gone ahead to offload the corrupt elements to the APC and they were not only accepted gladly into the party, they were given prominent appointments by the President.For any list of alleged looters to be credible, the President, who is protecting looters, should be number one while those looters in his government should follow.His nomination form was bought with proceeds of corruption and those who bought the form and financed his election were paid back with the return of all their seized property, ministerial appointments and even disappearance of prosecution witnesses in the EFCC cases.According to Fayose, a government that reinstated and promoted a former chairman of Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform, Abdullahi Maina, who was declared wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation and dismissed in 2013 for alleged N2.1bn pension fraud and used the APC broom to sweep the $25bn contracts scam in the NNPC under the carpet is nothing but a government of plunderers and that is the clear definition of Buharis government.He added, It was in this same government that the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, suspended the National Health Insurance Scheme Executive Secretary, Professor Usman Yusuf, for alleged corruption and the President recalled him even without the knowledge of the Minister.Up till today, nothing has happened to the probe panel on the alleged N500m bribery said to have been paid to the Presidents Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, by officials of the MTN to influence government to discontinue its hard stance on the $5bn fine imposed on the company.Therefore, no matter how hard they try now, they can no longer hoodwink Nigerians with their deceit of fight against corruption.Even an APC Senator, Shehu Sani, once said that the President used insecticide to fight corruption involving his perceived political opponents, but used deodorant when it affected his own men.Video Credits - Channels TV
A man pulled over an alleged traffic violation in March 2017 is attempting to sue the New Jersey State Police and three troopers after he says he was "violated so many times" during a search of his genital area along the side of the road.

The up-close-and-personal body search came as two troopers were attempting to locate marijuana on a driver who, they claimed, smelled like pot, according to court papers and body camera video footage obtained.

The driver, who said he was passing through Southampton Township in Burlington County on his way to work, was stopped by Trooper Joseph Drew for trailing the vehicle in front of him too closely.

The March 8, 2017, incident was described in detail in a notice of claim under the Tort Claims Act filed on Jan. 22. The claim, however, was filed after the 90-day statute of limitations, likely making it too late for the motorist to sue a government body in state Superior Court. He can still file a civil rights lawsuit in federal court.

The search was captured on a trooper's body-worn camera, which was recently obtained and posted online Monday by John Paff, a government records watchdog. Paff was alerted to it after the driver's attorney, Arthur Lang, filed the notice of claim on Jan. 22.

The motorist is named in the court papers, but NJ Advance Media is withholding his identification because he wasn't charged with a crime and his citation was dropped.

The driver's face was blurred in the video footage by the State Police before it was given to Paff.

Lang, the attorney, said he wasn't prepared to discuss the case and declined to comment.

The bizarre traffic stop started, the court documents say, after the trooper asked the driver, "Do you have a medical marijuana card?"

"No why?" the motorist responded, according to the notice.

The driver says he was then pulled out of his vehicle, handcuffed, and placed in the back of a police cruiser. A passenger in the car was also cuffed and placed in the police vehicle.

"Trooper Drew was asking me to give him the marijuana or whatever he thought I had to make everything easier," the notice states. "I told Trooper Drew several times that I had no drugs and I did not know what he was talking about."

Drew searched the car but didn't find anything, the notice claims.

He then searched the driver's waistband.

"Try not to rape me, alright," the driver can be heard saying in the video.

Drew responds, "We don't do that."

Still, nothing was found.

That's when the latex gloves came out.

Drew took the driver to the front of his police cruiser after the driver requested the search be done in the view of the dashboard camera. The trooper then searched his genital area, the video shows.

The driver can be heard shouting as the trooper searches him.

"You better hope this is legal," he screams. "Did you find it? Did you find it? Yo, you guys are really ridiculous."

A second trooper, Andrew Whitmore, was also present at the scene. The footage obtained by Paff through a public records request is from Whitmore's body-worn camera. Whitmore is also named in the tort notice. The third trooper the driver is attempting to sue is unnamed.

The trooper eventually takes the handcuffs off the driver and walks him back to his vehicle. The same is done with the passenger.

Whitmore can be seen searching the back of the police cruiser to make sure nothing was dropped in the car.

He can be heard saying to Drew, "Either he had some strong a** weed just a minute ago before you stopped him or ..."

Whitmore's hand can be seen raising in the corner of the video as if he was shrugging his shoulders.

Drew wrote the driver a ticket for tailgating but it was dismissed in municipal court, according to an attorney who represented the driver in that court, John Sanders.

The driver writes in his tort claim that Drew, the trooper, requested the ticket be dismissed.

The driver says he met with members of the State Police's Internal Affairs Unit on Jan. 21.

A State Police spokesman, Sgt. Jeff Flynn, confirmed an internal investigation into the incident is ongoing. The troopers remain on active duty, Flynn said.

He declined to comment on whether the troopers complied with State Police policy, citing the ongoing investigation.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to include information from a State Police spokesman. It also clarified that the video footage was given to Paff with the driver's face blurred.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Getting scammed is awful.

Some victims blame themselves. Others are embarrassed they fell for a con artist.

And then there's the money.

Trying to get it back can seem impossible. You have to jump through hoops as you work with law enforcement and the courts, and there's never any guarantee of success.

The process takes time. Lots and lots of time.

You have to be persistent. And patient.

We're happy to report there's justice on the way for Patty Ruby and Howard Himpele, two scam victims profiled in a Bamboozled column in 2015.

The couple hired Nick Stevens to help them get an invention to market in 2010. Stevens initially worked for InventHelp -- a legit company -- but he soon left and took the couple with him as clients for his new business.

Ruby and Himpele said Stevens wasn't what he claimed to be.

The couple said they realized Stevens offered more promises, excuses and delays than actual progress.

They filed a civil suit against Stevens in 2014. Stevens didn't show up, so the couple won a default judgment of $8,000 plus court fees.

Even with the help of the court, Ruby and Himpele were unable to collect.

When we looked into Stevens, we learned this couple wasn't the only one with a judgment against him.

Albert Sutowski, then 86, told us he had a 2013 judgment against Stevens. He said Stevens also promised to work with him on an invention.

Despite the judgment, Sutowski hadn't been paid back, he says.

Stevens also had a 2009 bankruptcy and four federal tax liens adding up to $199,399, public records showed. One of the liens, for $29,827.40, was paid in July 2015, records show. The other three are still outstanding.

"My next thing will be to file criminal charges against him. You call it what you want. To me, it's theft by deception," Ruby said.

THE CASES

As Ruby threatened, criminal charges came next.

Stevens was indicted on four counts of third degree theft by deception in 2015 in Union County Superior Court, officials said.

Ruby said the other complainants came forward after reading Ruby's story in Bamboozled.

Stevens didn't show for several court hearings, officials said. There was an open warrant for Stevens' arrest, and he was an "active fugitive" for more than two years, according to assistant prosecutor John Esmerado.

Esmerado said police caught up with Stevens in January 2018. He was arrested and spent seven days in jail awaiting his day in court, Esmerado said.

Stevens' attorney asked for pre-trial intervention (PTI), which would have helped Stevens avoid jail time.

The request was denied, Esmerado said.

But after a negotiated plea deal in February, no time behind bars is expected.

Stevens agreed to plead guilty to two counts of third degree theft by deception, Esmerado said.

Part of the deal was to pay restitution of more than $15,000.

Stevens told the court he had few assets, so he was put on a payment plan.

The judge ordered Stevens to pay $250 per month for five years, and the payments would be split among the victims. When one victim is paid off, the $250 per month would be split among the remaining victims until they are all made whole.

But the victims question Stevens' financial status. Public records show he sold a Lavallette home, assessed at nearly $850,000, to his wife for $1 in 2009. It was later sold to their daughter for $1 in 2014, records show. Another home in Springfield owned by Stevens was lost to foreclosure, records show.

Still, the court approved the payment plan.

Albert Sutowski, now 89, wasn't part of the deal because his experience with Stevens took place in a different county.

"I put my trust in somebody and they do this to me? I can't understand it. He should be punished," he said. "I had suits, but [Nick Stevens] never showed up. He thumbed his nose at the court."

Stevens' sentencing date is April 27.

We tried to reach Stevens, but the numbers were out of order. We also contacted Stevens' attorney, Jason Seidman.

Seidman didn't respond to our phone and email messages.

Ruby said she and Himpele are still angry, and they, citing the $1 property sales, believe Stevens has more money than he's telling the court.

"We feel he should give us the money all at one time," Ruby said, rather than the $62.50 per month they will receive for five years. "It didn't take us five years to give him our money."

We'll keep an eye on the case.

Research Editor Vinessa Erminio contributed to this report.

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Jason Ravitz still longs for the heydays of the Echelon Mall.

"I grew up in Cherry Hill and we used to hang out there," Ravitz said. "We used to go to movies there. We used to roam the food court. It's sad what's going on now. I've seen it as a kid, a teenager and after college I lived right by there. We deserve better than what it is now."

What it is now is a nearly 51-acre property, the largest tract of land in Voorhees, Camden County, that local officials are considering condemning and naming a redevelopment zone.

It won't be the first attempt to revitalize the 48-year-old indoor mall -- now called the Voorhees Town Center -- that has long suffered because of its landlocked location and nearby competitors.

A decade ago, the mall's former owner -- PREIT, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust -- embarked on $150 million project to create a town center from scratch, bringing street-level retail to a new Main Street-type boulevard, as well as condos and apartments above and around it.

But the glory days that Ravitz pines for never fully returned. Today, four of the five anchor stores the mall had in its prime have shuttered and gone dark and the mall's occupancy is at 50 percent.

Luckily -- as a member of the township planning board, and an elected member of the township committee -- he's in a position to do something about it.

He and the other members of the planning board unanimously agreed last week to forward a study detailing the need to redevelop and condemn the property to the township committee.

The Country Scents store, bookended by two vacant stores in the Voorhees Town Center mall a year ago, offered sales as it prepares to close. The mall's vacancy rate is still at 50 percent and rising.

An absentee landlord

PREIT, which bought the property in 2003 and broke ground on the transformation in 2007, sold the property two years ago to a northern New York state real estate group called Namdar for $13.4, a township official said.

Things took a turn for the worse again in 2017 when Macy's closed it store after nearly two years of rumors it was on the way out.

"Namdar came in with guns blazing, saying they would work with the township to invest in the town center and attract new businesses and unfortunately they have not followed through on their promises," Voorhees Mayor Michael Mignogna said. "They have sat back and watched tenants leave and invested little if any into having the town center thrive."

A request for comment from Namdar was not immediately returned.

"We couldn't seem to get their attention," said Mario DiNatale, the township's director of community and business development and a member of the planning board. "They bought 30 malls over the last couple of years, half from PREIT, the previous owner of our mall. So we're stuck with an absentee landlord and they weren't giving our mall the attention it needed.

The town center is the township's largest taxpayer, forking over $900,000 a year, Mignogna said. He said Voorhees has been able to redevelop it largely with investments from PREIT. He and other township officials said a bond to pay for the construction of the new municipal building at the town center was largely paid by increased tax revenue from business and residents who moved in during the first phase of redevelopment in 2007.

The first phase included mixed-use, professional offices, shops and restaurants on a newly-created boulevard leading to the remaining mall.

Ravatz has a term for what happened on the largest tract of land in the township: "De-malling."

"There just isn't a need for these malls in every town in New Jersey now," said Ravitz, who is an executive in his family's business, which owns five ShopRite supermarkets and a PriceRite discount store. "The stores that were in the mall were exclusive mall retailers. A lot of them are gone and no longer exist. Things change and evolve."

De-malling to move forward

De-malling is a trend that has developed over nearly two decades to reconstruct the retail center model from an indoor shopping experience to open-air, preferable with parking near stand-alone stores. The open-air experience is just what's featured in one of South Jersey's newest retail centers, Gloucester Premium Outlets in Gloucester Township which opened in 2015.

Another advantage Gloucester Premium Outlets has over Voorhees Town Center is its location on a major state highway just 8 miles away. It's located on Route 42, the busy North-South freeway, which leads to shore points to the east and Philadelphia west.

The former Echelon Mall is landlocked near the intersection of Somerdale and Burnt Mill roads, no where near the size of the six-lane, divided highway on Route 42 and does not have easy access to interstate highways.

It also has a lot of competition. Just 6.5 miles to the southwest is the Deptford Mall and less than 12 miles to the north is the Cherry Hill Mall.

Ravitz and the other four commissioners must now decide if they endorse the report, which lays out the reasons why the area is in immediate need of redevelopment and should be condemned.

"The online shopping revolution is driving the retail brick & mortar business model literally into the ground and the entire concept of a department store is becoming more obsolete every year," professional developer Peter Van Den Kooy said in the report. "This situation cannot be reversed and places the Voorhees Town Center at a disadvantage, because the probability of a business reusing the subject property as it currently stands, is very low."

The township will have to take the property away from Namdar if it adopts the report's recommendation to condemn the struggling section of the town center and acquire it through eminent domain. The action allows governments to take control of property deemed as neglected or a public safety hazard.

"Towns hate condemnation, hate eminent domain, but we really needed something to get their attention," DiNatale said. "We can't allow it to continue to deteriorate. Just another four stores closed [last] week."

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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A 41-year-old East Orange man was gunned down Monday night while trying to deliver Chinese food in a slaying now under investigation by the county's homicide task force.

In a joint statement, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office and East Orange Police Department said Karamoko Fatiga was fatally shot around 8:57 p.m. in the 100 block of Shepherd Avenue while trying to make a delivery.

The prosecutor's office said no arrests have been made in his killing, which is still under investigation.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether Fatiga's shooting was related to the attempted food delivery.

Authorities have asked anyone with information about Fatiga's death to call the Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force tips line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty.

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State law requires all New Jersey school children to get a battery of vaccinations when they reach a certain age. But parents are allowed to opt-out if they write a letter simply stating "immunization interferes with the free exercise" of their family's religious rights.

This loophole is too big and the risk to children's health is too high, says physician and state Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington.

The Assembly Health Committee he chairs is expected to vote on his bill Thursday that would make parents explain specifically how vaccinations violate theirs family's religious beliefs.

The objections could not be based "solely on political, sociological, philosophical or moral views, or concerns about the safety or efficacy of the vaccination," according to the legislation.

Conaway said his district office phone is already ringing at a steady clip with parents' objections. Opponents -- many of who have openly expressed their fear over the safety of vaccines -- have killed the legislation since it was first introduced in the 2012-13 session, when Gov. Chris Christie was governor.

"We've walked over the coals before and the phone lines are ringing," Conaway said. "This is the process and people have a right to voice their opinion. We will hear them and take our time."

The full Senate passed the bill in 2012 but it never advanced beyond committee approval in the Assembly. The bill died in committee in the two sessions that followed.

Although he hasn't approached Gov. Phil Murphy's staff to promote the bill, Conaway said he is optimistic the legislation will pass. "I have been assured he does believe science ought to guide decisions involving health care," he said.

Public health experts say vaccines are one of the greatest success stories in American history -- so much so that most parents have never seen a child with measles, mumps, polio and the other diseases that were rampant generations ago.

Opponents argue that children suffers side effects but few ever hear about it because drugmakers are protected from lawsuits and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program compensates families.

Sue Collins, co-founder for the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination, which has fought the legislation for years, said she and other parents are dismayed by how quickly and quietly the Health Committee is moving on the bill. The legislation, (A3818) will be introduced and voted on Thursday, which is unusual.

"What's really concerning and troubling is the bill was added Thursday at 5 o'clock, leading into a religious holiday weekend, and backing up to spring break. Many families this would effect are not even here," Collins said. "Ethically and morally, it seems very clear this is designed to cut the public out of the process."

The bill, itself, is vague, Collins said. "Who is deciding whether the people's beliefs are valid but somebody else's beliefs may not be?"

In the 2016-17 academic year, 10,407 children cited religion as a reason not to get legally required immunizations.

This comprised just 2 percent of the 525,517, student population enrolled in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, sixth grade and transfer students, according to the state Department of Education. But the number of students seeking religious exemptions has risen dramatically, with 1,641 students getting a pass in the 2005-06 academic year.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
In the wake of the brutal fatal beating of a man on a Guttenberg street last week, the town's mayor is promising to increase police foot and a bicycle patrols.

Two teen boys, 14 and 15, have been charged with aggravated assault in the vicious attack on Sebastian Aguilar, 36, on 70th Street between Broadway and Hudson Avenue on March 28. A source with knowledge of the beating said Aguilar was set upon by six to eight people in an apparent random attack.

The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office will only say the heinous act was committed by "multiple assailants" and that more arrests are expected.

Authorities said that Aguilar had been left for dead in the street and was in distress when police responded at 10:15 p.m. Aguilar was taken to Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, where he died from his injuries at 7:40 the following morning.

"I want all residents to rest assured that our police department is doing everything it can to keep our streets safe and that there is no need for alarm," Zitt said in a statement.

Besides the increased police presence, Zitt said the town will utilize security cameras and work with law enforcement agencies in neighboring communities to ensure public safety.

"We are also in the process of adding more police officers to our department in order to keep up with the population growth in our town," said Zitt.

According the latest U.S. Census figure's Guttenberg has 11,618 residents, up by roughly 500 from the 2010 Census.

"I want to be very clear to all residents that there is nothing more important to me as mayor than keeping Guttenberg safe, and I promise that we will do everything in our power to make sure that is the case," Zitt said.

Charges against the two teens could be upgraded when the prosecutor's office analyzes the results of the autopsy. The teens could also be charged as adults and face a criminal trial instead of moving forward in family court.
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla has suspended an effort to acquire the Union Dry Dock through eminent domain in hopes that Gov. Phil Murphy will table NJ Transit's dueling plan to purchase the land and turn it into a ferry maintenance facility.

In a statement issued this morning, Bhalla said he is complying with Murphy's request that Hoboken not proceed with obtaining the 3-acre waterfront property through eminent domain, which would see the city condemn the site and mark it for redevelopment.

In return, Bhalla called on Murphy to cancel a special NJ Transit Board of Directors Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, during which the body is expected to vote on whether to purchase the land.

Currently owned by New York Waterway, the parcel is located along Frank Sinatra Drive between Maxwell Place Park and the Castle Point Skate Park. Under NJ Transit ownership, it would be exempt from eminent domain and be leased back to the ferry operator, who would use it as a maintenance facility.

"This decision is in direct response to a proposal Governor Murphy made directly to me last week: suspend or withdraw eminent domain proceedings, and the board meeting will be cancelled so we can all get in a room this week and find a way forward," Bhalla said in a statement.

It remains unclear whether Wednesday's 2 p.m. meeting in Newark will proceed. NJ Transit did not return a call seeking comment. A spokesman for the Democratic governor said, meanwhile, Murphy wants to ensure commuters who rely on the ferries don't lose out under either plan.

"The Governor's Office continues to coordinate with all parties involved to determine an ultimate solution that both respects the voices of the local community and the needs of one of our most vital transportation partners," Murphy spokesman Mahen Gunaratna said in a statement. "The Governor is taking appropriate steps to make sure that commuters are not negatively impacted during efforts to find a long-term solution.

Hoboken spokesman Santiago Melli-Huber said the city is arranging for buses to transport residents to Wednesday's meeting. The state agency delayed the purchase of the property from NY Waterway in January after Bhalla and 100 residents went to an NJ Transit Board of Directors meeting to oppose the plan.

With sights set on completing a network of parks along the Hoboken waterfront, the City Council last month authorized Bhalla to use eminent domain to acquire the Union Dry Dock site. Bhalla then sent a letter to NY Waterway offering to purchase the property for $11.63 million, adding that if a sale could not be negotiated the city would commence condemnation proceedings and seize the land through eminent domain. Bhalla ended the letter by requesting a response within 14 days.

Today, he extended New York Waterway's 14-day deadline to respond by 45 days.

In a March 31 letter to Bhalla, NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin S. Corbett said the agency's board of directors would hold a special meeting Wednesday and vote to purchase the property from NY Waterway. The ferry operator has a similar maintenance facility on land it leases in Weehawken, but needs a new location after the landowner told the company to "cease such activities" at the site by June 1.

"By purchasing this property, NJ Transit will obtain ownership of the land and gain significant control over the scope and manner of NYWW's operations at the site, while ensuring that the most critical ferry maintenance activities are not significantly disrupted," Corbett wrote in his letter to Bhalla.

The controversy unfolds as NJ Transit studies whether Bayonne's former Military Ocean Terminal is a suitable site for the maintenance facility, Corbett said.

New York Waterway purchased the property from Union Dry Dock for $11.5 in November.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, called the NJ Transit proposal a "dirty deal" and is calling for residents to attend Wednesday's meeting and speak in opposition of the plan.

"This is a heavy industrial use that will increase air pollution and noise from diesel engines. The project would also interfere with the Hudson River walkway," Tittel said in a statement. "There are alternatives sites for this facility that make more sense. This area is tidal land that belongs to all of us. The City of Hoboken upholding that by keeping it as open space."
Local governments and enterprises should take effective measures to deleverage as soon as possible, and a mechanism to coordinate central and local financial regulatory work needs to be established, President Xi Jinping said on Monday.

Forestalling and defusing financial risks, as one of the "three tough battles", is key to ensuring national security, overall development and property safety, and also carries a lot of weight in achieving high-quality growth, said Xi, as he presided over the first meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged local governments and enterprises, especially State-owned ones, to achieve a quick deleveraging process, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

The overall macro debt level, in the meantime, should be stabilized and reduced gradually, the statement said.

Diversified and specific measures can be launched and put into practice, depending on different risk situations in different sectors and markets, and "the top priority is to solve problems that could threaten economic and social stability and may trigger systemic risks", the statement said.

The meeting also stressed the important role of the Cabinet-level financial stability and development committee, which was established in November.

A central and local-level financial regulatory mechanism needs to be established soon, highlighting local governments' responsibility for forestalling and defusing risks, the statement said.

China is able to forestall financial risks, Yi Gang, the central bank governor, said last week. Yi also stressed the importance of maintaining a prudent and neutral monetary policy, as well as stabilizing the whole financial sector, his key tasks for this year.

The first meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs also studied key measures in targeted poverty alleviation and environmental protection, and reviewed the working rules of the newly established committee.
The security chief for the federally funded North Bergen Housing Authority has been fired, three weeks after it was reported that he spent only a handful of hours there a week.

Geoff Santini, who also owns an animal control company that has a number of municipal contracts, was terminated from the $81,000-a-year position on March 28, North Bergen spokesman Phil Swibinski confirmed. Santini's firing was first reported by HudsonCountyView.com.

"After consulting with the special counsel investigating this matter, North Bergen Housing Authority Executive Director Gerald Sanzari terminated (Santini's) employment," Swibinski said, noting that the housing authority's investigation into the matter is ongoing.

Santini could not be reached for comment this morning.

The embattled Santini, who recently lost the animal control contract in Garfield and is in danger of losing contracts in West New York and Bayonne, had been suspended with pay in early March.

The suspension came after NBC4 New York reported that it followed Santini for a week and found that he spent most of his time at his West New York animal control business and only a few hours at the housing authority.

Santini also is an aide to Freeholder Chairman Anthony Vainieri and his company, New Jersey Animal Control and Rescue, continues to hold the animal control contract in North Bergen. Swibinski did not comment on the status of those positions.

Swibinski said the "housing authority will also fully cooperate with any inquiries being made by outside agencies," although he would not say if records from the township or the NBHA were subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A West New York spokesman said town records related to Santini's animal control duties have been subpoenaed, Hudson County View reported.

Santini's contract with Bayonne has been renewed on an emergency basis since November, when it expired. The City Council is expected to vote on it's possible renewal on April 18.
Hoboken officials expect NJ Transit will cancel this week's special Board of Directors meeting on the acquisition of the Union Dry Dock, a spokesman for Mayor Ravi Bhalla said today.

The NJ Transit Board of Directors was originally expected to authorize the purchase of the waterfront property and lease it back to New York Waterway for use as ferry maintenance facility. Bhalla issued a statement this morning announcing NJ Transit canceled Wednesday's meeting in Newark, but an NJ Transit spokesman said the meeting has been moved to Thursday.

When asked about this discrepancy, a spokesman for Bhalla said the city now anticipates NJ Transit will formally cancel the meeting once the Hoboken City Council officially votes to end eminent domain proceedings and withdraw the city's offer to purchase the 3-acre parcel along Frank Sinatra Drive.

A resolution and ordinance detailing this action has been added to the Hoboken City Council agenda for Wednesday's 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall.

"We're confident that it will be approved and that NJ Transit and the governor's office will keep to their word and will cancel that meeting," Hoboken spokesman Santiago Melli-Huber said.

Last month, Hoboken offered New York Waterway $11.63 million for the property -- which would be converted into a waterfront park -- and threatened to seize it through eminent domain if a deal could not be reached.

But Bhalla announced Monday morning that he suspended the city's efforts to acquire the site through eminent domain, and asked that Gov. Phil Murphy cancel Wednesday's meeting.

"It is still my goal to provide a contiguous waterfront in Hoboken, and I look forward to working with the Governor's office, New Jersey Transit, and New York Waterway to make this a reality and find a reasonable alternative location for the fueling and maintenance site," Bhalla said in a statement today.

The Union Dry Dock property is located along Frank Sinatra Drive, situated between Maxwell Place Park and the Castle Point Skate Park.

In a March 31 letter to Bhalla announcing NJ Transit's intention to acquire the Union Dry Dock, NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin S. Corbett wrote the agency is also looking into the viability of putting the ferry maintenance facility on Bayonne's former Military Ocean Terminal.

New York Waterway needs a new location for its ferry maintenance facility, after the landowner of its current complex in Weehawken told the company to "cease such activities" at the site by June 1.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect new information.
A town hall forum to discuss the statewide opioid epidemic is coming to Hudson County later this month.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey and the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey are set to bring the "Knock Out Opioid Abuse" town hall series to Saint Peter's University in Jersey City on April 24.

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez is on the panel of speakers for the 11 a.m. event, which will be held in the Mac Mahon Student Center at 47 Glenwood Ave.

"It is crucial for residents to make their voices heard and be a part of the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Town Hall to better understand the disease of addiction and develop strategies to help protect their families from substance use," said Angelo Valente, executive director of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey. "This epidemic affects everyone, and only by coming together can we effectively explore solutions to address the opioid crisis."

The series, which began in 2017 and has been hosted in 13 New Jersey counties, focuses on the link between prescription opioid dependency and heroin use. It examines the causes and possible solutions to the opioid crisis from several perspectives, including law enforcement, the medical community, prevention, recovery and government.

Also on the panel are: Mariel Hufnagel of the Ammon Foundation; Dr. Tucker Woods, senior administrative officer at CarePoint Health Christ Hospital; Rebecca Alfaro, deputy director of the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse; and Assi Amos, director of substance abuse services for the Giant Steps Program.

Opioid overdoses claimed the lives of 127 people in Hudson County in 2016, including 77 from heroin and 32 from fentanyl, according to the New Jersey Office of the State Medical Examiner.

Doors will open at 10 a.m. for registration. The program will be held in collaboration with Saint Peter's University, CarePoint Health, the CarePoint Foundation and the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.
Danny Diaz-Delgado loved playing video games and had his own gaming system.

His little brother - he had 12 siblings - also liked playing them. So for a gift, he started looking online for a used PlayStation 4, or PS4, so they'd each have a way to play them.

The 20-year-old found someone selling a PS4 on Facebook's marketplace, and on Friday evening, March 23, he set out from his Trenton home to meet the seller at a location in the city's East Ward.

He told his family he'd be gone an hour. He never returned.

The next afternoon, a passerby found Diaz-Delgado faced down in an Assunpink Creek embankment in a Hamilton neighborhood that backs up to Route 1. Someone had tied him up with pink duct tape and a black electrical cord and shot him several times.

That person was Rufus Thompson, prosecutors alleged in a detailed probable cause affidavit made public Monday.

Detectives said there never was a PlayStation.

They later found an empty PS4 box in Thompson's Ardmore Avenue residence during a search, the affidavit says. Also in the home was a roll of pink duct tape and a TV with a cut power cord.

Thompson, 29, a convicted burglar, appeared in court Monday for a brief hearing on murder, robbery, kidnapping and related charges. He answered several questions with "Yes."

We love you Danny A. Diaz. This is for the Diaz family and friends <3. Te amamos, Danny A. Diaz. Esto es para la familia Diaz y amigos <3. Posted by Danelly Deleon on Saturday, March 31, 2018

Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri's office will argue an upcoming appearance for Thompson to remain jailed pending trial.

In the affidavit, written by Detective Michael Castaldo, detectives linked Thompson to the crime by examining Diaz-Delgado's online messaging with him. Thompson used the Facebook identity Ru Hunter and later changed it to Ru Real Right.

Detectives found Diaz-Delgado's car near the suspected meeting point for the sale, South Cook and Culberston avenues, about 150 feet from the rear of Thompson's home in the 300 block of Ardmore Avenue.

Diaz-Delgado, who also had plans to buy PS4 games from a separate seller, chatted with Thompson for over an hour the night he disappeared and once went to his bank's ATM and withdrew $240.

Investigators found a picture of about $240 in $20 bills posted on Thompson's Facebook page the night Diaz-Delgado disappeared. Later that night, Diaz-Delgado's bank account was raided at an ATM in Trenton for a combined $700 in cash, the affidavit says.

Detectives pulled images from the three ATM transactions. Diaz-Delgado made the first, and Thompson made the second two.

Diaz-Delgado's loved ones buried him this past Saturday, the day before Easter - a day that he would have attended services like the rest of the Christian faithful.

Friends and parishioners at the Pentecostal Assembly of God Church in Trenton, where he worshipped, have been mourning and praising him as a smart, positive person who was "full of Christ."

Diaz-Delgado was involved in the youth ministry at the church, while he studied engineering at Mercer County Community College.

"All of the time, when he wanted something, he worked so hard for it," Luz Rivera, a longtime neighbor and friend of the family, told NJ Advance Media Monday.

Rivera has always been close with Diaz-Delgado's mother, Olga, and considered Danny one of her own.

"He was always so strong, even when he was going through a lot growing up, he never gave up," she said. "That's the Danny I knew."

1st court appearance for man accused of murder over PlayStation 9 Gallery: 1st court appearance for man accused of murder over PlayStation

The two families celebrated big events, like graduations, together. And on holidays -- like Mother's Day, she remembered -- it was no different.

Diaz-Delgado's family was large; he had 12 siblings and lots of aunts, uncles, nephews and cousins. But his church and school families were even larger.

On Saturday, family and friends from school and church gathered at Pentecostal Assembly of God Church to remember his life.

"I found out just how many people really loved Danny, how strong he was," Rivera said. "He was such a good kid. He loved to help people, he was always smiling and thinking about what he could do for other people."

In a video posted online in his memory, Diaz-Delgado says, "I just pray."

He stands with his arms stretched out like a cross.

"With no thought in mind, with nothing in my mind, I just pray for everybody," he said.

Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
The leader of a Newark-based heroin and cocaine ring with ties to the Latin Kings street gang has pleaded guilty along with three others after state authorities brought down their criminal syndicate last year.

Japhet Lopez, 33, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges on Monday after he was charged as part of "Operation Peddling Misery," a state investigation targeting traffickers of heroin and crack cocaine.

Authorities say his "right-hand man," 22-year-old Kiele Lopez, also pleaded guilty to racketeering charges. Two others -- Carlos Rodriguez, 35, and Luis Diaz, 27 -- previously pleaded guilty to racketeering and distribution of cocaine in a school zone, respectively.

The four were accused of participating in the Latin Kings-affiliated ring that "routinely beat its own members as 'discipline' if they disobeyed gang rules or orders from gang leaders," according to a statement from the state Division of Criminal Justice, which handled the case.

"We're sending the leaders of this gang-run drug ring to prison, where they won't be able to spread addiction in New Jersey with their heroin and cocaine trafficking, or spread gun violence in Newark with their deadly turf battles," state Attorney General Grewal said in a statement announcing the guilty pleas.

More than a dozen people were indicted following the July 2017 takedown, which followed a surveillance operation in which "hundreds" of sales of wax folds containing heroin were recorded, authorities said.

Japhet and Kiele Lopez -- along with Rodriguez and three other men -- were also accused of robbing a rival gang member and holding him captive inside a Newark apartment building where they beat him until he escaped during a gunfight after the man's associates came looking for him, authorities said.

The four men who pleaded guilty face between eight and 15 years in prison apiece. Sentencing is scheduled for May 25.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A New Jersey man was arrested after being pulled over in Tennessee on Easter Sunday and found with 30 pounds of methamphetamine, authorities said.

Ariel Vera-Medina, of Camden, was charged with possession of methamphetamine for resale, the Ninth Judicial District Attorney General said in a statement on Monday.

Deputies from the Loudon County Sheriff's Office stopped Vera-Medina around 10:20 a.m. and searched the vehicle after a police K-9 indicated the presence of drugs, authorities said.

The officers found a bag in the trunk that contained approximately $500,000 in meth, authorities said.

Vera-Medina is being held on $500,000 bail and is due in court April 11.

The bust is the largest in county history, the attorney general's office said.

Loudon County is about 35 miles southwest of Knoxville in the eastern part of the state.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
An off-duty Long Branch police officer admitted Tuesday that he was driving drunk when he fatally struck a woman as she crossed the street in September.

Detective Jake Pascucci acknowledged that he had a blood-alcohol level of .08, the state's legal limit for drivers, when he hit Karen Borkowski, 66, as she crossed Ocean Boulevard at the intersection of Broadway in Long Branch on Sept. 22.

Pascucci pleaded guilty before Judge Lorraine Pullen in Superior Court in Middlesex County to strict liability vehicular homicide and DWI. Prosecutors will drop the reckless and careless driving charges as part of the agreement.

The case was transferred to Middlesex County because Pascucci had worked on an investigation with the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and that office felt it was a conflict of interest, a spokesman for the agency has said.

Long Branch police Officer Jake Pascucci appears in state Superior Court in New Brunswick. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Pascucci was facing a sentence of 3 to 5 years in prison under third-degree strict liability vehicular homicide, a new statute created in July in response to an outcry over light sentences for some drunken drivers who killed people.

Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Keith Abrams will request at Pascucci be sentenced to 364 days in jail. But the agreement allows Pascucci's attorney, Steven Altman, the opportunity to argue for no jail time and just probation.

It also forces Pascucci to hand in his Long Branch Police Department badge and requires him to pay restitution to the victim's family if there is any. Since the incident, Pascucci has been working with the police department in a support capacity and getting paid.

Altman declined to comment after the hearing.

Long Branch police Officer Jake Pascucci, right, and his attorney Steven Altman, left, appear in state Superior Court in New Brunswick. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Around 8:15 p.m. on Sept. 22, Pascucci was driving a 2016 Jeep Cherokee southbound on Ocean Boulevard when he hit Borkowski.

Her husband, Ed Borkowski, told NJ Advance Media after the incident that the two were staying at a nearby hotel for a church conference and his wife was crossing the street to go to the CVS to buy him bandages because he suffers from lymphedema, which causes him to have severe blisters on his legs.

"I want justice," he said. "And, as far as I'm concerned, it's not my will but God's will. We'll find out. He (God) is going to find out how to do it and Karen is probably up there telling him what to do."

Ed Borkowski was not present at Tuesday's court hearing. Other family members of Borkowski were present, but they were not immediately available to comment afterward.

Pascucci told officers at the scene that he had a green light and that Borkowski was jaywalking, according to dashboard camera video from police at the scene, obtained by NJ Advance Media through the state's Open Public Records Act (OPRA).

"She walked right in front of me, jaywalking," he can be heard saying in the video. "I have a green light, going this way, southbound. She walked right out in front of me."

Pascucci is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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It was announced yesterday by the Kremlin that President Donald Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House during a controversial phone call last month.

During the March 20 phone call, Trump congratulated Putin on his re-election victory widely criticized as not free and fair.

Trump said the two also discussed an in-person meeting.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that "a number of potential venues, including the White House," were discussed.

Tensions between the United States and Russia have only escalated in the two weeks since that call, with Trump expelling 60 Russian diplomats the U.S. believes were intelligence agents in response to Russia's alleged use of a nerve agent to poison a former Russian spy in the United Kingdom.

Russia retaliated with a similar move, expelling 60 American diplomats and ordering the closure of the US consulate in St. Petersburg last week.

The Kremlin denies it had anything to do with the nerve-agent attack.

It has been awhile since Putin visited the White House. He was welcomed by President George W. Bush in 2005. But Moscow and the West were on better terms then.

As president, Trump met Putin in July at the Group of 20 summit in Germany and then briefly at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam in November.

But a true bilateral meeting has proved elusive because of political head winds in Washington fanned by the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and into possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Opponents contend that an invite is another example of how Trump has been co-opted by the Kremlin. Proponents say a positive relationship with Putin is a good thing and can help the West fight terrorism.

Others say if Putin comes to the U.S., he will be met with mass protests.

Should Putin be welcomed to the White House given recent tensions?

Vote in our informal and unscientific poll and let us know why in the comments section.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Give this much to Chris Christie, our former governor: The man has a way with words.

On Sunday, working his new gig at ABC News, he weighed in on the delicate question of whether President Trump should agree to speak to Robert Mueller and his crew as part of the Russia investigation.

Trump says he can hardly wait, but most of his supporters dread the day because they know Trump can't get through an afternoon without telling a few lies. And if he pulls that stunt with Mueller, while under oath, he could wind up moving from the White House to the Big House.

So, Christie faced a linguistic challenge: How do you say the president is a pathological liar without blowing your chance for a job on Team Trump? Here's how our Ex answered that challenge.

"He should never walk into that room with Robert Mueller. Because in the end, one of the things that makes the president who he is, is that he's a salesman, and salesmen, at time, tend to be hyperbolic. Right, and this president has certainly tended to do that."

Hyperbole, you see, not a lie. But it gets better.

"That's OK when you're on the campaign hustle. That's OK when you're working on Congress. It's not OK when you're sitting talking to federal agents...That can send you to jail," Christie said.

Christie is essentially saying that it's OK to lie to voters, or to business partners and customers - just not to anyone with the power to make you pay a price. That explains a lot. It is the amoral formulation of an opportunist without scruples.

And for the record, you can't go to jail for hyperbole. It takes a real lie of material importance, as Christie knows.

Trump may take Christie's advice to run and hide, which could provoke a Constitutional crisis. But keep hope alive. Our Narcissist-in-Chief just might be arrogant enough to think he can sweet talk his way around Mueller.

"I would love to do it," Trump said a few weeks ago, "subject to my lawyers and all that."

Imagine the moment. Here are a few questions that just might build a case for impeachment based on obstruction of justice:

-Why did he fire FBI Director James Comey? Was it Comey's refusal to take a loyalty oath? Was it his refusal to shut down the investigation of Michael Flynn, who later pleaded guilty to felony charges? Or was Trump telling the truth in June when he said that it was all about stopping the Russia investigation?

"When I decided to just do it I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,'" Trump told NBC's Lester Holt. "It's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won."

-What does he know about the July 2016 meeting at Trump Tower organized by his son, Donald Jr., with Russians who offered to provide damaging information on Hillary Clinton during the campaign?

The Russians had high-level Kremlin connections. And the meeting was attended by several senior Trump campaign officials, including Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort.

We don't know if they colluded with Russia to weaken Clinton. But we know they tried, and we need to know what Trump knew about it, before or after.

-Has he had any discussions about pardons with those who are subjects of this investigation? That would strip Mueller of the leverage he needs to force their testimony, and legal scholars warn that it could form the basis of an obstruction case.

As for Christie, he may be right that keeping quiet is the best strategy for Trump. It's a pity he didn't discuss what's best for the country.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
WASHINGTON -- Before they can face each other in the general election, both U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and former Celgene Corp. executive Bob Hugin first must overcome opposition from candidates in their own parties.

On the final day for candidates to declare their intention with the state Division of Elections to run in the June 5 primary, community newspaper publisher Lisa McCormick filled to run against Menendez, D-N.J., who is seeking a third six-year term. McCormick announced a campaign for the 2017 Democratic nomination for governor but did not run.

Hugin, meanwhile, drew intraparty opposition from three candidates: Antonio Sabas of Irvington, who ran as an independent in the 2013 special election won by Democrat Cory Booker; Dana Wefer of Wood Ridge; Brian Goldberg of Livingston, who unsuccessfully sought his party's Senate nomination in 2014; and Mac Truong of Jersey City.

The list of candidates could change as some of those filing Monday may not have enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Sabas, for example, submitted petitions with 1,090 names, just 90 more than the minimum needed. Two candidates had even less room for error, Truong with 1,069 signatures and Wefer with 1,026.

Menendez filed 11,286 signatures, Hugin 3,643, McCormick 1,547 and Goldberg 1,464.

"The overwhelming response from voters in all 21 counties shows the breadth and depth of support for Senator Menendez," campaign chairman Michael Soliman said. "Let there be no doubt -- New Jersey's got his back."

Both Menendez and Hugin have the support of all 21 county committees of their respective parties.

"Since I announced my campaign, I've been humbled by the outpouring of support throughout our great state, and I look forward to winning the primary on June 5, Hugin said. "I believe in the people of New Jersey, I believe in this state, and I look forward to representing all New Jerseyans in Washington with honor and integrity."

Menendez is strongly favored to win re-election by the two Washington-based publications that rate congressional races, Inside Elections and the Cook Political Report.

In addition to the Senate races, all 12 House seats will be up for grabs.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
An aerial view of the Zheqiao-Dachuan Highway's Kaole Tunnel section. [Photo/CCTV app]

Six officials were suspended from their posts for investigation after a quality issue was reported in a tunnel on the Zheqiao-Dachuan Highway in Northwest Chinas Gansu province, according to the provincial transportation authority on Sunday.

The 1.57-billion-yuan ($250 million) highway is a poverty relief project for the national-level poverty-stricken Dongxiang county in the Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture. It was put into operation in December 2013.

As reported by CCTV, the Kaole Tunnel on the highway was originally designed to be constructed with two-layer reinforced steel bars, but it was built with only one layer, leaving a severe safety loophole. It had to be reinforced after the problem was discovered and the revamping was planned to be finished by Nov 28.

But the latest investigation reveals that the tunnel was only painted over by coating instead of being reinforced with steel bars.

After the CCTV report, the Gansu transportation authority also issued an immediate traffic control of the highways tunnel section and set up a special team for investigation.
New Jersey's Democratic state lawmakers last year went to the mat with then-Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, to win $188 million for a wide range of social and health programs the party said would help thousands of New Jersey residents.

They will have to take up that fight once again -- this time with one of their own.

Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed state budget cuts $123 million for programs ranging from cancer research and court-appointed special advocates to prisoner reentry and tourism that Democrats pushed to include in Christie's budget last year, according to an NJ Advance Media analysis.

State Senate Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, said making cuts is Murphy's prerogative.

"It's the governor's budget. It's his right to introduce the budget in any manner he wants. And now it's in my hands as the budget chairman to do the due diligence," Sarlo said Monday.

Murphy, a Democrat, introduced his $37.4 billion budget last month. It included $3.2 billion for pensions, more than $9 billion in direct aid to schools. It also raises an additional $1.6 billion in new tax revenue through an increased and expanded sales tax, increased taxes on millionaires and other tax policies.

That budget is just the start of negotiations, and add-ons for state colleges and programs serving vulnerable populations will become part of the budget tug-of-war between the Democratic-controlled Legislature and the governor.

State Treasury spokeswoman Jennifer Sciortino said it's typical for legislative add-ons to be deleted from the proposed budget and then "re-examined during the legislative process."

Likewise, state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said he expects these Democratic priorities will become part of discussions with the governor's office.

Last year, Democrats wanted $188 million added to Christie's budget, including $20 million to give cost-of-living adjustments to Department of Human Services community providers, 8 million for prisoner reentry programs, $3 million for trauma center security and $4 million for cancer research and screening.

These additions and $150 million in school aid became the center of negotiations with Christie, who wanted big concessions in return: namely permission to raid Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey's reserves to fund his opioid addiction fight.

After a government shutdown, the Legislature reached a deal with the governor that preserved the school funding and add-ons.

"It's the best budget we've seen in 10 years," Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said at the time. "It provides for a lot of people. And that's what we cared about. Ensuring the groups that we cared about, the rape crisis centers and school funding, we could go on and on and on."

In all, 54 line items totaling $123 million were either cut or reduced. Battleship New Jersey and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center east lost about 1.7 million. And a $1 million National Guard tuition waver Democrats added last year was axed.

NJ Advance Media reported last week that Murphy slashed $4 million for a prisoner reentry program championed by former Democratic Gov. Jim McGreevey.

The New Jersey Reentry Corporation says it provides about 4,000 ex-offenders with job training, addiction treatment and housing.

It was an omission that surprised advocates who say Murphy has voiced support for such services and that the cut would be devastating.

But not all of the Democratic earmarks are expected to be funding year after year. Some are pilot programs and one-time grants.

Of the $188 million, Murphy's budget preserves about $65 million. He kept $5 million for legal services, $400,000 for a Holocaust survivor assistance program, $7 million for food stamps and more than $2 million for domestic violence and rape prevention services.

It also maintains $28 million for Essex County-based programs for recidivism, jail substance abuse, and crime prevention. Murphy's lieutenant governor, Sheila Oliver, represented Essex County in the Assembly.

Sarlo said he will ask Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio for an explanation of how the cuts were made when she appears before the Senate budget committee.

"We will have that conversation with the treasurer on what was the rationale for keeping certain line items or priorities funded and others being eliminated," he said.

Muoio has said previously that even if New Jersey didn't add a single new program, the rising cost of existing government programs would leave the budget with a $160 million deficit. The add-ons would dig that hole deeper.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
A man who brought a 5-year-old boy to a New Orleans hospital last month after the boy twice vomited and then became unable to talk or open his eyes was arrested a few days later and is accused of abusing the boy, an arrest warrant states.

Jonathan Hawkins, 31, was arrested March 28 on a charge of second-degree cruelty to juveniles. A warrant for his arrest states the staff at the hospital found "several lacerations" in various stages of healing on the boy's body, burns on three of his fingers, and "sustained bleeding to the brain and eyes." The boy also had signs of past strokes and loss of oxygen to the brain, as well as abrasions on his face and swollen hands and feet.

"All of the injuries were diagnosed as non-accidental trauma and the victim will most likely suffer irreparable neurologic injuries," states the warrant, sworn by NOPD child abuse Detective Keisha Ferdinand.

The lacerations to the boy's torso, back, neck, face, thighs and legs were "consistent with loop marks; which in most cases are caused by belts and/or cords," the warrant states.

Hawkins told the detective that earlier on March 22, the day he took the boy to the hospital, he had punished the boy for "removing food from the refrigerator without permission," Ferdinand wrote in the warrant. The warrant also describes the 33-pound 5-year-old as "below weight" and "severely dehydrated."

Hawkins, who police say has been the child's caregiver for about two years, denied he or his fiancee abused the boy, the warrant states. He said the boy's punishment for taking food out the refrigerator without permission was to walk the dog. While walking the dog, Hawkins told police, the boy was pulled by the dog and fell down the stairs.

The injuries, Hawkins said, were a result of the fall down the stairs and because the boy has eczema, which causes him to scratch himself, the warrant states. Ferdinand wrote in the warrant, however, that the medical staff informed her that the boy did not have eczema.

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The warrant states Hawkins took the boy to the hospital about 11 p.m. March 22, only after the boy "yelled out" while he was asleep. Hawkins told police that earlier that afternoon, after the fall down the stairs, the boy had twice vomited but "was OK," and then about 4 p.m. "stopped talking" and "was in and out of consciousness."

Hawkins' booking records list two different addresses, one in the 7000 block of Bundy Road in New Orleans East, and another Pasadena, Texas. Police were unable to get in touch with his' fiancee, booking records show. Hawkins' relationship to the boy, or his fiancee's relationship to the boy -- outside of being his caregiver -- was not immediately clear in the warrant.

Hawkins' only other arrest in Orleans Parish appears to be in October 2013 on an initial charge of domestic abuse battery involving strangulation, but the case was moved to municipal court the following month. The outcome of that case in municipal court was not immediately clear.

Private attorney Joe Rome represented Hawkins in Orleans Parish Magistrate Court on March 29, a day after police arrested Hawkins at the hospital where he was trying to visit the child. It was not immediately clear if the boy remained hospitalized as of Tuesday (April 3), when Hawkins' booking paperwork was made publicly available.

Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell set Hawkins' bond at $15,000 and issued an order of protection barring him from contact with the boy.

Booking records show police arrested Hawkins the day after Detective Ferdinand signed the warrant. The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services had contacted the NOPD March 28 to let police know Hawkins arrived at the hospital and was "attempting to visit the victim." Sgt. C. Lymous handcuffed him and told him he was under arrest outside the medical area of the hospital, booking records show. Hawkins' mother was with him that day, and he was allowed to give her the cash he had on him.

The current status of the child's custody was not immediately clear.
A Kenner woman was booked Monday (April 2) in connection with a Sunday night hit-and-run crash that killed a Metairie pedestrian, according to Louisiana State Police Troop B.

Kiedra Banks, 26, contacted Troop B Monday morning to say that her vehicle, a black 2007 Nissan Altima with a Louisiana temporary tag, "may have been involved" in the fatal hit-and-run along U.S. 61 in Metairie.

The crash on U.S. 61 southbound, near North Elm Street, fatally injured 59-year-old Nathaniel Bailey. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to state police.

Banks was arrested on charges of hit-and-run driving involving a fatality and having no driver's license after investigators processed her car and collected further evidence, Trooper Melissa Matey said.

According to a preliminary investigation, the crash occurred about 8:25 p.m. as Bailey was walking southbound on U.S. 61, near the fog line, and was struck by a dark-colored Nissan with a Louisiana temporary tag. The vehicle model was initially described as a Maxima.

The Nissan fled into Orleans Parish via the Earhart Expressway, state police said.

Sunday night, troopers sought the public's help in finding the vehicle involved in the fatal hit-and-run, saying the car would have damage to its passenger's side, including a missing side-view mirror, as well as possible damage to the front right bumper.

Banks was booked into the Jefferson Parish jail, according to Matey. A booking photo of Banks was not immediately available Monday afternoon.
A Kenner man will face gun and drug charges after he led Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies on a brief chase that triggered a lockdown at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School in Old Metairie on Tuesday morning (April 3), authorities said.

Robert Celestine, 25, was identified as the suspect who climbed over a fence at the school, located at 400 Codifer Blvd., Metairie, said Glen T. Boyd, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office.

Deputies were dispatched to the area after receiving reports of a suspicious man driving around, according to Boyd. Authorities spotted the man, who fled from deputies when they tried to pull him over.

The man jumped from the moving car and hopped the schoolyard fence, where he dropped his keys.

"We asked the school to go on lockdown as a precaution because he said there was someone else with him" Boyd said.

Deputies did not find any other suspects.

Celestine's exact charges were not available Tuesday afternoon.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro and Police Chief Michael Harrison are among New Orleans city leaders expected to be served soon with subpoenas ordering them to produce documents and perhaps testify in court about the possible use of Palantir Technologies software in a convicted Central City gang member's case. Before they show up to testify, however, a judge ruled Tuesday (April 3), the officials will have a chance to argue why they should not be ordered to take the witness stand.

At issue is the use of the data collection and analysis software in the police investigation and prosecution of Kentrell Hickerson, who is appealing his 2016 conviction on several grounds, including that prosecutors should have disclosed to the defense any information about the potential use of Palantir in his case. Use of the software in New Orleans sparked concerns over transparency and privacy when an article in The Verge reported the Silicon Valley tech firm, founded by a group that included billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, had been operating in the city for six years with little public knowledge.

During Tuesday's hearing, Orleans Criminal District Judge Camille Buras said she will allow an attorney for the convicted gang leader to question and seek documents from the city leaders, "or their designated representatives," as the subpoenas order states. The judge also said she would give Landrieu, Cannizzaro, Harrison, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman and former City of New Orleans crime analyst Jeff Asher 45 days to respond to the subpoenas with their own motion to quash the court orders. If granted, the quash motions would exempt the individuals from appearing in court or producing documents.

Some in the city's criminal justice system said they were leery of Palantir's involvement in New Orleans. Of particular concern was the use of Palantir as a tool that could aid investigators both in connecting suspected gang members to others in the community, and in identifying people deemed at high risk of either committing gun violence or being the victim of it.

Hickerson, 38, was convicted in May 2016 of conspiracy, racketeering and other gang-related charges after a trial during which prosecutors accused him of being a leader of the 3-N-G gang. He was sentenced to 100 years in prison. His attorney, Kevin Vogeltanz, has accused prosecutors of suppressing analytic evidence obtained through the use of Palantir, arguing he had a right to view the evidence if Hickerson's name surfaced as being affiliated with a gang, or if his name was absent from any analytic data related to 3-N-G.

Ken Daley, a spokesman for the DA's office, said in a March 15 statement that Palantir "played no role whatsoever in Mr. Hickerson's indictment and prosecution."

Ben Horwitz, New Orleans Police Department's Director of Analytics, acknowledged in a February interview that Palantir had been used to create a "risk assessment" database of about 1 percent of the city's population who are more likely to be perpetrators or victims of gun violence. Horwitz said the database could be used to target individuals ripe for social interventions or as potential participants in NOLA For Life call-ins, in which suspected gang members are warned of the potential consequences of continued violence and offered social services and support. The risk assessment database can also "help hold together criminal conspiracy cases," and guide detectives toward potential leads in their investigations, Horwitz said.

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Hickerson's case is believed to be the first one in Orleans Criminal District Court in which the possible use of Palantir software has been pointed to by a defense attorney as potential evidence that should possibly be subjected to discovery rules.

Vogeltanz, who appeared without his client Tuesday, has also requested any documents or spreadsheets from the five people he plans to subpoena related to Hickerson's case or the 3-N-G Gang investigation and prosecution. Assistant District Attorney Alex Calenda called Vogeltanz' subpoenas "overarching," and asked the judge to note the state's objection.

Landrieu's office said in a March 15 statement the city would not renew its agreement with Palantir Technologies; it expired Feb. 21, and had been extended three previous times since it was first drafted in 2012.

"This technology is no longer being utilized in day-to-day operations, and therefore, will not be renewed," Landrieu's press secretary, Craig Belden, said in an email.

The next court hearing in the Hickerson case, which has not yet been scheduled, is expected to be within about a month and a half from when Vogeltanz issues the subpoenas.

Staff writer Jonathan Bullington contributed to this report.
The United States space agency NASA's cargo provider SpaceX launched a Dragon spacecraft Monday afternoon, starting its resupply mission to the International Space Station.

A reused SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off 4:30p.m Monday, April 2, 2018 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida carrying supplies to be delivered to the International Space Station by a previously flown dragon spacecraft. [Photo: IC]

The spacecraft, packed with 2,630 kilograms of research, crew supplies and hardware, was lifted off at 4:30 p.m. local times from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

About ten minutes later, the second stage engine has burnt completely and "Dragon confirmed in good orbit," according to SpaceX's official twitter account. Then, solar arrays have been deployed "right on schedule," NASA confirmed.

Grapple and berthing to the space station is targeted for Wednesday before the spacecraft spends approximately one month attached to the station, returning to Earth in May with some results of completed experiments, NASA says.

Flight Engineers Norishege Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scoot Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon's capture, according to the agency.

After the capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Harmony module, NASA says.

This flight will deliver scientific investigations including a study on severe thunderstorms on Earth, on the effects of microgravity on production of high-performance products from metal powders, and food growth in space.

The spacecraft also carried cargo for testing effects of the harsh space environment on materials, coatings and components; identifying potential pathogens aboard the station and investigating an antibiotic-releasing wound patch.
UPDATE: The Orleans Parish District Attorney's office dropped charges against Jean Rapp on July 26, 2018, related to the case described below.

--

New Orleans investigators on Monday (April 2) identified a woman accused of robbing her boyfriend at gunpoint following an argument early Friday.

Police have obtained an arrest warrant for Jean Rapp, 38, in connection with the robbery, reported in the 5700 block of Norland Avenue in Algiers.

According to the NOPD, the robbery occurred about 2 a.m. as Rapp and the 45-year-old victim were arguing about their relationship. During the argument, Rapp demanded money from the victim. When the victim refused, Rapp took out a handgun and demanded the money, police said.

The victim complied, handing over his cash, and Rapp left.

According to a preliminary report by police, the argument between Rapp and the victim began at a nightclub, but the robbery occurred after Rapp brought the victim home.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Jean Rapp is asked to call NOPD 4th District detectives at 504-658-6040 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-7867.
Here are picks from NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune's food team for eating and drinking events in the weeks ahead.

FRIDAY (April 6)

Whiskey Around the World dinner  Emeril's (800 Tchoupitoulas St.) hosts a four-course dinner paired with whiskeys that include Single Barrel Weller Antique, Suntory Toki and Basil Hayden's Dark Rye. $100. 6:30 p.m. Call 504.528.9393.

SATURDAY (April 7)

Hawk's Crawfish Boil  Rayne's legendary crawfish boiler sets up at Simone's Market (8201 Oak St.). $22 for three pounds of crawfish with corn, potatoes and dip. 25 p.m.

Cochon Cotillion XXII  The pig-themed spoof on a traditional Carnival Ball at Mardi Gras World (1380 Port of New Orleans Place) will have an open bar, food from more than 40 restaurants and music from ELS and Mike Morris. The evening benefits Bridge House and Grace House. $100. 611 p.m. Visit www.bridgehouse.org.

SUNDAY (April 8)

Tip Out Day  Bartenders across the city will donate a portion or all of their tips for the day to local sexual violence awareness, response, and prevention organizations. Participating bartenders work at Coquette, Cochon, Bar Tonique and Twelve Mile Limit. Visit www.tipoutday.com for a full list.

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TUESDAY (April 10)

White Oak Plantation pop-up  Chef John Folse celebrates France with a one-night pop-up dinner at his White Oak Plantation (17660 George O'Neal Road, Baton Rouge). The four-course dinner, paired with French wines, includes foie gras torchon, lobster bisque and herb-roasted lamb. $99. 6 p.m. Call 225.751.1882.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

April 12-15  French Quarter Festival takes over the city's oldest neighborhood with dozens of food vendors and music.

Apr 27  May 6  New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival returns to the Fair Grounds for two weekends, with dozens of food vendors as well as food demonstrations, music and art.

April 30May 1  NOLA Crawfish Festival brings mudbugs to Central City BBQ in the days between Jazz Fest weekends.

Know of a great food event? Let us know at foodevents@nola.com.
Torre Bagalman-Solazzo is known for her Italian cooking. And for good reason. With her husband and co-chef, David Solazzo, she opened Covington's Ristorante Del Porto in 2002. It remains one of the area's best restaurants, landing many times in our top 10 list, including this year..

On Wednesday, April 18, Del Porto will host the next Todd Price Taste Club presented by French Market Coffee. At each Taste Club, I work with some of my favorite chefs to create a unique dinner. And at Del Porto, the menu will be Lebanese.

"You mean I don't have to cook Italian?" Bagalman-Solazzo said, when I explained that she could make anything she liked for the Taste Club.

Bagalman-Solazzo often cooks Middle Eastern food for her staff. And she wanted to share a favorite cuisine that she never gets to serve her customers.

The menu has a cold appetizer course that includes tabbouleh, spicy Lebanese chutney and a Lebanese flatbread followed by hot appetizers such as fried kibbeh, spinach pies and fried cauliflower. The long list of dishes for the main course includes lamb shawarma, grilled vegetable kabobs and spicy Lebanese potatoes. (See the full menu below)

Tickets to the dinner are $75, which includes tax, tip and a welcome cocktail. For tickets and more information, visit www.ToddPriceTasteClub.com.

The Taste Clubs are served family style. The seating is communal. We always have fun. You should come.

Correction: The original version of this story had the wrong day of the week for the Taste Club.

Ristorante del Porto: 501 E. Boston St., Covington, 985.875.1006

***

A NIGHT OF LEBANESE CUISINE

Todd Price Taste Club at Del Porto in Covington

April 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

HORS D'OEUVRES & COCKTAILS

White bean and artichoke puree, sumac spiced scallop, curried pickled cauliflower, cucumber-mint salad

Beirut Blackout Fizz cocktail

Mulberry syrup, lemon, light rum, sugar, orange bitters, sparkling water

COLD MEZZE

Kibbeh nayyeh (raw kibbeh), beet hummus, roasted carrot hummus, traditional hummus, whole roasted baba ganoush, labneh with za'atar and olive Oil, tabbouleh, za'atar flatbread, pickled seasonal vegetables, olives, shatta (spicy Lebanese chutney) and saj (traditional Lebanese flatbread)

HOT MEZZE

Fried kibbeh, falafel, warak arish (Lebanese meat stuffed grape leaves), fatayar (Lebanese spinach oies), arnabeet mekleh (fried cauliflower with tarator, or Lebanese garlic mayo), ground lamb, labneh and mint flatbread, khyar bi laban (cucumber-yogurt sauce), falafel hot sauce, Lebanese red pepper-almond sauce

ENTREE

Chicken shwarma, lamb shwarma, beef kafta kebabs, spring greens fattoush salad, batata harra (Lebanese spicy potatoes), Lebanese rice pilaf, grilled vegetable kebabs, pita bread, tahini sauce, khyar bi laban, shatta, toum (Lebanese garlic paste), minted feta cheese, Za'atar marinated tomato, black olives, cucumber and red onion

SWEETS

Assortment of traditional Lebanese desserts...and a few non-traditional desserts: Ashta cake, knafeh jibneh (sweet cheese and phyllo dough pie), baklava, salted tahini chocolate chip cookies, French Market Coffee Lebanese-spiced-coffee frozen yogurt

See www.ToddPriceTasteClub.com for tickets and more information.
Authorities in Illinois have reported 70 cases of severe bleeding and two deaths linked with synthetic cannabinoids--also called K2, fake weed or Spice, reports CNN.

Illinois state health officials told the news outlet that nine of those cases tested positive for rat poison. In all of the cases patients had unexplained bleeding, including coughing up blood, blood in their urine, bloody nose and bleeding gums.

"Experimenting with these substances is just dangerous for your health. We don't know what's in them at the best of times, and right now, we know that what is in them can potentially be life-threatening," Dr. Allison Arwady, chief medical officer at the Chicago Department of Public Health told CNN.

Synthetic marijuana is often marketed as a 'legal high' and can cause psychotic episodes and seizures, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Between January to March 31 the national hotline has received 462 calls from synthetic cannabinoid poisonings.

The drug has been outlawed in Louisiana since 2010.

Maria Clark writes about health, doctors, patients and healthcare in Louisiana for NOLA.com | The Times Picayune and NOLA Mundo. Reach her at mclark@nola.com or 504.258.5306. Or follow her on Twitter at @MariaPClark1 .
A Folsom man who was killed in a pre-dawn shootout Sunday with sheriff's deputies opened fire on the deputies with a stolen gun following a two-parish chase in a stolen vehicle, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith said Tuesday (April 3).

One of those deputies, Justin Nail, was hit in the abdomen and remains hospitalized but is expected to recover, Smith said.

Smith said Joseph Johnson Jr., 24, was pronounced dead at the scene of the gun battle at Louisiana 1077 and Railroad Avenue in the Goodbee area on Easter, authorities said.

The St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office said later Tuesday that Johnson sustained gunshot wounds to the head, neck, chest and abdomen and that 14 "projectiles'' were recovered during the autopsy and turned over to the Crime Lab for analysis. Toxicology tests are pending, the coroner, Dr. Charles Preston, said in a news release.

Johnson had led deputies on a pursuit in western St. Tammany Parish and into Tangipahoa Parish, Smith said. Then the chase made its way back into St. Tammany, where Johnson's vehicle, a GMC Denali reported stolen from the Flower Estates subdivision in the Covington area, became disabled after running over a spike strip and ended up in a ditch.

The Sheriff's Office said Johnson fired at deputies, who returned fire. The handgun Johnson fired had also been reported stolen, Smith said.

"This crime spree ended in a bad way,'' Smith said.

Nail, the lone deputy shot during the encounter, remains in stable condition at a hospital in St. Tammany Parish after undergoing emergency surgery Sunday morning.

Smith said it appears Nail will make a full recovery, but that he faces a long road.

"My thoughts and prayers are with Deputy Nail and his wife,'' Smith said, adding that the wounded deputy had received an outpouring of support from the community.

"That goes a long way,'' the sheriff said.

Smith said the shootout was the culmination of a number of vehicle burglaries involving Johnson and another man, John Halley, 24, of Covington.

"They were working together in this crime spree,'' Smith said.

Deputies saw a disabled vehicle shortly after 4:30 a.m. Sunday at Louisiana 1085 and Louisiana 1077. There, they came in contact with Talley and determined he was one of two people who had been involved in vehicle burglaries across the parish.

Around the same time they observed the Denali, which investigators later determined had been stolen late Saturday or early Sunday morning.

Johnson was driving the Denali. Deputies tried to stop the vehicle, but Johnson refused, Smith said.

"These pursuits are very dangerous,'' Smith said.

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The chase made its way into Tangipahoa Parish before coming back into St. Tammany, where the Denali finally came to a stop at Louisiana 1077 and Railroad Avenue.

Smith had said in an earlier interview that four deputies were involved in the gunfight, but declined to discuss specifics other than to say "the suspect was still in his vehicle when the gun battle ensued.''

During the news conference he said Nail was the first deputy to approach the car but that eventually three other deputies joined him. Asked by reporters if all four deputies fired their weapons, Smith replied they had all "engaged'' the suspect in the Denali.

Smith would not say what type of gun Johnson had and left the room as reporters were still asking questions. Later Tuesday night, in response to emailed questions, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said the agency was not publicly identifying the deputies. The spokeswoman, Meredith Timberlake, said all deputies that discharged their weapons are on administrative leave during the investigation of the incident.

In addition to the Sheriff's Office, Smith said the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are involved in the investigation, which he said is standard procedure in deputy-involved shootings.

Residents who live near Louisiana 1077 and Railroad Avenue described hearing numerous gunshots Sunday morning.

Darren Edgerson, 19, who lives in a mobile home at that corner, said he heard the sirens and saw vehicles in what looked like the front yard. He said he went to tell his father what was happening outside and while they were talking they heard numerous shots.

"We heard the shots - there were a lot of them,'' he said. "I didn't see the shooting but I heard it. ''

Hollis Bennett, 85, who lives in the home next to Edgerson, said he was up early Sunday as he usually is, taking care of his ailing wife.

"I tell you it sounded like a Tommy gun,'' said Bennett, adding that he had served in the Army in the Korean War. "They had deputy cars from everywhere just flying to the scene.''

Smith said nine people have reported being victims of the weekend burglaries, with more possibly coming in.

Halley has been booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail on charges of possession of stolen things and simple burglary. Additional charges could be coming, Smith said.

In St. Tammany Parish, Clerk of Court records show Johnson pleaded guilty to several charges, mostly drug related, as well as resisting an officer, since 2012. He admitted to possession with intent to distribute marijuana, two counts of possession of a Schedule III drug and possession of a legend drug without a prescription, charges that were filed in 2012.

Smith lamented that more suspects are resisting police efforts to arrest them.

"We're seeing more and more people trying to flee from police,'' he said.

The violent outcome Sunday shows how dangerous police work can be, he added.
US hog farmers want to export more to China, not less: NPPC

The hog farmers and pork producers in the U.S. are said to be concerned about the tariff dispute between the United States and China. On the website of the U.S. National Pork Producers Council, a statement says that the Chinese retaliation on U.S. pork exports will harm the rural economy.

A statement on the website of the U.S. National Pork Producers Council says that the Chinese retaliation on U.S. pork exports will harm the rural economy. [Screenshot: China Plus]

In the statement, NPPC's president Jim Heimerl notes, "We sell a lot of pork to China, so higher tariffs on our exports going there will harm our producers and undermine the rural economy. No one wins in these tit-for-tat trade disputes, least of all the farmers and the consumers."

The statement hit the NPPC website on March 23rd after China announced countermeasures in response to a previous U.S. move to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Starting April 2nd, China has formally suspended the tariff concessions on 128 products including pork and fruits, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The Customs Tariff Commission of the Chinese State Council has decided to impose a tariff of 15 percent on 120 products imported from the United States including fruits and related products, and a tariff of 25 percent on eight items, including pork and related products, according to a statement posted on the ministry website.

Exports remain important for U.S. pork producers. Of all the pork produced in the United States, 26% is sent abroad. The U.S. National Pork Producers Council says the U.S. produces slightly over 20 billion US dollars worth of pork annually. 6.5 billion US dollars is exported overseas. Of that, 1.1 billion dollars is exported to China. Last year, China was the second largest U.S. pork export market by volume.

The NPPC's mission is to advocate to the U.S. government about public policy interests of U.S. pork producers. The hog farmer's number one public policy concern is trade and exports. The NPPC says hog farmers and the pork producers in the United States are very concerned about a trade war with China, suggesting hog farmers want to export more pork to China, not less.

What will the new pork tariffs mean for Chinese consumers?

There are over 1.4 billion people in China, making up nearly 19% of the total global population. Pork is a staple in China, with pork consumption second only to rice in the country. China's Ministry of Agriculture estimates the annual consumption of pork per person in China is 59 kilograms, accounting for more than half of global consumption.

By comparison, Americans consume around 23 kilograms of pork per year, according to data released in 2017 by Rabobank, a research firm specializing in food and agriculture. As such, Jim Monroe with the NPPC suggests its unlikely the United States would be able to make up the shortfall if pork exports to China dwindle amid the trade dispute.

The NPPC is calling on the U.S. government to enter into talks with China, with the NPPC's Jim Monroe saying its up to all countries to trade fairly and follow international rules. He says trade disputes need to be resolved in a way that doesn't harm businesses, farmers or consumers.

Despite worldwide objections, the Trump administration has decided to impose a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum from China. China could also be hit with other investment restrictions in the United States as the dispute moves forward.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry contends the U.S. measures, which went into effect on March 23, which has severely undermined China's interests, according to a statement.

The statement goes on to say that China advocates and supports a multilateral trade system, saying its move to suspend tariff concession on U.S. imports is a justifiable action to safeguard China's interests through WTO rules.
The state will soon be pushing the locally elected officials of Powhatan out of the way to administer the finances of the northwest Louisiana village that in mid-July had only $105 in its general fund and is hiring a cop to drum up some money from
Since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has become a focal point on how a city comes back after a major disaster. For The Atlantic's third annual Renewal Summit, made possible by Allstate, the discussion centered around how the city is thriving, but remains challenged with rising costs and economic inequality. Held March 27 at the Ace Hotel, conversations were led by the Atlantic's President Bob Cohn, Editorial Director Ron Brownstein and Contributing Editor Alison Stewart with Mayor Mitch Landrieu; Walter Isaacson, The Aspen Institute; Terry Baquet, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune; Brandan "BMike" Odums, Studio Be; Ti Martin, Commander's Palace; and Flozell Daniels, Foundation for Louisiana.

Another highlight of the event was the announcement of the Renewal Awards, a national competition that honors innovative, grass roots organizations that are creating solutions to pressing challenges faced in their communities. Bob Curry, Hazleton Integration Project; Steve Dial, Anew America; Teresa Granillo, Con Mi MADRE; Pamela Urquieta, Let's Innovate Through Education; and Melissa Sawyer, Youth Empowerment Project were announced as winners, with each receiving a $20,000 grant from Allstate, the sponsor of the awards, to further the work of their respective organizations.

******

To reach Sue Strachan, send an email to socialscene@nola.com or call 504.450.5904. Find her on Twitter and Instagram as @suestrachan504, with the hashtag #nolasocialscene. Visit her on Facebook. And, come back to NOLA.com/society for more New Orleans area event and party news and photos.
China's education ministry has approved the establishment of Westlake University, a private university aiming to join the ranks of world-class research-oriented institutes, the university said Monday.

An artist's impression of Westlake University's main campus. [File Photo: whb.cn]

Located in the scenic West Lake area in the east China city of Hangzhou, Westlake University will focus on basic academic research as well as cutting-edge disciplines, aiming to train top-level innovative talent.

Established on the basis of Westlake Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS), Westlake University will prioritize research areas in natural science, medical science, and advanced technology.

The university will first offer doctoral education and start undergraduate programs "at an appropriate time," it said.

It has admitted the first group of 19 doctoral candidates and plans to enroll 130 more this year.

The non-profit university will be funded by a foundation and run by a board of directors.

The establishment of Westlake University was first proposed by a group of top Chinese academics in 2015.
Steve Stumpf, chairman of Harahan-based Durr Heavy Construction, died Monday afternoon (April 2) at age 68 following a car crash on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, according to bridge authorities. A spokeswoman for Durr confirmed Stumpf's death.

The crash involving Stumpf occurred about 12:30 p.m. on the Causeway's southbound span, moments after a motorist called Causeway authorities to report a vehicle "driving hazardously," said Carlton Dufrechou, the bridge's general manager.

The vehicle was on the southbound span, about one mile from the south shore. Less than a minute later, another call came in reporting a crash on the same span, about a half-mile from the south shore, Dufrechou said.

A witness told Causeway police that Stumpf's vehicle, which was traveling in the left lane, had struck the left barrier several times and then swerved into the right lane, hitting another vehicle.

"He had a medical condition that could've precipitated the accident," the Durr spokeswoman said, declining to divulge details pending autopsy results. "We're not sure."

The other driver, a woman, received lacerations but was overall "OK," Dufrechou said, noting that his information on the crash and resulting injuries is preliminary.

Causeway police and motorist-assistance workers reached the scene within two minutes, finding Stumpf unconscious.

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The bridge's southbound span was closed for about an hour as emergency workers extracted Stumpf from his vehicle and placed him into an ambulance, Dufrechou said.

Stumpf died at a local hospital, he said.

Along with serving as chairman of Durr Heavy Construction LLC, a family-owned company founded in 1955, Stumpf also chaired SOUTHPAC, a political action committee for the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), and served on boards for the Catholic Leadership Institute, which helps clergy and lay leaders develop their skills.

According to Stumpf's page on the institute's website, Stumpf also established a Good Leaders, Good Shepherds program in New Orleans. Good Leaders, Good Shepherds offers a curriculum aimed at helping priests thrive in their ministries.

Stumpf, a lifelong resident of the New Orleans area, is survived by his wife of 45 years, Donna Durr Stumpf, along with his three children and grandchild, according to an obituary posted on Durr Heavy Construction's website.

For funeral arrangements and other information, visit the Durr Heavy Construction website.

This article was updated Wednesday (April 4) with details from Stumpf's obituary.
A for-sale sign in front of a house in Miami, Florida. [Photo/Agencies]

Chinese investment in US commercial real estate in 2017 plunged an estimated 55 percent from 2016, according to a report, but participants in the sector still expect Chinese capital to be a factor in the US.

The 2017 China-US Inbound Investment Capital Watch report from real estate company Cushman & Wakefield put the estimated decline at $7.3 billion in 2017 from $16.2 billion in 2016.

Cushman & Wakefield said the slump was largely the result of stricter capital controls and regulations from the mainland. The Chinese government implemented the controls to better "regulate and manage outbound investment flows," David Bitner, Cushman & Wakefield's head of capital market research, said in an interview Thursday.

"I think Chinese investments are generally refocusing their interests into other types of investments, such as infrastructure (and) R&D (research-and-development) facilities. However, when it comes to commercial real estate, I think the interest will remain as opportunities arise," Selma Hepp, vice-president of business intelligence at real estate brokerage Pacific Union International Inc, wrote in an email.

Bitner also expects Chinese investment in US real estate this year to focus on industrial properties, infrastructure and R&D facilities.

He said China's capital controls will continue to be a factor in Chinese outbound investments in 2018. "If you are a company where real estate and property development is your main line of business I think you will have a better chance of getting your foreign investment approved," he said.

Despite the decline in Chinese investment, the US commercial real estate markets weathered the loss of capital well. Because New York and San Francisco receive two-thirds of every Chinese investment dollar according to the report, the effect of the falloff was limited, according to Barry Hersh, a real estate professor at New York University.

Overall, China fell to third in total foreign investment in American real estate behind Canada and Singapore, according to the report. Bitner said other sources of capital stepped in to fill the void. "Capital from Canada, Singapore, Japan and South Korea is coming into the US market," he said.
SYDNEY, Apr. 3 --Recently, the China-Australia World Heritage Tourism organised an event to promote the 52 world heritage sites in China, in order to attract more Australian tourists to visit. Both officials from Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development and Members of the Parliament of New South Wales (NSW) were present.

Mr. Luo Weijian, Director of China National Tourist Office in Sydney, said even though the China-Australia Year of Tourism in 2017 was extremely successfully, he hoped tourism between China and Australia can be further improved in the future.

As China has a population of 1.3 billion people including 56 ethnic groups, it makes it the ultimate cultural destination.

1.34 million Chinese visitors travel to Australia in return so you can tell that they play a vital role in terms of contribution to the cooperation and tourism exchange between the two countries, Mr. Luo added.

Mr Damien Tudehope, Member of Parliament of NSW emphasises that not only it is important for all Australians to visit China but we think its also very important for people in China to come to visit Australia.

With 2017 being the Year of Tourism, approximately 3 billion Australian dollars was injected into the NSW economy.

The great thing about tourism is it allows people to interact with each other and to see that their cultures have enormous things to offer, Mr Tudehope said.

Tudehope encourages tourists to visit not only the Sydney Opera House but also regional areas such as NSWs Hunter Valley or the Snowy Mountains in order to see all that NSW has to offer.

Ms. Wang Fang, Deputy Consul-General of the Consulate-General Of The People's Republic Of China in Sydney believes that tourism will deeply propel the Belt and Road Construction and build international cooperation platform.

Looking forward to the future, China and Australia are both major powers in the Asia-Pacific region with extensive common benefits. In addition, China and Australia are important trade investment partners, Ms. Wang said.

Being trade partners will provide historical opportunities for all countries including Australia to carry out a win-win operation and mutual development. People to people and cultural exchange are the important pillars to support the Sino Australia relationship development. (Peoples Daily Online/ Tingting Yan)
A slew of jaw-dropping political incidents in the Western democratic system have exposed that Western democracy is no longer able to coordinate all social efforts and that it is losing its function of guaranteeing the future development of relevant countries.

William Jones, Washington Bureau chief for the news magazine Executive Intelligence Review, said instead of falling back, the Western democratic system is tearing apart, and the process has been taking place for a relatively long period.

According to Western democracy, a ruling party or a leader selected by popular will and through competitions with other parties or party leaders within a competitive political party system can be regarded as a good one.

But Western political parties are nowadays being kidnapped by votes. To win more voters, a lot of candidates do their best in the election campaign, but when they are elected, they fail to fulfill their commitments.

For instance, former British Prime Minister David Cameron had thought wishfully that in any case, the Brexit referendum would not be passed, and he could use the failure to clamp down on the opposition politicians, consolidate his power, and put pressure on the European Union (EU).

But entrusting such a crucial political issue to the will of the voters who had limited and imbalanced information about the situation and that were easy to be blinded by short-term interests was undoubtedly an example of political gambling.

Due to his lack of responsibilities, Cameron had to step down as prime minister when the result of the referendum turned out to be otherwise.

During the referendum, leading Brexit campaigner Iain Duncan Smith fabricated a story that the "350 million a week" Britain gave to the EU could be spent instead on the National Health Service (NHS). But after leaving the EU has become a fact, people are realizing that the costs to leave were much higher than they had thought.

Opinion polls have indicated that many people in the UK would like to stay in the EU and hope the Brexit process could be reversed. It was due to the self-interested conduct of the politicians that the UK was led into a period of chaos and confusion.

Italys Matteo Renzi launched the constitutional referendum with the aim of expanding the power of the government and to clear the way for political and economic reform as the following step. But the opposition party diverted the focus of the voters by pointing out that the referendum revealed Renzis attempt for dictatorship.

In his resignation speech, Renzi said in Italian politics no one ever loses and after every election everything stays the same.

The Western opposition parties are adept at taking advantage of dissatisfaction sentiments within the public by which they can win their support fast. But when they are elected as ruling parties, their actions make the public feel that it is being cheated.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came into power pledging to end austerity, but Athens is carrying forward more austere measures than ever before. The life of the Greeks will be harder if the Tsipras government follows in the footsteps of the former government leadership groups by once again making empty promises.

The disadvantages of the Western political system are being exposed. People feel disappointed about old political parties yet at the same time the new ones lack experience ruling, as most of them gain support by making empty promises and inciting populism sentiments and will not solve any real problems, said Alexander Lomanov, the chief researcher with the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who added that Chinas new type of party system is of strong realistic significance.
Twelve journalists from five SCO countries attended the opening ceremony of the SCOs media exchange project in Beijing on Tuesday, with experts calling the event a remarkable proposal".

It is the first time for those journalists, who come from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, to join SCOs communication project together.

Li Minggang, deputy director of the Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed the meeting. According to Li, Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been set up for almost 18 years since 2001. All the member nations have been working jointly under the Shanghai Spirit. It is quite necessary that journalists from our neighbor countries meet and support each other and then play a fundamental role as cultural messengers in exchanges among SCO countries, Li said.

Sadyk Akizhanov, head of International News Agency of Kazakhstans bureau in China addresses the ceremony.

Echoing Li, Sadyk Akizhanov, head of International News Agency of Kazakhstans bureau in China, told Peoples daily Online that it is a very good opportunity for them to communicate and work with other journalists from SCO countries.

Sadyk further noted, China is entering a new developing era. Both Chinese peoples lifestyles and thoughts are shifting rapidly. We should seize the chance to witness Chinas significant historic moment. We should also strive to obtain more first-hand materials in various aspects and deal with them objectively so that we could help people know more about China.

I have lived in Beijing for four years and have a basic understanding of China. But this time I want to go beyond common sense and try to find out deep reasons for some superficial phenomena through this project, he added.

SCO summit 2018 will be held in June in Qingdao, east China. All the journalists will stay in China for three months, during which they will take courses in Chinas national conditions; they will also travel around China to experience lives in different regions.
Enterprises say they will look for goods to replace US products

China suspended tariff concessions on 128 US products including pork and fruits starting April 2, according to the Ministry of Finance. The tariffed American goods will value to $3 billion based on statistics in 2017.

Before the decision became official, it was supported by the Chinese public, with a lot of people mailing or calling the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) to show their support. Some of them even suggested that the measures should be tougher at the time when the ministry was soliciting public opinions, said a spokesperson of the MOC.

Li Yong, president of China Association of International Trade, said Chinas retaliatory measures were taken according to the principle of reciprocity under the trade rules of the World Trade Organization.

The list of items does not cover larger-scale US products, indicating both Chinas restraint and determination for retaliation, Li said.

A Carrefour store in eastern Beijing has not yet raised prices of US fruits and nuts as of April 2. The domestic supplier, based in Guangzhou, said it will communicate with the US supplier about strategic price adjustments.

We havent raised our prices on the first day of tariff increases. We are negotiating with our US suppliers, hoping they could make some compromises, said a marketing manager of the company surnamed Huang.

Huang said he doesnt expect a trade war, which will increase costs and lower profits for his company. But he also said if the war is on, his company will consider replacing products that they use which are from US brands with products from Thailand, Vietnam and even domestic brands.

We understand our countrys retaliatory measures and as Chinese we dont want our countrys interests to be hurt by other countries, he said.

Besides fruits and pork, 33 items on the list were steel products, mainly stainless steel tubes.

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) had urged the government to take tough measures to prevent the domestic market from being hurt by US-imported steel when the latter announced the Section-232 investigation.

An employee with the CISA said a public announcement has yet to be made, while an employee with Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd who preferred his name undisclosed said Chinas tariff measures on US products will inject confidence into domestic industries.

According to statistics provided by marketing organization LangeSteel.com, in 2017, the US exported 83,600 tons of steel products to China, in which stainless steel tubes weighed 18,800 tons, 22.4 percent of the total volume.

Xu Liying, an analyst with LangeSteel.com, said stainless steel tubes were chosen as the main item for tariff retaliation because they were the main type of US products exported to China, in terms of the volume and the value.

In 2017, US steel products worth 567 million yuan were imported to China, and the value of stainless steel tubes was 115 million yuan, Xu said.

She added that the total volume of stainless steel tubes exported to China from the US is not large. In 2017, Chinas import value of stainless steel tubes from the US accounted for only 10 percent of the countrys total stainless steel tube imports.

Therefore, Xu thinks the new tariff measures will not have big impact on domestic enterprises, suggesting them to use products from other countries in order to replace US products after the new measures are implemented.
BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to push forward constructive dialogue and improve its relationship with the Vatican, an official with the country's religious affairs department said Tuesday.

China and the Vatican have maintained contact, confirmed Xiao Hong, former spokesperson of the State Administration for Religious Affairs which was recently merged into the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

"We have actively engaged in profound discussions about certain issues," Xiao said at a press conference.

China has always been sincere in wanting to improve relations with the Vatican and has continued to make efforts, she said.

Chen Zongrong, former deputy head of the administration, added at the same conference that the two sides have smooth and effective communication channels, through which issues can be discussed.

"We also hope the Vatican will move in the same direction toward China," he said.
The number of people that have been infected with cholera in Hoima district has risen to over 2,000 with the cumulative death toll now standing at 40.



Dr Peter Byaruhanga, the acting Hoima district disease surveillance officer, told URN on Tuesday that 500 fresh cholera cases were reported among the Congolese refugees and members of the host communities at Kasonga, Sebigoro and Buhuka isolation centres in the last two weeks.

Children in Hoima learning how to prevent the spread of cholera. Photo: Unicef Byaruhanga says now there are more Ugandans infected with cholera than the refugees. The cholera outbreak was first reported at Sebagoro landing site on the Lake Albert shores in Hoima district on February 11 among the Congolese refugees fleeing tribal clashes in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo between the Lendu, Bagegere and Hema communities. Byaruhanga says now there are more Ugandans infected with cholera than the refugees. The cholera outbreak was first reported at Sebagoro landing site on the Lake Albert shores in Hoima district on February 11 among the Congolese refugees fleeing tribal clashes in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo between the Lendu, Bagegere and Hema communities.

Dr Byaruhanga fears that the cases could escalate following the heavy rain that has hit most parts of Hoima district. He further explains that the cholera cases have further spread to various villages in the sub-counties of Kigorobya, Kyangwali, Kabwoya, Buseruka and in Hoima Municipality. He says between nine to 14 cases are being reported at the various isolation centres daily.



Dr Byaruhanga says all the district health assistants have been deployed in the cholera prone areas of Kyangwali, Buseruka, Kigorobya and Kabwoya to carry out massive sensitisation among members of the public on how to guard themselves against any further cholera spread.



He explains that they have deployed village health teams (VHTs) to do case notification by moving from house to house to identify those with cholera related cases.
We live in a highly-polarized world. In the West, toxic politics has meshed with social bigotry to produce exceedingly charged atmospheres wheeled by political tribalism and cultural wars.

American voters rebelled against establishment politics to get Donald Trump through the Republican Party primaries and stunningly to the White House. Protest against globalization has produced alt-right political parties in Europe that feed off anxieties over religious and ethnic minorities.

Societies that had only recently primed themselves as socially accommodative and inclusive now have growing public opinion that craves for protecting the nation against perceived external impurities. The primary target is migrants and other social minorities; religious, ethnic, sexual, etc.

Its an unsettling fear of small numbers, where majority social groups feel threatened by a minuscule minority. A combination of social strain and economic distress has made democratic countries vulnerable to populist agendas.

Across the Middle East and South Asia, social unrest and political turmoil has raged for years with intractable civil wars in Syria and Yemen, terror groups holding firm in Iraq and Afghanistan, and renewed religious antagonism in India and Pakistan.

Age-old animosities have received new fuel from activism powered by the information-technological revolution that has democratized access to information and thrown wide open the doors of misinformation.

In Latin America, runaway income inequality and pervasive official corruption continue to drive unrest and political crises in both regional powers like Brazil and relatively smaller states such as Peru.

In Africa, the rattle of poverty remains a hugely destabilizing force. Young people in small countries like Uganda are yearning for a secure tomorrow.

The old are desperate to make through today. Economic desperation has combined with social dislocation to build up a potential powder keg in the face of weak state institutions.

The crises that have in recent years hit Mali, Niger, Nigeria and, earlier, Somalia and Chad point to imminent implosions that many African nations face due to dire economic conditions, social stresses, and weak state systems.

In Uganda, the stakes couldnt be higher. We face gross economic difficulties, with the vast majority of our compatriots suffering social injustices and economic deprivation. But we are also up against a crisis of the nation called Uganda.

We largely remain a country and geographic expression that lacks vivid presence and deep meaning in the imagination of the average citizen. This is not at any rate anything new.

The forging of a genuine nation called Uganda has been an elusive project from the very onset of British colonial rule, never mind that the current ruler dubiously talks about a fictitious Uganda that has existed for the last 500 years.

But arguably Uganda today has festering social disharmony, to the magnitude never experienced before at any one point in the countrys not-so-long history as a national project. Modern nations have, for the most part, been purposively imagined and engineered by political actors either out of social pressures or due to ideological commitments.

Either way, nation-building is a deeply demanding process that cannot be achieved through some cosmetic activities like teaching patriotism. Being patriotic cannot be merely taught, not least by people who dont live it.

Ugandans who went through the traditional secondary schools in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s were not taken through the motions of how to love Uganda and be patriotic citizens. But they knew that being born in Tororo and going to school in Tooro underscored not so much the geographical spread of the country as the social diversity of our nation.

Here is the crux of the issue at hand. In a world so globalized yet deeply polarized and facing a global civil war that manifests in different fashions depending on continent and country, we more than ever before need to search for common ground.

The former prime minister (katikkiro) of Buganda, Dan Muliika, gave a very interesting interview to The Observer last week. The old Buganda sentiment was palpable. Muliika is a fiery fellow who shoots straight. His combative tone during his time in Mengo put him on a collision course with Ugandas rulers. It appears the tone hasnt changed one bit.

But the hard reality staring at Muliika is that Ganda nationalism without a viable Uganda project is a dead end.

The common ground between all Ugandas ethnicities and religions is as large and widespread as the width and breadth of the country.

The onus remains largely with those in charge of state power who, unfortunately, appear out of depth and incapable of charting the common ground that would move the country forward.

Ours is a deeply ethnically-fractured society run on a broken political system in an environment of social injustice and economic inequality. The rulers response is to double-down with nepotism and blatant political corruption.

moses.khisa@gmail.com
Jackie Kolek

Gun control debates. Racial tensions. Presidential tweets. The #Metoo movement. As communications professionals, weve never worked in a more volatile social and cultural environment. Just a few years ago, a major communications crisis constituted a workers strike at a factory or a vice president accused of embezzlement. But now those situations resemble the good old days by comparison.

Today, consumers view brands through the lens of where they stand on important social and cultural topics. A recent Global Strategy Group survey found that more 80 percent of people believe corporations should take action on important issues. Seventy-six percent said businesses should stand up for their political beliefs, whether or not theyre controversial. Consumers also want swift action: 52 percent said a company should respond to an event within 24 hours.

Working effectively in this new normal means we must be more prepared for potential issues and be innovative to predict vulnerabilities.

Here are four ways to thrive in this era of upheaval.

Assess all your risks

We all monitor for potential PR crises. But today, you must consider all your reputational risks and expand your monitoring strategy accordingly. Your brand may not have a political stance, but are any executives major political donors? #MeToo isnt isolated to Hollywood, so has any executive ever been accused of sexual misconduct? And its not just your brand you need to worry about.

Smart activists are going after an organizations entire business network. Following the Florida school shooting, they attacked the NRA by targeting brands offering discounts to NRA members. Does your company have any business relationships that are vulnerabilities? You need to think like an activist  or an investigative reporter  to assess all of your reputational risks.

Let your purpose do the talking

Given that many consumers want companies to speak out, do you know where yours stands? If your organization does not have a corporate purpose, its time to focus on one. A corporate purpose explains why a company exists beyond making money. What benefits does it bring to society?

If it does and your executives agree on it, you can work to define how that purpose relates to the issues of the day. Use it to decide what topics are appropriate for your company to own, and preplan responses to them if and when they emerge. If your healthcare companys purpose is helping consumers live longer lives, prepare a meaningful statement on gun control. Alternatively, you may decide you dont need to take a stand on immigration because its outside your purpose.

Its also key to have your CEO ready to step out front with purpose-led messages. Three-quarters of Americans think CEOs have a responsibility to create social change, according to a study by Global Strategy Group.

An ounce of prediction

Armed with a comprehensive risk assessment, you can now turn to technology to monitor for trouble and  ideally  predict a coming crisis.

Whatever monitoring software youre using, make sure it can support your expanded universe of keywords, phrases and other information youve identified. If your CFO donated thousands of dollars to a political candidate and is mentioned anywhere near that candidates name, you need to know before it erupts.

Make sure you deploy tools that can easily scan channels of interest: broadcast, traditional and social media, blogs, etc. In our experience helping clients with monitoring, we have yet to see a reliable, all-in-one dashboard that aggregates mentions across channels. When it comes to reporting, human validation is still critical for consolidating this information and spotting -patterns.

Your software should offer real-time reporting for both volume and channels. This is key because an abnormal spike in mentions on a platform you rarely use could signal a crisis. For example, a B2B manufacturing company suddenly trending on Facebook should raise a red flag.

Create a channel roadmap

When you understand where and how audiences are mentioning your brand, focus your plan on the relevant channels. This step is crucial as consumers become increasingly multi- and cross-channel communicators. According to a Google study, 90 percent of people who own multiple devices switch between three per day. A Salesforce study found that 34 percent of marketing budgets today are spent on channels that didnt exist five years ago.

When responding to an issue, its almost always best to prioritize the channel where the crisis originated. For example, if a YouTube video shows your EVP telling crude jokes at a sales meeting, go where the conversation is and post a purpose-led YouTube video response, even if your brand doesnt normally use that channel. Follow up with statements on your website and other owned channels.

Using the proper channel(s) drastically increases a messages power and gives you the ability to customize your message to the medium. During a controversy, this personalization is important. Salesforce shows 52 percent of consumers and 65 percent of B2B buyers are likely to switch brands if communications arent personalized to them.

Marketing communications is more challenging today than ever before, but its also more exciting. Great corporate communicators have an opportunity to shine by helping their organizations prepare for, predict and be proactive when controversial issues emerge. By assessing risk, leading with purpose and spotting problems before they happen, PR professionals can become even more valuable to their brands and the executives who run them.

***

Jacqueline Kolek is Partner and Managing Director at Peppercomm.


Gina Foote

Gina Foote, former chief of staff to Texas Rep. Ted Poe (R), has joined Glover Park Group, where she's been named a vice president in the agencys government relations practice.

Foote joined Congressman Poes team in late 2010 where, in addition to serving as chief of staff, she also led campaign manager duties for Poes successful reelection efforts during the last three election cycles.

She was previously an associate general counsel at Republican-leaning lobbying shop BGR Group, where she advised clients on various political law, ethic, and compliance-related issues.

Glover Park Group in a statement said that Footes considerable political experience and substantive smarts will benefit a broad array of GPG clients.
RT is giving Sinclair Broadcast Group, which has been rapped for forcing local anchors to read scripted reports about fake news, a big thumb's up.

And why not?

RT is the master of misinformatin and global mouthpiece of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

It's a good mentor for Sinclair, which wants to sign up as Team Trump's local broadcasting representative, joining the duo of Briebart (online) and Fox News (cable).

On April 3, RT noted that though Sinclairs management is well understood to have a right-wing slant, rival broadcasters are not exactly in a position to throw stones when it comes to unbalanced reporting.

The Russian outlet scolded America's mainstream media for a pro-war bias during the lead-up to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq.

It cited a 2003 study by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting that found that 71 percent of the more than 1,600 sources cited in the pre-war coverage supported taking out Saddam Hussein and his alleged stash of chemical weapons.

RT though failed to add that those sources were misled by the lies and deceptions pushed by Team Bush to gin up support for the war. The New York Times in 2004 apologized for its cheerleading the Iraqi war.

In cozying up to Trump, RT includes his April 2 tweet defending Sinclair and attacking other media companies.

The tweet reads: The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast. The Fakers at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!

Sinclair is RT's warm-up act. It makes that clear in the April 3 story by moving from Sinclair to alleged media bias against Russia.

It cites a 2017 report by Project Veritas, a group founded by conservative activist and Trump supporter James O'Keefe, which alleged CNN, New York Times and Washington Post are biased against Russia, putting the chase for ratings/circulation over truthful coverage.

It's pretty ironic that RT turns to O'Keefe. His controversial group sets up undercover stings to plant false stories in the media with the hope they will be reported to show the outlet is a purveyor of fake news.

Trump reportedly has extended an invite to Putin to visit the White House.

RT and its team of fake news experts will pave the way for Putin's trip.
Happy Easter! Youll notice that we havent put all our eggs in one basket. We have been rationing out the mechanical treasures unveiled since Baselworlds opening day, which this year happened to be the first day of spring. There was an undercurrent of optimism at this years Basel international watch fair (from 21 to 27 March), no doubt as a result of the upswing in watch exports since last summer. This warming climate not only left steam on the windows of the worlds top brands holding court in the entrance to Hall 1 (brands belonging to LVMH and Swatch Group, along with Patek Philippe and Rolex); it also infused the rest of the fair, rising even to the three dozen niche independent watchmakers based in the Les Ateliers space. From a pure watch industry perspective, the majority of brands had a successful fair in terms of selling their latest collections to retailers, who were more enthusiastic than last year. Baselworld has therefore proven itself once again, despite criticisms from exhibitors over poor communication on the part of the organisers.

Watches for watch lovers

Some Bulgari new models unveiled at Baselworld  WorldTempus / Brice Lechevalier

From the point of view of the end clients, who can discover the new watches in these pages and see most of them in the shops this summer or autumn, this years offerings are more classic, more subdued (in general, watchmakers have reduced the number of references), except for the iconic collections that continue to sell well. Brands are beginning to market these more proactively, with greater variety, more colours, dials and straps, more case sizes and greater choice of materials. This is the case with Bulgari, one of the few brands that stands out from the crowd, not only in terms of design, with the stunning Octo Finissimo Automatic in sandblasted rhodium-plated steel, and its slender rose gold version for women, but also in terms of watchmaking excellence. The Octo Finissimo Automatic Tourbillon has set a new world record: its movement measures just 1.95 mm thick, inside a case 3.95 mm deep. Hublot, a past master in the art of reinterpreting the iconic Big Bang, and an expert in the art of fusion, has taken a new technological step forward with the Big Bang Unico Red Magic. Its R&D department has patented the first brightly-coloured ceramic, which is even stronger than classic ceramic.

Big Bang Unico Red Magic  Hublot

Any visitors to Baselworld hoping to be dazzled by some truly exceptional pieces will have had to be particularly assiduous to hunt out the rare pearls. Among the spectacular watches on view, special mention goes to the Parrot Minute Repeater pocket watch by Jaquet Droz, and two watches from Jacob & Co, which has pulled off a masterful double with the Twin Turbo Furious, a world premiere, and the Astronomia Maestro, another minute repeater with suspended circular gongs. Patek Philippe remains a reliable barometer of haute horlogerie, and there were no dissenting voices when it unveiled 14 new references for its current collection, including the Nautilus 5740 with perpetual calendar (equipped with Patek Philippes thinnest QP calibre), which caused a buzz at the Baselworld opening, plus 54 exceptional artistic crafts pieces, which the public will be able to admire at the Salons Patek Philippe in Geneva from 19 to 21 April.

Parrot Repeater Pocket Watch  Jaquet Droz
El-Sisi won a second term with 97 percent of the vote in an election in which 41 percent of the electorate cast their ballots, official results showed.

The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, called El-Sisi on Monday to congratulate him, highlighting "special ties" between the governments and the people of the UAE and Egypt, El-Sisi's office said in a statement.

The Emirati state news agency WAM said that both the president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and prime minister and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum sent El-Sisi letters of congratulations.

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir also called El-Sisi to commend his presidential win. During the telephone conversation, he stressed Sudan's keeness to perserve its "strong and deep-rooted relations with Egypt and continue consultations and coordination between the two countries on issues of mutual interest," El-Sisi's office said in a separate statement.

El-Sisi also recieved telephone calls from Jordan's King Abdullah and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

Also on Monday, El-Sisi received phone calls from international allies, including the US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House said in a statement that Trump congratulated the Egyptian president and the two leaders affirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt.

During their telephone conversation, Putin "reaffirmed Russias intention to further develop mutually beneficial cooperation in many areas, including energy, industry and transport," the Kremlin said on its official website.

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Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is due to fly to Khartoum on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, for talks with Sudanese and Ethiopian officials aimed at resolving an impasse over the hydroelectric dam Addis Ababa is building on a Nile tributary.

The gathering will include foreign and water ministers as well as intelligence officials from the three countries, in a fresh bid to end a standoff in negotiations over the $4 billion Grand Renaissance Dam over the Blue Nile, which Egypt fears could greatly diminish its share of Nile water.

The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in late February after the leaders of the three countries agreed to set a one-month deadline to lay out ways to end the stalemate, but was deferred upon Ethiopia's request following the resignation of its prime minister.

In November of last year, delegations from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia met in Cairo to approve a study by a French firm tasked with assessing the environmental and economic impact of the dam on downstream countries. But negotiations stalled when the three countries failed to reach consensus on an initial report.

This week's gathering mainly aims to reach an agreement on the preliminary report so the "studies on the impact of the dam on downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan can be initiated immediately," Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in the statement on Tuesday.

Cairo fears the 6,000-megawatt dam will reduce the supply of Nile water, which it relies on for drinking water and irrigation. Egypt has also expressed concerns over the speed at which the dam's reservoir will be filled.

During the meeting, Egypt will stress on complying with an agreement signed by all three countries in 2015 to ensure diplomatic cooperation mainly with regard to completing the dam studies "to guarantee to avoid any possible negative impacts on the two downstream countries," the spokesman added.

Financed solely by Ethiopia, the dam is now over 60 percent complete.

Ethiopia, which hopes to become Africa's largest power exporter, maintains that the project will not harm Egypt.

Sudan has backed the dam, saying it will provide the country with energy and irrigation.

The Egyptian spokesman said Tuesday that Cairo is looking towards boosting cooperation with Sudan and Ethiopia in all areas, namely investment, trade and technical cooperation.

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Egypts acting General Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Tuesday to discuss the latest Egyptian efforts to secure Palestinian reconciliation as well as cooperation between Egypt and Palestine, Palestinian news agency Maan reported.

Abbas said during the meeting that he values Egypt's support of the Palestinian cause.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has stressed in several speeches and meetings that peace, prosperity and cooperation can occur only if Israel and Palestine can reach a two-state solution.

Cairo has been playing a central role in reconciliation efforts between rival Palestinian factions, hosting several rounds of talks over the past months.

The meeting between Abbas and Kamel comes amid Palestinian protests in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed at least 18 people and injured hundreds.

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Two years ago, we highlighted collector David Rumseys huge map archive, which he donated to Stanford University in April of 2016 and which now resides at Stanfords David Rumsey Map Center. The opening of this physical collection was a pretty big deal, but the digital collection has been on the web, in some part, and available to the online public since 1996. Twenty years ago, however, though the internet was decidedly becoming an everyday feature of modern life, it was difficult for the average person to imagine the degree to which digital technology would completely overtake our lives, not to mention the almost unbelievable wealth and power tech companies would amass in such short time.

Similarly, when the above 1932 Medicinal Plant Map of the United States (see in a larger format here) first appearedone of the tens of thousands of maps available in the digital Rumsey collectionfew people other than Aldous Huxley could have foreseen the exponential advances, and the rise of wealth and power, to come in the pharmaceutical industry.









But the pharmacists had a clue. The map, produced by the National Wholesale Druggists Association, was intended to boost the image of the profession, writes Rebecca Onion at Slate, at a time when companies were increasingly compounding new pharmaceuticals in labs, thereby rendering much of the drug-making knowledge and skill of old-time druggists obsolete.

Although the commercial pharmaceutical industry began taking shape in the late 19th century, it didnt fully come into its own until the so-called golden era of 1930-1960, when, says Onion, researchers developed a flood of new antibiotics, psychotropics, antihistamines, and vaccines, increasingly relying on synthetic chemistry to do so. Over-the-counter medications proliferated, and pharmacists became alarmed. They sought to persuade the public of their continued relevance by pointing out, as a short blurb at the bottom left corner of the map notes, that few people realize the extent to which plants and minerals enter into the practice of pharmacy.

The map appeared during Pharmacy Week in October, when pharmacists in Anglo-Saxon countries promote their services. Losing sight of those important services, the Druggists Association writes, will lead to suffering, should the traditional pharmacists function be impaired or destroyed by commercial trends. Thus we have this visual demonstration of competence. The map identifies important speciesnative or cultivatedin each region of the country. In Kentucky, we see Nicotina tabacum, whose cured leaves, you guessed it, constitute tobacco. Across the country in Nevada, we are introduced to Apocynum cannabinum, native of U.S. and Southern Canadathe dried rhizome and roots constitute the drug apocynum or Canadian hemp.

The better-known Cannibus sativa also appears, in one of the boxes around the maps border that introduce plants from outside North America, including Erythroxylon coca, from Bolivia and Peru, and Papaver somniferum, from which opium derives. Many of the other medications will be less familiar to usand belong to what we now call naturopathy, herbalism, or, more generally, traditional medicine. Though these medicinal practices are many thousands of years old, the druggists try to project a cutting-edge image, assuring the maps readers that intense scientific study, expert knowledge, extreme care and accuracy are applied by the pharmacist to medicinal plants.

While pharmacists today are highly-trained professionals, the part of their jobs that involved the making of drugs from scratch has been ceded to massive corporations and their research laboratories. The druggists of 1932 saw this coming, and no amount of colorful public relations could stem the tide. But it may be the case, given changing laws, changing attitudes, the backlash against overmedication, and the devastating opioid epidemic, that their craft is more relevant than it has been in decades, though todays druggists work in marijuana dispensaries and health food stores instead of national pharmacy chains.

View and download the map in a high resolution scan at the David Rumsey Map Collection, where you can zoom in to every plant on the map and read its description.

via Slate

Related Content:

Download 67,000 Historic Maps (in High Resolution) from the Wonderful David Rumsey Map Collection

The History of Cartography, the Most Ambitious Overview of Map Making Ever, Is Now Free Online

1,000-Year-Old Illustrated Guide to the Medicinal Use of Plants Now Digitized & Put Online

Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness
Student journalists at Lincoln High read The Oregonian/OregonLive's investigation into sexual misconduct in Portland Public Schools and decided to launch an investigation of their own.

The teen journalists wanted to know: What was their school's history with teachers accused of abusing students and what are those in charge doing to combat sexual abuse of Lincoln students?

In August 2017, The Oregonian published "Benefit of the Doubt: How Portland Public schools helped an educator evade sexual misconduct. It looked at how officials in Oregon's largest school district repeatedly turned a blind eye to misconduct by educator Mitch Whitehurst.

The Lincoln students' in-depth follow-up reporting went online Monday.

The Cardinal Times traced the history of one case in great depth and reported on another Lincoln teacher who also lost his license for misconduct with students. To do this, Lincoln journalists pored over investigative records from the state's teacher licensing agency and tracked down the student victim.

The Cardinal Times also spoke to experts and a high-level school district administrator about the issue of sexual abuse in schools and reviewed the licensing agency's database to see when Lincoln High teachers faced discipline for sexual misconduct. They interviewed Lincoln High Principal Peyton Chapman at length and talked with a wide spectrum of Lincoln teachers and students.

Chapman told the Cardinal Times change for the better is happening. From the Cardinal Times story:

"The Whitehurst case has led to calls for better inter-school communication about potential hires.

Chapman said this is already happening to an extent.

She is now required to communicate any sexual misconduct complaints to a senior director at the district. Before, any notes on the teacher that didn't result in discipline, but were taken for documentation purposes, would only go into the teacher's "building file," which contains records of complaints that stay at Lincoln. Now, the district has these files, as well.

'PPS has responded to recent issues and set up new practices so more information goes to the central office, and that is a good improvement,' Chapman said."

Read the story, "Abused and Afraid," in full HERE.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi congratulated in a phone call on Tuesday Abiy Ahmed for being sworn in as Ethiopias new prime minister yesterday, according to a statement by Egypts presidency.

Last week, Ethiopia's ruling coalition named Ahmed as the replacement for Hailemariam Desalegn, who resigned in February in a bid to smooth the path for reforms in the East African country.

During their phone conversation, El-Sisi affirmed that Cairo values its strong ties with Addis Ababa and stressed that he looks forward to "working with the new Ethiopian PM to further strengthen the comprehensive framework of relations between the two countries and achieve common interests in the coming period."

Ahmed also expressed congratulations to El-Sisi on his re-election for a second four-year term as president, while affirming that he looks to boost Egyptian-Ethiopian ties and bolster cooperation between the two countries.

Egypt and Ethiopia have been at odds over a hydroelectric mega dam Addis Ababa is building on the main tributary to Egypts River Nile, which Egypt fears would significantly diminish its share of Nile water.

El-Sisi had said earlier this year during talks with Desalegn in Cairo that his country would not allow differences over the dam to affect relations with Addis Ababa.

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A Rajneesh "Peace Force" officer guards the Bhagwan. (Photos: The Oregonian)

Ma Anand Sheela worried constantly about Rajneeshpuram being raided by immigration officials. So she came up with a plan.

"Whenever there was a situation which would be perceived as an emergency, such as a raid by the INS," FBI agents wrote in an internal investigative report, "a code word would be broadcast [around the property], which, for a time, was 'Mukta's Laundry.' When this code word would broadcast, beepers would go off and the key security people would then respond to a contingency plan."

That meant hiding the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the luxury-loving Indian guru whose followers had built the small city for him in remote Wasco County, Oregon. It also involved quickly moving foreign followers "with visa problems" to undisclosed locations on the Rajneeshees' 64,000-acre property.

The contingency plan was one of the many insider details that Rajneeshpuram mayor David Knapp told the FBI as authorities closed in on him and other Rajneeshees for various criminal acts, including murder plots against government officials and a bioterrorism attack in the town of The Dalles.

The cult's brief, action-packed Oregon adventures in the 1980s have received a splash of renewed attention in the past few weeks thanks to the six-part Netflix documentary, "Wild Wild Country." The Daily Beast's Marlow Stern has been especially diligent about following narrative strands left hanging by filmmakers Maclain and Chapman Way, and that includes tracking down the FBI summary report about Knapp's testimony.

Don't Edit

David Knapp

Knapp, known among Rajneeshees as Swami Krishna Deva, made clear that the red-robed, free-love-espousing commune members were willing to meet government agents with violence.

Sheela, Rajneesh's personal secretary and the commune's undisputed leader despite Knapp's mayoral title, created a security force initially of 38 heavily-armed officers. The outfit came to be known as "The 38."

The force soon grew to more than 100 men and women, who all carried Uzis and other automatic weapons.

These gun-toting Rajneeshees were polite but focused, recalled longtime Oregon public-relations maven Jan Dickinson, who said she visited the ranch "around 1983" with the late KEX reporter Bob Chase.

After being allowed through the front gate by armed guards and told where to go, Chase and Dickinson stopped their car on the side of the road to gaze at the vast natural scenery.

"Rajneeshees showed up immediately, all with guns, and asked what we were doing and why we had stopped," Dickinson told The Oregonian on Monday.

She said she and Chase never felt threatened or in danger, but that it was a little unnerving to "always have eyes on you."

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Sheela walks alongside the Bhagwan as he drives one of his Rolls Royce cars.

That sense of paranoia, like most everything that defined the commune, apparently came from Sheela, who Knapp claimed was taking valium and a variety of other drugs. Knapp told the FBI that Sheela had ordered guards at the Rajneeshees' airstrip to be ready for the feds to descend from the sky, in which case "Rajneesh aircraft would take off and fly in layered levels over the airport to prevent hostile aircraft from landing."

Guards also were allegedly told that if a government helicopter tried to land at the commune, armor-piercing bullets should be used to ward it off.

By this time, the Rajneeshees were on the defensive on a series of fronts.

Early in 1985, Les Zaitz and other reporters at The Oregonian were finishing work on a 20-part newspaper series that would shred the Rajneeshees' self-created public image as harmless spiritual seekers being maligned by small-minded religious bigots and an overzealous government.

As a result, Sheela allegedly directed a Rajneeshee agent named Ava Avalos to find a way into The Oregonian's downtown Portland offices. "Knapp was aware Ava was trying to get the article that Zaitz was preparing for The Oregonian, concerning Rajneeshpuram, out of his files or destroy the computer that contained the information," the FBI report states.

Sure enough, Ava and her team posed as a cleaning crew and gained entry to The Oregonian, but one of the building's actual janitors noticed the strangers -- and how they were poking around in an unusual way. The janitor notified a security guard, who ushered them out. They didn't get their hands on Zaitz's work until it was published.

Don't Edit

Rajneeshees hold a rally in Portland.

David Knapp's allegations go on and on in the 40-page FBI report. Another example: He stated that Sheela directed trusted Rajneesh agents to dig out evidence of the possible sexual peccadilloes of Senator Mark Hatfield. Sheela would spend just over two years in federal prison for crimes including arson, poisoning attacks and immigration fraud.

All of this, it seems, was Sheela's attempt to protect the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh from harm. In the end, however, she would determine that the greatest danger to the guru came not from Oregon reporters or government officials but from his own followers -- specifically, Knapp said, from a group of wealthy Californians who played to the Bhagwan's vanity by giving him expensive gifts. These presents included a wristwatch that cost more than $1 million.

When Francoise Ruddy (a.k.a., Hasya), the former wife of Hollywood producer Albert Ruddy, told Sheela "she could not say no to Bhagwan, Sheela responded by telling her that it was important to learn to say no to Bhagwan."

-- Douglas Perry

More: Rajneeshees in Oregon: The Untold Story.
Not every police agency provides a log of its responses, and few do it with the finesse of the Forest Grove Police Department. Every week, we post the goings on as provided by this community 25 miles west of Portland, not because it's earth-shatteringly important, but because it provides a glimpse into the world of modern small-town policing.

During the week, Forest Grove police officers were engaged in more than 386 activities, both reported and self-initiated.

March 23

* A caller reported an RV rolling down a major road dumping sewage. Police were unable to locate the vehicle or any evidence of spilled waste.

* A store employee reported a man had collapsed after allegedly huffing from a bottle of compressed air. The man was awake and alert when officers arrived. He refused medical transport and was banned from the location.

* A man reported that a convenience store sold him fake lottery scratch tickets because they were misshapen and were losing tickets. He was advised this was unlikely.

March 24

* A store employee reported a customer who was acting strange and aggressive and refusing to leave. Officers contacted the man and trespassed him from the location. A short while later, police received a report of the same man inside a second hand store sleeping soundly on a sofa inside the location. Officers woke the man and sent him on his way, banning him from the second location as well.

* Officers contacted a man seen allegedly exposing himself and obstructing traffic along Pacific Avenue. The man was extremely high on illicit substances and unable to operate his trousers correctly. He was provided a ride to jail.

* A woman reported that her boyfriend had texted her stating he was about to commit a homicide, and that he would kill the police as well if she called for helped. Officers responded and were able to take the man into custody on a peace officer hold.

March 25

* A man reported the theft of his prescription medication.

* A caller reported that her ex-husband was refusing to follow a parenting plan that a judge had put in place. Police advised this was a civil matter.

* Police received a report of a suspicious person wearing scrubs and a head wrap crawling in bark dust outside a liquor store. Officers were unable to locate anyone matching the description.

March 26

* A man reported that he had left a bad Yelp review for a local establishment and was now being harassed by employees from the shop.

* A man reported that he had been drugged at a local bar during a St. Patrick's Day celebration a week prior, advising that he drank a significant amount and felt unwell the following morning. Officers advised that heavy drinking likely contributed to his condition.

* Night shift officers located a man walking along Pacific Avenue who was known to have an outstanding warrant. The man identified himself initially, but changed his story during his transport to jail and provided a different name. Unfortunately for him, that alias also had a warrant. Providing false information was added to his charge.

March 27

* Officers contacted an individual who set up camp inside the back doorway of the Forest Grove Police station. The individual was instructed to move along.

* Forest Grove Police assisted Washington County deputies in detaining a man who allegedly threatened his roommate with a gun.

* A caller reported that someone identifying themselves as the "Protective Police" had knocked on their door in the middle of the night. Officers advised that they had not attempted to contact the caller, nor does anyone from the FGPD use that title.

March 28

* Officers responded to a senior care community where a resident had become combative and violent. He was taken to the hospital. Shortly after, police responded to a separate care center where an individual had become combative while receiving medical attention from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue.

* A caller reported a suspicious person walking in a residential area and looking into the back of vehicles early in the morning. Officers were unable to locate anyone matching the description.

March 29

* A caller reported that two juveniles had been locked out of their home and their parent did not get home until late at night. With a little creativity and a broom, an officer assisted the pair in retrieving a spare key from the roof.

* Police received multiple reports of package theft, including items taken from porches and outgoing items taken from mailboxes. Officers are investigating.
By Arlene Burns, Paul Blackburn and Peter Cornelison

Washington state leaders announced on March 1 that they had approved the first ever oil spill response plan for a railroad hauling crude oil through the Columbia River Gorge and across the rest of the state. Washington's Department of Ecology officials touted the plan as, "A significant step forward for the protection of Washington's communities and the environment."

We agree. Yet, two days later the Oregon Legislature adjourned without taking action on a bill that would require the same protections in Oregon. This marks the third legislative session since 2015 where Oregon lawmakers failed to pass meaningful, common sense bills addressing oil train emergency response.

We represent communities directly affected by the oil train derailment and fire in 2016 that, but for the grace of god (or winds), would have incinerated Mosier in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Since 2014, Mosier, Hood River and other towns along the river have opposed new oil train infrastructure and called for better laws to help protect our communities from the new threat of oil trains.

Thankfully, Washington laws require full environmental review of oil terminals and emergency plans for oil train derailments and spills. These laws helped block the massive oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver and provide better protections against the next oil train derailment and spill. While Washington pushes ahead, reform efforts in Salem have continued to stall.

Two years after our traumatizing, 14-hour oil fire in Mosier, communities across Oregon are still exposed and at risk. We have the weakest laws on the West Coast for oil trains and terminals. Unlike our neighbors to the north and south, Oregon does not require oil spill emergency response plans or proof of insurance to cover worst-case spills for railroads that transport oil by rail through our state. Oregon allows oil terminals to be built on state-owned land without even requiring a land lease or a comprehensive environmental review. Unless legislators change this, Oregon is the soft spot on the West Coast for future oil terminal development that could lead to increased threats to communities, salmon and scenic treasures like the Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon coast.

Legislators like Rep. Barbara Smith Warner, D-Portland, have valiantly championed bills to improve oil train emergency response. But for a strong bill to pass, legislators will have to choose to protect our communities over the railroad lobby.

We call on the legislative leadership to work with Gov. Kate Brown to pass a strong oil train emergency response and stringent oil terminal review bill in the 2019 session. Mosier, Hood River and many other communities throughout Oregon, expect nothing less.

-- Arlene Burns is the mayor of Mosier, Paul Blackburn is the mayor of Hood River and Peter Cornelison is a Hood River City Council Member.
Authorities are searching along the route the Hart family may have taken before plunging off a California cliff more than a week ago, the California Highway Patrol said Monday afternoon.

Their SUV may have intentionally sped off a cliff along the northern coast of California, killing at least five people, law enforcement officials confirmed Monday to The Oregonian/OregonLive. The search for Devonte Hart, 15; Hannah, 16; and Sierra, 12, continues at the scene and along the route authorities believe the family may have taken to the coast.

Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, were found dead in their overturned SUV on March 26, and three of their six children -- Markis, 19; Abigail, 14; and Jeremiah, 14 -- were also found dead at the site.

"The search for the additional three children belonging to the family continues both at the scene, through water rescue and recovery, and other locations including routes of travel," the Highway Patrol said in a news release.

The agency said preliminary physical evidence indicates the crash may have been intentional. No skid marks, tire friction marks or dirt prints from a vehicle tire were found at the scene.

The SUV's on-board computer indicates it was stopped in a dirt pullout area about 70 feet from the edge of the cliff before accelerating off the cliff, the Highway Patrol said.

At that distance, the agency said, the SUV "would not have been able to get up to a significant speed prior to impact."

"A comprehensive vehicle inspection is currently underway ... to determine the vehicle's speed," the agency said.

Authorities have also seized an iPad and laptop from the Woodland, Washington, home of the family.

Documents show the electronic devices were pulled from the Hart home amid a search of the residence last week.

A search warrant document shows the wide net authorities cast in an initial search for information as they tried to locate the three missing children. Documents filed in Clark County District Court show authorities searched for items including a travel itinerary, bank records, cellphone records, suicide notes and mail.

It's unclear what other items, if any, were seized from the home. The iPad, laptop and associated items are the only items listed in a document showing property seized from the rural home, which Jennifer and Sarah Hart purchased in May 2017.

The family previously lived in West Linn. They gained some level of fame when a photo taken during a 2014 Portland protest of Devonte Hart hugging a police officer with tears streaming down his face went viral.

But the family's public appearance may not have matched what was happening in their home.

Court records show that in April of 2011, while living in Minnesota, Sarah Hart plead guilty to abusing Abigail Hart and was sentenced to a year of probation for misdemeanor domestic assault.

And earlier this month, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services opened a Child Protective Services investigation which identified the Hart children as "potential victims of alleged abuse or neglect."

 Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Lizzy Acker of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report
UPDATE: Hart friend says she reported family to Oregon authorities five years ago

The parents of Devonte Hart removed him and his five siblings from public schools in Minnesota the day after one of his mothers resolved a child-abuse court case, The Oregonian/OregonLive has learned.

Sarah Hart reached a probation agreement April 14, 2011, a week after she pleaded guilty to physically abusing one of her daughters, who was then 6 years old.

The next day, all six of their adopted children were taken out of public schools in Alexandria, where the family lived before moving to Oregon. They would never attend public school again.

"The leave date indicates all six children left prior to the end of the school year for a homeschool setting," Jill Johnson, a spokeswoman for the school district, told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an email.

An Alexandria police report obtained Tuesday also shows a different daughter told authorities in 2008 one of her mothers bruised her with a belt.

Asked by police about the beating, Jennifer and Sarah Hart said the girl had fallen down the stairs days before, the report shows.

The revelations come eight days after the Hart family's SUV was found at the bottom of a scenic cliff along the Northern California coast, a crash investigators believe may have been intentional.

The lifeless bodies of Jennifer, who was driving, and Sarah Hart, both 38, were in their overturned GMC Yukon on March 26, and three of their children  Markis, 19, Abigail, 14, and Jeremiah, 14  were found dead outside the vehicle at the bottom of the 100-foot cliff.

Devonte Hart, 15, remains missing along with siblings Hannah, 16, and Sierra, 12. Devonte was at the center of a viral photo in The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2014 that captured his tender embrace with a Portland policeman during a "Black Lives Matter" protest.

All eight Harts left their home in Woodland, Washington, sometime after no one answered the door March 23 for a visit by child protective services, according to neighbors and the Clark County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities are now examining incidents from the family's past.

Court records in Minnesota show Sarah Hart in 2011 received a 90-day suspended jail sentence and a year of probation after daughter Abigail arrived at Woodland Elementary School with bruises on her stomach and back.

The girl's teacher contacted social services and police.

Abigail told authorities her mother struck her repeatedly with a closed fist, submerged her head under cold water and withheld meals from her for misbehaving, according to report by police in Alexandria, a small town northwest of Minneapolis where the family lived.

Though the girl said Jennifer Hart was the one who hit her, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty April 7, 2011, to misdemeanor domestic assault.

Previously, Abigail's older sister Hannah said in September 2008 it was her mother Jennifer who struck her with a belt, causing a bruise on her arm that attracted notice  and a call to authorities, according to the newly obtained Alexandria police report.

In an interview, both mothers told a police sergeant and social worker they had no idea how Hannah, who was 6 at the time, got the bruise but said she had recently fallen down the stairs in their home.

The parents added the little girl was adopted and "has been going through food issues, where she'll steal other people's food at school or eat out of garbage cans or off the floor," the police report shows.

Records show the Hart children enrolled in Alexandria public schools Sept. 8, 2009  seven months after Jennifer and Sarah finalized their adoption of siblings Devonte, Jeremiah and Sierra in Harris County, Texas. The women had previously adopted siblings Markis, Abigail and Hannah from Colorado County, Texas, in September 2006.

Two and a half years after enrolling, the children left public schools. Markis was a seventh-grader at Discovery Middle School, and the other five children, who ranged from kindergarten to third grade, attended Woodland Elementary.

Scott Heckert, the principal of Woodland at the time, recalled the Harts as an insular family whose children  despite being amiable and outgoing among their peers  rarely spent time with others outside the classroom.

"They stayed under the radar and liked to be alone and away from other people," Heckert said of Jennifer and Sarah, adding the children received extra attention from teachers and faculty after the abuse allegations.

Heckert, in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive Tuesday, said the unconventional family, whose same-sex parents and multiracial children sometimes faced disapproval in the conservative-leaning town of 13,000, had talked about moving to San Francisco.

That appears to have never happened.

Instead, the family relocated to West Linn sometime in 2013, according to friends.

The Harts homeschooled their children, according to friends and neighbors in Oregon, Washington and in Minnesota. But they never filed the proper notices in Oregon and Washington, according to agencies in both states.

The two states require families to tell officials that they're homeschooling their children, with notice to their local school system in Washington and to their regional service district in Oregon.

The Clackamas Education Service District, which oversees West Linn, said it had no record of the children. David Holmes, superintendent of schools in La Center said the same thing after the family moved to Washington.

Officials have no other way to track when homeschooling families move in or out of their district, Holmes said. "It's totally up to the family to notify."

Bruce and Dana DeKalb, who lived next door in Washington, said Devonte had come to their home a dozen times to ask for food, saying his parents had withheld it as a form of punishment.

The DeKalbs also recounted that three months after the family moved into a home on 2 acres last May, one of the girls rang their doorbell in the middle of the night.

The girl, who they later learned was Hannah, "was at our door in a blanket saying we needed to protect her," Bruce DeKalb said. "She said that they were abusing her."

Others had concerns as well. In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Alexandra Argyropoulos, a former friend of the Harts, said she "witnessed what I felt to be controlling emotional abuse and cruel punishment" toward the six children. She said the Harts had been depriving their children of food as punishment.

After reporting her concerns in 2013, Argyropoulos said, she was told the Hart children had been interviewed by officials from the Oregon department; it was apparent that each child had been coached by their mothers on what to say; and nothing more could be done.

She said the couple broke off contact with her after she went to Oregon officials.

"My heart is completely broken. The current system failed to protect these children from their abusers," Argyropoulos said.

Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Molly Young and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 || @shanedkavanaugh
Updated 7:05 p.m.

The Hart family is believed to have traveled about 450 miles down the coast from Newport to Fort Bragg in about 12 hours prior to their SUV plunging off a northern California cliff, authorities say.

The believed route, released Tuesday by the California Highway Patrol, provides a glimpse into the family's travels before the crash, which left at least five dead. Authorities continue to search for three children.

The family's SUV went off a cliff sometime between the night of Sunday, March 25, and the next afternoon. The Highway Patrol said Tuesday afternoon that there was no information about their whereabouts immediately prior to the crash.

The family was believed to have been in or around the Newport, Oregon, area about 8:15 a.m. Saturday, March 24, according to the Highway Patrol. The agency said it's believed the family went south on Route 101 until reaching Route 1 in Leggett, California, and then kept going south on Route 1 until reaching the Fort Bragg, California, area about 8 p.m. that day.

The family stayed in the Fort Bragg and Cleone areas until about 9 p.m. that Sunday, according to the Highway Patrol. A woman believed to be Jennifer Hart, one of the parents, is seen on video footage from a Safeway store in Fort Bragg at 8:05 a.m.

The route is based on cellphone pings, according to Officer Cal Robertson, an agency spokesman.

The search and rescue effort for the three missing children continues. Mendocino County Sheriff Lt. Shannon Barney said six counties will work together Wednesday during morning low tides to search a larger area, based on Coast Guard computer modeling of water currents and drifts.

The effort will include about 71 searchers and will begin at 8 a.m., according to a sheriff's office news release. It will focus on the area from the Noyo Harbor to the MacKerricher State Park.

The search will include mainly ground units on the beaches but will also have a boat and a helicopter.

"There's a big storm coming Thursday," Barney said, which adds urgency to the search.

The sheriff's office hasn't determined whether the family was prepared for a long trip.

"If the vehicle was there for a long period of time during a high tide cycle," Barney said, "a lot of the stuff may have been carried out to sea."

But, he added, "not a lot of property" was discovered with the SUV. "We don't have a clear picture of what they had."

With the investigation ongoing, Barney said he couldn't say whether the crash was a homicide.

"We will consider all those angles," he said, "anything from a terrible accident to a homicide is on the table."

The initial autopsies are complete, Barney said, but it may be up to 60 days to get the results. It takes time for toxicology to come back, and the examiner needs to compare injuries found on the victims to what the Highway Patrol concludes about the collision, before determining a cause of death.

 Lizzy Acker and Jim Ryan
Two relatives of people killed in the 2012 Clackamas Town Center shooting filed a proposed ballot initiative Monday that would establish wide-ranging requirements for gun owners, from how guns must be stored to making gun owners liable for injuries caused with their firearms. Their initiative is the second gun-related measure that could appear on Oregon's November 2018 ballot if backers gather enough valid signatures.

Backers will have to gather more than 88,000 voter signatures to put the question on the ballot this fall.

If Initiative Petition 44 qualifies for the ballot and is adopted by voters, it would compel Oregon gun owners to:

Store and transfer their weapons with trigger locks or in tamper-proof locked boxes

Directly supervise any child who uses their gun

Report a lost or stolen gun to the police within 24 hours of when they knew or should have known of the gun was missing

Be fully liable for an injury caused with their gun, unless the injury results from self defense or defense of another person

Breaking the new gun ownership rules, if voters enact them, could result in fines of up to $2,000 per violation.

Jenna Yuille, a chief petitioner of the measure, lost her mother in the Clackamas mall shooting. She said she believes stricter gun storage laws could save lives because guns stored unsafely "pose an immediate danger." Paul Kemp, whose brother-in-law was one of three killed during the 2012 mall shooting, is also a chief petitioner.

In its announcement of the potential ballot measure, the group Oregonians for Safe Gun Storage cited figures claiming that school shooters often use weapons stored unsafely by their parents or relatives and that safe gun storage laws may cut down on teen suicides and accidental child shootings.

Initiative Petition 44 is the second gun-related measure that may make the November ballot in Oregon. The first, a proposal brought by Portland clergy and numbered Initiative Petition 43, would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in Oregon. Supporters of each measure must collect at least 88,184 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Activists in Oregon and in other states have publicly pushed for new gun control laws following the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Following the shooting, in which 17 students and staff were killed, millions joined in protest marches around the nation, and some state legislatures  including Oregon's  have passed or debated new gun control laws.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman
Oregon joined sixteen other states, the District of Columbia and six cities to sue the U.S. government Tuesday, saying the addition of a citizenship question to the census form is unconstitutional.

Federal funding and congressional representation are at stake in the dispute over the Trump administration's move to reinstate the citizenship question to the 2020 census. It would be the first time in 70 years that the government uses the form sent to every household to ask people to specify whether they are U.S. citizens.

New York Attorney General Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat who announced the new lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, said the plans would have a "devastating effect on New York, where we have millions of immigrants."

"It's unlawful. It's unfair," Schneiderman said at a news conference. He added that it would end a longstanding bipartisan effort to ensure the census is accurate and that the Bureau of the Census carries out its mandate to conduct a full and fair count of the population, including citizens and non-citizens.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a statement that the citizenship question could disproportionately impact states with large immigrant populations. Undercounting could lead to diminished federal funding or potentially curb those states' influence through congressional seat apportionment and the Electoral College.

"Adding a citizenship question to the Census form has a deliberate and intended chilling effect on participation," Rosenblum said in a statement. "As state Attorneys General we are committed to making sure every voice is heard, and we believe that every person in America counts. Period."

Oregon had a 9.8 percent foreign-born population in 2015, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data, more than most states.

The Census Bureau hasn't included a citizenship question in its survey of all U.S. households since 1950, well before passage of a 1965 law meant to ensure minority groups were fully represented in the once-a-decade count. The NAACP has said the plans for the census will lead to a massive undercounting of blacks.

The lawsuit, which also included the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors as a plaintiff, said adding the citizenship demand to the 2020 census questionnaire was arbitrary and will "fatally undermine the accuracy of the population count."

It asked for a ruling that the citizenship demand is unauthorized and unconstitutional.

A government spokesman did not immediately comment. The Justice Department has said it "looks forward to defending the reinstatement of the citizenship question." The Commerce Department has said the benefits of obtaining citizenship information "outweighed the limited potential adverse impacts."

According to the lawsuit, nearly a quarter of households in New York state did not return their 2010 census questionnaire, requiring an in-person follow-up. It noted that one-in-five New York residents were born in another country.

At the news conference, three other New York Democrats criticized the plan.

U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez called the citizenship question a "blatant attempt to undermine our Constitution and to undermine our democracy."

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler said it was a "brazen attempt by the Trump administration to cheat on the census, to undermine the integrity of the census and to attack states ... to steal electoral votes from those states and give them to more congenial states that will vote Republican."

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney predicted the lawsuit will end before the U.S. Supreme Court.

"It is unprecedented. It is wrong. And it's got to be stopped," she said of the citizenship question.

The defendants were the U.S. Department of Commerce, responsible for the census, and the Bureau of the Census. Plaintiffs include New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia, New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Rhode Island, San Francisco, Seattle and Providence, Rhode Island.

California's attorney general filed a separate lawsuit last week that seeks to block the citizenship question from being added to the census questionnaire.

-- The Associated Press

Elliot Njus of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.
Former state employee Joe Colello was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison for money laundering and defrauding the Internal Revenue Service for his role in a bribery scheme related to the sale of state tax credits.

He was also ordered to pay $81,000 in restitution and turn himself into federal custody by 2 p.m. today.

Colello, 58, admitted last summer that he accepted $300,000 in kickbacks from a Seattle-based energy consultant, Martin Shain, in exchange for arranging the sale of state energy tax credits that investigators say netted Shain some $1.3 million in commissions.

Colello pleaded guilty last summer in Marion County Circuit Court to accepting bribes, racketeering, aggravated theft, state tax evasion and official misconduct. He is scheduled for sentencing on those charges later this month. Under plea agreements with state and federal prosecutors, he would serve five-year terms concurrently, with additional restitution to be paid to the state and the clients who paid Shain the commissions. He will serve three years' probation upon his release.

"Government employees are called to be stewards of taxpayers' dollars and interests. Instead, this defendant chose to betray his obligation and defy public trust," said Billy J. Williams, U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon. "Plain and simple, corruption erodes confidence in government."

Shain is being tried separately on charges of forgery, bribery, tax evasion, racketeering and theft. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled for September, though prosecutors have held settlement talks with his lawyers. Federal charges have not been filed in his case.

Until 2015, Colello oversaw the sale of state energy tax credits at the Oregon Department of Energy. State rules allowed the original recipients of the credits to sell them to a third party at a discount, and it was Colello's job to match sellers with buyers and process the transactions for a small fee.

Sellers also could use outside brokers to find buyers and complete the deals. In 2012, Colello started crediting one broker, Shain, for matching buyers and sellers who had actually come directly to the state to complete their deals.

Using his insider knowledge, Colello would steer Shain to public agencies and companies looking to sell their credits, authorities said. Once Shain had secured a brokerage contract, Colello would complete the deals, crediting Shain with finding buyers who had actually gone directly to the state looking for available credits.

From 2012 to 2015, prosecutors said, Shain's brokerage company earned $1.3 million in commissions from 11 clients, including cities, transit agencies universities and companies around the state. Their largest take -- $764,847.40 -- was attributed to brokering the sale of nearly $12 million in tax credits for a series of solar arrays that SolarCity Corp. built on various campuses for Oregon State University and the Oregon Institute of Technology.

According to the transcript of an interview that state prosecutors submitted in court, Shain was responsible for paying taxes on the commissions and would then split what was left with Colello. Prosecutors say Shain set up a sham corporation in the name of his elderly mother to process the commissions from clients and pay Colello.

Over three years, prosecutors said that Shain sent approximately 58 cashier's checks to Colello or his girlfriend totaling more than $300,000. To disguise the payments and avoid a tax liability for Colello, prosecutors say Shain kept most of the checks below a supposed bank reporting threshold of $5,000, and labeled the checks as loan proceeds. The plan, according to Colello, was for Shain to forgive the loan when his mother died.

Colello deposited the proceeds in his own accounts and used them for investments and credit card payments. Prosecutors say he failed to report the income on his tax returns between 2012 and 2015, and avoided $81,000 in federal taxes. Thus the restitution amount in the federal case.

The alleged kickback scheme came to light after The Oregonian/OregonLive published the results of an investigation showing the state had improperly awarded the $12 million in tax credits to the university solar projects based on forged documents. Shain was the state's consultant on those projects, in charge of working with staff at the Department of Energy to obtain the tax credits.

The FBI and the Oregon Department of Justice launched an investigation after the news report. They found that Shain had also been credited with brokering the sale of tens of millions of dollars in state tax credits. The bribery scheme and Colello's role came to light during that investigation.

- Ted Sickinger

503-221-8505; @tedsickinger
A career criminal will spend another 12-plus years in prison after robbing four banks in nine days  all while on supervised release for an earlier bank robbery.

At age 54, Terry Lintott has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars.

Lintott, wearing a gray-and-white striped jail suit with "inmate'' stamped in red on the back of his shirt, apologized Monday to the judge, his parents and the community.

"Your Honor, I'm sorry I'm standing here before you again,'' he told U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman. "There's no good reason for recommitting the crime.''

Lintott has little recollection of the crime spree in 2016. He didn't have a weapon.

He was drinking heavily and "simply gave up because life out here was too much for him to handle,'' defense lawyer Noel Grefenson wrote in a sentencing memo.

Lintott didn't need the money. His mother and her husband would have supported him. He made no effort to conceal his identity during the heists.

He had been convicted of bank robberies in 1994 and 2002. He was on supervised release after serving a sentence of 12 years and seven months for the 2002 robbery.

in 2016, he robbed a Wells Fargo Bank branch on North Denver Avenue of $600 on Sept. 12. The next day, he robbed Riverview Community Bank at 10401 N.E. Halsey St., making off with $2,210. Three days later, on Sept. 16, he hit the same bank and fled with $1,850. Then on Sept. 21, he robbed OnPoint Credit Union in Wilsonville, making off with $4,260.

His lawyer urged the court to recognize that prison isn't helping Lintott. He blamed Lintott's debilitating alcoholism, serious depression and lack of inpatient treatment for his continued crimes.

Lintott received some inpatient treatment while he was on supervision, but it stopped after three weeks because program funding dried up, Grefenson said. He urged a sentence of five years and 10 months in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hannah Horsley said Lintott received help while in custody and on supervision, including outpatient treatment and involvement in what's called re-entry court to help ease his transition out of prison, but he didn't follow through on the programs.

The judge turned to Lintott's mother and stepfather, who sat in court.

"I'm sorry you have to be here on a day like this,'' Mosman told them. "There's a lot that's deeply troubling about this case.''

The time Lintott has served in federal prison is on par with offenders who commit much more serious crimes, the judge said.

"It's incredibly unfortunate your crime of choice is federally insured bank robbery,'' Mosman said. "It's made you a career offender and enhanced your sentences over the years.''

The defendant's mother Essie Lintott, and her husband, Elliott Cummins, didn't speak. Court papers noted that the mother worked in the legal profession for former Gov. Ted Kulongoski and the state Supreme Court, but the documents don't specify in what capacity. Her husband is a lawyer.

Mosman said the law requires him to consider Lintott a career criminal, even though Lintott was unarmed during the bank robberies. He said he also believed that "our system's inability'' to allow Lintott to earlier complete a full inpatient treatment program likely contributed to his relapses.

He sentenced Lintott to 12 years and seven months in prison, recommending him for the federal Bureau of Prisons' intensive drug and alcohol treatment program. He also recommended Lintott serve his time at the federal prison in Sheridan, noting his family is important to his rehabilitation.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
France on Tuesday wished Abdel Fattah al-Sisi success for his next presidential term in Egypt and said it stood "resolutely" with the country on the fight against terrorism.

Sisi, who had no real opposition, was re-elected for a second term with 97 percent of the vote, official returns showed.

"France offers its wishes for the full success of President Sisi for his second mandate," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes Von Der Muhll said in a daily briefing.

"It hopes that his reelection will allow him to satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people for security, prosperity and the full expression of freedoms in a constitutional framework," she said without elaborating.

With both France and Egypt concerned by the political vacuum in Libya and the threat from jihadist groups in Egypt, the two countries have cultivated even closer economic and military ties under Sisi.

Rights organizations have accused France under President Emmanuel Macron of turning a blind eye to what they say are increasing violations of freedoms by Sisi's government.

After hosting Sisi in Paris in October, Macron said it was not up to him to "lecture" Egypt on civil liberties.

"France stands resolutely alongside Egypt to face the common challenge of terrorism, to work for the solution of regional crises and to develop cooperation at the United Nations, in Africa and in the Mediterranean," von Der Muhll said.

She added that Paris would continue its dialogue with Egypt on human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Short link:


A 26-year-old man was arrested Monday after leading police on a low-speed chase in a stolen Stumptown Coffee box truck on a southern California highway, authorities say.

The truck for Portland-based Stumptown Coffee Roasters was previously reported stolen and spotted by a sheriff's deputy around noon in Santa Clarita, about 35 miles northwest of Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The driver drove away from an attempted traffic stop, and deputies chased the Stumptown Coffee truck for several miles, including through a shopping center, the sheriff's department said.

Once the truck got onto Interstate 5, California Highway Patrol took over the pursuit. At some point during the chase on another freeway, the unidentified suspect jumped out of the truck while it was still moving and ran across several traffic lanes.

He surrendered soon after being confronted at gunpoint by police officers.

The sheriff's office has not yet announced where the truck was stolen or if any products were damaged during the chase.

The coffee company responded on Twitter to a tweet from California television station KTLA of footage of the police chase with, "Just another manic #Monday"

Stumptown Coffee has locations in Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, New Orleans and Chicago.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants to use the military to secure the U.S.-Mexico border until his promised border wall is built.

Speaking at a lunch with Baltic leaders, Trump said he's been discussing the idea with his Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis.

"We're going to be doing things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," he said, calling the measure a "big step."

"We really haven't done that before, or certainly not very much before," he said.

Trump has been deeply frustrated about the lack of progress building what was the signature promise of his campaign: a "big, beautiful wall" along the Mexican border. He's previously suggested using the Pentagon's budget to pay for building the wall, arguing it is a national security priority, despite strict rules that prohibit spending that's not authorized by Congress.

The Department of Homeland Security, Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how such a plan might work.

Sending military to the border, in the form of National Guard troops, has been done before. In 2006, under Operation Jump Start, 6,000 troops were sent to the border in an effort to increase security and surveillance. The operation used the National Guard to assist border patrol with non-law enforcement duties while additional border agents were hired and trained.

The number declined during the second year to about 3,000.

Over the two years, about 29,000 National Guard forces participated in the missions, as forces rotated in and out.

The Guard members were used for surveillance, communications, administrative support, intelligence, analysis and, in some cases, the installation of border security infrastructure. Over the two years, more than 30 miles of fencing and 13 miles of road were built, and more than 86 miles of vehicle barriers were installed.

Active duty U.S. troops were not used for the operation since there are prohibitions on using so-called Title 10 troops for law enforcement and similar duties within the United States

Trump's announcement came a day administration officials said they're crafting a new legislative package aimed at closing immigration "loopholes."

Trump also called on Republican lawmakers to immediately pass a border bill using the "Nuclear Option if necessary" to muscle it through, as part of a flurry of tweets on the subject over the last several days.

The president has also been declaring protections for so-called Dreamer immigrants "dead," accusing Democrats of allowing "open borders, drugs and crime" and warning Mexico to halt the passage of "caravans" of immigrants or risk U.S. abandonment of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump has been seething since realizing the major spending bill he signed last month barely funds the wall he has promised supporters. The $1.3 trillion funding package included $1.6 billion in border wall spending -- far less than the $25 billion Trump made a last-minute push to secure. And much of that money can be used only to repair existing segments, not to build new sections.

Among the new measures the administration is pursuing: ending special safeguards that prevent the immediate deportation of children arrested at the border and traveling alone. Under current law, unaccompanied children from countries that don't border the U.S. are turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services and undergo often lengthy deportation proceedings before an immigration judge instead of being immediately deported.

The administration is also pushing Congress to terminate a 1997 court settlement that requires the government to release children from custody to parents, adult relatives or other caretakers as their court cases proceed. Officials complain that many children never show up at their hearings.

The proposals appear the same as those included on an immigration wish list the White House released in October but failed to gain traction during negotiations over the border wall. Such proposals are likely to face opposition from moderate Republicans and Democrats going into the midterm elections. But Trump appears intent on ensuring the issues remain at the forefront of public conversation, even though the spending bill was widely seen as the last major legislation likely passed this year.

Trump's past calls to for the "nuclear option" -- changing Senate rules so that a simple majority of 51 votes is needed to advance legislation, instead of the current 60 votes -- have been dismissed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell says Republicans will welcome the 60-vote margin if they return to the minority. The current 51-49 Senate split favors Republicans.

Trump announced last year that he was ending DACA, the program that protects young "Dreamer" immigrants and allows them to work legally in the country, but the Department of Homeland Security is continuing to issue renewals because of a court order.

Notably, Trump's favored solution for extending the protections mustered only 39 votes in the Senate, meaning it couldn't have passed even if the rules had been changed.

Trump also warned Mexico to halt the passage of about 1,100 migrants, many from Honduras, who had been marching in a caravan along roadsides and train tracks in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

"If it reaches our border, our laws are so weak and so pathetic," Trump claimed. "It's like we have no border."

These "Stations of the Cross" migrant caravans have been held in southern Mexico for at least the last five years. They began as short processions of migrants, some dressed in biblical garb and carrying crosses, as an Easter-season protest against attacks against Central Americans as they cross Mexico.

The caravan that once numbered 1,150 or more people actually halted days ago in the town of Matias Romero in the southern state of Oaxaca, where participants slept out in the open. After days of walking along roadsides and train tracks, the organizers now plan to try to get buses to take participants to the final event, an immigrants' rights conference in the central state of Puebla later this week.

--The Associated Press
Reaction continues to pour in over local anchors being required to read a script attacking "biased and false news" in segments airing on TV stations -- including Portland's KATU -- which are owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Calls to Sinclair and to KATU requesting comment haven't been returned as of 5 p.m. Monday. But The Oregonian/OregonLive has confirmed that KATU staff were sent a memo on Monday that addressed the controversy.

The memo reads, in part, that the promos had been airing for more than a week "with very few calls," and that people calling "are complaining about something they most likely haven't actually watched and don't have full context on due to social media, etc."

Callers can write their concerns, the memo says, on the KATU.com home page, by clicking on the link to http://katu.com/content-concerns. Staffers are also reminded not to talk to the media about the promos.

The Sinclair-mandated promos were first reported by CNN's Brian Stelter in early March. At that time, Stelter reported, some local TV journalists were upset by the promo requirement from the ownership company, which had made, Stelter wrote, "several programming decisions that reflect a right-wing agenda."

But the promos became a social media hot topic over the weekend, after the website Deadspin posted a video montage of local anchors reciting the Sinclair-provided script.

Lines from the script include mentions of some media outlets that publish fake (or "fabricated," as the KATU anchors say in their promos) stories and media members who "use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda" to control what people think, which is "extremely dangerous" to a democracy.

Critics of the promo spots included John Oliver, on the Sunday broadcast of his HBO show "Last Week Tonight." Oliver, who has been critical of Sinclair Broadcast Group in the past, aired part of the Deadspin montage, noting the anchors included looked like "members of a brainwashed cult."

Oliver also objected to Sinclair Broadcast Group's policy of making its stations air "Bottom Line With Boris," opinion pieces from Boris Epshteyn, a former aide to president Donald Trump.

Trump wrote Monday on Twitter that it was "so funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased." Trump added that "Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke."

As debate surrounding the Sinclair-mandated promos continued to swirl, the company, which owns more than 190 TV stations, posted a response to its website on Monday, with the headline, "Sinclair Responds to Unfounded Media Criticism."

The statement reads that the company is responding to "a series of media reports attacking" the company's "recent promotional announcement for its local news. These announcements were responding to the public's distrust in news generally."

Such attitudes were confirmed "just today," the Sinclair statement says, by a Monmouth University poll.

According to a post on the Monmouth University website, the poll found that "large majorities of the American public believe that traditional media outlets engage in reporting fake news and that outside sources are actively trying to plant fake stories in the mainstream media."

The poll also found that members of the public believe "social media platforms are partly to blame for the spread of fake news and are not doing enough to stop it," and that president Trump "continues to be less trusted than the major cable news outlets as an information source."

The Monmouth University website says that the poll was "conducted by telephone from March 2 to 5, 2018, with 803 adults in the United States. The results in this release have a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent."

The Sinclair Broadcast Group statement says that its promotional announcements "spoke to our commitment to avoid such inaccurate reporting. The promos served no political agenda, and represented nothing more than an effort to differentiate our award-winning news programming from other, less reliable sources of information."

The statement includes a quote from Scott Livingston, Sinclair's senior vice president of news. Livingston says it's curious "that we would be attacked for asking our news people to remind their audiences that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media, which result in an all-informed public with potentially dangerous consequences."

Livingston goes on to say, "It is ironic that we would be attacked for messages promoting our journalistic initiative for fair and objective reporting, and for specifically asking the public to hold our newsrooms accountable. Our local stations keep our audiences' trust by staying focused on fact-based reporting and clearly identifying commentary."

The Oregonian/OregonLive's Samantha Swindler contributed to this story.

-- Kristi Turnquist



kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@Kristiturnquist
Renowned Egyptian author Ahmed Khaled Tawfik died at 55 on Monday at a Cairo hospital.

Best known for his pocket series Ma Wara Al-Tabia (Metaphysics), Tawfik is widely considered to be Egypt's first horror writer.

The news of Tawfik's death came as a shock to his readers. The late author was born in 1962 and was a medical doctor before he turned to writing.

Horror pioneer

He was one of the earliest Egyptian writers to specialise in horror, science fiction and fantasy, and his work included both illustrated books and novels.

His distinguished style attracted wide and diverse readerships, but were mostly people who grew up reading his entertaining books, often finishing in one sitting, before he moved on to write longer books and novels.

His 2008 novel Utopia was a great hit and a continuation of the success that his Metaphysics series achieved.

His passion for horror writing was met with obstacles as publishing houses did not think that the genre had a readership in Egypt.

When he first introduced the draft of his book The Legend of the Vampire in 1992, it was rejected, and he was told to instead write action and police fiction. Tawfik insisted and pursued his passion until the publishing house formed another committee to review his work, and this time it was approved.

The horror author's books became a hit among young people such that they got to know the protagonist, Dr. Refaat Ismail, and would wait for his adventures every month, like any other star.

His first books came to light via another famous Egyptian writer named Nabil Farouk.

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The Syrian government unleashed a ferocious assault on the then-rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta on February 18, aiming to crush Islamist and jihadist groups on the doorstep of the capital.

The onslaught has killed more than 1,600 civilians, many of them children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

After weeks of attacks, rebels and their families started evacuating last month under deals overseen by regime-ally Russia that have now allowed the government to take control of 95 percent of the enclave.

Here is a recap of what has happened:

Government forces open their campaign with intense air raids and a barrage of more than 260 rockets fired into several areas of Eastern Ghouta, under siege since 2013.

The strikes continue on February 19 when 127 civilians are killed.

On February 20 Russian air strikes reportedly target the enclave for the first time in three months. The following day raids batter several areas and aircraft drop crude barrel bombs.

UN chief Antonio Guterres says the region's residents are living in "hell on Earth".

On February 22 Syria's UN representative Bashar al-Jaafari confirms the plan is for rebel fighters and their families to withdraw to allow the government to take control, as happened in the war-shattered second city of Aleppo in December 2016.

Two days later the UN Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire to allow for aid deliveries and medical evacuations.

But air strikes and shelling continue, including with claims of a chlorine gas attack.

On February 26 Moscow announces a daily five-hour "humanitarian pause" and the opening of protected corridors to allow people to leave.

There is more fighting, making relief operations impossible.

A first attempt to deliver aid is made on March 5 but is cut short by heavy shelling. On March 9 food aid is distributed in the enclave's largest town, Douma, despite the bombardment.

The following day the regime cuts off Douma from the rest of the enclave, splintering remaining rebel-held territory into three parts.

On March 13 the first medical evacuations take place, with some 150 people including sick and wounded bussed out.

On March 15 Russia indicates it will continue to back President Bashar al-Assad's offensive. "Russia is morally complicit and responsible for Assad's atrocities," the Pentagon replies.

Assad visits troops in Ghouta on March 18 and praises them for having "saved the capital". The bombings continue.

The UN humanitarian coordinator in Syria condemns the "tragic" living conditions of the displaced in makeshift shelters.

On March 22 rebels and their families begin leaving Ghouta's devastated town of Harasta under a first deal reached between Russia and a rebel group, Ahrar al-Sham.

Nearly 4,000 people are bussed to the rebel-dominated province of Idlib.

On March 25 Russia brokers a deal with another faction, Faylaq al-Rahman which controls the towns of Zamalka and Arbin as well as the Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar.

More than 41,000 rebels and civilians are evacuated to Idlib.

On April 1 an evacuation deal is reportedly reached for the last pocket of Ghouta, held by the group Jaish al-Islam which controls Douma.

The rebels do not confirm the agreement, amid reports of divisions, but state media says on April 2 that fighters and members of their families have started leaving Douma.

Around 150,000 civilians have also fled to government-held areas in a month, according to Syrian state media.

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Saudi King Salman reaffirmed support for Palestinians to US President Donald Trump, state media said Tuesday, after his son and heir apparent said Israel has a "right" to a homeland.

The king "reaffirmed the kingdom's steadfast position towards the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital," the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The king also emphasised the need to advance the Middle East peace process in a phone call with Trump, which came after Israeli forces killed 17 Palestinians last week during a demonstration on its border with Gaza.

Saudi Arabia and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes their ties appear to have improved in recent years against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

Israel's conflict with the Palestinians has long proved an obstacle to a full rapprochement, however, as Riyadh still supports the Palestinian claim to sovereignty.

But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman indicated a notable shift in the kingdom's position in an interview published Monday with US news magazine The Atlantic.

The prince was asked by the magazine whether the "Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?"

"I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation," said the prince, who is on a three-week US tour.

"I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land," he added.

"But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has been the main sponsor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which envisions a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

No senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted that Israel has a right to any land beyond the practical need to secure a lasting deal.

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Yemen's Houthi group hit a Saudi oil tanker off the main port city of Hodeidah on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said, in an attack that could complicate a new United Nations push to end a war that has killed more than 10,000 people.

The Iranian-aligned Houthis said they had targeted a coalition warship in response to an air strike on Hodeidah on Monday that killed at least a dozen civilians, including seven children.

Tensions have been rising in recent days after the Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, launched a series of missile strikes on Saudi Arabia, including the capital Riyadh, in recent days.

In a statement carried by Saudi media, the coalition said the oil tanker was in international waters when it came under "Houthi-Iranian attack" at around 1330 local time (1030 GMT).

A coalition warship conducted a "swift intervention" foiling the attack, it said, without identifying the type of weapon used in the assault. "As a result of that attack, the tanker was subjected to a slight but ineffective hit and it resumed its naval course northwards, escorted by a coalition warship," the statement said.

A European Union naval force that operates in the region confirmed the ship was underway, adding that the crew were safe and unharmed.

The media department of the Houthi-run Yemeni military said naval forces had "targeted a battleship belonging to the coalition in response to the bombardment of displaced people in Hodeidah". It gave no further details.

The department's text message was referring to an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition on Monday in Houthi-controlled Hodeidah that destroyed a house and killed 12 civilians from the same family, including seven children.

A coalition spokesman said the alliance takes the report very seriously, promising a full investigation.

Last week, Saudi air defences intercepted a flurry of missiles, and falling debris caused the first death in the capital Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supplying missiles to the Houthis, who have taken over the Yemeni capital Sanaa and other parts of the country. Tehran and the Houthis deny the charge.

CALL FOR ENDING WAR

Earlier on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the warring sides in Yemen to reach a political settlement to end a conflict now in its fourth year that has left 22 million people in urgent need of aid.

Speaking in Geneva on the sidelines of a U.N. pledging conference for Yemen, Guterres said his Special Envoy Martin Griffiths will head to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the Yemeni government-held city of Aden in the drive for peace, Guterres told reporters.

Griffiths has already held talks with Houthi authorities as well as internationally-recognised Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Saudi officials in Riyadh.

Guterres said he saw "positive perspectives" for preparing a plan of action "to lead to an effective inter-Yemeni dialogue able to achieve a political solution, with of course the involvement of all those that are relevant in this conflict".

"I am optimistic about that possibility," the United Nations chief added.

He announced that more than $2 billion has been pledged towards a U.N. humanitarian appeal of $3 billion for Yemen this year. It includes $930 million from Saudi Arabia and the UAE which lead the coalition air strikes.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi called for a return to the negotiating table to end the war in the Arabian peninsula's poorest country and said his government was working to open blockaded ports and airports to aid.

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It may be hard to believe, but the Vogue magazine franchise doesn't have an African title. Africa is the second-most populous continent in the world, and the only continent lacking its own regional Vogue edition. But if supermodel Naomi Campbell has her way (and Campbell always gets her way), Vogue Africa could be a real thing.

The legendary model and CFDA Icon Award winner spoke with Reuters about the need for fashion to better serve Africans. "There should be a Vogue Africa," said Campbell, while in Nigeria for Arise Fashion Week. "We just had Vogue Arabia - it is the next progression. It has to be. Africa has never had the opportunity to be out there and their fabrics and their materials and their designs be accepted on the global platform ... it shouldn't be that way."

Campbell is right: African fashion has been ignored by the mainstream fashion press for too long. They deserve their own legacy press outlets to showcase their work. African designers like Maki Oh and Selly Raby Kane are doing incredible work, and Africa boasts no less than nine official fashion weeks, with dozens of smaller, independent runway shows. Many of our most beloved runway models come from African countries, like Ajak Deng and Alek Wek, who graced PAPER's Fall 2017 magazine cover. Africa contributes a lot to international fashion, and it's only fair that it receive its own Vogue edition to celebrate its vibrant fashion and culture. The fashion industry desperately needs more diversity, and this could be a step in the right direction.

Reuters did not receive a comment from Conde Nast, the publishing company that owns Vogue. PAPER has also reached out to Conde Nast for comment.
A shooting at the YouTube Headquarters in San Bruno, California has led to at least four or five injuries and at least one death, The New York Times reports. Reports of the shooting came at 12:46 p.m. PST this afternoon, NPR reports. The shooter was an unidentified woman who has died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Employees left their offices with their hands above their heads, according to footage posted by CNN. The Los Angeles Times also reports that three buildings  900, 901 and 1000 Cherry Avenue  were put on lock down.



Related | 16 Signs From New York's March For Our Lives Protest

The shooting comes just days after the international March For Our Lives, which was organized by survivors of February's Florida school shooting, and which advocated for national gun control.

Numerous YouTube employees have posted about the events.





This story is developing and will be updated with new information.



Image via Getty
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Iran's President Rouhani Speaks Out Against A Possible Ban on Telegram App

04/03/18

Source :Radio Farda

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has said on April 3 that Iran is not planning to ban popular messaging application Telegram. Reacting to reports about the possible banning of the application, Rouhani explained in a meeting with high-ranking state officials that introducing homegrown messaging applications is aimed at putting an end to Telegram's monopoly on messaging in Iran.



Read related article (in Persian) by Shargh daily



Rumors regarding a possible ban gained traction when Chairman of parliament's national security and foreign relations committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on March 31 that in order to put an end to "Telegram's destructive role," a decision has been made "at the highest level" of the government to replace Telegram with a homegrown application.



Iranian officials have said that Telegram has 40 million users in Iran.



Rouhani addressed those who claim Telegram would be banned by saying, "Do not disappoint the people. Do not undermine work opportunities while there is an unemployment crisis in the country," Khabar Online news website reported.



Recently Iranian MP Mohammad Reza Badamchi told reporters in Tehran that banning Telegram would eliminate 200,000 jobs and disrupt the financial situation of about half a million people.



Many e-commerce small businesses depend on the popular messaging app to sustain and expand their operations.



Khabar Online quoted Rouhani as saying "We should take pride in having safe and inexpensive Iranian applications that can solve people's problems. But these applications should be developed with the aim of putting an end to monopoly in the area of messaging applications."



Iranian authorities banned social media platforms Telegram and Instagram for a few days and police arrested several cyber activists as protests raged in the streets of more than 100 Iranian cities in late December and January, but the ban was lifted once the demonstrations lost their initial momentum.



Iranian media reported in early March that the Supreme Council for Cyberspace had met in Khamenei's presence, adding that Khamenei was against lifting the temporary ban that was imposed on Telegram following widespread protests against political, social, and economic injustice.



Several members of Iranian parliament (Majles) have reacted to Boroujerdi's comments on the same date criticizing him for the statement.



Meanwhile, on April 3, two MPs called for an opinion poll to determine the degree of people's trust in homegrown applications. The two MPs said, "Banning Telegram would widen the gap between the people and state officials and would further deepen the people's distrust of officials."



MP Fatemeh Saeedi, a member of the Majles presidium who put forward the idea of a poll, told Iranian labor News Agency (ILNA) that filtering a foreign messaging application would not encourage people to use a homegrown application.



She said "based on the result of such a poll, we should rethink our policies rather than limiting people's access to virtual networks," adding that "banning Telegram would be a big mistake. We cannot simply ignore the realities of the world"



MP Tayebeh Siavashi also criticized Boroujerdi's comments, adding that official authorities such as the Supreme National Security Council and the Supreme Council for Cyberspace should transparently verify Boroujerdi's comments.



In spite of all the criticism, Boroujerdi again defended the idea of filtering Telegram and called the application "a threat to national security."



Boroujerdi further claimed that a percentage of security threats against Iran originate on Telegram. He also said the United Kingdom, Germany, and Israel use the information stored on Telegram.



Boroujerdi further claimed that Telegram was used against Iran's security during the widespread protests in December 2017 and January 2018.



The chairperson of the Majles committee to protect electronic businesses, Parvaneh Mafi warned about the social consequences of banning Telegram.



Mafi said that "banning Telegram would deepen the people's distrust of the officials and endanger the country's social capital, bringing it closer to a crisis," Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.



Mafi added: "The people do not trust homegrown messaging services, and this is part of their distrust of the country's decision making system."
An open letter to the President of Ghana and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



Sir, your silence and stonewalling is undemocratic and not in our national interest



Dear President,



I humbly and respectfully convey to you very warm compliments.



May I also afford this opportunity to extend to you heartfelt belated happy birthday wishes of good health, happiness and a deeper patriotic love for Ghana.



Your Excellency, I am compelled to write this open letter for your urgent attention due to your rather unusual, strange and uncharacteristic but determined cold silence on the most crucial issue agitating the minds of Ghanaians, thus the agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Ghana on Defence Cooperation, the Status of United States Forces, and Access to and Use of Agreed Facilities and Areas in the Republic of Ghana which your majority Members of Parliament defiantly ratified on the 23rd of March, 2018 to conclude the processes you and your Government initiated.



Sir, I must state from the outset that as has never been in doubt, we in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) cherish and value Ghanas long-standing relations with the United States of America. It is therefore not surprising that the NDC has hosted two of the three high level US Presidential State visits of this Fourth Republic  that is the visit of President Bill Clinton and that of President Barack Obama. That said, we believe relations with the United States of America and all other countries are nourished and better anchored on mutual respect, trust, fairness, shared values and the recognition of the sovereignty of nations. It is these cardinal principles within our nations foreign policy paradigm of positive neutrality and non-alignment as clearly espoused and established by our countrys founding President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah that continues to inspire us, especially as they have served this nation very well over the ages.



As you well know Mr. President, just a day before your birthday, precisely on the 28th of March, 2018, a mammoth demonstration took place in Accra which was a culmination of your refusal to listen to the people you serve after weeks of persistent pressure and appeals to you from Ghanaians of diverse backgrounds and varying political persuasion seeking your executive intervention in at least addressing the genuine fears of the people emanating from the agreement in issue.



The Put Ghana First Demonstration organized by the Ghana Fist Patriotic Front (GFPF) with support from the Interparty Coalition for National Sovereignty and the Minority Caucus in Parliament attracted the masses, progressive forces, student leaders, unions, experts, high ranking former public officials including former Vice President and former Chairman of the Police Council, His Excellency Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, former National Security Minister Hon. Kofi Totobi Quakyi and a host of former Ministers, Ambassadors and academics who, I humbly submit, cannot all be ignorant as your Government Communicators have arrogantly and offensively sought to portray.



Mr. President, as a longtime political activist (for which you earned the yenim no fri titi accolade) and a celebrated serial organizer of demonstrations --including those of the Kumipreko and Siemipreko fame - I am sure you will be the first to admit that the several thousands of Ghanaians who participated in that massive march and the overwhelming number of Ghanaians, some of whom voted for you who are either through newspaper or online articles, media discussions or social media commentary pleading with you to listen, cannot and do not deserve to be ignored. Other eminent persons of enormous experience such as former President Jerry John Rawlings, Ghanas longest serving Foreign Minister, Dr Obed Asamoah, former Council of State Member and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Akilakpa Sawyerr who have all cautioned against this agreement do not deserve to be dismissed by the way and manner their concerns have been brushed aside and this agreement railroaded.



Sir, your decision to strangely adopt a silent posture on the outside while there was a lot of activity behind the scenes to hurriedly negotiate and ratify this agreement by abusing your parliamentary majority without taking on board the concerns of the people who gave you your mandate is most deplorable.



With all due respect, Sir, we have all come to know you in the 14 months of your Presidency as the President who does not hesitate to speak. Indeed, you have often flaunted your gift of the gab both home and abroad and we all know you love it when the feedback is great  I am reminded of a recent testimony of this when you met journalists to commemorate your first anniversary as President and went on about how your remarks during a media event with the visiting French President, Emmanuel Macron had assumed a life of its own with very rare reviews.



That is not all, we have seen how you have quite often ignored good counsel and chosen to comment on matters that many consider prejudicial and awkward. Just two examples will suffice for now; your lengthy intervention during the Parliamentary Probe on the Cash-for-Seats Scandal and the praises you heaped on Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong of Zoomlion. We do know that both acts attracted condemnation from anti-corruption crusaders.



Mr President, as you will concede, Ghanaians watch their leaders very closely and in our often quintessential humorous fashion provide a nickname which aptly describes their leaders. A few examples: Kwame Nkrumah earned Nkrumah Show Boy, John Evans Atta Mills earned Asomdwehene, John Mahama earned Commissioner General, and Sir, you have fast earned King Promise. So with all due respect, Sir, Ghanaians know you love to talk and that even long after your successful 2016 campaign, you continue to talk big by making more promises.



Respectfully, Mr President, you can, therefore, understand why most of us are extremely surprised at your sudden belief in silence. Your silence on the agreement in issue is very much out of character and we are sincerely befuddled. Everybody is saying this is not the man we have known from titi.



As you have noted, Sir, your silence and the attempt to divert attention from the debate on the Ghana-US Military Cooperation Agreement by the high-handed and dramatic arrest of Koku Anyidoho and the change of name of the Flagstaff House to Jubilee House have so far not worked according to plan. As I write to you, Sir, discussions on this matter and its related concerns have been escalating both at the domestic level and on the foreign front. The international media (BBC, Reuters, Fox News, Al Jazeera, RT, the New York Times, etc.) are awash with reports of a general feeling of betrayal of the Ghanaian people by your Government and you.



Mr President, we have to be honest, the cold silence and stone-walling approach does not only amount to a dereliction of duty, it is making matters worse by impairing your international image and I really feel sad about this. When it comes to the international image of our Presidents, partisanship has no place. I was really taking pride in your international rise  the claims by some world leaders that you are the new Nkrumah  the assertion that you were emerging as one of the top 5 African leaders - the hope you were offering the African Continent with your Ghana Beyond Aid agenda. Its a real tragedy that this singular agreement and US$20 million dollars threaten to destroy everything. A similar defence cooperation agreement between the Kenyan Government and the British Government which has gone viral on social media has deepened our woes and Ghana, a country used to being the trailblazer and shining example for other African countries is now becoming an object of ridicule on the continent.



Your Excellency, I am still struggling to understand the raison detre of your uncharacteristic loud silence in the face of the following facts:



Paragraph 4 of the Preamble of the agreement in issue reveals that this agreement was triggered by your conversation with your counterpart, President Trump. The paragraph states: Reaffirming the recent dialogue between the Presidents of the United States and Ghana on the importance of the bilateral defense relationship.



Subsequently and as admitted by the signed memorandum from your Defence Minister to Parliament dated 14th March, 2018, your Government negotiated the terms of this agreement with US officials here in Accra under your watch on the 7th and 8th of August, 2017.



Further to this, Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Debrah-Karikari in a letter dated 12th March, 2018 and which was dispatched to Parliament, conveyed the decision of Cabinet at its twenty-eighth meeting held on Thursday, 8th March, 2018 at which Cabinet approved this agreement. In all humility, Sir, it is well known that Article 77 (1) of the Constitution provides: The Cabinet shall be summoned by the President who shall preside at all meetings; and in the absence of the President, the Vice-President shall preside.



Even more fundamental, we do know that Ghana operates an Executive Presidency. Article 58 (1) through to (4) provides as follows:



The executive authority of Ghana shall vest in the President and shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution



The executive authority of Ghana shall extend to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution and all laws made under or continued in force by this Constitution



Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the functions conferred on the President by clause (1) of this article may be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him.



Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution or by a law not inconsistent with this Constitution, all executive acts of Government shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the President.



Sir, without a doubt and in all reverence, both the facts and the law render your current silence and attempts to distance yourself from this agreement as disappointing, negligent, unprincipled and even more worrying, portray an unacceptable refusal to take responsibility.



Mr. President, it does also appear that it is this mindset that convinces your Government that it can make Ghanaians blame the NDC and not you for the current agreement when your own documents submitted to Parliament insist that previous agreements were temporary, for limited operations and that they have all expired. Indeed, as most Ghanaians have found out, the current agreement is not materially the same when compared to previous agreements contrary to claims by your Ministers of Defence and Information. Also, the false claims that the current agreement was only a consolidation of previous agreements have been badly exposed. That the current agreement is an enhanced and newly negotiated agreement further exposes this propaganda. In any case, Sir, if the previous NDC Government has short-changed Ghanaians in any way or engaged in acts, not in our strategic national interest, is it right to continue with it when presented with an opportunity to re-negotiate a new agreement as you were presented on the 7th and 8th of August 2017? Is it right to thereafter turn round and ask Ghanaians to blame the NDC? Respectfully, this cannot be the change those who voted for change were looking for.



It is now clear that unlike the current agreement in issue, the 1998 agreement, derived from an exchange of diplomatic notes, imposed an obligation on the US Armed Forces to pay reasonable charges for services requested and received. US aircrafts were also obliged to observe local air traffic control regulations while in Ghana. On the other hand, the 2015 Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement which was basically a logistic support, supplies, and services agreement expressly exempted for transfer: weapon systems; guided missiles; naval mines and torpedoes; nuclear ammunition; guidance kits for bombs or other ammunition; chemical munitions or ammunition and source, byproduct, or special nuclear materials. The current agreement makes no exemptions and does not even allow an inspection of what may be brought into our country. Nothing can be more frightening especially in this era where it is alleged Russian military type nerve agent was used on British soil in an attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripal and his daughter. This comes on the back of a latest UN report on the Syrian conflict which confirms that significant amounts of chemical weapons are being used in violation of international law.



Your Excellency, based on your conduct so far, several questions arise:



Why are you, Mr President, distancing yourself from your own agreement? Is Mr President not proud of his own agreement and therefore not bold to man up and defend it with all your acclaimed reputation in advocacy? What did President Trump tell you in that recent dialogue that suddenly makes you so averse to listening to and speaking to your own people on this particular issue? What really is in this agreement for you, Mr President? Is your silence borne out of an effort to hide something from Ghanaians? Is your silence driven by selfish political tactics to avoid the wrath of Ghanaians and at the same time remain President Trumps darling in Africa in order that you can have your cake and eat it? We the people you lead deserve answers to these nagging questions.



Sir, the principles of Good Governance and Democratic Accountability which you promised under oath on the 7th January 2017 to uphold demand of you to be transparent and to engage us on our fears and concerns as per this Agreement.



It is quite ironic that though no Ghanaian voted for the US Ambassador in Accra, Ambassador Robert Jackson has done more to reach out to Ghanaians even if with limited success as compared to you  the man directly accountable to us.



Your Excellency, the people of this country know that international relations must be conducted within international law and in the national interest of Ghana. They are not oblivious of Article 73 of the Constitution which directs that  The Government of Ghana shall conduct its international affairs in consonance with the accepted principles of public international law and diplomacy in a manner consistent with the national interest of Ghana.



Sir, as you are aware, the good people of this country are unable to ever forget that sovereignty resides in them and NOT with a few ruling elites. The very first Article of the Constitution of Ghana stipulates: The Sovereignty of Ghana resides in the people of Ghana in whose name and for whose welfare the powers of government are to be exercised in the manner and within the limits laid down in this Constitution. It is for this reason, Mr President, that a higher obligation is imposed on you to engage Ghanaians and take steps to renegotiate with the Americans those articles in the Agreement that the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians are affronted by and believe compromises their sacred sovereignty.



Mr President, Ghanas unique history must continue to guide us all. Sadly, the perception amongst many is that Ghana is being re-colonized. And as Kwame Nkrumah put it; We Africans mean to be masters on our own continent.



Kwame Nkrumah further stressed: The continent of Africa has been drenched in blood in the past; it has been raided for slaves; it has been partitioned and exploited and looted. Precisely because it has had this kind of past, it is determined not to have that kind of future. If we succeed and succeed we must, the whole of mankind  not Africa alone  will reap immense benefits.



Your Excellency, I humbly plead with you to step up and take the bull by the horns. This moment needs your direct leadership. Leadership from the frontlines and not from behind nor from the wings.



Seeing that Article 19 of the ratified agreement does not provide a term limit, it should have been decided in the very beginning to seek the input of all political stakeholders especially those capable of forming Governments. Sir, you should have learned from President Mahamas approach which ensured that you were consulted as then flagbearer of the NPP in 2015 when negotiations were underway for Ghana to host the GITMO 2.



I believe it is not too late to engage our former Presidents, Political Parties, experts, Military Generals and all former Chiefs of Defence Staff alive together with our friends - the Americans, within a transparent, frank, mature and calm framework. Ultimately, all sides should feel that this cooperation is mutually beneficial and not one-sided.



Sir, your continuous silence and abdication will only escalate the ongoing agitations. Already, there is the talk of regional demonstrations and other constituency mass actions on the horizon. Then there are legal suits which continue unabated and for which I have lost count. I do not believe it is in the mutual interest of both Ghana and the United States of America to continue under this climate of stonewalling and heated political confrontations with its attendant international media attention. There are inherent scary security consequences given this current situation and the earlier we chart a new progressive, inclusive, responsive, sober and less noisy path, the better for us all.



Mr. President, I am also quite uncomfortable about the potential ramifications for Ghana-US relations if you do not take conscious proactive steps to quickly address the concerns of Ghanaians. If decisive leadership is not exercised at this crucial hour, leadership would have itself to blame if Ghana-US relations become frosty.



Sir, history teaches us that Ghana-US relations, like many other relations, have had its highs and lows. From the 23rd July 1958 official visit of President Nkrumah to the US on the invitation of President Eisenhower and at which Nkrumah addressed the US Senate on the afternoon of the next day where he boldly proclaimed - Like you, we believe profoundly in the right of all people to determine their own destinies. We are therefore opposed to all forms of colonialism old or new, and we want to see all nations and their peoples genuinely independent and seeking a higher standard of life.



We must thereafter duly acknowledge Americas support for the Volta River Project and how rather, unfortunately, by the mid-1960s relations began to take a sour turn just before Nkrumahs overthrow on February 28, 1966.



Certainly, the 1988 BBC interview at which retired CIA founder Miles Axe Copeland Jr. admitted that the United States had a hand in Nkrumahs removal coupled with CIA declassified files pointing to same which naturally elicited negative sentiments in Ghana all did very little to enhance the trust building process. Then, of course, it is important to recall how the 1985 Soussoudis Affair and the 1986 Nobistor Affair further strained relations.



It has clearly taken a lot of painstaking effort to build trust and restore Ghana-US relations on the path of positive growth over the last three decades. It is for this reason that good leadership requires that Mr President, you take thoughtful deliberate steps out of the shadows and help preserve trust on both sides.



Sir, we must, respectfully, be concerned also about what the current developments mean for our positive neutrality and non-alignment foreign policy imperatives as other nations are observing these developments closely. When President Nkrumah personally presented Ghanas foreign policy for the approval of the National Assembly on 16th December 1959, he remarked: I have always stated that it is our desire to cultivate friendship with all nations and to be enemy to none. In pursuance of our policy of peace and friendship, the Government and people of Ghana are determined not to get themselves entangled in the great ideological conflicts of the Great Powers. I do hope Mr President that you do not get us entangled by the way and manner you have gone about this military cooperation agreement.



Sir, you can always count on our support in the pursuit of Ghanas overarching national interest.



With sincere and respectful regards,



Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (MP)



Ranking Member, Parliaments Committee on Foreign Affairs.



[2nd April, 2018]

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he wanted to "get out" of Syria but offered no timetable, as his advisers warned of the hard work left to defeat Islamic State group and stabilize areas recaptured from the hardline militant group.

Trump told a news conference the United States would "not rest until ISIS is gone," using an acronym for the militant group. But he also suggested that victory was imminent.

The Pentagon and State Department have held that a longer term US effort would be needed to ensure that Islamic State group's defeat is a lasting one.

"It's time," Trump told reporters, when asked if he was inclined to withdraw US forces.

"We were very successful against (Islamic State group). We'll be successful against anybody militarily. But sometimes it's time to come back home, and we're thinking about that very seriously."

The United States is waging near-daily air strikes in Syria and has deployed about 2,000 troops on the ground, including US special operations forces whose advising has helped Kurdish militia and other US-backed fighters capture territory from Islamic State group.

US Army General Joseph Votel, who oversees US troops in the Middle East as the head of Central Command, estimated on Tuesday that more than 90 percent of the group's territory in Syria had been taken back from the militants since 2014.

Trump estimated the percentage of territory recaptured in Iraq and Syria at "almost 100 percent," a figure that US officials say is correct - it is about 98 percent - but does not highlight the work left in Syria.

The big hurdle, in the US military's view, is seizing Islamic State group-held territory around the Syrian town of Abu Kamal.

That effort that has been slowed as US-backed Kurdish fighters shift their focus away from Islamic State group toward a Turkish offensive against Kurdish allies elsewhere in Syria's complex, multi-pronged civil war, now in its eighth year.

Brett McGurk, the special US envoy for the global coalition against Islamic State group, speaking alongside Votel at an event in Washington on Tuesday, said the US fight against Islamic State group was not over.

"We are in Syria to fight ISIS. That is our mission and our mission isn't over and we are going to complete that mission," McGurk said.

Obama Do-Over

Experts were divided about the significance of Trump's simultaneous musings about withdrawal and his assurance that the United States will not depart until Islamic State is defeated.

The militant group is widely expected to revert to guerilla tactics once the last remnants of its once self-styled "caliphate" are captured by US-backed forces.

Jon Alterman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank, said a precipitous US withdrawal would undermine US leverage in talks to end Syria's civil war.

"The principal consequence is the United States surrenders the little influence it has over the future of Syria," he said.

Experts warn an abrupt US withdrawal could benefit Russia and Iran, US rivals who could extend their influence in Syria.

Trump noted that US ally Saudi Arabia, Iran's arch-rival, was interested in his decision, adding: "Well, you know, you want us to stay, maybe you're going to have to pay."

Trump has previously lambasted his predecessor, Barack Obama, for his withdrawal from Iraq that preceded an unraveling of the Iraqi armed forces, which eventually collapsed in the face of Islamic State group's advance into the country in 2014.

It was unclear what Trump's vision of a post-war US role in Syria would look like. But his recent decision to freeze more than $200 million in funds for recovery efforts in Syria suggests resistance to a broad US ground effort.

McGurk acknowledged a review was underway to ensure US taxpayer dollars were well spent.

Votel said he saw a US military role in stabilization efforts in Syria.

"The hard part, I think, is in front of us, and that is stabilizing these areas, consolidating our gains, getting people back into their homes," Votel said, adding "there is a military role in this."

Short link:


The Ghana Education Service (GES) has issued a directive to all heads of public senior high schools (SHSs) to reduce fees to be paid by final-year students in the third term by 50 per cent.



A memo dated Friday, March 30, 2018 issued by the Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, to all regional directors of education said the reduction in fees was because the students, who would start their 2018 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in April and end on June 1, 2018, would spend only seven weeks, instead of the full 14 weeks, in school.



Management has noted that senior high schools will reopen for the third term of the current academic year on 16th April, 2018 and will end on 2nd July, 2018, which interprets into 14 weeks.



It has also been noted that final-year students will write the final paper for the WASSCE on the 1st of June, 2018. This means final-year students will be in school for the third term from 16th April to 1st June, 2018, which also interprets into seven weeks.



The implication is that final-year students will be in school for exactly half of the normal term. It is, therefore, directed that final-year students should pay one half or 50 per cent of the fees for the third term, it said.



It, however, stated that adjustments could be made if students were made to stay through the Easter vacation.



In the instance where the final-year students will be asked to stay in school during the current holidays or will reopen on April 16, 2018, the fees should be adjusted to reflect the number of weeks they will be spending in school, it said.



Differing fees



Explaining the directive further to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Public Relations Officer of the GES, Ms Cassandra Twum Ampofo, said as the fees and approved levies paid by students in various schools differed, so would the calculation of the 50 per cent not be the same for all schools and students, writes Edmund Smith-Asante.



The fees differ because of the difference in the courses. Some will also complete earlier than others, and when that happens, their calculations will also differ, the GES PRO said.



Ms Twum Ampofo also said students who completed their papers earlier would leave the school compounds right afterwards, while those who had papers to write right up to the end of the timetable would have to stay on till the last day, which was why the fees would differ.



The GES PRO reiterated the fact that school heads would basically calculate the number of days the students will stay on the compound and the students will pay that amount.



She declined to quote any figures, stating that the heads already knew how to go about the calculations, depending on the fees and the GES approved levies being charged in the various schools.

Source: Daily Graphic









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South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died aged 81, her personal assistant says.



Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was the former wife of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela.



The couple - famously pictured hand-in-hand as Mr Mandela walked free from prison after 27 years - were a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle for nearly three decades.



However, in later years her reputation became tainted legally and politically.



Family spokesman Victor Dlamini said Mrs Mandela "succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones" following a long illness, which had seen her go in and out of hospital since the start of the year.



'Mother of the Nation'



Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was born in 1936 in the Eastern Cape - then known as Transkei.



She was a trained social worker when she met her future husband in the 1950s. They went on to have two daughters together.



They were married for a total of 38 years, although for almost three decades of that time they were separated due to Mr Mandela's imprisonment.



It was Mrs Madikizela-Mandela who took his baton after he was jailed for life, becoming an international symbol of resistance to apartheid. She too was jailed for her role in the fight for justice and equality.



To her supporters, she became known affectionately as "Mother of the Nation".



Who has paid tribute?



After news of her death broke, hundreds of her supporters gathered outside of her home in Soweto, Johannesburg to sing and dance in tribute.



In a televised address President Cyril Ramaphosa - whom Mrs Madikizela-Mandela praised earlier this year - called her as a "voice of defiance" against white-minority rule.



"In the face of exploitation, she was a champion of justice and equality," he said on Monday.



"She as an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free".



Retired archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu said she was a "defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid".



"Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists," he added.



Energy Minister Jeff Radebe, reading out a statement on behalf of the family, paid tribute to "a colossus who strode the Southern African political landscape".



"As the ANC we dip our revolutionary banner in salute of this great icon of our liberation struggle," he said.



"The Mandela family are deeply grateful for the gift of her life and even as our hearts break at her passing we urge all those who loved her to celebrate this most remarkable South African woman."



African National Congress (ANC) chairperson Gwede Mantashe said: "With the departure of Mama Winnie, [we have lost] one of the very few who are left of our stalwarts and icons. She was one of those who would tell us exactly what is wrong and right, and we are going to be missing that guidance."

Source: BBC









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Former President Jerry John Rawlings has reiterated the need for all to join the crusade in keeping Ghana's water bodies clean.



Mr. Rawlings was speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at this year's Apetorku festival at Dagbamete, a community in the Akatsi South District of the Volta region.



Dagbamete is a community located in the Akatsi South District of the Volta Region with a population of about 600.



The community comprises five smaller villages - Tsipodzekope, Ahorkope, Biekuesekope, Dagbakope, and Tunukope. The main occupation of the people of Dagbamete is farming. They believe in traditional religion.



Dagbamete, though a small community, has made strides in the area of education, health and sanitation.



It boasts of a medical centre, an ICT centre, a bungalow for the medical staff and another for teachers. Dagbamete is famous for being the cleanest and fastest-growing community in the district.



According to an elder in the community, Dagbamete is the only community in the district that has never experienced any theft or armed robbery.



The theme for this year's Torgbui Apetorku festival is "Love for one another - one of the cardinal principles of Torgbui Apertoku".



TheSpecial Guest of Honour for the occasion, former President Jerry John Rawlings spoke about the need for all to help keep the country's water bodies clean.



Former President Rawlings inaugurated a newly-built community centre to help engage the youth in developmental projects in the area.

Source: gbcghana.com









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A TV3 correspondent, Thomas Vincent Cann, who has been diagnosed of the last stage of chronic kidney disease, requires an amount of GHC100,000 to undergo a kidney transplant in India.



Media General, owners of TV3, has embarked on a campaign to raise the amount to support the surgery, which is his only resort to survival.



For a start Media General has since March 28 been organising a bake sale for all staff of its subsidiaries in Accra TV3, 3news.com, 3FM, Onua FM.Proceeds from the sale will go to support Mr. Cann who corresponds for the group from the Central Region.



Family members, friends and his mates from Mfantsipim School are also helping to raise the funds to help him procure a new kidney.



The Media General Group is meanwhile appealing to Ghanaians and philanthropic organisations to support the campaign dubbed Yes We Cann.



All donations should be kindly sent to TV3 premises at Adesa We, Kandaor in Accra MTN mobile money number 0556592653.

Source: 3news.com









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General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketia has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of reducing the presidency to a family and friends affair to the extent of appointing ex-girlfriends to high positions.



Speaking on 3FMs Sunrise show, Johnson Asiedu Nketia cited a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana to sort of buttress his claims.



There is a current Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana, that fair lady, ask her history with Nana Addo, that is his ex-girlfriend. This is a fact, put the blame on me, and let people sue me for telling them this, the NDC General Secretary alleged.



Asiedu Nketia insisted that a substantial number of President Akufo-Addos appointees are members of his family.



We have one-third of Akufo-Addos family being government appointees. A woman was made ambassador because her major qualification is having a child with Nana Addo. This is a fact, Asiedu Nketiah claimed.



According to the NDC General Secretary, President Akufo-Addo has resorted to doing the very thing he accused the Mahama-led administration of doing when the NPP was in opposition.



They talked about nepotism, cronyism and so on. They said Mahama was appointing too many of his family members in government and they thought that everything there in terms of contracts and others were monopolized by people close to him.



Asiedu Nketia further stated that the NPP government keeps shooting itself in the foot, which is evident in decisions being made by government.



If you are in government and you want to compromise the neutrality of the institutions that are supposed to restrain your government by putting your favourite people there, in the end, you will be misled into thinking that you are helping yourself because you are rather damaging yourself and that is what is happening now.



The NDC General Secretary accused the NPP government of pretending to fight corruption when all it does is to compromise institutions that fight crime.



Johnson Asiedu Nketiah claimed although the NPP government has initiated some good policies, it has performed poorly in implementing them.



They chose free education and then implemented it wrongly, they chose a policy of protecting the environment and implemented it wrongly, and they chose Fulani fight and implemented it wrongly.



He further stated that the drive for a Ghana beyond aid will not see the light of day if government continues to borrow.

Source: 3news.com









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The Ghana Armed Forces has given Member of Parliament for Assin Central Kennedy Agyapong the greenlight to make all the noise he can muster as they are not going to give any protocol slots to him, and for that matter any politician.



The Ghana Armed Forces, through its Public Relations Officer (PRO) Colonel Aggrey Quashie, assured the general public that recruitment into the military will continue to be by merit.



Enlistment of applicants into the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is always based on merits not political influence or any other means, Public Relations Officer (PRO) GAF, Colonel Aggrey Quashie has said.



People think that if I pay money to somebody I can get myself in there. If all your documentation is correct you stand an equal chance like any other person to be picked. He said.



In an interview on Kumasi-based Ultimate FM, Colonel Aggrey Quashie stated that there is no room for anyone including politicians to push people into GAF.



People make these statements because they have the right to say whatever they want to say but we are also focusing on our process. ..There is no way anybody will be recruited by unfair means, the Colonel and PRO said.



Readers will recall a report in which controversial New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker for Assin Central, Hon Kennedy Agyapong said he was keenly looking forward to getting special military protocol slots for his people otherwise he will make noise. Enye saa meye dede



Counting the number of jobs he got under the various government programs, Mr Kennedy Agyapong said he was eyeing the upcoming military recruitment for slots Enye saa meye dede, he had said in Twi on Oman FM, directly translated: otherwise I will make noise., as we rightfully reported at the time.



Recruits being assessed by GAF



The MP openly boasted about how successful he was in pushing for his people during the recent police recruitment exercise adding that he was highly hopeful of more success in the ongoing military recruitment exercise.



Now I am looking for military (recruitment), it has not come yet, but it will come, otherwise I will make noise. he had dared.

Source: mynewsgh.com









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General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketia has taken a swipe at the Minister for Information Mustapha Hamid describing his suggestion that Parliament will be recalled to ratify the 1998 and the 2015 defence cooperation agreements as not sensible.



Mustapha Hamid in an interview with Citi FM stated that Government intends to cure that defect by taking the 1998 and 2015 agreements to Parliament for Parliament to give us ratification so that we will continue to operate under these current arrangements that we have until we have completed the processes for triggering the 2018 arrangements.



According to him, the ratification of these old deals is to ensure that there is a legal framework, guiding the collaboration of the US and Ghanaian armies, as it works to implement the controversial 2018 defence cooperation.



Responding to the Ministers comment on 3FMs Sunrise show, Asiedu Nketia popularly known as General Mosquito said, I dont think anybody who is suggesting that has his head properly screwed on.



That person needs to be examined he added. General Mosquito further noted that the Information Minister doesnt deserve to be paid with the taxpayers money.



According to him, Mustapha Hamid who is the Information Minister is trivializing very important national the issues.



He said if the Defence Minister and the Information Minister are part of Nana Akufo-Addos 110 ministers of State, then the Country is in trouble.



The NDC scribe reiterated that the US-Ghana Defence Corporation agreement is to sell Ghanas sovereignty to the United States of America.



Background



Parliament of Ghana, on Friday, March 23, 2018, approved the Ghana-US Military cooperation agreement, which seeks to give US forces access to some key national installations for their exclusive use.



The objective of the agreement is to set forth a framework for enhanced partnership and security cooperation between the US and Ghana, with the aim of strengthening their defence relationship.



The pact, which has sparked widespread controversy, was ratified without the Minority in Parliament who were opposed to it.



The ratification followed the adoption of the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Interior and the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs which had recommended, by a majority decision, the ratification of the agreement.



Cabinet had agreed to provide the US military with a place near the Kotoka International Airport and also give them unhindered access to some key installations following a Memorandum of Understanding between the government of Ghana and the US government.



The MoU was laid before the house recommending to Parliament to ratify the agreement, but it was rejected by the main opposition.



The ratified agreement means that the US army will among other things be exempted from paying taxes on equipment that are brought to Ghana as well as use Ghanas radio spectrum for free.



The troops and their equipment will also have unhindered access to the US forces and their equipment.



Although many Ghanaians have expressed resentment over the clauses of the agreement, the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, said the agreement is in the best interest of Ghana.



At a press conference recently, the Minister of Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, had said the US government was making the request based on earlier memoranda signed in February 1998 and April 2015 which were binding on the two countries.



Statement by US Embassy in Ghana



The US embassy in Ghana in a statement issued Wednesday, March 28, 2018 stated that the United States has not requested, nor does it intend to request, the establishment of a military base in Ghana or the permanent presence of U.S. troops in Ghana. Reports alleging otherwise are inaccurate and misleading.



This is the second time the US has officially dismissed reports that a military base will be established in Ghana. The opposition NDC has maintained that the US is establishing a military base and have called on President Akufo-Addo to reject the deal.



Read full statement below



The U.S. Embassy underscores that the United States has not requested, nor does it intend to request, the establishment of a military base in Ghana or the permanent presence of U.S. troops in Ghana. Reports alleging otherwise are inaccurate and misleading.



The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) between the governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Ghana is not a base agreement.



It is the legal framework to govern the ongoing security cooperation between our two sovereign countries; our security cooperation spans more than 20 years and has included numerous bilateral and multilateral training activities in Ghana.



The United States has a significant number of DCAs with countries around the world, including European, Asian and African partners.



The Defense Cooperation Agreement does not give the U.S. military the right to enter Ghana without permission from the Government of Ghana. Instead, the DCA addresses the rights and responsibilities of both nations when the U.S. military is present in Ghana, with permission from the Government of Ghana, and for purposes that the Government of Ghana decides are appropriate.



Furthermore, the principle of reciprocity observed between our two nations applies to provisions such as immunity and shipments. By establishing this expanded legal framework between our two countries, we underscore our respect for Ghanas sovereignty as we seek to strengthen our cooperation on regional and global issues.





Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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SEATTLE -- Investigators said Monday they were examining "red flags" in a Washington state family's past in hopes of explaining why their SUV went off a 100-foot cliff in an apparent suicide plunge.

The wreckage was discovered last week on rocks along the coast near Mendocino, California, a few days after child welfare authorities in Washington began investigating whether the children were being abused or neglected.

The Hart family's two moms and three of the six adopted children were found dead; the three others are missing and presumed dead, possibly washed out to sea.

Police said Monday that social service authorities in Oregon contacted the West Linn Police Department about the family in 2013 while they were living in the area.

The questions were referred to the Oregon Department of Human Services, which cited privacy laws in refusing to confirm or deny the agency was involved.

Long before the crash, Sarah Hart pleaded guilty in 2011 to a domestic assault charge in Minnesota over what she said was a spanking given to one of her children. And last month, concerned neighbors in Woodland, Washington, contacted child welfare authorities, saying the children may have been going hungry.

On Sunday, authorities announced that data from the vehicle's software suggested the crash was deliberate.

The SUV had stopped at a pull-off area then sped straight off the cliff, Capt. Greg Baarts of the California Highway Patrol said. Baarts said that as far as he knew, investigators had not found a suicide note.

Marcus Mazza, an engineer and accident-reconstruction expert with Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Robson Forensic, said investigators could use data to determine factors such as the speed of the vehicle; the engine speed; how much force the driver was exerting on the gas pedal; and whether the driver had depressed the brake.

In interviews with friends and relatives, "there have been red flags," Baarts said. He did not elaborate.

READ MORE: Crash off cliff that killed family of 8 may have been intentional: police

Days before the wreck was discovered, neighbors called Washington state child-welfare authorities to say one of the youngsters had been coming to their house almost daily asking for something to eat and complaining that his parents were withholding food as punishment.

Investigators last week obtained a search warrant for the family's home in Woodland and looked for itineraries, bank and phone records, credit card receipts, journals or other documents that might shed light on the case.

The large, multiracial family, led by Sarah and Jennifer Hart, both 38, grew their own food, went on road trips and took part in activist causes.

The three children found at the crash scene were Markis Hart, 19, Jeremiah Hart, 14, and Abigail Hart, 14. There was no sign of Hannah Hart, 16; Sierra Hart, 12; and Devonte Hart, 15.

Devonte drew national attention after the black youngster was photographed in tears, hugging a white police officer during a 2014 protest in Portland, Oregon, over the deadly police shooting of a black man in Ferguson, Missouri. Devonte was holding a "Free Hugs" sign.

Family friend Max Ribner said he was not ready to believe the crash was intentional.

He said the Harts left Alexandria, Minnesota, for Oregon looking for a change of weather and pace. He said the greater Portland area was more accepting of LGBTQ people.

"As much love as they put in the world, there were times when it was challenging for them to be a family with six kids and hold the energy of what they put out," Ribner said. "I don't think people realize what it takes to be a mother, raise six kids, many of whom came from hard backgrounds."

___

Gene Johnson and Phuong Le of the Associated Press wrote the story. AP writers Janie Har in San Francisco and Michelle A. Monroe in Phoenix contributed to this report.
North Korea's foreign minister arrived in Beijing Tuesday for talks with his counterpart, a week after Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un made a surprise trip to China before planned summits with the US and South Korean presidents.

The latest visit, disclosed by China's foreign ministry, is part of a flurry of diplomacy that has eased regional tensions after months of bellicose rhetoric between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman did not say when Foreign Minister Wang Yi would meet North Korea's Ri Yong Ho.

The spokesman, Geng Shuang, indicated that the visit would be short. Wang is scheduled to be in Russia on Wednesday.

"Details on the meeting will be provided in a timely manner," Geng said.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency said Ri was heading a government delegation that left on Tuesday for a conference of foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement in Azerbaijan.

Ri will also visit Russia and other former Soviet states.

Kim last week met President Xi Jinping on his first trip abroad since inheriting power from his father Kim Jong Il in December 2011.

China is the North's only significant ally and trade partner, but ties had cooled since it began enforcing UN sanctions aimed at curbing its neighbour's nuclear and missile programmes.

Kim's secretive visit was dubbed "unofficial" but bore all the trappings of an official state occasion, with honour guards, bouquets, red carpets and meetings with most of China's top leaders.

Kim is now due to hold a summit with South Korea's Moon Jae-in on April 27 and a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump is also planned -- events that give both Pyongyang and Beijing new incentives to repair their strained relationship.

Wang struck a note of caution about the diplomatic flurry during a press conference with Switzerland's visiting foreign minister.

"Of course, historical experience tells us that when the situation on the (Korean) peninsula eases and peace talks usher in the light of dawn, there are often all types of disturbances," he said, calling on all parties to "eliminate interference" and continue dialogue.

The diplomatic thaw began during February's Winter Olympics in South Korea, to which Kim sent athletes, cheerleaders and his sister as an envoy.

The North has rapidly expanded on the thaw by launching several diplomatic initiatives.

Earlier this week Kim attended a rare performance in Pyongyang by South Korean K-pop stars, shaking their hands and taking photos backstage.

Kim was "deeply moved" by the performance, state media reported, an unusual step as the authoritarian regime typically struggles to prevent any infiltration of the South's pop culture from reaching its isolated people.

That followed a visit to Pyongyang by International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach, who said last Saturday that Kim had committed to sending teams to the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics.

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GREENCASTLE --At 3 years old, Logan Starliper may be the youngest victim of an illegal drug overdose in Central Pennsylvania in recent history.

She's certainly the youngest in Franklin County, according to coroner Jeff Conner.

Logan died in January in her bed in Greencastle, Pa., after her mother and mother's boyfriend injected methamphetamine in their bedroom, police said last month in announcing criminal charges against the couple.

Police have not revealed exactly how the toddler gained access to the drugs that caused her death: methamphetamine and buprenorphine, a prescription narcotic used to treat opioid addiction, but police found three pipes with burned residue inside the home at 43 West Baltimore Street during a search warrant.

During the police investigation, investigators discovered the couple had not checked on Logan for more than 22 hours after putting her to bed about 10:30 p.m. Jan. 5.

Bennett said he peeked through a crack in the door at 10 a.m. Jan. 6, but thought the girl was still asleep.

At 9 p.m. Jan. 6, Logan's mother, Brittany Higgins, checked Logan, found her unresponsive and called police.

Three days later, Higgins had a "mental breakdown" and went to her parents' house, where she revealed she and her boyfriend Brian Bennett had been doing methamphetamine, according to court documents.

Higgins handed her mother a bag with numerous needles and a spoon with heavy white residue, the court records said.

Police waited for toxicology test results on Logan's body before filing criminal charges March 22 in her death. The autopsy results showed Logan died from multiple drug toxicity.

Higgins and Bennett, both 29, now face five felonies each, including third-degree murder, drug delivery resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter, and two counts of child endangerment. The defendants also face misdemeanor drug possession charges. They both remained behind bars Monday with no bail.

They are set to appear in court today, April 3, for their preliminary hearings, along with their alleged drug supplier, Rodney "Allen" Mower.

Court records say Mower stopped by their home across the street from a church about 5 p.m. Jan. 5 to deliver methamphetamine. It was a known fact, police said, that the couple used any meth that they obtained as soon as they got it.

Mower told police the couple typically put a baby gate at the door to their bedroom and then would prepare and inject meth in the bedroom as Logan and her older brother, about 10 years old, would "hang" on the gate a few feet away from the couple as they partook in drug use.

No one other than Mower visited the home Friday and Logan never left the home during the time-period before she died, according to police.

Mower also was charged with drug delivery resulting in death. He remained in jail Monday with no bond.

Higgins told police she injected meth on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5, the two nights before Logan was found dead. She said she stored her meth in a bag on the top shelf of her closet so that "the kids would not get it," court records said. She kept her other drugs locked in a safe, she told police.

Bennett told police he kept his stash of Subutex, to combat opioid addiction, on his stand next to his bed. He said he would keep his meth on his person and "use it as soon as he could."

Both Higgins and Bennett had prescriptions for Subutex, which contains buprenorphine, court records said.

After Logan's death, friends, relatives and neighbors told police about suspected abuse and neglect that spanned six months before Logan died. They described mysterious bruises and large marks on Logan.

It's unclear whether anyone ever reported their suspicions to children and youth services.

Police also uncovered "evidence in communications between Higgins and Bennett that they were physically abusing" Logan and her older brother, according to court records.

Neighbors told PennLive Monday that the couple moved in last summer to an upstairs apartment and kept a low -profile. They moved in after the previous residents abandoned the home because of a methamphetamine lab that was operating on a first-floor apartment. Police broke up the meth lab, neighbors said.

The owner of the home, who rents out multiple units, did not return a phone call from PennLive. The new downstairs neighbor told PennLive he did not know anything about the couple who lived upstairs. The other apartment in the home has been vacant.

A couple who lives nearby said they would see the children playing outside the home and the kids seemed happy and smiling. Logan made snow angels in her back yard after a snow storm a few months ago, the neighbor recalled.

"She was a sweetheart. She liked to dance around like a lot of three-year-olds," said the neighbor who didn't want her name published. "Her death, that's hard to grip."

Another neighbor, who gave her first name as Carol, said she saw the couple move in over the summer with at least one child and that she never heard any noises from their apartment.

"It really surprises me," she said of the deadly overdose.

Brittany didn't work outside of the home, according to neighbors. Bennett appeared to have a job that he maintained after he was sentenced to the county's "weekender jail program" after his second driving under the influence conviction last summer.

His previous criminal record included the two DUIs, one from 2015, and a drug paraphernalia conviction from 2010. Higgins did not have a prior criminal record in Pennsylvania.

Brittany was one of seven daughters in her family. Her father on Monday declined to comment to PennLive except to say relatives are thankful that their older grandson is now in a safe situation.

That grandson's father is deceased, neighbors said. Logan's father, meanwhile, lived with his parents about 30 minutes away.

Family members allege that Higgins and Bennett kept them from seeing Logan in recent years. Now they believe they know why.

Kevin Taccino, Higgins' defense attorney, declined to comment to PennLive.

Logan's death is one of six overdose deaths so far this year in Franklin County. The county logged 35 fatal overdoses last year.

The county coroner said he could not recall a younger victim of an illegal drug overdose in the county's recent history. About ten years ago, however, he said he worked a case with a two-year-old victim who died from an overdose of a legal prescription for Tramadol, a pain medication, after the child consumed pills that fell on the floor.

Police and prosecutors said Logan's death illustrates how bad the climbing number of illegal drug overdoses are.

"The death of this sweet, innocent little girl is the most heartbreaking example of the danger the overdose epidemic has brought to our community and region," Franklin County District Attorney Matthew Fogal said in a news release.
It seems the long-awaited project to build a new federal courthouse in Harrisburg really is set to move off the drawing board and onto a lot in Midtown.

By federal standards, at least, the project is picking up speed, with a construction start envisioned for this coming January. Completion is projected for 2022, according to the General Services Administration.

The project has picked up its last big dollop of funding, too. That $137.2 million was included in the $1.3 trillion omnibus budget bill recently signed by President Donald Trump.

And that cash is definitely a lock.

It won't simply vanish when the current federal fiscal year ends in September, said Jacklin Rhoads, an aide to U.S. Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa.

"It will not expire," Rhoads said. "This is called no-year money, so it does not have an expiration date. It will not disappear."

That $137.2 million comes on top of the roughly $26 million spent so far to identify, secure and clear the site at 6th and Reilly streets, right across the street from Bethesda Mission. The feds secured the last few properties at the site by condemnation early this year.

The Harrisburg project is among three federal courthouse projects funded in the omnibus budget bill. Another $110 million is earmarked for a courthouse in Huntsville, Ala., and $190 million is allocated for one in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Rhoads cited the Harrisburg project as "unique" because the site has already been selected, it now has received funding from Congress, and a design has been developed.

That design, from Ennead Architects of New York City, looks nothing like the boxy glass Ronald Reagan Federal Building downtown on Walnut Street that the new courthouse will replace.

Ennead's design is artistic, monumental, in fact, with an asymmetrical tower rising above the two- or three-story main building.

Over the next several months, the GSA officials will schedule meetings with local elected officials, U.S. Middle District Court judges and the U.S. marshal, developers and the public, Rhoads said.

GSA spokesman Nick Smith stressed "there are no further funding impediments to the project."

Plans call for a 243,000-square-foot building with 79 parking spaces on the four-acre tract. There will be eight courtrooms - double the current number - and 11 judges' chambers. The design work is to be finished by December, Smith said.

The parking will be reserved for judges, some employees and government services, he said. "All visitor parking and most employee parking will be accommodated off-site, which is typical of a federal facility in an urban area," Smith said.

In addition to Ennead, Hill International Inc. of Philadelphia has been hired as the construction manager and Mascaro Construction Co. of Pittsburgh has been tapped as the constructor.

Talk about replacing the 1960s-era Reagan building has been going on for years. Federal officials contend the current building is inadequate for modern court operations and falls short of security requirements.

Harrisburg officials have been eagerly awaiting the project's launch, anticipating the economic boost the courthouse is expected to bring to that area of the city.
A staff member at a Berks County children's home is accused of soliciting juveniles to attack another youth on a school bus, said the district attorney's office.

Charges were filed Monday against Lamar Miller, 32, of Adamstown, a staff member of Bethany Children's Home in Heidelberg Township.

Miller is aware of the charges but had not yet surrendered as of Tuesday, said District Attorney John Adams.

He is charged with aggravated assault, solicitation to commit aggravated assault, conspiracy, simple assault and endangering the welfare of children and related charges.

The 15-year-old victim told police Miller accused him of stealing his cell phone sim card March 24, and told him he was "going to have him beat up."

The assault occurred at 7:16 a.m. March 26 on a school bus as juveniles from the home were being taken to Conrad Weiser High School.

Heidelberg Township police say surveillance video on the bus showed Miller talking with one of the attackers, who then walked up the aisle, and then punched the victim on the side of his head, and a total of more than 20 times on his upper torso and head. The victim then slid down in the bench bus seat and onto his back.

Miller walked slowly up the aisle during the assault, and "feigned" and effort to hold the attacker back slightly, saying "chill, chill," said court documents.

"But I saw no exigency on Miller's part to end the assault," police said in court records.

After the assault by the first teen, another youth came up to the seat, leaned over and punched the victim in the head, police said. He then climbed over the seat and stomped on the victim's head four times, as the victim slid onto the floor.

Police said Miller is heard asking the victim not to press charges and "let it go" after the attack.

The two juveniles were taken into custody March 26 and placed in Abraxas Detention Center.

The victim had swelling and cuts on his face and head, police said.

A Bethany home staff member told police Miller had threatened the youth that he would have him beat up on the bus, and that he would lose his job because of it.
Interstate 83 has reopened after a tractor-trailer crash in Swatara Township.

The crash happened at around 4:20 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the interstate at mile marker 45.5 near the Paxton Street Exit. Both directions of the interstate were shut down for more than three hours.

CBS21 reported that cleanup of a spill of the tractor-trailer's haul caused the backup. State police are investigating the crash

Interstate 83 has reopened after a tractor-trailer crash in Swatara Township.

The crash happened at around 4:20 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the interstate at mile marker 45.5 near the Paxton Street Exit. Both directions of the interstate were shut down for more than three hours.

CBS21 reported that cleanup of a spill of what the tractor-trailer was carrying caused the backup.
SELINSGROVE - A man police accused of making text threats to kill and rape Susquehanna University students is headed to trial.

Guy Wishart, 45, of Lincoln, N.H., Monday was ordered held for court on charges of terroristic threats, stalking, retaliation against a witness and criminal use of a communications facility.

The threats caused the university on March 5 to issue a campus alert and make arrangements for the safety of the female students believed to be the targets.

The alert was canceled when Wishart was arrested in New Hampshire on a warrant issued by the Snyder County probation department. He subsequently was returned to Pennsylvania to face the charges.

Wishart was on probation when the threats were made because of a Jan. 8 guilty plea in Snyder County to a charge of unlawful dissemination of intimate images.

In that case, he was accused of transmitting in March 2017 an intimate image and threatening a 20-year-old woman with whom he had a previous relationship.

His two-year probation prohibits him from have any contact with the victim and being on the Susquehanna campus.

The new charges stem from electronic messages received in February by the victim in the earlier case from a source whose identity was disguised.

The messages showed a linkage to Wishart's Facebook page and contained information known only to him and the female, the charges state.

An undercover source who had made Internet contact with Wishart began on Feb. 27 to receive threats through electronic messages under the perception the recipient was a friend of the female, police said.

The following are excerpts from some of the messages that have been included in the arrest affidavit:

"I'm going to kill you. You (expletive) with the wrong person. You made a really big mistake. I'm in Sunbury right now."

Another message states: "I can't wait to rape you. I'm going to (expletive) you and cut your throat. Then I'm going to do the same to all your friends."

The investigation revealed Wishart had made a motel reservation in Shamokin Dam for March 4-8 and posted on his Facebook on March 5 he was there, police said.

It later was learned he had canceled the reservation, they said.

Phone numbers of the female victim in the 2017 case and those used by the undercover person were found on Wishart's phone when he was arrested March 5 in New Hampshire, they said.

An app was used so it appeared threatening calls came from the county 911 center and the Selinsgrove police department, the affidavit states.

Wishart is detained in lieu of $50,000 bail and as a probation violator.
A mugger deserves his 15.6-year federal prison sentence for committing violent and random attacks near Philadelphia's premier historic tourist attraction, a U.S. appeals court panel has ruled.

The victims in both assaults near Independence Hall ended up in the hospital in need of surgery, Judge D. Michael Fisher noted in the opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

Police said Santos Centeno, 51, of Camden, N.J., committed the attacks with his nephew during one week in 2012. The following year, a federal jury convicted Centeno of assault charges.

Centeno contended on appeal to the circuit court that U.S. Eastern District Judge Juan R. Sanchez sentenced him too harshly. Before backing Sanchez's decision, Fisher gave a run-down of the attacks.

During one assault, Centeno beat a man who asked for help in finding his parked car. That victim "suffered traumatic brain injury and required surgery to repair severe facial fractures and implant a metal plate in his face," Fisher wrote.

In the second assault, Centeno attacked a married couple as they left a restaurant. He beat the husband on the face, head and back, then punched the wife in the face and dragged her across the sidewalk while trying to steal her purse, Fisher noted. The woman needed orthodontic work and two root canals.

Centeno's significant criminal history, "his apparent proclivity for violence, and the random and vicious nature of the attacks" justify the prison term Sanchez imposed, Fisher concluded.
Witnesses are credited with helping police apprehend a man accused of robbing a Turkey Hill store clerk, Lebanon police say.

Alexy Torres-Figueroa, 23, was charged with robbery, fleeing from police and more in connection with the March 31 incident at the Turkey Hill store at 1201 Maple St.

Police said a Torres-Figueroa is accused of taking money from a store employee leaving the store. As he ran to his vehicle witnesses pursued him, and they called police as he drove off.

Police apprehended Torres after he struck a parked vehicle and ran away from the crash. He is also charged with hit-run, reckless endangerment and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The stolen money was recovered, and no one was injured in the incident.

Torres-Figueroa was arraigned and placed in Lebanon County prison in lieu of $150,000 bail.
A Lebanon County fire department suspended after it was revealed that some of members responded to a fire call while intoxicated has been reinstated, according to a report from CBS 21.

The Speedwell Fire Company in West Lebanon Township was suspended from service in December.

On Twitter Monday evening, Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz said the company will be reinstated on Tuesday morning.

West Lebanon Township Supervisors reinstated Speedwell Fire Company effective 10am Tuesday morning.  Jo Ellen Litz (@JoEllenLitz) April 2, 2018

The investigation into the firefighters conduct began when the West Lebanon Township received a complaint about the company's response to a call at 10:10 p.m. Dec. 14 at Pete's Pizza on the 1100 block of Quentin Road.

The matter was reported to North Lebanon Township police and investigators determined several members of the fire company responded to the fire after consuming alcoholic beverages -- including the operators of the engine and squad.

A township investigation into the December incident in which firefighters reportedly had been drinking before responding to a call concluded there was "a clear danger to the public," according to a report.
French rail workers launched a series of nationwide strikes on Tuesday, threatening months of transport disruption in the sternest challenge yet to President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to modernise Europe's second biggest economy.

State-run rail company SNCF, which Macron wants to overhaul, said 48 percent of the workers needed for the network to run smoothly were absent, as they joined the protests against plans to trim benefits including job guarantees and generous pensions.

Just one in four trains ran in the Paris region, while only one in eight high-speed TGV trains were operating. At Gare du Nord, Paris's busiest station, platforms were so crowded that some commuters fell onto the tracks. Other stations were plunged into darkness, the lights and ticket machines switched off.

French media dubbed it "Black Tuesday".

"I do understand why they're striking," said Marie Charles, a Paris commuter. "But today is my first day in a new job so I have to admit I could have done without the strike."

Outside Gare de L'Est, crowds of SNCF workers denounced the government and set off flares that filled the area with smoke.

Many students, who have launched their own demonstrations against education reform, joined the protest, and some workers in other sectors downed tools in sympathy with the rail workers. Others plan to do so in the coming days.

The four main rail unions plan to strike for two days out of every five for the next three months -- a total of 36 days of disruption -- to fight a shake-up of monopoly SNCF before it is opened to competition in line with European Union rules.

The protests come as France prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of the student-led riots of May 1968, when the entire economy came to a virtual halt. The work stoppages so far pale in comparison with those events.

The last French leader to square off against the rail unions came off worst. The strikes of 1995 paralysed France and forced prime minister Alain Juppe to pull the measures -- a defeat from which he did not recover.

The unions are broadly weaker now and divided over how best to handle Macron's many social and economic reforms -- a division Macron hopes to be able to exploit to his advantage.

If the 40-year-old president succeeds it will set the tone for other reform plans, including revamping the education system and overhauling pensions.

Macron has already faced down the unions to ease labour laws, making it simpler to hire and fire.

Publicity Battle

Speaking to parliament, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the way the SNCF operated could not continue.

"I respect the strikers because going on strike is a constitutional right... But ... we also need to respect the millions of French who want to be able to get to work," he said.

Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne urged unions to negotiate, but union leaders hit back.

"The railway workers are not doing this for the fun of it," said Philippe Martinez, head of the hardline CGT union, the biggest among railway workers.

SNCF President Guillaume Pepy said the strike was likely to cost the company 20 million euros a day in lost revenue at a time when it is already adding three billion euros to its overall debt pile of 47 billion euros every year.

In a bid to boost efficiency, the government wants to end rail workers' jobs-for-life, automatic annual pay rises and early retirement rights -- benefits that date back to the nationalisation of the SNCF in the 1930s.

The government has painted the rail workers as enjoying outdated privileges, a notion the unions reject.

"The salaries aren't amazing, the work conditions are difficult, and for some it means working every other weekend," Martinez said.

Macron will need to keep the public on his side if he is to defy the unions and push the reforms through.

An Ifop poll on Sunday showed that just over half of French people view the strikes as unjustified.

Showdown

Macron wants to transform the SNCF into a profit-maker. The unions say its debt was caused by excessive investment in France's high-speed network and accuse Macron of paving the way for privatisation, which officials deny.

The government has sought to ease tensions with assurances that the arrival of foreign competition on French rail tracks, pencilled in for gradual rollout from 2020, can be delayed.

As well as testing Macron's mettle, the rolling strike will also challenge the resolve of unions to maintain a common stance. The Communist-rooted CGT wants the industrial action to spread to other sectors but has so far seen limited support.

Some energy sector workers walked out on Tuesday in protest against the planned liberalisation of the power sector, but there was little impact on power output.

Air France workers also went on strike over pay on Tuesday, although the company said it expected 75 percent of flights to operate as usual.

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Jacqueline Smith, seen here Friday, Nov. 10, 2017, outside the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by a sniper 50 years ago on April 4, 1968, has been protesting for decades the decision to make the motel into a civil-rights museum. She was the last resident evicted from the motel in 1988 and says it should be used for housing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alex Panetta
Nicholas Butcher arrives at provincial court in Halifax on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. A Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice is delivering his opening remarks to the jury at the murder trial of a Halifax man accused of killing a popular yoga instructor.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2018 file photo, Dave Chappelle appears in the press room after winning a Grammy for best comedy album award for "The Age of Spin" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas" in New York. A man who threw a banana peel at Dave Chappelle during a 2015 performance in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is suing the comedian and a man presumed to be his bodyguard. Christian EnglanderAos lawsuit filed Friday contends the presumed bodyguard struck Englander twice as he was being restrained. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
In this March 15, 2018, photo, emergency personnel respond after a brand-new pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a highway at Florida International University in Miami. Nineteen-year-old Richie Humble says he's been haunted by flashbacks and anxiety attacks ever since the bridge fell on the car he was riding in with a fellow student, killing her and five other people. Humble spoke to reporters Monday, April 2, saying the March 15 bridge collapse caused a fracture in his back, as well as knee and neck problems. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP, File)
Teachers and supporters of increased education funding rally on second floor rotunda of the state Capitol during the second day of a walkout by Oklahoma teachers, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Oklahoma City. (Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP)
China's new defense minister says his visit to Russia is a signal to the United States about the increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing.

The unusually bold statement Tuesday by Gen. Wei Fenghe reflected the growing military cooperation between the two former Communist rivals.

Speaking in Moscow at the start of his talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Wei emphasized that he chose Russia for his first trip abroad since becoming the international face of China's military last month to "show the world a high level of development of our bilateral relations and firm determination of our armed forces to strengthen strategic cooperation."

Wei added he would attend Wednesday's security conference hosted by the Russian Defense Ministry to "let the Americans know about the close ties between the armed forces of China and Russia."

Shoigu said Wei's visit "underlines a special character of relations between Russia and China," adding that it will help further deepen ties between the two militaries.

Moscow and Beijing have forged what they described as a "strategic partnership," expressing their shared opposition to the "unipolar" world  the term they use to describe perceived US global domination.

As part of their burgeoning military cooperation, Moscow and Beijing have conducted joint military maneuvers, including exercises in the South China Sea and last summer's joint navy drills in the Baltics.

The Baltic exercise marked the first time that China had flexed its military muscle in a region where tensions between Russia and NATO have escalated following Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In December, the Russian and Chinese militaries held missile defense drills intended to practice a joint response to missile threats from other countries.

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Pirates play to win against Blackcats Perryville football has had a flair for the dramatic this season. This past week was no different as they held on late for a 21-14 victory over Fredericktown on Friday at Pirate Stadium. Perryville 

St. Vincent keeps foot on the gas in victory St. Vincent made quick work of Herculaneum in week four. The Indians got off to a quick start and kept it rolling as they dispatched of the Blackcats 49-0 on Friday at Herculaneum High School. That 
ExxonMobil is taking way too much from Guyana and giving the country very little in return- Ram, an attorney at law

By Kaieter News

GEORGETOWN

Petroleumworld 04 03 2018 Social commentator, Christopher Ram, still cannot come to grips with the fact that some locals and foreigners, like Oxford Professor, Paul Collier are expecting Guyanese to just be contented with the lopsided Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) that Guyana has with ExxonMobil.



Ram, an attorney at law, continues to stress his opinion that ExxonMobil is taking way too much from Guyana and giving the country very little in return.



Ram has noted that because of ExxonMobil, Guyana will be losing hundreds of millions of dollars that would have been gained from the fishery sector.



This is because the company has effectively banned fishing in a large area of Guyana's waters.



Ram deems it a total absurdity that ExxonMobil is being able to operate in a manner that is not consistent with international standards while depriving Guyanese, such as the fisher folks, of a living.



According to Sir Paul Collier, Guyanese are expected to accept that a foreign company comes and exploits our non-renewable resource, effectively bans all fishing in a huge swathe of the country's maritime territory, gets full deduction for all the funds it makes available to exploit the resources, renders barren the environment, pretends to pay taxes in Guyana, cons its home country with a certificate that it has paid taxes in Guyana, and takes away more than Guyana keeps!



And guess what: As Finance Minister Jordan gloated, this is after the area has been de-risked. In financial management, as the level or risk decreases, the investing company will apply a lower internal rate of return, with a lower level at which super profits are earned.



Ram is not the only one concerned about the displacement of fisher folk and the environment. Environmentalist, Annette Arjoon-Martins had expressed deep concern about the preservation of the invaluable ecosystem services and sustainable livelihoods of the indigenous communities in and around the Shell Beach Protected Area.



Arjoon-Martins had said that her concerns are the consequence of the known risks associated with the emerging oil and gas industry. She noted the present lack of environmental safeguards and weak and almost nonexistent environmental regulations and legislations specific to the emerging oil and gas industry. She said that while the focus is understandably on economic development that oil, a non-renewable resource can bring about once it is managed sensibly; she is saddened that Guyana's eco-system services have largely been ignored.



Arjoon-Martins used the opportunity presented at a recent oil and gas forum held by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) to press home the need for more safety measures to be put in place.



She told a room filled with entrepreneurs that while we all heard this morning about the hundreds of millions and billions of United States dollars that everyone is understandable greatly excited about, remember that oil and gas are not renewable resources.



Also remember to touch back on the value of our eco system which is everlasting. If you are to put a value to our eco-system, I think it would far exceed those millions and billions we heard of earlier.



The environmentalist had alluded in her presentation that in light of the devastating events that are linked to climate change and the reality that fossil fuels are a major contributor, that there should be some consideration for Guyana to be rewarded for keeping some of the oil in the ground.



Since under the LCDS the government of Norway had paid Guyana US$50M annually for keeping its deforestation rate at a minimal, it would not be unreasonable to expect that payments for oil should be much higher.



Ms. Arjoon-Martins told this newspaper that the movements of many supply vessels will have an impact on the large marine mammals that traverse the marine spaces.



Also, the release of high temperature water from the drilling system will affect the area it is being released into.



Further, Arjoon-Martins explained that each time an oil tanker comes to pick up oil, one million barrels of ballast water will be released into the Atlantic Ocean, which can potentially introduce invasive species which can affect the food chain in the ocean.



Arjoon-Martins noted too that the use of seismic affects the marine mammals that depend on echo location. We do not know where they will be disposing the hazardous waste which is generated as yet, but wherever it ends up on land there are contamination possibilities so the EPA and other relevant agencies need to be vigilant.

Story by from Kaieter News



Kaieteurnewsonline.com 04 03 2018

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Guyana need Technical training a key to development  Education Minister

By Kaieter News

GEORGETOWN

Petroleumworld 04 03 2018 A variety of training needs will have to be met if Guyana is to be a viable nation of the 21st century. This observation was recently made by Minister of Education, Ms. Nicolette Henry, when she addressed a retreat held by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training [CTVET].



Indeed she recognised that CTVET has already started to play a major role in helping to realise Guyana's ambitious training goals. She, moreover, applauded the members of the CTVET for their bravery and for understanding and embracing the change that needs to happen so that they can face the increasing demands for training.



In her deliberation at the forum, too, Minister Henry stressed how important it is for the CTVET to include in its work plan, in a very meaningful way, the opportunity to nurture and develop soft skills.



I trust that you will use your energy and your expertise in that area. That is a much needed inclusion which I believe, if properly harnessed, can improve operational efficiency and efficacy of this important sector, said Henry as she addressed those gathered at the retreat at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown.



The retreat, which was deliberately convened to emphasise the important role of TVET, was held under the theme: Strategic thinking for improved delivery of Competency Based Education and Training [CBET] programmes in Guyana. As she embraced the theme, Minister Henry noted the increasing importance of the CTVET to enable Guyana to take its new place in the world. I trust that this retreat will give you the roadmap and action plans to be able to reach out to the wider community, including: internal stakeholders, the private sector and the employers of industries, other training institutions, government agencies and non-governmental organisations that are involved in providing training skills and work force development, the Minister added.



She went on to highlight that training programmes need to be developed to cater to the new emerging industries and skill areas that Guyana's workforce is waiting to join. From increased skills and qualifications in the expanding agriculture sector in mechanised farming to eco-tourism management and training strategies to guarantee the future proofing of the Guyanese work force in the emerging oil and gas industries.



Meanwhile, CTVET Councillor, Archibald Clifton, in explaining the aim of the retreat said that there are 17 specific functions of the Council. These, he said, include: monitoring the technical and vocational education and training of apprentices; to establish national training standards and performance testing; to approve registered training organisations as supervising entities and to monitor all registered technical institutes and other tertiary institutions and regulate their facilities.



Some of the major areas for consideration at the retreat that were highlighted by Clifton were the staffing complement of the CTVET, the vulnerability of the CTVET due to increase demand for its services and how CTVET intends to meet the demand for an increase in the services provided.



Also addressing the forum was Chairman of CTVET, Mr. Clinton Williams. In his remarks, he made it clear that moves are already apace to address the stigma that is attached to Technical and Vocational Education. This, he said, is being addressed with the empowerment phenomena, which could be promoted through entrepreneurship.



He, moreover, added that work needs to be done to improve the role of private and public sectors substantially in advancing the role of TVET. Williams said too, that TVET needs to be strengthened its relationship with regional and global partners.



In delivering an overview of the Council's work, Senior TVET Officer, Mr. Jerry Simpson, said that in 2015, training in TVET saw 467 National Vocational Certificates, 521 in 2016, and 475 Caribbean Vocational Certificates and 151 National Vocational Certificates.

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Latin America's oil auctions fact box

By Reuters



HOUSTON

Petroleumworld 04 03 2018

Latin America this year will host the most licensing rounds in its history, opening about 1,100 oil and gas blocks for foreign capital.

Mexico started the calendar in January with a round that attracted $93 billion in investment pledges and followed with another securing over $8 billion. In March, Brazil drew $2.4 billion in pledges for offshore areas on top of about $30 billion from an October bidding round.

The following is a list of expected bidding rounds in each country this year:

MEXICO A July onshore round will allocate up to 37 areas, followed by nine unconventional blocks, with results due in September. Mexico also hopes to schedule an auction of heavy oil areas in the Gulf's shallow waters late this year.

BRAZIL

Brazil will host another large offshore auction this year and the government is preparing the transfer of rights from state-run Petrobras ( PETR4.SA ). The country plans a permanent offer of up to 850 onshore and offshore blocks starting in May, a number that could climb to 1,700 areas in 2019.

The South American country, which is reducing royalties for bordering and mature fields, has worked hard in recent years to relax its local content rules, an issue seen in the past as a major obstacle on investment.

COLOMBIA

In May, Colombia expects to begin offering up to 25 onshore and offshore blocks in a permanent auction similar to what Brazil is planning, a process that will follow its Sinu-San Jacinto round including 15 areas to be awarded in early April.

The country's regulator also is in talks with holders of nine permits for seismic studies in the Caribbean Sea to convert them into exploration and production contracts.

URUGUAY

Results of third offshore round could be disclosed in late April, including 17 blocks for exploration and production at its Exclusive Economic Zone.

The nation is offering less demanding qualification conditions and mandatory exploration terms, according to the government.

PARAGUAY

State-run Petroleos Paraguayos plans to relaunch in the second quarter an auction to find partners for two exploration and production areas after a failed attempt last year.

The blocks - Petropar III and Palo Santo - are part of five areas received by Petropar to be developed in Paraguay's western zone near the border with Bolivia and Argentina.

ARGENTINA

Argentina will appear late in Latin America's 2018 auction wave with terms of its first offshore round due in July and results expected in December.

The auction, of a mostly unexplored area covering 225,000 kilometers off the Atlantic coast, does not include bidding bonuses, according to the government. Interested firms can propose blocks to be added to the offer.




White House pushes for NAFTA deal in Peru next week

By Reuters



WASHINGTON

Petroleumworld 04 03 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is pushing for a preliminary NAFTA deal to be announced at a summit in Peru next week and will host cabinet ministers in Washington to attempt a breakthrough, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The White House wants leaders from Mexico and Canada to join in unveiling broad outlines of an updated pact at the Summit of the Americas which begins on April 13, the report said. Technical talks to sort out the finer details and legal text could continue, according to the Bloomberg report.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify Bloomberg's reporting.

Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico's Economy minister will travel to Washington on Wednesday for meetings with U.S. Trade representative Robert Lighthizer, Mexican sources told Reuters.

The Bloomberg report said any meetings could include Jared Kushner and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, who have been managing Trump's relationship with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will arrive for her own meetings with Lighthizer and meetings on Friday may include all three countries, Bloomberg said, citing its sources.

A White House spokeswoman, Natalie Strom, said of the talks in general on Monday that Lighthizer remarked in March that time is running short to complete a new NAFTA deal.

Negotiations are continuing on a daily basis with the goal of a successful and rapid conclusion, and the NAFTA countries will announce plans as warranted, Strom said.

Last week, Lighthizer expressed optimism that negotiations to modify NAFTA were making progress and that a deal in principle could be reached quickly.

The thorniest issues in the NAFTA talks with Mexico and Canada concern U.S. demands on automotive trade and dispute settlement systems. Linking the future of the 24-year-old trade deal to Trump's border wall plan has never been among U.S. negotiating objectives.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, asked in a CNBC interview on Monday about the report and whether it was realistic to wrap up NAFTA in two weeks, said: Well, the issue here, which the president understands keenly is that the Mexican elections are approaching and you're going to get to a certain point, just like you do in the American elections, where it becomes difficult to do meaningful policy changes. So I think whether it's two weeks or thirty days, it's got to be soon.




Latin America not longer shunning investment from oil & gas foreign firms

Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters



View of the oil refinery Ecopetrol in Barrancabermeja, Colombia, March 1, 2017. Picture Taken March 1, 2017.

By Marianna Parraga



HOUSTON

Petroleumworld 04 03 2018

For decades, many Latin America's oil-producing nations have often shunned investment from foreign firms, instead keeping their vast reserves under the tight control of governments and state-run oil companies.

They aimed to protect profits to feed public budgets, but in practice have seen some major breakdowns, as with the corruption scandals and heavy debts at Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA [PDVSA.UL], or the inability of Mexico's Pemex[PEMX.UL] to conjure the cash and expertise to tap its vast deepwater reserves.

Now, an unprecedented wave of free-market energy reforms is gaining traction across the region, setting up a fierce competition to attract billions of dollars in investment from the likes of Exxon Mobil ( XOM.N ), BP ( BP.L ) and Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ).

Seven governments this year will combine to hold at least 15 oil and gas auctions, offering a record 1,100 blocks of onshore or offshore acreage, according to interviews with officials and a tally of announced auctions. On Thursday, Brazil's latest auction collected $2.4 billion in pledges, awarding 22 of 68 regions on offer.

In 2018, countries in the region will host the most licensing rounds in history, said Pablo Medina, vice president of energy consultancy Welligence.

(For a graphic on Latin American oil auctions, see: tmsnrt.rs/2pw8i6y )

The race for private investment reflects an acknowledgment by many countries that they have neither the cash nor the technology to fully explore and develop their reserves. The embrace of foreign capital in Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador also follows the rise of centrist or right-leaning governments.

It also signals a willingness by governments to settle for a smaller cut of the profits - which could be slimmed further by the competition to attract investment as governments offer tax incentives, reduced royalties and other inducements.

The glaring exception is Venezuela, where state-run PDVSA remains under the firm control of a leftist government in the throes of an economic and political meltdown.

Elsewhere, emerging reforms are giving oil majors and independent producers their pick of some of the region's richest resources - after being shut out of these markets or waiting years for the right moment to invest. But they also face a risk that governments could shift back to resource nationalization or lose the political will to fully establish market reforms. An oil price drop could also undermine profits from such long-term, expensive projects.

We love this continent. We know it well and now need to make sure we will spend the money wisely, said Michel Hourcard, senior vice president of development, exploration and production at France's Total ( TOTF.PA ), during an industry conference in Houston last month.

INCENTIVES TO INVEST

The ground-breaking regulatory changes in Latin America include tax breaks, reduced royalties, longer contracts, relaxed qualification terms and flexible exploration mandates that allow companies to back out of investments more easily than in the past.

Brazil and Colombia also plan to set up permanent offers of areas for exploration and production - similar to those offered by the United States - rather than making them available only in occasional auctions.

Ecuador is offering shared-profit agreements that are potentially more lucrative for oil firms than fee-for-service contracts that prevented companies from benefiting from oil price gains.

Countries have to present terms attractive enough to draw bidders back to the region, said Julie Wilson, research director of global exploration at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

$110 BILLION IN PLEDGES

Strong participation by oil majors in recent auctions of exploration and production rights in Mexico and Brazil have heralded a new era by attracting about $110 billion in investment pledges.

Brazil started its effort to lure outside capital two decades ago, but it fell flat after initially enticing more than 100 companies, said Decio Oddone, head of Brazil's oil regulator. The effort was stymied by too few areas offered for auction, the low quality of some projects and the dominant role of state-run Petrobras.

Many of those companies did not have the expected success, Oddone said.

Now, Brazil is relaxing bidding rules to encourage local firms and medium-size foreign explorers to participate, joining majors already established in its vast pre-salt region.

In Mexico, political risks hampered its most recent auction in March, where bidding was dominated by state-run Pemex. The front-runner in a presidential election set for July has promised to scrutinize the nation's energy reforms.

But some industry leaders believe the country will stay on the path of opening everything from exploration to refining and gasoline retailing.

There is a very clear long-term strategy, said Jeremy Weir, chief executive of Trading firm Trafigura [TRAFGF.UL].

Broad participation by European, U.S. and Asian firms in several auctions is another a sign a Mexican revival is underway, added Fatih Birol, president of the International Energy Agency, a 29-nation group representing most of the world's top oil consuming nations.

Some of Mexico's and Brazil's efforts are being copied.

Argentina is allowing oil companies to recommend specific areas for they would like to see auctioned, as Mexico did in past rounds; Colombia will open a permanent offer of areas, as Brazil plans to do; and Mexico plans to replicate Brazil's three-year auction calendar, giving firms more time to plan capital spending before bidding rounds.

Some countries are keenly aware of the need to adjust its policies to compete with other nations, according to Juan Carlos Zepeda, head of the nation's energy regulator National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH).

We are flexible enough to accommodate any of our neighbors' creativity, he said. HIGHER RISK, HIGHER REWARD

Compared with Brazil and Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay this year hope to catch investors with offers that hold greater exploration risk - but potentially higher rewards.

Argentina officials believe Brazil's oil-rich pre-salt formation could extend to areas off its Atlantic coast, and in July will release terms of its first offshore auction. That is a big change in a nation that just six year ago expropriated Spanish oil firm Repsol's stake in state-owned YPF YPFB.BA.

Unlike the rounds for Argentina's vast Vaca Muerta shale formation - which were led locally by provincial governments - the nation's central government will run this year's auctions, standardizing rules and offering better terms.

Uruguay, which holds a third offshore auction in April, is putting up 17 blocks for exploration and production after relaxing the qualification terms and reducing the scope of its mandatory exploration programs.

Smaller Latin American countries including Guyana, Suriname and Paraguay are in talks with oil companies to offer rights to oilfields or to find partners for their state-run oil firms.

Similar energy market openings have blossomed in the past only to fade as governments reverted to resource nationalization or imposed limits to foreign investment.

Latin America has see-sawed in prior decades between opening to private investment and returning to oil nationalism.

It's part of the cycle: The countries tend to ask (oil companies) for as much as they can, said Horacio Cuenca, Wood Mackenzie's director of upstream research for Latin America. They only lower costs and royalties when available capital starts drying up.

Relate Coverage: Latin America's oil auctions fact box




A woman opened fire at YouTube's headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday, sending employees scrambling into the street and at least three victims to local hospitals before taking her own life, police said.

Police did not release any further information on the suspect or speculate on her motives for the shooting at the offices of YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet Inc's Google.

"We did locate a victim with what we believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Its a female, San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said at a news conference, describing the person police believe was the shooter. One of the victims, a 36-year-old man, was listed in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital. A 32-year-old woman was listed in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition. Authorities did not release names of any of the victims.

A YouTube product manager, Todd Sherman, described on Twitter hearing people running, first thinking it was an earthquake before he was told that a person had a gun.

"At that point every new person I saw was a potential shooter. Someone else said that the person shot out the back doors and then shot themselves," Sherman said on Twitter.

"I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front," Sherman said.

Google told NBC news in a statement that it was coordinating with local authorities.

"Customers said they heard what could have been gunshots when they were on their way here," Natalie Mangiante, an employee at Big Mouth Burgers located near the YouTube building, said by phone. Mangiante said she did not see or notice anything.

Local television images showed YouTube employees walking out of the building with their hands raised.

Last month, YouTube announced it would ban content promoting the sale of guns and gun accessories as well as videos that teach how to make guns.

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Mozido is a Texas "digital wallet" developer whose founder, Michael Liberty, was able to raise tens of millions from prominent investors after he agreed to pay millions to cover losses from what the SEC called improper investments with money belonging to the Philadelphia city and Pennsylvania state pension funds. Read more

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a new lawsuit alleging fraud by Michael Liberty, the New England developer who the agency says still owes millions to public pension plans in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New England.

The new case focuses on millions that Liberty raised for Texas-based Mozido, which Liberty founded and partly owned. Mozido has been working on a "digital wallet" to speed wireless payments around the world.

The complaint, filed in federal court in Maine on Monday, alleges that Liberty enacted "a scheme to trick hundreds of investors into investing in his shell companies instead of Mozido," according to the SEC. "Liberty and his accomplices then allegedly stole most of the more than $48 million raised to fund a lavish lifestyle that included private jet flights, multimillion-dollar residences, expensive cars, and movie production ventures."

The complaint is "groundless," said Liberty's lawyer, Jay Dubow of Pepper Hamilton LLP, of Philadelphia. "The SEC has unfairly targeted him," and has cost both Liberty and Mozido "a number of business opportunities."

As part of his Mozido fund-raising campaign, Liberty invited prominent figures including Gen. James Mattis and Mexico's former President Vicente Fox to meet investors, Forbes reported last year. Mattis, who is now President Trump's Secretary of Defense, and Fox, now an outspoken Trump critic, haven't been charged with wrongdoing in relation to Mozido.

Liberty was successful raising money for Mozido from the venture capital arm of Wellington Management Co., which picks stocks for Vanguard Group funds. Other Mozido investors included hedge fund pioneer Julian H. Robertson, United Arab Emirates President Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and prominent Philadelphians including Robert Turner, head of the former Turner Capital Management, of Berwyn. Turner became Mozido's chairman, but he tells me he's no longer involved with Mozido.

The SEC does not identify which investors were allegedly defrauded by Liberty and who ended up actually funding Mozido.

Mozido hired a string of veteran payment industry executives, including former Palm and Compaq boss Todd Bradley. Mozido also bought several foreign communications companies, and was listed by Silicon Valley publications among the "unicorn" tech companies with estimated valuations in the billions, but has not attracted a high-priced buyer or listed shares on a stock exchange.

Liberty was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $100,000 by a federal judge in Maine last year for illegal campaign contributions to former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Others accused in the new SEC complaint include Liberty's wife, Brittany Abbass Liberty; attorney George Marcus; cousin Richard Liberty, and family friend Paul Hess.

The allegations recall earlier fraud accusations against Liberty. Those involve a case settled in 2010, in which SEC officials allowed Liberty to pay just $600,000 of the $6 million he had agreed to refund the Philadelphia city and Pennsylvania state (SERS) pension systems and three New England communities which the SEC said Liberty had defrauded.

Those pension systems had invested a total of $27 million with the former Center City-based Keystone venture capital group, starting in 1997. According to the SEC, Liberty had gained control of the Keystone fund money  and then lost, kept, or gave away much of that cash, pumping millions into unapproved New England real estate and small-business investments in the years before the 2001 stock market crash.

In the initial settlement of those claims, the SEC let Liberty claim poverty and pay a fraction of what he owed. But in 2016, after reviewing complaints by disappointed Liberty employees and investors, the SEC reopened the pension case, alleging that Liberty had been spending lavishly on hotels, restaurants, and transportation with his then-girlfriend, and was beginning to raise millions for Mozido, when he claimed to be poor.

The pension case is due back in federal court in Philadelphia later this month. That case "is still in discovery. We're confident it will show Mr. Liberty was completely accurate in his disclosures when he made them" before 2010, said Dubow, his lawyer.

The multiple actions against Liberty show he was been able to win new fans and investors despite past troubles that had been documented and publicly reported. As far as the SEC is concerned, "the underlying issues are unrelated, they're separate [and] distinct cases," SEC lawyer Michael Callahan told me.

So buyer beware: "The prospect of investing in a nonpublic start-up company may hold considerable allure, but buyers need to understand what they are buying," said Paul Levenson, who runs the SEC's Boston office, in a statement with the new charges. "Unscrupulous operators make it difficult for ordinary investors to assess such 'investment opportunities.' "
Land O' Frost said Tuesday that it had purchased Wellshire Farms, a Swedesboro company that sells sausages, bacon, and other meat products in Whole Foods stores in the United States and Canada.

The price was not disclosed. A spokeswoman for Land O' Frost declined to disclose revenues for the two family-owned companies. Land O' Frost manufactures presliced meats and specialty hot dogs and sausages, and has products in Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Wegmans, and other supermarket chains.

Louis B. Colameco Jr., who left his family's excavating business to found Wellshire in 1996, said in an interview that he decided to sell because Wellshire's growth had slowed to single-digit percentages in the last two years from 12 percent three years ago and easy annual revenue gains of 20 percent when the company was younger.

"I can't get our company to the $150 million mark. Let's put it that way," Colameco said. "I need somebody like these guys with expertise, that are a lot bigger than us. It's not fair to the employees, because I'm holding back the brand and holding back the company."

Wellshire has an exclusive agreement to sell Wellshire-branded products in Whole Foods. That agreement remains in place, Colameco said. The company sells additional brands through other chains, such as Mom's Organic. Wellshire has an estimated 25 to 30 employees, all of whom are keeping their jobs, Colameco said.

Land O' Frost, based in Munster, Ind., is a third-generation family-owned business founded in 1941, according to its website. The company has about 1,100 employees and operates three manufacturing facilities in Lansing, Ill.; Madisonville, Ky.; and Searcy, Ark.

Wellshire relies on a network of processors  including Kunzler & Co. in Lancaster; Godshall's Quality Meats, based in Telford; and Berks Packing Co. in Reading  that manufacture natural and organic products to its specifications.

"We have no plans to shift production of any Wellshire products at this time. If anything, Land O' Frost may look to this group, proven partners, to augment the production of Land O' Frost manufacturing locations," said David Van Eekeren, president and chief executive of Land O'Frost.

A key to getting back on a faster growth track is being more vertically integrated, Colameco said, but it seemed to be too much at his age.

"Am I going to go out and buy a meat plant at 59? I'd have to be out of my mind."
Lamar Eskridge, 7, left, and Nasir Warren, 7, use a reading program on iPads in their first-grade classroom at Alain Locke Elementary School in West Philadelphia. Read more

The Philadelphia School District will spend $20 million on updating primary grade classrooms in 11 city schools next school year. If you want to know whether the investment is worth it, just ask Katherine Carter.

Carter, principal of Alain Locke Elementary in West Philadelphia, surveyed a first-grade class  some children writing sentences, others reading books, others stringing letter beads together, some puzzling through literacy activities on iPads  and nodded definitively.

"It's increased engagement," said Carter, whose school was part of a pilot this year to modernize classrooms in targeted struggling schools across the city. "It's increased excitement. We're seeing improvements."

With the school system preparing for a return to local control  and a proposed accompanying cash infusion that would improve its budget picture considerably, bringing the district's long-term spending plan into structural balance  Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. is planning to invest in areas he thinks will move the district forward.

Early literacy has been the signature focus of Hite's superintendency, and the classroom modernization advances that goal, he said Tuesday. His visit to Locke came at a time when Mayor Kenney has proposed nearly $1 billion in new money for the district over five years, a sum that would require a property tax increase  a hard sell with some on City Council.

"These are things that we're actually doing to improve the learning environment for our students," Hite said, motioning to a before-and-after picture of teacher Dara Messing's first-grade classroom, which got improved lighting and new paint, closets, desks, chairs, flexible seating, technology and other materials as a result of the modernization project. "More children are attending. More children are engaged. Teachers are a lot more active."

The aim was not just to paint a few walls and install some bells and whistles, but to equip teachers with tools to better instruct the city's youngest learners in how to read.

Messing, a 10-year veteran, has long used "center-based learning"  setting aside multiple areas of the classroom for students to engage in self-directed, hands-on activities  in her teaching. Her students learn best that way, she said. But in the past, Messing was on her own, relying on Donors Choose and other crowdfunding measures to make it happen.

With the district's investment, Messing was part of a group of teachers who helped school planners decide what the upgrades should look like. And, like all teachers in the affected classrooms, she's had ongoing training on how to best use the new space and materials, from the whiteboard to a dry-erase table that students can write on.

On Tuesday, during the first grade literacy block, Room 100 shifted from whole-group instruction (Messing at the interactive white board, asking animated questions about space) to small-group time using the centers. Messing was reading with one small group of students, but thanks to a new kind of technology she is piloting for the district, she was able to listen in on the other sections of children, too, using an app on her phone to switch between "pods" to check whether students are struggling, to answer questions, or to give targeted help.

That technology, which costs about $2,000 per class, is only in Messing's room, and the district won't decide whether to use it more widely until educators are able to gather more data on student progress, officials said.

Messing said the classroom update has helped her students. Take the dynamic seating  in some centers, students sit not on regular chairs but seats that allow them to sway and bounce while they learn, which has made a difference for many wiggly learners.

"Kids don't always need to be sitting still for them to be learning," Messing said. "Sometimes, they can be standing up and actively engaged."

Schools selected for the 2018-19 classroom updates are J.H. Brown in Holmesburg; Childs in South Philadelphia; Day in East Germantown; Farrell in the Northeast; Hunter in North Philadelphia; McMichael in Mantua; Rhoads in Mill Creek; Rowen in West Oak Lane; Steel in Nicetown; Taggart in South Philadelphia; and Webster in Kensington.

Schools updated this year are Duckrey in North Philadelphia; Gideon in Brewerytown; Haverford Learning Center in Mill Creek; Lea in West Philadelphia; Meade in North Philadelphia; Pennell in East Germantown; and Stearne in Frankford.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham is on a pre-planned vacation this week amid an advertising boycott over comments she made on Twitter to David Hogg, a survivor of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Read more

Where is Laura Ingraham?

That is likely to be the response of many Fox News viewers who tune into the Ingraham Angle at 10 p.m. this week and are greeted by guests filling in for the fiery conservative host.

Ingraham announced on the show Friday evening that she was taking off for vacation this week, just as companies decided to pull advertisements off her show after comments she made on Twitter about David Hogg, one of the teenage survivors of a school shooting in Parkland, Fla. and an outspoken supporter of stricter gun control. A Fox News spokeswoman confirmed that Ingraham's vacation was pre-planned.

"We cannot and will not allow voices to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts," Jack Abernethy, the co-president of Fox News, said in a statement to the Inquirer and the Daily News. "We look forward to having Laura Ingraham back hosting her program next Monday when she returns from spring vacation with her children."

Despite apologizing for taunting Hogg for not being accepted into UCLA (an apology Hogg refused to accept), advertisers have continued to pull out of her popular show. At least 16 companies have pulled their ads. Bayer, the latest, announced Saturday it had stopped advertising on the Ingraham Angle and had "no plans to resume any time in the future."

Filling in this week for Laura will be former Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz, Fox & Friends hosts Brian Kilmeade and Pete Hegseth, and Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich. Ingraham is scheduled to return April 9.

Ingraham is the third popular Fox News host to announce a vacation amid an advertiser boycott in the last year.

In April 2017, Bill O'Reilly announced he was going on vacation as advertisers fled his show after the New York Times revealed he had paid millions to five former Fox New personalities to settle claims of sexual and verbal abuse. At the time, a spokeswoman said O'Reilly was scheduled to return, but the host was forced out by the network over the sexual harassment allegations. O'reilly left Fox News with a $25 million settlement while denying any wrongdoing.

A month later, Sean Hannity also announced he was going on vacation for Memorial Day weekend as he lost advertisers over pushing a false conspiracy theory involving Seth Rich, a slain Democratic National Committee staffer. Hannity ultimately returned to his show after a few days. Rich's parents are suing Fox News over a retracted story falsely linking him to the hack of DNC emails during the 2016 presidential election.

On Sunday, CNN Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter questioned whether ad boycotts are the right way to respond in such situations, calling the boycotts "dangerous" and suggesting critics "meet their comments with more speech."

But Anthony Atamanuik, who plays President Trump on Comedy Central's satirical comedy The President Show, made the case that money is speech.

"Part of speech is, in a capitalist society, hitting people in the pocket book," Atamanuik told Stelter. "Meeting speech with speech is fine, but part of speech in our culture is money."

Ingraham will also be taking the week off from her syndicated radio show, which airs locally in Philadelphia on WFYL-AM. Paul Viollis, a corporate security expert and host of the Security Brief podcast, was the guest host for Monday's show. It's unclear who will be filling in for Ingraham the rest of the week.

Ingraham isn't the only media personality dealing with criticism over her interaction with a survivor of the Parkland shooting. Joan Walsh, a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and a CNN contributor, was criticized on social media for her Twitter exchange with Kyle Kashuv, a survivor who does not support harsher gun laws. CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Proactiv announced Friday it had pulled its ads off MSNBC after Kurt Eichenwald, a senior writer for Newsweek whose contract as an MSNBC contributor expired in February, engaged in a heated back-and-forth with Kashuv. Like Ingraham, Eichenwald later apologized for his comments.
At the height of a heroin epidemic in Vancouver, British Columbia, Inspector Bill Spearn  then a rookie cop  was assigned to a beat in the heart of the crisis.

It was 1996, and though he had been responding to overdose after overdose in Downtown Eastside, one of Canada's poorest postal codes, Spearn wanted no part of the harm-reduction measures the city was considering to save the lives of people in addiction.

A safe injection site, where drugs could be used under medical supervision, was out of the question: "I thought it would be a big magnet," he told a crowd at Temple University Medical School on Monday night. "I thought it would empower people to use drugs." A few years later, with the debate still raging, he left the neighborhood for another position in the police department.

In the meantime, Vancouver did open a safe injection site in the Downtown Eastside, the first in North America. Years later, Spearn was promoted to sergeant and found himself on the same patrols he walked as a rookie. The first thing he noticed, he said, was that no one was overdosing on the street.

"The light bulbs started going off in my head: This might not be such a bad idea," he said of the safe injection site.

These days, Spearn heads his department's organized crime task force, and in his spare time travels across Canada talking about how police can get on board with harm reduction policies. He came to Philadelphia at the behest of the Public Health Department, which has been holding informational meetings around the city about its plan, announced earlier this year, to sanction a safe injection site. It was Spearn's first time speaking about these sites in the United States, where the concept is controversial.

Before Monday night's community meeting, Spearn spoke with City Council members whose districts include Kensington, where drug use is most visible and most concentrated, and the police officers who patrol the area. Police Commissioner Richard Ross spent an hour with Spearn. Ross said talks with that city's police chief "moved the needle" for him, though he's still not in support.

"I'm still at a point where you have to convince me," he said Tuesday. "I'm not at the point where I'm like, 'Hell no, get away from me,' which is where I was."

Still, Ross said, he remains concerned about how his officers would police a safe injection site  and about how community members would react to a site in their neighborhood. And at least one harm-reduction measure Canada is trying would be inconceivable in Philadelphia, Ross said. Spearn supports a pilot program in Vancouver where people entrenched in heroin addiction are prescribed medical-grade heroin as a form of treatment.

"I think that lost a lot of people. It's a bit much," Ross said.

Spearn said after Monday night's meeting that he had been impressed with the local police department's willingness to listen: Philadelphia was one of the first American cities to send officers to tour Vancouver's safe injection site. And he was staggered, he said, by the number of deaths in Philadelphia. About 200 people a year were dying of overdoses in Vancouver by the time the city opened a safe injection site; an estimated 1,200 people died of overdoses in Philadelphia last year.

"The problem is much worse here  and it's not just a Vancouver problem, it's not just a Philadelphia problem, it's a problem that affects the entire continent, and it's spreading," he said.

Spearn and Sarah Evans, who was the first director of Vancouver's first safe injection site, Insite, and now works in harm reduction in New York, fielded questions from a crowd of about 75 Monday about how the site operates, who it serves, and how Evans and her staff wrangled the legal questions surrounding the site.

Vancouver's site was able to operate under an exemption from the country's controlled substances law, Evans said. Still, she stressed: "Every site in the world has to address that question: Can I do this without getting arrested?"

For Spearn, the sites' benefits have been clear: they've cut back on overdose deaths and gotten more people into treatment. But the sites are not a panacea, he said  Vancouver's treatment system has not kept up with its harm reduction methods. The police department has begun advocating for treatment on demand, meaning that people who ask for help are immediately taken to a treatment facility.

As in Philadelphia, fentanyl  a synthetic opioid far more powerful than heroin has made its way into Vancouver's drug supply, sometimes without the user's even knowing it has been added. Overdose deaths have spiked past the levels he saw as a rookie in the '90s; about 80 percent of cases involved fentanyl. But Spearn shudders to think what the death rate would have been without the city's safe injection sites: Insite alone, he said, revives seven to eight people a day.
When the hospital thought Annette Alexanders daughter was uninsured, they sent her a bill for $821. Once they realized she had insurance the price went up  to $1,214. Read more

It was 2 in the morning when Annette Alexander rushed her daughter Cherie to Abington-Lansdale Hospital with throbbing head pain.

The 24-year-old's two-hour visit for what turned out to be a migraine headache led to a bill of $1,642.

But in her haste, Alexander had left the family's new insurance card at home. The Montgomery County hospital discounted the bill under its uninsured patient program, to $821.

Realizing the error, Alexander called the hospital to provide the insurance information and soon got a new bill. The $1,642 charge had again been reduced, but this time to the insurer's negotiated rate: $1,214.

So in this case, being covered by insurance cost the Alexanders an extra $393.

"I wanted to go back and ask if I could pretend I didn't have insurance anymore," said Alexander, 48, of Lansdale.

No wonder. The Alexanders, like a growing number of Americans, have a high-deductible health plan. And until their expenses exceed that deductible, they are paying health bills out of pocket.

What's more, those who read their insurance statements  which prominently display negotiated rates as far less than the hospital's charges  would think they're getting the best possible deal.

Alexander would by no means be better off without insurance. A serious medical situation, such as cancer or a car accident, could bankrupt the family. And once the deductible is met, her out-of-pocket costs will be far lower than an uninsured patient would face.

But high-deductible health plans are exposing what used to be a well-kept health-care secret: An insurance card  and your insurer's negotiating clout  are not necessarily a ticket to the best price. That's one reason why more insured people, as well as the uninsured, need to know cash prices, which is the focus of Philly Health Costs, the Inquirer's project aimed at making medical billing more transparent.

"With these high-deductible plans, the curtain is pulled back and you see some of these nonsensical calculations going on," said Ron Peck, a health-benefits lawyer with the Phia Group, a health-cost consulting firm based near Boston.

Patients are catching on

Prices for hospital services, including an emergency department visit, vary widely, depending on which hospital you go to, and which insurance plan you have. Health systems commonly charge more to private insurers in order to make up for lower payments from Medicare and Medicaid, as well as charity care.

The practice is not new, but largely went unnoticed when insurance plans and employers covered a greater share of patients' health expenses, Peck said.

Patients are increasingly catching on, as they take on responsibility for a growing share of their health expenses under high-deductible plans.

Cherie and Alexander's husband, Jeff, are covered by a high-deductible Aetna health plan through his employer. Alexander has a separate policy through her employer. Aetna spokeswoman Shelly Bendit said the company could not speak to this case because of patient confidentiality rules. In general, she said, while the company "works with hospitals to negotiate the best rates for our members, there are many factors which contribute to a member's ultimate cost," such as plan type and how costs are shared.

"Additionally, Aetna has no control over a hospital's billing policies and whether they're determined by coding, charitable missions, or any other policy that the hospital may apply," Bendit said in a statement.

Nonprofit hospitals are required to have financial-assistance programs to cover care for uninsured patients who are unable to pay. In an effort to curtail unpaid bills, hospitals will often include a discount in uninsured patients' initial bills. Some offer discounts for prompt payment and may even knock down the price for those who pay in cash up front, or promptly after the service.

"If you're not going to be compensated at all or it's going to be administratively burdensome to recoup that, it's far more advantageous to resolve the issue with the patient as timely as possible," said Paula Bussard, chief policy officer for the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.

So much for conventional wisdom

Abington-Lansdale Hospital, which is part of the Jefferson Health System, discounts emergency department bills by 50 percent when the patient is uninsured, with a maximum charge to the patient of $1,600. Patients may qualify for additional discounts based on financial need.

"Abington-Jefferson Health's financial assistance policy is an institutional effort not to overburden our uninsured or underinsured patients and to encourage everyone  regardless of their ability to pay  to access quality health care in their time of need," John Brand, a spokesman for Jefferson Health, said in a statement.

Brand also cited patient confidentiality rules to explain why he couldn't speak about Alexander's case specifically.

It's not just hospital services that may cost more with insurance. Price-tracking tools, such as website and mobile app GoodRx, have exposed wide variation in prescription drug costs, with the cheapest prices frequently available to customers paying without using insurance.

That's not what most people assume, said Jeff Kullgren, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan.

"The conventional wisdom most people understand is that when a large insurance company has a lot of members, they have more power to negotiate lower prices," Kullgren said. "Most people would expect that the price would be less than what an individual without any insurance at all would pay."

It's true that private insurance companies use their heft to negotiate on behalf of their members in a way individual patients can't.

But insurance doesn't exist to get members better rates on routine services. Rather, it exists to protect members from crippling expenses in the instance of an emergency, Peck said.

What's changed, Peck said, is that more of the routine expenses, such as doctor's visits, are coming out of members' wallets.

As a result, he said, "you care what the price is."

Press the issue

Patient advocates advise shopping around for services, asking about cash prices and understanding the details of what your health plan covers.

Alexander and her husband received that advice when they switched to high-deductible plans a couple years ago, and have tried to follow it.

"But when someone bangs on your bedroom door at 2 a.m. and says I need to go to the hospital, you're not going to start making calls to see who's most efficient," Alexander said.

Once they had the bill, Alexander saw two options: Fight to pay the $821 she was initially billed outside of her insurance plan or pony up the $1,214 and have it count against her daughter's $2,500 deductible.

She decided to pay the $1,214.

There could have been a third option, Peck said.

Had Alexander taken the $821 bill and paid it, without submitting insurance information to the hospital, she may have been able to submit it to her insurance company for reimbursement and the amount could have applied to her deductible.

Ellen Magenheim, of We Care Advocates in Marlton, helps consumers navigate medical bills. In her experience, hospitals are often willing to negotiate if it means they'll get paid something.

"You have a voice," Magenheim said. "If you feel it's not just, talk to somebody."

Change will come, she said, if patients continue to press the issue.

Alexander didn't think it was right to be charged more for having insurance. But she didn't think it was an argument she'd win.

"Whether you have insurance or don't have insurance," she said, "it just seems as though the system is rigged against patients."
Former Philadelphia Sheriff John Green leaves U.S. District Court in Philadelphia after he beat all charges Tuesday April 3, 2018. Read more

Former Philadelphia Sheriff John Green beat all five charges in his federal corruption trial Tuesday, as a jury also rejected many of the charges against the businessman who prosecutors had said showered Green with bribes and kickbacks.

After a little more than two days of deliberation, the 12 jurors acquitted Green of three of the charges and were hung on the other two, apparently accepting the defense argument that prosecutors were wrongly trying to criminalize a friendship.

Glum prosecutors declined to comment afterward. They could retry Green, 70, who was sheriff for two decades, on the two counts on which no verdict was reached. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Diviny said it was too early for a decision on that.

The jury did find the businessman, James Davis, guilty on a fraud charge, concluding that he plotted to file a false campaign-finance report that hid his financial help to Green in 2007. It also found him guilty of conspiracy for doing that. But it found him not guilty of two other counts of wire fraud, and was hung on a third count.

It found him guilty of five income-tax charges, including that he failed to file tax returns for three years and tried in a fourth year to write off the cost of his 42-foot pleasure boat as a business expense.

"I'm relieved," Green, the longest-serving sheriff in Philadelphia history, said in a voice so low he could barely be heard. "In a word, I'm very relieved."

Peter Scuderi, Green's defense lawyer, had told jurors in his closing argument that the government's case was far too circumstantial and lacked hard evidence tying Green's official actions to the many benefits bestowed upon him by Davis. The defense portrayed Davis, 67, as a tireless entrepreneur who worked closely with Green to revamp a poorly funded and ineptly staffed Sheriff's Office.

After the verdict, Scuderi speculated that the federal case was fatally wounded by a failure to show jurors that city services suffered as a result of a corrupt bargain between the sheriff and the businessman. "Jurors really like to see a loss," he said. "People want to see citizens were being deprived."

Federal prosecutors had portrayed Green as a corrupt politician who sold his office to his "money man," steering lucrative secret contracts to Davis in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions, massive "loans" he never had to pay back, and even a bargain-priced house.

Scuderi scoffed at the house allegation after the verdict. "He didn't get a house on a hilltop," the lawyer said. "He got a dump."

Defense lawyers described Green, a former Philadelphia police officer, as a reformer who tried to reinvent his office to rescue homeowners facing foreclosure, and painted Davis as a critical helper.

The sheriff's job is one of five citywide elected positions, along with the register of wills, city controller, district attorney, and mayor. Its duties boil down to escorting prisoners to court and overseeing sheriff sales for mortgage or tax debts. Critics have called for the office to be abolished and its functions picked up by the courts, in the same way that the position of clerk of quarter sessions was ended in 2010.

In his closing argument, Scuderi told the jurors that the central weakness of the prosecution's case was the absence of evidence of an explicit quid pro quo in which Green agreed to sell his office. Prosecutors granted immunity from prosecution to Green's deputy and then taped her in talks with the sheriff. By then, Green had been alerted to the federal probe by raids and subpoenas. He said nothing incriminating on the tapes, played in court by the defense.

Lewis Small, one of Davis' lawyers, hit the same theme. "They have no direct evidence of a bribe," Small said. "Everything here is circumstantial, and they draw the wrong inferences."

Diviny and his fellow prosecutors, Sarah Grieb and Jennifer Clarke, urged the jurors to use common sense to connect Green's actions to the benefits bestowed upon him  almost always without public disclosure. In his last decade in office alone, Green gave Davis' firms $35 million in contracts, usually without terms spelled out in writing, effectively privatizing his office until his midterm resignation in 2010.

Although U.S. Supreme Court rulings have made it markedly tougher to prosecute public officials in recent years, court precedent establishing proof of a "stream of benefits" can be enough for conviction, even if investigators can't tie a particular gift to a particular act of a corrupt official. Diviny told the jury Wednesday that Green had received no mere stream, but "a torrent of benefits."

Green, soft-spoken and professorial, first made a citywide reputation as one of the early leaders of the Guardian Civic League, the organization for African American police on the Philadelphia force. Davis, before creating his public relations firm, was a journalist with the Philadelphia Tribune, the nation's oldest continuously published African American newspaper.

During the document-filled five-week trial, prosecutors detailed case after case in which Davis had provided financial help to Green  who was paid a yearly salary of $118,000  both personally and when he ran as a Democrat in numerous citywide campaigns. That generosity included:

Paying for $145,000 in campaign ads for Green, despite a city law that limited donors to a $2,500 contribution per race. Most of this spending was never disclosed on Green's campaign-finance reports.

Pumping $65,000 into the campaign fund, mostly to provide "street money" to pay campaign workers on Election Day. This far exceeded donation limits and went mostly undisclosed.

Renovating a home for Green in Mount Airy and selling it to him at a loss of $39,000.

Hiring Green's wife as a job recruiter and paying her $89,000 over six years.

Providing Green with a $258,000 no-interest loan to close on a retirement home near Orlando. Although prosecutors say Green has left behind a trail of unpaid loans, he repaid this loan after three months. He did so after receiving a $386,000 payment from the city's DROP retirement program.

Diviny said the money often was washed in and out of bank accounts and misleadingly labeled. "It's the strongest evidence that the defendants knew what they were doing was wrong  that's why you conceal things," the prosecutor said.

Small argued that the government had overreached in finding a sinister motivation in Davis' help for Green. Small noted that prosecutors even had raised questions about a $10,000 loan that Davis gave Green in the fall of 2011  months after Green had quit midterm amid a wave of bad press and hostile audits.

That loan, Small said, "is just where a friend helps a friend."
Radio personality Marilyn Russell shows her joy and exuberance as she edits an interview at the WOGL studio in Bala Cynwyd Pa.. Read more

The radio business is not for those to whom planting roots is important. It's pretty much the norm for on-air personalities to have called multiple towns and cities home.

And then there's Marilyn Russell.

Russell, who since early 2017 has held down the 5:30-9 a.m. shift on oldies outlet WOGL-FM (98.1), has certainly moved up and down the dial. But the Mayfair native, a twice-divorced mother of a 26-year-old son, has defied industry convention by never working anywhere but her hometown.

A Lincoln High School alum who studied journalism at LaSalle University, Russell started  pretty much by accident  in 1993 at the fondly remembered alt-rock outlet WDRE-FM (now the hip-hop outpost Boom 103.9). She went on to another defunct station, Y-100 (now soulful WRNB-FM, 100.3), where she sidekicked for current morning-drive titans Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison of WMMR-FM (93.3) and subsequently to WXPN-FM (88.5), WMGK-FM (103.9), and BEN-FM (95.7) before landing at OGL. This year marks her 25th anniversary on the local airwaves.

How did you get into radio?

I went to work at an ad agency because I wanted to be a copywriter. But [executives there] constantly said to me, 'Why aren't you doing voiceover work?' I said, 'Tell me more.' That singlehandedly changed the track of my career. I went back to school for acting and voiceover  this was 1988  and I started getting work as a voiceover talent. I did an enormous amount of work for Comcast, who was just coming into the market.

In 1993, a little radio station landed in my neighborhood in Jenkintown. It was WDRE. I went over and said, 'Do you need anyone to do anything? And they said, 'Yeah, we need somebody to answer phones in the afternoon, and we need somebody to do [public service announcements].' That was it. The minute I got there and started working, it felt like that's where I was supposed to be. My first morning show was in the summer of 1993.

Who did you listen to growing up?

Hy Lit, Harvey Holiday. I used to record Ed Sciaky's Sunday Night Alternative show on WYSP. And I used to tape Michael Tearson's Guerilla Theater [on WMMR in the early 1980s].

Did you ever consider leaving town for a gig?

I've never had an offer. I did interview in New York once. I thought it would be an incredible experience that would either kill me or make me stronger. But if anyone is reading this in Hawaii or San Diego, I am more than available [laughs].

Whats the best part of being on the radio?

Having a voice and being able to share great stories of positive things happening in our world. We're surrounded by a lot of negative craziness right now, and I think what helps me is knowing if somebody's having a bad day, I can maybe put a smile on their face. We're going to jam together to the music that's cranked up.

But for me, it's about the community. I've gotten to meet leaders of nonprofits that I never would have known, that have filled my heart with great energy.

You do a lot of celebrity interviews. Favorites?

I got to sit in a room with Liam Neeson, and that wasn't too shabby. He looked fantastic, smelled even better, and has that beautiful accent, and was really funny. Russell Crowe for me was a big deal because everybody said, 'He's so difficult, you're never going to get him to come around.' And he was difficult, but I did get him to cheer up. I'm very, very proud of that.

Has your on-air style changed through the years?

No, because I never went to broadcasting school, so I was never that 'W-OHHHHG-L!' girl. I was always just a person who was lucky enough to talk on the radio for work.

What would your Plan B have been?

It would be voiceovers and publicity, too. If I wasn't on air, I'd be on the back end [of radio], doing programming or promotion. I would just avoid sales because they make you dress up. That would be the hard part for me. I always had an aversion to pantyhose; working in a bank was not going to be for me.

Just as print media has been roiled by the digital revolution, so, to a significant degree, has so-called terrestrial radio  after all, thanks to iTunes, Spotify, etc. everyone can now be his or her own personal DJ. Are you optimistic about the future of terrestrial music radio?

I do feel terrestrial radio is very healthy. I do an enormous amount of endorsements, so I know our [advertisers] are reaching their audience. But do you have to add in a social-media component? Yes. So that's 1.4 million listeners plus a bazillion online people that are also connected to me. I think that's a win-win.

If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give to the Marilyn Russell on the day she walked into WDRE?

Prepare. Prepare, prepare, prepare. It's so much healthier to know what you're going to say. Be ready. And say something that's worth hearing, not just mindless chatter. That's what I would tell her, because Marilyn Russell was so bad in the beginning.

But in 25 years, I guess I improved.
Shawn Yarbray (right) and his father, Karif Roberts, in the newsroom of the Inquirer and Daily News, where they were interviewed Monday, April 2, 2018, four days after Yarbray was acquitted of attempted murder and robbery of City Councilman David Oh. Read more

Shawn Yarbray, acquitted Thursday in the stabbing of City Councilman David Oh, took to the airwaves Monday morning to discuss his case, only to hear the councilman call in and say the jury got it wrong.

As Yarbray, 25, and his father, Karif Roberts, 44, were being interviewed on WURD-AM (900), Oh was listening. He called to say he still believes that Yarbray stabbed him in the ribs with a knife and slashed one of his arms in the unprovoked attack May 31, 2017.

Oh, 58, said he would not apologize to Yarbray and said he wanted to "set the record straight" that it was Yarbray who had stabbed him, not a man in police custody in Florida who Yarbray's lawyer has said may be the culprit.

It was not the first broadside by Oh since the jury's verdict.

"I really just think it's unfortunate that the young man had come to a point where he would be reckless enough to take somebody's life or hurt them," Oh said after testifying against Yarbray last week.

Attempts to reach Oh later Monday were not successful.

Oh's trial testimony, coupled with Monday's radio call, made Yarbray bristle and shake his head in disbelief in an interview later Monday with the Inquirer and Daily News.

"You were wrong, that's it," Yarbray said as if speaking to Oh hours after the radio dust-up. "You picked the wrong person, you still think that you got the right person, but you don't. The person that hurt you is still out there."

Yarbray's father, a supervisor of contract employees who work with special education students in the Philadelphia School District, echoed the sentiment.

"Even though he was found innocent, David Oh keeps trying to drag him down," Roberts said of his son. "He's still doing it to him this morning. In the court of public opinion, he's trying to find him guilty, and that's not fair."

Yarbray said he resents that Oh's picking his picture out of a stack of more than 300 photographs was enough for his picture and name to be released to the media as the armed-and-dangerous suspect. When he saw his own mug shot on a newscast three days after the attack, he recalled, he had his father take him to the police station at 55th and Pine Streets. He thought he would be questioned and given a chance to plead his innocence, "but from there, I just got locked up."

In the 10 months between his arrest and the jury's decision, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office did not find any more evidence against Yarbray to corroborate Oh's identification, which ultimately led the jury to find him not guilty, according to a juror interviewed by the papers and others who spoke to defense attorney Samuel C. Stretton after the trial.

There were no additional witnesses, DNA, knife, bloody clothing, video footage, or known connection between Yarbray and Oh.

Stretton told the jury that the scenario under which Oh fingered his client was the perfect storm for a faulty identification to be made. "In this case, as much as you wanted to believe Mr. Oh, it's the nature of identification," Stretton said. "It leaves a lot to be desired."

Suzanne Mannes, a Widener University associate professor of cognitive psychology, who has researched witness identification, said a 2014 study conducted by the Innocence Project found that mistaken identification was involved in 75 percent of cases in which a wrongful conviction was overturned by DNA evidence.

"One of the things we know is that witness identification is wrong a lot of the time," she said. Errors are often due to variables such as lighting conditions and a witness' stress level, distance from an event, and if the witness is of a different race from the suspect, she said. Other variables arise from how police and detectives administer suspect lineups and photo arrays, Mannes noted.

Yarbray, who has two prior arrests that did not result in convictions, said he hopes to return to the home health-care aide job he had before being arrested for the Oh attack. But he and his father want Oh to let him move on with his life.

Roberts said that during the radio appearance, "I was trying to explain to Mr. Oh that because of his status, it's kind of reckless for him to keep going around saying those things, because it's hindering Shawn from moving forward and getting a job."

"On one side, you say you trust the criminal justice system," the father said. "On the other side, you're doubling down on Shawn as a City Council member. You've got to be careful what you say."

Yarbray said he believes he never should have been arrested, and wants District Attorney Larry Krasner to know it.

"I see you working, but you wasn't working on my case," Yarbray said of Krasner. "I got arrested for something that I didn't do."
An Tso Sun, a Taiwanese exchange student, was charged with making terroristic threats after he was arrested for threatening a shooting at his high school, Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School in Drexel Hill, Pa. Read more

Police have discovered more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition and a handgun allegedly belonging to an 18-year-old foreign exchange student charged last week with threatening to "shoot up" a Roman Catholic high school in Drexel Hill.

The host parent, a lawyer who has not been identified, went to An Tso Sun's bedroom at her home in Lansdowne and removed a 9mm Glock handgun and ammunition before police arrived to conduct a search, Superintendent Michael Chitwood of the Upper Darby Police Department said Monday night.

"She immediately went to the bedroom" after she was contacted by Bonner and Prendergast Catholic High School that Sun had made the threat to another student on March 26, Chitwood said.

Citing the ongoing investigation, Chitwood on Monday declined to say how or where police found the gun and ammunition, except that they were inside a black carryall case. The 1,600 rounds included ammunition for the Glock as well as ammunition for an AK-47, an AR-15, and a shotgun.

Sun had sent a video to fellow classmates of himself in his bedroom showing off the Glock, Chitwood said.

Sun remains charged with one misdemeanor count of making terroristic threats. His host parent has not been charged.

The Taiwanese national was being held on a detainer lodged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That means he cannot be freed on bail, which had been set at $100,000, Chitwood said.

Upper Darby detectives are set to meet Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Sun's parents, identified by the Associated Press as the actor and assistant film director Sun Peng and the actress Ying Di, arrived Friday from Taiwan and have obtained a new legal team for him.

Attorneys Robert C. Keller and Michael N. Kotik said in a statement Monday evening: "Our client just turned 18 in January and is a senior in high school. This young man has had no prior contacts with the courts and has been considered an affable, precocious student with no discipline or antisocial tendencies. The young man's parents have flown in from Taiwan and fully support their child. Our investigation reveals that there was no intention to terrorize or otherwise commit any criminal act. The family is concerned by the rising level of rhetoric that is being transmitted to the news media and hopes that the public will keep an open mind as all the facts and circumstances are brought forward."

Sun allegedly warned a 17-year-old male classmate last week not to come to school on May 1, saying he planned go on a shooting spree that day, police said. The classmate reported the statement to a school employee and the school notified Upper Darby police at 9:38 a.m. Tuesday.

Sun was arrested at the high school that day after voluntarily speaking with a detective.

He told police that he was kidding about the threat and had told the classmate that he was "just joking."

Officers executing a search warrant in Sun's bedroom Tuesday night found a military-style ballistic vest, crossbow with scope and light, 20 rounds of 9mm ammunition, military ski mask, ammunition clip loader, a strangulation apparatus known as a garrote, and other equipment.

No firearm was found during that search.

Chitwood said Sun used a school-issued iPad to search for how to obtain parts to assemble a functioning AK-47 or AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.

Sun obtained parts online to assemble the functioning Glock. Chitwood noted that Sun, by using this method, was able to circumvent Pennsylvania's age limit of 21 for buying a handgun.

Sun's previous attorney, Enrique A. Latoison, said last week that the exchange student has the equipment found in the original search of his bedroom because he was interested in a law-enforcement career and was planning to major in criminal justice at a university.
Saudi Arabia has lifted a temporary ban on imports of fresh and frozen guava from Egypt, nearly 75 days after the ban was implemented, Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) said in a statement that imports of Egyptian guava will be limited to facilities approved by the authority.

The SFDA said the decision to lift the ban was based upon a commitment by the regulatory authority in Egypt with regards to controls and requirements related to exporting manufactured fruit and vegetables to the kingdom.

In January 2018, the SFDA banned Egyptian imports over what it said was the presence of pesticide residue that was higher than the global limit.

Egypt is also in talks with the Gulf country to lift a ban on Egyptian strawberries, which was implemented in July 2017, also for high levels of pesticide.

Pepper imports from Egypt have also been banned by Saudi Arabia for the same reason.

Last week, Egyptian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Safwat El-Haddad said in press statements that Saudi Arabia will revoke the ban on Egyptian strawberries soon.

Around 50 percent of Egyptian agricultural exports are to Arab countries, amounting to 1.8 million tonnes of product worth $1 billion annually.

Following the ban on strawberries, Egypt has been imposing stricter regulations on agricultural exports, introducing a new system under which crops are inspected several times while in the fields, after harvest, and finally after they are prepared for export.

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Mayor Jim Kenney, left, and Attorney General Josh Shapiro believe Philadelphia and Pennsylvania stand to lose a great deal if the immigrant population is undercounted in the 2020 census. Read more

The U.S. Constitution requires the federal government to conduct a census every 10 years, counting all people living in America  whether they are citizens or not. An accurate count allows the federal government to fairly allocate key sources of federal funding, including education and infrastructure dollars. This count also determines the number of representatives each state has in Congress. As elected officials responsible for representing Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, we know how important it is that all of our residents are counted to ensure we get our fair share and proper representation.

However, the Trump administration is taking steps that would undermine the accuracy of the 2020 census, hurting Philadelphia and Pennsylvania when it comes to federal funding and representation. In an apparent effort to undercount residents who are not citizens  like green card holders, students, and people with work visas  the administration is seeking to add a question to the census that will ask respondents whether or not they are a U.S. citizen.

This might seem innocuous at first glance. But, study after study shows that immigrants are less likely to respond to surveys like the census if they are asked about their citizenship status. Our immigrant residents fear that if they give this information to the federal government, they will be deported  even if they have legal residency status. Their fear is understandable.

Immigrants are key members of our communities. They open new businesses, creating job opportunities for Philadelphians. Immigrant business owners account for a significant amount of commercial corridor business growth in Philadelphia. All of that growth leads to tax revenue for the city, state, and federal governments. The most recent data show that Philadelphia's immigrants paid more than $6 billion in taxes in one year alone, while receiving fewer benefits than other taxpayers receive.

Philadelphia and Pennsylvania stand to lose a great deal if our immigrant population is undercounted. Nearly 7 percent of all Pennsylvanians are noncitizens. Philadelphia has the highest proportion of noncitizens of any county in the commonwealth  nearly 8 percent of its residents are noncitizens. If these individuals are not counted, our city, our commonwealth, and similar communities across the country will be negatively impacted.

That's why the Census Bureau removed the question about citizenship status in 1960  nearly 60 years ago. Republican and Democratic administrations alike have consistently refused to add this type of question to the census, because they have studied the evidence and know this question would depress participation and jeopardize an accurate census. In fact, a group of six former census directors from both parties recently sent a letter to the Trump administration warning it against adding this question because it would "invalidate" the results.

We will not sit idly by while the administration tries to undermine the integrity of the census.

Pennsylvania will sue to stop the citizenship question from being added and undermining the 2020 census. The City of Philadelphia will join this suit. Whether or not you agree with the actions of the Trump administration, the simple truth is that adding this question at this late stage, in this rushed manner, and without proper testing is both bad policy and illegal. It is arbitrary and capricious, and violates the administration's constitutional obligation to ensure the accuracy of the 2020 census.

Additionally, we are taking steps to ensure that all Philadelphians participate in the census, regardless of their citizenship status. By conducting direct outreach to the communities that would be most impacted, we're working to make sure that noncitizens understand their rights and the importance of the census, and that there will be no adverse consequences to completing the census and doing so accurately.

As the attorney general of Pennsylvania and the mayor of Philadelphia, it's our job to stand up for all Philadelphians and all Pennsylvanians. It is vital that the 2020 census be conducted fairly, accurately, and in accordance with the law so that we receive the representation and federal resources that we deserve.

Josh Shapiro is attorney general of Pennsylvania. Jim Kenney is the mayor of Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Police Department has already spent $57 million of its overtime budget. A lot of it has to do with officers waiting to testify in court. Read more

Uniformed police officers routinely crowd the hallways of the Criminal Justice Center, sitting on benches reading or looking at their phones as they wait to testify. Others are in small anterooms outside courtrooms, chatting with colleagues or preparing with prosecutors.

The pay meter is running all the while.

In the first seven months of fiscal year 2018, which ends June 30, police officers racked up $12 million in overtime related to testifying  or just waiting to testify  in court. That's one of the biggest reasons, with five months remaining in the fiscal year, the Police Department had already burned through its entire $57 million overtime budget.

The department is not alone. The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA), the city's fiscal watchdog board, estimates that the city is on pace to spend $30 million more than its $135 million overtime budget for fiscal year 2018. The Sheriff's Office and Fire and Streets Departments are among those expected to go over budget.

But Police Department overtime has garnered the most attention during early City Council hearings on the next fiscal year's budget. PICA is also considering a study into reducing police overtime expenses, with a particular focus on the role of officers' court time.

"One of our largest drivers of overtime is preliminary hearings because officers are required to come to [court] for those hearings," Brian Abernathy, first deputy managing director, said during a budget hearing last week. "Part of the conversation with the courts is to see whether they would be willing to have some preliminary hearings back in the districts, which would in fact reduce overtime significantly. But again that's a longer conversation."

During an editorial board meeting with the Inquirer and Daily News last month, Police Commissioner Richard Ross said he has spoken to District Attorney Larry Krasner about the possibility of moving preliminary hearings back to six regional police districts, as was done until 2010  a step that could cut down on the time officers spend just getting to and from hearings, and out of their districts. (Most of the hearings occur at one of three Center City locations: City Hall, the Criminal Justice Center, or Family Court.)

"He said he's not opposed to it, but of course we have to go to the judges and public defender and see if they aren't opposed," Ross said.

The judges, through a spokesman for the First Judicial District, declined to answer questions on the issue.

"The courts have no control over police overtime," spokesman Marty O'Rourke said.

Harvey Rice, PICA's executive director, said that when he met with court personnel last summer about police overtime, they pointed the finger at police and the District Attorney's Office. The Kenney administration and the District Attorney's Office also pointed fingers.

"That meeting got very contentious and heated in regards to who was responsible for court overtime and what measures needed to be put in place that could help alleviate that," Rice said in an interview last week.

Rice plans to ask the PICA board at its April meeting to hire a consultant to study police overtime. Based on the meetings PICA staff has had with officials so far about court-related police overtime, he said several issues came up that should be studied further.

For example, Rice said, officers appearing in court used to check in and out with a fingerprint system, but now, court liaisons, often police officers on temporary desk duty, sign subpoenaed officers in and out  a potentially less precise method.

Rice also said some judges reported some police officers' request to be called last to testify, therefore prolonging their time on the clock.

Then there is the disagreement on scheduling. Rice said that both the First Judicial District and District Attorney's Office said that the Police Department's schedule is coordinated with the case processing system and that officers are not generally asked to appear when to do so would conflict with their work schedule.

But police officers said their work schedules hardly coincide with required court appearances.

Whoever is at fault, it doesn't matter to the officers getting the extra money.

One who recently was waiting to be called in a trial said he had been sitting outside the room for the better part of a week. Even if he never took the stand, he cracked to a court officer during a break one day, at least he'd be able to afford a new pair of snakeskin boots.

Payroll records indicate that the Police Department's largest overtime earners are generally detectives, many of whom earn tens of thousands of dollars each year on top of their salaries. In 2017, according to payroll records, seven detectives each earned more than $75,000 in overtime. In 2016, five of the city's 10 highest overtime earners were detectives; it was not clear how much of that extra pay was tied to court appearances.

One homicide detective, who declined to be identified without department authorization, said the money reflects the workload most investigators shoulder. Homicide detectives often work extended shifts after being assigned a new murder investigation, and after they spend time in court for cases they previously helped to build, many return to the unit to continue investigating their open cases.

"You can't put a price on staying [at work] and clearing [an investigation]," he said.

John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, the officers' union, said the cops who earn lots of overtime are generally the ones who work long hours and make a lot of arrests, which results in more court notices to testify.

"The more active you are, the more overtime you're going to make," McNesby said.

Court time drives about 20 percent of police overtime spending. An additional $45 million in overtime has already been put toward crime fighting, security details, protests, and special events. (At least $13 million is expected to be reimbursed by private entities that requested police presence.)

It is unclear how much money would be saved if preliminary hearings were held in the districts.

"We do not have a targeted reduction at this point because, again, the system is not just us, it's also the district attorney, it's also the courts," Abernathy said. "We need to be able to advance that conversation further down the road before we can identify exactly what those savings will be."

One thing is for sure: The city doesn't expect police costs to decrease in fiscal year 2019, Budget Director Anna Adams said.
In this March 13, 2018 photo, President Trump speaks during a tour as he reviews border wall prototypes in San Diego. Read more

WASHINGTON  President Trump's sharp shift in tone on immigration this week from would-be dealmaker back to the hard-line stance he campaigned on comes amid signs that some of his conservative base is growing impatient for him to fulfill promises on the border wall and other measures to crack down on illegal immigration.

Over the past two days, Trump has issued declarations on Twitter that shut the door on a legislative deal to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation, blamed Democrats for the failure, demanded the Mexican government take stronger action to close the border, and conflated a refugee crisis from Central America with the Obama-era deferred-action program that Trump ended in the fall.

In doing so, Trump has again fanned fears that U.S. immigration policies have weakened the country and led to public safety risks, even though illegal immigration is at some of the lowest levels in years.

"Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation," Trump wrote Monday in one of several tweets about immigration. "Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!"

Trump had, in recent weeks, cast himself as remaining open to an immigration deal on Capitol Hill even after the White House helped scuttle a bipartisan plan in February that would have provided a path to citizenship for young immigrants known as "dreamers" and authorized $25 billion toward the president's border wall. Immigration talks continued through much of March but collapsed after Congress approved a $1.3 trillion spending bill two weeks ago that did not include an immigration deal or funding for many of the tougher border security measures the administration proposed.

Since then, Trump has faced growing criticism from some conservatives who had supported him  most prominently commentator Ann Coulter  over his inability to secure funding for the wall, which he had initially promised Mexico would pay for.

"I don't know what more horrible thing you could come up with than violating your central campaign promise that became the chant and the theme of the campaign that he promised at every single rally," Coulter said in an interview with the New York Times over the weekend.

Asked whether Trump fears a backlash from his voters over immigration, Coulter wrote in an email to The Washington Post: "He ought to!"

Trump has been privately fuming off and on about the spending bill since he threatened to veto it at the last minute before reluctantly signing it into law last month  which he said he did only because it included a big spending increase for the military.

The bill provides $1.6 billion toward border barriers  far from enough for the 700 miles of wall Trump has promised. Even that funding comes with several restrictions, meaning it will mostly go toward fencing similar to what is already in place in some areas rather than the type of wall Trump has touted. The president has blamed House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for being poor negotiators, according to people familiar with criticism of the funding bill.

Trump's frustrations reached a boil over the holiday weekend as he vacationed with his family at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump was accompanied there by only a small retinue of staff, including senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, a proponent of strict anti-immigration policies. The president also mingled with a number of other immigration hard-liners, including Sean Hannity, a Fox News and conservative radio host.

Trump's focus on border and immigration issues also follows a briefing he received late last week from Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, according to a person familiar with the meeting. It's not clear exactly what piqued Trump's interest most, but among the issues discussed were the wall, the "caravan" highlighted in conservative media and the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Trump was fired up after the briefing, this person said, and that was further fueled by segments on Fox and Friends this weekend.

In his string of immigration tweets on Sunday and Monday, Trump seized on the recent reports, first by BuzzFeed News and then highlighted on Fox News and other conservative outlets, that a "caravan" of more than 1,000 migrants, mostly from Honduras, is traveling north to seek asylum in the United States without interference from Mexican authorities.

"Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES," Trump tweeted Monday night. "Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!"

The so-called "caravan" is actually an annual event organized by immigrant advocacy groups aimed at drawing public attention to the ongoing refugee crisis from Central America, a region wracked by rampant gang violence and drug trafficking.

Trump has inaccurately responded to the reports by suggesting that the group is motivated by the desire of the immigrants to take advantage of DACA, the Obama-era program that Trump announced in September would be phased out. In fact, any immigrants who had not lived in the country continuously for at least five years by June 2012 are not eligible for DACA.

White House aides argued Monday that the DACA program was a "pull factor" for Central American immigrants, who have begun entering the country illegally in rising numbers since the fall. They said that negotiations in Congress over a legislative solution to protect "dreamers" and potentially offer them a path to citizenship raised hopes in Honduras and elsewhere that there will be "never-ending leniency," according to one senior White House official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

"One of the things you hear from front-line operators, when Congress is debating a large grant of a generous immigration benefit, that tends to be a major pull factor for new people to come illegally," the official said.

Immigrant rights advocates said Trump has purposely sought to conflate DACA with the rise in immigrants from Central America  which has been a problem since the Obama administration sought to stanch a wave of migrants, most of them women and children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, that overwhelmed Border Patrol stations in 2014.

"It is truly to play to his base," said Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, which advocates for immigrant children. "His waffling back and forth on DACA  you never know, day-to-day, what he stands for. He's trying to juxtapose the movement of Central Americans against that to build up his street cred again with his base."

The surge of immigrants entering the country illegally peaked in 2014, with more than 68,000 unaccompanied minors and a similar number of people traveling as families caught, prompting the Obama administration to respond by adding more detention centers, pledging aid to Central American countries and pressing Mexico to tighten its southern border.

But those measures have done little to fix the problem. Though overall illegal immigration levels have dropped under Trump, the number of Central Americans has risen sharply again in recent months, prompting concern among the president's advisers.

Cecilia Munoz, Obama's domestic policy adviser, said Trump "doesn't understand the way immigration policy works and is trying very clearly to stoke up rationales for policies and approaches that are not based in fact."

White House aides rejected the notion that Trump is disappointing his core supporters. They emphasized that planning is underway to build or refurbish up to 100 miles of the border barriers and said the administration is preparing a new package of immigration proposals to deliver to Congress in an attempt to close existing "loopholes" in the law.

Among the changes the administration is seeking is a provision to allow the United States to more quickly deport unaccompanied children from Central America, who currently have more legal protections than do those from countries neighboring the U.S. border, such as Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, is pushing to end "catch and release," a long-standing practice of freeing up space at immigration detention centers that officials say has allowed undocumented immigrants to be resettled in the United States as they await hearings in immigration courts with lengthy backlogs.

Lars Larson, a conservative talk radio host who supports Trump, acknowledged that Coulter, whom he considers a friend, is "ready to throw him under the bus," but he added that she does not represent most of Trump's base.

Asked if the president missed an opportunity to secure more wall funding in the DACA negotiations, Larson responded: "Perhaps. But he felt he had to make other compromises he was not willing to make."

The Washington Post's Philip Rucker, Seung Min Kim, Josh Dawsey and Nick Miroff contributed to this report.
Barbara Hayman, known on the radio as Barbara Sommers Read more

Barbara Hayman, 64, of Gladwyne, a broadcaster who broke the glass ceiling for women as a "boss jock" in Philadelphia Top 40 radio in the 1970s and went on to become a voiceover artist, died Wednesday, March 14, of cardiac arrest at her home.

On the air, Mrs. Hayman was Barbara Sommers, known for her mellifluous voice and versatility behind the microphone.

At various times, she was an on-air talent at WYSP-FM., a morning show host at WSNI, a midday air talent and production director at Power 99FM Philly, an on-air talent at WMGK, and a boss jock at WFIL. Boss jocks were known for their excited, talkative on-air delivery.

The Top 40 style typically included a small number of records, heavy rotation of the biggest hits, and short jingles. Listeners of Power 99 may remember her signature, "I've got the power."

In the audio clip above, Mrs. Hayman can be heard on Power 99 on Dec. 27, 1982.

Gerry Wilkinson, CEO of the Broadcast Pioneers and a broadcast historian, noted that there were other female disc jockeys before Mrs. Hayman, both here and across the nation.

"Barbara Sommers led the way in Philadelphia as the first woman boss jock," he said. "She was on WFIL Radio back in the day when they were a rock and roll giant. Back then, women were not heard very much on radio. Some male station managers said, 'A woman will be on this station over my dead body.'"

"She may not have been very high in height, but she was tall in stature. She opened doors so that other women could walk through. She led the way for future generations of women."

Born Barbara Schneitzer in Boonton, in North Jersey, Mrs. Hayman was looked upon as a broadcasting talent right after graduating in May 1975 from what is now Rowan University.

She found part-time work on an overnight shift at WYSP. An initial plan to become a teacher gave way to a successful career in Philadelphia radio. Although the typical path to success in radio led from smaller to larger markets, Mrs. Hayman vaulted to the top here because of her knack for broadcasting.

"Barbara had natural talent, spontaneous humor, and a unique way she could deliver her message through the mic with a smile," said radio executive Dean Tyler, who was Mrs. Hayman's program director at WFIL. "These are traits that can't be taught."

Her husband, Wally, said she learned from some of the top men in broadcasting. "She studied them," he said. "Despite being a woman in a man's world, they took her in and accepted her as an equal."

She put her quick wit to work behind the microphone. Once, while introducing Dick Clark, she asked: "Dickdo you mind if I call you Mr. Clark?"

In another light-hearted moment, she described her hometown as "the town where Jackie Aprile Jr. was whacked" on the HBO series The Sopranos.

Her warm, memorable delivery translated well to the medium of television, her husband said.

Later, Mrs. Hayman was hired by KYW-TV for Check It Out, a teen-oriented weekly show that she co-hosted with KYW news anchor Jerry Penacoli. It aired on Saturdays. She also filled in for Nancy Glass as co-host on Evening Magazine with Ray Murray.

Mrs. Hayman and her husband married in 1989. After their son, Andrew, was born, she concentrated full-time on freelance voiceover work and helped her husband, a producer/engineer, manage a recording studio in Bala Cynwyd.

Some of the clients whose ads she recorded were Comcast, Independence Blue Cross, Willow Grove Park, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Zoo.

Neil Greenberg, a local creative director who recruited her as a voiceover talent, said, "She was at the top of my list. All I had to do was describe the character, and Barbara always delivered in a friendly and hilarious way."

Her husband said that although Mrs. Hayman had overcome a heart attack and cancer in the last few years, her death was unexpected. "She withstood a lot, yet persevered, grateful to see our children grow up and succeed, and grateful to meet her grandchildren," he said.

Mrs. Hayman often talked about her family on the air. "Her love of her family, her wish for them to succeed, and her encouragement for their intellectual pursuits were foremost," Wally Hayman said.

In addition to her husband and son, she is survived by stepdaughter Ashley Robbe Hayman, and four grandchildren.

Memorial services will be private.

This article has been updated to reflect that Mrs. Hayman began her radio career in the 1970s and that she was a 1975 graduate of what is now Rowan University.
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said on ABCs This Week that he worried Trump wouldnt be able to stop himself from making false statements. Read more

Lost in the debate over whether President Trump should talk to Robert Mueller is this: The arguments against his doing it often betray a remarkably dim view of Trump's intellect.

To his credit, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was rather blunt Sunday in making the case for Trump's refusing the interview. He said flatly on ABC's This Week that he worried Trump wouldn't be able to stop himself from committing perjury (comments start at 8:47 in video below):

"He should never walk into that room with Robert Mueller. Because in the end, one of the things that makes the president who he is, is that he's a salesman. And salesmen, at times, tend to be hyperbolic. Right, and this president certainly has tended to do that.

"That's OK when you're on the campaign hustle. That's OK when you're working on Congress. It is not OK when you're sitting talking to federal agents because, you know, 18 USC  1001 is false statements to federal agents. That's a crime. That can send you to jail."

This kind of argument has become rather common when it comes to Trump, but let's step back for a second and focus on what Christie is really saying: He is saying that not only is Trump prone to hyperbole because he's a salesman, but that Trump can't be trusted to tell the truth even when not doing so constitutes a felony. Christie is basically suggesting that a 71-year-old man who happens to be the president of the United States can't differentiate well enough between truth and fiction (or what Trump himself has called "truthful hyperbole").

Others who have argued that Trump shouldn't talk to Mueller have danced around this point a little more artfully. Christie has said in the past that he didn't think the evidence warranted an interview with a sitting president. White House lawyer Ty Cobb and others have alluded to the prospect of a "perjury trap"  the possibility that the interview could basically be an elaborate setup to get Trump to make a false statement.

And some aides have anonymously acknowledged that Trump just isn't good with details or the truth. Washington Post contributor Daniel Drezner has been keeping a running tally of aides talking about Trump as if he's a toddler.

Daniel W. Drezner tweeted, "I'll believe that Trump is growing into the presidency when his staff stops treating him like a toddler."

But Christie on Sunday basically said what everyone is saying behind closed doors. In the debate over whether Trump is a habitual fabulist or just a strategic one, Christie seems to be coming down on the side of the former. He seems to confirm that Trump doesn't really know what the truth is.

We still don't know whether Trump will grant the interview. But his personal attorney, John Dowd, reportedly left Trump in part because of frustration with the president's insistence on testifying and apparent concern that Trump might make a false statement. Other lawyers, it seems, may have similar concerns about walking into a situation in which Trump may soon explode the case by talking to Mueller.

At its core, that requires a pretty amazing lack of confidence in the man who has been entrusted to lead our country. And the more Trump supporters like Christie feel compelled to come out and say stuff like this publicly, the more scared you will know they are.

Aaron Blake is senior political reporter for the Fix. A Minnesota native, he has also written about politics for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Hill newspaper. @aaronblake
In this file photo, a worker looks at a marijuana plant at the Desert Grown Farms cultivation facility in Las Vegas. Read more

As one of the first lawyers in Pennsylvania to venture into the legal world of medical marijuana and hemp, I have had the pleasure to work and assist with the development of Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program. I could not be happier to see these dispensaries opening and helping the sick get relief.

However, a problem has developed that will make it very difficult for many of the patients who most need the medicine to receive it.

The problem stems from the law's requirement that a medical marijuana dispensary cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a school or day-care location.

It's not too difficult to manage this with regard to schools. Philadelphia has many; but not so many that locations for dispensaries are totally out of the question.

But there are hundreds of day-care centers just in Philadelphia. The "thousand-foot rule" means that there are almost no potential dispensary locations in the city, and that patients must travel to the suburbs, or to the far corners of Philadelphia, to purchase their medical marijuana. This hardship will be felt most by the old and the needy.

While I understand concerns about locating a dispensary near a school, I wonder why a day care is problematic. An 18-month-old child is not likely to hang out in front of a dispensary. A CVS can be next to a school or a day care and dispense opioid death, but a medical marijuana dispensary is too scary to have within a thousand feet of small children?

It helped when citizens brought their concerns to City Council, which asked the Department of Public Health to change the rule to 500 feet  and this was approved.

But it was not enough; it solved the problem for no one in Center City, and put only 13 compliant locations on the map of the entire city. Those locations are far from the majority of people who live in Philadelphia. They will have very difficult access to the dispensaries in the suburbs and Northeast Philadelphia.

Currently, a Center City resident has to take public transportation, an expensive ride-hailing car, or drive to one of the dispensaries every 30 days to get medical marijuana. A card holder can ask for a caregiver to get the medicine for the patient, but that just puts the same burden on the caregiver.

Here is the bottom line: Round Two of the application process for the remaining dispensary permits begins soon. Clinical registrant dispensaries also will be approved in the near future. (A clinical registrant is responsible for doing medical research.) The private dispensaries and the clinical registrants should  and wish to  open dispensaries where the greater population of potential patients is located. That would be Center City and its neighborhoods.

At this point, none of those new permit winners will be opening in Center City and its neighborhoods. All because of the 500-feet day-care rule.

City Council acted earlier to reduce the distance rule because constituents pressed their Council members into acting. The thousands of patients who need medical marijuana should again press Council and, in turn, the health department to adopt a one-foot rule. If the health department gave approval for dispensaries 500 feet from a day care, I see no reason why it would not approve one foot, so patients can obtain their medicine.

Think about the opportunity to locate dispensaries in the abandoned stores in Center City, in South Philadelphia, in West Philadelphia, and in North Philadelphia. The city would receive revenue from real estate taxes, and dispensaries would create jobs in all those neighborhoods. This will not be possible unless Council acts very soon; the time for dispensary applications is short, and the applicants must find appropriate locations in order to submit those applications.

I close with a request: If you have one of the 17 illnesses eligible for medical marijuana treatment, please contact your City Council member and tell him or her that you want nearby access to the medicine. If the one-foot rule is not adopted, I am afraid that the majority of Philadelphians will be shut out of reasonable access to medical marijuana.

Andrew B. Sacks is managing partner at the Sacks Weston Diamond law firm and chairman of the medical marijuana and hemp department.
A woman held up a sign outside the Capitol in Washington in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Read more

It's been a while since we could count on the comments of the president of the United States as factual, even if the facts were strategically selected. And now come President Trump's misleading statements on immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Using his favorite medium to discuss important issues with the American public, the president tweeted Monday that "DACA is dead." He then said within Twitter's 280-character limit that it was the Democrats' fault because they "didn't care, or act, and now everyone wants to get on the DACA bandwagon."

Trump suggested it's too late to strike up the band, however, because it's time to "build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation."

This is coming from the same president who in January said, "I hope we're going to come up with an answer for DACA," and promised he would sign the "bill of love." That stance upset conservatives who remembered another promise Trump made, when he was campaigning for president and said he would "immediately terminate" DACA if elected.

Maybe we're all confused about where Trump stands on DACA because he appears to be confused about what the program actually does. In a tweet on Easter, the president claimed "big flows of people" are entering the United States illegally to take advantage of DACA. But the residency program for people who were brought to the United States illegally as children doesn't work like that.

The 700,000 "Dreamers" who qualified to participate in the program created by President Barack Obama had to have arrived in the United States before age 16 and have lived continuously in this country since June 15, 2007. They could then apply for two-year renewals. Furthermore, the Trump administration stopped accepting initial DACA applications in October and has not renewed applications that expired.

One thing Trump did get right is throwing some shade at the Democrats for the Dreamers' plight. They accepted a budget deal that boosted domestic spending without extending DACA, leaving the Dreamers in limbo.

Neither a brief government shutdown in January engineered by the Democrats nor House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's eight-hour filibuster in February led to a DACA deal. The $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill does include billions more for a variety of social programs, including for opioid addiction treatment and election security, but nothing for the Dreamers.

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn), co-chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Sunday that his party isn't fazed by Trump's criticism. Ellison responded to Trump, tweeting: "You were never doing a DACA deal. Your actions gave you away: cancelling DACA with no plan, making racist comments about Black/Brown immigrants, ejecting several by bipartisan deals. You didn't fool anybody."

The sniping on Twitter isn't helping the hundreds of thousands of people who have been living and working in this country, paying their taxes, and otherwise being law-abiding neighbors and friends, who must fear deportation until their status is resolved.

Of course, DACA should be extended. But beyond that, Congress needs to update this country's archaic immigration law to address the millions of others who came to this country illegally but have proved they deserve to stay.
Typical traffic jam on the Schuylkill Expressway as seen from the Greenland Avenue Bridge. Read more

President Trump's ill-advised rollback of tailpipe emissions standards will choke progress toward cleaning the air and cutting the costs to drive a car or truck.

The Environmental Protection Agency under Trump, headed by the heavily conflicted Scott Pruitt, announced plans Monday to reduce air quality standards without saying by how much. That will come later. The standards were most recently upgraded by President Barack Obama to curtail air pollution's harmful effects on human health and climate change, including rising sea levels, more frequent flooding, longer droughts, and an increase in wildfires.

Obama's goal was to double the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Not only would the standards reduce our dependency on oil and cut pollution, they would save consumers money.

A former EPA official estimates that fuel savings to consumers under the Obama standards could be $1.7 trillion over the lives of their vehicles. In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Margo Ogre, former director of the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, further argues that rolling back the standards would actually hurt the auto industry's "long-term competitiveness and stability."

She's right. Who wants to buy an American car that costs more to operate than an equally good foreign car? But automakers complained that it costs them too much to clean up emissions, and Pruitt listened.

This is the latest attack on environmental standards. It comes after the EPA has downgraded emissions standards at coal plants, opened the coasts to offshore oil drilling, and weakened protections against toxic runoffs into estuaries. On top of that, Trump has made it harder for the agency to enforce surviving standards because he has targeted the EPA for funding cuts.

States have tried to stand up for their residents against the administration's rollbacks.After the administration indicated in June that it would relax auto emissions standards, a dozen states, including Pennsylvania, said they'd fight it. But the EPA is ready for them. In this latest edict, the EPA singled out California with a plan to strip its ability to set higher auto emission standards, which are protected by a section of the Clean Air Act. The state is getting ready for a court battle. It should.

Scientists have long studied the health effects of air pollution, much of it literally driven by tailpipe emissions. Dirty air has been cited as a factor in asthma, heart and lung disease, and premature death. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to air pollutants.

The EPA has the administrative power to roll back some of these standards. Public and political pressure are the best antidotes to this latest reckless act.

Congress should put pressure on the administration to care for our environment. That may sound like a long shot, but consider that Republicans, who now control Congress, are worried that the House could flip to Democrats in the 2018 elections. They are vulnerable to public opinion, which has favored environmental protections  even over economic growth  with few exceptions, according to an analysis of Gallup polls dating back to 1987.

That means voters favoring the environment can exert real pressure in the upcoming elections  and they should.
The Central Bank of Egypt has designated the coming Sunday and Monday as official holidays for the banking sector, Al-Ahram Arabic reported on Tuesday.

Coptic Orthodox Christians -- who comprise a substantial majority of Christian worshippers in Egypt -- will celebrate Easter this Sunday.

Monday marks the traditional Egyptian spring holiday of Sham El-Nassim, which is often celebrated with family outings to parks or other outdoor excursions. It falls on the Monday after Easter and is a public holiday.

The Egyptian stock exchange also announced that the market will halt operations for the two days and will resume operations on Tuesday.

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Egypt's current account deficit contracted by 64 percent year-on-year in the first half of fiscal year 2017/18, driven by a rebound in tourism receipts and remittances from Egyptians working abroad, according to a recent report by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Egypt's current account deficit fell sharply to $3.4 billion in H1 2017/18, which runs between July 2017 and December 2017, from $9.4 billion in the same period the year before, preliminary estimates show.

The CBE said the contraction is largely due to significant improvement in main sources of gross national income, as real GDP growth reached 5 percent in 2017, according to the Ministry of Planning preliminary estimates, the highest full-year growth rate recorded since 2010.

The surge in net travel receipts on a year-on-year basis has been the key driver of the compression in the current account deficit, the CBE said.

Net travel receipts recorded $3.8 billion in H1 2017/18, compared with net travel payments of $157.4 million in H1 2016/17.

Remittances were the second most important driver of the contraction of the current account deficit, as net current remittances increased to $13.1 billion in H1 2017/18, up from $10.1 billion in H1 2016/17.

As for net merchandise imports, they contracted by $268.5 million in H1 2017/18 to $18.7 billion, compared with the same period the year before.

It is worth noting that non-oil merchandise exports grew by 9.7 percent year-on-year to $8.2 billion in H1 2017/18.

The increase in non-oil merchandise exports was mainly driven by exports of finished products, including household electrical appliances, phosphate fertilisers, glass, textiles, carpets, and pharmaceutical products, the statement read.

Finally, the increase in profits repatriated by foreign companies operating in Egypt largely explains the widening in the deficit of other subaccounts, the CBE added.

The current account  consisting of trade balance, services balance, investment income balance, and net unrequited current transfers, which includes remittances  is one of two components of the balance of payments (BOP), the second being the capital and financial account.

The overall BOP surplus fell by 20 percent to $5.6 billion in H1 2017/18, down from $7.0 billion in H1 2016/17.

In H1 2017/18, the capital and financial account recorded a net inflow of $10.4 billion, a 44.4 percent decrease, compared to $18.7 billion in H1 2016/17.

As part of the capital and financial account, net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Egypt decreased from $4.3 billion in H1 2016/17 to $3.8 billion (inflows) in H1 2017/18, $2.1 billion of which were in net inflow of oil investments.

Also part of the capital and financial account, portfolio investment in Egypt sharply accelerated, recording a net inflow of $8 billion, up from $212.9 million in the same period last year.

The portfolio investment acceleration was largely due to the rise in foreign investments in Egyptian treasury bills, recording net purchases of $8.1 billion, compared with $686.7 million last year.

Other components of the capital and financial account include net external borrowing of medium-and long-term loans and facilities, and liabilities of the CBE to the external world.

Net external borrowing of medium-and long-term loans and facilities contracted, reaching a net disbursement of $3.5 billion in 1H 2017/18, down from $5.0 billion in the same period last year.

Net change in the liabilities of the CBE to the external world recorded a net external repayment of $3.1 billion in 1H 2017/18, compared with a net disbursement of $8.1 billion in 1H 2016/17.

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The Egyptian embassy in Belgrade participated in the founding of the first Arab-Serbian Friendship Day in a joint activity of the Council of Arab Ambassadors, with a cultural ceremony at the National Library of Serbia last week.

The opening speeches at the ceremony on Thursday were delivered by the ambassador of Palestine in his capacity as Dean of the Foreign and Arab Diplomatic Corps, and on behalf of the secretary-general of the League of Arab States; there was also a statement by the Serbian foreign minister delivered by assistant minister for bilateral affairs, in addition to the president of the Arab Cultural Centre in Belgrade.

Ambassador of Egypt to Serbia Amr Aljowaily said that a group of Arab ambassadors were keen to organise a comprehensive celebration including poetry, music and food, in a pioneering collective activity that reflects the common denominators of Arab culture.



He pointed out that the large number of invited guests, especially on the Serbian side, including the minister of labour, social affairs and veterans, and foreign ministry representative, as well as the sizeable audience, reflected the interest of a large section of the Serbian population in Arab culture.



Aljowaily also praised the speech of the secretary general of the League of Arab States, which highlighted that the first celebration of Arab Friendship Day in 2018 coincides with the 110th anniversary of starting the first relations between an Arab country and Belgrade, when the Kingdom of Serbia established a diplomatic mission in Egypt in January 1908.

The Arab league statement also highlighted the appreciation of the Arab countries of Serbias positions in support of Arab issues, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause. Aljowaily revealed that the Council of Arab Ambassadors has agreed to donate 1,000 books to create an Arab pavilion at the Serbian National Library.

We plan to publish a joint book entitled Serbia by Arab Eyes, he added, part of a wider series of activities aimed at strengthening relations between Serbia and the Arab world in the coming years.

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Coloplast is a leader within Medical Technology and a truly professional and global company with over 12.000 employees around the globe. We are ambitious and successful; we are innovative, and we grow - all in the pursuit of our mission of making life easier for people with intimate healthcare needs. The job Overall, you will be responsible for growi...
From tours to premieres to full-length classics, this is an exciting week in ballet. Weve rounded up programs by Tulsa Ballet, BalletNext, National Ballet of Canada, Pennsylvania Ballet, Charlotte Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet, as well as an evening of dance and music curated by Damian Woetzel and featuring some of ballets biggest stars, to give you a sense of whats happening on ballet stages this week.





Tulsa Ballet

This Oklahoma-based company is heading east for a five-day run at The Joyce Theater in New York City, opening March 6. Their first time at the Joyce in 9 years, the company is bringing a world premiere by resident choreographer Ma Cong as well as works by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Helen Pickett. Check out a preview below.





BalletNext

Former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Michele Wiless company BalletNext returns to New York Live Arts on March 6 after a year-long hiatus as Wiles welcomed the birth of her first child. The program features four new works choreographed by Wiles (one co-choreographed by and performed with deaf dancer Bailey Anne Vincent). The company has been posting lots of behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage on Instagram, as well as glamorous shots by dance photographer Nisian Hughes.









DEMO by Damian Woetzel: Now



On March 7 Damian Woetzel presents an evening of recent dance commissions at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Ballet stars Sara Mearns and Patricia Delgado will perform alongside a number of modern dance artists; Mearns will dance Alexei Ratmanskys solo Fandago and Delgado will perform in two works by postmodern choreographer Pam Tanowitz. Catch a glimpse of Mearns fiery solo in the video below (skip to 2:27).

National Ballet of Canada



From March 8-18, National Ballet of Canada presents the classic Sleeping Beauty. Their version was choreographed by Rudolf Nureyev in 1966 and was first performed by NBoC in 1972. Need a quick refresher on the story? The company put together this fun animated synopsis.

Pennsylvania Ballet

Pennsylvania Ballet is following the story ballet trend this week with the company premiere of Marius Petipas Swan Lake, running from March 8-18 at the Academy of Music. While the company has performed shortened or re-imagined versions in the past, this is their first time presenting the full-length original, re-staged by artistic director Angel Corella. Check out those turns!

Charlotte Ballet



On March 9 Charlotte Ballet is presenting the American premiere of The Most Incredible Thing, the fairytale pop ballet choreographed by Javier de Frutos to music by the Pet Shop Boys. Running through March 18 in Charlottes Knight Theater, this retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen fable is sure to thrill audiences. Check out the compilation of rehearsal footage below, or this full length video of the production performed in London in 2011.

The Joffrey Ballet



This is certainly the season for Romeo and Juliet, and The Joffrey Ballet is no exception. On March 9 the Chicago-based company is bringing their production, choreographed by Krzysztof Pastor, to The Music Centers Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The following day theyll also open their production of Orpheus and Eurydice, directed and choreographed by John Neumeier, in collaboration with the L.A. Opera. Theyll be in L.A. through March 25.
It looks like Sergei Polunin has finally gotten his wish. The controversial dancer, who abruptly quit The Royal Ballet in 2012 after becoming the companys youngest-ever principal, has repeatedly expressed his desire to be in movies. In fact, his current status as a permanent guest artist at Bavarian State Ballet allows him to have more freedom for outside opportunities. And it looks like hes going to be very busy for a whileearlier this week, the Hollywood Reporter revealed that Polunin has scored not one, but two major movie deals alongside actor heavyweights like Jennifer Lawrence, Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz.

While Polunin is no stranger to filmhis bio-doc Dancer was released earlier this year, and he gained widespread recognition after starring in David LaChappelles 2015 video of Hoziers Take Me to Churchthese two movies take him into Hollywood blockbuster territory. The first is a remake of the 1974 classic Murder on the Orient Express, based on Agatha Christies crime novel. Kenneth Branagh is set to direct and star in the film, in addition to Depp, Cruz, Judi Dench and Michelle Pfieffer. The other, Red Sparrow, is a spy-thriller set in modern day Russia featuring Lawrence, Joel Edgarton and Jeremy Irons. Polunins roles in both films have not yet been announced, but Red Sparrow does concern a former ballerina turned Russian spyfingers crossed that well see some dancing.
In his first speech after winning a second term as Egypt's president on Monday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi vowed to work for all Egyptians without any discrimination.

"I promise to work for all Egyptians without discrimination. Those who renewed their confidence in me [with their votes] are not different from those who did otherwise. Egypt includes all, as long as a difference in opinion doesn't spoil a nation's cause," President El-Sisi stated in the televised speech after winning a sweeping 97% of the votes.

He added that "common grounds were greater and more welcoming than fixed ideologies or narrow interests."

El-Sisi hinted that working on more collaborative grounds would be a priority in his upcoming term.

"My confidence in the intelligence of the Egyptian nation was without doubt," he said, adding that his bet on the Egyptian people had not faded and that they did they let him down.

The Egyptian president also thanked sole contender and Ghad Party chairman Moussa Moustafa Moussa, describing him as one that has waged "a patriotic and noble electoral battle."

El-Sisi also offered his appreciation for all efforts that have been carried out for the sake of the nation, and concluding his speech by repeating "long live Egypt" three times.

Earlier, Moussa thanked citizens for turning out in the presidential elections, saying their participation proved the people of Egypt are capable of facing all challenges and pressures.

"The presidential elections were fair and serve as a role model of integrity," Moussa said, praising the efforts of Ghad party members in support of his bid.

Moussa saluted the re-elected president and wished him best of luck, affirming that El-Sisi is the best person for the post.

On his low percentage of votes, Moussa said if any other candidate ran in the elections race against President El-Sisi, that candidate would have got lower votes than Moussa himself even gained.

"If I ran in the elections against any other candidate other than President El-Sisi, I would have gotten more votes for certain," Moussa said, stressing that the most important aspect of this election is that all Egyptians served their national duty.

Both speeches came a few hours after the country's National Elections Authority (NEA) declared incumbent President El-Sisi the winner of Egypt's 2018 presidential elections with 97 percent of valid votes in an electoral process that witnessed the turnout of 24 million out of 59 million eligible voters, or 41%.

El-Sisi secured an expected second four-year term after winning 21,835,378 votes. Moussa won 656,534 votes, or 2.92 percent of total votes.

The authority said the number of invalidated ballots was 1,762,231 or 7.27 percent of total votes cast.

El-Sisi is due to be sworn in at the House of Representatives in Cairo in June, as per constitutional guidelines, according Egyptian parliament's spokeperson Ali Abdel-Aal.

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Jim Acosta is the grandstanding clown who covers the White House for CNN. As Brandon Morse at RedState puts it, Acosta tends to inject his opinion into his reporting, and squabbles with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders over what he thinks are hard questions but are really just partisan talking points.

Acosta is probably best known to Power Line readers for being trounced by Stephen Miller when he invoked the words on the Statue of Liberty during a debate about illegal immigration. Scott wrote about the mismatch here.

Yesterday, Acosta again embarrassed himself by yelling questions at President Trump during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. He did so while Trump was sitting at a coloring table with Melania and his son Barron, along with other children there to color and roll eggs.

What about the DACA kids? Acosta yelled out to Trump. Should they worry about whats going to happen to them? Trump replied, The Democrats have clearly let them down. He then turned his attention back to the kids he was with.

Trump is right about DACA and the Dems. He was prepared to grant amnesty not only to DACA kids but to the many members of the DACA population who arent kids and to dreamers who arent even part of the DACA population. The Democrats turned that deal down for reasons having nothing to do with DACA.

Acosta, though, wished to grandstand some more. Thus, he yelled Didnt you kill DACA? Didnt you kill DACA? This time, Trump did not answer.

RedStates Morse has the right line on Acosta. He writes:

Acosta has no regard for time and place because, to him, every time and place is one for self-aggrandizement. But it seems CNN as a network also has a weird sense of appropriate conduct for a journalist. It doesnt say much for either of them as real news. Either way, CNN continues to send Acosta to the White House despite his obvious flaws and agenda, which means that CNN is continuously endorsing the behavior. Courting it. Courting someone, anyway: The hard left, and Jims ego, which has grown to monumental proportions.

Brad Parscale, Trumps campaign manager for 2020, tweeted:

Maybe it is time for Jim Acosta to get a suspension for breaking protocol. He continues to embarrass himself and @CNN. Pull his credentials for each incident.

Acosta responded:

Just doing my job.. which is protected by the First Amendment of The Constitution. You might want to give it a read.

I dont favor the White House pulling Acostas credentials. However, Acostas tweet is laughable.

First, is it really Acostas job to yell questions at President Trump during the White House Easter Egg Roll while hes sitting with kids? If so, then the rest of the press corps presumably wasnt doing its job.

As for the First Amendment, Acostas job does have certain protections. However, I think the White House would be on solid legal ground if it barred him from attending pressers based on his behavior and CNN certainly would be on solid legal ground if it suspended him.

A White House bar on Acosta because of the views he expresses might be problematic. So might barring CNN because of the content of its coverage. But the ban Parscale seemed to contemplate wouldnt stop CNN from covering the White House and it would be based on Acostas inappropriate conduct, not the view he expressed.

President Trump has fielded hostile questions about the DACA kids before. Those who asked them werent barred. If Acosta were barred, it clearly would be because of the time and place of his question, not its content.

Again, Im not advocating that Acosta be barred. Let him continue his clown show.

But Acostas claim that he just doing his job is silly and his suggestion that he has a First Amendment right to behave as he does is specious at best.
In 2014 President Obama welcomed the influx of unaccompanied minors crossing our southwestern border daily. I wrote about it for the Weekly Standard in Disorder at the border. I thought the scenario derived from the fevered dreams of a dystopian novel.

I was referring, of course, to Jean Raspails Camp of the Saints (1973). Mac Owens extended my thoughts in his NR column Camp of the Saints, 2014 Style? In the novel, Mac recalled, liberals and Christians foolishly embrace the idea that the onslaught of migrants should be welcomed into the wealth and comfort of Europe. Indeed, the French military is directed to attack those who seek to resist the horde.

President Obama didnt have to go that far, but he welcomed the horde. He sought to turn the invasion to his own uses. He didnt much defend American national sovereignty in word or in deed. In his eyes, American national sovereignty is obsolete or undeserving of the presidents unambivalent support. As becomes more evident every day, more and worse is to come when the Democrats retake the presidency.

In the meantime, thanks in part to Obama, we now have a new sheriff in town and President Trump is being tested by what the headlines euphemistically refer to as a migrant caravan. He commented on the caravan via Twitter (below, more here).

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

President Trumps tweet conveys his hostile attitude to illegal immigration and his support of American national sovereignty, yet it suggests he think he lacks the power to stop the caravan in its tracks. Is it possible that the Trump effect has nevertheless asserted itself? The Washington Post reports  it may even be true, I dont know  That caravan of migrants Trump was tweeting about? Mexico stopped it.
The Dearborn Heights Police and Fire Departments recently celebrated the addition of new employees at a pair of swearing-in ceremonies at City Hall.

Two new police officers were sworn in during a March 19 ceremony, and a new firefighter was sworn in at a March 26 ceremony.

Ahmed Alhalili and Zyke Bailey are the two newest officers to join the Dearborn Heights Police Department.

Alhalili, a four-year veteran of security/law enforcement, most recently served with the Highland Park Police Department and the Transportation Security Administration. He is a graduate of Fordson High School and Henry Ford Colleges Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Program. He also holds an International Business and Management Degree from Eastern Michigan University.

Bailey, a two-year veteran of law enforcement, most recently served with the Detroit Police Department. He is a graduate of Taylor Truman High School and the Detroit Police Academy, and attended Northwood University.

Albert Tannus, a 13-year veteran of the EMT/paramedic industry, most recently served with the Warren Fire Department as well as an adjunct professor of EMT/paramedic services and protocols at Baker College. He completed Superior Medical Educations EMT/paramedic Training Program, as well as Schoolcraft Colleges Firefighting Education Levels 1 & 2 and AED and Hazmat Operations programs.
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Mr. Kanishk Agarwal, founder of Critax Corp.Global Gender equality is well stated in the Indian Constitution and the Fundamental Rights, amongst others. It makes certain equal opportunity and equal protection, ruling out discrimination on the grounds of sex, and thus facilitating equality of opportunity to all citizens in areas relating to employment.The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act 2013 has been initiated to support the Constitutional mandate and to guard women against sexual harassment at workplace.The legislation is chiefly based on the guiding principle laid down by the Supreme Court of India in a milestone judgment in 19971. It enforces several duties on employers to offer a safe working environment for women and set structure for conformity and revelation.Employers Should Have A Complaints Committee In PlaceAll employers with a workplace of ten or more employees must form an Internal Complaints Committee by an order in writing. In a case when the offices or administrative units are situated at different places a committee must be formed at each unit or office. However, the legislation does not clarify whether different places means different cities, or different states, or different areas in the same city. So employers may look at constituting at least one committee in each geographic location but area offices in the same city could have a common committee.The committee is in charge of carrying out an investigation into complaints of sexual harassment as per the legislation and prescribed rules. The employers primary duty is to conduct workshops and awareness programmes to sensitize employees, and jointly the employer and committee should take a combined course of action to raise awareness.The legislation gives a wide definition of sexual harassment, which entails any unwelcome act or behavior, whether direct or implied, and which amongst others cover sexually charged remarks and verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Additionally, the legislation lays out certain situations which make wider the scope of sexual harassment, such as intrusion with work and building a threatening or unfriendly work environment. There may be occurrences where definite acts or behaviour may be characterized as harassment, but whether or not the suspected harassment is of a sexual nature may be tricky to ascertain. So when it is allowing for a complaint of sexual harassment, the committee must put into effect its judgment very cautiously. The committee members may look for direction from judicial examples when coming to a decision.Employers should cautiously choose their committee members, making sure that at least some of them have some legal knowledge, or expertise in handling such matters. Employers may also think about organizing training sessions for the members of the committee.Safe Environment At The Office Premises And BeyondUnder the legislation, employers responsibilities are not restricted to offering a safe environment at the office premises. It firmly provides that the workplace includes any place visit by the employee arising out of or during the course of their employment, including transport there, provided by the employer. So the compass of the legislation is not limited to within the walls of the employers office premises.A universal misunderstanding which employers hold is that if they do not have any women employees, they do not have to form a committee or conform with the other legal provisions. It is significant to note that the legislation affords a defense to aggrieved women who have the right to file a complaint with the committee and the definition of aggrieved women covers a woman who may not be an employee. Take a case where a woman employee pays a visit at a clients office on official business and suffers sexual harassment in the client office by an employee of that client, the woman would have grounds to file a complaint with her employers committee. The womans visit is during the course of her employment, so the clients office is also referred as a place of work. At the same time, as an aggrieved woman, she would also have grounds to approach the committee of the client organization.Employer Needs To Abide By The DecisionPost conducting an inquiry, the committee must come to a decision on a grievance and give its advice, which the employer must act on within a 60-day frame post receipt of the recommendations.It is not comprehensible if the employer can go away from the committees advice, or whether they are obliged and must be complied with in letter and spirit. For example, the committee could advocate moving the complainant or the perpetrator, but the employer may not consider that to be practical from a business standpoint.Employers are also accountable for offering help to the aggrieved woman if she chooses to file a police complaint. So, it becomes the responsibility of the employer to notify the aggrieved woman of her rights to file a police complaint.Further, the legislation provides that employers should make the first move against the person responsible for the act under the Indian Penal Code or any other law in force but it appears that this is not essential in every case. However, where the alleged act of sexual harassment is of a serious nature, the employer or the committee may have to apply their duties very vigilantly and it may be essential to raise a police complaint.Annual Report To Be Submitted To Both The Employer And The Local District OfficerThe committee must organize an annual report for each calendar year, setting out the agreed details and the report must be submitted to both the employer and the local District Officer.If no District Officer has been selected, the committee reports should be sent to the Department of Women and Child Development of each state.Apart from raising awareness, the Government is looking at making possible the implementation of the legislation by taking measures to assign District Officers and introducing guidelines to clarify the issues not covered in the legislation which would help employers obey the legislation.The legislation inflicts the penalty of a fine and in cases of recurring offence, employers may also have their business licences or registrations (issued by the Government authorities) annulled. Given that the law imposes a rigorous penalty for violation, it will be indispensable for employers to make sure compliance.
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In the last week of April, Bertolli will host eight influencer chefs from around the world to experience and learn about all things related to the brand, from its wide range of award winning blends, to its brand value and brand history. The influencers will be taken on a journey through history, starting with the founder's vision and company outset in 1865 to today's focus on quality, diversification and innovation.

Bertolli offers its customers a wide range of products and newly formulated award winning olive oil blends to suit varied tastes and preferences. Behind the company's philosophy is the simplicity and genuineness of its products which are aimed at supporting today's busy lifestyles, and consumer preference for highly nutritious, tasty and healthy options.

'The recipe is simple' is Bertolli's new international campaign message which draws inspiration from the concept of simplicity, being in the kitchen and sharing moments with the people you love.

"Bertolli has received a global re-launch, which is set to reassert its points of uniqueness and shore up global markets," said CEO Pierluigi Tosato, from parent company Deoleo. The campaign began in 2018 with large investments made into the brand, marketing and communication strategies, a move set to encourage a new dialogue.

"People now lead busier lives and tend to view home cooking as too complicated of a pursuit at the end of the day. That's where Bertolli can make lives simpler - and keep the joy in cooking," stated Mr Tosato "This global event, is the first of its kind for Bertolli, and brings global influencers to the heart of Lucca, where Francesco Bertolli gave birth to the brand." The brand also plans to open 'Casa Bertolli', a unique meeting place for consumers, journalists and stakeholders to enjoy when passing through Lucca.

About Bertolli

Founded in the small Tuscan town of Lucca, Italy, the Bertolli name has been at the heart of Italian cooking and eating for 150 years with the world's favorite olive oil (made by Deoleo). At the heart of the Bertolli brand is a commitment to quality, dedication to leveraging the natural goodness of ingredients and a tradition of providing outstanding and flavorful food.

For more information, please visit https://www.Bertolli.com.

Contacts:

Pietro Lucchese

Tel: +39-335-704-0604

Mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Bertolli
SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The global distributed energy generation (DEG) market size is expected to reach USD 573.7 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., registering a CAGR of 15.0% during the forecast period. Owing to their environmental benefits, preference for DEG systems will be higher as compared to conventional energy systems.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg )

DEG eliminates the need for building a transmission capacity that reduces the line cost. In addition, low prices of DEG compared to conventional energy generation are anticipated to provide a fillip to the market. Moreover, innovations in DEG technologies, such as floating solar photovoltaic, is likely to propel the market. Decreasing cost of solar PVs is playing an instrumental role in the development of the market. Feed-in tariffs in regions including Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America are poised to stoke the growth of the market.

E.ON SE; Vestas Wind Systems A/S; Capstone Turbine Corporation; Caterpillar Power Plants; Ballard Power Systems Inc.; Doosan Fuel Cell America; FuelCell Energy Inc.; Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG; Sharp Corporation; Suzlon Energy Limited; General Electric (GE); First Solar; SIEMENS AG; Toyota Turbine and Systems Inc.; and ENERCON GMBH are some of the major players in DEG market.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Distributed Energy Generation (DEG) Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Technology (Wind turbine, Solar photovoltaic, Reciprocating engines), By Application, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/distributed-energy-generation-industry

Further Key Findings From the Report Suggest:

The wind turbine segment accounted for revenue share of over 29.0% in 2016. Factors such as high efficiency, redundant safety, and quiet operation are the key characteristics projected to contribute to the growth of the wind turbine segment over the forecast period

In 2016, solar photovoltaic accounted for 21.0% of the overall market volume and is expected to register a CAGR of 16.8% during the forecast period. The growth of the segment can be attributed to decrease in its prices, which has increased the local utilization, thereby enabling the switch from traditional energy sources

Supportive regulations and favorable government policies such as net metering are likely to increase the number of DEG installations for residential applications in rural and underdeveloped areas

Several countries are committed to reducing carbon emissions under the Kyoto protocol, which is driven by the European Union. A number of countries have switched to renewable energy generation

protocol, which is driven by the European Union. A number of countries have switched to renewable energy generation Regional expansion and R&D are the key strategies adopted by major market players to strengthen their position. Companies in the market are continuously trying to innovate and develop new technologies

In July 2015 , Ballard Power Systems entered into an agreement with AkzoNobel to provide one-megawatt ClearGen fuel cell distributed generation system for Hydrogene de France (HDF) to generate electricity and supply it to local grid.

Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Smart Gas Market - The Smart Gas Market is driven primarily by the European market where governments and regulations have mandated the adoption of smart gas meters.

Distributed Natural Gas-Fueled Generation Market - The global distributed natural gas-fueled generation market size was USD 11.20 billion in 2015.

Drill Pipe Market - The global drill pipe market size was USD 935.0 million in 2015.

Carbon Capture And Storage Market - The global carbon capture and storage (CCS) market size was 61,150 kilo tons in 2015.

Grand View Research has segmented the global distributed energy generation (DEG) market on the basis of technology, application, and region:

Distributed Energy Generation (DEG) Technology Outlook (Volume, Megawatts; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Wind Turbine Reciprocating Engines Fuel Cells Solar Photovoltaic Gas & Steam Turbines

Distributed Energy Generation (DEG) Application Outlook (Volume, Megawatts; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Residential Commercial & Industrial

Distributed Energy Generation (DEG) Regional Outlook (Volume, Megawatts; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America U.S. Europe Germany Italy Asia Pacific China India Central & South America Brazil Middle East & Africa



Read Our Blog By Grand View Research: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/blogs/healthcare

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc

Phone: +1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]



Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
PUNE, India, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "Electrical Bushings Market by Type (Oil Impregnated Paper, Resin Impregnated Paper), Insulation (Porcelain, Polymeric, Glass), Voltage (MV, HV, EHV), Application (Transformer, Switchgear), End-User (Utilities, Industries), & Region-Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to grow from an estimated USD 2.45 Billion in 2018 to USD 2.96 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 3.86%, from 2018 to 2023. This growth is primarily due to the rising investments in electrical infrastructure and growing demand for electrical equipment from end-users such as railways and the renewable sector.

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Browse 79 market data Tables and 44 Figures spread through 144 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Electrical Bushings Market"

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/electrical-bushing-market-219476017.html

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The utilities segment is expected to hold the largest share of the Electrical Bushings Market, by end-user, during the forecast period.

The utilities segment led the Electrical Bushings Market in 2017. Electrical equipment such as transformers, switchgears, and circuit breakers are an important part of the T&D infrastructure and bushings are used to connect this equipment to HVDC lines. Asia Pacific requires huge investments in the infrastructure sector including energy, transport, telecommunications, and water. According to the Asian Development Bank, an investment of USD 8.22 trillion is required for infrastructure development in the region from 2010 to 2020. With increasing investments in power infrastructure, the market for bushings is likely to grow, leading to the utilities segment being the largest and fastest-growing end-user segment of the Electrical Bushings Market.

The transformer segment is expected to hold the largest share of the Electrical Bushings Market, by application, during the forecast period.

The transformer segment led the Electrical Bushings Market in 2017 and is projected to have the largest market share during the forecast period. In transformers, bushings offer various advantages such as fire hazard reduction and eliminating the need for oil supervision. Moreover, to withstand any transformer voltage, bushings are the only electrical equipment used for providing external input and output connections. All these factors have resulted in the largest share of the transformer segment.

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The resin impregnated paper segment of the Electrical Bushings Market, by type, is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The resin impregnated paper (RIP) bushings segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2018 to 2023. The key advantages of RIP bushings include reduced risk for oil leakage, reduced chances of fire explosion, the capability to withstand seismic activity, and no requirement for oil expansion chambers. Moreover, RIP bushings are lightweight and compact in size resulting in easy transportation and easy handling during installation.

Asia Pacific: The leading market for electrical bushings.

In this report, the Electrical Bushings Market has been analyzed with respect to 5 regions, namely, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, the Middle East & Africa, and South America. The market in Asia Pacific led the global Electrical Bushings Market in 2017. It is the most populated region in the world and consequently witnesses a high demand for electricity. Increasing grid investments especially in developing economies such as China and India and plans for electrification in countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines are expected to drive the Electrical Bushings Market in Asia Pacific. China accounted for the largest share of the Electrical Bushings Market in Asia Pacific in 2017. The National Energy Administration of China estimates a cumulative investment of USD 280 billion is required to increase the length of the transmission lines in the ultra-high voltage (more than 800 kV) network, under its 2015-2020 Power Grid Construction and Reform Plan. This eventually increases the demand for power equipment such as transformers, generators, and circuit breakers, thereby creating business opportunities for the Electrical Bushings Market in Asia Pacific.

To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the Electrical Bushings Market. The key players include ABB (Switzerland), Siemens (Germany), GE (US), Eaton (Ireland), and Nexans (France). The leading players are adopting various strategies to increase their market shares.

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PORT WASHINGTON, New York, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Satellite Symposium at ISOPP 2018 Focusing on Robotics in Cytotoxics to Feature Leading Experts an Augmented Reality Tour of Equashield Pro Hazardous Drug Compounding Robot

Equashield (equashield.com), a leading provider of Closed System Transfer Devices (CSTDs) for hazardous drugs, announced today that it will be leading a symposium exploring the use of robotics in cytotoxic drug handling at the International Symposium on Oncology Pharmacy Practice (ISOPP).

The symposium will introduce the Equashield Pro, the first drug compounding robot utilizing Equashield's proprietary CSTD technology. It will also discuss the role that the Equashield Pro will play in increasing pharmacy throughput while simultaneously keeping pharmacists safe.

The symposium will feature presentations from leading industry experts:

Yaakov Cass , District Pharmacist Emeritus for the Israeli Ministry of Health, on Robotics in Cytotoxics: T he F inal F rontier .

, District Pharmacist Emeritus for the Israeli Ministry of Health, on . Dr. Salim Hadad , Director of the Pharmaceutical Services Department at Rambam Medical Center, on What Role Can Equashield Robots Play in Keeping Pharmacists Safe.

Equashield's symposium will also include an augmented reality demonstration of the Equashield Pro robot.

"The Equashield Pro provides the solution to hazardous drug compounding problems encountered by practicing hospital pharmacists on a daily basis," said Marino Kriheli, Co-Founder of Equashield. "By combining leading robotic automation with Equashield's proprietary CSTD technology, the Equashield Pro significantly speeds up the process of compounding hazardous drugs and creates a safer environment for oncology pharmacists around the world."

Utilizing advanced robotic technologies, the Equashield Pro enables quick compounding of a large variety of patient specific chemotherapy doses using a method that shortens the process flow while performing multiple simultaneous tasks. Comparable in size to a standard Biological Safety Cabinet, it is easily integrated into hospital pharmacies, while dose verification software protects against cases of medication dosage and identification errors.

ISOPP 2018 will be held in Shanghai, China, at the Kerry Hotel Pudong - April 11 - 13, 2018. The Equashield symposium will take place from 12:30 - 14:00 on Wednesday, April 11. To set up a meeting with an Equashield representative, please contact [email protected] or visit https://www.equashield.com/.

About Equashield

Equashield is a leading provider of a full range of manual and automated solutions to hospitals for the compounding and administration of hazardous drugs. Equashield's product suite includes EQUASHIELD II, its flagship Closed System Transfer Device (CSTD), and EQUASHIELD Pro, the first ever closed system drug compounding robot. Equashield's CSTD is clinically-proven to protect healthcare professionals from hazardous drug exposure. The globally awarded EQUASHIELD II covers more routes of exposure than alternative systems by preventing contamination of syringe plungers and drug residuals on connector surfaces, as well as exposure to drug vapors. Studies have shown Equashield's CSTD to be faster to deploy and easier to use than competing systems, and the system has passed the proposed 2015 alcohol vapor containment protocol from NIOSH, confirming that it can contain the harshest vapors & emissions. EQUASHIELD is in use by hundreds of hospitals and clinics around the world, and has been both cleared by the FDA under the ONB product code, and substantiated in FDA-cleared labeling as preventing microbial ingress for up to seven days.

For more information: http://www.equashield.com

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SOURCE Equashield
SUZHOU, China, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GCL System Integration Technology Co., LTD (SZ: 002506) (GCL-SI), a subsidiary of the world's leading clean energy conglomerate GCL announced that on March 29, GCL Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Softbank Vision Fund (SBVF) through its manager Softbank Investment, a subsidiary of Softbank Group. The main content of the memorandum is that GCL Group and Softbank Investment have agreed to establish a joint venture company in Andhra Pradesh, India, either directly or through their respective affiliates or subsidiaries, of which Softbank Investment accounts for 60% and GCL Group 40%. The equity ratio of the joint venture would be adjusted accordingly if a third-party partner were introduced later on. The composition of the board of directors of the joint venture will be consistent with that of the equity structure.

The joint venture company expects a total investment of 930 million U.S. dollars, and the two parties have not yet identified the source of funds. The joint venture plans to have a production capacity of 4GW, which will be implemented in two phases with 2GW per phase. The main business involves the production and sale of PV ingots, wafers, batteries and modules.

About GCL-SI

GCL System Integration Technology Co., Ltd. (002506 Shenzhen Stock) (GCL-SI), is part of the GOLDEN CONCORD Group (GCL). GCL-SI delivers one-stop, cutting-edge, integrated energy systems and is committed to becoming the world's leading solar energy company.

SOURCE GCL System
LONDON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- HH Global, the world's fastest-growing and most innovative marketing execution partner, today announced its global sustainability targets for the 2019 fiscal year. The targets are a cornerstone of "Innovation with Purpose" - a triad approach that includes a commitment to the support of UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development, to develop innovative solutions, and a pledge to foster the involvement of employees, clients, and suppliers.

HH Global has committed to help their clients reduce the environmental impact of marketing execution programs by a total of:

32,000 trees - enough to occupy 40 acres

100 million litres of water - enough to fill 40 Olympic-size swimming pools

9,000 tonnes of CO- equivalent to the removal of 2,000 average cars from the road

8,000 MWh of energy - equivalent to the energy to power 900 homes for a year

For HH Global, the establishment of the sustainability targets aligns with industry best practices, and along with ISO 14001 accreditation, provides assurance that concerted efforts to measure and improve environmental impact are in place internally, and fostered throughout the supply chain.

HH Global is the marketing execution partner of choice for brands that seek to maximize both economic and environmental savings. Clients are assured by contractually agreed upon standards and achieve visibility through an Environmental Impact reporting dashboard. A continual innovation process is in place to identify initiatives and ways to save from alternatives including reduced paper weight and increased recycled content, to making use of advanced digital technologies.

"We are pleased to be able to make a public statement that outlines our goals," stated HH Global's Global CEO Robert MacMillan. "Our commitment to sustainability continues to be a market-differentiator that resonates with our clients. Global brands are keen to work with us as a marketing execution company with an aligned commitment to a positive environmental impact, and to serve in partnership with their operations as a sustainable business."

Kevin Dunckley, HH Global's Chief Digital and Innovation officer, supports this agenda. "The recent sustainability awards from across the globe are assurances that we are taking the lead on behalf of the supply chain. We look forward to good things to come."

HH Global will continue to advance an environmentally-sound program in support of its clients through the development of partnerships with key environmental non-governmental organizations.

More information is available at http://www.hhglobal.com/about/news.

About HH Global

HH Global Ltd., founded in 1991, is a leading, independent marketing execution partner to prominent brands in over 40 countries. The company offers innovative and tailored solutions for the outsourced procurement of all types of printed marketing materials, packaging, and creative production services, that drive down cost, speed time to market, improve quality, and increase sustainability. Every HH Global solution utilizes HHub, a best-in-class marketing execution application, an expansive list of suppliers, proprietary processes, and the deep expertise of over 900 employees. The company also operates HH Labs, the center of its innovation program, that brings fresh, new ideas to clients. With more than $500M in spend under management, HH Global maintains a razor-sharp focus on cost and quality, combined with an industry-leading sustainability program, offering improvements that provide both fiscal and environmental value. For more information, visit www.hhglobal.com.

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"IBM Watson Commerce order management brings together capabilities, such as inventory visibility, distributed order management, order promising, delivery service scheduling, and reverse logistics. It collects orders from online, call centers, and stores, and it provides transparency through a single view of inventory and demand across channels and throughout the supply chain," said Frost & Sullivan Lead Consultant, Integrated Commerce Martin Hoff ter Heide.

IBM Watson Commerce order management allows retailers to offer accurate promised delivery dates to customers by taking differences in selling channels into accountsuch as store, Web, and marketplaceand by closely monitoring inventories. IBM Watson Commerce order management is also capable of proactively providing suggestions of alternative ways of fulfilling an order in case of challenges. It supports a variety of B2B sales models, including direct, through distributors, through a robust partner network, and through a chain of enterprises.

Another differentiator of IBM Watson Commerce order management is its purposeful and user-centric design. This is increasingly characteristic of IBM's solutions portfolio and is reflected, for example, by user interfaces that provide a consistent user experience across solutions. From a user role perspective, for instance, it empowers store associates through mobile tools with new sources of insight and efficient processing, enabling them to provide better customer service. Store managers can obtain real-time visibility of inventory and a wide range of other store metrics beyond the scope of order management, such as operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. It also empowers fulfillment directors and analysts with analytics, data-driven insight, and recommendations that support their quest to maximize profitability and deliver the best possible customer experience.

IBM maintains continuous investment in innovation to further enhance scalability and reinforce the use of AI and predictive analytics. As a category-defining leader with a well-honed, best-in-class ability to execute, IBM is well suited to provide outstanding customer value in integrated commerce order management solutions.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products. The award recognizes the company's unique focus on augmenting the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and customer base expansion.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About IBM

Watson Commerce gives commerce professionals the power to create seamless experiences that customers want and value, monitor trends and behaviors, and understand market changes as they occur and optimize actions in real time. Only Watson Commerce combines business expertise with industry-leading solutions embedded with AI capabilities. Learn more at https://www.ibm.com/customer-engagement/commerce

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector, and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion.

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
The main cost for startups, or any company going digital, used to be infrastructure and talent; today it's a race for growth and customer acquisition costs are now the make or break item on the P&L. Brands are pouring an increasing proportion of their marketing budget into digital channels in a bid to reach consumers in today's fragmented media landscape. Yet too many marketing dollars are spent on the wrong customers: those that don't convert, spend, and come back. Complex and costly marketing clouds are not a viable option for many companies. The alternative is using a range of different point-solutions to drive growth, but this creates fresh headaches for organizations that must then deal with managing multiple vendors, integrating solutions, and standardizing data sets.

Insider has set out to solve this challenge. Built on a unified data layer, Insider's Growth Management Platform is easy to implement and use, avoiding the need for complex integrations. The platform is based on the latest technologies based on knowledge activation and neural network-based models making technology almost invisible to users. The company democratizes AI and Machine Learning algorithms to help digital marketers across industries focus on the right segments to minimize marketing costs and offer a better brand experience that ensures growth over time.

"Customers are demanding more personal, meaningful and smoother experiences, no matter what channel they are on. Delivering a personalized experience to each and every customer at scale increasingly requires robust AI and machine learning technologies." said Hande Cilingir, CEO & Co-founder of Insider.

"That's why we have built the first integrated Growth Management Platform, which gives digital marketers a holistic end-to-end capability across the entire growth funnel, from customer Acquisition to Activation, Retention and Revenue. Our aim is to make it easier for digital marketers to take a leading role in driving revenue, growth and loyalty in their organizations. Above all, our mission is to help brands deliver relevant and delightful experiences that are mindful of their customers' attention and time." she added.

The launch of Insider's Growth Management Platform has been backed by a US$11 million investment led by Sequoia India, which has partnered with some of the fastest-growing startups across India and Southeast Asia, including Tokopedia, Go Jek, Carousell, Byju's and Zomato. Existing investors Wamda Capital and Dogan Group also participated in the round.

"We were impressed with Insider's AI platform, and the profound impact on their customer's key metrics: lower customer acquisition costs, higher retention, faster growth. These customers quickly started to use more and more products from the Insider platform. That has put Insider on a fast growth trajectory, especially in Asia," said Pieter Kemps, Principal at Sequoia India (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Insider, which is headquartered in Singapore, operates in 15 markets worldwide, including Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, UK and Australia. Insider works with some of the biggest Asian and global brands, such as Singapore Airlines, Tokopedia, UNIQLO, Virgin, Tiki, Samsung, New Balance, Newsweek, McDonald's, Ticketmaster, Nissan, BBVA, Allianz and CNN.

The company, which launched in Istanbul in 2012, moved to Singapore last year to be closer to Asia's high-growth markets. Cilingir is ranked by Crunchbase as one of the top three women CEOs outside of the US.

Insider will use this investment to double down in Asia, where it has experienced exceptionally strong demand.

Tokopedia, Vice President of Business

"Driving growth through digital marketing heavily depends on the close relationship between a customer's acquisition cost and lifetime value. We were surprised to see how fast we were up and running with predictive segments as algorithms were able to train themselves in just two weeks. The results were great. We love Insider's new Growth Management Platform as it helps us make smarter investments resulting in higher impact."

Virgin Megastore, eCommerce Director

"Insider Growth Management Platform helps us create and enhance customer-centric, personalized experiences in a more systematic way. Armed with AI-backed predictive segments, we now think about how we can maximize the value at each stage of the funnel to help enhance our business model. We have seen a significant increase in our key metrics on our website, ads and across all digital channels for Virgin Megastore. We are very excited to discover more possibilities in delivering better customer experiences in the near future."

Find out more on useinsider.com.

Meet Insider, the first integrated Growth Management Platform (GMP).

Growth Management Platform helps digital marketers drive growth across the funnel, from Acquisition to Activation, Retention and Revenue. Leveraging real-time predictive segmentation powered by deep Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities, GMP empowers marketers to deliver personalized journeys across web, mobile web, mobile apps and ad channels. Built on a unified data layer, GMP is easy to implement and simple to use, avoiding the need for complex integrations and dependency on IT teams. Insider simplifies the life of digital marketers and helps them drive growth for their brands, with zero marketing waste.

Insider is a technology company with offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo, Dubai, Moscow, Warsaw, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Istanbul, Kiev, Sydney, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei. Insider was listed as one of the 100 Hottest Startups by WIRED Magazine and won Red Herring Top 100 Europe in 2017. Crunchbase has recently ranked Insider's co-founder and CEO Hande Cilingir as one of the top women CEOs outside of the US.

Helping world's leading brands grow beyond the speed of customer expectations, Insider is trusted by over 300 businesses across various industries including UNIQLO, Singapore Airlines, Tokopedia, Virgin, New Balance, Nissan, Huawei, Samsung, Orange, Puma, Ticketmaster, Newsweek, Air Arabia, Media Markt, AVIS, Allianz, BBVA, Dominos, McDonald's, Avon and CNN.

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SOURCE Insider
At a recent seminar titled "Thailand Taking off to New Heights" held by the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI), which drew more than 3,000 participants, key investors in the digital technology, food manufacturing and research and development industries explained that they appreciated the Thai government's support and valued the country's investor-friendly economic environment. They insisted that these supports should remain in place for the sake of future growth.

"Japanese companies have been the No.1 investors in Thailand for a long time," said Mr. Soji Sakai, President of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Bangkok. "Today Japan's investments in Thailand account for 39 percent of the total FDI in the country. We are here because of the strong long-term relationships between the two countries, the attractive and stable investment policies introduced by the Thai government, and the extensive Thai industrial clusters within ASEAN and local supply chains."

He explained further that Japanese investors considered the country's great infrastructure  including its major airports, sea ports and good road networks, as well as stable electric supply  as major factors that boosted investors' confidence in the country.

"Our recent survey of investors showed that around 25 percent of the respondents have specific investment plans within four years while another 50 percent said they were considering investment in Thailand in the future," said Mr. Sakai. "For Japanese investors to continue and expand businesses in Thailand, we expect good infrastructure, connectivity with neighboring countries in the CLMV region, consistent investment policy and a great pool of talents."

Ms. Angel Zhao, Head of Alibaba Globalization Leadership Group, Alibaba Group, echoed Mr. Sakai's viewpoints. "We see that flexible policies, well-established infrastructure, new talents and innovations are key drivers of the digital economy," she noted.

She welcomed the government's plan to transform Thailand into a digital economy, pointing out that Thailand boasted strong potential to grow its e-commerce activities given its good mobile, internet and digital infrastructure. The Chinese conglomerate's e-commerce platform, she added, can help bring Thai products to the global market with greater efficiency. At present, an increasing number of Thai products, such as beauty products, are becoming very popular in China and in other Asian markets. In addition, Alibaba is ready to provide e-commerce and technology training to Thai SMEs to equip them with more skills to succeed at the global market, Ms. Zhao said.

The food and agricultural industry is another area where Thailand can be a dominant factor globally, said Mr. Alan Willits, Chairman of Cargill Asia Pacific Holdings Pte. Ltd. Willits cited four major reasons  strategic location, good infrastructure, skilled workforce and investor-friendly environment  as the major factors that have been driving Cargill's success in Thailand throughout its presence on the local market in the past 50 years. Cargill currently has 14 offices and employs 17,000 people around Thailand.

Mr. Willits noted that research, development, and innovation were important in increasing the productivity and income of farmers. Skills training and the adoption of new technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT) will help people in the agricultural sector transform themselves into "smart farmers". Technology will also play an important role in addressing the challenges that the nations of the planet face in global food security.

Mr. Duncan Yu, Executive Vice President of the BGI Group, a leading research house, agreed at the seminar that research and development were crucial to economic and social development. New understanding and discoveries in science and technology will help Thailand improve the health and the quality of life of people and also support economic development. The Population Genome project, for example, will help ASEAN governments handle thalassemia and reduce neonatal deafness. In the agricultural sector, new knowledge on food science and technology can improve productivity and the quality of farm products and aquaculture.

It is with such views in mind that the Thai government, which understands investors' concerns and needs, has made infrastructure development as well as research and development top priorities, according to Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Somkid Jatusripitak. The government has been investing in mega projects such as the electric train network in Bangkok and outskirts, a dual-track railway system and a high-speed train that will connect Thailand with neighboring countries more efficiently. Somkid added that ongoing improvements of Suvarnabhumi, Don Muang and U-Tapao airports are also part of infrastructure development.

In the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), which is designed to be the key driver of Thailand's economic transformation, the government has introduced a 236-billion baht high-speed train project that will link the three airports together. Another 200 billion baht will be spent on expanding U-Tapao International Airport and the Eastern Airport City. More than 260 billion baht will be invested in the expansion of Laem Chabang Seaport and Map Ta Phut Seaport.

To support the transformation of the digital economy, the government has continued to invest in digital infrastructure, ensuring that all the 75,000 villages nationwide have access to broadband internet soon. Such infrastructure development will also increase efficiency in education, healthcare and many other public services. At the same time, people and digital skills development will be promoted through cooperation with the private sector in education and training. E-government and the adoption of technology in public services will also be expanded to encourage everyone to become an integral part of the country's digital economy.

BOI, as the government's arm in promoting investment, has supported such development through extensive investment incentives packages. These incentives range from corporate income tax exemption to import duty exemption. Non-tax incentives include land ownership and permission to bring in foreign experts. Under the current incentive scheme, technology and people are top priorities. As a result, additional incentives are given to projects with additional investment to adopt or develop new technology, research and development as well as human resource development.

For more information, please visit www.boi.go.th

Press Inquiry: please contact [email protected]

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SOURCE Thailand Board of Investment (BOI)
SONIPAT, India, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) and Stanford Law School (SLS), US co-organised a programme on 'Global Poverty, Corruption and Law - India Field Study'. Hosted by O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), the 5-day joint study exercise included field visits, sessions and deliberations with India's 3 pillars of democracy - the Judiciary, the Legislative and the Executive; and the Civil Society. Participants also visited Nuh district in Haryana, identified by NITI Aayog as the backward district in the country and interacted with the field staff and representatives of the SM Sehgal Foundation.

"India is a complex country and to get an opportunity to explore it in this manner has been an amazing experience," says Stanford Law School Professor Erik G Jensen, Professor of the Practice of Law, Director of the Rule of Law Program at Stanford Law School, Stanford University, USA.

This joint programme on poverty, corruption and law intends to gather insight into an interdisciplinary and comparative conversation about the mechanics of the world's two largest democracies - India and the United States.

In order to understand and fathom the many intricacies in context of the Indian democratic system, the students from Stanford Law School visited various institutions like the NITI Aayog, Central Vigilance Commission, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Parliament, District Courts of Delhi and Haryana and attended intense interactive sessions with judges of the Supreme Court of India, Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, members of political parties, officials, government functionaries, activists and civil society leaders.

While speaking on the joint programme, Professor (Dr.) C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor, JGU, observed that the programme in its entirety is crucial in helping develop an understanding of the functioning of the world's largest democracy, and how corruption as a problem has serious implications for both protecting the rule of law and ensuring access to justice in India. Prof. Raj Kumar, during a personal interaction with delegates from Stanford remarked, "India is one of those countries where after you visit, you are never the same again. It is one of those countries where contradictions, contrasts and complexities are a part of the Indian experience. This programme will give a sense of some challenges and issues we face as a democracy and we as a democracy are planning to address."

The programme was conducted under the auspices of the Centre for Post Graduate Legal Studies at the Jindal Global Law School. It offered an exciting exploration of the legal, political, historic, economic and social constructions of issues surrounding inequalities, human rights, and access to justice, poverty and corruption.

As part of the joint exercise, a conference on 'Poverty, Corruption and Law: Conceptions, Expectations and Law' was organised on day 5 of the programme.

Expounding the theme of the programme and the seminar, Prof. Dabiru Sridhar Patnaik, Director, Centre for Post Graduate Legal Studies said, "The Conference is part of the joint programme on Global Poverty, Corruption and Law: India Field Study that covers all the three pillars of Indian Democracy to understand the process of law making, law implementation and interpretation in India and the varied legal and policy challenges in relation to nexus between poverty alleviation and corruption that India faces and the institutional measures that are being taken up to tackle the problem. So the seminar is an idea to invite multidisciplinary and comparative perspectives on corruption and rule of law in India and USA to develop awareness, knowledge and critical thinking on the issues and challenges on matters of poverty, corruption and human rights." Articulating on the inter-relationship between poverty, corruption and law, Professor Patnaik said that all three go hand in hand. "The only way to reduce the disparities between the rich and the poor can be through a transparent governance system and creation of a rule of law society which puts in a system of checks and balances to check corruption and helps in alleviating poverty and allied issues," he noted.

Describing the conference as opportune and relevant Professor Erik G. Jensen, Professor of the Practice of Law, Director of the Rule of Law Program at Stanford Law School remarked, "India seems to be a land of contradiction. While data reveal that there has been reduction in poverty in India, country's contribution to global poverty is still significant. The Conference, I am sure, would help us explore deeper connections between poverty and corruption in India. The World Bank predicts that extreme poverty will be reduced to three per cent or less by 2030 and that it could end, probably during the next 30 years. This will largely depend on continuous economic growth in India, new economic growth in Africa along with technology solutions and expansions of remittances," said Professor Jensen.

Elaborating on the experiences gathered from various field visits Prof. Jensen said "Throughout the field visits we had been fortunate to have focused on the intersections between poverty and corruption. During the process we emphasised on understanding the policies of the government, including the public distribution system, literacy levels, right to information and citizens' access to basic resources."

Professor YSR Murthy, Registrar, JGU and Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights Studies, JGLS observed, "There is a deep connect between poverty reduction and development and one of the best ways to understand this connect is by employing human rights approach."

Mr. Richard Mahapatra, Managing Editor, Down to Earth, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, observed, "Data shows that there has been not a single mention of 'poverty' in 06 months in the language of policy makers. However, the phrase 'New India' has been used over 6000 times during the same period." Areas which are abundant in natural resources are largely inhabited by the poor, and while the area does contribute to the nation's economic growth, no attention is directed on the socio-economic growth of these inhabitants. "Under the Poverty Eradication Programme, the Indian government has spent about Rs. 65,000 crores to develop 150 poverty stricken districts. But till date, there is no noticeable progress so far, as these areas continue to be underdeveloped," he said.

Professor Sridhar Madabhushanam, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, New Delhi, observed, "We need to create Para Legal Training Centres to create awareness about government policies among Indian populace. Universities can play a big role in this regard."

"Fixing accountability and responsibilities, would bring in drastic change, which is not happening," he added.

Professor Sudarshan, Professor and Dean, JSGP, observed, "The rule of law in a democracy cannot thrive without curbing corruption. Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts we have not been able to create a robust office of Lokpal in our country."

Dr. Dinsha Mistree, Fellow, Rule of Law Programme; Lecturer in Law, Stanford Law School, Stanford University, USA, while doing a comparative analysis of anti-corruption steps taken in Brazil and South Korea, observed, "India needs to tackle corruption at the level of bureaucracy in a sustained and systematic manner. This 'grand corruption' is one of the biggest challenges India as a country is facing."

The five-day joint programme consisted of a diverse range of thinkers and practitioners to reflect on poverty, corruption and human rights. The programme adopted an innovative pedagogical and institutional design of interactions covering a range of methods - historical, comparative, sociological, political, philosophical, legal and empirical - to explore challenges in the theory and practice of corruption, poverty and human rights. This programme was part of an evolving research agenda between partner institutions of JGU and is expected to be a melting pot of ideas on corruption free and rule of law society and its institutions, and likely to determine the course of future discussions and debate on the subject.

About O.P. Jindal Global University

A non-profit global university established by the Government of Haryana, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) is recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC). JGU was established as a philanthropic initiative of its Founding Chancellor, Mr. Naveen Jindal, in memory of his father, Mr O.P. Jindal. JGU has been awarded the highest grade 'A' by the National Accreditation & Assessment Council (NAAC).

JGU is one of the few universities in Asia maintaining a 1:13 faculty-student ratio and appointing faculty members from India and different parts of the world with outstanding academic qualifications and experience. A research-intensive university, JGU is deeply committed to its core institutional values of inter-disciplinary and innovative pedagogy; pluralism and rigorous scholarship; as well as globalism and international engagement.

JGU has established eight schools: Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), Jindal Global Business School (JGBS), Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), Jindal School of Government and Public Policy (JSGP), Jindal School of Liberal Arts & Humanities (JSLH), Jindal School of Journalism & Communication (JSJC), Jindal School of Art & Architecture (JSAA) and Jindal School of Banking & Finance (JSBF).

For more information please refer to - http://www.jgu.edu.in/.

Media Contact:

Devadeep Konwar

[email protected]

+91-7027850344

Assistant Director

Communication and Public Affairs

O.P. Jindal Global University



SOURCE O.P. Jindal Global University
PUNE, India, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "Medical Tubing Market by Material (PVC, Polyolefin, TPE & TPU, and Silicone), Application (Bulk Disposable Tubing, Catheters & Cannulas, Drug Delivery Systems, and Special Applications), Structure, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global Medical Tubing Market is estimated to grow from USD 6.10 Billion in 2017 to USD 9.38 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 9.0% from 2017 to 2022. Growing awareness and government initiatives to provide high-quality healthcare facilities ultimately drives the Medical Tubing Market globally. Medical tubes are inserted in many medical devices, such as catheters & cannulas, peristaltic pumps, and others. These tubes have exceptional mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, and are used in a wide range of minimally invasive critical applications, such as cardiovascular catheters, stent delivery systems, urological retrieval devices, and drug delivery systems. These factors ultimately increase the demand for medical tubing globally.

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Browse 86 market data Tables and 28 Figures spread through 142 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Medical Tubing Market"

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The bulk disposable tubing application segment is estimated to lead the Medical Tubing Market during the forecast period.

Disposable medical tubing, also known as common disposable tubing, is designed for single use and can be easily disposed of once used. The major growth factors driving the bulk disposable tubing segment include the need for modernizing healthcare infrastructure, prevention of infection, and need for increased efficiency. The growth of this segment in developing countries is exponential due to the rising economic growth, increased disposable income and purchasing power, and increasing investments by governments to provide superior-quality healthcare facilities. Bulk disposable tubing comprises tubes used in blood bags for blood transfusion, IV infusion tubing, drug delivery disposables, respiratory disposables, products for dialysis, laboratory disposables, and wound management disposables.

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The silicone material segment is expected to lead the Medical Tubing Market during the forecast period.

Silicone is a specialty high-performance material used in various industries. It is made by reacting silicon with methyl chloride, and further with water, which removes chlorine atoms. These reactions produce a polymer that is resistant to high & low temperatures making it ideal for use in the medical & healthcare industries. The molecular structure of silicone allows it to be manufactured various forms, including solid, liquid, semi-viscous paste, grease, oil, and rubber forms. Silicone is flexible and resistant to moisture, chemicals, heat, cold, and UV radiation.

North America is expected to be the largest market for medical tubing during the forecast period.

North America accounted for the largest share of the global Medical Tubing Market and is projected to continue dominating the market during the forecast period due to the focused interest of governments in the region to provide high-quality healthcare facilities. Europe accounted for the second-largest share of 32.4% in the global Medical Tubing Market in 2016, backed by high regulatory policies and the matured healthcare industry in the region.

Major players in the global Medical Tubing Market include Zeus Industrial Products (US), Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics (France), Teleflex (US), Optinova (US), Lubrizol Corporation (Vesta) (US), Nordson Corporation (US), Putnam Plastics (US), RAUMEDIC AG (Germany), Tekni-Plex (US), and W. L. Gore & Associates (US).

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About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
MUMBAI, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, one of the top 10 B-schools of the country which was awarded 'Deemed to be University' status by MHRD in 2003, has announced the launch of its twelfth school 'Pravin Dalal School for Entrepreneurship and Family Business Management' at its Mumbai campus from the coming academic year.

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While making the announcement of the new school, Dr. Rajan Saxena, Vice Chancellor - NMIMS said, "Family-owned businesses have played a crucial role in the economy of our country. Much of the retail t rade, the small-scale industry and the service sector are run by family businesses. Further, family-managed businesses employ half the world's workforce and generate well over half of the world's GDP. With time, the contribution of family businesses has gone beyond simply paying taxes and employing people. Most of the business families face unique management challenges because of the difference in the attitude and aspiration of family members. As new generations join the business, it is an enormous challenge to keep the family and business together. And the key to this is, Pravin Dalal School for Entrepreneurship and Family Business Management."

He further said, "Being pioneers in the segment for more than 15 years, we will help family businesses and entrepreneurs to meet emerging needs in the growth and emergence of India as a strong nation."

Pravin Dalal Centre for Entrepreneurship and Family Business Management was established to assist family-owned firms to be in line with professional organizations and has been ranked in top 10 in the Country in 'Entrepreneur B- School Survey 2017 - The Best Business Schools'.

Pravin Dalal Centre is rated very high for having a separate, focussed centre for entrepreneurship, providing cross discipline opportunities, activities undertaken to promote and nurture entrepreneurship, startups and new initiatives by students and for its faculty with entrepreneurial experience. Pravin Dalal Centre for Entrepreneurship and Family Business with an alumni base of 1800 plus has been given the status of independent school and named as Pravin Dalal School of Entrepreneurship and Family Business Management.

Prof. Seema Mahajan, Director of the Pravin Dalal School says, "We believe that entrepreneurship can be a powerful force within organizations of all types and sizes, in established business as well as new ventures. In any industry, in any position, it takes Entrepreneurial thinking and relative action to solve problems and make an impact."

"The focus of the courses offered, ranging from 32 weeks going to 2 years full time MBA and recently launched Integrated MBA (5 years) post 12th, remains on deeply understanding and appropriately delivering to Indian Family Businesses a strategic path to transform and grow their business while they play an important role in India's growth," adds Prof. Mahajan.

About Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies:

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) was established under the patronage of Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal (SVKM) in 1981 and was granted "Deemed to be University" status by Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India in 2003.

From its humble beginning in 1981, today it has grown into a major educational institution imparting premium quality education on its campuses in India. Today, more than 12000 students and 513 full-time faculty members are part of NMIMS and its 11 schools at 6 campuses at Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Shirpur, Indore, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

Constituent schools include Management, Engineering, Pharmacy, Architecture, Commerce, Business Economics, Science, Law, Design, Aviation, Liberal Arts and Distance Learning. The University has tie-ups with more than 30 Universities in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Over the years, NMIMS has constantly updated the curriculum of its various programs and carved unique identities for various schools that offer to hone talents in separate educational verticals. All NMIMS schools have state-of-the-art infrastructure which is ever expanding.

NMIMS promotes global thinking consistent with national interest and promoting the values, professionalism, social sensitivity and dynamic entrepreneurship.

Visit: http://www.nmims.edu

Media Contact:

Ashish Tambe

[email protected]

+91-22-42355560

Public Relations Officer

SVKM's NMIMS



SOURCE Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies
PUNE, India, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "OTA Testing Market by Offering (Hardware, and Services), Technology (5G, LTE, UMTS, GSM, and CDMA), APPLICations (Telecommunication & Consumer Devices, AUTOMOTIVE, SMART CITY, Industrial), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to grow from USD 1.09 Billion in 2018 to USD 1.77 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 10.13% between 2018 and 2023. The evolving 5G technology, implementation across value chain, and the growing IoT market are the key driving factors for the OTA testing market.

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Telecommunication and consumer devices dominated the overall OTA testing market

Among applications, telecommunication and consumer devices held the largest market share of the overall OTA testing market in 2017. The increasing adoption of LTE technologies in consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets, and USB hotspots, among others, drives the increasing use of OTA testing services in telecommunications and consumer devices application. Over-the-air (OTA) testing has become essential for engineers to evaluate and certify the reliability and performance characteristics of wireless devices, both for mobile and fixed locations. OTA testing lets engineers see what truly happens as the radio waves propagate over the air between the user equipment and the base station.

OTA testing market for 5G technology expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The need for new equipment and services will boost the growth of the OTA testing market for 5G technologies. OTA testing services for 5G are complex and done over the air as there are no connectors or probe points involved, which might enable conducted tests. The need for updating the OTA equipment and providing complex services for 5G will play a critical role in the development and validation of 5G, from R&D through conformance test, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance.

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APAC expected to hold the largest market share and the highest growth rate

China, Japan, South Korea, and India are investing heavily in the implementation of IoT and M2M communication in infrastructure, which is expected to drive the OTA testing market in APAC. APAC is also the largest consumer of telecommunication and consumer devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. There are still many projects to be initialized during the forecast period; these offer tremendous growth opportunities for smart solution vendors. South Korea and Singapore have high connectivity and smart solutions. There are still many projects to be initialized during the forecast period. These projects offer tremendous growth opportunities for the smart solution vendors. In other regions, such as Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America, there is a wide scope for the development of smart cities as smart city solutions are only deployed in few cities.

Major players in the OTA testing market include Intertek (UK), Bureau Veritas (France), Anritsu (Japan), Keysight (US), Rohde & Schwarz (Germany), Eurofins (Luxembourg), UL (US), MVG (France), SGS (Switzerland), and Cetecom (Germany).

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About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

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MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

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Email: [email protected]



Visit Our [email protected] http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/electronics-and-semiconductors

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
NEW DELHI, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

- Strategic investment reinforces ReNew Power's position in the fast-growing renewables sector

- Combined capacity will exceed 5600 MW of green energy assets

ReNew Power, one of India's leading clean energy companies, today announced the acquisition of Ostro Energy Private Limited. This strategic investment helps ReNew Power further consolidate its position in the fast-growing, Indian clean energy sector. ReNew Power currently has green energy assets of more than 4500 MW, which include a commissioned capacity of approximately 2800 MW. Ostro Energy has a total capacity of more than 1100 MW, out of which nearly 850 MW is already commissioned. With the acquisition of these assets, ReNew Power's capacity will now exceed 5600 MW. Over 65% of the combined portfolio capacity (ReNew Power and Ostro Energy) is already operational.

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ReNew Power's growth has been mostly organic till now and it has grown into one of the leading energy companies in India in a span of seven years. This is the largest acquisition for the company till date and reinforces its already-strong position in the Indian market.

The addition of the Ostro team and assets to the ReNew family will further strengthen the company's vision of contributing to the Government of India's 2022 goal of 175 GW of renewable energy. Ostro has built an impressive business with diversified geographical spread; good quality infrastructure; and stable long term PPAs.

Ostro Energy's assets are spread across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The Ostro portfolio is also diversified by off takers and also by OEMs, further complementing the ReNew Power portfolio.

Concurrent with this transaction, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is investing an additional US$ 247 million to support ReNew Power's financing for this acquisition. As a result, the CPPIB's combined investment in ReNew Power now stands at US$ 391 million, following an earlier investment of US$ 144 million in January 2018.

About ReNew Power

ReNew Power Ventures, one of India's leading clean energy Independent Power Producers (IPPs), is committed to working towards changing the country's current energy portfolio by delivering cleaner and smarter energy choices and thereby reducing India's carbon footprint. ReNew Power's mission is to play a pivotal role in meeting India's growing energy needs in an efficient, sustainable and socially responsible manner. For more information please visit: http://www.renewpower.in. Follow ReNew Power on Twitter @ReNew_Power.

Media Contact:

Pradeep Wadhwa

[email protected]

+91-9810266667

ReNew Power



SOURCE ReNew Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd
Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, created to honor the Father of American old school tattooing, Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins, is launching a bold new bottle design with iconography and imagery that further highlight the life and times of Collins, enhancing the rum's dedication to telling and celebrating his story and building a community of likeminded individuals around the globe. The new and improved packaging, which will contain the same award-winning liquid that many have enjoyed for years, will launch initially in March 2018, and become available in markets around the world throughout 2018.

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Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum is a straight-up, no nonsense, old-school rum. Back in the day, sailors used to smooth out their rum ration with spices, and Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum follows that same tradition. The result is a rum that is bold and smooth as hell. A Caribbean Rum blended with 100% natural spices and flavors, Sailor Jerry embodies the "All-In" spirit and unapologetic attitude of the rum's namesake who was noted for saying, "My work speaks for itself."

Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins was a Navy vet who built his reputation inking soldiers and sailors in WWII-era Honolulu, where he established his now legendary tattoo parlor. The revamped bottle recalls classic elements of his famous Hotel Street shop business card, with images of Hawaii and the Diamond Head volcanic turf. The label also features the Hula girl, a signature piece of Collins' tattoo artwork representing those sailors that have visited Hawaii during their time in the Navy. The back of the bottle communicates Collins' iconic story, honoring his legacy and philosophy to live life on your own terms.

Additional updates to the new bottle design include a larger Sailor Jerry script logo on a strong, black circle background, making it boldly visible on any store shelf, back bar or drinks cabinet shelf. The outer shipper will be updated to mirror the new look of the bottle.

"Norman Collins is an inspiration to many and had a tremendous effect on future generations," shared Chin Ru Foo, Global Brand Director - Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. "We at Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, the brand that today bears his name, celebrate his life, his ethos, and his passions, in everything we do. The evolution of the bottle to include classic iconography and imagery is designed to share Norman's story in a more meaningful, and personal, way with the world."

Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins was born on January 14th, 1911, and quickly found his passion for tattooing while traveling the United States by hopping freight trains. At 19, Collins joined the U.S. Navy where he was exposed to the art and culture of Southeast Asia. Following his naval service, Collins made WWII-era Honolulu his home and continued honing his skills as a tattoo artist. Sailors on Shore Leave in Honolulu would wait in line for hours outside Collins' Hotel Street tattoo shop to be inked by the master himself. Not one to rest idly, Collins also became a licensed skipper of a large three-masted schooner, played the saxophone in his own band, and frequently hosted a radio show. These personal passions are now celebrated through Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and shared with likeminded individuals.

"We are excited to share this bold new look with our ever-expanding Sailor Jerry community, and look forward to celebrating with them throughout the year," added Foo.

The new packaging will launch in the United States in March 2018, followed by the United Kingdom and rest of world from May 2018.

To learn more about Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, log onto http://www.sailorjerry.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbmktHaU6ps&feature=youtu.be

SOURCE William Grant & Sons
PUNE, India, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "Soil Aerators Market by Equipment Type (Secondary Tillage, Primary Tillage, Weeding, Soil Aerating), Application (Agriculture, Non-Agriculture), Mechanism (Mechanical, Pneumatic), Mode of Operation (Mounted, Trailed), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is estimated to be valued at USD 24.03 Billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 33.01 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.6%. The market is driven by the global increase in mechanization in farming, shrinking arable land, growth in net farming income, and rapid increase in commercial and residential space, leading to the growing demand for landscaping.

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Browse 73 market data Tables and 40 Figures spread through 143 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Soil Aerators Market"

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Secondary tillage is estimated to be the largest in 2018

The soil aerators market, by equipment, is estimated to be dominated by the secondary tillage. The demand for this segment comes primarily from the agricultural industry. There are various kinds of secondary tillage equipment, namely, harrows, cultivators, and rollers & pulverizers, which are used to decompact soil efficiently in a lesser time. Government initiatives in the agricultural industry in order to achieve accurate yield to feed the increasing population is the most influential driver for the largest market share of this segment in the soil aerators market.

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Agriculture segment set to dominate the market by 2023

The soil aerators market, by application, is projected to be dominated by the agriculture segment during the forecast period. The dominance of agriculture in soil aerators is attributable to the increase in large-scale holdings of farmers in most developed countries and an increasing trend of farm mechanization in developing countries. The rapid increase in population growth and increasing demand for food, with shrinking arable land, are expected to drive the Soil Aerators Market growth.

Mounted segment is projected to be the fastest-growing during the forecast period

The mounted segment is estimated to dominate the mode of operation segment for soil aerators in 2018 and is also projected to be the fastest-growing from 2018 to 2023. Low turnaround time, higher accuracy, availability of large land holdings for cultivation, specifically in North America and Europe are the factors driving the market for the mounted mode of operation.

Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period

The Asia Pacific market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2018 to 2023. Major growth drivers of the region include the adoption of smart, mechanized aerators owing to technological advancements in countries such as India, China, and Japan. In addition, factors such as an increase in footfall, overgrazing by livestock, the pressure exerted by heavy equipment, climatic conditions, strong government support through subsidies, and increased productivity requirements also drive the Soil Aerators Market in the region.

This report includes a study of marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolios of leading companies. It includes the profiles of leading service companies such as Deere & Company (US), Mahindra and Mahindra (India), Bucher Industries (Switzerland), CNH Industrial (UK), ALAMO (US), and AGCO Corporation (US).

Know more about the Soil Aerators Market:

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About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Salgarkar

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]



Visit Our Blog: http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/agriculture-industry

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
CHENNAI, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

TAFE - the world's third largest tractor manufacturer by volume, successfully acquired the renowned Serbian tractor and agriculture equipment brand IMT - Industrija Masina i Traktora.

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IMT, an iconic tractor brand is a pioneer in farm mechanization and tractor technology with a wide range of implements and tractors suitable for cultivating agricultural land, vineyards and orchards, and for infrastructure applications. The implements range includes ploughs, trailers, maize planters, seed drills, cultivators and loader forklifts.

Well known for its indigenous R&D, IMT produced a range of tractors between 35 hp and 220 hp and is a popular tractor brand in Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and the Balkans.

TAFE's has had a long association with IMT spanning many decades through business cooperation that involved the supply of components, aggregates and technical support. TAFE will support its local partner with supply of components and aggregates for the rollout of IMT tractors in Serbia and allied markets.

Through this acquisition, TAFE acquires the right to use the Brand and Intellectual Property Rights, including the Designs, Trademarks and Copyright (IPR) of IMT.

Ms. Mallika Srinivasan - Chairman & CEO, TAFE, speaking on this recent acquisition said, "TAFE and IMT have shared a long mutually beneficial cooperation. This acquisition will play a key role in TAFE's strategic and growth plans for the future."

About TAFE:

The world's third largest tractor manufacturer and second largest in India by volumes with an annual sale of over 150,000 tractors, TAFE - Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited is one of the leading exporters of tractors from India with a turnover in excess of INR 93 billion. TAFE manufactures a range of tractors in the sub 100 hp segment in both, the air-cooled and water-cooled platforms and markets them under its three iconic brands - Massey Ferguson, TAFE and Eicher. It has an over 1000 strong distribution network that covers the entire length and breadth of India. Apart from India, its products have found excellent acceptance in over 100 countries across the world, including developed countries in Europe and the Americas.

Besides tractors and farm machinery, TAFE manufactures Diesel engines, silent gensets, batteries, hydraulic pumps and cylinders, gears and transmission components, and has business interest in vehicle franchises and plantations. TAFE is committed to the Total Quality Movement (TQM) and three of its tractor plants are certified under ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

Media Contact:

Sunitha Subramaniyam

[email protected]

+91-4466919163

Head - TAFE Corporate Communications

Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited



SOURCE TAFE - Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited
GURUGRAM, India, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Development of transport infrastructure in the country is expected to significantly augment the cold transport market.

Growth in revenues is also expected to surge because of the increasing number of food service establishments, supermarkets and small stores that require cold transport services in the country.

The incline in share of cold storage in the cold chain market of Turkey has been perceived on the grounds of increase in number of cold storage warehouses from around 302 in 2011 to around 375 in 2017.

has been perceived on the grounds of increase in number of cold storage warehouses from around 302 in 2011 to around 375 in 2017. Furthermore, growing consumer demand for frozen food rather than consumption of fresh products has also been anticipated to provide ample support to the cold storage warehousing market of Turkey over the period 2018-2022.

Turkey has an edge over other countries in the Mediterranean region due to its geographical location. The logistics industry of the country greatly benefits from it and further has a large room to expand to its full potential. The Mediterranean is the cradle of the cold chain, and with Southern Europe, it has remained a centre of excellence in this field. With the development of trade in the region and the growing expectations of the population in terms of quality and food safety, the area needs to be equipped with a quality temperature-controlled logistics services. However, even if some links in the cold chain are still lacking, both in terms of equipment, facilities and service, the situation is progressing rapidly, and projects are being developed. A network of players in the cold chain is being formed around the Mediterranean and government has undertaken, and indeed has in part already achieved, the creation of a suitable regulatory and normative framework.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661352/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg )



The market can be largely segmented into cold storage and cold transportation. Consumption of fresh food is dominant in Turkey in comparison to frozen food. Owing to this trend, supermarkets, retail outlets, restaurants etc. require their stocks of temperature sensitive products to be fresh, not stored in cold storage for a long time and regularly delivered. This is one of the main reasons that the cold transport contributes more revenue to the market in comparison to cold storage.

In Turkey, the cold transport industry is dominated by land transport. In 2017, land transport constituted around 80.0% of the total revenue of the cold chain transport market in Turkey.

The industry has a handful of players and is largely dominated by organized companies that have presence in other countries as well. Most of these companies operate both cold storage warehouses and cold transport fleet for land transportation. The companies which have made a foothold in the Turkish cold chain market are namely Polar Express, Havi Logistics, Yusen Logistics, Emran Logistics and others. These companies compete on the basis of price, on time delivery, number of temperature controlled vehicles available and cold storage warehouses, penetration of services into rural areas and the range of products for which storage and transportation operations can be provided. There also exist a number of third party logistic service providers which mainly rent their warehouses and land transportation fleet to the major players of the market.

According to the report by Ken Research titled "Turkey Cold Chain Market by Cold Storage and Transport, by Product Type (Bakery, Confectionary, Dairy, Meat & Sea Food, Vaccines & Pharmaceutical, Fruits & Vegetables, Chemicals) - Outlook to 2022", around 65% of the revenues from cold storage market in Turkey was generated from 3PL Logistics.

Key Topics Covered in the Report:

Comparative Analysis of Turkey Cold Chain Logistics Market With Asia Pacific Cold Chain Market

Logistics Infrastructure in Turkey Cold Chain Market

Cold Chain Market Supply Chain Analysis of Turkey Cold Chain Market Cold Transport from Manufacturer to Cold Storage Centre Cold Storage at Storage Centre Cold Transport from Cold Storage Warehouse to Cold Storage distribution Centre/ Customer Cold Transport from Distribution Centre to the Retailers / Supermarkets /Restaurants and End User of the Product

Turkey Cold Chain Market Turkey Cold Chain Market Size by Revenues Turkey Cold Chain Market Segmentation By Cold Storage and Cold Transport By Product Type (Bakery, Confectionary, Dairy, Meat & Sea Food, Vaccines & Pharmaceutical, Fruits & Vegetables, Chemicals)

Turkey Cold Storage Market Turkey Cold Storage Market Size by Revenue Turkey Cold Storage Market Segmentation By Size of Warehouse Turkey Cold Storage Market Segmentation, By Owned or Rented By Type of Cold Storage Facility (Conventional and Modern) Turkey Cold Storage Market Future Outlook and Projections, 2018-2022

Turkey Cold Transport Market Turkey Cold Transport Market Size By Revenues Turkey Cold Transport Market Segmentation Turkey Cold Transport Market Segmentation, By Modes of Transportation By Delivery Type (Normal and Express Delivery) Turkey Cold Transport Market Segmentation, By Owned and Rented Transport Facilities Turkey Cold Transport Market Segmentation, By Domestic and International Turkey Cold Transport Market Future Outlook and Projections

Snapshot on Turkey Third Party Cold Chain Logistics Market

Growth Drivers, Trends, Issues and Recent Developments in Turkey Cold Chain Market

Cold Chain Market SWOT Analysis of Turkey Cold Chain Market

Government Role and Regulations in Turkey Cold Chain Market

Cold Chain Market Competitive Landscape of Turkey Cold Chain Market Competitive Scenario of Major Players Company Profiles of Major Players in Turkey Cold Chain Market Polar Express Yusen Logistics Havi Logistics

Turkey Cold Chain Market Future Outlook and Projections

By Product Type (Bakery, Confectionary, Dairy, Meat & Sea Food, Vaccines & Pharmaceutical, Fruits & Vegetables, Chemicals)

Analyst Recommendations

For more information on the market research report, please refer to below link:

https://www.kenresearch.com/automotive-transportation-and-warehousing/logistics-and-shipping/turkey-cold-chain-market/142326-100.html

Related Reports by Ken Research

India Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2022 - by Cold Storage & Cold Transport, 3PL, End User Industry (Agro food, Fruits & Vegetables, Fruit pulp & Concentrates, Dairy Products, Ice Cream, Meat, Sea Food, Confectionery, Poultry, Ready to Cook, Pharmaceutical, Industrial Products)

Vietnam Cold Chain Market by Cold Storage and Cold Transport, Product Type (Bakery, Confectionary, Dairy, Meat & SeaFood, Vaccines & Pharmaceutical, Fruits & Vegetables, Chemicals) - Outlook to 2021

Philippines Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2020 - Government Initiatives and Rising Consumer Demand for Frozen Food to Foster Future Growth

Contact Us:

Ken Research

Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing

[email protected]

+91-1244230204 ext. 26



SOURCE Ken Research
LONDON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

To be competitive in the global payment space, cryptocurrencies need to scale to the level of transactions that traditional payment networks can provide. On-chain scaling is the only option that can make Bitcoin accessible to billions of people worldwide. Needless to say, scaling on-chain is one of the most important challenges for Bitcoin-and one that Lokad CEO Joannes Vermorel is meeting head-on with the Terab project.

In an interview with CoinGeek.com , Vermorel described the Terab project as "an ambitious project" that that targets to address the most difficult scaling problem of Bitcoin: managing unspent transaction outputs (UTXO) dataset.

"You can think of the UTXO as all the 'spendable' Bitcoins," Vermorel said. "As the number of users grow, this dataset grows as well, which is expected and fine. Nowadays, we have tremendously capable computing hardware; however, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is the only Bitcoin that is sticking to the original vision of harnessing this processing power to onboard all of humanity, instead of artificially restricting adoption to a few."

In a blog post, titled "Terabyte blocks for Bitcoin Cash," Vermorel explained how 1TB blocks are viable on the BCH chain. A single terabyte block, added every 10 minutes, can contain about 4 billion transactions, and provide capacity of 7 million transactions per second. However, with such a massively scaled BCH network, developers will need to figure out how to optimize the UTXO database maintained by nodes to prevent BCH double spending.

This paved the way for the Terab project, an open source initiative backed by blockchain technology research and development specialist nChain Group and CoinGeek.com owner and Antiguan-based entrepreneur Calvin Ayre, who has pledged up to 3.6 million in funding.

Talented software engineers needed

Vermorel admitted that it takes time to ramp up "a great team." Currently, the Terab team has already hired five software engineers, four of whom are scheduled to start in June. The team is also looking for a technical writer, who will make the project accessible to the dev community.

"More than ever, we are looking for talented software engineers. We primarily seek people who passionate about their craft and who care about produce excellent software pieces.

Progress Update:

Internally, the Terab team has already made a lot of progress on many pieces of the project, although it's still too early to publish the code, according to Vermorel. The team had also got feedback from leading Bitcoin teams regarding the API of the Terab microservice, which he said is important to make sure that drop-in replacements for Terab will remain possible.

"We want to have a first version of Terab released before the end of the year," Vermorel said. "Bitcoin is already getting an upgrade to 32MB block in May. There is no urgency, the existing Bitcoin implementations can scale smoothly to blocks that are significantly larger. Terab will only start to become relevant when blocks start to grow to hundreds of MBs. However, considering the tremendous adoption rate of Bitcoin, we should work swiftly in order to make sure that Bitcoin remains forever usable with very low fees. Failing to do that, Bitcoin would face gigantic fees just like what regularly happens now with Segwit-coin BTC (inaccurately called Bitcoin Legacy or Core by most)."

Note: Tokens in the SegWit chain are referred to as SegWit1X (BTC) and SegWit Gold (SWG) and are no longer Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is the only true Bitcoin as intended by the original Satoshi white paper. Bitcoin BCH is the only public block chain that offers safe and cheap microtransactions.

SOURCE CoinGeek
STOCKHOLM, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As previously announced, Invuo Technologies AB ("Invuo" or "Company") has reached an agreement with AJ Group Holdings Ltd ("AJ Group") which entails that AJ Group will invest in total approximately SEK 52 million in shares, warrants and by acquiring the loans held by Invuo in Seamless Distribution Systems AB.

Invuo is pleased to confirm that it has received a non-refundable deposit of SEK 1 million from AJ Group, i.e. ahead of the expected completion of AJ Groups purchase of 16,334,906 Invuo shares, scheduled to be completed before the upcoming Invuo annual general meeting (AGM) on 26th April 2018. The Board of Invuo has agreed to accept the non-refundable deposit and postpone the settlement date for the purchase of the 16,334,906 Invuo shares to no later than April 21, 2018. The remaining parts of the transaction are scheduled to be completed after the AGM, as previously announced.

Alnoor Jamal, Chairman of AJ Group, said, "We are excited not only by the investment potential existing in Invuo, but also by the strategic potential offered by our commitment to the Company, and the opportunities to expand Invuo's revenue footprint in the period ahead".

As was announced by the Company on 26th March 2018 in its notice for the AGM, Sheliza Jamal, representative of AJ Group, has been proposed by the Invuo Nomination Committee to stand for election to the Board at the AGM.

For further information, please contact:

John Longhurst

CEO

john.longhurst@invuo.com,

+46-8-564-878-00

This information is such that Invuo Technologies AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. This information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 08:50 CET on April 3, 2018.

About AJ Group

The AJ Group led by its Chairman Mr Alnoor Jamal, has been involved in various disciplines, including property portfolios in various countries, hospitality, IT in Africa and India, manufacturing of Agrochemicals, distribution and training of farmers in Africa, installation and subsequent maintenance of Philips medical systems in hospitals in Zambia, etc; together known as AJ Group.

About Invuo

Since 2001 Invuo has been providing its proprietary solutions and systems for mobile phone transactions. Invuo operates in two main business areas; mobile phone payment solutions provided through the brand MeaWallet, and distribution of e-products. www.invuo.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/invuo-technologies-ab/r/invuo-confirms-new-timing-of-aj-group-transaction--and-receipt-of-non-refundable-deposit,c2486010

The following files are available for download:

http://mb.cision.com/Main/4815/2486010/814923.pdf Press release (PDF)

Related Links

http://www.invuo.com



SOURCE Invuo Technologies AB
LONDON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Maurizio Rolando, Christophe Baudouin, Jose Benitez- Del-Castillo

European Ophthalmic Review, 2017;11(Suppl 1):3-9; http://www.touchophthalmology.com/articles/dry-eye-disease-current-insights-and-future-perspectives

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/515766/Touch_Medical_Logo.jpg )



Published recently in a supplement to European Ophthalmic Review, the peer-reviewed journal from touchOPHTHALMOLOGY, Rolando et al, discuss the key factors driving dry eye disease (DED) are tear film instability, tear hyperosmolarity, apoptosis and inflammation, which can lead to corneal damage, keratitis, cytokine release and nerve stimulation, forming a self-sustaining 'vicious circle'. These factors degrade the quality of vision, which worsens with disease severity. The pathophysiology of DED affects the entire ocular surface system involving the innate and adaptive immune systems, and the mechanisms are becoming recognised as more wide-ranging than was previously understood. Many patients show a discrepancy between signs such as corneal fluorescence staining (CFS) and DED symptoms at diagnosis and during treatment, which makes assessment challenging. In response to this, new grading schemes such as those of the ODISSEY European Consensus Group have been developed to aid diagnosis of severe DED. A key treatment for DED is the immunomodulatory agent, topical ciclosporin A (CsA) eye drops (0.1% CsA, Ikervis, Santen). Clinical studies such as the phase III SANSIKA trial (n=246) showed significant reductions in ocular surface inflammation after 6 months of patients receiving 0.1% CsA compared with vehicle (p=0.021). A post hoc analysis of this study in patients with CFS improvement of 3 grades revealed a significant treatment effect in which there were more responders to topical CsA treatment than to vehicle (p=0.016). In this trial 0.1% CsA was well tolerated and required only a single daily instillation in contrast with others requiring multiple daily doses. Wider use of topical CsA and better understanding of the inflammatory processes in DED may lead to improved treatments in this debilitating disease.

The full article is available open-access here:

http://www.touchophthalmology.com/articles/dry-eye-disease-current-insights-and-future-perspectives

Disclosure: Maurizio Rolando is a consultant or has been sponsored by, or received research grants, from Alcon, Allergan, Bausch & Lomb, Dompe, Farmigea, OFF, Pfizer, Santen, Thea, Novartis and TRB Chemedica. Christophe Baudouin has received consultant fees and research grants from Alcon, Allergan, Dompe, Horus Pharma, Santen and Thea and has received academic financial support and grants from INSERM (Institut National de la Sante et la Recherche Medicale), UMRS968, and University Paris 6 and Labex Lifesenses (reference ANR-10-LABX-65). Jose Benitez-Del-Castillo has been sponsored by or received research grants from Santen, Bausch & Lomb, AbbVie, Angelini, Horus, Alcon, Allergan, Thea, Esteve and Dompe. This article has not been submitted to external peer reviewers but was reviewed by the advisory board for accuracy before publication. The ECLSO satellite symposium was organised and funded by Santen EMEA. The publication of this article was supported by Santen EMEA. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Santen EMEA.

touchOPHTHALMOLOGY (a division of Touch Medical Media) publishes the European Ophthalmic Review, a peer-reviewed, open access, bi-annual journal specialising in the publication of balanced and comprehensive review articles written by leading authorities to address the most important and salient developments in the field of ophthalmology. The aim of these reviews is to break down the high science from 'data-rich' primary papers and provide practical advice and opinion on how this information can help physicians in the day to day clinical setting. Practice guidelines, symposium write-ups, case reports, and original research articles are also featured to promote discussion and learning amongst physicians, clinicians, researchers and related healthcare professionals.

www.touchOPHTHALMOLOGY.com

"Touch Medical Media is a trading name of Touch Digital Media Limited, a private limited company registered in England and Wales at The White House Mill Road, Goring, Reading, England, RG8 9DD with registered number 08197142".

For inquires please contact:

Nicola Cartridge - Editorial Director

editor@touchmedicalmedia.com

T: +44-(0)207-193-3186



"Leading the Debate on the Advances in Healthcare"

SOURCE touchOPHTHALMOLOGY
Four-Floor, 25,000 Square Foot Facility To Provide Afghanistan With Advanced Surgical, Maternity, Pediatric Treatment and Cancer Care

KABUL, Afghanistan, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bayat Foundation (www.bayatfoundation.org), Afghanistan's largest, private, non-profit Health, Education and Social Development Organization, has once again demonstrated its determination to improve healthcare for all Afghans, by announcing that the Foundation has launched the construction of a four-floor 25,000 square foot Bayat Maternity and Neonatal Hospital, which will be located in Kabul City.

The new Bayat Maternity and Neonatal Hospital is a cooperative project of The Bayat Foundation, The Matter Organization (www.matter.ngo) and the Afghanistan Ministry of Health (http://moph.gov.af). Construction of the new Bayat Maternity and Neonatal Hospital was initiated during a formal groundbreaking ceremony on April 2, 2018 attended by Dr. Ehsanollah Bayat, the Co-Founder of The Bayat Foundation, Mrs. Fatema Bayat, President of The Bayat Foundation, senior executives of The Bayat Foundation, The Matter Foundation and representatives from The Afghan Ministry of Health.

The new Bayat Maternity and Neonatal Hospital, will provide the most advanced levels of Surgical, Maternal, Pediatric and Cancer treatment available in Afghanistan.

The Bayat Maternity and Neonatal Hospital will have five specialist healthcare centers:

Women's Surgical Theater (with a special focus on fistula treatment and recovery)

Pediatric Audiology Clinic

Endoscopy Clinic

Eye Clinic

Women's Cancer Clinic

These five specialized healthcare capabilities, together with the Hospital's Blood Bank, will be able to provide highly specific treatments which are currently unavailable from other hospitals and healthcare centers in Afghanistan. The Women's Surgical Theater will be Afghanistan's leading healthcare center that will provide diagnosis and treatment of Obstetric Fistula, a devastating childbirth injury which occurs when women give birth without hospital facilities, or without the assistance of medically trained attendants.

In addition to specialized surgical treatments, the Hospital's Women's Cancer Center will provide essential screening, diagnosis and treatment capabilities which will addressand reducethe rising levels of Cervical Cancer among Afghan women.

"The new Bayat Maternity and Neonatal Hospital, when it is complete, will be the most modern, advanced and capable medical facility in Afghanistan," said Dr. Ehsanollah Bayat, the Co-Chairman of the Bayat Foundation. "We look forward to the day that the new Bayat Maternity and Neonatal Hospital is open, and we can begin providing healthcare to the people who need it most."

"Our Foundation has built or refurbished thirteen hospitals which have treated over two-million people, but despite the progress made by our Foundation and other organizations, we still face great challenges in providing healthcare in Afghanistan, especially to Afghan women," said Mrs. Fatema Bayat, the Co-Founder and President of the Bayat Foundation. "The new Bayat Maternity and Neonatal Hospital is a strong and much needed step in our efforts to provide womenand all Afghanswith the best healthcare possible."

About the Bayat Foundation:

Since 2005, the US-based Bayat Foundation, a 501 c (3) charitable organization, has promoted the well-being of the Afghan people. Founded and directed by Ehsanollah Bayat and Fatema Bayat, the Foundation has contributed to more than 300 projects dedicated to improving the quality of life for the youth, women, poor, and elderly of Afghanistan; including construction of 13 maternity hospitals that have now treated over 2,000,000 mothers and babies.

Projects have included the construction of new facilities and sustainable infrastructure in needy regions, and the promotion of health, education, economic, and cultural programs. In addition to his charitable initiatives, Ehsanollah Bayat founded Afghan Wireless (AWCC) in 2002, which was the first GSM wireless and Internet Service Provider in Afghanistan, and later established Ariana Radio and Television Network (ATN), which includes Ariana Radio (FM 93.5). For more information, please email info@bayatfoundation.org.

PLEASE CONTACT:

For Bayat Foundation:

Alberto Lopez

+1.917.330.4510

a.lopez@tsiglobe.com

Related Links

http://www.bayatfoundation.org



SOURCE Bayat Foundation
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Fedora Update Notification

FEDORA-2018-b13b720a3d

2018-04-03 13:23:37.414928

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Name : php

Product : Fedora 28

Version : 7.2.4

Release : 1.fc28

URL : http://www.php.net/

Summary : PHP scripting language for creating dynamic web sites

Description :

PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language. PHP attempts to make it

easy for developers to write dynamically generated web pages. PHP also

offers built-in database integration for several commercial and

non-commercial database management systems, so writing a

database-enabled webpage with PHP is fairly simple. The most common

use of PHP coding is probably as a replacement for CGI scripts.



The php package contains the module (often referred to as mod_php)

which adds support for the PHP language to Apache HTTP Server.



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Update Information:



**PHP version 7.2.4** (29 Mar 2018) **Core:** * Fixed bug php#76025 (Segfault

while throwing exception in error_handler). (Dmitry, Laruence) * Fixed bug

php#76044 ('date: illegal option -- -' in ./configure on FreeBSD).

(Anatol)

**FPM:** * Fixed bug php#75605 (Dumpable FPM child processes allow bypassing

opcache access controls). (Jakub Zelenka) **FTP:** * Fixed ftp_pasv arginfo.

(carusogabriel) **GD:** * Fixed bug php#73957 (signed integer conversion in

imagescale()). (cmb) * Fixed bug php#76041 (null pointer access crashed php).

(cmb) * Fixed imagesetinterpolation arginfo. (Gabriel Caruso) **iconv:** *

Fixed bug php#75867 (Freeing uninitialized pointer). (Philip Prindeville)

**Mbstring:** * Fixed bug php#62545 (wrong unicode mapping in some charsets).

(cmb) **Opcache:** * Fixed bug php#75969 (Assertion failure in live range DCE

due to block pass misoptimization). (Nikita) **OpenSSL:** * Fixed openssl_*

arginfos. (carusogabriel) **PCNTL:** * Fixed bug php#75873 (pcntl_wexitstatus

returns incorrect on Big_Endian platform (s390x)). (Sam Ding) **Phar:** *

Fixed bug php#76085 (Segmentation fault in buildFromIterator when directory

name

contains a

). (Laruence) **Standard:** * Fixed bug php#75961 (Strange

references behavior). (Laruence) * Fixed some arginfos. (carusogabriel) * Fixed

bug php#76068 (parse_ini_string fails to parse "[foo]

bar=1|>baz"

with

segfault). (Anatol) ---- **Packaging changes:** * add file trigger to

restart the php-fpm service when new pool or new extension installed * use

systemd RuntimeDirectory instead of /etc/tmpfiles.d

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References:



[ 1 ] Bug #1556762 - restart FPM when new extension or pool are installed

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1556762

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This update can be installed with the "dnf" update program. Use

su -c 'dnf upgrade php' at the command line.

For more information, refer to the dnf documentation available at

http://dnf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/command_ref.html#upgrade-command-label



All packages are signed with the Fedora Project GPG key. More details on the

GPG keys used by the Fedora Project can be found at

https://fedoraproject.org/keys

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If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Kuala Lumpur, March 28 : A group of parliamentarians from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) said on Wednesday that a proposed bill regulating fake news in Malaysia violates freedom of expression and called for its withdrawal.

A large protest was held outside Parliament in Kuala Lumpur calling for MPs to reject the bill, Efe news agency reported.

Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said in a statement that the proposal "would impose unjust restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression and further empower the government to arbitrarily go after critics".

"This so-called 'fake news' bill is an affront to fundamental freedoms and poses a debilitating threat to journalism, activism, and informed civic discourse," said APHR board member and a member of the Philippines House of Representatives, Teddy Baguilat.

The Director of Amnesty International for Southeast Asia, James Gomez, said on Tuesday that it was no coincidence that Malaysia had decided to table this law with the general elections just around the corner, to limit any public debate on the issue.

"With both Singapore and the Philippines considering their own 'fake news' legislation, we call on all countries in the region to refrain from following this dangerous trend," Gomez said.

The bill proposed maximum penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment and fines of $129,000 for anyone who knowingly creates or shares "fake news".

The proposal also stipulated that the penalties will be imposed on individuals irrespective of their nationality, citizenship, or location when the fake news affects Malaysia or its citizens.

The measure was proposed a few months ahead of the next general elections in which Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will seek another term amid criticism for his alleged involvement in a graft scandal.

An investigation by The Wall Street Journal and the Sarawak Report portal revealed some $700 million had been siphoned off the public investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhard (1MDB) into the Prime Minister's personal account.

Najib and 1MDB denied having committed any crime and an investigation by the Malaysian Prosecutor's Office exonerated the former in January 2016. The polls in Malaysia must take place before August 24.
New Delhi, March 28 : Four members of an inter-state gang have been arrested for helping candidates cheat in online examinations of the Staff Selection Commission, police said on Wednesday.

The arrested accused Sonu Singh, Param, Gaurav and Ajay Jaiswal are residents of Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, Haryana's Bahadurgarh and Delhi. Two accomplices Harpal and Anni are still at large.

The accused were arrested on Tuesday during a joint operation by the Delhi Police and the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police from a flat in north Delhi's Timarpur while they were helping candidates appearing in an exam, STF Inspector General of Police Amitabh Yash said.

They were allegedly using screen-sharing software to access computers used by the candidates to help them cheat, for which they charged over Rs 3 lakh from each candidate. They were operating the racket since 2011, Yash said.

While gang leader Harpal provided the necessary infrastructure and logistics to the gang, Sonu helped contact candidates.

Police seized 10 mobile phones, three laptops, five bluetooth devices, one hard disk, a pen drive, router, three luxury cars and Rs 5 lakh, the officer added.

Police is scanning the mobile phones and laptops of the accused to ascertain the number of candidates who availed of their services.
Tokyo, March 30 : Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe here on Friday, the third and concluding day of her visit to the country.

According to External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, Sushma Swaraj conveyed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's greetings to Abe.

"PM Abe said that India-Japan traditional friendship is characterised by heart-to-heart bonds and blessed with a huge potential for growth," Kumar tweeted.

On Thursday, Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono co-chaired the Ninth India-Japan Strategic Dialogue after which the two sides called for a peaceful, stable, free and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

Addressing the media, the Indian minister said that the Strategic Dialogue has laid a sound foundation for the annual bilateral summit between Modi and Abe to be held later this year.

Following her meeting with Abe on Friday, Sushma Swaraj departed for India. This was her first visit to Japan as External Affairs Minister.
New Delhi, March 30 : Referring to rising communal disturbances in Bihar, the CPI-M on Friday accused the BJP of sharpening communal polarization following its rout in the Lok Sabha by-elections in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

"Widespread communal disturbances are occurring in most districts of Bihar," a statement by the Communist Party of India-Marxist said, at the end of a Central Committee meeting here.

"After the betrayal of the 'Grand Alliance' by (Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar and the BJP being in the government, official patronage is being extended to such communal polarization," it said.

"Central ministers are playing an active role in creating disturbances in various states across the country - Bihar, Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh.

"It is clear that after the severe drubbing that the BJP received in recent by-elections, it is intensifying the sharpening of communal polarization by mounting such attacks against religious minorities and the Dalits," it said.
Mumbai, March 31 : The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Saturday demanded that India's biggest public health institution, KEM Hospital here, should be renamed after the country's first US-trained medico Anandi Gopal Joshi.

The call came on the 153rd birth anniversary of Joshi, who was born in Kalyan town of adjoining Thane district in 1865.

She went on to create history by becoming the first Indian woman medico trained at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania (now called Drexel University College of Medicine), the world's only second medical school exclusively for women launched in 1850.

Joshi, suffering from the stigmatic and deadly tuberculosis, completed her MD in medicine and returned to India in 1886, but succumbed to her illness a year later, aged 21.

The Raj Thackeray-led party said it made the demand in a letter last week and on Saturday in a tweet in which it tagged Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

Terming her achievement "as tall as the Himalayas," the MNS offered tributes to her and urged the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation to rename its famed KEM Hospital in Parel as a befitting tribute to Joshi's memory.

The 92-year old King Edward Memorial Hospital, run and largely funded by the BMC, has around 1,800 beds which offer virtually free treatment to lakhs of inhouse and out patients annually.

Google created a special Doodle to mark the birth anniversary of Joshi who overcame great travails to achieve her ambition of becoming a medico, but could not fulfil her dream of setting up a medical college for women in India owing to her untimely demise.

However, she blazed an immortal trail that has inspired millions of other women in the country who took to the medical profession in a big way in the past over 150 years.
Chengannur (Kerala), April 1 : Even though they have hit the campaign trail for the by-poll to the Chengannur assembly constituency, candidates of three rival fronts are getting a bit restless as the Election Commission is yet to announce the date for the much-awaited electoral contest.

The by-election was necessitated by the death of Communist Party of India (CPI-M) legislator K.K. Ramachandran Nair in January.

Chengannur constituency falls in Alappuzha district, considered the bastion of the CPI-M-led Left Front, which has eight of nine Assembly seats here under its belt. The ninth, Haripad, was won by Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress.

Expectations were high that the date would be announced along with the schedule for the Karnataka assembly polls, but it was not to be.

Contrary to what is often seen in Kerala, this time the Congress was the first to announce its candidate -- D. Vijayakumar, a party veteran born and brought up in Chengannur, who has been eyeing this seat for the past quarter of a century.

He had to face a small challenge from his daughter, but the party finally decided to give the seat to him as he knows the constituency like the back of his palm.

Then came the announcement by the CPI-M that it is fielding Alappuzha district party secretary Saji Cheriyan, who has had an outing here in the past but was defeated.

And the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on expected lines, has named another local personality and the former state party chief P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, who in the 2016 Assembly polls put up an unexpectedly strong showing and came a close third to the sitting Congress legislator P.C. Vishnunath, who lost to Nair of the CPI-M.

Nair secured 52,880 votes, Vishnunath 44,987 votes and Pillai 42,682 votes.

Barring the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Kerala's traditional rivals -- the ruling Left Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) -- have held their opening election conventions.

The NDA is still trying to put its house in order as the second biggest ally, the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), the political arm of the SNDP, an organisation that works predominantly for the backward Ezhavas, is feeling disgruntled.

The BDJS is said to be unhappy with the BJP as it is yet to get the posts "promised" to it when it decided to join the NDA in 2015.

However, although the poll date is yet to be announced, all three candidates have begun their campaigns which includes house visits, family get-togethers, besides holding of wayside meetings.

Over the past two days, all the three candidates made it a point to be present in churches in the constituency during the "Passion Week" prayer sessions. And they made it to Easter Sunday mass as well.

The star campaigner of the UDF is none other than former chief minister Oommen Chandy. He is spending most of his time in the constituency trying to build bridges with the strong Christian community, which for some reason is believed to have taken an anti-Congress stand in the 2016 assembly election in which the party lost to the Left Front.

"I am slated to visit Dubai on the 5th and 6th of April, but that visit will stand cancelled if the date of polls are announced as not a single minute of the campaign can be wasted. I am committed to devoting the maximum time for the campaign," Chandy told IANS, adding that the delay in announcement is a cause of a worry.

BJP candidate Pillai, however, said that it was understandable that his rival candidates have openly expressed their reservations on the delay in announcing the poll dates.

"While they rely on money to be spent for campaigning, I feel the delay for me is a good thing as my style of campaign is to meet each and every voter personally.

"And for that I don't need to spend money. I feel that there is no better campaign than connecting personally with my voters and, hence, I do not have a problem with the date not being announced," said Pillai.

Cheriyan, the CPI-M candidate, said: "We waiting to hear the election date, as we can then plan the campaign in detail. Hopefully, there will not be any more delay in knowing the date of the poll."

(Sanu George can be contacted at sanu.g@ians.in)
Hyderabad, April 1 : Jayamma Bhandari was orphaned at the age of three and spend her childhood in grim poverty. She was forced into the sex trade by her husband. But unlike other victims who are forced into the murky business, she decided to challenge her destiny -- becoming, in the process, an inspiration for many other women like her.

Now 40-years-old, Jayamma runs the Chaitanya Mahila Mandali (CMM) to help sex workers leave the exploitative profession and find respectable livelihoods. CMM works in high-risk slum communities to raise awareness on sexual rights and reproductive health, and takes up skilling and livelihood courses.

According to the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), there are 1.65 million registered sex workers in the country -- the actual numbers would be much higher -- who lead very sordid lives. Though they are not in the profession by choice, they have to bear the stigma associated with it, feeling ostracised, alone, unwanted and disposable. There are the ramifications of the exposure to various sexually transmitted diseases too.

Jayamma is credited with directly impacting the lives of some 5,000 women in sex work and nearly a thousand of them are now engaged in alternative livelihoods. Also, over 3,500 children of sex workers have been provided vocational training through her efforts.

Fondly called "Amma", or mother, her efforts were acknowledged by the government and she received the Nari Shakti (Women Power) Award on International Women's Day last month. Earlier, the Confederation of Indian Industry conferred her with the Exemplar Award in 2017 Jayamma grew up in her uncle's home in Nakrakal in Nalgonda district, about 300 km from Hyderabad. After a tough childhood and a difficult adolescence, she was married to a man in Hyderabad who, soon after she had a baby, started pressurising her to join the flesh trade.

Her refusal led to her being tortured, both physically and mentally. With minimal education and no one to support her, she succumbed to the wishes of her husband.

Selling not only her body, but also her soul, Jayamma toyed with the idea of suicide many times. But the thought of what would happen to her daughter after her death -- that she too could be pushed into the same trade -- gave Jayamma the strength to go on.

For Jayamma, it was a meeting Jai Singh Thomas, an NGO executive from Hyderabad, that proved a turning point. He encouraged her to leave sex work and do advocacy for the community. With Thomas' help, she decided to set up an organisation that would enable sex workers to find viable alternative professions. Thus began her journey as a change agent.

Now Jayamma -- who finally mustered the courage to part ways with her husband in 2012 -- and her organisation reach out to victims like her, counsel and try to convince them that there can be a better ways to lead their lives.

"It's really a daunting task to convince them as some of these women have become addicted to alcohol, drugs, smoking, sex and living in that vitiating environment," says Jayamma.

"They have many questions: Will they be able to earn enough to support themselves and their kids? Won't their situation be more miserable if the world doesn't accept them due to their past?

"We have the challenge to win their confidence and persuade them by offering help and support. Forcible rehabilitation doesn't work in such cases and, as such, de-addiction, counselling, and slow, long-term therapy become necessary to restore their lives," she said.

The tragic life of sex workers is not limited to them -- children born to such women are bigger victims. Being vulnerable, they usually end up finding themselves trapped in this or allied professions.

Hyderabad has no designated red-light area, and sex workers go out and solicit clients. They usually take their children along as they have nowhere to go. The sight of their children sometimes getting abused in front of them is disheartening for these mothers.

Jayamma thus felt that working to prevent the victimisation of children of sex workers was important. She set up Chaithanya (meaning awareness) Happy Home in 2011 where children of sex workers are provided with all basic necessities of life -- food, access to education, life skills and a safe roof.

CMM not only rehabilitates the children but also carries out routine follow-ups to check whether they are safe. The initiative today has 43 such children with big dreams of becoming teachers, engineers and doctors.

With the aim of changing societal attitudes stigmatising sex workers -- and with the belief in building a system equipped and sensitive to address the issue of trafficking -- Chaithanya also conducts sensitisation training for police officers in Telangana.

On being asked whether sex work should be legalised in India, Jayamma said a firm "no". "First the law needs to be in place. Policymakers, police and activists need continuous sensitisation on this issue."

Prostitution itself is not illegal in India, but soliciting and living off the earnings of a prostitute are. And the law is open to a lot of misinterpretation and manipulation by the police and pimps.

(The weekly feature series is part of a positive-journalism project of IANS and the Frank Islam Foundation. Mamta Aggarwal can be contacted at mamta.a@ians.in)
Lucknow, April 1 : Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, who is at the centre of a storm over the state government decreeing that the name of B.R. Ambedkar, considered the architect of the Indian Constitution, be officially expanded to Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, is unfazed by the controversy it has created, but says he is "deeply pained" at the insinuations made by political parties.

He dismisses all accusations of political motivation behind his efforts in renaming Ambedkar, saying the Dalit icon was his hero from his younger days.

He said he found that Ambedkar had himself signed his name as "Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar" in the original copy of the Constitution where all the other members of the Constituent assembly, including its Chairman, Rajendra Prasad, who later became President of India, and Jawaharlal Nehru had put their signatures.

He shared this information with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a request was made to remove this "major inaccuracy" in Ambedkar's name.

"This needed an amendment in the Act, but Yogi Adityanath assured me that once the session of the UP Assembly was underway the course correction shall be done," he said.

Naik expressed surprise that when the Bill on the new name was unanimously passed in the UP house on December 29 last year "how can Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) question it now?"

Naik said soon after that he wrote to BSP supremo Mayawati and even Ambedkar's grandson, seeking their help in dissemination of information that the corrected full name of the Dalit legend was Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.

"I have been an admirer of the Dalit leader since the 1950s, when I went to Mumbai in search of a job. I have heard him speak at various public rallies," Naik told IANS.

"My admiration, and that of even the Jana Sangh, for Baba Saheb, has always been there and it is sad that people find political motives in things which have nothing to do with it.

"Like Mahatma Gandhi, even Ambedkar was above politics and cannot be owned by any group, political party or an individual," he said.

He recalled that in 1989, he had raised a question in the Lok Sabha to the then Telecom Minister, K.P. Unnikrishnan, on whether the government planned to release a postal stamp to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Dalit icon.

"I was informed that the Union government had no such plans."

Naik, a five-time MP and a former Union minister, said that the minister then responded by saying that 15 paisa and 20 paisa stamps on Ambedkar were released in the past on April 14, 1966, and April 14, 1973.

Later, then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar not only formed a committee to look into this aspect but it also ensured that, in 1991, a postal stamp was released on the Dalit stalwart. This stamp too, he pointed out, carried his real and full name.

Asked how, all of a sudden, the effort of getting Ambedkar's name changed got rolling, the Governor said the move stemmed from an invitation he received from the Vice Chancellor of the Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Agra for its convocation ceremony.

"I said it was the wrong way to write Ambedkarji's name, to which he responded by saying, 'Saab, yahaan aisa hi chalta hai (Sir, this is how things happen here)," Naik said, adding that he then pored over several government documents and went through the original copy of the constitution.

"Everything that needs change cannot be held on belief and should have legal backing to have constitutional validation," he said.

Questioning the political sparring his move has now triggered in the state, with the BSP alleging that he had connived with the ruling BJP, specially with his roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the governor said possibly these people and parties do not know how he had launched a "satyagraha" and served six days in prison to get the name of Ambedkar to the Marathwada University in Maharashtra.

Listing his "zara hatke" (somewhat different) moves as a legislator and then as an MP, including pitching in for double-storied toilets in Mumbai's slums, infrastructure facilities for people at Gorai, Manori island, and the start of the MPLAD funds for lawmakers, the governor said he had done what he thought was correct and right.

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
Thiruvananthapuram, April 1 : Christians across Kerala celebrated Easter on Sunday to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after he was crucified.

The people attended the Easter mass where they drank wine and ate a slice of cake marking the end of Lent.

A traditional Easter breakfast was prepared in Christian households which has dishes like 'appam', chicken stew, beef roast, duck curry, steamed bananas, egg curry and cake.

According to reports, liquor sales peak in Kerala during this period.

Of Kerala's 33.4 million population, Christians account for 61.41 lakhs.
Dharamsala, April 1 : Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit will preside over the opening ceremony of the Cultural Festival of Tibet event, a part of the year-long 'Thank You India' campaign organised by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), in New Delhi on Monday, it was announced on Sunday.

CTA President Lobsang Sangay will also attend the inaugural ceremony that will continue till April 4.

Apart from the exhibitions, film screening and performances by the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, the festival would also see panel discussion on "India and Tibet: Ancient Ties, Current Bonds".

Sangay, his predecessor Samdhong Rinpoche, Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts former academic director Kapila Vatsyan and philosopher M. Sondhi are among the speakers.

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, BJP leader Ram Madhav and members of Parliament -- Shanta Kumar of BJP and Satyavrat Chaturvedi of Congress -- were present at the inaugural 'Thank You India' campaign along with Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama and CTA functionalities here on Saturday.

The campaign is in mark of the 60th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's arrival in India.

After cancelling inaugural events in Delhi, the Tibetan government-in-exile started countrywide programmes from its headquarters in this Himachal Pradesh town.
Kolkata, April 2 : Electrosteel Steels' resolution professional (RP) on Monday submitted Vedanta's resolution plan before the Kolkata bench of National Company Law Tribunal for final disposal after lenders declared it as "successful resolution applicant".

However, Renaissance Steel, one of the resolution applicants, was opposing the Committee of Creditors' (COC) decision in respect to eligibility of its rival bidders, Vedanta Ltd and Tata Steel.

A counsel, appearing for Renaissance, said: "We are opposing the CoC's decision on eligibility of Vedanta and Tata. We also opposed the resolution plan (of Vedanta)."

Following a direction from the Tribunal, the CoC to the insolvent steel producer had decided to go ahead with Vedanta, rejecting objections raised by Renaissance Steel.

On March 31, Vedanta informed stock exchanges that it was declared "successful resolution applicant" under the insolvency process and had received the Letter of Intent (LoI). The company also said it had accepted the terms of the LoI.

Next hearing before the Tribunal was scheduled on April 4.

The Tribunal on March 20 directed the RP of the debt laden company to place all the objections of Renaissance Steel against the eligibility of Vedanta and Tata Steel to bid for the insolvent company before the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for an "independent consideration" of the committee.

Abhishek Dalmia-led Renaissance Steel had alleged that its two rival bidders were not eligible to bid for the insolvent steel maker as per the Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
New Delhi, April 2 : Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Monday expressed support for the protests by Dalit activists from various organisations against a Supreme Court ruling on the SC/ST Act.

"AAP supports the SC/ST community in the situation, arising after the Supreme Court's order on the SC/ST Atrocity Prevention Act. The central government should appoint the prestigious senior lawyers in petition against the court ruling and the act should be preserved," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.

AAP senior leader Ashutosh demanded an ordinance to "fix" the apex court's decision.

"Modi Ji should soon bring an ordinance to fix the Supreme Court's decision that weakens the SC/ST act. You cannot stay silent about the injustice against Dalits," he said.
New Delhi, April 2 : Tibet's Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay on Monday said that Tibetan Buddhism had flourished due to India's support in the last 60 years ever since the Dalai Lama arrived in India in 1959.

"An ancient civilization that was almost destroyed (by the Chinese) has been preserved due to (support of) India. In the 60 years of our exile, Tibetan Buddhism flourished in Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh," he said at a function held here as part of the 'Thank You India' campaign.

The 'Thank You India' event was organised by the Central Tibetan Administration in McLeodganj near Dharamsal in Himachal Pradesh on March 31 to mark 60 years of the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's arrival in India in 1959.

Sangay, who is heads the McLeodganj-based CTA, said the major agenda is to ensure the return of the Dalai Lama to Lhasa's Potala Palace.

"Our main goal is to return to Tibet. The aspiration of six million Tibetans in Tibet is to see His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, to return to Tibet," he said.

Asked how optimistic he was and whether parleys were on with the Chinese, he said: "It will happen. Of course, we have to talk to the Chinese government -- their cooperation is very important."

"However, There is no formal dialogue (with China)."

While senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, attended the inaugural event in McLeodganj, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit attended the event in New Delhi, which was marked by exhibitions and cultural programmes.

The event included a "Thank You India" song performed and produced by artistes of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, a panel discussion on "India and Tibet: Ancient Ties, Current Bonds". A day-long film festival was scheduled for the second day of the event.

"This is the Festival of Tibet. We are showcasing Tibetan architecture, artefacts, medicine, and Buddhism. So that the people in India can see how much they have helped us preserve and promote our civilization, culture and identity," Sangay said.
New York, April 3 : Closing Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) loopholes, the US has designated its political front, the Milli Muslim League (MML), as well as another front organisation Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) as foreign terrorist groups.

Seven members of the MML's central leadership body were designated as foreign terrorists by Washington on Monday.

The State and the Treasury Departments announced that the MML, which openly campaigns with posters of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, had been added under LeT's designation as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" (FTO) and as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" (SDGT) under two different laws.

The Treasury Department specified that members who were designated as SDGTs included MML President Saifullah Khalid, Vice President Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, General Secretary Fayyaz Ahmad, Joint Secretary Muhammad Harris Dar, Information Secretary Tabish Qayyuum, Finance Secretary Muhammad Ehsan as well as Broadcast and Publications Secretary Faisal Nadeem.

The Treasury Department said that "all property and interests in property of these persons subject to US jurisdiction are blocked" and US citizens were banned from having any transactions with them.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group," the Department's Counterterrorism Coordinator Nathan A. Sales said in Washington.

"Today's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character."

Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker warned that "those working with the Milli Muslim League, including providing financial donations, should think twice about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

"Treasury is targeting the Milli Muslim League and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeT's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," she added.

Saeed created the MML in August last year as the group's political front. LeT members make up MML's leadership and the "so-called party" openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature, the State Department said.

The Pakistan Election Commission has rejected MML's application to be recognized as a political party.

The LeT was responsible for the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai that killed 166 people, including six Americans. It has also killed dozens of Indian security forces and civilians in recent years, the State Department said.

In a bid to avoid US sanctions, LeT began operating under the name TAJK in January last year and carried out terrorist activities under that banner, the State Department said.

The US has demanded the arrest of Saeed, who carries a $10 million US bounty, after he was set free in 2017 by a Lahore court which refused to extend his detention.

US President Donald Trump's Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had warned that failure to act against him "will have repercussions for bilateral relations".

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
Washington, April 3 : The US space agency NASA's cargo provider SpaceX has launched a Dragon spacecraft, starting its resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The spacecraft, packed with 2,630 kg of research, crew supplies and hardware, was lifted off on Monday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Xinhua news agency reported.

About ten minutes later, the second stage engine has burnt completely and "Dragon confirmed in good orbit," according to SpaceX's official twitter account. Then, solar arrays have been deployed "right on schedule," NASA confirmed.

Grapple and berthing to the space station is targeted for Wednesday before the spacecraft spends approximately one month attached to the station, returning to Earth in May with some results of completed experiments, NASA says.

Flight Engineers Norishege Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scoot Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon's capture, according to the agency.

After the capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Harmony module, NASA says.

This flight will deliver scientific investigations including a study on severe thunderstorms on Earth, on the effects of microgravity on production of high-performance products from metal powders, and food growth in space.

The spacecraft also carried cargo for testing effects of the harsh space environment on materials, coatings and components; identifying potential pathogens aboard the station and investigating an antibiotic-releasing wound patch.
New York, April 3 : Top US diplomat for South Asia Alice Wells as well as Susan Thornton, the State Department's official in-charge of the East Asia and Pacific affairs, will jointly lead Washington's delegation to the India-US-Japan Trilateral Dialogue in New Delhi this week.

The State Department announced on Monday that Wells, who is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, and Thornton, the Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will travel to India on Tuesday.

The Trilateral Dialogue is scheduled to take place from Wednesday to Friday.

On Friday, Wells will also participate in the India-US Forum hosted by the Ananta Centre and the External Affairs Ministry.

Under President Donald Trump's strategic policy for the Indo-Pacific region, Washington is interested in developing close ties between India and Japan as well as Australia as a counter-weight to China.

Last week External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Japan to co-chair the ninth India-Japan Strategic Dialogue with Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
Washington, April 3 : US President Donald Trump has congratulated Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in a phone call for his landslide win in the country's presidential election, said the White House.

"President Trump congratulated President Al Sisi on his re-election," said the White House in a statement on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two leaders also reaffirmed the strategic partnership between the US and Egypt, according to the statement.

The US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a separate statement on Monday that Washington will continue to work to advance its shared objectives with Cairo, while voicing its concerns on Egypt's basic rights and freedoms.

"We will continue to encourage a broadening of opportunities for political participation for Egyptians, and emphasize the importance of the protection of human rights and the vital role of civil society in Egypt," said Nauert.

Sisi made an overwhelming victory in the election, winning 97.08 per cent of the valid votes, the official results showed on Monday. The total turnout was 41.05 per cent.
San Francisco, April 3 : Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hit back at Tim Cook saying that the recent criticism from his counterpart at Apple was unfounded, the media reported.

In an interview given to Vox on Monday, Zuckerberg defended his company's business model by saying: "You know, I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib. And not at all aligned with the truth.

"The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay.

"Having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service," he was quoted as saying.

In a Recode and MSNBC interview last month, Cook had called for increased regulation of social media, and questioned the practice of monetising user data on free platforms by selling ads that allow advertisers to target specific groups.

The Apple CEO was asked how he would handle the crisis.

"I wouldn't be in this situation," he said.

"The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetised our customer... If our customer was our product... We've elected not to do that."

Apple makes the vast majority of its money selling hardware, including iPhones, iPads and Macs.

Facebook, on the other hand, has built an entire business on selling ads that target users based on information they provide.

Apple executives have used privacy and transparency as a sales pitch, drawing a contrast with other companies especially Facebook.

Cook called privacy a "human right" and "a civil liberty", reports CNN.

Zuckerberg told Vox that Facebook was dedicated "serving people", despite its reliance on advertising.

"If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford," he said.

"I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm Syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you," the Facebook CEO added.

Facebook is currently facing the heat over the leak of personal and other data of some 50 million users to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Zuckerberg admitted that the social media giant "made mistakes" over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and a "breach of trust" had occurred between it and its users.

He has apologised for the data debacle and said he was ready to testify before Congress.
Washington, April 3 : Special Counsel Robert Mueller is looking into President Donald Trump's adviser Roger Stone's ties to Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange, a media report said.

According to The Wall Street Journal report on Monday, Stone said in an email on August 4, 2016, that he had "dined with Julian Assange last night", reports CNN.

Stone served as an adviser on Trump's presidential campaign.

However, Stone has denied ever meeting Assange.

Stone also noted that his passport showed that he did not leave the country in 2016.

Mueller is currently investigating any potential ties between Russians and Trump campaign associates.

Stone has also denied ever receiving anything from WikiLeaks.

"I never received any material from them at all," he said last week.

"I never received any material from any source that constituted the material ultimately published by WikiLeaks... This will be an impossible case to bring because the allegation that I knew about the (WikiLeaks) disclosures beyond what Assange himself had said in interviews and tweets, or that I had and shared this material with anyone in the Trump campaign or anyone else, is categorically false."

Mueller's probe has found several links between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, including private messages on Twitter between Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks and outreach from the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica to Assange, reports CNN.

The Special Counsel's team is looking into whether the communications were ever intended as a coordinated effort to help with Russia's 2016 election meddling.

The President has repeatedly denied any collusion.
Islamabad, April 3 : Four members of a Pakistani Christian family were shot dead in Quetta city, the police said on Tuesday.

On Monday night, unidentified armed men intercepted a vehicle the family was travelling in and opened fire, Quetta Police spokesperson Mohamed Ramzan told Efe news.

The attack comes a day after Pakistani Christians, who are a mere 2 per cent of the population, had celebrated Easter Sunday.

Attacks against the Christians have been frequent in Pakistan.

In December 2017, a week before Christmas, two suicide bombers had stormed into a packed church in Quetta and killed 10 and wounded at least 44, in an attack claimed by the Islamic state.

In March 2016, the Taliban targeted Christians celebrating Easter in a park in Lahore killing 71 people.
Patna, April 3 : The RJD, Congress and CPI-ML legislators protested in the Bihar Assembly on Tuesday against the police action on Dalits during demonstrations in the state the previous day.

Soon after the last day of the budget session began, the opposition members trooped near the Speaker's podium carrying placards, posters and shouting slogans against the Centre and the Bihar government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Dalits protested across the country on Monday against the dilution of the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

Normal life in Bihar was hit following the protests, disrupting rail and road traffic and forcing shutdown of markets and educational institutions.
Getafe (Spain), April 3 : Real Betis defeated Getafe 1-0 to move into sixth place in La Liga - the final European slot - at the expense of a host side who could be forgiven for blaming bad luck.

At least 200 Betis supporters made the trip from Seville, joining some 10,400 locals in the stands at Getafe's Coliseum Alfonso Perez to create a surprisingly lively atmosphere for a Monday night, reports Efe.

Getafe were the more ambitious squad in the first half and got their first opportunity in the 8th minute, an angled shot by Angel Rodriguez that rolled wide.

The hosts watched another chance pass by at the half-hour mark, when Faycal Fajr's free kick reached Leandro Cabrera in scoring position, but his header missed the target.

Rodriguez brought the fans to their feet in the waning minutes of the first half with an acrobatic shot that came to nothing as the ball bounced off the far post. Seconds later, Getafe keeper Vicente Guaita needed two touches to handle a shot from Ryad Boudebouz.

While the home side retained the initiative after the break, Betis' Andres Guardado created problems for the Getafe defence, testing Guaita from a distance in the 48th minute before setting up a dangerous effort by Loren Moron.

Getafe were poised to take command in the 64th minute when the referee awarded a penalty for Jordi Amat's hand ball.

Adan, however, had other ideas. He stopped Francisco Portillo's initial shot from the spot and then smothered the follow-up.

Getafe battled on and a Vitorino Antunes free kick looked bound for the back of the net until the post again intervened to benefit Adan.

Substitute Sergio Leon scored in the 88th minute and Adan thwarted a stoppage-time try by Cabrera to allow Betis to walk away with all three points.
New Delhi, April 3 : Periods: The word is no longer taboo. Both women and men, in recent times, have spoken out about menstrual health and there has been quite a lot of awareness over it through films and other medium.

Unfortunately, there is not as much awareness about the 'long lasting', 'stain free', 'soft' sanitary pads which different multinationals promote and which are easily available in any chemist. Experts point to the harm that these plastic-based sanitary napkins have been causing -- both to the environment and health.

"Most of the sanitary napkins in India are just thrown in the garbage or flushed down the toilet. It is a havoc environmental challenge as these pads take around 500-800 years to biodegrade," Swati Singh Sambyal, Waste Management Manager of Centre for Environment Science, told IANS.

"And every used sanitary napkin carries two grams of non-biodegradable plastic. So the amount of non-biodegradable plastic accumulated every month is very high, a factor strong enough to raise concern over the crisis which environment is facing currently," Sambyal noted.

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 report, around 48 per cent rural women use sanitary napkin while in urban areas the percentage is around 77 per cent.

Recent data provided by Menstrual Health Alliance India states that menstrual waste collected across the country, primarily consisting of sanitary napkins which is disposed of as routine waste along with other household garbage, is 45 per cent.

According to the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2,000 soiled napkins and blood-soaked cotton are disposed of after segregation into biodegradable and non-biodegradable components.

However, the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, says that items contaminated with blood and body fluids, including cotton, dressings, soiled plaster casts, lines and bedding, are bio-medical waste and should be incinerated, autoclaved or microwaved to destroy pathogens.

"If the pads are burnt it can produce dioxine and phuron. Categorisation of sanitary pads has always been a major issue. The products used in making a pad make it under Solid Waste Management Rule but it has got blood in it," Sambyal said.

She further explained that the longer used pads are kept in the open and kept in contact with air, the more they are prone towards becoming pathogenic". "Stagnant natural blood accumulates a lot of bacteria like Escherichia coli, which rapidly multiplies at an exponential rate," she explained.

And not just on environment, but health experts also raised concern over the problems that can arise with the use of plastic based sanitary napkins.

"There are high chances of getting fungal infections due to collection of moisture. Plastic-based sanitary pads might also lead to pelvic infection which can cause allergies and irritation in the vaginal area," said Anuradha Kapur, Director and Head of Unit - Institute of Obs and Gynae, Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket."

"In extreme cases, it may also cause vaginitis or vulvitis (also known as vaginal or vulva inflammation) and in some cases, might lead to pelvic inflammatory disease," she added.

However, in recent times, there has been some awareness about the damage being done to environment and methods are being adopted to dispose of sanitary napkins through disposal machines.

"MNCs who are coming up with many types of pads should also collectively or individually take up some initiatives; they need to come up with collective centres or provide with proper disposal system," Sambyal said.

Recently, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi also expressed her concern over improper disposal of sanitary napkins, saying that it can lead to serious consequences.

"They are often disposed of in ponds, rivers, which lead to blockage of drains. And if disposed of on the ground, it creates hygiene problems as it carries infection," Gandhi had said earlier.

She had also said that her ministry is in talks with Niti Aayog and other ministries for introducing a policy regarding setting up of sanitary napkin vending and disposal machines. As a measure to curb the damage being done to environment, the government on International Women's Day launched a biodegradable sanitary napkin called 'Suvidha' under the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).

Launched by Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar, the sanitary napkins will be available for Rs 2.50 per pad at over 3,200 Janaushadhi Kendras across India by May 28, 2018, which is also the World Menstrual Hygiene Day.

Other biodegradable napkins are also available. Mostly produced by small-scale manufacturers or NGOs, these biodegradable ones are based on natural products like banana or jute fibre or even re-usable clothes.

Anshu Gupta's Not Just a Piece of Cloth (NJPC) was amongst the first to start off with the concept of clean cloth pad. Recently a few more have joined the league like Ahmedabad-based Saathi and Tamil Nadu-based EcoFemme.

(Somrita Ghosh can be contacted at somrita.g@ians.in)
Bhopal, April 3 : With the death of one more person, the toll in the police action during protests against the Supreme Court's dilution of a law aimed at preventing atrocities against Dalits and tribes has risen to seven, officials said on Tuesday.

Police said three deaths each had been reported from Gwalior and Bhind districts and one in Morena district. Around 100 people, including police personnel, have also been injured in the widespread violence that rocked the state on Monday.

Gwalior's Superintendent of Police Ashish told IANS that 50 rioters had been taken into custody and were being questioned.

Curfew imposed on Monday in parts of Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts continued on Tuesday. Police and paramilitary forces were deployed in large numbers but reports reaching here spoke of stray incidents of violence in some places.

The widespread disturbances have severely affected railway services, stranding hundreds at major stations such as Gwalior, Bina, Bhopal and Itarsi.

Trains destined for New Delhi were running up to 10 hours late, officials said.
New Delhi, April 3 : International travel advisories against India are "hugely biased" and "uncalled for" because crime and violent incidents in the country are only "few and far between", says Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons.

In an interview with IANS at his office, the minister asserted India was a "perfectly safe" tourist destination for foreigners and the government was making efforts to get negative advisories against the country removed.

"Most of these advisories are hugely biased. I don't want to use the word racially biased. Like the advisory for Assam is still on Level 2. Why? Such advisories are completely uncalled for," he said.

Alphons said the External Affairs Ministry had been taking up the issue with various countries and of course Prime Minister Narendra Modi's global diplomacy was the "best message" that painted India as a safe place.

"You know incidents are deplorable but they are so few and far between. The issue is that the (foreign) media is hugely biased (against India)."

The remarks came against the backdrop of the US and other western countries repeatedly asking their citizens to exercise caution in their travels India due to reported incidents of crime and violence.

The US in January reviewed its advisories placing India on Level 2 and suggesting increased caution. Canada also issued its updated travel advisory on March 21 asking citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution in India due to a continuing threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country at all times".

The UK in its February 21, 2018, dated advisory suggested a high degree of caution as "terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in India" and asked the British to "be vigilant" in the wake of "an increased threat to places visited by British nationals such as religious sites, markets, festival venues and beaches".

Alphons sad India has established itself as "a perfect destination, a perfectly safe destination" and despite these advisories the country hosted 10.2 million foreign tourists in 2017, which is an increase of 15.8 per cent from the previous year.

The receipts of these foreign tourists was $27 billion - an increase of 20.2 per cent in terms of revenue.

"So, I say with a firm belief that these advisories are completely uncalled for."

(Sarwar Kashani can be contacted at sarwar.k@ians.in)
Kolkata, April 3 : The trial run of the first container train between India and Bangladesh was flagged off on Tuesday.

The inaugural train was loaded with 60 containers, mainly carrying de-oiled cake which serves as a raw material for animal feed. It was flagged off from the terminus of the Container Corporation of India (Concor), near Majherhat station in Kolkata.

It will travel through Naihati, Ranaghat and Gede in India and Darsana and Ishurdi in Bangladesh before reaching Bangabandhu West, about 117 km from the neighbouring country's capital, Dhaka.

After flagging off the trial run of the container train, the Centre is hopeful of introducing regular container train services between the two countries amid a substantial demand for exporting goods to the neighbouring countries, said an official.

"Once the trial run is successful and if Bangladesh gives its clearances, the container train services will be introduced on a regular basis. From our side, we are ready," Eastern Railway's General Manager Harindra Rao told reporters here.

The frequency of the train will depend on the demand, he said.

The need for container train services between the two countries had been felt by Indian exporters with growing bilateral trade and capacity constraints that the sea and land routes were grappling with, Railway officials said.

"There is demand for exporting goods to Bangladesh. Among items steel, cement, machine parts, food grains and many others are being imported by the neighbouring countries," Container Corporation of India's Chairman and Managing Director Kalyana Rama said.

At present, the bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh is largely road-based through the congested Petrapole-Benapole border.

According to some exporters, on an average it takes anywhere close to a month for a truck to reach Bangladesh as it takes nearly 25 days for customs clearance at the border.
Lucknow, April 3 : Notwithstanding the speculation on the durability of the new-found alliance with one-time rival BSP, Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav says the 23-year-old acrimony with Mayawati and her party "is a thing of past".

"All that is irrelevant now is that both parties are walking ahead, hand in hand, to achieve a larger national objective of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is detrimental to both the state and the nation," Yadav said in an interview to IANS.

In a detailed interview after the stunning defeat the Samajwadi Party dealt to the BJP by trouncing it in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha byelections, seats held earlier by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya, Yadav said that the BSP-SP combine was like a "glue which will knock the daylights off the arrogant and useless BJP government".

The BJP, the 44-year-old leader added, would often ridicule how the opposition had no narrative to take on the saffron camp. He pointed out that with the coming together of the BSP and SP, the narrative had finally arrived.

What about the bitterness that enveloped the relations between Mayawati and his own father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, particularly after the attack on her?

"The past is past. I look ahead. Mayawatiji has set the record straight that when this incident happened I was nowhere in politics and hence I cannot be drawn into the slugfest."

Dropping enough hints that the BSP-SP bonhomie would continue till the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek another term for his government, the former Chief Minister said his party already had the development plank and now what it was doing was to emulate the BJP in micro-booth and caste management.

Asked about the mercurial nature of the Dalit diva Mayawati, he said that time changes people.

"Seat sharing are small things and they will be sorted out at the time it is needed. We will cross the bridge when we come to it."

Akhilesh Yadav said he was now doing what the BJP had taught them.

"They talk of panna pramukhs, understanding and adjusting the caste matrix and focussing on booth management. Now when we do it, we are accused of being casteist... How can it be win-win for the BJP?"

After the Lok Sabha byelection victories, Akhilesh Yadav drove to Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati's residence for a 30-minute meeting.

He said Mayawati was warm and bore no signs of rivalry or bitterness. "She was welcoming. She took me on a pictorial tour of her journey from a commoner to being Chief Minister four times of the country's most populous state."

Akhilesh Yadav accused the Yogi Adityanath government of doing nothing in Uttar Pradesh in the past one year as compared to the "exemplary development" under his watch.

"The only thing the BJP government has done in the past one year is to cut ribbons of projects that were initiated by the SP government."

Getting philosophical, he recounted how having studied in a military school at Dhaulpur in Rajasthan and later in Bengaluru, he had forgotten he was a backward-caste person.

"I almost forgot it until the BJP reminded me of my backward caste DNA. I am thankful to them for doing so. I would like to say that I may be born in a backward family, but I am a forward looking person who is progressive, has a vision and is growth-oriented."

He listed many failures of the state government while calling the BJP confused and jittery.

He pointed out how they were trying desperately to find an answer to the coming together of the BSP and SP.

Asked if he planned for more parties to join them in a grand alliance, he said: "As of now it is just UP and the BSP-SP together." His relationships with the Congress, he said, were normal and cordial.

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)
Mumbai, April 3 : Actor Gurmeet Choudhary is nonplussed over how to react to a fan who has threatened him. He says it goes to show how there are pros and cons of fandom.

"I'm not a stranger to fan attention. I do have my share of admirers and fans. To me they are God. Whatever I am, whatever I've achieved is because of them. I owe my career to them. But then I also have the right to some privacy. There has to be some area of my life that fans cannot enter," Gurmeet said.

Last month, Gurmeet had shared on social media that he was receiving concerned calls and messages from fans all over that some person wants to commit suicide to prove his fandom. Mumbai police took cognisance of his tweet, and extended support to the actor.

The actor said he has had his share of intrusive fans.

"But they've mostly been women, asking me to to do all kinds of things with them. This is the first time I've been stalked by a man. I don't know how to react because he threatened to kill himself and then he says there's danger to my life. So I don't know what he wants to do. Kill me or kill himself."

Gurmeet blames this era of a widespread social media network for direct access to stars and celebrities.

"Earlier, fans didn't know stars' whereabouts. Now everyone knows where we are. This man who wants to kill himself or kill me or whatever, knew I was in Dubai for a magazine launch with my wife Debina when this whole thing broke out.

"I am not scared for myself. I can take care of myself. But what about my family? I can't be with my wife all the time. What if this stalker tracks her down somewhere? This is why I say it is both flattering and scary to have devoted fans," he said.

Gurmeet gives full credit to the Mumbai police for taking charge of his and his family's security.

"I can't tell you all the details of the security arrangement. But the Mumbai police has been truly supportive and I feel my family is safe. I just don't want this misguided man to come to any harm or cause any harm. He claims some man is threatening my life.

"I don't how much he is imagining and how much of what he says is true. But the amount of information that he has on me and my movements is very frightening."

Gurmeet said: "This kind of overbearing adulation is not welcome."
Riyadh, April 3 : Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump in which he said that it is necessary for the international community to move forward the Middle East peace process.

According to a Saudi Press Agency report on Tuesday, the Saudi king on Monday evening reaffirmed the kingdom's steadfast position on the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

The conversation came amid rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians following the bloody clashes in the past days near the Israeli border with Gaza Strip that have left at least 15 Palestinian protesters dead and 1,200 others injured.

The Saudi king expressed his appreciation for a statement issued by the White House on its strong stance towards the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.

The Houthi militias have stepped up their attacks on Saudi targets by firing missiles at the kingdom in retaliation for the Saudi-led Arab coalition's airstrikes in Yemen.

The Saudi leader also pledged to make efforts to find a political solution to the Yemeni crisis and provide humanitarian aid to its people.

At the same time, the two leaders underlined the importance of the achievements of the concerted international efforts to fight terrorist organisations in Iraq and Syria.
Nay Pyi Taw, April 3 : Hate speech spiked on Facebook at the start of the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar last year, analysis revealed on Tuesday, with experts blaming the social media giant for creating "chaos" in the country.

Evidence of the spike emerged after Facebook was accused of playing a key role in the spread of hate speech in Myanmar at a time when 650,000 Rohingya refugees were forced to flee to Bangladesh following persecution, reports the Guardian.

Digital researcher and analyst Raymond Serrato examined about 15,000 Facebook posts from supporters of the hardline nationalist Ma Ba Tha group.

The earliest posts dated from June 2016 and spiked on August 24 and 27, 2017, when ARSA Rohingya militants attacked government forces, prompting the security forces to launch the "clearance operation" that sent thousands of Rohingya pouring over the border.

Serrato's analysis showed that activity within the anti-Rohingya group, which has 55,000 members, exploded with posts registering a 200 per cent increase in interactions.

"Facebook definitely helped certain elements of society to determine the narrative of the conflict in Myanmar," Serrato told the Guardian.

"Although Facebook had been used in the past to spread hate speech and misinformation, it took on greater potency after the attacks."

The development comes as Facebook is currently facing the heat over the leak of personal and other data of some 50 million users to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Among Myanmar's 53 million residents, less than 1 per cent had internet access in 2014.

By 2016, the country appeared to have more Facebook users than any other south Asian country.

Now, more than 14 million of its citizens use Facebook.
New Delhi, April 3 : A day after Dalits protested across the country against a Supreme Court ruling, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot on Tuesday accused the opposition parties of provoking the protesters that led to arson and deaths.

"We had appealed to the opposition parties to take the agitation back. However, they provoked the Scheduled Castes and Tribes... seven people died, several properties were damaged, clashes happened. Opposition parties, which played negative role, are responsible for this," Gehlot told a press conference here.

Reacting to Congress President Rahul Gandhi's remark that the DNA of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party was anti-SCs and STs, the Minister said: "The BJP is the only party that worked to protect the interest of SCs and STs. Whenever we got a chance, we took the opportunity to make historic decision for them."

On March 20, the Supreme Court had ruled that the arrest of an accused under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 was not mandatory and the recourse to coercive action would be taken only after a preliminary inquiry and sanction by a competent authority.

There was no absolute bar against the grant of anticipatory bail in cases under the Act if no prima facie case is made out or where on judicial scrutiny the complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide, the apex court added.

Gehlot said the Congress did not even let the portrait of Dr B.R. Ambedkar be installed in the Central Hall of Parliament. "It was installed by the then V.P. Singh government after the BJP proposed it."

The Minister claimed that the Narendra Modi government had strengthened the Act of 1989 by making certain amendments.
Patna, April 3 : A Bihar court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Union Minister Ashwini Choubey's son Arijit Shashwat, accused of inciting communal violence in Bhagalpur district.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Bhagalpur rejected the bail plea of Shashwat, currently in judicial custody after giving himself up last week in Patna.

Shashwat, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, sought bail on Monday.

Five more accused were arrested for the violence and three surrendered in the court on Tuesday, police said.

A case was lodged against Shashwat for taking out a procession without prior permission, inciting communal sentiments and roaming with arms on the streets of Bhagalpur.
Kuala Lumpur, April 3 : The Malaysian coast guard on Tuesday intercepted a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and allowed it to disembark at Langkawi island.

A total of 56 people, including women and children, were travelling in the wooden boat that was spotted by the Malaysian coast guard two days ago in southern Thailand, an official told Efe news.

The refugees were in good health and they were provided with food and water, Rosli added.

On Sunday, the boat had stopped on the Thai island of Lanta due to poor weather and re-stocked fuel and provisions before the Thai authorities allowed it to resume its journey toward Malaysia, home to a significant Rohingya diaspora.

This is the first refugee boat in months that has been spotted in the Andaman Sea, where, in 2015, thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were stranded after they were abandoned by traffickers.

Several organisations have warned of a similar exodus as the monsoon season approaches and conditions deteriorate in refugee camps in Bangladesh, where about 700,000 Rohingya have been living in cramped conditions since last year.

The mass exodus of the Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine region began on August 26, 2017, after the military launched an offensive.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement to start repatriating the Rohingya late January but Dhaka withdrew from the agreement.

Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as citizens.
Beijing, April 3 : Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Boao Forum for Asia, dubbed the Asian Davos, a meeting of economic and political leaders, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The forum, scheduled for April 8 to 11 in Boao, a coastal town in China's Hainan island province, will be themed "An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity", Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi will give an opening speech to provide "a new vision of development that will offer greater opportunities for the world", said State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a press conference.

The Chinese President will also hold meetings with leaders attending the economic forum, he said. This year will mark Xi's third attendance as President.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Presidents of Philippines and Austria, Rodrigo Duterte and Alexander van der Bellen respectively, will be present.

The Prime Ministers of Pakistan, Singapore, the Netherlands and Mongolia will also be participating.

Although the discussions in the forum will focus primarily on economic issues, Wang did not rule out the possibility of discussing regional political issues, such as the sovereignty disputes over the South China Sea.

The forum will be attended by more than 2,000 political and economic leaders, including the heads of large multinational companies, both Chinese and international.
Hyderabad, April 3 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday condemned attacks on Dalits during nationwide protests the previous day.

He said the entire country should stand by the Dalits, who have been economically, socially and politically suppressed for generations.

In a statement, the Chief Minister said the governments should ensure that the laws and acts made for the Dalits were implemented properly.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief demanded that the judiciary take into account the feelings, agony and opinion of the Dalits.

He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak with the Supreme Court Chief Justice in this regard.

"The Central government should take a sympathetic view on the ongoing agitation launched by the Dalits who are crestfallen with the Supreme Court guidelines. The Centre also should repose faith among the Dalits and assure them that it stands by them," Rao added.

Violent protests on Monday claimed nine lives against a Supreme Court order that dilutes the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 3 : Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday announced a vigilance probe into a land deal involving the CPI's Wayanad district unit after a TV channel sting purportedly showed the CPI hand in glove with the land mafia.

The CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and the CPI (Communist Party of India) are premier allies in the ruling Left government.

Vijayan told the state Assembly: "This government will in no way tolerate corruption. In this particular case, the government has done no wrong.

"The visuals aired show a government official playing truant and the Revenue Minister has already announced the steps taken. We now announce a vigilance probe into it."

Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan is a CPI leader.

The expose shows an Asianet TV channel team posing as a group of businessmen looking for a particular piece of land in the district to build a resort. They first approach Kunju Mohammed, a real estate broker, who takes them to Wayanad Deputy Collector T. Somnathan and some CPI district leaders, including its Wayanad unit secretary Vijayan Cherukara.

Mohammed connects them with Somnathan and Cherukara, and the latter using his influence gets access to the state secretariat.

The visuals -- besides the audio of the conversation between Mohammed, Somnathan and Cherukara -- try to establish that there is an unholy alliance between them to allegedly usurp the government land.

Senior Congress legislator V.D. Sateeshan said the sting shows what "we see in films -- how officials manipulate land records to favour people who are willing to bribe them".

"This is the latest example of how attempts to usurp government land is being carried out by the mafia, which operates not just in Wayanad but across the state."

Chandrasekheran, however, denied all charges and said since he took over as Minister, the government has registered 602 cases against various people who tried to usurp government land.

"Is it not common practice for people to come to party offices to get justice. I did receive an application from six people in this case and as is the norm, I asked the Wayanad District Collector to look into the matter.

"What you all should see is no favours were given and in fact we have already suspended the Deputy Collector and all the files regarding this have been confiscated and the probe has begun," said Chandrasekheran.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the Minister was trying to trivialise the issue.

"Please do not forget that the four CPI ministers in the cabinet even went to the extent of boycotting the weekly cabinet meeting last year when the Chief Minister was trying to shield a Minister (Thomas Chandy) in an alleged land usurpment.

"The CPI-M appears to be the happiest after this case surfaced," said Chennithala.
Berlin, April 3 : A German prosecutor on Tuesday formally requested an extradition order against Catalonia's former leader Carles Puigdemont, who has been imprisoned for over a week in Schleswig-Holstein following a European arrest warrant issued by Madrid.

According to a statement released by the Schleswig-Holstein attorney general, the prosecution asked the regional top court for Puigdemont to be extradited to Spain, where he is wanted for alleged rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds after staging a banned referendum on the region's independence, reports Efe news.

"Today, the attorney general of Schleswig-Holstein has petitioned the regional court to issue an extradition order against the former regional president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, in accordance with article 15 of German law relating to international cooperation in criminal matters," the statement said.

It added that, after a careful examination of the European arrest warrant, the regional prosecution had come to the conclusion that there was an admissible demand for Puigdemont's extradition by following the proper procedures.

In international law, in order for a person to be extradited, there must be a legal equivalent for the crime in the extraditing country.

Puigdemont, 55, was deposed on October 27, 2017 after Madrid cited Article 155 of the Spanish constitution to dissolve the Catalan parliament and the regional government.

Fearing impending arrest, he went into exile in Belgium.

On March 26, Puigdemont was arrested by German police shortly after he crossed the border with Denmark, as he was returning to Belgium from in Finland.

Meanwhile, other members of Puigdemont's former cabinet and key leaders of the pro-Catalan independence movement remain jailed in Spain facing similar charges.

On Sunday, hundreds of people marched in Berlin to express solidarity with Puigdemont and demand his freedom.
New Delhi, April 3 : BJP President Amit Shah on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress and other opposition parties over their allegations of weakening the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill and assured that the Union government will protect every right of the Dalit community.

In a series of tweets, the BJP chief also said that the government would protect every right of the Dalits and continue to fulfil their aspirations.

"Right from the day the Honourable Supreme Court gave a judgment on SC/ST Atrocities Act, central government acted in an immediate and informed manner...," Shah said.

He said that at every juncture and in all possible ways, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would stand shoulder to shoulder with the community.

"Modi government's commitment to fulfilling Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's vision is unwavering. All the efforts of the government are aimed at transforming the lives of Dalits.

"We will continue our efforts to make our Dalit sisters and brothers the makers of New India. We will fulfil their aspirations and dreams. Jai Bhim! Jai Hind!" he said.

Hitting out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his DNA jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah reminded him about how the grand old party ignored Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.

"The Congress, which is mocking the DNA of Prime Minister Modi is the same party which defeated Dr. Ambedkar not once but twice. Made flimsy excuses to ensure his portrait was not placed in Central Hall. Denied him a Bharat Ratna. India has seen through their negative politics!" he said.

Shah lashed out at the political parties indulging in Dalit politics and sought their apology for the alleged sufferings of the community.

"Due to the politically driven manifestations of a microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties, crores of innocent people suffered. These parties owe our Dalit sisters and brothers an apology for their misdeeds," he said.

Rahul Gandhi had on Monday slammed the BJP over the Dalit issues, saying those challenging the system that keeps their caste at the lowest were hit by violence.

"It is in the DNA of the RSS/BJP, to keep Dalits at the lowest notch in Indian society. Those who challenge this thinking are hit by violence," he tweeted.

Defending the government's move, Shah said that through the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had actually strengthened the provisions of the Act.

"This was done in line with our commitment to the welfare of SC and ST communities," he said.

He also accused both the opposition parties and vested interest groups of spreading panic about reservations among the Dalit community before every election.

"The script is now old before every election, the same vested interest groups start spreading panic about reservations. BJP's stand is clear, which I am once again stating - we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to SC/ST communities," Shah said.

He said that MPs from the Scheduled Castes met the Prime Minister in the wake of the apex courts's order and were assured by him that the government was doing everything to protect the rights and wellbeing of the Dalit sisters and brothers.
New Delhi, April 3 : Amnesty International on Tuesday welcomed the government's move withdrawing an executive order on suspending accreditation of journalists if accused of disseminating fake news, saying the threat was a brazen attempt to control the media.

"The withdrawal of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's order is welcome. This appeared to be a brazen attempt to control the media under the faAade of controlling fake news and target critics of the government," Aakar Patel, Executive Director, Amnesty International India, said in a statement, "While intentionally misleading and deceitful reports are a real problem, the solution is not to crack down on press freedom. The government should instead take steps to promote a free, independent and diverse environment for the media."

He said several government spokespersons have been known to disseminate disinformation "which they should know to be false, on social media and on television. This dangerous trend needs to stop".
Islamabad, April 3 : Four members of a Pakistani Christian family were shot dead in Quetta city in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

On Monday night, armed men intercepted the vehicle carrying the family and opened fire, Quetta Police spokesperson Mohamed Ramzan said on Tuesday. They fled on a motorcycle after the attack, Dawn online reported.

The militant group in a press statement said that a "covert unit" of IS militants "managed to target a number of the combatant Christians".

The statement added that the militants "shot them with a pistol, which resulted in the killing of four of them".

The attack came a day after Pakistani Christians, a mere two per cent of the country's population, had celebrated Easter Sunday. Attacks against Christians are frequent in Pakistan.

In December 2017, a week before Christmas, two IS suicide bombers had stormed into a packed church in Quetta and killed 10 and wounded 44 people.

In March 2016, the Taliban targeted Christians celebrating Easter in a park in Lahore killing 71 people.
Aizawl, April 3 : The Mizoram government has signed a peace agreement with the Hmar People's Convention-Democratic (HPC-D), a Manipur-based terror outfit, to end the three-decade-old violence and political impasse in the northeastern state, an official said here on Tuesday.

After eight years of parleys, the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) was signed on Monday evening by Chief Secretary Arvind Ray on behalf of the state government and HPC-D President H. Zosangbera, representing the terror outfit.

"According to the MoS, more administrative autonomy would be given to the existing Sinlung Hills Development Council (SHDC) and the name of the council would be rechristened as Sinlung Hills Council by enacting an act," Additional Secretary of state Home Department Lalbiakzama told the media.

Lalbiakzama had headed the state government team in the official level talks with the HC-D since 2010.

The SHDC was constituted in 1994 for the socio-economic, political and cultural development of the tribal people under the jurisdiction of the council areas.

The official said according to the peace agreement, the state government would declare amnesty for all HPC-D cadres against whom criminal cases are pending.

"According to the MoS, the state government would take steps to provide relief, ex-gratia and rehabilitation of around 100 HPC-D cadres after they surrender to the state government," Lalbiakzama said.

He said that the HPC-D cadres were likely to lay down 48 sophisticated arms during the "home coming ceremony", which is likely on April 12.

Expressing happiness, HPC-D spokesperson Lalthalien said the signing of the peace accord was a historic milestone not only for the Hmar tribe but also for the Mizos at large.

The Hmar tribal people have been living in Mizoram, Manipur and southern Assam.

The Manipur-based militant outfit of the Hmar tribe had been indulging in intermittent violent activities in Mizoram since 1989 demanding a separate autonomous district council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution by carving out areas adjoining southern Manipur, northern Mizoram and southern Assam.

The Mizoram government had on a number of occasions rejected the demand.

Mizoram is the first and only state in India which received Rs 182.45 crore from the central government in 2000-01 as "Peace Bonus" for keeping peace after decades of insurgency.

As the Mizo National Front's founder-leader Laldenga, a former Indian Army official, became Chief Minister in 1986 after his group took to mainstream politics, peace and law and order returned to the Christian-majority Mizoram.
Geneva, April 3 : The UN on Tuesday said $2.96 billion was needed to provide humanitarian aid for around 13.1 million Yemenis, whose country has been destroyed by a civil war.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave an opening speech at a donor conference in which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, both members of the international coalition involved in the conflict, were participating, Efe news reported.

Guterres said Saudi Arabia and UAE had donated $930 million for Yemen's humanitarian plan.

Since the beginning of Yemen's conflict in September 2014, more than 22 million people, three-quarters of the population, have been in dire need of humanitarian aid, placing Yemen in a catastrophic situation.

The Yemen conflict was unleashed when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa.

The war was further complicated on March 26, 2015 when an Arab Sunni bloc led by Saudi Arabia began a military intervention.

Since the start of the offensive, over 10,000 people have died in areas controlled by the rebels, according to data published in January by the government of the Shia Houthis, although the figure were not confirmed.
New Delhi, April 3 : The CRPF has given out-of-turn promotions -- for the first time in last 14 years - to four personnel who were instrumental in thwarting two separate "fidayeen attacks" on the paramilitary force's camps in Jammu and Kashmir leading to the killing of six militants.

Those promoted to the next rank are Head Constable A.S. Krishana and Constables K. Dinesh Raja, Prafulla Kumar and Ghait Raghunath Ulhas.

Krishana, Raja and Kumar, of the 45 Battalion, were promoted for thwarting a terrorist attack on the CRPF camp in the industrial area (training ground) in Sumbal in Bandipora district on June 5 last year in which four militants were neutralized.

Constable Ulhas was promoted as Head Constable for foiling a terror attack on CRPF's 23 Battalion campus in Karan Nagar in Srinagar on February 11 in which two terrorists were killed in a shootout by the security forces that lasted for more than one hour.

Ulhas was on sentry duty when he sensed the surreptitious movement of two heavily armed terrorists in the early hours and fired at them without caring for his own life, CRPF Deputy Inspector General M. Dinakaran said.

"On the request of CRPF, the Union Home Ministry has waived the eligibility criteria of promotion in respect of these four jawans in recognition of their gallant action and praiseworthy performance in the operational area in the militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

"It was the first out-of-turn promotion to CRPF personnel in last 14 years as their alertness and bravery resulted in killing of six militants and recovery of a huge cache of arms and ammunition in two separate fidayeen attacks in Kashmir."
Bhopal, April 3 : The toll in the violence in Madhya Pradesh during the Bharat Bandh called on Monday by some Dalit organisations to protest dilution of the SC/ST act rose to eight on Tuesday with the discovery of one more body in the state's Bhind, police said.

Curfew meanwhile continued on Tuesday in various parts of Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts even as reports of sporadic violence and tension were reported, despite the heavy police deployment and the arrival of central paramilitary forces.

Reports said that there was stone-pelting at the residences of Bhind MP Bhagirath Prasad and state minister Lal Singh Arya.

Rail traffic continued to remain affected.

Inspector General, Law and Order, Makarand Deoskar told media persons here that the body of a youth identified as Dashrath was found in Ron police station area of Bhind. The youth seemed to have been beaten to death.

In Bhopal, which also saw protests on Monday, police conducted a flag march, while warning people not to take part in any agitation.

According to police sources, three deaths were reported from Gwalior, four in Bhind and one in Morena, taking the toll to eight while the number of injured were over 100, including police personnel.

Gwalior's Superintendent of Police Ashish told IANS that 50 people have been taken into custody and are being questioned about Monday's violence.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Home Minister Bhupendra Singh reiterated their appeal for peace.

According to information from police headquarters, additional personnel have been sent to the affected areas for maintenance of law and order, while all district police chiefs have been instructed to maintain vigil.

Train services continued to remain affected with trains coming from Delhi running five to 10 hours late, while passengers remained stranded at Gwalior, Bani, Bhopal and Itarsi stations.
Lucknow, April 3 : Union minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday defended the Supreme Court order on the amendment of certain sections of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, saying it is in the interest of society.

Talking to media persons in Varanasi, the Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises also suggested that the opposition, especially the Congress, should not try and fish in choppy waters.

"The decision of the apex court is in interest of the society and it is the duty of the Congress and opposition that they do nothing to disturb harmony and peace in the society," he said.

He also pointed out that the Congress did not have any right to even utter a word about Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, as the grand old party never accorded him the respect and honour he deserved.

Singh stressed that the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre was "200 per cent" committed to the safety and security of the SC/ST communities.

"It is our commitment to safeguard the interests of the people from these castes," he said explaining that the Union government had in any case filed a review petition in the apex court seeking review of its decision.

"This would have been done earlier (filing of review petition), but for the four days' holidays which delayed the process," the minister stated.

Another BJP ally -- Suhaildev Bahujan Samaj Party (SBSP) -- also seems to be thinking on the same lines. Om Prakash Rajbhar, the SBSP chief and a Cabinet Minister, also said that for more than a decade he had been seeking the amendments which the Supreme Court ruled on March 20.

"While we are all to ensure safety and security of the marginalised people of the SC and ST sections of the society, we also want to ensure that like the Dowry Act, the SC/ST Act to prevent atrocities against them is not misused to victimise the people of other castes," he said.

On March 20, the apex court had ruled that government servants should not be arrested under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act without prior sanction and even private citizens can be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

This triggered political upheaval and social unrest in many parts of the country that claimed nine lives, while in Uttar Pradesh, one person was killed and more than 100 injured during the "Bharat Bandh" on Monday.
New Delhi, April 3 : Four more persons were arrested on Tuesday on charges of involvement in the Staff Selection Commission examination racket, police said.

The arrested persons -- Kushal Negi, Anup Rao, Neeraj Kumar and Dured Ali -- helped students cheat in SSC online examination through remote access tool software.

They allegedly used screen-sharing software to access computers used by candidates to help them cheat, and charged money in lieu of their services.

"The accused have since been sent in two-day police remand by a Delhi court. We are investigating to find out the candidaes who paid them up to cheat in the recruitment exams," a police officer said.

On March 27 also, Delhi Police and Uttar Pradesh Police Special Task Force had jointly conducted a raid at a flat in Timarpur area in north Delhi and arrested four persons in the case.

They were members of the inter-state gang that helped candidates cheat in the online examinations of the Staff Selection Commission.
Jakarta, April 3 : Human Rights Watch has urged the authorities in Indonesia's Aceh province, where Islamic law is in force, to release four people arrested on suspicion of gay sex.

The accused were handed over to the religious police after two raids conducted by residents on March 12 and 29 in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, in Sumatra. They remain in detention, Efe news reported.

In the first case, the civilian vigilantes broke into a hairdressing salon and accused a transgender woman and one of the clients of involvement in same-sex relations and reportedly found condoms.

In another case, two university students, one of them Christian and the other a Muslim, were arrested from a house in the Lamtimpeung neighbourhood, in a raid by residents, who also confiscated cell phones and condoms, the report said.

"These vigilante raids and arbitrary detentions underscore the abusive and discriminatory nature of Aceh's criminal code," said Graeme Reid, director of the LGBT rights programme.

Aceh began to impose Islamic law or Sharia under a concession made by the central government in early 2000 to persuade it to abandon its aspirations for independence.

HRW urged the central government to respect the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2005 and which includes a duty to "prevent torture and punish those who commit it".

The crime of "liwath", or sodomy among men, is punishable with up to 100 lashes under Islamic law in Aceh.

Last year, two men were punished for engaging in same-sex relationships with 83 lashes in public.

NGOs and activists have denounced a recent spike in repression against the LGBT community in Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population.
Jerusalem, April 3 : Scores of African asylum seekers and supporters gathered outside the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to protest against his decision to scrap a deal with the UN on their resettlement.

Netanyahu announced on Monday that he was suspending an agreement made with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that would have prevented the deportation of hundreds of thousands of African migrants from Israel, just hours after announcing the deal at a press conference, Efe news reported.

Under the plan, made with the UN Refugee Agency, Israel was to send at least 16,250 African migrants to Canada, Italy and Germany. Another 16,000 would have been resettled in Israel.

There are approximately 37,000 illegal immigrants in Israel, the majority from Eritrea or Sudan, according to the Population and Immigration Authority.

The agreement with the UNHCR had been an attempt to address criticism of an even earlier plan, in which migrants would be offered $3,500 and an airplane ticket to leave for a sub-Saharan African country. Uganda and Rwanda were widely reported by the Israeli media as potential host countries, CNN reported.

That plan was successfully challenged by human rights groups in Israel's High Court on March 15, where a temporary order blocked its implementation.

Many of the migrants from Sudan fled war and poverty. In Eritrea, they escaped a brutal dictatorship. Many of those seeking refuge made their way to Israel. But in 2013, Israel completed a fence running the length of the Sinai border, halting the flow of illegal migrants.

At its highest point, there were some 65,000 illegal immigrants in Israel. Over the past decade, the Population and Immigration Authority said it received 54,600 requests for asylum.

Only 33 were accepted while tens of thousands remain mired in the bureaucratic process, though Israeli leaders say they added staff to clear the backlog.
Srinagar, April 3 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday asked security forces to strictly follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) for crowd control and anti-militancy operations to avoid collateral damage.

She held a high-level meeting to review the overall situation in the Kashmir Valley where she impressed upon officers dealing with security to ensure that collateral damage was avoided, said an official statement.

Senior civil and police officers briefed the Chief Minister about the overall situation in the Valley, particularly after violence in Shopian district two days ago.

"Mehbooba Mufti enquired about the injured admitted in various hospitals and directed health authorities to ensure them specialised treatment so as to enable them restart their lives afresh."

Senior civil, police, intelligence, Army and paramilitary officials attended the meeting.
New Delhi, April 3 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over an order - subsequently withdrawn - that threatened to take away accreditation of journalists found propagating fake news, saying there was a loss of control and panic was setting in.

"Sensing mounting anger on the 'fake news' notification, the PM orders a U-Turn on his own order. One can clearly see a loss of control and panic setting in now," Gandhi said in a tweet.

The government made a hasty retreat on Tuesday as Modi withdrew within hours his government's order that threatened to take away the accreditation of journalists involved in producing "fake news".

The order, issued by Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Monday night, warned that journalists would be denied access to the government even on mere accusations of spreading fake news and could lose their accreditation for a limited period or permanently.

Journalists and opposition parties took a serious note of the order iand described the guidelines as an attack on press freedom.
New Delhi, April 3 : Several journalist associations on Tuesday attacked a central government order that threatened to take away the accreditation of journalists who were found propagating fake news.

But following widespread criticism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered to withdraw the order earlier in the day.

The order issued on Monday night said that a journalist's accreditation would be suspended once a complaint of fake news was registered against him, which would be later determined by Press Council of India (PCI) and News Broadcasters Association (NBA).

If found that the news was indeed fake, he or she could also lose their accreditation for a limited period or permanently and thus be denied access to government institutions.

Journalists and opposition parties took a serious note of the order issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and described the guideline as an attack on the freedom of press.

On Tuesday afternoon, the I&B Ministry said in a press release that the "Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists amended to regulate Fake News issued on April 2 stand withdrawn".

Strongly condemning the government, the Editors Guild of India said, "By notifying that the I & B Ministry will initiate such proceedings, the Government was arrogating for itself the role of policing the media. It would have opened the door for frivolous complaints to harass journalists and organisations to fall in line."

It also said the recent reconstitution of the Press Council of India has been done in a manner that gives rise to doubts over the independence of the institution and its ability to play neutral umpire.

A joint statement issued by the Press Club of India, Indian Women's Press Corps, Press Association and Federation of Press Clubs of Indi expressed their "deep concern" over the Monday order.

They said: "There is ample scope for introspection and reform of journalistic practices; yet a government fiat restraining the fourth pillar of our democracy is not the solution.

"The Press Council of India was primarily set up to protect the freedom of the press, not to clamp down on it."

The associations also welcomed the move to retract the Monday's order.

Speaking at an event in which the statement was released at the Press Club of India here, senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai said though the Monday's order had been withdrawn, there was very little to celebrate.

"What was the need of the circular in the first place? The government would consider such a circular is worrisome," Sardesai said.

He said that the government was into the "business of propaganda", which was also "fake news" and added that the government should be kept away to discuss the subject of fake news, a point which was raised by other speakers also.

He also said that the government had to step in as the media had failed to rein in fake news. "We should name and shame serial offenders of fake news."

TV journalist Ravish Kumar said the opinion of journalists was not taken before Monday's circular was issued and added that such attacks would not stop.

Press Club of India President Gautam Lahiri told IANS that they would explore legal options on the arbitrary way in which the government was constituting the Central Press Accreditation Committee.

He also said that they would form a group of senior journalists to act as media watchdogs.
Mumbai, April 3 : Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and Yuva Sena President Aditya Thackeray on Tuesday inaugurated a public toilet, fully funded by the actor following a tweet from wife Twinkle Khanna, at the famed Juhu Beach.

The bio-toilet, costing around a million rupees, was handed over to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

"Good morning and I guess here is the first scene of Toilet Ek Prem Katha part 2 #WhenYourWalkGoesDownTheToilet," said Twinkle's sarcastic tweet on August 19 last year, showing a picture of a man defecating in public.

Though the tweet evoked mixed reactions, with many complaining about her lack of compassion for the poor, it spurred the action hero Akshay into serious activity and he decided to fund a bio-toilet complex at the beach.

The toilet has a running water facility and separate enclosures for men and women.

Akshay described the effort as "a small contribution on his part to our dear city... but just the beginning" which is expected to be a boon to several thousands of locals and tourists who throng Juhu beach daily.

Aditya Thackeray lauded the initiative after Akshay's free self-defence classes for women, 100 sanitary pad vending machines and other social contributions.
New Delhi, April 3 : A youth leader and four others who protested against the alleged irregularities in the conduct of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examinations here have been booked, police said on Tuesday.

"Anupam and others have been named in the FIR on charge of disobeying an order duly promulgated by a public servant," Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma told IANS.

Anupam was one of the organisers of the March 31 'Yuva Halla Bol' march in central Delhi's Parliament Street.

SSC exam aspirants have been protesting for over a month against the irregularities and corruption in the conduct of SSC examinations and demanding an independent and time- bound probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in all recruitment exams conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC).

The call for the 'Yuva Halla Bol' march on Parliament Street was given after protesters held a sit-in for 18 days in front of the SSC headquarters here.

Reacting to the registration of a case against him, Anupam said: "It is a ploy to dilute the nationwide movement against the SSC scam. But such tactics will not help and students will fight till the end for their right to fair selection in government jobs through the SSC."

"I am surprised to hear that Delhi Police has registered an FIR against me. There were some anti-social and rowdy elements among the protesters who tried to instigate others. Students have already reported their names to police a day before, but police didn't act against them in time. Had we not been there the demonstration could have taken an ugly turn," he added.
New Delhi, April 3 : Quick response from a team of doctors here helped a 56-year-old patient get a new lease of life as the doctors carried out a heart transplant within three hours of harvesting from a donor in Jaipur.

"The patient is recovering well after the successful transplant," said Dr Ajay Kaul, Chairman and Head of Department, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS), BLK Super Speciality Hospital, who led the team of doctors harvest the heart and transplant it.

The patient -- a government employee from Kanauni village of Ghaziabad -- had been suffering from an incurable condition called dilated cardiomyopathy.

The heart transplant became possible as a 30-year-old male, a resident of Jaipur, was declared brain-dead at SMS Hospital in Jaipur following a road accident couple of days back. While the kidneys and eyes were used for the needy in Jaipur only, liver and heart were sent to Delhi.

The doctors at the hospital swung into action when the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) under Directorate General of Health Services informed them about the donor and availability of a heart.

Kaul and his team left for Jaipur by an early morning flight on Monday and harvested the heart at night. They took a 10.05 p.m flight from Jaipur and landed in Delhi at 10.47 p.m before time as a special case.

A green corridor was created from IGI Airport to BLK Super Speciality Hospital covering a distance of 15 km in just over 18 minutes at night. The heart was transplanted late into the night.

"The recipient was suffering from heart complications for past a few years. A pacemaker was implanted in July 2017. The patient used to have bouts of blackouts and would faint after four to five months of the pacemaker implant," said Kaul, adding that heart transplant was an ideal option.

The transplant was conducted on humanitarian grounds without any monetary consideration as the patient, who has two sons and two daughters, belongs to lower income group, said the hospital in a statement.
New Delhi, April 3 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Central government for extending protection to unauthorised constructions, saying it cannot regularise something which is illegal.

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta asked the Central government about its plan for unauthorised construction for commercial activities, while observing that those who have committed illegalities cannot be protected just because they have invested money.

"You (the government) cannot regularise something which is totally not in accordance with law. You can regularise those which are in accordance with law," it said after the government said it has been planning to regularise the unauthorised colonies.

It also said the government was legalising the illegalities perpetuated so far by protecting illegal construction and slammed it for protecting the traders holding the 186 lakh people of Delhi to ransom by their agitation against the sealing drive.

"Illegalities have been perpetuated and are now being legalised... this is destruction.

"These people (traders) are saying that we have done something illegal, but please protect us. Dharnas by the traders are admission of their guilt. Innocent people do not go on dharnas... What can be more arbitrary than this."

"You (Centre) have to realise that people of Delhi are important, whether you are the Delhi Development Authority, the government, the municipal corporation or any other agency," the court said.

The court also asked the government about its plan regarding rampant encroachment in the city and in the unauthorised colonies. There were no green areas, sewage, drainage facilities, parking and the innocent citizens were suffering due to all this, it said.

"There will be eight to 10 lakh traders in Delhi and to protect them you are holding 186 lakh people to ransom. It cannot be done.

"At Ghazipur and Bhalswa, you have garbage pile up of 60 metres. You have water shortage, huge traffic problem, pollution. Pavements are encroached upon, roads have become parking space... That's the hard reality," said the court.

Stressing that the government has not done anything for the past 10 years to deal with the situation, the court asked it to send a tough message.

"The culture and heritage will go. Nothing will be left for the future if this is not done," the court said.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General A.N.S. Nadkrani, appearing for the Central government, said that as per 2012 figure, there were around 895 unauthorised colonies having built up area of more than 50 per cent.

The bench was hearing pleas relating to the validity of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations, which protect unauthorised construction from being sealed in Delhi.

In December last year, while expressing concern over rampant illegal construction in Delhi, the court said that the authorities do not appear to have carried out their statutory duties in preventing illegal construction and ordered restoration of its 2006 monitoring committee to identify and seal such offending structures.
London, April 3 : Britain is set to introduce "one of the world's toughest" bans on ivory sales in a bid to protect elephants for future generations, Environment Secretary Michael Gove announced on Tuesday.

The prohibition will introduce tighter legislation covering ivory items of all ages, save for a few limited exceptions, the government said. The penalty for violating the ban could be up to five years in prison, CNN reported.

"Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol," Gove said. "The ban will demonstrate our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past."

Britain's announcement is the latest move in the global fight against the ivory trade. In 2016, the US adopted a near-total embargo but exempted ivory items older than a century and containing less than 50 per cent ivory.

China enacted its own ban on the sale of ivory products at the start of the year, but it exempts ivory "relics", according to the British government.

There will be certain narrowly-defined and carefully-targeted exemptions for items which do not contribute to the poaching of elephants, Gove said.

Exceptions included items made before 1947 that are comprised of less than 10 per cent ivory and musical instruments made before 1975 with less than 20 per cent ivory.

Rare and most important items, at least 100 years old, will be assessed by specialist institutions such as Britain's most prestigious museums before exemption permits are issued, the report said.

In addition, there will be a specific exemption for portrait miniatures painted on thin slivers of ivory.

In October, the UK will host the fourth international conference on the illegal wildlife trade, bringing global leaders to London to tackle the strategic challenges of the trade.

Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF said: "Around 55 African elephants are killed for their ivory a day, their tusks turned into carvings and trinkets. This ban makes the UK a global leader in tackling this bloody trade."

Steele said global action was needed to stop the poaching of elephants.

The British government said it had received more than 70,000 responses during the consultation period, with more than 88 per cent respondents in favour of the ban.
Mumbai, April 3 : Nearly seven years after journalist Jyotirmoy Dey was gunned down in full public view, a special court her will pronounce the verdict in the case, in which among the accused is mafia don Rajendra S. Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan - on May 2, the prosecution said on Tuesday.

"The verdict date has been fixed for May 2 by the court," Special Public Prosecutor Pradip Gharat told IANS.

The final arguments in the case which started before Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Court Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Adkar in February were concluded recently.

Besides Chhota Rajan - currently lodged in the Tihar Central Jail, New Delhi - another accused in the case is former Mumbai journalist Jigna Vora.

According to the investigators, it was Chhota Rajan who ordered the hit on Dey, a veteran crime reporter of Mumbai.

The mafia don was deported from Indonesia's Bali in November 2015 and subsequently made an accused in the case.

The 56-year old Dey, who was the Editor (Investigations) of Midday eveninger, was shot dead on June 11, 2011, near his Powai residence in central suburban Mumbai, sending shockwaves in media circles all over the country.

The investigations into the case were initially conducted by the local police but as the case ramifications became deeper, it was taken over by the Crime Branch.

There was a sensational twist in the case when the police arrested Vora, the then deputy bureau chief of The Asian Age, Mumbai, in connection with the case on November 25 (2011) that year, besides 10 other accused.

Another accused (the 11th), named Vinod Asrani, alias Vinod Chembur, who was charged as the main co-conspirator and financer of the entire operation, died due to natural causes in April 2015 at a private hospital. He had also "pointed out" Dey to the gunmen at the scene of the crime that morning.

In June 2015, the Special MCOCA ourt framed charges against the remaining 10 arrested-accused, including Vora.

After Chhota Rajan's arrest, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the Dey murder probe and added him as an accused in a supplementary charge-sheet filed before the court.

During the probe, it also emerged that Vora was allegedly in regular contact with Chhota Rajan.

Three motorcycles and a jeep were used to execute the Rs 500,000 contract killing for which Rs 200,000 was paid as advance and the balance to be paid later.

Gharat said that three of the accused have recorded their confessional statements pertaining to their roles in the crime and a total of 155 witnesses were examined during the trial.

"Chhota Rajan's deposition was recorded via video-conference from Tihar Central Jail. He is not likely to be brought here for the verdict," he added.

Dey had authored two books: "Khallas: An A to Z Guide to the Underworld", and "Zero Dial: The Dangerous World of Informers", and was penning his third book, "Chindi: Rags to Riches".

In the upcoming book, he had reportedly portrayed the mafia don as 'Chindi' (petty), which apparently irked Chhota Rajan.

The 11 accused are Rohit Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalya, 28, Abhijeet Kasharam Shinde, 27, Arun Janardhan Dake, 27, Sachin Suresh Gaikwad, 35, Anil Bhanudas Waghmode, 35, Nilesh Narayan Shendge alias Bablu, 34, Mangesh Damodar Agawane, 25 (all who conducted recce and/or were shooters), Jigna Vora, who made nearly three dozen calls to Chhota Rajan prior to the murder, Deepak Sisodia, 28, of Dehradun, the weapon supplier, Joseph Paulson, 43, who provided the mobile SIM cards, and Vinod Chembur (deceased) who was the co-conspirator and financer of the operation.
New Delhi, April 3 : The government has no plan to do away with quota policy for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the country, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

His assurance came a day after violent protests against a Supreme Court order by Dalits claimed nine lives. The court order dilutes a law on preventing atrocities against the marginalised communities in the country.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh said "rumours" were spread that the Union government wanted to end reservation.

"Rumours are being spread about the reservation policy. It is wrong and baseless. I appeal to all political parties to help in maintaining peace and amity in the country," he said amid noisy protests in the house.

The Minister said that "the government is fully committed to protect the interests of the SCs/STs and that an advisory has been issued to all the states to ensure law and order".

He said the government has provided all assistance to the states immediately on their request and is in constant touch with them.

Opposition members shouted slogans and were on their feet in protest against the Supreme Court's March 20 order pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Conveying condolences to the families of people who lost their lives during Monday's protests, Rajnath Singh said "he fully appreciates that there is widespread anger among the people on the Supreme Court order".

"I wish to inform the house that the government of India was not party in that case. People have taken to the streets. I want to assure them there has been no dilution in law whatsoever by our government. Rather, after coming to power and examining the SC/ST Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," he said.

Rajnath Singh said the then government passed the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act in 1995.

"As per the amendments, new offences were added. It was observed that due to the delay in filing of charge sheets (in cases of atrocities), the victims and witness who were vulnerable were influenced and silenced. In order to protect them, the provision of witness protection was introduced. The compensation payable to the victims was also enhanced," the Home Minister said.

He said there has been a new provision wherein action against government servants found negligent in implementing the Act will be taken.

Rajnath Singh said the government acted swiftly and had already filed a petition in the top court to seek review of its order.

Trinamool Congress' Kalyan Banerjee countered this, saying the Additional Solicitor General had given his consent to the Supreme Court's decision.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said the "dilution in the Act has already been done" and the opposition parties "want to discuss it" in the lower house of Parliament.

AIADMK members, meanwhile, created a ruckus and gathered near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium to demand early constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board to oversee water-sharing arrangement between Tamil Nadu, Karantaka, Kerala, and Puducherry.

Scindia also raised the issue of no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against the Narendra Modi government.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was ready for a debate on the motion and blamed the Congress for creating disruptions.

"They are trying to halt the democratic process in the house," Ananth Kumar said.

The Speaker said she was unable to proceed with the no-confidence motion notice and adjourned the house for the day.

This is the last week of the budget session that began on January 29 and went into a recess on February 9. The session resumed on March 5 and will conclude on April 6.

The post-break session has been completely washed out amid a logjam in both houses of Parliament. Important Budget bills were passed without debate amid protests.
Chandigarh, April 3 : Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh's statement that the Indians killed in Iraq were illegal immigrants and the Rs 10 lakh compensation announced by the Central government to families of the victims sparked a fresh controversy in Punjab on Tuesday.

Congress legislators from Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts on Tuesday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the "meagre relief" announced for the kin of the victims killed by the Islamic State terrorists in Mosul town in Iraq in June 2014.

In a joint statement, Congress legislators Sukhjinder Randhawa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and Harpartap Ajnala said that the compensation of Rs 10 lakh "announced by Mr Modi was too little and too late" and demanded that it must pay Rs 1 crore each to the families of the 39 victims.

"The Government of India first tried to play down the tragedy by lying and saying that the victims were alive despite an eyewitness saying that they had been killed two years ago. The Government of India is running away from its duty and responsibility towards its citizens," they said.

The Congress leaders asked the government whether it had ever issued any preventive and safety advisory for its citizens as where they should avoid going normally done by most of the countries.

"We are sure that the Central government has still not done anything of that sort despite the fact that people are still risking their lives and going for work to troubled countries," they said, while asking the Prime Minister to "learn to value the lives of the Indian citizens".

The statement from Gen V.K. Singh (retd), made at the Amritsar airport to the media after he brought the mortal remains of 38 Iraq victims on a special IAF aircraft from Iraq on Monday, that the Iraq victims were illegal immigrants also got sharp reactions from families of the victims.

"What does the minister want to convey. Does he mean that they were illegal immigrants and that the Government of India had no responsibility towards Indian citizens taken hostage in Iraq. Did the government try to rescue them," the sister of one of the victims asked on Tuesday.

The families rued the fact that they were kept under false hopes for over three years that the victims were alive. They said that the government failed to give adequate compensation despite the fact that all families were quite poor and most had lost their bread winners.
New Delhi, April 3 : The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday asked both print and electronics media to follow in "letter and spirit", particularly in the 48 hours before the polling, guidelines issued by it regarding the coverage of Karnataka assembly polls.

Voting is scheduled for May 12 in Karnataka.

Restraining the media from announcing any "result of any opinion poll and of standard debates, analysis, visuals and sound-bytes" 48 hours before the polling and till the polling is concluded, it reminded that violation of the provisions of Section 126 of the Representation of People's Act, 1951 is "punishable with imprisonment up to two years, or fine or both".

"The Commission once again reiterates that the TV/ radio channels and cable networks should ensure that the contents of the programme telecast/ broadcast/ displayed by them during the period of 48 hours referred to in Section 126 do not contain any material, including views/ appeals by panelists/ participants that may be construed as promoting/ prejudicing the prospect of any particular party or candidate(s) or influencing/ affecting the result of the election," the EC said in its advisory.

"In this connection, attention is also invited to Section 126A of the R.P. Act 1951, which prohibits conduct of Exit Polls and dissemination of their results during the period reckoned from the commencement of polls and half an hour after the close of poll in the state," it said.

It said that during the period not covered by Section 126 or Section 126A, the media must conform to the provisions of the model code of conduct and the programme code laid down by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting under the Cable Network (Regulation) Act with regard to decency, maintenance of communal harmony etc.

"It will be the duty of the Press to give objective reports about elections and the candidates... The Press should eschew reports, which tend to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between people on the ground of religion, race, caste, community or language," the EC said.

It has also asked the news channels to disclose "any political affiliations, either towards a party or candidate" and to "scrupulously maintain a distinction between news and paid content".
Chandigarh, April 3 : Senior Congress leader and Chandigarh councillor Devinder Singh Babla was on Tuesday sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment in a case of cheating.

Babla, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, was convicted in the cheating case by the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Ashwani Kumar Mehta on March 27.

He was held guilty in a cheating case pertaining to allotment of platforms in the Sector 26 grain market here in August 2009.

Babla, who was the Market Committee chief at that time, was held guilty under Sections 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code.

It was alleged that out of the 59 licences for platforms, 10 ineligible persons were also allotted these.
Hubballi (Karnataka), April 3 : BJP President Amit Shah was in for a surprise on Tuesday when Election Commission officials searched his private aircraft on landing in this Karnataka city for party events ahead of the May 12 assembly poll.

"A team of our officials searched the chartered aircraft in which Shah arrived here from New Delhi for party activities, to ensure the Model Code of Conduct is being observed," a poll official told IANS over phone.

Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the was accompanied by two more party leaders.

The search was carried by three poll officials, though nothing "unusual" was found in the aircraft.

"It was a routine check. Found nothing. It's part of our drill under the MCC, in force since March 27 when the election was announced," noted the official.

Party's Lok Sabha member from Dharwad Prahlad Joshi received Shah at the airport and accompanied him to Kaginele in Byadgi taluk of Haveri district for addressing a convention of Other Backward Classes.

Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was going to form the next government in the state, Shah said the party would fulfil the demand of the OBC community for constitutional status to the OBCs.

"Though the BJP-led NDA government has formulated 116 schemes for the OBCs across the country, unfortunately, they have not been reaching the intended beneficiaries in Karnataka due to non-cooperation of the state government," charged Shah without naming the ruling Congress.

Later, the party chief visited Badami in the state's northwest Bagalkot district for an interaction with seers of religious sects and mutts.
New Delhi, April 3 : Congress on Tuesday termed as "factually incorrect" Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's remarks that the Central government was not a party in the apex court in the case pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and sought an apology from him.

"The Law Minister has made a factually incorrect statement. He should withdraw the statement and apologise for making a wrong statement," Congress leader Anand Sharma told reporters here.

"They (the government) were very much a party. The government was represented, it did not argue the case. The government opened the window for anticipatory bail. The government endorsed by default by not telling the court that it cannot dilute the law, it cannot reinterpret the law, it cannot change the law. So, the government is a willing party to what has happened," he said.

The Congress has said that the law has been diluted following the apex court ruling.

Sharma accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being silent on Prasad's "misleading" remarks.

"He will go next year with a dubious distinction of India having a Prime Minister who never participated in a parliamentary debate, never answered a parliamentary question," he said.

Congress Communications department incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that "a conspiracy" against the Act was made by the law ministry on indications from the prime minister, the BJP and the RSS.

He also accused the government of delay in filing a review petition in the apex court.

"What was the Modi government doing for 13 days," he asked, adding "it shows the ill-will of the government and its wrong intentions".

Congress leaders also countered BJP President Amit Shah's allegations earlier in the day that the party had ignored B.R. Ambedkar.

"What Amit Shah has said, I am not surprised, because he is ignorant of history. They are ideological descendants of those who collaborated with the British and opposed India's freedom struggle," Sharma said.

He said Ambedkar had lauded the role of Congress while presenting the final report during adoption of Constitution in November 1949, while also adding that a Congress member was asked to resign to make way for Ambedkar to join the Constituent Assembly.
Rome, April 4 : Italy's ruling centre-left Democratic Party will not join a coalition government but will take its rightful place in opposition, its caretaker leader Maurizio Martina said Tuesday after the party got just 18.7 percent of votes in inconclusive national polls last month.

"The party's national directorate has recognised our crushing defeat from which arises the need to go into parliamentary opposition," Martina told Italy's Radio Capital.

"The electoral defeat cannot be denied and we will re-launch our project from the opposition benches...the people expressed themselves very clearly on 4 March," he said.

Italy's parties are jostling for power as President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday begins consultations on the formation of a government, a month after the election led to a hung parliament.

The consultations could drag on for weeks or even months. Mattarella has the power to name a Prime Minister but is still unclear if the parties which got the biggest share of votes in the March 4 election can find enough common ground to form a coalition government or whether another vote will be needed.

The populist Five-Star Movement, as the largest single party after the vote, and the rightwing League, the leader of the winning centre-right coalition, are laying claim to a first bid to form a government.

Matteo Renzi announced his resignation as Democratic Party leader last month after the party achieved its worst-ever electoral result.
The International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) is pleased to release a statement of support for the creation of the Council of Industrial Use of Biological and Environmental Repositories (CIBER) in Japan.

ISBER strongly supports the creation of CIBER in Japan and its efforts to advance the field of biobanking, promote best practices, and develop standards in this field. Over the past two decades, ISBER has developed a number of high-profile collaborations with other affiliate global, regional, and national organizations actively promoting: education and training; the harmonization of high quality standards, ethical principles and innovation; and networking in the field of biobanking. CIBER will join forces with ISBER in further developing these aspects in Japan.

The field of biobanking is expanding globally as it provides the foundation upon which vital medical, environmental and pharmaceutical research take place. The release of the ISBER Best Practices 4th edition and of ISO standards (end of 2018) will introduce further standardization of the field and boost professionalism, said Dr. Zisis Kozlakidis, President of ISBER. We are delighted that a strong society is created in Japan; CIBER working together with ISBER will provide guidance and support to biobanks nationally and internationally.

"We are delighted to announce the inauguration of CIBER, said Dr. Koh Furuta, Head Director of CIBER. We strongly believe that CIBER will be a dedicated platform for biobanking, which will support the various challenges and bring innovation in the field of biobanking."

CIBER has produced the Japanese translation of the ISBER Best Practices: Recommendations for Repositories, Fourth Edition report, which will be available April 4, 2018. The two societies will jointly negotiate and formalize a long-term affiliate agreement in the near future, including the creation of common working groups and workshops, and will aim to work collaboratively towards the development of a biobanking meeting in Japan in the future. The Memorandum of Understanding will soon be announced officially.

To learn more about ISBER, please visit: http://www.isber.org

To learn more about CIBER, please visit: http://www.ciber.or.jp

For further information, please contact:

Ana Torres, BA (Hon), MPub

ISBER Executive Director

750 West Pender Street, Suite 301

Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 2T7

T: 1-604-484-5693

E: info(at)isber(dot)org

About ISBER:

ISBER is the only global forum that addresses harmonization of scientific, technical, legal, and ethical issues relevant to repositories of biological and environmental specimens. The mission of ISBER as a global organization is to create opportunities for sharing ideas and innovations in biobanking and harmonizes approaches to evolving challenges for biological and environmental repositories. ISBER fosters collaboration, creates education and training opportunities, provides an international showcase for state-of-the-art policies, processes, and research findings, and innovative technologies, products, and services. Together, these activities promote best practices that cut across the broad range of repositories that ISBER serves.

About CIBER:

The Council of Industrial use of Biological and Environmental Repositories (CIBER) is a Japanese industrial council that will be established to address the opened framework of biorepositories. Users of biological and environmental repositories will join hands to network horizontally within CIBER to identify challenges and needs, and to deliver solutions. The goal of CIBER is to support a healthy and felicitous social infrastructure without medical inequality not only for the current generation but also for generations to come.
Sandeep Kishore MD and CEO Zensar Technologies

Zensar, an RPG company and the management of Cynosure Inc., today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the US based Cynosure Inc. Cynosure focuses on providing Guidewire platform implementation services to Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance carriers and had 2017 revenues of about $20 million. Zensars Insurance business spans global clients largely in the P&C space. The addition of Cynosure will enable Zensar to have platform capabilities for the insurance segment that will position the Company to grow faster in the fast-growing Insurance software market. The Insurance vertical currently accounts for approximately 15% of Zensars total business.

Zensar Technologies Limited will acquire the entire share capital of Cynosure Interface Solutions Private Limited (Cynosure India) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Zensar Technologies Inc. will acquire the entire share capital of Cynosure Inc. Cynosure Inc. is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Cynosure India is headquartered and has an offshore development centre in Bengaluru, India. The acquisition will be funded by a mix of internal accruals and external debt.

This acquisition is a critical component of Zensars Return on Digital strategy that works on creating significant business impact for clients through scalable digital transformation programs. Insurance companies worldwide are currently evaluating elements of their technology backbone to make their organizations digital ready. Many of them are still on legacy systems that limit their ability to leverage digital opportunities. Most insurers, especially in the P&C space, are moving to modern software platforms, such as Guidewire, as it enables them to not only create new experiences for their customers, but also helps them digitize a large part of their core insurance functions of Policies, Claims and Billing.

Announcing the acquisition, Harsh Goenka, Chairman of RPG Enterprises and Zensar said, Insurance is one of the focus areas for Zensar. The combined capabilities of Cynosure, with its industry leading Guidewire capabilities in the Property & Casualty Insurance sector and Zensars digital expertise will augment the Companys growth.

The digitalization of the insurance sector with reference to its products, sales channels and consumer engagement is increasingly driven by digital technologies. Cynosure is a Guidewire partner, and is well respected in the market place, making them experts in this area. They bring successful implementations, providing core system modernization with rich customer relationships that will serve as a significant value addition to our offerings, commented Sandeep Kishore, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Zensar.

As part of Zensar, we have the opportunity to offer more robust integrated solutions combined with its digital transformational and infrastructure capabilities. Our expertise in Guidewire platforms have enabled our customers in the Property & Casualty Insurance space to reap long-lasting benefits which is now fortified by this combined entity. said Sid Wadhwa, CEO & Co-Founder, Cynosure Inc.

Zensar has been making rapid progress over the last few years in transforming itself into a digital led business. In a very short time the company has, through a mix of acquisitions and organic growth, begun generating over 38% of its business from the digital space comprising Automation, Machine Learning, Predictive Analysis and Blockchain technologies. Particularly, the acquisitions of Keystone Logic (US), Foolproof (UK), Professional Access (US) by Zensar in recent years has given the Company greater focus and deep capabilities in e-commerce and digital. Further, Zensars cutting edge innovation hub called ZenLabs, located in Pune campus, is one of the finest exponents of its digital push. The company is emerging as a major player in its main segments of Retail, Insurance and Hitech, servicing global clients across 140 countries from its 29 global locations.

The Cynosure team of Guidewire experts are focused on simplifying core systems transformation. Each systems transformation is approached with the primary focus of helping an insurance carrier lower their total cost of ownership while delivering the highest possible quality. Cynosure has delivered extensive successful Guidewire projects, leveraging a deep understanding of Guidewire products to deliver innovative functionality and drive operational efficiency. The team consists of senior-level former Guidewire certified professionals with program management, systems architecture, systems integration, business intelligence, digital strategy and management consulting experience.

Post the acquisition, Cynosure will continue to be managed by the founders led by Sid Wadhwa, CEO & Co-founder. The management and team of Cynosure in the US and Bengaluru, India comprising of over 150 experts, will become a part of Zensar s Insurance vertical.

About Zensar (http://www.zensar.com)

Zensar is a leading digital solutions and technology services company that specialises in partnering with global organisations across industries on their Digital Transformation journey. A technology partner of choice, backed by strong track-record of innovation; credible investment in Digital solutions; assertion of commitment to clients success, Zensar s comprehensive range of digital and technology services and solutions enable its customers to achieve new thresholds of business performance. Zensar, with its experience in delivering excellence and superior client satisfaction through myriad technology solutions, is uniquely positioned to help them surpass challenges around running their existing business most efficiently, helping in their legacy transformation, and planning for business expansion and growth through innovative and digital way.

Follow Zensar via:

Zensar Blog: http://www.zensar.com/blogs

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Zensar

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zensar-technologies

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Zensar

Catch our refreshed new website at: http://www.zensar.com

About RPG Enterprises (http://www.rpggroup.com)

Mumbai head-quartered RPG Enterprises is one of India's largest industrial conglomerates. With over 15 companies in its fold, the group has a strong presence across core business sectors such as Infrastructure, Tyre, IT and Specialty. Established in 1979, RPG Enterprises is one of Indias fastest growing business groups with a turnover in excess of Rs 22,000 crore.

For any queries please feel free to reach out:

Aradhana Prabhu

Public Relations

Zensar Technologies

+91 9765999749

aradhana.prabhu@zensar.com

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorised use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.
We are excited about these innovative businesses that veterans have put their efforts into and we hope through our event, they will grow to prosperous businesses that continue to hire and support veterans

Veterans Business Battle, now in its fourth year, gives veteran-owned businesses a chance to pitch their businesses to a panel of investors. This years event, set for April 13-14 at Rice University, changes formats from the competitions previous years, allowing for two rounds of competition. After the daylong event, the top four finalists with present their businesses at the final ceremony with live investment offers negotiated as part of the evenings conclusion.

We are excited about these innovative businesses that veterans have put their efforts into and we hope through our event, they will grow to prosperous businesses that continue to hire and support veterans, said Zach Harris, President of Veterans in Business Association at Rice University.

The finalists include both new and existing businesses and span various industries including retail, energy, technology and agriculture.

In the previous three years, more than $2.5 million of investment offers were extended to finalists, ranking the competition #1 in investments to veteran-owned start-ups. Investments come in the form of loans, equity investments and partnerships.

The two-day event also includes learning sessions about entrepreneurship, financing and lending as well as networking with investors and business leaders.

The selected finalists are:



Anjin, Houston, Texas

Amulet Corp, Dallas, Texas

Armaments Research Company (ARC), Washington, D.C.

Craft Brewery Point of Sale, Ellisville, Mo.

Cyber Reconnaissance, Inc. (CYR3CON), Phoenix, Ariz.

GaN-Power, Houston, Texas

Health Water, St. Johns, Fla.

Instaprivy, Temecula, Calif.

Mastiff, San Francisco, Calif.

Millie, Arlington, Va.

Polco, Middleton, Wis.

Purple Heart 3, Indianapolis, Ind.

RAMP, Tyson, Va.

Security Gate, Houston, Texas

Tenavox, Austin, Texas

ThinkGenetic, Boston, Mass.

Trikaroo, Orlando, Fla.

UAV-IQ, Los Angeles, Calif.

Winners will be announced at a dinner April 14. All finalists have the potential to receive investment offers. The objective of this competition is to launch as many businesses as possible.

For more information, visit http://www.vetbizbattle.com or call (239)218-2962.

Veterans Business Battle was established in 2015 by a group of Houston entrepreneurs and Rice Universitys Veterans in Business Association. The competition aims to foster entrepreneurship among veterans, grow veteran-owned businesses and give back to veterans seeking to make a difference in the business world. For more information, visit

http://www.vetbizbattle.com
The units 3.15-inch-thick injection-molded plastic envelope features rounded edges and a unique central air intake configuration. Design engineers will be able to create cabins with far greater comfort, visibility and overall space.  Mark Denny

Webasto Thermo & Comfort, the global leader in equipment and vehicle cooling and heating solutions, officially introduced its new SP80 HVAC to the industry today. The low-profile, ceiling-mounted HVAC will make it possible for OEMs and cabin manufacturers to design vehicle-control spaces with increased headroom, greater visibility and an enhanced sense of comfort.

In contrast to the large, sharp-edged, rectangular sheet-metal boxes that characterize the majority of ceiling-mounted HVAC systems in todays heavy equipment, Webastos new SP80 HVAC looks somewhat inconspicuous. At 50 percent the size and 20 percent the weight of average HVAC systems, SP80 hugs a cabins ceiling. The units 3.15-inch-thick injection-molded plastic envelope features rounded edges and a unique central air intake configuration that allows air outlets to be precisely oriented to fit a cabs particular design. Its 25.03-inch width and 20.39-inch length will also make the unit easy to integrate into any cab design.

Design engineers will be able to create cabins with far greater comfort, visibility and overall space, Mark Denny, president and CEO of Webasto Thermo & Comfort North America, said. The SP80s ergonomic advantages are matched by its ultra-light weight, enabling cab roof structures to be lighter as well.

Weighing in at less than 15.5 pounds, Webastos SP80 owes its lightweight and compact size to advanced engineering. The use of a reversed curved fan blade, low-profile evaporators and heat exchangers help keep the unit thin and reduce its mass.

Though the SP80 is small and light, its heating and cooling power are exemplary. With its high-efficiency fan and state-of-the-art air handling system, the 12-volt unit outperforms others in airflow as well as cooling and heating performance. The SP80 has the capacity to deliver 7.8 kW of cooling power and 6.8 kW of heating power.

Webastos new product was also recently honored by the Mobile Air Conditioning Society (MACS). The SP80 HVAC won MACS prestigious Worldwide Award for Best Use of Technology in a New Product.

Webastos SP80 is such a dramatic departure from other cab HVAC systems, and we think that had everything to do with winning the MACS Worldwide Award, Denny said. When it comes to engineering-in enhanced visibility, comfort and safety, our SP80 is a game changer.

Until now, engineering a cab for heavy equipment meant having to contend with mounting a large metal HVAC box on the cab ceiling. That box commonly impaired an operators sight line and took up space where it was at a premium. The standard configuration had an air intake on one side and air outlets on the other, with little variation or options to alter a devices output to integrate with the cabs design.

Webasto produces millions of products for passenger cars, heavy-duty on- and off-road vehicles, as well as watercraft, and used its experience and continuous dialog with OEMs worldwide to engineer a ceiling-mounted cab HVAC that was truly outside the traditional box, Denny said. With our SP80, precise cab integration isnt only easy; its been engineered into the unit. Our unit-top, central air intake gives the SP80 almost unlimited flexibility in the way processed air is introduced back into the cab environment.

To access more content about the low-profile, ceiling-mounted SP80 HVAC, please visit:

https://www.webasto.com/us/markets-products/off-highway/custom-hvac-solutions/

About Webasto:

The Webasto Group is a global innovative systems partner to almost all automobile manufacturers and among the top 100 suppliers in this industry sector. In its core business areas the company develops and produces sunroofs, panorama roofs and convertible roofs as well as thermo systems for all drive types. In addition, with battery systems and charging solutions Webasto is building up a product portfolio for electromobility. In 2016 the Webasto Group generated sales of 3.2 billion euros and has more than 12,000 employees at more than 50 locations (with over 30 of these being manufacturing plants). The headquarters of the company, founded in 1901, is located in Stockdorf near Munich (Germany). For more information please visit http://www.webasto-group.com

Corporate Contact

Webasto Thermo & Comfort North America, Inc.

Kristie Carino

Ph. 810-593-6064

E-Mail: kristie.carino(at)webasto.com
I invite all women of Iranian descent to come have their voices heard, as well as network with some of the top women in business, philanthropy and academia.

The Iranian American Women Foundation (IAWF)the only non-profit organization providing networking and mentorship services to women of Iranian descent across all professional industrieslaunches its Los Angeles Chapter and also presents the 16th IAWF Womens Leadership Conference at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel (404 South Figueroa Street) in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 29, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Azita Raji, the first female U.S. ambassador to Sweden, and the first Iranian-born American to serve as a U.S. ambassador, will keynote the event. IAWF is also actively seeking new applicants for its mentorship program, which supports women across the globe in achieving professional success.

IAWF founder and recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Mariam Khosravani says, We are thrilled to now have a chapter in Los Angeles, and that our 16th IAWF Womens Leadership Conference comes at a key time with all thats changing in the world. I invite all women of Iranian descent to come have their voices heard, as well as network with some of the top women in business, philanthropy and academia.

Amongst the thirty speakers at the conference are: Goli Ameri, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs; The Honorable Ashley Tabaddor, president, the National Association of Immigration Judges; Ferial Govashiri, the Chief of Staff to the Chief of Content at Netflix and former personal aide to President Barack Obama in the White House; Mahnaz Afkhami, president, Womens Learning Partnership (WLP) and former Minister for Womens Affairs in Iran.

The IAWF Womens Leadership Conference offers a platform for exclusive access to leading professional women who will share stories of triumph and adversity, with the goal of empowering and inspiring the participants.

IAWFs 16th Conference highlights include:



Panel discussions: A variety of topics will be covered, such as entrepreneurship, philanthropy, public policy, leadership, technology, art, and fashion

Book signings: Esteemed authors will be onsite to sign copies of their books

Workshops: Four special workshops, including IAWF Business Tank, Connecting to Your Higher Self and Land the Job and Get Hired

Round Tables: Opportunities to sit with experts in social media, law, finance, technology, art, fashion, and more

Khosravani, along with IAWF trustees, board directors and new members, launched the new Los Angeles chapter at a private event at Porta Via in Beverly Hills on February 1, 2018.

IAWF trustee and board member, Parisima Hassani, CEO of award-winning international architectural firm, Westgroup Designs, says, IAWF connects Iranian women across all generations and professions globally. Our Mentorship Program is now calling for applicants from anywhere in the world. This initiative has been the platform for many women to achieve their dreams with resilience and fortitude by accessing instrumental resources and dedicated mentors.

To become a mentor or mentee, please click on the links.

IAWF Womens Leadership Conference General Admission tickets are $175.00. Student tickets are $85.00. Tickets and more info can be found here.

To learn about membership/sponsorship or how to get involved with the Iranian American Women Foundation, please email contact(at)iawfoundation(dot)org or visit the IAWF Website.

About the Iranian American Women Foundation

Founded in Orange County, California in 2012 by Mariam Khosravani, the Iranian American Women Foundation (IAWF) has held nationwide conferences in New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Irvine, as well as international conferences in London, UK and Toronto, Canada. These events showcase the achievements and contributions of women from Iranian descent across all industries and provide mentorship opportunities for the next generation of leaders. Each conference hosts up to 800 participants from all over the world. IAWF currently has over 2,500 members in its four chapters (Los Angeles, Orange County, New York, San Francisco) and an esteemed board of over thirty advisors, trustees and directors who are some of the nations most prominent leaders and entrepreneurs.

About Azita Raji

Azita Raji is an American diplomat, banker, and philanthropist. She was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2014 to serve as the United States ambassador to Sweden. She was the first female U.S. ambassador to Sweden, and the first Iranian-born American to serve as a U.S. ambassador. In 2016, she was nominated for the U.S. State Departments highest award for a non-career ambassador, the Sue M. Cobb Prize for Exemplary Diplomatic Service. In recognition of her contributions to American society, Ambassador Raji has been recognized by The Carnegie Corporation of New York, and is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

About IAWF Trustees

These luminous leaders set long-term strategies for the Iranian American Women Foundation and act as the ambassadors for the organization: Fariba Ameri, Contemporary visual artist and philanthropist; Dr. Nina Ansary, award-winning author and UN Women appointed Global Champion for Innovation; Bita Daryabari, award-winning humanitarian and executive director of Pars Equality Center; Zohre Elahian, award-winning philanthropist and co-founder of Schools Online, managing director of Global Catalyst Foundation; Parisima Hassani, CEO of the award-winning international architectural firm Westgroup Designs; Shirin Hedayat, former financial advisor and master in intuitive medicine; Shahpar Khaledi, co-founder of Darioush Winery in Napa Valley and former director of Echelon; Nellie Keyhani, vice president of Advisory Services with Whittier Trust; Neda Nobari, former director and vice chair of bebe stores, Inc. and founder and president of the Neda Nobari Foundation; Violet Parvarandeh, philanthropist and former computer designer; Julie Ruehle, founder of Ruehle CFO Advisory and Ruehle Realty.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018 will mark the 7th Annual ABC15 Telethon benefitting the Phoenix Childrens Hospital. This event, hosted by local channel ABC15, will broadcast live from the Hospital itself. This telethon takes place every year in April. Last year, donors raised over $740,000 for the Phoenix Childrens Hospital, the patients, and their families. This year, the event aims to blow past that number.

The Telethon will include many of the on-air anchors and personalities that have become staples on ABC15. The phone lines will be ran by community volunteers and sponsors, and Valley-area celebrity guests will make appearances throughout the telethon. Patients from the Phoenix Children's Hospital and their families will also share their stories of inspiration and triumph.

More about Phoenix Childrens Hospital

The Phoenix Childrens Hospital is the sixth-largest childrens hospital in the country and the largest source of pediatric care to low-income families in Arizona. All donations received during this event will support the Hospitals Hope Fund which finances innovative research, cutting-edge technology, the recruitment of leading physicians, and the child-friendly programs and services that make the hospital environment more comfortable for young patients. Donors will also have the chance to give a superhero gift in their name to one of the hospitals young patients.

Lerner and Rowe Gives Back is proud to be a $10,000 level partner to the Telethon and the over 135,000 patients treated at the hospital each year. Our team hopes that you will open your heart and help us achieve the goal of progressing the children of Arizona in prosperity and happiness.

We believe that children should always have the best chance to shoot for their brightest future. By supporting the Phoenix Childrens Hospital, we are working towards an ideal future for our youth in Arizona, said attorney Kevin Rowe.

More about Lerner and Rowe

For additional information about Lerner and Rowes Phoenix personal injury attorneys call (602) 977-1900. To learn more about the criminal defense and bankruptcy legal services offered by their partner law firm Lerner and Rowe Law Group, visit lernerandrowelawgroup.com or call (602) 667-7777. Need help filing an application or appeal for Social Security benefits? Contact the law firms other legal partners at Social Security Disability Advocates by calling (602) 952-3200 or online at socialsecuritydisabilityadvocatesusa.com.

To connect with the law firm socially, follow Lerner and Rowe on Twitter, or become a fan of their Facebook page. Also visit lernerandrowegivesback.com to learn more about the community services that the lawyers and legal support team of Lerner and Rowe actively support.
Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France Photo credit: Dennis Jarvis Whether its for their beauty, their scale, or their impact on history, the rooms we encounter while traveling inspire as much awe as any natural wonder.

Travel may be about getting out and about but that doesnt mean all the best attractions are always outdoors. Whether its for their beauty, their scale, or their impact on history, the rooms we encounter while traveling inspire as much awe and reverence as any natural wonder. With that in mind, the members and editors of travel website Trippy.com announce Ten Awe-Inspiring Rooms Around the World.

Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles; Versailles, France

You know how you have that one room you use to really impress company? Thats essentially what the Hall of Mirrors was at the Palace of Versailles. Decorated with 357 mirrors, the room was originally meant to show that France was as well equipped in the field of mirror making as its manufacturing rival, Venice. With that kind of opulence, its no wonder that this room was the one the Sun King chose when he really wanted to impress his guests.

The Jungle Room, Graceland; Memphis, Tennessee

While it may not win any awards for taste, this room was said to be a favorite of the Presley family. The Polynesian-themed den also served as a recording studio at one point and was said to remind Elvis of Hawaii. With green shag carpet and an artificial waterfall, its just an ocean breeze away from being the real thing.

Amber Room, Catherine Palace; Pushkin, Russia

Some people will just give you the pictures right off their walls if you say you like them. Such was the case with the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace. Given to Peter the Great when he was a guest of the King of Prussia, this totally over-the-top room was dismantled and stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Although later recreated, the original Amber Room is thought to still be out there somewhere, making it a treasure hunters dream.

Churchill War Rooms; London, U.K.

Hidden beneath the streets of London lies the maze of rooms and corridors from which Churchill and his staff directed the Allies to victory in World War II. Preserved exactly as it was left on the day the lights were switched off in 1945, these rooms are an extraordinary look at the behind-the-scenes machinations of one of historys deadliest conflicts.

Fords Theater; Washington, D.C.

Although this still-working theater now boasts modern equipment and amenities, this famous auditorium is much better known for a single event than it is for its productions. Complete with museum and guided tours, it gives visitors a first-hand look at one of the most pivotal events in American history. As Trippy.com member Janelle Kennedy remarks, being in the very room where President Lincoln had been shot 150 years earlier was eerie and surreal. It was a moving experience.

Anne Franks Bedroom, Anne Frank Museum; Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Arguably, no room on our list, or any other for that matter, is more moving or heartbreaking than that of Anne Franks girlhood bedroom. Part of the famous Annex in which the famous diarist and her family hid from the Germans during World War II, the room touchingly illustrates Franks efforts to remain a normal teenager during the most abnormal of times.

The Library at Biltmore; Asheville, North Carolina

Its no surprise that when planning his famed country retreat, George Vanderbilt, a rabid reader who sent his books out to be bound in Moroccan leather, made his library a focal point. Said to have averaged an 81-book-a-year habit, Vanderbilts passion for the written word can be felt in every corner of this extraordinary library. This room, which houses Vanderbilts over-20,000 volume collection, is in especially rare form at Christmas.

Raphael Rooms, Palace of the Vatican; Vatican City, Italy

Talk about a fixer upper! It was over 500 years ago that the artist Raphael was commissioned to beautify the apartments of Pope Julius II who was less than satisfied by the decor left by his predecessor, Pope Alexander VI. Started in 1508, the ornate frescos that made the apartment famous were finished by Raphaels students upon his death in 1520.

The Ambavilasa, Mysore Palace; Mysore, India

Used by Indias kings to receive visitors, this ornate room pulls out all the decorating stops from stained glass to semi-precious stones embedded in the floor. Its only rival might be the Kalyana Mantapa, the palaces opulent marriage hall. Not surprisingly, the palace is the one of the countrys most popular tourist attractions, second only to the Taj Mahal.

Lhotel de Wendel Ballroom, Musee Carnavalet; Paris, France

Although you wont be able to visit for some time as the museum is currently under renovation, this particular room in the Musee Carnavalet is worth the wait. A reconstruction of a famed 1925 Art Deco ballroom, this room showcases the work of artist and muralist Jose-Maria Sert who was famously commissioned to paint over Diego Riveras controversial mural, Man at the Crossroads at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Don't see your favorite awe-inspiring room on this list? Tell us about it at Trippy.com!

Trippy is a community of travelers helping each other travel better.
The collaborative nature of DERC  Hawaii and its members will provide rich opportunities to create a future focused on renewable energies with innovative solutions.

OATI is pleased to announce its membership in the Distributed Energy Resources Council of Hawaii (DERC - Hawaii), a nonprofit organization dedicated to cooperative ventures toward a clean energy future. With this membership, OATI joins a group of well-established energy industry companies who are also members of DERC - Hawaii.

OATI has a strong history of supporting Hawaiian initiatives in renewable energies. With this membership, OATI is proud to continue this support, particularly through the development of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and SmartGrid Solutions.

DERC serves as an intervener in key proceedings at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) - DER Docket and the Demand Response (DR) Docket with a particular focus on establishing guidelines for the Grid Modernization Docket and the Utility Electric Vehicle (EV) Plan. Additionally, DERC  Hawaii is active at the Hawaii State Legislature to monitor and engage in relevant legislative opportunities for clean energy rebates/tax credits, interconnection standards, and performance-based rate-making.

It also participates in technical meetings with the utility and other energy stakeholders to review utility programs and Utility Commission Dockets. Key programs in which OATI will participate as a DERC member include Grid Services, Grid Modernization, and Electrification of Transportation and EV renewable transportation plans.

As a general member, OATI will also participate in association meetings and working groups, receive policy and market intelligence updates, and receive recognition in association promotional materials, filings, and communications.

We are very excited to be a part of this distinguished group, said Dr. Sasan Mokhtari, President and CEO of OATI. The collaborative nature of DERC  Hawaii and its members will provide rich opportunities to create a future focused on renewable energies with innovative solutions.

About OATI

OATI provides innovative solutions that simplify, streamline, and empower the operational tasks required in todays energy commerce and Smart Grid. Serving more than 2,000 customers in North America, OATI successfully deploys and hosts diverse mission-critical solutions committed to industry standards and stringent security guidelines.

OATI (http://www.oati.com) is a leading provider of Smart Grid, Energy Trading and Risk Management, Transmission Scheduling, Congestion Management, Distribution, and Market Management products and services. OATI is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with offices in California, Punjab, Telangana, and Singapore. For more information, please contact sales(at)oati.net.
The Homebuilders Association of Richmond hosted the annual Major Achievement in Marketing Excellence (MAME) Awards on March 1st at the Jefferson Hotel. At this highly anticipated event, homebuilders were recognized for achievements in sales, marketing, design, and construction. Eastwood Homes swept this event with the prestigious Marketing Excellence award and the most notable title, Builder of the Year for 76-150 homes built annually. This coveted designation is awarded once per year to a company that excels in all aspects of the industry.

Clark Stewart, owner of Eastwood Homes, commented, It is a tremendous honor to be recognized as Builder of the Year as its only our 5th year in operation in the Richmond market. Its a true testament to the dedication and skillset of our team and helps solidify our reputation in a market that is dominated by quality builders who were very fortunate to compete alongside. I have no doubt that we will continue to see exceptional growth in this market in the coming years.

Not only was Eastwood Homes honored by industry peers as builder of the year, they were also recognized for Marketing Excellence of the Year. Stephanie Sayler, Marketing Manager remarked As a local homebuilder, we have an inspiring story to share- one that contains an unrelenting focus on care and customer service for over 40 years. This story paired with our varied product offering makes the opportunity to market and sell Eastwood Homes a true joy. We look forward to continuing to build our brand and message of Built with Care throughout the greater Richmond area.

With her first year under her belt, New Home Specialist Amanda Parsons was awarded Rookie Sales Professional of the Year. Amy Druhot, Sales Manager for the Richmond Division commented, Amanda is defined by her infectious attitude, determination, and compassion. In Amandas world, there is no time she cant be reached, no problem that cant be solved, and no task is too trivial. These qualities speak volumes about not only the type of employee that Amanda is, but the type of person she is.

Alongside Amandas title of Rookie Sales Professional of the Year, several New Home Specialists of Eastwood Homes were recognized for their achievements. Amanda Parsons, Cathy Newton, Greg Clark, and John Howsmon were recognized with Silver Awards for sales over $2 million. Michelle Puletti and Melanie Herring were recognized with a Gold Award for sales over $3 million.

The entire team at Eastwood Homes is honored to be recognized for their 2017 achievements and anticipates a continuation of their success.

Founded in 1977 by Joseph K. Stewart, Eastwood Homes has a long history and highly favorable reputation among homebuilders. The privately held company is consistently named among the Top 50 Homebuilders Nationwide and is listed in the Top 25 Privately-Held Businesses in North Carolina. Corporate headquarters are located in Charlotte, NC along with sizable divisions and operations in the Raleigh and Triad areas of North Carolina, Charleston and Greenville, South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia. In 2017 the company acquired Fortress Homes, headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, strengthening its footprint in the Southeast. To learn more, visit http://www.EastwoodHomes.com.
We must ask ourselves, as a people and a nation, the fundamental question: Whom do we really want in charge of our health care? Those interested in our health, or those interested in our money? --Theresa Barta

Greed on Trial: Doctors and Patients Unite to Fight Big Insurance (Brown Books Publishing Group), releases today, April 3, 2018. Successful trial lawyer and physicians advocate, Theresa Barta, exposes the truth behind todays medical landscape.

Whether you are a doctor or a patient, you will come away from reading this book with a better understanding of how modern health care is being managed in ways that serve the bottom line rather than public health, says Barta.

In Greed on Trial, Theresa Barta follows three true stories of doctors who fight back against the insurers/medical management companies and win. Through her page-turning narrative, Barta pulls back the curtain on the complex world of doctors who struggle to care for their patients while being told to comply with company regulations. Patients will begin to learn that doctors are not to blame for our current health crisis. Profit has become the priority and insurance companies ask doctors to cut corners, double-and triple-book appointments, pressure doctors to prescribe older, cheaper medication, and limit the number of tests and referrals they order. Often doctors that do not comply with new policies are at risk of losing their jobs or insurance affiliations.

The abusive practices highlighted in this book are rampant in our country, and few people know about them. I hope this book will help to change that. I hope it will bring to light the fact that our doctorswhom we desperately need, especially as our population agesare being treated like devalued pawns in todays world of corporate medicine. Doctors need our support, not our anger and resentment.

By specializing in suing insurers and health-care companies, Theresa Barta fights for good and honest doctors who strive to deliver quality health care and then find themselves terminated illegally.

The simple fact is that profit and patient care dont go together. This system has a built-in conflict of interest. We now find ourselves in a position where patient care is dwindling and patient costs are going up.

This eye-opening book features an issue that affects everyone, from patient to medical professional, and will ultimately change the way health care is viewed.

We need to be aware that there are not only laws that protect doctors from retaliation, but also medical principles that safeguard patients rights and protect their ability to receive health care without interference from insurers and health-care systems. We must ask ourselves, as a people and a nation, the fundamental question: Whom do we really want in charge of our health care? Those interested in our health, or those interested in our money?

For more information on Theresa Barta and Greed on Trial, visit http://www.barta-law.com/thebook.

About The Agency at Brown Books (ABB)

As a sister company of Brown Books Publishing Group, The Agency at Brown Books is backed by more than 20 years of publishing excellence, leveraged in the first full-service public relations, marketing, branding and distribution provider within a publishing house. The Agency provides high-level public relations, marketing and distribution services for not only Brown Books authors, but also non-affiliated authors, all within the same house. For more information, please visit http://www.TheAgencyatBB.com.

About Brown Books Publishing Group (BBPG)

Founded in 1994 as an Entrepreneurial Publisher for Entrepreneurial Authors, Brown Books Publishing Group was established to fill a need in the publishing world by allowing authors to have a voice in the publishing process while retaining the rights to their intellectual property. Applying this innovative Relationship Publishing model, Brown Books has cultivated a prestigious stable of authors, from New York Times bestsellers to Pulitzer Prize winners and more. Boasting hundreds of high-quality books across genres, Brown Books is a fiercely independent publisher that encourages author empowerment. In 1994, Brown Books ushered in A New Era in Publishing, and more than two decades later, continues to be a successful innovative leader in the publishing industry. For more information, please visit http://www.BrownBooks.com.
HomeJab's 360 Interactive Video HomeJab works with thousands of agents and the feedback we received was that most people were not happy with 3D tours. They thought the tech was cool, but preferred to watch video. 360 video is the best of both worlds. Buyers can sit back and watch with the freedom to explore further if they choose.

HomeJab, a tech company specializing in media production for the real estate industry, has created and released new 360 interactive video. The 360 video can be played as a standard video, but offers the viewer the ability to interact by clicking and moving around to view the entire room. The 360 video was created as a cost efficient and more user friendly alternative to 3D scans.

Joe Jesuele, HomeJabs founder, explains the need for 360 interactive videos in the real estate industry, HomeJab works with thousands of agents and the feedback we received was that most people were not happy with 3D tours. They thought the tech was cool, but preferred to watch video. 360 video is the best of both worlds. Buyers can sit back and watch with the freedom to explore further if they choose.

360 video is slowly rolling out nationwide and will be available in all 50 states. HomeJab is currently the only company offering a 360 interactive video option to real estate professionals. The necessity for 360 video grew out of concerns that 3D tours are too pricey and that potential homebuyers and clients are looking for a more versatile video.

The 360 video gives the person watching multiple options for their viewing experience. The video can be played continuously without interruption and/or interaction, or the viewer can click on the screen to look anywhere in the room. This allows the viewer to see more than typical listing photos and videos. To experience please click here. Please view in Chrome or Firefox.

HomeJab currently schedules thousands of shoots per month, works with over 7,500 agents per year, covers all 50 states, and employs over 300 digital artists.

About

Founded in 2014, HomeJab is a media production company based in Philadelphia, PA specializing in tech services for the real estate market. For more information call 1-855-226-8305, visit https://www.homejab.com/ or email Kristine(at)homejab.com.
Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Alex van der Zwaan, the Dutch attorney who pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators was sentenced by a federal judge to 30 days in jail and a $20,000 fine on Tuesday.



Van der Zwaan, 33, becomes the first person sentenced in special counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russian collusion during the 2016 election. The son-in-law of a Russian oligarch, van der Zwaan entered his guilty plea in February for lying about his work in Ukraine with Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and deputy Rick Gates.



He has no known ties to the Trump campaign. But in sentencing discussions filed with the court, Mueller alleged that van der Zwaan and Gates held discussions with a business associate who was a former Russian intelligence officer during the final months of the 2016 campaign.



Judge Amy Berman Jackson told the court that she wanted to impose a sentence that would serve as a deterrence to others.



Jackson said she does not consider van der Zwaan a flight risk and will allow him to voluntarily surrender. Jackson added that she would allow van der Zwaan to have his passport back after his 30-day sentence, at which point he can self-deport if Immigrations and Customs Enforcement allows.



Special counsel spokesman Peter Carr told ABC News that, as with any federal case, the Bureau of Prisons will determine where van der Zwaan serves his sentence.



Before hearing his sentence, van der Zwaan addressed the court about his conduct in lying to federal investigators and apologized to his family and the court.



What I did was wrong, van der Zwaan said.



Van der Zwaans attorney, William Schwartz, sought to paint a sympathetic portrait of his client for the court, describing his time in the U.S. as untethered, with no job, routine, or friends. Van der Zwaan has been living in a Residence Inn, Schwartz said.



Schwartz also made a point of noting that his client returned to the U.S. voluntarily to correct the record and turned over his devices.



He realized he had made a terrible mistake and couldve broken the law, Schwartz added before asking the court for a fine without a sentence of incarceration.



Andrew Weissman, an attorney for the special counsel, argued for jail time and pushed back against van der Zwaans request for leniency. Weissman agreed with Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who said at the start of the hearing that guidelines allow for a sentence of zero to six months.



This is not an isolated incident, Weissman said. Theres a history of conduct that was either criminal or shows a real lack of morality.



He does not deserve credit for returning to the U.S.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
This residency will be a rare opportunity to gain intimate insight into the cutting-edge research methods that scientists are working with today.

The first of three artists has been selected for the University City Science Centers new BioArt Residency program. Laura Splan is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores intersections of art, science, technology and craft. She will begin a three-month residency at uCity Square-based biotech company Integral Molecular on April 6, 2018.

The BioArt Residency program fosters collaboration between artists and scientists. Not only will it allow both parties to gain new perspectives, but artists will also be able to serve as intermediaries communicating and creating dialog around complex scientific issues. Three artists will each spend three months working on creative research projects in Integral Moleculars labs.

Laura Splans conceptually based projects examine the material manifestations of our relationship with the human body. She reconsiders perceptions of the corporeal using both traditional and new media techniques. She questions culturally constructed notions of order and disorder by combining the ordinary with the institutional. Much of her work is inspired by experimentation with materials and processes, which she mines for their narrative implications and untapped potentials.

This residency will be a rare opportunity to gain intimate insight into the cutting-edge research methods that scientists are working with today, says Splan. Biotechnology has been a frequent protagonist in my work often providing inspiration in its histories, principles, and aesthetics. Im looking forward to seeing how more direct interaction with scientists and the tools they are using influences what I create in the Integral Molecular laboratory.

Splan's work has been included in exhibitions at Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY; New York Hall of Science, New York, NY; and Beall Center for Art + Technology, Irvine, CA. Her work has been exhibited internationally including her current solo exhibition at Occurrence Gallery (Montreal, QC) of electromyography data-driven artworks. Commissioned projects for her work have included projects examining the act of hand washing in H1N1 flu prevention for the Center for Disease Control, computerized lace doilies modeled on corona viruses for the Gen Art New Media Art Exhibition, and projects examining representations of HIV/AIDS at the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College. Her work is included in the collections of the Thoma Art Foundation, the NYU Langone Art Collection, the Institute for Figuring, and the UCSF Infectious Disease Department.

The BioArt Residency is supported by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

About the Science Center

Located in the heart of uCity Square, the Science Center is a mission-driven nonprofit organization that catalyzes and connects innovation to entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. For 50+ years, the Science Center has supported startups, research, and economic development in the life sciences, healthcare, physical sciences, and emerging technology sectors. As a result, graduate firms and current residents of the Science Centers incubator support one out of every 100 jobs in the Greater Philadelphia region and drive $13 billion in economic activity in the region annually. By providing resources and programming for any stage of a businesss lifecycle, the Science Center helps scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators take their concepts from idea to IPO  and beyond.

For more information about the Science Center, go to http://www.sciencecenter.org
Tax Day is almost here! Bite Squad, the online and mobile food delivery service, is honoring the end of tax season with a tax break special. Whether hungry customers are celebrating because theyve already filed or are still scrambling to wrap things up, Bite Squad is offering 7.5% off* delivery orders on Tuesday, April 17. To take advantage of the one-day deal, customers nationwide can simply enter the promotional code TAXDAY18 when placing an order at http://www.bitesquad.com or on the Bite Squad app.

Were always looking to make our customers' days better, said Chief Marketing Officer Craig Key. On what is often a stressful day, well bring people something good to eat, right to their door or desk, plus were offering a little tax-day relief with a discount.

*Enter code TAXDAY18 at checkout for discount. Valid for 7.5% off delivery and catering orders of $20 (subtotal) or more on 4/17/2018. No cash value. Not valid towards tax, tip or booking fee. One per household. Cannot be combined with any other offer or discount.

About Bite Squad

Bite Squad is a leading independent provider of online and mobile food ordering and delivery services in the United States. Founded in 2012, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bite Squad partners with local restaurants across more than 30 metropolitan areas to deliver fresh food straight to the customers door, quickly and hassle-free. To learn more about Bite Squad or to download the top-rated Bite Squad mobile apps, visit bitesquad.com.
ALIR LLC Currently the life settlement broker market functions via a somewhat fractured and often proprietary means of sharing case data for pricing.

Addressing a fragmented and often inconsistent component of the life settlement market, ALIR has rolled out its online portal ALIR Broker Connect (ABC). The ABC platform provides a simple online tool for life settlement brokers to quickly share case files including life expectancy reports, illustrations, policy data, and medical records for pricing. This facilitates quicker turnaround and funding of life settlement cases, and streamlined workflow for the life settlement broker community.

Currently the life settlement broker market functions via a somewhat fractured and often proprietary means of sharing case data for pricing. Says Christopher Erwin, principal of ALIR LLC, a licensed life settlement provider in the state of California. Our team recognized the difficulties faced by life settlement brokers and chose to implement technology for a simple yet robust solution. We turned to the highly scalable Salesforce platform, which allows the ABC portal to consolidate the sharing of life settlement case data via a secure online form. Brokers can now quickly and easily make case files available and receive prompt policy pricing from ALIR.

ALIR has coupled decades of experience working with life settlement Brokers and Providers, with a technical know-how, to help shore up a fundamental inefficiency in the industry. ALIRs innovative approach to pricing and funding life settlements will prove to be an invaluable resource as the life settlement industry continues to grow into 2018.

ALIR offers a broad range of life settlement services. As a leader in the industry ALIR works both directly with policy owners, and life settlement community providing turn key solutions and an extensive understanding of the market. Christopher Erwin, CEO of ALIR LLC is an active member of the California Bar, a long-standing member of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA), and holds memberships in the Orange County Bar Association and American Bar Association.

The new ALIR Broker Connect portal can be found on the ALIR website here: ALIR Broker Portal.

For more information, visit http://alir.com or call an ALIR representative today at 888-358-7878.
The Opioid Discussion is providing a valuable education forum to not only educate participants but also inform the community of the services that are available. For many, the financial burden associated with rehabilitation can be subsidized and supported with government funds.

Center for Behavioral Health (CBH), a nationally accredited outpatient treatment facility, today announced its sponsorship of The Opioid Discussion on Thursday, April 12 at Shreve Memorial Library Broadmoor. The Opioid Discussion is a free public event that is focused on education, prevention, treatment and recovery.

The Opioid Discussion is an example of todays health providers proactively going into the community to address the growing opioid epidemic head-on. Louisiana is right in the cross hairs of the Nations growing opioid epidemic--the total number of opioid-related deaths rose from 155 in 2012 to 305 in 2016. This alarming trend is consistent with the national average and is supported by a number of startling facts, including:



Louisiana averages 110 opioid prescriptions per 100 people

Among those people who misused prescription pain relievers in the past year, more than 50 percent got them from friends or relatives, 40 percent from health care providers and 10 percent from other sources

$296 million annually in health care costs are spent on opioid related care

The Opioid Discussion will assemble a number of local addiction specialists and medical professionals to educate the audience about the local opioid crisis and provide the community with free resources for opioid-addicted individuals. The Opioid Discussion will also address a recently available federal grant that subsidizes medication assisted treatment.

To eliminate the stigma that is associated with addressing illicit drug use, it is important to have open conversations about opioids, said Brant Massman, President of Center for Behavioral Health. The Opioid Discussion is providing a valuable education forum to not only educate participants but also inform the community of the services that are available. For many, the financial burden associated with rehabilitation can be subsidized and supported with government funds. We are looking forward to working with the medical community and general public to bring light and awareness to the conversation.

CBH has been closely tied to the Louisiana community for many years. With facilities in Shreveport and Monroe, CBH has been able to lead thousands of patients to recovery. CBH has found that after entering treatment, opioid patients are more employable, 80% report no illicit opiate or heroin use and patients have reported a significant drop in legal troubles.

CBHs facilities in Louisiana:

1303 Line Avenue #600

Shreveport, LA 71101

Tel: (318) 425-3400

11910 Ruffin Drive

Monroe, LA 71202

Tel: (318) 340-9596

About Center for Behavioral Health

Center for Behavioral Health is an accredited network of growing outpatient facilities and treatment centers that is focused on assisting people addicted to opiates. Learn more about Center for Behavioral Health by visiting its website or following it via social media.
Post Cafe Social media is so important for REALTORS as it helps them build their personal and business brand.

Post Cafe, makers of the leading social media content publishing service for REALTORS, today announces a strategic partnership with the New York State Association of REALTORS (NYSAR).

With this news, NYSAR members can automatically share engaging content on their social media platforms, while monitoring their performance directly through the Post Cafe dashboard, thus driving greater social media ROI. This partnership was designed to revolutionize real estate marketing in a simple, automated fashion.

Social media is so important for REALTORS as it helps them build their personal and business brand, says Chris Mulvaney, CEO of Post Cafe. Through this partnership, NYSAR members are better equipped to satisfy the emerging demands for quality content, easily connect with social media leads, nurture relationships in real time and close deals faster than ever before.

Driving this strategic partnership, Post Cafe brings a seamless integration for NYSAR members to tie automated social media content on todays most popular social media networks including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and directly drive lead generation efforts for the first time.

Designed to help REALTORS open the door to fresh, new ways of connecting with clients, this partnership emphasizes Post Cafes commitment to offering REALTORS an all-encompassing social media content sharing platform, which now includes the added value of lead notifications.

We built Post Cafe from the ground-up to make social media marketing easier. Since launching in 2016, we have continued to expand offerings for industry leaders to be able to share content across multiple social channels. Every year it gets bigger and better.

Post Cafe offers multiple plan options through the partnership with the New York State Association of REALTORS for users with varying levels of social media content and posts, including 90 days of free access to the Single Shot Package (one post per day). For NYSAR users with more advanced social media content needs, Post Cafe also offers the Double Shot Package of 60 posts per month for only $44.99.

----

About Post Cafe

Post Cafe is a groundbreaking social media and content service, spun off from Marketing Agency CMDS (http://www.cmdsonline.com), one of NJs leading social media agencies. Dedicated to providing simplified social media for busy professionals, Post Cafe helps business owners find the time and resources to amplify their social media presence, through relevant, branded content.

Hows it work? Professional, in-house writers publish industry-relevant articles on a personally branded website hub, For Sale Guides. The subscriber has access to a dashboard where they can view upcoming posts and chose the articles to automatically post on their brands social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn). They can skip posts or cancel at any time. The user gets full credit on the hub and a boosted social media presence to build a strong online reputation.

Post Cafe invites REALTORS to sign up for a free trial using promo code: NYSAR and start posting immediately. http://www.post.cafe/realtors

About NYSAR

The Albany, NY-based New York State Association of REALTORS is a not-for-profit trade organization representing more than 55,000 of New York State's real estate professionals. The association provides a variety of benefits including legislative and legal representation, educational programs, publications such as the New York State REALTOR and a code of professional standards. The term REALTOR is a registered trademark, which identifies real estate professionals who subscribe to a strict code of ethics as a member of the National Association of REALTORS. These REALTORS are also members of the New York Association of REALTORS as well as their local board or association of REALTORS.
"Any book that convinces me that maybe there is still hope in the worldthat is worth the writing and the reading and the time.  The Bookbag UK Review

British adventurer George Aylwin Hogg, was a remarkable man best known for his heroic deeds and accomplishments in late 30s and early 40s China where he helped save and train 60 orphan Chinese boys. As the nephew of Hogg, author Mark Aylwin Thomas was bestowed his uncles collection of letters and writings which he explored through, and now offers a personal and compelling window into the character of this extraordinary man in his new book, Blades of Grass  The Story of George Aylwin Hogg.

Although Hoggs life was short, he was a caring and brave man who is well-known in China for his numerous acts of kindness. The memory of what he did for Chinese people during the war-torn years of the 30s and 40s is still celebrated and held to a high esteem in China. Also, a hero in the United Kingdom, Hoggs original letters are in safe-keeping at the illustrious Bodleian Library archives in Oxford.

Hoggs story has been portrayed in the feature film The Children of Huang Shi and in several other books, however, Blades of Grass is the most accurate and enthralling account of his life as told through his own words and supported by Thomas research and insight.

A five-star reviewed book on Readers Favorite, Blades of Grass has already been receiving critical acclaim.

Any book that has me in tears at the end has been worth my time. Any book that has me hoping it will end differently to the way I know it must is worth reading. Any book that convinces me that maybe there is still hope in the worldthat is worth the writing and the reading and the time.  The Bookbag UK Review

Blades of Grass is an in-depth and well-researched homage to George Aylwin Hoggs vision for a democratically industrialized China.  Clarion Review

Hoggs lively letters and journalism thus serve as a rare witness to the Sino-Japanese War.  Kirkus Reviews

A touching tribute to a heroic man, Blades of Grass will captivate and inform readers of an important part of world history that is not to be forgotten. To learn more, please visit GeorgeAlywinHogg.com.

Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg

By Mark Aylwin Thomas

ISBN: 978-1-5246-7697-1 (hc), 978-1-5246-7696-4 (sc), 978-1-5246-7698-8 (e)

Available at Amazon, AuthorHouse UK, and Barnes & Noble

About the author

In 1946, about six months after the tragically early death of his uncle George Aylwin Hogg, author Mark Aylwin Thomas was born and raised in Sheffield. In 1974, he moved to Finland with his Finnish wife Helena. Living in the midst of lakes and forests, near the town of Suonenjoki, Thomas set to making a life as a farmer. As a sideline, he provided a translation and copy editing service to the regions industrial and scientific community. Thomas unusual middle name, Aylwin, which he shares with his uncle, is of ancient Celtic origin, and it was by this name that his uncle was known within the family. In 1988, the Chinese government invited members of Hoggs family to attend memorial events in China. During his trip, Thomas was asked if he would return later in the year to act the role of his uncle in a mini-series for Chinese television. While in China, Thomas became fascinated by the story of his uncle and came to realize to what extent he was regarded in China as a national hero yet was virtually unknown in his own country. Hoggs sister, Rosemary, passed all of her brothers papers to Thomas for safekeeping and research for his book. Working on it during the winter months, while his strawberry fields were deep under snow, and arctic weather kept him indoors, his book Blades of Grass: The Story of George Aylwin Hogg took shape.

Review Copies & General Inquiries:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

Lauren Dickerson

480-998-2600

ldickerson@lavidge.com
Kelly Hyman This program is developed by women and taught by women. I am honored to be part of this amazing conference.

The 360 Advocacy Women's Conference is a conference on trial skills for women, taught by women. Attorney Kelly Hyman is co-chair of the conference. Trials Skills from the Womans Perspective is the conference for women trial lawyers who are looking to improve all area of their practice. Actor and model, now, lawyer, Kelly Hyman, will be lecturing on "Using the Techniques of Improv, Voice and Body to Engage and Persuade in the Courtroom".

Formerly of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, FL, Ms. Hyman has also appeared in numerous television shows and commercials, and is most known for the role of Loretta on the Young and the Restless. While studying for her undergraduate degree, she served as a White House Intern with the Office of Presidential Inquiries.

Kelly Hyman is an attorney at the McDivitt Law Firm, one of the largest personal injury firms in Colorado. Kelly Hyman's practice focuses on personal injury and mass tort.

Kelly Hyman has received an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell. She is a member of the AAJ and participated in the Women's Caucus Day. She is a member of the Palm Beach County Bar Association and the Colorado Bar Association. She is currently the President of the Federal Bar, Palm Beach Chapter.

Mrs. Hyman has lectured on mindfulness, Improv for attorney, and drug and medical device litigation.

Kelly Hyman graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in Communications. Kelly Hyman received her Juris Doctor Degree Cum Laude from the University of Florida. She served as Federal Law Clerk for Judge Sandoval, now the Governor of Nevada.
"We first met Mr. Meier and retained him for his services when we established SAFWAD a few years ago in Washington, DC. He assisted us, we paid him  and then he turned around and immediately donated all the money to SAFWAD. He thus became the very first donor to SAFWAD ..."

This Easter Sunday, Mike Meier, a pro bono attorney, made another financial contribution to the non-profit organization SOCIAL AID FOR WEST AFRICA DEVELOPMENT, INC. (SAFWAD) to ensure it succeeds. Mr. Meier is an attorney who has supported several non-profit organization with pro bono legal advice, and sometimes (as here) with financial contributions.

We first met Mr. Meier and retained him for his services when we established SAFWAD a few years ago in Washington, DC. He assisted us, we paid him  and then he turned around and immediately donated all the money to SAFWAD. He thus became the very first donor to SAFWAD, explains Cecile Possian, one of SAFWADs co-founders.

Through his work with several non-profit community-based organizations in the Washington, D.C. area, Mr. Meier has helped them to begin or continue their operations and contribute to the community. Meiers other contributions include the support of a non-profit of a Hispanic photography organization, for which he has resolved several legal disputes pro bono (meaning without pay). For another ex-patriate church, he handled pro bono the legal matters for the parish that the church received as a donation, as well as the work visa for the pastor who came from abroad. In the past, Meier provided free consultations and legal assistance for indigent immigrants at the St. Francis of Assisi Church in New York City. Mr. Meier has lived for years in countries where people are disadvantaged and understands the plight of people in need. He frequently writes articles on legal developments on his blog.

Without supporters like Mr. Meier, we would have to suspend our operations. But thanks to contributions from people like him, SAFWAD keeps getting stronger. In fact, we just received an offer for regular funding from another charitable organization in the U.S. We are planning to purchase a building lot in Cote DIvoire and construct our own building for our operations. Also, we are seeking financial support from the European Union right now, adds Cecile.

Lawyers are encouraged to participate in or make a financial contribution to community groups or the legal services programs. However, there is never enough legal help available. For example, the Maryland Court of Appeals Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Service promotes increased efforts on the part of lawyers to provide legal assistance to persons of limited means. The Virginia Bar Association specifically maintains a pro bono Council to address the needs for legal services that are considerably unmet or underserved. The District of Columbia Bar has established a Pro Bono Center to assist individuals living in poverty who are at risk of losing their homes, their livelihoods, and their families.

About SAFWAD

The non-profit SOCIAL AID FOR WEST AFRICA DEVELOPMENT, INC. was founded by individuals who have experienced first-hand the needs of West Africa. Though Africa is the richest Continent in terms of resources, many of its people suffer, lack education, and lack opportunities for development. The current focus is on building wells to provide clean water. Clean water is particular urgent since this is the most basic requirement of humans. We can live without clothes, and without eating for a few days or weeks, but nobody can live more than a day or two without water in Africa. The wells are 296 feet deep to ensure drinkable water and long production.

While being a religious organization, and not discriminating against any religion, SAFWAD is inspired by Jesus Christ and will serve others as if we are serving the Lord. The Bible tells us:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? Matthew 25:35. The Bible does not sanction when people are suffering. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful action of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11. SAFWADs website is http://www.SAFWAD.org.

Mike Meier is a pro bono who frequently assists community organizations. He writes about law and legal developments on his blog https://thelegalanalysis.blogspot.com/. His legal articles are published at http://www.internationallawinfo.com.
Stackery provides the most sophisticated software weve seen in the serverless space, stated Steve Kishi of HWVP.

Stackery, the market leader in serverless operations, provides software for enterprises to operationalize and govern their serverless applications. Today Stackery announced it has raised $5.5 million in additional funding. The round was led by Steve Kishi of HWVP with participation from Voyager Capital, Pipeline Capital Partners, and Founders Co-op. Stackery has now raised a total of more than $7.3 million since its founding in November 2016. The company has added Ted Driscoll, Vice President of Worldwide Sales, to its executive team.

In addition to the funding announcement, Stackery has released its serverless Health Metrics Dashboard to all existing and new customers. Stackerys Health Metrics Dashboard provides at-a-glance visibility into the health across all tiers of a distributed serverless application, with the ability to quickly drill down to individual resources with deep diagnostic observability.

Stackery provides the most sophisticated software weve seen in the serverless space, stated Steve Kishi of HWVP. "Stackery provides everything a development and operations team needs to reliably deploy serverless applications in production using appropriate governance and standardization. Though just over a year old, Stackery is clearly the leader in the enterprise serverless market.

Solving Serverless

Without question, serverless technology is beginning to transform cloud infrastructure. Serverless applications are significantly less expensive to run than those built in traditional environments and provide a great degree of flexibility in terms of how these applications can be designed. By abstracting away the undifferentiated heavy-lifting of server management, serverless applications drive dramatic accelerations in development velocity, which has led to wide-scale enterprise adoption of the technology.

The advantages notwithstanding, enterprises are still responsible for building, deploying, monitoring, and maintaining the health of their serverless applications. As these organizations look to productionize their serverless usage, they require operations software to automate their release cycle, standardize their implementation, enforce their security and governance policies, and enhance observability across these new critical business applications. With the addition of Health Metrics Dashboard, Stackerys Serverless Operations Console provides end-to-end automation and control over the entire application lifecycle for enterprise-grade serverless applications.

Over the last 12 months, Nate and team have released their product, secured their first customers and established a leadership position in the serverless marketplace, stated Diane Fraiman, Voyager Capital Partner, who led Stackerys previous round and followed-on in the new raise. As I believed in the very initial work with Nate, Stackery isnt just solving a technology problem for developers, but is in fact addressing a much bigger enterprise business problem. This is exactly the type of company that Voyager finds compelling.

Counter-intuitively, serverless adoption is an enterprise-first technology with broad demand among main street enterprise, as opposed to the Silicon Valley technology firms you might expect, stated Nate Taggart, CEO of Stackery. These organizations are in the midst of a massive migration to the cloud and are looking to modernize on the best technology to drive their infrastructure strategy. As they move to the cloud, and embrace DevOps, and introduce new microservices into their architecture, theyre increasingly finding that serverless drives the best velocity for their initiatives. Were committed to helping these world-class companies find success in their serverless adoption.

About Stackery

Stackerys Serverless Operations Console provides release automation, governance, observability, and operational control over serverless applications and infrastructure. Founded in 2016 and backed by Techstars, HWVP, Voyager Capital, Pipeline Capital Partners and Founders Co-op, Stackery is leading the shift to Functions-as-a-Service (FaaS), so enterprise companies can take advantage of reduced infrastructure costs and improved time-to-market to create more value for their customers, with the operational control and visibility they require for their production workloads.

About HWVP

HWVP was founded in 1989 as Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, the first venture capital firm to invest exclusively in software. That's still HWVPs focus-- early-stage enterprise software companies in infrastructure, applications and analytics. We were the first institutional investors in market and technology leaders MuleSoft, Omniture, Five9, Powersoft, Arbor Software, Wind River Systems, and many others. All HWVP partners have operating backgrounds and work closely and actively with our portfolio companies to realize their goals and build great companies.

http://hwvp.com/

About Voyager Capital

Voyager Capital is a leading West Coast information technology venture firm that provides entrepreneurs with the resources, experience and connections to build successful companies. Voyager invests primarily in early stage, digital media, and software and services companies, where the firm's domain expertise, go-to-market and team building resources help build market leaders. Voyager Capital has $420 million under management with offices in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Menlo Park, California. http://www.voyagercapital.com/
We can deliver actionable intelligence and context, regarding infringement, threat assessment, or suspicious behavior on the part of potential new partners with which a business is about to engage through Mergers and Acquisitions of Co-Ventures," said Corra Group Co-Founder, Gordon Basichis.

Corra Group is now offering a full suite of background checks designed to enhance any due diligence or investigative program. The new complement of background checks, under Corra Global Research, will include social media research and analytical open source intelligence reports pertaining to cyber espionage and cyber-crime, as well as other malicious threats to a corporate entities.

Corra Group has formed partnerships with several long term associates to offer both domestically and globally to form an even greater complement of searches for due diligence and investigation, said Corra Group Co-Founder, Gordon Basichis. "In addition to the reputational and data searches we have been providing for several years now, we are offering such searches as DarkNet Due Diligence.

This is where we leverage the expertise and advanced technology of our partners who have backgrounds in law enforcement and intelligence, said Basichis. We can deliver actionable intelligence and context, regarding infringement, threat assessment, or suspicious behavior on the part of potential new partners with which a business is about to engage through Mergers and Acquisitions or Co-Ventures.

Basichis pointed out Corra Group is offering deep net and dark net cyber investigations that can reflect social media postings by the business entity as well as the social media postings of the respective employees. He noted the discovery of such information may lead to the types of red flags that warn against continued engagement. Upon request, Basichis stated, these social media accounts can be monitored indefinitely.

Our partners are capable of reporting their Internet research in a variety of foreign languges, said Basichis. This is a lot more extensive than poking around on Google. This is a much more thorough due diligence exploration, capable of offering solutions to such dangers as corporate fraud, intellectual property theft, and forensic analysis of computers and cell phones.

Basichis advised that Corra Group is offering a complete range of background checks on a global scale to investigative agencies, law firms, and corporate entities. He pointed out that such services include file copy retrieval from all 3,200 counties within the United States as well as advanced due diligence reports on individuals and business both domestically and internationally.

We are a world where each day businesses are confronting new challenges to their branding, their product, and their economic stability, said Basichis. At Corra Group, we are constantly sourcing new products to better service our clients in an increasing volatile world.

BACKGROUND: Corra operates as Corra Group and specializes in employment screening and corporate research and due diligence. It is one of the few companies that will answer the phone. You can review the website at http://www.corragroup.com.
The contest is seeking submissions of teen/young adult books that are "easy to read, and hard to put down."

Story Shares, a nonprofit organization devoted to inspiring reading practice and improving literacy skills, has launched its annual Story of the Year writing contest. The call-for-entries began April 2, 2018 and runs until July 27, 2018. The contest is seeking submissions of teen/young adult books that are easy to read, and hard to put down.

Like most writing contests, it offers cash prizes along with publication in both digital and print form. Awards range from $2,000 to $5,000 across three categories.

However, there are also several ways in which the Story of the Year contest is not an average writing competition.

First, in addition to one finalist per each of the three writing categories, all authors who create a compelling book based on the unique Story Shares guidelines will have their work published in the Story Shares library, where a huge network of readers are eagerly awaiting fresh content to consume.

Second, there is no fee required in order to submit a story, and no limit to the number of stories an individual can submit.

Third, and most importantly, this contest offers an opportunity for writers to share their work with a wide, established network of readers  to use their words to make a difference. The Story Shares reader audience is comprised of individuals in middle school, high school, and above who struggle with literacy skills. By combining culturally relevant and interesting content with approachable language and formatting, writers can join in the Story Shares mission to create books that will turn hesitant, struggling, and disengaged readers into lifelong, fluid ones.

Our writers and the stories they submit have an enormous impact. Tens of millions of teens and young adults lack the literacy skills needed to read the books written for their age and interests, says Louise Baigelman, founder and executive director of Story Shares. Thats why weve created stories that meet them at their individual intersections of interest and ability. Stories that they can read, and want to read. Each book reaches thousands upon thousands of students, improving their abilities to read and write while preparing them for greater academic and professional success.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as many as 90 million teens and adults in America alone lack crucial literacy skills, and they dont have the tools they need to change that. Across the globe, that number grows to over 750 million.

Given the daily importance of reading in all aspects of life, lacking this crucial skill negatively impacts everything from academic performance to everyday communication. It also creates a cycle that is difficult to break. A lack of literacy skills makes it nearly impossible for adults to stay informed, to participate fully in society, to continue to learn, and to raise their children as readers. Thats what Story Shares is here to change.

Through our annual writing contest, we provide writers with the tools, guidance, and incentives to join in expanding this collection, Baigelman explains. The highest quality books are published in both digital and print form, and distributed through our e-reader website, Amazon bookstore, and our many great education partners. We are incredibly proud of the 400+ stories published so far (from thousands of submissions) and are eager to continue building out the new shelves for our readers. There are so many who need this type of story, and our writers play a key role, making a truly meaningful difference for this under-served group.

Story Shares works to empower and inspire struggling readers of all kinds, including English language learners, students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and students from low-income communities who have fallen behind in reading. The organization has been recognized by The Library of Congress, Forbes, the International Literacy Association, and Teach for America for its innovative approach and impact in the field. Their work is a testament to the belief that, everyone is a reader, some just havent found the right book yet.

More information about the Story of the Year writing contest including contest guidelines, categories, submission instructions, and official contest rules is available at http://www.storysharescontest.org.

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ABOUT STORY SHARES

Story Shares is a nonprofit focused on supporting the millions of teens and adults who struggle with reading by creating a new shelf in the library specifically for them. The growing collection features content that is compelling and culturally relevant for teens and adults, yet still readable at a range of lower reading levels. Story Shares generates content by engaging deeply with writers, bringing together a community to create this new kind of book. With more intriguing and approachable stories to choose from, the teens and adults who have fallen behind are improving their skills and beginning to discover the joy of reading. For more information, visit storysharescontest.org.
The wait is over! I finally have the opportunity to share with my loyal consumers the woman behind the brand!.  Monique Rodriguez, CEO and Founder

Monique Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of award-winning beauty brand MIELLE on Friday, March 30, 2018 launched her highly anticipated personal brand website http://www.themoniquerodriguez.com. Over a hundred of Rodriguezs biggest supporters got a glimpse into the website during her inaugural EmPowered women's empowerment event this past February in the heart of her hometown, Chicago. Like the workshop the website has been established to inspire, motivate and empower women of all walks of life.

Monique Rodriguez continues to carve out a life that she loves combining her background as a registered nurse, focusing on beauty from the inside out. Visitors would learn by visiting http://www.themoniquerodriguez.com there is more to this wife, mom and entrepreneur. That Monique is resilient at pushing herself and her award-winning brand forward. Visitors will also gain tips and tools to running a successful business. The greater impact, is that people will be drawn to Moniques personality, truthfulness and her willingness to share. She is passionate about inspiring women in business, entrepreneurship and her desire to create translates throughout all aspects of her life.

To learn more about Monique Rodriguez and stay up to date on the beauty mogul visit http://www.themoniquerodriguez.com.

ABOUT MONIUQUE RODRIQUEZ

Monique Rodriguez, Mielle Organics Founder and CEO, has over nine years of experience as a registered nurse. Her background inspired Monique to share her regimen of healthy, tailbone-length hair with the masses. She is dynamic and multi-faceted with a true love and appreciation for all things beauty related. Earning the self-proclaimed title of A True Creative Maven & Innovator, she has a vibrant media presence and has shared her brand story and entrepreneurial journey in several magazine features and national television appearances such as The Real and The Wendy Williams Show.

Monique also resides in Indiana with her husband and COO of Mielle Organics, Melvin, and their two beautiful daughters, Mia and Mackenzie.
A full-bore aluminum air piping system is a cleaner, safer, more cost-effective choice than traditional black iron pipe.

Exotic Automation & Supply, a premier Parker Hannifin distributor, announced today they are now a full-line authorized distributor for Parker Transair piping in sizes up to 168mm. The new offering significantly expands Exotics ability to provide safe, lightweight, corrosion resistant piping solutions to customers.

Parker Hannifin Transair is an aluminum pipe system for compressed air, vacuum and inert gas applications. Its lightweight components and quick-connect interlocking design allow for easy and immediate layout modifications and require no need to thread, solder, or glue pipe. Transairs ability to integrate into existing copper and steel piping systems without compromising performance makes it ideal for upgrades or expansion products.

A full-bore aluminum air piping system is a cleaner, safer, more cost-effective choice than traditional black iron pipe, Mike Chapman, Business Unit Manager said. It is 100% recyclable, 100% silicone free and does not contaminate customers air systems like traditional piping systems.

Transair is also ideal for aggressive environments, with a powder-coated outer surface that enhances its mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. The product is also environmentally sustainable, responsible for reducing the carbon footprint over 80% versus steel piping installations.

Our customers are requesting Transair systems more and more with the cost savings they provide compared to other piping systems, Steve Orlando, Vice President of Sales & Marketing said. We have significantly increased our stock in sizes up to 168mm at all 10 locations and feature dedicated Transair displays at our Ann Arbor and Shelby locations.

Exotics Transair Product Managers are available to offer on-site demonstrations, training and assistance to customers. Additional information can be found at http://www.parker.com/transair.

About Exotic Automation & Supply: Exotic Automation & Supplys headquarters is located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The company maintains full service centers throughout Michigan & Indiana with locations in Freeland (Saginaw), Lansing, Taylor, Flint, Jackson, Noblesville, Rochester Hills, Shelby Township as well as at the main Farmington Hills complex.
The Modular Building Institutes (MBI) 2018 World of Modular Conference attracted nearly 900 attendees from twenty-six different countries, shattering previous records in both categories.

The modular building industrys largest and longest-running event drew hundreds of modular construction professionals to network, exchange ideas, learn from experts, discuss issues, and receive well-deserved recognition.

This year, MBI celebrated its 35th year serving the commercial modular construction industry by inducting one of its founding members, Carl Bennett of Vanguard Modular Building Systems, into the MBI Hall of Fame. Bennett was instrumental in the early formation of the association and has been a strong advocate and supporter of the industry.

Other highlights included an eye-opening keynote session from Steffen Fuchs of McKinsey & Company. McKinsey research finds that the construction industry could increase its productivity by a transformative five-to-tenfold if it were to move to a manufacturing-like system of mass production.

MBI recognized Stephen Shang of Falcon Structures and Hala Jawad of Radco Inc. as its Volunteers of the Year for their efforts on developing code language and guidance for modifying shipping containers.

Roland Brown of Ramtech Building Systems was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award which recognizes an individuals commitment to the industry and to the association in particular.

As part of MBIs Awards of Distinction, several modular buildings were recognized. Metric Modular received the Best of Show for Green Buildings for its Yale First Nation Community Housing 6-Plex as well as Best of Show recognition in the Permanent Modular Construction category for its Key-oh Lodge. Horizon North Logistics Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency (VAHA) 220 Terminal Avenue entry won both Best of Show for Relocatable Buildings and First Place in the Relocatable Commercial Housing category.

The Judges Choice Award, given to the entry with the highest overall score across all markets and categories, went to Modular Genius for their Loyola Bookstore & Mail Center.

Plans are already underway for next years World of Modular Conference to be held at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas from March 15-18, 2019.

About MBI

The Modular Building Institute (MBI) is the international non-profit trade association serving modular construction. As the Voice of Commercial Modular Construction , MBIs mission is to expand the use of offsite construction through innovative construction practices, outreach and education to the construction community and customers, and recognition of high quality modular designs and facilities. For more information on MBI and World of Modular, please visit our website: http://www.worldofmodular.org
Our team has focused on NVIDIA this year and I think that is really paying off. Its absolutely amazing the things our customers are doing with GPUs. We are working hard to get customers involved in our AI Workshops to see the value and unparalleled processing power GPUs bring to their projects."

The NVIDIA Partner Network honored DH Technologies for its performance and growth in the Federal market over the past year in North America. By partnering with several NVIDIA alliance partners, DH Technologies has created demand, marketing activities, and solutions to drive adoption of GPU-accelerated NVIDIA DGX systems and virtual GPU solutions.

Im excited to be part of the change bringing GPU-acceleration and machine learning to our customers, said Devin Henderson, CEO of DH Technologies. Our team has focused on NVIDIA this year and I think that is really paying off. Its absolutely amazing the things our customers are doing with GPUs. We are working hard to get customers involved in our AI Workshops to see the value and unparalleled processing power GPUs bring to their projects. We are honored to be awarded NVIDIA Federal Partner of the Year.

GPU-accelerated environments are increasingly common for early adopters of AI in government and defense agencies, said Craig Weinstein, vice president, Americas Partner Organization, NVIDIA. Aside from hosting AI enterprise workshops for civilian and DoD customers, DH Technologies has collaborated with MapD and SFL Scientific to drive DGX systems for Naval agency programs, and with Nutanix to include Quadro virtual data center workstation and GRID vPC in a USAF VDI pilot.
FastCAP Systems Corporation has announced a strategic partnership with NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD., a Japan-based company that specializes in packaging for complex electronic applications. The investment from NGK SPARK PLUG boosts FastCAPs capability to bring to market a new generation of energy storage devices for the electronics components industry.

FastCAPs expertise in extreme environment energy storage paved the way for the companys newest technology - a reflowable, slim profile, low-ESR ultracapacitor which provides power loss protection in SSD and IOT technologies. FastCAPs solution has ten times more energy per unit of volume and five times longer lifetime than incumbent technologies such as tantalum capacitors.

FastCAPs latest achievement relies heavily on NGK SPARK PLUGs superior knowledge in the manufacture of technical ceramics. Through advanced research and development, NGK SPARK PLUG has expanded into numerous industries including computers, communication, medical, avionics, and high reliability applications.

The industry has long recognized the potential of ultracapacitors to provide high power, high capacity energy storage solutions. However, high performance ultracapacitors were not available as rugged, reflowable devices suitable for surface mount technology, said Eric Kish, CEO of FastCAP Systems. The combination of FastCAPs proprietary electrode and electrolyte technology with NGK SPARK PLUGs high performance ceramic packaging has broken through this barrier, giving engineers access to a new class of practical on-board energy storage. We expect this technology to revolutionize power management in applications as diverse of solid state drives. IoT devices, and automotive.

I am very pleased with this strategic partnership with FastCAP Systems, said Teppei Okawa, Executive Vice President of NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD. This, combined with a shared vision of the importance of innovative energy storage solutions, is an exciting opportunity for both companies. This alliance enables us to accelerate our other batteries projects, and is an early achievement for our newly established USA Innovation Center.

FastCAP Systems has also launched Nanoramic, a division devoted to the development of nanocomposite materials grounded in FastCAPs deep expertise in advanced materials made of nanocarbons. Support from NGK SPARK PLUG will accelerate the go to market timeline for Nanoramic products and positions FastCAP to interrupt diverse markets including thermal interface materials, battery and capacitor electrodes, and EMI/RFI shielding technology.

About FastCAP Systems:

FastCAP is an innovation driven company with a straightforward vision  to make a big impact in energy. In 2010, FastCAP began work under a multi-million dollar grant from the DOE ARPA-E to develop its novel ultracapacitor technology. FastCAP was honored to receive another grant in 2011 from the DOE Geothermal Technologies Program to develop a cutting edge power system for geothermal exploration. FastCAP has achieved five validated world performance records related to the power and energy density of its cells. FastCAP has gone on to achieve additional validated world records related to its high temperature ultracapacitor technology, including the highest operating temperature. These breakthrough performance characteristics have laid the foundation for FastCAPs unique product solutions in a wide variety of applications, from vehicles to energy and space exploration. For more information, visit http://www.fastcapsystems.com.

About NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.:

NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD., headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, is a comprehensive ceramics processing manufacturer. We hold a world leading share of spark plugs and automotive sensors for internal combustion engines and also offer a broad lineup of packages, cutting tools, bio ceramics and industrial ceramics. Our global network of sales and manufacturing organizations, and over 15,000 employees deliver value creation to the world. We are now contributing to a sustainable society by developing products related to the environment energy, next generation vehicles and the medical device and diagnostic. The companys belief is to embrace the challenge of new era under the catch-phrase of manufacturing only one and number one product.

For more information, visit http://www.ngkntk.co.jp/english/index.html
Our innovative platform for AR/VR learning, combined with Tinkercads 3D design and modeling tool, provide school Makerspaces and STEAM Labs with a collaborative approach to sharing designs and creating.

Today zSpace, an education technology provider that enables AR/VR experiences in the classroom, teamed up with Autodesk, the software provider for people who make things, to announce a technology integration with Autodesk Tinkercad, allowing students to visualize and collaborate on designs in a 3D, immersive environment.

Tinkercad is a browser-based 3D design and modeling tool which allows students to design what theyve imagined it in minutes. When launching a design in zSpace, students can lift and manipulate models within zSpace Studios vast 3D model library of science, technology, engineering, art and math (S.T.E.A.M.) content. Studio contains thousands of models from many subject areas as well as standard-aligned activities available in Spanish, Simplified Chinese and English. Students can work in pairs, groups, or present their designs to the class. Finally, students can review their designs from all angles before printing, to save time and materials.

Together with Autodesk, we are offering students a way to visualize their designs in a totally immersive learning environment, said Paul Kellenberger, CEO of zSpace. Our innovative platform for AR/VR learning, combined with Tinkercads 3D design and modeling tool, provide school Makerspaces and STEAM Labs with a collaborative approach to sharing designs and creating.

By helping users visualize creative designs in an AR/VR environment, this new integration from Autodesk and zSpace offers the user a more accurate representation of the design, said Guillermo Melantoni, product line manager, Autodesk. By teaming up with zSpace, were excited to be a part of bringing new forms of making to the next generation of designers, both in the classroom and beyond.

About zSpace

zSpace combines elements of AR and VR to create lifelike experiences that inspire curiosity, create engagement and deepen understanding. Among its numerous awards and accolades, zSpace was named Cool Vendor by Gartner, Inc., Best in Show at ISTE by Tech & Learning Magazine for three consecutive years and was ranked two years in a row on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies. zSpace is a privately held, venture-backed company located in Sunnyvale, California, and has been granted more than 30 patents for its innovative technologies. For more information, visit http://www.zspace.com, or follow on Twitter @zSpace.

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, and Tinkercad are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.
While Slaytons rapid growth dictated that a new, larger office was a necessity, we determined it was also an opportunity to create a radically different environment,

Slayton Search Partners, a globally respected leader in retained executive search, has unveiled a newly designed headquarters located in downtown Chicago. Taking nine months to complete, the 12,000 square foot office was built from scratch and completely fills an entire floor of the building on South Wacker Drive.

While Slaytons rapid growth dictated that a new, larger office was a necessity, we determined it was also an opportunity to create a radically different environment, said Rick Slayton, Managing Partner & CEO. With windows wrapping around our entire floor and comfortable communal spaces, we built an elegant urban loft-style headquarters that promotes collaboration.

The new office utilizes as much natural light as possible, as enclosed offices have transparent glass walls that allow outside views from nearly anywhere in the space. An open floor plan encourages teamwork through sharable working areas. To that end, the offices cafe is a signature piece. Resembling an upscale coffee shop, the area has been a popular teamworking spot from day one.

It was exciting to work with Slayton Search Partners on such an ambitious and unique project, commented Amber Van Kley, Lead Designer of the project. By using abrupt angles, a wedge-shaped floor plan, raw columns, and lots of glass, we produced a distinctive and cerebral space right in line with the companys brand.

Slayton Search Partners enlisted renowned workplace design firm Eastlake Studio to bring the vision for their new office into a reality. Over much of 2017, the two organizations worked closely together so that the desired aesthetic would be achieved. That included a purposeful deviation from what traditional executive search environments have seen in the past with an emphasis on tailoring the space to the preferences of a modern workforce.

This is the new face of executive search in the 21st century, continued Rick Slayton. Todays professionals have a working style that is different from those of the past, and our new office allows employees to work in whichever way suits them best.

About Slayton Search Partners

Slayton Search Partners is a top retained executive search firm, serving some of North Americas most recognized companies. Slaytons limit-less approach to executive search has made the firm the first choice of U.S. businesses and organizations who demand the best possible search results. By focusing on a structure that balances the size needed to do the job with the size needed to deliver personal attention and service, Slayton avoids restrictions that limit traditional search firms. This helps transform the relationships with our clients into a limit-less opportunity for high-quality solutions.

Slaytons combination of highly experienced and focused search professionals, coupled with its record for attentive personal service, has made it one of the most highly respected retained executive search firms in the country. For more information, visit http://www.slaytonsearch.com.
As a seasoned water technology company, AMI is excited to establish a presence at the WET Center and contribute to their ecosystem of innovators, said Henrik Skov Laursen, CEO of AMI Global.

AMI Global, an international Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) company in the water management sector, today announced the opening of a satellite office in Fresno, California. The new office space is located at the Water, Energy and Technology (WET) Center and strategically located in the BlueTechValley  one of the worlds foremost innovation clusters for water technology.

As a seasoned water technology company, AMI is excited to establish a presence at the WET Center and contribute to their ecosystem of innovators, said Henrik Skov Laursen, CEO of AMI Global. The offices and expertise contained within the facilities are world-class, and we look forward to advancing digital water solutions within the cluster.

We are are eager to welcome AMI to the WET Center, and to support the continued growth and prosperity of the company. Recently presented with the Frost & Sullivans 2018 North American Integrated IIoT Solutions for Process Equipment Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award, we know they are going to continue to create amazing results, and we will be offering our expertise and resources to complement their journey, said Helle Petersen, Project Manager, BlueTechValley, Fresno State University.

The WET Center is also located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, a leading Californian region of agricultural production. With the growing need to conserve time, energy, and money, agricultural operations are demanding digital solutions to ensure productive irrigation, fertigation, and equipment management systems. Simple and cost-effective solutions that improve operational efficiencies and the bottom-line are driving increased adoption rates for agricultural connectivity.

The WET Centers proximity to agricultural producers will help AMI empower the connectivity needs of leading agricultural operations as they seek to optimize their operations with new technology, remarked AMIs Laursen.

About AMI Global: AMI Global is a leader in end-to-end Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions founded in 2009 with locations in the United States and Israel. AMIs IIoT solutions allow customers to connect equipment to the Internet, achieve data collection and analysis, and secure control of remote assets including pump control. AMI has an existing customer base of Fortune 500 clients and global industrial systems and equipment manufacturers.

About the Water, Energy and Technology (WET) Center  The WET is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley  the nations top agricultural producing region. Focusing on bringing water, energy or Ag technology-based innovations to market, the WET assists entrepreneurs and innovators in every step of the journey. Through the WET Incubator, the multi-tenant facility serves water, energy and Ag entrepreneurs from around the nation, and is dedicated to nurturing a rich culture of collaboration, community and connections.

For more information on AMI Global or the WET Center, please visit our website, or contact Terrence OLeary at Toleary@amiglobal.com or Helle Petersen at hellep@mail.fresnostate.edu
Villages on MacArthur will collect donations for the DFW Humane Society April 1st through May 5th. The residents of our facility wanted to focus on animals in need in our local community.

The Villages on MacArthur, a local skilled care and memory care community, is hosting a donation drive to aid the animals of the DFW Humane Society. As part of the Community Works program, an initiative giving seniors an opportunity to serve the community, the residents will hold the drive April 1st through May 5th.

The residents of our facility wanted to focus on animals in need in our local community, says Nicole Leary, Wellness Director of The Villages on MacArthur. We will be making tie toys to donate as well as part of our Life Works Wellness program this month. Also, I have a rescue dog that visits the residents here sometimes and it just brings so much joy and love to our residents when he visits them.

When: April 1st through May 5th

What: The Villages on MacArthur ask the public to bring donations of unused goods



Cat Litter

Cat Toys

Cat Food*

Cat Treats

Dog Toys

Dog Food*

Dog Treats

Towels and Blankets (new or gently used)

Monetary Donations

The DFW Humane Society gives the animals in their care Science Diet food, but they will accept all dog and cat food donations.

Location: The Villages on MacArthur

3443 North MacArthur Blvd.

Irving, TX 75062

469-586-4424

The residents will present the donations to the DFW Humane Society representatives on Saturday, May 12, 2018.

To learn more, please visit, http://villagesonmacarthur.com.

About the Villages on MacArthur.

The Villages on MacArthur is a senior living complex offering skilled care, rehabilitation, and memory care. The Villages offer a wide variety of services for todays seniors including short-term transitional care to bridge the gap between hospital and home to long-term placement for those unable to manage in a more independent environment. Memory care, extensive physical, occupational and speech therapy as well as other treatments for residents recovering from hip, knee or cardiac surgeries, wound care, or other injuries or illnesses are also offered. For more information, please visit: http://villagesonmacarthur.com.

About Lifetime Wellness:

Lifetime Wellness, LTD. provides quality comprehensive wellness programs to all our partners. Our customized approach affords us the opportunity to improve the quality of lives of all those we touch. Our goal is to ensure that every client we assist is provided with all the tools necessary to achieve success. Our clients include Independent Living, Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing and Rehab, and Memory Care Facilities. Learn more at http://www.LifetimeWellness.us.

About the DFW Humane Society:

The DFW Humane Society is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1967. The facility is a no-kill shelter dedicated to giving homeless and unwanted pets a second chance in life through adoption. The DFW Humane Society houses about 80-100 animals at any given time. It does not receive any state or federal funding and depends solely on caring people for survival. Visit http://www.dfwhumane.com for more information.
Butch Adams new Board Chairman on left and Ron Bowers past Board Chairman on right. McCain said, We are thankful for our Board leadership and all the time and expertise they have donated over the last few years. Goodwill was enriched tremendously by their participation and advocacy. Thank you all for everything you have done to support us!

On Wednesday March 28, 2018 during the Board of Directors meeting, Horizon Goodwill Board Chair, Ron Bowers, handed over the gavel to incoming Board Chair, Bernard Butch Adams. Adams has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2013 and will now helm the Board for the next two years. CEO John McCain said, The Board Chair is an important position in our organization because it requires an extensive time commitment and sensitivity to the people we serve. Butch has already been a tremendous asset to our organization. I know that his leadership will continue to provide significant wisdom and insight to the services that we provide here at Goodwill.

More about the new Board Chair: Adams is the Campus Director at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics training facility in Hagerstown. PIA offers a diploma and/or certificate program in aviation maintenance technology, graduates are eligible to test for their A&P certification when they come out, which allows them to become aircraft mechanics.

Adams is to replace Ron Bowers who will finish his term on the Board this year. William Valentine and Rebecca Fishack were also retiring members of the Board. McCain said, We are thankful for our Board leadership and all the time and expertise they have donated over the last few years. Goodwill was enriched tremendously by their participation and advocacy. Thank you all for everything you have done to support us!

Goodwill is also welcoming several new Board members: Heath Hykes, Sila Bartel, Dustin Watson and Heather Guessford.

About Horizon Goodwill: Goodwill has been rated #1 above the global brands Amazon and Google for the Brand World Value Rankings for 2016. Horizon Goodwill Industries, whose mission is Removing Barriers, Creating Opportunities, is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people have access to employment despite significant obstacles. Horizon Goodwill serves over 5,000 clients annually in a 17-county region that includes parts of the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. For more information, please visit http://www.horizongoodwill.org

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April is National Donate Life Month "My son Jesse donated tissue that I am sure has helped many, many people. He paid it forward, so now its my turn. I try to educate others. You can help even when you think you have nothing to give. You have so much to give," said Jackie Woodward, mom of 23-year-old donor.

Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) is honoring the extraordinary people who have saved and enhanced lives through organ and tissue donation. Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital, and Norwalk Hospital  collectively WCHN  facilitate the donation process in order to fulfill a donors wish to give the gift of life. In 2017, WCHN, through coordinated efforts with New England Donor Services (NEDS), helped to save 23 lives and enhance up to 3,600 more through organ and tissue donation.

As of today, nearly 114,900 men, women, and children in the US are in need of a lifesaving organ transplant  and more than 1,200 of these people live in Connecticut. Every 10 minutes, another person is added to the organ transplant waiting list.

A single organ donor can save up to eight lives and heal more than 75 people through tissue donation.

Daniel Krauss, a resident of Sandy Hook, CT, is one of those lives.

Mr. Krauss received a new heart one year ago on April 8, 2017, 11 years after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure during a visit to Danbury Hospitals Emergency Department.

Im thankful for the support of my family, friends, and all of the doctors and nurses who have treated me over the years. Im especially thankful to my donor and his family. Im very cognizant of the fact that someone gave me the ultimate gift and saved my life, said Mr. Krauss. Mr. Krauss regularly participates in Donate Life CT speaking engagements at Danbury Hospital to honor his donor and to generate awareness about organ donation.

Im always amazed that at the most trying times, families find the strength to think of others and support the organ donation process. The donors family knows that their loved one is saving lives and improving the health of many others, said Shannon Beardsley, RN, BSN, CCRN, Hospital Relations Coordinator, New England Donor Services.

Jackie Woodward, who unfortunately lost her 23-year-old son too soon, is an advocate for organ and tissue donation. She also participates in Donate Life CT speaking engagements at Danbury Hospital and generously shares her experience.

My son Jesse donated tissue that I am sure has helped many, many people. He paid it forward, so now its my turn. I try to educate others. You can help even when you think you have nothing to give. You have so much to give, said Ms. Woodward.

WCHNs exceptional care teams are highly trained and follow precise protocols to successfully support organ donation.

WCHN is committed to fulfilling our patients end-of-life wishes with compassion and integrity, said Dawn Martin, RN, Director of Patient Care Services at Danbury Hospital and New Milford Hospital. Ms. Martin, an emergency nurse with more than 30 years of experience, has been working with NEDS for 20 years to ensure that registered organ donor patients have the best opportunity to donate.

Although 95 percent of US adults support organ donation, only 54 percent are registered organ donors. WCHN participates in the National Hospital Organ Donation Campaign, which aims to educate employees, patients, visitors, and the community about the crucial need for organ and tissue donation. The campaign has helped to register nearly 400,000 people to state organ donor registries. In 2017, Danbury and New Milford Hospitals each earned a Bronze Award and Norwalk Hospital earned Silver for the activities held within the hospitals and in the community to support the local organ donor registry.

Visit Donate Life America to learn more about organ and tissue donation. Register to give the gift of life at RegisterMe.org.

About Western Connecticut Health Network

Western Connecticut Health Network is the regions premier, patient-centered healthcare organization serving residents of western Connecticut and adjacent New York. WCHN is anchored by three nationally recognized hospitals, Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital, and Norwalk Hospital. We have an integrated network of more than 1,300 employed and community physicians and specialists, 70 Western Connecticut Medical Group medical and sub-specialty practices across 16 communities, and Western Connecticut Home Care. Our nationally renowned Biomedical Research Institute is leading innovative research, especially for cancer and Lyme disease. Many of our advancements have been made possible by generous donors from our community and through the Danbury Hospital & New Milford Hospital Foundation and the Norwalk Hospital Foundation. As an academic institution, we are proud to shape the future of care through our partnership with the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. WCHN employs nearly 6,300 employees including about 1,900 clinical staff. For more information, visit wchn.org. Share your comments with us at Facebook.com/DanburyHospital, Facebook.com/NewMilfordHospital, and Facebook.com/NorwalkHospital.
They have the ability to clear any suspicions of identity theft and/or fraudulent activity. They know how to ask for tax transcript or of recent transactions, whereas most taxpayers dont know how crucial this question is.

The IRS may tell you that they need your help to find out the correct tax liability. You may hear that they want you to help them to put the noose around your neck by keeping your finger on the knot. If thats so, you dont have to wait until the noose is fixed around your neck to get a lawyer, do you? said Ferey Kian, CEO of Kian Finance Authority.

To educate taxpayers on how a tax representative can help with IRS communications, Kian list the following five tips:

No. 1: They can educate taxpayers about their rights. Most taxpayers dont know that, for instance, they have the right to appeal any and all decisions made by the IRS in their letters, noted Kian.

No. 2: If you feel you are badgered, they can stop harassment. As soon as an IRS agent knows you have a tax representative, they will stop bothering you, stressed Kian. The tax representative can shield you as your legal representative.

No. 3: Tax representatives can help find the easiest, most cost-effective solutions. It is imperative to not ignore IRS notices as this only escalates the issue, allowing the IRS to assume their position is correct and assess the taxes on their own. For example, if your income is reported by a third party, but your expenses are not known, the IRS can assume your gross income was your net income and issue a tax liability, added Kian. A tax representative can help you with filing your proper deductions.

No. 4: Tax representatives can negotiate with the IRS on ones behalf. This may result in waiving penalties. They can also set up an arrangement for you to pay the IRS in monthly installments, stated Kian, ...to avoid taxpayers accounts garnished or worse, frozen due to a levy placed by the IRS.

No. 5: Tax representatives can answer inquiries from the IRS and also ask for the appropriate information. They have the ability to clear any suspicions of identity theft and/or fraudulent activity, concluded Kian. They know how to ask for tax transcript or of recent transactions, whereas most taxpayers dont know how crucial this question is. As a final word of advice, a lot of taxpayers inadvertently, spill their beans all over the place and then they would slip and fall.

About Ferey Kian, Kian Finance Authority

Ferey Kian is and Enrolled Agent, an expert in tax matters. Kian Finance Authority services include individual as well as corporate taxes, business strategy, payroll and film budget preparation. They are Approved Education Provider for the IRS and offer courses for tax professionals to stay compliant with their designations. For more information, please call (954) 399-8980, visit http://www.fkianfa.com, or vist Kian Finance Authoritys Facebook.

For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361.
This is a clear signal that top organizations now demand a more sophisticated solution for activating B2B sales, with both modern training and just in time mobile enablement.

TravPRO Mobile, a global leader in the B2B2C training and sales enablement space, announced today it has won the VISIT FLORIDA account handling their global agent training and ongoing sales companion. The new platform will include development of courses for eight core markets including the U.S., Canada, U.K., India, Mexico, Germany, Brazil and China.

We set out to find a partner that could transform the way we educate global travel advisors about the many amazing qualities our state offers, said Nelson Mongiovi, Chief Marketing Officer for VISIT FLORIDA. TravPRO aligned with our vision and the direction we are going as an organization and we are happy to have them onboard as we work towards making Florida the number one global destination.

Work for Visit Florida will include both destination and partner training, and a mobile sales companion driving retention, promotion and close rates. This combination of training and available tools is a powerful approach that helps agents become destination specialists by staying informed about the products and how best to add more value, ultimately bringing more business to the Sunshine State.

This is not only another win for us, its a clear signal that top organizations now demand a more sophisticated solution for activating B2B sales, with both modern training and just in time mobile enablement, added Jonathan Cooper founder and CEO at TravPRO Mobile. And we are alone in providing that scope of service.

This new partnership is the latest in a series of major wins for TravPRO which include: Central Europe, Rocky Mountaineer, Globus Family of Brands and the 26 countries of the Caribbean basin.

About TravPro Mobile: TravPro Mobile is redefining global B2B2C training and sales enablement. Beyond training, the award-winning Sales Companion enables a greater number of sales reps to easily train, retain, promote and convert more bookings, more often. To find out more visit http://www.travpromobile.com.
Today Coronal Energy announced that Tom Gebhardt, Chairman and CEO, Panasonic Corporation of North America, has joined its Board of Directors. A thirty-four year Panasonic veteran, Gebhardts service galvanizes Panasonics strategic partnership with Coronal Energy, a leading independent power producer focused on utility-scale solar and storage projects.

As stewards of Panasonics investment in the utility scale solar industry, our Board welcomes Mr. Gebhardt to the Coronal Energy team. This comes at an exciting point in our history, and builds upon a multi-year partnership that dates back to the very beginning of our company, said Jonathan Jaffrey, Chairman and CEO of Coronal Energy. We look forward to working together with Panasonic to further expand our business footprint in the clean energy industry.

Tom Gebhardt, named Chairman and CEO of Panasonic Corporation of North America in early 2017, has spent the majority of his career at the company, and is credited with growing Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America into Panasonics largest business in North America. During his tenure, he has also held the position of president of Panasonic Industrial Company, president of Panasonic Factory Solutions Company of America, and general manager of Panasonic Batteries.

Coronal Energy has built one of the countrys most impressive solar portfolios across a relatively short period, and is poised for tremendous growth said Gebhardt. As a believer in Coronals mission to deliver clean energy to the planet, and our own mission to create A Better Life, A Better World, this is an exciting time to join the Board. I look forward to helping shape the next chapter of Coronal.

In partnership with Panasonic Corporation of North America, Coronal Energy has grown into a leading independent power producer, with an operating portfolio of 333 megawatts and a multi-gigawatt pipeline in more than 20 states.

About Coronal Energy

Coronal Energy, powered by Panasonic, is a leading independent power producer focused on utility-scale solar and storage projects. The firm provides turnkey solar energy solutions tailored for diverse enterprise customers across North America, including utilities, corporations, and the public sector. It unites the financial strength of a Fortune Global 500 company (#110) and Panasonics award-winning history of solar innovation and sustainability leadership with the project development, finance, engineering, construction, and asset management experience of Coronal Energy. The result is smarter solar that translates to smarter business for customers. The collective experience of Coronal Energy, powered by Panasonic, includes projects in 40 states totaling 2.3 GW, including more than 333 MW under ownership and management, with more than 4 GW of greenfield and brownfield projects under construction/contract or in development. For more, please visit CoronalEnergy.com and follow us @CoronalEnergy on Twitter.
The Middletown Ridge apartment community is one of two assets purchased by Hamilton Zanze, the first for the firm in the State of Connecticut.

San Francisco-based real estate investment firm Hamilton Zanze (HZ) has acquired two Middletown, CT apartment communities - Middletown Ridge and Middletown Brook. The two properties, purchased from Fairfield Midtown Ridge LP and Fairfield Midtown Brooke LP, are the first acquired by HZ in the State of Connecticut. Middletown Ridge was purchased for $31.5 million and Middletown Brooke for $31.15 million.

"These two communities, just five minutes apart from each other, presented an opportunity to concurrently acquire two great assets in a stable market with strong cash flow," said David Nelson, managing director of acquisitions for Hamilton Zanze. "The acquisition of these properties provides a strong launching pad for us to continue to pursue our growth goals in the Northeast."

Built in 1988, Middletown Ridge is located at 100 Town Ridge Road and offers 238 1-,2-,and 3-bedroom units. It's 253,793 net leasable square feet were 95% occupied at the time of purchase. Middletown Brooke, located at 100 Town Brooke Road, was built in 1989 and includes 280 1- and 2-bedroom units. Its 227,242 net leasable square feet were also 95% occupied at the time of close.

The two apartment communities feature swimming pools, barbecue facilities, and fitness centers along with additional unique amenities like complimentary wifi, indoor racquetball, and a dog park. Hamilton Zanze will be executing more than $2 million of improvements to each community in the year ahead, on items such as parking lot re-paving, interior unit renovations, and addressing deferred maintenance.

Located in the in the Southeast Hartford/Middlesex County submarket of the Hartford area, Middletown is home to museums, cultural institutions and the renowned Wesleyan University. Nearby major employers and surrounding affluent neighborhoods with high barriers to homeownership support strong apartment demand, consistently healthy occupancy rates, and stable market growth.

To learn more about the Middletown Ridge and Middletown Brooke apartments, please visit http://www.middletownridge-apts.com and http://www.middletownbrooke-apts.com.
Aluminum heavyweight: Part of the worlds 6th largest aluminum producer, the Volgograd plant used PENETRON to protect concrete structures from the aggressive chemical environment in aluminum plants. Once again, our local Penetron team was able to provide technical support to UC RUSAL for the Volgograd plant with an effective design mix and choice of topical applications. As it turns out, PENETRON crystalline technology was the most effective solution for Volgograd.

The March 30th inauguration of the UC RUSAL aluminum plant in Volgograd, Russia, completes a comprehensive renovation and expansion of the facility. PENETRON technology was used throughout the new and repaired infrastructure to optimize concrete durability and protect against chemical attack.

The world's sixth largest aluminum company, United Company RUSAL (UC RUSAL), produces almost 9% of the world's aluminum and generates 9% of the world's alumina. With over 72,000 employees, UC RUSAL operates in 19 countries over five continents. The company is headquartered in Moscow, Russia.

Minimizing Costs and Construction Time

The aluminum industry is extremely competitive; six of the largest producers account for over 40% of global output, explains Igor Chernogolov, President of Penetron Russia. The cost of building a production facility is enormous, which means its extremely important to maintain such a facility for optimal productivity.

Cost pressures on production efficiency add to the sizeable investments needed to build and maintain production facilities. When it came time to upgrade and expand the companys Volgograd (Central Russia) plant, UC RUSAL carefully specified how the work needed to be carried out to best minimize capital costs and reduce construction time.

Reliably Increasing Concrete Impermeability

The aging Volgograd plant had been in service for many decades; many of the concrete structures that were damaged by the aggressive chemical environment found in aluminum plants needed urgent repairs. Also, an upgrade to enable production of baked anodes, in addition to the normal smelting processes, was planned. Concrete structures exposed to the chemical attacks in this environment often suffer dissolution of the matrix and subsequent loss of structural integrity. Finding a solution to reliably increase impermeability of the concrete, which reduces the ingress of harmful substances into the matrix, was paramount.

The crystalline technology from PENETRON offers protection against acid attacks (pH 3-11) and has been widely used in aggressive environments, such as aluminum plants, wastewater treatment plants and a range of hydrostatic conditions. In fact, PENETRON technology was applied at other UC RUSAL production facilities in Siberia with great success:



Boguchany aluminum smelter  in Tayozhny, it produces almost 600,000 tons of aluminum annually. PENETRON crystalline topical material and PENECRETE MORTAR were used on all foundation and below-ground concrete structures of the main production hall.

Irkutsk aluminum plant  in Irkutsk, it has an annual output of over 420,000 tons; the US$ 600 million modernization project saw over 3,000 m3 of concrete treated with PENETRON ADMIX to help ensure impermeability of the structure to avoid use of additional waterproofing materials. The facility also produces silicon.

Repairing Damaged Concrete

The PENETRON System  a combination of PENETRON surface-applied, integral crystalline waterproofing material and PENECRETE MORTAR for cracks and construction joints, form-tie holes, honey-combed areas and structurally damaged concrete  was used for the repair and rehabilitation of the damaged concrete structures throughout the Volgograd plant. PENETRON ADMIX was added to the concrete mix used for all new structures.

Once again, our local Penetron team was able to provide technical support to UC RUSAL for the Volgograd plant with an effective design mix and choice of topical applications, adds Igor Chernogolov. As it turns out, PENETRON crystalline technology was the most effective solution for Volgograd.

The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives and distribution channels.

For more information on PENETRON waterproofing solutions, please visit penetron(dot)com or Facebook(dot)com/ThePenetronGroup, email CRDept(at)penetron(dot)com, or contact the Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700.
The Global Wellness Economy Monitor has been a powerful force in growing the wellness industry, because without respected data and trends insight, investment simply cant take place.

The Global Wellness Summit (GWS), the foremost gathering of international leaders in the $3.7 trillion global wellness economy, today announced the theme of its 2018 conference: Shaping the Business of Wellness. The 12th-annual gathering of wellness industry leaders, being held from October 6-8, 2018 at Technogym Village in Cesena, Italy, will focus on the current business landscape and future trends for the ten diverse segments that make up the global wellness economy. During the Summit, dozens of keynotes, panels and roundtables will take a deep dive into the big businesses of beauty, healthy eating, wellness tourism, fitness/mind-body, preventive/personalized medicine, complementary/alternative medicine, wellness lifestyle real estate, the spa industry, the thermal/mineral springs market and workplace wellness.

The Global Wellness Institutes much-anticipated, comprehensive update of the "Global Wellness Economy Monitor" will also be released to delegates, providing all-new benchmarking data and trends for these ten markets, which will ground the discussions about the business of wellness in the latest research and analysis.

The Summits 2018 theme will keep us laser-focused on the emerging business opportunities across all wellness marketsboth for traditional industry segments, but also on the ways that wellness is transforming massive industries like retail, fashion, design and architecture, noted Nancy Davis, executive director and chief creative officer at the GWS. Delegates will not only be immersed in three days of high-level thinking about the business of wellness, they will actively shape its future, as the Summit is known for its many platforms and events that encourage the cross-pollination of ideas, collaboration and networking that lead to new business relationships among the 600+ industry leaders expected.

New Data and Insights on Wellness Markets

Since its first release in 2014, the Global Wellness Economy Monitor has become the go-to source of wellness market data for business leaders, researchers and the mediagarnering many thousands of downloads and countless citations among press, industry and government users. The full 2018 report will be released and analyzed at the Summit, offering a completely updated picture of the size, scope, trends and five-year growth projections for segments within the global wellness economy, along with in-depth regional-level analysis and top country markets for six global regions.

The Global Wellness Economy Monitor has been a powerful force in growing the wellness industry, because without respected data and trends insight, investment simply cant take place, noted Susie Ellis, GWS chairman and CEO. There is powerful demand for new numbers and analysis of this fast growing, always changing industryand delegates will have first access.

Mixing Business with Pleasure in Italys Wellness Valley

Delegates will mix the business of wellness with the pleasure of it, as the 2018 Summit takes place in Cesena, Italy, a town between the Adriatic coast and the hills of Emilia Romagna, a unique location called the Wellness Valley. A project begun by Summit host sponsor, Technogyms CEO, Nerio Alessandri, the Wellness Valley has the goal of making the Romagna region the leading place in the world for wellness expertise and quality of life, immersing people in its unique local heritage: its people, history, traditions, art, nature, music, food and wine. At the Summit venue, Technogym, delegates will experience a 37-acre campus designed from the ground up to inspire the wellness lifestylenot only in terms of physical fitness, but also with a focus on environmental sustainability, architectural wellness and mental wellbeing through the beauty of art, music and fashion. Technogym also features an expansive research and education center, state-of-the-art gym and farm-to-table cafeteria. Summit attendees will experience a slate of wellness activities, as well as a solid dose of la dolce vita that only Italy and the GWS can provide. This will include a Wellness Fashion Show at the gala on the last evening of the conference.

For information about attending the Summit, click here.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact: michelle.gamble@globalwellnesssummit.com

About the Global Wellness Summit: The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) is an invitation-only international gathering that brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $3.7 trillion global wellness economy. Held in a different location each year, Summits have taken place in the U.S., Switzerland, Turkey, Bali, India, Morocco, Mexico and Austria. The 12th annual Summit will be held at Technogym Village, Cesena, Italy from October 6-8, 2018.
Cornerstone Research, a leading provider of economic and financial consulting and expert testimony, is a winner of the 2018 Gender Equity Challenge. The firm is being honored for its commitment to providing career enhancement and leadership opportunities for employees. The firms Womens Forum networking events are noted as a successful model practice that supports women in building business relationships. Administered by the Gender Equality Principles Initiative, the Gender Equity Challenge selects companies that work to link womens empowerment and corporate policies.

Recognized for its unique teamwork culture and commitment to developing future leaders, Cornerstone Research has a rich history of empowering and developing all employees. The firms leaders collectively support gender equity; and the high percentage of women senior staff set a vivid example of colleagues who deliver superb quality work and maintain high standards for themselves and their teams.

We are delighted to have received this important recognition, said president and CEO Michael Burton. Cornerstone Research has a long history of promoting gender equity, which has always been part of our culture, given that two of our three founders were women. We are proud of the strong representation of women we have in the firms top leadership positions. Our commitment to diversity is one of Cornerstone Researchs great strengths.

Cornerstone Researchs Womens Forum is an innovation first piloted in 2013 in the firms San Francisco office. The firm now hosts Womens Forum events in cities throughout the United States, with a focus on presenting thought-provoking topics relevant to female professionals. Speakers typically are inspiring women academics with strong research and data to support their recommendations.

The Womens Forum is integral to our business model. It encourages women within the firm to seek leadership positions, and their presence in turn supports Cornerstone Research as an employer of choice," Chief Human Resources Officer Elena Garcia noted. "It also helps us address the needs of clients and the legal community who want to network with women and develop their own best practices to advance professional growth.

The 2018 Gender Equity Challenge Winners will be formally announced at the Gender Equity Challenge Forum on April 18 in San Francisco. For more information, visit the Gender Equity Challenge website.

About Cornerstone Research

Cornerstone Research provides economic and financial consulting and expert testimony in all phases of complex litigation and regulatory proceedings. The firm works with an extensive network of prominent faculty and industry practitioners to identify the best-qualified expert for each assignment. Cornerstone Research has earned a reputation for consistent high quality and effectiveness by delivering rigorous, state-of-the-art analysis for over 25 years. The firm has 700 staff and offices in Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington.

http://www.cornerstone.com

Twitter: @Cornerstone_Res

Facebook: @CornerstoneResearchInc
Ironwood Maine Nikoles academic background and life experiences will help our residents succeed academically through Ironwood Maines customized curriculum.

Ironwood Maine, a licensed and New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accredited therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens in Maines mid-Coast area, has named Nikole Seeger as education director. As Ironwood Maines education director, Ms. Seeger will oversee the academic success of Ironwood Maines residents, maintain and further Ironwood Maines accreditation recommendations, and help residents transition to secondary schools and colleges.

Nikoles academic background and life experiences will help our residents succeed academically through Ironwood Maines customized curriculum, said Wes Horton, Ironwood Maines president. Horton continued, We are excited to welcome Nicole to the Ironwood community and look forward to the continued success of our education program.

Ms. Seeger is a graduate of Millersville University with undergraduate degrees in Elementary Education (K-8) and Special Education (K-12). In addition, Ms. Seeger holds a masters degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and School leadership from Millersville University and supervisory and principal certifications. Ms. Seeger has taught both K-12 special education and middle school humanities and served as a school leader in Maine. Ms. Seeger is a registered EMT and is an active member of a volunteer EMS crew.

About Ironwood Maine

Ironwood Maine is a licensed Residential Therapeutic School for struggling teens located in the scenic countryside of mid-coast Maine. Ironwood welcomes struggling teens and their families into a safe and therapeutic learning environment. Ironwood can be contacted by phone at 207-342-3655 or by email at wesh(at)ironwoodmaine(dot)com. Visit the Ironwood Maine website: http://www.ironwoodmaine.com/
Much of my ego has been constructed around this idea that I'm not like most girls.

Just in time for National Reading Month, Mediaplanet announces the launch of this March's edition of "Elementary Education." This campaign will highlight the necessary tools for elementary-level learning and emphasize how the implementation of technology in early learning for students can directly impact future success.

In today's hyper-connected atmosphere, children create, share, and consume digital content at rapid-fire rates. This not only affects their self-image and their peers' image of them but also creates a disconnect between how they're learning information recreationally versus how they're learning in school. With access to new tools in the technology sphere, educators and parents alike can help students to remove labels both in the classroom and at-home.

The print component of "Elementary Education" is distributed within USA Today in the New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore/ D.C., San Francisco markets, with a circulation of approximately 250,000 copies and an estimated readership of 750,000. This print edition will also be present at industry conferences and events in 2018 that are education focused. The digital component is distributed nationally, through a vast social media strategy, and across a network of top news sites and partner outlets. To explore the digital version of the campaign, click here.

Devoted mother and non-gender binary play and learning advocate, Megan Fox graces the cover of the print publication. Through an exclusive interview on the interior, Megan reveals that growing up in the South, she was labeled a Tomboy. When her peers were playing dolls, she was playing outside, climbing trees and getting dirty. "Much of my ego has been constructed around this idea that I'm not like most girls," says the 31-year-old mother of three boys with husband Brian Austin Green, 44. Fox isn't into labeling herself or others, especially her children when it comes to playing, and to learning. The "Transformers" actress faced backlash in the press and on social media after her oldest son, Noah, now 5, was photographed wearing princess dresses. Now she speaks out tirelessly to support our children's learning - without barriers or labels.

This campaign was made possible with the support of Megan Fox, LeVar Burton, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Scholastic, Harvard Graduate School of Education, University of Virginia Curry School of Education, Cengage Learning/ National Geographic Learning, Learners Edge, AARP Foundation, Reading is Fundamental, Heifer International, The National PTA, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA), LeVar Burton Kids (Reading Rainbow), International Literacy Association, and Pencils of Promise.

About Mediaplanet

Mediaplanet specializes in the creation of content marketing campaigns covering a variety of industries. We tell meaningful stories that educate our audience and position our clients as solution providers. Our unique ability to pair the right leaders with the right readers, through the right platforms, has made Mediaplanet a global content marketing powerhouse. Our award-winning stories have won the hearts of countless readers while serving as a valuable platform for brands and their missions. Just call us storytellers with a purpose. Please visit http://www.mediaplanet.com for more on who we are and what we do.

Press Contact:

Caroline Trugman

caroline.trugman(at)mediaplanet.com

(845) 709 0275
The new Pond5 Enterprise Suite is a fully customizable and scalable package designed to meet the ever-changing needs of customers. The pace and scale of content production are growing exponentially, and companies need ways to keep up. With these industry-leading tools, theyll have everything they need to work quickly, save money, and increase efficiency, all in one place.

Pond5, the worlds leading creative content marketplace, today announced a new enterprise-level suite of tools designed to make content production easier than ever for TV and film studios, creative agencies, and large businesses.

The new Pond5 Enterprise Suite is a fully customizable and scalable package designed to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers, explained Pond5 CEO Jason Teichman. The pace and scale of content production are growing exponentially, and companies need ways to keep up. With these industry-leading tools, theyll have everything they need to work quickly, save money, and increase efficiency, all in one place.

Access tools in the Enterprise Suite include options for unwatermarked comps and a special sizzle-reel license, both of which offer the ability to present ideas using Pond5 media without the distraction of a watermark.

"Pond5 can fill in just about any missing piece in our visual puzzles. With their simple and transparent licensing process that has varying levels of licensing options and no hidden costs or purchase minimums, Pond5 fits the needs of each project without breaking the bank."  Ryan Glidden, VP of Operations, Spectrum Productions.

Search is supercharged with the companys new Visual Search platform, including reverse video search from anywhere on the web and mobile visual search, all paired with Pond5s robust search filters to make media discovery simple and painless. Free research is also available.

At a time when concepts are expanding and budgets are shrinking, its comforting to know that a low-flying drone shot over the Grand Canyon at sunset, or a panicked woman staring incredulously at her iPad is always only a few mouse clicks away."  Jim Casey, President, Painless Productions.

Efficiency tools include Pond5 integrations for Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro X, both of which provide streamlined access to the full Pond5 collection, the ability to try out previews in your timeline, and to instantly replace them with hi-res files while keeping all of your edits intact. Bulk downloads of previews and purchased files are available for all platforms.

Administrative tools in the Pond5 Enterprise Suite give companies the option to select which types of media to make available to their teams, so that only approved items will appear in search results. Searches can be limited by price, media type, indemnification level, or any other required attribute.

"As a fast-paced production company producing a wide variety of television shows, Pond5 is our number-one source for images and footage. Pond5's large and diverse library fits all of our needs and the customer service is remarkable."  Jessica B. Williams, Executive in Charge of Production, RIVR Media, LLC

Administrator purchase controls provide the ability to apply credits to the accounts of contractors or agencies and approve purchases before theyre finalized, so spending limits can be set for individual users and budgets can be more easily maintained.

Custom invoicing allows companies to sort purchases by user, date or project, as well as apply billing in one of multiple currencies, streamlining the accounting process. All tools in the Pond5 Enterprise Suite are completely customizable to match the needs of each individual business and production.

Meet with Pond5 at NAB

Businesses looking to integrate the Pond5 Enterprise Suite into their organizations can book a private meeting and demonstration with the Pond5 sales team at the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas. To request a meeting, please contact NAB2018@pond5.com.

Schedule a Private Press Briefing with Pond5 at NAB

Members of the NAB registered press are invited to schedule a private briefing with a member of the Pond5 executive team. To request a briefing, please contact Megan Linebarger at megan@zazilmediagroup.com.

About Pond5

Pond5 is transforming the role of video in the creative process by connecting producers, creative directors, and editors to more than 60,000 filmmakers and creators in over 150 countries. The company strives to improve creative production through its innovative artist technology, easy-to-use platform, and ever-growing library of more than ten million royalty-free video clips, plus millions of music tracks, sound effects, photos and other high-quality media. Pond5 is a venture-backed company funded by Accel Partners and Stripes Group with offices located in New York, Dublin, and Prague.

For more information, please visit https://www.pond5.com.
NCPDP I'm honored to join NCPDP's annual conference as this year's theme - uniting the industry to improve the patient journey - is exactly what we need.

NCPDP announced today that visionary thought leader, Aneesh Chopra, will keynote NCPDPs 2018 Annual Technology & Business Conference, Industry United to Improve the Patient Journey, May 7-9, 2018, at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. As the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States (2009-2012), Chopra worked to build improved collaboration between the public and private sectors to align payment reform with advances in healthcare information technology.

I'm honored to join NCPDP's annual conference as this year's theme - uniting the industry to improve the patient journey - is exactly what we need, stated Aneesh Chopra. NCPDP's long-standing history bringing all stakeholders together to advance standards-based interoperability will be put to work in this emerging era of consumer-directed exchange and new care models rewarded for such improvement.

Chopras keynote address, Open Data, IT, and Value-Based Payment: The (Bipartisan) Approach to Healthcare Delivery Reform, will take place Wednesday, May 9, 2018, at the Passing of the Gavel Luncheon. In his presentation, Chopra will:



Review recent efforts to open up data across electronic health records, payers, and the government to foster a growing ecosystem of tech-enabled services that are tackling waste and boosting care quality.

Explain how these efforts have helped consumers take a more active role in navigating the healthcare delivery system and making better decisions at each step of their care journey.

Offer healthcare organizations a pragmatic path to building the necessary foundation for organizing, enriching, and securely sharing patient health data, including taking full advantage of the emerging health internet.

Identify the efforts worth advancing even in this period of policy uncertainty.

Lee Ann Stember, President and CEO of NCPDP said, Our vision of leading the industry in healthcare standards and solutions for the common good takes center stage at this years conference, Industry United to Improve the Patient Journey. We are taking bold steps forward to ensure that we keep innovating through standards, and leading impactful change that puts actionable data in the hands of providers and automates administrative transactions to keep the focus on improving the patient journey.

Stember continued, Aneeshs keynote address will complement our programming goals for this important conference and demonstrate that the power of industry collaboration for the common good is the catalyst for meaningful and lasting change. We invite all industry stakeholders to join us as we kick off our next 40 years of innovation and transformative change in healthcare.

To register for NCPDPs 2018 Annual Technology & Business Conference, Industry United to Improve the Patient Journey, visit http://ncpdp.org/ac/index.aspx. Follow us at http://twitter.com/ncpdp or join the discussion using NCPDPs 2018 Annual Technology & Business Conference hashtag: #NCPDP18.

About NCPDP

Founded in 1977, NCPDP is a not-for-profit, ANSI-accredited, Standards Development Organization with approximately 1,500 members representing virtually every sector of the pharmacy services industry. Our diverse membership provides leadership and healthcare business solutions through education and standards, created using the consensus building process. NCPDP has been named in federal legislation, including HIPAA, MMA, and HITECH. NCPDP members have created standards such as the Telecommunication Standard and Batch Standard, the SCRIPT Standard for ePrescribing, the Manufacturers Rebate Standard and more to improve communication within the pharmacy industry. Our data products include dataQ, a robust database of information on more than 80,000 pharmacies, resQ, an industry pharmacy credentialing resource, and HCIdea, an innovative prescriber database that provides continually updated information on more than 2.5 million prescribers. NCPDP's RxReconn is a legislative tracking product for real-time monitoring of pharmacy-related state and national legislative and regulatory activity. For more information about NCPDP Standards, Data Services, Products, Educational Programs and Work Group meetings, go online at http://www.ncpdp.org or call 480.477.1000.
Account Control Technology Foundation (ACT Foundation), a non-profit, charitable foundation established by the founders of Account Control Technology Holdings, Inc., is now accepting applications for its annual scholarship programs, which provides $1,000 individual awards to students nationwide.

The ACT Foundation Second-Year Scholarship Program is for current college first-year students who plan to enroll as sophomores in a four-year college or university in the fall of 2018. A total of nine $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to students nationwide.

The ACT Cares Community Scholarship Program is for graduating high school seniors from specific communities who will attend a four-year college or university beginning in the fall of 2018. Applicants must be current seniors at high schools within select counties surrounding our ACT Holdings, Inc. offices. The locations and counties are as follows:



Atlanta, GA: Fulton & DeKalb County

Augusta, GA: Augusta-Richmond County, Columbia County, GA, Edgefield County, SC, Aiken County, SC

Bakersfield, CA: Kern County

Boca Raton, FL: Palm Beach County

Dallas, TX: Dallas, Denton and Collin Counties

Gainesville, VA: Prince William County

Houston, TX: Harris County, Montgomery County and Fort Bend County

Mason, OH: Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren Counties

Montgomery, AL: Montgomery County

Peoria, IL: Peoria County

Phoenix, AZ: Maricopa County

Renton, WA: King County

San Angelo, TX: Tom Green County

San Antonio, TX: Bexar & Medina County

White Plains, NY: Westchester County

Woodland Hills, CA: Los Angeles County, Orange County

A total of sixteen $1,000 scholarships will be awarded.

The application deadline for both programs is May 1, 2018. The scholarship selection process will be administered independently by Scholarship America. Application guidelines are available at http://www.accountcontrolfoundation.org or for more information email actfoundation@scholarshipamerica.org.

In addition to providing information on its scholarship programs, the ACT Foundation website offers content and links to help students plan and pay for college, as well as gain tips to improve their financial wellness.

About the ACT Foundation

The Account Control Technology Foundation is a charitable organization established by ACT Holdings Founders, Dale and Debbie Van Dellen, with a stated mission to improve the future of students and the greater community by offering financial literacy and debt management education, mentorship and support to those in need. For more information email visit http://www.accountcontrolfoundation.org

About Scholarship America

For nearly 60 years, Scholarship America has worked directly with students, parents, donors, colleges, businesses and communities to empower people to achieve their educational goals. As the nations largest private education support organization, having distributed over $3.7 billion to more than 2.3 million students, Scholarship America is now working to further engage the private sector to support programs and policies that advance equity in postsecondary education and help students overcome barriers to access, persistence and attainment. More information is available at http://www.scholarshipamerica.org.
Our partnership with SEP and Danlaw will have a considerably positive impact on our product innovation strategy, customer support and employee base.

Azuga, a leading global provider of connected vehicle and fleet technologies, today announced that Sumeru Equity Partners (SEP) acquired a majority stake in the company and made a significant strategic investment to accelerate its growth and product innovation strategy. SEP acquired the company in partnership with existing shareholders Ananth RaniCEO, board member and founder of Azugaand Danlaw, Inc., both of whom will continue to retain significant equity interests in Azuga.

Founded in 2012, Azuga provides market leading connected vehicle, fleet and telematics software and solutions for commercial fleets, government agencies, insurance companies and automotive industry suppliers with its breakthrough platforms deployed to approximately 3,000 customers. Using a disruptive driver-centric and analytics backed approach, Azuga has provided the industry with a platform that enables customers to turn data about vehicle usage and driver behavior into intelligence that improves operations and safety while also reducing costs and risk for fleet operators. Azuga has invested significantly in product innovation, market coverage and its employee base to ensure customers have access to a modern, affordable and easy-to-use platform. Azuga is a thought-leader in the fleet telematics industry and is regularly featured in prominent publications and has been honored for its solution by international organizations such as CTIA, The Stevie Awards and Mobile Star.

Since our founding, Azugaalongside our investor and integral commercial partner Danlawhas seen a tremendous opportunity to bring next-generation solutions to our customers and outpace the market, said Rani. We are excited to make this announcement and believe our partnership with SEP and Danlaw will have a considerably positive impact on our product innovation strategy, customer support and employee base. SEPs strong technology expertise and well-known track record of helping technology companies scale makes them an ideal investor to enable us to extend our market-leading solutions, grow our business and remain focused on a customer-centric culture.

As a part of the investment, SEP principals Paul Mercadante, Sanjeet Mitra and Mark Haller will join the Azuga board of directors. The fleet management and telematics technology market is undergoing a significant transition as the shift from asset tracking solutions to complex, sophisticated platforms allows fleet operators to use real-time data to influence safety, operations and performance, said Mercadante and Haller. From its founding, Azuga has differentiated itself by taking on a customer-first mentality and building a modern platform with extensive functionality that mutually benefits fleet operators and vehicle drivers alike. We are excited to partner with Ananth, the Azuga team and Danlaw to support the growth plans of the company.

Danlawbased in Michiganis a leading supplier to car manufacturers and insurance companies through its automotive-grade products and has built a business with more than 800 employees and successful operations over the past 34 years. Founder, chairman of Danlaw and Azuga board director Raju S. Dandu said, Danlaw and Azuga have had a fantastic relationship in the past several years. We believe that the market leadership position and momentum created through our investments and leading-edge device collaboration with Azuga will promote a lasting impact to its customers. As we look forward to the future and Azugas continued success, we are enthusiastic about SEPs investment and believe that Danlaw and Azuga will greatly benefit from our newly formed partnership. In addition to continuing as a large shareholder, Danlaw will remain a key supply and strategic partner for Azuga.

The transaction closed in March 2018 and financial details were not disclosed.

About Azuga

Azuga is a leading global connected vehicle platform, helping our customers turn data from vehicles and their use into intelligence that improves operations and safety while reducing cost and risk. Azuga provides reliable end-to-end solutions for commercial fleets, government agencies, insurance companies and automotive industry suppliers, through leading hardware technology, the Azuga One platform, award-winning fleet applications and data analytics. Our award-winning Azuga Fleet solution is used by thousands of businessesfrom the small fleet of a few vehicles up to several thousandand is lauded by our customers for its ease-of-use, robust features and affordable pricing. For more information, visit http://www.azuga.com and follow us on Twitter @Azuga_GPS.

About Sumeru Equity Partners

Sumeru Equity Partners is a technology-focused private equity firm that invests in market leading companies across software, technology-enabled services and hardware. The firm was founded in 2014 by an experienced team from Silver Lake Sumeru, a private equity fund started in 2007 within Silver Lake. Sumeru Equity Partners utilizes its extensive operating and investment experience in partnership with management teams to drive growth and build strategic value. For more information, please visit http://www.sumeruequity.com.

About Danlaw Inc.

We are a global leader in connected car and automotive electronics. Our family of 800 people live, breathe, and create innovative tech for some of the worlds largest car makers. Thirty five years ago, we started our journey with software development for Electronic Engine Control module, and today, we continue to develop forward-looking technologies. We focus our efforts on R&D to stay ahead of rapidly changing industry needs in an increasingly connected world. Danlaw is known for ground-breaking tech, efficient development, and adaptive solutions for dynamic environments. Our world-class connected vehicle solutions make Danlaw one of the largest suppliers of connected gadgets in the world.
At the end of the day, its about providing customers with a better customer experience. This is Bright Patterns mission.

Bright Pattern today announces the hire of contact center industry veteran, John OBrien. OBriens breadth of international sales experience and unified communications expertise will help him lead the Australian and New Zealand sales organization.

OBrien has experience working in various international markets including France, the United States, Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. OBrien joins Bright Pattern at a time of extreme international growth for Bright Pattern having recently expanded into Japan, Singapore, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Having reported a 97% revenue increase, 64% increase in new customers, and 160% increase in new order bookings in 2017, Bright Pattern is aggressively expanding its sales organizations to meet the demand of these international markets.

As a long-time partner to Bright Pattern CTO Konstantin Kishinsky and CEO Michael McCloskey, OBrien was a clear choice for the ANZ position. While working with Kishinsky and McCloskey at Genesys, OBrien successfully led an international sales team of 40 with $22 million in revenue in four years. OBrien continued to support the success of McCloskey and Kishinsky at FrontRange in Asia Pacific establishing offices in India and China.

I feel like I have come full circle with the team at Bright Pattern, said OBrien. I have had the pleasure of working alongside much of the executive and R&D teams over the last two decades and fully trust the vision they have created at Bright Pattern.

There is no doubt that OBrien is the best suited sales professional to continue building out the Bright Pattern ANZ sales team, said Michael McCloskey, Bright Pattern CEO. With the recent launch of our Spring 2018 Release we anticipate extreme growth in the Australian and New Zealand market and building out our ANZ team will support this growth.

OBrien continued, There is an opportunity to bring some lost value back to the call centre industry in Australia. End users continue to demand omnichannel support and Bright Pattern is a solution that will grow and innovate to meet these ongoing needs. At the end of the day, its about providing customers with a better customer experience. This is Bright Patterns mission.

About Bright Pattern

Bright Patterns cloud contact center software simplifies omnichannel customer service for customers, agents, and contact center managers. Bright Patterns Cloud Contact Center solutions are used globally in over 26 countries and 12 languages by companies of all sizes.

Contacts:

Shelby Faris

Marketing Manager

Bright Pattern

shelby.faris(at)brightpattern(dot)com

+1 720-209-2818
Reckon, an AL.com brand focused on community conversations and in-depth journalism, will host and stream the 2018 Alabama Gubernatorial debates. Debates are open to the public and media, and available to watch via Facebook Live on Reckon by AL.com and on television on ABC 33/40. ABC 33/40 will provide a pool camera for media use.



The Republican debate will take place April 18 at 7 p.m. and panelists will include ABC 33/40s Lauren Walsh, Reckons John Archibald and Cameron Smith of the R Street Institute. Free tickets are available via Eventbrite.

The Democratic debate will be held April 24 at 7 p.m. and panelists will include Walsh, Smith and Reckons Kyle Whitmire.Free tickets are available via Eventbrite.

Each event will last approximately two hours and will be hosted by AL.com columnist and Director of Content Development, Roy Johnson.

Each of the gubernatorial candidates have been invited and will have a lectern on stage. The candidates will each receive 90 seconds for opening statements, followed by a question and answer section. In addition to the questions written and asked by the three panelists, Reckon is soliciting questions from readers.

Readers can submit their questions ahead of time at al.com.

Please contact Alabama Media Groups Director of News, Izzy Gould, with any questions or concerns at igould(at)al.com.
One Vanderbilt Our high-rise elevators with PORT Technology create a unique blend of style, functionality and sustainability and are perfectly aligned with the buildings design.

Forty-two Schindler elevators and five Schindler escalators will ultimately move thousands of building workers and visitors every day at One Vanderbilt, the 58-story, 1.7 million square-foot commercial office tower being constructed in midtown Manhattan directly adjacent to Grand Central Terminal. Thirty of the elevators will be equipped with Schindlers PORT Technology. Schindler Elevator Corporation was awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by Construction Manager AECOM Tishman Construction to provide and install the vertical transportation equipment.

Schindler has a long history in New York City and we are thrilled to be a part of this extraordinary project, said Greg Ergenbright, CEO, US operations for Schindler. Our high-rise elevators with PORT Technology create a unique blend of style, functionality and sustainability and are perfectly aligned with the buildings design.

One Vanderbilt, developed by SL Green Realty Corp. and designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, will anchor the modernization of the Midtown business district. Following the layered architectural language of neighboring New York City icons, One Vanderbilt joins the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building as one of three-point towers to define the citys renowned skyline. Expected to achieve both LEED Gold and WELL certification, the 1,401-foot trophy office tower will feature column-free floor plates, floor-to-ceiling windows and best-in-class infrastructure. It will provide tenants with a 30,000-square-foot tenant-only amenity floor and outdoor terrace as well as a world-class 11,000 square-foot Daniel Boulud restaurant. Immediately adjacent to the city's most important transit hub, One Vanderbilt will have direct connections to the Grand Central Terminal transit network and will invest $220 million in infrastructure upgrades to the system. The building is expected to open in 2020.

About Schindler Elevator Corporation

Schindler Elevator Corporation is the North American operation of the Switzerland-based Schindler Group, a leading global mobility provider of elevators, escalators and related services. Schindler supports sustainable urban development with safe, reliable and sustainable mobility solutions, moving more than one billion people every day all over the world. Behind the companys success are over 60,000 employees operating in more than 100 countries. For additional information about Schindler Elevator Corporation, visit the companys Web site at http://www.us.schindler.com.

For more information please contact:

Sarah Lynch, G&S Business Communications

Tel. 212-697-2600

slynch@gscommunications.com

Kim Hoskins, Schindler Corporate Communications

Tel.973-397-3797

kim.hoskins@schindler.com

http://www.us.schindler.com
Centric Software PLM and Justin Alexander Tie the Knot From the beginning we felt Centric was a perfect fit for us. The technology is new, fresh and up to date.

Centric Software announces that Justin Alexander, the award-winning designer and maker of wedding dresses and accessories, has selected Centric Software to provide its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to fashion, retail, footwear, outdoor, luxury and consumer goods companies to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Justin Alexander is a third-generation bridal business that began making bridal headpieces out of Brooklyn, New York in 1946. From their manufacturing roots, the company has transformed into a well-known designer brand for wedding dresses and bridal accessories. Now a global company, Justin Alexanders five core, one private label and two licensed collections are sold in more than 70 countries by more than 1,500 authorized retailers.

Justin Warshaw, President at Justin Alexander, explains that putting a PLM foundation into place became a priority in recent years as the company needs to keep creativity in the forefront while also leveraging manufacturing knowledge following their transformation from strict manufacturer to a full-fledged brand.

We have become more of a design house than a bridal manufacturer, with a large team of designers, says Warshaw. We need a tool to avoid design duplication and communicate efficiently as sketches are being produced. Consolidating this data manually is very laborious. As a technology-focused company that works almost completely digitally in other departments, were ready to move our design and product processes online to improve efficiency.

One challenge is that our designers and license partners are in different locations around the world, Warshaw continues. Organizing all the data, tech packs and communications in one place has become too difficult. We know that using a PLM will help us take the next step in communication and ensure the designers wishes are followed throughout the process.

The company researched several PLM solutions, and eventually reached out to Centric Software for a demo. As Warshaw says, Centrics PLM solution had the features and support they were looking for.

We talked to a few other companies, but from the beginning we felt Centric was a perfect fit for us, says Warshaw. The technology is new, fresh and up to date. The Centric interface is similar to Excel, which will make it an easy transition for our team. You can put equations in, build out pricing and use matrix functionality that allows you to merchandise the collection. We deal with many different countries and currencies and Centric SMB has the flexibility to handle it all. There are so many different possible configurations and the user experience is outstanding.

Justin Alexander will use Centric SMB, Centrics cloud-based SaaS PLM solution for small and medium sized brands.

Centric SMB PLM will also help us to interact more efficiently with our private label and wholesale customers, concludes Warshaw. Well be able to keep them in the loop as first sketches and prototypes are created, enabling them to give feedback at every stage of design and development. Ultimately Centric SMB will create a hub for development that will allow us to communicate and collaborate effectively across the world.

We are very excited to welcome our first partner in bridal wear, Justin Alexander, to the Centric family, says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. Justin Alexander will be using Centrics innovative cloud-based PLM for small to medium enterprises, Centric SMB. We are happy to be part of the continuing success of Justin Alexander.

Justin Alexander (http://www.justinalexander.com)

Justin Alexander is a designer of mid- to high-end wedding dresses under six collection labels: Justin Alexander, Justin Alexander Signature, Lillian West, Sincerity Bridal, Sweetheart Gowns, and Viktor&Rolf Mariage. The marquee collection, Justin Alexander, embodies Old Hollywood glamour by combining graceful construction with clean and classic details. Justin Alexander is a global company with offices in New York City, New Jersey, London, Rotterdam and Hong Kong, and is sold by more than 1,500 authorized retailers worldwide.

Centric Software (http://www.centricsoftware.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) is a visual, fully digital collection of boards for touch-based devices like iPad, iPhone and large-scale, touch-screen televisions. Centric VIP transforms decision making and automates execution to truly collapse time to market and distance to trend. Centrics flagship product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality, and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB packages extended PLM including innovative technology and key industry learnings tailored for small businesses.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM in 2016 and Frost & Sullivans Global Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM Product Differentiation Excellence Award in 2012. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Media Contacts:

Centric Software

Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, jforsythe(at)centricsoftware.com

Europe: Kristen Salaun Batby, ksalaun-batby(at)centricsoftware.com

Asia: Lily Dong, lily.dong(at)centricsoftware.com
Mike Ehrle, SVP of Strategic Partnerships, Hodges-Mace The capability to communicate with employees on their mobile devices is delivering a quantifiable ROI in the form of reduced health care costs and higher employee retention rates.

Benefits delivery innovator, Hodges-Mace, LLC, will present a webinar on The Role of Mobile Technology in Modern Benefit Strategies on Tuesday April 10th, at 1:00pm ET. During the one hour session SVP of Strategic Partnerships, Mike Ehrle, will reveal how savvy employers are leveraging mobile tools and other disruptive technologies to contain health care costs, communicate with employees and increase retention rates.

Register here to attend and receive the recorded link after the event.

Smart employers are leveraging mobile, cloud computing and AI technology tools to connect directly with their employees wherever they are. The capability to communicate with employees on their mobile devices is delivering a quantifiable ROI in the form of reduced health care costs and higher employee retention rates.

The employee/employer dialog is changing as we live in an always-on world, notes Ehrle. Employees expect employers to meet their needs in real time. For HR, this means the gap between the employment experience and an employees personal life is getting thinner.

During his session, Mike will offer best practices, case studies and suggestions on how to find value in a mobile benefit strategy through further engagement and higher retention rates.

Webinar attendees will learn:

1) How mobile consumer technologies are changing and complimenting employer benefit strategies

2) How to adjust the healthcare cost curve using mobile strategies

3) How communicating the benefits offered by an employer, via mobile strategies, can lead to higher retention and ultimately lower healthcare costs for an employer

About Your Presenter

Mike Ehrle is SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Hodges-Mace where he leads the expansion of health plans, payroll firms, payers, broker partners, P-E, etc. and led Hodges-Maces sales team nationwide. Prior to Hodges-Mace, Mike was responsible for numerous sales, client retention, sales operations, and strategic initiatives at Davis Vision and UnitedHealth Group. Mike earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Drake University and his MBA degree from Notre Dame.

About Hodges-Mace

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Hodges-Mace, LLC is a leading provider of benefit management software and services. Their portfolio ranges from mid-size companies and Fortune 500 enterprises in a variety of industries, including education, energy, gaming, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail. Hodges-Mace is a respected leader in the employee benefits industry and is dedicated to helping employees and employers make smarter benefits decisions through a blend of innovative technologies and intelligent service solutions. The company was named one of the Best Companies to Work for in Georgia in 2016 and 2017. For additional information visit http://www.hodgesmace.com.

Media/Analyst Contact

Elizabeth Fairleigh

thE Connection, Inc.

404.874.4562

Elizabeth(at)EConnectionPR.com
A Metaphor is an Equation between three words The hardest part of writing poetry is getting started. Metaphor Dice make it hard to stop. Brendan Constantine, Poet/Teacher

Metaphor Dice has launched on crowd-funding site Kickstarter. Starting from $19 for the early bird special, Metaphor Dice is the easiest way to teach students of all ages how to create metaphors and write poetry. It is the brainchild of world renowned poet and teacher, Taylor Mali, who has been teaching students how to explore their inner poet for over 25 years.

Teachers who have used the dice in their classes (including me) report that the dice bring an enthusiasm to the writing of poetry that they have seldom seen before. I may soon be out of a job, Mali says.

A complete set of Metaphor Dice is four red, four white, and four blue, for a total of 12 dice. The basic idea is that you roll at least one of each color, arrange them in orderred, white, and blueand read the resulting metaphor aloud, supplying whatever smaller linking or auxiliary words you want. With an overhead projector a teacher might need only one set for an entire class. Once the class agrees on a single metaphor to use, everyone writes for a few minutes, thinking of ways they might apply the metaphor to their own life. At the very least, everyone should try to "justify" the metaphor by sort of restating in an artful way! When each student then shares a lineand you continue going around until everyone has read everything they care to shareeveryone will be amazed at how many different ways a metaphor can be interpreted. And they will want to roll again!

As a master teacher with more than four decades in the classroom, I find that Metaphor Dice speak to the heart of humanistic education  interactive, thought-provoking, and just fun! says Dr. Joseph DAngelo, a 40+ year master English teacher

Were told that a metaphor is a way of comparing two things, but thats not the whole story nor does it speak to why and how we use metaphors, which is essentially to SAY one thing but MEAN another. from creator Taylor Mali

Whats in the box? Four red dice with 24 different CONCEPTS, four white dice with 24 ADJECTIVES, and four blue dice with 24 OBJECTS. Choosing one of each and combining them can create a total of 13,824 unique metaphors!

Editor's notes:

The Kickstarter Campaign can be found HERE

For more information on Taylor, please visit Taylor Malis website HERE

Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series "Def Poetry Jam." A four-time National Poetry Slam champion, he is the author of four collections of poetry and a book of essays, "What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World. In April of 2012, Mali donated 12 inches of his hair to the American Cancer Society. Mali has been credited with convincing over 1,000 people to become teachers. He lives in Brooklyn where he is the founding curator of the Page Meets Stage reading series at the Bowery Poetry Club.

PR Contact:

Twitter: @MetaphorDice

Email: info(at)metaphordice.com
Early Bird Discount Rate Will End April 20th Each attendee will receive a Certificate of Continuing Education for 5 hours of credit from Saint Louis University. Attendee's will also have the opportunity to see, and learn, from over 15 speakers sharing experiences throughout the day.

The Portland Technology Leadership Summit offers a professional network that connects senior-level IT leaders with peers in their communitiesproviding valuable opportunities for knowledge-sharing, professional development, collaboration, and career advancement. There is expected to be over 200 executives representing over 100 companies at this inaugural Summit on May 9th.

Each attendee will receive a Certificate of Continuing Education for 5 hours of credit from Saint Louis University. Attendee's will also have the opportunity to see, and learn, from over 15 speakers sharing experiences throughout the day. CIO's, CISOs, and their management teams are encouraged to register now at a discounted rate to reserve their seat for this noteworthy event.

The keynote speaker lineup features Robert Tipton, Change Management Pro and Author of Jump, Jimmy Godard, MBA, PMP, ITIL local executive, and Chris Laping, Former CIO and Author People Before Things  Always!. Bobs presentation will elaborate on The Power in Whats Right and not Whos Right. Jimmy Godards presentation will focus on leadership and specifically Knowing Your Leadership Compass is a game changer. Lastly, Chriss presentation will share his experiences as a CIO on how managing with People Before Things  Always! will help deliver results in your organizations.

Along with the tremendous lineup of keynote speakers, this event will give attendees unlimited access to all 8 practitioner led breakout sessions to learn how their peers are overcoming common obstacles that many of Portlands IT and security organizations have told us they are facing.

For more information about the Portland IT Leadership Summit and how you can sponsor or register for the event please visit https://www.portlandtechnologysummit.com.
The Sinuva nasal implant Nasal polyps are one of the most persistent and troublesome conditions that we see in our practice, said Dr. Sigari. We are proud to offer this new, advanced and effective treatment choice for patients who have chronic nasal polyps.

Farhad Sigari, MD, FACS, founder of Del Rey Sinus & Allergy Institute and a leading ear nose and throat (ENT) doctor, has performed the first implant in Southern California, and one of few in the United States, of the new Sinuva sinus device. Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December, 2017, Intersect ENTs Sinuva implant is designed to treat recurring nasal polyps in adults who have had prior ethmoid sinus surgery (ESS).

Nasal polyps are one of the most persistent and troublesome conditions that we see in our practice, said Dr. Sigari, a board-certified otolaryngologist. Even when we surgically remove nasal polyps and the patient exercises ongoing care using steroid sprays or pills, they can return time and again. We are proud to offer this new, advanced and effective treatment choice for patients who have chronic nasal polyps.

Nasal polyps are noncancerous, inflammatory growths along the lining of the nasal passages. These growths may cause life-affecting symptoms including nasal discharge, congestion, facial pain, and a loss of sense of smell. Many people return to their sinus doctor with recurring polyps even after undergoing previous ethmoid sinus surgery. The Sinuva device is placed during a routine office visit and delivers steroid medication directly to the sinus for up to 90 days. As medication is absorbed, the Sinuva implant softens and may be easily removed.

The first patient treated by Del Rey Sinus & Allergy Institute is a 53-year-old male who has had several previous sinus procedures, but had recurrence of difficult-to-treat polyps. Dr. Sigari notes that the implant was inserted easily and without complications, and the patient evidenced no discomfort. On subsequent follow-up, the sinuses showed no signs of irritation, infection or bleeding and the implant was working very nicely. The implant is designed to stay in place for up to 3 months, giving the patient continued localized treatment while minimizing systemic effects.

Positive data from the SINUVA Sinus Implant was supported by the results of the RESOLVE II pivotal study. The study demonstrated a reduction in polyps, nasal obstruction/congestion, a reduction in need for repeat sinus surgery, and an improvement in impaired sense of smell.

About Del Rey Sinus & Allergy Institute

Part of the Del Rey MD family of clinics, Del Rey Sinus & Allergy Institute is an advanced otolaryngology medical practice. Del Rey Sinus & Allergy Institute offers a full array of the most advanced and proven techniques for accurate diagnosis and treatment of sinus and allergy conditions, including many minimally invasive or non-invasive procedures. The physicians of Del Rey MD are board-certified surgeons and Fellows of the American College of Surgeons. The practice was founded by Farhad Sigari, MD, FACS, a graduate of University of San Diego and Chicago Medical School, where he also completed surgical internship and residency. The clinics areas of expertise include: sinusitis and sinus surgery including balloon sinus dilation; head and neck plastic surgery; snoring and sleep apnea; ear and hearing disorders including aviation and dive medicine; allergy and immunotherapy; head, neck and throat oncology; facial feminization surgery, microdermabrasion, facial masks and contouring and many other surgical and non-surgical treatments. Known for its adoption of the most innovative and advanced techniques, Del Rey MD draws patients from California, across the United States and foreign countries. Offices are located in Marina Del Rey and Bakersfield, California. For more information, visit delreysinus.com and delreymd.com.
This initiative is a significant milestone in ensuring the supply and use of conflict-free minerals, and will have an enduring and positive impact on our industry.

Cobalt Blockchain Inc. (the "Company" or COBC) (TSXV:COBC) and DLT Labs Inc. (DLT) are pleased to announce that they have signed a Letter of Intent to establish a joint venture to provide secure, traceable and transparent methods for tracking and certifying the provenance of metals and minerals, through the entire supply chain from source to end-user.

Leveraging the expertise of COBC, and DLTs supply chain and logistics product DL Asset Track, the joint venture will develop and deploy a new enterprise-grade platform based on international blockchain standards. The new platform will be specifically designed for companies trading in base and precious minerals, including cobalt, gold, and diamonds. The initiative addresses the growing need for complete transparency in the movement of minerals and metals, especially where conflict-free certification is important. The new platform will be selectively piloted prior to being offered on a commercial basis, beginning with COBCs recently-announced cobalt assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

COBCs business is to provide conflict-free cobalt to address the demand for advanced batteries in smartphones and electric vehicles, tracked via a blockchain-based platform, providing transparency and immutability of the certification record. COBC has 12 years of on-the-ground experience, and holds licenses for 3T (tin, tungsten, tantalum) conflict-free metals, in the DRC. The Company recently announced two definitive agreements for cobalt/copper concessions in proximity of active artisanal and small-scale (ASM) copper/cobalt mining in the DRC, totalling over 48 square kilometers. COBC has also signed letters of intent and is working towards definitive agreements for several other mineral concessions in addition to exclusive supply agreements with local mining cooperatives.

More than 12 percent of global cobalt production currently originates from ASM operations in the DRC and the announced joint venture represents a significant step forward in COBCs goals of delivering certified, ethically-sourced cobalt to the market in the near-term. Trading partners from ASM sources to smelters to automotive partners can collaborate and establish a shared view of end-to-end transactions without compromising confidential details or privacy.

This initiative is a significant milestone in ensuring the supply and use of conflict-free minerals, and will have an enduring and positive impact on our industry, said Lance Hooper, President and Chief Operating Officer at COBC. The combination of COBCs mining and metals trading, conflict-free certification experience, and DLTs innovative and enterprise-grade blockchain capabilities, signal an ability to automate trust within the minerals and metals supply chain.

Companies and consumers demand assurances that the minerals and metals in their products are conflict-free. We now have the technology and tools to protect workers and prevent abhorrent labor practices so there is no excuse to support bad actors, said Loudon Owen, Chairman and CEO of DLT. We are excited to partner with COBC, with their vast experience and deep domain expertise, to ensure supply chain transparency and the ethical sourcing of minerals.

DLT is a global leader in blockchain platforms, properly known as Distributed Ledger Technology, which enable an immutable record of the transactions in the supply ecosystem, allowing permissioned parties real-time access to secure and trusted data. Blockchain technology is ideally suited for application to a large network of partners.

About Cobalt Blockchain Inc.

Cobalt Blockchain Inc. (COBC) (TSX-V:COBC) is a Canadian resource company expanding its exploration and development business to include cobalt assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). COBC has been authorized by its shareholders to acquire a 100% interest in an existing metals trading business specializing in sourcing conflict-free minerals from artisanal and small-scale mines in the DRC. Leveraging its experience with existing mineral traceability systems, COBC is developing a Distributed Ledger-based certification platform to provide manufacturers and end-users greater certainty of provenance and further assurance that all minerals procured are ethically-sourced. COBC senior management have over twelve years of experience working in the DRC and have a proven international track record in exploration success and the trading of certified conflict-free, child-labour-free minerals.

About DLT Labs Inc.

DLT Labs Inc. (DLT) is a global leader in the development and implementation of Blockchain solutions for enterprises, with offices in Canada, India and Japan. With the world's premier team of distributed application designers and integrators, DLT has extensive enterprise experience and expertise with all distributed ledger/Blockchain technologies including Enterprise Ethereum, IBM's Fabric, R3's Corda, JP Morgan's Quorum, and other leading enterprise platforms. DLT's leading group of architects, using proprietary DNC Cluster Framework and Parent & Child Smart Contract Architecture, have designed and deployed a suite of secure and scalable Distributed Applications that provide enterprise solutions for data and digital asset provenance storage, management and exchange. DLT is an Authorized IBM Business Partner.

For additional information, please contact:

Lance Hooper, President and Chief Operating Officer

Cobalt Blockchain Inc.

Telephone: +1-416-500-3670

Email: info@cobc.co

Website: http://www.cobc.co

Loudon Owen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

DLT Labs

Telephone: +1-416-307-3271

Email: Loudon.Owen@dltlabs.com

Website: http://www.dltlabs.com

Forward-Looking Information

This 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 production, reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such 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 the statements. There are certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. These include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors should review registered filings at http://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.
Team Ramco receiving the Best Imagination Award at the 2018, ISG Paragon Awards, Australia We can proudly say Digital Transformation is a reality with Ramcos next-gen ERP which has been the platform behind 3 finalists and 2 winning entries at ISG Awards

Global enterprise software provider, Ramco Systems today announced that it has won the Best Imagination Award, at the 2018 ISG Paragon Awards, Australia for enabling digital transformation at Viadux resulting in modernization and streamlining of its business to improve customer experience. Ramco had earlier bagged the 2015 Paragon Awards for Innovation along with NorskeSkog Australasia for its Cloud ERP integrated with Asset Management implementation.

Announced at a gala event in Sydney, The ISG Paragon Awards celebrated the evolution of the sourcing industry through the application of new sourcing approaches and digital technology, including the use of robotic process automation. Ramco along with Viadux nominated its Postmodern, Cloud ERP implementation  a transformation driven by innovation, for the Imagination award. Ramcos yet another nomination under the Business Transformation category of Logistics business at The Glen Cameron Group was adjudged the finalist in its category.

Viadux, Australia based leading manufacturer and supplier of water and environmental solutions, successfully implemented Ramcos full-suite ERP (including HCM, Payroll, Finance and Sales) for 5 entities across 10 locations in Australia, in a short span of 9 months, replacing 8 disparate legacy applications with a single solution. Viadux actively manages 1400+ customers and 2000+ suppliers spread across multiple locations, planning for 25000 items, handling 500+ customer orders and 800 shipments per day on average.

Interestingly, Ramco and Viaduxs award winning case study has also made it into ISGs Top 25 Digital Case Study book.

Acknowledging the award, Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems, said, The Paragon awards celebrate organizations which have delivered significant impact on their clients business. By exploring new technologies and developing applications that help address business pain points, we strive to untangle complex IT landscape and simplify operations. It is this Innovation streak that has helped us win the trust of leading organizations, globally.

"We can proudly say Digital Transformation is a reality with Ramcos next-gen ERP which has been the platform behind 3 finalists and 2 winning entries at ISG Awards. Viaduxs digital transformation was a complex program requiring 8 disparate systems to be replaced into one ERP platform. Ramco ERP brought in a leaner, more agile, platform-driven approach which successfully accelerated Viaduxs growth and profitability added Aggarwal.

At the time of go-live, Michael Negri, the then  CEO, Viadux Pty Limited, said, "8 months since we processed our first order in Ramcos end to end ERP system including HCM, Payroll, Finance and Sales, we are starting to simplify the backend of our business, we are seeing the benefits of improved visibility through the analytics and develop processes that create a leaner, more responsive customer orientated business. It has been an important initiative in our journey to become far more responsive and a real-time enterprise for our customers. We have begun our journey to become leaner, more agile, and a platform-driven business with much better and automated processes, mobility and insightful dashboards. Despite challenges of a complex, big-bang implementation, we have done well. We have got rid of high cost, legacy ERP and other systems which were holding us back, and now with this new cloud platform, we are looking forward to accelerating our growth and profitability.

Ramco ERP on Cloud with advanced Finance and Accounting and HCM modules equips customers with better visibility, tighter control and improved profitability. Ramcos focus on innovations in usability, context-awareness, mobility, overall flexibility, apart from a comprehensive set of functionality has enabled smooth transition for customers to the VAT-era with multiple customers already upgrading and opting to be VAT ready.

With steadfast growth witnessed in Oceania, Ramco recently announced its plans to set up a Workforce Innovation Centre in Melbourne, to develop next-gen workforce management solutions for a frictionless computing era.

About Viadux:

Viadux is a born again distributor of water network solutions, providing pipes and valves to transmit fresh water across the country. After a recent acquisition by private equity the company is embarking on modernizing and streamlining its business to improve the customer experience. With a foundry based in the Gold Coast producing high quality ductile iron valves and fittings and distribution centers in all major cities in the country, Viadux is a leader in the industry. At Viadux we believe in always looking to the future to what is possible, innovation and improvement is at the core of how we will improve the customer experience. For more information, please visit http://www.viadux.com.au

About Ramco Systems:

Ramco is a fast-growing enterprise software player disrupting the market with its multi-tenant cloud and mobile-based enterprise software in HCM and Global Payroll, ERP and M&E MRO for Aviation. Part of the USD 1 billion Ramco Group, Ramco Systems focuses on Innovation and Culture to differentiate itself in the marketplace. On Innovation front, Ramco has been focusing on moving towards Cognitive and Robotic ERP with features such as Bot it  which allows users to complete transaction using natural conversations; Mail It  transact with the application by just sending an email; HUB It - a one screen does it all concept built to address all activities of a user; Thumb It  mobility where the system presents users with option to choose rather than type values and Prompt It  a cognitive ability which will let the system complete the transaction and prompts the user for approval.

With 1600+ employees spread across 24 offices, globally, Ramco follows a flat and open culture where employees are encouraged to share knowledge and grow. No Hierarchies, Cabin-less Offices, Respect work and not titles, among others are what makes the team say, Thank God its Monday!

Winner of Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards 2017, for Best Advance in Time and Labor Management;

Winner of the HR Vendors of the Year 2017 Awards for Best Payroll Software, Best HR Management System and Best Talent Management Software;

Only APAC vendor to be positioned in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financials & Cloud HCM Suites;

Enters as a Contender in The Forrester Wave: SaaS Human Resource Management Systems, Q3 2017; Recognized as a Highly Recommended Payroll Software Supplier of the Year 2017 by Global Payroll Association; Positioned as Achiever in Everest Group's Multi-Country Payroll Platform Assessment

For more information, please visit http://www.ramco.com/erp

Follow Ramco on Twitter @ramcosystems / @ramcoerp and stay tuned to http://blogs.ramco.com

For further information, contact:

Vinitha Ramani

+91 44 6653 4204

vinitharamani(at)ramco(dot)com
FlyFoe Mosquito & Tick Control Franchise I am excited to start this new opportunity with them. I feel FlyFoe stands out from the crowd with their branding and operations. I am confident in our team especially with the backing of MaidPro's exceptional franchise experience.

MaidPro, a top-ranked cleaning franchise, has announced the launch of their new franchise brand, FlyFoe. FlyFoe will provide mosquito & tick control services to homes nationwide. The franchise has already sold a multitude of locations which are set to open in April of this year.

FlyFoe franchise will operate independently of MaidPro, however many current MaidPro franchise owners are raising their hands to join their franchisor's newest venture.

"I have had an incredible experience and seen great success as a MaidPro owner," states current MaidPro & FlyFoe owner, Jesse Zook. "I am excited to start this new opportunity with them. I feel FlyFoe stands out from the crowd with their branding and operations. I am confident in our team especially with the backing of MaidPro's exceptional franchise experience."

The U.S. pest control market is estimated to reach $10 billion in service revenue in 2020. The industry generated an approximate $7.82 billion in total service revenue in 2015, a 4.7 percent increase from 2014. This rapid growth stems from the increased health risks that mosquitoes and ticks now pose. The additional benefit of nuisance control is also helping to drive the industry's steady demand.

FlyFoe is now accepting inquiries for new franchisees across the United States. To contact, please visit http://www.flyfoefranchise.com.

FlyFoe uses an integrated approach to pest control for complete protection from mosquitoes, ticks, and other harmful organisms. The brand is backed by a team of entomologists and pest professionals to ensure safety and quality control. To get a free estimate for mosquito & tick control services from FlyFoe please visit http://www.flyfoe.com.

ABOUT MAIDPRO

MaidPro is a Boston-based franchisor of house cleaning services with over 225 locations in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. The company, which began franchising in 1997 has been honored with the Franchise Business Review's Four-Star Rating and Franchise 50 awards every year from 2006 to 2018 for owner satisfaction. MaidPro was named one of the Top 50 Franchises for Minorities by USA Today's Franchising Today, Top Global Franchise by Entrepreneur, and Top Growing Franchise by Franchise Gator. MaidPro is also a proud member of the International Franchise Association, Canadian Franchise Association, and the New England Franchise Association. The company can be found online at http://www.maidprofranchise.com.
Catapult Learning, a leading provider of instructional intervention and professional development solutions that generate academic gains and better life outcomes for students, today announced its participation in the National Catholic Educational Associations (NCEA) 2018 Convention and Expo, taking place in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 3-5 at the Duke Energy Convention Center. During the convention, Catapult Learning will highlight its solutions for parochial schools, including the companys new STEM program and 2018 Learning Bags.

At the event, two of Catapult Learnings experts will oversee sessions dedicated to helping educators solve challenges. Catapult Learnings Executive Director of Equitable Access and Excellence Ronald Nuzzi, Ph.D. will lead the International Perspectives on Catholic Education session on Tuesday, April 3 from 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. A team of five leaders will join Nuzzi to discuss the need to learn from colleagues internationally. The panelists will compare and contrast the successes and challenges facing Catholic schools in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Lee Anne Housley, Vice President, Instructional Excellence, Catapult Learning, will present alongside Lytia Reese, Assistant Superintendent of Urban Achievement, from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, for the Leadership That Creates Sustainable Instructional Change session on Wednesday, April 4 from 10:45 a.m.  noon. The session will examine the leadership behaviors needed to create sustainable instructional changes and the research behind them. Utilizing research on leadership, culture, change management, instruction, assessment, and curriculum, this session will highlight the process used by Catapult Learning and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to plan for and implement instructional changes at 13 inner city schools and across the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston system.

The NCEA convention is an excellent opportunity to showcase how Catapult Learning works with Catholic schools to ensure students receive the best educational experience possible through innovative and targeted approaches to learning, said Steve Quattrociocchi, President, Education Solutions Group at Catapult Learning. Our team is looking forward to educating attendees on how Catapult Learning programs and product offerings can help increase instructional capacity in struggling schools and solve challenges.

Visitors to Catapult Learnings booth (#423) will get a first-hand look at the companys new supplemental STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program. Offering flexible implementation models, the program easily integrates into a schools existing operation either during or after school, during summer school, or as part of a professional development initiative. The program was developed to complement a schools curriculum and was based on the engineering design process so that students learn transferrable problem-solving skills they can apply across all academic disciplines.

Also on display in the booth will be the companys 2018 Student Learning Bags, a cost-effective way to supply students with engaging resources that keep them captivated and ready to learn. With a range of more than 20 themes, the bags promote literacy development and inquiry-based education. They include high-interest low-readability options and bilingual editions and can be used as a supplement to summer programming or for at-home learning. The materials and lessons help students learn how to gather information about the world, explore ideas and develop new ones, ask questions and engage in a process to find answers, problem solve in new and exciting ways, and connect classroom learning to real-world experiences.

About Catapult Learning

Catapult Learning, Inc. has dedicated more than four decades to providing education solutions that generate demonstrable academic achievement and better life outcomes for students, regardless of the learning barriers and other challenges they may face. The companys team of over 5,000 educators works to achieve sustained academic gains and build teacher and leadership capacity through evidence-based programs that include intervention services, special education, alternative education programs, and professional development solutions. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, Catapult Learning partners with more than 500 school districts, including 18 of the 20 largest school districts in the United States. Catapult Learning is accredited by AdvancED, a global leader in providing improvement and accreditation services worldwide.
The Take Two Diaper Bag converts from a tote to a backpack Baby by Thirty-One now provides customers a more diverse range of options with the brands first-ever full line of bags designed specifically for parents and kids.

Today, Thirty-One Gifts announced the latest addition to its already-dynamic bag and accessory lines with the introduction of Baby by Thirty-One, an online-only collection of specially designed diaper bags, thermals, nursery decor and organizational favorites in adorable new prints. Simultaneously, Thirty-One will give back to the community through their Thirty-One Gives charitable initiative with 22 baby shower-themed events around Mothers Day, coordinated together with Ronald McDonald House Charities  (RMHC). These events are for families with children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at participating hospitals and will take place throughout the companys 69-city 15th Anniversary Celebration Tour, currently underway.

With these baby shower events, Thirty-One Gifts aims to help mothers and families at a difficult time by providing them with much-needed necessities  some they potentially didnt have time to get before their baby was born  in preparation for taking home their healthier newborn in the near future.

The importance of community and giving back is central to who we are and the culture we foster among our employees and network of more than 63,000 consultants, said Cindy Monroe, Thirty-One Gifts founder and CEO. We are proud of the work thats gone in to creating the incredibly fun and functional Baby by Thirty-One line. Its an honor to launch it during our 15th Anniversary Celebration Tour with the tours many community give-back events, planned together with nonprofit organizations we support.

About Baby by Thirty-One:

Thirty-Ones bags have been popular among parents for years, having been named the Best Diaper Bag two years in a row by Baby Center. However, Baby by Thirty-One now provides customers a more diverse range of options with the brands first-ever full line of bags designed specifically for parents and kids.

Baby by Thirty-One is a line of four diaper bags and four accessory bags and thermals, and seven nursery decor products in 13 prints, as well as eight new baby personalization options. The collection makes the parenting journey easier, and helps to create a comforting, cozy space for a little one  so that families can enjoy every moment together.

The new fashionable, yet functional, products feature the following (on various items):



Insulated thermal interior pockets for keeping breast milk, formula or food cold or warm

Exterior pockets for holding all the extras, including bottles, blankets and wipes

Adjustable webbed straps that can go from shoulder strap to crossbody

Ability to be personalized with special baby icons or a name, initials or phrase

Zipper closures to keep everything in its place

Interior lobster claw to attach a Cool Clip Thermal, keys or other items

Exterior zipper pockets

Interior elastic pockets

Magnetic snap closure

Side cinch pockets

Cell phone pocket

Made of polyester, nylon, and rip-stop polyester fabric in modern prints that mix and match

The Take Two Diaper Bag converts from a bag to a backpack with adaptable straps

The Cargo Clip-On Thermal transforms from a shoulder bag to attach to the handle of a stroller

The Multi-Bottle Thermal has a large insulated storage compartment as well as a zip-open, non-thermal top compartment

Thirty-Ones new baby-friendly personalization options can also make these products a giftable keepsake for anyone attending a baby shower, celebrating a birth, or customizing a nursery with one of many new designs.

RMHC Support

Giving back is fundamental to Thirty-One and through its charitable initiative, Thirty-One Gives, the company works to empower girls, women and families to lead purposeful, thriving lives. Since 2012, Thirty-One Gives has donated $100 million in products and cash to charitable organizations that share their mission, including Ronald McDonald House Charities.

To date, families have received over 500,000 Thirty-One Gifts welcome bags at RMHC locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, and the companys financial commitment has helped enable over 12,500 family nights. Employees at Thirty-Ones headquarters also volunteer at the local RMHC chapter in Columbus, OH on the last day of each month with 31 days. The company also created a beauty salon at the house, sponsored a guest room, and purchased an adjacent home for RMHCs use. The Thirty-One sales force is also active volunteers at RMHC locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

About the 15th Anniversary Celebration Tour and Thirty-One Gives Activations:

Thirty-One Gifts is one of the worlds largest direct-selling companies, offering purses and wallets, totes, home organization solutions and decor, thermal bags, jewelry and more. Cindy Monroe started Thirty-One in her basement in 2003. From those humble beginnings, the company has grown to include more than 1,000 employees and more than 63,000 independent sales consultants across the U.S. and Canada.

The company is currently celebrating its 15th anniversary by welcoming guests across the country to its 69-city Celebration Tour, where visitors can explore the companys big pink mobile shop and see the brands fashion, home organization, and utility products; learn about the opportunity to become a Thirty-One independent consultant; and win prizes. At many stops on the nationwide tour, they join nonprofit organizations Thirty-One supports with community give-back events, including World Vision, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Operation Homefront, Girls on the Run and the Kids in Need Foundation.

The Thirty-One shop comprises a 26-foot-long trailer pulled by a truck and is ADA accessible. Both the trailer and truck are painted in Thirty-Ones bright pink logo color and 15th anniversary branding. The trailer walls hinge open to accommodate visitors and create a store-like space.

The name Thirty-One Gifts comes from Proverbs 31 of the Bible, which describes the attributes and the importance of a virtuous woman. With a mission to help women by giving them the opportunity to own their own businesses and work from home, Thirty-One provides many of the tools to help them earn supplemental income, support their personal Whys and make the path to their goals simple, easy and fun.

To learn more about Thirty-One Gifts and shop Baby by Thirty-One, visit babybythirtyone.com.

For more information about the 69-City Celebration Tour visit: https://www.mythirtyone.com/info/CelebrationTour.
Lucas Move user voice picking with Jennifer on smartphone and smart watch.

Lucas Systems, Inc., the leading provider of solutions for intelligent mobile work execution for warehouses and distribution centers, is kicking off the Ecommerce Operations Summit conference in Columbus, Ohio by participating in a facility tour at Abercrombie & Fitchs Columbus-area ecommerce fulfillment center on April 3. During the conference, Lucas CTO Krishna Venkatasamy will also be participating in a panel discussion on the future of AR and Heads Up Displays in the distribution center. Finally, visitors to the exhibit hall (Booth 206) will be able to test their skill in the Lucas Travel Challenge, a pick-path optimization game that demonstrates the power of the Lucas Dynamic Work Optimization tool (DWO) to improve labor productivity.

The Ecommerce Operations Summit provides insight and ideas to help direct to consumer retailers achieve efficiencies and improved customer experience in their fulfillment centers. The conference kicks off with a series of facility tours, including a tour of Abercrombie & Fitchs one million sq. ft. dedicated ecommerce fulfillment center. The state of the art facility includes the latest in automation and WMS technology, as well as the Lucas Mobile Work Execution solution including Lucas Move voice picking applications featuring Jennifer voice.

On Thursday, April 5, Krishna Venkatasamy, Lucas Chief Technology Officer will be presenting on a panel titled Is The Future Now? Using AR and Heads Up Display In the DC. The session will provide attendees with an overview of smart glass and vision technology, and explore how fulfillment centers can leverage the technology alongside voice picking and other technologies to improve DC tasks. Executives from DHL Supply Chain will also review their experience using vision picking in facilities in the Netherlands and in Columbus.

About Lucas Systems

Since 1998, Lucas Systems has pioneered warehouse productivity solutions for mobile workers and distribution center managers. Customers like Cardinal Health, The Container Store, C&S Wholesale Grocers, HD Supply, Kennametal, Rust-Oleum, and True Value trust Lucas to deliver solutions that greatly improve worker productivity and accuracy because Lucas truly understands warehouse operations. Lucas Mobile Work Execution solutions optimize hands-on processes and seamlessly combine voice, barcode scanning, and other mobile technologies to improve worker productivity, eliminate errors, and boost end-to-end DC efficiency. The solutions also provide managers and supervisors with real-time reporting and management tools that help them better manage their operations.
Nooklyn's Search Platform Real estate will be the next industry to be disrupted by technology, said Nooklyn CFO Moiz K. Malik. Our goal is to make finding an apartment or roommate as easy as ordering a burrito from your phone.

Nooklyn (nooklyn.com), the rentals startup that makes finding apartments and roommates easy, has received its third Webby nomination in the best Real Estate Websites category. Competing with four larger industry players, Nooklyn is the only nominee that offers brokerage services in addition to being a rental search platform. Its also the only competitor that has built a social network for safely connecting with potential roommates. As a further differentiator, Nooklyn is the only fast-growing startup nominee that has been primarily bootstrapped.

This nomination follows Nooklyns expansion into Manhattan, as well as a successful $825k seed funding round. The company is putting the seed funds toward further geographic expansion and to open up the platform, enabling anyone to list their apartment. Recently launched features include Nooklyn Apply, an easy and transparent way to get approved for an apartment, and Nooklyn Pay, a secure digital payments platform. On the radar is Nooklyn Stay, which will allow individuals and roommates to pay their recurring rent online seamlessly.

Real estate will be the next industry to be disrupted by technology, said Nooklyn CFO Moiz K. Malik. Our goal is to make finding an apartment or roommate as easy as ordering a burrito from your phone.

Since its inception in 2011, Nooklyn has helped over 25k New York renters move, processed $51m in payments, employed 300 real estate agents, and achieved a monthly active user count of 51k. Nooklyn Stories, an online magazine for renters, publishes relevant local content to its audience including neighborhood guides, event coverage, and profiles of key community members and locally-owned businesses. The recently launched Badass Women series spotlights female entrepreneurs, artists, and changemakers who are creating impact in their communities.

To vote for Nooklyn, visit the 22nd Annual Peoples Voice Webby Awards website. Voting closes on April 19. Learn more about Nooklyn and get in touch at https://nooklyn.com/.
2018 Swirl: Miami Host Committee Members By bringing new partners into the fold, including our first-ever Young Professionals Committee, we know that well be able to build on this continued momentum of excitement for the next five years to come, said Leigh Olson, Swirl: Miami Host Committee Member and Member of LRFs Board of Directors.

The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF)  the nations largest non-profit organization devoted exclusively to funding innovative lymphoma research and serving the lymphoma community through a comprehensive series of education programs, outreach initiatives and patient services  hosted the fifth anniversary of its national Swirl: A Wine Tasting Event series in Miami on March 20, 2018. Returning to the La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach, the event raised more than $75,000 in support of the Lymphoma Research Foundation and its mission.

Representatives from National Wine Sponsor Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits were on hand to present attendees with a selection of award-winning wines that highlighted both Old World and New World flavor profiles. More than 130 attendees participated in the evenings unique wine tasting and silent auction, bringing the total amount of funds raised since the inception of Swirl: Miami to more than $278,000.

As an Advanced Sommelier, I hold the responsibility of education in the highest regard, said Blake Leja, Director of Fine Wine Portfolio Strategy at Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits, Advanced Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers) and Certified Wine Educator. That is why I am thrilled to be able to present a fine selection of world-class wines in support of an organization like LRF, whose mission is to not only find the research that will one-day cure lymphoma, but also serve and educate all those currently struggling with a lymphoma diagnosis.

This years Swirl: Miami featured a first-of-its-kind Young Professionals Committee, including area young professionals Sam Halpern, Simone Weissman & Zach Stein. The Young Professionals Committee members were joined by new national Swirl sponsors AbbVie, Genentech, and Kite Pharma at this years event.

Year after year, we are thrilled to see the incredible outpouring of support for Swirl throughout the Miami community, said Leigh Olson, Swirl: Miami Host Committee Member and Member of LRFs Board of Directors. By bringing new partners into the fold, including our first-ever Young Professionals Committee, we know that well be able to build on this continued momentum of excitement for the next five years to come.

Nina & Walter Andrews, Debbie & Kevin Fennessey, Barbara & Jerry Freundlich, Midge & Mark Halpern, Elsie & Gene Howard, Leigh & Cory Olson, and Florence & Robert Werner served as the evenings Host Committee. For more information about Swirl: Miami, please visit lymphoma.org/SwirlMiami.

About the Lymphoma Research Foundation

The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) is the nations largest non-profit organization devoted to funding innovative research and serving the lymphoma community through a comprehensive series of education programs, outreach initiatives and patient services. To date, LRF has awarded more than $60 million in lymphoma-specific research. For additional information on LRFs research, education and services, visit lymphoma.org.
We are excited to join forces with a LLORENTE & CUENCA, said Nathan Sproul, Founder and Managing Director of Lincoln Strategy Group. Their depth of experience in public affairs, coupled with our proficiency in global grassroots campaigns will be a powerful combination for years to come.

Lincoln Strategy Group, a political strategy and public affairs management firm, is pleased to announce their partnership with LLORENTE & CUENCA, a leader in communication, reputation management and PR throughout Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. The collaboration serves to develop joint corporate grassroots campaigns in public affairs.

We are excited to join forces with LLORENTE & CUENCA, said Nathan Sproul, Founder and Managing Director of Lincoln Strategy Group. This is an incredible opportunity for our European and Latin American clients to benefit from our fused expertise. Their depth of experience in public affairs coupled with our proficiency in global grassroots campaigns will be an extremely effective and powerful combination for years to come.

While grassroots strategy is typical for U.S. political campaigns, it has only recently gained traction in Europe and Latin America with Lincoln Strategy Group pioneering the tactics across the European terrain.

Lincolns vast grassroots experience in the United States paired with a continued understanding for each countrys political culture has contributed to much of our success, said Dan Centinello, Executive Vice President of Lincoln Strategy Group. Now with the incredible cultural knowledge LLORENTE & CUENCA possesses across much of the globe, the potential of our partnership is limitless.

LLORENTE & CUENCA, a premier organization in public affairs, specifically in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries can now deliver grassroots expertise to those that require something more than just traditional public affairs. Through this new union, Lincoln Strategy Group and LLORENTE & CUENCA will now offer comprehensive strategies that integrate sectoral alliances, viral dissemination in social networks, campaigns in the media, and mobilization of communities with the goal of legislative modification.

We are glad for the opportunity to work with one of the most internationally recognized firms in political grassroots campaigning, said Joan Navarro, Vice President of Public Affairs at LLORENTE & CUENCA, and be able to collaborate in the identification, organization and mobilization of communities for corporative strategies.

About Lincoln Strategy Group

Lincoln Strategy Group is an international political strategy and grassroots management firm with offices in Barcelona, London, Phoenix and Washington D.C. Over the years, Lincoln has consistently been recognized with numerous awards for their expertise in using advanced & creative tactics to influence positive outcomes for its diverse client base. Since its founding, Lincoln has participated in over 1,100 campaigns across 17 countries on 4 continents  training and deploying nearly 40,000 field operatives in the process.

About LLORENTE & CUENCA

LLORENTE & CUENCA is the lead consultancy for the management of reputation, communication and public affairs in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. It gathers 23 associates and about 500 professionals who provide strategic consultancy services to companies from all sectors with operations in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Currently, LLORENTE & CUENCA has offices in Argentina, Brazil (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), United States (Miami, New York and Washington, DC), Mexico, Panama, Peru, Portugal and Dominican Republic. Moreover, it operates in Cuba and offers its services through affiliated companies in Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

The two main journals in the sector place the consultancy among the most important communication companies in the world. LLORENTE & CUENCA is placed at the 54th position in the 2016 Global Ranking elaborated by The Holmes Report, and it is the number 53 in terms of income according to the Global Agency Business Report 2016 by PRWeek.

LLORENTE & CUENCA is the most recognized communication company in the markets where it operates. In 2016 it won sixty-six awards, among them, the Public Relations Company of the Year (International Business Awards 2016).
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Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating a 2016 email sent by Roger Stone  the former adviser on Donald Trump's presidential campaign  that claims he had met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to a Wall Street Journal source.

Stone had reportedly sent the email to another former Trump associate, Sam Nunberg, on August 4, 2016, and wrote, "I dined with Julian Assange last night." The Journal obtained a copy of the email that Stone had sent.

A few days earlier, on July 22, 2016, WikiLeaks had published a trove of emails that had been hacked from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) servers, most likely by Russians. At that point in the election cycle, neither Stone nor Nunberg were members of the Trump campaign.

Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and trying to determine whether members of Trump's campaign were part of that effort. Mueller's team asked Stone's email to Nunberg during testimony before a grand jury, a person familiar with the matter told The Journal.

But according to Stone, he never ate dinner with Assange and the email was a joke.

"I never dined with Assange," he told The Journal. The email "doesnt have any significance because I provably didn't go  there was no such meeting. It's not what you say, it's what you do. This was said in jest."

Stone said that the night before he sent the email he had been flying out of Los Angeles to Miami, and he produced screenshots of a ticket with the name "Roger" on it for The Journal as proof.

But Stone has repeatedly claimed to have known about WikiLeaks' information dumps and said he had a back channel of communication with Assange, according to CNN.

WikiLeaks' involvement in the 2016 presidential election centers on how much the organization communicated with the Russian government, which the US Justice Department has determined was behind the DNC hack, and the Trump campaign.

In May 2016, former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign George Papadopoulos drunkenly divulged to an Australian ambassador that Russia had damaging information about 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton  two months before it was published by WikiLeaks.
The Headmaster of the School, Isaac Nkansah Gyekye told Kumasi-based Ultimate FM that the current population of the school is 306.

He added that the school has 2 computers but only 1 is functioning and is used for the study of ICT.

READ ALSO: Here are all the schools that have qualified for 2018 NSMQ

The headmaster said due to this situation and other challenges they face, the pupils do not perform well in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

He also said the school is faced with other challenges which include inadequate teaching and learning materials, and a building which puts them at the mercy of the weather.

He explained that the poor condition of the School affected enrolment as many parents withdrew their children from the school.

READ ALSO: Napo threatens to take a gun if a teacher abuses his daughter

Asuom Islamic Basic School in the Kwaebibirim District of the Eastern region was established by the Ghana Muslim Mission and the Asuom Muslim Community in 1985.

The classrooms were initially constructed with palm fronts but in 1988, the Ghana Muslim Mission raised funds to put up a mud block made up of six units pavilion classroom for the primary school and later added the JHS.
It seems Ghanaian prophets are gradually paying attention to calls by some people to shift their focus to prophesising positive occurrences rather than the usual doomsday predictions, and Prophet Sampson Adiepa is probably brazing the trail.

The prophet whose church is located at Suhum in the Eastern Region is quoted as having told Razzonline.com that: Lil Win is specialif anybody tells you Liwin will die now then that person is not a good prophetGod has revealed to me that, Lilwin will be the president of Ghana in 2032.

What is important to note is that the prophet did not say Lil Win will become president through civil coup detat. He explained that: Now after all the things, NPP told Ghanaians, look at what they are doingGhanaians will give NDC the chance again, but they will fail then NPP will be given the last chance which they would fail miserably again ...then Lil Win will lead his party into power."

Though literacy is not a criterion to qualify any citizen who intends to be president of Ghana, LilWin is known to have had not much formal education.

It is unclear whether he himself has any political ambitions, let alone the intension to vie for the highest office of the land.

In case he habours such intensions, one can only wait until the next 14 years to see how Lil Win will overtake the numerous political parties, some of whom have been fruitlessly struggling since independence to win power.
The development came to light after some women admitted in an interview with Aljazeera that, having no other alternative, their husbands give consent to their prostitution.

Africafeeds.com quoted one of the women as saying: My husband came home and asked me if I can act as his sister and take up the offer. After a few days of deliberation, I agreed.

It is not as though the men are happy about letting their wives sleep with foreigners for money, but the poverty situation makes them wave their pride once food is coming to the table at the end of the unconventional encounter.

The woman who spoke to Aljazeera added that: Life was tough for us. My husbands unpredictable income was not enough and when he asked me to accept, I had no choice.

Tourism is one of the biggest source of income for Kenya with millions of foreigners thronging the country to patronise their beaches and other interesting sites.

Figures from the Kenya Tourism Board suggest that the nation rakes about $100 million in tax revenues, but just as in other African countries most Kenyans struggle to earn a living.
Zodwa has gained notoriety in dancing on stage without pant. Recently, she was in the news for having been deported by Zambian authorities for fears that she was likely to do her usual 'immoral' things at an event she was scheduled to perform.
The Kiambu lawmaker lamented a situation where wealthy men impregnate young women as a result of secret sexual affairs with them and decline responsibility for the pregnancy and the children, for fear of endangering their marriages.

She said the situation has gotten to a stage where there is no need to fake ignorance about what young women are going through at the hands of rich men.

She attributed the surge in alcoholism and other social vices among young people to irresponsibility of rich men who sired most of them out of the wedlock.

Gathoni Wamuchomba specifically appealed to wealthy men from her Kikuyu community where polygamy is acceptable to their culture to be bold and take as many women as they can cater for.

Rich men, marry more women and save society  Female MP

She said: "We sire these children and we do not want to own up to them, my point is if you are a man from the Kikuyu community and you can sustain five wives, have them, and if you are a man in a position to bring up many children, do it.
In a statement issued on Monday, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture said the new law seeks to "protect morals of individuals and society and protect privacy".

The ministry explained that the law which has been christened as the Anti-Cybercrime Law frowns on "spying on, interception or reception of data transmitted through an information network or a computer.It added that: "Social media has resulted in a steady increase in cybercrimes such as blackmail, embezzlement and defamation, not to mention hacking of accounts", hence the need to pass the Anti-Cybercrime Law to regulate the cyberspace among others.

Inasmuch as the framers of the law may have meant well, some analysts believe it favours promiscuous men and rather makes it difficult for their wives to prove a case against them.

Per the laws of Saudi Arabia regarding divorce, a woman who seeks divorce her husband on the basis of promiscuity or abuse can only obtain alimony from the man if she is able to provide evidence to that effect, and phones and computers used to be good sources of such evidence.

However, despite the fact that the Anti-Cybercrime Law binds both men and women, the latter stands to be at a disadvantage. It will obviously make it difficult for them to prove allegations of abuse or promiscuity against their husbands.

According to Reuters news, Saudi Arabias neighbour, United Arab Emirates has a similar law, but its sanctions are more lenient than those of Egypt.
The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, directed the Clerks of Parliament to redirect the question to the Minister of Finance after the Minister of State responsible for Public Procurement, Sarah Adwoa Safo, indicated that her office was not responsible for public procurement.

Ms Safo explained that her office "exists to advise the President on procurement policies and strategies" and so it did not have the locus to answer the question.

Her comes after the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashaiman, Ernest Henry Norgbey, asked a question relating to the method used by MASLOC to award the contract.

He also asked the Minister of State responsible for Public Procurement whether a party from Vokacom or any other company had put in a bid for the Ghana Post GPS.

In responding to the question, Ms Safo explained that per the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and Act 914, as amended, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) was the regulatory body mandated to grant procurement approvals and ensuring compliance with all relevant procurement rules and processes.

She further stated that by the definition in the act, the PPA was under the Ministry of Finance.

"Hence, in accordance with the Standing Orders of Parliament, all questions ought to be directed at the Ministry of Finance," she said.

However, Mr Norgbey and other Minority members did not accept the explanation.
Adawudu said, "As at now he is being investigated for treason. He has not been charged. They are investigating to see [whether] that offense that they have seen, the investigation will support it. If they investigate and they have compelling evidence then they will now charge us, thats the procedure."

READ ALSO: Koku Anyidoho says he remains unrepentant

He made this statement after meeting with the top hierarchy of the Ghana Police Service with his client. Per the conditions of his bail, Koku Anyidoho was supposed to avail himself to the CID Headquarters today.

The NDC deputy scribe was arrested last week for some pronouncements he made on the military defense partnership between Ghana and the US.

Koku is quoted to have said, "On the 13th of January 1972, a certain Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, led a movement that removed the progress party from power. Busia was the Prime Minister; Akufo-Addos father was the Ceremonial President. Somebody should tell Nana Akufo-Addo that, history has an interesting way of repeating itself".

He made inference that President Akufo-Addo will be topple by a civilian coup if he doesn't put his acts together. Koku Anyidoho made these remarks in connection to Ghana's military base agreement with the United States military which has caught the ire of many Ghanaians.
The Chief of Dagbamate, Torgbui Klu Agudzeamegah II, made this call at this years Apetorku Festival held in Dagbamate in the Akatsi South District of the Volta Region.

He argued that the activities of African tradition worshipers are still relevant, and must be given equal attention as other religious groups receive.

READ ALSO: Six notorious armed robbers arrested in Sege

He made a passionate appeal to the government saying that the holiday, when set aside, will commemorate important rites of the indigenous religion.

He also called on the government to restore the pouring of libation at state functions as being done by Christians and Muslims in the form of prayers.

We at this juncture want to put the following proposals to the government for consideration: government should identify a traditional holiday for the traditionalists as being done for Muslims and Christians. Since independence, pouring of libation was part of all government functions, but what we see now is Christian and Muslim Prayers only performed at government functions. We, therefore, want to propose that pouring of libation at national festivals/functions be re-instated.

Dagbamate is one of the renowned spiritual homes for most of the followers of indigenous religions in the Volta Region.

People visit the shrine for physical and spiritual healings, and for protection against evil forces.

The shrine is housed in an ultra-modern auditorium. The god, Apetorku, is believed to have played significant roles in the development of the community. The shrine has branches across the country including Accra, Koforidua, Ashaiman, Ho and Denu.
Asiedu-Nketiah was commenting on suggestions from Hamid that Parliament would have to be recalled to ratify military agreements between Ghana and the US from 1998 and 2015.

Hamid had said on Citi FM that, "Government intends to cure that defect by taking the 1998 and 2015 agreements to Parliament for Parliament to give us ratification so that we will continue to operate under these current arrangements that we have until we have completed the processes for triggering the 2018 arrangements.

Responding to the Ministers comment on 3FMs Sunrise show, Asiedu Nketia said, I dont think anybody who is suggesting that has his head properly screwed on.

That person needs to be examined he added.

Ghana ratified a military agreement with the US through Parliament on March 23 which gives the Americans unhindered access to military installations in Ghana.
According to him, the Presidents mode of appointment goes a long way to suggest that he is handing key positions to cronies, including his ex-girlfriends.

The NDC scribe pointed to the appointment of Elsie Awadzi as Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana as a classical case.

There is a current Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana, that fair lady, ask her history with Nana Addo, that is his ex-girlfriend. This is a fact, put the blame on me, and let people sue me for telling them this, Mr. Nketia told Accra-based 3FM.

We have one-third of Akufo-Addos family being government appointees. A woman was made ambassador because her major qualification is having a child with Nana Addo. This is a fact.

He went on to accuse President Akufo-Addo and the ruling New Patriotic Party of doing the very thing they accused the Mahama-led administration of doing whiles in opposition.

According to him, the President has appointed more cronies and family members to his government than the erstwhile NDC administration ever did.

They talked about nepotism, cronyism and so on. They said Mahama was appointing too many of his family members in government and they thought that everything there in terms of contracts and others were monopolized by people close to him, General Mosquito claimed.

If you are in government and you want to compromise the neutrality of the institutions that are supposed to restrain your government by putting your favourite people there, in the end you will be misled into thinking that you are helping yourself because you are rather damaging yourself and that is what is happening now, he added.

He further lamented the manner in which the NPP government is running the country, saying government has almost implemented every policy wrongly.
In an open letter he has written to the president the former Education Minister said the posture of President Akufo-Addo is against the national interest.

Sir, your decision to strangely adopt a silent posture on the outside while there was a lot of activity behind the scenes to hurriedly negotiate and ratify this agreement by abusing your parliamentary majority without taking on board the concerns of the people who gave you your mandate is most deplorable, Ablakwa noted in a lengthy open letter addressed to the President.

READ ALSO: Koku Anyidoho says he remains unrepentant

The agreement was brought before the House for consideration and ratification after the joint-committee on Defence and Interior, Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Parliament gave it a green light.

This was done despite the public outcry against the deal which many including the largest opposition described as dangerous and a sale of Ghanas sovereignty.

Below is the open letter addressed to the President

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF GHANA AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE GHANA ARM ED FORCES, HIS EXCELLENCY NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO

Dear President,

YOUR SILENCE AND STONEWALLING IS UNDEMOCRATIC AND NOT IN OUR NATIONAL INTEREST

I humbly and respectfully convey to you very warm compliments.

May I also afford this opportunity to extend to you heartfelt belated happy birthday wishes of good health, happiness and a deeper patriotic love for Ghana.

Your Excellency, I am compelled to write this open letter for your urgent attention due to your rather unusual, strange and uncharacteristic but determined cold silence on the most crucial issue agitating the minds of Ghanaians, thus the agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Ghana on Defence Cooperation, the Status of United States Forces, and Access to and Use of Agreed Facilities and Areas in the Republic of Ghana which your majority Members of Parliament defiantly ratified on the 23rd of March, 2018 to conclude the processes you and your Government initiated.

Sir, I must state from the outset that as has never been in doubt, we in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) cherish and value Ghanas long-standing relations with the United States of America. It is therefore not surprising that the NDC has hosted two of the three high level US Presidential State visits of this Fourth Republic  that is the visit of President Bill Clinton and that of President Barack Obama. That said, we believe relations with the United States of America and all other countries are nourished and better anchored on mutual respect, trust, fairness, shared values and the recognition of the sovereignty of nations. It is these cardinal principles within our nations foreign policy paradigm of positive neutrality and non-alignment as clearly espoused and established by our countrys founding President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah that continues to inspire us, especially as they have served this nation very well over the ages.

As you well know Mr. President, just a day before your birthday, precisely on the 28th of March, 2018, a mammoth demonstration took place in Accra which was a culmination of your refusal to listen to the people you serve after weeks of persistent pressure and appeals to you from Ghanaians of diverse backgrounds and varying political persuasion seeking your executive intervention in at least addressing the genuine fears of the people emanating from the agreement in issue.

The Put Ghana First Demonstration organized by the Ghana Fist Patriotic Front (GFPF) with support from the Interparty Coalition for National Sovereignty and the Minority caucus in Parliament attracted the masses, progressive forces, student leaders, unions, experts, high ranking former public officials including former Vice President and former Chairman of the Police Council, His Excellency Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, former National Security Minister Hon. Kofi Totobi Quakyi and a host of former Ministers, Ambassadors and academics who, I humbly submit, cannot all be ignorant as your Government Communicators have arrogantly and offensively sought to portray.

Mr. President, as a longtime political activist (for which you earned the yenim no fri titi accolade) and a celebrated serial organizer of demonstrations including those of the Kumipreko and Siemipreko fame - I am sure you will be the first to admit that the several thousands of Ghanaians who participated in that massive march and the overwhelming number of Ghanaians, some of whom voted for you who are either through newspaper or online articles, media discussions or social media commentary pleading with you to listen, cannot and do not deserve to be ignored. Other eminent persons of enormous experience such as former President Jerry John Rawlings, Ghanas longest serving Foreign Minister, Dr. Obed Asamoah, former Council of State Member and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Akilakpa Sawyerr who have all cautioned against this agreement do not deserve to be dismissed by the way and manner their concerns have been brushed aside and this agreement railroaded.

Sir, your decision to strangely adopt a silent posture on the outside while there was a lot of activity behind the scenes to hurriedly negotiate and ratify this agreement by abusing your parliamentary majority without taking on board the concerns of the people who gave you your mandate is most deplorable.

With all due respect, Sir, we have all come to know you in the 14 months of your Presidency as the President who does not hesitate to speak. Indeed, you have often flaunted your gift of the gab both home and abroad and we all know you love it when the feedback is great  I am reminded of a recent testimony of this when you met journalists to commemorate your first anniversary as President and went on about how your remarks during a media event with the visiting French President, Emmanuel Macron had assumed a life of its own with very rare reviews.

That is not all, we have seen how you have quite often ignored good counsel and chosen to comment on matters that many consider prejudicial and awkward. Just two examples will suffice for now; your lengthy intervention during the Parliamentary Probe on the Cash for Seats Scandal and the praises you heaped on Mr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong of Zoomlion. We do know that both acts attracted condemnation from anti-corruption crusaders.

Mr. President, as you will concede, Ghanaians watch their leaders very closely and in our often quintessential humorous fashion provide a nick name which aptly describes their leaders. A few examples: Kwame Nkrumah earned Nkrumah Show Boy, John Evans Atta Mills earned Asomdwehene, John Mahama earned Commissioner General, and Sir, you have fast earned King Promise. So with all due respect, Sir, Ghanaians know you love to talk and that even long after your successful 2016 campaign, you continue to talk big by making more promises.

Respectfully, Mr. President, you can therefore understand why most of us are extremely surprised at your sudden belief in silence. Your silence on the agreement in issue is very much out of character and we are sincerely befuddled. Everybody is saying this is not the man we have known from titi.

As you have noted, Sir, your silence and the attempt to divert attention from the debate on the Ghana-US Military Cooperation Agreement by the high-handed and dramatic arrest of Koku Anyidoho and the change of name of the Flagstaff House to Jubilee House have so far not worked according to plan. As I write to you, Sir, discussions on this matter and its related concerns have been escalating both at the domestic level and on the foreign front. The international media (BBC, Reuters, Fox News, Al Jazeera, RT, the New York Times, etc.) are awash with reports of a general feeling of betrayal of the Ghanaian people by your Government and you.

Mr President, we have to be honest, the cold silence and stone-walling approach does not only amount to a dereliction of duty, it is making matters worse by impairing your international image and I really feel sad about this. When it comes to the international image of our Presidents, partisanship has no place. I was really taking pride in your international rise  the claims by some world leaders that you are the new Nkrumah  the assertion that you were emerging as one of the top 5 African leaders  the hope you were offering the African Continent with your Ghana Beyond Aid agenda. Its a real tragedy that this singular agreement and US$20 million dollars threaten to destroy everything. A similar defence cooperation agreement between the Kenyan Government and the British Government which has gone viral on social media has deepened our woes and Ghana, a country used to being the trail blazer and shining example for other African countries is now becoming an object of ridicule on the continent.

Your Excellency, I am still struggling to understand the raison detre of your uncharacteristic loud silence in the face of the following facts:

Paragraph 4 of the Preamble of the agreement in issue reveals that this agreement was triggered by your conversation with your counterpart, President Trump. The paragraph states: Reaffirming the recent dialogue between the Presidents of the United States and Ghana on the importance of the bilateral defense relationship.

Subsequently and as admitted by the signed memorandum from your Defence Minister to Parliament dated 14th March, 2018, your Government negotiated the terms of this agreement with US officials here in Accra under your watch on the 7th and 8th of August, 2017.

Further to this, Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Debrah-Karikari in a letter dated 12th March, 2018 and which was dispatched to Parliament, conveyed the decision of Cabinet at its twenty-eighth meeting held on Thursday, 8th March, 2018 at which Cabinet approved this agreement. In all humility, Sir, it is well known that Article 77 (1) of the Constitution provides: The Cabinet shall be summoned by the President who shall preside at all meetings; and in the absence of the President, the Vice-President shall preside.

Even more fundamental, we do know that Ghana operates an Executive Presidency. Article 58 (1) through to (4) provides as follows:

The executive authority of Ghana shall vest in the President and shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution

The executive authority of Ghana shall extend to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution and all laws made under or continued in force by this Constitution

Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the functions conferred on the President by clause (1) of this article may be exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him.

Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution or by a law not inconsistent with this Constitution, all executive acts of Government shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the President.

Sir, without a doubt and in all reverence, both the facts and the law render your current silence and attempts to distance yourself from this agreement as disappointing, negligent, unprincipled and even more worrying, portray an unacceptable refusal to take responsibility.

Mr. President, it does also appear that it is this mindset that convinces your Government that it can make Ghanaians blame the NDC and not you for the current agreement when your own documents submitted to Parliament insist that previous agreements were temporary, for limited operations and that they have all expired. Indeed, as most Ghanaians have found out, the current agreement is not materially the same when compared to previous agreements contrary to claims by your Ministers of Defence and Information. Also the false claims that the current agreement was only a consolidation of previous agreements have been badly exposed. That the current agreement is an enhanced and newly negotiated agreement further exposes this propaganda. In any case, Sir, if the previous NDC Government has short-changed Ghanaians in any way or engaged in acts not in our strategic national interest, is it right to continue with it when presented with an opportunity to re-negogiate a new agreement as you were presented on the 7th and 8th of August 2017? Is it right to thereafter turn round and ask Ghanaians to blame the NDC? Respectfully, this cannot be the change those who voted for change were looking for.

It is now clear that unlike the current agreement in issue, the 1998 agreement, derived from an exchange of diplomatic notes, imposed an obligation on the US Armed Forces to pay reasonable charges for services requested and received. US aircrafts were also obliged to observe local air traffic control regulations while in Ghana. On the other hand, the 2015 Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement which was basically a logistic support, supplies, and services agreement expressly exempted for transfer: weapon systems; guided missiles; naval mines and torpedoes; nuclear ammunition; guidance kits for bombs or other ammunition; chemical munitions or ammunition and source, byproduct, or special nuclear materials. The current agreement makes no exemptions and does not even allow an inspection of what may be brought into our country. Nothing can be more frightening especially in this era where it is alleged Russian military type nerve agent was used on British soil in an attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripal and his daughter. This comes on the back of a latest UN report on the Syrian conflict which confirms that significant amounts of chemical weapons are being used in violation of international law.

Your Excellency, based on your conduct so far, several questions arise:

Why are you, Mr. President, distancing yourself from your own agreement? Is Mr. President not proud of his own agreement and therefore not bold to man up and defend it with all your acclaimed reputation in advocacy? What did President Trump tell you in that recent dialogue that suddenly makes you so averse to listening to and speaking to your own people on this particular issue? What really is in this agreement for you, Mr. President? Is your silence borne out of an effort to hide something from Ghanaians? Is your silence driven by selfish political tactics to avoid the wrath of Ghanaians and at the same time remain President Trumps darling in Africa in order that you can have your cake and eat it? We the people you lead deserve answers to these nagging questions.

Sir, the principles of Good Governance and Democratic Accountability which you promised under oath on the 7th January, 2017 to uphold demand of you to be transparent and to engage us on our fears and concerns as per this Agreement.

It is quite ironic that though no Ghanaian voted for the US Ambassador in Accra, Ambassador Robert Jackson has done more to reach out to Ghanaians even if with limited success as compared to you  the man directly accountable to us.

Your Excellency, the people of this country know that international relations must be conducted within international law and in the national interest of Ghana. They are not oblivious of Article 73 of the Constitution which directs that  The Government of Ghana shall conduct its international affairs in consonance with the accepted principles of public international law and diplomacy in a manner consistent with the national interest of Ghana.

Sir, as you are aware, the good people of this country are unable to ever forget that sovereignty resides in them and NOT with a few ruling elite. The very first Article of the Constitution of Ghana stipulates: The Sovereignty of Ghana resides in the people of Ghana in whose name and for whose welfare the powers of government are to be exercised in the manner and within the limits laid down in this Constitution. It is for this reason, Mr. President, that a higher obligation is imposed on you to engage Ghanaians and take steps to renegotiate with the Americans those articles in the Agreement that the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians are affronted by and believe compromises their sacred sovereignty.

Mr. President, Ghanas unique history must continue to guide us all. Sadly, the perception amongst many is that Ghana is being re-colonized. And as Kwame Nkrumah put it; We Africans mean to be masters on our own continent.

Kwame Nkrumah further stressed: The continent of Africa has been drenched in blood in the past; it has been raided for slaves; it has been partitioned and exploited and looted. Precisely because it has had this kind of past, it is determined not to have that kind of future. If we succeed, and succeed we must, the whole of mankind  not Africa alone  will reap immense benefits.

Your Excellency, I humbly plead with you to step up and take the bull by the horns. This moment needs your direct leadership. Leadership from the frontlines and not from behind nor from the wings.

Seeing that Article 19 of the ratified agreement does not provide a term limit, it should have been decided in the very beginning to seek the input of all political stakeholders especially those capable of forming Governments. Sir, you should have learned from President Mahamas approach which ensured that you were consulted as then flagbearer of the NPP in 2015 when negotiations were underway for Ghana to host the GITMO 2.

I believe it is not too late to engage our former Presidents, Political Parties, experts, Military Generals and all former Chiefs of Defence Staff alive together with our friends  the Americans, within a transparent, frank, mature and calm framework. Ultimately, all sides should feel that this cooperation is mutually beneficial and not one-sided.

Sir, your continuous silence and abdication will only escalate the ongoing agitations. Already, there is talk of regional demonstrations and other constituency mass actions on the horizon. Then there are legal suits which continue unabated and for which I have lost count. I do not believe it is in the mutual interest of both Ghana and the United States of America to continue under this climate of stonewalling and heated political confrontations with its attendant international media attention. There are inherent scary security consequences given this current situation and the earlier we chart a new progressive, inclusive, responsive, sober and less noisy path, the better for us all.

Mr. President, I am also quite uncomfortable about the potential ramifications for Ghana-US relations if you do not take conscious proactive steps to quickly address the concerns of Ghanaians. If decisive leadership is not exercised at this crucial hour, leadership would have itself to blame if Ghana-US relations become frosty.

Sir, history teaches us that Ghana-US relations, like many other relations, have had its highs and lows. From the 23rd July 1958 official visit of President Nkrumah to the US on the invitation of President Eisenhower and at which Nkrumah addressed the US Senate on the afternoon of the next day where he boldly proclaimed  Like you, we believe profoundly in the right of all people to determine their own destinies. We are therefore opposed to all forms of colonialism old or new, and we want to see all nations and their peoples genuinely independent and seeking a higher standard of life.

We must thereafter duly acknowledge Americas support for the Volta River Project and how rather unfortunately, by the mid 1960s relations began to take a sour turn just before Nkrumahs overthrow on February 28, 1966.

Certainly, the 1988 BBC interview at which retired CIA founder Miles Axe Copeland Jr. admitted that the United States had a hand in Nkrumahs removal coupled with CIA declassified files pointing to same which naturally elicited negative sentiments in Ghana all did very little to enhance the trust building process. Then, of course, it is important to recall how the 1985 Soussoudis Affair and the 1986 Nobistor Affair further strained relations.

It has clearly taken a lot of painstaking effort to build trust and restore Ghana-US relations on the path of positive growth over the last three decades. It is for this reason that good leadership requires that Mr. President, you take thoughtful deliberate steps out of the shadows and help preserve trust on both sides.

Sir, we must, respectfully, be concerned also about what the current developments mean for our positive neutrality and non-alignment foreign policy imperatives as other nations are observing these developments closely. When President Nkrumah personally presented Ghanas foreign policy for the approval of the National Assembly on 16th December, 1959, he remarked: I have always stated that it is our desire to cultivate friendship with all nations and to be enemy to none. In pursuance of our policy of peace and friendship, the Government and people of Ghana are determined not to get themselves entangled in the great ideological conflicts of the Great Powers. I do hope Mr. President that you do not get us entangled by the way and manner you have gone about this military cooperation agreement.

Sir, you can always count on our support in the pursuit of Ghanas overarching national interest.

With sincere and respectful regards,

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (MP)
"His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London this afternoon, for planned surgery on his hip which will take place tomorrow," it said.

He was forced to miss a pre-Easter religious service last week, however, because he was having trouble with his hip.

At a ceremony commemorating Britain's war dead last November, he appeared to be having trouble standing and leaned against a wall.

Philip has been a constant and mischievous presence at royal functions for decades and is perhaps better known for punctuating royal pomp with a taste for off-colour jokes.

"You managed not to get eaten, then?" was one typical remark to a British student who had trekked in Papua New Guinea in 1998.

The prince has been largely blessed with good health, but he has been admitted to hospital with various complaints in recent years. He accompanied the queen on overseas visits as late as 2015.

Never one to talk about his own feelings, the queen has been more forthcoming about his worth.

"He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years" the queen said in a golden wedding anniversary speech in 1997.

Prince Philippos

Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark was born on a kitchen table on Corfu on June 10, 1921, the only son of prince Andrew of Greece -- the younger brother of Greece's king Constantine -- and princess Alice of Battenberg.

Aged just 18 months, he and his family were evacuated in a British Royal Navy ship from politically unstable Greece, with the toddler reputedly carried in a cot made from an orange box.

The family settled in Paris, sending the young Philip to preparatory school in England when he was just seven, secondary school in southern Germany, and then to the austere Gordonstoun in Scotland, where he was head boy.

He pursued his love of sailing and at the outbreak of World War II in 1939 became an outstanding Royal Navy cadet before serving on battleships in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.

Philip was formally introduced to princess Elizabeth in July 1939 when her father king George VI and his family toured the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, on England's south coast.

They kept in touch during the war and met on a number of occasions. But it was not until July 1947 that their engagement was announced and they tied the knot that year on November 20 at Westminster Abbey.
They gave us the guts to stand up for ourselves, she said.

The walkouts and rallies in Republican-dominated states, mainly organized by ordinary teachers on Facebook, have caught lawmakers and sometimes the teachers own labor unions flat-footed. And they are occurring in states and districts with important midterm races in November, suggesting that thousands of teachers, with their pent-up rage over years of pay freezes and budget cuts, are set to become a powerful political force this fall.

The next red state to join the protest movement could be Arizona, where there is an open Senate seat and where thousands of teachers gathered in Phoenix last week to demand a 20 percent pay raise and more funding for schools.

The growing fervor suggests that labor activism has taken on a new, grass-roots form.

Our unions have been weakened so much that a lot of teachers dont have faith in them, said Noah Karvelis, an elementary school music teacher in Tolleson, Arizona, outside Phoenix, and leader of the movement calling itself #RedforEd, after the red T-shirts protesting teachers are wearing across the country.

Karvelis said that younger teachers had been primed for activism by their anger over the election of President Donald Trump, his appointment of Betsy DeVos as education secretary and even their own students participation in anti-gun protests after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Teachers for a long time have had a martyr mentality, Karvelis said. This is new.

The wave of protest is cresting as the Supreme Court prepares a decision in Janus v. AFSCME, a major case in which the court is expected to make it harder for public sector unions to require workers to pay membership fees.

But the recent walkouts suggest that labor activism may not need highly-funded unions to be effective. Unlike in strongholds for labor, such as New York or California, teachers unions in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Arizona are barred by law from compelling workers to pay dues. Yet that has not stopped protesters from making tough demands of lawmakers.

Striking West Virginia teachers declared victory last month after winning a 5 percent raise, but Oklahoma educators are holding out for more.

Last week, the Legislature in Oklahoma City voted to provide teachers with an average raise of $6,000 per year, or roughly a 16 percent raise, depending on experience. Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, signed the package into law.

Teachers said it was not enough. They have asked for a $10,000 raise, as well as additional funding for schools and raises for support staff such as bus drivers and custodians.

About 200 of the states 500 school districts shut down Monday as teachers walked out, defying calls from some parents and administrators for them to be grateful for what they had already received from the state.

To pay for the raise, politicians from both parties agreed to increase production taxes on oil and gas, the states most prized industry, and institute new taxes on tobacco and motor fuel. It was the first new revenue bill to become law in Oklahoma in 28 years, bucking decades of tax-cut orthodoxy.

In Kentucky, teachers earn an average salary of $52,000, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, compared with $45,000 in Oklahoma. But teachers there, thousands of whom are picketing the Capitol during their spring break, are protesting a pension reform bill that abruptly passed the state House and Senate last week. If Gov. Matt Bevin signs it into law, it will phase out defined-benefit pensions for teachers and replace them with hybrid retirement plans that combine features of a traditional pension with features of the 401(k) accounts used in the private sector. Teachers in the state are not eligible for Social Security benefits.

Andrew Beaver, 32, a middle school math teacher in Louisville, Kentucky, said he was open to changes in teacher retirement programs, such as potentially asking teachers to work to an older age before drawing down benefits; currently, some Kentucky teachers are eligible for retirement around age 50. But he said he and his colleagues, many of whom have called in sick to protest the bill, were angry about not having a seat at the negotiation table with Bevin, a Republican, and the Republican majority in the Legislature.

What Im seeing in Louisville is teachers are a lot more politically engaged than they were in 2015 or 2016, he said. It really is a wildfire.

In Arizona, where the average teacher salary is $47,000, teachers are agitating for more generous pay and more money for schools after watching the state slash funds to public education for years.

Were going to continue to escalate our actions, Karvelis said. Whether that ultimately ends in a strike? Thats certainly a possibility. We just want to win.

Karvelis, 23, said teachers would not walk out of class unless they were able to win support from parents and community members across the state, including in rural areas. But he said the movement would be influential regardless of whether it shuts down schools.

Were going to have a lot of teachers at the ballot box who I dont think would normally go in a midterm year, he said. If I were a legislator right now, Id be honestly sweating bullets.

With Republican legislators and governors bearing the brunt of the protesters fury, the Democratic Party is trying to capitalize on the moment. The Democratic National Committee plans to register voters at teacher rallies, and hopes to harness the movements populism.

The teacher walkouts are a real rejection of the Republican agenda that doesnt favor working-class people, said Sabrina Singh, the committees deputy communications director. Republicans arent on the side of teachers. The Democrats are.

That type of rhetoric is a sea change from the Obama years, when many Democrats angered teachers by talking less about core issues of schools funding than about expanding the number of charter schools, or using student test scores to evaluate teachers and remove ineffective ones from the classroom.

School reformers kind of overshot the mark, and were now in a pendulum swing where teachers increasingly look like good guys, said Frederick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank.

Republicans, too, he said, should consider pitching themselves as teacher-friendly candidates, perhaps by tying teacher pay raises to efforts to expand school choice through private school vouchers or charter schools.

Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, the nations largest teachers union, called the movement an education spring.

This is the civics lesson of our time, she said. The politicians on both sides of the aisle are rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
The World Bank will be constructing road networks of about 500km across the 44 local governments in Kano State, Nigeria.

Already, the global bank has reached an advanced stage to construct the road networks in the state under Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP).

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is expected to be signed between the Kano state government and the World Bank towards making accessibility to the rural areas.

Speaking on the move, the Kano state commissioner for Rural and Community Development, Alhaji Musa Iliyasu Kwankwaso said that because of the importance attached to rural roads by the state government, the World Bank decided to construct about 500km roads across the 44 local governments.

The state commissioner also noted that the state government led Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje came up with a Rural Access Mobility Directorate, so as to strengthen compliance with global best practices in rural development.

With the RAAMP intervention, which is to be funded by Kano state and the World Bank, each of the 44 local governments in the state would get at least 10km road.

Recently, Governor Ganduje was on an inspection tour of the 15km Magami-Birnin Bako road, in Sumaila local government.
Some Nigerian lawmakers have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to address the concerns raised by billionaire business magnate, Bill Gates over the Nigerian economy.

Lawmakers at the House of Representatives on the platform of the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) want the Buhari led government to address the economic concerns rather than apportion blames on the last administration.

The PDP caucus of the lawmakers, in a statement signed by the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, said after three years of APC in power, Nigerians have fared worse than with any other government in power.

The statement read: Although, the APC government is known not to be a listening one, last Thursday, the Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates, emphatically stated that the Federal Governments Economic Recovery and Growth Plan was not reflective of the peoples needs.

It is an open secret that under the APC, Nigerians have fared worse on the misery index; those who were rich before are no longer investing, the poor are becoming poorer while almost 30 million Nigerians are either unemployed or under-employed.

According to Bill Gates, the APC governments concentration on physical infrastructure to the detriment of human capital development exposes the undesirable inadequacies in the health and education sectors.

Lawmakers take more swipes at President Buhari-led government

The lawmakers went further to accuse the current administration of superseding previous administrations in sinister art of deceit and propaganda.

Over and over, it has been proven that the current APC government in Nigeria beats all preceding administrations, including the colonial ones, in the sinister art of deceitful lies and propaganda.

With fiendish mercilessness, the APCs 2015 campaign milked the unfortunate abduction of the Chibok girls for every available ounce of propaganda and disinformation against the preceding administration.

Its campaign rhetoric and official hoopla from the lying minister had included rescuing of the Chibok girls and achieving total defeat of the Boko Haram insurgents.

Today, the APC government nurses palpable fear over any scrutiny of its errors in Dapchi or its unusual generosity towards Boko Haram, which it promised to defeat but now almost sees as a partner with which to share deep and befuddling confidence.
The government said that smuggled rice costs between N11, 000 and N13, 000 per 50kg bag, while Nigerian processed rice sells for between N14, 500 and N15, 000 per 50kg bag.

This is just as the government said it is ready to embark on a massive nationwide campaign to sensitise compatriots to the need to support the rice revolution by consuming local rice and shun smuggled imported into the country.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the country's Information Minister stated this at a media briefing in Lagos during the Easter break.

Explaining why the price of local rice was higher, he said Cameroon and Benin Republic had lowered tariff payable on rice to 0 and 5% respectively to encourage importation and subsequent smuggling into Nigeria.

He added that Thailand and India where the smuggled rice were sourced also gave a high level of subsidies to rice farmers and rice processors.

The minister disclosed that the local rice producers had made some representations to the government on how Nigerian rice could compete favourably, in terms of pricing, with the heavily subsidised imported rice.

Alhaji Mohammed also said the government could not guarantee the status of the rice having spent months on the high seas and warehouses.

He appealed to Nigerians to complement the efforts of the government by consuming only locally-grown and processed rice which he said is fresher, tastier and healthier.

We dont know where or how imported rice is made or how old it is? It is reported that most of the rice dumped on us are old and probably rejected.

The citizens of those countries do not eat this rice. The citizens of Benin also do not eat it. But they send it to us.

Unhealthy foods are dangerous to health. So lets eat what we can vouch for, he said.

The minister noted that rice smuggling was the biggest challenge facing rice production in Nigeria.

On January 1, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari had in his address to the nation revealed that Nigeria would end the importation of rice from 2018.

Rice imports will stop this year. Local rice, fresher and more nutritious rice will be on our dishes from now on,  the president had said.
A chain of spiritual events had ensured the transformation of Nyanyete to a supernatural being according to the Sunday Mail who spoke to Mai Maria, the mother of 'Jesus Christ'.

I had forgotten that it is Easter. You have actually reminded me of my childs death.

"This is actually one of the most painful times of my life as it reminds me of the time white people overseas killed my child.

For us, every Friday is Easter and we remember how they killed my child many years back. We celebrate it in our own way, with our own rituals, which include crying, singing and dancing.

We are, however, grateful that Jesus came back, and this time, she will not die. She is not going away anymore. She is set to live forever and rule the earth," says the mother of Jesus Christ.

The Mudzimu Unoyera Sect believes that Christ reincarnated as Emmanuel Dzanagare Mudyiwa in 1939 but the latter died in the year 1989.

His spirit soon entered Tepsy Nyanyete in 1998, who was six years old at the time.

Jesus saves little boy swallowed by Keke Napep passenger turned python

The name of Jesus Christ has delivered a little boy from a Keke Napep (motorcycle) passenger who turned into a python in broad daylight.

Apostle Paul Umoru of the Toplife Ministries International, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, confirmed the incident on Wednesday, February 7, 2018, in a Facebook post.

The attack which occurred after church service three days before the announcement left fang bruises on the back of the youth.

ALSO READ: Friends mourn man who died a week after killing giant snake

The clergyman in a comment mentioned that the mother of the victim who was travelling home with four children handed one to a stranger in order to sit comfortably in the vehicle. The unknown fellow soon changed into a serpent during the course of the journey and began swallowing the child.

Her fervency as a Christian saw her mutter in between fear the name of "Jesus".

According to Umoru, the snake vomited the boy and vanished. He advised parents to be wary when dealing with unknown folks.

"Beloved, on Sunday 4th Feb 2018 a member of our church, while returning home after service around after 1pm joined a kekenapep with her four children. She handed over one of the children to a male passenger she met in the keke to help her carry due to lack of enough space.

"Not long after, the stranger transformed to a large python and was swallowing this young boy right inside the keke in broad day light here in Bonny Island. The head and part of the shoulders of the young boy had already gone into the mouth of the python.

"On noticing this frightening scene, the boy's mother shouted JESUS! This made the python to vomit the boy and disappeared leaving some teeth bruises on the boy's body. The boy had fainted but was later revived and prayed over. See picture below showing the teeth of the python on the boy.

"The lesson here is to ensure you don't handover your child or property to a total stranger. You may never know who you are dealing with.
She wore a look of elegance compared to American popstar Rihanna - a bold comparison shared by an admirer on Instagram.

It was her past taking full form as she appeared as a runway model with British rapper, Tinie Tempah, who shared support on his Instagram.

An earlier encounter in the year 2016, had built the premise for a brighter meeting graced by the presence of super star model, Naomi Campbellwho has been getting used to the life in Lagos.

Orisaguna appears to be on a path to living such glamorous life.

The sharp and searching lens of TY Bello's camera seems to have paved the way for the accidental model whose sudden rise to fame is a story for motivation for some.

Some of the benefits from their association has provided the lucky model with a free apartment courtesy Sujimoto, as well as appearing as the face of a few business brands.

Model recalls in tears journey to fame in exclusive Pulse TV interview

The tale of model, Olajumoke Orisaguna and her journey to stardom remains one of the most inspirational event of the year 2016.

Her story is one that borders on sheer luck and how success does not necessarily come from hard work.

She was discovered by chance when she accidentally photo-bombed a live photo session of TY Bello, a renowned photographer.

The latter was taking pictures of British rapper, Tinie Tempah, as he prepares to feature on the cover of ThisDay Style.

None of the parties involved knew that the event will later form the catalyst for a future star. One that is undeservedly of her position to be frank.

In an exclusive interview with Pulse TV, Orisaguna finally digs deep into her emotional fort to narrate what has been an unexpected journey to fame.

She did this with a bit of difficulty as she tried to keep the tears from falling off her eyes.

Two names that kept on recurring in her speech were TY Bello and Sujimoto.

ALSO READ: Model resurfaces with polished English speaking skills

The model appeared to be beyond grateful due to the roles the pair have played in her life transformation.

She said, "Ever since all of these started, the major people I have seen are TY Bello and Sujimoto. So the two of them have been taking care of me and the children.

"Anything I need, they do for me.

"TY Bello is like my mother in Lagos. Sujimoto is like my father in Lagos.

"May God bless them. May God lift them up more than he he already has."

The model has enjoyed ambassadorial position with some top business brands in Nigeria.

She speaks highly of the likes of Payporte, Stanbic IBTC, Shirley's Bakery and once again, Sujimoto.

According to her, these organisations helped her handle some of her financial responsibilities. Especially the school fees of her children.

"I am an ambassador for Payporte. I am an ambassador for Shirley's Bakery in Abuja. They have all been nice to me.

"Those who have helped me... Stanbic IBTC paid my children's school fees. Two of my children.

"Uncle Sujimoto also pays me a salary every month. I do not do anything for them."

Bringing the year 2016 into retrospect, Orisaguna was immensely grateful for the opportunity she had.
George Williams, one of the newsmen accosted by the cops led by a security operative identified as Inspector Uche, gave an account of the incident which saw a pack of cops intimidate them in a bid to force a bribe of N10,000.

According to Punch News, one of the policemen had made it clear to the journalists that they stand the risk of heading to jail if they insist on not parting with the sum.

Williams who was the designated driver, expressed that he had fulfilled road worthiness standard and had provided all the documents the policemen requested.

They were heavily armed. The inscription, Anti-Cultist Unit, was written on the black shirts they wore. They requested my driving licence and other vehicle particulars, which I gave them.

"They asked us to enter the vehicle and follow them to their office at the SCIID claiming that we were still under investigation.

"I asked them investigation for what, but they did not respond.

When we got to their office, they searched us and my vehicle. Nothing incriminating was found.

"They left us for about 15 minutes. I met with one of them and told him I was a journalist and that my colleagues were returning to Lagos.

Their team leader, Inspector Uche, said I should let the police do their job. He said my number plates papers were not original and I told him that the documents were issued by the government.

"He then said, When you come to the police, you bring kola; when the police come to you, you give kola.

Eventually, they said if we did not want to go to jail, we should bring N10,000. They said they can level any criminal allegation against us.

"I told them that I didnt have cash. They said I should use an Automated Teller Machine or transfer the money to their account. I said I did not do transfers," Williams told Punch News.

Juachi Ochu, who travelled alongside Williams confirmed the report in a statement offered to Punch.

Their tale of unjust treatment motivated a response from James Anyenakwa, the president of the Online Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria, who made known the organization's desire to sue the policemen.

SARS operatives drag innocent man by sexual organ in order to extort money

Lucky Joseph, a man who was reportedly assaulted by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), has narrated how the security agents pulled him by his sexual organ during a public assault.

According to Punch News, the innocent victim was also stripped naked by the group who allegedly tried to plant a wrap of Indian Hemp on him at the Obio Akpor Local Government Area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The incident occurred on Thursday, March 8, 2018, report says.

It is considered an attempt to incriminate him for drug possession - a bid which failed according to the narrator who revealed that the drug substance fell off a handkerchief while the SARS agents tried to lodge it into his pocket.

This however did not prevent a further assault on the victim who was bailed through a contribution offered to the policemen by neighbours.

I was passing when two SARS men grabbed me from the back. They told me to raise my hands so that they could search me.

"I told them that before they searched me, they should allow me to search myself so that nothing incriminating would be planted on me.

"They disagreed and began to search me. They brought out only my handkerchief. As one of them wanted to put it back into my pocket, I told him to hold on because I did not want him to add anything to it.

As I did that, a wrap of hemp fell. When that happened, one of them quickly picked it. They ordered me to enter the car they brought, but I refused.

"A crowd gathered and asked where they were taking me to. Four of them began to drag me and I asked them what my offence was. As they were dragging me, I struggled with them.

"They stripped me naked and began to pull my manhood, but I did not relent. I refused to follow them because I believe I did nothing wrong.

"Two of them later brought out machetes and rifles. I told them that if they wanted to shoot me, they should go ahead because I was sure I did not commit any offence.

"As we were struggling, some wraps of Indian hemp fallen off their pockets. They used the machetes to cut my body and tried to handcuff me; but I told them they could not handcuff me," stated Lucky Joseph in a report compiled by Punch.

ALSO READ: Woman expecting quadruplet allegedly loses pregnancy following SARS assault
According to the reports, the suspect revealed that he learnt how to make wines and spirits in China.

ALSO READ: Court remands alleged fake moet wine distributor in prison

I was in China to learn how to mix and produce wines and hot drinks and when I got back to Nigeria in 2015, I started my own business in Nnewi, Anambra state.

"I had to relocate to Lagos to start afresh when my factory got burnt, Ojukwu confessed.

During his confession, Ojukwu also said that he has been refilling branded bottles with his own products to ensure more patronage from customers, as he has been unable to promote his brand.

When asked he planned to achieve his dream as a winemaker, the 55-year-old suspect noted that he planned to make enough profit from his sales of adulterated drinks before marketing his brand.

Health agency raises alert on fake alcohol circulation

According to an announcement made by the National Agency for Food and Drug Control (NAFDAC), there has been a surge in the circulation of fake alcoholic drinks.

This was revealed by its director for Special Duties, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, August 23, 2016.

In the interview, Jimoh disclosed that the consumption of harmful alcoholic substances by the youths in the society has had an exponential effect on the increase on crime rates, as such drinks spur them to misbehave.

Drinking alcohol is bad enough and people are always advised to take it in moderation; so, the danger associated with taking a fake drink can only be imagined,

We have found that the youths rely on such drinks to gather enough courage to commit all manners of atrocities like armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, killing and the rest."

To combat this, Jimoh explained that NAFDAC has increased its efforts in stopping activities that promotes drunkenness through raids and bylaws.

Focus has been in areas such as Edo and Delta States, which produce drinks that are known to harm vital organs of the body.

Speaking further on the menace of alcohol, the special duties director also commented that regular consumption has rendered many youths unproductive.

ALSO READ:Fake pharmacist arraigned in court for selling counterfeit drugs

Agriculture is an area of economic growth that requires energy and youthfulness, but the circulation of harmful drinks have robbed the sector of the needed manpower.

They have also led to the gradual decline in the health status of many youths and totally destroyed their capacity to contribute to societal development,
The suspect who pretends to sell refreshments in the heavy Lagos traffic, was nabbed after robbing a woman named Mrs. Hadizatul Jiddah, who was thankful to the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Enforcement Unit.

According to The Nation News, the agency helped recover items stolen by the roadside thief.

She confirmed that the thief made away with two phones and a bag while she was driving on the bridge.

Kayode was able to do this after breaking the window of her vehicle with a hammer.

If not for the prompt intervention of personnel of the Lagos State Task Force, my bag and two phones would have gone, Jiddah mentioned in a news report.

A picture of the suspect who was seen holding exhibits has been shared online.

Olayinka Egbeyemi, the chairman of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Enforcement Unit, revealed that the case has received the attention of Lagos police commissioner, Imohimi Edgal, who has directed that the suspect be charged to court.

Abuja car wash worker sells customer's Toyota to marry wife

A car wash attendant has been arrested by the police in Abuja for selling a customer's Toyota Camry car to marry a wife.

The suspect, Mohammed Chado, reportedly sold the vehicle for a sum of N450,000, which covered expenses required for the purpose of tying the knot as well as a year's feeding.

Part of the amount he realised from the sale was sent to family members who used it to secure items needed for the wedding ceremony.

"I sold the car for N450,000 and spent N300,000 on the wedding; I gave the money to my family to buy the needed wedding items, then I spent the balance on feeding myself for one year," says Chado who was paraded on Wednesday, March 28, 2018.

Sadiq Bello, the Commissioner of Police of Federal Capital Territory, confirmed his arrest in Punch News report.

ALSO READ: Woman who stole mobile phone at wedding party stripped naked

The police chief mentioned that the vehicle has been recovered. Chado was apprehended in Niger State, where he reportedly hid following the theft.

Chado was arrested at Batafe village in Niger State where he hid after he sold a Toyota Camry that was given to him for washing.
Loving non-stop since 1956

Pa Thomas Oluwole Akinola and his wife, Modupe Oluwole have been a couple for over six decades since their wedding in England in the Easter season of 1956!

In commemoration of how well they've aged in love, and how far they have come together, the pair, over the past Easter weekend dedicated social media posts to each other and people are catching major heart-eyes for their beautiful, time-defying love for each other.

Anniversary message to her boo

In her anniversary Facebook post, Mrs. Modupe writes:

"Thanking God for the 62 years journey of married life.

We give all glory to god for his blessings thank you Akin darling for all the care and love.

We thank God for the beautiful and God fearing children and grandchildren and we pray that we shall both finish well in Jesus name. Amen''

Anniversary message to his bae

A message to which her boo replies with sugary words of his own:

"Dupe darling, on Easter Monday, 62 years ago, we were joined together in marriage in England.

"God, in his mercy and love for us, gave us caring children and good grand children. May God's holy name be praised.

"May he continue to bless us and our children and grandchildren and continue to make us a good example for others.

"Happy anniversary, Dupe darling."
The government believes the social media is largely used by its citizens to spread gossip, prejudices and insults and needs resources (revenue) to cope with the consequences of their acts.

President Yoweri Museveni in a recent letter addressed to the country's Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija, questioned the Uganda Revenue Authority laxity in exploring new tax sources.

I am not going to propose a tax on internet use for educational, research or reference purposes... these must remain free.

However, olugambo on social media (opinions, prejudices, insults, friendly chats) and advertisements by Google and I do not know who else must pay tax because we need resources to cope with the consequences of their lugambo.

Matia Kasaija, the Minister of Finance told Uganda's state television, NTV, that the President's recommendations have been approved by the Cabinet and expected to be fixed in the 2018/2019 budget.

The new taxes

The president said the new taxes on telephones data transmission and the housing sector will generate rented incomes but are not adequately taxed.

The government is eyeing an additional revenue of Ush400 billion ($108 million) by introducing a small fee of Uganda Ush100 per day from sim-cards that are used by these OTTs which will be Ush1.4 trillion ($378 million) from social media users annually.

Meanwhile, telecommunication operators in Uganda had since rejected the government's move, saying it will amount to double taxation.

Recall that two years ago, the Nigerian government met resistance from the public while planning to impose 10% tax on phone calls, text messages and data.
The UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Yassine Gaba, in a statement in Maiduguri strongly condemned the attack on civilians which resulted to the death of 34 persons.

The UN strongly condemns the deadly combined attack which took place near Belle Village in the outskirts of Maiduguri on Sunday April 1. According to local sources, at least 34 civilians lost their lives and 90 others injured in the attack.

The recent weeks have seen a steady continuation of attacks on civilians in the three most conflict affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe in the northeast of Nigeria.

Since the beginning of the year, reportedly, at least 120 civilians women, children and men were killed and over 210 sustained serious injuries, in over 22 attacks allegedly by non-state armed groups directly targeting civilians.

Civilians are also regularly abducted, as in Dapchi, Yobe State, where 110 school girls were taken on Feb. 19.

Innocent civilians continue to suffer daily from direct and indiscriminate attacks in the northeast of Nigeria, Gaba was quoted as saying in the statement."

Gaba expressed concern over the endless number of explosions, brutal killings, abductions and lootings resulting to lost of lives on daily basis.

He called on all parties in the conflict to end the violence, and to respect human life and dignity.

The UN official stressed that protection of civilians is a major focus of the ongoing humanitarian response in the northeast, noting that over 7.7 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance including food; shelter, water and health care in the affected states.

Women, children and men face daily grave human rights violations, sexual and gender-based violence.
The President, in a condolence message in Abuja on Monday, noted that the deceased was a woman of uncommon determination, steadfastness and perseverance.

President Buharis condolence message is contained in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu.

According to the President, the late Winnnie held aloft the torch of the struggle against institutionalised discrimination even while her ex-husband, the late Madiba, President Nelson Mandela was incarcerated.

President Buhari, on behalf of the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, commiserated with the family of the deceased, the government and people of South Africa.

He urged them to be consoled by the knowledge that the late Winnie Mandelas contributions to ending apartheid will not be forgotten.

According to him, she remained a pride not only to the African woman, but indeed all Africans.
A source at the Presidency says the leave would allow President Buhari get enough rest before attending the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, also known as CHOGM 2018, to be held at the Buckingham Palace, St James Palace, and Windsor Castle.

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The CHOGM meeting is scheduled for April 16th to 20th 2018.

Nigeria is one of the countries that make up the Commonwealth, a diverse community of 53 nations that work together to promote prosperity, democracy and peace.

However, another Presidency source said President Buhari was travelling to London to rest and prepare for the 2019 election.

You know activities are in top gear. The president wants to take time off to prepare for the 2019 battle. Sometimes, a general needs to withdraw and strategise, the source said.

ALSO READ: 10 biggest moments in Nigerian politics this year

Another medical leave in London?

President Buhari's decision to travel to London has since sparked reactions from Nigerians.

"Wait o, is the state of origin of President Muhammadu self? Every annual leave he heads to . Before he became president, was he always going abroad for leave and treatment? This is an honest question not hate speech. Have a safe trip though,"Edafe Matthew said via Twitter.

Most Nigerian have expressed concerns that this might beanother medical trip to London.

Recall that President Buhari had in 2017, spent 154 days in London undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

This situation unsettled the political equation in the country and also affected the economic recovery of the country.

President Buhari's prolonged absence from the country raised suspicions that the President may have passed on.
According to a report by The Nation, EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu, approved the letter of invitation which has been sent to the former minister who served two terms under former presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.

The invitation was based on a recommendation by detectives investigating the whereabouts of the $500 million loot as the withdrawn $250 million was released to the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) without appropriation.

The Nation's report also noted that about $36,155,000 (N13,015,800 billion) out of the $250million was also withdrawn in cash "without any purpose" on March 2nd, 9th, 16th and 18th of 2015.

A source said, "Following preliminary findings, a strong recommendation was made to the Acting EFCC chairman for an interactive session with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

"Magu has approved the invitation of the ex-minister. We have dispatched a letter of invitation to her. We are hopeful that she will respond.

"Her presence is necessary because there were issues about the $250million released especially why $36,155,000 (N13,015,800billion) was withdrawn in cash.

"She needs to assist the EFCC team on what became of the balance of $250million which was yet to be traced.

"She has to explain why some of the funds were diverted to extraneous matters including media services, opinion polls and personal matters."

How $250 million was withdrawn

Dr Okonjo-Iweala had signed a memo to then-president, Jonathan, requesting the release of $300m from the Abacha loot to former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, after his office requested the sum in a memo sent to the former Coordinating Minister for the Economy on January 12, 2015.

In the memo, she stated that the fund will be used by ONSA to purchase ammunition, security and other intelligence equipment for security agencies in order to enable them confront the ongoing threat of terrorist group, Boko Haram.

The memo read, "This request is sequel to the meeting you chaired with the committee on use of recovered funds where decision was made that recovered Abacha funds would be split 50-50 between urgent security needs to confront Boko Haram and development needs (including a portion for the Future Generations window of Sovereign Wealth Fund).

"This letter is to seek your approval to borrow these funds, for now, to disburse to the NSA. These funds form part of projected FG Independent Revenue to be appropriated.

"In light of this and for accountability, given the peculiar nature of security and intelligence transactions, we would expect the NSA to account to your Excellency for the utilization of the funds."
The Minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed had on Friday, March 30, 2018, released six names of people who allegedly siphoned government funds when they were in power.

Most of the suspected looters whose names were released are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mohammed, who had described the first list as 'a tip of the iceberg;, released 24 more names of alleged looters on Sunday, April 1.

Among those named in the second list were a former minister of petroleum resources, Dieziani Alison-Madukwe and former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode.

Reacting to the lists, Fayose said it was politically motivated.

"The first list of alleged looters released by the government is politically motivated and the second one is an afterthought that was done because Nigerians questioned the first list", he said.

"Nigerians are more interested in their welfare, security of their lives and physical development of the country than tales of corrupt Nigerians list", the governor added.

Fayose said this in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

The governor admitted that there are corrupt persons within the PDP but accused the APC of shielding treasury looters in its fold.

He said, "The Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) never pretended to Nigerians that it had corrupt people in its fold and the party never protected them. Today, the party has gone ahead to offload the corrupt elements into the APC.

"A government that reinstated and promoted Abdullahi Maina, who was declared wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation, (INTERPOL) and dismissed in 2013 for alleged N2.1 billion pension is nothing but a government of plunderers".

'Lists based on facts'

On Sunday, during the announcement of the 24 more names of alleged looters, Lai Mohammed slammed the PDP for challenging the Federal Government to name the looters.

"The Federal Government has a large number of alleged looters on its list. What was the PDP expecting when it challenged the FG to name the looters of the public treasury under the partys watch? Did the PDP actually believe that the massive looting under its watch was a joke?" he queried.

He said the lists were based on verifiable facts, including the amount involved, the date the amount in question was collected and from where it was taken.
Shetiima told newsmen when he visited the over 80 victims of the attack on treatment at the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri that the attack indicated high level of atrocities committed by the insurgents.

It is very sad which no any sensible human being could inflict on another person; such level of dexterity, such level of atrocity but this is a war between light and darkness, and in the fullness of time truth shall always triumph over falsehood.

We have repeatedly said they have been sufficiently decimated and these decimated monsters berks in the oxygen of publicity they are targeting soft targets, senselessly and criminally opening fire on innocent souls.

Yesterday, we witnessed that very sad episode, we will continue to intensify our efforts to safeguard life and property, and we are talking with security agencies that are doing their utmost best to secure the state.

Appreciable progress has been made but such hiccups are inevitable. I will visit the communities to see what measures need to be put in place to forestall future occurrence, he said.

Shettima assured that the state government would provide free treatment to the victims and provide necessary support during their period of recuperation.

The governor also condoled with the families of those who lost their lives in the attack.

Meanwhile, the Police in Borno had confirmed 20 persons killed and 84 others wounded in the attack.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Damian Chukwu, disclosed that five mutilated corpses of male suicide bombers were recovered and two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) vests were diffused by men of the command at the scene of the attack.

He said: On 01/04/2018 at about 20:20 pm; Boko Haram terrorists in an attempt to infiltrate into Maiduguri through Bale Kura, Bale Shuwari, Jamine and Alkaramti villages in Jere local government area of the state, in the outskirts of Maiduguri detonated IEDs.

They were promptly repelled by military and police reinforcement. In the process about 84 persons were injured and 20 others killed.
In October 2017, Maina was recalled and promoted to head the Ministry of Interior's human resource department despite pending corruption charges against him. This was after he was dismissed by the Federal Civil Service Commission in 2013 following a recommendation by the Office of the Head of Service.

After he was declared wanted over an alleged N2 billion pension fraud, he fled abroad to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), evading the capture of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

AGF Malami; Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau; the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Abubakar Magaji; and Head of Service, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, have all been implicated in the scandal.

According to a report by Daily Trust, the committee, chaired by Honourable Aliyu Madaki (APC, Kano), indicted Malami for meeting with Maina in Dubai despite being aware of his fugitive status, and then used the influence of his office to reinstate him.

In the 13-page report laid on the floor of the House a fortnight ago, the committee argued that Malami's actions regarding the reinstatement contravened Section 158 of the 1999 constitution.

He was rebuked for applying undue interference and pressure on the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) to push Maina's reinstatement through.

The report read, "Section158 (1) of the constitution states: "In exercising its power to make appointments or to exercise disciplinary control over persons, the Code of Conduct Bureau, the National Judicial Council, the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, the Federal Character Commission, and the Independent National Electoral Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person.

"The Attorney General knew that Maina is a fugitive, yet he met him in Dubai. Maina's reinstatement didn't follow due process and it was fraudulently masterminded."

While appearing before the committee on November 30, 2017, Department of State Services (DSS) chief, Lawal Daura, disclosed that he had told Malami to meet with Maina abroad after the AGF asked for his advice.

He said, "The attorney general of the federation sometime in 2016 or 2015 - can't remember the exact day because it was not through a formal document - placed a call to me when he was outside the country and requested my advise on a request he got through a source that Maina wanted to meet him.

"He wanted me to advise him whether to agree to see Maina or not in that foreign country.

"I responded to the attorney general that he should accept to see Maina but he should not see him alone. He should see him with a third party."

In January 2018, the AGF defended his decision to meet with Maina, disclosing that the meeting aided in "solidifying (fraud) cases in terms of conviction".

He said, "If hundreds of Mainas believe that they have information to offer as far as the protection of the national interest is concerned, I will meet them and will do so again. It boils down to whether I have indeed acted or I have not acted."

In light of Malami's indiscretion, the committee recommended that the minister be reprimanded and cautioned and be further advised on how best to deal with similar issues and not interfere in matters outside his jurisdiction.

The committee also faulted the role of Perm Sec Magaji in the reinstatement as he was accused of facilitating it without the necessary written clearance from the office of the Head of Service of the Federation. The committee recommended that he also be cautioned despite his display of remorse over his role.

The Federal Civil Service Commission was also blamed by the committee for taking directive from the office of the Attorney General in contravention of Section 158 of the constitution, and was urged to adhere to civil service rules in such matters and not to succumb to pressure from any quarters.

HoS Oyo-Ita, the EFCC, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) were all cleared of any wrongdoing in the controversy.

The committee declared that Maina's original dismissal from the civil service in 2013 remains valid and his reinstatement is voided, as he remains on the run while maintaining his innocence.

Malami denies writing letter of reinstatement

While it is believed that Maina's meeting with Malami while he was in hiding led to his controversial recall last year, AGF Malami has denied writing the letter that started the process.

He told the House committee that the letter of reinstatement never had his authorisation despite bearing the seal of his office.

After his appearance before the committee, the AGF filed an ex-parte application in the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, January 8, 2018, to stop the National Assembly from investigating the scandal, arguing that it lacks the "legislative competence" to do so.
The NAF Special Forces, who were trained in asymmetric warfare, were airlifted from Kaduna with the NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft to complement the efforts of other security forces on ground to prevent further attack on innocent citizens.

The personnel and other supporting staff would operate from the recently established 207 Quick Response Group in Gusau, where they would reinforce the existing Regiment personnel in the Unit in support of the ongoing in the state.

ALSO READ: NAF conducts medical outreach for IDPs in Damboa

In his address to the troops at Gusau shortly before their deployment on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, the Air Officer Commanding Special Operations Command, Air Vice Marshal Ismaila Kaita, announced that the special forces would be further deployed to remote areas of Zamfara State, where they would be engaged in internal security operations.

He further urged them to effectively utilize their experience and training to protect the lives and properties of the people of Zamfara State.

He noted that the NAF leadership expects the special forces to exhibit the highest standards of professionalism and respect for human rights in discharging their duties.

Spokesman of the NAF, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, said the deployment of the special forces is in line with additional measures taken by the NAF to enhance its contributions to tackling internal security challenges in the country, in fulfilment of its constitutional responsibility.

In addition to earlier established Quick Response Groups and Wings and the deployment of NAF special forces to various states, the NAF recently established Quick Response Wings at Agatu, Doma and Nguroje in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States respectively to bring security closer to those in the relatively remote areas.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obasanjo had on Monday while addressing a group of youths who visited him at his country home Abeokuta described the Buhari administration as a failure.

Obasanjo also asked the All Progressives Congress (APC) -led government to stop complaining about the challenges it met on the ground.

What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure, let failure be failure Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.

However, the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, who responded to Obasanjos comments in a telephone interview on Channels Television on Monday, said the assessment was not new.

Already, the statement issued few months ago by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, in response to the earlier criticism made against the government by Obasanjo had adequately addressed the issues raised.

ALSO READ: Obasanjo says his generation has failed Nigeria

He maintained that the APC-led Federal Government would keep making reference to the failures of the past administration with a view to guiding against such mistakes in future.

According to Adesina, the Buhari administration has successfully tackled mismanagement of the nations economy, as Nigeria now has more savings in its foreign reserve than ever before.
The Vice President said this while speaking at an event tagged: Cross Concert 2018 in Lagos.

The terror group refused to release Sharibu along with the other 105 students because she did not convert to Isalm.

Osinbajo also said that he excited that Christians are praying for the release of the girl.

According to Vanguard, he also said that he is happy to be a Christian because of Sharibu.

The VP said As I understand the Cross, I believe that what happened was so unique. Apart from the death, there was a trial before victory. Christ was accused of many crimes and given a death sentence. What Christ went through was beyond dying. He had already taken the pain that is why we can proudly say that the Cross is an evident of our own victory.

Leah has stood up to stand by her faith and truth. O! I am certain on my mind the Cross is able to deliver her. I am excited that we Christians are praying for Leah who is still being held captive by insisting she will stand by the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

ALSO READ:Omokri angry with Osinbajo over kidnapped Christian girl

The most exciting thing that a man can have is the knowledge here on earth that we are Victor and in Heaven we will be counted among those that will reign with Christ in Heaven. There is nothing better than that. It is a win-win situation.

Negotiations ongoing

Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim has revealed that negotiations are ongoing for the release of Leah Sharibu.

Ibrahim said the federal government is also negotiating the release of the remaining Chibok girls.
According to a statement signed by the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, two AK-47 rifles as well as other ammunitions were recovered from them.

His statement read, "Troops deployed in Exercise AYEM AKPATUMA while on patrol along Dogon Dawa - Damari road in Kaduna State killed two suspected criminals and recovered two AK 47 rifles from them.

"Other items recovered from them include three magazines and 88 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition."

Brig-Gen Chukwu also disclosed that two soldiers were wounded when troops ran into an ambush by suspected bandits along Rigasa Airport road on Monday, April 2, 2018.

Troops also successfully repelled another attack by suspected bandits in Buruku, Benue State.

Exercise Ayem Akpatuma

To combat growing unrest in the country amid a spate of worrying criminal activities, the Army launched Exercise Ayem Akpatuma in Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Nasarawa, Kadunaand Niger in February 2018.

While the exercise was intended to run until March 31, 2018, it has been extended for two more months in Taraba state to further consolidate on the gains achieved and facilitate the Army's effort of ridding the affected areas of militants and other criminal elements.
At least 34 civilians lost their lives in the attack which left 90 others injured.

Banire said that recent weeks had seen a steady continuation of attacks on civilians in the three most conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe in the Northeast Zone of the country.

Banire quoted Gaba as saying that since the beginning of the year, no fewer than 120 civilian were reportedly killed while more than 210 sustained serious injuries in more than 22 attacks allegedly carried out by non-state armed groups.

He said that civilians were also regularly abducted in Dapchi, Yobe, where 110 school girls were kidnapped on Feb. 19.

Innocent civilians continue to suffer daily from direct and indiscriminate attacks in the North-east of Nigeria.

Endless numbers of explosions, brutal killings, abductions and looting continue to uproot the lives of women, children and men daily.

I call on all parties to the conflict to end this violence and to respect human life and dignity.

The protection of civilians is a major focus of the ongoing humanitarian response in the north-east of Nigeria where 7.7 million people remain in direct need of humanitarian assistance, including food, shelter, water and health care, in the most conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, he said.

According to him, women, children and men face daily grave human rights violations and sexual and gender-based violence.
The Boss can exclusively reveal that Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has joined the 2019 Presidential race, Momodus story read.

There is no doubt that he would be a formidable force that should not be ignored because only few politicians in Nigeria today have the pedigree, the experience, the clout and the connection of Senator Saraki.

Momodu also said Saraki will be picking Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu as his running mate.

Impeccable sources reveal that as he plots his move for the presidency, he is said to be considering building alliances with all Nigerians of like minds.

He is also considering using the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu as his running mate. Having already exhibited the ability to work seamlessly with politicians from the two main political parties, it is a path he can easily thread.

The rest of Momodus story read like a praise-singing expedition. The Ovation publisher would go on to describe Saraki as a man who has all the criteria that a modern Nigerian president should have. He is tall, urbane, suave, charismatic, cool and collected. But behind this charm, is a man of steel who is never afraid to pursue causes that he feels are right and just.

Weighing his options

My first reaction was to dismiss Momodus exclusive as a PR, image laundry stunt. The essay was more 'opinion' than 'exclusive'.

It was also possible that Momodu was simply flying a kite.

A couple of minutes later, I sent Sarakis spokespersons text messages which they havent found the time to respond to, three days after.

However, another aide of the Senate President who craved anonymity, told me to disregard Momodus story because it was simply speculative.

He may or may not run. The likelihood is there. But it might not happen at all. He is reading the times and weighing his options. It's what politicians do, this aide said.

In the course of our chat, the aide told me that factors like Sarakis ongoing case at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), his deference to a Buhari presidency, whether the APC would even consider handing him a ticket or whether he has to switch camps to realise a lifelong ambition, are all stacked against him.

The aide had a point. If Buhari chooses to run (and theres every likelihood of that happening), Saraki would have to defect to the PDP where an Atiku Abubakar for instance, is waiting in the wings to neuter his presidential bid.

And should Saraki defect to any other political party, he would lose the position of Senate President without guarantees that joining a new political party will see him becoming president of Nigeria.

Saraki is not that reckless when it comes to making political decisions. The way I see it, Saraki would rather remain president of the senate than embark on a wild goose chase for the position of Nigerias president. Hes a very calculative, manipulative politician who ponders deeply before making a decision. A Bukola Saraki won't want to go to another political party and emerge empty-handed. My guess is that he wont run for president until the coast becomes a lot clearer.

At the moment, that coast is foggy and hazy.

False

In any case, Sarakis Special adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu (who was one of the aides I sent a text message to after Momodus story broke), has dismissed Momodus tale as a baseless fabrication.

The report is false. If it is true that he is contesting, you would have seen the report in major dailies since last week Saturday when the news broke out on social media. But as you can see, there is nothing like that, Olaniyonu told journalists.

Of course Saraki would love nothing more than to become Nigeria's president. After serving as Governor and lawmaker, the next step in his political odyssey should ideally be the nation's number one job. He once tested the presidential waters on the floor of the senate and floated a presidential bid before the 2015 elections.

Those who know Saraki would tell you that he is a ruthlessly ambitious man and ambition is a good attribute to possess in life. But now is not the time for him and like the smart politician he is, he knows that.
Frank stated this while reacting to the lists of looters released by information minister, Lai Mohammed at the weekend.

The APC chieftain accused the Buhari government of 'making a mockery' of the anti-corruption crusade by attacking only members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He urged the federal government to publish name as well as the amounts stolen by such individuals.

"While I commend the fight against corruption and the vigor of our party, we must not forget that 'he who comes to equity, must come with clean hands, Frank began.

"For APC government to be taken serious in this war against corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari must emulate the likes of President John Magufuli of Tanzania, who started fighting corruption with members of his party and cabinet who have been indicted of corruption.

"We should not make the fight against corruption one sided, political or sentimental. Until Nigerians could see the names of some serving government officials and other APC members who have been accused of corruption in the so call looters list, it might just be an exercise for propaganda which Nigerians will never take serious.

"Let it not be that once someone join APC, his or her sins have been forgiven. There are many accused people in APC today who were in PDP yesterday, how come their names are not on this list?

"The list in its entirety as released by the Minister of Information and Culture, smacks clearly as an opposition party list and as such exonerates corrupt officials in the ruling party, which paints the corruption fight as purely selective.

"Several PDP Governors and stalwarts who had decamped to the ruling party, even after being accused have been left off the hook, thereby undermining the entire anti-corruption fight as evident in the public domain.

While demanding for total transparency in the whole thing, the APC chieftain urged Nigerian government to remember the promised the ruling party made during campaign in 2015.

"So until government boldly make it known to Nigerians how much has been recovered as claimed, the world might not take the fight against corruption serious. I believe this corruption fight must not be partisan because we are all Nigerians first before political party, therefore we must treat everybody fairly irrespective of political affiliation," he added.
Obasanjo has asked Nigerians not to "reinforce failure" by reelecting the Buhari-led APC government into power in 2019.

But addressing journalists at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday, April 3, 2018, Danu said though Obasanjo remained an elder statesman, his assertions on the performance of President Buhari were more political than anything else.

He advised Nigerians to continue to support the President Buhari government which he said would deliver on its campaign promises to Nigerians.

His words:"The truth is that everybody can have his opinion on an issue but to me this is a successful administration. Buhari never promised to be a miracle worker. In three years the success of this administration in the economy, security is obvious.

"There is no nation that can progress or have meaningful development with the past levels of corruption. When somebody says he is a failure, failure in what? Are we talking about the railways connecting the country? The Port Harcourt-Maiduguri or Lagos-Kano rail line? The Mambilla project, the second Niger bridge etc.

"In security, compared to what we had before, there are improvements. Before Buhari, we were having attacks even in Abuja not Maiduguri but you can see the successes clearly. This is an election year. People are entitled to their own opinion. Obasanjo is an elder statesman and he is entitled to his own opinion. That is not the opinion of Nigerians", he said.

Similarly, the Presidency had dismissed Obasanjo's statement.
A certain The Boss Newspaper -- managed by Nigerian journalist Dele Momodu  reported that Saraki had indicated interest to contest for the position of Nigerias president during the 2019 presidential elections.

The Boss can exclusively reveal that Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has joined the 2019 Presidential race, the paper reported on March 31, 2018.

There is no doubt that he would be a formidable force that should not be ignored because only few politicians in Nigeria today have the pedigree, the experience, the clout and the connection of Senator Saraki.

Impeccable sources reveal that as he plots his move for the Presidency, he is said to be considering building alliances with all Nigerians of like minds, the report said.

ALSO READ: Senate moves to end drug abuse

But, in an interview with Daily Independent, spokesman to Saraki, Yusuph Olaniyonu, described the report as false.

The report is false. If it is true that he is contesting, you would have seen the report in major dailies since last week Saturday when the news broke out on social media. But as you can see, there is nothing like that, Olaniyonu said.

Dont vote Buhari in 2019

Meanwhile, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has attackedPresident Muhammadu Buhari again.

Not another letter, but during a meeting with young Nigerians at his hilltop house in Ota, Ogun state.
The NEC had extended the tenure of the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC and other executive committees of the party across all levels in the country by one year, starting from June.

The president had explained that the decision was already causing acrimony within the party as some of its members who were not comfortable with the matter had taken it to court.

Inaugurating the 10-member committee on Tuesday in Abuja, APC National Chairman, Odigie-Oyegun, said the committees mandate was to advise the partys leadership on implementation of activities in the weeks ahead.

You have to advice us on the way we can implement our activities in the next few weeks or months that is politically advantageous to our party and at the same time, pay due deference to the niceties of the law.

We must observe the law and at the same time, ensure that we do things that will be advantageous to the party.

You have all the papers you will need to work with and you are at liberty to call for additional materials. You have the statement of the President, NEC resolution and the partys Constitution.

I am sure you have access to the nations Constitution which will guide you also in the task that you are about to undertake, Odigie-Oyegun said.

He added that the committee had four days to complete its assignment because of limited time frame, saying that the advice was crucial for the party to move forward.

Accepting the task, Chairman of the committee, Gov. Simon Dalung of Plateau, assured that the committee would deliver on the mandate and pledged continued loyalty to the partys leadership.

He, however, called for prayers from the partys leadership and members across the country for the committee to succeed in the assignment, saying that the committee would commence work immediately.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis are visiting the White House as Washington is apparently adopting a harder stance towards Moscow.

A senior Lithuanian official who wished to remain unnamed said the three Baltic leaders were asking the US to send Patriot long-range anti-aircraft missiles more frequently for war games. They also want to become a part of NATO's larger European anti-missile shield.

"I hope that the United States and other allies understand that the airspace of the Baltic states must be better protected and defended," Lithuania's Grybauskaite told her country's public broadcaster LRT ahead of the visit.

"It is important that (US troops) are here on permanent rotational basis in all Baltic states," she said.

Last year, NATO deployed four multinational battalions to Poland and the Baltic states as tripwires against possible Russian adventurism, while the US military sent a Patriot battery to Lithuania for drills.

US Vice President Mike Pence in July raised the possibility of deploying Patriots in nearby Estonia.

Hardening line

The Baltic states were deeply rattled by Trump's campaign rhetoric questioning NATO's relevance, his erratic behaviour and his initial unwillingness to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2016, Vilnius artists painted a mural depicting Trump passionately locking lips with Putin, while a public opinion poll last year showed two thirds of Lithuanians did not trust the US president.

But the public mood changed after Trump decided to provide anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to defend against Russia-backed separatists and to boost funding for US forces in Europe.

"Concerns about his commitment to NATO were initially widespread, but have eased in recent months," Vilnius University analyst Kestutis Girnius told AFP.

For Simas Celutka from the Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis, the recent expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of a spy was a sign of a more confrontational posture.

"Advisers might have convinced Trump that a resolute show of strength is the only form of communication Putin takes seriously," he said.

Setting standards

Trump, who has repeatedly attacked "free rider" NATO allies, is expected to praise the Baltic trio for meeting NATO's rule to spend two percent of gross domestic product on defence.

"The president wants to show that these countries are setting standards where we want to see allies moving in terms of defence," said Anne Hall, the US ambassador to Lithuania.

The Baltic-US summit will also include a business forum where Lithuania plans to sign deals to boost imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US to reduce reliance on Russia's Gazprom.

Diplomats say the prospect of trade wars between Europe and the United States could also be discussed in the talks, as the Baltic states are increasingly concerned over a trans-Atlantic rift.

The Baltic states, with a combined population of just six million people, were occupied and annexed by Moscow during World War II.
Netanyahu in January announced the implementation of a programme to remove migrants who entered illegally, giving them a choice between leaving voluntarily or facing indefinite imprisonment with eventual forced expulsion.

According to interior ministry figures, there are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, half of them children, women or men with families, who are not facing immediate deportation.

They are mainly Sudanese and Eritrean.

As the migrants could face danger or imprisonment if returned to their homelands, Israel offered to relocate them to an unnamed African country, which deportees and aid workers said was Rwanda or Uganda.

The statement on Monday said the new plan meant there was no longer a need to send migrants to unnamed third countries.

The plans had drawn sharp criticism from the United Nations refugee agency as well as from some Israelis and rights activists.
"I've decided to suspend implementation of this accord and to rethink the terms of the accord," Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page, saying his move was in response to criticism of the deal.

Israel had announced a deal with the UNHCR to cancel a controversial plan to deport African migrants and replace it with one that would see thousands sent to Western countries.

The new accord would at the same time allow thousands more of the mainly Sudanese and Eritrean migrants to remain in Israel at least temporarily.

The migrants have become a political issue, with religious and conservative politicians portraying the presence of Muslim and Christian Africans as a threat to Israel's Jewish character.

A group of residents of southern Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants have settled, immediately denounced the new plan in a statement, calling it "a shame for the state of Israel".

Netanyahu said he would meet on Tuesday with residents of southern Tel Aviv.

Several ministers also said they opposed the accord with the UNHCR, on which they had not been informed before the announcement by Netanyahu's office.

- Western nations -

The deal announced by Netanyahu's office appeared to end the possibility that many would be forcibly deported.

Instead, it would see a minimum of 16,250 migrants resettled in Western nations including Canada, Germany and Italy.

"The agreement stipulates that for each migrant who leaves the country, we commit to give temporary residence status to another," Netanyahu himself said in a televised address.

Germany and Italy, however, said they were unaware of any such resettlement deal for African migrants from Israel.

Netanyahu in January announced the implementation of a programme to remove migrants who entered illegally, giving them a choice between leaving voluntarily or facing indefinite imprisonment with eventual forced expulsion.

According to interior ministry figures, there are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, half of them children, women or men with families, who were not facing immediate deportation.

As the migrants could face danger or imprisonment if returned to their homelands, Israel offered to relocate them to an unnamed African country, which deportees and aid workers said was Rwanda or Uganda.

But Netanyahu said that he had to abandon the initial plan because the option of sending them to a third country "no longer exists".

Rwanda and Uganda have said they would not accept those deported against their will.
State television TRT showed workers already starting work on the ground as fireworks went off to mark the event.

Once completed the power station will provide 10 percent of the electricity needs of Turkey, which has few energy resources of its own.

The first stage is due to come online in 2023, the 100th anniversary of modern Turkey's founding, and be completed entirely in 2026.

"This scale of the project is difficult to exaggerate," Putin said at the ceremony. "This marks a new stage in the development of Turkey's economy."

Erdogan said: "The power plant will contribute to our energy security and also play an important role in the fight against climate change."

Turkey's Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan's son-in-law, praised the Akkuyu project saying: "We are standing at a crucial juncture in realising the 63-year dream."

Turkey and Russia have forged burgeoning ties in recent months on a number of areas including energy as well as the Syrian crisis, despite differences on key policy areas.

"We are also in close cooperation with Russia to end as soon as possible the terror threat and clashes in Syria," Erdogan said.
TOKYO - The US Navy plans to deploy F-35C fighter jets to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture sometime after 2021, according to local media.

It will be the first deployment to Japan of the C type of the advanced stealth fighters.

The F-35C will replace some aircraft belonging to carrier-borne jet squadrons that have been relocated from the Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture, according to a US Navy official stationed in Japan.

The move of jet squadrons of the Atsugi-based Carrier Air Wing Five involves about 60 aircraft, including F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter jets and C-2 transport aircraft. The command functions of CVW-5 will also be relocated.

The navy official told The Yomiuri Shimbun: "Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5...will receive the F-35C Lightning II sometime after 2021," adding that the "F-35C's (squadrons) will forward deploy to MCAS Iwakuni".

The official said: "When the first F-35C squadron forward deploys to Iwakuni, it will replace an F/A-18 Super Hornet squadron."

CVW-5 will contain a mix of fourth-generation F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and fifth-generation F-35C strike fighter aircraft in the future, the official added.

The number of F-35C aircraft to be deployed was not stated.

Featuring advanced stealth capabilities to evade detection by radar, F-35 aircraft are cutting-edge fifth-generation fighters. They also have excellent networking capabilities to integrate information from such military equipment as ground-based radar stations and Aegis-equipped destroyers and convey it to pilots.

They include the F-35A for the US Air Force, the F-35B for the US Marine Corps and the F-35C for the US Navy, which is the one best designed to land on a carrier as it has larger main wings and equipment to absorb the shock of landing.
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Matiangi noted that media reports that the self-declared National Resistance Movement (NRM) was forcefully deported to Dubai were incorrect.

Instead, the CS mentioned that Miguna was simply removed from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as an UNDOCUMENTED person.

Immigration laws

Matiangi told the Members of Parliament that Immigration laws stipulate that if a person does not produce his passport upon arrival at an airport then he cannot be allowed to enter a country.

What we did was in compliance with the Immigration laws. No one is exempt. The Pope had his passport stamped on entry. President Barack Obama had his passport stamped on entry. Even President Uhuru Kenyatta had his passport stamped on entry last night, he said.

The minister argued that Mr Miguna was not deported as he (Matiangi) did not sign any deportation papers adding that the Canadian-based lawyer was not in Kenyas jurisdiction.

"If Miguna was deported, I would have signed a deportation order. We could not deport him as he was not in our jurisdiction," Matiangi said.

Matiangi further claimed that he did not receive any court orders requiring him to avail Miguna to the High Court.

Deportation orders

"I have never been served with any court order and am not aware of any attempts to serve me.

"Miguna was not deported I never signed any deportation orders. He was not in Kenya, he was a passenger on transit who never presented his credentials," he said.

He refuted claims that Miguna was drugged by police officers stating that he was not aware as the Canadian-based lawyer was not in Kenya

At the same time, PS Gordon Kihalangwa asserted that Miguna was a passenger on transit and had to be taken back to his last port of call.
In an interview with the Nation, Mr. Tuju, who is a CS without a portfolio mentioned that he could not undergo the vetting process because he does not occupy a specific Ministry.

That I do not have a portfolio means I cannot be vetted by Parliament, because, what will they ask? What expertise do I need to run which ministry? I didnt need that, because you cannot ask me what I will do in such and such a ministry, Tuju was quoted by the local daily.

Tuju's Role as CS

According to the former Rarieda MP, his role would involve being a political voice in the Cabinet and comment on such issues on behalf of the other Ministers who have a docket.

When an issue that should be in the domain of one CS is made political, then it lands right on my desk. It is my role to make the political comments without anybody accusing those particular CSs of engaging in politics, he said.

Section 15 (1) (c) of the Electoral Offences Act prohibits public officers from engaging in political campaigns and any political activity that would compromise the political neutrality of his/her office.

He added that he was appointed to the position to ensure that the CSs were fulfilling what President Uhuru Kenyattas led party promised Kenyans during the campaign.

I sit in the Cabinet to represent the interests of the Presidents party. We went around the country promising certain things that we will do, and my role is to ensure that I give whatever assistance to ensure that we are on focus as far as those issues are concerned, he said.
The fighters turned up in "military vehicles, and have set up tents, dug a ditch and built constructions using sandbags," Morocco's UN Ambassador Omar Hilale said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

Asked about the Moroccan claims, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the MINURSO mission had "not observed any movement of military elements in the northeast territory."

"MINURSO continues to monitor the situation closely," he said.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has threatened a firm response to what he termed as "provocations" from the Algerian-backed Polisario, which is seeking independence for Western Sahara.

The threats came as the Security Council is discussing a new mandate for MINURSO, which has been monitoring the truce since the end of a war in 1991.

France is set to present a draft resolution on MINURSO and a vote is expected around April 25.

Morocco has accused the Polisario of carrying out incursions near Guerguerat, another area of the buffer zone in the southwest near the Mauritanian border.

In a report to the council, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed a call for the Polisario to withdraw from Guerguerat and proposed that UN experts be dispatched to the tense area, but Morocco rejected that offer.

Over the past year, MINURSO recorded five violations of the military agreement setting up the buffer zone by Moroccan forces and seven by the Polisario, the report said.

Encouraging talks

Despite tensions, Guterres said he was "encouraged" by his envoy's efforts to relaunch negotiations on a settlement that have been stalled since 2012.

Former German president Horst Koehler, who was appointed envoy in August, has in recent months met with Morocco's King Mohammed VI, the presidents of Algeria and Mauritania, along with Polisario leaders and African Union officials.

No date has been announced for re-starting talks, but diplomats do not rule out a return to the negotiating table later this year.

"The conflict over Western Sahara has lasted for too long and must be brought to an end for the sake and the dignity of the population of Western Sahara," Guterres wrote in the report obtained by AFP.

A settlement would help shore up stability in the "wider region" of North Africa and the Sahel, "which is facing myriad political, economic and security challenges," he added in the report sent to the council last week.

Morocco maintains that negotiations on a settlement should focus on its proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara and rejects the Polisario's insistence on an independence referendum.
Carmen Runyan takes reins from retired Sanders.

Learning on the go is how the new director of the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, Carmen Runyan, describes her first three weeks on the job.

"I am getting up to speed on the current planned events for our community while working on new ideas for promotion," Runyan said.

Runyan said she is getting adjusted to the day-to-day duties as director and becoming familiar with the many groups, organizations and entities she will be working with to promote the area.

"I look forward to the opportunity to work with everyone to promote Tucumcari and Quay County," Runyan said.

Runyan replaces Gail Sanders as the director. Sanders, who served as director since 2015, announced her retirement in January.

Runyan, a Tucumcari native, graduated in 2009 from the House Learning Center. While in high school Runyan was attending dual enrollment classes at Mesalands Community College.

Runyan attended Eastern New Mexico University in Portales and majored in Communications. She graduated in 2013, with a bachelor of science in communications with a public relations emphasis and electronic media minor. In 2015, she received a master of arts in communication from ENMU.

Runyan's previous employment experience includes serving as editor/webmaster, teller and social media director of The Chase, ENMU's campus newspaper. She worked two separate internships with the Walt Disney Company in Orlando, Florida.
Residents will be able to take advantage of 20 health screenings and information from more than 60 health related booths during the Community Wellness Fair on Saturday at the Tucumcari Convention Center.

The fair, that will be held from 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m., has been organized by the Quay County Health Council and Quay County Extension Office and is being supported by many other organizations, said Brenda Bishop, Quay County Extension Service.

Health screenings including blood pressure, depression, oximetry, cholesterol, blood sugar, skin cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer will be available. Residents will also have access to information from booths and many special activities.

The University of New Mexicos Pharmacy School along with Dr. Dan C Trigg Hospital Pharmacy will be offering a free cholesterol and blood sugar screening. The screening is a fasting test, so you will need to fast for the 12 hours prior to your finger stick. The results will be available on site. To reserve your time and not have to stand in line, please call MHR at 575-461-3013.

There will be a kids corner ran by the Roadrunners 4-H club with games and prizes. Kids will have the opportunity to meet Flash and show off their own super hero costume.

New Mexico State Universitys Cancer Outreach Program is bringing a blow up that you can walk through to learn about colon health.

The Quay County Sheriffs booth, they will be preparing finger print identification cards for your children.

Residents can learn what it is like to operate a vehicle while under the influence at the peddle cart obstacle course ran by the New Mexico State Police.

The Tucumcari Police Department is offering car seat safety inspections. Bring your car and childs car seat and the Safer New Mexico trained officer will make sure your seat is installed in your car correctly or help you learn to install your seat properly.

Admission to the Wellness Fair is either $1 or a can of food which will be donated the Ministry of Hope. Each participant will have the opportunity to win one of more than 70 door prizes as they register.
Mesalands hosted federal resources road show on March 28.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., speaks to officials from counties including Curry, Quay, Roosevelt and Union County during Wednesday's federal and state resources roadshow at Mesalands Community College.

A federal resources road show headed by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall brought together several state, federal agencies with officials of Eastern New Mexico communities to discuss available resources.

"The purpose of this event is to bring these agencies to an area where the officials of rural communities can meet with them," Udall said. "If these meetings were to be held in Albuquerque only, there would be a great many officials who would not be able to attend."

The event, held Wednesday at Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari featured speakers from agencies including the New Mexico Finance Authority, United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development and Eastern Plains Council of Government.

"Having a chance to network with so many agencies is great," said Mayor Pro Tem Robert Lumpkin.

Lumpkin said many of the representatives speaking at the event are the very people officials will work when seeking funding for projects.

Udall said six resource roadshows are being held across the state, each with the purpose of providing a forum for rural officials to meet with the various agencies. He said the event will benefit the newly elected and reelected officials greatly.

"I spoke with the new mayor of Clayton, who has never worked in government before," Udall said. "This event will give him a chance to become familiar with the agencies, officials he will be working with in the future."

Lumpkin said the event is beneficial to both seasoned and newly elected officials.

"In the past 10 years I have worked with many of the agencies here," Lumpkin said. "I was able to learn about new funding sources, resources that could be accessed to benefit Tucumcari's growth."

Udall said the agencies involved in the roadshow are those that can help with funding and planing for housing, infrastructure projects and economic development.

"Rural officials are working to answer the demands of their community, economic growth, infrastructure improvements and youth retention," Udall said.

One of the new agencies presenting at the event was, Grow New Mexico, a company geared toward assisting communities and non-profits with grant writing, project planning and advisory services.

The Albuquerque based firm was founded by Phil Schiliro and Terry Brunner, former director for the New Mexico USDA Rural Development.

Brunner said during his seven years working for rural development he managed investments of more than $1 billion in housing, small business and renewable energy developments. He said he has a vast knowledge of funding that is available for innovative projects in New Mexico that are struggling to progress.
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Editor's note: China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Russia on April 4 and 5 as President Xi Jinping's special envoy. Three experts share their views on future China-Russia relations with China Daily's Pan Yixuan. Excerpts follow:

Even without an alliance, mutual trust is possible

Yu Sui, a senior researcher at China research foundation on international studies

China and Russia have maintained friendly relations for decades. The two countries have similar goalsto build a harmonious global environment and realize their respective national rejuvenation. And their leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, have agreed to seek common ground for development.

China and Russia have developed friendly relations through the strategic partnership of cooperation they inked in 1996, which was elevated to a comprehensive level in 2014. In 2001, the two countries signed the Chinese-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship, vowing to maintain long-lasting peace. And since 2006, they have maintained regular communication also at the cultural, tourism, youth and media levels. Such activities have added vigor to and enhanced trust in their relationship, bringing their peoples closer.

Besides, during Putin's new term as president, the Eurasian Economic Union, including Russia, is highly likely to deepen its cooperation with China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

However, the China-Russia friendship is different from an alliance, because even without forming an alliance, the two countries can cooperate and negotiate on many regional and global issues, and resolve their differences according to international rules. Beijing and Moscow will continue to make joint efforts to safeguard their respective national security as well as help maintain global peace and stability.

Neighbors will deepen cooperation in new fields

Xie Guijuan, a professor of international politics at Yanbian University

Since the Western sanctions have created many problems for its economy, Russia is likely to focus on improving domestic economic development. Despite that, its relations with China will remain strong.

Thanks to the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation, Beijing and Moscow have elevated their ties to a high level. As Xi told Putin over the phone recently, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership has reached its best-ever phase, setting an example of a new type of major-country relationship of fairness and win-win cooperation.

The two sides have supported each other to protect their core interests, and vowed to enhance communication and cooperation on global and regional issues. And as emerging economies, both need technological development, for which they are likely to deepen cooperation, for instance, in trade.

From 2013 to 2017, Russia's trade with China increased from 10.5 percent to 14.7 percent of its total trade. This trend may gain pace if the cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative deepens. Also, China can play an important role in Russia's priority task of developing the Far East, and in the next phase the two sides can have deeper cooperation in energy, aerospace, and military sectors.

Impossible to break bilateral relations

Pang Dapeng, a researcher of Russian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Close interactions and deeper cooperation between China and Russia have boosted regional development, even international development.

To achieve national rejuvenation, China has set the "Two Centenary Goals"of building a moderately prosperous society by 2020 and a great, modern, socialist country by 2050and Russia has adopted strategies to develop into a stronger power. To achieve their respective goals, the two countries need a neighbor with great potential and similar development needs for beneficial cooperation, and both China and Russia have that potential.

As Premier Li Keqiang said at a press conference, Beijing and Moscow can deepen their cooperation in innovation to promote bilateral trade, in order to increase the total value to $100 billion from more than $80 billion in 2017.

Russia may attempt to improve relations with the West, which would take a long time, because after the Ukraine crisis anti-Russian sentiment has become widespread in many Western countries, and many Russians are angry with the West for imposing a series of sanctions on Russia.

Therefore, the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation with China will play a significant role in Russia's development in both the long and short term.
QUIZ: Guess the Road Songs

We can't wait to get back on the road again! Play this quiz and see if how many you can get right!
ARGENTINA: Alstom has been awarded a 16m contract to undertake resignalling works at Ciudad Universitaria, Aristobulo del Valle, Munro, Boulogne Sur Mer and Grand Bourg stations on the metre gauge Belgrano Norte suburban line in Buenos Aires.
At the invitation of Xi Jinping, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un paid an unofficial visit to China from March 25 to 28. [Photo/Xinhua]

Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, paid an unofficial visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping from March 25 to 28. At his meeting with Xi, Kim discussed the Korean Peninsula issue, and his scheduled meeting with Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in on April 27 as well as his planned meeting with US President Donald Trump sometime in May, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The DPRK leader's visit to China and his meeting with Xi must have surprised those who were arguing that Beijing had been marginalized after Trump agreed to an historic meeting with Kim. The China skeptics tried to further establish their argument after the date for the Kim-Moon meeting was announced.

In fact, there was no reason for the China detractors to be surprised at Kim's visit. After Trump twitted that he would like to meet with Kim, he called Xi to convey the US' views on the Korean Peninsula issue. Shortly after that, Chung Eui-yong, special envoy of the ROK president, visited China to further explain the developments.

These facts should allay whatever doubts the China skeptics have about the importance and indispensability of China in the peninsula issue. They should also know the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK was built in the "crucible of war" and is based on mutual benefit.

The two countries have common strategic interests in promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. And although the DPRK's persistent adherence to the nuclear and missile program did somewhat affect its ties with China, Kim understands the need to maintain good relations with Beijing is key to keeping peace on the peninsula.

That Kim visited China immediately after the annual sessions of China's top legislature and top political advisory body suggests the DPRK is committed to improving its relations with China, and his first overseas trip after becoming the DPRK's top leader will likely pave the way for restoring permanent peace and stability on the peninsula.

Pyongyang also needs Beijing's support to raise the stakes in its bargain with Seoul and Washington. Even with positive changes, the fundamental dynamics of rivalry between the DPRK and the US, even the ROK, are not going to change overnight, as demonstrated by the resumption of the Washington-Seoul annual military drills, Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.

That the drills are ostensibly targeted at the DPRK adds uncertainty to the forthcoming summit-level meetings. No wonder the DPRK has felt the need to enhance strategic communication with China before the two meetings.

It remains to be seen how the Korean Peninsula situation develops, but China will continue to hold a fair and just position, because it is ready to contribute to the efforts of all parties concerned to achieve the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful means.

The author is a military commentator based in Beijing.
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Probe opened into Ukrainian Interior Minister over Russian election obstruction

 RIA Novosti

11:10 03/04/2018

MOSCOW, April 3 (RAPSI)  A criminal case has been opened against Ukraines Interior Minister Arsen Avakov over obstructions of voting during Russias Presidential Elections, the Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko has said.

As reported earlier, Russian nationals residing in Ukraine could not take their vote on March 18 because of the Ukrainian authorities actions.

According to investigators, Avakov ordered police officers securing protection of Russian diplomatic institutions in Kiev, Lviv, Odessa and Kharkiv to keep Russians, who were going to vote in the election, out of polling stations located there.

Therefore, Avakov and his accomplices violated rights and interests of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Petrenko said.
Ukrainian pranker appeals arrest in absentia over misinforming of Kemerovo fire victims

 TASS, Kirill Kukhmar

13:47 03/04/2018

MOSCOW, April 3 (RAPSI) - Ukrainian national Nikita Kuvikov known as pranker Yevgeny Volnov, who allegedly disinformed people of the death toll in the blaze in Kemerovos Zimnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) shopping mall, has appealed a Russian courts ruling to arrest him in absentia, the spokesperson of Moscows Basmanny District Court Yunona Tsareva has told RAPSI.

A date for hearing has not been set yet, she said.

On March 28, the court issued an arrest warrant for Kuvikov (Volnov) in absentia. He was charged with inciting hatred and enmity.

According to investigation, the pranker called medical settings and government agencies on the phone and distributed false information on the death toll in the accident in order to destabilize the situation. Reportedly, he said that about 300 people were killed by fire.

The fire in Kemerovos mall occurred on March 25. Investigators reported that 64 persons including children were killed in the accident. A criminal case has been launched over involuntary manslaughter, violation of fire safety regulations that left more than two persons dead and provisions of services that dont meet safety requirements.

Seven persons were charged and detained in the case. They are: Yulia Bogdanova, CEO of the Kemerovsky Confectionary Combine, a company owning the mall, Tanziliya Komkova, head of the regions State Construction Inspection, a formal head of the malls owner company Georgy Sobolev; the malls manager Nadezhda Suddenok; CEO of the company System Integrator that developed the fire safety system Igor Polozinenko; an employee of the company, who personally installed the fire alarm Alexander Nikitin and a guard who allegedly turned off the emergency notification system when he received a fire signal Sergey Antyushin.

Investigators noted that 70 persons were questioned as witnesses and allegedly numerous violations made during the mall construction were found. It was also revealed that fire exits were blocked.

According to the Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin, the two main versions of the tragedy are an electrical short circuit and arson. Technical, electrical and construction examinations would be conducted as part of the investigation, he said during the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian cadet charged with plotting terror attack sent to mental treatment

 RAPSI

15:00 03/04/2018

MOSCOW, April 3 (RAPSI)  The Moscow District Military Court on Tuesday sent A.F. Mozhaisky's Military-Space Academys cadet Vadim Osipov charged with preparing a terror attack in the academy to mental treatment, the courts spokesperson Irina Zhirnova told RAPSI.

The ruling was made based on the results of the repeated mental examination of Osipov, which revealed signs of schizophrenia, Zhirnova said.

In January, the court ordered Osipov to undergo repeated mental evaluation. Judges threw the results of the first exam conducted during investigation and ruled that the defendants mental health should be reexamined.

Osipov stands charged with inducing to terrorism and preparing a terrorist attack.

Investigators believe that the cadet was involved in inducing and recruiting his course mates for terrorist activities and/or provided financial aid to terrorists. A book banned as extremist has been uploaded to his smartphone, according to investigators. Moreover, a copy book paper containing the barracks scheme and capture plan have been seized from him.

Osipov pleaded not guilty claiming that he discussed the St. Petersburg metro terror attack that occurred on April 3, 2017, and actions of security services with his course mates. The cadet stated that he had drawn the barracks scheme in order to think the safety system through and discuss shortcomings for self-education.

The A.F. Mozhaisky Military Space Academy is a military educational institution providing training for specialists of the Aerospace Forces and other types of the Armed Forces in 40 different military specialties.
Putin signs law on liability for driving with high amount of alcohol in blood

 RIA Novosti

15:36 03/04/2018

MOSCOW, April 3 (RAPSI)  Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law introducing administrative liability for driving under influence of alcohol if it is detected not only in exhaled air but also in the blood of a driver.

On March 23, the bill was passed by the State Duma and on March 28 it was approved by the Federation Council.

The law reads that the administrative liability is to be enforced if a drivers blood is found to contain 0.3 or more grams of absolute ethyl alcohol per liter of blood. The blood is to be sampled if there is no way to confirm alcohol consumption by taking a sample of exhaled air, for example if a driver is heavily intoxicated or passes out.

According to the annexes to the European agreement, supplementing the 1968 Convention on road traffic, national legislations should include special provisions for driving automobiles in a state of intoxication as well as allowed amount of alcohol in blood and exhaled air.

At present, the Russian legislation lacks provisions envisaging responsibility of drivers regarding the presence of absolute ethyl alcohol in blood. The Russian government believes that this legislative gap allows intoxicated drivers to escape responsibility and is a factor negatively affecting road safety.
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TYRE, LEBANON, April 3 (ChinaMil) -- April 4 is the International Day for Landmine Awareness sponsored by the United Nations. The 16th Chinese peacekeeping detachment to Lebanon recently organized an activity of teaching local children how to prevent landmine injuries.

Forty seven teachers and students from a local school in Tyre City of Lebanon were invited to the activity. With Chinese peacekeepers' help, they understood the harm landmines cause and enhanced landmine prevention awareness by studying landmine knowledge, watching minesweeping photo exhibition and tasting minesweeping process.

Wang Qiang, a Chinese minesweeping staff officer, used physical objects to introduce landmine knowledge to teachers and students for more intuitive experience. He also disassembled a landmine model and explained its structure and explosion principles. Wang also introduced stories of how Chinese peacekeepers in Lebanon risk their lives sweeping landmines.

A Lebanese teacher expressed his heart-felt thanks to all Chinese peacekeepers, saying that China came to Lebanon for peace and Chinese peacekeepers risked their lives to protect people in Lebanon.

A Lebanese student said that he learned how to observe landmines and protect himself from this activity. "When I grow up, I hope to maintain world peace like the Chinese peacekeepers," added the student.

China has sent 16 detachments of peacekeeping troops to Lebanon since 2006. Over the past years, Chinese peacekeepers have discovered and disposed of more than 10,000 various types of landmines and unexploded ordnances, winning high remarks from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the people of southern Lebanon.
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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/03/2018



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

: Athletes is coming to ABC at the end of this month, and fans don't have to wait much longer to find out which famous athletes have been cast.ABC has announced the 10 athletes competing on next season will officially be revealed live on Good Morning America on Friday, April 13 episode.As previously reported, : Athletes premieres Monday, April 30 at 8PM ET/PT on the same network.While the cast has yet to be disclosed, pro dancer Gleb Savchenko has already confirmed he'll be returning for the athletes version. will also be back , although she did not specify whether she meant she'll participate in the athletes season or ' subsequent regular Fall 2018 edition.Hosted, once again, by Tom Bergeron and his co-host Erin Andrews , : Athletes will kick off with each of the 10 athletes being paired up with a professional dancer for a season filled with preparation, rehearsals, sparkly costumes and hard work.The athletes will attempt to master new dance styles and technical choreography on , hopefully following in the footsteps of successful pro athletes before them such as Emmitt Smith Apolo Anton Ohno , Kristi Yamaguchi, Meryl Davis James Hinchcliffe and more.ABC teases the mini-season that will air over the course of four weeks this spring will be "the most competitive season ever."Renowned ballroom experts Len Goodman Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli will return to the ballroom to judge the competitive dances. Julianne Hough recently confirmed she will not be reprising her role on the judging panel due to "new chapters of life." Her husband Brooks Laich , however, expressed interest in competing on during an interview late last month with Access Hollywood.In the end, only one athlete will rise above the rest to be crowned champion and win the coveted mirrorball trophy.
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In January 2015, Europe was shocked by the massacre of 11 staff at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, and the subsequent murders of an unarmed cop and of four civilians at a Jewish supermarket. A terrorist cell allying themselves with Al Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula (AQAP) engaged in a three-day running gun battle with French police and security personnel. They were eventually shot dead, though not before shutting down air and road transport in northern Europe. More events like this would soon take place, and from it, the need for a new weapon would be identified. The result: the B&T USW.

In the aftermath of the attack, law enforcement officials faced some sobering facts. The three Islamic terrorists claimed their actions were in defense of the prophet Mohamed, who had been defamed by the satirical magazines publication of supposedly offensive cartoons. In return for spilling ink, they decided to spill blood and tooled up with a variety of hardware sourced from the Balkans. Between the three of them, they had AK variants, a VZ58, Skorpion machine pistol, an M80 Solja anti-tank weapon, and fragmentation and smoke grenades.

This attack was unfortunately a prelude to another massacre that would occur in November of the same year. Three cells with three terrorists each used AKs and TATP suicide vests to kill 130 victims, injuring and maiming over 300 more. All of the terrorists had previously fought in Syria for Daesh before returning to Europe.

Faced with coordinated attacks from multiple cells armed with explosives and full-auto long guns, the average beat cop armed with a 9mm SIG SP2022 handgun was at a distinct, and fatal, disadvantage. One of the first to confront the Charlie Hebdo attackers was National police officer Ahmed Merabet. Hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, he nevertheless bravely exchanged fire with the terrorists across a park before being wounded. While bleeding out on the pavement, his assailants walked up and shot him in the head.

Despite the hardware overmatch, theres little political enthusiasm for officers to be routinely equipped with patrol rifles in Europe. While the sight of jocked-up cops at airports and railway stations has become commonplace, theres a general antipathy toward the same image when transposed to the suburbs. Europe, in general, has a collective distaste for black-clad stormtroopers, and given historical precedent, its not hard to fathom why. What then could be done to level the playing field a little?

Theres a lot of empirical evidence from both operational deployments and the competition circuit to show that putting miniature red-dot sights (MRDS) on handguns makes it easier to connect with targets at longer ranges, versus relying on iron sights. Which isnt to say MRDS dont come with their own set of drawbacks, notably battery life and durability, especially when attached to the slide of a semi-auto. Most recently in the civilian world, the advent of pistol-caliber carbine division in USPSA has simply underlined what weve known all along  the fastest way to improve a pistol shooters scores is to hand them a rifle. Stocks > grips.

Designing the B&T USW

Adding a stock to a handgun is hardly a novel concept. Churchill liked the Mauser C96 he used in the Sudan campaign so much he bought three more upon returning home to London. Through the years, various Luger and Hi-Power models have had stocks added to them. Proving that ideas never die and simply get recycled, modern-day versions can be found in countries with gun laws every bit as ridiculous as the U.S.  Israel being a notable example. There, a cottage industry has developed devoted to adding stocks and chassis systems to the one-handgun-allowed-per-licensee, most of which are fairly bulky and prevent carrying the result on a belt. The B&T USW takes a different approach, being designed from the outset to incorporate an MRDS and a stock, rather than bolting them on after the fact. The result, while bigger than a conventional handgun (after all, that extra hardware has to go somewhere) is surprisingly trim given the potential performance increase it offers. Using the Sphinx line of pistols as a starting point, the B&T USW gives the user increased hit potential with a package weighing less than most 1911s.

At its factory in Thun, Switzerland, B&T has carved out a reputation for building highly engineered designs and upholding the Swiss reputation for quality. The B&T USW continues in this vein  it feels solid in the hand without any snag points and sharp edges, while gaps and rattles are non-existent.

Whether by design or accident, the Sphinx pistols architecture handily lends itself to adaptation to the B&T USW concept. In terms of machine time, the most involved part of milling out a handgun frame is the grip area, as theres a whole pile of chips that have to be removed in order to get a magazine in there. Until the advent of four-axis CNC machines, that long, square-edged hole had to be broached, which was both time consuming and required a lot of up-front investment in a single-use tool. Sphinx addressed this problem by means of a separate, polymer grip that was then attached to an upper chassis, in much the same way as STIs line of double-stack 2011 handguns.

Machined from simple bar stock, the upper part of the frame is comprised of rails and lockwork, and

it was a relatively straightforward process to extend the rear portion of the beavertail to provide mounting points for a hinge mechanism and MRDS. Functionality of the handgun remained unchanged  its a DA/SA design based on the CZ 75, and as such has been pretty well debugged in the course of the last 40 years. The B&T USWs slide differs slightly from the parent gun, sporting extended wings forward of the ejection port. This allows a secure hold during manual cycling, necessary as the usual cocking groove location at the rear is enclosed by a polymer bridge, which serves as a mount for Aimpoints Nano MRDS. These wings add mass, so material is removed elsewhere in order to keep the overall weight the same  the slides height is slightly reduced, and its chopped square just rear of the firing pin stop. Slide to frame fit is typically Swiss, and there was no discernible play in our sample when pressing down on the barrel hood area. A word on that MRDS mount: Any initial misgivings we may have had about a plastic component in such a critical role were allayed on closer examination. Its hella stout and closely fitted to both the frame and slide: if you should stress it to the point where it flexes, any movement will be stopped by steel, and itll spring right back. We honestly cant think of an impact where it would fail before one of the other major critical assemblies. Looking to Turn Your Glock or SIG P320 into a USW? Here's a video of the B&T USW Chassis for Glocks.

B&T took advantage of SIG P320 trigger system with a USW Chassis. It's worth a look.

Check out the Recover Tactical 20/20 Stabilizing Kit. Mounting an MRDS to the frame conveys a couple of advantages. First, any battering caused by sudden changes in direction as the slide cycles is completely avoided, leading to improved re- liability of delicate electronics. In fact, B&T is so confident in the robustness of the Aimpoint Nano, that the gun isnt equipped with iron sights. The second advantage is that its much easier to track the dot through the firing cycle, as it doesnt whip back and forth on the slide. The Nano has Aimpoints usual battery life, i.e., install a decent lithium cell, then change it when you change presidents. Its window is smaller than, say, a Trijicon RMR, so presentation is more critical. But the dot is crisp and the optics clear. The second component, which serves to increase the B&T USWs hit probability, is, of course, the stock. Its

a simple glass-filled nylon strut that hinges to the right and lies tight to the slide when folded. A Magpul PRS its not, but it does provide two additional points of contact when deployed. In order to bring it into action, the user pokes a catch on the dust cover with their right index finger, and a spring- loaded plunger in the MRDS mount kicks it open. This spring isnt sufficiently powerful to send it into the locked position, but it gets it moving to the point where it can be snagged on the shoulder and flicked past the locking detent. Between the stocks hold-open catch and pivot is a lanyard point, which can be used either to secure the weapon or to attach a sling if you wanted to run it like a stockless MP5-K, while awaiting a tax stamp. The remainder of the controls are vanilla. Theres a left-side-only slide release, which can be easily manipulated with the index finger if youre a lefty, along with ambi-decocking levers and a reversible magazine catch. This feature set, teamed with replaceable back- straps, ensure the B&T USW will fit about 95 percent of the population. And the ones it doesnt fit wouldnt be in this line of work anyway. About the only improvement in this area we could find relates to the double-action trigger, which is heavy, crunchy, and stacks badly at the end of the stroke. Experience has shown just how silky smooth CZ triggers can be made, so the only reason we can come up with for the oversight is that its a service weapon and designed to light off cast-iron commie primers while submerged in mud. By contrast, the single-action pull is sweet, with a crisp, 4.5-pound break, short tactile reset, and just a bit of overtravel. Evaluating and Environments Given that the addition of a simple stock and MRDS increases the weapons profile, the obvious question is whether the juice is worth the squeeze, given its intended role. Realistically, youre not going to carry it in an IWB rig (though OWB under a jacket is perfectly feasible). But that was never its purpose. As a pistol, it works just like any other full-sized DA/SA duty gun, such as the SIG P226 or Beretta 92, with the same capacity. Red-dots take some getting used to if youre comfortable and familiar with using iron sights, but its way easier for complete newbies to grasp the concept of putting the dot on place where they want the bullet to go, rather than the counterintuitive notion of ignoring the target and focusing on the front sight. We passed the B&T USW around the attendees at RECOILs Summit in the Sand event, and, used as a handgun, shooters had no problem banging steel at 140 yards. Add

a stock to the mix, and you can add another 50 yards to that distance. Due to the insane restrictions of the National Firearms Act, the B&T USW has a limited role in the USA. As a peon, you could add one to your collection, then file a Form 1 to turn it into an SBR and, while the wheels of bureaucracy turn, employ it as a very accurate pistol. Unfortunately, once registered as a short-barreled rifle, it then becomes more complicated to take across state lines. As a LE or government user, it definitely stretches the performance envelope of a handgun without getting into rifle territory. And as a vehicle to demonstrate the benefits of frame-mounted red-dot sights, its a landmark in small arms development. You saw it here first, but we confidently predict that this is the future  look for further product introductions from other manufacturers where red-dots transition from the slide to the frame, and theyre integrated into handgun design from the outset, rather than being thrown into the mix as an afterthought. In this, the tiny Swiss firm of B&T is leading the way. Photos by Kenda Lenseigne and B&T USA
The Foal Eagle/Key Resolve joint military drill between the US and the Republic of Korea (ROK) kicked off on Apr. 1, 2018. The total number of the US and ROK military personnel participating in the drill is similar to that of previous years, but the number of strategic weapons used by the US has been reduced, and the drill time has been cut by half compared to that of last year. This is considered to be a signal that the US and the ROK hope to maintain the low tension on the Korean Peninsula before the inter-Korean summit in April and US-DPRK summit in May.

At present, the Korean Peninsula is witnessing the most relaxed atmosphere of the past decade, but different forces have very different attitudes about it.

Washingtons overall attitude is very uncertain. On the one hand, the Trump administration is preparing for the summit with Kim Jong-un. On the other hand, they believe that the adjustment of Pyongyangs posture is the result of extreme pressure. Most people in the US advocate that the pressure should continue to be the main policy for the DPRK.

The ROK has played a positive role in creating this easing of tensions, but its ability to maintain the easing is relatively weak and therefore it is difficult for the ROK to master the US-ROK alliance, nor can it influence the US hawks.

If Washington firmly pursues a tough policy toward the DPRK in the future, Seoul will not be able to stop it. Instead, the ROKs internal attitude towards the DPRK is also likely to be impacted by Washingtons attitude and it will start to follow the US on many issues.

Japan has always talked about the relaxation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Everybody knows that Tokyo feels that it is being marginalized. Japan is more concerned about its face, rather than the real situation on the Korean Peninsula. If the situation on the peninsula is tightened again, Tokyo will probably feel more comfortable because the US and the ROK will again seek support from Japan.

How much confidence does Pyongyang has in negotiating with the US and the ROK?This is hard to say.

However, a large part of Pyongyangs confidence needs to be established by interaction with the US and the ROK. In other words, Pyongyang will expect more and more to resolve its security concerns through negotiations if the US and the ROK become more resolute in reaching an agreement through a fair and peaceful agreement.

Therefore, the US and the ROK should be lenient and try their best to keep a low profile of their joint drills so that Pyongyang can see the sincerity of Washington and Seoul.

The US and the ROK need to understand that the purpose of the DPRKs nuclear attempt is security. If the US and the ROK do not make real efforts to improve DPRKs security environment, and center on their own security interests instead, then denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula will be very bumpy. Even if an agreement is reached, it will be difficult to implement it.

Nuclear weapons cannot be eaten or drunk. The DPRK has paid a huge price to pursue its nuclear arsenal. From one perspective, it is caused by many complex reasons such as the fact that the peninsula still has an armistice agreement but no peace agreement.

Thoroughly resolving the nuclear issue will require eliminating as many factors as possible that cause Pyongyangs serious sense of insecurity and normalizing the DPRKs external security environment.

These issues cannot be resolved through a single negotiation. Long-term efforts are definitely required.

However, it is difficult for the US political system to provide stable support for the White Houses willingness to negotiate. The Trump administration is now willing to talk, but the president is obviously more concerned with his "political achievements." If the negotiation does not yield any outcome and the political capital of the current government might be consumed, the White House may categorically change its policy.

It can be seen that the current easing on the Korean Peninsula is still very fragile and needs the careful maintenance of all parties to prevent the situation from going backwards.

It would only be an illusion to think that the negotiations will soon achieve decisive progress or a package solution to the problem will be reached. We should be prepared for the possibility that the negotiations may become long-term psychological warfare. All parties should go in the same direction in order to realize the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Disclaimer: The article is an editorial published by the Global Times and it is translated into English by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author from the Global Times and do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Chinamil.com.cn does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.
Besides the thrill of changing cars quite often, a higher tax deduction is also available, experts tell Tinesh Bhasin

When it comes to cars, rarely does anyone explore the option of leasing the vehicle instead of owning it. But for those who like to change cars every three-four years and don't want the hassle of maintenance and repair, leasing can work out to be a better option.

Leasing offers greater convenience than owning a car. "Depending on the individual's requirement, a leasing company can customise a package that takes care of all the inconveniences that the customer is keen to avoid," says Prashant Puntambekar, commercial director, LeasePlan India.

Once the lease is over, the person returns the vehicle to the leasing company and can take a new one if he wants to. Leasing saves the individual from the hassle of valuing the car and finding a buyer who will purchase it at the desired price.

The convenience of leasing, however, comes at a cost.

If you look at the money paid out of your pocket, owning a car -- even after taking a loan -- will work out to be cheaper in most cases. Also, leasing makes more sense for business owners than for individuals, as the former can get a higher tax deduction if the vehicle is leased for business.

Even as a business owner, before you decide for or against leasing, look at whether you are willing to bear the extra cost for enjoying the convenience.

Lessors look at financial health, too

A lease gives you the right to use a vehicle for a pre-determined tenure and distance against the payment of a monthly fixed lease rental. Leasing companies say that the majority of customers typically opt for a lease of three-four years.

The lease contract can also vary depending on the customer's needs. If you want the leasing company to take care of maintenance, repair, and insurance, you need to sign an operation lease.

In this case, the individual needs to pay just for the fuel, and in some cases, for consumables, like changing the tyres when they are worn out. The alternative is a financial lease, which is preferred by many corporates when they provide their employees with a vehicle.

Here, the individual bears all the costs and when the lease expires, buys the car from the lessor.

When giving a car on lease, the leasing company doesn't take a security deposit or any down payment. But it does look at the financial health of the customer or his business.

The customer needs to submit Know Your Customer (KYC) documents, financial statements, tax returns, and so on, for the leasing company to evaluate his creditworthiness.

In certain cases, a lessor may even ask for a bank guarantee if the customer doesn't meet its criteria.

Evaluate loan versus leasing

If you are planning to buy a car costing around Rs 730,000, the lease rental in a city such as Mumbai will be around Rs 19,200. This will be a four-year lease with a cap of 60,000 kilometres a year. If you drive over the pre-decided limit, you will be charged extra.

If you take the same car on loan of 9 per cent for four years, you will need to give 15 per cent as down payment, which comes to around Rs 109,500. On the 85 per cent loan, your EMI will be around Rs 15,441.

In case of a lease, your total outgo in four years will be Rs 921,600. In case of a loan, it comes to Rs 850,668. In case of a loan, however, you will spend more on insurance, maintenance and repair, but will also get to keep the vehicle at the end of the four-year tenure.

Leasing works like a loan

Just as an individual pays equated monthly instalments (EMI) on a loan, he needs to pay a monthly rental in case of leasing. Some business owners prefer leasing as it doesn't require a down payment, which frees up their cash flow.

The lease rental is calculated based on a residual value-based funding, which is the cost of the car once it is used for a specific duration.

Residual value is estimated based on various factors such as car model, the city of registration, tenure, kilometres, and so on.

"The key factors in determining the leasing price are the tenure of lease and the annual usage. The higher the tenure and distance travelled in a year, the higher will be the lease rental, and vice versa. Before anyone buys, he should roughly estimate his usage," says Snigdha Bhuia, vice presidentoperation, Mynewcar.in, whose website has partnered with manufacturers and leasing companies to help buyers choose the right option.

Higher tax deduction in business

When you take a car on lease for business, the entire money paid as rental can be claimed as deduction. "In case of a car bought on a loan, the business owner can claim depreciation and only the interest portion of auto loan as deduction. Also, the money spent on maintenance, repair, insurance and fuel can be claimed as deduction," says Kuldip Kumar, partner and leader for personal tax at PwC India.

But don't let taxation be the sole reason for taking a car on lease. Evaluate the difference between taking a car on lease and buying one outright, taking into account both cost and convenience.

Photograph: Nick Karvounis/Unsplash
India's freedom fighter's interest in arts led to setting up several institutions of learning in independent India.

Google on Tuesday dedicated its doodle to mark the 115th birth anniversary of India's social reformer and freedom fighter Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.

Chattopadhyay was born April 3, 1903 in Mangalore, Karnataka.

From an early age, she was introduced to freedom fighters through her parents.

Post the demise of her parents, Chattopadhyay took keen interest in arts and supported India's freedom struggle.

Besides her contribution in India's freedom movement, she was also the driving force behind the renaissance of Indian handicrafts, handlooms and theatre in independent India.

She worked relentlessly for the upliftment of the socio-economic standard of the Indian women by pioneering the swadeshi and co-operative movement.

Through her career, she broke many stereotypes -- she questioned aristocracy and set an example by mingling with the downtrodden.

She acted in films and also raised eyebrows when she divorced her husband Harindranath Chattopadhyay, a decision that was unthinkable for women in that era.

Kamaladevi Chhatopadhyay is the visionary behind the famous New Delhi-based theatre institute National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, and the Crafts Council of India.

She is also the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Chattopadhyay has also authored several books dealing with the international relations including Japan-its weakness and strengths (1943), Uncle Sam's Empire (1944) and In War-torn China (1944).

With inputs from A
'Just as a wave brought the BJP into power, an anti wave will blow them away.'



'The BJP will get some new chloroform with which to betray the people in 2019,' says Akhilesh Yadav. Photograph: Pawan Kumar/Reuters

"When all the disappointed people stand up together against the BJP, nothing will save this government," Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih in the second part of an exclusive interview.

What does the Opposition need to do to take on the BJP? Mamata Banerjee was in Delhi last week meeting Opposition leaders to garner support.

I am happy that Mamataji is making great effort. Her efforts will make many leaders listen to her.

The Congress is making attempts.

There is still time for the Lok Sabha election. After the UP election, the BJP must have forgotten the formula of 'One Nation One Election'.

Now we cannot be sure that they will want an early election.

We have enough time to think, understand and plan.

The BJP is a formidable force. You think Opposition unity is enough to defeat the party?

The BJP will not return to power. They have betrayed the people. They have promised too much and delivered nothing.

Demonetisation did not help anyone.

Small traders are troubled because of GST.

Banks have collapsed.

Fraudsters have defaulted on payment and fled the country.

The agriculture sector is destroyed.

Farmers walked 180 km to Mumbai, the country's richest city, and what did they get?

They say they will make a defence corridor in UP. I could not get permission from the defence (ministry) for five years to widen a road going to the airport and to build a bridge (in Lucknow cantonment). Can you imagine that and they want to make a defence corridor?

They have not fulfilled their promises.

What is your assessment of your successor Yogi Adityanath as chief minister?

He has done nothing.

But he has ordered a big crackdown on cheating in exams. He is said to be honest...

In Jhansi there was cheating happening in a degree college. Officials of the flying squad (constituted to prevent copying in examinations) were thrashed.

In one place BJP members were caught helping students cheat. BJP leaders were getting question papers solved.

15 lakh students have dropped out because of this crackdown. The state government doesn't want children to appear for exams because they don't have jobs to give them when they enter the job market.

The UP government has set a record on police encounters with over 1,100 encounters in one year. How has that affected law and order?

It is also a record that no government in a single year must have got so many notices from the human rights commission as the UP government.

Till now they have received 57 notices from the National Human Rights Commission.

Questions are being raised about these encounters. There are many reports about fake encounters.

Crime hasn't dropped in UP. These encounters haven't improved law and order.

Will the 2019 election be fought on vikas (development) or dharm (religion)?

The BJP will get some new chloroform with which to betray the people.

The UP assembly hasn't seen such a high representation of upper castes in recent times. Was it pressure from the grassroot that brought the BSP-SP together?

It can be said there was injustice faced by weaker sections, especially Dalits.

Maywatiji herself went to Saharanpur.

The injustice faced by the poor, farmers, backward, Dalits, Muslims has made them emerge as a force against the BJP.

I presented the record of the Mahoba district on the floor of the House and said that since the BJP government came to power, 27 farmers have committed suicide in one district.

The kisan does not belong to one caste. Farmers belong to all castes.

Kisan and youth are very upset with the BJP. They are the reason for the victory in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

In 2014 the 'Modi wave' destroyed all caste arithmetic and people overwhelmingly voted for Narendra D Modi. Is caste back as a deciding factor in the next election?

The wave was created till the government was formed.

Just as a wave brought the BJP into power an anti wave will blow them away.

The by-polls results show that the hollow promises about jobs and loan waivers to farmers have left people disappointed.

When all these disappointed people stand up together against the BJP, nothing can save this government.

Whatever miracle they might conjure up, the BJP will not come back to power.

Would you be willing to be part of a Congress-led Opposition front? You have worked with Rahul Gandhi in the last assembly election, how is it to work with him?

I have a good relationship with him. What kind of political relationship it will be, I don't know as of now because many political parties are engaging on various platforms.

There was a dinner hosted by Sharad Pawarji. Mamataji met all the leaders. The Congress has had dinners, meetings -- before the election the country will get a big alliance.

The BJP should not get perturbed with the alliance because the BJP has alliances with 45 parties.

I can read the list, I have the entire list.

It is felt that the Samajwadi Party in the Opposition was a party known for its street protests against government policies. But that sort of mobilisation seems to be missing in present times.

There could not be a bigger message than the result of Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

There cannot be a bigger protest and movement against the government when the CM and deputy CM lose their seats.

The biggest answer has been given by Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

If I go to jail for staging street protests and in turn lose an election, would that have greater meaning?

Or is winning these two seats a bigger andolan (movement)?

Our enemies are trying to provoke us to take to the streets ki hum pit jaye (so that we get beaten up by the people). (Laughs.)

A year after your defeat in the assembly election, how different do things look for you?

I feel more free and can think about how I will form a government, win more Lok Sabha seats.

Last year at this time I had just faced defeat, but now my mind is clear.

I am preparing how to win again.
The death toll in violence during the protests on Monday rose to 11 with two more people succumbing to their injuries.

IMAGE: Protesters hurl brickbats as smoke billows out of burning cars during Monday's 'Bharat bandh' in UP's Muzzaffarnagar. Photograph: PTI Photo

Fresh violence broke out in Rajasthan on Tuesday as a 5,000-strong mob set ablaze the houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, even as the death toll from Monday's nationwide stir by Dalit groups rose to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh.

Man seen firing during protests in MP is BJP worker, case booked A case was registered against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker Raja Chauhan for firing during the Dalit protests in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior. Chauhan was allegedly captured in camera for firing at the people during the protests in Gwalior. -- ANI

While the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stay its recent order on the SC/ST Act, which had triggered the bandh call by Dalit organisations that alleged the move diluted their constitutional rights, the government maintained that it was not responsible for any dilution and that it was fully committed to protecting the interests of the backward communities.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in more than 10 states, most of them Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled, with widespread violence during the protests called by Dalit organisations on Monday with poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan bearing the maximum brunt.

Counter-protests were reported on Tuesday from Rajasthan, where traders' groups and members of other castes hit the streets over the damage caused on Monday.

In Alwar district, where a man was killed on Monday, people staged a sit-in protest, refusing to cremate the body of the victim.

The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, were set afire by a violent mob on Tuesday afternoon in Hindaun town in Karauli district of Rajasthan, following which curfew was imposed in the area, a senior official said.

A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set ablaze the houses of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and former MLA Bharosilal Jatav in Hindaun, District Collector, Karauli, Abhimanyu Kumar told PTI.

While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who had also served as a minister in the state.

The agitated members of the traders' associations and upper castes took out a procession in Hindaun on Tuesday and tried to enter the SC/ST-dominated areas, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

"The police lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to cane-charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse the mob," he added.

Superintendent of Police (SP), Karauli, Anil Kayal said after the incidents of arson and violence, nearly 40 people were detained in Hindaun.

According to the police, tension also prevailed in Churu and Gangapur city, where the law-and-order situation remained 'critical'.

Curfew was clamped in Gangapur city on Monday night.

In Madhya Pradesh, the death toll from the violence that broke out during Dalit protests on Monday rose to eight with two more persons succumbing to injuries, officials said.

The police admitted that one person, who died on Monday, had fallen victim to police bullets.

Two policemen were booked in connection with the death of a person in police firing, an official said.

However, Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Prashant Khare on Tuesday said Mahavir Rajawat, 40, who died on Monday, fell victim to police bullets.

This has taken the nationwide death toll from the protests to 11, including two in Uttar Pradesh.

A mob tried to storm the residence of minister Lal Singh Arya in Bhind district on Tuesday, police said.

On Monday, a senior police official had claimed that the casualties occurred during clashes between the supporters of the 'Bharat bandh', called by Dalit outfits, and those opposed to it and not due to police firing.

Arya, a Dalit, was not home when the incident took place. The police blamed anti-social elements over the incident. However, the BJP minister accused the Opposition Congress of attempting to attack his house.

"We thwarted a bid by some anti-social elements to enter the residence of Arya in the district's Gohad area," Bhind Superintendent of Police (SP) Prashant Khare told PTI.

"We chased them away at the right time," he added.

The SP declined to comment when asked whether the mob was armed.

"I was not in Gohad, where prohibitory orders are in place. I am in Bhopal," Arya said.

"I have come to know that some Congressmen were behind the incident," Arya, who is the 'Happiness Minister' of the state, claimed.

A press release issued from the police headquarters in Bhopal said 99 people and 54 policemen were injured during the bandh.

The eight deceased in MP included six Dalits and two upper-castes Hindus, police officials said.

Four deaths were reported from Bhind, three from Gwalior and one from Morena district.

Curfew was still in force in some areas of Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts in view of the violence witnessed during the bandh, which was organised to protest a recent Supreme Court order that allegedly diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, officials said.

Internet services remained suspended in Gwalior, Bhind, Morena and Sagar districts, officials said.

"We have arrested 53 people so far in connection with the violence," Morena SP Aditya Pratap Singh said.

In Haryana, eight civilians and 84 police officials were injured in the violence during the bandh, Haryana police said on Tuesday.

Also, 100 persons have been arrested for attempting to cause damage to public property and indulge in acts of violence in various parts of the state, they said.

Minor damage was caused to 24 government and 60 private vehicles during the protest, Director General of Police, B S Sandhu said.

There were reports of stone-pelting on two trains, he said, adding that six shops suffered minor damage.

Cop who suffered cardiac arrest during tiff with bandh supporters dies

A police officer, who had sustained a severe cardiac arrest in Jodhpur on Monday during a tiff with bandh supporters, died on Tuesday while he was in transit to Ahmedabad for treatment, officials said.

Mahamandir police station SHO Mahendra Choudhary was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Jodhpur, they said.

His condition started deteriorating on Tuesday following which his family members decided to take him to Ahmedabad for better care.

"But he breathed his last near Mehsana in the ambulance itself," DCP (East) Amandeep Singh Kapoor said, adding that he suffered yet another arrest on the way.

Choudhary was declared 'brought dead' by doctors at a hospital in Ahmedabad, Kapoor said.

Police had cleared a green corridor for his ambulance to pass through the city until the highway, he added.

Choudhary, a resident of Atbara village in Pali district, had joined the Rajasthan Police as a constable.

He became a sub inspector in 2014 and was holding the charge of the SHO of Mahamandir police station in Jodhpur.
Rajya Sabha

IMAGE: Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu tried to bring order to the Upper House, but to no avail. Photograph: PTI Photo

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after new and re-elected members took oath as MPs from various parties, including Congress and TMC, trooped into the Well raising slogans in support of their demands.

The Upper House has not transacted substantial business ever since it met on March 5 after a recess to carry forward the Budget session due to disruptions by different parties on matters like bank frauds, Cauvery river water, special status for Andhra Pradesh and issues related to Dalits.

MPs belonging to the Congress, TMC, SP, BSP, TDP and those of Tamil parties -- DMK and AIADMK, rushed into the Well as soon as 41 members took oath and Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked ministers to lay papers on the table of the House.

The Congress and the BSP accused the government of being anti-Dalit. TMC was protesting against bank frauds, while TDP members were demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

KVP Ramachandra Rao of the Congress was also holding a placard demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

The two prominent Tamil parties were demanding constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board for division of river water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Amid sloganeering by protesting MPs, Naidu tried to bring order in the House.

As they did not yield, the Chairman adjourned the House for the day.

Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha proceedings were disrupted for the 19th consecutive day on Tuesday due to protests by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members seeking early constitution of the Cauvery water management board.

The ruckus saw the first adjournment of House proceedings within four minutes after it assembled to take up the days business and then for the day at noon after listed papers were laid and Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement on Mondays bandh called to protest dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Even before the House re-assembled at noon, AIADMK members, carrying placards trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans such as we want justice and we demand Cauvery board.

Citing assembly polls in Karnataka, the Centre had last week sought more time from the Supreme Court to set up the Cauvery water management board to implement water sharing formula among Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Left, Telugu Desam Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal members were standing at their seats seeking the Speakers ruling on notices they had given on the no-confidence motion, moved by some of them.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan appealed to AIADMK members to return to their seats, saying she cannot take up notices on the no-confidence motion unless the House is in order.

I am duty bound to place the no-confidence motion. I am sorry. Please go to your seats. I have to do a head count. I have not been able to take up notices on the no-confidence motion, she said.

Congress Chief Whip Jyotiraditya Scindia said the opposition wanted a discussion on the no-confidence motion and 50 members were ready for it.

We also want to discus the dilution of the SC/ST Act, he said.

At this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was ready for a discussion and give reply to the no-confidence motion.

We want discussion. For the last 15 days we have been saying we want discussion. It is the Congress which is preventing the discussion. The Congress is trying to stall

democracy, which is not acceptable. We are ready for discussion, he said.

Even though opposition members went back to their seats to bring order in the House, slogan-shouting AIADMK members continued their protests in the Well.

As the pandemonium continued, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.
The home minister said eight people were killed -- six in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, during Mondays Bharat Bandh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Centre on Tuesday reached out to Dalits in the aftermath of their violent protests asserting that at every juncture they stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with the community and accused the Congress of fuelling tension in the society with an eye on elections.

The remarks by BJP president Amit Shah and Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Thavarchand Gehlot expressing their commitment to protect the interests of the Dalit and the tribal community came even as Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'not uttering a word' on dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Dalit protests against the softening of the provisions of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court erupted in large-scale violence in different parts of the country on Monday leaving 11 dead, many injured and property worth crores destroyed.

Several Dalit organisations had given a call for 'Bharat bandh' on Monday.

In a series of tweets, Shah said a 'microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties' made the people suffer and sought their apology to 'Dalit sisters and brothers'.

He also blamed 'vested interest groups' for spreading the panic on the issue of reservation for Dalits, saying it is done before every election and asserted that the government will do everything to protect their rights.

Right from the day the apex court gave its judgment on the SC/ST atrocities act, the central government acted in an 'immediate and informed' manner and has filed an effective review petition to protect the Dalits' rights, Shah said.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Modi had met MPs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and had assured them that the government was doing everything to protect the rights and well-being of 'our Dalit sisters and brothers'.

"Due to the politically driven manifestations of a microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties, crores of innocent people suffered. These parties owe our Dalit sisters and brothers an apology for their misdeeds," he said.

Shah, whose party has often accused the opposition of fuelling unfounded campaign against it before elections, said the script had now become old and that vested interest groups started spreading panic about reservations before polls.

The BJP is locked in a keen fight with the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections, scheduled for May 12.

"The BJP's stand is clear, which I am once again stating - we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to the SC/ST communities. At every juncture and in all possible ways, the BJP stands shoulder to shoulder with the Dalit community," he said.

Gahlot claimed that history suggests it is the Congress which is anti-Dalit and treated them like a vote bank.

"You are trying to make political benefit by fuelling tensions in society but it is not good. You are doing so with an eye on elections."

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour amid ruckus in the House, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh made it clear it was not responsible for the dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and asserted it was fully committed to protect the interests of the backward communities.

He also appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony.

"I wish to inform the House that the Government of India was not party in that case. Through the House, I want to assure the people that there has been no dilution whatsoever by my government, rather after coming to power and examining the SC/ST prevention Atrocities Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," he said.

Singh said there have been widespread rumours on the issue of reservation which were 'false and baseless' and the government was fully committed to protect the interests of the SC/ST communities.

"I wish to assure you that our government is fully committed to the welfare of SCs and STs. Our government is fully committed to protect the interest of the SC/ST community," he added.

Rahul Gandhi hit out at Modi while addressing a public meeting in Shivamogga on the fifth leg of his tour of poll-bound Karnataka.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the prime minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word," he said.
Bhaskar Gaikwad, the original complainant in the SC/ST case over which a nationwide bandh was organised on Monday, had never thought that his legal fight would attain such a huge political connotation.

ALSO READ: Supreme Court refuses to stay its order on SC/ST Act

Dalit activist and supporters hold placards and raise slogans during a protest march against the alleged dilution of SC/ST Act in Mumbai on Monday. Photograph: Mitesh Bhuvad/PTI Photo

The 53-year employee of a government college in Pune said that irrespective of the central government's move, he was planning to file by April 19 a review petition in the Supreme Court against its March 20 order which is seen as diluting the SC/ST Act.

The central government on Monday filed a review petition in the apex court amidst a violent agitation over the judgment across the country.

Distancing himself from the Union government's review petition, Gaikwad told PTI over phone that ever since the ruling came in which he is a respondent, he was planning to file a review petition within the stipulated time of one month.

He refused to comment on the political connotation that the issue has acquired.

The opposition parties are attacking the Narendra Modi government over the apex court judgment.

"I am a government servant. So, I cannot say anything on the political aspect. I don't see these developments politically," Gaikwad said.

According to Gaikwad, the case which reached the Supreme Court originated from his complaint filed in 2007.

In his complaint, the store keeper in a Pharmacy college at Karad had alleged that he was asked to forge some documents by the seniors.

"When I refused to do so (forging), the upper caste people of the college wrote negative remarks in my confidential report," Gaikwad claimed.

"In September, 2009, I lodged a complaint with joint director of Technical Education in Maharashtra government Subhash Mahajan," he said.

According to Gaikwad, he got no help from Mahajan and subsequently he filed a complaint against the joint director himself.

Mahajan then moved the court seeking quashing of a first information report against him, Gaikwad said.

"Though, the state government machinary fully supported Mahajan during the hearing in the high court, he got no reprieve there," Gaikwad said.

Mahajan then approached the Supreme Court which gave its verdict on March 20, ruling that the government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

"The state government did not support me during the hearing," Gaikwad said.

Referring to the March 20 judgment in which he is a respondent, Gaikwad said he has no right to comment on the merits of the court's ruling but he has all the right to file a review petition.

"I am already discussing the issue of filing a review petition with my advocate and I will do it for sure by April 19," he added.

"The verdict came in Mahajan's favour because the Maharashtra government machinery supported him. Neither did the Maharashtra government take any decision to file charge-

sheet against Mahajan for over one year, nor it gave me legal support to fight my case under the provisions of the SC/SC Act," Gaikwad said.

When contacted, Mahajan refused to speak on the issue.

"You write whatever you want. I will put forth my side as and when required," he said.
The oath taking comes after elections to the Upper House were held last month.

Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Jagat Prakash Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan were among the 41 newly-elected Rajya Sabha MPs who took the oath on Tuesday.

Of the 58 members elected from 15 states in elections last month, 41 took oath of affirmation.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was re-elected to the Upper House from Uttar Pradesh, as also members elected from Rajasthan, Telangana and Odisha did not take the oath on Tuesday.

While almost all the members belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance took oath by swearing in the name of god, Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was re-elected to the Upper House from Maharashtra, took oath affirming his allegiance to the Constitution of India.

Trinamool Congresss Mohammad Nadimul Haque, who was re-elected from West Bengal, swore in the name of Allah, while Union Minister Tharwar Chand Gehlot took the oath in Sanskrit.

While members one after the other walked up to a specially put up microphone right below the presiding officers chair to take oath, BJPs Saroj Pandey was allowed to take the oath from her seat due to a fracture in her leg.

Members after taking oath walked up to Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu who warmly welcomed them with a hand shake.

Thereafter, they signed the members register and then greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other senior ministers and opposition leaders present in the House.

Naidu said as many as nine languages were used to take the oath, reflecting Indias linguistic heritage. He hoped the newly elected members and re-elected members would raise people-oriented issues and enhance the dignity and prestige of the House.

Lawyer-turned-politician Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress, who got elected to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal with the support of TMC, was among those who took oath on Tuesday.

Others who took the oath included Telugu Desam Partys C M Ramesh and K Ravindra Kumar from Andhra Pradesh, Janata Dal-Uniteds Mahendra Prasad and Bashistha Narain Singh, Rashtriya Janata Dals Ashfaque Karim and Manoj Kumar Jha (all from Bihar), BJPs Purshottam Rupala and Naranbhai Rathwa and Amee Yajnik of Congress (from Gujarat).

BJPs Devender Paul Vats, elected from Haryana, took oath in Hindi.

Former telecom enterpreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who was elected from Karanataka on a BJP ticket, took the oath in Kannada. However, three members of Congress elected from the state, including L Hanumanthaiah, did not take the oath on Tuesday.
On his first visit to Delhi after the Telugu Desam Party pulled out of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday met leaders of several opposition parties and allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party, including Veerappa Moily of the Congress, Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party and Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal.

IMAGE: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu touched the stairs before entering Parliament. Naidu's act is reminiscent of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi did when he entered Parliament for the first time as a MP in 2014. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo

The meetings that took place at the Central Hall of Parliament were aimed at garnering support for the no-confidence motion against the NDA government moved by the Telugu Desam Party.

The TDP snapped its ties with the BJP alleging neglect of the southern state and failure of the Centre to grant special category state status to Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu also met Farooq Abdullah of the Nationalist Conference, Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress, D Raja of the Communist Party of India, AIADMKs V Maitreyan, Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal and Samajwadi Partys Ram Gopal Yadav among others, according to a statement issued by the chief ministers media unit.

IMAGE: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi as he arrives to attend the ongoing budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo

In an apparent swipe at the Narendra Modi dispensation, TDP MP T G Venkatesh told reporters earlier in the day, The chief minister is meeting key leaders in Parliament to send across a message to the country that not only making commitments, but honouring it also is very important.

The TDP has alleged that the Centre failed to fulfil its commitments toward Andhra Pradesh, after the state was bifurcated in 2014.

TDP floor leader in Parliament, Thota Narasimham said, The Centre is simply adjourning the House as they do not have answers to various questions that the opposition parties may put forth if the no-confidence motion is taken up for discussion. They say they have majority, then why not take it up?
The government published no photographs of the meeting, apparently wary of South Korean anger at Kim's visit since he masterminded the 2010 sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan.

National security adviser Chung Eui-yong and other senior officials had lunch and dinner with him behind closed doors at the Walkerhill Hotel.

Kim Yong-chol, the head of North Korea's United Front Department, remained holed up in his hotel room on Monday and met senior South Korean officials there.

Security was even tighter than for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Yo-jong when she came here to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. But during Kim Yo-jong's visit she went to Cheong Wa Dae and attended a performance, and the government granted media access to all events.

Kim was behind the torpedoing of the Cheonan as then chief of the General Bureau of Reconnaissance. He and his entourage were to remain holed up in the hotel until they head back to the North on Tuesday.

A former Unification Ministry official said, "The hotel usually serves as the meeting place when a North Korean delegation comes to South Korea. The North Koreans are able to communicate with Pyongyang and with us in the hotel, so there is really no need to go outside."

The North Korean delegation occupies the entire 17th floor of the upscale hotel, while the Unification Ministry is using the 16th floor and the National Intelligence Service takes up another two floors for its agents.
Could you imagine a world where everything is made of chocolate?

In the small city of Durbuy, southeast of Brussels that dream just came through, thanks to the ChocoPalace festival -- where everything, including sculptures, is made of fine Belgian chocolate.

Feast your eyes of the delicious art and eat your heart out.

All photographs: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

This gorilla looks too tasty to eat! Each of the animal creations are up to 3 metres tall. That's three metres of all chocolate...

This lion along with lion cubs is all ready to roar. This unique festival has around 50 chocolate pieces by 40 international artists.

A young visitor looks at a chocolate sculpture of flamingos during the chocolate sculpture festival.

Of course, this festival has been drawing in large crowds. Its already seen more than 30,000 visitors and is set to draw in plenty more until it closes on April 8.

Don't worry... this crocodile won't snap.. The festival in its first year, hopes to become a yearly feature and honestly, we hope it does!

Other than animals and bird sculptures like this eagle, the festival also features a chocolate river and stalls selling macaroons and boozy chocolate drinks.

We hope this cute koala is as tasty is looks cute.

An elephant of chocolate? That's there too.. There's nothing here which isn't made of chocolate.

Sculptures of rabbits are seen during the chocolate sculpture festival.
The terrorists had killed Farooq Ahmads son last year.

IMAGE: The house in which the terrorists of Lashkar-e-Tayiba barged into. Photograph: ANI/Twitter

Terrorists abducted two civilians and injured three of their relatives in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Tuesday.

The body of one of them was later found by the police.

Suspected terrorists of Lashkar-e-Tayiba barged into the house of one Farooq Ahmad Parray at Hajin in Bandipora district on Monday night and opened fire on inmates, a police spokesman said.

"The terrorists used knives to cause grievous injuries to wife, daughter and brother of Farooq," he said.

"Muzzafar Ahmad Parrey was killed ruthlessly by terrorists last summer. He was first decapitated and then his body was thrown into the river," he added. PTI MIJ SNE

The terrorists also abducted Naseer Ahmed Parray alias Muntazir, son-in-law of the house owner from there, the spokesman said.

"The body of Muntazir has been recovered," the spokesman said.

"Efforts are on by the police to trace out the (other) abducted person," he added.

The injured persons have been shifted to a hospital for treatment.

The spokesman said the terrorists had killed Farooq Ahmads son last year.

"Muzzafar Ahmad Parrey was killed ruthlessly by terrorists last summer. He was first decapitated and then the body was thrown into the river," he added.

Pakistan shells forward posts along LoC in Poonch

Meanwhile, the Pakistan army on Tuesday targeted forward posts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district with mortar shells.

The Indian Army effectively retaliated.

An army officer said, "Pakistan army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from 0700 hours along the Line of Control in Krishna Ghati sector using small arms, automatics and mortars."

The Indian Army retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked ceasefire violation, he said.

Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire along the LoC and the IB over 650 times this year.
"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the United States on Tuesday designated Milli Muslim League, the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organisation.

In a simultaneous move, seven members of MML central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorist. The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

The election commission had earlier rejected the MMLs application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Todays amendments take aim at LeTs efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character, said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence, Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeTs property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.

LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks, the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Specially Designated Global Terrorist group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.

In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group.

LeT members make up MMLs leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeeds likeness in its election banners and literature, the State Department said.

Tuesdays actions notify the US public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of the LeT. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeTs attempts to undermine Pakistans political process, said Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognised political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

We will continue to target terrorist organisations like the LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades, Mandelker said. He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should think twice about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeTs Peshawar headquarters and served on Jamaat-ud Dawas Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

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, including six Americans. It was declared as an FTO by the US in June 2014.
He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the 'leak' of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi meets local people on way to Honnali, Davanagere in Karnataka. Photograph: Courtesy @INCINdia/Twitter

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'not uttering a word' on alleged atrocities on Dalits and tribals and 'dilution' of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

His remarks at a public meeting in Shivamogga on the fifth leg of his tour of poll-bound Karnataka came against the backdrop of violence in northern parts of the country during Monday's protests against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The protests during 'Bharat bandh' against the Supreme Court verdict on the issue claimed at least 11 lives and left hundreds of persons injured.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the Prime Minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word," he said.

Gandhi compared the status of SC/ST welfare in Karnataka with the Modi government's actions on the issue.

He claimed that more than half of the money released by the Modi government across the country for SC/ST welfare was being spent by Karnataka itself on the Dalits and tribals.

He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the 'leak' of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.

Lacing his remarks with sarcasm, Gandhi said the prime minister wrote a book (Exam Warriors) telling children how to face the exam and also gave a lecture for two hours on how to prepare for exams.

He said children took the advice seriously and prepared for the exam with the help of their parents,but when they went to appear for the exam, they were told that the exams were cancelled as the question paper was leaked.

"Modi may have failed in plugging the question paper leak but he may again lecture children how to prepare for exams and will tell them about dos and don'ts during exam," said Gandhi.

On the one side, question papers are leaked, while on the other election dates are also leaked, Gandhi quipped.

"It seems RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) has taught Modi that he should stress more on giving lectures. The RSS has taught him to stand, hold stick, wear knickers and speak lies.I think the Prime Minister is now realising that the nation cannot be run with hatred, lathi, speeches and false promises," he said.

He took potshots at Bharatiya Janata Party state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa, who is being projected as the party's Chief Ministerial face.

Shivamogga is the home district of Yeddyurappa.

"If he looks at the stage properly, on one side (of Modi) there is Yeddyurappa who spent time in jail (in a graft case), on the other side there are four ministers who had been to jail. Modi ji you speak about corruption, when there are corrupt sitting next to you on the stage," Gandhi said.

He quipped that BJP has now started speaking the truth.

"First time the BJP spoke the truth. Whatever they had in their mind they spoke it. Amit Shah said (at Davangere) that Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt. I am happy he spoke the truth for the first time in his life," he said.

Gandhi was referring to Shah's gaffe at a press conference at Davangere on March 27, where he said the Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt government in the country. He was actually referring to the Siddaramaiah government.

Shah had, however, corrected himself immediately.

The Congress president also reminded Modi that the nation cannot be run with hatred, anger, violence and partiality.

He said, "I have seen many prime ministers such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. One thing is clear. If you want to run the nation, you need to run it with love. You can take the nation to any heights with love. The more you connect people, the country will become stronger," he said.

Before addressing the public meeting, Rahul held a roadshow in Shivamogga city, with thousands of people standing on the sides of the road to greet him.

At a rally in Davangere, Gandhi, while referring to the Punjab National Bank scam, asked the crowd, "Okay, do you know who is the lawyer of Nirav Modi? You do not know? Then let me tell you. (It is) Arun Jaitleyji's daughter."

He also alleged that Narendra Modi very well knew fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksey, who are linked with Punjab National Bank fraud case.

Gandhi asked Modi to check the letters written by people to his office, informing him about Nirav Modi's 'loot' from the bank.

"In the last six to seven months, people wrote letters to the Prime Minister's Office informing him about Nirav Modi's loot (from the bank). Modiji, please check," he said.

On the Karnataka polls,he said it was a fight between two ideologies -- BJP and RSS on one side and Congress on the other.

"On the one side BJP-RSS ideology of dividing the country, spreading anger and hate; other side ideology of brotherhood, love and peace by Congress party. The RSS and BJP's thinking is different. They are told wear half pants, hold lathis and give speeches. Left right, left right," he said.

Gandhi said Modi spoke of the history of the country, but never understood the culture of love,brotherhood and ahimsa.

On the petrol and diesel price hike, Gandhi said when the United Progressive Alliance was in power, the oil price was $140 per barrel and today it is half in the international market.

"When in the international market petrol price was coming down,you are paying high.Whose pocket is the money going? Your money is being looted from you and is being given to 10/12 rich people," he said.
America would be a very different country had Dr King not been murdered that April day 50 years ago.

50 years on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr -- the torchbearer of America's civil rights movement -- was assassinated as he stood on a hotel balcony in Memphis.

Dr King was only 39 years old.

In his short and eventful life, Dr King mapped the route for the disenfranchised Black community in America, employing the Mahatma's method of non-violence to counter the bigotry, hate and oppression that his people encountered daily in their lives.

Please click on the photographs for full-screen resolution. Thank you.

The Lorraine Motel A wreath hangs on the balcony of the former Lorraine Motel, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum, where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Room 306 Room 306 at the then Lorraine Motel, where Dr King Jr slept the night before he was shot by James Earl Ray as he stood on the balcony of the hotel.

Dr King won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964 when he was just 35 years old.

Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

"The time is always right to do what is right." The Final Hour Reverend Samuel 'Billy' Kyles, left, who spent the last hour of Dr King's life with him in 1968, outside the Lorraine Motel. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." A Man of Peace Always Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, two of Dr King's four children, release a dove from the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, on the 40th anniversary of their father's death, April 4, 2008. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." The Inheritor Then US President Barack Obama and India's Prime Minister Narendra D Modi at the National Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, DC, September 30, 2014. Obama has often cited Dr King as the inspiration for his own political journey. Photograph: Larry Downing/Reuters

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
China raised import duties on a $3 billion list of U.S. pork, fruit and other products Monday in an escalating tariff dispute with President Donald Trump that companies worry might depress global commerce.

The Finance Ministry said it was responding to a U.S. tariff hike on steel and aluminum that took effect March 23. But a bigger clash looms over Trump's approval of possible higher duties on nearly $50 billion of Chinese goods in a separate argument over technology policy.

The tariff spat is one aspect of wide-ranging tensions between Washington and Beijing over China's multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States and its policies on technology, industry development and access to its state-dominated economy.

Forecasters say the immediate impact should be limited, but investors worry the global recovery might be set back if it prompts other governments to raise import barriers. Those fears temporarily depressed financial markets, though stocks have recovered some of their losses.

On Monday, stock market indexes in Tokyo and Shanghai were up 0.5 percent at midmorning. Beijing faces complaints by Washington, the European Union and other trading partners that it hampers market access despite its free-trading pledges and is flooding global markets with improperly low-priced steel and aluminum. But the EU, Japan and other governments criticized Trump's unilateral move as disruptive.

The United States buys little Chinese steel and aluminum following earlier tariff hikes to offset what Washington says is improper subsidies. Still, economists expected Beijing to respond to avoid looking weak in a high-profile dispute.

Effective Monday, Beijing raised tariffs on pork, aluminum scrap and some other products by 25 percent, the Finance Ministry said. A 15 percent tariff was imposed on apples, almonds and some other goods.

The tariff hike has "has seriously damaged our interests," said a Finance Ministry statement. "Our country advocates and supports the multilateral trading system," said the statement. China's tariff increase "is a proper measure adopted by our country using World Trade Organization rules to protect our interests."

The White House didn't respond to a message from the Associated Press on Sunday seeking comment.


Title Armenia: Government Decision No 1147-N on Establishing the Procedure for the Border Guard Troops of the National Security Service Under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Police of the Republic of Armenia under the Government of the Republic of Armenia or the Administration of Detention Facilities to Receive an Asylum Request and Pass It to the Authorized Body

Publication Date 10 November 2016

Country Armenia

Other Languages / Attachments Armenian

Cite as National Legislative Bodies / National Authorities, Armenia: Government Decision No 1147-N on Establishing the Procedure for the Border Guard Troops of the National Security Service Under the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Police of the Republic of Armenia under the Government of the Republic of Armenia or the Administration of Detention Facilities to Receive an Asylum Request and Pass It to the Authorized Body, 10 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac34a2b7.html [accessed 26 September 2021]

Comments This is an unofficial translation.
Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Burundi: The Association for the Promotion of the Burundian Girl (Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise - APFB), including its members and activities; the treatment of APFB members by the authorities and the Imbonerakure (2016-March 2017)

Publisher Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Publication Date 28 March 2017 Citation / Document Symbol BDI105770.FE Related Document(s) Burundi : information sur l'Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise (APFB), y compris ses membres et ses activites; traitement reserve aux membres de l'APFB par les autorites et les Imbonerakure (2016-mars 2017) Cite as Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Burundi: The Association for the Promotion of the Burundian Girl (Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise - APFB), including its members and activities; the treatment of APFB members by the authorities and the Imbonerakure (2016-March 2017), 28 March 2017, BDI105770.FE, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac37ed74.html [accessed 26 September 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Association for the Promotion of the Burundian Girl (Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise - APFB)

On its website, the APFB describes itself as a non-profit association created in May 1999 on the initiative [translation] "of a small number of female students who were already engaged in youth and women's associations [and who] were concerned about the limited participation of their sisters" (APFB n.d.a). That same source writes that the association [translation] "aims to develop an awareness in young Burundian girls of the role they must play in the country's social, economic and political life" (APFB n.d.b). The APFB website states that it aims to

[translation]

improve the education of young Burundian girls;

encourage young Burundian girls to take interest in socio-politics and economics, both nationally and internationally;

raise awareness in Burundian society of the role of women in the country;

foster education in peace, democracy and respect of human beings; and

promote girls' financial independence through entrepreneurship (APFB n.d.b).

Similarly, according to an article published in 2012 by Global Fund for Children, an organization based in Washington, DC, that provides minor funding to community organizations working with vulnerable children and youth in the world (Global Fund for Children n.d.), the APFB [translation] "works to awaken the socio-political and economic conscience of young girls in Burundi through academic support, vocational training programs and awareness initiatives" (Global Fund for Children 5 Jan. 2012). Yellow.Place, an online search tool that "provides information about businesses and places around the world" (Yellow.Place n.d.a), describes the APFB as [translation] "a non-profit organization [and an NGO] created in May 1999 to raise awareness in young Burundi girls of the role they must play in society, the economy and politics" (Yellow.Place n.d.b). According to the same source, the association envisions [translation] "an educated, patriotic, financially independent girl, free of violence [and] who is aware of her rights and obligations and who embodies the positive values of Burundian society" (Yellow.Place n.d.b).

1.1 APFB Members

According to an article published by the Burundi News Publications (Publications de presse burundaises - PPB), a Burundi publishing house that [translation] "aims to disseminate  objective information about national and international news" (Rondera n.d.), the President of the APFB is Marie Lasia Karire (PPB n.d.). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. Sources report that the [national] coordinator of the APFB is Domitille [Nduwimana] (RPA 12 Oct. 2015; Projet 51 9 Jan. 2016).

An article published in 2017 on the website of the Burundi news group Iwacu presents the biography of Alida Kanyange, [translation] "an intern at the Iwacu newspaper," who is also a member of the APFB and who "sometimes" participates in the association's meetings (Iwacu 1 Feb. 2017).

According to the APFB website, the association's target group includes girls who are [translation] "underprivileged," "repatriated" or "victims of violence," "heads household," and of the "Batwa ethnic minority," and students (APFB n.d.b.).

During an interview published in 2016 by Projet 51, an itinerant project led [by two French students and one young French graduate (Projet 51 n.d.a)] in 19 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to meet social entrepreneurs, association officials and [translation] "a number of other actors working to change the status of women" (Projet 51 n.d.b), the APFB coordinator stated that her association also includes boys (Projet 51 9 Jan. 2016). Similarly, the website of the APFB reports that Eric Ndihokubwayo, a member of the APFB, was an instructor in April 2015 for visits to secondary schools (APFB n.d.c.).

According to the interview published in 2016 by Projet 51, the APFB coordinator stated that boy members of the association are told by other boys that they are not boys and that they have been corrupted by the girls (Projet 51 9 Jan. 2016). According to the same source, the APFB coordinator stated that [translation] "sometimes, there are even boys who do not want to approach girls from their hometown to propose marriage. They say that she will be very difficult in the household and she will impose equality between man and woman" (Projet 51 9 Jan. 2016). In the interview conducted by Projet 51, the APFB coordinator stated that in Burundi, [translation] "custom" and the "law, which does not favour girls enough," are "obstacles to the emancipation of women and girls" (Projet 51 9 Jan. 2016). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to an article published on the APFB website, [translation] "some 60 APFB members" participated in training on "life skills  [and] will in turn form 30 pairs each for wider dissemination of this knowledge" (APFB n.d.d). That same source presents "Nahimana E" as [translation] "a member" who received the training (APFB n.d.d).

1.2. APFB Activities

The APFB website states that it intervenes in the following areas: [translation] "reproductive health and the fight against HIV/AIDS; the fight against sexual violence; the promotion of human and gender rights, with an entrepreneurship component; [and] school education and vocational training" (APFB n.d.b). The article published by PPB states the following about concrete action carried out by APFB to [translation] "empower the [Burundian]" girl:

Ms. Karire [president of the APFB] responded that with the support of its partners and with respect to the economy, the association organizes information and training sessions on youth entrepreneurship.

In the health sector, she stated that the APFB has organized on-site visits to raise awareness among girls in schools or rural environments of learning about healthy reproductive and sexual health. She stated that this activity is organized in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexual violence, especially in adolescent girls .

In the education sector, the association encourages all girls who are old enough to attend school to put education first in order to have the right to participate not only in the country's development but also in the decision-making mechanisms.

Ms. Karire stated that the work of the APFB has already been successful because there are girls who have created small businesses. These girls are now autonomous. The legal representative of the APFB  asks the government to support the girls in their endeavours to become autonomous. She also asks that those who are guilty of preventing girls' empowerment, especially through sexual violence, be severely punished (PPB n.d.).

Information on the activities of the APFB since 2016 was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. An article published on the APFB website states that the association organized, on April 25, 2015, [translation] "visits to secondary schools, including the municipal school of Musaga, to encourage young girls to continue their education" (APFB n.d.c). According to another article published on that site, [translation] "youth and women from 20 communes in the provinces of Bururi, Mwaro and Makamba were targeted by the APFB from July to September 2015, to train them and raise their awareness of democratic principles and managing electoral results" (APFB n.d.e).

An article published in 2016 by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that during the ceremony organized for World Population Day, celebrated on July 15, 2016, in Burundi, Chanella Ndayishimiye shared her experience with the APFB - of which she is a member - which intervened when she was an adolescent [translation] "to enable [her and her sister] to be independent and to continue their education without problems" after they were abandoned by their mother (UN 26 July 2016). Sources state that the APFB participated in ceremonies organized by the Ministry of Human Rights, Social Affairs and Gender on October 15, 2016, in Bujumbura for International Day of the Girl Child (Burundi 17 Oct. 2016; Le Renouveau 18 Oct. 2016).

According to an article published on the APFB website, the association has a partnership with UNICEF through the [translation] "Adolescents and youth pave the way to peace in Burundi" (Les adolescents et les jeunes ouvrent la voie vers la paix au Burundi) project (APFB n.d.d). According to another article published on that site, UNICEF [translation] "has targeted local organizations, including APFB, to deploy [U-report] [a communication tool that enables participants to give their points of view on social subjects through text messaging]" (APFB n.d.f). The same source writes that the APFB [translation] "recorded some 100 U-Reporters in 2015" (APFB n.d.f). According to the article published in 2012 by Global Fund for Children, a grant from the organization [translation] "supports the APFB's education empowerment program that provides educational support and financial assistance to girls in primary and secondary schools and that challenges society's negligence regarding the education of girls" (Global Fund for Children 5 Jan. 2012).

Projet 51 reports that the APFB coordinator stated the following regarding the [translation] "current crisis" in Burundi and the work that the association is doing in the field:

"We're trying to work despite the current situation in the country, but you know, we can't work where it isn't safe! Sometimes, we have to close our offices; sometimes, the roads are blocked; sometimes, we can't move, like last Friday when everyone had to stay home the entire day because of the gunshots" (Projet 51 9 Jan. 2016).

Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2. Treatment of APFB Members by the Authorities and the Imbonerakure

Information regarding the treatment of the APFB members by the authorities and the Imbonerakure [members of the youth league in the ruling party (Human Rights Watch 19 Jan. 2017)] could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2.1. Treatment of Members of Civil Society by the Authorities

According to Amnesty International's annual report on the human rights situation in 2016, [Amnesty International English version] "[h]uman rights work became increasingly dangerous and difficult" in Burundi (Amnesty International 22 Feb. 2017, 130). The same source explains that "[t]he [National intelligence service (Service national de renseignement - SNR)] increased surveillance of human rights defenders" (Amnesty International 22 Feb. 2017, 130). Similarly, a report of the United Nations Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIIB), published in 2016 by the Human Rights Council, states that the human rights defenders were among the [UN English version] "primary targets of systematic repression by authorities" (UN 25 Oct. 2016, para. 78).

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016, prepared by the US Department of State, reports that the Burundian authorities ordered the closure of NGOs that criticized the government and the ruling party (US 3 Mar. 2017, 1). Similarly, the UNIIB report states that in November 2015, the activities of civil society organizations were [UN English version] "temporarily" suspended by Ministerial decree, and the bank accounts of some of them as well as those of their executives frozen" (UN 25 Oct. 2016, para. 79). According to an article published in 2016 by Human Rights Watch, the bank accounts of NGOs were frozen by the Attorney General in November and December 2015 (Human Rights Watch 25 Feb. 2016).

Sources state that arrest warrants were issued against activists of civil society organizations (UN 25 Oct. 2016, para. 80; Human Rights Watch Jan. 2017, 5). US Country Reports 2016 states that many civil society leaders in Burundi "reportedly [went] into voluntary exile to escape threats and violence" (US 3 Mar. 2017, 23).

According to the UNIIB report, [UN English version] "[h]uman rights activists, as well as their relatives, have been primary targets" of assassinations by the security forces (UN 25 Oct. 2016, para. 49). The same source writes that [UN English version] "[m]any persons have disappeared since the beginning of the crisis [that began in 2015 (UN 25 Oct. 2016, para. 28)]," including members of civil society, "often following their arbitrary arrest by security forces" (UN 25 Oct. 2016, para. 50).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Amnesty International. 22 February 2017. "Burundi." Rapport 2016/2017 - la situation des droits humains dans le monde. [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise (APFB). N.d.a. "Historique." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise (APFB). N.d.b. "Presentation." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise (APFB). N.d.c. "L'education de la fille, notre priorite." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise (APFB). N.d.d. "Jeunes adolescents, ouvrons la voie vers la paix au Burundi." [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise (APFB). N.d.e. "Le respect des principes democratiques et de gestion des resultats electoraux, facteurs primordiaux pour la consolidation de la paix." [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise (APFB). N.d.f. "'Devenons des U-reporters' : l'APFB enregistre une centaine d'U-reporters pour l'an 2015." [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017]

Burundi. 17 October 2016. Government of Burundi. "Celebration de la journee internationale de la fille au Burundi : 'aux cotes de l'adolescente burundaise pour ses ambitions 2030'." [Accessed 17 Mar. 2017]

Global Fund for Children. 5 January 2012. "Partners." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Global Fund for Children. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]

Human Rights Watch. 19 January 2017. "Burundi: Attacks by Ruling Party Youth League Members." [Accessed 27 Mar. 2017]

Human Rights Watch. January 2017. "Burundi." World Report 2017: Events of 2016. [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Human Rights Watch. 25 February 2016. "Burundi : les enlevements et les meurtres repandent la peur." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Iwacu. 1 February 2017. "Alida Kanyange." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Projet 51. 9 January 2016. "Interview de Domitille, coordonnatrice nationale de l'Association pour la promotion de la femme burundaise (APFB)." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Projet 51. N.d.a. "Qui sommes-nous?" [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]

Projet 51. N.d.b. "Le Projet 51, c'est quoi?" [Accessed 17 Mar. 2017]

Publications de presse burundaise (PPB). N.d. Rose Mpekerimana. "La fille constitue un potentiel important pour le developpement du pays." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Le Renouveau. 18 October 2016. "MDPHASG Celebration de la Journee internationale de la fille, edition 2016. Tout le monde est interpelle a contribuer dans la lutte contre les defis que rencontrent les jeunes filles." (Factiva)

Rondera. N.d. "Publications de presse burundaise." [Accessed 17 Mar. 2017]

Radio publique africaine (RPA). 12 October 2015. "Journee internationale de la fille : au Burundi, les defis restent nombreux." [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

United Nations (UN). 25 October 2016. Human Rights Council. Rapport de l'enquete independante des Nations Unies sur le Burundi menee en vertu de la resolution S-24/1 du Conseil des droits de l'homme. (A/HCR/33/37). [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

United Nations (UN). 26 July 2016. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). "Celebration de la journee mondiale de la population." [Accessed 17 Mar. 2017]

United States (US). 3 March 2017. Department of State. "Burundi." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016. [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017]

Yellow.Place. N.d.a. "What is Yellow.Place." [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]

Yellow.Place. N.d.b. "Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise." [Accessed 17 Mar. 2017]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Association des femmes juristes du Burundi; Association pour la promotion de la fille burundaise; Centre des femmes pour la paix; independent consultant; Ligue burundaise des droits de l'homme; Reseau femmes et paix.

Internet sites, including: Africa Confidential; Africa Research Bulletin; Africanews; Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development; BBC; Federation internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; Radio France internationale; UN  Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth; United Nations Radio.
Algeria: Crime situation, including organized crime; police and state response, including effectiveness; state protection for witnesses and victims of crime (2015-August 2017)

Publisher Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Publication Date 21 August 2017 Citation / Document Symbol DZA105847.FE Related Document(s) Algerie : information sur la criminalite, y compris le crime organise; les mesures prises par la police et l'Etat, y compris leur efficacite; la protection offerte par l'Etat aux temoins et aux victimes de crimes (2015-aout 2017) Cite as Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Algeria: Crime situation, including organized crime; police and state response, including effectiveness; state protection for witnesses and victims of crime (2015-August 2017), 21 August 2017, DZA105847.FE, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac380cd4.html [accessed 26 September 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Crime

The statistical database on the website of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has published crime statistics per 100,000 population reported by the Algerian police for 2015 [1] (for comparison, the same rates for Canada for 2015 are indicated in parentheses):

123.76 assaults (140.25 for Canada)

1.30 kidnappings (9.89 for Canada);

124.97 thefts (1,402.65 for Canada);

65.60 burglaries (61.44 for Canada);

8.47 offences involving sexual violence (75.97 for Canada);

1.37 intentional homicide (1.68 for Canada). (UN 2015)

A March 2017 article published by El Watan, a French-language newspaper in Algeria, indicates that according to various reports, in particular the most recent report from the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale), [translation] "offences against individuals and property are the main trends in crime in Algeria" (El Watan 29 Mar. 2017). Similarly, an article published in 2015 by La Nouvelle Republique, an Algerian newspaper, reports that in 11 wilayas [administrative divisions] in central Algeria, [translation] "offences against individuals and property increased by 11% in 2015" (La Nouvelle Republique 7 Dec. 2015). According to an article published in 2017 by L'Echo d'Algerie, an Algerian daily, the 2016 report from the National Gendarmerie and the National Police (Police nationale) shows an [translation] "increase in the number of crimes" in the country with respect to offences against individuals and property (respectively 40 percent and 41 percent of cases processed), intentional homicides and child abduction (L'Echo d'Algerie 26 Mar. 2017).

An article published in 2017 by El Moudjahid, a French-language newspaper in Algeria, quotes the Director of Public Safety and Employment as stating that ordinary crimes (offences against individuals and property, intentional homicides, child abduction and assaults) account for 35.44 percent of cases processed by the National Gendarmerie (El Moudjahid 5 Mar. 2017).

According to a 2017 report on crime and safety in Algeria published by the United States (US) Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), [US English version] "crimes of opportunity," such as robbery and burglary, are among the most common crimes in Algeria (US 25 Apr. 2017). The Government of Canada's Travel Advice and Advisories website indicates that [Canada English version] "street crime, such as robbery and theft," can occur in Algeria's larger cities (Canada 27 June 2017). An Agence France-Presse (AFP) article reports that, according to experts, [AFP English version] "urban violence is on the rise" (AFP 25 Jan. 2017). The same source also quotes a professor of architecture at the University of Blida and the head of forensic medicine at the Mustapha Pacha University Hospital Centre in Algiers, who respectively stated that new towns like Ali Mendjeli [AFP English version] "have become marginalised communities where gang violence is common" and that, in these towns, "violence is 'growing like a cancer'" (AFP 25 Jan. 2017).

Sources indicate that, according to the National Gendarmerie, the wilayas of Setif, Algiers and Tebessa are the most affected by ordinary crimes, that is, those with the highest number of cases processed (L'Echo d'Algerie 26 Mar. 2017; El Moudjahid 5 Mar. 2017).

1.1 Organized Crime

According to a report on money laundering and financial crimes, published in 2017 by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, [US English version] "notable" criminal activity in Algeria includes trafficking, particularly of drugs, cigarettes, arms and stolen vehicles; theft; extortion and embezzlement (US Mar. 2017a, 30-31). The National Gendarmerie website indicates that, according to a report on the activities carried out by National Gendarmerie units in the fight against crime and organized crime during the first half of 2015, smuggling and drug trafficking cases accounted for over 31 percent of cases processed (ranked number one), trafficking of arms and ammunition accounted for 13.54 percent, and vehicle trafficking accounted for 2.23 percent (Algeria n.d.a). The same source also mentions that [translation] "fuel smuggling accounted for more than 70% of smuggling cases processed" (Algeria n.d.a). The 2015 article on organized crime in 11 wilayas in central Algeria during the first nine months of 2015, published by La Nouvelle Republique, notes that [translation] "drug trafficking tops the list of criminal activities" (La Nouvelle Republique 7 Dec. 2015). The same source also reports that the National Gendarmerie General Command (commandement general), which is responsible for 11 wilayas in central Algeria, noted a [translation] "14.60% increase in cases involving organized crime" in the first nine months of 2015 compared with the previous year (La Nouvelle Republique 7 Dec. 2015).

According to the 2017 OSAC report, criminal networks in the Sahel operate around Algeria's borders (US 25 Apr. 2017). A 2016 article published by La Nouvelle Republique reports that, according to a report on National Gendarmerie activities during the second quarter of 2016, the wilayas that are most concerned by organized crime are those along the border (La Nouvelle Republique 9 Aug. 2016). According to the report on the first half of 2015, published on the National Gendarmerie website, [translation] "the largest number of smuggling cases was recorded at the western border," and the largest number of drug trafficking cases were recorded in the central, eastern and western parts of the country (Algeria n.d.a). In its 2015 article, La Nouvelle Republique reports that most of the drug cases in 11 wilayas in central Algeria during the first nine months of 2015 occurred in Blida, followed by the wilaya of Algiers (La Nouvelle Republique 7 Dec. 2015). According to the National Gendarmerie report on the first half of 2015, with respect to vehicle trafficking, [translation] "the largest number of cases processed was in western Algeria , followed by eastern  and central Algeria" (Algeria n.d.a). The same source also indicates that the eastern part of the country saw the highest number of cases involving arms and ammunition trafficking (Algeria n.d.a). According to the 2017 OSAC report, the number of weapons seized on Algeria's eastern and southern borders [US English version] "continues to be high" (US 25 Apr. 2017).

The 2017 US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs report on money laundering and financial crime indicates that money laundering through Algeria's official financial system is [US English version] "minimal" and that the informal (cash-based) economy, estimated to be 30 to 50 percent of gross domestic product, "is vulnerable to abuse by criminals" (US Mar. 2017a, 30). The same report explains that Algerian authorities are [US English version] "increasingly concerned by cases of customs fraud and TBML [trade-based money laundering]" (US Mar. 2017a, 31).

1.2 Human Trafficking

An article published in 2016 by Panapress, a pan-African news agency, quotes the Algerian Minister of Justice as stating that human trafficking [translation] "does not occur in Algeria" and "to date, [security services] have only recorded one or two cases of this type" (Panapress 17 July 2016). Similarly, an article published in 2016 by news agency Algerie Presse Service (APS) quotes a UNODC representative and a representative of the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who respectively stated that [translation] "'the few cases' of human trafficking reported in Algeria 'are isolated cases'" and that human trafficking is a "'marginal phenomenon' in Algeria" (APS 20 Sept. 2016).

The Trafficking in Persons Report 2017 published by the US Department of State notes that Algeria is [US English version] "a transit and destination country" with respect to human trafficking, and people from sub-Saharan Africa, "often en route to neighboring countries or Europe, enter Algeria voluntarily but illegally, frequently with the assistance of smugglers or criminal networks" (US June 2017, 62). The same source notes that the southern Algerian city of Tamanrasset is [US English version] "the main entry point in Algeria for migrants and for the majority of foreign trafficking victims" (US June 2017, 62).

2. State Response and Effectiveness

According to the National Gendarmerie website, security and intervention units were put in place [translation] "to consolidate the fight against insecurity and violence" because of the "emergence of high crime areas," mostly around large population centres and in the context of robbery and banditry (thefts, burglaries, and destruction of property and vandalism) (Algeria n.d.b). The same source mentions the following about the security and intervention units:

[translation]

Each wilaya grouping can receive one or more security and intervention units, based on insecure areas to be monitored and the rate of increase in acts of delinquency and banditry.



The security and intervention units have been tasked with carrying out permanent and ongoing security actions in areas where insecurity is widespread and delinquency and banditry proliferate, maintaining order and, through their presence, acting as a deterrent.

These preventive actions are complemented by forceful interventions that can be adapted for the most unpredictable situations, to protect individuals and property, to re-establish order or to thwart all acts of aggression against citizens, and to arrest perpetrators.

These missions consist of:

[c]arrying out surveillance patrols in insecure areas and areas known for violence and banditry[;]

[q]uestioning and identifying suspect individuals[;]

[c]hecking and searching suspect vehicles[;]

[m]onitoring areas that could be concealing illicit activities or harbouring criminal gangs. (Algeria n.d.b)

Sources from 2017 refer to Plan Delphine, a special security operation set up in Algeria during the summer, mobilizing 27,000 gendarmes and commandeering 2,000 vehicles, 2,500 motorcycles and 38 dog and handler teams (L'Echo d'Algerie 7 July 2017; APS 7 July 2017). As for the fight against crime, the same sources also mention the strengthening of local road safety brigades and of security as well as intervention units through foot and mobile patrols [translation] "to thwart any attempt or intention to commit a crime" (L'Echo d'Algerie 7 July 2017; APS 7 July 2017). According to Sud Horizons, an online Algerian newspaper, in the first quarter of 2017, with regard to combatting urban crime in Algiers, [translation] "screening and identification operations carried out by foot patrol teams [were] widely deployed in strategic areas" (Sud Horizons 3 Apr. 2017).

The article published in 2017 by El Moudjahid quotes the Director of Public Safety and Employment as stating that, [translation] "to support efforts to fight child abduction [in Algeria], the number of units handling this matter - there are currently eight teams - will be increased" (El Moudjahid 5 Mar. 2017).

According to the same source, again citing the Director of Public Safety and Employment, the number of cases of ordinary crimes (offences against individuals and property, intentional homicide, child abduction, and assault and battery) processed by the National Gendarmerie decreased 4.22 percent compared to 2015 (El Moudjahid 5 Mar. 2017). Similarly, an article published on 8 March 2017 by APS cites the commander of the Algiers local unit as stating that the number of ordinary crimes (assault and battery, murder and theft) in the capital decreased by 3.75 percent in 2016 over 2015, [translation] "National Gendarmerie response teams and units have managed to eliminate hotbeds for crime in the capital," and "fixed and mobile units responsible for checks and security" have been set up (APS 8 Mar. 2017). According to the same source, the police chief explained that [translation] "all murder cases in the last three years have been solved" (APS 8 Mar. 2017).

According to the website of the National Gendarmerie, the National Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology (Institut national de criminalistique et de criminologie) [translation] "is a public administrative body" (Algeria n.d.c). The same source explains that the Institute's [translation] "mission is to uphold justice and support the investigative units in carrying out the duties of the judicial police," and it is primarily responsible for:

[c]arrying out, at the request of magistrates, expert and scientific analyses for preliminary investigations and judicial inquiries in order to develop evidence that can be used to identity the perpetrators of crimes and misdemeanours;

[c]arrying out, at the request of investigators and competent authorities, scientific reviews, analyses and expert assessments falling within their respective areas of responsibility;

[i]mplementing procedures for forensic police concerning the collection and analysis of objects, prints and documents gathered from crime scenes;

[p]roviding scientific assistance for complex investigations;

[p]articipating in studies and analyses on preventing and reducing all forms of crime;

[p]articipating, as the body responsible for carrying out testing and expert analysis in the area of criminology, in developing anti-crime policy. (Algeria n.d.c)

The article published on 8 March 2017 by APS quotes the Chief of the Judicial Police as stating that the National Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology [translation] "responded in 788 cases in 2016 and helped solve another 224 cases through fingerprint and DNA analysis" (APS 8 Mar. 2017).

Sources report that, according to the former secretary general of INTERPOL, the Algerian police are ranked fifth in the world in terms of efficiency and resources (HuffPost Algeria 2 Apr. 2017; Algerie Focus 2 Apr. 2017).

2.1 Organized Crime

According to the website of the National Gendarmerie,

[translation]

[t]he National Gendarmerie has research units whose staff specializes in the judicial police and, in particular, is responsible for combatting the most dangerous forms of organized crime, through lengthy and complex investigations. (Algeria n.d.a)

The National Gendarmerie's website also indicates that the Border Guard Units Command (Commandement des unites des Gardes-frontieres), which is under the authority of the National Gendarmerie, is responsible, within the police field, for preventing and repressing illegal immigration, smuggling activities and drug trafficking, among others (Algeria n.d.d). The same sources explains that [Algeria English version] "the evolution of crime and insecurity especially in regions located in the south, the extent of smuggling in the East and West, the national dimension which implicates the problem of illegal immigration" have led to the implementation of "plans of development  in order to meet the set goals and to accomplish an optimum take over to the territory" (Algeria n.d.d).

A 2017 report on drug and chemical control by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs explains the following about Algeria:

The Ministry of Justice claimed in 2016 that law enforcement and security forces had successfully enhanced land border security to the extent that some drug trafficking networks had shifted to sea routes between Algeria and Morocco, reflected by increasing seizures made by the Algerian Coast Guard and the National Gendarmerie. (US Mar. 2017b, 96)

Similarly, an article published in January 2017 by Sud Horizons cites a source close to the National Office for the Fight Against Drugs and Drug Addiction (Office national de lutte contre la drogue et la toxicomanie) in Algeria as stating that the amount of cannabis resin seized in 2016 decreased by 13.89 percent over 2015, [translation] "mostly thanks to strengthening the security apparatus at the borders  [but that] the quantities seized were still 'high'" (Sud Horizons 31 Jan. 2017).

The article published in April 2017 by Sud Horizons states the following:

[translation]

The fight against drug trafficking has been one of the priorities set out in the action plan of the SW [wilaya police (surete de wilaya)] in Algiers since the beginning of the year. Police officers have intensified their raids in highcrime areas, especially in neighbourhoods known for drug  trafficking. According to a SWPJ [Algiers wilaya judicial police service (service de la police judiciaire de la surete de wilaya d'Alger)] source, a crime map was drawn up for urban crime areas. Neighbourhoods went through a "major clean-up," including municipalities in the districts of Sidi M'Hamed, El Madania, Birtouta, Cheraga, Draria, Rouiba and Dar El Beida. The police are not just tracking down dealers; investigators have also been targeting networks and suppliers. Several networks have been dismantled and drug lords have been neutralized. A large quantity of cannabis resin and psychotropic tablets were seized in these operations. (Sud Horizons 3 Apr. 2017)

An article on drug trafficking that was published in 2016 by Horizons, an Algerian daily, indicates that, according to the Algerian Minister of Justice, the legal system [translation] "is continually updated to improve the fight against new methods of drug trafficking  [notably through] the creation of jurisdictions specializing in drug, terrorism and organized crime matters" (Horizons 22 Apr. 2016).

Sources provide figures concerning the fight against crime in Algeria for 2017, including the following:

In the first half of 2017, the ANP neutralized 908 smugglers, 251 drug traffickers and 5,449 illegal immigrants, and seized 28,254.46 kilograms of processed kief [hashish], 552,225 litres of fuel and 605 weapons of war (Algeria July 2017, 21).

In the first quarter of 2017, [translation] "in the fight against drug trafficking, [m]ore than 3,400 criminal cases were processed by police investigators in the [c]apital," leading to the "arrest of 3,741 suspects, including drug dealers and drug lords," and "1,150 weapons cases [were processed in Algiers],  leading to the arrest of 1,230 suspects in flagrante delicto" (Sud Horizons 3 Apr. 2017).

In the first quarter of 2017, more than 14 tons of cannabis resin were seized in Algeria, and 7,734 cases involving trafficking of hard drugs were processed, respectively representing a decrease of 48.33 percent and an increase of 3.58 percent over the same period in 2016 (Sud Horizons 13 May 2017).

There were [translation] "preventive operations," primarily through "raids in suspect neighbourhoods of Algiers and seven other wilayas [Tipasa, Boumerdes, Mascara, Bechar, Biskra, Ghardaia and Adrar]" as part of efforts to execute the "plan to improve the safety of citizens and property and curtail all sorts of crimes, including physical assault, theft and drug trafficking," and these raids led "to the arrest of 70 individuals and the seizure of 16 kg of processed kief, [10] bladed weapons and [465] psychotropic tablets  in addition to other cases involving cigarette smuggling" (L'Echo d'Algerie 25 Mar. 2017).

In February 2017, 15 criminal cases were solved by National Security (Surete nationale) forces across the country, and [translation] "31 people were arrested and brought before the competent authorities," representing a 100 percent success rate (Algeria 20 Mar. 2017).

In January 2017 and December 2016, [translation] "159 criminal cases involving offences against individuals and property" were processed by National Police judicial police forces using the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) (Algeria 12 Mar. 2017).

Sources provide figures relating to Algeria's fight against crime for 2016, including the following:

In 2016, the ANP neutralized 2,615 smugglers, 6,103 illegal immigrants and 414 drug traffickers, and seized 110,951 kilograms of processed kief, 1,839,827 litres of fuel and 4,768 weapons (Algeria Dec. 2016, 20-21).

In 2016, [translation] "several networks specializing in trafficking drugs and psychotropic tablets were dismantled, leading to the arrest of more than 500 people, who were brought before the competent authorities, and another 382 people were incarcerated" (APS 8 Mar. 2017).

In 2016, National Gendarmerie forces processed 114,738 cases, leading to the arrest of 115,487 people (El Moudjahid 5 Mar. 2017).

In 2016, 23 cases of child abduction were recorded, 93 percent of which were processed (El Moudjahid 5 Mar. 2017).

In December 2016, 28 individuals involved in cases of intentional homicide were arrested by National Security forces, meaning that 100 percent of homicide cases were solved that month (Algeria 18 Jan. 2017).

In November 2016, [translation] "thanks to new technologies for research and judicial investigation, particularly the AFIS," National Security forces processed 67 criminal cases (Algeria 20 Dec. 2016).

In October 2016, judicial and criminal police forces solved 100 percent of homicides, or 26 cases, in urban areas, leading to the [translation] "arrest and appearance of 59 individuals, 26 of whom were charged [with being] the main perpetrators and another 33 as accomplice[s]" (Algeria 3 Dec. 2016).

In October 2016, National Security forces solved 78 criminal cases [translation] "using new processes, including the [AFIS]" (Algeria 22 Nov. 2016).

In August 2016, using the AFIS, [translation] "judicial police forces within the General Directorate of National Security (Direction generale de la Surete nationale) solved 96 cases involving offences against individuals and property" (Algeria 19 Oct. 2016a).

In August 2016, [translation] "the various National Security crime brigades solved  17 homicides, including 11 cases of voluntary homicide and 6 cases of assault and battery causing death  [and] 31 individuals involved in these cases were incarcerated" (Algeria 19 Oct. 2016b).

In May 2016, using the AFIS, [translation] "judicial police forces within the Directorate General of National Security solved 87 cases involving offences against the individual and property" (Algeria 28 June 2016).

Sources report the following figures for 2015 concerning Algeria's fight against crime:

In the first nine months of 2015, in 11 central wilayas, 23,097 people were arrested, and 5,260 of those were placed in detention; 1,985 of these cases involved organized crime, and 1,918 of those cases were tried and led to the arrest of 2,917 people (1,684 were placed in detention); 989 cases involved drug trafficking, and 960 of those were tried and led to the seizure of 775,146 kilograms of processed kief, 1,500 grams of cocaine and 71,699 psychotropic tablets; 423 cases involved weapons and ammunition trafficking and led to the arrest of 403 people and the seizure of 33 weapons (La Nouvelle Republique 7 Dec. 2015).

In October 2015, through the AFIS, [translation] "National Security judicial police forces solved 82 criminal cases  involving vehicle theft, forgery and use of false documents, and offences against individuals and property" (Algeria 22 Nov. 2015).

Nationwide, during the first quarter of 2015, 167 cases related to counterfeit currency led to the arrest of 103 people and the seizure of 25 million Algerian dinars [approximately C$287,872], 550 euros [approximately C$820], [US$]800 and 10,000 Tunisian dinars [approximately C$5,217] in counterfeit bills by National Security (Algeria 5 May 2015).

2.2 Human Trafficking

Without offering more details, the article published in 2016 by Panapress mentions that the Algerian Minister of Justice told the media that [translation] "[t]he provisions to the penal code introduced in 2014 provide for severe punishment for human trafficking" (Panapress 17 July 2016). A 2016 UNODC report on human trafficking in Northern Africa and the Middle East states that [UN English version] "[t]he current legislation on trafficking in persons in Algeria was introduced in November 2009" (UN 22 Dec. 2016).

The same report states the following:

[UN English version]

The national authorities of Algeria have developed a national strategy on prevention and repression of trafficking in persons which was released on 20 October 2015. An inter-ministerial committee, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been created to develop a national action plan and a report of the activities in place to combat trafficking in persons in Algeria. The national action plan identifies the national focal point on the issue of trafficking in persons, which is in charge of coordinating the actions of different ministries, to reinforce the legislation on trafficking in persons, to strengthen the national capacity on the matters of detection and identification of victims of trafficking, to improve international cooperation, and to implement a communication plan for advocacy purposes. (UN 22 Dec. 2016)

According to the US Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report 2017, the Algerian government has demonstrated its [US English version] "political will" to address human trafficking by issuing, in September 2016, a presidential decree formally institutionalizing the Interministerial Antitrafficking Committee (Comite interministeriel de lutte contre la traite) and assigning it a budget to implement its mandate (US June 2017, 60). The same source mentions the following:

The [Algerian] government made key achievements . These achievements include the investigation and prosecution of 16 alleged traffickers and the identification of 65 potential forced labour victims. Despite the identified victims' illegal immigration status, the government provided them temporary housing, medical aid, and other basic services at a migrant transit center.  Despite these achievements, the government did not systematically identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, nor did it provide adequate protection services for all trafficking victims. It did not have a standardized mechanism to refer potential victims to government- or NGO-run protection services. Furthermore, due to a lack of identification efforts, authorities continued to punish potential trafficking victims for acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking, such as immigration violations and prostitution. (US June 2017, 60)

In its Freedom in the World 2016 report, Freedom House writes the following with respect to Algeria:

Algeria reported its first ever conviction under the law [criminalizing human trafficking] in 2015. However, according to monitors, the government is making virtually no effort to systematically enforce the ban [on human trafficking], and trafficking victims themselves are frequently detained and harassed by authorities. (Freedom House 14 July 2016)

3. Protection for Witnesses and Victims of Crime

An Amnesty International report published in 2017 notes that [AI English version] "[in January,] changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure came into effect, including new witness protection measures" (Amnesty International 22 Feb. 2017). Similarly, in correspondence with the Research Directorate, a lawyer with the Supreme Court in Algeria stated that [translation] "[O]rder No. 15-02 of 23 July 2015, amending and supplementing Order No. 66-155 of 8 June 1966 pertaining to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Ordonnance n 15-02 du 23 juillet 2015 modifiant et completant l'Ordonnance n 66-155 du 8 juin 1966 portant code de procedure penale), included a new Chapter VI under the title "'Protection of Witnesses, Experts and Victims'" (lawyer 23 July 2017).

Order No. 15-02 of 23 July 2015 reads as follows:

[translation]

Art. 65. bis 19  Witnesses and experts may be offered one or more of the extraprocedural and/or procedural protective measures provided for in this chapter, when their life, their physical integrity or that of their family members or close relatives, or their basic interests are seriously threatened by reason of information that they are likely to provide in court and that may be vital to ascertaining the truth in cases of organized crime, terrorism or corruption. (Algeria 23 July 2015)

Art. 65. bis 20  The extraprocedural measures for the protection of witnesses and experts include the following:

concealing information about their identity;

making a special telephone number available to them;

designating a point of contact for them within the security forces;

providing close physical protection, which may be expanded to include family members and friends;

installing preventive technical equipment in their home;

with their express consent, recording any telephone calls made or received;

changing their place of residence;

providing social or financial assistance;

if they are being detained, placing them in a specially secured area.

These measures also apply to victims when they are witnesses.

 (Algeria 23 July 2015)

A copy of Order No. 15-02 of 23 July 2015 is attached to this Response. The lawyer stated that the witness, expert and victim protection system in Algeria [translation] "is very recent and has not yet been implemented" (Lawyer 3 Aug. 2017). Corroborating information could not found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Note

[1] According to the statistical database on the UNODC website, [UN English version] "changes in definitions and/or counting rules are reported by the Member State [Algeria] to indicate a break in the time series" (UN 2015).

References

Agence France-Presse (AFP). 25 January 2017. "Gang Violence on the Rise on Edges of Algerian Cities." [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. July 2017. El Djeich. "Unites en action." No. 648. [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 20 March 2017. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "Les services de la Surete Nationale ont elucide 15 affaires criminelles en fevrier 2017." [Accessed 2 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 12 March 2017. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "Resolution de 159 affaires criminelles grace au systeme AFIS." [Accessed 2 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 18 January 2017. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "Interpellation de 28 personnes impliquees dans des affaires criminelles en mois de decembre 2016." [Accessed 2 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 20 December 2016. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "67 affaires criminelles traitees durant le mois de novembre 2016 grace au systeme (AFIS)." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 3 December 2016. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "Durant le mois d'octobre la police a reussi a resoudre 100 % les affaires d'homicide." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. December 2016. El Djeich. "Unites en action." No. 641. [Accessed 2 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 22 November 2016. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "La police elucide 78 affaires criminelles grace a la technique AFIS." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 19 October 2016a. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "96 affaires criminelles traitees grace au systeme AFIS durant le mois de aout 2016." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 19 October 2016b. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "17 affaires d'homicide elucidees en aout." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 28 June 2016. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "87 affaires criminelles traitees grace au systeme AFIS durant le mois de mai 2016." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 22 November 2015. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "82 affaires traitees grace au systeme automatise d'identification des empreintes digitales en octobre 2015." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 5 May 2015. Direction generale de la Surete nationale. "Des reseaux de faux monnayeurs demanteles par la police." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. 23 July 2015. Ordonnance n 15-02 du 23 juillet 2015 modifiant et completant l'ordonnance n 66-155 du 8 juin 1966 portant code de procedure penale. (30-31). [Accessed 31 July 2017]

Algeria. N.d.a. Gendarmerie nationale. "La Police judiciaire." [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. N.d.b. Gendarmerie nationale. "Section de securite et d'intervention." [Accessed 2 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. N.d.c. Gendarmerie nationale. "Institut national de criminalistique et de criminologie." [Accessed 2 Aug. 2017]

Algeria. N.d.d. Gendarmerie nationale. "Unites des Gardes-frontieres." [Accessed 2 Aug. 2017]

Algerie Focus. 2 April 2017. "Video. En matiere de moyens et d'efficacite/ La police algerienne classee 5e au monde." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Amnesty International. 22 February 2017. "Algeria." Amnesty International Report 2016/2017: The State of the World's Human Rights. [Accessed 26 July 2017]

Algerie Presse Service (APS). 7 July 2017. "Saison estivale : mobilisation de 27.000 gendarmes pour le plan 'Delphine'." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algerie Presse Service (APS). 8 March 2017. "Recul des crimes de droit commun a Alger en 2016." (Factiva) [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Algerie Presse Service (APS). 20 September 2016. "Traite des personnes  'le peu' de cas signales en Algerie sont des 'cas isoles'." (Factiva) [Accessed 26 July 2017]

Canada. 27 June 2017. Travel.gc.ca. "Country Travel Advice and Advisories - Algeria." [Accessed 18 July 2017]

L'Echo d'Algerie. 7 July 2017. "Gendarmerie nationale : le Plan Delphine pour la securite les estivants." [Accessed 31 July 2017]

L'Echo d'Algerie. 26 March 2017. Moussa O. "Lutte contre la criminalite : 800 actes criminels perpetres quotidiennement en Algerie." [Accessed 31 July 2017]

L'Echo d'Algerie. 25 March 2017. "Lutte contre la criminalite : 7 quartiers d'Alger et 7 autres wilayas, passes au peigne fin." [Accessed 31 July 2017]

El Moudjahid. 5 March 2017. "Criminalite : Recul des indicateurs de violence." (Factiva)

El Watan. 29 March 2017. Asma Bersali. "La criminalite en question : la violence, un phenomene qui se banalise." [Accessed 18 July 2017]

Freedom House. 14 July 2016. "Algeria." Freedom in the World 2016. [Accessed 25 July 2017]

Horizons. 22 April 2016. "'Le trafic de drogue menace la democratie et la securite des pays,' selon Louh." (Factiva)

HuffPost Algeria. 2 April 2017. "La police algerienne est classee cinquieme au monde en matiere d'efficacite et de moyens." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Lawyer, Algeria. 3 August 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Lawyer, Algeria. 23 July 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

La Nouvelle Republique. 9 August 2016. "Le taux plus eleve dans les wilayas frontalieres." [Accessed 18 July 2017]

La Nouvelle Republique. 7 December 2015. "Plus de 23 000 individus arretes dans des affaires de criminalite dans les wilayas du centre en neuf mois." [Accessed 18 July 2017]

Panapress. 17 July 2016. "Le rapport americain sur la traite des personnes est loin de la realite en Algerie, selon le ministre de la Justice." (Factiva) [Accessed 26 July 2017]

Sud Horizons. 13 May 2017. "Les chiffres effrayants de trafic de drogue en Algerie." [Accessed 3 August 2017]

Sud Horizons. 3 April 2017. "Drogue : plus de 3 400 affaires traitees en 3 mois a Alger." [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

Sud Horizons. 31 January 2017. "Plus de 109 tonnes de resine de cannabis saisies en 2016 en Algerie." [Accessed 3 Aug. 2017]

United Nations (UN). 22 December 2016. "North Africa and the Middle East." Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2016. [Accessed 1 Aug. 2017]

United Nations (UN). 2015. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). "UNODC Statistics." [Accessed 19 July 2017]

United States (US). June 2017. Department of State. "Algeria." Trafficking in Persons Report 2017. [Accessed 26 July 2017]

United States (US). 25 April 2017. Department of State. Overseas Security Advisory Council. Algeria 2017 Crime & Safety Report. [Accessed 18 July 2017]

United States (US). March 2017a. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. International Narcotics Control Strategy Report Volume II - Money Laundering and Financial Crimes. [Accessed 26 July 2017]

United States (US). March 2017b. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. International Narcotics Control Strategy Report Volume I- Drug and Chemical Control. [Accessed 26 July 2017]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Algeria  Consulate in Montreal, Direction generale de la surete nationale, Embassy in Ottawa, Gendarmerie Nationale; Ligue algerienne des droits de l'homme; Ligue algerienne pour la defense des droits de l'homme.

Internet sites, including: Actualite Algerie; Algeria  Office national des statistiques; Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project; ecoi.net; El-Djazair.com; Federation internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; Human Rights Watch; UN  Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Attachment

Algeria. 23 July 2015. Ordonnance n 15-02 du 23 juillet 2015 modifiant et completant l'ordonnance n 66-155 du 8 juin 1966 portant code de procedure penale. (30-31). [Accessed 31 July 2017]
Somalia: Requirements and procedures to obtain a driver's license; appearance of driver's licenses (2015-July 2017)

Publisher Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Publication Date 28 July 2017 Citation / Document Symbol SOM105843.E Cite as Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Requirements and procedures to obtain a driver's license; appearance of driver's licenses (2015-July 2017), 28 July 2017, SOM105843.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac3823c4.html [accessed 26 September 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Issuance of Driver's Licenses in Somalia

A March 2014 article from Al Jazeera reports that in 2013, "Somalia's traffic service" began issuing driver's licenses "for the first time in more than two decades," and made their possession mandatory (Al Jazeera 17 Mar. 2014). A January 2015 article by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) reports that in Kismayo, under the Interim Juba Administration in Southern Somalia [1], "local drivers and vehicle owners have been given a 40-day ultimatum to apply for a driving license and other vehicle passes and permits" (African Union 8 Jan. 2015).

A July 2016 informational booklet by the Government of Alberta on its Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) Program states that the "Federal Republic of Somalia has recently begun issuing a new driver's license through the Ministry of Transportation" (Alberta July 2016, 22). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

1.1 Somaliland

A July 2014 article from the Somaliland Sun, an "independent news source" in Somaliland, reports that the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing in Somaliland announced that as of 1 January 2014, the "booklet type driver['s] license" would be replaced by a new license in the form of a "plastic ID card" (Somaliland Sun 17 July 2014). The article further indicates that, according to the Minister, drivers in Somaliland caught without the new licenses as of 1 January 2015 will "be liable for prosecution in a court of law," and adds that the new licenses are divided among classes A, B, and C to denote the class of vehicle the driver is permitted to drive (Somaliland Sun 17 July 2014). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2. Requirements and Procedures to Obtain a Driver's License

Information on the requirements and procedures to obtain a driver's license in Somalia was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. A January 2014 article by Sabahi, a news source sponsored by the United States Africa Command that focuses on the Horn of Africa region (AllAfrica n.d.), cites the Mayor of Mogadishu as stating that a national identification card is required to obtain a driver's license (Sabahi 6 Jan. 2014).

Without providing further information, the March 2014 Al Jazeera article reports that five driving schools were licensed to operate in Mogadishu over the previous year, and notes that one of the schools had graduated more than 500 students over a nine-month period since opening (Al Jazeera 17 Mar. 2014).

2.1 Somaliland

Information on the requirements and procedures to obtain a driver's license in Somaliland was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. A December 2013 article from Sabahi cites a Somaliland traffic police officer as stating that "all drivers are verified and tested before they are issued a license" (Sabahi 26 Dec. 2013). The same source, however, quotes the chairman of Hornwatch, a "Hargeisa-based human rights organisation" as stating that "corrupt or improper issuance of driving licenses by the agencies that are responsible for road safety" are linked to an increase in accidents (Sabahi 26 Dec. 2013).

3. Locations to Obtain a Driver's License

A March 2014 report by the Danish Immigration Service and the Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre, Landinfo, "an independent body within the Norwegian Immigration Authorities" (Norway n.d.), based on a November 2013 fact-finding mission to Nairobi and Mogadishu, cites an international NGO based in Nairobi as indicating that driver's licenses are being issued in Mogadishu (Denmark and Norway Mar. 2014, 65). The March 2014 Al Jazeera article reports that the capacity of the traffic service in Mogadishu is limited to issuing 20 new driver's licenses per day, in "a city of more than a million people" (Al Jazeera 17 Mar. 2014).

The January 2015 AMISOM article reports that the Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications opened an office in Kismayo, and locals can access "government documents, licenses, and passes" (African Union 8 Jan. 2015). Information on the specific location of this office in Kismayo could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

3.1 Somaliland

Without providing further information, the July 2014 Somaliland Sun article indicates that the licenses are available "in all relevant offices" throughout Somaliland (Somaliland Sun 17 July 2014). Further and corroborating information about the locations to obtain a driver's license within Somaliland could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

4. Appearance of Driver's Licenses

The Alberta GDL booklet describes the licenses issued by the Ministry of Transportation as "credit-card style," and, without providing further information, indicates that "these licenses possess sufficient security features" to allow for the granting of a "date first licensed" (Alberta July 2016, 22). A sample photograph of a driver's license issued by the Federal Republic of Somalia's Ministry of Transportation as contained in the GDL booklet is attached to this Response (Attachment 1). The Alberta information booklet indicates that "[m]any older Somalia and Somaliland driver's licenses are outright fabrications, however, completely unverifiable by any recognized governing body" (Alberta July 2016, 22). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Photographs and details of a sample of a driver's license issued by the Jubaland State of Somalia, as contained within the Keesing Reference Systems' Document Checker database, are attached to this Response (Attachment 2). According to Keesing, "this driving license was first issued in January 2015 and contains a contact chip," and is 86 millimetres by 54 millimetres, or 3.4 inches by 2.1 inches in size (Keesing Reference Systems n.d.). The source further indicates that the license contains the following information: name, first names, street, residence, date of birth, place of birth, bearer's signature, document number, date valid until, date of issue, issuing country, and place of issuance (Keesing Reference Systems n.d.).

4.1 Somaliland

The July 2014 Somaliland Sun article describes previously-issued licenses in Somaliland as "designed in a booklet form and containing several pages," and describes the new license as being "a simple plastic ID card" with "computerized" card data (Somaliland Sun 17 July 2014). A photograph of examples of the A, B, and C class licenses as included in the Somaliland Sun article, is attached to this Response (Attachment 3). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Note

[1] "The Interim Juba Administration is a [f]ederal [s]tate in southern Somalia formed on 15 May 2013 and brings together Middle Juba, Lower Juba and Gedo regions under one [f]ederal [s]tate recognized locally and internationally in line with the federal constitution of Somalia" (African Union 8 Jan. 2015).

References

Al Jazeera. 17 March 2014. Hamza Mohamed. "Somali Traffic Cops Battle Gridlock and Chaos." [Accessed 28 June 2017]

Alberta. July 2016. Special Investigations Unit (SIU). "Somalia and Somaliland." Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) Exemption Program. [Accessed 12 July 2017]

AllAfrica. N.d. "Sabahi (Washington, DC)." [Accessed 13 July 2017]

African Union. 8 January 2015. African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). "Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications Opens Office in Kismayo." [Accessed 28 June 2017]

Denmark and Norway. March 2014. Danish Immigration Service and Landinfo. Update on Security and Protection Issues in Mogadishu and South-Central Somalia. Joint Report from the Danish Immigration Service's and the Norwegian Landinfo's Fact Finding Mission to Nairobi, Kenya and Mogadishu, Somalia. [Accessed 13 July 2017]

Keesing Reference Systems. N.d. "Somalia - SOM - Driving License." [Accessed 13 July 2017]

Norway. N.d. "English." [Accessed 27 July 2017]

Sabahi. 6 January 2014. Abdi Moalim. "Somalia Faces Logistical Challenges in Issuing New Passports." (Factiva) [Accessed 28 June 2017]

Sabahi. 26 December 2013. Barkhad Dahir. "Uptick in Road Accidents in Somaliland Causes Concern." (Factiva) [Accessed 28 June 2017]

Somaliland Sun. 17 July 2014. Latifa Yusuf Masai. "Somaliland: State Launches New Generation Driving License." [Accessed 12 July 2017]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: African Union  Mission in Somalia; International Organization for Migration  office in Somalia; Somali Canadian Association of Etobicoke; Somali Centre for Family Services, Ottawa; Somalia  Embassy in Washington, D.C., Ministry of Public Works and Transportation; UN  UNHCR office in Kenya.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Australia  Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; BBC; ecoi.net; Factiva; Human Rights Watch; IRIN; Jowhar; Mareeg; Radio Bar-Kulan; Radio Dalsan; Radio Shabelle; Raxanreeb; Reuters; SlateAfrique; UN  Refworld; US  Department of State.

Attachments
Somalia: Information on the Dabare Waqbare sub-clan, including distinguishing features, locations, occupations and position in the clan hierarchy; treatment, including the ability of members to live in Mogadishu (2014-October 2017)

Publisher Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Publication Date 25 October 2017 Citation / Document Symbol SOM105998.E Related Document(s) Somalie : information sur le sous-clan Dabare Waqbare, y compris ses caracteristiques distinctives, les endroits ou il est etabli, les metiers qu'il exerce et sa position dans la hierarchie du clan; le traitement qui lui est reserve, y compris la capacite de ses membres de vivre a Mogadiscio (2014-octobre 2017) Cite as Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Information on the Dabare Waqbare sub-clan, including distinguishing features, locations, occupations and position in the clan hierarchy; treatment, including the ability of members to live in Mogadishu (2014-October 2017), 25 October 2017, SOM105998.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac383834.html [accessed 26 September 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

Information on the Dabare [Dabarre, Debarre] Waqbare sub-clan was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

1. The Dabare Waqbare Sub-clan

The High Court of Australia indicates, in a decision regarding the case of a Somali asylum applicant, that the Waqbare is a sub-clan of the Dabarre sub-clan (Australia 26 Oct. 2000, para. 39). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. The decision of the High Court of Australia further indicates that the Dabare is a sub-clan of the Rahanwein [Rahanweyn] clan, which is "subdivided into two major sub-clans known as the Digil and the Mirifle" (Australia 26 Oct. 2000, para. 39). A 2014 report on Somalia by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) similarly states that "[t]he term 'Rahanweyn' is sometimes used to describe a separate clan family, as identical to both Digil/Mirifle" (EU Aug. 2014, 44). A report published by the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD), based on a lecture on clans in Somalia by Joakim Gundel, a political analyst specializing in Somali studies, likewise states that the Digil-Mirifle are also known as the Rahanwein (ACCORD Dec. 2009, 11).

However, a report authored by Guido Ambroso, a UNHCR field/repatriation officer, based on information taken from I.M. Lewis's Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society, states that the Mirfle is also known as the Rahanwein, which translates into "'the large crowd'" (Ambroso Mar. 2002, 12). According to Ambroso, the Digil and Mirfle/Rahanwein originate "from a legendary common ancestor" (Ambroso Mar. 2002, 12).

An article by the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) [at the time under the auspices of the United Nations (UN)] also mentions that the Dabare sub-clan is part of the "larger Digil-Mirifle group" (UN 17 Aug. 2004). According to Ambroso, the Dabare are a "small clan" that is a part of the Digil clan, along with the Tunni, the Jiddu and the Dubdere (Ambroso Mar. 2002, 12). The IRIN article describes the Dabare as "indigenous to the Dinsoor area" [southwestern Somalia] (UN 17 Aug. 2004). Ambroso indicates that the Digil "are located in the Lower Shebelli region between Merka and Brawa" (Ambroso Mar. 2002, 12). According to the High Court of Australia decision, the Rahanwein are "based in southern Somalia" (Australia 26 Oct. 2000).

On 11 January 2000, the BBC reprinted an English translation of a report by Somali newspaper Qaran which indicates that "Dabare militiamen" engaged in clashes with the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) [1] on 10 January 2000 around the town of Dinsoor, leaving 13 dead (BBC 11 Jan. 2000). On 21 October 1999, the BBC reprinted another English translation of a report by the Mogadishu-based newspaper Ayaamaha which indicates that "Dabare militiamen" and RRA engaged in armed clashes with an unknown number of deaths (BBC 21 Oct. 1999). The 2004 IRIN article reports on factional fighting in the Bay region of south-central Somalia between the Dabare sub-clan and the Luway, identified as another sub-clan "of the larger Digil-Mirfle group," around the town of Dinsoor over a land dispute and representation in the district council (IRIN 17 Aug. 2004). Further information on conflicts involving the Dabare could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

A March 2014 article from The Indian Ocean Newsletter, a publication that "covers politics and business in African countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea," by Indigo Publications, a Paris-based press group (Africa Intelligence N.d), indicates that a former minister, described as "Digil/Dabarre," was selected as president of a proposed "virtual" State, Baidoa 6, made up of six regions: Middle Juba, Lower Juba, Gedo, Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle (The Indian Ocean Newsletter 21 March 2014). The same source explains that Baidoa 6 is part of "[s]everal virtual regional administrations  being created in the southwest of the country" (The Indian Ocean Newsletter 21 March 2014). A 2015 report by Somali pro-Al-Shabaab Radio Andalus, published on calamada.com, and republished by the BBC, mentions an "ugas [chief] Gedow Abdi of the Dabare clan in the Jubba region" (BBC 19 Jan. 2015).

Information on the occupations and distinguishing features of the Dabare could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

For information on the Digil-Mirifle and the Rahanwein, and the Somali clan families in general, see Responses to Information Requests SOM105305 of October 2015 and SOM105011 of December 2014.

2. Treatment

Information on the treatment of the Waqbare and the Dabare and their ability to live in Mogadishu could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Note

[1] The Political Handbook of the World (PHW) indicates that "[a]ssisted by troop from Ethiopia, the RRA [Rahanweyn Resistance Army] in 1999 seized control of much of south-central Somalia (home to the Digil and Mirifle clans) and expelled Ethiopian rebel groups from the region. The RRA was a core component of the Somali Peace Alliance (SPA), established in August 1999 to promote the 'rebuilding' of a central government through the initial establishment of a number of autonomous regional governments" (PHW 2015, 1329).

References

Africa Intelligence. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017]

Ambroso, Guido. March 2002. Clanship, Conflict and Refugees: An Introduction to Somalis in the Horn of Africa. [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017]

Australia. 26 October 2000. High Court of Australia. Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v. Hussein Mohamed Haji Ibrahim. S157/199. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2017]

Austrian Red Cross and the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD). 15 December 2009. Clans in Somalia: Report on a Lecture by Joakim Gundel, COI Workshop Vienna, 15 May 2009 (Revised Edition). Edited by Daisuke Yoshimura. [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 19 January 2015. "Anti-Charlie Hebdo Somali Protesters Call for 'Revenge'." Originally by Radio Andalus , as published on calamada.com on 19 January 2015. (Factiva) [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 11 January 2000. "Over 20 Reportedly Killed in Fighting in Two South-Central Towns." Originally published by Qaran, 10 January 2000. (Factiva) [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 21 October 1999. "Clashes Reported in Southwest Somalia." Originally published by Ayaamaha, 19 October 1999 (Factiva) [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017]

European Union (EU). August 2014. European Asylum Support Office (EASO). EASO Country of Origin Information Report : South and Central Somalia Country Overview. [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017]

The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 21 March 2014. "A Patchwork of Virtual States." (Factiva) [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017]

Political Handbook of the World 2015 (PHW). 2015. "Somalia." Edited by Thomas Lansford. Washington, DC: CQ Press. [Accessed 23 Oct. 2017]

United Nations (UN). 17 August 2004. Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN). "Somalia: More Than 20 Killed in Fighting in Bay Region." [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Associate Professor, Royal Military College of Canada; Defence Scientist; Executive Director, Katuni Consult; Senior Programme Evaluation Officer, UNHCR; UNESCO.

Internet sites, including: Danish Immigration Service; ecoi.net; Minority Rights Group International; United Nations  Refworld.
Somalia: Treatment of members and supporters of the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID) and suspected members and supporters of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) by authorities in Somaliland, including whether the authorities cooperate with the Ethiopian government (2015-October 2017)

Publisher Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Publication Date 1 December 2017 Citation / Document Symbol SOM106012.E Cite as Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Treatment of members and supporters of the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID) and suspected members and supporters of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) by authorities in Somaliland, including whether the authorities cooperate with the Ethiopian government (2015-October 2017), 1 December 2017, SOM106012.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac384b64.html [accessed 26 September 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Overview of the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID)

The Justice and Welfare party [Ururka Caddaalada iyo Daryeelka (UCID)], is a political party in Somaliland (Al Jazeera 13 Nov. 2017; IRI [2005], 7; ISS 25 Oct. 2017, 3), led by Faysal Ali Warabe, who "has been opposition leader since the early 2000s" (Al Jazeera 13 Nov. 2017). According to a report on the 2005 Parliamentary Election in Somaliland by the International Republican Institute (IRI) [1], "only the top three vote-getting parties in the municipal elections [are] allowed to compete in the presidential election and all subsequent elections" (IRI [2005], 7). According to a report on the Somaliland 2017 elections published by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) [2] and authored by Omar Mahmood and Mohamed Farah [3], as a result of the 2012 local council elections, the three parties contesting the 2017 presidential elections are the ruling Kulmiye party, the UCID and "newcomer Waddani" (ISS 25 Oct. 2017, 3).

A 2015 report on state-building in Somaliland, co-published by the Academy for Peace and Development (APD) and Interpeace [4], explains that, according to the constitution of Somaliland, only three political parties can legally exist (APD and Interpeace Aug. 2015, 11). According to the same source, since 2002, the first three recognized parties were the United People's Democratic Party (UDUB), Kulmiye and UCID, and following the "2012 local council elections, Kulmiye and UCID maintained their status as official national parties, while UDUB was replaced by the Waddani party" (APD and Interpeace Aug. 2015, 17).

According to the IRI report, the UCID "presented itself as a party of intellectuals and professionals, bringing expertise from the West that could accelerate Somaliland's development and modernization" (IRI [2005], 15). According to the ISS report, the UCID leader, Faysal Ali Warabe, maintains strict control of the party, advocates for a welfare state in Somaliland, and is "staunchly anti-tribalist" (ISS 25 Oct. 2017, 7).

The report by the APD and Interpeace indicates that in 2010, following a disagreement between UCID leaders Faysal Ali Warabe and Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Cirro), the UCID broke into two factions, with Cirro becoming the chairperson for the new Waddani party, and the split "resulted in demonstrations, which sometimes turned violent" (APD and Interpeace Aug. 2015, 19).

2. Treatment of Members and Supporters of the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID) by Authorities in Somaliland

Information on the treatment of members and supporters of UCID by authorities in Somaliland was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to the US Department of State's Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2016, the Somaliland government "banned opposition political rallies outside the official campaign window," but "did not impose any such restrictions on progovernment rallies" (US 3 Mar. 2017, 20).

An article by Somali Update, an independent English-language Somali news website (Somali Update n.d.), reports that two officials of the Waddani party were detained on alleged anti-Somaliland sentiments in April 2017 (Somali Update 22 Apr. 2017). The same source cites the Secretary General of Waddani Party as stating that the purpose of the arrest was to "'humiliate them  and this administration seeks to impose [a] dictatorship'," as well as a member of the UCID as stating that it "signaled how President Ahmed Silanyo's administration is not tolerant [of] critical voices" (Somali Update 22 Apr. 2017). An article by the Somaliland Sun, an independent news website, reports that the officials were released in May 2017 despite a conviction, and shortly before their release, Waddani Party Presidential Candidate Abdirahman Irro [Cirro], addressing the arrests, stated that the arrests indicated that the "free fair Somaliland presidential elections slated for this coming November are untenable" (Somaliland Sun 30 May 2017).

A December 2014 article by the SomalilandPress [5], reports that an assembly of supporters in Hargeisa, welcoming UCID presidential candidate Jamal Ali Hussein's return from abroad, rerouted as a result of "heated arguments" with the police and "indiscriminating gunfire meant to disperse" party officials and supporters (SomalilandPress 16 Dec. 2014). The same source cites UCID spokesman Yusuf Kayse Abdullah as stating that "'police intimidation [resulted in] dozens of our [UCID] supporters being injured and dozens more detained'" (SomalilandPress 16 Dec. 2014).

3. Treatment of Suspected Members and Supporters of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) by Authorities in Somaliland

Information on the treatment of suspected members and supporters of the ONLF by Somaliland authorities was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to a country policy note on Ethiopia by the UK Home Office, citing Jane's Sentinel Security Assessment Ethiopia, the ONLF is a

separatist group based and operating in the Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia - an area of the country with a large population of ethnic Somalis from the Ogaden clan. The stated aims of the ONLF have varied over time, but centre around defending the human and civil rights of the Ogadeni people, protecting the region's natural resources from perceived exploitation by the state, and ultimately the fulfillment of the Ogadeni people's right to national self-determination. (UK 9 Oct. 2017, 25)

A September 2010 article by the BBC reports that Somaliland forces surrounded "about 200" suspected rebels in the mountainous region near the border with Ethiopia, and that the suspected rebels had left behind documents suggesting they belonged to the ONLF (BBC 13 Sept. 2010). The same source further states that "Somaliland has previously helped the Ethiopian government in its fight against the ONLF" (BBC 13 Sept. 2010). In a September 2010 article, Reuters reports that the ONLF, in response to claims of Somaliland's forces surrounding ONLF rebels in Somaliland, denied that any ONLF forces were in Somaliland, saying that no ONLF units operate outside Ethiopia (Reuters 14 Sept. 2010).

4. Somaliland and Ethiopia Inter-Government Relations

Information on Somaliland and Ethiopia inter-government relations was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a Lecturer at the Institute of Anthropology at Leipzig University, who has published articles on conflict and identity in Somalia, stated that

Ethiopia is an important patron of Somaliland. It helped to keep stability and peace in Somaliland since the mid-1990s and whenever there is a serious political crisis in the area (e.g., between Somaliland and Puntland) Ethiopia is involved as mediator. Ethiopia needs stability in northern Somalia, to be able to control its region 5 (Ogaden region) and to keep the ONLF in check. If Somaliland or Puntland were to crumble and violence or chaos would arise in northern Somalia, the border between this area and eastern Ethiopia would be open for guerillas, Islamists etc. to transverse, infiltrate, smuggle and hide (in northern Somalia). A stable Somaliland and Puntland guarantees some order in eastern Ethiopia as well. Ethiopia is also an important economic partner of Somaliland. Much of the goods imported or exported via the port of Berbera come from or go to Ethiopia.  Ethiopia has a liaison office in Hargeysa, which functions as an unofficial embassy. Somaliland citizens can, as far as I know, get visas for Ethiopia there. There is lots of travel of individuals between Somaliland and Ethiopia. (Lecturer 17 Nov. 2017)

In a 2009 report on human rights and democracy in Somaliland, Human Rights Watch describes the relationship between Somaliland and Ethiopia as being a relationship "premised to a large degree on close cooperation on matters of security" (Human Rights Watch July 2009, 43). The report further states that Ethiopia is the only country to maintain a significant diplomatic presence, and that "the Somaliland government has on numerous occasions arrested Ethiopian citizens the authorities in Addis Ababa believe are linked to insurgent groups and handed them over to the Ethiopian government without due process" (Human Rights Watch July 2009, 53-54). The report further states that there is no extradition treaty with Ethiopia, as Ethiopia "does not recognize Somaliland's independence and therefore cannot enter into any treaty with it" (Human Rights Watch July 2009, 43).

According to a 2012 report titled Persecuted in Ethiopia: Hunted in Hargeisa by the Oromia Support Group (OSG), a "non-political organisation which attempts to raise awareness of human rights violations in Ethiopia" (OSG Feb. 2012, 2), and published on the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat website [6], due to Ethiopia and Somaliland's economic and security interdependence,

political opponents of the Ethiopian regime are at risk in Somaliland. Although there is no extradition treaty, as Ethiopia does not recognise the state of Somaliland, a security agreement was reported by the ONLF to have been signed in a Dire Dawa hotel in November 2009. General Abraham Wolde-Mariam of the Ethiopian Security Service signed an agreement with the commanders of Somaliland's armed forces, police and intelligence services, that opponents to the Ethiopian government would be arrested and handed over. (OSG Feb. 2012, 25)

The same source also states that "[r]efoulement of refugees and asylum-seekers from Somaliland, known or suspected to be supporters of the ONLF or OLF [Oromo Liberation Front], has been continuing since 1996" (OSG Feb. 2012, 40).

A 2016 article by the SomalilandPress quotes an Ethiopian diplomatic envoy to Somaliland as stating that

"[a] highly appreciable common understanding has created [the need for] fighting terrorism and counter-terrorism, control of the activities of human trafficking and other criminals [by] exchanging the information with all concerned Somaliland authorities on [a] regular basis." (SomalilandPress 12 Nov. 2016)

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] The International Republican Institute (IRI) is "a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide by helping political parties to become more issue-based and responsive, assisting citizens to participate in government planning, and working to increase the role of marginalized groups in the political process  including women and youth." (IRI n.d.)

[2] The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) is an African non-profit organization with offices in South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Senegal which focuses, among other fields, on peacebuilding, conflict and governance. ISS provides "timely and credible analysis, practical training and technical assistance to governments and civil society" (ISS n.d.).

[3] Omar S. Mahmood is a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies' Addis Ababa Office, and Mohamed Farah is the director of the Academy for Peace and Development in Somaliland (ISS 25 Oct. 2017, 24).

[4] Interpeace is "an independent, international peacebuilding organization" that was "established in 1994 by the United Nations to develop innovative solutions to build peace" and supports "locally led peacebuilding initiatives in more than 21 countries" (Interpeace n.d.). The Academy for Peace and Development (APD) "was established in 1998 as a research institute in collaboration with Interpeace", and has "mainly focused in peace-building using Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology. The organization has brought together representatives from different sectors of society to identify priorities in the process of rebuilding Somaliland." (APD n.d)

[5] According to their Facebook fan page: "Somalilandpress is an independent news portal published from Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. It is one of the few English sources from the region. We are dedicated to present news objectively and present each side fairly." (Facebook n.d.)

[6] "The Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS) is a unit co-located within the Danish Refugee Council [DRC]'s regional office (Horn of Africa and Yemen) in Nairobi, Kenya. The RMMS' work is guided by a multi-agency Steering Committee, currently consisting of the IOM [International Organization for Migration], UNHCR, DRC, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), INTERSOS, IGAD [the Intergovernmental Authority on Development] and the EU delegation to Kenya" (RMMS n.d). The RMMS "reinforces data and information collection and sharing, research, analysis and aims to positively impact migration and refugee policies throughout the region" (RMMS n.d.).

References

Al Jazeera. 13 November 2017. Megan Iacobini de Fazio. "Five Things You Need to Know About Somaliland's Vote." [Accessed 29 Nov. 2017]

Academy for Peace and Development (APD) and Interpeace. August 2015. Somaliland's Progress Towards Peace: Mapping the Community Perspective. [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]

Academy for Peace and Development (APD). N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 13 September 2010. "Somaliland Forces 'Surround ONLF Rebels Near Ethiopia'." [Accessed 17 Oct. 2017]

Facebook. N.d. "SomalilandPress." [Accessed 8 Nov. 2017]

Human Rights Watch. July 2009. "Hostages to Peace": Threats to Human Rights and Democracy in Somaliland. [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]

Interpeace. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017]

International Republican Institute (IRI). [2005]. Somaliland - September 29, 2005 Parliamentary Election Assessment Report. [Accessed 19 Oct. 2017]

International Republican Institute (IRI). N.d. "FAQs." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017]

Institute for Security Studies (ISS). 25 October 2017. Omar S. Mahmood and Mohamed Farah. 25 October 2017. High Stakes for Somaliland's Presidential Elections. East Africa Report 15. [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017]

Institute for Security Studies (ISS). N.d. " How We Work." [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017]

Lecturer, Institute of Social Anthropology, Leipzig University. 17 November 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Oromia Support Group (OSG). February 2012. Persecuted in Ethiopia: Hunted in Hargeisa. [Accessed 17 Oct. 2017]

Reuters. 14 September 2010. Barry Malone. "Ethiopia Rebels Deny Standoff with Somaliland Forces." [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]

Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS). N.d. "About RMMS." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2016]

Somali Update. 22 April 2017. "Somaliland: Opposition Parties Condemn the Detention of Two Members in Hargeysa." [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]

Somali Update. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 8 Nov. 2017]

Somaliland Sun. 30 May 2017. Yusuf M. Hassan. "Somaliland: Wadani Party Officials Released Despite Conviction." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017]

SomalilandPress. 12 November 2016. "Our Bilateral Relations Continue to Impact Positively: Ethiopian Mission in Somaliland." [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017]

SomalilandPress. 16 December 2014. Mustafa Abdi Ibrahim. "Somaliland: Police Use Intimidation Tactics to Harass Jamal Ali Hussein and Other Opposition Leaders." [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]

United Kingdom (UK). 9 October 2017. Home Office. Country Policy and Information Note. Ethiopia: Opposition to the Government. Version 2.03. [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017]

United States (US). 3 March 2017. Department of State. "Somalia." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016. [Accessed 20 Oct. 2017]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Academy for Peace and Development; Somaliland  Official in Canada; Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Hargeisa.

Internet sites, including: Al-Jazeera; Australia  Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; ecoi.net; Factiva; International Crisis Group; Harar24 News; Hiiraan Online; Horn Affairs; Jane's Intelligence Review; The National (Somaliland); Netherlands  Dutch Council for Refugees; Norway  Landinfo; Pambazuka News; Political Handbook of the World; Progressio; Rift Valley Institute; Somali Commentator; Somaliland Informer; Somaliland Today; UN  Refworld; WardheerNews.
Once the country's third-largest carmaker in terms of local sales, GM Korea now ranks last.

GM Korea on Monday said it just sold 6,272 cars here last month, down 57.6 percent on-year. In February, when the ailing carmaker announced it is shutting down a factory in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, sales dropped 48.3 percent.

GM Korea's domestic sales more than halved in March from a year ago.

The drop in sales was largely due to weak demand for its top models.

It sold a mere 909 Malibu midsize sedans in March, down 75 percent from 3,616 a year earlier, and some 566 Cruze hatchbacks, down 73.6 percent on-year. Sales of the Spark subcompact also declined 42.1 percent to 2,518.

GM Korea's brand value has plummeted accordingly. According to evaluator Brandstock, the Spark, which ranked 57th among Korea's top 100 brands last year, was not on the list for the first quarter of this year.

The number of its dealerships dwindled from 300 in April last year to 285 in early March, and 21 percent of sales reps were let go.
Somalia: Whether persons born in Somaliland and in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia are entitled to Somali citizenship; citizenship status of women married to foreign nationals; requirements and procedures to obtain and reacquire Somali citizenship (2015-November 2017)

Publisher Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Publication Date 3 April 2018 Citation / Document Symbol SOM106079.E Cite as Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Whether persons born in Somaliland and in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia are entitled to Somali citizenship; citizenship status of women married to foreign nationals; requirements and procedures to obtain and reacquire Somali citizenship (2015-November 2017), 3 April 2018, SOM106079.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ac386b74.html [accessed 26 September 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

This Response replaces SOM106017 of 23 November 2017. Information obtained from a different translation of Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship was added to this Response. In addition, information obtained through correspondence with a representative from the Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs of Somalia was added to this Response.

1. Somali Citizenship

Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship provides the following:

Article 1. Acquisition of Citizenship

Somali citizenship may be acquired by operation of law or by grant.

Article 2. Acquisition of Citizenship by Operation of Law

Any person:

whose father is a Somali citizen; who is a Somali residing in the territory of the Somali Republic or abroad and declares to be willing to renounce any status as citizen or subject of a foreign country

shall be a Somali Citizen by operation of law.

Article 3. Definition of "Somali"

For the purpose of this law, any person who  by origin, language or tradition  belongs to the Somali Nation, shall be considered a "Somali".

Article 4. Acquisition of Citizenship by Grant

Somali citizenship may be granted to any person who is of age and makes application therefor, provided that:

he has established his residence in the territory of the Somali Republic for a period of at least seven years; he is of good civil and moral conduct; he declares to be willing to renounce any status as citizen or subject of a foreign country.

Article 5. Reduction of Period

The period referred to in sub-paragraph a) of the preceding article shall be reduced to two years, where the person concerned is the child of a Somali mother even if she is not a citizen.

Article 6. Renunciation of Foreign Citizenship

Any person who, in accordance with articles 2 and 4 of this law, declares that he is willing to renounce any status as citizen or subject of a foreign country, shall make such declaration before the President of the District Court of the district where he resides or, if he resides abroad, before a Consulate of the Somali Republic. A certificate that the declaration has been made shall be issued in two copies, one of which shall be delivered to the person concerned. In the case provided for in paragraph b) of article 2, if the person concerned is a minor, the declaration may be made by his legal representative.

Article 7. Granting of Citizenship

The granting of citizenship provided for in article 4 of this law shall be made by decree of the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Minister of Interior, having heard the Council of Ministers. [1] The granting of citizenship shall be subject to the prior advice of a special Commission consisting of a President and eight members appointed for a period of two years by decree of the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Prime Minister, having heard the Council of Ministers. The President and the Members of the Commission shall be chosen from among qualified Somali Citizens representing the various sections of the national community.

Article 8. Oath

The decree granting Somali citizenship referred to in the preceding article shall not come into force unless the person concerned takes an oath of allegiance that he will be loyal to the Republic and comply with the Constitution and other laws. The oath shall be administered before the President of the District Court competent for the area.



Article 12. Recovery of Citizenship

Any person who fulfils the conditions laid down in article 2 of this law and has lost his Somali citizenship may recover it, on application made therefor, if he subsequently establishes his residence in the territory of the Somali Republic, and declares to be willing to renounce any status as citizen or subject of a foreign country. In any other case, a person who has lost his Somali citizenship my [sic] recover it, on application made therefor, if he subsequently establishes his residence in the territory of the Somali Republic for at least three years and proves that he fulfilled the conditions laid down in this law for the acquisition of citizenship. (Somalia 1962, italics in original)

A copy of Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship is attached to this Response.

According to Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative (CRAI) [1], "[t]he determination of Somali citizenship is complicated by the fact that Somalia has lacked functioning governing institutions for the past decades" (CRAI n.d.a). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a lawyer from Mogadishu Law Office [2], stated, while speaking on his own behalf, that "there is no procedure or administrative body in place to obtain citizenship in Somalia" (Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017). According to the US Department of State's Reciprocity Schedule for Somalia, "there continues to be no recognized competent civil authority to issue civil documents" in Somalia (US n.d.).

2. Dual Citizenship

The Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship provides the following:

Article 10. Renunciation of Citizenship

Any Somali citizen who:

having established his residence abroad, voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship or the status as subject of a foreign country; having established his residence abroad, and having acquired, for reasons beyond his will, foreign citizenship or the status as subject of a foreign country, declares to renounce Somali citizenship; being abroad and having accepted employment from a foreign Government or voluntarily serving in the armed forces of a foreign country, continues to retain his post, notwithstanding the notice from, the Somali Government that, unless he leaves the employment or the service within a definite period of time, he shall lose Somali citizenship;

shall cease to be a Somali citizen. (Somalia 1962, italics in original)

Article 8 of the Somali Provisional Constitution of 2012 provides the following:

Article 8: The People and the Citizenship

The people of the Federal Republic of Somalia are one, are indivisible and consists of all the citizens. There shall be only one Somali citizenship, and the House of the People of the Federal Parliament of Somalia shall enact a special law that shall define how to obtain, suspend, or lose it. A person who is a Somali citizen cannot be deprived of Somali citizenship, even if they become a citizen of another country. Denial, suspension, or deprivation of Somali citizenship may not be based on political grounds. (Somalia 2012)

According to sources, the Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship regulates access to Somali citizenship (Open Society Foundations 2016, 6; CRAI n.d.a; Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017). According to CRAI, the law, while "still in force[,] [is] incompatible with some aspects of [the] 2012 [C]onstitution (especially on dual nationality)" (CRAI n.d.b). Sources indicate that while Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship does not permit dual citizenship (CRAI n.d.a; Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017; LAW n.d.a), the Provisional Constitution of 2012 entitles Somalis to dual citizenship (CRAI n.d.a; Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Somali Embassy in Brussels explained that "under the current constitution, a Somali citizen can have dual citizenship. He can hold, for example, a Somali passport and a Western passport. The individual can use both passports for traveling" (Somalia 13 Nov. 2017).

In a comparative study on citizenship law in Africa for Open Society Foundations [3], Bronwen Manby [4] states that the Constitution of Somalia has been changed to allow dual citizenship, but "the legislation has yet to be updated" (Open Society Foundations 2016, 75). The lawyer stated the following regarding the Provisional Constitution of 2012:

It takes precedence over the 1962 statutes on citizenship, so far as they are incompatible with the adopted Provisional Constitution. However, this would not render the 1962 provisions invalid, as they have not been repealed by a legislature or rendered invalid by any court of law. In practical terms, the articles of the Provisional Constitution relating to citizenship cannot be implemented since there is no legislation, regulatory regime, or administrative body, with the authority to manage citizenship in Somalia, neither is there a harmonized approach to identifying citizens. (Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017)

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a Legal Advisor of Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) [5] stated that

in practice, the 1962 prohibition on dual citizenship was not implemented. Half the Somali government has dual citizenship. If the [Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship] was applied in practice, this would rule all of them out of public office as the [Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship] says you immediately lose Somali citizenship when you take up another one and the electoral laws prohibit foreign nationals from holding office. This is why dual citizenship was put into the constitution to overrule the 1962 legislation. (LAW 13 Nov. 2017)

Other sources similarly indicate that many politicians in Somalia hold foreign citizenship (The Telegraph 8 Feb. 2017; Quartz Africa 7 Feb. 2017). According to Wakiil, "an independent, non-partisan online database of MPs [Members of Parliament] and Senators in Somalia" (Wakiil n.d.), 105 out of 275 Somali Federal MPs have dual citizenship (Wakiil 21 Feb. 2017). Sources indicate that the Somali president who was elected in February 2017 holds dual Somali-US citizenship (AP 8 Feb. 2017; Smithsonian.com 10 Feb. 2017) and that "dual citizenship is accepted for politicians in Somalia" (Smithsonian.com 10 Feb. 2017).

3. Citizenship Status of Persons Born in Somaliland

Sources indicate that Somaliland has legislation relating to citizenship (CRAI n.d.a; Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017; Somalilandlaw.com Aug. 2014). Article 2 of the Somaliland Citizenship Law provides the following:

Article 2: Citizenship by birth

A Somaliland citizen by birth is anyone whose father is a descendent of persons who resided in the territory of Somaliland on 26 June 1960 and before. A Somaliland citizen by birth may acquire the citizenship of another country (dual nationality) without losing his Somaliland citizenship. Unless he has not [sic] voluntarily renounced the right to Somaliland citizenship, any adult progeny of a male Somaliland citizen, who resides in a foreign country or is a citizen of another country or is a refugee in another country may acquire Somaliland citizenship on his first return to the territory of Somaliland. (Somaliland 2002)

CRAI explains that "the effectiveness of this law depends in part on the extent to which Somaliland is recognized as a state, or not" (CRAI n.d.a). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Somali Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs stated that "[t]he Somali government does not consider Somaliland as a separate state" and that "persons born in Somaliland are Somali citizens" (Somalia 12 Dec. 2017). Other sources similarly indicate that persons born in Somaliland have access to Somali citizenship (Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017; LAW 13 Nov 2017; Somalia 13 Nov. 2017). According to the Legal Advisor of LAW, such persons can apply for a Somali passport if they go to Mogadishu (LAW 13 Nov 2017). The same source further stated that the process is "actually quite straightforward and that it is not actually an issue for Somalilanders to come to Mogadishu, except that there are no direct commercial flights and the road is very dangerous, so there are practical barriers for anyone who is not wealthy" (LAW 13 Nov 2017). The lawyer explained that such persons

can obtain Somali national documents, such as an identification card, birth certificate (indicating they were born in Somaliland), and so on. However, at present, there is no administrative apparatus in Somalia which can lawfully issue citizenship certificates. (Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017)

4. Citizenship Status of Persons Born in the Ogaden Region of Ethiopia

The representative of the Somali Embassy in Brussels stated, without providing further details, that a person born in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia cannot obtain Somali citizenship (Somalia 13 Nov. 2017). In contrast, the representative of the Somali Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs stated that a person born in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia can obtain Somali citizenship (Somalia 12 Dec. 2017). Other sources likewise indicated that Somali citizenship can be obtained by a person born in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia (Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017; LAW 13 Nov. 2017). The Legal Advisor of LAW stated that it is "[t]echnically" possible "if they are of Somali ethnicity (i.e. either both parents are of Somali ethnicity, or the father is/was a Somali citizen) and either don't have or are willing to renounce their Ethiopian citizenship" (LAW 13 Nov. 2017). According to the representative of the Somali Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs, "[t]he required procedure is to find elders that attest and verify that [the person is a descendant] from a Somali clan that resides in that region (Somalia 12 Dec. 2017). The lawyer stated that the Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship

outlines the acquisition of citizenship on the basis of the principle of nationality, where an individual identifies with Somali heritage. Individuals who do not reside in Somalia, but identify with Somali heritage through language, lineage or culture can attain citizenship by becoming a resident of any Somali region. The attainment of citizenship based on heritage requires that the individual renounce citizenship or nationality of a foreign country. (Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017)

The Legal Advisor of LAW explained that the Ministry of Immigration and Federal Affairs has not yet established an office where one could actually apply to obtain Somali citizenship and until it is established, it would be "very difficult" to obtain in practice (LAW 13 Nov. 2017). The same source further added that, in this situation "[w]hat they could do is apply to immigration for a Somali passport, but they have to [go] to Mogadishu to do that" (LAW 13 Nov. 2017). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

5. Citizenship Status of Women Married to Foreign Nationals

Article 13 of the Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship provides the following:

Article 13. Married Women

Any woman who is not a citizen and marries a citizen shall acquire Somali citizenship. She shall retain it even after the dissolution of the marriage, except where she renounces her Somali citizenship under the terms of article 10. Except as provided in paragraph 2 of article 9, any woman who is not a citizen and is the wife of an alien or stateless person who acquires citizenship, shall acquire Somali citizenship. Any women who is a citizen and marries an alien shall lose her Somali citizenship if, by her marriage, she acquires her husband's citizenship. Except as provided in paragraph 3 of article 11, any woman who is of marriage shall recover it, if the marriage is dissolved, provided that lose it too, unless the husband has become stateless or the new citizenship acquired by him cannot be extended to her. Any woman who was a citizen and lost her citizenship because of marriage shall recover it, if the marriage is dissolved, provided that she establishes her residence in the territory of the Somali Republic and renounces any foreign citizenship or status as subject of a foreign country in the manner prescribed in article 6. (Somalia 1962, italics in original)

Paragraph 3 of Article 11 of Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship provides the following: "[d]eprivation of citizenship acquired by grant shall not extend to the wife and minor children of the person concerned" (Somalia 1962).

However, Somalilandlaw.com, a "not-for-profit, independent website" that aims to "disseminate information about the Constitution and laws" of Somaliland (Somalilandlaw.com n.d.) states that paragraph 4 of Article 13 of the law was corrected in a corrigendum published on 19 February 1963 (Somalilandlaw.com July 2014). According to the English translation of Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship that is provided by Somalilandlaw.com, paragraph 4 of Article 13 reads as follows: "Except as provided in paragraph 3 of article 11, any woman who is a citizen and is the wife of a citizen who loses his citizenship shall lose it too, unless the husband has become stateless or the new citizenship acquired by him cannot be extended to her" (Somalilandlaw.com July 2014, italics in original). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

On its website, LAW indicates that, according to the Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship, "[w]hen a non-Somali man marries a Somali woman, the woman will involuntarily lose her Somali citizenship" (LAW n.d.a). When asked whether a woman, who was born in Somaliland and who acquired Djiboutian citizenship as a result of marriage to a Djiboutian man, can have Somali citizenship, the Legal Advisor of LAW stated that "under the current law, [the woman] loses her citizenship and can't get it back unless they divorce, but  as there is no office to apply to re-acquire it in practice, this would be extremely difficult" (LAW 13 Nov. 2017). In contrast, when asked the same question, the representative of the Somali Embassy in Belgium stated that "the woman can keep her Somali passport regardless of the origin of her husband" (Somalia 13 Nov. 2017). According to the lawyer, "[d]ual nationality under both Somali and Somaliland law is not limited to two countries. If the woman is entitled to Somaliland citizenship under the Somaliland Citizenship Law (Law No 22/2002), she is legally entitled to Somali citizenship" (Lawyer 12 Nov. 2017). According to the representative of the Somali Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs, a woman who is born in Somaliland is a Somali citizen and her acquisition of Djiboutian citizenship "will qualify her for dual citizenship analogous to a Somali who is a Canadian citizen" (Somalia 12 Dec. 2017).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative (CRAI) is a website that "contains a database on nationality and statelessness in Africa featuring national laws and subsidiary legislation, reports and academic articles, news stories and blog postings, and other resources.  The website is hosted by the International Refugee Rights Initiative" (IRRI) (CRAI n.d.c). IRRI is a non-profit organization in the US, the UK and Uganda that "works to address causes of conflict-related displacement" (IRRI n.d.). The website of CRAI is "maintained by Bronwen Manby and Djibril Balde, on behalf of an informal network of organisations, individuals and experts in Africa working for the right to nationality and an end to statelessness in Africa" (CRAI n.d.c).

[2] Mogadishu Law Office is a Mogadishu-based law firm which specializes in commercial disputes, foreign trade and investment, and civil and criminal litigation, among other fields of practice (Mogadishu Law Office n.d.).

[3] Open Society Foundations "work[s] to build vibrant and tolerant societies whose governments are accountable to their citizens" (Open Society Foundations n.d.). It "fund[s] a range of programs around the world, from public health to education to business development" (Open Society Foundations n.d.).

[4] According to the website of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Bronwen Manby is "an independent consultant in the field of human rights, democracy and good governance, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa" (Centre for the Study of Human Rights 10 Nov. 2015). According to the same source, she is also a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Centre (Centre for the Study of Human Rights 10 Nov. 2015).

[5] Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) is a "non-profit network and think tank of human rights lawyers who provide creative legal assistance to individuals and communities who have suffered from human rights violations and abuses in fragile and conflict-affected areas" (LAW n.d.b). LAW is the "technical legal advisor" to the Somali Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs on the draft Citizenship Bill to be passed in 2017 (LAW n.d.a).

References

The Associated Press (AP). 8 February 2017. Abdi Guled. "New Somali President Declared, Holds Dual U.S. Citizenship." [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]

Centre for the Study of Human Rights. 10 November 2015. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). "Bronwen Manby." [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]

Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative (CRAI). N.d.a. "Somalia." [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]

Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative (CRAI). N.d.b. "Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship." [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]

Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative (CRAI). N.d.c. "About." [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]

International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI). N.d. "Who We Are." [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]

Legal Action Worldwide (LAW). 13 November 2017. Correspondence with a Legal Advisor to the Research Directorate.

Legal Action Worldwide (LAW). N.d.a. "Somali Citizenship Bill." [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]

Legal Action Worldwide (LAW). N.d.b. "About LAW." [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]

Lawyer, Mogadishu Law Office, Mogadishu. 12 November 2017. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Mogadishu Law Office. N.d. "Practice Areas." [Accessed 23 Nov. 2017]

Open Society Foundations. 2016. Bronwen Manby. Citizenship Law in Africa - A Comparative Study. [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]

Open Society Foundations. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 22 Nov. 2017]

Quartz Africa. 7 February 2017. Abdi Latif Dahir. "Two-thirds of Somalia's Presidential Candidates Hold Foreign Passports." [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]

Smithsonian.com. 10 February 2017. Jason Daley. "Somalia's New President Is an American Citizen. How did that Happen?" [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]

Somalia. 12 December 2017. Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs. Correspondence from a representative to the Research Directorate.

Somalia. 13 November 2017. Embassy of the Somali Federal Republic in Brussels, Belgium. Correspondence with a representative to the Research Directorate.

Somalia. 2012. Provisional Constitution. [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]

Somalia. 1962. Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship. Sent to the Research Directorate by the lawyer from the Mogadishu Law Office, 16 November 2017.

Somaliland. 2002. Republic of Somaliland Citizenship Law. LAW No: 22/2002. [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017]

Somalilandlaw.com. August 2014. "Somaliland Citizenship Law." [Accessed 15 Nov. 2017]

Somalilandlaw.com. July 2014. "Somalilandlaw.com Archives." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018]

Somalilandlaw.com. N.d. "Somaliland Law." [Accessed 7 Mar. 2018]

The Telegraph. 8 February 2017. David Lawler. "Newly-elected President of Somalia Was Until Recently a City Employee in Buffalo, New York." [Accessed 17 Nov. 2017]

United States (US). N.d. Department of State. "Somalia Reciprocity Schedule." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017]

Wakiil. 21 February 2017. "Somali MPs with Dual Citizenship." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017]

Wakiil. N.d. "About Wakiil." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2017]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Citizenship Rights Africa Initiative; Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights; International Organization for Migration  Mission in Somalia; Somalia  Embassies in Addis Ababa, in Berlin and in Washington, Immigration and Naturalization Directorate, Permanent Mission to the UN; Somaliland Lawyers' Association; Somaliland Women Lawyers Association; UN  Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Somalia, Technical Advisor for the UNDP; University of Hargeisa, Legal Clinic.

Internet sites, including: Africa News; Al Jazeera; All Africa; Hiiraan Online; International Organization for Migration  Mission in Somalia; IRIN; Mogadishu Law Office; The New York Times; Somalia  Embassy in Washington, Immigration and Naturalization Directorate, Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs; The Guardian; UN  Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Attachment

Somalia. 1962. Law No. 28 of 22 December 1962 on Somali Citizenship. Sent to the Research Directorate by a lawyer at Mogadishu Law Office, 16 November 2017.
Ramat Gan, Israel -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/03/2018 --Infinite Diam has already established itself as a leading player in the diamond sector with its involvement in diamond mining and manufacturing as well as diamond trading. Today, Infinite Diam has expanded its reach with the launching of new jewelry brand Galith, under the expertise of the daughter of Patrick Saada as well.



Infinite Diam has been heavily involved in the diamond industry since 2013, when its founder and leader, Patrick Saada, opened its doors to diamond mining, trading, and manufacturing. Patrick Saada himself boasts of a long-held expertise in the business, having been involved in the Koidu development from 2007 to 2013. As diamond experts and specialists will confirm, Koidu is the biggest mine for kimberlite diamonds in Sierra Leone. Because of Patrick Saada's involvement with Koidu, he was able to acquire a genuine knowledge in the different facets and processes which make up an industrial operation for extraction, and this includes mining as well as geology, engineering, and metallurgy.



Aside from mining, Infinite Diam has made a name for itself in diamond trading. Infinite Diam describes its trading expertise in more detail: "The company DNA is run off mined rough diamond distribution. On a monthly basis, a highly specialized team with decades of experience in the rough industry is sourcing, preparing and marketing accurate assortments to its regular customer base. Our aim is that our diamonds reach the best-suited customer in order to optimize the production value."



But now, the expertise of Infinite Diam has been extended even further  into the realm of jewelry. Under Galith, the new brand launched by Infinite Diam and the daughter of Patrick Saada, also named Galith, customers can avail of the best diamond jewelry they can find anywhere, with reasonable prices as well.



Galith was formed by Galith, who was exposed to the wonders of diamonds from a young age. She studied to become a gemologist at the prestigious GIA and then spent some time learning about the industry through her own father's company. Because of this exposure and her own family's passion for the stone, Galith decided to launch the jewelry brand with the help and guidance of Infinite Diam. Since Infinite Diam is directly involved in the mining and manufacturing of diamonds, it makes complete sense that Galith was established. With Galith and Infinite Diam's partnership, anyone can have access to the finest diamond jewelry at any time.



About Infinite Diam

Infinite Diam was founded by Patrick Saada in 2013, and it has been a leader in the diamond sector since then. For those who are interested to find out more about Patrick Saada, Infinite Diam, and Galith, visit the website.
Inside you will learn about each Rental Hall of Fame inductee and find details on how the award got its start. February 2020

This annual new product supplement features products from those companies exhibiting at The ARA Show that are new to the rental industry. September 2021

Special Editions

Sourcebook

The sourcebook is your guide for rental-specific business-management resources, and your directory for associate members services. It contains an index of products and brand names, and features corporate profiles to give you an additional dimension of information about the suppliers featured.
Cheong Wa Dae is seeking a trilateral summit between Seoul, Pyongyang, and Washington, a senior presidential official said Monday, even though China is moving back closer to center stage.

He said the trilateral summit should come before a four-way meeting between Seoul, Pyongyang, Washington, and Beijing that China is reportedly seeking.

Earlier, Kyodo News reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a four-way summit to conclude a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War to his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on the phone on March 9.

The presidential official dismissed the report. "We have no information about that," he said. "We doubt that Xi really said it given the development of the situation at the time and the current pace of talks" between countries.

Cheong Wa Dae envisions holding a four-way summit only after a solid groundwork for denuclearization has been laid in summits between the two Koreas and the U.S.

Meanwhile, Tokyo announced that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit the U.S. from April 17 to 20 for "intensive" talks with Trump.


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The man walked freely into the school without facing any resistance. This is not the first time that such an incident occurred, and the latest attack has raised calls for increased safety at schools.

A man in his 20s walked into an elementary school in Seoul with a knife and held a little girl hostage for an hour in a standoff with police on Monday. Police succeeded in apprehending the man and the girl was unharmed.

The man, a 25-year-old epileptic identified only by his surname Yang, walked into Bangbae Elementary School in southern Seoul at around 11:30 a.m. on Monday.

He told school security that he was an alumnus and had come to obtain a copy of his graduation certificate. Yang was allowed in without having his ID checked and went to the staff room.

At that time there were six children, one female teacher and an office employee in the staff room. Yang suddenly grabbed the 10-year-old girl and threatened her with a knife.

A school official told Yang, "We'll do whatever you want so let go of the girl." But Yang said, "I've been treated unjustly" and demanded that he speak to a reporter.

School officials told children to stay in their classrooms and draw the curtains. Police arrived at around 11:50 a.m. The suspect suffered several seizures during the standoff. At around 12:45 p.m., police tried to get Yang to put his weapon down by asking him to give the girl some milk and bread and then lunged at him when he put his weapon down.
Beijing seems inclined to side with Pyongyang in demanding a halt to joint South Korea-U.S. military drills in return for a mere halt to North Korea's nuclear and missile tests.

There is also a world of difference between China and the U.S. over how the North Korean nuclear problem should be tackled. The Trump administration wants a speedy, "Libyan" style solution of "complete, verifiable and irreversible" denuclearization.

In the meantime, U.S.-China relations are chilling rapidly. U.S. President Donald Trump has opted to warm up to Taiwan, signing a bill that permits officials of both sides to travel to each other's country. But by inviting Kim, China has tried to show that the North Korean issue cannot be resolved without its cooperation.

Xi swiftly invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Beijing when an inter-Korean summit and a U.S.-North Korea summit suddenly appeared on the horizon. China is the first foreign country that the reclusive North Korean leader has visited since taking power.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is trying to push his way back to the front in negotiations about North Korea's nuclear weapons.

Hwang Jae-ho at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies said, "China will be able to take the lead only if nuclear negotiations progress in a phased process as North Korea is demanding." He added that in case of any successful agreement between North Korea and the U.S., China will probably demand a revival of six-party talks.

Lu Chao, a Korea specialist at Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said, "China will have a greater say in Korean affairs and the North Korean nuclear issue while strengthening its influence in the region during President Xi Jinping's second term in office."

But fresh six-party talks being led by China could result in more delays and give North Korea more time to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, as they have done in the past.

One Chinese academic in Beijing said, "North Korea embarked on a complex diplomatic maneuver ahead of the U.S.-North Korea summit in May by visiting China first. Even if tangible results come out of the U.S.-North Korea summit, there is a lot of skepticism in the Chinese academic community that such results will lead to denuclearization."

As China-North Korea relations recover, concerns are rising that this will weaken international sanctions against the North. Although no details were revealed, Xi and Kim are believed to have discussed the issue.

Bong Young-shik at Yonsei University said, "If Xi promised to ease sanctions on North Korea, the U.S.-led international sanctions could receive a heavy blow, and China will have to take responsibility for that."

For now, China could boost exchanges with North Korea and humanitarian aid that is not covered by the sanctions. But it could also slacken crackdowns on illegal trade with North Korea.

What is more important than high-profile sanctions is the level of crackdowns enforced by Chinese administrators in the border regions." A diplomatic source in Beijing said. "If China-North Korea relations recover, such crackdowns could ease."

Shi Yinhong of Renmin University said in an interview last month with Taiwans China Times, "One of the reasons Kim Jong-un traveled to China to meet with President Xi Jinping was to obtain a pledge to ease sanctions, while gaining an ally ahead of his summit with U.S. President Trump. From that perspective, Kim Jong-un is the winner of the diplomatic chess game with the U.S. and China."


A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Bicycles take Chinese opera paintings to the world

From:Shine | 2018-04-03 02:29

Artist Zhu Gang (left) and Gu Haohao, director of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, pose with the first Electra bike painted with images from Kunqu Opera during a presentation ceremony yesterday.

A bicycle featuring an image from Chinese opera was unveiled in Shanghai yesterday. The image from Kunqu Opera classic Outside the Frontier was painted by local artist Zhu Gang.

It depicts Wang Zhaojun (born circa 50 BC), one of the four great beauties in Chinese history, who is about to leave home to marry a tribal leader for the good of her country.

The US-based Electra Bicycle Company donated the first prototype in its Chinese art series to the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe at a ceremony in Huangpu District marking the bike manufacturers 25th anniversary. Kunqu Opera performer Gu Haohao, who plays the role of Wang in the opera, accepted the bike at the ceremony.

We hope the outstanding traditional Chinese cultures can also ride the bike to Outside the Frontier and across the world, said Gu, who is also the director of the troupe.

The first batch in the Chinese art series of bicycles also includes Zhus renditions of Yang Yuhuan, the beautiful and powerful concubine of Emperor Tang Minghuang (AD 685-762) and Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King.

The bicycles will be sold in Europe and the United States and, according to Electra, the aim is to help boost cultural exchanges between China and the US.

Electra bicycles currently have an 80 percent share of the leisure bike market in the US. Customers include Russian President Vladimir Putin and pop star Justin Bieber.

The company entered the Chinese market last year, opening a store in Shanghai.

Zhu is one of the few artists to specialize in Chinese opera painting. He paints in oils and combines Western skills with the approach of his Chinese predecessors from various painting schools.

He is known for his ability to capture key moments, poses and movements of Chinese opera performers. He is also adept at depicting their characteristic facial expressions.

Zhu never sets up an easel at performances, but instead sits in the audience to enjoy the whole opera. Before painting, he talks to performers about their understanding of the characters they portray and the opera itself.

In his Outside the Frontier painting, Wang is wearing a handsome red cloak and a brave expression, but a close inspection of the painting reveals that while she faces forward, her toes are facing backward to home, symbolizing her reluctance to leave, Zhu said.

Opera painting dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1270) and uses traditional Chinese painting skills to depict mainly Peking and Kunqu operas. The images were frequently used as book illustrations and posters, capturing the essence of characters, crucial scenes and entire operas.
Home  Just In  Double amputee from China hopes to scale Everest in fifth attempt this season

Kathmandu, April 3

A 70-year-old double amputee from China, Xia Boyu, has arrived in Nepal with a mission to climb the Mount Everest this spring season.

Xia has already made four attempts to conquer the top of the world, but in vain.

Mingma Gyaljje Sherpa, Managing Director at the Imagine Trek and Expedition, informs Onlinekhabar that Xia had reached the Everest Base Camp in 2015, but was forced to return due to the earthquake-triggered avalanche.

Likewise, he returned from a point at the height of around 8,000 metres the next year.

Sherpa is accompanying Boyu to the peak.

Earlier, the Nepal government had banned amputees from climbing the Everest; but the Supreme Court had later issued an interim order to stay its implementation.
Two most discussed issues on the front page of major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Tuesday are Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis India trip scheduled to begin this Friday, and delay in the unification between CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre. The first session of Parliament is being prorogued today citing lack of business and it has also been an issue of attention in the newspapers.

Important

Left alliance top leaders meeting today to iron out differences

Naya Patrika and Rajdhani report that top leaders of CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre are holding a meeting today after a long time to discuss ongoing preparations for their unification. The meeting of the Party Unification Coordination Committee has been called for 4 pm at the Prime Ministers residence.

Naya Patrika informs that there are three major issues yet to be settled between two parties including the ratio of share of two parties in the unified party, inclusion of peoples war in the statute and election symbol.

Rajdhani says the unification announcement is likely on April 22. However, The Himalayan Times reports that the UML has clarified that the unification cannot take place if the Maoist Centre is adamant on equal representation in organisational structure.

Nepal, India will sign at least two pacts during Oli trip

The governments of Nepal and India are preparing to sign at least two agreementsone on extending Indian railway up to Kathmandu, and the other on cooperation in agricultural sectorduring the upcoming New Delhi visit of prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, reports The Kathmandu Post. Another report in the same newspaper says an agreement on bulk cargo movement through more transit points between the two countries is also on the list of agendas.

Meanwhile, Kantipur says the government is preparing to forge an agreement on five major issues related to water resource management during the trip. The issues include energy banking, implementation of Mahakali Treaty and Pancheshwor Multipurpose Project, modality of Butwal-Gorakhpur intercountry transmission line, amendment in Indias guideline on water management and construction of Lamki-Belauri intercountry transmission line.

Naya Patrika comments that if Indian PM Narendra Modi wishes, the detailed project report of Pancheshwor Project will be finalised instantly.

First House session to get prorogued today

Rajdhani and Nepal Samacharpatra report that the first session of Federal Parliament is being prorogued today. Before that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is addressing the House of Representatives today.

It is expected that Oli will inform lawmakers about agendas of his upcoming India visit as well as the visit of Pakistani PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Ignored

Law amendment underway to make PMs Office more powerful

The Kathmandu Post reports that the government has initiated a process to amend laws for bringing a number of government agencies under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. The proposed agencies to be controlled by the Office include National Investigation Department, Department of Money Laundering Investigation and Department of Revenue Investigation, among others.

Fuel price hiked

The sole fuel distributor of the country, Nepal Oil Corporation, a government undertaking, has decided to increase the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene to be effective from Monday midnight, according to newspaper reports.

Quoting NOC spokesperson Birendra Goit, reports say a litre of petrol now costs Rs 105 whereas a litre of diesel or kerosene Rs 85.The adjustment was made in line with the changes in international market prices, according to the Corporation.

Home Minister warns of action against secession, conversion

Nagarik and Republica report that Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has warned of action against those involved in secessionist activities and religious conversions. Nagarik report says one of the highlights of Thapas 82-point reform plan is protection and promotion of national unity and action against separations on the basis of caste, religion and region.

Attempts are being made by elements like CK Raut to push the country into conflict in the name of an independent Madhes, or through Christianity. A new strategy should be devised to consolidate national unity, he has been quoted in Republica.

Mahat accuses Khatiwada of manipulating data

Nepali Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat, who served the government as Finance Minister multiple times in past three decades, has accused incumbent Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada of manipulating facts intentionally in the white paper that he issued last week, according to Karobar.

The economist-turned-politician said Khatiwada just highlighted problems of the national economy while he wanted to cover all achievements made in the past.

Interesting

Draft laws ready for provincial governments

Kantipur says the central government has prepared drafts of nine laws for provincial governments, based on which seven provincial governments can draft and implement their own laws. At least 22 new laws should have been prepared for provincial governments to execute their constitutional rights, but the government prepared drafts for immediately necessary nine, according to the report.
POLICE are investigating after arsonists set fire to a car in Templeborough in the early hours of Easter Sunday.

A Subaru parked in a car park on Riverside Way was set ablaze at 12.25am, said a South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue spokeswoman.

Firefighters from Rotherham station tackled the blaze until around 1am.




ALROSA celebrates 25th anniversary of its diamond selling company

03 april 2018 News

The Yakutsk Diamond Trading Enterprise (YaPTA), which is sorting rough diamonds, compiling their assortments and selling them to ALROSAs customers, marks its 25th anniversary.

We feel happy and proud that every 20th evaluated diamond in the world is the result of our work. Experience, technology organization and respect of our partners are achieved by tens of millions of diamonds that were examined by our employees, the workers of the company say as quoted by yasia.ru.

The Yakutsk Diamond Trading Enterprise consists of three main production departments: a grading department, an assortment department and a sales department. Each rough diamond is examined through a microscope or a magnifying glass by a grader and an expert, who determine its exact attribution according to a classification table. The company uses advanced technologies for sorting operations: vibrating screens, electronic precision scales, domestically-made colour classification machines and weight sorting units.

A grand ceremony to open a memorable exposition was held on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of YaPTA (which is a division of ALROSA), according to yasia.ru. Moreover, a book called Diamond Chronicle covering the history of the diamond mining industry in Yakutia was published to celebrate the 25 years since the foundation of YaPTA.






More than a decade ago when Montana's pulse crop industry was a sliver in northeastern Montana and there wasn't much money to fund alternative crop trials, a Montana State University agricultural faculty member was planting the future.

Chengci Chen, superintendent of the MSU Eastern Agricultural Research Center in Sidney has spent the last 12 years developing pulse crops specifically adapted to Montana's growing conditions. One successful green pea variety with high yield and protein, currently named MT457, was released from the university last month. It will be commercially available in 2020.

The new pea variety has a heavy seed weight and genetic resistance to Fusarium oxysporum Race 1, a widespread fungus that damages pulse crops. Chen said the variety also has nice height and produces multiple pods along the stem and is resistant to plant collapse, also called "lodging," which can make harvesting harder and reduce yield.

"What's unique about this variety is that it's bred specifically to perform well in Montana," said Kevin McPhee, who holds a doctorate in plant sciences as MSU's pulse crop breeder and professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology. "I'm not confident this variety would perform well outside of Montana, in fact."

Chen and McPhee have been working together for more than a decade breeding and testing pea varieties for Montana -- before Montana produced the most pulse crops in the nation and before there were strong commodity markets for Big Sky peas. In Montana, pulse crops are chickpea, pea and lentil. In 2017, Montana farmers planted 525,000 acres of dry pea, according to the 2017 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Chen, who has a doctorate in agronomy, has been working on pulse crops since he started working at the MSU Central Agricultural Research Center in Moccasin as an assistant professor of agronomy and cropping systems in 2002, before moving to Sidney to become superintendent of EARC in 2015. The Moccasin facility is one of seven statewide agricultural research centers in the College of Agriculture and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. At CARC, Chen requested pea populations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Service's Grain Legume Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Pullman, Washington, where McPhee worked as the USDA unit's research plant geneticist at the time.

Following Chen's request, McPhee sent pea populations to Moccasin for Chen to make genetic selections for potentially adapted high- yielding plants for Montana. It was a long process starting from a single plant.

According to Chen, his pulse crop research program may have evaporated if it weren't for having a full-time CARC research associate, formerly Karnes Neill, who provided research support and field assistance. "It was a long and hard 12 years, especially the first few years when Montana's pulse crop industry was in its infancy," Chen said. "There weren't any check-off dollars from growers or funding support for pulse crop breeding or variety trials. We did this without any funding support. It was challenging."

McPhee would stop at Moccasin once or twice a year on the way to visit family in Lewistown to check on the field trials and suggest new genetic selections to Chen.

"Ultimately, our goal was to breed a variety that worked well for U.S. northwest production and future markets by sharing advanced lines and populations," McPhee said. "Stopping at Moccasin to visit Dr. Chen was convenient, and I was happy to see the consistent trials at the location which made new selections maybe a bit faster than other field trial locations."

Despite researching a relatively new crop for Montana with little funding at the time, Chen said he was obligated to introduce new crops to the state.

"My job description is to introduce specialty crops to Montana in wheat-based cropping systems," Chen said. "So, whether I have funding or not, I have to test specialty crops that have potential to grow in Montana. I'm happy to see this released finally."

After multiple genetic selections and field trials, Chen and Neill selected MT457. Chen said the new variety wouldn't have been possible without his colleagues at the seven research centers and on the main campus in Bozeman, for their support in testing this variety at multiple locations statewide during the last three years. Chen said EARC Research Scientist Yesuf Mohammed, who has a PhD in soil science, coordinated the statewide testing.

Kevin McPhee, professor of plant sciences and pulse crop genetics and breeding in the College of Agriculture at Montana State University, provided the original plant populations for the newly released MSU green pea variety. (MSU Photo by Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez)

Chen, who researches how pea crop yield and protein are affected by genetics that interact with diverse environments, said the new variety has a big seed size and bright color, which may be ideal for the green pea market in soups, salads or fried snack peas.

"This variety flowers and matures a few days earlier than other varieties, which presents some advantages to growers in central and southern regions of Montana to be able to avoid heat stress in the summer," he said. "From our statewide testing results in the past three years, this variety also performs very well under irrigated conditions."

Montana Foundation Seed Program manager Doug Holen said after McPhee increases enough breeder seed, the university will increase its foundation seed quantity of MT457 and the variety will likely be available commercially in 2020. The MFSP provides foundation seed, or genetically pure seed, to statewide producers and certified seed houses.
Changes in petroleum infrastructure are a common sight in the Bakken oilfield, especially as technological advancements gradually improve. One such example is the decision by CHS  the parent company of Cenex  to re-route the pipeline between Sidney, Montana and Minot, North Dakota.

Cenex is the name of the company's regional cooperative and its energy division, which started in 1929 as the North Pacific Grain Growers, Inc. and later as the Farmers Union Central Exchange, which was created as a combination of 60 local agricultural cooperatives. It began to trade in energy production in 1943 by purchasing an oil refinery in Laurel, Montana and a large stake in the National Cooperative Refinery Association in Kansas. Today, the large company is best known for their convenience stores across the nation, giving back more than $600 million annually to their members. Part of their overall economic strategy affects our local economy, as they are one of many producers that have a stake in local energy production.

Part of that continuing investment in the Bakken, in their latest effort to ensure a reliable supply of gasoline and diesel for consumers, is a plan to replace the 8-inch segment of line that currently exists  stretching from Sidney to Minot  with a 10-inch pipeline that the company calls "state of the art."

The project is expected take about 18 months to complete, and has finished the prerequisites of contacting affected landowners and completing environmental resource studies. The company still lacks easement agreements along about 22 percent of the pipeline, but they are confident they'll finish that process soon. If they cannot reach agreements with land-owners, then using the process known as 'eminent domain' is a possibility. CHS is now approaching state, federal and tribal agencies to complete the permitting process.

According to CHS, the pipeline needs replaced because their refinery in Laurel has increased its production due to higher demand for refined petroleum. The current 8-inch pipeline is not meeting that need, and so they are re-routing the pipeline as well as making it larger. Currently, the pipeline crosses the Yellowstone River near Sidney and then runs east toward Minot. After the changes, the pipeline will run north from Sidney and then cross the Missouri River, then east to Minot after passing north of Williston. The company hopes that this route will reduce construction in environmentally sensitive areas and reduce certain engineering challenges.

There is certain environmental pressure on pipeline companies when they desire to put a line beneath a waterway, like what was seen in the Dakota Access Pipeline construction and its subsequent protests. CHS claims that moving petroleum through the pipeline is ultimately safer than increasing highway and rail traffic, which would be necessary to transport the commodity.

To ease environmental fears, CHS claims that the pipeline will be continuously monitored for leaks through computerized computational monitoring systems, which measure flow rates and pressures. If there is a drop in pressure, controllers can shut down the pipeline immediately. This is the last such change or replacement that should ever be needed in this particular area, because the expected lifetime of the pipeline should span for many, many years.

If landowners or others have questions about the pipeline project and how it may affect them personally, they are welcome to contact CHS at [email protected]
On March 22, 2018 at about 0554, the Richland County Sheriffs Office received a report of a stolen 1992 Blue Chevrolet K2500 pickup from a resident southwest of Sidney. The caller stated that the vehicle may have been stolen by a male subject that had been allowed to stay at their place, and may be on his way to Billings, Montana. At about 0602 hours the same caller reported that she found that a business she manages south of Sidney that is a licensed marijuana distributor had been broken into and items were missing. Upon investigation of the burglary, it was found that over $8,000 in marijuana and related products had been taken with about $1,500 damage to the business.

Richland County Sheriffs Office had entered the vehicle as a stolen vehicle in the National Data base and notified surrounding law enforcement agencies of the stolen vehicle and burglary.

At about 0742 hours, less than two hours from the original report, information was received from the Prairie County Sheriffs Office that the reported stolen vehicle had been stopped by their agency and the driver was being detained. A search warrant was obtained to search the vehicle and items from the reported burglary had been recovered.

Formal charges have been requested for Burglary, Criminal Mischief and Theft with the Richland County Attorneys Office. The name of the subject will be released after warrants have been served. The subject is being held in the Dawson County Detention Center at this time.

The Richland County Sheriffs Office would like to thank area law enforcement agencies for their assistance in this matter. Prairie County Sheriffs Office, Montana Highway Patrol, Dawson County Sheriffs Office and Sidney Police Dept.

UPDATE:

On March 27, 2018, a warrant on Complaint was issued for Lonnie Allen Vandersloot, 46-year-old male with an address of Billings, Montana. Charging him with Count 1: Theft, 1st Offense Motor Vehicle Theft; Count 2: Theft, a felony, Property exceeding $1,500.00; Count 3: Aggravated Burglary, a felony, Non-residence and Count 4: Criminal Mischief less than $1,500.00. Bond was set at $50,000.00. The 4 count warrant was served on Lonnie Allen Vandersloot, who is being held in the Dawson County Detention Center on other charges.
The New Year is only days away and one way Nepalis know how to celebrate any festival is by having a feast. Nepal is famous for its diverse culture, but whats even more obvious is that most Nepalis are huge foodies.

The countrys cultural and geographical diversity gives abundant space to a number of cuisines. Meanwhile, Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu is hosting a food festival to highlight all ethnic cuisines that Nepal has to offer, ranging from the traditional dal-bhat-tarkari-masu and chhoila, bara chatamari to desserts like gudpak, yomari and kheer.

Unaware of what to expect, I headed over to The Cafe at Hyatt Regency to try their special New Year buffet. And the feast they prepared was a pleasant surprise. Driving all the way to Hyatt can tire you, and by the time I reached the place I was famished. That was why my eyes lit up when I saw the array of items on the buffet.

To honour Kathmandus heritage, the buffet consisted mostly of Newari items. To start with, I opted for yomari, a steamed dumpling that consists of an external covering of rice flour and an inner content of sweet substances such as chaku a cuisine made from concentrated sugarcane juice, jaggery, ghee, and nuts. As a fan of Newari food, I must say the chefs at Hyatt Regency have done a fairly good job when it comes to adding that authentic touch to the food.

Along with the yomari I had the bara (woh as they call it in Newari) with a healthy bowl of kwati, a mixed soup of nine types of sprouted beans. The bara was quite nice and went well with the delicious kwati and gundruk ko achar.

Even though I was already full, I knew that no Nepali meal would be complete without a plate full of dal-bhat-masu.

The buffet had both chicken and goat meat. That is why I had to try them both. Executive Chef Santosh Koradi and his team have put in a lot of effort to make sure everything on the buffet was perfect and the chicken was absolutely amazing.

Both the chicken and the mutton tasted homely and reminded me of Dashain when most households prepare these items for feasts. The chicken was perfectly spiced and the gravy went well with the rice.

The mutton was pretty good but wasnt as tasty as the chicken maybe because I have a fondness for chicken more than mutton.

The alu ko achar and gundruk ko achar stood out as it was spicy and will definitely tangle ones taste buds. It complemented other items on the buffet like the chhoila which had a certain zest to it and will go well with your favourite drink.

For desserts, there were many items out of which I chose one of my favourite items, kheer which was a bit sweet for my liking but did taste good. The mud cake was intriguing as the dessert chef had put khuwa, a traditional handmade milky food whose rough taste complimented cake. The buffet also has gudpak, a delicious Nepali dessert made from sugar and milk

The festival will go on for two weeks and will have various other items and a special every day. Chef Santos mentioned that they will also items for other regions of Nepal and this was just a sample of the food that will be served during the two weeks.

Where: The Cafe, Hyatt Regency

When: 13-27 April

Time: 6:30 PM  10 PM

Price: Rs 2,200/person + taxes
Buses Headed to Great Falls Thursday, April 19. Your Support is Critical

The Defenders of Wildlife and Natural Resources Defense Council (plaintiffs) continue their ongoing battle with Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation (defendants), focused only on the comeback of a wild pre-historic fish. The defendants are attempting to balance the survival of the pallid sturgeon with the well being of thousands of people from Glendive to Williston, as well as allowing an entire ecosystem to thrive.

In their summary brief to the district court, the plaintiffs are now plainly going after the current ongoing operations of LYIP, asking for the complete removal of the Intake dam. Their solution to providing irrigation water would be to install pumps along the river, a solution which would be environmentally damaging, as well as cost prohibitive for farmers.

The plaintiffs seem to have suddenly realized what the agencies have been saying for years; that without action to achieve fish passage, the existing wild sturgeon would be too old to spawn by approximately 2018. Its frustrating because, if they hadnt filed their lawsuit, the bypass would have been working in 2018, LYIP manager James Brower said. Instead of allowing a solution that would have benefitted all concerned, the plaintiffs are asking for complete removal of the dam.

In a rather ironic twist, while the plaintiffs want an absolute guarantee that the fish bypass will work, they are trying to force the USACE to try highly experimental solutions at Fort Peck to help achieve wild pallid sturgeon survival on the Missouri River. If the USACE is forced into multi-million dollar changes, including methods to warm the water that is released from the dam in the spring, there is a possibility that funding could be diverted from the Intake project. Adding insult to injury, if the Bureau of Reclamation is forced to remove the Intake dam, farmers could end up having to reimburse them.

The district court meets in Great Falls on April 19th to decide these huge issues and issue a final ruling. It is critical that as many people as possible from this area attend the hearing to show support for the Intake project.

Brower said that what the plaintiffs should be looking at is that, when the fish bypass at Intake works for slow moving fish, it could be used everywhere, with the size of each bypass relative to the size of the dam in question. It would be an effective method for the survival of the fish at a reasonable cost to the taxpayers. It would be a shining example to the rest of the nation as a way to solve endangered species issues without destroying communities, he said.

Buses will be leaving for Great Falls at 5:15 a.m. on April 19th, with food and beverages provided. Contact Richland Economic Development at 406-482-4679 to reserve your seat.
Dear Editor:

Radioactivity Welcomed to Montana or Obfuscation  to make obscure or unintelligible.

Governor Steve Bullock and his party have been considered very environmentally conscious, but it seems they are forging a new direction.

North Dakota is not currently allowing the disposal of Bakken oilfield radioactive or hazardous garbage. But the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is moving briskly to welcome a veritable torrent of those toxic materials to a site near a Sidney subdivision and rural school. Imagine having your home on a scenic plateau overlooking the Yellowstone valley, and being told you will soon live less than half mile downwind from a dump for hundreds of thousands of tons of N.D.s radioactive/hazardous garbage.

The DEQ says they are revising regulations related to these wastes and may have something by the end of 2018. But that doesnt help our community right now, as they are finalizing the permit process for a Sidney toxic dump. And how does the DEQ reply when repeatedly asked Will you be allowing the dumping of any radioactive or hazardous waste materials at this site? With an entirely straight face, they answer No.

What? you ask. How can they say that? -- when that is the stated purpose of this dumpground. An internet search reveals the term radioactive waste is used only for nuclear power or weapons plants, not the radioactive/hazardous refuse from oil production. Word games. I had thought I was talking with the Montana DEQ but it must be the Montana Department of Obfuscation (sometimes concerned with environmental quality).

Eastern Montana desperately needs support from other Montanans to reverse this dangerous trend. This time, its Eastern Montana that is bucking these not-so environmental bureaucratsnext time it could be your community they target.

A sincerely concerned citizen ~

John Mercer
From left to right are: Mandy Hickel, Danny Mogen, David Krogedal, Hunter Krogedal, Marvin Qualley, Allison Krogedal, Marilyn Olson, Deb Heckmun, Marsha Schmidt, Erin Solem, Skyler Tibbs, Bev Raaum, David Norton, Phynix Lawrence, Liz Leinen and Andrea Damm. Not pictured are Megan Hoffman, Joe Moore, Kyla Traeger, Halvar Olstead, Ken Arneson, Mike Olson, Steve Moore, Teresia Moore and Angela Cleverly. Members of the RMC EMS Cadet Program include: Bree Strickland, Ed Strickland, Travis Northington, Hunter Krogedal and Danny Mogen.

Sirens squeal. Adrenaline rushes. An ambulance races to the accident scene. Status of those involved? Unknown. For an emergency medical responder, it's just part of a typical day.

When a situation is at its worst, EMS responders perform at their best, working calmly in chaotic, frantic situations, helping ensure the best outcomes for people whose lives may be hanging in the balance.

"Once the back doors of the ambulance open, you tune everything out and you do what you have to do. You focus on that, and only that, and you give it 100-percent," said Marilyn Olson, an advanced Emergency Medical Technician in Froid who has served with Roosevelt Medical Center's EMS service since 1989.

Olson lives in Froid and is one of several dozen EMS members who serve as an ambulance crew member. Always having a passion for helping others, Olson once wanted to be a nurse, and joined the ambulance crew when a friend began teaching a medical responder class in the area.

Bev Raaum, an RMC EMT who has responded to over 1,300 calls over the last 20 years, originally joined the service because her husband was on it. "I thought it was something we could do together," she recalled. "Today, he says I'm married to the ambulance service, and he's right," she laughed.

Rauum said the biggest challenge EMTs face in rural areas today is the difficulty of recruiting other EMTs. She attributes this to the amount of training and annual continuing-education necessary to stay current with changing protocols and advances in medical equipment

EMS crew members easily recall stories about the spontaneous nature of getting called out to a scene. "I've responded with half of a haircut. I've been dressed and ready to walk the runway at a fashion show," Olson said. Other members have had similar circumstances. Raaum has left a spelling bee, several school recitals and even communion. "People often can just tell that you are heading to the scene and they help too. Several times I have been on my way to the ambulance garage and gotten a ride on the back of a four-wheeler," Raaum said.

Liz Leinen, the business office manager at Roosevelt Medical Center, joined the ambulance crew last year as a way to continue growing as a person while giving back to her community. "When I go on scene I try to take myself out of the equation. I pray that God will work through me and that the outcome will be a positive one for that patient," Leinen said.

For the last seven years, Erin Solem, a teacher and EMT, has also served as a crew member because she enjoys helping others. "People don't appreciate the ambulance service until they are in their time of need. We go unnoticed for the most part. It's when the people you have helped say thank you, that you receive the real reward," Solem said.

For many emergency responders, serving with the ambulance service is part of serving a higher purpose and being a part of something bigger than themselves. "I have always felt like this was my calling. It was what I was meant to do," Raaum said. Seeing the people she has helped while out in the community and receiving their thanks and gratitude has been an added bonus. "It's not all about guts and glory. It's about holding someone's hand on the worst day of their life," Raaum said.

The history of how emergency medical services got started in the Eastern Montana area dates back at least as far as the early 1980s when Roosevelt County created an EMS Coordinator position and dispersed three ambulances for use to Poplar, Wolf Point and Culbertson hospitals. The coordinator was responsible for training, supplying medical equipment, and managing responders. Responders would begin caring for the patient until the ambulance arrived on scene, but were not allowed to transport them. In the mid-1990s the County dissolved the program, citing difficultly in managing such a large response area and EMS was absorbed by the local hospitals. They were allowed to keep the ambulances in an effort to keep the services going.

In the early days, they didn't even have an ambulance in Bainville. They responded in a pickup, triaged the patient with a county supplied jump-kit and waited there for the ambulance to arrive. Today, RMC has four ambulances, with one serving Froid, Bainville and Culbertson and one back-up ambulance stationed at RMC.

Today, the crew operates on an all-call system, meaning that all crew members are on call, everyday. Once a page goes out that there's an emergency, anyone who can respond to the call answers the page, and responds. Volunteer responders receive a stipend for each call they respond to and attend monthly meetings and training sessions.

"We are so fortunate to have area business owners who allow EMTs and Drivers to leave their jobs at a moment's notice to respond to others in their times of need. It's because of their kindness that many community members are able to get the emergency care they need when it really counts," said Deb Heckmun, EMS Director for RMC.

Last year, the EMS department implemented a cadet recruitment program that gives potential EMTs an opportunity to go on calls to see if they want to continue to take the class. It also helps provide those enrolled in the class a clearer understanding of what to expect after they complete it.

If you are interested in becoming an EMT, contact Deb Heckmun at (406) 787-6468.
In the last decade, the number of ambulance calls has increased as much as 300% or more in and around McKenzie County, North Dakota. Several of the rural areas in McKenzie County have turned to Quick Response Units, or QRU's, to ensure efficient emergency care.

Quick Response Units are intended to respond to emergency calls and provide stabilizing care until an Ambulance Service arrives to transport the patient. QRU's are provided for in North Dakota law, requiring only one emergency responder, or the equivalent, such as a licensed EMT. QRU's must be licensed under a larger ambulance service, and are not allowed to transport patients. For rural calls, the QRU and the larger ambulance service may be dispatched at the same time.

In the McKenzie County area, the communities of Keene, Grassy Butte, Arnegard and Alexander all utilize QRU's to ensure emergency care. In Alexander, North Dakota, the Alexander QRU responds to a very large and unique response district, due the proximity to the Montana-North Dakota border. The Alexander district spans from south of Williston to just south of Highway 68. Fairview Ambulance and the Fairview Fire Department cover a part of the Alexander Fire District, and the Sidney Ambulance covers a part of McKenzie County out on Highway 68.

Part of our Alexander District runs under the Williston Ambulance Service license, and the other part of the Alexander District runs under the McKenzie County Ambulance District. Dispatch is operated through Bismarck, which may dispatch both Alexander and Williston at the same time, depending on the call. According to Karolin Jappe, McKenzie County Emergency Manager and member of Alexander's QRU, the agreement with Williston Ambulance is likely a remnant of years past, when there were fewer people in the area.

Since the oil boom, Alexander and the surrounding area saw vast increases in the number of residents, as well as the number of crashes, fatal accidents, and other trauma calls. According to the North Dakota Department of Transportation, McKenzie County saw 78 fatal vehicle crashes from 2012-2016. At the height of the boom, report Jappe, "It was wild, in 2014. We still had the two-lane highways, and it was insane out here. We went through some pretty tough years." The QRU is often the first medical care to arrive on-scene, providing stabilizing care to the patient until a transporting ambulance arrives. "This is life or death. If you have to wait for an ambulance to arrive from Williston, you might not make it. A few months ago, we were on a wreck and I had to help a very seriously injured person. I thought the person wasn't going to make it. But he made it," she adds.

Jappe gives credit to her three response partners for their vast knowledge and experience. "I continue to learn something from almost every call," she explained. In addition to Jappe, who is an Emergency Medical Responder, there are three other responders. Joe Mrachek and Larry Novak are seasoned, licensed Emergency Medical Technicians, and Kyle Chamberlan, is also an Emergency Medical Responder. "I couldn't ask for a better group of people. We should all be thankful that we have all these departments that are willing to do this," Jappe said.

Novak, who has spent 30 years on the emergency service, said, "It's been a rewarding experience of knowing you're helping your community, friends, and neighbors."
Union Pacific

Union Pacific detailed plans to invest $45 million during 2018 into its Oklahoma network. The railroad says the investment will enhance safety, operating efficiency and support customer service.

Our targeted investments support customers and enhance our efficiency to deliver the goods American businesses and families use daily, said Brenda Mainwaring, Union Pacific assistant vice president  Public Affairs, Southern Region.

The state program includes $33 million in track maintenance and $8 million in bridge maintenance. Additionally, the Class 1 plans to advance a $24 million project to replace 50 miles of rail in the line between Kansas/Oklahoma state line and Pryor and a $3.6 million project between Gore and Wagoner to replace 26,520 crossties and install 18,548 tons of ballast.

UP has invested more than $211 million during the past five years in an effort to strengthen its Oklahoma transportation infrastructure. The state plan is part of the railroads previously announced $3.3 billion capital program. In addition to Oklahoma, UP has outlined state investments in Nevada, Utah, Nebraska, Louisiana, Iowa, Oregon, Wyoming, Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas, California and Texas, where it will be investing $1 billion between its 2018 state plan and Brazos Yard project.
(Agencia CMA Latam) - The Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has authorized a subsidiary of the state-owned power company Eletrobras to import energy from Argentina temporarily. The authorization expires on December 31.

The operation is expected to take place through the Garibaldi I and II converter stations in Garruchos, with up to 2,200 megawatts (MW) of power, and in Uruguaiana, with up to 50 MW, both in the Rio Grande do Sul state.

The amount to be imported should be established weekly by the Brazilian Electric System Operator (ONS), and the energy should be destined to the Brazilian short-term market.

by Agencia CMA Latam

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
The United States, together with the State of Indiana, announced that U. S. Steel Corporation (X) has agreed to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and Indiana law by undertaking substantial measures to improve its wastewater processing monitoring system at its steel manufacturing and finishing facility, known as the Midwest Plant, in Portage, Indiana.

The settlement agreement, which is memorialized in a consent decree lodged today in federal district court in the Northern District of Indiana, requires U. S. Steel to pay more than $600,000 as a civil penalty and to reimburse the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Park Service (NPS) for response costs incurred as a result of an April 2017 spill of wastewater containing hexavalent chromium that entered a waterway that flows into Lake Michigan.

U. S. Steel will also pay costs to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for assessing natural resource damages due to the April 2017 spill. In addition, U. S. Steel will pay damages to NPS resulting from the closure of several beaches along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore due to the spill.

U. S. Steel will also resolve allegations under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) by implementing a detailed protocol to notify relevant state and local authorities about any future spills from its Portage facility to the ground or water.

Under the consent decree, U. S. Steel will undertake repairs to its treatment plant pipes and containment trench, whose failures contributed to the April 2017 spill. In a more comprehensive manner, U. S. Steel will develop wastewater operations and maintenance plans and preventive maintenance plans, design and implement new wastewater process monitoring, and sample daily for total and hexavalent chromium. These measures are designed to allow for early detection of conditions that may lead to discharges such as the April 2017 spill and other permit violations, furthering compliance with the Clean Water Act and analogous state laws.

In addition, the facility will follow protocols attached to the decree for notifying appropriate entities, including the nearest downstream Indiana users as well as local governments, including the city of Chicago, whenever there is a spill or release of hazardous substances to the ground or water.

As part of the agreement, U. S. Steel will reimburse EPA's total response costs of $350,000. U. S. Steel will also reimburse NOAA, which shares trusteeship for natural resources in the Great Lakes ecosystem, for its full costs of $27,500 in assessing natural resource damages. In addition, U. S. Steel will pay NPS's full response costs of approximately $12,500, and damages incurred by NPS in the amount of $240,500 as a result of the week-long beach closures along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

NPS intends to use those damages, representing lost use/compensatory restoration for the public's inability to access and enjoy the beaches for the week, to fund future projects at or around the National Lakeshore.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Home  Just In  Nepal PM says he will talk with India for railway and waterway connectivity

Kathmandu, April 3

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is embarking on a three-day state visit to India this Friday, says he will talk with the New Delhi government about connecting the two countries via railway and waterway.

Informing the House of Representatives about his visit agendas, the Prime Minister said he would also talk with the southern neighbour about cooperation in the agriculture sector.

Oli said he wanted to develop a reliable friendship with the neighbours. For that, we have to take equality and non-interference as foundations of the relationship.

Oli clarified that he would focus on implementing past agreements rather than signing new ones. Likewise, he said he would take initiatives to release the assistance committed by India for post-earthquake reconstruction here.

Rest assured that I will not do anything that puts our country into disadvantage or which makes us bow down.
Early signals were mixed for Canadian stocks Tuesday morning, following yesterday's significant declines.

Copper Mountain has announced a Federal court approval for the acquisition of Altona Mining and approval to list on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Crude oil futures were holding steady above $63 a barrel amid signs that Saudi Arabia and Russia are working together in the long term to limit supplies.

"We are working to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10-20 year agreement," the Crown Prince told Reuters in an interview in New York.

"We have agreement on the big picture, but not yet on the detail."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off foreign aid to Honduras if a caravan of approximately 1,000 migrants reaches the U.S. border.

Trump also reiterated his willingness to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement unless the caravan currently moving through Mexico is stopped.

"The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there," Trump said in a post on Twitter on Tuesday.

He added, "Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!"

The tweet from Trump is the latest responding to the news of the caravan organized by a group called Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders.

"Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large 'Caravans' of people enter their country," Trump tweeted on Monday.

He added, "They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws."

Pueblo Sin Fronteras project coordinator Alex Mensing told CNN the caravan's primary goal is to "flee Central America" and seek asylum either within Mexico or the United States.

In 2016, the U.S. provided approximately $128 million in foreign aid to Honduras, which is one of Latin America's poorest nations.

(Photo: Gage Skidmore)

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
The Japanese government has reportedly decided to set up a security agency to fight crypto currency theft.

The Tokyo based anti-cyber crime center has selected 500 analysts and investigators from Japanese security and intelligence services, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

Cybercrime has become widespread in Japan, where more than 3 million attempts to steal digital information were recorded last year.

Credit cards and cryptocurrency wallets were successfully targeted by cyber criminals.

Hackers have stolen funds worth over 17 billion Japanese yen last year, it is estimated. Out of this, 662 million yen ($6.3 million) was lost in the form of cryptocurrency.

Earlier this year, Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck lost about $550 million worth of NEM coins by way of hacking - with a virus emailed to the Coincheck's employees.

Following this, Japan's financial regulator made a widespread crackdown on the country's cryptocurrency exchanges to step up consumer protection.

Multiple cryptocurrencies were subject to attacks. Japan's National Police Agency said funds in ripple, bitcoin, etherium and NEM were illegally transferred to other accounts.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a mandatory recall order for all food products containing powdered kratom manufactured, processed, packed, or held by Triangle Pharmanaturals LLC.

The recall was announced after several products were found to contain salmonella. The agency took this action after the company failed to cooperate with the FDA's request to conduct a voluntary recall.

FDA said it is for the first time that the agency had to issue a mandatory recall order.

The FDA is advising consumers to discard the products that are part of the mandatory recall.

"This action is based on the imminent risk posed by the contamination of this product with salmonella, and the refusal of this company to voluntarily act to protect its customers and issue a recall, despite our repeated requests and actions," said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

"We continue to have serious concerns about the safety of any kratom-containing product and we are pursuing these concerns separately. But the action today is based on the risks posed by the contamination of this particular product with a potentially dangerous pathogen. Our first approach is to encourage voluntary compliance, but when we have a company like this one, which refuses to cooperate, is violating the law and is endangering consumers, we will pursue all avenues of enforcement under our authority."

Kratom is a plant that grows naturally in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Importantly, the FDA advises consumers to avoid kratom or its psychoactive compounds, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, in any form and from any manufacturer.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
(Agencia CMA Latam) - The Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) condemned the sanctions imposed by the governments of Switzerland and Panama against the country and described the actions as "grotesque" in a statement.

The TSJ stressed that the sanctions add up to those imposed by the European Union (EU) and to the economic blockade of the United States, "violating the extremes of the international arena and the honor of both nations in a frontal and flagrant way."

On March 22, Switzerland imposed sanctions against Venezuela, forbidding the sale, export, and transit of military equipment and supplies with "repressive purposes."

For its turn, Panama sanctioned 55 Venezuelan officials among whom are the President of the Republic, Nicolas Maduro, as well as 16 Venezuelan companies that will not be able to keep trade or financial relations with the Central American nation.

by Agencia CMA Latam

For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.


Supreme Court (file photo) The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stay its ruling which activists say has diluted a law aimed at preventing atrocities on Dalits and tribes. A bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, however, said compensation can be paid to victims under The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, even without a FIR being registered.





The bench said this on a plea by the Centre seeking recall of its March 20 order where the apex court had said that no arrest would be affected on a complaint under the Act without an inquiry.










Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh (file photo) The government has no plan to do away with quota policy for Dalits and tribes, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday. The assurance came a day after violent protests claimed nine lives against a Supreme Court order that dilutes a law on preventing atrocities against the marginalized communities in the country.



Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh dubbed as rumours speculation that the government wanted to end the reservation system. "Rumours are being spread about reservation policy, it is wrong.



"I appeal to all political parties to help in maintaining peace and amity in the country," he said amid noisy protests in the House.



Opposition members shouted slogans and were on their feet in protest against the Supreme Court's March 20 order diluting certain provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.



Rajnath Singh said the government acted swiftly and had already filed a petition in the top court seeking review of its order.



Trinamool Congress' Kalyan Banerjee countered this, saying the government's Additional Solicitor General had given his consent to the Supreme Court's decision of dilution.



Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said the "dilution in the Act has already been done" and the opposition parties "want to discuss it" in the House.



AIADMK members, meanwhile, created further ruckus and gathered near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium demanding an early constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board that would oversee a water sharing arrangement between the Tamil Nadu, Karantaka, Kerala and Puducherry.



Scindia also raised the issue of no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against the government.



Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was ready for debating the motion and blamed the Congress for creating disruptions.



"They are trying to halt the democratic process in the House," Ananth Kumar said.



Speaker Mahajan said she was unable to proceed with the no-confidence motion notice and adjourned the House for the day.



It is the last week of the Budget session that began on January 29 and went on break on February 9.



The session resumed on March 5 and is to conclude on April 6.



The post-break part of the session has been completely washed away amid an unending logjam in both Houses of parliament. Important budget bills were passed without debate amid protests.




Its back to business as usual today now that everyone has had a decent break during the past few days.

Indeed, Good Friday and Easter Sunday came just in time for many of us to take a much-needed breather and unwind.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi and his administration definitely needed some time out, judging from what was on the front page of the Sunday Samoan two days ago.

Whereas the biggest denomination in the country is standing up to the Government by flatly refusing to pay taxes as the law demands, Facebook has been giving Prime Minister Tuilaepa some sleepless nights so that today, he has finally threatened to put an end to all this madness.

How? Well he is threatening to ban Facebook altogether.

Keep in mind that both stories surfaced on 1 April 2018 and it did cross the mind that perhaps they were both really bad April Fools Day jokes.

It turns out they were not. Lets take a closer look.

First, the issue of taxing the income of pastors has been a controversial one from the start. And just when we thought the Government had gotten away with another big one, along comes the biggest denomination in Samoa throwing its weight around.

Now it appears that the Elders Committee of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa (C.C.C.S.) is firm they will not obey the law.

This is according to the minutes of their meeting held on 14 March 2018. A copy of the minutes has been leaked to the Sunday Samoan.

According to the minutes of the meeting, the denominations had asked the Elders Committee for a decision considering that C.C.C.S. Church Ministers are now breaking the law by not paying taxes.

But the Elders Committee is standing firm. It has insisted to leave the matter for discussion at the Fono Tele. Which means that from now until May, C.C.C.S church Ministers will continue to defy the Government and not pay a single sene of tax.

Interestingly enough, two weeks ago, Prime Minister Tuilaepa reminded that no one is above the law. He insisted that all the Churches should pay their taxes.

Now in light of this recent development, what will Prime Minister Tuilaepas government do next? Will they just prosecute all these Church Ministers for breaking the law and throw them in jail?

Or will they be threatening to ban churches too? Wouldnt that be interesting?

Nothing surprises anyone anymore about whats happening in Samoa today.

Now look at the threat to ban Facebook for example.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is sending Samoa back to ancient days. You cannot have a Government promote Internet Technology as if our lives depended on it on one hand and then on other threaten people with such a ban? The contradiction is hard to ignore.

Here is what we think. What the Government should do is stop playing these silly mind games and really go after the people they think are behind ghost writings they have been on about for far too long.

Folks, for some time now, Prime Minister Tuilaepa has been saying that he knows the people behind the posts. If that is so, why havent they prosecuted them already? Why hold an entire nation to ransom for the actions of an individual or a few?

The bottom line if they are serious, stop making these silly threats and get on with the business of doing whats needed to put a stop to this once and for all.

Get some people who can find these culprits, wind them up and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. We are tired of listening to these same old stories, especially coming from Prime Minister Tuilaepa who continues to claim that he knows these people. Enough. Its time to put up or shut up.

The leaders of this country have far more important issues to deal with. Remember claims of collusion and corruption raised by the Controller and Chief Auditor in his report, and backed by the Officers of Parliament Committee (O.P.C) a few years ago?

For people who might not be aware, the O.P.C is made up of seven Members of Parliament, four from the Government and three from the Opposition. They were told to review the report by the Controller and Chief Auditor, Fuimaono Camillo Afele, for the periods ended 30 June 2010 and 30 June 2011.

Fuimaonos report was alarming. It revealed instances of unbridled corruption within certain government corporations over a number of years.

After the review, the O.P.C report, tabled before Parliament, confirmed the claims about corruption raised by the Chief Auditor. More importantly, it recommended that legal action be taken against a number of public servants implicated in corrupt practises among other things.

Today, we are back to square one with the main question being, will justice ever be achieved in this country? We ask this because we live in a country where members of the public are jailed for stealing amounts that are as little as $50.

How then can certain public servants be allowed to walk away given findings such as the ones highlighted by the O.P.C where millions have been misappropriated and abused?

Are there different rules for different people in Samoa today? Or have public servants been given a licence to abuse and rob the public of what is rightfully theirs? Tell us what you think.

Have a great Tuesday Samoa, God bless!
The legal dispute between Member of Parliament, Olo Fiti Vaai, and the Governments Liquor Board, has been adjourned for two weeks.

The decision was made when the matter was mentioned before the Supreme Court last week.

Olo is suing the Liqour Board over their decision to shut his business, Blacknose Bar, in August last year.

Tafailagi Peniamina, is representing the Government while Leiataualesa Komisi Koria is representing Olo Fiti.

The Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiavaasue Falefatu Sapolu presided.

During the proceedings, Ms. Peniamina made an application for the matter to be adjourned so that they can obtain instructions from the defendant.

Your Honour, I act for the defendant in this matter and its a matter for first mention, she told the Court.

Therefore, we are respectfully seeking a two week adjournment for us to confirm instructions before our response.

Chief Justice Patu granted the application.

This matter is adjourned to 9 April for the respondent to file and serve a response, he said.

On August last year, the Secretary of the Liquor Board, Epi Leo Tuimauga, wrote to Olo and ordered his bar to be closed.

The conclusion follows a written report from the Ministry of Police in relation to an incident involving a security of Blacknose Bar who assaulted a customer, the letter reads.

The incident occurred on June 23, 2017. This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred at the Blacknose Bar.

Its evident that you (Olo) do not adhere to the laws governing alcohol. The issues have been addressed to you directly with the Board.

For these reasons, you are asked to close down your Blacknose Bar.

At the time when Olo was asked for a comment, he claimed the decision was unfounded.

There are fights in all of the bars in our country. Why haven't those clubs been ordered to close down?

I dont get why I have been asked to close down my bar over the actions of an employee. It just doesnt make any sense at all.

Olo said his bar always complied with requirements from the Liqour Board. The incident with the security officer was an internal matter, he added.

This is an internal matter and my Blacknose Bar should not be affected over the actions of an employee, namely a security who they claimed assaulted a customer.

This matter is pending in Court and yet they have made their decision based on the report of the Police.

My club is being closed due to the actions of an employee, whom in reality I cannot control.

I am not saying my security officer is guilty, nor do I allow this type of behaviour.

But my point is if they are closing down my club due to a fight, then they should do the same to the other clubs where there are always fights.

Olo said he would fight this case all the way.

Chairman of the Liquor Board and the Minister of Revenue, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt, in September last year, defended their decision.

Tialavea explained this was not the first time the Liquor Control Board had closed the bar in question.

We closed it down during the holidays and the decision came after numerous complaints and numerous warnings given to the bar owner about the loud noise.

The place is so exposed and therefore the sound system is not contained.

And families in the area have complained about the noise numerous times.

The Chairman made it clear that the fights were not the main reasons why the Liquor Board came to that conclusion.

We agree with him that other bars have had fights, but this was not the main reason.

Its the numerous warnings, yet nothing was done about the noise, so the board was left with no option but to close down the bar.

We have also informed the bar located on the S.L.C. complex that they need to heed the warning that families nearby have filed official complaints.

This is a residential area and families need to rest in the evenings and they cannot do that when the music from the bar is echoing in their residence.

Even this bar is widely open and those running the bar needs to somehow to contain the music within.

As far as I know, we are doing our mandates and if the bar owners want to challenge our decision in Court, then do so. If they win, then we will let the Court deal with the complaints from the families in the vicinity.
PR - The nofotane women from Laulii, Leusoalii, Luatuanuu, Solosolo and Eva have joined the Samoa Victim Support Group and the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality efforts, to address womens economic disadvantage through their economic empowerment.

The training was centred at the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa Hall, Luatuanuu and attended by more than 100 women.

On this 22nd session of livelihood trainings of the Nofotane Project, there was a noted gradual change in community attitudes and behavior towards the economic empowerment of nofotane women.

This was evidence by the support from village and church leaders who attended the training sessions just to offer support towards the women. For the husbands, they happily tended to the reversed roles of taking care of the children, attended to their food and things at home while the women attended the training.

This is the kind of support from both women and men, necessary to break down stereotypes and gender roles responsiblilities in the home, employment and community.

While handicraft, elei printing and commercial cooking were the most popular skills selected by the nofotane to be trained on, the highlight of the 22nd session was the youth groups, who were more interested in flower arrangements.

This was because the trainer is a member of the SVSG (Junior) volunteer and a transgender, who represented this third gender well, in the economic empowerment of women. And SVSG encourages the involvement of the community to address gender equality without discrimination as we were blessed to have Daisy Toloa, our floral arrangement expert, being part of the training team

It was during the demonstration of the self-esteem module, the SHINE program emphasizing value, purpose and worth that provided a fitting ending to the livelihood session at Luatuanuu. The women were encouraged, as the program appealed to their self-esteem, necessary for them to rise up as valuable women that they are in our families and communities. As empowered women, positive changes are in store for these women, their families and communities.

A nofotane woman will always be a nofotane; the project is not attempting to change this cultural aspect of the FaaSamoa. The project merely aims to improve the economic empowerment of women and to increase their participation in domestic and community matters, as these are some of the most important contributing factors to achieving gender equality, Siliniu Lina Chang, SVSG President.
Lata Poe is in need of a water tank.

An unemployed mother of two, from the village of Aleisa, she spoke up about the challenges they face with the lack of water supply.

Having access to water supply makes everyday life convenient for her family.

But there is nothing that could be done when there is no money, she says.

There are three of us adults that are living here and the biggest problem that we are facing is the lack of water, Mrs. Poe shared with the Village Voice team.

All of the houses around this area have water meter except for our family. They have disconnected our water supply.

We have gone to the Samoa Water Authority but they said we should settle our $900 bill first before further actions.

So ever since then we have been living without any water supply, said the 26-year-old.

She lives with her elderly father-in-law and her young children.

With water, chores are made much simpler and not every day it rains, but people like us rely on rainwater.

The iron gallons that we are using have rusted and it is not safe to store water for drinking so we have to fetch our buckets of water from a different family that lives close by.

It is only then that we are certain that the water we are drinking is safe.

Mrs. Poe also mentioned their housing condition.

The house was ruined by Tropical Cyclone Gita. Most of the iron roofing was blown away, including our kitchen.

The only space in our house that is safe is where we sleep at but the whole area leaks. We have had this house for a very long time, for 58 years now.

My husband usually goes around looking for available timber to fix up the house. He does all these things for the sake of his father and our two children.

His mother just passed away recently so it is just us who live here.

She explained that nobody in their family works. They rely on the land for survival. They have to pay $900 to reconnect their tap water.

We sell our crops and we usually make $200 a day whenever we sell our crops.

People may think that is a lot of money, but we have a family that we need to feed and kids who are still young and needs to be taken care of.

Life is not easy, everything has become pricey and with the money that we would earn, it is spent on cash power, grocery shopping for the week and the small things that we need at home.

Saving money is an illusion because it does not mean that we would be able to put money aside when we have family matters that are happening.

Family commitment is something that we cannot run from.

For anyone who is willing to help Mrs. Poes family, contact the number 7244296.
For 17 years, Tupe Maligi has lived in a rundown shack in Tanumapua.

Despite the condition of her house, she is thankful for her parents-in-law.

She moved all her belongings to her in-laws place because of Tropical Cyclone Gita that struck Samoa in February this year.

Mrs. Maligi is seeking assistance for proper housing materials.

The house leaks terribly every time it rains but luckily my in-laws live just around the corner. We still live here, but the problem is we cannot stay here during rainy days.

My childrens welfare is the reason we had to seek refuge at my husbands family. They are still young and the last thing I need is for them to be ill.

It is an open Samoan house as you can see and the grass has grown and it is attracting mosquitoes, which no doubt carries diseases.

We dont have a lawn mower. That is another problem, said the 35-year-old.

The unemployed mother of five says their water supply runs perfectly, but not their electricity.

Speaking to the Village Voice team, she shared her frustration with the Electric Power Corporation.

Our power was disconnected in November and we have already settled our bill in the beginning of March and up until now there is still no power, Mrs. Maligi said.

We have called them several times but the power is still not reconnected. So we have been living in the dark for the past few months and it is not easy.

It is very upsetting because the bill has already been paid for and there are nine of us living together. I feel sorry for my children and also my parents-in-law.

Mrs. Maligi stated there is only one person who works in their family, and for them getting money to pay their bill was very hard.

The cost of living has become expensive. The only provider in our family is my husband. He deals with everything while I look after his parents and our children.

I am not sure how much it cost our family to pay for the electricity bill, but there is still nothing that has been done.

We need the electricity for many things and it is useful for kids who attend school to do their school work.

But using candles and kerosene light, we must always be cautious about it because it could burn down the house if we are careless.
By good fortune, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute say theyve made a significant discovery that could lead to better flu treatments.

The scientists found a small molecule that blocks a vulnerable site on many Type A influenza viruses that is required for infection. If this discovery is confirmed, the scientists say it could guide development of a new class of flu drugs.

The discovery, published Monday, comes at a time when better flu drugs are badly needed. Seasonal vaccines offer only modest protection. Antiviral flu drugs are losing effectiveness. This flu season was one of the more severe ones, with deaths in San Diego County alone reaching 319 as of March 24.

However, the study is just the first step of a lengthy process that may or may not lead to an effective treatment. Years lie ahead, with more lab testing and probably animal experiments before any drugs can be tested in people. And success is far from guaranteed.

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The studys significance is that it suddenly opens up a new area of exploration into a long-held dream of developing potent small-molecule flu drugs. Moreover, its the second in a month from San Diego scientists reporting a novel method of developing such flu drugs.

Small molecules are preferred as drugs, because they can be manufactured inexpensively and taken orally. Large-molecule drugs are generally trickier to make and often cant be taken by mouth. And flu viruses are relatively huge, plus most of their surface is highly mutable. That means finding the right place to block a vulnerable site that doesnt change is effectively a needle-in-a-haystack challenge.

Meanwhile, existing small molecule drugs such as Tamiflu are only partially effective. And recent research suggests that the effectiveness of such drugs has been overstated. (Flu vaccines are made of large molecules, but their main problem is limited effectiveness, not cost).

The lastest study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ian Wilson, a longtime vaccine researcher, was the senior author. Rameshwar Kadam, also of Scripps Research, was first author.

In an unrelated study published in March, scientists from UC San Diego reported producing another potential small molecule that in theory could provide virtually universal flu protection. This molecule stops flu viruses from reproducing inside an infected cell. But this research also requires further development before it can be tested in people.

The new study found that a commonly used laboratory chemical known as CHES blocks infection. Researchers discovered its flu-blocking property by accident, while preparing crystallized forms of the H5N1 virus for imaging with X-rays.

They delved into the viral structure and the molecules chemistry to deduce how this happened. Ultimately, they arrived at an atomic-level description of how the molecules interact.

CHES fits precisely into a shallow pocket on the viral surface, the needle in the haystack. This area docks with protrusions of carbohydrate molecules called sialic acids that bristle from cells. This docking is required for infection.

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Researchers have sought to to stop this docking with carbohydrate-based decoys that look like sialic acids. But this effort has failed, because the sialic acid receptor only binds weakly. A tight attachment is needed to deactivate the virus.

It is for that reason, the study states, that its important to explore non-carbohydrate small molecules as potential drugs.

With that in mind, the researchers noticed that X-rays of their crystallized virus samples showed something inside the receptor binding site. They determined it was CHES, a non-carbohydrate small molecule.

And most importantly, the molecule did not intrude into other areas around the receptor that are highly variable. This means that the molecule should be able to fit into the receptor pocket even as the virus mutates.

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The study can be found online at j.mp/fluches.

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Science Playlist  On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
San Diegos financially troubled Green Flash brewery has been sold to a group of investors following a foreclosure by the companys principal lender, Comerica Bank.

As a result of the sale, which closed Friday, a new ownership group calling itself WC IPA LLC is taking over and making a number of top management changes.

Former Green Flash Brewing Company CEO Mike Hinkley will continue as the new companys vice president.

The announcement of the sale comes just a week after Green Flash closed its Virginia Beach brewery, which had a 16-month lifespan. There was more troubling news last week as the brewery closed its Poway barrel-aging facility, Cellar 3.

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While Green Flash had ambitious plans to become a national force in craft beer, distributing to all 50 states from its San Diego and Virginia bases, it was unable to make payments on the $20 million loan it had with Comerica.

After a general slowdown in the craft beer industry, coupled with intense competition and a slowdown of our business, we could not service the debt that we took on to build the Virginia Beach brewery, and in early 2018, the Company defaulted on its loans with Comerica Bank, Hinkley wrote in a note to Green Flash shareholders. While we took substantial efforts to recapitalize the Company over the past several months, both before and after the bank default, we were ultimately unable to close a transaction.

The Green Flash and Alpine breweries will continue to operate under new ownership, Hinkley added, but Green Flash Brewing Company and Alpine Beer, which Green Flash purchased in 2014, will be dissolved. Separately, Comerica is in the process of trying to sell the Virginia Beach brewery.

Pat McIlhenney, co-founder of Alpine, said he heard from Hinkley on Monday.

McIlhenney and his wife -- Val McIlhenney, who was vice president of Green Flashs Alpine Beer division -- will have no role in the new company. Their son, Shawn McIlhenney, remains under contract as a Green Flash brewer.

Hinkley and his wife, Lisa Hinkley, started Green Flash 16 years ago. A news release said he will lead the new company, although a California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control document identifies him as vice president.

That development drew barbed comments from McIlhenney. I dont have a lot of faith in the management, he said, especially if they keep Mike on management.

He has no business being in this business. His business prowess is abysmal.

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Hinkley could not be reached for comment.

Despite the financial troubles, the Green Flash Brewhouse & Eatery in Lincoln, Neb., will open this month, and will brew specialty beers serving the state of Nebraska.

The rise and fall of Green Flash reflects the peculiar state of Americas craft beer industry, which is enjoying record sales and witnessing an unprecedented number of failures. Last year saw the demise of 165 craft breweries (the term describes operations that are small, independent and devoted to traditional beer styles and ingredients).

At the same time, 997 breweries opened across the U.S. There are about 5,600 craft brewing companies, operating from 6,622 locations.

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We havent seen those numbers ever in our countrys history, said Julia Herz, craft beer program director of the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based national industry group. This is still the best time ever to be a beer drinker.

But the rapid growth in breweries means fierce competition for shelf space in stores and tap handles in bars and restaurants. At the same time, industrial breweries like Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors have been buying numerous craft breweries, using their nationwide distribution and sales networks to undercut their independent rivals.

Thats changing the environment and tipping the scales, Herz said. The business, she added, is certainly harder than ever.

Green Flash is not alone in struggling with these changes. Last month, New Hampshires Smuttynose Brewing Co. was auctioned off to an investment group. San Franciscos Speakeasy Ales & Lagers was bought by the former owner of a beer distributor last May, two months after its closure.

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Theres still value in these businesses, said Bart Watson, the Brewers Associations chief economist. The brands still have value to customers so for the right price there is still interest.

While the craft beer sector is still growing at a healthy 5 percent, that doesnt mean there wont still be casualties as companies try to expand their brands outside the local region, said David Barnett, a Chicago-based senior research analyst for JLL, a commercial brokerage firm. which last year released The Craft Beer Guidebook to Real Estate.

If you want to make that step of going from a local to a national player, you need to grow your brand loyalty in alignment with new customers, and youre not going to see every business successful in doing that, whether its operations and distribution, name recognition and picking the right location, said Barnett, a former San Diegan who at one time was a server at Karl Strauss Brewing Company.

For now, the new company says the Green Flash brand will still be sold in eight states: California, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Nebraska. The breweries in Mira Mesa and Alpine will continue to operate.

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Dave Mills, a veteran of San Diegos Ballast Point, was named vice president of sales and business development. He replaces Jim Kenny, who had held that position for eight years. Also departing is Chris Ross, who had been president since 2016.

Erik Jensen, the brewmaster since 2015, retains his position as vice president of brewing operations.

The president of the new company is identified as Richard Alan Lobo, founding partner of Muirlands Capital, a San Diego private equity firm. Lobo also has been a board member of Green Flash since April of last year.

Raising some eyebrows in the craft beer community is the addition of Joshua Yelsey, formerly of Anheuser-Busch, as manager of Green Flashs new owner. Not only was he a manager in Anheusers mergers and acquisitions department, but he also worked as head of finance for such Anheuser-acquired craft breweries as Goose Island and Blue Point.

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Since January, when Green Flash laid off dozens of employees, the company has been showing signs of decline. For fans of the beer and friends of the Hinkleys, like San Diego Brewers Guild president Paul Sangster, thats been tough to watch.

I think all of us in San Diego are hoping Green Flash and Alpine brands continue to be made the way theyve been made recently, Sangster said, so we can continue to enjoy them.

Pat Korn, a former Green Flash brewer who was Cellar 3s barrelmaster, said the brewery made several fatal mistakes: expanding to the East Coast before its West Coast brewery had reached peak production; raising prices on its beers; and tinkering with the recipe of its flagship ale, West Coast IPA.

West Coast built that Mira Mesa brewery, Korn said, and they decided to change it.

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lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
Five years ago, National City Councilman Jerry Cano was cited by the city for making improvements to his home without the proper permits, records show.

He still has not corrected the violations, even though he has been issued three warning notices, including a final notice in 2014, and had a lien placed on his property in 2015, according to city records.

After that, the city did not take any further action against Cano for three years until last month, when City Attorney Angil Morris-Jones sent a letter telling him he has until April 3 to submit plans to correct the violations and pay the appropriate application fees.

As of Monday afternoon, Cano had not filed any paperwork, city officials said.

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Cano said hes aware of the violations, but declined further comment. Its just one of those things, he said.

Cano was elected to the City Council in 2012 and is currently serving his second term.

Questions surrounding who was responsible for allowing the three-year enforcement lapse has led to a rift between the head of the citys Building Department, Luis Sainz, and his boss, Frank Parra, the citys Director of Emergency Services.

Sainz says Parra told him to lay off Cano. Parra says Sainzs department is understaffed and too busy with other work to follow up with Canos case.

Canos troubles began June 3, 2013, when Sainz issued Cano a notice of violation over backyard renovations Cano did without city permits.

The city issued 14 violations for work at Canos Mary Lane home that include an extension to a backyard patio, building an outdoor kitchen with walls and a roof, installing water, gas, and electric lines from the house to the backyard, and building stairs without handrails, records show.

Had the councilman obtained the permits, they would have cost about $1,500, according to city estimates.

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Notices of violation are normally typed on official National City letterhead and delivered via certified mail. In this case, Sainz wrote out the violations on a lined sheet of paper and delivered them by hand. Sainz said he did so at the request of his boss.

Follow-up notices were sent to Cano via certified mail typed on a page with National Citys letterhead on it, records show.

Parra denies telling Sainz to show Cano special treatment, including directing him to handwrite a note.

Absolutley not, he said.

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Records show Cano did not correct the violations after the handwritten notice and Sainzs department did not follow up with the councilman for a year.

Parra is unsure why the city didnt follow up, saying it could be because the Building Department is understaffed and was too busy.

After a year, Sainz sent Cano a second notice of violation on June 3, 2014. This notice gave Cano 30 calendar days to submit plans to correct the violations, records show.

Cano didnt file plans until 99 days after the notice, in September 2014, according to city records. Canos plans show that to correct the violations, Cano had to demolish part of the patio. The work was estimated to cost $12,000.

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However, his plans were not up to code so the city asked him to resubmit corrected plans. Cano didnt file new plans. Instead, he started the work to correct the violations without a city permit, records show.

Sainz said he grew increasingly frustrated with the Cano case. He wrote Parra an email in November 2014 expressing concerns over the lack of enforcement and Canos repeated excuses.

Typically, we would provide any other citizen 30 days to remedy these issues, Sainz wrote in the email obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune. In all fairness to our other citizens, I should prepare a final notice with 30 days for all corrections to be completed within that time frame.

The email also criticizes Cano for saying he was unable to do the repairs because of his financial crisis and the need for him to borrow money from his father to pay for permits.

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If Cano could pay for the work, he should be able to afford permits, Sainz wrote.

Sainz recommended the city write Cano a final notice of violation and, if that was ignored, issue a recordation on Canos home. A recordation is similar to a lien in that it makes it difficult for Cano to refinance or borrow against his property.

Records show the city followed both of Sainzs recommendations.

In March 2015, Parra signed off on the recordation. But Cano remained out of compliance and the city did not take any additional enforcement actions for another three years, records show.

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It wasnt until March 19, after the Chula Vista Star-News published an article about Canos chronic lack of compliance, that the city attorney sent Cano a notice telling him that he has until April 3 to submit plans to correct the violations and pay the appropriate application fees.

Canos case differs from the way the Building Department usually handles enforcement, Sainz said.

Typically, the city issues a first notice and a final notice. In Canos case, he received three  a handwritten notice in June 2013, a second notice in June 2014 and a final notice in November 2014, records show.

Then, if corrections arent made, the city normally issues administrative citations. The citations vary from $100, to $100 a day or $100 per day per violation depending on discretion from city officials.

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In Canos case, the citations could have easily ballooned up to thousands a day.

Instead of fines, the city chose to issue a recordation, which doesnt carry fines and is rare. Sainz said he could only think of two properties in National City that were issued recordation because of building violations.

Parra agreed that recordations are rare.

Parra stood by the citys decision to issue a recordation in 2015.

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I truly believe that a recordation is a serious process, he said. Its much like a lien on your property so its nothing to take lightly. We do our best with the limited staff to take care of our residents.

Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he planned to order the military to guard parts of the southern border until he can build a wall and tighten immigration restrictions, proposing a remarkable escalation of his efforts to crack down on migrants entering the country illegally.

Mr. Trump, who has been stewing publicly for days about what he characterizes as lax immigration laws and the potential for an influx of Central American migrants to stream into the United States, said he had been discussing with Jim Mattis, the secretary of defense, about resorting to military deployments.

We have very bad laws for our border, and we are going to be doing some things  Ive been speaking with General Mattis  were going to be doing things militarily, Mr. Trump said at the White House, seated beside the defense secretary at a meeting with visiting leaders of Baltic nations. Until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military. Thats a big step. We really havent done that before, or certainly not very much before.

Mr. Trumps comments came after he kicked off his third consecutive day of tweeting about Americas weak border laws on Tuesday and called on Congress to act, following a new push for legislation to enforce immigration laws for those living illegally in the United States.

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Mr. Trumps Twitter thread on immigration policy started Sunday and, since then, he has consistently threatened to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as Nafta. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said Nafta is in play, and repeated his contention that Nafta was a cash cow for other nations.

The presidents tweets do not always lead to a new policy, but on Monday afternoon the White House announced Mr. Trumps new push for legislation to make it more difficult to enter and stay in the United States illegally. It was not immediately clear what impact Tuesdays tweet would have on immigration policy or Nafta negotiations.

The president on Tuesday also raised the issue of the caravans of people he says are headed to the United States through Mexico. The caravan has been a popular topic on Fox News  the presidents favorite news network. The president of the National Border Patrol Council, Brandon Judd, said recently on Fox and Friends that Americas current immigration policy is luring a caravan of Central American migrants to the United States.

A group called Pueblo Sin Fronteras organized the caravan, which consists of about 1,200 people  including infants, the elderly and people facing violence in their homelands. The group predicted it would be at least a month before the caravan arrived at the United States border with Mexico. Roberto Corona, the groups communications director, said the group will be much smaller by the time it reaches the American border, because many of the migrants know they would not qualify for asylum in the United States and would instead be turned away.

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump warned that the big Caravan of People from Honduras must be stopped before it gets to the border.

Late Monday, Mexican immigration officials started to negotiate with the caravans organizers. And Mexican authorities have agreed to provide humanitarian visas to the migrants so that they can stay in Mexico legally, a representative from Pueblo Sin Fronteras said.
The Central American caravan headed north toward the United States through Mexico may have attracted the attention of President Donald Trump and others for good reason  its one of the largest since the group Pueblo Sin Fronteras began staging its annual pilgrimage through Mexico a decade ago.

The president is accusing the Mexican government of doing far too little to stem the flow of people coming through the countrys southern border on their way to the U.S. as they flee violence and poverty back home.

Starting Easter morning and continuing through Monday, the U.S. president fired off a series of angry tweets that criticized Mexico for allowing caravans to cross their country and demanded tougher U.S.immigration laws. He declared DACA is dead, referring to negotiations to allow young unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States as children to remain in the country.

Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large Caravans of people enter their country, the president tweeted Monday. They must stop them at their northern border.

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The presidents focus on the issue came on the heels of a report on the website Buzzfeed, which has been following the progress of the Pueblo Sin Fronteras group. Their pilgrimage then caught the attention of Fox News commentators, as well as the presidents.

It remains uncertain how many of the caravans participants will ultimately reach the border, as some are expected to remain in Mexico. Close to 80 percent of the caravans members are from Honduras, where citizens have been suffering through gang violence and a deadly military crackdown on political protests following last years presidential election.

The large group that has drawn so much attention looked like it would soon be dispersed following a meeting late Monday between caravan leaders and Mexican immigration authorities. Alex Mensing, a cavaran spokesman, said Mexican authorities agreed to give participants humanitarian visas or exit visas  a permit that allows foreigners to remain for about 10 days.

Its very challenging to travel in a group that big, this way people can travel in a more regular manner, Mensing said. People are going to be able to travel to the places they need to go without having to worry about being detained by Mexican immigration.

One of the major aims of the larger Pueblo Sin Fronteras caravan, along with other smaller groups that make such journeys, is to provide participants with protection from gangs and corrupt law enforcement officials as they cross Mexico. While some may make it to the U.S. border, others are expected to seek asylum in Mexico, said Irineo Mujica, one of the caravans organizers.

Our intention is that these people be able to lead a life with dignity outside their countries, Mujica said. Mexico has increasingly become a key destination.

The caravan has come as Mexico has seen an increase in asylum requests, said Maureen Meyer of the Washington, D.C.-based think thank Washington Office on Latin America. Requests have risen from 3,424 in 2015 to 14,596 last year.

Mexico is seen more and more as a destination, but other individuals and families certainly continued to see the United States as an option, Meyer said.

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The Pueblo Sin Fronteras caravan has drawn members of entire families, but also unaccompanied adolescents, single women and fathers with children. Mujica said the numbers included 300 children and 400 women. Though 1,500 launched from Tapachula in southern Mexico on March 25, they have not all remained with the caravan, which was down to 1,050 on Monday.

The next major stop will be Puebla, where caravan members are expecting to gather with Mexican government authorities and demand improvements to its asylum process. As in recent years, the final destination is Tijuana, where a small number of caravan members is expected to apply for U.S. asylum.

If anyone gets to the border, it will be specific cases, which have been reviewed by attorneys, Mujica said. Nobody is planning to arrive with a crowd of people and push across.

In a similar but smaller caravan last year, 108 participants came to the San Diego border and petitioned for asylum. The outcome of the cases could not be immediately verified on Monday.

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Though the Pueblo Sin Fronteras caravan has been staged for years, it drew relatively little attention until Trump began tweeting.

Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S., the president tweeted on Easter morning. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!

In another tweet, the president threatened to end he program that allows young unauthorized immigrants to work and study in the United States: NO MORE DACA DEAL.

President Trump said that these big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!

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In fact, the people in the caravan would not qualify for DACA, or deferred action for childhood arrivals. Mujica said that caravan participants dont have any idea about DACA.

While authorities in Mexico had not sought to detain the caravan as of Monday, Mexican government statistics show that authorities deport large numbers of Central Americans from the country. Last years total was 76,433, according to statistics from Mexicos Ministry of Interior; of those, 35,133 came from Guatemala, while 29,002 came from Honduras.

In January and February, Mexico deported nearly 16,000 Central Americans, statistics showed, with the highest numbers from Guatemala and Honduras.

While the caravan has been moving northward, it would be foolish to say that this is a signal that Mexico is doing nothing to stop Central Americans or others from reaching the U.S.-Mexico border, said Meyer of the Washington Office on Latin America.

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The caravan participants, are not a security risk to the United States, Meyer said. This should be treated more as a humanitarian situation and not some threat to the U.S. Families are hoping that the United States will protect them from their own countries.

The caravan has been has been taking place for several years, but this is the first time that Donald Trump has made an issue of it, said Eric Olson, deputy director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. The way the Trump administration wants to spin this is that this is about Mexicans letting Central Americans into the United States, but that is not what is going on.

Caravan members are coming more as a protest and protection mechanism from abuse in Mexico than anything else, Olson said. Both from police and other officials but also from criminal groups that want to exploit them.

Olson said he had been in contact with Mexican authorities, and they said We are well aware of what is going on, this is not the first time weve faced this. Were dealing with this in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy.

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Pueblo Sin Fronteras runs two migrant shelters on the U.S. border, in the towns of Sonoita and Caborca in the state of Sonora. It is not a formal organization in the United States, but operates more as a collective, Mujica said.

In announcing the groups March 25 departure, Pueblo Sin Fronteras sent a statement saying it is a group of people from different nations, religions, genders, gender expressions and sexual orientations migrating and seeking refuge.

The statement calls for a series of measures, including an end to political corruption, to violence against members of the LGBT community, to murder with impunity and gang recruitment of youth.

It demands that the U.S. government continued Temporary Protected Status  a program for people from nations affected by wars or disasters. It asks that the U.S. government stop massive funding for the Mexican government to detain Central American migrants and refugees and to deport them.

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sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com

@sandradibble
Two Orange County supervisors Monday urged cities to come forward with possible locations for temporary homeless shelters as pressure mounts to house people removed from Santa Ana River encampments.

The Board of Supervisors last week moved away from its plan to have county staff study moving hundreds of homeless people to temporary shelters in Huntington Beach, Laguna Niguel and Irvine after receiving pushback from those communities.

The board instead opted to come up with a new plan under the watchful eye of a federal judge overseeing a civil rights lawsuit by seven homeless people and their advocates over the countys recent clearing of encampments along the river.

So far, no new plan has materialized. Many of the homeless who were moved from the camps are temporarily staying in motels, but the last of the motel vouchers handed out as part of an emergency aid package the supervisors approved in February have expired. It isnt clear where some former camp residents will go next.

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We are not wedded to any particular locations or any particular sites, board Chairman Andrew Do said Monday. We just want solutions. We need more options in order to house and provide emergency shelters for the homeless.

Do called for a special meeting Monday to have supervisors discuss and provide direction to staff about housing alternatives and transitional options for the countys homeless population. Do and Vice Chairman Shawn Nelson were the only board members who attended; Supervisors Michelle Steel, Todd Spitzer and Lisa Bartlett were absent.

Californias open-meetings law prohibits government panels from taking action without a majority of members present, so no vote was taken.

Its not easy to have these conversations, Nelson said. No one wants to be a participant.

Bartlett had a scheduled meeting with the city of San Juan Capistrano about another issue, so she could not attend Mondays discussion, her chief of staff, Victor Cao, said.

We considered rescheduling the existing meeting; however, we cant cancel on the basis of a special board meeting that has no substantive recommended actions on the agenda staff report, Cao wrote in an email. Supervisor Bartlett is willing to engage in a discussion about homelessness at a regularly scheduled board meeting and stresses the need for adhering to a public process.

Steels office said she also had a previous commitment. Spitzers office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The discussion came a day before U.S. District Judge David O. Carter is scheduled to hold a hearing in which some expect him to ask city officials to outline their resources for addressing homeless housing.

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Nelson said Carter also could issue an injunction barring cities from enforcing their anti-camping laws in public spaces.

I think youd have utter panic if that happens, Nelson said.

Do and Nelson criticized some officials for fear-mongering in their communities to rally people against temporary shelters.

We are not here to ram anything down peoples throats, but we have a problem, Do said.

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Nelson has suggested that the 114-acre, state-owned Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa be used as an emergency homeless shelter. However, the Costa Mesa City Council last week voiced unanimous disapproval of the idea, supporting residents who said they were concerned that developing a shelter there would jeopardize public safety, reduce property values and unduly burden the city.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Fry writes for Times Community News.
Outside of a Delano church, the children draped their bodies over the caskets that held their parents, tears streaming down their faces.

They were about five miles from the site where their parents had fatally crashed while fleeing from immigration agents last month.

The six sons and daughters were joined by nearly 400 others who packed Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Monday morning for the funeral services of Santos Hilario Garcia and Marcelina Garcia Perfecto.

Marcelina and Santos were hard workers who only wanted to provide for their family. Like many other immigrants, they were farmworkers  people who lifted up this country, said Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers of America. We want to ensure that the deaths of Marcelina and Santos are not in vain. This tragedy has shown this country that the inhumane politics of this administration destroy families.

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The oldest child, second from left, of Santos Hilario Garcia and Marcelina Garcia Perfecto mourns with her siblings, left, and relatives during the funeral services at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Delano. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )

On the morning of March 13, deportation officers had arrived at a residence that they believed belonged to a previously removed Mexican citizen, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lori Haley. A man matching the targets description left the residence and got into a car. After agents stopped the car and tried to contact the driver, the car sped off, Haley said.

Agents later came across the vehicle, which had struck a utility pole and overturned, and called local authorities. Garcia, 35, and his wife, Perfecto, 33, who were in the country illegally, were both killed.

Garcia, who was convicted in 2014 of driving under the influence, was voluntarily returned to Mexico three times between 2008 and 2017, Haley said. Perfecto had no prior encounters with ICE.

Though Garcia matched the description of the arrest target, he was not the same individual, according to ICE.

It gets worse and worse to know that, by irony, theyre not the ones they were looking for  but because of [ICEs] job, they are doing what they do and everybody is in their net, said Jim Grant, director of social justice ministry for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, who attended the funeral services. Therefore the couple knows they still have to flee and then theres this result  two deaths that need not have happened.

Federal agents conducted a large-scale immigration sweep through the Central Valley in February, arresting hundreds  including some farmworkers  suspected of being in the country without legal status.

ICE Director Thomas Homan has defended his agencys enforcement efforts, pointing instead to Californias sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation between local and federal law enforcement.

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In a previous statement to The Times, Homan said those policies have forced the agency to make arrests in communities rather than in jails, which poses increased risks for law enforcement and the public  and also increases the likelihood that ICE will encounter other illegal aliens who previously werent on our radar.

Garcia and Perfecto had been in the U.S since 2003. The pair were originally from Guerrero, Mexico, and mainly spoke Mixtec, an indigenous language.

Throughout the Mass, attendees spoke a mix of Spanish, English and Mixtec. Although some of those who attended did not know the couple, many said they could relate to their story.

It could happen to anyone of us, said Delano resident Susana Ortiz. People are scared, because theyre leaving their kids and they dont know if theyre going to come back.

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Former and current farmworkers, as well as classmates, turned out to show their support for the couples children.

Victoria Lennon, 17, attends school with one of the couples daughters and is on the track team with her.

This was definitely a situation in which I wanted to make sure that I was there for her and that she knew there were people who cared and she wouldnt be alone, Victoria said. The people here are very caring, very giving, very family oriented. People stick together when things go down.

Throughout the service, the couples oldest daughter, who is 18, cried often, as did her three younger sisters and two younger brothers. The family declined to speak to the media.

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As the service came to a close and the caskets were opened, the children saw their parents for the first time since their deaths and wept. Someone had placed a photo of the couple in each casket.

In Garcias were the words, Querido Padre and in Perfectos, Querida Madre. Beloved father. Beloved mother.

When the caskets were placed inside hearses, family members released white balloons.

Delano Mayor Grace Vallejo then joined the family for a procession to a nearby reception.

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I hope that this trickles up to the federal government and they learn that they are literally causing deaths of people  thats my hope, Vallejo said. But the reality is, if Trumps administration has not listened to the pleas and breakup of families and everything going on, if he hasnt listened by now, I doubt hes going to listen.

To read this article in Spanish click here

Times staff writer Andrea Castillo contributed to this report.

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brittny.mejia@latimes.com

Twitter: @brittny_mejia

UPDATES:

7:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from people who attended the funeral services and from an ICE official.

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This article was originally published at 3:10 p.m.
A La Jolla restaurateur pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court on Monday to sexually assaulting four women  at least three of whom were unconscious.

Daniel Dorado, owner of Italian restaurant Voce Del Mare, was charged with 14 felonies including three counts of sexual battery by restraint and three counts of rape of an unconscious person, according to Deputy District Attorney Katherine Flaherty. Dorado faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors released few details about the charges, saying only that one of the incidents allegedly occurred at the 61-year-olds La Jolla Boulevard restaurant and that the others happened elsewhere. The crimes were reported in 2009, 2015, 2017 and 2018, Flaherty said.

Dorados attorney, Dan Greene, said his client was completely stunned and taken aback by the allegations against him.

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Mr. Dorado is saying hes never drugged anyone, hes never raped anyone, hes never been involved in these quite serious allegations, Greene said. ...These are very serious crimes and what hes asked for is to have his day in court. He wants to be able to defend his good name.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Maureen Hallahan ordered Dorado to stay away from each of the alleged victims while the case was pending. She also set Dorados bail at $900,000.

The People consider him a danger to society based on four different victims complaining of similar assaults over the course of nine years, Flaherty said of the high bail amount.

Dorado has no known criminal history.

He was arrested Wednesday morning at his Harmony Grove home, just outside Escondido.

Voce Del Mare, located in the Bird Rock area of La Jolla, has been closed since the arrest. A notice on the restaurants Yelp page says it is temporarily closed until May 31.

10News reported police were at the location the day he was taken into custody. The television station also reported a woman said Dorado gave her a glass of wine during a job interview, and the next thing she remembered was waking up naked with the man.

She told the station she had gone to the police at the time of the incident three years ago.

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When asked whether Dorado may have had other potential victims, Flaherty said the San Diego Police Department is actively investigating a number of leads.

Staff writer Andrew Dyer contributed to this report.
Jurors had only a few minutes to realize what was happening.

An electronically-operated video screen glided up and out of the way, exposing a sheet-shrouded figure that the screen had hidden from view.

Attorney C. Keith Greer tugged at the sheet to reveal a life-size mannequin hanging from a red noose fastened to a black metal stand.

The figure of a woman with long black hair was modestly draped in a hospital gown. But seconds later, Greer fully exposed the tan-skinned figure meant to depict the way Rebecca Zahau looked the morning her naked body dangled from the balcony of a Coronado mansion.

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While jurors stared, Greer played a recording of the 911 call made by Adam Shacknai on July 13, 2011, to report the apparent death of his brothers girlfriend.

I got a girl here, hung herself, Shacknai tells the 911 operator at the Coronado Police Department.

1 / 16 Adam Shacknai and his attorneys listened as attorney C. Keith Greer delivered his closing arguments to the jury where he made a point of the finger prints and the usual orientation of how Rebecca Zahau would have to hold the knife. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 16 Mary Zahau-Loehners (left) and her mother Parri Zahau (right) appeared in court during closing arguments in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau in San Diego Superior Court. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 16 Being respectful Attorney C. Keith Greer waited for the mother of Rebecca Zahau, Parri Zahau to leave court before continuing on with his closing arguments which went into the details of her death. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 16 On Monday in court attorney C. Keith Greer motions how alleges Adam Shacknai pushed Rebecca Zahaus body over the balcony railing to appear as though she committed suicide by hanging herself. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 16 On Monday in court attorney C. Keith Greer delivered his closing arguments to the jury, saying that the message on the door was left behind by the murderer of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 16 Adam Shacknai sat in court as attorney Keith Greer delivered his closing arguments to the jury in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 16 Attorney Keith Greer during closing arguments in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 16 On Monday morning in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau, Judge Katherine Bacal read the jury instructions to the jury before attorneys could begin their closing arguments. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 16 Adam Shacknai sat in court as Judge Katherine Bacal read the jury instructions to the jury before attorneys began closing arguments in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 16 Attorney C. Keith Greer delivered his closing arguments to the jury where he pointed out that the marked finger prints would indicate an unusual orientation of how Rebecca Zahau would have to hold the knife. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 16 Adam Shacknai sat in court as attorney C. Keith Greer delivered his closing arguments to the jury in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 16 Plaintiff s attorney C. Keith Greer (standing) plays the video of Dina Shacknas deposition for the jury during the beginning of his closing arguments in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 16 Late Monday afternoon, attorney Dan Webb addresses the jury during his closing arguments in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 16 Adam Shacknai sat in court as Judge Katherine Bacal read the jury instructions to the jury before attorneys began closing arguments in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 16 Late Monday afternoon, attorney Dan Webb addresses the jury during his closing arguments in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 16 Late Monday afternoon Judge Katherine Bacal listened to closing arguments by attorney Dan Webb in the civil trial for the wrongful death of Rebecca Zahau. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)

The courtroom drama on Monday came as the end approached in the nearly six-week wrongful death lawsuit against Shacknai, filed by Zahaus family.

Although county authorities found Zahaus death to be suicide, her mother and sister havent accepted that ruling.

Their lawsuit alleges Shacknai battered Zahau by hitting her on the head, sexually assaulting her and manually strangling her, then staging the hanging to look like a suicide. The suit also alleges Shacknais conduct caused Zahaus death.

Shacknai testified that he never harmed or killed Zahau. Experts called to testify by the defendants lawyer said his DNA and fingerprints were not found on any key evidence.

Attorneys on both sides of the lawsuit summarized their cases in closing arguments Monday in San Diego Superior Court. The defense was to finish on Tuesday, with time for rebuttal by Greer. Then the matter will go to the jury for deliberations.

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Shacknais attorney, Daniel Webb, said in his closing arguments that his client was stable, well-adjusted, with no history of violence.

My client is charged with the most serious, despicable acts you can think of, Webb said.

He called the last years leading up to the trial utter hell for Shacknai to be falsely labeled a stone-cold killer.

Greer told jurors he would leave it to them to decide on the amount of money they wanted to award Zahaus mother, Pari Zahau, for the loss of her daughters love and companionship.

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Its priceless; its not going to bring her back, Greer said.

He asked jurors to award the mother $5,000 a year for the rest of her life to make up for lost support Zahau regularly paid to help out her parents and younger siblings.

He also asked for one penny in damages for the improper use of some of Zahaus black paint found at the scene of her death.

In his closing arguments, Greer told jurors that Shacknais 911 call was part of his script hes trying to sell to this day.

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Shacknai, 54, a Mississippi River tugboat captain, testified earlier in the trial that he writes fiction for a pastime and has a degree in American literature.

Why did Adam Shacknai brutally murder Rebecca Zahau? Greer asked rhetorically. Its one of the oldest reasons in the world  sex.

He said Shacknai used the handle of a steak knife to sexually assault Zahau. Traces of her blood were on the handle. Greer called it a confrontation that went awry.

Defense lawyers said doctors found no evidence of rape or sexual trauma on Zahau.

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Greer said Shacknai used black paint to scrawl on a bedroom door a cryptic message that read, She saved him can you save her. Tiny amounts of black paint were found dabbed on her nipples and buttocks.

Greer said only a small circle of close family members, including Shacknai, could have understood the painted message.

Two days before Zahaus body was found, Max Shacknai, 6, son of Zahaus boyfriend Jonah Shacknai and ex-wife Dinah Shacknai, took a two-story fall at the mansion. Zahau was there with the boy and her 13-year-old sister.

She tried CPR on the boy, who was hospitalized in critical condition. He died five days later, but Greer said early on, the family was crediting Zahau with saving him.

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Greer disputed a defense expert on suicide who said many factors in Zahaus life put her at greater risk for suicide, including domestic violence in a marriage and personal notes suggesting depression.

The expert said that a phone message from Jonah Shacknai that Maxs prognosis was grim would have been the final straw for Zahau, emotionally.

But Greer said Zahau had loving relationships with family, Max and Jonah Shacknai. The attorney also said Zahau had a strong Christian faith, was health-conscious and didnt drink or take drugs.

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pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepard
David Brenner, the researcher who presided over a $1.6 billion expansion of the health sciences at the University of California San Diego, is shedding his role as dean of the medical school.

Brenner will focus more on strategy, including making the campus more of a force internationally.

Brenner will keep his position as vice chancellor of health sciences, which means hes still ultimately responsible for about 16,000 employees and maintaining UC San Diegos position as one of the top academic health science systems in the U.S.

He also will continue with the universitys efforts to create a School of Public Health, and to try to raise as much as $300 million from a single donor to name the medical school.

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Brenner has been head of health sciences and the medical school for 11 years  the sort of dual responsibilities that are becoming less and less common in academia.

A campus committee recommended the job split, and it was approved by UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla.

This allows me to concentrate on strategy and building instead of worrying about recruiting, advising, running things, said Brenner, 64. UCLA and UC Davis have already made this kind of split.

The university announced that one of its best known physicians  orthopedic surgeon Dr. Steven Garfin  will serve as dean of the medical school on an interim basis, effective April 15. A search for a permanent dean will follow.

News of the job split comes shortly after Brenner returned from Tokyo, where he was finishing up an agreement that will create a teaching and research partnership between UC San Diego and Japans Chiba University.

Brenner also has been working to convince Konica Minolta, a major Japanese technology company, to have UC San Diego help it to expand its interests in biomedical research.

UC San Diego obtains about $1.1 billion a year in research contracts and grants, more than 60 percent of which go to the health sciences to support everything from drug development to the training of new doctors.

The campus is the fifth-largest research university in the U.S., and its medical school is ranked in the top 20 in research and clinical care by U.S. News and World Report magazine.

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Brenner was recruited from Columbia University in 2007 to both improve and expand the health sciences at UC San Diego. He was soon guiding a building boom that has helped transform the universitys health sciences campus, on the east side of Interstate 5 in La Jolla, off Genesee.

The expansion includes Jacobs Medical Center and the Altman Building, a large facility where researchers are trying to more quickly turn basic discoveries into new drugs and therapies.

Brenner has helped obtain several major donations, including a $100 million gift from philanthropist Denny Sanford. And he has helped to recruit more than 20 elite researchers, including Rob Knight, a world leader in the study of the microbiome  the various types of microorganisms that live in and on humans.

He also has become embroiled in controversy, including a highly public legal fight with the University of Southern California over which school has authority over tens of millions of dollars in funding for the study of Alzheimers disease.
San Diego city officials on Monday unveiled newly acquired equipment for testing the accuracy of residential and commercial water meters.

The effort is part of a broader campaign to address ongoing concerns about water bills that have jumped by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars in recent months.

Meter readers face public backlash as water bills continue to surge across San Diego 

Representatives of the Public Utilities Department said the new device is helping to ensure the reliability of tens of thousands of new smart meters before installation, as well as to evaluate older meters suspected by customers of being faulty.

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The roughly $400,000 digital testing bench, made by MARS Company, replaced its analogue predecessor in March. The device, at the citys Chollas Operations Yard in Oak Park, pumps water through up to 22 meters at a time, allowing workers to compare readings on a meters dial with a digitally calculated benchmark.

You have just a higher degree of precision, which helps us take the human factor out of this to a much higher degree than with the old system, said Tom Howard, deputy director of water construction and maintenance for the Public Utilities Department.

Howard said he wasnt yet sure if aging technology had played a role in the surging water bills.

He also declined to provide the number of meters that had been found to be inaccurate due to recent testing.

Weve got the data, Howard said. I just havent analyzed it yet.

The department is testing about 5 percent of all new Advanced Metering Infrastructure, or AMI, smart meters before theyre installed, according to officials.

Howard said testing has given the city no reason to believe that the new technology is unreliable.

We know these things are working, he said. We have not been able to tie anything to the smart meters whatsoever.

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The department has replaced more than 90,000 of the citys roughly 280,000 service connections with smart meters, with a full roll out of the system expected by early 2020.

While the new testing equipment is in high demand, its not as cumbersome to operate as the previous equipment, said Water Systems District Manager Johnny Mitchell.

The old bench served us well over the years, however, its labor intensive, he said. You have to really just stand around and monitor the progress of the testing.

Following a public outcry, officials announced in February that an employee had misread 343 meters, leading to more than $100,000 in overcharges. Officials said the wildly inaccurate bills were largely confined to Carmel Valley, Mira Mesa, Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Penasquitos.

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Still, stories of inexplicably high bills have continued. Some residents have taken their frustration out on municipal meter readers, prompting a city campaign to notify residents with door hangers that their meters had been read.

Since February, the city has offered free testing of water meters to concerned customers. The city had previously assessed a $66 fee for a test that proved the meter to be accurate. The city recently issued refunds to anyone who was charged the fee going back to July.

The citys Independent Auditor Eduardo Luna is expected to release a review this summer of the water departments billing practices.

Until thats completed, officials said they will not shut off a customers water because of an inability to pay an unusually high bill.

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The city has also hired a third-party agency to look into potential overcharges, as well as assigned members of its Performance and Analytics Department to review customer billing data.

Theyre going to help us to see if theres anything in the customer billing that might help us come to a root cause of what was creating those spikes, said Brent Eidson, deputy director of external affairs for the Public Utilities Department.

At the same time, officials continue to emphasize the many legitimate factors that can contribute to higher water bills, most notably a citywide rate increase of 6.9 percent that took effect in August.

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Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

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Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
A new mural featuring the Virgin of Guadalupe as an activist carrying a jug of water in the desert for migrants will be completed at Chicano Park just in time for the National Historic Landmarks namesake holiday in late April.

The mural  painted by Sal Barajas, one of the original artists that painted the parks oldest mural in 1973  celebrates the work of Border Angels, a nonprofit group that commissioned the work for $15,000. Unlike other murals at the park, which are on California Department of Transportation property, the new mural is on the parks bathroom, owned by the city of San Diego.

Barajas, 74, began painting the piece in early January, 12 feet high and just over 20 feet wide. He had to stop for close to two months when he found out he needed a permit from the city to paint the bathroom. Now that hes got the permit, hes hoping to finish by April 15, just before Chicano Park Day.

The main objective is that it will unify even more this community that has been disrupted by so many things that havent been corrected, Barajas said.

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Under the leadership of founder Enrique Morones, volunteers with Border Angels put water in the desert to help migrants survive the journey north. Others visit day laborers to teach them what rights they have and  until a recent policy change under the new Border Patrol chief in San Diego  the organization helped families reunite for brief, emotional hugs between the fences at Friendship Park.

Each of these efforts by Border Angels has a place in the mural.

Art moves people and has since the beginning of time, Morones said. Our new mural is to remind people that in spite of all the madness, love overcomes hate.

Across the top of the mural in big, white letters reads, Amor, si se puede, or Love, yes we can.

To the left of the Virgin of Guadalupe, longtime Border Angel Hugo Castro holds up a newspaper at the center of a group of day laborers. Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez, and Ramon Chunky Sanchez, a local activist and educator who died in 2016, stand with Castro and the migrants.

The first thing Barajas painted was the name Chunky on the back of Sanchezs wheelchair. Community members reacted with excitement when they saw who he was painting, Barajas said.

Now that the Virgin of Guadalupe is finished, more have approached him about the mural, he said, some showing him tattoos of the religious icon. Others have told him that they cross themselves in blessing when they pass the mural even from the freeway.

On Monday, he added shades of brown to the day laborers faces.

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Its better not to put too much at first. Its better to build it up than backtrack, Barajas said, explaining his painting technique. They do come alive, but it takes time.

He stored his paint in old cottage cheese containers that his wife saved for him.

He hopes the mural has a peaceful reception, unlike the last mural he did for the park.

Border Angels commissioned another mural from Barajas in 2017. Its depiction of a migrant worker being strangled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Mexican government stirred up controversy when it was completed.

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While community members of the surrounding Barrio Logan area generally appreciated the mural, some San Diegans who support the Trump administrations immigration policies considered the piece un-American and were upset that such an image would appear in a public park.

Since then, a group of opponents of the Chicano Park murals has twice come to the park. Local community members showed up to protest their presence.

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Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence

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kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter
The First Unitarian Universalist Church, which has campuses in Hillcrest and Chula Vista, has voted to become a sanctuary for immigrants who are trying to fight their cases in court.

The decision came after a yearlong investigation by the church board, concerned about ramped up enforcement under President Donald Trump, into what it would mean to be a sanctuary. The board unanimously decided to bring the idea to the congregation for a final decision, and 93 percent voted in favor of the designation in late March.

This isnt a political decision, said the Rev. Kathleen Owens, lead minister of the church. This is a humanitarian crisis that weve created, and we need to be responding to it.

Being a sanctuary church doesnt mean anyone trying to avoid immigration enforcement can just show up and live there, Owens said.

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People who have been ordered deported and still have attorneys fighting their cases can ask the church to take them in so that they are protected from spending that wait time in detention or being deported before theyve finished appealing their cases.

A review group will decide who can live in the churchs sanctuary.

Sanctuary is a tool that slows down the process of deportation, Owens said. Sanctuary is not harboring. Sanctuary is offering humanitarian aid to ensure that rights are respected.

Because of a 2011 memo on sensitive locations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers generally dont conduct arrests at churches.

ICEs sensitive locations policy, which remains in effect, provides that enforcement actions at sensitive locations (schools, places of worship, hospitals, etc.) should generally be avoided, said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for ICE. These actions would require prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official and would typically involve exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action.

At the end of March, The Washington Post tallied about 40 known cases of immigrants living in churches to avoid deportation.

The First Unitarian Universalist Churchs campus in Hillcrest has one room that an individual or family could live in, a roomy community space painted periwinkle with a Mother Teresa quote on the wall. A high school group normally meets in the room on Sundays, and when the teens heard about the churchs plans, they offered up the space.

People living in the room would have access to showers and a kitchen. Volunteers would help the individual or family get food or do laundry since they wouldnt be able to leave the campus.

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Some members of the congregation have worried that one individual or one family wouldnt be enough to help. Owens has reassured them that it matters.

When you save one life, who knows what the ripple effect will be? Owens said. Its never just one person. Youre affecting families.

Because of San Diegos proximity to the border, Owens said, demand for the sanctuary may be limited. People who have already been ordered deported from San Diego to Mexico generally go quickly, often within a few hours notice. Most wouldnt have a way to get to the church.

Regardless, Owens thinks the churchs decision is a powerful statement that could help sway Congress to take action on immigration reform.

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Not all of the churchs members agreed with the vote. One left the church after it became a sanctuary, according to Owens.

Its not how they understood their expression of this faith, and thats OK, Owens said.

Shes not worried about being arrested or what the reaction from dissenters in the San Diego community might be  it will all make for good sermons, she said.

The church had voted twice in the past  once in the 60s and again in the 80s  about becoming a sanctuary, and the congregation voted against it both times.

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Circumstances are different this time, Owens said. People began to perceive the issue of deportations on a more personal level after a member of the church returned to their home country rather than waiting in immigration detention to see if there was a way to stay.

The First Unitarian Universalist Church is based on seven principles, and the first two in particular are the backbone of why the church has become involved in the immigration debate, Owens said.

The first is that every person has worth and dignity, and church members are supposed to honor that. The second is to promote equity, justice and compassion in human relations.

So close to Easter, we want to resurrect our values in this system that has dehumanized and criminalized people who migrate for a better life, Owens said.

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This isnt the first time a San Diego church has become involved in protecting immigrants from enforcement. In the mid-80s, faith leaders created a sanctuary network to help migrants from Central America. For Owens, the churchs tradition goes back much farther than that.

It goes back as far as the Hebrew scriptures, Owens said. Were talking millennia. Faith communities are called to offer shelter, aid and human compassion to those in need.

She referenced Martha and Waitstill Sharp, Unitarians who helped Jews flee Germany during the Holocaust.

We join them in this line of giving humanitarian aid and comfort to people in need, Owens said. That we get to be a part of it  what a blessing. What a tradition. What an opportunity to use all that we have in service of humanity. Theres just not much better than that.

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The church already has a social justice ministry that is involved with immigration issues. Volunteers visit immigrants in detention through a program called SOLACE, or Souls Offering Loving and Compassionate Ears, and some members have housed asylum seekers in need of sponsors.

Members have also volunteered for a rapid response network that formed over the last year in San Diego. It allows people to report immigration enforcement, and volunteers respond to support family members left behind and document any arrests to monitor any civil rights infringements.

Owens plans to announce the sanctuary designation on Tuesday morning, and she hopes the attention the church receives will highlight what she thinks is broken about the immigration system.

She expects Councilman Chris Ward and someone from Rep. Susan Daviss office to attend Tuesdays event along with leaders from a variety of faiths and community organizations across San Diego.

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kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter
The Trump administration has introduced production quotas for U.S. immigration judges in an effort to process cases faster and reduce enormous court backlogs.

The judges will be expected to clear at least 700 cases a year to receive a satisfactory performance rating, a standard that their union called an unprecedented step that risks undermining judicial independence and opens the courts to potential challenges.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has promised to stiffen immigration enforcement partly by moving more aggressively to clear a backlog of more than 600,000 cases pending before the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), the federal court system that adjudicates immigration cases.

Some immigrants facing deportation wait years for a court date, but they are typically authorized to work in the United States to support themselves during that time, an arrangement that critics view as an incentive to illegal immigration.

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According to a copy of the guidelines, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the purpose of the new quota system will be to ensure cases are completed in a timely, efficient, and effective manner. The system sets up additional bench marks, penalizing those who refer more than 15 percent of certain cases to higher courts, or judges who schedule hearing dates too far apart on their calendars.

Immigration judges complete 678 cases in an average year, said Justice Department spokesman Devin OMalley, but he said some judges clear well over 1,000.

The big takeaway is that this is the equivalent of completing three cases a day, so its not that big of a lift, OMalley said in an interview.

Immigration cases can vary widely in complexity and the length of time required to adjudicate them. OMalley said that judges who fail to meet their quotas can appeal to supervisors if their numbers fall short of the Justice Departments expediency goals.

The EOIR is part of the executive branch, not the judicial branch, so it functions in part as an arm of U.S. law enforcement even though its judges are supposed to have full independence.

Judge Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said the quota system could introduce an appealable issue and invite legal challenges.

It could call into question the integrity and impartiality of the court if a judges decision is influenced by factors outside the facts of the case, or if motions are denied out of a judges concern about keeping his or her job, Tabaddor said.

We dont know of any other court whose judges are subject to individual quotas and deadlines as part of performance reviews and evaluations, she said.

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The Trump administration is seeking to hire dozens of new judges per year to tackle the immigration backlog, an approach that Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said would be a more sensible course.

The quota system proposed would raise questions about judicial independence and the possibility of judges basing rulings on factors other than the law and the facts in specific cases before them, such as the judges self-interest in his or her own professional advancement, Tobias said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Venezuelas attorney general said Monday that five jailed officials had been negligent in their handling of a prison fire that killed 68 people last week in central Carabobo state, and admitted that the countrys penal system is seriously overcrowded.

However, in a radio interview, Tarek William Saab shed little light on the causes of the fire and identified only one of those arrested, Carabobo state police subdirector Jose Luis Rodriguez. In addition to Rodriguez, Saab said, four prison guards have been charged in connection with the disaster at a police detention center in Valencia.

We dont discard the possibility of more arrests, Saab said, adding that the fire investigation will last 45 days. The blaze occurred after an early morning search of cells on March 28 and an ensuing prison riot, local officials have said. Two of the victims were women on conjugal visits.

Saab did cite the prison systems poor conditions, which human rights officials have described as among the worst in Latin America. An exacerbated overcrowding exists in the police facilities, he told the radio interviewer. Detention areas in police command centers in many cities have been converted to jails to cope with prison overcrowding.

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Relatives grieve Friday during the funeral of some of the victims of the prison fire in Valencia, Venezuela, in central Carabobo state. (Juan Carlos Hernandez / AFP/Getty Images )

Overcrowding has been blamed in a series of prison riots over the years in Venezuela. A disturbance in the Amazonas state prison last year left 38 dead, and a riot at the Uribana prison in Lara state in 2013 claimed 61 victims.

Saab offered no hypothesis on how the blaze might have started. Unidentified officials have told local reporters that the inmates started it by setting mattresses on fire, while family members have said some guards set the fire in retaliation for the disarming and stabbing of a prison guard during the early morning search.

Saabs comments were the first about the tragedy from the government of President Nicolas Maduro since Saturday, when Saab announced the arrests on Twitter. Distraught family members have gathered around the prison daily to demand that the government explain the blazes causes and why many of the victims died in their cells.

Others said they have not been told the whereabouts of surviving inmates who have been transferred to other lockups.

Venezuelan law states that prisoners should spend only 48 hours at the detention centers before being taken before a judge to face charges or released. But Saab said Monday that some had spent as long as six years in the Carabobo facility.

The human rights group Window on Liberty, which monitors jail conditions, said 32,600 prisoners are being held in facilities built to hold 8,000. The group said the centers are filthy, poorly outfitted with toilets and that prisoners are poorly fed.

Relatives have also raised questions about the cause of death of many of the victims. Although the government has indicated most died of smoke inhalation or fire, critics have said some victims bodies bore bullet and knife wounds and signs of beatings.

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Humberto Prado, director of the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory civil society group, called on the government to repeat the autopsies of the 68 victims to dispel doubts. With these kinds of events, the only witnesses are the police and surviving prisoners.

On Sunday, local news media reported that Carabobo Gov. Rafael Lacava had fired state Police Chief Jose Aldama Reyes and replaced him with Jose Gregorio Dominguez.

Iris Varela, who is Venezuelas minister of penal affairs, denied any responsibility for the disaster.

The tragedy occurred in police cells that are not the responsibility of the ministry, she said in a radio interview. She also assured listeners that Venezuelas judicial and penal system were the best in the world.

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Special correspondent Mogollon reported from Caracas and Kraul from Bogota, Colombia.

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The Chula Vista Police Department is seeking information on two men who were photographed using a credit card that was stolen from a house in January.

The burglary occurred at a house on Vista Way south of G Street on Jan. 10. According to Chula Vista police, burglars entered an unlocked front door and took cash and credit cards.

Within two hours of the burglary, one of the victims credit cards was used at a Macys in the Chula Vista Center mall. Security cameras took photos and video of two men who used the card.

Anyone with information on the suspects is asked to call 619-442-8477 (TIPS).

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

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A 36-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Monday after a three-hour standoff at a home in the unincorporated community of Lincoln Acres near National City.

Raymond Magana was taken into custody at his front door shortly before 7 p.m., officials said.

Deputies had responded to a call about a shooting in a house at Prospect Street north of Sweetwater Road in Lincoln Acres around 3:55 p.m., sheriffs Lt. David Gilmore said.

Around that time, deputies also learned a female shooting victim had arrived at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City.

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The assailant and victim knew each other but their relationship was unclear, said sheriffs Lt. Matthew Glisson.

The woman was driven to the hospital by a male companion, he said. She later was transported to Scripps Mercy Hospital to be treated for a gunshot wound to her stomach.

She was reported in serious condition. Her injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

Deputies closed the street and walked alongside a heavily armored truck for protection as they searched for the shooter before determining he was inside his house.

At one point, Sheriff Bill Gore tweeted a request for live TV stations and online reporters to avoid showing positions of officers during the standoff, because it could put their lives in danger.

Deputies at the scene could see the man near the door inside the house, but he was initially reluctant to come out. The suspect was in a wheelchair when he was apprehended.

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

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A pickup caught fire near a Point Loma Heights bar and auto repair shop early Tuesday morning, but nobody was inside the truck, and there were no reports of injuries, authorities said.

Police responded just before 3:50 a.m. to what was initially thought to be a vehicle that crashed into the Catalina Lounge on Voltaire Street near Catalina Boulevard, San Diego police Officer Robert Heims said. It later became apparent that the pickup did not crash, but burst into flames near the auto repair shop below the bar.

The truck, which was apparently unoccupied when it caught fire, was fully engulfed in flames when emergency crews arrived, Heims said. Firefighters were able to quickly douse the blaze, but the pickup was destroyed.

Flames did not spread to the building, though both the Catalina Lounge and the auto repair shop reportedly sustained smoke damage. Arson investigators from the fire departments Metro Arson Strike Team responded to the scene and were attempting to determine the cause of the blaze, Heims said.
Martin Luther King Jr. had traveled to Memphis, Tenn., in late March 1968 to lead a protest march in support of the citys striking sanitation workers. Violence had followed, with police descending on the protesters with billy clubs, mace and tear gas.

The next week, King returned to get court permission for another march. Despite the death threats he had received, and the growing concern for his safety, King pressed to hold a nonviolent demonstration.

On the night of April 3, he delivered what became known as the Ive Been to the Mountaintop speech, in which he said:

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But Im not concerned about that now. I just want to do Gods will. And Hes allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I have looked over, and I have seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

The events of the next day, April 4, 1968, would be seared into the memories of Americans for decades.

Do you remember King's assassination? Leave your memories in

A fallen King

Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of a Memphis motel at approximately the spot where he was shot by an assassin. This picture was taken Wednesday, the day before the shooting, shortly after King arrived in Memphis. Associated Press

The bullet struck him just before dinner time.

King was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel and had turned to grab his coat. Moments later, he lay dying.

The sniper shot him from a building across the street. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights activist, saw the blood. Ralph Abernathy, the co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, ran to his side. By the time an ambulance had taken King from the motel to St. Josephs Hospital less than two miles away, King was dead.

News spreads

The Los Angeles Times headline. L.A. Times

That evening, Abraham L. Davis was asleep in his Atlanta apartment when the sound of his neighbors television woke him up. It was a news report.

I kept hearing Martin Luther King Jr. and his birthdate. As soon as I turned my TV on, it showed Kings picture, his birthdate and the days date, said Davis, 79. That day is deeply etched in my memory.

The next day was very solemn in Atlanta.

Davis had trailed King at Morehouse College by 13 years. Though their paths didnt cross as students at the historically black college in Atlanta, they would in the future.

Davis had met King during a protest orientation at an Atlanta church in the early 1960s and saw him again at the March on Washington in 1963.

Years later, he would make another, more personal, connection with the King family when he taught Martin Luther King III in his political science classes at Morehouse. He took more courses under me than any other professor in his major, Davis said. Another student had told Davis of King IIIs presence, which was a surprise but also reflected family tradition: Kings father and brother also attended Morehouse.

Martin Luther King III can you raise your hand? Davis asked him in front of the entire class.

A day before he was shot, King and his aides walk at the Lorraine Motel, discussing the restraining order King had just received barring him from leading another march in Memphis without court approval. Barney Sellers / Associated Press

Xernona Clayton, a civil rights activist, had grown close to the King family through organizing events and marches for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She learned of King's death while dining at an Atlanta restaurant when a waitress brought a note to her table. Clayton, not realizing the message was urgent, ignored it. Then the waitress returned.

"I hate to interrupt, Clayton recalled her saying, but I got the news that some harm had been done to King in Memphis.

Clayton called the King home in Atlanta but the phone lines were busy. She drove to the house, arriving just as Coretta Scott King was leaving for the airport with Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., accompanied by a police escort. Coretta asked Clayton to stay with Corettas parents and children. Kings wife knew he had been shot but not his condition.

When she got to the airport, she got the message that King had died, Clayton said. Coretta chose not to fly to Memphis and went back to her children.

When she arrived, the King house on Sunset Avenue was surrounded by well-wishers, reporters and neighbors. She was such a gracious lady, Clayton recalled.

She thanked everyone for their interest and concern."

Clayton, 88, was present when Kings widow received phone calls from President Lyndon B. Johnson and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. She was there as Coretta tried speaking to her children about their father.

Coretta did not tell the kids right away that he had died, Clayton said. Coretta told the kids King had been hurt. She couldnt give them the truth just yet.

Dexter, Kings second son, pleaded for more information about his father. What will I tell my friends at school tomorrow? he asked his mother.

Coretta told Dexter he wasnt going to school the next day. I think your teacher will understand, she said.

Clayton also remembers witnessing a scene with Coretta and her first daughter Yolanda, then 13.

Mommy, were not going to cry because were big girls and we can handle this, Yolanda told her mother, sitting together on a bed. I know you loved him and he loved you. The love will sustain us. Were not gonna cry at all. Despite the brave words, the mother and daughter wept.

Libby Atwater. Handout

On the opposite coast, Don Atwater had just placed an engagement ring on his fiance Libbys finger. They had received a call from the jewelers that morning informing them that the gold ring was ready.

The couple had met at UCLA. As they drove to Atwaters parents house to celebrate, they turned on the car radio. The sounds of chaos in Memphis and news of Kings death met them.

Much of the joy I felt dissolved as I heard the terrible news, Libby Atwater, 70, said.

Outrage grows

Smoldering ruins remain where a building stood in northwest Washington. Numerous fires accompanied turmoil in the nation's capital following King's assassination. Associated Press

Kings death ignited widespread fury. Riots erupted, curfews were instated and National Guardsman were deployed. Fires raged in parts of Washington, D.C.

In Chicago, where King had led civil rights marches, a young couple feared for their safety.

Charles and Janice Tyler on their wedding day. Tyler family

Charles, a 28-year-old black man, and Janice, a 25-year-old white woman, were engaged to be married  less than a year after the Supreme Court struck down state laws that banned interracial marriages in Loving vs. Virginia.

The soon-to-be Tylers had already faced discrimination as an interracial couple. As the riots consumed their neighborhoods, a new worry consumed them.

Janice hid in the back of Charles car until they arrived at her apartment. They understood too well the racial division that King had tried to mend.

When King was assassinated it was traumatic  like losing someone who was fighting for the same things, Charles Tyler, 78, said. It was a traumatic experience for everyone in the country.

John Mackerer. Handout

John Mackerer didnt expect his first service to the United States to be inside the nations capital.

Mackerer, a 23-year-old West Point graduate, was stationed outside Washington with the 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment. As Washington burned, he was deployed.

For the next days, we defended our capital from our own citizens.

Two months later, he would be in Vietnam.

A nation mourns

King's colleagues pay their respects, from right: Andrew Young, Bernard Lee and Ralph Abernathy. Keystone / Getty Images

King was laid to rest on April 9, 1968.

Thousands gathered outside the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where a private ceremony was held for the civil rights leader.

Inside, several dignitaries joined Kings widow and children at the service.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey sat in the first row with Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Jacqueline Kennedy, New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, Harry Belafonte and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy attended. As did three men running for president: Sen. Eugene McCarthy, former Vice President Richard Nixon and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who would be killed just two months later.

Clayton was there as well. She remembers seeing Kings body at a family viewing the night before, and being appalled at the morticians treatment to his skin.

He looked like someone grabbed a whole glob of red clay and slapped it across his face, Clayton said.

We all wanted him to look good, look natural and like himself, she said. I eased over to the mortician and asked if there was anything you can do to tone down that face. The mortician said, The jaw was blown off! Thats the best I could do.

The Rev. Ralph Abernathy presides over King's funeral. Keystone / Getty Images

Growing desperate, Clayton mixed together face powder she borrowed from Coretta and Julie Robinson, then the wife of Harry Belafonte. She mixed the brown and white powder, creating something close to Kings complexion and applied it with a handkerchief. I was trying to make that mark blend in to look more natural. And it worked, Clayton said.

She would apply the mixture twice more: at midnight before he was taken to the church and the next morning before the private funeral.

During the service, a recording was played of one of Kings signature speeches, The Drum Major Instinct. During it, King imagines his own funeral. The speech had been delivered and recorded exactly one month before he was killed.

Every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I dont think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, What is it that I would want said? King is heard saying.

Id like somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. Id like for somebody to say that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody, he answers.

King eventually is heard giving the often-quoted line: Yes, if you want to say I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice.

Crowds gathered on rooftops near Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta during King's funeral. Robert Connell / Associated Press

Among those listening in the congregation were Lawrence G. Campbell and his wife, Gloria. The speech had Kings intended effect.

It was not an atmosphere of death, Campbell, 88, said of the funeral. We felt more confident we would overcome the situations before us. It was a feeling for me and others to rejoice, not because of his death but what he died for.

King had a profound influence on Campbells life.

When I saw that King wanted to develop Christian leaders in the South, we joined him, he said. It gave me the courage and persistence to try to overcome racism.

Campbell, the co-founder and bishop of Bibleway Cathedral in Danville, Va., remembered how King traveled to Danville in 1963 to show solidarity with protesters who were brutally beaten by police officers on what has become known as Bloody Monday. On June 10, 1963, about 40 protesters in Danville were arrested after marching to the municipal building to demand civil rights. Police went after them with billy clubs and fire hoses. Attendees of a prayer vigil later that day also were beaten by officers. More than 60 people were injured, including Gloria Campbell, who suffered a hip injury when hit with the high-powered spray from a fire hose.

King visited Danville the following month and called Bloody Monday one of the worst moments of police brutality hed ever seen. After his visit to Danville, Campbell and local leaders took him to a Holiday Inn in Greensboro, N.C. Thats when Campbell saw a reminder of the perils King faced  a scar on his chest.

He just chose to relax, and when he took off his shirt, we could see it, Campbell said of the scar.

Seven years earlier, while attending a book signing in Harlem, King was attacked by Izola Curry, who stabbed him with a letter opener. Curry was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and lived in mental institutions until her death in March 2015.

King told Campbell that the letter opener was so deep in his chest, If I had sneezed, I wouldve lost my life.

King's funeral procession through the streets of Atlanta. Associated Press

After the service, a simple wooden cart carrying Kings casket was pulled by two mules in a four-mile, two-hour procession to Morehouse College. At the gates, the crowd sang We Shall Overcome.

Davis remembers how younger mourners scrambled to view the procession.

I could see these youngsters climbing the trees so they could get a good spot, he said.

Davis could hardly move in the crowded campus chapel, where the congregation listened to spirituals and then-university President Benjamin Mays eulogy.

When one woman got to the casket, she just stood there crying, Davis said.

A National Guard soldier in Washington two days after the assassination. Bob Schutz / Associated Press

During Mays eulogy, he addressed the unrest that had caused millions of dollars in damage, prompted the arrests of thousands and left dozens dead. If we love Martin Luther King Jr., and respect him, as this crowd surely testifies, let us see to it that he did not die in vain. Let us see to it that we do not dishonor his name by trying to solve our problems though rioting in the streets, he said.

Mays acknowledged that the uprisings were a reaction to pain and loss. Let us see to it also that the conditions that cause riots are promptly removed, as the president of the United States is trying to do.

He ended his eulogy with a call to action: Permit me to say that Martin Luther King Jr.s unfinished work on earth must truly be our own.

Mary Ann Solari at age 7. Handout

The spring of 1968 was bookended by death.

Mary Ann Solari came home from school to find her mother and neighbor watching a funeral on TV. The 7-year-old Bostonian was confused  hadnt this program been shown before?

Her mother corrected her.

The first funeral was for King  a man who took on the title of Dr. not far from their home at Boston University.

This funeral was for a different man, her mother explained. His name was Kennedy, and hed grown up just outside Boston.

Two months separated their deaths, and to this day I remember that somber feeling, Solari, 57, said.

1968 was a year that rarely gave leave to the disheartened.

colleen.shalby@latimes.com

Twitter: @cshalby

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Educators in Oklahoma and Kentucky could be seen all over social media on Monday as they skipped school or used their spring break vacationss to march in protest of changes to their pensions and advocate for more school funding.

The teachers and their supporters were inspired by their colleagues who demonstrated just less than one month earlier in West Virginia. The efforts of teachers in that state led to Gov. James C. Justice signing a bill to give teachers a 5 percent raise after their statewide strike lasted almost two weeks.

Last week, Arizona teachers rallied at the state Capitol in a #RedforEd protest over low pay and low funding from the state.

Why are educators deciding to strike and protest their state governments nationwide? And will teachers in California follow suit? Heres what you should know.

Oklahoma

Schools across Oklahoma shuttered on Monday as teachers demonstrated there, and classrooms were not expected to reopen for at least another day.

The walkout occurred despite Gov. Mary Fallin signing legislation increasing taxes on cigarettes, fuel and oil and gas production to provide teachers with raises of about $6,100 a year, or 15 to 18 percent. It also added $50 million in education funding, but protest organizers said that wasnt enough.

Protest organizers wanted annual salary increases of $10,000 instead

About 200 school districts were shut down on Monday.

Kentucky

In Kentucky, hundreds of educators banded together on Friday to call in sick in protest to a change to their pension system. Then on Monday, they marched to the state Capitol with the same complaints, also demanding more funding for schools.

The protests led to the closure of some schools throughout the state who werent already on spring break. The educators outcry was in response to legislation state lawmakers passed last week cutting pensions for new teachers.

Arizona

Arizona teachers and supporters rallied in the Capitol last Wednesday calling for a 20 percent pay increase. Some also threatened to copy West Virginia teachers and go on strike.

Ahead of the rally, some teachers had participated in a sickout where they collectively called in sick, which led to some schools being closed.

The educators also called for state education funding to return to pre-recession levels and more competitive pay for teachers aides and paraprofessionals, according to The Arizona Republic. The protesters wore red and carried signs that said #RedforEd.

The rally and calls for action continued despite the extension of a sales tax expected to provide $500 million for schools over more than two decades and an already-approved plan to give the educators 2 percent total raises.

On Monday, Gov. Doug Ducey said the 20 percent raise would not happen, so the protests are likely to continue.

West Virginia

West Virginia schools were closed for nine days in late February as their teachers went on strike for improved wages and benefits. The effort culminated in a 5 percent raise for all state public employees.

The strike and its strong outcome should be seen as a shot across the bow to every lawmaker who may underestimate the support teachers have, the hard job they do and their willingness to stand up for what they deserve as they educate the next generation, Christine Campbell, president of the American Federation of Teachers' West Virginia branch, said.

The strike  which was only planned to last two days  went on despite the state governor approving a 2 percent raise.

California

While there are no signs of planned protests or organizing over similar demands here in California, the California Teachers Association tweeted late Sunday in support of Oklahoma teachers.

It also retweeted support for teachers in Kentucky. Some teachers in the state were tweeting their support for the protestors on Monday.

Are you a California teacher or taxpayer who has an opinion about this? Let us know below or email me.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin


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Spring mornings are cold in central Nebraska. You never know what the weather might bring in mid-March. A blizzard could have rolled in the night before, leaving drifts of snow, a rainstorm could be brewing, or freezing temperatures could crystallize from a clear moonless night. It took a Herculean effort for me to rise from the cozy cocoon of blankets at 4:30 a.m. But I had been waiting for this day to come for almost a year. I was awake and eager to witness one of the worlds greatest migrations.

Farmers and ranchers are used to rising early in this agriculture- and livestock-producing state. The first rays of sunshine alert all the living creatures that dawn is approaching. This includes the thousands of sandhill cranes collected along the Platte River Valley. So observers have to covertly prepare to view the cranes from the camouflage of blinds before dawn casts first light.

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Who would have thought that one of the worlds greatest migrations happens every spring along a small sliver of habitat in south-central Nebraska? When I think of a great migration, Africa first comes to mind, where thousands of wildebeests race across the vast Serengeti annually. Or the Great American West, where millions of stampeding bison once stirred up massive dust clouds along the plains and 19th-century pioneers braved harsh elements as they rolled westward in covered wagons.

But Nebraska is, in fact, host to one of the worlds greatest winged migrations. Eighty percent of the worlds sandhill crane populations migrate through Nebraska during late February, March, and early April. On average, thats more than 500,000 birds  within a 6-week period.

The sandhill crane stands 4 feet tall with a wingspan that spreads nearly 6 feet across  about the width of a large sofa or a king-size bed. When planning this trip, I thought that must be quite a spectacle to see hundreds of thousands of them, a fleet of feathery sofas flying across the sky to arrive at the same place at the same time every year  a narrow neck of the Central Flyway path, where grayish-brown waves of migrating cranes fill the vast empty gaps between the blue yonder and the dusky patches of earth below along the rainwater basins of Nebraskas Platte River valley. The hourglass expanse (just 15 miles) fills with birds crowding along the muddy shoreline and inlets of the Platte. The shallow braided channels provide a refueling and resting station for the migrating birds in their 5,000-mile journey from wintering grounds in Mexico to breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia.

Every inch of the sandbars becomes covered with cranes seeking protection for the night, where they keep a lookout for predators like eagles or hawks ready to snatch a wounded or lone bird. At sunrise, they fan out in groups to nearby fields filling up mostly on harvest leftovers of waste corn to build up their fat reserves for the journey north.

I was on my way to the Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center, located along the Big Bend area of the Platte River, to partake in one of their very special sandhill crane blind tours. These are offered mornings and evenings when the cranes leave their protected sandbar resting station  our best chance to see thousands upon thousands of cranes at one time.

Long ago, glaciers scoured the land and created the sandbars. Since many rivers have been dammed up, those natural characteristics have changed. The Crane Trust was created to protect and maintain the river in its most natural state. Conservation of the river and the prairie habitat serves all species of birds that migrate through the Central Flyway path, in addition to the cranes.

Prior to the trip, I purchased Sheila Buff and Richard Days Birding for Beginners, which helped especially with recognizing courting rituals such as dancing (jumping and executing intricate wing movements), curtsying, and offering food or nesting items. It all sounded a bit awkward, like suffering through prom-night antics.

It was still dark at 5:30 a.m. Our guides gave a brief talk on crane blind viewing etiquette. The key points: to be very quiet and as still as possible so as not to alert the slumbering birds to sudden movements and sounds. No camera flashes, no clicking on cellphones, no talking, no sneezing, not even a whisper, and no slurping of hot coffee.

During the brief talk at the Nature and Visitor Center, we learned that if the nonprofit Crane Trust didnt exist, the habitat would most likely be another cornfield. As it stands currently, 90 percent has never been tilled, and the river remains protected and managed by the trust. Thats very good news for migratory waterfowl. The guide ended the briefing with, You will be looking at the largest roost in the world.

We were led single-file out into the dark. After shuffling quietly along a dirt path for 10 minutes, we stood in front of the blind, a small wooden building. I thought about the pioneers who settled in the area. How strange it must have been for them to see thousands of large cranes for the first time.

Once inside, the guide instructed us with hand signals to sit on the benches that ran the length of the back wall. Cups of steaming coffee were offered, and we waited for the first glimmer of sunrise. Hard to believe we were invisible to the thousands of cranes nesting along the river sandbars just a few yards from the small enclosure.

A few photographers collected toward the east side of the blind, prepping close to the windows for sunrise shots. People started standing in coveted full-window spots, jockeying for the best viewing positions. It seemed a bit strange, like waiting for a Broadway play to begin. Wild creatures do not perform on cue like actors, but they do perform according to their evolutionary DNA set in place millennia ago. We were the lucky audience waiting for the show to begin.

Slowly, dawn emerged, a line of light released across the horizon. The sky quickly brightened to orange, peach, mauve, and yellow. Hazy, like a mirage, the sandbars revealed themselves bit by bit. In this haze of dawn, we heard, even before we saw, the fluttering of hundreds upon hundreds of feathers, like a fan set on high, followed by the shrill cries of cranes stirring. In front of us, thousands of sandhill cranes were preparing to lift off. As far as the eye could see along each side of the sandbars, cranes were flapping feathers, some curtsying, and gathering in groups.

The birds took flight in what seemed like a domino effect  one right after another, swirling up into the thermals, gathering into formation as they screeched away to forage in the fields for the day. The throaty purring cry of the restless birds was deafening at times. The volume of the collected roaring increased and diminished as flock after flock flew out of sight.

The thrill of the scene and the rush of the moment were spellbinding. I heard a few people exclaim Wow! and Thats amazing! Caught up in the zeal, I probably said wow a number of times too. I looked around at the stunned and smiling faces. Clearly, we were all awestruck. Wow just didnt seem like a good-enough response to such a spectacle. It felt so small for such a big moment in time. I watched the birds stitching their way across the clouds, like a black line of thread pulling against the seam of blue sky.

One guide joked that the month of March was the sandhill cranes version of Christmas; they had plenty to eat and a place to rest. It was like Christmas for me too  a special gift to see something so extraordinary and to know that long after Im gone, the migration will continue as it has for thousands of years.

Cranes in Action



Sandhills Cranes in Nebraska. (Video by Nebraska Tourism)



Nebraskas Great Sandhill Crane Migration (Video by Crane Trust)

To Learn More

Contact the Nebraska Tourism Commission for more information on sandhill crane viewing at VisitNebraska.com.

Visit the Crane Trust at cranetrust.org or the Rowe Sanctuary at rowe.audubon.org to discover more about their sandhill crane programs.

Gigi Ragland has published work in National Geographic Traveler, American Way in-flight magazine, and Denver Life, among others. For more, visit gigiragland.com.
Deerfield Beach, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2018 -- Global Granular Applicator Market Research Report 2018 provides a unique tool for evaluating the market, highlighting opportunities, and supporting strategic and tactical decision-making. This report recognizes that in this rapidly-evolving and competitive environment, up-to-date marketing information is essential to monitor performance and make critical decisions for growth and profitability. It provides information on trends and developments, and focuses on markets and materials, capacities and technologies, and on the changing structure of the Granular Applicator industry.



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The report provides a basic overview of the Granular Applicator industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.



The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.



There are 15 chapters to deeply display the global Granular Applicator research report:



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San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/03/2018 -- Ubiquity of smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other portable electronic devices in the past decade has had a pied piper effect on the electronic industry. Innovation is in full swing too, consistently introducing new products that offer improved performance, are durable, and cost efficient. In this scenario, the demand for semiconductor wafers, which are among the basic building blocks of any electronic device along with PCBs, ICs, MEMS, and memory devices, has escalated exponentially in the recent past. Wafer cleaning an essential operation in the fabrication of semiconductor devices, particularly for the advanced ULSI silicon circuits in next generation electronic devices. Consequently, the global wafer cleaning equipment market is projected for a robust growth rate during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025.



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Global Wafer Cleaning Equipment Market: Key Trends



Diversifying conventional application of MEMS and increase in the number of cleaning steps required by the wafer manufacturing sector are two of the key factors that are expected to fuel the demand in the global water cleaning equipment market. In addition to that, the shift to single wafer processing from conventional processes and increasing demand for smart gadgets and printed electronics are other two favorable factors that may positively influence the global wafer cleaning equipment market.



The growing popularity of light emitting diode (LED) is a trend that may prove to be a boon for the global wafer cleaning equipment market in the near future. Involvement of smaller players in the recent past has substantially reduced the prices of LEDs and demand has surged, owing to their strikingly better lighting and longevity. Conversely, high capital required to establish in this market is restricting the emergence of new players with novel concepts, and thereby challenging the prosperity of the market.



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Global Wafer Cleaning Equipment Market: Market Potential



With constant research in the field in the past few years, the understanding of defects and surface contamination in the semiconductor industry has evolved multi-fold. Moreover, researchers are now more aware of factors such as particle adhesion, measurement, and deposition, which has enabled them to device better removal strategies. This advancement in the technology pertaining to semiconductors is expected to boost the global market for wafer cleaning equipment during the forecast period.



Global Wafer Cleaning Equipment Market: Regional Outlook



China is the most prominent country-wise market for wafer cleaning equipment, but with growing demand from the countries such as Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, Asia Pacific overall has quickly turned into the most lucrative region for the players in this market. Constantly evolving production quality standards and rapidly increasing demand for portable consumer electronics is expected to maintain an escalating demand from this region. North America is showing steady progress in the market for wafer cleaning equipment for the lack of manufacturing industries in the region.



Global Wafer Cleaning Equipment Market: Competitive Analysis



SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd., Shibaura Mechatronics Corporation, and Tokyo Electron Limited are three of the leading players dominating the Chinese demand in the global wafer cleaning equipment market, while Applied Materials, Inc., Lam Research Corporation, Modutek Corporation, Entegris, Inc., and PVA TePla AG dominate in other parts of the world. Research and development of new products with enhanced attributes and partnerships with regional players are the common strategies adopted by these players to maintain their stronghold over the market.



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Quantumclean, SEMES Co. Ltd, Onboard Solutions Pvt Ltd., Tokyo Electron, Ultron Systems, Inc., Strabausch, Speedline Tech, and Stoelting Llc are some of the other notable players in this market.



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TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in today's supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients' conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is an egg-laying mammal which, alongside the echidna, occupies a unique place in the mammalian family tree. The unique creature had its genome sequenced a decade ago, revealing its unique genetic makeup and its divergence from the rest of the mammals around 160 million years ago. Now, a greater effort to understand its ecological and population history has been made possible by the first, whole-scale genome sequencing of 57 platypuses from Queensland, New South Wales, and Tasmania.

This population-scale, whole-genome sequencing study of the platypus is one of the largest such studies of non-human mammals, and the first for a non-placental mammal.

Our analyses provide insights into the population structure and levels of diversity in this species not previously possible and estimate the relatedness between individuals, said study co-lead author Dr. Peter Donnelly, from the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics and the Department of Statistics at the University of Oxford, UK.

For example, we found that more than half of our samples had a least a third-degree relative amongst the other individuals sampled from the same river. Additionally, there were 26 pairs of second- or third-degree relatives, in all cases from the same river or creek, or closely connected waterways, involving 28 of our 57 samples.

Dr. Donnelly and colleagues were able to estimate vital evolutionary forces at work including platypus mutation rates, divergence times, and population sizes throughout its history.

We estimated the de novo mutation rate in the platypus, the first estimate in a non-placental mammal, said study first author Dr. Hilary Martin, also from the University of Oxford.

We found it to be middle of the road for mammals, lower than humans and chimpanzees but higher than laboratory bred mice.

The relative ordering of the point estimates is consistent with the observation that mutation rates in mammals are negatively correlated with body mass and generation time.

The study also estimated that the platypus population most likely last shared a common ancestor nearly one million years ago.

The deepest branch on the population tree separated three separate groups: the samples from Tasmania (an island to the south of Australia that separated from the mainland around 12,000 years ago); those from north Queensland (in the far north); and the remaining samples, which are from central Queensland and New South Wales, said co-lead author Dr. Jaime Gongora, from the University of Sydney, Australia.

We think it is most likely that there were three ancestral populations (Tasmania, North Queensland and North New South Wales/Central Queensland) which all coalesced around the same time, about 800,000 years ago.

The central Queensland samples likely shared an ancestral population with the North New South Wales samples about 300,000 years ago. This implies that there has been extensive population structure in platypus samples across Australia over a long time period.

Interestingly, the divergence times we have estimated predate the earliest fossil evidence for platypus, Dr. Donnelly said.

This finding does not necessarily contradict fossil evidence but suggests that the modern platypus extends back to the Early to Middle Pliocene. This could be consistent with it having evolved from the giant platypus species, Obdurodon tharalkooschild.

In addition, the team found evidence of past population bottlenecks, particularly in North Queensland around 10,000 years ago, and identified modern populations (especially near the Carnarvon River) that would be aided by conservation efforts.

The Queensland bottleneck likely reflects the historical and current isolation and paucity of suitable habitat for platypus between North (Australian Wet Tropics) and Central Queensland, known as the Burdekin gap (named for the Burdekin River).

This hot and dry area is currently climatically unsuitable for platypus and has long acted as a barrier to genetic exchange, Dr. Gongora said.

The study is published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.

_____

Hilary C. Martin et al. Insights into Platypus Population Structure and History from Whole-Genome Sequencing. Molecular Biology and Evolution, published online March 20, 2018; doi: 10.1093/molbev/msy041
Press Release

April 3, 2018 Legarda Hails Conviction of Demafelis' Employers, Urges Kuwait to Ratify ILO Convention on Domestic Workers Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, today welcomed the news of the conviction of the couple responsible for the death of Filipina domestic worker, Joanna Demafelis, as she urged the Kuwaiti Government to ratify the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 or ILO Convention No. 189. "The swift conviction of the employers of Joanna Demafelis is a most welcome development. However, the perpetrators are not yet under the custody of Kuwait. We hope that the Kuwaiti government would be able to get hold of the couple immediately so that the sentence may be carried out as well," said Legarda. "Moving forward, we also need to ensure that the rights and welfare of Filipinos, especially domestic workers, working in Kuwait and other nations are protected. As the Philippine government and Kuwaiti government are still working out on an agreement for the protection of Filipino workers in Kuwait, we hope that the Kuwaiti government would also ratify the ILO Convention 189 for the protection of domestic workers employed in their country," she added. Legarda, who sponsored the Senate Resolution that pushed for the Senate's concurrence in the ratification of the ILO Convention 189 during the 15th Congress, said that the Convention primarily ensures that domestic workers are treated as legitimate workers, not slaves, and are accorded decent working conditions, just compensation and sufficient benefits. The Convention encourages its signatories to set standards for employment agencies recruiting or placing domestic workers, in accordance with national laws, regulations and practice. It also directs ratifying states to consider entering into bilateral, regional or multilateral agreements to prevent abuses and fraudulent practices in recruitment, placement, and employment of domestic workers. The Philippine Senate's concurrence in the ratification of ILO Convention 189 is historic as it paved the way for the treaty's entry into force on September 5, 2013, one year after the Philippines' ratification. To date, 25 countries have ratified the Convention.[1] According to the ILO, Kuwait voted in favor of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011, "However, ratification of the Convention requires appropriate national legislation to implement its various elements."[2] "It is a fact that without our kasambahay or domestic workers, our economy and that of many others in Asia and the Middle East shall fall. Yet, the convenience they provide has made it too inconvenient for some to bestow these workers their basic rights. Domestic workers are not nameless persons. They have families whom they support. They work, just like us, but unlike us, many of them are denied their rights and are stripped of their dignity as a human being. Through the ILO Convention 189, we had hoped that this kind of injustice would end," said Legarda. "But we cannot solve this problem alone. We call on not only Kuwait but also the parliaments and foreign ministries of other nations, especially where there is a concentration of Filipino domestic workers, to ratify the ILO Convention 189. We should all acknowledge the contributions of our household heroes into the global workforce, no longer as invisible hands but as legitimate workers equipped with the rights and benefits accorded others," Legarda concluded. ________________________________________ [1]http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11300:0::NO::P11300_INSTRUMENT_ID:2551460 [2] http://www.ilo.org/beirut/countries/kuwait/WCMS_541577/lang--en/index.htm
Villanueva hails death sentence for Demafelis' employers

Senator Joel Villanueva on Tuesday hailed the decision of a Kuwaiti court to punish the employers of murdered Filipina helper Joanna Demafelis to death by hanging.

"We welcome this development and we sincerely hope that this would not just be a paper victory," said Villanueva, chair of the Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resources development.

However, the senator lamented that Demafelis' employers should be transferred to the custody of Kuwait authorities.

Nader Essam Assaf, a Lebanese national, remained in Syrian custody and handed over to Lebanon, while his Syrian wife Mona Hassoun is still in the custody of Damascus authorities.

"Joanna's employers are not under Kuwait custody. They should be made to face the consequences of what they have done in Kuwait before we can even think of any talk with the family of Joanna for forgiveness," Villanueva stressed.

Villanueva further said that the government should not stop its efforts to ensure that no migrant Filipino workers will be under the "kafala" system.

Under the "kafala" system, workers cannot legally leave the country without the consent of their employers. Running away from employers without their consent is a criminal offense in Arab countries like Kuwait.

"Like other Gulf countries, Kuwait has adopted the notorious 'kafala' system or sponsorship system which hinders the rights of our migrant workers," the senator explained.

Villanueva said that the "kafala" system has facilitated the abusive practice of altering the terms of employment contract of migrant workers or taking their passports and identifications as leverage.

"The conviction of Joanna's employers should not stop us from scrutinizing the government's labor policies to ensure that we put an end to this modern-day slavery," Villanueva concluded.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the worlds largest bank by assets, is in the process of applying for a branch licence to operate in New Zealand, following in the footsteps of Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

"Yes, we are in the process. We hope it can be registered in the second half of the year," ICBC New Zealand chief executive Karen Hou told BusinessDesk. ICBC's New Zealand subsidiary has been registered to operate in New Zealand since November 2013.

"With the dual licence, we expect to be restricted less" and to support more local infrastructure projects, said Hou.

According to the Reserve Bank, locally incorporated subsidiaries are separate legal entities from the parent bank. They are required, among other things, to maintain minimum capital requirements in New Zealand and have their own board of directors, including independent directors. ICBC New Zealand is chaired by former Reserve Bank governor Don Brash.

In contrast, bank branches are essentially an extension of the parent bank with the ability to leverage the global bank balance sheet, in particular for larger lending transactions.

Late last week the central bank said it had registered Bank of China to provide banking services in New Zealand as a branch. Its New Zealand unit has been registered since November 2014.

ICBC also follows the China Construction Bank, which was registered late last year and which has had a local unit since July 2014.

There are currently 26 registered banks in New Zealand.

(BusinessDesk)

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Healthcare of New Zealand Holdings paid $51.9 million to buy rival Geneva Healthcare, giving the country's biggest provider of homecare support a bigger share of the Auckland market where it was under-represented.

Wellington-based Healthcare NZ, which counts Quadrant Private Equity as a 40 percent shareholder, completed the acquisition on Sept. 29, funding the deal with a $40 million bank loan, financial statements lodged with the Companies Office show. The loan covenants include interest cover and total leverage ratios, and a restriction on shareholder distributions to be capped at 100 percent of net profit.

Such a restriction would have stifled Healthcare NZ's dividends in the 2017 financial year, with the firm paying $10.6 million in the 12 months ended Oct. 31 on a profit of $4.3 million. The bottom line more than halved from $9.4 million, due largely to $5.5 million of impairment charges and losses on the sale of investments, including writedowns to goodwill after losing a major Nelson Marlborough DHB contract and software.

Still, revenue climbed 19 percent to $361.4 million, lagging behind a 21 percent increase in salaries and wages to $292.4 million. Operating cash flow edged up to $21.3 million from $20.1 million.

The community healthcare firm almost doubled its provisioning for holiday pay to $26.4 million from $13.8 million. A number of employers ended up underpaying staff for several years after a 2004 change to the Holidays Act led to a widespread miscalculation of entitlements.

The period also included the government's $2 billion pay equity deal for 55,000 aged and residential care workers, which was announced around the same time as Healthcare NZ unveiled its merger bid. Healthcare NZ's pay equity provision amounted to $453,000 as at Oct. 31.

The Commerce Commission approved the acquisition on Sept. 1, finding the merger wasn't likely to substantially weigh on competition with a big enough market offering funders including Accident Compensation Corp, district health boards and the Ministry of Health enough alternative suppliers.

The country's second-biggest provider is Access Homehealth, owned by NZX-listed Green Cross Health Group, serving 20,900 clients with 3,700 support workers and 166 community nurses, and generating a first-half operating profit of $1.6 million on a 14 percent increase in revenue to $62.9 million.

(BusinessDesk)

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The cost to farmers of dealing with climate change will be substantially lower if agriculture enters the emissions trading scheme in a smooth, gradual way, says a report commissioned by Westpac Banking Corp's New Zealand arm.

Combining work carried out last year by UK firm Vivid Economics for a cross-parliamentary group and further analysis by accounting firm EY, the Climate Change Impact Report suggests the cost of a sudden, forced "shock" move to reducing greenhouse gas emissions would cost around $30 billion in lost economic activity between now and 2050.

The analysis also suggests that investment in the dairy sector is likely to peak by 2030 and that there will be a significant shift into forestry planting, although Westpac's general manager for commercial, corporate and institutional banking, Karen Silk, said that was more likely on steeper land, reducing opportunities for beef and sheep rather than dairy farming.

The report creates two scenarios - "central" and "shock" - to model the likely difference that a gradual adjustment to higher carbon prices would have on the economy as a whole, compared with a late decision to act to meet emissions reduction targets that New Zealand has committed to making by 2030, with a target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Under the central scenario, agriculture enters the ETS in 2020 and New Zealand "meets and likely exceeds its Nationally Determined Contribution target by 2030", the report says, even assuming that the country can only buy up to 20 percent of the emissions reductions through carbon credits on the international market.

Under the late adjustment, "shock" scenario, New Zealand would just manage to meet its NDC commitments, with agriculture entering the ETS within two-to-five years.

Taking action earlier would also produce far lower carbon prices by 2050, according to the model, which forecasts carbon at $40 a tonne by 2020, $44 by 2025 under the central scenario and $61 under the shock scenario. By 2030, that gap would have widened to a central scenario carbon price of $52 a tonne versus $92 under the shock scenario - the widest gap the model produces for estimates out to 2050, when it sees carbon at $98 a tonne under the central outlook and $145 a tonne in a "shock" situation.

"A more managed transition ... in the central scenario creates an additional $30 billion of gross domestic product through to 2050," the study says, stressing that impacts would be felt more acutely in the agricultural sector than many other parts of the economy.

"It's not a level playing field," said Silk, noting the bank's farmer customers were increasingly discussing how their businesses should manage climate change impacts.

"Deferring on agriculture for another 10 years before taking action could have a much more significant impact on that industry than on, say, growth in renewable energy."

However, Westpac was not as yet factoring climate change adaptation risks into its lending decisions, she said.

The report focused on the impact of climate change in five main sectors: agriculture, tourism, transport, forestry and electricity.

Transport, electricity and agriculture would feel the greatest physical impact of climate change, especially through sea level rise, extreme temperatures, and both heavier rainfall and more severe droughts in different parts of the country.

The greatest risk to the forestry sector is likely to be from forest fires created by extreme temperatures and high winds, while the tourism sector is more at risk through loss of amenity at tourism hotspots such as beaches that undergo change as sea levels rise or at glaciers, which are receding as the earth warms.

While introducing agriculture into the ETS should be a priority, Silk called for discrimination between different types of agricultural greenhouse gases, given that some are longer-lived than others and some, such as the intense but short-lived GHG methane, have no current technological fix.

(BusinessDesk)

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Volpara Health Technologies, the Kiwi digital health firm listed on the ASX, said it exceeded its goal of lifting annual recurring revenue 200 percent for the financial year ended March 31.

Wellington-based Volpara, which focuses on early detection of breast cancer using artificial intelligence, said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange that its ARR now stands at $3.6 million. That's compared to $1.1 million at the end of FY2017, an increase of 223 percent.

ARR is the normalised amount of cash reasonably expected to be booked for the next 12 months based on the contracts signed previously, and assuming installation upon order, according to Volpara. Its total contract value - or the value of contracts signed in the specified period - exceeded $11.2 million, up 173 percent on the prior year's $4.1 million.

The company also said that approximately 3.2 percent of all women screened in the US are now contracted to Volparas software (approximately 1.27 million women), compared to the target for the year of 3 percent.

"We are just scratching the surface of the market in the US, but the signs are very encouraging," said Volpara chief executive Ralph Highnam.

The ASX-listed shares rose 5.6 percent to 76 Australian cents.

(BusinessDesk)

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IndusInd Bank announced on Tuesday that it is piloting with WhatsApp for an enterprise solution to communicate with its customers. The private sector lender said in an official note that it would become one of the first banks to participate in a WhatsApp pilot.

One of India's premiere banks is working around a technology with Whatsapp. This around a time, when there has been a murmur on campaigns such as 'Delete Whatsapp' and 'Delete Facebook'.

Although the idea seems unique, Axis Bank had already started a peer-to-peer communication platform for enabling transactions across social media. Axis bank, a few years ago had marketed the concept saying customers need not enter account numbers, but merely transact on social media. Even ICICI bank as early as 2016 had communicated the concept of chat-bots to enable transactions on social media.

In the case of IndusInd Bank, the integration with WhatsApp, the bank says would it to start appearing as a Verified account when a user communicates with it.

The initial test phase will allow the bank to communicate important transaction alerts to the customers on WhatsApp. It also allows two-way communication with replies to customer messages and provides basic banking services like checking balance, mini statement, checking reward points as well as updation of Aadhaar through WhatsApp.

The messaging on WhatsApp is being rolled out to customers in phases; however, customers can save the official WhatsApp number of the bank and initiate conversation.

Ritesh Raj Saxena, a senior official from the bank said, "as a Bank which strongly believes in reaching out to the customers on their preferred channel, we are proud to introduce a way to connect with our customers on WhatsApp. This builds on our presence of our On-the-Go social banking service. We will be working with WhatsApp closely to bring more and more services to our retail and business clients, post this pilot phase."
Staten Island Advance File Photo

Remembering George

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Duffy's Tavern co-owner George Froehlich passed away last week at 64 after a battle with prostate cancer. The retired FDNY firefighter and long-time food service worker is remembered by friends and former colleagues.

The wake will be held at Harmon's Funeral Home, 571 Forest Ave, Tuesday and Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m., and 7 to 9 p.m. The funeral mass will be held at Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church, 30 Manor Road, on Thursday, April 5 at 11 a.m.

In this image, George is shown at the bar in March, 2005.

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The crew at The Staaten back in the day

"We all met at The Staaten," recalls Brian Noone, saloonkeeper of Blaine and Noone's, the bar that became Duffy's in West Brighton.

Back then, he says, "George became our fearless leader. I was a busboy and eventually a waiter. He moved on to take the main bar. He was The Staaten main man."

John Duffy, who later became George's business partner at Duffy's, worked the broiler at The Staaten, says Brian.

"George was the maitre d'...we all started there together. He used to plan a visit to a different place each Sunday."

Says Brian, "George was meticulous. He taught me how to make a proper Old Fashioned. He was always dressed to the hilt. When he took Blaine's from me and Danny [Blaine] he just embellished the whole place, added the brickwork. I used to say about George, 'How can anyone be so good looking and so handy at the same time?'"

Those were back in the days of the Bull Pen (now Rusty's) and when the late Jody Haggerty presided over Jody's Club Forest, both West Brighton.

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An FDNY story with George on the rig

Says Duffy's patron and friend of George, John McNamara of Rossville: "After Lynne and I returned from our honeymoon we were living in Eltingville on Laredo Avenue. The first Saturday after returning I was bringing the groceries into the house. While I was outside I heard sirens from a firetruck coming down my street. It stopped right in front of my house. There was silence as the firefighters emerged from the truck. In the back was George yelling: "What's going on, Mac!" He came over and said, 'Welcome to the neigbhorhood!'"

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John Duffy anad George could be 'planning on a Duffy's in heaven.'

In the past year, three good friends have passed: Danny Blaine, John Duffy and George himself, points out Brian Noone.

Says John McNamara, "George and John Duffy were extremely long-time friends of mine and great buddies. Their friendship bond was so strong. I'm sure they're planning on a Duffy's in heaven right now."

John adds, "George never said 'no' and was always so welcoming."

He shares another story: "After the Mets won the World Series in 1986 I partied at Duffy's which was on a Monday night. I bought five bottles of champagne and did the locker room routine. When I came in on Wednesday George came over and said, 'My help wanted to quit yesterday when they came in.' I said, 'Why?' His response: "It is so hard to clean caked-on champagne off everything.' We hugged and we had a hardy laugh."

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Courtesy of Michele Froehlich-Perosi

Good times

Says Trevor Mills, retired New York City school teacher and a member of the reputed Duffy's "Hate Club": "I knew George from before he worked at The Staaten." He was invited to Michele and George's wedding and has felt a part of George's family ever since.

"It was fabulous," he recalls.

"George was the quiet man behind the scenes. Duffy was the front man. It was a very old Staten Island place. George will be missed. He will really be missed," says Trevor.

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Staten Island Advance File Photo

Food people started at The Staaten

Mike Deforest recalls the days of The Staaten when a lot of the borough's famed food people, George particularly, started in the business. Jack LiGreci, the catering hall's owner, will say now, "I started here in 1971. All those kids, they all started here."

Says Mike, a Froehlich friend for 45 years: "George's restaurant knowledge and instincts were tremendous, every aspect seemingly effortless. He was a great boss and an even better friend." Of George's passing, Mike notes, "A very sad day. He will never be replaced."

And of The Staaten, Mike jokes that its veterans were "Staaten University graduates."

"George, John Duffy, Mark Iangell, Brian Noone, Bobby Blake of Framboise fame, Bob Grimaldi...," Mike ticks off the list of George's colleagues back in the day.

This image was taken in May, 1998: Left to right: John Mulvey, Karen Cavanagh, 'Man of the Year' Honoree Jack LiGreci, Nicholas DiBartolomeo High school senior going into a food service program (now exec chef at The Harvest Cafe in New Dorp Beach), and Ken Tirado chat during the SI Restaurant & Tavern Association dinner at the Staaten.

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Courtesy of Michele Froehlich-Perosi

"Always offering advice"

In this image: George Froehlich with bartender Terry Moore, both West Brighton fixtures at the West Brighton bar over the years for young and more senior North Shore residents.

"I grew up on Oakland Avenue so Duffy's was always an institution in The Neighborhood," says Jay Sykes, co-owner of Flagship Brewing Co. "I've had many a burger there. I still stop in there frequently to have a beer and lunch with Terry Moore."

"It is very sad," adds John Mulvey, culinary instructor at Port Richmond High School and former head of the Staten Island Restaurant and Tavern Association.

"George didn't need the spotlight," says Mulvey. "He was a behind-the-scenes owner and excellent at what he did. George was always offering advice and was supportive of the new operations on the North Shore. He will be sorely missed by his customers, friends and family. I was lucky to have George as a friend."

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Courtesy of Michele Froehlich-Perosi

Words from "Tommy Mac"

In the image: George Froehlich and his wife, Michele.

Says long-time, recently retired bartender Tommy McNamara.

"It was an honor and pleasure to know this wonderful man," says Tommy Mac. "George was a smart businessman who I had the good fortune of working for. Even though he was sick, he made the effort to attend my send-off at Duffy's. Just a special, caring person I was blessed to have as my friend. He was loved by many, many people."

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(Courtesy of Michele Froehlich-Perosi)

So long, friend.

Tommy "Mac" McNamara and George Froehlich. Scenes from "Mac's Last Call," Tommy Mac's final Saturday tending bar at West Brighton's Duffy's.

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Courtesy of Michele Froehlich-Perosi

Folks of the Forest Avenue scene remember George.

George Froehlich and his three children when they were tots: Jacqueline, Christopher and Michael.

Russell "Rusty" Gaudet of Rusty's Tavern remarks, "George was one of those guys that like being behind the scenes. But when you sat and talked with him that's when you realized how intelligent and generous he was. I once told him myself and my family were going to Lake George." This is where George kept a beloved second home.

"He offered me everything he had and more," says Rusty. "A true gentleman that is already missed by those fortunate enough to know him. RIP, my friend."

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Staten Island Advance File Photo

"Always a gentleman"

George Froehlich at Duffy's in 2005.

Evelyn Gaudet Rogers of Taste of Honey Caterers in Travis and a West Brighton resident had many mutual friends of George. "He was always a gentleman with a great work ethic."

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Courtesy of Michele Froehlich-Perosi

"We say goodbye to another West Brighton icon," says Terrence Haggerty.

George and his wife, Michele, routinely patronized other pubs and restaurants on the Forest Avenue strip. They were a welcome sight for the staff at the former West Brighton American Grill where they'd dine occasionally on a Saturday evening after the dinner rush, fellow colleagues in the food business who became friends.

"Losing George is a loss for Duffy's and it hits home at Jody's as well," Terrence notes.

"George and Michele loved coming up the Avenue to Jody's and it always made my Dad and I so happy to see them walk through the door. Jody loved chatting with them. For me, it was great to see two neighborhood businessmen share stories of the past and talk business," concludes Terrence.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A social media post perpetuating hate crimes against Muslims will be met with an increased police presence Tuesday at area mosques.

What originated as an anonymous letter sent to homes the United Kingdom calling for a "Punish a Muslim Day" on April 3 is now making rounds on social media feeds in the New York City area, according to a New York Daily News report.

The flier reportedly outlines a point system for various hate crimes, including 50 points to "throw acid in the face of a Muslim" and 1,000 points to "burn or bomb a mosque."

Police said a majority of the shares were by people who oppose "Punish a Muslim Day," according to a New York Post report.

As of Monday, there were no credible threats against Muslim houses of worship or community centers, according to the report.

Lt. Adeel Rana, president of the NYPD's Muslim Officers Society, said her agency has helped identify locations across the city in need of additional patrols.

Im proud to stand with the @NYPDMuslim Officers Society and community leaders at @PAYouthSociety in #DitmasPark to send a clear message: We will stand strong against anyone attempting to make #PunishAMuslimDay a reality. I will help patrol tomorrow as we look out for each other. pic.twitter.com/Wz3MNGUGUR  Eric Adams (@BPEricAdams) April 2, 2018

Hate crimes against Muslims are not new to the city, or, to Staten Island.

A 38-year-old man was arrested in 2016 for an alleged hate crime at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville, where he allegedly threatened an imam with a lead pipe.

The latest threat has been countered with Messaging apps to warn residents who might be at risk, while activists overseas have planned #LoveAMuslimDay events in England and Scotland.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An ex-convict whose gun-possession trial earlier this year ended in a hung jury, cut his losses on Tuesday, pleading guilty to a felony charge on the eve of his retrial.

Ted Saint-Ilmar, 28, pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to criminal firearm possession to resolve the case, which was scheduled for jury selection.

The incident unfolded when cops in the 121st Precinct responded to a call of a family dispute around 10:50 p.m. on the 100 block of Brabant Street, said court documents.

They were told a woman's boyfriend was trying to kill her and had chased her out of her building. The officers were further informed a firearm was possibly involved, those papers said.

When officers arrived, a woman who was crying and barefoot approached them on the street. She confirmed the information initially relayed to the officers.

She said she believed her boyfriend was still in her fifth-floor apartment where she lived with her mom and three kids.

The apartment door was unlocked, and the woman gave cops permission to enter, said court documents.

The woman and children were escorted outside into the hallway while one of the cops approached the bathroom, where they were told Saint-Ilmar was.

The door was closed and unlocked. The officer knocked on the door and asked the person inside to open the door.

When he didn't comply, the officers opened the door and found the defendant sitting on the floor with his hands raised in the air. After the cops helped him up, they noticed Saint-Ilmar had been sitting on a gun, said court documents.

They discovered another gun in the bath tub and a third gun behind the bathroom door.

The cops also found ammunition in the bathroom, in a hallway and in a bag which the defendant had brought to the house.

In a pretrial motion, the defense sought to suppress the search, alleging the police improperly recovered the guns.

Saint-Ilmar maintained the woman wasn't in imminent danger when she first approached cops, and officers had no reason to enter the apartment in search of him.

He said cops were "duty-bound" to remove the defendant, because the woman alleged he had tried to kill her and possibly had a weapon in her apartment.

"The police actions in attempting to remove the defendant from the bathroom were entirely appropriate in a case of alleged domestic violence and an allegation that one of the participants might have a firearm," Mattei wrote. "... (W)here the defendant has victimized the third-party ... the emergency nature of the situation is such that the third-party consent should validate a warrantless search despite the defendant's objections."

Saint-Ilmar's trial in January ended in a mistrial when the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.

The plea agreement obviates the need for a retrial.

The bespectacled defendant, who was garbed in a gray suit, blue shirt and tie, admitted to possessing a loaded .22-caliber revolver.

In exchange for his felony plea, Saint-Ilmar will be sentenced on May 17 to 18 months to three years in prison.

The defendant has previously served time behind bars.

He was convicted in Brooklyn of attempted second-degree criminal weapon possession and sentenced in June 2011 to two years in prison and three years' post-release supervision, according to statements made in court.

Bernard Udell is Saint-Ilmar's lawyer.

Assistant District Attorney Kate Malloy is prosecuting the case.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Law enforcement agencies across New York state are now required to video record interrogations of people accused of serious crimes such as homicide and sexual assault.

A new state law that went into effect last Sunday requires police agencies to record all custodial interrogations that occur in police stations, jails, prosecutor's offices and holding areas and involve serious non-drug felonies.

The new law states that failure to record interrogations in such cases could end up in a court determining a confession is inadmissible as evidence.

The measure was passed by the state Legislature last year and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He says the video recording law will ensure the reliability of evidence that's later presented at trial and guard against false confessions.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Drugs, once again, have proven an ex-convict's undoing.

Efrain Mack, 38, faces stiff prison time after a jury on Monday convicted him of two felony drug-possession charges stemming from a raid at his Port Richmond home last summer.

Mack was busted on June 28, 2017, after cops found cocaine and crack cocaine inside his Faber Street bedroom.

A jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, convicted him of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, for possessing cocaine with the intent to sell, and of fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance because the narcotics weighed at least one-eighth of an ounce.

Mack will be sentenced on April 13.

He faces anywhere from 42 months to 12 years in prison if sentenced as a second felony offender and from one to nine years behind bars if he isn't.

His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Assistant District Attorneys Carrie Low and Michele Molfetta are prosecuting the case.

Mack has previously served prison time for drug crimes.

In December 2014, he pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, in connection with authorities' recovery of cocaine on Aug. 9, 2013, and April 18, 2014, said prosecutors.

He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy in exchange for a promised sentence of four years behind bars to satisfy all charges against him.

The Port Richmond resident had been among 39 people taken down in the summer of 2013 for his role a drug-and-gun ring that prosecutors said trafficked cocaine from Mexico to Staten Island.

The probe was dubbed "Operation Mayberry" because one of the suspects went by the moniker "Opie."

Opie refers to Ron Howard's child character in the "Andy Griffith Show," set in fictitious Mayberry.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - We knew that the GOP primary battle between Rep. Daniel Donovan and former congressman Michael Grimm was going to be white-hot.

But the heat has really started to build in the last few days, making you wonder where we'll be by the time primary day rolls around on June 26.

A story broke in the New York Post over the weekend saying that Donovan had used his influence to spring partner Serena Stonick's son, Timothy O'Connell, from a night in jail following a December, 2015 heroin bust. A complaint about his alleged actions was filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics.

It's pretty much the worst kind of story that could be told on Donovan, whose entire career has been built on presenting himself as an elected official who is above reproach, including to the detriment of his own political fortunes.

It was a decade ago, for example, that then-District Attorney Donovan recused himself from a case involving the grandson of Borough President James Molinaro, his former boss and political patron. Tussles over the Conservative Party nomination, which Molinaro has great control over, followed, and the Donovan-Molinaro relationship was sundered.

Just a lesson that things never truly go away in politics. It's been 10 years since the Molinaro-Donovan schism. Donovan is no longer the D.A., and Molinaro is no longer in public life. But their battle still casts a shadow over borough politics. Molinaro last year was reported to be part of the Grimm campaign effort, along with former Borough President Guy Molinari, a onetime Donovan mentor.

Donovan has flatly denied the allegations about O'Connell's arrest, calling them "100 percent untrue." He said that no phone calls were made by O'Connell after his arrest, and that Donovan didn't know about the incident until O'Connell was released. Donovan said he was in Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn on the date of the arrest. His refuting of the allegations has been absolute.

At a press conference on Monday, he called on the House Ethics Committee to expedite its investigation and put the thus-far anonymous complainant under oath.

Importantly, Donovan also said that any "co-conspirators" who may have "coaxed" the complainant, "the people who instructed them on how to file an ethics claim against a member of Congress" should also be made to answer.

Donovan left little doubt that he thinks Grimm is behind it all, saying that Grimm is certainly familiar with the House ethics process, having not only been a congressman, but one who had allegations lodged against him during his own controversy-filled time in Congress.

"You don't have to have been a prosecutor for 20 years to put the pieces together on this," Donovan said.

In refuting the allegations, and defending his family, Donovan showed some of the fight that supporters of the usually mild-mannered congressman have wanted to see as he wages the battle of his political life against Grimm. Will Donovan be able to maintain that edge? And if the complaint was a Grimm set-up, will it backfire by riling Donovan up?

Grimm responded by calling Donovan's comments a "desperate blame game."

But Grimm did say that Donovan could put everything to rest by releasing his own phone records as well as the phone records of Stonick and Donovan chief of staff Ronald Carara.

Interesting how former FBI agent Grimm is so full of ideas about how this investigation should proceed.

Donovan called it outrageous that O'Connell's drug arrest had become campaign fodder. He said that Stonick's daughter, Christina, had also struggled with addiction, including having been jailed on Rikers Island. Donovan said that as D.A., he'd recused himself from her case.

The implication was clear: If Donovan didn't pull strings to get one child sprung from a hellhole like Rikers Island, how likely is it that he rolled into the 122nd Precinct to spring another?

All that being said, Donovan was smart to realize that he needed to get out there and speak about the allegations personally and to take press questions. As district attorney, he'd taken heat for refusing to meet with the press after a grand jury declined to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner. This needed to be met head-on. Donovan needed to put his face on it for all to see.

Donovan has a battle on his hands. It's not just that Republicans are displeased that Donovan has bucked President Donald Trump, it's more about the issues that Donovan has gone against Trump on: Sanctuary cities. Obamacare repeal. The president's tax bill, which, until Tax Day 2019, is still a plus on Trump's side of the ledger.

And now the campaign is about heroin. And family. It couldn't be more personal.
US blasts 'unfair' Chinese tariffs on 128 products



Beijing, April 2 (AFP) Apr 02, 2018



The United States on Monday blasted as "unfair" Chinese tariffs imposed on 128 US imports worth $3 billion, including fruit and pork, in the latest tit-for-tat over US duties on steel and aluminium.

China's action, which was decided by the customs tariff commission of the State Council, followed weeks of rhetoric that has raised fears of a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

President Donald Trump's administration had said its duties were aimed at steel and aluminium imports that it deemed a threat to US national security, but China's Commerce Ministry called that reasoning an "abuse" of World Trade Organization (WTO) guidelines.

The US measures "are directed only at a few countries, seriously violating the principle of non-discrimination as a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system, which seriously infringed the interests of the Chinese side," said a statement on the Commerce Ministry website.

Trump has repeatedly railed against China's massive trade surplus with the United States and promised during the election campaign to take steps to slash the US deficit.

His White House again pointed the finger at Beijing.

"China's subsidization and continued overcapacity is the root cause" of what deputy White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters called a crisis affecting steel.

"Instead of targeting fairly traded US exports, China needs to stop its unfair trading practices, which are harming US national security and distorting global markets," she said.

Beijing had warned last month that it was considering the tariffs of 15 percent and 25 percent on a range of products that also include wine, nuts and aluminium scrap. They came into force on Monday, Xinhua said, citing a government statement.

The levies are in response to tariffs of 10 percent on aluminium and 25 percent on steel that have also angered US allies.

"We hope that the United States can withdraw measures that violate WTO rules as soon as possible to put trade in the relevant products between China and the US back on a normal track," the Commerce Ministry statement said.

"Cooperation between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, is the only correct choice."

Trump has temporarily suspended the tariffs for the European Union as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

But the White House has unveiled plans to impose new tariffs on about $60 billion of Chinese imports over the "theft" of intellectual property.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the top economic official, told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a phone call last month that the IP investigation violated international trade rules and Beijing was "ready to defend its national interests."



- 'Heavy blow' -



But Beijing has so far held fire against major US imports such as soybeans or Boeing aircraft -- items that the state-run daily Global Times suggested should be targeted.

The nationalistic newspaper said in an editorial last week that China has "nearly completed its list of retaliatory tariffs on US products and will release it soon."

"The list will involve major Chinese imports from the US," the newspaper wrote, without saying which items were included.

"This will deal a heavy blow to Washington that aggressively wields the stick of trade war and will make the US pay a price for its radical trade policy toward China," the Global Times wrote.

Despite the rhetoric, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday suggested the new measures on intellectual property were a "prelude to a set of negotiations".

The United States ran a $375.2 billion deficit with China last year.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, held meetings with Chinese officials on Friday and Saturday, including Vice Premier Liu.

"With Vice Premier Liu He, I had an extensive discussion about how China's trade-distorting measures end up hurting American workers," Warren wrote on Twitter.

"I've long been skeptical of trade policy -- both at home and abroad -- that caters to big corporations instead of working families."

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Zimbabwe leader to meet Xi in first China state visit



Beijing, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2018



Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa was due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday as he seeks economic support from a major partner that previously backed his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter decades ago, will be greeted by Xi at the colossal Great Hall of the People for his first state visit to Beijing since taking power.

Mnangagwa took office in November after a military takeover ended Mugabe's 37-year reign, though he has also been accused of playing a key role in his mentor's authoritarian regime that left the economy in ruins and under sanctions.

In an interview with China's Xinhua state news service, Mnangagwa said his trip was to "say thank you not only to the president of China but also the people of China for standing and supporting Zimbabwe during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us."

He will also seek to sell Zimbabwe as a destination for Chinese investment, he said, adding that he would participate in economic forums aimed at attracting business to the country.

"It's an issue of leapfrogging after 18 years of isolation so that we catch up with the rest of the developing countries."

Mnangagwa has firsthand experience of sanctions: he was targeted by EU and US measures imposed on Mugabe and his close allies over violence and intimidation surrounding Zimbabwe's 2008 presidential campaign.

But Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa from his job as vice president in November over a succession tussle with the first lady, Grace Mugabe, setting off a crisis that led to the veteran president's ouster.

The visit comes as China takes a more proactive role in Africa, where it has long invested in infrastructure projects and sought resources, but has recently built its first military base in Djibouti.

Beijing also is believed to be taking a more active role in Zimbabwe's politics.

The country's then army chief, General Constantino Chiwenga, visited Beijing shortly before Mugabe's November ouster, leading to questions about whether Beijing had any role in the power transition.

China denied it played any part in the military takeover.

Beijing had long been one of Mugabe's most powerful allies and a major trade partner, as the West shunned him over his government's human rights violations, but it avoided taking sides during his ouster.

Chiwenga was named vice president in December.

Relations between the two countries date back to the liberation struggle of the 1960s, when Beijing provided arms and trained some of the top guerrilla leaders, including Mnangagwa.
Chinese, North Korean foreign ministers meet ahead of major summits



Beijing, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2018



China's foreign minister told his North Korean counterpart on Tuesday that Beijing appreciates Pyongyang's efforts to ease nuclear tensions ahead of planned summits between the isolated country's leader Kim Jong Un and the South Korean and US presidents.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho met China's chief diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing just a week after Kim made a surprise trip to the Chinese capital to meet President Xi Jinping.

China and North Korea are trying to repair their own relations, which have been strained as Beijing has backed a slew of United Nations sanctions to pressure Pyongyang to stop its nuclear activities.

China is North Korea's sole major ally and trade partner.

The latest visit is part of a flurry of diplomacy that has eased regional tensions after months of bellicose rhetoric between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

"China appreciates the North's commitment to the denuclearisation of the peninsula and its important efforts to ease the situation on the peninsula, and supports the North's leader's meeting with the leaders of South Korea and the US," Wang told Ri, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

Ri said Pyongyang was willing to develop the traditional friendly relations between the Cold War-era allies, and the ministry quoted Ri as saying the North "will also maintain close and strategic communication with China on Korean peninsula issues".

Wang told his counterpart the two foreign ministries should increase exchanges at all levels.

"Under the current situation, maintaining and developing the traditional friendship between China and North Korea is very important for both countries and regions," Wang said, according to the statement.

State media images showed Wang and Ri smiling as they shook hands and sat for talks.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency said Ri was heading a government delegation that left on Tuesday for a conference of foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement in Azerbaijan.

Ri will also visit Russia and other former Soviet states.



- 'Eliminate interference' -



Kim last week met President Xi Jinping on his first trip abroad since inheriting power from his father Kim Jong Il in December 2011.

Kim's secretive visit was dubbed "unofficial" but bore all the trappings of an official state occasion, with honour guards, bouquets, red carpets and meetings with most of China's top leaders.

Kim is now due to hold a summit with South Korea's Moon Jae-in on April 27 and a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump is also planned -- events that give both Pyongyang and Beijing new incentives to repair their strained relationship.

Wang struck a note of caution about the diplomatic developments during a press conference with Switzerland's visiting foreign minister earlier Tuesday.

"Of course, historical experience tells us that when the situation on the (Korean) peninsula eases and peace talks usher in the light of dawn, there are often all types of disturbances," he said, calling on all parties to "eliminate interference" and continue dialogue.

"We hope the leaders of the US and North Korea can successfully meet and enhance mutual understanding and establish basic trust," Wang said.

South Korea said last month after talks with Kim in Pyongyang that he would consider abandoning his nuclear weapons in exchange for US security guarantees, and would halt weapons tests while talks were under way.

In Beijing, Kim had been quoted as saying by China's Xinhua news agency that the issue of denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula "can be resolved if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace".



- 'Deeply moved' -



The diplomatic thaw began during February's Winter Olympics in South Korea, to which Kim sent athletes, cheerleaders and his sister as an envoy.

The North has rapidly expanded on the thaw by launching several diplomatic initiatives.

Earlier this week Kim attended a rare performance in Pyongyang by South Korean K-pop stars, shaking their hands and taking photos backstage.

Kim was "deeply moved" by the performance, state media reported, an unusual step as the authoritarian regime typically struggles to prevent the South's pop culture from reaching its isolated people.
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FRIENDSHIP EXCHANGES  Sebastopol Rotarians Nao Noguchi (left) and Rotary President Jack Blasco (at microphone) are on hand to acknowledge a generous donation for Sonoma County firestorm victims from the Otsuchi, Japan, Rotary Club, the very same one that received a local donation that helped replace a fire truck lost in the wake of a devastating 2011 earthquake. Photo provided
NASA hires Lockheed Martin to build quiet, supersonic plane



Washington, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2018



NASA has inked a deal with Lockheed Martin to develop a supersonic "X-plane" that could break the sound barrier without a sonic boom, officials said Tuesday.

The $247.5 million contract allows for the design, building and testing of a plane that would make its first test flight in 2021, NASA said.

The experimental plane "will cruise at 55,000 feet (16,764 meters) at a speed of about 940 mph (1,513 kph) and create a sound about as loud as a car door closing, 75 Perceived Level decibel (PLdB), instead of a sonic boom," the US space agency said in a statement.

As early as mid-2022, NASA plans to fly the X-plane over certain, as yet to be determined, US cities to collect data and gather community responses.

The goal is to enable quieter supersonic flight and create "new commercial cargo and passenger markets in faster-than-sound air travel," NASA said.

Last month, US President Donald Trump signed a federal budget that fully funds the project, saying the new aircraft "would open a new market for US companies to build faster commercial airliners, creating jobs and cutting cross-country flight times in half."

But passenger seats are not part of the project Lockheed Martin is working on, at least not yet.

First, the company must show it is possible to fly a quiet supersonic aircraft. Then, the rules of the Federal Aviation Administration would have to be changed in order to lift the current ban on civil supersonic flights over land.

"This X-plane is a critical step closer to that exciting future," Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, told a news conference.

Other companies in the process of building supersonic passenger jets for flight in the coming years include Virgin Galactic and Spike Aerospace.
Paris (AFP) March 30, 2018



Chinese space scientists were not in control of their Tiangong-1 orbiting laboratory when it hurtled back to Earth and into a remote part of the Pacific Ocean on Monday. But if they had been, that's where they would have tried to make it land. By sheer fluke, anything that didn't burn up in the atmosphere is expected to have plopped down somewhere near the forlorn spot that is amongst the most remote places on the planet. ... more
Myanmar agrees to UN Security Council visit



United Nations, United States, April 2 (AFP) Apr 02, 2018



Myanmar has agreed to a visit by the UN Security Council after months of resistance, but it remains unclear whether ambassadors will be allowed to go to Rakhine state, the body's president said Monday.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have been driven out of Rakhine state and are living in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh since a Myanmar army operation in August.

After the council proposed a visit in February, Myanmar's government said it was "not the right time," but it has now given the green light.

Peruvian Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, who holds the council's rotating presidency, said details of the itinerary had yet to be finalized, including whether the government would allow the council to visit Rakhine state.

"Obviously, we're interested in Rakhine state," said Meza-Cuadra. "There's nothing better than a visit on the ground to see how it is."

Britain, Kuwait and Peru are organizing the council's visit, which would include a tour of Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. No date for the trip has been announced.

Myanmar authorities say the operation in Rakhine state is aimed at rooting out extremists, but the Security Council is demanding that the Rohingya be allowed to safely return home.

The council is also planning a trip to Iraq, in a show of support ahead of parliamentary and provincial assembly elections on May 12.

Iraq "needs support from the international community for rebuilding the country and to ensure reconciliation" after Baghdad's successful campaign to re-take territory from the Islamic State group, said Meza-Cuadra.
Greece urges Turkey 'goodwill gesture' on detained soldiers



Athens, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2018



Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday urged Turkey to make a "goodwill gesture" in releasing two jailed Greek soldiers and to halt verbal attacks raising tension between the NATO allies.

"Let them stop (verbal) attacks and make a goodwill gesture as soon as possible," Tsipras told his cabinet in televised remarks.

"We call our neighbours to abandon this dead-end escalation of rhetoric," he added.

Tsipras said Turkish authorities were "unjustly" holding two Greek soldiers who crossed the Turkish border on March 2, claiming to have lost their way in the fog.

Turkish media have reported that the pair, held in the northern Turkish province of Edirne, have been charged with espionage.

But Athens contends that Turkish authorities have not given adequate detail of the charges and on what evidence they are based.

According to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency, the soldiers have been charged with "attempted military espionage" as well as entering a forbidden military zone.

Tsipras called on the Turkish judiciary to "speed up" its processing of the case.

"In the past, we returned Turkish soldiers who crossed a few metres into Greece whilst on patrol. I expect the Turkish president to do the same," he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and members of his government have escalated attacks on Greece after its failure to extradite eight Turkish soldiers that Ankara said were part of an attempted 2016 coup.

The Greek Supreme Court has conclusively blocked the extradition of the eight Turkish soldiers, arguing that they would not have a fair trial in their home country amid an ongoing purge of suspected Erdogan opponents.

Regional rivals Ankara and Athens are already at loggerheads over the exploration of gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.

In December, Erdogan made a landmark two-day visit to Greece, the first by a Turkish president in 65 years.

But before even setting foot in Athens, he angered his hosts with talk of revising borders and complaints about Greece's treatment of its Muslim minority.
Afghan Air Force in the spotlight after madrassa bombing



Kabul, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2018



A deadly airstrike on a religious school in Afghanistan has turned the spotlight on the country's fledgling air force, which is increasingly taking on combat missions to pressure insurgents.

Dozens of children were killed or wounded when Afghan Air Force (AAF) helicopters attacked the madrassa in the northeastern province of Kunduz, Afghan security sources told AFP. The defence ministry has distanced the AAF from the civilian casualties, but the United Nations has launched an investigation.

AFP explains Afghanistan's air capability, its previous mishaps and who is training them.



- Who flies the planes? -

Afghanistan's air force was decimated by the civil war of the 1990s and the turbulent period of Taliban rule that ended in 2001.

Western forces began rebuilding it in 2007 but it has been a slow process.

NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan has been training pilots and ground controllers across the country as part of a modernisation of the AAF.

Getting selected is not easy. Each recruit is subject to intensive background checks by Afghan intelligence, and must also be sponsored by two officers to attest they have no links to the enemy.



- What aircraft do they have? -

Precise figures on the size of Afghanistan's fleet and the number of pilots are not available.

But US Forces' officials told AFP in February that it includes four C-130 transport aircraft, 24 C-208 supply planes, 24 Russian Mi-17 helicopters that will be replaced by 159 UH-60 Black Hawks, 12 A-29 Super Tacano attack planes, and 25 MD-530 attack helicopters.

At the same time, the US -- the only foreign force known to be carrying out airstrikes in the country -- is deploying more aircraft to Afghanistan, which has become the main theatre of operations for the US Air Force following a drawdown in Syria and Iraq.



- When did they start bombing? -

AAF airstrikes are relatively recent -- the airforce only dropped its first bomb about a year ago, though its ability to support ground troops and carry out surveillance is growing.

It has accelerated bombardments in recent months as the Americans beef up the country's aerial capability with more aircraft and better weapons.

Last month, the AAF dropped its first laser-guided bomb on a Taliban compound in the western province of Farah, where the militants have gone on the offensive.

The US has also ramped up airstrikes as part of US President Donald Trump's new strategy for Afghanistan that has given American forces more leeway to go after the Taliban and other militant groups.



- How accurate are they? -

Without access to full figures on Afghan airstrikes it is difficult to say with any certainty, but mistakes are being made.

In 2017, the United Nations noted in its annual report on civilian casualties that more Afghans were being killed in airstrikes -- a rise of seven percent over the previous year, the highest number of casualties since the UN began recording such figures in 2009.

Of the total 295 deaths and 336 injured documented by the UN in aerial operations, the AAF was responsible for 99 deaths and 210 injured.

In October an "erroneous" Afghan airstrike killed 10 security forces in volatile Helmand province; while in August the country's air force killed up to 13 civilians in airstrikes targeting a Taliban base in the western province of Herat.
Trump vows to deploy military to Mexican border



Washington, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2018



US President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to deploy the military to the border with Mexico, something he described as a "big step."

Cultivating his tough-on-migration image during a White House meeting with Baltic leaders, Trump said "we are going to be guarding our border with our military" as he lashed out at his predecessor.

"President Obama made changes that basically created no border," he claimed, without elaborating.

Trump has raged at Mexico for allowing around 1,500 demonstrators from Central America to walk toward the US border.

Like each of the last five years, they set off from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas for the US border, where many hope to apply for asylum.

Spurred on by right wing media, Trump has leapt on the "caravan" as evidence of the need for a border wall.

"If it reaches our border our laws are so weak and so pathetic... it's like we have no border."

"We need to have a wall that's about 700-800 miles" of the border, he said.
ELN kidnaps four in Colombia border area: police



Bogota, April 3 (AFP) Apr 03, 2018



Suspected ELN rebels kidnapped four people near an area of the Venezuelan border marked by recent clashes between the guerrilla group and drug traffickers, police said Tuesday.

Four men who identified themselves as members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) abducted two people from a vehicle near Teorama in the department of Norte de Santander on Monday, a spokesman for Colombia's elite Guala anti-kidnapping police told AFP.

Later, a former mayoral candidate from Teorama and another man who tried to mediate their release, were also taken hostage.

The captors carried heavy weapons and "identified themselves as members of the ELN," the spokesman said.

Authorities say the kidnappings are part of a fight between the ELN and remnants of a Maoist guerrilla group known as the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), a group the Colombian government says is really a criminal gang known as Los Pelusos.

The conflict is over drug trafficking routes, as Norte de Santander is a major coca-producing region near the Venezuelan border.

Peace talks between the government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the ELN leadership resumed in the Ecuadoran capital Quito last month.

But clashes between ELN and the alleged EPL members have left at least six people dead and caused some 2,500 to flee their homes, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The number of kidnappings in the area have spiked as a result of the clashes, local official Nelson Arevalo said.

"There is a considerably higher number of kidnappings that are not reported because of family members' fears," Arevalo told local Blu Radio.
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Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole humanity. Those who clearly recognise the voice of their own conscience usually also recognise the voice of justice.









by Anwar A. Khan





( April 2, 2018, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) Famed columnist Paul Craig Roberts has aptly written, Integrity has vanished from the West and his enounces are consistent with fact or reality when we get a line of gabble from the mouth of a British lawyer Lord Alex Carlile. His parents, Jewish refugees from Poland, both converted to Christianity, but he is proud of his "100 per cent Jewish ancestry" and is a strong supporter of Israel. Nameless, faceless about Bangladesh and its people, and devoid of actual proof of how he, like an evil solicitor, has learnt what he knows about Bangladeshs history of birth, genocide committed by the unwarranted and un-called for and brutal Pakistani military dictators and their local accomplices during our glorious Liberation War in 1971. Their ghosts and goblins are still pursuing the same policy of extermination of our people and to make Bangladesh an infernal region. People of our country during the years 2013 to early 2015 again saw their heightened degree of ferocities to bring Bangladesh back to the Medieval Ages. That strip cartoon Lord was previously appointed by Bangladeshs notorious war criminals nexus living at home and abroad as their international lobbyist to inflict colossal damage to the trial procuresses being conducted by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh and our people, thus to save those criminal gangsters. This jackass made a crusade in the international arena in the yesteryear to garner support in his foldable to fulfill his dexterous and malevolent schema to save the worst malefactors of our 1971 war with Pakistan. He has still been questing for the same course of mendacious idiocy. He is now an appointive of a venal and uncouth politician and is in vapidity of buoyant temper to give legal beagles to his debauch client in Bangladesh who has no fealty to this country.





I, being a proud son of an illustrious and lucent lawyer with high ethical standards of his legal profession during the British regime in the Indian sub-continent, am writing this piece and know advancing the common law and the finest traditions of legal philosophy would be the moral calling of a Counselor-at-law and to emphatically uphold the honour and dignity of the legal profession and the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity. Carliles standing posture of a lawyer is barren with all norms of ethical conduct and integrity. In fact, he has been doing his jobs only to receive bounty in huge amount from his clienteles flinging to ethical and moral principles of legal profession and misusing his office as a member in the House of Lords in Britain, the house that condemned the genocide in Bangladesh in 1971, the British government, its people, even the British media condemned it.





Let me not be thought as intending anything derogatory to the profession of the law, or to the distinguished members of that illustrious order. Well am I aware that we have in this country innumerable worthy gentlemen, who go about redressing wrongs and defending the defenseless, not for the love of filthy lucre, nor the selfish cravings of renown, but merely for the pleasure of doing good. Sooner would I throw this trusty pen into the flames and cork up my ink bottle forever, than infringe even for a nails breadth upon the dignity of legal profession. On the contrary, I allude merely to those caitiff scouts who, in these latter days of evil, infest the skirts of the profession, as did the recreant Cornish knights of yore the honourable order of chivalry who under its auspices, commit flagrant wrongs, who thrive by quibbles, by quirks and chicanery, and like vermin increase the corruption in which they are engendered.





Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole humanity. Those who clearly recognise the voice of their own conscience usually also recognise the voice of justice. We are in the know that dignity and respect of character are springing from probity, principle, or moral rectitude. Be we cant embellish the rogue Alex with the laurel wreaths like respect, value, esteem, prize, appreciate, admire, worship, adore, revere, glorify, reverence, exalt, venerateGood always has to triumph over evil, and a respect for the law and order establishment has to be encouraged. Carlyle, as if belonging to the Middle Ages; old-fashioned and unenlightened, he may be the resident of an infernal region and operates his fit out in that realm, not in Bangladesh.





He is the reigning champ of anti-heroes and anti-heroines with his so-called scruples. He is also an extremely evil character who sees the world in only in his own form of evil He reminds me of the butchers group who recognises on some level that he is evil. He knows that what he is doing is not only criminal, it is morally wicked  and he doesn't care for that. He lives every moment under a few fatalistic assumptions, mainly that he is as good as dead and that he is as evil as damned. Anti-heroes and anti-heroines are defined as anyone who fails to measure up to the heroic standard. What makes LA Carlile an anti-hero by our standards in modern-day Bangladesh is that he has no regard for human life. He is ruthless and merciless. Essentially, he is another villain that needs to be stopped. Why? Is it because we pity his loss? Is it because we as law-abiding citizens have no need to fear his wrath? Is it because he is so creative in the ways he offs good guys? Or is it because he realises that the Bangladeshs justice system is so inefficient and corrupt that his brand of vengeance is the only kind of justice that the most powerful criminals will ever see? He is absolutely wrong, daffy and haywire!





This is why he reflects the most opaque tones of our society. He represents hopelessness. Everything is so corrupt that the only way to stop monsters is to become colossi ourselves. The ends justify the means, no matter how badly it erodes our souls. For some reasons, it draws a lot of fans. Perhaps there are a lot of people out there who are so despondent and grim that they think he is the only hero in crimes who reflects realism. Are misery and merciless vengeance unleashed by him are the only real values left for Bengalis? I don't think so. To his followers-clients, moral codes are a hindrance to justice. Justice, to them, has nothing to do with being good or right and everything to do with being fair, e.g., those who commit horrible atrocities forfeit their basic human rights and will not be coddled by bleeding-heart liberals. The problem with approving of Carlile is that we will ultimately succumb to his nihilism. If this is how we want our society to be  vigilantes deciding who is good and who is evil and executing the wicked. Don't forget that 6 worst war criminals executed people whom they believe deserved it. He is not to be applauded for having the guts to do what needs to be done, but to be observed as a cautionary tale.





He must be a hero who will always strive to live by a strong moral code, but Carlile doesnt. Light or dark? Which is most relevant? The legal profession is to shape the moral codes of our favourite superheroes. Creators have felt the need for heroes to retain their moral imperatives, but their justification for these beliefs becomes thinner over the years, as more fans seem to see the moral imperative as a hindrance instead of an asset. Public ideas about where perfect north is on the moral compass have changed in that Alex, the person in himself.





Mythology illuminates mankind's ideas about religions, values, and cultures. Most people have a passing familiarity with the mythologies of classical Greek and Roman canons. They played a role in how western civilisation developed. While those mythologies still resonate today, the new mythology for the modern world is superheroes. These are the new myths that tell us about ourselves as a society and reflect our values back to us, and these myths have been shaped by the civilisation for decades.





Yes. That's why the moral code is so important. In an age of moral relativism, our myths can still anchor a perfect north for our moral compasses. Just because we are adults doesn't mean we can't hold ourselves to a standard that's higher than where we are at. But, you might be thinking, how can we seriously evaluate complex, real-life problems like law and order and the sanctity of human life by comparing ourselves to imaginary people who live in imaginary worlds like Carlile? The conclusion to this one should be obvious because Carlile eventually reverts to villainy. His idea of law and order was tyrannical. What might have begun with the intention to help others eventually led him to make decisions that merely accomplished goals, but not help people. Undoubtedly, our prosecution lawyers are an effective crime fighter





So yes, it would make sense to kill gang because as long as they are alive, they are just going to keep killing, but real mass murderers don't cycle in and out. They always escape, and they always murders innocent people.





Like I mentioned above, most real-life lunatics often die in the course of committing their crimes. Others who do get caught go to prison and they don't come out. Timothy McVeigh never escaped to challenge his arch-nemesis one more time; he just went straight to the execution chamber. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been sentenced to death, and he's not going to escape. Some butcher war criminals in Bangladesh are still awaiting trials, and they're not going to escape either. You might be thinking "You don't know that, though." True, I can't see the future, but prisons in real life aren't like prison.





In terms of moral codes, Carlile wrecks the curve. If we hold him up as the moral standard, then his methods look brutal. His rogues are actually criminals. The biggies are ... Aside from these guys; his rogues are extra-terrestrial threats like... Philosophers have argued for humanity to aspire to and pursue the greater good. Ancient Greek heroes did, and some failed miserably. Some of our heroes today try, and some fail miserably. But if we as readers settle for brutality, bitterness, and nihilism as the best we can hope for, the society we readers help shape will certainly slip into greater moral decay. Our ICT represents the morning star that we all strive to achieve.





Lord Carlile is a practising barrister and head of chambers at 9-12 Bell Yard barristers' chambers, a criminal law chamber in England. As a QC, he successfully defended butler Paul Burrell when he was accused of stealing millions of pounds of goods from the estate of the late Princess of Wales. So, he carried out his actions only to keep the misdeed-mongers in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction taking hold of money only from them for his personal ends. He is a notorious mastermind of booster for malefic characters. The goal of this action is to show to Carliles bots that they wont be able to escape unpunished. He still has time to stop and not to disgrace this country.





He is the legal counsel of one of the most notorious murderers in Bangladeshs history. Hes a lying piece of shit. He, as an organization, has no credibility with us, and anything he says about the mass murderers is all bullshit.

Our 1971 war valiant Freedom Fighter Nahid is right about the dangers of self-deception and it may be that the language of being an expert or expertise like Carlile is inappropriate in an ethical context. Perhaps the language of expertise suggests ethics can be a matter of applying algorithms, but might it make sense to think that some persons are or can become (and can help others become) better in terms of ethical reflection and living ethically? Can an ethics course or the study of ethics help one to? Absolutely yes. Get better at feeling and expressing genuine, appropriate concern for the welfare of others? Leave this wrong footpath right along, Mr. Carlile. Develop skills at showing appropriate compassion, affection, less given over to follow socially indoctrinated, harmful stereotypes? Become better at self-examination and self-questioning in which one can improve ones recognition of when one is prey to vanity, self-deception, professionally jealousy?





A solicitor's commitment to behaving ethically is at the heart of what it means to be a solicitor. The legal experts support his or her clients in recognising and handling difficult professional situations and making choices which can be substantiated by reference to the Code of Conduct. Ethics involves making a commitment to acting with integrity and honesty in accordance with widely recognised moral principles. Ethics will guide a professional towards an appropriate way to behave in relation to moral dilemmas that arise in practice. Ethics is based on the principles of serving the interests of consumers of legal services and of acting in the interests of the administration of justice, in which, in the event of a conflict, acting in the interests of the administration of justice prevails.





Making a commitment to acting ethically is intrinsically linked with meeting the standards and requirements set out in the Code of Conduct to be strictly followed by the legal professionals. These standards stem from the 10 mandatory principles. The principles apply to all solicitors and underpin all aspects of practice. A solicitor must consider his duties are purely standing on moral and ethical standards. The level of ethical behaviour requires of a solicitor is something that sets him apart from the general public.





There is a place and a need for ethics in the current climate in which solicitors should operate. He should foster cultures which promote good ethical decision making. He should take a more proactive role in embedding an ethical culture within the profession. Combining perceptions of power capabilities and cultural judgments unique to this rogue stereotype, the rogue image presents a challenge to punish the mass murderers strategy demanding attention to the future threat posed by these types of rogue legal professionals like Carlile.





Carlile's reckless conduct is violating the norms justice system of Bangladesh and elsewhere and he has been trying to deform Bangladeshs history since long. He is one of the criminals who are unabatedly unleashing from UKs legal profession in collaborating with the worst war criminals and their mango-twigs in Bangladesh. Blood-thirsty is a very minor villain who is a massive alien creature with multiple holes on his skin that emit a green gas. His weapon appears to be a circular device like a clock without hands that he could use to slow down or even to stop time. This bloodthirsty brags throughout his first and (to date) only appearance that he is the cause of every evil job to support the major war criminals. He is an evil guy who has learnt how to advance or revert a human beings age by means of his so-called special pills.





As a matter of fact, he is simply an agent highly paid by the obnoxious nexus of the war criminals and their mango-twigs to stop the legal procedures now going on in Bangladesh to punish those heartbreaking mass murderers. If we hear Carliles name or his words, we can simply say, rogues supplant justice or birds of a feather flock together or the scapegrace will never listen to a moral lecture or maybe all, altogether. Lord Alex Carlile is an impish super-villain that is an enemy of mankind!
Snowbasin planning major expansion, including 300-room Club Med hotel

Snowbasin has quietly been planning for big changes. Now, operators of the Weber County ski resort are moving forward. They unveiled ambitious plans this week to build a 300-room hotel on Snowbasin grounds, add new retail offerings and upgrade some of the lifts that haul skiers. Some of the work is already underway and hotel construction is to be complete by the end of 2024. "These new developments put us on track to become the world-class resort destination envisioned for Snowbasin," said Davy Ratchford, the ski resort's general manager. The planned improvements will be the most ...
Janice Nieders Mississippi road trip continues with day 3

There is so much to see in Columbus, The city that has it all! that depending on your time frame you might want to spend the night here.

For starters, how cool is it that Columbuss Welcome Center (where you can pick up all the info you need from the helpful docents) is in legendary playwright, Tennessee Williams first home. Meticulous efforts were made to restore the 1875 Victorian home to its former glory, from the carefully researched historic colors to the period furnishings throughout the home.

Upstairs follow the life of Tennessee Williams written as acts in a play.

Tip: Ask to see the family teacups, specially designed to keep the mens mustaches from getting wet.

Then join one of the historic home tours offered daily. Columbus has a mind-boggling 650 properties on the National Register of Historic Places. My favorite was Whitehall, a stately 1843 Greek Revival mansion that was used as a hospital for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.

Mark your calendar: One of the most authentic Southern home tours, Columbuss 78th Annual Spring Pilgrimage, is April 5-14, 2018.

Music lovers can follow the markers on the Blues Trail. Dont miss Catfish Alley, a colorful spot that was the epicenter of MS. Blues, jazz and soul music, producing such greats as Howlin Wolf and Big Joe Williams.

For a historic sleepover try Shadowlawn B &B, an elegant, antique-filled southern antebellum. Word is that their homemade brekkies are incredible.

Laurel

The once sleepy town of Laurel has awakened with a roar, thanks to local couple, Erin and Ben Napier. Their mission is to revitalize and preserve the close-knit sense of community that defines their town by restoring historic homes on HGTVs hit show, Home Town.

They recently opened Laurel Mercantile Co. to showcase their signature collection including Bens handmade reclaimed furniture, American-made heirloom wares, and durable home goods.

Youll find everything from Heirloom Estwing Hammers with comfy leather handle covers to a candles smelling of sweet olive blossom.

You might not expect to find a nationally recognized museum in such a small town, but thats just one of Laurels many charms. The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art collections began in 1923 with a gift from Lauren Rogerss great-aunt, Catherine Marshall Gardiner, who donated 494 rare North American Indian Baskets and artifacts. Other eclectic collections include 142 Japanese woodblock prints from the Edo period and a British Georgian Silver Collection used for English high tea.

Check out the imaginative craft beers at Slowboat Brewing Company. Owner Kenny Mann is typical of the entrepreneurial spirit that Laurel exudes. Loved his Wild & Wood program featuring a creative range of brews that touch wood in either the fermentation, aging or souring process.

Best deal: $2 gets you a tour and four 4oz pours which partner well with taproom newbie, Mercury Pizza. Nab a seat on the patio, grab a board game or rock out to the live music.

Stay:

To experience real Southern hospitality at its finest, sleep over at Wisteria B&B. It was built in 1901 for one Laurels founders, timber baron, Silas Wright Gardiner. Listed on National Register of Historic Place, Wisteria is filled with exquisite hand-made leaded and beveled glass windows, Tiffany lamps and antiques.

Continue to Day 4
1. Persons who voted in the Presidential elections 2018

This review examines persons entitled to vote and those who voted in the Presidential election 2018 according to various background factors. The data on persons entitled to vote and those who voted derive from the voting register of the Election Information System of the Ministry of Justice. The unit-level background data are based on Statistics Finlands data, such as population, employment and family statistics, and the Register of Completed Education and Degrees. The groups under examination are, on the one hand, all persons entitled to vote in the Presidential election 2018 and advance voters and, on the other hand, persons entitled to vote and those who voted in the voting districts where an electronic voting register was in use in the Presidential election 2018.

The electronic voting register enables examination of voting turnout also in terms of votes cast on the election day. Data that contain all who voted provides a complete picture of voting turnout as they can reliably help take into account those who did not vote. This is not possible only for the data containing advance voters. In this review, advance voters refer to all persons that voted in advance throughout the country and all who voted refer to both advance voters and those who voted on the election day in the above-mentioned areas.

It should be noted that the data presented in the review concerning all who voted do not cover the entire country or all persons entitled to vote. In this review, all who voted refer to the actual event of voting in those districts on which data were available. The data presented in this review have not been edited in any way, for example, by weighting the data based on background factors, but the breakdowns are presented as they are in the data. In other words, the data presented on all who voted in a particular area only apply to the municipalities, voting districts and persons entitled to vote for which data were available. The analyses presented in the review naturally concern the first election round of the Presidential election.

Analysed data

When examining the analyses of the review it should be noted that the analyses include two separate but partly overlapping voter groups. The following terms are used for these voter groups in the text, tables and figures of the review:

Advance voters that cover all persons that voted in advance in the elections All who voted in the areas that cover both advance voters and persons who voted on the election day (that is, all who voted) in the voting districts that used the electronic voting register

The voter groups used in the review are not mutually exclusive. The advance voters of the entire country also include the persons entitled to vote who voted in advance in the above-mentioned areas. All who voted in the areas, in turn, also include all persons that voted in advance in those particular areas. Thus the group advance voters depicts, just like the name suggests, persons entitled to vote who voted in advance in the entire country, and the group all who voted in the areas covers persons who voted on the election day and in advance in a limited number of voting districts.

The data of the review are limited to persons entitled to vote living in Finland. There were 4,246,803 persons entitled to vote resident in Finland in the Presidential election 2018. Of these persons entitled to vote, 1,559,488, or 36.7 per cent of all persons entitled to vote, voted in advance. The voting districts where data on voting on the actual election day are available had 1,625,579 persons entitled to vote. So complete voting data are available for 38.3 per cent of persons entitled to vote.

Unit-level background factors could not be linked to all persons entitled to vote so such cases were excluded from the data. Thus, the data that were used for the whole country had 4,240,799 and the examined areas had 1,623,953 persons entitled to vote. It should be noted that in terms of background variables used in an individual analysis, these numbers may be smaller than the figures mentioned above depending on how extensively the background variables could be linked to the persons entitled to vote. In practice, this is visible, for example, in that the distributions presented in the figures and tables may vary slightly by background variable.

Data coverage

The voting districts and municipalities for which all voting data were received are not divided entirely equally on the level of the whole country. Data on voting on the actual election day were available from 134 municipalities, from 79 municipalities completely, that is, from all voting districts and for 55 municipalities from some of the voting districts.

Voting data from the election day were available from all constituencies in Mainland Finland. However, the coverage of the data varies by constituency. The most comprehensive data were available from the constituency of Central Finland, 77.7 per cent of persons entitled to vote in the constituency. Data were also more comprehensive than for the entire country in the constituencies of Oulu (70.9% of persons entitled to vote), Lapland (69.8%), Uusimaa (45.6%), Satakunta (41.9%), Pirkanmaa (40.4%) and Varsinais-Suomi (39.2%). The coverage for election day voting data was lowest in the Helsinki constituency where data were available only for two voting districts and for 1.4 per cent of persons entitled to vote. In other words, the Helsinki constituency is clearly under-represented in the available data. (See Appendix table 1)

Appendix table 2 examines the background factors of persons entitled to vote in the entire country and in the areas with complete voting data. In the Presidential election 2018, the average age of persons entitled to vote was 50.8. In this respect, the persons entitled to vote in certain areas do not considerably differ from all persons entitled to vote. Of all persons entitled to vote, men represented 48.6 per cent in the whole country, as many as in the areas in relative terms.

The median income of persons entitled to vote in the whole country was slightly higher than that of persons entitled to vote in the areas. The difference is around EUR 400 per year. The income level is lower than average for the whole country especially in the voting districts of such municipalities for which complete data were not obtained.

As regards the level of education, the examined areas do not essentially differ from the whole country. In the whole country, persons entitled to vote were, on average, slightly more highly educated than in the examined areas with the electronic voting register. The difference is, in particular, visible in the highest examined group of education, those with higher tertiary level or doctorate level education, of whom there were 1.2 percentage points more in the entire country than in the areas. Particularly as regards education, the under-representation of the constituency of Helsinki has effects on the distributions of the data.

There are small differences between all persons entitled to vote and persons entitled to vote living in the areas when it comes to main type of activity categories. There were slightly more employed persons (0.6 percentage points) in the whole country than in the areas and correspondingly, the areas had more students (0.6 percentage points). In turn, the number of pensioners was, in relative terms, equal in the areas and in the whole country. The areas had 1.5 percentage points more Finnish-speaking persons entitled to vote than the entire country. In contrast, the share of persons with Finnish background was 0.4 percentage points higher in the areas than in the whole country. There was no significant difference in the support for the presidential candidates between the whole country and the areas.

The factors presented in this Section and in Appendix tables 1 and 2 should be considered if the data obtained on all who voted in the areas with an electronic voting register are to be generalised to relate to all persons entitled to vote.

Age and sex

In the first round of the Presidential election in 2018, a total of 1,559,488 persons entitled to vote resident in Finland voted in advance, which represents 36.7 per cent of all persons entitled to vote living in Finland. The advance voting percentage reported by Statistics Finland is 52.5. The advance voting percentage is derived by calculating the share of advance voters among those having voted. In this review, persons who voted are examined in relation to persons entitled to vote, so the percentages given are lower than the advance voting percentage.

In the voting districts where all voting data were available, a total of 1,126,333 persons entitled to vote cast their vote, which was 69.3 per cent of the persons entitled to vote in the areas. In these areas, 37.7 per cent of persons entitled to vote voted in advance and 31.5 per cent voted on the election day.

Age clearly has an impact on voting. The share of advance voters in the whole country among persons entitled to vote exceeds 30 per cent at the age of 48 , after which the share grows faster than earlier. Advance voting was most common among persons aged 74, of whom 59.0 per cent voted in advance. The share of advance voters starts to go down after the age of 74, the share of advance voters falls to under 30 per cent among persons aged 95 . (Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Share of those who voted among persons entitled to vote by age in the Presidential election 2018, %

The share of all who voted among persons entitled to vote in those voting districts where voting data on the election day were also obtained gives a more comprehensive picture of advance voting. The voting percentage of persons who had reached the voting age of 18 by the voting day of the Presidential election 2018 was 56.9 per cent in the areas. However, the voting percentage drops to 46.2 per cent in the group of persons aged 20. After this, the voting percentage grows fairly evenly to 73.0 per cent in the age group of those aged 42, after which the growth is slower. The voting percentage is at its highest in the group of persons aged 70 (82.3%). For persons aged over 74, the voting percentage goes down relatively quickly but drops below the level for those aged 20 only at the age of 90. (Figure 1)

Women voted more actively than men both in advance in the whole country and on the election day and in advance in the areas as well apart from the oldest examined age group. In the whole country, 40.0 per cent of women entitled to vote voted in advance, nearly seven percentage points more than men.

The voting percentage that takes into account all persons who voted is also higher for women in the areas. In the areas, 72.3 per cent of women voted, which was around six percentage points higher than men. Examined by age group, women voted more actively than men in all age groups except for persons aged 75 or over. At the other end of the age distribution, the voting turnout of young people aged 18 to 19 entitled to vote was slightly over four percentage points higher than in the 20 to 24 age group. As can be seen in Figure 1, voting turnout in the areas that takes account of voting by young people on the election day and in advance falls soon after attaining the voting age. (Table 1)

Table 1. Share of advance voters in the whole country and all who voted in the areas among persons entitled to vote by sex and age in Presidential election 2018, %

Age group Total Men Women Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who voted,

areas Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who voted,

areas Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who voted,

areas Total 36.7 69.3 33.2 66.1 40.0 72.3 18-19 18.9 52.3 14.8 46.3 23.1 58.3 20-24 23.7 48.1 18.8 41.8 28.9 54.9 25-34 24.2 57.4 21.2 52.6 27.4 62.6 35-44 25.6 70.0 23.2 66.0 28.1 74.2 45-54 31.8 74.3 28.6 70.9 34.9 77.6 55-64 43.4 77.7 39.6 74.9 47.1 80.5 65-74 56.5 81.7 53.3 80.0 59.4 83.3 75- 49.3 66.8 51.0 71.0 48.2 64.1

Main type of activity, education and family status

Measured by main type of activity, employed persons voted most in advance in the Presidential election 2018 in the whole country, making up 44.1 per cent of all advance voters. The number of pensioners was almost the same among advance voters (43.8 per cent). Among advance voters, the number of employed persons was lower and that of pensioners higher than among all persons entitled to vote. In other groups of main type of activity, the share of advance voters was relatively smaller than among all persons entitled to vote. (Figure 2)

Among all employed and pensioners who voted in the areas, the share of the group was bigger than the corresponding share of the groups among all persons entitled to vote. By contrast, the share of those who voted belonging to the unemployed, students or other main type of activity in the areas was below the relative size of the groups among all persons entitled to vote. (Figure 3.)

Figure 2. Persons entitled to vote and advance voters in the whole country by main type of activity in the Presidential election 2018, %

Figure 3. Persons entitled to vote and all who voted in the areas by main type of activity in the Presidential election 2018, %

High education increases the probability of voting. Persons entitled to vote with lowest tertiary or higher education voted in advance in the whole country more than average in the Presidential election. This is also clearly visible for all who voted in the areas, the voting percentage of persons with higher tertiary or doctorate level education was 19.1 percentage points higher than among all persons entitled to vote.

Previously it was noted that age has a clear connection to voting turnout. This is also visible in educational groups in which, in practice, all voting turnout increases with age, apart from the oldest age group, those aged 75 or over. Voting turnout of over 90 per cent is attained for advance voting and voting on the election day among those aged 55 to 74 with at least higher tertiary education and those aged 65 to 74 with lower tertiary education. The effect of age is visible both among advance voters in the whole country and all who voted in the areas. (Table 2)

When interpreting Table 2 it should be noted that lowest tertiary level qualifications decrease in the population and no new qualifications are completed in Finland in this category, so the age structure of the educational group differs clearly from other groups. Lowest tertiary level education covers qualifications above upper secondary level that are not university of applied sciences degrees.

Table 2. Share of advance voters in the whole country and all who voted in the areas among persons entitled to vote by age and level of education in Presidential election 2018, %

Total Lower

secondary Upper

secondary Lowest

tertiary Lower

tertiary Higher

tertiary,

doctorate Total Advance

voters,

whole

country 36.7 34.2 33.6 48.9 38.4 42.1 All who

voted,

areas 69.3 57.3 65.2 84.8 80.8 88.3 18-24 Advance

voters,

whole

country 22.4 16.5 25.9 .. 45.5 .. All who

voted,

areas 49.2 44.0 51.9 .. 78.0 .. 25-34 Advance

voters,

whole

country 24.2 11.6 20.2 14.4 33.2 38.7 All who

voted,

areas 57.4 29.8 51.8 38.8 74.6 83.4 35-44 Advance

voters,

whole

country 25.6 16.0 22.7 29.3 29.1 31.9 All who

voted,

areas 70.0 42.3 62.9 78.8 80.0 86.6 45-54 Advance

voters,

whole

country 31.8 22.4 30.1 36.3 34.6 36.2 All who

voted,

areas 74.3 51.9 69.1 82.8 83.5 89.1 55-64 Advance

voters,

whole

country 43.4 35.8 42.1 49.2 48.2 47.7 All who

voted,

areas 77.7 64.3 74.8 85.9 87.6 90.9 65-74 Advance

voters,

whole

country 56.5 50.5 56.2 64.6 63.8 64.0 All who

voted,

areas 81.7 74.6 81.8 89.6 91.0 92.9 75- Advance

voters,

whole

country 49.3 43.5 52.5 62.3 64.7 66.2 All who

voted,

areas 66.8 60.0 71.6 80.9 83.6 87.8

The family status of persons who voted is examined by means of limited family status groups. Attention is paid to married or cohabiting couples (partnerships) and those without a family, the number of children and the age of persons entitled to vote.

Those in partnerships voted in the areas clearly more than those without a family, the voting percentage of married or cohabiting couples was over 17 percentage points higher than that of those without a family. The number or age of children does not have a significant effect on the voting turnout of those in partnerships. In turn, the voting turnout of parents of one-parent families remained at 59.1 per cent.

When examining the voting turnout of young people aged 18 to 24, we can see that the voting percentages of those living at home (with their parents) were higher than of those of the same age not belonging to families. Those not belonging to a family include both those living alone and with another person or other persons. The difference in the groups voting turnout in the areas was around seven percentage points.

An age group specific examination of all who voted does not significantly change the picture of the effect of family status. As a rule, the voting percentage grows in all family status groups by age, apart from the oldest age group of people aged 75 and over. For the family status, the group Other includes those aged over 24 living at home, parents of one-parent families living with their adult child, the institutional population and unclassified persons and those whose family status is unknown. (Figure 4, Table 3)

Figure 4. Share of those who voted among persons entitled to vote by age in certain family status groups in the Presidential election 2018, %

Table 3. Share of advance voters in the whole country and all who voted in the areas among persons entitled to vote by family status in the Presidential election 2018, %

Total Partner-

ship Partner-

ship,

no children Partner-

ship,

children

aged

under 18 Partner-

ship,

no children

aged

under 18 One-parent

family,

children

aged

under 18 Without a

family Other Total Advance

voters,

whole

country 36.7 38.2 46.0 24.6 39.5 25.6 38.5 30.4 All voters,

areas 69.3 77.5 78.1 75.4 81.9 59.1 59.8 50.6 18-24 Advance

voters,

whole

country 22.4 22.1 23.5 13.0 .. 8.5 25.6 16.3 All voters,

areas 49.2 51.2 52.3 44.1 .. 21.6 44.9 28.8 25-34 Advance

voters,

whole

country 24.2 23.6 27.5 19.7 .. 16.2 26.3 23.7 All voters,

areas 57.4 64.5 65.0 64.1 .. 40.2 50.0 44.4 35-44 Advance

voters,

whole

country 25.6 24.7 29.1 23.7 24.1 25.1 28.9 27.0 All voters,

areas 70.0 75.6 69.4 77.0 67.1 61.5 56.6 46.2 45-54 Advance

voters,

whole

country 31.8 31.0 35.0 28.2 33.1 31.2 34.2 32.3 All voters,

areas 74.3 79.9 75.9 81.8 81.5 69.5 60.9 58.4 55-64 Advance

voters,

whole

country 43.4 44.2 46.4 33.8 40.2 36.0 42.7 38.4 All voters,

areas 77.7 83.3 83.2 82.8 84.3 73.1 66.9 62.7 65-74 Advance

voters,

whole

country 56.5 58.6 59.3 41.6 50.9 48.0 53.2 44.4 All voters,

areas 81.7 86.7 87.0 81.0 83.8 77.0 72.8 61.8 75- Advance

voters,

whole

country 49.3 55.3 55.9 .. 44.7 .. 45.9 29.0 All voters,

areas 66.8 76.9 77.3 .. 68.4 .. 60.0 39.0

Figures 5 and 6 examine the voting turnout of young people aged 18 to 24 in 1-year age groups by sex and family status. Of the family status groups, the figures show the groups living at home and without a family. The limitation helps to examine the effect of the mode of living on young peoples voting turnout. The figures show information on all those belonging to the groups mentioned in the voting districts on which data were available. The data shown include voting on the election day and in advance, information on advance voting in the whole country is thus not presented.

When viewing the data presented in Figures 5 and 6 it should be noted that the family status data of persons entitled to vote are from 2016. In practice, the data were selected around 13 months before the first round of the Presidential election 2018. Persons aged 18 entitled to vote in the 2018 election shown in Figures 5 and 6 were aged 16 to 17 at the time of collecting the family status data, those aged 19 were at the age of 17 to 18 and so on. This inevitably has an effect on the size of the groups, particularly in the youngest 1-year age group. In practice, it can be assumed that these age groups had more persons living alone than in the background data used for the analysis.

It should be noted that especially in the youngest examined 1-year age groups, the share of young persons without a family is small. In the examined family status groups, 3.6 per cent of men aged 18 entitled to vote were without a family as were 7.5 per cent of women. Mens share rises for those aged 19 to 9.3 per cent and womens to 15.5 per cent. In the next age group of those aged 20, the population without a family includes 20.1 per cent of men and 34.7 per cent of women.

Figure 5 shows that the voting turnout of young men (aged 18 to 20) living at home is significantly higher than among those without a family. For women, the situation is largely similar, although the voting turnout of young women is generally higher than that of men in all age groups (Figure 6). After these ages, the difference between those living at home and those without a family narrows down for both men and women and from the age of 22 onwards the difference is no longer big.

Figure 5. Share of those having voted in the areas among persons entitled to vote, men aged 18 to 24 by family status in the Presidential election 2018, %

Figure 6. Share of those having voted in the areas among persons entitled to vote, women aged 18 to 24 by family status in the Presidential election 2018, %

Income level

The income level of those who voted and persons entitled to vote is examined with the help of monetary income subject to state taxation. The income data derive from the latest taxation data from 2016. Income subject to state taxation consists of earned income, entrepreneurial income, and other income subject to state taxation, including such as other earned income, pension income, unemployment benefits and other social security benefits. Income subject to taxation does not include such as grants and awards received from the general government, earned income received from abroad under certain conditions, some of social security benefits received from the public sector, and tax-free interest income.

In the data of the review, the income of persons entitled to vote is divided into deciles. Income deciles are derived by arranging persons entitled to vote by income and by dividing the group into ten equal parts. The groups formed in this way each have around 422,000 persons entitled to vote for all persons entitled to vote in the whole country. In the areas from which data were received on voting on the election day as well, the groups have around 161,000 persons entitled to vote each.

For the whole country, income data are missing for 49,351 persons entitled to vote. In the data for the areas containing election day votes, the income level was missing for 17,154 persons entitled to vote. The median income subject to state taxation of all persons entitled to vote was EUR 25,777, in the examined areas the corresponding median income was EUR 25,072. The income subject to state taxation of persons entitled to vote in the whole country belonging to the highest income decile was at least EUR 55,615 and in the examined areas it was EUR 53,805 per year. The income for those belonging to the lowest income decile was at most EUR 8,500 for persons entitled to vote in the whole country and EUR 8,497 per year in the areas. (Table 4)

Table 4. Lowest limits for the income deciles of persons entitled to vote in the Presidential election 2018, EUR

Decile All persons

entitled to vote Persons entitled

to vote in areas 1st decile 0 0 2nd decile 8,501 8,498 3rd decile 12,190 12,013 4th decile 16,105 15,903 5th decile 20,654 20,347 6th decile 25,477 25,072 7th decile 30,270 29,774 8th decile 35,467 34,810 9th decile 42,548 41,580 10th decile 55,615 53,805

On the level of the whole country, the level of income as a whole does not have much effect on advance voting. In the two lowest deciles, advance voting is relatively lower than in the higher income brackets. Starting from the third income decile, there are no major changes in the rate of advance voting, the share of advance voting in these categories varies from 36.8 to 42.1 per cent of persons entitled to vote. (Figure 7)

When examining all who voted in the areas for which complete voting data were available, the effect of income on voting turnout is considerably more evident. As a rule, voting is more common in higher income groups than in lower income groups. In all, 85.2 per cent of those belonging to the highest income decile voted. In turn, the voting turnout remained at 50.9 per cent in the lowest income decile. Thus, the difference between the voting turnout of the lowest and highest income earners was over 34 percentage points. (Figure 7)

Figure 7. Share of those who voted among persons entitled to vote by income decile in the Presidential election 2018, %

Foreign background

The background of persons entitled to vote and persons who voted is viewed by means of language and origin. Voting turnout for persons with national languages as their native language was higher than for all persons entitled to vote both for advance voters in the whole country and for all who voted in the areas. When examining all who voted in the areas, 0.4 percentage points more of Finnish and Sami speakers and 5.5 percentage points more of Swedish speakers voted compared to all persons entitled to vote.

In the Presidential election, the right to vote is tied to nationality, that is, there are fewer persons speaking other than national language as their native language entitled to vote than in the Municipal elections, for example. Of all persons entitled to vote, 92.3 per cent were Finnish-speaking, 5.3 per cent Swedish-speaking and 2.4 per cent other language speakers. In the areas for which data were available for all who voted, 93.8 per cent spoke Finnish as their native language, 4.2 per cent Swedish and 1.9 per cent other languages. The share of Sami speakers was in both cases 0.03 per cent.

Table 5. Share of advance voters in the whole country and all who voted in the areas among persons entitled to vote by sex and language in the Presidential elections 2018, %

Sex Total Finnish, Sami Swedish Other language Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who

voted,

areas Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who

voted,

areas Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who

voted,

areas Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who

voted,

areas Total 36.7 69.3 37.7 69.7 29.8 74.8 14.6 37.5 Men 33.2 66.1 34.1 66.4 27.0 72.4 13.8 35.5 Women 40.0 72.3 41.1 72.8 32.7 77.2 15.4 39.1

The voting turnout of foreign-language speakers was clearly lower than for those speaking national languages. Of all foreign-language speakers entitled to vote in the whole country, 14.6 per cent voted in advance. Correspondingly, among all who voted in the areas, 37.5 per cent of foreign-language speakers voted, which was almost 32 percentage points lower than for all persons entitled to vote. (Table 5)

A more detailed examination of the voting turnout of different language groups shows that the highest voting percentage among all votes cast in the areas was found among Swedish speakers (74.8%). Correspondingly, the voting percentage of Finnish and Sami speakers was 69.7 per cent. Figure 8 includes the largest language groups measured by absolute numbers in the areas for which data were also available for election day voting. With this limitation, the voting percentage of foreign-language speakers was highest for German speakers, 69.6 per cent of persons entitled to vote. For other foreign-language speaking groups, only Spanish and English speakers voting turnout exceeded 50 per cent. (Figure 8)

Figure 8. Share of those who voted among persons entitled to vote by language group in the Presidential election 2018, %

Examined by age group and origin, young peoples voting turnout was lower than in older age groups both among persons of Finnish background and of foreign background. This is visible both among advance voters in the whole country and all who voted in the areas. For all who voted in the areas, the difference between voting turnout among persons of Finnish and foreign background was around 31 percentage points. The voting turnout of persons with foreign background remains under 30 per cent in the 18 to 34 age groups, voting by over one-half of persons with foreign background was not reached until in the age group of 55 or over. (Table 6)

Table 6. Share of advance voters in the whole country and all who voted in the areas among persons entitled to vote by origin and age in the Presidential election 2018, %

Age group Total

population Persons

with Finnish

background Persons

with foreign

background Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who

voted,

in areas Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who

voted,

in areas Advance

voters,

whole

country All

who

voted,

in areas Total 36.7 69.3 37.2 69.9 15.3 38.4 18-24 22.4 49.2 22.9 49.9 8.0 20.8 25-34 24.2 57.4 24.7 58.3 10.2 27.0 35-44 25.6 70.0 26.1 71.0 11.4 37.5 45-54 31.8 74.3 32.3 75.0 14.4 43.9 55-64 43.4 77.7 43.8 78.1 21.3 50.6 65-74 56.5 81.7 56.8 81.9 33.7 62.0 75- 49.3 66.8 49.4 66.9 39.2 57.7

Source: Presidential Elections 2018, Review of voting, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Sami Fredriksson 029 551 2696, Jaana Asikainen 029 551 3506, vaalit@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Updated 3.4.2018

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Presidential elections [e-publication].

ISSN=2242-3699. 2018, 1. Persons who voted in the Presidential elections 2018 . Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 26.9.2021].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/pvaa/2018/pvaa_2018_2018-04-03_kat_001_en.html
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Dayanna Volitich (Facebook)(JTA)  A Florida middle school teacher who hosted a white supremacist podcast and shared anti-Semitic and Islamophobic content on social media has resigned.Dayanna Volitich, a teacher at Crystal River Middle School, in the...
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James Ahearne, CW Chamber, David Burton, Anthea McIntrye MEP, Anastassia Beliakova, Louise Bennett, CW Chamber chief executive, Cllr Gary Ridley, John Nollett, CW Chamber.

A LEADING Brexit expert has told companies that it is "all to play for" when it comes to getting a good deal for businesses as the UK withdraws from the EU.

Anastassia Beliakova, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, is one of the most respected figures when it comes to Brexit and represents the views of companies from across the UK to Government.

She was speaking at an event organised by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerces Brexit Club and the West Midlands Conservative MEPs at Coombe Abbey.

It was the third major session on Brexit staged by the Chamber in recent weeks as talks with the EU have reached a critical point.

Ms Beliakova spoke alongside David Burton, the chair of the Brexit Club, Anthea McIntyre MEP, and Cllr Gary Ridley, the leader of the Coventry Conservatives, at the event which followed the Chambers Brexit meetings at MIPIM and the recent #CWRocks expo.

She told the group that the agreement on the transition period between the EU and the UK had provided welcome certainty for the next three years and that companies could expect greater detail on a final deal by the end of 2018.

There has been progress and now we have some certainty for the next three years during transition but when it comes to the final agreement, its all still to play for," said Ms Beliakova.

There appear to be more options on the table than there were only a few months ago. We have been told what the UK Government doesnt want  it doesnt want a deal like Canada or Norway but now, to some extent, we can start to see what it is looking for.

It wants no new tariffs, which is also in the interests of the EU. It wants continued associated membership of some EU agencies and projects.

It wants only one set of approvals for each others markets and business certainly does not want to see two sets of clearances.

We know the government does not want to be in either the Customs Union or a customs union, and is looking at an approach that involves technology or a novel and innovative solution.

"The question is: will there be sufficient time and discussion between the two sides to implement these customs arrangements?

There has been an interesting development in Brussels recently where MEPs voted for a resolution that the UK and the EU should consider an association partnership, which could provide the kind of solution the UK is looking for.

Miss McIntyre, Conservative employment spokesman and MEP for the West Midlands, said the region's businesses would continue to require workers of all skill levels from overseas after Brexit.

She said about one third of migrant labour in the West Midlands was from the EU, while three quarters of manufacturing businesses employed at least one EU national.

Miss McIntyre stressed: "Employers still need labour of all skill levels. The government and the Prime Minister have been clear that we want EU nationals to be able to continue to live and work in the UK and we want to see the same deal for UK nationals in the EU."

"Until March next year, there will be absolutely no change and, after that, wed encourage companies to assist members of staff from the EU to apply for settled status.

She added: We thank the Chamber for its support in setting up this meeting and for attracting so many businesses, who are clearly engaged on the topic of Brexit.

David Burton, chair of the Brexit Club, said: We held sessions at the Chambers recent #CWRocks Expo, at MIPIM and then here with our MEPs.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce grasped the initiative on Brexit  even before the vote was taken  and that means our business community is as well-informed as anyone can possibly be on Brexit.
A popular gay hookup app has been sharing the HIV status of its members with two analytics companies -- and civil liberties experts say it's a breach of trust and privacy.

BuzzFeed News reported Monday that the app Grindr provided the sensitive medical information to Apptimize and Localytics -- which help optimize apps and sharpen marketing strategies.

Grindr provided the HIV status along with the user's GPS data, email and phone ID, the news site reported. Antoine Pultier, a researcher at the Norwegian nonprofit SINTEF, first identified the sharing of a user's health.

"The HIV status is linked to all the other information. That's the main issue," Pultier told BuzzFeed News.

The fling-facilitating app started in 2009 and has more than 3.6 million daily active users around the globe. The app promotes healthy hookups, allowing users to connect with other members for a rendezvous.

Users have the option of including their HIV status and their "last tested date." It also has an app tool that can remind users to get tested every three to six months.

Niam Yaraghi, an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut's School of Business and a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution who has examined the sharing of patients' health care information, said Grindr likely didn't break the law.

He said federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act -- or HIPAA -- bars medical providers and their business associates from disclosing patients' health records. However, that law doesn't apply to private businesses who aren't in the medical world, he said.

Still he said there were ramifications for Grindr.

"The breach of trust of the user is the most important thing here," Yaraghi said.

He said Grindr needed to come clean about what data it shared and with whom.

"If they don't do that, and this happens again, the federal government is going to get involved," Yaraghi said.

James Krellenstein, a member of AIDS advocacy group ACT UP New York, told BuzzFeed that it appeared Grindr didn't explicitly notify members of the data sharing.

"That is an extremely, extremely egregious breach of basic standards that we wouldn't expect from a company that likes to brand itself as a supporter of the queer community," Krellenstein said.

Grindr Chief Technology Officer Scott Chen said in a statement that Apptimize and Localytics did not share the information with other parties. He also said that Grindr has never sold the personally identifiable information, including HIV status.

"As a company that serves the LGBTQ community, we understand the sensitivities around HIV status disclosure," Chen said. "Our goal is and always has been to support the health and safety of our users worldwide."

The statement said that its privacy policy makes clear that if users chose to include their HIV status, then the information will also become public.

Manhattan attorney Adam P. Slater said it would be challenging to prove that users had been damaged on a class-wide basis.

"There really is no harm to each individual victim because the public doesn't have the information," Slater, of the firm Slater Slater Schulman, said. He noted that Grindr was sharing the data with the companies to optimize its own application, rather than for the companies' own financial gain.

"That's a pretty big distinction," Slater said.

Yaraghi said he had been excited that Grindr had created a trust in the gay community and set up a service that reminds users to get tested for HIV. He predicted the breach would be a setback.

"People are going to think twice before sharing that information again with these websites," he said.

The news of Grindr sharing sensitive data comes on the heels of Congress' plans to grill Facebook founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg about a data breach involving 50 million of the social-media site's users.

Zuckerberg agreed to answer questions on how Cambridge Analytica -- a British consulting firm hired by President Trump's campaign to craft its digital media strategy during the 2016 election -- harvested that data.

-- By James Fanelli with Stephen Rex Brown
Then Cayuga County Sheriff-Elect Dave Gould, in 2006, at Cayuga County Court in Auburn.

AUBURN, N.Y. -- Cayuga County Sheriff David Gould announced Monday that he will not run for re-election.

"After much discussion, consideration and thought together with my family, I have made my decision to not seek a fourth term as Cayuga County sheriff," Gould wrote in a letter. "With this decision, I will be ending my almost 50-year career as a police officer..."

Gould, a retired state police senior investigator who turned 71 last month, took office as sheriff in 2007.

Although he was enrolled as a Republican, the Democratic and Independence parties endorsed Gould in 2006 when he ran against -- and defeated -- incumbent Republican Rob Outhouse.

About an hour after Gould was sworn into office as sheriff Jan. 1, 2007, he said "I do" again when he married his fiancee, Suzanne Turkett.

At the time, Gould said the couple had kept their plans secret. Only Turkett's parents and several friends attended the wedding.



Meanwhile, friends and campaign supporters were gathering at a reception at the Springside Inn in Fleming to mark Gould's swearing-in. When the newlyweds arrived, the disc jockey announced Turkett and Gould as Sheriff and Mrs. Gould.



Gould ran unopposed in 2010 and 2014 on the Democratic, Republican and Conservative lines.

Gould's last day on the job will be Dec. 31.

Cayuga County Sheriff's Detective Lt. Brian Schenck, 46, has already filed paperwork so he can run a campaign for sheriff, Gould said Monday night.

Gould began his career in law enforcement in 1970. He spent 34 years with the state police. He also worked as special investigator for the Seneca County District Attorney's Office and as head of security for the Safe Visitation/Safe Exchange Program run by the Cayuga-Seneca Community Action Agency.

"I have been so honored to be able to have served my country in the United States Army, my state as a member of the New York State Police, to serve my county as the elected Cayuga County Sheriff and to be able to serve the citizens of this great community," Gould said in the letter. "I have always said that I was born in Cayuga County, lived my whole life here and will spend the rest of my life in this beautiful community."

Gould ended his letter with gratefulness. He thanked the many people he has worked with over the years.

"It has meant so very much to my family and myself to be able to serve all my friends and all the great citizens of our beautiful county," he wrote.

"When I campaigned for the sheriff's office I used a slogan that I would like to close with: 'Respect should never be demanded. Respect should always be earned.'"
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A Louisiana college student has admitted to taking a Jefferson County teen boy on a cross-country trip, evading law enforcement for months to have sex with the minor.

Iordan Bossev, 21, of Baton Rouge pleaded guilty in federal court last week to four felonies.

Prosecutors said Bossev began communicating with the victim in March 2015. The boy was 13 years old at the time. Through November 2015, Bossev asked for and received numerous sexually explicit images of the boy, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The two kept in touch over Skype, texting, phone calls and other electronic communications. They sent explicit photos and videos back and forth, and Bossev kept the images on his computer, prosecutors said.

In May 2015, Bossev traveled to Watertown to meet with the boy. He rented a hotel room near the victim's home and spent parts of two days in hotel with the victim engaging in sexual activities.

In November of that year, Bossev traveled again to Jefferson County, this time with the intention of running away with the victim.

According to prosecutors, Bossev picked up the victim, went to Walmart to buy a disguise for him, and traveled by bus together to New York City, then to San Francisco. Bossev evaded law enforcement for about a month, traveling with the victim to Seattle and Portland.

Bossev admitted to four felonies: traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of receiving child pornography, and persuading, inducing and enticing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to engage in sexual activity.

As part of the plea agreement, Bossev is expected to be sentenced to up to six years in prison and lifetime supervised release. He will be required to register as a sex offender and to pay the victim $10,000 in restitution.

Bossev's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 9 before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Glenn Suddaby.
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A man attacked two Ithaca police officers and begged them to kill him, police said.

He then grabbed the butt of one officer's gun -- warning the officers that if they didn't kill him, he would murder them, police said.

Two officers were injured trying to take the man into custody, said Officer Jamie Williamson, of the Ithaca Police Department. The man was transported to a hospital under the state's Mental Hygiene Law, he said.

The incident started shortly after 3:30 p.m. Friday.

A mental health provider asked police for help taking a patient to a hospital, Williamson said. Police found the man in the lobby of a business in the 100 block of East Seneca Street, he said.

The man repeatedly threatened to kill the officers as he pleaded with them to end his life, Williamson said

When officers tried to take him into custody, he punched one officer in the face, Williamson said. He then attacked another officer, forcing them both to tumble to the ground, he said.

The man continued to scream, kick and punch -- even after he was stunned with a stun gun, Williamson said. At one point, the man reached for one officer's holster and grabbed the butt of the officer's gun, he said.

Eventually, officers were able to handcuff the man, Williamson said. He was transported by Bangs Ambulance to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Two officers were treated at the hospital, Williamson said.

The man's name was not released. Ithaca police are working with the Tompkins County District Attorney's Office to see what charges the man could face.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Allegiant Air will offer nonstop service between Syracuse and Nashville, Tenn., twice weekly beginning June 14, the airline said Tuesday.

"We are excited to grow again at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, giving Upstate travelers a convenient, nonstop option to visit charming Music City," Lukas Johnson, Allegiant senior vice president of commercial, said in a statement. "We look forward to providing great low fares and friendly service to one of the southeast's most popular destinations."

The Las Vegas-based discount carrier said it will launch the service with promotional one-way base fares as low as $49, or $98 roundtrip. (Tickets must be purchased by tomorrow - Wednesday, April 4 - for travel by Aug. 13. The promotional fares are not available on all seats.)

The new seasonal service will operate Thursday and Sunday between Syracuse Hancock International Airport and Nashville International Airport. Allegiant spokesman Zach Kramer said the service will run through mid-August.

Flight times may vary and will be posted on the airline's website, Allegiant.com, he said.

With this addition, Allegiant will offer nonstop service to five destinations from Syracuse. The others are Myrtle Beach, S.C., and three destinations in Florida - Fort Lauderdale, Sanford (near Orlando) and St. Petersburg. It announced last month that it will begin offering twice weekly nonstop flights to Orlando Sanford International Airport on May 30.

"We want to thank Allegiant for being a wonderful partner and for providing excellent service and options to the Central New York community," Syracuse airport director Christina Callahan said.

Allegiant is known for providing low-fare service from small communities to leisure destinations. It began serving Syracuse with nonstop flights to Clearwater in November 2013.

The airline was founded in 1999 and has grown to 80 aircraft and more than 300 routes across the country.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148




SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two attorneys who already have an excessive force lawsuit against a Syracuse police officer filed a second suit today, alleging that Officer Vallon Smith violated the constitutional rights of a 14-year-old during an arrest at school last February.

The federal lawsuit names the city of Syracuse, the police department, Chief Frank Fowler and Smith. It alleges Jabari Boykins, then a freshman at Nottingham High School, was denied his Fourth Amendment constitutional right when he was arrested Feb. 9, 2017.

Attorneys Jesse Ryder and Charles Bonner, who is from San Francisco, announced the lawsuit on the steps of City Hall among several dozen protesters calling for the officer to be fired and for an end to excessive force by Syracuse police.

The rally was organized by the local chapter of Black Lives Matter, whose members helped Boykins' mother, Liza Acquah, file a records request to obtain a copy of surveillance video that depicts the arrest and also raises questions about Smith's version of events.

"What do we want?" Black Lives Matter member Herve Comeau shouted.

Protesters gathered at the steps of Syracuse city hall on Tuesday to call for justice for Jabari Boykins, a 14-year-old who sustained a broken arm and busted lip during an arrest in February 2017 that has prompted a federal lawsuit and a review by the Onondaga County District Attorney's Office.

"Justice!" attendees responded.

Boykins' left arm was broken during the arrest and he suffered a split lip, his mother said. He was charged with resisting arrest and criminal trespass.

The city's Citizen Review Board, which reviews complaints against police, found that Smith used excessive force and that his police report had contradictions. It also took the unusual step of referring the case to District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, who is reviewing whether to charge Smith.

The police department and Smith are already facing a lawsuit from the same attorneys for a July 2016 arrest of Maurice Crawley, video of which has been viewed more than 136,000 times on YouTube.

Crawley was present at the rally and could be seen loudly joining the protesters. Boykins was not present.

His mother, Acquah, said she wants Smith fired and charged criminally.

The office of Mayor Ben Walsh, in a statement released shortly after the rally, said the mayor had "reviewed the incident with Chief Fowler" and is having conversations about school resource officers like Smith with the chief and schools Superintendent Jaime Alicea.

The mayor's office declined to comment further.

Police spokesman Sgt. Richard Helterline also declined to say whether Smith has been removed from the school or placed on leave.

The lawsuit seeks $12 million in damages.

The suit alleges Chief Fowler was negligent in preventing officers from violating constitutional rights and that the city has a "custom, policy and pattern and practice" of failing to adequately train, supervise and hire its officers.

Bonner said his firm decided not to sue the school district, saying school officials had every reasonable expectation that Smith would handle the incident without violating the student's rights.

The attorneys said they learned of the teen's arrest from a Syracuse.com story last week.

On the morning of Feb. 9, 2017, Boykins, whose mother said he is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and displays symptoms of autism, refused to go to class and was suspended, according to Acquah and the police reports.

He left the building to take a city bus home, but he missed it, and he returned to the building.

Officer Smith wrote in his report that he was speaking to the parents of another student when he was notified via radio that Boykins had re-entered the building.

He saw Boykins and Vice Principal Kenneth Baxter arguing in the main hallway, and Boykins was cursing at the vice principal, Smith wrote. Smith asked Baxter if he wanted the teen arrested for trespassing, and Baxter said "yes," according to the report.

Herve Comeau, a member of the local Black Lives Matter chapter, speaks to protesters on Tuesday.

The lawsuit is based on what happened next.

Boykins' hands appear to be in his pockets when Smith shoved Boykins against the wall, according to the video.

There is no mention of the shove in Smith's report.

Then, Smith wrote, Boykins pulled his right hand from his jacket and made a fist. Smith said he grabbed Boykins' left arm, and Boykins spun around "in an aggressive manner as if he wanted to punch me."

Boykins' spin toward the officer is apparent on the video. The teen's mother said the officer had his hand on the back of Boykins' head, though it's not clear from the video.

Shortly after, Smith and Boykins tussle, and Smith appears to have his hands on the teen's neck as the teen tries to gain footing on the slippery hallway floor. As the pair push against each other, Smith appears to strike at Boykins' head at least once.

There is no mention in Smith's report that he punched at the student.

"I ... pushed Boykins against the main office wall. Boykins yelled to me, 'I'm going to spit on you,' " Smith wrote. "I then tried to tackle Boykins to the ground by grabbing him around his waist area.

Shortly afterward, another officer, Sheldon Lloyd, appears on screen, and the video shows Boykins being raised in the air and slammed onto the ground, which is when the boy's mother said his left elbow was fractured.

Boykins was then led to the officers' office in handcuffs before being taken home.

Editor's note: This story originally said Boykins was diagnosed with autism, according to his mother. She now says Boykins was never diagnosed but displays symptoms she believes resemble autism.
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. -- Former NASCAR superstar Tony Stewart and the family of a 20-year-old amateur racer who he hit and killed at a race in Upstate New York have reached a settlement, according to court documents.

Stewart, a retired 3-time stock car champion, struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. in 2014 at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park.

Ward's family sued Stewart and the lawsuit was set to go to trial May 7. But court papers filed Monday show a settlement is pending.

U.S. District Court Judge David Hurd has scheduled a hearing to discuss the settlement for 2 p.m. April 12 in Utica. Ward's family, Stewart and their lawyers must attend the hearing to finalize the settlement, according to court papers.

In December, Hurd ruled Ward's family could move forward with their claims against Stewart. At the time, the judge said there was enough evidence -- a video and witness testimony -- to allow a jury to consider the family's claims.

In his written opinion, Hurd wrote that the Aug. 9, 2014 sprint car race was "a far cry from being either driver's first time around a race track."



Early on in the race, Stewart used a maneuver called a "slide job," to force Ward's vehicle into the outside wall of the track.

Officials signaled a "caution period" and instructed drivers to go slow and stay away from Ward's vehicle.



Ward got out of the car and walked toward the inside of the track gesturing, according to witnesses.



At least one driver swerved to avoid hitting him.



"Stewart, however, did not," Hurd wrote in his opinion.



Instead, Stewart appeared to hit the throttle, sending his 1,400-pound car into Ward Jr.'s body, Hurd wrote.



Stewart said this was not malicious, but a last-ditch attempt to avoid disaster. He was never criminally charged in connection with the crash.
Max Boot, a Post columnist, is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of "The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam."

By Max Boot | The Washington Post



"We're on the two-yard line. We could literally fall into the end zone. We're that close to total victory, to wiping out the ISIS caliphate in Syria," a U.S. Special Forces officer in Syria told NBC News last week. But President Donald Trump seems determined to turn over the ball on the goal line, setting up the geopolitical version of the 2015 Super Bowl that the Seattle Seahawks lost with a last-minute interception.



On Thursday, Trump said, "We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now." He then froze the paltry $200 million the United States had pledged to help rebuild areas liberated from the Islamic State.

If Trump follows through -- always a big if with him -- he will be reversing a decision he made late last year at the urging of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Staying in Syria appears to be another one of those moves -- like not abandoning the Iran nuclear deal or not imposing tariffs -- that was forced on Trump by his advisers and that he is reversing now that he has decided to stop listening to people who know what they are talking about. The "very stable genius" prefers to follow his own instincts -- you know, the ones that led him into six corporate bankruptcies.

The Trump foreign policy can be characterized as violent isolationism. And, yes, it's as incoherent as it sounds. His philosophy is: Bombs away, then bye-bye. The United States has dropped a lot of munitions in Syria -- mostly on the Islamic State but also, a year ago, on one of Bashar al-Assad's airfields. But Trump is as allergic to lasting obligations in foreign affairs as he is in his "Stormy" private life.

The problem is that the United States has almost never achieved its objectives without a prolonged intervention. The United States left Europe after World War I, and the result, 21 years later, was World War II. We stayed in Europe after 1945, and the result is unprecedented peace and prosperity.

Want more examples? The United States intervened in Somalia in 1992 and exited in 1994, leaving behind chaos that allowed the rise of the Islamist extremists known as al-Shabab. The United States helped to topple Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, but did nothing to stabilize Libya afterward, allowing that country to become another playground for Islamist extremists. Washington is now trying to limit the damage by launching drone strikes against al-Qaida leaders in Libya.

Finally, Iraq. The George W. Bush administration did next to nothing to prepare for stabilization operations after Saddam Hussein's downfall in 2003, creating the conditions for an insurgency that cost the United States 4,497 dead and 32,252 wounded. The 2007-2008 surge restored calm, but President Barack Obama's pullout of U.S. forces in 2011 made possible the rise of the Islamic State. Republicans blasted Obama's decision, yet are silent today when Trump looks set to make the same mistake in Syria.

Granted, some of these interventions were mistakes to begin with and should not have been continued in perpetuity. But the United States was right to send military advisers to Syria, and the stakes remain high even with the defeat of the Islamic State in sight.

Withdrawing the 2,000 or so U.S. troops might allow the Islamic State, which today controls less than 7 percent of Syria's territory, to rise again. It would almost certainly allow Iran to gain control of eastern Syria, creating a land bridge from Tehran to Damascus and Beirut that would increase the danger to Israel. As Josh Rogin notes, instead of taking the terrorists' oil, Trump appears ready to hand it to the mullahs.

Perhaps the most morally troubling consequence of a pullout -- meaning that it will not trouble this president in the slightest -- is that it would represent a betrayal of the Kurds and Arabs in the Syrian Democratic Forces who have fought alongside U.S. troops against the Islamic State. The SDF fighters are the most moderate and reliable allies that the United States has in Syria. "They trusted our first forces on the ground," U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jonathan Braga told NBC, "and we trusted them."

The right way to repay their trust is to help the SDF establish an autonomous zone in the one-third of Syria that it controls. This would protect at least a portion of Syrian territory from Russian and Iranian domination and give the United States a strong say in that country's future.

But Trump seems determined to betray the SDF as the United States betrayed the South Vietnamese in the 1970s, the Afghans in the 1990s, and the Iraqis after 2011. How long before Trump starts reconsidering the commitment to Afghanistan that he only halfheartedly supported? And what will happen in Iraq if "Fox & Friends" informs Trump that the United States still has 5,000 troops there?

If the United States leaves both Syria and Iraq, it will be an incalculable windfall for Iran, a rogue state that Trump claims to hate -- but not as much as he seems to hate long-term commitments.
City court judges in the state, outside of New York City, received a pay raise this week from their salary of $175,500 to $187,200.

The raises, which went into effect April 1, were enacted by a state commission on judicial compensation in 2015, which recommended salary increases to be rolled out over the years that followed, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.

Among the judges receiving a raise include Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio, who was previously convicted of DWI and jailed for violating probation.

Astacio will receive a yearly raise of more than $11,000. Yet, she has not worked for about about seven months. Astacio returned to work on Feb. 27 for the first time since August 31, 2017. However, she worked for one day and has not been back since, according to 13WHAM.

Astacio among city court judges receiving $11,700 pay raise https://t.co/XqHUi6jA27 #ROC  Democrat & Chronicle (@DandC) April 3, 2018

Convicted of DWI in August 2016, Astacio has violated the terms of her probation at least twice. She was jailed in June after skipping a court-ordered test and taking an extended vacation in Thailand. She also was sentenced to three years probation and six months with an alcohol ankle monitor in July.

When State Supreme Court Justice Craig Doran ordered Astacio to return to work in February with administrative tasks that did not put her on the bench, Astacio provided a doctor's note stating that the job was too stressful.

Astacio is now being investigated by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The Commission is the only entity in New York State that can strip a judge from his or her duties, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (AP) -- The operator of a tourist train in the eastern Adirondacks says he'll shut down the railway if government agencies don't buy a stretch of track near the High Peaks Wilderness.

Iowa Pacific Holdings owner Ed Ellis told Warren County officials last week that he needs an investment of about $5 million to keep the train running through the rest of his contract with the county. The contract runs through 2021.

Scenic Saratoga & North Creek Railway future in doubt https://t.co/WozGwg0lCV  The Saratogian (@SaratogianNews) April 2, 2018

Ellis bought the track in 2011 with hopes of hauling rock from an old mine, but the freight operation didn't pan out. He tried to raise money by renting track for tanker car storage, but public officials fought that plan.

The Glens Falls Post-Star reports the Saratoga and North Creek Railway says it won't operate tourist trains after April 7.
Fatal fire in East Durham #UPDATE: Police now say five people have died in this fire on State Route 145 in East Durham. Another person is in critical condition. This video comes from a neighbor. STORY: http://wnyt.tv/afo68. Posted by WNYT NewsChannel 13 on Monday, April 2, 2018

Three children and two adults died in a fire on Route 145 in Durham early Monday morning, according to a family member.

The fire at 2753 Route 145 killed Nicholas Mammano; his wife, Mary; and three of their grandchildren, all under the age of 12.

The children's father, John Mammano, was in critical condition at the Clark Burn Center in Syracuse.

Cathy Ballone, the Mammanos' daughter, said she received a call from a neighbor about the fire around 7 a.m. Ballone said she had not been told the cause of the fire.

Ballone asked that those who knew her mother, who was a nurse for Alzheimer's patients for over 40 years, make a donation to Alzheimer's foundations and charities in her memory.

Nicholas Mammano worked for the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance before retiring.

The family had gathered at the home the night before to celebrate Easter, according to social media posts.

State Police, state fire investigators and Greene County Sheriff's deputies are still on the scene and access remains blocked.

Greene County Sheriff Gregory Seeley said State Police were first on the scene and he had sent crews to support their efforts. Part of Route 145 is closed for the investigation.

Seeley said his thoughts were with the Mammano family.

Trooper Steven Nevel, State Police Troop F spokesman, said the investigation is ongoing. The fire was extinguished by 12:30 p.m. and "We don't have a cause yet," he said.

- By Steve Hughes and Robert Gavin, Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) -- Police and federal agents converged Tuesday on YouTube's headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area after receiving numerous reports of a shooting. A hospital said it received four or five patients without providing further details.

Police in the city of San Bruno said there was an active shooter but did not immediately provide more information. Multiple 911 calls reported gunfire, and police and fire officials swarmed the area, City Manager Connie Jackson said.

Television news footage showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they were leaving the building.

Officers patted down people to make sure none had weapons, and police vehicles surrounded the area. Northern California's Stanford Hospital said it has received four to five patients, but a hospital spokeswoman did not have information on their conditions or their wounds.

Google, which owns the world's biggest online video website, posted on Twitter that the company is coordinating with authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also said it responded to the shooting at YouTube's suburban campus.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on a shooting at YouTube headquarters and that officials were monitoring it.

Coroner's spokesman Thomas McGovern says investigators were called to the scene Tuesday afternoon. He would not say if anyone was dead.

YouTube employee Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter that he heard gunshots and saw people running. He said he was barricaded in a room with his co-workers before being safely evacuated.

Will Hudson said a friend who works for YouTube texted him about the shooter.

"I think there might be a shooter in my building," read one text. "The fire alarm went off so we started to evacuate and then people (started) running saying there was a shooter."

Hudson said the friend made it safely back to San Francisco and was in contact with his family. Hudson said he's become used to hearing about gun violence but has never been so close to it before.

"It just feels strange. It feels like it could really be anyone. That's really the strangeness of it," he said.

Calls and emails to YouTube representatives seeking comment were not immediately returned.

We are responding to an active shooter. Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive.  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.  Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Many schools will remain closed for a second day in Oklahoma Tuesday as teachers continue to rally for higher pay and education funding in a rebellion that has hit several Republican-led states across the country.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed legislation last week granting teachers pay raises of 15 to 18 percent. But some educators -- who haven't seen a pay increase in 10 years -- say that isn't good enough and walked out.

"If I didn't have a second job, I'd be on food stamps," said Rae Lovelace, a single mom and a third-grade teacher at Leedey Public Schools in northwest Oklahoma who works 30 to 40 hours a week at a second job teaching online courses for a charter school.

Oklahoma three largest school districts, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Edmond, will remain closed Tuesday to honor the walkout. Some schools are offering free meals to students aged 18 or younger while various churches, faith organizations and charitable agencies are providing free day-care services. Spring break was last week in many Oklahoma districts.

Fallin on Monday warned that the state budget is tight and there are other critical needs besides education.

"We must be responsible not to neglect other areas of need in the state such as corrections and health and human services as we continue to consider additional education funding measures," the Republican said.

But Democratic lawmaker Collin Walke said teachers should keep up the pressure. Two separate bills pending in the Legislature to expand tribal gambling and eliminate the income tax deduction for capital gains could generate more than $100 million in additional funding each year.

"I think the Republican strategy is to wait the teachers out," Walke said.

Oklahoma ranks 47th among states and the District of Columbia in public school revenue per student while its average teacher salary of $45,276 ranked 49th before the latest raises, according to the most recent statistics from the National Education Association.

The demonstrations were inspired by West Virginia, where teachers walked out for nine days earlier this year and won a 5 percent increase in pay. Teachers in Arizona are now considering a strike over their demands for a 20 percent salary increase.

In Frankfort, Kentucky, teachers and other school employees chanted "Stop the war on public education," during a rally at the Capitol Monday.

"We're madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today," said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal.

Schools across Kentucky were closed, due either to spring break or to allow teachers and other school employees to attend the rally.

Amid a chorus of chants from teachers, Kentucky lawmakers considered a new state budget that includes higher spending for public education.

Budget negotiators unveiled a spending plan Monday that includes increased spending for the main funding formula for K-12 schools to be paid for by a 6 percent sales tax on a host of services that had previously been tax-free.

The Kentucky teachers are mad because Republican lawmakers passed a pension overhaul last week that cuts benefits for new teachers. Opponents objected that the pension changes were inserted into an unrelated bill without a chance for public input, and worry that the changes will discourage young people from joining the profession.

Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has not yet signed the bill, but last week tweeted his support, saying public workers owe "a deep debt of gratitude" to lawmakers who voted to pass it.

During Monday's rally, some teachers, angry at lawmakers who supported the bill, chanted "Vote them out."

Melissa Wash, a first-grade teacher form Gallatin County who has been teaching for 19 years, said she voted for Bevin, but now plans to become a Democrat. To the lawmakers who voted for the pension overhaul, she said: "You better not count on another year in office."
Sacramento, Calif. -- The sheriff in Sacramento County blamed professional protesters and "instigators" for causing problems during a weekend vigil for Stephon Clark.



Clark died in March after being shot eight times by police. He was unarmed. Police apparently mistook the phone he was holding for a gun.



The killing touched off numerous protests and demonstrations in the Sacramento area in recent weeks.



Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones spoke about the protests Monday at a news conference, according to USA Today.



Jones said investigative work by his department led him to his conclusion about paid protesters. He also said his deputies often see the same people protesting different causes and noted that people from outside the area sometimes join in the Stephon Clark demonstrations.



"Unfortunately, in many protests that have developed to this scope, there are professional protesters and professional instigators that infiltrate the protests for their own purposes, as well as participants from out of the region that inflame and antagonize the event," Jones said, according to USA Today. "The results oftentimes are actions that cause undue scrutiny on the protesters' cause, their methods, message and actions, and law enforcement. That is what happened here."



The Saturday vigil started off as a peaceful event with a crowd of about 150 people, USA Today said. It devolved when some of the people present surrounded and began hitting and kicking two sheriff's cars.



Both cars drove off as they were surrounded and one of them struck a protester. The woman is considering her legal options, according to NBC Bay Area.



The California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident. Jones said the driver probably didn't know he hit someone, according to NBC.



He also noted that just before the woman was struck, she moved between the two sheriff's vehicles. He also pointed out that protesters were acting aggressively toward the driver of the sheriff's car, NBC said.



Sam Rosenfeld, a security consultant, told USA Today that police often blame professional protesters when a mistake occurs. Nationally, there is a small group of anarchist-type agitators who seek out confrontations with police, Rosenfeld said, according to USA Today.



But most who protest at events like the vigil on Saturday are passionate amateurs participating because they feel strongly about the subject.

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Google + | 315-454-2112
Google is reportedly planning to launch a mid-range version of its upcoming Pixel 3 smartphone, which will be the third model in addition to the expected successors of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

The mid-range Pixel 3 may even be launched earlier than the premium models of the Android smartphone. The question now is whether United States customers will be able to purchase the device.

Mid-Range Pixel 3 In The Works?

Google has formalized a strategy to roll out its hardware products in India, ET Tech reported, citing four senior industry executives.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, will be launching the Google Home smart speakers, the Pixelbook premium laptops, and Nest smart home devices in India in a bid to challenge rivals Apple, Samsung, and Amazon in the country. The executives, however, added that a mid-range Pixel 3 is also being planned to be released in India.

A mid-range version of the Pixel 3 will likely drop some of the premium specifications and features that will be included in the base Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The details of the mid-range device, including its price, have not yet been revealed though, so it is hard to judge if it has the potential to take the smartphone market by storm.

The ET Tech report also claimed that the mid-range Pixel 3 will be rolled out in either July or August, a few months earlier than the base Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Google previously unveiled its new Pixel smartphones in early October and starts shipping the devices by the middle of that month.

Google Pixel Availability Concerns

According to the report, the mid-range Pixel 3 will target "price-sensitive markets such as India." This would make it appear that the smartphone will not be exclusive to India, but it remains to be seen where else it will be made available. It is also unclear if Google will categorize the United States as a "price-sensitive market," to make the mid-range Pixel 3 available in the country.

Nevertheless, it is good to see Google planning to expand the availability of its Pixel smartphones, as availability is one of the weak points of the company's hardware products. For example, the Pixel 2 XL is only available in eight countries, compared to 110 countries for the Samsung Galaxy S9. One more country being added to the list where Pixel smartphones are available might not look much, but it hopefully leads to the devices being made available to more regions in the near future.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Food poisoning appears to have caused more than 50 tourists, mostly teenagers, to be hospitalized on Sunday night after arriving in Washington D.C from New York.

Possibly Infected By Norovirus

The health department said on Monday that the patients, composed of 48 teens and 3 adults, seem to have been infected by norovirus, a highly contagious virus that causes gastrointestinal illness.

Firefighters were called to Hotel Harrington following a report of multiple people showing signs of food poisoning.

District of Columbia Fire and EMS spokesman Vito Maggiolo said that several members of the tour group from London started to feel sick in New York but decided to proceed to the nation's capital. They sought medical attention after checking in to their hotel.

"A school group arrived from New York tonight and at least 13 people were transported to the hospital with food poisoning. They arrived in Washington from New York sick and we are wishing them all a speedy recovery," Hotel Harrington said in a statement.

The first responders initially transported only 13 patients but all members of the group were eventually taken to local hospitals. Some members of the group did not show symptoms but they were still taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

Traffic was temporarily blocked due to a large number of medics and police officers who responded. The patients had to be taken to the hospital using ambulance buses capable of treating a large number of patients at once.

It isn't yet clear what made the student group sick but some of the members were already sick before they arrived in D.C. The patients are now recovering and doctors are trying to determine if they were sickened by norovirus.

Norovirus

Norovirus can infect anyone. The virus can be transmitted from an infected person, contaminated food or water, and contaminated surfaces.

The infection causes inflammation of the stomach or intestines, which can lead to nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. The symptoms can be particularly serious for older adults and young children.

The infection cannot be treated using antibiotics since it is not a bacterial infection. No specific medicine is used to treat patients with norovirus illness but patients are encouraged to drink plenty of fluids to replace the fluid they lost from throwing up and diarrhea.

"Noroviruses can be found in your vomit or stool even before you start feeling sick. The virus can stay in your stool for 2 weeks or more after you feel better," the CDC said.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
We all know that the deep web is a part of internet that most of the people are not aware of. It is the 95% of the internet which is still unexplored by 90 percent of the internet users of the world. The people who explore it are either using it for the research purposes or are trying to order something that cannot be ordered legally. A man fall as a culprit and was arrested by the Romanian cops after ordering drugs from the dark web marketplace.

What is the complete matter?

After collecting some evidence throughout the year 2017 and 2018, the Romanian law enforcement found an Arad county man guilty of ordering the drugs from a darknet vendor on a regular basis. The charges imposed on him are explained as importation of high-risk drugs, transport of high-risk drugs, without any rights and in a continuous manner.

The DIOCT (Arad Territorial Office of Direction for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism) ordered the arrest of the suspect on the basis of the DIICOT press release which it called as a reasonable suspicion. It means that the suspect has committed the drug importation crimes which have placed him under the investigation. The Arad Court authorized a 30-day detention period on 17th March while the officials decided how to proceed.

How the case came into picture?

The case is the Arad Organized Crime Service and DIOCT case. It would not have existed for the German authorities. The Customs Officers at the Frankfurt Airport initiated this investigation in the month of May, 2017. They had a complete view that the dark web drug trafficking has come into the picture. The Frankfurt Airport Customs Officers have received the credit for their involvement in the case after an overwhelming number of cases in and around Germany.

The Frankfurt Airport Customs Officers intercepted the package of about 110 grams of the amphetamine which was shipped to the address in Romania. The Customs Officers seized the package which contained the amphetamine on 17th May, 2017. The German authorities presumably relayed the information to the police in Arad. The package has been originated in Germany.

It again happened in the month of June. Again a packet of 50grams of amphetamine was intercepted by the Frankfurt Customs officers as it was heading towards Romania. This packet was seized on June 12. This package also came from a German address, just like the first package.

Again, the month of July proved to be more eventful as the Frankfurt Airport authorities intercepted the package containing 202 ecstasy pills. This package also came from Germany and was heading to Romania. It happened on 25th July 2017. And three day later, the Frankfurt Airport Customs Officers intercepted another packet containing 100 grams of amphetamine that was hading from a German address to Romania.

So, one could have easily assumed that how the person was caught by the brain of the Frankfurt Airport Customs Officers who initiated this case and helped Arad authorities to deal with it.

The Lesson Learnt

The buyer and the vendor might have learned the lesson as Frankfurt Airport Customs have not intercepted any more packages from Germany to the Romanian address. The buyer might have swapped the German vendor.

So, on 16th March 2018, the Romanian authorities arrested the suspect due to his foolishness. He attempted to pick up the package containing 50 grams of amphetamine. He is now held for 30 days and the legal proceedings are going on him.
The Missing writers Harry and Jack Williams are writing a spin off show for the dramas French detective Julien Baptiste.

Baptiste will star Tcheky Karyo. It is produced by Two Brothers Pictures for BBC One in association with all3media International who are handling international sales.

The drama begins with Julien and his wife on a visit to Amsterdam, where the Chief of Police  who also happens to be an old girlfriend  seeks out his help due to his crime solving skills. Baptiste is rapidly embroiled in a case that looks beyond the beautiful streets, canals and houses of Amsterdam to the seamy underworld beneath.

Karyo says: Julien Baptiste is very dear to me, so Im really excited to be following his journey to the streets of Amsterdam and seeing what dark secrets he unveils this time. No doubt hell continue to take great risks all in the name of justice.

Harry and Jack Williams say: Julien Baptiste lives! Its an absolute pleasure to be writing the character of Baptiste again, and working with the utterly brilliant Tcheky Karyo, who brings such depth and individuality to Julien.

Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, says: Julien Baptiste  played by the exceptional Tcheky Karo  is one of the Williams brothers greatest creations and utterly deserving of his own show. This first series of Baptiste will allow us to discover more about Julien than ever before as he is parachuted into the centre of a shocking and wide-ranging crime story.

Filming starts later this year in Amsterdam and Belgium.

Executive Producers are Harry and Jack Williams and Christopher Aird for Two Brothers Pictures and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC. The Producer is John Griffin.

Baptiste is commissioned by Charlotte Moore, BBC Director of Content and Piers Wenger, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning.

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Dispatch recordings from the Louisiana State Police's pursuit of 24-year-old Joseph Johnson that led to a shootout that injured a St. Tammany deputy Easter morning show how dangerous the last few minutes of the chase were.

St. Tammany deputy injured, in stable condition after Easter morning shoot-out; suspect dead A police chase followed by a shootout turned Easter morning into a deadly scene Sunday morning near Goodbee, in western St. Tammany Parish.

The recordings, obtained by WWL-TV, start as the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office's Troop L began pursuit of Johnson, of Folsom, northbound on LA 1077.

A short while after the dispatch is made, officers make an attempt to stop Johnson near Covington.

"95 miles per hour, he's passing Godchaux," an officer says, before getting a spike strip set up.

When Johnson crashes near Railroad Avenue and LA 1077 in Goodbee, it's unclear what happens just before deputies begin repeating, "shots fired" and "officer down."

STPSO Deputy Justin Nail was the officer shot in the incident, being struck twice, once in his bulletproof vest and once in the abdomen, by Johnson. Johnson was killed in the exchange.

Wounded St. Tammany deputy Justin Nail remains in ICU but full recovery expected A St. Tammany Parish Sheriffs Office deputy wounded in the line of duty during an Easter-morning shootout remained in stable condition Monday

Nail underwent surgery for his wound and is recovering in stable condition at St. Tammany Parish Hospital's intensive care unit.

Read WWL-TV's full report here.

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Embattled 19th Judicial District Court Judge Trudy White will remain on the criminal bench where she has served since 2009 and wont be moving to the civil side as had been discussed.

+3 Trudy White, embattled EBR criminal court judge, expresses interest in move to civil bench Embattled 19th Judicial District Court Judge Trudy White, of Baton Rouge, could be moving from the criminal bench  where some of her actions 

The 19th JDC announced Tuesday that Judges Don Johnson and Chip Moore will swap dockets, with Johnson moving from the civil bench to the criminal bench and Moore leaving the criminal bench for the civil bench.

The 19th JDC last week privately discussed but did not reach a decision on a proposal that called for Johnson and White to swap dockets, which would have moved White to the civil bench and Johnson to the criminal bench, where he once served.

+3 No decision Wednesday on 19th JDC swap that could send embattled Judge Trudy White to civil bench A proposal that would send embattled Baton Rouge state Judge Trudy White from the criminal bench to the civil bench was discussed in private W

Moore, who has more seniority than White, objected to that proposal. Moore said in an interview last month he had made it known for some time that he would like to move to the civil bench after 13 years on the criminal bench.

The announcement made Tuesday leaves White where she is and has Johnson and Moore swapping dockets  instead of Johnson and White swapping dockets. Johnson also has volunteered to take over the 19th JDC drug court that retiring Judge Tony Marabella has led for years.

Johnson said his goal is to expand the adult drug court toward a comprehensive behavioral health court, potentially leading to several specialty court programs  existing adult drug, re-entry court, and early pretrial bond release treatment programs  plus adding a mental health, and domestic violence program.

Our parish needs programs that provide safety, cost effective, and are smart on crime, he added.

Moore and White did not respond to requests for comment about the swapping of the dockets.

White has been something of a lightning rod for controversy since taking the 19th JDC criminal bench nine years ago.

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During her successful 2014 re-election campaign, she appeared in a video with a man touting her candidacy while donning an orange prison jumpsuit inside a courtroom. White refused to say whether it was filmed inside her courtroom.

The man, comedian Jomo Jenkins, stated in the video, "I'm down here at the 19th, but check this out. I ain't gonna be here that long because Judge Trudy White is fixing to send me back home. So, if you want somebody to show you some love, vote for Trudy White on November the Fourth."

White apologized to her fellow 19th JDC judges and the public in March 2017 for appearing in the video. Her apology came a month after she returned to the bench following an unexplained three-month hiatus. The state Supreme Court appointed a retired judge to handle White's docket in her absence.

Judge Trudy White apologizes to colleagues for 2014 campaign video State District Judge Trudy White, who returned to the bench in February following an unexplained three-month hiatus, has apologized to her col

She also ruffled more than a few feathers in 2015 when she reduced a unanimous second-degree murder verdict to negligent homicide, which carries up to only five years in prison. A state appeals court reversed the judge and ordered her to sentence the convicted killer to a mandatory term of life in prison for second-degree murder.

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge labeled White's overturning of the jury's unanimous verdict "clear legal error" and an "injustice." The victim's family called her actions a "slap in the face."

Baton Rouge Judge Trudy White's 3-month leave a mystery; White not commenting Nineteenth Judicial District Judge Trudy White's abrupt and unexplained three-month paid leave of absence that began Monday remained shrouded 

Last month after convicted felon Albert Franklin Jr. was accused of killing Christopher Lawton, a Zachary firefighter and reserve police officer, it was discovered that Franklin had a previous bail on drug and gun charges reduced by White in November from $88,000 to $9,000.

Franklin is now being held without bail on a first-degree murder count.
Last weeks firing of the officer who fatally shot Alton Sterling has prompted threats by others on the force to quit and sparked mixed reactions both in the department and in the community, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said Tuesday.

But Paul, who was selected to head the department just over three months ago, stood behind his decision to terminate Blane Salamoni, 30, saying it was the right thing to do.

Now, Paul said, he is faced with a divided community and some divisiveness within his department.

Lets just be honest, some of those divisions are on racial lines, and we are divided not only on this issue. The truth is if Alton Sterling was white and the officers were white, we probably wouldnt even be down here talking about it, he said.

Paul made the comments Tuesday at a Together Baton Rouge luncheon that was packed with nearly 150 people. It was the first time he spoke publicly since he announced Friday that he was terminating Salamoni.

+11 Baton Rouge officer who shot Alton Sterling is terminated; other officer involved suspended three days After nearly two years of investigations and a public outcry over the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy

Salamoni and Officer Howie Lake II, 30, both white, responded to a 911 call in July 2016 about a man selling CDs outside a convenience store who had threatened someone with a gun. A struggle broke out between the two officers and Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, ending when Salamoni fired six shots at Sterling, killing him. A loaded handgun was found in Sterling's pocket after the shooting.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Video contains graphic footage of the shooting scene at Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge. Can't see video? Click here.

Lake was suspended for three days for his conduct during the incident but will return to the city's police force.

While Paul said he thinks some officers may forget why they put that badge on regardless of what he says or does, he still plans to convince those threatening to quit to stay.

(Officers disagree) probably because I didnt do a really good job at that press conference to explain the process on how I reached my decision because I was trying to be respectful of information that is not for public consumption because the hearing is private, Paul said of the internal affairs disciplinary hearing. "But the appeal process will not be (private)."

The Baton Rouge Union of Police has said that it supports both Salamoni and Lake. Bryan Taylor, the president of the union, could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Paul said he has to be very careful with my words due to the possibility that Salamoni or Lake could appeal the disciplinary decision with the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board.

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Salamonis attorney, John McLindon, said Friday he plans to appeal the termination with the Civil Service Board, but those documents have not yet been filed.

Lake is expected to return to the force after nearly two years on paid administrative leave. Paul said Lake will have to catch up on some training before he can start working again. It has not yet been announced what job Lake will return to or when he will return.

Police records: Salamoni told investigators he was 'mad at Sterling for making him kill him' Nearly three months after the Alton Sterling shooting, Officer Blane Salamoni defended his decision to use deadly force, telling Baton Rouge p

Salamoni, who also had been on paid administrative leave since the shooting, was terminated after Paul said at a news conference Friday that he found the officer violated department policies on use of force and command of temper. Lake, who did not fire his service weapon during the encounter with Sterling on July 5, 2016, was suspended for violating the department's command of temper policy, Paul said.

The end of the Police Department's internal investigation and the chief's news conference announcing Salamoni's firing came about a week after state Attorney General Jeff Landry said both officers would not be criminally charged. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice declined to bring federal civil rights violations against the two officers.

The Police Department also released Friday three videos showing the entirety of the shooting of Sterling. Portions of the incident circulated on social media in 2016 from two cellphone videos, prompting nationwide protests.

The chief said that with the disciplinary decision behind him he hopes the department along with the community can move forward.

Paul told the group about a new program in the works where officers would conduct a risk assessment of a household if police have been called more than a set number within a defined period of time. Paul said officers likely would work hand-in-hand with pastors and clergymen on projects like this.

+2 Video: Surveillance of Alton Sterling shooting gives graphic look at altercation, aftermath Surveillance at Triple S Food Mart where Alton Sterling was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police in July 2016 shows, for the first time publi

We really think that programs like that and the community policing is starting to help our officers have a different understanding, Paul said. Remember, we are changing perceptions: How you see the police officers and also how our police officers see the communities that we serve.

When asked by Together Baton Rouge members about the soon-to-expire contract with the police union Tuesday, Paul declined to go into specifics because he has not yet sat down with union leaders to negotiate the agreement, which ends in June.

Generally, however, Paul said that a lack of changes in the contracts over multiple decades makes him question whether the department is moving forward in a progressive way, which he has said before. Paul said he believes he will be able to reach common ground with union leaders on a new agreement.

Advocate staff reporter Grace Toohey contributed to this report.
Legislation aimed at improving affordable early childhood education breezed through the Louisiana House on Monday.

The measure passed 89-1 and next faces action in the Senate.

The proposal, House Bill 676, would allow the state's top school board to set up pilot centers designed to assist children from birth to age 4.

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education would also be authorized to use public and private funds to implement the new strategies.

Successful pilots could then be used as models to improve services statewide.

Governor: New focus on youngest children key to education gains Better preparing children from birth to kindergarten is the key to improving Louisiana's education achievement, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Wednesday.

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The measure would also establish a 38-member panel to gather and analyze data on the quality of existing programs, and spell out a plan on how to improve them.

The panel would determine how much it would cost for the state to offer affordable care to children from birth to age 4 statewide.

Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-Metairie, sponsor of the bill, said her proposal would also address concerns about families balancing work and child care.

"This is not just a workforce issue of tomorrow," Hilferty said. "It is a workforce issue today."

She said the U. S. Chamber of Commerce has said the issue needs attention.

The legislation would also require the commission to submit a report to the Legislature for the 2020 session.
Gov. John Bel Edwards' proposal to launch $600 million in road improvements, including about $350 million to widen Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge, cleared another hurdle Monday when a key legislative panel endorsed the plan.

The work would be done using federal bonds, which the state would repay using a portion of the state's annual federal transportation allocation.

The governor's proposal was approved without objection by the influential Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, which includes House and Senate leaders.

It next faces review by the State Bond Commission on April 19.

Another legislative panel, the Joint Transportation Committee, approved the plan in February.

The highlight of the package would be the widening of I-10 between the new Mississippi River Bridge and the I-10/12 split.

Under the plan, state officials would strike an agreement with federal officials by pledging to use a portion of yearly federal transportation dollars for Louisiana to pay the debt.

Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development, said those payments would not exceed $67 million per year for 12 years.

Wilson said 30 other states use Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle bonds, or GARVEE.

Exactly how much of the 3.5 mile-stretch between the "new" Mississippi River bridge and the I-10/12 split will be widened, with one new lane in each direction, is unclear.

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Wilson said that, while the entire stretch will be targeted, the work will be done in sections.

"We know it ($350 million) is not going the fund the entire project," he said.

Wilson said officials will have to determine the price to upgrade the existing road, which is about 60 years old, before they know what the $350 million will finance.

State Rep. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, said DOTD officials need to be clear with taxpayers on details of the project.

"I want the public to have as clear an understanding as possible," Edmonds said.

The other key project in the package is up to $124 million for interchange improvements at I-10 and Loyola Drive in Kenner.

That work will aid traffic entering the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, where a new addition is set to open in February, 2019.

DOTD officials hope to start getting costs estimates for the Loyola interchange work on April 20 if the plan wins approval from the State Bond Commission the day before.

Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, made the motion for the committee to approve the financing plan.

"We will certainly get a return on that investment," Alario said.

Other projects on the list are up to $95 million to improve the I-20 entrance to Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier Parish and up to $12.5 million to help finance replacement of the Belle Chasse bridge and tunnel.
Antoine Bowie waited in limbo. For days, the 16-year-old sat in what was supposed to be a short-term holding cell in East Baton Rouge Parish P
Louisiana lawmakers are considering legislation that seeks to address a previously little-known effect of last year's criminal justice overhaul that has recently drawn state-wide attention due to a high-profile case.

Senate Bill 458 would prohibit people convicted of first degree or second degree murder who have serious, chronic health conditions that severely limit their mobility from being released to seek care outside of prison through a program known as a "medical furlough."

Age, health no excuse for man's release from Angola after heinous murder, victim's family says The five members of the Bamburg family sat on black plastic chairs, waiting patiently for the hearing to begin on Thursday in Baton Rouge.

The issue has recently drawn attention because of Clyde Giddens, a 77-year-old who is serving a life sentence at Angola for the violent 1963 murder of Earline Bamburg, a 36-year-old housewife. The state pardon board recently rejected a plea from Giddens, who doctors have said suffers from arthritis, an enlarged prostate, a fractured leg, incontinence and dementia, among ailments, for a medical furlough under the obscure change to state law that was part of a more comprehensive tweaking of state criminal codes to ease the state's incarceration rate.

Sen. Ryan Gatti, R-Bossier, said that people convicted of first- or second-degree murder were not meant to be a part of the medical furlough program. The recently-enacted changes in state law carved them out of a separate medical parole program but they were omitted from the medical furlough exemptions.

"People said this is not for violent offenders," he said during a hearing on his attempt to remedy what he views as an oversight Tuesday.

Dennis Bamburg was just 15 years old when his mother was killed. At times appearing to choke back tears, he recounted for the Senate committee the grisly details of the crime: Earline Bamburg was dismembered and the family's house set on fire. Giddens admitted to feeding her flesh to stray dogs after the killing.

"You're life just goes from great to nothing," said Bamburg, now 70. "There's no question he did the crime. He admitted it."

He said his family agreed to let Giddens take a plea deal that would take the death penalty off the table, but only with assurances that he would one day die in Angola and would never be given a chance to leave prison.

"We were glad that it would be over, but we also thought it would be more punishment to him knowing he would have to spend the rest of his life in Angola knowing what he did," Bamburg said. "We thought it was over."

After previous hearings over Giddens' repeated petitions for clemency, the family had been hopeful that he would never get another hearing. Then they received a letter just before Christmas notifying that he was seeking a medical furlough.

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"What we did when we allowed him life in Angola, we also allowed our life to be disrupted for all these years," Bamburg said. "I don't like to go through it  It just keeps your family disrupted your whole life."

Gatti said he wants to spare other families from going through the same thing.

"There has been a plethora of folks in our criminal justice system who have been convicted and are serving time for first and second degree murder to ask for a medical furlough," said Gatti, speaking of the recent criminal justice overhaul. "The families of the victims have to travel to Baton Rouge and attend these hearings and basically relive what happened. It is unconscionable to make these families do that."

The state's medical furlough program is meant for inmates are unable to perform the activities of daily living without help or those who are bed-bound in a prolonged coma or require medical ventilation.

Gatti said that Giddens should never have been considered for the program.

"It's being interpreted to include violent criminals," he said.

SB458 now heads to the full Senate for consideration. It must also be vetted by the House.

How they voted - Senate Judiciary C Committee:

In favor of sending SB458 to the Senate floor: Sens. Claitor, Mills, Perry and White.

Against: Sens. Barrow, Carter and Colomb.
Legislature meets in special session to address the state's fiscal crisis Monday March 5, 2018, in Baton Rouge, La. Speaker of House Rep. Taylor Barras, R-New Iberia, lower left, announces the vote to call HB8 off the calendar which was authored by Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, which was 49-49 and thereby defeated. The House adjourned sine die to end the special session not long after the vote.
Aerial view of the offices and death row area of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angloa.
Calvin Duncan poses for a photo with two stacks of legal paperwork filed under "Notification of Direct Appeal Decision" and Non-unanimous Jury Verdict issues" in his Central Business District office in New Orleans, La., Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. Duncan is a former Angola inmate who is pushing the United States Supreme Court, through repeated petitions on behalf of inmates convicted on non-unanimous jury counts, to overturn the state's unusual law allowing murder convictions of a 10 to 2 jury serious felony cases.
A Mississippi River ship pilots group is skirmishing for a 40 percent mileage reimbursement increase, while a bigger, three-year battle for raises that would lift annual pilot pay above $473,000 is still being waged with the chemical industry.

The newest iteration of the long-simmering feud is over transportation tariffs, or the amount of money pilots are reimbursed to cover travel costs to and from their homes and berths. The Crescent River Port Pilots Association, which represents the more than 100 pilots who navigate the river between New Orleans and Pilottown, asked in October for a 40 percent hike in the transportation tariff rates  equaling $667,490 annually  and want a set formula for regular fee increases in the future, according to documents filed.

Meanwhile, the broader issue, awaiting action at the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, is over pay raises for two ship pilot groups instituted in 2015 that gives them a $50,000 average pay raise over four years to a $473,692 annual salary in 2019. Those groups are the Crescent pilots and Associated Branch, or Bar Pilots as they are known, who operate from the mouth of the river to Pilottown. It appears the pilots are being paid the higher phased-in rates until the issue is sorted out, according to filings in the case.

The Louisiana Chemical Association is fighting the pay and transportation tariff increases. The association represents several dozen chemical companies, including industry giants like Shell, Monsanto and Dow Chemical. Most of the plants represented are along the Mississippi River.

In November, the association filed a motion to block the pilots' mileage fee increase. But the Louisiana Pilotage Fee Commission, which handles pilot fee rates, struck down several of the associations arguments in January. The panel also denied the chemical group's request to compel discovery in the case. The association then asked the 19th Judicial District Court to intervene in the case in February.

Were trying to at least get some rationale as to why you're asking for these rate increases, said chemical association President Greg Bowser. Right now, they dont have to show anything. They just come in and ask for it and they get it.

The chemical group argued in motions that the Crescent pilots had not provided any proof of mileage fee expenses that need to be reimbursed. It also said the group only had 111 pilots in 2016, but were paid for 114. In addition, each pilot was paid, on average, about $100,000 more than the targeted average pay of $453,000 that year, the chemical group said, and that extra payment could cover transportation costs.

In its most recent filing, the chemical association said the fee commissions hearing on the mileage fee hike will be a rubber stamp for the pilot groups request unless the judge rules in the associations favor.

The Crescent pilots, however, argued that the transportation tariff rates havent been increased since 2002, while the price of gasoline and the IRS mileage reimbursement rate have both gone up since then. The group also argued, among other things, that their extra salary comes from more work and cant be funneled to transportation expenses.

An attorney for the Crescent pilots declined to comment, citing pending litigation. The administrator of the fee commission, who is also serving as counsel, also declined to comment.

River pilot groups in Louisiana are allowed to operate as monopolies on various sections of the Mississippi River south of Baton Rouge, as state law requires vessels to hire a pilot to help traverse the waters. Associated Branch pilots operate from the mouth of the river to Pilottown, then hand off to Crescent Pilots, who operate from Pilottown to New Orleans. The New Orleans Baton Rouge River Pilots operate between those two cities. The Lake Charles pilots operate on the Calcasieu Ship Channel.

Companies represented by the chemical association and the Louisiana Maritime Association pay the fees set by the commission to pilots. The maritime group's membership represents the majority of the companies that pay the pilots fees. Those include shipping companies, freight forwarders, agents and ports, including the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Greater Baton Rouge.

In 2015, the two pilot groups on the lower Mississippi River  Crescent River Pilots and Branch Pilots  reached an agreement with the Louisiana Maritime Association over salary increases. The two parties took their settlement to the Louisiana Pilotage Fee Commission, which granted the raises despite the Louisiana Chemical Association's opposition.

Under the higher rates, instituted in 2015, the pilots were set to receive a $50,000 average pay raise over four years to $473,692 in 2019. The agreement also increased the number of pilots for the Crescent and Branch pilots by seven, to 171.

The Louisiana Chemical Association challenged the decision, and the issue became tangled up at the 19th Judicial District Court, which ruled in its favor. The pilotage commission is appealing that ruling, but the case has not been resolved.

Industry has long fought with the pilots over fee increases. In 2004, the battle hit a peak following a decade where the pilot fees tripled while commerce on the river was falling. The Legislature formed the fee commission that year to establish rates and fees. The commission includes an equal number of representatives from industry and pilot associations, and also includes three independent members. All 11 are appointed by the governor.
Louisiana State Police on Monday arrested a 26-year-old Kenner woman accused of hitting and killing a pedestrian in Metairie before driving away from the scene the previous night.

Troopers said they jailed Kiedra Banks on counts of hit-and-run driving involving a fatality and lacking a license to drive after she called State Police and told them she may have been the one who struck Nathaniel Bailey, 59.

Bailey was hit about 8:30 p.m. Sunday by a dark-colored Nissan Maxima with a temporary Louisiana license plate as it headed southbound on Airline Highway near North Elm Street. Bailey died at the scene.

After the Nissan left, troopers issued an alert to the public saying they needed help finding the car, noting it would be missing a passenger side-view mirror and possibly have damage to the front right bumper. Banks later called and said it may have been her car that hit Bailey, and investigators obtained a warrant for her arrest after processing the vehicle.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
If you believe, as I do, that David Tullers reporting is essential to providing relief and support for the million ME/CFS patients in the U.S., and many more world-wide, please consider making a contribution to the Berkeley School of Public Health, so that his work may continue for another year. Because contributions are made directly to the University of California School of Public Health, they are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Tuller, who holds a doctorate in public health, began his work on ME/CFS when he was the academic coordinator of the concurrent masters degree program in public health and journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. When foundation funding for that program expired (among many other budget cuts in the UC system), Tuller was able to crowd-fund a one year appointment as Senior Fellow in Public Health in Journalism at the Center of Global Public Health in Berkeleys School of Public Health. As the one-year anniversary of that position approaches, UC Berkeley has sponsored another crowd funding campaign to extend Tullers appointment through June, 2019.

Readers of my earlier posts on ME/CFS (for example, here ) may recall the important work that David Tuller has done by exposing the flaws in the PACE trial and generally bringing ME/CFS issues to public attention. Thanks in considerable part to Tullers reports on the Virology Blog and elsewhere, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control stopped recommending Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Graded Exercise Therapy as treatments, and the British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has undertaken a full update of its guidance on ME/CFS. Even more important, major U.S. academic institutions  including Columbia, Stanford, and Cornell -- have embarked on serious biomedical research into the biomarkers and causes of ME/CFS, which may eventually lead to medical treatments. There are many reasons that the psychosocial theory of ME/CFS is finally in decline, but David Tuller may well deserve as much credit as anyone for the long overdue shift in research emphasis.

VIROLOGY BLOG'S TRIAL BY ERROR: Reporting on ME/CFS

So its been almost a year since my last crowdfunding campaign for my ME/CFS and PACE-busting reporting project. At that time, I hadnt necessarily planned to extend it beyond my one-year commitment. There have been significant positive developments in the last twelve months, and those seem likely to continue. However, it has become clear to me that at this point it is critical to maintain the momentum, so I have no intention of pulling the plug on my efforts. Thats why I am once again coming to you for support.

I would really prefer not to have to do this. As many of you know, I worked on this project for more than two years as a self-funded public service. During that phase, I took four trips to Europe (three to the U.K. and one to the Netherlands). I only turned to crowdfunding last spring when funding for my previous position at Berkeley dried up because of the University of California's distressed financial state.

My target this year is $75,000. That's a lot of money, so let me be clear: I will continue this project for another year whether or not I make that goal. The amount needed to cover my half-time salary and benefits at Berkeley is about $72,000, which is what I raised during last year's crowdfunding effort. (Last year, I underestimated the costs in setting my initial goal.) Of that $72,000, $47,000 is for salary and $25,000 for benefits, which in the U.S. is mainly the cost of health insurance. The remaining $3000 would go toward travel costs. This time, I am working with Berkeleys own crowdfunding platform, which is made available a couple of times a year for campus projects. That means the funds will go directly to my home base at the university's School of Public Health, the Center for Global Public Health.

If I overshoot my goaland I hope I do, as I did last yearthe additional funds will be used to increase my compensated time beyond 50% and/or to cover more travel costs. I would be delighted to be able to spend more than half my time on this project.

Lets review whats happened since last summer. In late June or early July, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control abandoned its support for the flawed treatments recommendations promoted by the CBT/GET ideological brigades. In the U.K., the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence reversed its initial decision to reaffirm its flawed 2007 guidelines and announced that it would conduct a full overhaul of the recommendations. This is a hopeful sign, although pressure on NICE must be sustained to ensure that the agency fulfills its obligations. Most recently, on March 19th, a Dutch panel tasked with reviewing treatment guidelines reported in March that "the committee sees no reason" for GET to be recommended in the Netherlands. Pressure must be maintained there as well to make sure the government actually adopts the committee's recommendations.

In other news, Carol Monaghan, a member of Parliament from Scotland, held a half-hour debate on PACE in which she called the trial "one of the biggest medical scandals of the 21st century." This debate and MP Monaghan's unequivocal statement both represent significant milestones; it is hard to imagine that happening two or three years ago. And Professor Esther Crawley of the University of Bristol has stepped down from her role as a member of executive board of the CFS/ME Research Collaborativea very welcome development. But there is much more work to be done to ensure that the CBT/GET paradigm meets the oblivion it deserves.

In the past year, I have also contributed to the peer-reviewed literature. I wrote a commentary for the groundbreaking issue of Journal of Health Psychology devoted to "PACE-gate." And I am beyond thrilled to be a co-author on the reanalysis of the PACE results that BMC Psychology published on March 22nd. That reanalysis documents once more that the reported PACE findings arose from rampant post-hoc changes to the methods outlined in their own protocol. The article triggered this fantastic headline in The Times: "Findings of 5m ME chronic fatigue study worthless."

(Just to be clear: I am one of many, many people who have played major roles in all these efforts. I could not do what I am doing without the invaluable contributions, insights and support of amazing patients and advocates, not to mention the scientists who are conducting the kind of research that will hopefully result in finding causes and effective treatments. We are all working toward the same goal.)

This year hasn't always been easy. As many of you know, my efforts to address Professor Crawley's unethical methodological choices in high-profile and influential studies led her to make the false and unsupported claim that I was engaged in writing "libelous blogs"--a charge she highlighted during her inaugural lecture at the University of Bristol. Because of my work, Bristol took the extraordinary step last year of complaining to Berkeley in an effort to shut me up. That hasn't worked. I'm still here--and with your help I plan to continue what I set out to do.

I havent accomplished everything I wanted to since last summer. I have yet to post at length about the deficiencies of the Cochrane reviews of CBT and GET. I have not yet written about the 1950s Royal Free Hospital outbreak in London, although I have interviewed two patients from that seminal event. I havent focused on the problems people in many countries confront in accessing disability and social welfare benefits because of their illness. I haven't spent much time examining some of the legitimate research taking place in the U.S., the U.K., Australia and elsewhere. I hope to start addressing all these issues later this spring and during my next year of reporting.

I also plan to take a look at the "medically unexplained symptoms" (MUS) model that is taking hold in the U.K. Key members of the CBT/GET ideological brigades are among those pushing hardest for the adoption of this misguided and unscientific approach. The underlying assumption appears to be that fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and a host of other illnesses, including ME, can be grouped together as variations of what are called functional or somatic disorderswhich means, essentially, that they are regarded as psychiatric issues, not organic diseases. The standard treatments? Rehabilitative therapies like CBT and GET.

Another goal is to increase my efforts to write articles for other publications, whether mainstream outlets or those focused on health and science. I haven't pursued that strategy aggressively until now because of the difficulty of convincing editors of the seriousness of the disease and the importance of accurate and thorough reporting. But press coverage has improved significantly in the last year in both the U.K. and the U.S., suggesting that editors are generally more receptive to the issue. I plan to take advantage of that shift in attitudes so that more people outside the field learn about the anti-scientific "research" and the harmful treatments that have been inflicted on patients.

I plan to travel again for the project over the next year. I spent a month in the U.K. late last year. I arrived in mid-March in Australia, where I will be until late April. In the next round, I again plan to spend time in Europe--certainly to the U.K. but hopefully also to countries where the CBT/GET paradigm remains strong, such as Germany. I would also like to return to Australia and include New Zealand next time, if it seems my presence could be helpful.

One final note: Crowdfunding on any platform is not free. Berkeley takes a 5% share as the university's standard fee for processing gifts, plus 2.5% as a crowdfunding fee. Therefore, adding 7.5% to your donation will help to maximize the effectiveness of this campaign. (Last year, Crowdrise took 7.5% as the crowdfunding fee, and Berkeley took its 5% gift fee, so the fees this year will be significantly reduced.)

Thanks so much for your support. I really, really appreciate it. We are making progress and are reaching the tipping point in the debate. At this moment in time, it is critical to press on at full strength.

For those who want to review my work, here are some links:

Virology Blog's 15,000-word expose of PACE: http://www.virology.ws/2015/10/21/trial-by-error-i/

All Virology Blog posts on ME/CFS: http://www.virology.ws/mecfs/

University of Bristol's complaint to Berkeley: http://www.virology.ws/2017/12/23/trial-by-error-bristols-complaint-to-berkeley/

My six-month crowdfunding review: http://www.virology.ws/2018/01/15/trial-by-error-my-six-month-review/

My New York Times opinion piece (with Julie Rehmeyer): https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/opinion/sunday/getting-it-wrong-on-chronic-fatigue-syndrome.html
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Linkedin Ary Hermawan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 08:08 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cca1209 1 Opinion #commentary,migrant-protection,migrant-workers,death-penalty,#DeathPenalty,international-relations,diplomacy,Foreign-Ministry Free

It has been more than two weeks since news broke that Zaini Misrin, an Indonesian driver condemned to death for allegedly killing his employer, had been decapitated in Saudi Arabia.

The window for national outrage is now practically closed, and President Joko Jokowi Widodo has yet to say anything about Zainis death by execution.

For many people, Jokowis silence is expected. His administration has executed a number of foreigners despite global pleas for clemency, so the President could not take the moral high ground against Riyadh.

Such thinking is not wrong, but it may obscure the possible reason why Zainis execution seems so oddly inconsequential for Jokowi ahead of his reelection bid: the political cost of ignoring his death is cheap.

If you look closely at Zainis case, Jakarta has every reason to be angry at Riyadh.

For years, Jakarta has insisted that Zaini was innocent and a victim of a miscarriage of justice. His unannounced execution on March 19 thus came as a shock.

Diplomats at Pejambon, the Foreign Ministrys Central Jakarta headquarters, were quick to detail the governments diplomatic and legal efforts to save Zaini. President Jokowi, for instance, had repeatedly requested clemency, said the ministrys Indonesian citizens protection director, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal.

Nearly all legal avenues had been exhausted to free Zaini, he claimed.

Indonesia is obviously upset that it had not been notified prior to Zainis execution, but this is not its only objection. In a written protest sent to Riyadh, Jakarta questioned why Zaini was beheaded when legal efforts to overturn his conviction were, in fact, still under way.

Indonesia was in the process of filing a case review petition on Zainis behalf, based on a copy of his dossier that the Indonesian embassy retrieved in late 2016, 12 years after his arrest and eight years after he was sentenced to death.

According to Migrant CARE, Zaini was not provided adequate legal assistance during his trial, only a translator who the NGO claimed was not neutral and had allegedly talked Zaini into confessing to a crime he had not committed. The group said Zaini was only able to contact the embassy after he had been sentenced to death.

Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Agus Maftuh Abegebriel wrote an open letter to the deceased Madurese, detailing his last-ditch effort to save him, and his emotional visit to Zainis grave hours after the execution.

But all this has barely made a dent in Indonesia-Saudi Arabia relations. Jokowi met with a Saudi prince at the State Palace only days after Zainis execution, and his scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia in May remains intact.

This is possibly because, at the end of the day, Zaini was considered  to borrow from Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky  an unworthy victim in contemporary Indonesian politics. His gruesome death had failed to trigger a national outrage Jokowis adversaries could easily exploit to question and undermine his leadership.

Even while Indonesia continues to execute foreign convicts, its citizens often fume at the execution of fellow Indonesians by other countries. The protection of Indonesians abroad has long been a salient political issue, which is why it was made a focus of Jokowis foreign policy.

In 2013, for instance, Indonesians were angered by Malaysian prosecutors demand that Indonesian maid Wilfrida Soik be sentenced to death for killing her employer. Then presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto flew to Malaysia to fight for her release in an apparent stunt to win the support of nationalists.

It is therefore telling that Prabowo has been conspicuously silent in the controversy surrounding Zainis execution.

Unlike Malaysia, a neighbor we love to rile at, Saudi Arabia is rarely a target of Indonesian ultra-nationalists anger. And there is no way the Islamists, a Prabowo ally and a major opposition force for Jokowi, would politicize Zainis execution while its top leader stays in Saudi Arabia to escape what they believe is a politically motivated pornography charge.

A recent rally protesting Zainis execution was attended only by a handful of human rights activists who oppose capital punishment. Zainis plight, however tragic, could not even incite anger on Twitter or Facebook.

Seen from the perspective of rage politics, what the Foreign Ministry said about all the things it had done to save Zaini may seem like a redundant attempt at pre-empting a national resentment that never was.

The ministry has said it is not waiting for a reply to the protest letter it sent to Riyadh. [The protest note] is not correspondence, said ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir. He also made it clear that relations with Saudi Arabia remained good, and we will not jeopardize the interest of 1 million [Indonesians] there just to express our disappointment.

It is unlikely that the government will ever bring up Zainis case again in future meetings with Saudi officials. As one senior colleague said, laconically: Hes dead, what can you do?
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Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 07:52 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cca113d 4 Editorial food,#food,health-minister,Health-Minister-Nila-Moeloek,canned-sardines,#Editorial Free

On top of our daily worries, Indonesians should not have to march for food safety amid fears of consuming worms found in canned mackerel. Health Minister Nila Djuwita Anfasa Moeloek has assured us that the worms are not dangerous because they die when fish is cooked properly  they even contain protein.

Thanks but no thanks, professor. When we resort to buying canned food we are not looking for protein from wriggly invertebrates. (Indonesians only consume processed worms following popular advice to boost protein content when recovering from typhoid, for instance).

Following reports of consumers finding worms in their mackerel, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) ordered a mass recall of 27 foreign and local brands of canned mackerel after some cans were found to contain parasitic worms, dealing a heavy blow to the industry.

Despite the measures, as of now, the public lacks certainty on the governments guarantee that our food purchases, canned or not, are safe and up to health and hygiene standards. What we do know is the rather confusing explanation from government agencies  the BPOM that cites a lack of resources to check more than a million food brands, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry that points to a possible seasonal outbreak of parasitic worms, as its officials say their presence in canned fish is a first here. The ministry says it is continuing the investigation into the contaminated canned fish together with the BPOM.

Although conditions for the Indonesian consumer are improving, thanks to more and more choices apart from the 1999 Consumer Protection Law, guarantees are far from reality as in the case of food safety. As the BPOM says, regular checks are impossible; its limited resources only enable it to inspect food products twice  during license application procedures and when complaints emerge. In between these two instances, consumers are left to their own devices by gauging the label, ingredient listing and expiry date and rigid supervision of quality, hygiene and safety from the producers themselves.

As one report can affect all products, the Indonesian Fish Cannery Association said all companies producing canned fish are calculating their losses and they have been forced to lay off many workers. All production and distribution of canned mackerel have been ordered to stop until the BPOM has completed audits of all mackerel products. It has tested 541 samples from 66 brands, of which 16 imported brands and 11 local ones were found to contain thread worms.

Meanwhile, the association says all of its members have applied strict, standardized procedures in their production process to guarantee zero health risks.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has urged us to eat more fish to ensure more nutrition or Ill drown you, she joked. Of course, we would love to have more opportunities to eat fresh fish that is free of mercury and other harmful metals. Consumers now know that canned fish is neither safe from unwanted content. At least those worms should open our eyes to what we consume.
Infiniti is recharging its attack on BMW and Audi.

The Nissan Motor Co. premium brand wants to use the structural changes enabled by the industrys shift toward electric and self-driving cars -- such as a larger cabin and fewer components under the hood -- as a chance to inject a Japanese touch of simplicity and space into its models. That entails a minimalist approach to the interiors, with a goal to cut back on buttons and controls, a la Apple Inc.

Theres clearly a reduction of mechanical element and thats whats happening with the brand, and thats become an inspiration for us, Alfonso Albaisa, Nissans design chief, said in an interview at a newly renovated showroom at Infinitis design center near Tokyo. Thats how we kind of drifted into the Japanese DNA.

After trailing German rivals for decades, Infiniti has a mountain to climb to narrow the gap -- BMW AG sold eight times more cars globally last year. But Infiniti is betting the industrys shift will rewrite the rules, and the carmaker envisions half its sales will come from electric vehicles by 2025.

A refocus on the brands Japanese roots is a break from the Latin-flavored design language previously applied by Albaisa, a Cuban-American promoted last year to oversee design for Nissan as a whole from a narrower role at Infiniti. Past models have failed to establish a clear character for Infiniti, giving it an opportunity to reinvent itself, said Ken Miyao, an analyst at consultancy Carnorama.

Read also: 'No taboos' in Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance: Renault CEO

Infiniti Q Inspiration concept at North American International Auto Show in Detroit. (Bloomberg/Andrew Harrer)

Infiniti has an ambiguous brand identity and doesnt seem like a genuine Japanese brand, Miyao said. In the premium world, there should be a place for wa and it should be good to emphasize that, he said, referring to the Japanese cultural concept implying harmony and peaceful unity.

The first model heralding the new direction is the Q Inspiration concept, a sedan unveiled at this years Detroit auto show that has electrified powertrains and autonomous-driving technology. Infiniti pruned superfluous features and buttons in the cars cabin, something Albaisa said embodies the concept of ma, meaning the mastery of serene and open space.

The new direction is also part of a push to expand beyond the U.S., where Infiniti was founded in 1989 and which still accounts for more than half of sales. In 2012, Infiniti set up its headquarters in Hong Kong, betting on demand from China, which is set to overtake the U.S. as the largest premium-vehicle market.

A 30-year company veteran, New York-educated Albaisa was a self-described punk in his youth and has designed some of Nissans more out-of-the-box models, such as the Juke. As the companys first foreign design chief, hes spent the past year learning about Japanese culture, including interviewing traditional ceramics and woodwork craftsmen.

That started to influence the way I think about our work and the way I see technology, Albaisa said. People always think Im gonna make something radical or edgy. Im not necessarily like that. Im just unusual.
Literary translator and professor Kim Wook-dong asserted in his recently published article that the English version of the novel The Vegetarian has a significant number of mistranslations.

In his article published online on March 30, Kim wrote that The Vegetarian, a winning novel of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, contains many more mistranslations than what one would expect from a professional translator.

Kim is a professor emeritus of English literature at Sogang University and currently teaches at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology. He translated several celebrated English works including The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm, Catcher in the Rye and more into Korean.

In the article titled, The Creative English Translation of The Vegetarian by Han Kang, Kim identified specific errors in the translation of The Vegetarian from Korean into English. For instance, Kim pointed out that Deborah Smith, the translator of the book, had not distinguished between basic Korean words referring to arms and legs, and thus had made the mistake of translating arms to feet and vice versa.

Read also: Han Kang's 'The Vegetarian' wins Man Booker fiction prize

He also observed that Smith had not translated Korean slang and colloquial expressions correctly, such as in cases where the kid who works part-time in Korean had been translated to the babysitter.

The accuracy of the translation of The Vegetarian has provoked much debate in Korea since its winning of the Man Booker prize. As a response to the controversy, Smith and the author Han Kang have come forward to explain that such mistranslations were not a serious obstacle to conveying the original meaning of the novel.

Professor Kim said in an interview with the Yonhap News Agency that he had written the article straight after reading the English version of The Vegetarian, but British journals had declined his request to publish it.

Kims article can be found in the latest issue of Translation Review, Volume 100.
Designer Kris Van Assche on Tuesday took the reins at Berluti, vowing to complete the transformation of the top-end cobbler into a major luxury men's label.

The Belgian creator, who left Dior Homme a fortnight ago after 11 years in charge, steps into the shoes of Colombian Haider Ackermann, who parted company with the French brand on Friday after only three seasons.

But Van Assche has big ambitions for the label which under its CEO Antoine Arnault has morphed from an elite shoemaker that shod artist Andy Warhol and a fair smattering of European royalty into a luxury men's fashion label.

"Antoine Arnault spoke to me of his ambitions for Berluti and it is with great pleasure that I accept this new challenge which fits perfectly with my own will and vision," Van Assche said as his appointment was announced.

"I have always wanted to build bridges between the savoir-faire, the heritage of a house and my clear-cut contemporary vision," the 41-year-old added.

Read also: Dior Homme designer Van Assche quits

Van Assche will not show his first men's collection in Paris for the brand until January 2019, reflecting the major rethinking that is likely to go on.

Arnault, the son of French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, said: "I have known him for several years, have always admired his work at Dior Homme and I am looking forward to working with him."

The men's arm of the LVMH group to which Berluti belongs has seen dramatic change in recent weeks with the departure of Ackermann, Hedi Slimane arriving as artistic director of Celine and British designer Kim Jones leaving Louis Vuitton for Dior Homme and being replaced by DJ, designer and Off-White founder Virgil Abloh.

Van Assche added a punkish street style influence to Dior's fine tailoring, and Berluti said he will be in charge of its shoes, leather goods and accessories as well as ready-to-wear collections.

He is another product of the famous Antwerp fashion school in Belgium which gave wings to the talent of Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten, Anne Demeulemeester and several other top creators.
After presenting Torajan motif Barre Allo (sunrise) from South Sulawesi in the United States in September last year, Indonesian designer Decy Ramona is set to showcase a new collection of its brand Tyramona at Dubai International Fashion Week 2018 from April 5 to 7.

Themed "Pa' Tangke Lumu Toraja", the collection is said to target Dubai's middle- to upper-class fashionistas. "Especially those who are looking for elegant party dresses," said Decy during a press conference in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by Antara.

"Pa' Tangke Lumu Toraja" is a Torajan term for "family that lives happily together", in which tangke means branch, lumu means moss, while situru means according to plan.

Read also: Indonesian designer to showcase South Kalimantan fabrics in New York

The design, popularly known as Pa'Lumu, has been made to appear more elegant and sumptuous with contemporary touches of payet (sequins), pearls and Swarovski crystals. It was also combined with a betel leaf motif to make it more lively and colorful. As for the moss, which usually has a green color, it was turned into purple and blue with grey gradation.

Moss can easily be found in the archipelagic country of Indonesia, with its islands stretching along the equator. Hence this design symbolizes unity among the islands and the people.

The 49-year-old designer who was born in Makassar said her design was made to be more modern without neglecting its original roots.

Prior to the US and the United Arab Emirates, Decy has highlighted the culture of Sulawesi through her works in other countries like Malaysia and the Netherlands. (kes)
A group of students from the Raffles Design Institute Shanghai showcased their collections at Autumn-Winter Shanghai Fashion Week 2018 on Monday. Carrying the theme "Hyper-Reality", the fashion show took place at 800Show, an old factory house and creative industry park.

Of the 17 students of the fashion institute that contributed to the collections, two hail from Indonesia. They are Velika Hillary and Ella Natali.

Ella, with her collection Hybridity, was inspired by her self-identity, which blended with different races and cultures. Velika's collection, The Silent Cross, was influenced by the book The Missionary Position: Mother Theresa in Theory and Practice.

Derrick Cheah, the college director of Raffles Academy Shanghai, told Antara, We really appreciate the pieces designed by the two Indonesian students.

Meanwhile, Stefan Orschel-Read, the acting academic director of Raffles Education Corporation, said Velikas and Ellas works had been selected from hundreds of other student submissions.

Read also: Saudi Arabia to host first Arab Fashion Week

The Indonesian consul-general to Shanghai, Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, accompanied by the consul of information, social affairs and culture, Radityo Panjaitan, attended the event. (mut)
The chicken rendang in the nasi lemak is "not crispy enough" - that has got Malaysians riled up over the comments by judges during a MasterChef UK episode.



Contestant Zaleha Kadir Olpin's traditional rendition of nasi lemak with chicken rendang could attract queues outside her kitchen doors, but the very same dish got her eliminated from the quarter-finals of the competition.



Zaleha, 48, was making the dish during the knockout round of the BB1 programme, a dish she said was her childhood favourite.



"I used to save my pocket money to buy nasi lemak on Friday and there was a special stall outside our school that used to sell the best nasi lemak for 20 sen, it is very special," Zaleha told MasterChef UK judge John Torode while she was preparing the dish.

During the show, Torode gave the audience a run-down of the classic nasi lemak dish, saying that the rice has to be served with not too much coconut milk, the sambal has to be ferociously hot, and the chicken has to be "really, really soft and falling apart".



Zaleha presented the judges with a luxurious plate of nasi lemak with chicken rendang, prawn sambal, omelette, anchovies, peanuts and cucumber.



After tasting, judge Gregg Wallace criticised the chicken skin for not being crispy enough.



"I like the rendang flavour, there's a coconut sweetness, however, the chicken skin isn't crispy. It can't be eaten and all the sauce is on the skin, I can't eat," Wallace said.



Torode chimed in, saying that the chicken rendang is a mistake.



"It hasn't had enough time to cook down and become lovely and soft and falling apart. Instead the chicken is just tough and not really flavoursome," he said.

Zaleha looked visibly disappointed at the comments and later was heard saying she was "gutted" as she removed her apron after elimination.



Chicken rendang is a dry curry dish where chicken is stewed in coconut milk and spices until the chicken is tender.



On social media, Malaysians who have watched the episode are questioning whether the two judges are qualified to be criticising Asian foods.

Read also: Anger simmers at MasterChef Singapore Chinese plan



Social media users, who watched a YouTube video of the MasterChef UK episode, said the judges have "no idea" how chicken rendang is prepared.



"They are not worthy to be judges if they are not knowledgeable about Asian cuisine," Are Fiq said.



"All the judges need cooking lesson from Chef Wan", Lapi Zaini said, referring to Malaysian celebrity chef Datuk Redzuawan Ismail.



"If you don't know anything about rendang, then I think that you should rendang (dunk) your own head first," Azuan Annas wrote in a comment directed at the judges.



On Zaleha's Instagram, Jam13_wong said it is the judges who should be eliminated.



Zaleha's supporters thanked her for representing Malaysian cuisine on an international platform and said it was a shame the judges were not familiar with it.



On Instagram, Zaleha said she stand by her traditional way of cooking the dish and would not have changed it for the world.



"As my friend said, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger!" she said.
Riza Marlon is keeping his fingers crossed that more youngsters will follow in his footsteps in wildlife photography to save the environment and the countrys diverse endemic species.

However, with cases such as the tragic death of a man who was eaten by a large python near an oil palm plantation in West Sulawesi last year, not everyone is as sympathetic toward animals.



Today, the killing of humans by animals is a regular occurrence. In January, a Sumatran tiger mauled an oil palm plantation worker to death in Riau, Sumatra. In March, a man was killed by a crocodile in a village in East Kutai, East Kalimantan.



Although he cares about the victims of these attacks, Riza, a pioneer in wildlife photography, is frustrated at those who turn a blind eye to the root of the problem.



They say the crocodile is dangerous and has to be caught and killed. That makes me sad. They [animals] have lost their homes and do not know where to find food. We [humans] are the ones who are guilty, the 58-year-old said.



Indonesia might be the largest archipelagic country and one of the worlds most biodiverse countries, but in Rizas mind, Indonesians have undermined the unique status by mistreating the environment.

[gal:1]

Having been a wildlife photographer for over 25 years, Riza recently spoke during the launch of his third photography book, Wallaces Living Legacy, at the National Library in Jakarta in March.



The book is complete with over 200 photos of the countrys endemic animals.



I am addicted to writing now, he said.



To complete the book, Riza spent seven years trekking. His purpose was to develop a deep understanding of the animals he came across.



We have to know our animals first before falling in love and caring about them. That is the aim of conservation in general, he said.



Around 90 percent of the animals [in the book] are endemic.

Riza traveled deep into 22 forest areas in the Wallacea area, which covers Sulawesi, Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).



The area was named after British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who drew the Wallace Line in 1859, a faunal boundary line that runs between Borneo and Sulawesi and through the Lombok Strait between Bali and Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara.



More than half of the 700 species of birds in Wallacea are endemic to the area. One of them is the hornbill, a large bird known for its enormous beak.



The book features three endemic hornbill species: Julang Sulawesi,Kangkareng Sulawesi and Julang Sumba. Often referred to as forest farmers, these large birds contribute to natural forest regeneration by dispersing seeds.

[gal:2]

Indonesia has more endemic birds than any other country. Wallacea is home to cockatoo species that are on the brink of extinction due to illegal hunting and habitat loss. They are the Moluccan cockatoo, umbrella cockatoo and yellow-crested cockatoo.



Ninety-nine of 222 species of reptiles are endemic to Wallacea, including 37 species of snake, such as the Timor python, the skin pattern of which has been used for inspiration in the designs of traditional cloths.



Aware of the difficulty of spotting animals in the wild, Riza always teams up with local guides. Thanks to the internet, Riza said he could find them easily via Facebook.



Having local guides is important for Riza, who prioritizes safety by seeking input from them, such as on how to protect himself from potential wild animal attacks while working in the field.



Local guides also play an important role in helping Riza to find rare and shy animals.

[gal:3]

For example, the tarsier, a Yoda-like, tree-dwelling animal from Sulawesi that graces the cover of Wallaces Living Legacy, is very shy and hard to find, but Riza was able to spot it with the help of a guide.



When [the guide] mowed, a tarsier suddenly emerged in search of food after hearing the sound of grass being cut down, he said.



Riza added that there was a lot of fauna endemic to the country that he was eager to capture, such as the Sulawesi civet and the invisible rail or Wallaces rail, a large flightless bird that is found on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku.

Inspired by his parents wildlife magazines, Riza has had a passion for nature, flora and fauna since he was little. After graduating from high school, he studied nature and animal behavior at National Universitys Biology Faculty in Jakarta.



As he grows older, he is still on the go and has no plans to retire. He is now preparing a new photography book that documents Indonesian primates.



He, however, admits that working in the wild requires a physical vigor. Therefore, he hopes that more young people will be interested in wildlife photography.



Riza disagrees with those who say that wildlife photography is expensive. He says it does not always require a big telephoto lens because, today, there are mirrorless cameras that are affordable.



We have to promote Indonesian animals in every way, like how the Australian people promote the koala, he said.
Artists living in different countries might work in different styles, but when they gather to work together, they speak using the universal language of art.

The Imago Mundi exhibition exudes the beauty of contemporary art created by the minds and hands that embrace different cultures.



The event, which opened late in March at Sunrise Gallery at the Fairmont Hotel in South Jakarta, was a result of a global project set in motion by Italian art collector Luciano Benetton two decades ago. His objective was to unite the cultures of the world in the name of a common artistic experience.



Tens of thousands of artists  whether seasoned or up-and-coming  from around the world participated in the project, which showcased the collections and works of art commissioned by Benetton, an avid traveler with a heart full of love for art.



I am thrilled to see the different cultures in this exhibition finding art as a unifying language, the director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Jakarta, Michela Magri, said during the opening of the exhibition.



The man behind the event in Jakarta was Antonius Kho. He said after the Benetton project finished in 2017 that several of his colleagues who had participated in the global project felt the spirit lingering on. They proposed to hold this exhibition in the same force, albeit at a larger scale than the initial postcard format.



Of course I first went to Benetton for permission, which was gladly given, he said.



Antonius was the man whom Benetton had approached in 2015 with the request to gather 200 educated artists in Indonesia, 140 in Malaysia and 140 in Singapore. Benetton apparently knew of Antonius personal initiatives of organizing an exchange exhibition between artists from Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos.



Antonius obliged, and with the help of friends in the respective countries, he managed to gather the artists and their works in a postcard format as required by Benetton, and cooperated with the Benetton foundation and his Wina gallery to compile the works and print books unique to each country, namely Indonesia: Islands of the Imagination, Malaysia: Colors of Destiny and Singapore: 21st Century and Beyond. The books can be found at museums and relevant institutions.

Love in Diversity by Grace Tjiptonimpuno (JP/Steven)

After numerous exhibitions in various countries, the Imago Mundi web platform continues to promote the founding spirit of the Luciano Benetton collection by cataloguing, sharing and passing down to future generations thousands of 10 by 12 centimeters works of art.



He had once said that a better understanding of the distinctive features of contemporary art in the various countries would help shape the values that guide our lives, as the project was not formed to earn a profit.



The current exhibition at Sunrise Gallery, however, is an exhibition in which the public has the opportunity to buy art made by a wide range of artists with different skillsets and styles.

Interestingly, not all participants have taken up art as their main occupation. Ti Yi Rou from Malaysia, for instance, is a young lawyer who was influenced by her artist friends. Her painting Beautiful Dance with the Fear is her expression of getting rid of the fear that shackles our lives. Singaporean Abu Zaki Bin Hadri is an architect whose two paintings focus on Jakartas iconic National Monument and the traffic jams in the capital city as revealed in his painting titled Macet (Congested).



Indonesian artists works are influenced by their educational backgrounds and experiences. Antonius Kho, for example, studied art in Cologne but his works undeniably show the influence of his Balinese upbringing, while Deddy Paw, who is known for his apple metaphor, is now delving into the world of abstract art.



Other artists to watch are Titis Jabarudin, a senior female artist who created the forceful The Head and the Window and Agus Koecink, a curator who has also produced murals in Ruen, France.



There are many more treasures to find at the exhibition, but it is cartoonist artist Grace Tjiptonimpunos painting Love in Diversity that beautifully captures the spirit of Benetton in her visualization of diversity within one frame. The exhibition ends on April 3.
Winnie Mandela, the former wife of South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, died on Monday aged 81, triggering an outpouring of tributes to one of the country's defining and most divisive figures.

The firebrand activist died in a Johannesburg hospital, her family said, adding that she had "fought valiantly against the Apartheid state" and that she was known "far and wide as the Mother of the Nation".

Winnie Mandela, who was married to Nelson Mandela for 38 years, played a high-profile role in the struggle to end white-minority rule, but her place in history was stained by controversy and accusations of violence.

Leading the tributes, Nobel laureate archbishop Desmond Tutu described her as "a defining symbol" of the battle against oppression.

"She refused to be bowed by the imprisonment of her husband, the perpetual harassment of her family by security forces, detentions, bannings and banishment," Tutu said.

"Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists."

The statement from her family said that she passed away at the Netcare Milpark hospital in Johannesburg.

"She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year. She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones," it added.

In the ruling African National Congress (ANC), head of policy Jeff Radebe described her as "an icon of the revolutionary struggle".

Newly-appointed President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Tuesday evening that a "national official funeral" would be held on April 14, preceded by a public memorial service on April 11.

- Lives apart -

Most of Winnie's marriage to Nelson was spent apart, with Nelson imprisoned for 27 years, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone and to keep alive his political dream under the repressive white-minority regime.

But her reputation came under damaging scrutiny in the twilight years of apartheid rule.

In 1986, she was widely linked to "necklacing", when suspected traitors were burnt alive by a petrol-soaked car tyre being put over their head and set alight.

In 1990 the world watched when Nelson Mandela finally walked out of prison -- hand in hand with Winnie.

The following year, she was convicted of kidnapping and assault over the killing of Stompie Moeketsi, a 14-year-old boy.

In 1992, the Mandelas separated, and then divorced in 1996, after a legal wrangle that revealed she had an affair with a young bodyguard.

During her old age, she re-emerged as a respected elder who was feted as a living reminder of the late Mandela -- and of the long and much-storied struggle against apartheid.

Just last month, she was shown in television footage joking with Ramaphosa, who paid a courtesy call to her home in Soweto, the township where she lived for decades.

Dressed in full ANC colours of yellow, black and green, she asked Ramaphosa, who is known for his morning runs, "Why don't you get tired?"

"We can't get tired when you have given us work to do" he told her.

- 'Voice of defiance' -

After her death was announced, Ramaphosa described her as "a voice of defiance and resistance" who "was an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free".

"For many years, she bore the brunt of senseless brutality of the apartheid state with stoicism," he said.

"Despite the hardship she faced, she never doubted that the struggle for freedom and democracy would triumph and succeed."

Winnie Mandela often criticised the ANC, but she had expressed support for the current leadership of the party, which her husband led to power in the euphoric post-apartheid elections of 1994.

On Monday evening, Ramaphosa returned to her Soweto house as mourners gathered outside, singing struggle-era songs in tribute and praise.

"In African culture, we sing when we're hurt," ANC Women's League official Winnie Ngwenya, 64, told AFP.

African Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat also paid tribute to Winnie Mandela, saying "the continent and beyond" were in grief at her passing.

She "will forever be remembered as a global icon, a fearless campaigner who sacrificed much of her life for freedom in South Africa and for women everywhere," he said on Twitter.

The SABC state broadcaster said she had attended church in Soweto on Easter Friday before being admitted to hospital complaining of flu. She had also suffered from diabetes for some years.

Suggestions that Winnie remained extremely close to Nelson Mandela in his final years were fuelled in a recent book by his doctor.

Vejay Ramlakan wrote that Winnie -- not Mandela's widow Graca Machel -- was with Mandela when he died in 2013. The book was withdrawn by its publishers under pressure from Mandela's family.
A Taiwanese author whose novel is nominated for the renowned Man Booker International Prize said he will protest to the awards organizer for changing his nationality to "Taiwan, China".

Wu Ming-yi's The Stolen Bicycle was among the 13 books longlisted for the prestigious award.

The author said his nationality on the Man Booker website had been changed from "Taiwan" to "Taiwan, China" since the list was announced.

The incident follows Beijing's rebuke of foreign firms -- including Zara, Marriott, and Delta -- for listing Taiwan as a separate country on their websites.

Taiwan has been self-ruled since splitting from the mainland after a 1949 civil war, but China continues to claim sovereignty over the island.

Beijing has increased pressure on Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen as she has refused to acknowledge the island is part of "one China".

Wu said on his Facebook page he cannot agree Taiwan is part of China.

Read also: Han Kang's latest novel nominated for Man Booker Int'l Prize

"My nationality on the web page has been changed from Taiwan to Taiwan, China, which is not my personal position on this issue," he said.

"I will therefore seek assistance in expressing my personal position to the awards organisation," he wrote.

The Man Booker organizers said they were advised "Taiwan, China" was the "correct, politically neutral form".

They added they were seeking clarification from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

"We are aware that Wu Ming-yi defines himself as Taiwanese and have kept him informed throughout the process," they said in a statement Friday.

Wu's book, written in Chinese and translated into English, is about a novelist searching for his missing father's bicycle.

The shortlist for the prize will be announced on April 12 and winner on May 22.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 19:02 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cccab31 1 City oplosan,liquor,jakarta,victim,police Free

Ten people died and dozens others were hospitalized after allegedly drinking oplosan (bootleg liquor) over the weekend.

The first case occurred in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, where six people out of a group of 11 were rushed to Pondok Kopi Hospital, Duren Sawit Hospital and a community health center in Duren Sawit.

They reportedly drank bootleg ginseng liquor on Sunday.

Six of them died, East Jakarta Police criminal investigation head Sr. Adj. Comr. Sapta Maulan said as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com on Tuesday.

In a separate incident, three were rushed to Persahabatan Hospital in East Jakarta on Monday after reportedly vomiting before falling unconscious.

They allegedly consumed bootleg liquor after attending a party in Cipinang Besar Utara, Jatinegara, on Saturday, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

So far, their conditions have improved, he added.

The police are currently investigating both cases.

Meanwhile, four died after allegedly drinking bootleg liquor in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, on Sunday night, while fourteen others are being treated at Tugu Ibu Hospital, tempo.co reported Tuesday.

We are looking into the case by examining the liquor in a laboratory and carrying out an autopsy on one of the victims, South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Indra Jafar said.

One of the survivors told the police that their friends bought ginseng liquor from a shop on Jl. Almaliyah Kampung Sawah and a shop in Srengseng Sawah on Sunday night before drinking together at a house in Kober, Depok.

They were rushed to Tugu Ibu Hospital on Monday as they reportedly felt dizzy and nauseous and had stomachaches.

The South Jakarta Police detained a shop owner for questioning. (wnd)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 15:42 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccbbdad 1 City ahok,Ahok-family,letter,yusril-ihza-mahendra Free

Harry Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the youngest brother of former Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, has addressed an open letter to a constitutional law expert, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, stressing his father was an Indonesian citizen.

The letter was written in response to Yusrils statement saying that Ahok was born a foreign citizen because his father, Tjoeng Kiem Nam, chose to be a Chinese citizen during the period of citizenship determination in 1962.

During the period, Indonesians of Chinese descent were required to choose whether they wanted to be Chinese or Indonesian citizens. Should they pick the latter, they had to change their Chinese names to Indonesian names.

Even though many of them wanted to be Indonesian citizens, the procedures were quite complicated, thus hampering them from acquiring Indonesian citizenship.

Yusril said because his late father was a Chinese citizen, Ahok, who was born in 1966, automatically became a Chinese citizen, until he decided to become an Indonesian citizen in 1986.

Considering the matter, Yusril said it was impossible for Ahok to be nominated as a president or vice president, referring to the 1945 Constitution saying the presidential and vice presidential candidates must be Indonesian citizens by birth and never accept other citizenship out of their own free will.

In his letter, Harry questioned Yusril about why he should mention his late father in Ahoks political career.

If this relates to Ko [Chinese for 'brother'] Ahok, its business between Bang Yusril and Ko Ahok. However, if you mention my father, Im sorry, but this will be my business, Harry said according to tempo.co.

Harry said his fathers name was Indra Tjahaja Purnama, an Indonesian citizen. During his life, he always upheld nationalism and taught his children nationalist values.

Harry added his father even sent his children to a public school in Gantung, Bangka Belitung.

He then asked Yusril how he knew the citizenship of his father.

How do you know my father preferred to become a foreign citizen while you are still a young man yourself? Did my father tell you, your family, or it was only your conclusion? I dont know whether the procedure to become an Indonesian citizen was complicated in the past, he added.

Harry said his father was born in Desa Air Tangga/Simpang Pesak in East Belitung and had a great reputation as he always helped locals who were in need.

He closed the letter by saying he was born as an Indonesian citizen as written on his birth certificate.

Was it possible if my father was a foreign citizen but had an Indonesian child? Harry said. (cal)
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Tue, April 3, 2018 20:20 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cccde65 1 National Air-Force,Air-Force-base,Batam,security Free

Squadron I of Supadio Air Force Base held a security drill in Indonesias archipelagic sea lane (ALKI) I on Tuesday, which includes the waters of the Indonesian-Singapore border and Natuna, located near disputed areas in the South China Sea.

As many as 60 personnel from the Indonesian Air Force joined the operation, called 2018 Segara Axis, which involved five Hawk 100 and Hawk 200 jet fighters. They were assigned to monitor illegal activities in the sea such as illegal fishing, mining and logging transportation. The personnel also monitored hostile vessels diverging from its route or vessels throwing waste into the sea.

Squadron I of Supadio Air Base commander Lt. Col. Agung Indra Jaya said the operation designated Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Riau Islands province as the base for the jet fighters as well as soldiers until the operation ends on April 5.

The operation is for the ALKI 1 security measures. We will identify and monitor any possible crimes taking place in the sea and take action against the perpetrators, he said, adding that monitoring would start from the air after coordinating with actors in the field.

Batam was chosen as the base of the drill because of its strategic location, he added. (dpk/rin)
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 13:17 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccb5eb0 1 Business bekraf,IDX,MoU,startup,development Free

The Creative Economy Agency (BEK) and the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to make a joint effort to facilitate startups to develop.

Under the MOU, BEK supports the bourse's startup incubator to organize training and development programs, said Bekraf deputy for capital access Fadjar Hutomo after the signing ceremony at the IDX building in Jakarta.

"Bekraf has startup networks and the IDX has an incubator program that facilitates digital-based startups to develop. We will help each other to scale up these startups to contribute more to the economy," Fadjar said.

IDX president director Tito Sulistio said the IDX Incubator that was established to support digital-based startups had already had two batches of trainings and had established 42 companies in Jakarta.

He said the IDX incubator would also organize similar events in Bandung and Surabaya.

"The training is organized so that the startups have wider access to financing," he said. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 13:46 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccb7b0c 1 City #commuter,commuter-line,Duri-Station,airport-train,Tangerang Free

A recent cut to the number of trips serving the Duri-Tangerang route has prompted a train commuter to set up an online petition opposing the policy, saying that it was endangering peoples lives with overcrowding.

At least 279 users have signed the petition at change.org since it was created on Monday morning, asking authorities to review the new train schedules.

"The reduced number of trips has led to overcrowding and many of us have not been able to use the train," said petition creator Yunita Sari.

"Moreover, because Duri Station serves as a transit point, many passengers squeeze onto the escalator, which endangers their lives," Yunita added.

In a recent video circulating online, commuters descending the Duri Station escalator can be seen clambering back up the steps because the platform is packed with passengers.

According to the newest train schedule, the Duri-Tangerang route serves 80 return trips per day from the previous 90 trips to accommodate a newly launched airport train service, which connects Sudirman Baru Station, also known as BNI City, from Jakartas central business district to Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Banten.

In comparison, the Tanah Abang-Serpong route has 186 return trips.

PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) has said it would increase the number of cars on some trains traveling the DuriTangerang route.

Two trains will have 12 cars, while the other two will still have eight cars. (fac)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3 2018

Thirty-two houses in Jembatan Besi subdistrict in Tambora were destroyed and three people were injured in the latest fire that broke out in West Jakarta on Sunday night.



West Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency operational head Rompis Romli said no fatalities were reported, but three people had been injured. Two of them were residents and have been moved to Pelni Hospital. The third injured person was a firefighter named Dady Supriyatno, who was injured by a nail and has been moved to Sumber Waras hospital, he said on Monday as reported by tempo.co.



He also said the agency received the fire report from Jembatan Besi residents who went to the Kali Anyar fire post on Sunday at 9:21 p.m.



Some 25 fire trucks and 120 personnel were dispatched and the fire was put out by 3:35 a.m. on Monday.



The fire was suspected to be caused by a short circuit at a t...
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 17:08 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccc0d23 1 City crystal-methamphetamine,smuggling,soekarno-hatta-airport,jakarta,police Free

The Jakarta Police narcotics division arrested on Sunday a housewife named Budiyah for allegedly smuggling crystal methamphetamine at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Tangerang.

The 44-year-old allegedly attempted to smuggle 511.19 grams of meth in the heels of her shoes.

We got tipped off that there was a woman smuggling crystal meth from Pontianak [West Kalimantan] to Jakarta, narcotics unit sub-directorate chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Jean Calvijn told Warta Kota on Monday.

The police followed Budiyah soon after her arrival at the airport, Calvijn added, until she handed over the shoes she was wearing to a man named Johari.

That was when we detained them and found six small sacks of meth nicely packed inside the modified shoes heels, he explained.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said both Budiyah and Johari were taken to the Jakarta Police detention center.

We had also raided Joharis apartment in Central Jakarta, he said, noting that the police were attempting to dig deeper into the alleged meth network in Pontianak.

Argo went on to explain that during the raid, the police had seized 10 mobile phones, an SUV, a motorcycle and Rp 45 million (US$3,269) in cash allegedly earned from the illegal drug industry. (vla)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 12:50 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccb38e9 1 Business logistics,bonded-zone,PLB-Second-Generation Free

Indonesia is now developing a second generation of Bonded Logistic Centers (PLB Second Generation), as PLB First Generation was considered a success in reducing logistic costs.

The goods that in the past were stored in Singapore now can be stored here at a lower cost. A businessman could cut the cost up to Rp 7.18 million (US$502.60) per container, said Director General of Customs and Excise Heru Pambudi in Jakarta on Monday.

He said the PLB Second Generation, which was inaugurated by President Joko Jokowi Widodo on March 27, was an improvement on the PLB First Generation, particularly in efficiency.

He said many imported goods to be sent to Indonesia that previously had to be transited in Singapore port and Malaysias Portland in the past, now could be kept directly in Indonesia.

In the long term, he added, PLB Second Generation would be regrouped into Large Industry PLB, Small and Medium Industry PLB, E-commerce PLB, Basic Commodities PLB, Air Hub Cargo PLB, Floating Storage PLB and Finished Goods PLB.

Air Hub Cargo will be developed particularly near airports in Bali and Jakarta. Airplanes to Bali, for example, are mostly filled with passengers, while the planes bellies are empty. Those could be used for cargo, Heru added.

For the first step, Finished Good PLB, particularly, could handle alcoholic beverages that currently were still kept in Singapore.

The advantage of the PLB is it's centralized. So the flow of goods can be closely controlled, he added. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 15:07 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccba912 4 Business blended-financing,bambang-brodjonegoro,selection,grant,state-budget,fund Free

National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro has said the Indonesian government this year targeted to complete the verification of projects that would be financed with the blended finance program so that the projects could be implemented next year.

The study on the projects is targeted to be completed this year so that they can be implemented next year, Bambang said in Jakarta on Monday as reported by kontan.co.id.

Bambang, who is also head of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), said project categories that could be funded with a blended finance program depended on the source of the funds.

The economic-oriented projects could be funded by a blended finance program whose combined financial sources come from the state budget and non-state budget funds, while the social-oriented projects could be funded with a combination of state budget funds and grants.

Bambang said the blended finance program projects are related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He said the government was also now mapping out philanthropic funds, particularly from domestic sources, that could be combined with the state budget to finance certain social projects.

Meanwhile, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) economist Bhima Yudhistira said data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that from 2000 to 2016, there were 167 projects in all over the globe that were financed with the blended finance program, involving US$31 billion of funds. (bbn)
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Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 17:07 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccbfe7a 1 World Japan,CONTEST,Manga,embassy Free

Japans Foreign Ministry is teaming up with The Japan Foundation cultural organization to host the 12th Manga International contest.

The Manga International Award was initiated by then-foreign minister Aso Taro in May 2007 as a show of appreciation to [Japanese] manga comic artists who have contributed in the spreading of the manga culture, the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta said in a press release on Tuesday.

The award has since been held every year.

The contest this year is open for registration from April 2 to June 15. However, all mailed registration documents must be received by the embassy by June 14.

The embassy said participants were also able to send documents directly to the awards executive committee in Tokyo, Japan, by the June 15 deadline.

The winners will be announced in December 2018, followed by a planned awards ceremony slated for March 2019, it said.

The best manga artwork will receive the Gold award, while another three will be given the Silver award.

All recipients of the award will also be invited to meet manga-ka (manga comic artists) in Japan and have the opportunity to visit manga publishers. (tjs)
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Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Surakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 17:14 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccc122c 1 National Jokowi,President-Jokowi,surakarta Free

The in-law of President Joko Jokowi Widodo Didit Supriyadi has passed away on Tuesday in Surakarta after being treated for two weeks in a local hospital.

Didit, whose daughter Selvi Ananda is married to Jokowis eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, died at 9 a.m. on Tuesday while being treated at Dr. Moewardi Hospital in Surakarta, Central Java, said Haryanto, the older brother of First Lady Iriana.

However, he had no information yet on Didits illness.

He had been sick for quite sometime. But I dont know what his was illness yet. The President visited him in the hospital when he went home to Surakarta on Sunday, Hariyanto said on Tuesday.

He added that Didit had previously been taken care of in the hospital a month ago. Didit had returned home for a couple of days after two weeks in the hospital, before passing away.

A friend of Jokowis family, Quirinto Endi, also said Selvis family could not give information regarding her fathers death yet as the family was still focusing on the funeral service for Didit.

No information has been given yet regarding when Jokowi will fly to Surakarta to attend his in-laws funeral.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 21:15 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccce733 1 City crime,motorcycle-gang,Depok Free

The police have named five members of a motorcycle gang as suspects in an alleged attack on employees of a barbershop in Depok, West Java, on Sunday.

The five suspects are reportedly members of a motorcycle gang calling itself Pulang Pagi, which means going home in the morning.

"The five have been detained," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co.

The police questioned 12 gang members before naming the suspects. The suspects are identified as Danu Lesmana, 23, Ahmad Rifai, 23, Riki Rizki Fauzi, 18, M. Indra Kurniawan, 24, and M. Faqih, 25. The other seven were released without charge.

"There are two other suspects identified only as SY and MRF who remain at large," Argo said, adding that he had yet to find out about the motive of the attack.

The police have confiscated four motorcycles, glass shards from the scene and CCTV footage as evidence. Investigators have also obtained medical reports from the victims.

The footage shows that a group of people barged into the Odysen Barbershop and attacked its employees.

The attack left three employees, identified as Rizal, Yadi and Wirya, with minor injuries. (fac/wit)
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Linkedin A. Kurniawan Ulung (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3 2018

Riza Marlon is keeping his fingers crossed that more youngsters will follow in his footsteps in wildlife photography to save the environment and the countrys diverse endemic species.

However, with cases such as the tragic death of a man who was eaten by a large python near an oil palm plantation in West Sulawesi last year, not everyone is as sympathetic toward animals.



Today, the killing of humans by animals is a regular occurrence. In January, a Sumatran tiger mauled an oil palm plantation worker to death in Riau, Sumatra. In March, a man was killed by a crocodile in a village in East Kutai, East Kalimantan.



Although he cares about the victims of these attacks, Riza, a pioneer in wildlife photography, is frustrated at those who turn...
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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3 2018





Emotions were palpable as six Indonesian sailors returned home to their families on Monday, six months after they were captured by Libyan rebel militia off the coast of conflict-torn Benghazi.



Last year on Sept. 23, after sailing along the Mediterranean Sea in search of fish, the crew on board the Malta-flagged Salvatur VI fishing boat was taken hostage by a group of Benghazi-based militia 23 nautical miles (42.6 kilometers) away from the port city.

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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington  Tue, April 3, 2018 06:47 1272 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cc915cb 2 World Saudi-Arabia,Israel,diplomacy Free

The crown prince and de facto leader of Saudi Arabia said Israel has a "right" to a homeland, a notable shift in the kingdom's position published Monday.

Saudi Arabia and Israel still have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes, improvements in their ties have accelerated in recent years.

Both countries see Iran as their biggest outside threat and the United States as their key ally, and both see danger from armed Islamist extremists.

Israel's conflict with the Palestinians has long proved an obstacle to a full rapprochement, however, as Riyadh still supports their claim to sovereignty.

But now Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- speaking to the editor-in-chief of US news magazine The Atlantic -- appeared to put the rival land claims on an equal footing.

The prince was asked by Jeffrey Goldberg whether the "Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?"

"I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation," said the prince, who is on a three-week US tour.

"I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land," he added.

"But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has been the main sponsor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which envisions a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But no such senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted that Israel has a "right" to any land beyond the practical need to secure a lasting deal.

If, as expected, the crown prince succeeds his octogenarian father King Salman and ascends to the Saudi throne, he will also become guardian of Islam's holiest shrines.

But he told Goldberg he had no "religious objection" to Israelis living alongside Palestinians, so long as the main Muslim holy site in Jerusalem -- the Al-Aqsa mosque compound -- is protected.

"We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people," he said.

"This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people."
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra  Tue, April 3, 2018 10:13 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cca627d 1 National BNN,Heru-Winarko,drugs,drug-trafficking,North-Sumatra,aceh Free

A joint team comprising personnel from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), North Sumatra Police, Aceh Police and Customs and Excise Office has shot dead one alleged drug trafficker and arrested seven others believed to be linked to a Malaysian drug network.

A suspected drug dealer named Murtala from Aceh was shot dead after resisting arrest, said BNN chief Comr. Gen. Heru Winarko.

Meanwhile, the arrests of seven alleged members of a drug syndicate were made within a span of four days, from Wednesday to Saturday, in various drug raids across North Sumatra and Aceh, he added.

The syndicates modus operandi in distributing drugs is by pretending to deliver fruits from Aceh to Medan, Heru said in a press conference at BNNs North Sumatra office on Monday.

The BNN had received a tip from a member of the public on the alleged activities of the syndicate.

In the raids, security personnel confiscated 44.7 kilograms of sabu sabu (crystal methamphetamine) and 58,000 ecstasy pills from Malaysia that were allegedly heading to Medan, North Sumatra.

The suspects could face life in prison or the death penalty should they be found guilty for violating the 2009 law on narcotics. (dpk/rin)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3, 2018 18:22 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccc93a6 1 National NU,police,blasphemy,Blasphemy-Law,religious-blasphemy,Sukmawati-Soekarnoputri Free

A lawyer and a prominent Muslim organization have filed a report against Sukmawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of the late first president Sukarno, for alleged blasphemy as they complained that her poem contained insults to Islam.

The lawyer, named Denny Andrian Kusdayat, filed the complaint to the Jakarta Police on Tuesday. He argued that Sukmawatis poem titled Ibu Indonesia (Mother Indonesia) insulted Islam and had invited waves of public scrutiny.

Sukmawati read the poem during a fashion event held to celebrate famous designer Anne Avanties 29th anniversary in fashion on Thursday.

Denny claimed that Sukmawati read the poem in which she allegedly compared sharia to konde (traditional hair bun), mocked cadar (full-face veil) and insulted adzan (Muslim call to prayer).

"If we are talking about adzan that means insulting God because there is the word Allah mentioned, he said as reported by tempo.co, adding that his move was based on his own initiative and not based on any group.

In his report, Denny also handed over the video of Sukmawati reading the poem, which was also found on several social media posts. He accused the sister of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri of violating Article 156a of the Criminal Code on blasphemy and the 2008 law on the elimination of racialism.

Besides Jakarta, Sukmawati was also reported by the East Java branch of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) to the East Java Police.

The content of the poem was disrespectful to religion, East Java NU chairman Hasan Mutawakkil Alallah said on Tuesday.

The group decided to file a report to the police, arguing that there should be a legal action taken against Sukmawati so that her poem would not create sectarian issues in public, especially ahead of the 2018 regional elections and 2019 presidential and legislative elections.

We are afraid that this issue would be taken advantage of by those who dislike peace in Indonesia, he said, adding that the NU urged all Muslims to remain calm and not be easily provoked. (dpk/rin)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 3 2018

Residents of Air Itam village in Jejawi subdistrict, Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra, normally start the day by washing their hands and relieving themselves in bamboo outhouses on the Musi riverbanks.



Living in rows of stilt houses, 734 families rely on the river as their main source of drinking water, as well as to wash their clothes and dishes, and for bathing.



It has been our tradition for generations. Besides, toilets and septic tanks are too expensive, said Yahudin, a farmer from Air Itam village.



Because of this, children in the village regularly suffer from diarrhea.



Children dehydrate easily and have difficulty absorbing nutrients. As a result, most of them are stunted, said Jejawi Health Center head Rusdawana.



The centers sanitary expert along with nutrition experts, midwives and the local administration have intensified cam...
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Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua  Tue, April 3, 2018 16:38 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9ccbd989 1 National TNI,Papua,security,Tembagapura Free

Members of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) Cendrawasih Military Command XVII are hunting down an armed group of civilians in Tembagapura, Mimika regency, Papua, following an attack that claimed a soldiers life.

A group of soldiers are still in pursuit and also making inventory of the damage caused by the armed group. But all residents are safe and there were no civilian casualties, Cendrawasih Military Command spokesman Col. M. Aidi said in a statement on Tuesday.

A soldier, Private First Class Vicky Irad Uba Rumpaidus, was killed in a shooting exchange between the military and the group in Utikini village, Mimika, on Sunday. He died after allegedly being shot in his right temple.

The shootout also claimed lives and injured some of the armed assailants.

From drone monitoring, we saw that two members died and others were injured before escaping into the woods, Aidi said.

Before the incident, the group allegedly ran amok by setting locals houses, a hospital and a school building on fire.

The group had allegedly taken control of several villages in Tembagapura district, namely Utikini, Longsoran, Kimbeli, Banti 1, Banti 2 and Opitawak, Aidi claimed, adding that the authorities feared that it was part of the groups warning to the TNI and the police that it wanted an open fight.

To take back the villages, TNI had deployed groups of soldiers to targeted areas.

They apparently have been ready to welcome security personnel, hence the shootout, he said.

Attacks from armed assailants in the area were rampant last year, when assailants allegedly held 1,300 residents hostage in several villages while launching attacks against security personnel. (rin)
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Linkedin Laurent Thomet (Agence France-Presse) Beijing  Tue, April 3, 2018 09:12 1271 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cca4aea 2 Business US,trade-war,China Free

The United States on Monday blasted as "unfair" Chinese tariffs imposed on 128 US imports worth $3 billion, including fruit and pork, in the latest tit-for-tat over US duties on steel and aluminium.

China's action, which was decided by the customs tariff commission of the State Council, followed weeks of rhetoric that has raised fears of a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

President Donald Trump's administration had said its duties were aimed at steel and aluminium imports that it deemed a threat to US national security, but China's Commerce Ministry called that reasoning an "abuse" of World Trade Organization (WTO) guidelines.

The US measures "are directed only at a few countries, seriously violating the principle of non-discrimination as a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system, which seriously infringed the interests of the Chinese side," said a statement on the Commerce Ministry website.

Trump has repeatedly railed against China's massive trade surplus with the United States and promised during the election campaign to take steps to slash the US deficit.

His White House again pointed the finger at Beijing.

"China's subsidization and continued overcapacity is the root cause" of what deputy White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters called a crisis affecting steel.

"Instead of targeting fairly traded US exports, China needs to stop its unfair trading practices, which are harming US national security and distorting global markets," she said.

Beijing had warned last month that it was considering the tariffs of 15 percent and 25 percent on a range of products that also include wine, nuts and aluminium scrap. They came into force on Monday, Xinhua said, citing a government statement.

The levies are in response to tariffs of 10 percent on aluminium and 25 percent on steel that have also angered US allies.

"We hope that the United States can withdraw measures that violate WTO rules as soon as possible to put trade in the relevant products between China and the US back on a normal track," the Commerce Ministry statement said.

"Cooperation between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, is the only correct choice."

Trump has temporarily suspended the tariffs for the European Union as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

But the White House has unveiled plans to impose new tariffs on about $60 billion of Chinese imports over the "theft" of intellectual property.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the top economic official, told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a phone call last month that the IP investigation violated international trade rules and Beijing was "ready to defend its national interests."

- 'Heavy blow' -

But Beijing has so far held fire against major US imports such as soybeans or Boeing aircraft -- items that the state-run daily Global Times suggested should be targeted.

The nationalistic newspaper said in an editorial last week that China has "nearly completed its list of retaliatory tariffs on US products and will release it soon."

"The list will involve major Chinese imports from the US," the newspaper wrote, without saying which items were included.

"This will deal a heavy blow to Washington that aggressively wields the stick of trade war and will make the US pay a price for its radical trade policy toward China," the Global Times wrote.

Despite the rhetoric, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday suggested the new measures on intellectual property were a "prelude to a set of negotiations".

The United States ran a $375.2 billion deficit with China last year.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, held meetings with Chinese officials on Friday and Saturday, including Vice Premier Liu.

"With Vice Premier Liu He, I had an extensive discussion about how China's trade-distorting measures end up hurting American workers," Warren wrote on Twitter.

"I've long been skeptical of trade policy - both at home and abroad - that caters to big corporations instead of working families."
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Linkedin Neil Jerome Morales and Joseph Sipalan (Reuters) Manila and Kuala Lumpur  Tue, April 3, 2018 07:11 1272 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9cc9bfe6 2 SE Asia Philippines,Malaysia,Uber,Grab,Competition Free

The Philippines and Malaysia said on Monday they will look into whether Uber Technologies' move to sell its Southeast Asian business to ride-hailing rival Grab hinders competition, days after Singapore began a probe into the deal on similar concerns.

The expanded scrutiny of the deal in Southeast Asia could pose a major hurdle to the U.S. firm's attempt to improve profitability by exiting its loss-making regional operation. It also comes as Grab is set to face tougher competition from Indonesian rival Go-Jek.

In a rare move, Singapore last week proposed interim measures to require Uber and Grab to maintain their pre-transaction independent pricing until it completes a review of the deal, saying it had "reasonable grounds" to suspect that competition had been infringed.

"The Grab-Uber acquisition is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the riding public and the transportation services. As such, the PCC is looking at the deal closely," the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said in a statement.

It said the deal will put Grab in a virtual monopoly in the ride-sharing market, and its review will determine whether the transaction substantially reduces competition, adding it is meeting representatives of Grab and Uber on Monday.

Should anti-competitive concerns arise, Uber and Grab may propose commitments to remedy. In the event they will not submit voluntarily, the commission could open a case that may block the deal, it said.

Malaysia also said on Monday that it will monitor Grab for possible anti-competitive behaviour.

"We won't take it lightly. We will monitor this because it is still early days and we don't know what will happen next," said government minister Nancy Shukri, whose portfolio oversees the public transport licensing authority.

"We have stressed that if there is any anti-competitive behaviour, the Competition Act will come into force. We have spelt this out to them," Nancy said, referring to a meeting with Grab representatives last Monday.

In Indonesia, the anti-monopoly agency said it can't say yet whether they will investigate the deal, as there are 30 days after the deal is finalised to assess it.

ASSURANCES ON PRICING

Uber and Grab announced the deal a week ago, marking the U.S. company's second retreat from an Asian market. It earlier sold off its operations in China.

Nancy said Grab, which is valued at about $6 billion, had offered assurances during their meeting that there would be no unfair pricing, nor would it increase its fares for now.

After a costly market share battle in Southeast Asia, where Uber has invested $700 million, its move to exit the region is widely expected to give the U.S. firm more firepower to focus on other markets including India.

But competition in the region is set to grow again, as Indonesia's Go-Jek plans to launch its first expansion to another country in the region in coming weeks, according to an internal company email seen by Reuters.

Singapore's Straits Times reported on Monday Go-Jek plans to launch its services in Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Johannes Bernabe, PCC commissioner, told Reuters that Manila is processing at least three applications for ride-sharing services. It also caps the number of ride-sharing vehicles to 65,000 across all brands and reviews them every three months.

"This is a normal regulatory step in a deal of this size as part of Grab's overall strategy to cooperate with interested regulators," said Grab, which operates in 195 cities in eight Southeast Asian countries.

"We believe that the acquisition will add to, among others, the vibrant and competitive ride-hailing, delivery and transportation spaces, and does not lessen competition," it said.

Grab said it did not intend to increase its base fares.
The Tourism Ministry participated in last weeks Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM) 2018, an event held at the Hanoi International Center for Exhibition from Thursday to Sunday.

The move was part of its efforts to promote the Wonderful Indonesia brand abroad, as well as to reach the targeted 20 million foreign tourists by 2019.

VITM is a business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) event allowing participants to sell package tours directly to consumers or engage in cooperation with tourism players from Vietnam or other countries.

The ministry reportedly brought seven tourism companies from Yogyakarta and Bali to the event, including travel agents and hoteliers. It also promoted Yogyakarta, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara by providing information on these destinations and ready-to-sell products and tourism packages for foreign tourists.

Read also: Bali records spike in Russian, Malaysian tourists

Aside from business activities, the Indonesian booth at VITM 2018 also offered tourism information services, coffee and a refreshment corner, 360-degree virtual reality video, a batik corner, games and gift redemption.

According to a statement received by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, the ministry also conducted a Lake Toba sales event at the Apricot Hotel in Hanoi on Monday, where it collaborated with 10 travel agents, hoteliers and 20 Vietnamese outbound buyers.

"The VITM and sales mission in Hanoi served as an opportunity to promote our priority tourist destinations, such as Lake Toba, as well as the Wonderful Indonesia calendar of events 2018, which includes the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta and Palembang," said the ministry's assistant undersecretary for Marketing Development Region I, Masruroh, in the statement. (kes)
The citys new nightlife mayor, Ariel Palitz, faces skepticism from some locals in the East Village/Lower East Side, while others are convinced shes the right woman for the job. [The Village Voice]

Target is opening three more small-format stores in New York City, similar to the 22,000 square foot store it will soon debut at Essex Crossing. [CNBC]

The real estate industry really doesnt care for the idea of a tax on property owners who leave their storefronts empty. The mayor expressed support for a vacancy tax during a recent radio interview. [Commercial Observer]

The founder of the Italian American Museum talks about the institutions future. Last year, the museum sold its building to real estate developers, who plan a residential project, with exhibition space on the ground floor. [Crains]

John Zorn talks about The Stones last days on Avenue C. [Artforum]

RIP Gino DiGirolamo, East Village tailor for more than 50 years. [EV Grieve]
Earlier this year, Mayor de Blasio announced a crackdown on e-bikes, which he said pose a safety threat to pedestrians. There was a backlash among many delivery workers, who depend on the motorized bicycles. Today the mayor announced a compromise, as part of the citys rule-making process

According to a press release from his office, The new rule will recognize that pedal-assist bicycles are permissible, whereas throttle e-bikes, capable of travel at speeds over 20 MPH, cannot be legally operated on City streets under State law. You can read more about the process here.

Recently, reporter Anurag Papolu spoke with a delivery man in Chinatown and an e-bike store owner as part of our Lower East Side Voices video series. The series is a collaboration with CUNY Journalism Schools NY City News Service.
If youre not feeling sufficiently panicky about the L train shutdown coming our way next year, the New York Times chimes in today with a scary story.

The piece notes that, a large swath of Lower Manhattan will face a deluge and seventy buses an hour will stream across the Williamsburg Bridge and pour into the neighborhoods of Chinatown and SoHo, where narrow streets will have to accommodate three new bus routes.

In December, we first reported the unwelcome news about all of those buses flooding Delancey Street and surrounding blocks. During a City Council hearing, local rep Margaret Chin seemed a little shocked upon hearing about the citys plan. The Times reports today:

The buses will pour onto Delancey Street, splitting into three routes, including two that will loop through SoHo. Many of the buses will funnel from the bridge onto Kenmare Street, a single-lane road, before turning at the elbow where it meets Cleveland Place.

Councilmember Chin told the Times,It might look all right on a computer simulation. But in real life, I just cant imagine it We just cant even imagine what havoc it is going to be.

Chin and many others are also worried about the impact of ride sharing services, which will surely become even more popular when the 15-month shutdown begins in the spring of 2019.

You can read the full article here.
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Remember that classic Easter tale of digging for dildos in the dirt? No!

Regardless, thats exactly what happens in the French-speaking Belgian region of Wepion near Wallonia. On 8th April 4,000 participants, geared-up with wellies and spades, will get down and dirty to dig for 800 buried sex toys!

Its mainly for women, but 200 men can join in if they agree to dress for the occasion.





Smut and hyperbole aside the day does have a serious side. It donates profits to charities supporting womens health including breast cancer awareness charity Think Pink and the ASBL association in Belgium. Theres also zumba lessons, pole dancing, twerk workshops, trampolines and free wellbeing sessions for those who dont just want to dig around in the mud for a new phallic friend.

Its a new type of Easter get away for women to find a different type of Easter Rabbit!

It is also exactly the kind of event youd find in Wallonia, a place with villages named Silly, Bra, Ham and Dance and surrealism seems to be a way of life. Less than two hours away from Calais this is a strange gem of a place well worth a visit.

Find out more:

www.softlove.be/fr/chasse-aux-sextoys

http://walloniabelgiumtourism.co.uk/
Non-True Believers need not apply

Source: This August... Extermination

It looks like mutantkind is up for extermination again, but this time its serious! Back in 2013 the X-titles experienced the X-Termination event crossover. This time around Marvel is teasing Extermination, fully spelling out the word! The teaser image shows the time-displaced X-Men (the X-Men: Blue team) being exterminated?

Will it involve the Exterminators again? Or maybe even the X-Teminators? Who knows, the information Marvel put out was pretty skimpy. They did reveal the creative team of Ed Brisson (writer), Pepe Larraz (art), and Mark Brooks (cover). A promotional image for the comic also provided the tagline "Exterminate the past. Eliminate the future." and an August 2018 launch.

Marvel promised that more information would be revealed at C2E2 this weekend. Even that though has an asterisk, since the True Believer panel that the reveal takes place in requires a "Marvel Mastercard or Marvel Mastercard invitation, current Marvel Unlimited Plus membership or emailed RSVP confirmation for entry".

We'll just check the web for info then

Extermination #1 promotional image by Mark Brooks
One of the much-heralded acts of justice injected into the renegotiated concession agreements of Mittal Steel Liberia and Firestone Liberia was the replacement of discretionary pricing by the concessionaires with prevailing global/international market prices for our natural resources. This provision is supposed to correct the ills of transfer pricing and give Liberia a fair price for the natural resources being exported from Liberia. Following that revision, all other concessions negotiated stipulate prevailing global/international market prices for our resources. This is considered best practice and deemed fair for both the concessionaires and the host country. In fact, Global Witness praised the Mittal revision and urged Firestone to follow suit. Immediately after assuming office in 2006, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had requested assistance from Ivy League lawyers from the USA to review the concession agreements so that Liberia could derive greater economic returns from its natural resources.



In a recent dissertation submitted as final requirement for a Master of Law (LLM) degree in International Commercial Law, I reviewed the standard terms or provisions of concession agreements in Liberia, and identified a number of bad clauses or terms that I argued are responsible for a significant proportion of the annual illicit financial flows adversely affecting Liberia (and a number of poor countries in the world). One of such terms is the requirement for prevailing global market prices to be used for our natural resources. Global Financial Integrity (GFI) estimates that Liberia is losing around US$900 million a year through illicit financial flows. GFI doesnt identify prevailing market prices as a culprit, but my Economic, Accounting, Tax and Auditing background enables me to see a little more than the ordinary law student, giving me a broader perspective that most people with narrow specializations are likely to miss.



So heres my case. Transfer pricing is criticized because it is that price that related companies use when they transact among themselves. A company is related when it is associated with another either through common control or ownership. The idea is that related companies are not likely to set objective market competitive prices when they transact with each other or among themselves. To correct mispricing however and ensure arms length transactions, prevailing market prices are used to ensure fairness and transparency in transfer pricing. This is the norm. This is the standard. And this is what we now have in our concession agreements. And yet, our concessions are not meeting our socio-political and economic objectives.



The thrust of my argument, however, is in prevailing market prices. (1) How are prevailing market prices determined? (2) Who determines prevailing market prices? (3) Are prevailing market prices susceptible to manipulation by our concessionaires?

1. My background in Economics teaches me that market prices are determined by the forces of supply and demand. The supply and demand curves are a function of quantity and price. The higher the quantity, the lower the price; the lower the quantity, the higher the price. Equilibrium price (and equilibrium quantity), which becomes the market price, is that price at which the supply curve intersects with the demand curve. This is the minimum price that suppliers will accept for a certain quantity of their goods; and the maximum price that buyers will pay for that same quantity of goods. In Liberia, however, the only constraint on supply is productive capacity. Concessionaires aim to increase export at all times, whether prices are low or not. 2. It is the sellers (they supply) and the buyers (they demand) who determine market prices. If the sellers dont supply the goods because they do not like the prices being offered for their goods, there will be scarcity. When goods are scarce, and buyers must have them, then buyers offer more money for the scarce goods, which can lead to increases in supply at the attractive prices being offered. In other words, the more buyers are willing to pay, the more sellers are willing to supply. Who sell our natural resources? The concessionaires. Who buy our resources? The same concessionaires.

3. Our concessionaires are all increasing production and exportation of our natural resources when prevailing market prices are falling. All the Central Bank/MFDP reports and the IMF/World Bank economic outlook reports blame lower GDP growth on falling market prices for our exports, which are predominantly our natural resources. Budget shortfalls are reportedly a direct consequence of these falling market prices. Why are concessionaires happy with falling market prices and therefore exporting or supplying more of our natural resources in the face of lower prices? The answer is simple and obvious: the concessionaires play the dual role of sellers and buyers, the one and same entity, which therefore cares less about what the prevailing market prices are for raw materials. Had it been finished products whose prices were falling, then they would care, because their finished products are sold to the world, not to themselves. Firestone would care if the price of tires fell because tires are not sold to Firestone, but to the world. ArcelorMittal would care if the price of steel fell. Etc., etc. Nobody wants to do business to make losses, so they would scale back production during periods of falling prices to reduce their losses.

ArcelorMittal Liberia sells to ArcelorMittal India. China Union Liberia sells to China Union China. Sime Darby Liberia sells to Sime Darby Malaysia. Firestone Liberia sells to Firestone USA. Etc., etc., etc. There is, therefore, no real buying and selling, but a simple extraction of natural resources in Liberia for shipping to their operations abroad. Why then would they want to set market prices high? Prices of natural resources are controlled and determined by the concessionaires. Prevailing market prices are therefore the prices that these concessionaires communicate to the world.

Liberia gains nothing by continuing to allow its natural resources, most of which are depletable, to be exported almost free of charge. The agreements should, therefore, stipulate that prices of our natural resources would be a factor of the prices of the finished products that our concessionaires sell to the world. There should be some kind of direct relationship between prices of our natural resources and prices of the finished products. As long as prices for steel are going up, prices of iron ore should also be going up. If tire prices are going up, our natural rubber price should also be going up. Extraction and exportation of our natural resources should be scaled back when prices are falling and unfavorable.



This is one of my arguments in my dissertation, which focuses on the revenue side of the equilibrium- transfer pricing and prevailing global market price. My next article will look at another argument proffered, that looks at cost- transfer cost and trade misinvoicing.



The author is a Liberian and the CEO/Senior Partner of Gedei & Associates. He holds an MSc and a PhD in Economics, is a Liberian CPA and a Fellow of the ACCA-UK, a Certified Internal Auditor, and now a candidate for the LLM in International Commercial Law. He can be contacted at yuahcollins@yahoo.com and Cell (+231) 776641184 / 886641187
Central Bank of Liberia

Governors of the Central Bank of Liberia (whose fees increased by109% in 2016) among many failures committed two distinct failures at the CBL from 2013 through 2016:

KPMG Audit Firm reported in the 2017 Forensic Audit that CBL governors allowed First International Bank of Liberia Limited (FIBLL), from 2013 through 2016, to illegally fund its operations and customers obligations with depositors funds and overdraft from CBL, resulting into the loss of US $17M;



CBL governors excluded US $ 17M expense (CBL cash given to FIBLLs clients), from the 2016 profit/(loss), but included questionable revenue of US $42M (unwinding discount of element of credit impairment on GOL loan (US $13M and exchange difference on transaction to presentation of currency of US $ 29M).

The question is not only how and why the Governors violated the laws, but why former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Liberias economic adviser, looked the other way. In fact, the IMF added, in its November 13, 2017, IMF Report that, Good progress has been made in fiscal reforms, meaning Liberian bureaucrats were prudent managers. Well, this old adage that says, Rules are meant to be broken might help you understand why the former President and, or the IMF did not take seriously the violations. However, unlike the inexperienced rule breaker, the master rule-breaker breaks the rules to get something done good or bad, according to Mr. Dustin Wax.

A rule breaker, in addition to kickbacks, can also get a reward from society or third party. For instance, many years ago, voters perceived rule-breaker-candidates as efficient than those candidates who did not break the rule. Recently, the former President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama rehired chief executives who caused the 2008 financial debacle. In response to many Americans who wanted the violators to be punished for causing the 2008 financial debacle, he argued that those who spoiled it know how best to fix it. So, will Liberias populist President yield to the call by voters to punish those who violated the laws, including FIBLL?

FIBLL used customers deposit to cash a check of another client with less money (i.e., a Ponzi type operation), and CBL governors cashed checks of clients of FIBLL who had minuscule or zero deposits (i.e., a bank overdraft privilege). CBL governors failures to mitigate these violations resulted in $17M loss, according to KPMG. But, the $17M loss was not the only misappropriation during former President Sirleaf era. Just to name a few; Liberian National Oil Company spent US $138M; 2) Government spent $80M outside of the Liberian National Budget; 3) Government spent $31M for Executive Manson renovation, without result; 4) Officials siphoned US $30M, donated to Liberia to finance a rice project in Lofa County; 5) Investors interested in Block # 13 and Wologizi Mountain bribed officials to write fraudulent laws, according to Global Witness.

President Weah is new to many of these corrupt issues, but what is about the IMF, an institution that can deny or approve Liberias loan requests submitted to the World Bank (W/B), a related party? Instead of instituting some measures such as withholding funds away from its client (i.e., the Liberian government) in order to encourage bureaucrats to peruse prudent management, the IMF commended Liberian officials as per the November 13, 2017, IMF Report 17/348.

IMF wrote Good progress has been made in fiscal reforms, particularly in public financial management (PFM) (MEFP 3234, and 37). First, the authorities renewed their public financial management (PFM) reform strategy and action plan in July 2017 for a further three years. The new strategy focuses on areas identified by technical assistance and in past program reviews as needing improvement in cash management, expenditure control, public investment management, budget formulation, fiscal transparency and governance, and state-owned.

Let us review some of the findings within KPMG for a better understanding. KGPMs findings: Item # 4 (Insolvency). In accordance with the new financial institution Act of 1999, at Section 2(22), FIBLL became insolvent in 2013. FIBLL funded its operational activities and financial obligations by utilizing customer deposits and CBLs overdraft KGMPs findings: Item # 5 (Fraud, theft, and irregular payments-potential entity level fraud). Section 32 of 1999 Act states, It shall be unlawful for any financial institution to receive any deposit while insolvent or for a member of the board or other officers or employee who knows or in the proper performance of his duty, should know of such insolvency to authorize the acceptance of such deposits.

What were the financial and management activities from 2013 through 2016 at the CBL that the IMF considered to be good progress? To answer such a question, we should try to understand the ultimate objective of the IMF. Is the objective of the IMF to help poor countries as proponents of the IMF have and continue to propagate since 1943? Or is the objective of the IMF to create economic conditions for poor countries to borrow more money from the WB, and in return pay more interest? Well, a country will need money when bureaucrats break laws and, or accept bribes in exchange for favors awarded to an entity such as FIBLL. Additionally, poor countries need to replace lost revenue when, for example, International Finance Company (IFC), a subsidiary of the WB, takes revenue away from Liberia because it invests in gold in Cape Mount County.



CBL governors, former President Sirleaf, and IMF were aware or should have been aware since 2013 that FIBLL and CBL governors violated Section 2(22) and section 32 of the 1999 Act. But as Mr. Wax stated, the master rule breaker has a different reason (i.e., good or bad) than the original objective for which the laws were intended to shield. The WB would not make a huge profit from its lending business, if bureaucrats were not violating laws or if Liberia, and not IFC, had invested in the gold mine in Cape Mount. Instituting Botswanas economic type of policy would allow the government to play a role in managing its resources. Alternatively, nowadays, WB encourages poor countries to write fraudulent agreements, which enable profiteers to reduce government revenue. It was what Liberia did, according to Robert Sirleaf, son of former President Sirleaf. However, he stated, it was the W/B that wrote the amended law. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmGJQo419Y)

SOURCES:



1) KPMG Forensic Audit Conducted in 2017 (https://cbl.org.lr/doc/StatementCBLBoard_ForensicInvestigation-FIBLL.pdf)

2) November 13, 2017, Report: IMF Country Report No. 17/348

3) 2015: (https://cbl.org.lr/doc/financial%20statement.pdf)

4) 2016: (https://www.cbl.org.lr/doc/f_statement_2016.pdf)

5) Unwinding discount of the element of credit impairment on GOL loan (US $13M

(IFRS)- Reversal of impairment losses on receivables, loans, and held-to-maturity and available-for-sale debt securities is required provided certain criteria are met. The reversal is recognized in profit or loss (IAS 39.65 and .70). ( GAAP)- Reductions of valuation allowances related to receivables and loans are recognized in the income statement. Reversals of impairment losses on held-to-maturity and available-for-sale debt securities are prohibited

(ASC 320-10-35-34).

6) Exchange difference on transaction to presentation of currency of US $ 29M
Milbank Area, De Smet get homecoming wins, top Week 6's list of top football performers

Homecoming wins are a big deal and thats why two area teams that capped a week of festivities with victories  Milbank Area and top-rated Class 9A De Smet  head the Public Opinions Week 6 list of top area football performers.
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 5:14 am

Student artists throughout Southwest Washington were recently recognized for their outstanding artwork at the 2018 Southwest Washington Regional High School Art Show, hosted by Educational Service District 112.

Now in its 45th year, the art show is one of the few opportunities for area art students to receive recognition and exposure for their work. The art show received 239 entries this year from high school students from throughout the six-county region of Southwest Washington.

Seventeen pieces received Regional Awards and will compete against entries from around Washington state in the Annual State Superintendent of Public Instruction Art Show in Olympia this month.

Several student artists received scholarship awards from Central Washington University and the Oregon College of Art and Craft.

The following North County student artists received awards:

Regional Awards

These works received the highest average score and are among 17 pieces that will represent the Southwest region in the Annual State Superintendent of Public Instruction Art Show. The number of regional winners is determined by the total number of pieces in the regional show.

 Kylie Smithline, Flower Pots  Battle Ground High School

 Tam Tran, Portrait  Prairie High School

 Liam McAllister, The Dead Are Not Expressionless  Ridgefield High School

 Tanner Davisson, White Desert Floor  Battle Ground High School

 Elizabeth Gushtyuk, Sleep  Prairie High School

 Taelor Adderly, When the Sun Sets  Ridgefield High School

 Daniel Gomez Figueiredo, Frets  Woodland High School

ESD 112 Merry Cammack Staff Choice Award

Named for a former educator and Art Show volunteer, this award is chosen by the staff at ESD 112. The winning piece is purchased for permanent display in the ESD building.

 Madeline Knight, Color Fields  Prairie High School

ESD 112 Awards

These 20 pieces were rated very highly by the judges in the four judging categories (originality, composition, emotion, and technique).

 Abigail Walden, Gwen & Me  Hockinson High School

 Kayley Autrey, Hangman  Woodland High School

 Chalize Matson, Molded Form  Battle Ground High School

 Brynne Barker, Kiwi In The Grass  Hockinson High School

 Kelston Hubler, Central Sea Condo  Hockinson High School

 Luke Haunreiter, Delta Hen  Hockinson High School

 Bailey Resleff, Dove  Hockinson High School

 Elizabeth Gushtyuk, James  Prairie High School

 Arina Blagikh, Highlights of Life  Ridgefield High School

 Katherine Gamblin, Indian Mesa Pot  Battle Ground High School

Scholarship Awards

Scholarships are chosen by college representatives. Students may be eligible for additional scholarships after successfully applying for admission.

Central Washington University

 Kylie Smithline, Battle Ground High School  $1,000

 Taelor Adderly, Ridgefield High School  $1,000

 Daniel Gomez Figueiredo, Woodland High School  $1,000

 Chloe Nielson, Prairie High School  $1,000

 Bailey Resleff, Hockinson High School  $2,000

Oregon College of Art and Craft

 Cody Hughes, Battle Ground High School  $3,000

 Elizabeth Gushtyuk, Prairie High School  $3,000

 Bailey Resleff, Hockinson High School  $3,000

 Taelor Adderly, Ridgefield High School  $3,000

 Brynne Barker, Hockinson High School  $3,000

Oregon College of Art and Craft Special recognition (non-scholarship awards for grades 9-11)

 Luke Haunreiter, Hockinson High School

 Tanner Davisson, Battle Ground High School

 Source: Educational

Service District 112
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 5:35 am

A crash in Mendocino County, California that left at least five Woodland residents dead may have been intentional according to data retrieved by the California Highway Patrol, the law enforcement agency revealed in a press conference Sunday evening.

According to information from the press conference covered by several regional media outlets, data recovered from software on the SUV that fell into the Pacific Ocean showed it had stopped about 70 feet from the edge of a highway pullout before accelerating forward and plunging off the cliff.

Highway Patrol reported that when recovered, the SUV had its speedometer pinned at 90 miles per hour, though officers declined to say, for certain, if that was the speed the vehicle was moving on impact.

The March 26 crash left at least Jen and Sarah Hart, both 38, as well as children Markis, Abigail and Jeremiah Hart dead. Other children Devonte, Hannah and Sierra were still missing as of the press conference.

Though the Harts were initially reported as being from West Linn, Oregon, according to Geographic Information Systems data the Harts purchased a house in Clark County with a Woodland postal code in May 2017.

On March 27, the day after the crash, Woodland mayor Will Finn issued a statement.

Although this family lived outside of City limits of Woodland, many in our small community will be affected by this tragedy, Finn wrote, asking for residents to keep the friends, family, and community in their prayers.

Prior to the crash, the Hart family was under scrutiny by Child Protective Services, neighbors told Fox 12 Oregon last week.

Fox 12 Oregon reported the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services confirmed a case opened on the family days before the crash with caseworkers attempting to contact the residence three times.
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 5:22 am

Washington State University Vancouver is looking to update its campus master plan for the first time in more than a decade with possibilities of a new fitness center, a student union, and residential undergraduate housing.

Those possibilities were some of what was discussed in the second of three open houses put on by the university to inform the public and gather comment as it moves forward.

Leading the presentation were Nolan Lienhart and Paddy Tillett of ZGF, an architectural firm working for the university on the project.

Lienhart said that in the time since the last update made in 2007, new needs for the campus have emerged which was expected, with this new update looking to address those new requirements.

The process of updating the master plan began in January with the first open house on Feb. 5. Lienhart gave a recap of that open house where 50 to 60 people were estimated to attend, the vast majority of those providing comment being frequent visitors to the campus, student, faculty or otherwise.

Several of the comments from the previous open house were highlighted, including maintaining open communications and paying attention to the impact the campus has on surrounding residences. Tillett noted there was a good deal of comment regarding ways in which the university and the community can work more cooperatively in the future.

A few comments focused on better food service as well as student housing, two things slated to be addressed in this plan update.

Plans looked at during the open house all featured a 300-person residence hall, a student union/dining services building and a new or updated fitness center. The main difference between the plans would be where those new developments were located.

Option A would have the buildings and an informal field on the northeast side of the existing campus. The two proposals under Option B had the new buildings going in on the opposite side of the campus from Option A and would expand the current fitness facilities instead of building a new building. A new playing field would be constructed as well, with one plan having it to the southwest of the campus Mount St. Helens viewing axis while the other would be to the east.

The third variant of Option B would have the student union and food services building aligned along the east-west Mount Hood view corridor as opposed to the Mount St. Helens axis.

Finally, the proposed layouts in Option C would have the new buildings aligned along the Mount Hood corridor, with the residence hall and informal field to the east of existing campus buildings. A variant would move the planned student union along the Mount St. Helens corridor. In both cases the fitness center would be expanded, not a new facility built.

Following the open house, those working on the master plan would whittle the possibilities down to one based on comment received, with a draft master plan to be unveiled during a third open house from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. April 23 at the Dengerink Administration Building.

Digital copies of exhibits from the open houses can be found at admin.vancouver.wsu.edu/capital-planning-and-development/master-plan. Those who wish to submit public comment may do so at events.vancouver.wsu.edu/master-plan-public-comment-form.
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 5:29 am

Taxes, tolls and gun control featured heavily in a telephone town hall hosted by U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, Wednesday as the lawmaker touted the benefits of recent tax reform while remaining adamant against tolling schemes on interstate roads over the Columbia River.

Aside from talking about key issues she had identified within Congress, 10 of her constituents also voiced concerns and asked questions of the 3rd Congressional District lawmaker.

Tolling Over the Columbia River

Herrera Beutler gave an update on her efforts to keep Oregon from initiating tolls on Interstate 5 and Interstate 205. She made it clear she was against any tolling, calling it a scheme that would provide zero benefit to Washington commuters.

She was referring to 2017 legislation Oregons state lawmaking body passed that included a look at value pricing along the corridors, looking specifically at the stretch of the two highways from the Columbia River to their junction south of Portland.

Although the potential charges are unknown, Herrera Beutler said that Oregon officials have no plans to add lanes or to add throughput capacity, build new bridges or invest infrastructure that Washingtonians will use.

Theyre not talking about funding a fix for the Columbia River bridge, they are just talking about tolling for the sake of tolling, Herrera Beutler said, adding what she had heard from a spokesman from Oregon who explained the toll was designed to change traffic behavior, having individuals commute outside of peak times in order to avoid tolls.

That thread of logic seemed to break down based on a poll conducted during the town hall. The vast majority of respondents  208 individuals and 74 percent of the total  said they could not change their work hours to accommodate.

If youre a working person, you dont necessarily get to tell your boss that you are going to show up at a different time of day, Herrera Beutler said.

The first caller, Carl from Ridgefield, asked specifically what authority Oregon had to put tolls on federal highways.

Oregon can move forward with this (proposal) unless we change the law, Herrera Beutler said, explaining what she had gleaned from talks with federal officials on the matter. She added that the Secretary of Transportation would have to approve whatever Oregon proposed as long as the state met certain criteria in its proposal.

Herrera Beutler mentioned an attempt she had made with legislation prohibiting the proposed tolling from going through. The law did not make it through the Senate in an omnibus spending bill.

In order to stop this, I desperately need both our governor and our senators to step up and help me fight this plan, Herrera Beutler said.

Tax Cuts: Not Just Crumbs

As in past telephone town halls this year, Herrera Beutler touched on the benefits the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act passed last year has had on Washingtonians. She gave some examples of constituents benefitting, mentioning one who received a bonus and raise as a result of the legislation and another who said the cut made all the difference allowing for some life improvements.

Herrera Beutler also mentioned a businessman in Vancouver who was able to make more investments in his three businesses as a result of deductions that are now allowed.

Herrera Beutler took issue with politicians calling what the majority of people will receive as a result of the legislation as crumbs, adding that $1,000 bonuses were significant impacts. For more direct impacts to taxpayers, she mentioned that the average family of four in Southwest Washington would save $2,300 as a result of the bill.

Tina from Woodland, a stay-at-home mother, asked how the tax legislation would benefit individuals in her situation. Herrera Beutler, mentioning that she herself was raised as one of six siblings by a stay-at-home mother, spoke of a $5,000 deduction for childcare available to anybody regardless of employment status.

Herrera Beutler also touched on other aspects of the legislation, explaining that it doubled the standard deduction and nearly doubled the child tax credit.

There is a number of things that we did aimed at helping the family, Herrera Beutler said.

Gun Control

Regarding gun control, a topic with renewed focus following a deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Feb. 14, callers both for and against stricter laws around firearms voiced opinions and asked for commitments from the lawmaker.

Rachel from Vancouver challenged Herrera Beutler on an often-cited figure of $95,000 in total contributions from the National Rifle Association, something the lawmaker refuted and Federal Elections Commission data showed to be incorrect as well. (The commissions website lists a total of $10,450 from the associations Political Action Committee during all of her years of campaigning.)

I so believe that this conversation around school violence is being hijacked by people  I dont mean students, I dont mean educators, I mean politicians who are interested in making a political point about gun control, quite frankly, Herrera Beutler said.

She said recently she had a phone conference with school district and law enforcement administrators across Southwest Washington to identify steps to stop the horrific, violent outbreaks.

She said the consensus among those individuals was not for banning guns, but on engagement, through funding for mental health counseling and school resource officers who are stationed at buildings.

Herrera Beutler stressed that the message from the administrators was focusing on the mindset of the young people coming into our school system right now, adding that in the last two weeks she has voted for increased funding for grants providing wraparound services including mental health and law enforcement resources as well as for community policing initiatives, drug courts and suicide prevention.

Another point to dealing with gun violence Herrera Beutler mentioned was adequately funding what was already in place, such as the federal background check system. She mentioned how the prior week Congress had passed robust funding for the program as well as penalties for agencies that dont use the reporting system.

Im not afraid of taking problems on within the system, Herrera Beutler said. I just want to make sure that what we do actually works, that its not a Band-Aid, political answer.

A caller named Andrea railed against tighter gun laws, speaking as a veteran and gun owner. Herrera Beutler reiterated that she wanted to make sure those who were barred from firearms under current law should be the focus, not putting a clamp on access for those playing by the rules.

Law-abiding folks are not the ones I am worried about, quite frankly, Herrera Beutler said. She recounted an incident in college when she and her roommates were helpless to defend themselves against an attempted burglary as proof positive in her mind of the necessity of the Second Amendment.

We didnt think we needed it until someone started breaking into our house, Herrera Beutler said. You will never convince me that we need to give up the right to protect ourselves and our families.

Herrera Beutler has one more telephone town hall event on her schedule.

The April 4 event will run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Residents can sign up to receive a call when the event starts by visiting herrerabeutler.house.gov/forms/form/?ID=3247 or calling 360-695-6292. Participants can also call into the town hall at any point by calling 1-877-229-8493 and entering the passcode 116365.
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 5:36 am

Ask now-former Ridgefield Mayor Ron Onslow about the decision to step down from the post as head of the city and he would be quick to correct your wording.

I am not stepping down; I am transitioning, Onslow said during a State of the City address hosted at Ridgefield High School on March 29. He explained that with the numerous appointments he has as a city representative in regional and statewide boards and commissions, including sitting as chair of both the Discovery Clean Water Alliance and Regional Transportation Council of Southwest Washington as well as a statewide post on the board of the Association of Washington Cities, he would be unable to take on many of the responsibilities of the head of the city.

I do this for Ridgefield, Onslow, the 10-year mayor said, adding a dismissal of claims he was seeking any other public office. Hell remain on council following his election last year, but in his place will be Don Stose, a fellow councilor whose willingness to work for the city was lauded by the outgoing mayor.

Yes I can, thats his mantra, Onslow said about Stose. Prior to the former mayor giving the stage to the new head of the city, Onslow touched on some of the accomplishments he saw the city have in his decade of tenure.

A few more recent developments Onslow mentioned specifically, such as the addition of the Vancouver Clinic to the city, as a facility is planned for the corner of Pioneer and South 56th Place and is slated to open in fall of
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 5:23 am

Last week Clark County officially filed a federal lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers that make and sell opioids.

The Clark County Board of County Councilors voted unanimously in late February to retain Seattle-based law firm Keller Rohrback for the purpose of the civil lawsuit, which aims to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable for its alleged part in the national opioid crisis.

The move puts Clark County in line with eight other Washington cities and counties, who also have suits led by Keller Rohrback.

The increased use of opioids over the last 20 years has had a devastating effect on our community, said Marc Boldt, Clark County Council Chair, in a news release. Its time to hold these drug companies accountable and take steps to reverse this disturbing trend.

The goal of the suit is to recoup costs associated with hard opioid addiction, county officials said in February. The law firm will be paid only if Clark County recovers damages in a settlement or at trial.

The lawsuit contends the drug manufacturers contributed to the opioid crisis by deliberately providing false and misleading information to doctors and patients about the safety of prescription opioids, county staff said in the news release.

According to the news release, over the last two years opioid use has led to more deaths in the county than traffic collisions; there were 91 opioid-related deaths not involving heroin between 2014 and 2017; and the Clark County Sheriffs office estimates that it has spent over $5.5 million fighting the crisis over the last three years.

During discussions around the crisis in February, Clark County Undersheriff Mike Cooke offered perspective on Clark Countys drug crisis when he said that in no uncertain terms the opioid epidemic has been devastating to many citizens in Clark County, and has been a burden to the Sheriffs Office and social services.

A significant contributor to this epidemic has been the intentional and deceptive practices of pharma companies who produce and market opiate-based medication, he said.

The crisis Clark County faces is reflected nationally.

According to the county, the rate of prescriptions for opiates has multiplied by nearly four fold since 1991, going from 76 million to 289 million in 2016.
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 5:25 am

High school students in Washingtons 3rd District can compete to have their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, announced Wednesday.

The Congressional Art Competition takes a piece of art from each representatives district to line the tunnel between the Capitol and the House office buildings. Winners also receive airfare to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The contest accepts two-dimensional art such as drawings, paintings or photographs. Full rules and regulations can be obtained from Chelsea Burunov at chelsea.burunov@mail.house.gov. Submissions should be sent to jhb.cac@gmail.com via a photo and student release form. The deadline for entry is April 18.
Deontay Wilder is ready to fight Anthony Joshua in the UK this northern summer to decide the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, according to his co- manager.

Joshua was quick to call out Wilder after defeating New Zealand's Joseph Parker on Saturday to add the WBO title to his own IBF and WBA belts.

Wilder's co-manager Shelly Finkel has responded to the challenge, saying the American fighter's team are prepared to begin immediate negotiations over a unification contest.

"We are really glad that Anthony Joshua said for the first time, 'I will fight Deontay next ...' and we believe he is a man of his word. Deontay accepts the challenge," Finkel told London's Daily Telegraph.

"We want to make it public that Deontay wants the fight, and we are prepared to come over, or meet here and get the deal done.

"Deontay is ready to sign and come to the UK to fight this summer."

Only WBC champion Wilder, who is undefeated in 40 contests, stands in the way of the Briton unifying all the division's belts for the first time in history.

Finkel, who co-manages Wilder with Al Haymon, said he will contact Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn this week.

Hearn said on Sunday morning that there was a small window of opportunity before Joshua must defend three other belts against mandatory challengers.

Finkel, who has the authority to get the contest signed from the Wilder side, responded: "We're ready. Let's do it. Unification fights always trump mandatories.

"A unification between Wilder and Joshua would push the mandatories back.

"Assuming it will be Wembley Stadium in the summer, we are ready, and if they are ready as they say they are, we want to get it done.

"We want the fight, they want the fight, the public wants the fight.

"There is nothing to stop it going ahead."

Finkel confirmed that talks had taken place with both Eddie and Barry Hearn last year during which the prospect of two fights, one in the UK and one in the United States, were discussed.

"That was in November, we were told they would get back with a P and L (statement), with the numbers, but we never heard back from them again," Finkel added.

Source: Newshub
Dire Straits are performing at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction next with but without frontman - Mark Knopfler, who isn't attending the ceremony.

Keyboardist, Alan Clark shared the band's plans for the big night on his website, explaining that "there's a lot of conjecture on forums about whether the band is performing at the Hall of Fame, and if not why not and who in the band are going to the ceremony. Well, here it is and it's official: Myself, Guy Fletcher and John Illsley will attend the ceremony, where we'll be be performing an unplugged version of 'Telegraph Road' with me on harmonium, Guy on ukulele, John on banjo, and the vocal performed by the three of us as a three part harmony."

Dire Straits formed in London in 1977 and split in 1995 and while it's unsure as to why Knopfler won't attend the ceremony, his brother David, who played with the band on its first two albums, said he won't be there either.

"In their wisdom, after promising to pay my expenses they reneged on their promise," David Knopler posted in response to a Facebook question. "I can well understand that with only $5 mil a year in sponsorships and 100k a table and no fees for the artist that paying my taxi to the airport must have given them heart murmurs like Squeers hearing Oliver Twist asking for more and frightened them into refusal otherwise one might get the wrong idea entirely about what they're all about."

Source: Ultimate Classic Rock
Organisation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR)

Position No.: 10028928

Vacancy Notice: 020/2018

Duty Station: Mbarara, Uganda

Post Grade: NOA

About UNHCR:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was

established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly.

UNHCRs mandate under the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees is to lead and co-ordinate action for international

protection to refugees; seek permanent solutions for the problems of refugees

and safeguard refugee rights and well-being. UNHCR has an additional mandate

concerning issues of statelessness, as it is given a designated role under

Article 11 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Job Summary: The Assistant Information Management Officer

will assist in the production and dissemination of information on the

population of concern, including but not limited to Protection and Programme

information. The incumbent will operationalize data standards developed at the

central level in field operations, will compile data and analyses information

from all populations of concern. S/he will support the Programme Team and UNHCR

implementing partners in the choice of indicators for monitoring to be included

in sub-agreements as well as the Protection Team in operationalizing protection

monitoring systems.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Operationalize country-specific

common data standards and promote them with partners, including UNHCR data

standards and the IASC Common Operational Datasets.

The incumbent will

compile, aggregrate and analyze data and information elements required to

produce standardized information products and implement data/information

collection plans for baseline and context-specific data.

Support the operation

in the analysis of processed data and information and perform data quality

and consistency control.

Facilitate the

analysis of cross-border information between relevant countries.

Assist in training

staff involved in information management activities, including data

collection and data entry teams.

Support and leverage

geographic data for map production and use in geographic information

systems (GIS).

Share UNHCR data with

partner agencies and maintain Portal data and information in-line with

agreed frequencies.

Provide technical

Information Management support to Needs Assessment processes, specifically

in data collection, processing/collation and analysis.

Perform other duties

as required.

Key Performance Indicators:

The Office delivers

reliable, accessible and user-friendly, relevant, predictable, appropriate

and timely information.

Global data standards,

and where appropriate, the establishment of country-specific common data

standards are adopted by UNHCR and its partners.









Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

The ideal candidate

for the United Nations UNHCR Assistant Information Management Officer

career opportunity should hold a good University degree in information

technology, demography, statistics, social sciences or any related area.

A minimum of two years

of relevant work experience.

Knowledge of the UN

system and the humanitarian community.

Proven skills to

analyse statistical information.

Advanced Excel skills

(e.g. pivot tables, functions, etc.).

Ability to formulate

IM-related technical requirements and Operating Procedures.

Previous experience

with handling confidential data and demonstrated understanding of different

data collection methodologies.

Excellent knowledge of

English and working knowledge of another UN language.

How to Apply:

All interested Ugandan nationals who wish to join the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the aforementioned capacity are

encouraged to click on the link below and follow the application instructions

after reviewing the job details.

Deadline: 4th April 2018
Job Title: Management Information

Systems Team Lead

Organisation: Social & Scientific Systems (SSS)

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Deputy Chief of

Party

About US:

Social & Scientific Systems (SSS) works to improve public health

worldwide by providing technical, research, and program management services to

government, nonprofit, and commercial clients. The SSS team offers a synergy of

expertise in clinical research services, epidemiology and public health

studies, health data management and analysis, and program evaluation and policy

analysis.

About USAID SITES Project:

The Strategic Information Technical Support (SITES) is project funded

by the United Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by

Social & Scientific Systems (SSS). SITES provides technical, management,

and logistical support necessary to increase evidence-based planning,

programming and management of Ugandas health sector, particularly its response

to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Tuberculosis, Family Health, Maternal and Child

Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Community, Supply Chain,

Human Resources for Health, and Malaria.

Job Summary: The Management

Information Systems Team Lead should have prior experience supporting various

health information systems in Africa/Uganda. In particular, SSS is seeking a

candidate to function as Team lead for Management Information Systems/Database

(MIS/DB) Expert component of its project to provide Strategic Information

Technical Support (SITES) to USAID in Uganda.

SITES project information systems are supported within SSS Health

Technology Solutions (HTS) Group. The position is fulltime in SSS office in

Kampala, Uganda. The MIS/Database

Management Expert will be responsible for supporting quality improvement in the

HMIS/DHIS 2, OVC MIS and any other relevant data flow systems.. S/he will be

accountable for ensuring accurate and timely data exchange into the PEPFAR/OGAC

system (DATIM)

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Works directly with the HTS VP, the Deputy

Chief of Party, and USAID staff.

Lead the MIS/DB SITES staff and

subcontractors to ensure coordination and collaboration for achieving

project deliverables.

Lead the overall systems integration and implementation,

develop a vision to build a decision support health information data

warehouse.

Lead development of conceptual and logical

database models to meet data integration, data warehouse & data

visualization goals.

Develop detailed system requirements &

design artifacts to guide the solution development team in building IT

systems to meet project goals.

Develop conceptual dashboard design that

incorporate various analytic visualization methodologies (drill down,

filters, maps etc.)

Directs activities related to new systems

development and modification of existing systems.

Lead collaboration meetings with internal

& external stakeholders, develop systems development release plans

adhering to SSS defined Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Train and mentor staff and external

partners on existing and new systems

Adherence to IT data security policies and

procedures to meet compliance

Performs other duties as required or

assigned.











Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:

The applicant for the USAID SITES Project

Management Information Systems Team Lead job placement must hold a

Bachelors degree in Computer Sciences or equivalent qualifications, with

eight (8) years of experience (in addition to the 4 years requirement

noted below), in IT, MIS, Database Management or related field; and

Four (4) years developing and/or managing

health information systems

Demonstrated knowledge of managing medical

records (specifically clinic registers and HMIS) and population based

surveys such as AIDS Indicator Survey (AIS) and Demographic and Health

Survey (DHS)

Must have experience with international

development activities in Africa, and with organizations such as USAID,

CDC, and Ministries of Health.

Familiarity with PEPFAR strategic

information reporting requirements, cycles and systems including DATIM,

DHIS 2 is highly preferred

Familiarity with PEPFAR indicators,

technical areas and interventions

Working experience in Uganda developing

and/or managing health information systems proficiency in key programming

languages and database management systems.

Prior hands-on experience in system

programming and managing complex IT Systems and user support/training

Ability to solve problems independently

Excellent communications and interpersonal

skills

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates should apply online at

the link below.
Organization:

Corps MercyCorps

Duty Station: Uganda

Reports to:

Manager ProgramManager

About Mercy Corps:



NGO that exists to alleviate poverty and oppression by helping people build

secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps has been fully registered

in Uganda as an operational NGO. Currently Mercy Corps has an office in Kampala

and is implementing Food Security programs which comprise of Water and

Sanitation, Livelihood and Agriculture and Conflict Mitigation Management

Program in North and North Eastern Uganda. We implement programs in the

northern districts of Pader, Kitgum, Agago, Lamwo, Kaabong, Abim and Kotido

with funding from USAID, USDA, Walmart Foundation, SDC, DFID as well as other

private donations. Mercy Corps is an InternationalNGO that exists to alleviate poverty and oppression by helping people buildsecure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps has been fully registeredin Uganda as an operational NGO. Currently Mercy Corps has an office in Kampalaand is implementing Food Security programs which comprise of Water andSanitation, Livelihood and Agriculture and Conflict Mitigation ManagementProgram in North and North Eastern Uganda. We implement programs in thenorthern districts of Pader, Kitgum, Agago, Lamwo, Kaabong, Abim and Kotidowith funding from USAID, USDA, Walmart Foundation, SDC, DFID as well as otherprivate donations.

Job Summary: The Monitoring,

Evaluation and Learning Officer is a key position in program quality assurance,

accountability, documentation and learning unit, which exists to support

program design and implementation. The position holder will support planning

and execution of monitoring and evaluation, ensuring quality in accordance with

accepted standards, providing essential feedback for learning, accountability

and decision making. S/he will be responsible for providing internal capacity

building for program staff on monitoring and evaluation activities as well as

review and development of necessary tools that feed into needs of Mercy Corps

and donor reporting requirements.



Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities:

MEL Strategy and Design

Ensure

that MEL systems are in compliance with Mercy Corps global, regional and

country policies, procedures, standards and strategic initiatives

Assist

in program strategy design, planning and implementation to ensure

adherence to Mercy Corps Min imum Standards, including the use of

standardized indicators and documentation methodologies.

Support

design and implementation of assessments and other pre, ex-ante and post

data collection and analysis.

Support

learning-to-action events, reflection s ession to analyze data for

programmatic use and to document and incorporate lessons learned into

program design, planning and implementation.

Management of Data and Information system

Support

the program teams to develop and maintain knowledge and Information

management system to support data collection, reflection, analysis and

reporting needs.

Ensure

quality control procedures and accuracy of entered data and comparing it

with the existing filing system to make sure all records are consistent

and aligned.

Provide

support in the development of MEL Plans, tools, survey design,

methodology, data analysis, and other services as may be required for

program monitoring and evaluation.

Technical Support and Capacity Building

Play

key role in the development and review of result chains, sector

intervention strategies and M&E frameworks and document changes to

generate learnings and ideas for programs.

Maintain

an up to date database that reflects progress on mission (including

disaggregated beneficiary counts) and donor indicators.

Remain

updated with developments among the Mercy Corps Uganda MEL community and

agency-wide MEL trends and resources.

Leverage

lessons learned, best practices, program data, evaluations and provide

evidence based information, prop osal annexes, success stories, case

studies and other high quality, results-based documentation.

Work

with MEL and IT staff to maximize the value and utility of ICT4MEL

initiatives.











Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:

The

applicant must hold a Bachelors degree in Eco nomics, Agriculture,

Demography, Statistics, Business administration or relevant field

At

least three years of program management, monitoring and evaluation

experience.

Should

understand concepts and demonstrate skills in monitoring and evaluation,

pro ject cycle, results chain and frameworks, and participatory monitoring.

Experience

with quantitative and qualitative data collection, reporting techniques.

S/he should understand and be able to apply basic measures of central

tendency and spread, with ex cellent writing and analytical skills.

Ability

to design and implement surveys, have knowledge of commonly used

probability and purposive sampling techniques.

Experience

using appreciative inquiry and conflict sensitivity techniques and

dynamism in working with multi-cultural team environment.

Experience

with facilitation, capacity building, formal and informal knowledge

transfer, partnership strengthening and empowering staff through

opportunities for growth and development.

In

addition to M icrosoft Excel, should demonstrate fluency in use of

at least one data management software including Ms Access, SPSS, and

STATA.



be fluent both spoken and written English. Luo language skills highly

valued Mustbe fluent both spoken and written English. Luo language skills highlyvalued

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their

E-mail applications including a cover letter clearly stating the salary

requirements, updated CV (with three professional referees), and copies of

academic qualifications/certificates addressed to the Senior HR and Legal

Manager, Mercy Corps Uganda to: ug-mcjobs@mercycorps.org

Deadline: 3rd April 2018
Two British militants believed to have been part of an Islamic State group cell notorious for beheading hostages in Syria were unapologetic in their first interview since their capture, denouncing the U.S. and Britain as hypocrites who will not give them a fair trial.

The men, along with two other British jihadis, allegedly made up the IS cell nicknamed The Beatles by surviving captives because of their English accents.

The nickname belied the cells brutality. In 2014 and 2015, it held more than 20 Western hostages in Syria and tortured many of them. It beheaded seven American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers and a group of Syrian soldiers, boasting of the butchery in videos released to the world.

Speaking to The Associated Press at a Kurdish security center, the two men, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey, repeatedly refused to address allegations they were part of the cell  clearly having a future trial in mind. They complained that they could disappear after Britain reportedly revoked their citizenship.

They were captured in January in eastern Syria by the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces amid the collapse of IS. Their detention has set off a debate in the U.S. and Europe over how to prosecute their citizens who joined IS  as the Kurds pressure the West to take them back to relieve overcrowding in prisons.

The two said the killings of the captives were a mistake  but for tactical reasons.

Many in IS would have disagreed with the killings on the grounds that there is probably more benefit in them being political prisoners, Kotey said.

I didnt see any benefit (in killing them). It was something that was regrettable. He also blamed Western governments for failing to negotiate, noting that some hostages were released for ransoms.

Elsheikh said the killings were a mistake and might not have been justified. But, he said, they were in retaliation for killings of civilians by the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS. He said the militants shouldnt have initially threatened to kill the hostages because then they had to go ahead with it or else your credibility may go.

The beheadings, often carried out on camera, horrified the world soon after IS took over much of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group also committed widescale atrocities including massacring thousands of Iraqi troops and civilians and taking sex slaves.

The first victim was American journalist James Foley, followed by fellow Americans Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and Japanese journalists Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto.

Speaking to the AP on Friday, Foleys mother, Diane Foley, called on the international community and U.S. government to have the courage to hold these men accountable in an open trial where we can face them and they can hear all the pain and suffering theyve inflicted on the world. And so that the rest of the world can understand the atrocity of their crimes.

She said she opposes the death penalty for them since it feeds jihadi desire for martyrdom and heroic afterlife.

These men do not deserve that. They deserve to be held in solitary confinement for the rest of their lives.

The leader of the cell, Mohammed Emwazi, was dubbed Jihadi John in the British media after he appeared, masked, in the videos, sometimes performing the butchery. He was killed in a U.S.-led coalition drone strike in 2015 in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto IS capital. Another member, Aine Lesley Davis, was arrested in Turkey and convicted there in 2017, sentenced to seven years in prison.

Elsheikh, whose family came to Britain from Sudan when he was a child, was a mechanic from White City in west London.

He traveled to Syria in 2012, initially joining al-Qaidas branch before moving on to IS, according to the U.S. State Departments listing of the two men for terrorism sanctions. It said he earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions and crucifixions while serving as an (IS) jailer.

Kotey, who is of Ghanaian and Greek-Cypriot descent and converted to Islam in his 20s, is from Londons Paddington neighborhood.

Serving in the IS cell as a guard, he likely engaged in the groups executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods, the State Department said. It also said he was an IS recruiter who brought other Britons into the group.

Elsheikh and Kotey spoke to the AP at a Kurdish security building in the town of Kobani, where they were brought, initially in handcuffs and face covers that were removed. They appeared to speak openly with no signs of duress and were friendly with SDF security who came in and out of the room.

They were both initially confrontational but over the interview became more conversational. Kotey often cracked jokes  when asked whether IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was alive, he joked that some people thought Elvis never died and Tupac Shakur is still alive. Elsheikh was straightlaced and reserved, referring more often to Islamic texts.

They were unrepentant about belonging to IS  though they said they did not agree with everything it did. Kotey said he did not think suicide bombings were permissible in Islam. Elsheikh said ISs killing of a captured Jordanian pilot by burning him alive in a cage was atrocious.

But they seemed dismissive of the idea that IS was egregious in brutality.

I am not here to justify or shun every act IS did, Elsheikh said, arguing that nationals of a country cant be held responsible for crimes by the state.

They scoffed at the idea that that they were a cell and refused to comment whether they had worked as jailors, had ever seen any hostages or knew Emwazi.

They depicted the allegations as created by media and foreign intelligence  so the world can say this is the bad guy and kill the bad guy, Elsheikh said.

No fair trial, when I am the Beatle in the media. No fair trial, he added.

They said they had been questioned repeatedly by U.S. military officials and the FBI  daily interrogations for a month, then frequent ones for weeks after.

The U.S. has been pressing for the home countries of foreign jihadis in Iraq and Syria to take their nationals for trial. Britains defense secretary has said they should not be allowed back into the country. Former captives of the cell and families of its victims have called on Elsheikh and Kotey to be given a fair trial, whether in the United States or Britain, arguing that locking them away in a a facility like Guantanamo Bay would only fuel further radicalism.

Kurdish officials complain they are being left to deal with the IS legacy, including overburdened prisons full of militants, including foreign fighters whose home countries dont want to take them back.

Elsheikh and Kotey are held in an undisclosed location. Kotey said he shares a cell with 70 others, all but four of them Syrians, and that they are sleeping like sardines, literally head to toe, head to toe. Despite the overcrowding, he said, they get fresh air, play games and have classes.

Kotey said the U.S. and Britain were not upholding their own laws of due process. Where are they now or are they just applicable when they suit you? he said. It just looks very hypocritical, double standards.

The two denounced as illegal the British governments reported decision in February to strip them of citizenship. The decision was widely reported in British media, though officials have not confirmed or denied it, citing privacy rules.

The revocation exposes them to rendition and torture, Elsheikh said.

When you have these two guys who dont even have any citizenship if we just disappear one day, where is my mom going to go and say where is my son, he said.

I found it strange that they could actually do that, revoke the citizenship of a person, Kotey said.

I was born in the UK, he said. My mother was born in the UK. I have a daughter there in the UK.  I probably never left the UK more than 3 months before coming to Syria.

Kotey said the fairest venue for a trial may be the International Criminal Court in The Hague in the Netherlands. That would be the logical solution.

(AP)
To track down people in Britain who may have broken immigration rules, the government is turning to a new and controversial source of information: doctors.

Doctors who work with refugees and asylum-seekers have described the move as a major breach of medical ethics, saying it isnt up to physicians to enforce immigration rules.

In letters recently made public, politicians sparred with immigration officials over a data-sharing agreement quietly signed in 2016 that gives the government access to personal information collected by the countrys family doctors. Medical details are excluded.

A parliamentary health committee condemned the situation as unacceptable, calling for the agreement to be suspended.

But Britains immigration department has dismissed those concerns, arguing that such data sharing allows the U.K. to remove people who might pose a danger to the public.

Medical workers back the health committees viewpoint.

We understand the government has a job to do, but going into health records to get patient information is not OK, said Lucy Jones, director of programs at Doctors of the World U.K. The idea that any patient information is being shared with a government body immediately breaks their trust in a doctor-patient relationship.

Several leading medical organizations, including the Royal College of General Practitioners, Public Health England and the General Medical Council, have all slammed the data-sharing deal, saying it could worsen the health of vulnerable people and drive disease outbreaks underground, hurting health care for all.

Dalia Omer, a refugee from Sudan who was granted asylum in the U.K. in February after nearly two years, sought medical help several times while awaiting the governments decision. She said had she known about the data sharing arrangement, she would not have been as forthcoming.

If I knew the doctors could share information with the Home Office, I would not tell them everything, she said, referring to the British department that oversees immigration and security. She said she might even lie about certain details to protect herself.

Dr. Kitty Worthing, a London-based doctor with the group Docs Not Cops, said the cornerstone of the doctor-patient relationship is confidentiality and this data-sharing is a direct breach of that. She said when shes advised people that their personal information could be shared with immigration officials their reaction is always fear.

Elsewhere in Europe, many countries have a strict firewall that stops information gathered by health services from being disclosed to other government agencies. Germanys data protection office said regulations prohibit any blanket sharing of such information. In France, no data obtained by doctors is shared with the Interior Ministry.

Some health experts said it was critical that some types of health care are available to everyone in the U.K., regardless of their immigration status.

With HIV treatment, it makes much more sense to treat everybody with HIV, because treatment lowers the level of virus in your blood so you cant pass it on, said Kat Smithson of the National AIDS Trust. If people are not diagnosed because theyre not accessing health care, theyre not aware theyre living with HIV, which means theyre far more likely to pass it on to somebody else.

The British government, however, says protecting its borders outweighs those concerns.

We believe that the release of (patient) information is lawful and proportionate action in pursuit of the effective enforcement of the U.K.s immigration policy, wrote Caroline Noakes, the minister of state for immigration, and James OShaughnessy, parliamentary undersecretary of state for health, responding to lawmakers concerns.

They cited the case of a Pakistani citizen who overstayed a visitors visa. After the Pakistani was refused residency in 2013, contact with the Home Office was broken off. Immigration officials sent a request to health services, which revealed a new address.

The Home Office visited the address and arrested the individual, a convicted sex offender, who is now complying with the Home Office and will leave the U.K., Noakes and OShaughnessy wrote, describing patients non-medical data as being at the lower end of the privacy spectrum.

From last November to January, health officials agreed to nearly 1,300 requests for information. Of those, health officials found 501 cases where patients had a different address from the one in Home Office records.

Some Londoners said it was OK for immigration officials to get data from doctors under certain conditions.

If the Home Office needs the information for a good reason, I guess its OK, but they should ask the people for permission, said Farooq, outside an east London clinic that provides health care largely for migrants. He declined to give his last name because he was worried about the immigration status of his father, originally from Afghanistan.

Farooq said data sharing could make migrants nervous about getting medical attention.

It could put people in a risky situation if theyre worried about their visa and they need to see a doctor, he said.

(AP)
Ties between Russia and Turkey are growing closer than ever, as Russia runs into widespread diplomatic fallout from the poisoned spy scandal and Turkeys relations with its Western allies worsens over human rights issues and its military operations against Kurdish militia in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin heads back to Turkey on Tuesday, joining Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony for a Russian-made nuclear power plant being built on Turkeys Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu. On Wednesday, Putin, Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are expected to hold a summit in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss Syrias future.

Turkey and Russia have put aside their traditional rivalries and differences on regional issues to forge strong economic ties. In December, they finalized an agreement for Turkey to purchase Russias long-range S-400 missile defense system, a deal that raised eyebrows among some of Turkeys NATO allies. Aside from the power plant, the two countries are also building the Turkstream pipeline to transport Russian gas to Turkey.

Turkish-Russian relations are in a better mood compared with two years before . both parties are working together, said Mitat Celikpala, a professor of international relations at Istanbuls Kadir Has University.

They managed to compartmentalize issues, Celikpala said, citing Turkish and Russian divisions, including over the divided island of Cyprus and Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea. If you set aside all those issues . they are good partners for the resolution of immediate interests.

Their warming relations come as ties between European Union nations and Turkey have become increasingly testy.

Turkeys EU membership talks have stalled and many EU countries have voiced concerns over the Turkish governments growing authoritarian turn and its crackdown on rights and freedoms, especially following an attempted coup in 2016 that Turkey blames on a?U.S.-based Islamic cleric.

Turkey in turn, accuses EU countries of supporting Kurdish rebels as well as the alleged perpetrators of the 2016 failed coup.

Turkeys relations with the United States have fared even worse, with Turkey accusing Washington of harboring the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, and backing Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey considers to be terrorists.

Last week, Turkey announced it would not be following NATO and EU allies in ousting Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning in Britain of a former Russian spy. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the?nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, prompting nearly two dozen nations to expel over 150?Russian diplomats. Russia has responded by expelling a similar number of envoys.

Turkey condemned the nerve agent attack on British soil without naming Russia, adding that it enjoyed positive relations with Moscow.

Just because some countries took a step based on an allegation, we dont have to take the same step, Erdogan said.

Putin and Erdogan have met several times in the past year and regularly speak on the phone.

Russia and Turkey  along with Iran  are also working together to create de-escalation zones to reduce the fighting?in Syria and bring the sides of the conflict together to negotiate Syrias future.

The cooperation comes despite their positions on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict with Moscow siding with Syrian President Bashar?Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian war seven years ago.

The conflicting interests led to the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish jet at the Syrian border in November 2015, which put the two nations on the verge of a direct military conflict.

Russia responded by barring packaged tourist tours to Turkey and halting the imports of agricultural products. The two reconciled after Erdogan issued an apology.

(AP)
Frustrated by slow action on a major campaign promise, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants to use the military to secure the U.S.-Mexico border until his promised border wall is built.

Trump told reporters hes been discussing the idea with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Were going to be doing things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military, Trump said, calling the move a big step.

It wasnt immediately clear exactly how the proposal would work or what kind of troops Trump wanted to deploy. But the White House later said Trump wanted to mobilize the National Guard.

Federal law prohibits the use of active-duty service members for law enforcement inside the U.S., unless specifically authorized by Congress. But over the past 12 years, presidents have twice sent National Guard troops to the border to bolster security and assist with surveillance and other support. The White House counsels office has been working on the idea for several weeks, according to a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.

Trump has been annoyed by the lack of progress on building what was the signature promise of his campaign: a big, beautiful wall along the Mexican border. Hes previously suggested using the Pentagons budget to pay for building the wall, arguing it is a national security priority, despite strict rules that prohibit spending thats not authorized by Congress.

At the Pentagon, officials struggled throughout the day to answer questions about the plan, including rudimentary details on whether it would involve National Guard members.

But the administration appeared to be considering a model similar to a 2006 operation in which President George W. Bush deployed National Guard troops to the southern border.

Under Operation Jump Start, 6,000 National Guard troops were sent to assist the border patrol with non-law enforcement duties while additional border agents were hired and trained. Over two years, about 29,000 National Guard forces participated, as forces rotated in and out. The Guard members were used for surveillance, communications, administrative support, intelligence, analysis and the installation of border security infrastructure.

In addition, President Barack Obama sent about 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2010 to beef up efforts to battle drug smuggling and illegal immigration.

Texas has also deployed military forces to its 800-mile (1,290-kilometer) border with Mexico. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, now serving as Trumps energy secretary, sent 1,000 Texas National Guardsmen to the Rio Grande Valley in 2014 in response to a sharp increase in Central American children crossing the border alone.

Trump met Tuesday with top administration officials, including Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Attorney General Jeff Session, to discuss the administrations strategy to address what White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders described as the growing influx of illegal immigration, drugs and violent gang members from Central America.

In addition to mobilizing the National Guard, Trump and senior officials agreed on the need to pressure Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations, Sanders said.

The meeting and comments came amid a flurry of tweets by the president on the subject over the last several days.

Trump has been fixed on the issue since he grudgingly signed a spending bill last month that includes far less money for the wall than hed hoped for.

The $1.3 trillion package included $1.6 billion for border wall spending  a fraction of the $25 billion Trump made a last-minute push to secure. And much of that money can be used only to repair existing segments, not to build new sections.

Also setting Trump off: A briefing from senior administration officials last week that included an update on an uptick in illegal border crossings, and images played on his favorite network, Fox News, of a caravan of migrants making their way through Mexico.

Trump spent the first months of his presidency bragging about a dramatic drop in illegal border crossings. Indeed, the 2017 fiscal year marked a 45-year low for Border Patrol arrests. But the numbers have been slowly ticking up since last April and are now on par with many months of the Obama administration. Statistics show 36,695 arrests of people trying to cross the southwest border in February 2018, up from 23,555 in the same month of the previous year.

At last weeks meeting, Trump directed a vigorous administrative strategy to confront this threat and protect Americas national security, said Sanders. Tuesdays briefing was a follow-up to discuss the plans.

Trump has also been under pressure from conservative backers, including commentator Ann Coulter, who has accused Trump of betraying his base for not delivering on the wall.

Trump appeared to take credit Tuesday for halting a caravan of about 1,100 migrants, many from Honduras, who had been marching along roadsides and train tracks in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

I said (to Mexican officials), I hope youre going to tell that caravan not to get up to the border. And I think theyre doing that because, as of 12 minutes ago, it was all being broken up, he said.

But the caravan of largely Central American migrants had never intended to reach the U.S. border, according to organizer Irineo Mujica. It was meant to end at a migrants rights symposium in central Mexico later this week.

The caravan stopped to camp at a sports field in Oaxaca over the weekend. Mexican immigration officers have been signing them up for temporary transit visas, which would allow them to travel to the U.S. border, possibly to seek asylum, or to seek asylum status in Mexico.

(AP)
The United States Supreme Court is rejecting an appeal from American victims of terrorist attacks in Israel more than a decade ago.

The justices are not commenting Monday in ending a lawsuit against the PLO and Palestinian Authority in connection with attacks in Israel in 2002 and 2004 that killed 33 people. A lower court tossed out a $654 million verdict against the Palestinians.

Eleven American families sued the PLO, Yasser Arafat and others over seven terror incidents from 2001 to 2004, claiming that the attacks were perpetrated by security officers and other agents of the Palestinian Authority. The families invoked the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, which gives any American injured by an act of terrorism the right to sue for damages.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York threw the case out, ruling that victims must show that they were specifically targeted or that the attackers intended to harm U.S. interests. The court also said the Palestinian entities did not have a sufficient connection to the U.S. that would make them subject to federal law.

The lead plaintiff in the case, Mark Sokolow, was injured along with his wife and two daughters in a 2002 suicide bombing in Jerusalem. After a six-week jury trial in 2015, the families were awarded $655.5 million, but the appeals court set that verdict aside.

The Trump administration sided with the Palestinians in calling on the high court to leave the lower court ruling in place. The federal appeals court in New York said U.S. courts cant consider lawsuits against foreign-based groups over random attacks that were not aimed at the United States.

The victims sued under the Anti-Terrorism Act, passed to open U.S. courts to American victims of international terrorism.

(AP)
(VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Among the many attendees at the Kosel Birchas Kohanim Pesach 5778 was US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

Friedman, who himself is a kohen, said: Its a great privilege and honor for me to be here with three generations of kohanim  myself, my son, my grandson, all came here to bless the Jewish nation.

The Kosel Plaza was filled with 100,000 Jews, as is usually the case for the event, which is held on the second morning (first in Chutz Laaretz) of Chol Hamoed Pesach and Sukkos.

Friedman spoke with Arutz Sheva about the violent nature of the recent protests in Gaza, emphasizing that it is not in the interests of the Palestinians to continue the pattern.

I think people have the right ot protest peacefully, he began. But unfortunately what Ive seen is something very different than peaceful protests  very dangerous activity, rushing the border, throwing Molotov cocktails, burning tires, putting women and children on the front lines.

Thats obviously much more serious than peaceful protests and I think its not in the interests of the Palestinians for that to continue.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem/Photo Credit:  )
Former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and former Hamas leader Khalid Meshal have announced the protest seen this past Friday along the Gaza fence will continue and increase in ferocity.

They vowed to increase the battle against the occupation to liberate Palestine. Meshal addressed a forum in Turkey, where he was visiting, insisting the march this past Friday was peaceful, one including women and children, accusing the IDF of premeditated murder of the victims. Gaza now reports 15 deaths as a result of IDF gunfire, failing to mention the violent confrontations and attempts to cut the border fence and enter southern Israel.

Foreign Ministry officials praised the handling of the events on Friday, as the European Union is calling for an independent transparent inquiry into the deaths. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman earlier in the week defended the actions of the IDF as well, rejecting calls for a probe, insisting the actions of the IDF were justified and necessary. His words were backed up by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

There are rumors circulating that Gazans are gathering tens of thousands of tires for another round of border confrontations this Friday, which will be the last day of Pesach.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
It has become a hot topic at dinner parties and barely a day passes when its not causing a stir in the House of Commons.

But could Britains housing shortage also hold the key to boosting your Isa or pension fund?

Ministers seem determined to build more homes. Chancellor Philip Hammond has committed 44billion to help deliver 300,000 homes a year over the next half a decade.

Building boom: Chancellor Philip Hammond has committed 44 billion to help deliver 300,000 homes a year over the next half a decade

On top of that, an extra 10 billion has been committed to the Help to Buy scheme, which offers interest-free Government loans to home buyers for up to 20 per cent of a propertys value.

The construction drive led more than 11,500 new homes to be registered to be built in January  a 1 per cent increase on a year ago, according to the National House Building Council.

It says builders last year submitted the highest number of plans for new homes on record.

Housebuilders are the most obvious type of company that should benefit and were among the best performing stocks in the FTSE 100 in 2017.

Since 2012, profits among Britains three biggest builders  Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon Homes  have quadrupled to 2.2 billion a year.

An estimated 40 per cent of private sales are being funded by Help to Buy deposits.

However, builders share prices dipped over the past six months, and now sit around 20 per cent lower than last summer.

The industrys profit margin is being stretched by the rising cost of materials and labour. The pressure to build faster and on less valuable sites is also taking its toll.

Last month, investors started selling shares in builders when luxury developer Berkeley said planning constraints and high costs had forced it to curtain the number of new projects it was launching.

But experts say the long-term prospects for housebuilders remain excellent.

The construction drive led more than 11,500 new homes to be registered to be built in January  a 1 per cent increase on a year ago

Daniel Pereira, research analyst at investing firm Square Mile, says: There are some great managers who believe that builders are cheaply valued and have bright prospects.

One is Neil Woodford, whose fund, Woodford Equity Income, backs Taylor Wimpey, Countryside Properties and Barratt Developments, among others.

Mr Woodford has struggled for returns lately, only turning 10,000 into 9,950 in the past three years, but Mr Pereira believes he can turn it around.

Currently, the fund puts 2.64 of every 100 into Taylor Wimpey, which sold 14,842 homes last year.

That was 4.6 per cent more than the year before and its average selling price was 264,000, up 3.5 per cent.

Profits fell by 5.8 per cent after it set aside 130 million to help customers trapped in onerous leases drawn up by the house builder.

Star fund manager Woodford backs Forterra, which manufactures bricks and blocks

Mr Woodford also backs Forterra, which manufactures bricks and blocks at factories across the country.

Forterra sells primarily to housebuilders and their merchants, contractors and specialist retailers.

Its the only maker of the original Fletton brick, a reddish-pink clay bar thats nearly 150 years old and has been used to build a quarter of Englands houses.

The fund invests around 1.20 in every 100 in Forterra.

Standard Life Investments UK Equity Unconstrained has three housebuilders in its top ten holdings. Its largest is Redrow, accounting for 4.60 of every 100.

Bellway is one of its largest holdings, attracting 4.10 of every 100, while 3.60 in every 100 goes into Crest Nicholson.

The fund has turned 10,000 into 15,550 in the past five years and is tipped by Jason Hollands at investment firm Tilney.

Building more homes will also benefit companies outside the big housebuilders. Homeware retailers such as Dunelm Group should also get a boost.

Its one of the top holdings in AXA Framlington UK Mid Cap.

Dunelm, which sells cushions, bedding and kitchen equipment, has its own manufacturing centre producing curtains, blinds and other accessories.

The AXA fund, tipped by Mr Pereira, invests 1.40 in every 100 in Dunelm and has turned 10,000 into 17,490 in the past five years.

Mr Pereira also likes Threadneedle UK Equity, which backs trade kitchen company Howden Joinery Group, investing around 1 of every 100.

Howden was once the darling of UK fund managers but its popularity waned when its share price fell 25 per cent in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. However, it has recovered, with the share price up 23 per cent since then.

Threadneedle UK Equity has turned 10,000 into 15,010 in the past five years.

Darius McDermott, of broker Chelsea Financial Services, tips Franklin UK Mid Cap.

Its top holding is Britains biggest brick manufacturer, Ibstock Brick, which accounts for 4.38 in every 100.

Over the past year the firm has invested in a new factory in Leicestershire with the ability to produce 100 million bricks a year.

Franklin UK Mid Cap has turned 10,000 into 16,980 in five years.

moneymail@dailymail.co.uk
The former finance chief of British tech star Autonomy will be questioned this week in the long-running US fraud trial over claims he tried to silence critics who said the firm was overvalued.

Autonomy, whose bosses included billionaire Mike Lynch, was sold to US giant Hewlett-Packard in 2011 for 7.4bn, but it had to write off much of its value just a year later.

Pricey: Autonomy was sold to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 for 7.4bn, but it had to write off much of its value just a year later

HP has since claimed the companys financial performance was fraudulently overstated.

Court documents submitted by prosecutors in San Francisco allege Sushovan Hussain intimidated, pressured or paid off people who raised concerns about Autonomys accounting practices. The 54-year-old denies any wrongdoing.

In court he is expected to face Daud Khan, a City technology analyst who claims to have had multiple run-ins with Autonomy after questioning its accounts. Khan has said he was eventually banned from analyst meetings and the firm tried to obstruct publication of his research.

Lynch has dismissed allegations against himself and Hussain as a personal smear.
German moves

The former boss of New York Stock Exchange has been parachuted into Deutsche Bank as pressure mounts on its chief executive John Cryan.

John Thain is to join the companys supervisory board as rumours swirl that Cryan is to be ousted.

Cryan game: Pressure is mounting on Deutsche Bank's chief executive (pictured)

Taken out

Investors have pulled out nearly 18 billion from two flagship Invesco funds, it has been revealed.

In the past five years, about 9.3 billion has been withdrawn from its High Income Fund and 8.3 billion from its Income Fund. Both are managed by Mark Barnett.

Debt deal

British satellite firm Avanti Communications has been saved from collapse by a group of Wall Street hedge funds.

The troubled firm was bailed out from crippling debt in a complex debt-for-equity swap.

Treasure chest

The Chinese firm planning to buy department store House of Fraser has built up a 1.1 billion war chest for takeovers.

Fullshare, controlled by billionaire Ji Changqun, has lined up the cash through lending facilities.

Veteran boss

Chip maker Imagination Technologies is set to bring in industry veteran Leo Li as its next chief executive.

The Hertfordshire firm, which was bought for 550 million by China-backed Canyon Bridge Capital Partners last year, is expected to announce the appointment this week.
Frozen accounts

Millions of Barclays customers were locked out of their accounts over Easter as the lender completed the spin-off of its retail bank.

Barclays used the break to separate out its 24 million small business and consumer account holders from its riskier investment banking arm.

Making a break: Barclays used Easter to separate out its 24m small business and consumer account holders from its riskier investment banking arm

Card boom

The amount of cash in circulation is growing at its lowest rate for 55 years as people pay by card instead.

Annual growth in notes and coins was just 0.2 per cent in the year to February, according to Bank of England figures, the lowest level since 1963.

Job swap

Fears that robots will replace humans in the workplace have been overblown, according to a major study of the worlds richest nations.

Only around 14 per cent of jobs are likely to be automated in contrast to almost half previously predicted.

However, a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development found 66 million jobs are still at risk in 32 countries.

Hack fears

Eight in ten of UK business leaders are worried about the prospect of a cyber-attack on their business, according to Lloyds Bank.

Drivers safe

Jaguar Land Rover boss Ralf Speth says self-driving cars are unlikely to overtake the human-controlled steering wheel for generations.
MBABANE  Swazi entrepreneurs should have their ducks in a row in readiness to grab business opportunities presented by the E170 million (US$115m) Swaziland-Mozambique water supply project.



Minister of Finance Martin Dlamini has disclosed that E170 million has been received from the SADC Water Fund for the Lomahasha/Namaacha Potable Water Supply Project. Local entrepreneurs were assured that the project contractor would source materials from locals wherever possible such as hiring excavation machinery, poles and fencing services and piping material in the trans-boundary water supply service across the borderline between Lomahasha in Swaziland and Namaacha in Mozambique.



In the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) and Mitigation Plan for the proposed water supply project, it was also strongly promised that the contractor, yet to be appointed, will ensure that vending to the workers gets undertaken by local businesses.



Currently, a consortium of consultancy companies in environmental and social management, formed by Salomon Lda and IC Development Consultants, from Swaziland and Mozambique, respectively, has been appointed to oversee the environmental, social as well as the climate impacts associated with the project, expected to supply water to populations surrounding Lomahasha within a radius of five kilometers, at all stages.



The local government through the Ministry Of Natural Resources and Energy and Mozambican Government through the Ministry Of Public Infrastructures, Housing and Water Resources have entered into an agreement to ensure that Lomahasha and Namaacha are provided with potable water supply service.



The project is supported by the German Government through the German Development Agency (GIZ) as part of technical assistance to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which has established a fund for Regional Water Supply and Sanitation Infrastructure (FWRS), financed through KfW to assist with the implementation of trans-boundary integrated water resources management within the SADC region.
LOBAMBA  The youth is so deep into pornography and abortion that divine intervention might be the only solution.



This was the view of a South African church leader introduced as Bishop Sizabantu from Shongwe Mission. He was speaking during the Easter services at Somhlolo National Stadium on Sunday.



Bishop Sizabantu said young people were so deep into pornography to the extent that they did not sleep without viewing or watching x-rated material. He added that other young people were troubled by drugs and could not find their way out of them.



He said the youth needed saving and implored religious leaders to play their part in this regard. Some women have lost count of the number of babies they have aborted but I guarantee you, God knows the exact number, Bishop Sizabantu said.

The Zulu speaking bishop labelled women who aborted as murderers. He said they had blood in their hands as they had taken away innocent lives.



He said this caused them sleepless nights and asked them to pray for forgiveness. He said they should admit to God that they were murderers and needed forgiveness.

Bishop Sizabantu had a message for pastors as well. He said many souls needed saving and church leaders need not fight each other over congregants but save lost souls.



During his sermon, he shared the story of Simon Peter, who did not catch any fish after long hours of casting his net in the sea. He said nothing was wrong with the net but the problem was that he was fishing in the wrong place.



Bishop Sizabantu said preachers needed to cast their nets in the right place, just as Simon Peter eventually did. He said as was the case with the disciple, the preachers would also definitely catch fish if they heeded to Jesus instructions.
MBABANE  The increased murder rate has inspired the Worship Centre Church to introduce a campaign that aims to restore moral fibre in the country.



This was revealed by the churchs leader, Apostle Justice Dlamini during the Easter services held over the weekend.

The campaign, worth a staggering E2 million, will see the church visiting all the constituencies in the four regions of the country to preach the gospel of Christ.



The visits will not only be about preaching about transformation but will also bring smiles to the elderly and the needy, as the church will be dishing out food parcels to them.

Already, a truck worth thousands of Emalangeni has been purchased by the church for the project and is expected to arrive in the country in the next few days.



During one of the sermons last Friday, Dlamini encouraged his congregants to contribute or commit to financially supporting the project.

Known as the Swaziland Gospel Transformation Campaign, the project is expected to kick-off next month and the truck has already been branded with the theme and its objective.



In an interview with Dlamini, he explained that recent killings were a sign that the moral fibre was no longer there in society.

According to Dlamini, the problem was two-fold, in that there were those killings which were related to revenge, including incidents where lovers killed their partners and then those which were as a result of social problems.



Even though he did not recount any recent incident, Dlamini highlighted that the rate at which people were killing one another was shocking.

The Worship Centre is determined to help in transforming the lives of the Swazi nation. We have built a structure, now it is time to build the lives of people. We are adamant that in 20 years time, we will see the emergence of a society that is responsible, with people who love one another and not kill each other, he said.
MBABANE  His job is at stake after attending a SNYC function during working hours.

SNYC is an acronym for the Swaziland National Youth Council.



This is the story of Royal Swazi Spa Hotel and Casino Sales Manager Babsy Mavuso, who is also the chairman of the SNYC Board.

He is now in trouble with his employer for allegedly attending a function called by SNYC while he was expected to be at work.

Swazi Spa Hotel and Casino had since charged Mavuso with dishonesty or dereliction of his duties, which according to its policy, was a dismissible offence.



He has also been slapped with a charge of allegedly exhibiting a behaviour which was not in the best interest of the company.

In the aforementioned charge, Mavuso is alleged to have poached or encouraged the companys former sales executive to leave the company to work for SNYC.



This means that Mavuso is facing a total of two charges.

To cement its claim on the charge of dishonesty or dereliction of duties against Mavuso, to his charge sheet, the company had attached a newspaper article and pictures showing him interacting with some of those in attendance during the function which was held at SNYC offices at Enguleni House in Manzini.



This was during the official opening of the SNYC offices.

Notably, among those who were in attendance was the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, David Cruiser Ngcamphalala.

Mavuso is alleged to have committed the offence on February 8, 2018.



You are charged with dishonesty; in that you had indicated to the company that you were not available and busy with the head office sales team from February 5, 2018 to February 9, 2018 and coincidentally you were able to attend during working time a function of SNYC on or around February 8, 2018, reads part of Mavuso charge sheet.



Mavuso and the company are now at each others throats over external representation during the disciplinary hearing. The company is of the view that Mavuso only had a right of internal representation.



This comes after Mavuso wrote to the management of the company, asking that he be allowed an external representative. I have made efforts to solicit internal representation but my request has been met with great reluctance and unwillingness from my colleagues, wrote Mavuso.



In the letter dated March 19, 2018, Mavuso further stated that he had no confidence that an internal representative would courageously and objectively represent him without fear or favour.

I am therefore cognisant of the fact that any colleague who may want to represent me, I will be putting him or her in the firing line, stated the sales manager.








Johannesburg  Struggle veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died at the age of 81, her family confirmed in a statement yesterday.



It is with profound sadness that we inform the public that Mrs Winnie Madikizela-Mandela passed away at the Netcare Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday the 2nd of April 2018, the statement said.



She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year. She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon, surrounded by her family and loved ones. Madikizela-Mandela was one of the greatest icons of the struggle against apartheid, the statement reads.

She fought valiantly against the apartheid state and sacrificed her life for the freedom of the country. Her activism and resistance to apartheid landed her in jail on numerous occasions, eventually causing her banishment to the small town of Brandfort in the then Orange Free State.

The family said she had dedicated most of her adult life to the cause of the people and for this was known far and wide as the Mother Of The Nation. She kept the memory of her imprisoned husband Nelson Mandela alive during his years on Robben Island and helped give the struggle for justice in South Africa one its most recognisable faces.



The Mandela family are deeply grateful for the gift of her life and even as our hearts break at her passing, we urge all those who loved her to celebrate this most remarkable woman, the statement reads.
Pete Marovich/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced on Tuesday that his agency was rolling back Obama-era fuel efficiency and emissions standards for automobiles, calling the move another step in President Trumps regulatory agenda.



Those standards are inappropriate and should be revised, Pruitt said at the EPA.



The change in policy relaxes fuel efficiency and emissions standards for vehicles manufactured between 2022 and 2025. Pruitt did not outline any new standards, saying they are still under evaluation.



Current greenhouse gas regulations, which went into effect shortly before President Trump took office, require automakers to roughly double fuel economy to more than fifty miles per gallon. The EPA says that standard would be replaced by one developed in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.



It is very right for us to be here to recognize that what was done in 2011 and 2012, as we evaluate now, is not appropriate going forward and were going to get it right, Pruitt said.



The agency also plans to "re-examine" a waiver that allows California to set stricter standards than federally mandated.



The auto industry applauded the rollback, arguing that Obama-era standards would have proved costly. But Democrats were quick to criticize the decision.



EPA Administrator Pruitts decision to begin rolling back fuel economy standards is a victory for big oil and major corporations at the expense of American consumers and clean air for our kids, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. As usual, the administration sides with big, powerful special interests over the interests of average American families, who will pay the price for lower miles per gallon and dirtier air.



The attorneys general of California and New York have threatened legal action, and the chair of the California Air Resources Board, which determined Californias standards, warned the decision will degrade air quality and undermine automakers regulatory certainty.



The EPA announcement comes as Pruitt faces a series of ethics questions. The White House has launched a formal inquiry into Pruitts living situation when he first moved to Washington, D.C., last year. As first reported by ABC News, Pruitt rented a single bedroom in a Capitol Hill townhouse partly owned by Vicki Hart, the wife of energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart.



At the EPA Tuesday, Pruitt ignored reporters questions about whether he still maintains Trumps confidence. The president spoke with Pruitt by phone Monday and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly phoned Pruitt on Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.



EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox has said the arrangement was not a gift and the lease was consistent with federal ethics regulations. But Democrats and ethics groups have raised concerns about the agreement. Pruitt has previously come under fire after the EPA spent more than $118,000 on his flights, many of them in first class.



I dont know how you survive this one, former New Jersey governor and ABC News contributor Chris Christie told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on This Week Sunday.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
[April 03, 2018] Canada and Alberta to make significant investments that will improve the lives of Canadians

$3.3 billion available for projects to build prosperous communities and transition to a clean growth economy EDMONTON, April 3, 2018 /CNW/ - The governments of Canada and Alberta are working together to make long-term infrastructure investments that will create economic growth, sustain well-paying jobs, build inclusive communities and support a low carbon, green economyleading to a higher quality of life for all Canadians. Today, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and the Honourable Sandra Jansen, Alberta Minister of Infrastructure, announced the signing of a bilateral agreement that will provide more than $3.3 billion in federal funding through the Investing in Canada plan over the next decade for infrastructure projects. These projects will be cost-shared with the Alberta government, municipalities and other partners. This new funding will see the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta make unprecedented investments in public transit, green infrastructure, recreational cultural, and community infrastructure, as well as rural and northern communities. These investments will have benefits for people in communities across the province, including: faster commutes and travel times for more people, and easier movement of goods for businesses

cleaner air and water

reduced greenhouse gas emissions

smarter and more efficient cities

sustainable water management

enhanced public parks, recreational facilities and other spaces that make communities great places to live

better transportation and digital infrastructure for people living in remote communities The funding announced today builds on Alberta's 2018 Capital Plan, which commits $26.6 billion over five years to support priority infrastructure projects across the province. Across Canada, more than $33 billion in federal funding will be invested through new bilateral agreements with provinces and territories. Provinces and territories will develop three-year plans that will provide information on how they will implement their infrastructure projects. Quotes "I am pleased that Alberta and the Government of Canada have reached an agreement that will benefit communities across the province for years to come. Investments in infrastructure are key to building a strong Canadaconnecting people, creating good jobs for the middle class, and strengthening our economy and our communities for the future. Today's agreement will provide the long-term predictable funding required to meet the needs of all Albertans, from those living in busy city centres to remote rural towns. I look forward to continuing to work with our provincial, municipal and Indigenous partners to make strategic investments in Alberta that will build inclusive resilient communities where everyone has opportunities to succeed." The Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities "This historic infrastructure agreement provides communities of every size across Alberta the opportunity to drive economic growth and support families and businesses. This $3.3 billion investment in Alberta will support public transit, green infrastructure, cultural and recreational buildings, and help build rural and northern communities." The Honourable Sandra Jansen, Minister of Alberta Infrastructure Quick facts Under the Investing in Canada plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities.

plan, the Government of is investing more than over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and rural and northern communities. Under the first phase of the plan, Infrastructure Canada has approved nearly 3,500 projects across Canada worth a combined investment of more than $8.4 billion , including more than 170 projects worth more than $1.1 billion in Alberta .

worth a combined investment of more than , including more than 170 projects worth more than in . As part of the Plan, Infrastructure Canada will deliver $33 billion over the next decade through new bilateral agreements with provinces and territories under four funding streams:

over the next decade through new bilateral agreements with provinces and territories under four funding streams: $20.1 billion for public transit;

for public transit;

$9.2 billion for green infrastructure;

for green infrastructure;

$1.3 billion for community, cultural and recreational infrastructure; and

for community, cultural and recreational infrastructure; and

$2 billion for wide-ranging infrastructure needs in rural and northern communities.

for wide-ranging infrastructure needs in rural and northern communities.

The federal cost-share under the rural and northern infrastructure stream was increased from 50% to 60% on February 16, 2018 . With this increase, provincial communities with fewer than 5000 residents will be eligible to receive a higher proportion of federal funding to address their unique infrastructure needs. Indigenous communities in the provinces will be eligible for a federal cost share of up to 75%.

. With this increase, provincial communities with fewer than 5000 residents will be eligible to receive a higher proportion of federal funding to address their unique infrastructure needs. Indigenous communities in the provinces will be eligible for a federal cost share of up to 75%. This marks the sixth new long-term infrastructure agreement the Government of Canada has signed with provincial and territorial partners. Related product Backgrounder Canada and Alberta to make significant investments that will improve the lives of Canadians

$3.3 billion available for projects to build prosperous communities and transition to a clean growth economy Under the $180 billion Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada is signing new ten-year bilateral agreements with all provinces and territories that will see more than $33 billion in federal funding invested in infrastructure projects across the country. The objective of these investments is to transform the way Canadians live, move and work across four priority areas: Public transit;

Green infrastructure;

Community, culture, and recreation infrastructure; and

Rural and northern communities. Alberta will receive a total of $3,397,857,039 from 2018 to 2028 through this agreement. Allocations by funding stream







Funding Stream Allocation Expected Outcomes at Project Completion* Public Transit $2,096,548,228 to build new urban transit networks and service extensions that will transform the way Canadians live, move and work. Improved capacity of public transit infrastructure

Improved quality and safety of existing and future transit systems

Improved access to public transit systems Green Infrastructure $1,001,082,871 to support greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions; enable greater adaptation and resilience to the impacts of climate change and climate-related disaster mitigation, and ensure that more communities can provide clean air and safe drinking water for their citizens. Increased capacity to manage more renewable energy

Increased access to clean energy transportation

Increased energy efficiency of buildings

Increased generation of clean energy

Increased structural capacity and increased natural capacity to adapt to climate change impacts, natural disasters and extreme weather events

Increased capacity to treat and manage wastewater and storm water

Increased access to potable water

Increased capacity to reduce or remediate soil and air pollutants Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure $140,575,109 towards community, culture and recreation infrastructure to build stronger communities and improve social inclusion. Improved access to and increased quality of community, cultural and recreational infrastructure for Canadians, including Indigenous Peoples and vulnerable populations Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure $159,650,831 to support projects that improve the quality of life in rural and northern communities by responding to rural and northern specific needs. Improved food security

Improved and more reliable road, air and marine infrastructure

Improved broadband connectivity

More efficient and reliable energy

Improved education and health facilities that benefit Indigenous peoples (specific to Truth and Reconciliation Commission)

* Outcomes will be obtained through projects, which will be communicated in more detail as they are announced. The bilateral agreements will allow the Government of Canada and the provinces and territories to agree on shared results as well as a method of regularly reporting on results on a regular basis. The bilateral agreements support the following long-term goals: Increase the rate of economic growth in an inclusive and sustainable way;

Improve environmental quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resiliency of communities;

Improve mobility in Canadian communities;

Make Canadian communities more inclusive and accessible; and

Manage infrastructure in a more sustainable way. Under these new bilateral agreements, the Government of Canada will not only make significant investments in Canadian communities, but open the door to unique innovative project ideas that meet the agreed-upon outcomes. These new ideas will contribute to the long-term sustainability of our infrastructure. To ensure our partners consider opportunities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions or better adapt to climate change during the project development stage, a new climate lens will be applied to certain projects. Partners will also report on how larger projects are creating job opportunities for a broader array of Canadians in the construction industry and related sectors through a new Community Employment Benefits framework. For information on cost-sharing, please see Infrastructure Canada's website. Alberta's Transit Allocation (by community) The Public Transit stream will provide provinces, territories and municipalities with funding to address the new construction, expansion, and improvement and rehabilitation of public transit infrastructure. The table below provides an overview of the maximum federal transit allocations for the following recipients in Alberta Recipient Maximum Transit Allocation Calgary $1,089,076,848 Edmonton $877,984,551 Note that other recipients of transit allocations will be announced at a later date. Associated links Government of Canada's $180-billion+ Investing in Canada plan: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/about-invest-apropos-eng.html Investing in Canada plan project map: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/gmap-gcarte/index-eng.html Federal infrastructure investments in Alberta: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/map-carte/ab-eng.html Government of Alberta's ICIP Portal: http://www.alberta.ca/ICIP Twitter: @INFC_eng Web: Infrastructure Canada SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

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[April 03, 2018] Hopkins & Carley Celebrates 50th Anniversary, Recognized by San Jose City Council for Outstanding Legal and Community Service

Hopkins & Carley, a preeminent Silicon Valley law firm with offices in Palo Alto (News - Alert) , San Francisco, and San Jose, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2018. Since its founding in 1968, the firm has established itself as a pioneer and leader in the Bay Area. "For five decades we have been dedicated to supporting the evolution, entrepreneurship, and vibrancy of Silicon Valley," said Managing Shareholder Jeffrey Essner. "We look forward to continuing to serve the community for many years to come." Mayor Sam Liccardo and the San Jose City Council recognized Hopkins & Carley March 20 at the San Jose City Council meeting. During a commendation presentation at City Hall, the firm was praised for "providing outstanding legal and communityservice to San Jose and its surrounding communities for 50 years."



Hopkins & Carley, which employs more than 70 attorneys across a breadth of practice areas, advises leading businesses - many of which have evolved from small brick-and-mortar enterprises to multi-national companies - as well as high-net-worth individuals and institutions throughout Northern California. Hopkins & Carley's current clients include financial institutions, technology companies, real estate developers, and senior executives of many Fortune 500 companies. From its earliest days, the firm's attorneys and staff have maintained a strong commitment to giving back to the community by volunteering with various charitable organizations, providing pro bono services, and serving in leadership positions in community organizations.

"There are few local businesses that so consistently live up to the term 'community stalwart,'" said The Silicon Valley Organization President & CEO Matt Mahood. "For half a century, Hopkins & Carley has been true to San Jose, true to its business, and true to the community it serves. We are proud to call them our own." About Hopkins & Carley Hopkins & Carley is a premier Silicon Valley law firm with offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco, and San Jose. Meeting the legal needs of entrepreneurs, business owners, midsize and public companies, and high-net-worth individuals in a variety of industries, Hopkins & Carley advises clients in business litigation, intellectual property, real estate, employment, estate planning, and corporate, tax, and business transactions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005288/en/

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Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. Investors (WHG)

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE: WHG) investors concerning the Company and its directors' and officers' possible violations of state laws.

If you purchased Westwood stock, have information, or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concernig this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Bryan Faubus, of GPM, 230 Park Avenue, Suite 530, New York, NY 10169 at 212-682-5340 or at bfaubus@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.







This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180402005941/en/
[April 02, 2018] Ctrip Customized Travel Launches First Business Summit in Europe

SHANGHAI, April 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the largest online travel agent in Asia and the second largest in the world, Ctrip is devoted to providing the best services and customer experiences for over 300 million registered users. Since the launch in January 2016, Ctrip Customized Travel has seen increased user demand up to 120,000 per month. With more than 1,000 suppliers and 4,000 personal travel consultants covering 141 countries, Ctrips Customized Travel is the biggest customized travel platform in Asia. It provides a hassle-free one-stop service for users to embark on a travel journey that is personalized, unique and transparent.

Photo: Zheng Liu, CPO of Ctrip Customized Travel, Kane Xu, CEO of Ctrip Customized Travel and Andrew Xie, Director of Ctrip Customized Travel



Ctri Customized Travel







In order to fully support this years China-Europe Tourism Year, Ctrip Customized Travel will hold the first Business Summit in Budapest, Hungary on the 16th of April. Ctrip hopes to meet European travel suppliers so that we can work together to better cater for the growing number of Chinese travelers who are opting for more customized tours. From previous cooperation with suppliers, we have seen an increase of the number and quality of travel products and services as well as an increase in daily orders. According to Ctrips 2017 Customized Travel Report, 2017 marked the beginning of popularization of customized travel in China. More than one million requests were made in 2017. 60% was for domestic tourism with Sanya, Xiamen, Beijing, Lijiang and Shanghai as the top five most popular destinations for travelers. For outbound requests, people traveled mostly to Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam. 80% of travelers requested for slower trips that are more unique and personalized. 60% placed local cuisine experiences above all else, 55% opted for unique hotel experiences while 30% of requests were made for marriage proposals and honeymoons. 80% of customized trips were made by those travelling with their families. Those born in the 1980s and 1990s are the main force behind this craze for customized travel.

With strong preferences for self-coordinated and personalized tours, Chinese travelers are becoming more willing to spend money on gaining local experiences. There is greater demand for unique high-quality and individualized travel products and services. As more travelers become selective in their chosen travel destination, Ctrip Customized Travel continues to cater to their diverse needs. About Ctrip.com International, Ltd. Ctrip.com International, Ltd. is a leading travel service provider of accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management in China. It is the largest online consolidator of accommodations and transportation tickets in China in terms of transaction volume. Ctrip enables business and leisure travelers to make informed and cost-effective bookings by aggregating comprehensive travel related information and offering its services through an advanced transaction and service platform consisting of its mobile apps, Internet websites and centralized, toll-free, 24-hour customer service center. Ctrip also helps customers book vacation packages and guided tours. In addition, through its corporate travel management services, Ctrip helps corporate clients effectively manage their travel requirements. Since its inception in 1999, Ctrip has experienced substantial growth and become one of the best-known travel brands in China. For further information, please contact: International PR

Ctrip.com International, Ltd.

Tel: (+86) 21 3406 4880 ext 196455

Email: Pr@ctrip.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/918808ad-853d-45ed-aec2-31e29a7ee6b8 //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/69f90fc6-2233-4d5a-9fe2-62ff81baf3a5

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[April 02, 2018] AVITA Medical Announces Schedule for Six RECELL Device Presentations at American Burn Association (ABA) 50th Annual Meeting

AVITA Medical (ASX: AVH, OTCQX: AVMXY) announced today new data to be presented describing clinical and cost-savings advantages of RECELL Device in the treatment of severe burns at the American Burn Association (ABA) 50th Annual Meeting to be held from April 10 through 13, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago. This is the first time clinical investigators are presenting the full effectiveness and safety data from the two pivotal trials used to support AVITA Medical's U.S. PreMarket Approval (PMA) application for the treatment of burn injuries. RECELL Device is an investigational medical device developed by AVITA Medical and designed to facilitate skin regeneration for the treatment of burns and other wounds while reducing the amount of skin harvested at the time of surgery. Reduction in donor site skin requirements has important benefits from both clinical and health economic perspectives. One of the RECELL Device pivotal studies has been selected as a top five abstract for presentation during a plenary session at the ABA conference. Researchers also will present the positive results from other clinical studies and the conclusions from a model showing the health economic benefits of RECELL Device. Oral Presentations







Session Date, Time, Location (all times CDT (News - Alert) ) Session Description Presenter Wednesday, April 11, 2018

4:15 - 4:30 p.m.

International Ballroom - L

Abstract T1A *TOP FIVE ABSTRACT* "A Comparative Study of Autologous Skin Cell Suspension to Split-Thickness Autografting in the Treatment of Acute Burns." Full clinical results from U.S. controlled, randomized pivotal trial of RECELL Device in the treatment of deep partial-thickness (second-degree) burns. William Hickerson, MD, FACS, Firefighter Burn Center, Memphis, Tennessee, and University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee Friday, April 13, 2018

11:15 - 11:30 a.m.

Salon A-1 - LL

Abstract 109 "Demonstration of the Safety and Effectiveness of Autologous Skin Cell Suspension Combined with Meshed Skin Grafts for the Reduction of Donor Area in the Treatment of Acute Burns." Full clinical results from U.S. controlled, randomized pivotal trial of RECELL Device in the treatment of full-thickness (third-degree) burns. James H. Holmes, IV, MD, FACS Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Thursday, April 12, 2018

11:15 - 11:30 a.m.

Salon A-5 - LL

Abstract 77 "Initial Experience with Autologous Cell Suspension for Treatment of Partial Thickness Facial Burns." Review of clinical outcomes obtained in the treatment with RECELL Device of facial burns in adults and children under FDA-approved Compassionate Use Investigational Device program. Nicholas Walker, MD

Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina Thursday, April 12, 2018

11:00 - 11:15 a.m.

Salon A-5 - LL

Abstract 76 "Validation and Characterization of an Immediate, One-Stage Technique to Treat Full-Thickness Wounds in Swine." Results of preclinical study of RECELL Device in combination with a dermal substitute in the treatment of full-thickness burns in an animal model. Jongwon Genevieve Park, MD, PhD

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, North Carolina

Poster Presentations Session Date, Time, Location (all times CDT) Session Title, Description Presenter Wednesday, April 11, 2018

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Stevens Salon C&D - LL

Abstract 288 "Cost-Effectiveness (CE) of an Autologous REGENERATIVE EPITHELIAL SUSPENSION (RES) Versus Standard of Care (SOC) for Treatment of Severe Burns in the United States." Highlights a cost-effectiveness and budget impact model that demonstrates the economic value of RECELL Device versus standard of care for the treatment of severe burns. Kevin Foster, MD

Arizona Burn Center Wednesday, April 11, 2018

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Stevens Salon C&D - LL

Abstract 348 "A Prospective Evaluation of RECELL Device in Compassionate Use: Experience with the Use of RECELL Device to Treat Large TBSA Injuries." Review of clinical outcomes obtained in the treatment with RECELL Device of patients with extensive burn injuries under FDA-approved Compassionate Use Investigational Device program. Dr. Rajiv Sood

Indiana University Purdue University (News - Alert) Indianapolis School of Medicine "We look forward to the first presentation of the full results from our two pivotal clinical trials of RECELL Device, as well as cases from our Compassionate Use program and our health economic model," said Dr. Michael Perry (News - Alert) , AVITA Medical's Chief Executive Officer. "We thank the medical professionals, researchers and patients who participated in the development of RECELL Device and in the clinical studies being presented at the ABA conference." ABOUT AVITA MEDICAL LIMITED AVITA Medical is a regenerative medicine company with a technology platform positioned to address unmet medical needs in burns, chronic wounds, and aesthetics indications. AVITA Medical's patented and proprietary collection and application technology provides innovative treatment solutions derived from the regenerative properties of a patient's own skin. Our medical devices work by preparing a REGENERATIVE EPITHELIAL SUSPENSION, an autologous suspension comprised of the patient's own skin cells and wound healing factors that are necessary to regenerate natural healthy skin. This autologous suspension is then sprayed onto the areas of the patient to be treated. In the United States, RECELL Device is an investigational device limited by federal law to investigational use. In September 2017, AVITA Medical submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a PreMarket Approval (PMA) application for RECELL for the treatment of burn injuries. In all countries outside of Europe, our portfolio is marketed under the RECELL Device brand to promote skin healing in a wide range of applications including burns, chronic wounds and aesthetics. RECELL Device is TGA-registered in Australia, and CFDA-cleared in China. In Europe, our portfolio of medical device products received CE-mark approval as three tailored product presentations, with three individual brand names. RECELL Device is designed for the treatment of burns and plastic reconstructive procedures; REGENERCELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device has been formulated for chronic wounds including leg and foot ulcers; and RENOVACELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device is tailored for aesthetic applications including the restoration of pigmentation. To learn more, visit www.avitamedical.com. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This letter includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "could," "may," "will," "believe," "estimate," "look forward," "forecast," "goal," "target," "project," "continue," "outlook," "guidance," "future," other words of similar meaning and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements in this letter include, but are not limited to, statements concerning, among other things, our ongoing clinical trials and product development activities, regulatory approval of our products, the potential for future growth in our business, and our ability to achieve our key strategic, operational and financial goal. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Each forward- looking statement contained in this letter is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, the timing of regulatory approvals of our products; physician acceptance, endorsement, and use of our products; failure to achieve the anticipated benefits from approval of our products; the effect of regulatory actions; product liability claims; risks associated with international operations and expansion; and other business effects, including the effects of industry, economic or political conditions outside of the company's control. Investors should not place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this letter. Investors are encouraged to read our publicly available filings for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this letter speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180402005980/en/

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[April 03, 2018] VirtualArmour Expands Growth Into Hospitality and Manufacturing Sectors with $1.1M in New Contracts

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier Managed Services Provider, VirtualArmour International Inc. (the Company) (CSE:VAI) (3V3:F) (OTCQB:VTLR) announced today that it has finalized two new contracts within the hospitality and manufacturing sectors.

These contracts have a total value of USD$1.1M over their term, with the scope of services to include a focus on security and data compliance as well as infrastructure management. Services include the implementation of hardware, software, professional and managed security services. With the demand of PCI and PII requirements, we are seeing an increased focus on compliance within the hospitality industry to protect their guests, their brand and their future earnings, said Chad Schamberger, VP of Engineering and Professional Services. Providing the option for outsourcing Managed Security Services allows our clients to allocate their staff resources and capital to growing revenue and serving customers; while still arming the business with the latest technologies and specialized resources that will keep them protected and compliant. Technologies delivered as part of both of these solutions include those from IBM QRadar and Juniper Networks. Due to the sensitivities inherent within the industry, VirtualArmours policy is not to disclose specific client details in press releases. About VirtualArmour VirtualArmour is a global cybersecurity and Managed Services provider that delivers customized solutions to help businesses build, monitor, maintain and secure their networks.



The Company maintains 24/7 client monitoring and service management with specialist teams located in its US and UK-based security operation cnters (SOC). Through partnerships with best-in-class technology providers, VirtualArmour delivers only leading hardware and software solutions for customers that are both sophisticated and scalable, and backed by industry-leading customer service and experience. VirtualArmours proprietary CloudCastr client portal and prevention platform provides clients with unparalleled access to real-time reporting on threat levels, breach prevention and overall network security.







VirtualArmour services a wide range of clients - which include those listed on the Fortune 500 - within several industry sectors, in over 30 countries, across five continents. Further information about the Company is available under its profile on the SEDAR website, www.sedar.com, on the CSE website, www.thecse.com, and on its website www.virtualarmour.com Company Contact

PR@virtualarmour.com

Office: 720-644-0913 Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of VirtualArmour. Although VirtualArmour believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information as VirtualArmour cannot provide any assurance that it will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and VirtualArmour disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction in the United States, and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons, as such term is defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act (Regulation S), except pursuant to an exemption from or in a transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

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[April 03, 2018] Paragonix Technologies, Inc. Announces Presentation of the SherpaPak Cardiac Transport Systems and SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System at the 38th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation

Paragonix Technologies, Inc. will present the SherpaPak Organ Transport product line at Booth 14 during the 38th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) (Nice, France, 11-14 April 2018). The SherpaPak Organ Transport product line1,2 combines innovative cooling technology with safe, consistent methods for cold ischemic storage and transport of donor organs to recipients for implantation. The SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System family of products consists of a single-use, disposable device for hypothermic oxygenated perfusion preservation and transport of donor hearts. During the ISHLT conference, Paragonix will announce the European launch of the SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System and SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport system. Juan-Miguel Gil-Jaurena, MD, Cardiac Surgeon at Gregorio Maranon University Hospital, Madrid, Spain and Board Member of the Spanish Society of Cardiology and European Congenital Heart Surgeons Association member, commented, "For years, we have faced many problems related to heart transplantation. Transportation was not considered a big issue because it is has been done same way since the heart transplant programs started 50 years ago. However, now that many of the biggest technical transplantation issues have been solved, we are now begin to believe that the transportation of the donor organ can be improved. Any step forward in organ procurement and preservation is worthwhile and welcome. It seems that Paragonix has addressed this critical issue with its advanced SherpaPak Cardiac Transport system and SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport systems. We hope to begin a collaboration with Paragonix soon." Sebastian G.A. Michel, MD, a Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany, commented, "Following my earlier studies of SherpaPak and SherpaPerfusion during my research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, USA, I have been looking forward to the introduction of both products in Europe. My team previously reported preclinical data regarding SherpaPerfusion3,4 at the 37th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation5. SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System is designed to improve donor heart quality during currently accepted clinical preservation intervals and to extend preservation times. SherpaPak is a great advance over the current ice storage and SherpaPerfusion will open up the possibility of greater geographic procurement of donor organs." Dr. Lisa Anderson, President and COO, for Paragonix commented, "We are looking forward to discussing the SherpaPak and SherpaPerfusion Organ Transport Systems with the clinical community during the ISHLT Annual Meeting. We are excited to commence our support of the European transplant community." Previous Announcements Paragonix previously announced March 26, 2018 Appointment of Carl Rickenbaugh to the Board of Directors. Paragonix previously announced February 20, 2018 European Conformity ("CE")6 Premarket Clearance for the SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System and SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System Family of Organ Transport Products. Paragonix previously announced August 8, 2017 Extension of Product Portfolio with the Addition of SherpaPak Lung Transport System. Paragonix previously announced April 24, 2017 Presentation of the SherpaPak Organ Transport Systems at the American Transplant Congress (ATC) (Chicago, April 29 - May 3, 2017). Paragonix previously announced March 27, 2017 Presentation of the SherpaPak Organ Transport Systems and SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System at the 37th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (San Diego, 5 - 8 April 2017). About the ISHLT The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) is a not-for-profit, multidisciplinary, professional organization dedicated to improving the care of patients with advanced heart or lung disease through transplantation, mechanical support and innovative therapies via research, education and advocacy. About the Paragonix SherpaPak and SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System Currently, the availability of cardiac transplantation is governed by the "ischemic time", that being, the elapsed time from heart donation to recipient implantation. According to The International Society Of Heart andLung Transplantation ("ISHLT") guidelines7 for the care of heart transplant recipients, the projected ischemic time should not exceed 4 hours8,9, limiting the distance available to transport a donor heart. Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System is fully disposable, eliminating problems associated with maintenance, device transport and contamination. The Paragonix SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System combines innovative oxygenated perfusion of organs and safe organ storage with the ultimate goal of extending ischemic time to 12 hours, significantly altering the transportation range of donor hearts.



About the Cardiac Transplantation Market Cardiac transplantation is considered the gold standard therapy for patients in end-stage heart failure10. With over 6.5 million Americans currently diagnosed with heart failure (HF)11, 10% of which are diagnosed with end-stage heart failure12, there is a persistent need to provide end-stage heart failure support to this expanding population. Estimates of the prevalence of symptomatic HF in the general European population are similar to those in the United States13. In 2017, over 2,000 donor hearts were transplanted in Europe14.

The annual US economic burden of treating heart failure exceeds $34.4 billion15, over 50% of which is due to the cost of hospitalization16. The financial demands associated with transplantation are considerable. The estimated first year costs for heart transplant are $997,700, and subsequent annual costs can easily exceed $30,00017. In the United States, around 30,000 people die annually from end-stage heart disease. As of February 2018, 3,990 patients in the United States are on the waiting list for a heart transplant18 and close to 4,000 patients in Europe are on the waiting list for a heart transplant every year19. In 2017, 3,244 patients in the United States20 and over 2,000 European patients received a live-saving heart transplant19. These data, however, only seem to represent the tip of the iceberg. Assuming that up to 157,000 people with end-stage heart failure are candidates for transplantation21, maximization of donor organ utilization has enormous potential in cardiac transplantation. About Paragonix Technologies, Inc. Based in Massachusetts and founded in 2010, Paragonix Technologies, Inc., is a privately held medical device company innovating the Paragonix SherpaPak and SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System, a novel, single-use organ preservation device to improve donor organ quality. Paragonix has established a pipeline of donor organ transport devices that address the current donor organ shortage by maximizing donor organ utilization, improving donor organ quality and extending donor organ transport throughout the entire United States. 1 The SherpaPak Organ Transport product line is protected by patents, both issued and pending

2 The SherpaPak Organ Transport product line has received FDA 510(k) pre-market clearances and CE mark approval for both heart and kidney organ storage and transport

3 The SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System has received CE mark approval but is not approved for sale in the US

4 The SherpaPerfusion Cardiac Transport System is protected by patents, both issued and pending

5 "12 Hour Hypothermic Oxygenated Machine Perfusion Preserves The Quality of Donor Hearts: A Biomarker Analysis" Michel et al. 37th ISHLT Annual Meeting

6 The CE mark (Conformite Europeenne, meaning "European Conformity," formerly EC mark) according to the European Medical Directive (MDD) is a mandatory conformity mark for medical devices placed on the market in the European Economic Area (EEA). With the CE marking on a medical device, the manufacturer ensures that the product conforms to the essential requirements of the applicable EC medical device directives.

7 ISHLT Guidelines for the Care of Heart Transplant Recipients, Task Force 1: Peri-operative Care of the Heart Transplant Recipient (Aug. 4, 2010)

8 J Heart Lung Transplant 2001; 20(2):212.

9 J Am Coll Cardiol 2004; 43(9):1553-1561.

10 Datamonitor senior cardiovascular analyst Dr. Sergey Ishin. "Cardiac transplantation continues to be the gold standard for the treatment of end-stage heart failure. However, the number of potential transplants far exceeds the number of donors." http://about.datamonitor.com/media/archives/314

11 http://newsroom.heart.org/news/latest-statistics-show-heart-failure-on-the-rise;-cardiovascular-diseases-remain-leading-killer

12 http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartFailure/LivingWithHeartFailureAndAdvancedHF/Advanced-Heart-Failure_UCM_441925_Article.jsp#.WosY7GNLPjI

13 http://about.datamonitor.com/media/archives/314

14 http://www.transplant-observatory.org

15 Circulation 2011;123(8):933-944

16 Circulation 2007;115(5)

17 http://www.transplantliving.org

18 http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov

19 https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/blood_tissues_organs/docs/ev_20141126_factsfigures_en.pdf

20 https://unos.org/data/transplant-trends/#transplants_by_organ_type+year+2017

21 J Heart Lung Transplant 2011;30:1078-94 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005061/en/

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Sysdig Container Intelligence Platform Certified for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform

Sysdig, Inc., the container intelligence company, today announced Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform certification for the Sysdig Container Intelligence Platform, the first unified approach to container security, monitoring, and forensics. Certification and publication of Sysdig in the Red Hat Container Catalog, Red Hat's (News - Alert) service for discovering, distributing, and consuming commercially-curated Linux container images, is a natural step in the relationship between Sysdig and Red Hat. With this certification, developers have the confidence of knowing the Sysdig Container Intelligence Platform is a member of the OpenShift ecosystem and has been tested with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, the industry's most comprehensive enterprise-grade Kubernetes container application platform.

"Containers can take friction out of software development. They're designed to be easily built, deployed, and updated without reliance on permanent infrastructure. However, these dynamic container environments bring challenges when deployed in production, especially with respect to monitoring, management, and security," said Apurva Dave, chief marketing officer, Sysdig. "By using Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform and Sysdig, users can automatically discover insight into how their containers and microservices are performing at the host, network, application, and even the process level."

On April 25, Sysdig will host a webinar detailing how to instrument, monitor, and secure OpenShift environments. Follow Sysdig on Twitter for more information.

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform enables developers to quickly build, host, and scale applications in a cloud environment. Sysdig can automate the collection of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform application and service level-performance metrics, helping to accelerate the software development pace. The Sysdig ContainerVision agent, patented data collecton technology running on each Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform host system, can provide request-level visibility inside containers. This approach to container intelligence is designed to unify monitoring, security, and troubleshooting instrumentation for containers and microservices. To give developers further insight into logical applications, the Sysdig ServiceVision agent enriches metrics and events with metadata from Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform and Kubernetes, as well as clouds like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google (News - Alert) Cloud Platform (GCP).







"Developers at organizations are using Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform for their cloud applications," said Julio Tapia, director, OpenShift Ecosystem, Red Hat. "We are happy to collaborate with Sysdig to offer these users more confidence and more choice for added container security and intelligence as they deploy container-based apps in production with OpenShift."

Resources

Availability

Sysdig is available today in the Red Hat Container Catalog. For information on Sysdig, specifications, a demo, and other offerings, visit www.sysdig.com.

About Sysdig

Sysdig ( Twitter (News - Alert) : @sysdig) is the container intelligence company. We have created the only unified platform to deliver security, monitoring, and troubleshooting in a microservices-friendly architecture. Our open source technologies have attracted a community of over a million developers, administrators and other IT professionals looking for deep visibility into systems and containers. Our container intelligence platform monitors and secures millions of containers across hundreds of enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies and web-scale properties. Learn more at www.sysdig.com.

Red Hat and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005568/en/
[April 03, 2018] Cruz Street Media Provides On-Demand Chief Data Officer as a Service for Big Data Value Creation

NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cruz Street Media has jumped in with the most unique and practical approach for businesses to handle and leverage their big data by offering an on-demand CDO (chief data officer) service. This is a pioneering service that's going to benefit businesses of all sizes. Big data is the biggest challenge for companies around the world. The rate at which businesses are now capturing useful data is alarmingly high. More data-capturing devices combined with penetration of technology in every walk of life is resulting in an inundation of data. However, it's not the big data that's the problem  the problem is how to handle it, make sense of it, integrate it across the organization and create value for an enterprise. According to the recent estimates, there will be more or less 44 trillion GB of big data that the world will have to handle by 2020. What's more alarming is the fact that one industry leader out of every five firmly believes that businesses that don't come up with a strategy to handle and manage big data immediately will become obsolete in the coming times. A response to such a tsunami of data was direly needed and Cruz Street came up with the most apt and practical solution to the problem. From small businesses to large enterprises, all organizations can now outsource the CDO responsibilities to a firm that knows big data inside out and is equipped with the technology to make the most of it. As a part of their consulting and fulfillment process, Cruz Street not only maps out the technologies and processes of an organization, they offer a service to recruit and place a full-time CDO for an organization upon completion. The Cruz Street Media blog explains the need for an on-demand chef data officer in great detail.



Once a Cruz Street chief data officer is hired for work, depending upon a company's need, he/she will take care of revenue creation, cost savings and risk management and mitigation. It is imperative for organizations at this point to not treat big data as a golden egg but as a weapon that will help them shred through competition and have the upper hand. Jesse Cruz talked at length about the need for an on-demand chief data officer, the scope of outsourcing such a position and the company's vision during his interview with ForbesBooks Radio. While the integrity and safety of data remain one of the responsibilities for a chief data officer, the primary responsibility now is to exploit big data in such a way that it helps explosive revenue growth or significant cost savings for an organization. Combining the power of business intelligence software tools and big data analytic applications, CDOs can help businesses cut costs, create marketing plans and execute them for unprecedented growth.

Cruz Street Media's solution will allow organizations, small and large, to take advantage of professional CDO services without bearing the costs of hiring and compensating a full-time CDO. In short, the cost savings will start for businesses as soon as they subscribe to the on-demand CDO solution. About Cruz Street Media Cruz Street Media is a family and minority-owned firm. The New York-based company provides complete data and marketing services to small and large businesses, helping them with solutions such as data quality services, data transformation, data integration, people-based marketing strategies, intelligent creative design, guided motion graphics, video production, integrated social media strategy and much more. The company's unique on-demand CDO solution is one-of-its-kind and an effort to help small, medium and large businesses protect, govern and leverage data as an asset. Contact Information http://www.cruzstreet.com/ 175 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

Phone: (888) 427-8978

Local: (646) 779-7278

Email: info@cruzstreet.com

sales@cruzstreet.com Related Images cruz-street-media-logo.jpg

Cruz Street Media Logo

Logo for NYC-Based Big Data and Marketing Services Consulting Firm Cruz Street Media image2.jpg Related Links ForbesBooks Interview Cruz Street Media Blog View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cruz-street-media-provides-on-demand-chief-data-officer-as-a-service-for-big-data-value-creation-300623068.html SOURCE Cruz Street Media

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[April 03, 2018]

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd. Chooses Cytonome's GigaSort Cell Sorting Technology for Cell Bioprocessing

BEDFORD, Mass., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd. has installed the GigaSort Platform in their newly opened Manufacturing Plant for Regenerative Medicine & Cell Therapy in Osaka, Japan. The center is the world's first commercial iPSC plant. The GigaSort platform is a microfluidic-based cell sorting technology that allows the selection of highly specific and pure cell populations in a manufacturing environment.

"We are thrilled to be providing the GigaSort technology to Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd. to enable exciting advances in regenerative medicine and the transition from proof of concept into accessible, manufacturable products," said John Sharpe, Ph.D., Cytonome's chief technology officer.

The GigaSort Platform is designed expressly for cGMP manufactuing. The highly parallel microfluidic channel design allows high throughput processing that remains gentle on the cells. The microfluidic chip is part of a disposable, enclosed fluidic set that can be gamma irradiated, eliminating the need for aerosol containment.







About Cytonome-ST LLC

Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, Cytonome/ST LLC is a privately held biotechnology instrument design company focused on developing advanced solutions in cell purification for the bioprocessing, industrial and life science research markets. With deep engineering expertise in the cytometry field and a strong intellectual property portfolio, Cytonome aims to develop products that simplify existing workflows and enable leading-edge basic and translational research. For more information, please visit www.cytonome.com.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sumitomo-dainippon-pharma-co-ltd-chooses-cytonomes-gigasort-cell-sorting-technology-for-cell-bioprocessing-300623127.html

SOURCE Cytonome
[April 03, 2018] KnowBe4 Arms IT Pros With No-Cost Mailserver Security Assessment Tool to Stop Social Engineering Attacks

TAMPA BAY, Fla., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- KnowBe4, the world's largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, announced the release of a new security tool for IT admins, the Mailserver Security Assessment (MSA). It is well-known within the InfoSec community that email is the No. 1 attack vector for social engineering, malware delivery and exploitation. However, IT can run into problems when trying to check their own email server configurations from within the organization. KnowBe4 has now made it easy for IT pros to test their email server configurations and see what can types of malicious email can penetrate their organization's network from the outside. KnowBe4's new complimentary security assessment tool, MSA, automates the process of sending dozens of simulated malicious email message that contain a variety of different message types including email with attachments that contain password-protected, macro zipped, and .exe files or have spoofed domains. MSA helps IT pros assess how their organization's email server either blocks or allows each potentially malicious message type through to the employee inbox. By using MSA, they will learn if their current email filters are secure or not and help them determine if any rules should be adjusted for their organization's requirements.



Stu Sjouwerman , CEO of KnowBe4 said, "IT admins can now do an automated assessment of their email security. Armed with that data they can see what emails may make it through, and take steps to lower the risk of social engineering attacks making it to their users." MSA can deliver over 30 different emails and test how an organization's email configuration handles a multitude of message types in as little as an hour such as:

SPF Testing - Use a domain with an SPF record that has a soft fail or hard fail)

- Use a domain with an SPF record that has a soft fail or hard fail) Domain Spoofing - Spoof customers domain (from only, reply to only, altered top level domain

- Spoof customers domain (from only, reply to only, altered top level domain Punycode domain - Use puny code domain for the from/reply to

- Use puny code domain for the from/reply to Microsoft Office Docs - Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Word, Excel, PowerPoint PDF - Attach PDF (normal, w/script, w/script zipped

- Attach PDF (normal, w/script, w/script zipped HTML - Attach HTML (normal with link, w/redirect scripting, zipped and w/password

- Attach HTML (normal with link, w/redirect scripting, zipped and w/password Javascript - Attach JS, JS Zipped and JS w/password

- Attach JS, JS Zipped and JS w/password Attachment Exe - Benign, zipped, zipped w/password, EICAR and EICAR zipped

- Benign, zipped, zipped w/password, EICAR and EICAR zipped Attachment Powershell For more information, or to download the no-charge Mail-Server Assessment Tool, visit www.knowbe4.com/mailserver-security-assessment About KnowBe4 KnowBe4, the provider of the world's most popular integrated new-school security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 17,000 organizations worldwide. Founded by data and IT security expert Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness of ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to security awareness training. Kevin Mitnick, internationally recognized computer security expert and KnowBe4's Chief Hacking Officer, helped design KnowBe4's training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Thousands of organizations trust KnowBe4 to mobilize their end-users as the last line of corporate IT defense. Number 231 on the 2017 Inc. 500 list, #50 on 2016 Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 and #6 in Cybersecurity Ventures Cybersecurity 500. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Tampa Bay, Florida with European offices in England and The Netherlands. For more information, visit www.knowbe4.com and follow Stu on Twitter at @StuAllard. Contact: Kathy Wattman Kathyw@knowbe4.com +1.727.474.9950 View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/knowbe4-arms-it-pros-with-no-cost-mailserver-security-assessment-tool-to-stop-social-engineering-attacks-300623351.html SOURCE KnowBe4

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[April 03, 2018] Security Compass Releases New Risk Dashboard Capability in the Latest Version of its SD Elements Platform

TORONTO, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Security Compass, providing organizations with the knowledge, training, and technology to make software secure, today announced that it has added risk dashboards to the latest release of its flagship product, SD Elements. Version 4.12 of the leading policy to procedure platform now includes a single, aggregated view of risks from software security, infrastructure security, compliance and policy  empowering organizations with the metrics needed to drive risk management and compliance into software development. Security Compass will demo the new risk dashboards along with its automated compliance capabilities at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, April 16-20 in booth #2908.

Featuring robust application security and operational security tools, SD Elements enables large organizations to practice agile and DevOps software development while enforcing risk compliance policies. The risk dashboard feature builds on this pedigree, enabling organizations to create risk policies that provide clear governance throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Action-oriented reports and visualizations make it easy for fast-moving DevOps teams to identify and address compliance problems in applications early, and across business units, saving considerable time and resources. SD Elements enables DevOps teams to move from highly manual security and risk-phase gates, to a more automated approach that doesnt slow down development. "Or first-of-its-kind SD Elements platform translates policies to prescriptive, measurable procedures that are used by engineering teams and business units to achieve their security and compliance objectives," said Ehsan Foroughi, Vice President of SD Elements at Security Compass. "The new risk dashboard feature is our latest innovation that leverages automation for these practices allowing organizations to review the compliance of applications across business units, while rapidly and efficiently delivering technology that is secure by design."



Security Compass has also recently introduced a new usage-based licensing model designed to fit any budget, making it quick and easy for enterprises to adopt SD Elements for their most critical applications. Pricing is based on the number of applications being managed within SD Elements - you only pay for what you use. Security Compass has been recognized for its unique approach to enforcing security policy and risk management across the software development lifecycle. The company was announced a winner in two categories for the 14th Annual 2018 Info Security PGs Global Excellence Awards in Application Security and Compliance Innovation and is a finalist for Best Emerging Technology in the SC Media Excellence Awards with winners to be announced during an award gala on April 17 in San Francisco.

About Security Compass

Security Compass is a leader in helping customers proactively manage cybersecurity risk without slowing down their business. Offering Advisory Services, Training, and SD Elements, an award-winning policy to procedure platform for security and compliance. Security Compass enables organizations to rapidly and efficiently deliver technology thats secure by design. Security Compass serves some of the worlds largest businesses including seven of the 15 largest financial institutions and four of the 10 largest technology companies in North America. The privately held company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with global offices in the United States and India. Follow Security Compass on Twitter @securitycompass or visit https://www.securitycompass.com/ Media Contact:

April H. Burghardt

PR Consultant for Security Compass

april@gabdata.com

646-246-0484

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[April 03, 2018] Tektronix Showcases Quality Assurance and Test Solutions from Creation to Delivery for Next Generation Video Networks at NAB

BEAVERTON, Ore., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tektronix, Inc., an industry-leading innovator of video test, monitoring and diagnostics solutions, today announced that it will be demonstrating solutions that enable the delivery of content quality, signal integrity and regulatory compliance at the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 9-12 in booth SU5006. As the industry transitions to next generation networks, workflows and delivery mechanisms, Tektronix is stepping up with hybrid IP and SDI media analysis solutions, 4K/UHD with HDR video monitoring solutions and quality assurance in virtual and cloud environments. In addition to compelling demonstrations and talks in the Tektronix booth, a range of Tektronix equipment will be on display in nearly a dozen partner booths across the show floor. "As NAB Show attendees will be able to see first hand, Tektronix is at the forefront of the changes and trends impacting the broadcast industry  and we're delivering the monitoring solutions our customers in production, post-production and content distribution need to keep pace," said Charlie Dunn general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. "This year, we're demonstrating numerous new capabilities and enhancements of vital importance to our customers as they attempt to absorb and implement new standards like SMPTE ST 2110, become more efficient at producing HDR content or roll out new streaming live/VOD and OTT services." PRISM delivers SMPTE ST 2110 analysis and signal generation To help broadcasters make the transition to all IP networks, the PRISM media analysis solution now includes support for the recently published SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards (-10,-20,-30,-40,-21) for professional media over managed IP networks. In addition, Tektronix introduced new, low cost field-upgradable signal generation capabilities for PRISM that will give broadcasters more confidence when testing SMPTE ST 2110 IP systems. With these capabilities, PRISM provides the comprehensive measurement, network analysis and troubleshooting solution needed for a smooth transition to the full IP-based infrastructure and workflows of the future. PRISM also provides a 12G SDI generator solution for those working in SDI or Hybrid SDI/IP environments. See full press release. Quality Assurance for Cloud and Virtual Streaming Environments As video content providers make the move to cloud streaming environments, a critical issue is maintaining visibility into content quality and where problems are occurring. As recently announced, the Sentry real-time video quality content monitoring solution now delivers live and on-demand video quality assurance across cloud and virtual streaming workflows. With its latest enhancements, Sentry simplifies quality monitoring across today's complex environments giving real visibility into streaming content quality along with in-depth analysis and compliance reporting for OTT/multiscreen services with global scalability. See full press release. Solutions for Producing Stunning HDR Content The video industry is aggressively making the move to 4K HDR/WCG content creation and maintaining quality and delivering the stuning visual experience audiences expect. To support this transition, Tektronix has expanded support for 4K/Ultra High Definition (UHD), High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) across its WFM/WVR 8000 Series and PRISM IP/SDI waveform monitoring and analysis platforms. The small form factor WFM/WVR 5200 series now supports HDR graticlues for those producing 1080p HDR content, See full press release.



Aurora File-based QC System Adds TekMOS Picture Quality Analysis Visitors to the Tektronix booth can also see the cutting-edge features introduced on the Aurora file-based QC system, which supports the latest IMF standards, has expanded AWS workflow compatibility and S3 storage support, and can validate 4K-HDR content. Aurora provides a wide range of automated media QC tests that have been honed by testing millions of hours of file-based content in enterprise environments. Available as both cloud and virtual machine implementations, Aurora can be integrated into existing workflows, with an API designed for easy incorporation into management and control systems.

Beyond the wide range of fundamental content quality tests such as video and audio analysis and format compliance, Aurora can now be used to provide a single score picture quality rating using TekMOS. TekMOS is a non-reference picture quality analysis algorithm unique to Tektronix that provides a Mean Opinion Score (MOS) using machine learning techniques. Those scores have a strong correlation to how viewers would rate the quality of the content. Using graphical displays, TekMOS provides an easy-to-read report highlighting any issues, and providing reasons for the score given, enabling providers to quickly take corrective action. Partners Tap Tektronix at NAB In addition to the full slate of activities in its own booth, Tektronix equipment will be found throughout the show floor in partner and customers booths where it will be shown in action supporting a range of cutting edge demonstrations. The AJA booth (SL2505) will feature the Tektronix SPG8000A, a precision multiformat video signal generator, serving as the PTP (Precision Time Protocol) source for AJA's products, including the Kona IP and IPR-10G-HDMI.

In the Arista booth (SL12105), a Tektronix SPG8000A with PTP will be used to distribute time synchronization across a 2059-2 network. Arista and Tektronix work together to provide highly scalable and resilient PTP networks for the broadcast and high frequency trading industries.

Over at the Evertz booth (N1503), PRISM will be part of a larger Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) solution and provide test and measurement support for an ST 2110 IP network. Evertz will also be using AWMA IS-04 and IS-05 to register, discover, and control ST 2110 flows to PRISM using Evertz' MAGNUM, an SDVN orchestration system.

At the EVS booth (SL3816), EVS and Tektronix will use the SMPTE standards and AIMS supported protocols to execute an IP routed booth showcasing all latest products and solutions. The Tektronix SPG8000A will be used to manage PTP and EVS SCORE MASTER to orchestrate the distributed IP network core for routing.

In the Grass Valley booth (SL106), a Tektronix WFM2300 portable waveform monitor will be used to provide troubleshooting and verification of reference and SDI signals during the show for in-booth demos. In addition, PRISM will be used for analysis and monitoring of 10G IP signals within Grass Valley's comprehensive IP workflow that features GV Node IP routing and the new K-Frame X SDI/IP production center.

booth (SL106), a Tektronix WFM2300 portable waveform monitor will be used to provide troubleshooting and verification of reference and SDI signals during the show for in-booth demos. In addition, PRISM will be used for analysis and monitoring of 10G IP signals within comprehensive IP workflow that features GV Node IP routing and the new K-Frame X SDI/IP production center. Imagine Communications in booth SL1516 is relying on a Tektronix SPG8000A to provide PTP timing for live demonstrations of hybrid SDI/IP workflows across its playout, graphics, routing, processing, control and multiviewer solutions. Imagine is also using PRISM to illustrate that all SMPTE ST 2022 and 2110 signal flows featured in the Imagine booth are compliant with industry specifications.

In the Nevion booth (SU5510), the PRISM media analysis platform will be connected as a destination on a booth SDN network to switch sources to simulate a shared resource connected to an IP network. The Nevion orchestration platform, VideoIPath, will be used as the controller to initiate the switching of flows in the network. Tektronix SPG8000A and PRISM will also be featured in the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) IP Showcase Interop Demonstration taking place in Booth C12634 where they will be demoing PTP signal generation and full ST 2110 measurements with NMOS. Wondering what else Tektronix is up to? Check out the Tektronix Bandwidth Banter blog and stay up to date on the latest news from Tektronix on Twitter and Facebook. About Tektronix Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix delivers innovative, precise, and easy-to-operate test, measurement and monitoring solutions that solve problems, unlock insights, and drive discovery. Tektronix has been at the forefront of the digital age for over 70 years. Join us on the journey of innovation at TEK.COM/VIDEO. Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective companies. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tektronix-showcases-quality-assurance-and-test-solutions-from-creation-to-delivery-for-next-generation-video-networks-at-nab-300622361.html SOURCE Tektronix, Inc.

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[April 03, 2018] Concentric Analgesics Deepens Leadership Team to Advance Non-Opioid Pain Portfolio

Concentric (News - Alert) Analgesics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical pain company, announced today that it has appointed Susan Kramer, DrPH, Executive Vice President, Program Management & Strategy and Mike A. Royal, MD, Chief Medical Officer. Drs. Kramer and Royal collectively bring more than 50 years of senior biopharmaceutical development experience leading multiple first-in-class therapeutics through market approval. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005563/en/ Dr. Susan Kramer Appointed Executive Vice President, Program Management & Strategy at Concentric Analgesics (Photo: Business Wire) "We are thrilled to welcome these two highly experienced biopharmaceutical executives to the Concentric management team," said John Donovan (News - Alert) , MD, Chief Executive Officer of Concentric Analgesics. "Susan and Mike's track records speak for themselves, and I am confident that their leadership will help ensure successful execution of the Company's ambitious development efforts across its postsurgical, cancer and osteoarthritis programs." Dr. Kramer possesses more than 30 years of research and development experience, having spent 18 years at Genentech bringing multiple novel therapeutics to market. Most recently Vce President of Product Development at Annexion, she has also held senior development roles for a number of companies, including Xoma, Corthera and Anesiva. Dr. Kramer holds a DrPH in Biomedical Sciences (Virology), and an MPH in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley.



"I am pleased to be joining Concentric at this important stage of its development. My enthusiasm for the opportunity is underpinned by my experience with the therapeutic approach, having worked with the portfolio's active molecule, capsaicin, earlier in my career. I am confident that the TRPV1-agonist prodrugs for each of Concentric's programs will have a safety and efficacy profile that can lead to approval and have the potential for a profound impact clinically and commercially," said Dr. Kramer. Dr. Royal has 17 years of pain drug development and medical affairs experience. He has held senior clinical roles at Liquidia, Sorrento, AcelRx, Cadence and Solstice. Board certified in Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine with 12 years of clinical research in academic and private practice, Dr. Royal received his MD from the University of Massachusetts, a JD from the University of Maryland School of Law, and a joint MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and London School of Economics.

"Clinicians are seeking innovative non-opioid solutions that provide meaningful reductions in pain and opioid use in the critical 24-to-96 hours following surgery. I was drawn to Concentric's prodrug platform because it has the potential to deliver ground-breaking improvement in the management of pain across multiple clinical settings where there is significant unmet need," said Dr. Royal. ABOUT TRPV1-AGONIST PRO-DRUGS Concentric Analgesic's lead investigational product candidates are proprietary water-soluble prodrugs that convert into capsaicin - the naturally occurring molecule that gives chili peppers their heat and is a potent TRPV-1 agonist. Capsaicin, which has a long history of use as a topical analgesic, selectively and reversibly desensitizes pain conducting nerve fibers (C-fiber nociceptors). TRPV-1 agonism evokes an initial neuronal excitation that is followed by a durable refractory state to provide long lasting analgesia. ABOUT CONCENTRIC ANALGESICS Concentric Analgesics, Inc. is a privately-held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel, non-opioid therapeutics for the management of acute and chronic pain. The Company recently completed enrollment in its Phase 1b clinical trial in patients undergoing bunionectomy for its lead program for post-surgical pain, CA (News - Alert) -008. It also has pre-clinical development programs in cancer and osteoarthritis pain. For more information, please visit www.concentricanalgesics.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005563/en/

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[April 03, 2018] Michael Baker International Selected to Implement 33 Smart Mobility Corridor Along U.S. Route 33 Near Columbus, Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Baker International, a global leader in engineering, planning and consulting services, today announced it was selected by the NW 33 Innovation Corridor Council of Governments for a $1 million contract to provide program management and technical oversight for the implementation of connected vehicle technologies along a 35-mile section of U.S. Route 33 between and within the City of Dublin and the City of Marysville near Columbus, Ohio. Michael Baker will lead the program to install connected vehicle roadside devices and smart traffic signals, equip 1,200 vehicles with connected vehicle technology, and develop a network to manage the data and overall system. More than 50,000 vehicles travel daily on the corridor's mix of local, arterial and collector streets, and multi-lane divided highway ramps, providing fertile research opportunities to create real-world testing conditions for connected vehicle technologies. The 33 Smart Mobility Corridor is unique in its concentration of automotive manufacturing and technology employment centers, and connects two globally-renowned nodes of automotive researchTransportation Research Center Inc. (TRC) and The Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research (CAR). The project also connects major new smart mobility initiatives in the City of Columbus's "Smart Columbus" project, a $40 million grant award by U.S. Department of Transportation and federal research initiatives performed at TRC. "The 33 Smart Mobility Corridor will offer a unique opportunity for Michael Baker to lead the deployment and testing of smart vehicle technology in various developed environments and roadway types as We Make a Difference in driving this technological advancement to the forefront of the transportation industry," said Lori Duguid, Project Manager and Office Manager in Michael Baker's Columbus office. "We are building our reputation as an engineering leader in the connected and autonomous vehicle industry and continue to foster partnerships to expand our vital role moving forward."



Michael Baker and subconsultant, Alten-Cresttek, will assist the project sponsorsthe Cities of Dublin and Marysville, Union County, Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and DriveOhioand the project partners Honda, Battelle, TRC and the Ohio State University College of Engineeringto use insights gained from the project to improve safety and create opportunities for economic development throughout the corridor, while showcasing the approach as a model for inter-governmental collaboration. "The NW 33 Innovation Corridor Council of Governments is excited to have the Michael Baker International/Alten-Cresttek team on board to lead our efforts to install connected vehicle technology along the 35-mile stretch of the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor," said Terry Emery, President of the NW 33 Innovation Corridor Council of Governments. "Their experience and expertise in the smart technology field will assist in making our roads safer, less congested, and well equipped for the real-life testing of connected and autonomous vehicles."

Fueled by the United States increasing emphasis on creating a smart transportation network that's safer, more efficient, less expensive and largely automated, Michael Baker has worked with clients across the country to implement connected and autonomous vehicles and associated emerging technologies to prepare for changes and technological advancements in transportation. The firm is a leader in the system phase, collaborating with top institutions and manufacturers, as well as progressive government agencies and states, such as Ohio, to shape smart transportation infrastructure of the future. "The 33 Smart Mobility Corridor project presents many challenges and opportunities for our organization and the people of Ohio," said Jim Barna, Executive Director of DriveOhio. "We look forward to working closely with the Michael Baker team over the next 18 months to bring this project from concept to reality." Michael Baker conducted the first of two partnering workshops in Columbus to discuss key project elements in early February. The project is scheduled for completion in January 2020. The firm's contract is part of a larger $15 million project which includes a $6 million United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Advanced Transportation Congestion Management Technologies Deployment grant that was awarded in 2016 to the NW 33 Innovation Corridor Council of Governments. About Michael Baker International

Michael Baker International is a leading provider of engineering and consulting services, including design, planning, architectural, environmental, construction and program management. The company provides its comprehensive range of services and solutions to support U.S. federal, state, and municipal governments, foreign allied governments, and a wide range of commercial clients. Michael Baker's more than 3,000 employees across nearly 100 locations are committed to a culture of innovation, collaboration and technological advancement to help solve challenges for clients and communities throughout the country. To learn more, visit www.mbakerintl.com. Contact:

Justin Falce

justin.falce@mbakerintl.com

(866) 293-4609 View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/michael-baker-international-selected-to-implement-33-smart-mobility-corridor-along-us-route-33-near-columbus-ohio-300623394.html SOURCE Michael Baker International

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[April 03, 2018] Electrical Bushings Market Worth 2.96 Billion USD by 2023

PUNE, India, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report "Electrical Bushings Market by Type (Oil Impregnated Paper, Resin Impregnated Paper), Insulation (Porcelain, Polymeric, Glass), Voltage (MV, HV, EHV), Application (Transformer, Switchgear), End-User (Utilities, Industries), & Region-Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to grow from an estimated USD 2.45 Billion in 2018 to USD 2.96 Billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 3.86%, from 2018 to 2023. This growth is primarily due to the rising investments in electrical infrastructure and growing demand for electrical equipment from end-users such as railways and the renewable sector. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg )

Browse 79 market data Tables and 44 Figures spread through 144 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Electrical Bushings Market" https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/electrical-bushing-market-219476017.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report The utilities segment is expected to hold the largest share of the Electrical Bushings Market, by end-user, during the forecast period. The utilities segment led the Electrical Bushings Market in 2017. Electrical equipment such as transformers, switchgears, and circuit breakers are an important part of the T&D infrastructure and bushings are used to connect this equipment to HVDC lines. Asia Pacific requires huge investments in the infrastructure sector including energy, transport, telecommunications, and water. According to the Asian Development Bank, an investment of USD 8.22 trillion is required for infrastructure development in the region from 2010 to 2020. With increasing investments in power infrastructure, the market for bushings is likely to grow, leading to the utilities segment being the largest and fastest-growing end-user segment of the Electrical Bushings Market. The transformer segment is expected to hold the largest share of the Electrical Bushings Market, by application, during the forecast period. The transformer segment led the Electrical Bushings Market in 2017 and is projected to have the largest market share during the forecast period. In transformers, bushings offer various advantages such as fire hazard reduction and eliminating the need for oil supervision. Moreover, to withstand any transformr voltage, bushings are the only electrical equipment used for providing external input and output connections. All these factors have resulted in the largest share of the transformer segment.



Ask for PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=219476017 The resin impregnated paper segment of the Electrical Bushings Market, by type, is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The resin impregnated paper (RIP) bushings segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2018 to 2023. The key advantages of RIP bushings include reduced risk for oil leakage, reduced chances of fire explosion, the capability to withstand seismic activity, and no requirement for oil expansion chambers. Moreover, RIP bushings are lightweight and compact in size resulting in easy transportation and easy handling during installation. Asia Pacific: The leading market for electrical bushings. In this report, the Electrical Bushings Market has been analyzed with respect to 5 regions, namely, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, the Middle East & Africa, and South America. The market in Asia Pacific led the global Electrical Bushings Market in 2017. It is the most populated region in the world and consequently witnesses a high demand for electricity. Increasing grid investments especially in developing economies such as China and India and plans for electrification in countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines are expected to drive the Electrical Bushings Market in Asia Pacific. China accounted for the largest share of the Electrical Bushings Market in Asia Pacific in 2017. The National Energy Administration of China estimates a cumulative investment of USD 280 billion is required to increase the length of the transmission lines in the ultra-high voltage (more than 800 kV) network, under its 2015-2020 Power Grid Construction and Reform Plan. This eventually increases the demand for power equipment such as transformers, generators, and circuit breakers, thereby creating business opportunities for the Electrical Bushings Market in Asia Pacific. To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the Electrical Bushings Market. The key players include ABB (Switzerland), Siemens (Germany), GE (US), Eaton (Ireland), and Nexans (France). The leading players are adopting various strategies to increase their market shares. Know more about the Electrical Bushings Market: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/electrical-bushing-market-219476017.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact:

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Visit Our Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/energy-and-power Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets

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[April 03, 2018] How does a data-driven organization set up a new office? Exploring Best Practices with reporting and analytics expert, Klipfolio

OTTAWA, Ontario, April 3, 2018 /CNW/ -- Setting up a new office can be an exciting, yet intimidating endeavor, especially if you're relocating from an existing space. Having just opened shop in their new location, Klipfolio, a developer and provider of world-class customized online dashboard platforms, knows this well. Big data is what's it's all about at Klipfolio, and their space must reflect their high-energy atmosphere and celebrate their culture, while promoting productivity. For data-driven cultures, cross-functional activity is key. Inherently, Designers and Developers are true collaborators. They're focused on the end user. Creating an enhanced, insightful and responsive client experience is Klipfolio's ultimate objective. This requires cross-functional collaboration, which is best fostered in an open floor plan. An open floor plan enables real time idea-sharing and actionable engagement. Klipfolio is embracing a concept known as Collaborative Ergonomics  blending team collaboration to drive innovation and decision-making, while ensuring overall health and well-being for its employees. Collaborative ergonomics supports healthier, happier and more productive employees. Peter Matthews, Chief Experience Officer and Co-Founder of Klipfolio, had a significant influence over the design of Klipfolio's new space. "Building a strong corporate culture doesn't happen overnight. It takes time," states Matthews. "The internal experience for employees is just as important as the external experience for customers. It's about consistency. Consistent experience allows both internal and external stakeholders to feel the real satisfaction that comes from having consistent quality throughout the whole of the corporate experience. We are building a harmonious opeation in our new space and as a result, our customers will have a harmonious engagement with our product and service." As Matthews reveals, the experience is the catalyst and informs every aspect of Klipfolio's business.



To design for collaboration, there are three goals to keep in mind: 1) Promote creativity and share knowledge, 2) Increase company-wide innovation, 3) Improve decisiveness. When designing for ergonomics, the focus should be on: 1) Creating spaces that promote organized work zones, 2) Providing adjustable desks and monitor stands that allow customization and comfort 3) Ensuring that all zones within the workspace are within easy and comfortable reach. Collaborative Ergonomics also focuses on reducing wasted space by situating employees in positions that enhance teamwork and synergy. Klipfolio's architectural partner, Linebox Studio challenges the mundane and ordinary in their innovative designs. Reggie McIntosh, Project Lead and Intern Architect at Linebox, says, "With Klipfolio, we established early the importance of variation in work spaces. Everyone works differently and it's healthy to break it up throughout the day. We had the advantage of working within a phenomenal, yet challenging space that once housed a movie theatre." McIntosh continues, "Klipfolio embraced the quirky nature of the space without hesitation, enabling Linebox to create an array of unique spaces."

Linebox and Klipfolio approached the design in a truly holistic way, thinking through every type of employee, every style of task and activity. The approach was deep and insightful. Some spaces are expansive, facilitating group collaboration and taking advantage of exterior views and high ceilings, and others that are small, introspective and comfortable, creating quiet zones of concentration and focused work. Still other spaces, like the feature stair, create intersections where people can spontaneously connect and problem-solve. All the while, the office is fun and lively through the use of bright accent colors, comfortable furniture, and interesting lighting choices. Allan Wille, CEO and Co-Founder of Klipfolio, states, "As a company that is growing quickly, the need to be aligned and have each of our one-hundred talented people moving in the right direction is critical." Wille emphasizes that it is critical to plan for continuous growth and design a space that promotes scalability. "Graduating from an office that spread employees over multiple floors that we were outgrowing, to a location that can house everyone on the same floor plate has given us freedom. We have put a major emphasis on designing collaborative areas with a variety of different working environments, so that we can continue to explore and expand." Today's modern work environment is more than game rooms, funky furniture, free food and allowing dogs to hang out with you at work. Your office space should be considered an organic environment which needs to be nurtured and cultivated on a regular basis. Experimenting with new layouts, team arrangements and configurations is key. For example, try mixing team members sitting together in one location for a specific project. Similarly, we are experimenting with an online chat huddle center where two team members from Client Support work with members from the Sales Team to help manage online chats in a collaborative way. So next time you're in Canada's Capital of Ottawa, please drop by and say hi! About Klipfolio Klipfolio is trusted and relied upon by over 10,000 of the world's best and brightest organizations. As a leader in the cloud-based business intelligence dashboard market, Klipfolio is a cost-effective, flexible dashboard solution that integrates with 1000s of data services to create powerful business insights. With customers in healthcare, financial services, consumer packaged goods, non-profit, and marketing, Klipfolio is changing the way data is used one dashboard at a time. Find out more at Klipfolio or follow us at Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook. SOURCE Klipfolio Inc.

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[April 03, 2018] Freshfields and Columbia University's Richman Center Co-Host 2018 Global Business Forum, April 19 in New York

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Columbia University's Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy, a collaboration between Columbia Business School and Columbia Law School, will host their third annual Global Business Forum on April 19 at 583 Park Avenue in New York City. This year's forum, "Changing Demographics and Global Business," will cover critical issues facing today's international businesses, with panels and talks focusing on disruption, blockchain, evolving customer preferences, new employee/employer relationship models, growing markets in India and China, and more. Speakers scheduled to appear at the 2018 Global Business Forum include: Willem Buiter , Special Economic Adviser, Citi

, Special Economic Adviser, Citi Alexa du Pont Bell , Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Paperless Post

, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Paperless Post Carol Fishman Cohen , Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, iRelaunch

, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, iRelaunch Byrne Doyle , Senior Vice President, Strategic Growth Office, Best Buy (News - Alert)

, Senior Vice President, Strategic Growth Office, Best Buy (News - Alert) Stephan Eilers , Managing Partner, Tax, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

, Managing Partner, Tax, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Sara Eisen , Co-Anchor, CNBC's Squawk on the Street and Worldwide Exchange

, Co-Anchor, CNBC's and Michael Faye , Co-Founder, GiveDirectly; Co-Founder, Segovia (News - Alert) Technology

, Co-Founder, GiveDirectly; Co-Founder, Segovia (News - Alert) Technology Gregory J. Fleming , Chief Executive Officer, Rockefeller Capital Management

, Chief Executive Officer, Rockefeller Capital Management Ramesh Gopinath , Vice President of Blockchain, Solutions and Research, IBM (News - Alert) Research

, Vice President of Blockchain, Solutions and Research, IBM (News - Alert) Research Bruce C. N. Greenwald, Robert Heilbrunn Professor of Finance and Asset Management and Director, Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing, Columbia Business School

Jared Grusd , Chief Executive Officer, HuffPost; Global Head of News & Information, Oath; and Adjunct Associate Professor of Business, Columbia Business School

, Chief Executive Officer, HuffPost; Global Head of News & Information, Oath; and Adjunct Associate Professor of Business, Columbia Business School Peter C. Hawthorne , Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development, Cargill, Incorporated

, Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development, Cargill, Incorporated Susan Huang, Vice Chairman, Head of M&A - Americas, Morgan Stanley

Vice Chairman, Head of M&A - Americas, Morgan Stanley Gish Jen , award-winning author

, award-winning author Sumer Johal , CEO and Founder, Agralogics

, CEO and Founder, Agralogics Nathaniel Karp , Chief US Economist, BBVA

, Chief US Economist, BBVA Brad Katsuyama , Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, the IEX (News - Alert) , the Investors Exchange

, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, the IEX (News - Alert) , the Investors Exchange Paul Leinwand , Thought Leader, Strategy&; Principal, PwC US

, Thought Leader, Strategy&; Principal, PwC US Steve Liesman , Senior Economics Reporter, CNBC

, Senior Economics Reporter, CNBC Joseph Lubin , Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ConsenSys

, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ConsenSys Anne T. Madden , Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Honeywell

, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Honeywell Ciamac C. Moallemi , Associate Professor, Decision, Risk and Operations, Columbia Business School

, Associate Professor, Decision, Risk and Operations, Columbia Business School Marcus Moufarrige , Chief Operating Officer, Servcorp

, Chief Operating Officer, Servcorp Scott Pitasky , Vice President HR Consumer, Amazon

, Vice President HR Consumer, Amazon Carter Reum , Co-Founder, Los Angeles-based investment firm M13

, Co-Founder, Los Angeles-based investment firm M13 David Sable , Global Chief Executive Officer, Young & Rubicam

, Global Chief Executive Officer, Young & Rubicam Amol Sarva (News - Alert) , Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Knotel

, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Knotel Ruchir Sharma, Head of Emerging Markets Equity and Chief Global Strategist, Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Head of Emerging Markets Equity and Chief Global Strategist, Morgan Stanley Investment Management Irwin Simon , Chief Executive Officer, The Hain Celestial Group

, Chief Executive Officer, The Hain Celestial Group Joan Solotar , Senior Managing Director and Head of Private Wealth Solutions and External Relations, Blackstone

, Senior Managing Director and Head of Private Wealth Solutions and External Relations, Blackstone Nicholas Thompson, Editor in Chief, Wired



Notes for editors

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a global law firm with a long-standing track record of successfully supporting the world's leading national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments on ground-breaking and business-critical mandates. Our 2,800 plus lawyers deliver results worldwide through our own offices and alongside leading local firms. Our commitment, local and multi-national expertise and business know-how means our clients rely on us when it matters most. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005034/en/

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[April 03, 2018] Tyler Technologies to Provide Brazos Electronic Citation Solution to Fort Worth, Texas

Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) signed an agreement with the city of Fort Worth, Texas, for Tyler's Brazos electronic citation solution. The city's police, code enforcement, and parking enforcement departments will all use the public safety solution to streamline citations by moving from paper to electronic processes. The city of Fort Worth was familiar with Tyler's Brazos implementation in the nearby city of Arlington, Texas, and chose Tyler after its bid through the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA). The city's three departments will use and benefit from Brazos in different ways. The police department will receive 150 handheld ticket writer units, which will be used with Brazos' electronic citation solution. The solution will interface with the court's software as well as with its active directory, allowing for real-time communication between departments. Brazos will also allow for a user to run a query about a resident on the handheld device, validate any possible warrants on that person, and automatically populate information directlyinto a citation. And, the electronic tickets will be able to print in English and Spanish.



For the parking and code enforcement departments, staff will quickly experience time-saving benefits with the elimination of paper processes. Parking enforcement will become more streamlined with eChalking for parking spaces, and enable faster ticketing processes. For code enforcement, Brazos will aid in producing electronic tickets for specific code violations. "Brazos' flexibility to run on different hardware is a unique offering we provide to our clients, and we're pleased that three different departments within the city can be connected through our solution," said Mike McAleer, general manager of Tyler's Brazos solution. "This agreement expands our strong presence in Texas and particularly within the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. We're eager to help Fort Worth streamline its citation process and help its staff better serve their community."

Fort Worth is the 16th largest city in the U.S. and the fifth largest city in Texas with a population of more than 850,000. Tyler also provides its Munis solution to the Fort Worth Independent School District. About Tyler Technologies (News - Alert) , Inc. Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments. Tyler partners with clients to empower the public sector - cities, counties, schools and other government entities - to become more efficient, more accessible and more responsive to the needs of their constituents. Tyler's client base includes more than 15,000 local government offices in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, and other international locations. In 2017, Forbes ranked Tyler on its "Most Innovative Growth Companies" list, and Fortune included Tyler on its "100 Fastest-Growing Companies" list. More information about Tyler Technologies, headquartered in Plano, Texas, can be found at www.tylertech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005077/en/

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[April 03, 2018] Datazoom launches Adaptive Video Logistics platform at NAB after closing first round of funding

LAS VEGAS, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Datazoom, a new startup in the online video technology space, is taking the wraps off its innovative Adaptive Video Logistics platform at the Las Vegas National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 2018 show. The company has also closed its first round of funding. As online video streaming continues to grow, so does the customization and complexity required to deliver high-quality, well-monetized viewing experiences. Only the biggest challenge isn't getting content online, it's getting the technologies used to prepare and deliver content working together. Video distributors know the key to solving this challenge is data. Today, companies integrate numerous components (SDKs) into their video players to gather data about their audience, Quality of Service, monetization, and more. But as video distributors integrate more components, sometimes up to 20, the player can become incredibly code-heavy and hard to manage. Not only does each component require different data, captured at distinct intervals, be sent to separate locations, they also don't capture data in real-time. Data can be minutes or hours old by the time a video distributor gains access. This situation makes it nearly impossible to take meaningful actions to fix viewer issues and prevent churn or abandonment. But data, unshackled from siloed technology provider platforms, plays a biger role in ensuring a great end-user video experience. Datazoom enables video distributors to share the data they collect through our platform with any provider. For example, a distributor could send buffering event data to the content delivery network to help improve delivery performance, data that the CDN might not have access to currently.



"Real-time data collected from the video player and shared between systems and providers is critical to the next stage in improving the video experienceautomation," says Diane Strutner, CEO and Co-Founder of Datazoom. "Our Adaptive Video Logistics platform enables video distributors to take advantage of automation now, empowering them to use data beyond just analysis and reporting. They can build automated systems which enable real-time adjustments to be made across the entire video delivery chain." Datazoom's Adaptive Video Logistics platform is a patent-pending SaaS offering in the online streaming space. With a single SDK, video distributors can collect any data they want from the video player, send it to any supported tool, in under one second. By employing the Datazoom platform, a company can not only provide a better video experience for their audience, but also improve the operational efficiency of delivering video. Companies can save hundreds of monthly man hours required to manage multiple video player SDKs alone, while reaping the benefits of real-time data acquisition that can be used to automate responses to video player events for higher quality, better monetized streams.

Datazoom has also recently closed its first round of fundraising which it is using to operationalize the platform technology and build its team. Datazoom is doing private demonstrations of its platform at NAB 2018. Send meeting requests to NAB@datazoom.io. About Datazoom

Datazoom is a privately-held big data technology company, headquartered in New York City. Its cloud-based platform enables companies to capture data from video players and other endpoints in sub-second real-time and deliver it to whatever systems need it. For more information please visit www.datazoom.io. Press Contact: Diane Strutner +1 (347) 669-9679 or press@datazoom.io. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/datazoom-launches-adaptive-video-logistics-platform-at-nab-after-closing-first-round-of-funding-300622071.html SOURCE Datazoom Inc.

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[April 03, 2018] Netcore Solutions Expanding Business Into U.S.

NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Netcore Solutions, a leading marketing technology company formed over 20 years ago, has expanded its international presence with offices in the US, located in the New York metropolitan area. This is a strategic move for the company, serving 3,000+ companies including international brands such as Dominos, KFC, Vodafone, Airtel, Facebook, Cox & Kings, Myntra, Access Bank, Bibli, Malindo Airline, Standard Chartered Bank, Tokopedia, and Traveloka among others. Netcore is emerging as Asia's largest email delivery platform, sending over 6 billion emails a month. With comprehensive offerings, the company will be looking to rapidly expand into the United States. Offerings include Pepipost, their transactional API-based email delivery service; and Netcore Smartech, a full stack marketing automation suite, powered by Artificial Intelligence, coupled with analytics and consulting services. Leading this effort will be: Abithab Bhaskar , CEO, International Business, has helped Netcore Solutions grow over the past 16 years. Located in Mumbai , Mr. Bhaskar is an accomplished senior leader with a progressive career spanning two decades. In his current role, he has been instrumental in strategizing processes to expand the global footprint with indirect presence in over 20 countries and direct presence in the US, Malaysia , Indonesia , Nigeria , Philippines , and UAE.

, CEO, International Business, has helped Netcore Solutions grow over the past 16 years. Located in , Mr. Bhaskar is an accomplished senior leader with a progressive career spanning two decades. In his current role, he has been instrumental in strategizing processes to expand the global footprint with indirect presence in over 20 countries and direct presence in the US, , , , , and UAE. Sankalp Bajpai , VP  US Business & Strategic Initiatives, International Business, will spearhead the initiative by expanding the team and customer footprint in the market in the US. Mr. Bajpai, located in the New York area, has been istrumental in expanding Netcore's presence in APAC and MENA, and consolidating the growth strategy in APAC.

, VP  US Business & Strategic Initiatives, International Business, will spearhead the initiative by expanding the team and customer footprint in the market in the US. Mr. Bajpai, located in the area, has been istrumental in expanding Netcore's presence in APAC and MENA, and consolidating the growth strategy in APAC. Jeannette Kocsis , SVP, Marketing & Business Development, will manage marketing and business development efforts in the US. Ms. Kocsis, located in New York , was previously Global Head of Strategy at Harte Hanks, Inc. and led digital strategy and operations teams over her 17 years with the company. She has a technical background coupled with digital marketing focus.



, "I believe that Netcore's core strengths and commitment to our product development will provide US marketers a new and better option for email services. We focus on customer satisfaction  for both our clients and their customers . " "We are coming into the US market with a deep understanding of email deliverability, along with core email marketing services that transforms our client's marketing capabilities" said Sankalp Bajpai.

"I am very excited to be part of Netcore's launch into US markets. I believe their products will resonate with many US marketers, who are looking for reliable email services and the expertise to get their email executed and delivered along their customer's journey," said Jeannette Kocsis. The company is a gold sponsor of the Email Evolution Conference, being held in New Orleans, LA on April 4-6, 2018. About Netcore Solutions Netcore is a global Marketing Technology Company that offers solutions for enterprises that redefine Digital Marketing. The first and leading Marketing Automation, Analytics and AI/ ML solutions provider in India, Netcore was established in 1997 by Mr. Rajesh Jain, an Internet pioneer. Netcore's Digital Marketing suite includes Promotional and Transactional Email Marketing and Mobile Marketing. Netcore serves a strong base of 3000+ enterprises across industry verticals Netcore, with its' innovative marketing technology, delivers 6+ Billion emails & 3+ Billion SMS's a month, creating 10+ Billion Customer interactions monthly and handles 30+ Billion events a month. Netcore, a global company, headquartered in Mumbai, India has offices in SEA, USA, and MEA with an employee base of 500+ spread across 10 strategic locations. For additional information, please contact sales.usa@netcore.co.in. Sankalp Bajpai,

VP, International Business & Strategic Initiatives

347-244-9439

sankalp@netcore.co Related Links Netcore Solutions Pepipost View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/netcore-solutions-expanding-business-into-us-300623486.html SOURCE Netcore Solutions, Inc.

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[April 03, 2018] Disaster Recovery Law Firm, Weisbrod Matteis & Copley PLLC, Opens South Florida Office

Weisbrod Matteis & Copley PLLC (WMC), a nationally acclaimed litigation and insurance recovery boutique, today announced the opening of a new office in Fort Lauderdale and the addition of Florida insurance policyholder lawyer Meghan C. Moore. Moore joins Washington-based WMC as a partner after nearly 15 years at Ver Ploeg & Lumpkin in Miami, where she represented commercial and individual policyholders in complex coverage and bad faith disputes. "We help businesses and individuals maximize their insurance recoveries after hurricanes and other major disasters, and Florida is one of the nation's most hurricane-ravaged states," WMC chairman Augie Matteis said. "Meghan's experience, which includes recovering over $40 million on for condominium and hotel clients who suffered hurricane damage during the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons, makes her the natural choice to lead WMC's disaster recovery efforts in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Irma." WMC, the first firm in history to prove to a jury that a flood insurance company committed intentional fraud against the federa government after Hurricane Katrina, represents more than 1,000 homeowners and business owners whose properties were damaged by Hurricane Sandy and the historic 2016 Louisiana floods.



WMC also represents hotels with insurance claims and other disputes in Florida and other locations. By opening it's fourth US office in Fort Lauderdale, the firm commits to providing unmatched service to owners and managers invested in Florida properties. "We are excited to welcome Meghan Moore, one of Florida's most experienced policyholder attorneys," WMC partner Gary Thompson said. One of the country's top policyholder lawyers who recently joined WMC, Thompson partnered with Moore for years co-representing hotel owners and managers with insurance claims. Together they won a $28 million jury verdict for a hurricane damaged hotel in Broward County, and have litigated other major hotel claims throughout Florida.

Moore has also recovered insurance proceeds for owners, investors, developers, contractors, manufacturers, and others under commercial general liability, builder's risk, fidelity, securities liability, and professional liability policies. Moore joins WMC with her colleague, Chad A. Pasternack. About WMC WMC is one of the nation's premier policyholder-side insurance recovery firms and was named by the National Law Journal as one of the ten hottest litigation boutiques in the country. The WMC Ft. Lauderdale office may be reached at (954) 947-8608. www.wmclaw.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006170/en/

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[April 03, 2018] The Global Linear Motion Systems Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2%

LONDON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Linear Motion Systems Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% during the forecast period. Rising revenue from the replacement activities, high demand for linear motion systems in automotive industry and rapid industrialization in emerging countries are some of the key factors fueling the market growth. However, lack of effective product differentiation is one of the major factors hampering the market growth.







Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5361354







Linear motion systems consist of linear rail, rail tables, guides, and actuators, sliders, which help the manufacturing facility to continuously transfer products in a conveyor belt, or push it across for packaging. By application, Linear motion systems find significance across different applications in material handling such as palletizing, packaging, pick and place, sorting, and the transportation of goods. The deployment of linear motion systems in this application delivers agility and seamless processing, thereby reducing maintenance requirements.



By geography, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a significant rate due to rise in industrialization in the emerging countries like China, India, Taiwan and South Korea. Further, the demand for linear motion systems is supported by the development in automation solutions and robotics in this region.



Some of the key players in the Linear Motion Systems market include Schneider Electric Motion, PBC Linear, ippon Bearing, Lintech, HepcoMotion, Tectra Automation, Bishop-Wisecarver, THK, SKF, Thomson, Schneeberger, Rollon and Bosch Rexroth.







Applications Covered:

 Robotics

 Machine Tools

 Material Handling



Types Covered:

 Single-axis Linear

 Multi-axis Linear





Regions Covered:

 North America

o US

o Canada

o Mexico

 Europe

o Germany

o UK

o Italy

o France

o Spain

o Rest of Europe

 Asia Pacific

o Japan

o China

o India

o Australia

o New Zealand

o South Korea

o Rest of Asia Pacific

 South America

o Argentina

o Brazil

o Chile

o Rest of South America

 Middle East & Africa

o Saudi Arabia

o UAE

o Qatar

o South Africa

o Rest of Middle East & Africa



What our report offers:

- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments

- Market share analysis of the top industry players

- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants

- Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets

- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)

- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations

- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends

- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments

- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5361354



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: sarah@reportbuyer.com

Tel: +1 (718) 213 4904

Website: www.reportbuyer.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-global-linear-motion-systems-market-is-expected-to-grow-at-a-cagr-of-92-300623622.html SOURCE ReportBuyer

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[April 03, 2018]

Mass Innovation Nights and Dassault Systemes Kick-off National Robotics Week in Boston

BOSTON, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mass Innovation Nights , Massachusetts leading monthly new product showcase, and Dassault Systemes will kick-off National Robotics Week in Boston with an event at District Hall on Monday, April 9, 2018 from 6:00PM to 8:30PM. National Robotics Week (RoboWeek) is a series of events and activities during April designed to increase public awareness of the strength and importance of the U.S. robotics industry and of the tremendous social and cultural impact that robotics will have on the future. Dassault Systemes North American headquarters is in Waltham, Massachusetts.



Mass Innovation Nights 109 will feature a variety of robotics and artificial intelligence startups, including rehabilitative robotics and prosthetics, short range radars for drone safety, satellite data management, childrens learning, and more. Mass Innovation Nights 109 is free and open to the public. RSVPs are required.

We are very excited to work with Mass Innovation Nights, on Robotics week, said Greg Smith, Director of SOLIDWORKS for Entrepreneurs, Dassault Systemes. Through our3DEXPERIENCE Lab in Waltham and our Entrepreneur programs we are focused on offering startups a wide variety of funding, guidance, and resources to help them achieve their goals.







The Boston area is an important cluster for both robotics and artificial intelligence, said Bobbie Carlton, founder of Innovation Nights and Innovation Women. By working with Dassault, we are helping to educate the public while we support local entrepreneurs.

Mass Innovation Nights events feature business experts, networking, tabletop demos and presentations from the winners of an online vote. Participating startups this month include:

Experts will be on hand to share their knowledge with attendees. Guests are encouraged to use the hashtag #MIN109 and @MassInno to share photos and social media commentary. The gatherings typically generate hundreds of social media posts and are key visibility drivers for startups.

Dassault Systemes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions transform the way products are designed, produced, and supported. Dassault Systemes collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding possibilities for the virtual world to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 220,000 customers of all sizes, in all industries, in more than 140 countries.

About Mass Innovation Nights

Mass Innovation Nights offers an opportunity for people interested in innovative new products to connect live and online. The popular product launch and networking event draws attendees from the entire region. Over the past 9 years, it has helped launch over 1000 new products, which have collectively received more than $2.1 billion in funding. Follow MIN on Twitter or visit the website.

Media Contact: Kristen Avini 510-221-8122 Innovation Nights
[April 03, 2018] Unum joins as an anchor partner to Plug and Play Insurtech

Unum (NYSE:UNM), a market leader in providing disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental and vision insurance in the workplace, announced today it has entered a partnership with Plug and Play Insurtech, a Silicon Valley-based startup innovation platform. The partnership connects Unum with technology startups through the Plug and Play Insurtech ecosystem to find solutions that enhance the customer experience, improve risk management and create more efficient processes. "Through venture partnering, we have the potential to integrate new technologies and capabilities into our business at the speed and innovation that is common with startups," said Ted Reed, vice president of business development at Unum. "Partnering with Plug and Play will help us increase our tempo of innovation and simplify and expedite processes to improve the client experience." Unum joins Plug and Play Insurtech's fourth batch of companies that take part in a twelve-week accelerator program designed for the insurance industry, which will run until June 12. It brings together the world's largest insurance corporations, startups, and venture capitalists eager to embrace innovation and redefine insurance practices. The different members of the ecosystem engage through one-on-one private meetings, pitch events and networking opportunities. "We are here to connect the best startups to the most innovative corporations. Plug and Play Insurtech brings together the largest insurers ready to establish change," says Ali Safavi, Global Head of Plug and Play Insurtech. "We are excited to welcome Unum into our ecosystem and help them implement a new innovation strategy to better serve the insurance industry as a whole." To learn more bout the insurance accelerator, visit Plug and Play Insurtech.



ABOUT UNUM Unum is a leading provider of financial protection benefits in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its primary businesses are Unum US, Colonial Life, and Unum UK. Unum's portfolio includes disability, life, accident and critical illness, dental and vision coverage, which help protect millions of working people and their families in the event of an illness or injury. Unum also provides stop-loss coverage to help self-insured employers protect against unanticipated medical costs. The company reported revenues of $11.3 billion in 2017, and provided $6.9 billion in benefits.

For more information visit us at www.unum.com or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. ABOUT PLUG AND PLAY Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in 28 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 220 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk (News - Alert) . For more information, visit www.pnptc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006388/en/

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[April 03, 2018] Solving Tomorrow's Problems, Today: Samsung Canada names Regional Finalist schools in 2018 Solve for Tomorrow Challenge

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) inspired, innovative solutions from 50 Canadian public schools bring them closer to $20,000 in Samsung technology grants MISSISSAUGA, ON, April 3, 2018 /CNW/ - Samsung Electronics Canada Inc. today announced the 50 Regional Finalists in the 2018 Solve for Tomorrow Challenge. Part of the national education initiative's third year, the program aims to inspire Canadian students to discover a deeper passion for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-based learning by applying STEM to real-world challenges facing their communities. These 50 Regional Finalists now move closer to being awarded one of four $20,000 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow technology grants for their schools, which will be announced this June. "These students inspire us through their creative, collaborative STEM-inspired community solutions. From an outdoor, interactive 'living' classroom, to the restoration of a local woodlot, to indoor food-growing ideas, these students are attempting to leave a legacy in the communities they call home. We applaud their efforts and look forward to how their solutions will take shape, bringing them closer to 21st century learning possibilities," said Mark Childs, Chief Brand Officer, Samsung Canada. Each of the 50 regional finalist schools will receive a Samsung technology package which includes a Samsung Gear VR, Galaxy Tab A, Galaxy S8 and Samsung Gear360 camera to assist them in completing their next bit of 'homework' as part of the Challenge: to document the implementation of their community solution in a two-minute video. Videos will go on to be reviewed by a panel of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow judges, with the top-scoring four schools being named Regional Winners in June 2018. The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge intends to inspire STEM interest and 21st century learning opportunities in Canadian classrooms especially relevant as, according to the 2017 Statistics Canada census, only 24.8 per cent of Canada's postsecondary graduates were from STEM fields*. Together with Solve for Tomorrow ambassador, Natalie Panek, and partners Let's Talk Science and the Ontario Science Centre, the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge hopes to spark Canadian students' passion for STEM for tangible, community benefit. The 50 Regional Finalists for the 2018 Solve for Tomorrow Challenge are:







School Name

Province Alex Hope Elementary

British Columbia Allan Drive Middle School

Ontario Arthur E Wright Community School

Manitoba Bernice MacNaughton High School

New Brunswick Bert Fox Community High School

Saskatchewan Brookside Intermediate

Newfoundland Brother Rice Junior High

Newfoundland Cedar Community Secondary

British Columbia Chinook High School

Alberta Cumberland Community School

British Columbia Errol Village Public School

Ontario Evan Hardy Collegiate

Saskatchewan F.H. Collins School

Yukon Territory Grenoble Public School

Ontario Greystone Heights School

Saskatchewan Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute

Ontario H E Bourgoin Middle School

Alberta Holy Trinity Catholic School Holy Heart High

Saskatchewan Newfoundland Laval Junior Academy

Quebec Lincoln Alexander Public School

Ontario Lockeport Regional High School

Nova Scotia Lord Asquith School

Saskatchewan Lougheed Middle School

Ontario Meadows West School

Manitoba Meduxnekeag Consolidated School

New Brunswick Minnetonka School

Manitoba Montague Intermediate

Prince Edward Island Nackawic High School

New Brunswick Niverville Collegiate Institute

Manitoba Our Lady Of The Snows Catholic Academy

Alberta Ridgeview Middle School

New Brunswick Robert Thirsk High School

Alberta Sacred Heart

Saskatchewan Saint John High School

New Brunswick Springbrook Public School

Ontario St Francis Jr High School

Alberta St Stephen Middle School

New Brunswick St. Kateri School

Ontario St. Mother Teresa School

Ontario St. Peter's School

Newfoundland Sudbury Secondary School

Ontario Teslin School

Yukon Territory Thornlea Secondary School

Ontario Thorold Secondary School

Ontario Weledeh Catholic School

Northwest Territories Weston School

Manitoba Westwood Community High School

Alberta Winston Churchill High School

Alberta Woodstock High School

New Brunswick

Samsung Canada thanks all schools who participated in the 2018 Solve for Tomorrow Challenge. For rules and regulations, visit www.samsung.com/ca About Samsung Electronics Canada Inc. Samsung Electronics Canada inspires Canadians to reach their full potential through a transformative ecosystem of products and services that deliver innovation and distinct design to every aspect of their connected lives. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, virtual reality and wearable devices, tablets and digital appliances. In 2017, Samsung was ranked No. 6 in Interbrand's "Best Global Brands" list and named one of the top 10 Most Influential Brands in Canada, based on a study by Ipsos Canada. Dedicated to helping make a difference in the lives of Canadians, Samsung's award-winning Hope for Children corporate giving initiatives supports public education, sustainability and health-related issues in communities across the country. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com. Follow Samsung Canada at facebook.com/SamsungCanada, or Instagram @samsungcanada or Twitter @SamsungCanada *Data via 'Addressing Canada's tech talent shortage with an innovative approach' https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/leadership-lab/addressing-canadas-tech-talent-shortage-with-an-innovative-approach/article37432734/ SOURCE Samsung Electronics Canada

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[April 03, 2018] Top prize is $20,000 for winner of accessibility-focused pitch competition at Discovery 2018

TORONTO, April 3, 2018 /CNW/ - Five innovative, Ontario-based companies focused on accessibility and assistive technology will compete in Ontario Centres of Excellence's (OCE) $20,000 Accessibility Tech Pitch Competition. Taking place at Discovery 2018, the pitch competition is part of the Accessibility Innovation Showcase (AIS) at the conference, which runs April 30 and May 1 at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, in partnership with the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science (MRIS) and the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario (ADO). "The Accessibility Tech Pitch Competition is an exciting feature that we truly look forward to at the Discovery Conference each year," said Dr. Tom Corr, OCE's President and CEO. "OCE is proud to host both the competition and showcase, and to see the positive results of these innovative technologies as they improve the lives of people with disabilities in Ontario and around the globe." The AIS will showcase industry and entrpreneurs who are creating groundbreaking technologies that are improving the lives of people with disabilities. It will bring together 34 companies to present their innovative assistive devices and technologies to the broader innovation ecosystem.



"I'd like to congratulate the finalists in this year's Tech Pitch Competition at the Accessibility Innovation Showcase," said Tracy MacCharles, Minister Responsible for Accessibility and Minister of Government and Consumer Services. "I applaud the creativity of the participants, particularly for how they have used their skills in technology development to find ways to build a better and more inclusive and accessible Ontario for everyone. Good luck in the rest of the competition and I look forward to seeing the continued growth of these innovations." The finalists selected will be given 10 minutes each to pitch their innovative product or services to both the accessibility community and a panel of judges. The winner will be awarded $20,000 to further develop their assistive innovation.

"These finalists are exceptional entrepreneurs who aim to have both a social and economic impact," said Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science. "Our government is pleased to support initiatives like the Accessibility Innovation Showcase, which helps these innovators improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, while creating new companies and jobs." The five finalists are: AccessNow

Braze Mobility Inc.

Komodo OpenLab

Steadiwear Inc.

Trexo Robotics Named Canada's Best Trade Show in 2010, 2011, 2016, and 2017, and celebrating 13 years of bold, new ideas, OCE's Discovery is Canada's premier innovation showcase. It brings together the best and brightest minds in industry, academia, investment and government to showcase leading-edge technologies, best practices and research in the areas of energy, fintech, cleantech, the environment, advanced health, digital media, information and communication technologies and advanced manufacturing. The annual conference and showcase attracts more than 3,600 attendees and 500 exhibitors. For more information on the Accessibility Innovation Showcase (AIS), the Accessibility Tech Pitch Competition and Discovery 2018, please visit www.ocediscovery.com. SOURCE Ontario Centres of Excellence Inc.

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[April 03, 2018] Innovaccer to Launch InGraph at Becker's Hospital Review 9th Annual Meeting 2018 to Transform Healthcare Analytics

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Efforts to improve care for a population or system have driven care teams to seek out data-centric population health solutions. However, when combined with the explosion of data residing in individual silos, many are still struggling to derive meaningful insights. Healthcare organizations that have implemented advanced population health and analytics solutions are realizing that they require three key pieces to drive outcomes. First, they need a comprehensive data platform, followed by a powerful analytics tool able to provide insights, and finally, modules that can lead change management. To assist organizations facing the challenge of fragmented data and limited insights, Innovaccer Inc., a leading San Francisco-based healthcare data platform company, announced the launch of its analytics module, InGraph, at the Becker's 9th Annual Meeting '18. Built on Innovaccer's healthcare data platform, InGraph provides holistic population health and network analyses and offers a strong foundation to power efficient care management and cost-effective quality improvement. A rich spectrum of analytics and customizability Acting as a source of truth based upon complete patient data for the entire care delivery team, InGraph utilizes multiple data sources by leveraging InData, Innovaccer's foundational healthcare data platform. InGraph's state-of-the-art analytics offer more than 50 visual widgets, customizable dashboards, over 60 patient stratification features, and more. Additionally, the module's robust patient stratification leverages a combination of HCC and custom risk models with social vulnerability indices to accurately highlight at-risk as well as socially vulnerable patients in the network. Best-in-industry reporting on measures While reporting on quality measures is intended to hel providers understand their opportunities for improvement, it is time-consuming when done with traditional technology. To accommodate the broad needs of healthcare providers, InGraph offers the ability to track a library of 800+ measures from CMS, NQF, HEDIS, and MIPS with a single click. The module also provides rich filtering options to monitor the quality performance and effortlessly generate and upload reports. Through collaborative workflows, providers can easily enter missing details, skip logics, tickets, and notes after report-generation.



Information transparency Built on top of a unified healthcare data platform, InGraph ensures healthcare providers have access to updated, real-time information within and outside the network. Providers can get to the root of any issue by drilling down to performance charts of a geography or an individual facility, providing control at all levels. InGraph also notifies providers about any updates or changes in the measures via regular email alerts and provides the option to circulate information through burst emails.

"There is an abundance of data in healthcare, but even today most care organizations are seeking a needle in a haystack. Being able to understand network performance while also conveying valuable insights to providers is key to driving outcomes and efficiency," says Abhinav Shashank, CEO at Innovaccer. "InGraph aims to eliminate information overload, and finally deliver to care-teams the flexibility they need to connect the dots in real time." Innovaccer will be exhibiting InGraph along with all the modules of its healthcare data platform at the Becker's Hospital Review 9th Annual Meeting this year. Join Innovaccer at booth #1210 from April 11-14 at Hyatt Regency in Chicago, IL and learn more about InGraph. About Innovaccer Innovaccer Inc. is a leading healthcare data platform company focused on delivering more efficient and effective healthcare by combining pioneering analytics with transparent, and accurate data. Innovaccer's aim is to simplify complex data from all points of care, streamline the information, and help organizations realize strategic goals based on key insights and predictions from their data. Its products have been deployed across more than 500 locations with over 10,000 providers leveraging it at institutions, governmental organizations, and several corporate enterprises such as Mercy ACO, StratiFi Health, UniNet Healthcare Network, Catalyst Health Network, and Osler Health Network. Innovaccer is based in San Francisco with offices around the United States and Asia. For more information, please visit innovaccer.com. Press Contact:

Sachin Saxena

Innovaccer Inc

213-618-3678 Related Links InGraph Innovaccer View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/innovaccer-to-launch-ingraph-at-beckers-hospital-review-9th-annual-meeting-2018-to-transform-healthcare-analytics-300623689.html SOURCE Innovaccer

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[April 03, 2018] Leidos Revises Scheduled Start Time of Its First Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call

RESTON, Va., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a FORTUNE 500 science and technology company, has revised the scheduled start time of its first quarter 2018 earnings conference call on Thursday, May 3, 2018, to 7:30 AM Eastern Time, from the previously scheduled start time of 8:00 AM Eastern Time. The company plans to issue its quarterly earnings press release before the conference call on May 3, 2018. The details for the earnings conference call follow: Date: May 3, 2018 Time: 7:30 AM (ET) To Listen via the Internet: We are pleased to offer a live and replay audio broadcast of the conference call with corresponding supplemental information at http://ir.leidos.com. To Listen via Telephone: 877-869-3847 (toll-free U.S.) +1-201-689-8261 (for International Callers) Replay: A telephone playback of the first uarter 2018 earnings conference call is scheduled to be available beginning at 10:30 AM (ET) on May 3, 2018, through 11:59 PM (ET) on May 10, 2018. The replay will be accessible by calling 877-660-6853 (International callers: +1-201-612-7415), and entering conference ID 13677974.



An archived version of the webcast will be available on the Leidos Investor Relations website at http://ir.leidos.com. About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500 information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 31,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $10.17 billion for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2017. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com. Media contact: Melissa Koskovich

571.526.6850

koskovichm@leidos.com Investor Relations: Kelly M. Freeman

571.526.7686

ir@leidos.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leidos-revises-scheduled-start-time-of-its-first-quarter-2018-earnings-conference-call-300623772.html SOURCE Leidos

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[April 03, 2018] 16-Year-Old Indian Girl Sells Crypto App to Redwood City Ventures

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Redwood City Ventures, a crypto-currency venture investment firm, today has announced it purchased from wunderkind Harshita Arora a popular iOS application to track crypto prices. Arora, a home-schooled 16-year-old Indian girl, will also partner with Redwood City Ventures to manage the Crypto Price Tracker application's rapid growth. Launched in late January from Arora's hometown city north of New Delhi, the application shot toward the top of the App Store charts in just 24 hours. Crypto Price Tracker helps retail investors in 10 languages monitor in real-time the prices of more than 1,000 crypto-currencies across about 20 exchanges and in 32 different fiat currencies. It also allows users to set alerts and manage their crypto portfolio. Redwood City Ventures, which owns one of North America's largest crypto-currency mining datacenters, bought the app as part of its broader strategy to offer consumer-focused financial technology products. Redwood City Ventures Founder Sean Walsh said: "We are committed to more than just crypto-currency mining. We are building valuable direct-to-consumer products and services intended to accelerate mainstream crypto-currency adoption and demystify the often confusing marketplace for consumers." Arora, who initially faced racist and misogynist attacks online from people skeptical the teenager was really behind the poplar app, plans to create additional products. Arora has previously studied in the United States at an MIT summer program and is applying to work in the country through a visa program for foreigners with extraordinary capability. "I learned that the online world can be cruel. But I feel I have an entrepreneurial spirit and I love startup culture," Arora said. "I am now more determined than ever to develop ideas and products and am delighted to count on the support of Redwood City Ventures for the Crypto Price Tracker."



Walsh said: "Diversity in technology, and in crypto specifically, is important. And, working with a young woman as talented as Harshita, only reinforces our conviction that high-tech worker immigration into Silicon Valley, and the USA more broadly, better equips our country to compete in the global tech market." App creator Harshita Arora and Redwood City Ventures Founder Sean Walsh are available to interview.

About Redwood City Ventures:

Based in Sunnyvale, California, Redwood City Ventures is a venture investment firm focused on crypto-currency investments. Its portfolio of asset and consumer-facing products includes Project Spokane LLC, one of North America's largest crypto-currency mining datacenters.

For more information, visit https://www.redwoodcityventures.com About Crypto Price Tracker:

The Crypto Price Tracker was launched in January 2018 as a beautifully-designed iPhone and iPad application that helps users track real-time prices of 1000+ crypto-currencies from about 20 exchanges and in 32 fiat currencies. It also allows users to set alerts and manage their portfolio. For more information, visit https://www.cryptopricetrackerapp.com/ Contact:

Call 42 Communications

Saul Hudson

saul@call42.biz

+1 786 562 1683 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/16-year-old-indian-girl-sells-crypto-app-to-redwood-city-ventures-300623877.html SOURCE Redwood City Ventures

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[April 03, 2018] MOGAS Industries, Inc. Ranks 21 as a Best Company to Work for in Texas

MOGAS Industries, Inc. (MOGAS) was recently awarded as a Best Company to Work for in Texas. Each year, Texas Monthly magazine profiles the top 100 companies to work for in Texas in a special publication. MOGAS ranked number 21 out of 33 medium-size company winners. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006525/en/ MOGAS vice presidents and HR staff attended the Best Companies awards banquet in March 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Business Wire) Presented by Texas Association of Business (TAB) and the Texas Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the '100 Best Companies' list is designed to recognize the best employers in Texas-the ones that make it a priority to create better workplaces for their employees. Companies that chose to participate completed a two-part survey, including an organizational overview of the company's policies and procedures, as well as an in-depth employee questionnaire. The survey, analysis and list selection were conducted by Best Companies Group, an independent workplace excellence research firm. Participation was available for for-profit and nonprofit companies wih 15 or more employees working in Texas.



The survey results were analyzed and categorized according to eight core focus areas: Leadership and Planning

Corporate Culture and Communications

Role Satisfaction

Work Environment

Relationship with Supervisor

Training, Development and Resources

Pay and Benefits

Overall Engagement Camille Robinson, VP Global Human Resources, commented on the award: "To be selected again as a Best Company to Work for in Texas is indeed an honor and a distinction for all of us. Our employees made this possible and serves to show that at MOGAS, 'there's only one team, and we are all on it!'"

This is MOGAS' third top 100 listing. In 2016 MOGAS ranked 30 and last year, number 28. About MOGAS Industries, Inc. MOGAS Industries is the dominate severe service technology company, providing world-renowned services and the best severe service, application-specific products for critical applications in power, mining, oil & gas, refining, chemical/petrochemical and specialty industries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006525/en/

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[April 03, 2018] Fasken uses artificial intelligence tool, Kira, to increase productivity

TORONTO, April 3, 2018 /CNW/ - Fasken has adopted Kira Systems' software to increase efficiency in contract review. Kira Systems' state-of-the-art machine learning technology, Kira, will be used for contract analysis. It has been trusted with billions of dollars of transactions and tested by thousands of users on millions of documents. Fasken will deploy Kira to assist on a variety of projects including due diligence and analysis of clients' contractual obligations. Kira has more than 430 built-in models to identify common contract provisions and can learn additional models specific to Fasken. Once provisions are identified, they are automatically extracted into a summary chart, allowing Fasken lawyers to easily compare information across documents. "We are continually reviewing how we provide legal services to meet the expectations of our clients," said Peter Feldberg, Firm Managing Partner. "Through proven technology like Kira, we can offer more efficient contract review." "Engaging Kira provides a second set of eyes on documents, reducng risk and increasing accuracy despite short timelines," said Robert Garmaise, Chief Innovation Officer. "The highest standards of information security are met, from storage to sharing and deleting data."



Engaging in technology partnerships is one way Fasken is changing how we provide legal services. Our Corporate Finance and Securities and Mergers and Acquisitions groups were the first at Fasken to use Kira. They provide services for unique deals globally across a variety of industries including mining, energy, life science, transportation, agribusiness, financial institutions, investment funds, telecommunications and technology. "We are excited that Fasken will be using our software to augment their already exceptional client service across so many of their practice areas," added Rob Armbruster, Account Director at Kira Systems. "Their focus on innovating for clients is well known, and we are thrilled they chose to work with Kira."

About Fasken Fasken is a leading international law firm with more than 700 lawyers and 10 offices on four continents. Clients rely on us for practical, innovative and cost-effective legal services. We solve the most complex business challenges, providing exceptional value and putting clients at the centre of all we do. For additional information, please visit our website at fasken.com. About Kira Systems Kira Systems' technology is the most used and trusted software for contract review and analysis, helping the world's largest corporations and professional service firms uncover relevant information in documents. Kira is powerful, patented, award-winning software that excels at searching and analyzing contract text and can be deployed for due diligence, knowledge management, lease abstraction, regulatory compliance and other projects where visibility into contract provisions is critical. Using Kira Quick Study, anyone can train additional models that can accurately identify virtually any desired clause. To find out more, please visit www.kirasystems.com. SOURCE Fasken

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[April 03, 2018] AXIS Capital to Release First Quarter Financial Results on April 25, 2018

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited ("AXIS Capital") (NYSE:AXS) today announced that it expects to release financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 on Wednesday, April 25, 2018, after the close of the financial markets. Albert Benchimol, President and CEO, and Peter Vogt, CFO, will host an investor teleconference, including a question and answer period, on Thursday, April 26, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern) to discuss the fourth quarter results as well as related matters. The teleconference can be accessed by dialing (888) 317-6003 (U.S. callers) or (412) 317-6061 (international callers) and entering the passcode 0280749 approximately 10 minutes in advance of the call. A live, listen-only webcast of the call will also be available via the Investor Information section of the Company's website at www.axiscapital.com.



A replay of the teleconference will be available for two weeks by dialing (877) 344-7529 (U.S. callers) or (412) 317-0088 (international callers) and entering the passcode 10118928. The webcast will be archived in the Investor Information section of the Company's website. About AXIS Capital

AXIS Capital is a Bermuda-based global provider of specialty lines insurance and treaty reinsurance with total shareholders' equity at December 31, 2017 of $5.3 billion and locations in Bermuda, the United States, Europe, Singapore, Middle East, Canada, and Latin America. Its operating subsidiaries have been assigned a rating of "A+" ("Strong") by Standard & Poor's and "A+" ("Superior") by A.M. Best. For more information about AXIS Capital, visit our website at www.axiscapital.com. Follow AXIS Capital on LinkedIn and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403006556/en/

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Michael Hedges April 3, 2018 -

Many major news outlets last week reported yet another attack on a journalist. It came at the beginning of the long Easter holiday. With deadly targeting of media workers seizing attention in recent weeks editors grabbed available details and splashed the headlines. A few days later, the story is a bit more nuanced. Criminals Seek Revenge, Editors And Reporters Ask Who's NextMichael Hedges April 3, 2018 - Follow on Twitter Many major news outlets last week reported yet another attack on a journalist. It came at the beginning of the long Easter holiday. With deadly targeting of media workers seizing attention in recent weeks editors grabbed available details and splashed the headlines. A few days later, the story is a bit more nuanced. ...is available for restricted access. You may access this specific article or material for 4 If you are an ftm Member, please go to the home page HERE and log in ftm Members can access all site material at no additional charge. You can JOIN ftm here The ftm newsletter available at no charge to all with registration To register click here.
Verruckt designer in federal custody on murder charges DALLAS, Tex. -- U.S. Marshals have arrested John Schooley, the designer of the Verruckt water slide at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas. Schooley was taken into custody as he returned to the United States on a flight from China. He arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Monday evening.

The Kansas crackdown caught up to this international traveler who returned to the States and a hot mess amid the legal ramifications of the Caleb Schwab decapitation. Checkit:
Innocent Overland Park woman is surrounded by police, guns drawn: Was that excessive? Delores Mae Jones wasn't speeding. She didn't run a red light or make an illegal U-turn. It should have been a short drive home from Lenexa to Overland Park that March night. But there she was, in a swarm of red and blue lights and sirens. And then police pulled out their guns.

Check dead-tree media offering a one-sided screed on a lady who reported her car stolen and then seems frustrated when it's clear that authorities took the alleged crime seriously. You decide:
Jury selection begins for teen accused of brutally murdering Lee's Summit woman at car wash LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- The jury selection begins Monday for a local teenager set to go on trial for the murder of a Lee's Summit woman. Joshua Trigg is accused of murdering Tanya Chamberlain Nov. 1, 2015. Trigg was 14 years old at the time.

She was minding her own business and merely cleaning her car in the late night like many people . . . Then, according to authorities, two youngsters stabbed her to death and drove around on a joyride with her body in a stolen car. Read more:
Friends of Theresa Christman seek answers, justice following her murder Overwhelmed with sadness, friends of murder victim Theresa Christman want answers and justice. Christman, 36, was found dead in Sheffield Park near a wooded area. Hours after her body was discovered, Kansas City police determined her death was a homicide, the second homicide near the park in the last year.

The season of vigils is almost here as loved ones gather in low temperatures to ask for help solving this shocking local murder case. Read more:
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - KCKPD officers are investigating a triple homicide Tuesday morning. KCK police said someone went to a home near 11th and Tenny around 10 a.m. Tuesday. When they looked inside, they saw a man's body and called police. KCK police responded to the home and confirmed there were two more men dead inside the home.
Marine Corps veteran Paul Curtman, a state representative from eastern Missouri, is preparing for battle once more, this time against the St. Louis prosecutor who chose to put Republican Gov. Eric Greitens on trial. In February, a St. Louis grand jury indicted Greitens on one felony count of invasion of privacy.
Today's sales tax increase vote is expect to pass without much resistance and very little voter turnout . . . Remember last year around this time the GO BONDS passed easily with a strange uptick in the number of voters that was either due to highly motivated weed advocates or just a classically rigged vote.

AS VOTERS DECIDE TODAY'S SALE TAX QUESTION THERE'S A NEW SLATE OF HIGHER KANSAS CITY TAXES ALREADY IN THE WORKS!!!

- One More Water Tax Coming Soon - After all these year a $5-BILLION waste water sewer bill still confronts KCMO and local repairs haven't come close to meeting requirements. Even worse, water rates continue to rise and po'folk struggling to stay afloat are sinking the Water Dept. in debt. The upcoming ballot tax increase effort will balance concerns about infrastructure improvements with "social justice" efforts to make the middle-class pick up the tab to keep the local working-poor afloat.

- KC Transit Tax - An upcoming chance for motorists, broke-ass bus denizens and even streetcar supporters to get together in order to provide City Hall more cash to literally "move Kansas City" forward. Ugh.

- A Lesson In Tax Overload - KCPS & Charter Schools are in need of a cash influx. KCPS hasn't issued new bonds or gone to voters for a tax increase in five decades. This new KCMO education tax has been in the works for the two years, Superintendent Mark Bedell said the district is looking at an increase in the property tax rate and issuing bonds to help repair or replace crumbling schools. An upcoming education ask directed toward taxpayers is on the way and Charter School "progress" will be the main selling point.

TODAY'S SALES TAX VOTE IS THE JUST THE BEGINNING OF MAYOR SLY'S TAX AND SPEND LEGACY DURING HIS LAST YEAR IN OFFICE!!!

Today a small subset of Kansas City residents will make life a lot more expensive for everyone.Nevertheless . . .Critics of the 12th & Oak fiscal policy cite a 10.6% sales tax in some parts of KCMO and 12.6% for the nicer restaurants in town.And the last part of Mayor Sly's tax and spend tenure hasn't even started.To wit . . .A sneak peek at the pitch . . .Accordingly . . .You decide . . .
The campaign #bringthemarbleshome culminated in a march from the Zappeion Megaron to the Pnyx, the eternal landmark of Athenian democracy

ATHENS  350 young Greeks from 20 countries joined forces on Sunday 1st of April in Athens to send a strong message to the world: its time for the Parthenon Marbles to return home.

Part of the Global Hellenic Youth Forum Hellenic Youth in Action that was held in Athens on the weekend of 31st March and 1st of April, the campaign #bringthemarbleshome culminated in a march from the Zappeion Megaron to the Pnyx, the eternal landmark of Athenian democracy.

It was there that the 350 representatives of the Hellenic diaspora read the following Resolution, addressed to the UK Parliament and the British Museum:

RESOLUTION OF

THE GLOBAL HELLENIC YOUTH FORUM

TO THE UK PARLIAMENT AND THE BRITISH MUSEUM

ATHENS, PNYX, APRIL 1 2018

#bringthemarbleshome

Today, April 1, 2018, here under the shadow of the Acropolis and the Parthenon, on the hill of the Pnyx,

We

350 Young Greeks from every corner of the planet, stewards of proud history.

We express

Our commitment to continue fighting for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to the place where they truly belong and from where they were illegally removed. After the opening of the New Acropolis Museum, there is no longer any excuse for the illegal possession of the Marbles by the British Museum.

We ask you

To put an end to the illegal retention of a part of the structure of a unique and emblematic World Heritage Monument.

We call on everyone to support our just cause in bringing the marbles back home!

The resolution declared is adopted by the following organizations:

World Pontian Youth Coordinating Committee (PASEPON)

World Federation of Young Overseas Cypriots (NEPOMAK)

Youth Coordinating Committee of World Confederation of Thessalian

Youth of World Council of Epirotes Abroad

Youth of World Council of Cretans

Youth of Pan Macedonian Association USA

Youth of Thracian Association of Europe

Youth of World Vlach Amphictyony

Youth of World Panarkadian Council

The Resolution of the Forum was signed by the 9 Global Hellenic Unions which took part in the campaign #bringthemarbleshome.

After the closing ceremony, the participants of the Forum headed to the Amphitheatre of the Acropolis Museum, where they attended a lecture by Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, President of the Museums Board of Directors.

The campaign #bringthemarbleshome was part of the Global Hellenic Youth Forum Hellenic Youth in Action activities. The Forum was organized by 9 Global Hellenic Unions in the framework of the Olympia 2016-2018 events program, run by the Zappeion Megarons Olympia and Bequests Committee.

The Forum gave the Greek Youth diaspora the unique opportunity to strengthen their relations with the homeland, as well as to learn how to cooperate in order to achieve common goals and objectives.

History of the Parthenon Marbles

When Greece was still ruled by the Ottoman Empire in 19th century, Lord Elgin removed about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon, as well as sculptures from the Propylaea and Erechtheum and transported them by sea to Britain. After gaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire, Greece took various courses of action to reclaim its monuments. The British Museum has always made clear that it does not agree with the removal of all of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens. To this day, Greece continues to urge the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece for their unification.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Solipsist~commonswiki License: CC-BY-SA

Source: thenationalherald.com
NBK Capital Partners and Gulf Capital have partnered for the first time to make a strategic investment in Jordans Classic Fashion Apparel Industry, one of the biggest private sector employers in Jordan with over 24,000 employees.



The investment will enable Classic Fashion Apparel to enter the next stage of its development, accelerating the expansion of production facilities.



Founded in 2003, Classic Fashion Apparel has achieved significant growth and is now a recognised global industry player, with an annual turnover of over $450 million. The company has longstanding relationships with global retail giants such as Walmart, Under Armour, Adidas, American Eagle, JC Penney, Hanes and GAP. Producing over 60 million apparel pieces annually and accounting for a 27 per cent share of Jordans apparel exports, the company is making a considerable contribution to Jordans economy.



Yaser Moustafa, senior managing director at NBK Capital Partners, an alternative investment firm that advises on providing flexible growth capital to mid-sized companies in Mena and Turkey, said: We are delighted to be making our first investment in Jordan with a company that not only has an impressive growth story, but whose commitment to excellence has earned it the trust of some of the worlds most popular brands. Its highly experienced executive team has built a world-class operation, and we are excited to be partnering with Gulf Capital to support Classic Fashion Apparels next chapter.



Walid Cherif, senior managing director and head of the private debt business at Gulf Capital, one of the largest and most active alternative asset managers in the Middle East, added: This investment highlights the robust market conditions for flexible capital in the MENA region. The strength of Classic Fashion Apparels business  and both Gulf Capital and NBK Capital Partners track record of deploying capital into industry-leading companies  highlights our commitment to generating superior opportunities and returns for investors.



K S Sanal Kumar, chairman and managing director, Classic Fashion Apparel Industry, said: We launched 15 years ago with 300 staff and 130 machines and our annual turnover was just $2 million. It gives me great pride that we now have a thriving workforce manning 10,000 machines and, through our partnership with regional institutional investors NBK Capital Partners and Gulf Capital, we are now in a position to enter the next phase of our long-term growth trajectory.



Ithmar Invest acted as financial advisor and arranger to Classic Fashion Apparel Industry.



The deal marks the fourth investment for the US$160m NBK Capital Partners Mezzanine Fund II that is now more than 50 per cent deployed. Headquartered at Dubai International Financial Centre, NBK Capital Partners has advised on investments of over US$1 billion and has a track record of 17 realizations from 30 investments, the highest number of profitable exits by an alternative investments firm in the region over the past decade.



The investment is the 13th for Gulf Capitals Private Debt funds and the fifth investment for its Gulf Credit Opportunities Fund II, with nearly 50 per cent of the fund invested across defensive sectors across the Middle East and Africa region.  TradeArabia News Service
Family Business Council-Gulf (FBCG), a leading membership organisation for GCC family businesses, will hold its annual summit on April 18 and 19 in Dubai, UAE, under the theme Educate for Family Business Success.



Taking place for the fourth consecutive year, the summit is known for bringing together leaders of top GCC family businesses from Dubai and the GCC. Families returning to the Summit include prominent names such as Al-Ghurair Group and Al-Futtaim Group from the UAE, Al-Muhaidib Group and Abdul Latif Jameel Company from Saudi Arabia, Alghanim Industries and Agility from Kuwait, Al-Zayani Investments from Bahrain, and Suhail Bahwan Group Holding from Oman.



Private and exclusive to family business members, the events format is designed to encourage open and effective discussions among the participating members.



Abdulaziz Al-Ghurair, chairman of FBCG, said: The upcoming event is unique for bringing speakers from successful family businesses from around the GCC and internationally. Over the years, we have enjoyed meeting and learning from many family businesses on effective formats and methods to sustain the family business. By focusing our discussion on real family business cases and with speakers representing some of the regions most successful family businesses, the Summit offers valuable insights on addressing challenges of multi-generational family businesses.



In line with the Summits theme Educate for Family Business Success, the event will additionally host speakers from one of the longest-standing family enterprises, Laird Norton Company, a seventh-generation family-owned diversified holding, to share their wisdom in developing activities to engage and sustain commitment from their 400 family-member shareholders.



The family will present their exceptional education program designed for family members from all age groups, starting from 10-year-oldkids to post-university graduates. Moreover, the family enterprises CEO, Jeffery Vincent, will share Laird Norton Companys innovative communication methods to enrich the discussions at the Summit.



The Summit will also host focussed sessions on unique GCC family business challenges such as excellence in family business board of directors, communication and conflict resolution in family businesses, and effective shareholder engagement, which will be facilitated by world-class experts and fuel meaningful exchanges between attendees.  TradeArabia News Service
GCC banks were able to grow profits in 2017 with a rate more than twice as high as revenues; despite the industry growing at a lower rate last year than it did in the previous year with just a 2.3 per cent increase, said a report.



Loan Loss Provisions (LLPs)were reduced once again and moreover, most banks managed to reduce their operating expenses, leading to a cost reduction of 1 per cent on aggregate for the large GCC banks, added the annual banking index from global management consultancy Boston Consulting Groups (BCG).



"GCC banks are adapting well to a slowing revenue growth regime and profits climbed more than twice as strong through reduced loan loss provisions as well as tight cost management, said Dr Reinhold Leichtfuss, senior partner & managing director at BCG's Middle East office.



Based on the banks 2017 annual results released in the first quarter of 2018, the latest study is part of BCGs annual banking performance indices, which measure the development of banking revenues (operating income) and profits for leading GCC banks.



The 2017 BCG Banking Performance Index includes 44 banks from across the GCC, capturing about 80 per cent of the total regional banking sector, added Peter Vayanos, successor of Dr Leichtfuss as head of the Financial Institutions practice for BCG ME.



International banks saw strong top line growth close to 5 per cent in 2017 and an even stronger recovery in profits in 2017; however, remain far behind GCC banks regarding the index level.



In 2017, Kuwait banks led the pack in terms of growth figures, with 6.6 per cent in revenues and 15 per cent in profits. While in 2016 many banks across all countries in the GCC experienced a negative development in profits, in 2017, the vast majority of banks grew profits stronger than revenues except for Oman. This is a pattern we have been seeing in more mature banking markets, such as in Europe or the US, for a number of years, stated Vayanos.



The two largest markets, UAE and Saudi Arabia, are naturally closer to the average, with UAE still close to zero revenue growth the second year in a row. The positive message is the healthy profit growth of UAE banks, at 4.6 per cent, stated Dr Leichtfuss. The revenue growth stagnation stems from a tighter risk appetite as well as portfolio optimization initiatives of banks which seek to enhance risk-adjusted returns.



As for LLPs, 2017 showed healthy improvement of 2.7 per cent in contrast to 2016, when LLPs had catapulted upwards. UAE and Oman experienced the strongest declines of 8.4 and 16.5 per cent respectively, followed by Saudi Arabia with 6.5 per cent.



Moreover, operating expenses were well controlled in the GCC countries. Even the UAE banks reduced this figure by 2.7 per cent in total, led by the countrys largest banks, and Qatar banks by 6 per cent while Saudi Arabia banks managed to keep costs constant. All countries remained significantly below the long-term cost CAGR of ~11 per cent.



In 2016, GCC banks concluded a three-year decline in growth, down from a high level in 2014. In the long term, however, GCC banks experienced a halving of overall growth rates. In 2017, Kuwait was the only country in which the growth rate bounced back from low level.



Moderate growth in retail revenues with stronger growth in profits



In 2017, retail banking growth shows strongly diverging trends across the GCC countries around the average of 3 per cent revenue growth and 14 per cent profit growth. Retail banking in Saudi Arabia grew revenues by 7 per cent and profits by 24 per cent, while UAE banks in total saw a decline in retail revenues by 2 per cent but a profit growth of 15 per cent. Qatar banks achieved a revenue growth of 12 per cent but experienced a sharp profit decline of 22 per cent. Bahrain banks had to accept a decline of 3 per cent in both retail revenues and retail profits.



Saudi Arabia and Qatar saw strong corporate banking revenue growth around 7 to 8 per cent, and achieved good profit growth as well. UAE banks again saw stronger growth in profits than in revenues. Kuwait takes a significant drop in profits owing to a strong increase in LLPs.



In 2017, only18 per cent of GCC banks were able to achieve double digit revenue growth, while twice as many experienced double digit profit growth. The positive profit trend is reflected in that only 7 per cent of banks saw negative profit growth. The number of banks in 'group' and for the 'retail' and 'corporate' segments deviate, since not all banks have a complete segment reporting yet, stated Vayanos.



According to BCGs analysis, it is clear that banks with superior strategies and strong business models can truly execute decisively and achieve the strongest growth.



Over the past decade, the regions leading banks have grown at double or triple the rate of its average banks. In almost all cases, such a development is based on a superior and consistently-executed strategy.



In the coming three to five years, we consider the digitization of processes as the most important task that banks need to achieve; this will enable advanced banks to achieve the next level of customer experience as well as cost efficiency. Moreover, particularly in the banking sector, new business opportunities are perpetually arising in the wake of the continued digital transformation," concluded Dr Leichtfuss.  TradeArabia News Service
ESMA Monitoring Market Data Fees

The European Securities and Markets Authority said it shares concerns that have been raised over the increase in fees for market data in the region and intends to take a closer look at recent developments.

ESMA included the comments on market data in a report clarifying the quoting obligations for systematic internalisers. MiFID II, the regulations which went into force in the European Union in January, banned broker crossing networks and firms are required to set up systematic internalisers in order to provide risk capital that facilitates trades.

Systematic internalisers are meant to quote prices reflecting prevailing market conditions but this led to concerns that they might have an unfair advantage by being able to quote inside the minimum tick sizes requires on exchanges.

On 9 November 2017, ESMA therefore published a Consultation Paper proposing to amend RTS 1 in order to clarify that SIs quotes would only adequately reflect prevailing market conditions where such quotes mirror the minimum price increment applicable to on-venue trading, added the report.

In the report ESMA clarified that SI quotes should reflect the minimum price increments applicable to EU trading venues for equity instruments subject to the minimum tick size regime.

Several respondents raised concerns about the fact that the ESMA proposal might encourage trading venues to (further) increase the fees charged to SIs for market data, thereby resulting in additional costs, said the report. ESMA is monitoring developments in this area but believes that this issue should be tackled independently from the amendment at hand and from a broader perspective.

MiFID II also strengthened the requirements to evidence best execution but there is no EU consolidated tape. Therefore traders have to monitor prices across individual venues which increases fragmentation and cost. MiFID II said market data should be provided "on a reasonable commercial basis."

Panelists at the AFME European Trading & Market Liquid Conference in London last week called for a consolidated tape in fixed income.

Christoph Hock, head of multi-asset trading at Union Investments, said: We need a consolidated tape as soon as possible. Getting real-time data from APAs (Approved Publication Arrangements) is costly and we should learn lessons from equities where market data costs have exploded.

Zoeb Sachee, head of Euro government and SSA trading at Citi, said the MiFID II data being reported is poor quality. Our clients feel request for quotes give them more transparency than the MiFID II obligations, he added.

Ashlin Kohler, fixed income market structure at Citi, agreed that the MiFID II data is not useful in its current state and the industry need to significantly invest in data analytics. She said: Commercial solutions for a consolidated tape will evolve and more innovative vendors will emerge.

A previous commercial venture to launch a European consolidated tape, the Coba Project, failed in 2013 due to insufficient support from banks, fund managers, data providers and stock exchanges.

ESMA submitted the final report on SI quotes to the European Commission yesterday and the Commission has three months to decide whether to endorse the proposed amendments. The report said the vast majority of respondents to the consultation, representing a broad range of trading venues, savings banks, the buy-side as well as high-frequency traders and market makers, supported ESMAs proposal.

In particular, respondents highlighted that the proposal would contribute to a level playing field between SIs and trading venues and avoid further market fragmentation by artificially directing order flow for execution to SIs offering non-significant price improvements, added ESMA. Only one respondent did not support the proposal to amend Article 10 based on legal and procedural arguments.

ESMA continued that some respondents feared that by requiring SI quotes to mirror prices displayed by trading venues, the proposed amendment might result in further increases of fees for market data.

In addition, a number of respondents raised concerns that liquidity might move to third country trading venues, especially after the UK leaves the European Union in a post-Brexit market, which do not have the same tick size regime.

The report said: ESMA agrees that the specific case of instruments for which the main pool of liquidity is located outside the EU (third-country instruments) may require further investigation.

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ON THE MOVE: Vanguard Aligns Fixed Income Group, Jones and Instinet Hire Pros

Vanguard announced multiple appointments within its Fixed Income Group as part of the firm's long-standing practice of periodically rotating investment professionals. Among the changes:

Paul Jakubowski, global head of the Taxable Credit Group, will be assuming the position of head of Investments-Europe and global head of Fixed Income Indexing, responsible for all of Vanguards bond indexing operations worldwide. Jakubowski, who has worked in investment management since joining Vanguard in 2000, replaces Ken Volpert, who is retiring in August.

Christopher Alwine, head of Municipal Investment, will assume Jakubowskis previous responsibilities, overseeing the active corporate bond portfolio management and trading teams in the U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Alwine joined Vanguard in 1990 and has more than twenty years of investment experience.

Paul Malloy, currently head of fixed income in Europe, will assume Alwines role leading the municipal bond team of 30 investment professionals who manage more than $183 billion in 12 municipal bond funds. Malloy joined Vanguard in 2005 and the Fixed Income Group in 2007, and has held various portfolio management positions in Vanguards offices in London and the United States.

Christopher Wrazen, manager of the $103.5 billion Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund, will move to manage the Bond Index Group in Europe. Wrazen has been with the Fixed Income Group since 2008.

Josh Barrickman, head of fixed income indexing  Americas, will become sole portfolio manager on nine funds, including Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund.

If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at jdantona@marketsmedia.com

JonesTrading Institutional Services announced it named David OShaughnessy as Managing Director in its Derivatives Trading Group. OShaughnessy is an industry veteran, bringing over 15 years experience and expertise to the team. Prior to joining, he served as Director in Equity Derivative Sales for Deutsche Bank New York. Prior to Deutsche Bank he held senior derivatives sales roles at Citadel Securities, BNP Paribas and Susquehanna.He will be based in New York and report to Jeff Micsky, Head of Global Derivatives.

Instinet announced the appointment of Mark Kelley as an Executive Director and a lead analyst in the U.S. Technology, Internet, Media & Telecom (TIMT) group, focused on Internet stocks. Based in New York, Mr. Kelley joins Instinet from Citigroup, where he was the lead analyst in the small and midcap Internet group. He previously held roles in equity research at Barclays Capital and Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc.

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A 17-year-old accused of stabbing his 6-year-old brother in the neck Monday night at Mountain Glen Apartments in Brevard has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious bodily harm.

The 6-year-old victim has been released from hospital after treatment to a serious non-life-threatening stab wound. Detectives recovered the weapon used in the stabbing at the apartment, a kitchen paring knife.

The Brevard Police Department received a 911 call just after 11 p.m., Monday, from a resident at Mountain Glen Apartments who stated that her 17-year-old son had stabbed her 6-year-old son.

Police and paramedics responded to the scene and found the 6-year-old with a stab wound to the neck, said Brevard Police Chief Phil Harris.

Harris said that after the incident, the 17-year-old left the house, but officers were able to locate him near the apartment complex. After the felony charge, the teen was issued a $40,000 bond.

Harris said the names are not being released because of the ages of the parties involved.
Drought will not deter tourists to the Mother City in the long term



(TRAVPR.COM) SOUTH AFRICA - April 2nd, 2018 - Earlier this year, as news of Cape Towns water crisis reach the world and Day Zero predictions loomed ever larger (on 17 January Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille announced the city had reached a point of no return in its water supplies, and that Day Zero was virtually guaranteed in a matter of weeks) so vital questions were raised as to the impact on visitor numbers to the Mother City and the potential dimming tourism, the countrys economic bright spot.



Says Wayne Troughton of hospitality, real estate and leisure consulting company, HTI Consulting, According to Cape Town Tourism and WTCC, tourism accounted for an estimated 9% of South Africas economic output last year, contributing R412 billion ($35 billion) to the national economy, with approximately 1.5 million foreign tourists visiting Cape Town last year alone, he says. As one of the mainstays of the Western Cape economy, tourism supports over 300 000 jobs across the province. In recent years, the domestic tourism industry has also grown considerably. A larger number of local visitors have made their way to the Western Cape over the festive season  250,000, in fact according to advisory firm Grant Thornton. But, with around 290,000 Capetonians leaving the city over the same period, the impact  on Cape Town, at least  is not as severe as it could potentially be.



In February, Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy admitted the citys water crisis was deterring international tourism to the city, saying, There have been many queries around the water crisis, people considering cancelling their future trips, events & conferences. We have aligned our messaging saying we are open for business, as tourism. We are mindful of the impact tourism has on water but also that weve found augmented solutions that address that, he stated. At the time of the statement, no official data had yet been able to quantify the impact water shortages were having on numbers, but Duminy said there had already been cancellations.



Two red-letter days have occurred since then, however, says Troughton. On 7 March DA leader, Mmusi Maimane broke the news that Day Zero has been pushed out to 2019, and, on the 13 March, government finally declared a National State of Disaster to deal with the countrys drought and water crisis, with Minister Zweli Mkhize making the announcement on behalf of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Drought and Water Scarcity during a media briefing, he says. This came after ratings firm, Moodys Investors Service warned that Cape Town would need up to spend up to R12.7 billion ($1 billion) over the next five years on water and sanitation infrastructure to deal with its water crisis.



Whilst the citys drought crisis will undoubtedly remain an ongoing concern for both citizens and all industries, its interesting to look at how it has impacted hotel occupancies and tourism up until this point, Troughton comments. In speaking to a number of hotel operators, feedback is that demand has not been severely impacted, although concern amongst international guests who have already effected hotel bookings has certainly risen. This concern was heightened when Level 6b water restrictions were implemented in the first week of February.

When comparing Cape Town hotels Occupancy Rates and Average Daily Rate (ADR) data analysis for season 2015/16 with 2016/17, it shows that the citys hotel occupancy rates did in fact decrease year-on-year. However, this can largely be attributed to new supply in the market (approx. 1,000 rooms) and therefore be considered normal, he states. A positive sign is the increase in Average Daily Rates which increased by a healthy 7.2%. 



Although STR statistics indicate a decline in room nights sold, he says, It is important to note that several new properties entered the Cape Town market towards the end of 2017, and that none of these properties were included in the STR survey sample in 2017, he explains. Therefore, by conducting a high level calculation wed estimate that roomnights sold in Cape Town grew by between 1%-2% in 2017.



Wesgro insists Cape Town keeps its doors open for tourists to ensure the industry is not crippled as a result of the drought, One of the key concerns noted by potential tourists who are considering Cape Town, is that they would make the water situation worse if they visited our region. We believe that this is incorrect. During peak season, international tourists only add 1% to the population, said Wesgro spokesperson Russel Brueton recently.



In speaking to several hotels, HTI Consulting established that several forward business cancellations (notably incentives and local corporate meetings) have occurred in several instances as corporates opt, amongst other reasons, for the moral decision not to put further strain on the citys municipal water system. The majority of Cape Town hotels, however, currently state that they ask guests not to use baths and to limit showers to two minutes or less. Many, such as Tsogo Sun (who are building a desalination plant to help supply its Cape Town hotels with their own water) and the Vineyard Hotel and Table Bay, amongst others, are implementing innovative water saving measures and say that, on the whole, guests are responding positively, are aware of the citys challenges and act mindfully when visiting.

Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde recently stated that the Western Cape has worked hard to develop the Cape Town tourism industry into the award-winning sector it is. He urged visitors to not cancel their trips, but to join Capetonians by using water responsibly while they were visiting. Saving water in Cape Town means saving jobs in Cape Town, said Winde.



Cape Town Tourism and Wesgro are still actively promoting the city of Cape Town to international tourists. A city twinning agreement between New York City and Cape Town Tourism has recently kicked off and these types of efforts, combined with national government crisis funding and the alternative water source projects planned to augment the City's water supply, should keep demand high for the Cape Towns hotel industry for the foreseeable future, concludes Troughton.



< ENDS >



For additional information, HTI Consulting: info@hticonsulting.co.za, +27 21 685 0635

###
gspannu7@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 3

Online B2B marketplace Adurcup, catering to the needs of HoReCa (Hotels, Restaurants and Caterings), is planning to expand its operations in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the next two quarters.

Currently it is offering its services in Delhi-NCR region.

The company is looking to make the restaurant supply chain optimised by filling in gaps such as low volume purchase, controlling quality from sellers, timely delivery and accountability of goods.

The company offers its services at zero subscription cost to customers which will be valid at least until the coming quarter.

The company launched grocery in January, contributing major number of revenue.

The core focus of this vertical remains at providing the complete range of products at the best price in the suggested timeline at a single point, eliminating unnecessary vendor liasioning and cumbersome process.

The vertical also allows daily delivery at multiple stores to help standalone restaurant out with their storage problems.

For a buyer, the company enables procurement directly from phone, creating a new approach to procure for any food service business (hotel, restaurant, cafe).

In addition to existing category, the company is also considering new categories like kitchen equipments, perishable categories, non-perishable categories.

The startup growing at a quarter by quarter growth rate of 35 per cent, might consider a fund raising in the next level for the growth capital and expanding business in new market.
laxmi@tribune.com

Chennai, April 3

Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) has acquired Serbian brand IMT  Industrija Masina i Traktora for an undisclosed sum.

IMT is an iconic tractor brand, pioneer in farm mechanisation and tractor technology with a wide range of tractors suitable for cultivating agricultural land, vineyards, orchards, city-headquartered TAFE said.

IMT produces a range of tractors between 35 hp and 220 hp and is a popular tractor brand in Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and the Balkans.

TAFE, prior to acquisition had a long association with IMT for many decades through business cooperation involved in supply of components, aggregates and technical support.

Through this acquisition, TAFE acquires the right to use the brand and the Intellectual Property Rights, including designs, trademarks and copyright of IMT, the statement said.

Stating that the TAFE and IMT have shared a long and mutually beneficial cooperation, TAFE Chairman and CEO Mallika Srinivasan said the acquisition will play a key role in TAFEs strategic and growth plans for the future.

TAFE will support the local partner with supply of components and aggregates for the rollout of IMT tractors in Serbia and allied markets, it added.  PTI

Deal dynamics
editorial@tribune.com

Our Correspondent

Kharar, April 3

The CIA staff, Kharar, have arrested Bahadur Khan, who was an active member of the notorious Sukha Kahalwan gang which had looted a liquor vend near the grain market here last year, and recovered a pistol and live cartridges from his possession.

According to an official release, a police naka was set up near Nijjar Chowk here on Monday and the police spotted a suspicious youth coming on foot from the Mohali side.

When the accused saw the police, he tried to flee the spot, but the police caught hold of him. He revealed his identity as Bahadur Khan, a resident of Bhagnara village. The police recovered a .312 bore pistol and three live cartridges from his possession.

According to the police, the accused was an active member of the Sukha Kahalwan gang. He had robbed Rs 77,000 from a liquor vend near the grain market with the help of his accomplices Gurvinder Singh, alias Ginda, and Prabhadeep Singh on September 15, 2017. Prabhadeep had died in a police encounter in Bathinda in the recent past. During interrogation, the police learnt that Bahadur, along with another accomplice Amandeep Singh, had killed a truck driver near Phillaur on March 5, 2012, and had taken away the truck.

In that case, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and was lodged in Central Jail at Patiala and Nabha. During his jail term, he came in contact with notorious gangster Sukha Kahalwan. After the death of Sukha, he became an active member of another notorious Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang. He came out on parole from Central Jail in Patiala on June 19, 2017, and did not return. He was in contact with several gangsters and was planning to commit a major crime.

He was produced before a local court, which remanded him in two-day police custody.
Col Mahesh Chadha (retd)

Col Mahesh Chadha (retd)

The recent announcement by the government to restructure the armed forces is a step in the right direction. Warfare today has become more complex with its three dimensions enlarged to encompass not only conventional and technology-driven but tools also nuclear, cyber and space ones. China has done it already. But Pakistan is not likely to venture into it as it does not have any commands and its corps are under the GHQ with political overtures. China has made it more inclusive by having Politico-Army Theatre Commands based on geographical parameters  each many times bigger than our operational commands. Chinese President Xi Jinping's threat that China will not lose an inch of its ground at any cost is a warning for us to be prepared for any eventuality that may arise on our borders.

The background

At the time of Independence, we had a loose armed forces structure: areas, divisions and corps in the Army and squadrons and divisions in the IAF and Navy. When in 1947 Pakistan attacked us in J&K, we raised a corps and a command HQ for the western borders, and later a command HQ for the eastern borders. After every war  of 1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999 with China and Pakistan  some more divisions, and corps HQ were raised. However, it was in the aftermath of the 1971 war with Pakistan that Northern and after the 1999 Kargil conflict South-Western and Training Commands were raised. Similarly, the IAF and Navy increased their commands and today, we have 17 commands  seven each of the Army and IAF and three of the Navy, including two training commands  ironically, as the latter are treated on a par with an operational command, and went on to produce a COAS. While these new raisings created more high ranking officers, they reduced the areas of responsibility and created boundaries to be criss-crossed with due coordination with each other  at times difficult to achieve. In these conflicts, the synergy of the three services remained an overriding lacuna, except in 1971 where the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Committee was the redoubtable Sam Manekshaw; hence the birth of Bangladesh.

As early as the eighties, General K Sundarji had propounded the theory of Theatre Commands. In his book The Blind Men of Hindoostan, he talks of the changing concepts of warfare where synergy of the three arms can only be achieved if there is a single command and control system as compared to the existing separate ones. That time, it was the beginning of the cyber space warfare. So, he dwelt upon the nuclear aspect and recommended to our leaders to take a wake-up call lest we were found wanting in safeguarding the territorial interests of our nation. Since then, both China and Pakistan have allied and made strides in escalating threat to us by the day. The OBOR and CEPC are only a part of the grand strategy to strangle India in the Indian Ocean, South China Sea and along Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Thus, all the more the requirement of the integration of all forces under one head to take on the land, air and sea battles.

The present status

Justifying as operational needs, it is the successive pay commissions and cadre reviews  one such is again in the pipeline which has resulted in the creation of higher ranks, truncated commands, eg Western Command that stretched from J&K to Rajasthan is divided into three  Western, Northern and South Western Commands. Similarly, at the corps level, in J&K alone there are three Corps as compared to one till 1971. It is this expansion that has caused the formations and units to live with deficiencies in arms, armour, engineer and artillery equipment  the most essential requirement to fight any war.

We cannot afford to be a welfare Army, where comparison with the bureaucracy has become more of a one-upmanship than pragmatism. There is need to keep the armed forces lean and thin and not top heavy as it is today unwieldy. If a state government has so many chief secretaries, should the army too have so many generals, where there is a hierarchical command structure? Putting a lt-general under another seems ridiculous.

The way forward

Though there has been loud thinking on adopting the Theatre Command system, switching over to it will require the bureaucracy and the defence services to sit together to first define the concept and take care of its fallout  most importantly the likelihood of mass-scale reduction in higher ranks, which will definitely create heart-burning. The one suggestion to overcome such an eventuality is to have four-star generals as Theatre Commanders and a five-star general as the CDS. This would be in consonance with the concept as suggested by Sundarji and other expert committees, the recent being the Shekatkar committee. That since the 1980s such a three-service command exists in Andaman and Nicobar can act as a model. The Integrated Defence Staff HQ can be the restructured CDS.

All the 17 commands could be merged so as to create only six or seven role-specific commands  Northern and Eastern under the Army; Western under the IAF and the Southern under the Navy. Theatre Commands North and East could be mostly composed of the Army and IAF, West and South of the Army, IAF and Navy. Cyber and Nuclear Commands could remain as such, a three-star general of any service and an expert component under the PMO. The Training and Maintenance Commands could be wound up. However, no change is visualised in the corps and below formations, except to revert to the old command structure at the area level etc. The schools of instructions and officers' training academies would also need a review as most of them do not require a lt-general as the commandant to train them. An upcoming brigadier or a major-general would fit the bill. The logistics support units too should be reorganised to meet the requirements of each service. This will save considerable budget that can be utilised to fill the deficiencies in arms and equipment.

Peace time vs war time

The services will have to shed their individuality and adopt a unified philosophy so that the system works well, as a homogeneous entity. However, in operations, it will require deft handling at the level of the CDS when the situation may require the placement of additional or reduced forces under one or another Theatre Command.

In the process, the rehabilitation of many redundant high-ranking officers should not be considered as the largesse endowment of cadre review, but as a cache of great experience and talent. Therefore, it would be a progressive transformation. The government must ensure that the downsizing in the armed forces is not wasted or taken advantage of by the central paramilitary forces and civilian counterparts. If at all, as a last resort, a golden handshake may be considered.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Singapore, April 3

An Indian yoga instructor has been convicted by a court in Singapore for molesting a woman during class, according to a media report on Tuesday.

Rakesh Kumar Prasad was sentenced to a nine-month jail term along with a fine of 1,000 Singapore dollar by the court on Monday but granted a bail of 16,000 Singapore dollar pending appeal.

Prasads lawyer said he would be appealing against the court decision, the Straight Times reported.

According to the report, Prasad committed the offences against the woman in April 2015 at a yoga studio in Tampines housing estate. The woman was then aged 25.

Following a 12-day trial, which began in 2016, District Judge Luke Tan found Prasad guilty earlier this year on one count each of outraging the womans modesty and using criminal force on her.

Prasad repeatedly molested her when she was alone, it said.

In his submission, Deputy Public Prosecutor James Chew said, The victim...did not leave the class or seek help immediately because she was in a state of shock and disbelief. She felt helpless in that environment and did not know what to do.

She had felt violated and embarrassed by the accuseds actions, and was in disbelief that this could happen to her in a yoga class, the report quoting Chew as saying.

Chew urged Judge Tan to sentence Prasad to at least a years jail with three strokes of the cane.

He said, The accused had abused his position as a yoga instructor in repeatedly violating the victim in the midst of the yoga class.

Defence lawyer Steven Lam pleaded for a nine-month jail term and stressed that the touches were fleeting.

He also told the court that Prasad would be appealing against his conviction. Judge Tan offered him bail of 16,000 Singapore dollar. PTI
editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Karnal, April 3

The police have registered six cases and arrested 12 persons for violence during Bharat bandh in the district on Monday.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said that five cases were registered for blocking roads, National Highway-44, carrying lathis, swords, firing at police personnel and damaging vehicles against hundreds of people, while one FIR was registered by the GRP for blocking railway tracks and stopping a train against several persons. They were also charged with the sections of obstructing the public servants in discharging their duties.

The Butana police arrested Vishal, a resident of Kulwehri village, from Gol Market in Nilokheri with a firearm and 11 cartridges.

The Assandh police registered a case against nearly 1,500 persons under various sections of the IPC and the Arms Act as the accused had fired at police personnel, threw stones and damaged police vehicles. The SP said Sandeep, Parveen, Rahul, Sunny, Bobby, all residents of Assandh, Sagar of Jaisinghpura village, Daljit, Sunil and Vijay, residents of Danoli village, Sunil, Sunny and Vishal, residents of Popda village had been arrested.

The Sadar police registered a case against 250-300 unknown persons for blocking road near Jundla. Similarly, the Gharaunda police registered a case against 800-900 unknown persons for blocking the National Highway-44 near Gharaunda.

The Civil Lines police also registered a case more than 1100 people for blocking the national highway-44 and obstructing the authorities in discharging their duties.
editorial@tribune.com

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, April 3

The mortal remains of the three youths of Kangra, who were killed by ISIS terrorists at Mosul in Iraq in 2014, were handed over to their relatives by the district administration on Tuesday morning.

The state government had made arrangements to bring the coffins from Amritsar International Airport to Kangra.

The remains of Sandeep Singh Rana were kept in the Nurpur Civil Hospital while of Aman and Inderjeet in the Tanda medical college.

Beena Devi, mother of Aman, was inconsolable when the remains of Aman were handed over to the family at Passu village around 9 am. A large number of villagers attended his cremation. He was a JCB operator and was working in a foreign construction company in Mosul when he went missing in 2014.

Aman is survived by his father Ramesh Chand, mother Beena Devi and grandmother Tara Devi.

Sandeep Kumar Rana was cremated in Dhameta village.

He left his home on September 16, 2013, for a salary of about Rs 30,000 per month in war-torn Iraq. He was working as a mechanic in TNH Company. He was abducted on June 15, 2014. Sandeep was the sole earning hand of his family and is survived by his wife Chandresh, 8-year son Ansh, 11-year daughter Punkit, father Dilawar Singh and mother Pushpa Devi. His three sisters Anita, Jyoti and Neelam are married.

The family was poor and children of Sandeep are continuing their studies with the help of relatives and other villagers. The villagers demanded that the state government should give a job to his wife as they had no other source of income.

Inderjeet, 26, was cremated in his native Kadreti village in Dehra. He was the third youth from Kangra, who was killed by ISIS fighters in Mosul in 2014. He used to work as machine operator.

He is survived by father Pardesi Ram, mother Sulochana Devi, two elder brothers Vijay Kumar and Ajay Kumar.

Pardesi Ram demanded action against the travel agent who sent his son to Iraq and was responsible for his death.

Joblessness to fore
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Srinagar, April 3

At least two youths were injured on Tuesday in clashes between protesters and security forces in Kangan area of Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district, police said.

Mohammad Amir and Irfan Ahmad were brought to the SKIMS hospital in Soura with injuries to the head and the chest respectively, a police official said.

Another youth from Kangan, injured in similar clashes on Monday, succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital here Tuesday.

Protests have been reported from many parts of Kashmir against the killing of civilians during encounters between militants and security forces in Shopian and Anantnag districts on Sunday. PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Jammu, April 3

A Hurriyat leader, held last year for his alleged role in the hawala transaction case involving the Hurriyat Conference but released later on bail, had been detained under Public Safety Act (PSA) for making provocative speeches, police said on Tuesday.

Advocate by profession, Devinder Singh Behl, who had been arrested last year too by anti-terror NIA sleuths, was detained for making provocative speeches at a public meeting at Nowshera area of Rajouri district on Sunday.

We have detained Behl under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for his attempts to instigate people in Nowshera by making provocative statements aimed at challenging the territorial integrity of the country and deteriorating the public order, said Rajouri SSP Yougal Manhas.

The order to detain Behl was issued on Tuesday by Rajouri district magistrate on the basis of a dossier submitted to him by the police, the SSP said. PTI
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Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 3

Kashmirs narrative has made a grand shift from azadi or freedom to the complete destruction of India.

The slogan of azadi that characterised the essence of Kashmir insurgency in the 1990s now serves as a thin veil for the real objective of militants, their supporters in the Valley  to work for the annihilation of India.

On Saturday evening, groups of youth while strolling at Boulevard chanted Jung ladenge Hindustan ki barbadi tak (The war will be fought until the destruction of India. They were loud enough to be heard by the domestic tourists, who looked at the boys with a mixed look of surprise and shock.

This narrative has been borrowed from Pakistans state and non-state actors, who swear that they will wipe out India out of the world map. Hafiz Saeeds words echo not only in the privacy of homes but also in the streets of Kashmir. That is the new grim reality of Kashmir.

Pakistan has seized the mindset of Kashmiri youth, who were born and brought up during what is modestly called turmoil. Pakistan and its agents in Kashmir  militants and overground workers  have taken full advantage of the fact that these youth born in the late eighties to early 2000s have seen no semblance of normalcy, peace and order and the good side of India.

For them, every Indian soldier is their enemy. They are watching the multiplication of guns and expansion of graveyards and they blame the whole thing on India  something that Pakistan makes them believe through its sheer propaganda and exploitation of some ugly situations  like the one that took place on April 1, when the killing of 13 militants, four civilian protesters and three soldiers darkened the mood across the Valley.

Local youth joining militancy  some poorly trained and others hardened fighters  has become a major area of concern. This is becoming the story of guns versus guns in each and every encounter and its narrative travels far beyond the encounter sites and the law and order situation. When hospitals are flooded with the injured, some of them with pellets in their eyes, it becomes a toxic anti-India narrative flared by a mix of fact and fiction, relayed by the social media and propaganda machinery of Pakistan.

These propagators work 24x7. And, they succeed because the frustrated and angry youth after each killing find the political apparatus missing. There are some soothing tweets, which have no meaning when the Internet is down during and after the encounters, like it happened on Sunday and Monday. These soothing messages in the cyber world are no substitute to the interaction on the ground. The political leaders have cocooned themselves in their homes and communicate through tweets.

The Kashmiri youth is angry at the corruption in the system, they think their degrees and skills have been rejected in favour of the political activists and the moneyed people. They find that there is no alternative left before them and they have started picking up guns. They target soldiers because they are visible. The rest of the institutions have either collapsed or given in to the dictates of the disruptionists like separatists, who see their shutdown calls as a panacea, and the government obliges them by shutting all the institutions.

This is giving birth to the narrative of destruction of India. There is no realistion that this vow to destroy India is harming them too.

The local militants  for whom the civilian protesters are risking their lives by marching to the encounter sites  have not asked a single question about the abduction and killing of a youth from Hajin, Bandipora, last night, and inflicting near fatal injuries on two women. Werent they Kashmiris?

Spotlight
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 3

The body of the civilian kidnapped by militants on Monday night was found at Hajin in Bandipora.

Militants had kidnapped the man and injured three of his relatives in Bandipora district, police said on Tuesday.

Suspected militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba barged into the house of one Farooq Ahmad Parray at Hajin on Monday night and opened fire on inmates, a police spokesman said.

The terrorists used knives to cause grievous injuries to wife, daughter and brother of Farooq, he said. The militants also kidnapped Muntazir Ahmad Parrey, son-in-law of the house owner from there, the spokesman said.

Efforts are on by the police to trace out the kidnapped man, he added. The injured have been shifted to hospital here.

The spokesman said the militants had killed Farooq Ahmads son last year. Muzzafar Ahmad Parrey was killed ruthlessly by terrorists last summer. He was first decapitated and then the body was thrown into the river, he added. With PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Jammu, April 3

An Army jawan was killed while four others were injured as Pakistani troops shelled mortars at forward posts along the LoC in Poonch district on Tuesday, officials said.

The cross-border shelling by Pakistan troops started in Krishna Ghati sector in the morning and continued for over two hours, resulting in injuries to five soldiers, including an officer, an Army officer said.

One of the injured soldiers later succumbed to injuries at the military hospital.

A police official said a lieutenant and two junior commissioned officers were among the injured and they were evacuated to command hospital in Udhampur district.

Earlier, defence spokesman Lt Col NN Joshi said Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from 0700 hours using small arms, automatics and mortars. Indian Army has retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked ceasefire violation, he said.

This is for the third straight day that Paksitani troops have violated the ceasefire and targeted forward posts and villages in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

However, the shelling failed to have any impact on cross-LoC trade which takes place for four days a week from Tuesday to Friday along the Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch district and Salamabad in Uri sector of Baramulla district.

Dozens of trucks from either side crossed the border from the trade facilitation centres, the officials said.

With the latest killing, the death toll in the Pakistani shelling along the LoC this year has gone up to 27.

The dead included 13 security personnel and five members of a family who lost their lives when a shell hit their house in Balakote sector of Poonch district on March 18. Pakistan troops have violated ceasefire along the LoC and IB over 650 times this year. PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Srinagar, April 3

Restrictions continued in parts of Srinagar and some other places in the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday after separatists extended their protest shutdown against the killings of four civilians in Shopian district on Sunday.

Restrictions would remain in force in seven police station areas of the city and other sensitive areas in south Kashmir to maintain law and order, the police said.

Heavy contingents of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed.

Shops, public transport, businesses and educational institutes remained closed in the Valley for the second consecutive day.

Senior separatist leaders, Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, have been placed under house arrest while Muhammad Yasin Malik has been shifted to the Srinagar Central Jail.

All exams scheduled for Tuesday have been postponed by Kashmir University.

Meanwhile, tension was high in north Kashmirs Ganderbal district after a 23-year-old youth was admitted to a Srinagar hospital with pellet injuries in his head.

The condition of the youth has been described as critical by attending doctors who said he had been put on life support system.

On Monday, authorities denied any firearm injury to the youth saying he had hurt himself while being chased by the police in Kangan town on the Srinagar-Leh highway. IANS
rchopra@tribunemail.com

United Nations, April 3

UN chief Antonio Guterres is very concerned over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and wants all member states to protect their civilians, his spokesperson has said.

His remarks came after Indian security forces on Sunday gunned down 13 militants in three counter-insurgency operations that also claimed the lives of three Army jawans and four civilians in Anantnag and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Secretary-General is, indeed, very concerned about the situation that we;ve seen in Jammu and Kashmir. He reminds that Member States are responsible under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters here at his daily press briefing on Monday.

He said the Secretary-General reiterated his call on nations to find ways to address disputes in a peaceful manner.

He added that civilians need to be protected wherever they were, whether its in Gaza, whether its in Jammu and Kashmir, or whether its in Yemen. Its a basic principle of this organisation.

When asked if the Secretary-General is calling for an investigation into the matter, Dujarric said any loss of civilians needs to be investigated wherever they occur. PTI
shalender@tribune.com

The 2018 edition of the India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 aimed at developing entrepreneurship in India was launched recently at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India. Established by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, Lockheed Martin Corporation & Tata Trusts, the India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 is aimed accelerating indigenous innovations. This programme offers an opportunity for innovators across India to bring breakthrough ideas to market in areas such as agriculture, healthcare, water, energy, life sciences, aeronautics, biotechnology, chemistry, communications, computing, defense, electronics, information technology, manufacturing, materials, nanotechnology, petrochemicals, semiconductors and transportation.

The IIGP has two separate tracks  A University Challenge, aimed at students, is complemented by an Open Innovation Challenge, aimed at innovators and entrepreneurs across the country. Each track focuses on identifying and supporting both industrial and social innovations.

Shortlisted winners will be sent for an international exposure visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA.

The last date to apply to the Open Innovation Challenge and to the University Challenge May 18, 2018. Applicants can refer to www.indiainnovates.in to know more and to apply for the challenge.

 TNS
shalender@tribune.com

Pervin Malhotra

email your queries to careers@tribunemail.com

Q. We live in a small town in Punjab. We would like to provide some international exposure to our son who is currently studying in a local school. Hes very bright and curious. We have heard of the SIA scholarship which is applicable to Class X students. Is there any other option for younger kids, perhaps for a longer duration? My husband travels to Singapore on work from time to time so something in that country would be preferable.  Suman Malhan

A. Sure there is! Tenable for a good four years, the A*STAR Youth Scholarship leads to the award of the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced (GCE 'A') Level (or equivalent) certificate. The Scholarship enables students to study in selected Singapore schools from Secondary Three to Pre-University Two and is renewed annually, subject to the student's satisfactory performance. The tentative application window for the A* STAR India Youth scholarship 2019 will be mid-June to mid-July 2018

Details: www.moe.gov.sg/admissions/scholarships/astar

Eligibility: Indian National, born between 2002-2004 & completed Class VIII in 2018. The candidate should have an outstanding academic track record (at least an average of 80 per cent/ min A grade with English as first language in the Class VII & VIII school final exams) & have high level of oral and written competency in English.

(For detailed eligibility criteria, check out the A*STAR India Youth Scholarship page).

You can apply either online or through hardcopy. Each applicant can submit only one application and the online mode is strongly recommended.

Short-listed applicants have to take a selection test. Those short-listed on the basis of their test scores are called for a selection interview, based on which theyll be awarded the scholarship. Generally, the hostels provide breakfast and dinner for the scholars. Meal provisions are available for Indian vegetarians and uslims.

What is the scope of UG course in philosophy?

Q.Im presently enrolled in BA (philosophy) as this was the only option I had in order to study in a good college with my percentage. What exactly is the scope of this course?  Gauri Bansal

A. An interesting and fascinating subject that deals with the fundamental questions related to ethics, metaphysics (nature of reality, knowledge, morality, existence and beliefs), politics and law, science and enquiry, religion etc, the careers that follow directly from a course in philosophy are primarily limited to academia, research and writing. But this doesnt mean that those who study the subject are stuck in a dead-end, hopeless situation. By no means.

Studying philosophy forces to you to think, and to question and analyse. It will also improve your reasoning and logical thinking ability, critical analysis as also your reading and writing skills. These are skills that can be applied to a wide gamut of areas and are especially invaluable in fields such as management, administration and politics, law, media and writing. No wonder, even some of the leading B-schools abroad welcome students of philosophy to bring diversity of thinking and a fresh and enriching perspective to the classroom. Of course you are free to pursue just about any course at the masters level, including mass communication, law, development studies, teaching, languages, travel and tourism  you name it that requires a bachelors degree as a prerequisite. Besides attempting competitive exams like the Civil Services.

Confusion over selection of exam centres

Q. I am applying to Universities in Canada. My friends say that its easier to crack the IELTS from Tier II/III centres as compared to Tier I/metro cities. Is that true?  Jatin Garg

A. Both in terms of quality and difficulty level, the International English Language Testing System, popularly known as the IELTS is the same across the country. Irrespective of the examination centre, the papers are assessed and examined by common certified examiners who follow strict quality control norms and are a part of a Professional Support Network thats jointly managed by the British Council and IDP who are the official test providers in India. The checking procedure is the same, ensuring a valid and accurate assessment of their language skills to all candidates, regardless of the test location or provider.

Both IELTS partners have equally strict protocols and multi-layered security mechanisms and controls in place for all aspects of test design, delivery and administration to protect the integrity of the test.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Mumbai, April 3

The Punjabi remake of Singham is all set to be released next year, with Parmish Verma in the lead.

Actor Ajay Devgn, who starred in the Hindi version of the 2010 Tamil film Singam featuring Suriya, announced the news on Twitter on his 49th birthday.

Punjab da sher (Tiger of Punjab), wrote the actor and tagged Parmish, and producers of the film Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak.

Ajay, who is presenting the movie, also shared the poster.

Parmish also took to social media to thank the actor for the opportunity.

Dreams Do Come true, Thank you @ajaydevgn sir, its an honour, and a Very Very Happy Birthday. #Blessed, (sic) he tweeted. PTI
gspannu7@gmail.com

Los Angeles, April 3

Hollywood action star Dwayne Johnson, who recently opened up about his secret battle with depression, has encouraged people, especially men, to share their experiences.

The 45-year-old star said men have a predisposition to keep their feelings bottled up due to the fear of shame in the society, which is not healthy.

Got tons of responses to this. Thank you. We all go through the sludge/sh*t and depression never discriminates. Took me a long time to realize it but the key is to not be afraid to open up.

Especially us dudes have a tendency to keep it in. Youre not alone, Johnson tweeted alongside the link to his interview in which he first talked about depression.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle actor said he first went through a bout of depression at the age of 15, when he saw his mother trying to commit suicide, months after they were evicted from their apartment.  PTI
gspannu7@gmail.com

Bhopal, April 3

Ahead of Assembly elections due later this year, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday accorded the Minister of State (MoS) status to five Hindu religious leaders, a move which was slammed by opposition Congress.

As per the order of General Administration Departments Additional Secretary KK Katiya, the MoS status has been accorded to Narmadanand Maharaj, Hariharanand Maharaj, Computer Baba, Bhayyu Maharaj and Pandit Yogendra Mahant.

On March 31, these five religious leaders were appointed to a committee set up for the conservation of the Narmada river.

As members of the committee, they have been given the MoS status, a GAD official said today.

Assembly elections are due in the state this year, and main opposition Congress dubbed the decision as an attempt by the BJP to exploit the respect these religious leaders enjoy in the society.

Its a gimmick to score political points. This is also an effort by the chief minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) to wash off his sins. He ignored conservation of the Narmada. These saints should inspect where the state government has planted six crore saplings (along the river banks) as claimed by the CM, said Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi.

State BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said the opposition party dislikes anything related to saints.

Saints and seers were accorded the MoS status to make their work of environment and river conservation easy. The saints were roped in for the Narmada conservation work to ensure public participation, Agrawal said.  PTI
gspannu7@gmail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

The Centre on Tuesday defended the Aadhaar Act saying it has been framed in such a way that there was least possibility of violation of right to privacy that has been declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court.

The Aadhaar Act has kept the invasion to privacy, if any, to the minimum level and there was least possibility of violation of right to privacy, Attorney General KK Venugopal told a five-judge Constitution Bench.

He said the Aadhaar Act was a "fair and reasonable law" which met the tests prescribed by the historic August 24, 2017 verdict on the right to privacy delivered by a nine-judge Constitution Bench which said it was a part of right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The reasonable restrictions applicable on right to life, would also apply right to privacy, Venugopal told the Bench, which also included Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan.

The privacy verdict held that right to privacy was not "absolute" and legitimate state interests can override it. The proportionality doctrine to weigh citizens' privacy and the State's interests would apply in such cases, he added.

"The Aadhaar Act meets the standards and has adequate safeguards. The Aadhaar Act is a just, fair, and reasonable law. It is in pursuance of a larger public interest, including preventing dissipation of social welfare benefits, prevention of black money and money laundering...," Venugopal said, asserting these were all "legitimate State interests".

Venugopal said a law, which is constitutionally valid, does not become "invalid" on the ground of improper implementation.

He said minors, whose Aadhaar numbers had already been generated, cannot opt out of it after attaining majority.

Referring to the written replies of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey to 20 questions posed by the petitioners against the Aadhaar Act, he said school authorities can act as introducers to get children, between the age group of 5 to 15 years, enrolled for Aadhaar with the parental consent but withdrawal was not permissible under the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

Last week, Pandey had made a power-point presentation before the Bench to dispel misgivings on Aadhaar.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, April 3

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the Centres plea seeking clarification on the February 16 verdict regarding setting up of a Cauvery management scheme in the decades-old river water sharing dispute.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud kept for hearing on April 9 the Central governments plea after its counsel referred to divergent views of the states concerned on the issue of setting up of the scheme.

We will take this matter on April 9 along with the plea of Tamil Nadu, the bench said, when the Centres counsel Wasim Qadri sought urgent hearing of the plea.

The apex court, in its verdict, had asked the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgment on the decades-old Cauvery dispute. It modified the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award of 2007 and made it clear that it would not be extending time for this on any ground.

The apex court had on February 16 raised the 270 tmcft share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadus share while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin, saying the issue of drinking water had to be placed on a higher pedestal.

With the apex courts verdict, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry would be annually entitled to 404.25 tmcft, 284.75 tmcft, 30 tmcft and 7 tmcft of Cauvery water respectively, out of the total of 740 tmcft. PTI
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Thane, April 3

A police constable from Assam has been arrested in connection with the call data records (CDR) racket busted by the Thane Police, an official said.

While investigating the racket, the police chanced upon a call data record and traced it to a mobile number from Assam, the official of the Thane Crime Branch which is probing the case said last night.

The Thane Police officials then informed their counterparts in Assam to conduct an inquiry into it, he said.

Last week, the Assam Police arrested the constable, Bhubaneshwar Das, attached to the Haflong police station, he said.

Das, working in the police's cyber cell, had illegally procured a CDR which was found in possession of one of the persons arrested in Thane, the official said.

A case was registered against Das at the Haflong police station and a process was underway to bring him to Thane, he said.

The Thane crime branch had earlier also arrested a constable posted in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, in the CDR leak case.

The arrested constable, Nitin Khawade (29), was also attached to the police's cyber cell and had easy access to the call data records, the police said.

Nearly 12 people have so far been arrested in connection with the racket, which revolved around private detectives illegally procuring CDRs of certain people and selling them to their clients.

The Thane police had earlier arrested some private detectives and a Mumbai-based lawyer in connection with the illegal procurement of call data records.

Advocate Rizwan Siddiqui, who was arrested last month, had represented many celebrities, including Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

The Thane Police had last month summoned Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a witness, though had no direct role in the CDR case, a senior official earlier said.

Thane's Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Trimukhi had earlier said that some of the accused told the police that Nawazuddin Siddiqui's lawyer had allegedly obtained CDRs of the actor's wife from private detectives.

The Crime Branch has so far seized hundreds of CDRs from the arrested people. These CDRs were being analysed by experts with the assistance of the mobile service providers, the police said. PTI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, April 3

Commerce between India and Bangladesh is expected to get a fresh boost with a container train service between Kolkata and Dhaka on Tuesday making its debut from the container terminal located at Majerhatarea in the city.

Eastern Railway general manager Harindra Rao flagged off the trial run of the train carrying 60 containers in as many rakes. The train will go to the Bangabandhu West Terminal in Bangladesh. While the terminal is 117 km from Dhaka, it is closer to the industrial hubs near the Bangla capital.

Talking to reporters, Rao said while passenger and goods trains run between India and Bangladesh, this is the first time that container train service between the two countries has been introduced. Container train service is the future of the movement of goods through the railways. There is no denying that, Rao said.

SA Rehman, senior general manager of Container Corporation of India, said that depending upon the demand, the train could be operated up to two times a week. Explaining the difference between an ordinary goods train and container train, Rehman said while goods trains were generally used for transporting low-value products, a container train could be used for shipping high-end items also, such as consumer durables, automobiles, etc.

The train flagged off on Tuesday carried de-oiled soya cakes used as feed for poultry firms and fisheries. Ganesh Uppala, director of Srinivasa farms of Hyderabad, said they were sending 1,250 tonnes of de-oiled cakes (DOC) through the train.

There is a lot of demand for DOC in Bangladesh, Uppala said, adding that due to problem of logistics, Indian merchants were unable to offer competitive price for exporting the item to Bangladesh.

The container train service could be useful in this regard, he said.
singhking99@yahoo.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune news service

New Delhi, April 3

Just days after India and Pakistan agreed to mutually resolve the spat over harassment of each others diplomats, the Indian envoy in Islamabad met Pakistani National Security Adviser.

The meeting cited as a courtesy call on Tuesday was scheduled a week earlier, said sources.Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria paid a courtesy call on Pak National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Naseer Khan Janjua on Tuesday in Islamabad. Envoys call regularly on dignitaries of the host country, said an official source.

From serious security issues, including the bloodshed at the Line of Control and International Border to humanitarian concerns, including medical and pilgrim visas, exchange of prisoners in each others jails and trade initiatives, were discussed in the meeting. Trust-building was a key aim, said a diplomat about the meeting. The Indian High Commissioner sensitised the Pak NSA on issues of India's concern. Constructive discussions took place on improving the bilateral relationship, added the official on the meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday that lasted for 45 minutes.

A statement issued from Janjuas office said Pakistan expresses its concerns on the situation in Kashmir and emphasised on comprehensive dialogue as the way forward to resolve all outstanding issues.
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Washington, April 3

New Delhi will host the strategically important trilateral dialogue between India, Japan and the US this week ahead of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago later this month, the State Department has said.

The Trump administration has sent two of its senior diplomats from the State Department -- Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton - to co-lead the American delegation for the trilateral dialogue.

The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers of the Indo-Pacific region on Wednesday comes a fortnight ahead of the Trump-Abe summit at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort.

During the two-day summit on April 17 and 18, the two leaders will reaffirm the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said on Tuesday.

While Wells has just returned from Pakistan, Thorton completed her trip to Malaysia before heading to New Delhi where she attended the US-ASEAN Dialogue to engage on regional security and economic issues.

On April 6, Wells will participate in the India-US Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs. During her visit, she will also meet with senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and representatives from the private sector, the State Department said.

The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. For the first several rounds the trilateral was held at the director or assistant secretary level.

It was elevated to ministerial level in 2015. The inaugural ministerial trilateral was held on September 29, 2015, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session. It was hosted by the then US Secretary of State John Kerry. The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida represented their respective countries.

The last ministerial dialogue was also held in New York in September 2017. PTI
uttara@tribuneindia.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

India on Tuesday welcomed US State and Treasury Departments coordinated action to include Milli Muslim League (MML) and Tehreek-e-Azad-e-Kashmir (TAJK)both Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) political frontsin designated list of terrorists.

LeT aliases, including MMLthe political platform on which 26/11 terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed intends to fight upcoming general elections in Pakistanhave been added to LeTs designations as Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

Six Americans were among 166 people killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years. In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir. LeT has engaged in terrorist activities under this name, including inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising. In August 2017, LeT chief Hafiz Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group, says a State Department official release. The statement points out that LeT members make up MMLs leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeeds likeness in its election banners and literature.

This decision comes close on the heels of the 15th meeting of India-US counter-terrorism Joint Working Group in Delhi last week and inaugural India-US Counter Terrorism Designation Dialogue in December last year. India called it a vindication of its position on Pakistans unwillingness to act against terror groups on its soil.

The designation is a rejection of the attempts being made in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities, and highlights Pakistans failure to fulfil its international obligation to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries, and disrupt terror financing, said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of MEA (Minstry of External Affairs).

Seven members of MML central leadership body have also been included as SDTG for acting on behalf of LeT. These functionaries include Saifullah Khalid, Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, Muhammad Harris Dar, Tabish Qayyuum, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Ehsan.

Established in 1980s,State Department designated LeT as an FTO and SDGT on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

These designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks. Among other consequences of the designations, LeTs property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group, added the state department release.

Emphasising that the move aims to curb LeTs attempts at circumventing sanctions and deceiving the public about its true character, Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, Coordinator for counter-terrorism at State Department said: Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

Just days after India and Pakistan agreed to mutually resolve the spat over harassment of each others' diplomats, the Indian envoy in Islamabad met with Pakistani National Security Adviser.

The meeting cited as a 'courtesy call' on Tuesday was scheduled a week earlier, according to official sources. "Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria paid a courtesy call on Pak National Security Adviser Lt Gen Naseer Khan Janjua (retd) on Tuesday in Islamabad. Envoys call regularly on dignitaries of the host country," said an official source.

From serious security issues, including the bloodshed at Line of Control and International Border to humanitarian concerns including medical and pilgrim visa, exchange of prisoners in each others' jails and trade initiatives, were discussed in the meeting. "Trust building was a key aim," said a diplomat about the meeting. "The Indian High Commissioner sensitised the Pak NSA on issues of India's concern. Constructive discussions took place on improving the bilateral relationship," added the official on the meeting in Islamabad that lasted for nearly 45 minutes.

A statement issued from Janjua's office said Pakistan expresses its concerns on the situation in Kashmir and emphasised on comprehensive dialogue as the way forward to resolve all outstanding issues. "Pakistan is deeply committed to the cause of Kashmir and supports to resolve this issue politically and according to the aspirations of Kashmiri people. Process of dialogue is the only way forward to resolve our disputes. It is by way of peaceful resolution of our disputes which can enable both the countries to belong to the future," Janjua added.

Indian NSA Ajit Doval though has remained in touch with his Pakistani counterpart over the past few months even as the two sides have not engaged in official political dialogue. The two NSAs have met at least four times, including in Thailand and Russia in the past three years and spoken to each other several times including in the past week.

Even as ties remain tense with Pakistan regularly politicising the Kashmir dispute and death of militants in the Valley, the two countries soon after decided to bring down the heat on the issue of intimidation and bullying of each other's diplomats posted in respective missions.

The issue had soured relations further since March 7 following which envoy Sohail Mahmood was called back for consultations and met with Pakistani PM and Army Chief in Islamabad. While MEA served more than a dozen note verbales to lodge protests against the behaviour of Pakistani security agencies with Indian diplomats and officials in Islamabad.
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Mumbai, April 3

Bhaskar Gaikwad, the original complainant in the SC/ST case over which a nationwide bandh was organised on Monday, had never thought that his legal fight would attain such a huge political connotation.

The 53-year-old, an employee of a government college in Pune, said irrespective of the central government's move, he was planning to file by April 19 a review petition in the Supreme Court against its March 20 order which is seen as diluting the SC/ST Act.

The central government yesterday filed a review petition in the apex court amidst a violent agitation over the judgement across the country.

Distancing himself from the Union government's review petition, Gaikwad told PTI over phone that ever since the ruling came in which he is a respondent, he was planning to file a review petition within the stipulated time of one month.

He refused to comment on the political connotation that the issue has acquired. The opposition parties are attacking the Narendra Modi government over the apex court judgement.

"I am a government servant. So, I cannot say anything on the political aspect. I don't see these developments politically," Gaikwad said.

According to Gaikwad, the case which reached the Supreme Court originated from his complaint filed in 2007.

In his complaint, the store keeper in a Pharmacy college at Karad had alleged that he was asked to forge some documents by the seniors.

"When I refused to do so (forging), the upper caste people of the college wrote negative remarks in my confidential report," Gaikwad claimed.

"In September, 2009, I lodged a complaint with joint director of Technical Education in Maharashtra government Subhash Mahajan," he said.

According to Gaikwad, he got no help from Mahajan and subsequently he filed a complaint against the joint director himself.

Mahajan then moved the court seeking quashing of an FIR against him, Gaikwad said.

"Though, the state government machinary fully supported Mahajan during the hearing in the High Court, he got no reprieve there," Gaikwad said.

Mahajan then approached the Supreme Court which gave its verdict on March 20, ruling that the government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

"The state government did not support me during the hearing," Gaikwad said.

Referring to the March 20 judgement in which he is a respondent, Gaikwad said he has no right to comment on the merits of the court's ruling but he has all the right to file a review petition.

"I am already discussing the issue of filing a review petition with my advocate and I will do it for sure by April 19," he added.

"The verdict came in Mahajan's favour because the Maharashtra government machinery supported him. Neither did the Maharashtra government take any decision to file charge-sheet against Mahajan for over one year, nor it gave me legal support to fight my case under the provisions of the SC/SC Act," Gaikwad said.

When contacted, Mahajan refused to speak on the issue.

"You write whatever you want. I will put forth my side as and when required," he said. - PTI
amansharma@tribunemail.com

Ravi S.Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

A exercise set in motion by Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu to amend rules of the House to ensure smooth conduct of its proceedings will look into the possibility of providing, among others, for an automatic suspension of members who enter Well (of the House).

In an informal talk with mediapersons at Parliament House after Rajya Sabha was adjourned on Tuesday, Naidu said possibility of incorporating a provision for an automatic suspension is being looked into.

Some state legislatures have this measure in their rules of procedure.

A committee has been assigned with regard to proposed changes in the rules.

Last week, Naidu had assured the House during the business of farewell speeches of retiring members to initiate changes in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business.

This was in response to concerns raised by members about the frequent disruptions in proceedings forcing frequent adjournments of the House.

Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) have been formulated under Article 118 of the Constituion wherein each House of Parliament is required to frame rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business.

Talking with mediapersons, Naidu referred to British Parliament's upper House -- House of Lords -- which has never witnessed adjournment in its entire history. He, however, said borrowing of rules from British Parliament in the regarding amendment to Rajya Sabha rules was not on cards.

He said: "Rules are framed by members, and ultimately passed by the House; it is they who have to abide by them."

Other possibilities being looked into are ensuring inviolability of Question Hour of the House and to penalise unruly members by enforcing deductions in their salaries and other remunerations.

Naidu added that the proposed addition of stringent measures are presently inchoate; the details will be worked out by the Committee.

With regard criticisms of Opposition parties that he adjourns the House for the entire day, he quipped: "What should I do? The entire country watches the proceedings. The disruptions bring disrepute to Parliament and raises a question mark on our democracy."

Naidu had echoed similar sentiments in the House several times during the 19 working days of Parliament in the second leg of the current Budget Session when House was adjourned in the face of din and protests of Opposition members.

"I have said to members on floor of the House that: 'You cooperate, I operate'," he added in his inimitable style.
singhking99@yahoo.com

New Delhi, April 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of each of the 39 Indians killed by the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq, an official release said.

The announcement came after Congress MPs from Punjab staged a protest in Parliament demanding compensation for the families.

On Monday, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh had flown home with the remains of 38 of the 39 victims  27 from Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh, six from Bihar and two from West Bengal. Earlier, the Punjab Government had declared an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for each of the families and a job for a member.  ANI
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

Amid violent protests against its directions providing for safeguards against misuse of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Supreme Court on Tuesday clarified that the order would not come in the way of giving compensation to victims of atrocities under the Act.

While turning down the requests of Attorney General KK Venugopal and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to keep its directions in abeyance, a Bench of Justice AK Goel and Justice UU Lalit said pending a preliminary enquiry, the compensation provided for under the Act and the 2016 Rules can be disbursed to the complainant.

The Bench also clarified that if there are allegations against someone under SC/ST Act and the Indian Penal Code, police could immediately register an FIR under the IPC and charges under the Act could be added later after a preliminary enquiry as laid down in its March 20 order.

The Bench said it did not dilute any substantive provisions of the special Act.

What we have done is only to provide protection to innocent people from arrest, the Bench said, adding that those protesting had either not read its verdict correctly, or had been misled by vested interests.

It heard the Centres review petition in an open court, contrary to the normal practice that requires review petitions to be heard in chamber through circulation where lawyers are not allowed to advance arguments.

The Bench refused to go into the issue of violence against its order, saying: We are only concerned about the legal issues involved.

As the Attorney General sought stay of the order, the Bench said: We have not closed the matter. You can convince us and we will consider your arguments.

During the one-hour hearing, the two judges repeatedly underlined that they had not diluted any provision of the Act and that they had only tried to protect innocent persons from arbitrary arrets as there was no provision for anticipatory bail under the Act.

The clarification came after the Attorney General pointed out that due to the requirement of preliminary enquiry, a member of SC/ST community filing a complaint under the Act, may be deprived of the compensation, a part of which he/she is supposed to get immediately.

Mehta, who represented the state of Maharashtra, adopted the Attorney Generals submission, was allowed by the court to file his written submission.

The court allowed all the parties to the original petition to file their written submission in two days. Rejoinders have to be filed in the next three days.

The Bench said it would take up the matter after two weeks. It said it will hear only the Centres review petition and those filed by others would be taken up later.

Earlier, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had in the morning agreed mark the review petition to the original Bench of Justice Goel and Justice Lalit for hearing at 2 pm after Venugopal referred to large-scale violence and loss of lives and property during Mondays Bharat Bandh.

Demanding urgent hearing of the matter, AG had said it was an emergency situation as large-scale violence had taken place.

Amicus curie and senior advocate Amarendra Sharan, who had assisted the court in the original SC/ST verdict, opposed the Centres plea and said violence cant be a ground to review a verdict.

In its review petition, the Centre said the March 20 verdict had wide ramification and implication resulting in dilution of the stringent provisions of law enacted under the 1989 enactment. It adversely affects a substantial portion of the population of India being the members of SC/ST. It is also contrary to the legislative policy of Parliament as reflected in the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989.

All India Federation of SC/ST Organisations, a conglomerate of nearly 150 employees groups, too has filed a review petition, saying after the verdict large-scale nationwide violence had taken place in which several people had lost their lives.

In its March 20 verdict, the top court said that in view of the acknowledged abuse of law of arrest in cases under the Atrocities Act, arrest of a public servant can only be after approval of the appointing authority and of a non-public servant after approval by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) which may be granted in appropriate cases if considered necessary for reasons recorded.

It had also directed that the reasons recorded by the competent authority and the SSP must be scrutinised by the magistrate for permitting further detention of an accused.

To avoid implication of an innocent, the top court directed that a preliminary inquiry may be conducted by a DSP-rank officer to find whether the allegations make out a case under the Atrocities Act and are not frivolous or motivated.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of kin of those who were killed in Mosul, Iraq, an official statement said.

Of the 39 Indians who were killed in Iraq by Islamic State, majority hailed from Punjab. On Monday, the mortal remains of 38 people were transported to India on a special plane and handed over to the families for performing the last rites.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

Punjab Congress MPs protested at Parliament House on Tuesday, demanding compensation for the families of Iraq victims.

They included Punjab Congress chief and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar.

The bodies of Iraq victims had landed in Amritsar on Monday.
rajivbhatia82@gmail.com

Washington, April 3

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the farthest individual star ever seen  an enormous blue stellar body nicknamed Icarus located over halfway across the universe.

The star, harboured in a very distant spiral galaxy, is so far away that its light has taken nine billion years to reach Earth. It appears to us as it did when the universe was about 30 per cent of its current age.

Normally, the star would be too faint to view, even with the world's largest telescopes.

However, through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing that tremendously amplifies the star's feeble glow, astronomers were able to pinpoint this faraway star and set a new distance record.

"This is the first time we're seeing a magnified, individual star," said Patrick Kelly, who led the study as a postdoctoral fellow University of California at Berkeley.

"You can see individual galaxies out there, but this star is at least 100 times farther away than the next individual star we can study, except for supernova explosions," said Kelly, who is no at the University of Minnesota in the US.

Gravitational lensing occurs when forces of gravity from massive cluster of galaxies acts as a natural lens in space, bending and amplifying light.

Sometimes light from a single background object appears as multiple images. The light can be highly magnified, making extremely faint and distant objects bright enough to see.

In the case of Icarus, a natural 'magnifying glass' is created by a galaxy cluster called MACS J1149+2223.

Located about 5 billion light-years from Earth, this massive cluster of galaxies sits between the Earth and the galaxy that contains the distant star.

By combining the strength of this gravitational lens with Hubble's exquisite resolution and sensitivity, astronomers can see and study Icarus.

The team - including Jose Diego of the Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria in Spain, and Steven Rodney of the University of South Carolina in the US  dubbed the star Icarus, after the Greek mythological character who flew too near the Sun on wings of feathers and wax that melted. Its official name is MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1.

Much like Icarus, the background star had only fleeting glory as seen from Earth. It momentarily skyrocketed to 2,000 times its true brightness when temporarily magnified.

Models suggest that the tremendous brightening was probably from the gravitational amplification of a star, similar in mass to the Sun, in the foreground galaxy cluster when the star moved in front of Icarus.

The star's light is usually magnified by about 600 times due to the foreground cluster's mass.

Detecting the amplification of a single, pinpoint background star provided a unique opportunity to test the nature of dark matter in the cluster.

Dark matter is an invisible material that makes up most of the universe's mass.

By probing what is floating around in the foreground cluster, scientists were able to test one theory that dark matter might be made up mostly of a huge number of primordial black holes formed in the birth of the universe with masses tens of times larger than the Sun.

The results of the test disprove that hypothesis, because light fluctuations from the background star, monitored with Hubble for 13 years, would have looked different if there were a swarm of intervening black holes.  PTI.
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Lahore, April 3

At least five people were killed on Tuesday morning after fire broke out in a bakery in Lahores Barkat Market.

Five people choked to death post inhaling smoke. The bodies have been shifted to Jinnah Hospital, reported Pakistans Geo TV.

Fire has been contained. The cause of the accident is not yet known. ANI
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Banda Aceh, April 3

Rights activists called on Tuesday for Indonesia's Aceh province to release four people detained on suspicion of having homosexual sex, amid concerns over the persecution of the LGBT community in the world's third-largest democracy.

Secular Indonesia is predominantly Muslim but ultra-conservative Aceh is the only province to follow sharia, or Islamic law, and criminalise gay sex.

Indonesia's parliament is currently debating revisions to the national criminal code that could criminalise all sex outside marriage, including same-sex relations. Many believe the new rules could be used to unfairly target the LGBT community and other minority groups.

Authorities said the four suspects were rounded up by vigilantes and police and, if convicted, could face up to 100 lashes in public.

"We are completing their files and will soon hand over to prosecutors," said Marzuki, head of sharia police investigations in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

Human Rights Watch said the punishment "constitutes torture under international human rights law".

"Acehnese authorities should release the four and protect the public from marauding vigilantes who target vulnerable minorities," said Graeme Reid, director of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights programme at Human Rights Watch.

The provincial and central governments drew international condemnation last year when, for the first time, Aceh authorities publicly caned two men who were convicted under the province's anti-homosexuality laws, which were introduced in 2014.

Vigilantes and religious police in Aceh often raid homes and places of work and detain people on suspicion of engaging in homosexual activity.

Aceh police detained 12 transgender women earlier this year and publicly shamed them by forcing them to cut their hair and dress in "masculine" clothing.

They were later released without charge, but activists say many have since gone into hiding for fear of further raids. Reuters
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

San Francisco, April 3

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hit back at Tim Cook saying that the recent criticism from his counterpart at Apple was unfounded, the media reported.

In an interview given to Vox on Monday, Zuckerberg defended his company's business model by saying: "You know, I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib. And not at all aligned with the truth. The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay. Having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service," he was quoted as saying.

In a Recode and MSNBC interview last month, Cook had called for increased regulation of social media, and questioned the practice of monetising user data on free platforms by selling ads that allow advertisers to target specific groups.

The Apple CEO was asked how he would handle the crisis.

"I wouldn't be in this situation," he said.

"The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetised our customer... If our customer was our product... We've elected not to do that." Apple makes the vast majority of its money selling hardware, including iPhones, iPads and Macs.

Facebook, on the other hand, has built an entire business on selling ads that target users based on information they provide.

Apple executives have used privacy and transparency as a sales pitch, drawing a contrast with other companies especially Facebook.

Cook called privacy a "human right" and "a civil liberty", reports CNN.

Zuckerberg told Vox that Facebook was dedicated "serving people", despite its reliance on advertising.

"If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford," he said.

"I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm Syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you," the Facebook CEO added.

Facebook is currently facing the heat over the leak of personal and other data of some 50 million users to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Zuckerberg admitted that the social media giant "made mistakes" over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and a "breach of trust" had occurred between it and its users.

He has apologised for the data debacle and said he was ready to testify before Congress.

IANS
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Beirut/Amman, April 3

Syrian rebels in a besieged area northeast of Damascus have been told they must accept state rule or leave, a rebel group said on Tuesday, as the government and its Russian ally seek to wipe out the last pockets of opposition territory near the capital.

The ultimatum to the rebels of eastern Qalamoun was served to civilians from the area during a meeting with a Russian colonel and an officer from the Syrian Air Force Intelligence, rebel spokesman Said Saif of the Martyr Ahmad Abdo told Reuters.

The area is 40 km from Damascus and separate from eastern Ghouta, an area right next to the capital where government forces have routed rebels in recent weeks, forcing thousands to accept safe passage out towards the Turkish border.

An opposition source said talks over the densely-populated town of Douma, the last rebel pocket of eastern Ghouta, had yet to be concluded, at odds with state media reports that the group holed up inside -- Jaish al-Islam -- had accepted a deal to leave.

President Bashar al-Assad, his military position secure thanks to Russia and Iran, is seeking to crush the last pockets of opposition to his rule near the main cities of western Syria.

The rebel enclave in eastern Qalamoun includes several towns and a barren expanse of mountainous territory. The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment.  Reuters
uttara@tribuneindia.com

BEIRUT, April 2

The last Syrian rebel group in eastern Ghouta near Damascus began withdrawing on Monday under an agreement with the government, state media said, though a military source said a group of insurgents were still rejecting the deal.

Jaish al-Islam, which has been defending the eastern Ghouta town of Douma against a ferocious onslaught by Russian-backed Syrian government forces, has not confirmed the agreement with the government.

If confirmed, the departure of Jaish al-Islam from Douma would mark the end of the war for eastern Ghouta, wiping out an opposition stronghold near Damascus and underlining President Bashar al-Assad's unassailable position in the war.

It will mark his biggest victory over rebels fighting to unseat him since the recovery of eastern Aleppo in 2016.

Indicating divisions in Jaish al-Islam, a Syrian military source said some of the fighters were rejecting the deal and the army would use force unless they accepted it.

"They will all have to agree to the settlement in the end," the source said.

Syrian state TV said eight buses carrying 448 peoplefighters and their familieshad left Douma so far on Monday, en route for the north. State media has said the rebels are due to go to areas near the Turkish-Syrian border that are controlled by opposition groups.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said dozens of buses had entered Douma early on Monday in readiness to evacuate the rebels and their families to the northern towns of Jarablus and al-Bab, near the Turkish border.

The towns are located in a section of the Turkish-Syrian frontier where Turkey has carved out a buffer zone controlled on the ground by its military and allied fighters from Free Syrian Army rebel groups that are hostile to Assad.

Retaking control

Under the deal, Syrian state media said Jaish al-Islam would hand over heavy and medium-sized weapons and acknowledge the restoration of the Damascus government's control of Douma.

The government lost control of Douma, the largest urban centre in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, in the early phase of Syria's civil war, now in its eighth year.

Thousands of rebels, their families and other civilians have already departed other parts of eastern Ghouta for Idlib province, another insurgent-held area of northern Syria.

Tens of thousands more people have fled to shelters in government-held territory near Ghouta.

The government offensive on Ghouta has been one of the deadliest of the war, killing more than 1,600 civilians, according to the Observatory. The government says it is restoring security to Damascus, which was regularly shelled from eastern Ghouta during the war.

Assad, who has military support from Iran and Russia, now controls the bulk of Syria, though it may be difficult for him to recover much more territory without risking a collision with other foreign powers that have forces inside the country.

The second largest chunk of Syrian territory is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of militias spearheaded by the Syrian Kurdish YPG and supported by the US-led coalition against Islamic State.

US President Donald Trump added fresh uncertainty to the outlook for the conflict last week by indicating that the United States would soon be leaving Syria.

Trump has told advisers he wants an early exit of US troops from Syria, two senior administration officials said on Friday, a stance that may put him at odds with US military officials who see the fight against Islamic State as nowhere near complete.

Turkey, alarmed by the growth of Kurdish influence in Syria, has recently expanded its foothold in the north of the country by seizing the northwestern Afrin region from the YPG, supported by Turkey-backed Syrian militias.

Rebels also still control a significant chunk of territory on the frontiers with Jordan and Israel, which are both anxious about the growth of Iranian influence in Syria. Reuters
rchopra@tribunemail.com

Washington, April 3

In a major setback to Hafiz Saeeds political ambitions, the US on Tuesday designated the Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Pakistan-based Mumbai attack mastermind-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organisation.

In a simultaneous move, seven members of the MMLs central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorists.

The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan in July.

Pakistans election commission had earlier rejected the MMLs application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT resources it needed to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Todays amendments take aim at LeTs efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character, said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence, Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeTs property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US people are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.

LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks, the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as a SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, the LeT had repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

In January 2017, the LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.

In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group.

LeT members make up MMLs leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeeds likeness in its election banners and literature, the State Department said.

Todays actions notify the US public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of the LeT. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law-enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeTs attempts to undermine Pakistans political process, said Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognised political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

We will continue to target terrorist organisations like LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades, Mandelker said.

He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should think twice about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

Seven members of the MML who were designated as foreign terrorists are: Saifullah Khalid (president), Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi (vice president), Muhammad Harris Dar (joint secretary), Tabish Qayyuum (information secretary), Fayyaz Ahmad (general secretary), Faisal Nadeem (broadcast and publications secretary), and Muhammad Ehsan (finance secretary).

President of the MML, Khalid, is also the head of LeTs Peshawar headquarters and served on the JuDs Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of the LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

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, including six Americans. It was declared as an FTO by the US in June 2014. PTI
monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Washington, April 3

The US has started accepting applications for H-1B visas, considered as the most sought-after work visa among highly skilled Indian professionals, amidst unprecedented scrutiny by the Trump administration.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is the federal agency responsible to process the visas, yesterday started accepting applications for H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2019, beginning October 1.

The USCIS had earlier indicated that there will be zero tolerance by it for even minor errors.

As of now, the USCIS has not indicated if it plans to go for a computerised draw of lots as has been the case in previous years after receiving several times more than the Congressional mandated cap of H-1B visas.

A leading advocacy group representing the tech industry, including Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook, said that it expects number of H-1B petitions to reach the Congressional mandated caps in coming days. As a result of which the USCIS would again resort to a computerised draw of lot to determine successful applicants, it said.

"Within a few days we expect that the H-1B visa lottery will reach the annual cap, as it has for the past six years, highlighting the overwhelming demand for this visa category, FWD.us president Todd Schulte said.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The H1-B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the cap.

"There are many ways in which our immigration system is broken and in need of comprehensive reform; fixing our legal and high-skilled immigration system, including protecting the H-4 rule and eliminating country caps for green cards, will ensure the US can maintain our global competitive advantage, Schultz said.

Observing that immigration has always been a source of strength for America's economy, Schultz said H-1B visa is a "key part of the high-skilled immigration" system that needs to be reformed to allow the US to remain the centre for global innovation.

"We should make it easier for the best and brightest to come from around the world while also cracking down on bad actors, Schultz said, voicing his concern over the recent move to tighten the H-1B application approval process.

"H-1B visa holders create jobs and raise wages for native-born Americans by bringing their ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to the science, engineering, and tech sectors, creating American jobs and benefiting thousands of businesses and countless communities across the country, he said.

"Reforming and expanding high-skilled immigration is an important part of a broader fight to protect legal immigration avenues," Schultz said.

Ahead of the H-1B visa filing process, the USCIS had said this work visa should help US companies recruit highly-skilled foreign nationals when there is a shortage of qualified workers in the country.

"Yet, too many American workers who are as qualified, willing, and deserving to work in these fields have been ignored or unfairly disadvantaged. Employers who abuse the H-1B visa programme may negatively affect US workers, decreasing wages and opportunities as they import more foreign workers," it had said. PTI
This is a short Twitter video from the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude of the first Russian Post mail drone on its maiden voyage, taking to the sky for several seconds before attempting an unscripted barrel roll and crashing hard into the side of a building, almost hitting three bystanders. So, if you live in Ulan-Ude and were wondering why your mail didn't come today, look no further. Also, close your shutters and don't look out the window or you might get hit by a drone.

But Russian Post quickly distanced itself from the crash yesterday, saying it was present at the launch merely as a guest.

The company said the drone was made a another company called 'Rudron/Expeditor 3M'. Head of the Buryatia region Alexei Tsydenov said more than 100 Wi-Fi connections in the area could have disrupted the drone's flight. "We won't stop with this, we'll keep trying," he said.

'We'll keep trying' -- now that's the sort of dedication to a project I like to hear. That said, now might be a good time to buy stock in this 'Rudron/Expeditor 3M' drone manufacturer, because I feel like Russia is going to be buying and crashing a lot of them in the coming months. And blaming the crash on all the Wi-Fi connections in the area -- that's classic. I use the same excuse whenever I slyly disable the internet connection whenever my girlfriend is watching Netflix. 'Dang, must be all the other Wi-Fi connections in the area,' I'll say while I power on the PS4 to play Far Cry.

Keep going for the video.

Russia's first postal drone takes its maiden flight - and crashes straight into a wall. More from @ReutersTV: https://t.co/4WEQdacXFY pic.twitter.com/StcBC1DKJ1  Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 3, 2018

Thanks to Sarah H, for informing me she thought something entirely different when she heard 'mail drone'.


In 2018 UNDP launched its new 4-year Strategic Plan which is designed to deliver integrated solutions to the complex challenges of ending extreme poverty, reducing inequalities, and achieving the 2030 Agenda. The Plan has been shaped in response to many of the emerging issues of our time, one of the most compelling has been related to migration and refugees. In the context of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, observed around the world on 4 April, it would be appropriate to delve into how mine action and migration are connected.

The Somali-British poet Warsan Shire has been a literary voice for displacement and loss. Her poem Home speaks for many migrants that have taken the decision to risk the treacherous voyage across the Mediterranean from North Africa. In part her poem reads:

You have to understand,

that no one puts their children in a boat,

unless the water is safer than the land.

In recent years we have become accustomed to reports of crammed unseaworthy boats capsizing and taking the lives of undocumented migrants as they flee towards what they perceive is a better life. As conflicts around the world continue to displace millions, difficult and dangerous decisions are also being made on a when to return home. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, northern Nigeria and elsewhere are taking matters into their own hands and with little information on what awaits them, begun to explore moves home. Similarly, refugees that linger in hosting countries such as Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon which collectively provide succour to over 6 million Syrian refugees, are eager to return as a fear of a lost generation grips families as the war rages into its 8th year with no end in sight.



Along the Turkey-Iran border and elsewhere around the world, UNDP supports mine removal so that communities can rebuild after conflict and get back on the road to development. Photo: Olaf Juergensen/UNDP

On this International Day for Mine Action Awareness and Victim Assistance, we should reflect on what awaits the refugees and IDPs who dream of return and contemplate taking matters of survival into their own hands. As with the migrants heading north to Europe by sea, the choice to return will be fraught with the danger in the very landscapes they cherish most. To put this in perspective, in the case of Syria, the level of explosive hazardous contamination posed by landmines and unexploded ordnances is staggering. In 2018 OCHA reported that there was an explosive incident inside the borders of Syria every 10 minutes and over 8 million Syrians are at risk. In Ukraine, there has been an uptick in incidents as displacees informally return to farm in the 50-km wide zone-of-conflict separating the two-warring sides. As we are reminded in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the legacy of conflict can take decades to over-come and despite the on-going efforts of UNDP and the international community, over 2 percent of its territory remains blocked from full productive use.

There has been significant international attention on understanding the local drivers of out migration (i.e.: conflict, natural disasters, poverty, governance, etc.), but less attention has been placed on the challenges of voluntary return; the most desirable durable solution as captured in the Secretary Generals 2011 Framework on Ending Displacement After Conflict. Through a mine action-migration lens, the protracted nature of conflict we are witnessing today has exposed millions of people to risk and vulnerability that are both immediate in terms of the physical dangers posed by mines and unexploded ordnance, and long-term in relation to achieving the 2030 Agenda which notes the need to provide safe, orderly, and regular migration with full respect of human rights as one of its cornerstones.

In over 15 countries UNDP supports mine action so that local communities can (re)build after conflict and put their communities back onto the road to development. Without the safe spaces created in mine-affected communities, launching emergency job programmes, local area development initiatives, reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, implementation of repatriation plans, and rebuilding trust and the social contract would not be possible. I believe we can learn from Warsan Shires poem and work towards making life safer on water and land.



About the author

Olaf Juergensenis a development and mine action specialist with the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub. Follow him on Twitter: @OlafJuergensen



On this International Day for Mine Action Awareness and Victim Assistance, we should reflect on what awaits the refugees and IDPs who dream of return and contemplate taking matters of survival into their own hands. As with the migrants heading north to Europe by sea, the choice to return will be fraught with the danger in the very landscapes they cherish most. To put this in perspective, in the case of Syria, the level of explosive hazardous contamination posed by landmines and unexploded ordnances is staggering. In 2018 OCHA reported that there was an explosive incident inside the borders of Syria every 10 minutes and over 8 million Syrians are at risk. In Ukraine, there has been an uptick in incidents as displacees informally return to farm in the 50-km wide zone-of-conflict separating the two-warring sides. As we are reminded in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the legacy of conflict can take decades to over-come and despite the on-going efforts of UNDP and the international community, over 2 percent of its territory remains blocked from full productive use. There has been significant international attention on understanding the local drivers of out migration (i.e.: conflict, natural disasters, poverty, governance, etc.), but less attention has been placed on the challenges of voluntary return; the most desirable durable solution as captured in the Secretary Generals 2011 Framework on Ending Displacement After Conflict. Through a mine action-migration lens, the protracted nature of conflict we are witnessing today has exposed millions of people to risk and vulnerability that are both immediate in terms of the physical dangers posed by mines and unexploded ordnance, and long-term in relation to achieving the 2030 Agenda which notes the need to provide safe, orderly, and regular migration with full respect of human rights as one of its cornerstones. In over 15 countries UNDP supports mine action so that local communities can (re)build after conflict and put their communities back onto the road to development. Without the safe spaces created in mine-affected communities, launching emergency job programmes, local area development initiatives, reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, implementation of repatriation plans, and rebuilding trust and the social contract would not be possible. I believe we can learn from Warsan Shires poem and work towards making life safer on water and land.



About the author

Olaf Juergensenis a development and mine action specialist with the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub. Follow him on Twitter: @OlafJuergensen
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the State of Israel today signed a Framework of Common Understanding to promote solutions for thousands of Eritreans and Sudanese living in Israel. A joint working group will be set up with a series of objectives and a timetable to implement solutions for some 39,000 people over five years. As a result of the Framework of Common Understanding signed today, the Government of Israel will not pursue its non-voluntary relocation policy.

"UNHCR appreciates the collaboration with the Government of Israel to find a way out for thousands of Eritreans and Sudanese. This agreement will ensure that protection is provided to those who need it," said Volker Turk, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, who signed the agreement on behalf of UNHCR. From the Israeli side, the agreement was signed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Arye Machluf Deri, Minister of Internal Affairs.

Under the agreement, UNHCR, with the support of receiving countries, will work to facilitate the departure to third countries to be determined of some 16,000 Eritreans and Sudanese under various programmes, including sponsorship, resettlement, family reunion and labour migration schemes, while others will be receiving a suitable legal status in Israel.

In addition, UNHCR and the State of Israel will design programmes to encourage Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers to move out of the neighbourhoods in South Tel Aviv where they have mostly congregated. Vocational training will also be provided to asylum-seekers for jobs in solar energy, agriculture and irrigation for employment abroad or in Israel.

UNHCR has been working closely with the State of Israel to identify and respond to the protection needs of asylum-seekers in the country. In the past, UNHCR raised concerns about Israel's non-voluntary Relocation Policy as its monitoring indicated that those relocated have not found adequate safety or a durable solution to their plight in the destination African countries and, as a result, many have subsequently attempted dangerous onward journeys within Africa or to Europe.

According to the information provided by the Population, Immigration and Border Authority (PIBA), by the end of 2017 there were some 26,600 Eritreans and 7,600 Sudanese in Israel. From the start of the relocation programme in December 2013, some 4,500 Eritreans and Sudanese were relocated under the Government's Policy.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
MEDIA ADVISORY

Media representatives are invited to

UNODC's Global Judicial Integrity Network launch

9 April 2018

M Building, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria

VIENNA, 3 April - The media is invited to cover the launch of the Global Judicial Integrity Network on 9 April 2018 at United Nations in Vienna, in the presence of Chief Justices, judges and judicial professionals from all over the world.

The launch will gather nearly 400 high-ranking participants, who will be welcomed by video messages from Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy-Secretary General of the United Nations, and Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The opening session will also be addressed by chief and senior justices from Austria, Brazil, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria and the United States, and by UNODC's Director for Treaty Affairs, John Brandolino. Diego Garcia-Sayan, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, will address the Plenary Session, with Christophe Regnard, President of the International Association of Judges, and Rudolf Mellinghoff, Member of the Judicial Integrity Group.

The two-day event will offer participating members of the judiciary opportunities to interact, to discuss key issues with Chief Justices from other Member States, and to present recommendations on enhancing cooperation through the Network. Substantive sessions will cover topics such as codes of conduct, disciplinary bodies and proceedings, sextortion, balancing accountability and independence, assessing integrity in the justice system, financial disclosure, the use of social media by judges, enhancing transparency, the impact of digitalization on judicial integrity, judicial appointments, and judicial training.

The Network's launch follows consultations with some 4,000 judges and seven regional preparatory meetings over two years, and will be a valuable resource for judiciaries everywhere to help strengthen judicial integrity and prevent corruption in their respective justice systems, in line with Article 11 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

***

Media accreditation:

Media representatives who wish to cover the Global Judicial Integrity Network launch, and who are not already accredited to the Vienna International Centre, should email press@unvienna.org for accreditation. Journalists are invited to attend the Opening Session starting at 9:00am and the Plenary starting at 10:45am in Room M1, M-Building, as well as the coffee break for possible interviews at 10:15am.

Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtags #GJIN and #JudicialIntegrity, and by following @UNODC and @DohaDeclaration for updates.

The agenda for the conference can be viewed here: https://www.unodc.org/ji/en/restricted/network-launch.html

More information on the Global Judicial Integrity Network can be found at: www.unodc.org/ji

***

For further media enquiries, please contact:

Kevin Town

UNODC Public Information Officer

Telephone: +43 699 1459 5575

Email: kevin.town [a] un.org
UWs Nickerson Receives Writing Award from Cowboy, Western Heritage Museum

Greg Nickerson

Greg Nickerson, a Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit associate research scientist at the University of Wyoming, will be honored by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Okla., for a historical piece on Native Americans in the Sheridan Rodeo in the early 1950s.

He will receive the Outstanding Magazine Article Wrangler Award in a ceremony Saturday, April 14, that will be emceed by actors Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross.

The winning article, titled All-American Indian Days and the Miss Indian America Pageant, was published in the summer 2017 issue of Montana The Magazine of Western History. This will be the eighth Wrangler Award for the Montana Historical Societys magazine.

This is an extremely prestigious award, Montana editor Molly Holz says. Gregs article has received a lot of attention, and we have had requests for it from all over the nation.

Nickersons article tells the story of the creation of the All-American Indian Days and the Miss Indian America Pageant at the Sheridan WYO Rodeo in the early 1950s. During this period, Indians from reservations in southern and eastern Montana often traveled to Sheridan to shop, yet they faced prejudice from Main Street businesses that refused to serve them.

Native people and reform-minded community leaders joined together to create All-American Indian Days and the Miss Indian America Pageant as a site of reconciliation, and these efforts at improving race relations earned Sheridan national recognition. The winners of the Miss Indian America Pageant embraced the opportunity to use the honor to promote interracial understanding and American Indian culture.

Nickerson earned an M.S. degree in history of the American West from UW. Originally from Big Horn, he conducted interviews with Miss Indian America Pageant organizers and Crow Fair participants as a student at Carleton College and later while curating an exhibition on All-American Indian Days for the Sheridan County Museum.

In 2015, he produced the short film, No Indians or Dogs Allowed? Sheridan, Wyoming and the Miss Indian America Pageant, for Wyoming PBS, which is available on Vimeo.

This article and award really is a tribute to the Sheridan volunteers and American Indians who put on the Miss Indian America Pageant from 1953-1984, and to the local archivists who preserved records of the event, Nickerson says.
Launching ceremony of 2016 PAPI Report

The 2017 PAPI Report presents the results of a nationwide survey, with data articulating the experiences of 14,097 citizens who were randomly selected and who are a representative sample of different demographic groups across the country.

PAPI is the largest time-series policy monitoring tool that captures the provincial performance in governance and public administration in Vietnam. Since 2009, PAPI has captured and reflected the experiences of 103,059 citizens. PAPI aims to generate information that can improve the performance of local authorities in meeting their citizens expectations.

Of the six dimensions measured in 2016, the greatest gain was seen in public service delivery, with 35 provinces improving their scores in 2016 compared to 2011. Other indexes, such as control of corruption, poverty and hunger, political participation, and vertical accountability, reported significant weaknesses, while public administrative procedures showed good progress.

The 2016 PAPI Report looks at overall provincial performance. Of these, Nam Dinh, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, and Danang have maintained their overall best performance for six years in a row. Binh Duong continues to see a severe decline for the second year in a row.
Grieving families of 38 Indian construction workers kidnapped and murdered in Iraq by the Islamic State group were told for years by government officials that their loved ones were still alive. (Photo: AFP/Shammi Mehra)

Grieving families - who were told for years by government officials that their loved ones were still alive - waited at an airport in the northwest state of Punjab to receive the coffins from Baghdad.

The victims were mostly from poor families in Punjab and were employed by a construction company in Mosul when they were abducted by extremists.

India's foreign minister told parliament last month that 39 bodies were unearthed from a mass grave in Badush, a village northwest of Mosul.

DNA testing confirmed the identity of 38 of the corpses. One test was a partial match, with further examination needed, India's junior foreign minister said Monday.

The Indians were kidnapped in June 2014 as the Islamic State group overran large swathes of territory in Iraq, including the major northern city of Mosul.

Indian officials for years insisted the abductees were alive until proven otherwise, drawing criticism from relatives who accused the government of keeping them in the dark.

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj denied the government had given the families false hope. It is not known when the Indians were killed.
Notably, the Ho Chi Minh City-based lender also requires all authorisation letters and related documents to be scanned and stored on its core banking system.

As part of an attempt to minimise the risk of fraud and enhance security, Eximbank said that it will apply a raft of measures including the rotation of staff and strengthening internal controls.

Eximbank is bringing back fingerprint identification to regain customers' trust

In particular, the bank will rotate its clerks and supervisors within the branch and transaction office. To a larger extent, Eximbank looks to rotate supervisors between branches and transactions offices in the same area and leaders or managers between units and departments.

What is more, the bank will set up a mobile director mechanism to temporarily replace branch directors for a certain period in a bid to identify and rectify any errors made by the branch.

While Eximbank might be the first among the local bank community to impose measures to enhance its operations and regain the trust of its clients, foreign banks have been using advanced technology for a few years now to improve their customer experience.

For instance, back in 2016 Citi introduced its Touch ID, a technology that uses customers fingerprint for verification when conducting business on their smartphones. According to Citi, its customers no longer need to memorise their username and passwordthey simply use their fingerprint to reduce fraud and enhance usability.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it will likely take several years to fix problems at the social network uncovered by the recent data scandal. (Photo: AFP/Josh Edelson)

Speaking to the news site Vox, Zuckerberg defended the company's business model and shot back at criticism of the social networking giant from Apple CEO Tim Cooklast week.

Zuckerberg maintained that one of Facebook's problems was that it was "idealistic," focusing on the positive aspects of connecting people and that "we didn't spend enough time investing in, or thinking through, some of the downside uses of the tools."

"I think now people are appropriately focused on some of the risks and downsides as well," he said.

"I think we will dig through this hole, but it will take a few years. I wish I could solve all these issues in three months or six months, but I just think the reality is that solving some of these questions is just going to take a longer period of time."

Zuckerberg also fired back at comments last week from Cook, who argued that Facebook got into trouble because of a business model focused on monetising people's data.

"I find that argument - that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib. And not at all aligned with the truth," he said.

"The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay. And therefore, as with a lot of media, having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model."

ANTI-ROHINGYA PROPAGANDA IN MYANMAR

The Facebook chief executive also responded to issues over Facebook's role in fuelling anti-Rohingya propaganda in Myanmar, after militant attacks in Rakhine state led to a government crackdown which saw hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The role of Facebook as a source of propaganda in the region has been something the tech giant is paying a lot of attention to, said Zuckerberg.

He cited an incident when he was informed of "sensational messages" being spread through Facebook Messenger to incite violence on both sides of the conflict.

"I remember, one Saturday morning, I got a phone call and we detected that people were trying to spread sensational messages through  it was Facebook Messenger in this case  to each side of the conflict, basically telling the Muslims, 'Hey, theres about to be an uprising of the Buddhists, so make sure that you are armed and go to this place.' And then the same thing on the other side," he said.

"So thats the kind of thing where I think it is clear that people were trying to use our tools in order to incite real harm."

He added that in that case, Facebook's systems detected what was going on and stopped the messages from going through.

"But this is certainly something that were paying a lot of attention to."

The interview was the latest by the Facebook chief aimed at blunting the impact of a scandal over the harvesting of personal data on 50 million users by a political firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic have launched investigations into the mishandling of user data and have been seeking Zuckerberg's testimony.
Saigon's property pride are being bought off for debt collection

To date, myriad market analysts forecasted that a notable number of investors would bid lower than $268.22 million in order to protest the unrealistic listing rate, considering ten years of inactivity due to inefficient investment and postponed development.

Within four days, the estimated starting price of the project's total assets shrank from VND7 trillion ($307.3 million) to $268.22 million, which is still frowned upon by investors.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (Horea), asserted that the listing price was considered "reasonable," yet there are high odds that the public auction will not attract the right investor despite the enormous interest expressed.

Specifically, the total assets which would be included in the public auction comprise of the ownership of a total 14,954 square metres of the commercial area and the intangible assets which is the asset management of the entire construction of the garage, shopping mall, offices for lease, and supporting construction.

A decade of postponed development brought doom to Saigon One Tower Company

Previously, in 2017, Saigon One Tower was forfeited by VAMC with the purpose of resolving non-performing loans in accordance with Resolution 42 on the handling of non-performing loans after the owners fail to repay debts.

On August 21 last year VAMC officially sized the asset of Sai Gon One Tower Company in order to collect non-performing loans worth more than $300 million.

The construction of Saigon One Tower, commonly dubbed as Saigons Ghost Tower, was started in 2007 as a residential and office development project, with the involvement of Alpha King Real Estate Development JSC and M&C Real Estate as the main developers.

Additionally, the projects total capital mounted up to VND5 trillion ($219.5 million) with the initial target of becoming the third highest tower in Vietnam. However, after 80 per cent of the construction was finished in 2011, the entire development stopped until VAMC seized the asset in 2017.
The perspective of Ngoc Hoi complex belonging to Hanoi's Metro Line 1

The Ministry of Transport has reportedly agreed with a recent proposal from Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) on restarting the process of selecting contractors for tender package HURC1-101 which involves preparing space and weak foundation treatment for Ngoc Hoi complex belonging to the first phase of Hanoi Metro Line 1.

According to Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong, MRB is required to send a report about the case to the project donorJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)to reach a consensus about annulling the previous short-listing results in 2013 and host another short-listing in compliance with Japanese donor regulations and Vietnamese laws.

The first phase of Metro Line 1 has just been divided by MoT into two separate sub-projects.

Accordingly, the first sub-project focuses on building the Ngoc Hoi complex which take on the functions of the existing Hanoi and Giap Bat railway stations, plus building several functional zones for future rail lines with an estimated total investment capital of VND19.302trillion ($857.8 million).

The second sub-project involves building the Ngoc Hoi-Hanoi section and an additional elevated section from Giap Bat to Ngoc Hoi.

When the project was approved by MoT in 2012, it was reported to have a total investment capital of around VND24.825 trillion ($1.1 billion).

The progress of Metro Line 1 depends heavily on the implementation of the Ngoc Hoi complex, particularly selecting contractors for the HURC1-101 package which has been delayed for five years now.

Earlier, in mid-February 2018, MRB had proposed MoT to cancel the previous short-listing results from 2013 and host a new short-listing and bidding process following the Law on Procurement regulations and JICA donor guidance.

HURC1-101 is one of the major building packages of project on building Hanois Metro Line 1 connecting Yen Vien and Ngoc Hoi.

The progress of Metro Line 1 depends heavily on the implementation of the Ngoc Hoi complex, particularly selecting contractors for the HURC1-101 package which has been delayed for five years now.

During 2012-2013, the project developer Vietnam Railways (now MoT) hosted a short-listing and nine contractors and consortiums were short-listed.

Later, due to the implications of Japans JTC case which involved giving kick-back money to Vietnam Raiways officials at HURC1-001 package on consultancy services, MoT had postponed the distribution of bidding invitation dossiers of the package.

To prepare to restart the package, last October MRB sent letters to previously short-listed contractors. As of February 2018 five out of nine contractors have certified their continued willingness to participate.

MRB, however, argued that as the HURC1-101 package hosted the short-listing five years ago and as new capable contractors are showing attention in the package, it is important to expand the contractor list to boost competitiveness and raise bidding efficiency.

The size of the package was also scaled down (the area of weak foundation treatment reduced from 110.4 to 95.2ha).

Activities related to updating and perfecting the technical design records, cost estimations, and preparing tender invitation records are being intensively handled by MoTs Transport Engineering Design Inc. (TEDI) and SAPMAN (a consultancy unit supported by JICA) to finish by the deadline this month.

If things go smoothly, the short-listing will take place between April and June, paving the way for tender invitation records to be distributed from July 2018. The projects first phase is slated for completion in 2024.

According to Hanois transport planning to 2030 with a vision towards 2050, Hanoi will build ten metro lines with the total length of 417.8km for over $40 billion.

About $7.55 billion will be needed in 2017-2020, $7.6 billion in 2021-2025, $3.56 billion in 2026-2030, and $21.32 billion after 2031.
File photo of cars and trucks along Interstate 80 on Feb 18, 2014 in Berkeley, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP)

The decision by President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency means the emission standards for vehicles in the 2022-2025 model years will be revised, as sought by automakers.

"The Obama administration's determination was wrong," said EPA chief Scott Pruitt.

Former President Barack Obama's EPA "made assumptions about the standards that didn't comport with reality, and set the standards too high," Pruitt said in a statement.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers applauded the move, saying it would "keep new vehicles affordable to more Americans."

"This was the right decision, and we support the administration for pursuing a data-driven effort and a single national programme as it works to finalise future standards," said the industry group representing Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and others.

The rules set in 2012, known as the Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE standards, sought to reduce pollutants released into the air by gradually increasing fuel efficiency across all models offered by manufacturers to 54.5 miles per gallon (4.32 litres per 100 kilometres), compared to 35.5 miles per gallon in 2016.

Pruitt said the EPA in 2012 cut short its review of the standards for "politically charged expediency," but he will work with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop new, "more appropriate" rules.

The agency is also examining the waiver that allows California, the most popular US state, to impose tougher requirements than called for under the Clean Air Act.

One state cannot "dictate standards for the rest of the country," Pruitt said.

"EPA will set a national standard for greenhouse gas emissions that allows auto manufacturers to make cars that people both want and can afford - while still expanding environmental and safety benefits of newer cars."

This is likely to open a long legal battle between California, a traditionally Democratic state, and Trump's Republican administration.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the EPA's "assault" on CAFE standards "risks our ability to protect our children's health, tackle climate change and save hardworking Americans money."

"We're ready to file suit if needed to protect these critical standards and to fight the Administration's war on our environment," Becerra said.

Trump has been scaling back many types of regulations, including environmental standards, set by his Democratic predecessor, including pulling out of the Paris climate accord.
Scene at the opening event (Photo: VNA)

The course was sponsored by the Vietnam Embassy and the Vietnamese Association in the RoK. It was established based on the fact that more than 60,000 out of approximately 170,000 Vietnamese expatriates in the country were women married to Korean men, and most of their children cannot speak their mothers native language.

Aiming at children aged 6  14, the course is set to run classes every Sunday afternoons between April and December on an annual basis. Textbooks used for the course were compiled by the RoK Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Six Vietnamese students who are studying for doctorate/ master degrees at RoK universities and have teaching experiences are in charge of these classes.

The students mothers voluntarily pay part of the tuition fee, and the Asian Development Fund (ADF) contributes part of the courses running cost.

The Vietnamese Association in the RoK plans to open more classes of this type across the country. It will work with the ADF to offer scholarships for the students to pursue higher education in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Embassy said it hopes the success of the course will help the children make contributions to deepening relations between the two nations in the future.
Import coal hits over three million tonnes from beginning of 2018 to March 15, 2018 with a total value of $384 million

More and more businesses use imported coal because it is cheaper than domestic coal. Several firms under Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) have proposed to import coal to save costs. This is an inevitable trend as the number of coal thermal power plants has increased to 19 and total expected coal imports of over 85 million tonnes by 2030.

Coal imports saw encouraging growth in the past years. Before 2014, coal was not one of the 50 leading import items. However, in 2014, 3.096 million tonnes of coal were imported with a total value of $364.1 million.

Coal imports raised fast and hit 14.498 million tonnes worth $1.52 billion in 2017 and over 3 million tonnes since the beginning of 2018 to March 15 were imported with a total value of $384 million.

Meanwhile, volume of coal export in 2017 only hit 50 per cent of the goal set forth. In 2017, Vietnam exported 2.229 million tonnes of coal. Despite this growth against 2015 and 2016, the figure is far below the goal of 4 million tonnes.

Moreover, the coal export market is narrowing. The Chinese market recently requested to reappraise the quality of the coal imported from Vietnam to align with the standards on trace elements.

Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) collaborated with Chinese partners to take and analyse samples to conclude that Vietnamese coal products did not meet the requirements, leaving 2.5 million tonnes of dust coal unmarketable in Vang Danh-Uong Bi.

China started to reduce Vietnamese coal imports a long time ago. According to the statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, coal exports were maintained at a high level in 2010-2014, but sharply declined since 2015. An expert said that coal exporters need to be granted quota for good-quality coal. Additionally, high customs and input value-added tax result in high export prices

While several large thermal power plants put into operation use some coal, the biggest coal import market really declined purchasing coal from Vietnam. In 2010, China bought 14.644 million out of the 19.827 million tonnes of coal Vietnam exported. By 2014, coal exports to this market decreased to 4.139 million tonnes. In 2015, Vietnam Customs did not record any coal exported to China. In 2016 and 2017, the agency recorded only several thousand tonnes.

Experts said that China used to purchase great volumes of coal to produce power and cement, and it was willing to buy even low-quality coal. However, they must decline the exploitation quantity from 3.8 billion tonnes in 2011 to less than 3.5 billion tonnes in 2017.

Thereby, China does not allowed low-quality coal imports anymore. As a result, Vietnams coal inventory is increasing, which was 8.75 million tonnes in 2015, 9.42 million tonnes in 2016, and over 9 million in 2017.
Washington announced steep steel and aluminium tariffs in March 2018 on countries, including China. (AFP Photo)

The temperature is rising between the United States and China but the simmering confrontation has not yet boiled over into a trade war, since the tit-for-tat countermeasures so far have been confined to a few specific products.

Beijing on Monday (Apr 2) imposed tariffs on 128 American goods, retaliating for President Donald Trump's decision last month to slap import duties of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium.

Washington was primarily targeting China which has long been accused of flooding the global market with the metals, but the tariffs hit US allies as well, prompting Trump to exempt several countries, including major producers Mexico and Canada.

Trump has repeatedly accused China of unfair trade practices he says harm US businesses and swell the bilateral trade deficit. But the country accounts for less than three percent of US steel imports.

Beijing retaliated by targeting US pork, recycled aluminum, nuts, fruits and wine, but for the moment has left the most sensitive areas like soybeans or Boeing aircraft untouched.

Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, notes that China's response on Monday was "symbolic."

"They've done nothing on sorghum. They've done nothing on soybeans," she told AFP, adding that China's response mirrored Trump's moves.

And Beijing has not yet responded to White House plans announced Mar 23 to impose tariffs on US$60 billion worth of other Chinese exports in retaliation for the alleged theft of US intellectual property.

Even so, "They sent a very clear signal that China is going to respond quickly and in time to any US trade action," Edward Alden, a trade expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.

Alden noted that the response marked the first retaliation by any country since Trump announced the metal tariffs last month.

The European Union has held its fire - despite announcing a list of goods that will be targeted with punitive duties - while South Korea made deep concessions in renegotiating the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement, yielding under the pressure of Trump's threatened metals tariffs.

'CHINA IS NOT KOREA'

"The US is the biggest market in the world and Trump believes that other countries will make concessions in order to keep that access. Korea is willing to do that," Alden said.

But, while Seoul has so far been willing to negotiate, the final response from Beijing remains an unknown, de Bolle said. "China is not Korea."

And Beijing has options. It could choose to import pork from Brazil or Argentina, and. It could likewise find other suppliers for soy, even if China currently relies most heavily on American producers.

Ironically, the world's largest pork producer, US-based Smithfield Foods, has been Chinese-owned since 2013.

De Bolle said Beijing likely believes it has greater a capacity to inflict pain on the United States than vice versa.

But pressure is mounting on Trump as metal prices begin to rise - something Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross predicted would be painless for most businesses and consumers.

Timothy Fiore, who oversees a monthly survey of the US manufacturing companies for the Institute of Supply Management, said Trump's new tariffs were driving up supply costs for manufacturers which use steel and aluminium.

Suppliers began raising their prices within 24 hours after Trump announced his intention to impose the tariffs - with the price now up a sharp 19 per cent at US$860 a tonne, Fiore said.

Growth in the manufacturing sector could slow if trade tensions between the world's two largest economies continue to mount, he told reporters in presenting ISM's March survey results.

But de Bolle noted that talks are continuing between Washington and Beijing. "We are certainly close to the brink of a trade war, but it does not mean there will be trade war."
Andrew David Johnson died unexpectedly on Thursday, September 16, 2021, at the age of 23. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, September 23, 2021, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Alexandria. Visitation will be held from 4-7 PM on Wednesday, September 22, 2021, at the And
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Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens.
MOSCOW, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mechel PAO (MOEX:MTLR) (NYSE:MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announces that it intends to release its operational and financial results for the full year period ending December 31, 2017, on Thursday, April 5, 2018. In conjunction with these releases, Mechel will host a conference call, which will be simultaneously broadcast live over the Internet. Oleg Korzhov, Chief Executive Officer, will host the call.



The conference call will take place at the following time:

Thursday, April 5, 2018

6:00 PM Moscow Time

4:00 PM London Time

11:00 AM New York Time

Please dial the number below approximately 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time of the call.

Conference Call Phone Numbers:

International: +44 (0)330 336 9411

US: +1 929-477-0448

Russia: +7 495 916 7309

Conference ID: 1765375

Listeners can access the conference call live over the Internet through a link on Mechel's web site at http://www.mechel.com/shareholders/report/

Please take 10 minutes prior to the call to visit the site and download presentation and any necessary audio software. Additionally, a record of the webcast will be available on our web site.

Mechel PAO

Alexey Lukashov

Phone: +7 495 221 8888

e-mail: alexey.lukashov@mechel.com

Mechel is an international mining and steel company. Its products are marketed in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, heat and electric power. All of its enterprises work in a single production chain, from raw materials to high value-added products.

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned Risk Factors and Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment, volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial risk management and the impact of general business and global economic conditions.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP) (OTCBB:CYDVF) (Frankfurt:C1Z1) (Cypress or the Company) is pleased to announce results from the last three holes drilled at the Companys Clayton Valley lithium project in Nevada. Todays results include an intersection of 97 meters averaging 1,144 ppm Li in the final hole, GCH-6, along with intersections of 122.4 meters averaging 977 ppm Li in DCH-17 and 129.5 meters averaging 767 ppm Li in GCH-5. The Company has completed its drilling program, and is awaiting the results of an independent resource estimate currently underway.



Cypress Clayton Valley, Nevada Lithium Project location map:

https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3548/cyp-clayton-topo-satalite-small.jpg

Drilling Highlights:

All three holes show consistency in encountered Li grade with the Companys previous 20 holes drilled on the Dean and Glory properties.

DCH-17, with 122.4 meters of 977 ppm Li, demonstrates the extension of lithium mineralization into the southeast corner of Dean. This intersection is comparable to the intersections in previous holes, DCH-15 and DCH-16, to the north and west.

GCH-5 and GCH-6 demonstrate the extension of lithium mineralization south, into the eastern portion of Glory. The intersection of lithium in GCH-5, with 129.5 meters of 767 ppm Li, is the thickest drilled-to-date at the project.

These three holes, as with all 20 previous holes, remain open at depth, with DCH-17 ending in 797 ppm Li, GCH-5 in 665 ppm Li, and GCH-6 in 752 ppm Li.

A full table of Clayton Valley drill results can be found here: https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3573/cyp_drill_hole_table_for_clayton_valley-_nevada.jpg

2017 Dean & Glory Projects, Clayton Valley, Nevada drill hole map:

https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3573/cyp_dean_glory_dill_hole_map_march_2018.jpg

TABLE. Summary of Clayton Valley Project Drill Holes DCH-17, GCH-5 and GCH-6

Intersection (m) Lithium Values (ppm Li) Drill Hole From To Length Min Max Average DCH-17 2.0 124.4 122.4 548 1539 977 GCH-5 0.0 129.5 129.5 410 1298 767 GCH-6 3.0 100.0 97.0 699 1609 1144

Notes: Li=Lithium Metal, ppm=parts per million, m=meters, Average is weighted value by sample length. All samples were submitted to Bureau Veritas in Reno, Nevada, for analysis. Blind sample blanks and standards were inserted into the sample sequences at a rate of approximately 1 per 20 samples.

With the completion of these three holes, the Company has concluded its current drilling on the Dean and Glory properties. All 23 of the Companys drill holes will be incorporated in an independent resource estimate currently underway. The results of the resource estimate are expected later this month.

Daniel Kalmbach, CPG and consulting geologist to Cypress Development Corp., is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical information in this release.

Cypress announces the resignation of Robert Marvin as Vice President of Exploration and Director of the Company. Cypress expresses its appreciation to Mr. Marvin for his years of service and his key role in the discovery and exploration of the Companys Clayton Valley lithium deposit.

About Cypress Development Corp.:

Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded exploration company focused on developing the Companys 100%-owned Clayton Valley lithium project in the State of Nevada, U.S.A.

Cypress' Dean & Glory Lithium Project is located immediately east of Albemarles Silver Peak mine, North Americas only lithium brine operation. Recent exploration by Cypress has discovered an extensive deposit of lithium-bearing claystone adjacent to the brine field. With mineralization tested by drilling over a seven-kilometer trend, the apparent size of the Dean & Glory deposit makes Clayton Valley a premier target that has the potential to impact the future of lithium production in North America.

Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 56.0 million shares issued and outstanding.

To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com.

CYPRESS DEVELOPMENT CORP.

Dr. Bill Willoughby



WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY, PhD., PE

Chief Executive Officer

For further information contact myself or:

Don Myers

Cypress Development Corp.

Director, Investor Relations

Telephone: 604-639-3851

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management 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 the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
DLTZ becomes a subsidiary of ERBB

PHOENIX, AZ and NIPTON, CA, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Green, Inc. (ERBB:OTC) is pleased to announce that it has completed its acquisition of Delta International Oil and Gas (OTCQB:DLTZ) through the sale of its Nipton assets and, as a result, American Green has gained control of Delta. Delta will be operated as a subsidiary of American Green and American Green will consolidate Deltas financials with its own.

As a fully reporting public company, Delta can rapidly qualify for exchange listing, giving it access to far cheaper capital while vastly increasing shareholder value for American Green.

David Gwyther, American Greens Chairman, stated, Contrary to a few erroneous commentators, American Green did not dispose of Nipton. Rather, our company utilized the sale of Nipton in order to acquire Delta and grow shareholder value.

Mr. Gwyther continued, Now, with Delta operating as a subsidiary of American Green, both companies can work in tandem, growing and expanding not only our opportunities in Nipton, but will enable us to develop whatever new opportunities present themselves.

We plan for Delta to become one of, if not the largest cannabis-friendly real estate investment companies, but as such, it cannot yet have its hand directly in cannabis operations. American Green will operate where Delta cannot, he concluded.

In further news:

Concurrent with the closing, Santiago Peralta resigned as CEO and as a member of the Board of Directors of Delta. Scott Stoegbauer will continue to act as interim president until the board officially appoints him as its new CEO. Malcolm Sherman will remain as chairman and together, they will lead Delta into the future.

American Greens Chairman, David Gwyther, further stated, Although Santiago Peralta will be leaving Delta to continue his successful career in the oil and gas sector, American Green will be retaining Mr. Scott Stoegbauer and Mr. Malcolm Sherman. Malcolm and Scott bring an enormous amount of talent to Delta.

Mr. Malcolm W. Sherman, a former director of the Company, was appointed to fill a vacancy on our board of directors on July 11, 2008. He was appointed Executive Vice President on July 28, 2008, and was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer on November 8, 2012. On January 6, 2015, the Board of Directors of the Company approved his retirement as our Chief Executive Officer, President and a director of the Company effective as of December 31, 2014.

Mr. Sherman from 2005 to the present has served as President and a director of Security Systems International, Inc., a company that provides security systems for government buildings, industrial facilities, oil refineries, and other facilities in the Middle East. From May 2000 to July 2005, Mr. Sherman served as director of marketing for Hyzoom Commercial Co. Ltd., a division of ZAFF International, Ltd., in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as well as the director marketing for ZAFF International, a Saudi Arabian technology company specializing in security systems for industrial facilities for industrial and oil and gas facilities, and managed four of this companys divisional offices in the Middle East.

Mr. Sherman also served as a director of two public companies. He was a member of the founding team of Taser International, Inc. in 1993, and served on its board from 1993 to 1999. He also served as executive vice president and director of Ronco, Inc. from 1982 to 1993. Mr. Sherman received a B.S. degree in business administration from the University of Miami in 1959.

Mr. Scott Stoegbauer began his career working with Tandy Corporation at the beginning of the PC Revolution, opening and managing its first retail Computer Centers in and around New York City, and continued with the company for 10 years. He also served as Northeast District Sales Manager of Digital Communications Associates, where he assisted Global 2000 corporations in integrating their thousands of PC's with the back-room mainframe infrastructures using their IRMA Boards. Mr. Stoegbauer attended State of University of New York from 1972 to 1976, majoring in Business Administration.

Mr. Stoegbauer worked for Worldata from 1990 through 2003. He served as Vice President of Technology there, helping to develop and market the earliest and most innovative Internet and eCommerce marketing systems. He subsequently served as a Senior VP of Worldata where he helped create one of the first online marketing organizations in the country. During his 13-year tenure, he helped to develop, market, and sell some of the earliest and most innovative online marketing systems designed to capitalize on the tremendous reach of the Internet.

Shareholders and interest holders may also stay current with American Green Updates:

Twitter: @American__Green (two underscores), or

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americangreenusa



Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americangreenusa/



Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magicalnipton/



NOTES ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Except for any historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports and filings. Certain statements contained in this release that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by that Act. Reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because they involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Forward-looking statements may identified by words such as estimates, anticipates, projects, plans, expects, intends, believes, be should and similar expressions and by the context in which they are used. Such statements are based upon current expectations of the Company and speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which they are made.

About American Green, Inc.

American Green, Inc., became, in 2009, one of the first publicly traded technology companies in the cannabis industry. Now, with over 50,000 individual shareholders, more than any other company in the cannabis sector, American Green's mission is to lead the cannabis industry. Leveraging our team of professionals in cultivation, manufacturing, extraction, wholesale, retail, and community outreach, we strive to develop sustainable initiatives, while increasing shareholder value and company profit.

About MediaTechnics Corporation

MediaTechnics Corporation (OTC PINK: MEDT) (http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/MEDT:US) and its wholly owned subsidiary BlazeNow Inc, specialize in providing ancillary products and services to the medical and recreational Cannabis industries. Our management will utilize industry experience to target the areas of the market with the highest profit potentials.

We believe in the future legitimacy and profitability of the industry based on recent studies showing bi-partisan support and demand for Cannabis. We believe that Cannabis provides a healthier alternative to conventional pharmaceutical and recreational drugs and will play an important role in the future of our country's health care. We are determined to be a dominant force in defining this emerging market.




On April 1, the Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) sent the following questions regarding the fabricated Skripal case to the OPCWs Technical Secretariat:

1. What kind of assistance has London requested from the OPCWs Technical Secretariat?

2. Will the OPCWs Technical Secretariat, acting in accordance with the established procedure, share information with the Executive Council, including Russia, which the UK will provide to the OPCWs Technical Secretariat as per Clause 38 () of Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which stipulates the provision of technical evaluation to States Parties in the implementation of the provisions of this Convention, including evaluation of scheduled and unscheduled chemicals?

3. Has the UK party provided the OPCWs Technical Secretariat with the current, medical, legal or any other additional information regarding the British inquiry?

4. What exactly would the British like the OPCWs Technical Secretariat to confirm: the fact of the use of a nerve gas, or that it was a type of nerve agent known as Novichok according to the Western classification?

5. What kind of data and material evidence have the British provided to the OPCWs Technical Secretariat (samples, the results of analysis of these samples, any other evidence)?

6. Who headed the OPCW group of experts who visited Britain? What specialists formed the group? How long did they work? With whom did they interact?

7. What procedure was used to collect samples? Was this carried out in compliance with the fundamental principle stipulated for OPCW investigations, that is, the chain of custody?

8. Which certified laboratories will analyse the samples which the OPCWs Technical Secretariat received during the visit of its experts to Britain?

9. How much time does the OPCWs Technical Secretariat need to reach a conclusion?

10. Has the OPCWs Technical Secretariat approved the disclosure of the investigative material by the UK to the EU countries (according to available information, France has become fully involved in the investigation)?

11. Has France notified the OPCWs Technical Secretariat of its involvement in the technical assistance as requested by the UK?

12. Has France provided its material on the investigation, if any, to the OPCWs Technical Secretariat?

13. Can the OPCWs Technical Secretariat provide the French investigative material, if any, to Russia for perusal? If not, why?
Govt Motion to Confer Freedom of The City on RAF Gibraltar

To coincide with the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force, Government have announced that, in the May sitting of Parliament, it will move a Motion to confer the Freedom of the City on RAF Gibraltar.

HISTORY OF RAF GIBRALTAR (based on an article by Air Cdr H Probert)

Two RAF camps were constructed in Gibraltar at the beginning of the Second World War. The first was RAF North Front on the site of the old racecourse which was to become the main camp. The second was RAF New Camp which was built on reclaimed land next to Montague Bastion. Although these were the first permanent RAF camps in Gibraltar, the history of aviation and the RAFs involvement starts somewhat earlier.

The first record of aviation in Gibraltar was in 1903 when two officers and 16 Non-Commissioned Officers installed a captive balloon and equipment to Gibraltar for reconnaissance at the southern end of the Rock.

The idea of an airfield in Gibraltar dates back to the 1920's when the then Governor of Gibraltar and his counterpart in Algeciras formulated a plan to construct a landing strip. However, the plan was rejected by both the Spanish and British governments. Permission was granted to operate an air passenger service from Gibraltar to Tangier in 1931. The service operated from the racecourse but was terminated after only three months due to maintenance difficulties.

Work began on a grass strip on 3rd September 1934 and was completed 18 months later on 10th March 1936, all for the princely sum of 573. It was during this construction period that the RAF first dispatched military aircraft to Gibraltar. Construction of a solid surface runway began in late 1939 and land reclamation commenced towards the end of 1941 along with the construction of the RAF camp at North Front. Following the declaration of war with Germany in September 1939, the War Office realised that there was a strong possibility of German submarines concentrating in the Strait of Gibraltar and using Spanish port facilities.

At 0900 on the 9th September 1939, No 202 Squadron was ordered to Gibraltar, heavily loaded with equipment. Shortly after the Squadrons arrival, No 200 Coastal Group was formed with its headquarters in the Bristol Hotel. It operated as part of RAF Mediterranean Area and later a combined HQ was formed with the Royal Navy at the Tower in the dockyard. This began anti-submarine patrols in early 1942. It took the fall of France in 1940 to concentrate minds on the building of a proper runway.

At the end of November 1941 it was decided that the runway should be extended seaward to give a total length of 1550 yards. Construction teams were brought from the UK and they used stone blasted from the north face of the Rock and dumped into the sea along with stone taken from tunnel construction. The extended runway was ready for use in July 1943 but towards the end of that year operations in Gibraltar began to dwindle in number. However, there was no reduction in transit aircraft.

The RAF North Fronts biggest moment came on the night of 7/8 November 1942 when no fewer than 650 aircraft of many types were parked along both sides of the runway in readiness for operation TORCH, the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa. In his memoirs, Churchill called it, Gibraltars greatest contribution to the War.

In October 1944 RAF New Camp became a satellite of North Front.

Considering the number of aircraft movements during the war there were relatively few accidents. the most famous being on 4th July 1943 when a Liberator carrying the Polish Prime Minister Sikorsky crashed shortly after take-off, killing everyone except the pilot.

In the early post-war days, there were regular detachments of Lancasters which replaced the Liberators in Coastal Command  for training purposes, for Meteorological operations for Search and Rescue and so on. Then, with the onset of the Cold war, maritime patrolling over the eastern Atlantic and into the Mediterranean became essential and, in 1951, the Halifaxes of the resident unit, No 224 Sqn, began to be replaced by Coastal Commands newly-introduced Shackletons. These played their part in the growing number of NATO exercises which took advantage of the local facilities.

In 1955 the runway was extended to its current length of 6000 feet, a length which supports all current day RAF aircraft apart from Voyager aircraft.

By 1964, the UK Government had begun talks with Gibraltars Legislative Assembly about the possibility of granting independence which ran counter to Spains aims for reunion with Gibraltar. In October of that year the Spanish stepped up their border controls and, as a result, two RAF Hunters were sent out to the Rock. Their pilots were delighted to be encouraged to engage in low flying without any noise abatement procedures!

From the non,tensions grew as Spain tried unsuccessfully to stop NATO from using the airfield. The situation was not improved in January 1966 when two American aircraft, one carrying nuclear weapons, collided over Palomares. Later that year, during London discussions with Spain, the UK firmly insisted on its sovereignty over the whole territory of Gibraltar and included the telling phrase, all up to the frontier fence  which, of course, included the airfield. Spain responded by banning RAF aircraft from overflying her territory. This was followed by a singularly ill-timed British government decision to disband No 224 Sqn as part of cuts in defence expenditure.

In April 1967, Spain imposed her SPA - Spanish Protected Airspace  around Algeciras, necessitating special manoeuvres by aircraft approaching and taking off from the west and Spanish F-86 Sabres followed up with fairly intrusions over the airfield. The people of Gibraltar responded to these threats by voting almost unanimously to stay with the UK whereupon, in 1968-69, further frontier restrictions culminated in its complete closure and the stopping of the Algeciras ferry.

In 1970s witnessed a steady growth in the amount of Soviet naval shipping through the Strait as well as making use of several anchorages off the east coast of Morocco; two of these  Alboran Island and Melilla  were frequently reconnoitred. The importance and extent of such operations were recognised in 1971 by the introduction into Gibraltar of the one-star post of Air Commander. Then, two years later, the office of Governor and C-in-C Gibraltar was filled for the first time by an RAF officer, the former Chief of the Air Staff, Sir John Grandy.

Grandy was still in post in 1975 when Franco died. Slowly but surely, Spains new leaders began discussions with the UK, not least since they wanted UKs support for joining NATO and the EEC. The outcome was an agreement to consider easing frontier restrictions on the 20 April 1982.

A spanner was thrown into the works on 2 April when Argentina invaded the Falklands followed by the UK's decision to despatch a Task Force. The parallel between Argentinas claim on the Falklands and Spains claim to Gibraltar was obvious to politicians in Madrid and the fact that Gibraltar was used to support the task force only made matters worse. As a result, the re-opening of the frontier was postponed. Extra security measures were introduced at RAF Gibraltar at the same time as the airfield provided staging facilities needed by Hercules transport aircraft en route to and from Ascension. By the time the conflict ended in mid-June, RAF Gibraltar had supported 325 visits by Hercules aircraft.

Since the 1980s, RAF Gibraltar has settled into a new role of providing an operational deployment and staging facility and a strategically important Forward Operating Base from which aircraft, personnel and equipment can be deployed as required. As well as in the Falklands conflict, it was extensively used in this role during the Gulf Wars, and the Bosnia and Sierra Leone interventions. Also, its unique location at the gateway to the Mediterranean continues to offer an invaluable training facility to RAF, RN and allied crews.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RAF

The first air units in Britains military were formed eight years after the first powered flight took place in 1903. In April 1911 an air battalion of the Royal Engineers was formed, consisting of one balloon and one airplane company. In December 1911 the British Admiralty formed the first naval flying school, at the Royal Aero Club ground at Eastchurch, Kent.

In May 1912 a combined Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was formed with naval and military wings and a Central Flying School at Upavon on Salisbury Plain. The specialised aviation requirements of the navy made it appear, however, that separate organisation was desirable, and on July 1, 1914, the naval wing of the RFC became the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), the military wing retaining the title Royal Flying Corps.

On the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the RFC, possessing a total of 179 airplanes, sent four squadrons to France. On 1 April, 1918, the RNAS and RFC were absorbed into the Royal Air Force (RAF), which took its place beside the British navy and army as a separate service with its own ministry under a secretary of state for air. The strength of the RAF in November 1918 was nearly 291,000 officers and airmen. It possessed 200 operational squadrons and nearly the same number of training squadrons, with a total of 22,647 aircraft.

To train permanent officers for the flying branch of the RAF, a cadet college was established at Cranwell, Lincolnshire, in 1920. The RAF staff college was opened in 1922 at Andover, Hampshire.

At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the first-line strength of the RAF in the United Kingdom was about 2,000 aircraft. The RAF fighter pilots, however, distinguished themselves during the Battle of Britain in the early stages of the war against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe. By the time the war ended, the strength of the RAF was 963,000 personnel. When the wartime forces were demobilised in 1945, however, the total strength of the RAF was reduced to about 150,000, the approximate number retained into the 1980s. That number had dropped significantly by the early 21st century as part of an overall force-reduction strategy implemented by the British military. With 40,000 troops and just over 300 combat-ready aircraft, the RAF was a smaller, more-focused force than it had been in previous years. Despite its reduced size, the RAF remained a potent instrument for projecting British influence across the globe, as demonstrated in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the 2011 NATO air campaign in Libya.
Team Gibraltar Ahead of the Commonwealth Games

Team Gibraltar has continued to build ahead of this weeks XXI Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia. This weekend saw numbers bolstered by the Swim Team who arrived on Saturday, joining the Cyclists, Tri-Athletes, Athletes, Squash Player and Gymnast who have been in Australia for almost a week.

All have been hard at training at the various facilities and venues available. Gibraltars numbers are completed on Tuesday with the final instalment of Athletes with the shooters touching down.

The weekend saw the flag-raising and welcoming ceremony take place, where Team Gibraltar and five African countries were traditionally welcomed to the village by Aboriginal dancers. They were also joined by a dance troop and the village Mayor, with Chef de Mission Brian Buckley exchanging gifts on behalf of the team.

Gibraltar Commonwealth Games Association president Harry Murphy and General Secretary Joe Schembri also attended the Commonwealth Games Federation annual assembly meeting on Saturday, where the next games in 2022 were discussed among other things. On Tuesday the pair attended the CGF European meeting.

Commenting on this and the time down under so far, Gen. Secretary Joe Schembri said The team has settled in well to their temporary surroundings and are training hard ahead of competition in a few day's time. The general assembly discussed a wide range of topics and theres headway been made in the planning for Birmingham in 2022 and beyond.
Photo: Getty Images/Fox Searchlight

The only White House more fun to fan-cast than Washingtons current tribe of grifters  the Trump administration  is the Kennedy family. At their height, they were young and idyllic, their story dramatic, every player photo-ready. The Camelot myth has long fascinated Hollywood, most recently handing us Jackie, LBJ, and an episode of The Crown. This week, Chappaquiddick joins the fold: Jason Clarke stars as Ted Kennedy, revisiting the scandal surrounding the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne after Kennedys car wreck.

To mark the occasion, we had to ask: Of every Kennedy family dramatization, who played the best Jackie Kennedy? The best JFK Jr.? The best Ted? Our criteria: With one exception, everyone in contention actually played the Kennedy in a previous project. Some people who would normally make our short list dont appear here (shouldnt Tate Donovan have played a Kennedy by now? Ditto Garrett Hedlund, Charlie Hunnam, and Anne Hathaway opposite a Hollywood Chris?), and the Kennedys whove rarely shown up in movies and TV arent eligible. Heres our roundup of a megacast of Kennedys, Camelots all-stars.

Photo: Getty Images

John F. Kennedy: Caspar Phillipson (Jackie)

Pablo Larrains Jackie was the First Ladys story, rendering its JFK as an emotional memory. Phillipson appeared sparingly in Jackie  barely two scenes, and even in those he was mostly in the background  because that movies idea of the president worked better as a spectral presence. In what screen time he could command, however, Phillipson mastered the Kennedy drawl and elegance. While cha-chaing with Jackie at a private ball, he played the loving, amused husband; in footage from their White House home tour, the confident politician. But most significantly, Caspar Phillipson looks exactly like JFK. The resemblance is so striking, its fear-inspiring  like, should this really be allowed?

Honorable Mention: A$AP Rocky in the music video for Lana Del Reys National Anthem, because Rocky has a boyish, definitely-would-leave-you-on-read charm that his competitors lack.

Other contenders: Martin Sheen, Michael C. Hall, Jeffrey Donovan, Greg Kinnear, Rob Lowe, Bruce Greenwood.

Photo: Getty Images/Fox Searchlight Pictures

Jackie Kennedy: Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Expect me to use my last dying breath shaming anyone who overlooked Natalie Portmans Jackie performance! The way Jackie walked aimlessly around the White House private residence, as if she were decomposing before our very eyes; the way she got drunk and tried on all her ball gowns, throwing a last-minute funeral for her old life  its called acting, look it up. Larrains film makes the public record personal, showing Kennedys assassination through the eyes of a young wife grieving her young husband. The movies jolting, irregular time jumps emphasized a well-known historys horrific elements. Portman used the awkwardness of the transition of power  she stood through LBJs rushed swearing-in in clothes soaked with her husbands blood  to show a woman grasping at loose ends of a life that had just been yanked from her. As First Lady, shes a true aesthete, a matriarch more skilled with TV cameras and media manipulation than Kris Jenner herself. As Mrs. Kennedy, she was playful and conspiratorial.

Other contenders: There really arent any. Natalie Portman is our Jackie. But, sure fine: Minka Kelly, Katie Holmes, Ginnifer Goodwin.

Photo: Getty Images/The Weinstein Company

Robert F. Kennedy: James Marsden (Lee Daniels The Butler)

Joshua 24:15: As for me and my household, we will continue to support underrated actor James Marden. I went to Catholic school. Thats in the Bible. Marsdens turn as JFK in Lee Daniels The Butler felt more like an extended audition to play Bobby Kennedy, not John. Marsdens performance nails the general Kennedy luster: boyish, earnest, coastal, and all-American. He seems naturally refined, but still personably loose. He looks more like RFK though, and his charm is a more of a genuine match. Imagine if he were the Bobby Kennedy consumed with guilt, pacing around a White House that feels cold and lifeless in Jackie, consoling Natalie Portman? A bonus: Marsdens Boston accent isnt perfect, but its workable.

Honorable Mention: Did you know that Casey Affleck once played a teeny RFK in a 1990 mini-series? Because that happened.

Additional Honorable Mention Thats Actually Just a Shady Aside: *Clears throat roughly* Peter Sarsgaard as RFK in Jackie was  a decision.

Other contenders: Martin Sheen (again), Barry Pepper, Zeljko Ivanek, River Phoenix, Linus Roache.

Photo: Getty Images/Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures

Ted Kennedy: Jason Clarke (Chappaquiddick)

His hairline isnt as pronounced, and his jawline isnt as chiseled, but Jason Clarke is the finest Ted Kennedy. (Also, at a certain point, its just a choice between him and Matthew Perry). Clarke is a capable actor, and his Kennedy in Chappaquiddick is clouded with guilt and ambition.

Other contenders: Matthew Perry, Kevin Hare, Matt Letscher.

Photo: Getty Images

John F. Kennedy Jr.: Andy Buckley (A Woman Named Jackie)

The pickings are slim when it comes to actors whove played John F. Kennedy Jr. Andy Buckley  who played the Kennedy son in a 1991 mini-series  is the best weve got. Hes tall and handsome, and also permanently The Offices David Wallace (not exactly a bad thing). Charm is the key component here, and Buckley charts higher than any of the other contenders.

Honorable mention: If only JFK Jr. himself were still here  he made a swoon-worthy cameo on an episode of Murphy Brown.

Other contenders: Jeffrey Pierce, Brett Donahue.

Photo: Getty Images

Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: Jennifer Lawrence (we made this one up)

Realistically, in 2018, this part would definitely go to stealth queen of awards season, Margot Robbie. Otherwise, this is a role as Goop-y as they come  Caroline was casually elegant, voted her high schools ultimate beautiful person. But, by some accounts, that glow was conjured and perfected. Rosamund Pike based her exacting, impenetrable Gone Girl performance on Bessette Kennedy. So why not have little fun: How about Jennifer Lawrence? Imagine J.Law, lacking in natural blue-blood status, constructing the most radiant version of herself, and then marrying it into the nations most dramatic family. (Rumor has it Carolyn was at odds with Caroline: Caroline had criticized the bride for being late to her own wedding and for insisting on wearing high heels as she trudged down the beach to the church, reported Vanity Fair). Carolyn was especially sensitive to the paparazzi fame. Whats more, after Red Sparrow and Mother!, J.Law needs a W.

Other contenders: Emma Stone, Katherine Waterston, Claire Danes, Michelle Williams, (wild card) Melanie Laurent!

Photo: Getty Images/ReelzChannel/History Television

Joseph P. Kennedy: Tom Wilkinson (The Kennedys)

Tom Wilkinson is one of our best Men Who Yell Demands While Being Generally Intimidating. Is there a more important quality in the Kennedy family patriarch? Wilkinson excels in moments of turmoil or stress. Hes not great at the Boston accent or at the Kennedy idealism, but you saw him in Michael Clayton, dammit! You know this man can throw a tantrum!

Other contenders: Matt Letscher, Bruce Dern.

Photo: Getty Images/Fox Searchlight Pictures

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy: Georgie Glen (Jackie)

Jackie  the second-most-underrated awards-season movie of 2016  strikes again! Georgie Glens Rose was the apotheosis of the stern mother-in-law. (She wanted a president to be buried in Brookline, Massachusetts. Brookline!) Her performance was tight-lipped and almost oppressively reasonable. Since we cant get Lesley Manville  if only!  Georgie Glens stern glare will suffice.

Other contenders: Diana Hardcastle, Annette OToole, Geraldine Fitzgerald.
Photo: Bobby Doherty

Chloe Sevigny is all over the place, and yet she feels like shes nowhere. We meet on a cold March morning at boutique studio A24s offices in midtown Manhattan to discuss her role in the upcoming drama Lean on Pete (she plays a horse rider named Bonnie, who provides wayward youth Charlie Plummer with some grit and guidance), but shes got plenty going on. After bouncing around festivals for a year and change, her performance in the Brooklyn-set dramedy Golden Exits made it to theaters in February; she portrayed serial murderer Lizzie Borden in a biopic currently awaiting release, as is the indie drama The Adventures of Wolfboy; and then theres the full-time job of being Chloe Sevigny, of being seen and making tastes and generally keeping New York alive.

She tells me she doesnt feel particularly close to the heart of things, however, not in Hollywood and not in the slice of the Apple shes made her own. She is, technically, unemployed. As she gets settled, we briefly commiserate the shuttering of a beloved St. Marks Place watering hole, and she makes a wistful remark about missing the days when she could post up at the corner of a dive bar without it being a whole thing. Once infamously described as the coolest girl in the world, Sevigny confesses that these days, shes just making sure everyone still remembers shes around. That shouldnt be too difficult.

People see you as being very identified with New York and the city life, but your character in Lean on Pete is a real country girl. Howd you make that change?

I was really nervous that they cast both Steve [Buscemi] and I. Were both two city folk. Like, maybe if they had picked one or the other, I dunno, but youve got two of the most New York actors playing rural! But Ive been around. Ive been all around Portland, I did Portlandia and shot a short film of mine there. Going to the track and seeing the people who hang around  from the old-timers betting to the jockeys  youre immediately immersed in this world. I spent a lot of time training with the horses, speaking with real jockeys, people who work around the track, reading the novel, getting pages and pages from the author Willy [Vlautin] about the real people the characters were based on. I got their biographies, their stories. It was easy to let yourself disappear into the space.

Were there any details from those biographies that informed your performance in a specific way?

[Director] Andrew [Haigh]s main note was that Bonnie is salt-of-the-earth, tough-love, no sentimentality between us. A little tenderness, but not sentimentality. When I read the story of the real Bonnie  all the abuse she suffered, how young she was when she had to grow up, her relationship with her mother, drug abuse, men  you can see how a person becomes no-nonsense. Thats just the way it is. To a little extent, our version of the movie is the Disneyfied version. The novel is very dark. Not that the movie isnt bleak, but man, that book.

People like Bonnie, who have lived a lot of life, tend to talk about their past in a remote way. In the film, she talks to Charley with a sort of distant wisdom. I quite never understood that, how going through shit becomes having gone through shit.

When she talks about her history as a jockey, and shes explaining all the times she fell and her mom said, you can still get up, thats just her story. I imagine shes told it a million times, and thats how you get perspective. When it all becomes a story you can tell.

The structure of Lean on Pete is unusual; characters appear and then get phased out of the narrative without returning. During production, are you thinking about the film as a single, whole object or was the focus constrained to your own scenes?

I take it scene by scene, and whats happening in each moment. Because so much of it is Charleys journey, I did think about my role in terms of how shes influencing him. Its his movie. What does she represent in his world, was the big question I wanted to answer. I also stayed aware of the fact that Bonnies one of very few women in Charleys life. I didnt want to come in and be all mothering, thats not Bonnies place.

Ive never been on a horse, and it looks quite painful. Does it hurt as bad as it looks?

Yes, but only emotionally. The horses can really read your feelings, your nerves, your confidence. That transparency is painful. I hadnt been around horses too much in my life, either, and theyve got these beautiful expressive eyes that can sense if youre uneasy. They can read you like a book and its terrifying. You cannot fake it with a horse.

You recently appeared in the motion picture The Snowman, a matter of great interest to me. In interviews, some of the people involved have hinted that there is a big gap between what the production team put together and what ended up in theaters. Could you offer us any insight?

[Whispering.] I havent seen it.

Really? Its wild.

I was doing a play when it came out! I was really in the zone with rehearsals, it came and went, and I just couldnt get it together to go out to the cinema. I love Tomas, and I think hes a great filmmaker. He was so generous on set with his actors that I wrote him a long letter after we wrapped. He was so open to working through the lines, very open to differing interpretations, trying things, very collaborative. Kind of a weird genius. But yeah, Ive heard there was some strife with the studio. It was not an inexpensive movie. Maybe they took it away and then gave it back to Tomas? So many movies have stories like that. I know that when we spoke about it, Tomas had a very clear vision of what he wanted the movie to say about violence and masculinity and purity. He was clear.

Youre also in Golden Exits, which recently entered theaters after a very delayed journey to the public, too. When you were working on your own directorial debut, did you have to deal with 

Directorial debut?

Kitty?

Oh, yeah, thats right! Thats a short, though. I thought you meant, like, a feature.

A short still counts as directing! But was that your first time inside the frustrations of getting a movie made, sold, and seen?

Yeah, I took a lot of meetings with producers, and heard a lot of times that it was too broad, too expensive, too big, too this, too that. Your first thing should be smaller, youre never gonna get the money. Theres a lot of discouragement, which was very frustrating. And then I met one woman who said, I love this. I love you. I can see you doing this. Lets get it done. I was like, Great, youre hired! I had worked on a film before with a producer named Lizzie Nastro, we had a great relationship on set, so I brought her on too. She was in good with Refinery, and they were starting this platform for female directors that would give us breathing room, no notes, no product placement. We could do whatever we want, hold it for whichever festival. That much was just the absolute dream.

My second one was with [fashion label] Miu Miu, and they were the same way. I had to use their clothes, but apart from that, total freedom. I tried to dress everyone to look like they were wearing costumes, and not clothes. For a fashion film, its just about the most anti-fashion film youve ever seen.

Speaking of art versus commerce  looking over your filmography, its clear that you put a lot of consideration into how you choose your work. Is it getting more difficult to root out the roles that can be personally meaningful? You always hear about the film industry shrinking.

Well, I dont have a job right now! [Big, gasping laugh that gradually turns into mock hyperventilation.] Yeah, theres less money going around, magazines really feel that. This is the first time in a couple years that I dont really know whats happening. Im gonna do another short, thats all together, but beyond that 

Is that frightening, or liberating?

Right now, its frightening. I keep going back to The Demon Seesaw  you read that essay?  its great, very comforting. But yes, I feel a little nervous. Feels like I have head out to L.A. soon, pound the pavement, knock on some doors, tell people Im still around. I feel like Im present! I loved Golden Exits, I cant say that I loved my performance, but I feel like I got to do something that I wasnt able to do in a while. So hopefully between that and this short, people will remember Im still here, pluggin away. Fightin the good fight. [Chuckles.]

Related Stories Golden Exits Is a Quietly Haunting Brooklyn Ensemble Piece

Thats strange to hear, considering that youre still held in a pretty high regard by a lot of my peers, who have seen you as an icon of cool since our high-school years. Is that a strange feeling, to be thought of as cool? I reread the old New Yorker essay this morning, and if someone had written that about me when I was a teenager, I think I wouldve had a nervous breakdown.

At the time, my world was much smaller, this was pre-internet. The only people who really cited that piece were the British press, because theyve always got to be on the cutting edge. Honestly? I think more people know about it than have actually read it. But I know what you mean. I dunno, it didnt affect me so much at the time.

I guess thats part of the essence of being cool, not caring what other people think about you.

I look at people like Jim Jarmusch and Kim Gordon, who have always been able to maintain their selves, and that fascinated me as a teenager. They were emblematic of everything cool, all that was pure and great in the world. They still do.

Is there anyone younger than you that you think about in that esteem?

Im really into Kristen Stewart, who was just in Lizzie with me, the Lizzie Borden movie. I dont know if youve ever met her, but she has something that not many people have. Shes exceptional  very gifted, very thoughtful, very passionate. She is real about her work, and uncompromising as an actress. Shes a wild creature.

She recently did Personal Shopper with Olivier Assayas, who directed you a while back in Demonlover, a movie I just saw for the first time. I really dug it  do you have any notable memories from your time working on that film?

I remember learning my entire role in French, because originally the lead actress was going to be someone French, but then they cast Connie Nielsen because the other actress backed out, and all my preparation went right out the window. That was kind of annoying, but I learned some French, so thats fun.

But then we shot in Chihuahua, Mexico, on 9/11. This is actually a pretty messed-up story: My mom called, I had just woken up in the hotel in Mexico, and she wanted to talk me through what was happening. My brother worked downtown at the time, but he wasnt there that day, thank god. I was really rattled, and then that same day they made us shoot in helicopters. Everyone working was French, and they figured that they had rented the copters, what went down in New York was a long ways away, so why not get it done? Then I was stuck in Mexico City for a week, because there were no flights back to New York. It was during that week that they took the photo of me that went on my badge at Cannes, and every time I looked at it, I would see myself making the most miserable face of my life and remember that day. I wish I could find this photo and share this with the world. I look so tragic!

This interview has been edited and condensed.
TORONTO, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mandalay Resources Corporation ("Mandalay" or the "Company") (TSX:MND) is pleased to provide results from recent diamond drilling at its Costerfield Operations in Victoria, Australia.

This press release refers to tables and figures. The accompanying Table 2 can be found at the end of this press release, whereas the accompanying Figures 1, 2 and 3 can be found in an exploration presentation posted on the Companys website at the following address: http://www.mandalayresources.com/investor-presentations/#Technical_Presentations

Mandalays recent and ongoing exploration drilling campaign on the property targets projections of veins beneath the historic Kendall and Costerfield mine, which was the largest historical producer in the district from 1864 to 1938 (Figure 1). Resulting intercepts demonstrate gold-antimony mineralization along a strike length of approximately 600 m and a dip length of approximately 200 m (Figures 2 and 3).

Highlights from drilling include the following six intercepts, which delineate a high-grade core of mineralization along the Costerfield Deeps projection measuring approximately 400 in strike by 150 m down-dip. The Company has named this emerging shoot the Youle vein after one of the three original prospectors in the district.

Table 1: Highlights of drill intercepts on the Youle Vein

Hole True Width

(m) Gold

(g/t) Sb

(%) AuEq (g/t) over

min. 1.8 m

mining width BC021A 0.58 272.1 13.3 94.7 BC011 3.50 14.7 10.9 65.9 BC015 0.37 120.9 11.1 28.6 BC006W1 0.57 59.8 3.2 20.5 BC019 0.18 16.2 55.8 11.4 BC002 0.15 76.4 33.3 11.3

*Using metal prices of $1,400/oz Au and $10,000/t Sb

- AuEq(g/t) = Au(g) + Sb(%) x (Price per 10 Sb(kg)  Sb Recovery(%) )/(Price per 1 Au(g)  Au Recovery (%))



Mark Sander, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mandalay commented, We are encouraged by the high-grade cluster of drill intercepts defining the core of the emerging Youle vein beneath the historic Costerfield mine. This setting is similar to the locations of the Augusta Lodes, the Cuffley Lode and the Brunswick Lode beneath other historic mines of the district, all of which Mandalay has converted to Mineral Reserves and has either mined or is preparing to mine.

The drill hole intercepts of Youle reported in this press release contain some extraordinary gold and antimony grades that dilute to potentially minable gold equivalent grades over our minimum mining width of 1.8 m. As well, the strike length (400-600 m) and depth extent (150-200 m) of the intercepts are entirely consistent with the dimensions of orebodies we have found beneath the other historic mines in the district that have proved very profitable for Mandalay.

Mr. Sander concluded, There is room to grow this discovery along strike and down dip. The fact that Youle lies just several hundred metres to one kilometre from the Brunswick Lode, to which capital development access will be created later this quarter, suggests that there is potential to access the shoot quickly and for limited development capital. We plan to add additional surface rigs to the Youle drilling program to expand and infill high-grade mineralization as quickly as possible, with the goal of adding significantly to the Companys Mineral Resources and Reserves by the end of 2018.

Youle Drill Campaign History

Mandalay has drilled 27 diamond holes into the historic Costerfield mine area in three campaigns (2011, 2014 and 2017-2018). The Company reported significant early results from the Youle drill program in July, 2017 (see Mandalay July 24, 2017, press release). Drilling accelerated in late 2017 after it was clear that Mandalay would commit to developing the Brunswick Lode, which will halve the distance to access Youle from then-limits of mining at Cuffley, and after significant advances were made in the understanding of the local mineralization. This program continued into 2018 with new results reported here leading to preliminary interpretation of Youle mineralization as a downward offset of the historically mined Costerfield Lode (Figures 2 and 3).

Drilling and Assaying

Diamond drill core was logged and sampled by Costerfield geologists. All samples were sent to Onsite Laboratory in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, for sample preparation and assay. Site geological and metallurgical personnel have implemented a QA/QC process that includes the regular submission of standard reference materials and blanks with drill and face samples submitted for assay. Standard reference materials have been certified by Geostats Pty Ltd. (see March 29, 2018, Technical Report entitled Costerfield Operation, Victoria, Australia NI 43-101 Report, available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), which contains a complete description of drilling, sampling, and assaying procedures.)





Table 2: Significant Drill Intercepts at Youle

Hole ID Hole

Completion

Date Total

hole

Depth Intercept

Easting

(Mine

Grid) Intercept

Northing

(Mine

Grid) Intercept

Elevation

(Mine

Grid) Drilled

Width

(m) True

Width

(m) Au

Grade

(g/t) Sb

Grade

(%) AuEq

(g/t) Target BC018 26/02/2018 402.0 15353 6523 1022 0.16 0.16 0.5 7.8 14.3 Youle Parallel Mineralization BC017 14/02/2018 330.0 15339 6556 980 0.10 0.10 0.3 4.3 7.9 Youle MB011 24/10/2011 480.0 15375 6629 914 0.07 0.06 130.9 44.6 209.4 Youle MB011 24/10/2011 480.0 15369 6631 923 0.14 0.12 30.8 18.7 63.7 Youle Parallel Mineralization BC001 8/07/2014 394.2 15399 6650 1007 0.10 0.07 3.1 0.8 4.5 Youle BC013 23/01/2018 420.3 15326 6703 880 0.14 0.12 0.4 0.0 0.4 Youle BC019 14/03/2018 386.9 15399 6745 952 0.18 0.18 16.2 55.8 114.4 Youle BC007W1 5/06/2017 821.3 15235 6778 798 0.10 0.09 3.4 6.0 14.0 Youle BC016 19/03/2018 401.7 15329 6786 854 0.21 0.17 9.6 14.3 34.8 Youle BC002 18/06/2014 464.7 15372 6837 909 0.17 0.15 76.4 33.3 135.0 Youle BC015 7/03/2018 431.7 15340 6925 834 0.47 0.37 120.9 11.1 140.4 Youle BC006W1 29/06/2017 720.0 15362 6979 828 1.01 0.57 59.8 3.2 65.4 Youle BC021A 21/03/2018 374.7 15408 6980 891 0.61 0.58 272.1 13.3 295.5 Youle MB012 29/11/2011 475.3 15409 7047 895 0.15 0.10 94.1 19.3 128.1 Youle BC010 3/01/2018 330.9 15450 7054 1002 0.19 0.10 6.8 13.7 31.0 Kendall West BC010 3/01/2018 330.9 15445 7054 1008 0.27 0.14 21.1 12.5 43.1 Kendall West BC011 17/01/2018 450.1 15394 7094 828 1.70 0.58 60.6 53.1 154.0 Youle BC011* 17/01/2018 450.1 15394 7094 828 10.24 3.50 14.7 10.9 33.9 Youle Extended Composite BC011W2 6/02/2018 395.7 15410 7126 858 0.32 0.08 9.1 5.4 18.6 Youle BC014 7/03/2018 500.6 15373 7185 789 1.17 0.64 2.5 1.5 5.2 Youle West Splay BC014 7/03/2018 500.6 15378 7185 756 0.23 0.15 0.3 1.0 1.9 Youle BC014W1 19/01/2018 389.4 15384 7189 846 0.92 0.64 0.6 0.8 2.0 Youle West Splay BC014W1 19/01/2018 389.4 15400 7191 810 0.11 0.10 0.7 7.4 13.7 Youle West Splay

Notes:

* Inclusive of other BC011 intercept.

- Using metal prices of $1,400/oz Au and $10,000/t Sb

- True width is preliminary estimate only and may not reflect final true width used in resource

- AuEq(g/t) = Au(g) + Sb(%) x (Price per 10 Sb(kg)  Sb Recovery(%) )/(Price per 1 Au(g)  Au Recovery (%))



Qualified Person:

Chris Gregory, Vice President of Operational Geology and Exploration at Mandalay Resources, is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. He has reviewed and approved the technical and scientific information provided in this release.

For Further Information:

Mark Sander

President and Chief Executive Officer

Greg DiTomaso

Director of Investor Relations

About Mandalay Resources Corporation:

Mandalay Resources is a Canadian-based natural resource company with producing assets in Australia and Sweden, and care and maintenance and development projects in Chile. The Company is focused on executing a roll-up strategy, creating critical mass by aggregating advanced or in production gold, copper, silver and antimony projects in Australia, the Americas and Europe to generate near-term cash flow and shareholder value.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, changes in commodity prices and general market and economic conditions. The factors identified above are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect Mandalay. A description of additional risks that could result in actual results and developments differing from those contemplated by forward-looking statements in this news release can be found under the heading Risk Factors in Mandalays annual information form dated March 29, 2018, a copy of which is available under Mandalays profile at www.sedar.com. In addition, there can be no assurance that any inferred resources that are discovered as a result of additional drilling will ever be upgraded to proven or probable reserves. Although Mandalay has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.




Photo: Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images

The judge presiding over Bill Cosbys felony sexual-assault trial handed the defense a big win today. Not only will the comedians legal team be able to call a controversial witness, Marguerite Jackson, who claims that Cosbys accuser, Andrea Constand, told her that she wanted to get money for lying about sexual assault by a celebrity, but the jury will also hear exactly how much Cosby paid Constand in a 2006 civil settlement.

Both the settlement and witness were excluded from the first trial, which makes Jacksons testimony potentially damaging to the prosecutions case. Jackson, a former co-worker of Constands at Temple University, will likely be called by the defense to paint Constand as a liar seeking fame and money from their well-known client.

After a tumultuous week of pretrial hearings in which Judge Steven ONeill refused to step down from the case over questions of bias, jury selection officially began yesterday. For the first trial, the court went to Pittsburgh to select jurors. This time around the jurors are coming from Montgomery County just outside of Philadelphia, where Cosby has made his home for decades. Once the jury is assembled, they will be sequestered for the duration of the trial and deliberations, which could last a month.

According to early reports, seven jurors have already been selected for the trial as of today. All told, 12 jurors will be chosen along with six alternates.

A big question during the jury-selection process this week has been the impact the #MeToo movement is having on potential jurors. During the initial trial, Cosby was one of the first famous men to face sexual-assault charges in a courtroom. It was before the subsequent avalanche of accusations against other men like Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer. The defense team has already blocked several women from serving on the jury, according to ABC News, while the prosecution excluded two men, including one who had disparaging things to say about the #MeToo movement.
In a late-night bit seemingly designed to send spelling-bee champions into an existential crisis, Jimmy Kimmel welcomed three Los Angeles schoolchildren to his Make America Grate Again Spelling Bee. While theyve undoubtedly spent weeks or even months memorizing suffixes and etymology, those kids would have been better off studying Donald Trumps tweets, which most of us accidentally do anyway. Hey, maybe you would have beaten these little kids! What a little feather in your capp that would be.
Photo: Krista Schlueter for Vulture

This winter, the comment section of an article in the School Library Journal took a surreal turn. The piece was about how childrens publishing was reckoning with its own #MeToo moment, and readers had been using the forum to air complaints of sexual harassment. Amid the charges of lewd remarks and predatory behavior, one user seized the opportunity to rehash an old complaint that felt bizarrely out of place. I name the center figure of all toxicity in YA who is the source of all of this cancer: Justina Ireland, Stegosaur wrote. How many people know this and dare not speak it aloud?



Ireland  the author of a middle-grade series, Devils Pass, and three young-adult novels including Dread Nation, out this week  knows what people say about her, and why they say it. Over the last several years, Ireland and others in the YA world have been using Twitter to call out what they see as an enduring tradition of racist nonsense in publishing. Ireland, who is black, is one of the most influential of these commentators  and perhaps the most cutting. Her critiques, which take the form of Twitter threads and blog posts, are exasperated, ironic, and funny. She has taken swipes at the white YA superstar John Green (Can we get a Kickstarter to get John Green some black friends?), diversity panels at publishing conferences (separate but equal conference ghettos), and even her own shortcomings as an advocate (I am not always a good ally. Im terribly ableist and overlook neurodiverse discussions and religious discussions. Im working on it.)

As Ireland has repeatedly taken pains to point out, the world of childrens and young-adult literature is overwhelmingly, disproportionately white. Of some 3,700 books for children or teens that were published last year, just 340 were about children or teens who were black, according to the Cooperative Childrens Book Center at the University of Wisconsin. Of those, just 100 were written by black authors. Ireland argues that the industry should publish more books by nonwhite authors, and that white authors should think more carefully about how they represent black and brown people in their books. Some of her peers from marginalized backgrounds have urged white, straight, able-bodied writers to stay away from writing marginalized voices, as she noted in one Twitter thread. Not me, she added. I think you can write whatever you want. But that means youve got to make sure you dont fuck it up. If you do, Imma tell you.

Ireland says she often feels like shes tweeting to herself, but in recent years, publishers have been paying attention. Most editors I reached out to worried that their corporate bosses would reprimand them for saying anything about Irelands brand of Twitter activism on the record, or even anonymously, but there were exceptions. One senior editor at a big five publishing house told me that Irelands bluntness was the key to her influence. When these discussions first started, I have to admit I was a little shocked by the way people were criticizing each other on Twitter, but then I paused and I realized we wouldnt even be having these conversations if people werent being harsh, she told me. She explained that the kid-lit world, unlike its grown-up counterpart, has a long tradition of politeness and congeniality, which she found could sometimes stifle productive criticism. You need to have people shouting in order to be heard, she said. If everyone was just sitting around being nice and sugar-coating their criticism, no one would hear them. Justina makes people pay attention, and theres value in that.

Ireland reckons people really started listening a few days before the election of Donald Trump, when she tweeted out a chapter-by-chapter analysis of an upcoming YA debut, The Continent, calling it a racist garbage fire. Her tweets about the book went viral, and a week later, The Continents publisher pulled the book for revisions. Alvina Ling, the editor-in-chief of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, told me that this incident, along with the handful of other books that have been pulled after receiving heavy criticism on Twitter, has helped spawn a culture of fear among publishers. Ling, who is Taiwanese-American, doesnt think this is necessarily a bad thing. I think it will result in better books being published, she said.

Hardly anyone in mainstream publishing today would openly disagree with Irelands view that the industry needs to step up its commitment to diversity. Still, not everyone appreciates Irelands tone or methods, or the broader Twitter culture of which she is a part. Last summer, Vulture published a piece focused on the toxic culture of YA Twitter; in our conversation, Ireland told me she felt the movement has been mischaracterized. In other genres, she said, people are having the same passionate discussions over representation. But only in YA is it like, I cant believe this is happening here! Think of the children! she said. In a widely read essay in the New York Review of Books, the acclaimed author Francine Prose likened activists like Ireland both to high-school mean girls and Soviet dictators: The culture of young adult fiction is partly dedicated to helping young people avoid and resist bullying, yet it is being shaped by online posts whose aggressive, even ferocious, tone could itself be described as online bullying. One is reminded of how, under authoritarian regimes, writers have been censored (and persecuted) for referring, in their work, to the sufferings that their rulers would rather not acknowledge.

To Ireland and her allies, the fact that Prose sees them as the bullies is in itself a demonstration of the racial bias that pervades the young-adult literary scene. After Ireland criticized The Continent, death threats and rape threats piled up in her inbox, and a series of one-star reviews began dragging down her Amazon and Goodreads rankings. Someone sent an anonymous email to her editor urging him to drop her. Eventually, she deleted her tweets, as she almost always does.

While Ireland is probably better known for her tweets than her novels, that may change with the arrival of Dread Nation, which has garnered a handful of positive reviews. Set in the late 1800s, the book conjures an alternate reality in which the Civil War dead have clawed their way out of the mass graves of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville, prompting the government to force black and Native children into a never-ending war against the zombie menace. Kirkus lauded it as an exciting must-read; School Library Journal called it a perfect blend of horrors real and imagined. Irelands mother, however, is not among its fans. She hated it so much, Ireland told me, but my mom is a white lady who doesnt like to talk about racism.

Dread Nations heroine, Jane, is a mixed-race zombie-slayer whose inability to keep her opinions to herself keeps landing her in trouble. Heres a thing about me, she tells the reader early on, I aint all that good at knowing when to keep my fool mouth shut. Ireland knows that feeling well. A few weeks ago, on a visit from her home in York, Pennsylvania, Ireland, who is 39, met me at a dive bar on the Upper West Side, her short hair wrapped in a pink bandana, her bright blue cardigan decorated with saucy pins (Dont @ me). In person, she is much warmer than her Twitter presence suggests, with dimples and a throaty laugh. Over a round of IPAs, she described how the mess surrounding The Continent consumed hours she might have spent working on her own fiction. When I asked if she ever regretted her tweets, she nodded. There is a point every single time where Im like, I should have sat this one out, she said. But the other option is to just sit there and watch the shit pile up and never change. I hope it ultimately makes things better because otherwise  She reached for her pint and took a long swallow. Otherwise Im just going to sit here and drink myself into oblivion.

Ireland and her peers are hardly the first to try to change childrens and young-adult publishing. That distinction probably belongs to W.E.B. Du Bois, who, in 1920, published the first magazine for black children, The Brownies Book. Its arrival was hailed as a milestone, but just a year later, it folded due to lack of funding. In one way or another, this pattern has repeated itself again and again in the decades since.

In 1986, the acclaimed black author Walter Dean Myers wrote in the New York Times about the flourishing of books written by black authors in the late 60s and early 70s, and the heartbreaking decline that followed. I actually thought we would revolutionize the industry, he wrote. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. No sooner had all the pieces conducive to the publishing of more books on the black experience come together than they started falling apart. That year, Ireland was 7, and already well aware of the shortage of books on the black experience. She was living in a trailer park outside San Bernardino, and spent most of her spare time in the stacks at the local library. She never found what she was looking for, though. The librarians always steered her toward books like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, an account of black children dealing with poverty and racism during the Great Depression. Ireland hated it. Books were my escape from the shittiness, she said. The last thing I wanted was to read about kids suffering. She loved fantasy, horror, and thrillers, but the black characters were always the first to get killed. She felt like those stories were written for someone else. Its like when youre invited to a dinner party, and youre sitting at the table, but everyone is talking past you, she said. I always felt like that when I read.

Ireland wanted to be a historian, and at 19, she enlisted in the Army to pay for college, ultimately serving as a linguistics expert specializing in Arabic. It wasnt until she was married and pregnant, nearly a decade later, that she tried her hand at fiction writing; she wanted her daughter reading books written for kids that looked like her. Her first manuscript, a contemporary fantasy featuring a black protagonist, didnt sell. This came as a surprise to Irelands agent at the time, Caren Johnson. When I signed Justina, I was looking for main characters that were African-American and Latina, she told me. Id heard from editors that they wanted more main characters who had different experiences to share. But in the intervening years, the industry had failed to produce a best-selling young-adult genre book featuring a heroine of color. Publishers began to question whether such a book could really succeed. By the time I went out with Justinas book, in 2010, no one wanted to take a chance, Johnson said.

Most of the editors who read the manuscript told Johnson that they couldnt connect with Irelands main character, which Johnson and Ireland both took to mean that they couldnt relate to a character of color. As the rejection letters piled up, Ireland began working on a similar contemporary fantasy book, this one about a white girl. Im not dumb, I understand how the world works, Ireland said. I just wanted to get published. She told me she thought the novel, Vengeance Bound, was terrible, but Simon & Schuster bought it at auction within a month of submission.

Christopher Myers, the son of Walter Dean Myers, and an award-winning author and illustrator in his own right, noted that the industry has always been resistant to change. There are structures at the center of the publishing industry that make it challenging to bring new voices to the forefront, he said. A black editor I once spoke to told me, You would think that this is the most successful industry in the world, with a zero percent failure rate, given the teeth and claws that are used to hold on to the old way of doing things. Ling, the Little, Brown editor, pointed out that its hard for most new writers to get published, regardless of their race. Still, in a business where more than 80 percent of editors are white, the barriers are higher for writers of color. Publishing is a passion industry, and as an editor, youre taught that every book you aquire is ideally a book that you love, Ling said. If youre not used to reading books with characters that are not like yourself, then I do think that its legitimate but unfortunate to say, I didnt connect to this character.

Photo: Krista Schlueter/for Vulture

Neither Vengeance Bound (published in 2013), nor Irelands second book with Simon & Schuster, Promise of Shadows , which came the year after, sold many copies. Ireland began to grow concerned that she might not get another shot with a major house, but in a way, a burden had been lifted: now she could write whatever she wanted, without worrying what the industry gatekeepers would think. She started working on Dread Nation soon after. She already had a few thousand words of the zombie saga written, when, in 2015, she began an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University. Her critical thesis focused on microaggressions in childrens literature. By then, a movement had begun to coalesce on Twitter: Authors of color and their allies were calling for change under hashtags like #weneeddiversebooks and #ownvoices. In response to these demands, publishers put out a call for more diverse submissions, and a spike in novels about nonwhite characters followed. But the majority of these books were written by white people. Myers told me the phenomenon reminded him of an old practice hed heard stories about. Back in the day, black grandparents would sometimes paint the characters in books brown colors, so that their children could see images that vaguely looked like them. In some ways that is the philosophy of a lot of the publishing industry: If we get enough brown faces we will have solved this problem.

If the goal of these ostensibly diverse books was to offer nuanced, thoughtful portrayals of marginalized cultures, some of them landed wide of the mark. Keira Drakes The Continent, for instance  it told the story of a rich white teen who brings peace to a brutal land where dark-skinned natives wantonly slaughter each other. Ireland, like many of her cohorts, berated the text, but she also tried to help white writers like Drake do a better job. She started a database for sensitivity readers  writers from marginalized backgrounds who were willing to hire out their consulting services to authors trying to write outside their own experiences. The goal, she wrote at the time, was help authors see internalized bias and negatively charged language in their manuscripts during the editing process, rather than after the book was printed. The response was enthusiastic; hundreds of authors took advantage of the service.

As her Twitter profile grew, Ireland gained a fan in Jordan Brown, a white editor at Balzer + Bray. For me, a lot of what she was saying was really eye-opening, he told me. But ultimately, he said, the choice to make an investment in her work was also a business decision. The bottom line is that it makes good business sense to publish books across genres that represent the lives and experiences of all readers, not just white ones, he said. In 2016, Ireland sent Brown the manuscript for Dread Nation, and he offered her a two-book deal. He realized that the heroines endless battle against the undead of the Civil War was, in part, a metaphor for Irelands frustrations with her fight against racism in publishing. Very little that Justinas written before can compete with Dread Nation, Brown said. She found a way to channel her worldview into a fictional character. Some writers go their entire career without finding that perfect combination.

This week, six out of ten of the young-adult best sellers on the New York Times hardcover list are by writers of color, a resounding rebuke to the hoary claim that books by such authors could not sell. This year will also see the publication of five major young-adult fantasy books by black authors, including Irelands. By all accounts, this is an all-time high, but Ireland is hardly ready to declare the industry redeemed. The number still represents just a tiny fraction of all the young-adult fantasy titles set to hit bookstores in 2018, and Ireland, like many others, wonders how long this momentum will last. Perhaps its no coincidence that the resurgence is taking place at this particular moment, with a race-baiting birther in the White House. In his 1986 op-ed, Walter Dean Myers predicted that a round of race riots, or the next interracial conflict would prompt a spike of interest in black literature. It will work, he wrote, but its a hard price for a transient market.

Lately, Ireland has been taking breaks from Twitter to focus on writing the sequel to Dread Nation  and to cleanse the soul. She still works full time, a director of logistics and weapon-systems support for the Navy, and this fall shes starting a Ph.D. in English literature. Sometimes I feel like a kid-lits mule, she told me. The work of pointing out white peoples blind spots can feel exhausting, thankless, and lonely.

But she can never stay away from the fray for long. Shes becoming famous for not being able to keep a hiatus, her friend and fellow YA author Heidi Heilig told me. I think theres this fire in her that wont let things go if theres a fight. In February, when I told her I was planning to publish a story on the revision of The Continent, she announced on Twitter that she was taking time off to avoid the pending Twitter storm; a month later, when the Washington Post ran a favorable story on the Continent revision, she couldnt refrain from returning to express her displeasure. All of these other books out here and were still talking about this mess, she tweeted. It reminded me of something shed told me over drinks. In Dread Nation, the zombie threat distracts the nation from its deeper problems, particularly the unresolved conflict over slavery. And in the world of YA publishing, as Ireland sees it, the battles over specific books havent yet forced the industry to adequately reckon with its long history of discrimination and bias. We have the same conversations over and over and over, she said. We only deal with the immediate threat. She drained her pint, and we stood to walk out into the rainy night. It feels like a zombie sometimes, she said. Its like, I thought I killed you. But here we are again.
Martin Freeman spent years navigating the many perils of Middle Earth, and for all that hard work hes landed himself in the Australian Outback, navigating the perils of a zombie outbreak. In Cargo, Freeman stars as a dad who has just been bitten by one of the infected, and must get his baby daughter to safety before he turns. The movie is based on the short film of the same name from Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, who also directed this feature-length version for Netflix. Cargo starts streaming on May 18.
Tiffany Haddish and Tracy Morgan in The Last O.G. Photo: Francisco Roman/Turner Entertainment Networks. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. General

The Last O.G. is essentially a fish-out-of-water comedy in which the fish is an ex-convict played by Tracy Morgan and his non-water environment is gentrified Brooklyn.

When Tray, Morgans character in the TBS comedy that debuts tonight, returns home after spending 15 years in prison, he steps off a bus into a world he does not recognize. Suddenly, hes surrounded by moms pushing strollers, dudes wearing skinny jeans while walking chihuahuas, and bicyclists taking selfies.

What the [bleep] happened to Brooklyn? Tray shouts, shaken by the fact that the gritty environment he remembers has been turned into a haven for the woke and wealthy. This is hardly the first time that television has highlighted and/or mocked the transformation of New York Citys most populous borough  see Girls, Search Party, and Younger, among other examples. But The Last O.G. comes at that territory from a different angle.

Tray dealt crack cocaine on those streets more than a decade ago because those streets made him feel like he had no other choice. He lost years of his life because of it. To come back and see that same environment all prettied up and sanitized is jarring, puzzling, and offensive. But it also serves as evidence that all things can be transformed. And thats what Tray is interested in: rebooting his life as a new, free man.

If anyone is suited to play a guy intent on a second chance, its Tracy Morgan. Hes not only returning to regular series television here for the first time since 30 Rock, but also for the first time since a dreadful 2014 car accident that put him in a coma for two weeks and left him with substantial injuries that required extensive rehab. Morgan plays Tray with the same confident yet innocent swagger he brought to 30 Rocks Tracy Jordan, but, perhaps because of his own struggles, theres an added vigor in his performance that gives The Last O.G. a sense of energy and a shot of poignancy. Tray has such an unwavering sense of optimism  his ability to make an on-point dessert log in prison leads him to believe he deserves a job as head chef at a swanky Brooklyn restaurant  that he comes across as a rougher-around-the-edges version of Kimmy Schmidt, another off-kilter character trying to understand the ways of modern New York after years of being locked away. Even though Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (and 30 Rock) creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock have nothing to do with The Last O.G., this engaging comedy could easily serve as a more reality-based, less madcap corollary to their Netflix series.

Some of the people actually involved in making The Last O.G., in addition to Morgan, are co-creator and executive producer Jordan Peele; the Lonely Islands Jorma Taccone, who also produced and directed the first episode; and a strong supporting cast that includes Cedric the Entertainer as Miniard Mullins, the mentor at Trays halfway house; Black-ishs Allen Maldonado as Trays best friend, Cousin Bobby; Malik Yoba as Wavy, the drug dealer who let Tray take the fall by going to jail, but tries to compensate by giving him a job at a Brooklyn coffee shop; and Tiffany Haddish as Shay, the love of Trays life who has since married a wealthy white guy (Ryan Gaul) with whom she is raising two children clearly fathered by Tray.

Haddish has blown up so much in the past few months that shes pretty much become the go-to answer to every pop-culture question one might pose, from Who do you think should host the Oscars next year? to Who should be the first witness called in the trial of Who Bit Beyonce? Shes as much of a draw at this point as Morgan, but in the first couple of episodes, Haddish dials down her renowned ability to play crazy in service of her character, who is leading a very stable, successful life and trying to keep it that way. In subsequent episodes, though  Ive seen the first six  Shays suppressed fierceness starts to seep out as Tray keeps trying to infiltrate her life. The best moments in The Last O.G. are when Morgan and Haddish hold a scene together and let their characters frustrations and passions fly. They have great chemistry, and you believe instantly that they have a shared history of getting into all kinds of messes. As funny as Haddish is, she also more than proves that she can hold her own in dramatic scenes, occasionally even outshining her co-star in that regard.

Not everything in The Last O.G. works as well as it could. Some of the jokes dont fly, especially the intentionally pathetic ones that Cedric the Entertainer as Minniard utters in his insistent attempt to prove hes a skilled stand-up comedian. In general, Trays relationships with Minniard and his fellow roommates at the halfway house are less interesting than his attempts to adjust to the strict rules enforced by his drunk-on-caffeinated-power supervisor Elizabeth (Edi Paterson) at Grundles Coffee or the relationships he begins to develop with his kids (Dante Hoagland, a dead ringer for Morgan, and Taylor Mosby) and with Shay.

Theres also a lack of continuity between certain episodes. After a major blow-up that leads Shay to forbid Tray from ever seeing her or their kids again, Tray rolls up to Shays mothers funeral just two episodes later and his ex barely chafes at seeing him there. The Last O.G. was originally supposed to be released in the fall, and at times one senses that, like Tray himself, its still going through the process of figuring out how best to excel and shine in the public eye.

The Last O.G., like its protagonist, may be a little imperfect. Still, with Morgan and Haddish at its center, youre rooting for it and their characters to succeed. Thanks to Morgan especially, there are weird, mildly profane glimmers of hope in this show. And these days, those are welcome wherever we can find them, even in the most insufferable sections of Brooklyn, New York.
We may never know why Jennifer and Sarah Hart's SUV plummeted 100 feet over a cliff, killing the couple and three teens. Or whether their three other children are dead or alive.

But new details about the mysterious family reveal a troubled history. Here's what we know about the couple and their six children:

All 6 children were adopted

Three of the children were adopted in Texas in 2006 -- siblings Abigail, Hannah and Markis, said Tiffani Butler of the state's Department of Family and Protective Services.

Then another trio of siblings were adopted in 2009 -- Sierra, Jeremiah and Devonte, Butler said.

It's unclear whether one or both of the Hart women adopted the kids.

In 2014, Devonte garnered national attention when he embraced a white police officer during racially charged protests.

The nationwide protests followed a grand jury's decision not to indict the white officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black man.

Devonte helped quell tensions with his sign offering "Free Hugs," and his photo was shared around the world.

3 children remain missing

Nearly four years after that iconic photo, Devonte and two of his siblings are nowhere to be found.

After the family's SUV crashed on the Northern California coast, the bodies of Jennifer and Sarah Hart were found inside March 26. The bodies of Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, also 14, were found nearby.

But there was no trace of Devonte, 15, Hannah, 16, and Sierra, 12. Those children may have been left behind with friends, Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said. Or they may have been killed when the SUV tumbled into the sea.

There were no skid marks

Perhaps the most troubling clue is what investigators didn't find.

There were no skid marks or brake marks in the area leading up to the fatal crash.

And there were no witnesses to help guide police on what happened. The SUV was discovered only after a passer-by saw the mangled wreckage below the cliff.

Data from the vehicle's software air bag module and software suggest the car had stopped at the scenic highway outcrop overlooking the cliff and then accelerated off the road, said Greg Baarts of the California Highway Patrol's Northern Division.

And that leads police to believe the crash may have been intentional.

"At this point in our investigation, that is the direction we are going," Baarts said.

Bruises discovered

Jennifer and Sarah Hart once lived in Minnesota, where Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic assault involving one of the children in 2010, according to Douglas County court records.

That child had told an elementary school teacher of pain in her stomach and back, and bruises were discovered.

Sarah Hart told police she had spanked the child over the edge of the bathtub because of the child's behavior. She was sentenced to community service and one year of probation.

Then, about 10 months ago, the Harts moved into their home in Woodland, Washington, neighbor Bruce DeKalb said. He said the family was "very private."

Another neighbor, Bill Groener, said the children were home-schooled and kept inside most of the time.

Pleas for help

DeKalb said Devonte and one of his sisters had told him they were being mistreated. The neighbor recalled two disturbing encounters he had with the children.

"One of the girls came to the door at 1:30 in the morning and said that she needed help and the parents were not treating her properly, and (she) wanted us to protect her," DeKalb said.

"We ended up getting her back to her parents ... and then I went over there the next morning and just checked on things, and everything seemed normal, and we let it go from there."

DeKalb said Devonte was the only child he saw doing chores outside, such as taking the garbage bins to and from the street.

Then, starting about two weeks ago, Devonte "started coming over asking for food and saying that they were taking meals away from him due to punishment," DeKalb told HLN.

"It started out as one time a day and escalated up to three times a day, until a week went by and we decided that we needed to get professional help."

DeKalb said he called Child Protective Services on March 23, and officials arrived just after Jennifer Hart came home from work. But she didn't answer the door.

Sarah Hart came home soon after, DeKalb said. By the next morning, the family and their vehicle were gone.

Child Protective Services tried to visit the family twice more, on March 26 and 27, but couldn't make contact, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services said.

The department said it had no prior history with the Hart family. But the search continues for the three missing children.
A Chinese company is set to become a casualty of Beijing's new tariffs on US exports.

China's move this week to slap tariffs on $3 billion worth of US imports, including pork products, is a blow to Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, the world's biggest pork producer.

Smithfield was bought in 2013 by China's WH Group for around $5 billion in what at the time was the biggest ever foreign takeover of a US company.

"There's no doubt that the new tariff regime will be a headache for WH Group," said Loren Puette, director at ChinaAg, an agricultural research firm.

The Hong Kong-listed shares of WH Group have plunged more than 11% since Beijing first proposed sanctioning imports of pork from the United States less than two weeks ago. On Monday, it went ahead with a 25% tariff on all pork imports.

Related: Tariffs, Trump and trade wars: Here what it all means

China is the third largest international market by value for American pork producers. Last year, they exported almost half a million tons of hog meat -- worth about $1.1 billion -- to the country, according to the United States Meat Export Federation, an industry group.

Valerie Law, an independent analyst in Singapore who follows the WH Group's stock, said the Chinese tariffs could reduce the company's operating profits by 12% to 18%.

A US-based spokesperson for Smithfield declined to comment Monday on the potential impact of the tariffs. WH Group didn't respond to a request for comment.

Before the tariffs came into force, Smithfield CEO Kenneth Sullivan said he thought investors had overreacted to the news.

"We export to 40 countries around the world," he said last week. While admitting that the measures "will cut into our profits," Sullivan said exports to China only made up between 5% and 7% of Smithfield's fresh pork business.

Other US pork producers that are expected to be hit by the tariffs, including Tyson Foods, whose stock dropped more than 6% on Monday.

Related: The world is on the brink of a trade war

A further escalation in trade tensions could make things even worse for WH Group.

China said it's move this week was a response to President Donald Trump's recent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from China and other countries.

But Trump has also announced plans for another round of tariffs targeting about $50 billion of Chinese goods in response to the alleged theft of US intellectual property. That's prompted vows from Beijing that it will hit back with measures of the same "scale" and "intensity."

American farmers are fretting that one of China's next target could be soybeans, an important US agricultural export. But sanctioning US soybean exports would have consequences for China's food industry.

"China is still heavily reliant on US soybeans to feed its pork and poultry industries," Puette said. Tariffs on soybeans would raise costs for WH Group, which also has a large pork-processing business within China itself, he said.

-- CNN's Julia Horowitz contributed to this report.
China slapped tariffs on 128 American made products over the weekend and industries  like hog farms - are still trying to gauge what impact those measures will have on the Hoosier state.

The pork industry helps support about 500,000 rural jobs in the state of Indiana and 110 thousand of those jobs are tied to exports.

"China is one of our biggest customers," said Hog Farmer Keith Schoettmer. "Anytime we feel there is gonna be a trade disruption, or know there is gonna be a trade disruption, of course, we have concerns."

According to the Indiana Pork Producers Association, exports add $53.47 to the price producers receive for each hog marketed.

The average price of a hog in 2017 was $149.

"If we had a chance to talk to President Trump or any other official on trade we reiterate the importance of exports. I feel they understand that. There's a whole lot more than we understand, but certainly, they understand how vitally important it is, not just for pork producers, but for all of agriculture," said Schoettmer.

Last year, the United States exported $1.1 billion worth of pork to China.
A controversial mural in the Shoals has city officials trying to figure out how they can remove it.

The mural was painted on a wall located on Tennessee Street in Florence sometime Sunday night or Monday morning. The mural depicts President Donald Trump holding a gun and throwing paper towels to dead school children with blood around them. The mural also says "#NeverAgain".

At last check, no artist has stepped forward to claim the painting or say why he or she did it. The mural has sparked some outrage in Florence.

Florence Mayor Steve Holt said he saw the mural and thought it was disgusting. He also said the mural has no businesses being in this city, but others told WAAY 31, to them the mural is a depiction of the violent truth our country is facing.

Many people stopped to take pictures of the mural on Monday. Hudson James was one of the onlookers who said, "I think it's really important political commentary."

Like many others, Hudson said the mural caught his eye. He called it protest art. "It's high time that we reckon with the fact that we have a violence problem here in the United States of America," said Hudson.

Florence police tell WAAY 31 they don't know who painted the mural on private property. Police said they are trying to contact the owner to see if they will paint over the mural. Florence police also said it would is now up to the property owner to press criminal mischief charges against the person who painted the mural.

"We all have freedom of expression but I realize too this is private property," said Johnny Waddell, who also stopped to take pictures of the mural. Waddell said he agrees with the message but thinks the mural should be painted over.

Mayor Holt said he will meet with other city officials on Monday to see if the wall the mural is on, is on city or private property. If it is owned by the city, Mayor Holt says it will be covered.
SPRINGVILLE, Ala. (AP) - A former Alabama prison officer is charged in an alleged sexual assault near Atlanta.

The Alabama Department of Corrections says 48-year-old Matthew Lee Moore is charged with aggravated sodomy, assault with the intent to commit rape and false imprisonment in Fulton County, Georgia.

Moore worked at St. Clair prison east of Birmingham since 2001. A statement from the system released Monday says Moore quit when he was arrested on March 30.

The agency says Moore was investigated for an alleged assault at a hotel in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It was reported to authorities in November 2015.

Alabama prison officials arrested the man on a warrant from Georgia. He was taken to a county jail to await extradition to Georgia.

Court records aren't available to show whether Moore has a lawyer.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES



HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVA LEAP HEALTH CORP. (TSXV:NLH) ("Nova Leap" or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has executed a definitive agreement (the Agreement), dated March 28, 2018, to acquire a private home care services company (the Target) located in Eastern Canada from an arms length party. The Target reported unaudited revenues of approximately $2.42 million, net income of $0.14 million and adjusted EBITDA of $0.43 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The Target also reported $0.41 million assets, $0.39 million of liabilities and $0.02 million equity as at December 31, 2017 (unaudited). All amounts are in United States dollars (USD) unless otherwise specified.

Under the terms of the Agreement, the acquisition of shares is to be made for total consideration of $2.144 million of which $1.875 million is payable with cash on closing and $0.269 million is by way of a promissory note repayable over a two-year period. Closing the acquisition will be subject to financing, final due diligence and TSX Venture Exchange approval. The Company expects to raise a combination of debt and equity to fund the transaction.

Anticipated Increase in Revenues and Recurring Service Hours

Upon closing:

The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive;

Factoring in the previously announced planned acquisition in New England, it is anticipated that:

 Nova Leaps annual revenue run rate is expected to approach $11.4 million, an approximate 63% increase over the current revenue run rate;

 Nova Leap is expected to approach 471,000 annualized recurring home care service hours, an approximate 68% increase from current levels;

 Management will have exceeded previous guidance of exiting 2018 with a $10 million revenue run rate;

 Nova Leap will have approximately 350 employees in Canada and the U.S.

We are looking forward to entering the Canadian market with our first acquisition, said Chris Dobbin, President & CEO of Nova Leap. The entry into Canada is in keeping with our long-term strategy of what we believe will be significant domestic and international expansion. We are successfully moving from a start-up company to a cash flow positive operation with scale.

About Nova Leap

The Home Care Providers industry is becoming one of the fastest growing healthcare industries in Canada and the United States. Home care saves patients billions of dollars every year by treating them in their own homes instead of in hospitals. An aging population, the prevalence of chronic disease, growing physician acceptance of home care, medical advancements and a movement toward cost-efficient treatment options from public and private payers have all fostered industry growth. Nova Leap is focused on a highly fragmented market of small privately-held companies providing patients one on one care in their homes. Nova Leap's post-acquisition organic growth strategy is to increase annual revenue per location through a combination of increased employee investment, including training, focused sales and marketing efforts, billing rate increases, expansion of geographical coverage, and improved referral sources.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION:

Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

For further information:

Christopher Dobbin, CPA, CA, Director, President and CEO Nova Leap Health Corp., T: 902 401 9480 F: 902 482 5177 cdobbin@novaleaphealth.com

John Boidman, Vice President Renmark Financial Communications Inc. T: 416 644-2020 or 514 939-3989 jboidman@renmarkfinancial.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT:

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
On Tuesday, Huntsville police released the name of the officer who was involved in a wreck last week.

A spokesperson for the Huntsville Police Department told WAAY 31 Officer Keith Earle, a 25 year veteran of the department, is

still in the hospital in stable condition.

The wreck happened on March 26 around 9:40 a.m. on Pulaski Pike at Grizzard Road. Police said Earle's patrol vehicle and another SUV hit head-on. Earle and the driver of the other vehicle were taken to a hospital.

The cause of the wreck is still under investigation.
Huntsville City Schools Board of Education may begin the process of reprimanding one of their own Tuesday at a special-called meeting.

We first told you about School Board President Elisa Ferrells plan to censure Board Member Pam Hill last month.

Superintendent Dr. Matt Akin and other members of the Huntsville board of Ed hosted a community conversation meeting Monday about state report cards and improving the district.

What wasnt being talked about is the fact that in less than 24hrs the district is considering taking action against a fellow board member.

Board President Elisa Ferrell put together a document accusing 5th district board member Pam Hill of acting impaired, slurring her speech and "eccentric" behavior. Listing a February 1st work session as an example where Hill made the following comment, You dont blacklist the parents, because you dont like them or they got a big mouth. Cause if you blacklist them, because they got a big mouth, look where they end up. She goes on to curtesy and grabs her thermos and took a sip and jokingly said Its just coke.

WAAY 31 tried to ask her about the censure, but she could not comment on it.

Ferrell says the censure, by the Huntsville BOE and superintendent of the Alabama Department of Education, is necessary because Hills actions are putting the districts accreditation at risk.

If censured, Hill could receive something as minimal as a reprimand on the local level and could potentially lose her right to run for office again if it reaches the state level.

The special censure meeting is set for 5:30P Tuesday.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



What: Cloud Field Day 3 comes to Delphix!



Delphix will host enterprise technology thought leaders and influencers for Cloud Field Day 3 in Redwood City, Wednesday, April 4. Led by SVP Product Management Patrick Lightbody and his team, the session will focus on the often difficult relationship between Data and the Cloud in todays era of digital transformation. The event will explore in-depth the challenges of managing enterprise data securely in the cloud and the opportunities for greater business agility through unlocked and accessible data.

Delphix will also give attendees an under-the-hood look at how the Delphix Dynamic Data Platform is transforming the dynamics of managing and consuming data  quickly and securely  for the largest companies in the world. Cloud Field Days traveling roadshow is put on by leading independent analyst firm Gestalt IT and designed to bring todays leading IT vendors and influencers together to share ideas and opinions.

Where - Available for viewing:

Via Live Stream at http://TechFieldDay.com/event/cfd3/

Via Facebook at http://facebook.com/TechFieldDay

When: April 4th, 2018  live stream begins at 12:30 pm PDT

Share on Social Networks:

TWITTER:

Watch Cloud Field Day Live on 4/4: Don't miss @Delphix and @DentegraUS on the relationship of Data and the Cloud" with @Sfoskett and @TechFieldDay starting at 12:30 p.m. PDT. Live Stream here: http://TechFieldDay.com/event/cfd3/ or via Facebook at http://facebook.com/TechFieldDay #CFD3

LINKEDIN:

Tune in to Cloud Field Day Live on 4/4! Don't miss @Delphix and @DentegraUS on the relationship of Data and the Cloud" with @Sfoskett and @TechFieldDay starting at 12:30 p.m. PDT. Live Stream here: http://TechFieldDay.com/event/cfd3/ or via Facebook at http://facebook.com/TechFieldDay #CFD3

Contacts: For any media related questions, please contact delphix@launchsquad.com.

About Delphix

Delphix's mission is to free companies from data friction and accelerate innovation. Thirty percent of Fortune 100 companies use the Delphix Dynamic Data Platform to connect, virtualize, secure and manage data in the cloud and in on-premise environments. Global leaders in financial services, healthcare and other industries have adopted a DataOps strategy to unlock the potential of their data, accelerate innovation and win. For more information, visit www.delphix.com

About Cloud Field Day

Field Day events bring together innovative IT product vendors and independent thought leaders to share information and opinions in a presentation and discussion format. Independent bloggers, speakers, freelance writers, and podcasters have a public presence that has immense influence on the ways that products and companies are perceived by IT practitioners. The world of media has changed, with social media and blogging gaining special importance. Tech Field Day is an opportunity for tech companies and independent writers to meet, update and discuss products and form new communications.
NEW YORK, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greystone Affordable Development, a leading provider of affordable housing recapitalization and rehabilitation advisory services, announces the closing of a $55.8 million multifamily housing transaction in North Carolina, marking its 12th collaboration with Columbia, SC-based WWJ, LLC, one of the largest owners and operators of affordable housing in the Southeastern U.S., with 23 properties in North Carolina alone. Together, Greystone Affordable Development and WWJ have preserved over 5,600 affordable housing units to date, using the model they pioneered together a decade ago.



The latest recapitalized portfolio of affordable housing properties included 10 aged USDA Rural Development Section 515 properties comprised of 440 apartment homes serving low-income households in six counties across the state. In its third statewide-pooled transaction in North Carolina, Greystones affordable housing development group worked closely with USDAs Rural Housing Service (RHS) State and National Offices and the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to coordinate and secure the financing needed to acquire and rehabilitate this at-risk and much-needed housing.

This transaction clearly demonstrates the integral role that the Housing Credit and Private Activity Bonds play in preserving affordable housing for the families who need it the most, said Scott Farmer, Executive Director, North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. The close cooperation of public and private partners enable such complex financial transactions to succeed.

This closing is particularly special as it marks the ten-year anniversary of the completion of our first groundbreaking portfolio transaction with WWJ, said Tanya Eastwood, President, Greystone Affordable Development. They trust in our expertise and ability to seamlessly orchestrate the financing sources and transaction management process, and we are grateful to have fostered such a strong partnership as we pursue our mission of providing safe, decent, and affordable housing.

The financing plan combined both public and private funding, and included:

Tax-Exempt Bonds  Single issuance of $17.69 million in multifamily private activity tax-exempt bonds from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. The short-term bonds were purchased by TD Bank.

 Single issuance of $17.69 million in multifamily private activity tax-exempt bonds from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. The short-term bonds were purchased by TD Bank. Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Equity  Purchase of 4% Federal LIHTCs by an affiliate of Community Affordable Housing Equity Corporation (CAHEC), generating $9.79 million in capital contributions.

 Purchase of 4% Federal LIHTCs by an affiliate of Community Affordable Housing Equity Corporation (CAHEC), generating $9.79 million in capital contributions. Historic Tax Credit Equity  Purchase of Federal Historic Tax Credits by an affiliate of CAHEC, generating $620,000 in capital contributions.

 Purchase of Federal Historic Tax Credits by an affiliate of CAHEC, generating $620,000 in capital contributions. RHS 515 Debt - Assumption and subordination of $11.92 million of original USDA Section 515 debt. The Section 515 program is a direct loan program designed to provide subsidized loans to developers of affordable housing in rural markets. In addition, $3.59 million in new USDA Section 515 debt was awarded to 3 of the properties through Rural Developments Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization (MPR) Program.

- Assumption and subordination of $11.92 million of original USDA Section 515 debt. The Section 515 program is a direct loan program designed to provide subsidized loans to developers of affordable housing in rural markets. In addition, $3.59 million in new USDA Section 515 debt was awarded to 3 of the properties through Rural Developments Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization (MPR) Program. Senior Debt - $10.68 million in USDA Section 538 loans provided by Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc.

- $10.68 million in USDA Section 538 loans provided by Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc. Other Miscellaneous Sources - totaling $1.51 million.

The rehabilitation plan includes a fast-paced construction process, estimated to be complete within 11 months, during which no residents are expected to be permanently displaced. Substantial renovations, averaging approximately $33,000 per unit, will include both interior and exterior improvements. Particular emphasis will be placed on bringing the properties up to modern standards, addressing accessibility, functional obsolescence and deterioration. Two of the properties are historic, built in 1920, while the others were built in the 1980s, indicating a crucial need for rehabilitation and modernization in order to remain viable housing options in the markets they serve.

Given the critical role that affordable housing plays in our state, we are wholly supportive of WWJs efforts to preserve their multifamily stock in a responsible, sustainable way, said Byron Waters, Director of Multi-Family Housing, USDA Rural Housing Service. This collaborative effort was a success for all parties involved, and we are especially happy to see our goal of preserving rural housing for future generations fulfilled.

Greystone has been an incredible partner over the years, and we are proud to look back on all that we have accomplished together, said Joe Wilczewski, Vice President of Finance, WWJ, LLC. Our efforts, combined with those of our investment partners, USDA Rural Development, and the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency have not only preserved the value of our portfolio, but benefitted local economies and improved the lives of 440 North Carolina families.

The deal team included:

Bond Issuer North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (Raleigh, NC) Bond Issuers Counsel Womble Bond Dickinson LLP (Raleigh, NC) Bond Purchaser TD Bank (Spartanburg, SC) Bond Purchasers Counsel McGuire Woods LLP (Raleigh, NC) Bond Matters Counsel Tiber Hudson LLC (Washington, D.C.) Borrowers Counsel Coleman Talley LLP (Valdosta, GA) Developer WWJ, LLC (Columbia, SC) Developers Consultant Greystone Affordable Development (Raleigh, NC) Equity Community Affordable Housing Equity Corporation (Raleigh, NC) Equity Counsel Miles & Stockbridge (Washington, D.C.) Financial Advisor cfX Incorporated (New York, NY) General Contractor Flournoy Construction Company, LLC (Columbus, GA) Management Agent Boyd Management, Inc. (Columbia, SC) Permanent Lender Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc. (Warrenton, VA) Permanent Lender's Counsel Ballard Spahr LLP (Washington, D.C.) Rating Agency S&P Global Ratings (New York, NY) Subordinate Lender USDA Rural Housing Service (Washington, D.C.) Trustee The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. (Jacksonville, FL) Trustee's Counsel Moore & Van Allen PLLC (Charlotte, NC)

About Greystone Affordable Development

Greystone Affordable Development, an affiliate of Greystone & Co., Inc., is a development and transaction management group that is focused on meeting the challenges associated with the recapitalization, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing throughout the U.S. To date, the group has coordinated the rehabilitation and preservation of over 11,000 apartment units (305 properties) with another 2,000 in various stages of completion in seven states. The groups mission is to create meaningful and significant impacts on communities by helping to provide low-income households with decent, safe affordable housing.



About Greystone

Greystone, together with its affiliates, is a real estate lending, investment and advisory company headquartered in New York. Our range of services includes commercial lending across a variety of platforms such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CMBS, FHA, USDA, bridge and proprietary loan products; Mortgage servicing; Real estate investment and development; Acquisitions / management of multifamily properties and healthcare facilities; Affordable housing preservation; Public transportation real estate management; and Real Estate sales advisory. Loans are offered through Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc., Greystone Funding Corporation and/or other Greystone affiliates. For more information, visit www.greyco.com.

PRESS CONTACT:

Karen Marotta

Greystone

212-896-9149

Karen.Marotta@greyco.com
VALDOSTA, Ga., April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the One Valdosta-Lowndes initiative in conjunction with its consultant, VisionFirst Advisors, launched an online survey to capture resident feedback about the community and how residents want to guide community and economic development over the next 15 years. The survey is part of the development of a holistic Community and Economic Development Strategy for the area. In addition, to ensure residents can stay up-to-date on the strategys development, a new website was launched at www.onevaldostalowndes.com.



In order to be successful, it is important to hear from members of the community, said Dr. Richard Carvajal, president of Valdosta State University and co-chair of One Valdosta-Lowndes. The survey will give residents the opportunity to provide feedback on the community, their priorities for the communitys growth and where they would like to see improvements.

The 10-question survey gives residents the opportunity to provide feedback on the communitys future. Questions include topics such as perceptions around the community, what type of growth and industry is wanted, the areas strengths and weaknesses and how residents feel about the quality of life that is currently enjoyed. The survey will be open until April 30th. Residents can take the survey at http://bit.ly/OneValdostaLowndes.

We believe the key to the successful implementation of the development strategy is ensuring the community has been engaged in every part of the process, said Audrey King, Regional Director, Georgia Power and co-chair of One Valdosta-Lowndes. We are excited to be working with VisionFirst Advisors to ensure we gather the voices, experiences and ideas from all parts of our community, as we develop this long-range and far-reaching strategy.

In addition to gathering local feedback from leaders and residents, VisionFirst will compare Valdosta-Lowndes County to other similar communities as well as the nation using demographic research.

At the conclusion of the process, the strategy will provide a clear course of action, milestones and a means of knowing when the community has arrived at its destination. The overarching goals, strategies and tactics will build upon the existing resources and infrastructure to grow jobs, support businesses and build a collaborative network to expand the regions economy over the next 15 years.

CONTACT: Nancy Heintz

850-558-6900

info@onevaldostalowndes.com
Gettysburg, PA, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OPEN MINDS has announced Devan J. Cross, President of MHN and David K. White, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of BayMark Health Services, as the keynote speakers of The 2018 OPEN MINDS Management Best Practices Institute. This years institute will focus on the emerging clinical and management best practices needed for organizational sustainability in value-based reimbursement arrangements. The 2018 OPEN MINDS Management Best Practices Institute will again return to the Hilton in Long Beach, California, from August 15-16, 2018.

Devan Cross is the President of MHN, a managed behavioral health organization and a part of the Envolve family of specialty companies of the Centene Corporation. MHN provides comprehensive behavioral health and employee assistance services to over 6 million members. Mr. Cross brings a wealth of diverse experience to optimize the solutions that deliver great healthcare, driving cost efficiencies, improved care coordination, and customer and member satisfaction. While with MHN, Mr. Cross has served in a variety of operational and leadership roles, including direct oversight of clinical operations and administrative support of federal contracts. Before joining MHN, Mr. Cross served as a Naval Officer following his graduation, with merit from the United States Naval Academy, and holds an MBA from the University of California.

Dr. David White is the Chief Executive Officer of BayMark Health Services, a specialty health care organization, whose core business is to provide evidence-based, individualized treatment services for those addicted to opioids. BayMark Health Services was formed in 2015 with the merger of two well-known and highly respected opioid treatment companies, BAART Programs and MedMark Treatment Centers. With more than two decades of health care administration experience in psychiatric care and substance abuse, physical rehabilitation, long term care and acute hospital services, Dr. White joined MedMark as President and CEO in January of 2008. In December 2015, he assumed the role of CEO for BayMark Health Services, the newly formed parent company of MedMark Treatment Centers and BAART Programs. Prior to his experience at BayMark, he served as the President of Hospital Management Services for the Nashville-based organization, Psychiatric Solutions, Inc.

The institute will feature over 20 sessions focused on clinical and management best practices, including didactic educational sessions, panel discussions and case model learning sessions featuring innovative organizations and programs. The listof guest speakers include thoughtleading executives from influential organizations across the country, including:

Atkerson, Sue Ann, LPC, MBA, Chief Operating Officer, RI International

Carmichael, Carol, Assistant Vice President, Network Strategy, Beacon Health Options

Chau, Clayton, M.D., Ph.D., Regional Executive Medical Director, St Joseph Hoag Health/Providence St Joseph Health Southern CA Region

Daugherty, Kristi, LCSW, LISW, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Emergence Health Network

Dollar, Bill, Chief Information Officer, Kings View Corporation

Gatto, Jeremy J., MSW, LICSW, Clinical Social Worker, HealthPartners

Gilmore, Briana, Director of Planning & Recovery Practice, Community Access

Hoover, Leon, MSW, MMgmt, CEO, Kings View Corporation

Mittal, Nayha, Manager, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Beacon Health Options

Rocha, Alex, Quality Improvement Director, Kings View Corporation

Rodriguez, Jim, MBA, CSBI, Chief Financial Officer, Kings View Corporation

Schmidt, Lori M., Director of Behavioral Health, HealthPartners

New business models demand new management practices. This institute is focused on the clinical and management best practices that have become the must have competencies for success in a changing health and human landscape, said OPEN MINDS Chief Executive Officer, Monica E. Oss. Throughout this three-day event, executives will gain an understanding of best practices in key business management processes  strategy development, financial management, tech investment strategy, budget development, revenue cycle management, and more. Our experienced faculty and a team of industry experts will review how leading edge organizations are successfully integrating evidence-based practices, practice-based evidence, and decision support tools in clinical practice.

This year, the institute will feature an intensive one-day summit focused on exploring successful innovative treatment programs for consumers with complex support needs, Designing & Implementing Innovative Treatment Programs: An OPEN MINDS Executive Summit & Showcase, as well as two executive seminars:

Individual and group registration for The 2018 OPEN MINDS Management Best Practices Institute is now available. We recommend registering early, as seating is limited and registrations are expected to sell out before the end of the year. To register online or download a registration form, visit: https://management.openminds.com/register.

To learn more about The 2018 OPEN MINDS Management Best Practices Institute, visit: https://management.openminds.com.

*****

ABOUT OPEN MINDS

OPEN MINDS is a national market intelligence and strategic advisory firm focused on the sectors of the health and human service field serving consumers with chronic conditions and complex support needs. Founded in 1987 and based in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the 175+ associates provide market insights and innovative management solutions designed to improve operational and strategic performance. Learn more at www.openminds.com.
A fisherman who died after he slipped or was swept off rocks into treacherous seas in Western Australia's south wasn't wearing a life jacket or tethered to an anchor point.

Samuel Peter Roth, 30, was fishing near West Cape Howe at a location known as "The Deep", 30km west of Albany, on Monday afternoon when he was either swept by waves into the choppy waters or slipped on wet rocks.

According to witnesses, the tragedy unfolded after the man walked down to the waterline to land a large fish, police Superintendent Dominic Wood said.

The man, a local resident, had not used a rope to tether himself to the shore, despite anchor points being available nearby, and was fishing alone.

Superintendent Wood said witnesses tried to throw a floating device to the man but conditions were windy and there were strong sea surges.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the first time, New Mexicos Medical Cannabis Program exceeded 50,000 patients, reaching 50,954 as of March 31, 2018, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.



The current enrollment is 46 percent higher than the 34,909 patient enrollment as of March 31, 2017. The program has grown by over 16,000 patients in this last year, adding over 4,300 alone in the first quarter of 2018.

In 2007, The Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act was signed into law making New Mexico the 12th state to legalize cannabis for medical use. Since then, 17 more states have passed their own medical cannabis legislation and nine states have fully legalized cannabis for social use.

On April 2, 2018, The Albuquerque City Council voted to decriminalize low level cannabis possession, marking another historical moment of cannabis reform in New Mexico. The citys criminal code will make it a civil infraction to possess up to one ounce of cannabis and cannabis paraphernalia, punishable by a $25 fine without jail time. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller is expected to sign the decriminalization ordinance in the next two weeks.

Previously, those possessing an ounce or less would face a $50 fine as well as potential jail time of up to 15 days.

The City of Albuquerque has made a critical next step forward in cannabis reform by decriminalizing small amounts of cannabis, said Duke Rodriguez, CEO and President of Ultra Health. While we believe no one should be put in jail for low level possession, it is equally important that New Mexicans be given the choice to legally obtain their cannabis from a safe and regulated source.

Patient enrollment in New Mexicos Medical Cannabis Program is expected to surpass 65,000 cardholders by December 31, 2018, and the program is expected to generate more than $100 million in revenue for 2018.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/73c4b2d8-eab7-4186-94c5-2433be10d391

Contact: Marissa Novel 480-404-6699

marissa@ultrahealth.com
Chelmsford, Massachusetts, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lynn Smith spent most of her career marketing advances in medical technology as a sales and business development executive for biotech companies. When the Smith family was confronted with head lice for the first time, and traditional solutions failed, she turned to a proven medical device solution and was so impressed with it that she started a clinic in her hometown.

When one of my daughters had head lice, we had to remove her immediately from school until she was nit-free, Lynn said. That meant missed work for me, and when treatment after treatment failed, the expenses mounted, my daughter couldnt go to school, and I couldnt work. It was extremely frustrating.

Research led her to a Lice Clinics of America treatment center 40-minutes away in Newton. She brought her family of five, and it turned out that three of them had head lice, including Lynn. Initially I was overwhelmed thinking, how are we going to deal with this? Then they used the AirAlle medical device, and we were lice-free in two hours.

Lynn was so impressed she opened Lice Clinics of America - Lowell, located in Chelmsford on the Lowell line, to provide screening, diagnosis, and treatment for people infested with head lice using the AirAlle device. The AirAlle is the only FDA-cleared Class I medical device that kills both head lice and lice eggs using controlled heated air to dehydrate the bugs and their eggs (nits). The device is clinically proven to kill live lice and more than 99 percent of eggs.

I have seen first-hand how the many advances that technology has made in the healthcare industry that have truly have made a significant difference in peoples lives, she said. Im excited to be a part of that story.

Most treatments using the AirAlle take about an hour, and the treatment is guaranteed to be effective. The device has successfully treated more than 350,000 cases of head lice worldwide.

The Lowell clinic is located at 1 Courthouse Lane Suite # 7 in Chelmsford, and is open seven days per week, by appointment only. The clinic is managed by Lynns sister Peggy Milisci, and daughter Micayla Milisci.

With more than 300 clinics in 34 countries, Lice Clinics of America (www.LiceClinicsOfAmerica.com) is the largest network of professional head-lice-treatment centers in the world. Lice Clinics of America and AirAlle (www.airalle.com) are brands owned by Larada Sciences, Inc., which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Attachment:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/24957d64-f0d5-4451-8495-20b47e0fe4d3
NEW YORK, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) students in the colleges Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development will have the opportunity starting in May to learn Swift, Apples easy-to-learn programming language that gives anyone the ability to create world-class apps.





BMCC is the first college in the CUNY system to offer the App Development with Swift curriculum, a full-year course designed by Apple engineers and educators to teach coding and app design to students of all levels and backgrounds.. Now more than [X number] of BMCC students will gain the opportunity to become proficient in the powerful Swift programming language and build the fundamental skills they need to pursue careers in the booming app economy, which has created more than 1.6 million jobs in the U.S. and generated $5 billion in revenue for American app developers in 2017. Popular apps including Airbnb, KAYAK, TripAdvisor, Venmo and Yelp are all created with Swift.

The courses are designed to accommodate students with little or no entry-level coding knowledge, says Steve Nunez, Senior Program Coordinator in the Department of IT Programs, BMCC Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development. It is also aligned with national curriculum standards for computer science, so it strengthens the STEM skills of students who want to continue their education in computer science.

This program will take students from basic proficiency to advanced applications using Swift and Xcode. It will tap into their creativity, as they turn business ideas and strategies into viable apps. It will also enhance their collaboration and problem-solving skills, and students who successfully complete the course will be prepared to enter and compete in New York Citys rapidly changing gig economy, said Sunil Gupta, Dean of the BMCC Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development.

This BMCC initiative is in alignment with the Colleges mission and strategic goal to prepare students for 21st-century careers and contribute to workforce development in NYC, said Antonio Perez, President of BMCC. Were also expanding the STEM pipeline, and leveling the playing field for underrepresented students.





Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) and enrolls over 27,000 degree-seeking and 11,000 continuing education students a year, awarding associate degrees in more than 45 fields. BMCC ranks #5 among community colleges nationwide in granting associate degrees to minority students, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. Visit: http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu.

Attachment:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/31912741-515c-4dc2-bfe4-f215a253b3e4
WYOMISSING, Pa., April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Customers Bank, one of the regions leading community banks with operations in Pennsylvania, D.C., Illinois, New York, New Jersey and New England, is proud to announce that it has been named the top minority lender by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), and ranked 9th overall in lending.

In 2017, Customers Bank originated $11.6 million dollars to 138 homebuyers. In addition to being named top minority lender, Customers Banks Elsie Maduro, Vice President and CRA Mortgage Officer, has been recognized as the PHFAs top loan originator.

This honor is significant for us, and is a recognition of our commitment to reversing a troubling national trend, said Richard Ehst, President and Chief Operating Officer of Customers Bank. Even as the real estate market has improved, data shows that there are still lending disparities when it comes to minorities. Customers Bank is dedicated to closing that gap, and to making the dream of homeownership, along with the financial stability that it provides, a reality for all of our neighbors.

According to 2017 figures released from Zillow, less than a quarter of homes nationwide are owned by minorities  despite the fact that they make up nearly one-third of the U.S. population.

Customers Bank has been an outstanding PHFA partner, said PHFA Executive Director and CEO Brian Hudson, Sr. Their exceptional efforts throughout the Delaware Valley and Berks County help support PHFAs mission to bring affordable housing options to all Pennsylvanians.

About the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency works to provide affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. Through its carefully managed mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments, PHFA also promotes economic development across the state. Since its creation by the legislature in 1972, it has generated more than $13.5 billion of funding for more than 170,935 single family home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 132,531 rental units, and saved the homes of more than 49,200 families from foreclosure. PHFA programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities and from fees paid by program users, not by public tax dollars. The agency is governed by a 14-member board.

About Customers Bank

Customers Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company located in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania engaged in banking and related businesses through its bank subsidiary, Customers Bank. Customers Bank is a community-based, full-service bank with assets of approximately $9.9 billion at December 31, 2017. A member of the Federal Reserve System with deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Customers Bank is an equal opportunity lender that provides a range of banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, individuals and families through offices in Pennsylvania, as well as Illinois, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. Committed to fostering customer loyalty, Customers Bank uses a High Tech/High Touch strategy that includes use of industry-leading technology to provide customers better access to their money, as well as Single Point of Contact banking by appointment at customers homes or offices 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers Bank offers a continually expanding portfolio of loans to small businesses, multi-family projects, mortgage companies and consumers. Customers Bancorp, Inc. voting common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CUBI. Additional information about Customers Bancorp, Inc. can be found on the Company's website, www.customersbank.com.

Contact:

Richard Ehst

President & COO

610-917-3263
TORONTO, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tellza Inc. (TELLZA or the Company) (TSX:TEL) announced today that it will be late in filing its audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, its managements discussion and analysis relating to the Annual Financial Statements, and its annual information form (collectively, the Required Filings) which are required to be filed on or before the prescribed deadline of April 2, 2018.



The Company made an application with the applicable securities regulators under National Policy 12-203 requesting that a management cease trade order be imposed in respect of this late filing but there is no assurance that it will be granted. The Company was unable to file the Required Filings within the prescribed time due to delays resulting from special audit procedures being performed by the Companys auditors in response to allegations made in a notice received from Canada Revenue Agency regarding CRAs proposed denial of HST Input Tax Credits, as previously announced by the Company in its Press Release of January 31, 2018. The Companys management is diligently working through the various issues in order to expedite the finalization of the Required Filings, and the Company expects to file the Required Filings on or before May 15, 2018.

The Company confirms that it will satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines under National Policy 12-203 by issuing bi-weekly default status reports in the form of news releases so long as it remains in default of the filing requirements set out above. The Company is not subject to any insolvency proceedings at the present time and there is no other material information relating to the affairs of the Company that has not been generally disclosed.

About TELLZA

TELLZA is a Technology and Financial Support Services company. TELLZA TECH is an ASP servicing the telecommunications market, including its own Carrier brands Phonetime and Matchcom. Through its investments in Rightway funding and Merkez Fakoting TELLZA facilitate secondary financials in the structured annuities market and in B2B working capital financing. TELLZA is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TEL).

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information:

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which may be identified by words like "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "indicates" or similar expressions. These statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. TELLZAs actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors set forth in reports and other documents filed by the Company with Canadian securities regulatory authorities from time to time. See www.sedar.com which contains all securities files.

Michael Vazquez, Tellza Inc., CEO

Phone - +954-624-8143

Email: mike@tellza.com
Fiscal Court: Vote of No Confidence in Jailer

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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 02, 2018 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 02, 2018 | 07:13 PM | PADUCAH, KY

A special called meeting Monday afternoon of the McCracken County Fiscal Court resulted in a vote of no confidence in McCracken County Jailer Tonya Ray, and the request for her resignation.



The meeting was called to discuss issues at the jail with Ray, but when she did not attend the meeting, the court went into executive session. When they returned from that session, Commissioner Jerry Beyer made a motion of no confidence in Jailer Ray and further requested her resignation. The motion was seconded by Commisioner Scott Wathen. Commissioners Beyer, Wathen, and Bill Bartleman voted in favor of the motion, and Judge Executive Bob Leeper abstained, feeling this was not the correct time for this action. The motion carried with the three yes votes.



Later, Commissioner Beyer stressed his dissatisfaction with the current jail situation. Commissioner Bartleman did the same, but reminded everyone that this vote is not binding, as the Fiscal Court basically can do very little in this situation and this is all they could do.



Commissioner Bartleman also said, "as you may know, there was a search warrant served at the jail today, and computers were removed, and I think some cell phones were taken, other records were taken. I talked to the special prosecutor in the case, who is Jason Darnall out of Marshall County, and he said it was safe to say, and we could relay the information, that he will meet with the State Police this week to discuss possible meeting with the grand jury to discuss charges, and he did not divulge what the content of that was, but he said it was ok to make a public statement about that."



The commissioners stressed that they remain open to discussion with Jailer Ray and representatives from the jail, but that it must be done in an open, public forum to be in compliance with the Open Meetings Law.




Federal Court Rules in Favor of KY and TN, Halts Unconstitutional Tax Mandate in ARPA Lawsuit
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By Keith Todd, KYTC Apr. 03, 2018 | 08:34 AM | CANTON, KY

Plans are firming up for the explosive demolition of the old Lake Barkley Bridge, tentatively set for Wednesday morning, April 11.Keith Todd with the Kentucky Transportation Department said the demolition team has started cutting steel at key locations on the two main spans of the old bridge to weaken the 86-year-old structure.

Highway traffic on the new Lake Barkley Bridge will be blocked for up to two hours to accommodate the use of explosives on the old bridge.



Boat traffic on Lake Barkley will also be halted for as much as 24 hours, including time to recover the steel trusses from the water.

Spectator overlooks will be limited by a 1,500 ft. clear zone around the blast site. Traffic on US 68/KY 80 will be halted near the Lakeview One Stop on the Canton end of the new bridge, and at the Energy Lake Road Crossover at the Land Between The Lakes end. Anyone behind those points will be out of the clear zone where they can watch the blast. Additionally, a multi-use trail on the Land Between The Lakes side will be out of the clear zone and available for spectators.

Once the main steel truss structures are dropped into Lake Barkley, cranes will move to the site to remove the fallen steel as quickly as possible. The Coast Guard requires the contractor to clear the main channel within 24 hours to minimize disruptions to commercial river traffic.

The day of the blast, the contractor and KYTC personnel will be joined by Kentucky Emergency Management, the Coast Guard and area law enforcement agencies to provide security.
By WestKyStar & USDA Staff Apr. 02, 2018 | 06:37 PM | WASHINGTON DC

I am excited to join Secretary Sonny Perdue on his tour through Kentucky, Commissioner Ryan Quarles said. Too often our leaders in Washington, D.C. get stuck in the bubble of partisan politics, and I am glad to see Secretary Perdue placing a premium on direct interactions with American producers and agribusinesses.



Secretary Perdue, Commissioner Quarles, and other public officials will participate in a listening session with Kentucky Farm Bureau in Mays Lick and tour Harold White Lumber Company in Morehead on Thursday. On Friday, they will visit Townsend Sorghum Mill, tour Montgomery County High Schools Agriculture Department, and conclude with a lunch at Keeneland. After each stop, the Secretary will hold a media availability for available press. Media interested in covering any of the events must RSVP to press@oc.usda.gov prior to the event.



A farmer, veterinarian, and former Governor of Georgia, Sonny Perdue was confirmed to serve as the United States Secretary of Agriculture on April 24, 2017. As Secretary, he has promoted American agriculture interests around the world and has been a vocal advocate for policies that will bring prosperity to rural America. Read Secretary Sonny Perdues official biography.

Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles will accompany United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue for the Secretarys third Back to Our Roots RV tour on Thursday and Friday stops in Kentucky.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avalon Blockchain Inc. (formerly, World Mahjong Limited (CSE:WSM)) (the Company) (CSE:AVLN) is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition (the Transaction) of certain cryptocurrency mining assets and an inventory of digital currencies (the Transaction Assets) from Avalon Life S.A. (the Vendor), a leading cryptocurrency mining and community knowledge network.



The Transaction Assets include a total of 27,386 ASIC coin mining machines and an inventory of the following digital currencies:

Digital Currency Masternodes Remaining Coins Total Coins Dash 78 5.83 78,005.83 Pura 100 13,233.87 10,013,233.87 Vivo 88 387.90 88,387.90

Following completion of the Transaction, the Company has changed its name to Avalon Blockchain Inc., and intends to reconstitute its board of directors and senior management to consist of: Robert Cross (President and Chief Executive Officer), David Ebert (Chief Financial Officer), Anthony Alvaro (Vice-President of Business Development), Jon Malach (Director) and Darren Devine (Director).

The Transaction

The Transaction Assets were acquired pursuant to the terms of a purchase agreement entered into between the Company, the Vendor and Avalon Projects Canada Inc. (Avalon Canada). In consideration for the Transaction Assets, the Company issued 120,000,000 common shares (the Consideration Shares). The Consideration Shares are subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period prescribed by applicable Canadian securities laws, and to an escrow arrangement in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the Exchange), from which they will be released in tranches every six months over a thirty-six-month period.

Avalon Canada held the rights to acquire the Transaction Assets from the Vendor, and assigned those rights to the Company in connection with completion of the Transaction. In consideration for the assignment of rights by Avalon Canada, on completion of the Transaction the Company acquired all of the outstanding share capital of Avalon Canada through the amalgamation (the Amalgamation) of Avalon Canada and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, 1146305 B.C. Ltd.

Prior to completion of the Amalgamation, Avalon Canada completed the offering of 37,154,502 subscription receipts (each, a Subscription Receipt), at a price of $0.50 per Subscription Receipt, for gross proceeds of $18,577,251. Each Subscription Receipt automatically converted into one common share of Avalon Canada immediately prior to completion of the Amalgamation.

In consideration for the Amalgamation, the Company issued 44,450,978 common shares to the existing shareholders of Avalon Canada, and a further 37,154,502 common shares to the existing holders of the Subscription Receipts (the Subscription Receipt Conversion Shares). The Subscription Receipt Conversion Shares are subject to a pooling arrangement from which they will be released in tranches every four months over a twelve month period. The Company also issued 26,000,000 common share purchase warrants in exchange for existing convertible securities of Avalon Canada.

The Transaction constitutes a fundamental change of the Company within the meaning of the policies of the Exchange. It is expected that the Companys common shares will resume trading on the Exchange under the symbol AVLN once all final conditions of the Exchange are satisfied.

Further information concerning the Transaction will be available in the listing statement prepared by the Company in accordance with the policies of the Exchange. A copy of the listing statement will be available under the Companys profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) once the Exchange issues its final approval of the Transaction.

In connection with completion of the Transaction, Thomas Graf acquired ownership and control of 80,520,000 Consideration Shares, representing approximately 35.9% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. The Consideration Shares were acquired by Mr. Graf in partial consideration for the Transaction Assets at a deemed price of $0.50 per share. Mr. Graf has no present intentions to acquire or dispose of additional securities of the Company, although may elect to in the future as circumstances or market conditions warrant. A copy of the early warning report filed by Mr. Graf in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws is available under the Companys profile on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ), or by contacting the Company.

For further information, contact Anthony Alvaro at 604-763-5388.

On behalf of the Board,

AVALON BLOCKCHAIN INC.

Dan Placzek, President and CEO

This news release may contain certain Forward-Looking Statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, target, plan, forecast, may, schedule and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to the nature of the Transaction, the proposed undertaking of the Company following completion of the Transaction, regulatory requirements or approvals, the proposed reconstitution of the board and management of the Company, the resumption of trading in the common shares of the Company, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Companys current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
NOVATO, Calif., April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DSi (Dragnet Solutions, Inc.), the leading provider of Customer Identity Intelligence, today announced that it is changing its name to Accelitas, Inc. and broadening its focus to providing Customer Identity Intelligence solutions across multiple industries, including financial services, retail, hospitality, and transportation.

Our new name reflects the marriage of speed and accuracy that our Accelerated Insight platform brings to our customers digital account opening practices, said Greg Cote, CEO of Accelitas. It combines the Latin accelerare (speed) with veritas (truth), and its close to aequitas, which means equity or fairness. Our Accelerated Insight platform delivers the truth about identity intelligence quickly and fairly, expanding access to services.

As the digital economy has grown in scale and complexity, so have the needs of companies in industries ranging from financial services and insurance to retail and transportation. In fact, the digital economy is challenging every business everywhere that needs to identify, authenticate and validate online customers. To thrive today, a business has to do more than keep out fraud operators. It has to welcome more prospects and make it fast and easy for them to become profitable customers. Customer Identity Intelligence is the use of predictive analytics to help organizations screen, onboard, and serve more customers more quickly and fairly than ever before.

Our new name and go-to-market strategy reflects the changing needs of companies and the consumers theyre serving, said Cote. The Accelerated Insight platform we have spent fifteen years perfecting increases Customer Identity Intelligence by leveraging data analytics and machine learning to deliver predictive insights to our customers. These insights are the secret sauce that allows companies to grant fair, fast and frictionless access to more customers.

To learn more about Accelitas and its Accelerated Insight product suite, visit www.accelitas.com.

About Accelitas

Accelitas, Inc. (formerly Dragnet Solutions, Inc.) is a leading provider of identity intelligence services that help companies identify and say yes to more customers. The companys Accelerated Insight platform includes four real-time web services that provide a faster, smarter way to seamlessly open digital accounts, quickly authenticate IDs, verify profitable customers, and revive previously rejected accounts. The resulting decreases in abandonment, risk and charge offs, and rejection rates can deliver an ROI as high as 30:1.

Accelitas and the Accelitas logos are trademarks and Accelerated Insight is a registered trademark of Accelitas, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective holders.

Media Contact:

John Bennett

Accelitas, Inc.

1 (510) 495-6590 (mobile)

jbennett@accelitas.com
German English

Curetis Receives U.S. FDA De Novo Clearance of

Unyvero System and

Unyvero LRT Lower Respiratory Tract Infection Cartridge

First ever multiplex MDx test to be granted clearance by the FDA for this indication

Commercial launch in the U.S. expected this quarter

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, San Diego, CA, USA, and Holzgerlingen, Germany, April 03, 2018, 15:45 am EDT - Curetis N.V. (the "Company" and, together with Curetis USA Inc. and Curetis GmbH, "Curetis"), a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, announced today that the Company has been granted a De Novo clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the Unyvero System and Lower Respiratory Tract Infection (LRT) Application Cartridge in the U.S.

The sample-to-answer Unyvero System together with the Unyvero LRT Application Cartridge provides rapid infectious disease testing directly from aspirate samples in under five hours. It covers more than 90% of infection cases of hospitalized patients with pneumonia and provides clinicians with a comprehensive overview on genetic antibiotic resistance markers detected. As the first-in-class molecular test for lower respiratory tract infections with no direct MDx competition, it addresses a high unmet medical need that generates over $10bn in annual costs for the U.S. healthcare system., It is also the first time the FDA has granted an automated molecular diagnostic test for the atypical microorganism Legionella pneumoniae. In sum, Unyvero is expected to impact clinical outcomes, support antibiotic stewardship and create health economic benefits.

The Company has a team of more than 20 seasoned experts already in place at its Curetis USA Inc. subsidiary in San Diego, CA. These experts include the U.S. executive leadership, regional sales directors, clinical application specialists, and field-based territory sales managers and service engineering and logistics support. Commercial roll-out will start early in the second quarter, with initial placement opportunities expected in the same quarter. Curetis targets to place 60 to 80 Unyvero Analyzers in the U.S. within the first full year of commercial availability.

"The launch of our Unyvero System and LRT Application Cartridge in the United States will address a pressing unmet medical need as it delivers results much faster than current standard of care microbiology culture", said Curetis' co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Johannes Bacher.

"We expect that the LRT panel will transform our approach to the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infections", said Dr. Donna Mildvan, Infectious Diseases Physician and Clinical Professor of Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. "Having the opportunity to characterize pneumonia by knowing the causative organism as well as relevant antibiotic resistance markers in 4 to 5 hours has great clinical implications - it is game changing and exciting."

Data from a clinical trial, which included more than 2,200 patient samples at nine participating U.S. hospitals, were submitted to the FDA in early 2017. Curetis' clinical trial operations team has worked in close collaboration with the FDA's review team to evaluate the study data set and develop relevant statistics and reports, as well as a benefit-risk analysis which was compiled with input and support from several renowned U.S. clinical experts.

"The LRT application is the first cartridge for our Unyvero System that has been approved in the U.S. Preparations for another prospective multi-center clinical trial for a second Unyvero application are already underway", said Oliver Schacht, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Curetis.

As disclosed previously, Curetis intends to submit an application for a label claim extension following this initial clearance of the LRT application, which would include the bronchial lavage (BAL) sample types, as well as several additional diagnostic targets. In addition, further to the already significant investments in its U.S. operations in anticipation of the FDA approval, Curetis will make additional and accelerated investments in the U.S. Therefore, Curetis will continue to explore and prepare for strategic and tactical options to finance its commercial roll-out in the U.S. and its other operations.

"We have assembled a team of high-caliber talent here at Curetis USA, and we will continue to expand our commercial organization in support of the Unyvero product launch in Q2/2018. We are truly excited to bring the innovative Unyvero Solution to clinicians, microbiologists in clinical laboratories, and above all to patients in the Unites States", commented Chris Bernard, President and CEO of Curetis USA Inc. and Executive Vice President Global Sales.

Investor Update Conference Call and Webcast

Curetis will host a public investor conference call and webcast tomorrow, April 04, 2018, at 03:00 pm CEST / 09:00 am EDT to provide an overview on the Unyvero System and LRT Cartridge for the U.S. market, the FDA De Novo clearance decision and the underlying U.S. clinical evaluation data, and the planned U.S. launch and market development activities.

Dial-in details for this investor update conference call and webcast will be published in an additional press release tomorrow.

###

About the Unyvero System

The Unyvero System with the Unyvero LRT Cartridge is the first, most comprehensive molecular diagnostics (MDx) product for lower respiratory tract infections that has been granted clearance by the FDA. With 29 multiplexed PCR assays it can detect more than 30 Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial organisms known to cause lower respiratory tract infections, as well as 10 genetic markers for antibiotic resistance, including carbapenem and 3rd generation cephalosporins. Preparations for a future submission of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) sample types for use with the LRT Cartridge are progressing, and the Company intends to request a pre-submission meeting in due course. The Company also is already collecting patient samples for a multi-center FDA study for its Unyvero IJI Cartridge for the detection of invasive joint infections. Further Unyvero Cartridges with unique panels designed for the rapid diagnosis of microbial and viral infections are in preparation.

About Curetis

Curetis N.V. (Euronext: CURE) is a leading provider of innovative solutions for molecular microbiology designed to address the global challenge of diagnosing severe infectious diseases and identifying antibiotic resistances in hospitalized patients.

Curetis' Unyvero System is a versatile, fast and highly automated molecular diagnostic platform for easy-to-use, cartridge-based solutions for the comprehensive and rapid detection of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance markers in a range of severe infectious disease indications. Results are available within hours, a process that can take days or even weeks if performed with standard diagnostic procedures, and thereby facilitates improved patient outcomes, stringent antibiotic stewardship and health economic benefits. Unyvero in-vitro-diagnostic (IVD) products are marketed in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and in the U.S.

Curetis' wholly-owned subsidiary Ares Genetics GmbH offers next-generation solutions for infectious disease diagnostics and therapeutics. ARES' technology platform combines the world's most comprehensive database on the genetics of antimicrobial resistances with advanced bioinformatics and artificial intelligence.

For further information, please visit www.curetis.com and www.ares-genetics.com

Legal Disclaimer

This announcement contains inside information. This is a public announcement pursuant to article 17 paragraph 1 of the European Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014).

This document constitutes neither an offer to buy nor to subscribe for securities and neither this document nor any part of it should form the basis of any investment decision in Curetis.

The information contained in this press release has been carefully prepared. However, Curetis bears and assumes no liability of whatever kind for the correctness and completeness of the information provided herein. Curetis does not assume an obligation of whatever kind to update or correct information contained in this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or for other reasons.

This press release includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", or "should", and include statements Curetis makes concerning the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Curetis' actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. Curetis undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

Contact Details

Curetis GmbH

Max-Eyth-Str. 42

71088 Holzgerlingen, Germany

Tel. +49 7031 49195-10

pr@curetis.com or ir@curetis.com

www.curetis.com

International Media & Investor Inquiries

akampion

Dr. Ludger Wess / Ines-Regina Buth

Managing Partners

info(@)akampion.com

Tel. +49 40 88 16 59 64

Tel. +49 30 23 63 27 68

U.S. Media & Investor Inquiries

The Ruth Group

Lee Roth

lroth@theruthgroup.com

Tel. +1 646 536 7012
By: Paige Cline The hills are still green for the most part, but a little[Read More]
SAN FRANCISCO, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RiskIQ, the leader in digital threat management, today announced that due to the overwhelming demand from the cybersecurity community, it is expanding its Can You Find the Threat hands-on training workshop to include 8 cities in Q2. This nationwide cyber-training roadshow, which began in January 2018, reached eight cities and featured a program introducing security analysts to new threat hunting methodologies in a six-hour training session.



These workshops address the increasing demand for a skilled cybersecurity workforce amidst a national shortage of cybersecurity experts, which currently stands at 200,000 unfilled jobs nationwide, with a worldwide shortfall of 1.8 million expected by 2022.

The next stops in the series, featuring RiskIQ and several integration partners, include:



April 4, Santa Monica

Huntley Hotel

Sponsors: RiskIQ, Flashpoint, Phantom & ProtectWise





Huntley Hotel Sponsors: RiskIQ, Flashpoint, Phantom & ProtectWise April 5: Santa Clara, CA

Palo Alto Networks HQ

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Palo Alto Networks HQ Sponsors: RiskIQ, Flashpoint, Phantom & ProtectWise May 2: New York City, NY

NYU, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium

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NYU, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium Sponsors: RiskIQ, Flashpoint, Phantom & ProtectWise May 3: Boston, MA

Babson College

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Babson College Sponsors: RiskIQ, Flashpoint, Phantom & ProtectWise May 9: San Francisco

DropBox HQ

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DropBox HQ Sponsors: RiskIQ, Flashpoint, Phantom & ProtectWise May 15: Paris, France

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Hilton Paris La Defense May 15: Dallas, TX

Legends at Toyota Stadium

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Legends at Toyota Stadium Sponsors: RiskIQ, Flashpoint, Phantom, ProtectWise & WhiteHat May 16: Baton Rouge, LA

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Jubans Restaurant Sponsors: RiskIQ, Flashpoint, Phantom & ProtectWise May 17: London, England

Park Plaza London Waterloo

Additional sessions are currently being planned for Denver, Seattle and Phoenix, bringing the total number to 13. Along with RiskIQ, these sessions include partner sponsors Flashpoint, Phantom, SecureWise, and WhiteHat. Presentations will feature how these technologies work together to create one unified product, giving threat hunters the best way to manage and mitigate the digital threats that lie outside their firewall.



The majority of past attendees have especially enjoyed the many hands-on training exercises, as well as the chance to see solutions working seamlessly together. Here are several comments attendees have written about the workshops:

The hands on examples and exercises were great! The entire event was very well prepared, and it wasnt at all salesy. It was very useful to see all of the tools working together.



The exercises were really cool! I learned several technical hunting techniques I have never heard of being used.



The best part was getting exposure to technologies I hadn't seen before, and having a chance to try them out.

All sessions are free of charge and include complimentary breakfast and lunch. They last from 8:30 a.m. - 3:20 p.m. and offer 6 CPE credits.

To find out more about each of these sessions, please click here.

About RiskIQ

RiskIQ is the leader in digital threat management, providing the most comprehensive discovery, intelligence, and mitigation of threats associated with an organizations digital presence. With more than 75 percent of attacks originating outside the firewall, RiskIQ allows enterprises to gain unified insight and control over web, social, and mobile exposures. Trusted by thousands of security analysts, RiskIQs platform combines advanced internet data reconnaissance and analytics to expedite investigations, understand digital attack surfaces, assess risk, and take action to protect business, brand, and customers. Based in San Francisco, the company is backed by Summit Partners, Battery Ventures, Georgian Partners, and MassMutual Ventures. Visit RiskIQ.com or follow us on Twitter.

Try RiskIQ Community Edition for free by visiting https://www.riskiq.com/products/community-edition/.

Contact:

Deb Montner

Montner Tech PR

dmontner@montner.com

203-226-9290
Late last Friday, with the approaching weekend ensuring the White House minimal media coverage of the move, U.S. President Donald Trump quietly signed bipartisan legislation that permits high-level exchanges between senior U.S. and Taiwanese government officials. Its passage comes three months after Congress, amid intense pressure from Beijing, watered down part of the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act that would require U.S. Navy warships to conduct regular port calls in Taiwan.

Of course, the signing of the act  a move Chinese state media in February warned would cross a red line and cause immeasurable damage to Sino-U.S. ties  did not escape Beijings notice. This week, in an uncharacteristically fiery speech, Chinas newly crowned president-for-life Xi Jinping said, All acts and tricks to split the motherland are doomed to failure and will be condemned by the people and punished by history. The following day, Chinas lone aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the third time in the past year.

Many U.S. presidents have sought to walk a fine line between supporting Taiwan and catering to Beijings sensitivities over what it views as a renegade province, and China has rarely followed through on its threats of retaliation. The difference now is that both sides are beginning to acknowledge that the Sino-U.S. diplomatic dance over Taiwan has outlasted the strategic environment in which it began. And Taiwan is taking little comfort in the strategic paradigm on the horizon.

A Paradigm Shift The awkward Sino-U.S. detente over Taiwan has held since former President Richard Nixons landmark trip to China in 1972, which led to the normalization of ties between the two sides. At the time, Chinese and U.S. strategic interests were converging. The U.S. wanted China to stop meddling in Vietnam and, more important, to cooperate against the Soviets. China, which had fought a major battle with the Russians along the Siberian border a decade earlier and feared additional attacks, was inclined to coordinate with Washington against the Soviets. But Beijing needed political cover on Taiwan. And since China was too weak to retake Taiwan by force  and since Beijing was demanding few substantive changes to U.S.-Taiwanese defense or trade ties  Washington was happy to formally adopt Beijings one China policy in exchange. The U.S. closed its embassy in Taiwan and reopened it as the American Institute in Taiwan, a nongovernmental organization that happened to be manned by U.S. diplomats.

Since then, the strategic logic of the original agreement on Taiwan has been gradually eroding. The Soviet Union collapsed, the U.S. lost much of its interest in Indochina, and Vietnam  still nominally a communist state but one long at odds with Beijing  began a cautious pivot toward Washington. The U.S. has, in most ways, continued to engage with China to discourage its rise from disrupting the established order in the Indo-Pacific and has generally been happy to preserve the status quo regarding Taiwan. Although it has provoked occasional Chinese bellowing about, for example, arms sales to Taiwan, sometimes even leading to temporary freezes in U.S.-Chinese military cooperation, the U.S. has mostly tiptoed around Chinese sensitivities about the island, with Taiwan routinely taking a back seat to more pressing bilateral issues. For its part, Beijing has remained content with the status quo as well, so long as Taiwan doesnt make a major push for independence or serve as a sort of unsinkable aircraft carrier for a foreign power keen to check Chinas rise.

The strategic environment is continuing to evolve  and, broadly speaking, in ways that are not in Taiwans favor. China has become more assertive about securing its interests in its near abroad and its breakneck military modernization is making it better equipped to do so. At the same time, Chinas growing economic clout is allowing it to cultivate substantial political influence among its poorer neighbors, while contributing to political crises in the West . As a result, the U.S. and its regional allies are becoming more overt about the need to lay the groundwork to contain China , should matters come to a head with Beijing, and therefore less inclined to pretend to bend to Chinese wishes on matters like Taiwan.

(click to enlarge) On the surface, this would seem to be a welcome development for Taipei, to the extent that it removes political and strategic constraints on Washingtons support for the Taiwanese. But Taiwan is still drifting into uneasy waters. It fears being treated like a bargaining chip or, worse, becoming a battleground between China and the U.S. in a war not of its choosing.

More problematic, Taipei still has ample reason to question the level of U.S. commitment to its defense, even if the U.S. abandoned the one China principle altogether. China is still far from having the navy needed to go toe-to-toe with the U.S. in open waters, but it is developing the capabilities to make it increasingly costly for the U.S. to go to battle closer to the mainland. The U.S. disinterest in starting a conflict over Chinas island-building in the South China Sea has exposed the distance between U.S. strategic priorities and those of Southeast Asian states . The U.S. inability to dictate terms on the Korean Peninsula has revealed the limits of its power even on issues vital to U.S. strategy. The U.S. is an ocean away, and Taiwan cannot be certain that regional circumstances will not shift further and eventually give Beijing an opening to force the issue. And in this regard, Beijing thinks time is on its side.

Can China Win Without Fighting? Reunification is Beijings utmost strategic and political priority. This view is, in part, motivated by domestic concerns. Under Xi, China is putting the finishing touches on its reintegration of Hong Kong and Macau, the two other physical reminders of Chinas century of humiliation and foreign subjugation. Taiwan is a perpetual scar on the Communist Partys narratives about the communist victory in the Chinese civil war, and the party routinely nurtures grievances about foreign meddling in Taipei to curry nationalist support for its right to rule. This view is also strategic. So long as the U.S. can pair its superior naval and aerial capabilities with bases and allied support along whats known as the first island chain  Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia  it poses a threat to block sea lanes that are critical to Chinas export-dependent economy. And more than any other island in this chain, Taiwan could be used by a foreign power to threaten the Chinese mainland itself. Retaking Taiwan would blow a massive hole in the U.S. containment strategy  and put China in a more enviable position to threaten Japan. For Beijing, therefore, reunification is a matter of when, not if. This doesnt mean it will attempt to retake the island anytime soon. Attempting to do so would involve vast amphibious landing operations against a well-equipped and deeply entrenched foe, requiring extraordinarily complex coordination between air, land and sea forces, and especially with logistics. The Chinese military has no real experience with this kind of warfare. It would also expose economically invaluable mainland regions to Taiwans considerable firepower.

For the time being, China is following Sun Tzus tried and true strategy of winning without fighting. In recent years, especially since the 2016 electoral win of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wens nominally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, China has doubled down on efforts to squeeze Taiwan diplomatically. For example, its been flooding the few remaining countries that still recognize Taipei as the legitimate Chinese government with aid and investment in exchange for severing ties with the Taiwanese. Taiwan has found itself barred from international bodies like the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization and Interpol. Chinese diplomatic pressure has succeeded in diminishing Taiwanese trade ties with important partners such as Nigeria. These moves may be little more than irritants to Taipei, but they speak to the potential that China can suffocate Taiwan internationally in more substantive ways. Already, for example, Taiwan has been unable to find sellers to help it update its obsolete and minuscule submarine fleet  a critical vulnerability for a country separated by just 80 miles (130 kilometers) of water from a military perpetually planning for an invasion.

The overriding goal of this strategy is to make it easier for Taiwan to one day decide that peaceful reunification is in its own best interests. The ongoing shift in the military balance of power toward Beijing, combined with Taiwanese doubts about U.S. commitments, certainly gives it reason to think Taipei will eventually come around. So too is Taiwans eroding economic edge, as mainland firms increasingly move into the high-tech and advanced manufacturing spaces occupied by their Taiwanese counterparts. And moves like the announcement by Beijings Taiwan Affairs Office in February of a list of 31 incentives to improve the rights of Taiwanese studying, working, living or starting a business on the mainland are intended to hollow out resistance from within.

In theory, China can afford to bide its time to see if this strategy works. As former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping put it, China can wait on reunification for 100 years if necessary. The question is what happens if and when China plunges into a deep socio-economic crisis , hindering both Chinas military trajectory and its ability win over the Taiwanese with soft power  and whether nationalist pressures in such a scenario compel China to take its best shot prematurely.
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Jacqueline Moudeina nominated for Robert F Kennedy Award

CALS nominates lawyer responsible for bringing dictator Hissene Habre to justice for crimes against humanity for the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award

CALS is proud to nominate our friend and colleague Jacqueline Moudeina for the 35th annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. The Award is given to honour an individual or group of people who "stand up to oppression at grave personal risk in the nonviolent pursuit of human rights." With the support of the Bertha Justice Network and Human Rights Watch, CALS has submitted that Ms Moudeina deserves to be celebrated for her human rights work in Chad, particularly in bringing dictator Hissene Habre to justice. Read more about our nomination of this extraordinary individual below.

What are the main human rights issues the nominee is working on to advance? What are the nominee's human rights goals and objectives?

Jacqueline Moudeina is a human rights lawyer from the Republic of Chad who is most well-known for her central role in bringing former dictator Hissene Habre to justice for crimes against humanity. One of the few female lawyers in Chad, Ms Moudeina worked tirelessly for over two decades to support victims of Habres regime. Her remarkable efforts saw him convicted of war crimes, torture, rape and sexual slavery by a special court in Senegal in 2016. This set an incredible precedent as the first time a head of state has been convicted for crimes against humanity in the court of another country.

She continues to combat current day human rights violations and promote the rule of law in Chad as the President of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH). The organisation has a number of focus areas including protecting the rights of women, children, people in detention and victims of torture. Most recently, Ms Moudeina has spoken out against the Chadian governments use of child soldiers in the military and led protests against election irregularities. She is also responsible for the creation of vigilance clubs in villages to protect children from child slavery.

What tools does the nominee use to achieve his/her human rights objectives? Please provide examples

Jacqueline Moudeina makes use of a number of different tools to promote and defend human rights. These include developing awareness-raising campaigns, conducting training, providing legal advice, monitoring detention centres, and drawing attention to rights violations through the media, memoranda and open letters.

Much of her work involves the creative use of strategic litigation and international mechanisms to address human rights abuses, but this is also effectively supported by advocacy campaigns. Ms Moudeinas management of the case against Hissene Habre is a prime example.

It took many years and different strategic approaches from the time Ms Moudeina laid the first charge against Habre in 2000 in Chad to having him prosecuted and convicted where he lived in exile in Senegal since 1990. These years saw the victims of his crimes approaching a multitude of structures, from courts in Chad and Belgium, to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, to the African Union.

When he was finally tried in a special international court in Senegal, Ms Moudeina made sure to link the case to an advocacy campaign. This had the effect of both moving the case forward and also ensuring that the stories of Habres victims came to light in public for the first time in over 25 years. Not only were they able to face their persecutor in court, their voices were heard and echoed far beyond that space. Julia Duchrow has pointed out that this approach has played an important role in helping the people of Chad to come to terms with the past and preventing these sorts of violations from recurring.

What are the nominee's greatest accomplishments in advancing their human rights goals?

Jacqueline Moudeinas management of the Habre case had been described as a masterpiece of strategic litigation which ultimately led to his conviction of human rights abuses including torture, rape and sexual slavery. The court in Senegal sentenced him to life in prison and ordered him to pay millions as compensation for the victims of his crimes.

When Habre appealed the courts finding, the appeals court upheld his conviction and ordered him to pay 123 million in reparations. This was a ground-breaking prosecution and conviction and a world first. It was the first time in history that a former head of state had been convicted of crimes against humanity in the court of another country. Importantly, Habre was convicted in another African country, setting an incredible precedent.

The case has also had extraordinary implications back in Chad. In 2015, a Chadian court prosecuted 22 of Habres security agents and convicted 20 of murder, torture, kidnapping and arbitrary detention. The court ordered the state and the 20 convicted offenders to each pay half of the 112,5 million allotted in victim compensation. Some of these men were still serving in Chads current government.

Among the 20 men convicted was Mahamat Wakeye, who reportedly ordered an assassination attempt on Jacqueline Moudeina. Ms Moudeina survived the grenade attack during a protest against election fraud, though she sustained lifelong injuries to her hearing and continues to live with shrapnel from the grenade in her feet.

Why does your nominee deserve to be chosen as the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Laureate?

Ms Moudeina embodies the values of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and all it stands for. She has stood up against a man responsible for the rape torture and murder of some 40,000 people in her country. She has done so at great personal risk over many years with little hope of success.

Jacqueline Moudeina has faced impossible obstacles in trying to hold her government and former dictator accountable for the worst kinds of human rights violations and abuses of power. She has had her office ransacked and her car stolen; she has been followed and threatened; she has even endured violent attacks and an attempt on her life. Nevertheless, she persisted. Over the decades, she has never lost her resolve to seek justice for those who suffered human rights violations. She has fought peacefully and strategically against those abusing their power. And she has won.

Ms Moudeina deserves to be celebrated for her work and supported as she continues her determined pursuit of justice leading an NGO at the forefront of promoting human rights in Chad. She has made a remarkable difference not only in the lives of victims of human rights abuses, but for ordinary people around the world who may be protected by the precedent she has had a hand in setting.

Previous awards

Articles and news items

Letters of support
Arizona law spells out about a dozen medical conditions that can qualify someone for a medical marijuana card. Autism isn't one of them.

On World Autism Awareness Day, a group of Valley moms went to the state capitol to press for changes that would allow children with autism to qualify for medical patient cards.

Currently, parents wishing to administer cannabis to their children must get them qualified on other medical conditions.

Brandy Williams got her son Logan qualified for a patient card because of his seizures. But she says a few drops of cannabis oil each day has dramatically improved his autism.

Before cannabis, she says Logan was non-verbal and prone to bashing his head dozens of times a day. Now, she said he's speaking, reading and attending school full-time.

To qualify for medical marijuana, patients must have a "debilitating medical condition" but Arizona law gives the Department of Health Services the final say, and there is skepticism among the medical community.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Autism Society don't support the use of cannabis to treat autism-related disorders, in part because of a lack of research on the topic.

"If autism isn't a debilitating condition, I don't know what is," said Williams, the president of Arizona Moms Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism.

Williams said four states list autism as a qualifying condition. Three other states, including California, allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana as they see fit.

Erica Smith said anything has to be better than the traditional antipsychotic medication her 6-year-old autistic son tried.

"With that treatment, within 48 hours, our son became manic," she said. "Our son was trying to harm himself. He was jumping off furniture, running into walls."

She's getting ready to give her son Enoch marijuana for the first time, technically for his seizures, but she thinks other families with autism should have the same chance.

"There are so many people that we know are already on cannabis that they've seen tremendous results for their kids, and we just want to see that for our son as well," she said. "We just want him to be as comfortable in his own body as he can be."
Prominent California lawmakers were watching closely Tuesday's shooting at YouTube's headquarters, where police say at least one person was dead and four were injured.

The deceased, a female, may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound but that is still under investigation, San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, whose district includes YouTube's headquarters, tweeted that the country must take action to end gun violence.

"I am shocked and saddened to hear about another mass shooting, this one at YouTube in my District. I am following developments and am sending prayers to the victims and survivors. We must take action and #EndGunViolence," she tweeted.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein also tweeted about the shooting.

"My stomach sinks with yet another active shooter alert. I'm praying for the safety of everyone at YouTube headquarters," she tweeted.

Sen. Kamala Harris, also a Democrat, tweeted that she was grateful to the first responders.

"Actively monitoring the shooting incident at YouTube in San Bruno. Grateful to law enforcement and first responders on the scene," she tweeted.

CNN has reached out to the lawmakers' offices for additional details on the shooting and has not yet received a response.
Two children from Taberg are facing charges after they allegedly prank called New York State Police.

Police say around 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 2, the state police communications desk in Oneida received multiple calls from a male attempting to order food. Shortly after that they received a call from the same number from a female requesting help, claiming her mother is on the floor. Police say they heard a scream and then the call disconnected.

Police say a 14-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were misusing emergency services by prank calling state police.

The two children were each arrested and charged with misdemeanor third-degree falsely reporting and incident. They were issued appearance tickets for Oneida County Family Court.
Three people are facing drug charges following a months-long joint investigation between the Oneida County Sheriffs Office's Narcotics Unit and the Herkimer Police Department, according to Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol.

On March 28, narcotics investigators executed a search warrant at 1007 Belle Ave. in Utica, where they found and seized cocaine, crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and cash. Maciol says 34-year-old Christopher Dixon was arrested and charged with felony third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was arraigned and sent to the Oneida County Jail without bail.

On April 3, members of the Herkimer and Mohawk Police Department Special Response Team, and members of the Ilion Police Department Special Response Team, executed a search warrant at 720 West Walnut St. in the village of Herkimer. Maciol says investigators found crack cocaine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and cash inside the home, and four children were also found to be living in the home that drugs were being distributed from.

Michael Dixon, 33, and Nicole Levett, 35, were each charged with felony third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Dixon and Levett were both arraigned in the Town of Herkimer Court and sent to the Herkimer County Jail on $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond.

Maciol says the following agencies also assisted throughout the investigation: Rome Police Department Special Investigations Unit and K-9 Unit, the Utica Police Department Metro Unit and TAC Unit, the Oneida County Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit, the Drug Enforcement Administration Syracuse Resident Office Task Force, the Herkimer Fire Department, the Little Falls Fire Department, MOVAC, and Herkimer and Oneida County Child Protective Services.
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on a shooting at YouTube headquarters (all times local):

2:25 p.m.

The White House says President Donald Trump has been briefed on a shooting at YouTube headquarters in Northern California and that officials are monitoring it.

Coroner's spokesman Thomas McGovern says investigators were called to the scene Tuesday afternoon. He wouldn't say if anyone was dead.

One hospital in Northern California says it has received four to five patients from the shooting. Police in the city of San Bruno have confirmed an active shooter.

Television images showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they were leaving the building. Officers then patted down people grouped outside.

___

2:10 p.m.

Northern California's Stanford Hospital says it has received four to five patients from a shooting at YouTube headquarters.

Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Kim did not have information on their conditions or their wounds.

Police in the city of San Bruno have confirmed an active shooter. City Manager Connie Jackson says multiple 911 calls reported a shooting and that police and fire officials have responded.

Television images showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they were leaving the building. Officers then patted down people grouped outside.

___

1:50 p.m.





Police in Northern California say they're responding to an active shooter at YouTube headquarters.

The San Bruno Police Department told people on Facebook to stay away from the area Tuesday. There was no other immediate information.

Google, which owns the online video website, posted on Twitter that the company is coordinating with authorities.

City Manager Connie Jackson says there have been multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting and that police and fire officials have responded.

Television images showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they were leaving the building. Officers then patted down people grouped outside.

___

1:35 p.m.





City Manager Connie Jackson says there have been multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting and that police and fire officials have responded.

TV helicopter video shows officers patting down people grouped outside a building and police vehicles surrounding the area. San Bruno police said they could not provide more information.

The world's biggest online video website is located on a suburban campus.

Calls and emails to YouTube representatives were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York will receive millions of dollars in a newly signed federal spending measure for railways, highways, drinking water and broadband internet.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer highlighted the funds in an interview last week with The Associated Press. Republican President Donald Trump signed the $1.3 trillion spending bill into law last month.

The measure includes funding for water and sewer lines, upstate airports and rural broadband internet. It also sets aside money to fight addiction, upgrade railways and combat invasive species in the Great Lakes.

There's also new funding for an Air National Guard drone training program near Syracuse and a federally funded laser lab at the University of Rochester.

Schumer says it's one of the best federal spending bills in years for investments in New York state.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Rome - The 2018 trout fishing season is open. Although fishing conditions aren't the best during the early season, it will improve as the weather warms. Improved water quality has led to a rise in trout abundance across the state. The DEC's spring stockings will include 1.72 million brown trout, 377-thousand rainbow trout, and 158-thousand brook trout.

We stopped at the Rome Fish Hatchery and spoke with Manager Scott Wanner, to see how much fish actually stay in our area.

So out of the 650,000 they all get stocked and then 325,000 are in your local. these are brown trout, that are in your local streams. Oriskany Creek, Saquoit Creek, the Mohawk River, West Canada are kinda some of the hot spots in our local area to fish, says Wanner.

These fish will help make the angling experience more enjoyable for the estimated 647,000 anglers in New York State.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  Purdue University Global's website is now up and running. Purdue Global was created when Purdue acquired online-based Kaplan University.

Related: Purdue's Kaplan deal received HLC approval



The launch of Purdue Global wrapped up late Monday morning. Purdue also unveiled its new Purdue Global logo during the launch.

Betty Vandenbosh, chancellor of Purdue Global, said the online venture has been her life over the past several months. She expressed the importance of educating adults older than 24.

Vandenbosh said helping that underserved group get a higher education will help Indiana and America.

Purdue Global has gotten a lot of backlash and has even raised some concerns about what it will do to Purdue University's reputation.

Related: Some Purdue Senate members hope HLC votes no to Kaplan deal

Vandenbosh said it will all take time but she has no doubt it will only do good things for the schools reputation.

Two students, who are also university employees, said had it not been for Purdue University Global, they probably would have never gone back to school.

Kim Joy smiled as she thinks about this next phase of her life. She said she always wanted to go back to school, but like most working adults, the timing was never right.

"You know my son is grown now and I'll have a lot of time to put into school, focus more as an adult versus you know a young student," said Joy.

Joy is a Purdue University employee, and because of that, she knows the acquisition did not come without some concerns.

Maile Quinton, another Purdue employee, felt some of that push-back too. She hopes in time, people are able to focus on the bigger picture.

"It wasn't made lightly and it wasn't made by one person, this was a collective decision for the good of all the students and for that population that they talked about that hasn't been reached," said Quinton.

Quinton got her undergraduate degree from Purdue and eventually came back to work there. Like Joy, she always wanted to go back to school and said life got in the way.

However looking back, she doesn't see it has a bad thing. In fact, those skills combined with the convenience of online school is what inspired her to go back.

"The same time you are working your job you are studying more within what applies to your job and so you can kind of bounce ideas off of both places," said Quinton.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  The year 2040 seems like a long way off, but the West Lafayette City Council is in the process of approving a project that will last that long.

The city is partnering with Purdue University to expand the west end of campus, towards U.S. 231. The development will welcome new living space along with academic buildings. West Lafayette also plans to welcome a business district on the west side of U.S. 231.

As it stands, the TIF 2 zone, or 231 Redevelopment Project, could nearly double the city's revenue. Mayor John Dennis said a project like this is rare.

"I get around the state. You know, I go to meetings and I meet with mayors from around the state of Indiana. We are the envy of almost every mayor I interact with," said Dennis. "Nobody gets this kind of opportunity, this doesn't happen. When you think about the timeline we're talking about doing this in, the road itself being done in three years. A total investment of almost a billion dollars in 10 to 20 years, that is absolutely unheard of."

The city plans on gathering input and information with consultants for the next few months. The current project is estimated to cost nearly $107 million.






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Companies team up to site IMSR in Idaho

31 March 2018

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Terrestrial Energy USA and Energy Northwest have agreed a memorandum of understanding on the terms of the possible siting, construction and operation of an Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) at a site at the Idaho National Laboratory in southeastern Idaho.

Terrestrial Energy USA is an affiliate of Terrestrial Energy Inc and is developing the IMSR for deployment in the US market. Molten salt reactors use fuel dissolved in a molten fluoride or chloride salt which functions as both the reactor's fuel and its coolant, meaning that such a reactor could not suffer from a loss of coolant leading to a meltdown. Terrestrial's IMSR integrates the primary reactor components, including the graphite moderator, into a sealed and replaceable reactor core. The reactor can produce 400 MWt (190 MWe) of energy, and is designed as a modular reactor for factory fabrication.

Terrestrial says the IMSR can be brought to market in the 2020s. The company last year began a feasibility study to site a commercial IMSR at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories' Chalk River site, and the reactor design has already completed the first phase of the Canadian Nuclear Regulatory Commission's vendor design review. It announced in January that it plans to submit an application for design certification or for a construction permit to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission by October 2019.

Terrestrial Energy USA CEO Simon Irish said the agreement with Energy Northwest was a positive step towards the deployment of the IMSR.

"Energy Northwest's considerable expertise in the region will contribute substantially to the commercial success of an IMSR power plant under consideration at the INL site," he said.

Energy Northwest is a not-for-profit joint operating agency comprising 27 public power member utilities from across Washington state. The agency develops, owns and operates a diverse mix of electricity generating resources, including the Columbia nuclear power plant, and says it continually explores new generation projects to meet its members' needs.

"As a major producer of emission-free power, Energy Northwest is excited to examine how this innovative reactor can meet regional energy demand through efficient and clean energy generation," said Mark Reddemann, Energy Northwest CEO. "Terrestrial Energy's IMSR has transformative potential in electric power and industrial heat markets," he added.

Energy Northwest in 2013 signed teaming agreements with NuScale Power and Utah Associated Municiapl Power Systems, as part of the Western Initiative for Nuclear collaboration studying the demonstration and deployment of NuScale small modular reactor power plants. A preferred site for the first NuScale SMR, also at Idaho National Laboratory, was identified in 2016 with an initial plant projected to be operational by 2024.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Reactor vessels installed at US, Chinese units

03 April 2018

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The same construction milestone - installation of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) - has been reached at unit 4 of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in the US state of Georgia and at unit 5 of the Hongyanhe plant in China's Liaoning province.

The RPV of Vogtle 4 is lowered into the unit's containment building (Image: Georgia Power)

The RPV was lifted into its permanent location in Vogtle 4's nuclear island on 29 March, Georgia Power has announced. The RPV, which is nearly 11 metres high, will house the reactor core and associated components including the reactor vessel internals.

The component - weighing 306 tonnes - was fabricated by Doosan Heavy Industries in South Korea. It was shipped through the Port of Savannah and arrived at the construction site via train on a specialised rail car. The operation to lift it into place was carried out using one of the largest cranes in the world.

Work will now begin to place bulk commodities such as piping, pumps and cabling throughout Vogtle 4's reactor system. Preparations will also begin for the installation of the first of the unit's steam generators.

Georgia Power - a subsidiary of Southern Company - owns 45.7% of the project to construct two AP1000 units at the Vogtle site, near Waynesboro, with co-owners Oglethorpe Power (30%), MEAG Power (22.7%) and Dalton Utilities (1.6%). Following constructor Westinghouse's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2017, Georgia Power in August filed a recommendation with the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to complete construction of the two AP1000 units as the most economic choice for customers. In December, the PSC unanimously approved Georgia Power's recommendation to complete Vogtle units 3 and 4.

Construction of Vogtle unit 3 began in March 2013 and unit 4 in November of that year. The units will be the first in the USA to use AP1000 technology following the announcement last August by Scana Corporation subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas of its decision to cease construction of two AP1000 reactors at VC Summer.

Vogtle unit 3 - which had its RPV installed in November 2016 - is scheduled to enter commercial operation in November 2021, with unit 4 following in November 2022.

Hongyanhe 5 shares milestone

The reactor pressure vessel of unit 5 of China's Hongyanhe plant was installed on 30 March, plant constructor China Nuclear Industry 23 Construction Company Limited (CNI23) has announced.

Installation of Hongyanhe 5's RPV (Image: CNI23)

The vessel - measuring 10m in height, 4.6m in diameter and weighing 261 tonnes - arrived by ship at the Hongyanhe site on 18 March. On arrival, the component - manufactured by Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Equipment Co Ltd - was transported directly to the nuclear island gantry of unit 5.

Unit 5 is the first of two 1080 MWe CGN-designed ACPR-1000 reactors that will form the second phase of the Hongyanhe plant. When the unit is in operation, the RPV will work under pressure of 155 bar at a temperature of over 300C.

Construction of Phase I of the plant, comprising four CPR-1000 pressurised water reactors, began in August 2009. Units 1 and 2 have been in commercial operation since June 2013 and May 2014, respectively, while unit 3 entered commercial operation in August 2015 and unit 4 in September 2016.

Construction of unit 5 began in March 2015, with construction of unit 6 starting in July the same year. Installation of the reactor pressure vessel of unit 6 is scheduled to begin by the end of this year. CGN said the second phase of the project is planned to be completed in 2021.

The Hongyanhe plant is owned and operated by Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co, a joint venture between CGN and State Power Investment Corporation, each holding a 45% stake, with the Dalian Municipal Construction Investment Co holding the remaining 10%.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Russia starts building Turkey's first nuclear power plant

03 April 2018

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan today attended via videolink from Ankara a ceremony to mark the pouring of first safety-related concrete for unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. Putin arrived today for a two-day working visit to the Turkish capital.

Putin and Erdogan in Ankara today (Image: Turkish presidential website)

The Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK) yesterday awarded a construction licence for Akkuyu NPP, Turkey's first nuclear power plant, which is being built in Mersin province, in southern Turkey.

The USD20 billion project to build the four-unit, 4800 MWe plant is part of Erdogan's '2023 Vision' marking 100 years since the founding of modern Turkey and is intended to reduce the country's dependence on energy imports. The first unit is scheduled to start operations that year, with the other three units following by 2025. The plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.

Erdogan noted that, between 2003 and 2017, the Turkish economy had grown on average by 5.8%, and last year alone by 7.4%. As the country strives to become one of the ten richest countries in the world, energy supplies will be "crucial" and the new nuclear power plant "of great importance", he added.

"Currently, 31 countries produce a significant amount of electricity from 450 nuclear power plants. Also, in 16 countries, 55 nuclear power plants are under construction. And today we can say that the Akkuyu power station, the foundation of which we are laying today, is the 56th," he said.

"In 2023, we will put into operation the first unit and Turkey will thereby join those countries that use nuclear energy  On the anniversary of our republic, we will crown this work with success."

More than 500 people attended the ceremony to launch construction (Image: Rosatom)

Putin said: "We have an ambitious task - to launch the first power unit in 2023, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey. Together with my dear friend Recep Tayyip Erdogan, we have agreed that we will do everything in order to fulfill this task.

"I am confident that the joint coordinated work of Russian and Turkish specialists will enable meeting all the schedules on time. And the successful implementation of this project will be a symbol of the dynamic, progressive development of Russian-Turkish interaction and partnership, Russian-Turkish friendship."

Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachov said in a statement the Russian state nuclear corporation issued today: "Rosatom is building in Turkey a cutting edge, tried and tested (Generation III+) nuclear power plant featuring four power units based on the Russian VVER-1200 design which meets the world's highest safety standards.

"The model we are building at Akkuyu is already being built in a series. Unit 6 of Novovoronezh NPP and unit 1 of Leningrad NPP II, based on the same design, are already up and running, with the former in a commercial operation and the latter launched in February. The safe and efficient operation of these units underscores the reliability of our technologies."

Licence



Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency quoted a TAEK statement announcing the application process for a construction licence for the Akkuyu project that had started three years ago had been completed.

Turkey formally launched construction of its first nuclear power plant with the pouring of concrete for the sub-base foundation of the nuclear island late last year. A ceremony held at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant site to mark the launch on 10 December followed the issuance of a limited construction permit. Rosatom said then that it expected to receive a construction licence in March, after which first safety-related concrete for the plant will be laid. This would be the official start of the Akkuyu plant's construction, it said.

JSC Akkuyu Nuklear, the Russian-owned company responsible for the project, announced yesterday that it had been designated as a strategic investor.

"A renewed 'Strategic Investment' certificate was issued to JSC Akkuyu Nuclear following the company's submission of an application to Turkey's Ministry of Economy. The certificate was issued on the basis of the law 'On amendments to the law on taxation, certain laws and regulations in the status of law', which came into force on 27 March 2018 after being approved by the Turkish parliament, the Mejlis," the company said.

"Granting of the certificate is of major importance to the economics of the project. In particular, it provides for tax reductions and exemptions (including from income tax and value added tax), as well as custom duties exemption," it added.

Created in 2010, JSC Akkuyu Nuklear is a 100% owned subsidiary of JSC Rusatom Energo International (REIN), which is itself a subsidiary of Rosatom. REIN was established in 2011 to promote Russian nuclear technologies on the global market.

Rosatom has said it is looking for local partners to take a 49% stake in the project company, but the Interfax news agency recently cited Likhachov as saying the sale was likely to be postponed from this year to 2019. Rosatom has also said the project offers significant opportunities for Turkish suppliers, with about 35-40% of all construction work - with a value of USD6-8 billion - to be conducted by them.

The Akkuyu NPP project is based on an inter-governmental agreement signed between Russia and Turkey in May 2010. In October 2011, JSC Akkuyu Nuclear received a site licence and in November 2013 its site report received approval.

Russia is using a build-own-operate model for the project, whereby it provides the financing, operation and management of the plant.

The Kremlin said the two heads of state would also take part today in the seventh meeting of the Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council, which will examine the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the implementation of joint strategic projects, in particular in the energy sector, as well as current regional and international affairs.

Russia's energy minister, Alexander Novak, told the Anadolu news agency yesterday that construction of the Akkuyu plant was on schedule.

"Our company was waiting for a construction licence and now we have received information that permission will be given," Novak was quoted as saying.

Novak also commented on another Russia-Turkey energy project - the TurkStream dual pipeline that will aim to transport 15.75 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Canadian isotope reactor enters retirement

03 April 2018

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Canada's National Research Universal (NRU) - one of the largest and most versatile research reactors in the world - has been permanently shut down. The reactor at the Chalk River site ceased production in October 2016, but had since remained on standby.

NRU (Image: CNL)

Operator Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) announced yesterday that the reactor had been "quietly shut down for the last time" at 7.00pm on 31 March. The reactor will now be placed into a "state of storage" prior to decommissioning.

NRU began operations in 1957. In 2000, the Canadian government announced that the reactor would cease routine production of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) in 31 October 2016. However, in February 2015 the government announced its decision to support an extension of the reactor's operations until October 2016. Since then, NRU has remained on standby "in case of a significant shortage which could not be mitigated by other means", AECL said.

Chalk River operating licence



The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has approved CNL's application to renew the operating licence for its Chalk River nuclear campus. The new licence is valid until the end of March 2028.



"This is exceptional news for the future of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, the hard-working professionals who work at out Chalk River campus, and more broadly for our local communities here in the Ottawa Valley and the nuclear industry in Canada," said CNL President and CEO Mark Lesinski.



"Our application was based on a track record of solid safety and environmental performance; this new licence reflects both our current efforts and our future plans to create a stronger, more resilient and enduring national laboratory with a revitalised talent pool, facilities and infrastructure," he added.

The reactor produced about 40% of world supply of Mo-99 - the precursor of technetium-99m (Tc-99m), the most widely used isotope in nuclear medicine. Research reactors in Australia, Europe, Russia and South Africa have since met demand.

NRU was built not only to supply radioisotopes but also as a major neutron physics research facility and to provide engineering research and development support for Canada's nuclear power program. The reactor operated at power levels up to 135 MWt and had an annual capacity factor of around 80%.

Since announcing in 2000 that it would cease Mo-99 production at NRU, the Canadian government has promoted a strategy to develop alternative sources of supply for the vital medical radioisotope in which it has invested some CAD60 million. A project to build two 10 MWth MAPLE research reactors at Chalk River, which would have been able to replace most of the radioisotope production from NRU, was abandoned in 2008.

In a joint statement, CNL President and CEO Mark Lesinski and AECL President and CEO Richard Sexton said: "The contributions to science and humanity made by this reactor and the team within are immeasurable. Canada provided lifesaving medical isotopes to the benefit of over a billion people; we built and supported the continued operation of a nuclear fleet that has provided clean, reliable energy to Canada and the world; we have supported research that has led to Nobel prizes, grown our understanding of the world we live in, and enabled technological and industrial advances that we enjoy each and every day. In short, NRU and the team have made the world a better place."

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by World Nuclear News

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A young man from the United Kingdom came to the United States, where he scammed luxury hotels in Washington DC, according to police.

21-year-old Nicholas James Cooper from Merseyside told people in Washington DC that he was from London.

He ordered expensive wine and other alcoholic beverages as well as exotic meat.

Instead of paying for his meals, Cooper fled.

Cooper was detained multiple times by hotel staff and the police but was released by a judge without bail.

DC hotels circulated Coopers photo and warned staff not to serve him anything.

According to the police investigation, on one occasion, Cooper went to the Ritz-Carlton, where he ordered lamb.

He then ordered a $150 bottle of wine and $1,200 bottle of whiskey, which was kept locked in a safe.

Instead of paying for his meal, Cooper fled.

Cooper was later caught by the Secret Service after walking drunk near the White House.

When police detained him, Cooper told them to shoot him.

Several days later, Cooper went to the Willard InterContinental hotel and the Old Ebbitt Grill, where he bought expensive meat and alcoholic beverages.

He again fled without paying.

Police were surprised to learn that the judge has released him from custody without bail.

Cooper then went to the Hay-Adams hotel, where he bought oysters with a canceled credit card.

When hotel staff called the police, Cooper fled.

Cooper was also accused of breaking a glass door at the Embassy Row Hotel.

Cooper was charged with 6 counts of theft.
People were surprised to see a man with a knife lodged in his back walk into a bar and ordering one last drink before being taken to the hospital.

Police in Beerwah, Australia, said that they are investigating a stabbing that unfolded on Saturday night outside the Beerwah Hotel.

According to the police investigation, a 20-year-old man and his 27-year-old friend went into the bar at the Beerwah Hotel, where they ordered drinks.

After they got drunk, the 20-year-old man began fighting with a waitress.

The younger man was ordered to leave after which he and his friend left.

Once they were outside, the two friends began fighting with each other.

At some point, the 20-year-old man pulled out a knife and stabbed the 27-year-old man in the back.

Instead of seeking immediate medical attention, the victim went back to the bar to order one last beer before being taken to the hospital, according to the Sunshine Coast Daily.

The victim refused to press charges against his friend.

So far, no arrests have been made.

The victim is recovering at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, where he is said to be in stable condition.
Two decades after helping to railroad her to jail, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott last week launched a book by Senator Pauline Hanson, the leader of the rabidly anti-immigrant One Nation Party.

At the launch, Abbott not only personally embraced Hanson but paid tribute to her political career. He declared that Australia would be a better country today if her policies, which include the demonization of Asian and Muslim immigrants, had been followed over the past two decades.

The book, a compilation of Hansons speeches, is titled Pauline: In Her Own Words. The cover photograph features Hanson unfurling herself from a black burqa. This reprises her provocative stunt in the Senate last year, when she entered the chamber wearing the full-length Islamic headdress in a bid to whip up anti-Muslim prejudice. Hanson advocates banning the burqa.

Hansons book features her 1996 maiden speech in parliament, in which she denigrated Asians, Aborigines and welfare recipients, and her 2016 maiden Senate speech, when she declared the country was in danger of being swamped by Muslims, dominated by sharia law, crippled by welfare handouts and overcome by terrorist violence. Australia was also being taken over by the oppressive communist Chinese government via land and asset purchases, the kind of foreign takeover that Australians had fought and died in wars to prevent.

Abbotts decision to launch the book marks a sharp shift to the right within the political establishment, in which Abbott has played a key role for three decades, to promote nationalism and xenophobia to divert and divide the working class. This mirrors similar developments in America and Europe that have led to the victory of Donald Trump, and the prominence of neo-fascist formations like the National Front in France and the Alternative for Germany.

These far-right movements are exploiting the collapse of support for the traditional working class parties and trade unionsin Australia, the Labor Partythat are responsible for suppressing the class struggle for decades and imposing ever-greater austerity.

Abbott obviously harbours ambitions to oust Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who deposed him in 2015. But his move has implications that go far beyond Turnbulls precarious Liberal-National Coalition government. It indicates a bid to forge a right-wing nationalist constituency, and possibly a new political formation, in anticipation of the governments likely defeat or collapse.

With the opposition Labor Party widely discredited in the working class, Hanson is being brought forward, as she first was during the late 1990s, to divert the social discontent and political disaffection in reactionary directionsblaming refugees and immigrants for falling wages and living conditions.

Abbott heaped praise on Hanson and her policies, saying she had always had the guts to speak her mind. He declared: Lets face it, we should scale back immigration and we should be more proud of our country  And we do have a problem with Islamism that does require decent Muslims to stand up to the death to the infidel extremists.

Abbott called for the reversal of the Coalitions policy of allocating its election voting preferences against One Nation. This backfired on the Liberals in recent state elections in Western Australia and Queensland, where their open support for Hansons poisonous chauvinism contributed to narrow wins by the Labor Party.

Abbott pointed to the fact that One Nation has collaborated closely with the Coalition since the government narrowly survived the 2016 double dissolution election. We would not have been able to pass any legislation in the current parliament but for the constructive work of Pauline Hanson and her team of senators, he said.

Despite posturing as outsiders championing the interests of impoverished layers of the population, Hanson and her two remaining fellow One Nation senators have provided or offered key votes to the government in the Senate, including on welfare cuts and the proposed slashing of company tax rates for big business.

Abbott side-stepped questions about whether he was seeking to oust Turnbull. But he made plain his ambition to return to political leadership. I think that public life is a vocation, he said. Its not a job, its not a career, its a calling.

For her part, Hanson praised Abbott for not walking away from parliamentary politics when Turnbull deposed him as prime minister. She drew a parallel with her own return to prominence at the 2016 election after years of failing to win a seat. Its a clear indication that we have stuck with what we believe in to work for the Australian people, Hanson said.

Abbotts political embrace of Hanson is all the more revealing because he played a central role, as a senior minister in the Howard Coalition government, in orchestrating the machinations against One Nation that culminated in Hanson being jailed on trumped-up electoral fraud charges in 2003.

Hanson and One Nation co-founder David Ettridge served 11 weeks of a three-year jail sentence before an appeal court overturned the convictions. Soon after her release from jail, Hanson said: Heaven help this country if Tony Abbott is ever in control of it. I detest the man.

Abbott and the Howard government had no disagreement with Hansons policies. In fact, they adopted virtually all of them: refugee rights were axed, democratic rights attacked, welfare programs slashed and Aboriginal funding cut. But when One Nation became a threat to the governments social base and to the stability of the two-party system, the government and the media ruthlessly set out to destroy it, utilising secret corporate slush funds, dirty tricks, police raids and ultimately criminal prosecutions.

Now, Hanson is being elevated to centre stage under conditions of a far deeper economic, social and political crisis. Intensifying cuts to wages and the growing danger of US trade war and war with China, Australian capitalisms largest export market, are fuelling political instability that has led to the fall of five prime ministers since 2007.

Turnbulls government is showing signs of imploding. These include the ongoing nationalist purge of parliament via a constitutional provision that bars dual citizenship, and the recent removal of deputy prime minister and National Party leader Barnaby Joyce via a supposed sex scandal.

Abbotts rapprochement with Hanson is part of a wider turn by the ruling class to promote her nationalist and divisive program as a means of bringing forward even more right-wing and authoritarian forms of rule.

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Australian political establishment embraces Pauline Hansons One Nation

[16 September 2016]
Lawyers acting on behalf of whistleblowers have called for the Electoral Commission to investigate if Vote Leave broke spending rules in the 2016 referendum on Britains withdrawal from the European Union (EU).

Vote Leave was the official representative of those advocating withdrawal. Its leading members included Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. Now foreign secretary and environment minister, respectively, they are the lead proponents of a hard-Brexit policy in Theresa Mays Conservative government.

The Electoral Commission has already conducted two investigations into claims of Vote Leave wrongdoing and cleared the group. Under pressure from anti-Brexit groups, including the Good Law Project, it has opened a third investigation.

The latest accusations are based on statements by former Cambridge Analytica employee Chris Wylie and Shahmir Sanni, a volunteer with the pro-Brexit student group BeLeave.

Tamsin Allen, from legal firm Bindmans, said, [T]here is a strong suspicion that the campaigns were very closely linked and coordinated, in which case it may be that Vote Leave spent huge sums unlawfully and its declaration of expenses is incorrect.

The allegation is that Vote Leave circumvented electoral spending limits by donating 625,000 to BeLeave, which is said to be essentially part of the same campaign group. If this can be established, it would take Vote Leave spending over the 7 million legal limit.

Allen said there was ground to accuse Vote Leaves campaign director, Dominic Cummings, of having conspired to break the law, due to discussions he had with BeLeave about its activities. It is also argued that Vote Leave and BeLeave shared the same office and retained the services of Canadian-based Aggregate IQ (AIQ).

AIQ is accused of being part of efforts by Cambridge Analytica to harvest Facebook profiles with the aim of influencing both the 2016 US Presidential election and the Brexit referendum the same year.

Allen said there are also grounds to investigate Vote Leaves national organiser, Stephen Parkinson, and Vote Leaves head of outreach, Cleo Watson, who are both now advisers to the government.

Vote Leave has rejected any wrongdoing, with Cummings stating that he will file formal complaints to the Electoral Commission and the Information Commissioners Office against spending by the Remain campaign.

The Electoral Commissions latest investigation testifies to the deep tensions within the British bourgeoisie over Brexit. The referendum itself was conceived by then-Prime Minister David Cameron as a means of settling the faction fight within the Tory Party over UK relations with the EU, which, in turn, are bound up with broader foreign policy considerations.

The majority of the British bourgeoisieincluding its financial and military/intelligence sectorswere in favour of a Remain vote. However, the Leave campaignled by the Tory right and the UK Independence Partywas able to successfully exploit hostility to the EU, and the British establishment, to secure 51 percent in favour of Leave.

Last week Wylie, a Canadian citizen, gave evidence before Parliaments Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. Ostensibly set up in January 2017 to investigate fake news, its real purpose is to manufacture a pretext for British and US imperialisms provocations against Russia, while censoring and closing down alternative media sources that would expose its plans.

Wylie began work for SCL Group 2013the parent company of Cambridge Analyticain London. He says that as research director he helped establish Cambridge Analytica, with funds from Robert Mercer, the billionaire hedge fund manager and Donald Trump supporter. He left Cambridge Analytica in 2014 and told the select committee he felt shock and horror at Trumps win in 2016.

Soon after Trumps inauguration, he began working with the Guardian and Observer newspapers on exposures of Cambridge Analyticas data-gathering programme that included harvesting the Facebook profiles of 50 million people.

Wylie told the select committee that such activities may have altered the outcome of both the US presidential election and the Brexit referendum.

Claims by AIQ that it is a separate entity from SCL and Cambridge Analytica are weasel words, he said. There was a common plan and common purpose between AIQ and the Leave campaigns, said Wylie.

Describing AIQ as a proxy money-laundering vehicle, Wylie said that Cummingsjust went round and found places he could launder money through to give it to AIQ so they could overspend. And that is my genuinely held belief.

An AIQ employee had told him that the relationship between Vote Leave and BeLeave was totally illegal because you are not allowed to coordinate between different campaigns and not declare it. He said, I dont feel confident in the result [of the referendum] as a result.

Wylie presented no evidence to back up his claims. Asked directly if he could supply any, he replied, [N]ot in the form of documentation.

Challenged as to whether 625,000 could really have decided the outcome of the referendum, Wylie argued that just 600,000 people decided the referendum between Leave and Remain, and it was incredibly reasonable to say it had.

Wylie has been denounced as a charlatan and a liar. Cambridge Analytica denied the allegations and said that Wylie had been a part-time contractor who left the organisation in 2014 and would not have knowledge of the companys workings beyond that date. It was also pointed out that, while Wylie says his accusations are motivated by objections to data harvesting techniques, the whistleblower had offered to supply his own services to Vote Leave in January 2016 for the referendum but was turned down.

Simultaneous with Wylies statements, BeLeave whistleblower Shahmir Sanni told the Observer that he had passed information to the Electoral Commission that lead figures in the Vote Leave campaign violated referendum spending rules and attempted to destroy the evidence.

Sanni, formerly secretary of BeLeave and now employed by the right-wing TaxPayers Alliance campaign group, alleges that the 625,000 donation Vote Leave made to BeLeave was not a genuine donation and that it was channelled to AIQ as part of a coordinated operation. He also alleges leading Vote Leave personnelincluding Cummingstried to destroy evidence of this coordination by removing themselves from the Google Drive both campaign groups shared. Cummings said this was factually wrong and libellous.

Wylie also claimed that Facebook was aware of the large-scale harvesting of users data. His allegations were used by the select committee to repeat its demand that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg answer the charges in person.

The serious questions raised about the vast amounts of data at the unchecked disposal of Google, Facebook and Twitter are being used to bring the corporate giants into even closer alignment with the demands of the US and British intelligence agencies for sweeping Internet censorship measures.

At the forefront of this campaign are the Guardian, Observer and New York Times in alignment with the Democratic Party in the US and the Blairite Labour right in Britain.

As Wylie finished his testimony, it was reported that Zuckerberg had finally agreed to demands by leading Democrats to testify before Congress.
The supporters group of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) in India will hold a public meeting in Chennai on April 8 against Internet censorship.

Google has modified its search algorithms to target the World Socialist Web Site and other socialist, anti-war and progressive web sites. Facebook has made changes to limit access to news, except what it terms authoritative news.

Another indication of the dangerous advance of Internet censorship is the decision by the American payment-processing corporation PayPal to block online sales of the WSWS pamphlet, The Struggle Against Imperialism and for Workers Power in Iran.

The attack on Internet access is global. Under the guise of opposing hate speech and defending national security, the right-wing Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Internet technology companies to censor selected web sites and social media accounts.

According to recent data, Facebook blocked more than a thousand social media URLs during the first 11 months of 2017 on the recommendation of an Indian government committee dealing with objectionable content. Blocked accounts include political criticism and videos of human rights violations, such as in Kashmir.

Modi has cemented a close strategic partnership with the US government. His government has transformed India into a frontline state of Washingtons war drive against China. As opposition grows to attacks on social rights and the pro-US shift, New Delhi fears Facebook and social media being used to organise opposition and resistance.

At the meeting, speakers will discuss the international attacks on Internet freedom, including in India, and its dangerous political implications for the working class and youth. We invite workers, youth and intellectuals concerned about democratic rights to attend this important meeting and participate in the discussion.

The meeting will be conducted in English and Tamil and live streamed through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wsws.supporters.india/.

Meeting venue: Trust Conference Hall, 38, College Road,

Next to the Union Bank of India, opposite the Good Shepherd School,

Nungambakkam, Chennai, 600 006

Date and time: Sunday April 8, 4 pm
Statements by whistleblower Christopher Wylie to the parliamentary Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on alleged activities by Cambridge Analytica were given wide coverage in the British media, especially the Guardian.

Allegations that Cambridge Analyticawhich backed Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential electionreceived Facebook data collected without users consent raise serious democratic issues. The campaign against it, however, has nothing to do with redressing these concerns.

This is made clear by the far more damaging allegation made by Wylie to the select committee that has largely been passed over to date.

The WSWS has reported on the real pedigree of Cambridge Analyticas parent company, the behavioural research and strategic communication company, SCL.

Asked by the parliamentary select committee if there were other data companies operating similarly to Cambridge Analytica, Wylie specifically cited the data analysis giant Palantir Technologies.

We actually had several meetings with Palantir, Wylie said. There were senior Palantir employees that were also working on the Facebook data. That was not an official contract between Palantir and CA, but there were Palantir staff who would come into the office and work on the data. And we would go and meet with Palantir staff at Palantir.

To the extent that his statement received coverage, it is due to the fact that Palantir was founded by another pro-Trump oligarch, Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and a member of Facebooks board of directors.

But the relations between Palantiras with other social media corporationsand the US deep state have largely been passed over in silence.

So close are the connections between the data firm and the US state that in July 2017, the Guardian itself described Palantir as a CIA-backed startup.

The CIAs venture capital branch, In-Q-Tel, was one of the first investors in the company when it was launched by Thiel in 2004. This was one year after the illegal invasion of Iraq, and Palantir played a major role in the so-called counterterror strategies employed by the Pentagon to occupy the country and quash opposition.

Palantirs clients include a disproportionate number of US military, state and intelligence agencies. They include the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI, Homeland Security, the Defence Intelligence Agency and National Counterterrorism Centre, through to various police departments.

In 2013, Forbes listed Palantirs advisers as including Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state under President George W. Bush, and former CIA Director George Tenet.

According to documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Palantir was instrumental in the mass illegal spying activities undertaken by Washingtons global surveillance network, Prism.

Palantirs data-gathering services were also retained by Britains GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) spying agency as well as the Five Eyes intelligence alliance between the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
President Donald Trump said Honduras' US aid is "in play" because of a caravan of migrants moving through Mexico who plan to turn themselves in and request asylum once they make it to the US border.

"The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!" Trump tweeted Tuesday.

The tweet is a latest in a series from Trump this week in which he has demanded a halt to the caravan.

Earlier this week, he threatened to dismantle the North American Free Trade Agreement if Mexico doesn't reduce the flow of immigrants coming across the southern US border. He also said "our country is being stolen" when referencing the caravan and illegal immigration, and he essentially declared that a deal with Democrats on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was dead.

Migrants in the caravan began crossing into Mexico last Sunday. This year's group -- part of an annual event organized by a group called "Pueblo Sin Fronteras," or People Without Borders -- is the largest yet, numbering more than 1,000 people, according to organizers. A large number of participants are from Honduras, where organized crime fuels widespread violence and protesters recently took to the streets after a contested election.

Those who make it to the United States rarely succeed in winning asylum. But their cases can take years to make their way through the backlogged system.

According to USAID, the US provided more than $127 million to Honduras in 2016, the last year for which complete data is available. $13 million went to secondary violence prevention activity, $12 million to in-country counternarcotics program, and $10 million to justice, human rights, and security strengthening activity.
President Donald Trump declared "nobody has been tougher on Russia" during a meeting with the heads of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the White House on Tuesday, while also repeating his desire to have a good relationship with President Vladimir Putin.

The declaration comes as tension between Russia and the United States has ratcheted up in recent weeks and as Trump met with the Baltic leaders who have grown deeply skeptical of Putin in recent years.

Trump, throughout the Baltic leaders' time at the White House, maintained that he had come down hard on Russia for a series of transgressions. But even his tough talk contained conciliatory remarks about Putin, a familiar posture for the President.

"Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said during a luncheon with the three leaders. "Now maybe we will and maybe we won't. Probably nobody's been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump."

Trump added that "just about everyone agrees" getting along with Russia is a good thing "except very stupid people."

A reporter asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin is "a friend or a foe, to which the President said "we'll find out."

"I'll let you know," Trump said. "There will be a time when I'll let you know. You're going to find out very quickly."

During a joint news conference with the Baltic leaders -- Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite -- Trump made his first public comments about the 60 Russian diplomats that the United States expelled from the country last month.

"We did 60. There is nobody been tougher on Russia," Trump said.

Still, he added: "I think I could have a very good relationship with Russia and with President Putin. And if I did that would be a great thing. And there is a lot a great possibility that that won't happen. Who knows."

Baltic states and Russia

Trump has been critical of NATO members -- such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- which had not met their 2% defense spending annual benchmark for the group.

But the three Baltic states have begun to worry about the threat posed by Russia and, like other NATO members, have pledged to increase their defense spending in the face of Russian aggression, especially the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine by Russia.

Trump on Tuesday commended the leaders for their contributions to NATO and asked Lithuania's Grybauskaite, "Has Donald Trump made a difference on NATO?"

"This is a very risky question," Trump joked.

Grybauskaite responded: "We expect together with the United States to go ahead with deep reforms of NATO, especially on decision-making, on decisiveness, on the denial that we expect to see from Russia in case of aggression."

Russia has loomed large over the Trump administration for much of the President's time in office as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates the country's meddling in the 2016 election and any collusion between Trump's orbit of supporters and Russian operatives.

Tension between the United States and Russia reached a high point under Trump last week when Russia expelled 60 US diplomats and closed the US Consulate in St. Petersburg in response to the United States expelling the same number of Russian diplomats and closing their Seattle consulate. The US decision was made after the US and United Kingdom government blamed Moscow for the poisoning of a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, on British soil on March 4.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI - Award-winning actor, Hill Harper, made a stop at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Monday.

He's inspiring young people to follow their dreams through mentoring, scholarship, and grant programs.

Rose held a special convocation.

Before speaking, Harper signed books and met with students and community guests.

He talked about how deep-rooted cultural beliefs may hold people from reaching their total potential.

Harper shared lessons he has learned from his involvement in the CNN Heroes Program.
VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - Vigo County students are back to school today. It's the first day back since students at Terre Haute South Vigo High School lost one of their own.

William Garrett Sands was a student at South. That's why the Vigo County School Corporation will have extra support for students as they return from spring break.

The trauma loss team will be on-hand at Terre Haute South starting Tuesday. Grief counselors will be talking to students and staff.

They want to help them channel their grief in a healthy way.

We want parents to know that they're there and we want them to be readily available to discuss these things, said Dr. Tom Balitewicz with VCSC.

The support team includes pastors, mental health specialists and staff from other schools.
BRAZIL, Ind. (WTHI) - You may notice pretty pinwheels planted across the Wabash Valley this month. The pinwheel is a symbol of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Child advocates and foster parents gathered at the Clay County Courthouse in Brazil for a ceremony Monday evening. It began inside with words from local leaders about resources and ways to prevent abuse and neglect. People then gathered on the lawn to plant three hundred blue and silver pinwheels.

Becky Malone works at CRADLES, a non-profit organization aimed at helping young parents get an education by helping with childcare. She says the pinwheels will grab the attention of people traveling by them.

"I think it's a whimsical, childish part of life that just says children have the right to laugh and know joy and have their needs met."

Recent data shows more Hoosier children are entering the foster care system. There's been a fifty-eight percent increase in the last five years.

The Indiana Department of Child Services is removing more and more children from homes because parents are abusing drugs, according to research compiled by the Indiana Youth Institute.

And, more calls are coming in to report abuse and neglect. Experts estimate a call comes in every two minutes.

Clay County CASA Director Shannon Willmore says, "I have people tell me all the time that they report, report, report, and nothing happens. However, let me just say, after you make that call, you don't know what happens behind the scenes. You don't know what the investigation finds and what services might be offered to a family because you made the call."

Child advocates say there is some good news.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb plans to sign Senate Enrolled Act 233. The law would require DCS to form a group consisting of foster parents and experts. That group would then create a document detailing the rights and responsibilities of foster parents. This document has been called the Foster Parent Bill of Rights.

The signing ceremony is at 2:20 pm Tuesday in Indianapolis. Local foster mom and Indiana Foster and Adoptive Parents CEO Kristi Cundiff will join State Senator Jon Ford at the Statehouse for the signing.

Malone says, "We are crying for foster parents and we just need to equip them and bring a support system together to help that happen."

Pinwheel planting will continue across the Valley. The public is invited to the Vigo County Courthouse steps This Wednesday at noon for a Child Abuse Prevention Month ceremony. People can help plant the pinwheels in the yard and get a free lunch.
SAN BRUNO, Calif. (AP)  A woman opened fire at YouTube headquarters Tuesday, setting off a panic among employees and wounding at least four people before fatally shooting herself, police and witnesses said.

Officers and federal agents swarmed the companys complex in the Bay Area city of San Bruno after receiving multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire.

Television news footage showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air. Officers patted them down to make sure none had weapons.

The shooting left four victims who have all been transported for gunshot-related injuries and we have one subject who is deceased inside the building who we believe to be the shooter, said San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini.

YouTube employee Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter that he heard gunshots and saw people running. He said he was barricaded in a room with co-workers before being safely evacuated.

Will Hudson said a friend who works for YouTube texted him about the shooter.

Graphic shows location of YouTube shooting in San Bruno, California.

I think there might be a shooter in my building, read one text. The fire alarm went off so we started to evacuate and then people (started) running saying there was a shooter.

San Francisco General Hospital received three patients: a 36-year-old man in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition, a spokesman said.

The hospital said later that it did not expect to receive more patients. It was not immediately clear where the fourth gunshot victim had been sent for treatment.

Google, which owns the worlds biggest online video website, posted on Twitter that the company was coordinating with authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it also responded.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on a shooting and that officials were monitoring developments.

Hudson said his friend made it safely back to San Francisco and was in contact with his family. Hudson said hes become used to hearing about gun violence but has never been so close to it.

It just feels strange. It feels like it could really be anyone. Thats really the strangeness of it, he said.

Calls and emails to YouTube representatives were not immediately returned.
NEW YORK (AP)  Can legalizing marijuana fight the problem of opioid addiction and fatal overdoses? Two new studies in the debate suggest it may.

Pot can relieve chronic pain in adults, so advocates for liberalizing marijuana laws have proposed it as a lower-risk alternative to opioids. But some research suggests marijuana may encourage opioid use, and so might make the epidemic worse.

The new studies dont directly assess the effect of legalizing marijuana on opioid addiction and overdose deaths. Instead, they find evidence that legalization may reduce the prescribing of opioids. Over-prescribing is considered a key factor in the opioid epidemic.

Both studies were released Monday by the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

One looked at trends in opioid prescribing under Medicaid, which covers low-income adults, between 2011 and 2016. It compared the states where marijuana laws took effect versus states without such laws. The comparison was done each quarter, so a given state without a law at one point could join the other category once a law kicked in.

Results showed that laws that let people use marijuana to treat specific medical conditions were associated with about a 6 percent lower rate of opioid prescribing for pain. Thats about 39 fewer prescriptions per 1,000 people using Medicaid.

And when states with such a law went on to also allow recreational marijuana use by adults, there was an additional drop averaging about 6 percent. That suggest the medical marijuana laws didnt reach some people who could benefit from using marijuana instead of opioids, said Hefei Wen of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, one of the study authors.

The other study looked at opioid prescribing nationwide for people using Medicare, which covers people 65 years or older and those with disabilities. Every year from 2010 through 2015, researchers compared states with a medical marijuana law in effect to those without one. Fourteen states plus the District of Columbia had such a law from the beginning of that time; nine other states joined them during the years the study covered.

Researchers found that Medicare patients in states with marijuana dispensaries filled prescriptions for about 14 percent fewer daily doses of opioids than those in other states. Patients in states that only allowed them to grow pot at home showed about 7 percent fewer doses.

W. David Bradford, an economist at the University of Georgia in Athens whos an author of the second study, said the results add to other findings that suggest to experts that marijuana is a viable alternative to opioids. The weight of that evidence is now hard to ignore, said Bradford, who said he thinks federal regulations should be changed to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for pain treatment.

The two studies have some limitations, Dr. Kevin Hill of Harvard Medical School and Dr. Andrew Saxon of the University of Washington in Seattle wrote in an accompanying editorial.

For one thing, they dont reveal whether individual patients actually reduced or avoided using opioids because of the increased access to marijuana. The findings in Medicaid and Medicare patients may not apply to other people. And the results may have been skewed by some characteristics of the state populations studied, they wrote.

They called for states and the federal government to pay for more studies to clarify the effect of marijuana use on opioid use, saying such research is needed for science to guide policy-making.

___

Follow Malcolm Ritter on Twitter at @MalcolmRitter . His recent work can be found at http://tinyurl.com/RitterAP .

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Find complete AP marijuana coverage here: https://apnews.com/tag/LegalMarijuana

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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Despite the eagerness to declare it ebbing, Syria's war is unlikely to get closer to its end simply because Vladimir Putin, Recip Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani are meeting in Ankara this week.

Yes, these leaders represent the three largest foreign military forces operating now inside Syria, excluding the US, whose commander-in-chief said late last week that America would soon be letting "others" take care of Syria. But Russia, Turkey and Iran meet without the contribution of a reasonably important factor in this ghastly experiment in human cruelty: Syrians.

You can argue that the regime in Damascus will do what Tehran or Moscow tells it to. But the prospect of Russia, Turkey and Iran agreeing what a new status quo inside Syria should look like is a short-term stopgap at best, and one that overlooks the underlying and unresolved causes of the war.

The accepted premise of this trilateral solution is that Iran and Russia are content that the regime has full access to the coast and a clear channel all the way to the Iraqi capital Baghdad -- through which Tehran can slowly harass Israel and dominate the region, and Moscow can retain an airbase on the Mediterranean.

Turkey is meant to be happy as its proxies control the area west of the Euphrates Rivers along to Idlib, and provide a space for Sunni militants to create their own communities into which millions of Syrian refugees currently in Turkey might return.

The unspoken annex to this is that the Americans retain adequate firepower and influence in the northeast for the area to remain a de facto Syria-Kurdish enclave for the years to come.

Long- and short-term flaws

Yet already the short-term flaws to this solution are emerging. Ankara has its sights on harassing Manbij, just across to the west of the Euphrates, which is currently held by Syrian Kurds with American backing. And the regime is also eyeing the most populated area in the northwest, where Turkey has large influence: Idlib. It is to Idlib that the Syrian Sunni rebels of Ghouta, Aleppo and elsewhere have fled, along with tens of thousands of civilians.

These are just the short-term problems. The longer-term ones are even harder to solve.

Essentially, this supposed trilateral arrangement fails to deal with the underlying demographic and sectarian issues that began the war in the first place.

Syria's Sunnis rose up against a predominantly Shia regime in 2012. These Sunnis still lack proper representation or a functional homeland. They are squeezed into a tiny pocket of the northwest, and outside Syria's borders into Turkey and Jordan, with many in Lebanon too.

Keeping this disenfranchised, beleaguered and under-resourced population in the rubble, tents and rural flatlands of Idlib won't reduce the influence of extremists in their midst -- it will amplify it.

There are two things you can count on in the months ahead: that Russia and the regime will bombard Idlib and its thousands of civilians, and that the Sunni rebel militants who take shelter in it will respond as extremely as they can. Both sides will continue to do what they have done before.

Secondly, Syria's Kurds, thanks to the near-defeat of ISIS in Syria, control an outsized chunk of the northeast now. Everything east of the Euphrates River was not exclusively Kurdish before ISIS and is not entirely so now, but the Syrian Democratic Forces are the unwavering authority there.

If the US leaves, as President Donald Trump has said is likely, then the Syrian Kurds will have to either forge a deal of coexistence with the Syrian regime or go it alone, potentially against both Turkish and regime forces.

Three forces, three agendas

Yes, the Iran- and Russia-backed Shia regime has solidified its control over the territory it wants, but the majority of the country -- the Sunnis of Syria -- has not settled the question of where they will live and who will rule them. That started this, and must be resolved if it is to end.

Finally, Syria's three dominant forces -- Turkish-backed rebels, US-backed Syrian Kurds and the regime supported by Iran and Russia -- have backers with totally opposed agendas. Turkey wants to defeat the Kurds. The regime wants to defeat the rebels Turkey is backing, and keep the US out. And the US wants to defeat Iranian and regime ambitions in the region, while also keeping Russia in check.

Russia, Iran and Turkey can smile for the cameras in Ankara, but they still walk on Syria's broken glass.
Attorney General Josh Stein on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the United States government over the addition of a question about citizenship on the 2020 census, according to a press release.

Stein argues that adding a citizenship question would "depress census turnout in states with large immigrant populations, directly threatening those states' fair representation for billions of dollars in critical federal funds for education, infrastructure, and more, as well as in Congress and the Electoral College."

"North Carolinians pay taxes to the federal government every year," he said. "In return, they rightfully expect to receive our state's fair share of federal funding for our roads and schools and an appropriate number of Representatives in Congress. That's what an accurate Census provides for and why I will fight any effort to politicize it."

North Carolina was among 17 states, the District of Columbia and six cities to sue the Trump administration over the question.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Officials in Nigeria and Kenya are looking into whether data-crunching firm Cambridge Analytica tried to interfere with elections in their countries by organizing rallies and orchestrating whole campaigns to sway public opinion away from certain candidates.

Leaders in both nations vowed to drag the data-crunching firm into court if evidence supports their claims. Their tough talk adds to mounting global fury over the British company, which also was hired by Donald Trump's campaign and tried to influence American voters in 2016 using information gleaned from 50 million Facebook users.

Cambridge Analytica and its affiliate, SCL Elections, did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment about the African leaders' claims. The firm suspended its chief executive amid the US election allegations but denies any wrongdoing.

In Nigeria, criminal prosecutions could follow if Cambridge Analytica is found to have interfered with elections, said Garba Shehu, a spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari.

A government committee is probing claims that SCL Elections organized anti-election rallies to dissuade opposition supporters from voting in 2007, Shehu said, according to Reuters. The panel also will examine claims that Buhari's personal data was hacked in 2015, when he was an opposition candidate for president, he said.

"We don't want to leave it open that Cambridge Analytica could have interfered with these elections," Shehu told CNN. "The committee will scrutinize reports and allegations made against Cambridge Analytica. The government may prosecute, if the reports are found to be true. We just want to take lessons from what happened."

Kenyan opposition wants answers

In Kenyan politics, the managing director of Cambridge Analytica and SCL Elections was filmed telling undercover reporters for the UK's Channel 4 news that his company managed two of President Uhuru Kenyatta's campaigns.

"The Kenyatta campaign, which we ran in 2013 and 2017 for Kenyatta, we have rebranded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging," Mark Turnbull said. "I think we wrote all the speeches, and we staged the whole thing -- so just about every element of this candidate."

The company also claimed it surveyed 47,000 people in Kenya in 2013.

Since revelations surfaced of Cambridge Analytica's efforts to influence the US election, opposition voices in Kenya have called for an investigation, and opposition leader Raila Odinga said he will sue the company.

"Finally, the world has woken up (to) the fact that there is a real danger posed to democracy, not only in Kenya," Odinga told CNN. "This was really the extreme end of negative campaigning, and it was so intensive, and I think also capital intensive."

"Somebody needs to take responsibility for this. Somebody needs to be made to answer," he added.

Odinga was the subject of a video that went viral during Kenyan elections last year titled "The Real Raila Odinga," which imagined a dystopia in 2020 with Odinga as president and in which "whole communities and tribes are removed from their homes."

The video was made by Texas-based Harris Media, which also worked on the campaigns of Trump and far-right groups in Europe, according to the London-based charity Privacy International.

Harris Media did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

In the first round of last year's elections, courts nullified Kenyatta's victory over Odinga over "irregularities and illegalities." Kenyatta went on to win re-election.

New information about Cambridge Analytica, however, "puts the results into question, the whole election infrastructure," Sen. James Orengo told CNN. "The elections which were held last year must be fully audited. I think we'll see the footprints of Cambridge Analytica, and I think that is why they're advertising Kenya as a success story."

'A dark manipulative arch'

But a spokesman for Kenya's ruling Jubilee Party downplayed the British data firm's involvement in the election campaign. Raphael Tuju, the party's secretary-general, told CNN it hired SCL "to do analysis of focus group discussions. They did demonstrate to us that they had that kind of expertise. That was it."

Tuju, speaking at the party's headquarters in Nairobi, said the party will not press Cambridge Analytica on the Channel 4 report.

"We really don't have time for that," he told CNN.

On its website, Cambridge Analytica describes its work in the 2013 Kenya election campaign as "based on the electorate's real needs (jobs) and fears (tribal violence)."

Elections in Kenya are tense, and in 2007, more than 1,100 people were killed and more than 660,000 were forcibly displaced during Kenya's worst electoral violence.

One commentator said companies like Cambridge Analytica play with lives when they "cling to destructive narratives."

"A negative narrative can flip to violence quickly if it follows a dark manipulative arch," said John Githongo, a former permanent secretary for governance and ethics in Kenya and a founder of the social movement Inuka Kenya Trust.
The Mexican ambassador to the US said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's apparent call for troops to guard the US-Mexico border is an unwelcome one.

"It's certainly not something that the Mexican government welcomes, but as soon as we have further clarification, we can expect to have a better idea of where we are," Ambassador Ger-nimo Guti-rrez said in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

The Mexican ambassador stressed that his government is still trying to clarify what exactly Trump meant.

Guti-rrez made his comments in response to Trump's claim earlier on Tuesday that he would have the US military guard the nation's southern border until his proposed wall is built. Although Trump wasn't specific about what the troops' scope and authority would be, both Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush oversaw temporary deployments of National Guard troops to the border during their tenures.

The Mexican government has asked for formal clarification on Trump's comments, but Guti-rrez also said he had spoken with US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. He said he expected clarification within a few hours and supposed it was similar to previous moves by the US.

"The (US) National Guard has been called before in different instances in past years in a supportive role," Guti-rrez said. "I would assume that that's what we're looking at."

In the interview, Guti-rrez also responded to Trump's repeated statements about a caravan of Central American migrants that reached Mexico en route to the US. Guti-rrez said the people in the caravan are "not dangerous" and that it is important to separate the "shared challenges" of transnational organized crime and other security threats from "a humanitarian situation."

Guti-rrez said likewise that the Mexican government shared a desire for a secure border with the United States, but acknowledged the two neighboring nations disagreed in major ways on how to achieve that security. He cited Trump's proposed border wall as an example and again stressed the Mexican government's position that it will not pay for Trump's wall.

"A relation like the one between Mexico and the United States needs to have spaces in order to agree to disagree," he said. "The issue of the wall is certainly one of them, and as my government has clearly expressed already, Mexico by no means would be paying for a wall."
UPDATE 04/03/18 - According to Louisville police, Isaiah Riggins has been returned to Louisville. He made his first court appearance. His bond was set at $1 million.

See the original article below.

DOUGLASVILLE, Georgia (WTVA) - A Winston County man wanted in connection with a murder will be headed back to Mississippi.

Isaiah Riggins is accused of killing 17-year-old Tylan Glenn in Louisville on March 25.

Police say the high school student was shot multiple times near Mt. Moriah Circle.

Detectives say Glenn was a passenger in a car driven by Riggins' girlfriend.

There was a baby in the backseat of the car at the time of the shooting.

After five days on the run, Riggins surrendered to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Douglasville, Georgia, on Friday.

RELATED: Louisville murder suspect surrenders in Georgia

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Shooting in Louisville leaves teen dead

RELATED: Jordan Miller arrested for teen's death

Sheriff Tim Pounds of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office says Riggins waived his extradition from Georgia on Monday,

There is no word yet on when the suspect is expected back in the state.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Several groups and families are opposing plans to cut visitation at Florida's 50 state prisons from eight days a month to two.

The proposed change will go into effect at an undetermined date.

Groups opposing the change will hold a news conference this Tuesday morning at the headquarters of the Florida Department of Corrections.

"As a collective, we believe that reduction in visitation is inhumane and encourages recidivism rather than reduces it," the groups said in a news release.

Prison officials say they are decreasing visitation to curtail the smuggling of drugs and cellphones and other contraband into the facilities as they face funding and staffing constraints.

The officials say the contraband threatens the security of the facilities and the safety of both staff and inmates.

The FDOC has scheduled a public hearing on visitation to be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday. The groups opposing the change are to hold a news conference immediately afterward.

"In the press conference and in testimony at the hearing we will provide evidence that visitations cannot and will not reduce contraband in the Florida prison system because over 90% of the contraband comes in the FDOC staff," the groups said in a news release.

Prison staff and visitors have been found in possession of contraband.

The groups said that the visitations cuts will cause substantial loss of revenue to individual prisons and the tourist industry in surrounding cities and towns. Additionally, the groups said that the answer to saving money for FDOC is to decrease incarceration rates.

Ricky D. Dixon, the deputy secretary of Institutions, said the new visitation schedule would provide for a more orderly and efficient visitor screening process.

"In spite of our diligent efforts, we are experiencing a vast increaase in the amount of contraband being introduced into correctional facilities satewide, which is exacerbated by current staffing shortages," he said on March 14, 2018.

The groups include Floridas Campaign for Prison Reform, Fight Toxic Prisons, Forgotten Majority and Florida Cares in addition to family members and faith and civil rights leaders.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Florida gubernatorial candidate will be in Tallahassee on Tuesday.

Philip Levine, a former Miami Beach mayor, will kick off his Campus Conversations tour at Florida State University.

The discussion with FSU students will center around their concerns and begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Oglesby Student Union.

Levine is among five other candidates running to become Florida's next governor.
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, FL (WALB) - Two men wanted in connection with a drive-by shooting in Thomasville are now in custody.

Jarobby Jackson and Desmond Swain were picked up by authorities at a relative's home in Green Cove Springs, Florida.

Last week incident reports detailed bystanders lying on the ground after a gray Chevrolet Impala drove by with someone firing a shotgun out the window at the corner of Fern and Wright streets.

In order to help get Jackson and Swain into custody, investigators said a significant amount of money was offered as a reward for anyone with information that led to an arrest.

And on Monday, Dejanee Thompson, the girlfriend of one of the two suspects was taken into custody after warrants were issued for her arrest for harboring a fugitive.

Investigators described the drive-by as retaliation and police were concerned that if Jackson and Swain weren't found soon, there would be another incident.

Copyright 2018 WALB. All rights reserved.
THOMASVILLE, GA (WTXL) - Thomasville Police are looking to clear the records of people who meet certain criteria.

The main goal is to reduce crime by getting these folks better opportunities for jobs.

"There are a lot of people out there that just want a second chance, this is the way to give them a second chance," said Major Wade Glover, TPD.

300 people in Thomasville and Thomas County will soon have their criminal records expunged at no cost.

Top police officials said it's a right many residents in Georgia who fall under certain criteria are entitled to, and don't even know it.

"A lot of people don't even understand the law, they are entitled to this, but it does take a little bit of legwork, very time consuming," said Glover.

Its all aimed to open new doors for folks, giving them a better chance at securing housing and a job.

"Some people can't get into good housing because of their record," said Glover.

If you are arrested for a crime, it will follow you forever, unless you get your record expunged.

Many housing complexes and employers run background checks on an applicant.

"Some people don't take the time, they just see the original charge and that's it. They don't see the dispossession of the actual charge, if they are not guilty or the case is dismissed," said Glover.

The qualifications for the records restriction are:

Arrests with no convictions (The charges were dismissed or the Defendant was found not guilty on ALL counts)

Misdemeanors committed before you were 21 years old, with no more arrests for 5 years.

Also the arrests had to have been made in Thomasville or Thomas County.

Lowering crime is the bottom line though, giving people the second chance.

"People employed are less likely to commit crimes. People make mistakes, everybody has made mistakes, no one is perfect so the key is to try to correct that, learn from it, and try to move forward with your life," said Glover.

Copyright 2018 WTXL. All rights reserved.
MONTICELLO, Fla. (WTXL) - The Florida Highway Patrol says there is no longer a road block at the intersection of County Road 259 and Limestone Road.

There had been a vehicle crash with injuries.

FHP dispatched a trooper to the crash at 4:50 a.m. Tuesday.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-02 21:02:14|Editor: ZD

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Dalit protestors clash with police in Faridabad, around 55 kilometers from Delhi, India, April 2, 2018. At least six people died and six others were injured in clashes with police Monday as India's Dalits protested against the Supreme Court's alleged dilution of a law ensuring the community's protection. (Xinhua/Stringer)

NEW DELHI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- At least six people died and six others injured in clashes with police Monday as India's Dalits protested against the Supreme Court's alleged dilution of a law ensuring the community's protection.

Dalits, considered the lowest rung of India's caste hierarchy, are angry over the top court's recent order banning automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under a law that is meant for protection of the marginalised communities from abuse and discrimination.

Police said that a student leader and four others died while six people were injured during clashes in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, while another person died in police firing in the western state of Rajasthan.

"The deaths in Madhya Pradesh were a result of violent clashes between Dalit protesters and police who were compelled to open fire to bring the situation under control. Those injured have been admitted to local hospitals," a police official said.

"Similarly, in Rajasthan, one person was killed in police firing. The situation went out of control and cops had to resort to firing," another police official said.

Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were among the five Indian states -- others being Punjab, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh -- that bore the brunt of violence as Dalit protesters damaged public and private properties, and set afire several vehicles to vent out their anger.

In the northern state of Punjab, home to a large number of Dalits, schools, colleges and offices remained shut and the Indian Army was also kept on stand-by. Several of Punjab's cities witnessed widespread violence, particularly capital Chandigarh.

Local media showed footage of burning vehicles and protesters stopping trains in various other states also, including Bihar and Odisha, by blocking the railway tracks.

The Indian government has, meanwhile, appealed for calmness and said that a review petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against its earlier order. "We have filed a review petition," Indian Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the media.

Discrimination on the basis of caste is outlawed in India but remains widespread across the country. And there has been several instances where Dalits have been made the targets by the so-called upper caste people.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 01:13:15|Editor: Chengcheng

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DUBAI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) as an open economy supports the liberalization of global trade and opposes protectionism, a senior UAE trade official said Monday.

Abdullah Al Saleh, undersecretary for foreign trade at the UAE Ministry of Economy, made the remarks while briefing the media about the upcoming 8th Annual Investment Meeting to be held on April 9-11 in Dubai.

Al Saleh said "the UAE has always lobbied for more trade liberalization by supporting measures to remove obstacles for global trade, but also on a bilateral level."

He was commenting on the recent U.S. moves to impose tariffs on foreign goods, triggering off widespread fears about igniting a trade war with major countries, including China.

Removing trade obstacles "is part of the unified trade policy of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)," of which the UAE is a member, Al Saleh said.

"An open economy is the best policy to attract investments and to increase the competitiveness of the UAE economy and it better for future trade relations, hence we do not think that protectionism will lead to prosperity in the national, regional and global economy," Al Saleh said.

He pointed out that the UAE has over 40 free zones for all industry sectors, which have been set up to attract foreign investments.

The UAE officials reiterated that his country welcomes all foreign investors.

China remained the top trade partner of the UAE for three straight years in a row from 2014 to 2016, during which the total China-UAE trade amounted to 520.6 billion dirhams (about 141.74 billion U.S. dollars), according to the UAE Ministry of Economy.
BERLIN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Only 6.6 percent of Germany's natural watercourses achieved the ecologically good standard set by the European Union, local media reported on Monday, quoting the German Environment Ministry.

Germany has identified nearly 9,000 natural watercourses of rivers and streams across the country.

Previously existing fish and plant cannot be found now in 93 percent of them. Some 79 percent had been "obviously, even completely changed in structure" by their extensions, according to the ministry.

The ministry has put the blame on impacts of agricultural activities such as using chemical fertilizer and pesticide spraying, and constructing levees.

Waters are still considered as threatened living space in Germany, though water quality has improved, local media reported.

According to the EU Water Framework Directive, all waters in Europe should achieve "good chemical status" and "good ecological status" by 2027.
MOSCOW, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced Monday that it would expel one Montenegrin diplomat in tit-for-tat retaliation over the incident of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal.

Earlier in the day, Montenegro's ambassador to Russia Ramiz Basic was summoned to the foreign ministry, where he was given a note of protest for Montenegro's expulsion of a Russian diplomat on March 26 in line with Britain's "groundless accusations" against Russia, the ministry said in a press release.

In response to Montenegro's "unjustified move," the Russian side declared an official of the Embassy of Montenegro persona non grata, it said.

Skripal and his daughter were reportedly exposed to a nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain and its allies accused Russia of launching a chemical attack against them, but Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Western countries expelled a total of more than 100 Russian diplomats in a concerted action, while Russia has so far expelled diplomats of 26 countries in response.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 04:18:55|Editor: Chengcheng

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WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- General Electric (GE) on Monday agreed to sell a portion of its healthcare business to Veritas Capital, a private equity firm, in a deal of 1.05 billion U.S. dollars as GE Chief Executive Officer John Flannery streamlines operations.

Veritas Capital will acquire the Enterprise Financial Management, Ambulatory Care Management and Workforce Management assets comprising GE Healthcare's Value-Based Care Division for 1.05 billion dollars in cash, the companies said in a statement.

Kieran Murphy, President & CEO of GE Healthcare, said "we're confident this business will flourish under Veritas Capital, while GE Healthcare will continue to significantly invest in core digital solutions, such as smart diagnostics, connected devices, AI and enterprise imaging, that will drive precision health for our customers."

The sale is Flannery's latest effort to streamline operations and sharpen the focus at GE after he took the helm of the 126-year-old company last year. GE also plans to spin off or sell its century-old train business.

The stock price of the Boston-based manufacturer slid 45 percent last year and has dropped by about 23 percent since the beginning of this year.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 04:33:59|Editor: Chengcheng

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LOS ANGELES, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Researchers at Northern Arizona University (NAU) mapped out how far-reaching the effects of trade tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on steel and aluminum could be for U.S. communities and industries.

According to a new report of NAU's official website on Monday, the research was made by Benjamin Ruddell, an associate professor in the School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems (SICCS), and other professors.

It is a part of the National Science Foundation-funded FEWSION Project led Ruddel, which maps the U.S. economy's food, energy and water systems and their connections to the broader economy and environment. FEWSION scientists also mapped the largest international trading partners for each county in the nation, along with the goods and services that comprise most of this trade.

Ruddel pointed out the tariffs hike could increase the cost of doing business for the U.S. economy because businesses must pay higher prices for steel, aluminum and other inputs, but more important, retaliation of other countries will hit other parts.

He was quoted as saying that while the goal of the tariffs is to protect selected U.S. communities and industries, but retaliatory tariffs by U.S. trading partners can hurt other U.S. communities and industries, for example, U.S. steel tariffs protect coal and steel jobs in the rust belt, but if Asian steel producers like China retaliate by placing tariffs on U.S. agricultural products, it hurts the farm belt.

Richard Rushforth, assistant research professor in SICCS, echoed Ruddel's remarks, saying "Uncertainty with global trading partners has real, local implications. Tariffs shouldn't be viewed as something happening to someone else, but rather as policies that will impact your wallet."

He cited that the tariffs proposed by China to counter U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum have already had nearly a quarter-billion-dollar impact on pork of Iowa, which is the nation's largest pork producer and exported about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars pork to Chinese market last year, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

China Monday suspended tariff concessions on 128 items of U.S. products including pork, which faces a tariff of 25 percent since then.

According to the research of FEWSION, the central Midwest, urban West Coast and the East Coast import primarily industrial and manufactured goods from Asia and Europe, where new tariffs on steel and aluminum may impose costs on local communities.

Meanwhile, the Northern Rockies, Western Plains, Mississippi Corridor, urban West Coast and urban East Coast export a lot of agricultural, industrial and manufactured goods to China and the European Union, which now are openly discussing retaliatory tariffs, could be losers of a trade war.

The analysis also shows that metropolitan areas and ports in the eastern half of the United States, Texas and California; agricultural areas in the Midwest including Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Minnesota; industrial, agricultural and mining areas in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and northern Nevada; Alaska; and Hawaii are especially vulnerable to tariffs on East Asian trading partners.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 05:29:08|Editor: Chengcheng

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WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States space agency NASA's cargo provider SpaceX launched a Dragon spacecraft Monday afternoon, starting its resupply mission to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft, packed with 2,630 kilograms of research, crew supplies and hardware, was lifted off at 4:30 p.m. local times from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

About ten minutes later, the second stage engine has burnt completely and "Dragon confirmed in good orbit," according to SpaceX's official twitter account. Then, solar arrays have been deployed "right on schedule," NASA confirmed.

Grapple and berthing to the space station is targeted for Wednesday before the spacecraft spends approximately one month attached to the station, returning to Earth in May with some results of completed experiments, NASA says.

Flight Engineers Norishege Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scoot Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon's capture, according to the agency.

After the capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Harmony module, NASA says.

This flight will deliver scientific investigations including a study on severe thunderstorms on Earth, on the effects of microgravity on production of high-performance products from metal powders, and food growth in space.

The spacecraft also carried cargo for testing effects of the harsh space environment on materials, coatings and components; identifying potential pathogens aboard the station and investigating an antibiotic-releasing wound patch.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 07:09:25|Editor: ZD

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. wine industry has expressed concerns over the long-term damage of China's 15 percent tariff on imported wines from the United States.

China started imposing 15 percent additional tariffs on a total of 128 U.S. products, including wine, on the weekend in a retaliatory action against Trump administration's planned tariff on China's steel and aluminum.

"This new increased tariff will have a chilling effect on U.S. wine exports to one of the world's most important markets," said Robert Koch, president and CEO of Wine Institute, on Monday.

This additional tariff will increase the total tariff and tax paid on a bottle of U.S. wine imported into China by a large margin, according to the estimate of the Wine Institute, an advocacy and research group representing more than 1,000 wineries in California.

Currently, Chile, Georgia and New Zealand wines enter China tariff-free and Australian wines will be tariff free starting in 2019, it said.

"The U.S. producers were already at a disadvantage to many foreign competitors, and this will only exacerbate that problem," said Koch. "We urge a swift resolution to this crisis before long-term damage is done to the U.S. wine industry."

China is one of the fastest growing wine markets in the world and will soon be second only to the U.S. in value, according to the Wine Institute. U.S. wine exports to greater China (including the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong) were up 10 percent last year to 197 million U.S. dollars.

The value of U.S. wine exports (97 percent from California) to China has increased 450 percent in the past decade.

The United States ranks as China's sixth biggest wine importer following France, Australia, Chile, Spain and Italy, accounting for around 3 percent of the country's bottled wine imports market, according to figures released by the Chinese customs.

China's tariff increases will impact approximately 2 billion dollars in U.S. food and agricultural exports to China. The majority of the products targeted are food and agricultural products, totaling 105 out of the 128 items.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 08:10:37|Editor: Chengcheng

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A Palestinian receives treatment after being injured during clashes with Israeli forces at Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza City, on April 2, 2018. At least 15 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,200 injured on last Friday as Israeli forces opened fire toward scores of Palestinian protesters marking Land Day at a rally held at the borders between Gaza and Israel. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar)
Source:Xinhua| 2018-04-03 07:46:30|Editor: Mengjie

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Graphics shows that China urges the United States to revoke improper protective measures that violated rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), on April 2, 2018. (Xinhua/Cui Ying)
WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump hosted the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House South Lawn on Monday, the second of its kind under the Trump presidency.

During his brief remarks from the Blue Room Balcony, Trump thanked the first lady and the White House Historical Association for organizing the annual festivities, while taking a moment to tout the country's economic progress and its newly-boosted military spending.

"Perfect weather. Beautiful weather," said Trump in an overcoat, though the sky was chilly and overcast. "It was supposed to be very rainy and nasty and cold and windy."

Following the remarks, Trump and the first lady, standing beside their son Barron, helped kick off several rounds of egg-rolling games, after which the couple joined a group of children at a card-making station for U.S. troops.

Melania announced last week that she had added lawn bowling to the roster of festivities that also included egg hunts, cookie decorating and a reading nook featuring readers including herself, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said.

The White House said it expected nearly 30,000 adults and children at Monday's event.

This year marks the 140th anniversary of the White House Easter Egg Roll, which dates back to 1878.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 09:24:44|Editor: Jiaxin

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Aerobatic aircrafts perform during Chile's 20th International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) at Santiago international airport in Santiago, Chile, on April 3, 2018. FIDAE, Latin America's biggest fair of its type, kicked off Tuesday, featuring 120 civil and military aircraft from over 50 companies. (Xinhua/Wang Pei)

SANTIAGO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chile's 20th International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE), Latin America's biggest fair of its type, kicked off Tuesday, featuring 120 civil and military aircraft from over 50 companies, organizers said.

Among the aircraft, the U.S.-made F-35 Lightning is currently the world's most modern combat jet, which "will revolutionize the future of military aviation in the next 30 years," said Col. Jaime Reyes, one of the organizers.

Other new attractions include the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, a strategic long-distance eight-engine subsonic bomber, and the S-64 Aircrane helicopter from U.S. manufacturer Erickson, designed to fight fires with a capacity to discharge up to 10,000 liters of water.

The fair, which runs through Sunday, also highlighted its first-ever pavilion dedicated to drones which "are no longer a fad," organizers said, adding: "This technology is developing at an exponential rate, practically with no limits on what it can do."

First organized in 1980 by Chile's Air Force, this year's event expects to draw more than 120,000 people to a venue located beside Santiago's international airport.
YANGON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A jewelry shop in Myitgyina, the capital of Myanmar's Kachin state in the northernmost part of the country, has been robbed by two unidentified masked armed men, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.

The owner of the jewelry shop, Kyaw Myanmar, was attacked by the two armed men at the weekend, who took away different kinds of jewelry weighing three viss (4.89 kg) and some 20 million kyats (14,705 U.S. dollars) in cash and stabbed the owner with a knife.

After the incident, the two burglars fled from the scene of the crime with a vehicle which was abandoned near a test driving ground later.

Local police are hunting for the two armed robbers, the report added.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 11:00:02|Editor: Chengcheng

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UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The 15-panel UN Security Council will visit Iraq, Myanmar and Bangladesh in two separate trips later this month, the rotating president of the council announced on Monday.

Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra of Peru, this month's president of the council, told reporters at UN headquarters that the two trips were still in the planning stages.

"We are still working on the coordination of these visits and later I might be able to give you more details," he said.

UNHCR has warned that the coming monsoon season threatens to flood huge swaths of the massive Kutupalong camp in the Cox's Bazar region of Bangladesh.

The council president said the visit to Iraq has the full backing of the government. Iraq is scheduled to hold elections next month.

Meza-Cuadra said there has been significant progress in the fight against the Islamic State there. "Also, the country needs support from the international community for rebuilding the country," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 11:35:14|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China pledged to continue to respect and protect its citizens' freedom of religious belief in a white paper published Tuesday.

As a socialist country under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China adopts policies on freedom of religious belief based on national and religious conditions to protect citizens' right to freedom of religious belief, build active and healthy religious relationships, and maintain religious and social harmony, said the white paper published by the State Council Information Office, titled "China's Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief."

Protecting freedom of religious belief, properly handling religious relations and adapting them to the times, and curbing religious extremism are common tasks facing all countries around the world, said the white paper.

China will uphold the principle that religions in China must be Chinese in orientation and provide active guidance to religions so that they can adapt themselves to the socialist society, it said.

The major religions practiced in China, which are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, have a total of nearly 200 million believers and more than 380,000 clerical personnel.

"Religious believers and non-believers respect each other, and live in harmony, committing themselves to reform and opening up and the socialist modernization, and contribute to the realization of the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation," it said.

The white paper introduced China's basic policies and legal guarantees for freedom of religious belief, religious activities, the role of religious groups and religious relations in China.

INDEPENDENCE, SELF-MANAGEMENT

The Chinese government supports all religions in upholding the principle of independence and self-management, according to the document.

It allows religious groups, clerical personnel and believers to manage religious affairs by themselves in accordance with the Constitution and law.

"This principle is a historic choice made by Chinese religious believers in the Chinese people's struggle for national independence and social progress, as Catholicism and Protestantism, which were known as foreign religions in China, had long been controlled and utilized by colonialists and imperialists," it said.

FOREIGNERS

The religious activities of foreigners in China are protected in accordance with the law, the white paper said.

China respects foreigners' freedom of religious belief within its territory, and is committed to protecting friendly relations, cultural and academic exchanges about religion between foreigners and Chinese religious groups.

Foreigners may attend religious activities at temples, mosques, churches, and other sites for religious activities, but shall conduct religious activities in line with law, it stressed.

The law also prohibits overseas nongovernmental organizations from illegally engaging in or sponsoring religious activities.

EXTREMISM

Religious extremism and violent terrorist activities are dealt with in accordance with the law, the document noted.

China opposes all extremism that seeks to instigate hatred, incite discrimination and advocate violence by distorting religious doctrines or through other means, it said.

It also forbids any discriminatory behavior on the grounds of region, ethnicity and religion.

"China takes measures against the propagation and spread of religious extremism, and at the same time, carefully avoids linking violent terrorism and religious extremism with any particular ethnic group or religion," it said.

DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS

There are about 5,500 religious groups in China, including seven national organizations, and about 144,000 places of worship registered for religious activities in China, including 33,500 Buddhist temples of different schools, 9,000 Taoist temples, 35,000 Islamic mosques, 6,000 Catholic churches and places of assembly spread across 98 dioceses, and 60,000 Protestant churches and places of assembly, according to the white paper.

Religious texts and literature have been published, religious education systems improved and social security for religious clerical personnel enhanced.

All normal religious activities, which believers conduct at places of worship or in their own homes, are protected by law, and no organization or individual may infringe on these rights, the white paper said.

Religious groups in China have made efforts to interpret religious teachings and rules according to China's conditions and contemporary needs, actively engaged in charity activities and conscientiously resisted extremism.

About 20,000 prominent religious figures are serving as deputies and members at all levels of people's congresses and committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, according to the document.
PHNOM PENH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A conservationist group said in a statement on Tuesday that they had protected 3,800 nests of 11 globally threatened bird species, leading to the fledging of 6,806 birds in the Northern Plains of Cambodia in Preah Vihear province since 2002.

The group is comprised of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Cambodian Ministry of Environment (MoE) and community members.

The group set up a nest protection program in the early 2000s to prevent the widespread collection of eggs and chicks. Under the program, local people living the Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) and the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) in the province are offered conditional payments if they successfully locate, monitor and protect nests until fledging.

"Nest protection has reduced threats from egg collection, nest disturbance and logging," said Rours Vann, WCS's wildlife monitoring team leader in the KPWS.

"The success of the program has been closely linked to our research into the ecology of key bird species and strong working relationships with local communities. When communities have the opportunity to obtain socio-economic benefits from their wildlife assets, they are more motivated to protect them."

According to the statement, target species of the program included Giant Ibis (Cambodia's National Bird), White-shouldered Ibis, White-rumped Vulture, Red-headed Vulture, Greater and Lesser Adjutants, Oriental Darter, Black-necked Stork, Sarus Crane, White-winged Duck and Masked Finfoot.

The Northern Plains of Cambodia consists of Kulen Promtep, Chhep and Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuaries, it said, adding that in recent years, the primary threat to globally threatened bird species in the landscape has shifted from egg collection to habitat loss.

"The nest protection program is a component of our broader landscape-scale conservation approach in the Northern Plains," said Ken Sereyrotha, WCS's country program director.

"This involves working closely with our government, community and NGO partners to establish and manage protected areas, develop land-use zoning plans and enhance wildlife-friendly livelihoods."
PHNOM PENH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Tuesday ordered the authorities and the armed forces to beef up security during the lunar New Year celebrations on April 14-16.

"I'd like to appeal to the authorities at all levels and all types of armed forces to pay high attention to protect the people during the New Year celebrations," he said in a speech during a university graduation ceremony.

He added that safety for the people must be the most important factor.

The prime minister also called on people to refrain from splashing water on each other, throwing bags of water on travelers, and painting charcoal or powder on other faces on the occasion.

"Throwing bags of water on each other is not our Khmer tradition, it is very dangerous and can cause traffic accidents if the bags of water are thrown on those riding motorcycles," he said. "And for painting powder on other faces, some take the chance to rip off others' earrings."

Meanwhile, Hun Sen said the Phnom Penh City Bus Authority would offer free bus services to provinces on April 12-18 in order to facilitate people's travel to their hometowns.

He said the move was to prevent private bus companies and taxi drivers from raising fees during the holiday period that would see millions of Cambodians traveling from capital Phnom Penh to their hometowns in various provinces.

The prime minister also urged all vehicle drivers to drive carefully in order to avoid traffic accidents on the occasion.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 12:35:28|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese telecom equipment company ZTE Group has announced its success in making the first phone call enabled by 5G technologies as smartphone makers scramble to work on 5G in hopes of applying this next-generation mobile communication technology to their products as soon as possible, Tuesday's China Daily reported.

"The success moves China a step forward in developing 5G technologies, which will accelerate its speed in commercializing 5G," Xiang Ligang, a telecom expert and chief executive of telecom industry website Cctime, was quoted by the newspaper as saying. The call was one of the world's first using 5G technology, according to Xiang.

The 5G phone call, as a collaboration between ZTE and China Mobile Communications Corp, was based on ZTE's end-to-end system of 5G, which will be taken for commercial use. It also follows the latest standard of 3GPP, a body that governs global cellular standards, according to the report.

The move comes as China evolves from being a follower into a pioneer in the global telecom arena, experts said. The country is expected to commercialize 5G by 2020 and become the world's largest 5G market by 2025, the newspaper said.
LONDON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- European engineers launched a satellite to the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday to track space junk and take it back to the earth, kicking off the RemoveDebris project.

The satellite will be stored at the ISS for a number of weeks, before being released by the orbiting platform's robotic arm to begin a series of operations in late May.

Two small cube satellites, or "CubeSats," are carried along, with one monitoring and classifying debris in orbit, and the other snaring objects with a net.

"The net, as a way to capture debris, is a very flexible option because even if the debris is spinning, or has got an irregular shape, to capture it with a net is relatively low-risk compared to going with a robotic arm," the project's principal investigator Guglielmo Aglietti told Spaceflight Now, an online space news service.

The low cost is also a reason why the research team chose this method.

Led by the University of Surrey's Space Centre in Britain, the project costs about 13 million euros (nearly 16 million U.S. dollars).

Half of the expenses come from the European Commission, while the other half is supported by 10 partners such as Airbus and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited.

The engineers hope to prove that cleaning up space junk can be relatively inexpensive, which could be affordable by commercial companies or governments operating under budget limitations, said Aglietti, who called the project a "proof-of-concept."

"We all agree, in the space sector, that it is a good idea to start to remove larger pieces of debris, which are the ones that cause the major threat," Aglietti added.

Space junk is an ever-growing problem with more than 7,500 tons of redundant hardware now thought to be circling the earth, according to the European Space Agency.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 13:10:36|Editor: Chengcheng

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HANOI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is accelerating agricultural restructure to double its farmers' annual income to 66 million Vietnamese dong (over 2,900 U.S. dollars) in the next five years, its agriculture minister said.

On average, a Vietnamese farmer currently has an annual income of 33 million Vietnamese dong (over 1,450 U.S. dollars), while a Vietnamese person has an income of roughly 50 million Vietnamese dong (2,200 U.S. dollars), local daily newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) on Tuesday quoted Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong as saying.

All 63 cities and provinces nationwide are speeding up agricultural restructure, focusing on groups of agro-products which are strength of specific localities and favored by specific export markets, and intensifying application of high technology in producing vegetables, flowers, seafood and other key items, Cuong said.

Vietnam has identified a group of 10 key farm produces which have either high production and export growths or high export values or both, such as wood, wood-based products, vegetables and fruits.

The Vietnamese government has set a target of increasing total agricultural product export to 40 billion U.S. dollars this year, up from 36.5 billion U.S. dollars last year, he said.

The Vietnamese forestry sector is expected to make export turnovers of at least 9 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up 1 billion U.S. dollars against 2017. Meanwhile, export of cereals, cash crops, fruits and vegetables are expected to surpass 20 billion U.S. dollars.

Besides export markets, Vietnam is paying more attention to the local market, centering on producing high-grade food and foodstuffs.
CANBERRA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The head of Australia's world-first investigation into digital giants such as Facebook and Google has accused Australians of being ignorant about the extent of personal data held by these online entities.

Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), said the public's shock at the Cambridge Analytica scandal in March confirmed what he had long suspected that Australian consumers knew surprisingly little about the potential of social media giants and search engines to access and harvest their personal information.

The ACCC is currently waiting on submissions as it prepares to investigate the digital giants in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data-mining revelations, which involved the personal information of more than 50 million users worldwide being compromised.

Its inquiry is investigating the impact of Google, content aggregators such as Apple News and social media platforms such as Facebook on the state of competition in media and advertising.

Sims said in his experience, customers rarely read lengthy terms and conditions when signing up with these social media giants.

"I think with Facebook, Google, the other platform companies, they do a better job than other companies at trying to convince you they're not in business to make money," he told Fairfax Media in comments published on Tuesday.

"Whereas, quite visibly, they are and I think you have to give them their credit, they've come up with a very clever business model - give you a service ... you're paying (for) with your data."

The April 3 deadline is expected to pass without any submissions from major media companies, as most have asked for extensions following the Cambridge Analytica revelations which emerged on March 18.

The Guardian published the account of a former worker at data firm Cambridge Analytica, revealing that a third-party application on Facebook scraped profile information from users and their friends, which was then used to target voters for Donald Trump's presidential campaign in the United States.

Sims told Guardian Australia that the commission is trying to "understand what is going to help from a competition and consumer point of view."

"I think the reaction to Cambridge Analytica (revelations) indicated a lot of people don't understand the data that's held on them and potentially what it can be used for," he said.

"Ours is very much an analytical exercise ... we will engage with people and we certainly will hold public forums. But we are really trying to hear perspectives.

"We'll be looking at a range of competition, consumer and level-playing-field type issues. But then we'll be looking at what the impact of this is on the media, understanding very much the role that media and journalism play in society."
Source:Xinhua| 2018-04-03 14:01:58|Editor: Mengjie

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Aerial photo taken on April 2 shows the residential buildings at Baita Village in Xizhu Township of Yixing City, east China's Jiangsu Province. Due to Baita village's great efforts in developing its environment, culture and tourism, the village attracted over 1 million visitors per year, with per capita incomes of the villagers reaching 38,000 yuan (about 6,052 U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 14:00:46|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- With China being the major force driving world economic growth for another year, the global spotlight is now on the key leadership behind its robust economic performance: the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core.

The Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs headed by Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, is one of the names that must be mentioned when decoding the CPC's economic governance over the past five years.

A DECISIVE POWER

The Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs of the 18th CPC Central Committee has held 16 meetings since it was established in April 2013. Each of them carried significant weight in steering the Chinese economy into the new era of high-quality development.

The group is entrusted by the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and its Standing Committee to make decisions on major economic and social strategies and policies.

During the five years since the 18th CPC National Congress, China's economy expanded to more than 82.7 trillion yuan (around 13 trillion U.S. dollars), growing by 7.1 percent a year on average amid uncertainties at home and abroad.

With Xi as its head and other Party and state leaders as members, the high-profile group has discussed and made many major decisions at its meeting table that have secured sound growth: the Belt and Road Initiative, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development plan, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the innovation-driven development strategy, just to name a few.

Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Russian Communist Party, said China's economic achievements are the best proof of the effectiveness of China's political system under the CPC leadership.

XI'S ECONOMIC THOUGHT

Theoretical innovations of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs have provided guidance for the economic "new normal" and transition, forming the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Economy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

Noticing that China's economy has entered a "new normal" of moderate to high growth, Xi proposed the supply-side structural reform at a meeting of the leading group in November 2015. The idea later became the main theme of China's economic policy framework.

Under the supply-side structural reform, China has cut steel production capacity by more than 170 million tonnes and coal production capacity by 800 million tonnes. It has also reduced the burden of taxes and administrative charges on enterprises by more than 1 trillion yuan annually.

Xi has enriched the concept and theories of development, which is not only about the increase of GDP figures, but also about green and sustainable growth.

He also talked about development issues like productivity, urbanization, and regional coordination at the leading group's meetings, as well as those closely related to people's well-being, like poverty reduction, housing, and food security.

"Starting from public concerns when making plans on economic work will not only increase people's sense of gain and well-being, but also unleash greater economic growth potential," said Yang Yiyong, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research.

The leading group's meetings have been an important platform to implement Xi's economic thought in making greater plans for China's future development.

Every decision determined by the leading group must be thoroughly implemented in a down-to-earth manner, according to Xi.

Looking ahead, Xi's economic thought delivered via the leading group's meetings is expected to provide further guidance and theoretical foundation for China's future path, and pave the way for a new development stage for the socialist economy with Chinese characteristics.

"We live in a fast changing world, and the global economy is undergoing more profound changes. We must therefore closely follow the trend of the global economy, identify its underlying dynamics, keep to the right direction, and, on that basis, take bold action," Xi said at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting last year.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 14:25:52|Editor: Chengcheng

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WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 6.8 magnitude rattled Bolivia on Monday, causing no damage or casualties but panicking residents as far as neighboring Brazil and El Salvador.

The epicenter of the quake, recorded at 10:40 a.m. local time (1340 GMT), was 557 km beneath the ground, rocking an area some 300 km southeast of the southern Bolivian city of Sucre, according to the U.S. Geological Service.

The tremor, while shaking high rises, seemed to have caused no major damage in the South American nation. There was no report of casualties either, according to media reports citing Bolivia's San Calixto Seismological Observatory.

However, in Brazil, where the quake was also felt, people in tall office buildings in metropolises like Sao Paulo and Brasilia were seen evacuating in panic, according to video footage.

Images posted online by Agencia Brasil showed buildings of several government ministries were evacuated while firefighters were taping off entryways for inspection.

Brazil rarely gets hit by earthquakes. Some residents told local media in Brasilia the one that just happened was the strongest they had ever experienced.

Meanwhile in El Salvador, Bolivia's northern neighbor, authorities said a quake at 6.0 magnitude hit later on the same day.

The country's Ministry of Environment said the tremor was recorded at 5:23 p.m. (2323 GMT) in San Vicente district, triggering an alarm in the capital San Salvador, where people were seen rushing out of stores.
WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the state of California on Monday over a law that allows the state to block the U.S. government from selling federal lands.

The law, enacted in October, gives the State Lands Commission a first right of refusal to the sale or lease of federal public lands in California. Federal law gives the authority to federal agencies.

The law was part of a series of bills California lawmakers passed last year in a bid to preserve federal environmental regulations under state law and protect federal lands from being sold to oil companies.

In the lawsuit, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that the California law is unconstitutional.

"The Constitution empowers the federal government -- not state legislatures -- to decide when and how federal lands are sold," said Sessions.

However, California's Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that the state will meet the legal challenge by the Justice Department.

"Our public lands should not be on the auction block to the highest bidder," Becerra said in a statement. "We're prepared, as always, to do what it takes to protect our people, our resources and our values."

It is not the first time that the Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the country's most populous state.

Last month, Sessions, during his visit to Sacramento, California's capital, announced that he was suing the state over laws that hinder cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The heavily Democratic state of California has feuded with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration over a series of matters ranging from immigration and climate change to criminal justice.
ULAN BATOR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Mongolia said Tuesday it purchased 2.3 tons of gold from legal entities and individuals in the first quarter of this year, up 2.1 percent from the same period last year.

As of March, the central bank's average gold purchase rate (gold price) was 101.822.3 tugrik (42.56 U.S. dollars) per gram, which corresponds to a low rate on the London Metal Exchange, according to experts of the Bank of Mongolia.

It is expected that the gold purchase will increase with the start of the peak of gold mining in August, September and October.

The gold producers in cooperation with the government of Mongolia have carried out a number of measures directed at enriching the treasury fund and improving the legal environment on foreign exchange over past five years. As a result, gold miners submitted 20.01 tons of gold to the central bank in 2017, contributing 800 million dollars to the state budget.

Annual gold production had not surpassed 20 tons since 2005 when it reached its record high at 25 tons.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 15:46:05|Editor: Jiaxin

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- What does the Trump administration want? To balance the trade deficit or to protect intellectual property?

The U.S. president mixed up the two problems when he signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to 60 billion U.S. dollars of imports from China, a move against alleged "unfair" intellectual property and technology transfer practices.

If it is about the trade deficit, hitting the high-tech trade won't help reverse the situation. The trade imbalance between the two countries is structural, with China exporting more commodities to the United States while importing more services.

The goods that help build China's trade surplus are mainly household appliances, mobile phones, textiles, clothes and toys, none of which contain many high technologies. But they do reflect an intertwined trade relationship between the two countries against the backdrop of globalization.

For example, it's common to see U.S. companies, in pursuit of lower costs, set up in China assembly plants, which then purchase parts and components all over the world, including from the United States. So experts from both countries suggest it's misleading to track the trade deficit from figures on the surface.

To address the imbalance, both countries should carry out structural reforms rather than just impose tariffs that will hurt American businesses and consumers too.

If it is about intellectual property, wouldn't it be more efficient to talk, given that China has stepped up measures to address this issue and is always open to dialogue?

Many believe the intellectual property accusation is an excuse rather than a real concern.

China, the world's second largest economy, has been striving to upgrade its industrial structure by adopting an innovation-driven development strategy.

It has shown the world its innovation capabilities with a series of cutting-edge technologies. It has launched its first cargo-carrying spacecraft, realized satellite-based distribution of entangled photon pairs over a record distance, displayed its first home-grown large passenger jet, the C919.

"The four great inventions of modern China" -- high-speed trains, mobile payments, bike sharing and online shopping -- have demonstrated its vitality in applying new technologies in the economy.

The Trump administration, aware of the narrowing gap between the two countries, is worried about Chinese innovation, a key driver of further development. Investigations and tariffs are thus employed as tools to retain the upper hand of the U.S. high-tech industries.

But the U.S. government has neglected China's unprecedented efforts to protect intellectual property rights, a necessary requirement to sustain innovation.

China has been the world leader in applications for invention patents for seven consecutive years. Chinese mainland held about 1.36 million such patents by the end of 2017, according to the State Intellectual Property Office.

The Chinese government in February unveiled guidelines for improving the trial procedures of intellectual property rights (IPR) cases, aiming for higher efficiency, stronger IPR protection and better trial credibility.

In 2016, Chinese courts handled 152,072 IPR cases, up 16.8 percent year on year. Over 3,700 people were arrested and 7,000 prosecuted, according to an IPR protection white paper.

The unilateral measures by the United States will only incur retaliation and drive China to further strengthen its innovation capacity.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 15:51:06|Editor: Lifang

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Luo Linquan on Monday told U.S. university students that China encourages healthy China-U.S. relations.

In a presentation on Monday evening, Luo explained the Belt and Road Initiative to students of University of California at Davis (UC Davis).

The initiative, he said, is a concept put forward by China but countries across the globe are welcome to participate. The Initiative aims to improve connectivity and align the development strategies of various nations.

"The Belt and Road covers a region that is the most dynamic and with the greatest economic potential in the world," Luo said. He was invited to UC Davis by the university's Global Affairs and Asian International Programs.

Along the corridor, there are more than 60 countries and regions, with a total population of about 4.4 billion and a total economic output of about 21 trillion U.S. dollars, which account for 63 percent and 29 percent of the world total, respectively, he explained.

It offers the most extensive coverage of an emerging economic zone that links the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, said the Chinese diplomat.

The Initiative is designed to uphold the global free trade regime and an open world economy, he said, adding that it would further encourage respect for cultural diversity and bring a greater application of information technology.

Since it was put forward in 2013, more than 100 countries and international organizations have joined the initiative, and over 80 others have signed agreements with China, forming a wide consensus on international cooperation, Luo said.

He noted that trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road amounted to about 1.2 trillion dollars in 2017, surging 17.8 percent year on year.

China invested 14.36 billion dollars in 59 Belt and Road countries, accounting for 12 percent of its total foreign investment, and up by 3.5 percent over the previous year, Luo explained.

He said the initiative is poised to improve the living standards of 4.4 billion people, more than half of the world's population. Citing Laos as an example, he said the small southeast Asian landlocked country will become a land-connected state, one better linked with its neighboring countries after an express railway is completed between it and China.

"Although the United States is far from the Belt and Road region, American companies, with their advantages in international operations, global resources, cutting-edge technologies and high level legal standards, are welcome to bid for Belt and Road projects that offer them tremendous opportunities," Luo said.

Speaking of the current trade dispute between China and the United States, Luo said mutual cooperation is the main thrust of China-U.S. relations.

"Both countries share broad interests and important responsibilities for global peace, stability and prosperity," he stressed.

He expressed hope that those in attendance would engage more with China and work hard to contribute to a healthy China-U.S. relationship.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 16:01:09|Editor: Jiaxin

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RIYADH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has emphasized it is necessary for the international community to move forward the Middle East peace process, Saudi Press Agency reported Tuesday.

The Saudi king made the remarks during a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump over the regional developments on Monday evening, said the report.

The king reaffirmed the kingdom's steadfast position on the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, it said.

The conversation came amid rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians following the bloody clashes in the past days near the Israeli border with Gaza Strip, that have left at least 15 Palestinian protesters killed and 1,200 others injured.

The king expressed his appreciation for a recent statement issued by the White House on its strong stance towards the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.

Recently, the Houthi militias have stepped up its attacks on Saudi targets by firing missiles at the kingdom in retaliation for the Saudi-led Arab coalition's airstrikes in Yemen.

The Saudi leader pledged to make efforts to find a political solution to the Yemeni crisis and provide humanitarian aid to its people.

At the same time, the two leaders underlined the importance of the achievements of the concerted international efforts to fight terrorist organizations in Iraq and Syria, the report added.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 16:01:10|Editor: Lifang

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TAIYUAN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Three people died and three others were injured when an explosion hit a workshop of an aluminum company on Tuesday in north China's Shanxi Province.

The blast happened in the early morning at Yunhai aluminum company in Yongji City. Three people died at the scene and three others were injured, said the local government.

The injured are being treated in hospital and are all in a stable condition.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

The company was registered in 2010 and mainly produces aluminum alloy products.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 16:06:10|Editor: Jiaxin

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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva participated on Monday evening in an anti-fascism, pro-democracy political rally in Rio, along with several other prominent left-wing politicians.

The event gathered thousands of people in downtown Rio. Lula, who ruled over Brazil for two terms and intends to run for a third this October, has been facing difficulties in his candidacy.

He was found guilty for corruption and money laundering for supposedly receiving a fancy beachfront apartment as bribe from a construction company.

Lula's defenders said that no proof of the apartment's ownership was found, and evidence was limited to the former president having visited the unit a few times.

The former president appealed the decision, but the appeals court upheld the ruling. With two convictions, Lula could start serving his sentence before all appeals are judged -- which would preclude his participation in the presidential election.

However, he called for a habeas corpus, which will be judged by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The political act is only the latest in a series of events aimed at raising awareness of the matter and bring support to the former president, who remains well-liked by the majority of the population, and who is in the lead in all polls for every election scenario.

At the rally, the Workers Party's President and Senator Gleisi Hoffman called for a stronger union on the Left.

Politicians gathered at the event also touched on the several acts of political extremism that occurred in Brazil over the past few days, such as the assassination of Rio councilor Marielle Franco and the several attacks on Lula's caravan, which was traveling through Brazil.

"These acts of violence do not divide society between left and right, but between democracy and barbarism. All lives have the same importance. We have political differences, which are essential and must be debated, but fascism must be fought by all of us," said Rio state assembly member Marcelo Freixo.
Photo taken on Dec. 1, 2000 and provided by international environmental organization Greenpeace shows Greenpeace activists trying to stop whaling by Japanese in the Southern Ocean. (Xinhua/Cunningham)

by Xinhua writer Deng Xianlai

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Japan's whaling fleet returned to port Saturday after its four-month hunting expedition to the Antarctic. During its voyage 333 mammals were brutally slaughtered.

Over the years, Japan's whaling activities have been condemned worldwide, and vessels from anti-whaling groups have also flanked the Japanese hunting fleets to stop their sails.

Yet Tokyo continues to ignore the opposition and carries on its slaughter year after year in the Antarctic -- half a globe away from its shores, and there's little anti-whaling activists can do about it.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a U.S.-based rights group for marine animals, said in a statement last August that it would not protest against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean this season, putting the breaks on its anti-whaling campaign since 2005.

One of the reasons is that Japan's increased use of military satellite technology to track them made the contest impossible. Moreover, Japan has passed anti-terrorism laws that render moves by protests ships as acts of terror.

"We're just a volunteer group trying to do the impossible," said Paul Watson, captain of Sea Shepherd.

The Japanese government has long purported that whaling is "an ancient part of Japanese culture." Such an excuse has drawn global condemnation since hunting whales has been proven nothing historical.

The country's first whaling voyage to the Antarctic happened in the mid-1930s, and large-scale hunting activities only began after World War II. There's nothing "ancient" in Japan's killing of whales.

In addition, Japan, unlike countries such as Canada, Iceland and Norway that only engage in coastal whaling, is the only one that conducts such hunts in the Antarctic and retains a large factory ship that is capable of processing large quantities of whales at sea.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC), a global anti-whaling watchdog established in 1946, adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1982. Although Japan agreed to abide by the terms in 1986, its hunters exploited loopholes to continue whaling under the guise of "scientific research."

Yet seldom does Japan conceal the fact that the whales slaughtered in the name of scientific research often end up on the dinner table.

In March 2014, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that there is no scientific case for Japan's "lethal research" in the Southern Ocean and ordered Tokyo to suspend the missions.

What's behind the masquerade of "scientific research," first and foremost, is the collusion between Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) and the Kyodo Senpaku Co., Ltd. The ICR carries out the so-called research while Kyodo Senpaku hunts whales and sells their meat on the institute's behalf.

The former boss of Kyodo Senpaku was once a trustee of the ICR, and the ICR serves as a sanctuary for Japan's retired senior fishery officials.

This picture shows Japan's whaling research ship 'Nisshin Maru' leaving from a port of Innoshima island in Hiroshima prefecture, western Japan to Southern Japan on December 28, 2012. (Xinhua/AFP)

What's more, Japan's claim that its whaling activities protect the world's fishery resources is completely unconvincing. Japanese whale hunters say that the mammal consumes large amounts of food, may compete with humankind for food, and will cause an ecological imbalance.

According to IWC research, however, most whales only search for food in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, both of which are sparsely inhabited by humans. Plus, only 1 percent of what whales eat overlaps with those fished by humans.

The World Wildlife Fund cautions that eight out of the 13 great whale species remain endangered or vulnerable. To protect the endangered whales species, the world needs to stand together on this, purge any loopholes, and feverishly strive to contain such cold-blooded killings.
ULAN BATOR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has imposed a ban on fishing from April 1 to June 15, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism said in a statement released on Tuesday.

According to the country's law on fauna, fishing is prohibited to allow for breeding from April 1 to June 15 every year.

Anyone found violating the ban will be fined 500 U.S. dollars.

Seventy five species of fish are registered in the country, according to the ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 16:25:38|Editor: Lifang

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SHIJIAZHUANG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China's private steel companies are playing a bigger role in reducing capacity in the industry, according to the sector's chamber of commerce.

China slashed crude steel capacity by more than 50 million tonnes in 2017, with private steel companies contributing 40 million tonnes of the cuts, 80 percent.

In 2016, 65 million tonnes were cut, with 38.8 million tonnes, or 60 percent, from private companies.

The steel price index came in at 121.8 at the end of December, up 22.4 percent from the beginning of the year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China plans to eliminate 100 million to 150 million tonnes of crude steel capacity in the five years by 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 16:45:41|Editor: Jiaxin

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TUNIS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- As the rotating president of the G20, Argentina will support Tunisia's presence at the G20 summit, visiting Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie has said.

The Argentine minister said Monday in meetings with Tunisian leaders that Tunisia could attend the next G20 Summit, scheduled in November in Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital.

Faurie underlined the common interest between his country and Tunisia, highlighting the need to lift the bilateral ties to the higher level in various economic and trade areas.

"The major objective, is to stimulate a partnership that will take advantage of the existing potentials between the two countries," said Faurie.

During the Argentine diplomat's visit, the two sides signed three agreements to increase cooperation in the fields of culture and academic researches.

These agreements included a deal on cultural cooperation from 2018 to 2020, a deal on cooperation in the field of cinema, and an agreement on cooperation between the Argentine Center for the World Economy and the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said that Tunisia intends to enhance its economic partnership with Latin America, mainly with the Southern Common Market, whose members include Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela.
VIENTIANE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- After more than a year's construction, the China-Laos railway is taking shape in northern Laos bordering China.

"Now we have 2,401 staff and 603 sets of equipment at our construction sites," Zhou Xiaoxia, the superintendent of the China-Laos railway construction project's first section, told Xinhua on Monday by phone.

The superintendent from China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group (CREC 5) told Xinhua, up until the end of March, his unit had completed around 26 percent of the project section.

"For example, we have bored more than 14 km of tunnels which is 44 percent of the total and set up the lower portion of bridges which span more than 1,000 meters," said Zhou.

In 2018, Section One of the China-Laos railway project will see tunnels extended between 18 km and 20 km into the mountains and before Chinese New Year in February, 2019, the section will have bored through six tunnels, Huang Zongwen, a senior official with the China-Laos railway construction project told Xinhua during a tour to the construction sites.

He added that all the lower portions of the bridges, and the main roadbed work will be finished in 2018 and, before June this year, most of the culverts will be built.

The China-Laos railway construction project is divided into six sections. The CREC 5 is in charge of Section One in northern Laos, which borders China.

"There's a feeling of real enthusiasm towards this construction project and our team has been touched by the eagerness and expectations of the Lao people towards the railway," Hu Yong, a senior official of a CREC 5 said while showing Xinhua the tidy construction sites, factories and living zones.

"I am sure this year will see the construction work continue to boom and we can assure the timely and quality progress of the China-Laos railway."

In Hu Yong's team, Boten Tunnel is listed as one of the China-Laos railway's "important but difficult" projects.

Inside the Boten tunnel, engineering blasting, digging and cement lining were being carried out in an orderly fashion, and the in-and-outward bound heavy-duty trucks carried out earth and gravel continually, Xinhua reporters saw at the scene.

"We have almost bored half of the tunnel," Hu said proudly.

In the China-Laos border area, China Railway No.2 Group (CREC 2) is boring the Friendship Tunnel from each side.

"We have made a 300-meter entrance into the cross-border mountains, and will have half of the job completed on the Lao side at the end of this year," said Wang Xiaodong, a senior official of the CREC 2 unit, on Sunday.

The tunnel, with a total length of 9,595 meters, is divided into two parts, 7,170 meters on the Chinese side and 2,425 meters on the Lao side.

By March 26, the CREC 2 had bored 1,530.6 meters into the mountains from the Chinese side.

In December, 2017, Ban Somsanook No. 2 Tunnel with a length of 301 meters in Laos' Vientiane Province, was bored by the Chinese project contractor Sino Corporation Engineering Bureau 15 Co., Ltd., and became the first completed tunnel along the China-Laos railway route.

The China-Laos railway is being promoted by the leaders of the two countries as a project of interconnectivity. Since the commencement of construction in December 2016, the building of tunnels, bridges, roadbeds and other sections has progressed smoothly along the route.

The China-Laos railway has a total length of more than 414 kilometers comprising 60 percent of bridges and tunnels, linking Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos and the capital of Vientiane.

The operating speed of trains on the route is designed to be 160 km per hour. The railway is expected to be fully operational in December 2021.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 16:50:42|Editor: Jiaxin

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An Afghan man carries an injured child after airstrikes in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, April, 3, 2018. Scores of people have been confirmed dead and injured as government forces' airstrikes targeted a Taliban-held area in Dasht Archi district of the northern Kunduz province on Monday, officials and locals said Tuesday.(Xinhua/Ajmal Kakar)

KABUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Scores of people have been confirmed dead and injured as government forces' airstrikes targeted a Taliban-held area in Dasht Archi district of the northern Kunduz province on Monday, officials and locals said Tuesday.

"Scores of people including Taliban militants and civilians were killed and wounded due to air raids against Taliban gathering in Daftani area of Dasht Archi district on Monday," district governor Nasrudin Saadi Nazari told Xinhua.

The official also confirmed that the attack was conducted in the Taliban-held area and efforts are underway to determine the number of casualties and the identity of the victims.

According to officials, 15 commanders and a senior leader of Taliban outfit Mawlawi Burhan alias Qari Baryal who was visiting Taliban-held areas to reorganize the insurgent group are also among those killed in the strikes.

However, locals have disputed the claim, saying more than 150 people including armed insurgents and civilians were killed and injured in the raids targeted a religious school where a graduation ceremony of Taliban seminaries was underway.

Condemning the bloody strikes as attack on civilians, the villagers called upon the government to halt targeting unarmed people.

A doctor in Kunduz provincial capital the Kunduz city, Naem Mangal told Xinhua that 50 injured people had been taken to the hospital and some after receiving first aid have been discharged from the hospital.

Meanwhile, Zabihullah Majahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in contact with media has claimed that all the victims are civilians.

Rejecting the claim, deputy spokesman for Defense Ministry Mohammad Rad Manish told local media that the "militants were planning to attack government interests but the government airpower acting upon intelligence report targeted the enemy, killing and injuring up to 40 insurgents."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 17:00:43|Editor: Jiaxin

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The return of overseas-listed Chinese "unicorn" companies to the A-share market will facilitate the rise of the new economy, an expert said.

ICBC International economist Cheng Shi said in an article that such tech firms, valued at more than 1 billion U.S. dollars, will attract more private capital into innovative startups and break the domination of the traditional sector in the country's capital market.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission Friday announced a pilot program to help leading tech firms having gone public abroad re-issue shares in the mainland market via depositary receipts. Tech giants, such as U.S.-listed Alibaba and Baidu, will be able to reach domestic investors.

Businesses in high-tech and emerging sectors including big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, chipmaking, and biomedicine will be the first group to come back to the mainland market, Cheng said.

For years, the capital market was dominated by property developers, banks and other traditional companies, with innovative firms blocked by legal and technical barriers, such as profitability requirements. Many tech firms turned to markets in Hong Kong and New York.

As regulators started to loosen rules for the new economy, overseas-listed firms have become optimistic about a return.

Qihoo 360, China's largest internet security company returned from the New York Stock Exchange in February and witnessed its market value peak at more than 440 billion yuan (around 70 billion U.S. dollars), nearly seven times the value when it delisted from the U.S. market.

Cheng believes a positive cycle will take shape among unicorn companies, the capital market, and the new economy, which will contribute to a more sustainable economy.

"While unicorns can achieve faster growth due to abundant capital support, the new economy will also be able to grow and serve as a powerful engine for China's high-quality development," Cheng said, predicting more unicorns to emerge in the country.

China is home to 36 percent of the world's unicorn companies amid its transformation from a follower into a potential leader in technological innovation. Data shows Alibaba's Ant Financial and Didi Chuxing are among the top unicorn companies.
SEOUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea maintained a plan to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in a "comprehensive and progressive" way, a senior official with the presidential Blue House said Tuesday ahead of the summit with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) later this month.

The unnamed Blue House official told local reporters that there had been nothing decided yet except a big picture that the denuclearization issue should be resolved in a comprehensive and progressive way, which President Moon Jae-in advocated, according to Yonhap news agency report.

"According to that direction, basic strategy and roadmap should be prepared before going through negotiations. It is now in the preparation phase," the official was quoted as saying.

The official noted that a big frame for the denuclearized Korean Peninsula would be set up through the inter-Korean summit before drawing an entire picture over the denuclearization through the DPRK-U.S. summit.

Moon and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un agreed to hold their first summit on April 27 at Peace House, a building controlled by South Korea in the truce village of Panmunjom.

If held as agreed upon, Kim will become the first DPRK leader to set foot on the South Korean territory since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in armistice. The first and second inter-Korean summits were held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007, respectively.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet Kim, the DPRK leader, by the end of May.
SEOUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea will send a 7-member delegation to hold working-level talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to discuss security and protocol issues for the agreed inter-Korean summit later this month, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.

The delegation will be led by Cho Han-ki, chief of the presidential protocol of the Blue House, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry informed the DPRK of the delegation list earlier in the day via the restored communications channel in the truce village of Panmunjom.

The two Koreas held a high-level dialogue last week, agreeing to hold the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un on April 27 in Panmunjom.

To discuss security and protocol issues for the Moon-Kim summit, the two sides agreed to hold a separate working-level meeting Wednesday in the South Korean side of Panmunjom.

The South Korean delegation included Shin Yong-wook, a deputy chief for presidential security service of the Blue House, and Kwun Kyuk-ki, director of Chunchugwan, the press center of the Blue House.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 17:15:45|Editor: Jiaxin

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to push forward constructive dialogue and improve its relationship with the Vatican, an official with the country's religious affairs department said Tuesday.

China and the Vatican have maintained contact, confirmed Xiao Hong, former spokesperson of the State Administration for Religious Affairs which was recently merged into the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

"We have actively engaged in profound discussions about certain issues," Xiao said at a press conference.

China has always been sincere in wanting to improve relations with the Vatican and has continued to make efforts, she said.

Chen Zongrong, former deputy head of the administration, added at the same conference that the two sides have smooth and effective communication channels, through which issues can be discussed.

"We also hope the Vatican will move in the same direction toward China," he said.
TOKYO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on Tuesday stood by claims that his ministry did not conceal documents connected to the highly contentious missions conducted overseas by the Self-Defense Forces, despite accusations to the contrary.

Onodera was referring to documents central to a cover-up scandal last year that saw the Defense Ministry insist that the mission logs of the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), controversially deployed to Iraq more than 10 years ago, did not exist.

The Defense Ministry finally admitted Monday that it had found the logs, despite denying their existence to opposition parties in February last year.

Onodera said the documents were found as the ministry was taking steps to ensure that such a scandal would not reoccur.

The SDF's Ground Staff Office, according to the Defense Ministry, confirmed the existence of the Iraq logs by January, but did not inform the Joint Staff Office until Feb. 27, with Onodera himself not being informed until a month later.

Onodera said he will look into why the information of the records reached him so late, but maintained that collecting the logs from overseas and going over the "massive" amount of information on the GSDF's overseas missions had taken time.

Japan controversially, between January 2004 to July 2006, sent around 5,500 GSDF service people to Iraq to provide humanitarian support in Samawah in southern Iraq.

This marked the first time Japan deployed troops to a war-zone and the move drew nationwide condemnation for potentially thwarting the nation's war-renouncing Constitution.
FUZHOU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- When there is no pig to slaughter, butcher Chen Aihui, 46, indulges herself by painting the old houses and wooden bridges of her village.

Chen lives in the remote village of Jixia in Pingnan county, east China's Fujian Province. In 2015, the monotony of village life was broken when a stranger popped up in the village claiming to want to teach villagers to paint.

Chanting the slogan "everyone is an artist," the stranger, Lin Zhenglu, invited everyone he met to join his workshop, but most of them were not interested.

"I thought he was either making fun of me or trying to swindle money out of me," said Chen. "Isn't it ridiculous to expect us bumpkins paint like artists?"

But Lin did not give up. To demonstrate his sincerity, he promised the locals free lessons with canvases and paints all provided.

To return his good faith, local farmers sent their children to Lin's classroom as summer vacation began. To their surprise, the children were making simple drawings within a few days.

A painting drawn by Huang Yuqing, Chen's neighbor, in late 2017 shows a bird resting on a pear tree. (Xinhua)

Parents were even more shocked when, some days later, art dealers purchased the children's works for 200 yuan (32 U.S. dollars) a piece.

Soon the adults were signing up. Like most villagers, Chen found it difficult at first.

Sitting in front of an easel with a brush in hand for the first time, she was afraid to put any strokes on the canvas.

"I just felt that the paintbrush was even heavier than my butcher's knife," she said. "I was so nervous that my forehead was dripping with sweat."

Lin told her to "paint like you were killing pigs."

Once the first step was taken, she quickly fell in love with her new occupation and has finished nearly 100 pieces.

A painting of grapes drawn by Huang Yuqing in late 2017. (Xinhua)

No perspective, no palette, no composition -- the only thing Lin told his students was to "paint whatever you want, however you like." The only requirement is to "cover every inch of the canvas with paint."

Weird as it may sound, the method worked. Soon, almost every household in Jixia boasted a painter, some of whom have made a fortune from the hobby. Farmers converted their houses and barns into studios.

Huang Yuqing, Chen's neighbor, has made over 20,000 yuan selling her paintings, more than she ever earned from her grocery store and barbershop.

With the money, she bought a smart phone and began to sell her work through social media like Wechat. Now her works sells for up to 3,000 yuan.

But it is not just about money -- the practice has also helped villagers develop taste for art and enriched their lives.

"Few people now play mahjongg like before, as we are all too busy painting in our spare time," said Huang.

A painting drawn by Huang Yuqing shows the remote village of Jixia in Pingnan County, east China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua)

The remote village soon rose to fame. Each weekend, art dealers, professors, foreigners -- curious city dwellers from all over the country come to Jixia. Some stay for months to paint and live with the locals, as an escape from the weariness of urban life.

Huang has even picked up some English. "I am happy to make friends with these people," she said. "Painting is our common language."

Some young people who left the village looking for jobs are coming back.

Yao Yuanyuan, who worked in a tech startup in the coastal city of Xiamen, returned and took up painting. Now she is a teaching assistant in Lin's workshop.

A coffee shop opened in the middle of a block of old houses in the village to cater for visitors' taste, but occasionally village housewives also patronize the place with their toddlers in the arms, getting a taste for the "exotic" drink.

"For the villagers, painting is a key to building confidence," said Lin. "Art empowers and enables the weak to become strong."

A painting of water lily drawn by Huang Yuqing. (Xinhua)

Gao Jinmei, now 84 years old, was dragged out of her sickbed by Lin to join the workshop a year ago. Now she has produced more than 300 pieces, and earned more than 10,000 yuan.

"Painting is the best cure for my high blood pressure," said Gao. "I feel more like 18 than 80!"
KAMPALA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has joined hundreds of global leaders to pay tribute to the fallen former wife of South African freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 81, was pronounced dead by the Mandela family spokesperson, Victor Dlamini, on Monday.

"It is with profound sadness that we inform the public that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela passed away at the Netcare Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday," Dlamini wrote.

On his official twitter account, President Museveni wrote: "Very sorry to hear about the death of comrade Winnie Mandela."

"I salute her contribution to the resistance in South Africa, especially during the time Mzee Mandela was in prison," Museveni further wrote on Monday.

On the same day, the former presidential candidate for Uganda's leading opposition party, Forum for Democratic Change, Kizza Besigye, also paid tribute to Winnie.

"Winnie etched a permanent and very conspicuous mark in annals of anti-apartheid struggle! Fare thee well," Besigye wrote.

Just in January, Mandela was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by Makerere University, Uganda's leading public institute.

While congratulating her upon the achievement, Museveni said then: "The Mandela family was very instrumental in the liberation of South Africa and the entire African continent."

Winnie Mandela is remembered for leading a group of women to demonstrate against the injustices brought about by the apartheid regime in South Africa.

While her husband was in jail, Winnie fought hard to ensure his release in 1990 but two years later the two separated and then had an official divorce in 1996. Mandela died in 2013.

Uganda has had a great connection to the Mandela family and as soon as he left prison, the country was one of his first destinations to visit.

Uganda later named its national stadium after him and put up several monuments around the country. Namboole Stadium was renamed the Nelson Mandela National Stadium in commemoration of the freedom fighter.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 18:21:07|Editor: Yamei

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.

The forum, scheduled for April 8 to 11 in Boao, a coastal town in the southern island province of Hainan, will be themed "An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity."

Xi will meet with foreign heads of state and government, and officials from international organizations, collectively meet with BFA directors, and hold discussions with entrepreneurs, Wang said.

It will be the third time for Xi to attend the BFA annual conference as Chinese president, indicative of the importance attached and the support given to the forum by the president and the Chinese government, Wang said.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde are expected to attend the forum.

In addition to attending the forum, the Austrian president, Dutch prime minister, Mongolian prime minister, Singaporean prime minister and UN secretary-general will also pay a visit to China.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up in China, and the beginning of the implementation of the decisions taken at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Wang said Xi's attendance at the BFA annual conference at this historic moment is of great significance in further promoting major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era, building a community with a shared future for Asia and humanity, and advancing the cause of peace and development of human beings.

The BFA annual conference is the first major diplomatic event to be hosted by China this year, Wang said, adding its highlights will include revealing new prospects for reform and opening-up, interpreting the new era of China's development, making new proposals for the future, promoting new progress of partnership, and injecting new impetus for BFA development.

Xi will expound on China's achievements and experience in reform and opening-up, and the significance to and influence on the world. Xi will also announce new measures to expand reform and opening-up, Wang said.

President Xi will also explain China's stance on further promoting building a community of a shared future for Asia and humanity, and jointly creating a better future for Asia and the world.

According to Wang, more than 2,000 participants from around the world are expected to gather and offer advice on cooperation, development, and prosperity.

The BFA has been expanding both in scale and influence since its establishment 17 years ago, and has played a unique role in building consensus, deepening regional cooperation, boosting common development, and resolving Asian and global problems, Wang said.

Related:

China Focus: Explore prosperity solutions for Asia, world at China's high-profile forum

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- This year will be a big one for China's home-court diplomacy, with the upcoming Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) the first major diplomatic event the country will host in 2018.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 18:21:08|Editor: Zhou Xin

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DAMASCUS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 40,000 civilians have returned home in the Syrian capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta, where the army nearly gained full control, the state news agency SANA reported Tuesday.

The return of the civilians was still ongoing, as the Syrian army has recaptured all towns in Eastern Ghouta except for the last rebel stronghold of Douma district, where the Islam Army rebels have also agreed to evacuate recently.

Around 150,000 civilians left Eastern Ghouta last month as the rebels were evacuated from there following a relentless offensive by government troops.

In some towns, the civilians remained in their homes as the Syrian army entered the areas after the rebels fled.

A day earlier, SANA reported that 12,000 children from Eastern Ghouta returned to schools in the government-run shelters.

As the last batch of rebels are moving to the rebel-held area in the northern city of Jarablus, the situation in Eastern Ghouta is returning to normal, allowing the families to return home.

Eastern Ghouta, a 105-square-km agricultural region consisting of several towns and farmlands, used to be occupied by several rebel groups, who posed the last threat to the capital by firing shells into Damascus' government-controlled neighborhoods.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 18:26:09|Editor: Lifang

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CHONGQING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese hospitals are experimenting with artificial hearts called Evaheart, a left ventricular assist system developed in Japan in 2005.

Three patients had the devices implanted in Beijing's Fuwai Hospital.

The patients experienced marked improvements in their heart conditions and quality of life, the hospital said.

Similar tests are under way in Wuhan Union Hospital and Fujian Medical University Union Hospital.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 18:31:09|Editor: Zhou Xin

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DOHA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A high-level Qatari delegation has started a visit to the United States to boost bilateral economic relations, Qatar's Ministry of Economy and Commerce said in a statement Tuesday.

The delegation's schedule in the U.S. includes attending economic forums and meetings with U.S. officials and businessmen, the statement said.

Besides, the two sides will hold roundtable discussions over various topics, including real estate, investment, tourism, technology, health, banking, law and infrastructure projects.

The delegation, consisting of representatives from various financial institutions and authorities, is headed by Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed Bin Jassim Bin Mohammed Al-Thani.

"Over the past decade, Qatar has cemented its partnership with the United States in the form of direct investments, joint ventures and trade deals," said the Qatari minister.

He also said that the direct investments had contributed to creating new business opportunities for both Qatar and the United States.

The Qatari business team will attend the Qatar-U.S. Economic Forum in Miami starting Thursday, which will bring together more than 400 businesspeople and officials from both countries.

They will also visit Washington D.C., and the states of Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The two nations enjoy sound military and economic relations. as Qatar currently hosts the Al-Udeid air base, the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East.

The tiny Gulf country also accommodates more than 658 U.S. companies, of which 117 are fully owned U.S. companies. The volume of U.S. investments in Qatar has amounted to 26.3 billion Qatari riyals (7.22 billion U.S. dollars).
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 18:46:14|Editor: Lifang

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A herd of milu deer wait to be set free in the wetland around Poyang Lake in east China's Jiangxi Province, April 3, 2018. China Tuesday released 47 rare milu deer into the wild in the wetland around Poyang Lake to improve biodiversity and protect the ecosystem of the country's largest freshwater lake. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi)

NANCHANG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China Tuesday released 47 rare milu deer into the wild in the wetland around Poyang Lake to improve biodiversity and protect the ecosystem of the country's largest freshwater lake.

This was the first release of milu deer into the wild in region in east China's Jiangxi Province where the species disappeared around 1,000 years ago.

Milu deer are a flagship species of the wetland ecosystem and releasing them into the wild will help improve biodiversity and protect wetland environment, said Zhang Xiwu, deputy head of China Wildlife Conservation Association.

The released deer weigh up to 200 kg and range from newborns to 10-year-olds.

Each has ID microchips implanted and some have GPS collars to allow researchers to trace their migratory routes and habits.

"We can offer timely help in case they have difficulty adapting to the environment," said Bai Jiade, director of Beijing Milu Ecological Research Center.

The center placed 10 milu deer in the Poyang Lake National Wetland Park in 2013 to conduct a five-year adaptability test to see if the deer could live and reproduce there.

"Their numbers increased to 21 and this showed that the wetland was a suitable environment for the survival and reproduction of the species and has met the conditions for the release into the wild," said Bai.

More milu deer will be released into the wild in the region each year for the next five to 10 years to help establish a wild self-sustaining population, said Yang Qibo, head of the Poyang County Wildlife Protection Station.

Milu, also known as Pere David's deer, is a species endemic to China, but overhunting and habitat loss led to its near extinction in the early 20th century.

The species, still under A-level state protection in China, was named after Armand David, a French missionary and naturalist who first recorded the existence of the deer in China in 1865.

In 1986, the British government gifted 39 milu deer to Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in east China's Jiangsu Province, starting the revival of the population in its homeland.

Milu was first mentioned in Chinese books more than 2,000 years ago. The wetland deer species bears the odd nickname of "sibuxiang," or "like none of the four" for its unique features -- a horse's face, a donkey's tail, cow-like hooves and a stag's antlers.
HARARE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 42 people died while 246 others were injured in 338 road accidents recorded countrywide during this year's Easter holiday, police said.

This is up from the 22 people who died and 105 others injured in 217 road accidents during the same period last year, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Tuesday.

The newspaper quoted police spokesperson chief superintendent Paul Nyathi urging motorists to avoid speeding and overtaking in front of oncoming vehicles.

He also urged drivers to obey all traffic rules and regulations to minimize accidents.
KABUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- More than 54,000 people have been internally displaced by conflicts and militancy so far in 2018, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan (OCHA) said Tuesday, as fightings rage in difference places.

"A total of 54,063 people have been displaced by conflict since the beginning of the year, according to OCHA's Displacement Tracking System or DTS," the agency said in a statement here.

The DTS tracks displacement based on humanitarian assessments.

Provinces hosting the highest number of displaced families are Kunduz with 13,615 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Takhar with 5,740 IDPs, according to the statement.

In Kabul province, where the national capital city of Kabul is located, more than 1,200 IDPs arrived from Logar, Nangarhar, Jawzjan and Faryab provinces.

In the western Farah province, around 800 people reportedly arrived in capital city Farah, from six districts following clashes between armed groups and security forces.

The remaining IDPs were forced to flee to safer places in central, southern and eastern regions.

Afghan officials and humanitarian agencies have expressed concern over the increasing numbers of displaced families in the country.

More than 1 million Afghans have been displaced due to conflicts since 2001 as the worsening security situation and ongoing insurgency forced people to leave their homes for safer places. More than 445,000 Afghans were displaced in 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 19:11:20|Editor: Jiaxin

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JERUSALEM, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Israel has canceled a deal with the United Nations to resettle African asylum seekers, just one day after it was announced, said Israeli Prime Minister's Office Tuesday.

On Monday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced at a televised news conference that a deal was agreed with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Under the agreement, a government plan to deport asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan was canceled, instead, half of them will be resettled in Westen countries and the rest would be allowed to stay in Israel.

However, Netanyahu announced Monday night on his Facebook that he had put the implementation of the deal on hold.

The move was made after he was criticized by top cabinet ministers for failing to consult with them ahead of agreeing to the deal and by ultra-nationalist activists who demanded for deporting all of the migrants.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister's Office released a statement saying the deal was canceled.

According to the statement, Netanyahu met with anti-migrant activists from southern Tel Aviv, where most of the asylum seekers live, and told them that he had withdrawn his support for the deal.

"Every year I make thousands of decisions benefiting the State of Israel. Occasionally a decision is reached that has to be reconsidered," Netanyahu said.

He said he made the decision after consulting with activist leaders and with Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.

Over the past months, the Israeli government has tried to push forward a plan to deport the asylum seekers to Rwanda or give an indefinite prison time to those who refuse to leave. But on March 15, following petitions by human rights activists, the Supreme Court put a temporary freeze on the deportation plan.

Netanyahu said he was forced to agree to the UN plan after the New Israel Fund, an Israeli human rights organization, and the European Union pressure Rwanda to backtrack on a deal with Israel to accept the deported asylum seekers.

On Tuesday, Channel 10 TV news reported that Rwanda never agreed to such a deal.

Official figures released by the Interior Ministry show Israel has some 42,000 African migrants, many of whom live in the impoverished neighborhoods of southern Tel Aviv.

Israeli authorities see them as a threat to Israel's Jewish identity and employed a slew of measures against them.
TOKYO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on Tuesday stood by claims that his ministry did not conceal documents connected to the highly contentious missions conducted overseas by the Self-Defense Forces, despite accusations to the contrary.

Onodera was referring to documents central to a coverup scandal last year that saw the Defense Ministry insist that the mission logs of the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), controversially deployed to Iraq more than 10 years ago, did not exist.

The Defense Ministry finally admitted on Monday that it had found the logs, despite denying their existence to opposition parties in February last year.

Onodera said the documents were found as the ministry was taking steps to ensure that such a scandal would not reoccur.

The SDF's Ground Staff Office, according to the Defense Ministry, had confirmed the existence of the Iraq logs by January, but did not inform the Joint Staff Office until Feb. 27, with Onodera himself not being informed until a month later.

Onodera said he will look into why the information of the records reached him so late, but maintained that collecting the logs from overseas and going over the "massive" amount of information on the GSDF's overseas missions had taken time.

Japan controversially, between January 2004 to July 2006, sent around 5,500 GSDF service people to Iraq to provide humanitarian support in Samawah in southern Iraq.

This marked the first time Japan had deployed troops to a war-zone and the move drew nationwide condemnation for potentially thwarting the nation's war-renouncing Constitution.

Controversy over such contentious overseas GSDF missions and their "missing records" was reignited, when the Defense Ministry under Tomomi Inada last year claimed logs containing the daily activities of troops deployed to South Sudan on a UN peacekeeping mission had been discarded by GSDF members.

The ministry later said that a digital version of the logs, which eventually showed the security situation where the troops had been deployed was deteriorating, had been found.

Under intense media, public and political scrutiny over the coverup scandal, Inada handed in her resignation in July last year to account for the incident.

Japan's top government spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, meanwhile, told a press briefing Tuesday that it was too early to apportion blame and the Defense Ministry should first address the protracted issue internally.

Sources close to the mater, including those well-versed in Japan's SDF-related affairs, however, said the resurfacing of the scandal will likely see support for Abe's cabinet drop again significantly and may, once again, lead to the Defense Ministry admitting its blunders and forced to publicly account for them.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 19:51:34|Editor: Lifang

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday called on relevant countries to find out the truth in the Skripal case, discard their Cold War mentality and refrain from confrontation.

It is reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday suggested that the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal could benefit the British government by distracting attention from problems around Brexit.

"We have noticed that relevant parties have not reached a universally acknowledged conclusion on the Skripal case," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.

Geng said Russia has taken equally powerful measures in response to the expulsion of its diplomats from some countries and organizations.

He called on relevant parties to find out the truth as soon as possible, and properly handle differences under the principle of mutual respect and equal coordination.

Currently, the international community is confronted with multiple challenges, Geng said. "All parties should discard their Cold War mentality, refrain from confrontation and make concerted efforts to uphold world peace, stability and tranquility, and remain committed to fostering a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:01:37|Editor: Yamei

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Travellers walk inside Montparnasse Train Station in Paris, France, on April 2, 2018. The three-month railway strike in France started on Monday. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

PARIS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- France is expected to see traffic chaos in the coming months, as a nationwide rail strikes started on Tuesday demanding a reconsideration of President Emmanuel Macron's reform plan on the railway sector.

According to media reports, half of the unions' staff are set to join the call to stage strike in two out of every five days over a three-month period in a protest to the government plan to revamp the state-run rail operator SNCF.

On "black Tuesday," only one in eight high-speed trains is operational and one regional train out of five is expected to run.

In Ile-de-France region, half of scheduled inter-city links would be affected by the unions' action, triggering problems for millions of train passengers .

"The participation rate in this movement is very, very important, which shows that the form of struggle corresponds to what railway workers are awaited for," Philippe Martinez, head of CGT union told France Inter radio.

"It depends on the government, we want to discuss. The rail workers do not strike for pleasure but have been forced to get there," he added.

Noting "an alarming situation" of the rail sector, the government pledged "a new strategic corporate project" to improve SNCF performance after it had been struggling under debts of 46.6 billion euros (57.37 billion U.S. dollars), mainly due to generous pension system.

It also targets to open domestic rail passenger services to create dynamism in the sector in addition to new rules of recruitment for "a more efficient and unified" rail operator.

With the aim, the government proposed to scrap the special rail worker status, that allows workers to retire on full pension at 52, a decade earlier other French employees.

Speaking to BFMTV news channel, Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne regretted unions' "blocking posture", saying "We are halfway to the consultation... I announced significant progress on (SNCF) opening to competition, the unions do not move."

With no sign of an end to the standoff, the ministery stressed "the government will hold well in listening, in consultation and dialogue."

Reform attempts on the public rail system had been failed during the previous governments.

In 1995, a right-wing government led by Alain Juppe planned to end preferential working terms of rail workers, a move that triggered three-week strike and forced Juppe to step down.

The country's largest movement since 1968 forced then president Jacques Chirac to abandon the reform and dissolve the National Assembly.

While a chaos is to occur on land traffic, a disruption is expected in the air.

Organized separately, French flag carrier Air France staged strike on Tuesday over payments. The action is expected to disrupt 30 percent of the carrier's long-haul flights out of Paris's main Charles de Gaulle airport.

About 67 percent of the carrier's medium-haul flights and 85 percent of short-haul ones will operate during the strike, according to the Air France.

An ifop survey released on Sunday showed that 53 percent of respondents considered the rail strike was unjustified.

The strike, starting officially on Monday evening, is set to be a major test of President Macron's ability to push through reforms under pressure, especially when he needs public support to reshape the eurozone's second main power. (1 euro = 1.231 U.S. dollar)
ALGIERS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey arrived in Algiers on Tuesday for an official visit to boost the bilateral relations.

Upon his arrival at the International Airport of Algiers, the Spanish Prime Minister was welcomed by his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Ouyahia.

While in Algiers, Rajoy is due to co-chair with Ouyahia the seventh Algerian-Spanish High-Level Bilateral Meeting.

The two countries will identify ways and means to further develop their economic cooperation.

On the sidelines of this high-level intergovernmental meeting, Algerian and Spanish businessmen will also hold a forum in Algiers.

In 2017, Spain became the third largest importer of Algerian goods with total imports of 4.1 billion U.S. dollars, and the fifth largest exporter with exports worth 3.1 billion dollars.
TOUNGOO, Myanmar, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Myanmar organized a diplomatic group tour to Toungoo in Myanmar's Bago region Tuesday to pay respects to members of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces who sacrificed their lives in helping Myanmar in defending Japanese aggression during the World War II.

A memorial monument was built in Toungoo to mark the fallen Chinese expeditionary forces in the history and Chinese diplomats used to go and lay wreaths at the monument during traditional Qingming Festival, or Tomb-sweeping Festival every year.

In 1942, China sent 100,000 expeditionary soldiers to Myanmar and India to fight against Japanese forces with the Allies. During the war, nearly half of the Chinese soldiers were killed or injured.

Chinese ambassador Hong Liang told the memorial ceremony that the Chinese expeditionary forces had paid a great cost in defending Myanmar's independence as well as Chinese sovereignty in resistance against Japanese invasion.

The Chinese expeditionary forces' historical undertakings in Myanmar was also a part of the World's fight against Fascism.

He attributed the enjoyment of peaceful living in the present era to the sacrifice of the people in the past.

Attending the memorial ceremony were also Chinese companies working in Myanmar and Chinese associations.
Women in old Gyumri used to wear wooden slippers, usually made of oak, when going to public baths, to protect their feet from wastewater and fungal diseases.

If the slippers were ornamented, that spoke to the aesthetic taste of the owner. There were simple wooden slippers provided in the baths, without ornamentation, cleaned by chlorine and dried in the sun after each use.

Wooden slippers were part of the dowry in Gyumri families, passing from mothers to daughters. Thanks to this tradition, Hasmik Hambardzoumyan has got her great grandmother's ornamented slippers, dating to the end of the 19th century.

Its been around 50 years that these wonderfully preserved slippers have lost their operational significance. "Well, theyre already museum samples," says Hasmik.

Hasmiks niece Luisa recalls going to public baths as a child. "Usually we went to the baths with separate rooms. Only once did I bathe in a unisex public bath. I remember the big hall, on one side of which there were separate places with showers, without doors, having just walls in between. I remember the basin in the middle of the hall, surrounded by seated fat old women, always pouring themselves with water in large glasses, Luisa laughs.

Luisa recalls women covering the window with a piece of wood from the inside. "In fact, the little boys in that neighborhood used to come and look secretly. I recall a lovely white woman in the hall, with long black hair. She noticed the boys and calmly walked to the window to close it, says Luisa.



Hasmik Hambardzoumyan

At the beginning of the 20th century, weekends were preferred days for bathing. It was compulsory to visit a bath on the eve of church holidays. The price list was published in a local newspaper in the early 20th century, mentioning that it was free for children under five, while girls had to pay 15, women - 25 and men from 40 to 60 kopeks.

From Mkrtich Manoukyan's personal archive

Hetq wrote about Mkrtich Manoukyan's wedding in a public bath in 1985. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was also a mourning bath tradition. After the burial, those who mourned did not bathe for forty days, and men did not even shave. After forty days, they were taken to a public bath by the relatives of the deceased, and men were also taken to barbers. During the Soviet era, only the habit of not shaving was preserved.



Vahan Petrosyan

In 1980, the Armenian film A Piece of Sky was shot in Gyumri. Back then, Vahan Petrosyan worked for the police.

It was decided to shoot one of the scenes with the participation of actress Galina Belyayeva in Gevorents Bath on Gorki Street, which was later cut from the film. Petrosyan recalls the attention that this shooting gained, with many young people trying to look from the bath windows, making the police officer run after them from one window to another.

"Going to a public bath was an attraction - one would sing, another one - joke," continues Vahan Petrosyan. "Every Sunday we went to bathe with our families. We had to stand in a queue for the Central public bath rooms tickets for three hours before the opening, and buy tickets for the shower room separately, inside the bath. In the Gevorents bath, there were no tickets -just a queue to enter.



Central Bath on Abovyan Street

Gyumri residents dont believe that public baths will ever be restored. The building owners changed their function, turning them into hotels, restaurants, cafes and so on. Vahan Petrosyan notes that the most important thing now is to preserve the buildings as they were, regardless of their present function.
KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The wider world including Malaysia has been benefitting from China's 40 years of reform and opening-up, said HSBC's deputy chairman and chief executive Peter Wong Tung-shun Tuesday.

In a statement, Wong said China's gross domestic product (GDP) has achieved an average 10 percent annual growth rate in the last 40 years -- three times the rate in the United States over the same period, and this has boosted its regional trades with other countries.

For Malaysia, which was the member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and established diplomatic ties with China in 1974, has seen its relationship with China growing significantly over the past 40 years. China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner since 2009, and is currently the country's biggest foreign investor.

Wong also highlighted that Malaysia stands to benefit from the infrastructure investment drive under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which is evidenced by China's involvement in major Malaysian rail projects such as the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL).

Proposed in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The partnership between the Malaysian state of Melaka and the Chinese province of Guangdong -- aims to promote the development of various projects -- will also help establish Melaka as a strategic port and hub along the route of the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Wong.

Wong also sees Malaysia to benefit from the Alibaba Group-led Digital Free Trade Zone that due to take effect in 2019, as the virtual platform will connect businesses, manage cargo authorizations and assist in customs.

As a key driver of global trade and investment, Wong believed China is positioning itself at the center of Asia's economic growth by increasing regional connectivity through its Belt and Road Initiative, which will help turn Asia into the dominant global economic force.

The growing influence of China "could become positive energy to bring greater prosperity to other countries," Wong concluded.
TRIPOLI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan UN-backed government on Monday launched a sudden military operation to hunt down the remnants of Islamic State (IS), more than a year after IS was expelled from its former stronghold in Sirte.

The military operation, known as Homeland Storm, was announced by the government spokesman Mohamed Al-Sallak, during a press conference in Tripoli.

"According to the instructions of Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, a military operation called Homeland Storm was launched Monday dawn to pursue the remnants of terrorist groups, mainly IS," said Sallak.

The operation started from the eastern city of Misurata, 200 km east of the capital Tripoli, covering valleys and desert areas of the nearby cities of Sirte, Bani Walid and Tarhouna, according to the spokesman.

"The operation will involve all government army units to pursue the remnants of terrorist organizations, especially IS, and to eliminate their continuous threats to the country's national security," he said.

Mohammed Abdullah, a member of the eastern-based Parliament, believes that any military operation to pursue remnants of terrorist groups must be done with cooperation, as it is the battle of all Libyans.

"IS remnants are moving freely between Sirte and Misurata and to the southeast of Tripoli. The terrorists are moving in an area of more than 400 square km, a vast area that requires military and intelligence work to weaken their movements after the continuous rise of their suicide operations," Abdullah told Xinhua.

Abdullah stressed the importance of cooperation between the military forces in the east and west to generate effective outcome to eliminate terrorism.

IS remnants are mostly active in the desert of Sirte, due to its rugged valley nature, as well as in the southern Libyan desert cities.

Later in 2016, forces allied with the Libyan government defeated IS affiliates and expelled them from Sirte, some 450 km east of Tripoli, after fierce fighting that killed more than 700 government troops and more than 2,000 IS fighters.

The remaining IS militants fled to the southern valleys and mountainous areas ever since, and have carried out suicide attacks on security checking points.

The air force of the eastern-based army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, also targets IS sites and gatherings near Sirte.

"The alliance of al-Qaida with the Islamic Maghreb and IS have made the government learn the importance of moving quickly to pressure the terrorists and prevent them from striking hard, especially after the recent U.S. airstrikes on terrorists in Ubari (southern Libya)," said Mohammed Khoja, an analyst on terrorist groups.

"Airstrikes carried out by a U.S. drone on a meeting of al-Qaida in Ubari caused a state of panic, movement and rapid response among the terrorists. A suicide bomber attacked the army forces in the eastern city of Ajdabiya, an evidence of the simultaneous attacks between the two organizations, whose movements began to be homogeneous and similar," Khoja explained.

"This is a sign that requires rapid intervention to counteract any plans of terrorist leaders against the government or the army forces," he said.

IS claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a security checking point near Ajdabiya on Thursday, which killed six people and wounded more than 10 others.

U.S. airstrikes occasionally target remnants of terror groups in Libya. A U.S. drone launched airstrikes later in March on a terrorist site in the southern city of Ubari.

The government said the strikes were carried out based on coordination between Libya and the United States against al-Qaida leaders.

It also confirmed that the joint coordination with Washington targeted terrorist leaders during a meeting in a house in Ubari, killing two of them.

The U.S. Department of Defense later revealed that one of the killed terrorists was a man named Mousa Abu Dawud, a senior leader of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb with Algerian nationality.
PHNOM PENH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Tuesday charged former Takeo Provincial Governor Lay Vannak and his older brother, Takeo Provincial Deputy Police Chief Lay Narith, with murder in the death of a woman with whom the former governor was having an affair.

Chev Sovathana, 36, a National Assembly staffer and member of the ruling Cambodian People's Party's youth group, was found hanging in her rented villa in southern Takeo province on Jan. 26 this year, and local police reported that it was a suicide.

However, the Interior Ministry launched a re-investigation into the case and found that it was a murder.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Ly Sophana confirmed that the prosecutor found that Lay Vannak and Lay Narith as well as Choem Vuth, the husband of Chev Sovathana's maid, and Men Samay, Lay Vannak's driver, were involved in the case.

"After launching an investigation by questioning, the prosecutor decided to charge Lay Vannak and Lay Narith with murder under the Article 199 of the Penal Code," Sophana told reporters, adding that Choem Vuth and Men Samay were charged with "hiding leads" under the Article 532 of the Penal Code.

Under the charges, the former governor and his brother could face a prison sentence between 10 and 15 years, while their two helpers could be jailed between one and three years if convicted.

The four suspects were arrested last week.

Posting to his Facebook page on Saturday, a day before his arrest, Lay Vannak acknowledged that he had an affair with Chev Sovathana, but denied that he killed her.
TOKYO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Five Air Force CV-22 Osprey aircraft will arrive at Yokota Air Base in the suburbs of Tokyo later this week, U.S. forces in Japan said Tuesday.

Japan's Defense Ministry confirmed the five Osprey aircraft will arrive in Yokohama by ship later Tuesday and according to the U.S. forces, they will conduct exercises around the region for the next few months.

The formal deployment of the controversial tilt-rotor aircraft has been brought forward from fiscal year through September 2020, as was previously planned, to this summer, the U.S. forces said.

Along with the arrival of the aircraft, which can take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a fixed-wing plane, 100 personnel will also arrive ahead of a broader deployment of 10 Ospreys and about 450 personnel to Yokota in the coming years.

The arrival of the Ospreys will likely spark a backlash from residents close to the Yokota base and Japan in general, observers here said, as the turboprop planes are known to have a heavily checkered safety record, which includes a fatal crash occurring off the coast of Australia last year that killed 3 personnel aboard.

The Marine Corps already have Ospreys based in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, much to the chagrin of the tiny island's local residents and officials, and the plane's deployment on Japan's mainland will mark the first for the accident-prone aircraft.

Japan's defense and foreign ministry's statement that they will "work together to give maximum consideration to safety and minimize the effects on local communities," will likely fall on deaf ears of those living in the vicinity of the Ospreys' bases, defense analysts said Tuesday, citing safety concerns.

They highlighted the commander of one of the U.S. Marine Corps two MV-22 Osprey squadrons based in Okinawa being fired in February, owing to a loss of trust in his ability to command, with his removal coming as tensions here continue to rise amid a recent spate of accidents and mishaps involving U.S. military aircraft.

Despite the public's ongoing and vehement safety concerns, however, the Japanese government still believes the Osprey's deployment at Yokota will help with domestic and regional stability, its proven unsound performance record, notwithstanding.
PYONGYANG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The official media of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Tuesday called on South Korea to avoid any action that could harm the on-going inter-Korean rapprochement.

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the DPRK, called a ceremony recently held marking the 8th anniversary of the sinking of South Korean warship Cheonan "an unpardonable confrontational act of throwing a wet blanket over the atmosphere of improved inter-Korean relations."

High-ranking authorities and officials, opposition parties and the commander of the U.S. troops in South Korea attended the ceremony held at the State Taejon Hyonchung Cemetery.

The daily, a newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, called the ceremony an anti-DPRK confrontational farce invented by South Korean conservatives to completely destroy north-south relations.

"Nevertheless, the present South Korean authorities ... are chiming in on the anti-DPRK smear incident," the daily said.

The Cheonan sunk in 2010. Of the 104 soldiers onboard, 46 were killed. Seoul said the corvette was sunk by torpedoes fired by the DPRK, a charge repeatedly denied by Pyongyang.

The two Koreas held a high-level dialogue last week, agreeing to hold a summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un on April 27 in Panmunjom.
MADRID, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Easter holiday period ended with 27 deaths on Spanish roads, the country's General Direction of Traffic confirmed on Tuesday.

The number of deaths for the holiday period, which began on March 23, is the same as the 2017 Easter period.

On Monday, a truck transporting five circus elephants overturned on the A30 highway in the province of Albacete in central Spain, where one of the elephants was killed in the accident, while at least two were injured.

The accident led to animal rights groups in Spain to call for banning of animals in circuses.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:31:53|Editor: Lifang

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HONG KONG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Two sets of Ming dynasty imperial sutras fetched 239 million HK dollars (about 30.4 million U.S. dollars) here Tuesday, setting a new auction record for a Buddhist manuscript.

Sotheby's Hong Kong Chinese Works of Art Spring Sale was held here Tuesday morning, when the imperial sutras and a Qing dynasty enameled pink-ground "falangcai" bowl were sold at 239 million HK dollars respectively.

Sam Shum, Senior Specialist of Chinese Works of Art of the renowned auction house, said the sutras were in incredibly good condition despite that they were produced more than 600 years ago in the Ming dynasty, making them rare and precious.

As for the enameled bowl, it was valuable due to the superb craftsmanship, which had had a great, positive impact on the development of imperial porcelain production later in the Qing dynasty, according to Shum.

Sotheby's Hong Kong Spring Sale 2018 was held between March 30 to April 3, when Chinese art works, modern Asian art works, wines, jewels, watches and some other items were auctioned. (1 U.S. dollar = 7.8 HK dollars)
NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan leaders have moved to strengthen their parties and consolidate their political bases in readiness to battle for the presidency in 2022.

Wiper Party, Ford Kenya, Amani National Congress (ANC), Narc and ODM are among parties that are taking strides to solidify themselves, either by going independent or merging.

The parties have their political bases in western and eastern Kenya. Ruling party Jubilee and its political bases remain solid under President Uhuru Kenyatta who is serving his final term and his Deputy William Ruto.

Ford Kenya and ANC are working on a plan to merge and form one party to consolidate the support of the western Kenya region.

Wiper and Narc have similarly united in bid to amass the 4 million votes in Ukambani.

Leaders at the Coast and those from Maasai and Kisii are equally working on plans to form parties and give their communities political bargaining power.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga's ODM party is working on new structures and is currently carrying out an audit of its performance in 2017 polls as it seeks to re-energize itself.

The Jubilee Party, sure of backing from its political bases, is currently reaching out to leaders from other regions to ensure it remains in power after President Uhuru Kenyatta's second term ends in 2022.

"There is need to rebrand our party so that we can compete with others at national level. One Kenya means one people and we will embrace all as we seek the presidency of this country," said Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka on Monday at a meeting, where he announced the party would rebrand.

Justus Murunga, an ANC party MP from western Kenya, said his party's and Ford Kenya leadership have agreed to work together to consolidate the western Kenya votes before reaching out to other communities to ask them for support.

Analysts noted that the current political activities are part of the major realignments that have started to take place in the political scene as time progresses.

"I see many parties rebranding in bid to re-energize themselves and position leaders in a better place to bargain for positions," said Henry Wandera, an economics lecturer and political analyst in Nairobi.

Wandera observed that many of the leaders re-shaping their parties currently know they cannot win on their own since the outfits have single or two communities backing.

"The point is the leaders are positioning themselves to go into coalitions by stronger parties and thereafter seek positions by promising to deliver certain number of votes," he noted.

The strategy being employed by the parties, according to Wandera, is history repeating itself as it was employed in 2007, 2013 and 2017 polls.

"Kenya has over 30 political parties. I see this number rising as leaders seek a slice of the 2022 political cake," he reckoned.

He noted that the heightening political realignments may put Kenya in perpetual campaign mode until the elections.

Ordinary Kenyans are divided on the ongoing political developments. Some believe the leaders are pursuing their own selfish interests while others see the moves as the only way for their communities to get power.

"I don't support the move for each community to form its own party because it enhances tribalism in the country and divides us more," said Moses Kimutai, a tea farmer in Nandi.

He noted that leaders should be striving to form one party that unifies the country.

Moses Adamba, however, believes otherwise noting there was nothing wrong with leaders forming and strengthening their parties as long as it is done with the national good in mind.

"The ruling party Jubilee came from two political parties, The National Alliance Party (TNA) and United Republican Party (URP) whose political bedrock were in central and Rift Valley. Their coming together saw them take power. There is nothing wrong with other communities doing the same," he said.

On social media, the activities in political parties have been debated for the better part of Monday, with a majority of Kenyans castigating leaders for only rebranding parties but not changing ideologies.

"From ODM (K), to Wiper Democratic Movement, and now One Kenya Movement (OKM). It seems every party would rebrand for 2022; including Jubilee party but what are their ideologies?" wondered James Adango on Twitter.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:36:56|Editor: Jiaxin

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Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (3rd R) and Ning Jizhe (4th L), deputy director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the Gemas to Johor Bahru electric double-tracking railway project, in Segamat, Malaysia, April 3, 2018. A railway upgrading project undertaken by Chinese companies in southern Malaysia will further boost ties between the two countries, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said here Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

SEGAMAT, Malaysia, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A railway upgrading project undertaken by Chinese companies in southern Malaysia will further boost ties between the two countries, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said here Tuesday.

The Gemas to Johor Bahru electric double-tracking railway project, contracted to China Railway Construction Corporation, China Railway Engineering Corporation and China Communications Construction Company, will bring many benefits including enhancing bilateral ties between Malaysia and China, Najib said at the ground-breaking ceremony of the project.

"Our ties and economic relations will be further strengthened with the implementation of this project," he said.

The project would involve local contractors, providing opportunities and economic spillovers, said the prime minister.

Ning Jizhe, deputy director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, was also present at the ground-breaking ceremony. He said as an important part of infrastructure building and railway cooperation between China and Malaysia, the project will see heavy local involvement.

Meanwhile, Chinese companies will transfer the technology know-how to the locals, bringing a win-win situation to the two people and the two countries, he said.

Azli, a local staff at the Segamat train station, said locals had long been looking forward to a railway upgrade. Due to the capacity and speed limit of the old single track, few people travel by trains nowadays.

That would soon be changed. The Gemas to Johor Bahru electric double-tracking railway project, covers more than 190 kilometers, will upgrade the existing single-track to electric double-track.

Upon completion in 2020, it will complete a south-north double-tracking railway network running from Johor Bahru bordering Singapore in the South to Padang Besar in the north at the Malaysia-Thailand border.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:36:58|Editor: Lifang

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Tourism revenue in China is estimated to reach 167.7 billion yuan (26.7 billion U.S. dollars) during the upcoming spring holidays, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Tuesday.

The revenue will be driven by 339 million domestic tourist trips during the holidays for Tomb-Sweeping Day, International Labor Day, and the Dragon Boat Festival which fall in April, May and June, respectively, according to the ministry.

About 84.8 percent of Chinese residents are willing to travel in the second quarter of the year, with 37.3 percent of the respondents in favor of scenic areas while 20.4 percent prefer historic sites, according to a survey cited by the ministry.

Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, is an important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors. Many also spend the three-day holiday on leisure travel.

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, and falls on June 18 this year. Traditions for the festival include racing dragon boats and eating zongzi, glutinous rice and fillings wrapped with bamboo or reed leaves.

China's tourism industry is key to the country's shift towards a more service-driven economy and is a useful indicator of the strength of consumer spending.
This is the blog of comics critic Rob Clough, who also has a column of the same name over at The Comics Journal website (TCJ.com).
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:46:59|Editor: Lifang

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SHANGHAI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Three universities in Shanghai started offering HIV self-test kits in vending machines on Tuesday to promote HIV testing on campus while protecting privacy.

Students at Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, Shanghai University, and Tongji University can buy a kit for 30 yuan (around 4.8 U.S. dollars), take a urine sample, and return the kit to a deposit drawer in the machine.

The student can view their results online by entering a specific code number. The whole process is anonymous.

It is part of a program jointly launched by the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to address HIV transmission on campus.

Other universities in Chinese provinces such as Heilongjiang and Yunnan also have such kits in vending machines, according to reports.

China had about 718,270 people living with HIV/AIDS as of June in 2017, according to official data.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:52:00|Editor: Lifang

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 34 cities on the Chinese mainland had rail-based transit systems in operation by the end of last year, the China Association of Metros said Tuesday.

A total of 165 urban rail transit lines in these cities (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) reached a combined length of 5,033 km by the end of 2017, according to the association.

In Beijing, the length of urban rail transit has increased from 200 km in 2008 to more than 600 km last year.

Its 22 lines can carry over 10 million passengers each day, which has greatly eased the traffic pressure on Beijing, home to more than 20 million residents.

Li Chengxin, deputy secretary general with the association, said that about 6,246 km of lines were under construction last year.

Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for local rail systems, such as metros, monorail and trams.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:52:00|Editor: Jiaxin

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ATHENS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- During the past weekend, 95 private and public buildings here opened their doors and welcomed thousands of architecture enthusiasts with free guided tours as part of the 5th Open House Athens event.

This year, the list of participating buildings featured a large variety, including museums, office buildings, hotels and residences in the center of the city, as well as the suburbs.

From landmarks and historical monuments of the 19th century to ultramodern cultural centers and from former industrial spaces turned into luxurious lofts to 1930s art deco and Bauhaus constructions, every aspect of Athenian architecture was on the menu.

"Apart from its classical architecture, which is best known abroad, Athens showcases many different architectural styles: from neoclassical to modern buildings, and even more forward propositions," Renata Douma, communications manager of Open House Athens, said.

Such a forward proposition was the case of the "container home" at the northern suburbs of Athens. A pilot house built from a used shipping container presents a flexible solution of metal prefabrication with principles of bioclimatic design.

Architect Anastasia Spyropoulou explained technologically advanced materials for the insulation was critical in turning a metal box into an energy class A quality living unit. Manufacturers have already sealed deals with private owners, with plans to put larger units in the market.

Container homes are currently a growing worldwide trend, providing affordable housing solutions for overpopulated cities, but also for millennials with volatile working conditions.

In the city center, architect Alexandros Kanellopoulos, one of the 500 volunteers of Open House, welcomed us at the Rallis Residence: the institution's most visited venue for 2017.

The low, plain house stands out on the busy Panepistimiou street, with its bright yellow color. Surrounded by tall modern office buildings, opposite the intricate, imposing Athenian Trilogy (the National Library, the University and the Academy), Rallis Residence also stands out for its size and simplicity.

"It is a neoclassical building of 1835, that is the first years of Athens as the capital of the modern Greek state. It is one of the first buildings that give us an idea of what the city center was like at the time, and this why it is a listed building," Kanellopoulos explained.

The house was designed and constructed in the mid-19th century by Stamatis Kleanthis, celebrated urban planner and architect of his time. Its elegance is underlined by the white Greek marble, which is used both as a constructive and a decorative element. It served as the residence of Dimitrios Rallis, five times prime minister of Greece, and later as the headquarters of the National Student Union of Greece.

Open House, which started at London in 1992, is one of the most important institutions for the promotion of architecture. Today more than 41 cities around the world have embraced the project, encouraging the public to get better acquainted with their city's heritage.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:57:01|Editor: Jiaxin

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RAMALLAH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry on Tuesday denounced Israeli forces' killing of innocent Palestinian protesters at the border area as a "massacre."

Violent clashes broke out last Friday between Palestinian protestors and Israeli soldiers near the Israeli border with Gaza Strip, where Palestinians held a mass rally, known as "Great March of Return," that is expected to last until May 15.

As many as 17 Palestinians have been reportedly killed and more than 1,500 others injured by live ammunition from the Israeli soldiers in the past days of clashes.

"The heinous massacre that took place last Friday led to the murder of 17 and injuries of more than 1,500 unarmed Palestinians," said the Palestinian ministry in a statement.

It also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of lying about the "heinous" incident to cover his administration's "colonial attempts," mislead the public and justify the massacre.

The statement also expressed concerns over Israel's escalated violations on the ground, while pledging to continue political and diplomatic efforts to stop Israel from its occupation and crimes against the Palestinians.

It called on the United Nations to respond to the Palestinian demands to protect the Palestinian people, the peaceful march in the Gaza Strip in particular, to save the global institution's "remaining credibility."
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 20:57:01|Editor: Lifang

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Swiss Federal Councillor and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis hold the first round of foreign ministerial strategic talks between the two countries in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China and Switzerland vowed on Tuesday to further their innovative strategic partnership.

The pledge was made between Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Swiss Federal Councillor and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis when they held the two countries' first round of foreign ministerial strategic talks.

In 2016, China and Switzerland established an innovative strategic partnership, the first of its kind between China and a foreign country.

China is willing to boost its innovation cooperation with Switzerland in the new era to fulfill the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, Wang said.

Earlier in the day, Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, also met with Cassis, calling for more progress in the two countries' innovative strategic partnership.

Cassis said his country will push forward bilateral cooperation in various fields.
ULAN BATOR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has launched a national "Child Protection" campaign to protect children from crimes and accidents, the National Police Agency said Tuesday.

During the month-long campaign, police departments across the country will organize discussions on child protection and intensify measures to prevent crimes against children.

Over 32,000 crimes were recorded in 2017 with children being the victims in 1,757.

In the first quarter of this year, there were over 400 child victims, up 23.81 percent from the same period last year.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 21:07:03|Editor: Lifang

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- State-owned enterprises (SOEs), the backbone of the Chinese economy, registered strong performance last year and made new headway in China's reforms, especially supply-side structural reform.

So far, 503 out of 984 non-financial SOEs listed in China have filed their 2017 annual reports with the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, according to Wind Info, a financial information service provider.

Their total revenue rose 17 percent to 14.72 trillion yuan (2.34 trillion U.S. dollars), while the combined net profits surged 54 percent to 593.5 billion yuan last year.

Among them, 111 SOEs, mainly from the non-ferrous metal, chemical, coal and transportation sectors, saw net profit growth of more than 100 percent. Meanwhile, 26 firms suffered losses, down from 40 in 2016.

The overall strength of listed SOEs was in line with the performance of all SOEs, as their total profits rose 23.5 percent to 2.9 trillion yuan last year, according to the Ministry of Finance.

CAPACITY CUTS BRING BENEFITS

Since 2015, the central leadership has stressed "supply-side structural reform," with major tasks including tax cuts, lowering corporate costs, tackling overcapacity, reducing inventories and deleveraging.

Cutting overcapacity in bloated sectors like steel and coal has been high on the government work agenda in recent years as production gluts ate into corporate profits and dragged economic growth.

Last year, China completed the task of cutting steel capacity by about 50 million tonnes and coal capacity by more than 150 million tonnes.

Lowered capacity meant less supply and allowed the sectors to focus more on raising the quality of products instead of engaging in price wars.

Wind Info data showed 12 state-owned steel makers posted total net profits of 29.6 billion yuan, up 543 percent from a year ago, while 19 SOEs in the mining industry saw net profits surge 1,190 percent.

China Shenhua, the country's largest coal miner, reported net profits of 45 billion yuan, up more than 98 percent from a year ago, citing high coal prices thanks to the capacity cuts.

China has vowed to cut ineffective steel capacity by 30 million tonnes and coal capacity by 150 billion tonnes this year, according to this year's government work report unveiled last month.

GRADUAL DELEVERAGING

Listed SOEs also made progress in lowering the leverage ratio.

The 503 listed SOEs saw total assets grow 7 percent year on year, faster than a 6-percent increase of liabilities.

Their average ratio of liabilities to assets dropped from 50.03 percent in 2016 to 49.07 percent last year, one of the main reasons behind a 0.6-percentage point drop in the ratio for all major industrial companies.

Deleveraging was further emphasized this year as an important aspect of winning the "tough battle" of forestalling and defusing financial risks.

Local governments and companies, especially SOEs, must decrease leverage as soon as possible to contribute to the gradual decline in the country's overall leverage ratio, according to a statement following a Monday meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs.

SOES are also fighting pollution, another "tough battle" to be won by 2020.

Sinopec, the largest oil refiner in China, on Monday launched its "green action plan" in a bid to become a clean, efficient and low-carbon enterprise by 2023.

Within the next six years, the company will see the share of its clean energy output exceed 50 percent of its total and build another 1,000 natural gas stations for vehicles.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 21:27:07|Editor: Lifang

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VIENNA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- With Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz bringing Austria's largest-ever delegation to China this month, joint ventures may get a boost, especially related to the Belt and Road Initiative, a senior member of parliament and business expert has said.

Christoph Matznetter, vice president of the Austrian Economic Chambers, told Xinhua that Austrian companies are keen on business opportunities in Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, particularly in renewable energy.

Some projects are already on the drawing board and the Belt and Road Initiative could give them an impetus, he said.

He held up Chinese company CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, which has its European headquarters in Vienna, as an example of possible teamwork.

While Austrian companies have GPS and communication technology for trains, the Chinese company has expertise in constructing trains. A collaboration would see new trains for the European market, meeting the continent's standards, he said.

Environmental technologies are another potential area for collaboration, Matznetter said, adding that both countries have similar thoughts on sustainability, environmental protection and alternative energy use.

Austria intends to switch totally to renewable energy by 2030. China is also harnessing clean energy with large-scale development of wind, water, and solar energy infrastructure.

Matznetter said Austria sources much of its solar energy technology from China, while China acquires much of its wind power technology from Austria. Austria is also involved in the biodiesel fuel industry in China.

On their China visit from April 7-12, Van der Bellen and Kurz will be accompanied by around 170 business leaders. The Austrian delegation will take a portfolio of more such potential projects to China, Matznetter added.
NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya should invest in broadband infrastructure in a bid to revolutionize healthcare system against a backdrop of rising burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases, a senior Huawei executive said on Tuesday.

Adam Lane, the Director of Public Affairs at Huawei Technologies, said in a commentary published in the Business Daily that high speed internet connection is key to enhance diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

"Kenya is acclaimed as a major technology hub and it is an obvious advantage that sits in plain sight which if taken up, can leapfrog the dream to achieve universal healthcare for all," said Lane.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has identified universal health care as part of his Big Four agenda that will be implemented in his second and final term in office.

Lane said that investments in modern technologies and innovations could unlock the potential of Kenya's health care system and ensure it meets the needs of the bulging youthful population.

"With so much of the young population, Kenya can use a systematic and nationwide approach to health promotion campaigns using digital platforms - from SMS campaigns to apps to chat-based helplines to seed out self-help information on healthcare," said Lane.

He acknowledged that non-communicable diseases are straining Kenya's health care infrastructure but stressed that digital tools could enable elderly patients access information on how to manage these ailments.

"Digital information is a low cost way of providing information on how to keep healthy as well as manage existing health issues," said Lane.

Kenya has one of the highest populations that have access to internet in sub-Saharan Africa thanks to friendly policies and regulations as well as robust investments in supportive infrastructure.

Government statistics indicate that 75 percent of Kenya's population can access internet through their mobile phones while broadband coverage in rural counties is expanding rapidly.

Lane emphasized that digital technology can be harnessed to enhance training of health workers and streamline provision of care at all levels.

"Digital technology is also crucial in collecting and analyzing timely data to improve the efficiency and quality of care provided," Lane said.

The Huawei Executive hailed state funded broadband infrastructure projects saying they could be harnessed to transform Kenya's healthcare system.
ISLAMABAD, April 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells wrapped up her visit to Pakistan on Tuesday, with Afghan issue prominently figured in the trip.

The U.S. Embassy said Wells held meetings with Pakistan's military and civilian leaders during her visit to capital Islamabad and Karachi from March 28 to April 3, which was her second visit to Pakistan this year.

Afghan issue was prominently figured in Wells' talks and she called for Pakistan's role in the Afghan peace process, a Pakistani official, who was part of a meeting, said on Tuesday.

Pakistan has been insisting that Afghan peace process is a shared responsibility and all countries which have contacts and influence over the Taliban should play their role, the official told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 21:52:13|Editor: Lifang

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Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visits an administrative service center of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2018. Han made an inspection at the NDRC on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng Tuesday said the country's top economic planner should strengthen research and macro-management to ensure steady growth and sustained development.

Han, also member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

He praised the commission for playing a significant role in devising new macro-management methods, pushing for supply-side structural reform and innovation, coordinating regional development, and improving people's livelihood in the past five years.

The NDRC should strengthen its macro-management function and adjust its micro-management role in line with the government institutional reform, Han said.

It must "properly understand and actively carry forward the function adjustment, and serve the interests of the whole," the vice premier said.

As part of a massive cabinet restructuring plan unveiled last month, the NDRC saw some of its functions and duties, including in the areas of environment, agriculture, and pricing, handed over to new government organs.

Han urged the NDRC to better study strategies concerning long-term national development, coordinate cross-department and cross-industry policies, monitor and analyze economic trends, and push for the implementation of large-scale projects across regions.

In light of a complicated and volatile environment at home and abroad, the NDRC should strengthen research and judgment in advance and bring forward pertinent and viable suggestions on maintaining steady economic growth, winning the "three tough battles" and improving people's wellbeing, Han said.
BERLIN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- German prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they are seeking to extradite the former leader of Spain's Catalonia Carles Puigdemont, who was recently arrested in Germany.

The attorney general in Germany's northern state of Schleswig-Holstein has applied to the Higher Regional Court for an extradition order of Puigdemont, Deutsche Presse Agentur(DPA) confirmed.

Prosecutors said after close examination of the warrant for Puigdemont, issued by Spain's supreme court, they found "equivalences with the charge of rebellion in German criminal law" and therefore present the extradition request.

The chief public prosecution office of Schleswig-Holstein on Tuesday urged German judicial authorities to comply with a Spanish request for the extradition of Puigdemont.

"A valid extradition request has been presented, the implementation of a lawful extradition process is to be expected, and the arrest is justified by the risk of flight," a statement by the chief public prosecution office read.

As a consequence of Germany's federal constitution, the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig-Holstein is now tasked with deliberating over the Spanish extradition request for Puigdemont.

In a first step, the court will assess whether to accept the formal application by the state chief public prosecution office to place the suspect in extradition custody on the basis of evidence provided by Madrid.

A spokesperson for the Schleswig-Holstein state prosecution office further told press that they had received documents from Spain suggesting the illicit use of 1.6 million euros (1.97 million U.S. dollars) in public funds to stage the Catalonian independence referendum.

It remains unclear at this point, whether German judicial authorities will pursue this line of legal reasoning further or focus on the charge of "rebellion". Puigdemont has already appealed charges of "rebellion" and embezzlement at the Spanish supreme court.

Puigdemont's German attorney Till Dunckel told press on Tuesday that his client would legally challenge the application for extradition custody by state prosecutors. The former Catalan leader has been held in temporary custody in the town of Neumuenster since his arrest.

Puigdemont was arrested on March 25 after entering Germany from Denmark.

He had been living in exile in Brussels after failed attempt to separate Catalonia from Spain last October.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 22:37:22|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.

The forum, scheduled for April 8 to 11 in Boao, a town in the southern island province of Hainan, will have the theme "An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity."

Xi will meet with foreign heads of state and government and officials from international organizations, meet with BFA directors collectively, and hold discussions with entrepreneurs, Wang said.

It will be the third time for Xi to attend the BFA annual conference as Chinese president, indicative of the event's importance and the support given to the forum by the president and the Chinese government, Wang said.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde are expected to attend the forum.

In addition to attending the forum, the Austrian president, Dutch prime minister, Mongolian prime minister, Singaporean prime minister and UN secretary-general will also pay a visit to China.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up in China, and the beginning of the implementation of the decisions made at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Wang said Xi's attendance at the BFA annual conference at this historic moment is of great significance in further promoting major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era, building a community with a shared future for Asia and humanity, and advancing the cause of peace and development.

The BFA annual conference is the first major diplomatic event to be hosted by China this year, Wang said, adding that its highlights will include revealing new prospects for reform and opening-up, interpreting the new era of China's development, making new proposals for the future, promoting new progress in partnership, and injecting new impetus for BFA development.

Xi will expound on China's achievements and experience in reform and opening-up and their significance for and influence on the world. Xi will also announce new measures to expand reform and opening-up, Wang said.

"Further reform and opening-up are not only good for China, but will also bring huge benefits to the world. That's why this year's forum gets so much attention," said Lin Guijun, a scholar from the University of International Business and Economics.

Hot topics during the forum could include the Belt and Road Initiative, innovation and opening-up, as the world expects China to play a bigger role in fighting protectionism, said Lin.

President Xi will also explain China's stance on building a community with a shared future for Asia and humanity and jointly creating a better future for Asia and the world.

"The concept of 'a community with a shared future' could be a highlight, as it is important for countries to realize that they share common interests," said Wang Jun, a researcher with China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

According to Wang Yi, more than 2,000 participants from around the world are expected to get together and offer advice on cooperation, development, and prosperity.

The BFA has been expanding both in scale and influence since its establishment 17 years ago, and has played a unique role in building consensus, deepening regional cooperation, boosting common development, and resolving Asian and global problems, Wang said.
Iraqi soldiers attend a celebration for liberation of Mosul in Mosul, Iraq, July 10, 2017. Haider al-Abadi on Monday formally declared Mosul liberated from Islamic State (IS) militant group after nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The 15-panel UN Security Council will visit Iraq, Myanmar and Bangladesh in two separate trips later this month, the rotating president of the council announced on Monday.

Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra of Peru, this month's president of the council, told reporters at UN headquarters that the two trips were still in the planning stages.

"We are still working on the coordination of these visits and later I might be able to give you more details," he said.

A Rohingya refugee boy carries water in the Kutupalong refugee camp, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, March 22, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

UNHCR has warned that the coming monsoon season threatens to flood huge swaths of the massive Kutupalong camp in the Cox's Bazar region of Bangladesh.

The council president said the visit to Iraq has the full backing of the government. Iraq is scheduled to hold elections next month.

Iraqi soldiers take part in a parade in Mosul, Iraq on Dec. 14, 2017. Ninevah Operation Command of the Iraqi military on Thursday paraded in Mosul to celebrate the full liberation of Iraqi lands of the Islamic State (IS) group. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

Meza-Cuadra said there has been significant progress in the fight against the Islamic State there. "Also, the country needs support from the international community for rebuilding the country," he added.
BERLIN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- German charitable organization "Essener Tafel" on Tuesday began to admit non-German citizens to its foodbanks again after a heated public debate with a widely-publicized decision to temporarily ban foreigners from the service.

Joerg Sartor, the president of the organization, told press that the agency revoked its earlier decision and that the changes would take effect from Wednesday.

"Essener Tafel" had justified the move as a response to extremely high demand for its foodbank and a resulting inability to ensure an adequate provision of service to individual users unless their absolute number fell again. Nevertheless, the announcement was heavily-criticized by many German politicians, including by Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).

Sartor emphasized that the ban was always intended to be temporary and limited to at most three months. After Sartor accused politicians of hypocrisy for failing to support his organization, the municipal government of Essen agreed to host an emergency roundtable with all parties involved to discuss a change in access regulations which would prioritizes elderly individuals, single-parents, and families with underage children regardless of their nationality.

Jochen Bruehl, the president of the German Federal Association of Foodbanks, described the events in Essen as a warning sign of what was bound to happen "when the government leaves voluntary associations to grapple with problems which they cannot solve on their own."

Bruehl urged Berlin to do more to ensure a permanent reduction in poverty levels in Germany to prevent similar incidents in the future.
A tour group tastes wine at Madonna Estate Winery on Aug. 26, 2014 in Napa, California. (Xinhua/AFP)

SAN FRANCISCO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. wine industry has expressed concerns over the long-term damage of China's 15 percent tariff on imported wines from the United States.

China started imposing 15 percent additional tariffs on a total of 128 U.S. products, including wine, on the weekend in a retaliatory action against Trump administration's planned tariff on China's steel and aluminum.

"This new increased tariff will have a chilling effect on U.S. wine exports to one of the world's most important markets," said Robert Koch, president and CEO of Wine Institute, on Monday.

This additional tariff will increase the total tariff and tax paid on a bottle of U.S. wine imported into China by a large margin, according to the estimate of the Wine Institute, an advocacy and research group representing more than 1,000 wineries in California.

Undamaged grapes are seen at the Kunde Winery during the Nuns Fire in Sonoma, California, U.S., Oct. 10, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

Currently, Chile, Georgia and New Zealand wines enter China tariff-free and Australian wines will be tariff free starting in 2019, it said.

"The U.S. producers were already at a disadvantage to many foreign competitors, and this will only exacerbate that problem," said Koch. "We urge a swift resolution to this crisis before long-term damage is done to the U.S. wine industry."

File Photo: A bottle wine from Rebecca and Peter Work's Ampelos Cellars winery, is pictured in the Santa Rita Hills, Lompoc, California, Sept. 2, 2011. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

China is one of the fastest growing wine markets in the world and will soon be second only to the U.S. in value, according to the Wine Institute. U.S. wine exports to greater China (including the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong) were up 10 percent last year to 197 million U.S. dollars.

The value of U.S. wine exports (97 percent from California) to China has increased 450 percent in the past decade.

The United States ranks as China's sixth biggest wine importer following France, Australia, Chile, Spain and Italy, accounting for around 3 percent of the country's bottled wine imports market, according to figures released by the Chinese customs.

China's tariff increases will impact approximately 2 billion dollars in U.S. food and agricultural exports to China. The majority of the products targeted are food and agricultural products, totaling 105 out of the 128 items.
ROME, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Italy's outgoing government has joined a Constitutional Court case on assisted suicide, a non-profit called the Luca Coscioni Association announced Tuesday.

The case brings to the fore a long-running debate in Italy over when it is morally appropriate for an individual to request an end to a life of extreme suffering.

Coscioni, a member of the Radical Party, was affected with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease with no known cure, which gradually causes patients to become completely paralyzed, unable to walk, eat or speak.

In February this year, Italian activist Marco Cappato of the Luca Coscioni Association was acquitted in a lower court of charges of instigation to suicide for driving a well-known DJ, Fabiano Antoniani, to a Swiss clinic to obtain euthanasia in early 2017.

DJ Fabo, as he was known in Italy, had been left blind and tetraplegic after a car crash. Assisted suicide is illegal in Italy, but not in Switzerland.

However, the lower court declined to rule on a separate charge of assisted suicide, sending that part of the case against Cappato to the Constitutional Court.

The government's decision to join the case at this point means it is defending the existing law, which says helping someone to commit suicide is a crime.

In December last year, parliament gave its final approval to the so-called living will law, allowing terminal patients to refuse to be kept alive artificially if they so choose.

The living will is binding on doctors and absolves them of legal responsibility should they suspend care in such patients, according to the new law. This means it is now legal in Italy to die gradually through withdrawal of care, but not to die quickly through euthanasia, the Luca Coscioni Association said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 23:12:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The groundbreaking ceremony of Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, was held Tuesday with the participation of Turkish and Russian presidents via a video teleconference from capital Ankara.

During the video teleconference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said "The successful implementation of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will be a symbol of the dynamic development of Turkish-Russian partnership."

"The nuclear plant is a new step to further boost Turkish economy," he said, adding that more than 350 Turkish companies are ready to participate in Akkuyu project.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey carries out various strategic projects with Russia, including the S-400 air missile defense system, the TurkStream gas pipeline, and the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is only a part of these key projects.

"When all four units are activated, Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will be able to provide 10 percent of Turkey's electricity needs, bringing our energy portfolio to a healthier level, which is currently largely dependent on oil, gas and coal," he noted.

The Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey's southern Mersin province will be built with an estimated cost of 20 billion U.S. dollars and is due to be launched in 2023.

The construction of Akkuyu project, which was signed with Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) in 2010, was halted in 2015 when Turkey downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border plunging bilateral ties into a crisis.

Rosatom plans to construct the plant with a capacity of 4,800 megawatts in four units and a working life of 8,000 hours per year.

In the first phase of the construction, two units with a capacity of 2,400 megawatts are planned.
SEOUL, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has asked to delay by one day the working-level talks scheduled with South Korea to discuss the details of an inter-Korean summit in late April, Seoul's unification ministry said Tuesday.

Through the restored communication channel in the truce village of Panmunjom, the DPRK asked for the dialogue to be postponed to Thursday.

The two Koreas had originally agreed to hold the talks on Wednesday to discuss protocol and security for the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un scheduled to be held in Panmunjom on April 27.

The DPRK also offered to hold a separate working-level dialogue to discuss setting up a direct hotline at the offices of Moon and Kim.

It has said it would send a six-member delegation to the working-level talks.

The two sides have agreed to hold a conversation through the hotline before the summit.

The summit will be the third one between the two Koreas. The previous two were held in Pyongyang in 2000 and 2007.

U.S. President Donald Trump has also agreed to meet with Kim by May.
BERLIN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Revenue in the German retail sector has fallen for the third month in a row, official figures published by the Federal Statistical Office showed Tuesday.

According to the Wiesbaden-based government office, retail revenue declined by a surprising 0.7 percent in both real and non-price-adjusted terms in February.

Commenting on the findings on Tuesday, however, Alexander Krueger, chief economist at Lampe private bank, did not perceive a substantial "risk to economic momentum" from falling retail revenue. The sector's performance merely showed that German growth was "not without limits."

On an annual basis, retail sales were still up 2.5 percent in February. Pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetic products in particular contributed to this trend with a growth rate of 4.6 percent. By contrast, online and mail-order retail businesses only grew by a comparably modest 0.5 percent between February 2017 and February 2018.

Seemingly unperturbed by the Federal Statistical Office's official figures, the German Retail Association (HDE) told press on Tuesday that it expected a stable development in private consumption during the spring of 2018.

Citing a recent survey of income expectations, HDE President Josef Sanktjohanser highlighted that consumer sentiment remained at "a very high level" in Germany.

"The favorable wider economic picture allows citizens to look to the future with optimism," Sanktjohanser said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 23:22:36|Editor: Mengjie

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Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa before their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation between their countries.

The two heads of state reached the agreement during their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xi said the Zimbabwean people have started a new journey in building their country since Mnangagwa took office last November.

"As a good friend, partner and brother of Zimbabwe, we are glad to see that," Xi told Mnangagwa.

Hailing the long-term close relationship between the two countries, Xi said the development of China-Zimbabwe ties is facing new opportunities.

China stands ready to work with Zimbabwe to jointly lay out the new blueprint of bilateral cooperation to continue the relationship and better benefit the two peoples, Xi said.

Calling Mnangagwa "an old friend of the Chinese people who has been long committed to the cause of China-Zimbabwe friendship," Xi said that the visit by Mnangagwa, who chose China as the first non-African country to visit, demonstrates the high importance he attaches to bilateral ties.

China and Zimbabwe are "all-weather friends," said Xi, stressing that the two countries have always weathered hard times together, no matter how the international landscape changes. He added that the bilateral friendship will emerge even fresher and stronger.

He called on both sides to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges and exchanges at all levels, carry out top-level planning in various areas of cooperation and continue to understand and support each other on issues regarding core interests and major concerns.

Xi also encouraged both sides to dovetail development strategies, enhance cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and continue to promote cooperation in infrastructure construction, agriculture, investment and financing.

China supports Zimbabwe in exploring a development path in line with its own national conditions, he said.

The two countries should also enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges so as to consolidate the public opinion foundation of both sides, Xi said.

China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation in regional and international affairs, said Xi, calling on Western countries and organizations to improve relations with Zimbabwe at an early date.

Mnangagwa, who is on a state visit to China from April 2 to 6 at the invitation of Xi, congratulated Xi once again on his election as Chinese president.

Speaking highly of Xi's vision and foresight on state governance, Mnangagwa said Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era greatly inspired Zimbabwe to take a development path with its own characteristics.

He said he remembered clearly his study in China in the 1960s, expressing admiration for the achievements the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country have scored in past decades.

Noting that Zimbabwe-China friendship has endured the tests of time and change, Mnangagwa said his country and people will never forget China's long-term assistance and support for improving people's livelihood.

Zimbabwe will adhere to the one-China policy and promote the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation with China, enhance exchanges of views on state governance and expand cooperation in areas including trade, investment, technology, telecommunication, infrastructure and people-to-people exchanges, said Mnangagwa.

Zimbabwe stands committed to deepening Africa-China friendship, supports China's Belt and Road Initiative and cooperation under the FOCAC framework and encourages Africa to take an active part in Belt and Road construction, he said.

Calling China-Africa friendship the "precious wealth of both sides," Xi said that as stated at the 19th CPC National Congress, China will work with all countries to build a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for humanity, and it will enhance unity and cooperation with developing countries, including African countries.

"No matter how the international situation changes and to what stage China develops, China will, as always, stand with all developing countries, including African countries, and be a sincere friend and a reliable partner of Africa," Xi said.

After the talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing of bilateral documents on economic and technology cooperation, agriculture, science and technology and human resources.
Photo taken on Aug. 26, 2014 shows the Sandwich Harbour view on the west coast of Namibia. (Xinhua/Gao Lei)

WINDHOEK, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Namibia has abandoned the winter time switch in favor of summer time all year round, following the gazetting of the Namibia Time Act 2017, the information ministry has said.

Namibia will now have one standard time throughout the year in line with major trading partner South Africa.

Businesses in support of repealing the old Namibian Time Act of 1994 had argued that Namibia loses a lot of business as it operates outside normal business hours with the rest of the region, especially South Africa, an important trading partner.

The Namibian Employers' Federation (NEF) argued that about 80 percent of the companies it engaged showed that workers were in favor of returning to GMT +2 hours all year round in line with South Africa and other countries in the region.

The impact of the winter time change is said to be an estimated loss of four business hours daily, according to findings from public consultations.

The old Namibian Time Act of 1994 states that during the summer period the time be set two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, and then be shifted one hour ahead for the winter period.

"In accordance with the new Act, Namibian Time Act, 2017, there will be no time change as from the first Sunday of April 2018. This means the standard time of Namibia is two hours in advance of the Greenwich Mean Time," a statement from the information ministry said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 23:42:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MOSCOW, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia, a major producer and exporter of aluminum and steel, is working out a response to the U.S. introduction of import tariffs on these items, including slapping duties on some U.S. imports, a senior Russian official said Tuesday.

"If the decision to impose duties is adopted, these measures should be significant," TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Yevtukhov as saying.

However, he said, this measure may be used only in an extreme case. Before that Moscow intends to start negotiations with the United States to persuade Washington to reconsider its decision.

If the negotiations fail, then Moscow would appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body, Yevtukhov said.

According to WTO rules, the process of settling a dispute may take about 15 months.

The United States introduced from March 23 a 25-percent import duty on steel and a 10-percent import duty on aluminum to protect domestic producers from excessive imports.

The duties were postponed for Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and South Korea until May 1.

According to Yevtukhov's preliminary assessment, Russia would lose 2 billion U.S. dollars for steel and 1 billion dollars for aluminum.

According to official Russian customs data, last year the country exported 8.9 million tons of rolled steel products worth 3.3 billion dollars and 3.48 million tons of aluminum worth nearly 5 billion dollars.

Russia's imports from the United States amounted to 9.1 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2017, an increase of 24.95 percent from the same period of 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 23:42:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, who stopped over in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday met with the Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Ri Yong Ho in Beijing.

Wang said Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, paid a successful visit to China.

He said during the visit, top leaders of the two countries reached important consensus on the development of China-DPRK relations and the promotion of a peaceful solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Under the current situation, maintaining and developing the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK is very important for both countries and the region, said Wang.

He called on the two foreign ministries to strengthen exchanges at all levels and implement the consensus reached by the top leaders of the two countries as soon as possible.

Ri said the successful meeting between the leaders of the DPRK and China has provided an important opportunity for the development of bilateral ties.

The DPRK is ready to work with China to implement the consensus of both leaders, enhance high-level exchanges and diplomatic communication at all levels, so as to inherit and develop the DPRK-China traditional friendly relations, said Ri.

Wang said China appreciates the DPRK's commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and its important efforts to ease the situation on the peninsula.

China supports the summit between the DPRK and the Republic of Korea(ROK) as well as the summit between the DPRK and the United States, said Wang.

He said China will continue to promote peace talks and make positive efforts to promote the goal of a nuclear-free peninsula and the establishment of a peace mechanism on the peninsula.

Ri said the DPRK will maintain close strategic communication with China on issues related to the peninsula in line with the direction specified by both leaders in Beijing.

Earlier Tuesday, Wang said China hopes the leaders of the DPRK and the ROK can meet as planned with positive results.

Wang made the remarks to reporters after holding the first round of foreign ministerial strategic talks with visiting Swiss Federal Councillor and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.

China also hopes to see a successful meeting between leaders of the DPRK and the United States, so as to increase mutual understanding and establish basic mutual trust between the two sides, said Wang.

Wang said some positive changes have taken place on the peninsula recently and the benign interactions among relevant parties have created rare opportunities for restoring talks.

China hopes that parties concerned can cherish the hard-won situation and continue the momentum of interaction, said Wang, reiterating that China's position to resolve the peninsula's nuclear issue through peace talks is consistent and clear.

According to historical experience, disruptive factors always emerge when tensions on the peninsula are eased and the time of peace talks is approaching, Wang said, calling on all parties to stay focused, remove interference, and firmly follow the correct path of dialogue and negotiation.

Wang said China hopes the reasonable security concerns of all parties can be resolved during the process of denuclearization and a peace mechanism can be established.

"We hope the parties concerned will follow the 'dual-track approach' and strive for long-term peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula." Wang said.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 23:42:41|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (C, front), Vice President of the Swiss Confederation and head of the Finance Department Ueli Maurer (L, front), and Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden Isabella Lovin (R, front) attend the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, April 3, 2018. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres applauded Tuesday international pledges of more than 2 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 for the three-year-old crisis in Yemen. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)

GENEVA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres applauded Tuesday international pledges of more than 2 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 for the three-year-old crisis in Yemen.

But he said there must be a concerted political effort to end the country's conflict for which he believes there are positive prospects.

"Humanitarian resources are very important, but they are not enough, it is essential they reach the people in need. For that we need unrestricted access into Yemen and unrestricted access everywhere in Yemen," Guterres told journalists at a press conference after the pledging conference on Yemen.

The UN chief noted: "Above all we need a serious political process to lead to a political solution for these pledging conferences not to be repeated in the future. "

He said, "I think that there are positive perspectives for a plan of action to be prepared and for that plan of action to lead to an effective intra-Yemeni dialogue able to achieve a political solution with the involvement of all those that are relevant in this conflict."

The UN head said he believes, "This is an opportunity to be seized and it should not be missed."

In a speech to the UN in Geneva, Guterres said that more than 22 million people in Yemen need humanitarian aid and protection.

"We must prevent the world's worst humanitarian crisis from becoming a long-term tragedy," he said in a speech at the pledging conference.

He said the aim of the conference had been to get 3 billion U.S. dollars, and that several countries had said there will be more donations from now until the end of the year.

During his speech to the pledging conference, Guterres urged the warring parties in Yemen to hold peace talks to find a solution to the conflict.

"I urge all parties to engage with my new Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, without delay," he said.

The UN chief also called for keeping Yemen's ports open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, particularly food, medicines, and fuel, stressing that "Sana'a airport is also a lifeline that must be kept open."
A local employee works at the sleeper and beam factory at the sixth section of Kenya's Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project, near Mtito Andei, Kenya, on Sept. 2, 2015. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)

NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has strengthened its investments and legal framework in order to attract more Chinese investments especially in areas of industrialization as it seeks to attain a newly industrialized country status by the year of 2030, a senior official has said.

"Chinese private investors should take up opportunities presented in the Special Economic Zones that are now operational," Henry Rotich, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury said in a recent interview in the capital of Nairobi.

"We have also finished reforming our Private Public Partnership laws, so we have now the institutional capacity. We are therefore accepting proposals in all sectors of the economy," he said.

"We are very optimistic that the government-to-government relations we have had with China will be strengthened but at the same time we want more Chinese investors to come and set up manufacturing hubs in the country," he added.

Kenya is seeking to increase the contribution of its manufacturing sector to its annual economic output from the current 9 percent to 15 percent in the next five years, the official said.

"Part of this will be actualized through investments in special economic zones. It is also seeking Chinese technology to enable it to set up agriculture produce manufacturing hubs in the rural areas to meet its annual food needs and become a net food exporter," he added.

Kenya has been investing heavily in building its infrastructure, especially roads, railway and electricity generating capacity to facilitate manufacturing and smooth supply of raw materials from the rural areas.

According to the Treasury, more than 2,000 kilometers of roads have been upgraded into bitumen standards over the last five years. The 480-km Standard Gauge Railway from Mombasa to Nairobi is now providing efficiency in rail transport and being extended a further 80 kilometers as part of its extension to the neighboring Uganda.

As part of attracting more Chinese private investors, Kenya hosted China-Africa Industrial Capacity Cooperation Exposition in December last year where private investors from the two countries exchanged contacts.

Kenya also hosted representatives of Chinese companies from Shenzhen city in July 2017 to explore opportunities in energy, trade, finance and agriculture sectors.

Several Chinese companies, including the Guangdong New South Group Limited signed an agreement with the Kenyan government in May last year to build an industrial park in Kenya's western town of Eldoret, where the government plans to build a Special Economic Zone.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 23:52:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RIYADH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-led coalition said it thwarted a Houthi attack on a Saudi oil tanker on Tuesday, Al Arabiya local news reported.

Col. Turki Al Maliki, the spokesperson of the coalition, said in a statement that the attack took place in the afternoon in the international waters west of the port of Hodeidah which is under the control of Houthis in Yemen.

The oil tanker suffered minor damage, but managed to continue sailing northward accompanied by the coalition forces, he added.

Describing the attack as a terrorist plot, the Saudi spokesperson warned of its serious impact on the maritime navigation and international trade in the Strait of Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea.

Al Maliki also highlighted the need to put the port of Hodeidah under the international supervision to prevent the Houthi militias from using it to launch attacks and threaten maritime navigation.
SINGAPORE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Positive developments have been achieved in implementing the recommendations on Myanmar's Rakhine state, an advisory board to the implementation committee said here Tuesday.

The Advisory Board to the Committee for the Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State, led by Chairman Surakiart Sathirathai, held a press conference here after their second session in Yangon from March 31 to April 1.

Achievements included that implementation of 57 of Kofi Annan's recommendations have been completed, the advisory board noted.

Moreover, some IDP (internally displaced person) camps in Rakhine have been closed and the people resettled, with the authorities promising that more will be closed.

The Myanmar government also agreed to receive a delegation from the United Nations Security Council and neighboring countries.

The advisory board also urged the Myanmar government to double their efforts regarding the IDP camps to encourage the refugees in the border camps to return.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 23:52:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese interpol red notice fugitive who fled the country 17 years ago stood trial on suspicion of bribery Tuesday in Beijing, a local court said.

The suspect, Liu, was accused of taking bribes worth over 1.98 million Hong Kong dollars (about 252,300 U.S.dollars) and seeking profits for others while she was an accountant at Hong Kong Resources Engineering Company, a subsidiary of China International Water and Electric Corp.

Liu fled overseas in 2000. In 2015, Liu was listed on an Interpol Red Notice. The suspect, despite changing her name and nationality in 2005, was caught in June 2017 when entering China.

The verdict will be announced at a later date.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-03 23:57:44|Editor: Mengjie

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WUHAN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A Sino-British music festival will be held in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, in May, authorities said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The festival will be co-hosted by the British Consulate-General in Wuhan and the local foreign affairs office from May 12 to May 18.

Activities such as classical chamber concerts, lectures and music courses organized by master musicians will be held, according to the Hubei provincial government's foreign affairs office.

The event aims to provide a platform for performances and exchanges between Chinese and British musicians, music teachers and students.

Nick Whittingham, the British Consul General in Wuhan, said that the music festival will serve as a bridge for cultural exchanges between people in Britain and Hubei Province.

The festival will be held alternately in Hubei and London as an ongoing cultural and educational cooperation program. Next year, it will be held in London.
NICOSIA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Cypriot government made a deposit of 2.5 billion euros (3.07 billion U.S. dollars) at the state-owned Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB) to help boost the lender, and counter rumors it was on the verge of collapse, the ministry of finance said on Tuesday in a statement.

The ministry said the deposit was preceded by the issue of government bonds to the bank worth 2.35 billion euros, to mature between 15 and 20 years under market terms and a right to repay the bond earlier.

Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said the move was intended to arm the bank and dispel the doubts and uncertainty about the lender caused by irresponsible rumors.

Reports claimed that there has been an outflow of cash of up to two billion euros from the bank over the last three months as a result of rumors spread by word-of-mouth and text messages that deposits would be impaired to recapitalize the lender.

Deposits in Cypriot banks were impaired in 2013 to recapitalize them in the world's first bail-in under the direction of international lenders.

The Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund bailed out Cyprus in March 2013 by offering a 10-billion-euro package of economic assistance, which also involved the resolution of the banking system.

CCB became a state-owned lender after the government pumped 1.7 billion euros into it in 2014, in a move to save depositors' money.

CCB, formerly Cooperative Central Bank, was originally owned by thousands of depositors, each of whom held a small amount of shares.

"With the deposit by the Republic of Cyprus, existing deposits at the CCB...are fully secured against any theoretical danger," the finance ministry said in the statement.

It added that as collateral for the deposit, the government has acquired the entire portfolio of non-performing loans, a number of CCB shares in private cooperative societies and immovable property.

"The total value of securities amounts to 7.6 billion euros and comes up to 10 billion euros if the value of immovable properties which secure non-performing loans is taken into consideration," the ministry statement said.

The government spokesman said the move will facilitate the process of attracting investors to acquire either the lender as an entity, or part of its assets.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 00:07:48|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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People hold candles during a protest in Cairo, Egypt, on April 3, 2018. The Arab League (AL) expressed on Tuesday its support for the Palestinian request for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation into the recent "war crimes and crimes against humanity" committed by Israel against peaceful Palestinian civilians. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) expressed on Tuesday its support for the Palestinian request for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation into the recent "war crimes and crimes against humanity" committed by Israel against peaceful Palestinian civilians.

Following a meeting at the level of AL permanent delegates, mostly ambassadors of Arab states to Cairo, the AL Council condemned in a statement the recent Israeli killing of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators during peaceful marches commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the Land Day and calling for the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

"The AL condemns the Israeli obvious, systematic and large-scale crimes against the defenseless Palestinian civilians that are considered war crimes and crimes against humanity according to the international humanitarian law and the international human rights law," said the pan-Arab body in the statement.

The AL Council also urged the United Nations to take the required measures to form an international fact-finding committee to probe into the Israeli violence committed against Palestinian civilians last Friday.

At least 15 Palestinian protestors were shot dead and more than 1,200 others were injured by Israeli troops on the Gaza Strip border during the Land Day marches.

The Israeli deadly crackdown on unarmed Palestinian protestors has been rejected by many states regionally and internationally.

Israel is blamed by the international community for the deadlock of the peace process with the Palestinians due to its settlement expansion policy on Palestinian occupied territories.

The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital in the light of the UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders.

The United States is the number one backer of Israel and U.S. President Donald Trump has recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and expressed plans to move Washington's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputable holy city despite regional and international uproar.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 00:07:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- China aims to organize and launch a series of large international science projects in the coming years to solve important problems in science.

China will organize and launch one or two large international science projects, and foster three to five projects by 2020. Another six to 10 large projects will be cultivated by 2035 to increase China's influence in the science and technology field, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) said on Tuesday.

According to a plan by the ministry, China will develop more large science projects to improve its abilities in scientific and technological innovation and play an important role in international science and technology by the middle of the century.

As scientific research becomes more complicated with huge costs beyond the reach of just one country, international cooperation has become necessary, said Ye Dongbai, director of the international cooperation department of MOST.

China's State Council recently issued a set of guidelines to encourage the launch of more large international science projects. Areas such as the physical sciences, research on the evolution of the universe and the origin of life were specifically listed as priorities.

"Those large projects will also help attract high-end scientific and technological resources and talent from across the globe," Ye said.

In recent years, China has initiated or taken part in several large science projects such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, an international nuclear fusion project commonly known as "artificial Sun," and the Square Kilometer Array, a large multi radio telescope project.
BANGKOK, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday that he is not going to lift a ban on political activity for the time being.

Prayut, who concurrently heads the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), told reporters at Government House that the NCPO Order No.53/2560, issued last year to prohibit any political activity nationwide, is not going to be waived anytime soon.

Prayut had earlier said that "social unrest" and "political conflict" might probably happen again only if the ban was lifted at the moment.

Meanwhile, the premier said the NCPO ban will be amended to the extent that political parties can run their administrative affairs throughout the country.

He referred to the registration and confirmation of the memberships of varied political parties by people nationwide.

"The government and NCPO will see to it that the ban will be amended to the extent that the administrative problems of the political parties, old and new, might be alleviated. But that is by no means a waiver of the ban," he said.

The existing parties are currently calling upon their respective party members to reconfirm their membership either at the parties' headquarters in Bangkok or at their branch offices nationwide whereas dozens of groups of people applied to set up new parties at the Election Commission's headquarters last month.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 00:12:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SANAA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that the diphtheria outbreak has killed at least 84 people in war-torn Yemen since late October.

WHO media coordinator Sadiq al-Wosabi told Xinhua by phone that 1,516 suspected cases of diphtheria have been recorded in 20 of Yemen's 23 provinces.

Diphtheria, which spreads through sneezing caused by a common cold, has mainly infected children in Yemen.

According to a WHO recent statement, the provinces of Ibb and Hodeidah were hardest hit by diphtheria.

In March, the WHO, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Yemen's health authorities launched a large-scale vaccination campaign across the country to combat the disease.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces including the capital Sanaa in 2014.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military intervention coalition in Yemen since 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The UN has listed Yemen as the country of the world's most serious humanitarian crisis, where seven million Yemenis are on the brink of famine and cholera has caused more than 2,000 deaths.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 00:17:49|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (3rd L) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (4th L) attend the groundbreaking ceremony of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant via a video teleconference in Ankara, Turkey, on April 3, 2018. The groundbreaking ceremony of Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, was held Tuesday in Turkey's southern Mersin province with the participation of Turkish and Russian presidents via video teleconference from Ankara. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)

By Burak Akinci

ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A groundbreaking ceremony with attendance of Russian and Turkish presidents via a video teleconference was held Tuesday for Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu Nuclear Plant, a strategic choice for Ankara facing setbacks but a powerful symbol of the deepening cooperation with Moscow.

"The successful implementation of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will be a symbol of the dynamic development of Turkish-Russian partnership," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the video teleconference.

The plant is located at Akkuyu in the Mediterranean province of Mersin. It will ultimately have a 4,800-megawatt capacity of installed power and will cost some 20 billion U.S. dollars.

The first unit of the plant which will have four reactors, is due to be launched in 2023, while the other units will be commissioned one by one in the following years.

The plant is expected to generate an average of 35 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually when it reaches its full potential in 2023, the centennial of modern Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "2023 vision" of major investment and infrastructure programs.

A first ground-laying for the plant was planned for April 2015, but it did not take place because the major project signed in 2010 was halted when Turkey downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border a couple of months earlier, plunging bilateral ties into a crisis mode.

Ankara and Moscow reconciled after a series of high level talks and the project restarted with a fresh impetus yet several delays and some funding issues pushed the finishing deadline from 2019 to 2023. A full capacity is due to be reached in 2026.

Russia has already invested 3 billion U.S. dollars in the Akkuyu project via the Russian state-owned contractor Rosatom and its finalization will consecrate a new chapter of the close strategic ties between NATO partners Turkey and Russia, said experts.

"The Russian foreign policy is based on two axes: arms and energy. Nuclear energy has its place as a strategic foreign policy tool," said Kerim Has, a Moscow State University lecturer to Xinhua, highlighting the importance of the Akkuyu projects in bilateral ties.

"Rosatom has contracts to build 34 nuclear power stations in 12 countries and provide their nuclear fuel and the contracts that this company is engaged to fulfill make up to 133 billion U.S. dollars," explained this expert in Russian affairs.

Turkey is a NATO member and has angered other NATO partners, such as the U.S., traditionally Turkey's biggest arms supplier, by its insistence to purchase S-400 missile systems under a loan deal reached last year with Russia.

The initial delivery of the Russian-made advanced missile system is planned for the first quarter of 2020. The air defense systems will be operated by the Turkish Armed Forces independently of Russia and could be deployed for the protection of the Akkuyu plant.

Has explained that the Akkuyu project, despite delays, is still a very good deal for the Russian part because Turkey is expected under past agreements to buy one kilowatt of electricity for 12,35 cents, which is well above the world market level.

The sharing of the financial burden of the Akkuyu plant is one of the most important points of the agreement concluded in 2010. Half of the project would be financed by the Turks, which should yield important revenues for Russia in the long term, and increase its geopolitical presence in this part of the world, remarked Kerim Has.

Turkey or Turkish private sector companies are to provide 49 percent of the financing. Russia will control supervision and management. For several years now, dozens of Turkish technicians and personnel are being trained in Moscow.

Russia is seeking long-term guarantees for the projects and also investors which makes the funding problematic as Turkish company's showed reluctance to participate. Two major Turkish companies Kalyon and Kolin backed out of a proposed deal to purchase 49 percent of the facility, sparking for some time question marks on the future of the project.

Rosatom meanwhile announced last week that despite the withdrawal of investors from the project, it is still committed to go ahead and is expecting to receive soon the construction license to start building the plant.

The company also said that it was in talks with Turkish state-owned power producer EUAS after the collapse of the deal with the two other large Turkish industrial holding companies but what is certain now that the sell of a 49 percent stake in the plant has been postponed from 2018 to 2019.

"The probability to close the deal on the stake sale of the plant is low this year but it is likely to take place in the next year," the Chief Executive Officer of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, told reporters during a press conference in Moscow last week.

Turkish companies have been put off by the sheer size of the financing required and the local media reported that the firms also fear that the electricity price could be lowered which would amount to a loss of revenue.

Turkey's energy imports amount to some 55 billion U.S. dollars annually and the energy demands of the 80 millions strong country is one of the fastest-growing of Europe, pushing the country to diversify its sources and cut dependency on mostly Russian natural gas.

Russian President Putin confirmed in November the launch of the plant's first reactor, saying that construction would begin in the near future.

And clearly as a good will gesture, Rosatom has received on Monday, just one days ahead of Putin's visit, a full construction license from Turkey's atomic energy authority, Xinhua learned from informed sources who argued out that the 2023 might still be at stake and that a new delay is possible.

"There are still many uncertainties in the future of the Akkuyu project. It is intertwined with politics and Russia wants Turkey to do its part in it," argued Kerim Has, insisting that funding issues will eventuality seal its faith.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on April 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Turkish Presidential Palace)

By Burak Akinci

ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A groundbreaking ceremony with attendance of Russian and Turkish presidents via a video teleconference was held Tuesday for Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu Nuclear Plant, a strategic choice for Ankara facing setbacks but a powerful symbol of the deepening cooperation with Moscow.

"The successful implementation of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will be a symbol of the dynamic development of Turkish-Russian partnership," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the video teleconference.

The plant is located at Akkuyu in the Mediterranean province of Mersin. It will ultimately have a 4,800-megawatt capacity of installed power and will cost some 20 billion U.S. dollars.

The first unit of the plant which will have four reactors, is due to be launched in 2023, while the other units will be commissioned one by one in the following years.

The plant is expected to generate an average of 35 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually when it reaches its full potential in 2023, the centennial of modern Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "2023 vision" of major investment and infrastructure programs.

The groundbreaking ceremony of Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, was held Tuesday with the participation of Turkish and Russian presidents via a video teleconference from capital Ankara. (Xinhua photo)

A first ground-laying for the plant was planned for April 2015, but it did not take place because the major project signed in 2010 was halted when Turkey downed a Russian warplane near the Syrian border a couple of months earlier, plunging bilateral ties into a crisis mode.

Ankara and Moscow reconciled after a series of high level talks and the project restarted with a fresh impetus yet several delays and some funding issues pushed the finishing deadline from 2019 to 2023. A full capacity is due to be reached in 2026.

Russia has already invested 3 billion U.S. dollars in the Akkuyu project via the Russian state-owned contractor Rosatom and its finalization will consecrate a new chapter of the close strategic ties between NATO partners Turkey and Russia, said experts.

"The Russian foreign policy is based on two axes: arms and energy. Nuclear energy has its place as a strategic foreign policy tool," said Kerim Has, a Moscow State University lecturer to Xinhua, highlighting the importance of the Akkuyu projects in bilateral ties.

"Rosatom has contracts to build 34 nuclear power stations in 12 countries and provide their nuclear fuel and the contracts that this company is engaged to fulfill make up to 133 billion U.S. dollars," explained this expert in Russian affairs.

Turkey is a NATO member and has angered other NATO partners, such as the U.S., traditionally Turkey's biggest arms supplier, by its insistence to purchase S-400 missile systems under a loan deal reached last year with Russia.

The initial delivery of the Russian-made advanced missile system is planned for the first quarter of 2020. The air defense systems will be operated by the Turkish Armed Forces independently of Russia and could be deployed for the protection of the Akkuyu plant.

Has explained that the Akkuyu project, despite delays, is still a very good deal for the Russian part because Turkey is expected under past agreements to buy one kilowatt of electricity for 12,35 cents, which is well above the world market level.

The sharing of the financial burden of the Akkuyu plant is one of the most important points of the agreement concluded in 2010. Half of the project would be financed by the Turks, which should yield important revenues for Russia in the long term, and increase its geopolitical presence in this part of the world, remarked Kerim Has.

Turkey or Turkish private sector companies are to provide 49 percent of the financing. Russia will control supervision and management. For several years now, dozens of Turkish technicians and personnel are being trained in Moscow.

Russia is seeking long-term guarantees for the projects and also investors which makes the funding problematic as Turkish company's showed reluctance to participate. Two major Turkish companies Kalyon and Kolin backed out of a proposed deal to purchase 49 percent of the facility, sparking for some time question marks on the future of the project.

Rosatom meanwhile announced last week that despite the withdrawal of investors from the project, it is still committed to go ahead and is expecting to receive soon the construction license to start building the plant.

The company also said that it was in talks with Turkish state-owned power producer EUAS after the collapse of the deal with the two other large Turkish industrial holding companies but what is certain now that the sell of a 49 percent stake in the plant has been postponed from 2018 to 2019.

"The probability to close the deal on the stake sale of the plant is low this year but it is likely to take place in the next year," the Chief Executive Officer of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, told reporters during a press conference in Moscow last week.

Turkish companies have been put off by the sheer size of the financing required and the local media reported that the firms also fear that the electricity price could be lowered which would amount to a loss of revenue.

Turkey's energy imports amount to some 55 billion U.S. dollars annually and the energy demands of the 80 millions strong country is one of the fastest-growing of Europe, pushing the country to diversify its sources and cut dependency on mostly Russian natural gas.

Russian President Putin confirmed in November the launch of the plant's first reactor, saying that construction would begin in the near future.

And clearly as a good will gesture, Rosatom has received on Monday, just one days ahead of Putin's visit, a full construction license from Turkey's atomic energy authority, Xinhua learned from informed sources who argued out that the 2023 might still be at stake and that a new delay is possible.

"There are still many uncertainties in the future of the Akkuyu project. It is intertwined with politics and Russia wants Turkey to do its part in it," argued Kerim Has, insisting that funding issues will eventuality seal its faith.
ADDIS ABABA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) congratulated Ethiopia's new Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, who was eventually named as Chairperson of the East African bloc upon his appointment as Ethiopia's premier.

IGAD, in a statement issued late on Monday, also commended the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) for the "wise and principled election of its new Chairperson," who is also the head of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), one of the four coalition member parties of the ruling party.

Ahmed, who was unanimously endorsed by the Ethiopian House People's Representatives as Ethiopia's new Prime Minister on Monday, was named as Chair of the East African bloc, a position that was held by the former premier, Hailemariam Desalegn.

"Ethiopia, which has embarked on a path of a truly astonishing rapid economic growth, has also been faced with formidable challenges that usually accompany such growth processes," the statement read.

"It is with this backdrop that the election of Abyi Ahmed was timely and eagerly awaited for," the statement read.

"IGAD strongly believes that Dr. Abiy Ahmed, one of the young, dynamic and highly educated members of the EPRDF leadership is up to the mark to lead the Coalition which has deservedly been applauded as the architect of Ethiopia's bench mark status regarding the economic and social progress in our continent," the statement added.

IGAD further stressed that mush work is needed to be accomplished to the betterment of Ethiopia, which has more than 100 million people. "IGAD is confident that he will accomplish his task with great commitment and dedication."

IGAD also vowed to working with Ahmed's administration and to "benefiting from his wisdom, statesmanship and leadership."
NICOSIA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Cypriot Attorney General Costas Clerides has decided not to prosecute a number of journalists involved in the publication of stolen emails about six months ago, a statement by the Legal Service said on Tuesday.

The emails were stolen from the private account of the most senior attorney at the Legal Service, Eleni Loizidou, and were originally published by Russian sites, causing embarrassment for Cyprus and diplomatic tension internationally, as they showed her offering private advice to Russian state prosecutors on sensitive cases she handled.

Among them was an application in Cypriot courts to counter an effort by investor Bill Browder to block investigations in Cyprus by Russian officials into his dealings in Russian businesses that prompted a fraud action against him.

Browder claims he is being persecuted by Russia for political reasons as a result of his campaign related to the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009.

Publication of the emails caused accusations against Russia of trying to exert influence over EU countries and criticism against Cyprus of being an agent of Russia.

The private emails of Eleni Loizidou, who was second in the Legal Service hierarchy, were published by the Greek Cypriot newspaper Politis (Citizen).

The Attorney General had ordered the police to take depositions from several of the newspaper's reporters about the origin of the emails, causing a strong reaction by Cypriot journalists, their union and international journalists' organizations, which deplored the action as a crackdown of the freedom of the press.

The Legal Service said in its statement that the Attorney General decided it was not in the public interest to prosecute anyone.

It added that the case raised two kinds of public interest -- one was safeguarding personal communications and the other was the public's right to be informed about issues of public interest.

"Weighing the two...and after taking into account the relevant national and European case law, as well as more general legal principles, the attorney-general judged it would not serve the public interest if he launched a criminal prosecution," the statement said.

Loizidou is still suspended from her post and is under disciplinary investigation.
BELGRADE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Although awareness of gender equality in the Western Balkans and Turkey is increasing, old stereotypes still prevail, resulting in frequent situations of violence towards women in these countries, according to a research study released here on Tuesday.

The research on gender stereotypes and positive practices in countering violence towards women was conducted during a three-year project by the United Nations (UN) Women organization in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro.

According to Jelena Milovanovic, deputy chief of UN Women office in Serbia, the aim of the project is to reduce violence towards women and girls in cooperation with non-governmental organizations by influencing changes in legislation and pushing for these changes to be implemented.

Specifically, the program aims to promote the implementation of the Istanbul convention from 2011 and UN conclusions from 2013 and to influence national legislation at national levels to harmonize with the EU agenda on gender equality.

"Results of the research show that it is necessary to improve the position of women, especially victims of violence, and we need to acknowledge their special position in society," Milovanovic said.

Research consultant Monika Kocaqi said the research showed that people in urban areas of the Western Balkans and Turkey were much more informed about the legal framework concerning gender equality issues than those living in rural areas.

But that both men and women overall need to be more informed about specific issues when it comes to the role of the women in a family, her employment, freedom of movement, and other topics, Kocaqi said.

According to Kocaqi, many gender stereotypes are still present among a significant part of the population, such as notions that "violence is a part of the nature of men", "women provoke violence over them" or "violence is a way of showing affection".

Some of these messages are further supported by the exploitation of women in media, which strengthens these views among the population as a result.

Kocaqi said societies are still divided over gender stereotypes, and small groups of people still think that "a women who works will neglect her house duties", or "women should endure violence to save her family", or "there are women that like to be beaten", as well as the idea that "women that do not finish domestic chores properly should be beaten".

Participants at the conference agreed that women's economic independence is crucial for them to break out of abusive situations.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 01:02:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Geneva, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Half a century of occupation and appropriation of land and resources by Israel has impoverished the Palestinian people, and denied them the right to development, a new UN study said Tuesday.

The study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) suggests that both Israel and the international community have obligations under international and human rights law to avoid action that impedes development.

It says they need to take steps to foster development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

"The international community should shoulder its responsibility to promote development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and ensure that the occupation and its enduring harm to the welfare of the Palestinian people is ended," said Mahmoud Elkhafif, coordinator of the Assistance to the Palestinian People Unit of UNCTAD.

The UNCTAD study is titled, "The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People and Their Human Right to Development: Legal Dimensions."

It highlights the economic costs imposed by occupation in relation to Palestinian agriculture, water resources, fisheries, mining, tourism, communications, manufacturing and human capital.

Under occupation, the Palestinian people and their government are not allowed to carry out essential tasks required for economic and social development to take place, says the report.

This prevents them from enjoying the undisputable human right to development, which maintains that all human persons and peoples are entitled to freely participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development.

Israeli actions that impose costs for the Palestinian people also include the construction of illegal settlements and a separation barrier in the West Bank.

The barrier is being built on a route that protects settlements and takes away significant tracts of Palestinian land, causing major disruptions to Palestinian social life and economic activity, notes the study.

The study emphasizes that under international law, the occupying authority has obligations to both the people under occupation and the international community.

It follows that the international community bears obligations to support the economic development of the Palestinian people and ensure that Israel complies with international law.
ULAN BATOR, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Mongolia said Tuesday it received the third tranche of funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) equal to 30.55 million U.S. dollars.

"Having received this tranche, Mongolia will be able to increase the country's currency reserves," Mongolia's central bank said in a statement.

The tranche is a part of the three-year Extended Funding Facility (EFF) of the IMF for Mongolia totaling about 434.3 million U.S. dollars, it was approved at the meeting of the Executive Board of the IMF on May 24, 2017.

The arrangement is part of 5.5 billion U.S. dollars from donor countries and international financial organizations, including Japan, South Korea and World Bank, to support stabilizing the economy and lay the basis for sustainable, inclusive growth.

Within the EFF, Mongolia has received a total of 152.8 million U.S. dollars from the IMF.

At the same time, Mongolia received 728 million U.S. dollars from international banking and financial organizations and donor countries in 2017.

With the help of the IMF's program, Mongolia's GDP grew 5.1 percent year on year in 2017, compared to 1 percent for the previous year. The figure was higher than the 3.3 percent forecast by the IMF.

The IMF has predicted that Mongolia's GDP growth will reach 5 percent this year and 6.3 percent next year.
ISLAMABAD, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A three-day International Counter-Terrorism Forum kicked off in Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Tuesday with an aim to highlight the country's endeavors and achievements in the war against terror.

The country's Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal inaugurated the conference and said the country has overcome a long and dark decade of terrorist victimization, turning around picture from "Victim to Victor of Terrorism."

He said Pakistan was considered as one of the most dangerous places in the world back in 2013, but today the world publications are declaring Pakistan as an emerging economy.

Iqbal added that Pakistan's national resolve is to eliminate any sign of terrorism from the country to achieve the objective of peace and development.

Briefing about the sacrifices made by the people of Pakistan, he said that 60,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives in the war against terrorism, but it did not deter the resolve of the nation. "The narrative of peace and development is very clear to the nation."

He said that the terrorists targeted all sections of Pakistan including mosques, churches, temples and shrines, but the country has overcome the crisis by launching armed offensives -- operation Zarb-i-Azb and others.

The minister said the war on terror is not over yet and the country has to undertake collaborative efforts to achieve a decisive victory.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 01:23:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LISBON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Roberto Azevedo, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), pledged to support African plans to create a continental free-trade zone during a visit to Lisbon on Tuesday.

When asked by the Lusa Portuguese News Agency whether the African initiative clashed with the interests of the WTO, Azevedo, who was in Lisbon for the VI Luso-Brazilian Legal Forum conference, said "Not in the least."

"The WTO must support the process of African integration," said Azevedo. "WTO rules must favor African integration and development, which is very important for African countries. We'll do whatever we can to help this integration."

African heads of state met in Rwanda last month to discuss the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a free-trade zone that would include all 55 countries in the African Union.

Of those 55, 44 signed up to the initiative on March 21. Others, most notably Nigeria, the continent's largest country by population, asked for more time to study the proposal.

If ratified, AfCFTA would be the largest free-trade area in terms of country numbers aside from the WTO.

The WTO has 164 member countries, including the vast majority of African nations.
VIENNA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Austrian government unveiled its new energy and climate strategy on Tuesday, aiming to meet European Union-set CO2 emissions goals by 2030, the Krone newspaper reported.

Sustainability minister Elisabeth Kostinger and transport minister Norbert Hofer presented the plan to media in Vienna, noting that Austria will have to reduce its CO2 emissions by 36 percent from its 2005 levels to meet the goal.

Up until now, the reduction since that year has only amounted to eight percent.

One major pillar of the new plan is an intended boost in the amount of bicycle use. The government hopes this form of transport will make up 13 percent of all traffic by 2025, which would be close to a doubling of its present level.

The use of electric cars is also high on the list of priorities, with Hofer stating that the use of older diesel-fuel vehicles "concern me", and are largely only still used due to a lack of funds for newer vehicles.

An expansion of current funding incentives for electric vehicles is planned, along with similar support for electric car sharing services, taxis, and logistics vehicles.

In addition, the ministers said a further target was to eliminate the use of oil-based heating in new buildings from 2020, with no new taxes or other financial burdens to come as a result.

The new strategy has drawn criticism from some, one such criticism being the fact there has been no mention of CO2 emissions reductions in the industrial sector to date.
BERLIN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Unknown suspects have removed with force a depiction of a Swastika on a controversial Nazi-era church bell in the Lower Saxon town of Schweringen, German media reported on Tuesday.

The local pastor confirmed the removal of the swastika by night with an angle grinder.

During recent months, a large number of remaining Nazi-era church bells has provoked a heated public debate in Germany over the rural architectural legacy of the Hitler regime. Many of church bells constructed between 1933 and 1945 are adorned with symbols and textual passages which are now illegal under German law.

German media widely interpreted the reported act of vigilant justice as a response to an earlier decision by the Schweringen Lutheran church to start using the Nazi-era bell again in spite of its tainted past and related discussions.

The unknown suspects left a letter at the church in which they described their work as a "spring cleaning measure", which would allow villagers to return to everyday life instead of becoming divided over the issue.

"The inhabitants of Schweringen will now concentrate on our village life and ensure that we peacefully build a community," the unsigned letter of confession read. The document further described the town as home to citizens who were decent, intellectual and open-minded.

It remains unclear at this point whether the removal of the Swastika will have any legal consequences. Daniel Jahn, spokesperson for local police, told press that there had been "no criminal charge filed by the church so far".

The state branch of the Lutheran church in Lower Saxony appeared to express sympathy for the clandestine removal.

"Due to arduous related discussions and the questionable decision to keep using the bell, I can understand that someone has now created a fait accompli," a statement by state superintendent Petra Bahr read.

Nevertheless, Bahr emphasized that the church community of Schweringen still had "the responsibility to continue engaging with and further investigate the history of the Schweringen church bell".
NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's ministry of education in conjunction with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will from April 9 to 13 hold a boot camp to motivate young girls to take up scientific and engineering disciplines.

UNESCO said in a statement on Tuesday that the five-day boot camp aims to demystify myths that have prevented young women from taking up science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM) despite their promise of rewarding careers.

"The first STEM Camp for 2018 will include mentorship and career talks in STEM, a training on coding and robotics as well as linkages with university and industry through visits and demonstrations," said UNESCO.

The UN agency revealed that 150 high school girls and 27 teachers will participate in the first ever boot camp to be held in Kenya to popularize scientific disciplines to the female gender.

According to UNESCO, female high school students will be mentored by accomplished scholars and industrialists to boost their interest in mathematics and applied sciences.

Participants will also visit premises of leading technology companies to gain practical knowledge on how they are transforming local economies.

"The visit to work environments will expose girls to industries and guide them on how to relate the subjects they learn in school to the real world of work and their daily lives through demonstrations and practice," said UNESCO.

Kenya's mobile phone company, Safaricom, and several foreign firms have also partnered with UNESCO to host the boot camp that will be held in Machakos County, located 60 kilometers south east of the capital, Nairobi.

It is hoped that the boot camp will contribute to creation of a critical mass of Kenyan young women who have excelled in mathematics and engineering disciplines.

"It is of ground-breaking importance to inspire girls to reach their full potential, to create opportunities and challenge stereotypes," said UNESCO, adding that attainment of sustainable development goals on quality education and gender equality is key to hasten Kenya's socio-economic transformation.
ADDIS ABABA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, on Tuesday lauded Ethiopia's peaceful power transition as an important moment for the East African nation and the continent.

Mahamat made the remarks during his meeting with the new Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed.

Ahmed's meeting with Mahamat marked the newly appointed premier's first official meeting since he formally took the office on Monday from his predecessor Hailemariam Desalegn, who resigned on February 15 following incessant anti-government demonstrations in parts of the country.

Mahamat, who noted Ahmed's premiership as the first peaceful and successful political transition in the East African country, told state news agency ENA after his meeting with Ahmed that "It is a very important moment for Ethiopia because it is for the first time that there was a peaceful and successful political transition."

Mahamat also lauded Ethiopia's commitment to play a significant role in the regional peace, security and integration issues.

"Ethiopia has played a very heavy tribute for the peace and security of the continent," the Chairperson elaborated.

The two leaders have also discussed the effectiveness of Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and the internal situation of the country, it was noted.

Ahmed was unanimously endorsed by the Ethiopian House People's Representatives as Ethiopia's new Prime Minister on Monday.

The former premier submitted his resignation in mid-February after sustained protests mainly in the central and northern regions. Desalegn said his resignation would be part of a solution to advance reforms aimed at easing the country's unrest.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 02:38:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DUBAI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Shares traded on markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Tuesday ended uneven following bank Emirates NBD's release of the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for March, pointing at a 10-month low of activity in the non-oil private sector.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) failed to sustain its rebound it performed at the beginning of the week and closed 0.21 percent lower at 3,100.39.

Market bellwether Emaar Properties, developer of the world's tallest tower Burj Khalifa, was the most actively traded stock and lost 1.05 percent.

Emirates NBD said in a statement released by e-Mail, the headline seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD UAE Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) eased to 54.8 in March, down from 55.1 in February.

Daniel Richards, MENA Economist at Emirates NBD, said "Although the UAE's PMI score continues to moderate from the pre-value added tax (VAT) boost enjoyed at the end of 2017, it remains firmly in expansionary territory, and continued discounting by firms should help stimulate demand."

The UAE Ministry of Finance has introduced a 5 percent VAE on most goods and services, a first in the country's 46-year history.

The UAE, a major oil supplier has the most diversified economy in the Gulf Arab region as only 71 percent of the UAE gross domestic product is based on non-oil businesses.

Ninety percent of UAE oil is located in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi market index ADXGI closed insignificantly higher at 4,585.21 (up 0.08 percent).

Symptomatically for the muted trading mood, Telecom giant Etisalat, the most valuable in the UAE, closed unchanged.

On the outlook of the Emirati non-oil economy, Emirates NBD's Richards said "Firms are more positive towards future output than they were last month, reflecting new orders that remain strong at 60.2."
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he wants to use the military to guard the country's border with Mexico until his long-promised border wall is built.

"We are going to be guarding our border with our military," Trump told reporters during a lunch session at the White House with leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

"We're going to be doing things militarily until we can have a wall and proper security," the president said. "That's a big step."

Trump also said that he's spoken with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis about the idea.

The president has been lashing out at Mexico for allowing a group of Central American demonstrators, mostly from Honduras, to march toward the U.S. border, where many hope to seek asylum.

"The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there," Trump tweeted early Tuesday.

Trump has recently reiterating his hardline stances on immigration, while repeatedly calling out Mexico over the border security and stressing the need for a border wall on the southern border.

The 1.3-trillion-U.S.-dollar spending bill, signed into law by Trump last month, only grants 1.6 billion dollars for border security measures, far short of what the administration has sought.

Trump has proposed using military funding to build the border wall but it's likely to face both political and legal challenges before the idea can be put into action.
RABAT, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan Ministry of Justice and its Spanish counterpart signed Tuesday an action plan to reinforce judicial cooperation.

Inked by the Moroccan Minister of Justice Mohamed Aujjar and his Spanish peer Rafael Catala Polo, this plan of action covers the years 2018 and 2019.

Under this plan of action, both parties will share good practices and exchange mutual experiences in the area of judicial administration.

It includes a number of activities, including a workshop on new trends in the use of judicial cooperation mechanisms in the fight against cybercrime.

Also a workshop on transnational family conflicts between Morocco and Spain and a working visit to learn about the Spanish experience in the field of monitoring and evaluation of criminal policy are included in the plan.

The plan of action provides also for the exchange of legislation and documents regulating the judicial system.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of an international conference on judiciary independence held in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, with the participation of global ministers, experts and rights organizations.

The three-day conference, which opened on Monday, discusses many themes related to the evolution of judiciary independence in a changing world, the governance of the judicial administration and strengthening of its efficiency, and the development of institutional capacities of judicial system.
BERLIN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) have officially concluded their participation in an eight-year-long European military mission in Somalia, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense confirmed on Tuesday.

All soldiers involved in the training of the Somali military by a coalition of European Union (EU) armies since March 2010 have now returned to Germany.

The German ministry of defense had announced the end of the mission earlier in February, citing political and institutional issues in the war-torn North-East African country which prevent staff from carrying out their assigned tasks.

The news comes shortly after several reports suggested a lack of adequate equipment and funding for German Armed Forces prevented them from fulfilling their international commitments. The findings heaped further pressure on Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) who has heard growing criticism for the slow progress of reforms which she promised at the start of her tenure in 2015.

Despite Germany's retreat from the Horn of Africa, the European training missions is still ongoing and intends to ensure that the official Somali government can one day ensure security and order within its own borders without foreign assistance. According to German Armed Forces, Berlin would continue supporting this objective politically.

Back in December 2016, the Council of EU member states extended the mandate of the Somali mission until Dec. 31, 2018. Around 160 European military personnel have been based permanently in Somalia since March 2010.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 03:13:31|Editor: Jiaxin

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The world's biggest plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, gets ready to take off from an airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, April 3, 2018. The world's biggest plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, took to the skies Tuesday from the airport outside the Ukrainian capital for its first commercial mission since modernization. (Xinhua/Chen Junfeng)

KIEV, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The world's biggest plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, took to the skies Tuesday from Kiev Antonov airport outside the Ukrainian capital for its first commercial mission since modernization.

The Ukraine-built plane has left Kiev for a flight to Leipzig, Germany, from where it will make a commercial mission.

Hundreds of people of different ages lined up around Kiev Antonov airport to witness the rare flight of the giant aircraft.

According to local media reports, during its commercial mission, the An-225 will deliver heavy cargo from Germany to Asian countries.

The An-225 Mriya, designed by Antonov in late 1980s, is the longest and the heaviest airplane ever built. Powered by six turbofan engines, the aircraft is capable of carrying up to 640 tons of cargo.

During the recent modernization, the aircraft was fitted with a new navigation system and some new electronic equipment.

Last month, Mriya carried out a test flight to ensure that everything was working properly.

Since being put into service about 30 years ago, Mriya has set 240 aviation records.
The Nepalese garrison stands at attention during the official closing ceremony of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti(MINUSTAH) in Tabarre Haiti on Oct. 5, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP)

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is preparing for a transition of its mission in Haiti to a non-peacekeeping presence given the return of stability in the Caribbean country, said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations, on Tuesday.

"A broadly consulted and owned, benchmark-based exit remains the right approach to preserving the stabilization and peacebuilding gains achieved over a decade in Haiti," Lacroix told the Security Council. "We are determined to ensure ... that Minujusth be the last peacekeeping operation deployed in Haiti."

Minujusth (the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti) is already a smaller police mission than its predecessor, the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (Minustah), which was composed of military personnel. Minujusth replaced Minustah on Oct. 16, 2017.

UN peacekeepers lower the UN flag during an event marking an end of the Mission of United Nations for the Stabilization in Haiti(MINUSTAH), at the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Oct. 5, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

Briefing the Security Council, Lacroix said the new mission is fully operational and is actively implementing its mandate of assisting the Haitian government to strengthen rule of law institutions, further developing the national police and advancing human rights.

Lacroix cautioned that alongside opportunities, there remain challenges and risks, especially in the context of a transition of the UN peacekeeping mission.

Haiti has come a long way to achieve the relative political and security stability it is now enjoying. But persistent economic uncertainties, which can result in social exclusion, particularly of youth and the most vulnerable, may undermine this progress, he warned.

File Photo: Haitians break up a barricade of burning tires placed by supporters of presidential candidate Maryse Narcisse of the Fanmi Lavalas political party during a march to claim the victory of their candidate in Port-au-Prince, on Nov. 28, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP)

The work of the Legislature has recently slowed down, characterized by disagreements over procedural issues. The anticipated holding of elections in the last quarter of 2019 to possibly renew the Legislature could lead to a more polarized political landscape, creating an environment less conducive to addressing systemic challenges to the rule of law, he warned.

The Security Council is due to renew the mandate of Minujusth, which expires on April 15, 2018.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while participating in a tour of U.S.-Mexico border wall prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, California. U.S., March 13, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he wants to use the military to guard the country's border with Mexico until his long-promised border wall is built.

"We are going to be guarding our border with our military," Trump told reporters during a lunch session at the White House with leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

"We're going to be doing things militarily until we can have a wall and proper security," the president said. "That's a big step."

Trump also said that he's spoken with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis about the idea.

A woman protests near the border wall prototypes in San Diego, the United States, on March 13, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday inspected prototypes for his long-promised wall along the border with Mexico in a tour that drew both supporters and protesters. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

The president has been lashing out at Mexico for allowing a group of Central American demonstrators, mostly from Honduras, to march toward the U.S. border, where many hope to seek asylum.

"The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there," Trump tweeted early Tuesday.

Trump has recently reiterating his hardline stances on immigration, while repeatedly calling out Mexico over the border security and stressing the need for a border wall on the southern border.

Protesters hold up a banner as they wait for the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump in Santa Monica, California, March 13, 2018. (Xinhua/AFP)

The 1.3-trillion-U.S.-dollar spending bill, signed into law by Trump last month, only grants 1.6 billion dollars for border security measures, far short of what the administration has sought.

Trump has proposed using military funding to build the border wall but it's likely to face both political and legal challenges before the idea can be put into action.
MAPUTO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Seven people, including two policemen, were drowned after a boat sank to the bottom of Zambezi River due to bad weather in central province Tete in Mozambique on Monday night.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, John Manhoso, the Administrator of the Zumbo district of Tete, the boat carried a total of 11 people from one district to another, and the bad weather was the cause of the accident.

"We appeal to sailors and other navigators of this river, to be wary of the overcrowding of their vessels and the current temperature in the day to day," he said, adding that the steps to find the bodies are ongoing.

"In this desperate moment, we are asking for help from nearby residents and island residents to report to authorities in case any bodies are found," the administrator said.

Most of the river accidents that occur in Tete are caused by crocodiles and hippos.

Since Monday, a three-day meeting is being held in Maputo to discuss ways of reducing sea and inland water accidents. Only in 2017 more than 230 died of maritime accidents in Mozambique.
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States will provide about 87 million U.S. dollars aid to Yemen to address the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country, said the U.S. State Department on Tuesday.

The aid will be used for food assistance, support for drinking water, treatment for malnourished children among others, said the U.S. State Department in a statement released in the day.

The U.S. government made the announcement at the Yemen High-Level Pledging Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland, according to the statement.

Saudi Arabia is leading a mostly Arab military coalition to fight Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015.

Houthis have been controlling much of Yemen's north by force, including the capital Sanaa since 2014.

The war has killed more than 10,000 Yemenis, mostly civilians, and displaced over 3 million, according to humanitarian agencies.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 05:03:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DUBAI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain on Tuesday discussed ways of enhancing "fraternal" cooperation of the two Gulf states, UAE state news agency WAM reported.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum met Tuesday with Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

During the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the 2018 Arab Media Forum, the two politicians also discussed regional issues and means of maintaining the security and stability of the region.

The UAE and Bahrain, along with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are part of the "Arab Quartet."

The group severed diplomatic and economic ties with fellow Gulf state Qatar on June 5 2017, accusing the gas-rich state of supporting "extremism and terrorism." Qatar denied the charges.
ALGIERS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Algerian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that a "dangerous" terrorist was killed late Monday in the eastern province of Skikda.

"Following a dragging operation in the upper woods of Skikda, an army detachment killed a dangerous terrorist on Monday and recovered a Kalashnikov submachine gun," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The militant, identified as B. Farid, alias Abu Zahra, became a terrorist in 1994, according to the statement.

The Algerian troops killed four terrorists in March, it added.

Earlier in the day, anti-terror troops in Boumerdes and Batna destroyed four terrorist bunkers housing two homemade bombs as well as food and clothes.

In another statement quoted by APS news agency, the Algerian army said seven terrorists surrendered in the anti-terror operation.

A total of seven people suspected of providing support to terrorist groups were arrested in March, it noted.

Figures show the Algerian army destroyed 41 terror bunkers and seized 16 Kalashnikovs, four FM machine guns, one FM-DP machine gun, one G3 pistol, three PKT machine guns, three Simonov semi-automatic rifles, four rifles, 21 firearms and one automatic pistol in March.

Located in a region plagued by unprecedented security and political instability, Algeria is facing terrorist threats, as tens of thousands of troops are deployed on eastern and southern borders to thwart potential intrusion of militants and arms, amid instability in Mali and a civil war hitting Libya.
RABAT, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Morocco and Belgium agreed on Tuesday in Marrakech to step up cooperation in the fight against money laundering.

In a declaration of intent signed by the Moroccan Justice Minister Mohamed Aujjar and his Belgian counterpart Koen Geens, the two countries agreed to establish a better collaboration in the area of seizure and confiscation of money resulted from drug trafficking.

The two countries agreed to set up a working group to meet three times a year to make proposals for proceeding seizure operations.

The first meeting is scheduled for May 2018 in Rabat.
In this file photo taken on May 26, 2010 YouTube headquaters is pictured in San Bruno, California, the United States. (Xinhua/AFP)

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Police in San Bruno in the U.S. state of California on Tuesday warned residents to stay away from the headquarters of the world's largest video sharing network Youtube, where an active shooting was reported.

"Police activity at 901 Cherry Ave, please stay out of the area," San Bruno Police tweeted.

People near the area reported hearing shots fired, police activity and lockdown procedures, and police radio said casualties were being taken to local hospital.

"Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers," wrote Twitter user Vadim Lavrusik.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 05:38:59|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on April 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Turkish Presidential Palace)

ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and Russia held High-Level Cooperation Council meeting on Tuesday, attended by the presidents of the two countries in order to enhance bilateral relations and two sides signed four agreements for this end.

During a joint press conference after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will accelerate delivery of S-400 defense systems to Turkey, which was initially planned for 2020.

Erdogan said two countries have finalized the deal for the purchase of S-400 missile defense systems, adding that Russia has proved its sincerity by accepting an earlier delivery.

Russian President also said relations between two countries are developing "step by step."

Trade and economic relations were the focal point of meetings in Ankara, he stated.

"Relations with Turkey are constructive," Putin said, noting that trade volume between two countries was boosted in 2017.

Erdogan welcomed Putin for making his first foreign trip to Turkey after his election victory in March. "This is the best expression for the state of Turkey-Russia relations," Erdogan said.

Political dialogue between two countries is reflected in bilateral economic relations, he said, adding that total volume of bilateral trade has reached to 22 billion U.S. dollars.

Some 4,7 million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2017 and they expect this figure to reach 6 million in 2018, said the Turkish president.

The work on the second line of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline through Turkey was continuing rapidly, he stated.

Erdogan reiterated that Turkey wants to lift mutual visa requirements with Russia. But Russia is not eager to take such a step on the argument of security reasons.

The issue of Syria was part of talks and the two presidents discussed political solution in the war-torn country. Two leaders stressed that Turkey and Russia will cooperate on Syria crisis.

Erdogan said he informed Putin about Turkish army's ongoing offensive in Syria's Afrin against Kurdish militia.

In a sign of the importance of the partnership, Putin's visit to Turkey is his first trip abroad since he won a historic fourth presidential mandate in March.

The groundbreaking ceremony of Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, was held earlier the day with the participation of Turkish and Russian presidents via video teleconference from capital Ankara.

During the video teleconference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "The successful implementation of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will be a symbol of the dynamic development of Turkish-Russian partnership."

Ankara-Moscow relations were tested by a severe crisis for Turkey's downing a Russian jet on the Syrian-Turkish border in 2015. Strains have been eased as the two sides began a reconciliation process in 2016 following Turkey's apology.

The normalization process stood trial over the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov in an armed attack December 2016.

But Putin called the assassination a "provocation" to undermine relations between Turkey and Russia as well as the efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis.

Russia and Turkey prioritized cooperation in Syria amid the latter's strained relations between its Western allies, particularly with the U.S. over the issue of People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as an offshoot of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 05:39:01|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Police officers stand guard near the headquarters of YouTube in San Bruno, California, the United States, April 3, 2018. Police in north California are responding to a reported shooting at the headquarters of the world's largest online video network YouTube Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Police in north California are responding to a reported shooting at the headquarters of the world's largest online video network YouTube Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

"The ATF San Francisco Field Division is responding to a reported shooting at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, Calif.," the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives @AFTHQ tweeted.

Police in San Bruno, about 19 kilometers south of downtown San Francisco on U.S. western coast, also warned on their official Twitter account that people should "stay out of the area" because of "police activity at 901 Cherry Ave" near the YouTube headquarters.

Twitter user Vadim Lavrusik, who described himself as an employee of YouTube, said earlier in his Twitter page that "Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers."

TV helicopter video showed that people were going out of a building with their hands up.

San Bruno police said they could not provide more information right now.
ALGIERS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The economic issues dominated the visit of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey to Algeria, as the two nations vowed on Tuesday to give their bilateral trade relations a new impetus.

The visit of Mariano concluded by inking eight Memorandums of Understanding for cooperation in the sectors of industry, agricultural insurance, vocational training, higher education and scientific research, post, digital and information technologies and fire-fighting.

The documents were signed on the sidelines of the seventh Algerian-Spanish High-Level Meeting in the capital Algiers, which was co-chaired by Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia and his visiting Spanish counterpart.

The meeting was followed by the Algerian-Spanish Business Forum, which was co-chaired by Algerian Minister of Industry and Mines Youcef Yousfi and Spanish Secretary of State for Trade Maria Luisa Poncela.

During the business forum, Ouyahia promised to invite more Spanish operators to enter the Algerian market and invest in non-hydrocarbon sectors.

The business forum was attended by more than 700 Algerian and Spanish economic operators, where they discussed partnership opportunities in the fields of agriculture, aeronautics, banking, metallurgy, industrial machinery, building materials and transport.

"We are satisfied with political relations, cooperation and trade exchange between Algeria and Spain," Ouyahia said at the inauguration of the forum.

"Yet, the Spanish economic presence and investments in Algeria are still modest," said Ouyahia.

"Some 500 Spanish firms came to Algeria since 2000, but they returned home as soon as they delivered the projects," he added.

For his part, Mariano noted that "Algeria is a strategic and reliable partner, given that it ensures 50 percent of Spain's natural gas needs, and is a major player in the Maghreb and the African Union."

In 2017, Spain was ranked third largest customer of Algeria with a total of 4.1 billion U.S. dollars, and the fifth largest supplier of the North African nation with 3.1 billion U.S. dollars.

Algerian Industry Minister Youcef Yousfi noted that some 450 Spanish companies are operating in the North African nation.

But he said the bilateral partnership between Spain and Algeria is still below expectations, urging the two governments to develop it further in the future.

For her part, Spanish Secretary of State for Trade Maria Luisa Poncela encouraged Algeria to offer more facilitation to attract more foreign investment, saying it is vital for strengthening Algerian economy.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey arrived in Algiers on Tuesday for a one-day official visit to boost bilateral relations.
BRUSSELS, April 3 (Xinhua) -- In the face of the great harm made by "foreign garbage" to China's environment and public health, Beijing has the legitimate right to ban foreign garbage and reform its management system of solid wastes import, said Ambassador Zhang Ming in a signed article published on the Euractiv website Tuesday.

Serving as the Head of Mission of the People's Republic of China to the European Union, Zhang said he was surprised by some representatives' concerns about China's ban on "foreign garbage" during the recent meeting of the WTO Council for Trade in Goods, where some representatives even asked China to halt its implementation.

China is a Party to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal adopted in 1989. The Convention provides for and fully recognizes the right of its Parties to prohibit the import of hazardous wastes or other wastes, said Zhang in the article.

Meanwhile, the Basel Convention stipulates that Parties have an obligation to minimize the quantities that are transported, and to treat and dispose of wastes as close as possible to their place of generation. In other words, it is the due responsibility of Parties to do their best to reduce and take care of their own wastes.

In addition, before announcing the ban, China had full communication with other parties. It was half a year before the ban was actually put in place that the Chinese side notified the WTO of the change. Issues arising in the course of implementation have been well addressed through timely coordination.

"China started importing solid wastes in the 1980s, whose annual volume surged from 4.5 million tons to 45 million tons in the past 20 years," he said, adding that the decision of the ban is widely welcomed and applauded by the Chinese people.

Interestingly, those who have expressed "concerns" are all from developed countries. For a long time, well-off and well-equipped developed countries have been dumping their garbage to developing countries, said Zhang, noting that "this phenomenon should not be overlooked. It is more of a moral issue that relates to the future of mankind than of a trade issue."

The great Chinese philosopher Confucius said, "Do not do onto others what you do not want others to do onto you." A famous quote from the Bible goes like this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Islam belief has it that "none of you have faith until he loves for the people what he loves for himself". No matter in which civilization, it is morally unacceptable to dump trash in others' backyard, said Zhang in the article.

Moreover, as people already live in a global village, troubles shifted to their neighbors will get back to them sooner or later.

Erik Solheim, head of the UN Environment Program, said, "We should see the Chinese decision as a great service to the Chinese people and a wake-up call to the rest of the world". Now, it is high time that developed nations re-thought their use of plastics and not simply sought alternative foreign dumping grounds, read the article.

For those garbage exporters, it is inadvisable to cry out loud and ask for too much from others, like spoiled children giving little heed to others' interests, said Zhang.

"Rather, they should first examine what is going wrong on their part and fulfill their responsibilities. Developed countries need to rely on their own efforts to address excess waste and endeavor to develop a circular economy. Then they could see what they can do to help developing countries tackle their waste challenge. This is the right way to go," said the ambassador.

If China's ban could trigger other countries to develop more advanced technologies out of a greater sense of urgency and to better serve their own people with a stronger sense of responsibility, China must, indeed, be doing a good deed, he concluded.
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has talked by phone with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, discussing issues concerning Yemen, Syria and the Gulf disputes, said the White House on Tuesday.

During the Monday phone call, Trump and the Saudi king agreed to push forward a political process to end the war in Yemen, said the White House in a statement.

The Saudi-led military coalition has fought against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015, leaving more than 10,000 Yemenis killed and over 3 million displaced.

On Syria, the two leaders discussed joint work to endure the defeat of the extremist group Islamic State (IS) and counter Iranian efforts to "exploit the Syrian conflict," according to the statement.

In the phone call, Trump also emphasized the importance of resolving the Gulf dispute and restoring a united Gulf Cooperation Council, it added.

The Trump administration has reportedly postponed a summit with Gulf Arab leaders, which was originally scheduled for May, amid an ongoing dispute between Qatar and other U.S. allies.

Trump's call conversation with the Saudi leader followed his meeting with visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the White House in late March.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 06:44:13|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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QUITO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The families of three Ecuadorian journalists kidnapped about a week ago near the Colombian border said Tuesday they were both concerned and relieved by the release of a so-called "proof of life" video.

In the clip broadcast on TV earlier in the day and circulated online, the three captives could be seen in chains with padlocks around their necks as one of them, Javier Ortega, 32, pleaded for Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno to meet the captors' demands.

Ortega's brother, Alejandro Ortega, told reporters that relatives were "overcome" with concern.

"You've seen the video. It's heartrending to see them with chains around their necks. But at least we have a sign that they are well," said Alejandro.

"Their demands are clear," he said, referring to the captors, adding the victims' lives "are in the hands of the Ecuadorian state."

The three-member press team from Ecuador's El Comercio daily appeared to have been seized on March 26 by a dissident faction of Colombia's now-disbanded FARC guerrilla group, which broke away when the rebels agreed to give up armed rebellion and become a political party.

The dissident Oliver Sinisterra Front wants to exchange the reporters for three of its own.

The clip, first broadcast by Colombia's RCN television network, showed Ortega along with photographer Paul Rivas, 45, and TV reporter Efrain Segarra, 60.

The video also appeared to confirm that the three were in Colombia, something Colombian authorities were unsure of.

The press team was working on a report about the border area and recent attacks on Ecuadorian security forces by organized cross-border crime rings.

Ecuador's government declined to broadcast the video, saying it turned the incident into a media event, but said it was working toward the release of the trio.

"The wellbeing of our citizens and their families is a priority for our government, that's why we will continue to handle the information related to the ongoing process to free our fellow nationals in a totally responsible and coherent way," the government said in a statement.
Source:Xinhua| 2018-04-04 07:22:53|Editor: Mengjie

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Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua (L), also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, attends the inauguration ceremony of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Beijing, capital of China, April 3, 2018. Hu also attended a symposium held here on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 07:09:18|Editor: Mengjie

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WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on Tuesday published a proposed list of Chinese goods subject to additional 25 percent tariffs amid strong opposition from China and U.S. business groups.

The proposed list covers approximately 1,300 products imported from China, including industries such as aerospace, information and communication technology, robotics, and machinery, the USTR's Office said in a statement, noting they're worth approximately 50 billion U.S. dollars of annual trade value.

China has stressed that it's ready to take any necessary measures to defend its legitimate interests, while hoping to properly handle the trade dispute with the United States through dialogue and consultation.

"We don't want a trade war, but we are not afraid of it. If someone insists on starting a trade war, we will fight till the end," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Tuesday.

The United States should stay rational, listen to calls from business communities and common people, discard unilateralism and trade protectionism, address the dispute through dialogue and consultation, and work with China for a healthy and steady development of bilateral trade to benefit both peoples, said the spokesman.

The proposed tariff list is based on a so-called Section 301 investigation into alleged Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer practices, launched by the Trump administration in August 2017.

Now it will undergo further review in a public notice and comment process, including a hearing, before the USTR issues a final determination on the Chinese products subject to additional tariffs, according to the USTR's Office.

Business groups from China and the United States in recent weeks have warned the Trump administration not to move forward its tariff plan on Chinese imports, as it would raise the costs for American consumers and companies as well as having a negative effect on the financial markets.

"Imposing taxes on products used daily by American consumers and job creators is not the way" to address trade issues between the U.S. and China, Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday in a statement.

"The U.S. Chamber looks forward to working with the administration throughout the comment period to make the business community's voice heard on the U.S.-China economic relationship," Brilliant said.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said last week that it would go through a 60-day comment period after the administration released the proposed tariff list and "there's hope" that trade talks between the United States and China could lead to a fruitful outcome.

While the United States and China have two "very different" economic systems, "it's very possible" that the U.S.-China trade relationship could end up in "a good place" after overcoming "a series of difficulties" over many years, Lighthizer said in an interview with CNBC.
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-04 07:09:19|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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Police officers stand guard near the headquarters of YouTube in San Bruno, California, the United States, April 3, 2018. Police in north California are responding to a reported shooting at the headquarters of the world's largest online video network YouTube Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and four others were wounded in a shooting at the YouTube headquarters in the U.S. state of California Tuesday, authorities said.

Police Chief Ed Barberini of San Bruno, a city about 19 kilometers south of downtown San Francisco on U.S. western coast, said the suspect female shooter appeared to have shot herself after injuring multiple people at the campus of the YouTube facility.

"We did locate a victim with what we believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound," said Barberini. "It's a female, but the investigation is still ongoing before we can put all the pieces together."

The shooting took place at around 12:48 p.m. in an outdoor cafe at the YouTube campus which houses some 1,700 employees.

Police are still searching the building to look for another possible shooter.

Barberini said the four injured people had been transported to a local hospital for gunshot wounds.

"We have a 32-year-old female who is in serious condition, a 27-year-old female in fair condition, and a 36-year-old male in critical condition," local TV outlet KPIX 5 quoted Brent Andrew, spokesman for Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, as saying.

Google, the parent company of YouTube, issued a statement earlier, saying that "We continue to actively coordinate with local authorities and hospitals. Our security team has been working closely with authorities to evacuate the buildings and ensure the safety of employees in the area."

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he had been briefed on the shooting at the YouTube headquarters.

"Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTube's HQ in San Bruno, California. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved," he twitted.
By JAN TUCKER

[email protected]

Ewen  The Ewen-Trout Creek School District principal and superintendent Alan Tulppo has been rated highly effective by the E-TC Board of Education at its recent meeting. The rating followed a closed session to discuss the evaluation. The board commended Tulppo on the positive outreach he has established with parents and community as well. They also commended Tulppos efforts to expand student programs and opportunities. The board also said the district enrollment has stabilized under the superintendents leadership. The board unanimously approved a new two year contract with Tulppo.

Tulppo and the dean of students attended a recent School Safety and Student Protest Workshop sponsored by the Michigan Association of School Administrators and the Thrun Law Firm. Officials said the workshop focused on the legal requirements of districts to protect the First Amendment rights of students and balance those rights with a safe and productive school environment. Officials also noted the presentation also focused on safety policies and procedures.

Tulppo told the board that E-TC is doing many things right in the eyes of law enforcement and safety officials. The district will plan to make some minor changes to building access in the mornings, which will be implemented over the next few months.

The Superintendent reported the Governors budget proposes an increase in basic per-student aid by between $120 and $240 for districts. Under the governors proposal the E-TC school would have a $240 increase per student or about $48,000 for the 2018-2019 year. The state legislature must ratify the budget and their proposal is slightly different with an approximately $45,000 increase.

The school board also heard about the states new school index values, released earlier this year. Michigan has moved away from ranking schools based on a grade or color in each district, Tulppo explained. The school now receives a school-level index value based on seven factors: growth, proficiency, school quality, student success, graduation rate, EL progress, participation and EL participation. The E-TC index value for the reporting period was 64.41 and the superintendent will provide a detailed report at the April meeting.

In other action the E-TC Board:

heard the scheduling for the 2018-19 school year is underway and the school will continue to offer Spanish I and Psychology by long distance learning.

Heard the Robotics Team is competing in Escanaba at their first competition and have done a fine job in the development of their robot. The team will be competing at Lake Superior State University over spring break.

Students from E-TC, Ironwood, Bessemer and Watersmeet traveled to Grand Rapids for state HOSA Competition.

Kindergarten registration is currently underway and the district has received enrollment paperwork from some new families. ETC is projecting 15 students in Kindergarten.

And the board approved awarding a contract to Computer Success to complete a network wiring and wireless access point during the month of July 2018.
VOTING MACHINES are set up at Hurley City Hall Monday in preperation for Tuesday's election. Voters will cast their ballots in a number of state and local races, as well as a statewide referendum. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

By RICHARD JENKINS

[email protected]

Iron County voters head to the polls today to take part in Wisconsin's spring election.

Voters will cast their ballots in a variety of state and local races, as well as a statewide referendum.

Hurley voters will decide the contest for mayor between incumbent Joe Pinardi and Paul Mullard as well as who will serve on city council. In that race, seven candidates - Robert Lanctoe, Joanne Bruneau, Stephanie Innes Smith, Steve Lombardo, Jay Aijala, Jamey Francis and Terrence Seibel - are running for six council seats with the lowest vote-getter failing to make the cut.

Hurley voters will also decide the District 1 board of supervisors race between Mullard and Aijala. They will also vote for Joe Simonich, who is running unopposed for another term on the Hurley School Board.

In Mercer, incumbents Michael Lambert and Charles Schroepfer are being challenged by James Davis for two seats on the town board. Karl Anderson is challenging Kelly Kohegyi for a seat on the Mercer School Board and James Schmidt is challenging Jim Kichak to represent Mercer's District 14 on the county board. Tanner Hiller has filed papers to run as a write-in candidate in the District 14 race.

In the city of Montreal, Erik Guenard is challenging Mayor Todd Haeger; while Wayne Berglund and Joseph Leoni are running re-election campaigns for Ward 1 and Ward 2 on the city council, respectively.

Residents in the town of Springstead will be casting ballots for an at-large seat on the Chequamegon School District Board, where Ed Kane is facing off against Michelle Schmidt.

While Hurley, Mercer, Sherman and Montreal are the only Iron County communities with contested races on the ballot.

All other county board candidates are running unopposed. Joe Pinardi is running for re-election in District 2 to represent Hurley; Francis is running to fill Jack Prospero's seat representing Hurley's District 3 after Prospero died in January; Larry Youngs is running for another term in Hurley's District 4; William Thomas is running again representing Gile's District 5; Ken Saari is running for another term representing Montreal's District 6; Brandon Snyder is running to replace John Smith in Kimball's District 7, after Smith chose not to seek another term; Karl Krall is running for re-election in Saxon/Gurney's District 8; Patrick Hanson is running again in Anderson/Knight/Pence's District 9; Scott Erickson is running for another term representing Oma/Carey's District 10; John Sendra is running for another term in Mercer's District 11; Opal Roberts is running for Mercer's District 12; Tom Thompson is running to represent Mercer's District 13 for another term and Brad Matson is seeking re-election in Sherman's District 15.

At the state level, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Dallet and Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Michael Screnock will face off for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. They were the top two vote-getters in February's primary.

Voters will also be asked to decide a statewide referendum regarding the potential elimination of the state treasurer position.

"The Constitution spells out only one duty for the Treasurer: to serve as one of three members on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which is charged with the sale of school and university lands and with the investment of funds arising from such sales," Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel wrote in an explanation of the measure on the state election's site. "The referendum question proposes to eliminate the constitutional office of Treasurer. To fill the Treasurer's position on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, the Lieutenant Governor would serve as the third member of that Board. A "yes" vote on this question would eliminate the constitutional office of the Treasurer. It would replace the Treasurer with the Lieutenant Governor as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. A "no" vote would retain the constitutional office of the Treasurer under Article VI. The Treasurer would also continue to serve as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands."

Polls are open statewide from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Dr. Donna M. Cataldo, 45, of Ironwood, Mich., passed away with her loving family by her side on Saturday, March 31, 2018, in Milwaukee.

She was born November 21, 1972 in Royal Oak, Mich., daughter of Sam and Barbara (Volansky) Cataldo. Donna attended the Bailey Lake Elementary School and Sashabaw Middle School in Clarkston, Mich. She graduated from Marian Catholic High School in Birmingham, Mich. with the class of 1990. Donna attended Michigan State University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology with Honors. She attended the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit where she received a Doctor of Medicine. Donna served her internship at Beaumont Hospital and her radiology residency at Detroit Medical Center. She was employed in private practice at various hospitals. Since 2004, she was employed by Aspirus Grand View in Ironwood. As a radiologist, her exceptional diagnostic skills were responsible for saving many lives.

As a young girl and into her teens, Donna was a serious ballerina. She trained in Houston, Chicago and Pennsylvania as well the School of American Ballet at the Lincoln Center in New York. She enjoyed biking, triathlons and ski racing. She especially enjoyed fishing for salmon with her family on Traverse Bay in Lake Michigan. Recently, in November, Donna earned her purple belt in karate.

She was an active member of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church. She served on the Board at All Saints Catholic Academy and was very involved in charitable work.

On August 23, 2008, she was united in marriage to Dr. Enrico "Rick" Braucher on Mission Point in Traverse City. They were blessed with two daughters, Maddie and Cristina, Rick and the girls survive.

Also surviving are her step-children, Leah, Rico and Elisabeth, a sister, Cristin Cataldo of Brighton, Mich., parents Sam (Barbara ) Cataldo of Bellaire, Mich., a mother-in-law, Anna Braucher of Chicago and many friends, relatives and extended family.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, April 5, at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Ironwood. Rev. Robb Jurkovich will be the celebrant.

Donna's family will receive relatives and friends on Wednesday evening, April 4, from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the McKevitt-Patrick Funeral Home, 305 N. Lowell St. in Ironwood. A rosary and vigil service will be held at 7:15 p.m. Visitation will also take place from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass in the St. Joseph's Family Room at Our Lady of Peace on Thursday.

Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery, Ironwood.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are preferred to All Saints Catholic Academy, 106 S. Marquette St., Ironwood 49938

To view the obituary and make online condolences, visit rangefuneralservices.com.
Living Section

Romania - I think I am going to cry!" Thats what Constantin Reliu said when a Romanian court declared him officially dead, reports the Association of Mature American Citizens. When 63-year-old Reliu returned home from a 20-year stint as a cook in Turkey recently he discovered that his wife had had him declared dead.

So he went to court to get his life back. But the court would not overturn his death certificate. The judge said it was too late. Hes broke, so he doesnt have the funds for an appeal, says the Associated Press.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - On Sunday, officers were dispatched to a vehicle versus pedestrian collision that occurred at 24th Street by Elks Lane.

The investigation showed a 61 year old male was crossing northbound on 24th Street by Elks Lane when he was struck by a 2006 Ford Fusion driven by a 19 year old male.

The pedestrian was taken to Yuma Regional Medical Center and later flown to a Phoenix hospital in critical condition. There were no other reported injuries.

The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous. Remember if your information leads to an arrest you may receive up to a $1,000 cash reward.
Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - The City of Yumas quarterly Household Hazardous Waste collection day returns 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 7, in the east parking lot of the Yuma Civic Center (1440 W. Desert Hills Drive).

Leftover household products that are flammable, corrosive, toxic or reactive under certain circumstances are considered household hazardous waste (HHW). The City's HHW Day provides a free opportunity for residents to safely dispose of these products, such as paint, batteries, pesticides and cleaners, by simply dropping them off. This type of waste requires special care to be properly disposed of.

To participate, collect your unwanted household hazardous waste items and take them to the Civic Center parking lot, where traffic control devices will show vehicles to the drop-off site. Then, describe the types of waste to be collected. From there, staff will provide instructions for which station(s) to stop to drop off waste.

The following items will be accepted at the HHW collection event:

Motor oil

Paint

Antifreeze

Household cleaners

Solvents

Pesticides

Batteries

Fertilizers

Tires (limit of five; must be off the wheel)

No business/commercial waste, ammunition, pressurized gas, radioactive waste, explosives, prescription drugs or needles will be accepted.

Approximately 345 vehicles stopped by the most recent HHW Day on Oct. 17 to drop off unwanted hazardous waste.

E-waste items for drop-off include:

Home computer components

TV sets

VCRs/DVD players

Cell phones

Home phones

Residents may bring the following household items to the drop-off site to be recycled:

Aluminum cans

Paper

E-Waste

Cardboard material

Paper documents

Plastics

Next HHW collection dates:

July 14, 2018 (6 to 10 a.m.)

Oct. 13, 2018 (8 a.m. to noon)

Questions? Please call the City's Public Works Department at (928) 373-4500.
Alternativa la testul PCR impotriva SARS-Cov-2, propusa de tinerii aflati sub aripa Institutului OncoGen

Centrul de cercetare OncoGen din Timisoara a prezentat rezultatele colaborarii cu un grup de tineri talentati. Multi dintre ei inca elevi de liceu, ei au castigat o finantare din partea [citeste mai departe]
Source: Xinhua| 2018-04-02 18:46:34|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday urged the United States to revoke protectionist measures that violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

The trade measures that target just a small number of countries abuse the security exception clause of WTO rules and go against the principle of non-discrimination in multilateral trade, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in an online statement.

Despite worldwide objection, the U.S. government decided last month to impose a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, with tariffs on imports from EU member states, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the Republic of Korea being suspended until May 1, 2018.

"China's interests were seriously damaged," the MOC said.

To balance losses caused by the move, the ministry proposed counter-measures on U.S. products worth about 3 billion U.S. dollars on March 23 and solicited public opinion.

"People expressed widespread support via telephone and e-mail for the counter-measures, with some even suggesting stronger measures," said the statement.

Based on that domestic support, the measures have been put into effect. The Chinese Ministry of Finance on Monday announced a 15-percent tariff on 120 items from the United States including fruit, and a 25-percent tariff on eight items including pork.

China has acted in restraint to avoid confrontation with the United States, with measures to increase imports and widen market access, but to no avail.

The two sides have failed to reach a consensus as the United States declined to respond to China's requests through the WTO for consultation, the MOC said. "As a WTO member, China has the right not to meet some former obligations to the United States."

Despite the frictions, China maintains its stance on economic cooperation for mutual development.

"Cooperation is the only valid option for China and the United States," the MOC said, calling for dialogue and consultation to address the concerns of both sides and realize common development, and working to prevent more harm to the broader picture of China-U.S. cooperation.

Related:

China urges U.S. to rethink on trade protectionism

BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday called on U.S. decision makers to seriously weigh up the value of its unilateral trade protectionism.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang made the call at a daily press briefing, commenting on recent remarks made by U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad on possible Chinese retaliation on soybean imports from the United States. Full story

China denounces US trade approach, urging dispute settlement through dialogue

BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China said Thursday that the U.S. trade approach had set a bad precedent that could trigger a domino effect on protectionism, and the United States must resort to dialogue and consultation to settle disputes. Full story

Interview: Unilateral sanctions can't cure U.S. trade deficit, says trade expert

NEW YORK, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Unilateral sanctions can't resolve the U.S. trade deficit problem but will instead significantly hurt businesses and consumers in both the United States and China, a trade expert has said. Full story

Protectionist tariffs no solution for U.S. trade imbalance

CHICAGO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. protectionist measures of unilaterally imposing steep tariffs will not solve trade problem but risk opening a Pandora's box to backfire on its own economy, said U.S. experts. Full story

High tariffs on Chinese imports would weaken America: economists
Coun Perez reiterates warning to barangay leaders involved in drugs

07 Aug 2017 Hits:37 Comments(0)

Liga ng mga Barangay President, Councilor Jerry Perez yesterday reiterated his warning to all barangay officials from using or selling drugs. Perez said he is closely monitoring the activities of all the barangay officials and vowed sanctions against erring leaders. Aqui gane na mio barangay ya quita ya iyo na puesto cunel dos barangay leaders quien mas temprano ya sale positivo na...
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday attacked Congress for not passing tough immigration laws and described the present system of prosecution and deportation of illegal immigrants as "a whole big wasted procedure".

In a series of tweets, he said that the US laws do not easily allow the government to send those crossing the southern border back where they came from.

His tweets came at a time when a caravan of over 1,200 Central American immigrants is heading towards the US' southern border, largely unfettered through Mexico.

Earlier, Trump had also threatened to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico unless it does more to stop people from crossing into the US.

"As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS," he tweeted.

In another tweet, Trump said Honduras, Mexico and many other countries, that the US is very generous to, sends many of their people to US through "our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES".

"Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!" he said.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had promised to build a Southern border wall to stop illegal immigration and drugs from Mexico. But, Congress has frustrated him by not moving as quickly as in providing money for construction of the wall.

Congress, last month, passed a USD 1.3 trillion funding package that included spending of USD 1.6 billion on border wall. But, it is said that much of that money can only be used to repair existing segments, not build new sections. It had also put certain restrictions on the types of barriers that can be built.

Trump also slammed Congress for delaying his nominations.

"39 per cent of my nominations, including Diplomats to foreign lands, have not been confirmed due to Democrat obstruction and delay. At this rate, it would take more than seven years before I am allowed to have these great people start working. Never happened before. Disgraceful!" Trump rued.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would use U.S. military forces to protect the nation`s southern border with Mexico until there is a border wall and "proper security" in place.

"We are going to be doing things militarily," Trump told reporters at the White House, adding he had discussed the idea with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

"Until we can have a wall and proper security were going to be guarding our border with the military. Thats a big step," he said. "We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way, never showing up for court."

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had said U.S. foreign aid to Honduras and other countries was at risk unless they stopped what he called a "caravan" of more than 1,200 Central American migrants headed to the U.S. border with Mexico on a 2,000-mile (3,200-km) journey from the Mexico-Guatemalan border.

Mexico`s government has said such "caravans" of mostly Central Americans, including many escaping violence in Honduras, have occurred since 2010.

Trump has stepped up his immigration rhetoric in recent days and his administration has moved to further crack down on people who are in the United States illegally.

Trump has already blasted Mexico and threatened to upend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) over the caravan. The current trip has also put pressure on Mexican authorities ahead of the July 1 presidential election there.

"We will be doing things with Mexico, and they have to do it, otherwise Im not going to do with the NAFTA deal," Trump told reporters.

In a post on Twitter, he had said the caravan "heading to our `Weak Laws` Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!"

On Monday, the Republican president railed against Democrats over immigration and again pressed U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation to build his long-promised border wall between the United States and Mexico.

Despite months of efforts, no immigration deal has emerged in the Republican-led Congress, where lawmakers are not expected to pass much major legislation ahead of November`s midterm congressional elections.
New York: Continuing its crackdown against the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), the US Administration of President Donald Trump has now targeted its political front, the Milli Muslim League (MML), and added it to its list of terror groups.

Several leaders of MML and as well as another front organisation have been added to the US' list terrorist groups, said reports. The MML leaders against whom the US took action include MML vice president Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, Joint Secretary Muhammad Harris Dar, Information Secretary Tabish Qayyuum, Finance Secretary Muhammad Ehsan and Faisal Nadeem.

Confirming the development, the State and the Treasury Departments said on Monday that the MML has been added under LeT's designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under two different laws.

Another LeT front, Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) was also added to the US terror list, it said.

MML has been actively campaigning with posters of LeT co-founder and Jamat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who is a US-designated Global Terrorist.

The Treasury Department also said that MML president Saifullah Khalid, General Secretary Fayyaz Ahmad and five others have also been put under the scanner.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," a statement from the State Department said.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group," the Department's Counter-terrorism Coordinator Nathan A Sales told reporters in Washington.

"Today's amendments take aim at Lashkar-e-Toiba's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character, " Sales said.

Issuing a warning to LeT sympathisers, Treasury Under-Secretary Sigal Mandelker said that "those working with the Milli Muslim League, including providing financial donations, should think twice about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions."

"Treasury is targeting the Milli Muslim League and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in Lashkar-e-Taiba's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," she added.

''LeT founder Saeed had created the MML last August as the group's political front and LeT members make up MML's leadership and the "so-called party" openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature,'' the State Department said.

In a major blow to MML, the Election Commission of Pakistan has also rejected its application to be recognised as a political party.

''The LeT is largely blamed for the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which killed 166 people, including six Americans. The terror outfit has also been part of several operations targeting the security forces and killing civilians in India in recent years,'' the State Department said.

''In a bid to avoid US sanctions, LeT began operating under the name TAJK in January last year and carried out terrorist activities under that banner,'' the US department said.

The US Administration had earlier announced a bounty of USD 10 million on Saeed's head and pressed Pakistan for his arrest. Saeed was last year set free by a Lahore court, which refused to extend his detention.

Warning Pakistan, US President Donald Trump's Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that failure to act against Saeed "will have repercussions for bilateral relations."

"All property and interests in property of these persons subject to US jurisdiction are blocked" and US citizens are banned from having any transactions with them,'' the Treasury Department said.

(With IANS inputs)
Mumbai: John Abraham-starrer Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran will now release on May 4. Director Abhishek Sharma is happy as the movie's release now coincides with the same month as the Pokhran tests 20 years ago.

Sharma said in a statement: "Much in line with India's journey to becoming a nuclear power, our film's journey to its release has also had its own ups and downs! However, it is perhaps a befitting tribute to the true heroes of our nuclear programme -- our army and our scientists, that 'Parmanu' is releasing in the same month as we are celebrating 20 years of Operation Shakti - India's nuclear test explosions in Pokhran in May 1998.

"We are extremely proud of the film and what it stands for and can't wait to take it to our audience on May 4, 2018."

Parmanu- The Story of Pokhran is an ode to the Indian army and scientists, who although ordinary people, accomplished truly extraordinary feats in the face of adversity. It salutes, celebrates and truly embraces the slogan- Jai Jawan Jai Vigyan. While the premise of the film is based on true events, the characters are fictitious.

The film also features Diana Penty and Boman Irani.
Chennai: In an effort to put pressure on the Centre, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam sat on a hunger strike on Tuesday demanding the formation of Cauvery Mangement Board.

Taking the law enforcement agencies by surprise, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leaders Palaniswami and Panneerselvam sat on the hunger strike at 8 am. The protest will conclude at 5 pm, reported news agency IANS. They were later joined by several party members. Hundreds of people also gathered to protest against Centres inaction to set up the Cauvery Mangement Board. In districts too, junior ministers and party leaders held the protest.

Meanwhile, a section of traders called for a statewide bandh on Tuesday, April 3.

The hearing of state government's contempt petition in Supreme Court over the issue is on April 9. The Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said,"We understand Tamil Nadu's difficulty of not getting water. We will resolve the issue. List the matter for April 9."

On Sunday, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) working president MK Stalin and other party leaders were detained in protest against Centre over the constitution of Cauvery Water Management.

Next day, two DMK workers  PT Murugesan and Singai Sadashivam  allegedly made self immolation bids in Coimbatore over the issue. Th police also detained over 1,000 persons across the state in connection with protests, who were released later in the day.

The party has decided to observe a shutdown across Tamil Nadu on April 5 over the Cauvery issue and has asked AIADMK to join them.

On February 16, the top court in a verdict had reduced the Tamil Nadu`s share of Cauvery water from 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (TMC), which was less than 192 TMC allocated by a tribunal in 2007.

On the other hand, poll-bound Karnataka`s share of water was increased by 14.75 TMC. Tamil Nadu political leaders say the BJP is acting in favour of Karnataka, which is opposed to the CMB and where Assembly elections are due.

The Centre has failed to set up the board within six weeks of the Supreme Court`s February 16 order. The deadline ended on March 29.
New Delhi: The RBI has asked Axis Bank's board to re-consider the decision to re-appoint Shikha Sharma as its MD and CEO for a fourth term, amid concerns over rising bad loans at the country's third largest private sector lender, sources said.

The move comes against the backdrop of persisting concerns over mounting Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in the banking system.

Sources said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shot off a letter to the Chairman of Axis Bank Sanjiv Misra, who is also a former Expenditure Secretary, with regard to the board's decision to re-appoint Sharma.

The bank's board has been asked to re-consider the decision to give a fourth three-year term for Sharma as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, the sources said.

According to them, the RBI's letter has also cited the bank's performance and deteriorating asset quality condition over the years.

In July 2017, the board of Axis Bank had approved re-appointment of Sharma. Her new term is to start from June 2018.

Sources said the re-appointment is yet to be ratified by the RBI.

As per regulations, appointments of top management personnel at private sector banks require the RBI's clearance.

"We wish to inform you that the bank's board follows a standard process with regard to senior appointments, and forwards its recommendations to the regulator (to the extent required). This process is currently in progress," Axis Bank said in a statement today.

The private sector lender's NPAs jumped by over five-fold in recent financial years.

The gross NPAs worth Rs 4,110 crore at the end of March 2015 surged to Rs 21,280 crore at the end of March 2017. During the same period, the lender's net profit halved from Rs 7,357.8 crore to Rs 3,679.2 crore.

Recently, RBI had also penalised the bank for incorrectly reporting bad loans. The asset-class divergence uncovered by RBI was Rs 9,480 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 5,633 crore in 2016-17.

Laden with infrastructure loans, the bank has struggled to contain NPAs.

During demonetisation, Axis Bank was in the news for alleged involvement of its staff for suspected money laundering activities and illegal note conversions. Income Tax Department had conducted several raids and arrested few of its employees for indulging in illegal activities during the note ban initiated on November 8, 2016.

Last year, market regulator Sebi also ordered Axis Bank to strengthen its systems and conduct an internal probe to fix responsibility as the initial investigation showed the leakage of price sensitive financial information was due to "inadequacy" of processes at the bank in the WhatsApp leak case.

The bank's results for the April-June 2017 quarter were "either identical or matched closely with the figures" that were in circulation on WhatsApp prior to an official announcement, Sebi had noted in its order.

Sebi's move followed a probe initiated after reports about Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) being circulated in various private WhatsApp groups about certain companies, including Axis Bank, ahead of their official announcements.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday disposed off the defamation suit filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for levelling allegations of corruption against the BJP leader. The HC closed the defamation suit after the Delhi CM apologised to Jaitley for the remarks and the latter accepted it.

Kejriwal had tendered an apology to Jaitley in a letter on Sunday. He had said: "I unequivocally withdraw all the allegations made by me in question whether in print, electronic or social media against you. I offer my sincere apology to you and your family members for any harm caused to your reputation as a consequence of my allegations."

Thereafter, the two leaders had moved an application before the Delhi High Court seeking withdrawal of the defamation case. Along with Kejriwal, four other AAP leaders - Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh, Deepak Bajpai and Raghav Chadha - had also apologised to Jaitley for their allegations.

In his letter, Kejriwal had stated that the allegations made by him were based on information and papers furnished by certain individuals who represented to have first-hand insight into the DDCA's affairs but had "recently discovered that the information and the imputations contained therein are unfounded and unwarranted and I was clearly misinformed into making these allegations". Kejriwal also said that he did not approve of senior advocate Ram Jethmalani`s "disparaging and malicious" remarks against Jaitley.

Levelling defamation charges against the Delhi CM, Jaitley had asked for Rs 10 crore as damages before a magisterial court in December 2015. He had claimed that the charges affected his reputation.

Over the last fortnight, Kejriwal has tendered apology to former Punjab minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, Union minister and former BJP President Nitin Gadkari for making "defamatory" comments. He has said that legal cases were eating up a lot of his time and resources and was he was not being to fully focus on the governance on Delhi due to it. There are over 30 defamation cases against Kejriwal filed in different courts across the country.

However, his apology spree is not going down well with many AAP leaders. Those making small donations to the party are also believed to have questioned the logic behind the apologies.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: The CBDT has directed the Income Tax Department to finish in two months the exercise of issuing notices, as part of the 'Operation Clean Money', to those who deposited huge funds post demonetisation.

Officials said the policy-making body of the department wants to fasten the process of raising tax demands on those who either concealed or generated black money in the wake of the notes ban of November 8, 2016.

The board, a senior official said, issued a Central Action Plan (CAP) for the first quarter of the new financial year yesterday where it asked all tax department offices in the country to finish the exercise by May 31.

The I-T Department has been issuing notices to such depositors under two sections-- 142 (1) (inquiry before assessment) and 148 (power to either assess or re-assess any taxable income)--before launching full action against them.

The CBDT, the officials said, quoting the CAP, that all processes should be completed by May 31, in cases where such notices have been issued till March 31.

The department had launched an 'Operation Clean Money' (OCM) to check black money post demonetisation.

The verification of high-value transactions data and suspicious transactions done without quoting the PAN (Permanent Account Number) should also be completed by June 30, the CBDT has ordered.

The CAP acts as the guiding light for the tax department to prioritise work in a given fiscal.

According to official data, 17.73 lakh suspicious cases involving Rs 3.68 lakh crore have been identified by the taxman in 23.22 lakh bank accounts post demonetisation.

The I-T department had conducted 900 searches between November 9, 2016, and March 2017, leading to seizure of assets worth Rs 900 crore, including Rs 636 crore in cash.

The searches led to the disclosure of Rs 7,961 crore undisclosed income, according to official data.

During the same period, the department conducted 8,239 survey operations leading to detection of Rs 6,745 crore of black money, the data said.

The CBDT had also selected over 20,000 cases of returns filed post the note ban for the detailed procedure of scrutiny by the taxman.
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Monday observed the "destructive attitude" that promotes rape in a marriage can be removed only by making marital rape "illegal".

Hearing a petition filed by a doctor seeking quashing of an FIR of rape registered against him by his wife, Justice JB Pardiwala said the attitude that promotes rape in a marriage can be removed only by making marital rape "illegal or an offence".

The judge partly allowed quashing of the FIR registered by the police against the doctor at Idar in Sabarkantha district, stating that Sections 376 (punishment for rape) and 377 (unnatural sex) will not be applicable against the petitioner.

The high court, however, directed the police to instead book the doctor under Sections 354 (sexual harassment) and 498 (A) (husband and relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) after his wife, also a doctor, told the court that he was subjecting her to mental and physical torture and forcing her to have oral sex.

"No one is even willing to discuss to reform the criminalisation of marital rape...A law that does not give married and unmarried women an equal protection creates conditions that lead to the marital rape," justice Pardiwala said in his order.

"Making marital rape illegal or an offence will remove the destructive attitudes that promote the marital rape," he noted.

"The total statutory abolition of the marital rape is the first necessary step in teaching societies that dehumanised treatment of women will not be tolerated and that the marital rape is not a husband's privilege, but rather a violent act and an injustice that must be criminalised," the judge wrote.

The accused doctor moved the HC seeking quashing of the FIR after police had booked him for rape and unnatural sex August last.

The high court today directed the police to drop charges of rape and unnatural sex against the doctor and asked them to investigate him for cruelty and sexual harassment.

The court also directed the investigating officer to examine if a dowry case was made out before adding sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu reached Parliament on Tuesday during his two-day visit to the national capital. Naidu will raise the non-issuance of special category status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu met leaders on the floor of several political parties, highlighting the tussel between the Centre and the state. He also paid tribute at Gandhi statue in the parliament premises.

Later in the day, he'll meet TDP lawmakers attending the parliament session, stated an official party release.

TDP along with YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), raised a no-confidence motion against the Modi government at the Centre earlier in March over the government's failure to honour the 'promise' of granting special category status to the southern state and seeking a special financial package for it.

Meanwhile, TDP lawmakers have been protesting outside the Parliament, demanding SCS for Andhra Pradesh. Lok Sabha MP Naramalli Sivaprasad, who has gain lot of attraction for his unique style of protesting, on Tuesday dressed up as a folk dancer while demanding the special status along with his other party Mps.

Naidu on Monday held a teleconference meeting with his party MPs and strategy committee in Amaravati to discuss his first visit to Delhi after exiting National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Tuesday attacked political parties for instigating innocent Dalits and minority groups to win elections. Terming this as an old script, he said: "The script is now oldbefore every election, the same vested interest groups start spreading panic about reservations. BJPs stand is clear, which I am once again stating- we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to SC/ST communities."

He also said that the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP towards minorities in unwavering. "At every juncture and in all possible ways, @BJP4India stands shoulder to shoulder with the Dalit community. Modi Governments commitment to fulfilling Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkars vision is unwavering. All the efforts of the Government are aimed at transforming the lives of Dalits," he said.

He also said that the Prime Minister met MPs belonging to the SC communities and assured them that the government is doing everything to protect the rights and wellbeing of Dalits. "Right from the day the Honourable Supreme Court gave a judgment on SC/ST Atrocities Act, Central Government acted in an immediate and informed manner. An effective review petition has been filed that will protect rights of Dalits," he tweeted on Tuesday.

Defending the government stand, he said that through "the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015, the NDA government has actually strengthened the provisions of the Act. This was done in line with our commitment to the welfare of SC & ST communities."

Blaming political parties for the losses that the innocent people have suffered, the BJP chief said that people with vested interests should apologise. "Due to the politically driven manifestations of a microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties, crores of innocent people suffered. These parties owe our Dalit sisters and brothers an apology for their misdeeds," he said.

He also attacked the Congress for indulging in negative politics. "Congress, which is mocking the DNA of PM @narendramodi is the same party which: Defeated Dr. Ambedkar not once but twice. Made flimsy excuses to ensure his portrait was not placed in Central Hall. Denied him a Bharat Ratna. India has seen through their negative politics!," he tweeted. Assuring that the Centre will support the Dalits in every possible way, he said: "we will continue our efforts to make our Dalit sisters and brothers the makers of New India. We will fulfill their aspirations and dreams. Jai Bhim! Jai Hind!"

His comment comes after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had on Monday slammed the BJP and RSS for the plight of Dalits saying it is in the "DNA of the RSS/BJP to keep Dalits at the lowest level in Indian society."

Large parts of the country have been bearing the brunt of Dalit anger over the recent Supreme Court verdict diluting the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Violence was reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and a few other states as Dalit groups and security personnel clashed resulting in death and destruction.
New Delhi: The Centre is likely to press Supreme Court for an urgent review of its March 20 ruling on the scheduled castes and tribes, saying it has led to "dilution" of some stringent provisions of law to prevent atrocities against them.

PTI quoted government sources as saying that Attorney General KK Venugopal would possibly mention the Centre's review petition in the top court on Tuesday for an early hearing.

The Centre's decision to move the top court comes in the wake of an ongoing violent protest by several Dalit outfits across the country against the apex court ruling. At least ten people have died due to the ongoing protest across the country.



Speaking on the issue, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the government "differs" with the reasoning given by the apex court judgement "virtually redoing the entire architecture of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act".

The apex court had on Monday declined urgent hearing on a writ petition filed by All India Federation of SC/ST Organisations against the verdict claiming that the entire nation has witnessed large-scale violence during the 'Bharat Bandh'.

The top court, however, said the plea would be listed and heard in due course.

On Monday, the Dalit protesters had blocked trains, clashed with police and set on fire several vehicles across several states during a nationwide bandh called to protest against the top court verdict.

In a bid to protect honest public servants discharging bonafide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the SC/ST Act, the apex court on March 20 diluted its stringent provisions mandating immediate arrest under the law.

The Union government, in its review petition, had said the verdict has "wide ramification and implication resulting in dilution of the stringent provisions of law enacted under the 1989 enactment.

"It (the verdict) adversely affects a substantial portion of the population of India being the members of SC/ST. It is also contrary to the legislative policy of Parliament as reflected in the Prevention Of Atrocities Act 1989," the Centre said.

Seeking an open court hearing of the review petition, it said that "oral arguments are essential in the present matter in order to assist the court. Further, it would be in the interest of justice that oral arguments be entertained by this court".

Justifying the petition, the Centre said that despite various measures to improve the socio-economic conditions of the SCs and STs, they still remained vulnerable.

"They are denied a number of civil rights. They are subjected to various offences, indignities, humiliations and harassments. They have, in several brutal incidents, been deprived of their lives and properties, serious crimes are committed against them for various historical, social and economic reasons," it said.

The Centre said that the Section 18 of the Act is the backbone as it enforces an inherent deterrence and instills a sense of protection amongst members of SCs and STs and any "dilution thereof would shake the very objective of mechanism to prevent offences of atrocities".

(With PTI Inputs)
New Delhi: The Centre has asked the state governments to identify tourist spots where accidents occur frequently when people take selfies, following reports of several such incidents. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said safety provisions for tourists, including precautionary measures to prevent any untoward incident such as declaring "No-Selfie Zones" at popular tourist sites were the primary responsibility of the state governments and Union territory administrations.

"Accidents occurring in the process of taking selfies are reported from time to time. However, the Ministry of Tourism has advised all state governments and Union Territory administrations to take the following measures to safeguard tourists who intend to take selfies at tourists sites or destinations," the minister said.

The advisory issued by the tourism ministry includes identification of all such tourist spots that are prone to accidents, erection of signboards, warning the visitors of the danger involved in taking selfies at such locations, posting volunteers or tourist police personnel at such places, sensitisation through public address systems, spreading awareness through social and other media campaigns and barricading areas.
New Delhi: Rahul Pathak was neither a protester and nor was he part of security arrangement deputed to contain them. Yet, he became the first casualty of a nation-wide Bharat Bandh organised by Dalit groups on Monday against a Supreme Court order 'diluting' the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

His fault?

Rahul was reportedly standing on the balcony of his house in Madhya Pradesh's Morena at a time when there was utter chaos on the ground below. Protestors were raising slogans and holding banners, charging-up an already tense situation. In the middle of all the pandemonium, a bullet hit Rahul - a student. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared brought dead. While it is suspected that a stary bullet may have been fired during the protest and it is this that killed Rahul, his family on Tuesday alleged that a man called Ramu Gurjar intentionally targeted Rahul and shot him dead.

Rahul's family members have alleged that Gurjar had a personal score to settle with him and took aim from the ground - using the protests as his cover. They have said Gurjar and Rahul had had a long-standing enmity and it is this that culminated into a tragedy.

Local police officials have filed an FIR against Gurjar and have begun investing the matter.
New Delhi: In a bid to curb fake news in India, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting amended guidelines for accreditation of journalists. Shortly after the decision, Congress leader Ahmed Patel put forth a series of questions regarding its implications for honest journalists, leading to a prompt rebuttal from Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Under the new rules, journalists stand to lose accreditation if found guilty of generating or propagating fake news. Complaints made will also get accreditation of 'accused' journalists suspended till the determination regarding fake news is made by regulating agencies. It is this point that has primarily been questioned by Ahmed Patel who said motivated complaints may be filed. "I appreciate the attempt to control fake news but few questions for my understanding: 1. What is guarantee that these rules will not be misused to harass honest reporters? 2.Who is going to decide what constitutes fake news? 3. Is it not possible that motivated complaints will be filed to suspend accreditation until enquiry is on? 4.What is guarantee that these guidelines will check fake news or is it an attempt to prevent genuine reporters from reporting news uncomfortable to the establishment? ," asked Patel.

The answer came swiftly.

Irani was quick on her social media button and assured that the Centre has no role to play in the matter. "Glad to see you awake @ahmedpatel ji whether a News article / broadcast is fake or not will be determined by PCI & NBA; both of whom Im sure you know are not controlled/ operated by GOI," she tweeted in her reply.

The official statement from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting also outlines that it is the Press Council of India and News Broadcasters Association which will determine if news is fake or not. "Noticing the increasing instances of fake news in various mediums including print and electronic media, the Government has amended the Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists. Now on receiving any complaints of such instances of fake news, the same would get referred to the Press Council of India (PCI) if it pertains to print media and to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) if it relates to electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not."

Zee News update: Withdraw fake news guidelines issued for journalists, directs PM Modi
Washington: New Delhi will host the strategically important trilateral dialogue between India, Japan and the US this week ahead of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago later this month, the State Department has said.

The Trump administration has sent two of its senior diplomats from the State Department -- Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton - to co-lead the American delegation for the trilateral dialogue.

The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers of the Indo-Pacific region on Wednesday comes a fortnight ahead of the Trump-Abe summit at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort.

During the two-day summit on April 17 and 18, the two leaders will reaffirm the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said today.

While Wells has just returned from Pakistan, Thorton completed her trip to Malaysia before heading to New Delhi where she attended the US-ASEAN Dialogue to engage on regional security and economic issues.

On April 6, Wells will participate in the India-US Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs. During her visit, she will also meet with senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and representatives from the private sector, the State Department said.

The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. For the first several rounds the trilateral was held at the director or assistant secretary level.

It was elevated to ministerial level in 2015. The inaugural ministerial trilateral was held on September 29, 2015, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session. It was hosted by the then US Secretary of State John Kerry. The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida represented their respective countries.

The last ministerial dialogue was also held in New York in September 2017.
New York: The Government of India on Tuesday welcomed the United States' decision to put Lashkar-e-Toiba's (LeT) political front Milli Muslim League on its list of terrorist groups.

Welcoming the decision, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, ''India welcomes US' action for designating Milli Muslim League, an alias of LeT, a Pakistan-based terrorist group and its functionaries who are acting on behalf of LeT.''

''The move vindicates Indias position that Pakistan hasn't taken effective action against terrorist groups,'' the MEA statement added.

The reaction from the MEA came shortly after the US Administration of President Donald added the Milli Muslim League (MML)  a political front of the LeT  to its list of terror groups.

Several leaders of MML and as well as LeT's other front organisations have also been added to the US' list of terrorist groups. The MML leaders against whom the US took action include MML vice president Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, Joint Secretary Muhammad Harris Dar, Information Secretary Tabish Qayyuum, Finance Secretary Muhammad Ehsan and Faisal Nadeem.

Announcing the decision, the State and the Treasury Departments of the US said on Monday that the MML has been added under LeT's designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under two different laws.

Another LeT front, Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK), was also added to the US list of terror groups, it said.

MML has been actively campaigning with posters of LeT co-founder and Jamat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who is a US-designated Global Terrorist.

The Treasury Department also said that MML president Saifullah Khalid, General Secretary Fayyaz Ahmad and five others have also been put under the scanner.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," a statement from the State Department said.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group," the Department's Counter-terrorism Coordinator Nathan A Sales told reporters in Washington.

"Today's amendments take aim at Lashkar-e-Toiba's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character, " Sales said.

Issuing a warning to LeT sympathisers, Treasury Under-Secretary Sigal Mandelker said that "those working with the Milli Muslim League, including providing financial donations, should think twice about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions."

"Treasury is targeting the Milli Muslim League and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in Lashkar-e-Taiba's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," she added.

''LeT founder Saeed had created the MML last August as the group's political front and LeT members make up MML's leadership and the "so-called party" openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature,'' the State Department said.

In a major blow to MML, the Election Commission of Pakistan has also rejected its application to be recognised as a political party.

''The LeT is largely blamed for the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which killed 166 people, including six Americans. The terror outfit has also been part of several operations targeting the security forces and killing civilians in India in recent years,'' the State Department said.

''In a bid to avoid US sanctions, LeT began operating under the name TAJK in January last year and carried out terrorist activities under that banner,'' the US department said.

The US Administration had earlier announced a bounty of USD 10 million on Saeed's head and pressed Pakistan for his arrest. Saeed was last year set free by a Lahore court, which refused to extend his detention.

Warning Pakistan, US President Donald Trump's Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that failure to act against Saeed "will have repercussions for bilateral relations."

"All property and interests in property of these persons subject to US jurisdiction are blocked" and US citizens are banned from having any transactions with them,'' the Treasury Department said.

(With IANS inputs)
NEW DELHI: Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria on Tuesday held a courtesy meeting with Pakistan's National Security Advisor Lt Gen (Rtd) Naseer Khan Janjua in Islamabad and exchanged views on various bilateral issues.

Diplomatic sources in the Indian High Commission confirmed that the meeting took place in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Islamabad. "It was a courtesy meeting held in the PMO," PTI quoted sources as saying.

The Indian High Commissioner sensitized Pakistan's NSA on issues of India's concern. The meeting which was scheduled a week ago, comprised constructive discussions on improving the bilateral relationship.

"The High Commissioner sensitised the Pakistan NSA on issues of India's concern. Constructive discussions took place on improving the bilateral relationship," sources added.

The sources further said that the envoys call regularly on dignitaries of the host country.

There was so far no word about the meeting by the Foreign Office. Local media reported that the two discussed various issues including the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The envoy is understood to have also mentioned about the three encounters in Shopian and Anantnag districts of Kashmir earlier this week in which 13 militants were killed.

In a statement, the NSA Office in Islamabad said Bisaria made a courtesy call on Janjua and the two discussed matters pertaining to improving the bilateral relations including the recent worsening situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

NSA welcomed the envoy and said that Pakistan is pursuing the policy of friendly relations with all its neighbouring countries including normalcy of relationship with India, it said, adding that Pakistan is committed to resolve all outstanding issues through comprehensive dialogues.

Janjua expressed "serious concerns over the ongoing human rights violations" in Kashmir and he said that "the use of force alone can lead us nowhere. It rather diminishes hope, injures the society and further worsens the fragile situation," it added.

"Process of dialogue is the only way forward to resolve our disputes. It is by way of peaceful resolution of our disputes which can enable both the countries to belong to the future," Janjua said.

The Indian envoy acknowledged that Pakistan and India definitely need to improve their relations and said "both countries have immense potential to improve the relationship and cater to each other's needs," the statement added.

He also suggested to work on taking small steps for improving the bilateral relations including the exchange of prisoners, visits of medical teams and trade initiatives.

"We can build on these small steps between us and take the relationship towards normalcy to address the bigger issues," he added.

Both sides agreed to explore the possibilities of more cooperation and of improving bilateral relations to ultimately take it towards a comprehensive process of dialogue.

(With inputs from PTI)
New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday clarified that it has no plan to do away with the reservation policy for Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The clarification on the issue came from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the wake of violent protests against Supreme Court's alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The assurance from the Home Minister came a day after violent protests claimed at least ten lives from across the country.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rajnath Singh dubbed as rumours the speculation that the government wanted to end the reservation system. "Rumours are being spread about reservation policy, it is wrong,'' he said.

"I appeal to all political parties to help in maintaining peace and amity in the country," he said amid noisy protests in the House.

As the Home Minister rose to speak on the issue, the Opposition MPs created a ruckus inside the Lok Sabha and repeatedly shouted ''we want justice'' slogans.

Opposition MPs were on their feet in protest against the Supreme Court's March 20 order allegedly diluting certain provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Defending the government, Rajnath Singh said, ''We acted swiftly and had already filed a petition in the top court seeking review of its order.''

Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, however, countered this by saying the government's Additional Solicitor General had given his consent to the Supreme Court's decision of diluting te SC/ST Act.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia too said the "dilution in the Act has already been done" and pressed for a discussion on the issue.

AIADMK members, meanwhile, created further ruckus and gathered near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium demanding an early constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board that would oversee a water-sharing arrangement between the Tamil Nadu, Karantaka, Kerala and Puducherry.

Scindia also raised the issue of no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition against the government.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar earlier said that the government was ready for debating the motion and blamed the Congress for creating disruptions.

"They are trying to halt the democratic process in the House," Ananth Kumar said.

Lok Sabha Speaker Mahajan said she was unable to proceed with the no-confidence motion notice and adjourned the House for the day.

It is the last week of the Budget Session that began on January 29 and went on break on February 9.

The session resumed on March 5 and is to conclude on April 6.

The post-break part of the session has been completely washed away amid an unending logjam in both Houses of parliament. Important budget bills were passed without debate amid protests.

(With IANS inputs)
New Delhi: Assuring that the Centre is working relentlessly for the welfare of people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Tuesday that every possible assistance is being provided to states to maintain law and order.

Dalit groups across the country staged massive - and mostly violent - protests against the Supreme Court order 'diluting' the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Rajnath Singh highlighted that a review petition has already been filed and that there is no reason for SC and ST communities to feel marginalised. "There has been no dilution to SC/ST Act by our government," he said even as opposition parties raised loud slogans in a bid to drown his voice. "We have worked to protect the rights of members belonging to SC and ST communities, and have brought about laws to punish culprits effectively. We are for the welfare of SC and ST communities. There should be no suspicion on the intention of the government. We have appealed to SC to begin the hearing of review petition at the earliest."

Incidents of violence have been reported from states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Rajnath Singh has said that the Centre is helping these states maintain calm. "We are working with all state governments and are providing every assistance needed to maintain law and order, and peace."

The BJP veteran also said that there were rumours being spread about reservation and urged people and political parties to refrain from believing or spreading false information.
NEW DELHI: Neighbouring nation Pakistan and key separatists leader are funding disruptive elements, the Centre told the Lok Sabha.

Inputs indicate a nexus or collusion of disrupting elements sponsored by neighbouring country and separatists in Kashmir, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Tuesday, moments before the Lok Sabha was adjourned.

Key separatist leaders have been in touch with militant leaders based out of Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

The terrorists are receiving instructions from the Pakistan-based establishment for adverse activities in Jammu and Kashmir, said the ministry.

In a similar response in 2016, Hansraj Ahir had said that inputs indicate the existence of nexus or collusion of disruptive elements sponsored by the neighbouring country and separatists in Kashmir.

Earlier, hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son and the son of noted businessman Zahoor Ahmed Watali have been listed among the "prosecution witnesses" by the National Investigation Agency in a case related to terror funding in the Kashmir Valley.

The NIA, which filed a charge sheet in the case in January this year, have named Watali's son Yasir Gaffar at serial number 30 and Geelani's son Naim-ul-Zaffar at serial number 37 in the list of prosecution witnesses submitted to a special court.

With PTI inputs
New Delhi: The BJP and the Congress on Tuesday engaged in a war of words over the issue of Dalit protests. While on the one hand, BJP president Amit Shah and Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Thavarchand Gehlot expressed their commitment to protecting the interests of the Dalit and the tribal community, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not uttering a word" on Supreme Court order on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Dalit protests over SC/ST Act by the apex court had resulted in large-scale violence in different parts of the country on Monday.

Shah, in a series of tweets, said a "microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties" made the people suffer and sought their apology to "Dalit sisters and brothers".

He also blamed "vested interest groups" for spreading the panic on the issue of reservation for Dalits, saying it is done before every election and asserted that the government will do everything to protect their rights.

"The BJP's stand is clear, which I am once again stating - we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to the SC/ST communities. At every juncture and in all possible ways, the BJP stands shoulder to shoulder with the Dalit community," Shah maintained.

Right from the day the Honourable Supreme Court gave a judgment on SC/ST Atrocities Act, Central Government acted in an immediate and informed manner. An effective review petition has been filed that will protect rights of Dalits.  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 3, 2018

The script is now oldbefore every election, the same vested interest groups start spreading panic about reservations.

BJPs stand is clear, which I am once again stating- we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to SC/ST communities. pic.twitter.com/2hLAVG28xI  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 3, 2018

Congress, which is mocking the DNA of PM @narendramodi is the same party which:

Defeated Dr. Ambedkar not once but twice. Made flimsy excuses to ensure his portrait was not placed in Central Hall. Denied him a Bharat Ratna.

India has seen through their negative politics!  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 3, 2018

On the other hand, making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour amid ruckus in the House, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh made it clear it was not responsible for the alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act and asserted it was fully committed to protecting the interests of the backward communities. He also appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony.

"I wish to inform the House that the Government of India was not party in that case. Through the House, I want to assure the people that there has been no dilution whatsoever by my government, rather after coming to power and examining the SC/ST prevention Atrocities Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," Rajnath said.

He added that there have been widespread rumours on the issue of reservation which were "false and baseless" and the government was fully committed to protecting the interests of the SC/ST communities.

HM Shri @rajnathsingh statement in the Lok Sabha on violence during Bharat Bandh: https://t.co/8NFm8FVuqp  HMO India (@HMOIndia) April 3, 2018

Another Union Minister Gahlot claimed that history suggests it is the Congress which is anti-Dalit and treated them like a vote bank. "You are trying to make political benefit by fuelling tensions in society but it is not good. You are doing so with an eye on elections."

Meanwhile, Rahul hit out at PM Modi while addressing a public meeting in Karnataka's Shivamogga on the fifth leg of his tour of poll-bound Karnataka.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the PM does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. PM Modi prefers not to speak a word," he said.

Rahul also compared the status of SC/ST welfare in Karnataka with the Modi government's actions on the issue. He claimed that more than half of the money released by the Modi government across the country for SC/ST welfare was being spent by Karnataka itself on the Dalits and tribals.

On his part, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma demanded that Shah apologise to the country for what the government had "done to Dalits". He alleged there was a larger agenda to weaken the security net and legal protection given to members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes under the Act.

Sharma also hit out at Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, accusing him of spreading lies on the issue by claiming the government was not a party to the SC/ST issue in court and demanded that he also tender an apology to the country.

The government was a party to the case before the court, he said, displaying apex orders which showed that the additional solicitor general had appeared on behalf of the Central government during the hearing of the case.

(With PTI inputs)
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that the press release regarding fake news be withdrawn. The PM said that the matter should only be addressed in Press Council of India. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had on Monday issued guidelines for accreditation of journalists to regulate fake news.

In the release, the ministry had said: "Noticing the increasing instances of fake news in various mediums including print and electronic media, the Government has amended the Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists. Now on receiving any complaints of such instances of fake news, the same would get referred to the Press Council of India (PCI) if it pertains to print media & to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) if it relates to electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not."

As per the guidelines issued, if the publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of the journalist would be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation. In case of a third violation, the accreditation would be cancelled permanently.

Shortly after the decision, Congress leader Ahmed Patel put forth a series of questions regarding its implications for honest journalists, leading to a prompt rebuttal from Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Patel tweeted: "I appreciate the attempt to control fake news but few questions for my understanding: 1. What is guarantee that these rules will not be misused to harass honest reporters? 2.Who is going to decide what constitutes fake news? 3. Is it not possible that motivated complaints will be filed to suspend accreditation until enquiry is on? 4.What is guarantee that these guidelines will check fake news or is it an attempt to prevent genuine reporters from reporting news uncomfortable to the establishment?"

Replying to the questions, Irani assured that the Centre has no role to play in the matter. "Glad to see you awake @ahmedpatel ji whether a News article / broadcast is fake or not will be determined by PCI & NBA; both of whom Im sure you know are not controlled/ operated by GOI," she tweeted.

.@MIB_India is more than happy to engage with journalist body or organisation/s wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of fake news & uphold ethical journalism. Interested journalists and/or organisations may feel free to meet me at @MIB_India. 2/2  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) April 3, 2018

Irani later said that PIB Accreditation Guidelines have generated debate and suggestions will be taken into account. "Several journalists & organisations have reached out giving positive suggestions regarding the same. @MIB_India is more than happy to engage with journalist body or organisation/s wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of fake news & uphold ethical journalism. Interested journalists and/or organisations may feel free to meet me at @MIB_India," she tweeted on Tuesday.
Srinagar: A Jammu and Kashmir resident was abducted and three others were seriously injured after four terrorists barged into their house. The incident occurred in J&K's Bandipora late on Monday.

According to ANI, at least four terrorists barged into the house of one Farooq Parrey in Hajin late on Monday. The terrorists fired indiscriminately and caused serious injuries to his wife, daughter and brother.

#SpotVisuals Srinagar: Four terrorists barged into the house of one Farooq Parrey in Hajin last night, fired indiscriminately and caused serious injuries to his wife, daughter and brother. Terrorists abducted the house owner's son-in-law. FIR registered, investigation underway pic.twitter.com/6qoGZ08RwL  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018

Terrorists have abducted a man and seriously injured three other persons in Jammu and Kashmir`s Bandipora district, J&K Police said on Monday.

"At 10.10 pm on Monday, four militants believed to be affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) barged into Farooq Ahmed Parrey`s house in Hajin area and started firing indiscriminately," police sources were quoted as saying by IANS.

"The terrorists injured Farooq`s wife, daughter and brother with knives and abducted his son-in-law. Efforts are on to locate him," the sources said.

The injured have been shifted to Srinagar.

According to the sources, Farooq`s son Muzzafar Ahmed Parrey was killed by terrorists last year.

(With IANS inputs)
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Minister Naeem Akhtar on Tuesday dimissed the reports of stone-pelting on tourists and said media should desist from spreading fake news which hurt the state's image.

Asserting that J&K was one of the safest tourist destinations in the country, Akhtar urged visitors to ignore the "false reportage" and rather experience the warm hospitality of Kashmiris.

He refuted the claims made by a national daily about stone pelting incident on tourists and called the report "baseless".

"No such incident has taken place anywhere in the state," said Akhtar.

"It seems that the mischief is deliberate to derail the tourism season in the state which has just started picking up. We strongly deny this and the state government will be taking this up with the appropriate authorities and the Press Council of India," said Akhtar.

He appealed to the media fraternity to help Jammu and Kashmir bring back peace into the lives of its people and revive its economy which is majorly dependent on tourism.

"I urge all prominent people at responsible positions to desist from spreading and propagating fake news which is detrimental to the image and interest of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

The minister claimed that J&K had been rated as the most sought-after tourist destination in the country as per a recent survey.

"Kashmiris hold tourists in high regard and tourists who have visited the Valley have experienced warmth from all quarters, especially locals," said Akhtar.

"Jammu and Kashmir was, is, and will continue to be a safe place for tourists from all regions, national and international alike," he said, adding that safety of tourists was a "top priority" for the state government.
On a day when the diesel rates touched an all-time high while the petrol prices reached 4-year high, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah questioned the Central government over the rising prices. Asking if Prime Minister Narendra Modi cared for the middle class and poor, he tweeted: "When crude oil price was above $100/barrel before 2014, the BJP was protesting against high Petrol/Diesel prices. Since 2014, crude prices have fallen: now the price is $68/barrel. Yet, why do Petrol/Diesel prices in India keep rising?"

When crude oil price was above $100/barrel before 2014, the BJP was protesting against high Petrol/Diesel prices. Since 2014, crude prices have fallen: now the price is $68/barrel. Yet, why do Petrol/Diesel prices in India keep rising? Does PM care for the middle classes & poor? pic.twitter.com/c1wCxVXpoL  Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 3, 2018

Earlier on Monday, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram had dubbed the Centre as "anti-poor" and "anti-middle class" as fuel prices are rising. The former finance minister asked, "Why are petrol and diesel prices today higher than prices in May 2014? The BJP government is anti-poor and anti-middle class. These are the sections that have to bear the burden of high petrol and diesel prices," he had said.

"BJP government believes in two things (1) Cruel Taxation and (2) Imprudent Borrowing. Thank god this is the last year of the present government," he said in a series of tweets.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said: "Modi's previous tweets on petrol-diesel prices now mock us in the face and serve as a constant reminder that one should never trust the BJP and its tall promises. Post May 26, 2014, international crude oil prices have come down by more than 30 per cent. BJP government earned a windfall of Rs. 7.35 lakh crore by levying various central taxes on petrol/diesel (till the Q2 of 2017-18). Where has the money gone?"

On Tuesday, the petrol prices hit a fresh 4-year high of Rs 73.95 a litre while diesel rates touched an all-time high of Rs 64.82 in the national capital. The hike in fuel prices have stoked fresh demands for the government to cut excise tax rates. However, the government has ruled out any immediate reduction in excise duty to cushion relentless rise in international oil prices that have sent retail diesel rates in India to record high and petrol to a four-year high.

Petrol in the national capital now costs Rs 73.95 a litre, the highest since September 14, 2014 when rates had hit Rs 76.06. Diesel price at Rs 64.69 is the highest ever, with previous high of Rs 64.82 being on February 7, 2018. On Monday Petrol in the national capital was at Rs 73.83 while diesel prices were at Rs 64.69.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said the government is keeping a close eye on international prices and said that consumers will benefit if petrol and diesel are brought under Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime at the earliest.
Shivamogga/Davangere: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over price rise among other things. Addressing a rally in Davangere ahead of Karnataka Assembly elections 2018, he said, "PM Modi does not believe in listening to people. It's always his own 'Mann ki Baat'. When will you listen to the 'Mann ki Baat' of common people Modi ji?"

"When petrol is becoming cheaper for the entire world, its becoming more expensive for Indians. Where is the surplus money going? It is being pocketed by PM Modis industrialist friends?" he added.

Exuding confidence of doing well in the upcoming Assembly elections, Rahul said, "The Congress will return to power in Karnataka. It will not be a government that only works for industrialists. It will be a government that works for the farmers, for the poor and for weaker sections of society. Together, we will build a 'nava Karnataka."

Earlier on Tuesday, in Shivamogga also, Rahul had hit out at PM Modi for "not uttering a word" on the alleged 'atrocities' on Dalits and tribals and on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

His remarks at a public meeting on the fifth leg of his tour of Karnataka came against the backdrop of violence in northern parts of the country during Monday's protests against SC order over SC/ST Act. The protests during Bharat Bandh against the apex court's verdict on the issue had led to massive law and order issues and violence.

"PM Modi has written a book about how students can counter stress during exams. But after all the hard work the students put in, the Modi govt announced that the paper was leaked": @RahulGandhi#CBSEPaperLeak pic.twitter.com/iJMdtlhnMp  Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) April 3, 2018

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the PM does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. PM Modi prefers not to speak a word," Rahul had said, PTI reported.

At the same time, he had compared the status of SC/ST welfare in Karnataka with the Modi government's actions on the issue. Rahul had claimed that more than half of the money released by the Modi government across the country for SC/ST welfare was being spent by Karnataka itself on the Dalits and tribals.

He had also attacked PM Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the "leak" of Assembly election date for Karnataka, saying the Prime Minister was silent on these issues too. Plus, Rahul took a jibe at the PM for the India-China stand-off at Doklam despite "swinging" with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He further took potshots at BJP state unit chief BS Yeddyurappa, who has been projected as the party's CM. Shivamogga is the home district of Yeddyurappa.

"If he looks at the stage properly, on one side (of PM Modi) there is Yeddyurappa who spent time in jail (in a graft case), on the other side, there are four ministers who had been to jail. Modi ji you speak about corruption when there are corrupt sitting next to you on the stage," Rahul had said.

(With PTI inputs)
NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has scheduled a recruitment rally in Meghalaya's Shillong for selection of candidates to join as an Airman in Group 'Y' NonTechnical-IAF (Security) Trade (Intake 01/2019). The rally is to be held at Advance Landing Ground, Air Force, Upper Shillong (HQ EAC).

JOIN #IAF :Recruitment Rally is scheduled at Advance Landing Ground, Air Force, Upper Shillong (HQ EAC), Meghalaya for selection of candidates to join Indian Air Force as an Airman in Group Y NonTechnical-IAF (Security) Trade (Intake 01/2019). Details on https://t.co/zvvNv5fJtU pic.twitter.com/vXaoL2BVmB  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) April 3, 2018

According to a notification issued by the body, the rally will be conducted on April 29 and the reporting time at rally venue is 6 am. The cut-off time for entry to the rally venue is, however, 10 am.

The date of birth block is from January 13, 1998 to January 2, 2002 (Both days inclusive).

The aspirants need to have cleared 10+2/ intermediate/ equivalent examination in any stream/ subjects with minimum 50 per cent marks in aggregate and minimum 50 per cent marks in English.

The aspirants can visit the website - airmenselection.cdac.in - for further details.
The Delhi Noida Direct flyway connecting Delhi to Noida will remain toll free at least till July, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. Hearing the matter, the apex court took into account the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and said that the matter will be heard again in July.

Earlier on February 13, the SC had deferred the matter for six weeks saying no toll will be charged till then on the 9.2 km-long, eight-lane flyway.

The Allahabad High Court had on October 26, 2016 ordered that no toll would be collected from those using the flyway. The order was passed as the high court had allowed a PIL by the Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Association that had challenged the "levy and collection of toll in the name of user fee" by the Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBCL).

However, the NTBCL had challenged the high court verdict in the top court, saying its cost has not been recovered as the HC did not take into account all aspects and factors like interest on construction cost, depreciation and maintenance expenses, which come to around Rs 12.5 lakh per day.

The SC had in November 2016 asked the CAG to assist in the matter and verify the company's claim that the total cost of the project has not been recovered.

The flyover connects Delhi on the west bank of the Yamuna with Noida and East Delhi. The expressway, which opened in 2001, considerably reduces the travel time between Delhi and Noida. Nearly 1.5 lakh vehicles take the route daily.

The flyway has witnessed several protests and demonstrations seeking scrapping of the toll after there were allegations that the operator of the 9.2-km-long stretch (including the Mayur Vihar link) had made significant profits.
Thane: A police constable from Assam has been arrested in connection with the call data records (CDR) racket busted by the Thane police, an official said.

While investigating the racket, the police chanced upon a call data record and traced it to a mobile number from Assam, the official of the Thane Crime Branch which is probing the case said last night.

The Thane police officials then informed their counterparts in Assam to conduct an inquiry into it, he said. Last week, the Assam police arrested the constable, Bhubaneshwar Das, attached to the Haflong police station, he said.

Das, working in the police's cyber cell, had illegally procured a CDR which was found in possession of one of the persons arrested in Thane, the official said.

A case was registered against Das at the Haflong police station and a process was underway to bring him to Thane, he said.

The Thane crime branch had earlier also arrested a constable posted in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, in the CDR leak case.

The arrested constable, Nitin Khawade (29), was also attached to the police's cyber cell and had easy access to the call data records, the police said.

Nearly 12 people have so far been arrested in connection with the racket, which revolved around private detectives illegally procuring CDRs of certain people and selling them to their clients.

The Thane police had earlier arrested some private detectives and a Mumbai-based lawyer in connection with the illegal procurement of call data records.

Advocate Rizwan Siddiqui, who was arrested last month, had represented many celebrities, including Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

The Thane police had last month summoned Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a witness, though had no direct role in the CDR case, a senior official earlier said.

Thane's Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhishek Trimukhi had earlier said that some of the accused told the police that Nawazuddin Siddiqui's lawyer had allegedly obtained CDRs of the actor's wife from private detectives.

The Crime Branch has so far seized hundreds of CDRs from the arrested people. These CDRs were being analysed by experts with the assistance of the mobile service providers, the police said.
Los Angeles: Veteran action star Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he is "back" after open-heart surgery. The 70-year-old former governor of California took to Twitter to inform his fans about his health.

"It's true: I'm back! I went to sleep expecting to wake up with a small incision and woke up with a big one - but guess what? I woke up, and that's something to be thankful for. Thank you to the doctors and nurses. And I'm truly filled with gratitude for all of the kind messages," Schwarzenegger tweeted.

His spokesperson, Daniel Ketchell, said on Twitter on Friday that Schwarzenegger "underwent a planned procedure to replace a pulmonic valve that was originally replaced due to a congenital heart defect in 1997."

He said Schwarzenegger's pulmonic valve was "successfully replaced" and that the star "is currently recovering from the surgery and is in stable condition".

The spokesperson also said that "steroids have nothing to do with this."

Schwarzenegger, a former Mr Universe and Mr Olympia, had acknowledged using steroids when he was a bodybuilder.
Mumbai: Actor Gurmeet Choudhary is nonplussed over how to react to a fan who has threatened him. He says it goes to show how there are pros and cons of fandom.

"I'm not a stranger to fan attention. I do have my share of admirers and fans. To me they are God. Whatever I am, whatever I've achieved is because of them. I owe my career to them. But then I also have the right to some privacy. There has to be some area of my life that fans cannot enter," Gurmeet said.

Last month, Gurmeet had shared on social media that he was receiving concerned calls and messages from fans all over that some person wants to commit suicide to prove his fandom. Mumbai police took cognisance of his tweet, and extended support to the actor.

The actor said he has had his share of intrusive fans.

"But they've mostly been women, asking me to to do all kinds of things with them. This is the first time I've been stalked by a man. I don't know how to react because he threatened to kill himself and then he says there's danger to my life. So I don't know what he wants to do. Kill me or kill himself."

Gurmeet blames this era of a widespread social media network for direct access to stars and celebrities.

"Earlier, fans didn't know stars' whereabouts. Now everyone knows where we are. This man who wants to kill himself or kill me or whatever, knew I was in Dubai for a magazine launch with my wife Debina when this whole thing broke out.

"I am not scared for myself. I can take care of myself. But what about my family? I can't be with my wife all the time. What if this stalker tracks her down somewhere? This is why I say it is both flattering and scary to have devoted fans," he said.

Gurmeet gives full credit to the Mumbai police for taking charge of his and his family's security.

"I can't tell you all the details of the security arrangement. But the Mumbai police has been truly supportive and I feel my family is safe. I just don't want this misguided man to come to any harm or cause any harm. He claims some man is threatening my life.

"I don't how much he is imagining and how much of what he says is true. But the amount of information that he has on me and my movements is very frightening."

Gurmeet said: "This kind of overbearing adulation is not welcome."
Karauli: A day after violence was reported during Bharat Bandh in Hindaun in Rajasthan, the situation went out of control. A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set the house of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rajkumari Jatav on fire and also burnt houses and commercial establishments of former Congress legislator Bharose Lal Jatav.

When police resorted to lathicharge to control the crowd, the agitated protestors took to stone pelting. Police had to fire rubber bullets and tear gas shells in the air to disperse the crowd. Collector Abhimanyu had to declare a curfew in the area owing to the law and order situation.

Police had to call Rapid Action Force to handle the protestors. "The traders' association and upper castes are agitated in Hindaun City. They took out a procession today and tried to enter the SC/ST dominated areas. Police forces lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to cane charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse the mob," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

There had been a call for bandh in the city against the violence that took place on Monday. Basic amenities like medical services and petrol pumps had also been shut. When the protestors were taking out the rally, the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowds. Agitated by the police action, the crowd indulged in violence and created ruckus.

Some tear gas shells also dropped into the higher secondary school after which nearly 20 students fell unconscious.

The incident occurred a day after Rajasthan and several other states saw large-scale protests and violence during a 'bandh' called by Dalit organisations.

Superintendent of Police, Karauli, Anil Kayal said after the incidents of arson and violence, nearly 40 people were detained in Hindaun City.
JAIPUR: A police sub inspector in Rajasthan, who had suffered a heart attack in the wake of violent protests during Bharat Bandh, died a day after - on Tuesday. Identified as Mahendra Chaudhary, the inspector was posted at Udayamandir police station in Jodhpur.

Jodhpur: Sub Inspector Mahendra Chaudhary who was injured in #SC_ST_Act protests yesterday, succumbs to his injuries. #Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/a0VZFRhtrI  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018

Chaudhary died on the way to Ahmedabad 's Mehsana. He was being taken to Ahmedabad from Jodhpur for treatment. He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital located in Mahamandir, Jodhpur.

Jodhpur Police Commissioner expressed grief on hearing Chaudhary's demise. The death of Chaudhary was confirmed by the doctors of a private hospital. His body will be brought back to Jodhpur late night on Tuesday.

During the clashes, sub inspector Chaudhary suffered a heart attack as he was controlling the crowd. He was initially rushed to the Powta Hospital, however, was referred to a private hospital in Mahamandir.

The Bharat Bandh was called against the Supreme Court's order to dilute the stringent provisions mandating immediate arrest under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (POA) Act.

Violence erupted in many parts of the country as Dalit protesters blocked trains, clashed with police and set fire to vehicles during a nationwide bandh against the Supreme Court order on SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

On March 20, the Supreme Court had diluted the provisions of the Act and had said that government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

Transport, mobile and internet services were hit in many states with over 100 trains getting affected due to protests, even as the Centre moved the SC seeking review of its judgement, maintaining that the verdict will violate constitutional rights of these communities.
Jaipur: The Bharat Bandh called by several Dalit organisations against the alleged "dilution" of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has left several Rajasthan University students missing their exams on Monday.

According to reports, a large number of students, who were supposed to appear for their exams during the time slot from 11 am to 2 pm and 3 pm to 6 pm, were denied permission to write their test for reaching their respective examination centres much late.

In the wake of a nationwide bandh called on Monday, the transport services were badly affected due to which many students failed to reach their exam centres on time. As per reports, students coming from far-flung areas were hit the most since they found it extremely difficult to reach on time as the buses werent running according to the timetable.

Not only the students but many invigilators too failed to reach the exam centres on time.

The students will now have to appear for their exam the next year.

Despite protests, CBSE Class 10th French and Sanskrit examination were conducted on Monday morning.

Many parents chose to drop their wards to the venue themselves instead of relying on public transport due to the shutdown called by the Dalit outfits.

According to PTI, one person was killed and many others injured in violent protests that erupted across Rajasthan during a nationwide bandh against the alleged "dilution" of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Monday.

Protesters, shouting 'Jai Bhim', blocked roads and rail routes, forcibly shut down shops, pelted stones, vandalised public property, torched several vehicles, and even attacked police in several parts of the state.

Over 150 people were detained across Rajasthan for alleged involvement in the violence, government officials said.

''More than 75 civilians and over 70 police personnel were injured in the violence,'' Additional Director General of Police (law and order) NRK Reddy told PTI.

Tension prevailed in Sikar, Bikaner, Barmer, Bharatpur, Jodhpur, Bhilwara, Hindaun, Gangapur and other areas where police and protesters came face to face. In several instances police personnel had to fire tear gas shells, cane-charge and even fire at the mob to defuse the situation, officials claimed.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC were imposed in Bikaner, Barmer, Sikar, Jalore and Ahore while internet services were suspended in 12 districts as a precautionary measure.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony, saying the central government was committed to securing the rights of SC/STs.

(With PTI inputs)
PTI report: The clouds of Venus may possibly host alien life, say scientists who suggest that microbes may have evolved on the planet. Some models suggest Venus once had a habitable climate with liquid water on its surface for as long as two billion years. "That's much longer than is believed to have occurred on Mars," said Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US.

On Earth, terrestrial microorganisms - mostly bacteria -are capable of being swept into the atmosphere, where they have been found alive at altitudes as high as 41 kilometres by scientists using specially equipped balloons, according to David J Smith of NASA's Ames Research Center.

There is also a growing catalogue of microbes known to inhabit incredibly harsh environments on our planet, including the hot springs of Yellowstone, deep ocean hydrothermal vents, the toxic sludge of polluted areas, and in acidic lakes worldwide.

"On Earth, we know that life can thrive in very acidic conditions, can feed on carbon dioxide, and produce sulphuric acid," said Rakesh Mogul, a professor at California State Polytechnic University in the US.The cloudy, highly reflective and acidic atmosphere of Venus is composed mostly of carbon dioxide and water droplets containing sulphuric acid, he said.

Supporting the notion that Venus' atmosphere could be a plausible niche for life, a series of space probes to the planet launched between 1962 and 1978 showed that the temperature and pressure conditions in the lower and middle portions of the Venusian atmosphere - altitudes between 40 and 60 kilometres - would not preclude microbial life.

The surface conditions on the planet, however, are known to be inhospitable, with temperatures soaring above 450 degrees Celsius. According to Grzegorz Slowik of University of Zielona Gora in Poland, certain bacteria on Earth have light-absorbing properties similar to those of unidentified particles that make up unexplained dark patches observed in the clouds of Venus.

Spectroscopic observations, particularly in the ultraviolet, show that the dark patches are composed of concentrated sulphuric acid and other unknown light-absorbing particles. Those dark patches have been a mystery since they were first observed by ground-based telescopes nearly a century ago, said Limaye, who led the study published in the journal Astrobiology.

They were studied in more detail by subsequent probes to the planet. "Venus shows some episodic dark, sulphuric rich patches, with contrasts up to 30-40 per cent in the ultraviolet, and muted in longer wavelengths," said Limaye. "These patches persist for days, changing their shape and contrasts continuously and appear to be scale dependent," he said.

The particles that make up the dark patches have almost the same dimensions as some bacteria on Earth, although the instruments that have sampled Venus' atmosphere to date are incapable of distinguishing between materials of an organic or inorganic nature.

The patches could be something akin to the algae blooms that occur routinely in the lakes and oceans of Earth, researchers said. "To really know, we need to go there and sample the clouds. Venus could be an exciting new chapter in astrobiology exploration," said Mogul.
Washington: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has successfully launched its Dragon spacecraft- the private spaceflight company's 14th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station (ISS) - on Monday, April 2.

The spacecraft, carrying 2,630 kg of research, crew supplies and hardware, was lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Xinhua news agency reported.

About ten minutes later, the second stage engine has burnt completely and "Dragon confirmed in good orbit," according to SpaceX's official twitter account. Then, solar arrays have been deployed "right on schedule," NASA confirmed.

Grapple and berthing to the space station is targeted for Wednesday before the spacecraft spends approximately one month attached to the station, returning to Earth in May with some results of completed experiments, as per the US space agency.

Flight Engineers Norishege Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scoot Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon's capture, according to the agency.

After the capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Harmony module, as per reports.

NASA shared a glimpse of the launch on Twitter:

LIFTOFF! Shooting into the sky at 4:30pm ET, @SpaceX's #Dragon cargo spacecraft leaves Earth packed with almost 5,800 pounds of @ISS_Research, science and crew supplies for @Space_Station. Watch: https://t.co/C8BIw7hGzo pic.twitter.com/mOpoJj4W4y  NASA (@NASA) April 2, 2018

Almost 5,800 pounds of science, supplies and cargo just left Earth at 4:30pm ET to head to humanity's orbiting lab - the @Space_Station. The @SpaceX #Dragon cargo vehicle is scheduled to arrive at its new orbital home on Wed. Details: https://t.co/LRl2843tfq pic.twitter.com/EwK92WUJmz  NASA (@NASA) April 2, 2018

This flight will deliver scientific investigations including a study on severe thunderstorms on Earth, on the effects of microgravity on production of high-performance products from metal powders, and food growth in space.

The spacecraft also carried cargo for testing effects of the harsh space environment on materials, coatings and components; identifying potential pathogens aboard the station and investigating an antibiotic-releasing wound patch.

(With IANS inputs)
Former AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran, who launched his own political party Amma Makkal Munetra Kazhagam, was detained by police on Tuesday after he tried to gherao the Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchirappalli over the ongoing row on Cauvery Mangement Board (CMB).

On Sunday, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) working president MK Stalin was detained in protest against Centre over the constitution of CMB. Congress leader S. Thirunavukkarasar and members of the Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) including party chief T. Velmurugan were also arrested.

Earlier on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam sat on a hunger strike. Taking police by surprise, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leaders sat on the hunger strike at 8 am and were later joined by several party members.

Tamil Nadu has been demanding the formation of Cauvery Mangement Board.

On February 16, the Supreme court reduced the state`s share of Cauvery water from 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (TMC), which was less than 192 TMC allocated by a tribunal in 2007. On the other hand, poll-bound Karnataka's share of water was increased by 14.75 TMC.

The state has accused the BJP-led Centre of acting in favour of Karnataka polls.

The SC granted the Centre six weeks to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgement, which modified the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award.

Following the verdict, Tamil Nadu has been urging the Centre to set up the Cauvery Water Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee to ensure that it received its due share of water from the inter-state river.

The Centre has failed to set up the board within six weeks of the Supreme Court`s February 16 order. The deadline ended on March 29.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: A two-year-old girl who fell into a borewell on Monday afternoon in Uttar Pradesh's Madihan district died despite rescue operations which lasted several hours.

The toddler reportedly fell into the open borewell at around 1600hrs on Monday. Her cries for help were heard by people in the vicinity who called officials from the local administration and police department to help them bring out the girl. That she was at a depth of 50 feet made the task extremely difficult and it was eventually decided to call in a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Once at the spot, the NDRF team launched a massive rescue effort - dropping a special pipeline to provide oxygen to the victim.

Unfortunately, however, their 12-hour ordeal was not good enough for the girl who eventually died where she had fallen and despite NDRF personnel digging 20 feet of earth to allow special equipment to reach her.

An investigation into the matter has been launched.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday discussed a draft bill that aims to check arbitrary fee hikes imposed by private schools and provide relief to students.

The state Cabinet discussed a draft of the proposed Uttar Pradesh self-financed independent schools (Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2018, aimed at checking arbitrary fee structures, PTI quoted Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma as saying.

The proposed bill will apply to all private schools charging Rs 20,000 in fees annually including the minority institutions and will come into force from the academic session 2018-2019, he said.

"The aim is that there should not be any capitation fee and that the admission fee is not charged every year and the school uniforms are not changed on annual basis," Sharma added.

It also aims at curbing the tendency of some private schools to charge hefty fees from students and has a provision of a penalty of Rs one lakh for flouting the provisions for the first time, Rs five lakhs for the second and de-recognition in case the school repeats the offence for the third time, he further said.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday announced that the state government will soon start recruitment for 1.62 lakh jobs in various sectors and said the interview procedure has already been done away with to ensure that there is no graft in recruitment, IANS reported.

"My government has a zero-tolerance policy for corruption and we will do everything possible to do so," he said at a function in Sant Kabir Nagar. The recruitment process would be announced soon," Yogi added.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Each time visibility drops in the city and a thick blanket of smog engulfs the National Capital Region (NCR), alarm bells blare and blame-game begins. While debates and discussions have begun defining winter months here, none of it is much heard of once the sky clears up. This despite air quality continuing to be extremely toxic.

Take the current situation in and around Delhi as an example. On Tuesday morning, the infamous PM2.5 levels at ITO hovered around 200 at 0600hrs according to international pollution monitoring website aqicn.org. This is double of the safe figure of 100. The PM2.5 levels in Lodhi Road around the same time was at 190. Shockingly, at the Delhi Technological University on Bawana Road, levels were registered at 463 at 0600 hrs and dropped to 353 in the hour that followed. While pollution levels do tend to fall as the day progresses, almost every monitoring station confirms that the dip is too marginal to be deemed conducive for good health. Adjoining areas like Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad hardly fare better.

Yet, there are no alarm bells, no debates, no discussions and no plan on ground. Construction continues unabated, trucks roll in and out and the usual vehicular traffic flows with occupants inside and pedestrians outside blissfully breathing a toxic cocktail called air. Interestingly, burning of paddy stubble in adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana in November and December has often been blamed for Delhi's poor air quality. April though sees none of it and yet, the air remains as it is - deadly.

Recently, Delhi became the first Indian city to roll out Euro VI fuel - dubbed the world's cleanest petrol and diesel. Many though have agreed that while it is a big step in the right direction, its benefits can only materialise when cars are upgraded as well. Even then, vehicular pollution is believed to only be a part of a larger problem. Environmentalist say that while effective on-ground measures are placed, there is an urgent need to address the issue daily - even on days which aren't shrouded in smog, the incorrect visual parameter for pollution for the majority.
BEIJING: Here is how a nap saved the life of a Chinese man!

Chinese Police rushed to save a man who was about to commit suicide by jumping off a high-rise and discovered that he was taking a nap instead by lying down on the narrow ledge of the building roof.

Police hurried to the spot after they received a phone call informing them about the incident.

The fellow, who was under the influence of alcohol, was sleeping on the 29th floor of a residential high-rise.

Chinese language website - HSW.cn - shared a couple of photographs of the man sleeping carefree at such a dangerous spot. A tiny bit of movement in his sleep could have caused him to fall off the building and meet death.

However, the man was eventually brought down safely by rescue workers.

As per local media reports, the man may have intended to commit suicide by jumping off the building. But, he ended up falling asleep because he had drunk too much of alcohol.

The nap certainly saved his life!
Washington: Indian IT companies have dramatically reduced their H-1B visa filings and foreign nationals are exhibiting reluctance to make the jump to a US company due to the Trump administration's hardline anti-immigration stance, a top Silicon Valley newspaper has said.

San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board has said applicants for the H-1B visa programme are anticipating the hardest process in many years. "That's affected both the applicants and the companies that employ them," it said.

"Indian consulting firms, which have been accused of flooding the system with applications, have dramatically reduced their filings. Foreign nationals are exhibiting new reluctance to make the jump to a US company," the paper said as the process for filing H-1B visa application for the 2019 fiscal beginning October 1, kicked off.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The Trump administration's hard-line anti-immigration stance is taking its toll, the daily said.

Envoy Global, a technology-oriented immigration services provider, reports that 26 per cent of employers it surveyed have had to delay projects, and 22 per cent of them have relocated work overseas as a result of the current uncertainties in the US immigration system, San Francisco Chronicle said.

The daily argued that study after study has shown that foreign-born workers are good for the US economy and good for US-born workers. "When companies are allowed to hire the workers with the best skills for the job ? regardless of where those workers happen to have been born ? their increased competitiveness boosts all the industries around them," it said.

According to The Wall Street Journal, evidence suggests market demand for H-1B visas is ebbing.

Daniel Culbertson, economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, says "searches related to the H-1B visa, as a share of all searches on Indeed.Com, have consistently declined through 2017 and into 2018. In February 2018, searches for H-1B as a share of all searches on our site are down nine percent from 2017."

"This also marks the thirteenth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. The decreased interest in H-1B related work from job seekers is a trend, not a temporary shift in preferences," he added.

The Wall Street Journal said corporations continue to struggle with a paradoxical labour market where 548,000 tech jobs remain open while unemployment in the technology sector hovers below full employment levels. "There are lots of jobs, but not enough workers to fill them," it said.
Islamabad: Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa Monday approved death penalty for 10 "hardcore terrorists" including those who shot dead Amjad Sabri, one of the country's renowned Sufi Qawwals.

In a statement, the military's media wing said the hardcore terrorists, tried by special military courts, were involved in killing of 62 people and heinous crimes against the state including attack on security forces and Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar.

The terrorists were identified as Muhammad Ishaq, Muhammad Rafique, Muhammad Arish, Habibur Rehman, Muhammad Fayaz, Ismail Shah, Muhammad Fazal, Hazrat Ali, Muhammad Asim and Habibullah.

Another five militants were awarded imprisonment of different terms.

Ishaq and Asim were involved in the killing of Sabri and attacking the law enforcement agencies of Pakistan, which resulted in death of 17 officials, the statement said, adding that they were awarded death sentence.

Sabri, 45, was travelling in a car in Karachi's congested Liquatabad 10 area when two motorcycle-borne gunmen shot him in the head in a targeted terror attack on June 22, 2016. He was rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Hakimullah Masood group had claimed responsibility for the attack on Sabri.

Sabri was the son of renowned Qawwal Ghulam Farid Sabri whose family is famous in the subcontinent for their contribution to this sufi art and mystic poetry.

Some of the most memorable and famous qawwalis of the Sabris were 'Bhar Do Jholi Meri', 'Tajdar-i-Haram' and 'Mera Koi Nahin Hai Teray Siwa'.

His killing resulted in countrywide anguish and condemnation.

It was not known where the trial was held and when the original conviction was announced by the trial courts because military courts operate in secrecy.

The military courts were set up after the Taliban attack on an army school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014 that killed nearly 150 people, mostly students.
Washington: In a major setback to Hafiz Saeed's political ambitions, the US designated the Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Pakistan-based Mumbai attack mastermind-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organisation. In a simultaneous move, seven members of the MML's central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorists.

The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan. The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party. General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan in July.

Pakistan's election commission had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks. "Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Today's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeT's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group. "LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as a SDGT. To avoid sanctions, the LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

In January 2017, the LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising. In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group. "LeT members make up MML's leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature," the State Department said.

Today's actions notify the US public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of the LeT. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

"Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeT's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," said Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognised political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

"We will continue to target terrorist organisations like LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades," Mandelker said.

He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should "think twice" about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

Seven members of the MML who were designated as foreign terrorists are: Saifullah Khalid (president), Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi (vice president), Muhammad Harris Dar (Joint Secretary), Tabish Qayyuum (Information Secretary), Fayyaz Ahmad (General Secretary), Faisal Nadeem (Broadcast and Publications Secretary), and Muhammad Ehsan (Finance Secretary).

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeT's Peshawar headquarters and served on the JuD's Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of the LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

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, including six Americans. It was declared as an FTO by the US in June 2014.
The militants were mostly firing at Ukrainian positions in Donetsk sector

Open source

The militants shot at Ukrainian positions 10 times in Donbas conflict zone on April 2 (as at 18:00), as it was reported in Donbas conflict HQ Facebook.

It was noted that the enemy fired from 82-mm mortars at Ukrainian positions in Donetsk sector near Pysok.

The militants shot at the defenders of Butivka mine from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, snipers weapon and small arms and at defenders of Vodyane from heavy machine guns. Besides, the occupants used grenade launchers near Avdiivka and small arms near Vodyane and Talakivka, the message says.

The HQ reported that no attacks in Luhansk sector were documented.

No casualties among the Armed Forces of Ukraine officers reported.
Open source

Mortar strikes and sniper attacks were observed in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Tuesday.

According to the press service of the HQ of the counter-terrorism operation in Ukraine, the Russian mercenaries opened fire ten times. The enemy used 82 mm mortars to shell the Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka (Donetsk region) and Luhanske (Luhansk region). Near Vodyane, Shyrokyne and Butivka coal mine (all in Donetsk region), the illegal armed units fired sniper rifles and small arms. RPG attacks were reported near Novooleksandrivka (Luhansk region).

The Easter ceasefire was supposed to take place on March 30; however, it apparently failed, as the firefights continue.
Russian FSB claims about an attempt of the group of spies to pass secret military maps to foreigners

Open source

Russian FSB has announced about the searches held in the occupied Crimea (Simferopol), as well as in Yekaterinburg and Omsk, reports RIA News.

The searches were conducted simultaneously at the places of residence of three Russian citizens and one citizen of Ukraine.

Russian FSB claimed it has revealed an attempt of the group of spies to pass secret military maps to foreigners.

As we reported earlier, the searches and detentions at the houses of the Crimean Tatars occurred at a few places in Crimea due to the case of the extortion of money from the citizen of Turkey. Bekir Dehermenji, Asan Chapukh, Kyazim Ametov, Kyazim Ametov and Kurseit Abdullaev were detained.

Later it was reported that Vedzhiye Kashka, the veteran of Crimean Tatar movement died in the result of the searches on November 23. She felt bad during the detention and was hospitalized.

Related video:
In addition, the prison administration refused to give Ukrainian political prisoner water, saying he was on a hunger strike

Illegally convicted in the occupied Crimea, Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Balukh was beaten by the convoy after consideration of the appeal. This was reported by his lawyer Olha Dinze, as Crimea.Realities agency reported.

In addition, according to her, the administration of the pre-trial detention center refused to give Ukrainian political prisoner water, saying he was on a hunger strike.

Dinze assesses the condition of the convicted activist as bad, but not critical. She noted that the defense plans to file a complaint because of the beating of Balukh.

There are no public comments of Russian law enforcers on this issue.

As it was reported earlier, Volodymyr Balukh, the Ukrainian citizen illegally judged in the occupied Crimea claimed that he goes for a timeless hunger strike. Balukh protested against the verdict in his case, announced in January 2018. The jury sentenced him to three years and five months for the alleged storage of ammunition. As it is currently effective, the detainee now serves time in jail.

In December 2013, when the Euromaidan movement began in Ukraine, Balukh supported its activists and hoisted a Ukrainian flag over his house. It remained there  even after the so-called referendum in Crimea in spring 2014 when people were forced to vote for Crimeas recognition as part of the Russian Federation. Balukh said he never recognized the peninsula as part of Russia.

Volodymyr Balukh was detained by the Russian FSB (federal security service) in his house in December 2016. The law enforcers said they found 90 cartridges and several TNT blocks on the houses rooftop.After that, he was sentenced to three years and seven months of imprisonment.

Related video:
At these rates, we would not be able to implement the Association Agreement, at least in terms of the European legislation, even by 2025

Read the original text at 112.ua.

Open source

After I published my article on the unprofessional approach to the implementation of EU legislation, the Cabinet recalled that as early as October 25, 2017, Decree No. 1106 was adopted, which brought the implementation process to a new level, "ensuring the continuity of the fulfillment of Ukraine's obligations". And the Cabinet even decided to publish it. Albeit they violated all terms (published the text fife months after acceptance), but we reminded about it, and they made it public. The determination of the Cabinet to correct mistakes is evidenced by the volume of the published document - 902 pages!

Finally, the decree came into force after publication. Another document, a masterpiece of rulemaking (Cabinets decree No. 847 of September 17, 2014), which the authorities have previously used for the implementation, has lost its force.

Not everyone who was commissioned to deal with this issue is aware of this (even those whose conciliatory signature was on the draft of a new implementation plan).

As we noted earlier, draft documents for the implementation of the acquis provisions of the EU (the so-called EU legislation) concerning the operation of the stock market and other organized markets were to be prepared by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSCO). The deadline for preparing and submitting a bill to the Verkhovna Rada was set for February 2018. Of course, no one followed the deadline. The draft law was not prepared.

Another thing is surprising here. In full discord with common sense, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission rescheduled the deadline for the execution of the already canceled document for a year ahead - until February 2019.

As it turned out, the new "modernized" resolution of the Cabinet, which issues a question of implementation to the "new level", the current directive 2014/57/EU was replaced by four canceled ones: Directive 2003/6 / EC of the European Parliament and the Council and Directive 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/EC of the European Commission.

All the directives mentioned there have lost their force since July 3, 2016, which is clearly stated by the European Parliament and Council Regulation 596/2014 of 16 April 2014 on market abuses ( it is called Regulations on market abuses) and the cancellation of Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directives 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/EC of the European Commission. Again, everything is available on the official website.

Today, the situation with the implementation of EU legislation regulating activities and responsibilities in organized markets is becoming more and more ridiculous.

NSCO (at least on paper) is now preparing draft documents on the implementation of a plan, which is canceled. Apparently, the body actually does not know what decisions are taken by the Cabinet on the same issues. Furthermore, the Commission has intensified its work in this direction only after this plan was abolished.

At these rates, we would not be able to implement the Association Agreement, at least in terms of the European legislation, even by 2025.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or 112.International and its owners.
The said Russians are now in custody in Ukraine, arrested for tough crimes against this country's statehood and territorial integrity, Iryna Gerashchenko says

23 Russian citizens remain in Ukrainian prisons, serving time for tough crimes against this country's statehood and territorial integrity. Iryna Gerashchenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian parliament and Ukraine's humanitarian representative in the Minsk talks group said that on air of 112 Ukraine TV channel.

'The Russians, arrested during the conflict in Donbas, currently serve time in Ukrainian jails - for the crimes against the territorial integrity and sovereignty; they were detained and judged for their part in this conflict, siding with the so-called 'militia'. It is obvious, however, that they are the curators, not the militia fighters. The Ukrainian side is ready to pass these judged people in the exchange for Ukrainian citizens', she said.

The Trilateral Contact Group will gather in the Belarusian capital on April 4; the POW exchange will be among the topics for discussion, too.
The Kremlin's previous attempt occurred in 2015; it failed, due to timely interference of Ukraine's Security Service, Vasyl Hrytsak said

Russian special services are eager to destabilize the political situation in Moldova and Odesa region, southern Ukraine. Vasyl Hrytsak, the head of the SBU, Ukraine's state security service reported this at a press briefing in Odesa, quoted by Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

'Lately, we've been getting pieces of information about the attempts of Russian special services to get back to the issue of Bessarabia (the reference to the Russia-designed idea of separate 'people's republic' in the region of Bessarabia, specifically, southern Ukraine and Moldova, - 112 International),' Hrytsak said.

The SBU chief reminded that after two special operations in 2015, the project of the Russian special services failed.

'As far as we know, two Moscow-based clans sorted it out and now decided to go back to it. They might be aiming to erode the situation in Moldova and Odesa region', he said.

In 2015, the SBU exposed the pro-Kremlin group that tried to establish an illegal state formation called 'Bessarabia'; it was supposed to appear in Odesa region and spread the separatist views in the area.
A group of individuals linked to financier Dan K. Rapoport has apparently been operating under the persona of a character named "David Jewberg". n Facebook and LinkedIn, David Jewberg presented himself as a Senior Russian Analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense who publicly advocated for a stronger American stance against the Kremlin, Bellingcat has published their new report.

But according to the latest investigation by Bellingcat, David Jewberg is actually an imagined persona connected to a group of individuals inside the U.S. revolving around well-connected American financier Dan K. Rapoport, who was named as the person who wrote under this persona by well-known Russia expert David Satter and other sources in Washington who spoke to Bellingcat.

Senior Pentagon Russia Analyst LTC David Jewberg maintained a popular Facebook page and was frequently quoted in Ukrainian and Russian media as a Pentagon insider related to topics concerning Ukraine and Russia. He represented himself as an actual person with the legal name David Jewberg, not as a persona or pseudonym.

A number of well-known Russian opposition figures frequently cited David Jewberg as a respected analyst and real-life contact.

In April 2016, the Ukrainian news site Dialog.ua introduced its readers to David Jewberg, an American soldier, analyst, military history specialist, officer of the U.S. Army, political consultant of the U.S. State Department, Department of Defense, and National Security analyst. Dialog went on to describe Jewbergs biography, including information about his parents (Tammy and Joe, both born in Lyndhurst, Ohio) and upbringing (graduated from John Miller High School in 1988) and career (deployed to Somalia, Yemen, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq). As Dialog describes, Lt. Colonel Jewberg has risen through the ranks of the U.S. military and eventually became a Senior Analyst at the Department of Defense, focusing on Russia.

On Facebook, David Jewberg clearly stated that he was a Senior Russian Analyst at US Department of Defense, though he resigned from that role shortly after the election of Donald Trump.

On his Facebook page, Jewbergs About Me section reads (in translation):

Im a veteran of the United States Armed Forces. Im of Russian descent. I blog on history, I write the truth and facts, all that is being hidden from Russians by the Russian state media.

On Facebook, David Jewberg clearly stated that he was a Senior Russian Analyst at US Department of Defense, though he resigned from that role shortly after the election of Donald Trump.

To further his stated goal of uncovering truth hidden from Russians, David Jewberg publicly derided pro-Kremlin writers and ordinary users, and mass added anti-Kremlin users as friends on Facebook. Meanwhile the increasingly popular profile continued to publish his analysis of a number of topics, with matters related to Russia and Ukraine taking center stage.

In his turn, Rapoport has repeatedly denied being the author behind David Jewberg and not acknowledged that Jewberg is an imagined persona.
Open source

Totally, 9, 091 people, including 3,270 adults and 5, 821 children sickened with measles during as at thirteenth week of 2018 as Public Health Centre of Ukraine's Healthcare Ministry reported.

According to the data, 699 people, including 331 adults and 368 children infected with the measles during the thirteenth week of 2018.

Seven people died due to the complications: five children and two adults.

Most people infected with the measles in Ivano-Frankivsk region  1, 807 people and Zakarpattia region  1, 6-7 people and least in Luhansk region  only four cases were spotted.

The Health Ministry urges the parent to vaccine their children. At the moment, the vaccines are available at all regions. About 304, 000 doses remained. A new supply of the MMP vaccines is expected in April.

Earlier the European Health Security Agency reported that Ukraine was the third in Europe on the number of people infected with measles in 2017. The leaders are Romania and Italy.
The current bill, adopted as the basis, foresees that the wood cannot be cut on the premises of national reservations in the Carpathian Mountains

Open source

Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, supported the bill No.6749 'On the ban of total timber harvesting in the beech woods located on the hillsides of the Carpathian region'. 259 MPs supported the draft law as the basis.

The document stipulates that the wood cannot be cut on the premises of national parks and natural reservations in the Carpathian Mountains. The MPs also offer to forbid the total wood procurement in the beech and silver-fir woods in the region. If adopted irrevocably, it will only allow selective harvesting of the wood in the forests located on the hillsides of the Carpathian region.

The total ban on timber harvesting of silver-firs and beeches acted in 2000-2010, then it was canceled.
The central database of the electronic system worked in normal mode at normal speed but sometimes stuttered

Open source

Deputy Minister of Health Pavlo Kovtoniuk reported on Facebook that on the first day of the national campaign Doctor for every family, 12,500 patients have chosen a family doctor.

"About 12,500 patients have decided on their doctor. It is a normal number. The central database of the electronic system worked in normal mode, at normal speed. There were cases when it stuttered locally. These situations were solved, " Kovtoniuk wrote.

Also, the Deputy Minister notes that there were several cases of queues and misconduct in medical institutions (refusal, filling on paper, etc.).

As it was reported earlier, the law On state financial guarantees of the public health service came into force in Ukraine. The document was published in the official edition Golos Ukrainy (Voice of Ukraine) before the New Year and it put into force since January 1, 2018.

According to the Healthcare Ministry, there are the legal grounds to adopt a number of the decisions for the implementation of the plan of the reformation of the primary echelon of the medicine in Ukraine.

The Healthcare Ministry reminded that the Ukrainians will begin to choose the primary care clinicians (family doctor, general practitioner, pediatrician) and sign the proper declaration with them since April 2018. The documents are signed to this date in the test mode.

Related video:
As a result of the outflow of melt-water over the top of dam, part of Okhtyrka in Sumy region turned into second Venice, but without its inherent romance: hundreds of homes had to be de-energized and disconnected from the gas supply, and their residents were urgently evacuated. Spring flood can also cause troubles to a number of regions

It seems spring has, at last, come to Ukraine: on weekend it got warm fast in many regions of the country, sometimes up to +19 degrees, and there was only a trace of winter landscapes left in the form of puddles. However, not all are happy with such expected yet sudden change of weather - for some regions, the thaw can become a challenge, and sometimes almost a natural disaster.

The thing is, in such periods the danger of the groundwater level rise on many rivers is higher than normal, as well as the danger of water outflow to the floodplain in some parts. Therefore, residents of a number of regions often suffer from flooding of household plots, basements, and sometimes the entire villages or towns.

The critical advance of melt-water

The situation is most critical in Okhtyrka of Sumy region. Because of the outflow of melt-water from the dam, part of Okhtyrka in Sumy region turned into second Venice, but without its inherent romance: hundreds of homes had to be de-energized and disconnected from gas supply, and their residents were urgently evacuated.

According to Okhtyrka city council, the evacuation of residents started at night around midnight.

People were on the alert, - water has risen for almost a meter, houses and household facilities were flooded.

All of that is the result of melt-waters breaking self-made locks of the hydraulic structure in Verbove village.

Different services, doctors and law enforcement officers were immediately alerted to liquidate the consequences caused by the raging nature and provide assistance to the population.

In the morning, Emergency Service announced sad statistics: 400 Okhtyrka households were flooded, as well as 25 residential houses on 11 streets of the city.

As of 18:00, according to the service, the water level on the flooded streets has lowered to 23 cm, but nine houses were left flooded.

It is noteworthy that a number of flooded households is not mentioned, although as of 15:00 there were more than 350 of such.

Sixty-five people were evacuated by the services involved. Fifteen of them were temporarily accommodated in local hotels, four elderly people were hospitalized in the Okhtyrka central regional hospital, and the rest of people stopped at their relatives houses.

The traffic in the city was restricted, sometimes along with the ability to walk.

As sumy.today reported, at the time of liquidation of flood consequences, employees of Sumyoblenergo PJSC disconnected 10 transformer substations in the district centre, located in the coastal zones of the rivers. This way, 968 household consumers of electricity  Okhtyrka residents - were temporarily left without electricity.

In addition, in order to prevent the infliction of an electric shock, specialists of the Okhtyrka RES branch inspect electrical equipment that can be flooded and damaged due to flooding, and, if necessary, de-energize it.

Also, the brigades of emergency dispatch service Sumygaz were called in to help eliminate the consequences of the flooding. Starting from 5 am, they partially blocked the gas distribution to the Okhtyrka consumers to prevent emergencies and possible accidents on gas networks.

Later, the duty officers were stationed in places of high a risk of damaging the gas pipelines, and in the part of city where the water level decreased, the gas networks are being inspected.

The local department the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Sumy region supposes that flooding could contaminate the drinking water of city with pathogens of infectious diseases (viral hepatitis A, dysentery, enteroviruses and other acute intestinal infections). Thus, the service advises population to follow simple rules: to boil drinking water or take bottled water for drinking; to not consume food that has been flooded or contaminated with melt-water; to not ignore personal hygiene before eating, after going to the toilet and the like.

Risk zones:



Chernihiv regions is flooded the same as Sumy region. Particularly, almost a hundred of the household suffered in regional center as for today. The personnel of the State Emergency Service rescued seven people.

The villages and cities of Odesa, Rivne, Kyiv, Lviv, Zakarpattia, Poltava and Volyn regions are close to the flooding.

According to Emergency Service, the water level is 161 cm in Vylkove village (Odesa region), Danube River (the decrease in 24 cm per day). There are still 24 cm until the mark of the housing sector flooding (185 cm).

The water level surpasses the mark of the water present to the floodplain in 47 cm on Horyn River, Dubrovytsia town, Rivne region (113 cm left for the flooding of the housing sector).

On Pripyat River, exclusion zone in Kyiv region, the water level surpasses the mark of the water present to the floodplain in 144 cm (166 cm left for the flooding of the housing sector).

In Kamianka-Buzka city, Lviv region, on Bug River, the water level surpasses the mark of the water present to the floodplain in 4 cm (126 cm left for the flooding of the housing sector).

On Latorica River, in Mukacheve city, Zakarpattia region, the water level surpasses the mark of the water present to the floodplain in 14 cm (246 cm left for the flooding of the housing sector).

In Lubny city, Poltava region, on Sula River, the water level surpasses the mark of the water present to the floodplain in 7 cm (333 cm left for the flooding of the housing sector).

On Prypyat and Stokhid Rivers, Lyubeshiv district in Volyn region on the square of about 1030 hectares (without a risk of the flooding of the housing sector).

Forecasts:

The next few days are going to be a test for these regions. According to the forecast by the Ukrainian Weather Service, the spring flooding will continue building up between 3 and 6 April.

Related video:
According to a witness, the accused showed him photo of the documents on the phone

The accused on the case of a fatal accident in Kharkiv, Olena Zaitseva did not have documents with her. This was confirmed by the inspector of the patrol police Yevhen Shestov, reports Interfax-Ukraine.

"When I asked for the driver's license, Zaitseva had no legal driving license or a registration certificate..She said first that it was in her bag, then it turned out that she had no bags with her, she showed me photos on the phone and said someone would bring them, "Shestov said during the trial, giving evidence as a witness.

The inspector of the patrol police also explained why no protocol was drawn up on the fact of the documents absence. According to him, at first the patrol officers summoned the doctors and protected the place of the accident, and then their leadership sent his crew to another road accident that occurred nearby.

Prosecutor Valeriy Bukhan noted that if the court finds that Zaitseva did not have rights and registration certificates at the time of the accident, the indictment will be changed.

"If it is established directly during the court session, then we, as the prosecution, have the right to draw up a changed indictment, where we will indicate the circumstances that Zaitseva drove a vehicle without a driver's license. By the law, this is not a circumstance , which can aggravate the punishment, but we can indicate this and must indicate, of course, this will affect the punishment, unambiguously because it is also a violation of traffic rules, "the prosecutor said.

In her turn, Zaitseva's lawyer, Yulia Kozyr, claims that her client had the documents.

"The documents were there. They were not immediately found... Probably they found them in the car. Tthe rest of witnesses explain that she has shown them. These details surprised me. These documents were there, for sure, " the lawyer said.

The court announced a break until April 4.

As we reported earlier Lexus ran over a group of pedestrians in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, on Wednesday evening. Alyona Zaitseva who drove the car violated the road traffic, crashing into Volkswagen Touareg driven by Gennady Dronov which threw her car towards the pavement. Both drivers survived, but Lexus ran over eleven passing by people. Five pedestrians received lethal injuries; another six were taken to a hospital with injuries of various degrees of severity.

Zaitseva was detained for two months without a right to bail. The court revoked her driver license and arrested both cars that participated in the accident.

The prosecution stated that Zaitseva used opiates not long before the tragedy occurred. According to the information of the defense, the suspect took the sedatives.

The version of Zaitseva defense is that the driver of the Touareg is guilty as he moved on the yellow traffic light. The defense of Gennady Dronov denies the accusation and claims that the driver of the Touareg moved on the green traffic light.

Related video:
He also reported that the Prosecutor Generals Office opened the criminal proceeding against him due to the disclosing of the details of the pretrial investigation

Nazar Kholodnytsky intends to ask Qualification Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors to suspend him from the post of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) during the investigation as 112 Ukraine broadcasted.

Now I continue to perform the duties, sign, appoint the prosecutors. As far as I know, the issue on my suspension during the investigation will be raised. I am not afraid and will appeal for this to preserve objectivity, to prevent the interference in the commissions work and my subordinate prosecutors, Kholodnytsky noted.

Also, SAPO Head reported that the Prosecutor Generals Office opened the criminal proceeding against him due to the disclosing of the details of the pretrial investigation.

As far as I know, the criminal proceeding is opened due to the disclosing of the data of the pretrial investigation and it is a minor crime, he noted and denied the charges against him.

Kholodnytsky also noted that the accusations are based on Suprun case.

It is a so-called case of the attempted bribery of Suprun. Totally, there are four or five disciplinary facts; three of them are based on Suprun case. The systematic cases are based on one case. I wait for the decision of the Disciplinary Commission on the opening of the proceeding. If there is such decision I will participate and discuss all fact, he added.

Also, he commented on the wire at his office.

We found it because the behavior of the person who served the fish tank was strange.

As we reported the SAP found a wire in the cabinet of Nazar Kholodnytsky. It was noted that the NABU and Prosecutor General's Office held the audition. It was noted that the NABU and GPU tapped the SAPO Head.

On March 22, Kholodnytsky confirmed that the wire was found in his cabinet. He noted that he does not know who is an owner of the device found on March 6 and waits for the response from the law enforcement bodies.

As we reported Yuriy Lutsenko, Prosecutor General of Ukraine initiated Kholodnytskys resignation on March 30. Lutsenko appealed to the Qualifications and Disciplinary Commission of Public Prosecutors concerning Nazar Kholodnytsky, his Deputy and the Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office.
Representatives of Svoboda (Freedom), National Corps and Right Sector gathered near the Cabinet of Ministers; their goal is to "de-oligarch" Ukraine

In the center of Kyiv, police blocked traffic on several streets because of the march of nationalists, which is taking place Tuesday morning. This was reported by the Ukrainian Truth agency.

The rally is carried out by the representatives of Svoboda (Freedom), National Corps and Right Sector, the goal is to "de-oligarch" Ukraine. They intend to proceed to the buildings of the government, Verkhovna Rada and the Presidential Administration.

Security officers and sappers and cynologists watch the order at the site.

As Kyivpastrans reported, because of the blocked streets, several buses have changed their routes.

The Verkhovna Rada is working in the plenary mode this week. Now, the parliaments session is taking place.

The nationalist speakers once again proposed to pass a bill on returning from off-shores the money illegally taken from Ukraine.

Earlier, Verkhovna Rada is considering the removal of immunity from the non-factional People's Deputy Nadezhda Savchenko.
Avakov is accused of impeding of Russians in the access to the polling stations at the diplomatic offices

The Investigative Committee of Russia opened the criminal proceeding against Arsen Avakov, the Interior Minister of Ukraine as the press service of the committee reported.

The proceeding was opened due to the non-allowance for the Russians to visit the polling stations at the diplomatic offices on Russias presidential election on March 18.

It is ordered to open the criminal proceeding against Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov due to the impeding of the citizens of Russia of the free exercise of their enfranchisement at the election of the president of Russia, the message said.

According to the Investigative Committee, Avakov, acting in collusion with a group of people ordered the workers of the Interior Ministry who provided the defense and security of the Russian diplomatic offices in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv.

The election of the president of Russia took place on March 18, 2018, on the fourth anniversary of the illegal annexation of Crimea. Eight candidates, including the current president, took place in it. Russia also held the election at the peninsula.

The current President Putin beat a record of the support, receiving 56.2 million of votes or 76.65 percent of votes, with 99% ballots processed.

Earlier, Ukrainian nationalists promise to block Russian presidential elections in Ukraine on March 18, 2018. This is said in the joint statement of Ukrainian political parties Svoboda, Right Sector, and National Corps. Political parties intend to block polling stations and form corridor of shame for voters  Russian citizens.

Arsen Avakov, the Interior Minister of Ukraine ordered to not let the citizens of Russia who live in Ukraine, besides the diplomats to vote in the protest of the illegal election in annexed Crimea. The Interior Ministry made a decision on the impossibility of the holding of the election at the territory of the diplomatic missions that violate the laws of Ukraine at the territory of Ukraine.
The claim was filed to the SBU; the advocate waits for the decision

Advocate Viktor Chevhuz recused himself from the case on the lifting of the immunity from MP Nadia Savchenko as he reported on Facebook.

The recusal. I did not want to file but, the lawyer commented the photo of the posted claim.

According to it, Savchenko and Chevhuz have already torn up the contract on the provision of the legal aid. The claim was filed to the SBU and the advocate waits for the decision

On March 22, the Ukrainian parliament lifted the immunity of Nadiya Savchenko. She was detained right after this in the building of the Verkhovna Rada.

Later Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko signed the notice of suspicion of Savchenko under charges with preparing a terrorist act and the attempt of coup d'etat.

On March 15, Lutsenko claimed during his speech at the parliament that Savchenko personally planned, recruited and ordered how to hold the terrorist attack in the Verkhovna Rada, destroying two lodges, governmental and post, by the combat grenades, bringing down the dome of the Verkhovna Rada by the mortar launchers and killing the survived with the assault rifles.

Also, it was reported that non-affiliated MP Nadia Savchenko and Volodymyr Ruban, the Head of 'Officer Corps' planned to attack the cortege of the President of Ukraine with the large caliber sniper rifle.

In her turn, Savchenko claimed that she planned only a political provocation.
Denysova demands to assume the necessary measures if the information will be confirmed

Lyudmyla Denysova, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian ombudswoman with a request to check the conditions of Volodymyr Balukh, the illegally detained Ukrainian activist in the detention center as the press service of Denysova reported.

Denysova asks to check the information on the cruel treatment of the convoy towards Balukh after the consideration of the appeal and refusal to provide him the necessary amounts of water.

According to this, I appeal to you with a request to check the provided information and in case of its confirmation, to assume the necessary measures to restore the violated rights of Volodymyr Balukh. I ask to inform me on the results of the consideration of this appeal, the message said.

Lawyer Olha Dinze reported that the convoy beat Volodymyr Balukh, the illegally convicted in the occupied Crimea, Ukrainian activist on April 2. In addition, according to her, the administration of the pre-trial detention center refused to give Ukrainian political prisoner water, saying he was on a hunger strike.

As it was reported earlier, Volodymyr Balukh, the Ukrainian citizen illegally judged in the occupied Crimea claimed that he goes for a timeless hunger strike. Balukh protested against the verdict in his case, announced in January 2018. The jury sentenced him to three years and five months for the alleged storage of ammunition. As it is currently effective, the detainee now serves time in jail.

In December 2013, when the Euromaidan movement began in Ukraine, Balukh supported its activists and hoisted a Ukrainian flag over his house. It remained there  even after the so-called referendum in Crimea in spring 2014 when people were forced to vote for Crimeas recognition as part of the Russian Federation. Balukh said he never recognized the peninsula as part of Russia.

Volodymyr Balukh was detained by the Russian FSB (federal security service) in his house in December 2016. The law enforcers said they found 90 cartridges and several TNT blocks on the houses rooftop.After that, he was sentenced to three years and seven months of imprisonment.
The US will pass two Island patrol boats to Ukraine for free as the Ukrainian Naval Forces reported on Facebook.

At the moment, the work out of the contract on the receiving of the boats concludes.

We get the boats for free but their transportation, training of the crews and other related costs are paid by the state, Ihor Voronchenko, the Vice Admiral and the Commander of Naval Forces claimed.

He also reported on some difficulties in the legislative procedure of the pass of the boats.

It is the first case of such support from another country for the proper payment, therefore, some particular difficulties on its implementation within the acting legislation occurred at the legislative level but the issue was solved and the support will be implemented within the acting agreement between the governments of Ukraine and the US, he noted.

It is also reported to the U.S. Defense Department on the readiness to receive the boats.

The message on the terms of the holding of the final conference on the work out of the points of the contract is expected from the US; it is planned to determine the final related costs connected with the pass of the boats and terms of the works performance within the conference, the message said.

The process of the pass of the boats will begin after the signing of the contract. It includes the training of the crews that will serve on the Island patrol boats.

As it was reported earlier U.S. State Department approved possible sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles and launch units to Ukraine at the cost of $47 million, the Pentagon said. The Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday the proposed sale would not alter the military balance in the region.

Ukraines government has asked to buy 210 Javelin missiles and 37 Javelin Command Launch Units, the statement said. The prime contractor will be a joint venture of Raytheon Co and Lockheed Martin Corp, it added.
According to the defense, the Prosecutor Generals Office intends to convict Yanukovych for the fulfillment of his commitments provided by the legislation

The defense of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych demanded from the Prosecutor Generals Office (GPU) and Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko to drop charges in the state treason against its client due to their full retraction. Vitaly Serdyuk, the advocate of Yanukovych claimed this as the press service of Aver Lex reported.

During the filing of the own evidence by the defense and due to the refusal to personally and legally question Viktor Yanukovych, the defense opened and attached on his behalf the full text of the appeal of the President of Ukraine to Russia dated March 1, 2014, in six pages that belies the opinion imposed to the society on the deploying of the Russian troops to Crimea. The presented document belies the accusations as President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych appealed to Russia March 1, 2014 not with a request to deploy the troops but with the appeal to hold the bilateral consultations according to article 7 of the Agreement on friendship, cooperation and partnership between Ukraine and Russia dated May 31, 1997 and inform the international community on the official position of the president of Ukraine towards the coup detat in Ukraine. GPU dodged to attach and publish this document, the advocate claimed.

According to the defense, the prosecutors office intends to convict Yanukovych for the fulfillment of his commitments provided by the legislation.

If Russia appointed the consultations and agreed on the appeal to help in the restoration of the peace and order in Ukraine by the use of the military or police peacekeeping mission, this issue would be passed by the president to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine according to the Constitution. However, such answer was not received, Serdyuk noted.

Taking into account the set out, guided by article 340 of the Criminal Proceeding Code of Ukraine, the demand to Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko to drop all charges against Viktor Yanukovych and apologize before the citizens of Ukraine for the intentional misrepresentation of them by the statements on his state treason was filed on April 03, 2018, the advocate said.

On March 27, the break in the court hearing on the case of the state treason of Yanukovych was announced until April 4 due to the absence of the lawyers as they made business trips to Germany, Russia and Simferopol.
PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
Affordable dining tables, coffee tables and benches made from rescued New Mexico woods plus jewelry and mezuzahs from found branches, made by Hershel Mutka Weiss. Runs through 4/9.

Opening Reception and Sale

Affordable dining tables, coffee tables and benches made from rescued New Mexico woods plus jewelry and mezuzahs from found branches. Made by long time Albuquerque Furnituremaker Hershel Mutka Weiss.

The tables and benches are made from land being cleared to create firebreaks near Weed, New Mexico. Planks sawn three inches thick were the starting point for this new furniture.

The work is a departure for Weiss, who is known for his finely crafted work. The tables are made with simple and direct joinery and retain their natural edges and in some cases the bark as well. Weiss also experimented with bark inlay in several pieces, creating a combination of rustic and refined.

Also shown in this exhibit Weiss's first in six years are his first attempts at jewelry, made from found branches, as well as the Jewish ritual objects known as mezuzahs, carved from found branches as well.
guest column

Provide Information, Protect Livelihoods When Mines Move In

Information is key to protecting the health and the livelihoods of people in areas affected by economic development. And that is why a 10 percent cut in the Malawi Human Rights Commission's budget announced recently is such bad news.

The commission plays a key role in the implementation of a new law that gives every citizen of Malawi the right to access information from the government.

Lucia, a 52-year-old mother of five children, is among the people who are waiting for the government to make this right a reality. She lives in a village in rural Malawi, where a coal mining company moved in nearby.

"I didn't know anything about the mining before the machines came in," she said. "They didn't give us any information, they just started digging."

When I was doing research for Human Rights Watch's report on the human rights impacts of mining in Karonga district in northern Malawi, I talked to many women like Lucia who grow cassava, maize and rice to feed their family.

The government has never told them whether pollution from the mines is affecting their fields or what they need to do to protect the health of their children. The government has tested the nearby water only a few times and has never told the community the results.

Information about water quality and soil pollution is crucial for protecting the rights to health, water, food and a healthy environment. This is especially important for people who live in poor and rural areas and are exposed to increased risks, such as communities located near Malawi's mining areas.

But although President Peter Mutharika signed the Access to Information Act more than a year ago, people are still struggling to get access to information that they desperately need.

The Human Rights Commission, an independent institution created to safeguard the rights of Malawians, is to monitor how the government implements the Access to Information Act, which gives every citizen of Malawi the right to access information from the government.

There have been several delays in the implementation of the new law. Now this cut in the 185,000,000 Malawian Kwacha (US$255,000) 2017/2018 budget, just as the commission has taken on this new responsibility, will be a blow to the residents of rural mining regions.

When we talked with the residents in Karonga, we also found that some families had been relocated by the companies without receiving adequate compensation for their houses, fields and land. The families  and in particular women  were not informed about the relocation process or about the compensation the government had required the companies to provide them.

Malawi's extractive industries are still in their infancy. The government and investors should respect rights and minimize the risks faced by communities and natural ecosystems, even as they push for economic development.

As far back as 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development recognized that access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making over natural resources, and access to justice are key elements of sustainable development. More recently, the UN expert on human rights and the environment has stated that the right to freedom of expression includes the obligation of governments to provide public access to environmental information.

The job of providing information to residents of these areas is going to grow as Malawi pursues economic development. In November, a Mining Ministry official called for increased investment in the mining industry to boost development. He also asked the media "to report things," even if negative. "As government we analyze them and see how we can intervene in order to make sure that mistakes are not repeated," he said.

Several ministry officials have openly admitted that they are not actively providing information to affected communities about the risks of mining. Some said that the government essentially leaves companies to regulate themselves, which violates Malawi's obligations under international human rights law and which has proven disastrous in neighboring countries in southern Africa.

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If the Malawian government is serious about improving the lives of its citizens through economic development it needs to step up its efforts to implement the Access to Information Act. That includes adequately funding the Malawi Human Rights Commission so that it can carry out its role as an oversight body of the new law. Malawian nongovernmental organizations are calling for a specific budget for this added task.

The government should also ensure that local communities obtain the information they need to use the provisions of the new law. This would send the right signal to Malawi's development donors, who should support these efforts to realize the rights of marginalized communities.

Katharina Rall is a researcher in the Environment and Human Rights Division of Human Rights Watch.
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. The ArmHiTec 2018 international defense fair, held March 29-31 in Yerevan, unveiled a number of highly sophisticated military technologies of the Armenian military industry.

One of these exhibits at the event was the Thunder  a 16 ton mobile radio jammer for electronic warfare.

Thunder is an all-terrain station which also enables to collect and analyze data.

This is an Armenian developed station, it is a very rationally applied system which fully justifies itself, Senior Lt. Hovhannes Khlghatyan from the electronic warfare unit told ARMENPRESS.

The Senior Lt. underlined the 500 Watt capacity of the system, which is more than sufficient for suppressing enemy radio contacts. Thunder can target radio communications up to 20km in depth and can be applied at 3 different frequencies simultaneously.

Seniot Lt. Khlghatyan said the system was deployed in Artsakh during the 2016 April War, and was highly praised for its performance.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. An unidentified masked man stole more than 5 million drams (roughly 10,500 USD) at 22:00, April 2 in Fast Credit, a credit organization. The robber targeted the Avan branch of the company in Yerevan, Ashot Aharonyan, head of the press service of the Police Force told ARMENPRESS.

Necessary tactical and investigative measures are underway to uncover the robbery and apprehend the robber. A criminal case has been launched, he said.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Greek police arrested the suspected assailant who attacked two staff members of the Iranian embassy in Athens, local media said.

The incident happened on April 1 when a 47 year old Iranian man approached the embassy armed with a knife and wounded two staff members.

Law enforcement agencies said the attacker is mentally ill.

The assailant told police he was planning to carry out another attack in the Israeli embassy  because voices in his head told him to.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Eight people were injured in a CO2 cylinder explosion in a Burger King fast food restaurant in downtown Yerevan on April 2.

The ministry of emergency situations said a criminal case has been launched by law enforcement agencies based on Paragraph 2 Article 279 of the Criminal Code  using or selling products unsafe for consumers, violating safety precautions of public activities etc.

The ministry once again called on all businesses to strictly adhere to the law that employers are obliged to provide safe working conditions.

At 20:44, April 2, emergency services were notified that an explosion took place in the Burger King fast food restaurant in Northern Avenue, Yerevan.

Multiple emergency personnel and first responders were dispatched to the scene.

The cause of the blast was a faulty CO2 20kg cylinder, which was located in the kitchen of the burger shop.

Eight people have been injured in the incident: Rudolph Markosyan, 6, Rubina Markosyan, 8, Zaruhi Melikyan, 19, Erik Ashughyan, 24  Iran national, Alyona Agapova, 15  Russia national, Liza Abramova, 15  Russia national, Yaroslav Lyubenko, 15  Russia national, Zeyna Husseini, 24, Iran national.

All victims have been rushed to the hospital. The 8 year old was in critical condition, while the remaining were in serious but stable condition.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Yulia Skripal was poisoned shortly after being granted access to approximately 185,000 dollars in a secret account, Daily Mirror reported.

The money was received from the sale of a Great Britain home which belonged to Yulias brother Alexander, who died in unknown circumstances last year in St. Petersburg.

Alexanders wife sold the house after his death and transferred part of the money to an account in a Russian bank.

Sergei Skripal authorized his daughter to use the account in the end of February.

On 4 March 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer, and his daughter Yulia, visiting him from Moscow, were poisoned with an alleged Russia-made nerve agent in Salisbury, England. As of 13 March 2018, they remain critically ill at Salisbury District Hospital. The poisoning is being investigated by British authorities as attempted murder.

The United Kingdom believes it is "highly likely" that the Russian government was behind the attack. Russia denies any involvement.

The incident caused a diplomatic row after Western countries began expelling Russian diplomats.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. The investigative committee has launched criminal proceedings on the April 2 robbery when over 6 million drams in cash was stolen from Fast Credit  a credit office in Yerevans Avan district, the investigative committee told ARMENPRESS.

According to preliminary information a masked gunman entered the office at 21:30 armed with items resembling a handgun and a grenade and demanded the staff to hand over the cash. The gunman threatened to use force, posing serious danger to both the employees and customers of the office.

The gunman fled the scene upon taking nearly 6341000 drams in cash  roughly 13000 dollars.

Police confiscated the CCTV recordings of the office.

Investigation continues.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday apologized to the victims of state violence during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the bloody April 3 incident on the southern island of Jeju, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Moon, the first head of state to attend the memorial event in a decade, also reaffirmed his pledges to uncover the truth behind the tragedy and make compensations for them and retrieve the remains of the missing.

"I, as president, deeply apologize once again for all the pains stemming from the state violence and the efforts (to heal them), and also deeply appreciate them," Moon told a gathering of some 15,000 people, including the surviving victims.

The Jeju April 3 incident refers to the government-civilian clash from 1948-1954, an outgrowth of Korea's ideological division following its 1945 liberation from Japan's colonial rule. A 2003 government report put the number of civilian deaths at between 25,000 and 30,000, about 10 percent of the island's population at the time.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenias defense ministry made clarification over the deployment of the Russian military polices subdivision in the Russian military base in Armenia.

In response to ARMENPRESS inquiry, the defense ministry said having representatives of military police in military bases or subdivisions deployed in foreign states is a service necessity and an internationally accepted practice. The Republic of Armenia as well is forming special subdivisions of the military police which will soon be included in the troops departing for international peacekeeping missions, as well as in the CSTO collective forces.

The ministry said the Russian armed forces carry out functions in Armenias territory envisaged exclusively by international contracts and agreements.

The issue of having a military police subdivision in the 102nd Russian military base deployed in Armenia has been mutually agreed by the defense ministries of Armenia and Russia in 2014. The function of the military police subdivision is to regulate the internal service issues and its inclusion in the structure of the military base in no way violates the existing agreements on the structure of the base and the maximum number, the ministrys statement said.

At the same time, the Armenian and Russian defense ministries started developing an interstate draft agreement on Military police bodies of the Russian Armed Forces in the territory of Armenia aimed at defining a necessary legal status and jurisdictions for conducting special functions towards the Russian soldiers in the territory of Armenia, as well as for cooperating with the military police of Armenias defense ministry. The agreement, according to the legislations of Armenia and Russia, should pass the procedures of signing preparation, signing, ratification and approval.

English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras urged Turkey to stop escalation of tension and release two Greek soldiers detained on Turkish territory while crossing the border by mistake on March 1, Reuters reports.

Alexis Tsipras said Ankara should, as a gesture of good will, release two Greek soldiers who were detained after crossing the border into Turkey on March 1.

Out eastern neighbors intensify their provocations and escalate the situation on all fronts, the Greek PM said during the Cabinet meeting.

Greece is not threatening anyone, but at the same time it is not afraid of anyone. Greece is a strong and safe country with strong allies, therefore there are no reasons to worry, the PM said.

Greece maintains the soldiers crossed into Turkey by mistake while following the trail of suspected illegal migrants. Turkish courts have ordered their detention on suspicion of illegal entry and attempted military espionage.

English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan Bestseller  an exclusive project of ARMENPRESS news agency, on April 3 summed up the results of the awarding ceremony of the most demanded books in 2016-2017 at the Megerian Carpet.

When the project was created, our secret dream was that it would help both the reader, the publisher and the writer as we believe that the media outlets today and always must be with literature, book: books need constant care and attention, Aram Ananyan  Director of ARMENPRESS state news agency, said, expressing hope to improve the project methodologically. Now we are discussing this issue with publishing houses and bookstores so that we will be able to spread a good book with more predictable, interesting methodology in the coming years and bring the reader back to the book, Aram Ananyan added.

Writer and photographer Edgar Harutyunyan received prize in the "Author of the best-selling works" nomination for his books titled Art of Devotion or Ode to the Rose and Unfound Chamomiles.

I will not hide that the success of sales of my books from the very start depended on the fact that I am a photographer and have great number of followers. I always tell those, who speculate this fact, that if I produced a washing powder, it would be hardly consumed with the same success. I think I wrote books which describe situations familiar to young girls, Edgar Harutyunyan noted.

Irish novelist John Boynes The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was named the Most demanded translation at the Yerevan Bestseller award. The prize was handed over to translator Ruzan Azizyan for the Armenian translation of the book.

The Bookinist publishing house received prize in the Childrens Bestseller Publisher nomination.

Mher Israyelyan was awarded with the Special Prize after Levon Ananyan for the book titled A dog fortune on an old Armenian road.

People like my collection of stories. While writing I want to write my emotions, feelings on the paper by making them the readers property, the writer said.

Narek Galstyan was awarded with the "Beginner" prize for Akhparner (meaning brothers in Western Armenian) book.

Mark Aren received prize in the Armenian author writing in foreign language nomination for his books Where Wild Roses Bloom and Ville-Evrard.

"Retrospective special prize" was awarded to the Darak publishing house for Vardges Petrosyans Years Lived and Not Lived book.

Antares publishing house received Bestseller Publisher award for publishing the most demanded books.

Editor-in-chief of the publishing house Arkmenik Nikoghosyan said over the past years the best books are being published thanks to the active work of several publishing houses, and both the reader and the quality of book benefit from this.

"Special Prize of Jury" was handed over to Zangak publishing house for Brave New World book by Aldous Huxley.

Artur Mesropyan, coordinator of translation programs at Zangak publishing house, said the awards are important, and he is happy that ARMENPRESS news agency organizes this event since both the publisher, the book are being appreciated, and the reader once again gets acquainted with the works done by publishing houses, as well as new books. It would be better for such awarding ceremonies to be a lot. They promote our work, he said and thanked ARMENPRESS for holding this event.

Certificates were handed over to project supporters  Megerian Carpet, Hay Girk, Zangak, Bookinist bookstores, Ararat and Yerkir Media TVs.

Photos by Gevorg Perkuperkyan

English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, 3 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 3 April, USD exchange rate up by 0.17 drams to 480.23 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.70 drams to 591.02 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 8.34 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.29 drams to 675.68 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 7.23 drams to 20439.91 drams. Silver price up by 0.09 drams to 251.36 drams. Platinum price up by 5.12 drams to 14451.61 drams.
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. A young woman approached on duty Yerevan Police Department officers at 17:00, April 2 and said that someone has fired shots at her.

The press service of the Police Force told ARMENPRESS that cops detained a 24 year old man from downtown Yerevan, and brought in two women for questioning.

It turns out that the shots were fired from a BB gun after one of the women insulted the man.

The air gun has been confiscated and an investigation has been launched.

The woman sustained minor injuries.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Nearly 130 Turkish products have been discovered in Azerbaijan that pose danger to human health.

ARMENPRESS reports food safety expert David Pipoyan informed that the information has been spread in Azerbaijani media and the food safety agency of that country has conducted he expertise.

This is an extremely large list and mainly chocolates, vegetable oils, teas, non alcoholic beverages and other products are checked, Pipoyan said, adding that nutritional supplements are also in the focus.

The expert draws attention on the content of the statement issued by the food safety agency of Azerbaijan and widely spread by the media, which urges people to refrain from buying Turkish products.

It was not easy to believe in the reality of that statement given the relations of the two countries, Pipoyan said, stressing that this should be an important message for the Armenian side, especially when it refers to the safety of agricultural products imported from Turkey.

English translator/editor: Tigran Sirekanyan
YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defenders Office of Artsakh prepares another report on Armenophobia in Azerbaijan. ARMENPRESS reports Defender Ruben Melikyan announced during a Facebook press conference. We have prepared a number of reports. Now we are working on another report on Armenophobia in Azerbaijan, Melikyan said.

According to him, not being internationally recognized creates some troubles for the Republic of Artsakh, but anyway, the country has unilaterally joint a range of important international documents, particularly, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and other documents.

Artsakhss Ombudsman noted that he condemns those international organizations that are not present in Artsakh due to political reasons, ignoring and limiting the rights of the people living in Artsakh.

English translator/editor: Tigran Sirekanyan
CYBERSPACEA top dating site for the furry fetish community has been forced to close down, due to the recent passage of the FOSTA bill in the United States House and Senate.

The bill, which is ostensibly aimed at curtailing online sex trafficking, has already caused other large sites including Craigslist and Reddit to take personal ads and discussion groups offline for fear that some of their content may run afoul of the bills restrictions on facilitating sex trafficking activities.

While the bill has not yet been signed by Donald Trump and therefore is not yet U.S. law, sites appear to be acting preemptively to remove user-created content that could somehow be interpreted as promoting sex trafficking. Under pre-FOSTA law, sites were not generally held accountable for content generated by users.

But under the prospective new law, what counts as facilitating sex trafficking remains unclear, forcing sites such as the now-shuttered furry personal ad forum Pounced.org to exercise an abundance of caution to avoid potential lawsuits or criminal charges.

FOSTA attempts to make Internet sites such as Pounced.org liable for the way users use the site in an effort to address sex trafficking and prostitution, the site wrote in a statement explaining the shutdown. FOSTA increases our liability significantly and chips away at one of the primary reasons we as a small organization can provide services to the communitythe protection that had previously been offered to us by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

But even as sites such as Pounced.org shut down or pull personal ads offline, a current civil lawsuit in Massachusetts could shatter the entire foundation of the FOSTA law, whose proponents argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shielded sites that promoted sex trafficking. According to an analysis by the libertarian site Reason, the current lawsuit in Massachusetts against Backpage.com could end up in a ruling that Section 230 never actually provided that protection in the first place.

"Section 230 does not provide Backpageor anyone elseabsolute immunity, and it never has," said technology lawyer Eric Goldman, in a blog post quote by Reason.

In other words, the FOSTA bill may never have been necessary in the first place, and its ultimate effect will not be to curb sex trafficking, but rather to harm sites and their users who simply want to discuss topics that relate to sexuality.

According to a report by the tech news site Motherboard, people in the furry community are already feeling the effects of Pounce.orgs demise.

As the furry community is primarily an online community, any closure that limits the ability of members to meet and interact is detrimental to the whole, a lawyer and furry fan told Motherboard. Where there's a will to limit information, there's a way to limit it that someone can conceive of. FOSTA is a way to limit, or force others to limit, community interactions.

Pounced, a volunteer-run site, is now in the process of finding legal counsel, as well as modifying its terms of service, and hopes to find a way to safely go back online soon, though no timetable has been set, Motherboard reported.
There's a good chance adult fans have already seen angel-faced Li Moon on the web. This Ukrainian beauty with Asian features began her career in 2015 and has already set the web on fire on places like PornHub, where her videos have been viewed over a million times.

Li was added to iStripper's collection early in 2017 and members immediately love her shows, having been attracted to her sweet personality and the sensuality she gives off.

As far as iStripper is concerned, Li Moon's success on the site is incredible. Her performance has already been purchased 26 percent more than any other recent modeland after reading the appreciative comments from the site's members, they quickly called her for a "Take 2" in the company's studios!

PornHub was particularly complimentary to the young brunette on her bio page: "Li Moon is a weird pornstar. Shes originally from Ukraine, even though her name suggests Asian origins like Japanese or Chinese.... Li has also gone by a few other names in the porn industry such as Kiki, Anikka A, and Lee Moon. She has a beautiful body with natural 33C tits, a 24-inch waist and a 34-inch ass. She has long brown hair that streams down her back and no tattoos or piercings.... Her birthday is January 1, so New Years Day is a doubly special day for her."

Sites/studios such as Watch4Beauty, Yonitale, Met-Art, MPL Studios, and others have shot her, and now she can't stop traveling and shooting for some of the biggest producers around.

"Receiving Li Moon in our studios was a real challenge," said Gerald, head of production for iStripper. "Even before she came in to the studios, we knew we had gold in handsand we are very proud of the result!"

iStripper congratulates Li Moon, the iStripper April 2018 Talent of the Month!
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is pleased to welcome the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg as a new Affiliate. The University Library is the first German library to join BHL as an Affiliate.

The University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg serves as the Central Library of the Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main and functions as an academic library for the City of Frankfurt, a university library with several state commitments for the Rhine-Main region and Hesse, and is a major participant in the national supply of literature.

The University Librarys Biology Collection comprises excellent holdings of historic and modern biodiversity literature, representing some 400,000 volumes on a wide range of biological subjects. The collection is constantly expanding thanks to the Librarys own acquisition efforts, co-funding by the German Research Council (DFG), and exchange activities with the Senckenberg Gesellschaft fur Naturforschung. In 2007, the Virtual Library, comprised of catalog data and online resources including databases and e-journals, was launched to increase visibility of the Biology Collection.

The University Library has a long history of collection digitization and provides access to a large corpus of digitized literature through its Digitale Sammlungen portal, including a notable collection of German botanical journals from 1753-1914. In 2017, the Specialised Information Service Biodiversity Research project (co-funded by the German Research Council DFG) was established to enhance access to the Biology Collection. Through continued literature digitization and the development of new services including text mining tools to mobilize data within the literature, the project aims to build a bridge between historical holdings and modern biodiversity research.

As a publicly-funded organization, the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg is committed to free and open access to research literature and the knowledge contained therein. As a BHL Affiliate, the University Library will expand BHLs corpus by contributing content from its rich Biology Collection. By enabling free access to Central European biodiversity literature, the Library will significantly enhance discoverability of knowledge contained in a segment of literature which is not yet satisfactorily represented online.

Further Information

See the press release from Goethe-Universitat Frankfurt am Main (German language).

See an English version of the press release on IDW.

Learn more about the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg.

Learn more about the Specialised Information Service Biodiversity Research project.


On August 2, 2017, security researcher Dylan Houlihan contacted Panera Bread to warn them that their customer loyalty website had a serious defect that allowed attackers to retrieve the names, email and physical addresses, birthdays and last-four of the credit cards for up to seven million customers.



Houlihan shared his findings in detail with Mike Gustavison, Panera's head of information security, who initially dismissed them as a scam. On August 9, 2017, Gustavison acknowledged that the threat was real and told Houlihand they were "working on a resolution."





As of yesterday  eight months to the day later  it wasn't fixed. What's more, the data (all stored in the clear) is easy for search engines to crawl and index, meaning it's probably been inadvertently copied several times.

Security journalist Brian Krebs called them to ask them about this, and they took their website down and fixed it. Sort of. If you're a Panera Bread customer, you can login with your account and access up to seven million other customers' data.



Another data point exposed in these records included the customer's Panera loyalty card number, which could potentially be abused by scammers to spend prepaid accounts or to otherwise siphon value from Panera customer loyalty accounts. It is not clear yet exactly how many Panera customer records may have been exposed by the company's leaky Web site, but incremental customer numbers indexed by the site suggest that number may be higher than seven million. It's also unclear whether any Panera customer account passwords may have been impacted. In a written statement, Panera said it had fixed the problem within less than two hours of being notified by KrebsOnSecurity. But Panera did not explain why it appears to have taken the company eight months to fix the issue after initially acknowledging it privately with Houlihan.

Panerabread.com Leaks Millions of Customer Records [Brian Krebs/Krebs on Security]
After the incredible success of the West Virginia teachers' strike, teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky walked out and now they're joined by teachers in Arizona  all four of these are "red" states that voted Trump in 2016.

Teachers' strikes are impossible to ignore, since so much of the workforce depends on public education for daytime child-care in addition to education  when teachers walk out, parents' ability to go to work is also impaired, meaning that a teacher's strike is a kind of warmup for a general strike.





The striking teachers are operating in states where GOP legislatures have destroyed or neutered their unions, leaving them without a tidy leadership hierarchy whose senior members can be co-opted for weak compromises. Instead, they are grassroots, radical and uncompromising.



The four striking states are also among the 29 states that are spending less on education now than they did before the great recession. Most states have bolstered their fiscal standing in recent years, and teachers are eyeing budgetary pies that are bigger than the lean post-recession years. "When we typically think of a strike, especially a teachers' strike, we think they would strike against management. But that's not what's happening. They're striking against the legislature," said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a center-right education think tank based in Washington. Legislators have been quick to back down in the face of teacher protests. In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice (R) promised legislation raising teacher pay just days after the strike began, though teachers stayed out of the classroom until he signed the bill. In Arizona, legislators have pledged quick action. In Oklahoma, Fallin signed the first pay increase even before teachers walked out. Kentucky, where crippling pension debt saddles the state budget, is the lone holdout. Gov. Matt Bevin (R) called teacher opposition to an earlier version of his pension reform plan "selfish and short-sighted."

Teachers flex political muscle in red-state strikes [Reid Wilson/The Hill]
A duo of grimly determined New Jersey cops were so certain that a man was in possession of marijuana that they went on a lengthy and energetic roadside expedition into his anus to find some. They were disappointed when they discovered the man's anus was empty, but they placed the man under arrest anyway, for having "the odor of marijuana." In the video, the suspect expresses his disbelief at what's happening in a performance worthy of Jeff Spicoli.

From APP:

In a dashcam video published by open government advocate John Paff, two State Police officers are seen ramming their hands down the pants of Jack Levine during a traffic stop. The officers were searching for marijuana after smelling the drug on him.

"If you think this is the worst thing I'm going to do to you right now, you have another think coming my friend," one of the troopers, identified on the video as Joseph Drew, tells Levine before beginning the cavity search.
Self-described roaring performance artist has a simple business model: he spouts outrageous lies to bring in an audience, then sells them quack remedies whose market has been proven by Gwyeneth Paltrow.



But chasing sensation is a fraught business. On February 14, Alex Jones reporter Kit Daniels falsely claimed that a random guy wearing a popular parody Karl Marx tee named Marcel Fontaine was the Parkland shooter, a claim that was repeated both verbatim and with variations by other right-wing news outlets, an elected Republican official, and many of Jones's followers. When the real shooter was revealed, Jones's followers  whom he counsels to mistrust "the mainstream media"  refused to believe that Daniels wasn't the shooter; instead, they claimed that Daniels was part of a "false flag" operation. Fontaine says that they demanded a correction from Jones, who did not comply.

Fontaine has filed a suit against Jones, his parent company, and his reporter, seeking more than $1 million in damages.

Ken White, a favorite legal analyst around these parts, says that the suit has serious defects that may doom it.



Because it includes so much background that isn't directly related to the article about Fontaine, Ken Whitea First Amendment litigator at Brown White & Osbornsaid the suit could run afoul of Texas state law. "The core of the lawsuitthat InfoWars falsely accused Mr. Fontaine of being the shooterstates a very plausible claim for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress," White told The Daily Beast. "The problem is that the complaint buries that core wrong into a general attack on InfoWars and Alex Jones and their fans." "That might make for good press, but it's dangerous," White continued. "Texas has a very strong anti-SLAPP law. If InfoWars can frame the lawsuit as being more broadly about the content of its speech in general (or about the speech of third-party commenters, for whom InfoWars is not responsible under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act), the plaintiff faces a real risk of an anti-SLAPP ruling."

Falsely Accused Parkland School Shooter Sues Alex Jones' InfoWars for Defamation [Betsy Woodruff/The Daily Beast]
Please join me this Thursday evening April 5 at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences NightLife event celebrating the Space Age! At 8:30pm, I'll be speaking about the Voyager Golden Record, the iconic message for extraterrestrials launched into space that my friends Tim Daly, Lawrence Azerrad, and I released on vinyl for the first time here on Earth. I'm honored to be joined in conversation by my friend and mentor Timothy Ferris, the bestselling science author who produced the original Voyager Record back in 1977.





There's a stellar lineup of other presenters and happenings at the museum that night too: NASA astronaut Ed Lu, a workshop with the Vintage Synthesizer Museum, a panel on NASA computing technology, space-themed pinball machines, Vetiver's Andy Cabic and DJ Daniel T on the turntables, plenty of far-out art, and much more. I hope to see you there: California Academy of Sciences NightLife: Space Age





The Voyager Golden Record 3xLP Vinyl Box Set and 2xCD-Book edition will be for sale at the event and also available from OzmaRecords.com.





Here's an audio sampler:












News / National

by Staff reporter

ZAPU President, Dumiso Dabengwa has accused the Zanu PF-led government of using State resources to sponsor fringe political parties into taking part in the country's harmonised elections.This, he claimed, was aimed at giving the polls some semblance of legitimacy in the event mainstream opposition parties decided to pull out due to what they find as an electoral environment skewed in favour of the ruling party.Addressing journalists at the Bulawayo Media Centre on Thursday, Dabengwa claimed that about 80 of the current political parties in the country were linked to Zanu PF."We are looking at the election and making our minds," said the former Home Affairs Minister."Remember, there are over 100 opposition parties that have now been formed and I can assure you that 80 percent of them are state sponsored."Taking into account that some major opposition parties decide to boycott the elections, that 80% will contest the elections and of course they will lose."
News / National

by Staff reporter

Chances of opposition political parties forming a grand coalition to battle with Zanu-PF at the forthcoming polls are narrowing to zero with more and more disjointed alliances emerging each day, the Daily News reported.While opposition leaders concur that the only way to end Zanu-PF's rule is through a combined effort to be carried out through a grand coalition, time seems to be running out for over 100 political parties that are seeking to end the ruling party's 37 years in power.Zanu-PF has been in power since 1980 when the country got its independence from Britain and has over the years been accused of running down the economy and dragging Zimbabweans to record poverty.But as each day passes, the dream of bringing all the opposition political parties together to field a single presidential candidate, while sharing parliamentary seats among the parties is becoming close to a nightmare, with high chances it will not come to fruition on time, if ever it will.Political analysts have said time is of essence in this cumbersome quest to bring minds of different political figures on the same page.Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme told the Daily News that the prospects of a grand opposition coalition were slim as all political parties in the opposition have different interests while some are mere plants of Zanu-PF.He said some of the opposition parties are not even aiming to be the next government but are contend with the official status of being opposition."The main opposition party has shown it's incompetence in coalition building and its lack of internal democracy and lack of tolerance for divergent views. How can such an intolerant outfit lead a grand coalition?" he queried."At the same time, the other coalitions are plagued with same problems  lack of internal democracy and intolerance to divergent views. You also have an army of independent candidates who don't feel they have to relate to any party or coalition."At best, the situation lands itself to five or so coalitions of opposition and not one grand coalition. The dream of a grand coalition is as far flung and a long shot as (Nelson) Chamisa's bullet train dream. It's not something that can be achieved in a short-term but in a few decades," added Saungweme.Already, several coalition groups have emerged Among these are MDC Alliance, a grouping of seven political parties headed by Chamisa, the MDC leader; the People's Rainbow Coalition, led by National People's Party (NPP) president Joice Mujuru and Coalition of Democrats led by Elton Mangoma.Mujuru's party has made it clear that it would need an equal representation of all the political parties involved.This alone will create problems especially with parties such as the MDC, which might need a large stake for commanding the highest number of supporters in the opposition.Rashweat Mukundu, a political analyst, said there are a lot of opportunists in the opposition, which makes it difficult for the members to speak with one voice.He said while a grand coalition is an important political vehicle to avoid splitting votes and galvanise the opposition message in challenging Zanu-PF, in the Zimbabwean case not much thought has been put into the meaning of coalitions and the value they add to the political contest.Instead, what the country has are groups of political leaders some who are free riders and also opportunistic party leaders seeking office."Coalition parties would normally bring historical legacy or something tangible to the table and so far none seem to meet this mark apart from MDC, (Tendai) Biti and Welshman (Ncube). So the existence of many parties is not a hindrance to coalitions as long as those coalition parties are viable in their own right," said Mukundu."This is not the case with many parties apart from MDC, People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the MDC led by Ncube. The rest are untested and almost adventure movements hoping to strike a chance at political office".Mukundu said the squabbles in the MDC Alliance are the clearest indication that alliances must be based on what you bring not what you will get."And the MDC Alliance needs a thorough review before the elections dropping free riders and responding to the hard questions of what each party brings to the table," he said.The major sticking points that have rendered the coalition to face serious hurdles include the issue of the name of the alliance, who would lead and how the seats will be allocated.For example, the NPP wants a coalition that has an all-inclusive; name, logo, symbol and slogan, which are neutral and not derived from one or some of the coalescing parties.Those that will be contesting as independent candidates have also created their own group known as People's Own Voice.While the confusion is stinking high, the chances of returning to sanity and build a tangible thing are also slowly vanishing.This is also happening at a time when the leading opposition political party, the MDC is also dogged with a serious leadership crisis that is set to throw its own fair share of confusion.Chamisa and Thokozani Khupe are fighting tooth and nail over the party's leadership position.Khupe has reportedly registered with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as MDC's presidential candidate, in a move that will create more problems for the party and the opposition as a whole.While, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, political analyst Shakespeare Hamauswa said the chances for these parties to work together are still there, adding that a single day is long in politics."In politics a day is too long for things to happen. It is still possible that most serious opposition parties can join hands. Since there are different coalitions, there can be coalition of coalitions. What is needed is the support of experienced facilitators to negotiations. Squabbles in MDC are normal and the good thing is the anti-Alliance members were booted out while concerns of those who remained were addressed through opening up all seats for open contest," Hamauswa said.However, the situation on the ground shows that for Hamauswa's averment to be achieved, it will take more than commitment and is nothing short of a miracle.Obert Gutu, who is associated with the Khupe camp, has made it clear that there is no room for negotiation with Chamisa, whom he accuses of illegally grabbing power."Some of us have always belonged to the MDC-T that respects and upholds the basic tenets of the party constitution. We are not going to waiver our well-grounded principles and convictions simply to go with the wind. No! We will, never, ever do that."We cannot bend the rules simply because that looks and feels convenient to do. We don't want to create another dictatorship. It is as simple as that. Anyone who thinks that they can bulldoze us into giving up our firmly held principles on democracy and constitutionalism is dreaming. That is not going to happen," Gutu said.This flies in the face of togetherness, which the parties are seeking build and achieve.Some of the coalition members still believe the parties will find one another along the way in time for the elections, pointing out that those that will not toe the line stands to lose out.The Ncube-led MDC said the dream is to bring everyone to the "big tent"."Efforts are still being made to have everybody on the train. Time is ticking away for those parties outside the cage. Those setting conditions risk being left behind. The MDC Alliance is the only game in town and president Nelson Chamisa is the people's choice. The Alliance has to continue with its journey to the promised land with or without comrades outside the cage."The MDC has been calling for a grand coalition for some time. Party structures gave MDC president Welshman Ncube the mandate to see and listen to political players in Zimbabwe. The MDC is behind Nelson Chamisa and the Alliance at the moment," the party's spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi told the Daily News.The other MDC Alliance member, PDP led by Biti, echoed Chihwayi's sentiments, saying the door is still open for other political parties to join."We have invited all parties to the MDC Alliance and the doors have not closed. What is clear from us is that we have a presidential candidate, and that will remain."We have a name for the alliance and that will remain. We have the key elements of the coalition in place we need those that are unseeing to come on board," PDP spokesperson Jacob Mafume said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

With Zimbabwe's leader Emmerson Mnangagwa in China for a seven day State visit, his 13th foreign trip this year, his frequent travel abroad is stirring an outbreak of mass ridicule with some failing to differentiate him from his predecessor.Sworn in as president on November 24 after 94-year-old Robert Mugabe was toppled via coup, Mnangagwa has clocked up trips to 13 nations in just five months since assuming office.Even more remarkable is the diversity of these destinations.President Emmerson Mnangagwa opted to hire a luxurious private plane to travel to China, abandoning the struggling national airliner Air Zimbabwe (AirZim), which has a plane of the same size albeit with no similar luxurious trappings.In a cocktail of austerity measures meant to preserve thinning foreign currency - Mnagwagwa's administration announced early this year that they were opting for a smaller plane to save money - but this time around when he travelled to China on a State visit, he used an A/C type B767 -200, registration number P4 CLA, a luxurious plane from Bahrain, owned by Switzerland-based Comlux Aviation.
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ally and deputy Finance and Economic Development Minister, Terrence Mukupe, has accused Nelson Chamisa's Movement for Democratic Change of plagiarizing the scarf design from his team.The former banker claims that he posted his team's design online a month ago.Said Mukupe, "So sad how the MDC lacks originality.... Clearly plagiarized the designs from my team that I posted online a month ago.... Plagiarism is the utopia of academic genocide confined to those with very empty heads and full of hot air!!! Anyway what's to be expected from those led by a boy who talks of constructing airports at village level to carry tomatoes from murehwa to sell in London!!!"
News / National

by Staff reporter

Zimbabwe's transwoman Tatelicious Karigambe-Sandberg - who shocked the world last year when she claimed that she was pregnant - has made another stunning claim that she has suffered a miscarriage.Karigambe-Sandberg - who is now based in Sweden - was born a man and made headlines in 2015 after saying she had undergone a sex-change procedure, before relocating to Europe.She announced in a Facebook video in November last year that she had fallen pregnant through the assistance of Swedish and German doctors.In another video on the same platform, she now claims to have lost the baby, giving hope to other women who might have gone through the same that; "miscarriages are not the end of the world"."We hope everyone is doing well in peace and happiness. Just after our wedding in December 2017, we faced real life trauma. It was just like a normal Wednesday evening watching TV with my husband then I started bleeding," she wrote on her Facebook page last week."Yes, we got very sacred and my husband rushed me to the hospital. Later that evening after being admitted in the hospital, we received news from the doctor that we had lost our baby."People have been asking what happened to the baby but we were not yet ready to reveal details. I wanna inspire all women who have faced miscarriages that: 'sometimes in times of tragedy, we find our life's purpose' we love you all and makatikoshera mufunge."People have been doubting the pregnancy and have been questioning Karigambe-Sandberg on what happened to it as she danced in an unusual manner for pregnant women.When she announced that she was pregnant, she was excited, describing it as a miracle, even adding on the mhururu kumatenga (praise to the heavens) song in the background while dancing with her husband Richard Sandberg."How are you our lovely Facebookers and everybody who is watching, we hope we find you well, we have some good news to tell you. Baby please tell our Facebookers and everybody who is watching the good news," Karigambe said to her husband."We are expecting our baby," Sandberg said."Tate is pregnant. A lot of people have been speculating but we wanted to keep it under the radar because I have been very sick reacting to this baby stuff thing. Yes, we are expecting our baby next year. We would like to appeal to ladies who have carried babies for nine months . . . you are so special because it's not easy," Karigambe took over the announcing."We are happy and we wanted to share the news with you. As a transgender woman also, I thought it was impossible but the doctors are doing their best to make sure transgender women live better and also as married women and those in relationships to make their lives better by carrying their own children."We cannot reveal the sex of the child yet, but you will know, we will keep you posted and please, please, give me some ideas ladies who have been pregnant because my legs are sore, and now I am just liking one type of food. I no longer want a variety. And I have changed my juice, no longer drinking red wine, now drinking orange juice."It is, however, not clear what kind of procedure she went through and whether she had a uterus transplant.Zimbabwe has a strong anti-gay, lesbian and transgender policy which has seen many of them being discriminated against and ostracised.Karigambe earlier revealed to the Daily News' sister paper The Weekend Post that she underwent surgery in India in 2013 to have vaginal plastic surgery and also underwent breast augmentation.
News / National

by Staff reporter

This simply isn't true. Let me be clear: no throwing our weight, no backing horses,  isn't backing ANYONE in the  election! We don't much care WHO wins. We care a lot HOW they win. And we'll continue to press all sides for a free and fair election.  Simon Thomas (@UKSimonT) April 3, 2018

The British Embassy in Zimbabwe has sought to distance itself from allegations that it is backing President Emmerson Mnangagwa to win in the upcoming 2018 harmonised elections.This comes after Professor Welshman Ncube, the spokesperson for the coalition MDC Alliance spoke out against the British and the Chinese for seemingly backing President Mnangagwa.Said Ncube, "We think it is inappropriate for the British and the Chinese to pick a horse in this election. They should, instead, insist on Zimbabwe abiding by international norms and standards for the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.Responding to the allegations, Simon Thomas, the Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy Harare said that his country did not care about who wins the polls. He insisted that his country's only interest in the election was that it should be conducted under free and fair conductions. Writing on microblogging site Twitter, Thomas said,A daily newspaper reported that Zimbabwe's upcoming general elections could have divided world leaders' opinion, with Britain and China throwing their weight behind President Emmerson Mnangagwa's candidature at a time the United States has remained sceptical of the Zanu PF leader and kept a soft spot on the youthful MDC-T presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa.British ambassador to Harare, Catriona Laing last week claimed that London and Harare were now "in a better place" than they were before former President Robert Mugabe's ouster last November.Laing told a State-controlled weekly she had, in the past few weeks, addressed investors keen on coming to Zimbabwe."In terms of value, the combined total value of UK projects approved by the Zimbabwe Investment Authority between 2014 and 2017 are more that $336 million. These projects are all at various stages of completion. If the elections go well and are endorsed by the international monitors, that will send a very positive signal to UK investors that the government is fulfilling its obligations and committed to the rule of law," Laing said."So what I am expecting following the elections is that companies that are in exploratory mode at the moment will move into more accelerated mode to actually start looking at prospects for real investment."The British envoy said Mugabe's removal presented a fresh start for the two countries, adding Zimbabwe should seize the opportunity for the next round of meetings with the International Monetary Fund to set its plan "up to the elections and beyond"."So I think we are in a better place . . . if we continue to see progress, then I hope that we will be able to move to the next stage and get to a point where Zimbabwe and Britain have full normal investment and trading relations. Then we can work together in fora like the United Nations and ensure that Zimbabwe plays its role as a good global citizen," she said.Laing added that Mnangagwa has made "positive" indications in the area of economic reform, but insisted that Britain "wants to see the next stage which the President (Mnangagwa) has committed to".
News / National

by AFP

President Xi Jinping greeted Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa as an "old friend" of China on Tuesday (Apr 3) as the African leader visited Beijing, which previously backed his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe.Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter in the 1960s, was met with a military honour guard at the Great Hall of the People on his first state visit outside of Africa.The two leaders oversaw the signing of six documents, including a letter on economic and development cooperation and another on emergency food assistance, as Mnanangwa seeks help from a major ally with historic ties to Zimbabwe."I heartily welcome President Mnangagwa on his visit to Beijing," Xi said as the two sat down for talks."You are an old friend of China and I appreciate your efforts to develop relations in all areas," he said.Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa from his job as vice president in November over a succession tussle with the first lady Grace Mugabe, leading to a military intervention that culminated with the veteran president's ousting and Mnangagwa taking office.The country's then-army chief, General Constantino Chiwenga, had visited Beijing shortly before the military action, leading to questions about whether China had any role in the power transfer.Chiwenga was named vice president in December. China denied it played any part in the transition.Beijing had long been one of Mugabe's most powerful allies and a major trade partner, as the West shunned him over his government's human rights violations, but it avoided publicly taking sides during his ousting."Last November Zimbabwe achieved a peaceful, smooth transfer of power that was broadly recognised by the international community," Xi said."I am willing to work with Mr. president (Mnangagwa) to jointly map out our future cooperation and write a new chapter in China-Zimbabwe relations for the benefit of our two peoples."Mnangagwa, wearing a scarf in the the colours of Zimbabwe's flag, told Xi he appreciated China's "political support and goodwill" following the "peaceful political transition in Zimbabwe".'SOCIALISM WITH ZIMBABWEAN CHARACTERISTICS'Mnangagwa has also been accused of playing a key role in his mentor Mugabe's authoritarian regime that left the economy in ruins and under sanctions.He was targeted by EU and US measures imposed on Mugabe and his close allies over violence and intimidation during Zimbabwe's 2008 presidential campaign.The visit comes as China takes a more proactive role in Africa, where it has long invested in infrastructure projects and sought resources. It has recently built its first overseas military base in Djibouti.Relations between China and Zimbabwe date back to the liberation struggle of the 1960s, when Beijing provided arms and trained some of the top guerrilla leaders including Mnangagwa.Before his arrival on Monday, Mnangagwa told China's official Xinhua news agency that his trip was aimed at thanking Xi and the Chinese people for supporting his country "during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us".He said he would seek to sell Zimbabwe as a destination for Chinese investment and take part in economic forums aimed at attracting business to the country.Zimbabwe was China's largest foreign supplier of tobacco, with some 40 percent of the product imported by the Asian country coming from the African nation.China also set up a joint venture with Zimbabwe in a diamond mining company, but Mugabe announced the nationalisation of the nation's diamond mines in 2016.Chinese companies have also been involved in projects to install a cellular phone network, expand a hydropower station and build a coal-fired power plant.Mnangagwa will meet Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday, then visit the eastern provinces of Anhui and Zhejiang before his visit ends on Friday.The Zimbabwean leader gave a nod to his host's political philosophy, "Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era.""I will take this mantra to Zimbabwe and hope to develop some socialism in Zimbabwe with Zimbabwean characteristics," he said.
News / Columnist

by Tatenda Gono

For over two decades, Zimbabwe has literally been in isolation, where the rest of the world was not keen on engaging the country especially on investment matters. No country is an island, especially with globalisation, Zimbabwe has a great need to be satisfied, through engagement, for it to realise economic growth, industrialisation and technological advancement.President Emmerson Mnangagwa, after his inauguration, went on several visits to SADC countries and engaged with other Heads of State, giving assurance on the need for cooperation and coordination with other neighbouring countries, especially considering that Zimbabwe does trade with these States. ED's mantra that "Zimbabwe is open for business" has the potential to assure foreign investors that their investment are safe under his administration.In the same manner, locals who have migrated to neighbouring countries are given equal assurance to take more interests in investing back home and guarantee the prosperity of our mother nation.Detractors who have recently been in the habit of criticising reengagements efforts being undertaken by President Mnangagwa should be reminded that with little or no investment, integration and association with various partners, Zimbabwe will remain on its knees with no development to look forward to. Cooperation from developed countries and those already ahead of Zimbabwe in different aspects would contribute immensely towards the future of the country.The same detractors should look beyond counting the number of times the aeroplane flies in and out but think of the accumulated benefits that come back with the travels. If one were to even count, the notable visits that the Head of State has been on include the visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, AU meeting in Kigali, Rwanda and his recent visit to China and these have a traceable record of the positive outcome that will benefit the country.After the historic commissioning of the $535 million expansion of the Kariba South Power station by Sino-hydro, a Chinese company, President Mnangagwa proceeded to China for a State visit. China has been Zimbabwe's all time weather friend, where vast investment opportunities have opened up through the cordial relationship that the two countries enjoy.Critiques should also note that the visits that President Mnangagwa has been on, are worth more, in terms of monetary value, as these have presented opportunities to unlock the investment potential that the President has also been on a drive to propagate to key markets. In any given case, the cost of setting up a business, any business in efforts to realise huge profits or outcomes is always expensive. One cannot expect economic recovery or a country to thrive when it is in isolation from other economic players and does not make efforts to borrow from those countries that have already made strides ahead.The country is at a time where it has to adopt and borrow ideas from developed and or developing countries as models to use with the intention to set the country on a recovery path. Recently, President Mnangagwa was in Kigali, Rwanda, for the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) where he commended Rwanda for realising a rapid industrialisation growth that Zimbabwe can adopt from.The idea of special economic zones is also one that was borrowed from China, after realising that the country benefits more by identifying viable economic projects identified in different localities and maximising for best outcomes. Another commendable visit that is bearing fruits has been the re-engagement with Botswana and Zambia over the Kazungula Bridge, a gateway to SADC's North South Corridor, which upon completion will enhance intra-trade in the region and beyond.President Mnangagwa has made minimal international visits, and unlike his predecessor, there has been a drastic cut on the entourage accompanying the Head of State taking into consideration the financial strain on the fiscus.At this point, it would be commendable for President Mnangagwa to continue on this reengagement path as positives are already visible on the ground. Ideas and models are borrowed, the same that can be used to develop the country and it is in such a manner that the President is seeking partnership through regional and international integration. The President is creating the country's destiny, knocking on doors that will eventually open to reveal good fortunes being sought after.
Opinion / Columnist

Land invasions were pushed into fashion by the Zanu-PF government way back in the year 2000 as the party desperately tried to find other ways to placate an increasingly restive population.Then, the law was swiftly amended to legitimise these otherwise illegal moves that were led by veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war.Former president Robert Mugabe is on record as having declared then that the courts had nothing to do with the land question. In other words, the country's Judiciary could not be involved where past injustices were being righted.Almost two decades down the line, former first lady Grace Mugabe must have forgotten how her husband used to treat land invaders.A recent edition of the Daily News carried a report on the invasion of the Mugabes Mazowe farm. Recent media reports suggested that the former first family owns about 21 farms.Zimbabweans are aware that the growth of the former first family's Mazowe empire actually displaced some innocent citizens, particularly at Arnold Farm, where we were made to understand that Grace wanted to create a wildlife sanctuary at the expense of human settlers, some of whom had been at Arnold for decades.Today, the former first family, by far nowhere close to the poorest in the country, cry foul when people invade their property.How things change!No one could ever imagine Grace going to a police station to file a report. The former first lady, who barely five months back was all powerful, could virtually make anyone cringe as she conveniently leveraged on the power and authority her husband used to command.Grace, a holder of a doctoral degree that is being investigated, has ruffled many feathers at the peak of her power.Last year, she had to exploit her husband's presidency then to evade arrest in South Africa after she was accused of assaulting model Gabriella Engels.Her abrasive character has never been adored by any right-thinking Zimbabwean.The Mazowe gold panners are citizens who have every right to exploit the resources of the country, especially when there is evidence that there are some who own more than they deserve.The case of the Manzou villagers is still fresh in our memories and the displacement of those desperate villagers is not morally correct.These are people who also have lives to live and are entitled to a fair share of the national cake. If it is true that the Mugabes own over twenty farms as reported, then they do not deserve any sympathy over the invasion of the Mazowe property.At some point, the expression that says; "What goes around comes around", seems to gain credence.
Opinion / Columnist

The Dumiso Dabengwa Foundation (DDF) which was formed by Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa to, among other things, push for restorative justice for the Gukurahundi and political violence victims in the country dating back to 1980, has released a letter that was used as evidence in Dabengwa's treason trial.Dabengwa was accused of asking Russia for arms to overthrow former President Robert Mugabe's government. Dabengwa and fellow colleague Lookout Masuku were later acquitted of treason charges in April 1983, but immediately rearrested and detained until Masuku's death in 1986.Read the letter below:28 April 1980The Honorable ChairmanKGBMoscowDear Comrade ChairmanIn connection with comrade Nkomo's personal request to you I am authorised by him to define more precisely some points and to make some additional explanations so that our stand could be more clear to you.Comrade Nkomo is unable to leave the country at the present due to the tense situation in the country which could develop to be explosive as a result of a provocative and aggressive conduct of ZANU elements aimed at assisting to bring into reality the pro-western policies of Mugabe. His candid inclination towards Anglo-American imperialists has already widely opened doors to the country for all governments that in the past contributed in suppressing the masses of Zimbabwe.The masses of Zimbabwe are deeply convinced that Mugabe has turned out to be actually more reactionary and pro-western than Muzorewa and that his policies will undermine the national interests of Zimbabwe and her people. It has also become clear that the British and USA governments intend to make a stance in their neo-colonialists aspirations and make Zimbabwe into a key country in the region for their Southern African axis of influence.This is why we are of the opinion that the greatest threat to Zimbabwe her national independence and sovereignty originates from UK and South Africa. Having in mind the above mentioned, we now request you comrade Chairman to render us further assistance in our next struggle against imperialist intrigues, and the subversive activities of their secret services against Zimbabwe. As far as the political power in Zimbabwe is concerned we consider this an internal affair for the people of Zimbabwe to decide.In order to start active work and to achieve better results as spelt out above we request you to allow your representative comrade Maxim to remain in Zambia under his present cover and to be allowed free access to all frontline states Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Botswana and Angola (perhaps Lesotho as well) so that he can lean in his work on the whole KGB facilities in this part of the world. We are confident that we can arrange his entry visits to Zimbabwe.I should further like to assure you that Comrade President Nkomo has already sought President Kaunda's consent on his (Maxim) continued stay in Zambia pending your approval.Contacts and consultations between us (NSO) and comrade Maxim we suggest should in future be arranged in all the frontline states mentioned above. In addition, we intend to station our NSO representative in Zambia for liaison functions.With warmest regardsDumiso DabengwaSecretary for NSO.
Alberta NDP tops 2017 fundraising but UCP close with only 5 months for donations

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley will meet with business leaders in Toronto and New York City next week as part of her push to get the Trans Mountain pipeline built to the West Coast.

"Economic leaders in this country must speak up with resolve and purpose," Notley told her caucus at a meeting before question period on Tuesday. "It's time."

Notley also plans to make her case at the North American Governors and Premiers Summit in Arizona from May 4 to May 6.

She currently chairs the Council of the Federation, which is made up of Canada's provincial and territorial premiers.

Notley intends to counter Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, who recently affirmed his opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in a news conference with B.C. Premier John Horgan.

Inslee said the project poses a potential threat to coastal waters. Notley reminded NDP MLAs and the media in the room that Inslee's state "welcomes hundreds of tankers" from Alaska each year.

"I will make sure that he and his fellow governors know that Canada backs Alberta," she said.

Notley said a bill to give Alberta the power to limit oil shipments to B.C. should be passed in the legislature this spring.
As stories emerge about the collection and use of data to influence political outcomes around the world, the question is turning to how democratic systems and institutions can stand up in the big data era.

Mike Larsen, president of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association and a professor of criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, says the fundamental understanding of how politics work is shifting.

"We are still operating with an analogue version of democracy in our heads," Larsen said. "We need to catch up with our imagination of what democracy is if we want to ensure that there are proper regulations in place."

The idea that political parties reach and woo voters through campaigns and advertisements is partially accurate but doesn't cover the whole picture, Larsen said.

Canadian whistleblower Chris Wylie recently told a British parliamentary committee that he believed believed that a Victoria-based firm, AggregateIQ (AIQ), had drawn on the databases of British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica for its work on the Brexit referendum.

The data would be used, he said, to influence what certain voters saw on social media.

His understanding, he told the committee, was that AIQ was targeting people who were seen as key to swaying the result of the referendum.

Wylie made the comments following revelations that Cambridge Analytica used the data of 50 million Facebook users to target them digitally. Wylie helped found the firm.

"Increasingly, politics is driven by digital analytics and these kind of predictive processes," Larsen told Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's The Early Edition.

Society-wide conversation

Canadians are far from immune to data analytics for political manipulation, Larsen emphasized.

"This is now baked into our system," he said. "We haven't had a really detailed conversation as a society about what this means, what we want to see in terms of transparency on these issues so we are playing catch up on this."

Story continues

For Richard Smith, a professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, informed and ongoing consent from tech companies about how people's personal data is being used is key.

"People imagine they might be getting advertising, I don't think they imagine they would be getting manipulation of the kind that goes into political campaigns," Smith said.

Social media is not all bad though, he said, and can be used to support democratic processes if the proper regulations are in place.

"Democracy is built on communication technology from the telephone to radio and it's adapted to those new technologies," he said. "I'm hopeful that with careful consideration we can adapt to this and also control it."

With files from The Early Edition.
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia has intercepted a boat carrying 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar off its northern island of Langkawi, authorities said on Tuesday, with rights groups expecting further perilous journeys by sea after last year's surge in violence in Myanmar. The boat had stopped at an island in southern Thailand on Saturday after a storm, with officials there saying the refugees were heading to Malaysia. It had set sail from central Rakhine state in Myanmar, the U.N. refugee agency said. "Generally all 56 passengers, mostly children and women, are safe but tired and hungry," Malaysian navy chief Admiral Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin told Reuters. "We have provided them with water, food and other humanitarian assistance." According to UN and other rights groups, some 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya fled their homes in Rakhine into Bangladesh after militant attacks in August last year sparked a military crackdown that the United Nations and Western countries have said constitutes ethnic cleansing. Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejects that charge, saying its forces have been waging a legitimate campaign against "terrorists" who attacked government forces. Tens of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar by sea following an outbreak of sectarian violence in Rakhine in 2012, some falling prey to human traffickers. That exodus peaked in 2015, when an estimated 25,000 people fled across the Andaman Sea for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, many drowning in unsafe and overloaded boats. Due to the fresh outbreak of violence in Myanmar, rights groups expect another surge in Rohingya boats reaching Southeast Asia, during the months the seas are calmer, even if not at the levels of three years ago. Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Director General Zulkifili Abu Bakar said the refugees would be allowed to enter the country on humanitarian grounds. "They will be handed over to the Immigration Department," he told Reuters in a text message. Muslim-majority Malaysia, which has not signed the U.N. Refugee Convention and treats refugees as illegal migrants, is already home to more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees. (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi and Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Mayor Brian Bowman says he, like the former board of Manitoba Hydro, has a hard time getting face-to-face meetings with Premier Brian Pallister.

Bowman said Tuesday that he finds it easier to meet with the prime minister of Canada than the premier of his own province.

"I've made many efforts to meet with the premier and will continue to do so. I've reached out on many occasions," Bowman said.

Since Pallister's Progressive Conservative party was elected in May 2016, Bowman has had just "a couple meetings" with the premier.

Difficulty getting a meeting with the premier was also cited when most of the Manitoba Hydro board resigned last month.

"It's more helpful when you can get that face-to-face dialogue," Bowman said. "I represent a city that has 70 per cent of the population in Manitoba and 75 per cent of the province's GDP."

In comparison, Bowman said he speaks "quite regularly" with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"I've met a lot with the prime minister. He's been very available for dialogue and I do appreciate that."

While Bowman has chatted with Trudeau as part of the regular gatherings of big city mayors, he noted "we have had one-on-one meetings on several occasions."

'Numerous meetings' with mayor: Pallister

The premier, however, disputed Bowman's tally of the number of the number of meetings they've had, counting informal encounters the two have had at events outside the Legislative Building.

"Lots of ways to meet without meeting face-to-face," Pallister said Tuesday.

"We live in the same city and we have had numerous meetings on several occasions outside of my office. I would also say I've met with the prime minister more frequently than the mayor as well."

Since he was injured in a hiking accident last year, Pallister said he hasn't been able to have as many meetings as he would like, and hopes to hold more meetings in the future.

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Opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the premier has a problem with his management style.

"He concentrates all power in his office and then he turns out the lights to his office and refuses to engage with people in any meaningful way," Kinew said.

Pallister rejected the notion that he doesn't delegate decisions, and said his ministers and senior staff are available.

"I've been attacked for controlling everything and I've been attacked for not being available. You can't have it both ways. I have a team of ministers that I think is second to none. I respect their work. I support their work," Pallister said.

Bowman said he met frequently with Pallister's predecessor, Greg Selinger, when the NDP was in power. But he said all leaders are different.

"Everyone is going to have their own style of government, I recognize that," the mayor said. "I try to be as accessible as possible but I don't get to meet with everybody that wants to meet with me, either."

Pallister was heavily criticized late last month when nine members of the 10-member board of directors for Hydro resigned en mass. The only member who remained was Progressive Conservative MLA Cliff Graydon.

A statement from board chair Sandy Riley cited multiple points of disagreement with the province but primarily that the board couldn't get an audience with the premier.

"I've never seen anything like that before. Certainly, I raised my eyebrows when I learned of the resignations," Bowman said Tuesday.

"The individuals that were on the board, these are folks with incredible integrity. These are solid community builders."

Money for Winnipeg roads

There was some potentially good news for the city from the province Tuesday, though. Pallister said the province submitted a request to the federal government to access millions of dollars in funding for road renewals just in time to meet a March 31 application deadline.

The City of Winnipeg was anxious for the province to apply for up to $182 million in matching funding for regional roadwork under a federal infrastructure plan, but on Tuesday Pallister said the amount of funding available is closer to $120 million.

Pallister said the details of the project are still to be announced.

"Without getting into too much minutiae, the bulk of it is for the City of Winnipeg. But we have some other, I would call them public safety projects around the province we have to prioritize that are important. So there will be more. Stay tuned. We will let you know as soon as we get the confirmations finalized," he said.

Bowman says Winnipeg's infrastructure deficit is nearly $6.9 billion and every cent of funding would help with the effort.
A 5-year-old Missouri boy accidentally shot and killed his 7-year-old brother while looking for candy in a drawer on Saturday, according to the boys' family. The shooting marks the 150th time a child has been injured or killed by gun violence in 2018, according to a nonprofit that tracks firearm fatalities.

The victim, identified by family as Jermon Perry, was shot in the head while at his south St. Louis home. Jermon and his two brothers had been upstairs playing video games when the shooting occurred, the family said. The incident was confirmed by police in a statement to Newsweek.

"Preliminary investigation revealed three brothers were inside the residence upstairs while adults, including the parents, were downstairs in the home," a spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said. "It is believed that one of the boys retrieved a gun from another room and fired a gunshot, striking victim in the head. The gun was recovered inside the residence. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are being investigated."

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After the shooting, emergency responders scrambled to the scene and rushed the boy to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead after spending several hours in critical condition.

The distraught family told local news outlets they believe the 5-year-old was likely looking for candy in a dresser drawer and stumbled upon the gun, perhaps mistaking it for a toy. The firearm was kept holstered in one of the top drawers and belonged to Jermon's father, Jericho Perry, who had a concealed carry permit, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

March for Our Lives rally



Protesters at a March for Our Lives rally against gun violence gather along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., on March 24.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

He never thought the kids would get to the gun, Erica Jones, a close friend who is acting as a spokesperson for the family, told the Post-Dispatch. They were in [an] upstairs bedroom, and their mother was in the kitchen cooking."

Story continues

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Jones added that candy was usually kept hidden from the boys to prevent them from overeating.

"The Homicide Division and the Child Abuse Division responded and are handling the investigation as a Suspicious Sudden Death," the department said. Police declined to comment further on the shooting, citing an active investigation.

Missouri is among the more lax states when it comes to gun control restrictions, according to the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Jermon is one of two children killed by gun violence on March 31, according to the Gun Violence Archive. In the other case, a 4-year-old girl, identified as Nyla Jones, was fatally shot in the mouth during an argument between her mother and father at her home in Florida. The father later turned himself into police.

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"Its another unfortunate, senseless act of violence that needs to stop," Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on Twitter. "People need to find other ways to resolve conflict aside from picking up a gun."

Two other children were injured in shootings on April 1, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Firearm generic



In St. Louis, a little boy killed his older brother in a shooting that appears to be an accident.

Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images

The shootings come amid a groundswell of support for increased gun control, due in part to the activism of students who survived the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14. As a result, the state enacted legislation to combat gun violence, even extending the age restriction for long guns to 21, although it still ranks among states that have lenient purchasing policies.

More than 155,000 new volunteers have joined Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America since the Florida shooting, according to the organizations.

What's more, an additional 40 mayors have joined the Mayors Against Illegal Guns alliance, including 10 from states that President Donald Trump, an ardent supporter of the NRA, won in the 2016 election, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from Newsweek
E-Textbooks

Ohio Consortium Textbook Deals to Save Students Nearly $40 Million a Year

Students in the state of Ohio could potentially save $39.7 million annually on the cost of their textbooks, thanks to a new wholesale pricing deal. OhioLINK, a consortium of academic libraries across the state's colleges and universities, has secured agreements with four major textbook publishers  John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill Education, Pearson and Macmillan Learning  to reduce the wholesale price of e-textbooks by up to 80 percent and courseware by up to 55 percent for member institutions.

The wholesale pricing model was developed "to lessen variances in both institutional budgets and institutional readiness to implement inclusive access, a course content solution that gives students access to classroom materials from day one," the news announcement explained. The deal focuses on lower division courses with high enrollment and textbook titles widely assigned at Ohio institutions.

"Service to students is our motivation, and making affordable learning easier for institutions is our goal. It's a price agreement and thus an opportunity for our members; it is not a mandate," noted OhioLINK Executive Director Gwen Evans, in a statement. "It allows institutions to do what they are already doing with inclusive access, only at a lower price. If they aren't doing anything with inclusive access yet, having a pre-negotiated and established model is an excellent incentive to get started. OhioLINK set the table; institutions, faculty and students will decide independently whether to join in and when."

"The cost of textbooks has an impact on not only a student's overall college costs, but also the rate of that student's success. Knowing that, we have made reducing textbook costs one of our top priorities, and it's a primary way to make higher education more affordable for all students," commented John Carey, chancellor for the Ohio Department of Higher Education. (OhioLINK is part of the Ohio Department of Higher Education's OH-TECH consortium.) "This announcement from OhioLINK has the potential to positively impact thousands of students. In addition, our higher education libraries have been leaders in other affordable learning initiatives such as open educational resources and alt-textbook programs, and OhioLINK is supporting those as well."

OhioLINK member institutions will work directly with the individual publishers to participate in the wholesale pricing arrangement.
As a part of the brands 50th anniversary, today Davidoff has announced the return of the Davidoff Seleccion 702 Limited Edition 2009. As the name indicates, this is a cigar that was last released back in 2009.

The Davidoff Seleccion 702 Limited Edition 2009 derives its name from the 702 wrapper that covers the cigar. This is a Habano wrapper grown in Ecuador exclusively for Davidoff. It originates from Finca San Juan in the Ecuadorian province of Cotopaxi. In addition to the 702 wrapper, the Davidoff Seleccion 702 Limited Edition features a San Vincente binder, and a combination of San Vincente, Piloto Cuban, and Olor tobaccos. The cigar is available in one size  a 6 5/8 x 48 Toro Especial. A total of 2,000 boxes will be produced.

The Davidoff Seleccion 702 Limited Edition will make its return to the U.S. market in May.

Last year, when Davidoff announced the Davidoff 702 Series, numerous cigar media outlets mistakenly reported this as the return of the Seleccion 702. The only common denominator with the Seleccion 702 and the 702 Series was the 702 wrapper. Basically, the 702 Series took the Ecuadorian-grown wrapper and applied it to some existing Davidoff White Label blends. Davidoff has also used the 702 wrapper on several limited edition releases as well as the Davidoff, Zino, and AVO brands.

At a glance, here is a look at the Davidoff Seleccion 702 Limited Edition 2009:

Blend Profile

Wrapper: 702 Habano from Ecuador

Binder: San Vicente Seco from the Dominican Republic

Filler: San Vicente Ligero, Piloto Seco, Piloto Ligero and Olor Seco from the Dominican Republic

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Cigars Davidoff)

Vitolas Available

Toro Especial: 6 5/8 x 48

Photo Credits:  Oettinger Davidoff AG, used with permission
TUESDAY, April 3, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- While few older Americans have used medical marijuana, many support it under the right conditions, a new survey finds.

The national poll of more than 2,000 people aged 50 to 80 found that only 6 percent said they'd used marijuana for medical reasons, while 18 percent said they know someone who has done so.

Yet 80 percent of the respondents said they support medical marijuana use if it's recommended by a doctor, 40 percent support marijuana use for any reason, and two-thirds said the government should do more to assess the drug's health effects.

More than two-thirds believe marijuana can ease pain, but about half said they thought prescription pain medications were more effective than marijuana, according to the National Poll on Health Aging, which was released April 3.

The poll was conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, and sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the university's academic medical center.

Only 20 percent of respondents said their primary care provider had asked them if they use marijuana, but 70 percent said they would definitely or probably ask their provider about marijuana if they had a serious medical condition that might respond to the drug.

"With medical marijuana already legal in 29 states and the District of Columbia, and other states considering legalizing this use or all use, this is an issue of interest to patients, providers and policymakers alike," poll director Dr. Preeti Malani, a specialist in the treatment of older patients, said in a university news release.

"Although older adults may be a bit wary about marijuana, the majority support more research on it," said Alison Bryant, senior vice president of research for AARP. "This openness to more research likely speaks to a desire to find safe, alternative treatments to control pain."

More information

The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has more on medical marijuana.
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On January 15, the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission ruled that online news group Rappler had violated laws barring foreign ownership and control of local media, and moved to revoke its registration.

The ruling was based on accusations that Rappler received funds from the Omidyar Network, a fund created by eBay founder and entrepreneur Pierre Omidyar to promote open societies.

Maria Ressa, Rapplers founder and editor, has challenged what she and others at Rappler see as a politicized decision aimed at stifling critical coverage of President Rodrigo Dutertes government and policies, including a lethal war on drugs campaign that has resulted in thousands of deaths.

Rappler, renowned for its unflinching coverage of Dutertes many controversial policies, actions and utterances, continues to operate while the Securities and Exchange Commissions decision is under appeal. [EDITORS NOTE: Duterte denied to the press that the action against Rappler is political.]

In an email interview with CPJ, Ressa spoke about the state of press freedom in the Philippines and the harassment that she says Rapplers reporters continue to face.

The Philippines has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. How has the press freedom situation changed under President Duterte?

Its gotten significantly worse. In more than 30 years that Ive worked as a journalist in Southeast Asia, I havent seen a rollback of press freedom in our region as much as were seeing today.

American tech platforms, which once promised greater freedom and civic engagement [in the Philippines,] are now being used to stifle dissenting opinions and legitimate questions.

Even worse, hate is being used to pound fracture lines in society and target those who ask the questions, helping to create a spiral of silence.

In the Philippines, social media was weaponized about a month after President Duterte won the elections, and the first targets were people who questioned the drug war and [its] extrajudicial killings.

Artificially manufactured narratives aiding strongman rulers are seeded and [] spread on social media to cripple already weak institutions and erode press freedom. That forms the foundation for the governments own attacks against news organizations and journalists.

From banning reporters from coveragea right guaranteed by the Philippine Constitutionto numerous harassment suits against us, the governments goal is clear: It wants journalists to align with its narrative or bear the consequences of having massive state resources trained against it.

Why, in your opinion, has Dutertes government singled out Rappler for harassment and retribution?

Were young, weve scaled [in size of staff and coverage], and were aggressive. Were a startup that has no traditional media products, [is] guided by the standards and ethics of traditional journalism, [and uses] technology to reach new audiences.

Duterte and the bloggers who helped his campaign know first-hand the power of our community, which is younger and more millennial-focused than our peers in traditional media.

We punch above our size, a 100-person strong organization competing against newsrooms of more than 1,000 people, but our size also makes us vulnerable.

Since we live online, we saw the scorched earth tactics on social media, using disinformation to rewrite history and to reframe narratives. We gathered the data and exposed the growth and tactics of the propaganda machine. That was when we became a target.

The attacks by government against Rappler were first seeded in social media nearly a year before President Duterte attacked us and cases were filed.

Ironically, the first salvo was fired by the now head of social media at the [Presidential] Palace, who posted that Rappler was allegedly funded by the CIA, while another content creator for the propaganda machine alleged foreign ownership, a charge that months later was officially taken up by President Duterte himself.

How has the Securities and Exchange Commission decision against Rappler impacted your organizations ability to cover the news?

The Palace has effectively banned Rappler from access to President Duterte, seeming to prove this government doesnt want to answer hard questions. [Editors note: A presidential spokesperson told reporters in February that Rappler was banned from covering official presidential events and a reporter was barred from entering the Presidential Palace over claims that the outlet publishes fake news.]

This move was triggered by an anomalous purchase for the Philippine Navy that involved the quick firing of its head. Until now, the Palace has refused to answer substantial questions. At the Senate hearing, it side-stepped by calling Rappler fake news.

This is the first time this has happened after the 1986 people power revolt that ousted a dictator [Ferdinand Marcos]. Despite that, there is a lot of work to be done and we continue to do investigative reports and focus on under-covered issues.

Have you and your reporters been harassed or threatened since the commissions ruling?

The online harassment has been going on for more than a year and a half, but most journalists seem to now take these attacks as par for the course. Women, of course, are attacked more frequently with an exponential rise in sexist and misogynistic attacks.

The difficulty, of course, is knowing when it crosses the line from the virtual to the real world. When does inciting to violence, exponential now through technology, lead to violence? Weve had more cases filed against us, which has added to our workload and expenses.

As of March 30, eight government agencies have either cut access or filed cases, most of them trumped up and ludicrous.

[CPJ could not verify the number of cases filed against Rappler.]

Are you hopeful that Rappler will win its appeal against the commissions decision?

Theres no doubt this will be an uphill battle. As many have told me, You cant fight City Hall. We didnt choose this. We are only doing our jobs: to hold government accountable to the people. While the political motive is clear, I have to believe there are good men and women who will hold the line with us.

Do you think that by targeting Rappler the government aims to send a warning to other Philippine media against critical news coverage?

Absolutely, thats the primary purpose. The governments tactics and intent are clear: follow, stay silent, or face the consequences. It chose to target an example in business, politics, and media.

How has the rise of pro-government online trolling under Duterte changed the reporting environment for Filipino journalists?

Its a whole new world that cuts down institutions and news organizations systematically, creating and hammering narratives that erode trust in everyone and everything, giving the voice with the loudest megaphone incredible power.

In this case, its President Duterte who effectively controls all three branches of government. Technology has enabled autocratic regimes around the world to roll back democracy.

Do you think the online threats represent a concerted government campaign to instill a culture of fear and self-censorship among reporters? If so, is it working?

Yes. And its working.

[EDITORS NOTE: CPJ has previously received financial support from the Omidyar Network]
Intel is exploring the creation of specialty hardware for mining the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin, according to a U.S. patent application released Thursday.

The patent, filed on Sept. 23, 2016, describes a Bitcoin mining hardware accelerator that may include a processor core with a hardware accelerator coupled with it.

Bitcoin mining is the process of using powerful computer processors to record Bitcoin transactions on a public ledger, which is done by attempting to solve cryptographic puzzles. If the miner becomes the first to solve the puzzle and record the next transaction, it is rewarded with newly released Bitcoin.

The high energy and equipment costs associated with mining have brought into question whether the activity can be profitable, especially as the price of Bitcoin has nose-dived in the past few months, as noted by Forbes . But that hasn't stopped people from hoarding equipment  one report from Coherent Market Insights pegged the cryptocurrency mining market at $610 million in 2016 and expects it to grow to $38 billion by 2025. The current issues faced by miners also has propelled companies and individuals to find new technologies and methods for making mining more efficient.

That's where Intel comes in. According to its new patent, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said it has devised a way to reduce "the space utilized and power consumed by Bitcoin mining hardware."

Intel did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Randy Copeland, president of Velocity Micro, a Richmond, Va.-based systems builder and Intel partner, told CRN that his company has built cryptocurrency mining rigs for universities, researchers and others interested in learning more about the space, but he doubts mining could be a sustainable business in the U.S. because of high energy costs.

"Once this new Intel technology comes to market, ultimately more people will mine again because it's profitable again, driving down the market value of the coins, and finding a new market balance that will again put locations with lower electricity costs back at the advantage," he said in an email.

On the other hand, Copeland said, he expects blockchain computing  which is the decentralized ledger technology Bitcoin relies on and can be used for high-security data transfers  would likely have more of a future with U.S. customers and hardware vendors.

At least one other solution provider has shown interest in selling cryptocurrency mining rigs.

Maingear, a Kenilworth, N.J.-based systems builder and Intel partner, said in January that the company is releasing a custom-built cryptocurrency mining rig later this year (the company is even accepting a digital currency called UnikoinGold as payment for all sales).

Wallace Santos, CEO of Maingear, did not respond to a request for comment.

For Intel, this isn't the first time the semiconductor company has shown interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain, as noted by CoinTelegraph. Last year, the company unveiled three partnerships in the space, including with Chinese firm Tencent for an Internet of Things blockchain solution.
According to recently published global study, India is among countries which are at greatest risk of food insecurity due to weather extremes caused by climate change. The study had examined how climate change could affect vulnerability of different countries mainly 122 developing and least-developed countries (mostly in Asia, Africa and South America) to food insecurity  when people lack access to sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. It examined projected changes in weather extremes and their implications for freshwater availability and vulnerability to food insecurity.

Key Findings

Climate change caused by 2 degrees Celsius global warming is expected to lead to more extremes of both heavy rainfall and drought, with different effects in different parts of world. Such weather extremes will increase vulnerability to food insecurity. The countries at greatest vulnerability to food insecurity due to climate change are Oman, India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.

Global warming is expected to lead to wetter conditions on average causing floods and putting food production at risk. But agriculture may also get harmed by more frequent and prolonged droughts in some areas caused by climate change.

Wetter conditions are expected to have biggest impact in South and East Asia, with most extreme projections suggesting flow of River Ganges could more than double at 2 degrees Celsius global warming. Some areas are projected to see increase in flood event lengths of 4 days or more, particularly India and Bangladesh, for which such increases are projected in all ensemble members to some extent.

The areas worst affected by droughts are expected to be southern Africa and South America  where flows in Amazon River are projected to decline by up to 25%. Some climatic change is already unavoidable, but if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, this vulnerability is projected to remain smaller approximately 76% of developing countries than at 2 degrees Celsius
Bangladesh: Hilsa prices spike as Pahela Baishakh fuels demand

April 03,2018 | Source: BD News24

The price of large and small hilsa has risen by Tk 200-300 per kg in a week at Dhakas Mirpur-6 bazar, Rupnagar bazar and Mohakhali market. Traders say that customers are buying hilsa early for Pahela Baishakh. The excess demand has caused prices to increase by the day.



A 1kg hilsa fish was selling for Tk 1,200 to Tk 1,400 at the Mirpur-6 bazar. But few fish of that size were available. Hilsa fish weighing 800-900gm were sold at Tk 1,100 per kg. Hilsa of 600-800gm was selling between Tk 700-800 per kg. Hilsa fish of 400-500gm was selling for Tk 600 per kg.



The price of hilsa has risen at least Tk 200-300 in the last week, fish trader Dadon Mia told bdnews24.com. The Mirpur-6 bazar trader said the price spike was linked to rising prices at the Karwan Bazar storehouse. The storehouse keepers raised the price as the demand has risen. As a result, we have been forced to raise the prices. Traders at Mirpurs Rupnagar Bazar had also increased the price of hilsa fish by Tk 200-300 per kg. The Mohakhali bazar had a limited stock of hilsa compared to that of other fish. Only two traders were selling hilsa fish. They had also increased their prices.
Odisha: Ban in turtle zone makes life tough for Odisha fishermen

April 03,2018 | Source: The New Indian Express

The seven-month fishing ban along the 20 km stretch off Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in Kendrapara district to protect the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles has brought environmentalists and local marine fishermen into conflict.Conservationists want a fishing ban to protect the turtles, but marine fisherfolks, who have fished for generations, have launched an agitation to protect their fishing rights. Manas Behera (30) of the seaside Kansarbadadandua village in Kendrapara district was arrested by the forest guards with the help of coast guard on February 10 on charges of fishing in the marine sanctuary. Forest guards also seized the boat. He, along with six fishermen, were released on February 17 after spending a week in jail.



I was released from jail but the forest officials are yet to hand over my boat to me. I had incurred loan of `2 lakh from a bank last year to purchase the boat. I have been running from pillar to post to get back my boat, said a worried Manas. The large capital required to build fishing trawlers is beyond my means as a trawler costs around Rs 20 lakh to Rs 35 lakh. I purchased a trawler by availing loan of Rs 20 lakh from a bank two years back. But last month, forest officials seized my trawler in Gahirmatha for which I am now in deep trouble. For us, fishing nets and trawlers have been our breadwinner, said Bharat Mandal of Suniti village.



Like Manas and Bharat , the fate of a large number of marine fishermen of Kendrapara district and its nearby areas is now at stake after forest officials arrested them and seized their fishing vessels from the marine sanctuary. Future looks gloomy for around 20,000 marine fishermen of the district and its nearby areas after the authority imposed fishing ban from November 1 May 31 on the 20 km stretch off the coast on the sea within the marine sanctuary, said Narayan Haldar, a leader of the fishermen and the president of Odisha Matsyajibi Forum.



The Government had stopped us from fishing for more than seven months. What else can I do? Fishing is all I know. Theres nothing else to do here, said Durga Charna Mana, a fisherman of Baulakani village. The State Government has imposed seven-month fishing ban to protect the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, the worlds largest rookery of sea turtles. Trawlers and boatmen have been directed not to fish within 20 km from coastline in the marine sanctuary areas covering 35 km from Aagaranasi to Dhamara. We have already arrested 380 fishermen and seized 81 fishing vessels on charges of illegally fishing in the marine sanctuary. The Government, under Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZM), has been providing alternative livelihoods to traditional marine fishermen of the district, said Subrat Kumar Patra, forest range officer of the sanctuary.
Two Indonesian men have been arrested for having gay sex.





The university students had their rooms raided by residents in Aceh, the only region of the Muslim-majority country where Shariah law is in effect and gay sex is illegal. 





Condoms and mobile phones belonging to the 21 and 24-year-old were handed over to police.





If found guilty, the men face being sentenced to 100 lashes at a public caning.





Marzuki, head of the Aceh Provincial Sharia Law Department, told local reporters that one of the men had confessed to the charges.





Last year, two men were caned 83 times each as a legal punishment for having gay sex.





Marzuki said then that residents in the local area had been suspicious of the men because they of their apparent intimacy, and deliberately set out to catch them having sex.





While homosexuality has never been illegal in Indonesia, attitudes towards LGBT people have become steadily more extreme across the country in recent years despite a growing gay population.





The Indonesian Psychiatrists Association classifies homosexuality, bisexuality and being transgender as illnesses.





And earlier this year, Indonesian police arrested 12 transgender women in Aceh and shaved their heads in an effort to turn them into men.





The raid on salons was called operasi penyakit masyarakat, which translates as community sickness operation.





The police chief in Aceh said his officers also humiliated the trans women by way of having them run for some time and telling them to chant loudly until their male voices came out.









A bill with the support of most of the countrys main political parties is making its way through the legislative process.





Amendments have been accepted by the House of Representatives, but the whole Parliament must sign off on the bill before it makes its way to the Presidents desk.





Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch said the new law will create new discriminatory offences that do not exist in the current criminal code.





It will slow down Indonesias efforts to develop their economy, society, knowledge [and] education  if law enforcement agencies are busy policing morality.





Its sounding like the Acehnese sharia code, he added.





The day after the two men were caned last year, 141 men were arrested in Jakarta, the capital, for having a gay sex party.

























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Joint Statement of Center for Prisoners' Rights and Japan Innocence & Death Penalty Information Center to call Japanese government for a sincere dialogue:





Condemning the government for refusing a dialogue with international community and not accepting capital punishment as a human rights issue





Introduction





The United Nations Human Rights Council completed the third cycle of the Universal Periodic View of Japan on 19 March 2018.





The stance of the Japanese government regarding the treatment of prisoners and capital punishment opposed our view. The government has promised efforts to improve prison conditions in principle, but it has not accepted any recommendations regarding capital punishment.





Foreign views of Japan: Promises to improve the treatment of prisoners





In regard to prisoner treatment within Japan, several foreign countries have made recommendations. Panama has called for the modification of regulations concerning solitary confinement. Sweden and Canada have called for the improvement of medical and dental care, as well as the implementation of heating and cooling at all institutions. France requested greater protection of the rights of those sentenced to death. Denmark urged stricter conformity with the Standard Minimum Rules on Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules). Spain and Zambia issued similar recommendations. Many governments recommended that Japan accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.





Although the Japanese government did not clearly accept these recommendations, it has reported progress in improving prison conditions. Among these are medical care and the installation of heating and cooling. It has also indicated that inmates sentenced to death have been treated appropriately.





Needless to say, Japanese penal facilities still face serious problems in regard to medical care, the lack of heat, and solitary confinement. We note that due to the introduction of Correctional Medical Staff Act, and, the establishment of the East Japan Correctional Medical Center, prisons' medical staffing and medical services have been improved.





However, many inmates claim that it takes many days to see a doctor, and that access to adequate medical care is often denied. Few facilities have proper heating or cooling systems, except for those units in the extreme regions. Some inmates even suffer from frostbite.





Nonetheless, we appreciate that the government shares these concerns, and promises to make efforts for improvement in response to the international community's recommendations.





Not accepting all recommendations regarding death penalty





In this year's review, 37 countries called for the abolition of capital punishment, or, a moratorium on the use of capital punishment, as well as the ratification of the second optional protocol to ICCPR. These include the following specific and relatively easy-to-implement recommendations:





1) establishing a moratorium on the application of the death penalty, and the abolishment of capital punishment (Brazil).





2) a system of mandatory appeals in death penalty cases (Switzerland); ensuring the protection of the rights of those sentenced to death, by guaranteeing among other things the suspensive effect of any appeal request or claim to review the trial (France).





3) designation of an official body to promote informed debate on the reform of the death penalty (Austria).





4) consideration of a capital punishment moratorium, and public debate about the future use of the death penalty (Canada).





Nevertheless, the Japanese government did not accept any of these recommendations. It retorted, "Japan believes that each sovereign country should be allowed to make decisions on the issue of the death penalty independently. Domestic public opinion, the existence of extremely vicious crimes, and other factors make abolishment of the death penalty inappropriate. A temporary moratorium is also inappropriate, since the final judgement must be executed impartially and thoroughly under the rule of law."





It is clear that the Japanese government denies that capital punishment is a fundamental human rights issue based on article 6 of the ICCPR. Such a stubborn attitude raises serious concerns about Japan's commitment to promoting human rights.





The government's response to the foreign community is unforgivable





The Japanese government has continued executions, even after the past 2 cycles of the UPR. The government executed 3 death row inmates on 17 June 2008, immediately after the outcome document of the 1st cycle was adopted on 12 June 2008. It executed 2 death row inmates on April 26, 2014, 1 month after the outcome document of the 2nd cycle was adopted on 14 March 2013. On 14 March 2018, when the UN Human Rights Council was about to adopt another outcome document, the Ministry of Justice transferred 7 of the 13 Aum Shinrikyo cult members on death row from the Tokyo Detention House to other facilities. The Ministry offered the lame explanation that the transfer was simply to detain the accomplices separately. We believe that the Ministry of Justice wants to house the defendants in different detention centers in order to carry out mass executions at the same time.





It is unusual to execute those who are seeking retrial. This changed in July of 2017. Many of the 13 Aum members on death row are seeking retrial. We fear that they might be executed despite exercising legal claims for retrial.





Olympic Games





Japan is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, and it will host the UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Kyoto in 2020. Furthermore, Japan will host the summer Olympics that year. If the government ignores calls from the international community, and chooses to carry out executions, whether they are Aum Shinrikyo cult members or other inmates on death row, Japan will be degraded.





We demand that the government reconsider its antiquated and cruel stance regarding the death penalty. If the government carries out a mass execution, Japan's international reputation will be irreparably damaged. We demand that the Minister of Justice, Ms Yoko KAMIKAWA, hold back mass executions, and under the power of reason, step forwards and enter into a dialogue.





Source: Center for Prisoners' Rights (CPR) Japan Innocence & Death Penalty Information Center ( : Center for Prisoners' Rights (CPR) Japan Innocence & Death Penalty Information Center ( JIADEP ), March 30, 2018

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
HOUSTON, Mo.  Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for one of the suspects in the slaying of a transgender teenager in rural southern Missouri.





Court records show plans requesting the sentence for Andrew Vrba were filed Monday. Vrba, 18, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Ally Steinfeld. Vrba's attorney hasn't responded to an email seeking comment.





Some of Ally Lee Steinfeld's burned remains were found in September 2017 in a bag in a Cabool chicken coop. Investigators say both of the transgender teen's eyes had been gouged out, and she had been stabbed in the genitals.





Steinfeld's roommate, Isis Schauer, 18, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder. Briana Calderas, 24, faces charges of first degree murder and abandonment of a corpse. Her trial is set for Oct. 9-12, according to the Houston Herald.





James Grigsby, 25, has pleaded not guilty to abandonment of a corpse, reports the Herald.





Steinfeld's mother, Amber Steinfeld, still refers to her child as Joey, but said the teen identified as female to family and to friends on social media. She said her child was "loving and kind-hearted."





Steinfeld was engaged to a woman until they broke up in August, Amber Steinfeld said, and soon after began dating Calderas. She said Steinfeld and the two 18-year-old suspects were all living at Calderas' mobile home. She said that Steinfeld was upbeat before she disappeared, telling relatives that she loved them and was happy.





Vrba told investigators he initially tried to poison Steinfeld, then described how he stabbed Steinfeld in the living room of Calderas' mobile home, Texas County police wrote in a probable cause statement. The female suspects said Vrba bragged to them about how he gouged Steinfeld's eyes and stabbed Steinfeld in the genitals. The probable cause statement does not offer any motive.





Authorities say the three suspects burned Steinfeld's body, placed some of the bones into a garbage bag and put the bag in the chicken coop. Calderas admitted helping burn the body and led authorities to the knife used in the killing, according to the statement.





Steinfeld was reportedly the 21st transgender person killed in the U.S. in 2017.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
The vessel carrying 56 people was intercepted by Malaysian maritime authorities near the northwestern island of Langkawi (Photo: AFP)

Kuala Lumpur: A boat carrying dozens of Rohingyas from Myanmar arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday and the members of the stateless Muslim minority will be allowed to enter the country, authorities said.

The vessel carrying 56 people was intercepted by Malaysian maritime authorities near the northwestern island of Langkawi, said navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin.

Its arrival came as fears grow about conditions in overcrowded camps for the minority fleeing violence in Myanmar. Nearly 700,000 Rohingyas have sought shelter in southern Bangladesh since Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown August 2017.

"All 56 passengers, mostly children and women, are safe but tired and hungry," said the navy chief. "The boat and its passengers will be handed over... to the immigration authorities."

The navy and coastguard had stepped up patrols in the area after the boat briefly stopped on an island off Thailand's western coast Sunday, and the passengers said they were en route to Malaysia.

Rohingya migrants trying to travel south by boat have been rare since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015, leaving thousands of migrants abandoned in open waters or jungle camps.

Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh have arrived to find cramped settlements and often squalid conditions in the Cox's Bazar district. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled previous waves of persecution are already living in the district.

An agreement to repatriate Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar's Rakhine state has yet to see a single refugee returned.

Many of the Rohingyas ensnared in the 2015 boat crisis ended up in Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia because Thailand stuck to a policy of not accepting the vessels.

There are nearly 70,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers living in Malaysia, according to the most recent statistics from the UN refugee agency.
Russian gas transit via Ukraine down over 27% in Jan-Feb 2018

In 2017, Ukraine transported a record high volume of gas over the past few years.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter
Gazprom reserves almost $5 bln to pay fine to Naftogaz  Russian media

The next round of negotiations between the two companies is scheduled for April 2018.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter
Ukraine is likely to produce around 1.9 million tonnes of flour in the current 2017/18 season.

It is highly possible Ukraine will raise its flour exports by 20% to around 480,000 tonnes this season, making it the sixth largest supplier globally, analyst UkrAgroConsult said on Tuesday.

"The factors driving the development specifically of exports include a limited and shrinking domestic market and the need for currency earnings," the consultancy said in a report, Successful Farming wrote.

Ukraine is likely to produce around 1.9 million tonnes of flour in the current 2017/18 season. Wheat flour accounts for more than 95 percent of the total volume.

Read alsoUkraine triples grain exports in seven yearsThe main markets for Ukrainian flour are mostly Asian and African countries, including China, which buys about 25-30 percent of its total exports before re-exporting the commodity to North Korea, UkrAgroConsult said.

The number of export destinations for Ukrainian flour has doubled over three years, reaching 87 countries in the 2016/17 season.
Ukraine in the past year in terms of commodity turnover and exports ranked second among all trade partners of Belarus, while in imports it ranked fifth.

The volume of trade between Ukraine and Belarus in January-February 2018 reached $370 million, Ambassador of Belarus to Ukraine Igor Sokol has said.

The growth of Ukrainian exports to Belarus outpaces the growth of Belarusian exports to Ukraine: if Belarus exports to Ukraine grow by 20-25%, then Ukrainian exports rise by 40-50%, he said at a press conference in Kyiv, according to Open4Business.

According to the official, the growth of trade turnover between Ukraine and Belarus in 2017 was 20%, reaching $4.6 billion.

Read alsoNBU rejects Belarusian bank's motion to acquire Russian Sberbank's Ukrainian subsidiaryUkraine in the past year in terms of commodity turnover and exports ranked second among all trade partners of Belarus, while in imports it ranked fifth.

In turn, Belarus ranked fourth in the rating of the largest export markets of Ukraine. Belarusian exports increased by 18%, imports from Ukraine by almost 24%, he added.

Sokol announced that the Made in Belarus exhibition of Belarusian producers will take place in the International Exhibition Center (Kyiv) on April 10-14, 2018. It is planned to present the achievements of 53 leading Belarusian companies in the sphere of machine building, petrochemistry, agriculture, food and light industry. Within the framework of the exhibition the Belarus-Ukraine: Prospects of Cooperation conference will be held.
The company also pledged to scrap all contractual restrictions which bar clients from reselling its gas.

The European Union and Gazprom are poised to settle a long-running antitrust case after the Russian gas company agreed to price reforms and to allow rivals to gain a foothold in eastern Europe, people familiar with the matter said.

A decision by the European Commission could come as early as this month although the timing could still slip, the people said, Reuters said in an exclusive report.

A settlement would allow Gazprom to avoid a possible fine of as much as 10 percent of its global turnover.

The seven-year-old case underlines the rocky relationship between Europe and Russia, which have clashed over Ukraine, Syria and, most recently, a nerve attack against a former Russian spy living in England that resulted in expulsions of diplomats on both sides.

Read alsoGazprom reserves almost $5 bln to pay fine to Naftogaz  Russian media

Last year, state-owned Gazprom, which supplies a third of the EU's gas, offered to link prices to benchmarks such as western European gas market hubs and border prices in France, Germany and Italy, and allow price reviews every two years.

This aimed to address complaints of excessive pricing in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland vis-a-vis German prices due to Gazprom's policy of locking clients into decades-long, oil-indexed contracts.

The company also pledged to scrap all contractual restrictions which bar clients from reselling its gas and let the Bulgarian transmission network operator take charge of the Balkan country's gas flows to Greece.

Gazprom will drop its $70 million claim for damages from Bulgarian partner BEH following the 2014 cancellation of the South Stream gas pipeline project that would have shipped Russian gas under the Black Sea via Bulgaria to central Europe.

Gazprom has tweaked its original proposal on concessions after negative feedback from EU countries and customers but the main elements remain unchanged, according to a recent draft seen by Reuters.

Revisions have been mainly technical such as lower service fees charged by Gazprom which could result in its clients saving millions of euros. The concessions are expected to apply for eight years and be monitored by a trustee.

Both the Commission and Gazprom declined to comment.
Today, on the fifty-year anniversary, we mourn the assassination of civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Martin Luther King.

Born in 1929 into the family of an Atlanta Baptist minister, young Martin was a gifted child who entered Morehouse College at 15 years old, where he studied theology under the mentorship of Dr. Benjamin Mays, an outspoken advocate for racial equality. In 1955, Martin Luther King earned a doctorate in theology from Boston University. That year, he made his first significant mark on the civil rights movement leading a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.

Under Alabamas segregationist laws of that time, black customers were required to ride in the back of the bus, and to give up their seat for a white passenger. But on December 1, 1955, African American seamstress Rosa Parks, tired after a hard days work, refused to yield her bus seat to a white passenger; she was arrested and fined. Four days later, Dr. King organized a bus boycott, during which African Americans refused to ride city buses to protest segregated seating. The boycott began on December 5, 1955, and ended on December 20, 1956. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system. The bus boycott is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation.

Dr. King was heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, who utilized non-violent actions to affect change. Until his death in 1968, Dr. King organized and participated in mass-action boycotts, sit-ins, peaceful marches and other non-violent acts of civil disobedience.

On July 2, 1964, the hard work of Dr. King and thousands of civil rights activists was rewarded with the signing of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits segregation in public places, as well as employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender or national origin.

For his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice, Dr. King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. At 35 years of age, he was the youngest person ever to receive the award.

On April 4th, 1968, as he stood on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. King was fatally shot by petty thief and virulent racist James Earl Ray.

At the time of his death, Dr. King was 39 years old.

Nonetheless, his life is well summed up in his own words: "The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important."
Photo by "EuroBelarus" information service Photo by "EuroBelarus" information service

Experts in Valozyn have determined that the quality of peoples life depends on their awareness.

Therefore, they organized visiting consultations on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in villages of Valozyn district.

Demand is exceeding the supply

The consultation with such name took place in Rakaw on March, 22. It was told there about the provisions of the Convention, about the rights and freedoms, and mechanisms of protection of rights of persons with disabilities, set out in the Convention, as well as about the social services provided by the territorial social services centre (TSSC) in Valozyn.

On the whole, Valozyn is, perhaps, a leader in Belarus in the number of implemented projects related to solving problems of people with disabilities. One of the most ambitious of them is "Valozyn without barriers" under which a hostel for people with disabilities from all around the world is being built that will contain the tourist zone, a hostel, a conference hall, and a restaurant. Besides, there has been operating at present a 14th (!) social project for growing oyster mushrooms in the regional center. On the projects completion, 4 people with disabilities who are currently working in it will receive remunerations.

Having such a high degree of social activity, Valozyn could not pass over the campaign "Agenda 50" launched for better understanding and application of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Belarusian regions. Local activists have won a mini-grant from the European Union on the implementation of the project "Dissemination and application of the ideas of the Convention".

Photo by "EuroBelarus" information service

- This project implies holding 7 visiting consultations in the largest village council of Valozyn district, told head of the initiative Larysa Scarbacevic to the "EuroBelarus" information service. If we manage to save the money, we will launch another initiative, as these are in high demand among people, especially in remote villages.

"Do not keep children at home"

According to Larysa Scarbacevic, people know little about the ratification of the Convention. Lack of awareness is one of the main challenges put forward by the project participants. Therefore, in the course of the consultations residents of villages of Valozyn district get acquainted as a whole with the legal framework, and with the services of the day stay department of the TSSC, and with ensuring safety of life. It is all told about by representatives of Ministry of Emergency Situations and Ministry of Interior that come to such visiting events. The day stay department of the TSSC helps young people with disabilities developing work skills, introduces to them self-care skills for independent living, and organizes social adaptation process and holds lectures and workshops in various creative areas as much as in 12 groups.

- At first, people wouldnt come to us, and I can understand the feelings of parents of children with disabilities as my own son has cerebral palsy - those people were just afraid, says Larysa Scarbacevic. But mother is a mother. She has a child at home who elsewhere is an adult independent person. That's how he or she shows him/herself in the department, eager and able to work, to help taking care of weaker ones, fulfilling him/herself.

The department also provides a "social respite" service which can be used twice a month on Saturdays. Parents can bring their children aged 14 years up in the center in the morning, and do their business till noon. However, it is a paid service: 3 rubles 68 kopecks per hour.

- The days are gone when we kept our children beside, willing to provide them with all the best we could. Now there are many services available for people with disabilities. Our children can and should live a full life - Im saying this from my personal experience. A home for disabled citizens is not a good option, believes the head of the project.

She is supported by Alena Rai, head of the primary information reception compartment of the Valozyn-based TSSC.

- I have a 16-year-old daughter with disability, and I never had a place to go with my child before as everyone was pointing fingers at us, and only the family could give her something. Now I can start working, I know that my child will be well cared of; she may have some abilities developed to fulfill her potential and be in demand in society. Therefore, if it possible, dont keep your children at home. They should be able to integrate into society, to work and receive salary, accumulate record of service. This is a great incentive.

Alena Rai told about other services of the center, among which are social care at home, legal counseling, humanitarian aid, paid sawing firewood and mowing round of farmsteads, material assistance, provision with technical means of rehabilitation and their free rent, free rent of baby care accessories, free and paid nanny and nurse services, a psychological assistance, employment.

Changes "in minds and souls"

Therapist of the TSSC Alena Zdanyuk also visits information activities in the project framework. She acts as the moderator, and also a motivator telling that disability is not an obstacle to success, and that the main barriers stay in our minds. Specially for this purpose she has prepared a presentation that gives examples of great people with disabilities: writers, athletes (among them are Belarusian Paralympic sportsmen), pilots, models, entrepreneurs, speakers, Nobel Prize winners...

- There is a habit of saying "we" about "healthy" people, and naming "them" people with disabilities. But disability can happen to everyone, and with it - the transition from "us" to "them" category. With the adoption of the Convention, we are to understand that the stigmata and discrimination based on disability sign must disappear, says the therapist.

However, even now a lot has changed for the better, are convinced the Rakaw citizens. This concerns not only the services, but also the attitudes towards people with disabilities in society, as well as the changes have taken place "in our minds and souls", as noticed by a local resident Ivan. His family faced a challenge of a child disability not at once; the disease began to manifest itself when his daughter was 11 years old. First, the family tried to cope on their own, they knew very little about the possibilities of rehabilitation in the district. Now the girl is 17 years old, she graduated from high school, and has been visiting the office in TSSC in Valozyn for about a year, where she has studied domestic things, and has even performed on stage.

- She has grown up, and should integrate into society, should work, so we decided to contact the TSSC. We are not afraid that people will know about her disease because the society has changed, says Ivan. But at the legislative level, the provisions must exist which people will adhere to, and I hope that with the adoption of the Convention the interaction between society and the state will improve.

The project has already given results

Representatives of local authorities also have a hope for cooperation, and they support the project for the dissemination of the ideas of the Convention with all their might. Alexandr Miakinka, chairman of the Rakaw Executive Committee admits that there are shortages of traffic in the area, which are not easy to solve, and the lack of infrastructure, and a number of other issues. But he believes that the adoption of the Convention can make a difference over time provided gradual implementation of the regulations contained therein.

- The Convention is many little steps, and a specifically defined plan of what we need to do, he adds.

Larysa Scarbacevic notes that its not possible for the project to solve immediately all the issues in the area. However, it will lay the information ground based on which it will be possible to perform certain tasks and get specific results. Even now, thanks to the initiative, the experts of the center have got the opportunity to better understand the difficulties and needs of people with disabilities. Indeed, in rural areas, those are slightly different than in the city where people are more informed, and the problem of access to a particular institution is less acute.

- As a result of the consultations, we have decided to organize a type of work in Ivyanets and, perhaps, in Rakaw, under which our experts from Valozyn-based TSSC will visit the settlements and hold workshops for people with disabilities in order to include them into social projects. After all, people from the area have big difficulties to get to our center in Valozyn, so if there are willing people, we will create the branch office, promises Larysa Scarbacevic.

***

The material was prepared in the framework of the international project "Rights of People with Disabilities: agenda for Belarus (Agenda 50)".

The campaign "Agenda 50" is being implemented with the support of the European Union in partnership with the Fundacja TUS (Poland) and the PA "European House" (Denmark). Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, International Consortium "EuroBelarus" and Center for European Transformation participate in the campaign implementation in Belarus.
An arson blaze in a teahouse in the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz has left at least eleven people dead.

The Ahvaz fire department spokesman has told Irans ISNA that the blaze was heavy and strong. As soon as firemen arrived at the scene, they were confronted by a raging fire, which had engulfed the whole teahouse.

The official Iran daily newspaper reported on its Telegram app channel that the initial investigation points to a former disgruntled employee for starting the blaze by using gasoline. He is related to the owner of the teahouse and wanted revenge.

Ahvaz police chief Col. Mohammad Safari said the suspect was arrested less than an hour after the incident, since eyewitnesses had identified the perpetrator.

The blaze began after midnight on Tuesday, April 3, and was put out quickly but in the meantime eleven people lost their lives and 14 were injured; including three firemen.

Fars news agency quotes an Emergency Services official as saying that some of the injured are in critical condition.

Based on reporting by ISNA, Iran Newspaper, Fars and AP
Corruption has penetrated Irans government structure so deeply that its impossible to rein it in using legal procedures, as the most egregious cases of corruption are tied to the Supreme Leader, says Gholamali Jafari Imanabadi, a member of the Majlis, Irans parliament.

In an interview with a local website on April 2, Imanabadi suggested starting the campaign against corruption with the Supreme Leaders beit, or house in Arabic.

The term beit [pronounced bayt] has historically been used in the Islamic Republic to refer to Ayatollah Ali Khameneis amalgamation of traditional and modern bureaucracy and parallel state institutions directly under his control since he became Supreme Leader in 1989.

The physical location of the beit, Khameneis office, is located in central Tehran and is managed by mid-ranking cleric Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, whose son Mohammad Javad is married to Khameneis daughter Boshra.

Many analysts believe the beit is the true center of power in Iran, and the source of all major policies and decisions.

As a rule, the Supreme Leaders beit has until now been considered off limits for critics. When reforms politician Mehdi Karroubi accused the beit of meddling in the 2009 presidential elections, he ended up under house arrest.

Nevertheless, there has since been some cautious grumbling about the beit and its role in running the country. However, it is still unprecedented for a sitting MP to single out the beit as the hub of corruption.

Imanabadi, a reformist from the city of Rasht, said corruption is at the heart of the ruling system. He went on to propose a cleansing of the judiciary and executive branch after the office of the Supreme Leader is dealt with. If nothing else, Imanabadi said, such an effort would restore the publics trust in the ruling system.

The MP went on to say that financial graft is not the only form of corruption plaguing the Islamic Republic.

Iran is also suffering from widespread moral corruption, he said, alluding to improper networking among officials.

Earlier, veteran reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh also singled out the beit as a hotbed of corruption. In an open letter addressed to Ahmad Tavvakoli, a prominent conservative former MP from Tehran published March 18, Tajzadeh wrote that the Supreme Leaders partisan response to corruption has helped it spread across the country.

Tajzadeh, 61, is a former deputy interior minister and advisor to President Mohammad Khatami, who was in office from 1997-2005.

The Supreme Leader is the flag bearer of the campaign against corruption only verbally and in his remarks and speeches, wrote Tajzadeh.

Speaking about the Iranian Revolution in 1979 that established the current ruling structure, he wrote, We disregarded the fact that when control over the armed forces, the judiciary, the Guardian Council, state-run radio and TV, as well as a significant bulk of the national economy are granted to one single person, the possibility of that single persons tending toward dictatorship will be much higher.

Iran scored 30 out of 100 points and ranked 130th out of 180 countries across the world in the latest Transparency International report.
Irans President Hassan Rouhani has said on April 3 that Iran is not planning to ban popular messaging application Telegram.

Reacting to reports about the possible banning of the application, Rouhani explained in a meeting with high-ranking state officials that introducing homegrown messaging applications is aimed at putting an end to Telegrams monopoly on messaging in Iran.

Rumors regarding a possible ban gained traction when Chairman of parliaments national security and foreign relations committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on March 31 that in order to put an end to Telegrams destructive role, a decision has been made at the highest level of the government to replace Telegram with a homegrown application.

Iranian officials have said that Telegram has 40 million users in Iran.

Rouhani addressed those who claim Telegram would be banned by saying, Do not disappoint the people. Do not undermine work opportunities while there is an unemployment crisis in the country, Khabar Online news website reported.

Recently Iranian MP Mohammad Reza Badamchi told reporters in Tehran that banning Telegram would eliminate 200,000 jobs and disrupt the financial situation of about half a million people.

Many e-commerce small businesses depend on the popular messaging app to sustain and expand their operations.

Khabar Online quoted Rouhani as saying We should take pride in having safe and inexpensive Iranian applications that can solve peoples problems. But these applications should be developed with the aim of putting an end to monopoly in the area of messaging applications.

Iranian authorities banned social media platforms Telegram and Instagram for a few days and police arrested several cyber activists as protests raged in the streets of more than 100 Iranian cities in late December and January, but the ban was lifted once the demonstrations lost their initial momentum.

Iranian media reported in early March that the Supreme Council for Cyberspace had met in Khameneis presence, adding that Khamenei was against lifting the temporary ban that was imposed on Telegram following widespread protests against political, social, and economic injustice.

Several members of Iranian parliament (Majles) have reacted to Boroujerdis comments on the same date criticizing him for the statement.

Meanwhile, on April 3, two MPs called for an opinion poll to determine the degree of peoples trust in homegrown applications. The two MPs said, Banning Telegram would widen the gap between the people and state officials and would further deepen the peoples distrust of officials.

MP Fatemeh Saeedi, a member of the Majles presidium who put forward the idea of a poll, told Iranian labor News Agency (ILNA) that filtering a foreign messaging application would not encourage people to use a homegrown application.

She said based on the result of such a poll, we should rethink our policies rather than limiting peoples access to virtual networks, adding that banning Telegram would be a big mistake. We cannot simply ignore the realities of the world

MP Tayebeh Siavashi also criticized Boroujerdis comments, adding that official authorities such as the Supreme National Security Council and the Supreme Council for Cyberspace should transparently verify Boroujerdis comments.

In spite of all the criticism, Boroujerdi again defended the idea of filtering Telegram and called the application a threat to national security.

Boroujerdi further claimed that a percentage of security threats against Iran originate on Telegram. He also said the United Kingdom, Germany, and Israel use the information stored on Telegram.

Boroujerdi further claimed that Telegram was used against Irans security during the widespread protests in December 2017 and January 2018.

The chairperson of the Majles committee to protect electronic businesses, Parvaneh Mafi warned about the social consequences of banning Telegram.

Mafi said that banning Telegram would deepen the peoples distrust of the officials and endanger the countrys social capital, bringing it closer to a crisis, Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Mafi added: The people do not trust homegrown messaging services, and this is part of their distrust of the countrys decision making system.
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters)

The Trump administration is postponing until September a summit with Gulf Arab leaders that had been planned for this spring amid an ongoing dispute between Qatar and other U.S. allies in the region, according to five U.S. officials.

The decision to delay the May summit with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council reflects a crowded diplomatic calendar, and the fact that President Donald Trump is without a secretary of state until the Senate confirms current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, two of the officials said.

Other sources, however, told Reuters the delay is also a nod to the fact that Washington has made little progress so far in ending the bitter standoff between Qatar and other Gulf nations, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The dispute pits key U.S. allies against each other, and has complicated efforts to maintain a united front against Iran. So far, though, it has not affected the U.S. air base in Qatar that supports attacks on Islamic extremists and surveillance of Iran -- both of which the Saudis and Emiratis support.

"This was entirely our decision," one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the delay. "We have too many irons in the fire in May," the official added, noting that Trump may be meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next month, and that Pompeo has yet to be confirmed to replace Rex Tillerson.

A spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council said the delay was not tied to the tensions over Qatar, adding that, "President Trump is committed to resolving the Gulf dispute this month."

Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on March 21. He is due to meet with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani next week, followed by a meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

Trump spoke by phone with al Thani on Tuesday and with Saudi King Salman on Monday, emphasizing to each the importance of resolving the Gulf dispute, the White House said. Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of backing their archrival, Iran, and supporting terrorism.

Qatar denies the charges and says the boycott is an attempt to impinge on its sovereignty and rein in its support for reform. A senior U.S. official said the summit was discussed during Salman's Washington visit, and there was agreement that it would be better to delay the meeting until after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in mid-June.

"We'll see what transpires between now and then, but based on the discussions to date, it is hard to be optimistic about a rapprochement" between Qatar and its neighbors, he said.

However, two officials involved in the discussions said there recently have been signs of flexibility, including from Saudi Arabia. "I think it makes sense (to delay the summit) as there seems to be movement on the beginning of a dialogue and more time to let it develop would be helpful," one said.
The U.S. Embassy has brought eco-tourism expert Professor Paige Viren from the East Carolina University to Azerbaijan to help Azerbaijanis develop the countrys eco-tourism sector.

During her visit from April 2-8 she will meet with local businesses, government officials, student groups and tourism operators to share her expertise and best practices from the United States multi-billion dollar ecotourism sector.

Ms. Virens trip will support Azerbaijans environmental efforts and eco-tourism startups. Eco-tourism in Azerbaijan has massive potential: it is a key part of economic diversification, and empowers local residents in the regions as well as young educated Azerbaijanis, to participate in Azerbaijan's economy.

Moreover, eco-tourism promotes environmental conservation, pollution reduction, and responsible stewardship of the worlds natural resources.

Dr. Viren brings with her over 12 years of travel industry experience. Her area of expertise is consumer behavior and tourism, with a focus on adventure travel and sustainable community-based tourism in rural areas.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 95 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said April 3.

Armenians were using large-caliber machine guns.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order regarding measures to improve education infrastructure in Agsu, Ismayilli, Gobustan and Shamakhi regions.

Under the presidential order, the Education Ministry is allocated 4,392,000 manats for the construction of 14 modular schools for a total of 776 pupils in four regions.

The advantages of modular schools include low-cost building work, quick construction and portability of module sections, and the opportunity to adjust the number of classrooms to the number of pupils.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho left Pyongyang for Beijing on Tuesday morning and will visit Azerbaijan and Russia shortly thereafter, Sputnik reported citing regional media.

After his visit to China, the minister will take part in the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Baku, and then he will visit Russia, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing diplomatic sources.

Pyongyang has not yet revealed any announcement of the foreign minister's tour.

The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier said that Moscow was working on the visit of the North Korean foreign minister to Russia in the near future.

Experts link Ri Yong-ho's visit to Russia, as well as the trip of the country's leader Kim Jong-un to China last week, to North Korea's desire to ensure support of other countries before Kim's meetings with presidents of South Korea and the United States, in order to guarantee the preservation of the political system and reduce military threats at the denuclearization negotiations.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Azerbaijans Central Election Commission (CEC) has accredited 871 international observers to monitor the April presidential election in the country.

They are citizens of 59 countries and represent 58 international organizations, said Shahin Asadli, head of Press and Public Relations Department of the Election-2018 Independent Media Center.

Asadli noted that 56,864 local observers have been accredited so far, and 1,962 of them were accredited by the CEC and will monitor the election throughout the country and 54,902 observers have the right to observe the elect within the limits of the relevant constituency.

Moreover, 5,099 members who have consultative voting rights were appointed to the lower election commissions by political parties.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

A meeting of Senior Officials of member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) kicked off in Baku April 3.

Azerbaijan is represented by the countrys permanent representative to the UN Yashar Aliyev at the meeting.

The meeting will be held on April 3-4 as a part of the preparation process for the NAM Mid-Term Ministerial Conference to be held in Baku on April 5-6.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Venezuela Ruben Dario Molina, who is chairing the conference, noted that the intentions and principles of the Non-Aligned Movement contribute to the stable development of the organizations member countries.

He added that NAM is a platform for the promotion of peace and security.

Yashar Aliyev, for his part, said that the Movement plays an important role in solving regional and social issues.

The Non-Aligned Movement Mid-Term Ministerial Conference will be held under the theme of Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development.

NAM participating states, representatives of observer states and international organizations, countries and institutions invited as special guests will take part in the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference.



NAM includes 120 states. Seventeen states and 10 international organizations have an observer status in NAM.

NAM Mid-Term Ministerial Conference, to be held in Baku, is expected to be attended by 800 participants.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Miroslav Lajcak, president of the 72nd session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, will visit Azerbaijan to attend the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan on April 5-6, 2018, the UN Office in Azerbaijan told Trend April 3.

He will address the opening ceremony of the conference, titled Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development.

Lajcak is also expected to meet with Azerbaijani officials and UN Board members in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, the president of the UN General Assembly will address students at the ADA University on the topic of the Current state of multilateral cooperation.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Some Azerbaijanis living abroad carry out anti-Azerbaijani activity with the support of the Armenian lobby, Siyavush Novruzov, Azerbaijani MP, chairman of the parliamentary committee on public associations and religious organizations, deputy executive secretary of the New Azerbaijan Party, said.

Novruzov made the remarks at the plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament in Baku April 3.

"Some Azerbaijanis living abroad held a rally in front of the Azerbaijani embassy in France, but they never held a rally in front of the Armenian embassy," he said.

"One must not act against the Motherland, the Azerbaijani army," he said. The society must have one opinion on this issue."
Details added (first version posted on 11:25)

Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received Foreign Minister of Ecuador Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces.

The minister conveyed greetings of the Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno to President Aliyev, expressed satisfaction with the participation in the Ministerial Conference of Non-Aligned Movement to be held in Baku.

Noting that Azerbaijan reached an unprecedented degree of development, the foreign minister of Ecuador stressed the importance of the very important position that Azerbaijan occupies on the international arena.

She said that Ecuador is interested in strengthening bilateral relations with Azerbaijan.

Speaking about bilateral cooperation, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces stressed that Ecuador is also an oil exporting country, and noted the availability of good opportunities for expanding cooperation in many areas.

President Aliyev, for his part, noted the importance of the participation of the Ecuadorian foreign minister in the Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, and stressed that this visit provides a good opportunity to discuss the prospects of relations.

Touching upon cooperation within the framework of international organizations, President Aliyev highly appreciated Ecuadors support to Azerbaijan during the voting on membership in the UN Security Council.

The head of state said that there is a good potential for expanding cooperation between the two countries, and noted the importance of strengthening cooperation within the framework of international organizations.

The importance of mutual visits between the two countries was stressed during the meeting, an exchange of views was held on expanding the ties of cooperation in the areas of trade, investment and other fields.

President Aliyev expressed gratitude for the greetings of President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno, asked to convey his greetings to the Ecuadorian president.
URBANA, Ill.  Growing in its native Australia, the unobtrusive perennial vine Glycine tomentella could easily be overlooked. But the distant relative of soybean contains genetic resources that can substantially increase soybean yield, according to a new study from the University of Illinois. We saw yield increases of 3.5 to 7 bushels per acre in soybean lines derived from crossing with Glycine tomentella, says Randall Nelson, study author and adjunct professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at U of I. The discovery happened by accident. Researchers from U of I and the USDA Agricultural Research Service had been working for years to introduce disease-resistance genes from Glycine tomentella into soybean. After developing thousands of experimental lines, they finally managed to move genes from the Australian vine into a new soybean line that was resistant to soybean rust. But the researchers noticed something else. Some of these lines looked pretty good, so we decided to do some yield testing. This turned into a project for Ph.D. student Abraham Akpertey from Ghana. He found several lines that yielded significantly more than the soybean parent, Nelson says. We were very surprised. To look at it, Glycine tomentella has no agronomic characteristics  the seeds are less than a tenth the size of soybean seeds. We never expected to get high-yielding lines out of this cross. The process of getting Glycine tomentella genes into soybean is highly complex. The two plants are so distantly related that any mating would ordinarily result in aborted seeds. But Nelsons collaborator and study co-author, Ram Singh, developed a growth hormone solution he sprays on the young pods to keep seeds from aborting. He rescues that little, immature seed, cultures it, and grows it into a plant. Then those are back-crossed repeatedly with the soybean variety Dwight, until all of the Glycine tomentella chromosomes are lost and we recover a soybean plant, Nelson explains. The researchers dont know what has been transferred from Glycine tomentella into the soybean genome. Aside from yield, some of the plants look and perform almost exactly the same as Dwight. The group plans to map the genome of the promising plants, with the ultimate goal of identifying the genes responsible. Breeding efforts are already underway to develop higher-yielding lines since Dwight is a 20-year-old cultivar. Last year, we released a material transfer agreement that would allow any soybean breeder to cross with these lines. I was surprised we didnt get many requests, because these are such unique resources. With this yield information, I hope we can get more people interested, Nelson says. The article, Genetic introgression from Glycine tomentella to soybean to increase seed yield, is published in Crop Science [DOI: 10.2135/cropsci2017.07.0445]. Nelsons co-authors include A. Akpertey, R. Singh, B. Diers, G. Graef, M. Mian, J. Shannon, A. Scaboo, M. Hudson, C. Thurber, and P. Brown. The work was supported by the United Soybean Board and the North Central Soybean Research Program. Source: Randall Nelson, 217-244-4346, rlnelson@illinois.edu News writer: Lauren Quinn, 217-300-2435, ldquinn@illinois.edu Date: Apr. 3, 2018
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj will be on an official visit in Azerbaijan on April 4, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a message on April 3.



During the visit Minister Swaraj will have a meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and take part in the Ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).



After the meeting, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and India will hold a joint press briefing.

The Non-Aligned Movement Mid-Term Ministerial Conference will be held under the theme of Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development.

NAM participating states, representatives of observer states and international organizations, countries and institutions invited as special guests will take part in the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference.



NAM includes 120 states. Seventeen states and 10 international organizations have an observer status in NAM.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

A delegation led by Azerbaijan's Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General Kerim Veliyev will attend the 7th Conference on International Security to be held in Moscow on April 4-5, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a message on April 3.

The issues of global and regional security will be discussed at the international conference organized by the Russian Defense Ministry.

During the plenary sessions, regional aspects of security, regional specifics of activities of military departments on reacting to threats and challenges to the security of states and a number of other issues will be discussed.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Ri Yong Ho will visit Azerbaijan, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend on April 3.

The minister will visit Baku to attend the Ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on April 5-6, he said.

The Non-Aligned Movement Mid-Term Ministerial Conference will be held in Baku under the theme of Promoting international peace and security for sustainable development on April 5-6.

A meeting of Senior Officials of member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) kicked off in Baku April 3.

NAM participating states, representatives of observer states and international organizations, countries and institutions invited as special guests will take part in the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference.



NAM includes 120 states. Seventeen states and 10 international organizations have an observer status in NAM.

NAM Mid-Term Ministerial Conference, to be held in Baku, is expected to be attended by 800 participants.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

Armenia is a country with intolerant attitude not only to Jews, but also to representatives of other nationalities, Azerbaijani MP Musa Guliyev told Trend April 3.

He said that Armenia can be considered a monoethnic country, because apart from Armenians, no representatives of other nationalities live there.

"A small number of Yazidis lived there, but were then expelled," Guliyev said.

He went on to say that despite good relations between Armenia and Russia, the Armenians dont create acceptable conditions for living and working even for the Russians.

The MP also reminded that in 1988-1989, Armenia deported more than 250,000 Azerbaijanis who lived on their historical lands.

He noted that the whole world knows about how many acts of genocide were committed by the Armenians against the Azerbaijanis in the last 100 years.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 18 countries of Central and Eastern Europe during the year, Armenia was recognized as the most intolerant country in relation to the Jews among the states of Central and Eastern Europe.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

A group of 52 Azerbaijani military personnel was sent to Afghanistan in accordance with the plan and rotation for serving within NATO-led "Resolute Support" mission in Afghanistan, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a message on April 3.

The peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has been serving in Afghanistan since Nov.20, 2002.

Presently, 120 servicemen, including 2 medical officers and 6 staff officers of Azerbaijani Army are participating in a mission in Afghanistan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

Insults, made on social networks by some Azerbaijani emigrants living in Europe in relation to the Azerbaijani authorities, are unacceptable, Head of the Azerbaijani House in Paris Mirvari Fataliyeva told Trend on April 3.

Fataliyeva said that the aim of these individuals, serving certain groups, is to damage Azerbaijan's image in the international arena and attempt to destabilize the situation in Azerbaijan on the eve of the presidential election.

It is very important that Azerbaijan, located in a complex region, has maintained its stability against the backdrop of the current tense geopolitical situation in the world, ongoing conflicts and wars, she believes.

"From this point of view, we think that the upcoming election in Azerbaijan is of great importance not only for the South Caucasus region, but for the whole world. Unfortunately, some forces attempt to break the democratic conditions created in Azerbaijan and to commit provocations. Thus they damage the national interests of Azerbaijan. We, the Azerbaijanis of France, strongly condemn the provocative activity of these forces. We declare that the political struggle and the policy itself should be conducted within the framework of ethical norms. Otherwise, these forces insult first of all the Azerbaijani people, society and statehood," she said.

Fataliyeva called on Azerbaijanis living in Europe to counteract this dirty campaign conducted against Azerbaijan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Bulgarias Deputy Minister of Tourism Irena Georgieva will visit Baku April 5-7 to participate in the 17th Azerbaijan International Travel and Tourism Fair (AITF 2018), Azerbaijans Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a message April 3.

As part of her visit, Georgieva will meet Azerbaijani Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev.

During the meeting, the sides will discuss issues of expanding cooperation in the sphere of tourism between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan and ensuring mutual tourist flow.

In accordance with the agreement reached as part of the talks held by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria on the opening of air communication between Baku and Sofia, lowcost airline Buta Airways started operating flights on Jan. 16, 2018.

To this end, the tourism potential of Bulgaria and the existing tourist opportunities will be demonstrated at the AITF 2018.

At the same time, Bulgaria this year became the official partner of the AITF 2018.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Fikret Dolukhanov - Trend:

There is a stable and calm situation in Azerbaijan on the eve of the presidential election, Lev Spivak, director general of the Israel-Azerbaijan International Association, told Trend April 3.

He said that stability in Azerbaijan causes peoples confidence in the authorities.

In early March, we visited Azerbaijan with the delegation of Kiryat Bialik city, Spivak said. We traveled to several settlements of Azerbaijans Ismayilli district, and also went to Sheki city. We had the best impressions from conversations with people.

Relatively difficult period for the countrys economy is over, and the people feel real improvement, he said.

People become economically more literate, he noted. They understand that economic and political stability in the country ensures inflow of investments. This, in turn, contributes to the creation of new jobs and, ultimately, leads to an increase in the well-being of the population.

Touching upon the Azerbaijani-Israeli relations, he expressed confidence that the cooperation between the two countries will only grow in the future.

Our countries actively cooperate in the weapons and oil sphere, he said. Many joint private facilities are being created. These relations are so important for the Israeli elite that the Israel-Azerbaijan International Association will send observers for the upcoming presidential election to Azerbaijan. They will also include Knesset MPs.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on the construction of a carpet weaving workshop in Bilasuvar district.

Under the presidential order, two million manats were allocated from the state budget for 2018 to Azerkhalcha OJSC.
Delegation of representatives of management of SOCAR Turkey Group of Companies (SOCAR Turkey) visited Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) and met with the Higher School students.

The main purpose of the meeting was to introduce the company Student Internship Program and New Graduate Engineering Program. The presentation of the programs was delivered by Head of SOCAR Turkey Human Resources department Dinar Mammadova, Deputy Head of Administration department of STAR Refinery Elnur Mammadli, HR Manager of Petkim company Behruz Babayev and other members of the delegation.

Opening the meeting, BHOS rector Elmar Gasimov expressed his gratitude to SOCAR Turkey Energy Director General Zaur Gahramanov, Dinar Mammadova and the company management for their attention and to, and confidence in, the Higher School and its students. The rector said that last year nearly 30 BHOS graduates were employed by STAR Refinery of SOCAR Turkey company in Izmir and emphasized that he would like to see this initiative becoming an annual event.

Head of SOCAR Turkey Human Resources department Dinar Mammadova made a presentation and demonstrated a video featuring the company activities and projects. Then she provided detailed information about New Graduate Engineering program and the Student Internship program, which includes two-month on-the-job training at SOCAR Turkey facilities. Dinar Mammadova also told about stages of the selection process and the requirements, which successful applicants should meet. As she informed, the students applying to either program will take various tests including tests of knowledge of English language and other disciplines. At the final stage, interviews will be held with those candidates who successfully passed the tests.

Deputy Head of Administration department of STAR Refinery Elnur Mammadli provided an overview of SOCAR work in Turkey including crude oil refining operations carried out by STAR Refinery and advanced technologies used in the production process. He also told about professional development and career growth opportunities that the company offers to young specialists.

Speaking at the meeting, Amail Mammadova and Adil Babayev, who graduated BHOS with Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering last year, shared their work experience as engineers of STAR Refinery and provided practical advices and recommendations to the students.

The meeting concluded with questions and answers session.
Details added (first version posted on 12:31)

Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Samir Ali - Trend:

April 11 will be a non-working day in Azerbaijan in connection with the presidential election in the country, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Labor and Social Protection Elman Babayev told Trend April 3.

"According to paragraph 8.2 of the Electoral Code, the day of voting in the territory, where election (referendum) is held, is regarded as a day-off, he said. According to paragraph 105-1 of the Labor Code, a voting day in the territory, where the elections of Azerbaijani MPs, the countrys president, members of municipalities and a referendum are held, is also regarded as a day-off. In this regard, April 11, which is the presidential election day, is a day off."

Babayev also reminded of two non-working days in May, namely May 9 - Victory Day and May 28 - Republic Day.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Azerbaijan and Turkey serve humanity through joint projects implemented in the region, head of Turkey-Azerbaijan Interparliamentary Friendship Group Necdet Unuvar told Trend.

"As you know, very important projects are being realized between Turkey and Azerbaijan today. Both countries are closely cooperating in different fields. The Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline are one of the most important projects realized between the two countries," Unuvar said.

The MP further stressed that presently, Azerbaijan has grown and strengthened in terms of economy.

"The fraternal Azerbaijan has very important foreign policy. Azerbaijan was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Baku hosted the inaugural European Games, the Islamic Solidarity Games and Formula One races. Therefore, today Baku hosts spectacular events that spark the eyes of the whole world," according to him.

He further added that the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic will be celebrated this year.

"Azerbaijan is one of the rare states that gained independence twice in one century," he said.

Touching upon the April 11presidential election in Azerbaijan, Unuvar said that the election will serve the wellbeing of the fraternal country and Azerbaijan will be stronger after the election.

Unuvar said that Azerbaijan has gained remarkable achievements under President Ilham Aliyev and undoubtedly the occupied Azerbaijani territories will soon be liberated.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Timur Suleimenov announced forecasts of the countrys social and economic development in 2018.

The government of Kazakhstan expects an increase in the growth rates of the economy, mainly due to stable oil prices on the world market, according to the forecast.

"The nominal GDP in 2018 is expected at 57.2 trillion tenge. This is higher than the indicator approved in August 2017 by 1.3 trillion tenge. Real GDP growth is expected at 3.8 percent (previously forecasted at 3.1 percent). GDP per capita will increase to $9,200," Suleimenov said at the governments meeting, Kazakh media outlets reported.

The forecast for oil prices in 2018 increased from $45 to $55 per barrel. The index of prices for metals increased by 0.4 percent. The estimated rate of tenge to the US dollar remains at 340 tenge/$1.

"The growth of the industry was revised upwards to 3.3 percent. This is due to the expected higher growth in the manufacturing industry - by 5.1 percent.

The volume of oil production in 2018 will amount to 87 million tons, which is 1 million tons higher than the previously planned volume, according to the Kazakh Energy Ministry.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

The Microfinance Center, uniting such organizations from 36 countries, intends to expand its activities in Azerbaijan, the center said April 3.

To this end, the Microfinance Center has signed an agreement with the Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association (AMFA), which envisages the development of a partnership program between the Center and AMFA.

The program will allow raising cooperation with AMFA to a new level, which will allow, for example, jointly attracting financing and organizing joint events.

The Microfinance Center works with 111 organizations, including 77 microfinance institutions.

The main task of the Center is to promote responsible financing among the members of the Center, to help governments to expand access to finance in their countries, in the development of financial education in low-income countries and others.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

The World Bank (WB) together with the Korea Green Growth Trust Fund will support the Azerbaijani government in cleaning contaminated areas and a number of lakes on the Absheron peninsula, Gulana Hajiyeva, senior environmental specialist of the WB office in Azerbaijan, told Trend April 3.

This project is being discussed during the Green Development seminar taking place in Baku, she said. The first phase of the project is aimed at sharing experience and knowledge, she noted.

The project is designed for three years, and the Korea Green Growth Trust Fund has allocated a grant worth $600,000 for its implementation, she added.

The WB helped mobilize the funds allocated by the South Korean government through a trust fund, she said. The funds will be used to increase the institutional capacity for recover, rehabilitation and economic development of contaminated areas and in order to conduct research on the possibility of such rehabilitation.

She added that the project is of analytical nature and is not an investment one.

Technical possibilities of implementing the environmental project and the economic benefits resulting from their implementation are being discussed, she said.

Azerbaijan joined the WB Group in 1992.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Tajikistan is planning to spend over $115 million for construction of the A and F segments of the Kulyab-Kalaikhumb road, the Tajik agency Avesta reported.

According to the Ministry of Finance of the Tajikistan Republic, the construction and reconstruction of the Kulyab-Kala Humb highway is mainly financed by the Islamic Development Bank, the Saudi Development Fund, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Abu Dhabi Fund and the OPEC Fund.

Relevant economic agencies of the country told Avesta that the project provides for smoothing and expansion of the road, installation of 39 water pipes, construction of concrete irrigation ditches on the side of the 40,000-meter long road, construction of protective foundations at a distance of 10,000 meters, 2 bridges and other necessary structures.

The total length of the road section is 32 kilometers. The section is considered the main part of the Kulyab-Kala Khumb road, and its reconstruction will allow year-round movement of residents and increase transportation of goods and products.

The project is expected to begin in 2018 and will be completed in 2022.

The government of Tajikistan has a share in the project.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

A service for withdrawing cash money in foreign currency purchased on conversion bank cards of individuals has been launched in Uzbekistan, Uzbek media reported on April 3.

The corresponding presidential decree was adopted in the late March this year. The document stated that a mechanism for withdrawing cash money in foreign currency purchased by individuals to international payment cards should be introduced from April 1.

Uzbekistani citizens are able to withdraw cash money from their conversion cards now.

According to the information, the National Bank of Uzbekistan allows individuals to withdraw unlimited amount of money from a conversion bank card without interest rate, provided that the conversion card was opened in the NBU. Otherwise, three percent of the amount is withdrawn from the card. The same interest will be levied on non-residents of Uzbekistan. There are currently not enough ATMs of the NBU throughout the country, so cashing of the currency is mainly carried out through terminals in the bank's offices.

In case of Hamkor Bank, the operation is carried out with help of an employee in any branch office of the bank.

We do not have a limit. If you have a card of our bank and you need to withdraw less than five thousand dollars, it can be done immediately and without any interest. If the amount exceeds five thousand dollars, it will be necessary to write an application and get permission in the head office of the bank, representative of the bank said.

According to the adopted resolution, automated currency exchange terminals, operating 24 hours per day, should be installed throughout Uzbekistan until November 1, especially in places actively visited by travelers. Most of the exchange points are currently located in the branch offices of banks and operate from 9:00 to 18:00.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Kazakhstan will increase the export of agricultural products to China by 20 percent in 2018, Head of the department of international integration of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Anna Semanenko told Trend.

Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan and the Main Directorate for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (PRC) signed a protocol on veterinary and phytosanitary requirements for frozen lamb, honey, wheat, wheat bran, soybeans in 2017, said Semanenko.

The protocol allowed to increase the export of agricultural products of Kazakhstan to China by 30 percent in 11 months of 2017.

"In 2017, we exported 5,600 tons of soybeans to China for the first time. Exports of frozen fish increased by 2 times, oil seeds  by 1.6 times. Export of sunflower, safflower, cottonseed oil increased by 2.4 times and export of soybean oil increased by 14 times of," she added.

Semanenko noted that in 2018 Kazakhstan plans to coordinate veterinary requirements with China for the supply of beef, pork and several types of cereals, leguminous and melon crops.

In 2017, Kazakhstan exported nearly 7 million tons of products worth $5.8 billion to China, which is 36.6 percent more year over year.

Import of goods from China to Kazakhstan increased by 27.9 percent, to $4.7 billion in 2017.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

The number of able-bodied citizens in Uzbekistan is more than 13 million people, but only a part of them pay income taxes, Uzbek agency UzDaily reported citing First Deputy Chairman of the State Tax Committee of Uzbekistan Behzod Musayev.

Musayev said that, only 5,7 million citizens are officially working, according to the State Tax Committee.

He also said that the State Tax Committee is carrying out inspections to clarify this figure and the tax authorities have already checked some of the trading facilities and found out that some employees of the facilities work without registration.

Musaev added that entrepreneurs cannot be blamed for this, because in order to pay a salary of 1 million soums, they need to pay a tax of 500,000 soums.

The Concept of Reforming the Tax System of Uzbekistan proposes to combine the tax on personal income, unified social payments and insurance premiums of citizens into the off-budget Pension Fund under the Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan into a single tax on personal income with a flat taxation scale of 25 percent.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Presidents of Turkey and Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, will take part in the foundation laying ceremony of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant through videoconference, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey told Trend April 3.

Turkeys TAEK atomic energy authority on Monday granted Russian builder Rosatom a construction license to start work on the first unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant is the first BOO (build-own-operate) nuclear power plant project in the world.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Tajikistan after a nine-year break began the planned supply of electricity to Uzbekistan from the Regar power substation on April 2, the press service of the state national energy company of Tajikistan "Barki Tojik" announced on April 3.

According to the information, the export of electricity began at 17:05 (GMT 5+) over a 220-kilovolt line.

At the initial stage, the daily export volume will be 672,000 kWh and will further increase in the future. According to the recent intergovernmental agreements, Tajikistan will export up to 1.5 billion kWh of electricity to the neighboring country in total.

The price of each kilowatt of the Tajik electricity exported to the neighboring state is 2 cents.

The state energy holding also noted that a second 220-kV power transmission line is going to be commissioned to increase the volume of electricity supply to Uzbekistan.

According to "Barki Tojik", the country currently produces about 37 million kWh per day, including 284,000 kWh being exported to Afghanistan for over 4 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Tajikistan plans to increase the export of electricity to Afghanistan by 200 million kWh in 2018. The country exported 1.3 billion kWh of electricity to Afghanistan last year. The figure is planned to be increased to 1.5 billion kWh.

According to experts, Tajikistan can export up to 5 billion kWh of electricity in summers. Seasonal recipients of Tajik electricity are Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan - 1.5-2 billion kWh.

Earlier, an agreement on the export of Tajik electricity to Uzbekistan was signed. The export of electricity has to amount up to 1.5 billion kWh. However, the details of the deal, including the date and the cost of the supply, were not disclosed.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Russian oil export to Uzbekistan amounted to 36,000 tons in the first three months of 2018, say the reports of the Russian Central Dispatch Office of the Fuel and Energy Complex.

Previously, Russia had stopped supplying oil to Uzbekistan, exporting 24,900 tons in January 2018.

The export of Russian oil to Uzbekistan amounted to 68,200 tons in 2017. In November 2017, 30,000 tons of oil was delivered to Uzbekistan, in December  38,200 tons.

Official representative of Transneft Igor Demin explained the situation, saying that only test supplies were being carried out.

On February 26, 2018, Transneft Vice President Sergey Andronov said that active negotiations were under way between Kazakhstani partners and Uzbekistan to determine the volumes of oil transportation.

In April 2017, during the visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyev to Moscow, a bilateral memorandum on the delivery of 500,000 tons of Russian oil to Uzbekistan was signed.

Sergei Andronov also said that Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Lukoil and Russneft could take part in the delivery of 500,000 tons of Russian oil to Uzbekistan.

On November 20, 2017, the Kazakh company Kaztransoil began transportation of Russian oil to Uzbekistan. Oil is pumped through the pipeline to the oil loading ramp of Shagyr, where it is poured into railway tanks and then transported by rail to Uzbekistan.

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Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

The Azerbaijani Energy Ministry has prepared a report on reliability and sustainability of the power supply of Baku in 2017, the ministry said on April 3.

According to the report, high indicators of reliability and stability of the power supply of Baku were achieved in 2017 compared to previous years.

"Thus, in 2017, SAIDI  System Average Interruption Duration Index (the average outage duration for each customer served a year) in Baku was 0.87 hours, while SAIFI - System Average Interruption Frequency Index (the average number of interruptions that a customer would experience a year) was 0.98 times. These indicators are lower compared to previous years, " the report reads.

The main reason for this is the complete reconstruction of 25-110-kilovolt substations and the construction of 80 new 35-kilovolt substations in Baku over the past decade.

"The application of a circular power supply scheme and laying of 90 percent of the cables under the ground also positively affected the reliability and sustainability of the energy supply," according to the report.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Akkuyu nuclear power plant will play an important role in Turkeys energy sector, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak said before the foundation-laying ceremony of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, Turkish media reported April 3.

Albayrak noted that the Akkuyu nuclear power plant will also contribute to the development of the Turkish economy.

He said that the nuclear power plants construction can be called the birth of the Turkish energy sector.

Turkeys TAEK atomic energy authority on April 2 granted Russian builder Rosatom a construction license to start work on the first unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant is the first BOO (build-own-operate) nuclear power plant project in the world.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

Two new solar power plants are planned to be commissioned in Azerbaijan in the near future, Nizami Asgarov, chief technologist of Azerbaijans Azguntex company, told Trend April 3.

The power plants will operate on solar panels manufactured by the company, he added.

The power plant in Bakus Sahil settlement is fully ready for operation, he said. It is only left to connect solar generating facilities to the common electricity grid. After the start of its operation, it is also planned to commission a similar solar power plant in Sumgait city, where the work has almost been completed.

Presently, solar power plants in Azerbaijan operate in the cities of Gobustan and Samukh, the Baku settlements of Pirallahi and Surakhani, he noted.

For example, the solar power plant in Gobustan almost completely meets the citys needs in electricity, he said. The task is to increase the number of such power plants and make full use of alternative energy opportunities.

Azguntex plant was opened in April 2012. The lifespan of solar panels is 30-40 years.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Huseyn Valiyev  Trend:

GS1 Azerbaijan has launched a mobile barcode scanner, head of Azexport portal Zaur Gardashev told Trend.

He explained that GS1 Azerbaijan's information base is interconnected with the international base.

"Furthermore, we have certain developments with GS1, for example, regarding the possibility of obtaining detailed information on products registered at Azexport. The search principle will also be connected to the scanning of barcodes. At the initial stage, it was proposed to have functionality to scan the barcodes through the GS1 database, and if the code isn't there, it would mean the product is counterfeit," Gardashev said.

Distribution GS1 Azerbaijan, he said, is available for devices running the Android operating system. The version for IPhones will become available in the next two weeks.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @h_veliyev
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.3

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Azerbaijan entrepreneurs may be interested in making investments in Bulgarias tourism sector, Tourism Minister of Bulgaria Nikolina Angelkova said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

"Bulgaria is becoming an increasingly attractive destination not only for tourists but also for entrepreneurs. Our ambition is for the Ministry of Tourism to become a one-stop shop for large investors in the sector, to encourage them and to focus administrative procedures in one place," said the minister.

Angelkova noted that Bulgaria has created flexible conditions and a lot of incentives for successful implementation of serious business ventures.

"We, together with the municipalities, prepared a Map of investment projects in tourism in Bulgaria, including more than 30 sites from different parts of the country, following an invitation to all regions to participate in it. These are mostly ideas for renovation of parks and urban environment, swimming and SPA complexes, exposition and cultural centers, ski facilities, tourist infrastructure and others. The selection is open and can be complemented by new proposals," said the minister.

She went on to add that the Map is published not only in a separate brochure in several languages but also on the Ministry of Tourism website.

"We promote it in any appropriate case to potential investors. I am convinced that the realization of the sites will bring economic benefit to both businesses and consumers of tourist services," said the minister.

Bulgaria has its unquestionable advantages as a business and outsourcing destination  10 percent corporate tax rate and 10 percent personal income tax, political stability, GDP growth of 3.4 percent for 2016 (fifth in the European Union) and second highest ratio of the government debt / GDP within the Community, she noted.

"On average, over the past 5 years, Bulgaria has twice as much increase in tourist trips from abroad as compared to the EU level. These are undoubtedly attractive features of the country and I am sure that the Azerbaijan investors will also be interested in them," added Angelkova.

It is already a fact that world hotel chains start building high-class sites on the Black Sea coast and in the interior of the country because the demand for higher-star hotels grows steadily, said the minister.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn

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Starting from June 8, Azerbaijan Airlines will launch direct flights on the route Moscow-Lankaran-Moscow.

Flights will be operated weekly on Fridays with Airbus A320 airplanes.

Departure from the Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) at 10:00 local time, arrival at Lankaran International Airport (LKK) at 14:10 local time. Return flights from Lankaran will be operated at 15:40 local time, arrival in Moscow at 17:50 local time.

Air tickets can be booked on the website of the company www.azal.az and purchased at AZAL sales offices and official sales agencies.

To purchase tickets and for more information, please contact:

+ (99412) 598-88-80 (Hotline from Azerbaijan: *8880)

E-mail: [email protected]

It should be noted that AZAL will also launch flights to Moscow from other regions of Azerbaijan - Ganja (from April 13) and Gabala (from June 4) within the summer flight schedule. Flights to these destinations are operated as part of a joint program of partnership with Russian tourism companies.

In addition, the first national low-cost airline Buta Airways also operates direct flights from Ganja to Moscow.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.3

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Bulgaria welcomes intentions to open a charter line from Baku to one of its sea resorts, Bulgarias Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

The Azerbaijani side has already shown interest in exploring the possibilities of establishing a charter line from Baku to one of our sea resorts, and we welcome these intentions, said the minister.

She noted that direct flights between Sofia and Baku, launched in January this year, will definitely have a positive impact on the mutual tourist flow.

Both Bulgaria and Azerbaijan offer very good and varied opportunities for tourism that have not yet unleashed the potential of bilateral contacts, said Angelkova, adding that tourists from medium and more distant destinations are mainly traveling by air.

The new airline connection offers more chances to understand our peoples, their lifestyle and culture, but also for more intense contacts between businesses, more dynamic economic relations, including in tourism. I am convinced that thus we will deepen our joint initiatives for the development of cultural, historical, balneo- and SPA, wellness, festival, eco-, gourmet, wine and many other types of tourism that are sought by consumers in both countries, said the minister.

She also spoke about the possibility of opening direct flights between Baku and other Bulgarian cities.

In our country the air traffic passes through 4 major airports - Sofia, Varna, Bourgas and Plovdiv. Traditionally, the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts attract the greatest number of foreign guests in the country, as a prerequisite for this is the modernization and serious investments made at our two major airports Varna and Bourgas. As an administration, we maintain an active dialogue with large and low-cost airline companies. Upon the performance of a precise analysis of many factors in the future, airlines could be launched to other Bulgarian cities, noted Angelkova. The connection with the two Black Sea airports will definitely be a stimulating factor for strengthening the various types of mass tourism (sea and winter) and specialized tourism. Besides, on our Black Sea coast are located some of our best golf courses built according to international standards.

Regarding the possibilities of visa facilitation between the two countries, the minister said that Bulgaria does not impose unilateral visa regulations on other countries, but rather follows EU policy in this respect.

I believe that our countries must actively develop their cooperation both in tourism and in many other structurally determinant sectors of the economy. In order to increase the number of visas issued and to encourage tourist visits, we are working on introducing new technologies to help speed up processing of travel requests. We also very much appreciate the efforts of Azerbaijan to facilitate the issuance of visas to Bulgarian citizens electronically, which will undoubtedly increase the influx of tourists, she added.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

Schedule of traffic and the number of departures of the Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan)-Mashhad (Iran)-Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan) international high-speed train No.15/16 will be changed, the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC told Trend April 3.

Starting from April 5, the train will be sent every Thursday from Nakhchivan and every Saturday from Mashhad starting from April 7.

The functioning of the route is aimed at the sustainable development of friendly relations, strengthening of railway and tourist ties between the two countries, the company said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Oman's budgetary airline SalamAir will launch the sale of tickets for Muscat-Baku flights from June 14 as part of the summer schedule, the company said on April 3.

The flights will be carried out from June 14 to Sept.5 twice a week by Airbus A320.

"The airplane will depart from Muscat on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 23:05 local time and arrive at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport at 02:20 Baku time. The airplane will depart from Baku on Wednesdays and Fridays at 03:20 and arrive in Muscat in 06:20 local time ", according to the company.

SalamAir was founded in 2016 and began commercial flights from January 2017. The airline fleet consists of Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

In March 2018, Azerbaijani tourists visited Georgia more than others, Georgian media reported referring to Georgy Chogovadze, the head of the National Tourism Administration.

He said that the number of Azerbaijani citizens, who visited Georgia in March 2018 was 133,448 people. The citizens of Armenia come in second (109,371 people), followed by citizens of Turkey (100,721 people), Russia (91,529 people) and Iran (58,828 people) follow.

A significant increase was seen in the number of visitors from countries such as Israel (78 percent growth), Great Britain (74 percent), China (62 percent), Germany (47 percent), Iran (46 percent), Latvia (45 percent) , India (43 percent), the US (35 percent), Lithuania (35 percent) and France (25 percent).

In March, the number of foreigners visiting Georgia and remaining in the country for more than a day, increased by one third.

Furthermore, the total number of foreigners, who visited Georgia in March 2018, reached 578, 514 people, which is 13.2 percent more than in the same period of 2017.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Minister of Justice of Kyrgyzstan Uran Akhmetov was released from office on April 3, the press service of the Kyrgyz president said in a message.

Akhmetov's resignation was accepted by President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

Previously, the minister was repeatedly criticized in the parliament of the country, according to the Kyrgyz media. The last scandal erupted when Akhmetov was convicted of providing documents with errors. However, despite this, Akhmetov submitted his resignation at his own request.

Prior to assuming office, Akhmetov also worked as head of the judicial cooperation section of the legal department of the government apparatus, as well as an expert in the legal support department of the presidential administration of Kyrgyzstan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

The Russian civilian aviation authorities have suspended Tajik air carriers flights to some cities of the Russian Federation, Tajik News.TJ reported.

The Tajik side has responded by suspending Russian airlines flights to Dushanbe and Khujand.

According to press release issued by Tajikistans private air carrier, Somon Air, on April 1, the Russian civil aviation authorities have suspended Tajik air carriers flights to eleven cities of Russian Federation.

Moscow reportedly suspended flights of Tajik air carriers from Dushanbe to the Russian cities of Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Kazan, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, St. Petersburg and Sochi and from the Tajik northern city of Khujand to Kazan and St. Petersburg.

Besides, the permit to operate flights from Khujand to Moscow expires in early April and this air route will probably also be suspended, a source at Somon Air told Asia-Plus in an interview.

Meanwhile, flights on the air routes from Dushanbe to Moscow and Novosibirsk, from Khujand to Novosibirsk and Krasnodar, as well as from Kulob to Moscow will be operated in accordance with their schedules.

Tajikistan has responded by halting flights of five Russian airlines flights, namely Ural Airlines, UTair, S-7 Airlines, Nordwind Airlines and Globus Airlines (Russian airline based at Domodedovo International Airport and operating for S7 Airlines), from Russian regions to Dushanbe and Khujand beginning on April 2, according to the Tajik civil aviation authorities.

Thus, Tajik civil aviation authorities reportedly halted flights of the mentioned airlines from Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Samara and St. Petersburg to Dushanbe and from Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Samara and Surgut to Khujand.

Tomorrow, Tajik civil aviation delegation will fly to Moscow to conduct negotiations with Russian counterparts over the airlines battle.

Recall, the story began on March 12, when Tajikistans Transportation Ministry denied Yekaterinburg-based Ural Airlines permission to operate five routes connecting cities in the two countries.

Ural Airlines suspects Tajik aviation authorities of carrying out a systematic campaign aiming at squeezing Russian air carriers out of Tajikistans market. Tajik aviation officials, for their part, say Ural Airlines is acting beyond the confines of a bilateral agreement granting Tajik and Russian air companies equal numbers of flights between the countries.

The history of disputes between the Tajik and Russian civil aviation authorities dates back to early November 2016. The two countries faced the threat of suspension of flights in early November because of a dispute between Moscow and Dushanbe over the status of Russias Zhukovsky International Airport, which was officially opened in May 2016.

Dushanbe called for a revision of existing bilateral agreements on mutual air flights, saying that Zhukovsky is Moscows fourth international airport and that it has increased the number of flights from Moscow to Tajikistan.

The Russian civil aviation authorities insisted that Zhukovsky International Airport is not under Moscows authority but of the town of Ramenskoye.

Tajikistan that time agreed only to flights for Ural Airlines and Tajik Air from Zhukovsky Airport.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Tajikistan has called measures used by Russia against the Tajik aviation authorities counterproductive, Tajik agency News.tj reported on April 3.

Tajik Foreign Ministry expresses concern over the situation that has emerged between the civil aviation authorities of Tajikistan and Russia. A Tajik civil aviation delegation today left for Moscow to conduct negotiations with Russian counterparts over the airlines battle.

The statement, in particular notes that the measures taken by the Russian aviation authorities cause economic damage to the airlines of both countries.

Taking into account the situation that has emerged, the Tajik side considers the measures used counterproductive and proposes to settle the arising problems through consultative meetings and negotiations between the aviation authorities of the countries, according to the statement.

The statement says that any disputes arising between the parties should be settled in accordance with the government-to-government agreements between Tajikistan and Russia on air communication that was signed on Sep. 12, 1997.

The Tajik side adheres strictly to fulfillment of obligations on the reached agreements and is interested in close and mutually beneficial cooperation with the aviation authorities of Russia, says the statement.

Meanwhile, an official source at the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan says a Tajik civil aviation delegation left for Moscow today to conduct negotiations with Russian counterparts over the airlines battle. The delegation members include Deputy Transport Minister Sherali Ganjalzoda, Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Agency Aziz Nabizoda and representatives of the Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, April 3

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Ata Serdarov has been elected as chairman of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan, says the partys message on the results of its extraordinary  8th congress.

Delegates discussed the main directions of the partys activities in the near future.

Currently, 57 party committees operate in the country, including five regional, 12 city and 45 district, as well as about 6,000 primary party organizations.

There are also two other political organizations in Turkmenistan  Agrarian Party and Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

A ministry of construction will be created on the basis of the State Committee of Architecture and Construction of Uzbekistan, the corresponding order of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev read.

The head of state also signed a decree on organization of activity of the new ministry.

According to the decree, the new ministry will become an authorized governmental management body, implementing a state policy in architecture and construction sphere.

The new state agency will carry out a science and technical policy in city development and engineering investigation for construction and implementation of energy-efficient and energy-saving innovative projects and solutions.

It will also be busy with organizing development and approval of a general settlement plan in the republic, territory plans of Karakalpakstan Republic, regions, Tashkent, districts, cities, as well as general plans of settlements and other town-planning documents.

Absence of general plans of most settlements negatively affects complex building-up of the territories, location of the infrastructure objects, development of entrepreneurship and business activity. It also leads to unworked decisions during construction, the order read.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Gazenfer Hamidov  Trend:

Trade turnover between Iran and Turkey reached $1.67 billion in January-February, some 3.5 percent less compared to the first two months of preceding year, when the mutual trade value amounted to $1.71 billion.

The latest statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute indicates that the exports of Turkey to Iran in February 2018 were valued at about $265.46 million, 7.7 percent less compared to $287.7 million in February 2017.

Turkey exported $527.458 million worth of good to Iran in January-February 2018, 6.2 percent less year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the country imported goods worth $568.1 million from Iran in the second month of current year, compared to $588 million worth of imports in February 2017 (3.4 percent less).

Turkey's imports from Iran in the first two months of 2018 amounted to $1.146 billion, 0.35 percent less year-on-year.

Trade turnover between Iran and Turkey stood at $10.75 billion in January-December 2017. The figure indicates a rise by 11.2 percent compared to the same period of the preceding year ($9.67 billion).

Turkey's exports to Iran in the period amounted to $3.26 billion, compared to $4.97 billion in the 12-month period of 2016.

The trade turnover between the two countries was $13.71 billion in 2014, which stood at $9.76 billion in 2015, indicating a 29-percent plunge.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

Expectations that Washington could re-introduce sanctions against Iran have cast shadow over the Middle Eastern nations efforts to renew its aged oil industry through the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC).

While a May 12 deadline, on which US President Donald Trump must sign a presidential waiver on sanctions on the Islamic Republic, looms, fears have gripped the supporters of the 2015 nuclear deal that the unpredictable president may keep the signing pen in his pocket.

Tehran has cherished hopes that the new Iranian calendar year (started March 20) will see holding long-awaited tenders on developing its joint fields in western Iran.

Following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, aka nuclear deal) in January 2016, the Islamic Republic, freed from crippling sanctions, sought to develop its oil and gas fields.

Tehran, immediately after removing the countrys oil sanctions, introduced the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) in a move to replace the old buyback model.

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) later said it launched serious talks with potential foreign suitors in order to hold tenders to hand out the development projects.

The countrys shared fields with Iraq, including the West Karoun region, which has five major fields of North Azadegan, South Azadegan, North Yaran, South Yaran and Yadavaran, were among the prioritized projects to be developed in the framework of the new IPC tenders.

Iranian oil ministry plans to boost the output of the region to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) by March 2019.

However, the oil ministry has seemed slow in implementing the IPC model due to two main reasons - investors fear over the fate of nuclear deal and domestic opposition by hardliners.

After July 2017 agreement with the French major Total, the NIOC signed its second IPC deal with a consortium led by Russian Zarubezhneft this March to develop Aban and Paydar-e Gharb oil fields in the west of the country, both jointly owned by Iraq.

The output of Aban and Paydar-e Gharb is currently 36,000 barrels per day, which according to the 10-year deal is projected to hit 48,000 bpd.

The latest reports by Iranian sources suggest that the countrys output from West Karoun increased by 89.4 percent over the last fiscal year, which ended on March 20. The total output of Iran from West Karoun stood at 305,000 bpd over the last year.

The in-situ deposit of West Karoun is estimated to be about 67 billion barrels, containing both light and heavy crude oil.

The country needs to lure $25 billion in foreign investment to bring the final output of the region to 1.2 bpd once the fields become fully operational.

Now, President Trumps vocal hostility to the nuclear deal has contributed to a drying up of westerners interest in the economic partnership with Iran.

For instance, Austrias Oberbank, which was among the first European banks to ink an agreement with Iran in the post-sanctions era, has recently said that the US administration is seriously throwing obstacles in way of trade with the Islamic Republic.

In a similar move back in February, Patrick Pouyanne, the head of Total, in an interview with the Financial Times signaled the giants possible exit from the deal if Trump decides to kill the nuclear agreement.

Total signed its deal with Tehran last July to develop Phase 11 of Irans South Pars field with an initial investment of $1 billion in the first major western energy contract in the country since sanctions were lifted.

Pouyanne said Total was fully committed to the South Pars project, but had several ways to exit if sanctions were re-imposed.

President Trumps decision on appointing hawks to two top positions in the past month, Mike Pompeo for secretary of state and John Bolton for national security adviser, has even worsened the things further.

Europe and Iran have reportedly been engaged in talks to settle the issues and protect the nuclear deal, but John Bolton and Mike Pompeo appear against the nuclear pact.

"Trump can and should free America from this execrable deal at the earliest opportunity," said Bolton last August.

Although many still remain hopeful that Tehran would manage to hold tenders for concluding more IPC deals in the new Iranian calendar year, it will definitely act as a nail in the coffin of IPC if President Trump ticks the nuclear deal off.

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Farhad Daneshvar is the head of Iran Desk at Trend Agency, follow him on Twitter: @Farhad_Danesh
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called for resolving Syrian crises through diplomatic talks.

Syrian issue must be resolved through a political solution and by the people of this country, Zarif told reporters upon his arrival in Turkey to discuss Syrian crises.

Firstly, It is important to accept that the Syrian issue must be resolved by the political solution. Secondly, we must accept that the Syrian people must create the politic solution, he added.

Saying that it is the duty of foreign governments to help find a political solution, he urged the foreign governments to refrain from deciding instead of the people of Syria.

Zarif is in Ankara to discuss the Syria conflict and the Astana peace process with Turkish and Russian counterparts in a ministerial-level meeting.
Iranian defense minister on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow in the military field, Irna reported.

'Iran and Russia's military cooperation has experienced good growth based on the framework of military cooperation between the two countries,' Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said in a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.

He noted that 'our cooperation for complete annihilation of terrorism in Syria would continue'.

The Russian defense minister for his part hailed the victories against terrorism in Syria and noted that there are lots of grounds for cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.

Boosting security in the region and in particular return of refugees in Syria are the main topics to be discussed, he said.

The Iranian Minister of Defense arrived in the Russian capital on Tuesday to participate at the VII Moscow Conference on International Security.

This year the Conference will focus on the defeat of terrorists in Syria. Security issues facing Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America will also be in the spotlight of the forum.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami has arrived in the Russian capital, Moscow, to attend the Seventh Moscow Conference on Global Security.

Brigadier-General Amir Hatami is expected to address the conference and confer with his Russian counterpart, IRNA news agency reported.

Amir Hatami has arrived in Moscow on the official invitation of Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu.

General Sergei Shoigu earlier said that delegations from 95 countries, as well as 30 defense ministers, 15 general staff chiefs and deputy defense ministers, will attend the Seventh Moscow Conference on Global Security.

The Seventh Moscow Conference on Global Security is scheduled to be held on April 4-5.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has paid his first foreign visit after the re-election to Turkey, which proves the importance of the Moscow - Ankara relations. Although the leaders of the two countries will today mainly discuss the bilateral ties, the fate of Syria mainly depends on the future of the Russia - Turkey relations.

Just an hour later Vladimir Putin's arrival in Ankara, a foundation of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power plant was laid in Turkey.

The Akkuyu NPP is the first BOO (build-own-operate) nuclear power plant project in the world. According to this model, Russia will have the right to use the station's facilities.

Russia and Turkey signed an agreement on construction of the Akkuyu NPP in Ankara on May 12, 2010. The Akkuyu Nuclear JSC was registered in Turkey on Dec. 13, 2010.

The Akkuyu NPP project stipulates the construction of four power units with VVER-1200 reactors with total capacity of 4,800 MW. These reactor systems correspond to the highest, "post-Fukushima" safety standards. The capacity of each unit will be 1200 MW.

The project cost is estimated at $20 billion.

The construction of the Akkuyu NPP shows that despite a number of political disagreements between Moscow and Ankara over the Syrian issue, this is not an obstacle before the two countries to develop energy and economic relations.

But along with the construction of the Akkuyu NPP, there are other important issues on the agenda of the two leaders.

This is primarily the abolition of visas by Russia for Turkish citizens and increasing the trade turnover.

Secondly, this is a matter of settling the Syrian crisis and also the purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems.

One should not rule out that during the meeting, the two leaders will discuss the issue of construction of passenger aircraft for Turkey.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman had a telephone conversation on Monday evening with US President Donald Trump, in whcih he discussed regional updates, Al Arabiya reports.

A Saudi Press Agency statement said the king expressed his thanks and appreciation to Trump for the way in which the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was received during his US tour, and the "fruitful meetings and the signing of important agreements that benefit the two friendly countries."

The president stressed on the success of the crown princes visit, saying it left a wonderful impression on US officials and the private sector and reflected the distinguished relationship between both countries.

King Salman stressed on the international effort needed to move forward the Middle East peace process, as well as stressing on the kingdom's steadfast positions on the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

He also stressed the kingdom's efforts to find a political solution to the Yemeni crisis and provide humanitarian and relief support to its people.

The two leaders stressed the importance of what has been achieved in concerted international efforts to fight the terrorist organizations in Iraq and Syria.

The king also stressed the need to find a solution to the Syrian crisis that fulfills the aspirations of the Syrian people.
Saudi Arabia has raised $0.5 bln to contribute to the 'humanitarian plan' in Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates has granted the same amount, Al Arabiya reports.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said Tuesday from Geneva at a conference held for Yemen that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are involved in the conflict to restore the internationally recognized Yemeni government to power, have "generously donated" $930 mln to the humanitarian aid plan for this year.

Kuwait has also raised $250 mln for Yemen's humanitarian plan, while the European Union has provided 107 mln euros.

Guterres explained that there is an opportunity to resolve the conflict in Yemen and must be used, pointing out that the UN envoy is working on the Yemeni plan for a solution.

The United Nations has requested donations worth $3 bln to fund Yemen's humanitarian needs.
Two sea vessels have delivered the first regimental set of S-400 Triumf long-range anti-aircraft missile systems to China. The missing equipment that had been earlier damaged while being shipped by a third vessel will be sent to the customer in the summer, a military-diplomatic source told TASS.

"Two vessels have delivered the first regimental set of S-400s from the port of Ust-Lug, Leningrad Region, to China within the time limit established by the contract. It includes a command post, radar stations, launching stations, energy equipment and other property. It lacks the equipment that was onboard the third vessel," the source said.

"The work continues, and the missing equipment is expected to be delivered to the customer in the summer," the source specified.

In January, the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation reported that after a storm in the English Channel the third vessel returned to the port of shipment for inspection of the support equipment and assessment of the damage under the specified insurance event.

The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation declined to comment on the information provided by the source.

In November 2014 it emerged that Russia signed a contract with China to deliver S-400s, and in November 2015 Russian Presidential Aide for Military-Technical Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin confirmed the signing of the contract. China became the first foreign client for these anti-aircraft systems. In June 2016, Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov reported that the Chinese army would receive the systems not earlier than in 2018.

The S-400 Triumf is a Russian long-and mid-range anti-aircraft missile system designed to hit attack and reconnaissance aircraft (including aerial vehicles based on stealth technology) and any other air targets under conditions of intensive enemy fire and electronic countermeasures.
Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi told North Koreas Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on Tuesday that China appreciates the Norths important efforts toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, Reuters reports.

Wang made the comments in a meeting with Ri in Beijing, Chinas Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa is in China seeking investments that his administration believes could help the country's struggling economy. Mnangagwa has met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing where the two sides have signed a range of business deals, Al Jazeera reports.

Economists say that this is a positive move, but warn that Zimbabwe has sometimes failed to pay back loans it has received from China.
Frances finance minister pledged on Tuesday to push ahead with President Emmanuel Macrons drive to modernize the economy, just as rail unions launched the first of three months of rolling strikes, crippling train transport, Reuters reports.

Bruno Le Maire said the government would not pull back from economic reforms he said had helped make 2017 the best year for foreign corporate investment in France in records going back to 2001.

Thats the clearest evidence that France is back, that there is a dynamic underway and we will do everything to boost that dynamic, Le Maire said during a presentation about foreign investment in France.

Nearly 1,300 foreign investments last year helped create 33,489 French jobs, Business France, which promotes the country, said, while total foreign investment rose 16 percent from 2016.

U.S. companies overtook German ones as the top source of investment, with the number of U.S. investments up 26 percent for the year, against a 9 percent increase from Germany.

Frances high taxes and strict labor laws have long hurt its image with foreign investors, although that is changing after Macron made it easier to hire and fire workers and committed to cutting corporate tax to the EU average.

The French economy posted its best annual growth since 2011 last year, expanding 2 percent, and persistently high unemployment has begun to fall.

A survey on Tuesday showing that manufacturing grew at the slowest pace in a year in March suggested overall growth would moderate, although weaker customer demand was blamed on bad weather as well as a stronger euro.

Business France said Macrons May 2017 election on a pro-business reform agenda  a break with the traditional right-left mold of French politics  had boosted Frances image among foreign investors.

Macron, a former investment banker and economy minister, has gone out of his way to attract investment, notably hosting 140 heads of multinational firms at the palace of Versailles in January to pitch France as a place to do business.

Macron wants in particular to boost incentives for entrepreneurs to launch start-ups and has cut tax on all capital income to a flat 30 percent.

French firms saw a record level of equity inflows last year with 14.3 billion euros ($17.6 billion) of venture capital investment, according to figures published by the France Invest association, which represents the industry, on Tuesday.

Though Macron is carrying out reforms his predecessors shied away from, he faces a growing challenge from unions in a country where tensions with labor have long kept governments from being bolder in their reforms.

Unions severely disrupted railway services across France on Tuesday, the first day of rolling strikes that will be a serious test Macrons resolve to carry out changes.

The four main rail unions plan to strike for two days out of every five for the next three months to fight a shake-up of the national rail company SNCF before its monopoly is ended in line with European Union rules.
The company that makes British passports will challenge the decision to use a foreign firm in future, a government decision that some eurosceptics in the tabloid press have called unpatriotic, Reuters reports.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced post-Brexit Britain would change its passports from burgundy to blue - closer to how they looked before the color of EU passports was harmonized in 1988 - in an expression of our independence and sovereignty.

But reports that Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto (GTO.AS), rather than Britains De La Rue Plc (DLAR.L), had won the tender to produce them angered some Britons and the Daily Mail said more than 270,000 people had signed its petition demanding the contract go to a British company.

Gemalto, which already produces British driving licenses, has not confirmed or denied it won the contract, but De La Rue has publically criticized the decision to use a foreign firm.

It said it would seek a judicial review of the tender decision as it believes it made the highest quality and technically most secure bid.

The Daily Mail applauded De La Rue for coming out fighting and urged the government to put security and patriotism first by reversing its decision.

A spokesman for May said the standstill period - between a contract being awarded and its final conclusion - had been extended due to De La Rues request, but the government had not changed its stance.

This has been a rigorous, fair and open competition. The preferred bidder demonstrated they are best able to meet the needs of the passport service, he said.

The passport issue has proved uncomfortable for May as she fends off accusation from hardliners in her own party that she will settle for a soft Brexit deal that could leave Britain still confined by many EU rules, which include open competition for public contracts.

Anti-Brexit figures have pointed out that Britain had never been obliged to make its passports burgundy and that one EU member, Croatia, already has blue passports. And, in an April Fools joke, the European Parliament tweeted on Sunday that the EU had decided to make all EU passports blue.

De La Rues contract, which ends in July 2019, is worth 400 million pounds ($562 million). The new contract will start in October 2019, after Britain leaves the EU in March.

Shares in De La Rue were little changed on Tuesday, having fallen 6 percent when it said it had lost the contract in March.

Britains biggest trade union Unite said it supported De La Rues legal challenge as it was concerned about manufacturing jobs.
The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday evening that he was freezing a new agreement with the UN refugee agency that would have seen thousands of African migrants given temporary status in Israel  mere hours after announcing the plan, The Times of Israel reports.

I hear you, and especially the residents of south Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said in a (Hebrew) Facebook post amid mounting right-wing criticism of the deal. For the time being, I am suspending the agreement, he added, noting that he would meet with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and residents of south Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants reside, before reconsidering it.

It was his third statement on the issue in a matter of hours.

In the afternoon, at a press conference alongside Deri, Netanyahu had praised the plan, saying that it would see some 16,250 African migrants in Israel resettled in developed Western countries, while a similar number would be given temporary residency.

This agreement will allow for the departure from Israel of 16,250 migrants to developed countries like Canada or Germany or Italy, Netanyahu declared, without elaborating. Other reports said the United States and Sweden would take in some of the number.

Netanyahus televised address followed a government announcement that it had scrapped an earlier controversial plan to deport the migrants and replaced it with the new one, quietly negotiated with the UN, that would see thousands sent to Western countries.

Netanyahu said the earlier plan to deport migrants to Rwanda and Uganda was no longer feasible. He stressed that legal constraints as well as political difficulties on the part of [Uganda and Rwanda] led to the cancellation of previous deportation policies.

Under the agreement, which Netanyahu called the best possible, the asylum seekers who remain in Israel would be dispersed in areas across the country outside of south Tel Aviv, he said. Netanyahu vowed to prioritize rehabilitating the neighborhoods of south Tel Aviv, alongside implementing the international agreement.

In a Facebook video following up on his press statement, Netanyahu said that the migrants who would be allowed to stay in the country would be removed from Tel Aviv and sent to kibbutzim, agricultural villages, and other communities.

UNHCR confirmed the agreement in a statement, saying, A joint working group will be set up with a series of objectives and a timetable to implement solutions for some 39,000 people over five years.

Under the agreement, UNHCR, with the support of receiving counties, will work to facilitate the departure to third countries to be determined of some 16,000 Eritreans and Sudanese under various programs, including sponsorship, resettlement, family reunion and labor migration schemes, while others will be receiving a suitable legal status in Israel, the statement said.

The earlier deportation policy, which offered each migrant $3,500 and a plane ticket, had been condemned by Israeli activists and the United Nations as chaotic, poorly executed, and unsafe. Asylum seekers previously deported to Uganda and Rwanda have told The Times of Israel they faced serious danger and even imprisonment after arriving in Africa without proper documents.
The crown prince and de facto leader of Saudi Arabia said Israel has a right to a homeland, a notable shift in the kingdom's position, in an interview published in The Atlantic on Monday, Dawn reports.

Saudi Arabia and Israel still have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes, improvements in their ties have accelerated in recent years.

Israel's conflict with the Palestinians has long proved an obstacle to a full rapprochement, however, as Riyadh still supports their claim to sovereignty.

But now Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman  speaking to the editor-in-chief of US news magazine The Atlantic  appeared to put the rival land claims on an equal footing.

The prince was asked by Jeffrey Goldberg whether the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland?

I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation, said the prince, who is on a three-week US tour.

I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land, he added.

But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.

Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has been the main sponsor of the Arab Peace Initiative, which envisions a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But no such senior Saudi official is known to have previously accepted that Israel has a right to any land beyond the practical need to secure a lasting deal.

If, as expected, the crown prince succeeds his octogenarian father King Salman and ascends to the Saudi throne, he will also become guardian of Islam's holiest shrines.

But he told Goldberg he had no religious objection to Israelis living alongside Palestinians, so long as the main Muslim holy site in Jerusalem  the Al-Aqsa mosque compound  is protected.

We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people, he said.

This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people."
Zeekit can simulate how the clothing of the UK online fashion retail company will look on potential buyers, Globes reports.

UK online company ASOS has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Israeli startup Zeekit, which makes it possible to dress models with simulated images of the product, instead of using studio pictures. ASOS can use a picture of the original fashion item and fit them on different models in different positions with different body structures, even though the models have never actually worn the clothes.

Zeekit declined to comment on the value of the deal, but industry sources said that ASOS was likely pay to the Israeli company NIS 2.4 million yearly in an agreement that would be extended by consent between the parties.

ASOS markets and sells over 80,000 items to customers in most of the world's countries through distribution centers located in the UK, the US, China, and other countries in Europe. The company, founded in 2000, had a sales turnover of nearly 2 billion in 2017, and its market cap is 5.8 billion.

One of the challenges in fast fashion marketing is displaying as much clothing as possible on models in order to improve sales. Displaying a fashion item on models, however, is expensive, and there are also time and distance constraints.

The cooperation between ASOS and Zeekit is expected to substantially shorten the time needed to put a new fashion item on a website. Instead of wasting several days on expensive fashion photography, Zeekit's algorithm makes it possible to create an image that demonstrates how an item of clothing looks on a broader range of models and increase the speed of putting items online.

Zeekit founder and CEO Yael Vizel says, The item doesn't even have to be sent to ASOS in order to make a fashion production. All the manufacturer has to do is sent a picture of the product, and we run the imaging on a bank of models photographed in advance, with no need for a studio production.

Vizel, Nir Appleboim, and Alon Kristal founded Zeekit in 2013. The company has raised $12.5 million to date. Zeekit's technology was developed by Vizel, who applied the topographical analysis capabilities she had acquired during her military service and applied them to the topography of the human body.

Zeekit's development makes it possible to handle the challenges facing fashion retailers operating in the Internet theater. One of these is the number of items returned. The development is expected to reduce the number of items returned.

As of now, clothing can be placed through virtualization only on models from ASOS's database. Later, however, Zeekit believes that customers will also be able to use their own pictures for virtual measurement.
The Islamic Development Bank group (IDB) will provide Tunisia with 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in the form of financing public investments, a Tunisia official said Monday, Xinhua reported.

The Tunisian Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation Zied Laadhari made the announcement at the 43rd annual meeting of the IDB group held here until Thursday.

The Tunisian minister, who chaired the board of governors, revealed that Tunisia will soon sign a partnership contract with the group of IDB covering the next 5 years.

About 57 ministers of finance from the IDB group member states participated in the meetings, also attended by 60 official delegations and over 1,000 participants including experts, investors and global economic players.

"Since 2011, IDB financing in development projects in Tunisia has reached 2.17 billion Tunisian dinars (about 902 million dollars)," said Laadhari.

The IDB has already agreed the creation of a STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) fund, with a value of 500 million dollars, to support start-ups as well as emerging Tunisian companies in this sector.

"The group's global financing for the country exceeds 3.2 billion dollars, mainly in electricity with 6 projects and an envelope of 756 million dollars, in addition to 1.1 billion dollars in insured business," said IDB Group President Bandar Hajjar.

Hajjar said Tunisia has just received the IDB approval to finance a number of development projects in some of the country's inland provinces, including construction of hospitals and transfer of electrical energy.

Hajjar further assured Tunisia help in addressing major challenges and obstacles to achieve economic and social prosperity.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the warring sides in Yemen on Tuesday to reach a political settlement to end a conflict that is now in its fourth year and has left 22 million people in urgent need of aid, Reuters reported.

His Special Envoy Martin Griffiths will head to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the Yemeni government-held city of Aden in the drive for peace, Guterres told reporters.

Griffiths has already held talks with both sides in a war that has drawn in regional powers, meeting Houthi authorities who hold the capital Sanaa as well as internationally-recognized Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Saudi officials in Riyadh.

Guterres said he saw positive perspectives for preparing a plan of action to lead to an effective inter-Yemeni dialogue able to achieve a political solution, with of course the involvement of all those that are relevant in this conflict.

I am optimistic about that possibility, the United Nations chief added.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than 2 million and driven the country to the verge of famine.
Russia still has no understanding of Washingtons intentions in the field of bilateral relations, which hinders successful talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said at a meeting entitled The Future of Diplomacy and Political Communications on the platform of the international discussion club Valdai on Tuesday, TASS reports.

"In our relations with the United States there is a great problem: we do not understand what our partners intensions are and what they would like to achieve," he said. "Successful talks are possible only when we have a clear understanding of our partners intentions. Then we can start a discussion on how to reconcile these goals and intentions."

Grushko considers the absence of economic ties between Russia and the United States to be "a weak spot" in bilateral relations of the two countries.

"We understand that the lack of economic ties is a weak spot in our relations with the US, it is absolutely abnormal, since an economic relationship is a serious balance between countries," he said on Tuesday.
Russias state hi-tech corporation Rostec will feature over 200 weapon systems at the FIDAE-2018 arms exhibition, which runs on April 3-8 in Chile, TASS with reference to the Rostec press office reported on Tuesday.

"Rostec will showcase over 200 items of armament and military hardware in Chile. The domestically-made weapons and munitions will be demonstrated by the holding companies integrated into Rostec: Rosoboronexport and Tecmash Group," the press office said in a statement.

Industrial Director of Rostecs Armament cluster Sergei Abramov was quoted by the press office as saying that "the Russian military hardware is fully adapted to the regions climatic conditions and enjoys stable demand and, therefore, there are all the pre-requisites for building up cooperation under various projects."

Rosoboronexports exhibition stand will feature Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighter jets in their different modifications, Mikoyan MiG-29M/M2 multifunctional fighters, Yakovlev Yak-130 combat training aircraft, Mil Mi-28NE attack helicopters, Kamov Ka-52 reconnaissance and attack gunships, Mi-17 military transport helicopters, Mi-171E transport helicopters and also Ansat and Ka-226T light multirole helicopters.

Tecmash will feature projectiles for ground-based multiple launch rocket systems and aviation, in particular, the thermobaric rocket for the TOS-1A heavy flamethrower. The new-generation 80mm aircraft rocket S-80FP with the high-explosive fragmentation penetrating warhead will be another exhibit, which Tecmash will showcase at the Chile defense exhibition.

As Tecmash CEO Vladimir Lepin said, the new munition allows reducing the number of sorties required to accomplish combat missions with S-80FP rockets by two-three times compared to rockets developed in the 1980s.
Russia and OPEC may assume joint efforts on balancing the oil market after completion of the crude production cut deal (OPEC+), Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday, TASS reports.

"We are currently considering the format of long-term relations, which would potentially include market monitoring, information exchange and implementation of some joint measures as was the case in end-2016 if necessary," he said.

According to Novak, OPEC+ countries are currently developing a mechanism for long-term cooperation to be used after completion of the deal.

The issue has been discussed with Saudi Arabias energy minister Khalid Al-Falih, he added.

"There are various cooperation formats, ranging from periodic meetings of OPEC and non-OPEC countries to other formats, probably, of an organization that could cooperate with OPEC and non-OPEC states," he said.

Novak stressed that Moscow has no plans to join the oil cartel.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said earlier that Riyadh plans to agree a long-term deal with Moscow and OPEC countries in the area of oil production and export within 10-20 years.

In late 2016, OPEC member-states and 11 independent oil-exporting countries, including Russia, entered into an agreement to reduce oil production. According to that agreement, during the first half of 2017 the participants were to withdraw 1.8 million barrels per day from the oil market in comparison with the level of October 2016. In May 2017, at the meeting in Vienna, the countries extended the agreement until April 2018, maintaining the previous quotas for all participants. The purpose of the agreement is to reduce global oil reserves to the average level of the last five years.
Delivery of four Mi-35 attack helicopters, four Mi-17 transport helicopters, T-72 tanks, BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and other military hardware from Russia to Serbia has been discussed during the meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said Tuesday, TASS reports.

"So far we talked about acquiring four Mi-17 transport helicopters and four Mi-35 attack helicopters. We have also discussed the future of our military and technical cooperation, further improvement and modernization of MiG fighter jets, purchase and delivery of T-72 tanks and BMP-2 vehicles, as well as other types of military hardware," said Vulin.

He also mentioned that Serbia is working hard on developing and improving its military complex. "We always have to prepare ourselves for the worst," Vulin noted.

The Serbian minister added that Russia and Serbia continue developing their military and technical cooperation. "I am very grateful for that. An armed Serbia is a peaceful Serbia, and it guarantees stability in the Balkans," said Vulin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the implementation of the contract for supplies of Russian S-400 missile systems to Turkey is a priority task, TASS reports.

"A priority task in the sphere of military technical cooperation is the implementation of the contract for supplies of S-400 Triumf missile systems to Turkey," he said at a meeting of the top-level Russia-Turkey Cooperation Council.

"We hope that the sectoral intergovernmental commission will look into the prospects for further supplies of Russian-made military hardware to Turkey at its next meeting," he said.

Earlier in the day, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov pledged that Russia would exert every effort for completing the delivery of air defense systems S-400 to Turkey by 2020.

"Turkey did raise this issue. As far as I know, steps will be taken to meet Turkeys wish," Ushakov said, when asked by journalists if Russia was going to satisfy Turkeys request for speeding up the delivery of S-400 to be through with them by 2020.

Russias S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the latest long-range antiaircraft missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and surface targets. The system can hit aerodynamic targets at a range of up to 400 kilometers (249 miles) and tactical ballistic targets flying at a speed of 4.8 km/s (3 mi/s) at a distance of up to 60 kilometers (37 miles). Such targets include cruise missiles, tactical and strategic aircraft and ballistic missile warheads.

The systems radars detect aerial targets at a distance of up to 600 kilometers (373 miles). The systems 48N6E3 surface-to-air missiles can hit aerodynamic targets at altitudes of 10,000-27,000 meters and ballistic threats at altitudes of 2,000-25,000 meters.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

If Turkey stops restraining the flow of refugees in the direction of the EU, then Europe may face big problems, the Turkish media cited the countrys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying April 3.

Yildirim added that if Turkey allows a flow of refugees to enter Europe, then terrorists will also go there under the guise of migrants.

"The EU must be grateful to Turkey for all this, however, the EU continues to apply double standards in relation to the issue of Turkey's full membership in the union," the Turkish prime minister said.

Previously, Yildirim said that Turkey does not need the EU, nevertheless, the European Union must make a final decision on Ankara's membership in this structure as soon as possible.

Yildirim added that Islamophobia has recently grown in the EU and this could lead Europe to a serious crisis.

An association agreement between the EU and Turkey was signed in 1963. Ankara filed an application for membership in the EU in 1987, but accession negotiations were launched in 2005.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

A fire broke out during a meeting of the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) of Turkey in the building where it was held, the Turkish media reported April 3.

The fire broke out in the basement of the building.

Firefighters managed to localize the fire. No victims have been reported.

The cause of the fire and other details of the incident are yet unknown.

The Supreme Electoral Council was established in 1950 and is located in Ankara.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The United States took out its mobile ammunition from the Incirlik air base in Turkey, Turkish media reported on April 3.

Reportedly, the United States took out three mobile stocks from the Incirlik air base starting from Jan.20 untill today.

Previously it was reported that the US Air Force left the Incirlik air base in Turkey before the Operation Olive Branch. The US Air Force withdrew F-15, A-10 and F-16 aircrafts from the Incirlik air base on Jan.19,2018.

The US Air Force's A-10 aircrafts were sent to the airbase in Afghanistan.

On March 18, Turkish Armed Forces and the Free Syrian Army liberated Afrin city from PYD/YPG terrorists.

On Jan. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

On Aug. 24, 2016, Turkish Armed Forces, with the support of the Syrian opposition, launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the IS militants and liberated the city of Jarabulus as well as the city of Al-Bab in northern Syria.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Three Iranian female citizens were injured in a road accident in Istanbul, Turkish media reported April 3.

The Iranian citizens are tourists who arrived in Istanbul.

All the injured were taken to hospitals.

In February 2018, 60,800 road accidents were recorded in Turkey, in which 343 people died, according to a report of the Turkish police.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 3

Trend:

Turkey and Russia will continue to work for peace and stability in the region, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated, according Turkish media.

"I wish that all our meetings benefit the whole of our region", Erdogan said at a meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council, which takes place in Ankara under the chairmanship of the Presidents of Russia and Turkey.

Turkish President noted that before the meeting of the Council his meeting with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin took place. He noted that during the meeting many issues, both regional and international, were discussed.
United States President Donald Trump went on a mini tweet-storm Monday evening complaining that "caravans" of immigrants are heading for America, Sputnik reported.

As the Los Angeles Times reported last fall, "According to census numbers from the US and Mexico, since 2005 Mexican nationals have begun to leave the US in greater numbers than at any point in history."

The LA Times also noted that "the largest share of those who return to Mexico are immigrants who had been in the country illegally."

Trump's promise to deport people and potentially split up families in part has driven the emigration, but the trend started before the new administration even began. As the Washington-based Pew Research Center reported in November 2015, when President Barack Obama was in office, "more Mexican immigrants have returned to Mexico than have migrated here since the end of the Great Recession."
A group of U.S. states and cities on Tuesday filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from asking people filling out 2020 census forms whether they are citizens, Reuters reports.

The lawsuit, filed by 17 states, Washington D.C. and six cities, challenged what it said was an unconstitutional and arbitrary decision announced last month by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau, to add the citizenship question.

The census, authorized by the U.S. Constitution and conducted every 10 years, is used to determine the allocation to states of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities.

Critics of the citizenship question say its inclusion might dissuade immigrants, and perhaps many citizens, from being counted, with a disproportionate impact on Democrat-leaning states.

The plaintiffs include many Democrat-controlled or leaning states, major cities including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Supporters of the question, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, say it will help the country enforce the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

A citizenship question has not appeared in the census since 1950.

At a press conference, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman called the question a blatant effort by the Trump administration, which he said has an anti-immigrant animus, to prevent the Census Bureau from carrying out its clear constitutional mandate.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated his intention of bringing American troops back from Syria, citing that the fighting against the extremist group Islamic State (IS) was close to being complete, Xinhua reports.

"A decision" will be made soon, Trump said at a joint press conference at the White House with visiting leaders from three Baltic countries.

"Our primary mission in terms of that was getting rid of IS. We've almost completed that task and we'll be making a decision very quickly in coordination with others, as to what we'll do," he said.

"I want to bring our troops home," Trump added.

Trump's remarks seemed to be at odds with opinions of the US military. The Pentagon and State Department have advised that a much longer-term effort is necessary to defeat the militant group.

The US president also complained that the United States has spent 7 trillion US dollars in the Middle East in the past 17 years, which has brought "nothing, except death and destruction."

Trump has grumbled about the US military presence in Syria. In a speech in the US state of Ohio last week, he said that his country will withdraw its troops in Syria "very soon."

Trump also ordered a hold over the weekend on more than 200 million dollars in recovery funds for Syria, according to US media reports.

Also on Tuesday, Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the US-led coalition to defeat the IS, said that the fight was not over.

"We are in Syria to fight ISIS (IS)," he said at a public event in Washington. "That is our mission and that mission isn't over and we are going to complete that mission."
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2018 - 21:24 | All, Sports

Seven National Olympic Committees including Japan have expressed official interest in hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday.

The seven NOCs are Austria (Graz), Canada (Calgary), Italy (joint bid of Cortina dAmpezzo/Milan/Turin), Sweden (Stockholm), Switzerland (Sion), Turkey (Erzurum) and Japan, which, with Sapporo, will aim to host its third Winter Games. NOCs had until Saturday to officially put their hand up.

The 2026 host city will be selected at the IOC Session in September 2019 in Milan. Japan previously held the Winter Olympics in 1972 in Sapporo and 1998 in Nagano.

"I warmly welcome the NOCs and cities interest in hosting the Olympic Winter Games," IOC President Thomas Bach said. "The IOC has turned the page with regard to Olympic candidatures."

"Our goal is not just to have a record number of candidates, but ultimately it is to select the best city to stage the best Olympic Winter Games for the best athletes of the world."

"These interested cities and NOCs will continue with the new dialogue stage in which the IOC provides NOCs with greater support, technical advice, communications assistance and materials to develop the best possible candidature."

"The new approach enables cities to create the most feasible, legacy-enhancing Olympic Games possible."
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2018 - 20:20 | World, All

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed Pyongyang's recent commitment to denuclearization, during talks Tuesday with his North Korean counterpart on the heels of the surprise summit between the two countries' leaders.

During the meeting in Beijing with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, Wang was quoted by the Foreign Ministry as saying that China appreciates Pyongyang's efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Ri responded to Wang by saying that Pyongyang will maintain close strategic communication with Beijing on issues related to the peninsula, according to the Chinese ministry.

North Korea has recently intensified diplomatic efforts ahead of its planned summit with South Korea on April 27 and first-ever summit talks with the United States possibly by the end of May.

Late last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing during his first foreign trip since becoming leader following the death of his father Kim Jong Il in 2011.

In their summit at the Great Hall of the People last week, Kim told Xi that he is committed to denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula "in accordance with the will" of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, and his father, China's state-run media said.

Wang was quoted by the ministry as telling Ri Tuesday that Beijing supports Pyongyang for the success of its summits with Seoul and Washington.

Ri arrived in the Chinese capital from Pyongyang earlier Tuesday. He will visit Russia, Azerbaijan and other former Soviet republics in the coming days, according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

(North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho (L) at Pyongyang's international airport on April 3, 2018.)

The North Korean foreign minister will attend a ministerial-level meeting of the Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, for two days through Friday, KCNA said.

In Moscow, Ri is expected to talk with senior Russian government officials about the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that the Kremlin is working toward a string of meetings about the North Korean issue in Moscow soon, including one involving Ri.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, said Putin has no immediate plans to hold a summit with Kim.

In mid-March, Ri visited Sweden, whose embassy in Pyongyang represents U.S. interests in North Korea, and spoke with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom. He also accompanied Kim to China.
By Siti Rahil, KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2018 - 10:37 | Arts, Feature, All

He had furiously rebelled against Singapore's strict censorship policies, even producing a short film, "Cut" that mocked the system, but these days he gets invited to give talks in schools and work on government projects.

The award-winning Singaporean film director, Royston Tan, known for his bold portrayal of social realities, seems to have come of age, and so too has the wealthy city-state he grew up in that has formed the landscape and backdrop of his films.

"In the past, we would throw things at each other, but right now we can sit down and have a cup of coffee and talk about our differences," the 41-year-old said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.

"I realize that I have grown, I am still a rebel. I just rebel in different ways."

Reminiscing on the past, especially those early years of constant clashes with the censors, Tan said Japan occupies a special place in his heart.

"Japan has played a very, very big part in my life," he said, recalling how he spent two months in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo in 2004 for an artist-in-residence program.

Back then, Tan was in his early 20s and had been ruffling feathers at home with his very short musical comedy "Cut" that rapped the censors. It appeared soon after his first feature film "15" about teenage gangsters, which was subjected to a record-breaking 27 cuts.

Japan, he said, "was a refreshing journey for me because after I came back, my style had changed."

In Sapporo, "Not many people spoke English and I realized that I had to use the most basic words to communicate. As a result of this, I realized the beauty of not talking. We communicated with just eyes, a little bit of body language."

It was there he wrote his feature film "4:30," which was co-produced by Japan's national broadcaster NHK and released in 2005. It is about a young boy who wakes up at 4:30 a.m. daily to spy on a suicidal Korean tenant of his family apartment.

In the film, "nobody talks," he said.

"We have a universal language, which is the language of the eyes. That's what I really learned (in Japan)."

Communication between people who speak different languages again emerged in his more recent film, "Bunga Sayang," which clinched the Best Asian Short Film prize at the Sapporo International Short Film Festival and Market in 2016.

Part of the award-winning anthology of seven short stories directed by a like number of local directors to celebrate Singapore's 50th anniversary, the story is about a young Chinese boy who strikes up a friendship with an old Malay woman living next door. When his tap runs dry mid-shower, the boy goes over to his neighbor's house for water.

Deceptively simple on the surface, the film can be seen as tackling a pertinent and delicate issue of multiracial relations.

As far back as 2001, the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, an annual international short film festival in Tokyo, had introduced his film "Sons" when it began screening Asian films and continued to give him more such international exposure over the years.

"The Tokyo Short Shorts has been the very first festival I have been to in Japan, and usually the first experience...you will never forget," he said, adding that he would love to revisit "the magical feeling in Tokyo."

Giving a glimpse of his next film, he said, "I feel that it's very important after I cross the 40-years-old mark to have a reunion with all the important milestones, the people who made an impact in my life through my film."

After the turbulence of the early years, Tan's icy relationship with the authorities seems to have thawed.

These days, he gets invited by the National Arts Council to schools to give talks about his films and to reach out to teenagers. He has also been involved in video productions for government projects.

The film scene in Singapore is still tightly regulated.

All films shown here have to be submitted to the Board of Film Censors for classification, and those deemed obscene or party politics, or regarded as undermining national security can be banned.

Local filmmaker Tan Pin Pin's film "To Singapore, With Love", about Singapore's political exiles, was banned in 2014.

However, Tan feels that there is now more space.

"Apart from religion and politics, there is a wider range of things that we can talk about now."

"If a certain decision is being made, they will have a dialogue with us to tell what are their concerns, and they listen to us. In the past, it was not a two-way communication. So I feel that this is a huge improvement."

For example, in recent months the public has been consulted on the government's plan to amend the Films Act, although some aspects of the proposed amendments have raised concerns among film industry professionals here.

Tan was among dozens of them who signed a position paper last December expressing concern about the proposed amendments, such as those to give expanded powers to film classification or licensing officers in investigating breaches of the act.

Amid the lack of freedom of speech in the city-state where street protests are limited to a so-called Speakers' Corner in a small public park, Tan is keenly aware that as a filmmaker, he can at least implicitly protest in his film.

"At least for me, I have my protest inside my films, I realize that I can address my concerns for Singapore through my films."

"Back then, it was very blunt, but now I think I know how to express it in a careful way -- and it's still a very effective way."

He said his next film will be shot in Phuket, Thailand, as an international production with a cast that includes Japanese, Thai and Taiwanese actors.

"It's the first time I am moving out of Singapore to do something very different," he said, "It will be about forgiveness."
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2018 - 15:39 | All, Japan

The U.S. forces in Japan said Tuesday that five Air Force CV-22 Osprey aircraft will arrive at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo later this week, with their planned deployment brought forward from the previously announced U.S. fiscal year through September 2020.

The tilt-rotor aircraft will conduct training around the region for the next few months. When they return from training, they will continue to operate from Yokota and a total of 10 Ospreys will be assigned to the air base in stages over the next several years, the U.S. forces said.

According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the five Osprey aircraft will arrive in Yokohama by ship later Tuesday.

The Japanese government said about 100 personnel will arrive with the five aircraft before their formal deployment at Yokota this summer and eventually 450 crew members for the 10 Ospreys will be deployed at the base.

The Marine Corps variant of the Osprey, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but cruises like a plane, is already deployed in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. It has attracted controversy due to a history of crashes and other mishaps in Japan and abroad.

(File photo taken in Sendai, Japan, on Feb. 19, 2018

The Japanese foreign and defense ministries said Tokyo and Washington will "work together to give maximum consideration to safety and minimize the effects on local communities."

Citing concerns about security in the Pacific region as driving the U.S. decision, the Japanese government said it believes the Osprey deployment at Yokota will improve the capabilities of the bilateral alliance and contribute to Japan's defense and regional stability.

In May 2015, the Japanese and U.S. governments said three CV-22s would be deployed at the Yokota base in the suburbs of Tokyo in the second half of 2017, with the deployment of seven more by 2021.

But in March last year, the delivery of the first batch was pushed back to the U.S. fiscal year through September 2020, with the U.S. Defense Department citing a personnel shortage.
COVID-19 deaths: Centre's Rs 50K compensation offer to drain Kerala's Disaster Relief Fund

In all 24,318 persons died due to COVID-19 in the state as per the official statistics until Friday. For giving them the said compensation, Rs 121.5 crore out of the remaining Rs 160 crore in the fund will have to be utilised.
1. A Zika vaccine could virtually eliminate prenatal infections

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M17-0641

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

A Zika vaccine could have a substantial effect on mitigating and preventing future Zika virus outbreaks. Through a combination of direct protection and indirect reduction of transmissions, virtual elimination is achievable, even with imperfect vaccine efficacy and coverage. The researcher is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Mosquito-borne and sexually transmitted Zika virus has become widespread across Central and South America, and the Caribbean. A viable vaccine is expected to be available in the next several years, but a vaccine's effectiveness in preventing infections depends not only on its efficacy, but also on demographic and fertility patterns, local Zika attack rates, and the proportion of the population still susceptible when it becomes available.

Researchers from Yale School of Public Health developed a computer model to quantify the effect of a Zika vaccination strategy that prioritized females aged 9 to 49 years, followed by males aged 9 to 49 years. The model considered both vector-borne and sexual transmission, as well as country-specific mosquito density. The researchers found that a vaccine that was about 75 percent effective and covered about 90 percent of females aged 9 to 49 years would reduce the incidence of prenatal infections by at least 94 percent, depending on the country-specific Zika attack rate. They also found that in regions where an outbreak is not expected for at least 10 years, vaccination of women aged 15 to 29 years is more efficient than that of women aged 30 years or older.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To interview with the lead author, Alison P. Galvani, PhD, please contact Michael Greenwood at michael.greenwood@yale.edu or Ziba Kashef at ziba.kashef@yale.edu.

2. Money-back guarantees don't meaningfully reduce drug costs or improve cost-effectiveness for PCSK9-inhibitors

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M17-3367

Editorial: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-0539

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

Outcomes-based pricing, or money-back guarantees for patients who do not respond to treatment, do not meaningfully reduce drug costs or improve cost-effectiveness for PCSK9-inhibitors. Findings from a brief research report are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Outcomes-based pricing was recently offered for PCSK9-inhibitors (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors), lipid-lowering agents that reduce myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke risk in persons with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Due to the high cost of these drugs, large discounts in price would be needed to achieve cost-effectiveness, prompting interest in this novel pricing model.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, used a computer model to examine the impact of outcomes-based pricing on the cost-effectiveness of PCSK9-inhibitors for patients with ASCVD. They compared baseline statin therapy with the addition of ezetimibe, a generic lipid-lowering agent, or PCSK9-inhibitors from a health system perspective and a lifetime analytic horizon to determine healthcare costs per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained, with a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000/QALY. The researchers modeled three scenarios for a money-back guarantee where the manufacturer would refund: 1) one year of drug costs; 2) all drug costs incurred before the event; or 3) drug costs, plus inpatient costs for MI or stroke. The analysis showed that outcomes-based pricing did not meaningfully reduce costs or improve cost-effectiveness of PCSK9-inhibitors in any of the scenarios tested.

The authors conclude that three factors make outcomes-based pricing less relevant for preventative medications. First, event rates in prevention are generally low, and duration of treatment is long. Second, attributing an event to a failure of a preventive medication is complicated, which means that events eligible for reimbursement would depend on clinical context. And finally, frequent changes in insurance plans would make tracking events and reimbursing appropriate payers a challenge.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To interview with the lead author, Dhruv S. Kazi, MD, MSc, MS, please contact Scott Maier at Scott.Maier@ucsf.edu.

3. Survey suggests a lack of interaction between physicians and Medicare skilled home health care workers

Improvements needed in CMS-485 to enhance meaningful communication between those providing care to homebound older adults

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M17-2219

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

A nationally representative survey of physicians suggests that the CMS-485, which is used to facilitate communication and care coordination between physicians and Medicare skilled home health care workers, does not meaningfully engage physicians in the plan of care. The majority of physician respondents reported spending very little time reviewing or acting on it. Results are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Physicians are required to certify a plan of care for patients who receive Medicare skilled home health care (SHHC) services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services form 485 (CMS-485) is typically used for certification of SHHC plans of care and for interactions between SHHC agencies and physicians. As such, it is imperative for communication between physicians and SHHC agencies to be meaningful.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University Center for Transformative Geriatric Research conducted a nationally representative random sample survey to determine how physicians communicate with SHCC agencies and use the CMS-485 in care coordination for patients receiving SHHC services. They found that a large majority of physicians spend very little time reviewing care plans or interacting with SHHC services. Many of the respondents reported wanting to see changes to the existing mechanism of certification of skilled home health, and provided specific suggestions for enhancing the clinical usefulness of the CMS-485, including increasing the font, presenting orders in terse and clinically useful language for all types of health care providers, and highlighting the key clinical information.

The authors conclude that CMS, physicians, and skilled home health care agencies should collaborate to develop better methods to assure better care coordination for homebound adults.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To interview lead author, Cynthia Boyd MD, MPH, please contact please contact Vanessa McMains at vmcmain1@jhmi.edu.

4. Physicians debate the use of prophylactic antipsychotics for a patient at risk for postsurgery delirium

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-0388

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

Should a 79-year-old man with a history of delirium after surgery be given prophylactic antipsychotics before undergoing knee replacement surgery? A psychiatrist and a geriatrician, both from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), weigh this question in a multicomponent educational article being published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Delirium is a common perioperative complication in elderly patients. Defined as an acute change in level of attention and orientation, delirium often waxes and wanes in severity. Because up to 40 percent of episodes may be preventable, guidelines to diagnose, treat, and prevent post-operative delirium have been developed. The American Geriatrics Society suggests an interdisciplinary focus on nonpharmacologic measures for prevention of delirium. Evidence is insufficient to recommend antipsychotics for prevention of delirium but these drugs may be considered for short-term treatment in the setting of imminent harm to the patient or caregivers or severe distress due to agitation. Two prominent medical experts discuss whether or not to use drugs for a specific patient who had experienced delirium after a previous surgery.

In a recent BIDMC Grand Rounds, the case of a 79-year-old man with a history of diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, prostate cancer, renal cell carcinoma, obstructive sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation, and several other chronic conditions, was discussed. The patient was hesitant to undergo a needed knee replacement surgery because of a frightening episode of delirium that included confusion following a previous surgery. Psychiatrist Joshua Leo, MD, argued that because of the patient's many risk factors, he was likely to become delirious after another surgery, even with relatively minor stressors. Dr. Leo suggested that the best way to prevent delirium would be to not do the surgery at all. But if that was not an option, Dr. Leo suggested a low-dose antipsychotic prior to surgery. Geriatrician Melissa Mattison, MD, agreed that nonpharmacologic measures are the most important tools for prevention and treatment. Rather than prescribing medication, Dr. Mattison would recommend that a family member or friend stay at the patient's bedside to offer a reassuring presence. She also suggested a focus on addressing modifiable risk factors that could contribute to delirium prior to surgery.

All 'Beyond the Guidelines' papers are based on the Department of Medicine Grand Rounds at BIDMC in Boston and include print, video, and educational components. A list of topics is available at http://www.annals.org/grandrounds.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. For an interview with someone from BIDMC, please contact Jennifer Kritz at jkritz@bidmc.harvard.edu.

Also new in this issue: Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Management: Review of the American Diabetes Association's Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes 2018

James J. Chamberlain, MD; Eric L. Johnson, MD; Sandra Leal, PharmD, MPH, CDE; Andrew S. Rhinehart, MD, CDE; Jay H. Shubrook, DO; and Lacie Peterson, MS, RD, CDE

Clinical Guideline

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-0222

###
Cybersecurity

TIC still tripping up agencies' cloud modernization efforts

The federal government is pushing to modernize its IT infrastructure of several fronts, but agencies are still struggling with conflicting goals like cloud adoption, telework policies and Trusted Internet Connection compliance.

At a March 15 event hosted by CA Technologies, a White House official said the Trump administration expects the push for IT modernization to last at least a decade, and indicated the current team would spend its time in office setting up foundational pillars before handing the torch to another administration.

Its going to be time consuming, its going to outlast an administration, so we need to make sure we have the foundation in place so you can build upon that, said Danielle Metz, senior policy advisor at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Its not going to be a three-year plan, its going to be something significant, a decade or more.

With that knowledge, the administration is attempting to ensure there is cohesion between long-term goals like cloud migration and cybersecurity, particularly the Trusted Internet Connection.

Federal officials are hoping the newest model, TIC 3.0, addresses that problem, but even a revamped policy will face some daunting challenges. The federal government relies on a dizzying number of cloud providers -- approximately 228 in all, according to DHS.

The administrations IT modernization plan seeks to consolidate and improve acquisition of network services, including reducing the number of Internet access points. Previous versions of TIC were not designed with the cloud in mind, and the administrations plan calls for agencies to implement rapid updates to their TIC policies to facilitate greater cloud migration by June 30.

Stephen Kovac, vice president of global government compliance at Zscaler, told FCW that while the government needs trusted internet access points, the TIC framework predates the federal governments 2010 cloud-first policy and was developed at a time when policymakers had no idea how prevalent the cloud would be in the public sector.

When we first talked about TIC, people would have laughed at you if you said government was going to put their data in the cloud, much less process it in the cloud or where we are today, said Kovac. There were no issues with latency, nobody talked about the Trombone Effect.

The federal governments increasing reliance on remote employees also presents a challenge. The 2010 Telework Enhancement Act required all executive agencies to establish telework policies and train agency leaders on how to manage a remote workforce. A 2017 audit by the Government Accountability Office found that the number of federal employees participating telework programs grew from 300,372 in 2012 to 427,450 in 2015. While Congress is asking questions about teleworkers' efficiency and supervision, those numbers are expected to keep rising as the federal government and private sector continue to virtualize their operations. The circuitous route their data must flow under current TIC policies is a case study in how TIC and cloud conflict.

If you look at agencies today, most of these people are carrying around laptops and tablets, Kovac said. Theyre not sitting at their desks.

Today, cloud migration is an essential component of most agency modernization plans. So the contradiction between the government dramatically reducing the number of internet access points while also ramping up cloud adoption -- which in part relies on leveraging many access points for efficiency and speed -- has left IT leaders at some agencies scratching their heads. Rod Turk, chief information security officer and acting CIO at the Department of Commerce, said the push for cloud adoption and compliance with previous versions of TIC was causing tension among agency CIOs. As an example, he pointed to data compiled by Census workers using electronic handheld devices.

When you have all this traffic moving back and forth, how do you run it through a Trusted Internet Connection? Because were using a cloud-based solution to gather data, said Turk.

The Department of Homeland Security is overseeing compliance with TIC 3.0. At a March 15 meeting of the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, DHS officials said they were still processing feedback from a series of agency pilots identifying cloud solutions that were running into hurdles based on TIC policy. Those pilots wrapped up on March 2, and DHS is now sorting those projects into low-, medium- and high-risk categories to inform agency decision making.

As a potential workaround, DHS is exploring other ways to monitor connections from cloud-based systems. Sean Connelly, cybersecurity architect at DHS, indicated that in certain areas, cybersecurity programs like EINSTEIN and Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation may be better suited for monitoring cloud-based traffic.

How TIC evolves and where there is data that is going to be architected in the cloud, theres expectations that the CDM program would be able to monitor that dataprobably better than TIC can at this point, said Connelly.

Editor's note: This article was changed April 3 to correct the spelling of Stephen Kovac's name.
These Are the 128 U.S. Products China Is Enacting Tariffs On

The Chinese government fired back at the Trump administrations tariffs on steel and aluminum on Monday by enacting its own tariffs on 128 American-made products including wine, fruit, and pork products.

The tariffs were first suggested by China two weeks ago. They were originally intended to be a negotiating tactic to pressure the United States into backing down from the trade war. When that didnt work, it decided to launch the retaliatory tariffs instead.

The wine tariff is expected to negatively impact Californias wine region, while the tariff on pork will hit the hardest in farming areas, many of which voted for Trump, The New York Times reports.

120 products on the list will have a new 15% tariff, while 8 will have a new 25% tariff added, according to a list provided by Chinas Ministry of Commerce.

The 25% tariff will apply primarily to pork products but also includes scrap aluminum.

Fresh or cold boned pig forelegs, hindquarters, and their meat

Other fresh or cold pork

Other frozen whole head and half pork

Frozen bone forelegs, pigs legs, and their meat

Other frozen pork

Frozen pork liver

Other frozen pork chops

Aluminum scrap

The 15% tariff applies primarily to fruit and nut products, as well as steel piping.
Texas Capital (TCBI) Down 9.8% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Rebound? Texas Capital (TCBI) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.

Youd think that the one tech-cum-retail company without an overdependence on China would be spared at a time when Wall Street is freaking out over a trade war with the country. But that doesnt seem likely given President Trumps obsession with Amazon AMZN. So, here we go-

Trump After Amazon Again

President Trump has been beating up a Twitter storm over Amazons monopolistic and anti-competitive trade practices, tax avoidance and the shipping fees it pays the U.S. postal service.

Theres a bit of truth in all this as well as other sides to the tale.

The President has said that Amazon has achieved scale and size on the back of taxes it didnt pay the government, so it must be forced to pay up. Its true that Amazon earlier didnt collect and pay sales tax, which lowered the final prices of products on its platform, giving it a competitive edge against traditional retailers. As a result, many smaller retailers went out of business while larger ones saw a drop in business.

Amazon has made changes, however. The benefits of the omni-channel approach and its own size necessitated a physical presence, so today, based on its physical presence, it is a tax payer in every state. Not only that -- Amazon is now charging third-party sellers a fee for collecting sales tax on their behalf, so if the focus on taxing remote sellers increases in the future, it could actually improve Amazons revenue generation.

The President has also accused Amazon of paying a pittance to the U.S. Postal Service for package delivery. Here again, its true that Amazon pays USPS half of what it pays FedEx FDX or United Parcel Service UPS, but Amazon only uses the service for last mile delivery, which could be the reason for the lower rate. Amazon is also building its own logistics network and it isnt clear if it will continue to use USPS, which has struggled to survive because of other reasons. In fact, Amazons business helped it generate revenue growth last year.

Story continues

But Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which has riled Trump, perhaps because the Post has repeatedly targeted the President on governance and other issues. Trump has said that the newspaper operates as a lobbyist with a political agenda, which seems far-fetched at the outset. But when you think about it, Amazon is an utterly monopolistic business with millions of seller dependents across the country and satisfied buyers eating out of its hands. WaPo is potentially its mouthpiece with the power to trash who it likes. While theres nothing illegal about all this, its enough to make you uncomfortable.

For reasons that are hard to fathom, because Amazon is doing everything right, its shareholders are getting jittery, sending the shares down-

Other News-

Amazon in France: Amazon is shaking things up not only in the U.S. but also elsewhere. French food retailers have taken note of its Whole Foods acquisition and are prepping for a showdown. Leading hypermarket group Carrefour, which has operations all over the world has said that it will invest more than $2 billion a year to shore up its digital capabilities.

Privately held Leclerc, Frances biggest food retailer by market share, reportedly launched its own home delivery service this week after talks with Amazon fell through. And Casino Guichard Perrachon SA, which owns the upmarket grocery chain Monoprix, has signed up to sell its grocery items to Amazon Prime subscribers in Paris and its surrounding areas while it works to build its own platform (the company recently tied up with the UK grocer Ocado Group plc to license its order fulfillment technology).

Amazon in Brazil: The deal with Casino reportedly extends to Brazil where its Via Varejo SA unit, which includes Brazil's third-largest e-commerce operation and 900+ stores selling appliances and electronics, will now be managed by Amazon. Whether this constitutes an outright sale or not is unclear from news reports. But Casino has denied that the two are in partnership and also said that it put up for sale a controlling stake in Via Varejo in October 2016 and that the sale process is underway. Amazon has treaded cautiously in this market because of stiff competition between local players that dominate the ecommerce landscape.

Sales Tax Issue in Canada: Quebec, one of Canadas most populous provinces, is considering making sales tax collection mandatory for goods sold to customers outside the province. The financial ministry of the state estimates that online sales of goods and services to companies outside the province is resulting in revenue losses of around C$270 million annually.

Moreover, foreign companies selling more than C$30K a year in taxable supplies of goods or services to Quebec consumers will be required to register for the provincial sales tax. U.S. companies like Amazon and Netflix NFLX will be impacted by the new law.

Amazon Housekeeping: Amazon Home Assistants are a new take on its old handymen service. This time round, the company is hiring its own cleaning people in the Seattle area rather than serving as an online marketplace for handymen and consumers to meet. It turns out that the trust factor is important when people grant access to their homes and Amazon can guarantee the quality of service and security only when it employs its own people. Plus this allows the company to sell into a $16 billion services market using its own brand.

Recommendations

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The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

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According to the latest projections, China's Tiangong-1 space station is expected to fall to Earth between late Sunday and early Monday. That broad window reflects the bus-sized station's chaotic descent from orbit since China's space authorities lost control of it in 2016.

The timeline comes from the European Space Agency, and the nonprofit Aerospace Corp. German monitors have also reportedly observed the station "tumbling" through the sky.

The uncontrolled descent means it's hard to know precisely where Tiangong-1 will fall, but experts agree there's little reason for worry on the ground. The most recent projection, according to Space.com, has the station falling into the Pacific Ocean.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune's technology newsletter.

Even if it heads towards land, the station is expected to substantially burn up when it hits the Earth's atmosphere, leaving, by the estimate of Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, between 220 and 440 pounds of surviving debris. That debris, McDowell told LiveScience, will be spread over "hundreds of kilometers along the line of travel." One estimate has the odds of getting hit by debris as 1 in 300 trillion.

Tiangong-1's burnup is expected to produce an impressive light show wherever it re-enters the atmosphere, complete with fireballs formed by the station's various sections. For those who want to keep a closer eye on the Chinese station over the next few hours, Space.com is hosting a tracking tool here.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
How the Trump administration responds to latest Chinese tariffs could determine the extent of a brewing global trade war.

The recent tariffs imposed by the Chinese government on over 128 U.S. produced goods, valued at around $3 billion will likely have negligible effects on a global scale but do provide a powerful signal to the U.S. and other countries looking to limit trade.

In a statement released by China's finance minister it was clear that these new tariffs were directly aimed at rebalancing trade relations with the U.S., after the Trump administration imposed large tariffs on Chinese manufactured steel and aluminum in late March.

The Donald Trump administration indicated that China's efforts to subsidize steel and aluminum production was what hurt U.S. steel manufacturing. President Trump and his team have indicated that another round of tariffs on $48 billion of Chinese exports could be in the works.

The Trump administration has also announced efforts to engage the World Trade Organization (WTO) in an effort to argue against unfair trade practices concerning Chinese state sponsored industries and technology licensing. Trade representatives for the U.S. are asking for a 25 percent tariff on many Chinese tech products including aerospace and communications technology.

Economists had warned that retaliatory tariffs were likely to occur because of the U.S.'s increasing protectionist policies. Although the Chinese Finance Minister indicated they do not wish to escalate tensions, China is sending a message that it will not sit idly by.

Depending on the response by the Trump administration, this could be the tip of the iceberg in a long, entrenched trade war. It is clear that the Trump administration is targeting perceived trade imbalances not only with China but with other Asian countries as evidence of the import tariffs on washing machines and solar products earlier in the year.

Trade agreements, currently being renegotiated with Canada and Mexico are also uncertain. Recent Twitter comments from the president on the North American Free Trade Agreement indicate the possibility of deeper political motivations for potentially pulling out of the NAFTA. Continued unilateral trade negotiations create uncertainty about the current free trade framework.

Story continues

If the trade retaliations with China are to continue, the goods that are likely on the radar of the Chinese Foreign Minister for future import tariffs likely include soybeans and aircraft, the two highest valued U.S. exports to China.

Economists are almost all in agreement that persistent trade retaliation with China is economically damaging, but there are some, that are not convinced of the effects. Some economists have argued that continued unilateral trade negotiations will not likely increase in escalationit will be business as usual for both sidesbut the effects could spill over and could escalate political tensions between China and the U.S. Especially, if the U.S. and other allies begin to work on multilateral trade negotiations aimed at limiting Chinese state-sponsored industries, global tensions could begin to rise.

Here in the U.S., the farming communities that are caught up in this tit-for-tat trade war will likely feel the squeeze. In a general sense, tariffs tend to hurt producers of exported goods as well as, domestic consumers. Without competitive pricing, losing access to such a large market could put many small farms, with thin profit margins, into financial jeopardy. It is likely that Chinese consumers will also bear the weight of the tariff as they see prices rising for fruits, vegetables, and pork.

Right now, the ball is in the Trump administration's court. With U.S. production, manufacturing and most importantly consumers' wallets on the line, the response from Trump and his team will likely give us a glimpse at the hidden parts of iceberg lurking below.

Commentary by economics expert Jason Reed , assistant teaching professor of finance in the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.





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Steel Dynamics (STLD) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.

Trumps attempt to trim the $100-billion trade deficit with China has sent shock waves across the equity universe, landing the American heartland in murky waters.

Beijing has taken an aggressive stance by slapping up to 25% tariffs over $3-billion U.S. imports in response to the recent steel and aluminum import duties announced by Trump on Mar 23.

Either by chance or by design, Chinas retaliatory tariffs target the specialty agricultural products grown by the rural communities that had backed Trumps victory in the 2016 presidential elections.

Republican-supporting states like Iowa and Illinois, as well as the remaining nations bread basket will be in trouble soon if agricultural exports to the key overseas market tumble.

Trump stated that trade disputes are good and easy to win, while the consensus view of economists believe that all parties lose.

The ripple effect of these trade restrictions might hit the U.S. agricultural business, as well as Trumps supporting force in November mid-term elections.

Beijing Hostile Over Political & Retaliatory Causes

China has often levied tariffs on nations for retaliatory and political interests.

Last year, South Korea was targeted on account of Seouls choice to host the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system, which Beijing deemed to be an insult. In sync with this, the South Korean economy downsized $6.8 billion, on grounds of a tourism boycott from China.

Also, earlier in 2008, Beijings nationalists had urged a prohibition against the French supermarket chain  Carrefour Group  after Tibetan liberation supporters advocates objected the Olympic torchs course through Paris.

China had also barred banana imports from Philippines due to its territorial disagreements with the latter.

Trump Heartland in Murky Waters

American trade supporters have cautioned that Beijings tit-for-tat tariffs will impact large volumes of U.S. agricultural exports grown in the heartland states which had voted for Trump.

Story continues

China has levied tariffs up to 25% on 128 American goods, majorly including luxury agricultural products such as nuts, dried fruits and ginseng. Other products like pork, scrap aluminum and specialized steel products have also been included in this list.

A 25% charge over pork will heavily weigh over Iowa, producing nearly one-third of the aggregate U.S. pork. This mid-western American state had witnessed strong backing for Republicans in 2016.

Furthermore, almond, nuts, and other dry fruits hit by the tariffs imposed by China are the staple products of Californias Central Valley. Despite California supporting Democrats, farmers of Central Valley had voted for Trump.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that its farm income this year will slide to the lowest level, since 2006.

Now, it remains to be seen if this downtrend will also impact the Presidents support for the upcoming mid-term elections this November.

American Food Industry at Stake

American agriculture is one industry that stands to suffer the most in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.

Exports have altered the U.S. farm economy in recent decades, as investments on massive livestock operations, high-yield seeds and more resourceful logistics have made American farmers the prime supplier of food stuff globally.

Nevertheless, China is the biggest export market of U.S. agriculture products. Soybean shipments to the nation accounted for more than a third of the aggregate U.S. yield in 2017. This East Asian nation is the largest meat consumer in the world and imported nearly 309,000 metric tons of pork from the United States last year. Beijing is also regarded as the second-best export market for U.S. cotton, after Vietnam.

However, now it is feared that the recently-levied $3-billion tariffs will drag down revenues and profitability of the U.S. agricultural companies.

Notably, per media reports, domestic demand for meat-based products has been gradually declining in the United States. At this stage, trade restrictions in the prime overseas market will possibly become the biggest setback for the American meat-product companies.

Stocks in Focus

We have zeroed in on four U.S. agricultural stocks that investors might want to recall in their watch list. These stocks currently carry a favorable Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold), and have performed better than the Zacks Consumer Staples sector over the past year.

These stocks seem to be promising investment bets at the moment. However, widespread concern regarding the probable impact of Beijings tariff program evokes apprehension toward these choices.

Let's delve deeper to have a fair idea of the stocks individual skill sets.



Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V. IBA and its subsidiaries is a premium poultry producer of the United States and Mexico. The company currently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. Over the last year, the stock has rallied 12.7%, as against the 1.2% loss incurred by the sector.

The company is poised to boost near-term profits on the back of elevated sales, increased investments in growth-oriented projects and strategic acquisitions.

You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN is a U.S.-based renowned multi-national food company. It currently has a Zacks Rank of 1. The stock has rallied 10.6%, as against the 1.2% loss incurred by the sector, in a years time.

Higher sales of protein-packed brands, synergies secured from the AdvancePierre buyout (June 2017) and gains from tax savings are anticipated to bolster the companys profitability in the quarters ahead.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation PPC produces, processes, markets and distributes frozen and fresh chicken products in the United States, Mexico and the U.K. In the last year, this Zacks #2 Ranked company has gained 7%, as against the 1.2% loss incurred by the sector.

Ongoing portfolio strategy, the GNP Company (January 2017) and Moy Park (September 2017) buyouts, as well as stronger sales from Mexico and new European operations are likely to drive the companys profitability in the near term.

Sanderson Farms, Inc. SAFM produces, processes and sells frozen, fresh and prepared chicken products. The stock, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #3, has appreciated 13.7%, as against the 1.2% loss incurred by the sector in a year.

The company is poised to boost near-term profits on the back of increased market prices for dark meat products, increased productivity and stronger corn, as well as soybean exports in overseas markets like Argentina. However, slump in white meat prices and a supply glut might dent bottom-line results.

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce ""the world's first trillionaires,"" but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>



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electric scooter san francisco limebike

LimeBike

More and more electric scooters are covering the streets and sidewalks of San Francisco.

Startups like LimeBike and Bird let users reserve a scooter from a smartphone app, ride for a small fee, and leave the scooter anywhere.

People are abandoning their scooters on sidewalks  which is becoming a nuisance for tech workers and people who commute to work on foot.

Electric scooters for grown-ups are taking over the streets of San Francisco.

Since mid-March, three startups have rolled out motorized scooter rentals across San Francisco. These are stand-up vehicles like the Razor scooter you might have cruised around on as a kid  but they're outfitted with motors and electricity and reach speeds up to 15 mph.

Electric scooter-sharing startups Bird, LimeBike, and Spin let users reserve a scooter from a smartphone app, ride for a small fee, and leave the scooter anywhere at the end of a journey.

The rise of electric scooter rentals has created some crowding on San Francisco sidewalks, because the vehicles don't use docking stations like some electric-bike-sharing startups.

In recent days, tech workers took to social media to gripe about the electric scooter onslaught.

M.G. Siegler, a general partner at GV, the venture-capital arm of Google's parent company, Alphabet, said the proliferation of electric scooters in San Francisco happened quickly.

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//twitter.com/mims/statuses/980846271702249472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

A few weeks ago, I had not noticed any electric scooters in SF. Now you cant exit a building without tripping over one.

It's hard not to notice them, according to tech writer and editor Jessica Misener.

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meanwhile in san francisco: razor scooter share for adults pic.twitter.com/B15Mt7YvS2 Tweet Embed:

//twitter.com/mims/statuses/980853889057529856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

they're abandoned everywhere. Tweet Embed:

//twitter.com/mims/statuses/980181248831143936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

I leave town for 5 days and the entire city of San Francisco is now riding electric scooters. Count me in!

Story continues

Business Insider's Rob Price spotted a trio of electric scooters from Bird outside of our office in San Francisco. He said he saw people driving the scooters down sidewalks, which is illegal.

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//twitter.com/mims/statuses/980891528598978561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

It's true: Electric scooters are taking over San Francisco right now. These 3 are right outside our office. More round the corner. People cruising down roads and sidewalks on them. pic.twitter.com/ecG8SY2OSI

Scott Kidder, a software engineer, called for these startups to curb their scooters.

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//twitter.com/mims/statuses/979560059813285888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Electric scooters and bikes are littering #SanFrancisco, found these scooters blocking entrances at the SF Ferry Building. I'm all for new transportation options, but @limebike needs to keep our city clean! @SFFerryRiders @SFBayFerry pic.twitter.com/LfRfaCm5Lu

Now, city officials say they plan to regulate electric-scooter sharing.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is working with San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin to create legislation that would "create appropriate permits and requirements to regulate motorized scooter sharing," a SFMA spokesperson told Tech Crunch.

Their office sent a letter to Bird, LimeBike, and Spin, asking each to submit a business plan that describes how the company will comply with the city's requirements and how it plans to distribute and maintain scooters across the city, the San Francisco Chronicle and TechCrunch reported last week.

The letter said the city would "actively enforce local laws protecting the city's right of way."

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//twitter.com/mims/statuses/980854668489252864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

every stupid startup floods the zone with their garbage crap until you cant walk anywhere without falling over a neon tricycle



government steps in when the arteries of every city are long clogged with the trash of the moment, usually already too late

Electric scooters are not prohibited in any way, though California state law bans riding motorized scooters on sidewalks and requires riders to wear a helmet and hold a valid driver license. The vehicles do not come with helmets, which means riders must bring their own.

The wannabe Uber of electric vehicles

Bird, a startup based in the so-called Silicon Beach area of Los Angeles, delivered about 175 electric scooters to the San Francisco Bay Area in late March. The startup is led by a former Uber and Lyft executive and has closed $115 million in funding since the start of the year.

When Bird first launched in a city near Los Angeles called Santa Monica, the city filed a criminal complaint against the startup over its failure to obtain a permit for operation.

Bird is now trying to do right by the cities where it operates. The company said it will pick up vehicles nightly and relocate them to where they're likely to be used, and it will add new scooters to a city only if it can show the existing scooters are being used at least three times per day.

Bird also plans to give $1 per vehicle per day to local city government, "so they can use this money to build more bike lanes" and build and maintain road infrastructure.

NOW WATCH: This tiny electric scooter will make your commute a lot more exciting

See Also:

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin millionaires are buying Lamborghinis as a status symbol of crypto wealth, and the carmaker says sales are rocketing
TOKYO (Reuters) - Renesas Electronics Corp said on Tuesday a state-backed fund and other shareholders would reduce their stakes in the Japanese chip maker, in a sale worth up to 295 billion yen ($2.8 billion) based on the prior day's closing price. The fund, Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ), will reduce its stake to 33.4 percent from 45.6 percent, a Renesas spokeswoman said. Hitachi Ltd will cut its stake to 3.7 percent from 5.6 percent and NEC Corp will lower its holding to 4.3 percent from 6.4 percent, she said. The price of the shares, which will be sold through the market, will be determined later this month. Renesas shares were down 10 percent after the announcement, their lowest since July last year. Public broadcaster NHK, which first reported the news, said the sale by INCJ was aimed at giving the chipmaker management greater freedom to make acquisitions as it seeks to bolster its global competitiveness. INCJ rescued cash-strapped Renesas in 2013 with an investment of 150 billion yen ($1.4 billion), and received 69 percent of the chipmaker, but has whittled down its stake as the company regained its footing. Last month, INCJ agreed to sell a 4.5 percent stake in Renesas to auto parts supplier Denso Corp. Renesas last year bought U.S. chipmaker Intersil Corp for $3.2 billion and its chief executive said it was constantly reviewing its list of potential acquisition targets. Renesas was created in 2010 from a merger of NEC's chip division and Renesas Technology, which itself was established through a merger of the chip units of Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Reporting by Chris Gallagher and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
The one thing that could save the tanking markets  earnings season

The upcoming earnings season is expected to feature aggressive buyback forecasts from companies.

Total S&P 500 share repurchases could total $650 billion this year, which would imply a year-end level of 3,000 for the index, according to Deutsche Bank.

Markets have been volatile as of late, but Deutsche expects the buybacks to give the market a boost.

The current stock market tumult should ease once companies accelerate the repurchase of their own shares, according to a Deutsche Bank analysis.

Major indexes fell back to around correction territory Monday thanks to a pullback in tech stocks, which have served as one part of a multi-pronged set of market obstacles over the past two months or so.

While the market is likely to face a continued run of headline risk, the willingness of companies to step in and buy back their own shares could serve as a substantial price floor amid the increased volatility.

"We expect the market to remain choppy until a sufficient number of firms to report and the corporate buyback bid gets back up to full steam," Binky Chadha, chief strategist at Deutsche Bank Research, said in a note to clients.

Deutsche predicts S&P 500 company buybacks to total $650 billion, which it said would amount to a 33 percent increase from 2017. (Expectations are high all around for repurchases, with J.P. Morgan Chase putting the 2018 forecast at $800 billion .)

Just by itself, the Deutsche forecast would imply a 12 percent full-year gain for the index, getting it to Deutsche's 3,000 price target by the end of 2018. The price target indicates 16 percent upside from the index's level at midday trading Monday.

Buybacks serve as one of four catalysts that Chadha sees pushing the market higher, with the other three being benefits from the sharp cut in corporate income taxes, an increase in government spending generally and defense specifically, and the ability of companies to expense capital expenditures at an accelerated level.

Story continues

In addition, expected interest-rate hikes also could have a benefit in that they eventually will find their way to savings, providing a boost in income for U.S. households that are holding some $11 trillion in cash, Chadha said.

"We see Fed hikes once they pass through to deposit rates as providing a sizable boost to household income," he wrote. "So growth could get a lot stronger."

Companies will be making their buyback announcements during the upcoming earnings season , which is expected to be robust. S&P 500 firms are expected to show profit growth of at least 17.3 percent. However, some strategists think earnings themselves will provide only a limited boost as they already may have been priced in during the big 2017 market rally.

Chadha said Deutsche Bank targets specific companies within the buybacks strategy  those with high levels of free cash-flow yield, low levels of capital expenditures compared to sales, high returns on equity, low debt leverage and strong price momentum.

Deutsche's proprietary alpha buybacks basket has outperformed the S&P 500 by 15 percentage points since 2017, Chadha said. Conversely, an ETF that tracks high-buyback companies, the PowerShares Buyback Achievers Portfolio, has been a laggard, down nearly 6 percent for 2018 and up just 7 percent over the past 12 months.

Companies that have provided guidance put buybacks as just one of a number of priorities for their tax-cut windfall.

In keeping with the high-profile announcements so far, some 30 percent put one-time bonuses at the top of their lists, while a quarter hiked wages, 20 percent improved retirement or other benefits and 13 percent have instituted parental leave and other benefits, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Outside of that, 40 percent indicated increases in capital expenditures and 8 percent said they would like to do deals.

About one-fifth said they would target buybacks and dividends, while 15 percent intend to pay down debt and 10 percent expect to invest in research and development.

March actually saw a decline in buybacks, but that total was impacted by the squashing of the Broadcom/Qualcomm deal. Buybacks for the month stood at $27.1 billion, an eight-month low, according to TrimTabs.





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By Ross Kerber and Ernest Scheyder

BOSTON/HOUSTON, April 3 (Reuters) - A top U.S. pension fund manager said Tuesday it was pressing Exxon Mobil Corp for more details about its response to climate change, signaling that a key critic who elicited a report from the oil major last year remains unsatisfied with its answers ahead of the annual meeting this spring.

The questions came from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who last year led a campaign that convinced a majority of Exxon shareholders to call on the company to detail risks it could face from rising global temperatures.

Exxon produced a report in February outlining how global oil demand could drop sharply by 2040, but critics said the report fell short on areas like how climate policies could affect company finances.

Exxon has tried to placate investors by other means. At its annual investor day last month in New York, for instance, Exxon for the first time dedicated more than two hours to renewable technology investments and climate change.

In a letter to Exxon, shown to Reuters, DiNapoli's co-director of corporate governance Patrick Doherty called on Exxon to cut greenhouse gas emissions and sought details such as how its projections for fuel demand compare to national policy goals, or if Exxon considers health-based emissions standards in projections for fuel demand.

In the letter Doherty wrote that his office needs answers for a "full understanding of Exxon Mobils planning and preparation to operate in a carbon constrained economy and in a changing climate."

Asked about DiNapoli's letter, Exxon spokesman Scott Silvestri said via e-mail that "We value input from all of our shareholders."

Separately, DiNapoli's office said on Tuesday it asked other companies including energy firms and utilities to reduce emissions and to address climate change risks. But staff withdrew resolutions at several U.S. energy firms after they agreed to provide climate risk details including at DTE Energy Co and at Dominion Energy Inc.

Story continues

Exxon's annual proxy filing, likely to be released this month, will include ballot items for investors ahead of the company's shareholder meeting set for May 30 in Dallas.

A New York State fund overseen by DiNapoli, which has about 11.5 million shares of Exxon, withdrew a climate resolution for this year's proxy ahead of Exxon's February report.

In theory investors left unhappy by the time of Exxon's meeting could vote against individual company directors, though so far major investors who backed DiNapoli's proposal last year have declined to discuss their views. (Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and Ernest Scheyder in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)
By Sarah N. Lynch and Dan Levine

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department sued California over a state law that aims to stop the Trump administration from selling or transferring federal lands to private corporations, hitting the state with yet another legal challenge.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Monday in Sacramento, the state capital, comes less than a month after the Justice Department brought a legal action targeting three California laws largely aimed at protecting illegal immigrants from deportation.

"California has once again passed an extreme statute found in no other state to obstruct the federal government, this time by interfering with the conveyance of federal land," the Justice Department's acting No. 3 official, Jesse Panuccio, told reporters.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that his office is prepared to protect the state's resources.

"Our public lands should not be on the auction block to the highest bidder," Becerra said.

Governor Jerry Brown accused the Trump administration last month of declaring war on the most populous U.S. state after the Justice Department sued over the California immigration laws. A hearing in that case is set for June.

The latest legal action involves California's Senate Bill 50, which was signed into law in October and gives the state right of first refusal over many federal land conveyances.

If the California State Lands Commission waives its right of first refusal, it issues a compliance certificate. Without this document, the land transfer cannot be legally recorded in a county property office.

The Justice Department in its lawsuit argues that Senate Bill 50 is preempted by federal law.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler and Steve Orlofsky)
Why Is Crown Castle (CCI) Up 3.7% Since Last Earnings Report? Crown Castle (CCI) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.

Airline stocks made a nightmarish start to this week with key companies like Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL, American Airlines Group Inc. AAL,United Continental Holdings, Inc. UAL, Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK and Southwest Airlines Co. LUV witnessing steep declines in stock prices on Apr 2. Naturally, the sector tracker  NYSE ARCA Airline Index  also decreased significantly (to the tune of 3.3%) on the same day.

Why the Downturn?

While continued fears of a U.S.-China trade war and the tech sell-off played a significant role in the Monday mayhem, there was a sector-specific issue as well. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently awarded (tentatively) five U.S.-based leading carriers to operate scheduled flights to Havana.

The DOT decision to allocate new US-Havana frequencies became necessary, following the decision of many carriers like Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines, Inc. SAVE to terminate operations between the nations due to lower-than-expected demand. Spirit Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

However, the decision led to fears of competition intensifying among leading carriers as Havana is popular tourist spot. In fact, in a bid to attract customers, a price war may emanate between the U.S. carriers. To match the low fares of carriers like JetBlue Airways Corporation JBLU and Southwest, legacy carriers namely Delta and American Airlines might follow suit which is likely to trigger a price war.

The Award

The DOT has proposed that Delta will operate an additional round of daily flights connecting Miami and Havana. American Airlines, which already operates four daily flights between the cities, has also been granted tentative permission to conduct an additional roundtrip on the route. Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways, which already has a significant Cuban presence, has been permitted to operate additional flights on the Fort Lauderdale-Havana route (six times a week), apart from launching service between Boston and Havana on Saturdays.

Story continues

Following the final approval, Southwest will operate additional daily flights connecting Fort Lauderdale and Havana. Finally, United Airlines and its code-share partner Mesa Airlines have received a tentative approval from the DOT to extend its Houston-Havana Saturday service to a daily operation.

The new allocations, however, have to be implemented within three months of the receipt of the final clearance from the government. Notably, the DOT had to reject other applications for additional flights to Havana as the agreement between the United States and Cuba allows only 20 daily roundtrip flights between the nations.

Other Headwinds Plaguing Airlines This Year

Apart from the fears of competition intensifying on the Havana routes, stocks in the airline space have hurt been by other headwinds as well. Foul weather has been hurting airlines since the beginning of the year. Apart from Winter Storm Grayson in January, successive noreasters in March disrupted airline operations significantly due to multiple flight cancellations.

Weather-related disruptions have continued in the current month too with a snowstorm forcing airlines to cancel many flights. In fact, 466 flights in/out of the United States were cancelled yesterday due to the storm. Southwests bleak view, with respect to operating revenue per available seat miles (RASM), for first-quarter also dented stocks in the space.

So far this year, the Zacks Airline industry has declined 6.1% due to the headwinds.

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>



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Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) : Free Stock Analysis Report



JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report



United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Spirit Airlines, Inc. (SAVE) : Free Stock Analysis Report



American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report



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Zacks Investment Research
Last week, General Motors (NYSE: GM) introduced the all-new Cadillac XT4. It's a stylish crossover SUV, a size down from the brand's existing XT5, that will go on sale in the U.S. and China later this year.

The XT4 is a product that Cadillac has sorely needed for a couple of years now. The brand has had to watch from the sidelines as sales of compact luxury crossover SUVs boomed in both the U.S. and China over that time. The good news is that the XT4 looks like a winning product. But why did Cadillac have to wait so long to get it?

As Cadillac's president explained to me in an interview last week, he had to go halfway around the world to convince GM to fund the new vehicles that Cadillac needed.

A copper-colored Cadillac XT4, a small crossover SUV, parked on a city street.

The all-new 2019 Cadillac XT4 will go on sale this fall. Image source: General Motors.

Cadillac needed new products, but it needed something else first

The story starts in mid-2014, when longtime Audi and Nissan executive Johan de Nysschen joined GM to take on a daunting mission: restoring Cadillac to the top of the world's luxury-car rankings.

De Nysschen demanded (and got) plenty of leeway from CEO Mary Barra and the blessings of GM's board of directors. One of the first things he did was to draw up an ambitious product plan for the brand. But he quickly ran into trouble: As he told me in an interview last week, his sales projections weren't enough to get those new Cadillacs funded:

We recognized that there was all this white space in our product portfolio. But General Motors is now run with a very high degree of vigor in terms of financial discipline. That's why the company is performing well. But the downside of that is that there are no pet projects. If a vehicle program doesn't pay its way, then it doesn't happen. And Cadillac's struggle had been that it was literally starved of product.

It sounds like a Catch-22, but it was a genuine dilemma. Cadillac's sales were poor because it urgently needed new products, but de Nysschen couldn't get GM's board to fund those new products because its sales numbers were poor -- meaning that any reasonable sales projections weren't enough to justify the investments.

Story continues

"We couldn't get the numbers to work," he said.

What de Nysschen and his new team needed was a way to start selling a whole lot more Cadillacs, quickly. Fortunately, the answer was right in front of them.

De Nysschen is shown presenting the new Cadillac CT6 V-Sport sedan at the New York International Auto Show on March 28, 2018.

Johan de Nysschen, shown here at the New York International Auto Show last week, has led Cadillac since 2014. Image source: General Motors.

To fix the U.S., Cadillac had to invest in China

"We had to prioritize China in order to solve our U.S. product challenge," de Nysschen said.

GM had a large presence in China, and Cadillac a modest one, when de Nysschen came on board. But luxury sales were booming in China, and de Nysschen saw an opportunity to invest in a much bigger presence.

We invested very heavily, far more aggressively perhaps than what might normally be the case. We decided that the only way to be competitive is to localize, so we could avoid the big tariffs [that China levies on imported vehicles]. So we built the plant [an advanced Cadillac-only factory near Shanghai that opened in early 2016]. In a way it was sort of akin to burning the ships, because once you've built the plant you had better make it work.

Cadillac also invested in a big expansion of its China dealer network, de Nysschen explained, carefully selecting high-quality dealers who were willing to take chances on stores devoted entirely to the Cadillac brand.

In 2014, Cadillac had sold about 68,000 vehicles in China, far short of the 170,000 it sold in the U.S. that same year. But growth came quickly once de Nysschen's effort got underway: Sales rose 17% in 2015, 46% in 2016, after the new Shanghai factory was up and running, and another 51% in 2017 to 116,406.

"The China business has now become self-sustaining. It doesn't need our investment anymore," de Nysschen said. "In fact, now the opposite is happening. It's sending us money, which we can now directly apply here."

A partially assembled Cadillac XT5 SUV is shown on a factory assembly line.

GM opened a new, highly flexible Cadillac factory near Shanghai in early 2016. The added production helped Cadillac's China sales rise 46% that year, and another 51% in 2017. Image source: General Motors.

Success in China should help drive growth in the U.S.

Cadillac's sales in China have boomed since 2014, but its U.S. sales haven't: Cadillac's U.S. sales in 2017 were about 170,000 -- roughly equal to its 2014 result -- despite strong growth in luxury-vehicle sales overall.

The XT4 is the first in a series of new Cadillacs that should help change that for the better. De Nysschen confirmed that the next new Cadillac will be a larger, three-row crossover SUV and it's likely to be unveiled late this year or early in 2019.

More new Cadillacs will follow -- on average, one every six months or so -- until the brand's portfolio expands to cover more than 90% of the luxury market, up from 65% today. Those will include an all-new version of the big (and hugely profitable) Escalade SUV and at least two all-new sedans to replace the ATS, CTS, and XTS.

(There may be a third Cadillac sedan in the works: A version of the stunning Escala show car could go into production as a new top-of-the-line model for the brand early next decade.)

Those new Cadillacs seem all but certain to give the brand's U.S. sales the boost its dealers have been waiting to see. Of course, they'll boost the brand's sales in China, too -- and given the fat profit margins on Cadillacs, those sales gains should have an outsized impact on GM's bottom line over the next few years.

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John Rosevear owns shares of General Motors. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Pakistanis have spent weeks debating a set of goals reportedly outlined by the countrys powerful military chief.

While military doctrines are often understood as the set of principles guiding military forces in pursuing national security goals, General Qamar Javed Bajwas list of aims was all-encompassing.

Newspaper articles, opinion columns, and TV talk shows hashed out the details of the doctrine, which touched on every aspect of Pakistans political life, accountability, counterterrorism, and economy, and even desired changes to the countrys constitution.

Little attention, however, was paid to what such a debate itself showcases.

A careful look at the discourse shows that the army, headed by Bajwa, is still portrayed as the most powerful institution in Pakistan, and its views on national security, foreign policy, and politics are given considerable weight. It also hints at what kind of future the military wants for the nuclear-armed country of more than 200 million people.

While the doctrine was first reported in early March, the military waited weeks to officially respond and sought to distance itself from some of the more controversial aspects.

If there exists a Bajwa doctrine, then it is only related to the security aspect, military spokesman Asif Ghafoor told journalists on March 28. Every army chief has their own perspective, and General Bajwa's is to restore peace, which existed in the past.

This official questioning and part rebuttal was a far cry from what had been attributed to Bajwa.

I saved democracy in this country. I am the biggest supporter of democracy, Bajwa reportedly told a group of journalists in one of the first accounts of his pronouncements. The institution [military] has evolved and is much more sensitive to the criticality of a democratic order, which we will vociferously defend.

While claiming that Bajwa supports democracy, the article warned the ruling Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) to abandon its criticism of the Supreme Court, which disqualified the partys leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last year.

Since then, Sharif has criticized the court and the military. Enslaved democracy is a form of dictatorship, which will never be able to protect the countrys national security, he told journalists in January.

A more flattering version of the doctrine held that Bajwa would like to do away with the 18th amendment of the constitution, which among other things grants substantial autonomy to Pakistans provinces and makes it extremely difficult for military leaders and the Supreme Court to impose and justify military rule.

While distancing the military from some of the reports, Ghafoor confirmed that the military is having second thoughts about the amendment, which was unanimously adopted in 2010.

"This amendment did certain good things like decentralizing certain matters, he told journalists. There is nothing better than every province being responsible for its own matters, but they should also be capable of making those decisions."

Pakistans politicians, however, are sensitive to the militarys political role because four generals have ruled the country for nearly half of the countrys 70-year history. They often criticize the military for interfering in or manipulating politics even while not ostensibly in power.

Former lawmaker Afrasiab Khattak said the militarys delayed reaction to the criticism of Bajwas doctrine is an exercise in damage control.

Such pronouncements should not be made by public servants, he told Pakistans Capital TV. Unfortunately, in our country, abnormal things are being presented as normal. It is in our best interest that everyone sticks to their professional role.

Veteran politician Javed Hashmi agrees. He, too, advised Pakistans powerful military to stay out of politics.

I ask the army to go to their barracks and safeguard the countrys borders, he told journalists.
Alabama governor signs data breach notification law

This article originally appeared in Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has signed a bill that makes her state the 50th and final one to enact a consumer data breach notification law.

The measure requires that residents be notified within 45 days after a breach has been discovered if it is reasonably likely to cause substantial harm. The notification could be delayed if it would interfere with a law enforcement investigation.

Until recently, Alabama and South Dakota were the only states that didnt have data breach notification laws.

Last month, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, signed a measure into law that would require affected residents to be notified within 60 days of a data breachs discovery.

Legislators in a number of states have been trying to toughen consumer protections, in the wake of law years massive Equifax breach that exposed the personal data of nearly 148 million Americans.

Last year, there were a record 1,579 data breaches in the United States, a nearly 45 percent hike over the previous year, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that helps victims of identity theft and promotes public awareness.

Yesterday, retail company Hudsons Bay, which owns Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, announced that it had been the victim of hacking by cybercriminals. A cybersecurity research firm said the hackers had obtained more than 5 million customer credit and debit card numbers.

At least 29 states are taking up consumer security breach notification bills this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In more than a dozen states, measures would require residents to be notified within a given time, from 48 hours up to 60 days.

State laws dealing with security breach notification vary considerably, from when affected victims must be notified to what is considered personal information.
Glen Ellyn, Ill., April 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Retired College of DuPage administrator Ernie Gibson, Ph.D., shares remembrances of his friend the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during a recent program marking the 50th anniversary of his assassination.

Being around Dr. King, I learned the spirit of love and the need for forgiveness, Gibson said. You couldnt be afraid.

Click here for more photos and click here to watch the presentation Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Legacy Continues.

Gibson graduated from Tuskegee University and began his career as an instructor at his alma mater. He went on to serve as director of the student union and associate director for student life at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. In 1966, Gibson was the first African American hired by the newly chartered College of DuPage, serving first as director of campus life and retiring as executive director of business services in 1994. The COD cafeteria is named in his honor.

During the recent presentation, moderated by Sam Mitrani, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History at College of DuPage, Gibson shared stories about his friendship with Dr. King, with whom he worked to plan the Montgomery and Birmingham campaigns, the Selma March, and the March on Washington.

I talked with him the week before he was assassinated, Gibson said. He wanted to go to Long Island, an island in the Bahamas, and mobilize people from Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas in order to continue his message about nonviolence, brotherhood and respect.

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6c315879-000f-4bbe-8b40-d58ecfdc240e
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (Solar Alliance or the Company) (TSX-V:SOLR) is pleased to announce it has completed the installation of a 182 kilowatt (kW) commercial solar project on the rooftop of Precision Part Systems in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Precision Part Systems is a full-service contract assembly facility that offers assembly, inspection and packaging services. Design and construction of the 182 kW solar array was completed by Solar Alliances expanding commercial division. Construction of this project was completed on budget and on schedule. It is the largest rooftop solar project in the City of Winston-Salem and in Forsyth County. This is also Solar Alliances first project in the State of North Carolina.



Installing a rooftop solar array really takes advantage of an underutilized asset - the roof - and turns it into a tool to save the business money, said Harvey Abouelata, Vice President of Commercial Solar at Solar Alliance. The result is simple: our clients feel the impact on their bottom line and know they are promoting renewable energy and future technology development. In turn, the savings generated allow our customers to invest back into their business.

As a company one of our goals was to become environmentally friendly and using our existing empty rooftop just made perfect sense, said Precision Part Systems owner Kevin Brinkley. It's very rewarding for me to know that our company is now the owner of probably the largest rooftop solar production in our city or county and I personally believe other local businesses will follow in our footsteps once they see the benefits. I hope that this is the first of many solar projects we complete with Solar Alliance going forward with them.

Over the last few months Solar Alliance has experienced its largest growth in commercial solar sales in the history of the company, said Solar Alliance Chairman and CEO Jason Bak. The economics of commercial solar in many States has become incredibly attractive with the combination of pricing, incentives and savings that will make it part of the thought process for every business. Solar electrification will ultimately happen in many, many businesses over the next decade and we are proud to be part of these changing tides. It has been great to work with Precision Part Systems, a company that is leading the way in Winston-Salem, concluded Bak.

The completion of the Precision Part Systems projects following the announcement on March 14th that Solar Alliance will build a 2.4 MW commercial solar project for a Fortune Global 500 company in the Southeast U.S. Solar Alliance will design, engineer and construct the 2.4 megawatt ground mount solar project. The Project is the largest sold to date by Solar Alliance and is equivalent to building 480 average-sized residential solar systems. Solar Alliance has already secured equipment for the Project and solar panels have already been delivered to site.

Jason Bak, Chairman and CEO

For more information:



Solar Alliance

Myke Clark

604-288-9051

mclark@solaralliance.com

About Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (www.solaralliance.com)

Solar Alliance is a sales, marketing and development company focused on residential, commercial and industrial solar installations. Since we were founded in 2003, we have developed wind and solar projects that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. Solar Alliance is committed to an exceptional customer experience, effective marketing campaigns and superior lead generation in order to drive sales and generate value for shareholders. Our passion is improving life through ingenuity, simplicity and freedom of choice. We make solar simple and our goal is to install solar on every available rooftop in America.

Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute Forward-looking statements. The words would, will, expected and estimated or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different than those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the ability to raise sufficient capital, changes in economic conditions or financial markets, litigation, legislative or other judicial, regulatory and political competitive developments and technological or operational difficulties. Consequently, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d51ba0dd-6889-4038-816d-bef2ca7d92c1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX-V:MMS) (the Company or Macarthur Minerals) is pleased to announce that Artemis Resources Limited (Artemis) has completed a stream sediment sampling program at the Companys Panorama and Bonnie Scot Projects in the Pilbara. Samples will now be dispatched to the laboratory for analysis and results will be released when available.



Mr Cameron McCall, Executive Chairman of Macarthur Minerals commented: Macarthur Minerals is excited to have commenced exploration at the Companys Panorama and Bonnie Scot Projects, which is prospective for conglomerate gold and looks forward to obtaining the assay results.

Artemis Resources Limited (ASX:ARV) is to earn-in up to 80% interest in the Panorama Project, which consists of two tenements, E45/4779 and E45/4732 covering a total of 265km2. The Panorama Project sits adjacent to E45/4764 (Bonnie Scot) covering a total of 13 km2 in the Pilbara.

The sampling program was to explore the area for conglomerate gold as mapping shows extensive outcrops of Mt Roe Basalts and Hardey Formation (Figure 1). The Mt Roe Basalt is known to overlie the conglomerate gold horizon at Artemis Purdys Reward. Similarly, beds of auriferous (gold containing) conglomerate up to 2 m thick at the base of the Mt Roe Basalt have been worked at the Just-In-Time and Tassy Queen mines located within 10 km of the tenements and in close proximity to ground held by Novo Resources Limited and Creasy Group (Torne and Trendall, 2001).

Historical rock samples within the tenements have recorded results of up to 3.5 g/t Gold.

QUALIFIED PERSONS

Mr Andrew Hawker, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is a full-time employee of Hawker Geological Services Pty Ltd and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr Hawker has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

ABOUT MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED (TSX-V:MMS)

Macarthur Minerals Limited is an exploration company that is focused on identifying high grade gold and lithium. Macarthur Minerals has significant gold, lithium and iron ore exploration interests in Australia and Nevada. Macarthur Minerals has three iron ore projects in Western Australia; the Ularring hematite project, the Moonshine magnetite project and the Treppo Grande iron ore project.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED





Cameron McCall

Cameron McCall, Executive Chairman Company Contact:



Joe Phillips, CEO and Director

jphillips@macarthurminerals.com

Tel: +61 448899247



www.macarthurminerals.com



THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

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.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the timely receipt of required approvals, the reliability of information, including historical mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates, prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. 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 no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in exchange rates and certain commodity prices, uncertainties related to mineral title in the project, unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron ore demand or substitution by other metals or materials, the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron ore, uncertainty in successfully returning the project into full operation, and the general level of global economic activity. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

To view Figure 1 visit: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/de4aa49d-b48c-4619-9c92-47c2952fbb06
TORONTO, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pangolin Diamonds Corp. (TSX-V:PAN) (the "Company" or "Pangolin") is pleased to announce it has signed an option agreement (the Agreement) with Makanwu Civil Blasting (PTY) Ltd. (MCB), a private company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Botswana. Under the Agreement, MCB has granted Pangolin the sole and exclusive option to earn up to a 75% interest in respect of MCBs precious stone AK10 Diamond Project located in the Central District of Botswana, Africa.

Dr. Leon Daniels, President and CEO of Pangolin, commented, "I am extremely pleased with this transaction. The AK10 kimberlite has been under evaluated and the opportunity exists potentially to uncover and develop another AK6 Karowe Mine.

In 2002, Dr. Daniels co-founded African Diamonds PLC for the sole purpose of acquiring kimberlites De Beers originally discovered and that he believed could be economical. He is one of the worlds-renowned kimberlite exploration geologists and identified the opportunity. The joint venture between African Diamonds PLC and De Beers included the group of kimberlites in the area that De Beers had under evaluated. This group included the AK6 kimberlite located in the Orapa Kimberlite Field. In 2010, Lucara Diamond Corporation purchased AK6 for approximately $120M USD. The Karowe Mine on the AK6 kimberlite continues to be mined by Lucara Diamond Corporation and is one of the world's leading producers of very high value diamonds and is known for containing rare large Type IIa diamonds with spectacular color and clarity.

The AK10 kimberlite is only 4 kilometres NNE from the Karowe Mine.



AK10 Overview



AK10 is located in the prolific Orapa Kimberlite Field in Botswana. Botswana is the second largest producer of diamonds, both by value and carats. In 2016, the Orapa Kimberlite Field produced 8.85 million carats and contains 83 known kimberlite bodies of which eleven are currently mined, scheduled to be mined or have been mined. These include: AK01, AK02 and AK07 (Orapa, Debswana), AK06 (Karowe, Lucara Diamond Corporation), BK01, BK09, BK12 and BK15 (Damtshaa, Debswana), DK01 and DK02 (Letlhakane, Debswana) and BK11 (Firestone Diamonds PLC). The mineralization and results on the aforementioned kimberlites are not necessarily indicative of the results on the AK10 kimberlite.

The AK10 kimberlite pipe was originally discovered in 1968 from airborne magnetics by De Beers who established it is diamondiferous. The compositions of the garnets from AK10 are consistent with the kimberlite having sampled the diamond stability field. It has been modeled to be 6 hectares in size and is close to surface with only 9 metres of cover. It has excellent infrastructure close by with road access, and the main power grid is less than 1.5km away. Firestone Diamonds PLCs BK11 diamond mine is 2.5km away from AK10 and Lucara Diamond Corporations AK6 kimberlite pipe (Karowe Mine) is 4km away from AK10. Karowe Mine recently produced Type II large diamonds inclusive of the 813 carat 'Constellation and the 1,109 carat 'Lesedi La Rona'.

The Option & Joint Venture Agreement Overview

At the completion of Phase 1 (described in the AK10 Workplan below) the equity interests in the Project will be as follows:

Pangolin

MCB

51%

49%

If Pangolin decides to proceed to a joint venture (JV), and in the event that both Parties agree to fund Phase 2 of the JV, the percentages will remain the same.



If one of the Parties elects not to fund Phase 2 of the JV and the other Party elects to sole fund (i.e. contribute 100% of the cost of Phase 2 of the JV), the sole funding party will increase its percentage in the Project to 75%. At the completion of Phase 2 of the JV, the equity interest in the Project would then be:

100% Contributing Party to Phase 2 JV

Non-contributing Party to Phase 2 JV

75%

25%

There is a one-time opportunity for the non-contributing party to buy back a 10% equity stake at a predefined cost to the buyback party. If the buyback clause is invoked the parties will have interests of:



100% Contributing Party to Phase 2 JV

Buy Back Party

65%

35%

In the event that one of the parties does not want to contribute to the final commercial development of the Project, the other party may elect to sole fund the development of the Project. The non-contributing party will then be diluted until its participating interest has been diluted to below 10% and its participating interest will be reduced to a fixed net profits interest of 5%.



AK10 Workplan

The 12-month option period work programme will consist of, but not be limited to, the following:

Compile and assess all available historical exploration data over the Area of Prospecting Licence 166/2017;

Conduct geophysical surveys over areas of interest which may include groundmagnetic, gravity and VLF surveys;

Conduct aerial photography surveys to establish a base case environment;

Conduct a soil sampling programme over Prospecting License 166/2017 or parts thereof;

Drilling, if necessary, of holes to determine the extent of the kimberlite;

Pitting, if necessary, of near surface kimberlite to a maximum depth of 30m of kimberlite intersection;

Analyse kimberlite indicator minerals to establish a diamond window signature for any kimberlite within Prospecting License 166/2017;

Process any kimberlite recovered through drilling or pitting to recover diamonds from the kimberlite;

Any diamonds recovered from the 12 month option period work programme will be considered as part of the 500 carats required to be produced under Phase 1 of the JV if Pangolin exercises its option to proceed to Phase 1 of the JV; and

Compile all exploration data obtained during the option period work programme for the purpose of assessing the potential of Prospecting License 166/2017 which will allow Pangolin to make an informed decision whether to proceed to Phase 1 of the JV or not to proceed.

Pangolin shall be solely responsible to fund all costs associated with the planned 12 month work programme. During such time, Pangolin will make a determination whether the potential mineralization of the kimberlites is of such a level that Pangolin will elect to commence the formal JV relationship described in this press release.

Other

The Board and management of Pangolin would like to thank the efforts of Gareth Penny, its past Chairman and current special advisor to the Company, for assisting in this transaction.

Quality Control and Quality Assurances

Quality assurance procedures, security, transport, storage, and processing protocols conform to chain of custody requirements.



The technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Leon Daniels, BSc., BSc. Honours Geology, PhD and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Pangolin Diamonds Corp. and Our Social Connections

For more information on Pangolin Diamonds Corp., please visit our website at http://pangolindiamonds.com

Follow us on Twitter @pangolindiamond and Facebook at Pangolin Diamonds Corp

Pangolin Diamonds Corp. - Contact Information

Scott Young, Investor Relations

Phone: +1.705.888.2756

Email: syoung@pangolindiamonds.com

Graham C. Warren, Chief Financial Officer

Phone: +1.416.594.0473

Fax: +1.416.594.1630

Email: gwarren@pangolindiamonds.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.
Phoenix, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arizona Science Center, along with The Franklin Institute and the California Science Center, released the results from their national research study, which found that visits to science centers were the only type of science learning experience that consistently inspired both youth and adult interest in science. The Multi-Institutional Science Center Effects Study (MISCES), conducted by the Institute for Learning Innovation, sampled more than 4,500 youth and adults from the Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles metropolitan areas to better understand the settings and resources that inform how youth and adults engage with science.





The MISCES study shows us how science and technology centers can play a critical role in creating a STEM literate society, said Chevy Humphrey, chief executive officer of Arizona Science Center. While schools are one important part of the equation of how students learn science, science centers can provide the rest of that solution, equipping students, parents, and teachers with the opportunities to bring science to life.

MISCES built on decades of previous research, assessing how visits to science centers compare with other types of learning experiences that include: attending in-school science classes, using the Internet for science, watching science-focused television shows, and reading science-related books and magazines. The research team found that out-of-school, free-choice learning experiences are critically important in the development of youth and adult interest in science. Science centers are best positioned to offer these experiences in hands-on, interactive settings, enabling all learners to explore topics that are of greatest interest to them.

This study is an expansion of research work, conducted over the last 20 years in collaboration with Dr. John Falk, investigating the California Science Centers impact on communities in the Los Angeles area, indicated Jeffrey Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center. Including additional partner sites for the current study enables us to generalize research findings to the entire field.

This study offers a path forward to widespread public science literacy, emphasizing the need to expand beyond a focus on in-school science education to include out-of-school learning experiences, which together can inform a strong, sustained interest in science.

Out-of-school, free-choice learning opportunities are indispensable when it comes to sparking the curiosity of adults and children alike, said Larry Dubinski, president and CEO of The Franklin Institute. With STEM driving our culture and economy forward, the MISCES study stands as yet more evidence of what so many of us know to be truescience centers are crucial to creating citizens that are well-versed in science and technology topics and ready to tackle the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Arizona Science Center, The Franklin Institute, and the California Science Center are following that path, developing a holistic approach that ensures youth and adults across the country have both the formal and informal opportunities to explore and engage with science.

Our businesses, schools, and policymakers are striving to increase interest and skills in science among all Americans, said John Falk, the executive director of the Institute for Learning Innovation and the lead author of the study. It is essential that we give greater attention to science centers and the informal, free-choice learning opportunities that they uniquely offer.

The MISCES Study was supported in part by funding from the Noyce Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

About Arizona Science Center

The mission of Arizona Science Center is to inspire, educate and engage curious minds through science. The Center, located at 600 E. Washington Street in downtown Phoenix, features more than 300 hands-on exhibits, live demonstrations, the state-of-the-art Dorrance Planetarium and the five-story screen Irene P. Flinn Theater. CREATE at Arizona Science Center, adjacent to the main building, is the newest addition. This 6,500 square foot community maker space provides workshops, including 3D printing, laser cutting, microcontrollers, woodworking and sewing. The Center also offers various programs for all ages. Programs include Camp Innovation, Teen Science Scene, Professional Development and Learning for Educators, and adults-only Science with a Twist. For further details, please visit azscience.org.

You can also follow Arizona Science Center on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.



About The Franklin Institute

As the most visited museum in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a top-five tourist destination in the City of Philadelphia, The Franklin Institute is one of the leading science centers in the country, and serves as both a prominent educational and cultural resource, and as an anchor of the local economy. Science and technology have the potential to solve some of the most critical issues of our time, to improve our lives, and to inspire our curiosity about the world around us. Every day The Franklin Institute provides resources that help people to connect with science and technology in creative ways that resonate with learners of all ages and backgrounds. The Institute directly reaches more than 1 million people each year with informal learning experiences that engage students, adults, and families. Though its historic museum is a central learning space, the Institute has evolved to provide people with educational resources in their own neighborhoods through hands-on activities in classrooms, workshops in libraries, community centers, and other settings, and through ways to interact online. Since 1824, The Franklin Institute has pursued its commitment to making these resources available to as many people as possible throughout the mid-Atlantic region. For further details, please visit www.fi.edu

You can also follow The Franklin Institute on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About the California Science Center

The mission of the California Science Center is to stimulate curiosity and inspire science learning in everyone by creating fun, memorable experiences, because it values science as an indispensable tool for understanding our world, accessibility and inclusiveness, and enriching peoples lives. The California Science Center is a world-class educational resource with hands-on, interactive exhibits and an array of model education and outreach programs. A national and international leader in science education and informal learning, in operation since 1950 as the California Museum of Science and Industry, the California Science Center incorporates a dynamic museum with free general admission, robust educational programming including a professional development center for educators and a neighborhood TK-5 (transitional kindergarten through 5th grade) elementary school, to improve public understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Located in an economically challenged and ethnically diverse neighborhood just south of downtown Los Angeles, the Science Center is open general admission free, seven days a week, 362 days per year. Since opening in 1998, it has welcomed more than 33 million guests with an annual average of 2.3 million over the last five years, including more than 400,000 students from school or youth groups, making the Science Center the 9th most visited museum in North America. For further details, please visit https://californiasciencecenter.org.

You can also follow the California Science Center on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Institute for Learning Innovation

The Institute for Learning Innovation is an independent not-for-profit organization, based in Oregon, working at the intersection of research, practice, and policy. We believe that a broader definition of learning, one that is lifelong and free-choice, can offer solutions to many of the critical cultural, environmental, economic and social problems facing institutions and communities in todays changing world. For further details, please visit https://www.instituteforlearninginnovation.org.

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fd49c0e4-95eb-4350-b443-7bf85fb8500d
English French

OTTAWA, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Project Learning Tree (PLT) Canada and the Canadian Parks Council (CPC) announced a partnership to place 600 youth in summer jobs in Canadas provincial and territorial parks in the summers of 2018 and 2019. PLT Canada has received approximately $4 million through the Government of Canadas Summer Work Experience program to offer a 50% wage-match to support summer green job placements for youth.



Canadas future prosperity depends on young Canadians getting the skills and experience they need to succeed. Thanks to Project Learning Tree and the Canadian Parks Council, students will have more opportunities to work in the great outdoors this summer while enhancing their skills and saving money to pay for their education, says The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.

PLT Canadas mission is to grow future forest and conservation leaders. By working directly with the CPC and its member jurisdictions to employ youth in provincial and territorial parks we can inspire leadership in environmental stewardship.

"Providing summer work experience in Canada's provincial and territorial parks is an opportunity to inspire a lifelong commitment to professions that serve and enhance the powerful benefits of nature," shared Dawn Carr, Executive Director, Canadian Parks Council. "A summer job in a park is how I got my start in this sector and landed my dream job!"

Ensuring youth are engaged and encouraged to pursue careers in the great outdoors will be critical to the future of Canadas forests, says Kathy Abusow, President & CEO. These job opportunities will inspire youth to become future forest and conservation leaders.

Many summer jobs for youth in Canadian parks are a great fit for this funding opportunity. Examples of Green Jobs in Canadas parks include outdoor educators, youth rangers, park interpreters and GIS technicians. Funding awards will be determined based upon alignment with the requirements of the program and best fit with PLT Canada values.

Seven provincial and territorial agencies have committed to providing summer jobs, including Ontario Parks, British Columbia Parks, Saskatchewan Parks, Yukon Parks, New Brunswick Parks, North West Territories Parks, and Nova Scotia Parks.

For more information and to receive wage-match funding application forms, email greenjobs@pltcanada.org. Jobs are for the summer of 2018. This initiative is to place students in jobs in the summer of 2018 and 2019

About Project Learning Tree Canada

Project Learning Tree (PLT) Canada fosters community interest in the benefits of environmental education and responsible management of Canadas natural resources. We are committed to using the outdoors to engage students in learning about the world around themin urban, suburban, rural, and Indigenous communities, and using trees and forests as windows on the world to inspire action.

About the Canadian Parks Council

Canada has a long tradition of parks and protected areas establishment, and has earned a global reputation as a good steward of our natural resources. Canadas national, provincial and territorial park agencies work together, through the Canadian Parks Council, to ensure that Canadians can continue to be proud of the role parks and protected areas play in preserving our countrys natural capital.
Chairman of American Chamber of Commerce in Albania



Director of the American Bank of Investments in Albania

Former CEO of Opportunity Bank in Montenegro

Former Administrator of the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- European Electric Metals Inc. (the Company) (TSXV:EVX) (OTC PINK:EVXXF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Mark Crawford to the Board. Mr. Crawford has been an Advisor to the Company since 2014. Mark Crawford is an American citizen, currently based in Albania where he oversees multiple international business interests. Mr. Crawford is an experienced international executive having been involved with start-ups and management in audit, banking, brokerage, chambers of commerce, film production, micro-finance, and natural resource firms in North America and Europe. Mr. Crawfords experience also includes acting as the Chief Executive Officer for the Opportunity Bank in Montenegro growing the banks pre-tax ROE to over 40% while extending the banks market share to over 40% of the economically active population of Montenegro. Mr. Crawford is also a past Fund Administrator for the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund. This investment fund was authorized by the United States Congress and was capitalized at USD $30 million. At the end of the funds investment life, it had given the US Government in excess of 500% return on allocated capital. In addition to Mr. Crawfords significant business achievements, he has also worked tirelessly as a volunteer in both Chairing the American Chamber of Commerce in Albania and serving as the Global Vice President for Legislative Affairs of Republicans Overseas, headquartered in the USA. Mr. Crawford is a regular television contributor on business and political topics and has testified regarding tax and business reform in front of the United States Congress, and Parliamentary committees in both Albania and Kosovo.

Mr. Crawford has an undergraduate degree from Miami University (Ohio) and a masters degree from University College London in the UK. He is a native English speaker, is fluent in Albanian, and speaks basic Serbian/Montenegrin and basic Greek.



Fred Tejada, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, states, I am pleased to welcome Mr. Crawford to the Board. In his previous advisory role, he has given the Company unique insight into the business and political dynamics not only in Albania but in the surrounding countries as well. I am confident that he will continue to provide the Company with more valuable insight and direction now that he is on the Board as we continue to advance Rehova project.

European Electric Metals also announces that John Booth has been appointed Chairman of the Board, effective April 3, 2018. Also effective today, appointed members of the Audit Committee will be John Booth as Chair, Fred Sveinson, and Mark Crawford.

On Behalf of the Company,

Fred Tejada, Chief Executive Office and Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
At a recent meeting, I got into a great discussion with some industry members, both producers and supporters, about gene editing. We all readily agreed that it could be the next great breakthrough in genetics. Especially the work thats being done on polled genetics. But in the same conversation we all instantly agreed it would not be a technology that would be accepted by our consumers.

An easy parallel for this comparison of technologies is genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As farmers, we understand the science, but we obviously have not done a good job of connecting with our consumers on the subject. The misinformation surrounding just this one topic is so astronomical. I often get a good giggle out of some of misconceptions that are out there.

In reality, its not funny at all. I would like to say its an educational issue, and to some degree it is. Where we as farmers have really failed is connections. I put connection with the consumer over education at this point because in this day and age the consumer wants to be connected to their food supply before understanding the science behind it.

In order to eventually be able to have those educational conversations with our consumers, we need to first make a connection and earn their trust. The easiest way to reach the largest audience right where they are is online.

We should all be sharing about our farm life on whatever platform we enjoy the most. You dont even need to start up a farm page, if youve felt that just isnt for you. There are plenty of people right in your friends list that need to know more about what you are doing as a dairy farmer.

Online is great, but dont forget in person as well. This is where we make the biggest impact. Strike up a conversation with the person behind you at the grocery store with milk in their cart. Bring chocolate milk as the team snack to your kids next spring sporting event. Invite your childs school class for a farm tour. Connect yourself as the local dairy farmer to your community in whatever way works best for you.

Getting back to the basics and making those connections first, will put us in a better position to educate later. There are some great new technological advances that are headed our way. We need to have the opportunity to have them accepted by our consumers.

Darleen Sichley

The author is a third-generation dairy farmer from Oregon where she farms in partnership with her husband and parents. As a mother of two young boys who round out the family run operation as micro managers, Darleen blogs about the three generations of her family working together at Guernsey Dairy Mama. Abiqua Acres Mann's Guernsey Dairy is currently home to 90 registered Guernseys and transitioned to a robotic milking system in 2017.







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ABC News(NEW YORK) -- Attorneys representing President Donald Trump, his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, and a publishing company with ties to the president are fending off legal challenges stemming from various allegations made against Trump and his associates by a trio of women.



One of the women has accused the president of defamation in relation to alleged sexual misconduct. The other two are suing in connection to so-called hush agreements about their alleged consensual relations with Trump.



Heres a round-up of the latest developments in the three cases.



Summer Zervos vs. Donald Trump



Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, alleges in her lawsuit - filed three days before Trumps inauguration - that then-candidate Trump repeatedly defamed her after she came forward in October 2016 with allegations that Trump groped and kissed her without her consent in a California hotel room in 2007.



Now lawyers for President Trump have officially filed a notice of appeal, challenging a ruling last month by a New York state judge that allowed Zervos defamation claim against the President to proceed.



In a court filing on Sunday, the presidents lawyers restated many of the arguments made in their original motion to dismiss the case, among them that the president is immune to civil suits in state court and that the statements made by Trump during the campaign were non-defamatory opinions protected by the First Amendment.



New York Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter, on March 20, rejected those arguments, writing that, No one is above the law.



Trumps appeal is likely to be heard in September, according to a court filing on Monday. Meanwhile, Trumps attorneys are also trying to stop any pre-trial discovery, filing a separate motion to halt the lower court proceedings while the appeals court takes up the case.



The President and the Trump campaign currently face a May 21st deadline to respond to a subpoena from Zervos attorneys seeking documents concerning Zervos and all the other women who publicly accused Trump of sexually inappropriate behavior. Attorneys for Zervos have also indicated that they intend to pursue a deposition of the President.



If the court grants the presidents motion for a stay pending the outcome of the appeal, all of that would be put on hold.



In another development, womens rights attorney Gloria Allred last week withdrew from the case. Allred had been representing Zervos since she came forward with her allegations against Trump before the election. Trumps attorneys had alleged in court filings that Allred was using the Zervos lawsuit for political purposes and to distract the President in order to obstruct his presidency.



Allred said in a statement that her withdrawal had nothing to do with the merits of her case against President Trump.



Zervos continues to be represented by New York based attorney, Mariann Meier Wang, and she said in a statement that the decision to part ways with Allred was for purely for personal reasons.



Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) vs. Donald Trump and Essential Consultants, LLC



Stephanie Clifford - the adult film-star known as Stormy Daniels - sued Trump and a shell company formed by the presidents personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, last month seeking to invalidate a non-disclosure agreement she signed just eleven days before the 2016 election. Clifford  who received a payment of $130,000 in exchange for her silence about the alleged affair  alleges the contract is void because, among other things, it lacks a signature from Trump.



Cohen has stated publicly that he paid the settlement out of his personal funds, and that he was not reimbursed by either the Trump Organization or the campaign. The president - through representatives - has denied the allegations of an affair with Clifford and any knowledge of the payout.



Less than two weeks after she went public on 60 Minutes with allegations of a sexual encounter in 2006 with then-businessman Trump, attorneys for the President have formally petitioned a federal court late Monday to send Cliffords case to a private arbitration proceeding.



In a motion filed in federal court in California, an attorney for Cohens company argued that Clifford, by signing the agreement and accepting the money, had knowingly and voluntarily agreed to resolve all disputes arising from the contract in arbitration, not in court. An attorney for President Trump filed a brief motion concurring with those arguments.



Michael Avenatti, Cliffords attorney, responded to the latest court filing on Twitter, vowing to vigorously oppose the efforts by Trump and Cohen to have the case decided in private arbitration, hidden from public view. This is a democracy and this matter should be decided in an open court of law owned by the people, Avenatti tweeted.



Last week, a judge rejected as premature Avenattis motion for an expedited jury trial and depositions of Cohen and Trump. That ruling, however, does not preclude Avenatti renewing those motions in the near future.



Karen McDougal vs. American Media, Inc.



Former Playboy model Karen McDougal filed a lawsuit in California state court last month alleging that American Media, Inc. (the publisher of the National Enquirer) secretly coordinated with her then-attorney and Trumps personal lawyer to purchase her story of an alleged affair between her and Trump with the intent of burying it in advance of the election, a practice known in the industry as catch and kill. McDougal is now seeking to break free from the agreement.



The company is asking a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Karen McDougal, who alleged that she had a ten-month affair with Donald Trump, beginning in 2006. In new court filings, the publisher of the National Enquirer claims that its decision not to publish the story is protected by its First Amendment rights.



AMI asserts in its court filings that McDougal is advancing the novel and radical proposition that once a media company has a story about a candidate, it must publish that story or else be in violation of election law. The company denies that it is attempting to silence her and points out that, pursuant to an amendment to her deal, she is permitted to respond to legitimate press inquiries. As part of their agreement with McDougal, AMI paid her $150,000, featured her on a cover of a magazine, and published 19 of her articles in four separate AMI publications.



McDougal acknowledged in an interview with CNN last month that she viewed the deal, at the time, as a win-win situation for her, and she admitted she was fully aware that her story of an alleged affair would not be published.



But McDougal contends in her lawsuit that she had only recently become aware through media reports that AMI allegedly worked secretly with Trumps personal attorney, Michael Cohen, as well as her own attorney at the time, to buy her silence after Trump became the Republican presidential nominee.



McDougals new lawyer, Peter Stris, responded to the AMI filing on Twitter, alleging that the tabloid went to great lengths to silence her and others, and they are now attempting to silence her again with the absurd claim that their own free speech was violated.



McDougals former attorney, Keith Davidson, has not responded to ABC News requests for comment on McDougals allegations.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
George Soros gave Ivanka's husband's business a $250 million credit line in 2015 per WSJ. Soros is also an investor in Jared's business.
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New Delhi, Apr 3 (IBNS): Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale paid an official visit to Bhutan from Apr 1-2.

During the visit, Foreign Secretary met Dasho Sonam Tshong, Foreign Secretary of Bhutan.

He called on the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay. Foreign Secretary had an audience with Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan.

"The visit was in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries, and provided an opportunity to the two sides to discuss matters concerning our bilateral partnership, including the commemorative activities planned in 2018 to mark the Golden Jubilee of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries," read a statement issued by the MEA.

The talks were held in a cordial atmosphere in keeping with the unique and exemplary bonds of friendship and cooperation that exist between the two countries.

Image: Wikimedia Commons
In at least a portion of the relevant interrogation sessions, individuals were questioned over the protests that erupted in dozens of Iranian cities at the end of December and through much of January. The same activists were also pressed for information about their activities on the popular messaging app, Telegram, which was widely credited with helping to spread the protests and was accordingly filtered and blocked by regime authorities while those protests were ongoing.

These lines of questioning and the possible charges that could follow behind them are among the latest indicators that Tehran is still very much invested in a crackdown on dissent and particularly on persons who are suspected of having a role in the nationwide demonstrations. As well as being unusual for their geographic reach and the involvement of diverse demographics including farmers and poor, rural Iranians, those protests also gave rise to virtually unprecedented political slogans such as death to the dictator, thus allowing them to be characterized as calls for regime change.

In light of that messaging, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei publicly acknowledged that the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a longstanding advocate of regime change, had played a leading role in the demonstrations. Subsequently, the PMOIs parent coalition and its President Maryam Rajavi issued statements urging more protests in the run-up to the Iranian New Year holiday of Nowruz. Rajavi also declared that the year ahead can and must be made into a year full of uprisings.

The NCRI has argued that authorities aggressive crackdown on all public gatherings in recent weeks is indicative of their serious concern about the publics prospective response to such calls-to-action. The CHRI report further highlighted this apparent anxiety, pointing out that many of those who were recently summoned for questioning were also put under pressure to avoid any activities and plans during Nowruz.

Additionally, CHRI quoted a source as saying, Every year, civil rights workers hold Nowruz ceremonies in various cities but none of them were allowed to do it this year. The authorities designated their own places for holding ceremonies approved by the state. Weve never had this problem before. This was the first time.

Some of those ceremonies were specifically targeted for being un-Islamic. These included regional and ethnic traditions like those associated with some members of the Kurdish minority. CHRI notes that the Kurdish regions of Iran were also given particular emphasis in the authorities latest round of summons. Large numbers of summons and subsequent charges were issued in West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and Kurdistan.

Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan, made headlines during the January protests when two local residents, Saro Ghahremani and Kianoosh Zandi, went missing and were later described by authorities as having been killing in a police shootout. This account was widely disputed, with some sources saying they were shot dead while in a car and others professing that their bodies showed signs of torture. According to the NCRI, at least 14 people have been tortured to death after being arrested for protests in December and January.

The case of Ghahremani and Zandi, together with the recent summons, is arguably indicative of the regimes particular interest in suppressing minority groups in the midst of broader crackdowns on dissent. This phenomenon is also illustrated by the ongoing tensions between Iranian authorities and the Sufi religious sect known as Gonabadi dervishes.

Several hundred dervishes gathered near the home of their leader Noor Ali Tabandeh on February 19 out of fear that he would be arrested alongside other rights activists as part of the regimes ongoing response to the January uprising. The gatherings quickly gave rise to clashes with security forces, and three officers were killed by a bus that was alleged driven by one of the dervishes. That individual, Yavar Mohammad Salas, has since been sentenced to death, though he claims the killings were accidental. Approximately 350 other participants in the protests were arrested separately, and the latest report from IranWire indicates that the fate of many of these persons is unknown.

What is known, however, is that security personnel are now attempting to link other dervishes to the bus incident and to charge them with accessory to murder, or worse. Some arrestees have reportedly been put under pressure to confess, with interrogators even threatening to rape one mans pregnant wife.

Even among those who were arrested solely for participating in the demonstrations, many continue to suffer from injuries incurred during the clashes, for which medical treatment has been withheld. That situation has been made worse by the fact that the protestors terms of detention have been arbitrarily extended, sometimes even after their families posted bail. As a result, the families and friends of many detainees have been gathering outside of various Justice Ministry buildings in hopes of obtaining information about those who are still being held incommunicado.

The regimes reticence about releasing detainees is contrary to authorities public claims about having released the vast majority of participants in the January uprising. In fact, as reports continue to accumulate, there is a case to be made that the ranks of protestor-detainees are increasing rather than shrinking. On Wednesday, for instance, the chief prosecutor of Kermanshah Province announced that 43 people had been indicted in the provinces capital city alone for their role in the anti-government protests.

In reporting on this, the Center for Human Rights in Iran noted that the announcement came after a previous announcement that in the capital city of Tehran, 41 students of Tehran University had been brought up on charges for the same offense. CHRI highlighted this as just one example of the regimes effort to crack down on protest-related activism. It called attention to a broader report on the subject and particularly to the blockage of Telegram and other internet resources while the protests were still ongoing.

These censorship efforts are also still ongoing, alongside the arrests and prosecutions of participants and would-be participants. As Al Jazeera reported on Sunday, the chairman of the Iranian parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, recently announced that Telegram would soon be blocked permanently, despite the earlier decision to restore full access after the protests had been effectively suppressed.

The lifting of restrictions was reportedly motivated by the prevalence of Telegram among Iranian merchants and businesses, but Boroujerdi described the app as a threat to national security and said that the decision had been made at the highest levels of government to direct Telegram users toward domestic alternatives that could purportedly fill the same roles while only allowing content that is approved by Tehran.
Irans relationship with the Caucasus, especially with Armenia and Azerbaijan, are critical as those countries are on its northern and western borders. Armenia is a partner to Iran in every sense and dependent upon it. If Washington can pressure those governments, it can advance its own interests in the Caucasus, and strike at Iran and its Russia partner, as well.

Washingtons best interest may lie in greater engagement in the Caucasus, which may also reduce Russian pressure in Turkey and provides a basis for advancing the troubled U.S.-Turkey alliance.

According to Stephen Blank, Ph.D., senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, and former professor of Russian National Security Studies and National Security Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, this may be easily accomplished. In his article for The Hill he writes, For years Azerbaijan and Iran were consumed by mutual suspicion and Azerbaijan is still mistrustful of Iran despite the fact that bilateral ties have improved since 2012. At that time Iranian terror plots against both Baku and Israel were uncovered leading to a crisis in the relationship.

Blank explains, Iran regards Azerbaijan as a platform for stirring unrest among its huge Azeri minority, a renegade Shiite state that is far too chummy with Israel and the United States and in many respects an energy-exporting rival. Yet, under pressure from Washington, it has to shore up its northern border and endeavor to keep Baku from moving too close to Washington.

He adds, Armenia, on the other hand, precisely because of its enduring antagonism with Azerbaijan is quite close to Iran, which supported it throughout its independence and in the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Armenia has also joined with Iran in major infrastructure and economic projects. This was meant to alleviate the pressure imposed by Turkey in its blockade of Armenia due to the war with Azerbaijan. As a result, Armenia is not only a client state of Russia that hosts major Russian military bases and infrastructure, it also is Irans main partner in the Caucasus.

The U.S. cannot advance its interests or its values of democracy and good governance, he says, without demonstrating strong interest in security agendas. Without this, those governments have no reason to take U.S. interests seriously. Blank believes that this is a good place to bring pressure on Tehran.
He admitted that this decision was made because of Telegrams use by the Iranian people to organise and communicate during the nationwide anti-regime protests that sprung up in late December.

He promoted the Iranian app Soroush as a replacement service, but this widely misses the point of Telegram. The beauty of Telegram is that the messages are encrypted and cannot be read by the Iranian Regime, thus human rights activists and political opposition can use it to communicate without fear that this will be discovered by the Regime, as the mullahs have criminalised many forms of activism and their opposition groups.

Following Boroujerdis statement, Bahram Parsaei, a representative for a different faction, said that this decision had been made during a closed-door session in parliament on the last working day of the Iranian calendar year. As you can imagine, this doesnt leave any time for the Iranian people to organise against this move, although if they did, the Regime would probably arrest them.

Boroujerdi gave a follow-up interview after many Iranians who use Telegram for business voiced their concerns. During this interview, he noted that China and Pakistan had also blocked the app, but failed to note that China blocks the majority of the internet and that Pakistan has not yet given a reason for the block.

He also said that UK Prime Minister Theresa May accused Telegram of harbouring terrorists, without bothering to point out that CEO Pavel Durov is working to remove these channels without providing open-door access to Regimes to spy on political activists.

Boroujerdi also claimed that Durov is close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an enemy of the Iranian Regime, which is a dubious claim at best.

Realistically, the only reason that the Iranian Regime wants to ban Telegram, is because it allows the Iranian people to communicate without fear of being discovered by the Regime. If the people can discuss their protests in secret, then there is more chance of them taking place and gaining attention before the Regimes suppressive security forces can target them. If this happens, the Resistance will grow and grow until that can overthrow the Regime. That is what the Regime is afraid of.
The report was a summary of the information presented at the March 26 press conference that took place after the latest Houthi missile attack on Saudi Arabia that killed one and injured two. It provided photographic evidence that Iran had supplied the Houthis with the missiles fired on Saudi Arabia; a charge made by the Kingdom in the wake of the attack and seemingly supported by UN findings on previous missile attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia.

The missile in question is the Sayyad-2C surface-to-air missile, which was first produced in Iran in 2013. Reportedly, it has a range of 80-150 kilometres and can reach altitudes of 20,000-30,000 meters whilst carrying a high-explosive warhead.

It is based on the American SM-1 (RIM-66), which Iran received from the US prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Iran have now integrated it with a ground-based domestic air-defence system.

In the report, Saudi Arabia writes that the Houthis are using Sanaa airport to train their militias and launch Iranian-made missiles. It also states that the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to reinstate the legitimate government in Yemen have, in the past, intercepted the smuggling of these missiles from Iran to the Houthis.

We dont know if this was the missile fired at Saudi Arabia or if there is a stockpile of these missiles in Sanaa airport or where else Iran may have smuggled these missiles too. All we do know is that this is worrying.

The Iranian Regime has given the Houthis a lot of help in addition to providing them with ballistic missiles  in violation of two UN resolutions  including political support, various light-arms like AK-47s, sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), anti-tank weapons, suicide boats, drones, and roadside bombs.

What can the rest of the world do?

They should start by condemning the attacks by the Houthis and look at evidence to prove Irans involvement. Then they must condemn Iran and reimpose sanctions on the country.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a Research Fellow focusing on Iran at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote: With the conflict in the Arabian Peninsula having entered its fourth year, Iran appears more intent than ever to continue backing the Houthi rebels. In fact, Iranian material support for the Houthi insurgency in Yemen has evolved over time. The effect of this diverse weaponry has been to dampen the prospects for fruitful negotiations and incentivize the Houthis to continue fighting. While a diplomatic solution remains ideal, Irans provision of missiles to the Houthis underscores the need for a military predicate to achieve any diplomatic solution.
Thousands of teachers in two U.S. states are striking to demand higher pay and increased education funding.

More than 30,000 educators in Oklahoma began a walkout Monday and have promised to stay on strike until their demands are met.

Oklahomas largest teachers union has called for a $10,000 pay raise for educators over the next three years. It is also seeking an increase of $75 million in state education funding.

Union officials said the strike led to classes being cancelled for about 500,000 of Oklahomas 700,000 public school students.

Thousands of striking teachers traveled to the state capital, Oklahoma City, to join a mass demonstration. The president of the Oklahoma Education Association, Alicia Priest, called on all teachers to join the protest to pressure lawmakers to act.

Priest says teachers and students have dealt with 11 years of funding cuts that have prevented upgrades of school equipment. Class sizes have also been growing.

We will not continue to be ignored, Priest said in a message posted on Facebook. Educators will continue to walk until we get a deal that our students deserve, she said.

Oklahoma came in at 47th place among U.S. states in money spent per student in 2016, the National Education Association estimated. The association also reported the state came in near the bottom in pay, with the average teacher in Oklahoma earning about $45,000 a year.

Oklahomas legislature is controlled by Republicans and lawmakers had sought to avoid tax increases in recent years. The states governor, Mary Fallin, is also a Republican.

Fallin signed legislation last week to give teachers a raise of 15-18 percent. But many educators said the amount was not good enough and decided to walk out.

Rae Lovelace is a single mother and third-grade teacher in northwest Oklahoma. If I didnt have a second job, Id be on food stamps, she told the Associated Press. Lovelace is among many teachers who have taken a second job to earn extra money. She says she works an extra 30 to 40 hours a week teaching internet courses for another school.

Protests in Kentucky

Schools across Kentucky were also empty. Some were closed for spring break vacation, while other schools cancelled classes to allow teachers to join protests in the state capital, Frankfort. Thousands of teachers showed up to demonstrate.

Last Friday, hundreds of teachers in Kentucky called in sick to protest last-minute changes to their retirement system.

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky passed the pension bill Thursday. The measure continued pension benefits for most state workers, but reduced them for new teachers. Lawmakers said the move was necessary to make up for underfunding of the states teacher retirement system. Teacher unions condemned passage of the bill and promised large protests to oppose it.

Language arts teacher Lesley Buckner said the goal of the protests was to send a clear message to Kentucky lawmakers. If we continue to stay united, they cannot turn away from us, they cannot turn their backs on us.

More to come?

The latest demonstrations followed protests and strikes in West Virginia in February. Teachers statewide walked off their jobs for more than a week. The educators eventually won their demand for a 5 percent increase in pay.

In Arizona, teachers held protests last week demanding more education funding. Teachers there are also demanding a 20 percent pay increase and are considering a strike to press their demands. Many Arizona teachers wore red clothes to school on Monday to express support for teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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The need for an urban Master Plan for Macau was the topic of the working lunch the British Business Association of Macao (BBAM) held last week at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Rui Leao, architect and president of International Council of Architects of the Portuguese Speaking Countries, was invited to speak on several aspects related to Macaus urban development and organization.

The architect, who is also member of the Macau Urban Planning Committee, noted that there were major differences between the old city and newer areas in terms of scale.

At the time that the planning law was drafted it was generally based on the Portuguese law [which states that there is a need for a Master Plan before the Detailed Plans]. So at the time, my contribution, which was ultimately unsuccessful, was to try to convince the government to invert that, said Leao. We need to have detailed plans in Macau, especially for the old [part] of the city, before we have the Master plan, because we know that the master plan is something that takes [a] very long [time] to be implemented and the Inner Harbor [area] and the older parts of town couldnt wait.

According to Leao, what occureed in the late 20th century and early 21st century was an opportunistic interpretation of an historic city [center] and it created an interesting usurpation of the historic texture of the city.

In the past, several of the small plots that used to constitute the city center were joined together to allow the creation of high-rise buildings in the center, twisting the original purpose of the spaces and paving the way for large scale investments. The organization left the hands of small property owners and signified a big game changer for Macaus economy.

In this context, the architect questioned how is was possible to reconcile modern Macau with the historical city. His answer to this question includes the creation of a master plan.

We need to be two [different] people in order to be able to do this master plan. [On one hand] we need to understand the economics and [on the other] we need to understand the humanity and informality of the old city.

Addressing questions on the protection of heritage sites, Leao compared Macau to Venice, where the tourists agglomerate around the heritage hotspots. But, inversely to what happens in the Italian city, it is the casinos and resorts that hold and attract the attention of tourists in Macau.

He remarked that one of the most important factors regarding the protection of buildings is visibility, noting that the best example of that is Senado Square, which gained a lot from the cleaning of advertising and signage as well as the stopping of the circulation of vehicles in the area  it only survived because of this.

In order to protect the city center, Leao proposes expanding the pedestrian area from Senado Square in two directions, toward the Inner Harbor and in the axis from Senado Square to Lilau Square. If this happens I think half of the problems [regarding heritage protection] are solved.

The speaker noted that what concerns him the most regarding Macau heritage protection has to do with the fact that everything that is not a monument is not protected and is not listed. He noted that building clusters in many parts of the city are as much or of more historical relevance than some monuments. Macaus heritage also includes green areas and Coloane, in Leaos opinion.

Leao also addressed the organization of the new areas of reclaimed land, where he expressed concerns, saying, there is no [clear] policy, only hints.

The architect thinks that now is the right time for the government to address a topic that was a taboo for over 450 years, that being the use of the Macau waters, which he claims were never granted before to Macau territory, especially during the Portuguese administration.

The current status is that Macau has the right and duty to manage its maritime areas, and Leao says, it is time to give the waterfronts back to [the] Macau people.

Replying to questions regarding the lack of new architectural works of great relevance in Macau, Leao believed this was related to the new way of attributing projects.

Before we had the commissioning of big projects to architects and we had important and relevant works done. Now this has stopped and Im afraid to say that I see that the best projects now rarely or never win. He added that more importance is given to other factors that are not related to design and architectural relevance.

Three other Urban Planning Committee members were also present at the talk  namely Paul Tse, Wu Chou Kit (also a lawmaker) and Noris Au, vice president of Macau Urban Planning Association.

Au questioned Leao on the possibility of replacing some protected areas  particularly zones C and D  due to the new developments of territorial land and the possibility of expansion. Alternatively, he raised the possibility of relocating the new landfills to other places.

Leao replied, I never really thought about that. In fact, when we decided [on] these areas there was no other option so we saw them as [our fate].

Still, he remarked, these zones are being planned with incredibly good accessibility and due to the fact that they are islands in between the city and exit infrastructures, they are prime locations.

Leao affirmed that the best option at the moment is to give the matter some time, as the major needs will be supplied by the infrastructure being built in the near future at zones A and E, which could function as reserve plots.
The twin-spired church in this southern Chinese village was packed with more than a thousand Catholics observing Good Friday, but the bishop who tends to the congregation was not among them. Just a day earlier, government agents had taken him away.

Bishop Guo Xijin is at the center of talks between the Vatican and the atheist Communist Party that will likely yield a deal on who appoints bishops in China. The move would be historic, uniting the countrys Catholics for the first time since Beijing and the Holy See severed relations nearly seven decades ago.

At a pre-dawn Mass on Thursday, Guo had urged congregants at the Saiqi church to be brave and keep the faith. Full of comfort and hope, we are inspired to more bravely face struggles and offer our love to God, he told them.

Not long after, government agents arrived and for the second time during Holy Week took Guo away for what they described as a vacation  a euphemistic term in China for an enforced disappearance.

For years, Chinas Catholics have been split between those who follow state-authorized churches outside the Vaticans authority and those who attend underground churches that swear fealty to the pope. Guo is the head of one such underground diocese.

Under the deal being discussed, the Vatican is expected to recognize seven Beijing-appointed bishops not chosen by the pope, and Guo and one other underground bishop would step aside.

Supporters say the deal would help the Holy See achieve its years-long goal of bringing all of Chinas 12 million Catholics ostensibly under the popes wing.

Others, including a prominent Hong Kong cardinal, have accused the Vatican of selling out its followers to an authoritarian regime.

Guos exile serves as a stark reminder of the power of a state that has been seeking to center the peoples devotion on the ruling party.

It also highlights how high-level deliberations in the marble-columned splendor of the Vatican City and in Beijings walled leadership compound could have reverberations in places like rural Saiqi for generations to come.

Guos church sits atop a sloping hill overlooking meandering streets of small barbershops and noodle joints. Parishioners say they dont know what to expect from a deal they discuss mostly in whispered conversations between morning and evening services.

For decades, they say, theyve been able to peacefully practice their religion despite being under the watchful eye of the state. But it wasnt always that way.

The story of the Catholic Churchs dark period in China during Mao Zedongs Cultural Revolution has been told and retold to the young people at Guos parish. Theyve heard the tales of elderly relatives having their Bibles torn up, being paraded down the streets during public shaming sessions or sent away to labor camps.

That generation had to go through so much, said Huang Weiping, 37, who manages a shop selling rosary beads and portraits of Joseph and Mary.

He said his relative was Guos predecessor, Bishop Huang Shoucheng, who spent many years in prison.

Lin Qigua, a 55-year-old parishioner, said bridging the divide between the official and underground church would be difficult.

Our parents always told us that the Catholic Church comes from Rome, and then suddenly the Communist Party comes out with its own church, Lin said. Theres a conflict here, isnt there? Our ancestors sacrificed so much  was their blood shed for nothing?

The state-backed Chinese church at recent conferences has stressed the need to remain independent of the Vatican and to Sinicize itself  code for accepting party leadership and rejecting foreign links.

A Vatican official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to reveal the content of the talks with China acknowledged there were downsides to the potential deal. The official said it would limit the Holy Sees activities in China and cede power to Beijing to nominate bishops, with the pope only able to exercise what amounts to a papal veto.

Chinas State Administration of Religious Affairs declined to be interviewed. The underground Churches have had regular communications with Chinese authorities since the 1990s, and officials even ask the church for help with local disputes, said Rev. Peng Zhenkang, a priest in Guos parish. Villagers here will listen to clergy, Peng said.

He said Guo is often taken away during sensitive periods and that the bishop doesnt resist. This time, Peng said, his exile was surely linked to the Vatican talks.

Reached by phone on Thursday, a priest who had been asked by authorities to leave Saiqi along with Guo said they were just getting off a train in Xiamen, a city more than 255 kilometers away. Its inconvenient for the bishop to talk right now. Im sorry, Rev. Xu Wenming said before hanging up.

The Vatican official said that under the proposed deal with China, Guo would become an auxiliary bishop to the official, state-recognized Bishop Zhan Silu, but would remain in charge of the churchgoers he had been leading. The official said Guo has agreed to that arrangement.

The other Vatican-appointed leader who would be affected by the deal is 88-year-old Bishop Zhuang Jianjian, the head of a rural parish in Guangdong province housed in a weathered stucco church built more than a hundred years ago.

Zhuang is described as a pillar of the Catholic communities in the villages clustered in Jiexi county. For decades, he has nurtured generations of Catholics and frequently administers blessings over newborns or newlyweds, the dead or dying, his parishioners say.

The bishop declined to speak to reporters outside his church. Please forgive me, Zhuang said, bowing in apology.

While several of Zhuangs parishioners expressed admiration for the bishops generosity and dedication, none were certain they would oppose his departure if the Vatican ordered it.

We will all stick to the church no matter how the negotiations go, said Huang Q. L., a descendant of three generations of Catholics whose hand-painted Biblical depictions adorn the church nave. We have all experienced the faith deeply.

Zhuangs proposed replacement is Bishop Huang Bingzhang, who Beijing ordained illicitly in 2011 without Vatican approval. Zhuang declined to be interviewed.

One of his priests, Rev. Xu Jihua, said he expected Huang to be ordained by the Vatican. He said ending the divisions between the Vatican and Beijing will be good for Catholics across China.

No one hopes to live a life of faith under these abnormal conditions, Xu said.

Then, repeating a belief expressed by underground and state-sanctioned churchgoers alike, the priest remarked: The essence of faith, after all, is that it exists in light. If a faith is opaque and has its doors closed, that is darkness. Yanan Wang, Saiqi, China, AP
Mainland authorities have voiced their support for Hong Kongs handling of Benny Tais controversial remarks in Taiwan.

At a seminar last week in the Taiwanese capital, Tai implied that Hong Kong  along with a number of other minority-ethnic areas of China  might one day become independent or part of a federation, should China become a democratic state.

Hong Kong and mainland officials were outraged by the comments and denounced Tai for what they described as subversion of the central government and a plot to divide China.

A spokesperson from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council on Saturday expressed resolute support for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) governments handling of Hong Kong independence activities.

The spokesperson said that we have taken note of University of Hong Kong associate professor Benny Tai Yiu Ting recently participating in a meeting of a Taiwan independence organization in Taiwan and blatantly preaching Hong Kong independence, and we also noticed that the HKSAR government expressed strong condemnation over the event.

A handful of people in Hong Kong have colluded with outside separatist forces, blatantly preaching Hong Kong independence, the spokesperson continued.

This has exposed their attempt to split our country and has severely violated the Constitution of China, the Basic Law of the HKSAR and relevant laws in Hong Kong.

We will not turn a deaf ear to or tolerate such kind of activities.

In response, activist and academic Tai warned that Beijing and Hong Kong authorities were seeking to make an example of him to deter other dissenters.

Tai also said he feared new legislation currently being proposed by the HKSAR would seek to limit freedom of expression, including that protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

A demonstration led by democratic lawmakers from the Civic Party and People Power was held in Hong Kong yesterday to rally support for Tai. MDT/Xinhua
Elaine Wynn said a Wynn Resorts Ltd. in-house lawyer who was told in 2009 about an alleged rape of an employee by her former husband, Steve Wynn, called it a personal matter.

The ex-wife of the companys founder testified last week for the first time in open court about the allegations of sexual misconduct that led Steve Wynn to step down as chairman and chief executive officer of his casino empire last month.

She said at a hearing in Las Vegas that she told Wynns general counsel, Kim Sinatra, nine years ago about the alleged rape from four years earlier.

Sinatra responded that it was not a company matter but a personal matter, and as far as she was concerned, it was handled, according to Elaine Wynns testimony.

In a statement issued after the hearing, Sinatra said that Elaine Wynn never told her there was an allegation of rape against Steve Wynn.

In the relevant conversation in which she promised to destroy Steve Wynn and said she didnt care if that reduced the companys stock price to zero in the process, Elaine Wynn made an oblique reference to a settlement, and nothing more, Sinatra said.

A Nevada state judge is deciding what evidence of Steve Wynns alleged misconduct can be brought at a jury trial scheduled for next month. Elaine Wynn claims she lost her seat on the Wynn Resorts board of directors in 2015 because she had raised questions about her ex-husbands reckless behavior.

Todd Bice, a lawyer for Wynn Resorts, said the company fundamentally disputed that Elaine Wynn reported the 2005 incident as a corporate governance issue.

She was seeking and sharing information from Mrs. Sinatra to use in her divorce, Bice said at the hearing. Elaine Wynn used information about the 2005 incident to get another $4 million from her ex-husband in their divorce settlement, according to Bice.

Elaine Wynn has argued that a private, multimillion-dollar settlement her ex-husband made with the employee in 2005, without telling the board of directors, was evidence of his irresponsible management of the company.

The Wall Street Journal reported in January that the payment involved allegations that the executive had forced himself upon a company manicurist and that the incident fit a pattern of Steve Wynn pressuring employees to have sex with him. Edvard Pettersson, Valerie Miller, Bloomberg

Wynn officials weigh renaming Boston-area casino

WYNN RESORTS is absolutely considering renaming its planned Boston-area casino as founder Steve Wynn faces allegations of sexual misconduct. The Boston Herald reports Wynn Boston Harbor President Robert DeSalvio said last week a rebranding of the USD2.4 billion project in Everett, Massachusetts, is under active consideration. He says an announcement will come later. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, Democratic state Attorney General Maura Healey and other state leaders have said a name change should be considered , but company officials had previously pushed back on the notion.
The government spokesperson and director of the Government Information Bureau (GCS), Victor Chan, said late last week that the government plans to work more closely with Macaus media to promote the central governments national strategies, including the citys role in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Greater Bay Area.

Speaking on the sidelines of a media event, Chan said that the government would dedicate more resources to promoting such policies via multimedia platforms and the government news portal.

He added that the establishment of the government spokesperson system had facilitated better and closer relations between the government, the media and the public.

According to the GCS chief, the government wants to implement three policies in order to enhance information output to the media and public.

The first was to improve the government spokesperson system by enhancing internal communication between different public departments, as well as other potential measures. Ground-level representatives of government bureaus would also be supported in communicating government policies to local media platforms.

Secondly, GCS plans to promote more news about Macaus participation in, and contribution to, the development of national strategies. For example, it will communicate more detailed information about the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and regional cooperation to that end.

Thirdly, the government wants to maintain close communication with the media in order to provide greater support for their work.

Chan also shared his insights regarding the development of new media and how the government has begun to embrace it.

Recent efforts included the launch in March 2017 of a Facebook page for the purposes of sharing government news, events and policies. In the past year, GCS also produced more video news clips, photographic essays, infographics and video features.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai left Pakistan yesterday, ending a surprise visit to the country, her first since being shot in 2012 by Taliban militants who tried to kill her for promoting girls education.

A smiling Yousafzai was seen with her parents at Benazir Bhutto International Airport before they boarded a plane to return to London after the four-day visit.

Amid tight security, Yousafzai earlier in the day left her hotel in Islamabad, where she had stayed for four days, and in a convoy of vehicles headed to the airport. Touching scenes were witnessed when the now-20-year-old university student left the hotel, thanking Pakistani officials for giving her an army helicopter over the weekend to fly to the Swat Valley, once virtually under the control of militants, and see her home in the northwest town of Mingora.

After visiting Mingora on Saturday, Yousafzai in a tweet said it was the most beautiful place on earth for her.

So much joy seeing my family home, visiting friends and putting my feet on this soil again, said, as she posted a picture of her, showing her standing at her homes lawn with her father, mother and brothers.

Youzafzai also said in her hometown that she had waited for the moment for more than five years and said she often looked at Pakistan on the map, hoping to return.

She said she plans to permanently return to Pakistan after completing her studies in Britain.

Yesterday, Yousafzais uncle Mahmoodul Hassan told The Associated Press that she is leaving Pakistan with good and memorable memories, but is going back to England because she wants to complete her education there.

During her visit, Yousafzai also met with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. She attended a reception at Abbasis office and made an emotional speech in which she said it was one of the happiest days of her life to be back in her country.

Most Pakistanis warmly welcomed Yousafzais visit but some launched a campaign on social media against her and she also faced tough questions from journalists, asking about the campaign. She said she failed to understand why she was being subjected to this kind of criticism by educated people.

We want to work for the education of children and make it possible that every girl in Pakistan receives a high-level education and she can fulfil her dreams and become a part of society, she told Pakistans ARY news channel.

Her hometown of Mingora is not far away from the village of Mullah Fazlullah, the head of Pakistani Taliban who dispatched attackers in 2012 to kill Yousafzai, at the time already a known teen activist for girls education, but she miraculously survived a bullet wound to the head. Fazlullah had taken over Swat in 2007, marking the height of the militants strength there.

The Pakistani military later mostly evicted the militants from the valley and now Fazlullah is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

Since her attack and recovery, Yousafzai has led the Malala Fund, which helps students in Swat and elsewhere. Munir Ahmed, Islamabad, AP
The Macao Orchestra held its first ever concert in Myanmar, performing at the Strand Hotel in Yangon on Friday night. The performance was a joint initiative between the Chinese Embassy and the MSAR Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture.

The show represents an important cultural exchange between Macau and Myanmar, which will expand the dimension of China- Myanmar relations, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Hong Liang said in a message.

The orchestras visit will also deepen the bonds between the people of China and Myanmar, he added.

Macau Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, also expressed his belief that the concert could bring the people of the two countries closer. He hoped that Macau and Myanmar could have more such cultural exchange and cooperation in the future.

The orchestra, led by music director and principal conductor Lu Jia, performed well-known masterpieces by Mozart.

Established in 1983, the Macao Orchestra is well known in Asia for its performances of Chinese and Western classics.

The orchestra has performed in at least 30 cities across China as well as Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, the United States and others. MDT/Xinhua
An Iowa man threatened by city officials with legal action for saying on a website that his hometown smelled like rancid dog food won a free-speech lawsuit Thursday when a federal judge prohibited the city from further threats and awarded him damages.

Josh Harms, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, filed suit in U.S. District Court earlier this month asking a judge to block Sibley officials from suing him.

City officials said theyd sue if he didnt stop criticizing the towns odor problem from Iowa Drying and Processing, which makes a high-protein animal food supplement from pig blood.

The company moved to a vacant building in Sibley in 2013 and Harms began publishing his protest website in 2015. In December, the citys attorney Daniel DeKoter sent Harms a letter saying Harms was hurting the community with his website and threated a lawsuit if he didnt stop.

Judge Leonard Strand approved on Thursday a permanent injunction agreed to by the city and Harms.

The injunction prohibits the city from making further threats. It allows Harms to talk to reporters and continue to publish websites critical of the city odor issue.

The city also agreed to pay Harms $6,500 in damages and $20,000 in legal fees, issue a written apology and hold First Amendment training for city staff.

Personally disagreeing with something thats been written is understandable, but threatening the writer with a lawsuit while representing the government is censorship. It violates the First Amendment and our freedom of speech, Harms said.
Macau Radio Taxi Ltd admitted it has failed to respond to over 60 percent of customers requesting to use its services, blaming the lack of vehicles and professional drivers.

Speaking to local broadcaster TDM, Ken U, the general manager of Macaus only legal ride-hailing company, said the company is only capable of meeting the requests of some 35 percent of its passengers, despite being in operation for nearly a year.

The firm commenced operations in April 2017 and states that its ultimate goal is to meet 80 or 90 percent of customer requests in order to better serve residents. It hopes to acquire more vehicles.

100 percent is the best, but things cant be this perfect. We [would be] satisfied with 80 or 90 percent, but it has yet to be attained. The lack of vehicles is a headache for us, U added.

In July 2017, the company admitted that it had failed to answer some 70 percent of passengers requesting to use its services.

Although it had received a total of 320,000 calls in its first three months of operation, it only managed to respond to an average of 1,000 passengers per day.

The number of app users increased by 65 percent in the last quarter of 2017, with the firm saying it is working to improve its services, including its mobile app.

To further enhance our efficiency, were also working out how we can immediately respond to nearby requests for rides upon dropping off passengers in a bid to cut costs, he said.

U claimed that the pick-up rate would hit 90 percent if 200 more special taxi licenses were added.

Prior to the launch of Radio Taxi, which has an eight-year license, the government stated that they will monitor various aspects of the service in accordance with the concession contract. These include the number of vehicles in operation and the phone call pick-up ratio. Should the service not be up to standard, it will be subject to fines and penalties that can lead to the concessions termination.

The Transport Bureau had previously announced that the 100 new available licenses for taxi services would be limited to electric vehicles.
Ties between Russia and Turkey are growing closer than ever, as Russia runs into widespread diplomatic fallout from the poisoned spy scandal and Turkeys relations with its Western allies worsens over human rights issues and its military operations against Kurdish militia in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin heads back to Turkey today, joining Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony for a Russian-made nuclear power plant being built on Turkeys Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu. On Wednesday, Putin, Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are expected to hold a summit in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss Syrias future.

Turkey and Russia have put aside their traditional rivalries and differences on regional issues to forge strong economic ties. In December, they finalized an agreement for Turkey to purchase Russias long-range S-400 missile defense system, a deal that raised eyebrows among some of Turkeys NATO allies. Aside from the power plant, the two countries are also building the Turkstream pipeline to transport Russian gas to Turkey.

Turkish-Russian relations are in a better mood compared with two years before . both parties are working together, said Mitat Celikpala, a professor of international relations at Istanbuls Kadir Has University.

They managed to compartmentalize issues, Celikpala said, citing Turkish and Russian divisions, including over the divided island of Cyprus and Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea. If you set aside all those issues . they are good partners for the resolution of immediate interests.

Their warming relations come as ties between European Union nations and Turkey have become increasingly testy.

Turkeys EU membership talks have stalled and many EU countries have voiced concerns over the Turkish governments growing authoritarian turn and its crackdown on rights and freedoms, especially following an attempted coup in 2016 that Turkey blames on a U.S.-based Islamic cleric.

Turkey in turn, accuses EU countries of supporting Kurdish rebels as well as the alleged perpetrators of the 2016 failed coup.

Turkeys relations with the United States have fared even worse, with Turkey accusing Washington of harboring the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, and backing Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey considers to be terrorists.

Last week, Turkey announced it would not be following NATO and EU allies in ousting Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning in Britain of a former Russian spy. Britain has accused Russia of being behind the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, prompting nearly two dozen nations to expel over 150 Russian diplomats. Russia has responded by expelling a similar number of envoys.

Turkey condemned the nerve agent attack on British soil without naming Russia, adding that it enjoyed positive relations with Moscow.

Just because some countries took a step based on an allegation, we dont have to take the same step, Erdogan said.

Putin and Erdogan have met several times in the past year and regularly speak on the phone.

Russia and Turkey  along with Iran  are also working together to create de-escalation zones to reduce the fighting in Syria and bring the sides of the conflict together to negotiate Syrias future.

The cooperation comes despite their positions on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict with Moscow siding with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkey supporting his foes since the start of the Syrian war seven years ago.

The conflicting interests led to the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish jet at the Syrian border in November 2015, which put the two nations on the verge of a direct military conflict.

Russia responded by barring packaged tourist tours to Turkey and halting the imports of agricultural products. The two reconciled after Erdogan issued an apology. Suzan Fraser, Ayse Wieting, AP
Bahraini State authorities announced Sunday the discovery of the countrys so far largest oil and gas field whose production could exceed current oil and gas yield.

The tiny Gulf oil producer and non-OPEC member currently explores two oil fields, namely state controlled onshore Bahrain Oil Field and the offshore Abu Safah field whose revenues are shared with Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain has been oil exporter since 1932.

The offshore discovery at Khaleej Al Bahrain Basin, according to the oil ministry, will extensively support the 45,000 barrels currently produced at Bahrain Oil Field.

Initial analysis demonstrates the find is at substantial levels, capable of supporting the long-term extraction of tight oil and deep gas, Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa said in a statement.

Authorities will on Wednesday hold a press conference to bring details on the discovery, size and extraction viability.

DeGolyer and MacNaughton (Demac) have been associated to the discovery of the giant oil field.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

There should be a rethink in how doctors talk to some patients with reduced kidney health, replacing the term 'chronic kidney disease' (CKD) with different bands of kidney age, according to a group of experts writing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

From the Universities of Oxford, Bristol and Johannesburg, the researchers argue that for some people a reduced level of kidney function is not necessarily a disease, but a normal and asymptomatic sign of ageing, given the clear link between decreasing kidney health and increasing age.

Since 2002, the different stages of CKD have been used by doctors to label reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR)  the rate at which blood passes through tiny capillaries in the kidney each minute, but this leads to confusion and worry for some patients.

"Qualitative studies show that communicating a diagnosis of 'CKD' to patients can be uncomfortable and unsatisfactory for all concerned, and primary care physicians often face an up-hill battle to retrieve the situation with reassurance," said lead author Richard Stevens, an Associate Professor at Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.

"Some doctors prefer not to mention the condition to patients so as to avoid any unnecessary worry, given that a reduced but stable kidney function in elderly patients requires regular monitoring rather than immediate intervention."

CKD stage 5 (where the filtration rate falls below 15 ml/min/1.73m2) is classed as disease at any age, since the kidneys no longer function and dialysis is required.

However, after analysing previously published data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015/16), the researchers argue that CKD up to stage 4 (where GFR declines from 90 to 15 mL/min/1.73m2), does not meet the criteria for disease. Instead they link this with increasing age, from 51 to 95 years old respectively, since this gradual decline in kidney function is not abnormal in older age groups.

When a person's kidney age is higher than their actual age, the researchers suggest doctors communicate this with discussion of further monitoring and in the context of potential health implications, such as the risk of cardiovascular disease or end-stage renal disease.

Co-author Professor Richard Hobbs, an inner-city Birmingham GP and Head of Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences says that applying the same concepts used by doctors to describe heart or vascular age would likely have greater resonance with patients.

"Relabelling CKD stages up to 4 as categories of normal kidney ageing would clear up a common misconception by patients that they require dialysis and transplant due to the use of terms 'chronic' and 'disease', when their condition is just a normal sign of ageing. For example, a doctor would tell their patient that their kidney age is 68 to 77 years, instead of diagnosing CKD stage 3A."

The researchers stress that kidney disease remains a significant health concern for many and the term kidney age should only apply to age-related kidney decline. Conditions affecting the kidney such as nephrotic syndrome and polycystic kidneys fall outside the scope of the definition of kidney ageing.

Before a widespread adoption of the kidney ageing terminology by health professionals, the researchers call for further discussion with patient groups and broader studies of kidney decline across different populations and ethnic groups to better understand the link between kidney health and ageing.

The research is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research.

Explore further New findings on tolvaptan as autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease treatment

More information: Kidney age, not kidney disease, Richard J Stevens, Julie Evans, Jason Oke, Benjamin Smart, Richard Hobbs, Elizabeth Holloway, Jeremy Horwood, Marion Judd, Louise Locock, Julie McLellan, Rafael Perera. CMAJ 2018. Journal information: Canadian Medical Association Journal Kidney age, not kidney disease, Richard J Stevens, Julie Evans, Jason Oke, Benjamin Smart, Richard Hobbs, Elizabeth Holloway, Jeremy Horwood, Marion Judd, Louise Locock, Julie McLellan, Rafael Perera.2018. DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.170674
Credit: Monash University

Eight years ago, Monash Professor Joseph Ibrahim, of the Department of Forensic Medicine, started work on a project that he hopes will eventually help elderly people in nursing homes live better. But it's been a hard road.

As he speaks to Lens, a South Australian Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) report into an Adelaide nursing home landed, at 312 pages: it was titled "Oakden, A Shameful Chapter in South Australia's History." Several incidents at the home have been referred to police. A coronial inquiry into the 2008 death of a resident is underway, and others are expected.

The ICAC report found maladministration against five managers and staff and failures in clinical governance at Oakden, as well as incidents of rough handling of patients, excessive use of restraints, and injuries. The nursing home shut last year.

Professor Ibrahim's work touches on elder abuse, suicide and premature death in nursing homes, prevention of both intentional and non-intentional injuries, and the concept of 'dignity of risk'  in other words, allowing people in God's waiting room to live better. Two Ph.D. candidates from the Department of Forensic Medicine, Marta Woolford and Briony Murphy, are also heavily involved.

They all understand that aged care is a big business with a plethora of stakeholders, including governments. Structural change will be difficult.

"Premature deaths occur in older people," Professor Ibrahim says. "If you don't agree they're premature then you don't agree they're preventable, and if you don't believe they're preventable then you don't believe there should be any action. And if there's no need for the action, the system must be OK."

Autonomy and choice

In 2013, Professor Ibrahim co-published a paper in the Australasian Journal on Ageing outlining the concept of 'dignity of risk', in which old folks in nursing homes would be allowed more autonomy and choice in what they do. It might be what they eat, drink, smoke or where they're allowed to go, and how they're allowed to go there. Inhibiting an individual's risk-taking can erode their dignity, according to Professor Ibrahim.

He agrees high rates of dementia in nursing homes (up to 60 per cent) complicates autonomy and decision-making, but those with dementia have differing limitations, and most are able to indicate their wishes and preferences. Their functional ability should and must be reassessed when care plans are updated to reflect their preferences.

A difficult idea, but he and his colleagues maintain it's necessary and the right moral choice. The barriers  both intellectual and structural  are immense.

"The problem is," he says, "there's no clear sense of what is contemporary practice in looking after older people in their last years of life when they have three or four diseases. What are their choices, and how does that influence their care? For example, if I go into hospital with burst appendix, I'll be operated on and people will try and keep me alive, with no debate. But if I'm 95 with moderate to severe dementia and have said, 'I don't feel much like living any more', then what happens? If you treat, it might be the wrong decision, and if you don't treat, that might also be the wrong decision."

Marta Woolford says society's perception of aged care has to change from being a place of protection to a place where people actually live. "It should be an extension of your home," she says, "where you're supported in what you want to do."

That extends to staff, who need to see a nursing home as somewhere they'll also be supported in decision-making about residents. The family of residents should learn to alter their expectations.

"We can't move toward a conversation about people having choices in aged care if no one has a staff member's back when it goes wrong," says Professor Ibrahim.

Credit: Monash University

"The way aged care works now for families is they say, 'I'm handing over my loved one to you and I'll be back next Sunday, and they better be exactly as I left them'. So you end up with a defensive and protective style of practice."

Deaths in aged care

The team has spent the past five years going through coronial data on deaths in aged care facilities, nationally. There are 2700 facilities in Australia, housing about 170,000 elderly people.

Premature deaths are by suicide, falls, choking, clinical care or as a result of an 'unexplained absence'. Funding to do any detailed studies remains hard to find. Next, funding permitting, they want to look more closely and better understand how dementia, depression, nutrition and dental health affects the lives of older people, and how these contribute to death.

Suicide is a huge issue, and something of a taboo subject in nursing homes.

Briony Murphy found that between the years 2000 and 2013, 140 nursing home residents took their own lives. The highest risk period is the first year in the home. Most were male  70 per cent  and 66 per cent had been diagnosed with depression.

The study, co-authored by Murphy (lead researcher and an epidemiology and forensic medicine Ph.D. candidate) and Professor Ibrahim, was published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. It was the largest such study in the world, and the first to probe the patterns of suicide in Australia's nursing homes.

"Depression can be more difficult to diagnose in older adults, as they may themselves believe their symptoms to be a natural reaction to a physical illness or the life changes they're going through," Murphy wrote in an article for The Conversation.

The data showing the high number of residents with depression told the researchers that it's not a normal part of the ageing process but the result of other factors, including health deterioration (80 per cent of those surveyed), isolation and loneliness (43 per cent), and difficulties adjusting to life in a nursing home (30 per cent).

The research revealed how little we still know about suicide in the nursing home setting, a surprise considering our ageing population and increased demand for aged care services, combined with the fact that older adults have the highest suicide rates in Australia and the world.

"I wanted to generate much-needed discussion about ageing, aged care and dying in Australia, and improve the quality of care and quality of life for older adults residing in aged care facilities," Murphy said.

The researchers say a better understanding of how, where and when older people die in nursing homes is the first step towards reducing harm, improving quality of care and quality of life.

Data on cause of death is only available through coroners' courts.

They're calling for a new system that documents the circumstances of each death by examining what was done, what wasn't, and to determine if there were any other factors that may have contributed to the death, Professor Ibrahim says.

Explore further Study reveals the lonely facts behind suicide in Australian nursing homes
A hairpin loop from a pre-mRNA. Highlighted are the nucleobases (green) and the ribose-phosphate backbone (blue). Note that this is a single strand of RNA that folds back upon itself. Credit: Vossman/ Wikipedia

Material left out of common processes for sequencing genetic material in cancer tumors may actually carry important information about why only some people respond to immunotherapy, possibly offering better insight than the type of material that is being sequenced, according to a study by Mount Sinai researchers published on April 3 in Cell Reports.

Sequencing a type of genetic material in cancer tumors called messenger RNA has transformed personalized cancer therapy and revealed biomarkers for early detection. Advances in this field have transformed scientists' understanding of the differences between healthy tissue and tumors.

To date, gene expression in tumors has been typically profiled by capturing messenger RNAs; however, they represent only a fraction of the molecules detected. A different type of RNA, called non-coding RNA, had long been dismissed as "junk" and left out of sequencing processes. However, recent advances in genetics have shown that many non-coding RNAs can carry critical functions for cell biology, and a class of RNA known as repetitive elements may interact with the immune system in a way that may be important to develop new and personalized cancer immunotherapies.

In their study, the researchers used a process called total RNA sequencing to identify many non-coding RNAs that would normally remain undetected with the more common sequencing method. They showed that several of these RNAs were specifically expressed in tumors that responded to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy in bladder cancer patients, while others were associated with tumors that escaped being sensed by the immune system.

"Our conclusions make the case that non-coding RNA in tumors, particularly repetitive elements, is under-quantified," said the study's senior author, Benjamin Greenbaum, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncological Sciences, Pathology, and Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) at The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "We feel that critical findings will arise from analysis of the full breadth of a tumor's non-coding RNA interplay with the immune system."

One specific finding of this study was that one repetitive element in non-coding RNA is a better predictor of immunotherapy response to PDL1 inhibitors, a type of cancer immunotherapy drug, than conventional immune signatures in certain patients. Mount Sinai researchers, in partnership with the Ting Lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, found that these repeat RNAs appear to alter the immune response in colon and pancreatic cancers. These have implications for future research on how non-coding RNA could be novel targets for cancer therapy and how they influence patients' response to cancer therapies.

Explore further Scientists create first mathematical model that predicts immunotherapy success
(HealthDay)Perceptions of the organ donation experience vary between relatives who decide to donate their relative's organs and those who do not, but the decision does not appear to be associated with subsequent grief symptoms, according to a study published online March 19 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Nancy Kentish-Barnes, Ph.D., from the Saint-Louis University Hospital in Paris, and colleagues assessed the organ donation process and grief symptoms in relatives of 202 brain dead patients who discussed organ donation in 28 French intensive care units. Relatives were surveyed at one, three, and nine months

The researchers found that 44 of the relatives refused organ donation. Participation in follow-up interviews were 78 percent at 1 month, 68 percent at 3 months, and 58 percent at 9 months. While relatives of non-donors were more dissatisfied with communication (P = 0.021), more often shocked by the request (P < 0.0001), and more often found the decision difficult (P = 0.017), there were no significant differences in grief symptoms between the two groups at three- and nine-month follow-up. For relatives who did not understand the brain death process, the prevalence of complicated grief symptoms was higher, compared to those who did understand (P = 0.026).

"We show that experience of organ donation processes varies between relatives of donor versus non-donor patients, the latter experiencing more difficulty and burden," the authors write. "However, the decision to donate (consent/refusal) is not associated with grief symptoms."

Explore further Dutch agree law to list all citizens as organ donors

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Differences between signed and spoken languages are significant, yet the underlying neural processes we use to create complex expressions are quite similar for both, a team of researchers has found.

"This research shows for the first time that despite obvious physical differences in how signed and spoken languages are produced and comprehended, the neural timing and localization of the planning of phrases is comparable between American Sign Language and English," explains lead author Esti Blanco-Elorrieta, a doctoral student in New York University's Department of Psychology and NYU Abu Dhabi Institute.

The research is reported in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

"Although there are many reasons to believe that signed and spoken languages should be neurobiologically quite similar, evidence of overlapping computations at this level of detail is still a striking demonstration of the fundamental core of human language," adds senior author Liina Pylkkanen, a professor in New York University's Department of Linguistics and Department of Psychology.

The study also included Itamar Kastner, an NYU doctoral student at the time of the study and now at Berlin's Humboldt University, and Karen Emmorey, a professor at San Diego State University and a leading expert on sign language, who adds, "We can only discover what is universal to all human languages by studying sign languages."

Past research has shown that structurally, signed and spoken languages are fundamentally similar. However, less clear is whether the same circuitry in the brain underlies the construction of complex linguistic structures in sign and speech.

To address this question, the scientists studied the production of multiple two-word phrases in American Sign Language (ASL) as well as speech by deaf ASL signers residing in and around New York and hearing English speakers living in Abu Dhabi.

Signers and speakers viewed the same pictures and named them with semantically identical expressions. In order to gauge the study subjects' neurological activity during this experiment, the researchers deployed magnetoencephalography (MEG), a technique that maps neural activity by recording magnetic fields generated by the electrical currents produced by our brain.

For both signers and speakers, phrase building engaged the same parts of the brain with similar timing: the left anterior temporal and ventromedial cortices, despite different linguistic articulators (the vocal tract vs. the hands).

The researchers point out that this neurobiological similarity between sign and speech, then, goes beyond basic similarities and into more intricate processesthe same parts of the brain are used at the same time for the specific computation of combining words or signs into more complex expressions.

Explore further Language by mouth and by hand
The South African Reserve Bank will not implement regulations on Bitcoin without following a consultative process, Arif Ismail told MyBroadband.

Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank issued a statement on it reviewing its position on cryptocurrencies. The review will inform a policy framework and regulatory regime.

Our current position is if any actor participates in cryptocurrency, the risk is really theirs, said Ismail, who is the head of fintech at the SARB.

This position was taken in 2014  hence the need to revisit it.

Ismail said the review is about understanding the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.

Beyond just purchasing Bitcoin, Ether, and the 1,500-odd other tokens, what are some of the use cases starting to emerge?

One of them is the initial coin offering (ICO).

People are also talking about using cryptocurrencies in retail settings, said Ismail.

Regulation

The SARB review will assess what the underlying risks and benefits are, as well as the need for a new policy and regulatory framework.

The important bit is to try and analyse whether there is need for such regulation, said Ismail.

Regulatory issues under review include clearing and settlement risks, exchange control impacts, monetary policy, and financial stability.

Matters such as information security, taxes, consumer and investor protection, and money laundering will also be considered.

Ismal emphasised that the latter will be done collaboratively.

What would be good is a holistic review of this space, he said.

Were not responsible for tax  Treasury and SARS is. They are part of the workgroup, part of the journey.

Reserve Bank stance

Ismail explained that the outcome of the review might be that the Reserve Banks stance need not change at all. It may or may not contain a shift in framework, he said.

We have to be robust, we have to be thorough, and any regulation must be purposeful and proportionate, said Ismail.

He said the cryptocurrency review is a complex piece of work, but the Reserve Bank should release a position regarding its policy in the second half of 2018.

Now read: Why South African banks are building a national blockchain together
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has gone completely crazy, said Greek defense minister Panos Kammenos, commenting on the fate of two Greek soldiers held in Turkish prison and Ankaras provocations in the Aegean Sea.

Were talking about Erdogan, who goes out and publicly insults the US and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu. Turkey has no courts while its justice system works under the orders of the sultan [Erdogan], Ekathimerini reported quoting Kammenos.

According to him, under these circumstances, Greek soldiers could be held in Turkish prison for 15 years.

You cannot answer to a madman, he said, referring to Erdogan.

Kammenos said that Ankara could arrange a provocation in the Aegean Sea.

They may want to provoke this but you must know that the Turkish military is in a dire state at this moment, he said, adding that Greece will not take the bait but if Turkey violates the sovereignty of Greece, then we will respond as we should.
There is nobody so irritating as somebody with less intelligence and more sense than we have. - Don Herold

Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane. - Phillip K. Dick

In the fight between you and the world, back the world.- Frank Zappa
The military yesterday said no fewer than 20 persons, including a soldier, were killed on Sunday night in a battle to ward off a large number of suicide bombers trying to invade Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. About 84 others were injured.



Soldiers on the outskirts of Maiduguri also gunned down six armed Boko Haram gunmen and seven suicide bombers during the attack, bringing the death toll on both sides to 29.

Residents of Maiduguri were forced to keep vigil all Sunday night following hours of thunderous explosions and shootings that rented the air till early hours of Monday.

The military said Boko Haram suicide bombers and gunmen attempted to invade Maiduguri through the outskirts of Bille-Shuwa and Alikaranti villages.

Eighteen Boko Haram terrorists on foot attacked the military base while seven suicide bombers targeted residents of nearby Bale Shuwar and Alikaranti villages at 8:50 pm (1950 GMT), said the officer, who asked not to be identified as he was not authorised to speak about the incident.

The terrorists fired mortars at troops, the officer said.

Bello Dambatto, chief security officer at the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told AFP that an initial death toll of 18 had risen to 20 after two people died in hospital from their wounds.

The Police confirmed 20 persons killed and 84 injured.

Commissioner of Police Damian Chukwu said five mutilated bodies of male suicide bombers were recovered and two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) vests were diffused by men of the command at the scene of the attack.

He said: On 01/04/2018 at about 20:20 pm; Boko Haram terrorists in an attempt to infiltrate into Maiduguri through Bale Kura, Bale Shuwari, Jamine and Alkaramti villages in Jere local government area of the state, in the outskirts of Maiduguri detonated IEDs.

They were promptly repelled by military and police reinforcement. In the process about 84 persons were injured and 20 others killed.

Chukwu added that normalcy had been restored to the area and called on people to go about their lawful businesses

Operation Lafiya Dole spokesman Col. Onyema Nwachukwu said the attackers would have made it into more crowded areas of Maiduguri had the troops deployed along the attacked axis not repelled them.

Survivors of the attack said most of those killed in the suicide attack were youth who were at a viewing centre when the suicide bombers infiltrated them as they were fleeing upon hearing gun shots between soldiers and the Boko Haram fighters.

The gunmen came with the suicide bombers, and as they were engaged by soldiers, some of them sneaked into the confused fleeing crowd and detonated themselves killing about 15 people and over 80 others, said Momodu Bukar, an operative of Civilian-JTF.

Col. Nwachukwu said the attackers were on a mission to carry out major attack on Maiduguri.

Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole deployed in the Cashew Plantation around Bille Shuwa and Alikaranti villages have quashed an attempt by Boko Haram terrorists to penetrate Maiduguri metropolis yesterday at about 8.10 pm, he said.

The insurgents met with stiff resistance of troops who killed 6 of the insurgents and neutralized 7 suicide bombers in the encounter. The troops also recovered 2 AK 47 rifles and 2 Magazines.

The United Nations Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria Mr Yassine Gaba, condemned the deadly attack.

A statement by Mr Abiodun Banire, the National Public Information Officer, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Abuja, quoted Gaba as saying that since the beginning of the year, no fewer than 120 civilian were reportedly killed while more than 210 sustained serious injuries in more than 22 attacks allegedly carried out by non-state armed groups.

Innocent civilians continue to suffer daily from direct and indiscriminate attacks in the North-east of Nigeria.

Endless numbers of explosions, brutal killings, abductions and looting continue to uproot the lives of women, children and men daily.

I call on all parties to the conflict to end this violence and to respect human life and dignity.

The protection of civilians is a major focus of the ongoing humanitarian response in the north-east of Nigeria where 7.7 million people remain in direct need of humanitarian assistance, including food, shelter, water and health care, in the most conflict-affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, he said.

According to him, women, children and men face daily grave human rights violations and sexual and gender-based violence.

He said that since the start of the conflict in 2009, more than 20,000 people had been killed, thousands of girls, women, boys and men abducted, while children continue to be used routinely as so-called suicide bombers.

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima described the attack as sad, inhuman

Speaking during his visit to the victims of the attack at the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, the governor said: It is very sad which no any sensible human being could inflict on another person; such level of dexterity, such level of atrocity but this is a war between light and darkness, and in the fullness of time truth shall always triumph over falsehood.

We have repeatedly said they have been sufficiently decimated and these decimated monsters berks in the oxygen of publicity they are targeting soft targets, senselessly and criminally opening fire on innocent souls.

Yesterday, we witnessed that very sad episode, we will continue to intensify our efforts to safeguard life and property, and we are talking with security agencies that are doing their utmost best to secure the state.

Appreciable progress has been made but such hiccups are inevitable. I will visit the communities to see what measures need to be put in place to forestall future occurrence, he said.
Home | News | General | Police in Ogun apprehend man for hacking brother, wife to death

- Police in Ogun state have arrested one Okwudili Okoro for allegedly hacking his elder brother and his wife to death

- According to the police, the suspect claimed to have served his deceased brother for three years in his cosmetics trade

- The suspected reportedly said that when it was time for him to be settled, his brother was not forthcoming

The Ogun state police command has said that it arrested one Okwudili Okoro for allegedly hacking his elder brother, Azuibike Okoro, and his wife, Jacinta Okoro, to death.

Okoro was said to have been arrested after one Joseph Nwagu reported at Sango division of the command that Azuibike and his wife had been hacked to death by the suspect and one Kenneth who came all the way from Sapon in Abeokuta to commit the heinous crime, Punch reports.

NAIJ.com notes that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Nasirudeen Oyedele, led detectives to the scene where the suspect was arrested but his accomplice was reported to have escaped.

READ ALSO: Stop accusation and start building - Senator Dino Melaye advises APC

According to the state's police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, on interrogation, the Ebonyi state -born suspect claimed to have served his deceased brother for three years in his cosmetics trade, and when it was time for him to be settled, his brother was not forthcoming.

Oyeyemi stated that the suspect further added that when he realised that his brother was not ready to settle him, he contracted his accomplice, Kenneth, who is now at large.

In his confessional statement to the police, the suspect said that he and his accomplice bought two cutlasses, sharpened them and headed to his deceased brothers house in Ijako area of the state, adding that on getting to the deceaseds houses, they met him eating with his wife and before he could utter a word, they descended heavily on them with the cutlasses and hacked them to death.

According to Oyeyemi, the two corpses had been deposited in the mortuary at the state General Hospital, Ota for post-mortem examination.

In reacting to the crime, state's commissioner of police, Ahmed Iliyasu, appealed to residents of the state not to take any threat to their lives lightly by reporting such to the police no matter who is involved.

He ordered that the suspect be immediately transferred to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Abeokuta, for investigation.

He tasked the police to hunt for the escaped accomplice and bring him to book as soon as possible.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that a 22-year-old man identified as Dominic Ogbaji, was arrested by the police command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, for allegedly killing his elder brother.

According to reports, 22-year-old Dominic Ogbaji an indigene of Cross River state, had come to live with his 32-year-old elder brother, John Ogbaji, before the gruesome incident occurred.

Dominic who was a barber before relocating to his brother's house in Ajegunle, Mpape village in Abuja, had reportedly been bothering John about getting him a better job, and resorted to killing him when he felt he wasn't doing anything to help his situation.

See the faces of newly arrested criminals in Lagos state - on NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Source: Naija.ng

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Home | News | General | Telecommunication operators sue NASS, seek clarification of oversight function

Lagos  The Association of Licenced Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) is seeking judicial interpretation of the oversight function of the National Assembly (NASS) as it affects telecommunications companies.

Mr Gbenga Adebayo, ALTON Chairman, made this known at a press briefing in Lagos.

NASS

Adebayo said that ALTON filed a suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja in February in that regard.

The chairman noted that the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) was regulating telecommunications

while the Ministry of Communications was overseeing telecom industry.

We are private companies and not government establishments; funds that we administer in our various organisations are not appropriated by the Federal Government.

It is somehow to receive an invitation from parliament asking you to come and explain internal things or asking for your payroll, how much you pay your staff and why you pay them the way you pay them, Adebayo said.

He said that ALTON would want the court to define the extent of NASSs oversight function as it related to private companies particularly telecommunications companies already subject to regulation by NCC and the ministry.

The chairman said that ALTON would also wish to know the specific nature of information which NASS should ask from private companies.

For instance, the issue of tax is between the companies and the Federal Internal Revenue Service, while how much we pay our staff is a contract between us and our employees.

The nearest agency which can ask this is probably the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for reasons of compliance with minimum wage policy.

NASS is asking that the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) must appear before it.

Adebayo said that the association had no problem with NASS performing its oversight function through its committee on communications.

But when different committees such as those on health and environmental are asking for the same data for different reasons and insisting on the appearance of CEOs, it is not ideal, he said.

He said that ALTON honoured many of NASSs invitations by sending the most senior persons knowledgeable on the reason for the summons.

He claimed that NASS would send the officers back, insisting on the CEOs appearance.

According to him, the frequent summons affects the work schedules of the CEOs.

He added that the association was asking for a court order restraining NASS from serving any other summons to telecommunications companies until the determination of the substantive matter. (NAN)

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Home | News | General | Lai Mohammed raises alarm over unhealthy condition of imported rice

Lagos  The Federal Government has raised alarm over the unhealthy status of smuggled imported rice being dumped in the country calling on Nigerians not to consume them.

Pictures of rotten rice allocated to Edo IDPs but rejected by the Edo State Government. However, a good number of the bags of rice, which were fit for human consumption, were accepted and distributed to the Edo IDPs. File Photo

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at a media briefing in Lagos said the government could not guarantee the healthy status of the rice having spent months on the high seas and warehouses.

He appealed to Nigerians to complement the efforts of the government by consuming only locally-grown and processed rice which he said is fresher, tastier and healthier.

We dont know where or how imported rice is made or how old it is? It is reported that most of the rice

dumped on us are old and probably rejected.

The citizens of those countries do not eat this rice. The citizens of Benin also do not eat it. But they send it to us.

Unhealthy foods are dangerous to health. So lets eat what we can vouch

for, he said.

The minister noted that rice smuggling was the biggest challenge facing rice production in Nigeria.

Quoting the Rice Millers Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (RIMIDAN), he said that more than two million metric tonnes (MT) of parboiled rice were smuggled into Nigeria in 2017.

Mohammed said that smuggled rice was primarily sourced from Thailand and India and came into Nigeria through the countrys borders with Benin, Niger and Cameroon.

In Benin Republic, the total demand for white rice (white rice is consumed in Benin, against parboiled rice in Nigeria) is 400,000 MT.

Yet the country, with a population of about 11 million imports between one million and 1.2m MT of rice annually.

Who are they importing for? Nigerians of course. In fact, as Nigerias rice import falls, Benins rice import increases.

Most of the parboiled rice imported by Benin eventually lands in Nigeria through smuggling, he said.

The minister said that smuggled rice costs between N11,000 and N13,000 per 50kg bag, while Nigerian processed rice sells for between N14,500 and N15,000 per 50kg bag

Explaining why price of local rice was higher, he said Cameroon and Benin Republics had lowered tariff payable on rice to 0 and five per cent respectively to encourage importation and subsequent smuggling into Nigeria.

He added that Thailand and India where the smuggled rice were sourced also gave a high level of subsidies to rice farmers and rice processors.

The minister disclosed that the local rice producers had made some representations to the government on how Nigerian rice could compete favourably, in terms of pricing, with the heavily subsidised imported rice.

He assured that the government would work on the presentations to formulate policies and take steps that will bring down the price of local rice.

Mohammed noted that less than three years into the rice revolution, millions of jobs had been created in the whole value chain in the country.

He, therefore underscored the economic importance of consuming locally produced rice, especially in terms of job creation.

Nigerians should remember that every time they eat imported rice, they are eating the jobs that would have been created for Nigerians.

It is important for Nigerians to know that when they consume imported rice, they are creating jobs in India and Thailand and destroying jobs across our

country.

Today, we have rice farmers in all states and all geopolitical zones.

In fact, most of us have friends and relatives who are farming rice. So if we dont patronise their products, we are destroying their livelihoods, he said.

He said the government would embark on a massive nationwide campaign to

sensitise compatriots to the need to support the rice revolution by consuming local rice. (NAN)

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Home | News | General | Anxiety over delay in commissioning of NDDC- sponsored Bomadi ultra-modern motor park/market stalls

By Chancel Sunday

BOMADIEXPECTATION that the speedy completion of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC-sponsored ultra-modern motor park/market in the riverside town of Bomadi in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State would boost commerce in the riverine settlement, is gradually giving way to despair.

*Traders doing business in front of the completed project that is under lock and key

Dashed hope

The project, which was completed two years ago, is currently under lock and key following alleged disagreement between the contractor and the Federal Government intervention agency.

Niger Delta-Voice learned that traders operating at the old market were displaced upon the commencement of work in October 2014 when the contractors mobilised to site.

The job was, however, completed 15 months after, precisely on 6th January, 2016, a development that heightened hope in the area that it would be immediately inaugurated and put to use given the strategic location of the area as gateway to several riverine communities in Delta State.

Traders exposed to danger

It was gathered that the community had made several entreaties to the NDDC to commission the sprawling edifice for business activities with a view to saving its people from the risk associated with trading on the usually busy Bomadi bridge head to no avail.

This reporter who went to town to ascertain the rationale behind the continued delay in the inauguration of the project learned from a dependable source that the delay is caused by disagreement over the contractual payment.

According to the source, some officials of the NDDC had demanded a large percentage of the contract sum before payment would be effected.

The source said, the percentage demanded was so high that the contractors declined, but on a second thought, they offered a lesser percentage which the NDDC officers also refused to accept.

But this claim was dismissed by an official of the commission saying: I am not aware of this.

Community pleads for management intervention

However, the indigenes of the community have again called on the management of the NDDC to consider the dangers faced by traders selling their wares around the Bomadi bridge head, pleading with them to as a matter of urgency, inaugurate the project.

The community leadership, through its vice-chairman, Senator Ebikeme, said: We have been patient enough; the commissioning of this project is long overdue. We may have to carry out a protest to NDDC for them to tell us why this project, completed two years ago, is still under lock.

This is one of the best projects in this area, and we call on NDDC to come and open this place for our businesswomen and men to enable them access the market for their business activities.

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Home | News | General | GOV POLL: Crisis hits Ekiti PDP, as aspirants, Senator dump party for SDP

By Rotimi Ojomoyela

ADO-EKITICRISIS, yesterday, rocked the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ekiti State as some aggrieved aspirants and a serving Senator decamped to the Social Democratic party, SDP.

This was as the Advance People Democratic Party, APDA, in the state said it has merged with the SDP.

In a similar vein, Governor Fayose has appointed a serving Commissioner, Mr. Bisi Kolawole as the Director-General of the Kolapo Olusola-Eleka Campaign Council ahead of the July 14 governorship poll.

Aspirants dump PDP

The aggrieved aspirants, who dumped the PDP, have been at loggerheads with Governor Ayodele Fayose over the imposition of the Deputy Governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola as the sole candidate.

The aggrieved aspirants, who stormed the stakeholders meeting of the SDP held at the partys headquarters in Ado Ekiti, include the former deputy Governor to Ayodele Fayose, Mr Bisi Omoyeni; a former Ambassador to Canada, Mr Dare Bejide who was represented by Mr. Yemi Arokodare; while Senator Raji Rasaki was represented at the forum by Chief Titi Oluwatuyi who announced her desire to join the party.

Omoyeni, a former Managing Director of the Wema Bank told the SDP stakeholders not to express fear saying nobody can intimidate them.

Omoyeni said: SDP was established by divine creation and it has become the Third Force, be rest assured that our people are coming en masse to this party. Any support the party needs to occupy Oke Ayoba Government House, we will render it.

Most of the aspirants, who are still slugging it out in other parties, are coming here. In fact, 70 percent of the members of PDP in Ekiti are moving to SDP.

Speaking with newsmen shortly after the meeting, the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yemi Akinbode who led other National Working Committee of the SDP to the meeting, said that the meeting was called because of the Ekiti election which, he said, was strategic to the party.

Akinbode said: This is the first meeting after the inauguration of the interim state working committee of SDP because the election is fast approaching and we have little or no time on our hands. The leadership of the party at the national level mandated me and others, including Prof Tunde Adeniran, to come to Ekiti state to quickly put together the stakeholders meeting to explain to them the vision, programmes as well as the structure of the party and our expectation in the coming Governorship election in Ekiti.

You can see that this is the first meeting and the attendance was good. People are already coming out who ordinarily will not have shown their faces. This is an indication that this is the party to beat.

It is instructive that those sending representatives are already here. Bisi Omoyeni is here by himself. That is to show that he is here with us. Ambassador Dare Bejide and Hon. Arokodare are here and that is to show that more members are still coming and that is an indication that the house divided against itself cant stand and that is to show that the PDP is in trouble.

Our doors are still open to members of other parties who are willing to join the moving train. Our goal and objective are to win the governorship election in Ekiti come July 14.

The SDP, however, constituted six standing committees for the purpose of galvanizing support for the party ahead of the July 14 election. They are the Contact and Mobilization, Youth, Women, Communication and strategy, Result and Funding and Elders Committees.

APDA merges with SDP

Meanwhile, the APDA leader in the state, Chief S. O Elebute, who led some members of the party to the SDP stakeholders meeting, said the party has merged with SDP.

Fayose appoints campaign DG for deputy

Relatedly, a statement by the Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka said Kolawole would coordinate the campaign activities of the deputy governor.

The statement did not specify names of other members of the campaign council.

Until his new appointment, Kolawle, a former member of the Ekiti House of Assembly was the state Commissioner for Environment.

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Home | News | General | Updated: Obasanjo attacks Buhari again, says government incompetent, ineffective

By Vincent Ujumadu, Dapo Akinrefon, AbdulSalam Muhammad & Daud Olatunji

Accuses his government of being incompetent, ineffective

This is unfair of Obasanjo; he should put things in perspective  APC

Afenifere, Yakassai, Ikedife, Mbazulike, Amechi react

ABEOKUTAThe Presidency kept mum, yesterday, as former President Olusegun Obasanjo again lampooned President Muhammadu Buharis administration, describing it as an incompetent, ineffective and non-performing government.

Olusegun Obasanjo

Reacting to President Obasanjos assertions, the All Progressives Congress, APC urged him to always put things in perspective, noting that someone could also negatively assess his first term between 1999 and 2003 because of the challenges he faced at that time.

Obasanjo, who reiterated his earlier declaration that the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, cannot take the nation to the promised land, urged Nigerians not to be deceived by the reforms promised by the APC or accept the recent apology tendered by the PDP.

His declaration was amplified by Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, and elder statesman, Tanko Yakassai, who said the former President had merely stated the obvious.

The former president spoke at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, OOPL, Abeokuta, while receiving a joint delegation of Nigeria Young Professionals Forum, NYPF, and New Nigeria 2019.

Obasanjo said: What those I call power addicts would want to do is to divide you based on gender, age, tribe, religion and region. You have one commonality, the interest of Nigeria and it doesnt matter where you come from. We had that interest.

The truth is this: When you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims. And dont let anybody deceive you. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.

As I said, stop giving excuses; we met challenges. If there are no challenges, then we wouldnt need you to come. You came in because you know there are challenges and then giving us excuse that you have many challenges, that is why you havent achieved results. And then you still want to go for second term.

Dont reinforce failure

The first lesson I learned in my military training is to never reinforce failure. What we have now is failure. Never reinforce failure; let failure be failure. And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you dont like because its only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like.

If you dont see what you should see and you dont do what you should do, you will be a victim of what you dont like.

What those I call power addicts would want to do is to divide you based on gender, age, tribe, religion and region. You have one commonality- interest of Nigeria.

This time, for us to make it, we need all hands on deck. You see, I have publicly said and I mean it, that as a party, neither PDP nor APC can get us there as they have been. Never mind reforms and apology and all that. And yet we have to get there.

I asked one of the foundation members of PDP, that when we started, was it a grassroots party? He said it was an elitist party. Really, we have never had the so-called grassroots party. Even NEPU which we could say is the nearest was not grassroot enough.

Grassroots movement

I believe strongly that we must have a strong popular grassroots movement to bring about the change, sustainability and stability that we need in our democracy and development.

But let us bring together all these movements because we are pursuing the same thing. If we allow ourselves to be taken piecemeal, it is finished.

Yes, I said you cannot take PDP as it is and APC as it is; but they are not all made of evil people. There are good people among them. I said PDP is leprous hand, APC is leprous hand, but there are some clean fingers in them.

So, lets take those clean fingers in them and graft the clean fingers in our own. That is the way to go and if we go that way, we will get there, we will move together, and we will move fast and we will move far.

Obasanjo should put things in perspective  APC

Speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the APC said: I think it is important for an elder statesman like former president Obasanjo to always put things in perspective. No doubt there are areas that even President Buhari would wish things had been done better.

But to dismiss a government as failure after less than three years is grossly unfair. I am sure there are those who would come to a similar conclusion based on the performance of his government in its first term between 1999 and 2003.

Those were turbulent times. But the benefit of another term enabled President Obasanjo to correct some of his mistakes and consolidate on his achievements. This is why someone of his calibre, with his experience should be more considerate.

Obasanjos remarks aptAfenifere

Reacting, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, said Obasanjos remarks were apt.

Afeniferes National Publicity, Mr Yinka Odumakin, said: Those are apt words to describe what is going on in the country in the last three years. The former President captured it quite succinctly. The primary responsibility of any government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens.

Has this government done that in the last three years? Everyday, people are being killed in droves and now, they are talking of granting amnesty to Boko Haram insurgents, who have continued to kill in thousands. So, I agree with the former President.

OBJ said nothing newYakasai

In his reaction, Elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, said Obasanjos latest attack on President Buhari reinforced his earlier position and assessment of Buharis Presidency.

He said: Chief Obasanjos latest attack reinforced my earlier stand on Buhari governments crass ineptitude and gross incompetence.

I have said this before, there is nothing new compared to the position of other well-meaning Nigerians who have spoken on the governments crass incompetence.

Chief Obasanjo, who knew these weaknesses well, connived with others to foist him on the nation, and collectively, we are reaping what they sowed on our behalf today.

I have made my point on the subject matter in the past. At a point, Chief Obasanjo and others for want of reasons, failed to see it my way, and I want to make it clear, Im done with honest critique of Buharis Presidency.

Reacting, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan declined comments, saying we will issue a formal statement; lets leave it at this for now.

Its a mixed baggage  Ikedife

Former President- General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, said he finds it difficult to agree with former President Obasanjo on the issue of President Buharis performance, arguing that there were areas he had done well and there were other areas he failed.

He said: If you look at the whole gamut of governance, President Buhari might get pass mark in some areas and total failure in other areas. For instance, he came with the mantra to fight corruption, but there are areas he had encouraged corruption. Take the issue of his lopsided appointments and one would agree that he encouraged corruption.

He can also claim that his hands are tied on the issue of herdsmen as the Fulanis had said that it was General Yakubu Gowon that signed the agreement for the herdsmen to enter any part of the county.

On the other hand, Obasanjo cannot absolve himself from many bad things that had befallen the country. Let me give one example: Obasanjo could not do anything on the issue of ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon because he (Obasanjo) said his hands were tied.

Some people also say that Buharis government is marginalizing some sections of the country and that he is concentrating infrastructural development only in the northern part of the country, but I dont agree, after all, there is federal presence on our highways where there are numerous check points by the federal police. Are those ones not federal presence?

Ikedife, however, added that Obasanjos recent criticisms of the Buhari administration might not be unconnected with 2019 presidential election in which he wants to position his allies to take over the government.

Let Nigerians judge  Mbazulike Amechi

First Republic minister, Chief Mbazulike Amechi said Nigerians should judge between former President Obasanjo and the incumbent, President, Muhammadu Buhari.

He, however, declined to speak further on the issue, saying he would not like to be dragged into the issue between the two retired soldiers.

Please leave me out of Obasanjo and Buhari. I am in a meeting right now and I am not even in my home town, he replied.

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Home | News | General | No reason to quarrel with my predecessor  Gov Ikpeazu

By Anayo Okoli

UMUAHIATHOSE who are expecting a political crisis between Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and his political godfather, immediate past governor of the State, Senator Theodore Orji, may be disappointed as Ikpeazu has said that he does not envisage the possibility of a face-off between him and his predecessor.

Ikpeazu

Rather, the governor has called on the people of Ukwa Ngwa to remain eternally grateful to Senator Orji for ensuring that the governorship seat rotated to them.

Speaking at Nbawsi in Isiala Ngwa North Council, at the 2018 Easter Convention of The Apostolic Church, Aba Field, Governor Ikpeazu said many people in the state had been expecting a quarrel between him and Senator Orji and wondered why he should quarrel with the former governor.

I had been in good terms with him yesterday, I am in good terms with him today and tomorrow. Why should I quarrel with him? I am an Ngwa son that was well breast-fed. I believe that every good gesture should be reciprocated and repaid and my people did not send me to go and begin to quarrel with my predecessor. That is not the motive of my coming to power, Governor Ikpeazu said.

He thanked the Apostolic Church for their prayers which he said gave him victory in 2015 and pledged to identify with the permanent convention building project of the church at Nbawsi.

He charged Christians to reflect on the significance of the death and resurrection of Christ which the Easter season represents.

Earlier, in an address, the General Secretary of The Apostolic Church, Apostle J.O Ihuoma explained that the church remains one of the foremost pentecostal Churches having been established in 1930, saying that the Church believes and appreciates good leadership.

In his remarks, Senator Theodore Orji commended the church for their support and prayers and promised to continue to partner with them.

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Nigeria has assumed a one-month rotational chairmanship of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC) for April, 2018.

African Union headquarters

Nigerias Permanent Representative to AU, Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, took over from Ambassador Zackariaou Maiga, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Niger, who was the councils chair for March, 2018.

The AU peace and security council, under the Nigerias chairmanship, will focus on the addressing the threats posed by nuclear weapons and the imperative of preventing terrorists from accessing them, according to a statement from the Nigerias Permanent Mission to AU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Importantly, the PSC will consider the nexus between corruption & conflict resolution and the imperative of promoting good economic policies in the context of Nigerias Championing of the 2018 AU annual theme on anti-corruption under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Furthermore, the PSC will explore strategies towards Saving the Lake Chad by enhancing environmental sustainability & human security in West & Central Africa and undertake a prospective analysis of Africas peace and security landscape by 2023.

Similarly, it will engage on fashioning a comprehensive approach towards the prevention of the ideology of hate, genocide and hate crimes on the continent, the statement said.

The council would also consider the need for effective take-off of the au humanitarian agency (AUHA), and ameliorating the impact of terrorism and armed conflict on Africas social fabric, it added.

The Peace and Security Council is the standing decision-making organ of the African Union, which is patterned along the United Nations Security Council to enforce AU decisions, particularly in matters relating to the maintenance of regional and continental peace and security.

It is indeed a key element of the African Union Peace and Security Architecture (APSA).

Members of the Council are elected by the Assembly of the African Union so as to reflect regional balance within Africa, as well as a variety of other criteria, including capacity to contribute militarily and financially to the Union.

The Council is composed of fifteen (15) countries, of which five are elected to three-year terms, and ten to two-year terms.

The current members of the council are; Angola, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Liberia, Morocco, and Rwanda

Others are; Sierra Leone, Togo, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Zambia, and Republic of Congo.
Home | News | General | Hyundai to build 15 LPG tanks for Dangote refinery

By Prince Okafor

Hyundai Heavy Industries is set to construct 15 bullet tanks for the storage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at Dangote Oil Refining Company, Africas largest refinery.

This is expected to enhance business between Nigeria and South Korea that was put at $9.9 billion (N3.02 trillion) last year after the company won the bid to build LPG tanks in a contract worth N20.9 billion ($58 million) in Nigeria.

Hyundai stated that it was set to deliver the 15 cylindrical tanks, each being eight meters in diameter and 95 meters in length, capable of storing 75,000 cubic meters of LPG, adding that the refinery is expected to be the worlds biggest single-train facility, upon completion in 2019.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nuhu Yakubu, the President of the Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association, NLPGA, has expressed the commitment of the association to contributing towards the sustainable development of the sector.

He said the NLPGA has already embarked on programmes targeted at propagating the use as well as safety of LPG in Nigeria.

Yakubu stated: It is because of governments involvement in the formation of NLPGA that the Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice approved the name for registration at the Corporate Affairs Commission, and made it mandatory for relevant government agencies like the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the Federal Fire Service, etc. to be involved as members of the association.

The reason why the NLPGA is committed to increasing investment in production and utilisation of LPG in Nigeria, is because government as at that time till now, is very interested in growing the LPG market in recognition of the fact that Nigeria has been proven to be more of a gas province than oil, and remains a net exporter of gas, including LPG.

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Operatives of the Lagos State Task Force on Environment and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit have arrested a man allegedly notorious for robbing motorists held in traffic in the Oshodi area of Lagos State.

The suspect, Kayode Oluwole, 27, allegedly disguised as a drink seller and attacked unsuspecting motorists who wanted to patronise him.

The police said whenever the gimmick failed, the suspect usually resorted to force, using a hammer to break car glasses and robbing owners of their phones and other valuables.

Luck, however, ran out on him on Saturday after he allegedly broke the side screen of a Toyota Corolla and snatched two phones and a bag containing valuables from a woman.

The task force Chairman, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi, in a statement on Monday, said the suspect was apprehended by officials of the agency at Oshodi.

He said, Immediately the suspect was arrested and every item stolen recovered, the owner was called on the telephone to pick up her bag and the two phones at the task force office. The suspect usually pretended as a drink seller.

Egbeyemi added that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, had directed that the suspect be charged to court.

Oluwole, who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State, reportedly confessed to the crime in his statement to the police.

I used the hammer to break the womans vehicle side screen because she refused to surrender her bag and two phones when I attacked her in the traffic, he added.

The woman, Mrs. Hadizatu Jiddah, commended the operatives for prompt action which led to the suspects arrest and the recovery of her valuables.

The Head, Public Affairs Unit of the task force, Taofiq Adebayo, said the state Commissioner of Police had directed the agency to embark on strict enforcement of the Lagos State Road Traffic Law 2012.

He said, The CP warned motorists, particularly those around Pen Cinema, Agege, Dopemu, Ile-zik, Oshodi, Mile 2, Berger, Igando and Lasu-Iba Road areas, to stop driving against traffic or causing obstructions to other road users.
Home | News | General | How APC milked the abduction of Chibok girls mercilessly - PDP Reps

- PDP house of Representatives members have accused the federal government of lying to Nigeria about defeating Boko Haram

- The lawmakers also claimed that Nigerians have fared worse under the ruling party, APC

- They called on the federal government to address Bill Gates' concerns about the Nigeria's economy

Members of the House of Representatives on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the federal government of Nigeria and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of caring less about the welfare of Nigerians.

The PDP caucus, in a statement signed by the Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, said after three years of APC in power, Nigerians have fared worse than with any other government in power, Punch reports.

The statement read: Over and over, it has been proven that the current APC government in Nigeria beats all preceding administrations, including the colonial ones, in the sinister art of deceitful lies and propaganda.

READ ALSO: Presidency replies Obasanjo, says his assessment of Buhari not new

With fiendish mercilessness, the APCs 2015 campaign milked the unfortunate abduction of the Chibok girls for every available ounce of propaganda and disinformation against the preceding administration.

Its campaign rhetoric and official hoopla from the lying minister had included rescuing of the Chibok girls and achieving total defeat of the Boko Haram insurgents.

Today, the APC government nurses palpable fear over any scrutiny of its errors in Dapchi or its unusual generosity towards Boko Haram, which it promised to defeat but now almost sees as a partner with which to share deep and befuddling confidence.

The PDP lawmakers has also demanded that the feedral government look into the concerns raised by Bill Gates about Nigeria's economy.

The statement read: Although, the APC government is known not to be a listening one, last Thursday, the Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates, emphatically stated that the Federal Governments Economic Recovery and Growth Plan was not reflective of the peoples needs.

It is an open secret that under the APC, Nigerians have fared worse on the misery index; those who were rich before are no longer investing, the poor are becoming poorer while almost 30 million Nigerians are either unemployed or under-employed.

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According to Bill Gates, the APC governments concentration on physical infrastructure to the detriment of human capital development exposes the undesirable inadequacies in the health and education sectors.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com earlier reported that the PDP has dismissed claims by former Senate President Ibrahim Mantu's that he rigged elections for the opposition party when it was in power.

In a statement signed by the PDP's National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan on Sunday, April 1, the party said Senator Mantus claims were "personal to him and had nothing to do with the PDP, as the party has never directed any of its members to rig election on its behalf, at any point since its formation".

TOP-4 Over-the-top Reactions of Nigerian Lawmakers to Certain Circumstances on NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | Retro: Nigerian currency and the story of the people on them

Have you ever wondered why there are photos of people on the Naira note or why each note has a particular person on it? What is the history behind the person and the Naira note itself? You may what to know a little about the people on the currency you spend everyday and why they were significant enough to appear on the note.

The Nigerian Naira and Kobo were introduced in 1973 but Kobo was phased out because it no longer had value in the Nigerian market.

Before the introduction of the Nigerian currency, Nigeria used the pound as currency between 1907 and 1973 and before colonization, trade by barter was used.

The idea of including images of people on the Nigerian currency probably came from the pound that was previously used.

Then, the pound had images of random people and places on the notes but as Nigerian grew independent the Naira note became a symbol that represents Nigerians and the culture of the Nigerian people.

NAIJ.com presents the history of people on the Naira note from the lowest note still in use to the highest note.

READ ALSO: Checkout Nigerian currency from past to present

5 Naira note has the image of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa: He was the first prime minister of Nigeria. He was born in December, 1912 and died on January 15, 1966. The Tafawa Balewa Square was named after him, which is where the first independence celebration took place on October 1, 1960.

Tafawa Balewa is from Bauchi state, he was the son of a district head in the state. He became a politician in 1952 as the minister of works at the time. He later served as the minister of transport. He retained his position of Prime Minister after Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and he was re-elected in 1964. As Prime Minister, he played a huge role in the formation of indigenous rules, he played a part in the creation of cooperative relationship with French speaking African countries.

10 Naira note has the image of Alvan Ikoku: He established a Co-educational Secondary School in West Africa, the Aggrey Memorial Secondary School, he played an important role in the formation of the Nigerian Union of Teachers.

Ikoku was born on August 1, 1900, in Abia state and he died in November, 1971. He was an educator, a statesman, an activist and a politician. He was nominated to the Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly in 1946. In 1947, Ikoku became a representative of the Eastern region on the legislative council in Lagos. The educator called for an education bill of rights for primary school education. He asked that education be free for primary school student for the six years nationwide.

20 Naira note has the image of Murtala Mohammed: He was Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria from 1975 to 1976. Murtala Mohammed was born on November 8, 1938, and he died on February 13, 1976. Murtala Mohammed Airport was named after him in the mid 1970s.

He was born in Kano state, he was a genius military strategist. During the civil war in Nigeria, in August 1967, he led the second infantry division where he was made the first general officer commander. He became the military head of state in 1975, after General Yakubu Gowon was overthrown.

50 Naira has WAZOBIA which signifies diversity in Nigeria. WA means come in Yoruba, ZO means come in Hausa and BIA also means come in Igbo. It represents the culture of the Nigerian people and the back of the note also as an image of fishermen working to show the industrious side of Nigerians.

100 Naira has the image of Obafemi Awolowo: He played a key role in Nigeria's Independence. Obafemi Awolowo University was named after him on May 12, 1987, to honour him as the first premier of the Western Region of Nigeria and the brain behind the establishment of the school.

Obafemi Awolowo was born on March 6, 1909, and he died on May 9, 1987. He was born in Ikenne, Ogun state. He started his career as a nationalist in the Nigerian Youth Movement. Awolowo was the first leader of government business and the minister of local government and finance.

200 Naira has the image of Ahmadu Bello: He played a major role in Northern Nigeria pre-independence politics. He was the first and only premier of Northern Nigeria. He was born on June 12, 1910, and he died on January 15, 1966.

500 Naira has the image of Nnamdi Azikwe: He was the first president of Nigeria, he governed from 1963 to 1966. Nnamdi Azikwe University is named after to honour him as the first president of Nigeria. Nnamdi Azikwe was born on November 16, 1904 and he died on May 11, 1996.

1000 Naira has the image of Clement Isong and Mallam Aliyu Mai-Bornu.

Clement Isong was a banker and politician born on April 20, 1920, Eket in Akwa Ibom state. He was the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria from 1967 - 1975. In 1979, he was elected as governor of Cross River state.

In 1982, he was honoured with Nigeria's national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He died on May 29, 2000.

Mallam Aliyu Mai-Bornu was an economist born on February 23, 1919, in Yola, Adamawa state. He was the first indigenous governor of Central Bank of Nigeria from 1963 - 1967. He was the director and general manager of the Nigerian Tobacco Company from 1967 - 1969.

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He was on the board of directors of the Nigerian Tobacco Company until he passed away on February 23, 1970.

Aliko Dangote invites IT billionaire Bill Gates to Nigeria | Naij.com TV

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Home | News | General | We will not collect N18,000 while senator takes N13.5m monthly - Labour insists

- Labour union, AUPCTRE, fault the slow pace of work on the issue of minimum wage

- The group calls on workers to resist claim by the political class that there was insufficient resources to pay minimum wage

- Nigerian workers are assured by Chris Ngige that the new minimum wage is certain

Some workers in the country have said they will no longer accept N18,000 as minimum wage when a senator collects N13.5m monthly as a running cost.

Leadership reports that the workers under the auspices of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) also faulted the slow pace of work on the issue of minimum wage.

READ ALSO: Lai Mohammed reveals Buharis single project that can grant him 2019 victory

We observed with great discontentment, the slow pace of work on the new national minimum wage, noting that the current minimum wage law came into effect in 2011 and it was designed for review in every five years. By implication, another minimum wage ought to have been signed into law since 2016. That is to say that, the Nigerian workers have been denied the fruit of their labour for the past two years," the national president of AUPCTRE, Comrade Benjamin Anthony said at the sixth quadrennial state delegates conference of the union.

As we patiently await the pronouncement of the new minimum wage at the third quarter of the year as announced by the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige during the just concluded 40th anniversary of the Nigeria Labour Congress. I implored Nigerian workers to be at. Alert as the road to the minimum wage may not come easy."

The union called on workers to resist the claim by the political class that there was insufficient resources to pay minimum wage.

The AUPCTRE national president said: Someone sitting somewhere (Senator) cannot be collecting N13.5 million incentives in a month, and you pay a miserable N18,000 to a worker in a month. It is unacceptable, it is not possible and it is not going to work.

On the strength of the above, permit me to state with every seriousness that the primary objective of our union is to defend the economic interest of our members through diligent negotiations, dialogue, collective bargaining, trade dispute, protest, rallies and strikes."

Meanwhile, the minister for labour and productivity, Chris Ngige, on Monday, March 5, assured Nigerian workers that implementation of a new minimum wage in the country would be done.

He said the committee set up for that purpose by the federal government had already started work.

Ngige gave the assurance while speaking with journalists shortly after witnessing the swearing in of newly-elected chairmen of the 18 local government councils in Edo at the Government House, Benin. Council elections were conducted in the state on Saturday, and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won all the positions.

Who should get higher salary - doctors or teachers? - on NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | I am not going to be a sleeping senator - Uduaghan

- Emmanuel Uduaghan while campaigning for a seat in the Senate said he won't be one of the senators who share Keke NAPEP once a year

- Uduaghan promised to work hard for his constituency and see to the realisation of the Gas City Revolution Industrial Park (Export Processing Zone)

Former governor of Delta state and senatorial aspirant, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, has said he wouldn't disappoint his constituency and would not be one of those senators who brings and shares Keke NAPEP once a year.

Uduaghan, who made this statement when Delta South Grassroots Movement, paid him a solidarity visit, said he would not go into the Senate to sleep and be unproductive.

He said: I am not going to the Senate to bring and share KEKE NAPEP once a year. I am certainly not going to be a sleeping senator. I shall see to the realisation of the Gas City Revolution Industrial Park (Export Processing Zone) Ogidigben, which will employ over 300,000 Deltans and Nigerians.

I will also ensure peace and security is achieved in the region. I will also be involved in senatorial engagements twice a year, amongst other things.

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NAIJ.com had earlier reported that Uduaghan described Chief James Ibori as an illustrious son of Delta state. He described Ibori as 'The Big Heart' for having forgiven all his political detractors who fought against him and led to his imprisonment.

Emmanuel Uduaghan said the ex-governor who served jail terms in London for financial crimes, indeed has a heart of forgiveness.

He spoke at the thanksgiving and grand reception in honour of the former governor by the Urhobo political class at the Unity Square, Ovwor, Olomu, Ughelli south local government area of the Delta state.

2019 Presidency: Nigerians reveal why they prefer Atiku to President Buhari - On NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | Yemi Osinbajo raises hope on Leah Sharibus safe return

- Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the cross on which Jesus Christ was nailed is a symbol of victory for those who believe in Lord Jesus

- He states that he is excited that Christians are praying for Leah Sharibu

- The National Christian Elders Forum speaks on the only girl among the Dapchi girls still in custody of Boko Haram sect

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has expressed hope that Leah Sharibu, the Christian girl being held captive by Boko Haram terrorists for refusing to renounce her faith, would soon be set free.

Vanguard reports that in an address at a Cross Concert 2018 organised by Christ Reaching Out To Save Souls in commemoration of the Easter celebration, convened by Reverend You Kasali in Lagos on Monday, April 2, Osinbajo said the cross on which Jesus Christ was nailed is a symbol of victory for those who believed in the Lord Jesus.

READ ALSO: Lai Mohammed reveals Buharis single project that can grant him 2019 victory

As I understand the Cross, I believe that what happened was so unique. Apart from the death, there was a trial before victory. Christ was accused of many crimes and given a death sentence. What Christ went through was beyond dying. He had already taken the pain that is why we can proudly say that the Cross is an evident of our own victory," he said.

The vice president said he was certain that the cross is able to deliver Leah Sharibu for standing for her faith, adding that he was excited that Christians were praying for her.

Leah has stood up to stand by her faith and truth. O! I am certain on my mind the Cross is able to deliver her. I am excited that we Christians are praying for Leah who is still being held captive by insisting she will stand by the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most exciting thing that a man can have is the knowledge here on earth that we are Victor and in Heaven we will be counted among those that will reign with Christ in Heaven. There is nothing better than that. It is a win-win situation, he said.

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Meanwhile, the National Christian Elders Forum has condemned the continued captivity of a female student of the Government and Science Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe state, Leah Sharibu, because of her Christian faith by the Boko Haram sect.

Punch reports that the Arewa Christians and Pastors Association also described Leah as an Ambassador of Jesus Christ in Nigeria and beyond.

According to a statement by their chairman, Solomon Asemota (SAN), the elders threatened to mobilise Nigerians to embark on civil disobedience if President Buhari failed to put in place corrective measures that would stabilise the country and stop the murder of citizens by Islamist insurgents and Fulani herdsmen.

Exclusive: Freed Dapchi Girl Recounts Her Ordeal with Boko Haram (Nigeria Breaking News) Naij.com

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Home | News | General | Ebonyi state SSG resigns amidst controversy, tells governor to check himself

The Secretary to Ebonyi state government (SSG), Prof. Bernard Odoh, has resigned his appointment.

Odohs notice of resignation was contained in a three-page letter he wrote to Governor David Umahi dated April 2, 2018.

He gave several reasons for resigning, part of which was that despite his sincere effort in working to move the government and the state forward, Umahi never had trust nor confidence in him.

NAN reports that the chief press secretary to the governor, Emmanuel Uzo reacting to the alleged resignation said that his office was not aware of the purported resignation.

READ ALSO: Presidency replies Obasanjo, says his assessment of Buhari not new

I am not aware of any resignation by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and this is the official and true position of the matter.

We have not been informed nor received the letter informing the governor of the SSGs resignation, Uzo said.

The former state scribe literally also said he took his decision so as to protect his relationship with the governor, stressing that he has more to preserve than occupy the position of the SSG.

Odoh said that the way by which Umahis administration had remained in the last two years had not offered conducive atmosphere for all members of the state executive council and himself to sincerely air and express their views on sensitive policy matters.

In my opinion, this is the highest level of hypocrisy and the values I live do not allow me to operate in such deceptive atmosphere where people live opposite of what or who they are.

Having assured you on my inception of office and at several times that I owe you the responsibility to be truthful and honest always, I wish to inform you that all is not well in your administration sir.

If you observe carefully, almost all your appointees are nearly completely disconnected from your policy direction as they lack genuine sense of purpose, dignity, clear sense of commitment to decision taken in council because of low morale.

Once more on behalf of my family, friends and those who worked closely with me for almost three years now, I want to most sincerely again say thank you very much for the rare opportunity you offered me to serve our dear state.

My appointment as the secretary to the state government is hereby resigned in good faith.

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I have handed over the status of cabinet office to the most senior staff office, Barrister Ogbonnaya Otta in line with the best practices of service, the letter read in part.

NAIJ.com had earlier reported that Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state has ordered the arrest of officials from two warring communities in Ikwo local government area of the state.

The governor gave the order on Thursday, March 8, in Abakaliki, the state capital during an enlarged security meeting.

Jonathan replies to Buhari's allegations on NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | Presidency reacts as Obasanjo calls Buhari's administration incompetent

The Presidency on the evening of Monday, April 2, said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari would not join issues with former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his comments on the Buhari administration.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obasanjo had on Monday while addressing a group of youths who visited him at his country home Abeokuta described the Buhari administration as a failure.

Obasanjo also asked the All Progressives Congress (APC) -led government to stop complaining about the challenges it met on the ground.

What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure, let failure be failure Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.

READ ALSO: Police in Ogun nab man for hacking brother, wife to death

However, the Presidents Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, who responded to Obasanjos comments in a telephone interview on Channels Television on Monday, said the assessment was not new.

Already, the statement issued few months ago by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in response to the earlier criticism made against the government by Obasanjo had adequately addressed the issues raised," Adesina said.

He maintained that the APC-led federal government would keep making reference to the failures of the past administration with a view to guiding against such mistakes in future.

According to Adesina, the Buhari administration has successfully tackled mismanagement of the nations economy, as Nigeria now has more savings in its foreign reserve than ever before.

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Recall that NAIJ.com earlier reported that Obasanjo has taken a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari saying Nigerians are all victims of incompetent government.

Obasanjo spoke on Monday, April 2 at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun state, while hosting the New Nigeria Group.

Obasanjo also cautioned Nigeria not to be carried away by the Peoples Democratic Partys recent apologies.

He also said they should not be swayed by the All Progressives Congresss new reform. The former president asked the ruling party to stop giving excuses to Nigerians.

2019 reelection bid: Should President Buhari heed Obasanjo's advice? - on Street Gist

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Home | News | General | Dapchi: Osinbajo re-assures of Leah Sharibus safe return

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

LagosVICE President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday in Lagos raised hope of that Leah Sharibu, the Christian girl still in the custody of Boko Haram terrorists, after the release of 105 other students of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, earlier abducted by the terrorists group, would soon be set free.

Leah Sharibu

Osinbajo, spoke while addressing participants at a Cross Concert 2018, organised by Christ Reaching Out To Save Souls, in commemoration of the Easter Celebration, convened by Rev You Kasali, in Lagos.

The VP, while describing the Cross, on which Jesus Christ was nailed as a symbol of victory for those who believed in Lord Jesus, said victory was always assured in every challenge.

According to him, As I understand the Cross, I believe that what happened was so unique. Apart from the death, there was a trial before victory. Christ was accused of many crimes and given a death sentence. What Christ went through was beyond dying. He had already taken the pain that is why we can proudly say that the Cross is an evident of our own victory.

Leah has stood up to stand by her faith and truth. O! I am certain on my mind the Cross is able to deliver her. I am excited that we Christians are praying for Leah who is still being held captive by insisting she will stand by the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The most exciting thing that a man can have is the knowledge here on earth that we are Victor and in Heaven we will be counted among those that will reign with Christ in Heaven. There is nothing better than that. It is a win-win situation.

Earlier, Kasali called on Christian leaders and Christians across the nation to embark on aggressive prayer for the safe release of Leah, saying We should remember Leah in our prayers. She has earned my respect and boosted our faith by standing for Jesus Christ. I am happy to be a Christian because of her. My heart yearns for the release of 15 years old Leah.

However, Pastors and men of God at the event went into prayer session, joining hands, as a symbol of unity and prayed for the safe release of Leah, praying for the power of resurrection of Christ to do the miraculous at the end of the day.

Among the Pastor s in attendance include: Wale Adefarasin, Dapo Bioudun , Ben Akabueze, Tunde Fowler, and others, while various notable gospel artists rendered praise and worship songs.

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Home | News | General | Legislators in fresh push for Ajaokuta Steel completion

By Emma Ujah & Emman Ovuakporie

ABUJAFederal legislators are in a fresh push to ensure the completion of the multi-billion dollar Ajaokuta Steel Complex, ASC, as a public company.

Sources at the National Assembly, NASS, disclosed that high-level consultations are ongoing between members of the House of Representatives and senators, as well as between principal officers of NASS and some influential members of President Muhammadu Buharis cabinet to reach an amicable resolution on the firm.

The Federal Government has invested over $5.1 billion in the ASC in the last 30 years. The complex now requires only about $1 billion to be completed and put into operation.

Ajaokuta-Steel-Company

Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a Bill asking the Federal Government to spend $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account to complete ASC.

Steel experts said the plant has the capacity to generate $1.7 billion annually, which implies that the $1 billion needed to complete it can be generated in the less than one year of its operation and it will save the nation huge sums of foreign exchange on steel importation.

In five years alone (2012-2016), Nigeria imported steel worth N2.215 trillion, according to the Bureau of Statistics.

The Green Chamber also amended the National Council on Commercialisation and Privatisation, NCPC Act, by removing the steel complex from the list of public firms that can be privatised or commercialised.

Vanguard, yesterday, in a chat with two lawmakers Uzoma Nkem-Abonta and Toby Okechukwu who participated in the debate, both gave a verdict of no retreat, no surrender.

Nkem-Abonta, who incidentally is the chairman of the ad hoc committee to midwife the completion of the project, told Vanguard that the House will override President Muhammadu Buharis veto if he declined to assent to the bill compelling the Federal Government to complete the steel complex.

Okechukwu, who chairs the House Committee on Works, had this to say: You saw for instance how the House unanimously took up the issue of Ajaokuta Steel.

Ajaokuta is critical; it is the backbone of our economy. I am passionate about it and I have suffi-cient knowledge about it.

Even as a private business person, I had gone there to look for opportunities. So I am quite knowledgeable about what is happening there and it is a complexity on its own..

He said apart from having the potential for making the country an industrialized nation, the complex was capable of creating jobs for youth in the country and saving the huge foreign exchange spent on steel imports.

Nkem-Abonta added that under the new legislation passed by the House, states and local government could on their own volition, contribute to the completion of the project.

According to him, beyond shooting Nigeria to the enviable height of a steel producing nation, the ASC would create employment benefits for over 75,000 Nigerians outside the ancillary jobs that will be opened from service companies that will service the steel firm.

This is a project that the current administration, especially President Buhari should take serious because it will be his legacy that it was during his tenure that the country finally became an industrialized nation.

Anybody who is opposing the Ajaokuta completion law is an enemy of Nigeria, who does not want the country to develop, he added.

Moreover, he stated that it would be a credit to the Buhari administration if he signed the bill into law for the completion of the project, insisting that he was confident that the president against all odds would sign the Ajaokuta Completion Bill into law.

It will be a credit. He should sign the bill into law so that Ajaoukta will be the project he will go home with, but if he declines, l can assure you that we will veto him, he added.

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Home | News | General | Abe, others move to resolve crisis in Rivers APC

By Davies Iheamnachor

PORT HARCOURTThe senator representing Rivers South-East at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, supporting his ambition have initiated moves to resolve the lingering crisis rocking the party in Rivers State.

Magnus Abe

This is contained in a communique at the end of a stakeholders extra-ordinary meeting of the APC in Port Harcourt yesterday, attended by members of the party loyal to Abe.

Reading the communique on behalf of the 13 signatories, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Chibudom Nwuche, noted that the team had constituted a five-man committee to be headed by Senator Wilson Ake to ensure that the two factions of the party in the state were reunited.

He urged leaders of the party to put the interest of the party above self and work for the growth of the party, even as he commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the annulment of the extension of tenure of serving executives the party.

Nwuche said: We urge members of the National Executive Committee, NEC of APC to place the interest of the party above every other consideration and respect the informed position of Mr. President to conduct congresses across all strata of the party to bring the party in conformity with extant constitutional provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and its own construction.

We enjoin members of the APC in Rivers State to return all party executives at all levels in the state during the congresses irrespective of their factional leanings as a reward for their sacrifice and commitment to the APC in the face of threats, intimidation and even physical dangers.

Meanwhile, Sen. Abe said that the essence of the reconciliatory committee was to ensure that grievances among members of the party were settled amicably.

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Home | News | General | Most affordable and reliable courier companies in Nigeria

Millions of packages and parcels are shipped all across Nigeria every day. There are many logistics companies you can find here along with courier services that will deliver your package to your home, office or abroad. What are the most affordable courier services in Nigeria?

Due to the reason that we all like to save our money, it is better to choose the cheap courier services. We have selected some of the cheapest options you can use in your regular life or for business. Below you can see our choices of local and foreign courier services that deliver parcels locally, across all Nigerian states.

Most affordable courier services in Nigeria

We should note that all the logistics and courier services present below are not only cheap but also some of the best ones in the country. You will be happy to work with them no matter what you want to deliver.

Lets say we would like to ship a 2-kg package from Lagos to Abuja using the courier services below. How much would it cost with each of the company on our list?

1. AB Logistics

This is the cheapest Nigerian company on our list, and it is eager to deliver your packages from door to door. It promises affordable rates and assures its prices start from as low as 800 Naira per light package. You can use this firm to send documents, parcels, invitations, etc.

It only costs you 2,500 Naira to send your 2-kg package from Lagos to Abuja with AB Logistics courier.

2. EMS SpeedPost

This company has been serving Nigerians since 1986. It has enough experience to provide quick delivery and quality parcel handling to all users. It is an affordable courier service that will leave you happy. Some users might believe that this company is associated closely with NIPOST, but you shouldnt worry because SpeedPost is more reliable and trusted as well as quick and cheap.

It costs about 3,300 Naira to ship a 2-kg package from Lagos to Abuja using this service.

READ ALSO: Top 10 logistics companies in Nigeria

3. GIG Logistics

This is a popular Nigerian company that offers courier and logistics services to all Nigerian citizens. It is easy to ship using this firm, as you have to visit its office in your city to ship your package to a different Nigerian city.

For example, youll have to pay approximately 3,000 Naira for your 2-kg package without insurance or about 4,800 Naira for the same package with insurance.

4. ABC Cargo

Being founded in the 1990s, this courier service offers different courier and transportation services to citizens and guests of Nigeria. The firm provides various logistics, courier, and supporting services. It has its own terminal points. It works with individuals and business companies. It provides all clients a way to track their package or parcel, so you wont have to worry about your shipment.

It would cost you around 4,700 Naira to ship your 2-kg package from Lagos to Abuja.

5. UPS

The courier service offered by UPS will not disappoint you as well. Just like many other international companies, UPS is used in many different countries, including Nigeria. It is a reliable and trusted firm that can deliver your parcels and provide high-quality logistics services.

The cost of shipping a package that weighs 2 kilograms from Lagos to Abuja would be around 6,400 Naira (via standard 2-3-day shipping).

Most of the companies we have mentioned are privately owned. They guarantee delivery of parcels, and their prices are affordable and often cheap. You can also use many many other local firms.

READ ALSO: UPS tracking Nigeria: how to track your order

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Home | News | General | Innocent civilians continue to suffer daily - UN reacts to Maiduguri attack

- The United Nations has called for respect of human life and dignity across the globe

- This call by the international agency followed the recent attack on Maiduguri by Boko Haram terrorists

- The agency said Innocent civilians have continued to suffer daily since the attacks began in 2009

The United Nations on Monday condemned the Sunday, April 1, night attack by Boko Haram insurgents at some communities in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State.

The UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Yassine Gaba, in a statement in Maiduguri strongly condemned the attack on civilians which resulted to the death of 34 persons.

The UN strongly condemns the deadly combined attack which took place near Belle Village in the outskirts of Maiduguri on Sunday, April 1.

READ ALSO: EFCC invites Okonjo-Iweala to explain withdrawal of $250m from Abacha's loot

According to local sources, at least 34 civilians lost their lives and 90 others injured in the attack.

The recent weeks have seen a steady continuation of attacks on civilians in the three most conflict affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe in the northeast of Nigeria.

Since the beginning of the year, reportedly, at least 120 civilians women, children and men were killed and over 210 sustained serious injuries, in over 22 attacks allegedly by non-state armed groups directly targeting civilians.

Civilians are also regularly abducted, as in Dapchi, Yobe State, where 110 school girls were taken on February 19.

Innocent civilians continue to suffer daily from direct and indiscriminate attacks in the northeast of Nigeria, Gaba was quoted as saying in the statement.

READ ALSO: APC senator slams FG's reaction to self-defense comments by Danjuma, Emirs

Gaba expressed concern over the endless number of explosions, brutal killings, abductions and looting resulting to lost of lives on daily basis.

He called on all parties in the conflict to end the violence, and to respect human life and dignity.

The UN official stressed that protection of civilians is a major focus of the ongoing humanitarian response in the northeast, noting that over 7.7 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance including food; shelter, water and health care in the affected states.

Women, children and men face daily grave human rights violations, sexual and gender-based violence.

Since the start of the conflict in 2009, more than 20,000 people have been killed, thousands of girls, women, boys and men have been abducted and children continue to be used routinely as so-called suiciide bombers.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that the Borno state governor Kashim Shettima has described the recent attack by Boko Haram terrorists in Maiduguri as inhumane.

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The governor also said it is sad and insensible for any human to inflict such on another person.

Shettima said although the terrorist have been decimated, the feed on the oxygen of publicity they are targeting soft targets, senselessly and criminally opening fire on innocent souls.

Source: NAN

Mother of Chibok girl laments - on NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | Dapchi abduction: Leah Sharibu was brought back to captivity after trying to escape - Released schoolgirls recount experience

- Some of the released Dapchi schoolgirls have narrated their ordeal in the hands of the Boko Haram insurgents

- The schoolgirls also narrated how the only Dapchi schoolgirl left in captivity, Leah Sharibu, tried to escape

- The girls said Sharibu fled with two other girls but their escape bid was foiled by a nomadic Fulani family who brought them back to the camp

The only Dapchi schoolgirl left in Boko Haram captivity, Leah Sharibu, was said to have made an attempt to escape from the camp of the insurgents but failed.

Leah, the only Christian among the 110 abductees, was found in the bush and was returned to the terrorists three days after, The Nation reports.

NAIJ.com notes that her mates said she was emotionally strong enough to send her mother a present as a remembrance.

READ ALSO: Russia has not indicated interest in Ajaokuta Steel - Fayemi discloses

It was reported that the present was the jerry can she and her friends were given milk in by the man who thwarted their escape. The girls have not had time to give it to her mother yet.

Recounting Leah's escape bid, one of the girls, Aisha Ibiwa, said Leah and two others were involved in the escape bid.

The released Dapchi girls narrated what they went through in Boko Haram captivity. One of the girls, Aisha Ibiwa, said Leah and two others were involved in the escape bid.

She said: She didnt tell us she was leaving. We thought she was just going round the corner, but she sneaked out along with Maryam and Amira (two classmates).

They were said to have wandered in the bush for three days, after which they met a nomadic Fulani family from whom they sought help on how to return to Dapchi.

The girls were not aware that they had made a big mistake by seeking help from the Fulani. Instead of assisting the girls, the Fulani too them back to their kidnappers.

Hajara Adamu said: The Fulani man said to them: So you are the missing girls that weve heard about on the radio."

The Fulani was said to have given them a jerry can filled with cows milk and returned them to the terrorists. Hajara said Leah and her group werent flogged, adding that the insurgents said it was because they had suffered a lot while trying to escape.

It was reported that Hajara herself also attempted to escape but she was given out by some local women she had approached for directions. And when she was eventually found, she was whipped and frogmarched to the camp with a gun at her back by the furious terrorists.

According to Hajara, they were insulted and told that they wanted to go back to the land of unbelievers.

Recounting how five of the girls died, Fatima Abdullahi said: They (the victims) were saying: Pull us up or well die, but I couldnt help them.

They just threw us all into the vehicle, thats why we were piled up like that. I was lucky that someone pulled me up.

The girls were said to have shouted that some of them were dying, but by the time the insurgents paid attention, five were dead.

Hajara said: In the early morning, they dug a hole and put their bodies in it. They didnt give them an Islamic burial, and they didnt pray."

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that some students of the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, who survived the Boko Haram attack on their school, narrated their lucky escape from the terrorists.

Yagana Mustapha, a 14-year-old student of SS2, said that she was one of the girls at the mosque when the terrorists stormed their school.

She said the insurgents told the fleeing students that they were soldiers who had come to help them.

Street Gist: Mixed reactions trail Boko Haram's release of Dapchi girls - on NAIJ.com TV

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Source: Naija.ng

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately proscribe the All Progressives Congress (APC) following revelations that it allegedly financed President Muhammadu Buharis 2015 campaign with looted funds.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan Monday, also gave the Buhari-led Presidency a three-day ultimatum to respond to allegations that it was elected with looted funds or find itself top of the list of confirmed looters.

The party said instead of the Presidency and the APC to come out with a response on how President Buharis 2015 campaign was funded with looted sums, they were busy hallucinating about names of individuals whose

matters were before the courts of competent jurisdiction.

It reads: It is evidently clear that the APC, Federal Government and the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, are running away from the issue of how they raised money to install Buhari as President.

They have pressed the panic button and resorted to unfounded allegations against PDP members just to divert the attention of Nigerians and the international community from their atrocious government and its manifold failures of leadership.

The PDP will not join the panicky APC and the Federal Government in their resort to engage in matters that are subjudice because we believe and respect the Rule of Law, particularly, as it concerns the rights of every citizens.

We know those in the APC and Buharis cabinet, who as champions of looting, plundered the resources of their various states and handed same over for the very expensive electioneering campaign of President Buhari, who had earlier confessed of his insolvency.

We have challenged the APC and the Presidency to declare the sources of these funds and how they were used since they have been proven to come from public coffers.

Now that the APC, the Federal Government, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the Buhari Presidency have chosen a loud silence rather than accepting that looted funds were used to install Buhari as President in 2015, we charge INEC to do the needful by commencing the process for the proscription of the APC as a political party.
A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olabode George, has told a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, that everything that has a beginning has an end.

Bode George was reacting to a statement made by the APC leader, where he warned Nigerians not to listen to the apology made by the PDP.

Dismissing the remark by Tinubu as a rubbish statement, the PDP chieftain said Tinubu should stop parading himself as God, adding that he should remember that one day he shall die as all humans.

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Speaking with Independent, George said Tinubu can control everything but cannot control the day he was born, the tribe in which he was born and the day he will exit the earth.

He said, First of all, let me ask Tinubu, is he God? Or has he gotten the powers of God that he can see the future?

I think that is a rubbish statement to make from a leader. If that is what he thinks, I think it is a wishful thinking.

He will soon realise that everything that has a beginning has an end, and that is the power of the Almighty, the One who was, who is and will forever be. There is no human being that lives perpetually.

There are three things in life you dont control -the day you were born, the tribe in which you were born(whether you are Chinese, African or American) and the day you will exit.

That shows you there is a Being and power more than us. So, when people get up and make such statements that Tinubu made, that PDP will never come back to power, that is arrogance being exhibited.

Let me advise him that we used to say that PDP will rule this country for 60 years. Then we sat back, put everything on auto-pilot and went to sleep.

Alas, we found ourselves on the deck and that was why in humility, during the last conference held by the party in Abuja, the delivery, the content and performance was the zenith of humility.
Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti state governor, says President Muhammadu Buhari is presiding over the most corrupt government in Nigerias history.

Fayose said in a statement issued on Monday by Lere Olayinka, his special assistant on public communications and new media.

He alleged that Buharis fight against corruption is selective as it protects and rewards looters who decamped from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said the first looters list released by the government was politically motivated while the second was an afterthought to cover the shame of the government because Nigerians questioned the first.

With the Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index, saying that corruption has become more endemic in Nigeria than it was in the last 16 years, with the country moving 12 places below its rating, a honourable government would have stopped using fight against corruption as its major achievement and releasing names of people that are still under trial as looters just to cover up its failure, the statement read.

Nigerians have seen through their deceit and will no longer buy that fake image of integrity they are trying to sell.

For any lists of alleged looters to be credible, the President, who is protecting looters should be number one while those looters in his government should follow.

His nomination form was bought with proceeds of corruption and those who bought the form and financed his election were paid back with the return of all their seized properties, ministerial appointments and even disappearance of prosecution witnesses in EFCC cases.

Fayoser accused Buhari of his complicity in fanning the flames of corruption by citing specific cases which according to him are still unresolved.

The statement read: A government that reinstated and promoted Abdullahi Maina, who was declared wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation, (INTERPOL) and dismissed in 2013 for alleged N2.1 billion pension fraud and used APC broom to sweep the $25 billion contracts scam in the NNPC under the carpet is nothing but a government of plunderers and that is the clear definition of Buharis government.

It was in this same government that the minister of health, Isaac Adewole suspended the National Health Insurance Scheme Executive Secretary, Professor Usman Yusuf for alleged corruption and the President recalled him even without the knowledge of the minister.

Up till today, nothing has happened to the probe panel on the alleged N500 million bribery said to have been paid to the Presidents Chief of Staff (COS), Abba Kyari by officials of MTN to influence government to discontinue its heavy stance on the $5 billion fine imposed on the company.

Therefore, no matter how hard they try now, they can no longer hoodwink Nigerians with their deceit of fight against corruption. Even APC Senator, Shehu Sani once said that the President uses insecticide to fight corruption involving his perceived political opponents, but use deodorant when it comes it affects his own men.
A Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, yesterday backed calls by former Minister of Defence, Lieutenant General Theophilus Danjuma (Rtd) that Nigerians should defend themselves against the unending violence in some parts of the country.

Shehu, who appeared as a guest on Channels Televisions political programme, Sunday Politics, however, warned that it must be within the ambit of the law.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with you defending yourself in line with the law, he said.

The security services in the country will probably not be telling Nigerians to do nothing when they come and attack,

Recall that a day earlier, the Buhari-led government had appealed to prominent Nigerians, who have national influence, to watch what they say.

Meanwhile, on the reaction of the President to the Former Defence Ministers outburst, Shehu said he believed that President Buhari was taking the pleas made by Nigerians seriously in dealing with the issues raised.

This is a listening government and the reaction then was of silence to say to them that we have heard you.

We will listen to the useful advice you have given us. We will take what we can use from what you have said, he noted.

The Presidential aide, however, exonerated the military of condoning attacks that have led to bloodshed in the land.

He was of the view that members of the Armed forces were there to defend citizens of the country even to their own detriment.

Recall also that Danjuma had on March 24 accused the military of complicity in the killings within Taraba, Benue and other riverine states in the country.

According to Danjuma, during a convocation ceremony of Taraba State University, The peace in this state is under assault. There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in this state and, of course, in all the riverine state of Nigeria. We must resist it. We must stop it. Every one of us must rise up,

Following his outburst, many Nigerians have expressed their views, with many criticizing the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for failing to address the security challenges in parts of the country.
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has reacted to the proposed plan by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to grant amnesty to members of Boko Haram.

The IPOB said such a move was a confirmation that the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government was in a collaboration with the terrorist group.

It also called on well meaning people to seek the reaction of Chief Nnia Nwodo-led Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the South East governors that proscribed peaceful IPOB on this issue of Boko Haram amnesty, as well as their take on the supposed release without trial of killers of Igbo people at Mubi and Madala, among others.

This was part of a statement yesterday by the groups Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful.

The group wondered if it was not the same insurgents the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed claimed had been defeated.

The statement reads, How come they are negotiating permanent ceasefire with Boko Haram? Are we now to believe that Boko Haram was not defeated in the first place?

It is not a surprise to us that the President Buhari- led APC government is now seeking to acknowledge publicly what they have been doing in secret all along, which is, granting early release and amnesty to confirmed killers and terrorists.

There is something about the mindset of this administration that predisposes it to killers and terrorists.

What this move confirms, even to the most ardent supporters of the government, is that Boko Haram is part and parcel of the present government.

President Buhari appears to have a deep affinity with the tendencies of Boko Haram, the same way he has become beholden to killer herdsmen that are decimating innocent non Muslim populations across the Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria.

Boko Harams well documented atrocities propelled Buhari into office and so, he is reciprocating that very gesture now through this amnesty, in the hope that a comprehensive agreement with the terror group will guarantee him a second term.

As long as politicians from Southern Nigeria and Middle Belt were still divided in their respective approaches to the issue of Nigerias existence, the core north would continue to take advantage of the one Nigeria mindset to perpetuate impunity whilst in government.

The silence of these groups namely, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and South Eastern Governors, who themselves conspired to invite the Nigerian military to commit mass murder in Afaraukwu Umuahia, Ngwa, Aba and Igweocha (Port Harcourt) means they should bury their heads in shame.

The same Hausa- Fulani rulers they were desperately trying to please by proscribing IPOB activities are now the same people setting free ,killers of Igbo people in the north without the courtesy of mere consultation to seek their opinion.

Hausa- Fulani leadership is busy protecting those that killed Igbos in the name of Islam, while Igbo politicians and Ohanaeze Ndigbo are busy helping the same north to kill their own people who are non-violently fighting for their freedom.

Where is therefore, the morality in the stance of Nnia Nwodo, Governors Okezie Ikpeazu, Dave Umahi, Willie Obiano, Rochas Okorocha and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi against IPOB? Let the people and posterity judge them, IPOB said.
Home | News | General | 90 youths receive N500K each to start-up businesses in Niger Delta

- Ninety youths have received N500,000 each to start-up their various business across the Niger Delta region

- The youths were drawn from Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Rivers and Ondo states

- They were trained in various capacity building programmes including fishery and poultry.

Some youths in Niger Delta have received N500,000 each as start up for their individual businesses across the region.

Daily Trust reports that the money was given to 90 youths from the regions at the end of a capacity building and empowerment in agriculture and other value chain programme for women and youths.

It was gathered that the programme which was organised by the ministry of Niger Delta affairs will enable the youths acquire skills that will earn them lifetime livelihood.

READ ALSO: 25-year-old lady-pilot wins hearts of many by being passionate about aviation (photos)

The minister of Niger Delta affairs, Usani Usani, speaking during the distribution of the money urged the beneficiaries to to invest the funds released to them.

Usani represented by Ediomu Philip, a deputy director in the ministry said: The ministry is aware that training without support is an effort in futility. Thus the provision of N500,000 to each participant to start their businesses."

You are advised to utilise the empowerment package to set up enterprises that will stand the test of time, improve your lives and that of your families.

Therefore, my challenge to you is to practice what you learnt, contribute to the food security of the region and the country at large, build capacity in your community through backward integration and run profitable enterprises. Remember the slogan, Start small and grow.

READ ALSO: Presidency reacts as Obasanjo calls Buhari's administration incompetent

This training and empowerment programme is a continuous exercise. Those who have been agitating for inclusion should be reminded that their voices have been heard. They will be considered in the subsequent batches until every Niger Deltan becomes empowered, self-reliant, self-sustaining and self-dependent.

The 90 graduands from the empowerment programme were drawn from Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Rivers and Ondo states.

They were trained in capacity building, fishery and poultry.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that the governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom, had empowered youths in the state.

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The governor was said to have made donations of wheelbarrows to the youth in Benue state for farming.

The governor said the wheelbarrow will ease the stress faced by the youth and farmers in the state in carrying the produce from the farms to the markets.

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Home | News | General | Interpol reveals why Senator Dino Melaye, others have not been added to its wanted list as declared by Nigerian police

- The International police organisation (Interpol) reveals why Senator Dino Melaye, others have not been added to its wanted list as declared by Nigerian police

- The Interpol also declared that it does not engage in politically-motivated operations

- The agency said it examines requests by member countries to issue red notices to ensure compliance with its constitution or rules

The International police organisation gave reasons why Senator Dino Melaye was declared wanted by the Nigerian police has not been publicly placed on its watch list

Premium Times reports that the Interpol declared that it does not engage in politically-motivated operations.

It was learnt that the police said agency had been alerted to place Melaye and other suspects, including Mohammed Audu, son of late Kogi politician Abubakar Audu, on its watch list.

READ ALSO: Presidency reacts as Obasanjo calls Buhari's administration incompetent

As one of the 192 member countries with active membership of the Interpol network, the police in Nigeria said Melaye was placed on Interpol red notice.

A red notice is an alert for Interpol to locate and temporarily detain an individual pending extradition.

Interpol said: ''It does not comment on specific cases or individuals except in special circumstances and with approval of the member country concerned.''

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The agency listed reasons why Nigeria police request for Melaye, if at all it had been formally filed, might not meet its criteria for red alert.

It said: ''Interpol examines requests by member countries to issue red notices to ensure compliance with interpols constitution or rules. Interpol evaluates legal and quality compliance issues in individual cases if it becomes aware of information that may prompt reevaluation of a case.

''If no red notice is published on Interpols public website, this is either because one has not been requested or issued for that person, or the requesting country has asked that it not be made public, or the red notice did not meet the criteria for publication on Interpols public website.''

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that the police on Wednesday, March 28, declared Dino Melaye wanted. The lawmaker was declared wanted alongside Mohammed Audu, son of a former governor of Kogi state, Abubakar Audu.

Police said the duo have also been placed on Interpol watchlist for allegedly providing false information to the police in relation to an allegation of attempted murder on Melayes life sometime last year.

Kogi West senatorial district to recall senator Dino Melaye from the Nigerian Senate on NAIJ.com TV:

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Home | News | General | Spying on spouses phone in Saudi Arabia now carries $133,000 fine or 1 year imprisonment

- A new Saudi Arabian law has criminalized illegal spying on spouses mobile phone

- The new law lists spying on spouses mobile phones under cybercrimes

- According to the law, any partner found guilty will face a penalty of one year in prison or a fine of SR 500,000 or both

A new law by Saudi Arabian government has criminalized the act of spying on spouses mobile phone illegally.

The new law lists spying on spouses mobile phones under cybercrimes, Arab News reports.

NAIJ.com gathered that husbands or wives who are caught spying on their spouses mobile phone in order to prove dishonest behaviour can be imprisoned for up to a year, receive a SR 500,000 fine or receive both forms of punishment.

READ ALSO: Presidency reacts as Obasanjo calls Buhari's administration incompetent

According to legal sources, the penalty is imposed on people who access their spouses mobile phone without their permission.

Accessing your spouses mobile phone becomes illegal when you crack their mobile phones password, according to the law.

A penalty of one year in prison and a fine of SR 500,000 ($133,290) is reportedly applicable to partners who electronically send the information that they have gained access to. If the person only looks through the phone and does not forward or photograph any of the information, the penalty awarded is less.

Abdul Aziz bin Batel, a lawyer and legal adviser, said that any crime committed using computers, mobile phones and cameras is considered a cybercrime and will be punished accordingly.

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NAIJ.com previously reported that the Nigerian government said it would continue to engage Saudi Arabian authorities in negotiations over the fate of Nigerians on death row for alleged drug trafficking in that country.

The minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, made this known while fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja.

The ministers reaction followed a report that there were no fewer than 25 Nigerian drug suspects held in several prisons in Saudi Arabia.

The report indicated that 15 of the suspects were on death row, while three had been executed, leading to a call on the government to intervene.

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Home | News | General | Army takes step to forestall further Boko Haram attacks; sets up committee to find cause of Easter episode

- A four-man committee has been set up by the Nigerian army, to find the cause of the Easter day attack by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno

- The group is headed by Maj Gen Henry Wesley, with three other army officers as members

- 19 persons were killed and over 80 others wounded, while seven suicide bombers were killed in the attack

The Nigerian army on Tuesday, April 3, constituted a four member committee to unravel the cause of the Easter Sunday night attack in the suburbs of Maiduguri, NAN reports.

Maj Gen Rogers Nicholas, the theatre commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, made the disclosure during the inauguration of the committee at the Military Command and Control Centre, Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri.

NAIJ.com gathers that Nicholas disclosed that terms of reference of the committee was to unravel the cause of the attack so as forestall future occurrences. He explained that the committee, expected to submit its report within three days, is headed by Maj Gen Henry Wesley, with three other army officers as members.

READ ALSO: Israeli PM suspends deportation plan for African migrants

The commander advised people in the metropolis to stay indoors in the event of attack by Boko Haram insurgents, in order to guard against exposing themselves to dangers.

It is good for people to stay indoors whenever there is blast or anything, the insurgents took advantage of such situations to unleash terror and kill people. It is safer to stay indoors rather than exposing yourselves to dangers outside. Casualties are high due to the people that trooped out of their homes recklessly," he said.

Nicholas also called on the people to be vigilant and report suspicious persons and objects to security agents.

According to him, the troops had repelled attacks by the insurgents and suicide bombers at Bale Shuwa, Bale-Kawuri and Alkaramti communities in the outskirts of Maiduguri.

The commander disclosed that 19 persons were killed and over 80 others wounded, while seven suicide bombers were killed in the attack.

In his remarks, Wesley said the committee would conduct a fact finding visit to the affected communities to ensure an effective investigation into the incident. He assured of the committees readiness to submit its report within the stipulated time.

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Recall that NAIJ.com previously reported that no fewer than 15 people were feared dead and 55 others sustained injuries in the Sunday night attack by Boko Haram insurgents at Bale community in the outskirts of Maiduguri.

Echoes from sporadic gunshots and multiple explosions which lasted for hours on Sunday evening, April 1, were heard from the outskirts of the city.

Competent security sources said a number of insurgents attacked Bale-Shuwa and Bale-Kura communities near Maiduguri in an attempt to infiltrate the town at about 8 pm.

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Home | News | General | Museveni, Besigye pay tribute to Winnie Mandela

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has joined hundreds of global leaders to pay tribute to the fallen former wife of South African freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandelas ex-wife Winnie Mandela dies at 81

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 81, was pronounced dead by the Mandela family spokesperson, Victor Dlamini, on Monday.

It is with profound sadness that we inform the public that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela passed away at the Netcare

Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday, Dlamini wrote.

On his official twitter account, President Museveni wrote: Very sorry to hear about the death of comrade Winnie

Mandela.

I salute her contribution to the resistance in South Africa, especially during the time Mzee Mandela was in prison,

Museveni further wrote.

Also, the former presidential candidate for Ugandas leading opposition party, Forum for Democratic Change,

Kizza Besigye, also paid tribute to Winnie.

Winnie etched a permanent and very conspicuous mark in annals of anti-apartheid struggle! Fare thee well,

Besigye wrote.

Just in January, Mandela was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by Makerere University, Ugandas leading public

institute.

While congratulating her upon the achievement, Museveni said then: The Mandela family was very instrumental in the

liberation of South Africa and the entire African continent.

Winnie Mandela is remembered for leading a group of women to demonstrate against the injustices brought about by the

apartheid regime in South Africa.

While her husband was in jail, Winnie fought hard to ensure his release in 1990 but two years later the two separated

and then had an official divorce in 1996.

Mandela died in 2013.

Uganda has had a great connection to the Mandela family and as soon as he left prison, the country was one of his

first destinations to visit.

Uganda later named its national stadium after him and put up several monuments around the country.

Namboole Stadium was renamed the Nelson Mandela National Stadium in commemoration of the freedom fighter.

NAN

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Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, walked into the presidential villa in Abuja on Tuesday on crutches.

The governor was involved in an accident during the Easter holiday.

The news of the accident had led to different speculations in the state, with some saying he had been incapacitated.

Kingsley Fanwo, spokesman of the governor, had earlier issued a statement to deny that his principals condition was critical.

We wish to refute speculations in some quarters that the Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, is either hospitalised or otherwise incapacitated, the statement read.

The governor missed his footing last Friday, March 30, 2018, while alighting from a vehicle and injured his left foot. He was treated by his doctors, who bandaged the leg and discharged him.

We thank all the Governors supporters and well-wishers who reached us to inquire after his wellbeing. His Excellency is doing very well and will be at work as usual after the Easter holidays. 

Bello is at the villa to discuss a crucial issue about the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Some governors of the ruling party are not happy that Buhari opted out of the plan to elongate Oyeguns tenure by a year.

Bello was the one who announced the extension of Oyeguns tenure at the end of the national executive committee (NEC) of the party in February.

Shortly after this, there was a strong opposition to the NEC decision, with some regarding it as unconstitutional.

But Bello had said governors of the party had confidence in Oyegun.

Before Buhari walked into the venue of Tuesdays meeting, a governor was heard saying: This coup will not stand.

The tenure extension is causing ripples within the ruling party.
Mr Eze Onyekpere, Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), says the delay in the passage of the 2018 budget is impacting negatively on the economy.

Onyekpere said that the impact was being felt negatively as the budget was required by public and private sector stakeholders to plan and manage their economic activities.

The delay compounds the already parlous economic situation and shows a country that is afloat and without a focused leadership at both the executive and legislative levels.

Similarly, Mr Atiku Samuel, the Head of Research, BudgIT Nigeria, said lack of a budget calendar, lack of coordination and lack of planning were the major reasons for the setback.

According to him, during the budget formation phase, the executive and legislators and other stakeholders should have been consulted and actions point agreed on to avoid such delay.

However, not much is done by the executive to carry the legislators along.

As such, issues on the budget framework, lack of details, frictions between the legislators and executive and how the legislators process information differs from how the executive process information.

In all, the lack of coordination cumulates into a bigger issue that has delayed the passage of the budget among other issues, he said.

The 2018 budget which was put at N8.612 trillion and presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Nov. 7, 2017, was tagged Budget of Consolidation.

The Federal Government had in 2017, made a commitment to submit the 2018 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly so that it could be passed into law before the end of 2017.

This was in order to return the nations budget cycle to the regular January-December.
Home | News | General | This is irresponsible - Ex-minister Stella Oduah replies FG as her name is featured among alleged looters

- Stella Oduah says it is childish to have her name on the list of alleged corrupt Nigerians

- Oduah, a current senator, challenged Lai Mohammed to release his evidence to show she looted the treasury

- Oduah argues that she remains the best aviation minister as records show her achievements are unbeatable

A serving senator and former aviation minister, Stella Oduah, has described the mentioning of her name as one of the alleged looters of the country as childish arguing that the federal government has not been able to find evidence against her.

Oduah, a senator representing Anambra North senatorial district, was allegedly involved in a N9.8 billion scandal, but the former minister says this is untrue and laughable.

In a statement sent to NAIJ.com, Oduah challenged Lai Mohammed, the information and communication minister, to provide evidence linking her with the alleged N9.8 billion.

READ ALSO: 2019: Neither PDP nor APC can get us there - Obasanjo (video)

She said: My attention has been drawn to the illusionary list of looters released by Lai Mohammed in which, by treachery or by happenstance, my name featured.

It is worrisome how a serving minister could condescend so low in what appeared like a childish altercation to start mentioning names of his alleged looters without verified or verifiable facts, in order to win what he considered a quarrel.

In deliberately taking on those he considered prominent in the achievements of the past administration, he mentioned my name against an allegation of a whooping sum of N9.8 billion naira.

But for the records, I would have simply ignored him since his notoriety in making false and laughable statements has gained prominence in recent times.

Record has it that my achievements as the aviation minister are unbeatable till date. I did not engage in any financial impropriety as the minister and the allegation involving the said sum of N9.8 billion is not only untrue but laughable.

The said contract awarded by the ministry of aviation under my watch was executed and based on the request of the contractors, they were paid their money which they utilized in the manner they did.

According to Oduah, records are still with the ministry to show her activities.

The senator denied having any business with the companies that took part in executing that contract.

Till now, I do not understand how anything went wrong over that contract that was executed. I have never taken any illegal proceeds from the government purse.

God had since blessed me tremendously before I joined politics in the quest to serve my country and I remain content and grateful to God.

The trend of harassing past office holders with false and malicious allegations to score a political point destroys rather than helps the integrity of the anti-corruption stance of the government and indeed makes holding public office very discouraging.

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The machines seized/forfeited by the federal government over the allegation on the said money are not mine.

I challenge Lai Mohammed to provide evidence linking me with his wild allegations. I have been waiting for that evidence and I am yet to see any.

All allegations made against me remain mere media sensations orchestrated for mere political reasons. Oftentimes, I ignore them believing the orchestrators would repent after several failed outings.

Misusing the media and misleading the society through the media at the expense of innocent citizens in order to win a medal is unfortunate and most irresponsible. Governance is not warfare. Calumny is evil, she said in a statement.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that the federal government on Friday, March 30, and through Lai Mohammed, released a list of some of those who have been accused of looting the nations treasury under the administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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Home | News | General | Civil Society Organisations slam PDP over comments on INEC ahead of 2019

- A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have reacted to a recent comment by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

- The PDP had suggested that Nigerians have lost confidence in the current Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

- The CSOs are of the opinion that the PDP has no moral justification for such a comment

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations have slammed the PDP following the call by the party that Nigerians have lost confidence in the current INEC leadership.

The CSOs comprising the Center for Public Accountability, National Frontiers, Citizens Centre for Democratic Governance and National Democratic Vanguard, said the PDP has no moral justification for such calls.

The PDP made the comment in reaction to videos which emanated from the Kano elections during the state's local government elections.

Pictures and videos from the Kano state local government elections had sparked outrage from Nigerians and politicians alike. Photo source: Twitter

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The opposition party had accused the INEC of complicity in the alleged electoral malpractices, challenging the INEC leadership sanitise the voters register in Kano and Katsina if they wants to be trusted.

We are happy that the INEC chairman rose promptly to the occasion to condemn the incident and to empanel an investigation to unravel the truth about this unfortunate development.

It would be interesting to see the outcome of the investigation ordered by the INEC chairman. The investigation should unravel the source of the videos and those behind the malpractices displayed in them.

But we do not think that PDP is fair, without any credible evidence, to accuse the INEC of complicity in encouraging underage voting or manipulating the voters register. Nor does the party stand on any higher moral ground to pass a vote of no confidence on the INEC chair, the groups said in a statement sent to NAIJ.com on Tuesday, April 3.

They opined that it was too hasty to call for the resignation of the INEC chairman when the outcome of the investigation was yet to indict him.

The stated that, if anybody should be passing a no confidence vote on any public official or public institution, it cannot be PDP.

They described the former ruling party as an amorphous conglomeration of opportunists of various categories, which masqueraded for 16 years as a political party, mismanaged the affairs of this country and squandered both goodwill and enormous resources.

Recently, one of PDPs staunch members, former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu confessed how he helped his party, the PDP to bribe INEC, security officials and officials of other political parties to rig elections for the party all through the years the party was in power.

iThis was just few days after the PDP leadership in a bid to seduce Nigerians to once again embrace it to return to power, confessed its egregious transgressions against Nigerians and apologised for wasting all of 16 years leading the country to near extinction.

iSo, when we read and heard the PDPs declaration that Nigerians have lost confidence in the INEC Chairman, we wondered which PDP was talking and which Nigerians it was referring to or speaking for. Can the PDP (or even the APC) speak for Nigerians? they queried.

According to them, the current voters register is the same one that the same PDP used to win elections in 2011, adding that the current leadership of INEC has not added a single registrant to the register except in Anambra and Ondo states where elections took place .

They described the current INEC chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood as a man of integrity who cares about history and how posterity will judge him.

They continued: The INEC chair is certainly a stickler. He sticks to rules and he treats as a priority, holding to account politicians, INEC officials and even security agents who are involved in election malpractice.

This can be illustrated by his setting up of a commission of inquiry following the Rivers state rerun and his eventual handing over for prosecution, of INEC officials involved in electoral offences.

One of the measures he has taken to speedy up the voting process is the implementation of simultaneous accreditation and voting which resulted in reducing the time spent at the polling centres. This has improved voters turn out as well as enhanced the credibility of election.

Without doubt, the INEC chairman has demonstrated genuine commitment and made visible efforts to improve the electoral process. The logical outcome of these efforts is enhanced citizens confidence in INEC.

READ ALSO: Electoral Amendment: The disorder surrounding election order by Moshood Isah

Meanwhile, INEC has revealed that the committee set up to investigate the Kano under age voters saga has concluded its facts finding mission and is in the process of writing its report.

NAIJ.com gathered that the report would soon be submitted and considered by the commission.

In a statement sent to NAIJ.com by its director, Voters Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze, INEC disclosed that presently, only members of the committee are privy to their findings, while also emphasising that all members of the committee are persons of unquestionable integrity and competence.

NAIJ.com special report on Anambra governorship election on NAIJ.com TV

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Home | News | General | APC NEC member responds to Obasanjos criticism against President Buhari

- Nasiru Danu said Obasanjo is entitled to his opinion about President Buhari

- The APC NEC member however said the president has performed well

- He said the president did not promise to perform miracle

Alhaji Nasiru Danu, a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called on Nigerians to continue to support President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

He further advised the people to do that, irrespective of negative comments on the administration.

READ ALSO: Group calls on Nigerians to re-elect President Buhari in 2019

Obasanjo had at the weekend, described the Buhari administration as a failure among his other claims.

Danu told journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, that the statement credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the performance and re-election bid of the president was his personal opinion.

Danu also said that though Obasanjo remained an elder statesman, his assertions on Buharis performance were more political than anything else.

The truth is that everybody can have his or her opinion on an issue, but to me, this is a successful administration.

Buhari never promised to be a miracle worker, but in three years the success of this administration in the economy and security of the country are obvious.

In security, compared to what we had before, there are improvements. Before Buhari came to power, we were having attacks even in Abuja. he said.

This is a political year, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but I assure you that the Buhari administration has done very well and Nigerians will re-elect him come 2019.

He, however, said that the former president was not fair to have described the Buhari-led Federal Government as a failure, adding that the government had done well.

According to him, the government has done well in its fight against corruption, infrastructure development and the economy generally.

Danu said that the present government was building railways across the country to connect some major cities.

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He, however, noted that there were lot of falsehoods flying the streets, adding that Journalists should join efforts with government to fight the trend.

Nobody can stop the spread of fake news than the media, I know most Journalists in the country have integrity and will not want it destroyed.

He, therefore, urged Journalists to always engage in investigative reporting and cross check information before publishing, in the interest of the nation

Meanwhile, state governors in Nigeria on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are reportedly meeting with President Buhari inside Aso Rock in their bid to pressure the him to seek re-election in 2019.

While Premium Times reports that the details of the meeting were not yet made public at the time of this report, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) says it could be related to the governors plan to put pressure on Buhari to seek re-election in 2019.

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Home | News | General | Police arrest 55-year-old Nigerian man who adulterates wines, whiskeys in Lagos (photos)

- A 55-year-old Nigerina man identified as Benjamin Ojukwu, has been arrested for allegedly adulterating alcoholic drinks

- According to reports, Ojukwu was nabbed by Police operatives from the Area D Command in Mushin area of Lagos

- The suspect confessed to such illegal practice as a means of survival after his own alcohol business collapsed

A 55-year-old man identified ad Benjamin Ojukwu has landed in Police nest after he was caught adulterating and selling alcoholic drinks in Ojuwoye market. Ojukwu was arrested on Good Friday, March 30 after a valid search was carried out by the officers before his secret was discovered.

The suspect claimed that he is fully licensed and a trained wine manufacturer from Taiwan, China who hit rock bottom and had to find another means of survival. Benjamin revealed he ran a successful wine factory in Nnewi, Anambra before an unprecedented electrical surge caused fire outrage in his shop and burnt it down.

In order to survive, the suspect moved to Lagos and started his brand again but the slow rate of success in his products led him to consider adulterating other popular products in hope that his will pick up with time and he would focus on his brand.

READ ALSO: 20 ladies allegedly assaulted at Flavours free concert

Ill-luck ever hit him when he was discovered as a fraud by the Police and was immediately arrested. He confessed saying:

Police arrest suspected manufacturer of fake wines in Lagos, Benjamin Ojukwu. Source: Instagram

I am a trained wine manufacturer. I trained in Taiwan. When I got back to Nigeria, I used the money I made from Taiwan to set up a wine factory in Nnewi. I got NAFDAC registration number and my companys name is Benaz International Agency and the name of my wine is Lion Abel Gin."

My trouble started after four years of operating the company with my 11 workers, when an electrical spark from a pole razed my factory. Everything was burnt to the ground and I was left with nothing."

READ ALSO: Nigerian man recounts saddening experience with lady and 3 kids at the restaurant

"My first wife left me and I had to return to Lagos. I could not start my wine business so I went into manufacturing of other brands. I did it to survive. I know what I did is wrong but I do not produce fake drinks. I will blame government for not supporting upcoming entrepreneurs like me."

In Taiwan, after we were trained, their government gave them money to start up but in Nigeria, entrepreneurs do not have such support. Im telling you this because I tried to access money from banks but it was not possible. My business can employ a lot of people but government did not take us serious

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Will voting for SDP as the 'third force' end Nigeria's woes? on NAIJ.com TV:

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Home | News | General | Buhari needs to be re-elected in 2019 so he can complete his projects - Group

- A northern group called on Nigerians to re-elect President Buhari in 2019

- It said the president deserves to complete his projects

- The group called on cabals in government to allow Buhari perform his duties

A group, 'Bauchi Concerned Citizens' has called on Nigerians to re-elect President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 saying he needed to complete the projects and reforms that he started during his administration.

According to Daily Trust, the group held a rally in Bauchi state to campaign for Buharis re-election.

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Alkassim Nuhu Abdulkadir who is the secretary-general of the group said Nigeria will retrogress if Buhari is not re-elected in 2019 to continue with his good work.

He said 5000 youths were at the rally which was meant to counter the position of the Arewa leaders on Buhari.

Abdulkadir called on cabals in the government to allow the president actualise his desire.

He also commended the president for the war against corruption.

The group also commend President Buhari for rewarding the state with federal appointment and urged the appointees to use the positions to benefit the youths.

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It also called on Bauchi citizens to reward President Buhari by voting for him in 2019.

Meanwhile, state governors in Nigeria on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are reportedly meeting with President Buhari inside Aso Rock in their bid to pressure the him to seek re-election in 2019.

While Premium Times reports that the details of the meeting were not yet made public at the time of this report, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) says it could be related to the governors plan to put pressure on Buhari to seek re-election in 2019.

Martin Luther King Award Scandal: Buhari recognized for leadership? |Naij.com TV

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Home | News | General | Isoko: Former SSG, Macaulay, Egbo, Igelige, others condemn murder of unidentified man

 Call for Police Swift Action

Former Secretary to Delta State Government (SSG), Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay has described as barbaric, the severed head of an unknown young man dumped in Uzere junction, Isoko South Local Government Area and called on the Nigeria Police to fish out the culprits.

The decapitated head

Macaulay who reacted to the incident which was recorded weekend, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Iteveh Ekpokpobe said the perpetuators are inhuman and cannot not be allowed to roam and live free.

According to him, there has been a spate of killing with every indication of being ritualistic recalling the January 15, 2018 case of a young lady identified as Happiness, an ND Science and Laboratory Technology, SLT at Delta state Polytechnic Ozoro, who was gruesomely murdered after reportedly leaving her hostel to visit a friend in Isoko south local government area of the state.

He called on the police to intensify efforts to bring the perpetuators to book adding that Isoko is a peaceful place and will continue to remain.

Chief Macaulay urged residents to douse their fears and work with Nigeria police by supplying requisite information that can aid their investigation into the case.

Also reacting to the development, Special Assistant to the Governor on Community and Conflict Resolution, Hon. Evans Egbo, and Delta Assembly Membership Hopeful, Hon. Jubilant Igelige described the incident as a taboo and condemnable in all ramifications.

They called on the Police to leave no atone unturned in unveiling the faces behind the acts even as they called for cooperation of stakeholders and residents towards solving the case.

Recall that palpable fear weekend, gripped Isoko South Local Government Area, following the discovery of the head of an unidentified young man at the junction of Uzere community in Isoko South Local Government Area of the state.

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Home | News | General | Clerics berate Danjuma on arms revolt, salutes Nigeria Army

A group, Northern Inter-Faith And Religious Organizations For Peace, Tuesday condemned in strong terms the recent call by a former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. T.Y Danjuma (rtd) for arms revolt as a form of self-defense against the incessant alleged incursion of the herdsmen.

Clerics berate Danjuma on arms revolt, salutes Nigeria Army

Speaking at a World Press Conference with a theme: Ethnic And Religious Crisis in Nigeria: The Place of Clerics In Peace Building, Bishop Gabriel Obubah implored Nigerians to reject all false prophets calling on people to embrace arms.

He advised the populace to trash the evil recommendation of such elements because they are the prophet of doom campaigning for chaos in the nation.

According to the statement: Prophets of doom had once concluded that the end has come for Nigeria on the strength of the satanic activities of Boko Haram but our Almighty God saw to it that the terror group is but a distraction that has almost been completely conquered and we are emerging stronger.

Our organization, in the strongest terms possible, condemn the call by a former Minister of Defence, retired Lieutenant General TY Danjuma, for triggering the call for people to take up arms against one another and by implication against the state.

For someone that once held the position of Minister of Defence in a multicultural and polytheistic nation like Nigeria, Danjuma knows that his call is for anarchy. Had someone else made such call, Danjuma should have queried the belief system of such a person he queried.

Speaking further, the group applauded the total defeat of Boko Haram insurgents by the Nigerian Army positing that the terrorists caused similar havoc by embracing the same modus operandi with the herdsmen whose identity is unknown.

They also appreciated the rare leadership qualities of President Muhammadu Buhari which created an enabling environment for peace and security to thrive in the country.

Once the right political will was marshaled by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian Army has been able to decimate the terrorists to the point that those that continue to affiliate with Boko Haram are officially endangered species in todays Nigeria.

Evil ones are always out on the prowl to devour the innocent, it is no surprise that what the followers of the devil have failed to achieve through Boko Haram they now want to achieve under the label of armed herdsmen.

The patterns are similar, the so-called herdsmen operate with almost an aura of invincibility as Boko Haram once was before its political dimension was divinely exposed to herald its decline and impending end.

This is why we at the Northern Inter-Faith Religious Organisation for Peace are alarmed that the issue of national security is being politicized and even being exploited by those seeking relevance.

They called on Nigerians to beware of fake clerics preaching false doctrines with the aim of causing disunity in the country.

The statement read in part: Our charge to Nigerians is to beware since false doctrines would multiply at times like these while national security concerns would be exploited by the unscrupulous.

The Northern Inter-Faith Religious Organisation for Peace salutes the President Buhari led administration on its efforts on security, without which the peddlers of discord would have succeeded in their bid to destabilize our dear nation. We hail the efforts of the Nigerian Army, in particular, for protecting the lives of all citizens without consideration for ethnic or religious affiliation.

It is the Nigerian Army that has stood against the wanton destruction of lives and properties by people who are diabolically possessed to the point of desperately being in a hurry to lead an ethnic war in the country.

The Exercise Ayem Akapatuma and other operations by the Nigerian Army in the country are testimony to this very high commitment to peace and security in the country. We cannot but to laud these selfless men and women doing us proud while keeping the country and its sovereignty from the reach of the enemies.

We call on Nigerians of all faiths to fervently pray against the evil men in our midst. They should plead God to frustrate the attempts to flood and taint the land with blood as a gimmick ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The clerics in the land should convene sessions to discuss the position of the sacred testaments on the dangerous calls beings passed off as doctrines. We must also collectively pray for redemption for those calling for anarchy in the Land while begging God to free them from the demons of bloodlust.

Patriotic citizens should also endeavor to pray for Mr. President, the Nigerian Army, and its leadership so that the lies of the devil will not have the space to take on form as being articulated by enemies of Nigeria.

We testify to a truth that we know. The fight in the country is between the forces of good and the forces of evil, and the strategy of the evil one to manifest as the righteous in order to snare the unwary. The war rages on between the forces of darkness and the key national institutions that have refused to serve evil.

The group prayed for the peace and unity of Nigeria and promised to lead a peaceful match to the Presidential Villa later this week to present their position on the security situation in the country to President Muhammadu Buhari.

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Home | News | General | President Buhari felicitates with Adams Oshiomhole at 65

President Muhammadu Buhari has joined the All Progressives Congress family in congratulating party stalwart and former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on his 65th birthday.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina in Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari felicitated with the foremost labour leader, his family, friends and colleagues on the milestone.

Adams Oshiomhole

The President noted with delight that Oshiomhole had won various awards and recognitions for courageous and selfless service to humanity, the nation and his community as a former leader of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and a governor.

The President extolled the vision, bravery and forthrightness of Oshiomhole in instituting long lasting changes in Edo for eight years, particularly the investments in people by enhancing the health, educational and physical infrastructure standard of the state.

As a unionist and labour leader, Buhari acknowledged the vocal and frontline roles Oshiomhole played in ensuring a return to democracy and the entrenchment of democratic principles in governance.

He noted that Oshiomhole achieved this feat by continually challenging the norms and emphasising the rule of law, people friendly policies, probity and accountability.

The President affirmed that the nation has benefitted a lot from the robust and responsive leadership style of the former governor, believing that as he grows older, his invaluable wisdom will be most useful for the growth of the nation.

He prayed that the almighty God would grant Oshiomhole longer life and good health to keep serving the nation he loves so much.

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Home | News | General | FG Looters List: N/Delta youths condemn, caution FG over list

ABUJA- NIGER Delta youths under the auspices of Niger Delta Youth Forum NDYF, Tuesday, condemned the Federal Government over recent publishing of names purported to be looters of public treasury on the media.

Lai Mohammed

This was contained in a statement signed by the National Coordinator, NDYF, Hon Peretimi Tekena, who described the action led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, defamatory and unfounded.

According to Tekena the intention of the government was to dent the reputation of those on the list without court convictions as enshrined in the constitution.

The statement reads in part: Our attention has been drawn to publications and electronic broadcasts attributed to the Minister of information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, listing persons connected with PDP considered to have looted various sums from government treasury.

And that such sum has been recovered from them. This is unacceptable and we condemn it because it is direct ploy to dent the name and respect of these persons whose cases are still in court and no conviction pronounced on them and their actions.

Lai Mohammed must be very careful with the way he is going now, because is not going to be taken lightly because it is legally wrong to place scandal on these names.

All is a targeted campaign of calumny against these people who are presumed innocent until their cases were completed through legal means.

This is malicious and defamatory of President Muhammadu Buhari and his boy Lai Mohammed to drag them into the mud because you want to make the world believe you are fighting corruption and to score cheap popularity and political point ahead of 2019.

According to the statement which demanded that the federal government should have a rethink on these names published and for not allowing the courts to do their jobs that also may lead to unnecessarily heating up of the polity with such publications.

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Home | News | General | APC Governors keep mum after meeting with Buhari

State Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, declined comments on the outcome of the meeting.

The governors kept sealed lips as they came out of the Council Chamber where they met with the President for over an hour.

APC

Our correspondent overheard one of the governors saying that they were directed not to speak with journalists over issues discussed at the meeting.

It was however, gathered that the meeting could not reach consensus on some of the issues discussed including the challenges facing the APC national executives over tenure elongation.

The governors, who appeared divided over the issue of tenure elongation for the APC national executives, had met briefly among themselves before the arrival of President Buhari for the meeting.

President Buhari had at the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on March 27, said the tenure elongation of the partys executives was illegal and unconstitutional.

The APC National Chairman, Mr John Odigie-Oyegun had earlier today inaugurated a committee to advise the party on the way forward following President Buharis recent opposition to the tenure extension.

The NEC had extended by a year, the tenure of Odigie-Oyegun-led executives and others across all levels of the party starting from June.

The president said the decision was unconstitutional and already causing acrimony within the party.

He said: In particular, I think it is important for me to speak quickly on the contentious issue of the tenure of our National and State Executive Officers.

As we all know, a motion was moved at the last National Executive Committee meeting of February 27, 2018, to the effect that when the tenure of the current executives expire in June this year, they should be allowed to continue for one year.

This motion was duly carried by a majority of members present at the last NEC meeting, even though some of our party members have since spoken up very vehemently against it. Others have even taken the matter to court.

On my own part, I have taken some time to review and seek advice on the resolution. And what I found is that it contravenes both our party Constitution and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The meeting between the APC governors and the President would be reconvened next week at the same venue.

Governors at the meeting include Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Jubrilla Bindow (Adamawa), Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Abdufatah Ahmed (Kwara).

Also in attendance are Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Tanko Al- Makura (Nasarawa), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Abubakar Bello (Niger).

The rest include Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun).

Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari and Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe were absent at the meeting while Gov. Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi State was represented by his deputy.

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Home | News | General | Tenure Elongation: Oyegun, others know fate on Friday

We didnt extend tenure of NWC, says NEC

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA  Barring any last minute change, the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun led National Working Committee NWC of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC would Friday know its fate with regards to its tenure.

Buhari-Oyegun-Tinubu

This is because the party has inaugurated a 10-member technical advisory committee on the tenure of party officers following a resolution of its National Executive Committee NEC.

Inaugurating the committee Tuesday in Abuja, National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun, said the committee has till Friday to submit its report to the party.

The committee is to examine the Presidents position as contained in his statement delivered at the NEC meeting of March 27th, 2018 vis-a-vis the resolution of the NEC meeting of February 27th, 2018.

The committee is to also assess all the information available and recommend a course of action consistent with the provisions of the Partys Constitution, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and all relevant laws.

As this issue is of utmost importance and is extremely time sensitive, I look forward to your report by Friday the 6th April, 2018, Chief Odigie-Oyegun signed off in the letter in appointment sent to the committee members.

President Muhammadu Buhari had at the 5th NEC meeting of the party on March 27 asked the NEC to reverse its decision to extend the tenure of national and state officials.

The technical committee chaired by the Plateau state Governor, Simon Lalong, has other members as Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Abiola Ajimobi, Governor of Oyo State; Nasir EI-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State; Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State; Sen. Ben Uwajimogu; Kabiru Ajanah; Elisha Kuroh; Prof. Dakas C. J. Dakas; and Dr. Muiz Banire, the partys legal adviser who will serve as the committee secretary.

Speaking while inaugurating the committee, Chief Odigie-Oyegun said the issue in contention was a constitutional matter but with a lot of political implications.

Therefore, your job is to bring these two together and advise us on the way we can implement our activities in the next few weeks and months in a way that is politically advantageous to our party, the APC.

We must observe the law and at the same time emphasize that we try to do things that will be advantageous to the party. We will furnish you with all the documents like the resolutions of NEC, the party constitution and the Nigerian constitution to help you do a good job.

You are also at liberty to request for additional materials like the statement of Mr President during the last NEC meeting and every other thing to guide you achieve the task you are about to undertake. I am praying, hoping that this is the kind of thing you can accomplish in about three to four days.

Getting answers from you is crucially time sensitive and depending on which way you advise, we may have to put in motion very serious activities in the party virtually within a week of getting the report and taken decisions. I thank you for accepting this onerous assignment and wish you the very best of luck.

Chairman of the committee, Simon Lalong dismissed the notion that the talks centered around the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is opposed to tenure elongation.

The discussion there was not anything against Tinubu. Tinubus name was not mentioned in that discussion. The discussion was a NEC decision on the way forward on the position of the President who is also a member of the NEC and that was subjected to discussion. So the issue of whether it is satisfying somebody is not there. Our decision is not going to be final. We will only advice the NEC on the issue.

We didnt extend Oyeguns Tenure

On his part, Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state, said the controversy was needless since the NEC never extended the tenure of the Oyegun-led NWC and party officials across the country.

Let me let everybody know that the issue has nothing to do with tenure elongation. You journalists are the ones to advise or lead in the discussions. By law, nobody can extend their tenure. The usage of that word is totally wrong. There was no time at our NEC that we took the decision to get their tenure to be elongated. There was a clear resolution of NEC and all it asked was for the existing committee, not to extend their tenure because we cannot in law extend their tenure, but we can have them work in an acting capacity or work as caretaker for some time not over 12 months. That, on its own is not tenure elongation. It is not the intention of APC to elongate anybodys tenure.

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Home | News | General | Pastor reportedly confesses to killing female lover, steals her head, hands

- A pastor who allegedly killed his female lover and buried her body inside his church has been paraded by the police

- Police said that the pastor, upon discreet analysis of facts, was the last person who was seen with the missing person

- The suspect, however, said that he was not the one that killed the victim, alleging that it was his accomplice who carried out the act and later cut off her head and two hands

Ogun police command on Tuesday, April 3, arrested a pastor who allegedly killed his female lover and buried her body inside his church.

Parading the suspect at the scene of the crime, the commissioner of police, Ahmed Iliyasu, said the command had received a report of a missing person at the divisional headquarters in Ewekoro.

The commissioner said that the case was reported by one Adebola Saheed, who stated that his younger sister, Mrs Raliat Sanni, 35, had left home since March 21 and had yet to return.

READ ALSO: Tenure elongation for Oyegun, others reportedly splits APC governors

Iliyasu said on the strength of the report, police operatives at Ewekoro Division led by SP Oluwarotimi Jeje, the divisional police officer, swung into action and embarked on investigation.

He said the pastor, upon discreet analysis of facts, was the last person who was seen with the missing person.

The so called Pastor was promptly arrested and thoroughly interrogated.

In the course of interrogation, the pastor confessed to killing the victim and burying her inside his church after removing her head and two hands for reasons only known to him and God, he said.

The police commissioner said the suspect named another accomplice who was also paraded.

This is the height of wickedness that can be meted out to a fellow human being. It will interest you to know that the victim was a secret lover to the pastor who eventually hacked her to death, he said.

He said that forensic investigation into the case had commenced and the matter would eventually be charged to court.

This is another breakthrough resulting from painstaking technical intelligence investigation aimed at wiping out crime in our society as well as bringing to justice those who are adamant in making crime their business.

I appeal to the people to be always watchful of those they associate with and always disclose their movements to at least one person close to them no matter how confidential the movement in order to prevent occurrence of this type of dastardly act, he said.

Speaking to journalists, the suspect said that he was not the one that killed the victim, alleging that it was his accomplice who carried out the act and later cut off her head and two hands.

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The suspect, a teacher at Methodist High School, Private, Arigbajo, said that he was forced by the accomplice to join his cult group.

He revealed that the victim was killed in the process of his initiation as a member of the cult group.

The alleged accomplice, however, denied having anything to do with the pastor, saying that the last time he saw him was last year.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that the police in Lagos state, on Friday, March 30, said they had arrested two suspected cultists, simply identified as Kanmi,( also known as Father) and Alami Samuel.

The spokesman of the command, SP Chike Oti, in a statement, confirmed the arrest to newsmen, stressing that they were nabbed on Thursday, March 29, while trying to attack a rival gang member at Illasamaja area of Lagos.

NAIJ.com visits family attacked by Badoo cult group - on NAIJ.com TV:

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Home | News | General | Tenure elongation for Oyegun, others reportedly splits APC governors

- Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are reportedly divided over the tenure elongation of the John Odigie-Oyegun led executive

- APC governors are said to have had a heated debate over the issue

- The All Progressives Congress (APC) governors who met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja

The tenure elongation of the John Odigie-Oyegun led executive and other party officials has reportedly split governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to reports, the governors refused to speak with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, April 3.

Premium Times reports that governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and Simon Lalong of Plateau simply said they (governors) have agreed not to speak to the media.

READ ALSO: Gunmen invade Kogi police station, kill two policemen

The news outlet, however, quoting an unnamed source, reported that the governors had a heated debate over the tenure elongation of party officials.

I am not sure what happened inside the Chamber could be called a real meeting, they were simply fighting, the source, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media said.

Meanwhile, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that state Governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, declined comments on the outcome of the meeting.

NAN reports that the governors kept sealed lips as they came out of the Council Chamber where they met with the President for over an hour.

Our correspondent overheard one of the governors saying that they were directed not to speak with journalists over issues discussed at the meeting.

NAN, however, gathered that the meeting could not reach consensus on some of the issues discussed including the challenges facing the APC national executives over tenure elongation.

The governors, who appeared divided over the issue of tenure elongation for the APC national executives, had met briefly among themselves before the arrival of President Buhari for the meeting.

President Buhari had at the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on March 27, said the tenure elongation of the partys executives was illegal and unconstitutional.

The APC National Chairman, Mr John Odigie-Oyegun had earlier today inaugurated a committee to advise the party on the way forward following President Buharis recent opposition to the tenure extension.

The NEC had extended by a year, the tenure of Odigie-Oyegun-led executives and others across all levels of the party starting from June.

The president said the decision was unconstitutional and already causing acrimony within the party.

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He said: In particular, I think it is important for me to speak quickly on the contentious issue of the tenure of our National and State Executive Officers.

As we all know, a motion was moved at the last National Executive Committee meeting of February 27, 2018, to the effect that when the tenure of the current executives expire in June this year, they should be allowed to continue for one year.

This motion was duly carried by a majority of members present at the last NEC meeting, even though some of our party members have since spoken up very vehemently against it. Others have even taken the matter to court.

On my own part, I have taken some time to review and seek advice on the resolution. And what I found is that it contravenes both our party Constitution and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

NAN also learnt that the meeting between the APC governors and the president would be reconvened next week at the same venue.

Governors at the meeting include Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Jubrilla Bindow (Adamawa), Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Abdufatah Ahmed (Kwara).

Also in attendance are Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Tanko Al- Makura (Nasarawa), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Abubakar Bello (Niger).

The rest include Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun).

Katsina state Governor Aminu Masari and Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe were absent at the meeting while Gov. Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi state was represented by his deputy.

NAIJ.com had earlier reported that state governors in Nigeria on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are reportedly meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari inside Aso Rock reportedly in their bid to pressure the him to seek re-election in 2019.

Martin Luther King Award Scandal: Buhari recognized for leadership? on NAIJ.com TV.

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Home | World | Africa | Mnangagwa set to thank Xi Jinping

Four months after the ousting of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, one of the world's longest-ruling dictators, his successor is set to arrive in Beijing on Monday in a bid to ensure Beijing's continued political and economic support.

The four-day visit by Emmerson Mnangagwa, his first outside Africa since taking office, comes as Beijing is seeking to extend its economic and geostrategic foothold on the continent via the "Belt and Road Initiative", President Xi Jinping's signature trade and foreign policy plan.

Zimbabwe, which despite its rich and diverse mineral resources is one of the poorest countries in Africa, must forge deeper economic relations with Beijing to end its decades-long political isolation under Mugabe, Mnangagwa said ahead of his visit.

"I will say thank you not only to the president of China but also the people of China for standing and supporting Zimbabwe during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

"The issue is not only about attracting capital into Zimbabwe. It's an issue of leapfrogging after 18 years of isolation so that we catch up with the rest of the developing countries," he said.

The 75-year-old former vice-president and erstwhile guerilla leader was sworn in as leader of the southern African nation in November after Mugabe's 37-year reign ended in a bloodless military coup.

Like his predecessor, Mnangagwa has deep ties with Beijing, Xinhua said. These possibly date back to the 1960s when he received military training in China during Zimbabwe's fight for independence from colonial, white-majority rule.

he circumstances surrounding the downfall of 94-year-old Mugabe, whom Beijing often described as an old friend, are unclear, although China has categorically denied it played any part in the military takeover.

Beijing had for decades been one of Mugabe's most powerful allies and was a major trade partner, especially after the dictator was shunned by the West over human rights violations, and years of economic and political chaos.

However, just days before the coup, Zimbabwe's army chief, General Constantine Chiwenga, visited Beijing, prompting speculation on whether China had played a role in the power transition.

Pundits generally agreed that China stood to benefit from the ousting of Mugabe  who had increasingly become a liability for Beijing  and the installation of a new government led by Mnangagwa.

The popular opinion now is that in view of its political isolation and stricken economy, Zimbabwe has few options other than to continue to rely on Beijing, at least in the near term.

Just days after the coup, Xi, who last visited the African country in 2015, sent his envoy and assistant foreign minister Chen Xiaodong to Harare to pass on his congratulations to Mnangagwa, according to Chinese state media. In the note, Xi promised to maintain Beijing's all-weather friendship with Zimbabwe.

In his interview with Xinhua, Mnangagwa spoke highly of China's belt and road plan, describing it as "a progressive initiative that will enhance global trade".

"The 'Belt and Road Initiative' is indeed a vision for the future," he said. "Zimbabwe is one of those countries that have embraced it."

However, China's growing presence in Zimbabwe, especially in the mining, farming and tobacco sectors, is not without controversy, especially amid intense infighting between the new president and his opponents.

Just last month, Chinese diplomats in Harare had to deal with the fallout from the publication of a "looters list", in which Mnangagwa sought to name and shame those companies and individuals  including several Chinese mining firms  he claimed had been involved in illicit business dealings in Zimbabwe.

Mnangagwa's China visit follows a string of other high-level exchanges between Beijing and African nations, fuelling concerns about Beijing's expansionist role and long history of backing non-democratic countries on the continent.

In the past fortnight, China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi has travelled to South Africa, and Xi has rolled out the red carpet in Beijing for two African presidents, namely Cameroon's Paul Biya, who has been in power for 35 years, and Namibia's Hage Geingob.

The frequency of diplomatic exchanges between China and Africa has increased in the lead-up to a bilateral summit in Beijing in September, which upgrades and replaces the decade-old Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

In an apparent bid to defend China against attacks by foreign experts and media, both Biya and Geingob, after securing numerous investment deals with Beijing, went on record to rebut comments accusing it of being a neocolonialist.

"China never colonises any African country, China never treats us as second-class citizens," Geingob was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Shortly before his sacking last month, former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused China of engaging in neocolonialism in Africa and Latin America by exploiting resources, creating a "debt trap" and taking away sovereignty under the guise of the belt and road plan.

China, which surpassed the United States as Africa's top trading partner in 2009, has markedly stepped up its spending on the continent in recent years, with the construction of railway lines, motorways, airports, power stations and deepwater ports.

Also, amid rampant criticism of its rapid military and maritime expansion, Beijing in September conducted its first live-fire exercises in its only overseas military base, in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, which it had previously described as a logistical support facility.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: New Zimbabwe leader starts China visit

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Home | World | Africa | Britain ready to work with Zimbabwe

In terms of value, the combined total value of UK projects approved by the Zimbabwe Investment Authority between 2014 and 2017 was more than US$336 million. These projects are all at various stages of completion.

I made a regional working visit to London at the end of February.

The main purpose of this visit was to attend the annual conference that is held jointly between the Foreign Commonwealth Office and Department for International Trade to look at trade and investment issues.

I felt that it was important  particularly this year  that I attended because we'll be moving into a post-Brexit world shortly and we need to start preparing for new trade partnerships eventually with Zimbabwe.

It's also because the prospects for investment in Zimbabwe are now looking more promising.

That was the main purpose of my visit, but I took advantage of being in London to also brief the business community.

The Business Council for Africa/Invest Africa organised an event where they invited either investors who are in Zimbabwe or who are considering investing in Zimbabwe to come and hear a presentation from me around the prospects.

I gave a similar presentation to the Whitehall industry group and then, obviously, did the round of meetings across Whitehall and went to see the academics at Chatham House who work on Zimbabwe.

The other key event that (my trip) coincided with was the visit of (Finance Minister) Patrick Chinamasa who has been appointed as special envoy to the UK.

We managed to arrange a meeting with the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in which he handed over a letter from President Mnangagwa to Prime Minister May.

They discussed the challenges ahead, the importance of free and fair elections and the prospects thereafter if indeed Zimbabwe is able to deliver free and fair elections, as the President has committed to.

Investment

Well, of course, we don't have the exact number of investors.

There was a lot of interest in my talk and a similar one I gave in Johannesburg, South Africa in January. So, there is interest and, of course, we already have a number of British companies still here.

The general message I'm getting from British business is that they welcome  and indeed are feeling quite positive about  the commitments that the new President has made around economic reform, around being open for business. They welcome, in particular, the changes to the Indigenisation Act, which have been passed now.

That is very encouraging.

But this is still the start of a long and challenging journey. The economy in Zimbabwe remains in deep crisis. What is important at the moment is that the Government is putting the building blocks in place to prepare for economic renewal and transformation.

I want to go back again here to the elections because a lot of investors have said to me that that will be a key test for them.

If the elections go well and are endorsed by the international monitors, that will send a very positive signal to UK investors that the Government is fulfilling its obligations and is committed to the rule of law, human rights and good governance.

So, what I am expecting following the elections is that companies that are in exploratory mode at the moment will move into more accelerated mode to actually start looking at prospects for real investment.

We have some data from the Zimbabwe Investment Authority.

UK investment projects approved (in Zimbabwe) between 2014 and 2017 included projects in the mining, tourism, manufacturing and construction sectors.

These are the sectors you'd expect and they're areas where Britain is strong (particularly in mining) and where Zimbabwe has opportunities for investors.

In terms of value, the combined total value of UK projects approved by the Zimbabwe Investment Authority between 2014 and 2017 was more than US$336 million.

These projects are all at various stages of completion.

Relations

The UK and Zimbabwe have always had relationships.

There have been times when those relationships have been more difficult, but we've always been here and we've always agreed that we need to talk through some of the challenges.

The events in November have created an opportunity to put the relationship onto a better footing, and I think we saw the start of that very early following the Presidential inauguration.

Minister Rory Stewart, our then Minister for Africa, was the first foreign visitor in to see the new President and that was significant on both sides.

The President himself commented that he wanted to signal an intent to improve the relationship with Britain.

So, I think we're in a better place.

We've had a second ministerial visit since then and we've had the inward visit of Minister Chinamasa to London to meet our Foreign Minister Boris Johnson.

Of course, what is important is that these relationships enable us to have a frank and constructive dialogue around how we get to the point where we return to full normal international relations.

And that's a pathway.

The elections will be an important milestone.

Around that, we want to see genuine commitment to fulfilling all the obligations in the Constitution, which the President himself has committed to doing. We want to see the next stage on the economic reform plan and we hope to see that soon, as Zimbabwe prepares for the annual IMF-World Bank Spring meetings.

This is an opportunity for Zimbabwe to set out in more detail its economic plan up to the elections and beyond.

And if we continue to see progress, then I hope that we'll be able to move to the next stage and get to a point where Zimbabwe and Britain have full normal investment and trading relations.

Then we can work together in fora like the United Nations and ensure that Zimbabwe plays its role as a good global citizen, supporting all of us in our efforts to ensure the global rules-based system works for everyone.

Ambassador Catriona Laing is Britain's Chief Diplomat in Zimbabwe. She shared these views with The Sunday Mail's Sharon Munjenjema last week

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Home | World | Africa | British Airways rejects London-Harare route plea

TOURISM minister Prisca Mupfumira recently approached British Airways (BA) regarding the possibility of direct flights between London and Harare but was turned down by the UK flag carrier, it has emerged.

According to Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive Karikoga Kaseke, BA was concerned that the route does not, presently, have enough business class potential to complement the undoubted economy class possibilities.

Although actual numbers remain unclear, there is a significant Zimbabwean diaspora in the UK and many regularly travel back home to visit with their families.

However, it would appear that BA reckons much of that traffic is largely economy class and, therefore, not commercially viable.

ZTA boss Kaseke confirmed the BA approach at the recent Zimndaba investment conference which was held in London when he was asked about direct flights between the two countries.

"Last time when my minister was here, she had a meeting with British Airways," he said.

"BA are saying that, from their perspective and when they look at their projections, they see a lot of potential for economy class travellers but when they look at business class possibilities and try to balance with their business model they are seeing the balance not working out.

"They (BA) say they are more interested in the business class travellers. As you know, KLM introduced flights some few years back and within nine months they pulled out for the same reasons."

He continued; "In terms of fuel, when airlines are flying they fly for business; they want to get money, it's not for charity.

"When the profitability of a route is looked at from a yield point of view - the mixture of business and economy class passengers - it must show a positive sign and BA are saying at the moment, they don't see the positive from the business class travellers."

Kaseke said they are however continuing to engage BA and convince them that business class travel will follow the establishment of direct connections.

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Home | World | Africa | Chamisa wants a face-to-face meeting with Mnangagwa

OPPOSITION leader Nelson Chamisa is pushing for a face-to-face meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa to demand that the army publicly renounces its previous declaration that it will not salute a leader without liberation war credentials.

Chamisa's push comes days after the European Union said it had approached the government with a request to have the military and traditional leaders - all known for their partisan attachment to Zanu-PF - to make public pronouncements that they "will stick to their constitutional obligations" ahead of a crucial plebiscite in a few months' time.

MDC-T director of communications and Chamisa's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka yesterday said his boss was pushing for the meeting.

"President Chamisa has written to Mnangagwa and indicated that top of the agenda at the envisaged meeting by the two would be the issue of the military's involvement in national politics. He (Chamisa) wants the army to undeclare its previous pronouncements that they will not accept an election outcome that does not favour Zanu-PF," Tamborinyoka said.

Early last week, EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Phillipe van Damme said the Western bloc would want the military to stay clear of politics.

". . . that those who have, in the past, been accused of not being neutral, where they were supposed to be neutral, that they stand up and make a formal public plea to all the others that they will respect their constitutional obligations," Van Damme told a local radio.

Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo has told NewsDay that the army has already indicated it will stay out of politics, but this was only said to the Sadc pre-election observer mission, adding they would only make public statements if requested to do so.

"The military has already made that statement to the Sadc (pre-election) observer mission that was in the country recently, that it is not its responsibility to interfere with elections, but expect everyone to respect the people's will," he said.

"Unless someone asks them to do so, there is really no need for them to make such statements."

Spokesperson of the Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T faction, Obert Gutu, said they would also write to Moyo regarding the military's utterances.

"Minister Moyo will hear from us once we have our systems in order. We have not formally made any request on those issues," he said.

Mnangagwa has indicated he wants a meeting with all opposition parties, but Tamborinyoka said Chamisa would not accept an indaba where the Zanu-PF leader "plays lord".

"The meeting we are asking for is one at which people are equals, not in which Mnangagwa plays Big Brother or lord to other political leaders. He is a presidential candidate like everyone else," he said.

Zimbabwe's military is known for its partisan alignment to Zanu-PF and on the eve of the 2002 elections, then Defence Forces Commander Vitalis Zvinavashe, flanked by other securocrats, declared they would not "salute anyone without liberation war credentials."

Since then, other top security officials have made pronouncements insinuating the army may reject electoral outcomes that favour the opposition.

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Home | World | Africa | Zec turns down demand for external auditors

THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has turned down demands by opposition political parties and civil society groups to hire external chartered accountants to audit the voters' roll ahead of this year's elections.

Zec chairperson, Priscilla Chigumba confirmed yesterday that she spurned the request after parties and other interest groups raised the issue of engaging accountants to audit the voters' roll, with the commission bearing the cost during a stakeholders' consultative meeting in Nyanga last week.

She said according to the law, such an act was not allowed and anyone who wishes to audit the voters' roll was free to do so at their own cost provided they are a registered election participant.

"The request was made that Zec undertakes an audit of the voters' roll by engaging chartered accountants and our response was that, the auditing of the voters' roll was provided for in the law and as Zec, we shall produce a provisional voters' roll, which shall be subjected to the electorate for inspection and correction.

"This is an audit that is provided for by the law.

"So, anyone, who wants to have the voters' roll audited, even in America or anywhere, they are free to come and collect the roll and do the audit on their own and bring matters that they would have noted for correction," Chigumba said.

She said parties had wanted the exercise to be done by a team of professionals, but that was not provided for in the law.

"The law has sufficient mechanisms to ensure we have a clean voters' roll.

"Those who wanted this move were saying it has been done in Kenya, we should also do it.

"Our response was that we must follow what is provided for in the Constitution," the Zec boss said.

The issue of a clean voters' roll has been a bone of contestation in previous elections with opposition parties alleging that the electoral body, together with Zanu PF, was deliberately manipulating the roll for its selfish agenda.

Chigumba said during the inspection period, registered voters, who wish to change their addresses or correct spellings of their names would be allowed to do so and this to her, was an audit process, which if done comprehensively, would lead to a clean, credible voters' roll.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the United Nations Development Programme, political parties, civic groups, and chiefs' representatives, independent constitutional bodies as well as the police election commandant.

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Home | World | Africa | Mnangagwa creating Zimbabwe's destiny, seeks good fortune

For over two decades, Zimbabwe has literally been in isolation, where the rest of the world was not keen on engaging the country especially on investment matters. No country is an island, especially with globalisation, Zimbabwe has a great need to be satisfied, through engagement, for it to realise economic growth, industrialisation and technological advancement.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, after his inauguration, went on several visits to SADC countries and engaged with other Heads of State, giving assurance on the need for cooperation and coordination with other neighbouring countries, especially considering that Zimbabwe does trade with these States. ED's mantra that "Zimbabwe is open for business" has the potential to assure foreign investors that their investment are safe under his administration.

In the same manner, locals who have migrated to neighbouring countries are given equal assurance to take more interests in investing back home and guarantee the prosperity of our mother nation.

Detractors who have recently been in the habit of criticising reengagements efforts being undertaken by President Mnangagwa should be reminded that with little or no investment, integration and association with various partners, Zimbabwe will remain on its knees with no development to look forward to. Cooperation from developed countries and those already ahead of Zimbabwe in different aspects would contribute immensely towards the future of the country.

The same detractors should look beyond counting the number of times the aeroplane flies in and out but think of the accumulated benefits that come back with the travels. If one were to even count, the notable visits that the Head of State has been on include the visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, AU meeting in Kigali, Rwanda and his recent visit to China and these have a traceable record of the positive outcome that will benefit the country.

After the historic commissioning of the $535 million expansion of the Kariba South Power station by Sino-hydro, a Chinese company, President Mnangagwa proceeded to China for a State visit. China has been Zimbabwe's all time weather friend, where vast investment opportunities have opened up through the cordial relationship that the two countries enjoy.

Critiques should also note that the visits that President Mnangagwa has been on, are worth more, in terms of monetary value, as these have presented opportunities to unlock the investment potential that the President has also been on a drive to propagate to key markets. In any given case, the cost of setting up a business, any business in efforts to realise huge profits or outcomes is always expensive. One cannot expect economic recovery or a country to thrive when it is in isolation from other economic players and does not make efforts to borrow from those countries that have already made strides ahead.

The country is at a time where it has to adopt and borrow ideas from developed and or developing countries as models to use with the intention to set the country on a recovery path. Recently, President Mnangagwa was in Kigali, Rwanda, for the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) where he commended Rwanda for realising a rapid industrialisation growth that Zimbabwe can adopt from.

The idea of special economic zones is also one that was borrowed from China, after realising that the country benefits more by identifying viable economic projects identified in different localities and maximising for best outcomes. Another commendable visit that is bearing fruits has been the re-engagement with Botswana and Zambia over the Kazungula Bridge, a gateway to SADC's North South Corridor, which upon completion will enhance intra-trade in the region and beyond.

President Mnangagwa has made minimal international visits, and unlike his predecessor, there has been a drastic cut on the entourage accompanying the Head of State taking into consideration the financial strain on the fiscus.

At this point, it would be commendable for President Mnangagwa to continue on this reengagement path as positives are already visible on the ground. Ideas and models are borrowed, the same that can be used to develop the country and it is in such a manner that the President is seeking partnership through regional and international integration. The President is creating the country's destiny, knocking on doors that will eventually open to reveal good fortunes being sought after.

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West Virginia is testing a secure military mobile voting solution for military service members who cant vote in person. It will become the first such state to test mobile voting by blockchain in a federal election

. Secretary of State Mac Warner has declared the launch of a secure military mobile voting solution for the upcoming May 8th primary election. This is a pilot project and will at first be restricted to two counties, namely Harrison County and Monongalia County. With this move deployed and enlisted military voters will have the ability to vote using the new system beginning Friday, March 23, 2018, until the point when polls are closed on primary election day on May 8, 2018. All that they need to cast their vote is a regular Apple or Android smartphone and approved State or Federal ID.

The objective of this venture is to offer a secure military mobile voting solution that is irrefutable, straightforward, and more secure and open than currently available mobile voting system. It will at first be constrained to military voters who are overseas to vote in Harrison and Monongalia counties. In any case, the state intends to extend the program to each of the 55 counties in the upcoming November general election if this pilot project proves fruitful.

This pilot venture is the first of its kind in the United States. Warner said in a statement West Virginia is taking the lead in providing safe, secure and accurate voting systems to encourage voter participation at every level. The move likely comes amid renewed voting scrutiny over the 2016 presidential election with Warner saying Were working hard to increase the level of confidence citizens have in our election process. Increased confidence results in increased participation.

This safe military portable voting pilot venture is a joint effort between the Office of the Secretary of State of West Virginia, Voatz, Tusk/Montgomery Philanthropies, New America and the Blockchain Trust Accelerator. Voatz is the sole supplier planning the versatile voting stage. It is an award winning innovation startup situated in Boston MA. Its creative and exceptionally secure mobile voting stage has been utilized by more than 70,000 voters in different elections and voting occasions in numerous purviews including a few pilot ventures such as town meeting voting and participatory budget voting. The Voatz app centers around providing cutting-edge security close by a simple to use interface that empowers voters to make their voices heard in a free and open way.

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No ones counting the program as a success yet. For the program to be utilized, military voters in the two counties need to apply for unique non-attendant status and download the protected application on an Apple or Android telephone or tablet.

West Virginia state capitol image from Shutterstock.



The post West Virginia Becomes First state to Implement Blockchain Mobile Voting Solution appeared first on CCN.


Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - A boat carrying dozens of Rohingya from Myanmar arrived in Malaysia Tuesday and the refugees will be allowed to enter the country, but an expert played down fears of a new exodus.

It has been rare for Rohingya migrants to attempt the sea routes south since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015, sparking a crisis across Southeast Asia as large numbers were abandoned at sea.

But there have been concerns desperate migrants might start taking to the high seas again after mainly Buddhist Myanmar launched a new crackdown last year that forced about 700,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh.

Malaysian authorities intercepted the Rohingya boat off the northwestern island of Langkawi, after it was first spotted at the weekend off Thailand, said navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin.

"All 56 passengers, mostly children and women, are safe but tired and hungry," said the navy chief.

"We have provided them with water, food and other humanitarian assistance. The boat and its passengers will be handed over... to the immigration authorities."

The coastguard said there were 19 men, 17 women, 12 girls and eight boys on the boat.

- 'End of sailing season' -

The navy and coastguard had stepped up patrols around Langkawi -- where Rohingya have come ashore in the past -- after the boat was spotted of Thailand's west coast at the weekend and its passengers said they were trying to reach Malaysia.

Chris Lewa, of Rohingya advocacy group the Arakan Project, said the vessel was thought to have left a week ago from the Rakhine state capital Sittwe. But she did not expect many more to be following.

"April is the end of the sailing season so we don't expect many boats now," Lewa told AFP.

The 2015 crisis began when Thailand discovered mass graves in a human-trafficking camp along its southern border and launched a crackdown on the brutal networks that ferry migrants to Malaysia.

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Unable to offload their human cargo in Thailand anymore, traffickers abandoned them at sea in large numbers, leaving them trapped on boats with little food and water.

Images of emaciated Rohingya pleading for help from overcrowded boats drew global condemnation, and forced Indonesia and Malaysia to allow hundreds of Rohingya to come ashore after initially refusing.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a favourite destination for Rohingya, as the country is relatively affluent and authorities are sympathetic to their plight.

Tens of thousands have been allowed into the country, where they toil in low-skilled industries such as agriculture and construction -- earning low wages and with little hope for the future.

The situation is however much worse for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled the latest crackdown in their homeland.

They are living in cramped and often squalid conditions in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, where many Rohingya who fled previous waves of persecution are already living.

An agreement to repatriate Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar's Rakhine state has yet to see a single refugee returned.
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump congratulated Egyptian former general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on securing another four years as president, hailing the "strategic partnership" between the two countries Monday.

The White House said Trump and Sisi spoke by phone after the Egyptian president won 97 percent of the vote against Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a man who, until recently, led a campaign for his re-election.

"President Trump congratulated President Al Sisi on his reelection," the White House said in a statement.

"The two leaders affirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt, and noted that they look forward to advancing this partnership and addressing common challenges."

Trump has repeatedly bucked Washington norms since coming to office, congratulating foreign leaders on elections that his own officials say were dubious, unfair or rigged.

The United States and Egypt have long-standing security ties, but those ties have been tested in recent years as Sisi has moved to shut down political debate.

Sisi, who as army chief ousted Egypt's first freely elected president Islamist Mohamed Morsi after mass street protests in 2013, won his first term in 2014 with 96.9 percent of valid votes.

Sisi's serious rivals this time round had withdrawn from the race, been sidelined or detained.

The State Department earlier noted "reports of constraints on freedoms of expression and association in the run-up to the elections."

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States would "encourage respect for and protection of basic rights and freedoms."

"We will continue to encourage a broadening of opportunities for political participation for Egyptians, and emphasize the importance of the protection of human rights and the vital role of civil society in Egypt."
Yall see Richard painter drag Hugh Hewitt on MSNBC? It was glorious. Lewk it up on twitter imo

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I did lol. He was righteously pissed

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Yep, the sudden shift in Stephanie's posture when she realizes he's about to drag Hugh, lol. I fucking can't stand Hugh and his ugly glasses.

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Richard Painter just went off on Hugh Hewitt over Scott Pruitt's unethical behavior and I'm here for it. pic.twitter.com/BdPtPCb0Iy  Adam Best (@adamcbest) April 2, 2018

I was just watching it on twitter a few minutes ago. RIP Hugh

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I'm so embarrassed for Hugh and so here for that verbal punch in the dick Richard just gave him



Edited at 2018-04-03 12:59 am (UTC)

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Richard Painter is the best. I really don't know why he won't caucus with the Dems because he's been so brutal against the Republicans.

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This shit is all going down in Mueller's file. There's already been links made between Sinclair management and the Trump camp.

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Boris Epshteyn went from the campaign and administration straight to Sinclair.

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Tomorrow is sentencing day - the Dutch lawyer who was close with/lied for Gates & Manafort will be the first person officially sentenced in the Mueller investigation. 

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A Sinclair journalist, who has been trying to resist from inside the newsroom  but who doesnt have a union  explains why its so hard for TV anchors to refuse the Sinclairs editorial edicts. They have contracts that penalize them if they quit. pic.twitter.com/pFGVglxAQU  Matt Pearce  (@mattdpearce) April 2, 2018





A former Sinclair journalist sent me a screenshot of their contract. I couldn't leave because of this part of my contract. pic.twitter.com/ePCnUCbzs0  Matt Pearce  (@mattdpearce) April 2, 2018





This part really jumps out at me: This Sinclair contract says the TV station can fire this journalist if they become disabled and can't "present a pleasant personal appearance and a strong, agreeable voice pic.twitter.com/B55GHG7elv  Matt Pearce  (@mattdpearce) April 2, 2018





A lot of people are curious about this, so a former Sinclair journalist sent me a Sinclair contract. Here are the parts about quitting/getting fired. (See that clause about politics? It forbids employees from expressing their personal political views, but not their employer's.) pic.twitter.com/doFwbdl239  Matt Pearce  (@mattdpearce) April 2, 2018





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"It forbids employees from expressing their personal political views, but not their employer's"





That's all sorts of messed up.

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OMG I don't know what that all means but it sounds terrible.

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Why regulation and organized labor is important.

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They can be fired for becoming disabled? Isn't that illegal, regardless of the contract they sign? WTF is this company?

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Especially if this isn't a "work at will" job.

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Attorneys have been coming forward and claiming that there are parts of these contracts that are unenforceable, and they're offering their services. I can't speak for that, or for them, but I hope that any employee wanting out are able to do so with minimal financial damage.



But, I mean, it's still a fucking mess. No wonder half of the anchors in these clips look like hostages.

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Interesting. Mika Brzezinski should read this, she was going off on these anchors this morning over it.

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This Sinclair contract says the TV station can fire this journalist if they become disabled and can't "present a pleasant personal appearance and a strong, agreeable voice



how is this legal

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When that John Oliver piece ran last year, I was legit stunned that this was a thing, but now it's only getting worse? Super.

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My new hero is the cameraman who kept the Easter Bunny in frame to give these comments their properly insane context. https://t.co/vPc4Q3zym7  Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) April 2, 2018





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This is phenomenal

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OMFG - the weekend before the 2016 election a local news station did a special report with this neckbeard whinging about people being so judgemental about him wanting to vote for Trump and how he felt that the big ol bad libruhlz that "control" my home state (the reddest of states, LoL) were being oppressive and prejudiced against him endorsing Trump's hate speech and I literally screamed out loud because I couldn't believe something that heavy handed was real and my family has been talking about it ever since. Finding out that news station is owned by Sinclair has me gagging, LMAO.

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"says the TV station can fire this journalist if they become disabled"



How is this not a lawsuit already??

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John Oliver's piece about it was amazing as always but also fucking terrifying. I know some channels try to resist this shit and broadcast these pieces at times like 1am-4am but it seems that's happening less :/

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shit is creepy

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LMAO THE BUNNY IS KILLING ME. Just looking at the still (I can't listen to Trump anymore) is cracking me up, poor dude in the suit lol.

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Omg I know, that bunnys gonna be the death of me lol

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lolll That rabbit made the video. I had to watch it on mute of course. Do we think Sessions was in the suit?

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I'm laughing so hard.



Because like, Trump thought 'you know what the kids would love to hear about? MILITARY SPENDING. KIDS LOVE THAT.'

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Sean Spicer, HEW?

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that bunny looks just as shocked the see tr*mp in the WH as the rest of us

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Lmao the expression on that bunny while standing next to trumpits hilariously apropos.

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I havent seen this video but Melania looks like she is paralysed and the bunny reminds me Donnie Darko.

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From my understanding these news achors had to read fake news and be pro trump?

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correct. and it seems they have no choice.

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Sinclair bought KTLA? SMH.



Oh well. KCAL >>>> anyway.

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Not yet

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Dying at him signing off with namaste

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probably doesn't know the difference between India and Indonesia. smh

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Prob thinks India is short for Indonesia lbr

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same

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i legit facepalmed lol

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I swear to God...

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I legit gasped

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mte what a fool

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HOnestly, I wish this fool knew how goddamn stupid he sounded.





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mte

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mte. what a dumbass.

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I once went to a Chinese restaurant that was rated highly on Yelp and it was DISGUSTING and then I looked closer and realised the reviews were from all these nice old white people lol and have been careful since

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A good Chinese restaurant should never be rated more than 3.5 stars tbh. Unless youre in China

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Wow, people really rely on yelp?

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I recently read a yelp review where a white girl complained that there was too much rice in her kimchee fried rice. Liiiiike okay.

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learned my lesson the hard way lol

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lmao yesss

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You cant trust ratings anymore, theyre easy to hack. The best weed delivery in my city has a horrible rating like 3/5 but it has the best weed for cheap, with fast delivery and heybdont bait and switch. Oh but the drivers are black so...

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MTE especially when I'm looking for good Peruvian restaurants it's so hard because most options are like ridiculously overpriced restaurants that change the food to cater to white yuppie palates. Like Ive been to so many places and found ONE buffet that tastes legit but the options are limited and it is pricey for the small selection but it tastes like my families cooking. Tons of yelp reviews are "it isn't spicy enough!!!" Like Peruvian isn't really known for being spicy??

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The "it's too spicy!" Reviews kills me

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My personal favorite was some gringa on Yelp was outraged that a Mexican taqueria charged her extra to add lettuce, tomato, and sour cream to her tacos.

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Right? No puedo.

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The twirled things are fried eggs.



what are the parts that look like kimchi?



i assume you're asking about the "udang masak merah". those are prawns



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Correction. It's omelette but i blanked out on that word and said fried egg instead. oops

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She served it with prawns sambal, anchovies and sliced omelette. Mmmm.

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Usually in its base form it's served with coconut rice, hard boiled/fried egg, peanuts, cucumber, anchovies, and a chilli paste (sambal).



She used and omelette instead + sambal prawns + ayam (chicken) rendang, which isn't unfamiliar where I'm from at all! Some even have it with fried chicken... basically you can add anything to it! I personally like to add a sunny side up egg with the yolk still nice and gooey...

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the audacity of this caucasity my god

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Omg at him saying Namaste to Malaysians and Indonesians lmfao



What kind of white dumbassery

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Namaste? Racist little twit.

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This is great for her. She better ride this controversy all the way to the cookbook bank

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Right? The judges comments were ridiculous but hopefully the publicity will greatly benefit her

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agreed especially since anyone with half a brain is on her side

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srsly, I want this to be her big break tbh LOL it's the only consolation.

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Its what she deserves. The caucasity!

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I served him once when I was a waitress. /CSB



This is all embarrassing for him but that namaste comment really tops it off.

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Where do ueven get off telling someone how to cook their own cusine like tf

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Of course he would. He assumes he knows best because hes a famous chef/ white man . I remember Gordon Ramsey doing a show touring India where he managed to critique how the women prepared the food. Annoying af.

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that judge looks exactly like i thought he would

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how joe bastianich of him!



bastianich, another mastchef judge, implied european food is more refined than asian food. he made some other racist and bizarre remarks about chinese people, too. he asked what chinese people do with their dead because he's never seen a dead chinese person before. 





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what the hell

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yeah, he also talks about chinese men having "defects" and being "inadequate" TO chinese women in a nail salon and corrects the way they speak.

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there was some dude on HK who said rice is poor people food so he doesn't serve it at restaurants too



white people need to be stopped

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Lmao do they dump dead ppl out the window where this guy lives?

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racist AND disturbing, what an asshole

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I hate him so much. On MasterChef, he clearly favors the people who cook Italian dishes because that's his favorite type of cuisine. I remember an episode when Christine, the blind woman who won, was the captain of the team and the judges were discussing which roles/duties each member should take and Joe said Christine should be in coat check because she couldn't see and was a liability.





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so many of these cooking shows are so racist with the way they treat asian food as a monolith but wouldn't dream of doing that for european cuisine. i still get mad when i think of the way beverly was treated on top chef. "i don't want our food to be too asian! do you hear me?? too asian!!"



i once got into an argument with someone when i said how dumb it was to treat asian food as somehow less diverse than italian food and the person started going on and on about how diverse italian food was bc northern italy is different from southern italy, blah blah blah. yeah, and that's just ONE country. you seriously think that italy somehow contains more cuisine diversity than an entire fucking continent? or hey, even just china?? give me a fucking break.

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I hate Joe.

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Was that why he was fired from the show and replaced with a much more kinder chef?

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I just took the deepesr sigh. Fuckkkkkkkk himmmm

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oh ol nepotism bastianich. he's an asshole.

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"he's never seen a dead Chinese person before" ?????? I've never seen a dead white person before but i don't doubt they exist nor do i question what other white ppl do with their dead.

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oh my fucking god

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I hate him so, so much. Like flames on the side of my face level of hatred.

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I been thought he was trash. Now I'm justified in my hatred.

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JFC



It can take years to master even one REGION of Chinese cooking at a proper chef's level.

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he's sf elitist fhakgdhdf I hope one contestant has enough & punches him into his dried italian walnuts

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european food is more refined than asian food



Lol @ "refined". Replace that with "bland" and that's the truth

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Joe is garbage so that really isn't surprising



His mom seems such like such a nice lady and like watching her show on PBS and to think of her crappy son makes me smh

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I didn't even realize he was related to Lidia. He's such a dick

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Oh, I hate him so fucking much. His elitism, dickishness and racism is so unappealing. I hate that they brought him back this season on MC Junior.

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what a dipshit. how do you even say "i cant eat the chicken the skin isn't crispy and there's sauce" as an adult and not feel embarrassed.

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lol brits and their ugly children thinking they can judge food

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Hes not British...

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gregg is and i said "their children" (read: australians)

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ugly delicious did a bunch of really good episodes on how white people look at foreign food and it's opened my eyes to how many white guys think they know more about the cuisine of someone's culture than them.

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I watch a ton of cooking shows and it never fails that when shows go looking for experts on "ethnic cuisine" they dig up some white guy. Oh, and when they do competitive cooking, somehow the white guy's version is always "more authentic" than a person from that culture. The cooking world looooves its white male 'experts.'

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I couldnt make it past the first episode with the pretentious Brooklyn pizza man being like, people who dont ~~*~know real pizza are ok with Dominos because its what they know, like I go to an authentic Chinese restaurant and it tastes terrible! like excuse? What a way to show your ignorance.

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My favorite was when they went over MSG and the one guy tried to be like "oh yeah I'm totally getting a headache from smelling these chips" lying HARD AF to not seem racist

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A large part of the series was checking pretentious authenticity puritans (while simultaneously going in on racism and ignorance), even ones Chang considered his friends.



The guy you're talking about was showing his ass, but that was sort of the point.



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Yup I like that doc.

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That episode where they talked about how Asian/Chinese food was looked down on because it was perceived as 'dirty'.



Like, holy shit. As a Chinese person (from Malaysia), it wasn't something that I realized/thought of until now, mostly because I've lived in countries that have significant Chinese populations and have a lot of upmarket, banquet-style Chinese food places. But it made so much sense when they brought it up in Ugly Delicious. I always saw food as this unifying factor, crossing racial barriers, mostly because that's what it is in Malaysia.

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Omg yes. I haven't finished all episodes but I was reading some reviews on their Facebook and people (you know who) were so mad because he brought in ~racial politics. I mean, I thought it was a new perspective on food, it's really good.



If you want to watch a food/cooking show, just watch ANYTHING else.

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That show has such an element? Interesting! I just scrolled by it because it just seemed like a show where people can't cook, lol. I'll have to give it a shot.

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looks trashy and terrible. ill be watching this in a few years and theres nothing else on tv and USA or TBS is airing it.

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Well that's that I'll slide in as credits roll to complete the just watched a movie feels.

Nexx

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im actually so terrible with mimicking people's voices. I once accidentally started speaking with a Japanese accent :( It just comes out!!!

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I have the same awful habit of unconsciously mimicking the accent/inflections of the people I'm speaking with. I never realized it until my current boyfriend started calling me out on it & it is MORTIFYING.

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Lol. I definitely notice I absorb phrases/inflections of the people I talk to but I try not to use them with the originator for this very reason

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I did this once with a girl from England. I slipped into this horrible British accent when I was speaking with her. Once I realized it, I was mortified, but she never said anything.

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i laughed at the end?

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They say the GED test is insanely difficult to pass

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That is a lie. I had bad anxiety in high school and dropped out in tenth grade (after skipping most of the last two years- so basically an eight grade education) and passed it on my first time no problem at eighteen without studying and went to community college after. I wasn't in gifted classes and didn't do well in school but I was an avid reader and did take time to research individually things I didn't know.

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I took mine yeeeears ago when it was so simple right after I dropped out of high school (like most very young Transwomen of my era often did). It was interesting to see news reports that the test had change to be far more difficult and expensive.

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Have you seen the new test though? They have made it much harder to pass. My mother best friend teaches at a facility that helps people pass the GED and a lot of people end up failing it and having to pay to take it again.

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I swear to god, my faves pick the absolute dumbest projects.

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mte :/

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lol look funny. tbh! Bite my face mama Tiff!

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I dont think Ive ever laughed so hard at a preview!

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i want this to be v successful bc i want tiffany to become a big star

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Still isn't the stupidest thing one of my faves has or will be in this year.



Not watching this tho I can't stand Kevin Hart outside of voice work.

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Will watch for Tiffany

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I'd watch this movie for Megalyn Echikunwoke alone, TBQH.





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How do you pronounce her last name? I've been wondering since Supernatural

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Tiffany and Kevin are going to try and top each other on how annoying they can be in the name of "comedy".

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I've seen it said there is both a man in full body armor and a woman from people in the YT headquarters. So, two shooters I guess?

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Maybe. I can't figure it out and since the Las Vegas shooting where they said there were multiple shooters in various hotels, it's hard to believe everything

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it's really common for people to think there are more than one even if there isn't. memories are weird things

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ABC tweeted that the shooter is a white woman

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There's always a lot of misinformation when news first breaks because every news outlet is scrambling to get live coverage.

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This sounds scary.



Twitter is no help as usual. There are reports that the shooter is a woman and others that the shooter is a man. Then another report that it's turned into a hostage situation and a negotiator was sent in.



I can believe none of it until credible sources say something

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There's supposedly a livestream video from this morning where a guy threatened to do this today so it seems like a lot of people are leaning towards him, but yeah. One supposed convo between a hostage said the shooter is female but then two supposed convos between hostages suggest it's a man. The internet is awful for things like this.

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It's really hard to believe things.



Then it's weird that this ISN'T trending on twitter

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Yeah. I'm seeing pictures of two different men now. *sigh*

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Yea all of the speculation and then people not waiting for confirmation and just putting random info out there. It's dangerous.

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I already saw people on twitter saying it's a Muslim woman and shitty Allah puns because she was supposedly wearing a scarf. You know, nevermind that it's winter and always cold in the bay area.

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That's absolutely terrifying. I hope everyone escapes. I can't even imagine, its one of my biggest fears because of where I work.

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Oh fuck. And the fact this is in the Bay is blowing my mind.

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Usually it's pretty mellow out here but ever since Tehama shooter incident I became very worried.

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The seemingly non-existent gun laws in NV and AZ fuck over CA. This is coming from someone who hates the scary gun culture here in AZ.

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Exactly. State laws do fuck all when there arent stringent federal laws in place.

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When I visited Sedona of all places I was in a 7-11 and saw a customer with a giant gun on his waist. Scared the shit out of me.

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I'm in the Bay Area and I had a former co-worker who talked about how her husband would go out of state to get his "toys" and it was infuriating how casually she talked about it.



Edited at 2018-04-03 09:08 pm (UTC)

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As someone who lives in Chicago, I rage at Indiana all the time. Illinois strict gun laws mean nothing when you drive less then 45 mins to get whatever you want.

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Yup. I lived in Chicago for a long time and everyone always uses it as the ~lol strict gun laws don't work~ example well, no shit they don't work when Indiana is less than an hour's drive away.

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Same! My coworker lives two blocks away, she's over here getting updates from her 18 yo son....





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Holy shit o_o

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I'm not too far from there. This shit is so scary.

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i a constantly disheartened at the fact that this is our normal world

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awaiting people to assume who the shooter is without knowing all the facts and tacking on their personal political agendas when people have been harmed -_-

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Somebody already posted a video of 'the shooter' even though no concrete info is available

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If your political agenda is to prevent this from happening you can push it anytime you want as far as I'm concerned.

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yikes, my original comment was not specific enough, i apologize.



gun control is always important to discuss, what i meant was people speculating the shooter's race, religion, political affiliation, etc.

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There's already people posting rumours above you

Seriously people wait until the suspect is confirmed by authorities before spreading shit, speculation accomplishes nothing

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a friend who works with the YouTube team said they saw two people shot - such a scary AF situation

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Oh No :/

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that's frightening. i hope they both wind up being okay. :(

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Oh fuck. :(

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So terrifying, I wonder if this is another shooter from Nevada.

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I read that they have taken some victims to the hospital but it didn't discuss their injuries :(

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How soon until we learn "Shooters were inspired by alt-right youtubers."

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Dang

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also, omg...there are already tweets from people saying this is staged by David Hogg and other gun control activists. what the fuck are these people thinking?

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i can't....

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Those people are gross af

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disgusting

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the obsession with David Hogg is really worrisome.

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seriously. i've seen multiple posts about how people want to shoot him. i feel like some of those kids should get heavy security detail if they haven't already. people are absolutely insane.

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yeah I'm legit scared for him

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I'm kind of glad his dad is a former FBI agent, I'm hope he's got some level of security.

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They messed with the wrong kid.

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Oh god.

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wow

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it's weird to me that he's the one they focus on. he's the most conservative of all of the kids tbh he's quoting ronald reagan and stuff.

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I'm excited about this. Love magical realism and have been in love with Del Toro's work since I saw the devil's backbone when I was 7

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I need to sit down and watch his films one of these days. He was so cute on Kimmel after the oscars.

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you really should. the man is literally magic behind the camera.

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please. please give me at the mountains of madness.

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Thats stuck at Universal

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I'm excited about this

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somebody got their blank check! hire more Mexican actors for your next films GDT

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I looooove this!

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Wasn't this what GDT almost had with the Universal ~Darque Universe~ till Universal chickened out?



And then they refused to let del Toro use the Creature from the Black Lagoon for a flipped-around version of the story, so he just made a generic water man and won the Oscar for The Shape of Water?



Keep making good decisions, universal. Now that the Dark Universe has crumbled to pieces, maybe you can find some way to lose the Fast and Furious franchise and continue your string of fuckups.

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GDT had an overall deal with Universal and Sony in the past. I think with Universal he did almost nothing except Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim.



I doubt they refused his vision for Creature, if anything they've been trying to get that project off the ground for year but there's way too many politics with Creature and many of the Monsters from Universal. Dark Universe was a STUPID ASS strategy of turning the monsters into heroes. Completely stupid.

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What happened with him and his wife? I was kinda shocked to see him with that young, blonde woman at the Oscars.

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They divorced. That blonde lady is some screenwriter that worked with him. I don't think he announced his divorce until he showed up with her at the Oscar

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I hope all the "new voices" aren't a bunch more bland white male writers/directors/producers. Get some women and more poc, del Toro.

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If I'm not mistaken, DelToro's had overall deals with several studios like Universal and Sony Pictures in the past.



I love GDT But he's not very motivated and often over stretches himself when it comes to projects.



Edited at 2018-04-03 11:08 pm (UTC)

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I don't care about Felicity but i love Keri so here for this.

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I love this show despite typically JJ, it went off the rails by the last season. Also, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend showed how the premise, in hindsight, was problematic af. And that if it was gender-flipped like that new show, it's absolutely definitely problematic af to the nth level.



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I re-watched it like a year or two ago, and the final season is absolutely bananas. There was that weird episode in black and white that was all in that box Meaghan had or something?

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That was a Twilight Zone tribute episode and it was season 2. Season 4 only went cucoo-bananas for the last 5 episodes when Felicity traveled back in time but they were pretty fun, harmless episodes. Season 4 without those time-travel episodes are moreso the same as every other episode after season 1.

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Yeah, and the witchy time travel lol

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Omg that b&w episode made me stop my initial dvd binge of the series... I was sooooo irrationally annoyed by that ep! It took me YEARS to go back and finish.

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Felicity was amazing seasons 1-3 and then season 4 was INSANE. You'd think JJ would keep his supernatural time-travel stuff out of a COLLEGE show but noooope.

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I can't believe we're just never going to see those curls again

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Isn't the other Scott more popular? Does he not have a tag?

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I tried to tag him and all that popped up was Scott Disick :(

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Scott Foley? Meh. Scott Foley has more consistent paychecks and he has a notable role on huge network TV show (Scandal) but I wouldn't necessarily say that he's more popular than Scott Speedman. For example, the media hyped the shit out of Speedman's return to television with The Last Resort as well as Animal Kingdom. And Speedman's recurring role on Grey's Anatomy received a lot more buzz than Foley's.

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Anyway.... I didn't really like Felicity. The whole idea of her following a guy to college turned me off. In reality she'd be deemed a stalker.

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It taught my high school self to not follow a boy to university, and for that, I am glad.

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I really wish he had not been a part of the show once she got to New York, fine as he is. That would have been so much better if she just went the lemonade out of lemons route instead.

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haha true...but I loved how in the first seasons, she was finding herself and who she wanted to be.

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I love Felicity. That show was my jam in high school. I also love The Americans and wish I could go to this. I will watch anything Keri Russell is in.

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Hows her hair going to be?

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Some storylines I remember:

-Felicity working at Dean and Deluca

-Felicity plagiarizing an art essay

-Julie getting raped by a guy she taught how to do laundry

-That roommate with all the kooky startup ideas

-Meaghan the goth roommate turning nice by the end



I should probably do a re-watch at some point, I haven't seen it since probably 2005.



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I'm currently rewatching and it holds up pretty well.

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Julie getting raped by a guy she taught how to do laundry

I remember that only because it was Brian from my so called life.

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yesss this was such a good era of tv on the WB

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UGH iconic. I miss the WB.

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ngl i've immersed myself in the 2000s WB again with listening to buffering the vampire slayer podcast (which i'm not rewatching), rewatching my old grosse pointe and popular discs

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Ben was the worst. idk what Felicity saw in him.

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I really liked the original theme song and still have an mp3 of it.







Not here for the "new version of you" song they had when she got the haircut.

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Felicity and Friday Night Lights are two of the only shows that I can think of right off the bat where I never fast-forwarded the opening themes.

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I love a good opening theme.

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I choreographed my final for beginning dance in college to this, lol. It was tragic!

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i love felicity so much idk why, it was one of my fav shows when i was younger

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I went through all the seasons of Felicity in a week and it was such a trip. I enjoyed it but there were just some banana plots.

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I hated that her parents were, like, right about everything in the end. Like, no, show, that's not fun.

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Don't really care about this, because I was one of those assholes who quit watching shortly after she cut her hair. I do have a Felicity-adjacent story, though - I saw Scott Speedman irl a few years ago, going on a hike in LA, and he was hot af. I would have never noticed him but my friend from out of town started freaking out and sure enough, it was him.

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Anchorage, State Partner to Increase Felony Prosecutions

"Public safety is our top priority, and we are finding new ways to cooperate across state and municipal lines for the benefit of all Anchorage residents," Mayor Ethan Berkowitz said. "This effort is made possible by the growth of the Anchorage Police Department and the willingness of the prosecuting agencies to adopt innovative solutions in the face of the state fiscal crisis."

Mayor Ethan Berkowitz of Anchorage, Alaska, and Alaska Gov. Bill Walker recently announced a "strategic partnership" of the Anchorage District Attorney's Office, the Municipal Prosecutor's Office, and the Anchorage Police Department will increase prosecution of felonies in Anchorage, particularly for domestic violence and property offenses. They said this effort is a new way to leverage existing state and local resources in Alaska's most populous city.

"The State of Alaska and Municipality of Anchorage have limited resources but a shared mission to improve public safety," Walker said. "We can accomplish this better by working together, especially when it comes to domestic violence cases. This new collaboration will help build a safer Alaska."

"Public safety is our top priority, and we are finding new ways to cooperate across state and municipal lines for the benefit of all Anchorage residents," Berkowitz agreed. "This effort is made possible by the growth of the Anchorage Police Department and the willingness of the prosecuting agencies to adopt innovative solutions in the face of the state fiscal crisis."

Currently, the State Department of Law prosecutes all felonies that occur in Anchorage and throughout Alaska. The Municipal Prosecutor's Office prosecutes misdemeanor offenses and has special expertise in prosecuting domestic violence offenses. To increase the number of felony domestic violence and felony property crime prosecutions, the city will provide two police officers to serve as investigators within the Anchorage District Attorney's Office.

"These positions will improve the quality and efficiency of our investigations, making Anchorage safer," said Chief Justin Doll.

A state-funded municipal prosecutor will also be cross-designated as a special assistant district attorney for these prosecutions.
CSB Meeting This Week on Recommendations Program, Audits

The board also will consider and possibly vote on a proposed change to Board Order 022, the CSB Recommendations Program, which is how the independent agency hopes to prevent serious accidents. Recommendations are included in CSB final reports.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board will hold a public business meeting April 4 at its Washington, D.C., headquarters, starting at 1 p.m. EDT.

The agency's said the board members will discuss open investigations, the status of inspector general audits, financial and organizational updates, and a review of the agency's action plan. The board also will consider and possibly vote on a proposed change to Board Order 022, the CSB Recommendations Program, which is how the independent agency hopes to prevent serious accidents. Recommendations are included in CSB final reports.

New business during this meeting may include a discussion and release of an animation related to CSB's investigation of the February 2017 Packaging Corporation of America incident in DeRidder, La. Three contractors were killed and seven contractors were injured in an explosion at the Packaging Corporation of America facility there on Feb. 8, 2017; the workers were conducting hot work activities near a tank that contained a flammable atmosphere and ultimately exploded.
U.S. Steel Settles CWA Case Involving Wastewater Spill

A consent decree was filed in federal district court in the Northern District of Indiana that requires U.S. Steel to pay more than $600,000 as a civil penalty and to reimburse EPA and the National Park Service for response costs incurred after an April 2017 spill of wastewater containing hexavalent chromium that entered a waterway flowing into Lake Michigan.

U.S. Steel Corp. has agreed to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and Indiana law by improving the wastewater processing monitoring system at its steel manufacturing and finishing facility in Portage, Ind., which is known as the Midwest Plant. The U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Indiana announced April 2 that the company had agreed to a settlement and a consent decree was filed in federal district court in the Northern District of Indiana that requires U.S. Steel to pay more than $600,000 as a civil penalty and to reimburse EPA and the National Park Service for response costs incurred after an April 2017 spill of wastewater containing hexavalent chromium that entered a waterway flowing into Lake Michigan. U.S. Steel also will pay costs to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for assessing natural resource damage due to the spill and will pay damages to the Park Service resulting from the closure of several beaches along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore after the spill.

The company has agreed to resolve allegations under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) by implementing a detailed protocol to notify relevant state and local authorities about any future spill from its Portage facility to the ground or water.

"Lake Michigan and the surrounding waterways are treasured resources worthy of protection from harmful pollution. Today's settlement with U.S. Steel appropriately penalizes the company for last year's wastewater spill, recoups the government's response costs and other losses, and requires significant actions by the company to prevent toxic spills like this from occurring again," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "This settlement is a prime example of how federal and state counterparts can work hand in hand to enforce environmental laws to protect the health of our citizens and the environment."
A boat carrying dozens of Rohingya from Myanmar arrived in Malaysia Tuesday and the refugees will be allowed to enter the country, but an expert played down fears of a new exodus. It has been rare for Rohingya migrants to attempt the sea routes south since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015, sparking a crisis across Southeast Asia as large numbers were abandoned at sea. But there have been concerns desperate migrants might start taking to the high seas again after mainly Buddhist Myanmar launched a new crackdown last year that forced about 700,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh. Malaysian authorities intercepted the Rohingya boat off the northwestern island of Langkawi, after it was first spotted at the weekend off Thailand, said navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin. "All 56 passengers, mostly children and women, are safe but tired and hungry," said the navy chief. "We have provided them with water, food and other humanitarian assistance. The boat and its passengers will be handed over... to the immigration authorities." The coastguard said there were 19 men, 17 women, 12 girls and eight boys on the boat. - 'End of sailing season' - The navy and coastguard had stepped up patrols around Langkawi -- where Rohingya have come ashore in the past -- after the boat was spotted of Thailand's west coast at the weekend and its passengers said they were trying to reach Malaysia. Chris Lewa, of Rohingya advocacy group the Arakan Project, said the vessel was thought to have left a week ago from the Rakhine state capital Sittwe. But she did not expect many more to be following. "April is the end of the sailing season so we don't expect many boats now," Lewa told AFP. The 2015 crisis began when Thailand discovered mass graves in a human-trafficking camp along its southern border and launched a crackdown on the brutal networks that ferry migrants to Malaysia. Unable to offload their human cargo in Thailand anymore, traffickers abandoned them at sea in large numbers, leaving them trapped on boats with little food and water. Images of emaciated Rohingya pleading for help from overcrowded boats drew global condemnation, and forced Indonesia and Malaysia to allow hundreds of Rohingya to come ashore after initially refusing. Muslim-majority Malaysia has long been a favourite destination for Rohingya, as the country is relatively affluent and authorities are sympathetic to their plight. Tens of thousands have been allowed into the country, where they toil in low-skilled industries such as agriculture and construction -- earning low wages and with little hope for the future. The situation is however much worse for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled the latest crackdown in their homeland. They are living in cramped and often squalid conditions in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, where many Rohingya who fled previous waves of persecution are already living. An agreement to repatriate Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar's Rakhine state has yet to see a single refugee returned.
The central Chinese government has sent a blunt message intended to dissolve the marriage between banks and local governments, the nexus in Chinas debt-fuelled growth model.

In a directive full of must notsand shalls posted on its website last week, Chinas Ministry of Finance, under the newly appointed minister Liu Kun, told state-owned financial institutions not to provide any funding to local governments, with the exception of buying government bonds.

At the first meeting of the Central Economic and Financial Commission, the supreme economic decision making body headed by Xi Jinping on Monday, the Chinese president said local governments and state-owned enterprises must cut debt further.

Chinas state-owned banks were told to check the registered capital of projects sponsored by local authorities, to appraise borrowers real repayment capabilities and not to accept local governments guarantees for repayment or return, according to the ministrys directive.

Chinas leaders sign off on new rules to crack down on shadow banking

Banks must not provide any form of funding directly to local governmental departments or directly via local state-owned enterprises and institutions and must not increase new loans to local government financing vehicles irregularly, according to the notice.

It added that banks must not lend any money to local governments to be used as capital in projects, government investment funds or public-private partnership projects, it added.

The lending of banks in China is usually regulated by the industrys watchdog and the central bank, but the finance ministry can tell state-owned banks how to behave because it is theoretically the shareholder of state-owned institutions.

The finance ministry directive is the latest move in Beijings strategy for cutting debt, which started in 2014, and will be much tougher that previous measures, according to Ron Anderson, a professor of finance at the London School of Economics.

Story continues

Regulator warns Chinese not to gamble on yuan exchange rate

Things are being sorted out very carefully, and there is a lot of coordination going on, he said on the sidelines of an event at Peking University on Monday.

Anderson said China could avoid debt crisis like the one that hit Latin America in 1980s when governments inability to pay their creditors forced them to call in the IMF and badly damaged their economies.

China has been trying to control local government borrowing by swapping debts at local government financing vehicles for bonds and making it harder for local governments to borrow beyond their repayment abilities.

On the surface the government has made some progress. Chinas official figure for local government debt was 16.5 trillion yuan (US$12.6 trillion) by the end of last year.

That, together with 13.5 trillion yuan of central government liabilities, was only 36.2 per cent of its gross domestic product, much lower than the international norm and controllable overall .

At the same time, some economists said the figures covered up the real problem as local governments had learned new ways to hide their debts.

Yin Zhongqing, deputy director of the financial and economic affairs committee at the National Peoples Congress, told the South China Morning Post last month there at least 20 trillion yuan of hidden debt had been accumulated in the past three years.

Famous for hoarding cash, Chinese families are now racking up debt on an unprecedented scale

The national institution of finance and development under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences last week estimated the total liabilities of local government financing vehicles was 30 trillion yuan, while another 10 trillion yuan of debt could be buried in public-private partnerships.

The ministry has acknowledged local governments illegal fundraising, and pointed the finger at some local cadres who hope to boost their economies to gain promotion, financial institutions that relax their risk control requirements in pursuit of profit and a failure to conduct proper audits.

Lu Bingyang, a professor of fiscal science at the Renmin University of China, said the move would raise the bar for fixing potential loopholes and more follow-up policies could follow.

Without the cooperation of financial institutions, the [debt size] of local government financing vehicles cant grow that rapidly, he said.

In reality, some local governments can influence the decision making of certain commercial banks.

This article Chinas state-owned banks told to stop lending to local governments as debt crackdown intensifies first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.
RickyKAZAF to meet Malaysian fans at first ever fan meeting! YouTube star and makeup artist RickyKAZAF is holding a fan meeting in Malaysia

3 Apr  Hong Kong makeup artist and YouTube star, RickyKAZAF, will be coming to Malaysia for his first ever fan meeting this 7 April at Take A Shot Studio Cafe, Kuala Lumpur.

The 32-year-old YouTube star stated that the reason for this fan meeting was because of the overwhelming request by his passionate fans to meet with him during his video production trip, which will take place in Malaysia.

The event will feature RickyKAZAF sharing his personal experience and knowledge with the audience, as well as lucky draw activities and photo sessions.

There will also be books published by RickyKAZAF sold at the venue, which will be autographed by the makeup star himself.

The event will begin from 4pm to 6pm. Tickets are available via Eventbrite and priced at RM20.50.

Get all your fashion tips from RickyKAZAF

RickyKAZAF is widely known for his YouTube channel featuring his amazing talents in makeup and hair styling as well as fashion.

Making his debut in late 2011; he's amassed a total of 176,000 subscribers on YouTube and 55,000 followers on Instagram.

He's known for his videos with Jackie Chu, another makeup artist YouTuber, and their collaboration in making makeup vlogging videos.

(Photo source: RickyKAZAF's Facebook)
Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa was due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday as he seeks economic support from a major partner that previously backed his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter decades ago, will be greeted by Xi at the colossal Great Hall of the People for his first state visit to Beijing since taking power. Mnangagwa took office in November after a military takeover ended Mugabe's 37-year reign, though he has also been accused of playing a key role in his mentor's authoritarian regime that left the economy in ruins and under sanctions. In an interview with China's Xinhua state news service, Mnangagwa said his trip was to "say thank you not only to the president of China but also the people of China for standing and supporting Zimbabwe during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us." He will also seek to sell Zimbabwe as a destination for Chinese investment, he said, adding that he would participate in economic forums aimed at attracting business to the country. "It's an issue of leapfrogging after 18 years of isolation so that we catch up with the rest of the developing countries." Mnangagwa has firsthand experience of sanctions: he was targeted by EU and US measures imposed on Mugabe and his close allies over violence and intimidation surrounding Zimbabwe's 2008 presidential campaign. But Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa from his job as vice president in November over a succession tussle with the first lady, Grace Mugabe, setting off a crisis that led to the veteran president's ouster. The visit comes as China takes a more proactive role in Africa, where it has long invested in infrastructure projects and sought resources, but has recently built its first military base in Djibouti. Beijing also is believed to be taking a more active role in Zimbabwe's politics. The country's then army chief, General Constantino Chiwenga, visited Beijing shortly before Mugabe's November ouster, leading to questions about whether Beijing had any role in the power transition. China denied it played any part in the military takeover. Beijing had long been one of Mugabe's most powerful allies and a major trade partner, as the West shunned him over his government's human rights violations, but it avoided taking sides during his ouster. Chiwenga was named vice president in December. Relations between the two countries date back to the liberation struggle of the 1960s, when Beijing provided arms and trained some of the top guerrilla leaders, including Mnangagwa.
Evolved changes in pelvis shape allow the hamstrings muscles (red) to hyper-extend the hip in humans, but not in apes. Credit: PNAS

An international team of researchers has found evidence that suggests evolutionary changes in anatomy would have made walking more economical without reducing utility of muscles for climbing in early hominins. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes studying bones and fossils from human ancestors and how they fit together to determine their walking and climbing abilities.

How and when early human ancestors first began walking upright remains a topic of debate among scientists, and research continues to find the answer. In this new effort, the researchers took another look at conventional ideas suggesting that the first hominins to walk upright likely did so extremely awkwardly, as they retained physical features that would allow them to escape enemies by climbing trees. The researchers suggested that if that were the case, those early hominins would not have survived.

To prove their theory, they began by taking a closer look at human gait and comparing the data with how apes and monkeys walk. They noted that the angle at which the leg and hip bones meet are different between the species, which means that walking upright for apes and monkeys places a lot of stress on thigh muscles, hamstrings and the knees. A shorter ischium (curved bone at the base of the pelvis) in humans allows for full extension without undue pressure on other leg parts. The net result, the researchers noted, is an ability to walk not only upright, but more efficiently.

The researchers then looked at the anatomy of ancient homininsgoing all the way back to Lucy. All of the members of Australopithecus, they noted, had a full range of motion, allowing them to walk uprighteven as they conserved traits that allowed them to climb much better than today's humans. The researchers also found that an older hominin known as Ardi, who lived approximately 4.4 million years ago, had pelvic anatomy that allowed for walking upright almost as easily as modern humans, yet still had a long ischium. This, the team claims, shows that early hominins were able to walk upright and climb trees in relatively easy fashionnot clumsily, as others have suggested.

More information: Elaine E. Kozma et al. Hip extensor mechanics and the evolution of walking and climbing capabilities in humans, apes, and fossil hominins, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). Elaine E. Kozma et al. Hip extensor mechanics and the evolution of walking and climbing capabilities in humans, apes, and fossil hominins,(2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1715120115 Abstract

The evolutionary emergence of humans' remarkably economical walking gait remains a focus of research and debate, but experimentally validated approaches linking locomotor capability to postcranial anatomy are limited. In this study, we integrated 3D morphometrics of hominoid pelvic shape with experimental measurements of hip kinematics and kinetics during walking and climbing, hamstring activity, and passive range of hip extension in humans, apes, and other primates to assess arborealterrestrial trade-offs in ischium morphology among living taxa. We show that hamstring-powered hip extension during habitual walking and climbing in living apes and humans is strongly predicted, and likely constrained, by the relative length and orientation of the ischium. Ape pelves permit greater extensor moments at the hip, enhancing climbing capability, but limit their range of hip extension, resulting in a crouched gait. Human pelves reduce hip extensor moments but permit a greater degree of hip extension, which greatly improves walking economy (i.e., distance traveled/energy consumed). Applying these results to fossil pelves suggests that early hominins differed from both humans and extant apes in having an economical walking gait without sacrificing climbing capability. Ardipithecus was capable of nearly human-like hip extension during bipedal walking, but retained the capacity for powerful, ape-like hip extension during vertical climbing. Hip extension capability was essentially human-like in Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus africanus, suggesting an economical walking gait but reduced mechanical advantage for powered hip extension during climbing. Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

 2018 Phys.org
Infrared image of rhinos in South Africa. Credit: Endangered Wildlife Trust/LJMU

A collaboration between astrophysicists and ecologists at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) is helping to monitor rare and endangered species and stop poaching. Astrophysical software and techniques are applied to thermal infrared imagery captured by drones to automatically detect and identify animals - even at night, when most poaching activity occurs. The drones can survey large areas of difficult terrain from above, allowing ecologists to access hard to reach areas and monitor wildlife without disturbing the animals. The project will be presented by Claire Burke at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) in Liverpool on Tuesday, 3rd April.

Burke explains: "With thermal infrared cameras, we can easily see animals as a result of their body heat, day or night, and even when they are camouflaged in their natural environment. Since animals and humans in thermal footage 'glow' in the same way as stars and galaxies in space, we have been able to combine the technical expertise of astronomers with the conservation knowledge of ecologists to develop a system to find the animals or poachers automatically."

The project is based around machine-learning algorithms and astronomical detection tools developed through the open source software, Astropy. Following an initial pilot project to test the concept with infrared footage of cows and humans filmed by drone at a farm in the Wirral, the team at LJMU has worked with Knowsley Safari and Chester Zoo to build up libraries of imagery to train the software to recognise different types of animals in different types of landscape and vegetation. Now, the team is embarking on field tests with endangered species.

"We held our first field trial in South Africa last September to detect Riverine rabbits, one of the most endangered species of mammal in the world. The rabbits are very small, so we flew the drone quite low to the ground at a height of 20 metres. Although this limited the area we could cover with the drone, we managed five sightings. Given that there have only been about 1000 sightings of Riverine rabbits by anyone in total, it was a real success," says Burke.

Visible image of rhinos in South Africa. Credit: Endangered Wildlife Trust/LJMU

The team has developed software that models the effects of vegetation blocking body heat, allowing the detection of animals concealed by trees or leaves. The system is now being refined and upgraded to compensate for atmospheric effects, weather and other environmental factors. The technical aspects of the project will be presented at EWASS by Maisie Rashman on Wednesday 4th April.

"Humidity can be an issue, but our biggest problems occur when the temperature of the ground is very similar to that of the animal we are trying to detect," comments Rashman.

The astro-ecologists face their next field challenges in May, looking for orangutans in Malaysia and spider monkeys in Mexico, followed in June by a search for river dolphins in Brazil.

Infrared image of rhinos in South Africa taken from the drone during field tests of the astro-ecology project. Credit: Endangered Wildlife Trust/LJMU

"Our aim is to make a system that is easy for conservationists and game wardens to use anywhere in the world, which will allow endangered animals to be tracked, found and monitored easily and poaching to be stopped before it happens," says Burke.

Explore further AI computer vision breakthrough IDs poachers in less than half a second
An unobtrusive Australian vine may be the key to boosting soybean yield, according to new research from the University of Illinois. Credit: Ram Singh, USDA ARS.

Growing in its native Australia, the unobtrusive perennial vine Glycine tomentella could easily be overlooked. But the distant relative of soybean contains genetic resources that can substantially increase soybean yield, according to a new study from the University of Illinois.

"We saw yield increases of 3.5 to 7 bushels per acre in soybean lines derived from crossing with Glycine tomentella," says Randall Nelson, study author and adjunct professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at U of I.

The discovery happened by accident. Researchers from U of I and the USDA Agricultural Research Service had been working for years to introduce disease-resistance genes from Glycine tomentella into soybean. After developing thousands of experimental lines, they finally managed to move genes from the Australian vine into a new soybean line that was resistant to soybean rust. But the researchers noticed something else.

"Some of these lines looked pretty good, so we decided to do some yield testing. This turned into a project for Ph.D. student Abraham Akpertey from Ghana. He found several lines that yielded significantly more than the soybean parent," Nelson says. "We were very surprised. To look at it, Glycine tomentella has no agronomic characteristicsthe seeds are less than a tenth the size of soybean seeds. We never expected to get high-yielding lines out of this cross."

The process of getting Glycine tomentella genes into soybean is highly complex. The two plants are so distantly related that any mating would ordinarily result in aborted seeds. But Nelson's collaborator and study co-author, Ram Singh, developed a growth hormone solution he sprays on the young pods to keep seeds from aborting.

"He rescues that little, immature seed, cultures it, and grows it into a plant. Then those are back-crossed repeatedly with the soybean variety 'Dwight,' until all of the Glycine tomentella chromosomes are lost and we recover a soybean plant," Nelson explains.

The researchers don't know what has been transferred from Glycine tomentella into the soybean genome. Aside from yield, some of the plants look and perform almost exactly the same as 'Dwight.'

The group plans to map the genome of the promising plants, with the ultimate goal of identifying the genes responsible. Breeding efforts are already underway to develop higher-yielding lines since 'Dwight' is a 20-year-old cultivar.

"Last year, we released a material transfer agreement that would allow any soybean breeder to cross with these lines. I was surprised we didn't get many requests, because these are such unique resources. With this yield information, I hope we can get more people interested," Nelson says.

More information: A. Akpertey et al, Genetic Introgression from to Soybean to Increase Seed Yield, Crop Science (2018). A. Akpertey et al, Genetic Introgression from to Soybean to Increase Seed Yield,(2018). DOI: 10.2135/cropsci2017.07.0445
The novel ways in which marketers and also political institutions can now harvest our social-media data and divide us into homogenous groups suited for mass-customised and targeted messages has been one of the hot issues unfolding from the aftermath of recent Facebook and Cambridge Analytica big-data scandal. Many articles have already sought to summarise the events, actions, participants, and the points of view  not least the unethical ones. However, our attention was drawn to the fact that there is currently little empirical evidence of the actual effectiveness or impact of the psychographic analytical tools used by Cambridge Analytica (CA). This is surprising, considering that the method has so far been featured as something that could be termed "the ultimate marketing weapon".

This articles stems from our experience and exchanges with scholars in consumer and marketing research, who are perhaps most familiar with the development of market research and segmentation methods and practice over time.

The secret weapon: psychographic segmentation

The psychographic-segmentation tool employed by CA extends the traditional marketing audience or voter analysis beyond simple "demographics"  for example, age, gender, education  toward profiling based on personality traits and value-based scores. Combined with "big data" from Facebook profiles and algorithmically enhanced statistical analysis and stealth marketing tactics, this method has arguably become an enviable digital marketing secret, not least among advertising and marketing professionals.

While much of the public discussion on the CA case has been about how massive amounts of Facebook data have been unethically obtained and used for the purpose of influencing voter behaviour in the US elections and the Brexit, relatively little has been said on the exact analytical method used by the firm and the extent of its contribution to the voting results. According to a detailed account by Michael Wade of IMD Business School, CA was able to identify the profiles of more than 50 million Facebook users by matching two different approaches and data sources. First, the results of 270,000 personality tests obtained through a quiz-like Facebook app developed by Cambridge professor Aleksandr Kogan. Second, the results were statistically related to "digital footprints of human behaviour" of these respondents and their (unaware) Facebook friends' profiles (for example, "likes"), thanks to a model developed by another Cambridge academic, Michal Kosinski.

As a result, psychographic information about millions of people were automatically derived from Facebook data, without the usually burdensome process of personality questionnaires that take hundreds of questions to answer by each analysed participant. This sort of "reverse engineering" (as Wade calls it) based on social media users' activity means that only about 100 Facebook "likes" are enough to estimate a person's psychological traits. Information such as liking, say, Salvador Dali or Lady Gaga would serve as an indicator of a personality type  for example, openness. The machine-learning implementation and more detailed analytical procedure is summarized in video featuring Jack Hansom from SCL elections, company affiliated to Cambridge Analytica.

While the method was asserted to be capable of producing "terrifyingly accurate personality analysis", using Facebook likes as psychometric indicators presents significant methodological limits. For instance, liking a Facebook page is not an individual action performed in isolation, like the systematic compiling of a questionnaire. Instead, it is an inherently social and symbolic act  and needs to be interpreted in the context of the platform and its use.

Considering the accuracy of CA's predictions, two other points need to be critically considered. First, if psychographic analysis is relevant at all for deriving marketing insights. Second, micro-targeted advertising content via psychographic techniques has the capacity to effectively manipulate people's minds.

Summary of the machine-learning implementation and analytical procedure, featuring Jack Hansom from the SCL elections, company affiliated to Cambridge Analytica.

A weapon from the past?

In marketing and consumer research, techniques for market segmentation has evolved from the fact that it is simply not effective, nor otherwise feasible for a marketer to try to influence everyone at once, with the same message. Therefore, the targeting of a specific subgroup  one that would be more likely to react in a desired manner to the intended marketing message  become the practice and theory of marketing communication. However, the logic for choosing the effective segmentation and targeting criteria has changed importantly over the years, not least due to technological changes and possibilities.

Despite the work of theorists in the early 20th century  for example, Thorsten Veblen and Max Weber, who recognised that consumption behaviour is closely tied with social structures (and vice versa)  the marketing scholars and practitioners in the postWorld War II mass-media era have relied heavily on individualist and behavioural psychological paradigm. It is fair to say this has been the golden age of psychographic market segmentation in which target group has been profiled and expressed in terms of their personality traits or value system scores (for example, the VALS system).

However, the personality/value-based measurement has consistently been challenged for its ability to predict actual behaviours, such as specific product, brand or environmental choice (Wedel and Kamakura 2000 and Rokka and Uusitalo 2008). Second, these approaches precisely assume that behavioural patterns are shaped by differences in "global" psychological states or values (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) that are thus "necessarily devoid of any influence of sociohistorical context" (Holt 1997, 327). Put differently, an abstracted and universalized personality type cannot capture the complexity and cultural sensitivity of consumer lifestyle choices, symbolic expression and tastes.

This shift in thinking put an end to wider application of psychographic methods long ago, at least in the field of marketing and consumer research. Instead, four decades of work have testified the importance of sociocultural perspectives that are much more sensitive to the social and symbolic systems that shape our lifestyle-relevant choices and tastes (Arnould and Thompson 2005 and Holt 1997). This perspective is also shared by researchers in the Lifestyle Research Centre of EM Lyon. An analysis of Facebook likes from this standpoint would be understood more as the analysis of individuals' lifestyle associations and networks governed by socially established expressions of taste. Main difference of the psychographic segmentation to this form of socio-cultural lifestyle analysis would be its lack of connection to society and its cultural currents.

A 'magic bullet'?

A second issue evoked in the CA debate is the manipulative power of big databased psychographic approaches that bear rather naive assumptions about how communication and advertising work.

In the 1930s  the heyday of totalitarian propaganda  the dominant theory for interpreting the effects of mass media on population described political messages as "magic bullets" that, once they reached the targeted audience, would have immediate persuasive power. This arguably simplistic view was rejected a decade later by Paul Lazarsfeld and colleagues at Columbia University. Their empirical work relativized the power of political propaganda, demonstrating that message effects are largely mediated by interpersonal relations and collective interpretations  for instance, political views are also discussed and formed during family dinners and not simply absorbed from the media (Neuman and Guggheneim 2011). Similar considerations also resonate widely in advertising and marketing research. For example, there exists a body of academic literature that indicates that, based on empirical evidence, advertising does not increase or reduce alcohol consumption (Tikkanen and Aspara 2017).

However, with the rise of big databased psychographic segmentation, the old "magic bullet" thesis has apparently gained new popularity. Cambridge Analytica's bragging of 'psychological warfare" stands as a case in point. We still have little or no evidence of the extent to which such campaigns can persuade people to change their mind about even simple product or brand choices  much less to vote differently.

We cannot argue there is no value in, nor evidence of, the ability of psychometric segmentation to achieve marketing goals. For example, a recent study found a 40% increase in advertising click-through-rate. However, its actual effects on consumption or voting behaviour have yet to be demonstrated.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Illustrations done in 1911 by artist Rudolf Reschreiter depict the cursed Vernagtferner glacier as a fearsome beast descending down the valley. In plate four the glacier is shown swallowing up the early glaciolist Prof. Sebastian Finsterwalder, who pioneered the use of photography to document glacial change. Credit: State of the Planet

As striking features of the natural environment, glaciers often play a role in the history and culture of the regions where they are found. In some places glaciers are revered: Quechua pilgrims travel into Peru's high Andes to visit sacred glaciers during the religious Quyllurit'i festival. But in pre-enlightenment Europe, glaciers were more often viewed with fear due to the destructive forces they could unleash on local communities. The myth of the cursed glacier found in the European Alps is a good example of this sentiment.

In the myth, the residents of a prosperous town become so corrupted by their good fortune that they begin to clean the streets with bread and milk. But when a beggar asks the townspeople for some bread to eat his humble request is denied. The beggar curses the town, and dark clouds soon begin to fill the skies. A relentless snow storm then batters the area for many days. When the clouds finally break both the town and its fertile surroundings are forever buried beneath the thick ice of a glacier.

Some historians have suggested that the myth of the cursed glacier may have some basis in fact. From the 16th to the 19th century, Europe experienced a period of cooling temperatures called the "Little Ice Age." Alpine glaciers regularly advanced during this period, causing difficulties for highland farms and villages. Some historians even go so far as to link cool temperatures with famines that helped spark the French Revolution.

But Europe's Little Ice Age also posed something of a scientific mystery: why did glaciers in the Alps begin retreating around 1850 even though temperatures didn't warm significantly until the end of the century? Scientists now believe the culprit was the Industrial Revolution.

Credit: State of the Planet

Black carbon, or soot, from industry, steam locomotives, domestic fires and other sources blanketed parts of Europe during the Industrial Revolution, which took place from approximately 1760 to 1840. Airborne black carbon is second only to CO2 in the amount of heat it traps in the atmosphere, and as it is a particle it eventually falls back to earth with rain or snow. Black carbon can darken the surface of a glacier and lower its albedo, or ability to reflect solar energy, thus causing it to absorb more heat and melt more quickly. This effect may explain why glaciers in the Alps began to retreat in the 1850s even though climate and precipitation records indicate they should have continued advancing for another 50 years.

As glaciers have continued to recede across Europe, some Alpine communities have taken unusual steps to protect them. During the summer months, the tongue of Switzerland's Rhone glacier has been covered with blankets to help insulate it, and researchers have proposed spraying artificial snow on the popular Morteratsch glacier to help slow its retreat. But such measures may only delay the inevitable: scientists have suggested that the Alps' glaciers may be gone by the turn of the next century.

Most glaciers both accumulate ice and lose it due to ablation in the course of a year. Mass balance measures the amount of ice a glacier gains or loses over time, and is a good indicator of a glaciers overall health. The chart above shows the annual mass balance of the Vernagtferner Glacier since 1965 [mm water equivalent]. The Vernagtferners retreat over recent decades is typical of glaciers around the world. Credit: WGMS

Explore further Soot transport contributes little to melting of some Antarctic glaciers

Provided by Earth Institute, Columbia University

This story is republished courtesy of Earth Institute, Columbia University http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu.
The red and blue female Opadometa sarawakensis. The newly identified male is described in this dispatch from the field. Credit: Corne van der Linden

A mystery has long shrouded the orb-weaving spider genus Opadometa, where males and females belonging to one and the same species look nothing alike. Furthermore, the males appear to be so elusive that scientists still doubt whether both sexes are correctly linked to each other even in the best-known species.

Such is the case for Opadometa sarawakensisa species known only from female specimens. While remarkable with their striking red and blue colors and large size, the females could not give the slightest hint about the likely appearance of the male Opadometa sarawakensis.

Nevertheless, students taking part in a recent two-week tropical ecology field course organized by the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Leiden University, and hosted by the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) on the island of Borneo, Malaysia, found a mature male spider hanging on the web of a red and blue female, later identified as Opadometa sarawakensis. Still quite striking, the male was colored in a blend of orange, gray, black, and silver.

At the brink of a long-awaited discovery and eager to describe the male, the students along with their lecturers and the field station scientific staff encountered a perilwith problematic species like the studied orb weaver they were in need for strong evidence to prove that it matched the female from the web. Furthermore, molecular DNA-based analysis was not an option at the time, since the necessary equipment was not available at DGFC.

Co-author Richard Burger pressing the "Submit" button within the ARPHA Writing Tool to submit the manuscript "Dispatch from the field II: the mystery of the red and blue Opadometa male" during the closing ceremony for our course at the Danau Girang Field Center on March 2, 2018. Credit: Laura Verbeek

On the other hand, being at the center of the action turned out to have advantages no less persuasive than DNA evidence. Having conducted thorough field surveys in the area, the team has concluded that the male's observation on that particular female's web in addition to the fact that no other Opadometa species were found in the area, was enough to prove they were indeed representatives of the same spider.

Adapting to the quite basic conditions at the DGFC laboratory, the students and their mentors put in use various items they had on hand, including smartphones paired up with headlights mounted on gooseneck clips in place of sophisticated cameras.

In the end, they gathered all the necessary data to prepare the formal description of the newly identified male.

Once they had the observations and the data, there was only one question left to answer. How could they proceed with the submission of a manuscript to a scholarly journal, so that their finding is formally announced and recognised?

Improvised specimen imaging station at Danau Girang Field Center. Credit: Christian Freund

Thanks to the elaborated and highly automated workflow available at the peer-reviewed open access Biodiversity Data Journal and its underlying ARPHA Writing Tool, the researchers managed to successfully compile their manuscript, including all underlying data, such as geolocations, and submit it from the field station. All in all, the authoring, peer review and publicationeach step taking place within the ARPHA Platform's singular environmenttook less than a month to complete. In fact, the paper was published within few days after being submitted.

This is the second publication in the series "Dispatch from the field", resulting from an initiative led by spider taxonomist Dr. Jeremy Miller. In 2014, another team of students and their mentors described a new species of curious one-millimetre-long spider from the Danau Girang Field Center. Both papers serve to showcase the feasibility of publication and sharing of easy to find, access and re-use biodiversity data.

"This has been a unique educational experience for the students," says Jeremy. "They got to experience how tropical field biologists work, which is often from remote locations and without sophisticated equipment. This means that creativity and persistence are necessary to solve problems and complete a research objective. The fact that the students got to participate in advancing knowledge about this remarkable spider species by contributing to a manuscript was really exciting."

Explore further Students on field course bag new spider species

More information: Jeremy Miller et al, Dispatch from the field II: the mystery of the red and blue Opadometa male (Araneae, Tetragnathidae, Opadometa sarawakensis), Biodiversity Data Journal (2018). Jeremy Miller et al, Dispatch from the field II: the mystery of the red and blue Opadometa male (Araneae, Tetragnathidae, Opadometa sarawakensis),(2018). DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.6.e24777
The first-ever chemical analysis of plastic collected from beaches around Lake Geneva detected cadmium, mercury and leadsometimes in very high concentrations that exceed the maximum permitted under EU law. The abundance of toxic chemicals that are now restricted or banned in plastic production reflects how old the plastic litter could be, reports the study published in Frontiers in Environmental Science. The studyone of very few to examine plastics in freshwater lakesindicates that like oceans, freshwater habitats are also affected by plastic pollution.

"Plastic debris in freshwater lakes are likely to pose the same problems to wildlife as marine plastics. In this respect, entanglement and ingestion are of greatest concern," says Dr. Montserrat Filella, lead author of this research, based at the Department F.-A. Forel, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

"The hazardous chemicals we find associated with these plastics is also worrying. When they are eaten by animals mistaking them for food, the acidic and enzyme-rich conditions in the stomach could accelerate how quickly these toxins are released into the body, affecting the animals concerned."

Dr. Filella collected litter from 12 different pebble beaches around Lake Geneva, one of western Europe's largest freshwater bodies. She found more than 3,000 pieces of plastic debris, which included identifiable objects (toys, pens, cotton buds), bits of identifiable objects (piping, plant pots, food wrappers), and plastic fragments that couldn't be identified to their original source, including expanded foam and polystyrene.

"A lot of the plastic was similar to that found on marine beaches, such as bottle tops, straws and polystyrene," says Dr. Filella. "In contrast, there was an absence of nurdlespellets used as a basis for plastic productionand a lower incidence of plastic filamentous fibers from commercial fishing, such as rope, netting and cord."

The lack of these items, often dominant on marine beaches, can be attributed to differences in the use of the marine environment and the freshwater Lake Geneva.

More than 600 of the collected plastic items, representing the different types of litter found, were subsequently analysed for toxins using X-ray fluorescence. This is a non-destructive technique that can determine the chemical composition of materials.

"We detected the frequent presence of hazardous elements, such as bromine, cadmium, mercury and lead, in very high concentrations in some cases," says Dr. Andrew Turner, co-author of the study, based at the University of Plymouth, UK. "The abundance of these toxic elements, which are now restricted or banned, reflects just how long the plastic has been in the lake. For example, mercury is a metal that to our knowledge has not been used in plastics for decades."

Bromine, present in compounds used in flame retardants, was above the maximum level allowed under RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances - a European Union directive) in 19 plastic items. High levels of cadmium, associated with bright colours, were present in 57 items. Mercury was found in plastic items that were red or reddish-brown, suggesting its use as pigmentationa process believed to have ended in the 1950s. Lead, used to stabilize or color plastics, was present in nearly a quarter of the items analysed, with 65 of these exceeding RoHS levels.

"Freshwater systems have been largely overlooked with regards to the impact of plastic; most studies thus far have focussed on the oceans. This is one of only a handful of studies of plastics in lakes, and the first of its kind to be undertaken in Lake Geneva," explains Dr. Turner.

Dr Filella continues, "The impacts of plastic-bound toxic elements on lake wildlife are currently unknown but should form the basis of future research."

Explore further Amount of plastics in the environment set to rise

More information: Montserrat Filella et al, Observational Study Unveils the Extensive Presence of Hazardous Elements in Beached Plastics from Lake Geneva, Frontiers in Environmental Science (2018). Montserrat Filella et al, Observational Study Unveils the Extensive Presence of Hazardous Elements in Beached Plastics from Lake Geneva,(2018). DOI: 10.3389/fenvs.2018.00001
Mantle minerals offer clues to deep Earth's composition. Credit: MSU

Scientists now have a clearer picture of the Earth's mantle, thanks to Michigan State University research published in the current issue of Nature Communications.

The biggest challenge of studying the planet's middle, biggest layer - sandwiched between its iron core and thin surface that hosts its living creatures - is that it can't been seen. It's comparable to a patient getting a CAT scan, and the doctor being able to see dark and light spots indicative of healthy tissue and tumors.

Instead of a CAT scan, however, geologists use seismographs. But since they can't dive down to explore what the "spots" actually mean, they have to decipher what the difference in wave frequencies are telling them.

"We're looking at a picture of the mantle but we don't know what the colors mean," said Susannah Dorfman, MSU geoscientist and the study's co-lead author. "The seismic wave patterns show contrast that indicates different squishiness and different densities; our job is to figure out what's down there and why."

Scientists think that the mantle is like marble cake, mixed up by swirling together bits of ocean floor and primordial rock. Like the chocolate and vanilla cake, different parts of the mantle have different compositions.

Dorfman likens her lab and the analysis her team conducts to chefs in a test kitchen. The main ingredient on this menu, though, is bridgmanite - Earth's most-abundant mineral. This mineral is estimated to make up more than 50 percent of the Earth. While ubiquitous in the mantle, bridgmanite is quite rare on the surface.

How rare? Its existence has been theorized and manufactured in labs since the '70s. But it wasn't until 2014 that a speck of natural bridgmanite was found in a meteorite, its crystal structure mapped and officially christened.

In the kitchen lab, the team cooked up a sample of the rare mineral. Using a diamond anvil pressure cell and laser heating - to duplicate the mantle's unimaginable pressure and heat - they tested their recipe of bridgmanite with a pinch of ferric iron. This combination is quite dense and oxidized. (Ferric iron can be found in rust.)

"The minimum pressure you need to make bridgmanite in the mantle - a quarter million atmospheres - is like all the weight of an elephant balanced on a poppy seed," Dorfman said.

The team, co-led by Jiachao Liu, formerly with MSU now with the University of Texas at Austin, also changed bridgmanite's composition, swapping out magnesium and silicon atoms for iron 3+ atoms.

"It changed the structure and how it acts," Dorfman said. "There's a change in the iron atom called a spin transition, where the atom shrinks and becomes denser because of the intense pressure. This potentially duplicates what's going on deep in the mantle."

These lab-cooked recipes provide a model and some insights into the minerals that potentially comprise the mantle. What Dorfman's team cooked isn't an exact copycat of the mantle minerals, but the end result produced the clearest measurements of the density, compressibility and electronic conductivity of rusty bridgmanite in the lower mantle.

While Dorfman and other scientists may never see mantle core samples firsthand, the observations and measurements from the lab will help scientists interpret what seismic waves may be telling them.

This study will help scientists to use geophysical measurements to accurately map the amount of iron in the mantle, but the team also determined that it will be difficult to see how oxidized it is. Dorfman remains optimistic that this line of research will unveil some of the mantle's mysteries.

"The deep mantle is a weird place with mysterious features that may be residues of Earth's formation, graveyards for piles of sunken tectonic plates, sources for hotspot volcanoes like Hawaii or the processes that shaped the atmosphere," Dorfman said. "Anything we can detect about the composition of features at the base of the mantle may help us solve these mysteries."

Scientists from the University of Michigan, Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Research (China), University of Hawaii, Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Illinois also were part of this research.

Explore further Scientists discover why rocks flow slowly in Earth's middle mantle

More information: Valence and spin states of iron are invisible in Earth's lower mantle, Nature Communications, volume 9, Article number: 1284 (2018) Journal information: Nature Communications Valence and spin states of iron are invisible in Earth's lower mantle,, volume 9, Article number: 1284 (2018) doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03671-5
Credit: NASA

NASA has announced that it has awarded funding to a combined team of researchers from the University of Alabama and an unnamed team in Japan for development of a new kind of Mars explorer. The project team has been awarded $125,000 to develop what NASA calls Marsbeesa swarm of robot bees that could fly in the thin Martian atmosphere and deliver information from their sensors.

NASA's rover project has by all accounts been a massive success, but it has had one limitationthe rovers all travel very slowly on land, making it difficult for them to survey much territory. Swarms of robot bees, on the other hand, could fan out from a base and explore the surface below from a wide range of perspectives.

In its announcement, NASA describes the Marsbees as about the size of a bumblebee, but with bigger wingsapproximately the size of a cicada. Officials at the agency are interested in determining if flapping might be a better option than fixed wing configurations or rotors. They note that the Japanese group has demonstrated expertise in developing robots that fly using flapping wings and has even demonstrated one that actually worksthe hummingbird micro-air vehicle (MAV).

NASA envisions a lander similar in some ways to a rover serving as a base for the Marsbees. The robotic bees could launch from it and then return to recharge their batteriesthey would send back sensor data while flying using Wi-Fi. The project is still in the very early stages, of course. It is one of 25 research projects funded as NASA continues to study the Red Planet amid plans to send humans there.

In the meantime, the researchers building and testing the Marsbees will have their hands full. They will need to show that such micro-bots can fly well in the Martian skies, perhaps autonomously, and carry useful sensors. They will also likely require a means of cleaning dust from their bodies and wings. NASA notes that it expects such research to take around a decade to prove their feasibility, though they acknowledge that not all of them will pan out. Only those showing promise will make it to phase II.

 2018 Phys.org
Primes still have the power to surprise. Credit: Chris-LiveLoveClick/shutterstock.com

On March 20, American-Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands received the Abel Prize, celebrating lifetime achievement in mathematics. Langlands' research demonstrated how concepts from geometry, algebra and analysis could be brought together by a common link to prime numbers.

When the King of Norway presents the award to Langlands in May, he will honor the latest in a 2,300-year effort to understand prime numbers, arguably the biggest and oldest data set in mathematics.

As a mathematician devoted to this "Langlands program," I'm fascinated by the history of prime numbers and how recent advances tease out their secrets. Why they have captivated mathematicians for millennia?

How to find primes

To study primes, mathematicians strain whole numbers through one virtual mesh after another until only primes remain. This sieving process produced tables of millions of primes in the 1800s. It allows today's computers to find billions of primes in less than a second. But the core idea of the sieve has not changed in over 2,000 years.

"A prime number is that which is measured by the unit alone," mathematician Euclid wrote in 300 B.C. This means that prime numbers can't be evenly divided by any smaller number except 1. By convention, mathematicians don't count 1 itself as a prime number.

Euclid proved the infinitude of primes  they go on forever  but history suggests it was Eratosthenes who gave us the sieve to quickly list the primes.

Sieving multiples of 2, 3, 5 and 7 leaves only the primes between 1 and 100. Credit: M.H. Weissman

Here's the idea of the sieve. First, filter out multiples of 2, then 3, then 5, then 7  the first four primes. If you do this with all numbers from 2 to 100, only prime numbers will remain.

With eight filtering steps, one can isolate the primes up to 400. With 168 filtering steps, one can isolate the primes up to 1 million. That's the power of the sieve of Eratosthenes.

Tables and tables

An early figure in tabulating primes is John Pell, an English mathematician who dedicated himself to creating tables of useful numbers. He was motivated to solve ancient arithmetic problems of Diophantos, but also by a personal quest to organize mathematical truths. Thanks to his efforts, the primes up to 100,000 were widely circulated by the early 1700s. By 1800, independent projects had tabulated the primes up to 1 million.

To automate the tedious sieving steps, a German mathematician named Carl Friedrich Hindenburg used adjustable sliders to stamp out multiples across a whole page of a table at once. Another low-tech but effective approach used stencils to locate the multiples. By the mid-1800s, mathematician Jakob Kulik had embarked on an ambitious project to find all the primes up to 100 million.

This "big data" of the 1800s might have only served as reference table, if Carl Friedrich Gauss hadn't decided to analyze the primes for their own sake. Armed with a list of primes up to 3 million, Gauss began counting them, one "chiliad," or group of 1000 units, at a time. He counted the primes up to 1,000, then the primes between 1,000 and 2,000, then between 2,000 and 3,000 and so on.

A stencil used by Kulik to sieve the multiples of 37. Credit: AOAW, Nachlass Kulik, Image courtesy of Denis Roegel, Author provided

Gauss discovered that, as he counted higher, the primes gradually become less frequent according to an "inverse-log" law. Gauss's law doesn't show exactly how many primes there are, but it gives a pretty good estimate. For example, his law predicts 72 primes between 1,000,000 and 1,001,000. The correct count is 75 primes, about a 4 percent error.

A century after Gauss' first explorations, his law was proved in the "prime number theorem." The percent error approaches zero at bigger and bigger ranges of primes. The Riemann hypothesis, a million-dollar prize problem today, also describes how accurate Gauss' estimate really is.

The prime number theorem and Riemann hypothesis get the attention and the money, but both followed up on earlier, less glamorous data analysis.

Modern prime mysteries

Today, our data sets come from computer programs rather than hand-cut stencils, but mathematicians are still finding new patterns in primes.

Except for 2 and 5, all prime numbers end in the digit 1, 3, 7 or 9. In the 1800s, it was proven that these possible last digits are equally frequent. In other words, if you look at the primes up to a million, about 25 percent end in 1, 25 percent end in 3, 25 percent end in 7, and 25 percent end in 9.

Frequency of last-digit pairs, among successive prime numbers up to 100 million. Matching colors correspond to matching gaps. Credit: M.H. Weissman, CC BY

A few years ago, Stanford number theorists Lemke Oliver and Kannan Soundararajan were caught off guard by quirks in the final digits of primes. An experiment looked at the last digit of a prime, as well as the last digit of the very next prime. For example, the next prime after 23 is 29: One sees a 3 and then a 9 in their last digits. Does one see 3 then 9 more often than 3 then 7, among the last digits of primes?

Number theorists expected some variation, but what they found far exceeded expectations. Primes are separated by different gaps; for example, 23 is six numbers away from 29. But 3-then-9 primes like 23 and 29 are far more common than 7-then-3 primes, even though both come from a gap of six.

Mathematicians soon found a plausible explanation. But, when it comes to the study of successive primes, mathematicians are (mostly) limited to data analysis and persuasion. Proofs  mathematicians' gold standard for explaining why things are true  seem decades away.

Explore further Mathematician pair find prime numbers aren't as random as thought

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Credit: Georgia Institute of Technology

It's small enough to fit inside a shoebox, yet this robot on four wheels has a big mission: keeping factories and other large facilities safe from hackers.

Meet the HoneyBot.

Developed by a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the diminutive device is designed to lure in digital troublemakers who have set their sights on industrial facilities. HoneyBot will then trick the bad actors into giving up valuable information to cybersecurity professionals.

The decoy robot arrives as more and more devices  never designed to operate on the Internet  are coming online in homes and factories alike, opening up a new range of possibilities for hackers looking to wreak havoc in both the digital and physical world.

"Robots do more now than they ever have, and some companies are moving forward with, not just the assembly line robots, but free-standing robots that can actually drive around factory floors," said Raheem Beyah, the Motorola Foundation Professor and interim Steve W. Chaddick School Chair in Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "In that type of setting, you can imagine how dangerous this could be if a hacker gains access to those machines. At a minimum, they could cause harm to whatever products are being produced. If it's a large enough robot, it could destroy parts or the assembly line. In a worst-case scenario, it could injure or cause death to the humans in the vicinity."

Internet security professionals long have employed decoy computer systems known as "honeypots" as a way to throw cyberattackers off the trail. The research team applied the same concept to the HoneyBot, which is partially funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation. Once hackers gain access to the decoy, they leave behind valuable information that can help companies further secure their networks.

Credit: Georgia Institute of Technology

"A lot of cyberattacks go unanswered or unpunished because there's this level of anonymity afforded to malicious actors on the internet, and it's hard for companies to say who is responsible," said Celine Irvene, a Georgia Tech graduate student who worked with Beyah to devise the new robot. "Honeypots give security professionals the ability to study the attackers, determine what methods they are using, and figure out where they are or potentially even who they are."

The gadget can be monitored and controlled through the internet. But unlike other remote-controlled robots, the HoneyBot's special ability is tricking its operators into thinking it is performing one task, when in reality it's doing something completely different.

"The idea behind a honeypot is that you don't want the attackers to know they're in a honeypot," Beyah said. "If the attacker is smart and is looking out for the potential of a honeypot, maybe they'd look at different sensors on the robot, like an accelerometer or speedometer, to verify the robot is doing what it had been instructed. That's where we would be spoofing that information as well. The hacker would see from looking at the sensors that acceleration occurred from point A to point B."

In a factory setting, such a HoneyBot robot could sit motionless in a corner, springing to life when a hacker gains access  a visual indicator that a malicious actor is targeting the facility.

Rather than allowing the hacker to then run amok in the physical world, the robot could be designed to follow certain commands deemed harmless  such as meandering slowly about or picking up objects  but stopping short of actually doing anything dangerous.

So far, their technique seems to be working.

In experiments designed to test how convincing the false sensor data would be to individuals remotely controlling the device, volunteers in December 2017 used a virtual interface to control the robot and could not to see what was happening in real life. To entice the volunteers to break the rules, at specific spots within the maze, they encountered forbidden "shortcuts" that would allow them to finish the maze faster.

In the real maze back in the lab, no shortcut existed, and if the participants opted to go through it, the robot instead remained still. Meanwhile, the volunteers  who have now unwittingly become hackers for the purposes of the experiment  were fed simulated sensor data indicating they passed through the shortcut and continued along.

"We wanted to make sure they felt that this robot was doing this real thing," Beyah said.

In surveys after the experiment, participants who actually controlled the device the whole time and those who were being fed simulated data about the fake shortcut both indicated that the data was believable at similar rates.

"This is a good sign because it indicates that we're on the right track," Irvene said.

Explore further How realistic are those robots in Star Wars?
Three years ago when Facebook Messenger users opened the app on an Android device, they were greeted by an adorable cartoon yeti. It was shown texting a big pink heart. Below it, a prompt read: "Text anyone in your phone."

The design seemed innocuousfriendly, even. Customers were given two choices: Tap the highlighted "turn on" button, which would give Facebook access to contacts, call and text history, or press the grayed-out "not now" button.

Millions tapped "turn on."

This week, those users learned that Facebook not only collected their call and text histories, it also allegedly held on to that information. The revelation led to panic among some customers, adding to the growing consumer distrust of the social network facing congressional inquiries and an Federal Trade Commission investigation into the mishandling of the personal information of 50 million customers.

Facebook said last weekend that customers had to opt into the texting feature and, therefore, knew they were handing over their data. What it didn't say was that those users were all subject to a sophisticated design strategy common in the technology industryone that nudges users to do what companies want them to do.

"In digital products, every action the users perform is always being driven toward some type of goal," said Caspar Lam, an assistant professor of communication design at Parsons School of Design at the New School in New York.

For a shopping website, the goal could be to complete a transaction. On a news website, it might be to get people to sign up for a newsletter or subscribe. And on social networks, it's to sign up, log in, like, share, poke or commenteach offering the company more data that can be used to sell targeted advertising.

By now, most consumers understand that data collection is a core part of advertising-based businesses such as Facebook, Google and Snapchat. The practice can often be a boon to consumers: The more people share with the companies, the better they are able to serve up ads, search results, product recommendations and music and movie suggestions tailored to an individual's liking.

Yet many remain unaware of the type of data collected and what companies do with it. While the answers often lie in privacy policies and terms-of-service agreements, few take the time to look them over. A 2017 Deloitte survey found that more than 90 percent of people agree to terms and conditions without reading them.

The problem isn't that Facebook and other companies don't get users' consent or that they're not disclosing details on the data they collect, design critics say. It's that when the companies ask for consent, they use interfaces designed to get users to opt in without a second thought.

Facebook's yeti campaign is just one of many design strategies the social network has used to guide users to click or tap on a certain button.

It's no accident, for example, that Facebook notifications are bright reda color that commands attention.

It's also no accident that the company dressed up a prompt asking for long-term access to users' entire call and text message history with a friendly, disarming cartoon yeti.

Even the language usedturn on" and "not yet," as opposed to "yes" or "noplays on user psychology.

In this case, declining to hand over data was framed simply as "delaying the inevitable," said Mayo Nissen, an associate creative director at design agency Frog.

"It's clear from those options that Facebook was trying to encourage users to turn on the feature in question, and essentially frame the question as only having one correct answer," Nissen said.

These design tactics are so effective that consumers often don't realize they're at play. Lam compared it to the way delicious-looking food operates on our subconscious: When we look at an appealing dish, our minds don't break down the individual components that make it appetizing. Rather, it's the whole package that works on our senses. The same goes for the software and websites we use. Designers use color, images, shapes, button size, placement and language to herd users toward certain actions.

These design decisions can often be helpful. In a banking app, consumers might want designers to make it as easy as possible for them to pay their bills. In an email program, consumers don't want to spend all day searching for the "compose" button.

Where sophisticated, behavior-controlling design becomes a problem is when designers don't consider the broader consequences of their work, industry experts say.

In the technology industry, design teams are often hyper-focused on achieving a particular goal, said Sara Wachter-Boettcher, author of "Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech." Such teams are often asking, "'What are we trying to get people to do with this product? How do we get people to do that thing?'" Wachter-Boettcher said. "When people get hyper-focused on that goal, they lose sight of the potential negative consequences."

This is how Sophie Xie, a designer at Facebook from 2012 to 2013, described her experience working on the controversial texting feature. At a company as large and stratified as Facebook, designers like her were often briefed on a goal but given little time to understand the broader scope.

"On the one hand, your top-level goal is to get the project done, to do your job well," said Xie, who was responsible for art direction of stickersincluding the yetithat Facebook later used across its security and privacy messaging. "Then there's the ambient goal, which is, are you doing the right thing?

"If you pull at that thread, it causes you to question every objective that is pitched to you. And then you're at an impasse where it's hard to find a path forward if every product objective causes you to really question and dig."

Xie left Facebook after a year and is now a freelance designer, a move she made because she said she wanted more control over the kinds of projects she works on. The work she did for Facebook continues to weigh on her, though.

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.

A common refrain by Silicon Valley critics is that engineers often ask themselves whether they can do something but forget to ask whether they should. Designers could ask themselves a similar question, said Erika Hall, a philosopher and co-founder of design agency Mule. They should also ask themselves: What am I serving? Who is my master? Who gets paid by whom?

"Designers were meant to be the people best able to make good choices," said Hall. "But you can't do good design if you're working in service of a bad business model."

If a company's goal is to increase sign-ups so it can collect user data so it can sell ads so it can meet Wall Street's expectations so it can appease shareholders so it can increase its stock price, a designer working within those confines will inevitably push for company growth, Hall said.

Making matters more difficult, the intangible nature of software and web design means it's hard to critique, and even harder to call out a company when it has committed unethical design. In a field like architecture, critics can talk about a physical building's aesthetic, function and social impact, Hall said. If a building is bad for the community, it's hard to ignore. In software, however, problems often aren't evident until much later when the damage has already been done.

The solution to this, according to Hall and Wachter-Boettcher, is three-pronged.

"The first place to start is raising consciousness among designers," Hall said.

Hall's business partner, designer Mike Monteiro, told designers at a conference five years ago that "it doesn't take malice to bring bad design into the world," he said. "All it takes it carelessness."

"The problem with designers and ethics is they see it as something to possibly strive for and maybe incorporate into their work, but they don't see it as core to what they do," Monteiro said. "We as designers should see this as part of the job."

The second is having companies re-evaluate their culture and valuing ethical design as much as they value profit.

"If you can kill every conversation about ethics by just mentioning your profit margins, then you don't have ethics," Wachter-Boettcher said. "They don't exist."

The third is tougher external regulation, which companies such as Facebook could potentially face after its recent string of consumer trust violations. (Facebook in 2011 agreed to an FTC consent decree in which it promised to be transparent with users about the data it collected.)

As pressure mounted, the social network announced this week that it will make it easier for customers to find and manage their privacy settings. The new privacy page is decorated with pastel-colored cartoon humans. There are big, clear buttons encouraging users to "manage security" and "manage privacy." Facebook said in its announcement that it wants to give users control of their information. It's calling the changes a redesign.

Explore further 3 Facebook Messenger app users file lawsuit over privacy

2018 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Artistic composition of the radio telescopes in space and on the ground observing NGC 1275, the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster of galaxies at a distance of 230 million light years. The obtained radio image shows a newly forming jet that is about 3 light years long. The central black hole is inside the bright spot at the top of the image. The details visible in the image are smaller than the Oorts comet cloud around our Solar system. Credit: Pier Raffaele Platania INAF/IRA (compilation); ASC Lebedev Institute (RadioAstron image)

An international team of researchers has imaged newly forming jets of plasma from a massive black hole with unprecedented accuracy. Radio images made with a combination of telescopes in space and on the ground resolved the jet structure a couple of hundred black hole radii, or 12 light days from its origin point.

Black holes weighing as much as several billion times the mass of the sun are found at the centres of all massive galaxies. Some of these massive black holes eject spectacular jets composed of plasma flows at close to the speed of light, and which can extend far beyond the confines of their host galaxy. How these jets form in the first place is a longstanding mystery. One of the main difficulties in studying them has been astronomers' inability to image the structure of the jets driven by the black hole closely enough to their origin point so that direct comparison to theoretical and computational models of jet formation would be possible.

An international team of researchers from eight different countries has now made ultra-high angular resolution images of the black hole jet in the centre of the giant galaxy NGC 1275, also known as radio source Perseus A, or 3C 84. They were able to resolve the jet structure 10 times closer to the black hole in NGC 1275 than previously possible using ground-based instruments. The image reveals unprecedented details of the jet formation region.

"The result was surprising. It turned out that the observed width of the jet was significantly wider than what was expected in the currently favoured models where the jet is launched from the black hole's ergosphere  an area of space right next to a spinning black hole where space itself is dragged to a circling motion around the hole," explains Professor Gabriele Giovannini from the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, the lead author of the paper published in Nature Astronomy this week.

"This may imply that at least the outer part of the jet is launched from the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. Our result does not yet falsify the current models where the jets are launched from the ergosphere, but it hopefully gives the theorists insight about the jet structure close to the launching site and clues how to develop the models," adds Dr. Tuomas Savolainen from Aalto University in Finland, the leader of the program that produced the images

Part of the global network of ground radio telescopes that participated in the observations. Credit: . Satellite image: Blue Marble Next Generation, courtesy of NASA Visible Earth (visibleearth.nasa.gov). Credit: Paul Boven (boven@jive.eu)

Another result from the study is that the jet structure in NGC 1275 significantly differs from the jet in the nearby galaxy Messier 87, which is the only other jet whose structure has been imaged equally close to the black hole. Researchers think that this is due to the difference in the age of these two jets. "The jet in NGC 1275 re-started just over a decade ago, and is currently still forming, which provides a unique opportunity to follow the very early growth of a black hole jet. Continuing these observations will be very important," says Professor Masanori Nakamura from Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

"This study of the innermost region of NGC 1275 continues our investigations of Active Galactic Nuclei at the highest possible resolution. With a distance of only 70 Megaparsec or 230 million light years to that galaxy we are able to examine the jet structure in an unprecedented accuracy of only a few hundred black hole radii or 12 light days," concludes Professor Anton Zensus, director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany and head of its VLBI research department, a co-author of the paper.

The significant improvement in the sharpness of the jet images was made possible by the Earth-to-Space Interferometer RadioAstron, which consists of a 10-metre orbiting radio telescope and a collection of about two dozen of the world's largest ground-based radio telescopes. When the signals of individual telescopes are combined using the interference of radio waves, this array of telescopes has the angular resolution equivalent to a radio telescope of 350,000 kilometers in diameter  almost the distance between the Earth and moon. This makes RadioAstron the highest angular resolution instrument in the history of astronomy. The RadioAstron project is led by the Astro Space Center of the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Lavochkin Scientific and Production Association under a contract with the State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS, in collaboration with partner organizations in Russia and other countries.

"The RadioAstron mission is truly happy that the unique combination of the Russian-made space radio telescope and the huge international ground array of the largest radio telescopes has allowed researchers to study this young relativistic jet in the immediate vicinity of the supermassive black hole," says Professor Yuri Kovalev from the Lebedev Institute in Moscow, the head the Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Research of Relativistic Objects of the Universe at MIPT, the RadioAstron Project Scientist.

The paper, "A wide and collimated radio jet in 3C84 on the scale of a few hundred gravitational radii," has been published in Nature Astronomy.

Explore further Black hole spin cranks-up radio volume

More information: G. Giovannini et al. A wide and collimated radio jet in 3C84 on the scale of a few hundred gravitational radii, Nature Astronomy (2018). Journal information: Nature Astronomy G. Giovannini et al. A wide and collimated radio jet in 3C84 on the scale of a few hundred gravitational radii,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-018-0431-2
The rapid trajectories of Vibrio cholerae bacteria, shown in blue, are shown inside the gut of a larval zebrafish. The gut is visible as a gray background. The image is a compilation of a 3.5-second movie of the invasion of the gut. Credit: Raghuveer Parthasarathy

Researchers experimenting with live zebrafish witnessed a 200-percent increase in the strength of intestinal contractions soon after exposure to the cholera-causing bacterium Vibrio cholerae, leading to expulsion of native gut bacteria.

The discovery, detailed in a paper online ahead of print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "was remarkable and unexpected," the eight co-authors wrote.

The researchers used genetic manipulation and cutting-edge three-dimensional microscopy to monitor what happens when the disease-causing microbe is initially introduced into zebrafish larvae, an organism commonly studied as a model for understanding health and disease in vertebrates, including humans.

The multidisciplinary team of physicists, molecular biologists and microbiologists focused on the harpoon-like injection capabilities of the type VI secretion system, an appendage found in many bacteria, including Vibrio cholerae. It transfers toxic proteins into competing healthy cells.

The scientists engineered Vibrio cholerae mutants with variations in that secretion system, and then observed the behavior of the microbes as they invaded zebrafish colonized with Aeromonas veronii, a native species in that animal's gut.

Instead of simply killing native Aeromonas gut bacteria upon contact, as expected, when Vibrio cholerae entered the gut the native bacteria were swiftly flushed out.

"The secretion system induced dramatic increases in the strength of the peristalsis process, the contractions that move gut contents down the gastrointestinal tract much like squeezing a tube of toothpaste from the end to the top," said study co-author Brian K. Hammer, a microbiologist at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The researchers theorized that the unexpected bacterial manipulation in the digestive system might be driven by a particular piece of the type VI machinery known to bind to actin, a cellular scaffolding protein. The scientists deleted the actin-binding domain from the bacterial gene and saw that Vibrio cholerae lost its ability to enhance peristalsis and its ability to expel native Aeromonas.

The findings shed new light on how waterborne Vibrio cholerae functions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vibrio cholerae triggers more than three million cases of acute diarrheal illness and 100,000 deaths in people worldwide each year.

"Knowing the strategies by which the bacterium is able to invade the intestine can open doors to therapies that might disrupt these paths," said corresponding author Raghuveer Parthasarathy, a professor of physics at the University of Oregon, whose imaging and analysis techniques were used in the study.

Because the type VI secretion system also is found in native gut bacteria, including those in the human gut microbiome, it potentially could be harnessed for therapies, including specially designed probiotics, to promote beneficial species or to defend against disease invasion, said Georgia Tech's Hammer.

"We suspect that other gut microbes, both pathogenic and beneficial, might similarly make use of this secretion system to reshape their environment," Parthasarathy said.

Most previous research on this secretion system has relied on studying bacteria outside of animals, on a Petri dish for example, or by examining fecal samples to infer what is happening in the gut during infection.

While the research team captured the impact of invasion by Vibrio cholerae, understanding just how it takes root in the host, such as what specific cells in the animal are targeted, is an open question, Parthasarathy said.

"We still have no idea how the action of this secretion system's harpoon is causing the changes in the muscle contractions," Hammer said. "We suspect that what we are observing may be an immune response to irritation in the gut lining, but what cells in the gut are being poked?"

How the findings may reflect the colonization of Vibrio cholerae in humans is not known, but the role of the secretion system makes a similar result plausible, the researchers wrote in their conclusion.

The findings emerged from a collaboration born in 2015 when Hammer, Parthasarathy and co-author Joao Xavier, a researcher at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discussed joint research possibilities during a conference, Scialog: Molecules Come to Life, in Tucson, Arizona.

The Scialog (Science and Dialog) was organized by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and sponsored jointly with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation with additional support from the Simons Foundation. The goal of Scialog is to rapidly catalyze new interdisciplinary collaborative teams, such as the one formed by Hammer, Parthasarathy and Xavier, to work on high risk, high reward projects which emerge from the dialog.

As a result, their three labs received awards from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Simons Foundation to pursue their Scialog idea. The National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and Kavli Microbiome Ideas Challenge also supported the research.

Explore further Video: Vibrio cholerae swimming in the gut of a live zebrafish

More information: Savannah L. Logan et al, TheVibrio choleraetype VI secretion system can modulate host intestinal mechanics to displace gut bacterial symbionts, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Savannah L. Logan et al, TheVibrio choleraetype VI secretion system can modulate host intestinal mechanics to displace gut bacterial symbionts,(2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720133115
April 3, 2018 in Education (E)

[prMac.com] Taos, New Mexico - Tasa Graphic Arts, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of three new iPad apps that provide a thorough introduction to the theory of plate tectonics.



First, the Discovering Continental Drift app introduces students to Wegener's continental drift hypothesis. Students learn about his scientific reasoning and how he developed his hypothesis by studying fossil evidence, rock types, fit of the continents, and climate. The continental drift hypothesis provides the groundwork for learning about Earth's dynamic surface and the theory of plate tectonics.



Next, the Probing Earth's Interior app describes the internal structure of Earth and how that structure results in the motion of Earth's tectonic plates. The physical properties of each of Earth's layers are described and illustrated with drawings and animations. Students learn how scientific measurements of seismic waves were used to determine the structure of Earth's layers.



The third app, Discovering Plate Tectonics, illustrates how studies of the ocean floor led to the discovery of seafloor spreading from oceanic ridges that occur in the middle of Earth's major oceans. The features of the ocean floor including deep-ocean trenches, volcanic islands, and the oceanic ridge system are related to the motion of tectonic plates. Students will also learn the names and positions of Earth's major plates. Three types of plate boundaries are introduced and illustrated with drawings and animations.



These apps encourage higher-order thinking skills; display data that requires analysis; and discuss and test various theories. "Explore" activities help students reach beyond basic facts to thoroughly understand concepts. Assessment features include thought-provoking "Notebook" questions and multiple-choice quizzes; student's answers can be shared or printed.



These apps also correlate to these Next Generation Science Standards for Earth Science:

* ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems

* ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

* ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth



Device Requirements:

* iPad with iOS 10.3 or later



Pricing and Availability:

* Discovering Continental Drift is $2.99 USD

* Probing Earth's Interior is $1.99 USD

* Discovering Plate Tectonics is $2.99 USD

* Available worldwide exclusively through Apple's App Store in the Education category

In addition to producing iOS apps and macOS apps, Tasa Graphic Arts, Inc. produces award-winning interactive, educational CD-ROMs covering planetary geology, plate tectonics, topographic maps, rocks and minerals, weather and climate, the processes that shape Earth's surface, and more. Copyright (C) 2018 Tasa Graphic Arts, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

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Wall Street analysts have given Firestone Diamonds a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Firestone Diamonds wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. operates as a multinational, specialty pharmaceutical, and medical device company that develops, manufactures, and markets a range of pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter (OTC) products, and medical devices. The company operates through three segments: Bausch + Lomb/International, Branded Rx, and U.S. Diversified Products. The Bausch + Lomb/International segment provides pharmaceutical products, OTC products, and medical device products, primarily consist of Bausch + Lomb products, with a focus on the vision care, surgical, consumer, and ophthalmology Rx products in the United States; and pharmaceutical products, generic pharmaceutical products, OTC products, medical device products, and Bausch + Lomb products in Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. The Branded Rx segment sells gastrointestinal and dermatological products in the United States. The U.S. Diversified Products segment offers pharmaceutical products, OTC products, and medical device products in the areas of neurology and certain other therapeutic classes, including aesthetics. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Laval, Canada.

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Wall Street analysts have given Greencore Group a "Buy" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Greencore Group wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.
" " Personnel gather at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, on Sept. 29, 2017. The U.S. State Department cut the embassy's staff by half in the wake of mysterious health problems that injured more than 20 people associated with the U.S. embassy. Sven Creutzmann/Mambo photo/Getty Images

Weaponizing sound isn't a new idea. Police turned a sound cannon on protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and again at demonstrators against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Sonic devices have been used as deterrents by cruise ships against pirates and by shopkeepers against teenagers. (You can read our full article about the Mosquito alarm geared at teenagers if you're curious.)

In 2016, officials at the U.S. embassy in Cuba began to complain about headaches, nausea, and hearing and memory loss after hearing an annoying, high-pitched noise. Enough diplomats (and their relatives) got sick that the U.S. eventually pulled half their staff from the embassy and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats, but it's still not clear what happened in Havana.

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Is Someone Using Sonic Weapons in Cuba? Ben, Noel and Matt leave no stone unturned during this Stuff They Don't Want You to Know podcast episode to find out.

Sounds emitted at a higher or lower frequency than the human ear is capable of hearing can cause interesting effects in our bodies. Doctors commonly turn to ultrasound, or high-frequency sounds beyond human hearing, to map a pregnant woman's stomach and create a picture of what's going on inside the womb. Ultrasound also can help to break up kidney stones inside the body into more passable pieces. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration notes that "ultrasonic noise has little effect on general health unless there is direct body contact with a radiating ultrasonic source." Infrasound, or low-frequency sounds below human hearing, has been associated with causing people to hallucinate, to feel unsettled or watched, and to experience headaches. British engineer and ghost hunter Vic Tandy famously wrote a paper explaining that when people experienced ghostly phenomena, they actually were being exposed to infrasound.

In short, sound waves can physically affect us, leading opportunistic militaries around the world to wonder how they can weaponize those effects. However, making a sonic weapon that could cause lethal harm would require a huge amount of power to operate properly, as Seth Horowitz noted in Popular Science.

So did someone weaponize sound in Cuba? The short answer is no one knows for sure. Investigators in both Cuba and the United States have found that the story about the high-pitched sound and the subsequent symptoms defy the physics of sound itself, as Scientific American notes,, and Cuban officials have postulated that the diplomats were suffering from some kind of mass hysteria or collective psychological illness. Meanwhile, diplomatic relations between the two countries continue to worsen as the investigation continues. Could some person or group from the United States be behind this, perhaps trying to sabotage U.S.-Cuba relations? Or is this just the result of some faulty surveillance equipment causing adverse effects in diplomats? Listen closely to Ben, Noel and Matt to find out more about sonic weapons and what could be causing the mystery in Cuba in this podcast.

Now That's Interesting As of March 2, 2018, the State Department was still urging U.S. citizens to "reconsider" travel to Cuba due to "attacks targeting U.S. Embassy Havana employees resulting in the drawdown of embassy staff."
" " A wounded soldier is removed from the battlefield during the White Stork 3 Operation in Afghanistan in 2011. The first hour after injury is the most critical time for saving lives. Jose Nicolas/Getty Images

If you're fascinated with nature's oddities, you might already know about tardigrades, a phylum that includes more than 1,200 species of eight-legged creatures that typically are no bigger than 0.02 inches (0.5 millimeter in length). As this 2012 Smithsonian article details, the tardigrade's claim to fame is the ability of some tardigrade species to survive even in incredibly harsh extreme environments, from boiling springs to the icy peaks of mountains in the Himalayas. In one experiment, tardigrades  without tiny astronaut suits to protect them  even survived the vacuum of space, with its extreme cold and high levels of radiation.

How the miniscule animals do that is even more amazing. Some species have the capacity to achieve different forms and varying degrees of cryptobiosis, a state in which an organism's metabolic activity essentially slows to a standstill when living conditions are hostile. They've been known to survive for years that way.

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Cryptobiosis is the sort of extreme survival trick that the Pentagon would love to be able to duplicate in order to keep seriously injured soldiers from dying before they can be transported to a hospital. That's why the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the military's research arm, recently created the Biostasis program, a scientific effort to use molecular biology to lengthen the so-called "golden hour" of battlefield survival following a traumatic injury.

As DARPA noted in a news release: "Essentially, the concept aims to slow life to save life."

It's All About Cryptobiology

DARPA Biostasis program manager Tristan McClure-Begley explains in an email, "The focus for Biostasis is to increase our knowledge of how best to intervene with molecular processes as they run awry following stress or injury to preserve the health of the system, and our motivation for doing so is to extend the time available to treat ill or injured military personnel.

"We used the science of cryptobiology  of which tardigrades are one of the most excellent and extreme examples  as a set of biological principles from which to craft the goals, scope, and potential technological approaches of the Biostasis program. We looked at what was known about how many different cryptobiotic organisms can do what they do at the molecular level, asked 'what is a unifying factor or core principle in common?', and then looked at what was cutting-edge across the fields of molecular pharmacology, materials chemistry, peptide chemistry, and so on and tried to envision approaches that could mimic those core mechanisms were they introduced into cells as chemical biology therapies," says McClure-Begley.

In a study published in the March 16, 2017 issue of the scientific journal Cell, researchers concluded that tardigrades' ability to hit the biological pause button comes from genes that control stress-responsive proteins, called tardigrade-specific intrinsically disordered proteins (TDPs). As this New Scientist article explains, when the animal is in a dangerous situation, the TDPs morph from their usual jelly-like consistency into a glass-like stiffness. That in turn reduces the flexibility of the cells and protects them from damage.

But it's not clear how that process could be replicated inside the human body, especially since DARPA is ruling out any techniques that would require altering the human genome. "It may be that peptide therapeutics based on the principles of how those intracellular tardigrade stress-responsive proteins work end up being a successful approach," McClure-Begley explains. "But a caveat that we state in the Biostasis program announcement is that any interventions must be passively applied to the system for effect."

Instead, the agency is hoping to come up with a drug that could be administered to have a similar effect. Assuming that's possible, another problem is how to bring a wounded soldier in suspended animation out of that state safely. It may be that the biostasis drug will have a temporary effect that eventually wears off, or that it can be counteracted by another drug.

"For example, you don't just take aspirin once and then never again," McClure-Begley says. "The effects wear off as the drug is metabolized and diluted out of the system. Other effects of drugs can be reversed by the administration of specific antagonizing compounds or additional interventions."

This all could require many years of research. The DARPA Biostasis program recently invited outside companies and researchers to apply for grants, in hopes of generating possible technologies that would be subjected to extensive testing.

William R. Miller, director of research in the biology department at Baker University in Kansas and an expert on tardigrades, says in an email that duplicating the animals' survival method would be a challenge, because of humans' size and greater complexity. It's difficult to imagine a person, for example, imitating tardigrades' ability to engage in anhydrobiosis  a type of cryptobiosis in which the animal removes the moisture from its body. "Envision walking down a hall, feeling dry  and immediately shriveling into a crusty ball of dust  say about 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of dust  in the middle of the hallway, and then waiting for the humidity to return to a level so you can rehydrate. [That] does not sound practical."

But Miller isn't ruling out the possibility. "Space travel and self-driving cars were not practical when I was born," he notes.

Now That's Interesting According to DARPA's press release, biostasis might also be used to preserve blood products, drugs and other perishable medical items.
April 3 (Reuters) - China Zheshang Bank Co Ltd:

* REFERS TO ANNOUNCEMENT ON MARCH 23 ON PLACING OF H SHARES BY BANK UNDER GENERAL MANDATE APPROVED ON 2016 AGM

* BANK & ITS SPONSORS SUBMITTED APPLICATION TO CSRC FOR RESUMPTION OF REVIEW PROCESS OF A SHARE OFFERING ON APRIL 2 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
Chatbots have evolved from simple automated scripts to elaborate algorithms that identify needs with the ability to learn from every conversation

Living in a hyper-paced world of ever-changing technologies, consumers needs grow whilst their attention and patience shorten. People want effective solutions and services right at their doorstep in a matter of minutes.

To increase production and offer instant services companies can employ additional manpower or leverage on technology. A recent technology that has grown very fast in the last couple years to help companies become more productive is the chatbot. Chatbots have evolved from simple automated scripts to elaborate algorithms that identify needs with the ability to learn from every conversation. Companies are turning to bots due to their 24/7 availability, efficiency at handling repetitive tasks and ability to cut down steps in operational processes.

In this article, we illustrate 4 chatbots, made in Singapore, that help companies increase productivity in different sectors.

Recruitment  AIRA by GrabJobs

In South East Asia, the HR and Recruitment industries are still being run quite traditionally according to Emmanuel Crouy and Mark Melo, ex-Recruitment Firm owners and founders of recruitment technology start-up GrabJobs.

With 7 years of Recruitment experience, Emmanuel Crouy affirms that the job of a recruiter can be 70 per cent administrative and 30 per cent productive. GrabJobs has developed a Recruitment Chat Bot, named AIRA for A.I. Recruitment Assistant, aimed at reversing this industry ratio.

Their chatbot interviews job applicants over chat then rank them according to performance. The objective is to replace what is called the applicant screening process, or the first round of interview, when a recruiter asks the same set of questions to all applicants. The screening process is a very repetitive and time-consuming process that can be effectively replaced by a chat bot, which according to Emmanuel Crouy yields a much greater response rate than online forms. Recruiters can then have more time to spend on productive tasks such as meeting advanced stage applicants face to face or engaging with stakeholders.

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In this case, the chatbot not only benefits employers from a productivity and efficiency perspective but also job seekers who can receive almost immediate feedback as to whether they are qualified for the next round of interview or not.

More information is available on www.airabot.com and www.grabjobs.co

Scheduling  EVIE.AI

Scheduling is such an integral part of our everyday work life but hardly anyone enjoys the chore of setting up meetings and coordinating with various parties to find a common time and place to meet. Too much time and energy are spent on repetitive and low value-add tasks and the solution is to automate the scheduling process and channel the resources to more productive work.

Evie, an A.I. scheduling assistant that understands natural language, is able to organize meetings automatically. It takes an average of 4.4 emails to schedule one meeting, and with a scheduling assistant like Evie, users no longer have to handle all the scheduling negotiations, time zone calculations, follow ups, calendar invites and reminders. Evie also offers enterprises additional features like meeting room management, the ability to operate on a corporate domain and instantly schedule based on co-workers availability.

Also Read: 5 habits for a productive startup team

Evies ability to automate enterprise workflows and deliver analytics and insights empowers the intelligent enterprise to drive productivity, optimize use of enterprise-wide resources and transform their processes to leverage an AI-powered world.

More information is available on www.evie.ai

Hospitality & Travel  Travel Buddy by ZUMATA

As the only chatbot provider endorsed by the Singapore Tourism Board, Zumata is currently developing a range of chatbot solutions targeted at travel agents and hotels. These chatbots can read, understand, and take action upon unstructured data that can be found in text such as hotel descriptions, reviews, blogs, and other written information.

Zumatas Travel Buddy Conversational Chatbot allows Travel Agents to better respond to their customers, providing them a fast and seamless end to end travel experience. Customers are overwhelmed with travel options, and finding what they want is a considerable challenge. Counter-intuitively, travel agents have the exact same problem. Were finding the biggest challenge for agents is research time; locating the information to provide the most relevant recommendations to their customers as well as generating quotations. says Josh Ziegler, CEO of Zumata.

The impact of this technology for agents is that they have a powerful tool to do research in seconds versus the typical 45-60 minutes they spend today. The A.I. Chatbot also automates the monotonous tasks of generating air ticket quotations, handle customer queries, and follow up sales. For consumers, Travel Buddy allows them to browse and purchase personalized travel packages, get instant replies to their travel enquiries 24 x 7, and access itinerary information on the go.

In addition to Travel Buddy, Zumata is helping both travel agents and hotels to provide instant answers and take actions to resolve their customer service needs. Mr. Ziegler adds, Service staff are increasingly difficult to find, and are expensive to train. Our Hotel Concierge Chatbot and our Customer Service Chatbot help hotels and travel agents to overcome their hiring and productivity challenges while providing better service to their customers.

More information is available on www.zumata.com

Financial Sector  PAND.AI

The selling process of most financial products and services often requires human-to-human interaction between a provider and a buyer. This time-honoured tradition has existed for years and, according to Pand.ai, is long overdue for a change. Shin Wee Chuang is the co-founder of Pand.ai and was the Head of Remote Banking in Standard Chartered Bank in China. Having had first-hand experience with the current labour-demanding processes in large financial conglomerates, Shin is confident that intelligent, multi-functional chatbots are the way to the future.

Unlike websites and mobile apps, chatbots offer a user experience that is ensconced within a very familiar interfacechat. When it comes to traditional graphical user interfaces such as websites and mobile apps, the navigational process can be cumbersome and frustrating. For instance, should a user want to get information on a product, he might have to click through several pages, or endure a long phone call to a customer service call centre, to obtain the information. However, with a chatbot, all a user has to do is ask.

Ease of use though, is only the beginning when it comes to the argument for chatbots in the financial industry. Another important factor is the scalability of a well-designed chatbot. When it comes to traditional customer service, a human agent is required to serve each customer, or potential customer, at any point of time, one at a time; whereas a chatbot who needs neither sleep nor rest, is immediately accessible, can serve potentially millions of users all at once, and at any time of the day.

Also Read: BI is not just for big enterprises, and here are 9 tools that any startup or SME can enjoy

Pand.ais chatbots core technology leverage Artificial Intelligence in the field of Natural Language Processing, which allows the bot to understand complicated queries that consist of multiple parts as well as grammatically imperfect input providing an intuitive and adaptive experience for the user. In addition, the users can also produce visualised data in the form of infographics for financial queries such as funds comparison from real-time analytics on the fly, store favourite articles and take tests and quizzes to assess their financial appetites.

More information is available on www.pand.ai

With the ability to learn from data, chat-bots will continue to improve. Given messaging app usage has now overtaken social media usage, it is clear that consumers today enjoy interacting over chat. Adopting a chat-bot to automate processes that can be automated definitely seems like a sound long-term solution.



Editors note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Image Credit: by Headway on Unsplash

The post 4 made-in-Singapore chatbots that can raise your companys productivity appeared first on e27.
Shortly after the Tiangong-1 space station re-entered Earth's atmosphere on Monday, most of it was vaporised, Chinese space officials said, with the remnants expected to have plopped harmlessly somewhere into the Pacific Ocean. The defunct space lab joins a long list of craft that have burned up as they have hurtled back to Earth. Here are the some of the more famous ones: Mir - 2001 Launched in 1986, the Mir station was once a proud symbol of Soviet success in space, despite a series of high-profile accidents and technical problems. But Russian authorities, strapped for cash after the collapse of the Soviet Union, chose to abandon the orbiting outpost in the late 1990s and devote their resources to the International Space Station. The massive 140-tonne station was brought down by the Russian space agency over the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Chile, and its burning debris was seen streaking across the sky over Fiji. Salyut 7 - 1991 Salyut 7, launched in 1982, was the last orbiting laboratory under the Soviet Union's Salyut programme. When the Mir space station was launched in 1986, Soviet space authorities boosted Salyut 7 to a higher orbit and abandoned it there. It was supposed to stay in orbit until 1994, but an unexpected increase in drag by the earth's atmosphere caused it to hurtle down in 1991. The 40-tonne station broke up on re-entry and the parts that survived scattered over Argentina. Skylab - 1979 Skylab was the first American space station, launched by NASA in 1973, and was crewed until 1974. There were proposals to refurbish it later in the decade, but the lab's orbit began to decay and NASA had to prepare for its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere with only partial control over where it would come down. The 85-tonne Skylab's eventual descent over Australia was a worldwide media event, with some newspapers offering thousands of dollars to people who recovered parts of the station that landed. Columbia - 2003 The disintegration of large spacecraft has not always been without tragedy. In 2003, NASA's space shuttle Columbia broke apart during its re-entry into the atmosphere at the end of the STS-107 mission, killing all seven astronauts on board. Columbia's left wing was damaged by a piece of debris during launch, leaving the shuttle unable to withstand the extreme temperatures generated by re-entry, and causing it to break apart. The flaming debris from the 80-tonne craft was caught streaking across the sky over the southern US by local TV stations, with tens of thousands of the doomed shuttle's parts scattered over Texas and Louisiana.
Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam subjected some of the witnesses at the Select Committee hearings to an extensive grilling. PHOTO: Screengrab from YouGov.sg YouTube page.

The Select Committee probing the vexatious issue of deliberate online falsehoods must have a lot to chew on. Not just on the 170 submissions and answers from the 65 witnesses who spent more than 50 hours under the spotlight, some of them facing a public grilling not seen in Singapore politics in a long while.

What stole the spotlight was Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugams interrogation of at least two of the witnesses, Facebooks Simon Milner and historian Thum Ping Tjin. Enjoying every bit of his inquisitor-in-chief role, Shanmugam was very much in the drivers seat with nobody in the panel, not even chairman Charles Chong, wanting to step in, thus leaving a sour taste in many Singaporeans mouths.

For all that has been said and done since 1990, when then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong spoke of moving away from a society that had been brow-beaten into submission by his predecessor Lee Kuan Yew, those two interrogations must have been, to put it mildly, one big disappointment. Welcome to the new-old Singapore where the rules of engagement, especially political engagement, are still stuck in the mire of what should have been a bygone era.

It was gut wrenching to watch the videos of the unflappable Shanmugam going for the kill and his prey, Thum, trying to look dignified and occasionally putting on a smile. The witness should have come with a watertight case to defend his thesis that the Peoples Action Party government under Lee Kuan Yew had used falsehoods to detain political opponents during the police swoop of 1963, codenamed Operation Coldstore. There was no way Shanmugam was going to let that accusation go.

As the six hours of interrogation wore on, Thum had no choice but to admit that he could have also mentioned what former Communist Party of Malaya leaders like Chin Peng and other historians had said that ran counter to his narrative. His explanation that these accounts were not reliable just did not wash as those in the business will tell you that citing different points of view in a thesis is a basic tenet of research. And an opportunity to discuss the declassified Special Branch documents, which Thum cited as the main evidence in his thesis, was lost.

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Who is right?

Historian Thum Ping Tjin was questioned for six hours by Shanmugam. PHOTO: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo News Singapore

It was a very controversial part of Singapores history with historians and politicians going to and fro about why the more than 100 arrests were made. Just this week, a Facebook post by researcher and author Siew Min Sai added another complication to the Chin Peng story. She said that at a closed-door workshop in Canberra some time ago, Chin Peng answered many of the questions politely put to him which revealed that the CPMs involvement in the Barisan Sosialis, a breakaway faction of the PAP, many of whose members were also detained, was not so clear cut. As Siew said: It is not possible to prove or disprove a communist conspiracy because to do so involves using words or concepts not used by historical actors themselves who may have different perspectives on what they had done/were doing.

If such a momentous event that happened 55 years ago is still fraught with the issue of what is true and false, then what about determining what is fake news in todays technology-driven world? With all the sparks flying at the six-hour interrogation, very little time was spent on exploring this issue in depth. Still, there was a genuine desire, even among the very moderate participants like Carol Soon and Gillian Koh of the Institute of Policy Studies, that there should be a legal plus plus route  education to help the public sieve through the truths, half-truths, falsehoods and half-falsehoods that appear online. That stand should be celebrated as laws alone are not going to solve the problem.

It looks like legislation is a certainty, but the hope is that the government will try and convince the public why it needs another law when there are already so many in its arsenal. To name a few: the Sedition Act, Public Order Act, Protection of Harassment Act, Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, Internal Security Act, Telecommunications Act and, not to mention, defamation laws. One course of action might be to examine these laws thoroughly and see if they can be amended or erased from the Statutes.

Singapore draws up laws at the drop of a hat. Officers of the Info-communications Media Development Authority were recently given powers to enter and search premises, without warrant, for not just obscene and unclassified films but also films banned by the government. They can also take statements as part of an investigation. Minister of Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim gave a rather unconvincing defence that this frees the police to focus on law and order and other threats to security. Many years ago, then-Senior Minister of State Ho Peng Kee also stood up to defend a law that prosecutes a person who is seen naked in his own house by a neighbour. Despite loud complaints, the law is still there, with no news about how effective it has been.

Of course, fake news has very serious implications for society. Drawing up a law will go some way to solving the problem. The long-term answer is to inoculate society against the ills of fake news and instilling in our society the smarts to distinguish the good from the evil.

You can agree or disagree.

P N Balji is a veteran Singaporean journalist who was formerly chief editor of Today, as well as an editor at The New Paper. He is currently a media consultant. The views expressed are his own.

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Yao Song Liang (left) and Terence Tan En Wei seen leaving the State Courts on 16 January. (AP file photo)

Two former property agents who provided short-term stays at a condominium were fined $60,000 each at the State Courts on Tuesday (3 April), in the first prosecuted case of its kind in Singapore.

Terence Tan En Wei, 35, and Yao Songliang, 34, were earlier convicted on four charges each of renting out four units at the Dleedon condominium off Farrer Road, without the Urban Redevelopment Authoritys (URA) permission between 15 May and 21 June last year.

The pair, whose licenses have been revoked by the Council of Estate Agencies, had regularly advertised the units on online platforms such as home-sharing site Airbnb for between $198 to $335 per night. The pair admitted that they earned $19,000 over a period of five weeks.

The prosecution had sought a fine of $80,000 for each man, while the duos lawyer, Wong Soo Chih, had asked for a fine of $20,000 each.

During an earlier hearing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Selene Yap said that the pairs total profits were likely to be much higher as they had been renting out Dleedon units since late 2015.

However, District Judge Kenneth Choo said he would disregard the profits earned prior to 2017 as these were not the subject of the twos present charges.

On Tuesday, Choo said that there was premeditation and calculated planning involved as the duo had carried out a profit-driven enterprise with stays that ranged from five days to two weeks each time.

Both knew that providing short-term accommodation was not permitted had taken steps to avoid detection, said Choo. The judge also noted that residents of the condominium had complained to the URA and that some guests had been a nuisance during their stay.

Choo said that the fine would serve as a strong signal to deter other like-minded individuals from actively pursuing such illegal business enterprises in order to gain quick profit.

Wong told the court that both her clients would be paying their fines in full.

Speaking to reporters outside of court, Wong asked whether her clients had been sentenced prematurely given the the upcoming public consultation on home-sharing rules. She added that to individuals who are not legally trained, it may seem as if the authorities are open to home-sharing.

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The government passed a new law in February last year that banned homeowners from renting out their properties on a short-term basis unless they obtained permission from the URA.

Under the same law, the rental period for a private residential property must be at least three consecutive months. Many Airbnb users typically pay homeowners to stay in their properties for days or weeks.

Related stories:

Two Airbnb hosts charged for renting out condo units, first such case in Singapore

Airbnb questions Singapores home sharing framework after duo charged for illegal condo rental
Ecuador's presidency said Tuesday it will do "everything possible" to gain the release of a press team abducted a week ago on the troubled border with Colombia. The comments were the first from the government since the three-man team appeared in a video and asked Quito to help secure their release. The footage aired on Colombia's RCN television Tuesday marked the first proof that the team from the influential Ecuadoran newspaper El Comercio is alive after being kidnapped by rogue Colombian FARC guerrillas. Reporter Javier Ortega, 32, photographer Paul Rivas, 45, and their driver Efrain Segarra, 60, wear chains with locks around their necks in the 23-second video. One of the hostages asks President Lenin Moreno to reach an agreement for their release. "The government will do everything possible and impossible so that they return safe and sound," a spokesman for Moreno told Telerama TV. In the video, the unidentified captors seek an exchange in which the hostages would go home safely, and Ecuador would stop helping Colombia fight the insurgents. "For the three families, it was a terrible shock, a very strong emotional shock, to see where our loved ones are," said Rivas's companion Yadira Aguagallo. Interior Minister Cesar Navas said he was aware of the kidnappers' demands and that the government was working for their release. "To know that they are stable in the difficult conditions they are experiencing consoles us," he said. Dozens of journalists, media and press organizations from Ecuador and Colombia signed a letter to Moreno and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos, calling on both governments to ensure their release. "It has been very difficult for those of us who have been close to this very painful news," said Moreno's spokesman Juan Sebastian Roldan. He described the kidnapping, the first to hit the Ecuadoran press in three decades, as an "extremely delicate issue." The spokesman said Moreno, who has not spoken publicly about the case, "has his attention all the time on what happens with these three compatriots." "This is a problem serious enough to be treated with great care, not only for the three people who are there but also for the relatives," he said. The journalists were on assignment in the border area where Ecuadoran security forces have come under a series of deadly attacks blamed on rogue FARC elements involved in drug trafficking. A 2016 pact between the Colombian government and the FARC ended half a century of armed conflict, saw 7,000 rebels disarmed and the ex-rebels transform into a political party. However, some 1,100 guerrillas broke away from the agreement, primarily to pursue drug trafficking and illegal mining, according to the Colombian government and independent research centers. The FARC has long been active in the remote Ecuador-Colombia border region.
Commuters across France faced severe disruption Tuesday as rail workers launched three months of rolling strikes, a major test of President Emmanuel Macron's resolve to reshape the country through sweeping reforms. More than three-quarters of train drivers joined the first day of the walkout, according to the SNCF, the heavily indebted state rail operator which Macron wants to overhaul. Only one in eight high-speed TGV trains and a fifth of regional trains were running on what French media have dubbed "black Tuesday". And with stoppages planned two days out of five until June 28, weeks of disruption lie ahead for France's 4.5 million daily train passengers. "We have been asking for the same thing for several weeks -- that the government completely reconsider its plan. They need to start again from scratch," Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT trade union, told France Inter radio. - Big test for Macron - The strike was accompanied by demonstrations by several hundreds of rail workers in Paris and other cities and represents the biggest wave of industrial unrest since Macron came to power last May. The railways are a bastion of trade unionism in France and have forced governments into U-turns in the past during major stoppages. "For Macron, the test is really starting today," labour market economist Andrea Garnero from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) told AFP. "Unions are still able to gather support when they go on strike in France, although maybe less so than in the past," he added. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Tuesday that the government would push ahead with its planned overhaul for the SNCF, which he said required 14 billion euros ($17.2 billion) of public money each year. "I must say that I hear the strikers, who speak fervently at times, as much as I hear those who do not accept this strike," Philippe told lawmakers in parliament. A second day of strikes on Wednesday is set to cause a similar level of disruption as the first day, the SNCF warned. - Frustrated travellers - Staff at Air France, garbage collectors and some energy workers staged separate walkouts Tuesday in a growing atmosphere of social strife 11 months after 40-year-old Macron came to power. Public support for the rail strike stands at just below half, according to an Ifop poll released Sunday, and commuters expressed a mixture of sympathy and frustration with the reduced service. "I start work at 1:00 pm. Do you know what time I had to get up? 5:00 am," complained Jean Nahavua, a manager at a wholesale company who lives in Lille and commutes to Paris. Pascal Lasnier, a banker waiting at the same station, added: "I understand that they want to defend their piece of the pie, but maybe there are other ways of doing it." As commuters took to the roads instead, the streets of Paris were snarled with an "exceptional" 370 kilometres (230 miles) of traffic jams during the morning rush hour before easing, according to traffic website Sytadin. At the capital's busy Gare du Lyon station, the platforms were so crammed that a woman fell onto the tracks and had to be helped out by fellow passengers. But major regional stations including Nice, Lille and Marseille were virtually deserted as travellers anticipated cancellations. Three-quarters of Eurostar trains to London and Brussels were running on Tuesday and Thalys trains towards Belgium and the Netherlands were operating almost normally, but there were none at all to Spain, Italy or Switzerland. At Air France, where staff are striking for the fourth time in a month to demand a pay rise, managers said 75 percent of flights would operate. Further walkouts are planned at the airline for April 7, 10 and 11. - Huge debts, high stakes - Thanks to the internet and mobile phone apps, many French commuters were able to work from home or arrange car-pools -- though extra seats were in high demand. On the Blablacar car-pooling site Tuesday morning, 80 of the 95 listed trips from the northern city of Lille were booked solid. "I kept updating the site to find a ride and as soon as this one came up I clicked immediately," said Pierre, a 24-year-old in Lille on his way to Paris. Macron says the SNCF, saddled with 46.6 billion euros of debt, needs to drastically improve its efficiency and cut running costs as EU countries prepare to open passenger rail to competition by 2020. His government is planning to stop granting the rail workers' special status -- which guarantees jobs for life and early retirement -- to new SNCF hires. It also wants to combine the three bodies that make up the SNCF into a single state-owned company, prompting fears among unions that it could be a step towards privatising the rail operator.
A Senegalese court on Friday will deliver a verdict in a high-profile corruption trial that could make or break the presidential ambitions of the capital's popular mayor, Khalifa Sall. After being held in pre-trial detention for nearly a year, Sall went before the court in January and February on charges of embezzling public funds. Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison term for Sall and his financial director Mbaye Toure, and a fine worth nearly $10 million (more than eight million euros). A conviction could have far-reaching political consequences in Senegal, a country praised for its stability and democracy. It would bar Sall from standing in next year's presidential election, derailing a growing challenge to incumbent Macky Sall, who shares the same name but is not a relation. The 62-year-old Dakar mayor and seven co-defendants are accused of misappropriating 1.83 billion CFA francs ($2.85 million, 2.7 million euros) of city funds between 2011 and 2015 -- a charge which Sall denies and which supporters say is politically motivated. They were also charged with fraud, criminal conspiracy and money laundering. The court heard allegations of a system of fake receipts for rice and millet, the money from which Sall is accused of using for "political purposes". Sall said the trial was fuelled by his refusal to cut deals with the government and that the money was used for spending on sensitive issues such as security. Often preferring a traditional boubou robe to suit and tie, he was upbeat during the case, smiling and greeting supporters who turned up for every hearing in their hundreds. - 'Right to run' - "Should I be robbed of my right to be a candidate because Macky Sall doesn't want Khalifa Ababacar Sall to become his opponent in 2019?" the mayor asked combatively on the trial's last day. Sall began his political life at the age of 11, as a junior activist in the party of Senegal's first president, the poet and cultural theorist Leopold Sedar Senghor. He became the head of the Socialist youth wing and in 1983 first won a seat in parliament aged 27. He went on to become deputy mayor of Dakar, and from 1993 to 2000 held various ministerial portfolios under then Socialist president Abdou Diouf. He was first elected mayor in 2009, when to almost universal surprise he made a declaration of his personal assets -- the first time this had happened in municipal history. He was re-elected in 2014 and last July won a seat in the national assembly from prison. His parliamentary immunity was lifted to pave the way for the trial. He and other dissidents of Senegal's Socialist Party, a member of the presidential coalition, were kicked out of the party in December for "violence, indiscipline and political activities competing" with the leadership. Sall, who is secretary general of the Association of Francophone Mayors, also enjoys support from his counterparts abroad. His long pre-trial detention and allegations of political machinations behind his arrest have perturbed the diplomatic community in a nation with strong democratic institutions.
ROME (Reuters) - The leader of Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement ruled out joining a coalition with Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party on Tuesday, a day before formal government consultations begin.

Until now, 5-Star had said it was ready to talk to all parties after the March 4 national election ended in a hung parliament.

In an interview recorded by La7 TV channel and not yet broadcast, Luigi Di Maio said 5-Star was open to talks with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), though not to its former secretary Matteo Renzi, and the far-right League, but not with Forza Italia, two 5-Star sources said.

"We will propose a government contract like the Germans do and what is written is done, and what is not written does not get done," Di Maio told 5-Star lawmakers on Tuesday according to a statement.

The move will heighten tensions between the League and Forza Italia, which are partners in a centre-right coalition that won the most seats in parliament. Forza Italia had no immediate comment.

"The coalition that won the most votes is the centre-right and this is our starting point," League leader Matteo Salvini said on Facebook. "We will dialogue with 5-Star, but reject vetoes or commands."

In the election, the 5-Star followed the centre right but was the single largest party, and the PD was third, but no one has enough seats to govern alone.

The 5-Star position will also put pressure on the PD to consider joining a coalition with 5-Star. So far the PD has toed the hard line - set by Renzi before he resigned as party leader in the wake of the vote - to not consider a deal with 5-Star.

"The 5-Star leader's proposal is unacceptable," Andrea Marcucci, the PD's Senate leader, said on Twitter.

Though the sources did not say what reason Di Maio gave for rejecting Forza Italia, the 5-Star has always been hostile to Berlusconi because the party has vowed to clean up Italian politics. Berlusconi has a conviction for tax fraud and is on trial in another case for allegedly bribing witnesses.

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President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday begins formal consultations in which he will try to get rivals to seek common ground and form a government together. He will meet the main parties, including 5-Star, on Thursday.

But more consultations could be held later and the process could take weeks. If no deal can be found, Mattarella may be forced to call a new election.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, Francesca Piscioneri, Steve Scherer, Gavin Jones and Massimiliano Di Giorgio, writing by Steve Scherer; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Lee Hsien Yang, the younger son of the late Lee Kuan Yew, at his office in late 2017. PHOTO: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo News Singapore

This story has been updated to reflect the Ministerial Committees response to the Lee siblings statements.

A Ministerial Committees recent statement on 38 Oxley Road does not accurately reflect the wishes of the late Lee Kuan Yew, said his younger son Hsien Yang on Tuesday (3 April), in his first public statement on the matter in five months.

He wanted demolition unwaveringly, and stated his wish repeatedly in private and in public. He wanted demolition, not only out of a desire for privacy, but because he believed that it would be better for Singapores future, said Hsien Yang in a Facebook post.

The 61-year-old added that the late Lee, Singapores first prime minister, had been given a false impression by his eldest son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, that the gazetting of the house was inevitable. In light of this, Hsien Yang claimed, his father had been forced to consider options other than demolition.

On Monday, the Ministerial Committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean issued a 21-page report outlining three broad options for the former Lee family home: retain the house; retain the dining room and tear down the rest of the house; or demolish the house and allow the site to be redeveloped.

The report noted the late Lees preference for the house to be demolished, but claimed that he was also prepared to accept options than demolition, provided that suitable arrangements were made to ensure that it was refurbished, and kept in a habitable state and that the familys privacy was protected in line with his wishes.

In his post, Hsien Yang insisted that his father had never accepted these options and, instead, merely set out what he wanted if the government prevented his house from being demolished. In March 2012, Lee Kuan Yew reluctantly went along with proposed renovation plans for the property only because he believed the government already intended to thwart his hopes, he added.

Hsien Yang claimed that the Ministerial Committee had relied extensively on submissions by PM Lee to write its report, even though he claimed to recuse himself from any discussions on 38 Oxley Road. He claimed that PM Lee had also made a statutory declaration to the Committee in which the latter said that the late Lee had come to accept Cabinets position that the house should be preserved.

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Combined with Lee Kuan Yews numerous and unwavering public statements on the matter, there is more than enough documentary evidence for a future government to understand  and hopefully grant  our fathers last wish, said Hsien Yang in conclusion.

Separately, Wei Ling shared Hsien Yangs post along with her own statement:

Hsien Yang and his elder sister Wei Ling are the sole executors and trustees of Lee Kuan Yews estate. In June 2017, the two siblings took to social media to accuse PM Lee of pursuing a personal agenda with regard to their late fathers house at 38 Oxley Road.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly denied these allegations.

Meanwhile, the Ministerial Committee chaired by DPM Teo has responded to the siblings statements. These views expressed by Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling had already been carefully weighed by the Committee, together with other submissions from the parties in their personal capacities, including those in the form of statutory declarations, and objective evidence in the form of documents signed by Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

It reiterated that it relied on three key objective documents from the late Lee: the entire demolition clause in his last will, Lees letter to the Cabinet on 27 December 2011, and Lees application dated 29 March 2012 to the Urban Redevelopment Authority for renovation/redevelopment plans for the property, as well as URAs subsequent approval in April 2012.

Related stories:

PM Lee: Speaking as a son, I accept ministerial panels report for 38 Oxley Road

Lee Hsien Loong made false claims about fathers wishes on Oxley house: Wei Ling and Hsien Yang

Lee family feud: MPs call for independent inquiry on abuse of power allegations

Suing my siblings would further besmirch my parents names: PM Lee

PM Lee recounts fathers changing views on 38 Oxley Road

PM Lee in Parliament: Allegations of abuse of power by my siblings are entirely baseless

I am just trying to honour my fathers final wish: Lee Hsien Yang

PM Lees siblings need to show more proof of allegations, say 4 in 10 Singaporeans: survey

A timeline of Singapores Lee family feud

PM Lees new stance over Oxley Road house led to my statement with Wei Ling: Hsien Yang
A panel advising Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi on the Rakhine crisis said Tuesday it was pleased with some developments, but rights groups cautioned members against being used to cover up alleged atrocities. Myanmar's military has forced some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims out of Rakhine and across the border to Bangladesh since August, in a brutal crackdown which US and UN officials say amounts to ethnic cleansing of the minority. Suu Kyi's reputation lies in tatters internationally for her failure to speak up on behalf of the stateless group. But she remains a heroine inside the Buddhist-majority country that has branded the Rohingya as illegal immigrants. The international advisory board which Suu Kyi appointed became mired in controversy after veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson dramatically parted ways with the panel in January, saying he refused to help "whitewash" the crisis. At a second meeting in Singapore on Tuesday, the group offered some recommendations for Myanmar's government while also hailing several "positive developments". The latter included a looming deal between the Myanmar government and two UN bodies -- the UN Development Programme and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees -- that it has so far excluded from a stalled repatriation process. The statement said only that the agreement would likely be signed in the "near future". The panel also said Myanmar's Social Welfare Minister Win Myat Aye was "likely" to visit the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh soon. That would be the first trip by a senior Myanmar official to the camps since the latest crisis erupted. In a list of recommendations, the panel urged Myanmar to create a committee to probe rights abuses in Rakhine, develop an anti-terrorism strategy and improve health facilities. But rights groups warned the board was is danger of serving as cover for a government that has refused to cooperate with UN investigators or condemn troops accused of waging the ethnic cleansing campaign. "Members of the Rakhine State Advisory Board must not allow themselves to be used as a shield to cover up the military's crimes in Myanmar," said James Gomez, Amnesty International's Southeast Asia director. The advisory board's statement did not mention the Rohingya -- whose name Myanmar rejects -- or recommend cooperating with UN factfinders and a special rapporteur, who have been barred from Myanmar. "That's grossly irresponsible. There's nothing pragmatic or savvy about that approach. Peoples' lives are at stake," said Matthew Smith from Fortify Rights. "There are some redeeming recommendations here, but the concerns that this body would become a cheerleading squad appear more reasonable by the day," he added. Myanmar's army says its campaign was a legitimate counter-offensive aimed at rooting out Rohingya militants who staged deadly attacks on police posts. But the civilians streaming into Bangladesh have told harrowing accounts of rape, arson and murder at the hands of soldiers and Buddhist vigilante mobs. A repatriation deal signed in November between the two countries still has yet to see a single Rohingya refugee return, with most unwilling to sign up unless their safety and rights can be assured. burs-rs/ssm/sm
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled an agreement with the UN refugee agency on Tuesday aimed at avoiding forced deportations of thousands of African migrants only hours after having announced the deal himself. The stunning turnaround after Netanyahu announced the accord in a televised address on Monday afternoon came as he faced mounting pressure from his right-wing base. The UN refugee agency urged Netanyahu to reconsider. Monday's announcement drew immediate anger from right-wing politicians, including Netanyahu allies, and many of his traditional supporters. After the deluge of criticism, the premier said in a late-night Facebook post on Monday he was suspending the agreement that would have allowed thousands of the migrants to remain in Israel at least temporarily. On Tuesday, he said the deal was being cancelled outright after having held discussions on it. "After having heard numerous comments on the agreement, I have examined the pros and cons and have decided to cancel the agreement," Netanyahu said in a statement. - 'Playing with our minds' - The agreement was designed to end the possibility of forced deportations of thousands of migrants to Rwanda under a controversial plan put forward by Netanyahu in January. Under the agreement with the UN, a minimum of 16,250 migrants would have instead been resettled in Western nations. In return, Israel would grant temporary residency to one migrant for each one resettled elsewhere. The presence of the primarily Sudanese and Eritrean migrants in Israel has become a key political issue, and Netanyahu is already under heavy pressure due to a string of graft probes. He has repeatedly referred to them as "not refugees but illegal infiltrators". A range of Netanyahu's own ministers spoke out strongly against the deal, with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon saying he had known nothing of it until Monday. On Tuesday morning, Netanyahu held talks with residents of southern Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants live. A group of southern Tel Aviv residents had harshly criticised the deal. Dozens of migrants and their supporters also protested outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv. "We thought that if we came here, there is democracy and Israel will defend our rights, but they are playing with our minds and our lives," Sernai Dori, a 28-year-old mother of three from Eritrea who has been in Israel for a decade, said at the protest in Jerusalem. - 'Reconsider its decision' - The UN refugee agency meanwhile said it had found out about Netanyahu's initial suspension of the agreement through news reports. The agency, known as the UNHCR, said Tuesday it hoped Netanyahu would change his mind about the cancellation. "We continue to believe in the need for a win-win agreement that can benefit Israel, the international community and people needing asylum and we hope that Israel will reconsider its decision soon," spokesman William Spindler told AFP in an email. Netanyahu said he was forced to resort to the deal with the UN after Rwanda indicated it would not be able to follow through on the previous plan. In his Monday night Facebook post, Netanyahu said Rwanda had faced "tremendous pressure" from "elements in the European Union" and others to not accept the arrangement. The EU mission in Israel responded with a mocking tweet. "Guess it's just one of those days. At 20:57 you congratulate #Israel & @refugees on their agreement, at 21:46 you like @IsraelMFA announcement on the deal, at 22:50 the PM suspends it and blames, among others, #EU (where #UNHCR hoped to resettle significant number of refugees)," it said. Under Netanyahu's previous plan, migrants who entered illegally would face a choice between leaving voluntarily or facing indefinite imprisonment with eventual forced expulsion. According to interior ministry figures, there are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, half of them children, women or men with families who are not facing immediate deportation. As the migrants could face danger or imprisonment if returned to their homelands, Israel had offered to relocate them to an unnamed African country, which deportees and aid workers had long said was Rwanda or Uganda. Netanyahu specifically mentioned Rwanda for the first time in his Monday Facebook post. Uganda had also said it could not accept those sent involuntarily. The initial plan had drawn criticism from the UN refugee agency, rights groups and some Israelis, including Holocaust survivors who said the country had a special duty to protect migrants. Migrants began entering Israel through what was then a porous Egyptian border in 2007. The border has since been strengthened, all but ending illegal crossings. burs-mjs/mm
Controversial academic Benny Tai Yiu-tings teaching position at the University of Hong Kong appears safe for now despite official condemnation of his remarks on independence for the city and mounting calls for his sacking.

HKUs Faculty of Law dean Michael Hor told the Post he was not aware of any complaint directed to the faculty, while university procedures were in place to deal with any.

If a complaint was lodged, Hor said, whether the remarks by Tai  one of the leaders of the 2014 Occupy movement  fell within the confines of freedom of speech, remained to be decided.

Asked whether the pro-Beijing camps criticisms had put pressure on him to take action against Tai, Hor shrugged off the issue, saying, The question at the moment concerns the pressure on the prosecutorial authorities whether or not to prefer a charge.

Tai posted a message on his Facebook page on Tuesday night saying he believed he was being monitored by a powerful law enforcement agency.

That came after the pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao newspaper published a photo of him leaving a car park in Central even though Tai said he had taken precautions to ensure he was not being tailed by anyone from the paper.

For the record, if you see me ... about to cross the Hong Kong border to mainland China or Macau, please take the time to ask me if Im leaving voluntarily, he wrote.

If you see me on the mainland or in Macau, I definitely would not be there voluntarily, since I have no intention of going there at all. If you see me on videos saying I returned voluntarily, I would have definitely done so under pressure or coercion.

The row over Tais suggestion at a forum in Taiwan last month that the city could consider becoming an independent state some day in a democratic China intensified on Monday as Beijing mouthpiece Peoples Daily demanded the Hong Kong government take legal action against him under the citys criminal law.

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The university is also under mounting pressure from the pro-Beijing camp to dismiss the law professor as his critics question whether Tai is still fit to teach.

A member of the facultys senior management, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Post on Tuesday that Tai, as a tenured associate professor of law, would not be affected by the controversy.

Nothing much has changed, the source said, noting that it was not the first day Tai had come under attack, having faced a similar backlash when leading the Occupy protests.

The source said there was simply no good cause to warrant an investigation or to dismiss Tai, as his remarks, similar to his Occupy role, were not related to his teaching.

Neither the university nor acting president Paul Tam Kwong-hang could be reached for comment.

A defiant Tai earlier complained that Beijing was making an example of him to limit freedom of speech and pave the way for tougher national security legislation in Hong Kong.

Former pro-Beijing lawmaker Tam Yiu-chung, the citys sole deputy to the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee, the countrys top legislative body, earlier publicly advised HKU to consider whether Tai was suitable to remain in his post.

Tams successor as chair of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, Starry Lee Wai-king, also weighed in, saying HKU should look into whether Tai had broken any rules since the Occupy movement.

It cannot be ignored simply because Tai said he was having an academic discussion, this would fall short of peoples expectations of the university and the government  to leave all their responsibilities to the citys law, she added.

The Hong Kong Federation of Education and several pro-establishment community groups also condemned Tai and urged HKU to fire him.

But Timothy OLeary, a staff representative on the universitys governing council, warned that the pro-Beijing camp was trying to discredit Benny Tai, apparently in preparation for the [Occupy] trial and HKUs response to it. Tai and other leading Occupy protesters face a charge of incitement to incite public nuisance and are due in court in November.

What Tai said is not in any way in conflict with his role of professor of HKU, OLeary said, urging the university to stand firm against calls to fire Tai. Just because it annoys the government, its obviously not a reason to stop doing that.

The Progressive Lawyers Group, comprising liberal barristers, solicitors and law students, urged the government to publicly apologise and to cease its intimidation and attacks against Tai.

In a statement on Tuesday, the group said that instead of criticising Tai, the government should be upholding freedom of speech and academic freedom, which are guaranteed under Hong Kongs mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

Meanwhile, the political drama also spilled over to the courts, as a Tai supporter applied for a judicial review targeting an unusually sharp statement issued earlier by the Hong Kong government criticising the academic.

Kwok Cheuk-kin, a former civil servant known for regularly taking the government to court, argued those remarks were equally unconstitutional, in that they showed Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had failed to uphold Basic Law articles that protect freedom of speech and academic activities.

As a result, Lam, who took an oath to uphold the Basic Law as the citys leader, should be booted from the job, he argued.

Additional reporting by Tony Cheung and Chris Lau

This article No complaints against Benny Tai over independence remarks, says Hong Kong University law dean first appeared on South China Morning Post

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By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels in a besieged area northeast of Damascus have been told they must accept state rule or leave, a rebel group said on Tuesday, as the government and its Russian ally seek to wipe out the last pockets of opposition territory near the capital.

The ultimatum to the rebels of eastern Qalamoun was served to civilians from the area during a meeting with a Russian colonel and an officer from the Syrian Air Force Intelligence, rebel spokesman Said Saif of the Martyr Ahmad Abdo told Reuters.

The area is 40 km (25 miles) from Damascus and separate from eastern Ghouta - an area right next to the capital where government forces have routed rebels in recent weeks, forcing thousands to accept safe passage out towards the Turkish border.

An opposition source said talks over the densely-populated town of Douma, the last rebel pocket of eastern Ghouta, had yet to be concluded, at odds with state media reports that the group holed up inside - Jaish al-Islam - had accepted a deal to leave.

President Bashar al-Assad, his military position secure thanks to Russia and Iran, is seeking to crush the last pockets of opposition to his rule near the main cities of western Syria.

The rebel enclave in eastern Qalamoun includes several towns and a barren expanse of mountainous territory.

"A clear message was sent to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups in the area: either reconciliation and disarmament - handing weapons to the Syrian government as the Russians describe it - or departing eastern Qalamoun," Saif said in separate comments to al-Hadath TV.

Saif said rebels had made a proposal under which they would withdraw from the towns into the mountains and civilians would stay, and Russia's response was being awaited. He said the aim was to avoid the "forced displacement" of people that had occurred in other areas recovered by the Syrian government.

The Syrian military could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Saif told Reuters the civilians who met the Russian and Syrian military officers had expressed concern that a departure of rebel fighters would leave them vulnerable to attack by jihadists from Nusra Front or Islamic State.

DOUMA DEADLOCK?

The Syrian war last month entered its eighth year having killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced 11 million from their homes, including nearly 6 million who have fled abroad in one of the worst refugee crises of modern times.

While Assad now controls the single largest chunk of Syria, it may prove difficult for him to regain much more territory without colliding with the interests of foreign states, notably Turkey and the United States which have forces in the country.

Russian-backed government forces have recovered nearly all of eastern Ghouta in a ferocious assault that began in February. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says bombardment of the rebel enclave killed more than 1,600 civilians in Ghouta.

It marks Assad's most significant victory over the rebellion against his rule since rebels were driven from eastern Aleppo in 2016.

State media has said Jaish al-Islam had accepted a deal giving its fighters safe passage to towns at the border with Turkey that are located in a buffer zone controlled by the Turkish military and allied Syrian rebel groups.

But while Russia's defence ministry said 2,000 had left since April 1, the opposition source familiar with the negotiations said no final deal had been reached with Jaish al-Islam.

The group, which is estimated to have many thousands of fighters, has previously insisted it will not leave Douma or accept "forced displacement" to another part of Syria.

The source said that while Jaish al-Islam wanted to stay in the town, it was not seeking its own "independent canton". People in Douma wanted a reconciliation deal with the state that keeps out its feared security services, the source added.

A military source told Reuters on Monday that some elements of Jaish al-Islam were still rejecting a deal and that military force would be used if they refused to strike one.

The source said on Tuesday the government had set a deadline for militants to leave Douma, without saying how long.

"The Syrian government has taken a decision to clear militants from the areas," the source told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Firas Makdesi in Damascus; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by John Stonestreet and Mark Potter)
Brazil's supreme court is to rule Wednesday on whether former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should start a 12 year prison sentence for corruption, potentially upending this year's presidential election. The court showdown in the capital Brasilia is a key battle for Brazil's deeply polarized electorate ahead of the October polls, in which Lula is currently the heavy favorite, despite his legal problems. Late Tuesday, up to 20,000 people demonstrated in Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo, to demand Lula go to prison and be barred from the election. More protests -- for and against Lula -- were planned in Brasilia on Wednesday, with demonstrators separated by a metal barrier and heavy police presence. The head of the army, General Eduardo Villas Boas, tweeted that the military shared Brazilians' "desire for the repudiation of impunity." The comment, likely to be seen as backing prison for Lula, was a rare foray into politics by a general in a country that was under military dictatorship for two decades until 1985. Villas Boas also asked "who is really thinking about the good of the country and future generations and who is only worried about personal interests?" The court was due to start deliberations at 2:00 pm (1700 GMT), but with 11 justices casting votes, the session was likely to be lengthy. Lula, 72, was sentenced to 12 years and one month prison after being convicted last year of accepting a seaside apartment as a bribe from a major construction company seeking government contracts. He appealed in a lower court but lost. Under current law, that means he should go immediately to prison, even while conducting further appeals. However, Lula has asked the Supreme Court to grant him habeas corpus, allowing him to remain free while pursuing those appeals. The court is believed to be evenly split on the issue, so that if only one judge changed position it would secure Lula's temporary freedom -- and boost his uphill bid for a third term in office. If the court turns him down, he could face jail this week. - Hot rhetoric - Lula left office after two terms between 2003-2010 as Brazil's most popular president on record, but he has since turned into a hugely divisive figure, inspiring adoration on the left and hatred on the right. "We want Brazil to be freed of this shameful corruption. Imprison Lula and let Brazil turn the page," said Mara Massa, 67, at the protest in Sao Paulo, where the crowd chanted "No more Lula!" Lula portrays himself as framed by a right-wing judiciary bent on preventing him from returning to power. He won cheers from a large crowd in Rio de Janeiro late Monday when he portrayed his legal struggle as continuation of his long fight against dictatorship as a young union leader, then founder of the Workers' Party. "I did not accept the military dictatorship and I will not accept this dictatorship of the prosecutors," he said, insisting on his right to run for office. Ahead of Villas Boas' unusual comments, an army reservist general lashed out in Estadao newspaper that a Supreme Court ruling that freed Lula would "induce" violence and "fratricidal conflict." General Luiz Gonzaga Schroeder Lessa, who has a history of making provocative remarks, even appeared to threaten a coup, saying an eventual Lula election victory would "leave no recourse but an armed reaction. The armed forces would have to restore order." The top court is also under huge pressure from prosecutors like Deltan Dallagnol, who spearhead Brazil's mammoth "Car Wash" anti-graft probe, which has netted scores of high-ranking politicians beyond Lula over the last four years. On Monday, more than 5,000 judges and prosecutors signed a petition against granting Lula his habeas corpus request. And on Wednesday, Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge said that allowing convicted criminals to stay free pending several appeals would "annihilate" the justice system. However, one of the Supreme Court justices, Gilmar Mendes, tried to reassure the nation, saying the court's ruling -- whichever way it went -- would lead to "a calming down, not an increase in conflict."
President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to deploy the military to secure America's southern border, as a caravan of Central American migrants headed north through Mexico toward the United States. The US leader has spent three days attacking the Mexican government for failing to block the estimated 1,500 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras from walking north toward the border. "Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump told journalists. In an evening statement, the White House clarified that Trump's plan involved mobilizing the National Guard -- not active duty military troops, which would be barred by US law. Senior officials including Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford and Chief of Staff John Kelly briefed Trump last week and follow-up discussions Tuesday, it added. "President Trump and senior officials present also agreed on the need to pressure Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations," the statement added. Trump accused Mexico of abetting and profiting from illegal immigration, which he pledged in his 2016 election campaign to halt. - Laws are 'weak' and 'pathetic' - "The caravan makes me very sad that this could happen to the United States, where you have thousands of people that just decide to walk into our country and we don't have any laws that could protect it," he said. "If it reaches our border, our laws are so weak and so pathetic... it's like we have no border," added the president -- who lashed out at his predecessor Barack Obama for allegedly weakening border security, without elaborating on his claims. He also railed against the US Congress for not tightening laws on immigrants, and against Democrats for stalling the border wall he promised to build during his campaign. Trump had previously suggested the military could help fund and build the wall, but it was the first time he proposed US troops to patrol the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) frontier. The Pentagon had no immediate comment on Trump's remarks. In the past 12 years, National Guard troops have been deployed twice to bolster border security, but none have been there since 2010. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said he was seeking further information about the announcement. "Mexico has asked the United States, via official channels, to clarify the announcement by @POTUS on the use of the military on the border," Videgaray said on Twitter. "The Mexican government will decide its response based on said clarification, and always in defense of our sovereignty and national interest." - 'People flowing in' - The Trump administration has sharply bolstered spending on patrolling the border, and intensified crackdowns on undocumented immigrants inside the country. But the president remains frustrated that other initiatives by his administration to slow both legal and illegal immigration have been stalled or blocked. After a year's delay, Congress budgeted $1.6 billion last month to begin construction of the wall, a small portion of the $25 billion Trump asked. The initial funding might only pay for 100 miles of wall, and Trump last week proposed that the Pentagon's budget be tapped to build the rest. "We need to have a wall that's about 700-800 miles," he said Tuesday. The US president's rekindled anger over immigration was apparently sparked over the weekend by media reports on the migrants heading across Mexico. Like each of the last five years, the so-called caravan set off recently from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, partly in protest at conditions faced by migrants, and partly to help migrants safely reach the US border. Trump says the phenomenon is proof of the need for a wall. "The caravan which is over 1,000 people coming in from Honduras thought they were just going to walk through Mexico and right through the border," Trump said. "We cannot have people flowing in our country illegally, disappearing and, by the way, never showing up to court."
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrives for the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, in Geneva United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrives for the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, in Geneva, Switzerland, April 3, 2018. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the warring sides in Yemen on Tuesday to reach a political settlement to end a conflict that is now in its fourth year and has left 22 million people in urgent need of aid.

His Special Envoy Martin Griffiths will head to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the Yemeni government-held city of Aden in the drive for peace, Guterres told reporters.

Griffiths has already held talks with both sides in a war that has drawn in regional powers, meeting Houthi authorities who hold the capital Sanaa as well as internationally-recognised Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Saudi officials in Riyadh.

Guterres said he saw "positive perspectives" for preparing a plan of action "to lead to an effective inter-Yemeni dialogue able to achieve a political solution, with of course the involvement of all those that are relevant in this conflict".

"I am optimistic about that possibility," the United Nations chief added.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than 2 million and driven the country to the verge of famine.

Guterres was speaking on the sidelines of a U.N. pledging conference a day after an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition that supports Hadi's government killed 12 civilians in the coastal city of Hodeidah. Houthi forces later targeted Saudi Arabia's southern border area with a missile.

He announced that more than $2 billion has been pledged towards a U.N. humanitarian appeal of $3 billion for Yemen this year. It includes $930 million from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which lead the coalition air strikes.

When the Houthis fired missiles at Riyadh last November, the Western-backed coalition responded by shutting Yemen's airports and ports. The United Nations said that blockade raised the danger of mass starvation and it was partially lifted.

Guterres told the conference: "All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo, the medicines, food and the fuel needed to deliver them."

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Most humanitarian aid enters through Hodeidah but the government accuses Houthis who control the port of smuggling weapons through it.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi called for a return to the negotiating table and said that his government was working to open ports and airports to aid.

"We need to find the ideal solution which is a return to the talks table, to put an end the war, to return to a sustainable system supported by the people of Yemen," he said.

The U.N.'s World Food Programme is providing food rations to 7 million Yemenis, up from 3 million last year, Elisabeth Rasmussen, WFP assistant executive director, told the talks.

But Dr. Nevio Zagaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Yemen, said that child malnutrition rates are rising. About 1.8 million children under age five are acutely malnourished while 400,000 suffer from severe acute malnutrition, which can be deadly.

"In Hajjah, I saw a baby weighing 2.6 kilos (5.7 pounds) who was six months old. Its twin died the week before," Zagaria told Reuters.

After more than one million Yemenis were found with apparent cholera last year, WHO is shipping vaccines to avoid a repeat of the epidemic that killed 2,267 people, he said. Some 1.4 million doses out of 4.4 million planned are on their way via Nairobi.

"The rainy season is starting, so we need to use the window of opportunity to start a vaccination campaign," he said.

(Reporting and writing by Stephanie Nebehay; additional reporting by Sami Aboudi in Dubai; editing by John Stonestreet and David Stamp/Mark Heinrich)
The British military facility analysing the nerve agent used to poison a spy said on Tuesday it could not prove the substance was made in Russia, as Russian President Vladimir Putin put his hopes in a meeting with the world's chemical weapons watchdog. Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Porton Down defence laboratory, told Britain's Sky News that analysts had identified the substance as military-grade Novichok, the word used for a category of nerve agents developed in Soviet times. But he added: "We have not identified the precise source." "It is our job to provide the scientific evidence of what this particular nerve agent is, we identified that it is from this particular family and that it is a military grade, but it is not our job to say where it was manufactured," Aitkenhead said. He added that "extremely sophisticated methods" were needed to create the nerve agent, and that was "something only in the capabilities of a state actor" Following his remarks, a British government spokesman said Porton Down's identification of Novichok was "only one part of the intelligence picture". "This includes our knowledge that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination -- and as part of this programme has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichok; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets," he added. Former double agent Sergei Skripal, who has lived in Britain since a spy swap in 2010, and his daughter Yulia have been in hospital since March 4 after the poisoning that London and its major Western allies have blamed on Russia. The first use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II has chilled Moscow's relations with the West, as both sides have expelled scores of diplomats. Britain has also suspended high-level diplomatic contact with Moscow. Moscow has denied any involvement in the incident, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday suggesting that the British government may be behind the poisoning to distract attention from problems around Brexit. Aitkenhead would not comment on whether Porton Down had developed or keeps stocks of Novichok, but he dismissed claims the agent used to poison the Skripals had come from the site. "There is no way anything like that could have come from us or left the four walls of our facility," he said. - 'Full stop' - The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the world's chemical watchdog, will meet Wednesday to discuss Britain's allegations that Russia was responsible for the poisoning, according to documents released on Tuesday. The OPCW said Russia had asked for the meeting, which Putin said was aimed at putting an end to the ongoing dispute. "We hope that during those discussions a full stop will be placed on (the issue of) what happened," he said during a visit to the Turkish capital Ankara. The meeting request came after Moscow received and analysed samples of the Novichok agent used in the attack. The confidential gathering will start at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) at the OPCW's headquarters in The Hague. "We hope to discuss the whole matter and call on Britain to provide every possible element of evidence they might have in their hands," Russia's ambassador to Ireland, Yury Filatov, told reporters ahead of the OPCW meeting. "Russia is interested in establishing the whole truth of the matter," he said. But Britain's foreign ministry accused Russia of requesting the meeting to undermine the organisation's investigation. "This Russian initiative is yet again another diversionary tactic, intended to undermine the work of the OPCW in reaching a conclusion," the ministry said in a statement. "Of course, there is no requirement in the Chemical Weapons Convention for the victim of a chemical weapons attack to engage in a joint investigation with the likely perpetrator," it said.
President Xi Jinping greeted Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa as an "old friend" of China on Tuesday as the African leader visited Beijing, which previously backed his ousted predecessor Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter in the 1960s, was met with a military honour guard at the Great Hall of the People on his first state visit outside of Africa. The two leaders oversaw the signing of six documents, including a letter on economic and development cooperation and another on emergency food assistance, as Mnanangwa seeks help from a major ally with historic ties to Zimbabwe. "I heartily welcome President Mnangagwa on his visit to Beijing," Xi said as the two sat down for talks. "You are an old friend of China and I appreciate your efforts to develop relations in all areas," he said. Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa from his job as vice president in November over a succession tussle with the first lady Grace Mugabe, leading to a military intervention that culminated with the veteran president's ousting and Mnangagwa taking office. The country's then-army chief, General Constantino Chiwenga, had visited Beijing shortly before the military action, leading to questions about whether China had any role in the power transfer. Chiwenga was named vice president in December. China denied it played any part in the transition. Beijing had long been one of Mugabe's most powerful allies and a major trade partner, as the West shunned him over his government's human rights violations, but it avoided publicly taking sides during his ousting. "Last November Zimbabwe achieved a peaceful, smooth transfer of power that was broadly recognised by the international community," Xi said. "I am willing to work with Mr. president (Mnangagwa) to jointly map out our future cooperation and write a new chapter in China-Zimbabwe relations for the benefit of our two peoples." Mnangagwa, wearing a scarf in the the colours of Zimbabwe's flag, told Xi he appreciated China's "political support and goodwill" following the "peaceful political transition in Zimbabwe". - 'Socialism with Zimbabwean characteristics' - Mnangagwa has also been accused of playing a key role in his mentor Mugabe's authoritarian regime that left the economy in ruins and under sanctions. He was targeted by EU and US measures imposed on Mugabe and his close allies over violence and intimidation during Zimbabwe's 2008 presidential campaign. The visit comes as China takes a more proactive role in Africa, where it has long invested in infrastructure projects and sought resources. It has recently built its first overseas military base in Djibouti. Relations between China and Zimbabwe date back to the liberation struggle of the 1960s, when Beijing provided arms and trained some of the top guerrilla leaders including Mnangagwa. Before his arrival on Monday, Mnangagwa told China's official Xinhua news agency that his trip was aimed at thanking Xi and the Chinese people for supporting his country "during the hard times when the West imposed sanctions on us". He said he would seek to sell Zimbabwe as a destination for Chinese investment and take part in economic forums aimed at attracting business to the country. Zimbabwe was China's largest foreign supplier of tobacco, with some 40 percent of the product imported by the Asian country coming from the African nation. China also set up a joint venture with Zimbabwe in a diamond mining company, but Mugabe announced the nationalisation of the nation's diamond mines in 2016. Chinese companies have also been involved in projects to install a cellular phone network, expand a hydropower station and build a coal-fired power plant. Mnangagwa will meet Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday, then visit the eastern provinces of Anhui and Zhejiang before his visit ends on Friday. The Zimbabwean leader gave a nod to his host's political philosophy, "Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era." "I will take this mantra to Zimbabwe and hope to develop some socialism in Zimbabwe with Zimbabwean characteristics," he said.
According to a recent analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, approximately two-thirds of Americans should have received a direct tax cut thanks to the bill Republicans passed late last year. Yet, polling suggests that only about a quarter of adults have noticed an uptick in their take-home pay. What gives?

Previously, I guessed that the problem was likely pretty simple: When dribbled out across a whole year, the tax cuts were almost certainly too small for most workers to notice in their paychecks. Now, former Treasury economist Ernie Tedeschi, who now heads fiscal policy analysis for Evercore ISI, has produced a lovely graph illustrating why thats probably the case. After running a model from the Open Source Policy Center, he concludes that 75 percent of families would get less than $50 extra every two weeks if they adjusted their withholding perfectly. A little more than half would get less than $20 extra.

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I'm not surprised people haven't been noticing the TCJA in their paychecks. Even if everyone adjusted their withholding perfectly, more than half (56%) of families would see a tax change of $20 or less (including a tax hike) per two-week period. 75% would see <$50. pic.twitter.com/TLqCYgt5lJ  Ernie Tedeschi (@ernietedeschi) April 2, 2018

Thats just not enough cash to register for many workers. Peoples paychecks change month-to-month and year-to-year. Their hours are erratic. They get cost-of-living adjustments. An extra $100 a month might make a meaningful difference for a middle class households wellbeing. But it may not be obvious that the money is there, or that it came courtesy of the Trump administration. As far as most Americans are concerned, Republicans passed an invisible tax cut.
One of the ways Donald Trumps presidency wears on the people who are not the direct targets of his vindictive policies is by requiring them, again and again, to muster up the mental strength to respond to his tirades as though they had some connection with reality. Taking the daily pile of Trump tweets, speeches, and statements and treating it as though it made any sense at allas though his words referred to actual objects in the world besides the worms eating his brainis exhausting. Trump has never said anything in his life worth dignifying with a response, but because hes the president, its everyones responsibility to respond anyway, lest silence be taken for consent. Seth Meyers has been responding to President Trump for five days a week for more than a year now, and for a second on Monday night, it finally broke him.

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The specific trigger was a video clip of Donald Trump at the White House Easter Egg Roll, rambling about how amazing it was that we were pouring $700 billion into military funding. It wasnt necessarily the best audience for that message; per the events official site, The Easter Egg Roll is designed for children 13 years of age and under. At 4:20 into Meyers A Closer Look segmentspeaking of ways to deal with Trump stressrather than responding with a quip or a jab or even a These clowns in Washington! smirk, Meyers just throws his hands up and yells, Aaaaaagh!in frustration. Its exactly the level of discourse the president deserves. And although there are plenty of other responses to Trump, yelling Aaaaaagh! will always be the most appropriate. Heres the Trump speech that sent Meyers over the edge:

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This is a special year. Our country is doing great. You look at the economy, you look at whats happening. Nothings ever easy, but we have never had an economy like we have right now, and were going to make it bigger and better and stronger. Our military is now at a level, will soon be at a level that its never been before. Its, you see whats happening, and you see whats happening with funding, the funding of our military, which is so important. And so many military people are with us today, so, just think of 700 billion dollars, because thats all going into our military this year.

All together now: Aaaaaagh!
Every couple has one core fight that replays over and over again, in different disguises, over the course of their relationship. In this series, couples analyze the origin and mechanics of their One Fight. To pitch your own One Fight (well also accept pseudonyms, if necessary), email humaninterest@slate.com.

Catherine Baab-Muguira and Chris Muguira have been married for 11 years and split time between Richmond, Virginia, and Brooklyn, New York.

Catherine Baab-Muguira: You and I cant agree about where were going to live. At the moment, I want to move to L.A. or Brooklyn full time and youre on the fence. Is that fair?

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Youre like, Do you want to go to Home Depot? while Im like, Can we move to Chile?   Catherine Baab-Muguira

Chris Muguira: Yeah. Thats whats up right now. In the past, weve had this fight every few yearswhen we moved to New Zealand in 2007 for your graduate school, when we moved to the D.C. area in 2010 so you could take a job, when we moved to Australia in 2013 so you could take another job, though I was excited about that move, too. And again last year, when we started splitting chunks of time between Park Slope and Richmond, because you felt you had to be in New York to get ahead, writing-wise. Those are just the notable examples. I would say weve had this fight once a month for as long as weve been married.

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Catherine: The emotional issue is that Im a novelty-seeking, best-case scenario thinker, forever sprinting out on a limb, and youre a safety-craving, worst-case scenario thinker, constantly sniffing the wind for danger. But the actual turf we fight over is physical. Its place. Its also not one fight, but a Russian doll of fights, an infinite regressionturtles all the way down. Its what were actually disagreeing about when were disagreeing about something else. Youre like, Do you want to go to Home Depot? while Im like, Can we move to Chile?

Chris: I think you are portraying yourself as the fun one, and thats not totally fair. I just like to think things through. I tend to be more deliberate in my decision-making than you are. Thats not a judgment about whats better or worse, but it is a big difference in  I dont know, styles? It is not true that all I want to do is go to Home Depot.

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Catherine: Thats fair. Wow, I feel like we should be able to subtitle this conversation with stage direction and descriptions of our expressions, because your face and tone are conveying this whole extra meaning. Dude, I know. I think you are very fun. I have so much fun with you.

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Chris [interrupting]: Thats what Im saying. Im an optimist, too! [Arm gesture to suggest he has many other good qualities but for brevitys sake will not list them]

Catherine: I agree. We should talk about how this began on our honeymoon, though. We got married all of a sudden, and then for our honeymoon we took a road trip because we hadnt planned anything else, and in the best way it was like being on the lam, but in another way was something we saw a little bit differently, right off the bat. I was content to just go where the mood took us, which turned out to be a series of crappy hotelsand yeah, not-quite hotelsas we ambled up I-95 toward Coney Island. But you were, kind of jokingly, saying, How do I tell my family I spent part of my honeymoon at the Greenpoint Y? And I didnt care that we spent a couple nights at the Y. I thought that part was funny and fun.

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Chris: I will say I had not pictured staying at the Greenpoint Y at any point on my honeymoon. With a little bit of planning, we wouldnt have ended up with a communal-shower situation or a door that barely locked. So for me, it was about some planning versus no planning at all. You say, Itll all work out, and a fair amount of the time youre right, but not always. But I havent been obsessing about that ever since or anything.

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Catherine: I had been backpacking around Southeast Asia the previous year, so I get that my standards were a little skewed. But we had the best time on our honeymoonand now its like this whole store of inside jokes. The time I accidentally tried to check us into a room over a strip club in Providence, and the proprietor-slash-possible-madam said [puts on offensive Rhode Island accent], The Hilton, its not. Or getting drunk with those old Polish guys at the bar where no one spoke English, how they all fed you malt liquor when they figured out wed just gotten married. The whole thing was funny and weird and memorable. Would you really rather have gone to Sandals Jamaica, seriously?

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Chris: Yeah, but you do have this tendency to be glib and even careless about situations that could be dangerous. Being aware of the downside kind of gets outsourced to me. Youve gotten a lot better about this over time, we both have, except its still a thing for us.

Catherine: See, I disagree a little bit. Im not unaware of the risks, its just a different view of what the big risks are. I see risk-aversion as banality, boredom, giving into convention or family pressure or something like that. I hate this idea in our culture that youre not an adult unless you feel frustrated and stifled and you hate your life. We equate maturity with the wrong things.

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I had not pictured staying at the Greenpoint Y at any point on my honeymoon.  Chris Muguira

I just sometimes feel like Im the one holding the bag when we take a leap. Holding the bag when something doesnt go right, you know? When its my idea to go to Istanbul, to name one memorable example, and we take in these sublime, life-changing sights but then you get a spider bite in part because I wasnt careful in picking the hotel. In those moments, I feel so defeated, hopeless, and wrong. Maybe that is my overactive Catholic guilt. Its also true that there is a dimension to our life that is like the Green Acres theme song, except a lot less glib and with less of the anachronistic gender attitudes. Were like the city mouse and the country mousea variant of the two-body problem.

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But anyway, and I will put this in a jokey way  sometimes the feedback I get from you is not superpositive, like you really do think I am always trying to make you vacation in countries that have just experienced a coup or something. I feel like thats a stereotype of what Im really like. I do measured things all the timea lot of the math, cooking, and laundry. But I dont even want to focus on whats going wrong here, because I think so much is going right. Our thing is not always easy, but I think its probably pretty functional. Sometimes you can spot couples who, like, seem to share something pathological, and I dont think thats us, though I know nobody can see their marriage from the outside.

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Chris: I dont want to get stereotyped either, like Im some boring homebody. Part of the issue is, a lot of times, you frame things in terms of what you want, when it should be about what we want. I just dont want to get swept away by you. We have to get there together. For a long time, my role was to smooth this all over, to calm you down when you were feeling restless and angst-y or when a problem seemed unsolvable, but youve started doing it, too. Youre a little bit calmer and more thoughtful now. You found this apartment in Brooklyn we both love.

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Catherine: I get that, and I am trying. I think, in general, even after 11 years of marriage, were still learning to trust that we really are going to work things out. I know we have worked out so much, and lived through a lot of difficult shit together. Deaths in the family, being broke when we were young, etc. At the same time, doubt is the most natural thing in the world and I think it would be dishonest not to admit to feeling it sometimesI think most people do. On the one hand, you could look at this as though weve ingeniously contrived to get denied the thing we each want most: for me, adventure and stimulation, and for you, feeling calm and settled. In some dark moments, Ive wondered if thats true. But I love the life you and I have built together. Your life has probably been a bit more creative and professionally successful because of me, and my life has been more responsible, grounded, and clear-eyed because of you. Maybe Im rushing into the mushy stuff. Just saying, like, I definitely want to see you flower, too. I love seeing it.

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Chris: I get credit for making sure you dont work too much, or maybe just not as much as you would if left to your devices. And for disciplining Tuna (our conniving, 20-pound cat), carrying the heavy boxes, and tech support. I think I have definitely made your life more professionally successful, too. Its not a one-way thing. We have both encouraged each other.

Catherine: Yeah. Looking forward, like, I dont know the solution to this problem. Are we any more or less happy than other people we know? If it were possible to know that, would you even want to? I have no idea if we are doing a great job, just muddling along, or still dont have the magic secret answer figured out that every other couple has figured out. What if its completely normal for the wife to be so much cooler and hotter than her husband? I KID.

Chris: I think we understand each other, mostly.

Catherine: Which is probably a huge part of the battle, or so I would guess. I love you.

Chris [unable to resist a Star Wars reference]: I know.

Read other entries in Slates Our One Fight series:

 The Scorekeeper vs. the Pitcher-Inner

 Fast vs. Slow

 Your Stuff vs. My Stuff
Beto ORourke may be a long shot to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas. But the Democratic congressman is now a very well-funded underdog.

ORourke, a three-term congressman from El Paso, announced Tuesday that his Senate campaign raised $6.7 million during the first three months of the year. That eye-popping total will give Democrats new hope that Texas may be a better pick-up opportunity than they once thought as they try to retake the Senate. As it stands, theyll need to pick up at least two Senate seats nationally, but currently only have three credible openings, not counting Texas, where non-partisan handicappers dont yet believe the race is competitive. Defeating Cruz would also be particularly sweet for Democrats given the role he has played on the national scene during the past half-decade on everything from health care to immigration to guns.

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Federal candidates have until the middle of the month to report their fundraising totals, but its going to be difficult for Cruz to top ORourkes first-quarter total. It is more than three times what Cruz raised in the final quarter of 2017, almost half of what Cruz brought in during his entire 2012 Senate campaign, and likely the most money raised in a quarter by a Senate candidate in Texas history (not counting those who self-funded). If Cruzs first-quarter total is in the ballpark of ORourkes, the Republican would have had good reason to make it public by now given his challenger is currently stealing headlines in the middle of Cruzs formal re-election launch. (Instead, Cruz will have to be content with stories about his new campaign slogan: Tough as Texas.)

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Unlike Cruz, ORourke has sworn off money from corporations and PACs, but his latest numbers suggest that Bernie Sanders-style play is paying well with the small-donor crowd, both in the Lone Star State and outside it. His campaign says it received more than 141,000 individual contributions last quarter, a little more than 70 percent of which were from Texans.

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ORourke appears to have momentum on his side. It took him the final three months of 2017 to raise $2.4 million. He nearly matched that total during the first six weeks of this year ($2.2 million), and then almost doubled it during the second half of the quarter ($4.5 million). Cruz, meanwhile, started with a major cash advantage. The Republican had banked roughly $10 million before ORourke even got in the race. But Cruzs cash-on-hand advantage had dwindled to only about $1 million as of mid-February, though the conservative cavalry of special interest groups and super PACs will no doubt come to his defense if things start to get dicey.

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The money will help, but ORourke still has an incredibly narrow path to victory. Democrats are vastly outnumbered in Texas and havent won a statewide election since 1994. While Cruz is never going to win a popularity contest, hes proved a capable campaigner, despiteor perhaps because ofhis willingness to play dirty. The last statewide Texas race to draw national attention was Wendy Davis bid for governor against Republican Gregg Abbot in 2014. Like ORourke, Davis was seen as a rising star in her party with national appeal and the small-dollar support to prove it. In the end, though, she lost by more than 20 points in what proved to be a banner year for Republicans nationally. The political winds are clearly blowing in the opposite direction this year, but its still a long shot that ORourke will succeed where Davis couldnt.
Rep. Elizabeth Esty announced Monday that she will not seek re-election this fall as a result of how she handled allegations of harassment against her former chief of staff, whom she kept on for three months after being informed of threats he made against a former colleague.

In the terrible situation in my office, I could have and should have done better, the Connecticut Democrat said in a statement posted on Facebook. To the survivor, I want to express my strongest apology for letting you down. In Congress, and workplaces across the country, we need stronger workplace protections and to provide employees with a platform to raise concerns, address problems, and work to reduce and eliminate such occurrences, in the first place. Esty went on to promise that she would use my power to fight for action and meaningful change during her final months in Congress.

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The incident in question occurred in May 2016, when Tony Baker, then Estys top aide, left a voicemail for former colleague Anna Kain, whom he had allegedly previously abused verbally and physically while she worked as his subordinate in Estys congressional office. You better fg reply to me or I will fg kill you, Baker said in the recording, which was obtained by the Washington Post last week. According to emails obtained by the paper, Esty was told about the voicemail within a week. But rather than firing or suspending Baker, she consulted her own personal attorneys. Roughly three months later, Baker departed with a small severance payment and a letter of recommendation from his former boss, which he used to land his next job.

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In November, Esty called for Rep. John Conyers Jr. to resign after the Michigan Democrat was accused of harassing female staff members, making her vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy from national Republicans. For too long, the culture in Washington has accepted entirely unacceptable behavior, Esty said at the time. That needs to change  period.

Esty expressed regret after the details came to light last week, and earlier Monday she requested the House Ethics Committee review her actions. That move, however, came as she was already facing calls for her resignation from both the editorial board of the Hartford Courant and top-ranking Democrats in the Connecticut statehouse. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi issued a statement earlier Monday noting that Estys actions did not protect Ms. Kain and should have, but the House minority leader did not call for Esty to step aside.

Esty had been on pace to win a fourth term this November, but the Cook Political Report downgraded the race from solid Democratic to likely Democratic after the incident was reported. Still, Democrats chances of holding the seat would have likely been worse if Esty had stuck around. In light of her self-inflicted scandal, Estys exit is probably good news for Democrats chances of holding the seat, wrote Dave Wasserman, Cooks House editor.
In a dramatic step following days of complaining on Twitter about immigration and border security, President Trump announced Tuesday that he would be sending the military to guard segments of the U.S.-Mexico border until a wall could be built.

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

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According to the New York Times, Trump declared his decision in a White House meeting with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and visiting Baltic leaders. Trump had come to the decision after speaking with Mattis, he said. Until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military, he said. We really havent done that before, or certainly not very much before.

According to the Washington Post, the military has been sent to the border before. In 2006, 6,000 National Guard troops were sent to assist border patrol as a stopgap measure while more border agents were trained. In the next two years, 29,000 troops were sent to assist in nonpolice support aspects of border control, and in 2010, President Obama sent about 1,200 troops. No active-duty military personnel could be used because there are prohibitions for using them for work similar to law enforcement. The troops did not work on the front lines, according to the Post. The way the military would be used by the Trump administration is not yet clear.

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Trump had been grousing on Twitter since Sunday about immigration, seemingly kicked off by discussion on Fox News of a caravan of Central American migrants working their way toward the U.S. border.

Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. Caravans coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2018

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The roughly 1,000 migrantstraveling in large numbers for protectionwalking on foot to escape poverty and violence would take a month to reach the border, according to the Times. On Monday, Mexican officials said they were negotiating with the caravans leaders, according to the Times, and they said they agreed to provide the migrants with humanitarian visas in order to stay in Mexico legally. Others were given temporary passes as they work on applying for asylum and other protection. Mexico said it has already deported hundreds of participants, and, according to the Times, most migrants were from Honduras and are aiming for asylum in more northern areas of Mexico.

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Notably, Trump also said he was withdrawing his support for a deal to fix the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which, before it expired, protected hundreds of thousands of young Dreamers. And he called on Republicans to pass strict immigration laws for undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S. And finally, he threatened the North American Free Trade Agreement. Our country is being stolen! he warned in Sundays lengthy tweetstorm.

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Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2018

On Monday, according to the Times, the White House announced it would actually follow up on one of the tweetstorms points with a plan to push a hard-line bill cracking down on immigration, making it more difficult to apply for asylum and allowing families to be detained for longer and unaccompanied children to be turned away at the border. Its less clear whether and how Trump will follow up on his threats directed toward NAFTA. Also unclear: how he plans to pay for the proposed wall project, which has not been fully funded. Trump suggested earlier that the money come from the militarys budget, but there are rules prohibiting the Pentagon from rerouting funds in such a way without authorization from Congress.
On Monday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court made the American criminal justice system a little less just. First, the court granted immunity to a police officer who shot a woman four times because she was holding a kitchen knife. Second, the court rejected an appeal from two capital defendants in Florida who argue, quite plausibly, that they were sentenced to death in violation of the Constitution. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from both decisions in a pair of opinions seething with indignation at her colleagues solicitude for violent cops and indifference toward death row inmates. Her dissents illustrate a galling asymmetry in the courts jurisprudence. Powerful defendants get a quick helping hand. Powerless ones get screwed.

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Start with the courts indefensible decision in Kisela v. Hughes. The case involves yet another dispute over qualified immunity, which insulates government officials from lawsuits unless they violate an individuals clearly established rights. Under this doctrine, police officers may not be sued for use of excessive force so long as their actions are objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances confronting them. Qualified immunity has no basis in either the Constitution or federal statute, but courts have nonetheless used it aggressively to shield officers from liability.

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In Kisela, a police officer, Andrew Kisela, received a call about a woman chopping at a tree with a knife. When he arrived, he saw Amy Hughes standing about 6 feet away from her roommate outside of their house. Hughes was holding a kitchen knife at her side; the blade pointed away from her roommate, and she did not appear to be threatening her. Instead, she looked composed and content. She was not suspected of any crime. Kisela, along with an officer in training and a third officer, was separated from Hughes by a chain-link fence. All three officers started shouting at Hughes to drop her knife. Then, without warning, Kisela dropped to the ground and shot Hughes four times through the fence. She fell, bleeding and screaming in pain, and asked the officers, Whyd you shoot me?

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Hughes survived the shooting and sued Kisela for using excessive force in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the gunshot victim, finding the officer wasnt protected by qualified immunity. On Monday, in an unsigned per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court reversed the lower courts decision. (It did so summarily, without briefs or oral arguments on the merits of the case.) The court pointed out that Hughes had just been seen hacking a tree with a large kitchen knife and that she failed to acknowledge at least two commands to drop the knife. It concluded that this is far from an obvious case in which any competent officer would have known that shooting Hughes would violate the Constitution.

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Sotomayor, joined only by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dissented, accusing the court of warping the facts and the law to reach its desired result. The justice refuted her colleagues reasoning point by point, noting that Hughes was suspected of no crime, presented no immediate threat, and may not even have heard or understood the officers commands. Moreover, Kisela obviously could have used less intrusive means before deploying deadly force; an expert witness testified that he should have used his Taser, and another officer at the scene said he preferred to use some of the lesser means of force because there was time to try to talk [Hughes] down. All of these factors counsel against qualified immunity. Yet the court, without full briefing, gave it to Kisela anyway.

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Why? With remarkable candor, Sotomayor made the case that her colleagues care more about police officers than they do about the victims of police brutality. The Court decides to intervene prematurely, she wrote. This unwarranted summary reversal is symptomatic of a disturbing trend regarding the use of this Courts resources in qualified-immunity cases. While the court displays an unflinching willingness to summarily reverse courts for wrongly denying officers the protection of qualified immunity,  it rarely intervene[s] where courts wrongly afford officers the benefit of qualified immunity in these same cases. Sotomayor concluded:

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Such a one-sided approach to qualified immunity transforms the doctrine into an absolute shield for law enforcement officers, gutting the deterrent effect of the Fourth Amendment. The majority today exacerbates that troubling asymmetry. Its decision is not just wrong on the law; it also sends an alarming signal to law enforcement officers and the public. It tells officers that they can shoot first and think later, and it tells the public that palpably unreasonable conduct will go unpunished.

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Sotomayor has criticized shoot first, think later policing in the past. But her Kisela opinion is especially poignant in light of its pairing with a second Sotomayor dissent that was released on Monday, this one on a capital punishment case out of Florida. In 2015, the Supreme Court invalidated Floridas strange death penalty scheme, which allowed juries to recommend life or death but let the judge make the final call. The court found that the jury, not the judge, must find the facts necessary to sentence a defendant to death. In response, the Florida Supreme Court transformed juries recommendations into binding factual findings that make the defendant death-eligible.

That, however, creates a new problem: The Supreme Court has also ruled that a capital sentence is unconstitutional when the sentencer  has been led to believe that the responsibility for determining the appropriateness of the defendants death rests elsewhere. Thus, by purporting to resolve one constitutional flaw, the Florida Supreme Court created another one, retroactively saddling a jury with the responsibility of a death sentence that it had recommended but did not expect to be binding.

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The Florida Supreme Court has consistently disregarded this dilemma of its own creation. And the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently declined to step in and settle the issue, even though Floridas death row inmates keep appealing. Each time the court fails to act, Sotomayor writes a dissent denouncing its apathy. On Monday, Sotomayor made her case all over again, pointing out that at least six capital defendants now face execution by the State without having received full consideration of their claims.

To drive home her frustration, Sotomayor cited Andre Gide, a gay French novelist and critic who won the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Toutes choses sont dites deja; mais comme personne necoute, il faut toujours recommencer, she wrote in a footnote, quoting Gide. Translation: Everything has been said already; but as no one listens, we must always begin again.

The quote neatly captures Sotomayors jurisprudential philosophy at this rather dark moment in American law. In case after case, the court insulates the powerful from the consequences of their actions, then ignores the pleas of vulnerable defendants who have nowhere else to turn. Sotomayor alone cant reverse the trend. But she can object, time and again, even if her colleagues refuse to listen.
During a phone call last month congratulating Vladimir Putin on his reelection, President Trump went so far as to float the idea the Russian president visit the White House for talks. That piece of information about Trumps March 20th call that was made over the strenuous objections of his advisers had not previously been reported before a Russian official disclosed it to reporters in Moscow. When our presidents spoke on the phone, it was Trump who proposed holding the first meeting in Washington, in the White House, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said. If everything will be all right, I hope that the Americans will not back away from their own proposal to discuss the possibility of holding a summit. The White House confirmed there was a discussion over setting up a meeting, but did not comment on whether it would be held at the White House. Putin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, however, said Ushakovs account of the conversation was inaccurate.

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Trumps discordant offer looks particularly off-key given that the U.S. was, at the time, already involved in a burgeoning diplomatic spat with Russia over the March 4th poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom, which Western intelligence services have blamed on Moscow. Making the call appear even more amateurish, less than a week after the congratulatory conversation, the U.S. expelled 60 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the poisoning in England as part of an escalating diplomatic tit-for-tat with Moscow.

I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing.......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018

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.....They can help solve problems with North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, ISIS, Iran and even the coming Arms Race. Bush tried to get along, but didnt have the smarts. Obama and Clinton tried, but didnt have the energy or chemistry (remember RESET). PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018

It seems like unusual timing for the president of the United States to offer Putin the reward of a White House visit, his first since 2005.
The United States has been engaged in war in Afghanistan since October 2001, when it launched Operation Enduring Freedom, and in Iraq since 2003. But more quietly, the U.S. has also been fighting, and generally losing, a cyberwar with both China and Russia since the early 2010s.

During this time, the U.S. has relied on a volunteer military, despite significant stress on American military personnel from frequent redeployment in the Middle East and an increasingly challenging cyberconflict and artificial intelligence battle space. It is not surprising, therefore, that formal military forces have been augmented by significant contributions from private contractors. Sporadic calls for bringing back conscriptionthe draftto relieve the stress on the military and avoid too much privatization have generally fallen on deaf ears. (The selective service system, the administrative backbone of the draft, remains active, although the draft itself was terminated as the Vietnam War wound down, in 1973.)

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Given this political dynamic, it is somewhat surprising to find that the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2017 created a National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. The commission website says it will listen to the public, learn from those who serve, and recommend to the President, Congress, and the American people ideas to foster a greater ethos of military, national, and public service to strengthen American democracy. And so the commission has started requesting comments on topics including whether a military draft infrastructure is still necessary for national security as well as possible mechanisms for encouraging participation in military, national, and public service by individuals with critical skills. You still have time to submit your thoughts and can do so by email. The comment period ends April 19.

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There are several arguments against the draft. The civilian politicians who start wars dont like the enhanced public attention to conflict that it creates. The companies that profit from the privatization of American war fighting oppose it because it might reduce demand for their products and services. The military is dubious, because a volunteer force is far easier to manage than a conscript force. (I served as an Army officer in the Vietnam War era, so I am very aware that this is a valid and nontrivial concern.) And many young people dont like it because it interferes with the beginning of their careers, and especially in a period with active wars, its scary and dangerous.

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There are, however, compelling reasons to reinstitute a universal service requirement, one in which any draftee has at least the possibility of going into the military as opposed to alternative service. The most obvious is history: As Machiavelli and many others pointed out, republican and democratic forms of government, from Republican Rome to Italian city-states, decline rapidly as citizen soldiers are replaced by all-volunteer and mercenary forces. Once military forces are drawn from smaller and smaller subgroups within a society, gaps in knowledge and culture between the military and the larger society form, and widen. Indeed, when he was secretary of defense, Robert Gates expressed precisely this concern regarding the cultural and knowledge gap between the U.S. military and increasingly estranged civilians with no military experience. No society will exist for long when the majority of its citizens decide it isnt worth protecting.

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War isnt what it used to be.

Similarly, the fragmentation of American society into identity-based subgroups is accelerating, creating political and social pressures that only reinforce disintegration of national cohesion. There are very few institutional changes that might moderate this trend, but appropriately planned and implemented universal conscription is one.

The changing nature of warfare and conflict is another compelling reason. Put simply, war isnt what it used to be: Russias invasion of Ukraine and attacks on the European Union and the U.S. election, and Chinas success at cyberespionage directed against American financial and technological assets, are only the most obvious examples. Weaponized narrativethe use of disinformation, fake news, social media, and other information and communication technologies to create stories intended to subvert and undermine an adversarys institutions, identity, civilization, and will by creating and exacerbating complexity, confusion, and political and social schismsis a serious military challenge, but requires a different kind of war fighter than traditional military conflict.

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This dramatic expansion of the battle space significantly increases the types of skills that the military requires to carry out its missions. Physical ability to fight must be augmented by skills in software development, artificial intelligence, cyberconflict, political and cultural systems, and much else. It is impossible for a volunteer traditional military force to meet such varied requirements, especially when pay scales between military and civilian positions in some skill sets, such as cybersecurity, are so divergent. This is reflected in the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Services request for comments, which specifically asks, How can the United States increase participation in military, national, and public service by individuals with skills critical to address the national security and other public service needs of the nation? This has led to some highly excited commentary, such as the title of a piece published on website the Next Web: The U.S. Military Could Begin Drafting 40-Year-Old Hackers.

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That doesnt exactly seem likely to happen in the way you might expect. For one thing, unless it is a matter of absolute national survivalas in France in 1798, when France was being invaded by conservative European powers intent on stifling the revolutionno one drafts productive, middle-aged people. It is far too disruptive to the economy, and to established families, and is thus politically impossible. Thats why it is generally young men who are drafted; it minimizes disruption of society. Moreover, drafting anyone whos not young into the traditional military is likely to backfire: How many 40-year-old code monkeys are going to make it through basic training?

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So no, we wont be drafting 40ish software engineers to the traditional military anytime soon. But a properly structured draft could be an important component of re-engineering national security in the coming decades. Any such conscription program would have to be carefully designed and would require some substantial changes in military structure and training. But a universal service requirement could help both the military and the country find the skills they need.

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For example, it might be time to recognize just how much technology is changing conflict and create an entirely new nontraditional military entitysay, the Homeland Defense Corpsthat would have the mission of infrastructure attack and defense and would partially be staffed by conscription. In addition to cybersecurity experts, it icould include specialists in finance, infrastructure (energy, electrical grid, air transportation, and so forth), and even soft power. Such a Homeland Defense Corps would have been called in to help when Atlantas city government was recently hit with a damaging ransomware attack, for instance, but also when Russia or any other adversary tries to suborn American democratic processes. Indeed, even absent a draft, establishing such a quasi-military organization, with both offensive and defensive capabilities, may be essential.

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And, at least for this branch of the armed services, one might consider drafting, and encouraging enlistment by, seniors over 60, who are usually toward the end of their careers and have already raised their families, as opposed to those in their 40s. After all, the requirement here isnt to run 20 miles with a full pack but to figure out how to attack an enemys cultural narrative while protecting ones own, or defending against theft of virtually all the countrys intellectual property. Seniors with significant life experience are quite likely to be as good or better at that than their younger compatriots. And certainly there are many older tech workers with deep knowledge who are struggling to find jobs in youth-obsessed Silicon Valley.

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As recent thefts of sensitive and classified information (think Edward Snowden, Harold Martin, or Chelsea Manning) illustrate, there would no doubt be security concerns given the mission of the Homeland Defense Corps, but those arent unsolvable. Moreover, security issues are inescapable in the new conflict spaces. Both China and Russia have figured out how to manage these specialized and critical functions: China by identifying promising cyberwarriors at the high school level and grooming them for eventual Peoples Liberation Army service, and Russia by outsourcing much of their cyberattack capability to quasi-governmental privateers such as Fancy Bear and the earlier cybercriminal Russian Business Network. The U.S., by contrast, defaults to giving responsibility for the entire mission of national cybersecurity to the traditional military, which is neither trained nor staffed for it (as opposed to maintaining cybersecurity in its own systems, where it is both comfortable with the mission and reasonably competent in its execution).

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Eliminating the draft in 1973 helped calm down a nation torn by the politics of the Vietnam War. But it came with a very high cost, one that continues to accrue on a daily basis as the country fragments into self-righteous emotional echo chambers, as American civil society becomes less and less engaged with the military force that acts around the world in its name, and as competency in critical skills in new technology and civilizationwide conflict fails. A properly designed universal conscription scheme is one of the few tools we have to try to mitigate the damage and ensure effective national defense in a new strategic and technological era. Its time to get moving.
A surprising skirmish has erupted in the aftermath of the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. It started with a candid zinger from Apple CEO Tim Cook. When asked in an interview with Recode and MSNBC on Wednesday what he would do if he were in Facebooks current predicament, Cook said, I wouldnt be in this situation. The burn did not escape Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergs notice; he responded to Cooks comments in a Vox interview Monday, parrying his critique of services that are free to users in exchange for their data: You know, I find that argument, that if youre not paying that somehow we cant care about you, to be extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth. He then jabbed at Apples high product prices: If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford. Its not often that two of the worlds most powerful CEOs poke each other with the subtlety of a lightsaber.

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While this latest exchange of zingers was touched off by recent events, Facebooks often-contentious relationship with Apple actually goes way back. In his early years as CEO, Zuckerberg looked up to thenApple CEO Steve Jobs for guidance, but as Apple began to dabble in social media and Facebook emerged as an increasingly influential news source, the two companiesand their respective CEOsbegan to butt heads.

The Early Days

When Facebook was naught but a troubled upstart trying to disrupt how people connect, Zuckerberg turned to Jobs for some sage advice. Early on in our history when things werent really going wellwe had hit a tough patch and a lot of people wanted to buy FacebookI went and I met with Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg said in a 2015 Q&A with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And he said that to reconnect with what I believed was the mission of the company, I should go visit this temple in India that he had gone to early in the evolution of Apple, when he was thinking about what he wanted his vision of the future to be. Zuck followed Jobs advice and ended up spending a month exploring the country before returning, he said, with a renewed sense of importance around his personal mission.

A Possible Acquisition Offer

By 2010, the mentor-mentee relationship began to visibly disintegrate under Facebooks success, and after years of fielding acquisition offers from the likes of Friendster, Google, and Viacom, rumors suggested that Apple itself might be interested in acquiring the social media platform. The Los Angeles Times also reported that Jobs invited Zuckerberg to his home for dinner to chat about Ping, Apples short-lived music-focused social network within iTunes. While Apple never officially made a bid to acquire Facebook, from around this point forward, the two companies relationship became more complicated. Still, when Steve Jobs died in 2011, Zuck shared kind words on his Facebook page: Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.

Ping Problems

Rejected acquisition or not, Ping was an integral part of Apples early discord with Facebook. When Apple first introduced the social network onstage during a demo of iTunes 10, the presentation briefly touted Facebook connect for Ping, but the integration never materialized. This feature would have allowed Ping users to tap into Facebook to find and invite friends to Apples social network. Before that point, Apple was in talks with Facebook over Ping for more than 18 months, but the two were never able to settle on a dealFacebook reportedly wanted onerous terms that Apple couldnt agree to. Apple finally launched a Facebook-less Ping in 2010 before officially closed Pings doors two years later in October 2012.

The Acceptance of Facebooks Dominance

With the end of Ping, Apple seemed to have relinquished the idea of developing its own social network. Instead, it updated iOS to make social media sharing easier for the most popular existing networks at the time. With iOS 5, Apple built Twitter integration straight into the OSs settings menu, and the following year, Apple did the same thing for Facebook in iOS 6. For years going forward, logging into Facebook in the iOS settings menu would give iOS users easy social media sharing access across a variety of apps and services. But eventuallyas both iOS and our social media habits evolvedApple rethought this tight integration. In 2017, Apple quietly did away with it.

Newsmaking

But while Apple may have accepted Facebooks place as the digital leader for information sharing, it may not have actually liked it. In 2015, Apple decided that it wanted to play a bigger role in what news iOS users see on a daily basis (and how they see it) with a news reader called Apple News. As Wired explained, News was a way for Apple to battle Facebooks new Instant Articles, ensure a high-quality reading experience for iOS users, and earn some extra revenue through ad sales. News continues to be a priority for Apple on the software front. Just this year Apple acquired the app Texture as a possible way to beef up News with more serendipitymore algorithmically recommended content. The timing is particularly good as publishers and mobile users alike look for alternatives to Facebook, which has deprioritized news articles in its news feed in recent months.

Messaging and Augmented Reality

Facebook and Apple have also been duking it out more subtly feature by feature in updates to their respective platforms. Now with 1.3 billion users, Facebook Messenger has been a particular rival of Apples Messages for a long time. Both messaging platforms have been upgraded with features to best or match the other over the past few years, including things such as peer-to-peer payments on Facebook Messenger (followed by Apple Pay Cash a few years later); a variety of emoji, sticker, and GIF options for customizing messages; and even animoji. While Apple introduced its sometimes silly augmented reality feature along with a big AR push with the iPhone X, Facebook has been working on augmented reality effects and appsamong a variety of others ways the social network tried to expand last year.

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Apple and Facebooks ongoing duel isnt just your typical Silicon Valley intellectual property battle. In a bid to become the dominant player in modern consumers lives, tech giants ranging from Alphabet to Snapchat are seeing their goals, services, and products overlap as they compete for our attention in a few limited areas. Because of this, companies such as Apple and Facebook, which had a once peaceful relationship, now butt heads like a pair of jealous, overly competitive siblings. We can continue to expect some serious sparks between these two tech leaders in 2018and perhaps from other companies, too.
The music-streaming company Spotify began allowing its investors to sell shares on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday in an unusual initial public offering (IPO) that eschewed the customary underwriting and roadshow presentations. Trading under the ticker SPOT, the shares debuted with a price of $165.90, which puts the company at a $23.5 billion valuation.

Spotify joins a growing group of tech companies that have the dubious distinction of being unprofitable at the time of their IPOs. According to filings it submitted in February, Spotify had a net loss of $1.5 billion in 2017, even with its almost $5 billion in revenue and 160 million active users. One of the major barriers to Spotifys profitability is the licensing dues it has to pay to music publishers, which eats up a majority of the revenue that it gets primarily from advertising and subscription fees. The company pays for licensing every time a user streams a song, which contributes to the incredibly thin margins. (Streaming services for other media, like movies, typically only have to pay a one-time fee for a piece of content.) As Recode points out, Spotifys content costs thus rise with its user growth, making it difficult to turn a profit unless it finds another sustainable revenue source or figures out how to pay less to publishers. Spotify itself doesnt seem to have made any firm public predictions as to when it will become profitable, though its pitch to investors, according to Recode, has been that it will gain more leverage with music labels to cut fees once it gets big enough.

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Lacking a clear path to profitability has been a common stumbling block for other tech companies after their IPOs. Perhaps the most immediate cautionary case is Snapchat. Even though the social media company had a blockbuster first day on the market last year with a 44 percent rise in prices, its shares have since then been trading below their IPO price. The company reported $3.4 billion in net losses last year and has been laying off hundreds of employees. As the Los Angeles Times reports, many investors were skeptical that Snapchat would eventually make a profit even in the months directly following its IPO when it launched a series of new map tools, video content features, and initiatives to make it easier to buy advertisements on the platform. Yet, without this proven capacity for profitability, investors saw Snapchat as a risky bet. CEO Evan Spiegel reportedly told employees that his goal is to make a profit in 2018, though most analysts believe this wont be possible until at least 2021.

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Twitter also struggled with profitability following its IPO in 2013, though it had a similarly successful first day on the market with a 73 percent gain. The hype fizzled out soon after as the platform struggled to find ways to grow its user base, and Twitters shares spent long stretches of time trading below its IPO price with investors skeptical that it could ever turn a profit. At one point in 2016, shares traded 36 percent below its IPO. Twitter finally became profitable for at the end of 2017.

This is all to say that Spotify likely has a bumpy road ahead in pleasing shareholders until it can find a way to substantially grow its revenue or radically cut down on costs.
For more than a decade, many people were perfectly happy to hand their data over to any company that promised to connect them to friends or tell them what Friends character they most resembled. But in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, many tech companies are now keen to reassure users that they are not in it for their information. In an interview with Recode and MSNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook criticized Facebook for its business model, bragging that Apple gets by on its products, not customer data.

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Now the executive at a leading self-driving car company is trying to assure consumers that it isnt interested in their delicious, delicious data. The Telegraph reports:

Google has no master plan to harvest the mass of data that will be generated by its self-driving cars arm. The assurance from John Krafcik, the chief executive of Waymo, comes in the wake of the Facebook scandal, where millions of users details were shared with other businesses. Mr Krafcik said access to the information generated by those travelling in cars using Waymos autonomous driving technology was not a priority for the company, which is owned by Google parent, Alphabet. Our aim is moving people around the world and that is very hard, he said, speaking at the New York Auto Show the day after the company revealed a partnership with Jaguar to use tens of thousands of the British companys I-Pace electric cars. To the core of my body, I swear on my fathers grave, its not a priority, Mr Krafcik said.  Im not saying it wont be a workstream in the future but at the moment it is not in our workspace. Pressed for assurances that the company was not working on gathering data from its driverless car programme, the former Ford and Hyundai executive said the amount of work on data gathering was zero, a big zero.

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Waymo just wants to sell you a car, OK?

The Telegraph doesnt report the exact wording of the questions that led to these statements, and neither Waymo nor the New York Auto Show responded to Slates requests for more information about the exchange. But it seems clear that Krafciks statements come in response to the current moment of Facebook-induced privacy panic, in which tech companies are suddenly keen to reassure the public that they, unlike Zuckerbergs company, do not exist primarily to leech the souls (and thoughts and needs and biases) of unsuspecting users. Data? Whats that?

Call me a big data apologist, but Waymo (or Uber, or whoever wins this self-driving car race) should collect a reasonable amount of data in order to improve its autonomously driving serviceand it shouldnt shy away from that. Uber has faced criticism in the past for invasive data collectionincluding how long it tracks riders after the conclusion of their ridesand has amended its location-tracking accordingly, but it does still gather and use aggregated information like journey times, traffic, and demand to adjust fares, predict wait times, and determine better routes. In other words, things that improve their service. If Waymo were to collect info on journey times and traffic that might increase safety or decrease commutes for other users, would that be such a bad thing? It seems likely that Waymo will collect such useful informationit would be negligent not to!

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And its obviously not unreasonable to be skeptical of a data juggernaut like Googles motivations for building people-moving technology. But for Waymo to so vehemently deny that data gathering is on its radar (zero, a big zero) seems like an overcorrection to this Facebook freakoutnot to mention an overpromise coming from a sibling to Google.

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We can (probably) believe the CEO when he says Waymo isnt working on plans for what to do with the massive sets of data its cars will have the power to collect. (He did swear on his fathers grave that it wasnt a current priority.) But ruling it out entirely seems dramatic, an arguably unnecessary promise that could be hard to keep. Perhaps Krafcik was just trying to suggest that the companys self-driving cars dont intend to market you fast food based on all those drive-thrus the vehicle knows you frequent. But then we need clarity on what, exactly, Krafcik was vowing not to collect.

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For Waymo to so vehemently deny that data gathering is on its radar seems like an overcorrection.

Though privacy is the word on everyones lips, its not as if surveillance is currently the most pressing concern regarding autonomous driving technology. It comes at a moment when the most urgent concern surrounding self-driving cars is safety, not privacy, with two autonomous driving fatalities in the past two weeks, one for Uber and one for Tesla. In the case of self-driving cars, it seems privacy anxiety has collided with safety fears to create one giant techno-moral panic storm.

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Privacy panics are not an uncommon during the introduction of new technology. In an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report, The Privacy Panic Cycle, Daniel Castro and Alan McQuinn argue that privacy fundamentalists cause undue panic to creep into the public consciousness before people understand or appreciate the convenience (or at least accept the tradeoff) of a new technology. Privacy concerns have sprung up and abated over the years around portable cameras, transistors, Google Street View, and now, connected vehicles.

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Admittedly, the Cambridge Analytica outrage is not just limited to privacy fundamentalists: Many who have never given their FarmVille usage a second thought are now paying attention to their data. But are we in the middle of a deep privacy reckoning (a data turning point) or a micropanic, inflated by ongoing Trump victory angst? A recent poll shows that while people say they distrust Facebook, very few consumers care enough about their own privacy to do anything about it. People continue to use Uber despite concerns, and have accepted smart devices into their homes with open arms.

OK, Google. Youre not currently working on an autonomous vehicle data-mining masterplan. Just dont make promises you cant keep.
A miles-long fissure has opened in Kenyas Rift Valley. The split, which first appeared in late March following weeks of heavy rain and tremors and has continued to expand since, called attention to a longer-term, larger-scale geological phenomenon thats imperceptible until it isnt: Africa is splitting in two.

Mai mahiu road cracks again, motorists stuck in slow moving traffic https://t.co/DiMqWG6S8O pic.twitter.com/gi3xTnRGbK  NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) March 18, 2018

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Scientists havent yet reached a consensus on the exact mechanics of continental break-ups, but the fact that its happening here isnt new or unexpected. Tectonic plates typically glide very, very slowly over the asthenosphere, the upper layer of the Earths mantle, most likely due to convection currents and forces acting at plate boundaries. But under certain conditions, those same forces can lead to a rupture, and ultimately to entirely new breaks in the plates.

The site of last weeks fissure is a prime example. The East African Rift was made possible in part by a superplume, a rising column of magma from within the Earth thats weakened the lithosphere (the final layer of Earths crust, above the asthenosphere). The high heat from the plume forced the lithospheric mantle into a dome shape, and the stress from that process led to the breaks in the plate above.

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As a result, the African plate is fragmenting into two, with the constituent Somali and Nubian plates moving away from each other at the normally negligible rate of 1.9-6.9 millimeters per year. The first of the fractures that make up the rift arose in the Afar region of Ethiopia around 30 million years ago. Thats where the separation is now happening the fastestits there that weve seen early signs of what one researcher described as the birth of a new ocean. The break has been inching down toward Zimbabwe ever since, and eventually, when the lithosphere thins enough, the water will rush in, leaving parts of Ethiopia and Somalia as a new island.

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So this will happen in the next 50M yrs. Can't wait pic.twitter.com/g2uogxK9or  NelKIMZ  (@KimNelson_) March 20, 2018

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Theres no imminent danger of a decisive splitthe two main chunks of the continent will take tens of millions of years more to separate fullybut thats not to say we can sit back and ignore it in the meantime. The smaller-scale, faster-paced events that add up to a geological phenomenon are just as momentous for the people living through them, and life along major fault lines comes with a host of hazards, as any Bay Area native can tell you. When the crack emerged in southwestern Kenya earlier this week, a section of the Narok-Nairobi highway collapsed, and some were forced to flee their homes. One house became so unstable it was ultimately demolished. With more downpours on the way over the next few months, residents will have to remain on the lookout for fresh cracks and sinking terrain.

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While the rupture was by no means instantaneous, it did happen pretty quickly in geological termsi.e., over a span of days rather than millennia. The incident highlights the need for contingencies along this rift and others like it. According to a 2018 paper published in Nature, the East African Rift System remains one of the least monitored tectonic plate boundaries, which makes it challenging to constrain present-day seismic hazards. To prevent or at least minimize such fallout in the future, information is key: If officials know about risks that come with the territory, which they didnt in this case, they can plan its infrastructure accordingly, saving lives and livelihoods in the process. Comprehensive geological surveysand consultation of the resulting data when deciding what to build and where to build itcould make all the difference.
Small businesses need to be aware that almost half of reported cyber attacks target them. Now, consider 60% of those enterprises go out of business within six months after an attack. Small Business Trends spoke with cyber security expert Brent Scott about the 10 digital best practices to protect your small business from cyber attack.

Its important to raise public awareness to the ever-increasing rates of data breaches, credit fraud, and cyber crime, he says.

Ways to Protect Your Small Business from Cyber Attack

Use Secure Networks

WiFi at your local coffee shop is convenient but not always secure. Remember that your personal, business or client information can be included in the data that gets transferred from an unsecured network.

Take a moment to check the URL. Youre looking for whats called a secure connection here that starts with an https://.

Encrypt Data

Get possessive with all your small business data. Credit card numbers, bank routing data and even employee social security numbers are hacker gold. One solution is encrypting your data with software that makes up passwords to keep it all safe.

Get A Firewall

These are the moats that you dig around the castle (computer) where you keep sensitive information. You have external and internal choices. Make sure to get a good firewall for a home computer too if you do business on it.

Install Updates and Patches

These are just two more arrows in your small business security quiver. Your software works best when youve got the latest versions with the most up-to-date security. Remember these are fixes for the bugs and security issues that are always cropping up.

Know the Enemy

It really helps when you understand what your small business is up against. Understanding external and internal weak spots comes with knowing what to look for. Learn about the threats and the latest malware, phishing and spoofing scams.

Develop a Good Policy

Make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to preventing these attacks. These need to cover everything like what employees share on social media sites and protocols for using things like flash drives.

Securely Delete Unneeded Files

You should also update share/access settings, says Scott pointing to the fact that 145 million Americans had personal information stolen recently from Equifax. These unnecessary files can be temporary and downloaded files.

Lock Your Network Down Tight

For many small businesses, WiFi is a fact of business life. You can make the one you use at the office more safe and secure by checking the WPA2 standard. Its the latest best in WiFi security. Get into the admin section on the router and look at the Security Options to find out if youre covered.

Get Protected from Malware

Malware is the blanket term for all those nasty things like Trojans and Ransomware that can steal your info and cripple your business. Companies like LifeLock even include a useful mobile app that provides a security umbrella.

Look for continuous automatic updates.

Get SSL Certificate Protection

This is especially important for those small business that take payments on a website. The Secure Sockets Layer protects critical credit card and other information. A Google search will point your business in the right direction.
Companies share their prosperity with those less fortunate

Slovakia held its first Giving Tuesday last year.

People could help deaf children during the #GivingTuesday event. (Source: Courtesy of the Pontis Foundation)

Slovakias economy is flourishing and companies are willing to share their prosperity with those less fortunate. Revenues from the income tax assignation scheme for non-profit and non-governmental organisations are increasing along with the number of companies donating money from their own coffers. Companies traditionally support activities in education, health and culture by focusing on activities or fields that are not secured by the state or business sector. And while a traditional form of compensatory philanthropy still prevails in Slovakia, more and more companies support activities that can make a change.

Some companies have realised that compensatory philanthropy will not make the needed change, so along with compensatory forms they support development and transformation activities, Michal Kissa from the Pontis Foundation told The Slovak Spectator. Thus, they use successful examples and tested models to change how the state views the system.

As an example, he uses the foundation fund Telekom that runs under the Pontis Foundation. They tried some projects that focus on helping those who are deaf and will offer the most successful ones to the state for implementation.

Recently, more people are using social innovations, which involve the cooperation of business, non-profit and public sectors that contribute to social change. Companies are also stressing the importance of the results and impacts of these activities.

There are less activities that lead to little change, said Kissa, adding that there are more activities interconnecting non-governmental organisations, state institutions, communities and individuals to achieve positive and systemic changes in education, corporate responsibility and the fight against corruption and poverty.

Education, health and culture

In Slovakia, most funds in corporate philanthropy arrive from the 2-percent tax assignation scheme. As each taxpayer can decide to what non-governmental organisation a portion of their corporate or income tax goes, companies have launched foundations to which they assign the portion of their taxes paid. The current scheme allows them to assign as much as 2 percent if they donate 0.5 percent of their profit from their own coffers. These funds usually make up the biggest portion of financing in these foundations. Through these foundations, companies finance their philanthropic activities. Companies can also choose one of the existing foundations or non-governmental organisations whose activities suit their interests the most and assign the corporate tax to them.

Fields most supported within corporate philanthropy in Slovakia are education, health and culture. A survey of donations and tax assignations in 2015 conducted by Pontis confirms this. These fields accounted for half of donations, tax assignations, costs on volunteering as well as the pro bono activities of company employees by 47 companies worth almost 14 million. Pontis estimated that this sum accounted for about 40 percent of total donations during the given year.

The most supported field was education, receiving 22.11 percent of the surveyed donations, a similar portion to 2012. Most finances fund schools and the informal education of children.

As much as 59 percent of donations in this field are classified as a compensation type of support, Norbert Maur, project manager of Pontis Foundation, wrote in a press release from May 2017. Such a support does not eliminate problems within the education system as a whole but compensates for defects.

3. Apr 2018 at 6:30 | Jana Liptakova
New PM Pellegrini's earnings and expenses do not match

Dennik N looked at Pellegrinis income since 2005 and questions his purchase of a luxury apartment on the Danube embankment.

The new Prime Minister, Peter Pellegrini of the ruling Smer party, recently bought a flat in a luxurious residential complex on the banks of the Danube River, but cannot clearly prove how he procured the necessary funds to finance the purchase.

Pellegrini paid 245,000 for this 90-square-metre flat in the Zuckermandel development complex and will continue paying the rest of the price, 165,000, through a mortgage, the Dennik N daily wrote on April 3. The daily analysed publicly available data about Pellegrinis income and expenses, claiming the new PM spent much more than his publicized income. The daily uncovered some discrepancies when checking all his available incomes

Only income from public offices

Unlike some of his colleagues, the incumbent PM has been paid solely by the state since 2006, while having no secondary income from business or other sources.

Apart from ordinary income, he admitted to the daily that he has received some more than tens of thousands of euros via capital gains. Pellegrini could have received this sum only if he'd had hundreds of thousands of euros on his account, but he did not explain how he acquired the sum. He has not even stated the specific amount of his property disclosure since the law does not require it.

Closer scrutiny of his income and expenses pointed to around 100,000 more on the expense side.

Discrepancies in property disclosures

However, it is hard to clearly verify his income sources, since Pellegrini did not state all of them. Yet is quite clear that between 2005 and 2017, he must have spent around 320,000, plus the 245,000 cash payment for the new flat  much higher than his officially stated income (almost 100,000 more).

The premier explains this by citing other income than from his official position"  not required by law to be stated in his property disclosure filed with the parliament.

However, he stated them naturally, in his tax return, and the prime minister has paid all due taxes as required by law, Pellegrinis press department wrote to Dennik N. These is mostly income stemming from the sale of his car, bank asset returns, resources from his family, etc. This income enabled the prime minister to acquire savings through which he co-financed the purchase of his flat.

Conflict of interest?

Moreover, Pellegrini bought the flat in Zuckermandel when he was Deputy PM for Investments, defended the state relief for strategic investments of two developers, J&T and HB Reavis, in Bratislava. So he may have saved dozens of millions of developers money on taxes, Dennik N wrote. Zuckermandel is a project by J&T Real Estate.

The new PM also owns a new flat in Banska Bystrica and a luxury weekend house at Kraliky (both financed via a mortgage) and a hectare of farm land near Zvolen. He has a weakness for luxury cars, watches, suits and his hobby is amateur piloting.

Committee to act

The parliamentary committee for incompatibility of functions may now dig more deeply into the property situation of Pellegrini, since the head of this committee, Vladimir Sloboda (opposition SaS) told Dennik N he would file a motion. The PM will have to explain, in oral or written form, the questionable issues in his property.

3. Apr 2018 at 13:36 | Compiled by Spectator staff
Bratislava-Dubai flights to become more frequent

The line from Slovak capital to Dubai, introduced in 2014, will see flights four times a week instead of the current three times.

Passengers will be able to fly from M.R. Stefanik Airport in Bratislava to Dubai more often in autumn, the TASR newswire wrote on April 2.

The Flydubai airline is due to increase the frequency of these flights as of November 21, 2018. Whereas the Bratislava-Dubai route is currently serviced three times a week, the frequency is to be increased to four times a week.

Flights from M.R. Stefanik Airport in Bratislava to Dubai run every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, with Wednesday flights to be added as of November  hence, four times a week, airport spokesperson Veronika Sevcikova told TASR.

Flydubai introduced a direct flight connection from the Slovak capital to Dubai in December 2014.

3. Apr 2018 at 13:19 | Compiled by Spectator staff
Kaufland reduces opening hours

The retail chain, forced to do so by big employee turnover, higher costs and weak purchasing power, is closing its shops earlier.

One of the largest chains in Slovakia, Kaufland, has decided to shorten its opening hours by one hour. From Mondays to Saturdays the shops will be open till 21:00, and on Sundays till 20:00, the Hospodarske Noviny daily wrote on April 3.

The high turnover rate among its employees, increased costs and weak purchasing power are the reasons behind this step. The company also says that it has decided to meet employees requests and be responsive to the demands of its employees since it cares about their work-life balance.

The only exception to this rule so far will be its outlet in the Avion shopping centre in Bratislava.

Reasons behind the changes and outlook for other retailers

Presov University marketing specilaist, Peter Obornik, considers these steps a marketing strategy, not only help focused on employees. Similar decisions are always preceded by calculations and prognoses, he explained for the daily.

Retail analyst, Lubomir Drahovsky, sees a lack of employees behind the step. Another reason may the big competition among individual retain chains to win over employees.

Coop Jednota Trnava ended its Sunday opening hours, HN wrote, adding that the Billa and Lidl retailers have not considered any change of opening hours so far, while Terno is re-considering them. Tesco did not answer before the deadline, the daily summed up.

3. Apr 2018 at 13:24 | Compiled by Spectator staff
Public broadcaster fires one of its most experienced journalists

Olga Bakova was the only Slovak TV reporter to interview ex-US president George W. Bush before the 2005 Bush-Putin summit in Bratislava.

Reporter Olga Bakova will leave the public-service broadcaster RTVS. One of the most experienced Slovak journalists was leading the foreign news desk in the broadcasters radio section.

Until the end of February, Bakova was working as a chief editor, but her position was scrapped a few weeks ago. Nine other chief editors lost their positions. Most of them were offered editor posts or similar work. However, Bakova was offered the position of an ordinary reporter, and the editor of an hourly short news broadcast. Due to her previous experience, she refused the position, the Dennik N daily reported.

Read also:

Read also: RTVS editors feel pressure, mistrust their superiors Read more

As RTVS managers did not find an appropriate position for her, not even in the television section, they fired her. It is not clear when she will leave, Dennik N reported.

An experienced reporter

Bakova (47) started working for Slovak Radio in 1992, specialising in foreign policy. In the years 2001-2006, she was a detached reporter in Washington, while in the following five years she worked for Czech Television, covering Slovakia.

Read also:

Read also: The management of the RTVS news team is leaving Read more

She returned to RTVS in 2013 as chief editor of the radio foreign news desk. Bakova is known for her reports from war zones, including Crimea, eastern Ukraine and Syrian borders. She was nominated for the Journalist Award for her reports from Crimea.

As the only Slovak TV reporter, she interviewed then-US president George W. Bush in the White House before the 2005 Bush-Putin summit in Bratislava. She also talked with Hillary Clinton and Donald Rumsfeld, Dennik N wrote.

Most recently, she started presenting a talk show, Strong Group, broadcast by the Slovak Television, where she debated current events with a group of women. According to Dennik N, she will continue with the show as she prepares it as an outside worker.

Reporters criticise the step

Several reporters have criticised Bakova's termination.

Its a shame, said reporter Filip Minich, who is covering European affairs, as quoted by Dennik N. Olga belongs to top journalists, many of us have learnt from her. In my opinion, she contributed to the high quality of RTVS news coverage in the past few years. Her departure will weaken the news desk.

As Bakova had experience with foreign news coverage, many reporters were discussing their foreign trips with her. She also served as tutor for many, they told Dennik N.

Read also:

Read also: Putting the public into public-service broadcasting Read more

We see her as an experienced journalist, respected reporting authority, and one of the biggest Slovak experts in foreign policy journalism, said foreign news editor Matus David, as quoted by Dennik N. She motivated us and taught us through her own work. Apart from this, she opened the door to the world for us. Her experience will be really missed.

RTVS reporter Zuzana Kovacic Hanzelova claims that RTVS decided to take the unacceptable path.

Im disappointed and outraged, she said, as quoted by Dennik N.

Meanwhile, RTVSs general director Jaroslav Reznik has appointed several former spokespeople of politicians and state offices to the leading posts in the broadcasters news desks since taking the post last summer. The news desk in television is led by Vahram Chuguryan, ex-spokesperson for former education minister Peter Plavcan and former minister Lubomir Jahnatek, while in radio the news desk is led by Petra Stano Matasovska, former spokesperson for the Environment Ministry and the University Hospital in Bratislava, the daily wrote.

Chuguryan recently recommended that reporters do not wear badges with AllForJan hashtag.

3. Apr 2018 at 21:23 | Compiled by Spectator staff
Bristow Group Inc. provides industrial aviation services to the offshore energy companies in Europe Caspian, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers helicopter charter services to transport personnel between onshore bases and offshore production platforms, drilling rigs, and other installations, as well as to transport time-sensitive equipment to these offshore locations. It also provides search and rescue services for the oil and gas industry, and governmental agencies; and aircraft support services. The company was formerly known as Offshore Logistics Inc. and changed its name to Bristow Group Inc. in February 2006. Bristow Group Inc. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

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Vietnams international arrivals rose substantially in March, principally thanks to an influx of Chinese and South Korean holidaymakers.

More than 454,000 Chinese nationals spent their holidays in Vietnam last month, up 52.6 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

South Korea arrivals to the Southeast Asian country also jumped 67.4 percent year on year to 273,000.

Numbering more than 1.34 million, tourists from both China and South Korea yielded an increase of 33.6 percent compared to March 2017, accounting for the largest share by country of arrivals in Vietnam.

In the Jan-Mar period, Vietnams tourist numbers topped 4.2 million, representing a healthy 30 percent rise from a year earlier. Vietnam received a record 12.9 million international visitors in 2017.

The rise in international arrivals was attributable to the Vietnamese governments policy conducive to visa application and convenient direct flights.

But industry insiders are concerned that Chinese arrivals being on the upswing does not necessarily translate into proportionately expected financial benefits.

A large number of Chinese visitors traveled to Vietnam on ultra-cheap tour packages known as zero-dollar tours, in which they bought at shops that evade paying taxes.

This prompted a local government to implement a crackdown.

Facilities at many tourist locations across Vietnam are poor, which is compounded by illicit practices like price gouging and counterfeit goods trading.

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Kim Samuel, a 16-year-old pop star from South Korea, had fans on their feet as he held a performance on the Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City on Monday.

Samuel, who is in Vietnam between April 1-4 for the shooting of a TV program, was cheered by thousands of fans as he arrived at the venue at 6:00 pm, escorted by five bodyguards.

Some of his audience, most younger than 20, had been waiting for two hours to meet their idol in the flesh.

The young star performed two dance routines without singing and handed out free copies of his studio album Sixteen to fans who joined him in the dances.

Fans watch an outdoor performance of K-pop star Kim Samuel on the Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in Ho Chi Minh City, April 2, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Samuel, also known by his full name Samuel Kim Arredondo, was born in the U.S. to a Mexican father and a South Korean mother.

The mixed-race idol is dubbed by fans in Vietnam as hoang tu lai, literally translated half-blood prince. The prince title is earned thanks to his good looks, likable character and captivating performances on the stage.

Following his initial success as part of local singing duos, Samuel collaborated with Silento  best known for his debut single Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)  to release the single "Spotlight" in 2016.

Together they won the 26th Seoul Music Award for Global Collaboration and went on tour in the U.S.

Samuel is fluent in Korean, English and Spanish.

His debut solo extended play Sixteen, released in August last year, was a hit in a number of Asian markets including Vietnam.

The music video for the albums namesake single has raked in nearly ten million views on video sharing site YouTube as of today.

Samuel was in Ho Chi Minh City last November to attend the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA).

K-pop star Kim Samuel performs a dance routine on the Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in Ho Chi Minh City, April 2, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

K-pop star Kim Samuel gives a copy of his studio album Sixteen to a fan during an appearance on the Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in Ho Chi Minh City, April 2, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

K-pop star Kim Samuel hugs a fan during an appearance on the Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in Ho Chi Minh City, April 2, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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Vietnamese Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi vowed to make efforts to preserve peace and stability in the East Vietnam Sea during their talks in Hanoi on Monday.

The meeting took place within the framework of Wangs official visit to Vietnam and attendance at the 6th Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit (GMS-6) from March 30 to April 3, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

General Secretary Trong congratulated China on the successful organization of the 2018 sessions of the National Peoples Congress and election of state and government leaders for the new tenure.

He extended his congratulations to Wang on his appointment as state councilor and foreign minister of China.

Vietnam always treasures the friendly relationship and sound cooperation with China, the Party chief continued, stressing that the two sides should further enhance their friendship, collaboration, mutual support, and common development in the future.

Trong asked both sides to adhere to the common perceptions and agreements reached by leaders of the two Parties and countries.

Hanoi and Beijing should also implement the basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues, properly manage disputes, refrain from intensifying the situation, and together make efforts to maintain peace and stability in the East Vietnam Sea, he asserted.

Replying to his guest, Minister Wang expressed his joy at paying an official visit to Vietnam and attending the sixth Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit, as well as congratulated the Southeast Asian country on successfully hosting the event.

The Chinese Party, government, and people attach special importance to the relationship with Vietnam, the official stated, adding that both nations should continue cementing strategic exchanges and cooperation, settling sea-related disagreements amicably, and maintaining the positive development of bilateral ties.
Here are the news stories you should not miss today:

Politics

-- General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong held talks with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Hanoi on Monday, as part of the latters official visit to Vietnam and attendance at the 6th Greater Mekong Sub-region Summit (GMS-6) from March 30 to April 3.

Society

-- Vietnams Ministry of Public Security on Monday announced a plan to simplify its structure, including the removal of six general departments and merger of existing departments.

-- Two suspects trespassed on the Dien Bien Phu Airport in the northern province of Dien Bien and were able to leave the venue without being caught by security units, a source close to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper confirmed on Monday.

-- Police in Nhon Trach District in the southern province of Dong Nai affirmed on Monday they were investigating the violent confrontation between multiple men armed with guns and machetes, which happened on Sunday and was caught on camera, with the footage of going viral on social media.

-- Colonel Doan Thanh Son, chief of police in Tran De District in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, has been dismissed from his post after being caught having an extramarital affair.

-- The Ministry of Transport is seeking feedback from relevant authorities regarding the construction of the Lien Chieu Port in the central city of Da Nang, which is designed to become a major international seaport in central Vietnam with investment capital estimated at VND7.378 trillion (US$324.6 million).

-- The Department of Health confirmed on Monday that a woman in Tan Phuoc District, who was seven weeks pregnant, had lost her baby after employees of the local medical center had mistakenly given her Misoprostol, a common medicine used to cause an abortion.

-- The fire unit of District 2, Ho Chi Minh City on Monday imposed an administrative fine upon a resident of the Thao Dien Masteri Apartment Complex for lighting incense during a worship ritual in the facility parking basement.

Business

-- Vietnams GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the first quarter of 2018 increased by 7.38 percent year-on-year, a record high over the past decade, while CPI (Consumer Price Index) also rose by 2.66 percent in the same period, government spokesperson Mai Tien Dung said during a regular meeting on Monday evening.

-- Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong has revealed the goals to restructure the countrys agricultural sector and double the income of local farmers within the next five years.

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Health authorities in the southern province of Tien Giang confirmed on Monday that a local mother had lost her first fetus early last month after taking abortion medicine a staff member of a local medical center administered to her by mistake.

On March 7, Huynh Thi Cuc, a 32-year-old mother who was in her seventh week of pregnancy, was advised to stay in the medical center of Tan Phuoc District since she was at risk of miscarriage.

Two days later, prior to her discharge, doctors prescribed her Miprotone, a type of embryo-nourishing medication.

But a staff member at the dispensary provided her with Misoprostol, used for abortion purposes, after discovering that the embryo-nourishing medication was out of stock.

Later in the day Cuc was rushed back to the center after bleeding from the consumption of two Misoprostol pills.

As doctors at the center said they needed to continue watching her conditions, the family immediately took her to the Tien Giang Gynecological Hospital, where they were told the fetus had died from abortion medicine.

It was discovered later that on March 9, besides Cuc, two other pregnant patients at Tan Phuoc medical center were also mistakenly given Misoprostol. One of them had yet to use it, while the other safely received urgent treatment after the consumption.

A report by the medical center admitted that some of its staff members have failed to follow the regulations on checking and reviewing in terms of drug prescription and dispensing.

The report also said that a piece of software from the center had not been updated on medication information.

Le Van Duc, the centers director, supposed that the program and the resemblance in name between Misoprostol and Misoprostol were to blame.

Vietnams Ministry of Health have ordered the Tien Giang health department to verify the incident and promptly submitted a report to it by 5:00 pm this Thursday.

The ministry also required staff members implicated in the case to be honest in providing information and the medical center to punish those who are responsible without leniency.

In January a pregnancy woman in the south-central province Quang Ngai also lost her six-week-old fetus after a midwife mistakenly gave her an abortion pill instead of pregnancy support drugs.

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A Vietnamese woman stabbed herself to death right after apparently having a row with the staff at her countrys embassy in Malaysia on Monday.

The woman, Tran Thi Mai, and a male companion went to the Vietnamese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to complete some travel paperwork before the dispute began, a source with knowledge of the matter told a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter in Malaysia on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old Vietnamese then raised her voice and started quarreling with the embassy staff at the reception area at around 11:30 am on Monday, according to the source.

Mai eventually appeared to lose control of herself when she shouted more aggressively and took out a knife, giving herself multiple stabs.

She yelled and cursed at the embassy employees before repeatedly stabbing herself in the chest, the source told Tuoi Tre.

The man who accompanied Mai to the embassy immediately took her to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, but she succumbed to her severe injuries.

The Vietnamese embassy has notified Malaysian police of the incident.

Police officers have been dispatched to the scene for investigation.
News producer Mark Llewellyn is returning to Nine, following his departure from Seven last month.

He joins from today in a new role as the Creative Director for News and Current Affairs, developing original longer-form content. He will also work with Nines Factual Production Unit, under Janeen Faithfull, producing documentaries for the network.

Most recently he was executive producer of Murder Uncovered but his contract was not renewed when Seven culled the show as part of cost cuts. He was also a co-founding executive producer on Sunday Night until 2014.

Nine News boss Darren Wick sent a note to staff today noting, He is a brilliant out of the box thinker and I encourage everyone to tap his brain.

Many of you know Mark as a colleague during his previous time at Nine. He joined as a young Sydney-based reporter, has been the Network Director of News and Current Affairs, Managing Director of 60 Minutes, Executive Producer of A Current Affair and a London correspondent.

For those of you not familiar with him, Mark has an acclaimed track record as one of Australias finest and most forward-thinking producers in current affairs and news documentaries.

Sevens Director of News & Public Affairs Craig McPherson recently told TV Tonight that shutting down Murder Uncovered just weeks after it had been announced in network Upfronts was difficult.

It was a creation of mine and Mark Llewellyns and there were a lot of good people involved in it, he said.

It was a strictly economic decision and a hard decision to make, and hard to tell people it no longer existed when it was announced and it was planned.

In 2006 Llewellyn was famously part of the media stories surrounding the exit of Jessica Rowe from Today.

His affidavit claimed then-CEO Eddie McGuire had said in an executive meeting about Today, What are we gonna do about Jessica? When should we bone her? I reckon it should be next week.

McGuire denied using the term.
Warning: language, adult themes!

US animation Adult Swim dropped an April Fools parody of its Rick & Morty cartoon by Australian animator Michael Cusack, which left viewers talking.

The 15 minute short was a darker, twisted and Australianised version of the comedy released without notice when US fans were anticipating a fourth season.

The episode featured gross language, ocker accents, visits to Centrelink, drinking beer and a road trip to Bendigo, depicted as a barren regional wasteland. That in turn had Bendigos mayor saying she was quite staggered by the vulgar parody.

Obviously there are different tastes for everyone, ORourke told Guardian Australia. But I believe the Google searches have soared ever since it was released, and people would know by those searches that Bendigo is nothing like whats in the parody.

Cusack was commissioned to create the short by Rick and Morty creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland over a year ago.

It genuinely was going down the list of Australian towns and thinking whats the funniest name?' he said.

I was thinking Wagga Wagga, Newcastle, nah, not really, then I was like Bendigo.

Theres something about that name that seemed right to use for it.

Cuasck is also behind an ABC pilot, Koala Man through the Fresh Blood initiative.

Rick & Morty screens in Australia on Adult Swim on 9GO!

Source: ABC, Guardian
THE SKRIPAL incident could be more sinister than previously thought. What we know for certain is that Sergei Skripal and his daughter were allegedly poisoned by a nerve agent called Novichok. However, the claims of its existence are sketchy and the claim that only Russia can produce it are almost certainly false. The UK responded by kicking out Russian diplomats and NATO allies followed suit, but Russia have rejected claims that they were involved.

The biggest problem is the silence over Skripal, when Litvinenko was poisoned, there were regular updates by the government that didnt compromise security and kept the public informed.

It is almost certain Putin did order the assassination but there was no tangible evidence.

The Sergei Skripal conundrum

This time however, the government have been silent about almost all the details of the alleged poisoning and the timing itself makes no sense. Firstly, Novichok is something of a myth and it is debated whether it was actually developed as a viable nerve agent. Nonetheless, Russia completed the destruction of a stockpile of chemical weapons declared to the OPCW last year. But the United States is in the final stages of destroying its own stockpile.

Interestingly, over the last decade or so, there have been a number of military projects performed at UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), or Porton Down that were funded by the Pentagons Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for around $70 million.

These include, experimental respiratory infection of non-human primates (marmosets) with Anthrax, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, Western equine encephalitis virus, and Eastern equine encephalitis virus. The US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has also funded experiments on animals which were exposed to chemical agents such as Sulfur Mustard and Phosgene gas.

Plus, it was reported on the 8th March that Skripal still had close connections with former MI6 official, Christopher Steele, apparently becoming a close consultant of Orbis Business Intelligence, a company which Steele heads. Furthermore, Steel has also become a focus of the US election meddling investigation after producing a dossier which alleged that Trump was compromised by Russia.

Cambridge Analytica

This is where the plot thickens, Cambridge Analytica has been linked with Leave.EU but the official Vote Leave campaign had connections with Aggregate IQ, a Canadian data firm owned by CAs parent company SCL. Whistle-blower Shahmir Sanni has also revealed that 40% of Vote Leaves budget of around 6.8 million was paid to AQI, along with how money was moved between several entities and organisations which allowed them to exceed the spending limits during the campaign. Both Sanni and Wylie have also confirmed that the harvested information has been shared with Kremlin linked entities. This would include the Internet Research Agency, a troll farm in St Petersburg. This is accused by Robert Mercer of interfering with the US election.

But the London Economic has reported that A source close to Skripal has said he was investigating the collusion between the Internet Research Agency, AIQ, Cambridge Analytica and its parent company, SCL. If this is viable and does turn out to be true, this asks a lot of awkward questions over the competence of the government. Because, they either knew and didnt want to do any about it or that they didnt realise, highlighting their incompetence in protecting the peoples. This is merely conjecture at this point but this would be an eye-opening moment for many people if it is in fact true.
PALESTINIANS have seen their freedoms restricted further and violence escalate during Land Day protests. The west has largely been distracted by the anti-Semitism smear on Jeremy Corbyn in the meantime Israeli Forces have murdered people protesting over the land that has ben stolen from them. Plus, they have also begun to crackdown on their Freedom Of Movement.

If this was the other way around, no doubt there would be media coverage all over the globe and calling out the violent and destructive ways against a race of people, but why is it acceptable if they are Arab?

Land Day and restrictions on Palestinians

On 30 March 1976, Palestinian citizens of Israel declared - for the first time since the Israeli occupation of their land in 1948 - a general and comprehensive strike in rejection of successive Israeli discriminatory policies since 1948. But Israeli forces killed at least 16 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip on Friday, according to authorities, as tens of thousands demonstrated across the occupied territories and Israel on "Land Day". Land Day stems from 30 March 1976, when Israeli forces killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel during a protest against land confiscations. Palestinians have marked the day for the past 42 years to denounce Israeli policies to take over Palestinian land.

The Israeli Defence Force then tweeted that they knew where every bullet hit and that their shooting was calculated. This is murder and the Tweet itself has since been deleted but where is the outrage from the British government, the media have briefly reported about the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of Israel but dont do enough.

The reason is simple, theyre not the right colour. Any liberal minded or socially aware individual should feel for the Palestinian people, yet where is their outrage? The hypocrisy is astounding because if you replace Arab with Jew, then the West would jump to their support immediately. There should be no discrimination when it comes to the murder of humans.

Palestinians are bracing for a crackdown on their freedom of movement after Israel announced eight days of border restrictions during the Jewish Passover holiday. As of Thursday night, Israeli forces will prevent Palestinians with permits from entering Israel and the annexed East Jerusalem. There are exceptions for humanitarian and medical cases, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported earlier this week. The move itself could be seen as an attempt to test the viability of extending the ban beyond the Passover holiday.

The UK and anti-Semitism

Meanwhile in the UK, a YouGov poll has highlighted that anti-Semitism has fallen in Labour since 2015 and risen in the Conservatives. In 2015, 16% of Labour voters agreed with the statement that Jews hold too much power in the media, compared to 11% in 2017.

This compares with 17% of Conservative voters agreeing with the statement in 2015, with a 2% reduction to 15% in 2017. In 2015, 11% of Labour voters agreed with the statement that Jews talk about the Holocaust too much in order to get sympathy, declining to 8% in 2017. This decline from Labour voters is in stark contrast to Tory voters who actually saw a rise in their supporters agreeing in this statement  with 12% agreeing with it in 2015 compared to 13% in 2017.

Whilst YouGov has been one of the less reliable polling companies, this is interesting because they are run by a Conservative MP and founded by another former Conservative candidate, with extensive links to the party. This poll directly undermines claims made by opponents of the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Furthermore, the far-right propaganda outlet has led with an article claiming that they essentially caught Jeremy Corbyn red-handed at a far-left event, which was full of people calling for the destruction of Israel and vocally attacking the Jewish people.

The issue is that they left out some important facts about the event in which Jeremy Corbyn attended. The event was held in his constituency of Islington and it the people who attended, were all Jews. The Jewish community who attended just so happen to hold left-wing progressive views and are vocal in their condemnation of the way Israel treat the Palestinians. This is much the same as when George Soros is involved. This is pure anti-Semitism, by claiming all those Jews who hold left-wing ideology are anti-Semites, yet anyone who support right-wing ideology are victims.
THE ANTI-SEMITISM SCANDAL that has engulfed British politics the last few weeks has been unique and absurd. It is almost forgettable that the whole thing was kicked off by a comment made by Jeremy Corbyn, which he opposed the removal of a piece of street art, on Facebook. He did later say that he shouldve looked closer and if he was aware it was anti-Semitic then he most certainly would not have commented.

Whether the artwork itself is even anti-Semitic is debatable, but I guess if you hold some form of inherent dislike for the Jewish people, you are more likely to find anti-Semitism within this piece of artwork.

The link to the Israeli lobby scandal

Back in January 2017, Al Jazeera broadcasted a documentary about the pro-Israel lobby in the UK. They had made recordings that showed some elements of the Israeli embassy plotting to take out pro-Palestinian politicians. They moved a staffer named Ella Rose to run Jewish Labour Movement and effectively run Labour Friends of Israel. This is a group that contains the likes of Chuka Umunna and Stella Creasy, who both attended the rally set-up by the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies, two far-right Jewish organisations, who have never said a bad word about the Conservatives, praised the election of Donald Trump and happily do the bidding of the Israeli embassy in London.

Last year, around the same time, an anti-Semitism furore was brewed and manufactured and the Middle Eastern Eye, reported that it was inexplicitly linked to the lobbying scandal that effectively saw the Israeli government, actively undermine the opposition in British politics and influence it for their desired outcome. Meddling in other democracies politics is severely underhanded.

Of course, Britain can hardly complain when they have violently overthrown whole regimes because they didnt stand in line and follow suit, also continue to actively participate in other countrys politics. This is of course fully supported by the Conservatives, who fully support the Israeli government and they will only outrage over meddling in Britains national politics when it is against them, for example Russia.

Furthermore, Some of Israel's supporters saw an opportunity to restrict public debate about Israel, Palestine and Zionism, and weaken a growing Palestine solidarity movement; the British government's attacks on BDS, for example, have seen officials explicitly link Israel boycotts with anti-Semitism. But since Corbyns election as Labour leader, he has been labelled friend of Hamas and terrorist sympathiser by his opponents whenever he criticised Israel. These smears since they first surfaced are a clear attempt to stifle debate about Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and they are actively participating in creating the anti-Semitism furore, this is propaganda and manipulation.
By Dave Sherwood

SANTIAGO, April 3 (Reuters) - Representatives of Chinese lithium giant Tianqi met with Chile (Stuttgart: 704599.SG - news) 's top anti-trust prosecutor less than a month after Chilean authorities moved to block the miner from buying a coveted stake in Chile's SQM, Chile's lobbyist transparency website showed on Tuesday.

Felipe Irarrazabal, head of the National Economic Prosecutor's office, known by its Spanish initials FNE, met on March 29 with three lobbyists for the Chinese miner to discuss "Corfo's complaint against Tianqi," according to the website.

The meeting at the prosecutor's downtown Santiago office came as the FNE reviewed a complaint filed by Chile development agency Corfo. The complaint seeks to block the sale by Canada's Nutrien Ltd of a 32 percent stake in SQM to Chinese bidder Tianqi Lithium (Shenzhen: 002466.SZ - news) or any state-backed firm.

Tianqi in late 2017 presented a "non-binding" offer for the stake, according to Eduardo Bitran, former head of Corfo.

The approximately-$4 billion stake in SQM, the world's lowest-cost producer of lithium - a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries - is considered a prize asset in the global race to secure resources to develop electric vehicles.

Chile's development agency Corfo said in the March 9 complaint that the transaction would "gravely distort market competition."

Together, Tianqi and SQM, the world's second biggest lithium producer after U.S.-based Albemarle Corp, would control 70 percent of the global lithium market, the document said.

The FNE has until August, with the possibility of further extensions, to determine whether to launch a full investigation.

Canadian fertilizer company Nutrien must sell its stake in SQM by next March as part of pledges to regulators who approved this year the merger of Agrium (Dusseldorf: AGU.DU - news) and Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, which created Nutrien. SQM also has significant fertilizer production.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese state energy giant CNPC said on Tuesday it has sold its first ever gasoline to the Americas, with a 35,000-tonne cargo setting sail for the Bahamas on March 30, the latest sign that a fuel glut in China is growing.

The gasoline was produced at its Qinzhou refinery in Guangxi province, CNPC said in a statement posted on its website.

CNPC, parent of PetroChina <0857.HK>, started selling its diesel to the Americas in 2015 due to the domestic surplus. Exports have totalled 840,00 tonnes so far, with destinations including Brazil and Peru.

Gasoline is mainly used in passenger cars, while diesel is used in heavy machinery.

(Reporting by Josephine Mason and Meng Meng; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
The logo of Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA is seen at the company's headquarters in Sao Jose dos Campos The logo of Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA is seen at the company's headquarters in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil February 28, 2018. REUTERS/Roosevelt Cassio

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Labor union leaders on Monday accused Brazil's government of negotiating a tie-up between local planemaker Embraer SA <EMBR3.SA> and Boeing Co <BA.N> behind the backs of Brazilians, underscoring political tensions weighing on the delicate talks.

"We are being left in the dark. No one is explaining to us why this is good for Brazil," said Herbert Claros da Silva, vice president of the metalworkers union of Sao Jose dos Campos, told a Senate hearing. "We ask President Temer not to sell Embraer."

Government officials and Embraer executives were invited but did not appear at the hearing called by Workers Party Senator Paulo Paim to discuss the talks between Boeing and Embraer for a potential partnership over which the government has veto power.

No other senators attended the hearing of the Senate's human rights committee, although the Boeing-Embraer tie-up has drawn criticism from politicians that could complicate a deal as October general elections approach.

Embraer and Boeing declined to comment on the hearing. A spokesman for the Defense Ministry, which has led a government working group vetting the deal, said the hearing was about jobs and not a defence matter.

The Brazilian government, which privatized Embraer in recent decades but still holds a decisive golden share, has resisted the outright sale of Embraer to Boeing due to concerns over the loss of sovereign control over its defence programs.

The two companies are reportedly seeking government approval for a compromise agreement that would involve Boeing investing in a third, newly created company including Embraer's commercial aircraft division but excluding its defence unit.

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 <BBDb.TO> and backed by European rival Airbus SE <AIR.PA> last year.

Story continues

Union leader Silva acknowledged at Monday's hearing that a tie-up would initially be a boon for Embraer as Boeing would help market its shorter-range jets around the world.

But he said many of the 14,000 workers at Embraer's plants in Sao Jose dos Campos, half of which are unionized, were worried about their jobs a decade down the road if they end up working for a U.S.-based company.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
* Murdoch seeking to win UK approval to take control of Sky (Frankfurt: 893517 - news)

* Says will legally separate Sky News or sell it to Disney

* Some lawmakers oppose increase in Murdoch's influence

* Sky shares rise 2.1 pct (Adds Disney statement paragraph 10)

By Paul Sandle

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch ratcheted up the pressure on Britain to approve his $15 billion-plus bid for pay-TV group Sky by offering to sell or legally separate Sky News, aiming to head off objections the deal could give him too much political influence.

Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox said on Tuesday that Walt Disney Co was interested in buying Sky News. Alternatively, Fox said, Sky News could be legally separated within the Sky group.

Even (Taiwan OTC: 6436.TWO - news) if Fox's proposals satisfy Britain's government and competition regulator, however, it may still need to raise its recommended offer for Sky after U.S. cable group Comcast Corp said it intended to make a higher counter-bid.

Sky shares rose 2.1 percent to 13.25 pounds, the biggest gain on Britain's FTSE-100 index and above both Fox's bid and Comcast (Swiss: CMCSA.SW - news) 's proposed offer, signalling investors expect any suitor will have to pay more.

Money-losing Sky News is the last regulatory hurdle in 87-year-old Murdoch's long campaign to buy Sky, which has grown from its UK beginnings to become Europe's biggest pay-TV group.

"We look forward to concluding this acquisition - finally - in a timely and expeditious manner," Fox Senior Vice President Gerson Zweifach said, adding the proposed solutions addressed all concerns about the transaction.

Fox agreed in December 2016 to buy the 61 percent of Sky it does not already own, but the deal has been repeatedly delayed by the UK government and regulators, allowing Comcast to gate crash the deal in February.

Fox had already promised that Sky's 24-hour news service would remain independent under the ultimate control of Murdoch, but critics, including some high-profile politicians, remain adamantly opposed due to Murdoch's record of influence through owning the Sun and the Times newspapers.

Story continues

As the Sky deal remained in regulatory limbo, Fox separately agreed to sell a string of assets, including its 39 percent stake in Sky, to Disney, potentially taking Murdoch out of the Sky equation.

In a statement on Tuesday, Disney said the Sky News deal would be "separate from, and not conditional on, Disney's acquisition of Fox." Disney also said it would "agree to sustain the operating capital of Sky News and maintain its editorial independence."

Some Sky shareholders, frustrated by the delay, had already said Fox should increase its 10.75 pounds-per-share offer.

Their view appeared vindicated when Comcast said it would pay 12.50 pounds a share to buy Sky, although it has not yet made a formal bid.

Fox said its new concessions went beyond the steps that Britain's media regulator Ofcom said would mitigate concerns about Murdoch's influence.

The company, however, needs to persuade another regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the government.

A CMA spokeswoman said on Tuesday it had until May 1 to provide its report on the proposed deal to Britain's minister for digital matters, culture, media and sport. The minister, Matt Hancock, is due to make the final decision by June 13.

MATCHING COMCAST?

Fox said it could sell Sky News to Disney, or legally separate Sky News within the wider Sky group, so it would operate independently with guaranteed funding for 15 years.

One London-based hedge fund said the measures should be sufficient, but that "the price issue is not going away," suggesting Fox would have to raise its bid.

Activist hedge fund Elliott Capital has been building a substantial stake in Sky in recent months, and on Tuesday it disclosed its interest had grown to 2.84 percent. Elliott declined further comment.

Analysts at Liberum said two factors pointed to Fox coming back with a revised bid to match Comcast.

First (Other OTC: FSTC - news) , Fox must have received approval from Disney to offer the concession, they said, and second, Sky said its independent directors remained focused on maximising value for shareholders.

Separate news on Tuesday that Sky Italia had settled its long-running fight with Mediaset (LSE: 0NE1.L - news) in the Italian pay-TV market also made Sky more valuable, they added.

A group of high-profile British lawmakers, including former Labour party leader Ed Miliband, called last month for Murdoch to be blocked from buying Sky, despite the promises Fox had already made to ensure the independence of Sky News.

The four said the promises did not go far enough, given Murdoch's record of influence.

Fox said on Tuesday a group of politicians was seeking to influence the CMA, adding they were making "a number of unsupported and fanciful assertions". ($1 = 0.7120 pound)

(Additional reporting by Maiya Keidan and Lisa Richwine; editing by Mark Potter, Adrian Croft and Richard Chang)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The Philippines competition watchdog said on Monday it is looking at whether the deal by Uber Technologies [UBER.UL] to sell its Southeast Asia business to rival Grab will substantially reduce competition.

"The Grab-Uber acquisition is likely to have a far reaching impact on the riding public and the transportation services. As such, the PCC is looking at the deal closely," the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said in a statement.

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Tuesday that the dumping of biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia harms American producers, a move that locks in place duties on the imports.

The commission's final phase determination followed a Commerce Department move in February to add anti-dumping duties of 60.44 percent to 276.65 percent to already steep anti-subsidy duties on imported biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia.

The independent panel had already found in the subsidy cases that the imports caused such injuries.

The latest duties make it virtually certain that biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia will not be sold in the U.S. market, with combined rates of up to 159 percent on the Argentine fuel and up to 341 percent on Indonesian variety.

The trade case was filed by the National Biodiesel Board and 15 member companies that alleged a flood of subsidized imports sold below fair market value was preventing U.S. producers from earning an adequate return.

The vote marked the last procedural hurdle before final antidumping orders can be issued this month, the board said in a statement.

"This vote today finalises the case to address the harm that unfair trade practices have had on the U.S. biodiesel industry, said Donnell Rehagen, the board's chief executive officer. "Foreign producers dumping product into American markets below cost has undermined the jobs and environmental benefits that U.S. biodiesel brings to the table."

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington and Michael Hirtzer in Chicago; Editing by Tom Brown)
A Colorado-based GOP group issued a public apology yesterday for a social media post that claimed Republicans hate poor people.

The Alamosa County Republicans took to Facebook to apologize for the comments on Friday, which urged Americans to be Republicans out of self-respect.

"Democrats love poor people because they think that poor people will vote Democrat. Republicans hate poor people because they think the dignity of man is above being poor," the original post said.

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Colorado republicans

Twitter/Alamosa Republicans

The group have since deleted the post on their Facebook page, however, it still remains on Twitter.

On Sunday, the chair of the organization called the post inappropriate and offensive and confirmed that the individual who posted it has since resigned.

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Hate has no home here, the Facebook apology said. The author acted independently and without the concurrence of any other member of the Alamosa County Republicans.

The regrettable post was made with the intention of condemning poverty, not persons affected by poverty, and was not meant to insult anyone, it continued.

However, that occurred, and the author sincerely regrets the post and has offered his resignation from his position with the Alamosa County Republicans, which has been accepted. Actions have consequences.

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Social media users condemned the groups apology, with some saying it seems disingenuous given that the original post has still not been taken down from Twitter.

You literally have the exact same message still posted to your twitter at this moment. That makes the apology seem disingenuous, one user wrote.

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Another added: I am a Republican and I have never been so embarrassed to say this. But this past year I've just been so embarrassed of the ignorant thinking that people are having. Shame on you guys for keeping the post."

This article was first written by Newsweek

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By Venus Wu and James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's once thriving pro-democracy movement, weighed down by growing pessimism among its supporters over China's ever-increasing control in the city, is facing a crisis of confidence about its future.

As China tightens its grip on Hong Kong, pro-democracy parties have been hit by the sidelining of key leaders and have been losing ground to a well-organised pro-Beijing camp.

Those troubles hit home last month, when the democrats suffered an electoral setback in a key legislative by-election, winning only two of three seats they were expected to take easily.

Critically, many supporters stayed home  and some switched sides to protest what they said were the confrontational tactics of pro-democracy groups.

"The opposition always argues for the sake of argument," said one democracy supporter who gave her name as Feng. In frustration, she cast her ballot for a pro-Beijing candidate in the March 11 elections.

"Confronting Beijing directly is not a good strategy," the 44-year-old government contractor said. "You have to go about it in softer ways." She said she did not want her full name published because she works for the government.

That sort of shift by voters like Feng is worrying leaders of pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong who fear an eroding public mandate, which they see as their sole weapon to counter Beijing's influence in the city.

"We have to make sure that our own people here in Hong Kong do not give up on us," said Alvin Yeung, a barrister and head of the pro-democracy Civic Party.

Over the past decade, resentment has deepened towards China's perceived growing encroachment on Hong Kong's autonomy.

In 2014, protests by pro-democrats calling for a greater say in how Hong Kong's leader was chosen engulfed large areas of the city for months. The collapse of those protests led to growing calls among young activists for independence.

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The Chinese government has responded with an increasingly tougher line.

In 2016, it intervened in a Hong Kong court decision that removed pro-independence lawmakers from office for taking their oaths improperly  the action that led to the March by-elections. It has also deemed a Hong Kong train station to be under mainland authority.

On Tuesday, dozens of pro-Beijing groups took out advertisements in Hong Kong newspapers calling for the dismissal of a University of Hong Kong academic, Benny Tai, after he allegedly made comments advocating independence for China.

The growing reach of China's security apparatus is also worrying many in Hong Kong after instances like the 2015 disappearance of several Hong Kong booksellers who later showed up in Chinese custody, as well as the mysterious disappearance of a mainland Chinese tycoon from a luxury hotel in 2017.

Hong Kong authorities, meanwhile, have proposed jail terms of up to three years for those mocking China's national anthem, and there have been calls from pro-Beijing politicians for national security laws outlawing subversive acts against China.

The authorities have also started jailing protest leaders like Joshua Wong, a 21-year-old student.

FALLING TURNOUT

The loss of the legislative seat last month was the first time that the pro-democracy camp had lost a head-to-head contest in a by-election, a significant defeat as it meant that the opposition failed to regain some veto powers.

The democrats will be vying for an additional two seats in by-elections whose dates have yet to be announced.

In addition to growing discontent over the democratic movement's direction, some voters have expressed concerns about a lack of charismatic candidates, as well as public infighting within the democratic camp.

Ben Wong, a 45-year-old office worker, said he was only voting against the establishment when he cast his ballot for Edward Yiu, a democratic candidate with whom who he felt little affinity.

"I was voting in distaste," he said. Yiu was the candidate who failed to take back his seat.

While by-elections generally attract fewer voters, pro-democracy parties saw their number of votes in the three contested districts fall 35 percent when compared to the full election two years ago. In contrast, the pro-Beijing camp saw votes drop 12 percent.

Crystal So, a 26-year-old club DJ, was one democracy supporter who said she did not bother to vote.

"I feel like Hong Kong is not a place to call home anymore," So said in a text message. She added that some people her age were considering moving to other countries. The jailing of Wong, who she said was "doing the bravest things compared to a lot of us", hit her particularly hard.

Wong, who is out on bail, told Reuters he believes Hong Kong will not be able to achieve genuine democracy in the short term. But he said it was important to defend Hong Kong's core values.

"You need to build a foundation, so when the critical moment comes, you would have bargaining power," Wong said of Hong Kong's democratic movement.

For the democrats, the next big tests will be possible by-elections ahead of local district council elections in 2019 and Legislative Council elections in 2020.

Joseph Cheng, a retired academic who advises the democrats, said he believes the moment has arrived for the camp to dive into "some serious soul searching".

"Not only do we have our own troubles, but we face an opposition machine that is now exceptionally sophisticated," he added.

CHINA'S SQUEEZE

The pro-establishment camp is backed by the United Front, a Chinese Communist Party-linked group that mobilises supporters through social groups and business associations, according to scholars and diplomats.

The democrats, by contrast, lack a clear central leadership to unite a broad spectrum of supporters.

Funding is also an issue for the pro-democracy parties. Jimmy Lai, the founder of the NextMedia group, remains a significant funder of the movement, which gets positive coverage in his mass market Apple Daily newspaper. Lai could not be reached for comment.

But they have struggled to raise money from other large companies, who may fear retribution from China, and rely on small donations from individuals.

Pro-Beijing parties, by contrast, have an easier time raising money.

The largest, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, in 2016 fetched HK$18.8 million (1.8 million) from auctioning off calligraphy by the top Beijing official in Hong Kong, according to local media.

"THE POLITICAL GAME"

When asked about the United Front's influence, Regina Ip, a prominent pro-Beijing lawmaker, acknowledged that some supporters of her New People's Party with roots in the mainland might talk to Chinese officials.

But Ip also stressed the hard work of her party, saying it mobilized about 1,000 volunteers to hit the streets and talk to voters face-to-face before the by-election.

"You cannot win by just flying a democracy flag," Ip said. She said the pro-democracy parties were dependent "on their old tactics of just relying on the appeal of democracy or stirring up anger against the government." She added: "Clearly these days these tactics are not good enough."

(Reporting by Venus Wu and James Pomfret; Additional reporting by Greg Torode, Pak Yiu; Editing by Philip McClellan)
Tanesha Melbourne, 17, was shot dead in north London on Monday night (Picture: SWNS)

17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne shot dead on Monday in latest killing on streets of London

16-year-old boy also fighting for his life in separate attack on same night

Police have launched 47 murder inquiries in 2018

In the whole of last year there were 130 murders in London

David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, is deeply worried about the spike in violent crime

Eyewitnesses have described the moment a 17-year-old girl died in her mothers arms after being shot for no reason at all in a drive-by attack during another night of violence in London.

The teenager, named locally as Tanesha Melbourne, was with friends in Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, north London, when she was murdered shortly before 9.30pm on Monday.

A 16-year-old boy is also fighting for his life in a separate shooting nearby in Walthamstow half an hour later. Another boy, aged 15, was taken to hospital with stab injuries amid concerns over the rising death toll in the capital this year.

A woman who knew the murdered girl said the victim was just chilling with her friends when she was shot from a car for no reason at all.

Police at Chalgrove Road, in Tottenham, north London, where a 17-year-old girl has died after she was shot on Monday evening (Picture: PA)

Tanesha Melbourne, 17, died after being shot in north London (Picture; PA)

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The car just pulled up and just started shooting, said the woman, who did not want to be named. She said she heard the gunshots like fireworks from her house.

She added: Her friend came banging on my door so I came out quickly. I even tried to save her  had to, had to.

She said the gunshot wound, below the victims breast, was not immediately visible and it looked like she was having a fit.

I put her on her side and I was just rubbing her back, saying everythings going to be OK. I just cant believe it  so young. Its ridiculous now.

The woman said the victim was not responding, but added: I could see she was looking at me.

She told how the girls mother arrived before paramedics, adding: She was screaming. She didnt know what to do.

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It only became clear the 17-year-old had been shot when the paramedics took her bra off. She didnt deserve that. Her mum didnt deserve to watch her die, she said.

A forensic officer on Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, north London, where a 17-year-old girl has died after she was shot Monday evening (Picture: PA)

She described the victim as a good girl, adding: She was so lovely.

So far this year the Metropolitan Police has launched 47 murder inquiries  eight in January, 15 in February, 22 in March and two in April.

In the whole of last year there were 130 murders in London. The number of killings reached a peak around June before dropping again in the second half of the year.

A cab driver who ran towards danger to help the girl moments after she was shot said terrified residents of the Northumberland Park Estate were in the middle of a war.

The cab driver, 29, who refused to give his name, said: It is a war here, this is not the first time there has been a shooting.

Her friends came in screaming and I said what is going on?

I ran over and she was trying to breathe, it was awful.

In Tottenham, one witness, who works in a nearby shop, said he heard three bangs which sounded like fireworks.

Police officers at the scene of the shooting in Walthamstow, east London (Picture: PA)

He said he saw the victim sat with friends following the shooting before police cars and ambulances arrived. He also saw blood on the right side of the 17-year-olds chest.

Another neighbour described the murder as very sad.

I heard the bangs because I sleep in the front room, she said. I thought it was a bomb.

Describing the area, she added: Its not nice  so many drugs, stabbings, cycles up and down  no respect for people any more.

David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, said he is deeply worried about what is happening in the area.

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He told the BBC: There is no single cause, but there has been a big spike in both gun crime and knife crime across London.

Certainly my constituency finds itself at the epicentre of that. there are real issues about a lack of resources.

Following the shooting, Tottenham-raised rapper Wretch32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott Sinclair, tweeted: Wish I knew what to say about whats happening in my ends.

North London were better then this man smh R.I.P to the young angel who lost her life last night. love & prayers to the family. Im honestly lost for words.

Wish I knew what to say about whats happening in my ends North London were better then this man smh R.I.P to the young angel who lost her life last nightlove & prayers to the family. Im honestly lost for words  FR32 (@Wretch32) April 3, 2018

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy tweeted: Walthamstow  can confirm tonight we have had another serious incident involving shooting and stabbing.

Appreciate this is very distressing  I will share more information as and when have it from official sources as only want to share what is confirmed.

In a third incident, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed near St Leonards Street in Bow, east London, at around 6pm on Sunday. He was given first aid and is in a stable condition in hospital.

Four boys  two aged 16 and two aged 15  have been charged with GBH and appeared at Stratford Youth Court on Tuesday.

Walthamstow  can confirm tonight we have had another serious incident involving shooting and stabbing. Appreciate this is very distressing- I will share more information as and when have it from official sources as only want to share what is confirmed.  stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) April 2, 2018

Mondays attacks come amid concerns over rising violent crime in the capital.

On Sunday a 20-year-old man was the 31st person to be stabbed to death in London so far this year.

He was fatally knifed moments after leaving a bar in Wandsworth and died in the street.

On Thursday, the family of Abraham Badru, 26, who was shot dead in Hackney, east London, on March 25 warned that gun culture is becoming rampant in our community.

There have been five fatal shootings in London so far in 2018.

The latest incidents will bring fresh scrutiny on the Governments efforts to halt rising levels of violent crime around the country.

Figures published in January showed police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017  a 21% increase compared with the previous year and the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011.

Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year-on-year, to 6,694 recorded offences.

Ministers point to findings from the separate crime survey which show overall offending is going down over the long-term.

But they have acknowledged that some of the increase in police-recorded violent crime is genuine.

Abraham Badru, 26, was shot dead down in Hackney, east London, last month (Picture: PA)

In the coming weeks the Home Office will publish a serious violence strategy, which it says will place a new emphasis on steering young people away from crime.

Proposed measures include a two strikes regime, meaning criminals caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months, and a tightening of rules covering online sales of knives.

The recent spate of violence has prompted scrutiny of a sharp reduction in stop and search activity, with use of the powers at the lowest level since current data records started 17 years ago.

Stop and search has repeatedly attracted controversy, with criticism focusing mainly on the number of stops of black and minority ethnic individuals.

Reforms were introduced in 2014 by then-home secretary Theresa May to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way.

The latest killings coincide with a report by the Sunday Times newspaper which said the murder rate in London is higher than in New York.

It said 15 people were murdered in London in February, compared to 14 in New York during the same month.

The number of murders in London has risen 38% since 2014, while killings in New York have dropped over the past number of years to record lows.
An Israeli drone crashed in an open filed in south Lebanon on the early hours of March 31, according to reports citing Israel Defense Forces.

The Israeli Army said the drone crashed because of technical malfunction and no sensitive information was lost, the The Times of Israel reported.

Hezbollahs al-Manar television said the drone was armed and crashed in an area between Beit Yahoun and Baraachit in south Lebanon.

The incident occurred around 4 a.m, the same source reported, adding that the Israeli forces sent another drone and launched four missiles to destroy the downed drone.

Hezbollahs affiliated War Media shared this video and described it as showing the Israeli Hermes 450 drone after it crashed. Credit: War Media via Storyful
Killer Damian Rzeszowski was found dead in prison (Picture: Rex)

A man who killed six people, including his wife and two children, has died in prison.

Damian Rzeszowski, 37, was found dead at HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire on Saturday.

The builder stabbed his wife, Izabela Rzeszowska, 30, daughter Kinga, five, and son Kacper, two, to death in Jersey in August 2011.

He also killed his father-in-law, Marek Gartska, 56, and his wifes friend, Marta De La Haye, 34, and her five-year-old daughter, Julia.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: Damian Rzeszowski died in custody at HMP Full Sutton on Saturday 31 March 2018.

Rzeszowski killed his two children, Kacper and Kinga (Picture: Rex)

As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

Rzeszowski was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility at his trial at Jerseys Royal Court in 2012.

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During the trial, it emerged he went on the killing spree shortly after his wife admitted to having an affair.

He had threatened to kill himself and had been suffering from depression, which had caused an onset of psychotic symptoms, the court heard.

He killed his wife and children with kitchen knives at their home in St Helier, Jersey, on August 14, 2011.

His other three victims were at the home for a barbecue.

Marta De La Haye and her daughter Julia were also killed by Rzeszowski (Picture: Rex)

Rzeszowski was six years into a 30-year prison term in Full Sutton prison, a high-security jail in Yorkshire, when his body was found.

In a statement released Monday, the States police issued a short statement saying: The States of Jersey Police have been notified about the death of Mr Rzeszowski.

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An investigation into his death will be carried out by the UK police. SOJP will not be issuing any further information.

At the time of sentencing, Judge Michael Birt, who is the Bailiff of Jersey, told the court: The horror and brutality of these killings is hard to believe.

Within a quarter of an hour all six people had died, their lives cruelly cut short at the hand of this defendant.

Police officers lay flowers at the scene of the killings in St Helier, Jersey, in 2011 (Picture: Rex)

The court is in no doubt from the nature of the attacks that you intended to kill all six victims.

This was not a case of murder  the court found you guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility  but you still pose a risk of harm to anyone you are in a relationship with.

Rzeszowski and his wife had just returned home that day from a holiday in their native Poland which had been a last-ditch attempt to save their marriage.

Rzeszowskis defence team successfully argued that he was suffering from a severe abnormality of the brain at the time of the killings.
The shows judges were slammed on social media for ignorance. (BBC)

MasterChef has come under fire by furious viewers, including ridicule from Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, after its presenters sent a contestant home because her chicken wasnt crispy enough.

During the most recent episode of the competitive culinary show, contestant Zaleha Kadir Olpin rustled up Malaysian dish chicken rendang.

The controversy arose when judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace criticised the finished dish because the chicken was not crispy enough and to their liking.

However, people  including the Malaysian PM  got angry because, as per the traditions of the Southeast Asian dish, it isnt supposed to have a crispy skin at all and should be exactly how it was presented.

Malaysian Prime Minster Najib Razak tweeted about the incident, mocking the celeb chefs.

Where there are people eating crispy chicken rendang? # MalaysianFood he asked to his 4 million followers, following the debate over the BBC show.

Mana ada orang makan rendang ayam 'crispy'? #MalaysianFood pic.twitter.com/nWBbaVN8HY  Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) April 3, 2018

Wallace, 53, said: I like the rendang flavour, theres a coconut sweetness. However, the chicken skin isnt crispy. It cant be eaten and all the sauce is on the skin so I cant eat it.

His comments were met with huge criticism that questioned why he didnt know how the dish was meant to be presented.

Jahabar Sadiq, a Malaysian journalist and food writer responded to the shows judge critique by branding their feedback as ignorant.

They clearly werent familiar with food from other parts of the world because if they were, they would have had the knowledge to know what real nasi lemak is, Sadiq told the BBC.

Crispy chicken? No. The meat has to be soft and thats a result of hours of cookingMany people associate chicken with being fried but there is no craft, no skill. But this is chicken rendang, not KFC so it all boils down to how the chef controls the spices and the flames. The amount of coconut milk is also key, he followed up with.

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The shows judges were slammed on social media for ignorance. (BBC)

The rendang was served with nasi lemak, which bears special significance to Zaleha, who described the dish as a childhood favourite and reminded her of when she brought her husband home to meet her mother who cooked them the meal.

There was a special stall outside my school that sold the best nasi lemak so I used to save up pocket money on Fridays, she revealed to the shows judges. The dish is very special to me.

But sadly the lack of crispiness didnt save her from the judges wrath, as Zaleha was eliminated from the contest despite wowing the panel during earlier stages.

Torode, 52, described the rendang as a mistake, which didnt help in viewers going easy on the hapless judges on social media.

Kindly be informed, #Rendang menu at UniKL British Malaysian Institute #UniKLBMI is served as normal as you can see during the festive season and not crispy like suggested in MasterChef UK. TQ.

p/s: walaupun menu hari-hari masak lomak.  UniKL BMI (@UniKLBMI_) April 3, 2018

Rendang has to be crispy? Hrmm i wonder how does it taste like. I never seen one of those before lol. I think MasterChef UK judges might wanna do a masterclass how to make rendang crispy chicken. #Curiosity #crispy #rendangcrispychicken  ZRieal (@Zacrie_Hanz) April 3, 2018

I used to like Masterchef but this is totally unacceptable. How could you be a Masterchef judge when you don't know how to respect traditional and local asian dishes? This is so disrespectful. #MasterChefUK https://t.co/zHJfbp9qIa  JR Jerrie Tan (@jerrietan08) April 3, 2018

That stupid masterchef is so ignorant and condescending. Who eats crispy rendang???  SamP2298 (@NelSertium) April 3, 2018

The judges on MasterChef are ignorant as all hell. Gordon Ramsay actually knows what rendang is but these fools place their Western expectations on a traditional Malay dish.  Otso SpiritBear (@ValiantDorian) April 3, 2018

I have never in my life eaten a chicken rendang which is crispy and sauce not stuck to the skin. Either judges at masterchef UK had wrong rendang in UK or theybare just plain ignorant on how to cook certain dishes. Have they mistaken rendang with KFC dipped in chilli sauce?  funnlim (@funnlim) April 3, 2018

What arrogant idiots John Torode and Gregg Wallace are. They just brought down the credibility of the Masterchef UK show in South East Asia lol. Not that I watch that piece of crap anyway. @JohnTorode1 @GreggWallace4 @MasterChefUK  Tony Teh (@toninkush) April 3, 2018

The contestant expressed her sadness at being booted off the show by posting her dish on her Instagram account.

Gutted to be eliminated on #masterchefuk but I stand by my traditional way of cooking Nasi Lemak, she began.

Will not change it for the world. The memories of my amazing time at Masterchef kitchen will forever stays with me. Thank you so much for all your support and good wishes. As my friend said, what doesnt kill me makes me stronger! Thank you again xxx.

Catch MasterChef weeknights, from 8pm, on BBC One.

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JEDDAH, April 03:The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned the indiscriminate and arbitrary killing of 17 Kashmiris by the Indian occupation forces in southern part of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK) recently. The repetitive, systematic and systemic violations of human rights by the Indian forces continue to result in killing, torturing and maiming of innocent Kashmiri civilians including women, children and elderly. The unlimited powers enjoyed by the Indian forces coupled with the silence of international community has led to a culture of impunity in IoK that has crippled the daily lives of Kashmiris and seriously affected all their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, the Commission added.

Peaceful and unarmed protests by Kashmiri youth to demand their legitimate right to self-determination are dealt by the Indian occupation forces with use of excessive and disproportionate force, resulting in torture, extrajudicial killings, rape and severe bodily harms including mass blinding through use of pellets. These are deplorable and blatant violations of Kashmiris fundamental human rights including the right to life, right to freedom of expression, right to peaceful protest and assembly, which must be stopped forthwith.

The IPHRC called upon the government of India to immediately bring an end to the ongoing spate of killings and all human rights violations by the Indian occupation forces as well as to allow international human rights organizations including the OIC-IPHRC to visit IoK for an independent review of the human rights situation on ground. It also called upon the United Nations in particular the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to urgently dispatch a fact-finding visit to Jammu and Kashmir to independently ascertain and report on the allegations of human rights violations.

The OIC-IPHRC, while reiterating the call made by the OIC Secretary General to the international community to play its rightful role in promoting a just and lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and aspiration of Kashmiri people, affirmed its principled support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for realization of their legitimate right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UN Security Council and OIC resolutions.  SG
Updated | Archaeologists found 115 bronze coins buried underneath the remnants of a house that collapsed in the ancient Greek city of Corinth 1,500 years ago. The coins themselves are a great archaeological find, but scientists are puzzled as to why they remained hidden for over a thousand years.

Last summer, Paul Scotton, chair of comparative literature and classics at California State University, Long Beach, began leading an excavation at the Lechaion Harbor of Ancient Corinth in Greece, a CSULB press statement reported. Now, the dig has revealed an interesting new find, the 115 bronze coins that date to the original destruction of the harbor, about 600 A.D., Live Science reported.

Michael Ierardi, a professor of classics at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, who is helping with the excavation, told Live Science that he estimates the oldest coins date to the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, who reigned from A.D. 306 to 337. The most recent coins likely date to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius, who reigned from A.D. 491 to 518.

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04_02_coins

Roberta Basile/AFP/Getty Images

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The biggest mystery is not when they coins are from, but why they are still there. According to Live Science, the coins were found only a few inches beneath the ground, and its not clear why their owner did not come back to retrieve them after the home collapsed.

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That is an excellent question and one that has been troubling us," Scotton said, Live Science reported. Either the owner could not or did not want to retrieve it. Exactly why that would be is only conjecture."

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Along with the coins, the team also has found two large Roman civic basilicas, a type of building structure popular in the ancient Roman Empire. They suspect that these buildings were once government buildings. One basilica was dated to the end of the first century into the second century. According to a statement on the discovery, this means that the basilicas can likely be dated to the early Roman colony, founded by Julius Caesar.

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The team will continue to dig at the ancient site. Paul Scotton could not be immediately reached for a statement.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the coins were dated to the destruction of the city in 600 B.C. They were dated to the destruction of the harbor in about 600 A.D.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from Newsweek
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been moved to higher, safer ground ahead of the arrival of the monsoon seasonal in Bangladesh.

The UN Refugee Agency has shared this video footage of families who fled Myanmar to Kutupalong camp near Coxs Bazaar in Bangladesh. This video shows Hasina Begum and her husband Abu Siddique packing up their bamboo home ahead of the move to safer location.

In the video, Abu tells the interviewer; We are moving because during the monsoons, the water rises very high here. Water rises to our necks when it rains; water will cover everything here."

His wife responds: During the rainy season, our children could die in the water.

The UNHCR said the area has become the worlds largest refugee settlement. It estimated about 80,000 people were at greatest risk of flooding in the area, and 23,000 threatened by landslides.

Around 400 families have already been relocated from low-lying areas and the UNHCR has begun engineering work to protect refugee camps from the regions intense monsoon season and tropical cyclones.

The UNHCR estimated that more than 670,000 refugees have fled to Bangladesh since August last year to escape a campaign of killings, arson and rape targeted at the predominantly Muslim Rohingya community in Myanmars Rakhine State. Credit: UNHCR via Storyful
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkey's state-run news agency says a court has issued arrest warrants for a U.S.-based Muslim cleric and seven other people for their alleged involvement in the killing of Russia's ambassador to Turkey.

An off-duty police officer fatally shot Ambassador Andrei Karlov at a photo exhibition in Ankara on Dec. 19, 2016. The officer, Mevlut Mert Altintas, was later shot dead by police.

Turkey's Anadolu Agency reported Monday that cleric Fethullah Gulen and other seven face charges of attempting to "destroy the constitutional order" and "meditated murder."

Turkish authorities have alleged that Karlov's killer had links to Gulen, who is also wanted in Turkey for allegedly masterminding a failed coup in July 2016. Gulen denies the accusation.

Turkey says Karlov's assassination was aimed at derailing warming relations between Turkey and Russia.

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UK Gambling Commission Considering Banning Credit Cards for Betting

April 03 2018 Matthew Pitt

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is considering banning people from using credit cards to fund their online betting accounts.

A report from the UKGC into making online gambling safer showed that profits in the gambling industry increased 10 percent to 4.7 billion last year and that public participation in gambling rose from 15.5 percent in 2014 to 18.3 percent in 2017. The report estimated that nine million people across Britain gamble online.

The UKGC revealed five areas where the UKGC is undertaking further work during the remainder of 2018. One of those areas is listed as consider whether gambling on credit should continue to be permitted after the gambling regulator said gambling with credit cards increases the risk that consumers will gamble more than they can afford.

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Carolyn Harris, a Labour MP, said: The thought of credit card gambling terrifies me. Gambling debts already are a major concern not just for the individual, but for their family who pay the price of the consequences.

Currently the focus is on the industry and we know big changes are coming. When we have campaigned so heavily to reduce stakes [on fixed-odds betting terminals], to be anything other than critical of such credit card gambling would be unbelievable.

When customers use a credit card to fund their betting account, many credit card companies treat the transaction as a cash advance, which means it is subject to a transaction fee and often a high rate of interest. The UKGCs report stated that it was hard to envisage why consumers would choose to pay in that way, unless it was to gable with money not otherwise available to them.

Gambling companies William Hill, GVC Holdings, Ladbrokes Coral and Paddy Power Betfair all saw their share price drop when the news was announced last week, although all have since recovered.

The UKGC has been in the headlines for most of the past year as it continues to clamp down on operators who step outside of the rules the regulator sets. 888Holdings were fined a record 7.8 million for allowing more than 7,000 self-excluded customer to continue gambling, while Dylan Rigby and Craig Douglas were fined 265,000 for allowing gambling using the video game FIFA 17.

Last week, the UKGC slapped a 1 million fine on Sky Bet after 736 self-excluded customers were able to use duplicate accounts and continue gambling.
Andy McCue, chief executive officer of the Restaurant Group , picked up lmost 45,000 ordinary shares in the firm on Tuesday as part of the company's deferred bonus arrangements.

McCue, who took up the role of chief executive back in September 2016, acquired 44,971 ordinary shares in the firm at a cost of 28,125p each for a total of 114,203.78.

Restaurant Group, the owner of Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito, suffered another year of falling revenues as Britain's casual dining sector continued upon its recent downturn.

But the company said back in March that its strategy of lower prices at the American-Italian themed Frankie & Benny's was luring customers from its rivals.

"The restaurant market is weak, that is well understood," McCue said last month.

"In volume terms the market has been running about 3-4% lower in the last six months. Frankie & Benny's is outperforming that," he added.

Reflecting the cost of its price cuts, adjusted operating profits, which excludes the one-off costs associated to its restructuring, fell 26% to 59m in its most recent trading year, and on a statutory measure, the Restaurant Group made a 33m pre-tax profit against a 48m twelve months earlier.

As of 1650 GMT, shares had ticked up 0.63% to 255.40p.
More money will go into social media advertising than on the entire TV ad market in two years according to a new forecasts.

By 2020, social ad spending will account for 29.7% of UK spend whereas TV ad spending will take 17.8%, eMarketer has predicted.

Facebook, which is the most important social network regarding advertising will make approximately 3.8bn in the UK, over 1bn more than in 2018.

The eMarketer report also predicted that the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal involving the scraping of data on 50m users will not damage the Facebook ad market, with the social network accounting for most of the money spent on social networks. Mark Zuckerberg's company takes almost a quarter of the total budget spent on digital advertising.

Facebook is, however, facing a backlash that could have some commercial impact on the platform, with P&G and Unilever recently criticising the social network for being swamped in fake news, racism, sexism and extremism. Both companies, which spend billions on advertising, have threatening to boycott the platform.

Even if Facebook's main platform endures a wobble, other growing social media apps are attracting millions of young users and could be exploited further by advertisers in the future. Instagram or Snapchat, for example, have become very important to target young audiences.

While Facebook has been losing teen users, Snapchat has been adding them, said Bill Fisher, eMarketers UK senior analyst. The result is a growing social media market, and one that advertisers are keen to utilize. Media-rich targeting options, with video a particularly big play, make platforms like Snapchat and Instagram especially attractive.
The German prosecution is processing Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemonts extradition to Spain from the prison where he is currently being detained, because of the risk that he might flee if allowed to leave on bail.

Following his arrest on 25 March, as he crossed the German border on his way back to Belgium from Finland, a local German court has urged the territorial high court - which has the final say on Puigdemont's fate - to extradite the former Catalan president.

It was it acting at the behest of Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena, who had issued a so-called euro-warrant for the Catalan politician's detention.

Issued on 23 March, the warrant stipulated that the fugitive was being sought for various counts, including rebellion and in relation with misappropriation of public funds alongside various others from his government in Catalonia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had already opined that the Catalan conflict was an internal Spanish matter that should be resolved in that country, following its own laws and Constitution.

Meanwhile the Catalan Parlament approved the delegation of vote of the ex-president which means a member of his party will be able to vote for him in the following sessions. Although, this option is forbidden by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

The politicians imprisoned for acts of rebellion that led to the illegal referendum in October have also delegated the vote without the central government taking action against this move. Although the government did warn that if any of the politicians in exile were to delegate the vote they would intervene.
Kachdora (Shopian): The double-storey house of Abdul Rehman Lone was among the two houses blasted apart by government forces during the 15-hour gunfight at Kachdoora village in which five militants and three army soldiers were killed. One of Lones sons said that the 13-member family was trapped for the entire night in the house while the exchange of gunfire was going on. We are a joint family comprising 13 members, including children. We were thinking of nothing but the safety of our children, he said.

Another family member said that they were asked to come out in the morning. We lost everything that we had earned in our life. Our condition has become such that we have nowhere to go.

He said that the family has lost property worth Rs 1.5 crore, including the concrete house that cost Rs 40 lakh to build.

A lady from the family said that despite losing everything, she retained faith in Allah. I am thankful to Allah that we are alive. Allah has chosen this fate for us and he will save us again, Inshallah, she said.

One more house of a neighbour was blasted apart during the gunfight. Several other houses nearby suffered minor damage.
Stocks on the Continent were mostly lower, after having started the day sharply lower, tracking Monday's drop in US stocks that saw the country's benchmark S&P 500 register its weakest start to the month of April since 1929.

By the closing bell, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was down by 0.49% or 1.80 points to 369.07, alongside a drop of 0.78% or 94.28 points to 12,002.45 for the German Dax and a retreat of 0.29% or 15.18 points to 5,152.12 on the Cac-40.

Overnight, the S&P 500 erased 2.2%, marking the worst rout at the start of the second quarter since 1929, when it lost 2.5%.

Weighing on stockmarkets around the world the day before had been China's move to retaliate with its own tariffs against the levies on aluminum and steel imposed by the US, together with continued selling in the technology space as the US president weighed in again on social media against internet giant Amazon.com.

From a sector stand-point, gains for Basic Resources (0.50%) and Oil&Gas (0.82%) helped to buoy the main equity indices.

As did weakness in the single currency, ahead of Friday's monthly US jobs report and as US Treasury note yields bounced back.

Meanwhile, technical analysts were keeping a close eye on so-called trend-line support for the German Dax dating back to 2009, which was to be found at around 11,400 points.

"European stock markets have been moving higher in the afternoon and some of the earlier losses have been reversed. Traders are taking on more risk and are content to snap up relatively cheap stocks. Traders' attitudes may have changed, but the wider atmosphere of economic and political tensions haven't.

"As of yesterday China has started imposing tariffs on a number of US goods, and the feeling that we are now in a trade war is still on the back of investors' minds," said David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

Nonetheless, some strategists continued to have a constructive view on equity markets, with those at JP Morgan arguing that equity valuations were still undemanding.

"Earnings to stay a support, with Q1 reporting season to be taken well. Even post some stalling, Q1 activity levels are still stronger than they were in Q4, while in contrast Q1 consensus EPS expectations (ex tax) are much more muted than they were in Q4. 4) Despite persistent concerns, bond yields are still within past ranges, central bank tightening is still in its early stages, and equity valuations are not demanding.

"Eurozone to keep bottoming out vs the US as US tailwinds fade (Tech, earnings, USD)," JP Morgan said.

Worth noting too, JP Morgan also sounded a positive note on Italian stocks specifically.

On the subject of trade on the other hand, some economists' concern was palpable, with Adam Slater at Oxford Economics telling clients: "Protectionist moves to date will have a small near-term impact on the global economy.

"But the seeds of a more serious conflict are there. Possible warning signs would be US tariffs extending to Chinese industries such as consumer electronics and negative developments in the NAFTA negotiations and the US-EU trade relationship."

Also on the economic front, earlier survey compiler IHS Markit confirmed a 'final' reading of 56.6 on its euro area manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index for March, which was down from 58.6 in the month before.

German retail sales on the other hand undershot forecasts, with the country's Ministry of Finance reporting that sales slumped by 0.7% over the month in February (consensus: 0.7%).

Year-on-year, retail sales growth slowed from 2.5% in January to 1.3% for February.

In corporate news, according to Der Spiegel, Deutsche Bank chair Paul Achleitner was pondering replacing the lender's then current boss Paul Cryan with ex-UBS wealth management head Juerg Zeltner.
AstraZeneca has reported regulatory progress in the US and Europe for treatments for a rare form of leukaemia and breast cancer.

The pharmaceutical company said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted priority review to moxetumomab pasudotox  a potential new treatment for hairy cell leukaemia (HCL).

The immutoxin is intended for patients who have received at least two prior lines of therapy for HCL, a rare variety of leukaemia which affects about 1,000 people in the US each year. Though many patients respond initially to treatment up to 40% relapse.

With no established standard of care and very few treatments available, there remains significant unmet medical need for people with relapsed or refractory HCL, AstraZeneca said.

AstraZeneca also said the European Medicines Agency had approved its marketing authorisation application for Lynparza, a treatment for breast cancer devised with Merck of the US. Lynparza was approved by the FDA in January and is available in almost 60 countries.
London's FTSE 100 was flat at 7,054.76 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, recovering from earlier losses as a better-than-expected reading on the UK manufacturing sector helped to offset renewed worries about a trade war.

Broadcaster Sky was the standout gainer as Twenty-First Century Fox offered up more concessions in its bid for the company, proposing either to ringfence Sky News or sell it to Walt Disney.

Ian Forrest, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said: "The latest proposals attempt to address media plurality concerns in the UK and the shares responded positively today, but there is clearly still a long way to go in such a complicated situation. With the price currently trading above both offers, lower risk investors may want to lock in recent gains, others should hold."

Randgold Resources was also in the black as it as it said that intermittent industrial action by the workforce of its mining subcontractor was having "some" impact on operations at its Tongon gold mine, but confirmed the company's 2018 outlook remained within guidance.

On the downside, engineer GKN was under the cosh following news last week that its shareholders had accepted turnaround specialist Melrose Industries' hostile 8.1bn bid for the group.

Olivetree Financial highlighted weekend headlines about potential governmental intervention in the GKN/Melrose transaction, saying they are more borne of political ambition than a genuine threat to the deal.

"The Defence Secretary himself stated weeks ago that it was unclear whether he had scope to intervene - and yet now we are at a place where some market commentators are speculating that the fate of the whole takeover potentially hinges on his opinion.

"Whereas it does seem likely that he has sufficient power under the Enterprise Act to intervene, the issue here appears to be one of timing rather than an existential issue. GKNs exposure to the UK Ministry of Defence is utterly de-minimis in nature, in terms of complicated technology it is limited to one small facility, that of Luton. Even within this plant there is only really one production line that is of interest, it is low volume and therefore the impact on GKN group revenue is tiny. "

Olivetree said a disposal of this facility would likely be straightforward in nature, so any grandstanding by UK Ministers with political ambition should likely be seen as exactly that, rather than a bigger problem for the deal.

Risers

Sky (SKY) 1,324.50p 2.08%

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,984.00p 1.73%

Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,928.00p 1.60%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,454.32p 1.17%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,715.00p 1.12%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,647.00p 1.00%

Glencore (GLEN) 357.10p 0.93%

Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 384.50p 0.84%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.20p 0.84%

NMC Health (NMC) 3,428.00p 0.82%

Fallers

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 430.60p -2.62%

GKN (GKN) 451.10p -2.57%

Mediclinic International (MDC) 585.60p -2.56%

Whitbread (WTB) 3,619.00p -2.19%

Evraz (EVR) 427.20p -1.68%

Centrica (CNA) 139.85p -1.65%

United Utilities Group (UU.) 704.40p -1.54%

Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,190.00p -1.51%

Prudential (PRU) 1,752.00p -1.49%

G4S (GFS) 244.50p -1.45%
Easily reached by flights from across the world or by public transport from within Ireland, Cork is the second largest city in the country. Like many small cities, it has its own unique character. It is set between two channels of the river Lee. The city, while small, has a distinctly urban feel. Rich in history and culture, a hop-on-hop-off bus will bring you to sites of historical interest. Expect to be taken to Cork City Jail, once home to those who were deemed criminals and now a museum where audio guides and a film show give rich insights into life in Cork during the years of famine and struggle for Irish independence.

A visit to the butter market will allow you walk in the footsteps of the Merchant Princes who brought trade to the city. A climb up the winding staircase of Shandon Steeple will give you views of the city beneath and a chance to ring the Shandon Bells.

Walk along Cork's busy streets

.A walk along the main thoroughfare, St. Patrick's Street, will bring you to the main shopping streets. "Doing Pana," as this walk is called by locals will lead you to department stores and coffee shops. It will also lead you past the buskers and street artists who bring the streets to life at weekends. If a festival is in progress, the Cork City Choral Festival or the November Jazz Festival, expect to see musicians performing on the streets.

A visit to the English Market, a sprawling indoors market, will allow the visitor to mingle with the local crowds as they shop at the meat and fish stalls arrayed around a central fountain, and sample the cheeses and bread on sale. If a coffee break calls there is always the upstairs cafe ideal for snacks or lunches.

Sample the city's culture

The Cork Opera House can be depended upon to stage shows throughout the year. The Crawford Art Gallery situated beside the Opera House hosts a permanent collection of artworks as well as visiting exhibitions. A visit to the university will allow the tourist to view Ogham stones (stones on which the earliest writing in Ireland, a system of symbols carved on stones, and used to mark graves can be seen).

While at the university, a visit to the Glucksmann Gallery to view their art collection is an enjoyable way of passing away an afternoon. And of course, a visit to the pub for a drink or two or a bite to eat is an essential part of enjoying this vibrant city.

Tired of walking the city streets?

There are parks and green areas ideal for a sit-down or a picnic when the weather allows. The Cork Peace Park is ideally situated on The Grand Parade or further afield and reached by city buses lies Fitzgerald's Park, a long-time favorite with Corkonians. The visitor may be lucky and happen upon a band playing there or visit when the flowers are in full bloom. Complete a visit to the park with a walk across the Shaky Bridge, a suspension bridge built across the river Lee giving views downstream and to the colorful houses rising above the river. And when the day is over, return to your hotel, watch a game or prepare for another day sampling the delights of this small city considered one of Ireland's favorites.
After the news broke of a shooting at YouTube headquarters in California, Donald Trump eventually responded. Following the president's remarks, critics wasted no time hitting back.

Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTubes HQ in San Bruno, California. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

Trump on YouTube shooting

In yet another example of a mass shooting in the United States, the headquarters for YouTube was the location for the latest tragedy.

On Tuesday afternoon in San Bruno, California, a suspect walked into the YouTube building and opened fire. The incident took place shortly before 4 p.m. EST, with police receiving a flood of 911 calls. The suspect has been described as a white female wearing a head scarf, who has since been compromised. As of press time, it's unknown whether or not the suspect was killed by police or by turning the gun on herself. Multiple victims were rushed to the local hospital, though it's unknown how many lives have been lost.

BREAKING: San Francisco General Hospital says it has 3 patients from YouTube shooting; 1 in critical condition, another serious.  The Associated Press (@AP) April 3, 2018

After the news broke and went viral on social media, Donald Trump decided to give his thoughts with a predictable tweet on April 3.

"Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTube's HQ in San Bruno, California," Trump tweeted. "Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved," he added. "Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene," Trump wrote to conclude his tweet. As expected, the president's "thoughts and prayers" response didn't go over well with the opposition.

Instant reaction

After Donald Trump tweeted about the shooting at the YouTube headquarters, those who oppose the commander in chief didn't hold back their thoughts in response. "If there were no guns there wouldn't be a shooting in the first place," one tweet read.

How many times are you going to tweet this generic tweet with just a different location before doing something about common sense gun laws?  Diane (@DiBuch65) April 3, 2018

You advocate for the type of hate that makes this a regular occurance.  Zach (TheDIG) (@ZachTheDIG) April 3, 2018

What, youre not going to take this opportunity to blow the @NRA ?  Matt F (@MFottrell) April 3, 2018

"Your thoughts and prayers are worthless," one Twitter user wrote.

"What, youre not going to take this opportunity to blow the NRA?" a tweet wondered with sarcasm. "You advocate for the type of hate that makes this a regular occurrence," yet another tweet added. "Thoughts and prayers, good job first responders. That's always your response. But it isn't actually helpful and doesn't actually do anything," a tweet noted.

Thoughts and prayers, good job first responders. That's always your response. But it isn't actually helpful and doesn't actually do anything.  Heather Hejduk (@heatherhejduk) April 3, 2018

Thoughts and prayers don't solve anything #FakePresident #muckingforon continued attacks on the media, like YouTube, breed this time of violence.....  The Last Donny (@Nostradonny) April 3, 2018

Want to protect Americans? GUN CONTROL NOW! Your border wall is just a bluff for the Russia invasion that installed you.  UNITE & FIGHT (@stopthenutjob) April 3, 2018

"How many times are you going to tweet this generic tweet with just a different location before doing something about common sense gun laws?" a social media user went on to write. "Want to protect Americans? GUN CONTROL NOW! Your border wall is just a bluff for the Russia invasion that installed you," a follow-up tweet read.
In recent days, Donald Trump has returned his focus back on the debate over immigration reform. In his latest tweetstorm, the president went back to attacking former President Barack Obama.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

Trump on Obama

Since the start of his campaign for president back in June 2015, Donald Trump has made immigration reform a top political priority.

However, from the moment he labeled illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers," Trump created a wide divide on the issue, as well as many others, that has only continued to present day. Over the holiday weekend, Trump took to Twitter on multiple occasions to rip into the Democratic Party over the issue of immigration, going as far as to declare that "Daca is dead." During Monday's White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump spoke to reporters and once again doubled down on his attack on Democrats over DACA.

Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES. Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

During a tweet on April 2, Donald Trump continued his attack on immigration, this time bringing up Barack Obama in the process.

"As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those crossing our Southern Border back where they came from. A whole big wasted procedure must take place," Trump tweeted. "Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS," he added while taking a shot to Barack Obama.

Not stopping there, Donald Trump expressed his frustration in a follow-up tweet. "Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES," Trump tweeted. "Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL," he wrote, while concluding, "Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!"

Twitter backlash

After Donald Trump sent out his pair of tweets, those who oppose his administration made sure to chime in.

"You are the one sounding ridiculous, constantly blaming and bullying everyone. Sad times for America," one tweet read.

Obama was intelligent, classy, and respected. You are ignorant, crass, and debased.  Canis Vexillum (@canisvex629) April 3, 2018

The biggest joke is you.  Chris Ross (@chross84) April 3, 2018

#DonaldTrump Is violating the Constitution by accepting money from foreign governments at #TrumpDC. #TrumpIsCorrupt and unfit!   Jules Morgan (@glamelegance) April 3, 2018

"Your entire presidency is a joke. No one's laughing, though. Sad!" a Twitter user wrote. "Obama was intelligent, classy, and respected. You are ignorant, crass, and debased," another tweet added. "The biggest joke is you," a tweet added.

Youre married to an immigrant. Youre the grandson of immigrants. This country was founded by and for immigrants. So shut the fuck up with your nationalist bullshit.  Daniel Davis (@dan_davis86) April 3, 2018

Probably because this country has always been a beacon to others to come here and enjoy our freedoms and prosperity. Our diversity is one of the things that make this country great.  Kurt E. (@Tanaman1971) April 3, 2018

False. See Expedited removal. https://t.co/UpJhzSgpv8 Also, the law was passed in 1996, way before Obama. Yes, Congress should act, but as a check/balance to your authority.  Scott Railton (@scottyrailton) April 3, 2018

"Probably because this country has always been a beacon to others to come here and enjoy our freedoms and prosperity.

Our diversity is one of the things that make this country great," a social media user noted. "Youre married to an immigrant. Youre the grandson of immigrants. This country was founded by and for immigrants. So shut the f**k up with your nationalist bullsh*t," yet another tweet read.
Chelsea Houska's ex-boyfriend, Adam Lind, has been facing tons of legal drama in recent years, including allegations of assaults against his former fiance, Stasia Huber, and illegal drug use. So, rather than allow Lind to see his daughter whenever he pleases, Houska and the court system in South Dakota have put strict rules in place for his visitation. Unfortunately, those rules were recently broken.

According to a report by Radar Online on April 2, Houska endured a troublesome Easter Sunday (April 1) after learning Lind had violated their custody agreement and spent time with their eight-year-old daughter without court-ordered supervision.

In their report, an insider revealed that while Lind's parents weren't scheduled to spend time with Aubree over the holiday, Houska allowed them to have her for a couple of hours to be nice. Then, after picking the child up later in the day, Houska learned from Aubree that Lind was present during her visit.

Adam Lind also confirmed he spent time with the child when he shared a photo of himself and Aubree on his Snapchat account.

Chelsea Houska is 'livid' about Adam Lind's violation

"[Chelsea]'s livid and won't do that anymore," the insider said of Houska allowing Lind's parents to see the child. Houska has also e-mailed her lawyer looking for advice on how they should proceed after learning of Lind's custody violation.

Since January of this year, when Houska's custody agreement was amended, Lind has been required to see his daughter only at a visitation center where court-ordered monitors are present.

Houska's amended agreement also included detailed visitation for Lind's parents. One weekend a month Aubree will be with [Adams parents] from Friday to Sunday," the agreement reportedly explained.

"Adam may not be present when Aubree is with [Adams mom].

Chelsea Houska's ex was arrested last year

At the end of 2017, Adam Lind was reportedly taken into custody after he allegedly assaulted Stasia Huber, who he had become engaged to several months before. The former reality star was also accused of failing a court-ordered drug test during his ongoing custody battle with Taylor Halbur over their four-year-old daughter Paislee.

Chelsea Houska, her family, and her co-stars, including Jenelle Evans, Kailyn Lowry, Briana DeJesus, and Leah Messer, will return to MTV later this year for a new season of "Teen Mom 2." Lind left the show years ago.
The stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer, John Mulaney, is set to host "Saturday Night Live" on April 14. After writing for "SNL" for over six years, the multi-talented Chicago native is coming back to "SNL" to be a host just before his new Netflix special, "Kid Gorgeous at Radio City," premieres on May 1. This is a great way to build hype for his up and coming Netflix special.

While tickets to his "Kid Gorgeous at Radio City" special have already sold out, this is just the first of several specials from Mulaney that are on the way. Clearly, enthusiasm for the witty comedian is high.

After posting "Oh boy" on Twitter with regards to his upcoming "SNL" appearance, more than 39,000 people have retweeted it proving that there is a lot of love for this comedian. The week before Mulaney's "SNL" performance, "Black Panther's" Chadwick Boseman will be hosting so the bar will definitely be set high.

Check out Mulaney's other work

After starting on "SNL" as a staff writer back in 2008, Mulaney has come a long way since then. Most people may remember him from his critically acclaimed comedy special, "The Comeback Kid," which premiered back in 2015. His credits also include performances on many popular talk shows including "Conan," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," "Comedy Central Presents," and more.

There is something so beautiful about returning to the place that helped get him started after making so many steps forward over the years. After working for so many years behind the scenes as a writer for "SNL," many people should be excited to see how he will perform on camera as the host.

Mulaney's previous work on camera

Mulaney had his own TV series at one point, self-titled "Mulaney." Although it didn't last more than one season it is still great for a laugh or two. Over the past few years, he could also be found guest-starring on several TV series including "Portlandia," "Crashing," and "Big Mouth."

From writing to stand-up comedy to acting and more this multi-talented performer has a lot of upcoming work to showcase.

There is always a lot of stress on the shoulders of whoever hosts "SNL," but it is likely that this "SNL" genius will be able to make it a memorable event. The musical guest that night will be Jack White, who has performed on the show a couple times, once as a member of the White Stripes back in 2002 and once as himself in 2012. Tune in to "SNL" to see a great show with incredible performers on April 14.
Ryan Edwards has been the center of many Teen Mom OG conversations over the last two seasons. His addiction to heroin was made public last spring when it was revealed he went to rehab in Texas. Viewers had already been aware there were issues with Edwards as Maci Bookout had touched on them during her segments. She never did expose what his issues were despite Mackenzie Standifer accusing her of exploiting him. It has been a year since Edwards was arrested on a possession charge dealing with heroin, and his life is spiraling out of control.

New arrest

Last week, Ryan Edwards was arrested at his home. This was reportedly from a probation violation which stemmed from a heroin-related charge last April. Edwards was booked and bonded out a few hours later. Mackenzie Standifer made things appear to be fine, but then the rest of his misdeeds came flooding out. On top of Edwards' recent arrest, he was also caught on Tinder while his wife is expecting their first child. Standifer took off to New York, but she will likely return to be by his side.

Yesterday, Ryan Edwards was told to stay away from Maci Bookout, Taylor McKinney, and their children until at least May. The couple filed Orders Of Protection against Edwards because of threats he made against them.

Bookout included the son she shares with Ryan in the paperwork. The judge granted the orders of protection on a temporary basis while some investigation is being done. Maci is generally a rational person and the fact that she filed this paperwork speaks volumes about where Edwards is in life.

Allegations of threats

According to Radar Online, Taylor McKinney alleges that Ryan Edwards threatened to shoot him.

The incident in question happened on March 20, just three days prior to the couple filing for orders of protection. Maci Bookout has been more than accommodating to Edwards and his family regarding their son, Bentley. The last two years have been hard on her as she is trying to protect her son from the reality of what is happening to his dad.

Bookout shares two other children with McKinney, and they are also included in the order of protection. Things have escalated quickly here. The next court date is in May, and it looks like Bookout and McKinney will be granted permanent orders if their claims are accurate.

There have been no comments issued from Ryan Edwards or his wife and family regarding yesterday's issue. Given the behavior Ryan has displayed over the course of several episodes, and the allegations coming from Maci Bookout and Taylor McKinney, it looks like a relapse is definitely in the realm of possibilities.
Tyra Banks has admitted to getting an early-career Nose Job, claiming that natural beauty is "unfair," she told People magazine. In her new book written along with her mother, Banks shares about her nose job and her views on beauty, natural and otherwise.

I get really uncomfortable when women who are these natural beauties judge anybody who does anything to themselves," Banks told People.

Banks said that the original surgery she was getting on her nose was to finally fix some problems that had occurred due to an un-realized nose break when she was three years old, according to US Weekly.

She added cosmetic surgery on top of the sinus surgery she needed to get, calling it cosmetic slash medical, US wrote.

She has previously revealed her real hair and why she uses wigs and extensions but said in her book that she feels she has a responsibility to tell the truth about all of it.

Banks didn't share her age at the time of the procedure. She was 15 years old when she began her modeling career.

Banks shares in her book that all women can choose what they want to look like

Nobody has to be either entirely natural or entirely made up, they just need to do what they feel best with, she said in her book.

When it comes to beauty she sees a line where women either have incredibly natural looks or have to constantly be getting work done.

She believes it is okay for women to go back and forth over the line because it is nobody's place to judge,

Tyra Banks' book 'Perfect is Boring' came out on April 3

Tyra Banks has been promoting her book, "Perfect is Boring," which is a memoir co-written with her mother Carolyn London, through social media, sharing lessons her mother has taught her.

"TOMORROW, the world will know what Ive always known..MY MAMA IS A FIERCE QUEEN! Our book #PerfectIsBoring come stay [sic] out in just hours!" Banks tweeted on April 2.

TOMORROW, the world will know what Ive always known..MY MAMA IS A FIERCE QUEEN! Our book #PerfectIsBoring come stay out in just hours!



Buy it! Make my Mama a #1 author!  https://t.co/QTTaTJTfrx pic.twitter.com/zExZsbYtoM  Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) April 2, 2018

Banks' and London's purpose is to not just share a book but a movement, according to Banks.

According to the book's website perfectisboring.com, they are "on a mission to:

 showcase your unique beauty

 have you embrace your beautiful booty

 and outpace your competition."

She believes everyone should be themselves but also admits she needs makeup as a model even as many support the "no makeup" movement.

"If you like your natural self, dont worry about it," she said. She does not judge what women choose to do with their looks, and wants women to feel comfortable with themselves, something she is working to share in her book.

Tyra Banks is a host on "America's Got Talent," which will kick off the 2018 season on May 29, as well as "America's Next Top Model," a show she created.
United Nations: The UN Secretary General has said that the recent killing of civilians by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir needs to be investigated.

Civilians have to be protected wherever they are, whether it is in Gaza, whether it is in Jammu and Kashmir, whether it is in Yemen; it is a basic principle, the UN Chiefs spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said in reply to a reporters question during his daily briefing. Any loss of civilians needs to be investigated wherever they occur, he added.

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During protests in Srinagar on Monday, Indian police intervened in the Polo View area as the demonstrators tried to move towards the UN office in Sonwar area.

Stephane Dujarric said, The Secretary-General is very concerned about the situation we see in Jammu and Kashmir.

He reminds that member states are responsible under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, he said, adding, The Secretary-General reiterates his call on member states to find ways to address disputes in a peaceful manner.

On Sunday, at least 17 Kashmiris were killed by the Indian forces in Shopian and Islamabad districts of South Kashmir.
Amazon has grown huge over the last decade, but nothing compares to what may be coming next for the tech giant. Amazon is apparently the only contender for a US Department of Defense contract for cloud services. The contract is worth $10 Billion over the next decade and would put Amazon in a position of power not seen in recent times. Amazon currently holds smaller contracts with several other US government agencies, which is why they are the sole contender. The Defense Department has listed requirements which include the ability to host top secret and secret information within eight months of being awarded the contract.

Since Amazon already does this (albeit on a smaller scale), they are the only foreseeable contender.

But how does this empower Amazon?

Well, Amazons cloud will become a treasure trove of government information and secrets. This contract is a change in direction from typical Defense Department policy. Normally, departments such as this spread their data across multiple platforms or companies. This contract is different since they are seeking a single company to host their entire cloud operation. This is not just a departure from data procedure either. In the past, it has been standard protocol to not allow any single company to monopolize a critical government service or materials. This may seem like something already set in stone, but it is not there yet.

The idea of using a single company, such as Amazon, is still confined to the Defense Department. Congress and other officials are still questioning this concept and it is up for debate.

Why might it be a bad idea to hand it all to Amazon?

Many of the detractors of this idea say it goes against our national security interests.

They often cite past practice of not utilizing a single company for vital goods and services needed by the government. The main reason for this is, that if an enemy of the US wanted to harm us, they need only target a single company in order to separate the Pentagon from its critical data. This obviously creates a one big target scenario, instead of having it spread among several sources which would decrease the chances of the network being completely wiped out.

That isnt to say that the Pentagon would not embrace redundancy and have several back up options in place. It would seem certain that they would retain hard copies of the information, yet it still paints a scary picture. Another reason would be handing a single man or company too much power. Jeff Bezos and Amazon would have access and control over a huge amount of government information. This includes personal information on millions of people. Some people claim this is a terrible idea, especially with the recent spat of headlines regarding tech giants and privacy infringement. In any case, the debate has begun and a decision on the contract should be reached in the coming weeks.
Jeddah, April 03: The General Secretary of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Dr Yousef Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, has reiterated his call on India to allow access to the fact-finding mission of his Special Representative for Jammu and Kashmir and the OICs Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission to occupied Kashmir.

Dr Yousef Ahmad Al-Othaimeen in a statement issued in Jeddah called upon the world community to play its rightful role for a just and lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, OIC and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Dr Othaimeen also conveyed condolences to the families of the people recently killed by the Indian troops in occupied Kashmir and wished for speedy recovery of the injured.
Virginia Tech is one of only 12 universities across the nation to be invited to participate in a pilot initiative, Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME), to provide greater access to scholarly books in the humanities and social sciences.

Faced with dwindling buyers for printed monographs, book-length works written primarily for specialized audiences, universities are looking for creative ways to publish their facultys scholarship. TOME is tackling this issue head on.

It is a great honor to be part of this forward-thinking national effort to reimagine the model for publishing scholarly monographs, said Peter Potter, director of publishing strategy in the University Libraries. The monograph remains the gold standard for scholarship in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. What makes the TOME initiative innovative is that it shifts the business model away from post-publication sales toward front-end publication grants.

In TOMEs five-year pilot phase, Virginia Tech has committed to providing three baseline publishing grants of $15,000 per year to faculty who place their monographs with a university press. Presses that accept these grants agree to make high-quality, platform-agnostic, digital editions freely available. All books published as TOME books must be approved through the usual editorial and peer-review processes of the presses.

Danna Agmon, assistant professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, is the first scholar nationwide to receive a TOME grant. Agmons monograph, "A Colonial Affair: Commerce, Conversion, and Scandal in French India," was published as a print volume in 2017 by Cornell University Press. Thanks to the TOME grant, an open access digital edition will be released in 2018, making it freely available to audiences everywhere, including international readers, who may not have access to libraries with comprehensive print collections.

We are proud to be publishing our first open access title made possible by a TOME grant, said Cornell University Press director Dean Smith. For the past three years, we have been making dozens of classic out-of-print titles available on our open access website Cornell Open and on major research databases, and now thanks to TOME publishing grants, more frontlist titles can be included in our program. This looks to be a very promising new business model for university publishers.

The TOME initiative fits with Virginia Techs mission to serve. The expanded dissemination of scholarship within and beyond the academy advances the core mission of Virginia Tech as a land-grant university  to create and transmit new knowledge for public benefit, added Potter.

The TOME initiative was launched in spring 2017 after extensive planning by a joint task force of the Association of American Universities (AAU), Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Association of University Presses, and 12 invited institutions, including Virginia Tech.

The University Libraries is the natural focal point for the TOME initiative at Virginia Tech, which is being jointly funded by the University Libraries, the Provosts Office, and the faculty members college.

We are ideally positioned to coordinate Virginia Techs participation in TOME from the recruiting of prospective authors through the selection process, and ultimately the release of publication grants, said Potter. We also advocate for the broadest possible access to scholarship everywhere, which fits perfectly into TOMEs objective.

To learn more about TOME, contact Peter Potter at pjp33@vt.edu.
Kimberly Horn, research dean and professor from the George Washington University (GW) and an authority in public health research, has been named associate vice president for clinical research collaboratives in the Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Horn is a forward-looking senior academic development executive who will help us drive growth of the universitys health sciences and technology vision, said Michael J. Friedlander, vice president for health sciences and technology at Virginia Tech. Clinical research is one major component of our efforts to address the urgent health matters of our community and state, and to more rapidly achieve better prevention and treatment options.



Dr. Horn has facilitated productive public-private partnerships to advance these efforts  her expertise will be important for the initiatives in the office of health sciences and technology, said Friedlander, who is also the executive director of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.



Horn joined the Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW in June 2012 as the schools first associate dean of research.



An expert in tobacco cessation and prevention research, Horn was the founding director of the Washington, D.C., Metro Tobacco Research and Instruction Consortium, a public-private partnership of tobacco control experts from the Truth Initiative Schroeder Institute, Georgetown University, and the Milken School of Public Health at GW, where Horn was most recently a professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health.

Before that, she was the associate director of population health research and the founding program leader of the translational tobacco reduction research program at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at West Virginia University.

Building on her experiences in academic health systems in her new role, Horn will grow existing collaborative research programs

and develop new ones between Virginia Tech and its primary clinical partner, Carilion Clinic, in partnership with other universities, health systems, federal agencies, private foundations, and appropriate industry partners.

Horn said that these collaborations must occur in step with the communities they serve.

I spent my career trying to solve complex health problems and make peoples lives better and healthier, Horn said. I love this work. Part of my passion is to bring systems, communities and people with different ideas, strategies, and perspectives together. Clinical research partnerships will help us tackle some of our biggest health problems more quickly.

For example, clinical research could uncover faster ways to treat the opioid crisis, prevent obesity, or help people stop smoking.

These health challenges are already a major focus of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, where multiple NIH-funded research programs are carried out by leading scientists, such as Warren Bickel, Pearl Chiu, Brooks King-Casas, Stephen LaConte, and Read Montague.

One initial focus of Horns new role is to build on the foundation that has been developed over the last year between Virginia Tech Carilion leadership and its partners from the University of Virginia and Inova Health System toward building a statewide, integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia network. The partner institutions have developed and applied for an NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award, which, if awarded, would provide tools and information to help physicians and scientists conduct translational and clinical research with the goal of providing patients with effective new treatments.

At Virginia Tech, Horn is a professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and an affiliated faculty member of the VTCRI in the translational biology, medicine, and health graduate program. In both departments, she will train and mentor graduate students.

Horn will maintain an active tobacco and substance abuse research program. She has served as a principal investigator on multiple funded research projects, including those from the NIH and national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Much of Horns work has been used to improve health policy and practice in local communities and nationally. For example, she played an important role in creating an internationally recognized program of research in teen smoking cessation.

With a home base in Roanoke, Horn says she is where she belongs right now.

Before I was in D.C., I was at West Virginia University for 16 years, working to address the health problems of people in Appalachia, Horn said. Because the opportunities at VTC align perfectly with my career path, now, I am really back home, back in the mountains. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to travel full circle. I was born in the hospital that is now Carilion Clinic. I went to William Byrd High School in Vinton  so, Im truly a native. This area has been good to me and I want to pay forward all that Ive gained  its where I want to be.
The AAFP Physician Health First initiative is devoted to improving the well-being and professional satisfaction of family physicians by addressing the causes of physician burnout, including the broken U.S. health care system, the organizations employing physicians, the practice environment, individual well-being, and a physician culture of self-sacrifice over self-care. Learn more
Just before her 60th birthday, actress Andie MacDowell is promoting the April 6 wide release of Love After Love, an indie movie about grief and mourning that has earned good reviews (it has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and a lot of buzz, in part because she does her first nude scene.

Everyones made a big deal out of it, MacDowell told Deadline Hollywood's Pete Hammond. Andie MacDowell does first nude scene! But the former supermodel, who shot to fame (and an Independent Spirit Award and three Golden Globe nominations) at 31 in Sex, Lies, and Videotape, thinks the film  a sensitive, John Cassavetes-like study of the effect of grief on a new widow and her son (Chris ODowd)  means more as a kind of revealing of the soul.

That may be, but its also relevant that MacDowell, who  like Helen Mirren  defies aging, told Us magazine, The beauty myth that Id like to debunk is that you must be young to be beautiful. Age isnt a detriment, and we dont need to chase youth. We should all embrace every moment of our life.

MacDowells performance drove Sex, Lies, and Videotape, which historian Peter Biskind, 77, calls the Big Bang of the modern indie film movement. It put the Sundance Film Festival on the map and made stars of director Steven Soderbergh and Oscar-hogging Miramax Pictures.

But MacDowell told Hammond her part in Love After Love is more interesting because theres something about a mature woman that I find fascinating, that you will never get from a young woman. There is more depth. The beauty of a mature woman is quite often lost on a culture that glorifies youth. I think that I am much more interesting now than I ever was when I was 30.
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Further consolidation between the health care and retail industries may be taking shape, as the Wall Street Journal reported this week that the superstore Walmart and health insurer Humana are in preliminary acquisition talks.

With Humanas market value of nearly $40 billion, a purchase by Walmart (valued at more than $250 billion) would mark one of the biggest deals in memory. Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States, with 1.5 million employees, and could save money with a new health insurer for its workers, according to the Journal.

Humana has the second-largest market share of the growing Medicare Advantage program, behind UnitedHealth.

In a similar pairing late last year, CVS bought Aetna in a $69 billion deal. Analysts said at the time that the synergy created would allow for more clinics and in-store services, including eye care and hearing aid assistance.

Walmart already has a sprawling network of pharmacies, which can be found in most of its 4,700 stores, according to the Journal, as well as in its associated Sams Club warehouses. It already has some clinics and may soon offer on-site lab testing.

The proposed merger would require approval by federal regulators and shareholders of the two companies.

Recent consolidation moves in the industry come as Amazon, the e-commerce juggernaut, has moved aggressively into the drug and medical business.
The coffee industry claimed that while the chemical was present because of the natural bean cooking process, it was only measurable at harmless levels and was outweighed by other health benefits of coffee. The industry was backed up by the World Health Organization, whose cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, removed coffee from its possible carcinogen list in 2016.

Still, the judge ruled that the coffee companies had not done enough to prove that coffees benefits outweigh the risks of acrylamide.

In a 2008 suit, CERT was successful in forcing potato chip producers to pay a $3 million settlement and remove acrylamide from their products.

CERT brought the recent suit forward under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, which California voters enacted in 1986. The law allows private citizens, attorneys, and groups to sue on behalf of the state and collect a portion of civil penalties.
Top high school performers for Week Seven of fall sports

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Srinagar April 03:Dr Suhail Naik, President Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) said indiscriminate firing inside District Hospital Shopian by Jammu Kashmir Police is a great shame.

He said that Jammu Kashmir policemen barged into the hospital and fired indiscriminately to retrieve a dead body.

He said that in addition to this dastardly act they also damaged the hospital property.

It is sheer luck that none of the staff was injured or killed in this incident. Doctors and other staff are still in a state of mental shock and are not able to deliver their duties effectively after this incident, he said.

He said according to Geneva Convention, in the war zones hospitals and ambulances are spared but it is very unfortunate these rules are thrown in the trash in this part of the world

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He said that doctors are at the receiving end as police is making them easy targets.

Police, the law protectors are acting as law damagers by resorting to such type of hooliganism.

DAK has asked Director General of Police, S P Vaid to intervene in the matter and issue advisory to Jammu Kashmir police vis-a-vas behaving with the hospital staff.

If immediate steps are not taken we would be forced to take extreme steps which will be detrimental for state health care and whole onus will lie with the government, DAK in a statement said.

Meanwhile, Jammu Kashmir Doctors Coordination Committee has also expressed dismay on the incident, terming it shameful.
A record number of breweries opened or went out of business in 2017, according to national statistics released by the Brewers Association.

An estimated 997 new breweries opened, and 165 closed, the Colorado-based craft beer trade group announced last week. Both are highs since the American beer industry was jolted by the birth of craft beer in the late 1970s.

In New Mexico, 10 breweries opened and three closed in 2017, according to John Gozigian, executive director of the New Mexico Brewers Guild. The state currently has 69 breweries with at least 13 more planned.

The country had 6,266 breweries in 2017, the association said  a stark contrast to just 10 years ago, when the nation had about 1,500 breweries.

A decade ago, New Mexico had 19 breweries, according to Gozigian.

Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson said the nationwide volatility is a natural function of a maturing industry.

With 2,500 more breweries planned, he said, the industry is likely to see more fluctuation.

Its a competitive marketplace, he said. I think were going to continue to see that closings number continue to rise.

But Watson described the state of craft beer as fundamentally strong, driven in part by the growth of the smallest breweries.

Craft beer nudged upward to 12.7 percent of the American beer industry; for the past two years, it was 12.1 percent. As recently as 2013, it was still less than 8 percent.

Craft beer also grew 5 percent in 2017 in terms of overall volume  a slowdown from the previous year. In 2016, craft beer volume grew 6.2 percent, which ended a six-year run of double-digit annual growth.

Gozigian said New Mexicos craft beer volume is on track to grow from 111,000 barrels in 2016 to 130,000 barrels by the end of this year.

The combination of more breweries opening and slowing growth led to an industry crash in the late 1990s, but Watson said craft beer is girded against a similar outcome in the coming years.

The fundamental demand for craft beer is stronger than it was back then, he said. The affinity of the brands the brewers have built is stronger than back then.

Also, he said, while larger regional brewers struggle to stand out on crowded store shelves, smaller brewers have thrived  and will continue to do so  by selling beer directly to consumers in brewery taprooms.

The Brewers Association once set a goal of craft beer commanding 20 percent of the industry by 2020, an idea from which it retreated last year. Watson said the goal was always aspirational. The biggest reason that it wont be met, he said, is simple: acquisitions.

Any brewery with more than 25 percent ownership by a big beer company does not qualify under the Brewers Associations definition of a craft brewer. Therefore, breweries that once figured into the statistics  such as Lagunitas, Ballast Point, Founders and 14 breweries owned by Anheuser-Busch and Miller  no longer do.
MEXICO CITY  President Donald Trump is warning about caravans of migrants heading to the U.S., though the caravan of Central American migrants supposedly moving across Mexico toward the border was strikingly immobile Monday.

The group of about 1,100 people, most of them Hondurans, had been walking along roadsides and train tracks, but they have stopped to camp out at a sports field in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca. They are waiting and getting advice on filing for transit or humanitarian visas in Mexico.

Many headed to the fields stands to shelter under the awning from the hot afternoon sun. As night fell, the migrants, many with children, lit fires to cook their meager rations.

While a group of about a couple of hundred men in the march broke off and hopped a freight train north on Sunday  probably to try to enter the United States  the rest seem unlikely to move until Wednesday or Thursday. Those are probably going to take buses to the last scheduled stop for the caravan, a migrant rights symposium in central Puebla state.

Irineo Mujica, director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, the activist group behind the annual symbolic event, said the caravan would continue only to the city of Puebla southeast of Mexico City, but not in a massive way. After the symposium, some migrants may continue to Mexicos capital, where it is easier to make an asylum claim. Mujica said about 300 to 400 of the migrants say they have relatives living in Mexico and so may consider staying here at least temporarily.

While there were reports Mexico was seeking to end the caravan, it was for all intents and purposes over. The participants were never equipped to march en masse to the U.S. border or anywhere near it. No one was walking late Monday, and Mexican immigration agents showed up offering people help in signing up for various kinds of transit and humanitarian visas. The large number of children present made any move against the camp unlikely.

It was all pretty undramatic  especially compared to 2013 and 2014, when migrants jammed Mexican trains heading north  but Trumps angry tweets raised hackles in Mexico.

Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL! Trump wrote in one. With all of the money they make from the U.S., hopefully they will stop people from coming through their country and into ours.

Mexicos interior secretary, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, rejected such pressure.

We will act with complete sovereignty in enforcing our laws, Navarrete Prida said Monday. Of course we will act  to enforce our immigration laws, with no pressure whatsoever from any country whatsoever.

In a statement issued late Monday, Mexicos government said about 400 participants in the caravan had already been sent back to their home countries. Under no circumstances does the Mexican government promote irregular migration, the Interior Ministry statement said.

It noted that Mexico considers the annual caravans to be a public demonstration that seeks to call attention to the migration phenomenon and the importance of respecting the rights of Central Americans. The U.S. government has been kept fully informed of the situation, it said.

The department also said that unlike in previous years of the caravan, this time Mexican immigration authorities have offered refugee status to participants who qualify. But it suggested it is not up to Mexico to keep people from going to the U.S. to apply for asylum.

It is not this governments responsibility to make immigration decisions for the United States or any other country, so it will be up to the appropriate authorities of the United States to decide whether to authorize the entry of the caravan participants to U.S. territory, it said.

Navarette Prida had said earlier that he talked with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday. We agreed to analyze the best means to handle flows of migration, in accordance with each countrys laws, Navarrete Prida wrote in his Twitter account.

Nielsen later tweeted that their talk was focused specifically on the annual migrant caravan. Working with Mexican officials to address the yearly illegal alien caravan. Exploring all options, she wrote.

The Stations of the Cross migrant caravans have been held in southern Mexico for about 10 years. They began as short processions of migrants, some dressed in biblical garb and carrying crosses, as an Easter-season protest against the kidnappings, extortion, beatings and killings suffered by many Central American migrants as they cross Mexico.

The organized portions of the caravans usually dont proceed much farther north than the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. Some migrants, moving as individuals or in smaller groups, often take buses or trucks from there to the U.S. border.

Mexico routinely stops and deports Central Americans, sometimes in numbers that rival those of the United States. Deportations of foreigners dropped from 176,726 in 2015 to 76,433 in 2017, in part because fewer were believed to have come to Mexico, and more were requesting asylum in Mexico.

Mexico granted 3,223 asylum requests made in 2016, and 9,626 requests filed last year are either under review or have been accepted.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

Federal prosecutors have taken on the case against a man and woman accused in a brutal kidnapping that Albuquerque police say is tied to a homicide.

The move means that 30-year-old Chase Smothermon and 19-year-old Mariah Ferry, if convicted, could face life imprisonment in connection with the kidnapping of Matthew Tressler.

My client, unfortunately, faces a great deal more potential exposure from the federal government than she does under state court statutes, said attorney Tom Clark, who is representing Ferry in state court.

In New Mexicos court system, kidnapping carries a maximum sentence of 18 years.

Smothermon and Ferry are also facing charges in the death of John Soyka, whose mutilated body was found close to the Rio Puerco last fall. Although their murder cases are still pending in state court, the two were federally indicted Wednesday on kidnapping and conspiracy charges in connection with the August 2017 attack on Tressler. Investigators say that the suspects believed Soyka had taken around $2,500 worth of marijuana for him, and they showed images of his body to his best friend, Tressler.

The indictment was filed just days before Smothermons trial in state court in the kidnapping case, which was scheduled to begin Monday. Elizabeth Martinez, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys Office, said she could not comment on prosecutorial decisions, and she did not comment on the timing of the indictment.

Ferry was set for trial in June, and a third man accused in the kidnapping, Mitchell Overhand, was found guilty last month of false imprisonment and conspiracy.

The 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office on Friday dismissed Smothermons kidnapping case, writing that the defendant was federally indicted for the same incident. No such document has been filed in Ferrys case, according to online court records.

A spokesman for the District Attorneys Office said prosecutors look to incorporate the federal system into certain cases and that the Tressler kidnapping case met the criteria.

Smothermons name is spelled Smotherman in most state court documents.
Editors note: With school grades in the spotlight lately, the principal of South Valley Academy recently offered to open her charter schools doors to make the case for how the D-graded high school benefits its students.

South Valley Academy, an Albuquerque Public Schools-authorized charter school, has been a D school two years in a row.

Principal Julie Radoslovich will tell you that and will tell you theres room to improve.

But she also will tell you that the Title I school  meaning at least 50 percent of enrolled students are low income  with a 96 percent Hispanic population is doing more than the report card shows.

We believe the school report card does not capture SVAs success, she told the Journal.

Radoslovich wants to show the community there is more to her school, which received a B in 2014 and a C in 2015, than just that current D grade. And she points to her high graduation rates as proof.

Earlier this year, APS released data showing the class of 2017, including APS-authorized charter schools, had a 67.9 percent grad rate. South Valley Academys rate was 86.6 percent for 2017.

Our 87 percent four-year and 94 percent six-year high school graduation rate and 38 percent (two-year and four-year) college completion rates are what we think depict the true value of an SVA education, she said.

Radoslovich said a big goal at SVA is to keep kids in school even if it takes them longer to graduate, saying the high immigrant population of the community has challenges  including poverty, language barriers and access to resources  that affects kids schooling.

The likelihood of a child growing up in poverty and graduating high school and obtaining a college degree is extremely low, whether in Albuquerques South Valley or other places nationally, Radoslovich wrote in an email to the Journal. Growing up in poverty does impact academic success.

While graduation rates are high, the schools traditional student competency scores are low  a factor in the schools D grade. According to SVAs 2017 school report card, 14 percent of its students were proficient or higher in reading and 4 percent were proficient or higher in math when calculating overall for all grade levels. The school serves sixth through 12th grades.

How do so many students graduate, if their proficiency is low?

The majority of SVA students who have not passed required exams provide a letter of acceptance from a two- or four-year institute, Radoslovich said. State law allows districts to adopt alternate demonstrations of competency in order to meet graduation requirements.

SVA adopted the same options offered by APS, Radoslovich said, which includes an acceptance letter from a four-year or two-year college.

But state Public Education Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski recently criticized schools use of college acceptance letters to allow students to graduate with a high school diploma, pointing out that some do not require any academic standards to be accepted. He said its an area PED wants to clamp down in the future.

And he stressed the importance of having student competency scores and improvement be an important factor in school grades.

Radoslovich said the graduation rate and success at a higher education program is a better barometer.

She said 38 percent of SVA grads either receive a bachelors degree or an associates degree, per data on classes between 2008 and 2011.

That compares favorably to the national average for low-income areas, and the SVA community is nearly exclusively low-income, Hispanic youth who live in the 87105 and 87121 ZIP codes.

The U.S. Department of Education reports only 9 percent of students from low-income families in the country graduate with a bachelors degree by age 24.

SVA, with a school population of 332 students at the high school and 281 at the middle school, is in the heart of the South Valley, a region with a median household income of $37,639, $8,035 less than the state as a whole, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Most other schools in the South Valley are also D and F schools, New Mexico Public Education Department school grades data shows.

I wouldnt be here today

Radoslovich said one strength not reflected in the report card is SVAs emphasis on a social justice curriculum, relationship building with teachers and mentors and involvement and access to physical and mental health services.

She also highlighted the schools Service Learning Program that allows students to earn high school credit while doing community service. Part of the program is the Senior Action Project, which has students analyze and research a problem in the community with a solution-oriented project that gives back to the community.

Fabian Arreola, 18, an alumnus, University of New Mexico student and academy staff member, did his senior project on a topic close to his heart: raising awareness for those that identify as double minorities, existing both in the LGBTQ community and as a minority ethnicity. He also studied the psychological effects of having a double-minority identity.

Arreola said it was thanks to SVA that he was able to build his own identity.

But the school did much more.

It saved his life.

I wouldnt be here today, he said.

Arreola, who came out as gay at 12 years old, struggled with depression.

It was hard to come out because the Hispanic community isnt that familiar (with the LGBTQ community), he said.

A teacher noticed a change in Arreolas behavior and ultimately would help connect him to a therapist through the school  a resource that Arreola feels saved his life.

Arreola is now studying at UNM to be a counselor to create a safe space for other students like SVA did for him.

He and his family have deep roots in the SVA community. He attended all four years of high school there, is now a mentor for study hall at the school, and his little brother is part of the middle school program.

The D grade isnt looking at the whole picture, he said.

PED weighs in

But the school grades system is one of the most balanced approaches in the region, according to Ruszkowski.

(The school report card) is well aligned with the mission of South Valley Academy, he said, emphasizing that the report card does take into account graduation and college and career readiness.

But he stressed that schools have to foster both academic growth and proficiency in addition to the community and social efforts.

Ruszkowski also said schools with similar student populations as SVA are making greater strides.

He pointed to Desert View Elementary and Mission Achievement and Success  which both earned A grades from PED last year  as schools improving despite serving a high percentage of low-income and minority students.

These schools are proving demographics dont determine student long-term success, he said.

Radoslovich said she didnt know enough about those schools to comment, but added, I am happy when schools and their students do well.

Whats behind SVAs D grade

School grading was mandated by New Mexico state lawmakers in 2011.

A schools report card is made up of several categories:

 Current standing: Are students performing on grade level, according to PARCC student test scores? Did they improve more or less than expected?

 School improvement: Is the school as a whole making academic progress?

 Improvement of higher-performing students: Are higher-performing students improving more or less than expected?

 Improvement of lowest-performing students: Are the lowest-performing students improving more or less 0than expected?

 Opportunity to learn: Do students and families believe their school is a good place to attend and learn?

 Graduation: Are students graduating high school and is the graduation rate improving?

 College and career readiness: Are students participating in college and career readiness opportunities? Are they demonstrating success?

Schools also can earn bonus points for reducing truancy, promoting extracurricular activities, engaging families and using technology.

In 2017, SVA received Fs in current standing based on the low PARCC test scores, in school improvement and improvement of lowest-performing students. It received a D in improvement of higher-performing students.

But the school got an A in opportunity to learn and college and career readiness, as well as a B in graduation.

SVA was a B school in 2014 and a C in 2015 before its consecutive Ds the past two years. The principal cites PARCC as the reason the school saw this drop in grades.

Before New Mexico switched to PARCC, our students outperformed schools with similar demographics in the city and in the state, she said.

School grades and PARCC testing are controversial in New Mexico, with teachers from various districts saying its a one-size-fits-all approach that may not be the best measurement for all schools.

And Radoslovich agrees, saying PARCC in particular doesnt assess everything a student needs to be successful in college, career and community.

PARCC score is a reasonable, intermediate measure of academic achievement, but our ultimate goal and the ultimate metrics against which we hold ourselves are keeping students engaged, growing students academically over time (not just mere proficiency), ensuring the highest graduation rate possible, and, most importantly, preparing students for success once they leave SVA, Radoslovich said.

But ultimately the principal will tell you that she prides herself on kids wanting to come to school.

Of parents surveyed over the past four years, an average of 97 percent said SVA had a positive impact on the education of their child.

Radoslovich noted for every open spot during its annual lottery, the school gets 2.2 applicants.

Some of our parents are asked why would you send your kid to a D school, she said. But parents say, Because my child wants to go to school every day.'
Srinagar, April 03: One more youth injured in the firing of Indian troops on protesters, yesterday, succumbed to his injuries, today, raising the death toll in the ongoing massacre to 18.

Complete shutdown continued on the third consecutive day, today, to mourn the massacre of youth in South Kashmir. The shutdown was also observed in far-off areas of Doda, Kishtwar, Bhaderwah and Banihal in the Jammu region. The puppet authorities continued to impose restrictions across the territory to prevent anti-India protests. They continued to suspend internet and train services, while all schools and colleges remained closed in the Kashmir Valley. The Kashmir University postponed all the exams scheduled for today.

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The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani, in a statement said that India had declared a war against the unarmed Kashmiri civilians. He said that the abduction of martyred Mushtaq Ahmad Thoker by the troops to make him human shield vindicated the Hurriyat claim that Indian forces were involved in war crimes and were patronized and encouraged by Indian leadership.

Almost all resistance leaders including Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Muhammad Yasin Malik, continued to remain under house arrest or in custody.
DENVER  Colorados Republican-led Senate voted late Monday against expelling a GOP senator accused of groping a former legislative aide, with opponents of expulsion arguing there isnt enough proof to merit the ultimate sanction.

Senators voted 17-17 to defeat the measure to expel Sen. Randy Baumgardner, who represents a rural northwest Colorado district.

During Mondays debate, Baumgardner apologized to anyone he offended but reiterated his denial of any wrongdoing.

He was the second Colorado legislator to face expulsion this session over sexual misconduct claims. On March 2, Colorado state Rep. Steve Lebsock was expelled following complaints he harassed or intimidated five women, including a fellow lawmaker.

Lebsocks ouster came after Arizona Republican Rep. Don Shooter was expelled Feb. 1 over misconduct claims. A California lawmaker resigned before debate on his expulsion could commence.

The Colorado Legislature is one of many statehouses nationwide grappling with a tidal wave of sexual misconduct allegations following the rise of the #MeToo movement. Last fall, millions of women shared their experiences with sexual harassment or assault on social media.

In all, five Colorado lawmakers have been formally accused of misconduct in recent months.

A third-party investigator had determined that the former aides claims against Baumgardner were credible. The aide said that Baumgardner grabbed and slapped her buttocks on more than one occasion during the 2016 session.

Baumgardner denied it, but he agreed to step down as chair of the powerful transportation committee, and Senate President Kevin Grantham had deemed the case closed.

Democrats argued that expulsion would send a message to victims, interns and aides that complaints are taken seriously.

A two-thirds vote was needed to expel. Sixteen Republicans and one independent voted against expulsion; all 16 Democrats and one Republican voted to oust Baumgardner. Baumgardner didnt vote.

Both Baumgardner and Grantham were criticized Monday by Democrats  Baumgartner for his conduct and Grantham for not exacting more severe punishment.

Either were going to empower victims to come forward or were going to shame them into silence, said Sen. Rhonda Fields, a Democrat.

Republicans criticized the investigators report as lacking evidence and sufficient certainty to merit expulsion.

I dont think the preponderance of evidence is there. Im concerned about the charges, but Im also concerned about due process, said Sen. Don Coram.

Grantham has described some of the anonymous accusations against senators as tantamount to assault, and he had urged prosecutors, rather than lawmakers, to investigate harassment complaints at the Capitol.

He said Monday he was torn by the issue but that its just not there when it comes to the investigators report and a burden of proof meriting expulsion.

I will tell my children and my grandchildren that standing up for victims is the best thing you can do, and standing up for justice is the best thing you can do, Grantham told his colleagues.

Our work is not done until everyone who passes through this building can do so knowing that they will be treated with respect and dignity, said Senate Minority Leader Leroy Garcia.

Democrats had introduced their resolution calling for debate on Baumgardner after Lebsock was expelled March 9. Each day, they appealed to Republicans  most of whom would leave the chamber  for debate on the resolution.

Grantham has pledged to work with Democrats to produce a new workplace harassment policy for the Legislature. Leaders of the House and Senate were set to discuss a proposal by an outside consultant on Wednesday.
The first time Pierre Johnson met a black physician, he was 9 years old.

He accompanied his pregnant mother to see her gynecologist, who happened to be African-American. When Johnson looked at him, he saw a more mature version of himself.

He was down-to-earth, and he answered all my questions, he said. He let me hear the babys heartbeat.

He broke it down on a rudimentary level, and it was fascinating. It grabbed my attention. He walked me through the delivery and it was just awesome, Johnson said.

The encounter left an impression.

Not only did Johnson keep in touch with Dr. John E. Patterson III, but also he later interviewed him and wrote about him for a high school class. And today Johnson, 37, is a physician who treats women and delivers babies at hospitals in south suburban Harvey and Flossmoor.

Johnson said meeting that doctor was one of the main reasons he decided to become an obstetrician and gynecologist. He describes the experience in his book Pulse of Perseverance, which details his journey from Chatham on the South Side through medical school and into practice.

As a child, he saw drug abuse and domestic violence up close, he writes in the book. He attended troubled public schools and underfunded Catholic schools. When he made it to college at Xavier University in New Orleans, he found his education hadnt properly prepared him to study at that level.

Still, he formed a bond with other pre-med students, and they pushed each other to endure and achieve.

Johnson says his story isnt meant to be just inspirational, but instructional. He gives practical advice so that his readers can learn to navigate obstacles and failures the way he did.

Multiple problems affect our young black men, he said. I had someone  a professional who was supposed to guide me  tell me I wasnt smart enough to be a doctor and the only thing I was good at was transporting patients.

I want this book to show these kids exactly how to become a doctor, he said, his voice rising with passion. Failure is not an option. If you fail a test and you stumble, its not the end of the world. You pick yourself up.

He was young when he became obsessed with trying to understand how babies were created and born. But seeing Patterson  a man who looked like him, and who spoke directly to him and offered guidance  affirmed for Johnson that he could do it too.

As I read Johnsons story, and spoke with him, what resonated with me most was the far-reaching impact of representation. It is meaningful for young African-American children to see examples of themselves, not just on television, but in their everyday lives.

I was a young student when I met a black journalist at my hometown paper. Meeting her affirmed for me that there was a place in newsrooms where Id fit. As I pursued writing as a career, I never doubted I could get the job done or felt uncomfortable, because I had so many examples to lean on.

When I spoke with him, Johnson said he worries that the medical field has fewer African-American men now than it did in years past.

Hes right. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, in 1978, 1,410 black men applied to U.S. medical schools. But in 2014, that number was 1,337. The decline is true of many professional fields.

Johnson and I both believe adequate representation and active mentoring can change that and create pipelines.

When Dr. Patterson met the young Johnson as a boy, he had no idea he was mentoring, he told me. He also grew up on the South Side. And he went into medicine because he was impressed by a pediatrician  also a black man. So when Patterson met Johnson, he wanted his interaction to have an impact.

I told him just to believe in himself. There will always be naysayers, but keep on, Patterson said.

Patterson said he has one final wish for Johnson.

All Im interested in is him paying it forward, he said.

With his book, Johnson is hoping to do just that.
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration says it is amenable to a White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising the prospect of the Russian presidents first Washington visit in more than a decade even as relations between the two powers have eroded.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House was among a number of potential venues discussed in Trumps telephone call last month with Putin. The Kremlin said earlier Monday that Trump invited Putin during the call.

Both sides said they hadnt started preparations for such a visit.

If it happens, Putin would be getting the honor of an Oval Office tete-a-tete for the first time since he met President George W. Bush at the White House in 2005. Alarms rang in diplomatic and foreign policy circles over the prospect that Trump might offer Putin that venue without confronting him about Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election or allegations that Russia masterminded the March 4 nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent.

It would confer a certain normalization of relations and were certainly not in a normal space, said Alina Polyakova, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution. Nothing about this is normal.

Much has happened since Trump and Putin spoke in the March 20 phone call. Trump said afterward he hoped to meet with Putin in the not too distant future to discuss the nuclear arms race and other matters. But their call was followed by reports that Trump had been warned in briefing materials not to congratulate the Russian president on his re-election but did so anyway.

Since the call, two dozen countries, including the U.S. and many European Union nations, and NATO expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, the former spy, and his daughter Yulia. Moscow has denied any involvement in the nerve attack and retaliated by expelling the same number of diplomats from each nation.

Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters Monday that when the two leaders spoke by phone, Trump suggested to have the first meeting in Washington, in the White House, calling it a quite interesting and positive idea.

Ushakov voiced hope that tensions resulting from the diplomatic expulsions wouldnt derail discussions about a summit.

Trump has said maintaining a strong personal relationship with Putin is in the U.S. interest and has signaled to allies that he trusts his own instincts in dealing with the Russian president.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions, said Trump raised the possibility of a White House meeting in a casual, open-ended fashion during the call. The official reiterated that no extensive preparations had taken place.

Talk of a White House summit comes as Trump is preparing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undetermined location. White House welcomes are typically reserved for friends and allies.

Trump has avoided criticizing Putin personally even as his administration has crossed Moscow by providing Ukraine with lethal weapons and upholding Obama-era sanctions against Russia and its shuttering of diplomatic outposts.

Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, said the symbolism of Putin standing in the East Room with the president at a news conference would be a major goal for the Russian leader. The only reason you should do it is if youre going to obtain a concrete objective that serves Americas national security interest before the meeting, he said.

McFaul said he feared that Trump thinks that a good meeting with Putin is the objective of his foreign policy with Russia. That should never be the objective. That should be the means to achieve things that are actually of importance to the United States.

Trump had already fallen under sharp criticism from some Republican lawmakers for congratulating Putin on his re-election during the call and for not raising the ex-spys poisoning. The fact that Trump also extended a White House invitation during that call was likely to increase concerns that Trump, when in direct contact with Putin, is inclined to offer olive branches and reluctant to raise difficult issues.

I worry that Trump wittingly or unwittingly may be sending a more positive signal to Putin than he deserves, said Nicholas Burns, a top State Department official during the Bush administration who also served as U.S. ambassador to NATO.

Russias disclosure of the invitation came the day before the leaders of three Baltic countries  Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia  were to visit the White House. The three NATO nations are seen as a bulwark against Russias aspirations of extended influence west of its border.

Trump has met Putin twice as president, at the Group of 20 summit in Germany last summer and briefly at the Asia-Pacific economic summit in Vietnam in November.

Putin, who was president of Russia once before, visited the White House in 2005, when Bush welcomed him in the East Room as my friend.

Putin has been to other parts of the U.S. frequently in recent years, including a visit to the Bush family compound in Maine. Putins meetings with Obama occurred at international summits and along the sidelines of the United Nations gathering in New York.

Obama met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the White House in 2010, when the pair also chowed down on burgers at a popular hamburger joint outside the capital.

__

Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Josh Lederman in Washington contributed to this report.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

This story has been edited from an earlier version to correct a word in a quote from Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group. Comment from museum officials in Japan also has been added, from the Associated Press.



SANTA FE  The leadership of the Los Alamos History Museum has decided against hosting a Japanese exhibition on the history of the U.S. bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki over concerns about its presentation about abolishing nuclear weapons.

Los Alamos Historical Society Executive Director Heather McClenahan said that, contrary to a Saturday report in the English-language Japan Times newspaper, her museum in the town where nuclear weapons were first developed never had official plans to host the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Exhibition.

McClenahan said that the staff of the Los Alamos museum was first provided with information and began preliminary talks in January about the traveling exhibit and a grant from the United States-Japan Foundation to support it.

McClenahan said the Historical Society had only a week between receiving word about potentially hosting the exhibit in 2019 and the grant applications due date. The Historical Societys board of directors, she said, decided there wasnt enough time to address points the exhibition raises about abolishing nuclear weapons.

They didnt feel like they had enough time to make a wise decision on everything, she said. They felt there needed to be more conversation (and) more context provided.

During World War II, Los Alamos was the site of the governments secret Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bombs. In August 1945, one was dropped over Hiroshima and one over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 150,000 people right away and causing the deaths of many thousands more from aftereffects.

But the bombings approved by then-President Harry S. Truman forced Japan to surrender six days after the bombing of Nagasaki, ending the world war without what was projected to be a difficult, drawn-out invasion of the island country.

McClenahan said the concern over the Hiroshima-Nagasaki exhibit was what she described as a lack of context about how to actually abolish nuclear weapons. She said there needed to be information on what it would take to achieve that goal, on topics such as how world leaders would stop rogue nations and dictators from acquiring and using nuclear bombs.

She said addressing those points was important in the hometown of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

This is a scientific community, McClenahan said. This community wants answers to things like that. Its what they work on every day. Part of our role is to tell the story of Los Alamos, and thats part of the story.

McClenehan said the choice not to move forward now on hosting the Hiroshima-Nakasaki exhibit does not mean the exhibition cant come to the museum in the future. She said conversations are ongoing and the museum wants to work with the organizers in Japan on ways the exhibit could provide additional information.

We do realize museums are places where people can talk about controversial issues, she said. So we can continue our dialogue and figure out ways to move forward.

According to a web page for the traveling exhibition, it has been shown at galleries and museums in more than 13 countries and in American cities including Washington D.C., New York and Chicago. The exhibit includes survivor testimony, artifacts of damage from the bombings and films that call for nuclear weapons abolition.

Comment from Japanese officials

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum official Tomonori Nitta told the Associated Press that officials there were informed by the Los Alamos museum in mid-February that its board meeting turned down a current plan and that the Japanese museum missed a deadline for funding needed to hold an exhibit in 2019.

The sides also failed to reach consensus on nuclear disarmament details to be included as part of the event, Nitta said.

Nitta said that it is mainly up to the Los Alamos side to figure out ways to resolve the issue, and that he hoped that an exhibit can still happen sometime after 2019.

If 2019 doesnt work, we still hope to achieve an exhibit at a later occasion, Nitta said. We will continue to cooperate so that we can clear the hurdles and hold an exhibit.

Takatoshi Hayama, an official at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, said no details have been decided and that officials are still hoping to put on an exhibit.

We only wish people from around the world to see our exhibit and learn the reality of atomic bombings and their consequences, he told the AP from Nagasaki.

The website for the exhibit, which was organized by the two Japanese museums, says, In order to convey the realities of the atomic bombings and the present status of nuclear issues in the hope of arousing international sentiment toward nuclear abolition, the exhibition is hosted in one or two cities overseas a year mainly in nuclear nations, suspected nuclear nations, and cities active in nuclear abolition campaigns.

Greg Mello of the Albuquerque-based Los Alamos Study Group, a frequent LANL critic, said LANL doesnt want anyone telling them that what theyre doing is running against the tide of history.

McClenahan said the local museum is separate from the lab. She also noted that parts of the museum address Manhattan Project employees being conflicted about their work as well as the bombs effects on Japan.

Were open to ideas and conversations and use our museums as a space to talk about these ideas, not to hide from them, she said.

A representative of the United States-Japan Foundation said no one was available to comment.
OKLAHOMA CITY  A teacher rebellion in red states from West Virginia to Arizona has put Republicans on the defensive, forcing them to walk a fine line in the months before midterm elections between placating constituents who are angry over education cuts and conservative supporters who want a smaller government and low taxes.

In Oklahoma, most Republicans last week broke with the party orthodoxy and endorsed hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increases to fund public schools and give teachers a raise of 15 to 18 percent.

They acted after Oklahoma teachers demanded action, inspired by a nine-day strike in West Virginia, where they won a 5 percent raise. The rebellion also has spread to Kentucky where teachers thronged the state Capitol Monday to protest cuts in pensions. And in Arizona, restive teachers also are demanding a 20 percent pay raise.

But the epicenter of the revolt now is Oklahoma, where lawmakers got little praise for approving major tax increases and instead caught flak from both sides of the political divide. Thousands of teachers converged on the state Capitol for a second day Tuesday demanding even more money, while anti-tax conservatives vowed to challenge incumbents who supported the plan.

Ive had some political blowback, people saying this will be my last term in office, said Rep. Kyle Hilbert, a Republican from rural northeast Oklahoma, who has gotten an earful from conservatives. Id rather serve one term and know I did what was best for my district.

The Oklahoma strike showed no signs of ending, with many of the largest school districts in the state planning to close for a third consecutive day on Wednesday to honor the walkout.

Some Republicans are trying to express their sympathy for the teachers. Three weeks before a closely watched special election for an open congressional seat in Arizona, Republican hopeful Debbie Lesko is running a TV ad that shows her reading a book to children as she vows to fix our schools and give our teachers the raise they deserve.

As he runs for a second term, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in Arizona epitomizes the dilemma for GOP candidates in 2018. He refuses to raise taxes and finds himself on the defensive amid growing frustration with education funding in a state where the budget was decimated during the recession and where he and other leaders have dramatically expanded voucher programs. Teachers have been filling the Capitol to protest a Ducey plan to provide a 2 percent raise for teachers, and they have been joined by the two Democrats trying to unseat him.

The protests also have emboldened teachers across the country to run for office. In Kentucky, teachers bruised by their fight over education pensions are preparing to mobilize to support legislative candidates they see as passing a key test: support for education. About two dozen educators or former educators are running for office this year, most of them as Democrats.

For the Democratic Party, which has been losing legislative seats in many of these red states for years, the intensity of the education movement is an opportunity. The Oklahoma Democratic Party set up a tent outside the Capitol during the teacher protests and urged demonstrators to register to vote.

I think the people who will be held responsible at the end of the day are the people in power, said Party Chairwoman Anna Langthorn. I think we have a lot of momentum.

Xavier Turner, 17, the student body president at Del City High School in suburban Oklahoma City, held a sign at the protest Tuesday saying: Id take KD back before Mary Fallin, showing his preference for NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors, over the Oklahoma governor who is term-limited and not running in 2018. Hes not quite old enough to vote, but Turner said that as young people register, they will remember who stood with their teachers.

We just need to do better as far as the Legislature and who we vote in, Turner said Tuesday after joining the protest outside the Oklahoma Capitol. The national spotlight is on Oklahoma. Hopefully it goes well.

Democrats already have made some gains in Oklahoma, winning four seats from Republicans in special elections in the past year, including two teachers elected to office after campaigning on improving school funding. But they are still deep in the minority in the Legislature.

Recent U.S. history is mixed on whether such grassroots movements can translate into victories at the ballot box. Teachers were at the heart of massive protests at the Wisconsin state Capitol in 2011, fighting a proposal from then-newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Despite the closure of schools for four days as part of a coordinated sick-out among teachers, a bill that placed severe restrictions on unions passed anyway. An attempted recall of Walker in 2012 led to an even wider margin of victory than he enjoyed in the regular election in 2010.

Kansas is a more encouraging example for teachers. After Republicans there approved massive personal income tax cuts beginning in 2012, budget shortfalls put a lid on education funding increases. A backlash against the tax cuts led to the defeat of about two dozen conservative state lawmakers, and the Legislature last year reversed many of the cuts.

Pat McFerron, a Republican strategist and pollster in Oklahoma, said for many GOP incumbents who voted for the tax-hike plan to fund teacher pay raises, their greatest concern is a right-wing primary challenge. Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, a hero of the anti-tax movement, urged citizens to challenge their Republican legislators who voted for the plan.

But Carri Hicks, a fourth-grade math and science teacher in the Oklahoma City suburb of Deer Creek, said she decided to run as a Democrat for a state Senate seat this year in part because of the declines in funding for public schools.

I want to be a voice for the teachers at the state Capitol, Hicks said, saying the raise for teachers and more money for education was a good first step. My campaign continues to finish the job.

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This version of the story corrects the day Xavier Turner was holding the sign to Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

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Associated Press writers Melissa Daniels in Phoenix, Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky, Tim Talley and Adam Kealoha Causey in Oklahoma City, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

Police say 16-year-old Brandon Caballeros had been hanging out with his friends Sunday night  driving out to the West Side so someone could buy them beer before returning to a mobile home park off Trumbull and Wyoming SE to smoke marijuana.

Thats where the teens were Monday morning when a 15-year-old who owed Caballeros $40 showed up.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, after Carlos Rodriguez told Caballeros he didnt have money to repay him, the older teen pulled out a handgun and shot the youth in the chest, fatally injuring him.

Caballeros is charged with murder and tampering with evidence and was booked into the juvenile detention center Monday night. He is being tried as an adult.

He had been taken into custody, along with four other teenagers, around 10 a.m. after police arrived at the Wyoming Terrace-Plaza mobile home park to find Rodriguez with a gunshot wound. Police said the group had carried the teenager from a mobile home to the parks entrance in order to conceal the crime scene.

Rodriguez, who lived with his family across the street, died a short time later at University of New Mexico Hospital.

By the next day, a memorial of flowers, candles and balloons had cropped up around a tree near the parks entrance, and several family members and friends gathered to pay their respects throughout the afternoon.

One of those friends, Monique Avalos, 20, said Rodriguez had grown up in the neighborhood with his sisters and was quick to make people laugh or smile. She said he was good friends with her younger brother and many of the other teenagers who lived in the mobile home park.

Avalos said Rodriguez attended a charter school.

A spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Public Schools district said Caballeros had gone to Highland High School before transferring to a charter school last year.

Fatal Encounter

When detectives questioned Caballeros friends, they said the group of teenage boys had gotten together the night before the shooting.

One boy said he had picked up Caballeros and another friend and they all hung out at the mobile home before going to find someone to buy them beer, since they are under 21. They said they eventually returned to the mobile home park, where they continued to drink beer and smoke marijuana until they fell asleep.

Early Monday morning, Rodriguez and another friend arrived.

BC asked the victim if he had the $40 that he had previously loaned him, the detective wrote in the complaint. The victim told BC he did not have anything for him. As the victim, CR, was standing near the bed, BC pulled out a handgun pointed at the victim and pulled the trigger, shooting the victim.

The group of friends decided to take Rodriguez outside and hid the handgun in a cinder block wall, according to the complaint. One neighbor told police that she tried to help them give the youth CPR and realized the wound appeared to have been cleaned and had little to no blood around it.

Officers searched the mobile home where they said the shooting occurred and found blood stains on the floor and on the bed and a strong odor of marijuana, according to the complaint.

Several adults in the home Tuesday told the Journal they didnt want to talk about the shooting.

When detectives interviewed Caballeros he told them he had loaned Rodriguez money two days before the shooting and felt he had been ripped off. He said he had used his .45-caliber handgun to shoot Rodriguez, according to the complaint.

Its unclear from the complaint where Caballeros got a gun, and police spokesmen did not answer questions about it Tuesday.

Caballeros made his first appearance in Metropolitan Court on Tuesday afternoon as his family watched tearfully from the audience.

The District Attorneys Office has asked for Caballeros to be held in jail until his trial, citing the seriousness of the crime as well as a history relating to drug or alcohol abuse, criminal history, and record concerning appearance at court proceedings. That motion will be heard in the 2nd Judicial District Court.

Neither Caballeros family nor his public defender wanted to comment about him or the case.
LAS CRUCES  Family members of a slain Garfield couple almost filled an entire Las Cruces courtroom on Monday as they watched the suspects in the double-murder case make their first court appearances following their arrests last week.

Luis Flores, 29, and Cristal Cardenas, 30, both of Las Cruces, were arrested on March 28 in the slayings of Vanessa Rodriguez Mora, 32, and Mario Cabral, 34, who were found shot dead on March 25 in their mobile home in the 3200 block of Carriage Hills in the unincorporated community of Garfield, north of Hatch.

Flores and Cardenas were each charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a first-degree felony and criminal solicitation, according to the Dona Ana County Sheriffs Office. Details of the slayings have not been released to the public at the request of the 3rd Judicial Districts Attorneys Office.

Family members appeared visibly shaken and many shed tears as Flores and Cardenas made separate, back-to-back initial appearances in 3rd Judicial District Court.

Flores and Cardenas, represented by public defenders, each entered formal not-guilty pleas. Aside for answering yes or no to questions from the judge, the suspects did not speak during their hearings.

Remaining behind bars

Prior to the hearings, the District Attorneys Office filed pretrial detention motions in each case asking the court to keep Flores and Cardenas in custody without bail until trial, arguing they pose dangers to the public and flight risks if released on bail.

Jennifer Birmingham, who represented Flores, and Todd Holmes, who represented Cardenas, each told the court that they had little time to review to the motions because they had been filed just that morning.

Still, Birmingham stipulated to holding Flores without bond until, or if, she files a motion to reconsider bond at a later date. Because the motion in Flores case was stipulated, it was granted by Judge Conrad Perea, who presided over both hearings.

Holmes, however, requested additional time for prepare arguments in Cardenas hearing, waiving time limits associated with pretrial detention rules. Her pretrial detention hearing was rescheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday in Pereas courtroom. Until then, Cardenas will remain in custody without bond, Perea ruled.

She and Flores are being held at the Dona Ana County Detention Center.

After the hearings, one of Cabrals sisters, Yuliana Cabral, expressed relief that the suspects in her loved ones slayings would remain behind bars, at least for now.

This is what we wanted. This is what we were waiting for because, obviously, they have enough evidence against them, she said.

Miscarriage, then murder

Cabral said this was her first time seeing Flores and Cardenas in person since their arrests. Cardenas had been married to one of her other brothers, she said, but the marriage had ended.

She said Cardenas had been part of her family for about eight years, adding that Flores had been Cardenas longtime lover even when she was married to her brother.

We didnt see any reaction (from) Luis, except looking around and looking at the family. He knows my brother and Vanessa had a lot of support from the whole family, Cabral said, but looking at Cristals smirk on her face was just another slap at our faces again.

Cabral said her brother Mario and Mora were not married but had been in a relationship. They each had their children and were expecting their first child together, Cabral said.

But days before the slayings, Mora experienced a miscarriage, she said. She was about five months pregnant, according to Cabral.

And now this, she said, we had to go through that pain once and now again for two people  for two people that were loved; two people that will be loved; and people that will never be forgotten.

She added: We want justice. We want justice for the both of them because nobody deserves this. Nobody deserves what we are going through.

Carlos Andres Lopez can be reached 575-541-5453, carlopez@lcsun-news.com or @carlopez_los on Twitter.



2018 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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HENNIKER, N.H.  Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Tuesday that he doesnt know if he will run for president again but that in the meantime hes trying to be a voice that brings about stability and objectivity in our country.

Kasich spoke at New England College in New Hampshire, the state where a second-place finish in the 2016 presidential primaries gave him a boost in national popularity. The former Republican candidate said any decision on mounting another White House bid would come at least nine months from now, after he finishes his second term as Ohio governor.

However, the term-limited official said earlier Tuesday that all my options are on the table.

When asked about gun violence and school safety, Kasich praised the push for stricter gun laws by students who survived Februarys mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Have you seen them on television the last couple of weeks? Have you ever seen more articulate young people? Kasich said. And shame on the adults who are attacking them. Theyre incredible people. And they give us hope.

Last month, Kasich introduced a six-point plan in Ohio to reduce gun violence, including tighter background checks for gun buyers.

I can tell you in my state, Im not going quietly on this, Kasich told the 150 people in the audience. But he added, We dont want to denigrate people who believe so firmly in the Second Amendment.

The event at New England College, the Presidents Speaker Series, came at the end of a full day of media interviews and meetings with supporters and advisers from Kasichs 2016 campaign in New Hampshire.

The governor also met with New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu at the beginning of the day. Two months after he ended his presidential bid, Kasich returned to New Hampshire to endorse Sununu during the states 2016 GOP gubernatorial primary.

Kasich praised Sununu, saying I met with him today and I have to tell you I was really impressed.

Kasich wasnt the only potential 2020 presidential contender in the Granite State on Tuesday. Former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley  a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate  spoke earlier at Politics and Eggs at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. The speakers series is a must stop for White House hopefuls.

OMalley urged Democrats to end their pity party over losing the presidency and face the future. He said he thinks the party has a chance to win majorities in Congress in Novembers midterm elections if it focuses on restoring trust in democracy and preparing children to succeed in a changing economy.
An Albuquerque man ended up with a bullet in his buttocks after police say he was caught burglarizing a northeast area home Tuesday.

Police spokesman Simon Drobik said officers responded to a break-in in the 7100 block of Oralee NE, where 47-year-old Michael Dunn had been shot in rear by the homeowners boyfriend, Carlos Vasquez, after threatening him with a box cutter.

Dunn, a homeless man, was released from the hospital and booked into jail by Tuesday night. He is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

It appears the homeowner was defending himself and will not be charged at this time, Drobik said.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Judith Burkhalter, owner of the unoccupied home, had several recent break-ins and hired a company to clean up the mess made by burglars.

Police say when Burkhalter sent Vasquez to meet the cleaners, Dunn was inside the home.

Vasquez told police he armed himself with a pistol and entered the home, finding Dunn trying to escape out a back door.

Police say Vasquez confronted Dunn, who dropped a bag and put his hands in the air before trying to escape again andfinallypulling out a box cutter on Vasquez.

Vasquez told police he hit Dunn over the head with the pistol after Dunn lunged at him with the box cutter.

Police say Vasquez then fired a round to scare Dunn but ended up shooting him.

He did not have any intention of actually shooting (Dunn), an officer wrote in the complaint. (Dunn) happened to jump in front of him when the shot was fired.

At the hospital, Dunn told police he was sleeping in a back bedroom of the house and did not break in.

Police say they found a car, registered to Dunn, outside the home with some of Burkhalters clothing in the back seat.

Outside of the car tucked away in some bushes was a large flat screen TV and a backpack, an officer wrote.

Albuquerque police couldnt provide a tally of burglars shot by homeowners, but the Journal has reported on at least four such occasions in the past six months  three of them deadly.

In November, police say Warren Wild shot 21-year-old Rodolfo Serrano-Urais in both legs when Serrano-Urais tried to flee after burglarizing his property with another man.

Others werent so lucky.

Two days before Christmas, 24-year-old Edward Ortega-Landros was shot to death, in what police called a justifiable homicide, by another man after breaking into an ex-girlfriends apartment.

More recently, Billy Ogaldez shot Juan Perdomo, 20, three times, killing him, during a home invasion last month.

In a similar scenario to Ortega-Landros, another man shot 24-year-old Zachary Sais dead when Sais broke into his ex-girlfriends northeast Albuquerque apartment.
Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

William Paul Alexander was a gifted cheesecake baker who had big plans to open a cafe on Central.

He found a location close to the University of New Mexico and came up with a name: Felony Cafe, reads a large sign painted on the west side of the building, It is a crime it tastes so good.

So that was his dream, the Felony Cafe, said Michael Patrick, spokesman for the District Attorneys Office. It never went any further than the paint on the exterior.

Instead, Alexander was charged in June 2016 in the bludgeoning death of 29-year-old Tiffany Boyer.

And on Tuesday, he was sentenced to life plus 36 years in prison after a jury in January found him guilty of first-degree murder and lesser charges. As he handed down the sentence, 2nd Judicial District Judge Brett Loveless said the case spoke to the abhorrent brutality humanity is capable of.

Alexanders three co-defendants, whom his attorney referred to as a cast of deplorables, have already been sentenced for their roles in the crime.

According to prosecutors, in August 2015, the group took Boyer to a home in Northeast Albuquerque where she and her boyfriend were held for several hours. She was beaten and killed, and her body was dumped close to Mountainair.

Police have said that Boyer was targeted because the group believed she played a role in the death of their friend, Robert Machete Bob McGuire. McGuire was killed  possibly with a crossbow  shortly after Boyer accused him of rape. Prosecutors have said that Alexander was the primary bad actor in the murder.

Alexanders attorney, Liane Kerr, argued during Tuesdays sentencing hearing that there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence incriminating her client, who around the same time had been trying to open a business that would employ people convicted of crimes.

He, by all accounts, baked wonderful cheesecakes, Kerr said in court. His idea was, Lets get jobs for these folks, well call it the Felony Cafe. I will hire people who have gotten out of custody who want to make their lives better. 

In his own statement to the judge, the 58-year-old mentioned his restaurant plans and denied killing Boyer.

I was trying to help people, Alexander said. I wasnt trying to hurt Tiffany.

Prosecutor Sean Sullivan said he was shocked to hear Alexander refusing to take responsibility for the crime.

Hes not a small-business owner, hes a murderer, Sullivan said after asking the judge to hand down the maximum sentence. This isnt about cheesecake, its about a life, and he took Tiffany Boyers life.

Boyers father, Blair, said the sentence came as a relief to his family. He has previously described his daughter as a sassy and strong-willed mother of two who was quick to help others.

This is the day we can finally close the book on this story and truly begin to heal, Boyer said in court.

Tuesdays hearing effectively brings the nearly three-year-old case to a close. No arrests have been made in McGuires death.

As for the would-be Felony Cafe, the property owner said Tuesday he is in the process of repainting the building, which currently features painted yellow police tape that reads crime scene and come on in. He said the tenant abruptly abandoned the project a few years ago.
Army chief off to Congo and South Sudan

Chief of Army Staff General Rajendra Chhetri embarked on an official one-week visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan on Monday.
WASHINGTON  A Dutch attorney who lied to federal agents investigating former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison in the first punishment handed down in the special counsels Russia investigation. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

Alex van der Zwaans sentence could set a guidepost for what other defendants charged with lying in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation may receive when their cases are resolved. Among them are a former White House national security adviser and a Trump campaign foreign policy aide.

Van der Zwaan, 33, had faced up to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, and his attorneys had pushed for him to pay a fine and leave the country.

But U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, citing the need to deter others from lying in an investigation of international importance, said incarceration was necessary.

These were not mistakes. These were lies, Jackson told van der Zwaan as he stood before her. Being able to write a check and walk away, she added later, would not fit the seriousness of the crime or send the right message.

The criminal case against van der Zwaan is not directly related to Russian election interference, the main focus of Muellers probe. But it has revealed new details about the governments case against Manafort and opened a window into the intersecting universes of international law, foreign consulting work and politics.

The case has also exposed connections between senior Trump campaign aides, including Rick Gates, and Russia. Just last week, the government disclosed that van der Zwaan and Gates spoke during the 2016 presidential campaign with a man Gates had previously described as having ties to the GRU, Russias military intelligence agency. Gates is now cooperating with Mueller.

During the hearing Tuesday, van der Zwaan made only a brief statement, telling Jackson, Your Honor, what I did was wrong. I apologize to the court. I apologize to my wife.

Van der Zwaan, who was fired last year by the high-powered international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, admitted in February to lying to federal agents about his contacts with Gates and the person with ties to Russian intelligence.

Van der Zwaan had previously grown close to Manafort, Gates and the person, Konstantin Kilimnik, during his work on a 2012 report commissioned by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. The report, written by the law firm, was about the corruption trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Kilimnik, who was born in Ukraine while it was a Soviet republic, has previously denied having any relation to Russian intelligence services.

Though prosecutors did not take a position on whether van der Zwaan should be locked up, they stressed that he had lied repeatedly to investigators. This is not an isolated instance of bad judgment or criminal conduct, prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said.

Van der Zwaans attorneys argued that he had suffered enough already. His life has been destroyed by his terrible decision to lie to federal authorities, they said. The attorneys pushed Jackson to allow van der Zwaan to return to London, where he lives with his wife, who is going through a difficult pregnancy.

He has been here well over four months without a home, without his wife and without his family, his attorney, William Schwartz, said. He is literally in limbo.

Schwartz stressed that his client had made the effort to return to the U.S. to correct the record after he lied to the special counsels office, though prosecutors took issue with the characterization, noting that van der Zwaan was under a grand jury subpoena at the time.

Jackson said she recognized that van der Zwaan has been away from his family for months, but the defenses attempts to paint him as a tragic figure didnt ring true.

This is not something that happened to him. He did not suffer unavoidable circumstances of tragedy. This is something he did, she said.

Jackson also said his signs of remorse were relatively muted. He didnt write a letter to the judge, as his family and friends did, and hasnt used his time in the U.S. to perform community service or other good deeds to make up for his actions, she said.

In addition to the prison time and fine, Jackson imposed two months of supervised released. She allowed him to voluntarily surrender to prison authorities.

The sentencing came just hours after another development in the special counsels investigation.

In a court filing late Monday, prosecutors revealed that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had in August explicitly authorized the special counsel to investigate allegations that Manafort colluded with the Russian government.

Manafort has challenged Muellers authority and asked a judge to dismiss charges against him that include acting as an unregistered foreign agent and conspiring to launder tens of millions of dollars he received from his Ukrainian political consulting. He said Mueller overstepped his bounds by charging him for conduct that occurred years before the 2016 presidential election.

But in their new filing , prosecutors revealed that Rosenstein  who appointed Mueller  specifically authorized the investigation of any crimes related to payments Manafort received from the Ukrainian government during the tenure of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The description largely captures the charges against him.

Rosenstein also empowered Mueller to investigate allegations Manafort committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials to interfere with the presidential election.

None of the charges Manafort faces alleges coordination with the Kremlin. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing related to Russian election interference.

___

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

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Follow Chad Day on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChadSDay
In a major move to check the increasing instances of fake news in various mediums, including print and electronic media, the Government has amended the Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists.

Now, on receiving any complaints of such instances of fake news, the same would get referred to the Press Council of India (PCI) if it pertains to print media and to the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) if it relates to electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not. These agencies are required to decide within 15 days whether a news item is fake or not.

Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the journalist whoever created or propagated the fake news will, if accredited, have the accreditation suspended till such time the determination regarding the fake news is made by the PCI or NBA.

The new guidelines stated, While examining the requests seeking accreditation, the regulatory agencies will examine whether the Norms of Journalistic Conduct and Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards prescribed by the PCI and NBA, respectively, are adhered to by the journalists as part of their functioning. It would be obligatory for journalists to abide by these guidelines.

The Accreditation Committee of the PIB, which consists of representative of both PCI and NBA, shall be invariably be reached out to for validating any accreditation request of any news media agency.

While any confirmation of publication or telecast of fake news having been confirmed by any of these agencies, the accreditation shall be suspended for a period of 6 months in the first violation and for one year in the case of second violation and in the event of third violation, it would be cancelled permanently, the guidelines added.

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Juan De La Cruz sees no needs to make perfect sense of the world.

I prefer not to make rational what is irrational, he says.

De La Cruz, who lives in Veracruz, Mexico, was named a winner of the Latin American Fotografia 6 competition for The Labyrinth, a complex project in which, as he puts it, Ive been capturing and filtering my personal emotions and my life's experiences, the different cultural, political and social nuances of Mexico, searching, finding and recognizing each one of them.

The work, steeped in mystery, searches for the energy of life in Mexico, often focusing on festivals and celebrations, including the Mexican Day of the Dead, the pilgrimage to the Virgin of Guadalupe and indigenous Totonaca rituals. His journey of self discovery is inextricably linked to his understanding of Mexico, noted the Bistro Latino blog in January.

I want to find the Mexican lifestyle and find myself in it, De La Cruz told writer Helen Brown. When I go to these kinds of festivals, I arrive with my own personal point of view, always questioning each moment, but if I want the magic of these celebrations to reveal itself to me, I need to be part of them, open my mind without question, let myself flow with the energy of the chaos."



De La Cruz is not a full-time professional photographer. Rather, he says, he uses photography as a way to find out answers about my existence on this earth.

His path toward photography began in 2004, when he took a workshop in Oaxaca with photographer Ernesto Bazan during the Day of the Dead celebrations. From then on I started exploring Mexican culture through my emotions and these images have been mostly taken in traditional celebrations in Oaxaca and Veracruz, he says.

Im really taking photos because I love the cinema and, at the same time, Im Mexican and I like through photography to know my reality and to find out the roots that link me to this Mexican culture.



In part, the title of the project refers to a landmark of Mexican literature. In 2007, I found Octavio Pazs The Labyrinth of Solitude, reflections that he wrote in 1955 which are still alive among Mexicans now in 2018, De La Cruz told Bistro Latino. Afterwards I read other Mexican writers such as Carlos Fuentes and, recently, Juan Rulfo. I have also been inspired by the writing of Garcia Marquez, Jose Saramago and Leonardo Padura. For me, their books convey a very Latin American perspective, which has helped me in moulding my project. Maybe we Mexicans were all born with a degree of questioning, and a sensation of feeling lost.

In my images I try to let each moment flow, he says. I love to show symbols, conventional elements with a great contextual information that question me on why to accept them. The human element is always important; in it I always see myself and, at the same time, I judge myself. I let the universe unfold and all of sudden in a place I wait for the appropriate moment, which sometimes doesnt materialize. But when it arrives, wow! I shoot it!"

These days, he says, he often shoots with a Holga camera in medium format and with a Rolleiflex in 35mm format. In both cameras you cannot control all the settings to get the right exposure, but I like this because from my personal point of view, life is like this: you cannot control it all. At the same time, these cameras let me feel the light, he says.

Mexico is a big universe that refuses to cease, De La Cruz told Bistro Latino. I know that maybe I will need several lives to fully fathom it, but really I am not in a hurry, I will try to understand my human condition in this life.
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At least two pacts to be signed

In a bid to improve connectivity, people-to-people contact and boosting bilateral trade, Nepal and India are likely to ink a pact for extending the Indian railway up to Kathmandu.
Jordan said April 1 that it will reconsider its decision to suspend its free trade agreement with Turkey if Ankara agrees to specific conditions. The agreement has been in effect since early 2011.

Last month, Jordan announced it would suspend what it termed a lopsided free trade agreement beginning in September unless the two sides can iron out their differences. The Jordanian Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply said the decision was necessary to avoid further negative effects on the Jordanian industrial sector in light of unequal competition.

A senior Turkish diplomat told Al-Monitor, There are three areas that we are working on: evening out the balance of trade between the two countries, increasing the extent of Turkish investments in Jordan and simplifying the rules of the free trade agreement.

Turkey has said in the past that it is willing to consider those very proposals, officials in Ankara said. There is good reason to be hopeful, as Jafar Hassan, the Jordanian deputy prime minister and state minister for economic affairs, met March 20 with Turkish members of the Jordanian-Turkish Business Council to discuss further investment opportunities in Jordan. Ankara said then it was optimistic that the terms can be renegotiated.

According to data from the Ministry of Economy, Turkey's exports to Jordan in 2016 stood at $710 million and Jordanian exports to Turkey at $102 million. Jordan also has strong trade imbalances with other countries; in addition, Turkey is not among Jordan's top five trade partners.

Jordan has repeatedly warned Turkey about the trade imbalance.

The countries became closer after the controversial decision late last year by the United States to support Israel's claim on Jerusalem as its capital and to relocate the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv. Given the wars in Syria and Iraq, the increasing number of refugees in the region and Turkey's deep fears of isolation, Jordan and Turkey have also found other ways to boost relations. For example, they announced Feb. 21 that they had signed a military cooperation agreement.

Al-Monitor reported Feb. 27 that Turkey had agreed to exempt 500 Jordanian goods from customs duties following several high-level visits between the two countries.

However, Ankara still faces four main challenges involving renegotiating the free trade agreement with Jordan.

 First is Turkey's conflict with Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have not been pleased with Turkey's support of Qatar, and also have influence over Jordan. In reaction to President Donald's Trump decision on Jerusalem, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, where member states condemned the US action in December. The Jordanian king was present, but Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, along with Egypt, sent no high-level representatives. The Saudi-led Gulf alliance has been on rather good terms with the Trump administration. Because Jordan feels badly bruised by the United States over the Jerusalem decision, even while signing a five-year memorandum of understanding in February, Jordan has been inching toward Turkey; however, analysts say the Saudi bloc does not want to allow this. Shortly after the summit, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) argued publicly about what the latter says is Turkey's desire to revive the Ottoman legacy on the Arabian peninsula. Since then, the Turkish press has not missed an opportunity to emphasize anti-Turkish sentiments emanating from the UAE, such as the call from the Emiratis for the Saudis and Egyptians to unite against Turkey and Iran, or for the UAE and Egypt to support the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist group. Turkey has incessantly criticized the US backing of the People's Protection Units, which is considered the PKK's extension in northern Syria.

 The second obstacle is the struggle to establish a balance against predominantly Shiite Iran. The more Arab countries snub Turkey, the more Turkey is led to cooperate with Iran, and given the difficulties Turkish-Iranian relations face on multiple fronts (for example, the Syrian civil war and Iran's expanding influence there), an alliance with Jordan could prove attractive for Ankara. Musa Ozugurlu, a seasoned journalist specializing in Middle Eastern politics, told Al-Monitor, Trumps decision to favor Saudi Arabia, and all the problems Turkey is going through with the United States, makes life rather challenging for Ankara. Turkey under Erdogans leadership  calling for Sunni unity and leadership of the Muslim world  is a source of serious rivalry. On March 7, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Turkey, along with Iran and Islamic radicals, the "triangle of evil."

 The third hurdle is rivalry for influence in Arab countries and Africa. Saudi Arabia's desire to be the unquestioned leader of the Sunni Arab world means that the loyalties of a small yet crucial kingdom such as Jordan are coveted. The Syrian, Iraqi and Yemeni wars, continuous unrest in many parts of the Middle East and Africa, the region's masses of young people and an increasing availability of guns have all generated a competition for influence. In 2009, Turkey dreamed of establishing a visa-free area between it and Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, later to include Iran and Iraq. While that dream ended, there is now stiff rivalry when it comes to arms sales to and control of militias. At the end of December, Turkey acquired a 99-year lease from Sudan for Suakin Island, increasing Turkey's presence in the Red Sea. This move has unnerved the countries that identify themselves as "the Arab Anti-Terror Quartet" (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain). Turkeys relations with African nations are flourishing. Not everyone is happy about such developments, and this could cause problems for Turkish-Jordanian relations.

 The fourth challenge is financial. Turkey wants Jordanian markets but faces roadblocks posed by Gulf countries. Since March 2016, Turkey and Jordan have been trying to plan, without success, a maritime route between Turkish ports (Iskenderun) and Jordan's port of Aqaba to reach out to Gulf markets. Yet without political compromises, economic cooperation does not seem sustainable in the region. Turkish Airlines restarted direct flights March 19 between Istanbul and Aqaba. Intriguingly, also in March, the Saudi crown prince was in Cairo discussing the proposed multibillion-dollar King Salman Bridge to link Egypt and Saudi Arabia through the entrance of the Gulf of Aqaba; some see this as a reaction to the Aqaba flights and the maritime route project. During his visit March 12 to the Jordanian capital of Amman, the UAE foreign minister reportedly promised to help Jordan with its various economic challenges and establish stronger regional ties. Turkey believes these developments are behind Jordan's suspension of the free trade agreement. Jordanian businesspeople and analysts concur that the UAE and Saudi Arabia had a hand in the suspension decision.

The threat to suspend the Jordanian-Turkish free trade agreement shows how precarious agreements are in the region. Even when all seems to be in order, a crucial part of a relationship may collapse. The development also highlights that Turkey desperately needs to diversify its opportunities in foreign policy. Repeated mistakes and costly failures have significantly limited Turkish foreign policy options in the past. In the past decade, Turkeys ambitions and rhetoric have not matched its capabilities and achievements. Yet in regard to the free trade agreement with Jordan, Ankara is not only determined but also well-organized. If Turkey can overcome the obstacles outlined, a free trade agreement revision would indeed be a win for Ankara.
Kosovo is Turkey, and Turkey is Kosovo. This assertion, made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2013 while serving as prime minister, must have rung eerily true for six Turkish nationals as Turkish intelligence officials spirited them out of Kosovo by private jet on March 29.

The men, five Turkish schoolteachers and a medical doctor, have been accused of links to Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Sunni cleric the Turkish government blames for the failed 2016 coup attempt. The extractions, which human rights advocates denounced as illegal, have sent tremors through the tiny Balkan state, exposed the extent of Turkish impunity and ignited tensions between Turkey and its former Ottoman dominion.

Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has denied knowledge of the affair. He fired his interior minister and spy chief the day after the incident for their alleged complicity. Kosovo's Foreign Affairs Ministry declared in a statement, The arrest and deportation of the Turkish citizens with a regular residence permit  is  in direct contradiction to international norms.

This prompted an angry reaction from Erdogan, who retorted that Haradinaj would pay for his actions. Since when have you started to defend those who attempted a coup against Turkey, he thundered March 31. An unfazed Haradinaj, who visited the wives of the snatched Turks, followed up with a salvo of his own in an interview with the Voice of Americas Albanian service, remarking, The [alleged] Gulenists were not deported, they were stolen.

Turkey is one of the biggest investors in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Turkish contractors with close ties to Erdogan constructed the countrys airport and are building highways with projects worth around $2 billion. Turkey's generosity has, however, come at a price. Ankara has demanded that Kosovo revise its history textbooks to paint the Ottomans in a kinder light. The government duly obliged, removing references to cruel Ottoman rule.

When Kosovar journalist Berat Buzhala posted a satirical comment on Facebook exhorting fellow citizens vacationing in Turkey to back the putschists during their failed coup, Turkeys ambassador in Pristina demanded that Kosovo authorities take legal action against him.

Enver Robelli, another prominent Kosovar journalist, said at the time, The ambassadors scandalous demand explains how Turkey sees its political and economic position in Kosovo as so powerful, that it does not hesitate to even deal with 'reviewing' the media.

Commenting on the most recent scandal, Robelli told Al-Monitor, People are irritated that Erdogan attacks the prime minister. Most [local] media [report that] Erdogan behaves as if he were the king of Kosovo. Touching on the rivalry between Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and Haradinaj, Robelli said, President Thaci wants to play the tough guy. He has strong connections to Erdogan. Thaci apparently organized the arrest and the handover of the six Turks behind Haradinajs back.

Thaci, however, initially condemned Turkeys actions, saying he was disillusioned that his own countrys institutions had failed to protect foreign citizens working in Kosovo. Over the course of a few days, however, he changed his tune and accused the Turkish men of having conducted dangerous and illegal activities in the country. He offered no evidence to support his claims.

Writing in the Washington Post, Nate Schenkkan, an expert on Turkey and the Balkans at the watchdog organization Freedom House, called the incident a real-time example of the threat posed by Ankaras flagrant disregard for international norms. He added, Countries that host Turkish citizens all over the world should be on notice that Ankaras efforts to track down its opponents overseas poses a threat to their domestic rule of law.

The United States might want to consider itself on notice. Days ago, Erdogan told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party, The one [Gulen] who fled to Pennsylvania is in a big flap. He wonders what his end will be. You will share the same end as those in Kosovo. In November, the Wall Street Journal reported that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was under investigation by the FBI for his alleged role in discussions with Turkish officials on the possible abduction of Gulen in return for $15 million.

Turkish media reported on April 2 that authorities had ordered the arrest of Gulen and seven others on additional charges of plotting the 2016 assassination of Andrei Karlov, Russias ambassador to Turkey. The envoy was shot dead at an art gallery by an off-duty police officer who shouted Allahu akbar and Dont forget Aleppo, prompting speculation that he was connected to Jabat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel group.

Turkey continues to demand Gulens extradition and in the meantime has increased pressure on foreign governments to hand over members of his movement and to shut down hundreds of schools run by the organization he heads. Some African countries, including Senegal and Gambia, have caved, as have Pakistan and Afghanistan, all recipients of Turkish aid. Turkey has shut down 1,064 private schools and 15 universities, mainly over alleged links to Gulen.

Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul declared in February that 38,470 people accused of ties to the Gulen terror network had been convicted or were in custody. Thousands of people connected to the movement, and therefore automatically considered guilty through association, have fled the country.

Legal experts say the status of Kosovo  which has yet to be admitted to the United Nations, because of objections from Russia and Serbia  remains a gray area, rendering the majority-Muslim nation vulnerable to outside abuse.

Basak Cali, a professor of international law at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, told Al-Monitor, The situation in Kosovo as reported in the press, that is, the handing over of these individuals by Kosovar intelligence to Turkish intelligence officers, is not a judicial process. It is not an extradition that follows a request by one state to another under an extradition treaty subject to Kosovar judicial review. If this were a judicial process, the reason for the extradition would have had to have been assessed by Kosovar courts. The courts would have also assessed the risk of torture, as this is provided as part of the constitutional safeguards in Kosovo.

Thousands of Turkish citizens denied justice in Turkey have applied to the European Court of Human Rights for redress. Cali noted that Kosovo, however, is not a party to the Strasbourg-based court, hence the Kosovo six cannot appeal their cases there. At best, Cali said, Kosovos domestic system can aim to hold those involved accountable, but that would only apply to Kosovars.
Amid fresh reports that the Iranian authorities are planning to block the popular messaging app Telegram, moderate President Hassan Rouhani has declared his opposition to such a move.

In a controversial interview on March 31, member of parliament Alaeddin Boroujerdi spoke of Telegram and the apparent decision to block the app. This was a decision made at the highest levels, and Telegram will be replaced by a domestic app, said Boroujerdi. By highest levels, he is likely referring to officials ranking above Rouhani.

In reaction to the reports on the matter, Rouhani said in a meeting with a number of ministers, members of parliament and governors April 3, Having strong, secure and cheaply priced Iranian messaging applications that can solve people's needs and problems will surely make everyone proud. However, he added with reference to the blocking of Telegram, The goal of creating and enhancing Iranian software and messaging apps should not be blocking access [to other apps], but [the goal] should be the elimination of monopolies.

Iranian officials believe that Telegram shouldnt be the dominant app in the country and that local apps should be enhanced. The main concern about Telegram is linked to national security, since the assumption is that the app played an undeniable role in igniting the December 2017 protests across Iran.

Jalal Mirzaei, a Reformist member of parliament who attended the meeting with the president, revealed more details of Rouhanis opposition to the blocking of Telegram.

Mirzaei said, The president said that we shouldnt make society anxious by these types of actions, and if there is any problem, we should solve it prudently.  We shouldnt forget that 200,000 job opportunities will be lost by blocking Telegram.

Mirzaei cited Rouhani as saying, Nobody is opposed to breaking Telegrams monopoly [in Iran], but blocking Telegram is not the solution for creating [and enhancing] local messaging applications.

Furthermore, in a speech April 1, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said, The government is committed to the promises it gave to the people and will pursue these promises; this was an apparent reference to the reports about the blocking of Telegram.

Moreover, Tayebeh Siavoshi, a Reformist member of parliament, told local media, I asked the minister of communications about the rumors of the blocking of Telegram. He said, It is possible, but Im vehemently against blocking as the only solution.

Meanwhile, Hassan Firouzabadi, the secretary of Iran's High Council for Cyberspace, appeared on state TV on April 3 and spoke in favor of blocking Telegram. Telegram never [agreed] to have an office in Iran and refused to work with the private sector [in Iran] and it is an enemy of the private sector, said Firouzabadi.

The High Council for Cyberspace is tasked with policymaking on matters related to the internet. Its members are appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but the secretary of the council is proposed to the supreme leader by the president, who is also the head of the council.

Firouzabadi further said, Telegram is not a dominant messenger in any country except for Iran.  Telegram has officially announced that it will be used as an economic platform, and Telegram will undermine the national currency of Iran. Telegram recently announced plans to set up its own blockchain platform and native cryptocurrency. Firouzabadi continued, We cannot allow [Telegrams virtual] currency to enter the country.

The Entekhab news site quoted him as saying, "We predict that this [virtual] money's lifetime is 10 years, and during this period, approximately $50 billion will be withdrawn from the country. But if the price of [this virtual money] declines overnight, people will protest [and ask] why there wasn't any monitoring of it."
Hamas has conceded that five of at least 17 Palestinians killed by Israeli live fire at a demonstration along the border with Gaza on March 30 were members of the organization. Israel insists that 10 or 12 of those killed were terrorists. Even if one accepts the Israeli version, that still leaves five unarmed civilians shot to death by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with more likely to come. Gazas Hamas rulers have already declared that the bloodshed would not disrupt the events they dub the Great Return March, scheduled to run until May 15, when Palestinians mark Nakba Day, the catastrophe of Israels establishment in 1948.

Prior to the protest, IDF senior officers had told Haaretz that a high number of casualties was a price we would be willing to pay to prevent a breach of the border fence. Even after the clashes, the IDF continues to insist that it will not change its rules of engagement regarding Gaza protesters. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is unimpressed by the urgent UN Security Council session convened March 31 to discuss the deadly results and by the condemnations issued in world capitals.

While Gaza was burying its dead, Israeli news media were busy reporting on the masses celebrating the weeklong Passover holiday at the countrys parks and beaches. The few Israelis who questioned the need for live fire against civilians, such as Meretz Chair Tamar Zandberg and radio host Kobi Meidan, came under a different type of live fire by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unleashed a barrage against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who dared condemn the killing of civilians in Gaza. The same Netanyahu had five years earlier apologized to the Turkish people for the killing of nine Turkish civilians who took part in a May 2010 humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza. Netanyahu told Erdogan at the time that the tragic results of the incident, during which Israeli commandoes boarded the Mavi Marmara to block its arrival in Gaza, were unintentional and admitted that the Israeli investigation had uncovered several operational errors.

Were the tragic results of the Passover 2018 incident unintentional as well? Is the most sophisticated military in the Middle East  adept at locating and destroying nuclear facilities far from its borders  really unable to defend its borders without shooting civilians? Does a defense industry that rakes in billions of dollars from the export of nonlethal crowd dispersal equipment not make it available to the Israeli security forces? If it does, did the commanders in the field exhaust such riot control measures before ordering the snipers to fire? One such crowd management weapon is an infrasonic device that emits inaudible ear-piercing frequencies. Israel used it to disperse a 2011 demonstration by Palestinians in the West Bank without incurring casualties. A senior official described the device as a highly effective nonlethal means that uses frequencies humans cannot bear for long, is very easy to operate and doesnt cause long-term damage.

Israel has handled numerous protests, some violent, in its 70-year history, including by ultra-Orthodox Jews, social activists, people with disabilities, settlers and others. Major transportation arteries were blocked, the gates to the Knesset were stormed and police officers were injured. Only the October 2000 rioting in the Galilee and central Israel resulted in civilian deaths. All 13 victims shot dead by Israeli snipers were Arabs  12 Israeli citizens and one Palestinian. Those clashes also occurred in the midst of an Israeli holiday celebration  Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

At that time in 2000, I remember calling the home of Shlomo Ben-Ami, then minister of public security in the Labor-led government of Ehud Barak, to ask about the conduct of the police. I cannot allow main traffic arteries to be blocked during the holiday, he told me. That explanation did not satisfy members of the Or Commission, established by the government to investigate the deadly events. Its report concluded that authorities had failed to impress on the police the need to avoid casualties among the rioters to the extent possible and disqualified Ben-Ami from serving as minister of public security.

In a special report about the Mavi Marmara affair, issued in 2012 by the state comptroller, the government watchdog wrote that the decision-making process had been flawed, discussions leading up to it were hastily conducted and superficial, and no preparations were made for the worst-case scenario of a violent clash with flotilla participants. The comptroller noted that although Netanyahu understood the highly unusual nature of the flotilla affair and was personally involved in preparing for it, he underestimated the threat of deaths and injuries should Israel forcibly act to halt the protest.

Prior to last weeks clashes on the Gaza border, Israeli security officials had warned of deaths and injuries if Palestinian protesters stormed the fence. Members of the governments Defense and Foreign Affairs Cabinet were warned repeatedly over the past year that Hamas would exploit the growing despair among Gazas 2 million residents to foment action against Israel. Netanyahu preferred to deploy snipers along the border. Minister of Transportation and Intelligence Affairs Yisrael Katz has been trying for several years to push through construction of an island seaport off the Gaza coast to provide residents with controlled humanitarian and commercial access to the outside world, without risking Israels security.

Has the prime minister not realized that forcibly keeping the lid on the pressure cooker that is the worlds most crowded piece of land will lead to the deaths of more and more civilians? Does he lose sleep over civilian deaths?

As far as the leadership of the opposition goes, Netanyahu can rest assured. The only thing Zionist Camp Chair Yoel Hasson had to say about the killing of civilians across the border fence was, Theres nothing to investigate and nothing to examine; the IDF is doing what needs doing to protect Israels Gaza border communities. He tweeted his comments in response to Zandbergs call for an inquiry into the shooting of civilians. In addition, Netanyahu will always have Yair Lapid, the chair of the centrist opposition Yesh Atid and the self-appointed foreign minister who goes around the world saying that all the Palestinians have to do for Israel to lift its blockade is to stop trying to kill Jews.
Organizers of the Great Return March in the Gaza Strip had set themselves a goal of drawing at least 100,000 Palestinian protesters to the border with Israel on March 30. They even dubbed the event misleadingly "March of the Million"  not that anyone thought a million Gazans would show up, but the idea was to scare Israel and infuse the demonstration with a sense of history in the making. The masses marching from all corners of Gaza were also supposed to provide a powerful display of force proving to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the people of Gaza were with his rival Hamas.

Planning for the march began in December, when US President Donald Trump announced US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Hamas wanted to prove to the roughly 1.8 million Palestinians under its control that its protest against the United States and Israel is louder and more effective than Abbas. Hamas' display of force was meant to build up to a massive turnout on May 15, Nakba Day, a day after the planned inauguration of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

When it became apparent that the reconciliation process begun last year between Hamas and Abbas Fatah movement was going nowhere, and Gazas salvation would not come from the Palestinian Authority (PA), Hamas accelerated its protest preparations. Hamas officials spoke about an unprecedented display of force; they organized buses to take protesters from all corners of the Gaza Strip to the fence with Israel, pitched tents for participants and provided water bottles and first aid. Organizers even made sure Wi-Fi would be available so participants could document the events on their smartphones and disseminate photos and clips on social media as a superb propaganda tool.

However, despite the advance preparations, the sermons in the mosques and the round-the-clock calls on Gazas media outlets, Hamas failed to achieve its 1 million  or even 100,000  goal. The number of demonstrators who arrived at the three main points of friction with Israeli troops  in the north, center and south of the Gaza Strip  totaled an estimated 40,000.

Hamas failed, but nonetheless won the struggle for public opinion. At least 17 dead and dozens of injured (Gaza's Ministry of Health reported hundreds of injured but most were the result of tear gas inhalation) turned the march into an international event with extensive media coverage. Hamas was successful in focusing international attention once again on the continued Israeli siege of Gaza, resulting in an emergency session of the UN Security Council on March 31 and calls to lift the decadelong Israeli blockade. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres even called for a transparent, independent inquiry into the events in Gaza.

Hamas, which has long been trying unsuccessfully to mobilize Arab and international public opinion to events in the Gaza Strip, was accorded worldwide coverage of its version of events  a popular, nonviolent Palestinian protest that Israel turned into a bloodbath with its unbridled, indiscriminate live fire at participants.

Television channels around the world aired the photos and footage of dead and wounded Palestinians felled by Israeli bullets. The international spotlight was suddenly focused on Gaza and on the effects of the Israeli blockade on its embattled inhabitants.

With one deadly demonstration, and even before it had completed the protests planned for the coming weeks, Hamas has managed to sway opinion in its favor. No longer an organization devoting most of its resources to arming itself and digging tunnels at the expense of desperately needy residents, it had now become a victim. The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, put it well in a speech he delivered in one of the border tents, shrugging off responsibility for the current state of affairs and directing a threat at Israel. The unemployed who have no work in Gaza have found jobs on your border  burning your equipment and sniping at you from point-blank range, he said.

Abbas, who is responsible for much of Gazas plight due to the sanctions he imposed on Hamas, also shrugged off his contribution to Israels nightmare scenario in which hordes of Gaza residents breach the border fence. Instead, he joined the camp of condemnations. The marches prove that the Palestinian people will not lend a hand to any plan to bury the Palestinian issue.  and Jerusalem will remain Arab, Abbas spokesman stated.

An Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, All the recent events are the result of the struggle between Fatah and Hamas that could leave this front tense and bleeding for months. The source said that when it became apparent the reconciliation plan between these two groups was not feasible, Fatah and Hamas reverted to their usual battle over the Palestinian leadership.

Israeli defense agencies are concerned that additional deaths along the border in the coming weeks could stir up Palestinian violence in the West Bank. The area could go up in flames in a minute, and we will find ourselves facing an 'intifada of frustration,' the official said. Frustration is not only the lot of the residents of Gaza and the West Bank, but also of the Hamas leadership and the PA, both of which have an interest in generating unrest. Hamas will exploit the border fence demonstrations as a new and more effective weapon in its bid to bring about an end to the Israeli siege and draw media attention to events in Gaza, while Abbas straggles behind in an effort to prove he is still influential and relevant.

It is now incumbent on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israels other security agencies not to play into Hamas hands. The live fire directed March 30 at the border protesters was exactly the ammunition Hamas needs to shirk its direct responsibility for the dire plight of all Gazas inhabitants. Unfortunately, the victory achieved by Hamas in the first act of the "Great Return March" is not measured by the number of demonstrators it mobilized, but rather by the number of casualties inflicted by IDF fire.
Should Israel invest effort and resources in identifying people around the world with affinity to the Jewish people to increase the number of people who support the state or perhaps even convert them to Judaism? Yes, concluded a committee that Minister of Education and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett appointed to assess the relationship between Israel and communities around the world with some connection to the Jewish people. The committee even went so far as to call the quest for such people an important strategic objective that should be implemented immediately.

The committee, which submitted its recommendations to the Cabinet on March 27, determined that there are tens of millions of people around the world with some level of connection to the Jewish people. It then developed a detailed plan for reaching out to them to gain their support for Israel and the Jewish people. According to the committee, an unprecedented new situation is emerging in terms of what constitutes being a Jew and how many Jews there might be. This, it concludes, offers an extraordinary opportunity to bring groups with some kind of connection to Judaism even closer to the Jewish people.

The committee consisted of Binyamin Ish Shalom, an authority on Jewish philosophy; Ofir HaIvry, a specialist in political philosophy; and Zvi Hauser, a former Cabinet secretary and attorney. They began their work about a year ago, in 2017. The committee heard from experts, collected assorted material and data and reached the conclusion that in the past few decades, there has been unprecedented growth in the number and variety of individuals and groups who want to establish some connection to the Jewish people and Israel. This phenomenon, it determined, is unlike anything ever seen in Jewish history. The report states, Among those people with a connection, there are some who want to join the Jewish people fully, but there are also many who seek another kind of relationship, based on support for and relationships with the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

The committee estimated that about 8 million Jews live outside Israel, which itself has a population of 6 million Jews. There are also some 9 million people eligible to immigrate to Israel according to the Law of Return; people with a Jewish parent are accorded this right, although by Jewish law only those with a Jewish mother are considered Jews. There are another 5 million descendants of people who left Judaism, and approximately 35 million descendants of Marranos  Spanish and Portuguese Jews who were forced to convert in the late 15th and 16th centuries  as well as lost tribes and others with some link to the Jewish people. Furthermore, yet another group consists of communities, an estimated 60 million people, with some connection to the Jewish people, but who do not state so openly or who are unknown.

Dvir Kahane, director general of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, quoted in the reports introduction, states, We are talking about tens of millions of people who can potentially form concentric circles of relationships, connections and support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

So who are these tens of millions of people? According to the report, they are the descendants of Jews deemed ineligible to immigrate to Israel according to the Law of Return. These include Jews who converted to other religions, communities that declare that they are part of the Jewish people but nonetheless require conversion, such as the Falash Mura of Ethiopia and the descendants of Marranos from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Latin America.

The report also includes well-known people with links to Judaism. These include Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, who married a Jew at a ceremony presided over by a rabbi and a Christian clergyman. It also cites Lauren Bush, granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush, who married a Jew at a ceremony presided over by a rabbi even though she did not convert. There is also former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, whose parents converted to Christianity after World War II.

As indicated, the committee did not make do with just a historical overview and description of the phenomenon. It also proposed a detailed, three-stage program to reach as many people with affinity as possible and involve them in various levels of support for Judaism and the State of Israel, culminating in their conversion.

The first, immediate, stage is a pilot program that would include a detailed tracking of the descendants of Marranos. Effort should then be exerted to involve them in supporting Israel, using people trained to teach them about Judaism and Israeli culture. The second stage, to take place between 2019 and 2021, involves opening channels of communication and disseminating information about Judaism and Israel, training leaders in the communities of affinity and involving their leaders in such programs as Birthright, which sponsors visits by Jewish youths to Israel.

The third and final stage, scheduled for 2022, includes training Israelis to strengthen the bonds with these communities, granting entrance permits for community members to come to Israel and recruiting people interested in helping in the struggle against the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, immigrating to Israel and converting.

Committee members recommended that a dedicated network be created in the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs to implement the project and that it eventually become an official government authority. They also suggested that a national institute be formed to collect information about the communities identified and establish contact with them. They even endorsed the creation of an official website with genealogical resources and information about Judaism, Israel and Hebrew. Nevertheless, when the report was released, the ministry made a point of clarifying that there are no plans for mass conversions or mass immigration.

So far, it is unknown whether the recommendations will be adopted, what if any part of the ambitious plan will be implemented and how much it would cost. At the same time, it is hard to ignore that HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, who as noted serves as both minister of education and minister of diaspora affairs, not only wants to strengthen Judaism within Israel, but to spread the gospel around the world. This raises an important question: Why is it so important for Israel to embark on a long, expensive, worldwide operation in search of the descendants of the Marranos, bring them closer to Judaism and perhaps even encourage them to convert?

It seems, beyond any arguments about the importance of increasing support for Israel and Judaism, that there is a deep and ambitious, if covert, desire to increase the number of Jews around the world as a show of strength. It is no coincidence that the committee was formed under Bennetts watch, even if a careful reading of the committees conclusions and recommendations does not offer a reasonable explanation as to why this is a strategic national initiative.

This is happening at a time when it is easy to find more urgent problems in the relationship between Israel and the Jewish people, such as the serious crisis with American Jewry over the Western Wall compromise. Other pressing issues might be the problems facing elderly Jews, including many who suffered in the Holocaust simply because they are Jews and are now living in abysmal poverty. Problems such as these are worthier of attention and resources than the fate of remote communities in South America that may or may not have some peripheral connection to Judaism and the Jewish people.
The Israeli political right was caught off guard by the surprising official figures presented on March 26 at the Knesset by a representative of the Civil Administration, the army unit coordinating the Israeli governments activities in the occupied territories. The representative indicated that the number of Jews and Arabs living under Israeli control in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean had reached parity at 6.5 million for each side.

Over the years, the Zionist left kept warning about the prospect of a Jewish minority in Israel controlling a Palestinian majority, with only a small number of them enjoying full civil rights. Yet the Israeli right kept dismissing these warnings. It countered with imaginary data showing that some 3 million Palestinians live in Israel and the occupied territories, compared with 6.5 million Jews. However, from the moment the true numbers were communicated to the Knessets Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee with the new data last week by the Israel Defense Forces, the leadership of the political right can no longer argue that political bias is skewing the figures. It is now forced to confront the figures.

The updated population data have once again placed the inherent tension between Israels Jewish and democratic nature in the forefront of the political arena. While Israeli liberal-minded political forces argue that there is no contradiction and that Israel can be both Jewish and democratic, others on the political right and the left reject the idea.

Nationalist elements, which oppose dividing the land between Israelis and Palestinians, suggest ensuring the countrys Jewish character by imposing sovereignty over all the Palestinians living in Israel and the occupied territories. This scenario would grant the Palestinians in the occupied territories individual rights, but not the right to vote for the Knesset. The non-Zionist left also proposes one state for both people, but insists on full equality for the Palestinians, including the right to vote and be elected to the Knesset. That would allow a future Palestinian Arab majority to override Israels unique Jewish nature, especially when it comes to encouraging Jewish immigration, strengthening the states ties with diaspora Jewry and even amending the Law of Return that currently enables all Jews to obtain citizenship if they move to Israel.

For over 80 years, since the British governments Peel Commission recommended the establishment of two separate states in 1937, the Jewish majority in Israel has favored a division of the land in order to guarantee both a Jewish and democratic state. Publication of the demographic parity between the two people is confronting this camp with a decisive moment, perhaps sooner than expected. The peace camp would prefer the option adopted by late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of an agreement with the Palestinians on dividing the land. The so-called national camp would opt for the path taken by late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of avoiding dialogue with the Palestinian leadership and withdrawing unilaterally from occupied territories, perhaps to the line of the separation wall he began building as leader of the right-wing Likud Party at the turn of the century.

Demographics are the underpinning of the story of Israel. When Theodor Herzl wrote his 1896 treatise titled The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat), he envisioned an orderly mass Jewish move from Europe to the sparsely populated Land of Israel (or to Argentina, as a fallback option). He believed that one of the powers that ruled Palestine in the 19th and 20th centuries  whether Germany, Britain or the Ottoman Empire  would grant the Jews the right to live there, and with that in mind, he courted the German Kaiser, Turkish Sultan and the British government.

Herzls vision stemmed from his analysis that Jews such as himself had failed in their attempts to integrate in Europe and were under a growing threat of violence. In 1917, the British Empire expressed willingness to enable the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine.

This seemed like a rare opportunity for the Zionist movement: The British government, mostly, was pro-Zionist. Its religious Christian members, such as Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour, believed this gesture would prompt American Jewry to pressure US President Woodrow Wilson to play a significant role in World War I. The Zionist leaders could have presumably asked Britain for permission to establish an independent state, but it never occurred to them for the simple reason that, at the time, the Jews in Palestine only numbered in the tens of thousands, whereas Arabs constituted the majority.

The thinking was that the British would throw open the gates of Palestine, allowing European Jewish immigration that would eventually result in a Jewish majority, at which time a state would be declared. Both the Zionist left and right espoused the view that this future state would cover all the western part of the Land of Israel and some of the Jordan Rivers eastern bank.

That hope was not realized due to sweeping Arab rejection of Jewish sovereignty, British fears of clashes between Jews and Arabs over the growing Jewish immigration from Europe, and also because most Jews who did leave Europe at the time opted for life in America rather than in impoverished Palestine. Thus, the Zionist left accepted the Peel Commissions recommendation to split in two the western part of the Land of Israel. The right rejected the idea, preferring continued British rule until such time as the necessary Jewish majority could be achieved to form an independent state.

Ten years on, despite the horrors of the Holocaust, that same dichotomy between left and right was to re-emerge. The Zionist left, led by David Ben-Gurion (later Israels first prime minister), supported the UNs 1947 Partition Resolution calling for a two-state solution. The Zionist right, led by such figures as future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, preferred continued British rule in order to enable the creation of a Jewish majority throughout the Land of Israel, all the way to the Jordan River and beyond. This time, too, the suggestion came up against staunch Arab opposition, but the State of Israel was established, nonetheless, and its 1948 war of independence expanded the boundaries delineated by the UN. At no point did anyone suggest the establishment of a widely spread state governed by a Jewish minority.

With the official military announcement of Jewish-Arab parity between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, Israel is facing the historic decision it has been trying to postpone or repress. Israel is far from being an apartheid state currently, but if it opts for minority rule of an Arab majority, it will have no choice but to adopt apartheid methods. Precluding this option would spell the end of the Zionist idea: Israel will turn into a Palestinian state, probably a nondemocratic one, with a Jewish minority.

A decision to divide the land in order to ensure its continued Jewish and democratic nature would best be carried out through an imperfect agreement, based on Israels 1967 borders, implementing the UNs Partition Resolution  this time with Palestinian approval. Barring that option, a unilateral withdrawal such as the 2005 Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip would also be preferable to preserving the status quo.
As Turkey works to set up a new system of governance in recently captured Afrin, Syria, it is also rekindling discord among rival Kurdish groups.

Kurds who oppose the Democratic Union Party (PYD) recently met under Ankaras auspices in Gaziantep, Turkey, to form the Afrin Liberation Congress. This first move toward new rule in Afrin was denounced as a betrayal by other Kurdish parties that have been working for autonomy in northern Syria. Mutual recriminations between the parties are gaining momentum. Anti-PYD Kurds have joined Turkeys campaign to demonize the PYD, thus contributing to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans narrative: We will deliver Afrin to its true owners.

Turkey's news media is enthusiastically playing up the pro-Ankara statements of Kurdish representatives in Gaziantep who want to rule Afrin instead of the PYD and its armed wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG). (The YPG is the Syrian extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a designated terrorist group in Turkey.)

A prominent name in this pro-Ankara campaign is Abdulaziz Temo, a member of the Kurdish National Council in Syria and president of the Independent Syrian Kurds Association. Temo, in a March 20 statement that made headlines, said, Just like [the Islamic State] rose from the Arabs, the PYD is rising as the [Islamic State] of the Kurds. They want to establish a new Qandil in Afrin," he said, repeating Erdogan's frequent reference to the PKK's headquarters in the Qandil Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Also receiving exaggerated media coverage were the words of Kurdish National Council spokesman Abdulbari Osman. The PYD is the name of cruelty. Cruelty reigns in Afrin, he said.

The Kurdish National Council was established in 2012 by Massoud Barzani, then-president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, when he signed an accord in Erbil with the Kurdish Higher Council to become partners in the administration that was set up in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava). According to the Kurdish National Council, the accord fell through because the PYD was marginalizing the Kurdish National Council and, at the same time, blaming the council for the failure for not sending representatives to the committees to be formed. The council then shifted its allegiance to the Syrian National Coalition. This Barzani-supported flank now has the opportunity to settle accounts in Afrin. Temo said the anti-PYD group's goals and expectations go beyond Afrin: We want Manbij, Tell Rifaat, Ras al-Ain, Qamishli and Raqqa to be cleansed of the terror outfit. The only power that can do that is Turkey.

These pro-Barzani Kurdish groups in Syria accuse the PYD of working with the Syrian regime and discarding other opposition groups.

Anti-PYD groups, with their Gaziantep communique, promised that the people of Afrin will have a role in governance  but what is really being hatched is a proxy for Turkish control. Naturally, the PYD wing sees this as an occupation model.

The alternative governing body that will be based in Gaziantep until it can move to Afrin summarized its platform in a declaration saying it will:

Ensure peace and security in Afrin.

Collect weapons from civilians.

Help elect a local assembly.

Set up local law-and-order forces.

Make all state organs functional.

Ensure that education, health and justice will be properly administered.

Provide compensation for victims of the latest violence.

Respect womens rights.

Secure a free press and free speech.

A provisional assembly at Gaziantep  made up of 24 Kurds, eight Arabs and one representative each of Alevis, Yazidis and Turkmens  is to implement these goals.

When looked at closely, however, this assembly shapes up quite differently. According to Hasan Shindi, spokesman of the Afrin Liberation Congress, Turkey is going to assign a governor and a deputy governor.

There will be a governor of Afrin. We dont yet know who that will be. It will be someone from Turkey and will be assigned by the government. There will also be a deputy governor, also Turkish. Afrin will be attached to Turkey's Antakya [the seat of Hatay province]. The governors of Hatay and Afrin will coordinate, he said.

According to Temo, in the first phase of three to six months, Turkey will train some 1,000 people to become Afrin's police force. During that process, the Turkish army will remain in Afrin.

In other words, the system applied at Jarablus, al-Bab, Azaz and Marea after their capture by the Turkish military will also be applied in Afrin. As Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Jan. 27, "Today we have deputy governors, police chiefs and gendarmerie commanders in Azaz, Jarablus and Marea.

On March 23, Erdogan announced that a governor will be assigned to Afrin soon.

The PYD and its partners keep accusing those who participated in the Gaziantep meeting of betrayal. Sixteen Kurdish political parties in northern Syria that brand the Gaziantep action as illegitimate invited the parties in the Kurdish National Council to reconsider their attitudes. These pro-PYD political parties, including the Syrian Kurdish Left Party and the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria, released a joint statement: We declare that the assembly formed in Gaziantep under the supervision and direction of the Turkish [National Intelligence Organization] is illegitimate."

The Democratic Society Movement  a multi-ethnic umbrella organization that governs Rojava in Syria and is led by the PYD  made a similar declaration, saying the assembly members in Gaziantep "are blatantly betraying the Kurdish people."

"They are legitimizing occupation and accepting demographic change," the Democratic Society Movement said, calling the assembly members "accomplices to the murder of 1,500 civilians." That figure, however, is for YPG fighters, not civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Democratic Society Movement Co-chair Aldar Khalil labeled the Gaziantep gathering an assembly of betrayal.

He said, They represent not the people of Afrin but the occupiers. The Turkish state that is exploiting them today will never respect them but will use them as slaves for its interests. The Turkish state wants to change the demography of Afrin by manipulating them.

Other organizations also voiced similar reactions.

When the Gaziantep assembly starts functioning, cracks among the Kurds are bound to widen, and may even escalate to clashes. This assembly that is laying a claim on Afrin, where the PYD has the largest popular base, as it also does in Kobani, will not last for long when Turkey removes its financial support and sponsorship. We remember that in 2011, when anti-Syrian regime protests erupted, the Kurdish National Council could not mobilize people as much as the PYD did, even in the traditional Kurdish National Council bastion of Qamishli.
The meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian and Iranian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani, in Ankara this week has gained added significance for Turkey in light of potentially game-changing developments in Syria.

First there was President Donald Trumps remark about withdrawing from Syria, and then there was French President Emmanuel Macrons vow to provide strong backing for Syrian Kurdish groups opposed by Turkey as terrorist organizations.

Trump's surprise remarks on March 29  and his decision to freeze $200 million allocated for regions held by Washingtons Kurdish allies in Syria  have been warmly welcomed by Ankara, despite lingering doubts.

Talking to reporters on March 31 as he was flying back from a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim complimented Trump on his courageous decision. He added that although different branches of the US government were saying they knew nothing about plans to withdraw from Syria, it was Trumps words that Turkey looked to.

Ankaras enthusiasm, however, was dampened with reports from Paris that a group from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)  made up largely of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Kurdish group Turkey is targeting in Syria  had been received at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

The fact that this meeting took place after a phone conversation between Trump and Macron on March 27 and also a day after Trumps remarks regarding a withdrawal from Syria inevitably resulted in various conspiracy theories in Turkey.

Many see a link between these developments and believe a secret agreement may have been reached behind Turkey's back between Washington and Paris regarding Syria.

A statement from Macrons office on the meeting with the SDF delegation merely added to Turkish misgivings.

[President Macron] assured the SDF of Frances support for the stabilization of the security zone in northeast Syria within the framework of an inclusive and balanced governance to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State, the statement said.

The security zone referred to is the large territory adjoining the Turkish border and stretching from Manbij just west of the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border east of the Euphrates.

This region, which is larger than three Lebanons put together, is currently held and administered by the YPG with backing from the United States and France. Erdogan insists that this whole region will be cleared by Turkey of the YPG by force if necessary.

Ankara was also livid after representatives from the SDF delegation received by Macron also claimed that France would be sending additional troops to Manbij to support YPG fighters there against Turkey.

Paris has not confirmed this claim. It has, however, confirmed that Macron is offering to mediate between Turkey and the YPG, which increased the anger felt in Ankara.

These developments have also put an end to Erdogans hopes of cultivating a special relationship with Macron, who until recently appeared to be the only interlocutor he has left in Europe.

Erdogan met Macron in Paris in early January, and his visit was generally hailed in Turkey as highly successful and as proof that Erdogan was not as isolated in Europe as was being claimed. Since then, the two leaders have held frequent phone conversations  mostly concentrating on Syria.

Relations between Ankara and Paris began to sour within weeks of Erdogans visit to Paris, after Macron criticized Operation Olive Branch that Turkey launched against the YPG on Jan. 20. Macron said this should not be turned into an excuse to invade Syria.

The visit by the SDF delegation to Paris will contribute to heightened tensions in Turkish-French relations. Macron is in Ankaras direct line of fire now.

Addressing a meeting of his Justice and Development Party in Ankara, Erdogan said, Those who welcome members of a terrorist group at the highest level should know that this is nothing but a display of enmity toward Turkey.

Going on to accuse Macron, Erdogan added, Who are you to pronounce mediation between a terrorist organization and Turkey?  Those who havent accounted for their own bloody past may choose to see themselves side by side with terrorist organizations, but this is definitely out of the question for Turkey.

He was referring to Frances past in Algeria, a theme Turks regularly resort to when opposing France.

Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Bekir Bozdag went even further. Those who cooperate with terrorist organizations against Turkey will receive the same treatment as terrorists, and like terrorists [they] will be targeted by Turkey, Bozdag threatened.

The timing of Trumps statement and Macrons support for the SDF delegation has resulted in a slew of mixed comments by Turkish analysts.

Fahrettin Altun, from the pro-government daily Sabah, argued that if Trump honors his word, this will not only provide a great advantage to Turkey in its fight against the YPG but also alter the balances in Syria to Ankaras advantage.

Altun believes that Trumps decision regarding a pullout from Syria is the result of Turkeys successful operation in Afrin against the YPG.

Turkey showed the United States that cooperating with the YPG comes at a high cost, Altun wrote.

Mehmet Acet from the pro-government Yeni Safak believes that Trump will keep his word and withdraw from Syria, despite resistance from various branches of his administration. He has long since put into force some of the seemingly outlandish promises he made before the elections.  I believe he will not give up easily on what he said about Syria, Acet wrote, echoing the hope in official circles.

Independent analysts and more sober-minded government officials, however, doubt that Trump can carry out his promise. They argue that it goes against the grain to expect the United States to pull out of Syria at a time like this and they believe Trump is only engaging in politics.

Sedat Ergin from the daily Hurriyet wrote that its not difficult to predict that Trump will face stiff resistance from his own administration if he were to try and pull out of Syria.

[Washingtons] attempts to counterbalance the increasing influence of Russia and Iran in Syria, including using the Syrian Kurds as part of this strategy, play a key role in shaping Washingtons Syrian policies, Ergin wrote.

If implemented, the most important outcome of this new policy will be that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia and Iran will have more room to maneuver, Ergin argued.

Soli Ozel from the daily Haberturk wrote that Trump had promised not to get embroiled in Middle Eastern wars during his election campaign. Its not odd for [Trump] to appease his support base with such good tidings at a time when he is in a tight spot in domestic politics, Ozel wrote.

Ozel, however, also believes that it makes no sense to expect an administration that is obsessed with Iran to want to withdraw from Syria.

With regard to the French position, Ergin asserted that since being elected, Macron has been trying to make France a powerful international actor again. He wants to establish a high profile for France in Syria, which of course was once within Frances zone of influence, Ergin wrote.

Ergin added that Macron may also be responding to criticism at home that he has not done enough to protect the Kurds in Afrin against Turkey.

While it is uncertain if Macron will be able to fulfill his dream, it also remains doubtful that Trump will be able to do as he says. What will remain in that case is the potential for increased tensions between Ankara and Washington and Ankara and Paris, and the possibility of some kind of military standoff between NATO allies if they cannot overcome their differences in Syria.
Birgunj Integrated Check Post likely to open April 5

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav directed authorities to launch the Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Birgunj on April 5 during an inspection visit to the facility on Monday. As all the infrastructure is ready, we wont have any problems operating the ICP from April 5, he said.
Decades after Kings assassination, the southern US city still faces the racial problems the late civil rights leader fought against.

Martin Luther King Jr travelled three times to Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.

The first time, he spoke in support of black sanitation workers who were striking.

The second time, he watched a march disintegrate into a riot and his reputation as a non-violent activist shatter.

The final time, King left Memphis in a coffin, the victim of an assassins bullet.

The sanitation workers had been on strike since February. They wanted more money, better working conditions and respect.

Henry Loeb, the mayor, was refusing to recognise the workers union and demands  even after two workers had been crushed to death by accident while sitting inside a rubbish truck.

Race was at the heart of the tension between the workers and the city, but the impact was economic.

Black people earned far less than white people, and their living conditions proved it.

King wanted to highlight that. His long-term goal, according to his biographer Taylor Branch, was to launch a Poor Peoples Campaign  a multiracial effort to eradicate poverty.

Kings model was The Bonus Marchers of the 1930s  World War I veterans who rallied in Washington, DC, to ask for help making the transition from the military to civilian life.

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The Bonus Marchers who went there didnt convert the nation then. But 12 years later, people talking and thinking about this enacted the GI Bill for returning soldiers, which turned out to be, one of the greatest steps forward for [the American] middle class  for education, for jobs, for the American people, Branch told Al Jazeera recently.

[King] was hoping by analogy, the Poor Peoples Campaign would start working on the American psyche and would do something along the lines of the GI Bill to set that in motion, he said.

He was trying to present these issues and didnt get that far.

Branch, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of King, and a co-executive producer of a new documentary on the last years of his life, King in the Wilderness, said King was driven in the last years of his life to help the US confront big challenges such as the war in Vietnam, racism and poverty.

His vision was controversial, said Branch. Kings fellow activists thought he was overextending himself.

King addresses marchers during his I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963 [File: AP]

So too, apparently, did many of Kings white supporters.

The polls showed that even as early as 1965, most Americans were saying that in the polls that black people have gone too far. Weve given them a lot. We have given them the 1964 Civil Rights Act. We have given them the Voting Rights Act, Branch said.

Already you were seeing the beginning of backlash psychology, he added. What about white rights? And anything you do from civil rights taking something away from me.

That politics was being cultivated, and is still being cultivated. I think we are in it today.

Indeed, 50 years after Kings death, the city of Memphis and surrounding Shelby County are still facing the problems he was targeting.

A new report finds that black median income is still half of white median income  unchanged since 1968.

Twenty-nine percent of black people in Shelby County live in poverty, compared with 9.4 percent of white people.

A total of 48.3 percent of black children live in poverty, compared with 11.4 percent of white children.

What is more, a separate analysis says that of US cities with more than a million residents, Memphis is the poorest community and that every racial and ethnic group has seen its numbers of poor residents increase.

The challenge facing those commemorating Kings death is whether they can find the will to attack the causes of poverty, not just in Memphis, but across the US  and whether they will be able to report significant progress 50 years later.
Al Jazeera speaks to doctors and Palestinians injured during Gazas Land Day protests at a hospital struggling to cope.

Gaza City  Mohammad Othman, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy, lies on a hospital bed at the intensive care unit of al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip  the oldest and biggest medical facility in the besieged enclave.

Othman is one of more than 1,500 Palestinians wounded on Friday when the Israeli army unleashed a storm of live ammunition, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets on thousands of people protesting along the Gaza Strips eastern border with Israel, killing 18.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Othman, whose bed was lined with Palestinian flags and flowers from relatives and friends after he sustained a bullet to the back of his head, says he never expected to be targeted.

Mohammed Othman, is one of more than 1,500 Palestinians who were wounded during Fridays protests [Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

I was 300 metres away from the fence [between the Gaza Strip and Israel], along with my siblings, when I was shot, says Othman.

I meant to avoid approaching the borders to keep my younger brothers safe, and yet, I was targeted.

Othman has spent the past two days under intensive care after doctors declared his case critical.

Six other Palestinians remain in the hospitals ICU after Fridays events, in which Palestinians demonstrated peacefully to mark Land Day, calling for the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

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Fridays rallies, dubbed the Great March of Return, were called for by civil society groups to kick off a six-week sit-in leading up to the commemoration of the Nakba on May 15.

Jihad al-Juaidi, head of the ICU at the hospital, told Al Jazeera that all the injuries coming into the hospital were centred on the head, knee joints or pelvic joints.

This shows that Israeli forces were shooting-to-kill, or to cause disabilities, he said.

Chaos in the hospital

Describing conditions at the hospital after Friday, al-Juaidi said the facility had admitted dozens of Palestinian men, women and children below the age of 16.

It was chaos when people started pouring into the hospital  particularly due to the shortage of medication we suffer in the health sector, continued al-Juaidi.

Al-Shifa hospital is the Gaza Strips oldest and largest medical facility [Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

The Gaza Strip, home to about two million people, has been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade for more than a decade.

The besieged enclave has witnessed three large-scale Israeli assaults that have damaged much of the areas infrastructure and worsened conditions, in which more than 80 percent of the population relies on humanitarian assistance to survive.

About 70 percent of Gazas population are refugees from the Palestinian territories taken over by Zionist armed groups during a campaign of ethnic cleansing in 1948 to establish the state of Israel, known to Arabs as the Nakba.

Marwan Yassin says he and his friend wanted to plant the Palestinian flag along the border [Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]

Marwan Yassin, a 15-year-old who participated in the demonstrations, lies wrapped in a heavy blanket. Metal rods stick out of his right leg.

I heard about the march and decided to attend with my friend, Yassin tells Al Jazeera.

When his 10-year-old companion tried to plant the Palestinian flag near the border, he was shot in the leg.

I went to the hospital with him and returned back to plant the flag, but I was also shot in the leg, he continues, adding that the bullet hit him below the knee, leaving tears in his arteries.

Unlawful and calculated

According to the Ministry of Health, at least 800 Palestinians were targeted with live fire, while some 150 were wounded from rubber-coated steel bullets and about 20 from tear gas inhalation.

Several countries and human rights groups have condemned Israels use of force.

Palestinian protesters carry a wounded man who was shot by Israeli troops during the protests [Khalil Hamra/AP]

On Tuesday, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the killings were unlawful and calculated, pointing out that protesters posed no threat to Israeli soldiers positioned across the border.

The high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms, HRW said in the report.

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Prior to the demonstrations, Israels top army commander deployed more than 100 snipers to the Gaza border, giving them permission to open fire if lives are in jeopardy.

Back at al-Shifa hospital, Mohammad Hilles struggles to recover from a bullet that shattered his leg.

The 27-year-old was shot above his knee joint while protesting with his friends about 100 metres away from the border fence.

He has had to undergo a 13-hour surgery to treat the damage to his veins and the severe bleeding that ensued.

When asked whether he regretted going to the march, he did not hesitate.

I will return back to the demonstrations if I recover soon.
There are no viable alternatives that Trump could bring to power in Iran to replace the current regime.

By choosing Mike Pompeo as his new Secretary of State and John Bolton as National Security Adviser, US President Donald Trump has formed a hawkish anti-Iran team, indicating that he is planning to bypass diplomacy, scrap the Iran nuclear deal and possibly resort to regime change or military action.

Trumps anti-Iran team is backed by its regional allies. He held meetings at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 5 and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on March 20 to seal the cooperation. Additionally, on March 23, American, Saudi and UAE national security advisers got together in the White House to discuss how to counter the Iranian regimes malign influence and provocative behaviour.

President Trump may have his teams in place, but it still wont be easy for him to take decisive action on Iran. Trump is expected to scrap the nuclear deal in May as a first step, however, even this wont be an easy decision for him to make. In the same month, he is planning to hold a crucial first meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who would likely be disinclined to trust a president who has just opted out of an international accord.

He may decide to face all possible repercussions and scrap the deal anyway, but then he would be left with an even harder question: what to do with Iran after breaking the deal? His most likely option would be to try and create some form of chaos to destabilise Iran and push the Iranian establishment out of its comfort zone so the US can dictate terms and get the upper hand.This could be through sending logistic and financial support to the opposition inside Iran, funding proxy terror attacks, meddling in elections or supporting internal protests and demonstrations.

Even though there is widespread anger in the country about lack of economic progress; the leaderless and unorganised opposition forces in Iran are unlikely to knowingly cooperate with the US to topple the Iranian establishment. They know that any such move would be brutally dealt with by Irans security forces. Also, the memory of the 1953 coup instigated by the US is still fresh in Iranians minds so it is unlikely that the opposition would support another US-backed coup or regime change.

Moreover, the strongest opposition force in Iran is already in power. Moderate President Hassan Rouhani has formed an alliance with the reformist camps, and together they are pushing for creating openings within the system through the very limited means available to them. Their mode of cooperation with the West was through the Iran nuclear deal and scrapping it would be the last straw for them.

John Bolton has in the past advocated a joint attack by Israel and the US on Irans nuclear facilities, combined with vigorous American support for Irans opposition, aimed at regime change in Tehran. This is a futile and dangerous solution.

Attacking Irans nuclear installations would provoke a fierce response from Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), engulfing the entire region and possibly leading to confrontation with Israel.

The idea of regime change without a viable alternative has also proved problematic in the most recent cases of Iraq and Libya. The seven-year US attempt at replacing Bashar al-Assad of Syria has also failed.

Moreover, Bolton advocates bringing to power in Iran a former terrorist group, Mujahedin-E Khalq Organisation (MEK), which he regards as a viable alternative to the Islamic Republic.

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Boltons belief in the MEK is ill-founded. The group with a catalogue of human rights abuses has an ideology that blends Islam and Marxism and is referred to as a cult by some experts. Although it claims to have adopted moderate policies since 2012 when it was removed from the US terror list, most Iranians continue to take a strong exception to its decision to fight in support of Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.

Research at Boston College shows that the US tried to change other countries governments 72 times during the Cold War and in 66 cases this was done by covert action. According to the data, most of these attempts failed, demonstrating that attempts at regime change rarely work out as the intervening states expect.

Moreover, 40 percent of the states that have had foreign-imposed governments have experienced civil wars within the next 10 years.

These results prove that when a regime is dictatorial or corrupt, there are complex underlying reasons that cannot simply be resolved through regime change.

Americans are pushing for harder policies towards Iran, and we need to strengthen our view towards the East, especially China and Russia, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Iranian parliaments National Security Commission told ISNA news agency.

President Trumps trade war with China, his unprecedented diplomatic war with Russia, combined with the hardening of his stance towards Iran can only further strengthen Irans military and economic ties with the two eastern powers to the detriment of the West.

With Russia and Iran both isolated, they would cooperate more on covert action in areas of particular US interest such as Afghanistan and consolidate their victories in Syria. Iran would pour far more funds in support of Hezbollah, Palestinians, the Assad regime, and the Houthis in Yemen.

As of March 2018, the Trump administration has moved away from diplomacy towards increasing the deployment of special operations forces to 149 countries  up from 138 in 2016.

Trump certainly appears to have all but lost the chance to create some kind of platform for direct talks with Iran. But his options for an alternative, hawkish approach also seems to be extremely limited.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
The escalating tit-for-tat between China and the US raised concerns over a lose-lose outcome for the global economy.

True to his word, the United States President Donald Trump fired the opening shots of a likely trade war. His primary target is none other than China, the worlds leading trading nation, which is well on its way to becoming the worlds biggest economy in coming years.

In late March, the American president targeted imports from China, which have dramatically expanded in recent years. Up to $60bn in Chinese exports now hang in the balance, as the US ramps up tariffs against major trading partners.

Trump is also considering additional restrictions on Chinese investments in America. A Chinese bid to buy an American semiconductor equipment company was blocked by regulators earlier this year.

The US intelligence community has encouraged a ban on imports of the Chinese phone brand Huawei, a likely prelude to more comprehensive pushback against any Chinese investments in critical sectors of the economy.

China responded in kind, targeting as many as 128 American products, mostly in the realm of food and agriculture. The Asian powerhouse imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on recycled aluminium and pork from America, while wine, nuts, fruits and seamless steel tubes were hammered by an additional 15 percent tariff rates.

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The escalating tit-for-tat between the two superpowers has sent shockwaves across international markets, raising concerns over a potential lose-lose outcome for the global economy. There was almost universal condemnation of the US governments latest protectionist policy. Unless Trump strikes a compromise with Beijing in the near future, he risks hurting the very people who voted him into power the most.

Warning shots

At the heart of Trumps latest offensive are Chinese steel and aluminium exports as well as alleged intellectual property theft. The US government contends that Beijing has engaged in unfair trade practices, which have driven countless Americans into unemployment across rustbelt states.

The firebrand US president imposed the latest round of trade sanctions by invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. While perfectly legal at home, the USs unilateral exercise of trade sanctions has severely undercut its decades-long role as the harbinger of global free trade.

Trump's hardball strategy could provoke a rising and proud China, unleashing a beggar-thy-neighbour dynamic between the world's two leading economies.

In the run-up to the decision, even key US allies in Europe, Asia and Latin America threatened collective response against Trumps latest offensive.

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Roberto Azevedo warned about a catastrophe and the likely severe effect of the simmering trade war initiated by America. He expressed his organisations commitment to to avoid the war between US and China from degenerating into a global depression.

Eager to prevent a full-fledged diplomatic meltdown, the American government, citing national security considerations, exempted most of its key partners from the latest round of sanctions, particularly on aluminium and steel imports.

Argentina, Australia, Canada, Brazil, the European Union, South Korea, and Mexico were given temporary or full exemption. But Japan, Turkey, Russia and China are expected get hit the hardest by the dramatic rise in tariffs.

Fire and fury

In effect, Trump managed to alienate two key allies, Japan and Turkey, while escalating tensions with key rivals, Russia and China. Yet, with more than half of steel imports exempted, the economic wisdom of Trumps latest sanctions is under question. An incensed China warned America to rein in its horse before the edge of the cliff, otherwise it will fight to the end.

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China has gone so far as threatening to reduce its purchase of US treasury bonds, a key source of liquidity for the American market; cancelling major trade deals like purchase of American Boeing aircrafts; cracking down on American car and electronics investors; and maintaining long-term blockage of tech companies from Silicon Valley from Chinas humongous internet market.

Yet, the US government seems intent on upping the ante. In its National Security Strategy (NSS), the Trump administration promised to leverage the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and its majority-support in the Congress to ensure it addresses current and future national security risks.

In particular, it is committed to defending the so-called National Security and Innovation Base (NSIB), the network of capabilities, people, and knowledge, which undergird American technological supremacy.

Thus, the US government is even reviewing visa procedures to reduce economic theft by non-traditional intelligence collectors, targeting foreign students from designated countries in order to ascertain intellectual property is not transferred to our competitors.

This means, unless China overhauls its intellectual property infrastructure, more trade sanctions and restrictions are on the horizon. Trumps art of the deal strategy is likely aimed at forcing Beijing into concessions, including removal of restrictions on American entry into the car, electronics and financial markets in China.

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Yet, his hardball strategy could provoke a rising and proud China, unleashing a beggar-thy-neighbour dynamic between the worlds two leading economies. In a bid to stave off further tensions, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has promised to ease access for American investments; strengthen intellectual property restrictions; and scale down its demand for technology transfer from foreign companies.

It remains to be seen whether this would satisfy his American counterparts, but both powers know that theyre trapped in a state of mutually assured financial destruction. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Christopher Pissarides correctly warns, a tit-for-tat trade war could actually hurt Trumps basic constituency of manufacturing and agricultural workers, who depend on foreign investment from and trade with countries such as China and Japan.

Ultimately, any kind of great power protectionism could undermine a thick network of trade agreements, which undergird peaceful commerce among nations around the world. What is at stake is no less than an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity in human history.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
The Colombian social leader, known as an untiring fighter for human rights, was killed last week at her home.

Human rights groups have decried the killing of a Colombian farmer and social leader, who was reportedly murdered in front of her husband and son.

Maria Magdalena Cruz Rojas was killed by two armed hooded individuals at her farm home on Friday evening, local media reported.

She headed a governmental movement to grow alternatives to coca in Mapiripan, in the central region of Meta.

Rights group Coordinadora Nacional de Cultivadores de Coca (COCCAM) released a statement denouncing her murder.

They referred to Cruz Rojas as untiring fighter when it came to improving the wellbeing of the local community.

Mapiripan was previously an area of armed conflict in Colombia.

Paramilitary group the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, (AUC) carried out a five-day mass killing in July 1997. Former General Jaime Humberto Uscategui was sentenced to 40 years in jail for his role in the killings.

106 human rights defenders killed in 2017

Cruz Rojas murder comes as groups warn that human rights defenders are increasingly targeted in Colombia and throughout Latin America.

There were at least 106 murders of social leaders and human rights activists in Colombia last year, according to rights group Somos Defensores.

There have been at least 22 murders of rights activists so far in 2018, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said in a statement last week.

The IACHR urged the Colombian government to adopt urgent measures to protect those who defend human rights in the country and to carry out diligent investigations.

The IACHR also said those affected are in a special situation of vulnerability, located in remote areas where armed conflicts have historically been more intense.
Several casualties as religious school in Taliban stronghold attacked by Afghan forces, officials and witnesses say.

An air attack by Afghan forces on a gathering at a religious school in a Taliban stronghold has caused multiple casualties, including civilians, Afghan officials and witnesses said.

Top Taliban commanders were gathered inside the madrasa, where a graduation ceremony was under way for students at the time of the attack on Monday in the northeastern province of Kunduz, a security source told AFP news agency.

He said an unknown number of civilians were among the casualties that also included senior Taliban commanders who were planning for the next spring operations.

Several dead and at least 15 wounded, including children, who were taken to the regional hospital in the provincial capital Kunduz, Dr Naim Mangal told AFP.

Relatives of the wounded told an AFP photographer at the hospital that the attack happened during a graduation ceremony at the madrasa in Dashte Archi district, which is controlled by the Taliban.

When the planes came at around 12:00 pm some kids screamed they will drop a bomb but the elders said calm down, nothing is going to happen, but then in an instant bombs hit the mosque, Mohammad Ishaq told AFP.

It was not clear if the madrasa was inside the mosque or if it was a separate building.





Ishaq said civilians, students and some Taliban members, who had been invited to attend the ceremony, were inside the mosque at the time of the attack. There were three air attacks which destroyed the building, he added.

I escaped unhurt but many people were killed and injured and I saw their bodies laying on the ground, he said.

The Taliban issued a statement confirming the attack on the madrasa, but denied its fighters had been meeting at the school.

Around 150 religious scholars and civilians  most of them children  were among the dead and wounded, the group added.

Several boys with their arms and legs bandaged were seen laying in beds and along the corridors of the hospital.

The security source said the Taliban had started meeting at madrassas in the hope of avoiding air attacks.

No civilians killed

A defence ministry spokesman confirmed an air attack in Dashte Archi, but described the location as a kind of Taliban training centre and denied civilians were among the casualties.

Twenty Taliban, including the commander of their Red Unit in the district, and also a key member of the Quetta Shura were killed, Mohammad Radmanish said.

The Red Unit is the armed groups elite unit, and the Quetta Shura is its leadership council.

The same number were wounded, Radmanish added.

The meeting included a high-ranking Taliban delegation from the Quetta Shura, Ghulam Hazrat, a spokesman for the 20th army division in Kunduz, told AFP.

Fifteen Taliban were killed and 10 were wounded, Hazrat said. He also denied civilians were among the casualties.

A senior local official said around 150 people had been killed and wounded in the air raid.

Afghan officials often give conflicting casualty figures after an attack.

Obtaining detailed information is difficult because the Taliban controls the area. Most telecommunication services are cut from late afternoon on Taliban orders, locals say.

A spokesman for US Forces said they were not involved in Mondays air attack.

Afghanistans fledgling air force has accelerated bombardments in recent months as the Americans beef up the countrys aerial capability with more aircraft and better weapons.

Earlier this month, the Afghan Air Force dropped its first laser-guided bomb on a Taliban compound in the western province of Farah, where the armed group has gone on the offensive.

US and Afghan forces are increasing ground and air offensives against Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) as they try to get the upper hand in the 16-year war.

The latest attack comes weeks before the Taliban usually launches its spring offensive.

The group is under growing pressure to take up President Ashraf Ghanis offer of peace talks but so far it has not responded.
Witnesses describe devastating scene after Afghan military raid hits gathering at a madrasa in the northern province.

Dozens of civilians, including children, have been killed in an Afghan air attack on a gathering at a religious school in the northern province of Kunduz, eyewitnesses and an official said.

A religious school in the Dasht-e-Archi district of the Kunduz province was targeted by air raids late on Monday, resulting in the death of at least 70 people, including top Taliban commanders, a district official told Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media.

Ministry of Defense spokesman, Mohammad Radmanish, told Al Jazeera that the air raid was aimed at top Taliban commanders.

The air strike killed more than 30 Taliban fighters, including nine commanders, he said. The Taliban training centre was bombed and no civilians were present.

The Taliban denied its fighters were present at the school during the time of the attack.

I am not a terrorist

Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the gathering included a lot of civilians and the families of those killed in the attack were devastated.

There were children as young as 11 or 12 years old in the ceremony who were to be presented with awards and gifts for the completion of their religious courses, Mohammed Abdul Haq, who witnessed the attack, told Al Jazeera.

Mothers are wailing and crying outside the hospitals for the death of their children and everyone is crying with them, he added.

Other witnesses told Al Jazeera that more than 100 people were killed in the attack.

I was working in my farm when I heard helicopters and jets bombing the madrassa (religious school) where the Taliban were gathered alongside new Qaris (the ones who memorise the 30 chapters of the Quran) to recognise them with awards, Haji Ghulam, a witness, told Al Jazeera.

The Taliban are active in the area, but the ceremony was attended mostly by children and young boys.

Haji said when he went closer to the area, there were many children who were killed and wounded.

It was a disaster. Blood everywhere, he said, adding that the many people were killed.

Images circulating on social media purportedly showed a number of childrenss bodies, accompanied by the phrase: I am not a terrorist. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the images.

The Taliban, in a statement sent to Al Jazeera, said the air raid killed around 150 religious scholars and civilians, mostly children, while maintaining that no fighters were present during the attack.

These children in #Kunduz were supposed to be graduating today for memorising the #Quran & receive their gifts. Instead they recieved a bomb from an Afghan military helicopter. 80 students/scholars/parents were killed! This is NOT #WarOnTerror, it's #WarOfTerror!#Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/cDNbeghoLi     Zahid Akhtar (@ZahidDOAM) April 2, 2018

UN to probe attack

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said on Twitter that a human rights team on the ground will investigate the incident.

UNAMA actively looking in to disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians yesterday from air strike at #DashtiArchi, #Kunduz. Human Rights team on ground establishing facts. All parties reminded of obligations to protect civilians from impact of armed conflict, the tweet said.

Afghanistans air force, backed by US-led NATO coalition advisers, has accelerated aerial raids in the country in recent months to push the Taliban to the negotiating table, however, civilians have reportedly been killed in several incidents.

Earlier this month, a unit of the Afghan security and intelligence forces carried out a deadly raid in two villages in the Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province, that resulted in the death of seven farmer including two teenagers.

Afghan officials maintained that the people killed in the attack were Taliban fighters.

On January 31, Afghan special forces backed by US air raids launched an offensive against Taliban fighters in the Maiwand district in Kandahar, according to a Human Rights Watch report, released in February.

At least 20 civilians were killed in the operation, the report said.
African asylum seekers say the new plan will bring no real change for those who are to stay in Israel.

African asylum seekers in Israel have voiced concern over Tel Avivs agreement with the UN to resettle half of them in Western countries.

A number of African migrants and asylum seekers told Al Jazeera they remain sceptical that the new plan could bring any real change for those who are to stay in Israel.

On Monday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office announced that Israel had reached an unprecedented understanding with the United Nations to help resettle at least 16,250 African migrants in developed countries like Canada, or Germany and Italy, instead of Africa.

Hours after the announcement, Netanyahu said he would suspend the new plan, which was denounced by right-wingers in his government.

Netanyahu wrote in a Facebook post on Monday night that he was putting the agreement on hold until he meets with representatives from south Tel Aviv  where a large number of African asylum seekers live  along with Interior Minister Arye Dery.

Confusing matters further, both the German embassy in Israel and the Italian foreign ministry reported to the media that they were not aware of receiving any requests regarding asylum seekers.

Guess it's just one of those days. At 20:57 you congratulate #Israel & @refugees on their agreement, at 21:46 you like @IsraelMFA announcement on the deal, at 22:50 the PM suspends it and blames, among others, #EU (where #UNHCR hoped to resettle significant number of refugees).  EU in Israel  (@EUinIsrael) April 2, 2018

The new deal would allow those who stay in Israel, mainly women and children to be able to apply for asylum.

As part of this agreement, they will all receive a visa so that they will be able to stay in Israel with a legal status and that is very important, William Spindler, spokesperson for UNHCR told Al Jazeera following the announcement of the agreement.

They will be able to apply for asylum if they are in fear of persecution in their countries of origin; their cases would need to be assessed.

What we must remember is in the case of Eritreans for instance, a very high proportion of them are recognised as refugees in Europe, over 90 percent, Spindler said.

In the case of Sudanese, their proportion is also very high. So we think that most of these asylum seekers will qualify for refugee status.

Were still going to suffer

Journalist David Sheen criticised the deal for merely postponing the expulsion of the remaining non-Jewish African refugees in Israel.

Responding to complaints from his far-right base, that even only having to postpone the expulsion, of only 16,000 non-Jewish African refugees, & for only 5 years, is still a capitulation, Netanyahu issues new vow to try to reduce even those 5 years to less https://t.co/3u7qZdN5uH pic.twitter.com/bCO9RWkvZP  David Sheen (@davidsheen) April 2, 2018

Just like the shady Rwanda & Uganda deals, this UN deal is no victory for African refugees. 16,000 men will get chances at normal lives  which is more than they get in Israel  but the remaining 24,000 will have to start over with nothing in five years time, Sheen wrote.

And for the five years until those remaining refugees are forced out, they will lack the communal support of their resettled brethren, and become even more vulnerable targets for violent vigilante attacks, egged on by Israeli leaders. Reports of the deal make no mention of any public campaign to reverse their racist incitement.

Sheens concerns were echoed by many African asylum seekers.

They are always changing their policies, so your happiness will only be for a short time, said Helen Kidane, 27, just after the deal was announced, unknowingly foreshadowing Netanyahus revoked decision.





Kidane, who fled Eritrea in 2011 told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv that lack of security and public services for African refugees remains unaddressed.

Were still scared; we dont have any guarantees whether this [deal] will be implemented or not.

They are making our lives miserable- financially and psychologically through their policies. Financially, they are taking 34 percent of salaries from refugees but there has been no public service [available] to any refugee here since we arrived, Kidane said, noting that her child was born in Israel but is still treated the same as other refugees.

Africans started fleeing to Israel in 2005 after word spread of safe refuge and job opportunity in Israel. Tens of thousands crossed the desert border before Israel completed the barrier at the Egyptian border in 2012 to curb the influx.

Fria, 32, whose name has been changed for fear of reprisal, fled Sudan after her family members were killed and escaped to Israel in 2011, crossing the desert alone by foot.

Living in Israel as an African refugee has been difficult due to prevalent racism; she has endured verbal abuse and Israelis have thrown things at her such as eggs and soft drinks.

Fria stressed that the deal reached with the UN allocates residency rights temporarily for only five years, after which they would face the same problem again. In the meantime, they continue to live in difficult conditions.

All the families that live here, they dont have good status even those who were born here, they have no health insurance, Fria said. The government doesnt provide [basic] things for children here. Families are facing a lot of problems.

We dont have the same health insurance as the Israelis. Even if we paid from [our own pocket], we wont get good treatment.  If someone is sick and he went to the emergency, they will not treat him.
According to the study, 1,463sq km of ice melted between 2010 and 2016, an area slightly smaller than that of London.

Antarctic underwater glaciers are eroding at an alarming rate, with eight of 65 observed glaciers retreating at an extreme pace, new research has found.

According to the study, 1,463sq km of ice melted between 2010 and 2016, an area slightly smaller than the Greater London area.

The study found more than 10 percent of Antarcticas coastal glacier are currently retreating more than 25 metres per year.

The results of the research was published in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience on Monday.

Hannes Konrad, lead of the research team at the University of Leeds, said in a statement the evidence shows the glacier retreat is happening on the entire continent.

Our study provides clear evidence that retreat is happening across the ice sheet due to ocean melting at its base, and not just at the few spots that have been mapped before now, Konrad said.

Ice loss had been especially significant in West Antarctica, where the retreat of the Thwaites Glacier has sped up in the period the research was done.

However, Pine Island Glacier had stopped retreating, despite it being the fastest diminishing glacier up until now.

These differences emphasise the complex nature of ice sheet instability across the continent, and being able to detect them helps us to pinpoint areas that deserve further investigation, Konrad said.

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Methodology

Using satellites, the research team tracked about 16,000km of coastline and 65 glaciers following so-called grounding lines.

These grounding lines are the underwater spots where glaciers touch the sea bottom, usually a kilometre below sea level.

By studying the height of the glaciers surface using the satellites, the researchers could determine how much of the submerged ice had melted. Your browser does not support the video tag.

One of the main causes for the increased retreat is the warming of sea water because of climate change.

Warmer waters at lower depths have led to the underwater ice sheets melting at a higher rate.

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This retreat has had a huge impact on inland glaciers, because releasing them from the sea bed removes friction, causing them to speed up and contribute to global sea level rise, Konrad said.

Despite the vast majority of the glaciers retreating, a small amount of them have increased in size, with the largest glacier in East Antarctica, the Totten glacier, as the most prominent example.

In total, only 1.9 percent of all Antarctic glaciers were growing at a significant rate.

It is expected that the data gathered for this study will play an important role in the coming years in determining at which rate sea levels will rise over the next decades.
Immigration judges will be expected to complete 700 cases a year to reduce backlog of 680,000 cases.

US immigration judges will be expected to complete 700 cases a year in a new quota system, prompting fears that cases will be rushed through.

The Department of Justices Executive Office for Immigration Review announced the measure in a memo on Friday, which was first reported on Monday in the Wall Street Journal.

The numerical targets for the roughly 350 immigration judges working for the department are intended to reduce a backlog of around 680,000 cases.

Using metrics to evaluate performance is neither novel nor unique to [the Executive Office for Immigration Review], James McHenry, the offices director, wrote in the email which outlined the new measures.

The purpose of implementing these metrics is to encourage efficient and effective case management while preserving immigration judge discretion and due process.

On Monday, the Department of Justice said judges currently complete an average of 678 cases a year.

The new standards are set to take effect on October 1, but could still be challenged in court, said Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher.

It could be open to challenge in the courts particularly from people who would be concerned that judges are more interested in processing the number of cases rather than due process in their courtrooms, he said.

The National Association of Immigration Judges opposed the quota and called it completely, utterly contrary to judicial independence.

We believe assessing quality is fine, not quantity, Dana Leigh Marks, a union spokeswoman, told the Associated Press.

The move had been alluded to in October, when the Trump administration said it wanted to introduce numeric performance standards on immigration judges in a wish list of immigration policies.

Deportation arrests in the US soared by nearly 40 percent in the 100 days after Trump took office compared with the same period a year earlier, adding to the backlog.

Easter Caravan

Trump was slammed on Sunday and Monday for incorrectly linking a caravan of Central Americans making an annual pilgrimage to the US border with a programme that protects hundreds of thousands of undocumented people who were brought to the US as children.

The president lashed out at Mexico on Twitter for allowing a caravan of more than a thousand Central American migrants pass through the country.

The so-called Easter Caravan is organised by activists who aim to highlight the plight of people escaping crime and poverty and seeking sanctuary in Mexico or the US.

Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the US. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws, Trump said in a Tweet posted on Sunday.

Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2018

Caravans coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL! another Tweet read, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme (DACA), which protects about 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children.

The US president threatened to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if Mexico did not tighten their immigration policy.

Mexicos Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray Caso responded on Twitter, saying Every day Mexico and the US work together on migration throughout the region. Facts clearly reflect this.

An inaccurate news report should not serve to question this strong cooperation. Upholding human dignity and rights is not at odds with the rule of law. Happy Easter.

Every day Mexico and the US work together on migration throughout the region. Facts clearly reflect this. An inaccurate news report should not serve to question this strong cooperation. Upholding human dignity and rights is not at odds with the rule of law. Happy Easter.  Luis Videgaray Caso (@LVidegaray) April 1, 2018

Mexico in 2014 launched its Southern Border Plan with financial aid from the US government and detained about 300,000 migrants in the two years after.

The Easter Caravan has been organised annually over the past five years by activists of Pueblo Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders).

By moving in a large group, the organisation hopes to protect participants from countries including Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras from cartels, which often extort migrants.

This years Easter Caravan set off from Mexicos state of Chiapas on March 25.
Bulk cargo transit deal on Oli-Modi meeting agenda

An agreement on bulk cargo movement through more transit points between Nepal and India is due to be signed during the state visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to the southern neighbour that begins on Friday, officials said.
Rail and airline unions begin series of strikes that represent the strongest test yet for Macrons reform agenda.

France is braced for more disruption as rail and airline unions are planning a series of strikes over the next months to protest against reforms of SNCF, the indebted state-owned rail company.

The intermittent strikes are planned for two in every five days over the next three months, amounting to a total of 36 days of strikes. The first batch started on April 2 and will continue until Wednesday, April 4.

The disruption represents the strongest test yet for President Emmanuel Macrons reform agenda.

The French National Railway Company (SNCF) said in a statement on Sunday that only 15 percent of Frances high-speed TGV trains and 25 percent of regional trains would run on April 3 and 4.

As the SNCF had anticipated, traffic is already very disturbed on the first day of the long-term strike.

SNCF management estimates that almost 50 percent of all rail workers and almost three out of four drivers are on strike and are not accounted for.

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The strikes are imposed as a protest against the overhaul of the SNCF proposed by the French government.

Macrons government wants to fundamentally reform the railway sector before the summer. The SNCF is plagued by an abysmal debt of $57.7bn, which also compromises any future investments.

Privatisation

The four labour unions representing railway workers oppose the rail reform project, which they say aims to destroy the public railway service by pure ideological dogmatism.

The bill, which was presented on March 14, aims to transform the legal status of the SNCF, which is currently a public industrial and commercial establishment.

The governments plan would transform it into a public limited company, with tougher constraints on debt. It also wants to force the company to become more efficient.

Another major change would be the termination of privileged employment status for new employees.

In order to adopt the widely unpopular reform more quickly, the French government chose to bypass parliamentary debate, which is normally held for labour laws.

This move corresponds to a deadline set by the European Union for France and other EU member states to liberalise their railway sectors and prepare to open passenger rail to competition by 2020.

The prospect of the arrival of competitors to the SNCF is at the heart of the companys reform.

In February, Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, outlined plans to open up the rail monopoly to competition, as required by EU law.

This does not mean that the SNCF must necessarily be privatised, but it must be placed on equal footing with private competitors, who must be allowed to offer their own rail transport services.

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The government thus stopped short of privatisation, saying that the company was in the heritage of the French and will stay there.

It also will not close smaller, more expensive, regional lines.

Privileged status

Current SNCF personnel benefit from a special status. With the exception of professional misconduct, they are guaranteed employment for life, social security and a generous pension, as well as being exempt from paying fees for train services and discounted rates for some of the employees family members.

Becoming a railway worker is not easy. You must be under 30, pass aptitude tests and undergo a trial period that can last up to two and a half years.

Working conditions are often very difficult; physically demanding work, night and weekend hours and travelling throughout France.

In total, SNCF employs 146,000 railway workers, but the figure is steadily decreasing.

Air travel services, garbage collection and energy sectors will also be affected by the strikes.

Air France unions representing flight crews and ground staff also plan to strike on Tuesday and Saturday, with additional strikes on April 10 and 11.
Women with disabilities: Indias invisible victims

Women and girls with disabilities in India are at a higher risk of sexual violence, according to a Human Rights Watch report.
International donors have pledged more than $2bn in humanitarian aid to provide life-saving assistance and protection to the people of Yemen bearing the brunt of a deadly conflict now its fourth year.

Forty countries and organisations committed to donate $2.01bn on Tuesday during a pledging event in the Swiss city of Geneva, which was cochaired by the UN, Sweden and Switzerland.

The UN and its humanitarian partners had launched an appeal for $2.96bn to mobilise urgently needed resources for millions affected across the Arabian Peninsula country.

A similar conference last year raised $1.1bn in aid.

Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, who was present at the one-day conference, praised the fundraising event, but said more needs to be done by all the parties involved.

This pledging conference represents a remarkable success of international solidarity to the people of Yemen, Guterres said.

Humanitarian resources are very important, but they are not enough.

We need unrestricted access everywhere inside Yemen and we need all the parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law, and to protect civilians.

Above all, we need a serious political process to lead to a political solution.

Humanitarians have the capability to deliver in #Yemen and we can turn the pledges made today into delivery of relief tomorrow  but humanitarian access must also be improved. My remarks at the Yemen Pledging Event in Geneva https://t.co/TxE0a5up4H #InvestinHumanity  Mark Lowcock (@UNReliefChief) April 3, 2018

This year, the UN and its partners Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) requires $2.96bn for life-saving assistance to 13 million people and other support.

Isabella Lovin, Swedens deputy prime minister and cohost of the Geneva event, said despite the funding, lack of humanitarian access remains a key obstacle to organisations working in Yemen.

Humanitarian aid alone cannot be the response to the growing needs of the Yemeni people endangered by the armed conflict.





Ueli Maurer, Switzerlands vice president, said: A political solution must imperatively be found. Switzerland calls for a cessation of hostilities and invites all parties to join the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, Yemens foreign minister, who was also present at the conference, called for a return to the negotiating table to end the devastating three-year civil war in the country.

We need to find the ideal solution which is a return to the talks table, to put an end the war, to return to a sustainable system supported by the people of Yemen, Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi said.

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has been leading a military coalition in Yemen fighting Houthi rebels.

The ongoing conflict has led to massive food shortages and the worst recorded cholera outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The UN, which calls Yemen the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, says 22.2 million people are in need of aid, while 8.4 million are on the verge of famine.

In November 2017, the Saudi-led coalition eased a three-week-long blockade on rebel-held parts of Yemen, following an international outcry.

However, rights groups say the spectre of mass famine would continue to loom over Yemen.
Israel-UN deal to resettle African migrants met with caution

There has been a movement among NGOs and civil society organisations to fight the mass deportations  a policy many called racist  aimed at maintaining the identity of the Jewish state.
Saudi crown princes comments come just days after killings of 17 Palestinians by Israeli forces during peaceful march.

Commenting on the Saudi crown princes latest interview in which he asserts, in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, that each people have a right to live in their peaceful nation, Al Jazeeras Senior Political Analyst Marwan Bishara says such statements are not new per se.

But according to Bishara, what is more important is the timing of Mohammed bin Salmans statements.

The interview was published by the US-based Atlantic magazine on Monday, just days after 17 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during a peaceful march at the Gaza border on Land Day.

Why now, just when the Israelis are saying we dont want a two-state solution, just as the Israelis are shooting at Palestinians, expanding and increasing settlements, the illegal settlement-building, when the peace process is not going anywhere, when [US President Donald] Trump has just recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and basically dropping it from negotiations? Bishara asks.

This is absolutely the worst time ever to be saying things like that.

Bishara says recognition of Israels existence as a full member of the international community has been firmly established, with the debate now edging towards the legitimacy of the Israeli citizenrys claim to the land as an indigenous people.





In the interview, the 32-year-old crown prince said Israel has a right to its own land alongside Palestinians.

I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation, he said.

He also admitted there are a lot of interests that Saudi Arabia shares with Israel.

Bin Salman said that while Saudi Arabia has religious concerns about the holy mosque in Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinians, it has no objection against any other people.

Arab leaders, Bishara says, have long discussed arrangements whereby ties with Israel would be normalised in exchange for a full withdrawal from territories it occupied in the 1967 war.

What is at stake now is the Jewish populations intrinsic ties to the land, he says.

The issue here is recognising [Israels] right to exist  and, some would say, its historic right to exist. Do the Jewish people have a historic right to exist in Palestine, meaning that the immigration in the 19th and 20th century was okay, not as a colonial movement but as a peoples right to exist in Palestine?

I think that was the question.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller questions firm established in Israel over links to the United Arab Emirates.

US special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating a private consulting firm established in Israel and is linked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Wall Street Journal reported.

In a report published on Monday, the newspaper cited individuals familiar with the case as saying that the firm, Wikistrat, was contracted to work for the UAE by lobbying the US to support a 10-month blockade imposed on Qatar by several Arab countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Wikistrat, a company based in Washington, DC that offers geopolitical analysis, was established in 2010 by Joel Zamel and Daniel Green.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 American elections, met Zamel and questioned him about his relationship with George Nader, who served as a political adviser to the UAE.

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When asked about Zamel, Wikistrat said in a statement: Joel is a bright young businessman, and Wikistrat has been privileged to serve several US government clients, according to the Journal.

Joel and Wikistrat have only a tenuous connection to the special counsels investigation and are cooperating fully, the firm added in the statement.

The companys lawyer, Marc Mukasey, said his clients are not the focus of Muellers probe, the WSJ reported.

The developments follow several reports showing that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been working to lobby the US to support the blockade on Qatar.

Last month, the New York Times reported that Nader, who also presented himself as an adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, pushed US President Donald Trump to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had several confrontations with Trump over critical foreign policy issues, namely Iran and the Gulf crisis.

Tillerson was fired late last month.
Palestinians worry political divide is seeping into social fabric

Some Palestinians feel the divisions in their leadership is behind dwindling protest attendance in the occupied West Bank.
Leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran to hold talks to end the conflict amid rapid developments on the ground.

Turkey will host a trilateral meeting on the Syrian crisis between the presidents of Turkey, Russia and Iran on Wednesday amid significant developments happening on the ground in the seven-year civil war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Ankara on Tuesday, followed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the evening, as the leaders meet for the second time since November to discuss the Syrian situation.

Iran and Russia, which support the Syrian government in the crisis, and Turkey, which backs the moderate opposition, have been in close cooperation through a series of talks aimed at finding a solution to the Syrian conflict since last year.

Various so-called de-escalation zones were agreed among the three powers in Syria as a result of multiple rounds of talks throughout 2017.

The earlier talks took place in the Russian city of Sochi and Astana, the Kazakh capital.

Separately, Turkish-Russian relations have been increasingly well. The sides closed a deal in December 2017 for Ankara to buy S-400 air missile defence systems  despite NATOs concerns  and Russia has been building Turkeys first nuclear power plant.

Influential actors

According to Mensur Akgun, who leads the international relations department at Istanbuls Kultur University, the three countries have gradually become closer over the Syrian issue as a result of their will to solve the crisis.

As the influential actors on Syria, none of the three has interest in the continuation of the crisis and the US presence and influence on the war-torn country, Akgun told Al Jazeera.

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They are trying to find a way out despite their differences, and keep the countrys territorial integrity while doing that.

Tewfik Shuman, a Lebanese political analyst, said that the new efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis will have to take into account the new realities on the field.

That is the oppositions recent losses and Turkeys role in northern Syria. This followed a deal that involved exchanging Eastern Ghouta for Turkey entering Afrin, he told Al Jazeera.

Syrian government forces are reportedly close to taking full control of the opposition stronghold of Eastern Ghouta as state media reports that fighters have been evacuating from the area near the capital Damascus.

The seizure of the Damascus suburb will mark a major development in President Bashar al-Assads efforts reclaim the lost territories in the seven-year civil war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the humanitarian crisis in Eastern Ghouta, which has been under siege by government forces since 2013.

The Afrin operation

Meanwhile, Turkish forces and Free Syrian Army (FSA) have reportedly taken full control of northwestern Syrian region of Afrin in late March from the US-backed Kurdish Peoples Protection Unit (YPG) fighters as a result of an operation launched in February.

Russia removed its military observers from the region and opened the airspace of Afrin to Turkey for the operation that started in February to proceed.

Turkey considers the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria and its armed wing YPG to be terrorist groups with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

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The YPG has come to control large swaths of northern Syria, including Afrin, in the course of the Syrian war, particularly through fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in an US-backed umbrella organisation named Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The US has logistically backed and trained the YPG forces in this process.

Turkey seeks to extend its military operation to other areas in northern Syria, which has been increasing the tensions between NATO allies Turkey and the US as there are US forces along with YPG ones in the areas Turkey seeks to target.

Akgun said that the interests of the three countries seem to overlap now over their views on the YPG presence in Syria.

Although Russia has been fairly reluctant to grant the trump card [of YPG support] to the US, it seems to have picked Turkey over the YPG as we see in the result of the operation in Afrin, Akgun told Al Jazeera.

Fighters linked to the PKK have been active in Iran as well, although not as much as Turkey. Therefore, Iran, like Turkey, does not want a strong YPG existence that might lead to an independent state there.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_Uras
The two sides have finalised the deal for Turkeys government to purchase S-400 missiles in the face of NATOs concerns.

Vladimir Putin has announced an agreement to shorten the duration of the delivery of S-400 missile systems purchased by Turkey from Russia.

The Russian president made the remarks at a press conference on Tuesday with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

We took the decision to speed up the timetable for the delivery of these highly effective Russian systems, Putin said after talks with Erdogan.

He said that acceleration of production of the weapons was being done at the request of our Turkish partners and friends.

The deal has been valued at about $2bn, according to reports.

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Such a major purchase of weaponry from Russia by a key NATO member had raised concerns both over Turkeys strategic orientation and the compatibility of the systems within the alliance.

But Erdogan indicated that Turkey was in no mood to listen to criticism from the West over the purchase.

This is a decision of Turkey. We made an agreement about the S-400s [with Russia] and this issue is now closed, he said.

Turkish-Russian relations have been growing increasingly warm.

The sides finalised the deal for Turkey to purchase S-400 missiles, despite NATOs concerns in December 2017, and Russia has been building Turkeys first nuclear power plant.

Yuri Ushakov, Russias presidential aide, said on Monday that Moscow will exert every effort for completing the delivery of air defence systems S-400 to Turkey by 2020.

Meanwhile, the power plants first reactor is expected to begin working in 2023, according to Russian media.

In the press conference, Putin also expressed hope that a meeting of the worlds chemical weapons watchdog would put a full stop to the issue of an ex-spy whose poisoning in Britain has been blamed on Moscow.

We hope that during those discussions a full stop will be placed on [the issue of] what happened to former spy Sergei Skripal, Putin said before the meeting on Wednesday of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Pakistan has come under increasing international pressure to crack down on armed groups allegedly operating on its soil.

Islamabad, Pakistan  The United States has imposed sanctions on Pakistani political party the Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of armed group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), designating it and its leadership as terrorists, a State Department statement said.

The US added the Milli Muslim League and Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) as aliases of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and specifically named seven MML leaders as terrorists, said the statement, issued on Monday.

Todays amendments take aim at Lashkar-e-Taibas efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character, said Nathan Sales, the State Departments Counterterrorism Coordinator. Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group.

An MML spokesperson told Al Jazeera it would challenge the decision and work to remove misconceptions regarding its work.

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Political association is a fundamental human right, said spokesperson Tabish Qayyum, who was named in the US sanctions list. This [designation] is against the USs own position when it comes to democracy  we have always rejected all kinds of terrorism.

Qayyum, along with party chief Saifullah Khalid and leaders Muzammil Iqbal Hashmi, Muhammad Harris Dar, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem and Muhammad Ehsan have been added to the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

We want to remove the misconceptions of the United States.

Increasing pressure on Pakistan

The US and India blame LeT for planning and carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which saw at least 160 people killed in a series of coordinated attacks in the Indian port city.

LeT is also blamed for carrying out attacks targeting Indian security forces in the disputed Kashmir region.

LeT founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed denies any involvement in armed activity but says his group, now operating under the name of its charitable arm, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), supports the cause of Kashmiris who demand independence from India.

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Saeed was controversially released in November, after a court ordered an end to his house arrest under anti-terrorism laws, saying the government had failed to prove his involvement in armed activity.

Pakistan has come under increasing international pressure to crack down on armed groups allegedly operating on its soil, including LeT, the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network.

In February, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international illicit financing watchdog, said it would place Pakistan on its grey list for failing to do enough to curb illicit financing and money laundering.

MML competing in by-elections

MML candidates have competed in several by-elections since its formation in August last year.

At the time, MML chief Saifullah Khalid said that while Saeed had no role in running the party, he was its ideological leader.

Saeed, LeT and JuD are all subject to UN sanctions, including the freezing of assets, an arms embargo and a ban on international travel.

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Pakistans Election Commission had banned the MML from using Saeeds image in any election banners or campaign materials, a ban the party has regularly flouted. The partys official registration with the Election Commission remains disputed.

In February, Pakistan began seizing hospitals and other facilities operated by the JuD, after expanding restrictions placed on the group.

It is unclear, however, if the seized assets are still being operated by JuD.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras Web Correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim.
Economic ills

Finance minister should focus on introducing reforms rather than playing blame games
Sierra Leone Peoples Party says Julius Maada Bio won the elections, according to its own tallying of results.

Sierra Leones opposition party says its candidate won the countrys presidential election runoff, according to its own tally of the results.

Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) said opposition leader Julius Maada Bio took 54.11 percent of the votes, while Samura Kamara of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) won 45.89 percent.

We are confident that retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio is the next president of Sierra Leone, Jacob Saffa, the SLPPs election management chairman, told a news conference in the capital, Freetown, on Monday.

Meanwhile, the countrys National Electoral Commission (NEC) said it expected to release the result by Thursday.

Final results are expected within 72 hours, Albert Massaquoi, external relations officer at the NEC, said on Monday.

ECOWAS said the presence of security forces at some polling stations intimidated voters and polling officials [Olivia Acland/Reuters]

The NEC said on Monday that there was a brief delay in the vote counting following a disagreement between the parties on the tallying method.

It said counting had resumed, adding that votes from 11,000 polling stations were yet to be counted.

The runoff was delayed for several days due to a complaint of fraud lodged by a member of the APC. A court injunction was lifted a day before the polls were due to take place on March 27, forcing the elections commission to push back the vote.

ECOWAS, the regional bloc, said that overall it was satisfied with the election, but added the presence of security forces at some of the polling stations had intimidated voters and polling officials.

In the first round of voting, Bio was narrowly ahead of Kamara, a close ally of outgoing President Ernest Bai Koroma.

A total of 3.1 million people have registered to vote in the poll.
Syria war: Kurdish fighters top Turkey summit agenda

The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey will meet in Ankara to discuss the situation in Syria.
Zimbabwes government says its broke and needs direct foreign investment to improve infrastructure.

More video clips from the story
Rosiland Jordan

Rosiland Jordan joined Al Jazeera in 2008 and covers the US State and Defence Departments - in other words, diplomacy and warfare. Prior to Al Jazeera... more , she covered the White House for NBC News and Tribune Broadcasting. Rosiland was nominated for an Emmy in 2005 for her work on NBC's 2004 presidential election night coverage. She also won a regional Associated Press award for her reporting on the US immigration debate for a public radio station in 2007. Among her most memorable moments, Rosiland recalls interviewing then-Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the April day in 2008 when they realised his win in the North Carolina primary election was tantamount to his winning the Democratic party nomination for the presidency.
Section News and Resources

The ACCs 24 Regional sections across the country are active, excited and planning trips and social events, photo contests, gym nights, meet ups and more. Check the listing below for links to your section's resources.
Disenfranchising God

Humanity's disbelief in God has traveled an interesting route. Until the nineteenth century (we can argue about the date), proclaimed atheism was frowned upon in Western societies, and it remained a rare abnormality in non-Western mono- and polytheistic societies. The World Religion Database states that in 1910, 0.2 percent of world population declared itself agnostic; in 2010, it was 9.8 percent. In Western Europe, not to believe in God became commonplace after World War II. Statistics point to progressive secularization of virtually all Western countries and quite a few non-Western ones. The aspect of secularization that seems worthy of reflection is the evolution of attitude of those who reject God. At the beginning was anger. Voltaire's "ecrasez l'infame!" and Nietzsche's declaration that God is dead were full of sound and fury and mirrored the speakers' zeal in campaigning against God. In Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche attempted to deconstruct the Christian idea of a relationship between man and God by arguing that Christian morality was driven into the population by resentful priests, who wished to gain obedience of the masses. However, anger meant that the adversary's power was duly acknowledged. Dead or alive, God mattered to Nietzsche, while Voltaire's fury against the Catholic Church was predicated on the Church's importance in history.

Philosophy and science continued the attack, but God was hard to uproot, as nineteenth-century European literature attests. Throughout Europe, we see in belles-lettres an overwhelming presence of the Judeo-Christian God, although this presence is often camouflaged by the writers' imagination. Drawing on the biblical story of Job, Goethe's Faust created an imaginary wager between God and Satan that diverges seriously from the standard biblical interpretations. In Forefathers Eve, Adam Mickiewicz briefly flirts with the idea of God's perceived cruelty and his similarity to the Russian tsar. Goethe and Mickiewicz anticipate Nietzsche's anger and encourage readers to over-interpret religious texts, thus undermining their trustworthiness. On the other hand, many nineteenth-century writers injected into their novels and plays inseparability of the Christian God and Western cultural imagination. In France and throughout continental Europe, Victor Hugo's Les Miserables resonated with readers who could not envisage man's estiny without holding on to the idea that right and wrong are "inscribed in men's hearts." I would venture the opinion that Russian literature's popularity in Europe and America has been largely a function of its unashamed reliance on God-related topics at a time when these topics began to disappear from Western philosophy. Dostoevsky's Ivan Karamazov and his struggle against God has fascinated readers in Europe and America ever since Dostoevsky was first translated into European languages in the early twentieth century. Tolstoy's search for God reached tremendous depths in Death of Ivan Ilich and Father Sergius; the first of these stories even made it to high schools in America. On balance, God is woven into nineteenth-century texts so tightly that ignoring his presence distorts these texts. All this while science and philosophy marched on. The theory of evolution seemed to send God off to the dustbin of history in a decisive and scholarly way, but those who dug deeper soon found out that it was irrelevant to belief or disbelief in God. Attacked and damaged by Nietzsche and others as he might have been, God remained a grand nineteenth-century presence invoked by writers dealing with things fundamental to human life. By and large, however, scientific discoveries emboldened people to reject God. A century later, when the moon turned out to be a surface on which humans could walk rather than a celestial body hung there by the divinity and inaccessible to human touch, the breach continued. To be fair, however, it should be stressed that the believers (a minority) consolidated their position. They are not easily swayed by arguments that used to be effective a few generations ago, such as crude interpretations of religious texts or multiplying evidence of scandalous sinfulness of religious leaders. In twentieth-century life and literature, God's role continued to grow smaller. As the middle classes cremated their dear departed, they often availed themselves of urns rather than church ceremonies, and they placed these urns on mantelpieces where no religious symbols reside. For many people, God ceased to be the giver of children: their number is regulated through contraception, and secular vows made in Las Vegas are as valid as those made in a church. The occasional declarations of moral indignation (twentieth-century sex scandals culminating today in the #MeToo campaign) have celebrated unwillingness to be subjugated by fellow human beings rather than manifesting adherence to Ten Commandments. A recent development transcends this trajectory of secularization and brings the rejection of God to a level the radicalism of which, I submit, has not yet been fully grasped. These are the gender theories according to which gender is not an aspect of our personality over which we or society have no power, but rather a choice that can be reversed by society or the subject himself. This is accompanied by another postulate: that pure biological sex does not exist and that we all are more or less bi-gendered; this explains the desire of (allegedly) a good number of people to change their sex, now that social custom and material wealth make surgeries and rehabilitation possible. Introduced by academic scholars a generation or so ago, the idea has spread through universities and social institutions. Gender theories disenfranchise God once and for all. We are told by gender theorists that we acquire our deepest identity by choice; in fact, we can choose our identity from a cafeteria-like display. "Traditional" agnostics and atheists speak of nature as the source of gender, but they too take it for granted that the choice does not belong to individuals or communities. Now these individuals and communities are offered power they have never wielded before. It is a theoretical offer, but an offer nevertheless. Few people have pondered its implications for future human relations. Pope Benedict XVI remarked that gender theory is more dangerous than Marxism, because it destroys the structure of society, starting with the family. We do not battle God any longer or get angry at him, nor do we bother to scientifically prove that he has played no role in our creation. We make him inconsequential. Gender theories strip God of his primary creative privileges: assigning indelible features to each human being, limiting certain choices, claiming authority over our privacy. It is possible that, as some suggest, in this proposed orgy of liberty, the ancient heresies of Pelagianism and Gnosticism came back in a modernized form. The fact remains that the offer of societal or personal gender assignment excises God from our lives so completely that the only way to return to him would be by total conversion, an earthquake no one has yet anticipated. For now, the drive toward absolute human autonomy promises to annul the unity of spirit and matter so characteristic of the Western notion of man. No one has yet come up with a credible prediction of where this will take us.
Exonerating Mussolini?

In an interview with the British Spectator last summer, Steve Bannon said was "fascinated by Mussolini," whom he clearly admires for some of his accomplishments. But is this more than an isolated view? Two exhaustive Mussolini biographies  one, Mussolini, A New Life by Nicholas Farrell in English (which is more than ten years old but still cited by Bannon), and another, Dux: Benito Mussolini oder der Wille zur Macht, by Werner Brauninger in German  provide ample food for thought. Neither Farrell nor Brauninger has added to our screeds against "fascism," and both explore why Mussolini had such magnetic appeal in the interwar period. The Italian quasi-dictator (who had to deal with both a monarchy and extensive clerical influence) managed to rule Italy for over twenty years. Also, until he allowed himself to get dragged into Hitler's war in 1940, Mussolini's regime seemed to most observers to be remarkably stable. Italy weathered the Great Depression at least as well as most other Western countries, and its leader enjoyed widespread respect in international circles, including the expressed admiration of Winston Churchill and the respect of members of FDR's brain trust. Although in November 1938 Mussolini imitated his German ally by introducing disabilities against Italian Jews and expelling Jewish members from the Partito Nazionale Fascista, before that Jews had been welcome in both the Italian fascist government and Italian public life. (Mussolini's longtime mistress, press agent, and biographer, Margherita Sarfatti, was Jewish.) Between 1934 and his move into the Nazi German orbit in 1936, Mussolini had been a loud critic of Nazi Germany and provided haven for Jewish refugees from the Third Reich. His volte face in 1936, in the wake of his disastrous decision to invade and annex Ethiopia, a move that left Italy diplomatically isolated, undoubtedly prompted Mussolini's unexpected rapprochement with Hitler's Germany.

The fascist government claimed to be free of both parliamentary rancor and class warfare. Mussolini's regime likewise boasted of being independent of the "plutocratic nations" (meaning England and the U.S.) while keeping its distance equally from antinationalist Bolshevism. Fascists were carrying out a "national revolution" that would be built on specifically Italian and Roman traditions. It would operate through an authoritarian state and be subject to the will of its new Roman commander and his council of advisers. At least in its outward form, the fascist economy would be structured on a corporate model in which all working and managing groups would be assigned organizational rules. A fascist Grand Council authorized great national projects, like the construction of public buildings with a distinctive imperial style and the draining of the Pontine Marshes near Rome, which had long been a source of infection. Attempts were made in the early and mid-1930s to export the Latin fascist model, and among its takers, at least for a while, were the Blue Shirt nationalists in Ireland, Oswald Mosley's Black Shirts in England, Revisionist Zionists in Poland, and Marcus Garvey's Back-to-Africa movement in the U.S. In their massive biographies (Farrell's contains 821 pages and Brauninger's 460), our two authors depict the cultural atmosphere of an age that was very different from the present. Both explain why Mussolini was taken seriously as an interwar leader, why the movement he founded resonated across Europe, and why fascist aesthetics left their imprint on numerous writers and artists and on architectural style (of a kind found in Union Station in Washington). Despite the fact that Mussolini was an anti-German interventionist and combatant on the Allied side in World War I, Hitler readily borrowed for his Teutonic movement Latin fascist trappings and rhetoric. Brauninger notes that the German dictator always treated Il Duce with reverence. This continued to be the case, even when the Italians proved themselves a liability as war allies. The reason was that Hitler never forgot the exemplary role played by Italian fascism for his and other nationalist authoritarian movements. Here one must qualify, as Farrell does, by pointing out that Italian fascism never reached the level of brutality and totalitarian control characteristic of German Nazism. Even when Italian fascists assisted occupying German forces in rounding up Jews and other presumed enemies of the regime in 1944, collaboration, as Farrell properly observes, was less than what had occurred under the Vichy regime in France. Old-time fascists, like the philosopher Giovanni Gentile, loudly protested such actions, and the round-up evoked strong reactions from Italian inhabitants. Italian fascism and its Alpha Male leader had admirers well beyond Nazi circles and revolutionary nationalists. Mussolini was a matinee idol, who carried on torrid affairs with women across Europe, including Italian, French, and English nobility. Italian literary luminaries Filippo Marinetti, Gabriel D'Annunzio, Luigi Barzini, Curzio Malaparte, and Luigi Pirandello; inventor Guglielmo Marconi; and (at least in the 1920s) musical conductor Arturo Toscanini and distinguished composer Ottorino Respighi all lavished praise on Italy's fascist experiment. Respighi composed music to celebrate Mussolini's rule, and American songwriter Cole Porter described the Italian leader as "the tops." In March 1925 at a cultural congress in Bologna, a "manifesto of fascist intellectuals" was issued, which included the names of a multitude of Italian artists, composers, architects, and authors. For about a decade or more, Mussolini managed to be for his age what Fidel, Obama, and Che Guevara have become in more recent times: a combination of sex symbol, artistic inspiration, and political model. Il Duce has now fallen into disrepute, and this might have happened even if Hitler had never seduced him into a destructive alliance. Despite his socialist upbringing and rants against the bourgeoisie, Mussolini was too much of a man of the right to appeal to an age of internationalist elites and egalitarian, feminist ideology. He glorified virility and warlike attributes, and he built his national revolution on a hierarchy of command culminating in his highly personal and sometimes idiosyncratic rule. His two biographers have engaged in heavy-duty research and writing in order to make their subject credible to contemporary readers. But can Mussolini be raised from a stereotyped villain to someone who is at least worth understanding? On this, the jury may still be out.
Grant TPS status to Nepalis in New York, says NYC Mayor

Bill de Blasio, Mayor of the City of New York on behalf of 7,600 New Yorkers born in Nepal has urged Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Deputy Secretary John Sullivan of US Department of Homeland Security and US Department of State respectively to extend Nepals Temporary Permanent Status (TPS) designation for a full 18 months.
Scammed by a Black, a Woman, and Now a 17-Year-Old

The I.D. (Investigation Discovery) channel re-enacts real-life crime stories. I watched two stories in which single female homeowners heard men breaking into their homes. In both incidents, the best the unarmed women could do was grab their phones, hide in their closets like scared rabbits, and dial 911. My heart went out to the terrified, defenseless women. If they had had guns, the playing field would have been much more level. Tragically, both women were found by their home invaders. While she screamed, cried, and begged for her life, the burglar pressed his pistol against one woman's head and pulled the trigger, killing her instantly. In the second home invasion, the burglar shot the woman over ten times. She survived and praises God for her miraculous survival.

In both cases, these women would have had a fighting chance had they been armed. I asked myself, why on Earth does the American left so passionately want such women disarmed, defenseless, and at the mercy of evil criminals. With leftists claiming to be extreme advocates for women, desiring to disarm women does not make logical sense. And yet disarming every law-abiding citizen in America is exactly what leftists are trying to do, campaigning to demonize the NRA and gun-owners. My fellow Americans, leftists view you only as pawns. Your lives are mere tools to use to further their anti-God, anti-freedom, and anti-America agendas. Leftists are willing to sacrifice your well-being, best interests, and lives to further their extreme causes and ideas. This is why leftists use everything that happens in life  every accident, every tragic event, even the weather, to move the ball toward their goal. Exploiting the Florida school shooting, wacko leftist retired justice John Paul Stevens and other leftist nuts have called for the repeal of our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. Leftists also flood the media with deception and lies. Parroting fake news media, my relative ranted that you don't need an assault weapon for hunting and home protection. She thinks current gun law allows nutcases to purchase a machine gun (assault weapon). Civilians cannot casually purchase machine guns. The AR-15, which is hated by leftists, requires the trigger to be pulled for each round fired. The AR-15 is not a machine gun and has saved numerous homeowners' lives. Women defend themselves with guns against sexual abuse 200,000 times per year. Guns are used 80 times more often to save a life than to take a life. Of the 2,581,268 gun-related incidents each year, 2,549,596 are self-defense. Only 31,000 are assaults. American gun-owners kill 1,500 criminals each year. Police kill 600 criminals annually. The term "assault weapon" is a made-up political term by gun-haters to deceive people into thinking bad guys are legally buying machine guns. Everything leftists try to sell us is always rooted in misdirected hate, irrational emotion, deception, and lies. While claiming he had no desire to take our guns, Obama deceptively tried to repeal our 2nd Amendment right via the backdoor. Obama tried to ban traditional ammo. Like the Terminator robot in the movie, leftists never grow weary trying to overwhelm our country with their wacko ideas. They simply keep coming at us using different approaches and front-persons. Insidiously, leftists lie, saying, "You're nuts; we're not trying to take your guns. We only want another 'commonsense' gun law." The tactic is called incrementalism. Incrementally, we went from smoking sections to even tobacco-less vapor cigarettes being banned practically everywhere. I heard a new movie promoted on the radio. The announcer warned that the movie contained "historic smoking," as though seeing people smoking in buildings could be traumatic for viewers. Incrementally, we went from leftists claiming that homosexuals wanted only tolerance to preachers being jailed, Christians forced out of business, and public schools teaching kids to try homosexuality. Parents are not allowed to opt out their children from LGBT indoctrination. Leftists believe that the masses are as shallow as they are, placing surface appearance above character. That is why leftists select front-persons based on race, gender, etc. to be the face of leftists' attacks on mainstream Americans. Leftists used Obama, a black. Then leftists tried to use Hillary, a woman. Now leftists are using David Hogg, a "yute," to scam and bully the American people. For example: Obama's skin color provided cover for him to unconstitutionally further leftists' mission to transform America into a socialist-progressive nation. Opposing Obama was declared racist. Leftists assumed that Hillary would win the White House and they could use her gender for cover to continue implementing their agenda. Hillary and her fellow leftists still blame her crushing electoral defeat on misogyny. Leftists are now using a 17-year-old as their front man. Hiding behind David Hogg, leftists are using his age and victim status as cover to further their mission to disarm law-abiding Americans. Hogg is allowed to spout false leftist talking points and make unconstitutional, irrational demands with impunity. Leftists are gang-attacking, seeking to silence and destroy anyone who dares offer facts, truth, and logic that contradict Hogg's rants. According to leftists, disagreeing with Hogg makes you a hater of children and a gun nut. Yes, folks, leftists arrogantly believe they can bully us into surrendering to their irrational emotion-driven mission to disarm decent Americans. As usual, rabid, insane leftist aggressors are attacking the mainstream  in this case, law-abiding gun-owners  while portraying themselves as innocent victims of aggression from us everyday Americans. Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American

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The United States is the only nation in the annals of mankind to be established on the basis of a political and social philosophy centered on natural, or God-given, rights. Among these are self-preservation and property. Property rights are the bedrock of the American political system; without that foundation, there is no freedom. The Founders held that property rights encompass not just physical property, but also one's life, labor, speech, and livelihood, as individuals own their own lives; therefore, they must own the products of those lives, which can be traded in free exchange with others. Further, as there is a natural right of self-preservation, man has the right and duty to defend himself against transgressors, including the state, who would deny, abrogate, or unlawfully seize his property.

To what extent does man have a natural or God-given right to self-preservation and protection of his property? This question has been bandied about for thousands of years, and that issue, not guns (which are an instrument of self-preservation), is at the heart of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

However, over the past 150 years, the statists, including the current iteration of the American left, have marched in lockstep to what Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels espoused in their Communist Manifesto: "The Theory of Communism may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property." They contended that one's labor or livelihood (and by extension, one's life) is not private property and is thus subordinate to the common good as determined by the state. Therefore, the individual has no God-given and unconstrained right of self-defense, as that right can be utilized to counter or oppose the common good.

Opposing views regarding the purpose of the state and individual property rights (including self-preservation) have been bandied about for 2,500 years. The Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 B.C.) called for a communist social order in which property is held in common (the state) and that human nature can and should be molded and transformed to benefit the state. Thus, an individual, being subservient to the state, cannot exercise any form of self-preservation except that acceptable to the state.

On the other hand, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) argued that if property is held in common and man cannot, therefore, exercise his right of self-preservation, then there exists the potential for animosity and anger; further, man possess a human nature that cannot be molded or transformed to some ideal of a perfect state. The laws of nature and the rule of law demand that government should govern for the good of the people, not for the good of those in power.

While the conflict between communism and democracy has been the centerpiece of the history of the past 100 years, the underlying philosophical battle over the role of property rights and self-preservation was waged in 17th-century Britain between Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and John Locke (1632-1704).

Thomas Hobbes published his seminal work Leviathan in 1651. In it, he described man's essential nature as one of aggression, avarice, destruction, and near constant war. An all-powerful sovereign (or government) is paramount in order to protect against and repel this base human nature. Hobbes believed that this sovereign would by necessity have nearly limitless power to seize or restrict any and all property (including one's speech, labor, and livelihood) for the good of society. He acknowledged the right of self-defense, but he thought there can be no agreement on what constituted legitimate self-defense, so the state and the rule of law must determine what constitutes legitimate self-defense.

John Locke published his Second Treatise of Government in 1690. In contrast to Hobbes, Locke, regarding an individual's natural right to his property which encompasses one's life, labor, and speech, wrote:

[T]hough the things of nature are given in common, yet man, by being master of himself and proprietor of his own person, and the actions or labour of it, had still in himself the great foundation of property; and that which made up the great part of what he applied to the support or comfort of his being ... was perfectly his own and did not belong in common to others.

Therefore, on the issue of the natural right of self-preservation, Locke wrote that men are intended to live as freely as possible without interference from anyone or anything else. There is a right of self-preservation, which obligates man to defend himself from those, including the government, who seek to infringe upon his natural liberties.

[H]e who makes an attempt to enslave me thereby puts himself into a state of war with me. He that in the state of Nature would take away the freedom that belongs to any one in that state must necessarily be supposed to have a design to take away everything else, that freedom [Self-Preservation] being the foundation of all the rest; as he that in the state of society would take away the freedom belonging to those of that society or commonwealth must be supposed to design to take away from them everything else, and so be looked on as in a state of war. [Emphasis added.]

The Founders were greatly influenced by the writings of Aristotle and Locke among others. In drafting the Constitution, they assumed that the recognition of the God-given right of self-preservation is self-evident and not in need of enumeration  as the nation's current favorite founder, Alexander Hamilton wrote, in Federalist 28 (published six months before the introduction of the Bill of Rights) (emphasis added):

If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government[.]

However, the men who proposed the Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution were insistent that this inalienable right of the individual be recognized in clear and unambiguous language: "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Thus, the Founders recognized that the natural right of self-preservation includes the possession and use of virtually any implement of self-defense.

The Founders were steeped in the history of mankind and recognized that among the first steps taken by all despotic governments throughout the ages was the usurpation by the state of the natural right of self-preservation. This was accomplished first and foremost by the seizure and outlawing of any weapons the citizenry might be able to use for that purpose  a process often, and with disastrous results, repeated throughout the twentieth century in nations such as Russia, Germany, Italy, China, and Cambodia, among many others.

In the 2,500 years since Plato and Aristotle first debated the nature of rights and man, there has been a clear dichotomy on the question of self-preservation. Those who deem the state paramount and, thus, the source of the rights of man believe that any right of self-preservation can and must be limited as the state sees fit. On the other hand, those who deem certain rights, including self-preservation, natural or God-given believe that the state not only cannot limit or deny this right, but must guarantee it. There is no middle ground.

This is the tension now afoot in the United States as the American left, the heirs to the legacy of Plato, Hobbes, and Marx, are determined to eviscerate the right of self-preservation. It is not a coincidence that over the past 50 years, the left is the source of all gun legislation, regulation, and furor  using handy catchphrases such as "commonsense gun control," all the while denying their ultimate objective.

The Founders' recognition of the God-given right of self-preservation and the unambiguous language of the Second Amendment require that any limitation on the right to bear arms be done by the constitutional amendment process  not the Courts or Congress or the president, either collectively or as separate branches of government. That, or this nation is no more than a facade of the constitutional republic founded on the basis that men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" and "[t]hat to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men[.]"
It's important to note that the source of all this is a 93-year-old Italian reporter, who is an atheist and who doesn't take notes or record conversations. He goes by memory, even when using "quotes," and he's misattributed things to the pope in the past.

Recently there has been a flurry of #fakenews claiming, incorrectly, that Pope Francis doesn't believe in Hell.

The Vatican has denied that the pope said what that reporter said the pope said. However, since the denial doesn't explicitly say that the pope believes in Hell, the nattering nabobs of the left, and the right, are saying that maybe it wasn't really a denial.

The good news is that since his election to the papacy, Pope Francis has made his beliefs on Hell clear:

Yet the danger always remains that by a constant refusal to open the doors of their hearts to Christ who knocks on them... the poor, the proud, rich and powerful will end up condemning themselves and plunging into the eternal abyss of solitude which is Hell.

Referring to members of the Mafia, Pope Francis said:

There is still time not to end up in hell, which awaits you if you continue on this road.

And the pope said this to a group of children in response to the question "If God forgives everybody, why does hell exist?":

This is hell: It is telling God, 'You take care of yourself because I'll take care of myself.' They don't send you to hell, you go there because you choose to be there. Hell is wanting to be distant from God because I do not want God's love. This is hell. Do you understand?

Based on the pope's consistent public declaration of the existence of Hell, it's safe to say that the Italian reporter's claims are baseless.

This is just another example of the leftist media running with anything that might indicate that the Pope supports modern liberal beliefs. Some other examples of the media distorting what Pope Francis has said include:

Misrepresenting the pope's position on DACA.

Saying the pope condemned Trump when the pope didn't do that.

Misrepresenting the pope's comments to Congress on immigration.

Saying the pope equated not accepting all immigrants with murder when he didn't.

Interestingly, the same media ignore those things the pope says that go against the liberal worldview, including:

Economics: How to help the poor: "We are not simply talking about ensuring nourishment or a 'dignified sustenance' for all people [i.e., welfare], but also their 'general temporal welfare and prosperity'" [159]. "This means education, access to health care, and above all employment, for it is through free, creative, participatory and mutually supportive labour that human beings express and enhance the dignity of their lives."

Abortion: "Defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right[.]" "It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems."

So-called gay marriage: "Let's not be naive, we're not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God."

Environment: "Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?" "If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away."

The sad reality is that it's nearly impossible to trust that the leftist media will ever accurately portray what the pope really says on any issue.

No matter what your faith tradition or your opinion of the pope, the reality is that the pope has not changed the 2,000-year-old Catholic teaching on the existence of Hell.

Use this weaponization of the pope by the media as an opportunity to explain to your friends why the leftist media can't be trusted to tell the truth.

You can read more of Tom's rants at his blog, Conversations about the obvious, and feel free to follow him on Twitter.
My dad would often watch Fox News, and we'd chat about the news segment. On one occasion, we spoke about taking down statues. He said statues are like family photos  a reminder of where you came from. You can't delete them any more than you can erase that family member you are not proud of. My dad warned me that this movement will eventually divide the country into factions.

Before he passed away, my father and I had long chats about a lot of things. He didn't have a lot of energy, but he did say a lot of great things.

And yes, my father was right. We need to be cautious about erasing the past.

The latest news on this front is about Native Americans and the town of Arcata, California, as we see in this Los Angeles Times report:

No other city has taken down a monument to a president for his misdeeds. But Arcata is poised to do just that. The target is an 8-foot bronze likeness of William McKinley, who was president at the turn of the last century and stands accused of directing the slaughter of Native peoples in the U.S. and abroad. "Put a rope around its neck and pull it down," Chris Peters shouted at a recent rally held at the statue, which has adorned the central square for more than a century.

Lynch McKinley? All I can say is wow, and who is next?

There are two problems here with this movement  historical ignorance and a lack of parental guidance!

First, these people do not love their country. So what country do they love? As I recall, Geronimo did not allow dissent or an opposition party. They present a false view of the past, or "white man is bad" and "everybody else is a victim."

Second, the Democratic Party is so corrupt at the core that it won't stand up to these clowns. The "statue" movement is desperately in need of a real liberal who stands up and says "enough."

Wonder when we take down President Truman because he bombed Hiroshima...

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Reid did this to confirm Obama appointees. He did it because Obama wanted his nominees appointed, and Reid supported his president.

In 2013, Harry Reid changed the Senate rules on cloture to require a majority vote instead of 60 votes to confirm federal judges, except Supreme Court nominees.

Cloture is the procedure to end discussion of a bill to bring it to vote. It now requires 60 votes to end discussion, usually referred to as filibuster, which will allow 30 hours of discussion instead of endless discussion. Cloture was first adopted in 1917 to require a two-thirds vote to end discussion. It was changed in 1975 to 60 votes.

The most famous filibuster was the Democrats' filibuster of 57 days to delay and try to block the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

President Trump ran and won on his promise to build a wall on the southern border. But he cannot get funding for the wall, and the spending bill he just signed allocates only $1.4 billion for the wall.

Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are not strong supporters of the wall; it isn't clear they support the wall at all. Neither fought for or demanded more money for the wall.

It appears that McConnell opposes changing the 60-vote cloture rule.

The 60-vote requirement is not in the Constitution. Allowing the minority power to block legislation gives more power to the minority party than intended by our Constitution. It blocks the will of the voters who elect a majority party in the House, Senate, and presidency, as we now have. It is a Senate rule that can be changed by the party in power. Reid changed it to help Obama. The 60-vote rule will prevent Trump from fully funding the wall to build it, which is the plan of the Democrats.

Even if McConnell wants to remove the 60-vote rule, it is doubtful he can get 51 Republican votes to change the rule. We still have McCain, Flake, Collins, Murkowski, Sasse, and Graham, who probably will not support the change.

The only hope is for voters to contact their senators, especially the NeverTrump senators like McCain, to change the rule. Further, we need to elect Republican senators in 2018 who will support the Trump agenda to build the wall and to change the 60-vote rule to majority vote.
Even Venezuela's sugar daddies, Russia and China, are bailing out

Right under the radar, Venezuela is getting dumped by its two sugar daddies, Russia's state-linked Rosneft energy giant, and China's state-linked PetroChina. Bye-bye money, because this is a big blow. The pair of them were slated to run two of the three of Venezuela's monster-big refineries in the Paraguana complex, Amuay and Cardon, two refineries that were the crown jewel of Venezuela's global oil presence. Back in the 1990s, these were the most advanced and best-run refineries in the world.

Today, they have fallen into such a state of shambles even the Russkis and Chicoms won't touch them. According to a report from Kallish Energy, the repair costs of the Chavista-managed socialist-run rubble is $10 billion with a 'b.' They'd have to shell that out just to get the darn things running and then would get ten years to run them and sell their products before forking them back over, free of charge, to the Venezuelan Chavista government, which ruined them in the first place. Nope, nobody with a hint of brains would do that. Seriously, $1 billion would be taken right off the top of the roughly 365 million or so barrels of refined oil each year that they would have to sell in a ten-year deal. And Rosneft has already lent Venezuela about $5 billion. With oil prices volatile, and new competitors entering all the time as fracking takes prices lower, it's all but certain this is a zero-profit proposition. What makes it interesting is that these companies have always been somewhat indifferent to market forces, given that the Russian and Chinese companies are often used as instruments of foreign policy rathan than solely for profits. Venezuela was a sort of voodoo doll to wave at Uncle Sam and annoy the U.S., which is why Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi have found the place useful to their interests. The Rosneft and Petrochina pullout suggests that involvement with money-pit, howlingly corrupt, socialist-controlled Venezuela is no longer worth it. Money Whirlpool, by Patrick Hoesley / Flickr And the mighty refineries, once world's most advanced, are now set to be shut down, with only one or two to remain, according to Kallish Energy. What can we conclude from the Great Sugar Daddy Exodus from Venezuela? Three things: The Chavistas aren't going to be getting whatever money they thought was coming from abroad to bail them out. And this was pretty much their last good thing on the horizon.

The oil companies view Venezuela as a money pit no market forces can paper over as in the past, and pretty useless as a foreign policy instrument, given the cost.

The oil companies likely expect a regime change given that they are holding back, and expecting a better deal from successors. Let it crash. America is back and the sugar daddies are about to go find prettier girls to annoy Uncle Sam elsewhere.
With almost five months yet to go in Fiscal Year 2018, American taxpayers already have funded "resettlement" of 13,000 unaccompanied minors who managed to enter the United States. These people who claim to be age 17 and under must by law be accommodated in staying here while their cases wind their way through a years-long process of evaluation. President Trump's administration is not pleased and wants change in U.S. law.

In a statement to the media, President Trump's administration explained how unaccompanied minors are resettled in the U.S. after they cross the border: "U.S. law currently requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to transfer unaccompanied aliens from Central America, age 17 and under, who are apprehended at U.S. borders to the care and custody of ACF's Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), where they may eventually be released to a sponsor in the United States," an administration official explained. "Unfortunately, many violent gangs, including MS-13, are exploiting loopholes in U.S. laws to bring gang members into the United States or to recruit UAC once they are placed with a sponsor," the official continued. "Human smuggling organizations are also abusing U.S. laws in order to bring children in the United States. That is why ORR joins the President in calling for Congress to close dangerous loopholes in U.S. law."

Just what we need: unvetted youngsters entitled to be settled wherever sponsors can be found (MS-13, anyone?) across the U.S. Just the thing to replenish a drug gang whose members have died.

During a conference call, senior administration officials said their "hands are tied" when it comes to current U.S. immigration law, which prevents the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency from deporting all border-crossers once they are arrested.



U.S. Customs and Border Protection provide assistance to unaccompanied alien children after they have crossed the border into the United States. Photographer: Barry Bahler.

The need for legal reform is all the more apparent as a column of a reported 1,100 Central Americans winds its way through Mexico toward its goal of the U.S. border, where the adults are expected to claim asylum, which also requires accommodation within the U.S. while the cases are adjudicated.

Up to 80 percent of people who claim a "credible fear" of persecution are being allowed into the U.S. to apply for asylum, the official said. Once inside the U.S., many border-crossers disappear to quietly work and avoid court appearances, he said.

We are being played for suckers, and the U.S. population is being reconfigured toward a populace that depends on government payments and will therefore vote Democrat. We don't need "comprehensive" immigration reform; we need to plus loopholes in our law that are readily exploited by people  including MS-13  taking advantage of our generosity.
The Mexican government on Monday evening moved to break up the caravan of migrants moving through southern Mexico, with immigration officials registering the travelers and suggesting some could receive humanitarian visas while others would have to leave Mexico.

It looks like President Trump's tweets have had an effect on Mexico. Whether or not you believe that our southern neighbor will follow through, at least they realize they have a P.R. problem and face some serious consequences for aiding and abetting violations of our border. Joshua Partlow and David Agren, reporting in the Washington Bezos Post , totally buy into the Mexican P.R. effort:

The caravan, estimated at more than 1,000 migrants, many from Central America, has gained increasing visibility because of tweets by President Trump that have criticized Mexico for not doing more to stop the flow of migrants to the southern border of the United States. The bulk of the migrant group  part of an annual caravan intended to raise awareness about the plight of people making the dangerous trek across Mexico toward the United States  is currently in the town of Matias Romero Avendano in the southern state of Oaxaca. A portion of the group rode by train to the neighboring state of Veracruz, according to caravan organizers, local officials and others, but it is unclear if that group has so far dispersed.

Skepticism toward Mexico is the rule of the day on this story. Buzzfeed, with a reporter embedded in the caravan, is less credulous than the WaBezPo:

Mexico's National Institute of Immigration (INM) said late Monday that it plans by Wednesday to disband a caravan of hundreds of Central American migrants that has been traveling through Mexico for nine days. Caravan organizers said, however, they expect at least some of the migrants to continue north to the US border. They estimate that most of them will seek asylum or some type of protection in Mexico or the US.

I think it is fair to conclude that the group organizing and sponsoring this caravan, Pueblo Sin Fronteras ("town without borders") has provoked a backlash. First of all, its name reveals too much: they want no borders, which means that potentially hundreds of millions of poor people who would like to move to the United States and take advantage of our generous welfare provisions could overwhelm our native population if they realize their goals. Open borders would benefit the Democratic Party, but until now, they have been afraid of openly advocating for them. Pueblo Sin Fronteras has put them in a difficult situation.

Second, they have never encountered the likes of President Trump, who is not afraid to call BS on their pieties, like "Our dream is to build solidarity bridges among peoples and turndown border walls imposed by greed," which appears at the bottom of their home page.

By invoking NAFTA negotiations in a tweet:

The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our Weak Laws Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018

President Trump put the Mexican government in box. The Mexicans realize that Mexico has benefited from NAFTA far more than the U.S., and as they watch Trump slapping tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, they see that they are in serious jeopardy. They may assume that lip service will suffice. If so, they still don't understand President Trump.
He told me he recognizes the right of the Jewish people to have a nation-state of their own next to a Palestinian state; no Arab leader has ever acknowledged such a right.

Important history was made yesterday, and the tectonic plates of Middle East moved, as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, explicitly acknowledged Israel's right to exist, in a homeland alongside a Palestinian state. In a wide-ranging interview with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic :

Later in his account of his interview, Goldberg judges:

If Prince Mohammed actually achieves what he says he wants to achieve, the Middle East will be a changed place.

Yes, indeed. "Revolutionary" is not too strong a word for what MbS, as he is widely known, has in mind. And he is no starry-eyed idealist, but a pragmatist responding to the existential threat to his regime, and more broadly to Sunni Islam, posed by the Shiite mullahs of Iran, intent on developing a nuclear arsenal with which to hasten a final, cataclysmic Armageddon and a return of the Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi, who will usher in an era of peace under the world rule of (Shia) Islam.

For a host of pragmatic reasons, MbS and Saudi Arabia need Israel's help in countering Iran. The old shibboleths of support for the Palestinians in their quest to drive the Jews into the sea no longer are useful.

Public acknowledgement of this change in policy is a major turning point in the Middle East. For decades, Saudi money has been crucial in keeping the Palestinian hereditary refugees able to reproduce and multiply in their "camps" (really, cities), agitating against the existence of Jews in the Dar al Islam  the Middle East. Now the guardian of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina has declared that Jews have a place in those lands.

James Lewis agrees and emails:

The new announcement follows the Trump-Sisi-Salman-MbS summit last year in Riyadh, which was followed by a major purge by the Salman-MbS faction against what seem to be reactionary jihadist elements in the Sunni world.

Turkey is now in opposition, and there will no doubt be a lot of moves that our media will totally ignore.

As Saudi Arabia moves toward the light, Turkey is reviving its own dream of dominating the Middle East, as the Ottoman Empire did until a century ago. Turkey and Iran thus bookend the Sunni territory that the House of Saud sees as its natural sphere of influence.

As this plays out, keep in mind that Ottoman rule was cruel and corrupt in the extreme. There are no pleasant memories of Turkish domination.

The past seven decades of Middle East history are now over, and a new era is beginning.
The bureau is far too powerful, and with precious little oversight of its activities, Mr. Mulvaney said in a report on the CFPB sent to Congress. Supporters counter the bureau was set up after the financial crisis to be insulated from politics.

The changes would be a substantial departure from the CFPBs structure, which currently gives it wide latitude to oversee consumer financial products without interference from Congress or the White House, and make it less independent than other banking and markets regulators.

Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, on Monday asked Congress to pursue sweeping changes giving the executive and legislative branches control over the bureaus regulations, leadership and budget. Major CFPB rules would need congressional approval, for instance, and the CFPBs director would answer directly to the president, instead of being fully independent. Its funding, which currently comes from the Federal Reserve, would be handled by Congress.

WASHINGTONThe Trump administration wants to limit a federal regulators independence in policing the consumer-finance industry, the latest salvo by the White House to roll back Obama-era oversight put in place after the financial crisis.

Independence? That's a laugh. There's not a thing independent about this Democratic Party slush fund that operates with an unlimited budget, courtesy of the Federal Reserve and its capacity to actually print money.

Here's what I found earlier about this of-the-Democrats, by-the-Democrats, for-the-Democrats leftwing agency:

Rubin describes how the agency systematically discriminated against Republican hires through wink and nod hiring processes and got away with it.

Rubin describes how the agency systematically discriminated against Republican hires through wink and nod hiring processes and got away with it.

Rubin describes how the agency systematically discriminated against Republican hires through wink and nod hiring processes and got away with it.

Over the next two years, the economy collapsed, Democrats gained control of Congress and the White House, and Warren grew famous criticizing big banks in congressional hearings. She lobbied Democrats to include her agency in their Wall Streetreform legislation, arguing that effective enforcement of consumer-protection laws required a regulator independent from politicians beholden to the financial industry. The Democrats had a better idea: They would make her agency independent from Republicans.

Over the next two years, the economy collapsed, Democrats gained control of Congress and the White House, and Warren grew famous criticizing big banks in congressional hearings. She lobbied Democrats to include her agency in their Wall Streetreform legislation, arguing that effective enforcement of consumer-protection laws required a regulator independent from politicians beholden to the financial industry. The Democrats had a better idea: They would make her agency independent from Republicans.

Over the next two years, the economy collapsed, Democrats gained control of Congress and the White House, and Warren grew famous criticizing big banks in congressional hearings. She lobbied Democrats to include her agency in their Wall Streetreform legislation, arguing that effective enforcement of consumer-protection laws required a regulator independent from politicians beholden to the financial industry. The Democrats had a better idea: They would make her agency independent from Republicans.

Then its creators designed the agency so that no Republican could ever enter it. Rubin writes:

Then its creators designed the agency so that no Republican could ever enter it. Rubin writes:

Then its creators designed the agency so that no Republican could ever enter it. Rubin writes:

The Democrats under President Obama designed the agency first conceived by Elizabeth Warren so that it would be nominally independent and nominally bipartisan. and of course, be solely devoted to looking out for consumers. In reality, CFPB is unaccountable to the voters and their elected leaders, with its funding under the purview of the Federal Reserve, which is independent itself, instead of the Congress.

The Democrats under President Obama designed the agency first conceived by Elizabeth Warren so that it would be nominally independent and nominally bipartisan. and of course, be solely devoted to looking out for consumers. In reality, CFPB is unaccountable to the voters and their elected leaders, with its funding under the purview of the Federal Reserve, which is independent itself, instead of the Congress.

The Democrats under President Obama designed the agency first conceived by Elizabeth Warren so that it would be nominally independent and nominally bipartisan. and of course, be solely devoted to looking out for consumers. In reality, CFPB is unaccountable to the voters and their elected leaders, with its funding under the purview of the Federal Reserve, which is independent itself, instead of the Congress.

Operationally, they were horrible, too. It took local regulatory agencies and a long Los Angeles Times investigative piece to expose the massive opening of unwanted accounts of consumers by Wells Fargo employees back in 2013. After all the work was done, CFPB came in and fined Wells Fargo, which was loaded with Democrat donors, the $100 million it got headlines for, ignoring that the agency actually didn't do anything to uncover the bad case of abuse against customers. They weren't in the business of protecting customers, they were just about shakedowns and publicity, as Rubin described. And that cash they extracted goes solely to Democrat groups. IBD writes: Now, a little-noticed item on the CFPB's website reveals the powerful new agency is launching its own scheme to provide backdoor funding for nonprofit urban groups politically aligned with Democrats.

In other words, not only is CFPB a shakedown artist, it also serves as a slush fund for the Democratic Party's thug shock troops, its community organizers well known for their involvement with voter fraud such as ACORN and its successors.

Worse still, its lack of accountability to the congressional budgeting process has made it one of the most bloated of all federal agencies, with gargantuan salaries being shelled out to its do-nothing and destructive bureaucrats with their disgusting record of targeting businesses based on how much cash they can shake them down for, instead of the number of consumer violations they may be committing.

And Elizabeth Warren and her Democrat buddies designed the whole thing so that no Republican administration can truly control it.

Which is why we elected Donald Trump.

Trump, through his capable acting CFPB director, Mick Mulvaney, a hero if there ever was one to the American voter, really has taken steps to reform this agency and bring it in line with the accountability all other agencies must respond to. The new reforms proposed will make the agency answerable to the president and Congress, subject to budgeting by Congress, same as all the other federal government agencies, and responsive to voter will instead of Democratic Party partisan priorities. They will have to be an agency of all the people instead of the crummy little slush fund operating solely for Democrats' benefit.
Human resource matters

Human resource development has multiple dimensions and cannot be explained only in statistical terms So budget allocations and educational growth in terms of numbers are not adequate to convey the spirit of human resource development
Some may scoff at this, noting that the main risk scientists have found is a trace chemical in roasted coffee that might cause cancer not in humans, but in rats. No wonder so many Nanny Statist Democ-rats are worried.

Many of us Californians crave "natural organic food," whatever that is. Most latter-day hippies also demand that others adopt the purported scientific "consensus" on global warming, but they reject the clear scientific consensus that GMOs, genetically modified organisms, are safe and wholesome. Most have never heard of Univ. of California biologist Bruce Ames's evidence that pesticide-sprayed celery can be safer than organic celery, which fights insect attacks by flooding its green tissues with toxic natural psoralens.

My point, however, is not to bury warning labels, but to praise them. We need more.

When you open your state and federal tax forms, for example, they should be topped with a large, bright red label warning: "TAXES ARE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. They cause severe stress, which is known to cause cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and many other fatal ills. They take your money, which you and your spouse and children need, so government can give it to others deemed more worthy of the fruits of your labor than you are."

Everything associated with government should wear a warning label reminding us that "GOVERNMENT IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. Its rules, regulations, laws, bureaucracies, mandates, and other impositions cause people to feel fear, anxiety, and stress, which are known to cause cancer, heart attacks, strokes, premature aging, and sudden death." The label could also show photos, like the warnings on cigarette packs.

When you enter a bank or place of investment, you should clearly see a large warning label: "USE OF GOVERNMENT PAPER MONEY IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. It is an untrustworthy store of value, and the government and Federal Reserve deliberately devalue dollars by at least two percent per year. Any form of life savings or investment priced in dollars loses at least 20 percent of its purchasing power every 10 years  and 80 percent of its value over an average 40-year working life." In fact, every dollar bill should carry a large red warning label saying: "PAPER DOLLARS CAUSE STRESS AND ANXIETY, WHICH CAN CAUSE CANCER, HEART ATTACKS, AND SUDDEN DEATH."

The health risk from government is vastly greater than that from a trace chemical that might affect you if you drank 10,000 cups of coffee at once, which is how they test these risks on laboratory animals.

Such labels could give Americans a far better understanding of the hazard caused by an oversized government always eager to increase your tax or regulatory burden and endanger your health so Uncle Sam can grow even fatter.

We should require an environmental health impact study before any increase in the size, taxes, and regulations of government. If a 5-percent rise in taxes could cause 5,000 American deaths by raising personal and social stress levels, that tax increase should not be permitted. Any politician who votes to enlarge government should be required always to wear a large warning label identifying him as  you guessed it  hazardous to our health.

We should never accept any claim that raising taxes ultimately provides more health care or welfare to some citizens. Californians are eager to label coffee a carcinogen  with a label that itself causes stress, and hence becomes a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. But medical researchers are finding that coffee has many health benefits, such as potentially reducing our risk of Alzheimer's. Yet to judges who know nothing about science, such benefits are not allowed to offset coffee's hypothetical cancer risk.

So be it. But we should also provide warning labels about the enormous health hazards to which government constantly subjects all of us.

Lowell Ponte, a coffee-swilling Californian, is a veteran think-tank futurist and author or co-author of eight books. His latest, co-authored with Craig R. Smith, is Money, Morality & The Machine, available free and postpaid by calling 800-630-1492. Lowell can be reached for interviews by email at radioright@aol.com.
The Xiaomi-backed Black Shark gaming smartphone will be announced on April 13, it seems. Black Shark has confirmed this info via an image on its official Weibo (Chinese social network) page, though the company did not really release any additional info along with that. About a week ago, Black Shark did confirm that the phone will be fueled by the Snapdragon 845 64-bit octa-core SoC, and that is the only official piece of info we have, at least as far as the phones specs are concerned.

It is still unclear whether this phone will launch as a Xiaomi-branded smartphone, or just a Black Shark-branded product, but this will, in one way or the other, be Xiaomis new gaming smartphone, as Xiaomi stands behind the Black Shark brand. This handset is expected to compete directly with the Razer Phone, and Nubias upcoming gaming smartphone as well. It is still unclear what the phone will look like, but chances are it will sport an interesting design to make it stand amongst a sea of regular smartphones out there. In addition to the Snapdragon 845 SoC, the device will almost probably ship with 8GB of RAM, though a 6GB RAM model is also a possibility. Black Shark will probably include plenty of storage on the inside of that phone as well, and you can expect to get a rather large display as well, considering this is a gaming smartphone after all. On top of that, a large battery pack will be necessary to push those games, so this phones battery will probably be larger than 4,000mAh, but were only guessing at this point.

Black Shark will probably release some new teasers before the device gets announced on April 13, so we may even get some officially-confirmed specs in the coming days, who knows. The phones price point is also unknown at this point, but if yesterdays rumor is to be believed, the device will come with Android 8.0 Oreo, though we do not know if MIUI will run on top of it, or will Black Shark include some other skin. It is also worth noting that this handset will include a Shark Space app, which is essentially a gaming-focused application, similar to the Game Center.
Google has now announced it is expanding its Rolling Study Halls initiative in the US. The company explained in a posting today how the initiative has been in testing since 2016, although only primarily in two school districts. In contrast, Google has now confirmed the initiative is not only coming to the Deer Trail School District in Colorado, but plans are underway for Rolling Study Halls to also become accessible in sixteen additional school districts in due course. According to Google, the impact of this expansion will see thousands of students reclaiming more than 1.5 million hours by the end of 2018, that would have otherwise been lost in transit.

Rolling Study Halls is designed to ensure students are making the best use of time when travelling to and from school. Therefore the intuitive not only includes equipping school buses in these districts with Wi-Fi, but also Chromebooks for use by students on the daily commute. Affording students the opportunity to make better use of the commute time is only one of the motivations behind this project as Google also points out how Rolling Study Halls is designed to mitigate against an issue where some students dont have access to the internet outside of school.

The announcement goes on to explain that Google hopes to replicate the results it has seen already during the pilot stages of the project. This not only includes students having more time on a commute to complete or catch-up on classwork, but also an improvement for students in school in general. With Google noting the early indications include a reduction in the number of disciplinary issues and higher levels of student engagement in the classroom. One of the additional resources that is provided as part of the initiative is an onboard educator on each bus. This is a person who is not only present to assist with technical issues, but also in instances where students need help with a specific assignment. Essentially, with Rolling Study Halls, Google is looking to emulate the classroom-experience as much as possible on buses. Those interested in learning more can do so through the link below. Or by checking out the Introducing Rolling Study Halls video released by Google today which highlights some of the ways in which the project has already impacted on the lives of some students.
According to a report out of The Information today, John Giannandrea is stepping down from his role in the artificial intelligence arm of Google, in an AI shuffle thats happening right now. Giannandrea was the head of search and AI at Google. Giannandrea is going to be sticking with Google, however, despite stepping down. He plans to be more hands on with technology. The Information is also quoting a former Google employee who was close to Giannandrea, who said that his passion is AI and research. Not so much running product teams, which is what he has been doing for the past two years. Giannandrea has been with Google since 2010 when it acquired MetaWeb Technologies.

This report also mentions that Google is doing a shuffle in its artificial intelligence portion of the company. Its not clear whether this shakeup is because of its AI division not working as well as Google wanted or not. Google is looking to bolster its AI division to help bring in more companies for its cloud service, as well as improving search and selling more mobile devices. Besides search, its cloud service is its most lucrative service, largely because it is serving larger companies, similar to what Amazons AWS does. Googles CEO, Sundar Pichai, has said in the past that artificial intelligence is going to be important for Google to compete better, and it will be part of all of its products, somehow.

Giannandreas role was so large that it takes two people to replace him. Ben Gomes will be taking over as vice president of search at Google. Gomes has been with Google since 2000 and had been running search engineering at Google. On the AI side, Jeff Dean will be taking over for Giannandrea. He had been leading the Google Brain team, and is now head of Googles AI unit. Dean will continue to lead the Google Brain team as well. He has also been with Google since 1999. So Google is replacing Giannandrea with two very experienced Googlers, and allowing him to go back to working hands on with the products, which is his passion according to former Googlers. Which could help create better products.
Samsung seems to be getting close to launching the rumored Galaxy A6 mid-range series after a customer support page for the aforementioned device, which bears the model number SM-A605FN, has surfaced on its Poland website. The Galaxy A6 series has been making the rounds on the web lately, with the SM-A605FN variant having most recently obtained a certification from the United States Federal Communications Commission. Its important to note that the SM-A605FN refers to the larger model of the series, the Galaxy A6 Plus. Its smaller sibling, the Galaxy A6, previously received certification from the FCC earlier last week after passing through the Wi-Fi Alliance certification as the SM-A600FN.

Although the official support page for the Galaxy A6 lineup reveals no further details in regard to the devices specs and features or its pricing and availability, it does indicate that the upcoming phones are undoubtedly rolling out to consumers in Europe sooner than later with a dual-SIM support. It was reported late last month that Samsung is supposedly launching the mid-range phones in Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, though theres no confirmation from the company as of this time. Samsung is expected to debut its upcoming Android mid-rangers later this spring.

While neither the FCC certification nor the official support page for the Galaxy A6 series reveals nothing about what these devices have in store for consumers, two handsets identified by model numbers SM-A600FN and SM-A605G, believed to be the Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6 Plus, respectively, were spotted on Geekbench benchmarking database earlier last month. The benchmarks revealed their core hardware specifications, suggesting that the phones are meant to compete in the upper mid-range segment of the smartphone market. According to the benchmarks, the Galaxy A6 will be powered by Samsungs proprietary Exynos 7870 processor consisting of eight Cortex-A53 cores and the Mali-T830 GPU. In addition, the device is supposed to pack 3GB of RAM and run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, likely overlayed with Samsung Experience. Meanwhile, the Galaxy A6 Plus is likely to be powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor paired with the Adreno 506 GPU. This model is also expected to come with Android 8.0 Oreo and ship with 4GB of RAM.
Samsung is presently working on an unannounced chip meant to be advertised as the Exynos 9820, according to a LinkedIn profile of Jae youl Kim, one of the companys senior engineers who was also involved in the development of the Exynos 9810, the silicon powering the international variants of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. Mr. Jae mentioned the name of the upcoming chip on the list of his major accomplishments and while he likely wasnt authorized to publicly disclose its name, the updated profile has recently been spotted by known industry insider known by his Twitter handle @IceUniverse. The Exynos 9820 has been in active development since at least January, as per the same source.

The next-generation silicon from Samsungs foundry business is likely to be manufactured using the 7nm process node technology supported by extreme ultraviolet lithography, as per the firms previously disclosed product roadmaps. The module is likely to be the one powering the international versions of the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus, as well as the Galaxy Note 10, much like the Exynos 9810 is being used for Samsungs newly released Galaxy S9 series and is widely expected to fuel the upcoming Galaxy Note 9. The official announcement of the product isnt expected to arrive before late 2018, with the Exynos 9810 being technically confirmed last November but only being formally unveiled two months later.

As Qualcomm is understood to have moved away from Samsungs foundry unit for the Snapdragon 855 project, the Exynos 9820 is likely to be the only mobile chip manufactured using the South Korean conglomerates latest process node technologies that will be commercialized in 2019. The start of the silicons development also corresponds with Samsungs 2017 chip roadmap given how the Seoul-based company started actively working on the Exynos 9810 in February of last year, according to previous leaks. The Exynos 9820 is likely to feature a 5G-enabled modem, with the Galaxy S10 lineup already being widely expected to debut as Samsungs first smartphone family compatible with the next generation of wireless networks. A Mali GPU should also be part of the package, though the exact specifics of the chip remain unclear and presumably havent yet been finalized by Samsung.
The Nokia 9 is allegedly the name of HMD Globals upcoming Nokia-branded flagship, and the device has just surfaced in a new leak, along with its full spec sheet. It is worth noting that this is a rather sketchy leak, the phones design looks rather odd, and considering the quality of the image, it may as well be photoshopped. The fact that this info was published on April 1 does not help the matter, as it may as well be a hoax for April Fools day. In any case, well let you be the judge of that, as per usual.

Now, if this info is to be believed, the Nokia 9 will sport a triple camera setup on the back, along with what seems to be a Xenon flash. The phones back side seems to be made out of glass or ceramic, and the companys logo is also included on the back of this phone. The leaked image also mentions that the camera setup is surrounded by accents made out of 18-karat gold. According to the leaked image, the phone will sport a 6.01-inch AMOLED display, and were looking at a QHD display here, with Cornings Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top of it. The device will ship with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of native storage, if this info is to be believed, while it will also support fast wireless charging. IP68 certification will also be a part of the package, so the phone will be both water and dust resistant. A 3,900mAh non-removable battery will be a part of the package, while fast wired charging will also be included, Qualcomms Quick Charge 4.0 fast charging solution.

The device will include a single speaker, though it will come with a smart amp for better audio. Qualcomms Snapdragon 845 64-bit octa-core SoC will fuel the phone, while 41-megapixel (RGB, 1.4um pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, OIS, wide-angle lens), 20-megapixel (telephoto, OIS, 1.0um pixel size) and 9.7-megapixel (monochrome) cameras will be included on the back of the device. Android 8.1 Oreo will come pre-installed on the device, and this is stock Android were looking at, as HMD Global announced that Nokias upcoming devices will all be a part of Googles Android One program, plus Android One is also mentioned in the leaked image. There are quite a few additional details mentioned in the provided image above, just in case youre interested in some additional spec-related tidbits when it comes to this device, though as already mentioned, this is a rather sketchy leak, so keep that in mind.
Spotify on Tuesday went public following months of preparations, having debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at $165.90 per share, with that figure amounting to a valuation of $29.5 billion, significantly above the startups expectations and recent estimates which stood at just north of $20 billion. Despite entering the public market, Spotify opted against holding an initial public offering and went for a direct listing, meaning its valuation could oscillate in the coming days as the company skipped the traditional process of identifying share value which involves underwriters and a wide variety of assurances. The rare move was prompted by the firms desire to go public but not raise any additional capital as it doesnt have to, founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said Monday as part of a blog post announcing the beginning of a new era for the Stockholm, Sweden-based music streaming service that will celebrate its twelveth anniversary later this year.

Spotify has never been profitable to date, with its consolidated financial report for 2017 revealing a $461 million operating loss. The firm is now betting on its premium subscriber count coming close to 100 million by the end of 2018, thus experiencing a largely unprecedented growth given how the number of its paying customers only hit 70 million this January. Mr. Ek insists Spotifys not-IPO isnt the most important day for the company, having noted how its employees were already allowed to freely trade shares for years now. Some private trading has reportedly been conducted as late as yesterday, with the firms decision to allow for such activity being another move uncharacteristic for major public listings, especially in the technology segment.

In the near term, Spotify is expected to continue supporting the music industry by supplanting its previously lost CD sales with royalties from music subscriptions, though its presently unclear whether the company will push for more exclusive deals or attempt to circumvent music labels in the long run like some industry insiders have previously been speculating. The firms valuation is likely to remain volatile for some time as the supply-and-demand part of its public trading equation is only now being figured out by public investors themselves. Ultimately, Mr. Ek says Spotifys primary goal remains unchanged, with the company still aiming to unlock the potential of human creativity  by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active released by T-Mobile US is now receiving the highly anticipated Android 8.0 Oreo software update, joining the standard non-rugged models roughly two weeks after theyve made the jump to Googles newer Android iteration. The latest software carries the baseband version G892USQU1BRC4 and its distribution is carried out over the air, gradually expanding to all the units in the wild alongside a system update notification. The changelog published by T-Mobile doesnt contain much information about the release, aside from the inclusion of unspecified bug fixes and software stability improvements.

Nevertheless, Android 8.0 Oreo for the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active should offer the same user experience provided by the update on the standard Galaxy S8 models, and this includes a newer version of the OEMs proprietary Android skin, Samsung Experience 9.0. It introduces a reworked on-screen keyboard featuring a new toolbar, as well as new high-contrast themes, a revamped Finder designed to provide faster and more accurate searches, additional AI features through the inclusion of Bixby briefing, dual messenger capabilities allowing for the usage of two messaging accounts with the same phone and app, and additional display settings to prevent eye strain, just to name a few. In itself, Android Oreo should also further improve system performance, stability, and security through more recent Android security patches, all the while providing better battery life. As always, the update can be acquired by Samsung Galaxy S8 Active owners and T-Mobile customers either by tapping the system update notification when it arrives or by manually triggering the update process by navigating to the Software update section within the main Settings menu.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active launched last August running Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and the distribution of Oreo in the United States began earlier this week, with AT&Ts variant being the first to start receiving the new firmware. The latest software package launched by T-Mobile weighs approximately 1.3GB, so, as always, users are advised to download it over a Wi-Fi network and ensure that the device has enough battery to last throughout the entire process, i.e. 50-percent or more.
A new Vivo-branded smartphone has been certified by TENAA (Chinas equivalent to the FCC), the Vivo Y71. This is yet another budget smartphone by this China-based company, and it seems to be made out of metal. The device features a single camera on its back, while it will utilize on-screen buttons. This phone will also include a 3.5mm headphone jack below the display, where you will be able to find its charging port, and a loudspeaker as well. The volume up, volume down and power / lock keys are included on the right-hand side of this smartphone, while Vivos branding is placed on the back of the device.

The Vivo Y71 will sport a 5.99-inch HD+ (1440 x 720) display with a 2.5D curved glass on top of it. The device will be fueled by one of Qualcomms entry-level processors, the Snapdragon 425 64-bit quad-core SoC, and a 3,285mAh non-removable battery will also be included in this package. Now, this handset will also ship with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage (expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card). Android 8.1 Oreo will come pre-installed on the phone, if TENAA is to be believed, while Vivos Funtouch OS will be included on top of Googles OS. A 13-megapixel snapper will be placed on the back of this smartphone, while a 5-megapixel selfie snapper will be included as well. An LED flash will be a part of the package, and it will be included on the back of the device only.

The Vivo Y71 will support 4G LTE with VoLTE, while Bluetooth 4.1 will also be supported. The device will ship with two SIM card slots, while it will also be quite thin, as it will measure only 7.8mm. According to TENAA, Vivo will release Black, Gold, and Rose Gold variants of the Vivo Y71, and the phone will be announced in the near future, probably in the coming weeks, though we still do not have an exact date or anything of the sort, as Vivo did not release a single teaser when it comes to this handset, at least not yet. Having said that, the phone will launch in China first, though it may become available in some other markets as well.
IoM awaits TU approval for medical seats, fees

The Tribhuvan University (TU) has yet to endorse the Institute of Medicines proposal on the number of seats and fee details for MD/MS programmes.
Kamal Koirala wins journalism award

Prime Minister KP Oli presented Madan Bhandari Journalism Award to senior journalist and writer Kamal Koirala on Monday.
From a formal viewpoint, there are four jurisdictional bodies from four European countries that need to rule on the European arrest warrant issued by Spanish judge Pablo Llarena. Each one is expected to issue a ruling on a single, individual case, except for the Belgian judge, who will do so on two cases. Therefore, we cannot speak of a single European judge who is expected to reach a decision, as the title of this article would suggest.

Nevertheless, while there isnt a single European judge as such, I believe that de facto there is. Each and every one of the judges will decide on their own. But every one of them knows that the individual cases that they are expected to decide on are all linked by a common thread. And all of them realise that this affair has taken centre stage as far as Europes public opinion is concerned, as a browse through the papers will easily confirm. And it is not just Europes public opinion: recall the recent NYT editorial.

There are times when a decision by one nations jurisdictional body becomes a reference for the others. The case of the Canadian Supreme Courts opinion on Quebec springs to mind. Even though it was not a ruling it was not prompted by a court case, but by a formal enquiry from the federal government and, therefore, it did not set a trial precedent, this opinion has become the single most influential piece of doctrine on what the right to self-determination is and what it is not, as well as on the conditions under which a secession referendum may be held within a democratic country.

It is impossible for Europe to agree with Spains top judicial bodies in their definition of the crime of rebellion

The cases on which the German, Swiss, Belgian and Scottish judges must rule are formally separate and individual, but there is a shared link: what constitutes a crime of rebellion in a democratic European country well into the 21st century?

That is the question that must be answered by the four jurisdictional bodies of the four nations where the Catalan nationalist politicians are held and against whom the European warrant has been issued. And all four judges know that their answer will establish a European common denominator on the subject of rebellion crimes. Even if they do it in their own individual way, together they will decide what a crime of rebellion is and what it is not; what sort of violence is required for an event to be characterised as a crime of rebellion.

Make no mistake: the decision rather, the decisions will be formally national, but de facto European. Rather than four individual decisions, we will see four concurrent votes on a single decision. All of them will seek the European common denominator, something that can be objectively and reasonably justified in front of Europes public opinion.

At any rate, that European common denominator could never be the content of the brief or the warrant issued by Justice Llarena. On the subject of the crime of rebellion, all four judges will dismiss the arrest warrant. They will not allow the Catalan politicians to be tried for rebellion in Spain because it is impossible for the European judges to make that sort of collective decision. And they know that they cannot make contradictory decisions.

Spains Public Prosecutor, Audiencia Nacional and Supreme Court have been playing with fire and they will get their fingers burnt. It is impossible for Europe to agree with Spains top judicial bodies in their definition of the crime of rebellion in the case of the Catalan nationalist politicians. Some voices in media and academia have taken for granted that, following Carles Puigdemonts arrest in Germany, the Catalan leader would be handed over to the Spanish authorities under the terms that Justice Llarena has laid out. It is not going to happen. All that Spains justice will achieve is to see its prestige in Europe eroded even further.
Recent Listening In Brief

Edward Simon, Sorrows & Triumphs (Sunnyside)

Pianist-composer-arranger Simon is engrossed in jazz, his heritage in Latin-American music and his studies of Buddhism. Sorrows & Triumphs blends those and other aspects of his preoccupations, and Simon refines the individuality that has made him one of the most interestingalthough insufficiently recognizedmusicians to have emerged in the past three decades. The album, due for release this month, brings together the combo known as the Imani Winds with Simons ensemble Afinidad and vocalist Gretchen Parlato. Afinidad includes alto saxophonist David Binney, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade. Percussionist Rogerio Boccato and Luis Quintero and guitarist Adam Rogers are guest artists. If that rundown reads like the description of a contemporary all-star group, it is.

The albums two sections of music, Sorrows and Triumphs and House of Numbers, encompass a variety of moods and textures. For all its liveliness in some pieces, the collection has an air of contemplation about it. That is particularly true of Simons final two pieces, Chant and Venezuela Unida, the latter clearly created with his native country in mind.

Rich DeRosa, Perseverence (University of North Texas)

Distinguished as a jazz educator at the University of North Texas, Rich De Rosa has wider recognition as one of the premier arrangers of the 21st century. Since joining the UNT faculty in 2010, DeRosa has written brilliantly for the schools legendary One OClock and Two OClock Lab Bands and for other orchestras in the United States and abroad. Perseverance provides copious evidence of his mastery. It includes a dazzling version of Ellingtons Take The A Train; a fugue full of wit and complexities; perfectly integrated electronics in the title tune; a quiet, reflective version of the Wayne Shorter ballad Infant Eyes; the expansive five-part Suite For An Anniversary; and a tribute to the longtime UNT jazz program head Neil Slater. Slaters work fills this 4-CD UNT box.

As for the One Oclock Band And and Two Oclock Band soloists, it stretches belief to accept that they are students, not seasoned professionals.

Azar Lawrence, Elementals (High Note)

Lawrence was one of the young saxophonists all but consumed by John Coltranes revolutionary transformation of the instruments role in jazz in the 1960s. Elementals establishes that on soprano and tenor sax, he continues as a loyal Coltrane disciple. Particularly on the title track, the Latinate Brazilian Girls and African Chant, he reestablishes his dedication to Coltranes expansiveness and vitality, although with little evidence of his mentors tonal graininess on tenor. Pianist Benito Gonzales is correspondingly loyal to McCoy Tyners energetic approach. Drummer Marvin Smitty Smith is supportive and energetic throughout. Guest guitarist Greg Poree adds atmospheric touches to Solar Winds. An odd matter of titleing: the piece called Koko bears no apparent relationship to the classic Charlie Parker composition of the same name that was based on Cherokee. The album is enjoyable and stimulating not in spite of but because of what we might call its Coltraneity.

Willie Nelson, American Classic (Blue Note)

Sometimes an album arrives, sinks into the sea of new releases and doesnt surface for years. Thats what happened with American Classic. When the minimally packaged 2009 advance release finally popped out of hiding, I hoped that it would be a worthy successor to Nelsons Stardust, his previous collection of standard songs. Sorry, it isnt. Johnny Mandel provided arrangements of four songs, but anyone who didnt know that would never have guessed it based on the evidence. Diana Krall and Nora Jones are sui generis as duet partners on a couple of tracks. If the rest of the pieces had the verve and insouciance that Nelson finds in On The Street Where You Live and his bluesy touches to Buddy Johnsons Since I Fell For You, it would come closer to the claim of the title.
"We are thrilled to have acted for Judo on this important capital raising. We look forward to watching Judo go from strength to strength. We are confident that Judo will play an increasing role in the Australian SME lending market with its unique business model and high calibre management team," commented Dullard.

Dentons adds to Melbourne corporate team

Andrew Chan has joined Dentons in Melbourne as a partner in the corporate practice.

With more than a decade of experience across Australia, Asia, and Europe, Chans practice focuses on advising clients on cross border mergers and acquisitions.

He has worked at leading law firms in Australia and London but is excited to have the opportunity to work with the global firm.

Dentons' global reach, its innovative product offerings for clients and talented lawyers were all factors in my decision to join the Firm in Melbourne, he said.

DLA Piper hires Magic Circle partner for IPT launch

DLA Piper has launched an IP and technology practice in Luxembourg and hired a former Linklaters partner to lead it.

Olivier Reisch was admitted to the bar in the small European country in 2005 and has built a strong practice with clients including international financial and ecommerce firms.
The College of Law has inked a partnership with the Law Society of Singapore.

The two organisations will collaborate on education and training programs for legal professionals in Singapore. The first in a wide array of courses the partnership will work on is a series of subjects about ASEAN law.

Gregory Vijayendran, president of the law society, and Neville Carter, group CEO of the College of Law, signed the memorandum of understanding in Singapore in late March.
Marsbees are a project developed by Chang-Kwon Kang from the University of Alabama. They are robotic flapping wing flyers the size of a bumblebee and equipped with cicada sized wings.The drones come fitted with sensors and wireless communication devices and are to be used as a means to expand the reach of exploration efforts made on the ground by the rovers The wheeled machines humans already have on the Red Planet are to act as carrier platforms for the swarms of robotic bees. These would launch from the platform, go about their business and then come back to recharge. Just like airplanes do on aircraft carriers today.Since the Martian atmosphere is at about 0.6 percent of Earth's sea level pressure, the bees will be using the cicada wing design, which supposedly can generate sufficient lift to allow them to hover in the Martian atmosphere.The fact that the atmosphere is not so dense means an alternative means of propulsion could be used. A torsional spring mounted at the wing root would allow for inertial power to be utilized instead of fuel power.The bees would be extensions to the rover, acting as reconfigurable sensor networks or used for sample or data collection.For now, Marsbees are just an idea. NASA will fund this project, together with the other inventions selected for this years NIAC. Over the next nine months, several projects would be chosen to enter the stage two of the program."The concepts can then be evaluated for potential inclusion into our early-stage technology portfolio," said Jim Reuter, acting associate administrator of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Locals attack police station in Mahottari over arrest of drunken man

A police station at Manara Sisawa-8 in Mahottari district was attacked by locals over the arrest of a drunken man on Monday night.
Airshow pilot Rob Holland was able to walk away after a forced landing that destroyed his custom MXS-RH aerobatic show plane last week. Holland said in a Facebook post last Wednesday he had taken off from the Naval Air Station in Kingsville, Texas, about 4:30 p.m. on March 25, heading for Shreveport, Louisiana. He was about 15 minutes into the flight, at 11,500 feet, when the airplane had a catastrophic engine failure and lost all power, he wrote.The canopy was immediately covered with oil and he had zero forward visibility. Given the terrain, he determined an off-airport landing was not a good option, and high winds at the surface ruled out a parachute. Depending on his EFIS system, he was able to find a nearby runway, and aimed for it.

There was a low scattered-to-broken cloud layer around the vicinity of my landing site, which obstructed my view of the runway, Holland wrote. I glided through an opening in the clouds. The runway, at an abandoned airfield, was only about 30 feet wide and 1,650 feet long, Holland wrote. He touched down at a normal landing speed of about 90 knots, but with a 20-knot tailwind. About 200 feet down the runway, the landing gear hit a large piece of stray debris  part of a roof blown there by Hurricane Harvey, Holland wrote. The left main landing gear was torn completely off the plane. The plane skidded on its belly down the runway, coming to rest about 30 feet off the right side of the runway. The plane remained upright and straight the entire time, Holland wrote. Holland was unhurt, but the airplane is damaged beyond repair, he said. He is already working with MX Aircraft to build a new airplane, he said.
image: WRTV

Two people died when a Cessna 150 collided with a Cessna 525 Citation jet on the runway at Marion Municipal Airportin Indiana on Monday afternoon, the FAA has reported. The C150 was attempting to take off to the southeast, at about 5:09 p.m., when it struck the tail of the Citation, which had just landed from the north. The tail of the jet was shorn off, and the C150 crashed and caught fire. The pilot and passenger in the 150, both from Indiana, were killed. The jet is registered to Avis Corporation, according to the local NewsChannel15. Five people, including the crew, were on board, and none were hurt.

The airport, about 50 miles north of Indianapolis, has no control tower, and pilots coordinate via CTAF. The NTSB will investigate.

Update: Officials identified the victims as Kyle M. Hibst and David Wittkamper, both 31-years-old from Elwood. They had served as volunteer firefighters at the Pipe Creek Fire Department out of Madison County.
NASA has awarded a $247 million contract to Lockheed Martins Skunk Works to build a piloted quiet supersonic technology demonstrator, with first flight planned for summer 2021, officials announced at a news conference on Tuesday. The testing is intended to be the first step toward changing international regulations that prohibit supersonic flight over land, and enabling private manufacturers to move forward with the development of supersonic business jets. Peter Coen, manager for the project at NASAs Langley Research Center in Virginia, said the key element in Lockheed Martins design is a brand-new shape. The rest of the airplane is off-the-shelf technology, he said, and will require no new development. The X-Plane will be 94 feet long, and fly at 1.4 Mach at 51,000 feet, Coen said.

NASA plans to complete a critical design review of Lockheed-Martins plans in September 2019. Testing of the aircraft will take place through September 2022. Then it will begin its main mission, flying at supersonic speeds above a variety of urban, suburban, and rural areas to test the response of people on the ground to the noise signature. The design of the airplane is intended to reduce the sonic boom to a thump or a double-thump by the time it reaches the ground. The noise tests are expected to take place 2023 through 2025. NASA said it received three inquiries in response to its request for proposals for the demonstrator, but Lockheed Martin was the sole bidder for the contract.
On April 1 the Royal Air Forcecelebrated its 100th birthday. The event is being celebrated by special events and activities across the UK running fromApril to the end of fall2018. The main celebration event of RAF100 will take place on July 10 with a service in Westminster Abbey, followed by a parade in The Mall and a flight over BuckinghamPalace.

A breakfast reception held at the site of the former Hotel Cecil, the first headquarters of the newly formed RAF in 1918, started events on April 1. A message from Her Majesty the Queen was read by 16-year-old Aircraftsman Adam Wood, the youngest serving member of theRAF. This was followed bya Founders Day Service at the official church of the Royal AirForce. Guests were then encouraged to watch the launch of the RAF100 batonrelay. The baton, designed by RAF apprentices to represent the RAFs century of service to the nation, will visit every region of the UK and several overseas locations from April 1 to July 10, 2018.

Long March survivor and veteran of the RAF, Air Commodore Charles Clarke, had the honor of being the first person to pass thebaton to Aircraftsman AdamWood. Im really proud to have been chosen to read out the message from the Queen and then, as one of the youngest airmen in the RAF, to receive the baton from Air CommodoreClarke, said Aircraftsman Adam Wood, who played a major role in the days celebrations.

The April 1 events begin a series of celebrations called RAF100,a national campaign that will feature events, activities and other initiatives running throughout the UK from April to the end of fall 2018.
Aggressive conduct by a passenger on a Sunwing flight caused the pilots to turn the aircraft around and return to Canada. The plane was intercepted by U. S. military aircraft during that turnaround last July. The man, Charalobos Nassios from Montreal, is due to be sentenced April 18. He plead guilty to charges of assault, mischief and uttering threats during the flight. The return flight was accompanied by two F-15 U.S. Air Force jets.

Last week the prosecutor agreed to a suspended sentence but did ask for more than $17,450 in damages for fuel, landing fees, overtime salaries and hotel costs for the 170 passengers on board the flight that had to be accommodated. Nassios has already served 112 days in preventive detention last year, according to a CTV report.

Prosecutors are seeking three years probation and want Nassios to hand over all travel documents and not be allowed to leave Quebec during those three years. His defense lawyer objected, calling it excessive, and said Nassios was in a state of financial ruin and wasnt able to find work. A Quebec court judge has begun his deliberations after hearing both parties.
Facebook said Tuesday it had removed more accounts operated by the infamous Russian troll farm that allegedly ran a widespread online campaign to interfere with the 2016 president election on the platform.

The big picture: Details of the Internet Research Agency's manipulation efforts on Facebook are still emerging many months after the platform first disclosed it had bought ads during the election, accelerating a reckoning for the company that could end in new regulation.

The gritty details: The company deleted 70 accounts from Facebook and another 65 from its subsidiary Instagram that were to "controlled" by the Russian troll farm.

It also shut down 138 pages associated with the organization and removed advertisements those pages had run.

The company said the content on the pages was largely "targeted either at people living in Russia or Russian-speakers around the world including from neighboring countries like Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine."

What they're saying: "We removed this latest set of Pages and accounts solely because they were controlled by the IRA  not based on the content," said Alex Stamos, a top security official at the company, in a blog post. "This included commentary on domestic and international political issues, the promotion of Russian culture and tourism as well as debate on more everyday issues."

What's next: Stamos said Facebook will let users check to see if they followed the Russian pages.
The Koch-backed advocacy groups Freedom Partners, Americans for Prosperity and The LIBRE Initiative are expressed their "disappointment" in President Trump's latest tweets calling DACA "dead." They are demanding a permanent solution for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children in exchange for $25 billion in funding for border security.

Why it matters: The Koch brothers are some of the GOP's biggest financial contributors. These statements clearly put blame on both Republicans and Democrats for not reaching a DACA deal  while Trump attempts to solely blame Democrats. "Pointing fingers, shifting blame and, ultimately, abandoning efforts to reach a consensus would be irresponsible and represent a grave injustice," Freedom Partners Executive Vice President James Davis said in a statement.

Davis added that they will continue to "be aggressively engaged" on finding a permanent solution for Dreamers until an agreement is reached.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's government approved a law banning the malicious spread of false news reporting on Monday, instituting penalties of up to six years in prison and $125,000, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: Fake news  the term used in the law  is an international concern after its starring role in the 2016 U.S. elections. This is an early post-2016 attempt to regulate a potential scourge.

Yes, but: Malaysia's free speech record is heavily criticized, and some observers view the new law as a tool for punishing dissent. United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression David Kaye said that the bill was being passed too quickly, without proper deliberation on consequences.

"[I] urge the Government to reconsider the bill and open it up to regular and genuine public scrutiny before taking any further steps," Kaye tweeted,hours before it passed.

Deeper dive: One of the fears of President Trump's more politicized use of the term fake news is that strongmen could view it as a green light for repression.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon that there are military options for North Korea that don't put Seoul, South Korea's capital, at risk, NBC News' Hans Nichols reports. Mattis added he would "not go into details" but that there are "many military options in concert with our allies."

North Korea has artillery aimed at Seoul, just 35 miles away, meaning an attack on North Korea is likely to put the city of 10+ million people under threat of imminent military attack. It's hard to imagine a plan that completely removes that threat, but that seems to be what Mattis is suggesting.
May 12 is the next deadline for the U.S. to renew the sanction waivers key to the Iran nuclear deal. President Trump, who has long expressed disdain for the deal, may take the date as an opportunity to withdraw.

Why it matters: Trump's objections to the deal appear to be primarily diplomatic. But beyond its negative implications for nonproliferation, withdrawal would also have a significant impact on world trade and would bolster China's fortunes as an economic superpower.

The U.S. relies heavily on sanctions as a tool of international diplomacy. However, sanctions are most effective when they are multilateral and enforced by the worlds premier economic powers. A unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the Iran deal would primarily hurt the country's European partners, and create an economic vacuum that for several reasons China is best poised to fill:

The Trump administration is already engaged in a tariff war with China and is trying to reduce the advantages Chinese companies enjoy in international markets. That leaves China little reason to cooperate with renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran.

While European countries used to be Irans main trading partner, Chinese trade with Iran now dwarfs the EU's. These patterns shifted after Western countries began imposing nuclear-related sanctions on Iran a decade ago. According to an International Monetary Fund official, IranChina trade rose from about $16 billion in 2007 to nearly $27 billion last year, while IranEU trade fell from nearly $33 billion to $22.5 billion.

Although European governments have vowed to resist the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran as long as it complies with the nuclear agreement, they cannot force private companies to risk massive U.S. fines or jeopardize their much more lucrative business in the U.S.

The bottom line: China already has mechanisms to trade with Iran without touching the U.S. financial system. U.S. withdrawal from the Iran deal would thus undermine the EU and leave China to reap the rewards.

Barbara Slavin directs the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council.
Mahat accuses FinMin of cherry-picking economic data

Former finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat has said incumbent Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada has cherry-picked data to paint a gloomy picture of the countrys economy.
Aftab Pureval, the Democrat challenging Rep. Steve Chabot for his U.S. House seat in Ohio's 1st congressional district, has raised $660,000 in the eight weeks since announcing his candidacy. Pureval, a first-generation American and lawyer-turned-politician, was elected in 2016 as the Clerk of Courts in Ohio's Hamilton County  the first Democrat elected to that position in 100 years in the district.

Why it matters: Pureval's team said that these fundraising totals are more than any Democratic challenger has raised in a single quarter against Chabot, who has held the seat since it was redistricted in 2010. Most importantly, the numbers show nearly 80% of the money is coming from voters in and around the district, suggesting enthusiasm from Pureval's constituents. Well-funded Democrats, like Paul Ryan challenger Randy Bryce and Georgia's Jon Ossoff, often see the bulk of their cash come from big blue states like New York and California.
The lack of proper scientific data collection in Puerto Rico during and after Hurricane Maria hit the island last September has resulted in the death toll being severely underreported  the real number is closer to 1,085 than the government's estimate of 64  essentially limiting necessary financial and other aid resources, according to research published in Health Affairs Monday.

Why it matters:

"[T]he official death toll undercounted deaths attributable to Hurricane Maria by a factor of 15 or higher. This is important because something failed, somebody failed to our people, and steps need to be taken to ensure that this does not happens again."

 Alexis Raul Santos, Penn State University demographer and article author, tells Axios

By the numbers: Several organizations have attempted to tabulate deaths from Hurricane Maria, which hit the island Sept. 20, 2017.

Santos, who estimates the death toll to be closer to 1,085, says most of the excess deaths were in older age groups  nursing homes showed a 45% increase of deaths in 2017 compared to 2016 and ERs experienced a 41% increase.

says most of the excess deaths were in older age groups  nursing homes showed a 45% increase of deaths in 2017 compared to 2016 and ERs experienced a 41% increase. Mario Marazzi, executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics (PRIS )  an independent agency that may soon be dismantled by the government  says he agrees the death toll in the three months following the hurricane reached more than 1,000 people.

)  an independent agency that may soon be dismantled by the government  says he agrees the death toll in the three months following the hurricane reached more than 1,000 people. The New York Times conducted its own research and estimates that 1,052 more people than usual died across the island in the 42 days after Maria struck.

and estimates that 1,052 more people than usual died across the island in the 42 days after Maria struck. The government's official tally remains at 64 people, but there has been growing criticism that this number is very low. They announced Feb. 22 that it has enlisted George Washington Universiy to review its estimate.

Why the discrepancy: Santos says a big issue is that the government was considering eliminating PRIS even before the hurricane, and in the meantime it appointed the Department of Public Safety to lead the information gathering efforts for Maria.

This "lead to miscommunication on issues related to the devastation and the death toll. I believe if the PRIS was involved in the process we would have heard the 'inconvenient truth'... some months ago," he said.

PRIS' Marazzi confirms that the agency was not included in the government's information gathering process, and says the low death toll numbers have brought global attention to Puerto Rico's data problems.

Meanwhile, more than 6 months later, recovery efforts continue. Watch this YouTube video partly featuring Santos on the devastation. The Army Corp of Engineers says power capacity is now at 90% and hopes to reach 100% by May. Higher rates of suicide and a housing shortage are also problems, Vox reports, along with what some call a mass exodus of Puerto Ricans.
Michelle Edkins, BlackRocks global head of investment stewardship, is a key figure in this springs annual shareholder meetings with publicly owned companies where climate change is expected to be featured prominently. I talked with Edkins for my latest Harder Line column on the topic.

Why she matters: BlackRock is the worlds largest investment firm, and Edkins was mentioned in a letter BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink sent earlier this year to companies imploring them to drive sustainable long-term growth, which includes a focus on climate.

On how Trumps regulatory rollback is affecting investors thinking on climate:

This is [a] global and long-term issue. Its a factor, but its not a driver of the approach were taking. Most oil and gas companies that really are going to move the needle are global. The idea that one change in government in one place is going to completely radically change the long-term horizon, I think, is really misguided.

On why climate change is becoming a bigger issue to Wall Street investors:

Theres a lot more joined-up thinking around climate risk than perhaps there was before. Theres a stronger probability of policy being made that will impact companies and their long-term business models.

On whether BlackRock will vote in support of shareholder resolutions on climate change, like it did last year for the first time with ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum:

If were not seeing progress in line with what we would expect from what companies have indicated [then we would vote in support of the resolutions]. We recognize that both companies and investors are on something of a learning curve.

On criticism that BlackRock isnt following through on its rhetoric in Finks letter and elsewhere by not supporting more resolutions in the spring meeting process:

Focusing on just shareholder proposals on climate risk disclosure misses the point. What I would say to people who say only through voting can you make your voice heard, I would wholeheartedly disagree. Everyone has to use the engagement mechanism that makes the most sense for them. For BlackRock, as a large long-term investor, engagement is the mechanism that makes the most sense and we believe it is effective.
Nothing helps President Trump more  or tightens his hold on his base more securely  than his cozy, mutually beneficial relationship with conservative TV. Trump's feedback loop, including cable-news coverage, and mainstream media squawking, convinces the president that he's winning his war on media.

The two key players: Fox News  especially the morning show, "Fox & Friends"  and Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation's largest owner of local broadcasting stations with unabashed conservative leanings.

1. Fox News: Its no exaggeration to say that the "Fox & Friends" anchors and commentators have become de facto policy advisers.

Axios' Jonathan Swan wrote in October about the special hold that Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs has on Trump, who has followed Dobbs' business coverage going back to his CNN days. Now The Daily Beast reports that Trump "has patched in Dobbs via speakerphone to multiple meetings in the Oval Office so that he could offer his two cents."

wrote in October about the special hold that Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs has on Trump, who has followed Dobbs' business coverage going back to his CNN days. Now The Daily Beast reports that Trump "has in the Oval Office so that he could offer his two cents." Swan tells me: "Trump not only watches these folks religiously but consults them by phone + views Fox judges Jeanine Pirro and Andrew Napolitano as quasi legal advisers."

2. Sinclair Broadcasting: Trump backed the company in a tweet yesterday after an embarrassing viral mash-up showed dozens of Sinclair anchors on at least 66 stations around the country reading a canned promo script denouncing "fake stories" on "some media outlets."

Trump's tweet: "So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke."

Be smart: The mainstream media's skeptical-to-sneering coverage of Fox and Sinclair just endears those outlets to Trump, and causes his diehard supporters to dig in even deeper.

The loyalty of Trump's base is deepened by conservative media amplifying his complaints  even of other Republicans.

of Trump's base is deepened by conservative media amplifying his complaints  even of other Republicans. Swan explains: "Trump demands instant gratification and the quickest way to do it is to kick a shared enemy of his media allies (WaPo being the one this week). Hell get instant feedback, phone calls from cable hosts and approving coverage on their shows. Its the modern version of call and response: his tweets, their chyrons."

A Trump aide told me that the president gravitates toward conservative outlets because "those seem to be the only options that aren't chronically negative or personally vicious toward him," and that voters "are weary from the constant and obsessive negativity elsewhere."

Fox and Sinclair are becoming more unabashedly pro-Trump in their commentary. And neither sounds chastened by recent controversies:

Sinclair Broadcast Group president and CEO Christopher S. Ripley told me in an email that his stations' "commentary offers a viewpoint that may be ignored by other organizations": "[O]ur critics are stretching to prove a non-business or sinister intent that just simply does not exist."

president and CEO Christopher S. Ripley told me in an email that his stations' "commentary offers a viewpoint that may be ignored by other organizations": "[O]ur critics are stretching to prove a non-business or sinister intent that just simply does not exist." When I asked Ripley if he'd run this promo campaign again, or give local stations more flexibility next time, he replied: "The objective of the campaign was to increase viewership so it will either succeed in that regard or not and that is how I would determine if we would do this campaign again."

if he'd run this promo campaign again, or give local stations more flexibility next time, he replied: "The objective of the campaign was to increase viewership so it will either succeed in that regard or not and that is how I would determine if we would do this campaign again." Jack Abernethy, co-president of Fox News, said in a statement to the L.A. Times that the network is backing host Laura Ingraham, who drew an advertiser boycott (and later apologized) after attacking David Hogg, Parkland shooting survivor and student activist.

co-president of Fox News, said in a statement to the L.A. Times that the network is backing host Laura Ingraham, who drew an advertiser boycott (and later apologized) after attacking David Hogg, Parkland shooting survivor and student activist. "We cannot and will not allow voices to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts," the statement said. CNN's Brian Steltersaid that's a reference to the liberal Media Matters for America.

P.S. Two ironies:
Donald Trump Jr. hopped on the Montana campaign trail Friday with tech entrepreneur Greg Gianforte, who is gunning for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's vacated House seat.

Don't forget: Last year Gianforte failed to win a bid for the governor's seat to a Democrat.

Why it matters: All eyes are on Montana after the GOP won by a narrower margin than usual in the Kansas special election and now that the Georgia special election is headed to a hotly contested runoff. Like Kansas and Georgia, the seat is usually a shoo-in for GOP candidates, but the DCCC announced their six-figure investment Thursday, ramping up the stakes for Gianforte.

Context: Trump Jr. is following in his father's footsteps; President Trump robo-called for both candidates in Kansas and Georgia.

Prairie dogs: You read that right. Trump Jr. and Gianforte are hunting prairie dogs later today  Jr. is an avid hunter  although the Humane Society of the United States condemned it, per the AP.
President Donald Trump said that he wants to send military troops to defend the southern border with Mexico until a wall is built. His comments came during a meeting with the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at the White House on Tuesday.

We are going to be guarding our border with our military. That's a big step ... We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing and, by the way, never showing up for court.

 President Trump

Update: The White House released a statement Tuesday night, specifying that the administration's strategy for combatting "the growing influx of illegal immigration, drugs and violent gang members from Central America" includes using the National Guard and pressuring Congress to close immigration loopholes.
During a joint press conference with leaders of the Baltic States, President Trump said the U.S. military coalition has "almost completed" the task of getting rid of ISIS in Syria, and that the administration will soon be making a decision on when to pull U.S. troops out of the region.

Quick take: This is along the same line of thinking the president expressed last week when he said "let other people take care of [the ISIS situation in Syria] now."

"I want to get out. I want to bring out troops back home. I want to start rebuilding our nation."

 President Trump

Highlights: President Trump made the most news from today's joint presser with President Raimonds Vejonis of Latvia, President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, and President Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia.

Russia

Trump said he "hopes" that the U.S. and Russia will be able "to have great dialogue," adding that "nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have."

Getting along with Russia is a good thing. Getting along with China is a good thing. Getting along with other countries, including your three countries, is a good thing, Trump added.

U.S. border with Mexico

"Hopefully Congress will get their act together soon," said Trump. "We dont have laws, we have catch and release  we are preparing for the military to secure our border between Mexico and the U.S."

NATO
The U.S. government has publicly acknowledged for the first time there are devices in Washington, D.C., that foreign spies and criminals can use to track cellphones, eavesdrop on calls, and plant malware on cellphones, the AP reports.

Why it matters: This can leave cellphones, even if they are using encrypted methods of communication, vulnerable to eavesdropping. And it may be a national security threat, per Christopher Krebs, the DHS official who heads up the National Protection and Programs Directorate and who drafted the letter.

In 2014 during a sweep, these spying devices were found near the White House, the Pentagon, the Supreme Court, and the Commerce Department. But Krebs wrote the DHS lacks the funding and equipment to detect Stingrays.

How we know the government is acknowledging: The AP obtained a letter and documents the Department of Homeland Security sent to Sen. Ron Wyden Mar. 26 acknowledging it knew of the existence of the devices, known as Stingrays, last year.

The unknowns: DHS had not yet determined the kind of devices in use, who operates them, how many there are, and where they are.

How they work:

Stingrays are cellphone-site simulators that trick cellphones into locking onto the devices instead of onto cell towers, which reveals the cellphones location. Some other sophisticated versions can eavesdrop on calls by bringing cellphones down to unencrypted 2G wireless technology. Other versions try to plant malware.

that trick cellphones into locking onto the devices instead of onto cell towers, which reveals the cellphones location. Some other sophisticated versions can eavesdrop on calls by bringing cellphones down to unencrypted 2G wireless technology. Other versions try to plant malware. They are about the size of a briefcase and can be placed near a government building or a car. Some can be deployed in aircraft.

Background: The FCC began authorizing these devices to local, state, and federal law enforcement in 2011. A task force operating through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) used to meet four years ago, but it no longer meets regularly and it never produced a report on this spying.
By Guy Verhofstadt

March 29 marked exactly one year since British Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, thus launching the formal two-year legal process by which the United Kingdom will withdraw from the European Union. In the first year, it is fair to say that the Brexit negotiations have had their ups and downs. But, on a positive note, substantial progress has been made in recent weeks.

For starters, a draft withdrawal treaty between the UK and the EU is now close to completion, though both sides have made clear that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Once finalized, this treaty will establish the rights and obligations of both parties on a range of issues, including the Brexit bill  that is, the UKs outstanding liabilities from its time as a member of the bloc  as well as the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, and vice versa.

EU and UK negotiators have also agreed to a 21-month transition phase, from March 29, 2019, to December 31, 2020, during which time the UK will effectively remain an EU member state, albeit without representation in the European Parliament or any other EU decision-making bodies. The key outstanding issue that has yet to be resolved  and which will dominate discussions in the coming months  is the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which will remain in the EU.

In order to avoid the establishment of a hard border  meaning a return to customs and police-inspection stations at all border crossings  the final Brexit treaty will have to include legal and political commitments from both sides. The European Commissions insistence on a backstop option would already ensure that a common regulatory area is maintained even after the UK formally withdraws. But that is a last resort geared toward preserving the Irish peace process. It would be far more preferable to find a solution based on the future EU-UK trading relationship.

Since the UKs general election last year, and following a series of political speeches by May, the EU has finally begun to understand what the current British government envisions for Brexit and the future EU-UK relationship. Specifically, May has confirmed that Britain will be leaving both the EU single market and the customs union.

From the EUs perspective, this is deeply regrettable. As Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, regularly points out, this could be the first time in history that a trade negotiation results in additional barriers to commerce.

To be sure, it is the sovereign right of the British people and their government to leave the EU. But, as many are coming to realize, there is very little room to maneuver between the EUs own core principles and values and the red lines that the UK has set for itself.

Throughout the Brexit process, the EU has criticized the UK for assuming that it could have its cake and eat it. Likewise, the UK has accused the EU of offering a bad deal: the market access of Canada, with the obligations of Norway. But if we are going to forge the close future relationship that both sides desire, we will have to move past such accusations.

The European Parliament, for its part, has adopted a more detailed conceptual framework for establishing the terms of the future EU-UK relationship, which would take the form of an association agreement. For some, that term might call to mind the recent EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. But an EU association agreement with the UK need not resemble its arrangement with Ukraine. In practice, an association agreement is merely a blank slate, upon which one can draw up terms of cooperation on trade, foreign policy, internal security, and other matters.

The inherent flexibility of EU association agreements should be familiar to Europeans and Britons alike. After all, the first-ever association agreement in 1954 was designed to foster cooperation between the European Coal and Steel Community and the United Kingdom, following the latters retreat from formal treaty negotiations.

History repeats itself, but never in the same way. Ultimately, it would be preferable to develop one overarching EU-UK governance framework to cover defense, economics, internal security, and other areas. The alternative would be the Switzerland model: a nightmarish thicket of agreements comprising more than 100 bilateral treaties.

I have no doubt that the upcoming phases of the Brexit negotiations will be complicated. But I am confident that reprising an association-agreement model that has proved successful in the past would allow the EU and the UK to enjoy a deep special partnership well into the future.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: Breaking the Brexit stalemate

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NAC board begins talks on buying Twin Otter aircraft

The board of directors of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has begun discussions on its plan to buy six new Viking Air DHC6-400 Twin Otter aircraft to expand its remote area services.
By Kamila Aliyeva

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes will submit a package of amendments to the Tax Code for the governments discussion till early May 2018, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Taxes Sahib Alakbarov told reporters in Baku on April 3.

We received proposals on amendments to tax legislation from entrepreneurs until March 31. We are currently reviewing these proposals. For this purpose, a special commission has been set up which holds meetings daily, he said.

Until early May, we must submit a package of amendments to the Tax Code for it to be discussed simultaneously with the budget package, Alakbarov added.

As you know, the process is rather long and it is not easy. First, the package of proposals must be agreed on in the Ministry of Taxes, discussed in the Cabinet of Ministers and then submitted to the presidential administration. Therefore, we want to complete our part of the work till May, he noted.

Touching upon the issues raised by the entrepreneurs' proposals, Alakbarov noted that basically the proposals relate to non-cash payments, documentation required by this or that operation, changes in tax legislation and administration.

A large number of taxpayers want simplification of administration, and we are doing some work in this direction. Every proposal will be considered. We are attentive to these proposals and will continue to be so, he said.

As the Minister of Taxes, Mikayil Jabbarov, previously noted, the package of amendments to the Tax Code will help solve key problems in tax administration that entrepreneurs face.

This package will be submitted to the government for consideration as part of the process of forming the 2019 state budget. The main attention will be paid to reducing the share of the shadow economy and encouraging the transition to a legal economy. We intend to ensure this transformation so that it becomes favorable for entrepreneurs. We are ready to cooperate both with businessmen, and with the government and parliament to develop the changes, the minister said at the time.

Alakbarov went on to say that a mechanism to regulate the use of POS-terminals should be created in Azerbaijan.

He stressed that the control process over the availability of POS-terminals in trade and service centers depends not only on the Taxes Ministry.

This should depend on each person. Today, we face such a situation when a POS-terminal is available at the site, but customers are informed that it does not work. The client must claim their rights. But presently, there are no regulatory measures to oversee the use of POS terminals. I think that the refusal from the use of the POS terminal should somehow be suppressed at the legislative level, Alakbarov said.

As for January 2018, there are 65,181 POS-terminals in the country, of which 36,801 have been installed in Baku, 28,380 in other cities and districts of the country, according to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA). The number of POS-terminals decreased by 5,983 or 8.4 percent in Azerbaijan for the year.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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By Rashid Shirinov

New mobile application presented by GS1 Azerbaijan allows scanning barcodes and receiving detailed information about products, said Zaur Gardashov, the head of Azexport portal.

He noted that the informational base of the application is interconnected with the international base.

We have certain developments with GS1, for example, regarding the possibility of obtaining detailed information on products registered with Azexport, Gardashov told Trend.

He added that its search principle will also be related to the scanning of barcodes. However, for now, a version that allows checking the presence of barcodes in the GS1 database was proposed.

Accordingly, the lack of information will mean that the product is counterfeit, Gardashov said.

The GS1 Azerbaijan application is currently available for devices running the Android operating system. The application will be also available in the App Store in the next two weeks.

The standards of bar coding and recommendations are created by the international non-governmental organization GS1. The organization renders services to producer enterprises and individual entrepreneurs who use the common bar code standards for the numbering of traded products.

At the EAN General Assembly held in Berlin in 1999, the EAN-Azerbaijan (later GS1 Azerbaijan) was accepted as the member of EAN-International and was allocated by 476 prefix, which allows conduction of unique database.

All product identification numbers starting from these digits are introduced and registered in GS1 Azerbaijan according to the international rules. GS1 Azerbaijan is competent member of the International Association and represents interests of enterprises and organizations in the country.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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By Laman Ismayilova

Talented young national artist Maryam Alakbarli for the first time joined the Deauville Art Shopping Festival, organized by the Louvre Museum, with her unique works.

Mayor of the city Philippe Augier, who attended the festivals opening ceremony familiarized himself with the works of national artist. Philippe Augier stated that Maryam Alakbarli is well-known in Dovil. He also spoke about her first exhibition, organized by the young artist in this city. Philippe Augier spoke the merits of Azerbaijani artist and wished her success.

Famous collectors came to the city of Deauville in order to enjoy Maryams works.

Representatives of famous French galleries looking forward to the opening of Alakbarlis stand, offered her to organize exhibitions of talented artist. Many artists and art lovers enjoyed artist's stand with interest and shared their views on her works.

Azerbaijani young artist Maryam Alakbarli, who has different views, has conquered the attention and heart of art figures in France with her unique style. Art historians, critics, artists representing different areas of creativity have always welcomed the works of the talented artist.

Notably, 80 painters, architects, digital artists and photographers were selected for the Deauville Art Shopping festival from March 31 to April 2.

Born in 1991, Maryam, who suffers from Down's syndrome, developed a taste for painting and sculpting at a very early age. The artist chooses colors masterly. The inherent feeling of color distinguishes her art.

She puts much sincerity, harmony and goodness into her paintings.

Artist's works have earned big success both in her motherland Azerbaijan and beyond its borders including Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey Lithuania and France.

While suffering from Down's syndrome, lists of her work which mainly characterize educational themes are representative of her zeal and creativity.

Sensing deeply the real world with its problems, Maryam heartily incarnates her works with the warmness of her heart, her subtle perception of reality, although not appreciated in the way she warrants, the young artist shows all the beauty of the world by dints of the language of colors and brush.

Once, Juliette Binoche, world famous French actress, said, Maryam has her own vision on the color combination. She shares her feeling of being impressed on the creativity of the young artist by stating that Rose-red, yellow and brown tint, bright green, bloody red, black as antimony - she boldly works with these colors, like the nature creating the bright and harmonious world.

Earlier in 2013, Colours of the Soul, a catalogue which features paintings of Maryam including her approval and appraisal by other artists, came out.



The colorfully illustrated catalogue, which was printed by the publishing house Sharq-Qarb, has published a complete series of the talented painters light work.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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By Trend

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received deputy prime minister of Belarus, co-chairman of the Belarus-Azerbaijan intergovernmental commission for cooperation, Vladimir Semashko.

At the meeting, the sides noted successful development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus in various spheres, as well as the availability of good opportunities for further strengthening of ties.

During the conversation, the importance of identifying new areas of cooperation was stressed and the need to further increase trade turnover between the two countries was noted.

Vladimir Semashko stressed that the assembly of the 10,000th tractor at the Ganja Automobile Plant is a significant event, and noted the importance of studying the opportunities of exporting the joint Azerbaijan-Belarus products to other countries.

In turn, Ilham Aliyev stressed that during visits to the districts, farmers expressed satisfaction with the quality of the Azerbaijan-Belarus tractors and noted that there are good opportunities for their export.

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By Trend

The April 2016 battles sparked panic among the Armenians, Azerbaijani MP Tahir Karimli told Trend April 2.

On April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions and settlements of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire by the Armenian Armed Forces. As a result of the shelling of Azerbaijans settlements located along the line of contact, civilians were killed, including two children. Numerous public and private facilities, including civil infrastructure, were severely damaged as a result of the attack.

Azerbaijan responded with an armed offensive, which resulted in four days of fighting, as the country liberated several important strategic spots previously occupied by Armenian Armed Forces.

As many as 30 tanks, up to 15 armored guns and fortifications belonging to the Armenians were destroyed, 320 Armenian soldiers were killed and more than 500 servicemen of the enemy were wounded during the clashes.

As a result of the successful counteroffensive, more than 2,000 hectares of territory were liberated from the Armenian occupation.

The Armenians are still in mourning, he said. Before the April 2016 battles, the Armenians created a myth about themselves.

"The Armenians created such a myth that supposedly in Soviet period there were generals and marshals among Armenians with combat experience, he said. According to this myth, supposedly despite the small number of Armenians, they can defeat Azerbaijan, etc.

But the unity of commanders and soldiers, as well as the advantage in high technologies shows that this myth of Armenians is just delirium, Karimli said. During the April battles, Azerbaijan liberated a big part of the occupied territories. This has once again proved that the Azerbaijanis have the will to liberate their lands.

A vivid example is the restoration work after the April battles in Azerbaijans Jojug Marjanli village and other territories liberated from the occupation, he said. If the big countries had not stopped these battles, Azerbaijan would have continued. After these events, everybody was alarmed because indeed, Azerbaijan has a strong army and the Armenians would lose, so the big countries did not allow the Armenians to lose completely and tried to stop the battles.

"Unfortunately, these countries have begun to conduct propaganda again and do not give Azerbaijan the opportunity to liberate its lands from the occupation, he said. But the April battles proved that Azerbaijan is always capable of showing its will. Presently, Azerbaijan has such a great incentive for the liberation of our lands as the April battles, and this will happen."

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By Trend

The region needs close cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan, former Turkish minister for EU affairs Egemen Bagis told Trend.

Bagis added that as is known, Turkey and Azerbaijan are one nation, two states, and cooperation between the countries is beneficial for the region.

"Turkey always supports Azerbaijan in the issue of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.

The relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan, headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Ilham Aliyev, are strengthening, and this makes our countries even stronger, he said.

Bagis said that thanks to the policy pursued by the leadership of fraternal Azerbaijan, the country began to play an active and important role in the world energy policy.

"Turkey is proud of Azerbaijans success," he said.

Azerbaijan and Turkey are the initiators and participants of big energy and transport projects in the region. Among those projects are the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline projects.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was put into operation in 2017, which will ensure more active economic and trade cooperation between Ankara and Baku by attracting a big flow of goods from Central Asian countries to Europe.

The Southern Gas Corridor project, aimed at ensuring energy security of Europe, will be launched in 2018. The gas via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline will be initially supplied to Turkey and then in 2020 via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline to Europe.

Such important projects serve the economic well-being of not only Azerbaijan and Turkey, but the whole region.

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By Rashid Shirinov

As many as 17,000 tourists from Kuwait have arrived in Azerbaijan since the launch of direct flights between the two countries, the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Kuwait Elkhan Gahraman said on April 3.

He made the remarks at the meeting with Kuwaits First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

The ambassador mentioned that starting from 2016, a simplified visa has been issued for Kuwaiti citizens in all international airports of Azerbaijan, and citizens of Kuwait are also able to obtain a visa in a short period of time via the ASAN Visa electronic system.

Gahraman further asked Sheikh Nasser to consider the question of issuing electronic visas to Azerbaijani citizens, noting that a positive decision of the issue will contribute to the development of bilateral relations.

Noting that the leadership of Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the development of all-round cooperation with Kuwait, the ambassador said that favorable conditions have been created for the further development of historical, religious and cultural ties between the two countries.

He further stressed the importance of developing bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Kuwait in the trade-economic, defense, investment, culture, tourism and a number of other spheres.

Speaking on the mutually beneficial cooperation within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other international organizations, Gahraman expressed gratitude to the leadership and people of Kuwait for their political support in connection with the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Sheikh Nasser, in turn, stressed that the leadership and people of Kuwait attach great importance to relations with Azerbaijan and noted that the warm relations between President Ilham Aliyev and Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad play an important role in the development of ties between two friendly countries.

The deputy prime minister also noted the need to organize meetings of experts and high-ranking officials, as well as ministers of Azerbaijan and Kuwait.

Highly appreciating the decision of the leadership of Azerbaijan on the simplified registration of visas to Kuwaiti citizens, Sheikh Nasser stressed that this step will have a positive impact on the development of direct air communication between the two countries, as well as strengthening of relations in the political, economic, trade, public, humanitarian and other important spheres.

He added that more and more citizens of Kuwait are visiting Azerbaijan, which attracts them with its security, similar mentality, ancient history, beautiful nature, rich culture and delicious cuisine.

Sheikh Nasser further noted that he positively evaluates the proposal to issue electronic visas to Azerbaijani citizens, and that he will give appropriate instructions on the consideration of this issue.

Baku and Kuwait, which established diplomatic relations in 1994, are bond with traditional, historical, religious and cultural ties, as well as the geographical location.

A high number of tourists from Kuwait have visited Azerbaijan in recent years, and their number continues growing. Kuwaitis also show great interest in creation of farms and renting of large areas for breeding cattle in Azerbaijan. Investors of Kuwait continue investing in Azerbaijans economy and choose agriculture and favorable recreational tourism spheres as priority directions.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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By Kamila Aliyeva

The export volume of Russian oil delivered to Uzbekistan in January-March 2018 amounted to 36,000 tons, according to the materials of the Central Dispatch Office of the Fuel and Energy Complex.

Earlier, Russia stopped the delivery of oil to Uzbekistan, after supplying 24,900 tonnes in January.

In 2017, the export of Russian oil to Uzbekistan amounted to 68,200 tonnes. In particular, in November, 30,000 tons of oil was sent to Uzbekistan, while in December the figure increased making 38,200 tons.

Earlier, the official representative of Transneft, Igor Demin said that it is a question of test deliveries for now.

In late February, Vice President of Transneft Sergey Andronov said that active negotiations are currently underway between Kazakh partners and Uzbekistan to determine the volumes of oil transportation.

In April 2017, during the state visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Moscow, a bilateral memorandum on the delivery of 500,000 tonnes of Russian oil to Uzbekistan was signed.

Earlier, Andronov said that Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Lukoil and Russneft could take part in the delivery of 500,000 tonnes of Russian oil to Uzbekistan.

On November 20, 2017, Kazakh company Kaztransoil began shipping Russian oil to Uzbekistan. Oil is pumped via the KazTransOil pipeline system en route Omsk-Pavlodar-Shymkent-Shagyr oil loading point, from where it is poured into railway tanks and then transported by rail to Uzbekistan.

In Uzbekistan, gasoline production decreased by 26.2 percent, diesel fuel - by 8.3 percent, while imports of hydrocarbons increased 1.3 times in 2010-2016.

In late April 2017, Uzbekistan started construction of a new refinery in Zafarobod district of the countrys Jizzakh region, which is expected to operate using the crude imported from Kazakhstan and Russia.

The refinery has design capacity of processing of five million tons of oil per year, production of 3.7 million tons of car fuel, over 700,000 tonnes of aviation fuel and 300,000 tonnes of associated oil products.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Rashid Shirinov

Omans low-cost airline SalamAir will start operating Muscat-Baku flights from June 14 as part of the summer schedule, the company informed on April 3.

Flights will be carried out until September 5 twice a week by an Airbus A320.

Departure from Muscat will be carried out on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 23:05 local time with arrival to Heydar Aliyev International Airport at 2:20 Baku time. Meanwhile, departure from Baku will be implemented on Wednesdays and Fridays at 3:20 with arrival in Muscat at 6:20.

SalamAir is a low-cost airline from Oman headquartered and based at Muscat International Airport. The company was founded in 2016 and began commercial flights from January 2017.

Presently, the airline operates three Airbus A320-200. It commenced flights between the Omani cities of Muscat and Salalah in January 2017, while the Muscat-Dubai route, launched in February 2017, was the airlines first international service.

SalamAir operates international flights to Jeddah, Medina, Karachi, Multan, Sialkot, Dubai, Shiraz and Doha. As many as 116 flights are operated per week across these destinations.

Azerbaijan has lately become the most favorite place for travel of many Arab tourists. The majority of them are from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Iraq. The growing interest to the country has several reasons, such as short distance to Azerbaijan, opening of more direct flights, beautiful nature of the country, halal foods in restaurants, etc.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Texas is seeking to speed up executions with a renewed request to "opt in" to a federal law that would shorten the legal process and limit appeals options for death-sentenced prisoners.

Defense attorneys worry it would lead to the execution of innocent people and  if it's applied retroactively, as Texas is requesting  it could end ongoing appeals for a number of death row prisoners and make them eligible for execution dates.

"Opt-in would speed up the death penalty treadmill exponentially," said Kathryn Kase, a longtime defense attorney and former executive director of Texas Defender Services.

A spokeswoman for the state's attorney general framed the request to the Justice Department as a necessary way to avoid "stressful delays" and cut down on the "excessive costs" of lengthy federal court proceedings.

"Opting-in would serve several purposes for Texans, including sparing crime victims years of unnecessary and stressful delays, ensuring that our state court judgments are respected by federal judges as cases progress, and reducing the excessive costs of lengthy federal court proceedings," said the spokeswoman, Kayleigh Lovvorn.

The Department of Justice declined to comment, and a representative of Gov. Greg Abbott's office referred questions to the state attorney general.

The request  which comes after years of declining executions  has sparked a federal lawsuit and hundreds of pages of comments from a broad coalition of concerned parties including the ACLU, the American Bar Association, Mexico's government, a former federal judge and dozens of defense attorneys.

There's doubt among the defense bar whether Texas actually meets the qualification criteria. Approval is up to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the nation's top law enforcement officer who recently advocated for capital punishment for drug dealers in some cases.

If Sessions gives the green light to the Lone Star State's application, it will be the first opt-in approval in the more than two decades since the law's inception.

For attorneys like Casey Kaplan  who helped free a wrongfully convicted Harris County man, Alfred Dewayne Brown, from death row  that's a chilling possibility.

"In an environment like Texas where you know the state gets it wrong  and not just accidentally, but intentionally  why in the world would you ever take steps to speed up the process to execute a potentially innocent person?" he said. "Until somebody can answer that question, they should be taking steps to slow it down."

Whitewashing failure

The state's hopes for fast-tracking a path to execution date back to at least 1996, when Congress passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.

Written in the tough-on-crime 1990s and in the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, the law set time limits to expedite federal appeals in death penalty cases and gave greater deference to state courts.

"We are about to curb these endless, frivolous appeals of death sentences by those convicted of murder," then-U.S. Sen. Bob Dole said at the time. Nationally, the average time between sentencing and execution has continued to rise, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

But in addition to what is already in place, the law opens the door to creating even tighter deadlines with a special opt-in provision under a section called Chapter 154.

In order to qualify for Chapter 154 certification, states have to prove they offered good enough lawyers earlier in the process, during the so-called "state habeas" appeal. If the condemned were all able to get competent, sufficiently paid attorneys with the funds to afford things like investigators and specialists during the state habeas appeal, then the law would permit speeding up the later federal habeas appeal.

"Opt-in presumes that we've reached this promised land of excellent and well-resourced legal representation at all levels for everyone on death row and in fact we have not," Kase said.

The letters submitted to the government early this year were highly critical of Texas' current defense system, calling it "inadequate" and "infected" by "well-publicized failures," pointing out that the state doesn't even guarantee counsel for all types of post-conviction proceedings.

So far no state has qualified.

But in November, Sessions fired off letters to Texas and Arizona  two states that previously put in certification requests and asked if they still wanted to apply.

They did.

The states' affirmative responses prompted a required comment period, during which Texas Defender Services and other capital defense organizations produced a 247-page comment  bolstered by more than 100 appendixes  criticizing Texas' application, calling it "little more than a whitewash of the state's persistent historic failures" that includes "no evidence at all."

The application itself doesn't explain why the state wants to opt in.

Kent Scheidegger, death penalty supporter and legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation touted opt-in as a way to speed up the process.

"We talk about due process of law  I call this overdue process of law," he said. "The victims' families just get frustrated beyond belief with all this reexamination when in most cases the guy is guilty beyond any doubt. The fact that a federal court overturns the judgment doesn't mean that that's a just result."

Houston-based capital defense attorney Patrick McCann stressed that federal courts are where many condemned men including those wrongfully convicted like Anthony Graves, and those deemed too intellectually disabled to execute, like Bobby Moore  have gotten relief.

"This is a political quest," he said. "It's an appeal to Gov. Abbott's base to make it very proudly explained that we have an express lane to death."

'Worst-case scenario'

If Sessions approves it, opting in would include limitations on how long federal courts have to resolve cases, restrictions on judges' abilities to grant stays of execution, and limits on the claims that prisoners can raise in federal habeas proceedings.

But what's sparking the most concern among defense lawyers is a change that would halve the time attorneys have to file the first part of their federal appeal.

If Texas opts in, attorneys would have six months instead of a year to interview witnesses, hire investigators and familiarize themselves with sometimes a decade or more of case files to sift out any possible past lawyering mistakes, suspicion of withheld evidence or proof of actual innocence stuffed away in boxes and boxes of materials.

"Doing all that in one year is already extraordinarily difficult, and any further limitations would only exacerbate the existing problem," said Emily Olson-Gault, director of the Death Penalty Representation Project at the American Bar Association.

"We know that errors are made in capital cases," she added. "The more that the allotted time to prepare is limited, the greater the risk that serious constitutional errors will stand uncorrected."

And if claims aren't raised in the first filing, they can't always be raised later.

"They're valid concerns but you gotta consider the other side of the coin," said Scheidegger "The state and the victims have an interest in seeing these sentences carried out and at present it is taking far too long."

Death penalty lawyer Kenneth McGuire  who is among those suing in federal court in Washington, D.C., to challenge the certification process  called the shorter time frame "completely impractical" and said it would "only guarantee a miscarriage of justice." Attorney James Rytting concurred, adding that sometimes it takes "several months" for the courts to appoint federal habeas lawyers.

And, because Texas has requested certification dating back to 1995, there's some question as to whether it would retroactively be applied to cases now entering federal appeals.

"That's a worst-case scenario," McCann said.

'Bigger problems'

Opting in wouldn't just affect defense attorneys and their clients.

Defense attorney Margaret Schmucker, who previously worked for the state attorney general under both Abbott and John Cornyn before him, highlighted the problems it could cause for the state attorneys, who would likely have to handle appeals at a quicker clip.

"On any given day, any one of the capital division attorneys would have a couple dozen cases on their docket," she said. "And it's not going to be any easier on them. So unless the money and the staff comes to deal with the expedited processes they're going to have bigger problems."

It also could have an impact on which cases are taken up by the nation's highest court, which issued two groundbreaking decisions stemming from Houston-area cases last year.

"The Supreme Court can only hear what's brought to it and if those cases never get there because they get shut out or shut down, the Supreme Court is gonna be a lot less busy," McCann said.

"Bobby Moore would be dead under this standard of time limits. Anthony Graves would be dead. Pretty much everybody who's been released or commuted on death row would have already been executed so not only would we have done wrong we wouldn't even know we had."

As of now, it's not clear when a decision from Washington might come.
NEA picks new route for Nepal-China power line

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has worked out a new alignment for a Nepal-China cross-border power line that avoids Langtang National Park in the north of Kathmandu.
A Kountze woman accused of killing her 4-year-old daughter in 2011 will go to trial this summer, five months after her boyfriend was found guilty of capital murder in the child's death.

Amanda Nichole Guidry's trial is set for July 2, according to the Hardin County District Clerk's Office.
Here are 10 updates on ASC management companies and industry-relevant companies to note.

Raleigh, N.C.-based Compass Surgical Partners and a group of physicians sold a majority stake in Clearwater, Fla.-based Safety Harbor Surgical Center to Addison, Texas-based United Surgical Partners International.

Appalachian Orthopedics surgeon Jason Brashear, MD, performed the first outpatient total hip replacement at USPI affiliate Mountain Empire Surgery Center, both in Johnson City, Tenn.

Bucks Happening named Jamison, Pa.-based Physicians Endoscopy the winner of its 2018 Everything Bucks: Places to Work contest.

Envision Physician Services named Tony Andrulonis, MD, its new president of emergency medicine.

Regent Surgical Health highlighted the key ways ASCs fail to manage risk and explained how to turn those shortcomings into opportunities for growth in a weekly e-newsletter.

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare's board of directors reached an agreement with the company's largest shareholder, Glenview Capital Management, and will make several bylaw revisions as part of the deal.

Mednax acquired Miami-based Children's Urology Associates, growing the company's Florida presence.

Tampa, Fla.-based Physicians Partners of America is affiliating with Dallas-based Capstone Pain and Spine.

Surgeons at Edmonds (Wash.) Orthopedic Center, a division of Proliance Surgeons, joined the SwiftPath Program.

Mednet, an ASC management software company, launched its Enterprise Management and Medical Inventory Management Software.
Envision Physician Services named Tony Andrulonis, MD, its new president of emergency medicine.

Here's what you should know.

1. Dr. Andrulonis will oversee Envision's emergency medical practices. He'll also create a support platform for local providers to utilize.

2. He has more than a decade of acute care specialty leadership on both a regional and national level.

3. Dr. Andrulonis most recently served as Envision Physician Services' executive vice president of the southeast operating unit.

4. He also has experience with Sheridan Healthcare and Miami-based Baptist Hospital.

5. The American College of Emergency Physicians named Dr. Andrulonis one of its Heroes of Emergency Medicine in 2008. He is a past member of FEMA's Florida Task Force 2 and Pennsylvania Task Force 1, and he was deployed to both the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy as well as Hurricane Katrina to provide aid.
Here are five things to know about Eastwind Surgical in Westerville, Ohio.

1. The ASC is the only facility in Ohio to offer the Axis Jackson Surgical Table, which enables surgeons to perform minimally invasive neck and spine surgeries.

2. Eastwind Surgical was established in 2007.

3. The center is 10,350 square feet and located within Central Ohio Neurological Surgeons in Westerville.

4. Eastwind Surgical is equipped with one operating room and two procedure rooms.

5. There are six surgeons staffed at Eastwind Surgical.
Lone Tree, Colo.-based Sky Ridge Medical Center erroneously charged a mother $1,216.50 for circumcising her newborn daughter, 9News reports.

Lisa Powell-Dejong gave birth to her daughter, Liberty Mae, a month before the baby was due. While Ms. Powell-Dejong expected to see charges for her daughter's five-day NICU stay on the invoice, the circumcision charge caught her eye.

Ms. Powell-Dejong contacted 9News about her medical bill. Within a day of contacting a Sky Ridge Medical Center spokesperson, Ms. Powell-Dejong had her answer: It was a coding error.

"This simple, human coding error did not impact the patient's final bill nor did it impact insurance reimbursement," Sky Ridge Medical Center spokesperson Linda Watson told 9News. "We corrected the invoice as soon as we learned of the issue, notified the patient and sent an updated version to the insurance company. We always encourage patients with billing questions or concerns to contact us directly so we can address them quickly."



As the invoice showed charges before insurance kicked in, it's unclear whether Ms. Powell-Dejong's insurer would have caught the erroneous code.



More articles on healthcare finance:

How some rural hospitals score huge paydays from insurance companies

A Walmart-Humana giant scares hospitals: 5 reasons why

7 states with the most rural hospital closures
Will focus on implementing past pacts with India: PM Oli

Prime Minister KP Shama Oli has said his India visit would be focused mainly on implementing the past agreements signed between Nepal and India. He added that he will try to remain committed to national interest during his visit.
Robert Malte, CEO of Kirkland, Wash.-based EvergreenHealth, is planning to retire by the end of 2018.

Mr. Malte has led the health system for eight years, joining in 2010. During his tenure, the health system became the first in the state to receive a CMS five-star quality rating.

He was also instrumental in developing the Halvorson Cancer Center in partnership with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and in creating the first clinically integrated physician network in the Puget Sound, Wash., region, EvergreenHealth Partners.

Mr. Malte has spent 42 years serving in healthcare leadership roles. Prior to joining EvergreenHealth, he was CEO of Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Colo. He also served in senior leadership positions at Appleton, Wis.-based ThedaCare and Maywood, Ill.-based Loyola University Medical Center.

Mr. Malte is currently chair of the Washington State Hospital Association's board. He was co-chair of the American Heart Association Puget Sound Heart Walk in 2016.

After stepping down as CEO, Mr. Malte will serve in an advisory capacity through March 2019.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health said it will allow most physicians with Mecklenburg Medical Group to operate independently of its health system after 92 physicians sued to break away from the non-compete agreements, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Mecklenburg Medical, which operates across North and South Carolina, is the largest physicians practice operated by Atrium. In the lawsuit, filed April 2 in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, 92 physicians with the medical group accused Atrium Health of monopolistic and anti-competitive behavior, including refusal to release physicians from their non-compete requirements.

"Though purporting to be a nonprofit institution, Atrium  with its bloated management bureaucracy  has repeatedly complained and contended that it 'loses' millions of dollars on the MMG physicians each year," the suit reads, according to The Charlotte Observer. "In sum, Atrium is acting as the exact opposite of the nonprofit healthcare provider that it claims to be."

The 92 physicians with the medical group hoped the lawsuit would push Atrium to release them from these non-compete restrictions so they could practice independently under a new umbrella named the Mecklenburg Multi-Specialty Group.

Later on April 2, Atrium said in a statement it is surprised and disappointed by the lawsuit because they were in discussions with these physicians as recently as last week.

"Since some of the doctors from Atrium Health's practice known as Mecklenburg Medical Group came to us last October, we have been talking to them about what a stand-alone practice might look like," Atrium said, according to The Charlotte Observer. "We worked hard to find a solution that would be mutually agreeable to everyone  and most importantly would ensure that our patients continue to get the best care possible."

Atrium, in response to the lawsuit, is still determining how to address the non-compete restrictions. However, Atrium said it plans to continue to own Mecklenburg Medical following the departure of most of the physicians who filed the suit.

Mecklenburg Medical joined Atrium, formerly known as Carolinas HealthCare, in 1993. It employs 104 physicians in several specialties, including internal medicine, dermatology and sleep medicine.
Recently released surveillance video appears to show a man punching a woman from behind at the emergency room desk at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, Mich., according to CBS News.

The footage captured the 19-year-old woman, who wore a dark blue head covering identifying her as a Muslim, talking to a hospital employee at the ER desk on Feb. 10. Less than five seconds after she stepped to the desk, a man approached her from behind and began striking her with his fist, according to The Detroit News.

Hospital staff immediately went to the woman's aid, and the suspect, 57-year-old John Deliz, was arrested and charged with assault.

The victim recently filed a lawsuit alleging the attack may not have occurred if hospital officials had properly monitored Mr. Deliz. Police records show he was warned about harassing others in the hospital lobby before the attack occurred, according to The Detroit News.

Majed Moughni, the victim's attorney, told CBS News the attack might have been religiously motivated.

"Certainly, after watching the video, and hearing my client's version of events, the circumstantial evidence would lead one to conclude that the attack was religiously motivated," Mr. Moughni told CBS News. "There were five people in the lobby and my client was the only one who wore the hijab."

Mr. Deliz admitted in court that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and that he had not been taking his medications, according to Mr. Moughni.

"The hospital was aware of his condition as he was brought because he needed mental treatment. Instead of treating him, they discharged him into the ER waiting room," Mr. Moughni told CBS. "Instead of giving him mental treatment, they put him back in the patient pool, thereby giving way to his attack."

In a statement to The Detroit News, Beaumont Hospital said it takes security seriously and security personnel responded quickly in this case.

"Beaumont security personnel responded immediately and took action to protect the patient and others in the emergency room," the hospital said. "Dearborn Police were contacted and Beaumont staff cooperated fully in the investigation. We take pride in our service to this diverse community and want all patients to feel welcome at Beaumont."

Mr. Deliz remains in custody. His next court appearance is scheduled in May.

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Zipline, a startup based in California that focuses on delivering medical supplies via drone, created a new drone that can travel up to 79 mph and carry 3.85 pounds of cargo, reports CNBC.

Established in 2011, the California-based startup beat Amazon, Fed-Ex and UPS to the punch when it established drone-based logistics for delivering medical supplies in 2016.

The startup initially focused on delivering life-saving medical supplies, such as blood, to rural areas in Rwanda. However, Zipline plans to expand into more markets this year  including the U.S.

Zipline investor and former aerodynamics engineer Paul Willard told CNBC the startup's new drone  dubbed Zip 2  can be scaled globally because of its speed and battery life.

Zipline will begin making medical supply deliveries in the U.S. later this year as part of a Federal Aviation Administration pilot program. Once the company establishes a service area in the U.S. for its drones, it would be able to make deliveries within 30 minutes to people in its service area.

A service area would be 99 miles in diameter and would encompass a population of around 10 million people, according to CNBC.
Quinter, Kan.-based Gove County Medical Center welcomed E. Patrick Curry, MD, according to Hays Post.

Here are four points.

1. Dr. Curry will join the medical center's outpatient clinic April 23.

2. A board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Curry specializes in cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine disorders. He treats disc herniations, spinal stenosis, spinal cord compression and spinal deformity.

3. He performs minimally invasive surgery, complex adult deformity, oncologic reconstruction and high-energy trauma.

4. He completed his residency at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
Here are eight spine surgeons and neurosurgeons that joined new organizations, moved locations or received promotions in March 2018.

Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine appointed Odette Harris, MD, as a neurosurgery professor. She is the first African-American neurosurgery professor at Stanford.

Orthopedic spine surgeon Keith Wilkey, MD, joined Bradford (Pa.) Regional Medical Center, Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital and Smethport, Pa.-based Foothills Medical Group,.

Jean-Pierre Mobasser, MD, was elected to serve as president of Indianapolis-based Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine.

Intraoperative neuromonitoring services provider Assure Holdings added orthopedic spine surgeon Jeffrey Ratusznik, MD, to its Texas network.

Kirk Clifford, MD, and James Gebhard, MD, joined Community Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., and created an orthopedic spine surgery program.

Physician Partners of America welcomed Stefan Pribil, MD, who specializes in stem cell and biologics for neuroregeneration, minimally invasive spinal reconstruction and laser-assisted spine procedures.

Brett G. Menmuir, MD, joined Laser Spine Institute's Scottsdale, Ariz., location. He specializes in minimally invasive techniques for spine and sacroiliac joint fusions, motion preservation surgery, pain management and orthopedic procedures.
Former Billings, Mont.-based neurosurgeon John Henry Schneider, MD, agreed to plead guilty to concealing bankruptcy assets, the Billings Gazette reports.

Here are five things to know.

1. Dr. Schneider agreed to plead guilty to a single count of concealing bankruptcy assets, under a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Billings March 27, after hiding a bank account containing $309,686 from the U.S. trustee in the case.

2. Dr. Schneider filed for bankruptcy in December 2014. A bankruptcy settlement agreement approved in June 2016 ordered the neurosurgeon to provide the estate $2.3 million to creditors, who filed nearly $12 million in claims.

3. In 2017, Dr. Schneider was indicted on fraud charges after prosecutors say he illegally transferred $539,736.22 to another person and hid a Harley Davidson motorcycle worth $15,495.

4. In March 2014, the Wyoming Board of Medicine revoked his license after he operated on a patient who died of a painkiller overdose the day after his release from the hospital. The board also fined Dr. Schneider $25,000 and ordered him to pay more than $124,000 to cover the cost of the proceedings against him.

5. Dr. Schneider was working at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Iowa City in late 2017 despite federal law barring the VA from hiring physicians whose licenses have been revoked by state boards even if they still hold active licenses in other states. Dr. Schneider was hired at the Iowa City VA facility despite disclosing medical malpractice issues he had in the past on his application.

More articles on spine:

8 spine surgeons & neurosurgeons on the move in March 2018

Drs. John Stevenson, Joshua Li & more: 7 spine and neurosurgeons making headlines

Top 10 Spine Review articles: March 26-30
Japanese company Ryobi has been praised for its economic contribution in Co Antrim, where it employs nearly 500 people.

The Carrickfergus plant specialises in aluminium casting for the firm, supplying car industry giants including Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot Citroen, Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda.

And Paul Reid, Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, praised the firm during a tour of its Carrickfergus site. The council has set up a manufacturing task force to support the area's big factories.

"Ryobi is a jewel in Mid and East Antrim's manufacturing crown," he said.

"The firm has operations in Japan, the USA, China and Mexico with its European operation based in Carrickfergus. It was fantastic to visit Ryobi and see first-hand the incredible work going on there.

"Ryobi and council enjoy a strong working relationship and we look forward to building on that through the manufacturing task force. Council is committed to doing all that we can to work in partnership with our manufacturers and maintain our reputation as the engine room of the Northern Ireland economy."

The council area's industrial base has faced setbacks, including the announcement of the closure of Kilroot Power Station in Larne and news of up to 95 job losses at bus manufacturer Wrightbus in Ballymena.
Paddy Jackson and his mother outside Belfast Crown Court listen as his legal team reads out a statement after he was found not guilty of rape

The sordid details about that horrible night out in Belfast were appalling, but the one small saving grace from the trial is that we can actually learn a lot from this case and all benefit from meaningful conversation about how this story played out.

Indeed, parents now have a golden opportunity to teach some significant life lessons and values to their kids.

Rape cases often highlight the generation gap as the older generation tend to vehemently argue that people shouldn't put themselves in dangerous places, while the younger generation tend to argue, just as ferociously, that people should have the right to go wherever they wish without being afraid of being raped.

But whichever side of the argument you find yourself on, perhaps we could all do with giving some further thought to the overtly sexualised world that produces such a nasty situation.

The tawdriness of the events of the night puts a spotlight on our vacuous and shallow hook-up culture.

All four defendants were unanimously acquitted of all charges.

But how was it that these men thought that such a squalid affair was a great night out? The girl had gone home crying; how did they think it was appropriate to boast among friends that they were "top shaggers" and to send sleazy messages about "spit-roasting" and "sluts".

They all appeared to be out of their minds on drink - Stuart Olding, for example, consumed a total of eight cans, four pints, five vodkas, two gins and three shots.

How could these sportsmen think such poisonous levels of alcohol consumption were all part of the hilarious good-natured fun?

Parents all over the country are busy reassuring themselves that their sons and daughters would never find themselves in such awful situations, but perhaps they shouldn't be so sure as in my work as a psychotherapist, I frequently meet teenagers and young adults who are disturbed by their sexual experiences.

The boys tend to be victims of the easy access to hardcore porn.

Porn today is a long way from the flirty, comical porn of the 1970s and 1980s, but porn these days tends to emphasise pain, degradation and misogyny. Just like everything else online, it is created in a way that is dangerously addictive.

The problem with porn addiction is that, just like any other dependency, you need increasing amounts to sustain your habit. And so the modus operandi of this multi-billion pound industry is to lure people into ever deeper and ever weirder porn.

The shame and self-loathing evident among young boys who have fallen into the rabbit hole of porn addiction is heartbreaking to observe.

The boys who come to see me sometimes wonder aloud whether they have accidentally overstepped some sexual boundaries on nights out.

Sadly, they very often have. The video gaming culture and society in general has taught these boys to view sex as a way to get cheap thrills and these boys often mindlessly treat girls like prostitutes.

Now is the time for mothers and fathers to have some serious and authentic conversations with their kids about why, whether they are in private or public, they need to always show respect and common decency to others.

Girls are also severely impacted by our excessively sexualised world. Many girls come to me troubled by their sexual encounters as they agonise over what exactly happened when they were so out of it that they don't remember anything about the night - all they know is that they ended up in a bed, naked and passed out.

Other girls worry about whether they are sexual enough for their boyfriends. These young women understandably want to be attractive and alluring but, in the pornified world we live in, they believe that to do this they must look like a celebrity and act like a hooker.

Sadly, even with all the pre-emptive warnings about inappropriate content on the radio, in the last few weeks many impressionable young girls and boys will have been introduced to the notion of spit-roasting and other equally sordid details that now informs their view of sex.

It is the parents' role to temper this by teaching their children about the nature of the porn industry and how it demeans what should be a loving and playful activity.

These are difficult conversations of course but they can be lifelong gifts for your children.

Informed consent is probably the most important lesson that parents can teach their children. This isn't age-specific as whether it is playground politics or degrading sexual encounters, everyone needs to learn about the concept of informed consent.

Teaching your children both how to stand their ground and, equally, how to ensure they don't walk over others is giving them the tools they need to have positive relationships.

The acronym FRIES covers it well; consent should be Freely given, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic and Specific.

Freely given means that the decision to engage in activity should be made without pressure or manipulation. If you are too drunk or stoned then you aren't competent to freely give your consent.

Reversible means that a person can enthusiastically enter into sexual activity and then change their mind. This is why it is important that parents teach their kids how to access their 'strong voice' when they need to - how they need to tap into the strength in their bellies and say 'no' or 'stop that' loudly and clearly.

Informed means that everyone involved needs to be lucid enough to know what's going on. For the record, informed also means that if a person lies about wearing a condom then they have, in fact, committed the crime of rape.

Indeed, only a couple of weeks ago in Dublin's Central Criminal Court, a man was jailed for three and a half years for this exact crime.

Enthusiastic is, in my view, an interesting concept as this implies that if everyone isn't all that into the sex then it's not consent. While enthusiasm is indeed necessary for a successful sexual encounter, does the need for enthusiasm open up a can of worms that every sexual encounter needs to be good sex?

Can a person be tired but willing? Can they be nervous, uncertain or anxious and still be consenting? If parents are to introduce meaningful values to their children they need to be authentic and it's perfectly okay to reveal that you feel confused and unsure of your position; hardly any worthwhile discussions are simple or clear-cut.

Specific is the last aspect of FRIES consent; this means that going into a bedroom doesn't necessarily mean that the person has given consent.

Thankfully, parents don't have to have the answers as none of us do. Indeed, for most complex issues, the rule of thumb is that if you think you have the answer then you probably need to reflect some more.

But if we can learn to confront challenging issues with integrity and if we can teach our children to be strong, kind and decent human beings, then we have at least equipped our children to be a force for good in this complicated world.

Stella O'Malley is a psychotherapist and public speaker. Much of Stella's counselling and teaching work is with parents and young people. She is the best-selling author of Cotton Wool Kids, Mercier Press, 12.50, available on the internet
The haul of herbal cannabis seized at the weekend

Two men appeared in court yesterday charged in connection with the seizure of cannabis with an estimated street value of 1.3million.

Kevin McPolin (32) and Niall Mallon (37) stood side-by-side in the dock of Newry Magistrates Court as they were charged with importing class B drugs, possession, and possession with intent to supply.

The drugs were found in a fuel container at a property on Ballynaris Lane in Dromore, where Mallon lives with his parents.

It also emerged that a third man wanted in connection with the find has escaped police capture by fleeing the jurisdiction.

The prosecution told the court they believe Mallon and McPolin are "part of a sophisticated crime gang moving drugs across Europe" and that the chance of both men reoffending to "make up for the financial loss" was high.

The court was told that during police interview Mallon refused to account for his movements that day.

He has also refused to provide police with the PIN number required to access his phone.

Documents - linked to unnamed persons who were not present in court - and 1,500 in cash were also seized in the operation.

A detective told the court that McPolin claimed the money was from the sale of a car but that he was unable to provide evidence of the transaction.

The court heard how McPolin, who lives with his parents at Edenderry Park in Banbridge, was captured on CCTV collecting a trailer from a rental business in Dublin on Friday before the pair allegedly transported the drugs across the border in a white Citroen van.

The court also heard that during police interview McPolin insisted he didn't know what was in the package and had only found out about the cannabis following his arrest.

It was alleged that he admitted being with Mr Mallon in Dublin but claimed he couldn't remember anything else about that day. The police officer recommended that bail be denied to both men as they could "interfere with active lines of enquiry" into other individuals.

But the defence solicitor argued that bail should be granted given that McPolin is currently unemployed and his partner is expecting the arrival of their first child this week.

"The suggestion that there is a risk of reoffending certainly isn't borne out by the facts," the solicitor added.

He also asked the judge to take McPolin's "limited" criminal record into account.

He said that if he was released on strict conditions he would want to be with his family for the birth of his first child and claimed that there was no evidence he would intimidate witnesses.

The defence also argued that "an army of conditions" could be imposed on Mallon which would severely limit his movements.

But refusing bail, Judge Eamonn King said he had to take police objections seriously.

"This is a Europe-wide enterprise spanning a number of jurisdictions," he added.

"It has the appearance of a sophisticated operation and the investigation is only in its early stages."

Both men were remanded in custody until April 26.
Police and Manipal Teaching Hospital staff clash injures 12

At least 12 people, including seven police personnel, were injured in a clash between agitating non-teaching staff and the police at Pokhara-based Manipal Teaching Hospital on Monday.
Police are appealing for information after two men, one armed with a hammer, robbed a shop in west Belfast.

The robbery happened on Tuesday, March 27 at around 9.15pm.

The pair entered the shop on Suffolk Road and took a sum of money and a quantity of cigarettes before taking off on foot in the direction of steps leading towards Glenveagh Park.

No members of staff suffered injuries as a result of the incident.

The man with the hammer was wearing light grey tracksuit bottoms, a light grey hooded top, a black scarf, dark-coloured trainers with white soles, a dark-coloured hat and gloves.

The second man wore a distinctive coat which was bright yellow with dark-coloured sleeves and hood and white cuffs.

Detectives have asked anyone with information which could assist their enquiries to contact them at Musgrave on 101 quoting reference number 1464 27/03/18.

Information can alternatively also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime
The Army knew about the IRA gang responsible for the majority of the so-called Disappeared before it had even killed its first victim, it has been claimed.

'The Unknowns' are believed to have been behind the abduction, murder and secret burial of at least 15 people.

Now documents have emerged that indicate military intelligence knew about the unit months before it started its campaign, which left families without the remains of their loved ones, in some cases for decades.

West Belfast mother-of-10 Jean McConville was murdered by the IRA and secretly buried across the border just before Christmas in 1972. Her remains were not found until 2003.

Journalist Ed Moloney has reported that a military file recently unearthed from the National Archives in Kew reveals Army commanders were aware of the IRA unit as early as April 1972.

This was around four months before the first of the Disappeared cases, that of Joe Lynskey, who was shot and buried in an unmarked grave. The IRA did not admit his murder until 2010. A fresh search for his remains is ongoing in Co Meath.

Mr Moloney published the military document on Sunday on his website, www.thebrokenelbow.com.

It details a log of incidents compiled at Army headquarters, dated April 25, 1972, including a report of an armed robbery carried out by three men, apparently members of an IRA unit that, at 9.28am on that day, was intercepted by soldiers who arrested the trio and recovered one pistol.

The robbery was in Manor Street in the Oldpark district of the city but the precise target was not identified.

The document describes one of the men as: "vol 'the Unknowns'", i.e. a volunteer in 'the Unknowns'.

Mr Moloney reports: "This suggests that not only did the military know about 'the Unknowns' but may have been aware of the unit's membership. The man's full name and address is being redacted by www.thebrokenelbow.com for his safety.

Mr Moloney told The Guardian newspaper: "The revelation that the British military had enough knowledge of the unit to quickly identify one of its members begs some obvious and potentially difficult questions for Whitehall: how and what did the Army know about the unit, did they have a source inside the Unknowns and, crucially, what, if anything, did the military know about the IRA's practice of disappearing people?"

The remains of 13 of the Disappeared have been recovered.
Rescuers dig in the rubble of McGurk's bar in North Queen Street, Belfast, where 15 people died in a bomb blast in 1971

The remains of McGurk's Bar in Belfast, where 15 people died in a bomb blast

Children remove a baby's cot from the debris of McGurk's bar in North Queen Street, Belfast, where 15 people died in 1971

A former deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist party has said he has nothing to apologise for after saying a bar targeted by loyalist paramilitaries was a "drinking hole for IRA sympathisers".

On Monday evening Lord John Kilclooney tweeted about the McGurk's Bar Bombing, saying there had been a "political campaign to place the blame on the UVF", adding he had "never received evidence to support this".

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The December 1971 bombing of McGurk's bar in north Belfast killed 15 people, making it one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles.

Lord Kilclooney, now a cross bench peer, was a minister of state at the time of the attack.

UVF member Robert Campbell was arrested in 1977 and admitted his part in the bombing.

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On Tuesday morning, Lord Kilclooney tweeted: "My advice from the security forces when I was Minister was that this bomb was by the IRA. Shortly afterwards I was no longer Minister and had no responsibility or more information. I do not apologise for something over which I have no responsibility."

Terrorist Bomb at McGurks Bar. My advice from the security forces when I was Minister was that this bomb was by the IRA. Shortly afterwards I was no longer Minister and had no responsibility or more information. I do not apologise for something over which I have no responsibility  Lord John Kilclooney (@KilclooneyJohn) April 3, 2018

Relatives of the victims of the bombing have claimed there was a deliberate campaign of disinformation started by the RUC and British Government to claim the attack could have been an 'own goal' by the IRA, and there may have been suspicion for the attack on the victims inside the bar.

In February last year family members of those killed in the attack travelled to Dublin to present information to the Dail's Justice and Equality Committee on the attack.

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Speaking to the Irish News, who first reported the story, Pat Irvine - whose mother Kathleen Irvine was killed in the attack - said: "I'm actually disgusted with him, that he's so blatant with his hatred and bitterness."

In October 2017, Lord Kilclooney sparked controversy after saying a vote for a united Ireland by a small margin could cause a civil war.

In November, Lord Kilclooney's was criticised for comments online in which he referred to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as 'the Indian'.
John Kyle is supporting plans for the new greenway

Gavin Robinson is supporting plans for the new greenway

A campaign to create a new greenway from the heart of east Belfast to the North Down coast is gaining momentum.

The idea of a link is back on the agenda amid plans for a park and ride facility in the area.

Greenway campaigner and east Belfast resident Jonathan Hobbs said the idea of linking the Connswater Greenway with the North Down coastal path has been around for a few years.

However, he believes that the proposals by the Department for Communities for a park and ride could give an opportunity to realise it.

Currently, the Connswater Greenway runs along the Loop, Knock and Connswater rivers to Victoria Park.

The proposed new greenway will run for around four miles from Victoria Park to the start of the North Down Coastal Path at Kinnegar.

An online petition for the new greenway has attracted more than 2,700 signatures in the last week, as well as support from East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson, and councillors including George Dorrian (DUP) and John Kyle (PUP).

Mr Hobbs said a new greenway could transform the area, adding: "From Victoria Park, this route is around four miles to the beach.

"For kids, that is a really cool idea, that teenagers could head off for the day on their bikes and never hitting traffic.

"It would be revolutionary for east Belfast."

He started his campaign now to coincide with a public consultation to install a park and ride facility for 500 cars at Tillysburn.

"After the main greenway project, which is mainly about disused railways in rural areas, I then started to look at urban greenway potential as well," he said.

"The Connswater Greenway was getting going at that stage, but I noticed a missing link, the Comber Greenway, the Connswater Greenway and the North Down Coastal Path.

"I thought it would be great to see that linked up. Along this route, you have got Belfast City Airport, where over a thousand people work every day, and it could open up possibilities for people there to cycle to work, and then out to Holywood Exchange.

"There is an opportunity here, and a missing link."

Mr Hobbs said there are already routeways in place which could be utilised.

"At the moment, the Connswater Greenway dies at the underpass (at Victoria Park)," he said.

"But close to the underpass, there is a walkway that goes behind some of the houses along the railway line and brings you on to Inverary Drive, then you hit Tommy Patton Memorial Park and then finally on to the railway line.

"How you get over the railway line is the biggest challenge, perhaps a bridge is a possibility.

"Then you are into the airport site, where there is an old disused access road which brings you into Holywood Exchange, and from there, you are on the straight road all the way down to the coast at Kinnegar."

The opening of the consultation into creating a park and ride at Tillysburn, close to the Sydenham bypass, has, Mr Hobbs said, created an opportunity to realise the new greenway dream.

"What spurred this on, particularly at the moment, is that the department is currently consulting on a 500 space park-and-ride site at Tillysburn, right beside this potential route," he added.

"There is a cycle shelter as part of it.

"But there is no sense that anyone looked at the plan and attempted to match the two together to allow users to bring a bike, or install a Belfast Bike station, and allow people to cycle into the city.

"Part of the next step for us is to respond to that consultation and tell the department that they need to take a look at how many people are supporting this idea for a new greenway, and whether it should be planned into this park and ride site."

The consultation for the Tillysburn park and ride closes on May 8.
Mairi McCurdy (right) with Elena Gourley and judge Myra Zepf

A teacher and pupil from Northern Ireland have impressed in a global writing competition.

Mairi McCurdy, from Shimna Integrated College in Newcastle, Co Down, and Strathearn School student Elena Gourley finished first and runner-up in their categories in the Commonwealth Class short story-writing competition.

It offers teachers and children aged seven to 14 the chance to celebrate the values of the Commonwealth through creative writing.

This year's theme was peace, and their entries will be presented during a conference in Belfast to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

English teacher Mairi beat hundreds of others with her winning story Birds Eye View, about tree houses, rivalry and resilience.

Elena, a first form pupil, came second in the 11-14 category with her story, a strange and hypnotic tale about inner peace and the comforts of reading.
NHS staff here face being stuck with a 1% pay rise cap as there is no Health Minister at Stormont to approve new deal

A pay rise of up to 29% for hundreds of thousands of NHS staff will not be implemented in Northern Ireland, a medical union has warned.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) here has said it is the latest devastating blow for hard-pressed workers who continue to prop up the ailing health service here.

The situation has arisen due to the failure of our political parties to come to an agreement and return to work at Stormont, meaning a 1% pay rise cap remains in place indefinitely.

Breedagh Hughes, RCM (NI) director, said she understands health officials are poised to announce an increase in midwifery training places in a bid to address a shortage.

However, she said she was concerned the growing disparity in pay between midwives here and the rest of the UK will result in members of the profession leaving to work elsewhere.

"We are critically short of midwives in Northern Ireland," she said.

"Midwives are working additional hours to keep the service running safely and we even have midwives who are retired coming back to work shifts just to keep the service going.

"That's why it is good news that there is to be an increase in the number of training places.

"However, there is no light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to pay, unfortunately."

Ms Hughes said a three-year pay deal that is close to being agreed for workers in England cannot currently be offered to NHS employees here.

More than one million health service employees in England are set to vote for a pay deal that will see staff receive a hike of at least 6.5%, rising to 29% for the lowest paid staff.

A ballot is to be run by the 14 trade unions who negotiated the deal, and the vast majority are advising their members to accept the Government's offer.

"This pay deal has been done in England where the 1% pay cap has been lifted," said Ms Hughes.

"England is due to get this fairly substantial boost, similar plans are under way in Scotland and Wales generally does what England does.

"However, because there is no Finance or Health Minister in place in Northern Ireland, there is no one to decide how budgets should be divided up and no one to negotiate on pay deals.

"There are no ministers in place to make any decisions.

"Workers in Northern Ireland are already paid less than in the other three nations.

"So, while we are getting more training places, if midwives see their counterparts in Scotland are getting 3,000 or 4,000 more for doing the same job, what is the incentive for qualified midwives and nurses to remain?"

Ms Hughes said the RCM had discussed the matter with the most senior civil servant in the health service.

However, permanent secretary for the Department of Health Richard Pengelly has said he is bound by the 1% pay rise cap imposed by former ministers.

MS Hughes added: "It is going to be extremely difficult for our members to accept they are doing the same job, working under the same pressures, with not enough staff, and they are going to be paid considerably less than elsewhere in the UK."

The Department of Health said: "Any consideration of pay issues for 2018/19 and beyond will need to be taken in the context of public sector pay policy for Northern Ireland, which is a matter for the Department of Finance."

The Department of Finance said: "Public sector pay is a devolved matter that is determined locally and pay policy has yet to be set for 18/19. When this is in place, it is for departments to bring forward pay proposals for approval."

In January the Belfast Telegraph reported that the number of nurses and midwives leaving the profession here has risen by 50% in four years. Just under 600 nurses and midwives left the register in 2013/14. This rose to 928 in 2016/17, while a further 506 left the register in the first two quarters of 2017/18.
Senior citizens want allowance delivered at home

Elderly persons in Nepalgunj say they are facing difficulty collecting their social security allowance because of travelling hassles and a long wait at banks. They have appealed to their local governments to make an arrangement where they could collect their allowance from their village.
Patrick Kielty speaks with DUP leader Arlene Foster about the legacy of violence in Northern Ireland. Credit: BBC Northern Ireland.

Co Down comedian Patrick Kielty has told how the IRA offered revenge for the murder of his father by loyalist paramilitaries.

Kieltys father Jack was shot dead by the UFF in 1988 in Dundrum.

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The comedian makes the claim in a new BBC 1 documentary set to be broadcast on Wednesday evening.

He said that his family rejected the IRAs offer in no uncertain terms.

In My Dad, the Peace Deal and Me, Kielty reveals how his uncle was approached by the IRA at the graveyard.

He says an IRA man said to his uncle: We could properly use a couple of good smart, strong, strapping lads like those Kielty lads if they are interested in revenge.

Kielty said: They were told in no uncertain terms where to go. My dad died for nothing - he wasnt a political figure, he wasnt taking a stand.

He had a building firm, he employed both sides. That wouldnt be considered a stand anywhere else. He was just doing the right thing.

Three men were convicted over the killing but were freed from prison after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

The documentary sees Kielty explore the legacy of the Good Friday Agreement 20 years on. He reveals he voted in favour of it.

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However, he meets DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose police officer father was shot by the IRA but survived.

The former First Minister of Northern Ireland herself survived a bomb attack on her school bus. She told Kielty that she did not vote in favour of the agreement because of prisoner releases.

She said: How can you allow people who have committed some of the most hideous crimes just walk free as if they had done nothing?

Kielty tells Mrs Foster that he voted yes despite knowing it would lead to release of the men who murdered his father.

Thats true for you, but for others they want justice, she replied.

Sadly, there are some people that still want retribution. Thats why, 20 years later, were talking of the legacy of the troubles and struggling with how to deal with it.

Around 500 prisoners were released under the terms of the agreement. More than half of them from the IRA.

Among the other people the comedian meets in the documentary are former UVF prisoner and PUP politician Billy Hutchinson and the founder of the Children in the Crossfire charity, Richard Moore.
An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Youths attack Police vehicles as they try to prevent Members of Derry 1916 Easter Commemoration committee take part in an unregistered parade in the the Creggan area of Derry Northern Ireland.

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Youths attack Police vehicles as they try to prevent Members of Derry 1916 Easter Commemoration committee take part in an unregistered parade in the the Creggan area of Derry Northern Ireland.

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Violence erupted on the streets of Londonderry yesterday during an unauthorised dissident republican Easter parade.

Gangs of youths - some as young as 12 - threw petrol bombs, bricks, bottles and masonry at PSNI vehicles parked near the Derry 1916 Commemoration Committee parade's starting point at Central Drive.

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The trouble erupted in the Creggan as a police officer read out a warning over a loudspeaker that the event was unlawful.

Police pulled back after a barrage of missiles rained down on them, clearing a path for a group of masked men dressed in paramilitary-style garb to march in formation down the street towards the City Cemetery.

The worst of the violence occurred near the gates of the cemetery where a gang of youths again attacked police vehicles with masonry, petrol bombs and their fists and feet, allowing the dissident colour party to enter the cemetery unchallenged.

The scenes drew anger from unionists and mainstream republicans.

DUP MLA Gary Middleton said: "This was an unregistered parade and today the scenes coming from the Creggan area have been totally disgraceful.

"People in paramilitary-style uniform is wrong and the continued glorification of terrorism is abhorrent. Nobody has a desire to see the violence on display today, except for barbaric thugs intent on endangering life and property."

Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said it was a "depressing reflection of our past".

"It is thoroughly depressing watching these children riot in the Creggan estate in Londonderry at the behest of so-called dissident republicans who are seeking to follow the road map laid down by Sinn Fein, who weren't averse to orchestrating the odd riot in the past," he said.

Sinn Fein councillor Kevin Campbell also condemned the violence.

"Everyone has the right to remember their dead with dignity and respect," he said.

"However, the petrol bomb and stone attacks on the PSNI in Creggan today by masked individuals close to a commemoration were dangerous and disgraceful.

"I would caution young people in particular about getting caught up in this sort of behaviour and the community does not want to see incidents like these on the streets of Derry."

The PSNI said those involved in yesterday's disturbances would face consequences.

Chief Inspector Ivor Morton said: "We attempted to engage with the organisers of the parade over a period of time in a bid to facilitate their event within the law. The organisers declined to enter into any discussions with police on this matter.

"The organisers also stated in the run-up to today's event they were informed by police the parade would be stopped and would not be allowed to go ahead. This was patently untrue and can only be viewed as an attempt by those behind the parade as a bid to raise tensions in the area.

"It is, therefore, regrettable that in raising those tensions a small number of people saw fit to attack police officers with petrol bombs in what was clearly a pre-meditated attack.

"I want to be clear that for anyone who engaged in actions that were unlawful or detrimental to community safety, there will be consequences through the criminal justice system."

At the republican plot inside the cemetery, the Proclamation of the Irish Republic was read out and wreaths were laid - one on behalf of 'the Irish Republican Army' - before former republican prisoner and Newry Saoradh member Stephen Murney gave a speech.

"The British State and Free state fear us and fear us they should," he said. "We are in the business of revolution, there is nothing romantic about it. It's dirty, it's nasty, it's vicious and it's dangerous. That's the reason it's called the struggle."

Mr Murney finished his oration with a chilling message in the form of a Karl Marx quote.

"As we leave here today we must recommit and rededicate ourselves to the republican struggle. I urge you all to join the 'festival of the oppressed'. Our enemy is strong and we must prepare ourselves for the struggle that lies ahead," he said.

"We have to be prepared for this fight and it will be people like those gathered here today who will follow the well-trodden path of rebellion. We have to be the agitators for liberation. Join the revolution, comrades, and bring this fight to a finish.

"Finally, comrades, we will end on a note of defiance. I have this message for the forces of British imperialism: 'We have no compassion and we ask no compassion from you. When our turn comes, we shall not make excuses for the terror' - Karl Marx."

Police have urged anyone with information regarding yesterday's incident to contact them.
A total of 28 private finance loans taken out to build schools, hospitals and roads in Northern Ireland will cost the taxpayer 4.4bn more than their value over the next 25 years. (stock photo)

A total of 28 private finance loans taken out to build schools, hospitals and roads in Northern Ireland will cost the taxpayer 4.4bn more than their value over the next 25 years.

The private finance initiative (PFI) was designed to create "public-private partnerships" (PPPs) by funding infrastructure projects such as roads and schools with private capital.

Essentially, these PPPs are loans to the Government which must be paid back over the course of 10, 15 or 25 years.

According to figures seen by the Belfast Telegraph, ministers have taken out just over 30 PFI contracts since 1995, two of which have been paid off.

There is also one contract, for a waste infrastructure project worth 318m, currently out for tender.

The total capital value of the remaining projects is 1.44bn. The payments for these over the next 25 years total around 5.8bn. This means the taxpayer will be paying 4.4bn more than the projects are actually worth until 2044.

The private sector provider is engaged to design, build, finance, maintain and operate infrastructure projects and related services. The risks associated with construction delay, cost overrun and maintenance are transferred to the private sector partner.

Once the school or hospital is operational and services are being provided, the public sector body (such as a Stormont department) pays a monthly fee - referred to as a 'unitary charge payment', which includes interest - to the private sector provider.

With a capital value of just over 224m, the Roads Service holds the single largest contract. This is for an upgrade to the A1 between Sprucefield and Cloghogue and improvement works on the 20km stretch of the A4 between Dungannon and Ballygawley.

Over the course of 30 years payments for this project total more than 1bn. The final payment won't be made until 2039.

Other projects funded through PPPs include: Lisburn City Library, Enniskillen Hospital and three Belfast Metropolitan College campuses.

Until 2012 the primary model of PPP was PFI. The Government carried out a review of PFI aimed at addressing criticisms of this form of contracting.

PF2, the successor to PFI, was launched in December 2012.

One of the key differences between PFI and PF2 is that the Government now acts as a minority co-investor to give greater visibility of the inner workings of projects. Measures have also been put in place to reduce procurement times, and front line services have been removed from the standard contract.

There is also improved transparency of the process, including publication of equity returns from the private investor.

Economist Esmond Birnie said this type of borrowing can improve efficiency, but questioned whether it was sustainable at this level here.

"PFI/PPP was very much a child of the 1990s - an attempt at that time by first Conservative and then (new) Labour Governments to find public spending whilst (nominally at least) getting round stated restrictions on borrowing."

Mr Birnie said that on occasions injecting private management into public service can improve efficiency. He added: "At the same time these contracts can look like a house mortgage - the total paid out being several times the value of the asset."

He called for total borrowing by "Northern Ireland government" to be made public to establish if it was sustainable.
Russia's foreign minister has accused the UK of "putting all decency aside" over its claims that Moscow is to blame for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Sergey Lavrov appeared to suggested that UK secret services may have been involved in the March 4 attack in Salisbury, which he said may have been "beneficial" to the British government to distract attention from Brexit.

Mr Lavrov said that it was "outrageous" that Britain had failed to provide consular access to Yulia Skripal (33) since it emerged that her condition was improving.

His comments came as the Russian Embassy in London issued a series of what it termed "questions without answer" about the Skripal case - including whether the UK had ever produced the Novichok nerve agent believed to have been used in the Salisbury poisoning.

Britain has said that Russian state involvement is the only plausible explanation for the attack and has led a worldwide reaction involving the expulsion of more than 100 diplomats.

But Mr Lavrov accused Western countries of "playing children's games", according to reports from Russian news agency Tass.

"Today, our Western partners, and I first of all refer to the Great Britain, the United States and some other countries, which are blindly guided by them, put all of their decency aside and resort to bold lies and fake news," said Mr Lavrov.

"Our responses to all of this are calm and weighted as we keep insisting that all accusations and allegations must be backed with the facts."

Insisting that Moscow "could not have a possible motive" to attack Mr Skripal - who he said was "pardoned" at the time of a spy swap with the West - Mr Lavrov said there were other possible explanations for the poisoning.

"Experts say this may be rather advantageous for Britain's special services, which are known for their ability to act with a license to kill," he said.

"This can be also beneficial to the British government which found itself in an inconvenient situation after failing to fulfil its promises to voters on Brexit's conditions."

According to Tass, Russia's top diplomat said: "I want to reiterate that Russia has no relation to the Skripals' poisoning, but we are very interested - probably more than anyone else - in establishing the truth about our citizens' fate."

The Russian foreign minister said he hoped that Mr Skripal would recover in the same way as his daughter Yulia, adding: "I consider this is outrageous that so far our multiple requests demanding access to our citizens have been rejected or have remained unanswered."

In a string of questions on Twitter, the Russian embassy asked: "Has the substance identified by British representatives as 'Novichok' or analogous substances been researched, developed or produced in the UK?"

Britain has previously dismissed a series of Russian comments about the possible explanation for the poisoning as efforts to distract attention from Moscow's own failure to explain its part in the events.
One of the six men who appeared in court

A Republican Sinn Fein commemoration took place at the Edward Costello Memorial Garden in Lurgans Kilwilkee estate in Northern Ireland.

A Republican Sinn Fein commemoration took place at the Edward Costello Memorial Garden in Lurgans Kilwilkee estate in Northern Ireland. Photo by Press Eye

A Republican Sinn Fein commemoration took place at the Edward Costello Memorial Garden in Lurgans Kilwilkee estate in Northern Ireland.

A Republican Sinn Fein commemoration took place at the Edward Costello Memorial Garden in Lurgans Kilwilkee estate in Northern Ireland.

A Republican Sinn Fein commemoration took place at the Edward Costello Memorial Garden in Lurgans Kilwilkee estate in Northern Ireland.

Six men appeared in court yesterday following a dissident republican Easter parade in Lurgan on Saturday.

A police officer told the court that all six were members of a colour party and were wearing paramilitary clothing, sunglasses, berets and belts.

Up to 20 supporters packed the small courtroom in Lisburn Magistrates Court amid a heavy police presence.

They were accused of taking part in an unnotified public procession and having clothing or articles as a member or a supporter of an illegal organisation.

The six men are: Eamon Green (30) from Falls Road, Belfast; Christopher Hamill (28) from Lurgan Tarry in Lurgan; Martin Conlon (48) from Tarry Drive in Lurgan; Emmet Donnan (30) from Colin Mill in Dunmurry; Matthew O'Donnell (39) from Lislane Drive in Derry and Gary Doherty (36) from Old Mountfield in Omagh.

Hamill faces further charges of assault on police. All six defendants refused to answer the court clerk when asked if they understood the charges against them.

Two legal representatives were forced to confirm their identities to Judge Amanda Henderson when they ignored the clerk's requests. All men were casually dressed in grey tracksuits and green T-shirts, while one wore a top with Eire emblazoned on the back.

A police officer told the court that he was fully aware of the facts of the case and believed he could connect the suspects to the charges.

He told the court: "All six defendants were arrested at a dissident Easter parade that took place at Levin Road in Lurgan.

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"All were members of the colour party."

He said that the men were arrested at the parade while speeches were ongoing. He said that police issued warnings to the group.

"A warning was given to the people we believed who organised the parade that it was illegal and unlawful," he added.

"All six were arrested by police wearing berets, scarves, sunglasses and belts."

The officer explained to the court that the men were carrying flags of the four provinces, as well as the Starry Plough and the Irish national flag.

He added that it was part of the ongoing dissident parades at Easter and similar marches took place in Milltown in west Belfast and Dublin.

He continued: "No notification was given to the Parades Commission and warnings were given to them.

"They were marching in a formation with masks on. During police questioning, five made absolutely no comments while another gave a no comment interview."

The parades were part of a proscribed organisation, he also told the court.

All six were granted their own bail of 500, to reside at an address suitable to police, not to be within 200 metres of an unnotified procession or parade, a curfew of 6am and not to contact any of the other defendants.

Judge Henderson added that three of the defendants had "extremely limited records".

All defendants were granted legal aid and the case was adjourned until April 27.
Tributes have been paid to justice campaigner Ann McKernan who was laid to rest on Thursday.

She was laid to rest at St Peter's Cathedral in west Belfast. The west Belfast woman was the sister of Gerry Conlon and the daughter of Guiseppe Conlon, who were wrongly convicted of terrorism offences and were ultimately exonerated after a long fight for justice.

Guiseppe died in 1980 while still in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Gerry was freed in 1989 after his conviction was quashed. He died in 2014.

Ms McKernan, who was in her late 50s, was a tireless campaigner in the long struggle for justice for her father, brother and the others wrongly convicted in what became known as the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven cases.

Former Irish Labour senator Mairia Cahill paid tribute to her.

Im devastated to learn that my friend Ann McKernan/Conlon has died, she said.

She sent her last message to me last week, saying there was nothing more they could do for her.

She had a very hard battle on all fronts in life, not least in campaigning for her father Giuseppe and brother Gerry for decades.

Her whole life was taken up with what happened to her father and brother, and the campaign for justice for them.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The funeral of Ann McKernan takes place at St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast, on April 5, 2018. Ann was a sister of Gerry Conlon, who was one of the people wrongly convicted for the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. The funeral of Ann McKernan takes place at St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast, on April 5, 2018. Ann was a sister of Gerry Conlon, who was one of the people wrongly convicted for the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. The funeral of Ann McKernan takes place at St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast, on April 5, 2018. Ann was a sister of Gerry Conlon, who was one of the people wrongly convicted for the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. The funeral of Ann McKernan takes place at St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast, on April 5, 2018. Ann was a sister of Gerry Conlon, who was one of the people wrongly convicted for the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. Ann McKernan fought on behalf of her brother Gerry and father Guiseppe after they were wrongfully jailed The funeral of Ann McKernan takes place at St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast, on April 5, 2018. Ann was a sister of Gerry Conlon, who was one of the people wrongly convicted for the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. The funeral of Ann McKernan takes place at St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast, on April 5, 2018. Ann was a sister of Gerry Conlon, who was one of the people wrongly convicted for the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. / Facebook

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Whatsapp The funeral of Ann McKernan takes place at St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast, on April 5, 2018. Ann was a sister of Gerry Conlon, who was one of the people wrongly convicted for the 1974 Guildford pub bombings.

Up to just a few weeks ago she had continued to campaign for the release of secret Government papers relevant to the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven miscarriages of justice.

Ann was a woman of strong faith, her faith was very important to her, Ms Cahill added,

I hope she is at peace now.

SDLP councillor Tim Attwood, who had known her for many years, said: Ann was a champion against social injustice and she stood firmly by Gerry through both his time in prison and when he sought a public apology. Ann was a rock for her family when both her brother and father were in prison.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Anns family at this difficult time.

Campaigning organisation the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO) also offered its sympathies.

Everyone at MOJO would like to offer our condolences to the McKernan and Conlon family on the passing of Ann McKernan, the group posted on its Facebook page.
A UDA death threat against a Northern Ireland journalist has been strongly condemned.

Police have warned the Belfast-based reporter of an imminent risk to their safety from a section of the terror group, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said.

The NUJ said the threat was "a direct result of their reporting on criminal activities associated with that paramilitary organisation".

The reporter has received similar threats from the UDA in the past.

NUJ Irish secretary Seamus Dooley said any threat against a journalist was an attack on the rights of everyone to freedom of expression and of information.

"The NUJ is disturbed to learn of the latest threat against a Belfast-based journalist," Mr Dooley said.

"We understand this is a credible threat of violence, confirmed by the PSNI, and are therefore concerned for the safety of the journalist and those close to him.

"Journalists must be allowed to carry out their work without fear of intimidation or the threat of violence.

"We urge those in positions of influence within the UDA to use their good offices to have the threat withdrawn. The NUJ has offered support and assistance to the journalist under threat and will always support members placed under threat."

DUP MP Gavin Robinson said: "Paramilitary activity and threats of this nature have absolutely no place in our society.

"To seek to cause fear is something that should belong to Northern Ireland's past.

"Society upholds freedom of the Press. Nobody should feel intimidated as a result of the work they do."

UUP MLA Doug Beattie said: "Reports that a Northern Ireland journalist has been threatened by members of the UDA should and must be condemned by all right-minded people."

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said political unionism must stand up to UDA criminality.

"The UDA threat against this journalist should be lifted immediately," he said.

"This latest threat demonstrates once again the UDA's contempt for democracy, the peace process, law and order and to those exposing their brutal criminality.

"This threat must be challenged head-on by all political leaders as there is no place in this society for the UDA or any other paramilitary group."

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International's Northern Ireland programme director, said: "Such threats are not merely an attack on one journalist, they are an attack on the freedom of the Press in Northern Ireland.

"All over the world, journalists are arrested, threatened and killed for working in the front line of defending freedom of expression.

"Guaranteeing freedom of expression must be a cornerstone of Northern Ireland as a peaceful and just society."

The PSNI said: "We do not discuss the security of individuals and no inference should be drawn from this.

"However, if we receive information that a person's life may be at risk, we will inform them accordingly. We never ignore anything which may put an individual at risk."

Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan was shot dead in September 2001 by the LVF.
Police activity in a cul-de-sac in Salisbury near to the home of Sergei Skripal (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Russias ambassador to Ireland has defended the expulsion of an Irish diplomat.

Yury Filatov said the measure was a principle of diplomacy after Ireland ejected a Russian representative over the Salisbury nerve agent poisoning.

The senior Russian Government official urged the Dublin authorities to use common sense.

The Republic was among several EU countries to take action in solidarity with the UK.

The ambassador said: Nobody will doubt the leading principle of diplomacy, which is reciprocity.

Basically you have to assume that every action finds its counter action, that is the way it is.

He expressed optimism it would not damage the positive relationship between the two countries where close ties exist in areas like business and agriculture.

He also suggested some who took solidarity action with the UK harboured doubts, alleging the general public in Europe and some states and nations did not buy the claim put forward by London blaming Russia for Salisbury.

It is not the end of the world and we have a very positive agendaYury Filatov

Mr Filatov added: Even countries which took part in the so-called solidarity demands have doubts and they acted, as we know, on grounds which have nothing to do with Salisbury but mainly to do with some other agenda bilaterally or multilaterally.

Irelands foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney has described the Salisbury attack as an affront to international law and order.

Former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in hospital following the March 4 incident.

Moscows ambassador to Ireland said the expulsion of a Russian official from Ireland was unfortunate but did not have any bearing on the real state of things.

It is not the end of the world and we have a very positive agenda.

He said business and agricultural ties were developing.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has said Gerry Adams will not stand as the party's Irish presidential candidate. (Brian Lawless/PA)

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has said Gerry Adams will not stand as the party's Irish presidential candidate.

The Irish presidential election will take place in November, with incumbent Michael D Higgins yet to state categorically if he will seek a second term.

Speaking to the Irish Times, Mrs McDonald said her party would field a candidate in the upcoming election, but that it would not be Gerry Adams.

Gerry Adams stepped down from his position as Sinn Fein leader in February, ending 34 years at the head of the party and adding to speculation he could be considering a possible run for the Aras.

In an interview with RTE's This Week in November last year, Mr Adams categorically stated he would not contest the presidency - in line with his plans not to contest any further political elections.

In her interview with the Irish Times, Mrs McDonald expressed admiration for President Higgins but said she believed there should be an election for the Irish presidency, and it would be "healthier to have the debate" than for Mr Higgins to be returned to office uncontested.

During his 2011 run for the Irish presidency Michael D Higgins stated he would only stand for one seven-year term, but since then has refused to rule out a second term in office.

President Higgins has drawn wide public support while in office, with opinion polls finding more than three quarters of people support him staying on in his position.

The declaration from Mrs McDonald that Sinn Fein plan to run a candidate would appear to rule out the possibility of Mr Higgins being returned uncontested.

Sinn Fein's former deputy first minister, the late Martin McGuinness contested the 2011 Irish presidential election, gathering 13.7% of the first preference vote and being eliminated on the third count.
Stranded workers back

Six Nepalis stranded in the West African country of Togo for over six months returned home on Sunday night.
A group of more than 50 British schoolchildren and teachers have been hospitalised after being struck down with a virulent gastro virus while on a school trip to Washington DC.

The 48 pupils and five staff from Crookhorn College, Waterlooville, Hampshire, fell ill while staying in the US capital but they are all now recovering under observation at their hotel.

The school said in a statement: The college trip to the USA comprising of 48 students and five staff have been struck by a virulent gastro virus that has affected most of the party during their time in New York and Washington.

Update multiple sick people Harrington Hotel. #DCsBravest transported a final total of 48 Juveniles and 3 adults. That includes those previously transported. Some of those have no symptoms but are being tx as a precaution. We utilized our ambulance buses in this process. pic.twitter.com/DQ3vx66uO2  DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) April 2, 2018

The main priority since the outbreak of the virus has been the safety and welfare of the students and staff and keeping the families in this country informed of events.

All members of the trip are now well into recovery and are being kept under observation at their hotel in Washington. A further member of staff has flown in to join the group to give assistance to the staff who are there and further support to the students.

The staff who are in the US have done the most amazing job at looking after the children and the college has had fantastic support in this country from Hampshire County Council.

Our main priority now is to ensure that all the students and staff get home safe and well.

The mother of one of the girls affected told MailOnline: Her trip has been completely ruined.

Shes FaceTimed us every day, but shes still been hospitalised. Shes back on the drips again now and its very distressing for everyone.

Weve had to save up from the start to send her, so its just heartbreaking.

The group became ill over the weekend when one of the teenagers suffered gastrointestinal distress before the others started to fall ill, according to the New York Post.

They were taken to four local hospitals as a precaution and an investigation by the local health authorities was under way, the newspaper reported.
Flood warnings are in place across the country after the wet Easter weather caused many rivers to burst their banks.

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Wide parts of the UK were affected by rain and snow over the bank holiday weekend, sparking a rise in water levels.

By late on Tuesday afternoon, the Environment Agency has issued 177 flood warnings, with 26 of them urging immediate action.

The West Midlands, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire and the North East were among the worst affected areas.

Residents in flooded areas, including Wiltshire, were among those who shared photos and videos.

#floodalert #bradfordonavon - Gives you an idea of the depth and speed of the water at #Bartonfarm currently. Young family tried to cross - thought better of it. Very wise move @EnvAgencySW @DWFireRescue @WiltsPrepared @BoATownCouncil @WiltshireWinter pic.twitter.com/cXZWGqsSsg  BoA TC Community Emergency Volunteers (@BoATCCEVs) April 3, 2018

On Tuesday morning, Yorks 16.5 tonne Foss Barrier was lowered in an attempt to combat the rising water level where the river joins the Ouse.

The Environment Agency released a warning for properties along the Ouse, which burst its banks, stating that flooding was expected and that immediate action was required.

Images from Cambridge also showed the river Cam at a higher level than usual, with one Twitter user warning that the wooden Queens Colleges Mathematical Bridge could be at risk.

Its been raining in Cambridge. Look at the river. @QueensCam pic.twitter.com/qpk6cRrhwR  Sir Cams Cambridge Diary (@camdiary) April 3, 2018

He said: Its not often you see the river Cam flowing so fast and thats the reason I made the videos today (about 11am). It is normally so calm, lazy even, but today it looked moody.

In Wiltshire, the river Avon was higher than usual and blue flood barriers were put into place along the banks.

Just had an interview with Emily from @BBCWiltshire down by the barriers this morning explaining our role as #floodwardens monitoring the river levels and barriers on behalf of @EnvAgencySW - @BoATownCouncil @WiltsPrepared @WiltshireWinter pic.twitter.com/SsMTcBx7oY  BoA TC Community Emergency Volunteers (@BoATCCEVs) April 3, 2018

There were multiple flood warnings in place in the West Midlands along the River Severn.

Three people and a dog were rescued from a car stuck in flood water in Derbyshire, and firefighters were helping residents in North Yorkshire after overnight flooding.

Heavy rain is set to continue over the next few days. Please take extra care if youre out and about and check your flood risk regularly. Call 0345 988 1188 or visit our website for updates: https://t.co/PuexEILD5C #floodaware pic.twitter.com/jHhZHMCFWH  Environment Agency (@EnvAgency) April 3, 2018

There could be more problems in store as a fresh wave of snow sweeps into Britain.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of snow in central and northern parts of Scotland from Tuesday afternoon to 3pm on Wednesday, especially on higher ground.

It warned that roads and rail lines were likely to be affected, resulting in longer journey times.

Drivers across Scotland were advised to travel with caution, with Police Scotland extending its warning for some areas north of Scotlands central belt for the same time period.

Outbreaks of snow, sleet and rain are forecast across Highland, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Angus, Perthshire, Stirlingshire and Argyll.
Jeremy Corbyn has become embroiled in a fresh row over relations with the Jewish community, on the day Labours new general secretary takes office with a brief to improve the handling of anti-Semitism allegations.

The Guido Fawkes website reported that Mr Corbyn attended a meeting of a radical left-wing group called Jewdas, which has criticised mainstream Jewish organisations for their protests over alleged Labour anti-Semitism.

In a statement last week, the group accused the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of playing a dangerous game with peoples lives.

Allegations linking Mr Corbyn to anti-Semitism were the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party, it said.

Corbyn could have chosen to meet the Board of Deputies or the Jewish Leadership Council. Instead tonight he met Jewdas, a far-left group shunned by mainstream Jews, which called for the Israel to be disposed of and has launched vitriolic attacks against Corbyns Jewish critics.  Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) April 2, 2018

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said he attended an event to mark the ritual feast of Seder on Monday with Jewish people from his constituency in a personal capacity and not in his official role as Labour leader.

Jeremy was invited to a Passover Seder with Jewish members of his local community, said the spokesman.

He wrote to the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council last week to ask for an urgent formal meeting to discuss tackling anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and in society.

But the Campaign Against Antisemitism described Mr Corbyns attendance as a very clear two fingered salute at mainstream British Jewry.

Campaign chairman Gideon Falter said: Given the anti-Semitism crisis engulfing the Labour Party, there is absolutely no way that Mr Corbyn can claim that this too was an oversight.

It is hard to imagine how this duplicitous man can claim to be remedying anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. The party must consider the message that is sent to British Jews and other minorities by him remaining as leader.

Labour backbencher John Woodcock said Mr Corbyns attendance at the meeting was irresponsible and dangerous.

This is deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community days after they pleaded with him to tackle antisemitism, he wrote on Twitter.

And he must know that meeting them now will give his members the message that the groups extreme views are ok.

This is deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community days after they pleaded with him to tackle antisemitism. And he must know that meeting them now will give his members the message that the groups extreme views are ok. Irresponsible and dangerous https://t.co/NORQQiFq8J  Lord Walney (@LordWalney) April 2, 2018

Another Labour MP, Angela Smith, said Mr Corbyns attendance at the Jewdas Seder reads as a blatant dismissal of the case made for tackling anti-Semitism in Labour.

Jewdas shrugged off the attack, posting a Twitter message: Great that theres so much interest in our work tonight! Please feel free to make a donation!

The group said: We are proud to be Jews and proud of everyone who attended, whether they were Jewish or not.

We want everyone to know  were leaving Mitzrayim (Egypt). Change is coming. Revolution will come.

https://twitter.com/geoffreyjewdas/status/980944158352461826/

And comedian David Baddiel, who has been at the forefront of the debate over anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, rejected suggestions that Jewdas was despised by other members of the Jewish community.

No it isnt, he said. They are just Jews who disagree with other Jews. Which means: Jews To make out that its somehow anti-Semitic for him to spend Seder with them just because theyre far left is balls.

Writer David Schneider tweeted: Boo! Corbyn needs to get out and meets some Jews! (Corbyn spends Passover with some Jews at Jewdas) Boo! Not those Jews!

Mr Corbyn has come under sustained pressure over allegations of anti-Semitism within his party. He is facing demands to speed up the investigations into a backlog of around 70 complaints, including one against his close ally Ken Livingstone.

He has told new general secretary Jennie Formby to make dealing with the issue a top priority, asking her to appoint an in-house lawyer to ensure that procedures are absolutely strong and watertight throughout the party.

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The Labour leader acknowledged on Monday that concerns about prejudice against Jewish people were genuine and vowed that he would not tolerate anti-Semitism in the party.

His comments came as the influential Momentum movement issued a statement accepting that anti-Semitism was more widespread in Labour ranks than previously thought.

The Corbyn-backing movements National Co-ordinating Group said: Accusations of anti-Semitism should not and cannot be dismissed simply as right-wing smears nor as the result of conspiracies.

Current examples of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party are not only a problem of a few, extreme bad apples but also of unconscious bias which manifests itself in varied, nuanced and subtle ways and is more widespread in the Labour Party than many of us had understood even a few months ago.

Speaking to Channel 4 News on Monday, Mr Corbyn said: There is genuine concern and we are dealing with that concern We are not tolerating anti-Semitism in any form in the Labour Party.

Mr Corbyn said he was not aware of allegedly anti-Semitic social media posts made by a Labour candidate for local elections in Kent, but said that he was suspended as soon as they came to light.

Unite union official Ms Formby was appointed Labours general secretary by the partys ruling National Executive Committee last month following the resignation of Iain McNicol after seven years.
Henry Crew sets off in his attempt to break the world record to be the youngest person to motorcycle around the world solo, in aid of Movember Foundation, to raise funds and awareness for mental health (Context Films/PA)

A 22-year-old man is aiming to become the youngest person to travel around the world by motorcycle, an adventure he hopes will raise money and awareness for mens mental health.

Henry Crew set off on his journey to circumnavigate the earth this morning in aid of the Movember Foundation, a mens charity that raises money for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and suicide prevention.

He has until May 2019 to make it back to the UK to claim the world record.

His route will take him through 35 countries, six continents, over 35,000 miles and hopefully raise 35,000.

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Henry, a keen motorcyclist who has been riding since he was 19, said: I was sat at work and I saw an article posted about the current world record and I thought I could beat it.

Then quite literally on the spot I turned to my friend and said I am going to motorcycle around the world. The next 10 months has been working towards it.

Picking Movember really made sense because I have an affiliation with the issues they have raise money for.

The mens mental health side of things is the part I relate to, having had my own issues with mental health and it has been so prevalent within my friendship group.

Henry, from Petersfield, Surrey, will start his adventure in Europe before travelling through Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Australia, Chile, Guatemala and North America.

The last leg of his journey will involve travelling through Morocco, Spain, France and then back to the UK.

Ben Bowers, 38, the global innovation lead for the Movember Foundation, said: He is such a lovely young man who is going on this amazing adventure. Hes been through some tough times personally and is doing this for a really positive reason.

Because of what hes been through, the challenge will be even harder for him because he gets anxious and depressed in stressful situations.

Good on him for putting himself out there.

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Speaking just before he set off in front a crowd of family and friends Henry, a freelance video content creator, said: Motorcycles are something that really helped me and my mental health so it all tied in. It just all makes sense.
Gary Aitkenhead flatly denied Russian claims the substance could have come from Porton Down itself (Andrew Matthews/PA)

The head of the Porton Down military research facility has said his scientists have not verified that the nerve agent used in Salisbury came from Russia.

Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the Governments Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, said the poison had been identified as a military-grade Novichok nerve agent which could probably be deployed only by a nation-state.

But he told Sky News it was not Porton Downs role to work out its origin and said the Government relied on a number of different input sources in coming to its assessment that it was highly likely to be from Russia.

Mr Aitkenhead flatly denied Russian claims the substance could have come from Porton Down itself.

There's no way that anything like that would ever have come from us or leave the four walls of our facilitiesPorton Down boss Gary Aitkenhead

A Government spokesman said that the authorities had always been clear that the Porton Down assessment was only one part of the intelligence picture.

As the Prime Minister has set out in a number of statements to the Commons since March 12, this includes our knowledge that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination and as part of this programme has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichoks; Russias record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets, said the spokesman.

It is our assessment that Russia was responsible for this brazen and reckless act and, as the international community agrees, there is no other plausible explanation.

Mr Aitkenheads comments come a day ahead of an extraordinary meeting in The Hague of the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to discuss the Salisbury attack.

The meeting on April 4  to be held behind closed doors  was called by Russia to address the situation around allegations of non-compliance with the chemical weapons convention made by the UK against Moscow.

But the Foreign Office dismissed it as a diversionary tactic by Russia, intended to undermine the work of the OPCW in reaching a conclusion.

Russia has denied responsibility for the March 4 attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov even suggesting on Monday that it might have been carried out by the UK as a means of distracting voters from its difficulties with Brexit.

Mr Lavrov said relations between Russia and the West were worse than during the Cold War, accusing the UK and US of putting all decency aside in their dealings with Moscow.

Porton Downs identification of the substance used in the attack on the Skripals as Novichok was a key plank in the evidence presented by the UK in Theresa Mays successful bid to recruit international support in the dispute with Moscow, resulting in the expulsion of more than 100 Russian diplomats from over 20 countries.

FM Lavrov: We are interested more than anyone in truth being established about Salisbury poisoning. But the attitude we see from some Western politicians is not only hindering the real investigation, its also thoughtless, unworthy and unacceptable, especially in diplomacy. pic.twitter.com/CDU6d7GBhl  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) April 3, 2018

Asked about his scientists findings, Mr Aitkenhead told Sky: We in terms of our role were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify it was a military-grade nerve agent.

We have not verified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific information to the Government, who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions that they have come to.

The location of manufacture can be established through a number of different input sources which the Government has access to, he said, adding: From our perspective, scientific evidence is only one of those sources, and it requires a number of other things to verify that.

Its a military grade nerve agent which requires extremely sophisticated methods in order to create  something thats probably only within the capabilities of a state actor.

This is how the Russian state is spreading disinformation following the Salisbury attack. We know the tactics they use, but they don't change the facts. pic.twitter.com/rnCtETv7rg  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) March 29, 2018

Rejecting Russian claims the substance could have come from Porton Down, Mr Aitkenhead said: Theres no way that anything like that would ever have come from us or leave the four walls of our facilities.

Weve got the highest levels of security and controls. We are regularly audited by the OPCW to make sure we are operating within those controls. If there was any hint that anything that we have would be leaving our four walls, then we wouldnt be allowed to operate.

Meanwhile, retired Russian Lieutenant-General Evgeny Buzhinsky warned that relations between Russia and the West could become worse than the Cold War and end up in a very, very bad outcome following the nerve agent attack.

Asked to spell out what this would mean, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: A real war, worse than a cold war is a real war, it will be the last war in the history of mankind.

A Downing Street spokesman said: As the Prime Minister has made clear, the UK would much rather have in Russia a constructive partner ready to play by the rules.

But this attack in Salisbury was part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive Russian behaviour, as well as a new and dangerous phase in Russian activity within the continent and beyond.
Rural schools are under threat and should be given protected status, teachers have warned.

These schools, which often have small numbers of pupils  and are often in areas that have more cows and sheep than people, are struggling under a squeeze on budgets, delegates at the National Education Union (NUT section) conference in Brighton have heard.

The union passed a resolution arguing that rural schools provide a vital service to their local communities.

It called on the unions executive to put pressure on the Government to give rural schools a protected status, recognising their significance for the survival of their communities and valuing the educational offer they give to their pupils.

Delegates said they wanted to see more funding for rural schools to help protect their existence and provide a quality education for pupils.

Roland Hurrell, from Somerset, told the conference: Somerset is a rural county, we have a small population compared to our geographical size, God knows we have more cows than people.

He added: Seriously, small populations create bigger problems for our schools in villages and small towns. Funding is a real problem for leadership in those schools. Our schools do not get a fair deal in comparison to our compatriots in larger towns and cities across the country.

And Somerset problems are the problems of all rural schools.

We have a disparate population, and we suffer disproportionately. Whether its funding, whether its provision, recruitment, retention, etc, etc.

There are significant differences that we suffer over and above that which other schools in more populous areas suffer.

Mr Hurrell went on to say: Rural schools, obviously we have smaller numbers of students, often bussed in from villages around. Rural schools, from year to year, have real difficulty managing the numbers which go up and down, and flip and flop. So its really difficult for senior managers to be able to deal with.

Rural schools have fewer staff as they have fewer pupils, but those workers still have to do all the duties that a normal school would have to do, he said, adding: Rural schools regularly shut, they regularly shut, which creates a massive problem for the communities which serve them.

All across Britain, in Somerset and the South West, and the South East, the North East, the North West, Wales, all points in between, rural schools of all shapes and sizes are suffering, he said.

Anne Swift, from North Yorkshire, said she thinks her area has got more sheep than people, adding that the Government defines small schools as having less than 200 pupils and in many shire counties thats the majority of primary schools.

These schools are at the heart of their communities, but they are expensive, when compared with educating pupils in larger schools, she said.

Ms Swift said that as head of a rural village school, she had worried every year about numbers of pupils, knowing the impact it would have on issues like class sizes and workload.

The move out of area by a family with school-age children was always a disaster, she said.

High housing costs are leading to the depopulation of rural areas, as families cannot afford to live there.

A small reception intake has an impact for seven years, as the small cohort moves through. More and more schools are federating to avoid closure or redundancies, and although this can bring benefits in terms of sharing expertise, facilities, training and enriching the curriculum for the children, we need to consider more fully the implications for good or ill of this.

The motion said: Rural schools are under threat. Funding based on amounts per pupil means most rural schools with small yearly cohorts struggle to afford staff and basics for education.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: Our National Funding Formula, means that for the first time school funding is being distributed according to the individual needs and characteristics of every school in the country.

Core schools and high needs funding has been protected in real terms and will rise to over 43 billion in 2020  its highest ever level and a 50% real terms per pupil increase from 2000. Local authorities now have more money for every pupil in every school.

We recognise that smaller, more remote schools face different funding pressures which is why we have made an additional 26 million available through the sparsity funding factor.

This means that across England, rural schools will gain on average 3.9% through the formula, with those schools in the most remote locations gaining 5%.
A 17-year-old girl was shot dead for no reason at all in a fatal drive-by attack during a night of violence in London.

The teenager, named locally as Tanesha, was with friends in Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, north London, when she was murdered shortly before 9.30pm on Monday.

Neighbours suggested her death was a tragic result of a postcode war between rival gangs.

A woman who knew the murdered girl said the victim was just chilling with her friends when she was shot from a car for no reason at all.

The car just pulled up and just started shooting, said the 21-year-old, who did not want to be named. She said she heard the gunshots like fireworks from her house.

Expand Close Tanesha who has been named locally as the 17-year-old girl shot dead in Chalgrove Road. (PA) Press Association Images / Facebook

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I put her on her side and I was just rubbing her back, saying everythings going to be OK. I just cant believe it  so young. Its ridiculous now.

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She told how the girls mother arrived before paramedics, adding: She was screaming. She didnt know what to do. She didnt deserve that. Her mum didnt deserve to watch her die.

The witness described the victim as a good girl, adding: She was so lovely.

Tottenham-raised rapper Wretch32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott Sinclair, was among those to pay tribute, tweeting: Wish I knew what to say about whats happening in my ends. North London were better then this man smh R.I.P to the young angel who lost her life last night. love & prayers to the family. Im honestly lost for words.

Wish I knew what to say about whats happening in my ends North London were better then this man smh R.I.P to the young angel who lost her life last nightlove & prayers to the family. Im honestly lost for words   littleBIGman (@Wretch32) April 3, 2018

A friend of the murdered girl told the Press Association: Tanesha was a very known, very lovable little girl in the community, she was not involved in any sort of problems with anyone.

I cant believe shes gone. She was just an innocent child caught up in this stupid postcode war.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, told how he rushed to help the victim when her friends raised the alarm. This is not the first time. This is a war, he added.

Expand Close Forensic officers search Chalgrove Road (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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In a separate flurry of violence on Monday night, a 16-year-old boy was left in a critical condition after he was shot in Walthamstow. Another boy, aged 15, was taken to hospital with stab injuries.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy said on her Facebook page that that the 16-year-old injured in Walthamstow had been shot in the face.

Walthamstow I have a further update for you on basis of last nights events - this is direct from the police. This is a... Posted by Stella Creasy on Tuesday, April 3, 2018

A section 60 order, which allows police to search members of the public without suspicion amid the risk of serious violence, has been put in place.

In a third incident, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed near St Leonards Street in Bow, east London, at around 6pm on Sunday. He was given first aid and is in a stable condition in hospital.

Four boys  two aged 16 and two aged 15  have been charged with GBH and appeared at Stratford Youth Court on Tuesday.

So far this year, the Metropolitan Police have launched 47 murder inquiries  eight in January, 15 in February, 22 in March and two in April.

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In the whole of last year, there were 130 murders in London. The number of killings reached a peak around June before dropping again in the second half of the year.

So far this year, 31 people have been stabbed to death in the capital. The latest was a 20-year-old man who was attacked moments after leaving a bar in Wandsworth and died in the street.

On Thursday, the family of Abraham Badru, 26, who was shot dead in Hackney, east London, on March 25 warned that gun culture is becoming rampant in our community.

There have been five fatal shootings in London so far in 2018.

Separate investigations have been launched after two teenagers were shot in north and east London. A 17-year-old girl has died in Tottenham and a 16-year old boy is currently in a critical condition after a shooting in Walthamstow. https://t.co/Rf2CN8Rma2 pic.twitter.com/N15CwIi62Q  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) April 3, 2018

The latest incidents will bring fresh scrutiny on the Governments efforts to halt rising levels of violent crime around the country.

Figures published in January showed police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017  a 21% increase compared with the previous year and the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011.

Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year on year, to 6,694 recorded offences.

Ministers point to findings from the separate crime survey which show overall offending is going down over the long term.

But they have acknowledged that some of the increase in police-recorded violent crime is genuine.

Expand Close Forensic officers at the scene where a 16-year-old boy was shot on Monday evening in Markhouse Road, Walthamstow (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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In the coming weeks, the Home Office will publish a serious violence strategy, which it says will place a new emphasis on steering young people away from crime.

Proposed measures include a two strikes regime, meaning criminals caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months, and a tightening of rules covering online sales of knives.

The recent spate of violence has prompted scrutiny of a sharp reduction in stop-and-search activity, with use of the powers at the lowest level since current data records started 17 years ago.

Stop and search has repeatedly attracted controversy, with criticism focusing mainly on the number of stops of black and minority ethnic individuals.

Reforms were introduced in 2014 by then-home secretary Theresa May to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: All forms of violent crime are totally unacceptable. This Government is taking action to restrict access to offensive weapons as well as working to break the deadly cycle of violence and protect our children, families and communities.

The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and we are determined to keep it that way.

A Downing Street spokesman said: These are all tragic cases and our thoughts are with the families of the victims.
Two teenagers have been shot in a night of violence in London amid concerns over the rising death toll in the capital this year.

A 17-year-old girl died and a 16-year-old boy is fighting for his life after they were injured in separate shootings on Monday.

The girl was with friends in Chalgrove Road, Tottenham, north London, when she was murdered shortly before 9.30pm.

Half an hour later a 16-year-old boy was shot in Markhouse Road in Walthamstow and left in a critical condition. Another boy, aged 15, was taken to hospital with stab injuries.

So far this year the Metropolitan Police have launched 47 murder inquiries  eight in January, 15 in February, 22 in March and two in April.

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In the whole of last year there were 130 murders in London. The number of killings reached a peak around June before dropping again in the second half of the year.

In Tottenham, one witness, who works in a nearby shop, said he heard three bangs which sounded like fireworks.

He said he saw the victim sitting with friends following the shooting before police cars and ambulances arrived. He also saw blood on the right side of the 17-year-olds chest.

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Another neighbour described the murder as very sad.

I heard the bangs because I sleep in the front room, she said. I thought it was a bomb.

Describing the area, she added: Its not nice  so many drugs, stabbings, cycles up and down  no respect for people any more.

Separate investigations have been launched after two teenagers were shot in north and east London. A 17-year-old girl has died in Tottenham and a 16-year old boy is currently in a critical condition after a shooting in Walthamstow. https://t.co/Rf2CN8Rma2 pic.twitter.com/N15CwIi62Q  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) April 3, 2018

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy tweeted: Walthamstow  can confirm tonight we have had another serious incident involving shooting and stabbing.

Appreciate this is very distressing  I will share more information as and when have it from official sources as only want to share what is confirmed.

Walthamstow - can confirm tonight we have had another serious incident involving shooting and stabbing. Appreciate this is very distressing- I will share more information as and when have it from official sources as only want to share what is confirmed.  stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) April 2, 2018

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Mondays attacks come amid concerns over rising violent crime in the capital.

On Sunday a 20-year-old man was the 31st person to be stabbed to death in London so far this year.

He was fatally knifed moments after leaving a bar in Wandsworth and died in the street.

On Thursday, the family of Abraham Badru, 26, who was shot dead in Hackney, east London, on March 25 warned that gun culture is becoming rampant in our community.

There have been five fatal shootings in London so far in 2018.

The latest incidents will bring fresh scrutiny on the Governments efforts to halt rising levels of violent crime around the country.

Figures published in January showed police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017  a 21% increase compared with the previous year and the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011.

Expand Close A police officer near the scene of the Tottenham shooting (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year on year, to 6,694 recorded offences.

Ministers point to findings from the separate crime survey which show overall offending is going down over the long term.

But they have acknowledged that some of the increase in police-recorded violent crime is genuine.

In the coming weeks the Home Office will publish a serious violence strategy, which it says will place a new emphasis on steering young people away from crime.

Proposed measures include a two strikes regime, meaning criminals caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months, and a tightening of rules covering online sales of knives.

The recent spate of violence has prompted scrutiny of a sharp reduction in stop and search activity, with use of the powers at the lowest level since current data records started 17 years ago.

Stop and search has repeatedly attracted controversy, with criticism focusing mainly on the number of stops of black and minority ethnic individuals.

Reforms were introduced in 2014 by then-home secretary Theresa May to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way.
This viral Tweet of a woman who was fooled by bright blue packaging on her toilet seat shows the importance of reading instructions.

Amber Stent, a law student from Cambridgeshire, posted on social media saying her mother complained after she thought she was sold the wrong colour toilet seat from Ikea only to discover that she hadnt peeled the protective layer off.

Stent said: Mum bought a 40 toilet seat from Ikea, gets home and starts freaking out because its bright blue and shes chucked away the receipt.

After about 30 minutes of accepting it, shes finally got her head around the idea of having a blue toilet, until I come and read the label.

The mishap has received over 32,000 retweets, and plenty of social media users reporting that theyd done the exact same thing.

My mother-in-law once did this on purpose with a dishwasher: she left the blue protective film on the front of it for a year before we convinced her to finally remove it. https://t.co/tuqYC6No3Z  Dave Pradko (@DPradko) April 3, 2018

Amber joked under her viral Tweet that she (her mother) causes so much pain.
Nelson Mandela and Winnie in 1990 and with their grandchild, Bambata

British veterans of the campaign against apartheid in South Africa have praised Winnie Mandela's role in opposing white minority rule, following her death at the age of 81.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott hailed the "extraordinary courage" of the woman who fought for 27 years for the release from jail of her husband, Nelson Mandela.

And former cabinet minister, Lord Hain, said Mrs Madikizela-Mandela's "fearless" opposition to the apartheid regime should not be overshadowed by the controversy surrounding her "rogue later life".

Nelson Mandela's second wife became a beacon of the struggle against racial segregation and discrimination during his lengthy incarceration.

Footage of her hand-in-hand with her husband on his release in 1990 was seen around the world.

But she was accused of endorsing brutal violence, including the "necklacing" of alleged informants with burning car tyres, and was found guilty of kidnapping in the case of murdered teenage activist, Stompie Moeketsi.

The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission found her "morally accountable" for violations by her personal bodyguards, known as Mandela United FC.

Lord Hain said: "She suffered so much bringing up her two girls when Nelson Mandela was in prison: beaten up, banned, banished to remote Brandfort, harassed, imprisoned."

Describing her as "fearless (and) defiant in the face of the apartheid state", he added: "Remember that when correctly criticising her rogue later life."

Ms Abbott said: "I will never forget the image of Winnie walking hand in hand with Nelson Mandela when he was finally released from prison in February 1990.

"She had campaigned for 27 long years for his release.

"Nobody can deny her extraordinary courage and that, for poor black South Africans, she remains a heroine."

Labour MP David Lammy said: "In the those desperate years of apartheid when Nelson Mandela and so many anti-apartheid heroes were locked up on Robben Island, we looked to Winnie, who fought fearlessly as a defiant voice for the voiceless and a free South Africa."

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela's death was marked by campaigners for equality around the world.

Retired archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu praised her as a "defining symbol of the struggle against apartheid".

"Her courageous defiance was deeply inspirational to me, and to generations of activists," said Mr Tutu.

US equal rights campaigner Jesse Jackson said: "In the darkest hours of the struggle to free South Africa, with Nelson Mandela in prison, the face of hope and courage was Winnie Mandela."
TRC: Consultations on for reparation

After completing consultation with other victims, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is starting talks next week with the insurgency-era victims of rape and sexual violence.
Malaysian authorities have intercepted a boat carrying 56 people believed to be Muslim Rohingya refugees who fled from Burma, and brought the vessel and its passengers to shore.

The navy chief, Admiral Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin, said the boat was intercepted after it entered Malaysian waters and was moored off the northern resort island of Langkawi.

On Sunday the boat had stopped temporarily in southern Thailand, where it underwent repairs and was resupplied with fuel and food before being sent on its way to Malaysia, as its passengers reportedly desired.

About 700,000 Rohingya have fled western Burmas Rakhine state to neighbouring Bangladesh in the past seven months to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by Burmas army.

Rohingya, treated as undesirables in predominantly Buddhist Burma, used to flee by sea by the thousands each year until security in Burma was tightened after an upsurge of refugees in 2015 caused regional concern.

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The navy chief said that all of the boats passengers were safe but tired and hungry, and were given food and water.

The boat and its passengers will be handed over to immigration authorities, he said.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency chief Zulkifili Abu Bakar said the refugees comprised 19 women, 17 men, 12 boys and eight girls.

They appeared weak and their boat was in bad condition, he said.

Mr Zulkifili said the refugees would be handed over to immigration authorities for humanitarian reasons, an indirect indication that they will be allowed to stay rather than sent back to sea.

The issue of whether to allow them to stay is a sensitive one, because of fears it might encourage a new wave of boat people.

However, an expert on the plight of the Rohingya said the appearance this week of the boat  the first known case this year  does not portend a new exodus by sea.

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, an independent research and advocacy group, said that the safe time for such journeys is about to pass, as the annual monsoon season normally starts in April.

Tight security by Burmese officials also makes departures difficult, though it would not be surprising if a handful of more boats were seen in the near future, she said.

Thailand has an official policy of pushing back boat people from its shores, so most Rohingya prefer to head to Malaysia, whose dominant Malay Muslim population makes it a more sympathetic destination.

There have also been many cases of Rohingya landing in Thailand being taken by human traffickers and forced into near-slavery, held for ransom or otherwise abused.

Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman, the vice president of the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisation, said the group received a call from the coast guard to provide assistance to the refugees on Tuesday.

He said his organisation was asked to help due to its record of providing medical treatment and basic necessities such as food and clothing to previous Rohingya refugees.
Donald Trump at a meeting with Baltic leaders in the White House (Evan Vucci/AP)

The leaders of the Baltic countries have arrived at the White House for talks with US President Donald Trump.

Mr Trumps meeting with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania comes a day after the White House dangled the prospect of extending a similar welcome to Russias Vladimir Putin.

The Baltic states are seen as a bulwark against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.

Today, President Trump will welcome the Baltic States Heads of Government to the White House.



Watch the joint press conference at 1:35pm EDT: https://t.co/EmsdctGWtd pic.twitter.com/UZ6SyZjBeJ  The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) April 3, 2018

Britain recently blamed Russia for the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil. Mr Trump joined Britain in expelling scores of Russian diplomats in response.

The leaders are expected to discuss security, business, trade and energy issues during a visit that also highlights 100 years of Baltic independence.

Mr Trump and the three presidents are scheduled to answer journalists questions at a news conference after the talks.
It's when the knock comes to the door. Not the door of your office. Not when the police phone and ask you to come to the station door and knock there. It's when the police come to your own door, the door of your own home, and they knock that. With your family there. And you ask them inside.

And they tell you they have "information from an intelligence source". And that "information" indicates that some paramilitary godfather ogre has ordered an attack on you. Perhaps physically. Maybe fatally.

You swallow. Hard. No matter how many times it happens. And your wife/partner, whoever you share your life with, who's with you at that moment, doesn't say anything. Not yet.

And then one of the police officers sent to your home hands you a form to sign. In my day, it was called a PM1. It officially informs you that police have obtained information that loyalist/republican paramilitaries intend to carry out an attack on your person.

I've had 21 of them delivered to me in my workplace, in a police station, or in my home. The "officially" is important. Who delivers it is also important. Almost always, a uniformed officer. It may have been detectives, either CID or Special Branch, who picked up the "intelligence". But ask about the veracity, or source, of such intelligence and the uniformed officers will tell you, truthfully, that they don't know.

The reason is simple. The plain clothes police want to - need to - protect their sources, in case they compromise them. So, you "officially" sign the "official" police warning. And, therefore, acknowledge that the police have done their duty by informing you of what they have picked up from... well... an informant.

And then the police leave, maybe having handed you a little crimson booklet, offering advice about your "personal security". I've got a bookshelf full of those. Well-meaning. Well-intentioned. But hugely impractical, if you've got to get the kids to the school gate the next day.

Hugely impractical, if you've got to go to work each day, in the same place, parking your car in the same street, or designated parking lot, each day: or worse, each night in the dark. Probably driving the same routes, day or night. And having, or choosing, to live in the same house.

But all of these are peripheral to the impact, not so much on yourself, but on your family. You're a journalist - just like the latest journalist visited by the police this week. And told he was under threat. Told, in his own home, that they had information that a UDA attack on him was "imminent".

But, professionally, you think: "That's my job. That's what I do - expose the terrorists, gangsters, drugs dealers poisoning our kids, no matter which paramilitary mob they purport to represent." And then you sit down at the kitchen table, the sound of the TV still turned off from when the police came in. And, in the silence, you begin to talk.

To your wife/partner. To your children, if they're old enough to understand and not be traumatised by the threat to their Da, or Ma.

And the police form is lying on the kitchen table. Indelible. In stark black and white: staring straight up at you. Sometimes handwritten. Sometimes typed. With two signatures. That of the delivering officer. And yours. Acknowledging the threat. And, as a veil of silence descends again, the significance sinks in. Not just for you. But for your family.

I talked to the journalist who is the subject of the latest threat shortly after it was made public yesterday. He is the classiest of class acts. A 24-carat award-winning reporter, who digs deeper than most to perform a sterling - and necessary - role. Not just for his newspaper. But for this community.

Exposing, courageously and relentlessly, the criminal bully-boys who are still trying to put their fascist jackboots on the backs of all our necks with their also relentless bloodsucking and, at times, blood-curdling gangsterism.

It's not the first time he has been threatened. It won't be the last. He will, as usual, refuse to buckle and bend the knee to the bogeymen of the UDA, or any other increasingly irrelevant paramilitary rabble.

But crucially, and understandably, he wants, at the moment, to remain anonymous. Not for the sake of himself. But for the sake, and safety, of his family.

Dwell on that, please, the next time you hear of a journalist being threatened. And imagine, if it was your door, the door of your own home, that the police came knocking on.

Jim McDowell spent 45 years as a journalist - 25 of them as northern editor of the Sunday World. His autobiography, The Good Fight: From Bullets to By-lines, is published by Gill Books, priced 14.99
Is the Labour Party slowly, but remorselessly losing faith in its leader Jeremy Corbyn? There never was a full-on love affair between leader and party. But even moderates eventually realised they would have to learn to live with this hard-Left socialist.

Corbyn's election as leader to replace Ed Miliband surprised everyone, Conservative and Labour MPs alike, as well as the straggling hangers-on, like the depleted Liberal Democrats.

The Tories were delighted because they assumed - quite wrongly - that Corbyn would be a push-over and would lead Labour to where it does not wish to go.

Well, he is certainly leading them - shall we say - astray, but he is the reverse of a pushover. He has easily survived two attempts to boot him out. So, although it is easy to talk about ousting him, it is far harder to achieve that. He has shown no sign of budging - and why should he?

His shadow Cabinet changes - some of its members being forced out and others quitting in despair - have been a shambles.

Corbyn's latest sacking, that of Owen Smith as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, has been denounced by Lord Hain, a former Secretary of State, as "Stalinist". Smith's "crime" was to hold an off-message view about Brexit. Corbyn has had a rocky ride as Labour's leader so far, but suddenly the potholes are getting bigger and bumpier and distinctly more perilous.

His alleged anti-Semitism - hotly denied - has led to something louder than mere mutterings of discontent among Labour moderates.

And his strange reaction to the news of the expulsion of scores of Russian diplomats from embassies around the world left some Labour MPs noisily gulping with disbelief during his exchanges with the Prime Minister in the Commons.

It will take more than the hardline Momentum group campaigners to restore faith and trust in their leader.

Perhaps the only course open to his critics, who have had more than enough of him, is to resign the party whip and form their own, more traditional-style breakaway Labour Party.

And, so, to misquote an old cliche: "If you can't beat 'em, leave 'em."

Congratulations to the Prime Minister, who has achieved so much towards Brexit without shouting, stamping her feet, or brandishing her handbag about.

Her performance has been all the more commendable in that, at the referendum, she voted to Remain, but is now loyally carrying out the wishes of the majority of British voters at that referendum.

That is a lesson some of the other Remainers should have learnt. As Churchill said: "A one-vote majority is enough."

I had thought, at one stage, that Britain needed a more robust and aggressive Thatcher-style approach to these negotiations, but have been proved wrong.

May and her sidekick David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, conducted an admirably undramatic campaign in the face of the leaden-browed, obdurate Brussels negotiators, who seemed hell-bent on punishing Britain and squeezing every possible penny out of the UK for its "effrontery" in adopting this course.

Nor has she been helped by the hoary old guard of Blair, Mandelson, Patten, Heseltine, Vince Cable, et al, who have been predicting doom and destruction from start to finish.

The idea that Britain is incapable of going it alone, without being propped up by the political Zimmer Frame of the EU, is anathema to most British people.

As the former Foreign Secretary George Brown used to say: "We are on our way, brothers."

My suggestion that parliament should move to York for the six years it will take to renovate the Palace of Westminster before it crumbles at our feet has been far from well received in some quarters.

One correspondent suggested that the "old mausoleum" at Westminster should be pulled down and redesigned afresh by some brutalist architect.

What? I may be a sentimental old buffer, but to destroy that building, whose walls, corridors and very existence are indelibly imbued with history, would be the worst piece of vandalism I could imagine.

There has already been more than enough of the abolition of various bits of centuries' old tradition without adding the "crime" of demolishing the Palace of Westminster.

All these traditions may seem ludicrous to the modernisers, but there is invariably a piece of fascinating history and a reason attached to them.

We should not be dishonouring our ancestors by jettisoning what they have left us.

Boris Johnson for Prime Minister? Stanley Johnson, father of the Foreign Secretary, can think of no better choice for the job. Well, he would, wouldn't he?

Some would say that Boris is too much of a clown to be in 10 Downing Street. Be that as it may.

But I think the question which really has to be asked is whether he can be trusted with the purse strings.

Remember, as Mayor of London, he spent oodles of public money on water cannons from Germany without having the gumption first to ask the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, whether she would allow them to be used against rioters on London's streets. She said: "No." So, that was money flushed down the drain.

And the bendy buses - some of which burst into flames and all of which were a bonanza for fare-dodgers - were not exactly the product of a genius. They have all gone to Malta now, where they have been causing problems, too.

Boris is eminently amusing, abhors Whitehallese and is always listened to. Let's leave it at that and no further.
Kildare Village is renowned as a premier shopping destination with over 100 designer brands. But did you know this shoppers haven is also a drawcard for foodies?

There is no denying that the street food scene is on the rise in Ireland, and Kildare Village is bang on trend. From the Asian pop up that is channelling NYC, to the craft butcher burger truck, there are so many options for quick and delicious bites as you and the family stroll around the village.

First it was cupcakes, then came the macaroons. In 2018, we are all about the donut. Purveyors of these sweet, fried treats have been popping up across the country, and for good reason: they are delicious.

Stone Ground Donuts has really taken things up a notch with their made to order donuts created with fresh Irish ingredients. Toppings include salted caramel, prepared with Irish Atlantic Sea Salt, homemade jams from the award-winning Big Red Kitchen and even a drizzle of Lily OBrien chocolate. These indulgent treats look as good as they taste and lets face it, are an Instagrammers dream.

Like mac n cheese, chips and ketchup, strawberries and cream, donuts and coffee are a classic combination. Joes Coffee was founded in Ireland in 2011 after the founders gleaned expert insight from the likes of Caravan, Monmouth Coffee and Square Mile in London. They spent two years sipping, pouring, grinding and foaming their way to the perfect cup of, well, Joe.

Irelands coffee scene has exploded in the last few years and Joes Coffee is among this new breed of coffee experts bringing world-class techniques and flavours to the Emerald Isle. After perusing the fabulous fashion at The Village, chances are you might need a pick-me-up, and one of Joes Golden-Shots are just the ticket. They also do a delicious range of deli sandwiches, vibrant salads and sweet treats.

Our appetite for Asian cuisine is only growing with an increasing amount of exciting fusion restaurants opening on a regular basis, alongside eateries that specialise in authentic dishes from far Eastern nations. Bite of China is one such place, where the focus is on offering delicious, traditional Chinese dishes. This tasty pop up in The Village has taken its cue from a mish-mash of aesthetics via the bright lights of Hong Kong and the hustle and bustle of New York. The concise menu focuses on easy to eat street food like dumplings and pork buns, as well as traditional tipples like bubble and Jasmine tea.

If you have a mini-foodie on your hands, be sure to head into Le Pain Quotidien for the childrens baking classes this Easter; after baking their own masterpiece little ones will also be served a baguette, cookies and drink (6 per child, running Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th April).

Gone are the days when a burger was simply a patty, bun and a lick of ketchup. Burger making has nearly been elevated to an art form with only the finest ground beef, baked bread, fresh vegetables and premium sauces being used. If you are something of a burger aficionado youll want to check out Burger Boy at Kildare Village. This gourmet burger joint may operate from a food truck, but dont let the simple facade fool you; these guys take their burgers very seriously. They only use the finest forequarter cuts sourced from Nolans craft butchers located just 15 minutes away in Kilcullen to ensure patties that are succulent and flavoursome.

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For something a little more delicate, Creperie Angelie whip up made to order crepes filled with delicious fresh ingredients. These are some of the finest crepes youll ever try thanks to the organic flour and free range eggs used in their silky crepe batter. Possibly the best part thing about stopping by Creperie Angelie is that if you are in the mood for sweet or savoury they have something for you. Sweet fillings include Belgian Chocolate, decadent Hazelnut Fondant, creme fraiche and salted caramel, all of which can be paired with fresh fruits. Savoury options include free range egg with cheese, honey roast ham and cheddar cheese or delicious bacon and cheddar with the option to add the likes of baby spinach, tomato or mushroom for a mouth-watering lunchtime meal.

If you are hoping for a sit-down affair, Dunne & Crescenzi, L'Officina offers sophisticated dining in the heart of The Village. This Italian restaurant is a Dublin institution thanks to the authentic Italian cuisine on offer. From their beautiful Italian breakfasts, such as the classic croissant and coffee or full Irish with an Italian twist, to hand-made pasta and traditional tray bake pizzas in the evening, Dunne & Crescenzi, L'Officina does Italian food the way it should be; fresh, simple and utterly delicious. After a day of shopping and exploring, relaxing in the warmly lit surrounds of this cosy restaurant really is the perfect finish to a perfect day. While youre there, check out the Dunne & Crescenzi pantry where youll find all the products you need to recreate these dishes at home.

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They are also doing apron-decorating workshops for the little ones throughout the Easter break, so you can put your feet up while the kids get creative.

While at Kildare Village foodies will no doubt head into Le Creuset to browse their famous enamelled cast iron pots. If you are in The Village on April 8th, pop in for an in-store tasting of Millionaires Shortbread.

Feeling hungry? Us too. This Easter, head to Kildare Village for fabulous food and shopping. Youll discover over 100 designer brands as well as their tempting foodie offerings, with something to suit the whole family.

Kildare Village has family fun events running until April 8th, and you can check whats happening each day here.
Toxic: Their vile comments about women should see Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding stripped of their right to play for Ireland and Ulster.

Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding should never play rugby for Ulster or Ireland again. If they are allowed to put on the jersey for either province or country, it will be an unforgivable insult to women across this island.

They were unanimously acquitted of rape by a jury last Wednesday but their vile misogynist social media messages should prevent them from resuming their careers.

I couldnt care less how many women the top shaggers have sex with every week or indeed every day if they so choose. That is nobodys business but their own.

But the respect they show for other human beings is an area of legitimate public concern. These men and their mates spoke about women in the most derogatory way possible.

The now notorious WhatsApp messages referred to females as sluts and brasses, and there are jokes about spit-roasting, the sexual slang that has its origins in an animal being impaled on a metal rod and cooked. A woman as a piece of meat.

Ach, its only a bit of banter, the apologists say. Sorry, if they were talking about black, Muslim or Jewish people in such denigrating terms would it be deemed okay? Damned right it wouldnt.

If the men were returning to jobs away from the public eye that would be a different matter. But in their roles they are centre-stage. Rugby presents itself as a family sport. Jackson and Olding arent fit to be ambassadors for Ulster and Ireland.

The protests in Belfast, Dublin, Derry, Cork, Waterford, Galway and Limerick send a clear message to rugby bosses as they contemplate their futures.

Olding  whilst insisting he committed no criminal offence and the sex was consensual  had the decency to say he deeply regretted what transpired on that fateful night of June 28, 2016.

In a statement read out by his solicitor Paul Dougan, he said: I want to acknowledge that the complainant came to court and gave evidence about her perception of those events.

Im sorry for the hurt that was caused to the complainant. It was never my intention to cause any upset to anyone on that night.

After a rape trial, this was the right tone from Olding and his legal team. It was dignified and showed empathy for the young woman at the heart of the case.

There was a touch of humility too. Olding said he hoped to be able to prove myself going forward in all aspects of my life. He was admitting that he had something to prove.

There were allegations from Paddy Jacksons lawyers of very apparent investigative bias by police and a stinging attack on social media and in particular the toxic content on Twitter.

Reference was not made to the toxic content of the WhatsApp messages by Jackson and his pals.

And 48 hours later came warnings from his lawyers that action could be taken against people tweeting #IBelieveHer. Social media is rightly subject to the same libel laws as mainstream media.

While taking legal action against defamatory statements made against Jackson is entirely understandable, people definitely shouldnt be sued for tweeting #IBelieveHer.

Its entirely possible to respect the jurys not guilty verdict and to believe that the complainant told her truth. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Surely its a human right for people to be able to express that they believe the young woman  so long as no defamatory comment is made about the rugby players?

Thousands and thousands of people tweeted #IBelieveHer. Trying to stop that hashtag will be like King Kanute and that famous tide. Rather than killing it off, the opposite happened after the legal warning. #SueMePaddy trended on Twitter.

There is much about Twitter I loathe. It has been called the Wild West of social media where anything goes. But its utterly misguided to try to paint it as the root of all evil in the rugby rape case.

The complainants name was revealed to me before the case began and it wasnt through social media. I was told her name, her fathers occupation, where she lived and where she had worked  and Twitter wasnt to blame.

There was plenty of toxicity outside of social media. I got into a taxi and listened to the driver waxing lyrical for the journey about women who cry rape.

I talked to Christian men, who view sex before marriage as a sin, but didnt raise an eyebrow about the sexual antics of the lads while pointing fingers galore at the complainant for entering Jacksons bedroom.

My focus is far more on what went on inside Court 12 than the social media sideshow. This was a case where it wasnt always clear who exactly was on trial.

Each defendant is rightly allowed their own legal representation. But a 21-year-old woman being cross-examined by four defence barristers over eight days pulls at your heart-strings.

Ive heard that gruelling experience being downplayed by explanations that some of those were half-days and she was offered breaks.

I was once cross-examined by a single barrister for under an hour in a source protection case  a far less intrusive matter  and it was tough and nerve-wrecking. And I was a professional journalist two decades older than the complainant.

The young woman failed to secure the verdict she desired. She did not win, yet she has certainly not lost.

Her strength and spirit under cross-examination have inspired women to take to the streets and raise their voices for change. A heart of steel and unbowed head has galvanised many. Shoulder to shoulder, together standing tall.
Updated at 5:29 p.m. ET on 2018-04-03

Malaysias top maritime agency on Tuesday intercepted a boat carrying nearly five dozen Rohingya near the countrys northwestern coast, officials said.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said the boat, discovered off the island of Langkawi, was ferrying 36 adults and about 20 children. The group belongs to the ethnic Rohingya community, which has been at the receiving end of what the United Nations calls a systematic ethnic cleansing in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

An official said 29 of the boats occupants were women.

[MMEA] provided early aid such as food, water and medicine, said North Regional Director Adm. Rozali Mohammed Said.

The refugees were to be handed over to the state immigration department because they were found within Malaysian waters and without valid documents, Rozali said.

While the MMEA took seriously any sign of aggression across Malaysian waters, agency officials were trying to show leniency to the Rohingya on the principle of humanity, he said.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, expressed appreciation for Kuala Lumpur's move allowing the refugees to disembark on Malaysian territory.

UNHCR regards this as a very positive humanitarian gesture on the part of the Malaysian government, and consistent with international norms for the protection of asylum-seekers and persons at risk at sea, UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told BenarNews in an emailed statement.

UNHCR has been in contact with the Malaysian maritime authorities to seek access to these individuals, and we stand ready to lend our support in providing any necessary humanitarian assistance to the refugees in line with international standards, he said.

On Monday, Malaysian authorities said they had stepped up security in the Malacca Strait and Andaman Sea to intercept boats presumably filled with Rohingya who were seeking to escape the latest wave of violence against their community in Myanmar.

At least 670,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar and settled in makeshift camps across the border in Bangladesh since August 2017, according to the latest estimates from the United Nations. At that time, members of the insurgent group Arakan Salvation Rohingya Army (ARSA) allegedly attacked Myanmar police and army posts, provoking a brutal military crackdown on the Rohingya minority concentrated in Myanmars Rakhine state.

Six Malaysian government ships were mobilized off Langkawi after officials received intelligence that a boat carrying 56 Rohingya had anchored near Thailand on Sunday because of rough seas, Rozali said.

Human rights advocacy group Fortify Rights said Thai police confirmed spotting the boat near Krabi province and sending it back to sea.

It [the boat] was sent to Malaysia after it was repaired and its crew was supplied with food and fuel, a Thai official told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.

Rozali said there had been no confirmation of the boats entry into Malaysian waters.

Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith said governments in the Southeast Asian region needed to follow their legal obligations to protect Rohingya refugees instead of packing them off to potential death sentences at seas.

This is not a problem that will go away on its own, Smith said.

While the origin of the Rohingya has not be determined, Krabi police chief Col. Pattanachak Chakrabhan said most of the boats occupants likely came from Myanmars Rakhine state and had planned to take refuge in Malaysia.

They had no connections with human trafficking syndicates, he said.

In May 2015, human traffickers abandoned boats carrying thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi survivors of trafficking after Thailand and Malaysia reinforced their borders and refused to allow the boats to make port, resulting in an untold number of deaths, according to Fortify Rights.

The Thai and Malaysian authorities went so far as to tow boats of refugees out of their territorial waters, leaving them adrift at sea, the rights group said.

An official from Bangladesh, where thousands of Rohingya have found shelter following the latest wave of violence in neighboring Myanmar, said the boat could not have crossed his countrys waters.

People can no longer use any river and sea route to go to Malaysia as we have stopped movement of boats on the Bangladesh side of the river Naf [that divides Myanmar and Bangladesh], Afrozul Haque Tutul, additional superintendent of police in Coxs Bazar, told BenarNews.
Two minors hacked to death in Rolpa

Two minors of the same family were murdered at Tribeni rural municipality-2 in Rolpa district on Monday night.
A photo of a victim of pro-government vigilantes hangs from a fence at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in the northern Philippine city of Dagupan, September 2017.

Updated at 3:26 p.m. ET on 2018-04-03

The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the government to submit within two weeks details of the 3,806 deaths linked to legitimate police operations from July 2016 to November 2017 as part of President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs.

The court made the ruling as it denied a motion for reconsideration filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida asking it to overturn a December 2017 order requiring the government to release all records pertaining to the deaths.

The court said it has directed respondents to comply with the said order by submitting the required reports within a period of 15 days from notice.

The ruling was in response to petitions filed by the Center for International Law (CenterLaw), a nonprofit legal group representing families in 26 mostly poor Manila villages where most of the killings occurred, and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), a human rights organization.

The Tuesday ruling is a step forward in the fight for accountability, CenterLaw said as it hailed the decision.

On behalf of the petitioners and all family and kin of extrajudicial killing victims, CenterLaw thanks the Supreme Court for this important step in search for accountability for the killings in the Tokhang operations, the group said in a statement.

We are fortified with this triumph of the rule of law, it said.

Tokhang is a combination of two Filipino words meaning knock and plead launched by police shortly after Duterte won the presidency in 2016.

Under this set up, small-time drug addicts and pushers in mostly slum areas are made to peacefully surrender and then undergo rehabilitation. But the program has been controversial as many suspects end up dead.

The court ordered Calidas office to submit all the names, addresses and the genders of those killed, as well the place, date and time of the police operation. It also ordered police to submit the names of all officers who participated in the operation, and whether proper court warrants had been secured.

It also ordered police to submit names of local government officials, members of nongovernment organizations as well as the media present during the operations. In addition, police must submit official reports on the crime scene and investigation reports in cases that fall under the police category as deaths under investigation.

CenterLaw said it hoped the information would help families of victims of extrajudicial killings file the necessary cases against those responsible.

It noted the information the high court order is what police are required to produce under their own Philippine National Police manual of operations.

These are no national security documents, CenterLaw said. These are documents meant to ensure that the PNPs officers and men faithfully comply with the rules of due process and the human rights of the subjects of their future operations.

ICC probe

The Supreme Courts order comes shortly after Dutertes government withdrew from The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), after the court said it would carry out a preliminary examination into allegations of extrajudicial killings under his war on drugs.

Duterte initially welcomed the ICC probe, but backtracked and accused it of prejudging him. His cabinet officials had blamed a disinformation of the Duterte governments political enemies, including what it claimed were unnamed drug syndicates who had weaponized human rights to undermine the government.

While the ICC said it regretted Manilas decision, it noted a withdrawal would only take effect a year after the United Nations was notified, meaning it would continue with the probe.

Figures as of February showed 4,043 people have been killed in Dutertes drug war. Rights groups however say that the figure could be much higher when killings by pro-government vigilantes are figured in, running to about 12,000.

Felipe Villamor in Manila contributed to this report.
Former Muslim rebels who signed a peace pact with Manila four years ago said Tuesday they would not disarm up to 9,000 of their fighters, as scheduled for next month, if the Philippine congress failed to pass an autonomy law.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said the guerrillas would not give up their weapons unless the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) makes it through the legislature, MILF secretariat chairman Mohammad Ameen told BenarNews.

How could you decommission the guns if there is no BBL? Ameen said. That will only happen if there will be a passage of the BBL. If none, no decommissioning.

MILF had committed to lay down its weapons in phases under the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration component of the peace pact aimed at limiting violence in the strife-torn southern region of Mindanao.

We are expecting 5,000 to 9,000 men of the MILF to be disarmed, demobilized and reintegrated if the BBL is passed by Congress in May, said Nabil Tan, deputy presidential peace process undersecretary.

The 12,000-strong MILF dropped its bid for self-rule to settle for an expanded autonomy when it signed a peace deal with Manila in 2014.

BBL: A potential buffer against other Marawis

The BBL outlines the basic structure of the proposed autonomy in Mindanao, the countrys mineral-rich southern third where many areas remain mired in poverty because of the insurgency.

The Senate and the House of Representatives have previously failed to pass the BBL, largely out of fear that giving the minority Muslims greater power could lead to trouble.

A January 2015 clash between MILF guerrillas and members of a police commando unit left 44 officers dead as they were hunting down a wanted Malaysian terrorist did not help ease lawmakers apprehensions.

But MILF has gained some measure of trust after it helped the military go after Islamic State-linked militants who laid siege last year to the southern city of Marawi.

Legislators who toured Marawi in January said they were shocked by the extent of the damage in the area, and vowed to pass the bill immediately.

Passing the BBL, they said, would help prevent another Marawi from happening because it would finally give Muslims in the south their chance at self-determination that they have long sought.

Duterte, who met with MILF leaders in March to mark the fourth anniversary of the peace deal, assured them of the BBLs passage in Congress that his allies in the majority control.

But in case Congress does not pass the bill, Duterte said he would go to the extent of exercising his residual powers through administrative directives to fulfil this commitment.

If this does not get done during the presidency of President Duterte, we seriously doubt if we can do it at all, in the future, MILF chief Murad Ebrahim had said.

MILF panel member Abhoud Syed Lingga said Congress should realize the urgency and pass the BBL amid concerns about a growing Islamic State (IS) presence in Mindanao.

Should the bill not pass, it would add to the frustrations of the Muslims in the south, a potential breeding ground for IS, he said.

A breakthrough in the peace process is direly needed to address these frustrations, Lingga said.

Congress has been on a break since late March, and will resume its sessions on May 14. It is set to adjourn on June 1, and officials said Duterte wanted the law to be enacted by then.

Congress failed to pass the BBL in 2015 after a public uproar following the deadly misencounter between the police commandoes and MILF rebels that January.

In 2008, the Supreme Court also rejected the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) signed by the government and MILF  a precursor to the BBL that was signed between President Gloria Arroyos government and the rebels.

Following the rejection, armed members of MILF staged attacks in the provinces of Lanao del Norte and in central Mindanao, causing massive evacuations of residents.

Mark Navales in Cotabato City contributed to this report.
Thai police display the drugs seized from March 25 to April 1 this year, during a news conference in Bangkok, April 3, 2018.

Updated at 12:33 p.m. ET on 2018-04-04

Thai authorities seized about $68.6 million (2.14 billion baht) worth of meth in three caches in the past week and arrested 11 suspects, officials said Tuesday, underscoring a U.N. report describing Thailand as a major transit point for drug trafficking in Southeast Asia.

Police seized 788 kilograms (358 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine and more than nine million meth pills from an abandoned pick-up truck early Tuesday in the northern Chiang Rai province, near the Mekong River, police Lt. Gen. Sommai Kongvisaisuk, commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB), told reporters in Bangkok.

The river divides Thailand and Laos and is within the drug-producing region known as the Golden Triangle, which includes parts of northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

The seizure came a day after police seized 651 kilograms (295 pounds) of crystal meth in Songkhla province, in the countrys Deep South, officials said. On March 28, police also seized 703 kilograms (319 pounds) in the southern province of Chumphon.

The drugs were trafficked into northern Thailand by a syndicate that uses the Mekong River in order to smuggle meth into Malaysia, police Maj. Gen. Chayapoj Hasunha, chief of the NSB's intelligence division, told BenarNews.

Malaysia has become a hub to distribute the drugs through Indian Ocean, Australia, United Kingdom, Europe and North America, he said.

Drug-related arrests in Thailand are on the rise, with at least 900 arrests so far this year, compared with 453 in 2017, NSB officials told a news conference last month.

The steep increase in seizures of meth in Southeast Asia denotes a growing demand of the drug in the region, where 287 million methamphetamine tablets were seized in 2015, according to the 2017 report of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Most of those seizures took place in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, UNODC said.

Thai police said a meth pill worth 200 baht (U.S. $6) in Thailand could be sold up to 500 baht (U.S. $16) in Malaysia and even more in Australia, one of the worlds largest consumer of crystal meth.

On March 20, a Thai court sentenced Xaysana Keopimpha, a Laotian dubbed as an ASEAN Drug Lord, to life in prison over narcotics-smuggling charges.

The 43-year-old headed a transnational Southeast Asian network that supplied millions of caffeine-laced methamphetamine tablets known as yaba, Thai authorities said after they arrested him in January 2017 at Bangkoks main airport.

The market for crystal meth, a potent central nervous system stimulant, has grown rapidly in recent years in the country, which has about 2.89 million drug users in 2014, the latest year for which figures are available, according to the UNODC report.

Transnational criminal groups continue to target Thailand as a major transit location for the trafficking of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals to international markets, and also as a destination country for illicit drugs, the report said.
Hundreds of police, military members, students and other volunteers have been scrambling to clean up beaches in and around Balikpapan, a city in Indonesias East Kalimantan province, following an oil spill last weekend.

The spill and subsequent fire has claimed at least five lives and forced city officials to declare a state of emergency. The Indonesian government says it is investigating the cause of the spill, but alleges the oil came from a Chinese ship that caught fire in Balikpapan Bay on Saturday.

The five victims were fishing. They were allegedly trapped in flames and drowned while trying to save themselves, a volunteer who asked to remain anonymous told BenarNews.

Pertamina, the Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation, has assigned four ships to clean the spill, which covers an estimated 1.5 miles (2.4 km). A company spokesman said Pertamina did not process this type of oil at its East Kalimantan refinery, adding that tests showed it was ship or marine fuel.

Meanwhile, Balikpapan Mayor Rahmad Masud praised the efforts of volunteers and Pertamina.

Our cooperation will succeed in cleaning up this oil waste. In four days we will remove the emergency status, I am sure, Rahmad told reporters.
3. God Hears Your Cry

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God (Psalm 40:1-3).

God hears your cries and sees your tears. He is not ignoring you and his heart breaks over your suffering. He takes no delight in the suffering of his people.

You can be sure that God will respond to your pleas for mercy. Maybe not when you want or in the way you want, but he is your loving, merciful Father, and he cant ignore the cries of his children. He will put a new song in your mouth and set your feet upon the rock.

For more on this topic, the book Christians Get Depressed Too by David Murray is a great resource.

4. The Lord is Your Shield

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head (Psalm 3:3).

God is your shield when you are weak, helpless, and hopeless. He is standing over you, guarding you, protecting you, keeping watch over you. Even though you are broken by depression, the almighty God is your shield.

He will lift your head out of the dirt and set you on your feet again. He will move you to sweet places and green pastures. You can trust his sustaining, protecting power even though you have no strength in yourself.

Photo Courtesy: Unsplash
UAE defers character certificate for job visa

The UAE has temporarily suspended the requirement of a good conduct certificate for employment visas across the country, bringing respite to thousands of Nepali migrant workers from standing in long queues.
Years ago, dear Christian friends of my wife and me explained why they had gotten divorced by writing, "We exhausted our spiritual resources." It was one of the strangest explanations I had ever heard, especially from two Ph.D.'s and Christian educators who knew very well that God's spiritual resources are inexhaustible. Apparently, they were unwilling to admit what had really happened and to say, "We quit trying."

More recently, another close Christian friend, a Ph.D. in New Testament studies no less, and a long-time educator, left his wife for another woman, who herself was seminary trained and a pastor, by saying to his wife, "I haven't loved you for the last seven years." What he meant, of course, was that he didn't have the same kind of feelings he once had for her. But in the Bible love is primarily a commitment, obedience to God's commands, rather than an emotion.

Just this fall, a former student and long-time pastor told me about how had "made a mistake" and cheated on his wife. In fact, he used the expression several times in our conversation. Never once did I hear the word "sin," however.

I guess in a world in which politicians "misspeak" when they lie, in which athletes "make bad choices" when they commit crimes, and prostitutes are called "sex workers," I shouldn't be so surprised.

But how about the innocuous and even heart-warming, "I fell in love"? As sweet as it sounds, it's not a biblical expression. And if you can claim you've fallen in love, then you can say you've fallen out of love, as lots of people do. In a country in which even many Christians think the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right (no, just because the American Constitution declares it so doesn't make it true), is it any wonder that people justify leaving their spouses because they just don't feel good any more?

Paul, in his famous love chapter, writes in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." Notice the use of "always" a few times? And the adjectives and verbs used to characterize love don't have that much to do with emotion, except perhaps when they refer to keeping it under control.

Twice in my life, I've had friends who were in the process of divorcing their spouses who looked me straight in the face, and admitted, "I know, I'm reneging on my wedding vows." At least they were honest. So were Bill McCartney and company when they challenged us to be promise-keepers. That's what it's really all about - promise keeping.

If I can't trust someone to remain true to their word when they have made the most solemn pledge of their entire lives before God, spouse, and a Christian congregation, why should I trust them for anything else?

Now, of course, God is a God of amazing grace, wonderful forgiveness and countless fresh starts. And I have dear friends who sinned miserably with their first spouses and are having godly, inspiring second marriages.

But they repented. They called sin sin. They confessed to God and fellow humans. They prayed for forgiveness. They received godly counsel and, often, counseling. Their lives genuinely changed. The words we use for labeling concepts do matter.

Most countries and cultures in the history of the world that have practiced arranged marriages have had extremely low divorce rates. At least those couples recognized that it wasn't feelings or emotions that made or unmade marriages. They were also less likely to define love as a feeling or an emotion in the first place.

1 Corinthians 13 ends with the famous 1 Corinthians 13:13: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." If love is eternal and love is the greatest of the attributes we will share throughout eternity, maybe we'd better start paying more attention in this life to what it truly involves. Richard Walker, a former pastor of mine and founder of AMOR Ministries, working with Brazilians in the Upper Amazon basin, put it well, "Love is the giving of the very best you have on behalf of another regardless of response." - even when it's thrown back in your face. Isn't that what Jesus did with and for us?

Dr. Craig L. Blomberg is a distinguished professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado. His books include Interpreting the Parables, Neither Poverty nor Riches, Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey, The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel, commentaries on Matthew and 1 Corinthians, Making Sense of the New Testament: 3 Crucial Questions and Preaching the Parables.
Who here likes change? Okay, who here really likes change that comes from being humbled? Hmmm, not as many hands up and cries of Hallelujah.

Though everyone would say that they love change and that it is so good for you, especially when directed by God, it is not an easy path to travel. Just look at the countless examples in the Bible of when people were in their comfort zones and all of a sudden, God brought about a humbling change that guided their lives onto a complete new path.



The Path of Pride

Why this change? One possible reason might be pride, as expressed in Proverbs 13:10, because pride brings struggle while humility brings wisdom: By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom (NKJV). Pride causes us to be set in our ways, and pay the consequences for it later, but being well-advised (humbled) allows wisdom to become a new viewpoint to us.

One of the best representations of humility is Jonah, who denied Gods request to go to the wicked city of Nineveh and encourage them to repent of their ways. Jonahs reasoning was that Nineveh was a despicable place where the Lord wasnt received well, and it would be beneath him to go over there and waste his time proclaiming the gospel to them.

In short version of the biblical story, Jonah tried to escape from God in a boat, which was taken up in a storm until Jonah told the crew to throw him overboard--he was responsible for this disaster. As you recall, then, Jonah was swallowed up by a big fish and stayed in his belly until the Lord felt the humility of Jonah come about to do His bidding in Nineveh. Jonah was thrown up from the fish, went to preach in Nineveh, and led several people to God. However, as we read in the end, Jonah was still upset about Nineveh and argued with God on whether it was the right decision.



Not Like Those People

This story represents our (sometimes) dislike toward being humbled by God, as it is the recognition that we have become prideful in some aspect in life and forgotten who truly brought our successes and provisions to us.

Jonah was probably a recognized leader of faith within his community and, just like us, felt he was a good, faithful follower of God without having been confronted about any mistakes from the past. He probably even looked over to Nineveh and said, as we so commonly do, Well, we are nothing like those people in Nineveh, for they do everything wrong under the sun.

We seem to forget that we were all sinners before Christ intervened in our lives, lost in our sin and not knowing what way to go. Even though Jonah had a strong relationship with the Lord, he still struggled with the flesh like those in Nineveh did, and it hurt God just as much when Jonah sinned as when the people of Nineveh sinned.



In Our Lofty Towers

So, even though Jonah had this amazing experience of seeing God chase after him and rescue him from the belly of a fish--not to mention witnessing a heathen city turn immediately to God--his being upset seems shocking to us.

Its because Jonah suffered from the same thing we all suffer from, which is not realizing the real benefits of being humbled by God. It is so much easier to stay in our lofty towers of faith and judge others who have made countless mistakes, deeming them unfit for Gods blessings and glories like we are.



Why He Humbles Us

However, we forget, as Jonah did that at one point, that we were in that same position. We were in the same way as God described Nineveh in the last verse of Jonah: And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their leftand much livestock (Jonah 4:11, NKJV).

Though we dont know what Jonahs answer was to this statement, we can attest we know what he was probably thinking: touche, God, touche. We have all been in that position, being blinded by pride to think our ways are right and that everyone else is wrong; hence not knowing our left from our right.

In Gods kindness and grace to us, He humbles us to remind us that all of His children are in need of His constant love, direction, and discipline. We make more mistakes than right choices and in the times we do get it right, we need to help those around us who are still trying to rectify bad choices.



Humility Brings Change

We dont like being humbled by God because it brings us back to the starting sentiment of this article, because we dont like change and especially if it is initiated by someone other than ourselves. Christians can be notorious as well for not liking change, such as having to sacrifice a night of the week for a Bible study or not wanting to share with non-believing family members and friends why they should believe in Jesus, or (dare I say it) tithing.

There is also the feeling of the unknown in humility: How will we be humbled? Will it be something devastating or something we have experienced before? Will our way of life now be so greatly affected that we wont ever come back to it again?

Yet, as in the case of Jonah, there would have been a far more disastrous outcome if he hadnt gone to Nineveh and preached about God to the lost people of the city. He would have been responsible for their souls never being saved, awakened, and made alive again through our heavenly Father.



Why Humility?

That is how we should view humility when it comes knocking at our door, as it is paving the ways for a far greater outcome, a far greater blessing, to come into our lives that might change our lives completely but always for the better.

Being humbled by God is not fun, but it is the realization that when you are humbled, you tend to open your eyes to what God wants to show you, how He wants you to help others and spread His word, that pride tends to keep us deaf and blind to on a regular basis. We can also see when we have let other aspects of life become idols ahead of God, such as our money, our family, our jobs, and our physical needs, and what we need to do to break ourselves of this idol-worshipping pattern.

So, being humbled may not cause you to shoot your hand up high and proclaim Amen when someone asks if you like change, but it can make you smile on times when you were humbled and what blessings came forth from that moment you never imagined happening.

Blair Parke is a freelance writer for BibleStudyTools.com and editor for Xulon Press. A graduate of Stetson University with a Bachelor's in Communications, Blair previously worked as a writer/editor for several local magazines in the Central Florida area, including Celebration Independent and Lake Magazine in Leesburg, Florida and currently freelances for the Southwest Orlando Bulletin.
The interactive session was organized as part of Medantas continuous efforts to promote medical knowledge which has a direct impact on patients

In continuation of its commitment to bringing world-class healthcare to all citizens, Medanta - The Medicitys Division of Peripheral Vascular and Endovascular Sciences, Gurugram organized a Scientific Interaction Programme for the medical practitioners across Jammu.

The interactive session was organized as part of Medantas continuous efforts to promote medical knowledge which has a direct impact on patients in Association with VSICON 2018 & Department of CTVS Govt Medical College Jammu, Association of Hospital Administration (AHA) and Academy of Hospital Administrations, Jammu.

Minister for Health & Medical Education, Bali Bhagat was chief guest on the occasion.

The well-known Vascular Surgeon, Dr. Rajiv Parakh, Chairman, Peripheral Vascular and Endovascular Sciences at Medanta shared new advancements and innovations in vascular surgery for treating diabetic foot and aneurysms.

The health Minister said that such programmes are very useful for the local doctors which help them in updating their knowledge in advancements in their fields. He urged the doctors to take advantage of the event and utilize the knowledge for best patient care.

He lauded the endeavors of Medanta Group for promoting healthcare and providing specialized OPD services for the patients in Jammu.

He urged the group to invest in healthcare sector in Jammu and Kashmir and supplement government efforts in providing quality healthcare to the people of this State.

He said Government is keen to promote private sector under PPP mode and all leading health providers of the country are welcome to set up their ventures in Jammu and Kashmir for which the Government will extend them necessary support.
This will enable the rapid financing of health response operations in the coming months.

Donors have pledged an additional $15.3 million to support quick action by the World Health Organization (WHO) to tackle disease outbreaks and humanitarian health crises through its emergency response fund in 2018, the Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE).

Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland announced contributions ranging from $20,000 to $5.6 million at a conference hosted at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland recently  increasing CFE funding levels to $23 million.

This will enable the rapid financing of health response operations in the coming months filling that critical gap between the moment the need for an emergency response is identified and the point at which funds from other sources can be released. WHO will seek to secure further donor commitments to achieve its $100 million funding target for the 2018/2019 biennium.
Unfinished business

Following Nepals transformation into a federal republic, positive results can be expected not only on the domestic front, but also in foreign relations, especially with India and China.
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Achyut Wagle holds PhD in economics and is currently a professor at the Kathmandu University School of Management. He is an econo-political analyst, writing for The Kathmandu Post for many years.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela: Anti-apartheid campaigner dies at 81

South African anti-apartheid campaigner and former first lady Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died aged 81, BBC reported.
Few things are more foolish than sanctioning a country to depend on gas, writes David Horgan.

On a recent RTE Prime Time programme, a TD claimed we import our gas from Norway. This is untrue.

Europe, which includes EEA countries like Norway, consumes 454bn cubic metres of gas a year, of which 166bn is imported by pipeline from Russia.

Europe is, therefore, 37% dependent on Russia and is more exposed in winter. If Russian supplies are interrupted, Ireland is vulnerable, because we are at the end of a long pipeline.

Thats why the US has long-opposed European dependence on Russian gas pipelines, even as Europe depends more on Russian gas each year.

So far, Russians have been reliable suppliers  as long as customers pay. But why kick a sleeping bear? It suits UK prime minister, Theresa May, to distract attention from Britains Brexit woes, but it is foolish for Ireland to

provoke key suppliers.

About 89% of Irelands primary energy mix is fossil fuels and only 10% of primary energy is based on renewables and 1% on hydro-power.

All Irelands oil is imported. In this, Ireland is not unusual: 88% of the worlds primary energy mix is fossil fuels, which is slightly up over the last 15 years, due to the relative decline in market share of nuclear and hydro-power.

You would think, therefore, it would be a national priority to reduce import dependence. Instead, a Friends of the Earth initiative to keep fossil fuels in the ground led to a bill passing the first stage in Dail Eireann.

But it is not more environmentally friendly to burn gas that has been piped from Siberia than gas produced locally. Around 15% of the gas is depleted to power compressors and to pay transit fees en route.

Opponents of exploration are therefore increasing greenhouse emissions by 15%. Intermittent renewables need 100% reliable, immediately available back-up. In Ireland, this effectively means gas-fired generators, which undermine the viability of wind and solar energy.

Inconsistently, the opponents simultaneously argue that the State has given away the resources to oil companies, only for citizens to have to buy petroleum products back at market rates.

They are against finding or exploiting new hydrocarbons, but want the State to own hydrocarbons, and sell them at below-market rates.

Most doubt that such tree-hugger initiatives could make it into law, but, last June, the Dail passed a blanket prohibition on onshore hydraulic fracturing, even though no one proposed fracking wells at depths shallower than 1,000 metres.

Limiting the fracking depth to below 1,000 metres, with normal environmental protections, eliminates any danger.

When TDs legislate without understanding, they are like the West Virginia mother who blamed fracking for turning her son gay. Such legislation increases your energy bills.

Meanwhile, policymakers ignore profound changes in the energy market. Exploration expenditure has been slashed and projects have been delayed.

Oil stocks, which were at record highs in 2016, are now returning to normal levels. And, for the first time, Russia has effectively been co-opted as a member of the OPEC nations.

The world economy is growing, while several oil-producers struggle. Venezuelan output has collapsed from 3.35m barrels a day in 1999 to under 1.5m in 2018. Yet, policymakers act as if stocks remain high and as if there is surplus capacity sloshing around the system.

The only available capacity is in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE. Iran is struggling to maintain output, due to a sanctions hangover from US president Donald Trumps election and poor fiscal terms worsening investor worries.

Iraq faces infrastructure problems that will take a decade to resolve, after nearly 40 years of conflict and sanctions.

Nigeria and Libya remain embroiled in conflict over oil assets and their output is stolen. Angolas output is

declining, with problems at its major fields.

Ireland needs to develop its own energy resources and cultivate relations with existing suppliers.

David Horgan is director of Irish exploration company, Petrel Resources
Up to 50 placard bearing delegates greeted the arrival of Education Minister Richard Bruton at the ASTI annual convention in Cork today.

The placards, demanding equal pay, were carried into the convention centre where delegates held them aloft throughout the minister's speech.
Russia's ambassador to Ireland has defended the expulsion of an Irish diplomat.

Yury Filatov said the measure was a principle of diplomacy after Ireland ejected a Russian representative over the Salisbury nerve agent poisoning.

The senior Russian Government official urged the Dublin authorities to use common sense.

The Republic was among several EU countries to take action in solidarity with the UK.

The ambassador said: "Nobody will doubt the leading principle of diplomacy, which is reciprocity.

"Basically you have to assume that every action finds its counter action, that is the way it is."

He expressed optimism it would not damage the positive relationship between the two countries where close ties exist in areas like business and agriculture.

He also suggested some who took solidarity action with the UK harboured doubts, alleging the general public in Europe and some states and nations did not buy the claim put forward by London blaming Russia for Salisbury.

Mr Filatov added: "Even countries which took part in the so-called solidarity demands have doubts and they acted, as we know, on grounds which have nothing to do with Salisbury but mainly to do with some other agenda bilaterally or multilaterally."

Ireland's foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney has described the Salisbury attack as an affront to international law and order.

Former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia remain in hospital following the March 4 incident.

Moscow's ambassador to Ireland said the expulsion of a Russian official from Ireland was "unfortunate" but did not have any bearing on the "real state of things".

"It is not the end of the world and we have a very positive agenda."

He said business and agricultural ties were developing.

PA & Digital Desk
A cousin of a young man who was paralysed during Storm Emma says there is hope that he will regain the use of his arms.

19-year-old Jack O'Driscoll from Mayfield in Cork suffered the serious injuries after jumping in snow while out with his friends.
By Louise Roseingrave

A 51-year-old woman died due to complications of neurosurgery 16 years after an operation to remove an intracranial cyst.

Mrs Gulrukh Haris died at St Vincents Hospital on June 19, 2017, some 16 years after complications of neurosurgery left her in a minimally conscious state.

The married mother of two had undergone surgery to remove an intracranial colloid cyst at Beaumont Hospital in 2001.

She was discharged on October 8, 2001, but was re-admitted to Tralee General Hospital eight days later. She was transferred to Cork University Hospital and from there re-admitted to Beaumont.

The woman suffered two cardiac arrests and developed post-operative hydrocephalus, an accumulation of fluid within the brain.

Despite medical interventions, she remained in a minimally conscious state, Dublin Coroners Court heard.

Her son, who travelled from London to be present in court, said that since 2001 his mother had spent her life between three different hospitals.

He said the family were initially hopeful that communication with Mrs Haris was possible but tests showed that her mind was not functioning.

She was a long-term patient at the Royal Hospital in Donnybrook, Dublin 4.

On June 13, 2017, the woman was admitted to St Vincents Hospital in Dublin with aspiration pneumonia. Later that day sepsis was diagnosed.

The womans condition deteriorated and she developed multi-organ failure. She was pronounced dead at 4.43pm on June 19.

Her death was due to neurological injuries sustained as a result of the initial neurosurgery, Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said.

The cause of death was aspiration pneumonia resulting from injuries sustained due to neurosurgery performed on a third ventricle colloid cyst in 2001.

Dr Cullinane returned a verdict of medical misadventure and said the case was a tragic one because the initial presenting problem was not a life-limiting one.

Although there is an interval of 16 years, it still falls into the category of medical misadventure because its a complication of the surgery that...brought about her premature death. the coroner said.

It is very difficult because the person is physically there. Its difficult when they are not truly with you, the coroner said, extending condolences to the womans family.
By Louise Roseingrave

A man died after he sustained injuries in a fall through a piece of plastic perspex while working on the roof of hay-barn, an inquest has heard.

James Culloty (aged 63) from Waterloo, Mallow, Co Cork, was repairing a corrugated roof on a lean-to attached to the hay-barn when the accident happened.

His co-worker said the married father of two was walking on the roof when "all of a sudden he was gone".

Garda Paul Manton of Glantane Garda Station said Mr Culloty fell eight foot seven inches through a piece of plastic perspex sheeting on the roof. The perspex is not designed to take the weight of a man, the garda said.

Mr Culloty fell onto a raised galvanised pipe railing in the shed, before landing on the ground. The railing was around 4ft off the ground, Dublin Coroner's Court heard.

Donal ORiordan said he hired Mr Culloty to carry out the repairs to the roof of the hay-barn near Banteer, Co Cork after he detected a leak.

He said Mr Culloty gave a quote to repair the roof after examining the job from the ground. The work was to take two days to complete.

Mr Culloty was described by his colleague Patrick O'Sullivan as "in good form" as they started the job on August 29, 2016. He said the accident happened at 4.30pm.

I didnt see it I just heard the bang. All I heard was the crash, Mr O'Sullivan said.

He went down to find Mr Culloty on his knees in the hay-barn.

He said 'if I get some fresh air Ill be grand,' Mr OSullivan said, but he was concerned for his co-worker. He encouraged him to call a local nurse who in turn called an ambulance.

The injured man was transferred to Cork University Hospital. He was diagnosed with severe chest injuries including multiple fractured ribs, a left kidney injury, a fractured left hip and fractured breastbone.

He suffered a collapsed lung in the fall and had a pre-existing lung disease due to smoking. His injuries were severe but survivable but doctors found it difficult to adequately ventilate him, Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said.

Mr Culloty was transferred to the Mater Hospital in Dublin where he suffered a stroke and died on September 6, 2016.

The cause of death was due to the injuries sustained from a fall on August 29, 2016, with a clot and a stroke as contributory factors.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane returned a verdict of accidental death.
Update - 3.41pm: All three teachers unions have unanimously passed an emergency motion on pay inequality paving the way for joint strikes by 70,000 teachers.

The motion calls for talks with the Government to start this month and to conclude by early May, with a concrete timeline for the restoration of pay for lower paid teachers.

The unions, which are all holding their annual conferences this week, will ballot their members for co-ordinated strike action if the issue is not resolved.

Siobhan Peters, who seconded the motion at the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland Congress in Cork, said: "I myself am five increment behind a 2010 graduate with the same experience and this is the best-case scenario for 2011 graduates.

"I'm sure that there are many more lower paid teachers who are further behind on the incremental scale as a result of part-time hours and casual contracts.

"I think it is fair to say that no-one expected instantaneous results or expected lower paid teachers to gain pay parity overnight."

6.48am: INTO members to discuss pay inequality at conference today

The issue of pay inequality is centre stage at the INTO conference in Killarney.

Education Minister Richard Bruton is attending the event this morning following the Taoiseach's promise to engage in negotiations by the end of April.

Teachers meeting in Cork and Kerry have agreed to table an emergency motion calling on the Government to end pay inequality.

Delegates at the INTO conference and the ASTI teachers union will both debate the same motion today and it is expected the TUI will join them.

Members will discuss the motion later today.

They say a teacher who started working in 2012 will earn 100,000 less than someone who began in 2010, over the course of their career.

INTO General Secretary Sheila Nunan says they want to get the pay debate off the agenda once and for all.

"We're very pleased that negotiations will be starting," she said.

"We'll have to put our shoulders to the wheel at that point and see if we can close out this issue for once and for all. But there are motions to be debated here today saying that if we fail to do that then we will be balloting out members for industrial action and we understand there will be similar motions across the TUI and the ASTI.

I think we're very resolved for once and for all, can we get this off the agenda, can we treat our young teachers properly and can we move on with other issues in education.

Digital Desk
Renua Ireland has launched its referendum campaign with the slogan, 'Be My Voice'.

The party is calling for a no vote in the upcoming abortion referendum which will take place on May 25.
Update 11.38am: The Minister for Education Richard Bruton confirmed this morning on Today with Sean O'Rourke that he has written to the NCCA to initiate a review of sex education curriculum and how it is delivered in schools.

He said the review is very timely as students are facing challenges that are dramatically different today compared with the student 20 years ago for whom the curriculum was designed, particularly in areas such as consent and marriage equality.

Mr Bruton said, in particular, he would like the role of social media and the internet to be addressed as well as issues surrounding sexual orientation and LGBTQI.

The Minister says the NCCA will revert to him when they have assessed his request with a specific timeline.

"We've introduced a new definition, a legal definition, of consent.

Clearly that is an issue that is of very considerable importance in equipping any young person in terms of sexuality and their relationships.

"It's important that that would be dealt with. It's not in any way a reaction.

"Our own inspectors have done an assessment of the delivery of relationship and sexuality education. It has shown weaknesses."

Mr Bruton said the recent Belfast rape trial was not the reason for this review, 'that's not the motivation here'.

In the primary curriculum at the moment, there is no mention of sexual orientation or marriage equality, clearly they are now features of Irish life that should be reflected in the curriculum even at primary level.

On baptising children ahead of school enrollment, Richard Bruton said that he has always indicated that it was unfair that a child cannot access their local school because they are not of a particular religious denomination.

He pointed out that he is the first Minister for Education to address the issue; and did so once it was raised in the Dail all parties recommended that it should be addressed.

"We have a problem here, what I'm trying to do is ensure that there's a balanced response, that we respect as fairly as possible the rights of the three groups."

Mr Bruton said he hoped to draft the necessary amendments before the summer recess.

He said his work has been carried out in a timely manner, it is a matter that is very sensitive and needs to strike a balance for the three interested groups, Catholics, minority religions and those with no religion.

On new regulation being in situ, Mr Bruton couldn't give a definite timeline.

This is dealing with a complex issue, there are complex constitutional rights here, I've dealt with it in a timely way when no previous minister had addressed it. There is no unnecessary delay being exercised here.

Earlier: 33% of parents unaware of content of sex education classes

By Niall Murray

Update 8.02am: More than one in three parents do not know what their children are learning in sex education classes, they have told school inspectors.

The revelation comes as Education Minister Richard Bruton announces a major review of relationship and sexuality education (RSE) in primary and second-level schools, which will focus on consent, contraception, and other issues.

However, he also wants information about the teaching of RSE in schools to be reflected in the parents and students charter that he said every school will be legally required to publish later this year.

The need to improve communication about RSE policies to parents was recommended by Department of Education chief inspector Harold Hislops recent report on issues highlighted from his staffs work in schools from 2013 to 2016.

While communication generally with parents requires improvement, RSE emerged as an area in which it is particularly poor.

One in four parents of children in mainstream schools said they do not know the RSE policy, and another 12% (one in eight) said they have not been informed about it. This indicates that there is a need for management to effectively communicate the details of this policy to parents, Mr Hislops report read.

The review ordered by the minister is to form part of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessments recently-initiated reviews of primary education and senior cycle at second-level.

As well as the content of the RSE curriculum, the council is to examine how sex education is taught, whether the entire curriculum is being delivered to a high standard, and if teachers have proper training and supports to talk to students about sexuality and relationships.

Some elements of RSE have not been updated in 20 years, and the minister believes the review will help inform decisions about the content of the curriculum and how it is taught.

I want to ensure that the RSE curriculum meets the needs of young people today, who face a range of different issues to those faced by young people in the late 1990s, he said.

A Solidarity private members bill to be debated in the Dail later this month will seek to remove provisions from education law that could allow schools to restrict or change what is taught in RSE because of their religious ethos.

Irish Examiner
By Patrick Flynn

A search is continuing in Co Tipperary for a man reported missing last night.

The multi-agency operation is being coordinated in the area of Borrisokane. The missing man is understood to be local.

He was last seen on Monday evening, but a search was mounted by Gardai when concern was expressed for his safety.

The Nenagh Ormond Search and Rescue Unit was requested to join the search at around midnight. Members of Tipperary Civil Defence, including their K-9 unit, are also involved in the operation.

Members of Killaloe Coast Guard during the search this morning.

Three Irish Coast Guard search teams from Killaloe Co Clare joined the search this morning and have been using an all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) to access lands and wooded areas.

Teams have been searching lands, parks, walkways and roadways in an effort to locate the man. A search of a local river and streams has also been carried out.

The Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter, Rescue 115, carried out a search from Borrisokane along a local river to Lough Derg, but there has been no sighting of the man.

Locals and family members are also assisting in the operation which is being coordinated by Gardai from Borrisokane with assistance from members from Nenagh.
The head of the UK's Porton Down military research facility has said his scientists have not verified that the nerve agent used in Salisbury came from Russia.

Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the British Government's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, said the poison had been identified as a military-grade Novichok nerve agent which could probably be deployed only by a nation-state.

But he told Sky News it was not Porton Down's role to work out its origin and said the British Government relied on "a number of different input sources" in coming to its assessment that it was highly likely to be from Russia.

Mr Aitkenhead flatly denied Russian claims the substance could have come from Porton Down itself.

A Government spokesman said that the authorities had always been clear that the Porton Down assessment was "only one part of the intelligence picture".

"As the Prime Minister has set out in a number of statements to the Commons since March 12, this includes our knowledge that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination and as part of this programme has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichoks; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets," said the spokesman.

"It is our assessment that Russia was responsible for this brazen and reckless act and, as the international community agrees, there is no other plausible explanation."

Mr Aitkenhead's comments come a day ahead of an extraordinary meeting in The Hague of the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to discuss the Salisbury attack.

The meeting on April 4 - to be held behind closed doors - was called by Russia to "address the situation around allegations of non-compliance" with the chemical weapons convention made by the UK against Moscow.

But the British Foreign Office dismissed it as a "diversionary tactic" by Russia, "intended to undermine the work of the OPCW in reaching a conclusion".

Russia has denied responsibility for the March 4 attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov even suggesting on Monday that it might have been carried out by the UK as a means of distracting voters from its difficulties with Brexit.

Mr Lavrov said relations between Russia and the West were worse than during the Cold War, accusing the UK and US of "putting all decency aside" in their dealings with Moscow.

Porton Down's identification of the substance used in the attack on the Skripals as Novichok was a key plank in the evidence presented by the UK in Theresa May's successful bid to recruit international support in the dispute with Moscow, resulting in the expulsion of more than 100 Russian diplomats from over 20 countries.

Asked about his scientists' findings, Mr Aitkenhead told Sky: "We in terms of our role were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify it was a military-grade nerve agent.

"We have not verified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific information to the Government, who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions that they have come to."

The location of manufacture "can be established through a number of different input sources which the Government has access to", he said, adding: "From our perspective, scientific evidence is only one of those sources, and it requires a number of other things to verify that.

"It's a military grade nerve agent which requires extremely sophisticated methods in order to create - something that's probably only within the capabilities of a state actor."

Rejecting Russian claims the substance could have come from Porton Down, Mr Aitkenhead said: "There's no way that anything like that would ever have come from us or leave the four walls of our facilities.

"We've got the highest levels of security and controls. We are regularly audited by the OPCW to make sure we are operating within those controls. If there was any hint that anything that we have would be leaving our four walls, then we wouldn't be allowed to operate."

Meanwhile, retired Russian Lieutenant-General Evgeny Buzhinsky warned that relations between Russia and the West could become "worse" than the Cold War and "end up in a very, very bad outcome" following the nerve agent attack.

Asked to spell out what this would mean, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "A real war, worse than a cold war is a real war, it will be the last war in the history of mankind."

A Downing Street spokesman said: "As the Prime Minister has made clear, the UK would much rather have in Russia a constructive partner ready to play by the rules.

"But this attack in Salisbury was part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive Russian behaviour, as well as a new and dangerous phase in Russian activity within the continent and beyond."
Jeremy Corbyn faces a fresh row over his handling of Labour's relationship with the Jewish community.

Here we look at some of the key questions:

- What is the extent of the problem?

Labour leader Mr Corbyn has acknowledged that anti-Semitism occurred in "pockets" within the party and wider movement.

A report into the issue by Baroness Chakrabarti in 2016 found that "the Labour Party is not overrun by anti-Semitism", but it was condemned as a "whitewash" by critics.

The pro-Corbyn Momentum group said the problem is "more widespread in the Labour Party than many of us had understood even a few months ago".

- Has the problem got worse under Mr Corbyn's leadership?

The Labour leader, like many on the left of the party, has a long history of supporting the Palestinian cause and criticising the government of Israel for human rights abuses.

But some of those who share Mr Corbyn's political sympathies have crossed the line from attacking the Israeli government to smears aimed at Jews - including holocaust denial.

In March, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Jewish Leadership Council used an open letter to claim that Mr Corbyn is "repeatedly found alongside people with blatantly anti-Semitic views, but claims never to hear or read them" and "rightly or wrongly, those who push this offensive material regard Jeremy Corbyn as their figurehead".

- What has triggered the latest row?

The issue has never really gone away, but flared up again after Labour MP Luciana Berger challenged Mr Corbyn over his apparent support for an artist behind a mural at the centre of an anti-Semitism row.

The Labour leader admitted he should have looked more closely at the content of the picture before defending it on freedom of expression grounds.

The ensuing row led to a protest outside Parliament and the strongly-worded open letter.

- What has Mr Corbyn's response been?

The Labour leader issued an apology for the "pain and hurt" caused by anti-Semitism in the party, and promised to meet representatives from the Jewish community.

But he faced a backlash after attending a Seder event with the radical Jewdas group, which claimed that the mural row had been a "malicious ploy" aimed at undermining Mr Corbyn.

- Who are the groups involved in the row?

The Board of Deputies of British Jews is made up of almost 300 deputies directly elected by synagogues and community organisations and describes itself as the "voice of the British Jewish community".

The Jewish Leadership Council is a charity which aims to support a vibrant and safe Jewish community.

Jewdas is a radical, left-wing group which has been critical of Zionism and the Israeli government and attacked the reaction of the "Jewish establishment" to the Labour anti-Semitism row.

The Jewish Labour Movement has been affiliated to the Labour Party since 1920 and its members include parliamentarians, councillors, grassroots activists and party supporters.

- What next?

Mr Corbyn has asked for an urgent formal meeting with the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council to discuss tackling anti-Semitism.

Labour also has to deal with a backlog of cases of alleged anti-Semitic behaviour, including deciding whether Ken Livingstone has a future in the party.

New general secretary Jennie Formby has promised an updated complaints and discipline process to eradicate the "stain" of anti-Semitism.
Update - 10.43pm: The Chief of Police at San Bruno, Ed Barberini, says they have found one dead person, said to be female, who appears to have shot themselves.

She is believed to be the shooter at YouTube's California headquarters, but it has not been confirmed as yet.

He said they also found four people with "gunshot-related injuries" at the scene.

We have four victims who have all been transported for gunshot-related injuries and we have one subject who is deceased inside the building with a self-inflicted wound who, at this time, we believe to be the shooter but we are still following up on that, he said.

Police activity at 901 Cherry Ave, please stay out of the area. pic.twitter.com/H6iAj0g7ra  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

He went on to say that it is an active event and an active investigation.

Brent Andrews from the Stanford General Hospital has said that they have taken in three patients from the shooting, one of whom has been described as critical.

He said a 36-year-old man is in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman is in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman is in fair condition.

He said the hospital was expecting more patients but does not know their conditions.

YouTube product manager Todd Sherman said he was in a meeting when he heard people running for the exit.

He said it seemed serious and not like a drill.

10.23pm: Hospital takes in up to five patients as California police hunt 'active shooter' at YouTube campus

A spokeswoman for California's Stanford Hospital said it had received four to five patients from the shooting at YouTube but had no information about their condition.

San Bruno police said they could not provide more information about the incident.

The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting.

YouTube employee Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter that he heard gunshots and saw people running.

He said he was barricaded in a room with his co-workers before being safely evacuated.

Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.  Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018

Will Hudson said his friend who works for YouTube texted him about the assailant.

"I think there might be a shooter in my building," read one text.

"The fire alarm went off so we started to evacuate and then people (started) running saying there was a shooter."

Mr Hudson said his friend has made it safely back to San Francisco and is in contact with his family.

Mr Hudson said he had become accustomed to hearing about such violence but has never been so close to it before.

"It just feels strange. It feels like it could really be anyone. That's really the strangeness of it," he said.

9.50pm: California police hunting 'active shooter' at YouTube campus

Police in California are responding to reports of a shooting at YouTube headquarters in the city of San Bruno.

City manager Connie Jackson said there were multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting and that police and fire officials have responded.

Police tweeted to warn people to stay away from Cherry Avenue and Bay Hill Drive as the incident unfolded.

TV helicopter video shows officers searching people grouped outside a building and police vehicles surrounding the area.

San Bruno police said they could not provide more information.

The world's biggest online video website is located on a suburban campus.

Calls and emails to YouTube representatives were not immediately returned.

Google Communications tweeted in light of the YouTube shooting reports to say it was coordinating with authorities and will provide official information as it becomes available.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is to pay a one-day visit to Scandinavia to discuss the threat from Russia, trade and Brexit with two close allies.

Mrs May will meet her Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Copenhagen and Swedish PM Stefan Lofven in Stockholm on April 9, Downing Street has announced.
Police in the US are investigating after a woman apparently shot and wounded her five-year-old daughter at a party in Illinois.

Police officials in Lansing said their initial investigation found the mother was handling a gun when it went off early Monday, striking the sleeping girl.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled an agreement with the United Nations to resettle thousands of African migrants.

The move came after pressure from members of his coalition prompted him earlier to suspend the agreement.

Mr Netanyahu suddenly announced he was suspending the deal on Monday night, just hours after touting it on national television, until he could meet with Israeli residents of south Tel Aviv, which has areas with large migrant populations.

After meeting with residents on Tuesday Mr Netanyahu said he had weighed the pros and cons and he "decided to cancel the agreement".

The move came after pressure from Mr Netanyahu's nationalist allies who lashed out against the deal.

Naftali Bennett, leader of the nationalist Jewish Home party, tweeted shortly before Mr Netanyahu's statement nullifying the deal that the agreement "is bad for Israel".

He said "it's not enough to suspend it, I call on the prime minister to cancel it completely". He added: "Its approval would cause generations of crying and determine a precedent in Israel granting residency for illegal infiltrators."

Mr Netanyahu had announced on Monday afternoon that Israel agreed to cancel the planned expulsion of the migrants.

The deal called for sending about half of the 35,000 African migrants to Western nations and allowing the rest to remain in Israel.

Dozens of migrants and their Israeli supporters protested against the suspension outside the prime minister's office in Jerusalem and government offices in Tel Aviv as Mr Netanyahu met with the neighbourhood representatives.

Some protesters stripped to the waist, draped themselves with chains and taped their mouths shut at a protest in Tel Aviv. Others waved signs reading "human lives are not to play with. Yes to the deal".

Protester Daniella Elyashar called on Mr Netanyahu to "stop this political game".

Another protester, Veronika Cohen, said "yesterday we were in tears of joy and this morning just in tears".

Hardliners in Mr Netanyahu's coalition strongly criticised the deal for allowing thousands of Africans to remain after the prime minister announced it.

Labour Party leader Avi Gabbay criticised the sudden turnaround on Army Radio questioning if defence decisions are also made in the same manner.

"It is sad, troubling and even a little scary that decisions are made that way," Mr Gabbay said. He accused Mr Netanyahu of leadership based on polls and comments on social media.

Israeli commentators attacked Mr Netanyahu for folding to pressure.

Writing in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Sima Kadmon noted Mr Netanyahu's decision "lasted for just six hours and 45 minutes" before "an important and courageous decision by the prime minister was trampled under the boots of the right wing divisions".

Most of the African migrants are from war-torn Sudan and Eritrea, the latter having one of the world's worst human rights records.

The migrants say they are asylum-seekers fleeing danger and persecution, while Israeli leaders have claimed they are merely job seekers.

The Africans started arriving in 2005 after neighbouring Egypt violently quashed a refugee demonstration and word spread of safety and job opportunities in Israel. Tens of thousands crossed the desert border with Egypt before Israel completed a barrier in 2012 that stopped the influx.

Thousands of African migrants are concentrated in neighbourhoods in south Tel Aviv, where ethnic food shops and phone card stalls line the streets, and the area has become known as "Little Africa".

This has sparked tension with the working-class Jewish residents who have been putting pressure on the government to find a solution.

Residents complained the agreement does not address their needs and demanded assurances that remaining migrants will be dispersed around the country as promised.

The prime minister's turnaround threw into limbo the surprise agreement, which had finally offered a solution to an issue that has divided Israel for a decade.

The deportation plan had been widely criticised at home and abroad, even by some of Israel's closest supporters.
Update 12.20pm: The fallout from the Salisbury poisoning could lead to the "last war in the history of mankind", a retired Russian general has warned.

Relations between Russia and the West could become "worse" than the Cold War and "end up in a very, very bad outcome" following the nerve agent attack, Lieutenant-General Evgeny Buzhinsky said.

Responding to arguments that many countries across the world believed the Kremlin was responsible for last month's attack, Mr Buzhinsky, who now heads an international security think tank the PIR Center, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Please, when you say the world, you mean EU and United States and some other countries ... you see it's a cold war, it's worse than the Cold War because if the situation will develop in the way this (is) now, I'm afraid that it will end up in a very, very bad outcome."

Asked to spell out what this would mean, he said: "A real war, worse than a cold war is a real war, it will be the last war in the history of mankind."

He added: "You're saying that the pressure will continue, what are you going achieve? If you are going to achieve (the) regime change, it's useless, you don't know Russians. The more external pressure (there) is, the more the society is consolidated around the President."

Explaining how the situation could escalate, Mr Buzhinksy accused the West of "cornering" Russia which he argued was a "very dangerous thing".

He said: "You don't want to discuss, you say Russia should change its behaviour, it's not the kind of talk, it's not the kind of compromise we need.

"OK, you expel diplomats, we expel diplomats, you further expel, what's the next step, the breach of the diplomatic relations ... After that, I said that it may lead to nowhere. Actually, you are cornering Russia and to corner, Russia is a very dangerous thing."

Asked about other countries not believing the Kremlin's comments about the Salisbury poisoning, Mr Buzhinksy branded it "such a nonsense", arguing that in this crime Russian President Vladimir Putin "is the last guy to benefit".

Earlier: Salisbury spy poisoning is distraction from Brexit - Russia foreign minister

Sergey Lavrov

Russia's foreign minister accused Britain and the US of spreading "lies and disinformation" about the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in England, declaring that East-West tensions are worse now than during the Cold War.

Britain has blamed Russia for the March 4 nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Britain and two dozen of its allies have since expelled over 150 Russian diplomats. Moscow, which vehemently denies any involvement, has responded tit-for-tat.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the British accusations on Monday as a "mad and horrible provocation".

He argued that Russia had no motive to attack Mr Skripal, who was released in a 2010 spy swap from a Russian prison where he was serving time for spying for Britain.

"If there were any gripes against the man, he wouldn't have been swapped," Mr Lavrov said.

Russia's top diplomat also mocked Britain's claim that there was no plausible alternative explanation for the poisonings of the Skripals.

British intelligence agencies could have been involved and the case helped distract public attention from the British government's difficult talks to exit the European Union, Mr Lavrov said.

"There are other explanations besides those put forward by our Western colleagues, who declare that it can only be the Russians who are responsible," Mr Lavrov said. "It could also be advantageous to the British government, who clearly find themselves in a difficult situation having failed to fulfil their promises to voters over Brexit."

British officials have previously rejected similar Russian allegations.

Mr Lavrov said that Russia has called a meeting of the international chemical weapons watchdog for Wednesday to discuss the case and asked it to provide details of its cooperation with Britain in the poisoning probe.

Alexander Shulgin, the Russian representative at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said on Monday in televised remarks that the organisation must conduct an "open, thorough and unbiased investigation" with Russian experts' participation.

British authorities invited OPCW experts to take chemical samples from Salisbury, the English city where the father and daughter were sickened, and to analyse them.

Mr Shulgin warned that Moscow would not accept the agency's conclusions unless Russian experts are allowed to take part in the process.

Mr Lavrov also assailed the British authorities for stonewalling Russia's request for consular access to Yulia Skripal, 33, a Russian citizen whose condition has improved since she and her father fell critically ill on March 4.

"Many say that the situation now is worse than it was during the Cold War because some rules existed and decorum was observed back then," he said.

"Now, Britain, the US and a few countries blindly following them have dropped all decorum and engaged in blatant lies and disinformation."

PA
A swastika has been removed from a church bell in a north-western town in Germany.

The pastor for the church in Schweringen informed officials on Thursday that he had discovered the Nazi symbol engraved on the bell was removed, according to the Lutheran church's branch in the area.

It said a note claiming responsibility was also found, but did not give details.

Local newspaper Die Harke published a picture of a note, which read "spring cleaning 2018".

The church suspended use of the bell last year after the swastika was found.

Local church officials recently decided to put it back in use - a decision that was contested by the pastor.

The church said on Tuesday it will now consider how to proceed and whether to take any legal action.
Tomorrow, April 4, will mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

The 39-year-old leader of the US civil rights movement was shot and killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennesse.

In 1963, Dr King delivered his 'I have a dream' speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, in front of a crowd of 200,000 civil rights activists.

On the eve of the anniversary of his death, we bring you that famous speech, that is seen to have changed the course of civil rights in America.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check  a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Digital Desk
Keen bidders battled for a warehouse property at 43-45 Edward Street which eventually sold for $2.4 million under the hammer. George Petropoulos from CRS Property said the red brick building sold on a 1.8 per cent yield. Mr Petropoulos said over the previous week, four out of five of the firms auctions were successful. St Albans Two medical centres in St Albans and Sunshine West have sold under the hammer for a combined total of $3.365 million. More than 150 people turned out to watch the auctions at 192 Furlong Road, St Albans ($2.015 million), and 103 Glengala Road, Sunshine West ($1.35 million), Savills Australias Mark Stafford, Jesse Radisich and Nick Peden said. St Albans achieved a sale price 102 per cent above reserve, while the Sunshine West sale was 93 per cent above reserve, Mr Stafford said. Cremorne Heavy demand in hip Cremorne is driving strata sales. A three-level office at 97 Green Street sold for $1.805 million. One of two within the block, it has a three year lease with a three-year option to ASX-listed biotechnology group Rhinomed Ltd, returning $95,000 per annum plus all outgoings and sold for a 5.25 per cent yield, Fitzroys Stuart Kennett and David Bourke said.

Port Melbourne An industrial building at 816 Lorimer Street has been snapped up by a private investor for more than $2.3 million. Colliers Internationals Lachlan Dornauf and Joe Kairouz negotiated the sale of the facility on a 4.9 per cent yield. The 874 sq m building had a 2.5 year WALE. Fitzroy A new ground floor cafe in the former Bentwood building at 1/237 Napier Street has sold for $2.2 million. Gross Waddells Raoul Salter and Michael Gross said retail space at the bottom of a new apartment development transacted on a sharp 4.55 per cent yield. Dandenong South

Camerons Al Armstrong has sold 92 Logis Boulevard, Dandenong South to a passive investor for $4,221,236. The 2,552 sq m building had four years remaining on the lease and sold off-market on a 5.3 per cent yield. Malvern A shop at 224 Glenferrie Road sold in front of a 100-strong crowd on a tight yield of 2.5 per cent to an interstate investor for $1.86 million, Gorman Commercials Stephen Gorman and Alex Browne said. With an auction like this, its clear that retail investments are as strong as ever, said Mr Gorman. Brighton Strong bidding from a Chinese developer saw a 1,006 sq m rectangular land parcel with 15.34 sq m frontage to Asling Street sell for $4.45million, Colliers Internationals Hamish Burgess, Bryson Cameron, Ben Baines and Jun Lai said.

Brunswick A double-fronted art gallery near popular Sydney Road has sold under the hammer for $860,000. The refurbished 100 sq m ground floor space at 1 Sparta Place, home of Beinart Gallery, is opposite the Mariana Hardwick building. Spirited competition between five bidders saw it sell on a tight 4.6 per cent yield, Fitzroys Chris Kombi and Ervin Niyaz said. Oakleigh South A two storey industrial/warehouse leased to Deanne Fordham School of Dance at 5/19-23 Clarinda Road sold for $925,000. The property returned rent of $48,954.12 per annum net, Seamus Bolst and John Nockles from CVA said. In another deal, Mr Nockles sold 20 Graham Daff Boulevard in the Braeside land subdivision, Lakeviews Estate, for $624,500, at a strong $500 per sq m rate. Daniel Philip and Mr Nockles also sold a warehouse at 6/45-53 Duerdin Street in Notting Hill for $1,709,250.

Box Hill The Commonwealth Bank Home Lending Centre has snapped up a ground floor retail space in a new development at 1 Elland Avenue for $531,000. Knight Franks Paul Pellegrino said the result had a projected yield of 6.5 per cent in a suburb where there was high demand and low vacancy. LEASES Mount Waverley

Private hospital provider Cabrini Health will expand its services after leasing 405-409 Ferntree Gully Road, adding to properties it controls in Malvern, Prahran, Brighton, Ashwood and Elsternwick. CBREs Sasan Misaghian and Bryce Pane negotiated the lease on the 4,067 sq m industrial space in conjunction with Steven Lawson of Lawson Real Estate for $330,000 per annum. Melbourne Four new leases have taken 379 Collins Street to 100 per cent occupancy. Colliers Internationals Milly Stockdale and Adam Davy said William Murray Solicitors took 183 sq m, Terminals signed up for 238 sq m, Dimos Dental will occupy 198 sq m and Worldskills Australia will move into 190 sq m in the building. Asking rentals were rumoured to be around $480 to $500 per sq m net. In St Kilda Road, Chris Meehan and Matt Cosgrave leased Navika Pty Ltd 170 sq m on Level 4 at 493 St Kilda Road for $450 sq m gross. Financial services group GMTK also took 300 sq m space on Level 1 at similar rents. West Melbourne Construction company Capital Group has leased a ground floor office at 466 William Street in a 2.5-year deal at $82,600 per annum plus GST. Fitzroys Stephen Land said businesses were drawn location as rents were more competitive compared to the CBD.
Owners of older office buildings are proving reluctant to invest in energy efficiency projects, despite myriad government-backed incentive schemes and mounting evidence the outlay will result in improved tenancies and capital gains.

Green Building Council of Australia CEO Romilly Madew said while the tier one office sector has led the way globally on energy and water efficiency, owners of second grade (mid-tier) buildings were proving harder to engage.

The council estimates 80 per cent of office building stock nationally is mid tier, defined as being built between 1966 and 2000.

While top-tier buildings are tightly owned by institutions, the mid tier is owned by families or individuals who are more difficult to contact or preoccupied with other matters.
The committee is also concerned that some members' retirement savings are eroded by the life insurance premiums coming out of their accounts. It's in favour of continuing the automatic "default" cover provided by funds to members, but wants funds to make it easier for members to opt out of the insurance. Loading John Berrill, a lawyer and director of Berrill and Watson, who specialises in superannuation and insurance, has seen the value of default cover over and over again. Ive worked in the field now for 25 years and Ive seen the way life insurance can completely turn peoples lives around, he says.

If it weren't for default cover, they would not have had any insurance. However, Berrill says policy rules do change and while funds will communicate those changes to members, most people don't pay attention to the communications from their super funds. But failure to take notice can leave you reliant on welfare if you are not covered for TPD, or your dependents missing out on the financial security from the payment of a benefit if you were to die. TPD not only covers physical injuries or illnesses - such as a major accident, cancer and heart disease -but certain types of mental illnesses, the fastest-growing claim category. Automatic acceptance Those who don't choose who manages their fund will be in a "MySuper" investment option of the super fund chosen by the employer. These have certain consumer protections, including low fees and a minimum amount of death and TPD cover.

The fund member does not apply for the insurance; it's automatic acceptance, without any medical or health checks. However, Berrill says usually the member needs to meet the at work test or active employment test. What that means is that at the date you join the fund you must be working and fully capable of doing your normal job, he says. Jeff Williams, 70, from Melbourne, had a claim for the death benefit for his son denied after the insurer behind the fund determined his son didn't start the cover until after he ceased work, which meant pre-existing conditions came into play. The payout to beneficiaries was denied because of the pre-existing health conditions that eventually led to his son's death. Williams is peeved that the benefit was denied as premiums continued to come out of his sons super and is considering whether to take the matter further. The former engineer strongly encourages everyone to be familiar with how their policy works and to take the time understand any changes that insurers make to policies. MySuper

Berrill says some default insurance polices under MySuper will not pay-out for pre-existing conditions, but the "vast majority" do. When a fund member elects to take extra cover in addition to the default cover, there can be medical checks and a need to submit medical history or answer a medical questionnaire. TPD cover will be paid under MySuper when you cannot be employed for work for which you are reasonably suited by education, training and experience, Berrill says. Any genetic testing that the fund member has had should not affect life insurance through super, he says. That is different to personal life insurance in Australia, where genetic testing can determine whether an insurer agrees to insure the applicant. The committee recommended there be an assessment of whether there should be a moratorium on life insurers from using genetic testing. In Britain, the life insurance industry agreed to a moratorium on asking applicants to disclose results of genetic tests. Voluntary code will help consumers

To date, super funds responsible for more than seven out of 10 MySuper members have signed-up to the voluntary Insurance in Superannuation Voluntary Code of Practice. Under the code, death and TPD cover will cease for default members with low account balances, where there has not been a contribution to the fund for a certain minimum amount of time. That's to help address the problem where those with small account balances can be eroded by insurance premiums. Anticipating one of the recommendations of the committee, it is a requirement of the code that funds make it easy for fund members to opt-out of the insurance, including the ability to do so online. There will be a long transition period for funds to comply as they typically have contracts with life insurers that last for three years and cannot be re-negotiated until the end of the contract period. Industry fund Hostplus, which covers those working in hospitality, tourism, recreation, sport and related industries, including a large number members working as casuals, has adopted the code. In addition to the provisions of the code, Hostplus will, by the end of the year, exclude death and TPD cover for members under 19 years of age.
A former economics professor who debunked a possible link between immigration and unemployment will face the Federal Circuit Court over allegations he underpaid foreign staff at his Melbourne grocery store.

The Dae Bark Mart grocery store on Flinders Street.

The Fair Work Ombudsman launched legal action against Jordan Shan, a former associate professor of applied economics at Victoria University, over claims he paid as little as $10 per hour to two South Koreans, who were owed more than $14,000.

Court documents also allege that Mr Shan failed to pay penalty rates or annual leave entitlements to the staff, who worked up to seven days a week at the Dae Bark Mart grocery store on Flinders Street.

The two South Koreans were on working holiday visas in 2016 when they were employed by Mr Shan's company Jenni International to stock shelves at his Asian grocery store.
A NSW-based blogger has been ordered to take down material from his site that described a small and mysterious religious order as a "satanic paedophile cult". A Canberra tribunal found that the material was archetypal hate speech.

In January last year, David Bottrill complained to the ACT Human Rights Commission that he had been discriminated against because of his membership of the Ordo Templi Orientis.

He said blogger John Sunol operated a number of sites which had publicly vilified him on the basis of his religious conviction.

Mr Bottrill said the allegations made against him and the organisation were all untrue.

In the complaint, which was referred to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Mr Bottrill said he wanted the pages removed and an apology. He later also asked for compensation.
The salaries of public service bosses appear safe after an inquiry told the Senate to reject changes capping executive pay and possibly halving the wages of the top paid agency leaders.

A push from Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson to limit pay for senior executives in the Australian Public Service would have capped their salaries at about $420,000 per annum, the inquiry found, a significant reduction for many of the highest-ranking public servants.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson proposed a cap on public service bosses' pay. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Senate committee reviewing the bill rejected the cap on Wednesday last week, telling senators not to pass the legislation and warning it would be a "blunt mechanism" hurting the bureaucracy.

In response, the Greens said it was an "unashamedly blunt instrument" changing a remuneration system at odds with public service values.
A man accused of making an explosive device that was found in a Queensland shopping centre car park on Monday has been remanded in custody.

Cvjetin Ivkovic did not appear in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Tuesday after he was charged with 17 offences, including four counts of manufacturing an explosive device.

An Explosive Ordnance Response Team searches a car at Redbank Plaza car park after suspicious items were found.

Police charged the 37-year-old with nine offences related to his arrest and another eight after they searched his premises.

He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on April 20, when his defence lawyer Daniel Boddice said: "some other matters will be heard".
Brisbane City Council is investigating what caused a large tree branch to fall onto a CBD road and footpath.

On Monday, a branch of a leopard tree on Ann Street outside City Hall unexpectedly fell about 4pm, blocking two lanes and part of the footpath.

A branch of a leopard tree fell onto Ann Street on Monday, April 2. Credit:Ruth McCosker

Being a public holiday, the usually busy road and footpath were quiet, so no motorists or pedestrians were hit by the falling branch.

A spokeswoman for lord mayor Graham Quirk said the tree had been inspected in February and no issues had been identified.
One million stars hand-made out of ribbon from 15 different countries are hanging in King George Square in Brisbane CBD.

Artist Maryann Talia Pau collaborated with Museum of Brisbane to create a temporary installation One Million Stars in King George Square.

"The One Million Stars project focuses on creating peace, joy, and solidarity and invites people into conversation and solutions," Ms Talia Pau said.

The One Million Stars art installation in King George Square. Credit:Lilly Curcio

The project was started to end domestic violence, as Ms Talia Pau wanted to respond to a local tragedy in her hometown in Samoa.
A child has been rushed to hospital after a crash in Perth's north east on Monday evening.

Police spokeswoman Susan Usher said about 7pm a silver Toyota Camry and a silver BMW convertible crashed on the intersection of Marshall Road and Bellefin Drive in Malaga.

A child was among five people hurt in the crash. Credit:Quentin Jones QCJ

The male driver and three adult passengers of the Toyota were brought to Royal Perth Hospital and child passenger of the Toyota was rushed to Princess Margaret Hospital. None of the passengers suffered life-threatening injuries.

Police is asking anyone with information about the crash to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online.
Tests have revealed no traces of asbestos in samples taken from Lance Holt Primary School in Fremantles West End, after work at a demolition site across the road was halted Tuesday morning over concerns about the presence of the deadly mineral fibre.

Work at the former Fremantle Workers Club will also remain suspended, as the City of Fremantle confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that asbestos was found to be present at the site.

The City of Fremantle halted works pending tests to shed light on the scenario, with samples taken from the nearby school, as well as the site itself.

Fremantle architect Shane Braddock found materials he believes could be asbestos at the former Fremantle Workers' Club demolition site. Picture: Supplied

But City of Fremantle chief executive Philip St John confirmed Tuesday afternoon an independent analysis of nine samples taken from locations around the school found no trace of asbestos.
The wife of a Perth man badly burned in a garage fire says he "fell into the flames" while trying to protect their house on Monday evening.

Speaking to 9 News Perth, Evelyn Graham said she was inside the family home with her husband and young children on Delgado Parade in Iluka when she smelled smoke coming from their garage.

She discovered a large fire burning in the home's garage, and told 9 News Perth reporter Rebecca Johns her husband soon followed to investigate.

Ms Johns reported boxes stacked in the corner of the garage had caught alight, and were spreading the fire quickly to other parts of the garage.
America is a TV nation. To understand it, you have to immerse yourself in televangelists, game shows and tornado warnings. This is the country that elected a reality star as president - a president who last week telephoned a sitcom actress to congratulate her on her ratings.

They were impressive. The premier of the Roseanne reboot won the largest audience for a network sitcom in three years. Curiously, it fared less well in cities that normally decide a hit - like New York and San Francisco - and outperformed in smaller media markets like Missouri and Oklahoma. "Look at Roseanne - look at her ratings," Trump told a rally. "They were unbelievable. More than 18 million people. And it was about us."

The cast from the Roseanne reboot. Credit:ROBERT TRACHTENBERG

It was. Roseanne Barr has been speaking for the Trump people before they knew they were for Trump, and the success of her show is proof that you don't have to bend your knee to the cultural elites to get an audience.

She started her stand-up career in the Eighties, playing a loud-mouthed, overweight mum. "I have three kids and I've been married 14 years," she'd say, "so I breed well in captivity." The voice was like a cat being thrown about in a cement mixer, but something about it compelled ABC to give her a show in 1988, and Roseanne ran until 1997.
It is no coincidence Coalition backbenchers have unveiled a pro-coal 'ginger' group, the Monash Forum, just as Malcolm Turnbull braces for the embarrassment of a landmark poll loss.

Nor it is coincidence that it comes just as his government eyes the first realistic prospect of a breakthrough in the decade-old climate wars, with Commonwealth and state energy ministers due to meet in April to consider the National Energy Guarantee.

Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull are at odds over energy policy. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Nor even that they've appropriated Australia's greatest soldier, Sir John Monash, just as the Prime Minister heads for the Western Front later this month.

The symbol for reaching a 30th wedding anniversary is the gleaming white pearl. Turnbull's present for notching up that same number in Newspoll losses - the very milestone he cited as proof that Tony Abbott's standing was irreversible - is an altogether dirtier object.
The Turnbull government is pressuring AGL to accept an offer from rival Alinta Energy to buy the ageing Liddell coal-fired power station which its owners have said is in such a state of disprepair, it is "on the sliding scale to oblivion".

AGL has already ruled out a possible sale of the Hunter Valley coal-fired power station despite government pressure. However, Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg told Fairfax Media the government "hoped AGL and Alinta can constructively engage" to ensure Australians will have enough electricity.

AGL intends to close the plant, saying it would cost $920 million to keep it open for five years. It would also be too difficult to "unbundle" it from the neighbouring Bayswater facility and sell it off.

The Turnbull government believes the plant's closure would leave a gap in the energy market and force household electricity prices higher. The Prime Minister has been under internal pressure from climate change sceptics, including former prime minister Tony Abbott, to find a way to keep the privately-run generator open.
Just a decade ago, during the global financial crisis, Indian lenders were held up as a bastion of stability. Today, they are considered more vulnerable than those in other leading emerging markets, mostly because state-controlled lenders dominate the sector, according to the International Monetary Fund. Of the $6.5 billion in fraudulent loans that have hit the industry over the past two years, the most egregious cases were at government-owned banks, according to figures released by Parliament. Executives at those lenders are more likely to be appointed for their political connections than for their talent, financial analysts say. Jewellry designer Nirav Modi at his boutique in Hong Kong, March 2017. Credit:New York Times "For every Nirav Modi in this country, there's 10 more, and they are emboldened when they see the government failing to take action or pursue the right protocols," said Vineet Dhanda, a lawyer who is urging the Indian government to tighten up the banking sector. Dhanda questioned how major business figures like Modi could raise billions from banks without providing collateral, yet the average farmer struggles to get a few hundred dollars for a loan.

"The money they are stealing is from the poor people of this country," he said. "If this money is swindled away, then it comes from the taxpayers to fix the banks." The Maharani Emerald Necklace, which combines emerald beads with diamonds, at a Nirav Modi boutique in Hong Kong in March 2017. Credit:New York Times Modi's lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, denies his client defrauded banks and says there is only a misunderstanding over a much smaller loan worth about $40 million. He accused the banks and government authorities of damaging his client's reputation and the Nirav Modi brand's value, making it harder for the company to settle its debts. "This was a case of civil transaction which the authorities have converted into a criminal one unnecessarily," Mr Aggarwal said in an interview. Diamond traders and jewellers have long marvelled at Modi's rise. Nicknamed NiMo in the press, from the first syllables of his name, Modi was known for wearing custom-made cuff links with the fish from "Finding Nemo."

Born in Antwerp, Belgium, to a relatively small diamond trading family, Modi attended the prestigious Wharton School of Business before dropping out at 19 to join the family business in Mumbai. The state-owned Punjab National Bank has said in a statement that fraudulent transactions totalling $US1.8 billion had been discovered in a Mumbai bank branch. Credit:AP He first rose to international prominence in 2010, when he designed a necklace featuring a 12.29-carat diamond set with smaller pink diamonds. It was auctioned by Christie's in Hong Kong for $US3.56 million, nearly $US1 million more than its asking price. The bidding war landed Modi on the cover of the Christie's catalogue, the first Indian to be featured so prominently by the auction house. He formed his Nirav Modi brand later that year and announced plans to open 100 stores around the world by 2025. In 2015, Modi opened his flagship store on Madison Avenue, a few blocks from the luxury giants Cartier, Saks and Dior. Donald Trump Jr was there, taking a break from his father's presidential campaign, as were actors and models: Naomi Watts and Coco Rocha posed for photos on the red carpet in front of the Nirav Modi logo. The next year, Modi designed 100 carats' worth of diamonds that Winslet wore to the Oscars.

His rapid ascent puzzled some in the diamond industry, who say building a luxury brand takes both time and money. "Using models and actresses that are world-renowned to consumers  that makes a brand seem solid," said Karma El Khalil, a jeweller based in New York. "But it's incredibly expensive." A Nirav Modi boutique in Mumbai. Credit:AP His lifestyle rose with his fame, according to interviews with colleagues and friends and local news reports that tracked his purchases. He bought a Rolls-Royce for family use. He had an aquarium built that covered an entire wall of his office. He bought an apartment in an exclusive, seaside high-rise called Sea Palace that is home to some of Mumbai's wealthiest people, including one of the founders of the information technology giant Infosys. But the authorities in Delhi say he projected an image of success built on bank loans and fraudulent letters of understanding, part of a strategy to expand his business in the hope that profits would eventually outstrip debts.

"The arms of the law are long," said Abhishek Dayal, a spokesman for the Central Bureau of Investigation, the main government body investigating the case. "We will get them." Modi's flight has shaken diamond traders in Antwerp and Mumbai. Empty displays and a dying orchid inside the Nirav Modi boutique in New York on March 28. Credit:New York Times Until the allegations surfaced, he seemed to fit well in an international industry that often works based on trust and personal relationships. For example, a trader will often mail a diamond to another and give the other person a window of up to four months to evaluate the gem before expecting payment. Modi quickly won a reputation as someone who could be trusted, say diamond traders. He often paid within days after receiving diamonds.
Latest News Suncorp launches green home loan product Solar panels equal cashback in 'unique' play for refinancing market

This is why Sydney property prices are going up Its not all about the pandemic, interest rates and government stimulus: it goes far, far deeper than that

by Rebecca Pike

Mortgage Choice has announced the resignation of CEO John Flavell, who has been in the position for the past three years.

With his resignation effective from today, 3 April, he will be replaced by former Chief Financial Officer Susan Mitchell.

The company has praised the work of Mr Flavell in growing the business.

He joined Mortgage Choice in April 2015 after a role at National Australia Bank's MLC, where he was the executive general manager, wealth advice.

He also held previous roles at Aussie Home Loans and RAMS Home Loans.

Mortgage Choice Chairman, Vicki Allen, said We thank John for his leadership and efforts at Mortgage Choice during his tenure as CEO, and wish him well in his future endeavours.

We are delighted Susan has reconsidered her recently announced intention to pursue another opportunity and instead lead our business. The Board has confidence that she has the necessary skills to lead Mortgage Choice. She is a very talented executive and her in-depth experience with the company will ensure a smooth transition of leadership."

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Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata on Monday said that he was hurt when Tata Motors lost its market share and people saw it as a failing company. He said this while addressing an annual townhall of employees in Pune. Tata asked the employees to become the leader again. He said: "It hurt me that we lost market share in the last four to five years and we became the company that the country looked at as a failing company."

In 2013-14 and 2014-15, Tata Motors' average market share was 54.7 per cent. However, it fell to 51.9 per cent in 2015-16 and further to 49.2 per cent in 2016-17. In just four years, the company had lost close to 5 per cent market share. In 2016-17, Tata Motors standalone gross revenues was at Rs 49,100 crore. However, the loss after tax was Rs 2,480 crore.

The company's commercial vehicles had lost around 15 per cent market share in domestic markets. However, Tata Motors improved its domestic sales significantly in 2017-18. It recorded a sales of 5,86,639 units in FY18 compared to 4,78,362 units in FY17, a jump of 23 per cent.

"In all the years that I was here, I really believed that this company had tremendous spirit and tremendous capabilities. I stand here today, and I am happy to see the same spirit, that same doability is back together. That's terrific," Tata said.

He wants Tata Motors to see those days again. "We should plan on doing that again. We should plan on being leaders and not followers. And we should get back the spirit that we had which I see today that anything we want to do we will succeed in doing," Tata told the employees.

Tata expressed his confidence at the leadership of Chairman N Chandrasekaran and MD Guenter Butschek and said that the Tata Motors would do better in the future. Tata said: "All of you (employees) have been terrific contributors in your field and we should feel proud of the place we have built in the past and under Chandras and Gunters leadership we will continue to build in the future."

Tata's statement came days after Tata Motors reported 35 per cent increase in total sales to 69,440 units in March as compared to 51,309 units in the same month last year. Domestic sales of Tata Motors commercial vehicles grew by 37 per cent to 49,174 units in March, as compared to 35,876 units in FY 2017.

Last week, Tata Motors in a BSE filing said: "Growth was on the back of governments push towards infrastructure development, restriction on overloading, road construction and mining activities along with increasing demand from e-commerce & FMCG applications."

(With inputs from PTI)
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry today withdrew the journalists accreditation order issued on Monday. In a press statement issued today, the Ministry said: "Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists amended to regulate Fake News" issued on 02 April 2018 stands withdrawn."

The move came after the Prime Minister's Office advised the I&B Ministry to withdraw the order and let the Press Council of India handle fake news issue. The PMO had also suggested that any decision on fake news should be taken by bodies like the Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association.

On Monday, the I&B Ministry said that the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe is found generating or propagating fake news. The Ministry had amended the guidelines which said that the accreditation of that journalist would be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation. In case of a third violation, his or her accreditation would be cancelled permanently, the Ministry had said.

It further added that any complaint of instances of fake news would be referred to the Press Council of India, if it pertains to print media, and to the News Broadcasters Association, if it relates to the electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not. Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the accreditation of the journalist, whoever created and/or propagated the fake news, will be suspended till the determination regarding the fake news is made, the ministry had said.

With inputs from PTI
The H-1B visa filing season for the 2019 fiscal beginning October 1 kicked off yesterday, but a dramatic drop can reportedly already be seen in the number of applications filed by Indian tech firms. "Indian consulting firms, which have been accused of flooding the system with applications, have dramatically reduced their filings. Foreign nationals are exhibiting new reluctance to make the jump to a US company," the San Francisco Chronicle reported, adding that applicants for the H-1B visa programme are anticipating the hardest process in many years, which has "affected both the applicants and the companies that employ them".

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant work visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. American technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees from countries like India and China - the H1-B programme reportedly has a statutory cap of 65,000 visas per fiscal. But last month, the US had announced a new policy under which a company now has to "show by a preponderance of evidence that the beneficiary will be employed in a speciality occupation". This basically translates into a lot more paperwork for applicants.

The policy memorandum is part of President Donald Trump's 'Buy American and Hire American Executive Order' and the directive to protect the interests of US workers. Under the new rules, petitioners would also have to go an extra mile to prove that its H-1B employee at a third-party worksite has specific and non-qualifying speculative assignments in speciality occupation. This move significantly impacted Indian IT companies, which have a significant number of its employees deployed at third-party worksites. Moreover, according to the official statement, while an H-1B petition may be approved for up to three years, the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would henceforth, at its discretion, generally limit the approval period only for the period for which the applicant has work at a third-party worksite.

The Silicon Valley newspaper claimed that the Trump administration's hard-line anti-immigration stance is already taking its toll. Here's proof: Envoy Global, a technology-oriented immigration services provider, reported that 26 per cent of the employers it surveyed have had to delay projects, and 22 per cent of them have relocated work overseas as a result of the current uncertainties in the US immigration system. "When companies are allowed to hire the workers with the best skills for the job, regardless of where those workers happen to have been born, their increased competitiveness boosts all the industries around them," the daily added.

It is not the only publication putting the spotlight on the ebbing demand for H-1B visas. According to The Wall Street Journal, US corporations continue to struggle with a paradoxical labour market where 5,48,000 tech jobs remain open while unemployment in the technology sector hovers below full employment levels.

(With PTI inputs)
Peggy Johnson worked for nearly a quarter of a century at Qualcomm, before she became one of the early hires of Satya Nadella, after he took over as the CEO of Microsoft. While Johnson's designation is Executive Vice President, Business Development, in reality she is the deal-making Czarina for Microsoft, who also drives their partnerships.

In the last three and half years of her tenure at Microsoft, she has led nearly 40 deals, biggest being the $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn. On a recent visit to India, Business Today's Deputy Editor Venkatesha Babu, met Johnson to understand her plans for India. Edited Excerpts:

BT: Given you drive M&A at Microsoft, does your current visit entail something substantial? What are the areas of interest here?

Peggy: One of our biggest areas of interest here is partnerships. I am here often and we are engaging with the local community through start-ups and major enterprises, ensuring that they know what products we have, particularly in the areas of AI, analytics and our cloud platform, Azure. That's mostly what I have been engaged in the Indian market. It has been two years now that I have been running these visits.

BT: Specific to the start-up ecosystem, anything interesting you see? Any of them working in areas of interest for Microsoft

Peggy: We are interested in a variety of areas. I would say AI is one. Blockchain is another. We are building blockchain-as-a- service inside of Azure Cloud. These companies that I met are building solutions utilizing blockchain. We want to introduce our services to them as they are building their solutions. Then of course, anything in the productivity space. Productivity in India looks quite a bit different than other areas (markets).

BT: In what sense?

Peggy: Many times its mobile-only. So there is no desktop/PC that they go back to. We have learnt a lot by getting to know many start-ups in that space. (For instance), What does software as a service look like when you're only delivering it on the mobile handset? We are learning from this market as well, because I think many of the things can be exported into other markets that were born and bred in India.

BT: What was your experience at Qualcomm, does it offer you better insights? Some of these templates could probably be used elsewhere? Are there any instances where you guys have already leveraged that?

Peggy: When I was at Qualcomm, for 24 years, India was a major market for us. But we had to change our product in order to enter this market in a number of ways. Now that I am here representing Microsoft and learning about the market, I realize that there are things unique to India that we have to tune our products to. For instance, one of our products is Skype Lite and it's meant for low bandwidth areas. We have got great 4G coverage here, but when you get out to the rural areas you have got super low bandwidth. The India team worked on this, taking our existing product and tuned it for this market. And I think that product can go to other markets which also have low bandwidth.

Kaizala is another. That is another one that we will be taking outside of India. There are other areas have unique attributes like India, where you want to reach large numbers of people. It's a communications system for large groups, millions of people actually. And I think that one's interesting because it can be a useful tool not only for enterprise but also for governments. We are working with several local state governments with Kaizala and that's been eye opening for us. They can use it as a tool to reach their citizens, which other areas of the world will also be able to utilize.

BT: Dialling back to your earlier statement about blockchain solutions. Is it more of an effort to sell what Microsoft already has to the start-ups or is it to work with them and try to understand them? Probably even look for investment opportunities?

Peggy: It's more of the former at this point in time. But eventually we will be here to look for investment opportunities. I'll touch on that in a minute. But as far as the former, we are seeing quite a bit of blockchain solutions coming out of India. So, we wanted to ensure that the start-ups knew about the blockchain-as-a-service and the tool set that we have built in Azure, so they can utilize it. They don't have to rebuild, sort of the plumbing of blockchain.

It is fascinating to hear some of the start-ups that are using blockchain in very unique and creative ways. So I am definitely going to keep my eye on this market. As far as the ladder goes, when I started at Microsoft three and a half years ago, one of the first things that I focussed on was developing an early stage fund that we could utilize in the start-up community. We didn't have one and we launched Microsoft Ventures and now we have 45 or so investments, over the last couple of years, in early stage companies. We like to look after the investments ourselves inside of Microsoft Ventures and so when we come to India we will put someone here in India to look after the investments.

BT: What timeline are we looking at for Ventures to come in?

Peggy: We are expecting them in the next several months.

BT: Also will it tie up with your accelerator program since you already have passed out quite a few batches?

Peggy: Exactly. For the accelerator, we have tied up with seven other partners here. We jointly work in accelerators with another 24 partners. But now once we bring the fund here they will have access to a fund, so I think we will see the technology that has been developed inside accelerator and have the ability now to maybe take part in their investment once we bring Microsoft Ventures here.

BT: Companies, which have been accepted into your accelerator program, will they have first call in terms of Ventures' investment?

Peggy: Basically we give them knowledge ventures so that they can then present to (Microsoft) ventures and the ventures will then make a decision. There is no formalized link between the two (Accelerator program and Ventures) than it is available now.

BT: And Ventures' mandate is to essentially look at start-ups in the AI, blockchain and the other areas or is it a broader mandate?

Peggy: Yeah that's a good question. It's largely around our focus areas. There is productivity, connectivity, big data, cloud infrastructure, machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain.

BT: What segments of AI is the work being done?

Peggy: That's a good question. First of all we had AI on our campus in Microsoft about 25 years so we have been deeply involved in it. It goes back to the start of Microsoft Research, when Bill Gates actually launched Microsoft Research, that AI was a focus area.

Bill had a statement actually back then. This was in 1996. Back then Bill said someday computers will be able to see us hear us talk to us and understand us. And now you are entering that stage where they are do those things. And so back then we had researchers looking at things like speech recognition, image recognition and over the past few years I would say the progress in both those areas has kind of gone non-linear.

We really been able to up level our efforts there largely because there is better compute now; there is cloud that we can rely on, also algorithms that we are using. So all of this will come together to take things like speech recognition up to human parity. Last summer the Microsoft Research team that was working in this area showed that the error read in speech recognition was 5.1 per cent, which is basically human parity and it will keep getting better.

Eventually, these algorithms will be able to understand better than a human. Things like different languages or dialect, accents, things that could be very challenging for humans to understand, they will be able to have that capability and the same with image recognition. We are now very close to human parity there. So, there has been major advances in these areas and now the idea is how we can implement those, what are the problems that we can solve. Another area that we are focussing on is machine reading comprehension. They will need to just update data and actually comprehend what's going on in the paragraphs.

About a year and a half ago, we bought a small company in Montreal called Maluuba and they have brought a very unique machine reading comprehension technology to the company. In a new model, we left them right where they were in Montreal and that's actually been helpful for us.



BT: It is not the old Microsoft trying to integrate everything it acquires?

Peggy: No, we actually started with Satya's first acquisition which was Minecraft, all the way through Linkedin and few after - that's largely the model we leave. They generally have good ties into the local universities, so there is a talent access that we get if we leave them where they are at.



And in the case of Maluuba, we also had the ability to bring on board a consultant that Maluuba had Yoshua Bengio, who is one of the gurus of AI. He is now consulting with us. It also brought us some goodness to leave them where they were and we have added to the team and we have actually started an AI accelerator there as well.

BT. What is the plan with Ventures? Do you co-invest with the other players or does Microsoft take start-ups and is it very early stage, seed stage?

Peggy: It is generally series A and B and a little bit of seed. We are generally in A and B timeframe. We do this basically to bring signal and we want it in the areas we are focussed on that are aligned already. We want to be able to see signal in areas that are of our interest to us and we may then take the opportunity to invest at that time. But without having an early stage fund we miss a lot of that early signal.

BT: Enterprises have been your customers forever, even in the Indian market, but you are a little bit late to the cloud game. Are you playing catch up, what has been the pitch?

Peggy: We are largely there, for sure we started a few years later than our competitors.

BT: In one way or the other companies such as Ola or Uber have been Microsoft's customers over the years and they use one or multiple products. So when you meet them and talk of pitching to enterprises as a part of their mandate, what does it entail?

Peggy: We look at our cloud as very secure cloud. We have been in this business for a long time, keeping our enterprise customers secure. We come in with a level of ability in that area that is recognised. It's a hybrid cloud, so we can allow customers to bring workloads over to the cloud on their pace. They don't have to flip the switch and have it all move to the cloud. They can bring workloads over. And they can also run Azure in their own data centres on site to start with our product that we call Azure stack.

So that gives them flexibility to take steps to the cloud on their pace and that's been one of the big pitches. The other thing that we can offer is two ISVs who built on top of Azure, is sort of the power of our 40,000 sellers world over. So if it is built on top of Azure we can activate those sellers to co-sell with them. And that's a powerful ability that we have. That sets us apart from some of the others in this space.
Jai Kisan Andolan, a platform of farmers organisations formed by Swaraj Abhiyan, will use social media to publish the actual price offered to farmers in various 'mandis' and government procurement centres across India on a daily basis. The objective is to provide a regular update on the difference between the actual price and government offered Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the farmer.

"MSP Alert is a new initiative to gather and provide information to media, agricultural researchers, policy makers and all citizens as to whether farmers are receiving Minimum Support Price that the Prime Minister and Finance Minister have assured in the Union Budget; the nation needs to know and understand if farmers are being cheated and looted at agricultural markets," said Yogendra Yadav, President, Swaraj India.

Swaraj Abhiyan's move will put pressure on the Central Government, which is trying expand the MSP system to more agricultural crops.

"Every morning, MSP Alert shall bring before the nation news and information gathered from leading and credible media/research sources of the country and government websites and inform what the government had promised the farmers and in reality what farmers are actually getting for their crops in different agricultural markets," the organizers informed.

MSP Alert shall be published every day on social media platforms like Twitter handles and Facebook pages of Jai Kisan Andolan, Swaraj Abhiyan, Swaraj India, Yogendra Yadav and more.

The MSP Satyagraha team of Jai Kisan Andolan and other organisations, which visited agricultural markets in 7 states in the last three weeks, had discovered that farmers are not getting MSP updates anywhere in the country.

"Today, 2 months have elapsed since the Prime Minister and Finance Minister promised in the Union Budget that farmers will get MSP; they said they will ensure that farmers get MSP. It is therefore necessary for the whole nation to know whether farmers are getting remunerative price for their crops that had been promised to them by the government and which in any case is their right," the organizers pointed out.

Jai Kisan Andolan has also sought citizens help to visit nearby agricultural markets to gather information about what price farmers are getting and what difficulties they are facing in the markets and share it with the team.
British luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover on Tuesday announced it would launch as many as 10 products, either brand new or facelifts and iterations of existing brands, in the financial year 2018-19.

"We thank our customers for their continued patronage and enthusiasm for the two iconic brands, Jaguar and Land Rover. The customers gave us a huge thumbs up for some of the new products launched such as the fifth-generation all-new Land Rover Discovery and the New Range Rover Velar," said Rohit Suri, president and managing director, Jaguar Land Rover India. "Other nameplates such as Jaguar XE, XF and F-PACE as well as Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque continued their winning streak with their popularity index rising exponentially with the customers."

JLR India ended FY 17-18 with a 83 per cent growth in sales at 4 609 units but remains some distance behind the three luxury car makers Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi. In calendar year 2017, Mercedes Benz held the top spot in the luxury car market in the country with sales of 15,300 units followed by BMW at 9,800 units and Audi at 7,876 units. JLR had sold 3,954 units during the year.

The overall luxury car segment had grown at nearly 17 per cent, the fastest in five years at just under 40,000 units. The growth had come despite disruptions like the roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax where duties on luxury cars were initially lowered for a period of two months, only to be hiked thereafter.

Companies have repeatedly complained about inconsistent tax rates and lobbied for more liberal taxation for luxury cars in India. Taxes on luxury cars are one of the highest in the world, especially for those that are imported as fully built units.

"GST is a significant reform that the country needed, and we appreciate the government s efforts for a smooth transition. However, to operate in any market, carmakers need reasonable tax rates," Suri had said in January.

"Current GST tax rates at 48 per cent for sedans and 50 per cent for SUVs in the premium segment are extremely high. To help expand the market and generate more jobs in this segment of the auto industry, we would urge the government to not only reduce these taxes to reasonable levels, include left out taxes such as road tax etc. within the GST regime, but also ensure stabilisation/longer term policies and tax regimes."
Yesterday, a senior BJP leader tweeted "CBI should probe in ICICI loan scam Avista Advisory which got 5% on every big loan for certification. AVista [sic] is owned by a relative of..." What he left unsaid was that Avista Advisory's founder and CEO Rajiv Kochhar is ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar's brother-in-law (her husband's brother). Today, The Indian Express reported that over the past six years, the Singapore-based financial services company got the mandate to restructure foreign currency-denominated debt deals worth over USD 1.7 billion of seven companies, all of which had taken loans from ICICI Bank at the same time.

For instance, Jaiprakash Associates engaged Avista last year for the restructuring of its foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) worth USD 110 million. At that time, ICICI Bank was reportedly the lead bank in the consortium that gave loan to Jaiprakash Associates.

The daily added that Avista also acted as "Debtor Advisor" in the restructuring of USD 200-million FCCBs of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd. ICICI Bank was not only a lender to the latter but also received equity under the corporate debt restructuring package. A similar story played out with GTL Infrastructure in 2012. Avista's website also mentions two loan restructuring deals involving the Videocon Group - which is under the CBI scanner currently over allegations of a quid pro quo loan of Rs 3,250 crore extended by ICICI Bank over five years ago - in 2015 and 2016.

In response, Rajiv Kochhar told the daily that "The entire process of selection of 'Debtor Advisor' was competitive... Since the FCCB restructuring transaction did not involve any negotiations between the Companies and the 'Domestic Lenders/ICICI Bank', there is no conflict of interest of whatsoever nature." He added that "there were no dealings with ICICI Bank at all in any of the above transactions... We would like to clarify that in the restructuring cases handled by Avista Advisory, the firm has not interacted with ICICI Bank in any manner or form. Further during the course of the restructuring transactions Avista has not raised or mobilized any funds for its clients from ICICI Bank."

The report adds that ICICI Bank also denied any linkages as alleged, saying "We would like to categorically state that ICICI Bank has never engaged Avista Advisory Group for any services at all". Significantly, the spokesperson pointed out that "the brother of a husband does not fall within the definition of a "relative" under the Companies Act, 1956 or 2013 or the Rules thereunder," and hence its officials did not need to make any disclosure of any such relationship. "In view of all the above, your insinuation of conflict of interest is totally baseless and malafide in intent," added the spokesperson.

Incidentally, in a BSE filing yesterday, the bank stated that "We confirm that ICICI Bank has not received any communication from the Enforcement Directorate relating to any enquiry into the loan to Videocon Group as on date." This was in response to a clarification sought by the Exchange on media reports claiming the same.
A high-power group, constituted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to look into the PNB loan fraud case, has found systemic failure at many levels that led the fraud in the first place and then failed to detect it for a long time.



The group found that Nirav Modi's company was granted loan despite his company having only current account with the Brady House branch of the bank. "When there is only current account, no credit facility should be granted -- neither the letter of undertakings (LoUs) nor Letter of credit (LoCs)," says SB Zaware, member, Central Council, ICAI.



The group also observed that LoUs are only used by Indian banks to offer loans to companies. That is primary reason why LoUs in the Nirav Modi case were only issued to foreign branch of Indian banks. Any other foreign bank would not have accepted LoUs.

"LoUs unlike LoCs, are unconditional undertakings, which means if payment is not made on the due date and demand is made, the payment has to be made by PNB without asking for any documents," says Zaware, who was presenting the initial finding of the group to media persons in Delhi today.



The group also found that the concurrent audit of the books was done by the bank's internal employees who were not chartered accountants. The group said that while the bank used its own resources for concurrent audit, they failed to detect the frauds running into crores.



It, therefore, has recommended that banks should appoint external agencies for concurrent audit.



It also found that the there is lack of understanding about the Swift messaging system among the staff of the banks. The group also said that there is an urgent need to Swift messaging system should be linked to the core banking system (CBS) of the bank.



Zaware said that RBI in November 2016 had issued a confidential circular to banks probably warning them about the possible risks associated with LoUs and also asked the banks to link their Swift messaging system with their CBS by April 2018.



However, the group noted that since the circular was confidential and not in public domain, the warning against LoUs may not have reached to all stakeholders.



It also found that RBI did online inspection of the bank's systems but no physical verification was done. "Had they done a physical verification, the fraud could have been detected," observed the high power group of ICAI.



It also raised the issue of last minute appointment of central statutory auditor as well as branch auditors. Most of the appointments are done almost in the last week of March due to which auditors do not get enough time to audit the accounts properly.



The group recommended that appointment of central auditor should be done in the first quarter of the financial year and branch auditors by last quarter so that proper planning of the audit can be done.
Facebook's persistent problems of fake news and data manipulation were amplified after the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke out. All eyes are on Facebook to see how it deals with these plaguing issues amid increasing criticisms.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook last week slammed Facebook's methodologies and said Apple, unlike Facebook, was not into monetizing consumer data. In an interview to Recode, Cook said, "We could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer - if our customer was our product. We've elected not to do that."

When asked what he would do in a situation like this, if he was in Zuckerberg's shoes, he responded saying that he would never be in a situation like this. Cook believes that his company monetizes products and not consumers.

Zuckerberg, who is already dealing with a loss of almost $100 billion in terms of share value of Facebook, responded to Cook's comments by calling it "extremely glib". In an interview with Vox, he claimed that Cook's statement was misleading. He stated, "You know, I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth."

He defended his business model by claiming that Facebook is a free service for people to connect to each other and many can't really pay for it. He believes that advertising is the only rational business model that can accomplish such goals.

Zuckerberg said, "If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford. At Facebook, we are squarely in the camp of the companies that work hard to charge you less and provide a free service that everyone can use."

He evoked the Stockholm Syndrome to compare Tim Cook's argument. In his opinion, we should not let companies that are working hard to charge us more, tell us that they actually care about us.

Facebook is in the eye of the storm due to the Cambridge Analytica scandal that broke out last month. The company has been questioned over their misjudgment and carelessness regarding personal data of over 50 million users.

Earlier this year, Zuckerberg had made a New Year resolution to fix Facebook. Other than data manipulation, the social media giant is dealing with the problem of fake news.

Citing the 2 billion-strong user base, Zuckerberg believes that they often have to behave like a government. In order to solve the problems plaguing the brand, he wants to make the entire process of framing policies more democratic in nature.

In the interview he stated, "It's just not clear to me that us sitting in an office here in California are best placed to always determine what the policies should be for people all around the world. And I've been working on and thinking through: How can you set up a more democratic or community-oriented process that reflects the values of people around the world?"
TiGenix and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited last week announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved Alofisel (darvadstrocel), previously Cx601, for the treatment of complex perianal fistulae in adult patients with nonactive/mildly active luminal Crohns disease, when fistulae have shown an inadequate response to at least one conventional or biologic therapy.

This marks the first allogeneic stem cell therapy (originating from donor stem cells) to receive central marketing authorisation (MA) approval in Europe.



This follows a recent IDA announcement on 28 February that Takeda is to create up to 70 new jobs and invest 25m in the construction of a new regenerative medicine facility at its site in Grange Castle. The investment will expand the sites existing footprint with the construction of a new standalone modular cell therapy facility dedicated to manufacturing of this new treatment. The facility will be in commercial operation by 2021. This investment is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.



Speaking last week, Professor Ailsa Hart from St Marks Hospital and Imperial College London said, "Fistulating perianal Crohns disease represents one of the most challenging types of Crohns disease. It is challenging not only due to the difficult symptoms of pain and discharge, but particularly due to the major impact that these symptoms have on all aspects of life. This approval is a big step forward for patients with complex perianal fistulae in Crohns disease and has the potential to improve their quality of life. Alofisel offers a novel and well-tolerated stem cell therapy treatment option for patients who do not respond to currently available therapies, and who have until now had limited treatment options available."



Source: www.businessworld.ie
Four promising tech start-ups from Ireland will be pitching for a prize of 10,000 this month at the final of the 2018 Bolton Trust/PwC Innovation Awards (formerly Docklands/PwC Innovation Awards).



Since 2012, the programme has offered a support package of finance, training and workspace to 160 start-ups, which have gone on to secure more than 14m in equity investment while creating over 600 jobs. The finalists, all recent graduates of the DIT/IADT New Frontiers Programme, will aim to convince the judging panel that their venture represents the strongest potential for global expansion and return-on-investment.

The event is supported by PwC and the Awards Evening will take place on Wednesday, 18th April at PwC, One Spencer Dock, North Wall Quay, Dublin 1.



The judging panel will include:

 Orla Rimmington, Partner, Kernel Capital

 Sarah-Jane Larkin, Director-General of the Irish Venture Capital Association

 Graham Byrne, Founder & CEO, YourSmileDirect (and winner of the Awards in 2016)



Speaking at the Awards shortlist announcement, Managing Partner at PwC, Feargal O'Rourke said, "In the most recent PwC CEO survey, over three-quarters (76%) of Irish CEOs believe that technology will significantly change competition in their industry in the next five years. Leveraging emerging technologies such as data analytics, automation and machine learning will be a key driver for firms to be more competitive. It is interesting to note that many of these innovations lie at the core of the product and service offerings of our finalists."

He added, "It is important to support our entrepreneurs who will play a key role in our economys continued growth. Making a difference through ideas, innovation and entrepreneurship is core to the PwC Values and is what these Awards are all about. We wish all the candidates every success."



Source: www.businessworld.ie
Twenty-First Century Fox said it could legally separate Sky News within the wider Sky group to allay the concerns of a British regulator about the news service's continuing independence under Rupert Murdoch's ownership.

It also said it could sell the 24-hour news channel to Walt Disney if its bid to acquire the 61% of the company it does not already own is approved, regardless of whether Disney's proposed acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox's assets proceeds.

Fox agreed to buy all of the European pay-TV group in December 2016, but the deal has been repeatedly delayed by the British government and regulators.

U.S. cable giant Comcast Corp gate crashed the deal in February when it said it would offer 12.50 pounds a share to buy Sky, compared to Fox's 10.75 pounds, although it has not yet made a formal bid.

Fox, which already owns 39% of the European pay-TV group, had already put forward steps it would take to guarantee the independence of Sky News, such as funding it for 10 years and creating an independent board of directors.

"We have worked diligently with the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) throughout its extensive review," Fox said on Tuesday.

"In fact, we believe that the enhanced firewall remedies we proposed to safeguard the editorial independence of Sky News addressed comprehensively and constructively the CMA's provisional concerns." (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Modified On Apr 04, 2018 06:14 PM By Jagdev Kalsi for Jeep Compass 2017-2021

The carmaker is celebrating Jeep 4x4 Month in India and is offering buyers a limited-period chance to upgrade to the 4x4 variant

If youre planning to buy the Jeep Compass, heres a deal that should get you excited. Every year, Jeep celebrates April 4th, which happens to be the 4th day of the 4th month, as International Jeep 4x4 Day. However, it will be a month-long affair in India as the carmaker has announced that it will observe April 2018 as 4x4 Month in India.

And for the first-ever 4x4 Month, the carmaker is offering a discount on the Jeep Compass 4x4. The 2.0-litre diesel engine-powered Compass gets the 4x4 drivetrain in Limited and Limited (O) variants. The Compass Limited 4x4 is priced at Rs 21.18 lakh, Rs 1.97 lakh over the Limited 4x2 variant. But starting from April 4, 2018, the carmaker will offer the Compass Limited 4x4 at a premium of just Rs 50,000 over the Limited 4x2 variant. Thats a discount of Rs 1.47 lakh, but it can be had only in the 4x4 Month.

Jeep likely to launch an SUV below Compass! Details here.

Apart from the 4x4 gadgetry, which makes the Compass more capable off the road, the Limited 4x4 variant also gets side airbags. These inclusions at a price premium of Rs 50,000 over the 4x2 variant make the Compass Limited 4x4 a mouth-watering deal. Jeep will even let customers who have already booked the Compass Limited 4x2 to upgrade to the Limited 4x4 variant by paying a premium of Rs 50,000.

The 4x4 and 4x2 versions of the Compass are powered by the same 2.0-litre diesel engine that makes 173PS of maximum power and 350Nm of peak torque. The Compass 4x4, however, sips more fuel per kilometre than its 4x2 counterpart thanks to the additional 4x4 gadgetry. Jeep claims a fuel efficiency of 16.3kmpl for the Compass 4x4 and 17.1kmpl for the 4x2 version.

In the month of April, 2018, the SUV-maker will also organise Camp Jeep in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad to enable potential customers and existing owners to take the Jeep SUVs out on an off-road test track that will test their (the SUVs') abilities to the maximum. The Compass is the most-affordable Jeep in India with prices starting from Rs 15.16 lakh for the base Sport variant with a petrol engine. The diesel-powered Compass Sport, on the other hand, is priced at Rs 16.28 lakh (both prices, ex-showroom Delhi).

Review: Jeep Compass 4x4

Presently, Jeep offers the option of an automatic transmission only with the petrol-powered Compass. However, the carmaker is now planning to introduce a 9-speed automatic transmission with the 2.0-litre diesel engine. The said powertrain might feature on the Compass most rugged avatar - the Trailhawk - which is expected to be launched in India this year. Read more about it here.

Read More on : Compass Automatic
Step 1

Log on to the Indian Bank official website.

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Click on Careers at the top of the page.

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RECRUITMENT OF SPECIALIST OFFICERS IN RISK MANAGEMENT, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, STATISTICIAN, TREASURY, CREDIT, ARCHITECT, CIVIL, ELECTRICAL AND SECURITY SPECIALISATIONS.

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The date for registration will be notified. Click on the relevant link to read the official notification.

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The detailed notification will be displayed on the screen. Read the details carefully and apply once the link is active.
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Log on to the Sikkim Public Service Commission official website.

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Click APPLY ONLINE.

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Click on the link that reads, Click Here To Register.

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The instructions to register will be displayed on the screen. Read them carefully.

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Again click on the link that reads, Click Here To Register.

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The registration form will be displayed on the screen. Enter your details in the fields provided.

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India is land of mathematics. Right since the era of the Indus Valley Civilisation, Indians have excelled in this field of study (archaeological proofs are a testimony of this fact). No one can deny the fact that it is we Indians who gave the world the gift of the digit 0. This one digit revolutionised the world of mathematics.

As the ages went by, the world progressed and with it progressed the role of mathematics in the Indian society. Mathematicians like Ramanujan were able to cast their influence in the western world as well. In fact, physicists like Albert Einstein also agreed that Indian mathematicians contributed to the world of global physics.

However, it is sad to note that a major chunk of today's generation suffers from a phobia of this subject. Even amongst the creamy layer of the society it is often seen that students do not like maths or they are simply intimidated by the thought of it.

In case you are one of those students, this article will give you some useful tips and tricks that will pave the way for a much better understanding of mathematics and will give you those extra marks in your kitty.

 It's Okay To Ask For Help

While studying if you cannot understand something, don't be discouraged or shy to ask for help.

If you really want to improve in maths you must go ahead and seek all the help you deserve. This may be from your parents, teachers or tutors. Sometimes help may also come from the smart kids in the class who excel in this particular subject.

 Turn Off Your Phone

Unlike all other subjects, mathematics is something that needs extreme focus. When studying math, don't get distracted by the fascinating labyrinth that is your phone. To prevent being distracted, what you can do is to make it a point to switch off your mobile phone before you sit down to study.

 Listen To Music

It is often seen that people are able to concentrate better when they listen to music. Thus, if you feel that you are unable to focus, one thing that you can opt for is to plug on your earphones.

While this might not work for everyone, in case you are intimidated by maths, this will help to take off the fear and let you study in a more calm and composed manner. However make sure that you listen to only soft music and not the sort of music that will get your feet tapping.

 Be Persistent

While solving derivations/proofs/theorems/any problem, it is obvious that you will make mistakes. Do not get intimidated by those. Instead go for practising them more often. While doing so make a note of the steps in which you are making a mistake. It is often seen that people tend to repeat their mistakes.

Make a conscious effort to remember them and don't repeat them. Mathematics is not something that you can study at the last moment and still ace the same. This is one subject that requires regular practise and through dedication.

 Create A Mathematical Dictionary

While there are a number of formula books available in the market, if you really want to score well, create a mathematical dictionary of your own. This notebook should have a step-by-step list of all the formulae that you will need for your exams.

Make sure that this book is neat (else you will not feel like reading from the same). However, it is important to know how to strike a balance and not end up spending too much time in decorating the book. Doing so will eat into your productive time.

 Apply It To The Real World

One reason why students find it difficult to score well in maths is because they claim that the subject is very abstract. While this is true to a certain extent, the fact is it is possible to apply what you learn inside the classroom to the world outside.

This is particularly true in case of arithmetic and trigonometry. However it is you who will have to observe and find the link. Once you are able to do that, there is nothing that can stop you from achieving your true potential.

 Seek Help Online

To get more help than you are now, the best thing to do is seek online help. These days a number of digital learning platforms are available which enable one to practise and learn the mathematical concepts with ease.

Considering the wide array of options that are available, taking time out to explore which digital learning platform is most suitable to meet your mathematical needs is something that will pay off in the long run.
Hyundai has further expanded its foothold in the Middle East automotive market with the recent launch of the new Verna in Bahrain. This India-manufactured vehicle is produced in a left hand drive guise for the Middle East market. In terms of design and features, the Verna is quite similar to the one that is offered in India. It comes as the latest addition to the companys product portfolio in the Middle East which includes the Grandi10, Creta, Tucson and the Santa Fe.

The new Verna is exported from the companys facility in Chennai. Under the hood, the Middle East-bound Verna is offered in two petrol engine options - 1.4-litre which generates 99bhp of power at 6000rpm and 132Nm of peak torque at 4000rpm and a 1.6-litre engine that generates 121bhp of power at 6300rpm and 151Nm of torque at 4850rpm. Although the power output figures are similar to the India-bound Verna, the vehicle gets a six-speed automatic as standard in the Middle East.

Some of the features in the new Verna include bi-function projector headlamps with LED DRLs, 16-inch alloy wheels, chrome accents on the grille and fog lamp enclosure, and LED tail lights. Additionally, the vehicle gets an all-black cabin, touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and push-button start. As for safety, it gets ABS, ESC, Hill Assist Control, reverse camera with sensors and more.

Hyundai Verna  9.28 Lakh Onwards

Hyundai | Verna | Hyundai Verna
According to the report The Hollywood Reporter, Pre-sale of tickets from 007: No time to die Reached one in the...
Pakistan's government urged to drop coal import duty

03 April 2018

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) has requested the government to allow duty free import of coal for the benefit of power generation and cement and other industry.



Syed Mazhar Ali Nasir, Senior Vice President of the FPCCI, has urged the Miftah Ismail, Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, and Federal Minister for Commerce, Muhammad Pervaiz Malik, to withdraw the five per cent import duty on coal and allow its duty-free imports to enable viable coal-based electricity generation and save the considerable investment made in coal-based power projects.



The FPCCI Senior Vice President argued that a serious distortion has been created in the production of electricity through imported coal mainly due to 14 per cent rise in C&F price of imported coal from US$19/t to U$103/t during the last nine months.



Moreover, recent devaluation of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar by more than 10 per cent has further eroded the competitive edge of production of electricity through imported coal and rendered the industry at the verge of collapse, he added. "Resultantly, the industry will have no option but either to shift on National Grid again exerting unbearable load on WAPDA (power utility) or to shut down the industry for economic reasons," he concluded.

Published under
Pakistan resumes clinker exports

03 April 2018

Pakistan has resumed exports of bulk clinker after a gap of over six years. This has been achieved by the start-up of Pakistan's International Bulk Terminal Ltd (PIBTL) at Port Qasim, devaluation of Pakistans currency by about 10 per cent and expansion in capacity as well overseas demand.



According to local media, bulk clinker exports will resume as one of the leading south-based cement manufacturers has received export orders from west African countries and Kenya. It is reported that Attock Cement will export 150,000t of clinker from PIBTL, where a ship carrying clinker is due to sail next week.

Similarly, an unidentified southern cement producer is also in the process of finalising clinker exports. According to PIBTL, the mv Maritime Setoshio is expected to sail with export quantity of 45,000t of clinker on 4 April. The vessel is presently loading its cargo of clinker.





Published under
Theres nothing like a quick overview of your pay stub to get you aggravated and disheartened. Its hard not to feel rebellious when you realize just how much of your hard-earned paycheck is given to the government for things that might not apply to you.

We fork over a sizeable chunk of our earnings hoping its used for something beneficial. But state tax rates are drastically different across the board. So where do taxpayers see the biggest bang for their buck?

WalletHub analyzed the total taxes paid per capita verses the efficiency of the state government services in each U.S. state. Categories, such as education, health, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution, were all considered. What resulted was a definitive list outlining the best and worst states for taxpayer return on investment.

Are you simply throwing tax dollars at an irresponsible state government? Lets take a closer look at the 10 best and 10 worst states for taxpayers. Did your state get a passing grade?

10. Iowa

We kick off our countdown in the Midwest. It seems as though taxpayer dollars are well spent on Iowas education. It ranks third overall in that category, according to WalletHub. And the Hawkeye State ranks fourth for its health, due in part to higher quality hospital systems and a lower than average health insurance premium.

Next: Life looks pretty good in this Western state.

9. Utah

Utah wins top prize for its stable economy, ranking first overall, according to WalletHub. In addition, its residents enjoy state tax rates below the median amount paid per capita. Most wont encounter any trouble finding work or living well, as Utahs unemployment rate is seventh best at 3.2%, as of February 2018. Plus, it has a decent median household income of $62,912. And Utah has some of the best hospital systems in the nation, second to only Nebraska.

Next: A proper school system in exchange for taxes

8. Texas

Head south to one of the largest U.S. states: Texas. Residents of the Lone Star State should be satisfied with the governments attention to both education and the economy. In fact, a separate WalletHub study credits Texas with the fourth lowest dropout rate in the nation.

A promising economy awards Texas residents with an unemployment rate of 4.0%, just slightly less than the national average of 4.1%, as of February 2018. But its crime rate is high. WalletHub ranked Texas 41st overall for safety.

Next: Low taxes mean average ROI in government services

7. Missouri

We head back to the Midwest to find our seventh best state for taxpayer return on investment. Missouri is credited with the fifth lowest taxes paid per capita, according to WalletHub.

However, Missouri is a state with rural, urban, and federal lands, so it falls toward the bottom of the list for government services, 35th, because a lot of tax dollars go toward supporting protected land and military bases. Its highest scores came in the education (26th) and economy (19th) categories.

Next: Hold on to your paychecks!

6. Alaska

WalletHub ranks Alaska as the best in taxes paid per capita, meaning residents get to keep most of their paychecks. However, Alaska is ranked near last (49th) for government services. Despite having the highest crime rate of all 50 states and a sky-high unemployment rate of 7.3%, Alaska still ends up as our fifth best state for taxpayers.

Next: Showing some love for the East Coast

5. Virginia

Residents of Virginia enjoy the ninth best government services of all 50 states and the 17th lowest in taxes paid per capita. Therefore, it ranks as the No. 5 state for taxpayer return on investment, according to WalletHub.

Its no wonder why Virginia is for lovers. It sees high scores in the safety and education categories. In fact, Virginia ranks in the top four for the lowest crime rates in the U.S.

Next: Taxes and services are a fair trade in this state

4. Colorado

Scoring just outside the top 10 in both taxes paid and government services, according to WalletHub, Colorado has done quite well supporting its health, economy, and infrastructure. And it scored in the middle of the pack for education and safety.

Next: No pollution here!

3. South Dakota

Lets travel through the rolling prairies to the Black Hills to find our second best state for taxpayers. South Dakota ranks the best in infrastructure and pollution metrics and second in health, according to WalletHub. Residents of this state enjoy low levels of pollution and clean water. Although its schools could use some attention, WalletHub ranks its hospitals fifth in the nation.

Next: A state attracting countless retirees

2. Florida

Besides the abundant sunshine, it remains a mystery as to why retirees flock to Florida to nest in retirement bliss. Florida actually scores quite low for government services  31st to be exact.

Delving deeper, we find the state also advertises some of the worst safety and economic conditions in the country. But it rounds out our top three best states likely because of its low taxes paid per capita.

Next: The best state for taxpayer ROI

1. New Hampshire

Coming in at No. 1, New Hampshire wears the biggest crown as the best state for taxpayer return on investment. It has the second lowest unemployment rate in the country at 2.6%, as of February 2018. It also places in the top 10 in all of WalletHubs categories, except for infrastructure and education, meaning the government knows how to manage a budget. New Hampshire residents pay the third-lowest taxes per capita and see the second-best in government services.

Next: These are the 10 worst states for taxpayer dollars.

That was the good news. But what about the worst states for taxpayers to live? Lets hope your state doesnt make the cut.

10. Maryland

Youd think a state that pays the 10th highest taxes per capita would see a higher return on investment. But that is not the case for residents of Maryland. It seems their government is most concerned with education and healthcare, but safety and infrastructure systems are suffering as a result.

Next: A tiny state with high taxes

9. Delaware

While Delaware scores in the top five for water quality, it shows poorly in other health-related metrics. Its also in the bottom ten in safety.

For such a tiny state, it sure does require a lot of tax dollars to fund Delawares government. Regardless, the states governmental services could use a bit of an overhaul.

Next: Education could use some work in this state.

8. Nevada

Way across the map on the western side of the U.S. we find our ninth worst state for taxpayers. Residents in the Silver State experience high amounts of violent crime and some of the worst hospital systems in the country.

WalletHub also ranks Nevada at No. 48 for education. To make matters worse, residents of Nevada have a median household income of about $52,43, which is lower than most states.

Next: Poor ROI has residents wondering where their money goes.

7. New Mexico

New Mexico is ranked 48th in government services because of its high infrastructure and pollution score. In other categories  education, safety, and the economy  New Mexico receives a failing grade. Therefore, its not surprising it has alarmingly high poverty rates, violent crime, and trouble in the school systems.

Whats worse is New Mexicos unemployment rate is at an astounding 5.8%, as of February 2018. So, why isnt it in the No. 1 slot for worst taxpayer return on investment? Well, it ranks pretty well  in comparison to its counterparts on this list  for the amount of taxes paid per capita in 20th place.

Next: Seriously high taxes in this tiny state

6. Vermont

Although Vermont residents see a big return on investment in government services, they pay through the nose for it. Vermont pays the third highest taxes per capita. As a result of its high tax rates, the state does well in WalletHubs safety and education categories.

Next: A disappointing reality for taxpayers

5. New York

Raise your hand if youre surprised New York comes in dead last for infrastructure and pollution, according to WalletHub. Its no shock, as one trip to the Big Apple will confirm any doubts.

New Yorks economy struggles compared to other states and it ranks 44th for its hospital systems. But when considering the high residential and tourist population, low rankings in such categories are to be expected.

Next: The highest taxes in the country

4. North Dakota

WalletHub lists this state as No. 1 in taxes paid per capita. And though it does see a good return through government services (ranked fifth), its still not enough.

North Dakota is lurking in the top 20 for every WalletHub category except for education, where it ranks 23rd. Unfortunately, those results in all five categories WalletHub analyzed wont land North Dakota on any best of lists anytime soon.

Next: A West Coast state that has yet to see any returns

3. California

With unsatisfactory categorical rankings throughout, California rests as the third worst state for taxpayers. Residents enjoy a decent health system but poor infrastructure and pollution. Just ask any Californian, and theyll be more than happy to vent frustrations over their miserable commute times and the constant bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway.

Next: This state could use a tax overhaul

2. Arkansas

Arkansas ranks as the second-worst state for taxpayers. WalletHub cities a high tax rate and dismal return on investment from the government as reasons for its place on this list. It has a high percentage of residents in poverty and scores dismally in health, safety, and the economy.

Next: The worst state for taxpayer ROI

1. Hawaii

The worst state for taxpayer return on investment is Hawaii. Although its surrounded by serene beaches and Pacific waves, WalletHub stamps Hawaii with poor roads and bridges. This is shocking because it pays a lot in state and local taxes.

Less-than-stellar performances across the board also help make its case for the top spot. Maybe its all that sunshine and vitamin D, but Hawaii does rank high in the health category at No. 6.

Follow Lauren on Twitter @la_hamer.
ISIS 'Covert Unit' Murders Pakistani Christian Family on Easter Monday, Praises 'Allah' Christian Post Contributor | 03 April, 2018 by Stoyan Zaimov

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for an attack in southwestern Pakistan on Easter Monday when four Christians from a single family were gunned down while they were traveling by rickshaw in Quetta city.

CNN reported on Tuesday that IS has hailed a "covert unit" of its militants who "managed to target a number of the combatant Christians."

The radical group says its fighters "shot them with a pistol, which resulted in the killing of four of them, and all praise is due to Allah."

Police officials confirmed that armed men on a motorcycle opened fire on the family when they were returning home from a bazaar. A young Christian girl was also wounded in the attack, but unlike the other members of her family, namely her father and three cousins, she survived.

Provincial police official Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters that the incident "appears to be a targeted attack."

"It was an act of terrorism," he added.

The British Pakistani Christian Association, which monitors and provides support for Christian victims of violence and persecution in the Muslim-majority country, said the Pakistani government has been warned of increasing IS threats, but has failed to take adequate safety measures.

Read more about Christian persecution on The Christian Post.
Parents Outraged Over 'Graphic' Sex Ed Plan 'Sit Out' CP Reporter | 03 April, 2018 by Brandon Showalter

Frustrated parents across the nation are planning to remove their children from public schools later this month in protest of "pornographic" sex ed curriculum being taught under the guise of "anti-bullying."

The "Sex Ed Sit Out," which has been months in the making, is taking place on Monday, April 23.

The protest was launched by a few American mothers on social media who were troubled by the explicit nature of content in current sex ed resources used in public schools. As their coordination efforts gained ground, the initiative went global with demonstrations planned in Australia and Canada.

"Why are our tax dollars going to pay for curriculums and resources that teach dangerous and promiscuous behaviors which most parents find morally abhorrent and the CDC has stated are a health risk?" asked Elizabeth Johnston, who also known as The Activist Mommy and has over half a million followers on Facebook, in a press release about the upcoming protest obtained by The Christian Post.

"I kept stumbling across viral videos online of concerned parents sharing the graphic nature of sex education and anti-bullying curriculums. I personally homeschool my children but felt sorry for the parents who feel helpless to stop the stranglehold of special interest groups who are funding and pushing these graphic and dangerous programs in public schools," Johnston said in an email to CP Monday.

She and other concerned moms began networking together to launch a protest called "Sex Ed Sit Out"; they decided on April 23 because they were looking for a date in the spring in which most schools are in session before the hustle and bustle of graduations and proms began. The initiative's website outlines their objections to "gender-bending" and "pornographic" sex ed resources, the use of tax dollars being spent to fund such curricula, and the sexualization of children.

The parents behind this demonstration want to know why their kids are being taught the mechanics of anal and oral sex, how to masturbate, and to question their gender, which are among the things included in many sex ed curricula used today in public schools.

Read more about sex education issues on The Christian Post.
We Must Overcome the Fear of Reaching Loner Teenagers Christian Post Contributor | 03 April, 2018 by Nolan Harkness

There obviously would be negative vibes coming from some American people concerning the risks of reaching out to the loner teens. These types of young people over and over become the "shooters" in the schools. However, they are at a very small percentage. What single factor more than any other will keep us from reaching out to these needy "alone" teenagers? There is only one thing  the fear factor!

Hopefully with this article I can stir your faith to step out and reach out to the students who seem so alone, and without friends, at the public schools in your neighborhood. At the same time, I hope to dispel some myths that seem to fly through the air as we hear the Spirit of God stir our hearts to be an instrument of His Love! Often by listening to the warnings of the fearful, faith based projects are stopped before they are ever started! Just ask Nehemiah.

Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission, walked into his denomination headquarters excited about a vision God had just given him in the mid 1950s. It was a revolutionary missions plan using young people all over the world to win souls. He did not expect to hear what his General Superintendent told him! He was told that it just couldn't work. That it would be too dangerous for the teenagers, and that he would have to come up with a new plan. One of the largest evangelical denominations in the country with seeming unlimited resources and solid Christian people, flatly told Lauren he could not do what God had called him to do! Lauren did not yet realize that his plan was so far bigger than any one denomination and that God knew what he was doing! Today YWAM has thousands of full time employees and is in 171 countries around the world! Proverbs 21:31 says; "The horse is prepared for the day of battle but safety is of the Lord!

I can remember one of my first trips into Bed Stuyvesant Brooklyn to volunteer at a huge inner city bus ministry. I was traveling down from upstate New York and the two previous trips I had a Christian Brother ride along. At the last minute he cancelled and I found myself in one of the highest crime areas of the country. I was arriving at midnight to avoid high traffic. I was going to the church, a converted beer factory, where I would be sleeping in the church nursery. I can remember God's peace being on me so strongly I could have slept without fear on the sidewalk. When we pray a lot trusting God, we have very little fear about anything because God's Spirit rests so profoundly upon us and gives us an inner calm! That was one of my first experiences in learning Gods supernatural protection. When we are called to a potentially dangerous task that's when he will be the most near!

Read more about loner teenagers on The Christian Post.
How do Christians in the USA experience life in an easier way than non-Christians? Students at George Washington University can learn about this and other related questions in a workshop entitled Christian Privilege: But our founding fathers were all Christians, right?

The website for the event offers the following introduction to the topic. Even with the separation of Church and State, are there places where Christians have built-in advantages over non-Christians? How do we celebrate Christian identities and acknowledge that Christians receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country? Lets reflect upon ways we can live up to our personal and national values that make room for all religious and secular identities on an equal playing field.

Timothy Kane, the interim associate director for diversity initiatives at George Washington, will lead the event. Kane holds a degree in divinity and theology and has served in his current role since 2011. His biographical page on the Universitys website describes him as a proud gay member of the LGBT community at GW. His role is to ensure that all types of diversity are celebrated at GW.

Christian students who attend Kanes workshop will wonder if they are being celebrated or vilified. In the learning objectives, Kane says Participants will be able to describe what is meant by privilege overall and white privilege specifically and Participants will be able to describe the role of denial when it comes to white privilege. In addition, they will be able to list at least three examples of Christian privilege.

The workshop is part of the training curriculum offered by the Universitys Multicultural Student Center. Other workshops cover heterosexual privilege, cisgender privilege, able-bodied privilege, unconscious bias, and study habits.

The College Fix attempted to contact Kane, but he has not responded to their requests.

Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Publication date: April 3, 2018
Archbishop of Uganda distances Church from Anglican MP defending domestic violence

The archbishop of Uganda has distanced himself from an Anglican MP who defended men beating their wives.

Stanley Ntagali used his Easter message to give a strong rebuttal to domestic violence, stressing it is 'never right'.

It comes after Onesmus Twinamasiko, a Ugandan member of parliament, said in a TV interview: 'As a man, you need to discipline your wife. You need to touch her a bit, and you tackle her and you beat her somehow to streamline her.'

Ntagali said: 'I want to state categorically and very clearly that the Church of Uganda does not support his views. Even though he is an Anglican, he and his views do not represent the Church of Uganda. We condemn all domestic violence. No exceptions.'

Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni branded men who beat women as 'foolish and cowardly', urging churches to speak out.

'We too easily resort to violence in order to resolve conflict  even petty conflicts. That is not the way of Jesus,' Ntagali said on Sunday according to Anglican News.

'Men: it is NEVER right to beat your wife. Women: it is NEVER right to resolve conflict with violence. Women, you should never believe your aunties when they tell you that if your husband doesn't beat you then that means he doesn't love you. That is a lie.

'Listen to me carefully. The position of the Church of Uganda is that domestic violence is always wrong. Always.

'Please learn the way of Jesus, which is the way of life. Jesus destroyed the culture of death through his resurrection, and he brought us a culture of life. So, I ask you, "Why are we continuing the culture of death?"

'I am glad to know that the Hon MP has apologised before Parliament. I urge him to now show the fruits of repentance and become a public leader in the fight against domestic violence, and in his own family and marriage to practice love and preach love to others.'
Ethiopian court rejects appeal of Christian who was imprisoned for offending members of Orthodox church

An Ethiopian court has rejected the appeal of an Evangelical Christian who was sentenced to prison in February for allegedly offending members of the Orthodox Church.

Temesgen Mitiku Mezemir, who leads an Evangelical fellowship group, was sentenced to seven years in prison after he was found guilty by a judge in the southern city of Arba Minch on Feb. 2 of defaming the tabot, a replica of the Ark of the Covenant sacred to Orthodox Christians. According to World Watch Monitor, an appeal was immediately lodged by his lawyers, but the verdict was upheld by another court on March 19.

The charges against Mezemir were lodged after he allegedly told members of the predominant Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) to compare Orthodox accounts of the tabot with information available on the Ark of the Covenant on the Internet.

During the hearing on Jan. 23, the judge reportedly invited court attendees to share their opinion about the accused instead of hearing the prosecutor's witnesses.

Mezemir and his fellow Evangelicals were then reportedly injured when they were attacked outside the court after the hearing and the judge was removed from the case before a second hearing took place on Jan. 26 amid heavy security.

During the hearing, Mezemir denied accusations he downloaded a picture of the tabot to insult the EOC, saying he wanted to use it only as reference.

After Mezemir's sentencing, local Evangelicals expressed fears that the verdict could lead to more accusations and actions against members of their community.

Just before the Orthodox celebration of Epiphany on Jan. 19, Evangelicals were reportedly blamed for the disappearance of a festive banner and Orthodox leaders had called on people to defend their religion, after which dozens of people believed to be EOC members from Arba Minch broke into the meeting place of the Evangelicals, destroying their pulpit and furniture, and taking instruments, World Watch Monitor reports.
Martin Luther King's last sermon: 'I've seen the promised land'

Fifty years ago tomorrow, Rev Dr Martin Luther King was murdered by James Earl Ray at his motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

But today, April 3, is the anniversary of the last sermon he ever preached. It was at the the Mason Temple, the World Headquarters of the Church of God in Christ in Memphis.

It was a sermon that was hopeful without being triumphalist. King took a flight through time and invited his hearers to think of the great moments of human history  the Exodus, the great classical age of Greece, the Romans, the Renaissance, Luther and Lincoln.

'But I wouldn't stop there,' he said. 'Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, "If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the twentieth century, I will be happy.'

Why? He admits it's a strange choice. But, he said: 'The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya: Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee  the cry is always the same  "We want to be free."'

With clarity and power, he said: 'We mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God's world.

'And that's all this whole thing is about. We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God's children. And that we don't have to live like we are forced to live.'

He urged his hearers not to be divided by their enemies (Pharaoh's strategy in Egypt) and to avoid the distraction of violence. He recalled the brutality directed at the non-violent marches in Birmingham under the police chief there, and how it failed to defeat them. He praised the preachers who had been in the forefront of the struggle, but warned them, too: 'It's alright to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's alright to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's alright to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.'

King urged black solidarity upon his hearers, reminding them of the economic power of the boycott. And he drew on the parable of the Good Samaritan for an unforgettable lesson. Why didn't the priest and the Levite stop to help him? It was, he said, because they were afraid  this was a dangerous place. 'And so the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"'

King finished his sermon by referring to the time he had been stabbed by a demented woman; the blade had come so close to his aorta that if he had sneezed he would have died. He was glad, he said, that he hadn't sneezed, because of the things he'd seen in his lifetime. But, he said: 'We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind.

'Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.'

The next day, at just after six in the evening, he was shot in the head and pronounced dead an hour later.
Pope Francis could still visit Northern Ireland, archbishop suggests

Pope Francis could still visit Northern Ireland, despite a stop not part of his scheduled itinerary in August, Irish bishops have suggested.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said that although a 'political event' was impossible, if Northern Ireland bishops organised an event around the family 'that might make it easier'.

Pope Francis is scheduled to make a brief visit to Ireland on August 25-26 for the World Meeting of Families.

He will be the first pope to visit since St John Paul II in 1971, where the Troubles made a visit to Northern Ireland too sensitive and dangerous.

Before the official announcement was made last month hopes were raised that with peace in place north of the border, Francis might become the first pontiff to visit Belfast.

That seems to have been put on ice with a senior Vatican source telling Christian Today that Brexit and the issue of a hard border 'complicates things quite a bit'.

As James Macintyre explains:

Why? Because the concept of a divided Ireland is anyway controversial, especially among Catholics, and a visit by the pope at a time of political uncertainty and unrest could be seen a an endorsement, however faint, of the concept of that divisive, hard border. Prior to the Brexit vote in 2016, the North and South were making very serious inroads towards peace, and a trip to the former by Francis would have been seen as backing nothing other than peace. Instead, it now would have much more complicated connotations in this most sensitive of former conflict zones.

Therefore, it appears that a potential papal trip to Northern Ireland has been the first major international event that has fallen victim to Brexit.

However despite the warnings a number of bishops have voiced hopes the possibility of a trip north could still get the go ahead.

'He is coming for the World Meeting of Families, that is his primary purpose. He will focus on the many difficulties and challenges families have to face,' Martin said.

'He doesn't want big shows, he wants to be just present with those who are marginalised,' Martin added amid speculation he may visit a prison, as he is prone to do in Italy.
Pope Francis says hell doesn't exist  but I know he's wrong

Hell does not exist, Pope Francis has been quoted as saying. If he did say this or something like it, perhaps as part of his wider mission to refashion the Catholic Church as more merciful than perhaps it has seemed in the past, there might another way to interpret it, one more relatable to the direct experience of ordinary people out there.

The experience of people such as myself , people who have battled and (mostly) conquered some pretty serious and rooted personality flaws over many decades, is that hell does indeed exist. I'll leave questions around the afterlife to the theologians. For quotidian toilers such as me, it definitely exists in the here and now. And one message of Easter, the redemption of the Resurrection, is that it can be conquered, defeated, overcome  in the here and now.

What the pope said was radical because hell and heaven have been, and are, seen as future consequences for our present actions. You will go to hell for this  but only when you die. It doesn't take me to point out how this can be abused by the unscrupulous to justify sin without apparent consequence, how it can be abused by authority, by parents, organisations both religious and secular.

It is also a common criticism of Christians that we are merely being 'good' today so we can go to heaven tomorrow. But the power of Christianity and the Resurrection, at least for this insignificant believer, is not what it promises in the afterlife. I'm happy to let God be the judge of that. It is what it empowers in the present.

And for me, this empowerment, the liberation from enslavement to aspects of my personality that have proved so difficult to manage, ultimately came through immersion in the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ. Hell for me was not just what I have experienced in this life as a consequence of my own actions, those of others and of sheer bad luck. It is also what I have done to others, created for others, mainly unintentionally and mainly in the past now but still done nonetheless.

I want and try to be a good person and believe that is the case for most people. Also I am deeply repentant for harm I've done to others. Why I love Easter beyond Christmas, and continue to believe and pray it year on year, is because it offers repeated second chances. It offers mercy.

Yes, hell does exist. But the Resurrection shows me I no longer have to live in it.

Ruth Gledhill is multi-media editor of The Tablet and an editorial adviser to Christian Today. Find her on Twitter @ruthiegledhill
#PunishAMuslimDay: 3 of the best responses

Communities around the UK have united to combat what was dubbed as 'Punish a Muslim' day on April 3.

Last month a letter was sent to Muslim MPs, including Cabinet member Sajid Javid, as well as businesses and homes in in east London, the Midlands and Yorkshire. It called for violence against Muslims with a range of 'points' given for various activities against Muslims including pulling a Muslim woman's headscarf off or beating someone up.

Counter-terror police are investigating the source of the letter, which is thought to originate in a two-year old campaign.

However community leaders are urging Muslims to go about activities as normal with the #PunishAMuslimDay hashtag met with counter-hashtags #LoveAMuslimDay and #WeStandTogether.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: 'At this time there is no credible information to suggest there is any criminal activity that will take place. We will be encouraging local faith and community networks to take part in a "#WeStandTogether" campaign.'

Here are three responses we loved to Punish a Muslim day.

1. Sign up to support a Muslims

Jamilla Hekmoun, a 24-year-old researcher, and Umar, a 22-year-old student from London, have set up a specific helpline. The pair have gathered more than a 100 volunteers who signed a Google Doc to say they are happy to talk on the phone or walk someone home if they feel nervous or threatened at any time on the day.

3rd of April has been planned as a "PunishAMuslimDay" To help our community feel safe, we have organised the #ProtectAMuslimDay initiative. We have organised volunteers from around the UK to help you if you feel unsafe on the day, call: 07985606148 or 07985601849. More info

* Especially sisters with a hijab. Be sure people know where you and where you are going at all times. * SPREAD THE WORD GUYS

2. #LoveAMuslim points on offer

There are also a number #LoveAMuslimDay events being organised in Nottingham, Bradford, Wakefield, Sheffield and Leeds. The idea originated with the charity Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) writing a counter-letter offering points for smiling at a Muslim or inviting them into your home.

We should all love Muslim people on all days, but considering hate levels going on right now, tomorrow you really need to #LoveAMuslim to counter the hate! Things you can do - Smiling at people would be a good start, better still invite Muslims into your home.... pic.twitter.com/CbcOy79a7v  Agent of Change (@khbelizaire) 2 April 2018

3. It hasn't worked!

The campaign seems to have largely failed.. The #PunishAMuslimDay hashtag is largely full of support for Muslims.

Solidarity with all British Muslims today having to deal with #PunishAMuslimDay. We still have a long way to go before Britain takes anti-Muslim bigotry seriously.  Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) 3 April 2018

If you witness (non physical) islamophobic harassment today (or any day), this guide by @itsmaeril could come in handy #PunishAMuslimDay pic.twitter.com/H7w9q4lp4x  ikran (@ikran) 3 April 2018

Moreover the watchdog TellMAMAUK has at the time of publishing said it has received no reports of hate crimes directed at Muslims today.
The Christian who made a covenant in blood with God: 8 quotes from Gerhard Tersteegen

Gerhard Tersteegen, who died on this day in 1769, was a German spiritual writer and speaker who wore himself out in the service of God.

Apprenticed to his older brother, a shopkeeper, he set up his own business before turning to silk weaving as a way of making a living. He spent six years up to 1724 in a state of spiritual depression before passing through a crisis at Easter; on Maundy Thursday he wrote out a solemn covenant with God which he signed with his own blood.

He did not attend services of the Reformed Church, but became a writer and spiritual teacher who draw many to hear him at his house. A mystic and poet, he wrote more than a hundred hymns, many of which are still sung today by German Protestants. Here are eight quotes from Gerhard Tersteegen.

1. The secret of God's presence is actually believed by very few, but are you aware, that if each one truly believed it, the whole world would at once be filled with the saints, and the earth would be truly Paradise?

2. All the glory of earthly kings and princes are only vain shadows and child's-play compared with the single Pentecostal heart which is deemed worthy of receiving the Spirit of Jesus Christ in such plenitude.

3. He that gives all for all, shall certainly obtain the pearl of great price; but how can a person receive anything whose hands are already full?

4. Every tear and every sigh will bring, in due time, abundant fruit. Learn to keep Lent with Jesus.

5. As long as we wanted to be different from what God wants us to be at the time, we are only tormenting ourselves to no purpose.

6. A God comprehended is no God.

7. Let us each one desire to be a saint in his own place and calling, instead of building castles in the air of future holiness.

8. I would not like to have a single tear of our dearest Saviour, which he sheds over me through his children, as a judgment upon me.
At a time when the number of minority-owned banks in the U.S. is on decline, Unity National Bank has opened its first out-of-state branch in Atlanta.

The expansion caps recent years of financial growth at Houston-based Unity, driven in part by the banks continued commitment to its Third Ward neighbors, and recent social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter. Unity is the only African-American-owned bank in Texas.

In September 2017, the bank reported assets of more than $98 million, up from $84 million in the same period a year earlier. Between 2015 and 2017, it reported an 18.4 percent increase in assets making it one of the top-performing African-American-owned banks in the U.S., according to a report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Unitys financial success is an outlier, said William Michael Cunningham, D.C.-based economist and banking expert.

Cunningham noted that the 2008 recession and changes to federal banking regulations forced many small banks, particularly minority-owned, to go under.

In 1994, there were 55 African-American-owned banks in the U.S. By 2010, that number dwindled to 34. Today, its less than 30.

Unitys survival through the recession can be attributed to both fortune and its leadership, said Tommy Brooks, the banks CFO.

The Houston real estate market wasnt as exaggerated as other regions around 2008, Brooks said, ensuring the bank wouldnt suffer as many losses as out-of-state competitors.

Unity also was able to avoid taking up any government bailouts after its board members and shareholders invested their own capital into keeping the bank open. They werent willing to let go of its historic and symbolic significance, Brooks added.

Banks like Unity popped up across the nation during the 1960s civil rights movement. African-American small business owners, denied financing at white-owned banking institutions, opened their own banks within their neighborhoods. They served as a means to build their own capital, and as a symbol of black economic power.

Unity was originally founded in 1963 as Riverside National Bank, led by local doctors and lawyers.

Cunningham said that often these founders had no plan of succession, leading to bank closures by the next generation.

In 1985, the banks name changed to Unity National Bank. Four years later, Unity was acquired by a new set of minority leaders who continued the banks legacy of serving lower-income residents in Houstons Third Ward, going to so far as to offer financial literacy services to customers denied loans at other banks. Workers at Unity continued to sit down with customers, walking them through why they were denied and helping them brainstorm ways to improve their financial standing to qualify.

For all its efforts, Unity was losing higher-earning clients to larger banks such as Wells Fargo that offered more resources.

By 1998, Unity opened its first branch in Missouri City where it attracted black customers from a higher income bracket, as well as a greater variety of customers including Latinos and Asians.

Brooks noted that as Unity continued to serve its community, this time as a regional bank, there was some question over whether the community appreciated Unitys services and history.

In 2016, the bank got its answer.

Following the police shootings of black men across the country in 2016, including Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota, rapper Killer Mike offered an alternative to protests. At an MTV and BET town hall meeting, as an extension of the Black Lives Matter movement, he called for 1 million African-Americans to deposit $100 in black-owned banks. It would be a means to heal by strengthening the communitys power, specifically its economic power.

The movement #BankBlack took off. Unity was taken by surprise.

More than 350 people opened new accounts at Unity days after Mikes announcement. They waited in line for hours, some traveling from out-of-state where their black-owned banks had closed.

Across the nation, Mikes million goal was met and banks like Unity experienced a revival that some academics, including Cunningham, cite as potential for these banks to grow in size rather than shrink as projected

In history, movements pop-up that change the trajectory of a given industry, Cunningham said.

Sherifat Lawal, assistant vice president of lending at Unity, said that the push from #BankBlack is still being felt today with residents from across Texas and out-of-state asking for new branches to open.

The expansion into Atlanta this year, Lawal added, was in part driven by the public support in 2016.

Kase Lawal, local billionaire and chairman of Unity, had been interested in having Unity enter the Atlanta market since 2007 because its the so-called mecca of black business. Opportunity opened up in 2017 after one of Atlantas prominent African-American owned banks closed, leaving a void Unity could fill.

More than 500 guests attended the grand opening ceremony on March 26 at the corner of Peachtree Street and M.L.K. Jr. Drive, including U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Atlantas Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

By providing opportunities to achieve financial success, businesses like Unity National Bank help build equity into the fabric of our community, Bottoms said in a statement. Having a bank that understands the needs of the unbanked and that specializes in serving African-American entrepreneurs is an essential part of my administrations goal to build one Atlanta.

Back at the Houston branch, a sign announcing the Atlanta expansion greets clients.

Theyre excited about their bank going to Atlanta, Brooks said. Everyone wants pride of ownership, and our customers own the bank with us.

Unity continues to be a supporter of African-Americans in the Houston region, including members of the Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber Chairwoman Courtney Johnson-Rose said the bank provides financial services to most of her members and served as the underwriter for the chambers Buy Black directory. The directory is a similar extension of the Black Lives Matter movement and #BankBlack by promoting black-owned businesses and services based in Houston.

To further tap into the renewed public interest in black-owned banks, Unity is set to launch a full online banking service by year-end so residents from across Texas and the U.S. can open accounts electronically.
3 1 of 3 Marie D. De Jesus, Staff / Houston Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy photo / Courtesy photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





BLIND COOK JOINING CHEF HALL

Christine Ha is joining the culinary lineup at Bravery Chef Hall in downtown. The first blind contestant and Season 3 winner of MasterChef will open the Blind Goat, one of the collection of chef-led concepts in the food hall set to open later this year. Blind Goat will serve Nhau cuisine, also known as Vietnamese drinking food. I am very excited to be opening my first food concept since winning MasterChef. Everyone has been waiting to taste my dishes, and after doing pop-ups all over the world, I am finally ready to turn my dream into a reality, Ha said. It will be awesome to be part of the budding local food-hall movement, and Im so pleased to be able to do it right here in my beloved hometown of Houston. Other Bravery vendors include Cherry Block from Felix Flores, Nuna from David Guerrero, BOH Pasta from Ben McPherson and one more concept currently in negotiation. Ha attended Alief Elsik High School. At 19, she lost her vision to a rare autoimmune disease called Neuromyelitis optica. In 2012, she won the third season of Foxs MasterChef competition for amateur cooks.
Home decor store Arteriors got a bold new look for its Dallas flagship showroom in the Dallas Design District with help from Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director of Neiman Marcus Group.

Arteriors, founded in 1987 by Mark Moussa, got Downing to integrate Arteriors products with art and furnishings from outside sources to create a new look within the two-story, 5,000-square-foot showroom. Downing's theme combined a 1920's theme with a 2020 interpretation, celebrating "a return to culture, collection and civilized conversation."
A road rage investigation led to the arrest of a suspect who was found with cocaine, marijuana and "a large amount of U.S. currency," according to authorities.

Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constables got a call about a road rage incident in the 21900 block of Aldine Westfield Road in Humble on Sunday.
Since 2008, the Houston nonprofit has prepared more than 288,000 tax returns resulting in approximately $390 million in refunds for its neighbors, all for free. BakerRipley offers free tax preparation services at 11 sites across the Houston area to families and individuals that make up to $58,000 a year.

According to Community Relations Senior Manager Cristina Cave, BakerRipley is the region's largest charitable organization and provides a variety of services to more than half a million people each year including Early Head Starts, Head Starts, a charter school and small business programs. It also has five community centers that offer immigration assistance, adult education, English as a Second Language, basic skills workshops, free tax prep and programs for youth and seniors.

The organization was formerly known as Neighborhood Centers but changed its name in February 2017. With the help of the United Way, the tax services are in their 10th year and make up the largest VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program) in Houston. Cave said the services help to save people money and protect them from identity theft.

"For low- to mid-income families, their tax refund is the largest amount of money they'll get in the year in one installment. It can represent from 20 to up to 40 percent of their annual income," Cave said. "It is the best time to start paying debt, build assets and or save, but it is also the time where they can easily fall into predatory practices, like refund advance loans with their staggering interests, plus big fees for tax preparation. [They] are also vulnerable to get their identity stolen or get their taxes prepared wrongfully by unethical tax preparers."

Cave said taxpayers work hard for their money and deserve to keep as much of it as possible. She said last year alone, BakerRipley saved taxpayers approximately $7.5 million in fees.

Most of the preparers are volunteers, but Cave said they are all IRS certified preparers and go through "rigorous training." Every tax return then is checked for quality review by a staff member who has extensive experience and is on hand for any questions the volunteers or taxpayers may have.

Cave said in addition to the $58,000 maximum for income, tax sites cannot do tax returns for those claiming their home as an office, a casualty loss or rental income or for those who have employees.

The services are done without appointments on a first-come, first-served basis, so Cave suggests visiting one of the sites as soon as possible because they will get busier as the April 17 deadline gets closer.

Although taxpayers can do their returns themselves online at www.myfreetaxes.com, she recommends getting help at one of the sites if they are new to the process or have gone through a major reportable life event.

"Tax preparation can be intimidating. If they qualify, we suggest taxpayers let us help them if it is the first time they are filing or if they had a major event like marriage or buying a home, etc. Next year they'll have a road map and they can do it on their own online," Cave said.

According to a report by the Internal Revenue Service, more than nine out of 10 refunds are being issued this year within 21 days of the date the returns are filed, so that should be motivation to get returns completed. However, Cave said if people are not ready to file their taxes, the sites can help them file an extension. Taxpayers who file an extension avoid paying a penalty for filing late, but they will still pay a penalty for paying late if they owe.

She also mentioned some of the typical mistakes taxpayers make when filing their returns. She said they need to bring to the site the identification of everyone that will appear on the return as well as proof of income documents like W-2 or 1099 forms. Taxpayers should verify all information on the return like their name, date of birth and social security number and make sure their banking account and routing numbers are correct. In addition, Cave said taxpayers always need to leave with a copy of their return to keep for their records.

Cave is in her fourth tax season with BakerRipley and said she enjoys serving others and seeing their gratitude when they learn the tax preparation services the organization provides are free.

"My favorite part is serving hardworking families and individuals, hearing some of their stories of resilience and seeing the look in their face when they realize that our services are free [in addition to] getting to work with amazing and committed volunteers like ours. They are the engine of our program," Cave said.

All 11 tax centers are open through April 17, but one center, is open year-round at the Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center at 6500 Rookin St., Houston. For more information, dial the United Way Helpline at 2-1-1 or visit www.freetaxcenters.org. The helpline runs 24/7 and has operators that speak several languages.
City workers in the small town of Arcola are trying to figure out next steps after being told to leave city hall last month because of mold found inside the building.

"We can't do anything. Traffic tickets, nothing. We can't operate the city," said Mayor Mary Etta Anderson over the phone Monday.

Three types of mold, including black, were discovered in the building in January after staff workers continued to fall ill. City workers were told to leave in late March and have not been back in the office since then. Arcola, made up of about 2,000 people, sits next to Fresno and about 25 miles southwest of Houston.

City council members first were made aware of the mold in January, but have yet to agree on how to come up with a financial solution to the problem. City council members could not be reached for comment as of Monday afternoon.

Some city workers contacted attorney LaShawn Williams, whose office sent notices to the city, to allow the employees to work from home or take time off due to the health conditions. She said employees contacted her after complaining of rashes, headaches and hair loss.

Arcola Police Chief Brandon Torres, whose department is composed of seven officers, said his employees had symptoms from the mold . City staff members were also getting sick and frequently going to the doctor, according to Anderson who calls the situation "disheartening."

"It's alarming to me that we bring these concerns to city council and they don't have the same passion to get our staff out of this building and do something about it," said Torres. "As a police chief, I'm limited in what I can do. My goal is to protect our staff, so that they can be here for the city."

Anderson, who first became mayor in 2008, said two trailers are going to be set up in front of city hall, so that workers can have a safe environment until the mold problem is resolved.

"I know Mayor Anderson is good person and she cares about the citizens and the people that work there. I know she is doing the best she can do," said Williams. "Who I blame is the city council. I think this falls squarely at their feet."

Williams said that city workers are still unsure of the full health hazards they may have suffered as a result of the mold. Torres thinks the slow response from council members could be their lack of exposure to the building.

"I think sometimes people don't realize how much it has impacted us because they're not being exposed to it as well," said Torres. "City council comes there once or twice a month compared to our officers and staff. We're in there all day."

In the meantime, Torres said he's reaching out to neighboring police agencies for help and his officers are still responding to emergency calls in progress.

"Where do our officers go to file a police report? Where do they go to file their citation? These are some of the challenges that we're currently facing that we're trying to overcome," said Torres.
Katy is a safe suburban community and sex trafficking is something that happens in other countries.

If that's what you think, you're similar to Katy-area moms Angie Goeke and Alicia Maroney until they attended a few years ago a small presentation in the living room of a friend where they learned that sex trafficking is happening to kids in Katy area neighborhoods. They spent the next year learning more about the issue and other area groups focused on fighting it before they officially formed in March 2017 their group - Not In Our City (NIOC). Visit https://notinourcity.net/ for information.

On April 19, A Texas-Sized Fight Against Domestic Sex Trafficking gala will raise funds and awareness for the group. Guest speaker will be Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale and the event will include food, dancing and an auction. It also will mark the launch of a social media campaign, said Goeke, NIOC CEO.

The group has joined a collaboration of nonprofits - Houston Area Against Trafficking (fightforus.org). "We're still learning where we fit in the puzzle," said Goeke. "We're settling in where we can play an effective part in the solution."

She and Maroney, NIOC vice president, are focusing on preventive education in curriculums for middle school through high school students. They've partnered with the NEST Foundation in California that has developed a curriculum to be used within schools.

Goeke said the curriculum meshes with educational requirements in Texas and does not require an outside presenter but can be taught by a classroom teacher. Calling it very flexible, she said it could be offered through speech class teaching persuasive arguments or in a history class teaching about abolition and modern-day slavery. The curriculum concludes with a student-led forum in which youths sit across from policymakers to discuss the issues raised.

Plans to pilot the curriculum this spring to eighth-graders in Katy fell through, though. "We did not have the parent support we thought we did," Goeke explained. So they're focusing on making parents aware of what their children are facing and the necessity of education and prevention to replace the misplaced feelings of safety.

"The topic can be frightening for parents," Goeke said. She said human trafficking has reached the level of a public health crisis. "It will take the whole community to come together and work together to fight it."

The group offers movie screenings in homes of "8 Days," a feature film inspired by actual events about a missing 16-year-old forced into sex trafficking. After the viewing, parents can then talk about what they can do next to combat the problem.

"People aren't acknowledging it's a problem. Most of the trafficking in our area isn't talked about. The whole nature of trafficking is built around shame and manipulation," she said. Goeke said she knows of girls in Cinco Ranch who are being pimped out but are remaining quiet because they're scared or their families have been threatened. The human trafficking hotline is 1-888-373-7888.

In the past, human trafficking may have been associated with foster care or homelessness, she said. But now groomers/traffickers are reaching out to vulnerable in wealthy neighborhoods with very loving parents, she said. Underlying factors she blames are the over-sexualization of children and easy access to pornography. Youths are exposed to much more than their parents were at the same age, she said. Kids using Smart phones have no shame she said as they share pornography at lunchtime.

Parents need to have an open conversation with their kids to create a safe environment to talk about these issues. She wants parents to have an adult conversation with their kids about trafficking because it's out there and youths need tools to become vigilant to protect themselves and their peers.

Other anti-trafficking efforts are underway as well. Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Constable Wayne Thompson spoke at the Childproof America community education event about sex trafficking held March 22 in Fulshear. Childproof America is a Katy-based nonprofit organization. Visit http://childproofamerica.org/ for more information. The group's website says that Kelly Litvak, founder/executive director of Childproof America, acted after her family was impacted by human trafficking in 2016.
Drive into the parking lot of Katy's First Baptist Church parking lot at 600 Pin Oak Road Saturday, April 7, and recycle outdated electronics and shred unwanted paper as part of the annual Trash Bash organized by Keep Katy Beautiful from 9 a.m.-noon.

Last year's Trash Bash collected more than 1.5 tons of recycled electronics and more than 2 tons of trash, reported Jess Washburn, tourism and marketing assistant and affiliate coordinator for Keep Katy Beautiful Board, to Katy City Council March 26. The event is for city residents only and participants must show driver's license as proof of residency.

The Trash Bash is only one reason why the volunteer group organized in 1993 by Katy Mayor Skip Conner earned recognition for the fifth time with the 2018 Governor's Community Achievement Award which recognizes the best grassroots environmental programs in the state. It is one of only 10 winners. Washburn called it a community award because other groups work with Keep Katy Beautiful toward its goals. Judges chose winners based on achievements in community leadership and coordination, education, public awareness, litter prevention and cleanup, litter law and illegal dumping enforcement, beautification and community improvement and solid waste management. Keep Katy Beautiful will receive its award June 12 in Georgetown during Keep Texas Beautiful's 51st annual conference.

In congratulating Keep Katy Beautiful, Councilman James "Jimmy" Mendez Jr. said, "I take all you do for granted. Seeing it all listed out was enlightening." Concurring was Councilman J. Gary Jones who said he knew the group contributed to the community but didn't know how much it contributed until he saw the list.

KKB also won the award in 2000, 2007, 2010 and 2013. The 2018 award comes with a $180,000 grant and brings the total in grants received by Katy through the state program to nearly $1 million. Grants have been used for beautification projects in the city, such as landscaping and the bronze geese sculptures.

Jamie Wolman, a member of the Keep Katy Beautiful Board, received the Keep Texas Beautiful Leadership Award. Wolman has been involved with Keep Katy Beautiful for more than 20 years. In 2014, Wolman, who then served as KKB executive director, received Keep America Beautiful's Sue Smith Leadership Award.

Other activities sponsored by Keep Katy Beautiful include the Great American Cleanup, Earth Day, National Planting Day, spring and fall community wide garage sales and America Recycles Day.

Visit www.keepkatybeautiful.com/ for more information.
The San Jacinto River Authority says it now will start implementing flood mitigation plans -- a responsibility the SJRA has not handled in the past -- and will create a Flood Management Division.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott challenged the SJRA to identify how it could be a part of regional flood management solutions and how a funding mechanism could support these efforts in response to the massive flooding as a result of heavy rains dumped on the area last August from Hurricane Harvey. The rainfall, amounting to more than 30 inches in some areas, forced the SRJA to release water from Lake Conroe at a record rate of almost 80,000 cubic feet per second, surpassing the old mark of around 33,000 cfs set in 1994. Unlike organizations such as the Harris County Flood Control District, which are typically tax-funded and organized to protect those within the taxing jurisdiction, the SJRA's flood mitigation efforts would need to be funded through contracts with customers because the district lacks the ability to levy taxes.

"I am very excited to announce this new undertaking," SJRA General Manager Jace Houston said. "With the support of the governor's office and funding partnerships with federal, state and local entities, I believe together we can implement regional solutions while minimizing the impact on local taxpayers.

"There was a need for these efforts. There is not a regional entity that can partner with HCFCD to address broad regional flooding issues until now with our flood initiative. We can do this from a geographical standpoint, but not a funding standpoint, so we have some issues we need to work on. We're well positioned to meet the need from a legal authority and geographic basis."

One of the main hurdles the SJRA will face is funding, according to Houston.

The River Authority just hired Chuck Gilman as the director of Flood Management. Gilman is the former deputy city manager for College Station and was set to become the interim city manager before deciding to leave for the SJRA. Gilman will lead this effort and dedicate his time to flood mitigation and finding funding for projects. He also will assemble a team around him to focus on flooding issues.

Gilman's salary will be $180,000 annually and funded through revenues from the sale of raw water, Houston said.

"SJRA's larger raw water customers are ExxonMobil, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company and Entergy," Houston said. "SJRA also provides raw water to a number of other industries in the ship channel area and provides raw water from Lake Conroe for treatment and delivery to utilities in Montgomery County."

According to the SJRA, Gilman also has served as the assistant director of Water Services, director of Capital Projects and director of Public Works. Over the past 10-plus years, Gilman has held positions of responsibility covering every aspect of municipal administration, including utilities, transportation, drainage, emergency planning and response, planning and zoning and legislative and governmental affairs.

As director of Flood Management for the authority, Gilman will report to Houston and serve as an integral member of SJRA's senior management team. He will be responsible for developing and leading the authority's new flood management initiative.

"We are extremely pleased to be adding someone of Chuck's caliber and experience to our management team to help us address the most pressing challenge of our region," Houston said.

According to information provided by SJRA, river authorities are authorized by the Texas Legislature to take on a long list of activities to meet the particular needs within their watershed, which may include flood management activities, but have not traditionally taken on flood management responsibilities because of the practical difficulties of contracting with the public at large to fund those activities.

The SJRA Board of Directors and staff is expected to work toward an effective solution to flooding issues and partner with the HCFCD to determine real benefits for the region.s

"The Harris County Flood Control District has been the only agency in our region with the power and funding to tackle flooding on a comprehensive, regional level, but it only covers Harris County," Houston said. "This has left a tremendous gap in implementing real solutions. The last attempt to fill this gap was in the mid-1980s when voters rejected an effort to create a Montgomery County Flood Control District. This time, we hope to leverage federal funds and other partnerships to minimize any impact on local taxpayers; but if there is no will on the part of the public or our local, state and federal partners to support and fund these activities, then they won't happen."

The first step toward flood mitigation includes looking at all of the options that could be applied to this geographic area.

"The first thing we're working on is a regional flood planning study with HCFCD and Montgomery County," Houston said. "This study was approved in Montgomery County Commissioners Court. The first thing we need to do is sit down with our regional partners to determine what short-term and long-term strategies to help with flooding which could involve building a flood control reservoir, dredging certain parts of the river, channelization, debris removal and other options for flood mitigation; every option is on the table."

In regard to any future mandates on lowering the level of water on Lake Conroe, SJRA plans to study that effects of lowering lake levels before the peak of hurricane season in an effort to handle large amounts of rainfall.

"There's a lot of interest, at least, on a temporary basis of creating flood capacity in Lake Conroe which would mean lowering the levels," Houston said. "This is totally different than pre-releasing water as a storm approaches; this is not a good idea for Lake Conroe for many reasons. The concept of starting in August, for example, where we gradually lower the lake levels by one or two feet so when we're in the worst part of the hurricane season, we have capacity in Lake Conroe to capture the flow from a large storm. There is a lot of interest for this, but through our study, we need to determine the risks versus the benefits."

SJRA has had several conversations with Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd about funding, flooding mitigation grants and identifying which projects fall into what categories. Other funding sources the SJRA could tap into for future projects include Montgomery County through interlocal agreements which have been done in the past.

"It has been a trying time for these communities as they work through the unprecedented destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey," Abbott said in response to SJRA's efforts. "We need all local, state and federal partners to work together and create bold creative solutions. I appreciate the SJRA's willingness to be part of the solution, and I look forward to our continued partnership in making Texas more resilient to future flood events."

For additional information and further announcements, visit www.sjra.net.
3 1 of 3 Courtesy photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





District 22 U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, invites high school juniors and seniors in his district to apply to participate in his 2018-19 Congressional Youth Advisory Council (CYAC) this fall.

This council provides insight into the youth perspective and Olson encourages them to work hard to accomplish their academic goals.
Less than 2 months after Houston ISD in-district charter school Victory Prep North abruptly closed after running out of money, Victory Prep South notified Houston ISD officials that it does not have the funds to finish out the school year.

Houston ISD's board on Monday voted 7-0, with two trustees absent, to spend $300,000 to keep the school open through June. The school will close its doors permanently this summer.

Mark Smith, chief student support officer for HISD, said Victory Prep officials notified the district last week of the school's financial situation.

READ ALSO: Houston charter school Victory Prep North abruptly closing

That surprised trustees, who asked why district officials did not investigate the second charter school's budget after the first abruptly closed in February.

"I was told everything was fine, so imagine my surprise when I found out this campus was closing as well," said Trustee Jolanda Jones. "There has to be a way for us to monitor them. If we have to bail out a school, we should have some type of oversight."

The school closures come nearly two years after Houston ISD saved the fledgling Victory Prep Charter Network from being shut down by the state.

In 2016, the Texas Education Agency ordered Victory Prep to shut down all of its schools after receiving three straight "improvement required" ratings for poor academic performance. But Houston ISD's school board voted to make Victory Prep an in-district charter, allowing it to stay open.

RELATED: Small Houston charter school pays top dollar to leader, owns luxury condo

Under the arrangement, Houston ISD took on some oversight responsibility for the school, but the charter network's nonprofit board retained control over governance. Victory Prep North's governing board decided to close that campus.

Smith said the Victory Prep schools and other in-district charter schools are responsible for managing their own operations and turn in an audit of their finances every school year.

"We do not have a routine monitoring system for charters because they are expected to monitor themselves," Smith said.

READ ALSO: NAACP wants major charter school changes. What would they mean in Texas?

Trustees suggested adding district oversight to charter school contracts in order to avoid similar situations in the future.

"I'm very surprised that, in this year, we haven't figured out checkpoints to monitor the financial insolvency" of in-district charters, Trustee Sergio Lira said. "We have to make sure we don't close schools at the last moment."
With weeks to go before his scheduled execution, defense lawyers for Erick Davila are arguing that he should be spared death because he was high at the time of the slaying and didn't intend to kill more than one person.

The Fort Worth man was convicted of killing a rival gang member's mother and a 5-year-old girl at a children's birthday party in 2008. He was sentenced to death in 2009 and is slated for execution on April 25. But his lawyers have long argued that Annette and Queshawn Stevenson were not his intended victims, according to court filings.
A Houston Fire Department captain accused of pushing a female family member's head onto the hood of a car has been charged with assaulting a family member.

Jason Archibald, 38, was released from Harris County Jail on $10,000 bond, according to the Harris County District Clerk. He was also charged with criminal mischief after damages were seen on the hood of the car. Both charges are misdemeanors.
A man was fatally shot Tuesday morning during an apparent robbery as he was leaving his southwest Houston apartment.

A gunman approached the man outside his apartment at 8404 South Course, at the Bristol Court Apartments near the Sam Houston Tollway and Beechnut, and made a demand, Houston Police Department Detective Brian Evans said.

The two got into a brief fight before the gunfire erupted, Evans said.

The attacker appeared to be a teen, although police didn't elaborate or offer other information about the gunman.

It doesn't appear that the robber and victim knew each other. The man, who was possibly a construction worker in his late 30s or early 40s, was on his way to work when he was robbed, Evans said. They might have been fighting over an insulated cooler the man was carrying, the detective said.

"More likely than not, it was random," Evans said. "But obviously I think the individual came here with the intention of victimizing somebody."

The man, who has not been identified, was shot once in the lower abdomen or thigh, Evans said.

It is unclear if anything was taken.

The shooter fled on foot before officers arrived, according to the Houston Police Department. Investigators have little information on his physical description, but video surveillance likely captured the shooting, Evans said.

This is a developing story.




One passenger was killed and at least 20 others were injured when a commercial bus traveling from Houston to Monterrey crashed in northern Mexico early Tuesday morning.

The bus, from the Mexican company Pegasso, left the roadway and rolled over while passing through the village Los Ramones on the Reynosa-Monterrey highway during the early morning hours. Authorities said as many as 20 people suffered minor injuries, and reports from the scene by Mexican media outlets showed the bus lying on its side in one lane of a divided highway, with most of the vehicle in a ditch that straddled the median.

We dont know the cause of the accident, said Raul Cervantes, a Pegasso spokesperson. Its very unfortunate that a person has died.

Cervantes identified the dead man as Claudio Cazares, a passenger. So far, no officials sources had confirmed the death or the identity of the accident victim.

The spokesman said the bus was carrying 39 passengers, ten of whom were treated at a local hospital including the bus driver.

All of them are fine, only with minor injuries, Cervantes said, while others had only scratches or small damages that did not required hospitalization.

Cervantes said the company is insured and will take care of the passengers medical needs.

The bus departed from Houston at around 8 p.m. Monday, and was scheduled to arrive in the north Mexico city this morning.

The Mexican bus company does business as Pegasso Travel and Tours company, located at 6614 Harrisburg, where it operates 26 buses and employes 12 drivers. The company has a satisfactory U.S. bus safety rating, according to a federal transportation database. It has an out-of-service rate of 47 percent due largely to maintenance issues, more than double the average rate of U.S. carriers, according to bus inspection records of the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Federal inspections over the last two years found that 11 of 40 Pegasso drivers had violated either the 10 hour-per-day driving rule or failed to record their driving hours correctly. In all, federal inspectors found 66 violations during the last two years ranging from bus driver issues, to faulty brake systems, broken turn signals, safety lighting, and a lack of charged fire extinguishers.

Tuesdays crash in Mexico was the companys second in the last two years, following a minor accident involving a 15-passenger van in McCulloch County in central Texas in February 2017. That accident did not result in any deaths or injuries.

In 25 years in business, the company hasnt had any accident of this magnitude (with fatalities), and we are sorry, Cervantes said.
Houston ISD officials have abandoned plans to overhaul the way the district funds its schools, opting to keep HISD's long-standing financing system as they work to fill a $115 million budget deficit.

Schools will continue to receive an allotment of money based on their enrollments next school year, but the amount campuses receive will shrink by nearly $200 per student.

The announcement walked back proposals made by former Superintendent Richard Carranza in January to centralize some staffing and budgeting decisions now made by principals.

Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said the district needs to do more outreach and study its funding mechanisms before changing the way schools are allotted money. The district will create a committee in the coming months to study resource allocation.

We wanted to pause and take a step back and give some proposals to the board about how do we engage the community about the funding allocation, Lathan said. What does it look like for HISD and our community?

The current "per-student allotment," or PUA model, gives principals a sum of money at the beginning of the school year, based on enrollment and student characteristics. Principals have wide discretion to use that money to hire teachers, buy supplies and operate their schools.

Former Superintendent Richard Carranza had proposed swapping the PUA model for a full-time employee, or FTE model. Under that proposal, central administration would create uniform staffing ratios across all schools. Middle schools, for example, would employ one teacher for every 30 students and one assistant principal for every 500 students. Principals still would get money to spend on discretionary items, but that amount would have fallen to about $70 per student.

Carranza argued that implementing an FTE system would make school funding in the district more equitable, help the district better see how funds are being spent at the campus level and ultimately save money.

Trustees were divided on the proposed change, and the will to pursue a new funding system waned after Carranza announced he would leave the district to lead New York Citys public schools in March.

Trustee Sue Deigaard, who had expressed concerns with how the FTE model was developing, said she is glad the district will take more time to study its finances.

I think this is long overdue, Deigaard said. As someone watching this process every year, and every single year we get to this point where we ask what can we cut instead of being proactive and answering how should we be allocating our resources to benefit our students.

Under the most recent draft of the 2018-2019 budget, the amount schools get per student through the PUA will fall by $90 in an effort to trim $45 million from the districts looming deficit. High schools will see their per-student funds fall from $3,522 this year to an estimated $3,432 next year.

Funding for some programs, including special education and career-and-technical education, will be centralized.

Another $70 million will be cut from central administration, which will result in most departments cutting their budgets by at least 22 percent. HISD chief of polices budget is facing a 23 percent reduction in funding, and the chief academic officers office could lose about a quarter of its money.

Budget Manager Glenn Reed also proposed increasing a subsidy given to smaller schools by $11 million across the district, using unused funds at the end of this school year to pay for the increase. High schools that serve fewer than 1,000 students, middle schools that educate fewer than 750 students and elementary schools with fewer than 500 students qualify for the subsidy; 83 HISD schools meet those requirements.

Most smaller schools got about $850 per student this school year through the subsidy, and that will increase to $2,100 per student under the proposed budget.

Trustees Diana Davila and Jolanda Jones worried that giving smaller schools more money will not necessarily mean principals will use the extra funds to hire support positions some smaller campuses lack, including nurses and librarians.

We said this in 2016, that every school needs a nurse, a librarian, a social worker, and since then Ive heard every excuse in the book. We need to put it in policy, Jones said. We didnt say principals get to decide whether they want them or not, we were adamant that we believe those to be essential positions. I have a real problem with the fact were allowing principals to make these (staffing) decisions when we have the power.
Bunker Hill

3/24/18 at 2300 Hours. Contact at the Starbucks located at Echo and Katy Freeway. Victim: Bunker Hill Resident. Suspicious Situation. The MVPD was notified of an unusual encounter that occurred at the Starbucks located at the above location. The reporting persons 15 year-old daughter was at the Starbucks when an adult male sat down near her and began a conversation. The two spoke for a few minutes before the juvenile had to leave. The adult male convinced the juvenile to provide her social media contact information to him before she left. Since that time the male has attempted to contact the female making her and her family uncomfortable. The account was immediately blocked and information was obtained and provided to detectives for follow-up investigation.

Piney Point

3/24/18 at 1930 Hours. 10900 Block of Walwick. Fraud. Victim was contacted by a male subject who claimed to be from Apple notifying the victim that he had been defrauded of approximately $47 dollars on his I-Tunes account. The suspect offered to credit the victims account however, that he needed to purchase a new I-Tunes card with at least a $100 value in order to receive the credit. The victim went and purchased a new I-Tunes card and provided the information to the suspect caller who remained on the phone with him. Upon providing the information on the card to the suspect the victim realized that he had been defrauded and ended the call. Information was obtained and provided to detectives.

Hunters Creek

3/22/18 at 2215 Hours. 8525 Katy Freeway. Aggravated Robbery. Two suspects were involved in the armed robbery of the Shell Gas Station. A male suspect described as a black male in his early 20 approximately 5'10'' and weighing 120 pounds wearing a gray hoodie pulled tight around his face entered the store and looked around. The male then exited at which time a second black male also approximately 5'10'' and weighing 120 pounds entered the store wearing a dark sweatshirt hoodie with white stripes and a red bandana, he produced a semi-automatic firearm. The suspect demanded cash from the registers and then fled from the location along with the other male who was waiting outside as a lookout. Information was obtained that included video surveillance. Detectives are investigating the incident.
1. Yes. Several other districts factor them in. It would provide a more complete picture.

2. Yes. Theyre not as accurate, but they can be useful in spotting a trend in infections.

3. No. The district is keeping tabs on those numbers, so the public doesnt need to.

4. No. As long as the public health district is aware of those stats, thats all that matters.

5. Unsure. The district isnt obligated to include them, but it might be helpful.

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Two cats got the ride of a lifetime (well, one of their nine lifetimes) after being involved in an hour-long pursuit throughout Houston on Monday afternoon.

The felonious felines were passengers of Stacy Ross Smith, 49, accused of leading Houston officers on a chase that stretched from Galveston County to Houston's north side.

Houston animal control officers took the cats at the end of the chase, while Smith was hauled away to Harris County Jail.

The chase started around 6:20 p.m. in the 15800 block of Sea Horse Drive, just north of NASA's Johnson Space Center. A resident called 911 reporting a suspicious vehicle in front of their home, which turned out to be driven by Smith, police said.

DOUBLE SHOOTING: Juvenile, adult shot at southeast Houston gas station

As officers drove down the small residential street, Smith drove off. Officers tried to pull her over after she ran a red light at El Dorado Boulevard and Space Center Boulevard, but she sped away, authorities said.

Smith drove through Galveston County, Seabrook and Pasadena before making her way back into Houston's city limits on the East Loop North at Market Street, where she got caught up in traffic, police said.

Officials said a state trooper had to break out the driver's side window in order to detain Smith and free the cats.

She was booked on a charge of evading arrest with a vehicle.

Jay R. Jordan is a breaking news reporter at Chron.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan.
A 31-year-old woman is accused of stealing jewelry from an elderly person living inside of a nursing home and attempting to sell the valuables to pawn shops throughout Brazoria County and Houston.

Charmin Donley, of Sweeny, was already incarcerated by the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office on unrelated charges when she was served with a warrant on Saturday and charged with burglary of a habitation, according to the Sweeny Police Department.
A new, experimental aircraft now being developed by NASA could make it possible to fly from New York to London in the same amount of time it takes Houstonians to drive to Waco.

Called the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, the plane aims to achieve what its name suggests: reduce the ear-splitting, sonic boom that occurs when a plane breaks the sound barrier. This technology, essentially, would allow commercial airlines to travel faster than the speed of a sound  and do so quietly, marked only by a "gentle thump" or about as loud as a car door closing, said Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator of the agency's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, during a news conference Tuesday.

And doing so means cross-country, commercial flight times would be cut in half.

"I believe today is a new beginning for NASA Aeronautics," Shin said. "People flying on commercial supersonic flights in the future will say April 3, 2018, was the day it all began."

Federal officials announced their plans Tuesday for this new experimental plane -- or X-plane -- at a Washington, D.C., news conference, which was aired on the agency's website. Those plans include awarding California-based Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. $247.5 million to build the plane, set to embark on its first test flight in early 2021.

The plane being built for NASA will never transport passengers -- a point that Dave Richardson, the director for air vehicle designs and technologies at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, emphasized during the Tuesday news conference.

"This is a purpose-built experimental research aircraft," he said. "It is not a prototype for a supersonic business jet. It is not a prototype for some weapons system. It is not a derivative or some other modification of an existing airplane."

Instead it will test technologies to make supersonic flight quiet and efficient, as well as collect data from communities on whether they are able to hear any sonic booms when the plane flies overhead.

This data will be provided to the Federal Aviation Administration in the hopes that it will develop new rules about supersonic passenger flights. Currently, the FAA bans these flights over land, in part because of concerns on how they would impact communities and infrastructure on the ground.

Sound was a problem in the 1970s when the Concorde -- an aircraft that could cross the Atlantic in just over three hours by traveling twice the speed of sound -- was built by European manufacturers and began making transatlantic flights, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

In March 1973, the FAA banned the Concorde -- and any future supersonic civil aircraft -- from flying over land after residents complained about the sonic boom, saying it was a nuisance and a safety issue, according to a February 2017 Washington Post article. The Concorde stopped flying in 2003.

NASA hopes to fix this problem with its experimental plane, and the Trump Administration is on board. President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2019 budget proposal for the space agency fully funds the plane at $88.3 million. A total of $274.1 million for the project is projected out over five years in the proposal.

This plane "would open a new market for U.S. companies to build faster commercial airliners, creating jobs and cutting cross-country flight times in half," according to the budget proposal.

The key, officials said Tuesday, is the shape of the plane, or more specifically, the shape of the wing.

"Future supersonic aircraft seeking to achieve a low-boom ... will rely on a swept wing design in order to fly at supersonic speeds without producing a loud sonic boom," according to NASA's website.

This shape sends supersonic shockwaves away from the aircraft in a way that prevents them from coming together in two sonic booms, according to the agency's website.

Lockheed Martin must hand the constructed plane over to NASA by Dec. 31, 2021. After that, NASA will survey four to six communities between mid-2022 and 2025. Those communities have not yet been picked, but officials say they will survey both urban and rural areas that vary in size.

Commercial companies already have entered the fray.

For example, Denver-based Boom Technology is developing a commercial plane that can travel 1,450 mph, for example, cutting a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo from 11 hours to less than six. Japan Air Lines has invested $10 million in the company, and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group also has invested, according to the company's website.

Boom expects to have these planes in the air transporting passengers by 2023, according to a June 2017 CNBC article.

The flights won't be cheap. Roundtrip travel from San Francisco to Tokyo would cost about $6,400, while a roundtrip ticket from New York to London would cost about $5,000, Boom's website states.

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.
AUSTIN  Hoping to curb the states continuing crisis with pregnancy-related deaths, Texas health officials are ramping up efforts to impose new guidelines credited with reducing the number of mothers dying during childbirth by up to 22 percent in other states.

In December, Texas became one of 23 states across the country to join the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health, or AIM, a national data-driven program focused on improving the safety and care of pregnant women by partnering with state health departments. The guidelines come in the form of bundles, or standardized sets of plans and instructions that participating hospital staff can use when patients have severe pregnancy complications, like hemorrhaging or hypertension.

State health officials said the initial five states to join AIM in 2015  California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Oklahoma  saw decreases of 8.3-22 percent in severe maternal morbidity after they began using the safety bundles.

These bundles have been developed to address some of the most common complications and causes of death for women in that period of maternal mortality, said Dr. Lisa Hollier, president-elect of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Hollier, who is based in Houston, chairs the states Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Task Force, which operates under the Department of State Health Services. The task force reported in 2016 that 189 mothers died within a year after of giving birth in 2011 and 2012. Many of the mothers died from opioid and substance abuse, hypertension and hemorrhaging, among other complications, according to the report.

Last week, state health officials hosted a webinar with hospitals interested in implementing the AIM guidelines dealing with hemorrhage, hypertension and opioid use. The last bundle is still being developed, state health officials said.

The state hopes to ultimately have the AIM guidelines in use in at least 75 percent of Texas birthing facilities, health officials said.

Ben Taub Hospital, a part of the Harris Health System, was the first hospital in the state to join AIM, first using the bundle for hemorrhaging in 2016, said Dr. Carey Eppes, chief of obstetrics. The hospital is also how implementing the hypertension bundle, she said.

(The guidelines) were completely transformative for our labor and delivery, as far as our outcomes and how we interacted and how we communicated and how we reacted to things, Dr. Eppes said.

A state health department spokesperson said the goal of the AIM program is to promote best practices without imposing a one-size-fits-all solution.

Its not to say that everyone has to do everything exactly the same; what works well in one hospital may not be what works well in another hospital, Dr. Christopher Glantz, a Rochester-based obstetrician-gynecologist, said in last weeks webinar.  But for the most part, these are guidelines that work. And each hospital certainly needs to review what theyre doing. And if theyre not doing these guidelines, then why is that?

Recommendations from the task forces report on the states maternal death crisis largely languished during the legislative session last year, when just a few maternal mortality bills were passed by legislators. One of the bills  Senate Bill 17, from Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham  directs state health officials to promote best practices in maternal health and safety, looking at what has worked in other states to address the crisis.

Hollier said the task force plans to release another report focusing on more recent data later this fall, just before the start of next years legislative session.

Forrest Milburn covers government and politics news for the Houston Chronicle Austin bureau.
Ted Cruz is girding for a fight like no other he has ever faced.

While the Houston area Republican went toe-to-toe for the presidency with Republican heavyweights like Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio two years ago and had to overcome being outspent 2-to-1 in a GOP primary to win a seat in the U.S. Senate, his re-election campaign suddenly offers something Cruz has never faced.

In Democrat Beto ORourke, Cruz is for the first time facing a major general election opponent who has built a passionate following and will be better funded than any Texas Republican has ever faced in a U.S. Senate race. ORourkes campaign is expected to report raising more than $15 million for the race so far - more than any Democrat has ever amassed for a Senate race in Texas. Thats more than Cruz spent on his first campaign for the Senate in 2012.

With that backdrop, the 47-year-old on Monday took to the microphone at a Stafford bar called the Redneck Country Club to declare what most already knew.

Im here to announce my campaign for re-election to the United States Senate, Cruz told more than 1,000 supporters.

Cruz leaned heavily on a new campaign slogan: Tough as Texas. That phrase was featured on dozens of banners and television screens as Cruz talked about the Lone Star State coming together after Hurricane Harvey and after the deadly shooting in Sutherland Springs.

To illustrate his point, Cruz brought in heroes from both events. Just an hour after throwing out the first pitch of the Astros home opener 15 miles away, Jim Mattress Mack McIngvale was in the crowd in Stafford, sporting the same Astros jacket he wore at Minute Maid Park. Cruz lauded McIngvale for opening his furniture stores as shelters during Harvey.

Also at the kickoff was Stephen Willeford, the Sutherland Springs resident who confronted the shooter who murdered 26 people at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, likely stopping more from dying that day.

Thats Texas, thats who we are, Cruz said after telling the stories of both men.

Cruz never mentioned ORourke directly, but painted his re-election as part of a grand contest.

Right now there is great battle raging in Washington between two very different visions of America. There are some who embrace a big-government, liberal vision of higher taxes, more regulations, more Obamacare and more government, less freedom, Cruz said from the Redneck Country Club, the same place that hosted him during the 2016 presidential primary on Super Tuesday when he won GOP primaries in Texas and Oklahoma.

Cruz painted his side as Texans who want taxes lowered, regulations slashed and government to get the heck of our backs.

While Cruz didnt bring up ORourke at the event, he and the El Paso Democrat were exchanging plenty of jabs on social media as both questioned the others travel schedule and who has made more visits to Beaumont, where Cruz started his campaign earlier on Monday.

ORourkes campaign started the exchange on Snapchat when it noted that Cruz visited all 99 counties in Iowa during his presidential campaign and then questioned if Cruz had listened as much to Texans in Beaumont. Cruz fired back quickly on Twitter saying hed been in Beaumont four times in the last year, including three visits since Harvey hit - and he added that ORourke lost Jefferson County in the Democratic primary to Edward Kimbrough.

ORourke presents Cruz with a challenge bigger than social media sparring. While Cruz is still favored by most political experts to win re-election, ORourkes fundraising is something Texas has never seen from a Democrat running for the Senate. With more than $15 million raised, ORourke has already received $5 million more than any Democrat has ever had for a U.S. Senate race in Texas.

ORourke said the money allows him to continue his whirlwind travel in Texas and get his message on the airwaves to build up his name recognition across the state. While Cruz is almost universally known, ORourke is largely unknown, according to early polling in the race.

It helps us reach the 28 million people in Texas, ORourke said in an interview with the Chronicle.

Cruzs campaign has not yet announced new fundraising totals. Campaigns must release their numbers later this month. ORourke campaign released his figures early in hopes of countering Cruzs kickoff event.
The Baldridge house in Fort Worth, TX, has been restored and modernized into a lovely Lone Star State jewel.

The energy industry bigwig and his wife, who oversaw the home's overhaul, are downsizing and have recently put the historic home on the market for $7.95 million.

Built in the early 20th century for banker Earl Baldridge, the grand, three-story home is fashioned out of limestone and includes notable features such as huge columns, carved wood paneling throughout, and even a bank vault in the basement, a nod to its Wild West pedigree.

All of those distinct features remain after the estate's remodel, including the original vault, which now houses a media room.

Over the decades, the mansion fell into disrepair. It was in foreclosure in 2007 when Paun Peters, president of Western Production Co., an oil and gas company, and his wife snapped it up for about $3 million.

My wife, dare I say, lusted for that house, Peters said in an interview with Bloomberg. She always dreamed of having herself in there and walking around on one of those balconies.

It's understandable, because those balconies are of the most romantic variety. When the couple bought the home, it desperately needed work. The renovation took years and $4.5 million, including $500,000 just for the landscaping.

We had an almost unlimited budget on what we needed to get done," Peters said. "We even got in Italian cypress trees from California.

The result is an 11,725-square-foot masterpiece with six bedrooms, six baths, and two half-baths. The acre-and-a-half property is surrounded by a privacy fence and hedge.

The home remains true to its roots, while featuring a few modern amenities. They include a two-level garage for 11 cars, a dive pool, and an outdoor pizza oven.

Not surprisingly the Peters family used the property for extensive entertaining, including weddings and fundraisers.

Peters told Bloomberg he felt like he and his family were "good stewards of the house." Now he's ready to hand off the home to a lucky new owner looking to own a piece of Texas history.

The post Historic Baldridge House in Texas Comes With Converted Bank Vault appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
One of my favorite IT battle-scar stories comes from a Fortune 500 company, which forced employees to abandon their most popular password. Which was, of course, password.

After some grumbling, many employees changed their passwords to password123. Soon after blocking that, IT managers found they needed to block password1234. And then password12345.

And then things got ugly. The new most-popular password? f#!kIT. And then, f#!kIT123. The special characters are not there to make the passwords harder for hackers to decipher. I inserted them. Lets just leave it at that.

Passwords, as any CIO will tell you, are the bane of their existence  and have been for more than a decade, ever since it became easier for thieves to break into computers over the internet than to literally lay their hands on our systems. According to Verizons annual Data Breach Investigations Report, 81 percent of data breaches now leverage weak or stolen passwords. Only eight percent involved physical interaction with hardware.

Proper password hygiene, of course, demands long, hard-to-guess passwords that are changed often. As the password cat-and-mouse game makes abundantly clear, employees want the opposite: quick and easy access, with simple passwords that never change.

Employees by and large have been winning. And so, as a result, have cyberthieves. Because if employees have easy-to-guess credentials, hackers dont even need to phish to gain access.

After more than a decade of fighting a losing battle with employees to safeguard corporate data with secure passwords, IT may finally be on the cusp of brokering a truce  and making the enterprise more secure  by eliminating passwords altogether.

The latest piece of the puzzle is the April 3 announcement from Intel regarding the availability of the latest version of Authenticate, which expands ITs suite of both OS and hardware-protected authentication factors to keep logins secure  all while simplifying access for employees. In fact, IT not only has the ability now to set policies using secure fingerprint, smartphone proximity and facial recognition. Authenticate can also disable passwords altogether.

Indeed, 2018 could prove to be a watershed year in putting passwords on the endangered species list. Authenticate supports 6th Gen, 7th Gen and 8th Gen Core vPro processors  which means that if IT managers are on a five-year replacement cycle, chances are good that at some point this year, the number of PCs deployed that are capable of enterprise-grade multifactor authentication with surpass those that arent.

I started evaluating Authenticate on the new X1 Carbon from Lenovo ahead of CES, before the 8th Gen system was announced.

First, a word about the X1 Carbon: wow. The 8th Gen Core system is just about the perfect convertible. Its equal parts sleek and sturdy, with great responsiveness and battery life. As well, the uptick in performance over 7th Gen systems was impressive. Thats to be expected, given that Intel designers made performance Job One for 8th Gen, shifting priorities after several years of focusing on mobility.

Setting up Authenticate on the X1 Carbon wasnt difficult. Before I did, I had to enable facial recognition, as Authenticate leverages the Windows Hello enrollment mechanism for that. (Facial recognition is the only factor I used in Authenticate that was not hardened and protected only by the OS.) From there, I set up factors shielded by the hardware, below the OS: the integrated hardened fingerprint sensor, secure Bluetooth on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the protected PIN. The PIN is entered on a digital keypad in a secure window with a scrambled layout as an added safeguard against screen scraping.

I set up my policy, also protected in hardware, to require two factors  in my case, facial recognition and smartphone presence  with fingerprint and protected PIN as alternates. And then, once I was comfortable, I went ahead and disabled password logon. Poof!

I can appreciate that that sounds as scary to some of you as it does exciting. But let me try to reassure you.

One pushback I hear is that factors like facial recognition and some fingerprint sensors today are possible to spoof. But with Authenticate, its not possible to spoof fingerprint authentication with software because the entire process happens in the hardware. As a result, tricking biometrics is limited to physical access  which, as weve discussed, is a much smaller concern for IT than cyberattacks.

Even if thieves did physically fool into the fingerprint sensor, they still wouldnt get access  because, with multifactor authentication, the sensor is only one of multiple keys required for entry.

Perhaps the best part of multifactor authentication, though, are the prospects for employee compliance. Multifactor authentication is easy for employees to set up. And, more important to them, PC access is virtually effortless. Which means employees wont fight IT efforts to keep enterprise assets safe.

So, IT managers can find something else to worry about beside the next round of easy-to-guess passwords. That doesnt sound so scary, does it?
Charities could lose supporters if they dont ensure that environmental and social issues are considered when it comes to investing their charitys pension, endowment or other assets.

Research for Good Money Week by YouGov last year found that 77 per cent of the Great British public would be likely to withhold donations if they found out that a charity invested its endowment or other assets contrary to its mission. High profile charities such as Comic Relief have faced criticism in recent years on this issue.
This year's review of the haysmacintyre / Charity Finance Charity 100 Index has resulted in a healthy 7 per cent rise in the income required for membership and two new entrants.

The highest new entrant is the Francis Crick Institute, which joins at position 66 based on a three-year average income of 90.6m. Formed in 2015, this biomedical research centre represents a partnership between the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust, University College London (UCL), Imperial College London and Kings College London.

In 2016 it moved into a purposebuilt, state-of-the-art building near St Pancras International railway station in London. Dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease, it has 1,500 staff including 1,250 scientists and an annual operating budget of over 100m, making it Europes largest single biomedical research facility.

Formerly known as the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation, it is named after the British molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and sharer of the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.

Although the Institute is only in its second year of operation, it registered with the Charity Commission in 2011. As its current position in the ranking is based on only two rather than three years of full operating income, it is highly likely to move into the upper half of the Charity 100 Index next year.

The second new entrant is Sightsavers, which jumps 14 places from position 13 in the Charity 250 Index to the penultimate position in the Charity 100 Index, based on three-year average income of 62.5m. Sightsavers position in the ranking would be much higher, were it not for the fact that gifts in kind and one-off gains from asset sales are not recognised as eligible income for calculating the Index.

This makes a substantial difference: in the year to 31 December 2016, gifts in kind accounted for 229.9m, or 76 per cent of total income of 302m. For the purposes of the Index, however, Sightsavers income is recorded as the remaining 24 per cent or 72.1m.

Its income from sources other than gifts in kind has fared extremely well over the last two years, growing by 24 per cent in 2015 and by 13 per cent in 2016. Moreover, the charitys income streams are well diversified, with charitable activities, voluntary income and legacies accounting for 43 per cent, 39 per cent and 18 per cent of total income (excluding gifts in kind) respectively.

That all said, gifts in kind clearly do make a strong contribution to the charitys activities. The 229.9m recorded in 2016 mainly represents the estimated value of Mectizan tablets from Merck & Co, used for the treatment and prevention of river blindness, and Zithromax from Pfizer, used for the treatment and prevention of trachoma.

Income requirements

Membership of both the Charity 100 and Charity 250 Indexes is reviewed every spring to take into account income fluctuations, new charities and charities for which it had previously not been possible to obtain a threeyear run of audited accounts. Income data is extracted from accounts with financial year ends up to and including 31 March 2017, with the index ranking based on average total income over the last three years.

The minimum income requirements for entry into the Charity 100 Index rose this year by 7 per cent from 58.1m to 62.1m. This resulted in the demotion of Alternative Futures into the Charity 250 Index, with the charity having previously occupied the Charity 100 Indexs final position.

The other charity to drop out of the Charity 100 Index this year was the Lloyds Register Foundation. It held position 63 last year but its three-yearaverage income had been skewed by a large one-off endowment of funds following its creation in 2012.

Overall, this years constituent review has resulted in comparatively modest changes to both the composition and the pecking order of the Charity 100 Index. This is particularly the case at the upper end of the index, where this years ranking of the top 11 charities is identical to last years.

And, at the very top, Nuffield Health, Cancer Research UK and the National Trust occupy the top three positions, as they have done for the last 14 years. There are, however, some big position changes further down.

Risers and fallers

The highest riser in this years Charity 100 Index is the English Heritage Trust, which jumps 36 places from position 99 to position 63, based on three-year average income of 93.4m.

This relatively new charity was formed from the 2015 restructuring of non-departmental public body (NDPB) English Heritage into two organisations: Historic England, a NDPB which owns and protects 400-plus historic properties, and English Heritage Trust, a charity responsible for managing their day to day operations. Under the terms of the agreement between the two successor bodies, English Heritage Trust received a one-off government grant of 80m in 2014/15 and will receive tapering annual revenue payments until 2023, when it is expected to become financially independent.

According to the trustees, all the signs are positive that we are on track to achieve our goal of becoming financially sustainable by 2022/23, with performance in areas such as membership and admissions income and trading income showing substantial growth in 2016/17.

Conversely, the biggest faller is the Education Development Trust  formerly known as the CfBT Education Trust which drops 39 places from position 37 to 76. Total income remained fairly steady between 2013/14 and 2014/15 but dropped by 19 per cent to 68.8m in 2015/16. According to the trustees, this occurred mainly as a result of the conclusion of the inspections contract in the UK, due to Ofsted insourcing all inspections nationally.

The education charity has developed a three-year strategic plan for 2015- 2018, which envisages that significant growth will take place in priority markets. Key growth areas include further development of the current portfolio of four fee-paying schools, the management of international private schools, and consultancy work on educational reform.
I remember sitting in my lounge at home, calling my chair at 9am on the morning of 24 June 2016, still in shock. But it was really Theresa Mays speech to the Conservative Party conference in October that made it 100 per cent sure that we would be compelled to relocate completely, not just partially or virtually. It was then that I began to speak to our members around Europe, research the options and get in touch with inward investment agencies.

Why we needed to move

Some 70-80 per cent of our revenue is from EU programmes, so the value per year is something like 550,000 and the value to partners across Europe in projects were coordinating is another 450,000. If we lost the EU funding, there would probably be no organisation.
copyright Parliament

It is a challenging time for the small charities sector. Nearly eight years into the governments austerity measures, there is markedly less money available compared to a decade ago.

The situation is a concern. As is the fact that government is increasingly funding through contracts, and the tendering processes for those contracts are increasingly designed to cover multiple specialisms. This inevitably puts smaller charities at a disadvantage.
The British Red Cross has launched a new website to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for and access support.



It has been nearly seven years since the charity last had a major refresh of its website, although it successfully launched a new donation platform last year before starting work on the rest of the site.

Since launching the fundraising platform the charity has seen an uptick in the the number of people donating by mobile and tablet devices.

There has been a 17.5 per cent increase in the number of people completing donations on mobile devices and a 12.4 per cent increase in tablet donations.

The website is the charitys main digital channel. Rosie Slater-Carr, chief information officer at British Red Cross, told Civil Society News that the charitys ethos is to connect human kindness to human crisis and and that the new website is expected to help people engage with what the charity does and access services better.

Make it as easy as possible'

Slater-Carr, told Civil Society News that the main aim was to make it as easy as possible for people coming to the site.



She said that around a quarter of the old site's 4,000 pages had not been looked at in over year, and a lot of visitors were leaving after visiting the homepage, suggesting that people couldnt find what they needed.

The aim of the new site is to make it as easy as possible for people to get the help they need.

It was also absolutely critical for the site to work on mobile as well, because that's how people often prefer to read websites.

As well as the new site a lot of the content has been refreshed, with Slater-Carr working closely with the charity's executive director of communications, Zoe Abrams.

New features planned

The British Red Cross appointed design agency Rufus Leonard in last summer and launched the first iteration of the new site on schedule last week.

Slater-Carr attributes the success to working very closely with agency. People from the charity's IT team were seconded into the agency to work as a "joint team", and have "come back having learned brilliant skills".

The plan now is to do fortnightly releases of smaller improvements and beginning adding digital elements to its services, such as making it easier for people to do things like borrow a wheelchair.

The charity also plans to measure the new site's success and respond to user feedback. As a result, every page has a Was this page helpful? button.

Civil Society Media is hosting Digital training for charity trustees on1 May 2018. Find out more information or book here.
Our weekly summary of the latest movers in the charity sector.

Chief executives

The Fundraising Regulator has announced that Gerald Oppenheim will replace current chief executive Stephen Dunmore, when he steps down from the role in the summer.

Oppenheim is currently the regulators head of policy and communications, a role he has held at the organisation since 2016. Prior to joining the Fundraising Regulator, Oppenheim worked extensively in the sector. He was director of policy at the National Lottery Charities Board for nine years, and spent five years as director of policy and partnerships at the Big Lottery Fund.

He is also currently chair of the London Emergencies Trust and has sat on the boards of Citizens Advice and the BBC Charitable Appeals Advisory Committee.

Daniel Carmel-Brown has been appointed as the new chief executive of Jewish Care.

He is currently the organisations director of fundraising and marketing. He replaces Simon Morris, who is stepping down from the charity after 15 years at the helm.

Carmel-Brown is due to take up his new role on 1 July 2018, and has worked for Jewish Care in one capacity or another for over 20 years.

Non executive

Helen Baker has been appointed as the new chair of Shelters board of trustees. She will take up her new role with the charity in May.

Baker originally trained as a social worker, before going on to have a career in the voluntary and public sectors. She has chaired two NHS trusts in Oxfordshire and was previously chair of Charityworks.

Baker takes over a radically changed trustee board which includes four new trustees: Manpreet Dillon; Laurice Ponting; Shaun Prime and Phillippe Lintern as well as a new audit, risk and finance group.

Dame Mary Archer has been appointed as chair of the Science Museum board group by the Prime Minister.

Archer, who has taught chemistry at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, has been reappointed to the role for a second four-year term.

She is also currently president of the National Energy Foundation, the UK Solar Energy Society, Cambridge Global Health Partnerships and the Guild of Church Musicians. She is also chair of Cambridge Early Music and a trustee of the Britten Sinfonia.

Citizens Advice has announced the appointment of Ann-Marie Harkin to its board of trustees.

Harkin is currently financial audit director and engagement lead with the Wales Audit Office and previously worked for the National Audit Office. She will also join CAs Cymru Committee.

Citizens Advice have also announced that David Varney, the organisations current chair, will be stepping down from his post in the autumn due to ill health. The charity has said it will begin recruiting for a new chair shortly.

The V&A has announced that Princess Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, has agreed to become the charitys royal patron.

The museum said the Duchess acceptance of the role follows her previous support for the museum in June 2017. In taking up the role, the Duchess of Cambridge becomes the V&As first ever royal patron.

To tell us about your charity's latest appointments please email: [email protected].
The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalismbetter known as IowaWatchpublished a statewide investigative story in the spring of 2016 on a disparity in how high school science teachers discuss climate change in the classroom. Nearly half of teachers surveyed by IowaWatch journalists teach climate change as theory, informing students about the variety of thought that exists. The rest of the responses fell evenly across a variety of strategies for treating climate change as fact, and IowaWatchs work corroborated the findings of a larger national study published by Science that same season.

The IowaWatch story ran in several prominent state newspapers, including The Des Moines Register and The Waterloo Courier, and prompted concerns that students could complete their high-school experience with an inconsistent understanding of human impact on the environment. The absence of administrative measures to monitor how discussions of climate change play out in science curriculums shocked educators, students, and parents alike.

ICYMI: She identified herself as a reporter. He then walked behind her and punched her in the side of the head

But inside that story, another one lingered. Aside from the light supervision of Lyle Muller, IowaWatchs executive director and editor, and Brian Winkel, a journalism teacher at Cedar Falls High School, the piece had been researched and written by high schoolers.

Over the course of three months, Tana Gam-Ad, Olivia Fabos Martin, and Sarah Stortz contributed on-the-ground reporting to that initial story (which Muller collected and stitched together), and became the first participants in IowaWatchs efforts to produce collaborative, investigative reporting in high schools around the state. Muller, himself a veteran reporter, saw the program as an opportunity to escort the next generation of journalists into the field, but also as a strategy to cover relevant stories that might otherwise go unheardstories high-schoolers were uniquely positioned to tell. In the process of that intensive coursework and reporting, Muller hoped administrators would recognize the vitality and necessity of extracurricular journalism courses, and think twice before sacrificing them to frequent budget cuts.

I wanted to prove that high school students can do this, says Muller. I wanted to prove that they were capable of producing reporting that people would pay attention to, and that high school journalism programs are worthwhile and important.

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Teachers and administrators listened. They had no choice; their quotes, many of them contradictory, were in print throughout the state. IowaWatch published the climate change piece on Earth Day, and made the story available to any newspapers willing to pick it up. Right away, student-journalists got a taste of how original, investigative data and reportage could influence popular conversation.

It was so enlightening to see people supporting us, even though we were just teenagers, says Sarah Stortz, on the response to her teams publication. They made us feel like professional journalists.

In the year following the climate education story, IowaWatch broadened its reach to five high schools and bolstered Mullers effort with a crew of mentors and instructors. The projects team included Stephen J. Berry, IowaWatch co-founder and Pulitzer Prizewinning investigative reporter, and Julia Davis, then a senior at the University of Iowas School of Journalism & Mass Communications. Davis led the program as an extension of her honors thesis, visiting classes and helping students hone pitches, while Berry provided line edits, did his own supplemental reporting, and worked to synthesize material students eventually brought in from the field. As a result of that collaboration, the IowaWatch High School Journalism Project produced an article on the state of mental health among high schoolers and the resources available to those battling mental illness on campus. Once again, students had offered a dispatch from within their own community, interviewing peers and teachers, applying invaluable shape and nuance to a world uniquely theirs.

What better motivator than the fear of accused inaccuracy? As Muller routinely tells his students, If its coming out of someones mouth, thats a good sign it needs to be fact-checked.

Theyre the ones living these issues, says Davis, who is now a reporter for the GroundTruth Project in Boston. They had friends that were living these issues. Theyre not parachuting in and reporting on problems they arent experiencing themselves.

This year, continuing their tradition of generating relevant and pressing journalism, IowaWatchs high school reporters set out to investigate the dangers of pesticide spray drift near high school campuses in Iowa, a state whose vast majority of schools lie near or completely within the bounds of a working farm field. The resulting story, which will examine the extent to which school administrations enforce buffer zones and monitor air quality, is slated to run this spring.

More than any one-off accomplishments that may be credited to IowaWatchs name, the success of its high school programming speaks to the growing necessity for initiatives that raise media literacy among young Americans. General trust in the press has dropped drastically over the last decade, the most severe slope of that decline occurring under the current presidential administration. Add to that the fact that such declines span party and generational lines, plus the incessant wounds public schools endure in the face of legislative cuts and the looming dissolution of rural newsroomsof which states like Iowa have many, of courseand the High School Journalism Project begins to look, vocational training aside, like an impromptu handbook for citizen engagement. It becomes, as Lyle Muller has observed many times, a vital if unintentional crash course in civics. In the process of rigorous investigation, would-be journalists learn crucial lessons otherwise absent from core curriculum. They navigate bias, retrieve and handle documents of public record, and familiarize themselves with the workings of local government and school administrations. They fact-check. They become comfortable answering, in thorough terms, what may be the most important questions of today: How is a story made, and how can I tell which ones are made with integrity?

Similar programs certainly exist throughout the United States, many of them acclaimed and long-standing, including Princetons Summer Journalism Program, or Emersons three-week, pre-college journalism camp, or The Oregonians progressive partnership with the High School Journalism Institute. There are, too, independently operating high school papers publishing work of genuine consequence, such as The Booster Redux, at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Kansas, whose investigation of a principals fudged credentials prompted that principals resignation.

ICYMI: Politico embarrasses WSJ

What seems exceptional about IowaWatch is the empowering chain of mentorship it affords without instruction getting in the way. Folks like Lyle Muller and Stephen J. Berry, both established, senior figures, and Julia Davis, an active reporter and recent college graduate, serve as uniquely important models for what a career in journalism actually looks like. They are there to impart what wisdom they can, but largely serve as facilitators for work that reaches beyond their own scope, or in different directions than theyd expect. Rather than didactic methods, students are showed the tools and set free to use them how they see fit, to report on the stories they deem most important.

They are also free to fail. IowaWatch is not a journalism lab; the work students produce is in no way protected by the vacuum of academia. There are legal and ethical standards in place, as with any outlet, and with that responsibility comes an expectation of self-motivated best practices. What better motivator than the fear of accused inaccuracy? As Muller routinely tells his students, If its coming out of someones mouth, thats a good sign it needs to be fact-checked.

Too often, lately, in laments of its vulnerability, journalism gets broken into a dichotomy: the old guard and the new. Its a binary in which the junior journalist must weasel forcibly and alone into the industry, lest they slip and become the forever-internor, worse perhaps, the reporter who abandons ship for lack of adequate mentorship and motivation, or pay, or equal treatment, and on and on. But programs such as IowaWatchs High School Journalism Project negate that separation and move toward a more fluid transference of skill, a collaboration across expertise. They exhibit an optimism we can afford to invest in. And they bestow a gift one could wish to receive as a high-schooler, headed in any path to a job, journalistic or not: to be listened to, and be taken seriously.

ICYMI: In an editorial meeting, Texas Monthly staffers sat in stunned silence

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Micah Fields is a freelancer and teacher based in Iowa City.
With a handful of tweets, President Trump injected his views into the media sphere, bolstering one much-criticized broadcaster and nudging down the stock price of one of the countrys biggest businesses.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group, under fire for a promotional campaign that read like propaganda, got a boost from the commander in chief yesterday. So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased, Trump tweeted. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke. The president hasnt mentioned Sinclair much, if at all, in previous missives, but he was back on the topic again this morning, praising the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast. There may be more than simple opportunism at play here: Politicos Margaret Harding McGill and John Hendel report that his words signal support for the conservative broadcasters pending purchase of Tribune Medias stations.

ICYMI: CNN frustrates viewers with gun comment controversy

While boosting Sinclair, Trump turned his ire on Amazon, whose owner Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post. Axios reported last week that Trump was obsessed with Amazon, and a series of tweets over the weekend and into Monday have sent the companys stock plunging. According to several reports, including the Posts own analysis, Trump sees attacks on Amazon as retribution for critical coverage in the Post, though Amazon, of course, does not own the Post. Trump is typically motivated to lash out at Amazon because of the Posts coverage of him, The New York Timess Sydney Ember reports, highlighting a deeply reported story on Trumps business interests as one cause for the presidents recent outburst.

In the past, Trumps attacks on outlets like the failing New York Times and Amazon Washington Post have helped contribute to a surge in support for those outlets. With Amazon, however, things may be different. Several analysts tied the five percent drop in the companys stock price yesterday to Trumps tweets. If President Trump wants to punish Amazon for lousy Washington Post coverage, its working, CNNs Nathaniel Meyersohn observed.

Every president has favored outlets and coverage they find too harsh, but Trump takes presidential media criticism to a whole different level. His support of Sinclair and conflation of Amazon and the Post are just the latest in series of outbursts, but the impact of those tweets is having an immediate impact in a way that other musings havent.

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ICYMI: Revolution at The Washington Post

Below, more on the president and the media.

Damage control at Sinclair: CNNs Brian Stelter has the latest from inside Sinclair, where executives are defending the segments that drew backlash. Staffers, however, voiced concerns that the promos damage their journalistic credibility.

CNNs Brian Stelter has the latest from inside Sinclair, where executives are defending the segments that drew backlash. Staffers, however, voiced concerns that the promos damage their journalistic credibility. Baron responds: Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron reiterated to the Timess Ember, There isnt anybody here who is paid by Amazon. Not one penny. He added, We cover [Trump] the way that we feel any president should be covered.

Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron reiterated to the Timess Ember, There isnt anybody here who is paid by Amazon. Not one penny. He added, We cover [Trump] the way that we feel any president should be covered. Its personal : Vanity Fairs Gabriel Sherman reports that Trump is discussing ways to escalate his Twitter attacks on Amazon to further damage the company. Sherman quotes one source who says, He gets obsessed with something, and now hes obsessed with Bezos. Trump is like, how can I fuck with him?

: Vanity Fairs Gabriel Sherman reports that Trump is discussing ways to escalate his Twitter attacks on Amazon to further damage the company. Sherman quotes one source who says, He gets obsessed with something, and now hes obsessed with Bezos. Trump is like, how can I fuck with him? Trumps TV advisor: Though Sinclair has been the focus of Trumps recent support, he hasnt forgotten his first love. The Daily Beasts Maxwell Tani and Asawin Suebsaeng report that Trump regularly turns to Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs for advice on economic issues, and even puts Dobbs on the speakerphone to participate in Oval Office meetings.

Other notable stories

If you havent read or listened to the conversation between Voxs Ezra Klein and Mark Zuckerberg, its worth your time. CJRs Mathew Ingram parsed Zuckerbergs responses, highlighting the moment when Zuckerberg got genuinely peeved by Kleins reference to criticisms of Facebooks advertising-based model from Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Maggie Haberman, Josh Dawsey, and a team of CNN reporters were honored by the White House Correspondents Association for their coverage of the administrations first year. Politicos Michael Calderone notes that the choices complicate Trumps possible attendance at the annual WHCA Dinner.

This new poll on media trust from Monmouth University isnot good. One topline takeaway: More than 3-in-4 Americans believe that traditional major TV and newspaper media outlets report fake news, including 31% who believe this happens regularly and 46% who say it happens occasionally.

For CJR, Elon Green talks with Melissa Gira Grant, who has covered criminal justice and sex workers rights for more than a decade, about Stormy Daniels coverage, the prospect of covering sex work as a beat, and whether visible sex worker representation in media would be helpful

Its a big month for ESPN, with the debut of morning show Get Up! and the launch of its new standalone subscription streaming service, ESPN+. The Ringers Bryan Curtis has some snap observations on Get Up!s first broadcast, while The Verges Chris Welch explains why ESPN+ is so important to Disneys streaming future.

Correction: An earlier version of this newsletter referred to Lou Dobbs of Fox Business Channel. His show airs on Fox Business Network.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon.
Nine years after a judge began supervising a multitude of federal lawsuits that claim homes were damaged by Chinese drywall, he says its time to return thousands of remaining cases for trial in the courts where they were filed.

The panel that put Judge Eldon Fallon in charge in 2009 said the first 1,700 would return to Floridas federal courts if no objections are filed by Thursday. At least three objection notices were filed Thursday by attorneys for about 750 clients. Objectors briefs must be filed by April 12, with responses are due May 3, according to the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigations electronic docket.

Fallon ruled in 2010 that Chinese-made drywall released sulfur fumes into homes, sickening occupants, corroding metals in wiring, plumbing, appliances and electronics, and stinking up the houses. In 2013, he approved settlements involving thousands of homes and other buildings with drywall from German-owned Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co.

Remaining cases involve a second company, Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd., which didnt show up in court until Fallon found it in contempt and forbade any of its subsidiaries or affiliates to do business in this country until it participated in court proceedings.

Fallon told the panel he wants to transfer all remaining Chinese drywall cases that were sent to him.

Ann Saucer of the Baron & Budd law firm, which joined two others in an objection for 418 clients, said, Were sort of confused as to why only these particular claims are being transferred back for trial.

Any requests to transfer are unusual. Supervising judges resolve the great majority of cases, mostly through settlements, according to a 2014 Louisiana Law Review article by Edward F. Sherman of Tulane University.

The gold standard, I think, is to get everybody to a point where you can get global peace for everybody, said Louisiana State University law Professor Margaret Thomas.

But when that doesnt happen the cases must go to trial in the states where the suits were filed.

About 5,000 cases remain from eight states: Florida, Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and California, attorney Arnold Levin, spokesman for the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in this case, said Thursday.

Fallon said in a March 12 order and request that hes dealt with all pretrial motions raising common questions, held bellwether trials to lead the way and has approved a formula for calculating property damages.

He wrote that his court has worked diligently for the past nine years, producing abundant evidence and judicial opinions to enable the original courts and the parties in the lawsuits to steer any unresolved cases to a fair and just conclusion.

His order and request was accompanied by a 118-page list identifying 1,734 cases comprising one Florida class action. There could be more than 1,000 additional cases in a separate group that includes Florida defendants, Levin said.

Plaintiffs whose cases would be transferred back include Jason and Heather Ancer of Land O Lakes, Florida. Jason Ancer said an inspector who claimed to be a Chinese drywall expert told them their house was fine, but their air conditioner began failing within months after they moved in. Their drywall turned out to have been made by Taishan. Five months after moving in, Heather Ancer became pregnant.

The couple left the house, stopped making payments on it and eventually declared bankruptcy.

We dont know what to think, said Jason Ancer. All I know is it seems that definitely we will not have any kind of recourse.

He said that in Facebook groups of people affected by Taishans drywall, people are asking how are individual trials going to do any good if the combined cases cant go forward.

That isnt so, Levin said.

We as plaintiffs support what Judge Fallon has done, he said. Its nine years, and the Chinese have tried every tactic to see to it that the people we represent either die or otherwise have their properties disposed of  just trying to frustrate the process.

Levin said the steering committees attorneys are ready to work with lawyers representing the remaining defendants.

Ultimately, the only thing that leads a recalcitrant defendant to settle is a big verdict, he said.

Taishan and its subsidiaries and affiliates do a lot of business in the United States. One of them sells solar panels to Walmart and another buying timber in Oregon, he said. Levin said those companies assets in this country can be attached if Taishan ignores court orders to pay damages, Levin said.

Once the cases return to their originating courts, he said, The Chinese will be all over America trying cases.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
HEALTH INSURANCEA EXCHANGES 2018 OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD

FINAL REPORT

This report summarizes enrollment activity in the individual Exchanges[1] during the Open Enrollment Period for the 2018 plan year (2018 OEP) for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Approximately 11.8 million[2] consumers selected or were automatically re-enrolled[3] in Exchange plans during the 2018 OEP. An accompanying public use file (PUF) includes detailed state-level data on plan selections and demographic characteristics of consumers.[4] The methodology for this report and detailed metric definitions are included with the public use file.

The 2018 OEP Final Report includes data for the 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov eligibility and enrollment platform, as well as for the 12 State-Based Exchanges (SBEs) that use their own eligibility and enrollment platforms.[5] Demographic and plan information for consumers with a plan selection provided by all 50 states plus DC include: age, metal level, and whether the consumer had advance payments of the premium tax credit (APTC) or cost sharing reductions (CSR).

For the 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov platform, additional data are available, including gender, rural location, self-reported race and ethnicity, household income as a percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), and the average premiums among consumers with and without APTC. Data files with information on plan selections at the county and zip code levels are also available for HealthCare.gov states.A

Key findings from this report include:

Approximately 11.8 million consumers selected or were automatically re-enrolled in an Exchange plan in the 50 states, plus DC.

Twenty-seven percent of consumers with a plan selection were classified as new consumers.

Sixty-three percent of consumers selected silver plans; 29 percent of consumers selected bronze plans and 7 percent of consumers selected gold.

Among consumers using HealthCare.gov, the average premium before application of the tax credit was $621 during the 2018 OEP and $476 during the 2017 OEP.

Consumers Selecting Plans through the Exchanges: 50 States, plus DC

Approximately 11.8 million consumers selected or were automatically re-enrolled in an Exchange plan during the 2018 OEP. This includes approximately 8.7 million consumers in the 39 states using the HealthCare.gov platform and approximately 3.0 million consumers in SBEs (see Figure 1).[6]

Figure 1: Plan Selections during the 2014 a 2018 Open Enrollment Periods[7]

A

A

Table 1 summarizes the types of consumers who enrolled during the 2018 OEP for all 50 states plus DC. Twenty-seven percent of consumers with a plan selection were new to the Exchanges and 47 percent of consumers actively returned to select a 2018 plan on the Exchanges.

Table 1: Summary of 2018 OEP Plan Selections by Enrollment Type

Number[8] % of Total 2018 New Consumers 3,223,034 27 Returning Consumers Re-enrolling in 2018 Coverage A A A A A Active Re-enrolles 5,467,967 47 A A A A A Automatic Re-enrollees 2,865,774 24 A A A A A Unknown Re-enrollment type 193,407 2 Total 2018 Plan Selection 11,750,175 100

Table 2 summarizes selected demographic and plan characteristics for consumers during the 2018 OEP; additional information is contained in the accompanying public use file. Nine percent of all Exchange consumers were younger than 18 years old. Nationally, 83 percent of consumers had their premiums reduced by APTC.

Table 2: Demographic and Plan Characteristics of Consumers with 2018 OEP Plan Selections

Age Number[9] % of Total[10] 0 to 17 1,003,825 9 18 to 34 3,073,716 26 35 to 54 4,231,303 36 55+ 3,359,538 29 Metal Level Catastrophic 98,389 1 Bronze 3,358,078 29 Silver 7,353,570 63 Gold 833,026 7 Platinum 110,893 1 Financial Assistance [11] With APTC 9,769,189 83 With CSR 6,028,558 51

Consumers Selecting Plans through the HealthCare.gov Platform

Additional information is available for the 8.7 million consumers in states that use HealthCare.gov. Table 3 shows selected demographic and plan characteristics among consumers who selected plans during the 2018 OEP. Fifty-four percent of HealthCare.gov consumers were female and 18 percent of consumers resided in a rural location. Seventy percent of consumers reported household incomes between 100% and 250% FPL.[12]

Table 3: Demographic and Plan Characteristics of Consumers with 2018 OEP Plan Selections on HealthCare.gov

Gender Number % of Total[13] Female 4,763,670 54 Male 3,979,972 46 Location Rural 1,573,716 18 Non-rural 7,169,926 82 Race Asian 629,935 7 African-American 598,440 7 White 4,309,822 49 Other Race[14] 364,366 4 Unknown 2,841,079 32 Ethnicity Hispanic/Latino 1,033,699 12 Not Hispanic/Latino 5,428,184 62 Unknown 2,281,759 26 Household Income 100% - 250% FPL 6,142,502 70 251% - 400% FPL 1,614,363 18 Other Household Income[15] 986,777 11

Table 4 contains information on premiums for consumers in states that used HealthCare.gov in 2018. The average premium before application of the tax credit was $621 during the 2018 OEP and $476 during the 2017 OEP. Eighty-five percent of consumers who selected or were automatically re-enrolled in a 2018 plan through HealthCare.gov had APTC. Among consumers with APTC in 2018, the average tax credit covered about 86 percent of the total premium, resulting in an average premium after APTC of $89 per month.

Table 4: Average Premium and Average Net Premium after APTC for Consumers with a 2018 OEP Plan Selection on HealthCare.gov

Number Average

Premium Average

APTC Average Premium

after APTC All Consumers 8,746,642 $621 $468 $153 Consumers w/ APTC 7,447,615 $639 $550 $89 Consumers w/o APTC 1,295,027 $522 NA NA

In the 2018 OEP, nine percent of consumers were younger than 18 years old compared to 10 percent in 2017 (see Figure 2). Twenty-six percent of consumers were between 18 and 34 years old in 2018 compared to 27 percent in 2017. Twenty-nine percent of 2018 OEP consumers were 55 years or older, while 27 percent of 2017 OEP consumers were 55 years or older.

Figure 2: Proportion of Open Enrollment HealthCare.gov Consumers, by Age

The state-level PUF can be found at: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Marketplace-Products/2018_Open_Enrollment.html

[1] This report includes Qualified Health Plan (QHP) selections made on the individual Exchange; the state-level and county-level public use files also includes data on dental plan selections.

[2] In addition to the total plan selections in this report there were 829,197 individuals in New York and Minnesota who signed up for coverage through a BHP. States have the option of establishing BHPs to provide health coverage for low-income residents who might otherwise be eligible for Exchange coverage.

[3] As in prior years, consumers with coverage at the end of 2017 who did not make an active selection were generally automatically re-enrolled for 2018. When consumers had 2018 Exchange plans available to them from their 2017 issuer, they were automatically re-enrolled into the same plan as 2017 or a different plan from the same issuer; depending on the Exchange, they could also be automatically re-enrolled into a suggested alternate plan from a different issuer.

[4] The state-level PUF can be found here: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Marketplace-Products/2018_Open_Enrollment.html. For the 39 states that use the HealthCare.gov eligibility and enrollment platform, public use files with information on plan selections at the county and zip code levels are also available.

[5] Data for SBEs that use their own eligibility and enrollment platforms are retrieved from the respective statesa information systems and have not been validated by CMS, thus metric calculations for these states may vary. The 12 SBEs that use their own eligibility and enrollment platforms are California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

[6] Figures for HealthCare.gov states and SBEs do not sum to 11.8 million due to rounding, see the state-level PUF for more information.

[7] The data for the 2014 OEP was from 10/1/2013 to 4/19/2014; the 2015 OEP was from 11/15/2014 to 2/22/2015; the 2016 OEP was from 11/1/2015 to 2/1/2016 (1/31/2016 for some states); the 2017 OEP was from 11/1/2016 to 1/31/2017; for HealthCare.gov states the 2018 OEP was from 11/1/2017 to 12/15/2017 with data reported through 12/23/2017 (data through dates vary for SBEs; see the PUF methodology for detailed information). Plan selections by Exchange platform for each OEP reflects the status of the stateas Exchange platform at the time of that OEP. Caution should be used when comparing plan selections across OEPs since some states have transitioned platforms between years, and state expansion of Medicaid may affect enrollment figures from year to year. Additionally, the rate at which issuers submitted plan cancellations may have varied from year to year and caution should be used in interpreting these data as they do not reflect plan effectuations.

[8] Enrollment type does not sum to the total due to administrative errors in processing a limited number of plan cancellations/terminations in Vermont. Please refer to the state-level PUF for more information.

[9] Some SBEs were unable to verify enrollee age and metal level characteristics, therefore those figures do not sum to 11,750,175; more information is available in the PUF definitions.

[10] The figures reported reflect data as a percent of the total (11,750,175), therefore totals may not sum to 100%.

[11] Financial assistance metrics were updated April 2018 and August 2018 to reflect changes submitted by Washington and California, respectively. Please see the state-level PUF for more information.

[12]A For a family of four in 2018, a household income between 100% and 250% FPL generally corresponds to an annual household income of between $24,600 and $61,500.

[13] Totals may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

[14] Other Race includes multiracial, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

[15] Other household income includes plan selections for which consumers were not requesting financial assistance, incomes below 100% FPL, incomes above 400% FPL, and unknown income. Please see the public use file for more information.

[16] Note that these findings may not be generalizable to the entire population of consumers who selected an ACA compliant plan without APTC, as many consumers in this population purchase plans off the Exchange; premiums in this document arenat representative of individual plans off the Exchange.

###
Companies linked to a newly-inked Pacific trade pact may reduce their reliance on the world's largest economy following President Donald Trump's controversial tariffs.

Rising U.S. protectionism reinforces the importance of a multilateral trading order  the kind represented by the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal  strategists have widely argued. It could also see companies based in TPP member nations shy away from doing business stateside.

Known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) or TPP-11, the landmark free-trade agreement will cut tariffs between 11 countries, which include Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia and Mexico. It was signed the same day that Trump authorized steel and aluminum duties  controversial taxes that pushed Beijing to enforce tit-for-tat action on Monday.

"In an environment of growing uncertainty and risk, the CPTPP helps by providing stability," said Deborah Elms, executive director at the Singapore-based Asian Trade Centre. "The agreement itself provides considerable new opportunities for member firms to find new markets or to save money  this should push companies to diversify their own portfolio and rely less on the U.S."

The Trump administration's trade policy is centered on bilateral negotiations rather than multilateral agreements, but that's troublesome for companies based in TPP member countries. When possible, multinationals or small-and-medium sized enterprises could be motivated to strengthen cooperation with fellow TPP members instead of turning to the U.S.
Workers walk past parked General Motors Co. (GM) Chevrolet automobiles bound for export at the Port of Incheon in Incheon, South Korea.

General Motors will begin reporting U.S. sales at the end of each quarter instead of at the end of each month. March will be the last monthly sales report from GM.

"Reporting sales quarterly better aligns with our business, and the quality of information will make it easier to see how the business is performing," said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president, Sales Operations for General Motors.

The automaker says dropping monthly sales reports was driven by a number of factors, including the desire to stop the volatility that sometimes exaggerates monthly sales. GM says unusual weather, product launches or incentive campaigns can skew monthly numbers up or down.

"Thirty days is not enough time to separate real sales trends from short-term fluctuations in a very dynamic, highly competitive market," said McNeil.

The move paves the way for other automakers to do the same thing. In the early 1990's, many automakers reported sales every ten days, while Chrysler posted its numbers on a monthly basis. By the mid-90's all of the major automakers were on a monthly sales schedule.

Will Wall Street and investors care? Maybe not.

Tesla has never reported sales on a monthly basis and there's no indication reporting deliveries on a quarterly basis has hurt or helped Tesla's stock. Still, when auto sales were plunging in 2008, the monthly sales reports helped investors, analysts and lawmakers in Washington understand how quickly the auto industry and economy were deteriorating. If that scenario repeats itself at some point in the future, and we learn the severity of slower sales just once every three months, that could cause more alarm among investors.

Even without GM's report, other sources including dealers, suppliers and analysts will continue to give us insight into how auto sales are progressing throughout a quarter. So investors won't be completely in the dark about the state of business at GM.
Kindergarten children take part in a traditional ceremony at the Setsubun Festival in Tokyo, Japan. Yoshikazu Tsuno | AFP | Getty Images

Birth rates in Japan are at an all-time low, but the country faces what may seem an unlikely problem: a shortage of day care spaces. That has made the sector alluring to foreign firms looking to do business in the country. Among 34 municipalities surveyed by Nikkei Asian Review last year, 16 saw their day care waiting lists grow from the year prior, though the overall number of children awaiting day care places declined. Government data indicated in April last year that there were 26,081 children waiting for spots. Japan has expanded day care in recent years, but still has work ahead of it. The issue has created problems for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to improve female participation in the workforce  and encourage further economic growth.

Foreign firms look in

But more than two years after the viral sharing of an angry blog post detailing the challenges working mothers face because of the shortage, relief may come in the form of foreign businesses taking a new interest in the Japanese market. One of those companies is Busy Bees, a child care operator with a presence in Singapore and Malaysia. The firm has no centers in Japan currently, but Busy Bees told CNBC that it's "serious" about the Japanese market  although it did not reveal details. BusyBees likes Japan because the country's child care industry is growing, said June Rusdon, chief executive of Busy Bees Asia. Separately, the firm would like the chance to gain industry knowledge and exchange best practices in Japan, she said in a statement. EtonHouse, a Singapore-based operator, already has a presence in Japan. Demand for international pre-school operators in Japan is also driven by a growing appetite for English-language education, said Tan Anli, director of EtonHouse International Pre-School Tokyo. The company operates one center in Tokyo, where school fees go up to 2.5 million yen ($23,694) per year. But that hasn't put a damper on interest: The school is currently at full enrollment.

Roots of the problem
A LNG tanker is moored at a thermal power station in Futtsu, east of Tokyo.

China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative is changing the landscape of emerging countries by pouring money into infrastructure and energy, leaving regional rivals seemingly in the dust.

But Japanese companies see opportunity in an important industry in China's backyard: liquefied natural gas.

Facing of an excess of natural gas at home, Japanese firms are selling LNG overseas, and Japan is making an effort to shape the gas market in many emerging Asian countries.

In October, Japan's trade minister said the country will offer $10 billion in support to supply LNG or build gas infrastructure in Asia. That's a move that will "kill several birds with one stone," according to Jane Nakano, a senior fellow in the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Not only will the investment help Japan slash its stocks of LNG, but it will also boost its alliance with the United States, Nakano said in a recent podcast: The development of infrastructure for natural gas around the world will help drive demand for America's own exports.

Southeast Asia is a fierce battleground for energy firms, as Japanese companies, armed with vast experience in the LNG field, build new plants and infrastructure to supply the region.

Gas demand in those countries is growing rapidly, and despite China's attempts to dominate the region through wider economic power, Japan still has a competitive edge in the natural gas industry.

China is busy trying to meet LNG demands at home as it tries to cut the country's dependence on coal, according to Nicholas Browne, head of Asia gas and LNG at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Japanese companies that are making the foray into Southeast Asia include Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas and Jera.
The development of 5G mobile networks, as well as smart vehicles, will be among the next hot sectors in Japan, a senior equity analyst told CNBC.

Previously, the information technology industry in Japan was driven by products such as digital cameras and smartphones, but it has now reached a plateau, Kazunori Ito, senior equity analyst at Ibbotson Associates Japan, said last month.

"From here, I would observe many of the growth opportunities are non-IT industries, such as autos, and many other industries driven by the diffusion of 5G," he told CNBC's "Capital Connection."

Ito said his top Japanese stock picks are smartphone component maker Murata Manufacturing and electronics company TDK.

Major specifications for a new 5G mobile network are expected to be set by the industry this December, he said. At the same time, mobile usage is set to grow rapidly.

The industry expects 5G to be able to facilitate the expansion of technologies such as autonomous vehicles, robotics and virtual reality.

"We see much more numbers of devices connected to the internet. Also we expect that the data traffic will increase more than 40 or 50 percent per year," said Ito.

That all leads to a "clear road map of the future," where Murata will be in a strong position within the telecommunications sector, he said.

TDK, in particular, will stand to benefit from the digitization of vehicles, he said. That means trends such as autonomous driving or internet-connected cars.

The company is a top supplier of components for vehicles, such as capacitors and inductors, Ito explained, and it also offers sensors, which will benefit automobiles and the so-called Internet of Things.
A full-blown trade war between the United States and China, a worry that sent the averages far into the red on Monday, has a "very low" chance of happening, strategist Scott Wren told CNBC.

As a market-wide sell-off drove stocks down to correction-level lows, Wren said on CNBC's "Fast Money" that China's newly imposed tariffs on U.S. goods were a "mini-shot over the bow" in the broader scope of global trade relations.

"I think we're going to see a lot of extreme targeting of tariffs" played out over the next few years, Wren, a senior global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said on Monday.

"The volume of trade between the two countries is obviously huge and what the tariffs are actually on is pretty small, so I don't think we're going to see a big escalation."

Wren told CNBC's Melissa Lee that he expected to see a lot of renegotiation between U.S. and Chinese policymakers in lieu of a more heated battle.

"I think the bottom line for us is that an all-out trade war is a low probability," the strategist said.

Wren did worry about the White House's proposed tariffs on China for alleged intellectual property theft, long a point of tension between the two countries.

The strategist anticipated "some give" in the technology stocks as a result  considering such companies' large lines of business in China.

"They're not about to give up their technology and their rights to [selling into China]," Wren said. "The administration, they need to go after this intellectual property problem because it is a huge problem and if it didn't come to the boiling point now, it certainly would at some point down the road."
Walmart is launching a global money transfer service called Walmart2World in a partnership with MoneyGram International. The move expands on its domestic money service, launched roughly four years ago to serve America's unbanked population.

Walmart2Walmart, the U.S.-based platform, allows customers to transfer funds between Walmart locations domestically, sending as much as $2,500 at a time. The new Walmart2World will allow customers to relay funds to people in more than 200 countries.

"We probably really underestimated the impact we could really make in this business, which hasn't seen a ton of innovation for a long time," Kirsty Ward, the vice president of Walmart Services, told CNBC.

With Walmart2World, the retailer aims to serve the roughly 2 billion individuals across the globe who the World Bank's Global Findex database classifies as unbanked. Common uses for wiring money include paying bills and remitting money to families or friends overseas.

The new service aims to beat out its competitors with speed and low, stable prices.

Walmart2World will charge an individual $4 to send up to $50, $8 to send amounts between $51 and $1,000, and $16 to send $1,001 to $2,500. And unlike some other international transfer services, Walmart's fees will remain the same regardless of where the sender and receiver are located.

Ward says that "clear and transparent menu-board pricing" is key to the initiative.

Walmart2World also promises delivery of funds in 10 minutes or less, unlike some services that can take as long as three days. MoneyGram's network of agents across the globe will help serve the populations where Walmart doesn't always have a presence.

The initiative could ultimately drive more foot traffic to Walmart stores, boosting sales. "We would love for customers to choose who they shop with based on how we can save them money. ... If they choose to spend [their savings] in Walmart, that's fantastic," Ward said.

Less than 1 percent of Walmart's annual net sales came from fuel and financial services, which includes wire and money transfers.

Companies like Western Union and MoneyGram, meanwhile, have built their businesses entirely around the idea.

E-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly looking to take a different approach to reach potential shoppers who don't have bank accounts. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Amazon was in early talks with financial institutions including J.P. Morgan Chase to help launch "checking-account-like products" aimed at younger and unbanked customers.

Walmart2World is scheduled to roll out to all of Walmart's 4,700 U.S. stores, on Walmart.com, and to the Walmart mobile app later this month.
There's an in-house babysitting service for employees of one of Japan's largest staffing and talent agencies.

It's not just a perk: It's essential for helping working mothers make an easier transition back into the workforce.

That's because the country has a perennial shortage of child care services. It's so bad that even if a woman wants to return to work after giving birth, she often can't until the next April when day care facilities admit new children, according to Scott Sato, president and chief operating officer at Pasona.

"To address this, what we did was we have an in-house child care facility," he told CNBC. "We were the first organization in Japan, or a public company, to have a babysitting facility in Japan."

Sato explained that there aren't enough "baby care teachers" in the country at the moment. The job applicant ratio is skewed such that there are about six jobs available per candidate, he said.

A report last year said that the number of children on public day care waiting lists grew for the third consecutive year.

The shortage in child care facilities in Japan is due to an underdevelopment in that area over time, according to Kohei Iwahara, a Japan-based economist at investment bank Natixis. He explained to CNBC that women were traditionally expected to raise children instead of working in Japanese culture.

In fact, he said, plotting women's labor force participation in the country against an age range produced an M-shaped line  where participation rose when women were in their early-20s, it declined between late-20s and the 30s, rose again in the 40s when they returned to the workforce and then fell at retirement age.

Recent reports have suggested, however, that more Japanese women are working immediately after childbirth and that the government's efforts to keep them in the work force are starting to pay off.

The Nikkei business daily reported in February that the rate of working women aged 30 to 34 rose to 75.2 percent last year, up from about 50 percent three decades ago. The workforce participation rate for women between the ages of 15 and 64 rose to a record 69.4 percent in 2017, the Nikkei said, citing government data.

Those numbers indicate the M-shaped line may be flattening.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed for more women to return to work to tackle the country's shrinking labor force. A subsection of his policy initiatives  referred to as "Abenomics"  is called "Womenomics," dedicated to measures that would make it easier for women to re-join the workforce.
Pepper, a humanoid robot developed by SoftBank Group Corp., moves around on its own to guide passengers at sushi shop in Tokyo, Japan.

When Tetsuya Sawanobori finished grad school about a decade ago, he decided to start his own business. He set up a restaurant in Japan, following in the footsteps of his grandparents and uncle.

A year later, he stopped.

"I realized it's very hard," Sawanobori told CNBC. With few holidays, and working on average 16 hours a day, he said he was "exhausted, and that's why I gave it up."

"Right now, especially in the food service industry, they have a serious lack of labor because people tend to avoid these kinds of jobs, doing daily, repetitive" tasks, he said. "It's very hard and overwhelming for people ... they usually work very long, like 12 hours, or some people work 15 hours a day."

He explained that the situation is becoming more severe as Japan's population continues to shrink, putting more pressure on active workers.

Long office hours, often seen as a measure of hard work, have become a cultural norm in post-war Japan, where decades of economic growth led to the country's emergence as the world's third-largest economy. Starting in the 1990s, that growth slowed  but the long hours remained. The problem of "overwork" is serious enough that Japan's business community and the government are working to address the issue.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for the government to examine plans to hire more skilled foreigners; meanwhile, many industries are turning to robots as a way around the labor shortfall.
A merry gang of engineers from SpaceX, Boeing, Google and Willow Garage, started Zipline in 2011 to make and use drones for social good. The company beat Amazon and FedEx to the punch, firing up drone-based logistics in 2016. In two years, they have logged more than 186,000 miles and over 4,000 deliveries.

While Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo and CTO Keenan Wryobeck initially focused on delivering life-saving medical supplies, especially blood, to clinics in hard to reach parts of Rwanda -- their company is planning to expand to new markets this year, including the U.S.

CNBC caught up with Zipline for a demonstration of their systems in Davis, Calif. this week.

Showing off the company's new fast-flying drone, the Zip 2, CEO Rinaudo said:

"We are using an active recovery system that...takes inspiration from an aircraft carrier. We track the plane with centimeter-level accuracy and can pluck it out of the air, then basically swing it down so that flight operators can immediately grab it, load a new package, and launch it again."
Apple has hired Google's chief of search and artificial intelligence, John Giannandrea, a major coup in its bid to catch up to the artificial intelligence technology of its rivals.

Apple said on Tuesday that Mr. Giannandrea will run Apple's "machine learning and A.I. strategy," and become one of 16 executives who report directly to Apple's chief executive, Timothy D. Cook.

The hire is a victory for Apple, which many Silicon Valley executives and analysts view as lagging its peers in artificial intelligence, an increasingly crucial technology for companies that enables computers to handle more complex tasks, like understanding voice commands or identifying people in images.

"Our technology must be infused with the values we all hold dear," Mr. Cook said in an email to staff members obtained by The New York Times. "John shares our commitment to privacy and our thoughtful approach as we make computers even smarter and more personal."

Read more from the New York Times:

Tech giants are paying huge salaries for scarce A.I. talent

In the future, warehouse robots will learn on their own

How A.I. is creating building blocks to reshape music and art

While Apple has risen to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company on the back of the iPhone, many in the technology industry consider the iPhone's digital assistant, Siri, to be less effective than its counterparts at Google and Amazon.

Mr. Giannandrea, a 53-year-old native of Scotland known to colleagues as "J.G.," helped lead the push to integrate A.I. throughout Google's products, including internet search, Gmail and its own digital assistant, dubbed the Google assistant.

He joined Google in 2010 when it purchased Metaweb, a start-up where he served as chief technology officer. Metaweb was building what it described as a "database of the world's knowledge," which Google eventually rolled into its search engine to deliver direct answers to users' queries. (Try googling "How old is Steph Curry?") During Mr. Giannandrea's tenure, A.I. research became increasingly important inside Google, with its primary A.I lab, Google Brain, moving into a space beside the chief executive, Sundar Pichai.

Engineers with A.I. expertise are some of the most sought-after people in Silicon Valley, with salaries sometimes exceeding eight figures. When news broke Monday that Mr. Giannandrea was unexpectedly stepping down as Google's A.I. chief, he immediately became perhaps the most eligible tech executive on the market. By Tuesday, it became clear he was never really on the market.

Apple has made other high-profile hires in the field, including the Carnegie Mellon professor Russ Salakhutdinov. Mr. Salakhutdinov studied at the University of Toronto under Geoffrey Hinton, who helps oversee the Google Brain lab.

Apple has taken a strong stance on protecting the privacy of people who use its devices and online services, which could put it at a disadvantage when building service using neural networks.

Researchers train these systems by pooling enormous amounts of digital data, sometimes from customer services. Apple, however, has said it is developing methods that would allow it to train these algorithms without compromising privacy.

On the debate over whether humanity should be worried about the rapidly accelerating improvements in A.I., Mr. Giannandrea told MIT Technology Review in an interview last year that the concerns were overblown.

"What I object to is this assumption that we will leap to some kind of super-intelligent system that will then make humans obsolete," he said. "I understand why people are concerned about it but I think it's gotten way too much airtime. I just see no technological basis as to why this is imminent at all."
After bitcoin closed out the worst first quarter in its history, one cryptocurrency expert sees it rebounding from recent losses and possibly bouncing back to early year highs.

"Q2 is always good for Bitcoin," Brian Kelly, founder of Brian Kelly Capital and a "Fast Money" contributor, told CNBC's "Futures Now" on Tuesday. "There will be a significant rally here if seasonality brings tail winds."

The cryptocurrency usually performs well in the second quarter, according to historical data. Seasonal tail winds include an upcoming annual development cycle and a number of big conferences, such as Consensus in May, that usually inspire positive sentiment, said Kelly.

Seasonality and a shift in sentiment should power bitcoin gains in the second quarter, said Kelly. The reasons for a bounce are twofold: first, the tax-selling season that pressured prices at the end of the first quarter is now winding down, and second, regulatory fears that also squeezed cryptocurrencies since the beginning of the year are beginning to fade.

"We've gone to the extreme of the regulation which is South Korea thinking they're going to ban it, the U.S. talking about everything being a security, to walking it back," Kelly said. "You're seeing a shift again in that type of thing. I think most of that's behind us."

Regulatory threats spiked in the first quarter. Countries including South Korea and China expressed a willingness to tighten regulations on cryptocurrencies, though fears over their severity have eased since January.

A potential deal involving Japanese brokerage firm Monex and crypto exchange Coincheck is an example of this shift in sentiment, said Kelly. Monex could reportedly put in a majority stake bid for Coincheck as soon as this week, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.

Even if countries were to swing the regulatory ax, it could turn out to benefit the crypto markets, according to Kelly.

"I don't think regulation is a bad thing," he said. "It doesn't kill any other market as long as we do it correctly and we don't stifle innovation. Regulation might actually increase adoption."

This second quarter has already started on better footing. Bitcoin has increased 8.1 percent since its March close and added about $400 on Tuesday alone. The cryptocurrency lost around 50 percent of its value over the first three months of this year, worse than the 39 percent decline seen in the first quarter of 2014.
Bitcoin and ethereum just had their worst first-quarter price performances in history, but ripple fell the most out of the top three major cryptocurrencies.



Bitcoin fell from $13,412.44 to $6,928.85 in the three months ended March 31, marking a more than 48 percent decline, according to data from industry website CoinDesk, which tracks the price across a number of exchanges. The cryptocurrency's previous biggest decline came in the first quarter of 2013 when it fell 37.9 percent from $770.44 to $478.72. CoinDesk has only tracked the price since 2010.

Over $119.9 billion was wiped off the market capitalization or value of bitcoin in the time period.

Ethereum meanwhile saw a 47.7 percent decline in price in the first quarter of 2018 from $755.76 to $394.65, according to Coinmarketcap.com, another site which tracks the price of various digital currencies across exchanges. The site first started tracking ethereum in the middle of 2015. In the first quarter of 2016, and 2017, ethereum was over 1,100 percent and 550 percent higher, respectively.

Ripple, meanwhile, was the worst-performing cryptocurrency among the major coins in the first quarter of 2018, down 77 percent. Its price fell from $2.30 to $0.509565, according to Coinmarketcap.com. But this was not ripple's worst first quarter, which actually occurred in 2014 when it fell 96 percent.
Despite the exemptions President Donald Trump put in place for his tariffs, Century Aluminum CEO Michael Bless is "extremely confident" the ultimate objective will be reached  reviving the steel and aluminum industries.

When Trump signed the tariffs, which slap levies of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, only Canada and Mexico were exempted. Since then, the president has also added the European Union, Argentina, Australia, Brazil and South Korea to the list.

However, the tariffs are only suspended until May 1 as discussions continue.

"Any exemptions are going to support the objective of restarting U.S. capacity," Bless said Tuesday on CNBC's "Power Lunch."

He expects them to come with "quotas" that don't "deaden" the intended impact of the tariffs.



When issuing proclamations that laid out the exemptions, Trump said, "if necessary and appropriate" he will "consider" directing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency to "implement a quota" against exempt countries before May 1.

In fact, Bless is so confident he is moving ahead with boosting capacity at Century's Kentucky plant. When the tariffs were first announced, Bless said he expected to hire 300 workers and invest more than $100 million into the plant.

"We've got our heads down, full steam ahead at restarting that capacity that we had to shut down regrettably a couple years ago," he said Tuesday. "For us, no change. We think they are on the right path."

Shares of Century Aluminum, which jumped on the initial tariff news, plunged 18 percent when the additional exemptions were announced. The stock is down about 14 percent year to date.

Bless said while uncertainty is never a great thing as far as investors are concerned, he believes the end result will be better for the company's bottom line.

"Until we see over the next month or two that the administration  is going to follow through on their stated intent to make sure that whatever regime is put in place  come(s) with quotas that don't dent one iota the intended impact of the tariffs, then there's going to be some uncertainty out there. It's going to be volatile."

 Reuters contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  In the United States, which has 1.3 million active-duty troops and spends more on defense than the next seven countries combined, it's hard to imagine that there are countries without a standing military. But there are, in fact, three dozen such countries and regions.

The CIA World Factbook lists 36 nations and territories without armed forces, many of which rely on other countries and international groups to provide their defense. Switzerland and Austria have agreed to provide a collective defense of Liechtenstein, for instance, while Spain and France protect Andorra.

Although several of these states do not have a "regular military force," per the CIA's definition, their national police forces act as de facto military forces. For example, Vanuatu's Mobile Force or the Public Forces of Costa Rica are responsible for protecting their nations' borders.

One state that is notably absent from this list is the Vatican City, which is home to the famed Swiss Guard. While largely ceremonial, they are tasked with preserving the territorial integrity of the city-state and, of course, for protecting the pope. The CIA World Factbook considers them as a regular force since they fulfill much of the duties that a traditional standing army would  even though Italian Armed Forces also guarantee the territorial integrity of the Holy See.
Carnival Corp. is taking a stand in the civil rights struggle in Bermuda.

Bermuda's government became the first to reverse the legalization of same-sex marriage when Governor John Rankin signed the Domestic Partnership Act into law on Feb. 7. The law bans same-sex marriage but allows those couples to have similar rights. The Rainbow Alliance of Bermuda claimed the law created a "separate-but-equal status under the law."

The law created a significant problem for Carnival. Its subsidiaries Cunard and P&O Cruises are registered in Bermuda. The ban means Cunard and P&O ships cannot conduct same-sex marriages regardless of where the ships are in the world. After taking a hands-off approach immediately after Bermuda enacted the law, Carnival announced that it will join with OUTBermuda to contest the ban.

"Our engagement includes providing OUTBermuda with financial, civic and public relations support, as well as involvement by our company," Carnival said in a statement. The company will also file an affidavit to support the legal action of OUTBermuda. "While we always abide by the laws of the countries we sail to and from, we believe travel and tourism brings people and cultures together in powerful ways. As a result, we believe it is important to stand by the LGBTQ community in Bermuda and its many allies to oppose any actions that restrict travel and tourism."

OUTBermuda said in a statement: "OUTBermuda is proud to work with Carnival Corporation, which includes cruise line brands such as Cunard, P&O Cruises, and Princess Cruises, as the company has a long history of commitment to equality, inclusion, and diversity."

Carnival might have feared the spending power of the LGBT community. Justin Nelson, president and co-founder of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, estimates 80 percent of the American LGBT population has passports, compared with 40 percent of the rest of the population. He puts the economic impact of LGBT travel worldwide at more than $100 billion.

The ban drew criticism from many activists after it was enacted. "The repeal of marriage equality in Bermuda is a denigrating and unnecessary strike against loving and committed LGBTQ couples in Bermuda as well as others around the world who would consider vacationing there," GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. "It is now imperative for international businesses that play major roles in Bermuda's economy, such as cruise lines and the travel industry, to make their voices heard."

A handful of celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, Patricia Arquette and Suze Orman, called for a boycott of Bermuda on Twitter.
Tax changes at Amazon would have "limited impact" on the e-commerce company's profits despite a steady barrage of negative tweets from President Donald Trump, Piper Jaffray told clients Tuesday.

Though revisions to the company's tax policy remain unlikely, analyst Michael Olson told clients that even if the president were to have his way, changes would have little impact on how consumers use Amazon.

"Nothing can be certain, except death and taxes  and more Trump tweets on Amazon," Olson wrote in a note. "We believe sales tax collection changes would have limited impact on consumer use of Amazon and could actually help Amazon's relative competitive positioning in domestic e-commerce."

Based on a survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, the firm found that just 5 percent of Americans see sales tax as a critical factor when deciding where to shop. Major changes to Amazon's tax policies, therefore, would likely produce a muted response from consumers, Olson explained.

The survey found that features such as fast and free shipping, product selection and website trust were significantly more important to shoppers.

Based on the results, the analyst again advised investors to buy shares of Amazon and reiterated his 12-month price forecast of $1,650, implying more than 20 percent upside for the stock.

The president's extraordinary criticism of Amazon has centered on the company's policy of not collecting state and local taxes from the vast majority of its third-party sellers. The practice, Trump alleges, puts "many thousands of retailers" out of business, unable to survive against Jeff Bezos's ever-growing consumer titan.

Tweet

The president underscored his feelings toward the company in a tweet Monday morning, saying: "Our fully tax paying retailers are closing stores all over the country  not a level playing field!"

Amazon already collects state sales taxes on products it sells directly, but the company does not collect state sales taxes for its third-party platform outside of a handful of states. The third-party business represents roughly half of Amazon's unit sales, according to Piper Jaffray.

Despite widespread belief on Wall Street that the president's disapproval represents mere "chatter," Amazon's stock has fallen more than 8 percent in the last week alone amid a broader market sell-off.

Axios reported last Wednesday that Trump was considering changes to the retailer's tax treatment, in part because of anger over how Amazon has hurt the commercial real estate industry because of its negative effect on brick-and-mortar retailers.

Still, Olson remains bullish on shares, noting the president's second major criticism  that the United States Postal Services loses "a fortune" from delivering Amazon packages  is unlikely to produce discriminatory rates for the company.

tweet

"We find it unlikely that the Post Office will materially raise rates for Amazon deliveries," Olson added. "Amazon would likely shift to alternative shipping options (perhaps both internal and external)."

Many would argue, however, that Amazon has been a positive for the postal service, which has suffered from bleak finances for more than a decade as other means of communication replace first class mail.
President Donald Trump is starting the day with tweets criticizing broadcast news media as "fakers."

Trump tweeted Tuesday that the "'Fakers' at CNN, NBC, ABC & CBS have done so much dishonest reporting that they should only be allowed to get awards for fiction!"

Donald Trump tweet 1

The president is also defending the Sinclair Broadcast Group following news reports about a video of dozens of Sinclair news anchors reading a script expressing concern about "fake stories." Sinclair owns nearly 200 local TV stations and has ordered its anchors to read a statement expressing concern about "one-sided news stories plaguing the country."

Trump tweeted that "The Fake News Networks, those that knowingly have a sick and biased AGENDA, are worried about the competition and quality of Sinclair Broadcast."

(Disclosure: Comcast is parent company of NBC News and CNBC.)
A looming face-to-face summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un should be canceled, according to a political scientist who said the U.S. leader isn't prepared for such high-stakes negotiations.

The meeting is simply too risky because Trump apparently has a limited knowledge of North Korea's complex politics, Robert Kelly, associate professor at Pusan National University, told CNBC.

Trump "doesn't know a great deal about Korea  we know that he doesn't read very much, he watches a lot of television and his national security staff is sort of in chaos right now," he said, referring to the recent appointment of National Security Adviser John Bolton.

In contrast, "the North Koreans have been working on this stuff for a long time, so they're going to come in there and know every single detail and they're going to be ready to negotiate down deep into the weeds," Kelly stated.

"The first thing Kim Jong Un is going to do in the room is give a 40-minute speech about U.S. war crimes going back to the Korean War," Kelly continued, posing the question of whether the president is "ready to sit there and listen" as Kim talks.
Facebook is removing more than 270 pages and accounts operated by the same Russian organization which attempted to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election, said CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

In a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Zuckerberg said the company had found evidence the Internet Research Agency (IRA) had been attempting to manipulate public opinion in Russia through several Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Attorney Alex van der Zwaan (L), who formerly worked for the Skadden Arps law firm, arrives at a U.S. District Courthouse for his sentencing April 3, 2018 in Washington, DC.

The first sentencing in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe has been handed down.

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan to 30 days in prison and $20,000 in fines. He will voluntarily surrender, and will be held to two months of supervised release.

Van der Zwaan had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as part of Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

In a court filing about van der Zwaan's sentencing last week, the special counsel's office said the Dutch lawyer and Rick Gates, a top campaign aide to Donald Trump, had numerous calls during September and October 2016 with a "close business colleague" of Gates and former Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort.

Mueller alleged that Gates told van der Zwaan that the colleague, identified in the memo as "Person A," is a former spy with Russian military intelligence wing GRU.

The participants in the late-2016 conversations allegedly discussed the compensation for van der Zwaan's law firm, Skadden Arps, over its involvement in crafting a report bolstering Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and undermining political opponents. They also allegedly talked about the possibility of being charged with crimes for the report.

Lawyers for van der Zwaan did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

While van der Zwaan is the first to be sentenced in the investigation, the special counsel has already collected five guilty pleas and more than a dozen indictments since Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in May.

Gates, who worked alongside Manafort on the campaign and as a business partner, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy against the U.S., as well as one count of making false statements to federal investigators.

Manafort, who has been charged with dozens of counts in multiple indictments, including money laundering and bank fraud, has maintained his innocence. His trial is scheduled to start in July.

In a recent court filing, Mueller alleged that Manafort committed crimes by "colluding with Russian government officials with respect to the Russian government's efforts to interfere with the 2016 election."
Two founders of a cryptocurrency firm that was endorsed by champion boxer Floyd Mayweather have been charged with carrying out a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).



The company in question is called Centra and it raised $32 million via an ICO. An ICO is a process by which a company can issue a new digital coin in exchange for money. The coin has the potential to be used on a service offered by the company or traded in the future.

Sohrab "Sam" Sharma and Robert Farkas, co-founders of Centra Tech. Inc., masterminded a fraudulent ICO in which Centra offered and sold unregistered investments through a "CTR Token," the SEC alleged in a statement Monday.

The two people claimed to offer a debit card backed by Visa and Mastercard that allow people to convert cryptocurrency to U.S. dollars to spend it in stores. The SEC alleged that Centra had no relationship with either company. Sharma and Farkas created fake biographies of fictional executives and paid celebrities to tout the ICO on social media, the SEC claimed.

One of those celebrities, who was not named by the SEC, was boxer Floyd Mayweather. He posted a picture of himself in September 2017 holding a Centra card.

TWEET

A representative of Mayweather was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Sharma and Farkas have been arrested by criminal authorities. Farkas booked a flight to leave the country but was arrested before boarding, according to the SEC.

"We allege that Centra sold investors on the promise of new digital technologies by using a sophisticated marketing campaign to spin a web of lies about their supposed partnerships with legitimate businesses," Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said in a statement Monday.

"As the complaint alleges, these and other claims were simply false."

The SEC's complaint was filed in a federal court in the Southern District of New York and charges the Centra co-founders with violating anti-fraud and registration provisions of securities laws. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, return of the allegedly stolen funds plus interest and penalties, as well as bars against the two figures from taking part in any other ICO or securities offering.

Authorities in the U.S. have been trying to clamp down on fraudulent ICOs. The SEC clarified in March that it is looking to apply securities laws to cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets. Jay Clayton, the head of the SEC, said that the organization is devoting a "significant portion of resources" to the ICO market.

Centra is not the first ICO that the SEC has gone after. Earlier this year it took action against AriseBank which it alleged raised $600 million.

Still, scams persist in the ICO world which remains a wild west in many jurisdictions. CNBC recently investigated a scam ICO called Gize which raised $2 million.
People cross railroad tracks at the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris on April 3, 2018.

French rail workers have started months of strike action that is threatening to cripple the country's workforce.

More than three quarters of train drivers and nearly half of rail workers did not show for work Tuesday as French unions took aim at President Emmanuel Macron's proposed reforms.

The state rail operator SCNF has planned three months of industrial action with strikes planned for two days out of five until June 28. France has an estimated 4.5 million train passengers.

The action has severely disrupted services with only one-in-eight high-speed TGV services operating. Regional and intercity services are also reportedly being hit hard while one in every four Eurostar train journeys has been canceled.

A website that measures traffic-jam lengths around Paris said the cumulative tailback reached more than 425 kilometers (264 miles) during the morning rush hour. The average is typically closer to 350 kilometers.
"Big box retail stores, like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart, support this new tax because it's a way to burden small competitors, potentially putting some out of business."

There would be no way for an online buyer to avoid the tax, which means the long-term effect of this arrangement would be that states would lessen downward pressure on taxes between jurisdictions. Consumers would be forced to wear their home jurisdiction like a tax albatross when they shop online.

Think about the difference in gas taxes between Virginia and Washington, D.C. That difference leads many people to drive across state lines into Virginia to pay less for gas. This keeps at least some downward pressure on tax rates.

If D.C. made its rate high enough, then everyone within reasonable distance would exit and fill up their tanks in Virginia. But if we apply the Internet sales tax plan to gas taxes, a Virginia gas station would have to charge you D.C. gas taxes if your car had D.C. plates.

An Internet sales tax would also drown small, online businesses and entrepreneurs, like those on eBay and Etsy, with compliance costs since they'd have to deal with the costs and complications of figuring out approximately 10,000 distinct sales tax jurisdictions. These independent sellers would also be subject to audits from up to 46 states, the current number of states that impose a sales tax.

Big box retail stores, like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart, support this new tax because it's a way to burden small competitors, potentially putting some out of business. Even Amazon, who used to oppose these tax expansion efforts, has switched sides now that it owns warehouses across the country to improve delivery times, which also happens to trigger sales tax compliance in many states.

Proponents of an Internet sales tax point to free government-provided tax-calculating software as a way to reduce these compliance burdens. But there are serious concerns with the performance of that software and there are no allowances made for costs associated with testing or integrating these systems.

The current, physical presence standard protects business owners from what amounts to taxation without representation, since a state cannot impose its sales tax on purchases if the seller has no store, warehouse, or office located in the state.

This protection is in line with one of the most important aspects of competitive federalism: protecting individuals from overreaching states and states from each other. The Constitution doesn't bar state Internet sales taxes; it permits them so long as they're approved by Congress through federal legislation or through approval of a multi-state agreement.

And if these taxes are really in the public interest, then there's no reason to think that Congress won't act. But states should not be able to undo the physical presence rule on their own, as South Dakota is attempting to do in its Supreme Court case.

There is a better way. Consider a congressionally enacted (or approved) online sales tax system which was origin-based. It would assess a tax based on the point of purchase; that is, an online seller located in South Dakota would be subject to that state's tax, just like brick-and-mortar sellers in that state.

In short, online and main street sellers would be treated identically. And most importantly, such an approach would promote healthy competition among the states, and keep politicians accountable to those they tax. A state that imposed a very high tax on sellers located within its borders would risk losing those businesses to lower-tax states.

This approach is vastly superior to a Supreme Court ruling that took the decision about the physical presence rule away from Congress. If that were to happen, it would surely lead to the destruction of many small, online businesses and a tax hike on Americans, leaving us with less money in our pockets and fewer choices online.

Commentary by Jessica Melugin, the associate director of the Center for Technology & Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market think tank in Washington, D.C.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
Twenty-First Century Fox said it could legally separate Sky News within the wider Sky group to allay the concerns of a British regulator about the news service's continuing independence under Rupert Murdoch's ownership.



It also said it could sell the 24-hour news channel to Walt Disney if its bid to acquire the 61 percent of the company it does not already own is approved, regardless of whether Disney's proposed acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox's assets proceeds.



Fox agreed to buy all of the European pay-TV group in December 2016, but the deal has been repeatedly delayed by the British government and regulators. U.S. cable giant Comcast Corp gatecrashed the deal in February when it said it would offer 12.50 pounds a share to buy Sky, compared to Fox's 10.75 pounds, although it has not yet made a formal bid.



Fox, which already owns 39 percent of the European pay-TV group, had already put forward steps it would take to guarantee the independence of Sky News, such as funding it for 10 years and creating an independent board of directors.



"We have worked diligently with the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) throughout its extensive review," Fox said on Tuesday.



"In fact, we believe that the enhanced firewall remedies we proposed to safeguard the editorial independence of Sky News addressed comprehensively and constructively the CMA's provisional concerns."



Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.
Lockheed Martin has won a nearly quarter-billion dollar NASA contract to develop a plane capable of supersonic speed without creating the deafening sonic boom that comes with breaking the sound barrier.

The cost-plus NASA contract, valued at $247.5 million, will allow the defense contractor's secretive Skunk Works division to continue development of Lockheed Martin's Quiet Supersonic Technology (or QueSST) aircraft. This is "NASA's first X-plane in a generation," a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told CNBC on Tuesday.

"We look forward to applying the extensive work completed under QueSST to the design, build and flight test of the X-plane, providing NASA with a demonstrator to make supersonic commercial travel possible for passengers around the globe," program manager Peter Iosifidis said in a statement.

Under the low-boom flight demonstration contract, Lockheed Martin will have a prototype for NASA to test fly by the end of 2021.

Lockheed Martin has agreed to develop an experimental plane that will cruise at 55,000 feet and reach speeds of about 940 mph. While such an aircraft would traditionally create a sonic boom, NASA expects the new aircraft to create a sound of less than half the noise level  or more akin to the sound of a closing car door.

Current regulations ban commercial supersonic aircraft from operating over land. New companies like Boom Supersonic are trying to make use of the technology for transoceanic routes, with backing from investors like Richard Branson and Japan Airlines.

But Lockheed Martin and NASA want to advance the technology through noise reduction to overturn regulations. The new experimental plane is designed to return supersonic passenger air travel to routes over land. The last such flight was by the Concorde in October 2003.

This new contract is a separate venture from Lockheed Martin's work with Aerion Corp. to develop a supersonic business jet, the AS2, which has its first flight planned for 2023.

The NASA X-plane will be built at Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, California.
New York has become the latest state to give the nod to a retirement savings program for workers who lack access to one where they work. Endorsed by the state legislature on Saturday via approval of its fiscal 2019 budget, the program would be similar to others cropping up around the country that provide private sector workers with a tax-advantaged retirement account if their employer does not offer one. The budget authorizes the creation of the New York Secure Choice Savings Program. While details are slim  a state board would be charged with working out the specifics  participation would be voluntary for both businesses and workers. Employees who choose to enroll would be able to direct part of their paycheck to a Roth IRA.

Hinterhaus Productions | Getty Images

While contributions to Roth IRAs are not tax-deductible, the assets grow tax-free and withdrawals in retirement generally also are untaxed. Since 2012, more than 40 states have acted to implement or consider legislation to create such state-run retirement programs, according to Georgetown University's Center for Retirement Initiatives. Across the country, an estimated 57 million private sector workers are employed at companies that do not offer a 401(k) plan or similar retirement plan, according to AARP. In New York, the program potentially could help about 3.5 million such workers.
Small-business hiring in March fell to the lowest point in over seven years, while hourly earnings grew steadily, a report from human resources firm Paychex said Tuesday.

The Small Business Jobs Index decreased 0.12 percent from last month and 1.07 percent from a year earlier. Small-business wages continued to rise, reaching a 2.66 percent (69 cents per hour) annual growth rate in March, Paychex said.

(Source: Paychex)

"Small business job growth slowed slightly yet again, to its lowest point in more than seven years," James Diffley, chief regional economist at IHS Markit, said in a statement accompanying the report. "This could be the beginning of accelerating wage growth to attract more employees."

Paychex said national hourly earnings in March were $26.48.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month that nonfarm payrolls grew more than expected, but the closely watched wage number continues to steadily decline this year.

(Source: Paychex)

Tennessee returned to its previous spot as the top-ranked state for small-business job growth, the Paychex report said, while Arizona ranks first in annual hourly earnings growth. Denver passed Seattle as the country's top metro area for small-business jobs, Paychex said.

The Paychex report comes three days before the BLS releases its closely watched employment data for March.
The Department of Defense "has no legal authority" to use appropriated funds for President Donald Trump's border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, two Democratic senators wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis.

"Until we can have a wall and proper security we're going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump said Monday at the White House. "That's a big step."

Trump originally floated the idea of the military paying for the wall over Twitter and in a discussion with Mattis late last month.

"Such a controversial move could only be funded by cutting other vital priorities for our service members, mere weeks after the Department communicated its needs to the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee during omnibus appropriation negotiations," Democratic Sens. Jack Reed and Dick Durbin wrote.

"We conclude that the Department of Defense has no legal authority, with or without a reprogramming request, to use appropriated funds for the construction of a border wall."

The letter from Reed, of Rhode Island, and Durbin, of Illinois, comes on the heels of reports that Trump suggested the idea to "several advisors" after being disappointed by the amount of money allocated for border security in the $1.3 trillion omnibus.

Dana White, the Pentagon's chief spokesperson, confirmed last week that Mattis had "initial" talks with Trump about diverting a portion of the DOD's budget to construct a wall on the border.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Congress would have to appropriate the money to make it work  a notion Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., touched on over the weekend. Scott said that Congress would "absolutely" need to weigh in on reprogramming defense funds to the border wall.

"The reality of it is, as commander-in-chief, he can certainly send signals through Secretary Mattis, have a conversation with Congress about where those dollars should be spent," Scott said told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy of gun manufacturer Remington filed late last month has thrown yet another wrench into a landmark class-action settlement involving allegedly defective rifles that were the subject of a 2010 CNBC investigation.

A federal appeals panel in Kansas City is considering the settlement, in which Remington agreed to replace the triggers on millions of guns, including the iconic Model 700 rifle and a dozen other firearms with similar designs. While Remington continues to maintain the guns are safe, class-action plaintiffs claimed the guns are prone to firing without the trigger being pulled. With the case bogged down in court, the trigger replacement program, first announced in 2014, has been on hold.

Now, Remington is seeking to halt the class-action case entirely, at least temporarily, under a provision in federal bankruptcy law that automatically stays outside litigation while a bankruptcy case is pending.

"As a result of the bankruptcy filing, this appeal is subject to the automatic stay," wrote Remington attorney John Sherk in a filing last week with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Kansas City.

The court has given the parties two weeks to weigh in on the issue.

A federal judge in Kansas City approved the class-action settlement last year, but a pair of Remington rifle owners immediately appealed the ruling. Richard Denney and Lewis Frost accused the company of deliberately downplaying the risks from the guns and failing to properly notify the public of the settlement in order to keep the number of claims low. Remington has denied the allegations, and plaintiffs' attorneys  who stand to collect $12.5 million in fees  have defended the settlement as fair.

An attorney for Denney and Frost, J. Robert Ates, told CNBC in an e-mail that the Court of Appeals should reject the stay, so that it can reject what he calls a "bogus" settlement and send it back to the District Judge who approved it, Ortrie Smith.

"In the final analysis, the best outcome for the class, for the legitimacy of class action settlements, and for the legitimacy of proper notice guaranteed under due process would be for the 8th Circuit to maintain jurisdiction by denying the stay in order to reject the settlement and remand it back to District Judge Smith," Ates said.

Attorneys for Remington and the class action plaintiffs did not respond to multiple requests by CNBC for a comment.

Even if the company is successful in its efforts at the Court of Appeals, the stay might not last long. Remington's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, filed on March 25, is "pre-packaged." That means the company has already reached agreement with its major creditors on a restructuring plan.

In court filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, Remington has said that if creditors and the court approve, it could emerge from bankruptcy protection by this summer.

Under the restructuring plan, which allows the company to eliminate more than $600 million in debt, Remington's primary lenders would assume control of the company, while the equity interest of Remington's current owner, Cerberus Capital Management, would be wiped out. Most creditors, including class-action plaintiffs if the settlement is approved, would be paid in full.

Creditors have until April 26 to vote on the restructuring plan.
Fellow streaming and media giant Netflix may provide a roadmap for Spotify's future stock performance, according to one analyst.

Spotify's stock started trading on Tuesday in an unusual public offering  one that lacks many formalities, like a traditional roadshow, that help Wall Street figure out what to expect.

But Michael Morris, analyst at Guggenheim Securities, said that he expects Netflix's highly valued stock will guide investors.

Morris' bullishness note on the stock  published prior to the opening trade  was helped by the "win-win" scenario of helping both musicians and consumers.

"Spotify seeks to deliver maximum listening enjoyment to consumers through convenience, curation, breadth of content, and payment options (your time or money)," Morris wrote. "The value proposition to the artist is to strengthen the listener relationship through distribution, data access, and compensation. ... Spotify's focus on creating a virtuous cycle for consumers and artists and using technology to create curated experiences evokes a Netflix-like promise of significant global penetration potential."

And investors have shown they are willing to pony up for a promising business model, even in the competitive content business.

Netflix's price-to-earnings ratio  the amount of money that stock buyers pay compared with how much profit a company makes  was over 100 by the end of last year, and well over 200, on average, over the past five years. Compare that with Facebook  a P/E of about 62 over the past five years  or Apple  with an average P/E of about 14 during that time, according to FactSet.

RBC analyst Mark Mahaney also expressed optimism before the stock began trading, noting that Spotify may have an even larger data set than Netflix in terms of playlist personalization, in addition to a "very, very large" potential market.

Netflix and Spotify also share some common competitors in Apple and Amazon. But Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell echoed Mahaney's outlook on Spotify's data and market.

"Spotify faces stiff competition, but we believe its richer music data and singular focus will enable it to offer the best service in terms of music discovery  the key competitive differentiator," Cordwell said.
After rising 7 percent before the bell Tuesday, shares eased up and were up 3 percent at around $260 in midmorning trading.

In its long-awaited report, Tesla also said it will not need an equity or debt raise this year, apart from standard credit lines, contrary to what many investors have been expecting .

But that number is better than some signs had warned. For example, Bloomberg's Model 3 production tracker had previously estimated the weekly number to be far lower, at just below 1,200 . A CNBC report about Tesla facing potential delays from faulty parts coming off the line also sent jitters through the market. Tesla denied the issue.

Tesla missed its quarterly target for producing its hot Model 3 cars, but investors still breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday that the numbers weren't more disappointing. During the last week of the quarter, the electric-car maker produced 2,020 Model 3s, coming up short of its goal to produce 2,500 Model 3 sedans a week.

Shares of the electric-car maker are still down almost 18 percent since the beginning of the year, partly on concerns over the company's ability to ramp up production of the Model 3, Tesla's first attempt at a mid-priced car. Anticipation over the Model 3 had helped drive the stock to an all-time high of $389.61 in September 2017.

Tesla produced nearly 35,000 vehicles in its first production quarter of 2018  a fourfold increase over the previous quarter, the company said. Of the 34,494 vehicles built in the quarter, 9,766 were Model 3s.

The company expects output to climb rapidly and continues to target a production rate of 5,000 vehicles a week by the end of the second quarter.

First-quarter deliveries also set a record, totaling 29,980 vehicles. Of the three Tesla models, 11,730 were the Model S, 10,070 were the Model X and 8,180 were the Model 3.

The stock skyrocketed throughout much of last year, mostly because of anticipation over the Model 3. Tesla aimed to hit a production target of 2,500 Model 3 sedans a week by the end of the first quarter and 5,000 a week by the end of the second quarter. The company had initially planned to reach these goals in 2017. But production issues have plagued the company, and it has repeatedly had to delay its output targets.

On Monday, Tesla confirmed a report from The Information that said CEO Elon Musk has taken over Model 3 production from the company's senior vice president of engineering, Doug Field.

It also announced a voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S sedans on Thursday, and made the National Traffic Safety Board "unhappy" when it publicly shared data from a fatal crash in California involving its driver assistance system, Autopilot.
President Donald Trump speaks at an event to sign Congress' $1.3 trillion spending bill in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, March 23, 2018.

"It's a bit unclear how this would play out since it hasn't happened in a long time," the aide said. "That said, this is an idea congressional leaders are taking seriously."

Trump discussed the idea on a phone call with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy this week, while staff from House Speaker Paul Ryan 's office have been working with the administration on the concept, the aide said. The move would rely on a little-used executive power known as "rescission" that allows the president to ask Congress to cut spending it has already authorized.

President Donald Trump spoke with Republican leadership this week about the possibility of rolling back part of the $1.3 trillion government spending bill that he signed into law less than two weeks ago, according to a senior House GOP aide.

Still, the request is unlikely to make it very far on Capitol Hill. The spending deal passed both chambers with bipartisan support after weeks of delicate negotiations. Republicans would need support from Democrats to make any changes to the legislation now.

But even the prospect of backtracking on the massive spending deal could help the president  and GOP leadership  quell criticism from the party's conservative flank over its high price tag. The House Freedom Caucus opposed the legislation and had urged Trump to veto it. In a dramatic 11th-hour tweet, Trump toyed with the idea, but eventually opted to sign the bill, albeit with reservations.

"I say to Congress, I will never sign another bill like this again," Trump told reporters last month. "I'm not going to do it again."

To roll back the spending deal, the White House would first have to make a formal request to Congress. According to the Congressional Research Service, the reduction would be based on a formula crafted by the Office of Management and Budget, and it could include exceptions for specific programs.

Congress would then have 45 days to act on the request. If it doesn't, the money must be spent and the president cannot ask for another reduction.
Special counsel Robert Mueller, who's investigating Russian interference in U.S. politics, has looked into the work of a consulting firm that's done business in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Mueller's team "informally met" Joel Zamel, co-founder of the consulting firm Wikistrat, according to the report, which cited one person familiar with the matter.

Wikistrat, a Washington-based company that analyzes geopolitical issues, has worked for the United Arab Emirates, which tried to win U.S. backing for a regional blockade on Qatar, the Journal reported. Wikistrat was founded in Israel in 2010.

During the meeting, Zamel was asked about his business relationship with George Nader, an adviser to the U.A.E. and a witness in the special counsel's investigation, according to the report. Mueller's team also asked about Zamel's work for certain clients, the report added.

It wasn't clear where the questioning was leading, according to the report. The Journal suggested that Mueller's probe may be "looking more deeply at foreign influence in Washington"  beyond Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Marc Mukasey, a lawyer representing Wikistrat, said neither Zamel nor the company are targets of the Mueller investigation.

"Neither Mr. Zamel nor Wikistrat are the targets of any investigation. Mr. Zamel is a well respected and ethical businessman with a fantastic company and a great reputation," Mukasey told CNBC in an email late Monday.

The office of the special counsel didn't respond to CNBC's request for comment.

For the full report on Wikistrat, read the Wall Street Journal.
Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis arrives at the White House before meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and his Baltic counterparts April 3, 2018 in Washington, DC.

When President Donald Trump hosts the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia at the White House on Tuesday, the principal topic will be the growing spectre of Russian aggression against NATO allies in Eastern Europe.

Another national security concern, however, is likely to cast a shadow over U.S. relations with one of the visiting countries: Latvia's apparent failure to curtail widespread money laundering and corruption in the nation's banking sector.

The scourge of financial crime in Latvia is not new, and its roots trace all the way back to Soviet-era state policies. But at a time when cybercrime and transnational criminal networks are top priorities for U.S. law enforcement, Latvia's struggles have gained new urgency. They've also touched Trump personally, in the form of a 2014 FBI inquiry into talks he and several of his employees held with Russian and Latvian businessmen about building a hotel in Latvia's capital, Riga.

The problems in Latvia's financial industry grew so dire in February that the Treasury Department took steps to cut off the nation's third largest bank, ABLV, from the U.S. financial system. Investigators had found evidence that money moving through the Latvian bank was helping to finance North Korea's ballistic missile program.

The bank denied the allegations, but a new rule proposed by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network was enough to cause ABLV to collapse. In mid-March, the privately held bank announced a "voluntary liquidation" after the European Central Bank refused to bail it out.

Latvia suffered yet another blow to its banking sector during the same February weekend that the European Central Bank suspended ABLV's activities. Ilmars Rimsevics, president of Latvia's central bank, was detained on corruption charges, accused by Latvian authorities of soliciting around $130,000 in bribes from an unidentified bank.

Rimsevics, the Latvian equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, denied the charges. Yet shortly after he was released on bail, a different Latvian bank leveled new allegations of bribe solicitation against him.

It was unclear Tuesday to what extent, if any, U.S. officials might use the visit of Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis to raise the sensitive subject of his nation's corruption woes.

A White House spokeswoman told CNBC that Latvia's banking and regulatory problems are not slated to be on Trump's agenda when he meets Tuesday with Vejonis, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite.

A spokesman for the Treasury Department declined to comment, noting that the 60-day public comment period is still open for the department's proposed rule on ABLV.
President Donald Trump said he plans to deploy U.S. military forces to protect the nation's southern border with Mexico while the border wall is being constructed.

"Until we can have a wall and proper security we're going to be guarding our border with the military. That's a big step," Trump said Tuesday at the White House.

"We are going to be doing things militarily," Trump added, saying that he discussed the idea with Defense Secretary James Mattis.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

While it is unclear which service branch would guard the border, the U.S. Northern Command has an area of responsibility that includes the continental U.S., Alaska, Canada, Mexico and portions of the Caribbean.
U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to Bravo Troop, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, maneuver through a hallway as part of squad level training at Camp Taji, Iraq.

"I want to get out. I want to bring our troops home."

"As far as Syria is concerned, our primary mission in terms of that was getting rid of ISIS. We've almost completed that task, and we'll be making a decision very quickly in coordination with others as to what we'll do," Trump said Tuesday at the White House.

The president's comments appear to contradict U.S. military and national security advisors, who were speaking simultaneously at the U.S. Institute of Peace about the future fight against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria.

President Donald Trump said he is thinking about withdrawing U.S. troops from war-torn Syria, signaling an early exit to the U.S.-led fight against ISIS.

Contrary to Trump's statements, Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy for the global coalition against ISIS, told a forum Tuesday that the U.S. mission in Syria was far from over.

"We are in Syria to fight ISIS. That is our mission, and our mission isn't over, and we are going to complete that mission," McGurk said.

Echoing those sentiments, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East as the head of Central Command, said that while the presence of ISIS in the region had diminished, "it is not gone."

Votel estimated that more than 90 percent of the terror group's territory had been recovered by U.S.-backed forces. He added that the next step for the approximately 2,000 U.S.troops in Syria would be to help stabilize the region.

"The hard part, I think, is in front of us, and that is stabilizing these areas, consolidating our gains, getting people back into their homes," Votel said alongside McGurk.

"There is a military role in this. Certainly in the stabilization phase."

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Earlier this week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Trump's proposal to pull U.S. troops from Syria would destabilize the region and prompt an ISIS resurgence.

"It'd be the single worst decision the president could make," Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday."

"This is a disaster in the making," Graham said, referencing Trump's off-the-cuff remarks last week at an Ohio event about infrastructure.

"We're knocking the hell out of ISIS," Trump said at the event Thursday. "We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon."

"Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon, very soon, we're coming out," Trump said. "We're going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be."

Trump last year went through a similar wrenching debate over whether to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, ultimately agreeing to keep them there but only after repeatedly raising questions about why they should stay.

 Reuters contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump's tweets about Amazon aren't going to make regulatory action against the company more likely, according to antitrust experts. If anything, they'll be counterproductive. "If you could bet on the agencies taking no action, I'd be standing there with a handful of tickets," said William Kovacic, professor of global competition law and policy at George Washington University and director of Competition Law Center. "The last thing the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission want is to become puppets of elected officials. They'll run your life every minute." Trump continued his Twitter attack on Amazon on Tuesday, saying the world's fourth-largest company is "costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy." Tweet He has called Amazon a "no-tax monopoly" and, according to a Vanity Fair article, is pondering ways to "f--- with" Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post. monopoly tweet Presidents and other elected officials have called out companies for hurting consumers for decades. But while political rhetoric can cause companies to proceed with caution on pricing and acquisitions, it won't cause a regulatory agency to move forward with a monopoly or monopsony case, said Keith Hylton, professor of law at Boston University. "I still believe there's a fair amount of independence both within the DOJ and the FTC from the president," Hylton said. "The norms and procedures with the agencies don't change much across the administrations. There's not a lot of room for Trump to go after individual companies."

Amazon's real antitrust concerns

That's not to say Amazon is free and clear from regulatory scrutiny. The agencies are "absolutely" taking a closer look at the digital economy and market power of Amazon, Facebook, Google and other tech giants, Kovacic said.

President Donald Trump. Kena Betancur | AFP | Getty Images

Here are some possible avenues regulators could pursue: Unfair competition. If Amazon is vulnerable to antitrust law, it will be because regulators are changing the way they interpret antitrust law, said Lina Khan, who published "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox" in the Yale Law Journal in January. Amazon wouldn't be punished for price gouging, since it generally pursues low prices at the expense of profits. Instead, it would be attacked for pushing other competitors out of the market. "It's definitely true that you don't want antitrust to be used in protectionist ways," Khan said. "But it's also true that you can't have competition without competitors." Favoring its own products. The Trump administration could enforce antitrust laws by suing Amazon "for using its platform and algorithms in a biased manner that prioritizes Amazon's own products and services over those of merchants that are dependent on Amazon's platform and with whom Amazon competes," according to a December 2016 paper published by The Capitol Forum, a news and analysis service that focuses on how policy affects market competition. (This would be similar to how the European Union went after Google.) "It only takes one enforcement action covering a narrow instance of Amazon employing such bias to create precedent that could put its business model  leveraging its platform to vertically integrate into a wide range of industries  at risk," according to the analysis. Acquisitions. Amazon may also take a more cautionary approach toward future acquisitions if it knows it's being watched by both Trump and regulators, Kovacic said. Amazon bought doorbell-maker Ring for about $1 billion in February and acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion last year. Still, the DOJ should operate independently from the president on decisions to block deals. Hylton believes Amazon's Whole Foods acquisition would be approved today, just as it was last year. Regardless, bringing a "giant monopolization case" against Amazon would be foolish unless the agencies had reams of evidence to back up a case, Kovacic said. That's not going to be affected by Trump one way or another, he said. "There's no question being in the spotlight makes companies more cautious," Kovacic said. "But bringing a case against Amazon won't be easy. Most antitrust professionals, when pushed to do something that would not be sustainable, say 'check, please' and head for the exit."

Using the Postal Service
Military personnel wearing protective suits remove a police car and other vehicles from a public car park as they continue investigations into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal on March 11, 2018 in Salisbury, England.

The head of Britain's military research center said on Tuesday it was unable yet to say whether the military-grade nerve agent that poisoned a Russian double-agent last month had been produced in Russia.

"We were able to identify it as Novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent," Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down in England, told Sky News.

"We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to."

However, he confirmed the substance required "extremely sophisticated methods to create, something only in the capabilities of a state actor".

He added: "we are continuing to work to help to provide additional information that might help us get closer to [the source] but we haven't yet been able to do that."

Moscow has denied being behind the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4.
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President Donald Trump speaks Tuesday during a visit from Baltic leaders.

The president's public appearance comes amid a string of attacks on retail titan Amazon and calls for Congress to take more action on immigration. The press conference with the heads of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will likely address possible threats posed by Russia.

During an earlier meeting with the leaders, Trump again claimed that Amazon hurt the United States Post Office.

Read more:

Trump bashes Amazon for a fourth time in a week, claiming the post office loses 'massive amounts' serving internet retailer
The TPP 11, or the CPTPP, is the world's newest trade deal. It was signed by 11 countries in Chile on March 8 this year. CPTPP stands for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and its 11 members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The deal was previously known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and had been signed by 12 countries, including the United States, in February 2016. Donald Trump, however, made American withdrawal from the deal a key part of his presidential election. Within his first week in office last year, he signed an executive order dumping the pact. With Trump's decision, the U.S. was leaving behind a deal that would have resulted in annual income gains of $131 billion for the United States and $492 billion for the world to 2030, according to economists Peter A. Petri and Michael G. Plummer.

What happened after the US withdrawal?

Without the U.S., the TPP 11's share of global gross domestic product went from 38 percent to 13.5 percent. Many experts thought that meant the end of the deal. Japan, however, played a strong role in ensuring that the agreement came through, according to Deborah Elms, executive director of Singapore-based advisory group Asian Trade Centre.

Trump holds up an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, January 23, 2017. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

"The deal was assumed to be dead because the U.S. was the largest partner  by far  and because it really drove the negotiations. Absent U.S. pressure, the talks would likely not have concluded," she said. Many are positive about the CPTPP because it is seen as a high-quality trade deal: It includes many areas not typically covered in such agreements, such as agricultural produce and service sectors. Even without the U.S., the deal is expected to increase the GDP of Vietnam, the TPP country with the lowest GDP per capita, by at least 1.1 percent to 2030, the World Bank said in a 2018 report.

The road ahead for the CPTPP
Nine months ago, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had a conversation with a journalist about privacy on his behemoth social media platform. Now, in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, his words seem both ironic and prescient. "Of course, privacy is extremely important, and people engage and share their content and feel free to connect because they know that their privacy is going to be protected" on Facebook, Zuckerberg told Freakonomics Radio host Stephen Dunbar in June, according to a transcript of the interview shared with CNBC Make It. Dunbar interviewed Zuckerberg in a trailer outside an event space in Chicago, where Zuckerberg had just addressed a few hundred people announcing a new mission for the company. "For the past 10 years, our mission has been to make the world more open and connected. We will always work to give people a voice and help us stay connected, but now we will do even more.... The idea for our new mission is: 'Bring the world closer together,'" said Zuckerberg in his speech. As part of the announcement, Zuckerberg said Facebook would share aggregated data about people in a group with the administrator of the group  "basic demographics," Zuckerberg told Dunbar at the time.

In June, the 33-year-old billionaire told Freaknomics Radio that there are reasonable cases for privacy and for making some amount of data public. Protecting privacy encourages users to share, Zuckerberg said. But also, giving Facebook community builders access to some amount of aggregated data can better help them bring people together. "If you're trying to enable people to build communities, giving them some insights into how people engage in their communities in a anonymized way ... can help them do their job, and help bring more people together, and help people's lives as well," said Zuckerberg. "So you try to just do the best that you can and know that there's not always a simple and optimal solution." Further, social norms shift, said Zuckerberg. "And another dynamic that's interesting is that sometimes the balance of what people want shifts over time and that enables opportunities to do more in one direction or the other, that wouldn't have made sense before," he explained. Meanwhile, in another interview conducted Friday, Zuckerberg said pointedly that Facebook, which launched in 2004, didn't invest enough in security during its early years. He also said the company is working on changing that. "When we started, we thought about how good it would be if people could connect, if everyone had a voice. Frankly, we didn't spend enough time investing in, or thinking through, some of the downside uses of the tools. So for the first 10 years of the company, everyone was just focused on the positive," said Zuckerberg, speaking with Vox's Ezra Klein, according to a transcript of the conversation. "I think now people are appropriately focused on some of the risks and downsides as well. And I think we were too slow in investing enough in that. It's not like we did nothing. I mean, at the beginning of last year, I think we had 10,000 people working on security. But by the end of this year, we're going to have 20,000 people working on security," Zuckerberg said. See also: Mark Zuckerberg said an independent 'Supreme Court' could fix Facebook's content problems In a tweet storm, Elon Musk says he's deleting Tesla and SpaceX Facebook accounts Elon Musk: Facebook 'gives me the willies'
I'm currently on the graphics desk. I've also been an assistant city editor and a reporter on the community and education beats. You can reach me by email at oliviagarrett@mail.missouri.edu or on Twitter @_oliviagarrett.

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The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Google's Pixel phones have plenty of good things going for 'em, but they've also always had one pesky limitation: a lack of diversity, both in price and in style.

For these phones in particular, that can sometimes be a tough pill to swallow. If you want an optimal user experience on Android, after all  including the presence of timely and reliable software updates for an extended period of time (something that's important on numerous levels)  well, they're pretty much your only option.

The problem, though, is that if you don't want to spend $650 on a smartphone, you're basically out of luck. The Pixel is positioned as a premium, flagship-level phone, and it's priced accordingly.

Whenever the Pixel comes up, that's always one of the first things I hear in response: "Great, but..."  fill in the blank: "I'm not about to spend $650 on a phone," "I want a phone that has some other hardware feature," or "Google isn't even selling those in my country."

Well, good news, gang: Coming up on two years into the Pixel line's existence, it looks like some of those concerns are about to be addressed.

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The midrange Pixel  and beyond

According to a report out this week from the Economic Times, Google is working on a "mid-range Pixel smartphone" that could launch as soon as this summer. The focus, at least initially, will apparently be on "price-sensitive markets" like India  but it's hard to imagine this saga ending there.

For anyone who's been watching Google's steady expansion into the role of hardware manufacturer, in fact, the advent of a midrange Pixel phone should come as no big surprise  nor should the subsequent steps that seem likely to show up before long.

From the get go, the Pixel has been much more than the sum of its parts. Google may be selling a smartphone, but what it's really doing is selling the Google ecosystem in a phone-based form. It's selling a software-centric user experience  one that gives you advantages no other device-maker within Android can match, and one that simultaneously gives Google advantages no other device-maker within Android delivers at that level.

Think about it: Google's underlying goal with Android has always been to get you online and using its services as much as possible. Nowadays, getting you hooked on Google Assistant (in all of its incarnations) has become the company's core focus. It's something I've called the "post-OS era"  an era in which the question of what operating system you use takes a back seat to that of which virtual assistant you allow into your life (and it's no wonder why).

But increasingly over time, Android device-makers have been pushing Google services  including Assistant  out of the spotlight in order to promote their own apps and services instead. And for Google, that's become a problem that's increasingly difficult to ignore.

What the Pixel's purpose tells us

At its core, the Pixel was designed to "fix" Android, from Google's perspective  to provide a vessel for the platform in which Google's vision and its services can take center stage and shine. Google's made no bones about this. And ultimately, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement for both Google and for you: You get the best-in-class setup the "full Google experience" provides, while Google gets all the business benefits that come from having you fully committed to its services.

What's the point of all this discussion, you might be wondering  and why the wild hayride are we getting into it now? The answer is simple: Of course Google wants to expand beyond a single pair of high-priced Pixel models. Of course the company has always intended to offer more affordable "Google experience" options. And of course it makes sense for it to focus initially on India, where smartphone growth is exploding and expected to continue increasing at a significant rate (unlike in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world).

So why didn't Google just offer a variety of Pixel models out of the gate? Well, the reality is that the company had to start somewhere  and as we've seen, selling and marketing even a single set of self-made phone models has proven to be easier said than done (to put it nicely). Launching the Pixel program with a full range of options likely would have been an all-out disaster.

That's why Google has thus far been relying on partners from its Android One program to fill in the gaps and offer a certain degree of Pixel-like benefits in more diverse and affordable forms. Underdogs like Nokia seem eager to take on that role and provide customers with "Google experience" devices that offer respectable levels of post-sales support.

This is the beginning of a whole new phase

But Google clearly has grand ambitions here  ambitions that are much larger than a single set of self-made flagships. And even with Android One in the picture, it only makes sense that the company would want to expand its own line of holistic smartphone options and try to gain a broader level of control over how Android is experienced (while still allowing third-party players to offer their own Android-centric alternatives, of course  a clever way for the company to have its cake and eat it, too).

The question we should be asking, then, isn't if a midrange Pixel phone will really come to fruition. It's how long it'll take for that device to become available everywhere  and how long it'll take for the next new model, either at another price point or with some other sort of form-oriented distinction, to show up after.

An announcement of a midrange Pixel in and of itself may not seem like an earth-shattering development, but like so many other things in the Google universe, you have to see the forest for the trees. You have to realize that this'll represent the beginning of a whole new phase in a massive, multipart effort  and you have to consider the broader canvas that's slowly but surely being filled in, one little corner at a time.

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Henry Newman is Director of Open Europe.

Last week marked the half-way point in the tight timetable of the Article 50 period. With little more than six months of actual negotiating time remaining, theres a huge amount still to be agreed between the EU27 and the UK. But in his interview with Andrew Neil, David Davis was bullish, boasting of the good progress which has been made so far. Its fair to say that the Government has been having a good run of things recently  getting agreement for the transition deal and securing widespread international support for its action against Russia in the wake of the Skripal affair.

Meanwhile, its remarkable to look back over the last year at changes across Europe. France is basking in the glory of a new sun king, conveniently forgetting that Macron was within five per cent of being defeated in the first round of the presidential system by two anti-Euro candidates. Germany has recently emerged from a half-year-long coalition negotiation to see Angel Merkel back as (a diminished) chancellor with the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) as the official opposition. The Italian elections saw Matteo Renzis Democratic Party (the PD) winning less than 19 per cent of the vote, and an outright majority held by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the former separatists turned nationalists, the League. The far right is now in government in Austria, and the ANO party won the Czech elections. In Spain, the Catalan constitutional crisis reminds us of David Camerons better handling of a referendum (on Scotland at least), and Poland and Hungary are in pretty open conflict with EU institutions. Weve also seen President Juncker publicly dismiss the European Parliament as ridiculous, and the Parliament return the favour by criticising the way Junckers former Chief of Staff, Martin Selmayr, seized control of the Commissions official apparatus.

Despite (and in some senses perhaps because) of these challenges, the EU has largely (but not completely) held together around Michel Barniers negotiating position in the Brexit discussions. Theres been relatively little open challenging of the Commission-led process. But theres certainly plenty of concern expressed in private, when I speak to EU diplomats, about the danger of Brussels pursuing an overly-rigid approach that forces the UK away, and fails to recognise the many flexibilities of the EUs existing agreements. A challenge in this direction came from a surprising direction: the European Parliaments Brexit lead, Guy Verhofstadt. He recently called for an association agreement between the UK and the EU. At one level this is just semantics (one persons association agreement may be anothers deep and special partnership) but its important that various creative ideas for bespoke close relationships are being aired on the EU side.

Ironically, the reaction to the Skripal poisoning has demonstrated some of the ways in which the UK and EU will be able to work closely after Brexit. When news of the poisoning first broke there were many predictions that  with the Prime Minister pursuing Brexit and the Foreign Secretary closely identified across Europe with the Leave campaign  the EUs response would be muted. A leader in the New Statesman suggested that Britain would feel the chill of isolation. Despite the unilateral promise of a security and defence guarantee made by Theresa May in her Florence Speech, some didnt seem to expect the EU to feel bound by the same commitment.

Those predictions of Britains isolation in the face of a horrific breach of basic international norms were certainly depressing. Reading some critics a few weeks back, it seemed as if it was almost only by virtue of our membership of the EU that historic allies would ever be moved to take collective action if we were threatened even with an unprovoked hostile use of chemical weapons. Others seemed to expect us to be overlooked (despite still being a full member) because of our decision to head for the exit.

Yet the (almost) unified response from the EU side, with mass expulsions of Russian diplomats from multiple member states, confounded those expectations. Some have sought to argue that the joint action demonstrates the utility of EU membership, of sitting round the table in the European Council and the Foreign Affairs Council to discuss crucial issues. Of course theres truth in this (and indeed if the European Council was the prime motor of European action, its highly unlikely Euroscepticism would have got very far in the UK).

Ironically, particularly for President Putin who presumably wanted to test European solidarity post-Brexit and trans-Atlantic solidarity under Trump, the Skripal affair practically united the West. This is especially significant as in the minds of many power-brokers on the Continent, Britain is already treated as if we are out of the club. The response showed the ability of the EU and the Anglosphere to agree a common approach under British leadership. Of course, things shouldnt be over-stated: European unity on this question is fragile (as indeed is Trumps resolve). Germany backed the UK over the expulsions but is pressing ahead with the controversial Nordstream2 pipeline nonetheless. And Ive heard directly from senior London-based EU diplomats of scepticism over the attribution of the attacks to Russia.

Over the coming few months we are sure to see bumps in the Brexit process, and tensions in the negotiations. No one should doubt the challenges still to be resolved for Brexit to work. But in many ways Davis was right to describe the negotiations as strategically simple but tactically and technically complex. Theres an assumption growing that Brexit is somehow so difficult, so demanding, that it simply cannot be resolved  the Irish border problem is often given as an example of this. But this doctrine of impossibility is mistaken. The challenges and complexity are certainly there, but they are resolvable through political agreement. And the single most important fact to consider is that both sides want to reach agreement.
James Frayne is Director of communications agency Public First and author of Meet the People, a guide to moving public opinion.

When I lived and worked in New York City for a couple of years a few years ago, Manhattan and our Brooklyn neighbourhood felt safer than Central London. At pretty much any part of the day or night, other than on the subway, I never felt something terrible was going to happen. It was rare to be subject to aggressive begging and I cant recall being shouted or at or jostled by drunk young men  something which has happened many times in London. I was only ever offered drugs once in New York City, on Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side (vaguely equivalent to Mayfair), and my negative response was so adamant I was admonished for rudeness by the dealer: dont be so mean, Bruce Willis.

But, while life in the affluent commercial and residential districts of the city felt safer than Central London, I wouldnt have said that about New York City as a whole. After all, while there were parts of NYC many locals wouldnt venture into, I would have said there were no parts of London I would be worried about walking through during daylight hours. The crime statistics of the two cities essentially backed up this feeling. New York City has been generally safer than London on many measures for a while, but there were parts of NYC badly blighted by the most serious crimes, including murder, which were rare in London. Londoners might complain about crime in Central London, but they could at least console themselves with the knowledge that nothing really serious would probably ever happen.

But new crime statistics reported in this weekends Sunday Times  and followed extensively elsewhere  suggest Londons murder rate now rivals New York Citys. Over the last two months, London has had more murders than New York. Some have pointed out that the figures provide a snapshot in time and are therefore misleading. The push back is reasonable, and it certainly seems unlikely London will end up with a higher murder rate over the whole of 2018. But the evidence strongly suggests that violent crime in London  particularly knife crime  is rising significantly and that London is becoming more dangerous.

The public response from politicians has been mixed at best. Those that carry knives have been told to expect tougher sentences (reflecting legislative changes the Conservatives made under David Cameron), while the Government has just launched a new advertising campaign targeted at youngsters to warn them of the dangers of carrying knives (which wont make much impact on its own but might help as part of a broader push). But politicians remain very nervous about encouraging the greater use of stop and search powers. I have written about this issue before; it requires very careful and sensitive handling, but its hard to conclude that the massive surge in particular violent crimes doesnt warrant its increase.

To date, many Londoners seem to have felt the most serious violent crime largely affected young men in poorer neighbourhoods. When there were a relatively small number of murders, people were likely to express concern and sadness for those affected but they could compartmentalise it in their minds: this is the sort of thing that happens to other people in other streets. Its a shame to say it, as it should have been a top priority for some time now, but the increase in the number of murders is bringing the concept of violence much closer to everyone and starting to make people pay more attention to it. In short, violence is set to become a mainstream political issue in the city.

It would be too much to say that London is starting to develop no go areas, certainly in the day time. But the increase in violent crime  in murders particularly  might well start to make Londoners generally more nervous about life in the city. The primary responsibility for sorting this out is the Mayor, but the Government must prioritise a response too. After all, the Government sets the overall legislative framework and also the political backdrop to national life. As Ive written before, the Party will be in a bad place if it loses its reputation for competence on law and order.
Tens of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency have been stolen by hackers, once again raising concerns about the security of blockchain technology.

MyEtherWallet.com is a free site that allows consumers to trade Ethereum, or Ether, a cryptocurrency currently valued in the ballpark of $650. The site warns all visitors that it doesn't consider itself responsible should hackers access users Ether accounts.

We cannot recover your funds or freeze your account if you visit a phishing site or lose your private key, a notice on the site says. You and only you are responsible for your security.

Thats bad news for MyEtherWallet users who recently fell victim to a DNS hijacking scam. Hackers apparently redirected people who visited MyEtherWallet.com to a fake look-alike site. When users logged into the spoof site, the hackers were able to access their passwords and subsequently empty their accounts.

In all, the hackers reportedly made off with 215 Ether -- or the equivalent of $160,000.

According to a statement that MyEtherWallet published on Reddit, the hack was no fault of their own. Instead, the site blames vulnerabilities in Googles DNS servers for the theft.

This redirecting of DNS servers is a decade-old hacking technique that aims to undermine the Internets routing system, MyEtherWallet said. It can happen to any organization, including large banks. This is not due to a lack of security on the @myetherwallet platform. It is due to hackers finding vulnerabilities in public facing DNS servers.

Its unclear if affected traders will get their funds back. MyEtherWallet adds in its statement that we are currently in the process of verifying which servers were targeted to help resolve this issue as soon possible.

Ubers Dubai competitor

Careem, a Dubai-based ride-hailing app that is Ubers largest competitor in the Middle East, admitted that it discovered a security breach that exposed consumer data back in January.

The company did not disclose the breach until Monday because Cybercrime investigations are immensely complicated and take time.

We wanted to make sure we had the most accurate information before notifying people, a statement published by Careem added. Now that the breach has been disclosed, Careem is advising users to change their passwords and to monitor their bank accounts for any suspicious activity.

Phone numbers

Law enforcement in Colorado are asking for the public's help in finding suspects accused of taking part in a popular and relatively easy phone hijacking scam.

Using online services that identify the carriers of any phone number, identify thieves took information to a mobile phone store, where they impersonated the carrier to get a new phone without paying for it. Instead the cost of the phone showed up as an unpleasant surprise on consumers monthly bill.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, reports of this crime doubled since 2013, with 2,658 complaints submitted in 2016.

Yahoo rises from the grave

The company Yahoo may be no more after getting sold to Verizon in 2016, but it still owes the government some money -- $35 million to be exact. The SEC is fining Yahoo for failing to alert investors and consumers about a massive security breach that happened back in 2014.

The SEC alleges that Yahoos information security team learned that Rusian hackers had stolen what the security team referred to internally as the companys crown jewels several days after the attack took place in 2014.

To be more specific, the security team that stolen information included usernames, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, encrypted passwords, and security questions and answers for hundreds of millions of user accounts.

Yahoo eventually did disclose the breach two years later, shortly before it closed the deal with Verizon. Altaba, the company behind the Yahoo brand, has now agreed to pay a $35 million penalty for the cover-up.

Shipping companies

Forget pirates. A group of hackers based in Nigeria have figured out how to steal money from shipping companies via the internet, according to a report by a cybersecurity firm.

The hacking group, which goes by the name Gold Galleon, attempted to steal at least $3.9 million from maritime shipping businesses and their customers, the researchers said.
CORNWALL, Ontario  Melissa Wattie, 38, of Cornwall was arrested on March 22, 2018 and charged with Fraud over $5,000.

It is alleged the woman failed to declare changes in her living arrangements to the Ontario Works Resource Centre between July, 2014 and September, 2016 which resulted in an overpayment of $11,101.00. On March 22nd, 2018 the woman attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. She was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on April 26th, 2018.

BREACH

Cornwall, ON  Stepha Franklin, 28, of Cornwall was arrested on March 22nd, 2018 and charged with breach of recognizance for failing to reside at a certain address and being outside his residence after curfew. He was also charged with breach of probation for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on March 10th, 2018 police attended a Pitt Street business on an unrelated matter and found the man in breach of his conditions. During the investigation it was learned the male was allegedly not residing at a residence indicated in his conditions. On March 22nd, 2018 the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.

ASSAULT, OVERCOME RESISTANCE

Cornwall, ON  A 26-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on March 22nd, 2018 and charged with assault and overcome resistance (choking). It is alleged between January, 2014 and March, 2018 the man assaulted his wife on multiple occasions. It is also alleged the man assaulted his step-son and choked his wife. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. On March 22nd, 2018, the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as it would identify the victims in the matter.

BREACH

Cornwall, ON  Eric Pelletier, 32, of Chateauguay was arrested on March 22nd, 2018 and charged with breach of recognizance for not remaining in Alberta and failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on March 22nd, 2018 the man was observed in breach of his conditions and police were contacted to investigate. On March 22nd, 2018 the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.

ASSAULT CAUSE BODILY HARM

Cornwall, ON  A 40-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on March 22nd, 2018 and charged with assault cause bodily harm. It is alleged on March 21st, 2018 the man assaulted his girlfriend causing an injury that required medical attention. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. On March 22nd, 2018 he was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as it would identify the victim in the matter.

WARRANT

Cornwall, ON  Jason Wyngaert, 37, of Moose Creek was arrested on March 22nd, 2018 on the strength of a warrant. It is alleged the man breached his conditional sentence order and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On March 22nd, 2018 a member of the Cornwall Community Police Service assumed custody of the man from OPP as they had the man in custody on the strength of Cornwalls warrant. The warrant was executed and the man was held for a bail hearing.

There were 56 calls for service in the City of Cornwall in the last 24 hours (8am the previous day to 8am the day of the release). To see whats happening in your neighbourhood visit our Crime Plot Map. CCPS reserves the right not to post all calls for service in order to protect the identity of the victims.
CORNWALL, Ontario  Izaiah-Justice Seguin, 19, of Cornwall was arrested on April 2, 2018 and charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

It is alleged on March 24, 2018 the man was operating a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner in the area of Water Street East. On April 2, 2018 the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was charged accordingly and released to appear in court on May 3, 2018.

THEFT UNDER, BREACH

CORNWALL, Ontario  Symphony Pierce, 24, of Cornwall was arrested on March 29th, 2018 and charged with theft under and breach of undertaking for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on March 24th, 2018 the woman attended a Second Street East store and removed property making no attempt to pay for the items as she left the store. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. On March 29th, 2018 the woman was located and was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.

CORNWALL, Ontario  Marc Racine, 42, of St. Andrews was arrested on March 29th, 2018 and charged with theft under, breach of recognizance for failing to remain in his residence when not accompanied by his surety, as well as breach of undertaking for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on January 31st, 2018 and February 5th, 2018 the man attended a Second Street East store and removed property, making no attempt to pay for the items as he left the store. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. On March 29th, 2018 the man was located and was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.

THREATS, BREACH

CORNWALL, Ontario  A 26-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on March 30th, 2018 and charged with threats and breach of probation for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on March 28th, 2018 the man threatened to harm his ex-common-law wife and police were contacted to investigate. On March 30th, 2018 the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as it would identify the victim in the matter.

BREACH

CORNWALL, Ontario  Jeffrey Berube, 53, of Cornwall was arrested on March 30th, 2018 and charged with breach of recognizance for communicating with someone known to have a criminal record and for associating with someone known to be a member of an organized motorcycle club. It is alleged on March 18th, 2018 the man was seen in breach of his conditions by a member of the Cornwall Community Police Service and an investigation ensued. On March 30th, 2018 the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.

CORNWALL, Ontario  Jason Larose, 40, of Cornwall was arrested on March 30th, 2018 and charged with breach of recognizance for failing to notify a change of address to police. It is alleged the man was found to be in breach of his conditions when police attended his residence to investigate an unrelated matter. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.

WARRANT

CORNWALL, Ontario  Jordon Pharand, 26, of Cornwall was arrested on March 31st, 2018 on the strength of a warrant. It is alleged while investigating an unrelated matter, police took the man into custody on the strength of a warrant for a fraud that occurred between March 4-5th, 2018. He was charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.

ASSAULT, BREACH

CORNWALL, Ontario  A 32-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on March 31st, 2018 and charged with assault. He was also charged with breach of undertaking for being within 50 metres of his girlfriend, for communicating with his girlfriend, for failing to notify police of a change of address, and failing to keep the peace. It is alleged during an argument on March 30th, 2018 the man assaulted his girlfriend and police were contacted to investigate. On March 31st, 2018, he was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. His name was not released as it would identify the victim in the matter.

BREACH

CORNWALL, Ontario  Damian Heasler, 27, of Kingston was arrested on March 31st, 2018 and charged with breach of recognizance for being out past curfew and breach of probation for failing to keep the peace. It is alleged on March 31st, 2018 while investigating a suspicious person call, police found the man in breach of his conditions. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on May 1st, 2018.

ASSAULT

CORNWALL, Ontario Caitlin Cameron, 33, of Cornwall was arrested on March 31st, 2018 and charged with assault. It is alleged on March 31st, 2018 the intoxicated woman assaulted a man and woman who were known to her and police were contacted to investigate. During the investigation the woman was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on May 1st, 2018.

BREACH

CORNWALL, Ontario  Richard Massia, 28, of Cornwall was arrested on April 1st, 2018 and charged with failing to attend for prints, as well as breach of recognizance for failing to report to police. It is alleged the man failed to attend for prints on March 19th, 2018 and also failed to report to police between February 1st, 2018 and March 15th, 2018 despite his conditions. On April 1st, 2018 the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.
NORTH STORMONT, Ontario  The North Stormont Fire Department responded to a fire in a garage at a residence on Hwy 138 on the afternoon of Monday, April 2, 2018.

The fire was reported around 4:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon in a garage at a residence near Warina Rd. on Hwy 138.

The North Stormont Fire Chief Dan Gauvin told Seaway News that they have not yet determined the cause of the fire, but said that a family of seven has been temporarily displaced. Gauvin said that there were no injuries to report.

The fire caused delays on Hwy 138 for a few hours while fire crews fought the blaze. Gauvin said that the fire was out by around 7 p.m.
Frontier Communications asserted the right to pledge stock in its Connecticut operations as collateral without state approval, with the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority promising on Tuesday to probe further the companys actions.

Frontier is Connecticuts dominant telephone company after acquiring AT&Ts state operations in 2014, and competes today with cable operators Altice USA, Charter Communications and Comcast, among others. The company has its corporate offices in Norwalk under CEO Dan McCarthy, with its Connecticut operations run from a New Haven facility.

Frontier has been working to extricate itself from more than $17 billion in in debt incurred in the AT&T deal and its acquisition of territories nationally from Verizon Communications in 2010 and 2016.

Earlier this year, Frontier won revised loan agreements with JPMorgan Chase and CoBank in exchange for adding stock in its Southern New England Telephone operations to an existing collateral package, as well as shares in a Pennsylvania subsidiary. The SNET assets in Connecticut amount to 5 percent of Frontiers total asset base.

In a February letter posted publicly after a Frontier request for confidentiality was rejected by the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, Frontiers lead in-house attorney Mark Nielsen argued the amended credit agreements fall outside PURAs jurisdiction. Nielsen asserted Connecticut law allows PURA to intercede in the financing activities of Southern New England Telephone as defined as a public service company, but not in the financing agreements reached by the parent company Frontier.

Nielsen added the company believes PURA could assert regulatory rights in any attempt by the banks to take control of SNET stock in the event of a loan default by Frontier. In response to a PURA question, Frontier stated a condition of default could exist in instances under which the company failed to repay loan principle or interest; breached contractual covenants after a grace period; or sold a controlling stake to another entity.

The pledge of the SNET stock is a lien on the shares, which is not a transfer, Nielsen stated in his formal response on behalf of Frontier. The pledge of stock by Frontier as security for its obligations does not convey ownership or control. Neither (JPMorgan or CoBank) possesses the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of SNET or Frontier. There has been no de facto or de jure transfer of control of SNET.

In response to a Hearst Connecticut Media query Tuesday, PURA spokesman Michael Coyle stated the authority is launching a formal inquiry into Frontiers decision not to seek PURA approval for the changed lending agreements, and will explore whether the company has done so in any other credit deals.
What kid wouldnt want to skip school and go on a grand adventure? Perhaps sail around the world with a lovable bunch of pirates who are searching for an out-of-the-way spot to bury their loot?

Thats what youngster Jeremy Jacob does in How I Became a Pirate, a childrens musical that comes to the Westport Country Playhouse on Sunday, April 15, for two afternoon performances. It is recommended for ages 4 through 10.

On a nationwide tour, the Dallas Childrens Theatre production features five colorful pirates and Jeremy, who is played by a young woman, Alex Altshuler. Captain of the ship is Steven Miller, as Braid Beard, who takes Jeremy under his wing and teaches him all the basics of pirate life. Based on a book by Melinda Long, with illustrations by David Shannon, the musical features book, music and lyrics by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman.

The company explains that Jeremy, who has always lived by the seashore, has the time of his life as he helps Captain Braid Beard and the others on a quest for the perfect spot to bury their treasure. While Jeremy finds fun and adventure on the high seas, he soon learns that home and family are treasures that cant be found on any map.

The tale is age-appropriate, said Miller in a recent telephone chat from a tour stop in Madison, Wis. There wont be any pillaging or plundering, he added, laughing. These are good guys  a family of pirates  who want to find a good location to bury their treasure.

Miller, 27, a Dallas-area native, who has a bachelors degree in musical theater and cinema, said hes having a wonderful time traveling around the country and seeing the sights on his first national tour. It started in mid-September and runs through mid-May.

Its a bunch of fun, Miller said, adding that he greatly enjoys performing for children. Theirs is a pure reaction. Wow. Pirates! Its honest and joyful.

There are a couple of points in the musical, he said, during which I have these great interactions with the audience, asking them where we should hide the treasure. Thats one of my favorite moments.

Sometimes, a child will point to a theater exit, indicating his/her suggestion to go outside, he said. Thats fun, because Ill actually leave the theater and return a few seconds later to report back to the audience that the lobby lacked any suitable sites for their booty.

Bringing children to live theater, he said, is often a wonderful experience for them that can lead to a lifelong appreciation for the arts. How I Became a Pirate stresses the importance of using your imagination. And I think thats an important lesson for kids these days, Miller said.

pasboros@ctpost.com; Twitter: @PhyllisASBoros
Porto Band / Contributed photo

An afternoon of nostalgia and an evening talk about Connecticuts travel gems are on tap at the Westport Historical Society.

The Frank Porto Band, which features piano, bass, drums, sax trumpet and vocals under the leadership of Ed Bednarski, will perform its big-band sound Sunday, April 15, at 3 p.m. Bednarski, who plays saxophone and clarinet, points out that the all-male ensemble has been playing together for about 30 years.
BETHEL  For Patrick and Stella Bowles, the last few months have been some of the most challenging in their lives.

Patrick lost his job and Stella lost the nephew who had been like a son to her.

But what made it even worse was that when she returned to her native Philippines for her nephews funeral, a clerical error kept them separated for two months.

Bowles, a legal immigrant, was missing the document that proved she was allowed to travel in and out of the United States.

It took several trips and calls to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices, and help from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthals office, to get the paperwork needed to bring her home.

The couple said they spent weeks stressed and scared, unsure when they would see each other again.

We were in chaos, Patrick said. Everything was upside down. It was a very sad time.

Stella said it was hard to communicate with her husband because of the unreliable internet connection in Cebu City, where her family lives. But she called him several times a dayonce when he woke in the morning, again on his drive to work  he got a new job at Pricewaterhouse Coopers while she was gone  once each at the office, on his drive home and before he went to sleep.

I [was] worried about him, because he was so depressed, she said.

Meanwhile, Patrick struggled for weeks to make officials with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services understand their problem. The USCIS claimed it had already sent the document Stella needed and refused to resend it.

Stella Bowles also flew from Cebu City to the U.S. Embassy in Manila to try to resolve the problem. But she was told she would have to redo the visa process she and her husband had gone through when they got married.

The couple had met in November 2013 in an online chat room for Catholics, and connected over their shared faith and desire for companionship. Six months later, Patrick Bowles flew to the Philippines to meet Stella, and while he was there he proposed.

Stella obtained a one-year visa and the two married in February 2015. She later received a two-year temporary green card.

Before the green card expired, she applied for a 10-year green card and received a form from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in mid-October saying her application had been approved. But she never received the confirmation letter saying she is permitted to travel in and out of the United States.

The couple did not think this would be a big problem until Stellas 22-year-old nephew was killed in a car crash in the Philippines in mid-December. Devastated, she flew to the Philippines without the necessary letter.

She had helped raise her nephew and niece, looking after them while her sister, a flight stewardess, was away for work.

Hes my baby boy, she said. I took care of him since birth.

Patrick Bowles credits a push from Blumenthals office as the reason he finally received the required document in mid-February.

Stella Bowles came home on Feb. 24, missing their third wedding anniversary by two days.

But when she returned, all she felt was happiness, she said. The two finally opened their Christmas presents, which Patrick had left under the Christmas tree, and went to dinner at their favorite restaurants.

Stella Bowles is also back working at Macys and studying for the U.S. citizenship test.

She still doesnt have her green card, and the couple has been told it could be months before she gets it because of the backlog in the immigration office. But the paper document is valid until October, so the couple isnt too worried  yet.

Patrick Bowles said the two are grateful for the support from the Bethel community.

We walk through Caraluzzis and people will stop and say, Its good to see you back, he said. Any place we go, we run into people saying that theyre happy shes back.
Genevieve Reilly / Genevieve Reilly

FAIRFIELD  Tamara Petrazzi, physical therapist and vestibular specialist with Bridgeport Hospitals Ahlbin Rehabilitation Centers, will discuss vertigo, dizziness and balance issues 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 25, at Bigelow Center for Senior Activities, 100 Mona Terrace, Fairfield. The event is free but registration is required by calling 888-357-2396 or visiting bridgeporthospital.org/events.

Petrazzi will discuss the differences between vertigo, imbalance and lightheadedness, and focus on available treatments and exercises that can help each of these conditions.
Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty made the right decision Monday in saying she will not seek a fourth term.

She was under pressure to face the public and answer tough questions about her handling of her former chief of staff who allegedly abused female staffers in the Washington office, as first reported by Hearst Connecticut Media.

Her apologetic statements and request for an ethics investigation to clear her of technical wrongdoing, as she did Monday, were not sufficient to meet her obligation to be up front with the voters who elected her three times.

Esty still needs to explain her handling of the scandal, as uncomfortable as that may be. Her answers should not change whether she is responding to a journalist, a constituent or a Congressional committee.

Instead the Democrat  who generally is accessible and gregarious  just raised more questions with her withdrawal from public appearances.

A central question was why it took her three months to fire chief of staff Tony Baker after accusations of abuse surfaced in 2016. Former staffer Anna Kain alleged that Baker harassed her with about 50 calls and texts in one night and threatened her with death. She obtained a protective order against him.

This was not the first time he was abusive, Kain said. She accused him of punching her in the back, in Estys D.C. office, in the winter of 2014 and threatening to prevent her from getting another job if she reported him. Kain left her position in Estys office in March 2015.

Esty said in a statement Thursday, after news of the scandal broke, that she was horrified and angry that Kain was harassed. Also horrifying was that Estys internal review disclosed a pattern of behavior that victimized many of the women on her staff.

Esty should have fired Baker immediately. Instead, she sought advice from the Office of House Employment Counsel, gave Baker $5,000 severance and both signed a non-disclosure agreement. It appears the abuser received more protection than his accusers.

How could Esty with a clear conscience have provided a recommendation, albeit limited, of Baker for a job in the Ohio office of Sandy Hook Promise? It is shocking that she would recommend a man accused of violence to a Newtown-based organization dedicated to preventing the horrific violence that still traumatizes her own constituents.

Republicans and some Democrats in the state called for Estys resignation.

We did not.

We said the voters would decide whether she deserved to continue. Monday she spared them that decision and announced she will not seek re-election.

Her decision closes a career that was, at times, distinguished.

But it was also one that ultimately was extinguished by a number of appalling lapses in judgment.
HARTFORD  Where are the giants?

The quavering voice belonged to an elderly man, so weak he could barely stand. He laid a hand on the arm of Pastor Robert Perry.

We used to have great giants among us, the man told the Stamford priest. You know Dr. King was the greatest of the giants I ever saw. But where are the giants? Because when I look around our nation, all I can see is darkness.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.s assassination, Perry shared this story with a group of 60 Connecticut legislators and clergymen at the Capitol Tuesday. He spoke of Kings monumental legacy of activism, nonviolence and faith and urged them to look our for the countrys emerging leaders of whom God is still speaking.

King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tenn. as he stood on a hotel balcony on April 4, 1968. The 39-year-old was supporting a sanitation workers strike in the city.

Perry, who heads Stamfords Union Baptist Church, met the renowned civil rights leader a few years before his death.

There was a magnetism about him, Perry remembered. The calm, collected spirit that he had. A smile of gentleness, a smile that let people know that this was genuine.

Church leaders and lawmakers alike emphasized there is still much do to carry on Kings work.

We come to bring attention to our pain, said Reverend Lindsay Curtis, president of the Connecticut State Baptist Convention.

That in 2018, that in 2018, that in 2018, he stressed, we are still dealing with issues of inequality, still dealing with issues of fair and adequate housing, still dealing with issues of police brutality, still dealing with issues of fair funding for equal education for our children  specifically our black and brown children.

In a ceremony full of song and prayer, members of the General Assemblys Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, including Rep. Chris Rosario, D-Bridgeport, Rep. Charlie Stallworth, D-Bridgeport, and Rep. Bruce Morris, D-Norwalk, said they would pick up Kings baton and act now on these issues.

When you move together  united  you can move mountains, said Rosario, chair of the caucus.

King marched down Main Street in Hartford with the grandfather of House Majority Leader Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, Ritter said Tuesday. He urged legislators to apply Kings principles and goals to the House and Senate work for the rest of the session.

If this (ceremony) can serve beyond remembering and commemorating one of the greatest men in the history of our world, it can also serve as a platform and springboard for what we have to do between now and May 9th, he said.
In any business, the formula for success can differ depending on many variables, but the one constant secret sauce is the ability to attract and retain top talent. Whether its a credit union or a huge technology company like Google, no organization should overlook the importance of its people and what it takes to attract and retain them.

In a recent interview with Chief Executive magazine, former head of people operations for Google, Lazlo Bock, said that its not enough to find great people, you actually want to grow and keep them. He said, People want a couple of things out of work. They want meaning, they want to be trusted and they want to be empowered.

Ive thought a lot about this idea of meaning in the workplace during my career. Any good CEO knows that he or she is helpless to be successful without an incredible, dedicated team. At CU Solutions Group, my team has bailed me out on countless occasions with their innovation and execution.

Talent matters, and one of the most important ways to attract and retain good people is to foster a culture that brings real meaning to work. No industry is better suited to do this than the credit union sector of the financial services industry. But leaders shouldnt just assume that their credit union is projecting this purpose in hiring and cultivating relationships with team members, it needs to be more intentional and clear as a part of a credit unions culture.

For several years now, CUSG has operated with a vision statement of, We help credit unions serve, grow and remain strong. But a couple of years ago, our HR team and CUBE TV video crew created a video that is used with new hires that represents the meaning behind our work. I didnt even know they were creating this video, but It was clever, fun and representative of the culture that we have at our company. The phrase that most caught my eye in that video, was that our employees wanted to make an impact. Thats what gets them up in the morning. They connect the dots between workplace dynamics and the ultimate meaning in their work: through helping credit unions succeed, more people can afford their own home, or a new set of wheels or find ways to save and get ahead financially.

So, for the Michigan Credit Union League and CU Solutions Group, we added a phrase to our vision statement: We help credit unions serve, grow and remain strong, so we can make an impact on peoples lives.

My team reminded me of an important principle, one that is key to attracting and retaining good talent. If I can help them create a culture that provides a great work environment and reinforces the why behind what we do, it will not only motivate customers and members to do business with us, it will help us attract and retain top talent. That is, in part, what motivates good people to work anywhere. And if our employees and management staff are motivated and passionate every day, we will be more innovative and service-oriented in all that we do.

Credit unions secret weapon for talent acquisition and retention is in the service mantra that is so unique to credit unions. They give back to their members and communities. Theyre not for profit, not for charity, but for service  theyre people helping people. Our industry is a movement, and all of us who make it our career believe in this difference. If credit unions can continuously reinforce this difference during the hiring and interview process, on their websites, in their marketing and via social media, great people will not only want to join the credit union team, but hopefully make it their career.

Another way to bring meaning to a companys culture and brand is through cause-based marketing. American Express did this in June 2014 when it launched its Spent campaign. Then- Amex EVP (and now CEO of PayPal) Dan Schulman, was on stage at the MCUL Annual Convention and Exposition the day the film was launched. It generated 10 million web views in a single day.

The Michigan Credit Union League had Mr. Schulman back to speak at its annual convention in 2017 as CUSG introduced a credit union industry version of Spent. We called our campaign the

Just Getting By project. Dan spoke glowingly of our effort and pledged that PayPal would work with us in the shared responsibility of helping people get ahead financially. Ive heard Dan speak several times in his position as PayPal CEO, and noted financial inclusion is a central guidepost for his company as it seeks to lower costs for small businesses and consumers. This ought to be doubly true for credit unions. We shouldnt let companies like American Express and PayPal out message us either with customers or with the talent that we seek to acquire.

This venerable, for-profit American Express brand had taken a page out of credit unions quiet service playbook and parlayed it into an impactful social media campaign. It succeeded in its objective of compelling people to get involved and help those struggling to get by financially, many of whom were being taken advantage of by payday lenders and other alternative financial service providers. Many of us viewed the Amex Spent campaign and asked ourselves, Why didnt we do that in the credit union industry?

So, for the past two years, our CUSG team has been working on a similar project called Just Getting By. Our video production crew used a grant provided by the Michigan Credit Union League to produce an hour-long documentary that is broken into 19 short video vignettes. Each tells the unique story of a person struggling to get by financially. The root causes of these challenges include student loan debt, job loss, medical emergency, divorce and unwise financial decision-making. Often, the common thread is a lack of strong and effective financial education. In the JGB film, we added commentary from four financial education experts, and make a strong connection between financial challenges and the solutions offered by credit unions.

Importantly, the target audience is not only those who are financially challenged and seeking help, but also those who already belong to a credit union and who will love their credit union even more in the knowledge that it cares enough to help those in need  not just those with prime credit. Its true that not everyone in need can benefit from a credit union, but many will be able to consolidate loans, reduce fees and forge a path toward financial health.

CUSGs goal with this project is to make a connection between the stories and the solutions. Ultimately, financial education and a good financial partner (i.e., credit unions) provide some of the relief needed. The website, Just Getting By, showcases the full documentary, the 19 vignettes, the ability to share the stories via social media and the opportunity to get help from a credit union. For visitors who are not already credit union members, using the sites credit union finder provides an easy conduit to join. Credit unions can become a part of the JGB movement by clicking on the Get Involved link, or by going directly to WeAreJGB.org.

CUSG has made it easy for credit unions to customize JGB content for their own Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages, thereby reinforcing their own brand and services. Its an excellent way to show that the credit union cares more and does more for those in need than other financial services providers. This message is a great example of cause-based marketing, and credit unions are uniquely suited to do it.

Making an impact on peoples lives is what credit unions are all about. In the financial services arena, credit unions should own this message. And when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent in a credit union including those tellers and member service representatives on the front lines, employees will want to work for a financial institution that walks the talk. Staff will be proud that their employer is committed to helping educate and lift people up, especially those who are struggling to just get by financially. Not only is it the right thing to do, but formalizing the message through the Just Getting By project is a way to empower the credit union movement individually and collectively.

Creating a vision for aligning a credit unions culture with the way that it helps make an impact on peoples lives may be the secret weapon for attracting and retaining talent as credit unions compete against banks and other providers. This alignment is also an important differentiator when consumers and small businesses choose their financial institutions. The Just Getting By project can help with this. Check it out at http://www.justgettingby.org/
CUNA Senior Director of Advocacy and Counsel Leah Dempsey appeared on the Brownstein Client Conversations podcast Monday to discuss the state of frivolous lawsuits hitting credit unions due to uncertainty with how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to websites.

During the podcast, Dempsey discussed the ways plaintiffs attorneys are exploiting uncertainty in the ADA to file these lawsuits and CUNAs compliance resources for credit unions, among other items.

Other topics covered include:

The difference in court opinions on how the ADA applies to websites;

The role of Congress and the Department of Justice in creating a solution; and
Millions of shoppers payment card information used at Saks and Lord & Taylor department stores was compromised in a recently confirmed data breach. The hackers, who reportedly began stealing card information in May 2017, claim they have 5 million credit and debit card numbers.

NAFCU continues to call on Congress to instate national data security standards  akin to those followed by credit unions  in an effort to curb future breaches.

This breach involves customer payment card data at Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th and Lord & Taylor chains in North America. The parent company, Hudson Bay Co., does not yet know how many customers have been impacted but does not think Social Security or drivers license numbers were compromised. Hudson said it will notify affected consumers once the investigation is complete.

NAFCU has been active with lawmakers since the massive 2013 Target data breach stressing the need for a legislative solution to reform the nations data security system.
Connor Yoder accounts for 4 TD's, North Star mauls Meyersdale

North Star got back in the win column with a drubbing of Meyersdale. Connor Yoder, Ethan Yoder and Carter Weible shined in the victory.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns secretive three-day visit to China by a special train was confirmed by the media on both sides post his return. This was his first visit to any nation after his assumption to power in 2011. Pictures released in the Chinese media showed a relaxed Kim smiling and waving during the visit.

A statement accredited to him but issued by the Chinese press read, "It is our consistent stand to be committed to the denuclearisation on the peninsula. The issue of denuclearisation can be resolved if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts of goodwill, create an atmosphere of peace and stability while taking progressive and synchronous measures for the realisation of peace."

It is indicative that he would place the demands which they would have to accept, if peace is to return.

Image: Reuters photo

During the visit, Kim held talks with Xi Jinping on the existing situation and the proposed talks with his South Korean counterpart and the US president. Media reports indicate Kim making copious notes during his interaction with Xi. Kim is expected to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27, followed by a summit with US President Donald Trump. Japan has also indicated a desire for a direct summit, discussions on which have yet to commence.

China had always been a major trading partner and close ally of the country. In recent times, there were reports of a fade in Chinese influence, compelling China to support sanctions against the regime. This visit indicates a possible thaw in their relationship. Reports state that the visit was undertaken on an invitation extended by Xi.

Post the visit, a message sent to the US by China stated that "the visit went well". This visit and the bonhomie visible indicated that China would play a key role in any resolution concerning North Korea.

For China, a unified Korea with close ties to the US is undesirable, as it could enhance threat perceptions and have the US at its doorstep. At the same time, a belligerent North Korea, unwilling to toe its line remains an equal threat. Thus, while it would desire a resolution of the crises, it would desire it on its terms, where the North remains as a buffer between US-aligned South and China. Simultaneously, the North remains a close ally. Hence, ensuring the survivability of the regime is essential.

Russia is also in the process of moving closer to the North. There are reports of the North Korean foreign minister travelling to Moscow shortly, well before Kim Jong-un meets his southern counterpart. This would bring Russia and China on the side of the North, taking advantage of the growing rift between the US and them. Kim is also aware that with the ongoing diplomatic cold war, the US would never be able to push any further sanctions through the security council.

President Trump and his advisors have been stating that the only way forward is for North Korea to roll back its nuclear weapons programme, an action which is very unlikely. The new US national security advisor, John Bolton, even went on to state that North Korea, akin to Libya should surrender its nuclear material to the US. He had for long been advocating employment of military force.

China would now be possibly the only nation, other than North Korea to be aware of the true status of the North Korean nuclear weapons programme. While North Korea may still lack relevant technology for re-entry of its missiles, however it is in a state to threaten South Korea and Japan and has proved it in recent tests. Hence, it is assured of its survival. Surrendering its only means of survival is clearly unlikely.

This issue would have been discussed in detail with China. China aware of US long-term intentions would never have suggested that the North accede to surrendering its nuclear weapons, despite all pressures. With Chinese and Russian backing and the fact that most North Korean nuclear installations are located close to the Chinese border, the possibility of US launching military strikes are almost nil.

China, would have suggested only capping on future tests. This would ensure that no US government ever attempts to overthrow the regime. Alongside that would be a demand to lift sanctions. This may be unacceptable to the US, but would be enough for China and Russia, already at daggers with the US to insist on partial lifting of sanctions at the UN. Even if vetoed by the US, China and Russia would begin supporting the regime to ensure it survives.

China would also have suggestions on limits in Norths conversation with the South. In this case, it would be a desire to open borders, reduce tensions and increase economic cooperation. The two sides should also declare an end to hostilities, which have remained in place since the Korean war. This would come at a cost, which would include reduced US deployment and cessation of joint exercises with them. Most importantly would be withdrawal of US THAAD missile systems.

Kim is being benefitted with the increasing distance between the US on one side and Russia and China on the other. He would seek to use that advantage to his benefit. China would be seeking to ensure that North Korea remains a nuclear power, always at a distance from the US, dependent on it for economic and diplomatic support. It would also push the North to be more open towards the South seeking to move the US away from the peninsula.

Russia would desire embarrassment of the US by creating conditions for Trump to walk away in frustration. How the US reacts is what the world is waiting for.

Also read: Why Indians are obsessed with Kim Jong-un
In a direct and unambiguous remark, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has hit out at Narendra Modis core agenda of "Congress-mukt Bharat".

At a book launch in Pune on Sunday (April 1), the RSS chief said phrases like Congress-mukt were political slogans and not part of the Sanghs lexicon. "The RSS doesnt use the language of excluding anyone. We have to include everyone in the process of nation-building, he remarked.

That should worry Prime Minister Modi. Has there been a rupture in Modis relation with the Sangh? Is there some misunderstanding now or is the RSS dissatisfied with the Modi governments performance?

Has the RSS sniffed change in wind directions against Modi and issued warning? The RSS chiefs rebuke to Modi on his Congress-mukt slogan raises several questions.

What should worry Modi more is that Bhagwat didnt confine his remark to casual dismissal of the slogan Congress-mukt. In a veiled reference, he said that those who are not positive in seeking support of all including the Opposition are not useful for nation-building task.

Mark Mohan Bhagwats words: Nation-building cannot be the work of one man. It has to be inclusive, requiring the contributions of both the ruling and the Opposition parties.

One wonders how can one reconcile Modis penchant for Congress-mukt Bharat with requiring the contributions of Opposition parties?

Bhagwat called for the need for a positive approach to bring about change and said those with a negative approach would think only of conflicts and divisions. Such a person is not at all useful in the process of nation-building, he is quoted to have said.

The RSS chief is not pulling any punches. After close to four years of Modi government, the RSS has voiced a discordant note.

Taking potshots at BJP-led governments is not unusual for the RSS, though. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was victim of the then RSS chief KS Sudarshans constant nitpicking. Vajpayee had to suffer the humiliations of being compelled to make last-minute changes in government decisions, including in appointment and allocation of portfolios of senior ministers. In one notable instance, Vajpayee had to drop his confidant Jaswant Singhs appointment as finance minister from the list of Cabinet ministers on RSSs diktat.

Veiled criticism or sometimes expression of open disagreements with the BJP top brass is also part of the RSSs hydra-headed organisational strategy. Doublespeak and Goebbelsian language define the core of the RSS strategy.

But that has not been the case with the current government. Modi has enjoyed virtually unstinted RSS support for reasons that are not far to seek. The most important reason is the Modi government following the textbook RSS agenda to advance the Hindutva cause.

Barring some cases of policy decisions that meet the demands of realpolitik for reasons of electoral politics, Modi has followed the RSS line. It has also helped, for instance, that Modi and Bhagwat are contemporary, have worked together and enjoy good personal equations.

So the question is what has gone wrong to upset the equations or caused the RSS chief to strike at an issue Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have been untiringly pursuing?

In election after election, both Modi and Shah have been campaigning on what they have called making the country Congress-mukt.

Only recently Modi chose to clarify his concept of Congress-mukt offering a ruse that what he meant was not decimation of the Congress numerically, but ridding the polity of Congress culture.

Modi would be loathe to know that the RSS chief has not made that fine distinction. Bhagwat has understood and interpreted the meaning of Congress-mukt as Modi critics have accused the prime minister of pursuing, which is working for decimation of the Congress organisation.

The RSS chiefs rebuke to Modi could also be seen in the context of recent developments within the Sangh. Last month, the RSSs highest decision-making body, Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), took an unexpected decision. At its three-day meeting in Nagpur, it announced that RSS sarkaryavah (general secretary) Bhaiyyaji Joshi would continue in office for the fourth consecutive term.

It was widely expected that RSS would elevate Dattatreya Hosabale, one of the joint-general secretaries, to replace Bhaiyyaji Joshi.

Yet another term to Bhaiyyaji was seen as a setback to Modi in the run-up to the election. Modis comfortable political equation with Hosabale is widely known in the political circles. His elevation to the post of general secretary, the second most important position in the RSS, could have eased pressure on Modi. The March ABPS meeting, which is held every three years, was the last before the 2019 elections.

Modi would have needed Hosabale more than ever at this juncture. The BJP government is under tremendous pressure on all fronts. Modi has lost important by-elections in the Hindi heartland. Buoyed by the SP-BSP joint fight that led to BJPs defeat, the Opposition has mounted pressure with talks of stitching up a united front against the BJP in 2019. Student, farmer and Dalit politics is on the boil nationwide. Dalits response to the Bharat bandh in protest against the governments failure to seek timely revision of the judgment is indication of the growing resentment.

The BJPs nervousness on account of multi-pronged pressures is visible in Karnataka, where the Congress has pinned down the BJP on several issues. A setback in Karnataka will further increase the pressure on Modi.

The RSS with its vast network of workers, perhaps, has read the growing resentment against Modi on the ground. Mohan Bhagwat has issued a warning to Modi for course correction.

Also read: Why BJP government is responsible for CBSE paper leak
Out of the blue, at 9.03pm on April 2, the ministry of information and broadcasting issued an ominous press release. It stated that upon receiving any complaint of a journalist pushing instances of fake news, the Press Council of India (PCI) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA)  regulatory bodies for the countrys print and broadcast media, respectively  would determine the authenticity or veracity of the news and if it is found to be fake, the journalists Press Information Bureau (PIB) accreditation could be cancelled.

The next day, on April 3, at 1.27pm, there was another press release by the ministry of information and broadcasting. The PIB tweeted:

PIB Press release titled Guidelines for accreditation of Journalists amended to regulate #FakeNews stands withdrawn: https://t.co/Fyqz3JWCkZ  PIB India (@PIB_India) April 3, 2018

Barely a day earlier, soon after PIBs press release on cracking down on fake news, there was massive uproar on social media. Several prominent journalists and politicians questioned the reasoning behind the decision and the intention of the government.

Union information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani even responded to some concerns. When Congress leader Ahmed Patel tweeted that the new rules leave a lot of room for misuse, Smriti Irani responded to him too. She first said that she was glad to see him awake, and then that the Press Council of India (PCI) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) would decide what is fake and what is genuine.

Reports said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention, the information and broadcasting ministry, on Tuesday, withdrew its press release.

So, what happened in those 19 hours and 36 minutes? Reports said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention, the information and broadcasting ministry, on Tuesday, withdrew its press release.

Sources said the prime minister had directed that the press release regarding fake news be withdrawn and the matter only be addressed in Press Council of India. Tweeting about this U-turn by the government and the information and broadcasting ministry, Rahul Gandhi wrote: Sensing the mounting anger on the fake news notification, the PM orders a U-turn on his own order. One can clearly see a loss of control and panic setting in now.

This is not the first time a government has made an attempt to gag the media or to prevent it from reporting news that is unfavourable for the establishment, or tried to censor the fourth estate. In the past, several governments have made such attempts, but they were forced to withdraw.

Yet, the present decision of withdrawal has been the quickest in Indian history.

Lets look at other such decisions by past governments.

Rajasthans media gag bill

The Rajasthan government headed by chief minister Vasundhara Raje had promulgated an ordinance on September 6, 2017.

The gag by Rajasthan government lasted for 167 days or five months and 14 days.

It said: No one can publish or print or publicise in any manner the name, address, photograph, family details or any other particulars which may lead to disclosure of the identity of a judge or magistrate or a public servant against whom any proceeding is pending, until the 180-day period. Its violation was punishable.

This led to huge criticism of the Vasundhara Raje government. Coming under pressure, on February 20, 2018, her government announced its withdrawal. This lasted for 167 days or five months and 14 days.

Rajiv Gandhis defamation bill

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Bofors scam and VP Singh's victory in the Allahabad by-election rattled Rajiv Gandhi. In utter desperation, he introduced the defamation bill on August 29, 1988 to gag the media.

It sought to create new offences of "criminal imputation" and "scurrilous writings".

In just 24 days, a government with the support of maximum number of MPs in the Lok Sabha, made withdrew the defamation bill.

Faced with unprecedented defiance from the media, and growing opposition from several quarters, he realised that anything short of withdrawal was going to damage the ruling party's sagging fortunes further. On September 22, 1988, Rajiv Gandhi beat a hasty retreat and withdrew the bill. In just 24 days, a government with the support of the maximum number of MPs in the Lok Sabha, made this U-turn.

Bihar presser bill

The Bihar press bill of 1982 had sought to muzzle the media. Then chief minister Jagannath Mishra got this bill passed in Bihar Assembly on July 31, 1982. This law sought to curb supposedly scurrilous writing by making it cognisable and non-bailable.

Any and every magistrate was empowered to take action. But the real intention was to coerce opponents of Bihar government.

It took 355 days or 11 months and 21 days for the Bihar government to reverse its controversial decision.

Owing to hostile reaction from across the country, the bill was withdrawn on July 21, 1983. So, it took 355 days or 11 months and 21 days for the Bihar government to reverse its controversial decision.

Press during Emergency

In 1975, India saw its darkest phase since Independence when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called for Emergency to be declared across the country. On June 25, 1975, the President of India signed the order. From that moment on, civil liberties were suspended, media censored and amendments brought in, threatening to alter the basic character of the Constitution.

The press was muzzled and monitored by censors.

Emergency lasted for a year, eight months and 24 days.

Emergency led to massive protests inside the country as well as international condemnation. On March 21, 1977, the Emergency was withdrawn and civil rights restored. It lasted for a year, 8 months and 24 days.

Also read: How Nirav Modi exposes Narendra Modi
Its almost impossible to outdo John Muir in expressing ones love and enchantment with the river. He said, "The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fibre and cell on the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as souls, and every bird song, wind song, storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains, is our song, our very own, and sings our love."

The languid and magical Manas river flows through the Manas National Park, carrying fresh drafts of glacial water from the Eastern Himalayas.

Languid.

A UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, a Project Tiger Reserve and an Elephant Reserve in Assam (India), it nourishes and rejuvenates your soul like nothing else. The park is contiguous with the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan, the oldest protected area in this small Himalayan nation. The air, water and the land, everything shines and sparkles here, sprinkling magic dust on the beholder! If you have to send a postcard to serenity, this is its address.

Its a transboundary river in the Eastern Himalayan foothills between southern Bhutan and India and constitutes the largest riverine system in Bhutan. The total length of the river is 376 kilometres, out of which 272 kilometres flow through Bhutan and 104 kilometres flow through Assam (India), before merging with the mighty Brahmaputra.

Sprinkling magic dust on the traveller.

As the miles of forests cascade and the cityscape fades into oblivion during the road trip, this is where one arrives at, when entering from Bansbari (the entry point to the park in Assams Barpeta district) and thats just the beginning of the journey deep into the lush forests. This is where the traveller can begin wandering along the Manas river, as it flows through the expansive landscape, to drift from rock to rock, tree to bush, grove to grove; or simply watch the river flow, healing, nourishing.

The beauty and glory of the Manas National Park is best enjoyed when one stays deep inside the park, surrounded by forests. However, the only option for doing so means checking into the Mathanguri Forest Bungalow or a stay on the Bhutan side of the river. This is how the Mathanguri Bungalow looks, up in the clouds, next to the river, atop a hill. Amenities are basic here but the location is perfect for restful nights after endless wandering through pristine forests, serene mountains and rafting in the glacial Manas river. If your heart and soul craves shinrin-yoku and fernweh both, trust me, this is the perfect destination!

Colours on the banks.

When a lone tusker wanders on the edge of the magical blue river, it's a sight to behold! Needless to say, Manas National Park is a photographers paradise, as the land and the river metamorphosises its moods from hour to hour, through the course of the day. The river is not the same at dawn, noon or dusk. Time and the heart beat slows down in the wilderness to match its relaxed pace, revealing all the broken fragments within our core, requiring attention and healing. And what better place than this to tune in to your inner self in the silence of the forest!

To quote John Muir again, The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness. He further said, Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." Every word written by him reverberates in the air as one reflects, overlooking the glorious Manas river.

'Nature's peace flows into you.'

Behold, a circuit of molten gold, marking the ocean, lies in the lap of the Eastern Himalayas.

Dusk, that magical time of the day when your soul glows and flows with the Sunset at Manas.

Tis the perfect hour to fall in love

With the soul and the world beyond

The perfect last hour of the sun

The perfect last hour of love

The perfect last hour to glow and flow

As the river waltzes into

The heart of the sunset

At magical Manas.

And quiet flows the Manas as the majestic elephants, owned by the forest department, amble into the river for a drink.

An ode to the river

An ode to the river

The river sings a love song of

Enchanted spirit companions

Their lives, love, dreams and agony.



Pause my darling!

Float in the aquamarine water of love

Scoop up happiness from its heart.

Your laughter riding the waves

Is sunshine for the mermaid in my soul.

She splashes and dances,

Serenading the river.

The thumb rule in the forests is that you must always look up while wandering or hiking to absorb the forest vibes. Cause you dont want to miss the tapestry woven by nature in the sky as well. This is where you can unleash the nemophilist hidden in your soul.

The mythic Mithun, aka gayal or the Bos Frontalis is unique as it is neither completely wild nor domesticated, yet closely integrated in the culture and lifestyle of the indigenous people, scattered across the Eastern Himalayas.

A transboundary river.

Inscrutably, this bovine beauty followed us for miles as we trekked in the Royal Manas National Park, pacing her speed with ours.

She pauses here as we paused to capture her beauty, glowing in the morning sunlight. Wonder what she was thinking about!

Hush! Behold the exchange of tender moments between Sangay Wangmo, the elephant and her keeper at breakfast time, at the Royal Manas camp site on the Bhutan side of the park.

Indeed, all loveliness arises from the colour green and especially so for a nemophilist. The vast park spread across Bhutan and India is one of the richest biodiversity hubs in the world.

Captured during a leisurely trek in the forest in the early hours of the day, watch how the forest exudes its own light and aura. You are meant to walk here like you are kissing the earth, open all your senses, absorb the atmosphere of the forest and relish the feeling of belonging and being a part of this beautiful living and breathing world.

Take in the forest.

Take a deep breath and inhale the forest vitamin phytoncides. Wait for that zen moment to wash over, as you feel stress and toxins get released from your being and feel one with nature. Immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, textures, smells, motions, feelings and subtle messages disseminated by the trees, by nature.

Enjoy shinrin-yoku or forest bathing and let it heal and renew your soul. Let it wave its magic wand.

Also read - How Kashmir waits for its next generation to take the test
Recently an article appeared on this website titled "Muslims must stop being hypocrites". The article was written in both Urdu and English. It tried to copy the style and tone of Saadat Hasan Manto.

The piece is replete with Muslim bashing and I find myself disagreeing with the writer owing to his false equivalences, half-baked facts and imbalanced criticisms.

The best thing about the article was that the writer accepted his ignorance explicitly, declaring that he is not a student of Islam. And perhaps that's why he drew wrong his notions of Muslim hypocrisy in India and elsewhere.

The article went on to talk about the immorality and corruption among Muslims who are outwardly faithful but inwardly involved in all sorts of evil practices. The opening line of the piece says that Muslims are a textbook example of hypocrisy. I disagree with this statement but will come to that point later.

Before moving forward, let's see what the textbook definition of hypocrisy is. Hypocrisy means saying something and doing the opposite. A hypocrite is a person who doesn't practise what he preaches.

Although one would agree with the writer of the piece that hypocrisy can be found in the Muslim Ummah in surmountable quantities but the writer has missed mentioning that Quran is the book which warns Muslims of hypocrisy time and again in the harshest of ways.

In chapter 2 (Surah Baqarah) the Quran has talked about the subject of hypocrisy in great detail, explaining how the children of Israel had moved away from their faith and subsequently got involved in all sorts of corruptions despite being given the gift of revelation. The story of children of Israel has been talked about in detail as a case study to warn Muslims that they must keep away from being hypocrites as this is a disease of the heart.

Just like every disease has symptoms, warning signs and a cure, so does hypocrisy. Some Islamic scholars laid down anywhere between 40 to 100 signs of hypocrisy. But here I will highlight a few basic traits of a hypocrite mentioned in Quran and Hadiths:

1) Whenever he speaks, he lies

2) Whenever he argues, he explodes

3) When he is entrusted with something, he violates that trust

4) When he promises something, he goes back on the promise

5) They do not even come to salaah (prayer), except they are lazy

6) They do not spend (in the path of Allah), except they regret it

The signs of hypocrisy are clearly laid down in Quran so as to check one's own hypocrisy, not to point fingers at others and deeming them hypocrites. Quran says that if a person is fixated on deeming others hypocrite then that's the biggest sign of hypocrisy in that person. The above mentioned signs are so basic that they can be found not just in Muslims but any human being.

Hypocrisy is not merely a Muslim problem but Muslims should be extra careful of this affliction since they have been given the gift of revelation that is the Quran which also gives the solution of it. The Quran teaches us to point fingers at our own selves before we look elsewhere for the cause of shortcomings.

The writer says, "The smuggling and hijacking of the faith by mullas and maulvis is a recent phenomenon." While agreeing with the writer I want to throw light on what Islam actually says on the importance of knowledge.

Firstly, there's no concept of accumulation of knowledge in Islam by an influential few. In Islam, seeking knowledge is compulsory for every believing Muslim. If we look at the initial verses revealed from the holy Quran, we can see iqra (read) was the first word that were revealed and, in fact, repeated twice, the world qalam (pen) is mentioned once and the word ilm (knowledge) is repeated twice.

Let us look at the meaning of these verses: "Read in the name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clot. Read and your Lord is the most honourable. Who taught by the pen. Taught man what he knew not."

Here Allah is not asking only Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) to read but the entire humankind to read and seek knowledge.

The Quran has been described many times in the holy book itself as Hudal Lin Nas (guidance for entire humankind) not just as guidance for Muslims. To make the teachings of the Quran accessible to every human being was the life mission of our Prophet (pbuh), which was assigned to him by Allah. So, accumulation of knowledge into few hands is not an Islamic principle.

The writer added: "If we can write praises in the honour of maulanas, if we can laud their unshakable faith, why should we not question the covert barbarism of these learned and distinguished preachers?"

I want to acquaint the writer with the fact that Islam is not merely a religion of seeking knowledge and of intellect. It is a religion of good character and good actions. In Islam, having right knowledge is not sufficient.

Right knowledge must be followed by right actions. Having a good character is emphasised heavily upon in Islam.

Our Prophet (peace be upon him) was a walking Quran. There are many hadith (prophetic sayings) in which the Prophet declares that certain people with proper knowledge, beliefs and who also prayed regularly would end up in hell owing to their bad character. There's a proper balance between aml (actions) and ilm (knowledge). The purpose of knowledge in Islam is to bring one closer to Allah and improve one's character. The Prophet in his final sermon said, "None is better than the other except by virtue of his character and piety."

The writer spoke very highly of Al Mamun, a king from the Abbasid dynasty, who ruled from Baghdad. The writer totally forgets to mention that the very same Mamun imprisoned Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal for nearly the entirety of his reign. The reason was not that the Imam had been a dissident. It was just that he had refused to agree with the sultan's take that Islam was from the created rather than the creator. Gustakh Manto travelled back more than a thousand years to celebrate a tyrant, suing him to deride present day Indian Muslims. That's quite a lot to swallow.

Moreover, the writer hasn't given any proof of how the much maligned "maulvis" and "mullas" allegedly hijacked Islam. In fact, there is no clergy in Islam and Muslims are free to worship their creator without any intermediary.

Blaming the victim

The writer blamed Muslims for their own backwardness besides claiming that Muslims have distanced themselves from reason and logic and are engrossed in trivial matters such as protesting the book by Salman Rushdie instead of trying their best to come out of abject poverty.

I would say that in these statements the writer has crossed the limits of victim blaming. No other marginalised group in the country would be blamed for their own marginalisation. According to the Sachar Committee report, Muslims are doing worse than Dalits in the realm of finance and education. They don't have the means to fulfil their stomachs; education for some of them is a distant dream.

Moreover in Islam, poverty is not seen as a cursed state of being. Quran teaches us that success should not be gauged by wealth. Many Prophets in Islam had belonged to a poor background. Prophet Abraham, who is called the father of Muslim Ummah (nation), was a homeless person yet successful but an incredibly wealthy man, the pharaoh with luxurious palaces and comfort was a failure due to his evil practices and corruption.

The Quran teaches us that success has nothing to do with wealth and failure has nothing to do with poverty.

And it is the Quran which says that without reason there's no faith. The Quran in various ways confirms the authority of reason. About 60 to 70 verses can be cited in which the Quran indicates that such and such matter has been mentioned for reason to reflect upon.

In one instance, the Quran says "surely the worst of beasts in god's sight are those that are deaf and dumb and do not reason." (8:22). Here the Quran does not talk about physically dumb and deaf but those who do not want to listen to truth or those who when they hear do not admit it with their tongues.

The people who do not are those who fail to make use of their intellect and faculty of thought. Such people are not fit to be called human beings. The Quran includes them among the beasts.

At other place the Quran says, "And He lays abomination upon those who do not reason." (10:100)

In these verses, the Quran in terms of logic invites us to reasoning. There are many verses in the Quran which, on the basis of consequential signification, can be said to accept the authority of reason. In other words, the Quran makes statements which cannot be accepted without accepting the authority of reason.

Now, I would like to talk about the opening statement of the writer that Muslims are a textbook examples of hypocrisy. Actually no. Muslims are not. Yes, at places like madrasas, mosques and holy Kaaba many women face sexual abuse but Muslims are not the only people facing this menace.

There have been innumerable cases of child and woman sexual abuse by catholic priests, nuns and subsequent cover-ups. Hindu priests have been involved in all sorts of corrupt practices from sexual molestation to extortion etc. Buddhist monks are brutally murdering the most persecuted minority in the world. This smuggling of faith it seems is just not happening in Muslim community but in every other religion. Besides, plenty of secular and nationalist institutions have been responsible for cases of sexual assault.

He must have known that criticising Muslims by singling them out with half-baked arguments would fuel the Islamophobic narrative and further the anti-Muslim bigotry.

In my honest opinion, his piece was in no way a balanced and reasonable criticism of Muslims. The article doesn't seem to have been written with the intention to improve the condition of Muslims.

Most non-Muslims learn about Islam from the behaviour of Muslims but today there is a huge difference between Islam and actions of some Muslims. Therefore, I have tried to point those differences through this piece.

I want to add that by writing this article, I am not absolving Muslims of the mistake of moving away from the core teaching of Islam rather I am trying that Muslims learn about their faith and revive it. The Quran is light (noor) that can bring humanity out of darkness. Our Prophet was a walking Quran and so should all Muslims be. God willing.

Also read: PIB withdraws fake news circular: Questions we need to ask Smriti Irani and the govt
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Luxembourg), CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Claims Administration Corp., Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care Workers Compensation Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Rehabilitation Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, Digital eHealth LLC, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California Inc., Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., FOCUS HealthCare Management Inc., First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, First Script Network Services Inc., Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Group Dental Service of Maryland Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssuance Pennsylvania Inc., Healthagen LLC, Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Life and Health Insurance Company, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, MetraComp Inc., Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Mexico L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Ohio LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oklahoma LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Oregon LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Pennsylvania LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Rhode Island LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of South Carolina L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Texas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Utah L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Virginia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Washington LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Wisconsin L.L.C., MinuteClinic L.L.C., MinuteClinic Online Diagnostic Services LLC, MinuteClinic Physician Practice of Texas, MinuteClinic Telehealth Services LLC, Mississippi CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Missouri CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Montana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NCS Healthcare LLC, NCS Healthcare of Illinois LLC, NCS Healthcare of Iowa LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kansas LLC, NCS Healthcare of Kentucky Inc. (Oh, NCS Healthcare of Montana LLC, NCS Healthcare of New Mexico LLC, NCS Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Holdings Inc., NeighborCare Inc., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services Inc., NeighborCare Services Corporation, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Holding Company, Omnicare Inc., Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania East LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Holdings Inc., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Pt. Aetna Global Benefits Indonesia, Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Spinnaker Bidco Limited, Spinnaker Topco Limited, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare L.L.C., Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC.
The following companies are subsidiares of General Motors: 2140879 Ontario Inc., ACAR Leasing, ACAR Leasing Ltd., ACF Investment, ACF Investment Corp., AFS SenSub, APGO Trust, Adam Opel, Adam Opel GmbH, Aftermarket (UK), AmeriCredit, AmeriCredit Consumer Loan, AmeriCredit Consumer Loan Company Inc., AmeriCredit Financial Services, AmeriCredit Financial Services Inc., AmeriCredit Funding, AmeriCredit Syndicated Warehouse Trust, Annunciata Corporation, Argonaut Holdings, Argonaut Holdings LLC, BOCO (Proprietary), BOCO (Proprietary) Limited, Banco GMAC, Banco GMAC S.A., Baylis (Gloucester), Boco Trust, Boden Brussels, CHEVYPLAN, CHEVYPLAN S.A. Sociedad Administradora de Planes de Autofinanciamiento Comercial, Cadillac, Cadillac Europe, Cadillac Europe GmbH, Carve-Out Ownership, Carve-Out Ownership Cooperative LLC, Chevrolet Deutschland GmbH, Chevrolet Sales (Thailand), Chevrolet Sales (Thailand) Limited, Chevrolet Sales India, Chevrolet Sales India Private Ltd., Chevrolet Sociedad Anonima de Ahorro para Fines Determinados, Controladora General Motors, Controladora General Motors S.A. de C.V., Cruise, DCJ1, DCJ1 LLC, DMAX, DMAX Ltd., Dealership Liquidations, Dealership Liquidations Inc., Delphi Energy and Engine Management Systems UK, Delphi Energy and Engine Management Systems UK Overseas Corporation, EDS (Electronic Data Systems), FAW-GM, Fundacion Chevrolet, G.M.A.C., GCAR Titling Ltd., GM (UK) Pension, GM (UK) Pension Trustees Limited, GM APO Holdings, GM Administradora de Bens, GM Administradora de Bens Ltda., GM Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters Ltd., GM Auslandsprojekte, GM Automotive, GM Automotive Services Belgium, GM CME, GM Canada Holdings, GM Canada Limited, GM Components Holdings, GM Components Holdings LLC, GM Cruise, GM Cruise Holdings LLC, GM Cruise LLC, GM Defense LLC, GM Eurometals, GM Eurometals Inc., GM Europe Treasury, GM Finance, GM Finance Co. Holdings LLC, GM Financial, GM Financial AB, GM Financial Canada, GM Financial Canada Leasing, GM Financial Canada Leasing Ltd., GM Financial Colombia Holdings LLC, GM Financial Colombia S.A. Compania de Financiamiento, GM Financial Consumer, GM Financial Consumer Discount, GM Financial Consumer Discount Company, GM Financial Del Peru, GM Financial GmbH, GM Financial Holdings LLC, GM Financial Insurance Services, GM Financial Mexico Holdings, GM Financial Mexico Holdings LLC, GM Financial Real Estate, GM Financial de Mexico, GM Financial de Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.R., GM Financial del Peru S.A.C, GM Global Business Services, GM Global Propulsion Systems -Torino S.r.l., GM Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, GM Global Technology Operations, GM Global Technology Operations LLC, GM Global Tooling, GM Global Tooling Company LLC, GM Global Treasury Centre Limited, GM Holden, GM Holden Pty Ltd., GM Holdings U.K. No.1 Limited, GM Inversiones Santiago Limitada, GM Investment Trustees Limited, GM Korea, GM Korea Company, GM LAAM Holdings, GM LAAM Holdings LLC, GM Mexico Holdings, GM Mobility Europe GmbH, GM PSA Purchasing Services, GM Personnel Services, GM Personnel Services Inc., GM Philippines Inc., GM Plats (Proprietary), GM Regional Holdings, GM Regional Holdings LLC, GM Retirees Pension Trustees, GM Retirees Pension Trustees Limited, GM Subsystems Manufacturing, GM Subsystems Manufacturing LLC, GM Technical Center Korea Ltd., GM Viet Nam Motor Company, GM-DI Leasing, GM-DI Leasing LLC, GMAC - Instituicao Financeira de Credito, GMAC Administradora de Consorcios, GMAC Administradora de Consorcios Ltda., GMAC Banque, GMAC Continental, GMAC Espana de Financiacion, GMAC Holdings (U.K.), GMAC Lease B.V. (aka Masterlease Europe), GMAC Nederland N.V., GMAC Prestadora de Servicios de Mao de Obra Ltda., GMAC Servicios, GMAC UK, GMAC de Venezuela, GMAC-Prestadora de Servios de Mo-de-Obra, GMACI Corretora de Seguros, GMACI Corretora de Seguros Ltda, GMAM Real Estate I, GMCH&SP Private Equity II, GMCH&SP Private Equity II L.P., GMF Australia Pty Ltd, GMF Europe, GMF Europe Holdco, GMF Europe LLP, GMF Floorplan Owner Revolving Trust, GMF Funding, GMF Germany Holdings, GMF Global Assignment, GMF Global Assignment LLC, GMF International, GMF International LLC, GMF Leasing LLC, GMF Leasing Warehousing Trust, GMF Wholesale Receivables, GMGP Holdings, General Motors (China) Investment Company, General Motors (China) Investment Company Limited, General Motors (Thailand), General Motors (Thailand) Limited, General Motors - Colmotores, General Motors - Colmotores S.A., General Motors Advisory Services LLC, General Motors Africa and Middle East, General Motors Africa and Middle East FZE, General Motors Asia, General Motors Asia LLC, General Motors Asia Pacific Holdings, General Motors Asia Pacific Holdings LLC, General Motors Asset Management, General Motors Asset Management Corporation, General Motors Australia, General Motors Australia Pty Ltd., General Motors Austria, General Motors Austria, General Motors Auto, General Motors Auto LLC, General Motors Automobiles Philippines, General Motors Automobiles Philippines Inc., General Motors Automotive Holdings, General Motors Automotive Holdings S.L., General Motors Belgique Automobile NV, General Motors Belgium, General Motors Chile, General Motors Chile Industria Automotriz Limitada, General Motors China LLC, General Motors Daewoo Auto and Technology, General Motors Daewoo Auto and Technology CIS LLC, General Motors East Africa, General Motors Egypt, General Motors Egypt S.A.E., General Motors Espana, General Motors Europe Holdings, General Motors Europe Limited, General Motors Financial Chile, General Motors Financial Chile Limitada, General Motors Financial Chile S.A., General Motors Financial Company, General Motors Financial Company Inc., General Motors Financial International, General Motors Financial Italia, General Motors Financial Suisse, General Motors Financial UK, General Motors Financial of Canada, General Motors Financial of Canada Ltd., General Motors Finland, General Motors France, General Motors GBS Hungary, General Motors Global Service Operations, General Motors Global Service Operations Inc., General Motors Hellas, General Motors Holden Australia, General Motors Holden Australia NSC, General Motors Holden Australia NSC Pty Ltd., General Motors Holden Australia Pty Ltd., General Motors Holdings LLC, General Motors IT Services (Ireland) Limited, General Motors India Private, General Motors India Private Limited, General Motors International Holdings, General Motors International Holdings LLC, General Motors International Operations, General Motors International Operations Pte. Ltd., General Motors International Services Company, General Motors International Services Company SAS, General Motors International Services LLC, General Motors Investment Limited, General Motors Investment Management, General Motors Investment Management Corporation, General Motors Investment Participacoes, General Motors Investment Participacoes Ltda., General Motors Investments, General Motors Investments Pty. Ltd., General Motors Ireland, General Motors Israel, General Motors Israel Ltd., General Motors Italia, General Motors Japan, General Motors Japan Limited, General Motors LLC, General Motors Limited, General Motors Manufacturing Poland, General Motors Nederland, General Motors New Zealand Pensions, General Motors New Zealand Pensions Limited, General Motors Overseas, General Motors Overseas Commercial Vehicle, General Motors Overseas Commercial Vehicle Corporation, General Motors Overseas Corporation, General Motors Overseas Distribution, General Motors Overseas Distribution LLC, General Motors Peru, General Motors Peru S.A., General Motors Poland Spolka, General Motors Portugal, General Motors Powertrain (Thailand), General Motors Powertrain (Thailand) Limited, General Motors Research Corporation, General Motors South Africa, General Motors South Africa (Pty) Limited, General Motors Suisse, General Motors Taiwan, General Motors Taiwan Ltd., General Motors Technical Centre India, General Motors Technical Centre India Private Limited, General Motors Treasury Center, General Motors Treasury Center LLC, General Motors Turkiye, General Motors UK, General Motors Uruguay, General Motors Uruguay S.A., General Motors Venezolana, General Motors Ventures, General Motors Ventures LLC, General Motors Warehousing and Trading (Shanghai), General Motors Warehousing and Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., General Motors de Argentina, General Motors de Argentina S.r.l., General Motors de Mexico, General Motors de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., General Motors del Ecuador, General Motors del Ecuador S.A., General Motors do Brasil, General Motors do Brasil Ltda., General Motors of Canada, General Motors of Canada Company, General Motors-Holden's Sales, General Motors-Holden's Sales Pty. Limited, GigaPower LLC, Global Services Detroit, Global Services Detroit LLC, Global Tooling Service Company Europe, Global Tooling Service Company Europe Limited, Go Motor Retailing, Go Trade Parts, Grand Pointe Holdings, Grand Pointe Holdings Inc., Grand Pointe Park Condominium, Grand Pointe Park Condominium Association, H.S.H., Haines & Strange, Holden New Zealand, Holden New Zealand Limited, IBC Pension Trustees, IBC Pension Trustees Limited, IBC Vehicles, Lease Ownership Cooperative, Lease Ownership Cooperative LLC, Lidlington Engineering Company, Lidlington Engineering Company Ltd., Limited Liability Company "General Motors CIS", Master Lease Germany, Maven Drive, Maven Drive LLC, Millbrook Pension Management, Millbrook Pension Management Limited, Monetization of Carve-Out, Monetization of Carve-Out LLC, Motor Repris Automocio, Motors Holding, Motors Holding LLC, Motors Properties, Motors Properties (Trading), Multi-Use Lease Entity Trust, North American New Cars, North American New Cars LLC, Omnibus BB Transportes, Omnibus BB Transportes S. A., OnStar Connected Services Srl, OnStar Egypt Limited LLC, OnStar Europe, OnStar Europe Ltd., OnStar Global Services, OnStar Global Services Corporation, OnStar LLC, OnStar de Mexico, OnStar de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Opel Bank, Opel Danmark, Opel Group, Opel Group Warehousing, Opel Leasing, Opel Norge, Opel Sonderdienste, Opel Southeast Europe, Opel Sverige, Opel Szentgotthard Automotive Manufacturing, Opel Wien, P.T. G M AutoWorld Indonesia, P.T. General Motors Indonesia, PIMS, PIMS Co., PT. General Motors Indonesia Manufacturing, Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center Company Ltd., Prestadora de Servicios GMF Colombia S.A.S., Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, Reliance Motor Car Company, Riverfront Holdings III Inc., Riverfront Holdings Inc., Riverfront Holdings Phase II Inc., SAIC GM (Shenyang) Norsom Motors Co. Ltd., SAIC GM Dong Yue Motors Company Limited, SAIC GM Dong Yue Powertrain Company Limited, SAIC GM Wuling Automobile Company Limited, SAIC General Motors Corporation Limited, SAIC General Motors Investment Limited, SAIC General Motors Sales Company Limited, SAIC-GMAC Automotive Finance Company Limited, SAIC-GMF Leasing Co. Ltd., Servicios GMAC S.A. de C.V., Shanghai Chengxin Used Car Operation and Management Company Limited, Shanghai OnStar Telematics Co. Ltd., Sherwoods (Darlington) Limited, Sidecar Technologies, Skurrays Limited, Stam-Terberg Autobedrijven B. V., Strobe Inc., VHC Sub-Holdings (UK), Vauxhall Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Vehicle Asset Universal Leasing Trust, Vickers (Lakeside) Limited, Vision Motors Limited, WRE, WRE Inc., and Zona Franca Industrial Colmotores SAS.
The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 211 E. Russell Road LLC, Air-Relief, Belliss & Morcom Brasil, Belliss and Morcom, Boardwalk Enterprises, Charm Merger Sub Inc., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Canada, CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir Holman Ltd, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., CompAir UK Ltd, CompAir USA, Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Emco Wheaton, Emco Wheaton GmbH Branch, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton UK, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Propriety Limited (South Africa), GD Aria Holdings #2 Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First UK Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings, GD Global Holdings II, GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SA, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Services Ltd, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Hoffman, Gardner Denver Holdings, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica, Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd. Branch, Gardner Denver International, Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Intl Ltd Middle East Regional Rep Office, Gardner Denver Investments, Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan, Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd South Africa, Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd. Branch (Ireland), Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co, Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oberdorfer Pumps, Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Petroleum Pumps, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia, Gardner Denver SudAmerica S.r.l., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas, Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH, Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver UK, Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, Indonesia Foreign Trade Representative Office, LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MP Pumps Inc., Mako Compressors, Nash, Nash Elmo, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Robuschi, Rotary Compression Technologies, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Syltone, TCM Investments, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, TODO AB, Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS, Thomas Industries, Thomas Industries Inc., Tri-Continent Scientific, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, and Zinsser NA.
The following companies are subsidiares of MetLife: 1001 PROPERTIES LLC, 10700 WILSHIRE LLC, 1201 TAB MANAGER LLC, 150 NORTH RIVERSIDE PE MEMBER LLC, 1925 WJC OWNER LLC, 23RD STREET INVESTMENTS INC., 500 GRANT STREET ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, 500 GRANT STREET GP LLC, 60 11TH STREET LLC, 6104 HOLLYWOOD LLC, AFP GENESIS ADMINISTRADORA DE FONDOS Y FIDECOMISOS S.A., AFP PROVIDA S.A., AGENVITA S.R.L., ALICO EUROPEAN HOLDINGS LIMITED, ALICO HELLAS SINGLE MEMBER LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, ALICO OPERATIONS LLC, ALICO PROPERTIES INC., AMMETLIFE INSURANCE BERHAD, AMMETLIFE TAKAFUL BERHAD, American Life Insurance Company, BEST MARKET S.A., BIDV METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, BLOCK VISION HOLDINGS CORPORATION, BLOCK VISION OF TEXAS INC., BORDERLAND INVESTMENTS LIMITED, BOULEVARD RESIDENTIAL LLC, BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER LLC, CC HOLDCO MANAGER LLC, CHESTNUT FLATS WIND LLC, CLOSED JOINT-STOCK COMPANY MASTER D, COMPANIA INVERSORA METLIFE S.A., CORPORATE REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS LLC, COVA LIFE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, DAVIS VISION INC., DAVISVISION IPA INC., DELAWARE AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, DES MOINES CREEK BUSINESS PARK PHASE II LLC, ECONOMY FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY, ECONOMY PREFERRED INSURANCE COMPANY, ECONOMY PREMIER ASSURANCE COMPANY, EURO CL INVESTMENTS LLC, EXCELENCIA OPERATIVA Y TECNOLOGICA S.A de C.V., FEDERAL FLOOD CERTIFICATION LLC, FORTISSIMO CO. LTD, FUNDACION METLIFE MEXICO A.C., GLOBAL PROPERTIES INC., General American Life Insurance Company, Grand Bank N.A., HASKELL EAST VILLAGE LLC, HIGH STREET SEVENTH AND OSBORN APARTMENTS LLC, HOUSING FUND MANAGER LLC, INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL AND ADVISORY SERVICES LIMITED, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO DOS LIMITADA, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO TRES LIMITADA, JOINT-STOCK COMPANY METLIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, LHC HOLDINGS, LHCW HOLDINGS, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING LLC, LHCW HOTEL OPERATING COMPANY, LONG ISLAND SOLAR FARM LLC, LUMENLAB MALAYSIA SDN. BHD., Logan Circle Partners, MARKETPLACE RESIDENCES LLC, MAXIS GBN S.A.S., MC PORTFOLIO JV MEMBER LLC, MCJV LLC, MCMIF HOLDCO I LLC, MCMIF HOLDCO II LLC, MCP - WELLINGTON LLC, MCP 100 CONGRESS MEMBER LLC, MCP 1500 MICHAEL LLC, MCP 1900 MCKINNEY LLC, MCP 2 AMES LLC, MCP 2 AMES ONE LLC, MCP 2 AMES OWNER LLC, MCP 2 AMES TWO LLC, MCP 220 YORK LLC, MCP 22745 & 22755 RELOCATION DRIVE LLC, MCP 249 INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS PARK MEMBER LLC, MCP 3040 POST OAK LLC, MCP 350 ROHLWING LLC, MCP 4600 SOUTH SYRACUSE LLC, MCP 550 WEST WASHINGTON LLC, MCP 60 11TH STREET MEMBER LLC, MCP 7 RIVERWAY LLC, MCP 9020 MURPHY ROAD LLC, MCP 93 RED RIVER MEMBER LLC, MCP ALLEY 24 EAST LLC, MCP ASHTON SOUTH END LLC, MCP BLOCK 23 MEMBER LLC, MCP BRADFORD LLC, MCP BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER 2 MEMBER LLC, MCP BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER BLDG B LLC, MCP BURNSIDE MEMBER LLC, MCP CENTER AVENUE INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, MCP CLAWITER INNOVATION MEMBER LLC, MCP COMMON DESK TRS LLC, MCP DENVER PAVILIONS MEMBER LLC, MCP DILLON LLC, MCP DILLON RESIDENTIAL LLC, MCP ENV CHICAGO LLC, MCP FIFE ENTERPRISE CENTER LLC, MCP FRISCO OFFICE LLC, MCP GRAPEVINE LLC, MCP HIGHLAND PARK LENDER LLC, MCP HUB I LLC, MCP HUB I PROPERTY LLC, MCP LODGE AT LAKECREST LLC, MCP MA PROPERTY REIT LLC, MCP MAGNOLIA PARK MEMBER LLC, MCP MAIN STREET VILLAGE LLC, MCP MOUNTAIN TECHNOLOGY CENTER MEMBER TRS LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS HOLDCO LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS MASTER LESSEE LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS OWNER LLC, MCP ONE WESTSIDE LLC, MCP ONYX LLC, MCP PARAGON POINT LLC, MCP PLAZA AT LEGACY LLC, MCP PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, MCP SEATTLE GATEWAY INDUSTRIAL I LLC, MCP SEATTLE GATEWAY INDUSTRIAL II LLC, MCP SEVENTH AND OSBORNE MF MEMBER LLC, MCP SEVENTH AND OSBORNE RETAIL MEMBER LLC, MCP SHAKOPEE LLC, MCP SLEEPY HOLLOW MEMBER LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  ANAHEIM LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  BERNARDO LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  CANYON LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  CONCOURSE LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  FULLERTON LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  KELLWO00OD LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  LAX LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  LOKER LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  REDONDO LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  SPRINGDALE LLC, MCP STATELINE LLC, MCP THE PALMS AT DORAL LLC, MCP TRIMBLE CAMPUS LLC, MCP UNION ROW LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE ONE LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE OWNER LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE TWO LLC, MCP VANCE JACKSON LLC, MCP VINEYARD AVENUE MEMBER LLC, MCP VOA HOLDINGS LLC, MCP VOA I & III LLC, MCP VOA II LLC, MCP WATERFORD ATRIUM LLC, MCP WEST BROAD MARKETPLACE LLC, MCP  ENGLISH VILLAGE LLC, MCPF ACQUISITION LLC, MCPF FOXBOROUGH LLC, MCPF  NEEDHAM LLC, MCPP OWNERS LLC, MCRE BLOCK 40 LP, MEC HEALTH CARE INC., MET 1065 HOTEL LLC, MET CANADA SOLAR ULC, METLIFE 1007 STEWART LLC, METLIFE 1201 TAB MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MANAGER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 555 12TH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 8280 MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ACOMA OWNER LLC, METLIFE ADMINISTRADORA DE FUNDOS MULTIPATROCINADOS LTDA., METLIFE ALTERNATIVES GP LLC, METLIFE ASHTON AUSTIN OWNER LLC, METLIFE ASIA HOLDING COMPANY PTE. LTD., METLIFE ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE ASIA SERVICES SDN. BHD, METLIFE ASSET MANAGEMENT CORP., METLIFE ASSIGNMENT COMPANY INC., METLIFE AUTO & HOME INSURANCE AGENCY INC., METLIFE BL FEEDER, METLIFE BL FEEDER LP, METLIFE BORO STATION MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CABO HILTON MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAMINO RAMON MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAPITAL CREDIT L.P., METLIFE CAPITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, METLIFE CAPITAL TRUST IV, METLIFE CB W/A LLC, METLIFE CC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CHILE ADMINISTRADORA DE MUTUOS HIPOTECARIOS S.A., METLIFE CHILE INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A., METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS GENERALES S.A., METLIFE CHINO MEMBER LLC, METLIFE COLOMBIA SEGUROS de VIDA S.A., METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE INCOME FUND GP LLC, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE INCOME FUND LP, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR LLC, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE REIT LLC, METLIFE CONSQUARE MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CONSUMER SERVICES INC., METLIFE CORE PROPERTY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY FUND LP, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY REIT LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY TRS. LLC, METLIFE CREDIT CORP., METLIFE DIGITAL VENTURES INC., METLIFE EMEKLILIK VE HAYAT A.S., METLIFE EMERGING MARKET DEBT BLEND FUND, METLIFE EU HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE INSURANCE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPE SERVICES LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPEAN HOLDINGS LLC., METLIFE FINANCIAL SERVICES CO. LTD, METLIFE FM HOTEL MEMBER LLC, METLIFE FUNDING INC., METLIFE GENERAL INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE GLOBAL BENEFITS LTD., METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY I GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY II GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDINGS CORPORATION S.A. De C.V., METLIFE GLOBAL INC., METLIFE GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE GROUP INC., METLIFE HCMJV 1 GP LLC, METLIFE HCMJV 1 LP LLC, METLIFE HEALTH PLANS INC., METLIFE HOLDINGS INC., METLIFE HOME LOANS LLC, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE LIMITED, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE PTE. LTD., METLIFE INSURANCE AND INVESTMENT TRUST, METLIFE INSURANCE BROKERAGE INC., METLIFE INSURANCE K.K., METLIFE INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HF PARTNERS LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND I LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND II LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND III LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND IV LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND V LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VI LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VII LP, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENTS ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS PTY LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS SECURITIES LLC, METLIFE INVESTORS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, METLIFE INVESTORS GROUP LLC, METLIFE IRELAND TREASURY D.A.C., METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND LP, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS LLC, METLIFE LATIN AMERICA ASESORIAS E INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE LEGAL PLANS INC., METLIFE LEGAL PLANS OF FLORIDA INC., METLIFE LHH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE S.A., METLIFE LOAN ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE MAS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MEMBER SOLAIRE LLC, METLIFE MEXICO HOLDINGS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO S.A., METLIFE MEXICO SERVICIOS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT GP LLC, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL GP LLC, METLIFE MULTI-FAMILY PARTNERS III LLC, METLIFE MUTUAL FUND COMPANY, METLIFE OBS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE OFC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ONTARIO STREET MEMBR LLC, METLIFE PARK TOWER MEMBER LLC, METLIFE PENSION TRUSTEES LIMITED, METLIFE PENSIONES MEXICO S.A., METLIFE PET INSURANCE SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE PLANOS ODONTOLOGICOS LTDA., METLIFE POWSZECHNE TOWARTZYSTWO EMERYTALNE S.A., METLIFE PRIVATE EQUITY HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE PROPERTIES VENTURES LLC, METLIFE RC SF MEMBER LLC, METLIFE REAL ESTATE LENDING LLC, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF BERMUDA LTD., METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF CHARLESTON, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF VERMONT, METLIFE RETIREMENT SERVICES LLC, METLIFE SAENGMYOUNG INSURANCE COMPANY LTD., METLIFE SECURITIZATION DEPOSITOR LLC, METLIFE SEGUROS S.A., METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FINCO LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FUND LP, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING GP LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING HOLDINGS LP, METLIFE SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE SERVICES CYPRUS LIMITED, METLIFE SERVICES EAST PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE SERVICES EEIG, METLIFE SERVICES EOOD, METLIFE SERVICES SOCIEDAD LIMITADA, METLIFE SERVICES SP Z.O.O, METLIFE SERVICIOS S.A., METLIFE SLOVAKIA S.R.O. V LIKVIDACII, METLIFE SOLUTIONS PTE. LTD., METLIFE SOLUTIONS S.A.S., METLIFE SP HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE SYNDICATED BANK LOAN FUND SCSP, METLIFE SYNDICATED BANK LOAN LUX GP S.A.R.L., METLIFE THR INVESTOR LLC, METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO FUNDUSZY INWESTYCYJNYCH S.A., METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEN NA ZYCIE I REASEKURACJI S.A., METLIFE TOWER RESOURCES GROUP INC., METLIFE TREAT TOWERS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS LLC, METROPOLITAN CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN DIRECT PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC., METROPOLITAN GROUP PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN LIFE SEGUROS E PREVIDENCIA PRIVADA S.A., METROPOLITAN LIFE SOCIETATE de ADMINISTRARE a UNUI FOND de PENSII ADMINISTRAT PRIVAT S.A., METROPOLITAN LLOYDS INC., METROPOLITAN LLOYDS INSURANCE COMPANY OF TEXAS, METROPOLITAN PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN TOWER LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN TOWER REALTY COMPANY INC., MEX DF PROPERTIES LLC, MFA FINANCING VEHICLE CTR1 LLC, MIDTOWN HEIGHTS LLC, MIM CLAL GENERAL PARTNER LLC, MIM EMD GP LLC, MIM I LLC, MIM METWEST INTERNATIONAL MANAGER LLC, MIM ML-AI VENTURE 5 MANAGER LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT OF GEORGIA 1 LLC, MIM THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MANAGER LLC, MISSOURI REINSURANCE INC., ML - URS PORT CHESTER SC MANAGER LLC, ML 300 THIRD MEMBER LLC, ML ARMATURE MEMBER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MANAGER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MEMBER LLC, ML BRIDGESIDE APARTMENTS LLC, ML CAPACITACION COMERCIAL S.A. DE C.V., ML CERRITOS TC MEMBER LLC, ML CLAL MEMBER LLC, ML DOLPHIN GP LLC, ML DOLPHIN MEZZ LLC, ML MATSON MILLS MEMBER LLC, ML MILILANI MEMBER LLC, ML ONE BEDMINSTER LLC, ML PORT CHESTER SC MEMBER LLC, ML SENTINEL SQUARE MEMBER LLC, ML SLOANS LAKE MEMEBR LLC, ML SOUTHLANDS MEMBER LLC, ML SOUTHMORE LLC, ML SWAN GP LLC, ML SWAN MEZZ LLC, ML TERRACES LLC, ML THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, ML VENTURE 1 MANAGER S. DE R. L. DE C.V., ML VENTURE 1 SERVICER LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 1 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 2 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 3 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 4 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 5 LLC, MLIA MANAGER I LLC, MLIA PARK TOWER MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF COLONY MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF MANAGER LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS II LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS LLC, MLIC CB HOLDINGS LLC, MLJ US FEEDER LLC, MM GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER S.A. DE C.V., MMP CEDAR STREET OWNER LLC, MMP CEDAR STREET REIT LLC, MMP HOLDINGS III LLC, MMP OLIVIAN OWNER LLC, MMP OLIVIAN REIT LLC, MMP OWNERS III LLC, MMP OWNERS LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK OWNER LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK REIT LLC, MREF 425 MKT LLC, MSV IRVINE PROPERTY LLC, MTC FUND I LLC, MTC FUND II LLC, MTC FUND III LLC, MTL LEASING LLC, MTU HOTEL OWNER LLC, NATILOPORTEM HOLDINGS LLC, NEWBURY INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, OCONEE GOLF COMPANY LLC, OCONEE HOTEL COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LLC, OCONEE MARINA COMPANY LLC, OMI MLIC INVESTMENTS LIMITED, PACIFIC LOGISTICS INDUSTRIAL SOUTH LLC, PARK TOWER JV MEMBER LLC, PARK TOWER REIT INC., PJSC METLIFE, PLAZA DRIVE PROPERTIES LLC, PNB METLIFE INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, PREFCO FOURTEEN LLC, PREFCO XIV HOLDINGS LLC, PROVIDA INTERNACIONAL S.A., SAFEGUARD HEALTH ENTERPRISES INC., SAFEGUARD HEALTH PLANS INC., SAFEHEALTH LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, SEVENTH AND OSBORN MF VENTURE LLC, SINO-US UNITED METLIFE INSURANCE CO. LTD., SOUTHCREEK INDUSTRIAL HOLDINGS LLC, ST. JAMES FLEET INVESTMENTS TWO LIMITED, SUPERIOR PROCUREMENT INC, SUPERIOR VISION BENEFIT MANAGEMENT INC., SUPERIOR VISION HOLDINGS INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE PLAN OF WISCONSIN INC., SUPERIOR VISION OF NEW JERSEY INC., SUPERIOR VISION SERVICES INC., Safeguard Health Enterprises, Security First Group Inc., THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH AVENUE MEZZANINE LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL HOLDING LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL OWNER, THE DIRECT CALL CENTRE PTY LIMITED, TRANSMOUNTAIN LAND & LIVESTOCK COMPANY, UVC INDEPENDENT PRACTICE ASSOCIATION INC., VERSANT HEALTH CONSOLIDATIONS CORP., VERSANT HEALTH HOLDCO INC., VERSANT HEALTH LAB LLC, VIRIDIAN MIRACLE MILE LLC, VISION 21 MANAGED EYE CARE OF TAMPA BAY, VISION 21 PHYSICIAN PRACTICE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, VISION TWENTY-ONE MANAGED EYE CARE IPA INC., Versant Health, WDV ACQUISITION CORP., WFP 1000 HOLDING COMPANY GP LLC, WHITE OAK ROYALTY COMPANY, and WHITE TRACT II LLC.
Nevsun Resources Ltd. engages in the mining and development of mineral properties in Europe, Africa, and North America. It explores for gold, copper, zinc, and silver deposits. The company's principal assets include Timok project, a copper-gold development project in Serbia; and Bisha copper- zinc mine in Eritrea. It also holds exploration licenses and permits in Serbia and Macedonia, as well as in the Bisha mining district. The company was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. As of January 7, 2019, Nevsun Resources Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Company Limited.

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RATIONAL Aktiengesellschaft develops, produces, and sells professional cooking appliances for industrial kitchens worldwide. It offers SelfCookingCenter and CombiMaster Plus combi-steamers, as well as care products for combi-steamers; VarioCooking Center, a multifunctional cooking appliance that cooks in liquids or direct contact with heat; and ConnectedCooking connectivity solution, an online portal for the professional kitchen. The company also provides accessories, service parts, and services for its products. It serves restaurants and hotels; catering operations, such as company canteens, hospitals, schools, universities, military facilities, prisons, and retirement homes; and quick service restaurants, caterers, supermarkets, bakeries, snack outlets, butchers' shops, and service stations. The company sells its products through independent distribution partners. RATIONAL Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Landsberg am Lech, Germany.

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The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. It also provides credit cards; real estate secured lending; auto finance; consumer lending; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, private banking, investment advisory, and trust services to retail and institutional clients; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to companies, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,085 branches, 3,440 automated teller machines, and 1,223 stores, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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Wall Street analysts have given VanEck China Bond ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but VanEck China Bond ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.
Vivendi SE operates as a content, media, and communication company in France, the rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Africa. It operates through Universal Music Group, Canal+ Group, Havas Group, Editis, Gameloft, Vivendi Village, and New Initiatives segments. The Universal Music Group segment engages in the sale of digital and physical recorded music; and exploitation of music publishing rights, as well as provision of the artist and merchandising services. The Canal+ Group segment publishes and distributes premium and thematic pay-TV and free-to-air channels; and produces, sells, and distributes movies and TV series. The Havas Group segment includes communications disciplines, such as creativity, media expertise, and healthcare/wellness. The Editis segment engages in the publishing of literature, educational, and reference books, as well as selling and distribution of books. The Gameloft segment engages in the creation and publishing of downloadable video games for mobile phones, tablets, triple-play boxes, and smart TVs. The Vivendi Village segment provides ticketing services and live performances through Olympia production, festival production, and venues. The New Initiatives segment operates Dailymotion, a video content aggregation and distribution platform, as well as develops ultra-high-speed Internet service. Vivendi SA was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

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Trecora Resources manufactures and sells various specialty petrochemical products and synthetic waxes in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Petrochemical and Specialty Waxes. The Petrochemical segment offers hydrocarbons and other petroleum based products, including isopentane, normal pentane, isohexane, and hexane for use in the production of polyethylene, packaging, polypropylene, expandable polystyrene, poly-iso/urethane foams, and crude oil from the Canadian tar sands, as well as in the catalyst support industry. It also owns and operates pipelines. The Specialty Waxes segment provides specialty polyethylene for use in the paints and inks, adhesives, coatings, and PVC lubricants markets; and specialized synthetic poly alpha olefin waxes for use as toner in printers, as well as additives for candles. The company also provides custom processing services; and produces copper and zinc concentrates, and silver and gold dore. Trecora Resources was formerly known as Arabian American Development Company and changed its name to Trecora Resources in June 2014. Trecora Resources was founded in 1967 and is based in Sugar Land, Texas.

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Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 1,400 bank branches and 4,800 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

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SunTrust Banks, Inc. operates as the holding company for SunTrust Bank that provides various financial services for consumers, businesses, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit entities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Wholesale. The Consumer segment provides deposits and payments; home equity and personal credit lines; auto, student, and other lending products; credit cards; discount/online and full-service brokerage products; professional investment advisory products and services; and trust services, as well as family office solutions. This segment also offers residential mortgage products in the secondary market. The Wholesale segment provides capital markets solutions, including advisory, capital raising, and financial risk management; asset-based financing solutions, such as securitizations, asset-based lending, equipment financing, and structured real estate arrangements; cash management services and auto dealer financing solutions; investment banking solutions; and credit and deposit, fee-based product offering, multi-family agency lending, advisory, commercial mortgage brokerage, and tailored financing and equity investment solutions. This segment also offers treasury and payment solutions, such as operating various electronic and paper payment types, which comprise card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, check, and cash; and provides services clients to manage their accounts online. The company offers its products and services through a network of traditional and in-store branches, automated teller machines, Internet, mobile, and telephone banking channels. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 1,218 full-service banking offices located in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Banks, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Bunge Ltd. operates as a holding company, which engages in the supply and transportation of agricultural commodities. It operates through the following segments: Agribusiness, Edible Oil Products, Milling Products, Sugar and Bioenergy, and Fertilizer. The Agribusiness segment involves in the purchase, storage, transportation, processing, and sale of agricultural commodities and commodity products. The Edible Oil Products segment includes production and sale of vegetable oils, shortenings, margarines, and mayonnaise. The Milling Products segment consists of production and sale of wheat flours, bakery mixes, corn-based products, and rice. The Sugar and Bioenergy segment comprises manufacture and marketing of sugar and ethanol derived from sugarcane, as well as energy derived from the sugar and ethanol production process. The Fertilizer segment focuses on producing, blending, and distributing fertilizer products for the agricultural industry. The company was founded by Johann Peter Gottlieb Bunge in 1818 and is headquartered in Chesterfield, MO.

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Weatherford International plc, an oilfield service company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere. It offers artificial lift systems, including reciprocating rod, progressing cavity pumping, gas, hydraulic, plunger, and hybrid lift systems, as well as related automation and control systems; pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, such as acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing, and coiled-tubing intervention; and drill stem test tools, and surface well testing and multiphase flow measurement services. The company also provides safety, downhole reservoir monitoring, flow control, and multistage fracturing systems, as well as sand-control technologies, and production and isolation packers; liner hangers to suspend a casing string in high-temperature and high-pressure wells; cementing products, including plugs, float and stage equipment, and torque-and-drag reduction technology for zonal isolation; and pre-job planning and installation services. In addition, it offers directional drilling services, and logging and measurement services while drilling; services related to rotary-steerable systems, high-temperature and high-pressure sensors, drilling reamers, and circulation subs; managed pressure drilling, conventional mud-logging, drilling instrumentation, gas analysis, wellsite consultancy, and open hole and cased-hole logging services; reservoir solutions and software products; and intervention and remediation services. Further, the company provides equipment and drilling tools; tubular handling, management, and connection services; equipment rental services; and onshore contract drilling and related services through a fleet of land drilling and workover rigs. Weatherford International plc was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

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Royal Dutch Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company worldwide. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Oil Products, Chemicals segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles and marine vessels. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, aviation fuel, marine fuel, biofuel, lubricants, bitumen, and sulphur; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Royal Dutch Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Sysco: 2234829 Alberta ULC, 2234842 Alberta ULC, A. M. Briggs Inc., A.M. Briggs, Almacen Fiscal Frionet Caldera S.A., Almacen Fiscal Frionet Limon S.A., Appert's Foodservice, Arnotts (Fruit) Limited, Asian Foods, Bahamas Food Holdings Limited, Bahamas Food Services Limited, Brake Bros, Brake Bros Foodservice Ireland Limited, Brake Bros. Foodservice Limited, Brake Bros. Holding I Limited, Brake Bros. Ltd., Brakes Foodservice NI Limited, Buchy Food Service, Buckhead Beef Co., Buckhead Meat & Seafood of Houston Inc., Buckhead Meat Company, Buckhead Meat Midwest Inc., Buckhead Meat of Dallas Inc., Buckhead Meat of Denver Inc., Buckhead Meat of San Antonio LP, Buzztable Inc., CAKE Corporation, Central Seafood Co., Christys Wine & Spirits Limited, Clafra Aktiebolag, Colorado Boxed Beef Co - Specialty meat-cutting division, Corporacion Frionet Sociedad Anonima, Crossgar Foodservice, Crossgar Foodservice Limited, Crown I Enterprises Inc., Cucina Acquisitions (UK) Limited, Cucina Finance (UK) Limited, Cucina French Holdings Limited, Cucina Fresh Finance Limited, Cucina Fresh Investments Limited, Cucina Lux Investments Limited, Curleys Quality Foods Limited (Third Party), Davigel Belgilux S.A., Davigel Espana S.A., Desert Meats & Provisions, Distagro, Doerle Food Service, Doughtie's Foods Inc., Dust Bowl City LLC, Eko Fagel Fisk o mittemellan AB, Enclave Insurance Company, Enclave Parkway Association Inc., Enclave Properties LLC, European Imports, European Imports Inc., Figg Inc., Freedman Meats, Freedman Meats Inc., Freedman-KB Inc., Fresh Direct (UK) Limited, Fresh Direct Group Limited, Fresh Direct Limited, Fresh Holdings Limited, FreshPoint, FreshPoint Arizona Inc., FreshPoint Atlanta Inc., FreshPoint California Inc., FreshPoint Central California Inc., FreshPoint Central Florida Inc., FreshPoint Connecticut LLC, FreshPoint Dallas Inc., FreshPoint Denver Inc., FreshPoint Hawaii LLC, FreshPoint Inc., FreshPoint Las Vegas Inc., FreshPoint North Carolina Inc., FreshPoint North Florida Inc., FreshPoint Oklahoma City LLC, FreshPoint Pompano Real Estate LLC, FreshPoint Puerto Rico LLC, FreshPoint San Francisco Inc., FreshPoint South Florida Inc., FreshPoint South Texas Inc., FreshPoint Southern California Inc., FreshPoint Tomato LLC, FreshPoint Vancouver Ltd., Freshfayre Limited, Fruktservice i Helsingborg AB, GHS Classic Drinks Limited, Gilchrist & Soames Inc., Gilchrist & Soames UK Limited, Guest Packaging LLC, Guest Supply, Guest Supply Asia Limited, Guest Supply Singapore Pte. Ltd., International Food Group, Isakssons Frukt & Gront AB, J & M Wholesale Meats, J. Kings Food Service Professionals, J. Kings Food Service Professionals Inc., Kent Frozen Foods, Les Ateliers Du Gout, Liquid Assets Limited, M&J Seafood Holdings Limited, M&J Seafood Limited, Manchester Mills LLC, Mayca Autoservicio S.A., Mayca Distribuidores S.A., Menigo Foodservice AB, Mitshim Etatu Supply LP, Newport Meat Company, Newport Meat Northern California Inc., Newport Meat Pacific Northwest Inc., Newport Meat Southern California Inc., Newport Meat of Nevada Inc., North Star Holding Corporation, North Star Seafood, North Star Seafood Acquisition Corporation, North Star Seafood LLC, PFS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Palisades Ranch Inc., Pallas Foods, Pallas Foods Farm Fresh Unlimited Company, Pallas Foods Unlimited Company, Pauleys Produce Limited, Promotora del Servicios S.A. de C.V., Restaurangakdemien AB, Restaurant of Tomorrow Inc., Rohan Viandes Elaboration SAS, SMS Bermuda Holdings, SMS GPC International Limited, SMS GPC International Resources Limited, SMS Global Holdings S.a.r.l., SMS International Resources Ireland Unlimited Company, SMS Lux Holdings LLC, SOTF LLC, SYY Netherlands C.V., SYY Panama S. de R.L., Serca Foodservice, Servicestyckarna I Johannes AB, Servicios Ameriserve S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Guest Supply Trading Co. Limited, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Bianchi Montegut, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Boiseau, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Garcelles, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) J.D. Lanjouan, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Le Dauphin, Specialty Meat Holdings LLC, Stockflag Limited, Stockholms Fiskauktion AB, Supplies on the Fly, Sysco Albany LLC, Sysco Asian Foods Inc., Sysco Atlanta LLC, Sysco Autoservicio S.A., Sysco Baltimore LLC, Sysco Baraboo LLC, Sysco Bermuda Partners L.P., Sysco Boston LLC, Sysco Canada Holdings S.a.r.l., Sysco Canada Inc., Sysco Central Alabama LLC, Sysco Central California Inc., Sysco Central Florida Inc., Sysco Central Illinois Inc., Sysco Central Pennsylvania LLC, Sysco Charlotte LLC, Sysco Chicago Inc., Sysco Cincinnati LLC, Sysco Cleveland Inc., Sysco Columbia LLC, Sysco Connecticut LLC, Sysco Corporation, Sysco Corporation Director's Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Employee's 401(k) Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Executive Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Good Government Committee Inc., Sysco Corporation Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Executive Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Plan Trust, Sysco Detroit LLC, Sysco Disaster Relief Foundation Inc., Sysco EI VI S. s.r.l., Sysco EU II S.a.r.l., Sysco EU III S.a.r.l., Sysco EU IV Capital Unlimited Company, Sysco EU IV S. s.r.l.., Sysco EU V S. s.r.l., Sysco Eastern Maryland LLC, Sysco Eastern Wisconsin LLC, Sysco Foundation Inc., Sysco France Holding SAS, Sysco France SAS, Sysco George Town II LLC, Sysco George Town Limited S. s.r.l.., Sysco Global Finance LLC, Sysco Global Finance LLP, Sysco Global Holdings B.V., Sysco Global Resources LLC, Sysco Global Services LLC, Sysco Grand Cayman Company, Sysco Grand Cayman II Company, Sysco Grand Cayman III Company, Sysco Grand Rapids LLC, Sysco Guernsey Limited, Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc., Sysco Guest Supply Europe Goods Wholesalers LLC, Sysco Guest Supply Europe Limited, Sysco Guest Supply LLC, Sysco Gulf Coast LLC, Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Sysco Hawaii Inc., Sysco Holdings II LLC, Sysco Holdings LLC, Sysco Indianapolis LLC, Sysco International Food Group Inc., Sysco International Inc., Sysco Iowa Inc., Sysco Jackson LLC, Sysco Jacksonville Inc., Sysco Kansas City Inc., Sysco Knoxville LLC, Sysco Labs Europe Limited, Sysco Labs Pvt. Ltd., Sysco Leasing LLC, Sysco Lincoln Inc., Sysco Lincoln Transportation Company Inc., Sysco Long Island LLC, Sysco Los Angeles Inc., Sysco Louisville Inc., Sysco Memphis LLC, Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Canada Inc., Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Inc., Sysco Metro New York LLC, Sysco Minnesota Inc., Sysco Montana Inc., Sysco Nashville LLC, Sysco Netherlands Partners LLC, Sysco North Central Florida Inc., Sysco North Dakota Inc., Sysco Northern New England Inc., Sysco Philadelphia LLC, Sysco Pittsburgh LLC, Sysco Portland Inc., Sysco Raleigh LLC, Sysco Resources Services LLC, Sysco Riverside Inc., Sysco Sacramento Inc., Sysco San Diego Inc., Sysco San Francisco Inc., Sysco Seattle Inc., Sysco South Florida Inc., Sysco Southeast Florida LLC, Sysco Spain Holdings SLU, Sysco Spokane Inc., Sysco St. Louis LLC, Sysco Syracuse LLC, Sysco Technologies Cayman Ltd., Sysco Technologies LLC, Sysco UK Holdings Limited, Sysco UK Limited, Sysco UK Partners LLP, Sysco USA I Inc., Sysco USA II LLC, Sysco USA III LLC, Sysco Ventura Inc., Sysco Ventures Inc., Sysco Virginia LLC, Sysco West Coast Florida Inc., Sysco Western Minnesota Inc., The SYGMA Network Inc., Upsys, Victua SAS, Walker Foods Inc., Waugh Foods, and Wild Harvest Limited.
The following companies are subsidiares of Prudential Financial: 210-220 E. 22nd Street SSGA Owner LLC, AIG Edison, AIG Star, AREF Cayman Co Ltd., AREF GP II Pte. Ltd., AREF GP Ltd., ASPF II - Feeder Fund GmbH, ASPF II - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, ASPF II Management GmbH, ASPF III (Scots) L.P., ASSURANCE, AST Investment Services Inc., Adlerwerke CB Investment LLC, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat S.A., Administradora de Inversiones Previsionales SpA, Aoba Life Insurance Company, Asia Property Fund III GP S.a.r.l., Assurance IQ LLC, Assurance Intelligence LLC, BSC CP LP, Braeloch Holdings Inc., Braeloch Successor Corporation, Brazilian Capital Fund GP Limited, Broad Street Global Advisors LLC, Broome Street Holdings LLC, CB German Retail LLC, CLIS Co. Ltd., COLICO INC., Campus Drive LLC, Capital Agricultural Property Services Inc., Chadwick Boulevard Investment Holdings Co. LLC, Cibecue LLC, Coconino LLC, Colico II Inc., Columbus Drive Partners L.P., Commerce Street Holdings LLC, Commerce Street Investments LLC, Coolidge LLC, Coral Reef GP, Coral Reef L.P., Coral Reef Unit Trust, Cottage Street Investments LLC, Cottage Street Orbit Acquisition LLC, DHFL PRAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, DICKENS AVENUE HOLDINGS VI LLC, DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI (Ireland) L.P., DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI (US) L.P., Don Cesar Investor LLC, Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Dryden Finance II LLC, EVP II GP S.a r.l., EVP II Sweden Resi I GP S.a r.l., Edison Place Senior Note LLC, Essex LLC, EuroCore GP S.a r.l., European Value Partners GP S.a.r.l., Everbright PGIM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Flagstaff LLC, GA 1600 Commons LLC, GA 333 Hennepin Investor LLC, GA BV LLC, GA Bay Area GP LLC, GA Bay Area Investor LLC, GA Belden LLC, GA CLARENDON LLC, GA Cal Crossings LLC, GA Collins LLC, GA E. 22nd Street Apartments Holdings LLC, GA East 86 Street LLC, GA JHCII LLC, GA MENLO PARK INVESTOR LLC, GA Manor at Harbour Island LLC, GA Metro LLC, GA Mission LLC, GA TRITON INVESTOR LLC, GA W Paces LLC, GA/MDI 333 Hennepin Associates LLC, GIBRALTAR BSN HOLDINGS SDN BHD, GIBRALTAR INDIA SOLUTIONS LLP, Gateway Holdings II LLC, Gateway Holdings LLC, German Retail Income CP LP, Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, Gibraltar International Insurance Services Company Inc., Gibraltar International Service LLC, Gibraltar Reinsurance Company Ltd., Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company, Glenealy International Limited, Global Portfolio Strategies Inc., Gold GP Limited, Gold II L.P., Gold L.P., Graham Resources Inc., Graham Royalty Ltd., Green Tree GP, Green Tree L.P., Greenlee LLC, Halsey Street Investments LLC, Hirakata LLC, IVP Fund GP LLC, Impact Investments Bridges UK S.a.r.l, Inter-Atlantic G Fund L.P., Inversiones Previsionales Chile SpA, Inversiones Previsionales Dos SpA, Ironbound Fund LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Kyarra S.a r.l., Kyoei Annuity Home Co. Ltd., LINEUP LLC, Lake Street Partners IV L.P., MC GA COLLINS HOLDINGS LLC, MC GA COLLINS REALTY LLC, MC Insurance Agency Services LLC, Manor at Harbour Island LLC, Marble Canyon LLC, Maricopa LLC, Market Street Holdings IV LLC, Morenci LLC, Mulberry Street Holdings LLC, Mulberry Street Investment L.P., Mulberry Street Partners LLC, Mullin TBG Insurance Agency Services LLC, MullinTBG Insurance Agency Services, National Family Assurance Group LLC, New Savanna, Orchard Street Acres Inc., PAI Bay Farm LLC, PAI Bayrock Groves LLC, PAI Belvidere Farms LLC, PAI Big Cypress Farm LLC, PAI Corcoran 640 Ranch LLC, PAI DeKalb Farm LLC, PAI Delano 1500 Ranches LLC, PAI Flicker Orchard LLC, PAI Good Hope Farm LLC, PAI Hawk Creek Ranch LLC, PAI Hills Valley Ranches LLC, PAI Holly Hill Groves LLC, PAI Hunt Farm LLC, PAI Jackson Bayou Farm LLC, PAI Lake Placid Groves LLC, PAI Wallula Gap Vineyard LLC, PCP V Cayman AIV GP L.P., PEREF II Co-Invest 1 GP S.a r.l., PEREF II GP S.a r.l., PEREF II PV S.r.l, PFI EM-Tech Fund I LLC, PG Business Service Co. Ltd, PG Collection Service Co. Ltd., PGA Asian Retail Limited, PGA European Limited, PGI Co. Ltd, PGIM (Australia) Pty Ltd, PGIM (Hong Kong) Ltd., PGIM (Scots) Limited, PGIM (Shanghai) Company Ltd., PGIM (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PGIM AVP IV GP S.a r.l., PGIM Advisory (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PGIM Agricultural Investments GP LLC, PGIM Agricultural Investors LP, PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Fund L.P., PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Partners LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management (Feeder) VI LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Fund VI L.P., PGIM European Financing Limited, PGIM European Services Limited, PGIM Financial Limited, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund II L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives GP LLC, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives II GP LLC, PGIM Foreign Investments Inc., PGIM Holding Company LLC, PGIM INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM INDIA TRUSTEES PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM Inc., PGIM International Financing Inc., PGIM Investments LLC, PGIM Japan Co. Ltd., PGIM Korea Inc., PGIM LTIF Berlin GP S.a r.l., PGIM LTIF Berlin MLP S.ar.l., PGIM LTIF GP S.a.r.l., PGIM Limited, PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited, PGIM M Campus GP S.a r.l., PGIM Management Partner Limited, PGIM MetaProp Investor LP LLC, PGIM Netherlands B.V., PGIM Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Company Ltd, PGIM Private Capital (Ireland) Limited, PGIM Private Capital Limited, PGIM Private Placement Investors Inc., PGIM Private Placement Investors L.P., PGIM REF EUROPE SCSp, PGIM REF Europe GP S.a r.l., PGIM REF Europe Member LLC, PGIM REF Intermediary Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate (Japan) Ltd., PGIM Real Estate (UK) Limited, PGIM Real Estate CD S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Capital VII GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest L.P., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest SCSp, PGIM Real Estate Co-Invest Holdings LLC, PGIM Real Estate Debt GmbH, PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company, PGIM Real Estate Finance LLC, PGIM Real Estate France SAS, PGIM Real Estate Germany AG, PGIM Real Estate Global Debt GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles S. de R.L. de C.V, PGIM Real Estate Italy S.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Loan Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate Luxembourg S.A., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Management Luxembourg S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C., PGIM Real Estate S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate U.S. Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management (Feeder) I LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management Fund I L.P., PGIM Strategic Financing LLC, PGIM Strategic Investments Inc., PGIM USPF VI Manager LLC, PGIM Warehouse Inc., PGLH of Delaware Inc., PIFM Holdco LLC, PIIC Limited, PIISC Holdings (UK) Limited, PIM KF Blocker Holdings LLC, PIM KF Blocker V Holdings LLC, PIM USPF V Manager LLC, PLA Administradora Industrial SRL, PLA Administradora LLC, PLA Administradora S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional II S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional S.de R.L. de C.V., PLA Co-Investor LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager I LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager II LLC, PLA Mexico Residential Manager I LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Limited Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund III Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund IV Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Residential Fund IV Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Blue LP, PLA Retail Fund I LP, PLA Retail Fund I Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Red LP, PLA Retail Fund II Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LP, PLA Retail Fund II Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II U.S. Carry/Co-Invest LP, PLA Services Manager Mexico LLC, PLAI Limited, PMCF Holdings LLC, PMCF Properties LLC, PPPF General Partner LLP, PR GA SCP Apartments LLC, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP (SCOTS FEEDER) LLP, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP LLP, PRECO ACCOUNT III LLC, PRECO ACCOUNT PARTNERSHIP III LP, PRECO Account IV LLC, PRECO Account Partnership IV LP, PRECO III GP LLP, PREFG Hanwha Manager LLC, PREI Acquisition I Inc., PREI Acquisition II Inc., PREI Acquisition LLC, PREI HYDG LLC, PREI International Inc., PRIAC Property Acquisitions LLC, PRICOA Management Partner Limited, PRISA Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Pooled Manager LLC, PRISA III Fund GP LLC, PRISA III Fund PIM LLC, PRREF II Fund Manager LLC, PRU 3XSquare LLC, PRUCO LLC, PRUDENTIAL CAPITAL ENERGY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT (FEEDER) LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP MEMBER LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP REIT LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE 2 LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE LLC, PT PFI Mega Life Insurance, Passaic Fund LLC, Pine Tree GP, Pine Tree L.P., Platinum GP Limited, Platinum II L.P., Platinum L.P., Pramerica (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited, Pramerica (Luxembourg) CP GP S.a.r.l., Pramerica (Scots) CP GP LLP, Pramerica Business Consulting (Shanghai) Company Limited, Pramerica EVP CP LP, Pramerica Financial Asia Headquarters Pte. Ltd., Pramerica Financial Asia Limited, Pramerica Fixed Income Funds Management Limited, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Pramerica General Partner LLP, Pramerica Holdings Ltd, Pramerica Insurance Agency (China) Company Ltd., Pramerica PRECAP I GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP II GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP III GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP IV GP LLP, Pramerica Pan European Real Estate (Scots) LP, Pramerica Property Partners Fund (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I GP (Scots Feeder) LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital II (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital III (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP (Scots Feeder) LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Limited, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V (Netherlands) GP LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital VI (Scots) Limited Partnership, Pramerica SGR S.p.A, Pramerica Systems Ireland Limited, Preco III (Scotland) Limited Partnership, Pru 101 Wood LLC, Pru Alpha Partners I LLC, Pru Fixed Income Emerging Markets Partners I LLC, PruVen Capital Partners Fund I L.P., Pruco Assignment Corporation, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, Pruco Securities LLC, Prudential 900 Aviation Boulevard LLC, Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC, Prudential Agricultural Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Annuities Distributors Inc., Prudential Annuities Holding Company Inc., Prudential Annuities Inc., Prudential Annuities Information Services & Technology Corporation, Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company, Prudential Bank & Trust FSB, Prudential Capital Energy Opportunity Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners Management Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Partners Management Fund IV L.P., Prudential Capital and Investment Services LLC, Prudential Chile II SpA, Prudential Chile SpA, Prudential Commercial Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Customer Solutions LLC, Prudential Equity Group LLC, Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, Prudential Fixed Income Global Liquidity Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Fixed Income U.S. Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Funding LLC, Prudential General Services of Japan Y.K., Prudential Gibraltar Agency Co. Ltd., Prudential Global Funding LLC, Prudential Holdings of Japan Inc., Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates LLC, Prudential IBH Holdco Inc., Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Debt LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Equity LLC, Prudential Industrial Properties LLC, Prudential Insurance Agency LLC, Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd., Prudential International Insurance Service Company L.L.C., Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC, Prudential International Investments Company LLC, Prudential International Investments LLC, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, Prudential Japan Holdings LLC, Prudential Legacy Insurance Company of New Jersey, Prudential Life Insurance Company of Taiwan Inc., Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 1 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 2 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Capital Asset Holding Company LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage LLC, Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC, Prudential Newark Realty LLC, Prudential QOZ Investment Fund 1 LLC, Prudential Realty Securities Inc., Prudential Retirement Financial Services Holding LLC, Prudential Retirement Holdings LLC, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corporation, Prudential Securities Structured Assets Inc., Prudential Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., Prudential Seguros S.A., Prudential Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Prudential Structured Settlement Company, Prudential Systems Japan Limited, Prudential Term Reinsurance Company, Prudential Trust Co. Ltd., Prudential Trust Company, Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group Services LLC, Prudential do Brasil Seguros de Vida S.A., Prudential do Brasil Vida em Grupo S.A., Prudential/TMW Real Estate Group LLC, Pruservicos Participacoes Ltda., QMA JP EM All Cap Equity Partners LLC, QMA LLC, QMA Wadhwani LLP, Quartzsite LLC, Residential Services Corporation of America LLC, Rio CP LP, Rock European Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock Global Real Estate LLC, Rock Kensington Limited, Rock Marty GP S.a r.l., Rock Oxford S.a r.l., Rock UK Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock UK Real Estate II S.a.r.l., Rockstone Co. Ltd., Rosado Grande LLC, Ross Avenue Energy Fund Holdings LLC, Ross Avenue Minerals 2012 LLC, SCP Apartments LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERS VI GP LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND VI GP LLC, SHP IV Carried Interest LP, SHP V Carried Interest L.P., SMP Holdings Inc., SVIIT Holdings Inc., Sanei Collection Service Co. Ltd. (Kabushiki Kaisha Sanei Shuuno Service), Senior Housing Partners IV L.L.C., Senior Housing Partners V LLC, Senior Housing Partnership Fund IV L.L.C., Senior Housing Partnership Fund V LLC, Sterling Private Placement Management LLP, Stetson Street Partners L.P., Strand Investments Limited, TBG Insurance Services Corporation, TENSATOR HOLDINGS LTD, TF Proveedora S.C., TMW ASPF I Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, TMW ASPF Management GmbH, TMW Management LLC, TMW Real Estate Group LLC, TMW Realty Advisors LLC, TMW USPF Verwaltungs GmbH, TRGOAG Company Inc., The Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy (US) Fund GP LLC, The Prudential Assigned Settlement Services Corp., The Prudential Brazilian Capital Fund LP, The Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Prudential Home Mortgage Company Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd., The Prudential Real Estate Financial Services of America Inc., The WMF Group, Thurloe Commercial Guernsey Limited, Times Square Center Associates, USPF V - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, USPF V Carry LLC, USPF V Co-Invest LLC, USPF V Investment LP, United States Property Fund VI GP S.a r.l., Vailsburg Fund LLC, Vantage Casualty Insurance Company, Wabash Avenue Holdings V LLC, Wabash Avenue Partners V L.P., Wadhwani Capital Limited, Waveland Avenue Holdings I LLC, Waveland Avenue Partners I (Ireland) L.P., Waveland Avenue Partners I (US) L.P., Wellness Services Ecossistema De Bem Estar Ltda., Wellness Services SRL, Yamato Life, and Yavapai LLC.
The following companies are subsidiares of The Sherwin-Williams: Acquire Sourcing LLC, CTS National Corporation, Comex North America Inc., Compania Sherwin-Williams S.A. de C.V., Contract Transportation Systems Co., Deep Pride Limited, Dongguan Lilly Paint Industries Ltd, Duron, EPS (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., EPS B.V., EPS Polidrox Industria e Comercio de Resinas Ltda, Geocel Holdings, Geocel Limited, Guangdong Valspar Paints Manufacturing Co Ltd., Guangdong Yuegang Dadi Paints Company Limited, Guardsman Australia Pty Limited, Guardsman Industries Limited, Inver East Med S.A., Inver France SAS, Inver GmbH, Inver Industrial Coating SRL, Inver Polska Spoka Z O.O, Inver Spa, Invercolor Bologna Srl, Invercolor Ltd, Invercolor Roma Srl, Invercolor Torino Srl, Invercolor Toscana Srl, Isocoat Tintas e Vernizes Ltda, Isva Vernici Srl, Jiangsu Pulanna Coating Co. Ltd., Leighs Paints, M.A. Bruder & Sons, Omega Specialty Products & Services LLC, Oy Sherwin-Williams Finland Ab, PT Sherwin-Williams Indonesia, PT Valspar Indonesia, Paint Sundry Brands, Pinturas Condor S.A., Pinturas Industriales S.A., Plasti-Kote Co. Inc., Plasti-kote Limited, Productos Quimicos y Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Quest Automotive Products UK Limited, Quetzal Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Resin Surfaces Limited, Ronseal (Ireland) Limited, SWIMC LLC, SWIPCO  Sherwin Williams do Brasil Propriedade, Sayerlack, Sherwin Williams Colombia S.A.S., Sherwin-Williams (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Belize) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Caribbean) N.V., Sherwin-Williams (Ireland) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams (Nantong) Company Limited, Sherwin-Williams (S) Pte. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Shanghai) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (South China) Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Vietnam) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (West Indies) Limited, Sherwin-Williams Argentina I.y C.S.A., Sherwin-Williams Aruba VBA, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Mexico S.de R.L.de C.V., Sherwin-Williams Balkan S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Bel, Sherwin-Williams Benelux NV, Sherwin-Williams Canada Inc., Sherwin-Williams Cayman Islands Limited, Sherwin-Williams Chile S.A., Sherwin-Williams Coatings India Private Limited, Sherwin-Williams Coatings S.a r.l., Sherwin-Williams Czech Republic spol. s r.o, Sherwin-Williams Denmark A/S, Sherwin-Williams Deutschland GmbH, Sherwin-Williams Diversified Brands (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sherwin-Williams Diversified Brands Limited, Sherwin-Williams France Finishes SAS, Sherwin-Williams Italy S.r.l., Sherwin-Williams Luxembourg Investment Management Company S.a r.l., Sherwin-Williams Norway AS, Sherwin-Williams Paints Limited Liability Company, Sherwin-Williams Peru S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Pinturas de Venezuela S.A., Sherwin-Williams Poland Sp. z o.o, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, Sherwin-Williams Realty Holdings Inc., Sherwin-Williams Services (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams Spain Coatings S.L., Sherwin-Williams Sweden AB, Sherwin-Williams Uruguay S.A., Sherwin-Williams do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., Spanyc Paints Joint Stock Company, Syntema I Vaggeryd AB, TOB Becker Acroma Ukraine, Taiwan Valspar Co. Ltd., The Sherwin-Williams Acceptance Corporation, The Sherwin-Williams Headquarters Company, The Sherwin-Williams Manufacturing Company, The Sherwin-Williams US Licensing Company, The Valspar (Asia) Corporation Limited, The Valspar (Australia) Corporation Pty. Ltd., The Valspar (Finland) Corporation Oy, The Valspar (France) Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar (France) Research Corporation SAS, The Valspar (Germany) GmbH, The Valspar (Malaysia) Corporation Sdn Bhd, The Valspar (Nantes) Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar (Singapore) Corporation Pte. Ltd, The Valspar (South Africa) Corporation (Pty) Ltd, The Valspar (Spain) Corporation S.R.L., The Valspar (Switzerland) Corporation AG, The Valspar (Thailand) Corporation Ltd., The Valspar (UK) Corporation Limited, The Valspar (Vietnam) Corporation Ltd., The Valspar Corporation, The Valspar Corporation Limitada, UAB Sherwin-Williams Baltic, Valspar (India) Coatings Corporation Private Limited, Valspar (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Valspar (Uruguay) Corporation S.A., Valspar (WPC) Pty Ltd, Valspar Aries Coatings S. de R.L. de C.V., Valspar Automotive (UK) Corporation Limited, Valspar Automotive Australia Pty Limited, Valspar B.V., Valspar Coatings (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Valspar D.o.o Beograd, Valspar Inc., Valspar Industries (Ireland) Ltd., Valspar Industries (Italy) S.r.l., Valspar Industries GmbH, Valspar LLC, Valspar Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Valspar Paint (Australia) Pty Ltd, Valspar Paint (NZ) Limited, Valspar Powder Coatings Limited, Valspar Rock Company Limited, Valspar Specialty Paints LLC, Vantaco Oy, and ZAO Sherwin-Williams.
ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon he wants to deploy the U.S. military to protect the border with Mexico while the new border wall is built.



Tuesday evening, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement saying the "vigorous" administration strategy includes mobilization of the National Guard.



The White House statement came after Trump met with Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Neilsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford and chief of staff John Kelly, Sanders said.



It is still unclear exactly what options were presented to the president by the Pentagon. However, by U.S. law the military would be limited to a support role for U.S. border patrol agents.



Earlier in the day, Trump said, "I've been speaking with Mattis, doing things militarily until we can have a wall and proper security. Already guarding our border with the military. That's a big step. We really haven't done that before, certainly not very much before."



"We are going to be doing some things  I've been speaking with (Defense Secretary) Mattis  we're going to be doing things militarily", Trump said at a White House meeting with the leaders of Baltic countries.



"Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump said. "That's a big step. We really haven't done that before, or certainly not very much before."



"We are preparing for the military to secure our border between Mexico and the United States," Trump said.



Mexico's Ambassador Geronimo Gutierrez wants Trump to clarify his comments.



We have formally requested a clarification on the President's comments from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security," Gutierrez said in a statement. "We share the idea of having a secure border, but we do not always agree on how to achieve that goal. Mexico, naturally, will always act in accordance with our own interests."



But while President Trump could order active duty military personnel or federalized National Guard troops to assist with border security operations, they would not be allowed to carry out law enforcement duties like detaining migrants crossing the border illegally.



That's because the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the U.S. military from conducting law enforcement duties in the United States. The only way that can be allowed is by a special congressional authorization.



Trump's suggestion of U.S. military troops along the border with Mexico echoes actions by President George W. Bush in 2006 and by President Barack Obama in 2010 that sent thousands of National Guard troops to assist with border operations.



But the troops participating in Operation Jump Start and Operation Phalanx respectively were only allowed to serve in a support role for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel.



In line with Posse Comitatus, they were not allowed to detain people crossing the border illegally from Mexico.



Instead, the thousands of National Guardsmen who participated in the earlier operations were used in mostly administrative and surveillance roles.



Guardsmen monitored video surveillance feeds from drones and stationary cameras along the border and manned watch towers located near the border from which they could notify border agents about illegal crossings.



Their presence was intended to free up CBP personnel that could be used in greater numbers along the border.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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IGL sells CNG to over 10.5 lakh vehicles through a network of 446 CNG dispensing stations.

New Delhi: Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the firm that supplies CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the national capital, on Tuesday said it provided a record 1.5 lakh new cooking gas connections in the financial year ended March 31.

The company also laid 885-km pipeline for transporting the gas to households in the national capital and adjoining cities of Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Rewari, during 2017-18 financial year, up 53 per cent over 578-km line laid in 2016-17, IGL said in a statement.

IGL said it provided 1,50,103 domestic cooking gas connections in 2017-18 as compared to 1,05,888 piped natural gas (PNG) connections in 2016-17.

IGL Managing Director E S Ranganathan said the company would better its record in the current financial year (2018-19) by covering new colonies and increasing PNG penetration in the already covered localities. Resources in terms of material and manpower for this is already in place, he said.

He reiterated the commitment of IGL towards maintaining the highest level of safety standards in its operations and appealed to the customers to strictly follow the safety precautions as disseminated by the company from time to time.

IGL had launched an integrated marketing and multimedia communication outreach campaign to spread awareness about PNG with an objective to increase the number of registrations.

A large number of innovative customer-centric schemes have been launched to achieve the objective.

IGL also introduced various structural and process innovations to reach out to partially feasible areas, while maintaining highest level of safety standards.

IGL sells CNG to over 10.5 lakh vehicles through a network of 446 CNG dispensing stations. It also supplies PNG to nearly 9 lakh households in Delhi and NCR towns.
Public sector banks (PSBs) wrote off Rs 2.41 lakh crore worth of loans between April 2014 and September 2017, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

New Delhi: Public sector banks (PSBs) wrote off Rs 2.41 lakh crore worth of loans between April 2014 and September 2017, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Writing-off non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans is a regular exercise conducted by banks to clean up their balance sheet, and achieving taxation efficiency, Minister of State of Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply.

"As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on global operations, public sector banks have written-off (including compromise) an amount of Rs 2,41,911 crore from financial year 2014-15 till September 2017," the minister said.

Writing off loans is done, inter-alia, for tax benefit and capital optimisation, he said.

"Borrowers of such written off loans continue to be liable for repayment," he added.

Shukla said that recovery of dues takes place on ongoing basis under legal mechanism, including SARFAESI Act and debt recovery tribunals.

"Therefore, write-offs does not benefit borrowers," he added.

The minister said RBI has apprised it that borrower-wise credit information is not available for disclosure. The RBI Act provides that credit information submitted by a bank should be treated as confidential and not be published or otherwise disclosed.
ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has pulled out of the annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).

New Delhi: Facing allegations of wrongdoing in the loan extended to Videocon Group, ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has pulled out of the annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), to be held later this week, where she was to be felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Kochhar was to be the Guest of Honour at the April 5 event and flyers sent out last month mentioned her name prominently. However, the revised ones sent out today did not carry her name.

"She was the guest of honour but she has backed out from the programme. So now she is no longer coming for the event," FLO Executive Director Rashmi Sarita told PTI. Sarita, however, did not say as to why Kochhar has pulled out.

"Yes, she was to be (felicitated), she was also the guest of honour. She just pulled out from the programme," she added.

FLO is the women business wing of the industry association, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The CBI has launched a preliminary investigation into Rs 3,250 crore loan ICICI Bank had extended to Videocon in 2012 and the role of Kochhar's husband -- Deepak Kochhar.

Reports have alleged that Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nu Power Renewables, a firm owned by Deepak Kochhar after Videocon secured a loan from a consortium of banks, including ICICI.

ICICI, India's third-largest lender, has denied any wrongdoing in the loan, saying it was part of a consortium of lenders that extended the facility to Videocon.

It also backed Kochhar saying "there is no question of any quid pro quo/nepotism/conflict of interest as is being alleged in various rumours".

Asked about the reasons for Kochhar pulling out at the last moment, Sarita said she was not sure as Kochhar's office called the day before yesterday and said that she will not be able to grace the event. Thereafter, Kochhar's name was removed from the list.

The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry and has questioned few ICICI bank officials in the loan issue.

Agency officials said they are also studying relevant documents of the transaction and the Kochhar couple can be summoned for questioning if any evidence of wrongdoing comes to light.

They said the statements of nodal officers of the ICICI Bank, who were part of processing the loan of about Rs 3,250 crore, have been recorded as part of the PE registered six weeks back.

A PE is a precursor before the agency lodges an FIR to probe criminal charges on the basis of evidence collected during the former exercise.

"President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest and deliver the keynote address at the 34th Annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) the women business wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on April 5, 2018, in New Delhi. Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO of ICICI Bank will be the Guest of Honour," a statement issued by FLO had said on March 31.

It had stated that FLO will honour 10 Indian Women Achievers with FLO ICON AWARDS including Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank for Banking & Finance; Aarti Vij, Chief of AIIMS' Organ Retrieval and Banking Organization (ORBO) for Health & Wellness; Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms for Media Entrepreneurship and Twinkle Khanna, Entrepreneurs, Author, Film Producer, for Conscientious Cinema.
Bolstered by the economic growth observed in 2017, talent acquisition witnessed an uptick across several sectors.

Mumbai: Hiring activity in the country is likely to be get a boost this year in key sectors such as manufacturing, technology, renewable energy, among others, due to robust economic growth, said a report.

Bolstered by the economic growth observed in 2017, talent acquisition witnessed an uptick across several sectors, according to recruitment firm Michael Page India.

"With the Indian government constantly pushing reforms to receive economic growth through proactive measures, we are anticipating these optimistic trends to continue across the key sectors," its managing director Nicolas Dumoulin said.

The report, Employment Outlook 2018, has compiled employment figures from its database in the last 12 months.

The government is set to upgrade industries such as manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics & warehousing, technology and renewable energy, and the report anticipates large-to-steady hiring activities within these spaces in 2018.

The government projects have drawn the attention of foreign investors, according to the report, and many international companies are willing to set up manufacturing operations in India.

"We estimate a noticeable upsurge in recruitment activities as an outcome of new companies building their teams in India," it said.

"Further, the ongoing discourse on technology will bring about more opportunities for our clients, while leveraging technology in the recruitment processes will see a rise in 2018," it added.

From a talent perspective, Michael Page said using artificial intelligence-based applications will expedite the recruitment processes, and also allow recruiters to focus on more complex tasks. Meanwhile, high demand for sales and marketing roles will continue into 2018.

"Sales professionals with good leadership skills will be in demand across industries, while in marketing, professionals with experience in consumer, digital, and sales-enablement will be highly sought after," it said.

Michael Page highlighted that the hiring sentiment across finance functions has strengthened with the continuing emphasis on 'ease of doing business' in India.

With investments in 2018, pouring in from private equity firms in infrastructure, energy, and e-commerce spaces, the recruitment firm expects to see increased demand for finance candidates in these sectors, with strong focus on fund raising and investor relations experience.
A 14.2-kg cylinder of non-subsidized LPG will now cost Rs 653.50, down from Rs 689 previously.

New Delhi: Price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) cut by a steep Rs 35.50 per cylinder. A 14.2-kg cylinder of non-subsidized LPG will now cost Rs 653.50, down from Rs 689 previously, in Delhi, oil companies announced on Tuesday.

Similarly, the non-subsidised LPG cylinder now costs Rs 676 in Kolkata, Rs 625 in Mumbai and 663.50 in Chennai. A subsidised cooking gas cylinder will now be cost Rs 494.33 in Kolkata, Rs 489.04 in Mumbai and Rs 479.44 in Chennai.

As part of the six-monthly official revision of rates, the domestic natural gas price has gone from April 1 up 6 per cent to $3.06 per million British thermal unit (mbtu).

Jet fuel prices have been cut by Rs 231 in Delhi and now sell at Rs 61,450 per kilolitre. Prices vary with airports depending on local taxes.

In Mumbai, jet fuel will cost Rs 61,025 per per kilolitre from Tuesday as against Rs 64,414.98 per per kilolitre previously. The rates vary because of differences in local sales tax or VAT.
Mumbai: Aditi Rao Hydari who was shooting for her Malayalam film 'Sammohanam' in Manali, had to trek to the shoot location, as the area wasn't accessible by road and was at a high altitude .

In fact, adding to the challenge , the temperature dropped to below 7 degrees Celsius, however Aditi understood the predicament and was happy to trek to the location, where a crucial scene was being shot.

Aditi shared the photo on her Instagram:

Speaking about the experience, the 'Padmaavat' actress said, "Shooting in Manali was fun but also really tough... We battled several odds including snowfall, slippery ice on steep slopes, rain, really strong wind... and to reach many of our locations we had to leave our cars and climb to a high altitude for early morning and late night shifts... Im grateful to the entire team for their concern, love, support, humour, food and selfies!

Aditi will be next seen in Sudhir Mishra's 'DaasDev'. The film is slated to release on 20th April.
Mumbai: Director Mukul Abhyankar is happy to release his film Missing this Friday. The film stars biggies like Tabu and Manoj Bajpayee. In the exclusive interview, Mukul speaks about his film, his Bollywood journey and more. Excerpts:

On starting his journey so late in Bolywood, Mukul says, "I wanted all the actors in one go. Also it was difficult to get the actors on board .Also we wanted to shoot n Mauritius. I wanted Cameraman Sudeep Chatterji who shot our film in between Padmavat and Bajirao. So whatever time he was available with we had to go by that. Infact Cinematographer Sudeep started his career with me we together have done a lot of television stuff.

Mukul had signed Shri Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor long back but, due to unavoidable circumstances the film could not go on floors. Mukul feels its all destiny that plays an important role in the life of any individual, he says, I have come to terms having seen my journey which brought loads of surprises to me. I may have tried to do something but I went on to do something else Thus I can say destiny plays a vital role in the life of every individual. I have two more films ready but those films happen to be a small budget films therefore I decided to go with, "Missing Neeraj Pandey is the creative director of this film.

About doing that same film with Amitabh Bachchan, he says, However, I would love to direct Amitji and Rishiji .However doing the same script with Amitji and Rishiji will not be justified because of the age differences. Those times were different they were much young Amitji was playing roles of fifties and Rishi was also approaching his fifites.I will revive it it was called, Dogs  It was an unusual story about four dogs and a dog trainer  I had great music director A.R. Rahman .It had a very big set up . But many corporate companies having agreed to produce the film backed out the last minute. In those days things were different..

Is Mukul feeling sad about not making up with both these Icon actors Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor who will be soon seen in 102 not out? No I am not feeling sad. Indeed its a great combination. I am sure the film will do wonders.

About his past Mukul unhesitatingly says, I had a huge setback in the past my films were announced and did not go on floors thus I was known in the filmy arena. Thankfully, in spite of that people knew me as a serious film maker.

Surprisingly it wasnt difficult roping in a big star like Tabu for Missing, speaking about that he says, Actually after hearing the script people would love it. I always had Tabu and Manoj in mind. Tabu and I have studied in the same college [St. Xaviers College]Tabu and me know each other directly or indirectly.. Tabu would come and sit with her friend Sameena who regularly featred as the heroine of my plays. However, Tabu was a quiet girl. We knew her as Farahs sister.Very soon Tabu got a film in South and left for her shooting. When we met this time however, I had to remind Tabu about those College days because we never had spoken directly. Tabu did recollect when I referred to her friend Sameena. Tabu did not work with e during those College days though.

Praising Tabu, Manoj and Anu Kapoor he says, Had the shoot been here in India then we could have had another different schedule. But shooting in Mauratius we could not afford go again .We had 7 to 7 shift my actors would be ready with makeup and hair they are that professional. It was indeed great working with all of them.

Last but not the least Mukul narrates the hook line of Missing, he says, "the thrill is maintained from the word go. Actually it is at a late night Tabu [wife] and Manoj Bajpayee [husband] go into a resort which has a tight security. Their daughter is running high temperature. But in between while Tabu goes off to sleep and wakes up in the wee hours morning she finds her missing..Also Mauratius is crimes free Country. So we wanted to shoot this film there. I would not say - Mauritius Police is 'Nikaami' [Useless] But owing to a free crime Country they have no work And in Missing they start going on their toes."

Before concluding Mukul tries to ignite thrill into us, he says, You will have to wait and watch who the third woman in the life of Tabu is and Manoj.She too is a known actress.
Mumbai: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has revealed that he battled with depression as a teenager, after his mother's failed suicide attempt.

The 'Baywatch' star said he was 'devastated and depressed' as he opened up about his inner struggles.

"Struggle and pain is real. I was devastated and depressed," the 45-year-old told express.co.uk as he recounted the time when his mother Ata attempted suicide in front of him when he was just 15-years-old.

"She got out of the car on the Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic. Big rigs and cars were swerving out the way. I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road."

"She has no recollection of it whatsoever," he admitted. "Probably best she doesn't."

"I reached a point where I didn't want to do a thing or go anywhere. I was crying constantly," the actor said.

"We both healed but we've always got to do our best to pay attention when other people are in pain. We have to help them through it and remind them they are not alone," he concluded.
Google doodle celebrates the 115th birth anniversary of Kamladevi Chattopadhyay, a social reformer who participated in India's freedom struggle. Her relevance in terms of womens rights issues are as relevant now as when they were put forward by her.

According to Google, Chattopadhyays contributions to India were numerous. Though widely known for persuading Mahatma Gandhi to call upon women to march with him in the Indian Independence Movement in the early 20th century, she is also credited for reinvigorating the culture of Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre, and for using cooperative grassroots movements to pave the way for a higher socioeconomic standard for Indian women around the country.

Google further writes, Chattopadhyay had a career of firsts - from being the first woman to run for Legislative office to setting up some of the first national institutions to archive, protect, and promote Indian dance, drama, art, puppetry, music, and handicrafts. She was also one of the few women of her time to propose that womens rights, religious freedoms, environmental justice, political independence, and civil rights are all interrelated movements.

The Doodle has been created by Finland-based Indian artist Parvati Pillai and depicts Chattopadhyay surrounded by many of the cultural objects and practices she fought to elevate and protect, including the bhangra, the sitar, the sarangi, Karthak dance, Chhau dance, embroidery, basket weaving, and Kathaputli.

Here are some early drafts of the doodle below:

Kamladevi Chattopadhyay draft doodle (Photo: Google)

Kamladevi Chattopadhyay draft doodle (Photo: Google)

Kamladevi Chattopadhyay draft doodle (Photo: Google)

Kamladevi Chattopadhyay draft doodle (Photo: Google)
Hyderabad: Disputes, be it minor or major, has been the main reason behind all the recent murders that took place in the city. Road rage, goading sentences and provocative comments comes in a second, said a senior police official of Hyderabad city police, adding that often, trivial disputes between young people escalate into murder and stabbings at unprecedented rate.

In mid March, an incident which happened in Krishna Nagar area of Jubilee Hills in the wee hours sent shock waves in the region after a youngster, identified as Sudheer Kumar, was declared brought dead in a hospital after he was punched to death by four men. The four men questioned him for coming in the wrong route, dashing their bike. A drunk Sudheer passed on some comments which irked the other and they delivered fist blows on his face, eventually killing him, ACP, Jubilee Hills, K. Srinivasa Rao said.

Earlier, in 2017, the charred body of a man suspected to be that of an advocate was found in a car. The police later found out that the body was that of 47-year-old Uday Kumar, a Hyderabad based lawyer, and Keesara police arrested two men for murdering him over a mere property deal.

Patience is the key, Assistant Commission-er of Police, Sultan Bazar, Dr. Chetana Mylabathula IPS said. Hyderabad police respond within minutes and a patrolling vehicle is promptly sent to the spot to attend any case. If one can just have a minutes patience, a lot can be avoided. You may not be wrong but if you are patient enough to wait and call us, things could be handled very differently, she said.

In one such incident, a 13-year-old student, Meesala Mallikarjuna, was killed in what started as a friendly Kabaddi match at Muchintal near Shamshabad in September. A group of students were playing the match in the locality. Mallikarjun and one Arjun were playing in opposite teams. While playing, an argument broke over a small fault and both started punching each other resulting in fatal consequences for Mallikarjun who suffered a blow in his face and died.
The PIL seeks action against the organisers and participants of the show, and also urges the High Court to direct the state authorities to issue guidelines to monitor such programmes on YouTube and similar video networks. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab)

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday declined to grant any interim relief to Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor over an FIR filed against them and other film personalities for using "obscene" and "abusive" language during a comedy event 'AIB Knockout' in 2015.

A bench of Justices R M Savant and Sarang Kotwal directed the actors' lawyer to seek the assent of the Acting Chief Justice V K Tahilramani's court for the matter to be heard along with two other related pleas.

One of these two pleas were filed by comedian Rohan Joshi of AIB, a comedy collective, seeking that a related FIR against him be quashed.

The other plea is a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a law teacher from the city.

The PIL seeks action against the organisers and participants of the show, and also urges the High Court to direct the state authorities to issue guidelines to monitor such programmes on YouTube and similar video networks.

The actors urged the court to direct, by way of an interim relief, the Pune and Mumbai Police to refrain from taking any coercive action against them.

The bench, however, said it will consider the prayer once all the three pleas were tagged together and assigned for further hearing by the Acting CJI's court.

On December, 20, 2014, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, along with eight other celebrities, including director-producer-actor Karan Johar, actress Deepika Padukone and members of the AIB team had performed at a charity event in Worli.

A video of the event was subsequently uploaded on YouTube which went viral.

In February, 2015, Sateesh Daundkar filed a complaint with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of the Girgaon court, claiming the show was "vulgar, obscene and pornographic".

The court then ordered that an FIR be registered against all the ten people.

Soon after, another FIR was registered against all the ten persons in Pune following a complaint by a local alleging obscenity during the event.

Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor approached the High Court earlier this year after they received summons from the Pune Police, directing them to visit the police station for questioning and recording their statements.

They have claimed in their plea that the FIRs against them bore an ulterior motive and were filed with "mischievous" and malafide intent, and sought their quashing.

In 2015, another bench of the court had granted interim relief to Padukone, Johar, and the AIB members and directed both the Mumbai and Pune Police not to take any coercive action against them until further orders.

Senior counsel Mahesh Jethmalani, who appeared for AIB and for Kapoor and Singh, argued that the programme was full of humour and entertained the audience.

He also urged the court to grant interim relief to Kapoor and Singh, considering that other actors and comedians had already been granted such a relief.
Earlier on Tuesday, Modi directed that the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting be withdrawn and the matter should only be addressed in Press Council of India. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday released a statement against the Ministry of Information and Broadcastings previous bid to suspend or cancel a journalists Press Information Bureau Accreditation if he or she is found to have created or propagated fake news.

The guild strongly criticised the I&B ministrys arbitrary mode of punishing a journalist or a media organisation publishing fake news saying, the order leaves scope for false complaints to harass journalists and media houses.

Editors Guild of India strongly condemns arbitrary manner contemplated by I &B Ministry ostensibly to penalise any journalist or media organisation publishing fake news. It would have opened door for frivolous complaints to harass journalists and orgs to fall in line: Statement  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018

The Editors Guild also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for intervening into the matter.

Also Read: PM Modi cancels his ministry's order on fake news following outcry

Earlier on Tuesday, Modi directed that the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting be withdrawn and the matter should only be addressed in Press Council of India.

However, the guild also expressed its dissatisfaction over the fact that the Centres faith rests only on the Press Council of India to deliver justice in such cases.

The Editors Guild acknowledges the intervention of the Prime Ministers Office to withdraw the I & B Ministrys notification but remains deeply disturbed that faith continues to be reposed on the Press Council of India to deliver justice on such issues: Statement  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018

Find full text of a statement issued by the Editors Guild here:

The Editors Guild of India strongly condemns the arbitrary manner contemplated by the Union Information and Broadcasting (I &B) Ministry ostensibly to penalise any journalist or media organisation publishing fake news. By notifying that the I & B Ministry will initiate such proceedings, the Government was arrogating for itself the role of policing the media. It would have opened the door for frivolous complaints to harass journalists and organisations to fall in line.

The Guild acknowledges the intervention of the Prime Ministers Office to withdraw the I & B Ministrys notification but remains deeply disturbed that faith continues to be reposed on the Press Council of India to deliver justice on such issues. The recent reconstitution of the Press Council of India has been done in a manner that gives rise to doubts over the independence of the institution and its ability to play neutral umpire. The Guilds nominees to the Council were disallowed on technical grounds. Also, the recent reconstitution of the Central Press Accreditation Committee has raised questions over the non-transparent processes being followed by the I & B Ministry as the Guilds application was ignored.

The Guild also points out that fake news is a process that cannot be left to governments to initiate action when, on many occasions, the governments and the parties in power  both at the Centre and states  are charged with propagating fake news themselves. Moreover, news organisations are not the only source of generation of fake news with the country awash with digital platforms of all hues and opinions that operate without constraints and have the potential to cause far more damage.

The Guild has always stood for observing the highest journalistic standards and is willing to work with the Central Government, state governments and media bodies to define what can be constituted as fake news and take action against those found guilty of propagating such news without compromising on the independence and freedom of the media.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy (R) and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (L) arrived at the venue -- Chepauk near Marina Beach -- around 8 am. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy and his deputy O Panneerselvam left the ruling AIADMK and the state police by surprise on Tuesday by leading the hunger strike called by the party demanding setting up of Cauvery management board.

Palanisamy and Panneerselvam arrived at the venue -- Chepauk near Marina Beach -- around 8 am. Their names were not on the list of leaders participating in the hunger strike. Their participation has come in the backdrop of opposition parties stepping up protests across the state.

The ruling AIADMK's hunger strike is against the Centre on its betrayal as they call it by not constituting the Cauvery Water Management Board (CMB).

The Supreme Court's order of constituting the CMB on the Cauvery dispute ended on March 29.

The traders federation too has announced their support by shutting down of shops.

According to reports, around twenty one lakh shops across the state are protesting against the Centre for what they call defiance of the Supreme Court's order, by not constituting the Cauvery Management Board.

The Chief Justice on Monday said the court will solve issues of Tamil Nadu.

Read: We will see Tamil Nadu gets water: SC to hear Cauvery issue on April 9

Meanwhile, traffic was disrupted on the Wallajah Road due to the hunger strike at Chepauk.

The party is demanding that the BJP government at the Centre set up the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery water regulation committee immediately, establish the rights of Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery water and safeguard the interests of the state.

On Monday, two DMK workers allegedly made self immolation bids in Coimbatore amid a state-wide stir for setting up CBM to implement the Supreme Court's verdict.

Also Read: Protests erupt in TN over Cauvery issue, 2 DMK workers attempt self immolation

Political parties in Tamil Nadu allege that the BJP is defying the apex court to score brownie points in poll bound Karnataka, which opposes Cauvery Management Board. It would take away its rights over the dams across river Cauvery.

The 765-km-long Cauvery river, also called the Ganga of the south, is the lifeline for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The waterbody commences its journey from Kodagu district in southern Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Also Read: Cauvery dispute: TN Police detains Dhinakaran as he tries to gherao Trichy airport

The day-long hunger strike began at 8 am and will continue till 5 in the evening.

Here are LIVE updates of AIADMK'S hunger strike:

11:14 am: Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 noon, after slogans of 'We want justice. We want Cauvery report ' were raised as soon as the proceedings began today

11:08 am: Supreme Court agrees to hear on April 9 the Centre's plea for clarification on the Cauvery water dispute verdict

11:10 am: Centre refers to divergent views of concerned states on setting up of Cauvery management scheme, according to news agency PTI

10:44 am: Markets closed in Coimbatore after bandh called by traders associations over Cauvery issue

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

10:34 am: Members of Parliament (MPs) of AIADMK staged protest in the Parliament premises over the constitution of Cauvery Management Board (CMB). Lok Sabha was adjourned on Monday too for the day amid slogan shouting by AIADMK members on Cauvery Board issue

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)

09:33 am: Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the cauvery issue. Amid protests across Tamil Nadu on Monday, Governor Banwarilal Purohit left for Delhi by an evening flight, airport officials said

08:55 am: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam commence their hunger strike over protesting against the Central government for not setting up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB)

(Photo: ANI/Twitter)
Several towns in western Uttar Pradesh saw violence and a former BSP MLA from Hastinapur, Yogesh Verma, was arrested by the Meerut police in connection with the violence. (Photo: File/PTI)

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police on Monday said that a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA was the main conspirator behind the Bharat Bandh protests, in which 2 people were killed and over 70 others injured across state.

At least 448 people were arrested as Uttar Pradesh saw widespread violence on a day Dalit groups protested what they claimed was the "dilution" of the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

"Two people have died in the state. One person lost his life in Muzaffarnagar, while another in Meerut," Principal Secretary Home Arvind Kumar told news agency PTI.

Several towns in western UP saw violence and a former BSP MLA from Hastinapur, Yogesh Verma, was arrested by the Meerut police in connection with the violence.

According to news agency ANI, Meerut SSP Manzil Saini said, "He is the main conspirator of this violence and we have detained him."

There were several incidents of violence in Meerut, including the torching of a police post while in the neighbouring Muzaffarnagar, a man was killed and several vehicles were damaged, they added.

"During the bandh, violence broke out in Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Meerut, Agra and they were the most affected areas. Reports of violence have come from some other districts too. As of now, 448 persons have been detained in different districts. There were no incidents in 90 per cent of districts. We have sounded a high-alert in the state," DIG, Law and Order Praveen Kumar told reporters.

He earlier said that one person lost his life in the violence in Muzaffarnagar.

"We are yet to get the detailed reports. As of now about 35-40 policemen and 30-35 protestors were stated to be injured. Of them three are serious," the DIG said.

Asked about the extent of damage to public properties, the official said the police were yet to do a detailed analysis.

The situation was controlled by 2 pm in the affected districts, he said. It's normal now, he added.

Early on Monday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appealed to the people to maintain law and order and asserted that his government was "serious towards the development and progress of Dalits".

However, angry protesters pelted stones on buses in the Sagdi area of Azamgarh on the Gorakhpur-Azamgarh damaging their widow panes. They also set afire two roadways buses injuring some passengers, police said.

In Agra, Gatiman Express, India's fastest train, was stopped at the Billochpura station for over an hour.

A hotel owned by a senior BJP leader was targeted and the police had to open fire in air to disperse the rowdy mob, officials said.

Urging people not to resort to violence, Chief Minister Adityanath said, "Both the Centre and the state government are dedicated to the welfare of the backward castes, the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes. If there is any issue, one can bring it to the notice of the government."

BSP chief Mayawati, however, targeted the Centre saying if it had taken prompt steps, there would not have been the need for a 'Bharat Bandh' and "some anti-social elements would not have got the chance to indulge in violence and arson because of government laxity".

BSP condemns violence but BJP governments need to extend help to the dead and injured without any bias, she said in a statement.

Mayawati said that though she was not in Parliament, her politics and struggle outside will force the Narendra Modi government "to kneel down and change its stance".

The constitutional rights of Dalits and tribals are continuously being encroached by the BJP, she alleged.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also targeted the Modi government claiming it should have talked to the Dalit leadership in time. Now it seems that Dalits have lost faith in the government, he said.

"It is most unfortunate if someone has to resort to the agitational path for restoring his honour and rights...Baba Saheb has given Dalits their right and no one can snatch it away," Yadav said in a party release.

The Supreme Court on March 20 had banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Ruling that no arrest can be made under the Act without prior permission, the apex court had also held that a court can grant anticipatory bail if it, prima facie, finds the complaint is an abuse of the law, false, motivated and intended to blackmail or harass a person. This was necessary, the court had said, to prevent the "rampant misuse of the tough provisions of the law".

The 'Bharat Bandh', called by various Dalit groups and backed by various political outfits, demands restoration of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in its original form.

(With inputs from agencies)
KOLLAM: Trade unions will form a joint protest council against what they describe as anti-labour policies of the Union government hitting the cashew industry. The council will demand government intervention to regulate the import of processed cashew from Vietnam and rollbacking the tax on value-added products. The cashew industry that plays a major role in earning foreign currency is now facing an acute crisis, Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation chairman S. Jaya-mohan said.

The import duty which adversely affects the industry has, in turn, resulted in the tax hike of value-added cashew products. The federal policy to permit seamless imports from Vietnam is another case. The Union government amending labour rules and ESI norms has put destitute employees at the receiving end by denying them treatment facilities and pension. The authorised trade unions including CITU, AITUC, UTUC, and INTUC will join hands in protest.

Meanwhile, 30 factories under the KSCDC remain closed for the past several weeks for the scarcity of raw cashew kernels. The KSCDC could procure only 20 tonnes from the state-owned plantations, based on its proposal to promote indigenous cashew. Kerala Cashew Board, the financial vehicle formed to revitalise the sector, could not yet enter into a deal with South African countries for the purchase of raw cashew kernels. The proposal was that the government would enter into a deal for a fair trade facilitating import of raw cashew kernels avoiding intermediaries. Kerala had earlier met delegates from Tanzania, Ivory Coast, and Mozambique, as the state requires nearly 10 lakh metric tonne to keep its factories running.
Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ramnath Kovind to instruct authorities concerned to seek a review of the judgement on the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

In two separate letters addressed to the PM and President on Monday night, the CM felt that the ruling of the Apex Court weakens the spirit and protective nature of the Act and makes SCs and STs highly vulnerable to atrocities.

Mr Naidu observed that his government has always been in the forefront in the welfare and development of the SCs and STs, and in taking steps for their protection. The judgement also has triggered protests from various sections of society, social activists and political parties in Andhra Pradesh, the CM explained in his letters addressed to Mr Kovind and Mr Modi.

The purpose of the Act, 1989 read with the amended Act 2015, is to protect the marginalised communities against discrimination and atrocities, the CM said and added that in this context the said judge ment of the Supreme Court of India has made the Act less efficacious. Citing the Supreme Courts judgement, in the case of Dr Subhash Kasinath Mahajan Vs the State of Maharahstra, the CM has appealed to both PM and President to instruct the concerned for seeking the review of the judgment for th protection of the communities.

Mr Naidu also felt that despite the several progressive measures taken up by the governments of the day, the harsh inescapable reality today is that the members of SCs and STs still continue to be victims of the abhorrent practice of untouchability and caste based discrimination.
The BJP leader was stopped by the police from entering the Asansol-Raniganj area last week. A scuffle had ensued between BJP supporters and the police when he tried to enter Asansol, his Lok Sabha constituency. (Photo: ANI)

Kolkata: Amid criticism over violence in his parliamentary constituency Asansol, Union minister Babul Supriyo has said that he had offered to resign and quit politics but was stopped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The minister of state for heavy industries said he had met the Prime Minister and offered to resign, but Modi stopped him and asked him to carry on his "fight".

"You may be surprised to know that after two dirty incidents in Asansol/Bengal, I had met our Hon'ble PM resigning as a Minister to quit Politics & Power for good only to be inspired back by our Hon'ble PM, a man who works 24/7/365 days for his country. Don't Quit-Fight he told me," Supriyo said in a tweet on April 1.

The BJP leader was stopped by the police from entering the Asansol-Raniganj area last week. A scuffle had ensued between BJP supporters and the police when he tried to enter Asansol, his Lok Sabha constituency.

West Bengal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee had accused the BJP of trying to destroy the peace and communal harmony in the state.

"Having to face inner questions of whether politics is indeed a place I need to be. And, I confess that at times I really find it hard to convince myself to continue. How can a constitutional entity like the chief minister be so uncouth & desperate to win elections with unfair means?" he had tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Union minister, in a series of tweets, thanked Modi for supporting him.

"If today I am fighting all this Muck of falsehood & politics of hate in WB, it is thanks to our Hon'ble PM who told me how we must triumph against all this dirty noise by continuing to fight with a goal in sight that of Development for ALL, something he did in Gujarat&HOW," Supriyo said.

A person was killed and two police officers were severely injured when clashes broke out between two groups over a Ram Navami procession in the Raniganj area of West Bengal's Bardhaman district.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the matter of fake news should be left to the Press Council of India. (Photo: PTI | File)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cancelled his own governments controversial circular that categorically stated journalists would be blacklisted for generating fake news.

Modi said the matter of fake news should be addressed only by the Press Council of India.

On Monday, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had send out a press release stating the accreditation of a journalist could be suspended or permanently cancelled if the scribe was found generating or propagating fake news, while it came out with stringent measures to contain 'the menace'.

Journalists and opposition parties had described the new guidelines as an attack on the freedom of press.

Within minutes of PM Modi's intervention, Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani acknowledged in tweets that her order had generated debate and that she was now ready to work together with journalists to fight fake news.

Irani's tweets said, "PIB Accreditation Guidelines asking Press Council of India & News Broadcasters Association to define & act against fake news have generated debate. Several journalists & organisations have reached out giving positive suggestions regarding the same.

@MIB_India is more than happy to engage with journalist body or organisation/s wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of fake news & uphold ethical journalism. Interested journalists and/or organisations may feel free to meet me at @MIB_India."

PIB Accreditation Guidelines asking Press Council of India & News Broadcasters Association to define & act against fake news have generated debate. Several journalists & organisations have reached out giving positive suggestions regarding the same. 1/2  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) April 3, 2018

.@MIB_India is more than happy to engage with journalist body or organisation/s wanting to give suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of fake news & uphold ethical journalism. Interested journalists and/or organisations may feel free to meet me at @MIB_India. 2/2  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) April 3, 2018

As per the amended guidelines for the accreditation of journalists, if the publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of that journalist would be suspended for a period of six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation.

Also read: Journalists could lose accreditation permanently for fake news: Govt

In case of a third violation, his or her accreditation would be cancelled permanently, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said in the release.

It said any complaint of instances of fake news would be referred to the Press Council of India (PCI), if it pertains to print media, and to the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), if it relates to the electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not. This determination was expected to be completed within 15 days by these agencies, the ministry said.
New Delhi: In a snub to information and broadcasting minister, Smriti Irani, after a controversial fake news directive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped in and ordered the withdrawal of the order.

The I&B ministers order to take stringent measures against the journalists including cancellation of their accreditation if they were found generating fake news created a major uproar in the media.

The Opposition parties including Congress also slammed the government for its attempt to scare and gag the media.

However, hours after the controversial directive by the I&B ministry the PMO stepped in with a view towards damage control and called for its immediate rollback. PM has directed that the press release regarding fake news be withdrawn and the matter should only be addressed by the Press Council of India, top PMO sources said.

The Prime Minister was also of the view that the government should not interfere in the matter, sources added.

It is understood that the Prime Minister has asked ministry to let issues related to the media be dealt with by the Press Council of India.

The I&B minister was further embarrassed as the withdrawal decision by the Prime Minister came at a time when Ms Irani was asking for suggestions on Twitter to fight the menace of fake news to apparently uphold ethical journalism.
New Delhi: It was L.K. Advani, one of the tallest leaders of the BJP, who rued the curbs imposed on the media during Emergency by the then Congress government but the saffron party is no better either. The directive on fake news by the information and broadcasting ministry of the government the party heads is not the first attempt by the saffron leadership to gag the media in the recent past.

Party leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had last year brought in an ordinance to gag the media but was forced to withdraw it following a major uproar. The Raje governments ordinance barred courts from taking up complaints against public servants without the governments approval.

The law also made it a crime to identify the minister, lawmaker or official against whom a complaint has been filed in the court. The proposed law also gave unparalleled power to even imprison journalists and came under severe attack. The government later withdrew from the move.

The ordinance promulgated by the State government last year was ostensibly done to protect the judiciary and the bureaucracy against false FIRs. But in reality it is a pernicious instrument to harass the media, hide wrongful acts by government servants and drastically curb the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Constitution of India, a statement by Editors Guild of India had said.

It has also been noted that Union ministers have repeatedly targeted the media, with minister of state for external affairs Gen (Rtd) V.K. Singh describing the media as presstitues.

The ministers comments came after his visit to the Pakistani High Commission stoked a controversy.
Hyderabad: On Tuesday, in yet another such case in King Koti, a linesman came in contact with a live wire while on duty and died on the spot. The body was found entangled in wires. The Telangana State Electricity Board is not liable for deaths and injuries caused due to electrocution. Usually, in cases of death due to electrocution, compensation is paid by the board only if it is announced by the head of a department and in case of citizens, a police complaint is filed. In 2017, The Allahabad High Court, while responding to a writ petition, issued directions to the state that electrocution by live wires necessitates strict liability, i.e., the electricity department would be liable irrespective of whether the harm occurred due to negligence of the victim or whether all necessary precautions had been taken by the board.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle Navdeep Singh, a social activist who has been fighting for the cause of high compensation in case of a death due to electrocution, said, The electricity board is a state-run authorised body that supplies electricity. The board must be held responsible first for safety measures at all substations, vulnerable points and dangerously dangling live wires, he said.

Secondly, Board should be liable to compensate for any death or injury caused due to the transmission of energy. The compensation must include loss of future earnings, medical expenses, loss of amenities of life, needs to be taken into consideration while calculating the amount of compensation to be awarded, he added.

Linesman dies of electric shock

A contract employee of Telangana State Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TSSPDCL) died of electrocution while repairing a faulty electric line in the city. The deceased has been identified as P Bhumesh, 41. According to the police, Bhumesh, a field worker with TSSPDCL, was deputed at the Gun Foundry office and was attending a repair call at Parda Gate in King Koti. He climbed the pole and was repairing the lines.

Suddenly, he suffered an electric shock and hanged from a pole caught between the cables. Officials who noticed this immediately switched off the supply but Bhumesh had passed away. Narayanaguda police registered a case and handed over Bhumeshs body to the family after an autopsy.
Mysuru: A day after IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge remarked that his dream was to see his father and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge become chief minister, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah first reacted to the statement by saying, "Anyone can dream of becoming CM."

But in a sign that the Congress' biggest challenge may come not from the BJP as much as from within, the CM didn't stop there. "Can we stop anyone from dreaming, even my son may dream that I should become CM," he said, his mild retort underlying the behind the scenes battle for the top post. Though no formal announcement has been made by the Congress party on who would be the CM if the party wins a majority in the coming Assembly polls, it is widely expected that Mr Siddaramaiah will continue to occupy the post. There was a clamour sometime ago for a Dalit CM with the names of Mr Kharge and KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar doing the rounds which soon died out.

Speaking to the media near his residence at Sharadadevinagar in Mysuru on Monday, Mr Siddaramaiah was however trenchant in his rejoinder to the chargesheet released by Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad against his government and said, "Mr Prasad is the law minister, but he doesn't seem to know the law. There is not even an iota of evidence to substantiate the corruption charges. What moral right do they have to speak about corruption when they have those who have gone to jail in the party."

On political parties in Tamil Nadu calling for a bandh on April 5 to press for formation of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB), he said, "The Centre has sought time from the court. So the bandh is a pressure tactic."
Hubballi: Having wooed the Lingayats, BJP national president, Amit Shah, plans to now visit Shivayogi Mandir in Badami taluk of Bagalkot, the power centre of the Veerashaivas that trains and educates its seers, on Tuesday in a fine balancing act to pacify both factions ahead of the coming assembly poll.

With the Congress having played its smart card by recommending an independent religious status for Lingayats tothe Centre, Mr Shah is doing all he can to win over both the Lingayats and Veerashaivas without giving away the Centre's own take on the issue although the RSS and BJP have made their displeasure on the issue in the past.

A few days after visiting the prominent Taralabalu and Muruga mutts of Chitradurga district that back independent religion status for Lingayats, the BJP leader will now meet over 200 Veerashaiva seers, who are vehemently against division of the community at the Shivayogi Mandir.

Established by Hanagal Kumara Swami in 1909, the century old mutt sees Veerashaiva seers arriving every month to chalk out their strategyagainst the move to divide the community. Around a thousand seers held a mammoth rally at the Mandir a few months ago as a protest and now all these seers, including heads of the pancha peethas hope to meet Mr Shah to exert pressure on him not to accord minority status to Lingayats. The seers reportedly plan to submit historical records to him to prove that both Veerashaiva and Lingayats are one and the same.
This file photo shows visitors sit beside a model of Chinas Tiangong-1 space station at the 8th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai in southern Chinas Guangdong Province. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Chinas defunct Tiangong 1 space station mostly burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere over the central South Pacific on April 2, Chinese space authorities said. The experimental space laboratory re-entered around 8:15 a.m. Beijing time, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said.

Scientists monitoring the crafts disintegrating orbit had forecast the craft would mostly burn up and would pose only the slightest of risks to people. Analysis from the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre showed it had mostly burned up.

Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australian National University, said that Tiangong 1s re-entry was most successful and that it would have been better if the space station had not been spinning toward Earth.

It could have been better, obviously, if it wasnt tumbling, but it landed in the Southern Pacific Ocean, and thats kind of where you hope it would land, Tucker said.

Its been tumbling and spinning for a while, which means that when it really starts to come down its less predictable about what happens to it, Tucker said. He likened it to an aeroplane landing, saying its more difficult to predict where a plane that is shaking around and moving will land than one that is smoothly descending.

Launched in 2011, Tiangong 1 was Chinas first space station, serving as an experimental platform for bigger projects, such as the Tiangong 2 launched in September 2016 and a future permanent Chinese space station. Two crews of Chinese astronauts lived on the station while testing docking procedures and other operations. Its last crew departed in 2013 and contact with it was cut in 2016.

Since then, it has orbited gradually closer and closer to Earth on its own while being monitored. Earlier forecasts had said that only about 10 per cent of the bus-sized, 8.5-ton spacecraft would likely survive re-entry, mainly its heavier components such as its engines.

The biggest takeaway from this is that as we put more things into space, all countries, we have to be aware that we do have to plan for these sorts of issues that are happening, Tucker said.

Roger Thompson, a senior engineering specialist with the Aerospace Corporation in Virginia, said modelling of Tiangong 1s re-entry by monitors in the US had been highly accurate, leaving him feeling great about their predictions.

We believe it was an uncontrolled entry, Thompson said, adding that the corporations own estimate had been just 15 minutes behind the time announced by China.

The lack of control was not unusual given that about 15 percent of satellites re-enter the atmosphere prior to the end of their useful lives, he said. The corporation, which provides technical support for the space industry, had not been in touch with the Chinese side about the re-entry, Thompson said.

Chinas foreign and defence ministries said the country had relayed information about Tiangong 1s return to Earth to the United Nations space agency and others. Debris from satellites, space launches and the International Space Station enters the atmosphere every few months, but only one person is known to have been hit by any of it: American woman Lottie Williams, who was struck but not injured by a falling piece of a US Delta II rocket while exercising in an Oklahoma park in 1997.

Most famously, Americas 77-ton Skylab crashed through the atmosphere in 1979, spreading pieces of wreckage near the southwest Australian city of Perth, which fined the US $400 for littering.

Tiangong 1, whose name translates as Heavenly Palace, had two modules, one for its solar panels and engines, and one for a pair of astronauts to live in and conduct experiments. A third astronaut slept in the Shenzhou spaceships that docked with the station, which also contained facilities for personal hygiene and food preparation.

Chinas space program has made rapid progress since it launched its first crewed mission in 2003  becoming only the third country after Russia and the US to do so  including placing a rover on the moon and conducting a spacewalk.

A mission to land a rover on Mars and bring back samples is set to launch in 2020, while China also plans to become the first country to soft-land a probe on the far side of the moon. The programs military background has at times been a barrier to greater cooperation with those run by other countries, and it was excluded from the 420-ton International Space Station that is now beginning to wind down.

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India is one of the biggest markets in the world of technology and therefore, every major brand wants to have its presence felt in the Indian market to keep itself relevant. Google is a name mostly known for its search engine in the country, despite selling the Pixel series of smartphones. Why? Because the Pixel is a flagship device and is usually out of reach for the general masses. Since Google wants to have a sizeable presence in the market, the company is prepping to bring most of its smart products to the market. If rumours are to be believed, we could also see a midrange Pixel smartphone this year as well.

A report by ETtech suggests that Google is planning to unveil a midrange Pixel smartphone specifically for the Indian market. The smartphone is expected to be launched sometime in July-August and will play a key role in cementing Googles name as a hardware manufacturer in the country where most of its rivals such as Samsung, Google, Huawei (Honor) and others have a strong presence in the budget smartphone segment. While details about the rumoured midrange Pixel arent available yet, expect Google to pack latest midrange internals along with its own stock Android. There could also be a possibility of Google going for the Android One program with their midrange offering.

The first generation Google Pixel could lay the foundation for the rumoured midrange smartphone.

Apart from the midrange smartphone, the company is also expected to release its range of smart speakers in the country. Google has already teased the launch of the Google Home and Google Home Mini speakers. While the company hasnt disclosed or hinted at the prices, the report states that Google may price the Home at Rs 9,999 and the Home Mini at Rs 4,499, thus putting it against its arch rival Amazons Echo smart speakers.

The company is also expected to launch a slew of other home automation systems to expand its presence in the country. In order to strengthen its presence further, Google is rumoured to partner with Redington for exploring brick-and-mortar stores to reach out to customers, like Apple. They are expected to explore various kinds of marketing tricks adopted by Apple. While the report mentions that these plans havent been confirmed yet, theres a high chance Google will go for it considering the demand for such technologically advanced products in the market.

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In 2016, the services of multiple internet giants including Netflix, Electronic Arts, PlayStation Network, Spotify, Twitter, and HBO were brought to their knees as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on DNS-provider Dyn reared its head. The first-of-its-kind attack, estimated to have transferred malicious traffic at a bandwidth of 1.2Tbps, was too big to have been jettisoned using existing cyber defences.

The attack, although unique in its scale, was hardly the first, or presumably, last. Gaurav Malik, Sales director, Limelight Network India, believes that such terabit attacks have lately become recurrent and have constantly grown in size. This year itself, a 1.3Tbps attack was confirmed on Github and a week later, Arbor Networks reported a 1.7Tbps attack on a customer of a leading US-based ISP.

The Cost of Transaction

DDoS attacks are orchestrated for various reasons  from vendetta, hacktivism, and vengeance to rivalry and extortion  and so are the Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTP) adopted by cyberattackers  but the end-result is often the same. These attacks result in service outages and cause a dent in overall revenue through downtimes. A research by Neustar on 1,010 enterprises last year revealed that businesses incur an average of US$2.5 million as financial costs to DDoS attacks. It also revealed that loss of revenue at peak times for 63per cent of affected businesses reached as much as US$100,000 per hour.

The post-war analysis of a cyberattack demonstrates that these attacks are even more detrimental to businesses in the long run. A recent Limelight Networks report revealed that 71.95per cent of customers develops a negative opinion of a platform that has experienced a cyberattack. The same survey also showed that only 21.14per cent customers are willing to make transactions through a website that had previously been hacked.

DDoS attacks can also be conducted to serve as a masking event for a broader network penetration goal. As businesses progressively rely on cloud servers, they are further increasing their attack surface, as an attack on any of a given Cloud Service Providers (CSP) users can result in a subsequent spill over. Such spill overs, even in the best-case scenario of slowing down the service, can dramatically affect a content delivery platform. 80 per cent of digital viewers leave a website if their desired content is inaccessible within the first few seconds. Only 11 percent of viewers pick another content from the same website  resulting in a massive turnaround rate.

However, managing and countering DDoS attacks, as well as the other cybersecurity threats, is although challenging, but not an impossible task. This years attack on GitHub and the one reported by Arbor, for instance, despite being over 40 percent more powerful than the infamous Dyn attack, were both securely mitigated. This is precisely what content delivery networks (CDNs) need to do in order to ensure they operate sustainably and profitably.

Message in a bottle:

Extending quality experience to the end-user entails protection from a variety of potential threats. Security not only has to be provided to the data at the source but also to the data at rest, in transit as well as the data in use.

Today, leading CDNs are effectively countering the underlying challenges using evolved security measures. This includes passive attack mitigation through defensive protection, securing in-transit data (from man-in-the-middle attacks) using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) footprints, geo-fencing for limiting the control of access to a particular geographical region, Internet Protocol (IP) blacklisting for screening out suspected compromised devices, web application firewalling, and Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Top 10 secured origin servers. State-of-the-art CDNs also integrate specialised DDoS attack interceptors and have tokenization-based video stream access controls to further prevent malicious traffic from consuming the network bandwidth. They also leverage cross-origin resource management to allow content to be sourced from multiple locations (proxy servers) while restricting reverse data transfer to origin servers.

But as we enter the era of terabit-level DDoS attacks, cutting-edge CDNs are proving their worth weighed in gold to business enterprises. Leveraging their clout in a globally distributed network, CDNs have successfully mitigated threats relating to DDoS attacks that are even conducted at a terabit rate. They divert the incoming traffic to their globally distributed point of presence (PoP) locations, thereby leaving the remaining traffic flow (of both an under-attack platform as well as an unrelated customer) intact. They also restrict the number of server requests made per second by a single IP server and collate real-time data of an attack along with historic attacks and intelligence report of threats for future references.

DDoS attacks are conducted on a day-to-day basis and are becoming more complex with vibrant TTP and technologies used by attackers. These advancements in cloud network by CDNs, however, are making online platforms more reliable, securing their service delivery even vis-a-vis terabit-level DDoS attacks. Their biggest advantage is perhaps that besides managing the content requirement of a platform, CDNs are also helping them manage negative brand perceptions and eliminate losses experienced during and post such events. In a world being increasingly threatened by cyber attacks, it is time more advanced tools and technologies are adapted to turn the tables on cybercriminals and provide a secure environment for content delivery.

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Madikizela-Mandela was married to Nelson Mandela from 1958 to 1996. Mandela, who died in 2013, was imprisoned throughout most of their marriage. (Photo: AP)

Johannesburg: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, prominent anti-apartheid activist and the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, died in a hospital on Monday after a long illness, her family said Monday. She was 81.

"She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones," the family said in a statement.

Madikizela-Mandela was married to Mandela from 1958 to 1996. Mandela, who died in 2013, was imprisoned throughout most of their marriage and Madikizela-Mandela's own activism against white minority rule led to her being imprisoned for months and placed under house arrest for years.

"She kept the memory of her imprisoned husband Nelson Mandela alive during his years on Robben Island and helped give the struggle for justice in South Africa one of its most recognizable faces," the family said.

"She dedicated most of her adult life to the cause of the people and for this was known far and wide as the Mother Of The Nation," it said.

However, Madikizela-Mandela's political activism was marred by her conviction in 1991 for kidnapping and assault, for which she was fined. She faced these allegations again during the 1997 hearings before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a panel that investigated apartheid-era crimes.

As a parliamentarian after South Africa's first all-race elections, she was convicted of fraud.

Madikizela-Mandela had been in and out of the hospital since the beginning of 2018, according to her family. It said it will release details of her memorial and funeral services when they are finalised.
Seven members of Milli Muslim League's central leadership body have also been designated as foreign terrorists (Photo: File)

Washington: In a major setback to Hafiz Saeed's political ambitions, the US on Tuesday designated the Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Pakistan-based Mumbai attack mastermind-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organisation.

In a simultaneous move, seven members of the MML's central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorists.

The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan in July.

Pakistan's EC had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits. The state department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Today's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counter-terrorism at the Department of State.

"Make no mistake. Whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeT's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as a SDGT. To avoid sanctions, the LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

In January 2017, the LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.

In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group.

"LeT members make up MML's leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature," the State Department said.

Terrorism designations expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

"Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeT's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," said Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognised political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

"We will continue to target terrorist organisations like LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades," Mandelker said.

He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should "think twice" about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

Seven members of the MML who were designated as foreign terrorists are: Saifullah Khalid (president), Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi (vice president), Muhammad Harris Dar (Joint Secretary), Tabish Qayyuum (Information Secretary), Fayyaz Ahmad (General Secretary), Faisal Nadeem (Broadcast and Publications Secretary), and Muhammad Ehsan (Finance Secretary).

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeT's Peshawar headquarters and served on the JuD's Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of the LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

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, including six Americans. It was declared as an FTO by the US in June 2014.
Canberra, Australia: Jon ONeill flew 23 hours from Florida to the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific in search of clues to the life of his war hero father, whom he can barely remember. At times, it has been a painful journey of discovery among the rusted relics entangled in undergrowth of a conflict that ended 75 years ago for his father, US Army Air Forces 9th Fighter Squad-ron of the 49th Fighter Group ace John G. Jump ONeill. But it has also been an experience planned over a decade that has rewarded the 57-year-old editor and recreational pilot from De Land, Florida, beyond his expectations.

I go ... back home with more memories than I ever thought I would be able to take with me. It's been amazing, the son said from Rabaul, the former Japanese stronghold on the Papua New Guinea island of New Britain, over which the father had four of his eight Japanese kills in a P-38 Lighting fighter. The image of the father had been etched in the sons mind more by family stories than by memory. John ONeill died of leukemia in Florida when his only son was 6 and his daughter Tracey was a year younger.

With guidance of World War II historian Justin Taylan, founder of charity website Pacific-Wrecks.com, which documents and preserves war sites and graves, the son has retraced his fathers 1943 wartime steps, from Papua New Guineas capital, Port Moresby, to the wilds of the countrys north and east coasts. Japan took Rabaul in 1942 and held it until the war ended in 1945. The sons two weeks in Papua New Guinea, Australias nearest neighbour, ends on Wednesday.
We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people, Prince Mohammed said. (Photo: File)

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in US magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer.

Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying: "I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines - does not recognise Israel. It has maintained for years that normalising relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

"We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people," Prince Mohammed said.

Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fuelled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel in March, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.

In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumoured secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.
The court ruled that there was no concrete evidence against the suspects, and the evidence presented before the court had several loopholes. (Photo: Representational)

Karachi: A Pakistani woman and two others were acquitted by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 20 years after a triple murder case was registered against them. In 1998, Asma Nawab was alleged to have orchestrated the murder of her parents and brother over a love marriage, Geo TV reported.

In 1999, the sessions court had ordered double death sentences for Asma, Farhan Khan and Javed Ahmed Siddiqui.

The Sindh High Court had rejected their appeal against the death sentence in 2015 and the appeal against that order was eventually taken up by the Supreme Court.

Hearing the case at apex court's Karachi Registry, the bench, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, accepted their appeals, nullified their sentences and ordered their immediate release, the channel said.

The court ruled that there was no concrete evidence against the suspects, and the evidence presented before the court had several loopholes. The court also found that the weapons recovered had no connection to the case, it added.

Farhan's fingerprints were taken two days after his arrest, the court ruled, adding that the prosecution failed to prove its allegations.

During the court proceedings, Justice Khosa remarked that police arrests suspects but fails to present evidence against them before courts. The suspects are released for lack of evidence but it is said courts acquit suspects, he asserted.

Justice Khosa said that suspects have been facing jail time since last 20 years without any evidence. Asma was the only woman facing the death sentence in Sindh province.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's statement late on Sunday night, came after Indian security forces on Sunday gunned down 13 militants in three counter-insurgency operations that also claimed the lives of three Army jawans and four civilians in Anantnag. (Photo: File)

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has accused India of launching a "brutal crackdown" in Kashmir after terror groups suffered a major setback following killing of 13 terrorists in counter-insurgency operations.

Abbasi's statement late on Sunday night, came after Indian security forces on Sunday gunned down 13 militants in three counter-insurgency operations that also claimed the lives of three Army jawans and four civilians in Anantnag and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The brutal crackdown, including the despicable use of pellet guns on civilians who were protesting against the killing is deplorable," Abbasi said.

He also asked the international community to urge India to allow access to fact finding missions of the UN to Kashmir.

Sunday's operations by the Indian security forces have rendered a severe blow to terror groups such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashker-e-Taiba.
Norwegian label Stellar Disco Records releases a 4 track EP by Swaziland producer Slotta, one of which gets remixed by Lars Behrenroth.

From the label:

On our journey to bring you sounds from the underground we are so happy and proud to present this great EP by young super talent Slotta out of Mbabane Swaziland. Slotta got an exceptional ear for all things deep and serves up 4 stunning tracks that work equally well on the AM sets as food for the soul.



Our favorites are "I Found You" and "Flooded Streets", two tracks with a high sense of drama to them that is guaranteed to take you on a journey of the mind. Just stunning pieces of music.



On remix duties we are so grateful and honored to have two of our favorites. Two guys who need no introduction. If you don't know then you need to get yourself educated!



Both guys deliver their spin on "I Found You", both in different directions, both being loyal to the original, both infectiously hypnotic. We are so happy to give you remixes courtesy of Lars Behrenroth and Addvibe!



We hope you enjoy this EP as much as we do!





You can hear the full remix on Deeper Shades Of House show #609




SALT LAKE CITY  The stretch of I-15 now being called the state's "Technology Corridor" ranks No. 1 on the Utah Department of Transportation's Top 10 list of construction projects for 2018.

Some work on the $450 million project to widen the freeway to six lanes in both directions between the Timpanogos Highway, state Route 92, and Main Street in Lehi, started Monday, including removing the median barrier.

But UDOT spokesman John Gleason said most drivers won't notice a difference in their commutes until later this month.

"There will be some overnight lane closures that wont affect peak hours, but they won't see orange construction barrels out on I-15 for another couple of weeks, probably mid- to late April," he said.

He said steps will be taken to ease the impact on drivers during the project, set to be completed in late 2020, including narrowing the lanes that will remain open to accommodate more vehicles.

"We recognize with construction activities comes inconveniences," Gleason said of the UDOT projects. "We try to take to make it as easy to navigate as possible and keep traffic moving as much as possible to minimize some of those headaches."

The I-15 project is key to developing Utah's Silicon Slopes technology corridor that includes 700 acres at Point of the Mountain that will be freed up after the Utah State Prison moves to a site near the Salt Lake City International Airport in 2020.

The other nine projects on the list released Monday are, in order of their rankings:

 Adding a new southbound lane on I-15 from 2100 South to 12300 South, redesigning some of the southbound ramps at the 1-15 and I-215 interchange and widening 7200 South to three lanes from I-15 to Bingham Junction Boulevard in Midvale. Work on the $180 million project is also scheduled to begin this spring and expected to be completed in late 2019.

 Reconstructing I-215 in Davis County from the I-15 interchange in North Salt Lake to 2100 North and building a new diverging diamond interchange at Redwood Road and I-215. The $40 million project has been underway since February and will continue through the end of the year.

 Replacing three bridges on I-80 in Tooele County near the state Route 36 interchange: eastbound and westbound I-80 over the railroad tracks and the S.R. 36 ramp bridge. The $30 million in bridge work will begin in late spring and should be done in the summer of 2019.

 Widening Bluff Street in St. George from 100 South to Sunset Boulevard by adding a lane in each direction and turn lanes at several intersections. The yearlong, $51 million project started in January.

 Adding a new westbound lane for trucks on I-80 from Jeremy Ranch to Parleys Summit, and a new wildlife crossing at the summit, repaving I-80 from Lambs Canyon to Kimball Junction. Work on the $30 million project started Monday and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

 Extending Mountain View Corridor in Utah County from the Redwood Road and 2100 North intersection to state Route 73. The $41 million project is set to start this spring and should be done next year.

 Converting four intersections on Bangerter Highway into freeway-style interchanges, at 5400 South, 7000 South, 9000 South and 11400 South. The $201 million project is underway and due to be completed by the end of the year.

 Reconstructing state Route 9, the gateway to Zion National Park, through Springdale. The old pavement is already being removed and replaced with new asphalt, and pedestrian and bike improvements are being made. The $19 million project should be done before the peak visitor season begins later this month.

 Finishing the widening and reconstruction of state Route 108 in Syracuse from Antelope Drive to 300 North in Davis County. The $52 million project started a year ago and should be completed this fall.

There are a total of 188 UDOT construction projects scheduled across the state this year, adding up to $1.46 billion. They range from sidewalk and street installations to the major projects on the list.
SALT LAKE CITY  Christine M. Durham, the first woman appointed to the Utah Supreme Court and to serve as its chief justice, will address Westminster College's 2018 graduating class, the college has announced.

Durham will address the graduates during commencement ceremonies May 12 at 9:45 a.m. at the Maverik Center in West Valley City.

Durham, who retired from the court in 2017 after 35 years, served a decade as chief justice and led the Utah Judicial Council. She was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court by Gov. Scott M. Matheson in 1982.

Prior to serving on the Utah Supreme Court, she served four years as a 3rd District Court judge, one as presiding judge. She has also worked in academia and in private law practice before she was appointed to the bench in 1978.

Durham co-founded Women Lawyers of Utah and was a founding member and president of the National Association of Women Judges. She taught law for many years and served on the Duke University board of trustees for 14 years.

"Christine Durham is an inspirational leader and trailblazer, and we are very pleased to host her as our 2018 commencement speaker," said Westminster College President Stephen Morgan.

"Her dedication to gender equality, diversity and inclusion are all core values of a Westminster education. We look forward to her sharing her experiences and advice with our graduates."

Durham is also an emeritus member of the Council of the American Law Institute, a past president of the Conference of Chief Justices of the United States and past chair of the American Bar Association's Council on Legal Education, the entity that accredits American law schools.

Durham currently serves on the board of overseers for the RAND Institute for Civil Justice and co-chairs Utah Center for Legal Inclusion and the Coordinating Committee for Access to Justice. She is also a trustee for University of the People, an accredited, tuition-free, online institution for higher education.

She earned her undergraduate degree at Wellesley College and is a graduate of the Duke University School of Law. She relocated to Utah with her husband, George, in 1973. They are the parents of five children.

Durham will receive an honorary degree from Westminster, along with Utah entrepreneur David Simmons and banking executive Patricia Richards.

Simmons has been recognized for his entrepreneurial success in the media, communications and travel-management industries, in addition to his involvement in a variety of community organizations over his 40-year career.

Currently, Simmons is chairman of Morris Murdock Travel, a travel-management company based in Utah. His past positions include CEO of Simmons Media Group and chairman and CEO of Keystone Communications.

He has spent nearly two decades as a member of Westminster College's board of trustees and currently serves on the board of Western Governor's University.

Richards has held various executive positions at First Security Bank and Wells Fargo Bank, retiring as senior vice president and senior regional manager of Wells Fargo's Wealth Management Group. She has led the boards of the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera, United Way of Salt Lake and the Salt Lake Chamber.

She has also served on the boards of Westminster College, Utah Bankers Association and Governor's Economic Council.
SALT LAKE CITY  A Utah solar energy company that promises substantial tax breaks to customers who buy its thermal lenses doesn't generate any electricity and never will, a solar power expert testified Monday in federal court.

Neldon Johnson and R. Gregory Shepard are accused of using RaPower-3 LLC and International Automated System Inc. to sell solar technology to customers under a false premise that the equipment is groundbreaking.

A 2015 Department of Justice complaint alleges the businesses made false promises to customers and that the "so-called technology is a sham." A scheduled 10-day bench trial before Judge David Nuffer started Monday in U.S. District Court.

The Deseret News was the first to report in December of 2013 the questionable business practices of International Automated System's decadelong practice of promising solar energy in arrangements that never came to fruition.

In a monthslong investigation, the newspaper uncovered projects in multiple states that never produced significant energy, despite claims by company officials that the technology was revolutionary.

Federal authorities say the company has cost the U.S. Treasury Department more than $4 million in a bevy of tax cases in courts in Utah, Oregon, California, Washington and other states. The DOJ has identified at least 90 customers who claimed bogus tax credits.

Government witness Tom Mancini, who owns a solar consulting firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said his analysis showed International Automated Systems' solar dish technology never produced electrical power or any other usable energy from the sun. He also said it would never become a commercialized system.

On two visits to the company's site in Millard County, Mancini said he never saw any engineering drawings, computer models of components, system tests, lists of materials or cost estimates. He said Johnson repeatedly told him he doesn't keep that kind of information.

Mancini also testified the company doesn't have the 20-plus engineers and 75 to 100 technicians needed to work on making a technology viable. He described the operation as a series of components that don't fit together in a system that would work efficiently or effectively.

Johnson's attorney, Denver Snuffer Jr., objected to Mancini taking the witness stand, arguing his testimony is not relevant because the case is about tax issues. He also asked the judge to strike his testimony because he contends Mancini's analysis didn't meet court-established criteria. Nuffer denied the motion.

Under cross-examination, Mancini conceded that he didn't test any of the components in the system. Snuffer tried to discredit Mancini's analysis, saying he did not work with data but used his imagination to assemble the system in his head to determine whether it would work.

The government claims the thermal lenses are nothing more than thin sheets of plastic that have been exposed to desert conditions and either have fallen to the ground or hang dangling or broken from installed towers. RaPower-3 and International Automated System products don't qualify customers for tax breaks as the companies claim, according to the government.

The defendants deny the allegations and assert they have been involved in a legitimate business. Any representations they made regarding tax implications are grounded in "fact and law," according to court documents.

"The fact that the government incentivizes alternative energy transactions by means of tax credits and deductions does not make the defendant's business a 'scheme,'" they argued.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story, a statement made under cross-examination by government witness Tom Mancini that he didn't test any of the components in the system was wrongly attributed to the defendant, Neldon Johnson.
SALT LAKE CITY  Utah health care executives on Monday learned the importance of preparation from the CEO of a hospital that faced a historic patient burden after the October shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 and injured hundreds.

Todd Sklamberg, CEO of Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in the Las Vegas Valley, told members of the Utah Hospital Association that health facilities and their partners in public health and law enforcement must coordinate extensively ahead of time for the possibility of a mass-casualty event.

"The question is not if this is going to happen again, but when and where," Sklamberg told the Deseret News following his lecture at the University Park Marriott hotel in Salt Lake City. "Be it a shooting, national disaster or some other attack."

Sunrise Hospital saw 214 patients who were hurt in some way in the Oct. 1 Las Vegas shooting, where people attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival were targeted by a gunman on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel.

Those patients at Sklamberg's hospital included 124 with gunshot wounds, which he said was the largest group of such victims any hospital has ever treated from a single incident in U.S. history.

Sklamberg said the ordeal, despite the hospital's imperfect response, proved to him that hyperrealistic emergency training for hospitals, police agencies and others ultimately pays off.

"Part of it (is) communitywide drills," Sklamberg said. "When you drill, drill like it's the real thing."

He said that in communities throughout the country, there is always a risk that states and counties wrestling with budget constraints will be tempted to skimp on, or totally cut out, interagency emergency preparedness training. Local governments should never give into that impulse, Sklamberg told the Deseret News.

"It's just (about) maintaining the heightened awareness that this can happen anywhere and anytime  and we need to be diligent in our preparation activities," Sklamberg said. "We cannot shortchange funding of emergency preparation in our communities, because lives are at stake."

Sklamberg addressed Sunrise Hospital's efforts to ensure blood supplies got to where they were needed and to obtain additional supplies from other hospitals. The presentation also described the work of "environmental services" crews who kept the facility clean amid the chaos.

"It's ever so critical to enhance coordination of care," he said.

One unpredictable challenge encountered in the response to the mass shooting, Sklamberg said, was the sheer number of patients who had no identification with them. All 16 patients who were deceased at Sunrise Hospital  10 of which were dead on arrival  had no identification with them.

"We had 92 patients without any identification at all," he said.

Jan Buttrey, disaster preparedness coordinator for the Utah Hospital Association, explained that many of the concertgoers didn't have their wallet or purse because they had wristbands that served as a catch-all device that could be scanned to buy things at the event.

The number of unidentified patients required a large effort by hospital staff to obtain as thorough a description as possible of each person.

"We then went through an identifying process with family members asking for physical identifiers," Sklamberg said.

Because medical gear was frequently covering much of the patient's face, staff in many cases relied on locating tattoos or body piercings in order to get some certainty, he said.

"At times it's hard to recognize facial features," Sklamberg said.

"It was important to the families" that staff be able to quickly and reliably determine whether or not any of the victims at the facility was their loved one, he said.

Sunrise Hospital performed 58 surgeries on patients within 24 hours and used 516 units of blood. Thirty-one patients were admitted to intensive care units.

Kirsten Mills, emergency management program coordinator at Intermountain Medical Center, said the presentation gave providers a lot to think about in terms of how to best communicate in a large-scale emergency.

One group that could benefit from improved methods of instantaneous communication, she said, is the general public in the area of the emergency. For example, Mills said, many people simply took injured loved ones, friends or strangers to the first hospital they could find directions for, rather than the ones best-suited for traumatic care or with the most availability to take on more patients.

"The (directions) apps on your smartphone aren't taking you to (trauma) centers or asking you about your injuries," Mills said.

She said the confusion those people experienced raises important questions for public health departments and provider organizations about how to rapidly disseminate those important details.

Rachelle Rhodes, director of intensive medicine at Intermountain Medical Center, said that what Sklamberg described to providers Monday "hits very close to home."

"This is a wake-up call to make sure everyone knows how to respond, what to do," Rhodes said.
SALT LAKE CITY  Republicans announced Monday they've hired an attorney to challenge last month's decision by a federal appeals court upholding the controversial election law that gives candidates an alternative path to the primary ballot.

Gene Schaerr, who represented Utah in the state's unsuccessful effort to defend its constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, has been retained by the Utah Republican Party Constitutional Defense Committee, member Don Guymon said Monday.

He said an "en banc" hearing by the entire 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will be requested to reconsider the court's 2-1 decision on March 20 upholding the law known as SB54.

Guymon said the author of the dissenting opinion, Chief Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich, "made a very strong case for the Utah Republican Party." Tymkovich wrote that "such change is not for legislatures to impose."

While Guymon acknowledged "there's no guarantees with any litigation," he said Republicans who believe the law violates their First Amendment rights "were very pleased with the stand" taken by the chief judge.

The other judges found the law "strikes an appropriate balance" between the state's role in managing elections and letting the GOP to form associations as protected by the First Amendment.

The deadline for petitioning for the hearing is Tuesday, but an extension was granted Monday giving the party until April 18 to file its request.

The cost of the challenge is being picked up by Entrata CEO Dave Bateman, he said, declining to detail what Schaerr is charging. Bateman had previously agreed to pick up the legal costs of the party's initial appeal to the 10th Circuit.

The party members could have sought to have the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and would still be able to if they don't get the result they want from the federal appeals court.

State Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, an attorney, said requests for en banc hearings are "very rarely granted," only in about 0.3 percent of the decisions made by the 10th Circuit.

"I will be shocked if an en banc review is granted," Weiler said, although he said there are arguments that can be made in favor of the court taking another look at the case, including the dissent by the chief judge.

He said a decision will likely be made within a couple of months once the petition is filed. Weiler said while he supported waiting for the 10th Circuit to rule on the party's appeal, it's time to move on.

"We need to start a healing process," Weiler said, noting 2018 is an election year. "At this point, we ought to be focused on getting Republicans elected rather than pick at scabs and further divide the party."

State GOP Chairman Rob Anderson, who tried to end the lawsuit last year but was overruled by the party's State Central Committee, said the decision to seek a review wasn't a surprise but means "this internal conflict will remain."

The 2014 law permits candidates to bypass a political party's traditional caucus and convention system for selecting nominees by collecting voter signatures to guarantee a place on the primary ballot.

The Utah GOP has been deeply divided over the law, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature as a compromise with backers of the Count My Vote ballot initiative that would have replaced the traditional system with a direct primary.

Rich McKeown, executive chairman of the new Count My Vote ballot initiative that would keep SB54 in place with some modifications, said he believes the en banc hearing "is probably a long shot."

If opponents of SB54 "feel they've got a chance, that's great," he said, noting the law has also been upheld by the Utah Supreme Court. "We feel quite secure in that the courts have already decided on this matter."
SALT LAKE CITY  Tooele County, which claims among the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in Utah, has sued pharmaceutical companies over opioid addiction in the rural county.

Drugmakers for decades concealed the risks associated with painkillers from the public, including Tooele residents, attorneys for the county argue in a complaint filed Wednesday in Utah's 3rd District Court.

The lawsuit mirrors a claim filed by Summit County late last month, as the two Utah counties join dozens of other counties across the country who are waging a battle against the drugmakers in court.

Tooele residents' dependence on the drugs has overtaxed police, probation, public assistance and other agencies in the county, they argue. The suit seeks damages to be determined at trial.

"The cost of the addiction takes time to unfold, but can be measured in the impact on families and the community, whether it is child neglect, infants born with drug dependence, estrangement of families, lost careers or criminal justice involvement," said Colin King, one of the attorneys representing the county.

Overuse of the prescription drugs has amplified overdose deaths in the county, which has the 2nd highest rate of fatal overdoses in Utah, the county's lawyers noted in a prepared statement Monday announcing the court filing.

They argue the companies knew about potential for longterm users to develop an addiction but didn't disclose the danger and touted the drugs as the best pain remedy in marketing campaigns.

The county has spent "exorbitant amounts of money" as a result, according to the claim. It did not include any dollar amount on the losses, which the county says pertain to law enforcement and health care, but also to lost productivity among residents.

Tooele logs 33 drug deaths for every 100,000 people, according to Utah Department of Health figures that considered data from 2013 to 2015. Only Utah's southeast group of counties, which includes Carbon Emery and Grand, had a higher rate, with 41 deaths per 100,000.

Two dozen companies are named as defendants. They include Purdue Pharma, behind the name-brand opioid Oxycontin, and Endo Pharmaceuticals, which produces Percocet.

Tooele County, home to an estimated 67,000 people, is represented by King's and one other Utah firm, plus a New York City-based law group. They will recoup attorney's fees if they win the case but won't charge the county if they lose, King said.

In November, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and District Attorney Sim Gill announced they would sue big pharmaceutical companies over the opioid epidemic in Utah's most populous county. Gill said last month that the county was still carefully preparing its case.
LAYTON  Layton Mayor Bob Stevenson was sitting on the second row of the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City Sunday with a secret.

"I was biting my tongue and avoiding as many people (as possible)," he said Monday. "It was very tempting to want to scream enthusiasm about this happening."

That was when President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that Layton would be the site of a new temple, one of seven announced on the final day of the faiths worldwide general conference.

Two days before, the church acquired nearly 13 acres of land on the southeast side of Layton, the Deseret News learned Monday. And while neighbors and other community members are abuzz that the property could be the site for the future temple, church officials, property owners and Layton officials declined to comment about the location.

Layton Councilwoman Joy Petro said many people have asked her to confirm the site for the new temple.

"I got to tell you, my phone's been blowing up. Everybody wants to know where," she said.

Regardless of where it's located, Petro said the second temple in Davis County will have a "tremendous" effect on Layton, adding that it "fills the gap" between the church's Bountiful and Ogden temples and creates easier access for church members in her city to perform temple work.

Stevenson called the announcement of a Layton temple "stunning," adding that it is "by far the most exciting announcement we've had in our community.

"I think that maybe we could even hear a roar coming from not only the Conference Center, but coming from Layton, Utah," he said.

Confirming the location of temples is left to church officials, a position church spokesman Eric Hawkins noted Monday.

"We don't have any comment," Hawkins said. "Those kinds of announcements or confirmations have to come from the First Presidency, so we wouldn't provide any confirmation on that at all."

On Friday, the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the LDS Church acquired the deed for two parcels of land in Layton totaling just under 13 acres, according to documents from the Davis County Recorder's Office.

The property includes a 1-acre lot with a home east of Rosewood Lane and a nearly 12-acre pasture located south of Oak Hills Drive. The home was owned by the Elaine P. Morgan Living Trust, and the pasture was owned by the Larry W. Haugen Marital Trust. Trustees of the trusts, Elaine and Mark Morgan and Larry and Zachary Haugen, signed the land transfers on Friday, according to the deed documents.

Todd Morgan, Elaine and Mark Morgan's son who manages the trust, declined to comment Monday. "We just can't tell you anything," he said. "I wish we could, but we can't. Sorry."

Brent Roberts, managing director of the special projects department for the church, declined to specify the site for the Layton temple, noting that it will be announced "in due time" once the design of the building is prepared and the groundbreaking is announced.

Alisa Grover Simpson, who has lived in Layton for 10 years, said she "never really thought" Layton would have a temple.

"I love temple announcements," she said. "They always make me cry thinking about all the people who will get to go to the temple."

Matthew Godfrey, a member of a bishopric in his Layton ward, said he was watching general conference with his family when he heard the news.

"I screamed, 'Yes!' at the TV and then just felt a really strong feeling of gratitude and excitement," he said.

Godfrey said "it's not a hardship" for his family to visit the temples in Bountiful or Ogden so "I feel almost guilty that we'll be getting a temple in Layton." But he said that it will "hasten our own work in family history and provide us with even more opportunities to see the blessings from this work."

He added, "And I think just having a temple close by that we can drive by every day will be a great reminder of the blessings that come from temple service."

Alice Knighton Miller of Syracuse, posted her excitement about the temple announcement on Facebook. She said her great-great-grandfather, Charles Layton, was one of the founders of Layton and believes he is "rejoicing in heaven."

"I think they (ancestors) are excited. We've heard stories of them putting the first spade in the dirt in this area after coming over from England. They were honored by the name Layton being used. Now the name Layton will be on a temple," she said.

"I am sure they are thrilled. I know I was."

Contributing: Trent Toone
ZAGREB, Croatia  The Croatian president thanks Argentina for taking in notorious pro-Nazi war criminals after World War II. In Bulgaria, a top politician calls the country's Roma minority "ferocious humanoids." And Hungary's prime minister declares the "color" of Europeans should not mix with that of Africans or Arabs.

Ever since WWII, such views were taboo in Europe, confined to the far-right fringes. Today they are openly expressed by mainstream political leaders in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, part of a populist surge in the face of globalization and mass migration.

"There is something broader going on in the region which has produced a patriotic, nativist, conservative discourse through which far-right ideas managed to become mainstream," said Tom Junes, a historian with the Human and Social Studies Foundation in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In many places, the shift to the right has included the rehabilitation of Nazi collaborators, often fighters or groups celebrated as anti-communists or defenders of national liberation. In Hungary and Poland, governments are also eroding the independence of courts and the media, prompting human rights groups to warn that democracy is threatened in parts of a region that threw off Moscow-backed dictatorships in 1989.

Some analysts say Russia is covertly helping extremist groups in order to destabilize Western liberal democracies. While that claim is difficult to prove with concrete evidence, it's clear that the growth of radical groups has pushed moderate conservative European parties to the right to hold onto votes.

That's the case in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party  the front-runner in the country's April 8 parliamentary election  have drawn voters with an increasingly strident anti-migrant campaign.

Casting himself as the savior of a white Christian Europe being overrun by Muslims and Africans, Orban has insisted that Hungarians don't want their "own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed by others."

Orban, who is friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also the first European leader to endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential race. In 2015 he erected a razor-wire fence at Hungary's borders to stop migrants from crossing, and has since been warning in apocalyptic terms that the West faces racial and civilizational "suicide" if the migration continues.

Orban has also been obsessed with demonizing financier and philanthropist George Soros, falsely portraying the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor as an advocate of uncontrolled immigration into Europe. In what critics denounce as a state-sponsored conspiracy theory with anti-Semitic overtones, the Hungarian government spent $48.5 million on anti-Soros ads in 2017, according to the investigative news site atlatszo.hu.

In a recent speech, Orban denounced Soros in language that echoed anti-Semitic cliches of the 20th century. He said Hungary's foes "do not believe in work, but speculate with money; they have no homeland, but feel that the whole world is theirs."

In Poland, xenophobic language is also on the rise. When nationalists held a large Independence Day march in November and some carried banners calling for a "White Europe" and "Clean Blood," the interior minister called it a "beautiful sight."

Poland's government has also been embroiled in a bitter dispute with Israel and Jewish organizations over a national law that would criminalize blaming Poland for Germany's Holocaust crimes. Critics say that could allow a whitewash of history.

With tensions running high, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki listed "Jewish perpetrators" as among those who were responsible for the Holocaust. He also visited the Munich grave of an underground Polish resistance group that had collaborated with the Nazis.

In the same vein, an official tapped to create a major new history museum in Warsaw has condemned the postwar tribunals in Nuremberg, Germany  where top Nazis were judged  as "the greatest judicial farce in the history of Europe." Arkadiusz Karbowiak said the Nuremberg trials were only "possible because of the serious role of Jews" in their organization, and called them "the place where the official religion of the Holocaust was created."

Across the region, Roma, Muslims, Jews and other minorities have expressed anxiety about the future. But nationalists insist they are not promoting hate. They argue they're defending their national sovereignty and their Christian way of life against globalization and the large-scale influx of migrants who don't assimilate.

The Balkans, bloodied by ethnic warfare in the 1990s, are also seeing a rise of nationalism, particularly in Serbia and Croatia. Political analysts there believe that Russian propaganda is spurring old ethnic resentments.

Croatia has steadily drifted to the right since joining the EU in 2013. Some officials there have denied the Holocaust or reappraised Croatia's ultranationalist, pro-Nazi Ustasha regime, which killed tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma and anti-fascist Croats in wartime prison camps.

On a recent visit to Argentina, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic thanked the country for providing post-war refuge to Croats who had belonged to the Ustasha regime.

The world's top Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff of the Wiesenthal center, called her statement "a horrific insult to victims." Grabar-Kitarovic later said she had not meant to glorify a totalitarian regime.

Meanwhile in Bulgaria, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, the government includes a far-right alliance, the United Patriots, whose members have given Nazi salutes and slurred minorities. Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov has called the country's Roma minority "ferocious humanoids" whose women "have the instincts of street dogs."

Junes, the researcher, says even though hate crimes are on the rise in Bulgaria, the problem has raised little concern in the West because the country keeps its public debt in check and is not challenging the fundamental Western consensus, unlike Poland and Hungary.

"Bulgaria isn't rocking the boat," Junes said. "They play along with Europe."

While populist and far-right groups are also growing in parts of Western Europe, countries like Poland and Hungary are proving more vulnerable to the same challenges, said Peter Kreko, director of Political Capital Institute, a Budapest-based think tank.

"In younger, weaker, more fragile democracies," Kreko said, "right-wing populism is more dangerous because it can weaken and even demolish the democratic institutions."

____

Gera reported from Warsaw; Pablo Gorondi contributed from Budapest.
Say what you want about an elephants memory, but a group of elephants in Spain will remember this day for the rest of their lives.

As BBC News reported, five elephants roamed a highway in southeastern Spain on Monday after they escaped from a crash.

One elephant died from injuries, while two others were hurt in the crash, police told BBC News. The driver of the truck that was hauling the animals was not injured.

A crane was used to lift the elephants away from the highway.

As Sky News reported, some elephants roamed around the highway, while others, with cuts on their faces and legs, stood by on the side of the road.

The incident occurred when a circus lorry, which is a large truck that carries animals and other goods, rolled while attempting to overtake another vehicle, Sky News reported.

Gregorio Serrano, who works for Spains road transport network, shared a video of the elephants roaming the motorway, Reuters reported.

Se esta procediendo a la asistencia y evacuacion de los elefantes heridos en el accidente que ha tenido lugar en Albacete. De los cinco paquidermos hay uno muerto y dos heridos. En breve de restablecera la circulacion en la A-30 en el pk 22/23. pic.twitter.com/fhGypNDYGm  Gregorio Serrano (@GSerranoLopez) April 2, 2018

Other local authorities posted photos of the animals on Twitter.

A-30 cortada por caida de camion con elefantes sueltos en la calzada. Cortada autovia direccion Murcia a la altura de pozo Canada. pic.twitter.com/z0tPg6KDZo  PoliciaLocalAlbacete (@PoliciaAlbacete) April 2, 2018

The circus owners did not immediately respond to the incident, according to The Telegraph.

Spains Civil Guard will now send an incident report to a local judge, who will begin investigating the incident more thoroughly, The Telegraph reported.
The government of India is imposing import duties on a broader variety of smartphone components, underlining its wider efforts to encourage the local manufacture of devices.

Components including camera modules, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and connectors have been hit with a 10% import duty by the Central Bureau of Excise and Customs. The levy is part of the Make in India initiative, which is intended to foster domestic development and creation of mobile phones and components.

It has been confirmed that only the components themselves will be subject to import duty  the levy will not apply to any equipment essential for their manufacture, meaning there will be no tax on assembling the components in India.

The Make in India initiative is pushing local smartphone production via a phased campaign of measures which will favour Indian manufacture. The government has been upfront about its goal of taxing imports of assembled smartphones as well as several of the components essential for making them. The PCB fee applies to products that feature memory chips, which can constitute up to half of a smartphones total materials.

International smartphone manufacturers will be most affected by the programme. Chinas Xiaomi and South Koreas Samsung have both surpassed Indian handset firms in the market, which is now the worlds second largest after China for smart devices. Apple has long requested tax breaks on importing devices and components, but the governments persistence has resulted in the US-based firm setting up a local manufacturing facility, putting it in the company of Samsung.
People who are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in later life are twice as likely to develop other autoimmune conditions, a new study has shown.

Researchers have highlighted the importance of coordination between healthcare teams in considering additional screening among those with adult-onset type 1 diabetes.

The latest research from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, involved more than 1,110 adults with type 1 diabetes, all of whom developed type 1 diabetes at varying ages. Between 2011-2017 they were all screened for 29 autoimmune conditions.

Those who developed type 1 diabetes after the age of 40 had twice the risk of being diagnosed with conditions such as thyroid disease, pernicious anemia and vitiligo, compared with those diagnosed in childhood.

The prevalence increased particularly in women over the age of 60, who were shown to have a 63% likelihood of having at least one additional autoimmune condition, compared with 33% of men in that age group.

Yicheng Bao, a medical student at University of Missouri- Kansas City School of Medicine, told Medscape Medical News: Physicians should be aware that a lot of autoimmune diseases can occur in people with type 1 diabetes. People who develop type 1 diabetes in adulthood are at special risk.

The findings showed that thyroid disease was the most common among the participants at 26.5%, while 21.9% developed Hashimotos hypothyroidism, which occurs when the immune system attacks the thyroid.

In December, a study showed that type 1 diabetes in adults is more common than many people are aware. The study, which used data from the UK Biobank, showed that 40% of diagnoses of type 1 diabetes occur after the age of 30.

The study findings were unveiled at the ENDO 2018: The Endocrine Society Annual Meeting.
Saudi crown prince defends Israel in rift with Iran

Saudi Arabias crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the Jewish people have a right to their own land, as he sought an ally against the Islamic Republic of Iran led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.



Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman

The Atlantic magazine quoted the crown princes statement as he started a two-week trip to the United States where he'll meet with President Trump and seek US investments in his country.

Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who started off with a purge of the corrupt among the ruling class, appears to be in the middle of an attempt to rebrand the kingdom as progressive state and, judging from the headlines since last year, the strategy appears to be working, at least to some extent.

Saudi Arabia, once a hardcore Wahabi Islamic kingdom, wants to return to a moderate Islam. As part of the changeover, the kingdom last September, announced it would finally allow women to drive.

In an interview with The Atlantic magazines Jeffrey Goldberg, the crown prince has acknowledged that Jewish people have a right to their own homeland  a reversal of the policy followed by the conservative kingdom so far.

While Saudi Arabia, long known as a fierce foe of Israel, has in the past also talked about recognising Israel in the context of a peace deal with the Palestinians, the crown princes acknowledgement that the Jews have a right to a homeland is the clearest statement to date.

Saudi Arabia had in 2002 also sponsored an initiative to foster a two-state solution  a solution that has also long been supported by the United States. However, officially, Saudi Arabia does not recognise the state of Israel.

While Saudi officials made Israels withdrawal to its territory prior to the 1967 Israeli-Arab war a precondition for closer relations in the past, that fundamental demand was not explicitly repeated by the crown prince in the Atlantic interview published on Monday.

I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations, he told The Atlantic.

The crown princes remarks follow months of diplomatic gestures, including the opening of Saudi Arabias airspace to commercial Israel-bound flights and the acknowledgment of backchannel communications between both governments.

Saudi officials appear increasingly willing to strike a carefully conciliatory tone as they seek a new ally to confront their common arch enemy Iran and build stronger economic ties.

Saudi Arabia has traditionally been a place that has produced a lot of anti-Semitic propaganda. Do you think you have a problem with anti-Semitism in your country? Goldberg asked later in the Atlantic interview, to which Mohammed responded: Our country doesnt have a problem with Jews. Our Prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman. Not just a friend  he married her.

Our prophet, his neighbors were Jewish. You will find a lot of Jews in Saudi Arabia coming from America, coming from Europe. There are no problems between Christian and Muslims and Jews. We have problems like you would find anywhere in the world, among some people. But the normal sort of problems, said Mohammed, adding that there were lot of interests we share, including economically.

Mohammed, 32, has attempted to position himself as a favorite for the kingdoms younger citizens, who are less religious than older generations and are facing disproportionately high unemployment rates.

The Saudi leader is currently pursuing a major reform plan, named Saudi Vision 2030, to revitalise the kingdoms economy.
Centrum Group to sell money exchange business

Centrum Group, a domestic integrated financial services group, has signed an agreement to sell Centrum Direct (CDL), its money exchange business, to Atlanta-based EBIX for about Rs1,200 crore.

The entire CDL team and assets will be transferred to EBIX - a supplier of on-demand software and e-commerce services - and will become a part of EbixCash, EBIX's financial exchange. The deal was approved by Centrum Board, but is subject to shareholders and other regulatory approvals, a process which may take another 45-60 days.

In 2017, Centrum had divested 18.5-per cent of its stake in CDL to a group of PE investors  Jacob Ballas, New York Life and Evolvence.

Our money exchange business has seen sustained growth and has consistently innovated to meet changing customer needs. However, consolidation and margin pressures are expected to be major disruptors in this business. With more customers opting for technology enabled platforms, EBIX Inc has the right technological capabilities, a global footprint and a large resource base, to make an ideal home for CDL. The combined strengths of both entities, I believe will set the foundation of a strong business opportunity," Jaspal Bindra, Executive Chairman, Centrum Group, said.

"The sale proceeds will provide Centrum Group a significant resource base to strengthen our core businesses of Wealth Management, Institutional & Retail Broking, Investment Banking, Insurance and our lending verticals along with identifying strategic opportunities for growth, Bindra added.

CDL, which has an Authorised DealerII and a 'full fledged money changer' (FFMC) license, handled transactions worth Rs10,000 crore in FY 2017-18. As of today, the company has a customer base of over 3 million.

Its services include sale & purchase of foreign currency, overseas remittances, pre-paid travel cards and travelers cheques. The firm has a network of 165 outlets in 55 cities and is the largest airport forex player with presence at 24 airports in India.

The acquisition of CDL provides us with new abilities in niche financial exchange sectors while expanding our footprint in India. We have been eager to take up a strong position in Indias airports and shipping ports. CDL has a strong financial trajectory in terms of top line and operating margins. We will endeavor to improve it further through complementary products and synergetic operations. I am glad that EbixCash will inherit a strong senior leadership team from CDL," Robin Raina, Chairman, President and CEO, EBIX, said.
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Under instructions of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, Royal Eijkelkamp started in various regions of the island with the realisation of a groundwater monitoring network.

The multi-million euro project will take five years to complete.

One of the areas where Eijkelkamp will start to monitor the groundwater is near Anuradhapura, in the Malwathu Oya river basin.

Groundwater getting scarcer

Like many other countries, Sri Lanka also faces a variety of groundwater related problems, says senior project manager Elsa Mulder-van Heijst at Eijkelkamp.

Groundwater is becoming scarcer, population growth increases the demand for groundwater, and a large variety of users causes fluctuations in level, quality and composition of the groundwater, Mulder-van Heijst adds.

In addition, there are various climatic zones in Sri Lanka. In the dry zone, where residents are affected frequently by chronic kidney disease, a very high arsenic and mercury content is found in most drinking water samples.

Groundwater monitoring network

In the near future, the groundwater monitoring network to be realised, consisting of 150 measuring locations, will provide the decision-makers of the ministry with timely, reliable and accurate data, based on which groundwater related problems can be monitored and managed.

Directors Huug Eijkelkamp, Frank Tillmann and Supervisory Board members Fons Eijkelkamp and Joop Hylkema are proud to have been awarded this contract.

All groundwater data will be collected in a data management centre in Sri Lanak's captital city Colombo.

From design to implementation

'This project is a perfect example of the turnkey solutions Royal Eijkelkamp offers nowadays. In addition to the equipment, we take care of all activities within the project, from research, design, development, financial structuring, planning, management, implementation and training to functional delivery of the whole.'

The groundwater monitoring network will be constructed in three river basins and will be monitored from the capital Colombo.

In the three river basins, Royal Eijkelkamp will start with a detailed field study to determine the measuring locations and hydrogeological profiles.

Control room

Once the locations have been determined, Royal Eijkelkamp will carry out all drilling work using sonic drills. This is followed by the installation of sensors, data transport and validation.

In the Data Management Centre of the Water Resources Board in Colombo, a control room will be set up where all data will be received, monitored and managed.

The combined project activities are supported both from the Netherlands and from Sri Lanka with project management and extensive and versatile training.

This news item was originally published on the website of Eijkelkamp.

Read also on this website

 Royal Eijkelkamp introduces versatile oxygen demand spectrometer for waste water, 14 August 2017

 Eijkelkamp installs groundwater monitoring network along Hutuo river, China, 15 September 2015

 Country: Sri Lanka



More information

Eijkelkamp Soil & Water

Giesbeek, the Netherlands

+ 31 313 880 200

www.eijkelkamp.com


The Dutch team of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences won the first SunGlacier Challenge, a competition to harvest as much water from the air as possible.

One team with young water professionals from the Netherlands and two teams form Oman participated in the challenge and developed their own new version of the SunGlacier concept, an inverted metal cone. By cooling the cone the water in the air condensates on the cone and drips down.

The winning team had developed four SunGlacier devices, each with a different layout. The most remarkable version had a series of several cones.

The teams gathered at the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) in Muscat, Oman from 20 till 25 March where they entered on a 48 hours run.

Inventor of the SunGlacier-concept, Ap Verheggen (left) giving last minute advice to one of the teams.

Great achievement

Creator of the SunGlacier concept, Ap Verheggen, reacted very enthusiastic on the version of the winning team. The device with some cones in series was great. Some teachers in The Netherlands told the team not to do so, because it wouldnt work. They did and it worked. That is a great achievement and out-of-the-box thinking! said Verheggen,

During the research at the Windesheim university in Zwolle, the Netherlands, the team used heat cameras to improve the cool elements in the device. The team tested the devices several times in the Climate Chamber at the university.

The two other teams from Oman build nice and working devices as well. One had a great idea to make a spiral inside the cone to enlarge the surface for cooling, which worked good as well.

Presentation by the teams at Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) in Muscat, Oman.

First drops within few minutes

During the preparations of the 48 hrs run in Oman, the teams could improve their devices, getting new ideas from the supervisors Ahmed Al- Busaidi (MEDRC), Ap Verheggen (inventor of Sunglacier) and Marcel Rompelman (lecturer at Van Hall/Larenstein university and Wetskills supervisor).

After a day of tweaking, changing a bit and trial and error, all three devices were ready.

On World Water Day at 8.30 sharp the three teams switched on the cooling of their devices and a few minutes later the first drops of water appeared.

According to Verheggen the insights of the teams and the results will be used to improve the current SunGlaciers.

This news item was originally published on the website of SunGlacier Challenge.

Read also on this website

 Dutch armed forces facilitate field tests for promising water technologies in Mali, 26 April 2017

 Winning team Wetskills Korea water challenge announced at Olympic Winter Games, 11 February 2018

 Expertise: Water technology



More information

SunGlacier

The Hague, the Netherlands

+31 6 265 58 955

www.sunglacier.nl

Wetskills Foundation

The Hague, the Netherlands

www.wetskills.com

Inventor Ap Verheggen explains his SunGlacier devise that produces water from desert air.




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Amazon this week expanded its discounted Prime membership program, already available to EBT card holders, to include Medicaid recipients. Eligible customers can become Prime members for US$5.99 a month, less than half the regular $12.99 monthly fee.

The move -- another step in Amazon's efforts to reach underserved economic communities -- ratchets up its competition with Walmart.

Amazon provides customers with a link to authenticate their membership in eligible government assistance programs. It is not clear how the company has been working with the Department of Health and Human Services to verify the records.

Amazon Web Services last year hosted 68 million Medicaid records.

Checking In

The expansion of the discount program followed by just a couple of days reports that Amazon recently engaged in talks with JP Morgan Chase and other banks regarding the possibility of establishing a co-branded checking account program to provide limited banking access to customers.

Amazon previously has offered services targeting the unbanked population, including a stored value card called "Amazon Cash," which lets users load cash onto unlinked debit cards and then use them for purchases with Amazon and certain other retailers.

Customers can deposit funds into their stored value accounts by showing a barcode at a local retailer and presenting the cash.

Amazon's expansion is in part at least a competitive play to target the core market of rival Walmart, which is a favorite retailer with working class and low-income consumers, in part due to its reputation for offering lower prices on everything from household goods to groceries.

"Yes, Amazon and Walmart are at war, and so Amazon is going down-market to grab Walmart's core customer, even as Walmart attempts to go upmarket to grab some of Amazon's core market," observed Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at RSR Research.

Whether regulators ever would allow Amazon to offer banking services to customers is questionable, she told the E-Commerce Times, especially given Walmart's unsuccessful plan to enter the banking business a decade ago. That effort was crushed by consumer advocates and rival banks that feared Walmart would crush the competition, particularly small community banks that served working-class and low-income communities.

Amazon Prime already has locked up most of Amazon's upper-income customers, so the company must look elsewhere to expand its base, suggested Michael Levin, cofounder of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Unbanked Customers

About 7 percent of the U.S. population is unbanked, representing a clear opportunity for Amazon to go after markets dominated by Walmart and Dollar General, noted Thad Petersen, senior analyst at the Aite Group.

"Anything that Amazon does to increase reach increases their opportunity to sell and compete more effectively with physical world retailers," he told the E-Commerce Times.

About 7 percent of the U.S. population was unbanked as of 2015, with no checking account in the household, while 20 percent was underbanked, meaning they had a checking account, but also used some other form of processing transactions, Petersen said, citing data from the FDIC.

A proprietary checking account would allow Amazon to lower its interchange costs, because it would not have to go through a Visa or MasterCard payment network to process transactions with those customers, he pointed out.

Increasing digital economy access to the underserved has been an issue for many years, as their basic needs to access food, medicine and household goods often have been complicated due to inability to write checks, use credit cards or borrow money.

The USDA has announced plans to conduct a two-year pilot program starting this summer to test whether SNAP recipients can use their cards to buy groceries, according to a government official who asked not be identified.

The program is designed to test both online ordering and payment, to see if the transactions can be processed safely and securely. Amazon, Walmart, Fresh Direct, ShopRite and other retailers are slated to participate in the pilot.

David Jones is a freelance writer based in Essex County, New Jersey. He has written for Reuters, Bloomberg, Crain's New York Business and The New York Times.


Antarctica's ice sheet is retreating due to warm ocean water circulating beneath its floating edge, researchers from the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at the University of Leeds have found.

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, shows that the Southern Ocean melted 1,463 square kilometers of Antarctica's underwater ice between 2010 and 2016an area roughly the size of Greater London.

"What's happening is that Antarctica is being melted away at its base. We can't see it, because it's happening below the sea surface," professor Andrew Shepherd, one of the authors of the paper, explained to The Guardian.

The team also produced the first complete map showing that the ice sheet's submarine edge, or "grounding line," is shifting.

Map showing rates of grounding line migration and their coincidence with ocean conditions around Antarctica between 2010 and 2016 Konrad et al.

Lead researcher Dr. Hannes Konrad and his team found "extreme" grounding line retreat at eight of the ice sheet's 65 biggest glaciers. The pace of deglaciation since the last ice age is roughly 25 meters per year. However, the grounding line at these glaciers has been retreating more than five times that rate, the authors determined.

According to the paper, "Although most of the grounding line is stable, we estimate that 3.3 percent, 21.7 percent and 9.5 percent of East Antarctica, West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, respectively, are measurably in a state of retreat."

This study could spell major implications for global sea level rise.

"The changes mean that very soon the sea-level contribution from Antarctica could outstrip that from Greenland," Shepherd added to The Guardian.

Konrad noted in a statement, "Our study provides clear evidence that retreat is happening across the ice sheet due to ocean melting at its base, and not just at the few spots that have been mapped before now. This retreat has had a huge impact on inland glaciers, because releasing them from the sea bed removes friction, causing them to speed up and contribute to global sea level rise."

Although the retreat of some glaciers has sped up, others such as the Pine Island Glacier have halted, the researchers found.

"These differences emphasize the complex nature of ice sheet instability across the continent, and being able to detect them helps us to pinpoint areas that deserve further investigation," Konrad said.
By Mariel Borowitz

Scientists and policymakers need satellite data to understand and address climate change. Yet data from more than half of unclassified Earth-observing satellites is restricted in some way, rather than shared openly.

When governments restrict who can access data, or limit how people can use or redistribute it, that slows the progress of science. Now, as U.S. climate funding is under threat, it's more important than ever to ensure that researchers and others make the most of the collected data.

Why do some nations choose to restrict satellite data, while others make it openly available? My book, "Open Space," uses a series of historical case studies, as well as a broad survey of national practices, to show how economic concerns and agency priorities shape the way nations treat their data.

The Price of Data

Satellites can collect comprehensive data over the oceans, Arctic areas and other sparsely populated zones that are difficult for humans to monitor. They can collect data consistently over both space and time, which allows for a high level of accuracy in climate change research.

For example, scientists use data from the U.S.-German GRACE satellite mission to measure the mass of the land ice in both the Arctic and Antarctic. By collecting data on a regular basis over 15 years, GRACE demonstrated that land ice sheets in both Antarctica and Greenland have been losing mass since 2002. Both lost ice mass more rapidly since 2009.

Satellites collect valuable data, but they're also expensive, typically ranging from $100 million to nearly $1 billion per mission. They're usually designed to operate for three to five years, but quite often continue well beyond their design life.

Many nations attempt to sell or commercialize data to recoup some of the costs. Even the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European Space Agencyagencies that now make nearly all of their satellite data openly availableattempted data sales at an earlier stage in their programs. The U.S. Landsat program, originally developed by NASA in the early 1970s, was turned over to a private firm in the 1980s before later returning to government control. Under these systems, prices often ranged from hundreds to thousands of dollars per image.

In other cases, agency priorities prevent any data access at all. As of 2016, more than 35 nations have been involved in the development or operation of an Earth observation satellite. In many cases, nations with small or emerging space programs, such as Egypt and Indonesia, have chosen to build relatively simple satellites to give their engineers hands-on experience.

Since these programs aim to build capacity and demonstrate new technology, rather than distribute or use data, data systems don't receive significant funding. Agencies can't afford to develop data portals and other systems that would facilitate broad data access. They also often mistakenly believe that demand for the data from these experimental satellites is low.

If scientists want to encourage nations to make more of their satellite data openly available, both of these issues need to be addressed.

Landsat 8, an American Earth observation satellite. NASA, CC BY

Promoting Access

Since providing data to one user doesn't reduce the amount available for everyone else, distributing data widely will maximize the benefits to society. The more that open data is used, the more we all benefit from new research and products.

In my research, I've found that making data freely available is the best way to make sure the greatest number of people access and use it. In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey sold 25,000 Landsat images, a record at the time. Then Landsat data was made openly available in 2008. In the year following, the agency distributed more than 1 million Landsat images.

For nations that believe demand for their data is low, or that lack resources to invest in data distribution systems, economic arguments alone are unlikely to spur action. Researchers and other user groups need to raise awareness of the potential uses of this data and make clear to governments their desire to access and use it.

Intergovernmental organizations like the Group on Earth Observations can help with these efforts by connecting research and user communities with relevant government decision-makers. International organizations can also encourage sharing by providing nations with global recognition of their data-sharing efforts. Technical and logistical assistancehelping to set up data portals or hosting foreign data in existing portalscan further reduce the resource investment required by smaller programs.

Future Promise

Satellite technology is improving rapidly. I believe that agencies must find ways to take advantage of these developments while continuing to make data as widely available as possible.

Satellites are collecting more data than ever before. Landsat 8 collected more data in its first two years of operation than Landsat 4 and 5 collected over their combined 32-year lifespan. The Landsat archive currently grows by a terabyte a day.

This avalanche of data opens promising new possibilities for big data and machine learning analysesbut that would require new data access systems. Agencies are embracing cloud technology as a way to address this challenge, but many still struggle with the costs. Should agencies pay commercial cloud providers to store their data, or develop their own systems? Who pays for the cloud resources needed to carry out the analysis: agencies or users?

Satellite data can contribute significantly to a wide range of areasclimate change, weather, natural disasters, agricultural development and morebut only if users can access the data.

Reposted with permission from our media associate The Conversation.
By Dan Nosowitz

The legalization of hemp as a crop may sound minor, even quaintly of the 1990s, in the wake of the massive economic, environmental and political ramifications of the next farm bill. But it deserves a look.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell last week announced a plan to legalize hemp as an agricultural commodity. This brings up several questions. First: Is hemp really still illegal? Second: Mitch McConnell? The Republican from Kentucky? Third: How did the hemp store near my college campus manage to sell all those scratchy hemp sweaters if hemp has been illegal this whole time?

The ban on hemp is not one of the most pressing agricultural topics today compared to the mergers of corporate agribusiness, millions of acres of land destroyed by dicamba and climate change making New York City palm trees a possibility. But it is one of the absolute silliest, dumbest bans on any product in the U.S. and it's looking very likely that, with unexpected bipartisan support, hemp will be legalized quite soon.

Industrial Hemp: A Quick History

Industrial hemp is one of the many varieties of cannabis sativa, same as marijuana, though the two plants look (hemp is tall and skinny; marijuana, stocky and short) and behave very differently. If you're thinking, "Hmm, how different can they be if they're from the same family?" keep in mind that brassica oleracea includes kale, brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Yep, all the same species.

Hemp is no more similar to marijuana than cauliflower is to kale. While marijuana contains a high amount of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives user the high associated with the plant, THC levels in hemp are so small they're almost undetectable; trying to make a drug out of industrial hemp would be like trying to make a poison from lima beans. (Lima beans contain trace amounts of cyanide.)

Industrial hemp is grown for a variety of reasons: its stalk is covered in layers of bark that can be used to make textiles, plastics, biofuel, insulation and other materials. The seeds are nicely nutritious, not incredibly different from sesame seeds or quinoa and can be pressed into an oil.

The U.S. has a long history of hemp cultivation, dating back to before we were actually a country. Thomas Jefferson is widely believed to have grown the crop. The entire species, including marijuana, was first federally regulated in 1937 with a tax, though it was lifted during World War II as the government urged farmers to grow "Hemp for Victory," owing to the fact that military blockades made it hard to get other fibers. In 1970, the Controlled Substances Act again placed the entire species of cannabis sativa in the DEA's Schedule 1 category.

But even in 1970, legislators realized that cannabis sativa wasn't just for getting a buzz, so the Controlled Substances Act included language exempting certain parts of the plant: the stalk, and the seeds, so long as they weren't capable of sprouting into a plant, were excused even though the plant itself remained banned. In short: It was legal to possess a hemp stalk and process it in any way you wanted, but you couldn't grow it. This forced anyone wishing to use industrial hemp to import the raw materials (not a cheap option), a factor that stunted the hemp industry.

Hemp declined in popularity over the next couple of decades until it was rediscovered as a pretty useful crop in the 1990s. But since it remained illegal, local manufacturers wishing to use hemp had to import it from Canada and Western Europe, where it was widely grown. "By the late '90s, we were all frustrated with having to import hemp from other countries," said Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, a nonprofit dedicated to educating and pushing for legalization of industrial hemp.

Fast forward to 2011. A guy named Jamer Comer runs for the position of Kentucky's agriculture commissioner and his top priority is the legalization of industrial hemp. Comer actually filed a lawsuit against the DEA for trying to confiscate hemp seeds. It seems kind of far-out for a state that doesn't fit the hippie-revival tone that can be associated with hemp, but running on the hemp platform worked. Comer won. By a lot.

Mitch McConnell Takes Notice

Hemp is a very easy crop to grow, in some ways. It is not particular about climate, it requires zero pesticides, it doesn't require much water compared to a plant like cotton and it can grow in all kinds of soil. Kentucky has a nice chunk of fertile soil, but it also has an awful lot of rocky, hilly land where hemp will actually grow just fine. Mitch McConnell, the long-time senator from Kentucky, noticed Comer's win, and to his credit, actually took a look at industrial hemp. "He sees that it's creating jobs in Kentucky, and economic development, and that it's a good thing for the state," said Steenstra.

By the time Comer took office, work was underway on what would become the 2014 Farm Bill. McConnell noticed the popularity of the hemp legalization push in his home state, and became an actual force for opening regulation to industrial hemp. The 2014 Farm Bill included, owing largely to McConnell, some new allowances for industrial hemp: it could be grown by universities, state agriculture departments and states could even initiate pilot programs. It was a foot in the door, and there are now small hemp operations in more than a dozen states. As difficult as it can be for any small farmer to get loans for their business, a farmer wishing to grow hemp runs into a brick wall of challenges. Banks don't want to issue loans to growers of the crop due to its in-between legal status. "The DEA's stance that this is a controlled substance has led to all sorts of problems, like lack of access to banking, water rights, and property insurance," said Steenstra.

McConnell's new bill, which will have bipartisan support from Democrats, would completely exclude hemp from any controlled substance regulation. It would, correctly, insist that hemp is not marijuana.

Who's Most Against Lifting the Ban on Industrial Hemp Agriculture? Marijuana Growers

A particularly weird thing about the hemp debate is how incredibly un-controversial it is. The DEA opposes it; they won't confirm this, but it seems likely that their opposition is based mostly on losing funding. Interestingly (especially for anyone who thinks hemp farmers might try to hide marijuana in their fields), it's marijuana growers who are most against it. Why? Being that marijuana and industrial hemp are the same species, they can cross-breed. But marijuana growers need extremely specific plants (female only, certain breeds), so pollen blowing in from an industrial hemp operation is a threat that could destroy a marijuana grower's crop.

But on the whole, there's very little opposition to legalization of hemp. Industrial hemp may not be a world-beater of a cropas we've noted in the past, it removes a lot of nitrogen from the soil, it can be sort of expensive to harvest, and there are more-established and cheaper crops for most of the things you could use hemp for. But still, there is no good reason to ban it. The major player standing in the way of this bill is Chuck Grassley, senator from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley has given a sort of muddled, not totally factually accurate statement outlining his opposition to industrial hemp; his views include that it is not a viable crop (possibly! But neither is poison ivy, and poison ivy isn't banned), and that it would be some sort of door-opener to marijuana.

"It seems that the main reason hemp is being put forward as a legitimate crop is to promote the legalization of marijuana. That is something I cannot support," he wrote. He spends the majority of this statement talking about psychoactive marijuana and the dangers of illegal drugs. Grassley is powerful, but very, very few other elected representatives have anything worse than a "who cares?" attitude towards industrial hemp.

"McConnell is in a position to really do something with this, and I think for most members of Congress this is not really a controversial issue," said Steenstra. "I think we have our best shot yet of trying to get this done."

"Reposted with permission from our media associate Modern Farmer.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has granted Nestle Waters a permit to increase groundwater withdrawal from 250 gallons per minute to 400 gallons per minute from its White Pine Springs well for the purpose of bottling drinking water.

The approval comes despite near universal opposition from residents, who cite the Swiss food and beverage giant's nominal $200-a-year fee to pump water from its wells. The fee will not change with the new permit.

Additionally, Nestle's White Pine Springs well near Evart, Michigan happens to lie approximately 120 miles from the lead-poisoned city of Flint. Bottled water companies have drawn outrage from many communities for privatizing their public water supply in the face of Flint's years-long drinking water crisis, where some residents have been billed hundreds of dollars for water they cannot drink.

"Michiganders know that no private company should be able to generate profits by undermining our state's precious natural resources, which is why an unprecedented number of people spoke up to oppose this permit," State Sen. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, who serves on the Senate's Natural Resources Committee, told Detroit Free Press. "Out of 81,862 comments filed by the people of our state, only 75 of them were in favor of the permit."

MDEQ said the application met the requirements under the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act.

"The scope and detail of the department's review of the Nestle permit application represents the most extensive analysis of any water withdrawal in Michigan history," said C. Heidi Grether, director of MDEQ. "We are hopeful that whether residents agree with the Nestle permitting decision or not, they will acknowledge and respect the work that MDEQ staff did to thoroughly and conscientiously apply the law in reviewing the permit."

"In full transparency, the majority of the public comments received were in opposition of the permit, but most of them related to issues of public policy which are not, and should not be, part of an administrative permit decision. We cannot base our decisions on public opinion because our department is required to follow the rule of law when making determinations," Grether added.

Nestle now must prepare a monitoring plan consistent with the requirements of the permit and submit it to MDEQ for consideration before it is authorized to take more water.

The Michigan League of Conservation Voters criticized the MDEQ's decision.

The group tweeted, "Sadly, the DEQ chose to give the green light to Nestle to continue pumping our waterhanging a 'For Sale' sign on Michigan's water resources at a time when communities across our state lack safe, affordable access to drinking water."

"Folks are struggling to get clean water in Detroit and Flint and having a lot of issues with PFAS contamination," Nicholas Occhipinti, the organization's government affairs director told Michigan Radio. "It's just a hard, hard road blow to take for Michiganders to see water pumped out of the watershed for other states."
Indonesia has declared a state of emergency after a large oil spill ignited and killed at least four people in the port city of Balikpapan off the island of Borneo over the weekend.

The blaze is now under control but the oil continues to spread. According to BBC News, the slick currently covers an area of seven square miles and threatens to further pollute the waters.

Fishermen told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the spill has killed at least one protected dugong and the contamination could destroy their livelihoods.

"It's a fire hazard and the smell is still there," local fisherman Maspele told the publication Monday.

Hundreds of locals have reported health issues including difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting from the smell of fuel and black smoke.

The city has distributed masks to protect residents, the Jakarta Post reported.

"I may be exaggerating [with regard to smokers], but the bay is now like a gas station," Balikpapan secretary Sayid MN Fadli said at City Hall on Monday.

Balikpapan, which has a population of 700,000 people, is a major mining and energy hub and home of state-owned energy company Pertamina.

Pertamina said the disaster has nothing to do with its nearby refinery or undersea pipelines that run across the bay, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. The firm's tests on oil samples found marine fuel oil used for ships, not crude oil, it said.

Police are investigating the source of the spill and are questioning the crew of a bulk coal carrier operated by Chinese nationals and have taken samples from the ship, the MV Ever Judger.

"We're questioning some witnesses including the boat crew of MV Ever Judger, also the local residents, workers from Pertaminaand we're waiting for all the results," Inspector General Widyanto said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has blocked a shareholder resolution to set greenhouse gas-emissions targets, setting a troubling precedent for shareholders who want to use their collective power to fight climate change, Axios reported Monday.

The investment firm Trillium Asset Management had intended to propose a resolution at an annual shareholders' meeting this spring calling on EOG Resources, the largest oil-producer in Texas, to set dates for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But EOG complained to the SEC in December, asking the government agency to bar the resolution from a vote on the grounds that it would "micro-manage" the company.

The SEC ruled in EOG's favor in February, and rejected an appeal from Trillium in March, marking the first time that the SEC has ruled to block an emissions-related proposal for non-technical reasons.

"What the SEC has done here really feels like interfering with the marketplace, substituting their judgment for what shareholders and investors already think and do," Trillium shareholder-advocacy director Jonas Kron told Axios.

Trillium is far from the first investment group to use a similar proposal as an attempt to push fossil-fuel companies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Axios cited data from the Sustainable Investments Institute saying that 130 such resolutions had been proposed since 2010.

According to Adam Kanzer of Domini Impact Investments, this decision is likely not a part of the larger Trump administration attack on climate action, but rather part of a business-led push to reduce shareholder proposals generally. A month before EOG complained, the SEC issued a legal guidance that seemed to broaden the definition of "micro-management," and the SEC rejected other moves by companies to block climate-related shareholder proposals when those complaints did not use the "micro-management' argument.

However, if the EOG decision is part of a shift in SEC policy, it could still have a negative impact on the efforts of shareholders to push companies on climate change.

"If the SEC is shifting its view on what micromanagement means, it has implications for almost any proposal you file, from human rights to the environment," Kanzer told Axios.

President Donald Trump's appointee for SEC chairman, Jay Clayton, has not expressed the same outright hostility to climate science as other influential members of the administration. Before heading the SEC, Clayton worked at a law firm that encouraged its fossil-fuel industry clients to disclose climate-related risks to investors in compliance with a 2010 SEC directive, The International Business Times reported.

The International Business Times cited concerns that the Trump administration might move to overturn that directive, which issued guidelines for how publicly traded companies should report the potential impacts of climate change on their businesses. However, a new report on the requirement publicized by the Government Accountability Office Monday said that the SEC had no plans to alter the directive in any way.
At the "Act Now to End Racism" march and rally in Washington, D.C., Dr. Agnes Abuom, moderator of the World Council of Churches is to address participants raising awareness of racism in American life.

The April 3-5 April event, initiated and coordinated by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCCUSA), is meant to call attention to the ongoing and often lethal issue of U.S. racism.

It takes place exactly 50 years after the assassination of Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr., the iconic American civil rights leader.

The march and rally also come at a time of heightened tensions following the March 18 police shooting of an unarmed African American man in Sacramento, California.

A total of 75 unarmed African American men have been killed by police in the United States in the last two years, says civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.

The event is sponsored by two dozen American churches and allied organizations, including the WCC, which represents more than half a billion Christians' worldwide in 348 mainly Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant churches.

It inaugurates a multiyear NCC program of marshaling the 100,000 churches in the United States to assess their own culpability in American racism.

RACISM IN AMERICAN POLICING

It also seek to get them to address the causes and symptoms of racism in American policing and jurisprudence, education and the economy.

"Christian churches, present in every town and community across the country, are both part of the problem and the solution," said Rev. Sharon Watkins, the former general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),

"NCC and our partners are committed to addressing the systemic evil that many Christians and church institutions have yet to fully acknowledge," said Watkins who is leading the Truth and Racial Justice Initiative for the NCC.

Watkins, like Abuom is a member of the WCC's central committee, its main decision-making body between its once every seven years assemblies.

Two years ago, Abuom led an international delegation of WCC churches to the United States in an expression of ecumenical solidarity.

This was after multiple racially charged killings, including the murder of nine African American churchgoers in the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and police killings of young African American men.

The has a long history of activism in the cause of civil rights and racial justice.

It is the largest ecumenical body in the United States and includes more than 45 million members.

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States.

The NCC's 38-member communions form a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches.
Following the success of the West Virginia teacher strike earlier this year that led to a 5 percent pay raise, teachers throughout the nation are rising to demand better conditions and better pay. The latest example is Oklahoma, where teachers walked out on April 2.

Here are five things to know about the Oklahoma teacher walkout:

1. This walkout goes beyond issues of pay.

The Oklahoma teacher walkout is not just about low salaries. It is a movement against a decade of failed economic policies and the defunding of public education. Oklahoma average teacher salaries are ranked 49th out of 50 states and Washington in average pay. Oklahoma teachers also have not seen a pay raise since 2008.

Critics blame bleak economic conditions in the state on reductions in state income taxes for top earners. Oklahoma also offered tax breaks to oil companies to attract their business, but these corporate tax breaks diminished state revenue from 2008 through 2014. The tax breaks ultimately led to a 24 percent reduction in per pupil funding over the same time period.

Oklahoma has cut funding to public education by $1 billion in the last decade amid the oil industrys economic downturn. These cuts have resulted in teachers working for low pay with outdated textbooks in overcrowded classrooms. About 20 percent of Oklahomas school districts have moved to a four-day week to save costs.

2. Oklahoma teachers are disappointed with their state legislature.

The Oklahoma legislature passed a teacher pay raise of $6,100 on March 28, less than the $10,000 increase demanded by the Oklahoma Education Association and Oklahoma Teacher Walkout-The Time Is Now, a Facebook group negotiating in conjunction with the state teachers unions for better pay and increased education funding.

3. Right-to-work legislation has unintended consequences.

Oklahoma, like West Virginia, is a right-to-work state, meaning it is illegal to make union membership compulsory. The legislation has diminished the number of dues-paying teachers union members.

It has also created two consequences relevant to the Oklahoma walkout.

First, in right-to-work states, teachers lack codified procedures for grieving issues like low pay. Without these measures in place, the only recourse left is to walkout.

Second, the diminished power of the unions has led to the rise of grassroots organization via social media platforms. The Oklahoma Teacher Walkout-The Time Is Now has more than 75,000 followers on its allowing for fast communication to quickly organize rallies and walkouts. Further, the group isnt tied to a specific unions leadership, so it can affect negotiations without direction from union leaders.

4. Oklahoma has a critical teacher shortage.

As in West Virginia, Oklahoma is suffering from a teacher shortage that has reached crisis levels  with over 500 vacancies as of August 1 and nearly 500 more positions eliminated. The state issued a record number of emergency certifications last yearabout 1,200to plug a hole in the large number of vacancies created, when a quarter of Oklahoma teachers left for positions in other states or simply quit the profession. The shortage is acutely felt in places like Edmond public schools, which currently has more than two dozen positions open in its middle and high schools. The shortage is so deep that one teacher dared lawmakers to fire workers who walkout, arguing they would teach in Texas, which would essentially make the shortage worse. Like in West Virginia, the teacher shortage means there are no replacements for teachers who walkout.

5. The Oklahoma walkout is likely not the last.

Oklahoma is not alone in its walkout efforts. Dozens of Kentucky schools closed on March 30 and April 2, in response to a a pension reform bill passed by the state legislature. Arizona teachers are poised to walkout if the state legislature does not respond to their demands for pay increases. And there are rumblings of similar action in other states as well, including North Carolina. Arizona teachers rallied at their state capitol in March, in response to multiple tax cut bills that are appearing before the state legislature. The move suggests Arizona teachers will be the next to walkout.
An international team of researchers has imaged newly forming jets of plasma from a massive black hole with unprecedented accuracy. Radio images made with a combination of telescopes in space and on the ground resolve the jet structure merely a couple of hundred black hole radii or 12 light days from its launching site.

At the centres of all massive galaxies are black holes weighing as much as several billion times the mass of our sun. It has been known for long that some of these massive black holes eject spectacular plasma jets at a near speed-of-light that can extend far beyond the confines of their host galaxy. But how these jets form in the first place has been a long-standing mystery. One of the main difficulties in studying them has been astronomers' inability to image the structure of the jets driven by the black hole close enough to their launching site so that direct comparison to theoretical and computational models of jet formation would be possible.

Now an international team of researchers from eight different countries has made ultra-high angular resolution images of the black hole jet at the centre of the giant galaxy NGC 1275, also known as radio source Perseus A or 3C 84. The researchers were able to resolve the jet structure ten times closer to the black hole in NGC 1275 than what has been possible before with ground-based instruments, revealing unprecedented details of the jet formation region.

"The results were surprising. It turned out that the observed width of the jet was significantly wider than what was expected in the currently favoured models where the jet is launched from the black hole's ergosphere - an area of space right next to a spinning black hole where space itself is dragged to a circling motion around the hole", explains Professor Gabriele Giovannini from Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, the lead author of the paper published in Nature Astronomy yesterday.

"This may imply that at least the outer part of the jet is launched from the accretion disk surrounding the black hole. Our result does not yet falsify the current models where the jets are launched from the ergosphere, but we hope it will give the theorists an insight into the jet structure close to the launching site and clues about how to develop the models", adds Dr. Tuomas Savolainen from Aalto University in Finland, head of the RadioAstron observing program which produced the images.

Another result from the study is that the jet structure in NGC 1275 significantly differs from the jet in the very nearby galaxy Messier 87, which is the only other jet whose structure has been imaged equally close to the black hole. Researchers think that this is due to the difference in the age of these two jets. "The jet in NGC 1275 was re-started just over a decade ago and is currently still forming, which provides a unique opportunity to follow the very early growth of a black hole jet. Continuing these observations will be very important", explains a co-author of the paper, Dr. Masanori Nakamura from Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

"This study of the innermost region of NGC 1275 continues our investigations of Active Galactic Nuclei at the highest possible resolution. As the distance to that galaxy is only 70 Megaparsec or 230 million light years, we are able to examine the jet structure with an unprecedented accuracy of only a few hundred black hole radii or 12 light days", concludes Professor Anton Zensus, director at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany and head of its VLBI research department, a co-author of the paper.

One radio telescope in space - dozens on the ground

The significant improvement in the sharpness of the jet images was made possible by the Earth-to-Space Interferometer RadioAstron, which consists of a 10-metre orbiting radio telescope and a collection of about two dozen of the world's largest ground-based radio telescopes. When the signals of individual telescopes are combined using the interference of radio waves, this array of telescopes has the angular resolution equivalent to a radio telescope of 350 000 km in diameter - almost the distance between the Earth and Moon. This makes RadioAstron the highest angular resolution instrument in the history of astronomy. The RadioAstron project is led by the Astro Space Center of the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Lavochkin Scientific and Production Association under a contract with the State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS, in collaboration with partner organizations in Russia and other countries.

"We at the RadioAstron mission are truly happy that the unique combination of the Russian-made space radio telescope and the huge international ground array of the largest radio telescopes has allowed to study this young relativistic jet in the immediate vicinity of the supermassive black hole", comments the RadioAstron Project Scientist, Professor Yuri Kovalev from the Lebedev Institute in Moscow.

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Publication information: The paper 'A wide and collimated radio jet in 3C84 on the scale of a few hundred gravitational radii' was published in Advance Online Publication (AOP) on the Nature Astronomy website on 02 April 2018. DOI: 10.1038/s41550-018-0431-2.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-018-0431-2

Contact information: Gabriele Giovannini (Italian National Institute for Astrophysics,Italy): ggiovann@ira.inaf.it / +393477449916

Tuomas Savolainen (Aalto University, Finland): tuomas.k.savolainen@aalto.fi / +358 29 4424855
A recently published Baycrest study suggests that training programs can help, but only if they are tailored towards an individual's specific memory difficulty, such as trouble remembering faces, voices or recent events

When people hear that their memory will worsen as they age, the question on their minds becomes: what can we do to remember better?

A recently published Baycrest study suggests that training programs can help, but only if they are tailored towards an individual's specific memory difficulty, such as trouble remembering faces, voices or recent events.

"One approach to memory intervention is to try and train underlying memory processes so individuals will see improvements in situations that require this mechanism," says Dr. Nicole Anderson, lead author on the study, senior scientist at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute and associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Toronto. "Our study focused on training one memory process, recollection, which typically deteriorates during aging. This process is what allows us to mentally time travel and re-experience past events in our mind with great detail."

The study, published in the journal Psychology and Aging, trained recollection among older adults between the ages of 64 to 87. Researchers examined a method that has effectively boosted this process among healthy older adults and people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

To their surprise, the study uncovered good and bad news. The good news was that researchers were able to demonstrate that training led to massive improvements in recollection. By the end of the program, the ability of older adults matched those of individuals in their 20s. These benefits were also shown to last when participants were retested three months later. The bad news was older adults did not improve on any of the tasks that should have benefitted from having better recollection, such as a memory test for remembering whether words were shown on a screen or heard through headphones. Participants also didn't report any improvements to their memory.

"These results reset what researchers understand about this memory process," says Dr. Anderson. "For a long time, memory researchers viewed recollection as a single mechanism, but our work suggests that this is not the case. Instead, it implies there may be many different types of recollection for different contexts connected to a memory, such as feelings felt at the time, the sounds in the area or what a person sees at the time."

These findings raise interesting questions about how memory is organized and it identifies a need for better understanding of recollection, before training programs are created, adds Dr. Anderson. As next steps, Dr. Anderson and her team will explore how aging affects a person's recollection for different things and identify whether certain aspects of this memory process are more susceptible to dementia risk.

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Research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

About Baycrest Health Sciences

Now in its 100th year, Baycrest Health Sciences is a global leader in geriatric residential living, healthcare, research, innovation and education, with a special focus on brain health and aging. Fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, Baycrest provides excellent care for older adults combined with an extensive clinical training program for the next generation of healthcare professionals and one of the world's top research institutes in cognitive neuroscience, the Rotman Research Institute. Baycrest is home to the federally and provincially-funded Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, a solution accelerator focused on driving innovation in the aging and brain health sector, and is the developer of Cogniciti - a free online memory assessment for Canadians 40+ who are concerned about their memory. Founded in 1918 as the Jewish Home for Aged, Baycrest continues to embrace the long-standing tradition of all great Jewish healthcare institutions to improve the well-being of people in their local communities and around the globe. For more information please visit: http://www.baycrest.org

About Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute

The Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences is a premier international centre for the study of human brain function. Through generous support from private donors and funding agencies, the institute is helping to illuminate the causes of cognitive decline in seniors, identify promising approaches to treatment, and lifestyle practices that will protect brain health longer in the lifespan.

For media inquiries:

Jonathan MacIndoe

Baycrest Health Sciences

416-785-2500 ext. 6579

jmacindoe@baycrest.org

Michelle Petch Gotuzzo

Baycrest Health Sciences

416-785-2500 ext. 6932

mpetchgotuzzo@baycrest.org
Washington D.C. - Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in hospitals play a vital role in managing the threat of antibiotic resistance. To be of maximum effectiveness, essential elements of ASP programs need to be identified and standardized. Previous efforts in identifying the key components of ASPs have been confined to high-income countries. In a study to be published in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection, researchers identify essential elements of ASPs that could be applicable to hospitals in both high-income and low-income countries.

Researchers from Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) and the Universite de Lorraine in France conducted the study with the help of 15 experts from 13 countries in six continents. Through a consensus process, seven core elements that included 29 checklist items were identified. The seven core elements--leadership commitment, accountability, drug expertise, action, tracking, reporting, and education--are relevant across resource-rich and resource-limited settings. The researchers concluded that the next step should be to evaluate these core elements in a range of geographic and resource settings with broader stakeholder groups.

"An agreement of this nature will make a major contribution to slowing the spread of antibiotic resistance," said CDDEP fellow and study co-author Sumanth Gandra. "It will also facilitate the development of each nation's antimicrobial stewardship guidelines, especially in low income countries."

"With standardized ASP guidelines, analysis and evaluation of the programs will also be possible, which is an essential part of fine-tuning the practices and learning from one another," according to Celine Pulcini of the Universite de Lorraine.

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About the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy

The Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) produces independent, multidisciplinary research to advance the health and wellbeing of human populations around the world. CDDEP projects are global in scope, spanning Africa, Asia, and North America and include scientific studies and policy engagement. The CDDEP team is experienced in addressing country-specific and regional issues, as well as the local and global aspects of global challenges, such as antibiotic resistance and pandemic influenza. CDDEP research is notable for innovative approaches to design and analysis, which are shared widely through publications, presentations and web-based programs. CDDEP has offices in Washington, D.C. and New Delhi and relies on a distinguished team of scientists, public health experts, and economists.
A survey of one of Europe's largest lakes finds a wide range of plastic pollution -- some of which could be decades old

The first-ever chemical analysis of plastic collected from beaches around Lake Geneva detected cadmium, mercury and lead -- sometimes in very high concentrations that exceed the maximum permitted under EU law. The abundance of toxic chemicals that are now restricted or banned in plastic production reflects how old the plastic litter could be, reports the study published in Frontiers in Environmental Science. The study -- one of very few to examine plastics in freshwater lakes -- indicates that like oceans, freshwater habitats are also affected by plastic pollution.

"Plastic debris in freshwater lakes are likely to pose the same problems to wildlife as marine plastics. In this respect, entanglement and ingestion are of greatest concern," says Dr. Montserrat Filella, lead author of this research, based at the Department F.-A. Forel, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

"The hazardous chemicals we find associated with these plastics is also worrying. When they are eaten by animals mistaking them for food, the acidic and enzyme-rich conditions in the stomach could accelerate how quickly these toxins are released into the body, affecting the animals concerned."

Dr. Filella collected litter from 12 different pebble beaches around Lake Geneva, one of western Europe's largest freshwater bodies. She found more than 3,000 pieces of plastic debris, which included identifiable objects (toys, pens, cotton buds), bits of identifiable objects (piping, plant pots, food wrappers), and plastic fragments that couldn't be identified to their original source, including expanded foam and polystyrene.

"A lot of the plastic was similar to that found on marine beaches, such as bottle tops, straws and polystyrene," says Dr. Filella. "In contrast, there was an absence of nurdles -- pellets used as a basis for plastic production -- and a lower incidence of plastic filamentous fibers from commercial fishing, such as rope, netting and cord."

The lack of these items, often dominant on marine beaches, can be attributed to differences in the use of the marine environment and the freshwater Lake Geneva.

More than 600 of the collected plastic items, representing the different types of litter found, were subsequently analysed for toxins using X-ray fluorescence. This is a non-destructive technique that can determine the chemical composition of materials.

"We detected the frequent presence of hazardous elements, such as bromine, cadmium, mercury and lead, in very high concentrations in some cases," says Dr. Andrew Turner, co-author of the study, based at the University of Plymouth, UK. "The abundance of these toxic elements, which are now restricted or banned, reflects just how long the plastic has been in the lake. For example, mercury is a metal that to our knowledge has not been used in plastics for decades."

Bromine, present in compounds used in flame retardants, was above the maximum level allowed under RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances - a European Union directive) in 19 plastic items. High levels of cadmium, associated with bright colours, were present in 57 items. Mercury was found in plastic items that were red or reddish-brown, suggesting its use as pigmentation -- a process believed to have ended in the 1950s. Lead, used to stabilize or color plastics, was present in nearly a quarter of the items analysed, with 65 of these exceeding RoHS levels.

"Freshwater systems have been largely overlooked with regards to the impact of plastic; most studies thus far have focussed on the oceans. This is one of only a handful of studies of plastics in lakes, and the first of its kind to be undertaken in Lake Geneva," explains Dr. Turner.

Dr Filella continues, "The impacts of plastic-bound toxic elements on lake wildlife are currently unknown but should form the basis of future research."

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A new study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that an enzyme called FIH determines how muscles consume oxygen. Without the enzyme, the need for oxygen increases during physical exercise. The finding is of potential significance to elite athletes, who have been found to have higher levels of FIH in their muscles than others. The study is published in the esteemed scientific journal Cell Metabolism.

When you exercise, your muscles consume oxygen to produce energy, until the level of oxygen drops below a particular threshold. Subsequently, energy is generated by the process of anaerobic metabolism, which does not require oxygen. However, this leads to the production of lactic acid and eventually exhaustion and cramping. In a new study, researchers demonstrate that the enzyme FIH (Factor Inhibiting HIF) is a key to how this switch-over happens.

"We've discovered that the muscles regulate oxygen consumption in a very precise way using the oxygen-sensitive enzyme FIH," says principle investigator Professor Randall Johnson at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet. "The enzyme makes sure that the muscles can use a more effective oxygen-based metabolism for as long as possible and then promotes a very quick transition to anaerobic metabolism."

Using mice in which the production of the enzyme was blocked, the researchers found that mice lacking FIH in their muscles require more oxygen than normal when exercising.

"We were able to show that without FIH, the muscles use much more oxygen than is otherwise the case," says Professor Johnson. "This could be of great significance to elite athletes, who, according to an earlier study of ours, have uncommonly high levels of muscular FIH."

FIH was discovered over ten years ago, but until now no one has understood its exact function. FIH is found in all the body's cells and tissues, but is 50 to 100 times more abundant in the muscles than in any other part of the body. The findings can now open the way for new forms of metabolism-affecting drugs.

"No one's entertained the idea of developing a drug that affects FIH before, but I think our study will lead to greater examination of that possibility," says Professor Johnson. "Here you're able to affect the metabolism itself, perhaps mainly in the muscles, but possibly in other parts of the body too. This can be important in other contexts, such as diabetes and obesity."

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The study was conducted in Professor Randall Johnson's laboratory at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and the University of Cambridge, England, and was financed by the Wellcome Trust, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Publication: "The FIH (Factor Inhibiting HIF) asparaginyl hydroxylase regulates oxidative metabolism and accelerates metabolic adaptation to hypoxia". Jingwei Sim, Andrew S. Cowburn, Asis Palazon, Basetti Madhu, Petros A. Tyrakis, David Maci?as, David M. Bargiela, Sandra Pietsch, Michael Gralla, Colin E. Evans, Thaksaon Kittipassorn, Yu Chinn Joshua Chey, Cristina M. Branco, Helene Rundqvist, Daniel J. Peet, and Randall S. Johnson. Cell Metabolism, online 3 April 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.02.020.
OAKLAND, Calif., April 3, 2018  Death rates from heart disease and stroke in adults under age 65 are lower and dropping faster for Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California than in the rest of the United States, according to new research published today in the American Journal of Medicine.

Heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death in the United States. The new study, Comparative Trends in Heart Disease, Stroke, and Total Mortality in the United States and a Large, Integrated Healthcare Delivery System, reinforces the effectiveness of Kaiser Permanentes ongoing cardiovascular care initiatives.

The researchers compared mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with Kaiser Permanente Northern California data. They found heart disease death rates among adults aged 45 to 65 fell by 48.3 percent in 3.2 million Kaiser Permanente members from 2000 to 2015, compared to a 23.6 percent decline nationwide. Stroke-related deaths for the same age group fell by 55.8 percent among Kaiser Permanente members compared to a nationwide drop of 26.0 percent.

The study also showed that overall rates of heart disease and stroke mortality are lower for these Kaiser Permanente members than in the rest of the country. In 2000, for instance, U.S. heart disease mortality was 39.3 percent higher than the Kaiser Permanente group, while stroke mortality was about the same for both. But by 2015, U.S. heart disease mortality was 43.2 percent higher and stroke mortality 13.3 percent higher than among the Kaiser Permanente members.

We think elements of Kaiser Permanentes approach can be replicated by other health care systems to lower mortality rates, said lead author Stephen Sidney, MD, MPH, senior research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Most heart disease and stroke-related deaths occur in people over 65, but mortality is still high for middle-aged members, so focusing on this vulnerable group could save many lives.

Dr. Sidney believes improved management of high blood pressure could be especially effective, given the conditions prevalence and the relative ease and affordability of treatment. Introduced in 2001, Kaiser Permanentes hypertension management program in Northern California nearly doubled the rate of blood pressure control in adults with hypertension by 2009. Likewise, two previous studies showed that the rate of more severe but less common heart attacks fell about three quarters from 1999 to 2014 among the regions members.

These studies add to a growing body of evidence in support of Kaiser Permanentes comprehensive approach to cardiovascular health, which combines high-quality preventive and therapeutic interventions, said senior author Jamal S. Rana, MD, PhD, cardiologist at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and adjunct researcher at the Division of Research.

In addition to its hypertension management program, Kaiser Permanentes cardiovascular care initiatives include the Preventing Heart Attacks and Strokes Every day (or PHASE) program, which uses medications and lifestyle changes to improve heart health.

This study was conducted in the Cardiovascular Research Network, a consortium within the Health Care Systems Research Network.

In addition to Drs. Sidney and Rana, co-authors were Michael E. Sorel, MPH, Charles P. Quesenberry, PhD, Matthew D. Solomon, MD, PhD, Mai N. Nguyen-Huynh, MD, MAS, and Alan S. Go, MD, of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; and Marc G. Jaffe, MD, of Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center.

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About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research

The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being, and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 550-plus staff is working on more than 350 epidemiological and health services research projects. For more information, visit divisionofresearch.kaiserpermanente.org or follow us @KPDOR.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of Americas leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 11.8 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.
Research from the Eisei Bunko Research Center of Kumamoto University reveals that Tadatoshi Hosokawa, a 17th century lord of Kyusyu, Japan, ordered his people to produce not only wine but also opium for medical purposes.

Wine making appears in 15th and 16th century Japanese trade documents, diaries, catalogues, and other texts. Christian missionaries and trade merchants delivered wine to Japan from Western Europe, and it continued as a luxury import item for over a century. It was believed that large-scale Japanese wine brewing began in the 1870's. However, as reported in 2016 by Kumamoto University's Eisei Bunko Research Center, the wine produced by the Hosokawa family in the Kokura Region began more than 200 years earlier in 1627. The researchers also showed that Lord Hosokawa ordered his liegeman, Taroemon Ueda, to make wine from wild grapes and send it to Edo, the former name of Japan's capital city.

A detailed investigation by the Eisei Bunko Research Center has recently clarified that wine was only produced from 1627 to 1630, and that Lord Hosokawa ordered the wine be sent to Edo for each of those four years. During that time, winemaker Taroemon was promoted to vassal for his successful wine and medicinal sake making techniques. Researchers found that black soybeans were used in addition to wild grapes in the wine making process. Black soybeans promote fermentation and it is believed that the addition of black soybean yeast helped ferment the wild grapes, which have a relatively low sugar content. In essence, Lord Hosokawa's wine was made by fermenting wild grapes, rather than by simply soaking wild grapes in alcohol.

Surprisingly, the researchers found that the Hosokawa family was also producing opium in 1629. It is thought that opium imported from Nagasaki was used for medicinal purposes, such as sedation, analgesia, cough suppression, and hypnosis. The winemaker Taroemon became responsible for opium production, which started in the spring and produced about 1.27 kg of opium by autumn. A description of opium imports was found in the historical record from the previous year (1628), as was a note from Lord Hosokawa which read, "I am dissatisfied with the opium ordered (from Nagasaki) so it shall be returned." It may be inferred that Lord Hosokawa desired a commodity of higher quality.

Evidence of wine imports to the Kokura region is older than the description of opium imports. In 1623, a letter written by Lord Hosokawa ordered the purchase of sweet wine from Nagasaki. Two years later, in 1625, he again ordered the purchase of sweet wine. In 1631, after the Hosokawa Family's winemaking period appears to have ended, there were further instructions to procure 3.6 liters of fine wine for medicinal use, with imports continuing until 1639.

In 1638, a sick Lord Hosokawa entered the Shimabara Rebellion (an uprising of mostly Catholics that resulted in the prohibition of Christianity) on the side of the central government. He commanded that wine be sent to Kumamoto, which became his territory in 1632, for medical use on the battlefield. In that same year, another regional lord with an affinity for wine requested some through Lord Hosokawa's son. Lord Hosokawa replied, "I have contacted Nagasaki, but since wine is known to be used when converting to Christianity, merchants have stopped trading it to avoid suspicion that they may be Christians." Lord Hosokawa then arranged to send wine that was already in his possession. From these transcripts, researchers uncovered that both lords and merchants recognized that wine had become a prohibited Christian drink.

In the following year, Lord Hosokawa appears to have made one last order to send wine to Edo. After making this request to a Nagasaki merchant, documents from the Hosokawa family concerning wine have not been found. For an ailing Lord Hosokawa, it is inferred that wine had great medicinal value, but as a lord famous for his loyalty to the central government he could not continue to produce or import the forbidden Christian potation. His suffering is evident in the documents from this time period.

These historical texts show that Taroemon and his company had innovative technologies for making western food and western watches, and that Lord Hosokawa, who promoted him to an important position, was highly interested in such items and technologies. After the Shimabara Rebellion was suppressed, the central government prohibited port entry from Portuguese ships, eliminated Christianity, and restricted trade with Western Europe to only the Netherlands, which promised not to propagate Christianity in Japan. This marked the beginning of Japanese isolationism.

The research performed here by Kumamoto University's Eisei Bunko Research Center clearly shows that Lord Hosokawa had a passion for importing and producing wine during the twenty years before Japan's isolation.

This research was published in the first issue of the Bulletin of the Eisei-Bunko Research Center in March 2018.

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Most accept its use with doctor's recommendation, but want more research, U-M/AARP National Poll on Healthy Aging finds

ANN ARBOR, MI - Few older adults use medical marijuana, a new national poll finds, but the majority support its use if a doctor recommends it, and might talk to their own doctor about it if they developed a serious health condition.

Four out five of poll respondents between the ages of 50 and 80 said they support allowing medical marijuana if it's recommended by a physician. Forty percent support allowing marijuana use for any reason.

And two-thirds say the government should do more to study the drug's health effects, according to the new findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging.

While more than two-thirds of those polled said they thought that marijuana can ease pain, about half said they believed prescription pain medications were more effective than marijuana.

The poll was conducted in a nationally representative sample of 2,007 Americans between the ages of 50 and 80 by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. It was sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center.

"While just six percent of our poll respondents said they'd used marijuana for medical purposes themselves, 18 percent said they know someone who has," says U-M's Preeti Malani, M.D., director of the poll and a specialist in treatment of older patients. "With medical marijuana already legal in 29 states and the District of Columbia, and other states considering legalizing this use or all use, this is an issue of interest to patients, providers and policymakers alike."

She notes that the poll results indicate older Americans have a sense of wariness, rather than wholehearted acceptance, around medical use of marijuana. This may be surprising to those who think of the Baby Boom generation - who are now in their mid-50s to early 70s -- as embracing marijuana use in their youth in the 1960s and 1970s.

Marijuana and pain

The poll sheds new light on older Americans' attitudes toward the use of marijuana to control pain - one of the most common conditions cited in state medical marijuana statutes. Just under one-third of respondents said they feel that marijuana definitely provides pain relief, and another 38 percent said it probably does. But only 14 percent thought marijuana was more effective than prescription pain medication, while 48 percent believed the opposite and 38 percent believed the two were equally effective. When it came to controlling dosages for pain relief, though, prescription pain medicine won out: 41 percent thought it would be easier to control dosage with medication.

The poll also asked respondents about negative effects of both substances. In all, 48 percent thought prescription pain medicines are more addictive than marijuana, and 57 said that such medicines have more side effects than marijuana.

"These perceptions of relative safety and efficacy are important for physicians, other providers and public health regulators to understand," says Malani. Marijuana use, particularly long-term use, has been associated with impaired memory, decision making and ability to perform complex tasks.

The widespread support by older Americans for more research on the effects of marijuana is especially significant, she says, given the growing legalization trend in states and the continued federal policy that marijuana use is illegal.

"Although older adults may be a bit wary about marijuana, the majority support more research on it," says Alison Bryant, Ph.D., senior vice president of research for AARP. "This openness to more research likely speaks to a desire to find safe, alternative treatments to control pain."

Research on marijuana's effects and related issues can be done under carefully controlled circumstances, but few studies have included older adults. The new poll results indicate an appetite for further government-sponsored research, including government-standardized dosing.

Malani, a professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School who specializes in infectious diseases and geriatrics, notes that providers should be routinely asking older patients about marijuana use.

Only one in five poll respondents said their primary health care provider had asked whether they use marijuana. A slightly lower percentage said they thought their provider was knowledgeable about medical marijuana - but three-quarters said they simply didn't know how much their provider knows about the topic.

Still, 70 percent of those who answered the poll said they would definitely or probably ask their provider about marijuana if they had a serious medical condition that might respond to it. That means providers need to be ready to answer questions and provide counseling to patients, especially in states where medical marijuana is legal.

The poll results are based on answers from a nationally representative sample of 2,007 people ages 50 to 80. The poll respondents answered a wide range of questions online. Questions were written, and data interpreted and compiled, by the IHPI team. Laptops and Internet access were provided to poll respondents who did not already have it.

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A full report of the findings and methodology is available at http://www.healthyagingpoll.org, along with past reports on National Poll on Healthy Aging findings.
Black carbon is the biggest problem, but other factors may have a mitigating effect

Norwegians love to heat with wood. That's easy to see when driving around the Norwegian countryside in the winter. Stacks of wood line the walls of houses and smoke rises from the chimneys, especially on cold days.

There was even a national "wood night program" on NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, which ran for 12 hours and attracted international attention because of its unusual theme.

According to figures from Statistics Norway (SSB), 1.2 million Norwegian households heat with wood. They burned 1.1 million tonnes of firewood in 2016, which provided 5.34 TWh of direct heat -- and that might have affected the climate more than you might think.

"Our findings show a complex picture. This form of heating has a significant warming effect on the climate, which is cause for concern. But at the same time, burning wood also causes significant cooling, which is encouraging," says Anders Arvesen, a researcher in the Industrial Ecology Programme at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Arvesen and his colleague Francesco Cherubini were among the co-authors of a major study on climate impacts in Norway just published in Scientific Reports.

The study analyzed so-called stationary bioenergy systems based on heat from wood-burning stoves and from wood biomass-based district heating.

"A lot of research has been done on this topic, but until now we've never had such a comprehensive study of various effects on a national level. This is the first time we've considered all the different factors in a single study," says Cherubini, who is a professor at NTNU's Industrial Ecology Programme.

A research project called CenBio, which focused on innovations in bioenergy, carried out the study, which was supported by NTNU in cooperation with SINTEF Energy, the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).

The 35 members of the OECD decided in 1991 that CO2 emissions from biomass combustion would not count in CO2 emission accounting. The theory was that nature would reabsorb the carbon dioxide released by burning, yielding a net balance of zero. Unfortunately it's not quite that simple.

"Bioenergy from forests is carbon neutral in the sense that forests are a renewable resource. The trees will absorb CO2 as they grow, but temporarily there will be a greater amount of CO2 in the atmosphere," explains Arvesen.

Logging can adversely affect the climate, including from emissions from heavy logging machinery. But the logged areas themselves can actually have a cooling effect, because open areas reflect more of the incoming sunlight back into the atmosphere than wooded areas.

"The cooling effect varies depending on where in the country the logging takes place, since different parts of the country have varying snow conditions and forest density," says Arvesen.

The CenBio study took these factors into consideration. It also analysed how other emissions from burning wood affect the climate. Methane gas and assorted particles also flow out of Norwegian chimneys.

These particles can both absorb and reflect solar radiation. Whereas organic carbon particles have a cooling effect, black carbon - also known as soot - has a warming effect on the climate.

Black carbon also destroys some of the snow's ability to reflect sunlight because it changes the colour of the snow landscape and contributes to increased snowmelt.

Black carbon from biomass combustion accounts for 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 in Norway, according to the study.

"Our analysis indicates that black carbon is the main reason for climate warming. I was surprised how important the effect of soot was, although it wasn't completely unexpected. Burning wood creates a lot of dust emissions," says Arvesen.

Cherubini thinks more research is needed in this area. He points out that reducing black carbon emissions will also have a positive health effect due to improved air quality.

Nevertheless, "it's still better to heat with wood than to burn fossil fuels," says Cherubini. He emphasizes that more technological possibilities are being developed that will result in new and better wood stoves and furnaces. Until they come on the market, people can reduce particle emissions by replacing their old stoves.

Many Norwegians have already replaced their old woodstoves with newer and cleaner-burning stoves, which has more than halved soot emissions since the early 2000s.

By 2016, 730 000 wood-burning households were using new technology. Overall, heating with wood in Norway has decreased slightly. The amount of wood burned in furnaces with old technology has decreased by more than 75 per cent in the past 20 years, according to Statistics Norway.

Old woodstoves emit more black carbon than new ones. And if the positive development continues, woodstove emissions should drop to the same level as pellet stoves in the near future. The challenge lies in the smallest particles, according to SINTEF scientist Morten Seljeskog.

"Soot is made up of particles as small as nanosize. These emissions are the most difficult ones to get rid of. Researchers are working to figure out what physical measures need to be taken in the combustion chamber to minimize soot emissions in all furnaces," he says.

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Differences between signed and spoken languages are significant, yet the underlying neural processes we use to create complex expressions are quite similar for both, a team of researchers has found.

"This research shows for the first time that despite obvious physical differences in how signed and spoken languages are produced and comprehended, the neural timing and localization of the planning of phrases is comparable between American Sign Language and English," explains lead author Esti Blanco-Elorrieta, a doctoral student in New York University's Department of Psychology and NYU Abu Dhabi Institute.

The research is reported in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

"Although there are many reasons to believe that signed and spoken languages should be neurobiologically quite similar, evidence of overlapping computations at this level of detail is still a striking demonstration of the fundamental core of human language," adds senior author Liina Pylkkanen, a professor in New York University's Department of Linguistics and Department of Psychology.

The study also included Itamar Kastner, an NYU doctoral student at the time of the study and now at Berlin's Humboldt University, and Karen Emmorey, a professor at San Diego State University and a leading expert on sign language, who adds, "We can only discover what is universal to all human languages by studying sign languages."

Past research has shown that structurally, signed and spoken languages are fundamentally similar. However, less clear is whether the same circuitry in the brain underlies the construction of complex linguistic structures in sign and speech.

To address this question, the scientists studied the production of multiple two-word phrases in American Sign Language (ASL) as well as speech by deaf ASL signers residing in and around New York and hearing English speakers living in Abu Dhabi.

Signers and speakers viewed the same pictures and named them with semantically identical expressions. In order to gauge the study subjects' neurological activity during this experiment, the researchers deployed magnetoencephalography (MEG), a technique that maps neural activity by recording magnetic fields generated by the electrical currents produced by our brain.

For both signers and speakers, phrase building engaged the same parts of the brain with similar timing: the left anterior temporal and ventromedial cortices, despite different linguistic articulators (the vocal tract vs. the hands).

The researchers point out that this neurobiological similarity between sign and speech, then, goes beyond basic similarities and into more intricate processes--the same parts of the brain are used at the same time for the specific computation of combining words or signs into more complex expressions.

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The research was supported by grants from National Science Foundation (BCS-1221723) (LP), the National Institutes of Health (R01-DC010997) (KE), and the NYUAD Institute as well as a La Caixa Foundation fellowship for Post-Graduate Studies (EBE).
A mystery has long shrouded the orb-weaving spider genus Opadometa, where males and females belonging to one and the same species look nothing alike. Furthermore, the males appear to be so elusive that scientists still doubt whether both sexes are correctly linked to each other even in the best-known species.

Such is the case for Opadometa sarawakensis - a species known only from female specimens. While remarkable with their striking red and blue colors and large size, the females could not give the slightest hint about the likely appearance of the male Opadometa sarawakensis.

Nevertheless, students taking part in a recent two-week tropical ecology field course organized by the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Leiden University, and hosted by the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) on the island of Borneo, Malaysia, found a mature male spider hanging on the web of a red and blue female, later identified as Opadometa sarawakensis. Still quite striking, the male was colored in a blend of orange, gray, black, and silver.

At the brink of a long-awaited discovery and eager to describe the male, the students along with their lecturers and the field station scientific staff encountered a peril - with problematic species like the studied orb weaver they were in need for strong evidence to prove that it matched the female from the web. Furthermore, molecular DNA-based analysis was not an option at the time, since the necessary equipment was not available at DGFC.

On the other hand, being at the center of the action turned out to have advantages no less persuasive than DNA evidence. Having conducted thorough field surveys in the area, the team has concluded that the male's observation on that particular female's web in addition to the fact that no other Opadometa species were found in the area, was enough to prove they were indeed representatives of the same spider.

Adapting to the quite basic conditions at the DGFC laboratory, the students and their mentors put in use various items they had on hand, including smartphones paired up with headlights mounted on gooseneck clips in place of sophisticated cameras.

In the end, they gathered all the necessary data to prepare the formal description of the newly identified male.

Once they had the observations and the data, there was only one question left to answer. How could they proceed with the submission of a manuscript to a scholarly journal, so that their finding is formally announced and recognised?

Thanks to the elaborated and highly automated workflow available at the peer-reviewed open access Biodiversity Data Journal and its underlying ARPHA Writing Tool, the researchers managed to successfully compile their manuscript, including all underlying data, such as geolocations, and submit it from the field station. All in all, the authoring, peer review and publication - each step taking place within the ARPHA Platform's singular environment - took less than a month to complete. In fact, the paper was published within few days after being submitted.

This is the second publication in the series "Dispatch from the field", resulting from an initiative led by spider taxonomist Dr Jeremy Miller. In 2014, another team of students and their mentors described a new species of curious one-millimetre-long spider from the Danau Girang Field Center. Both papers serve to showcase the feasibility of publication and sharing of easy to find, access and re-use biodiversity data.

"This has been a unique educational experience for the students," says Jeremy. "They got to experience how tropical field biologists work, which is often from remote locations and without sophisticated equipment. This means that creativity and persistence are necessary to solve problems and complete a research objective. The fact that the students got to participate in advancing knowledge about this remarkable spider species by contributing to a manuscript was really exciting."

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Original source:

Miller J, Freund C, Rambonnet L, Koets L, Barth N, van der Linden C, Geml J, Schilthuizen M, Burger R, Goossens B (2018) Dispatch from the field II: the mystery of the red and blue Opadometa male (Araneae, Tetragnathidae, Opadometa sarawakensis). Biodiversity Data Journal 6: e24777. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e24777
A collaboration between astrophysicists and ecologists at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) is helping to monitor rare and endangered species and stop poaching. Astrophysical software and techniques are applied to thermal infrared imagery captured by drones to automatically detect and identify animals - even at night, when most poaching activity occurs. The drones can survey large areas of difficult terrain from above, allowing ecologists to access hard to reach areas and monitor wildlife without disturbing the animals. The project will be presented by Claire Burke at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) in Liverpool on Tuesday, 3rd April.

Burke explains: "With thermal infrared cameras, we can easily see animals as a result of their body heat, day or night, and even when they are camouflaged in their natural environment. Since animals and humans in thermal footage 'glow' in the same way as stars and galaxies in space, we have been able to combine the technical expertise of astronomers with the conservation knowledge of ecologists to develop a system to find the animals or poachers automatically."

The project is based around machine-learning algorithms and astronomical detection tools developed through the open source software, Astropy. Following an initial pilot project to test the concept with infrared footage of cows and humans filmed by drone at a farm in the Wirral, the team at LJMU has worked with Knowsley Safari and Chester Zoo to build up libraries of imagery to train the software to recognise different types of animals in different types of landscape and vegetation. Now, the team is embarking on field tests with endangered species.

"We held our first field trial in South Africa last September to detect Riverine rabbits, one of the most endangered species of mammal in the world. The rabbits are very small, so we flew the drone quite low to the ground at a height of 20 metres. Although this limited the area we could cover with the drone, we managed five sightings. Given that there have only been about 1000 sightings of Riverine rabbits by anyone in total, it was a real success," says Burke.

The team has developed software that models the effects of vegetation blocking body heat, allowing the detection of animals concealed by trees or leaves. The system is now being refined and upgraded to compensate for atmospheric effects, weather and other environmental factors. The technical aspects of the project will be presented at EWASS by Maisie Rashman on Wednesday 4th April.

"Humidity can be an issue, but our biggest problems occur when the temperature of the ground is very similar to that of the animal we are trying to detect," comments Rashman.

The astro-ecologists face their next field challenges in May, looking for orangutans in Malaysia and spider monkeys in Mexico, followed in June by a search for river dolphins in Brazil.

"Our aim is to make a system that is easy for conservationists and game wardens to use anywhere in the world, which will allow endangered animals to be tracked, found and monitored easily and poaching to be stopped before it happens," says Burke.

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Media contacts

Dr Robert Massey

Royal Astronomical Society

Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 699

ewass-press@ras.ac.uk

Ms Anita Heward

Royal Astronomical Society

Mob: +44 (0)7756 034 243

ewass-press@ras.ac.uk

Dr Morgan Hollis

Royal Astronomical Society

Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 700

ewass-press@ras.ac.uk

Dr Helen Klus

Royal Astronomical Society

ewass-press@ras.ac.uk

Ms Marieke Baan

European Astronomical Society

Mob: +31 6 14 32 26 27

ewass-press@ras.ac.uk

Notes for editors

The European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS 2018) will take place at the Arena and Conference Centre (ACC) in Liverpool from 3 - 6 April 2018. Bringing together around 1500 astronomers and space scientists, the conference is the largest professional astronomy and space science event in the UK for a decade and will see leading researchers from around the world presenting their latest work.

EWASS 2018 is a joint meeting of the European Astronomical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. It incorporates the RAS National Astronomy Meeting (NAM), and includes the annual meeting of the UK Solar Physics (UKSP) group. The conference is principally sponsored by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) is one of the largest, most dynamic and forward-thinking universities in the UK, with a vibrant community of 25,000 students from over 100 countries world-wide, 2,500 staff and 250 degree courses. LJMU celebrated its 25th anniversary of becoming a university in 2017 and has launched a new five-year vision built around four key 'pillars' to deliver excellence in education; impactful research and scholarship; enhanced civic and global engagement; and an outstanding student experience.

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. The RAS organizes scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognizes outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4000 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.

The RAS accepts papers for its journals based on the principle of peer review, in which fellow experts on the editorial boards accept the paper as worth considering. The Society issues press releases based on a similar principle, but the organisations and scientists concerned have overall responsibility for their content.

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The European Astronomical Society (EAS) promotes and advances astronomy in Europe. As an independent body, the EAS is able to act on matters that need to be handled at a European level on behalf of the European astronomical community. In its endeavours the EAS collaborates with affiliated national astronomical societies and also with pan-European research organisations and networks. Founded in 1990, the EAS is a society of individual members. All astronomers may join the society, irrespective of their field of research, or their country of work or origin. In addition, corporations, publishers and non-profit organisations can become organizational members of the EAS. The EAS, together with one of its affiliated societies, organises the annual European Week of Astronomy & Space Science (formerly known as JENAM) to enhance its links with national communities, to broaden connections between individual members and to promote European networks.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is keeping the UK at the forefront of international science and has a broad science portfolio and works with the academic and industrial communities to share its expertise in materials science, space and ground-based astronomy technologies, laser science, microelectronics, wafer scale manufacturing, particle and nuclear physics, alternative energy production, radio communications and radar.

STFC's Astronomy and Space Science programme provides support for a wide range of facilities, research groups and individuals in order to investigate some of the highest priority questions in astrophysics, cosmology and solar system science. STFC's astronomy and space science programme is delivered through grant funding for research activities, and also through support of technical activities at STFC's UK Astronomy Technology Centre and RAL Space at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. STFC also supports UK astronomy through the international European Southern Observatory.

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STFC is part of UK Research and Innovation.
Judges may be just as biased or even more biased than the general public in deciding court cases where traditional gender roles are challenged, according to a new study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

This study examined the role of gender bias relating to judges and legal decisions, and the sex discrimination worked both ways, sometimes against women and sometimes against men.

"These results show that judges' ideology and life experiences might influence their court decisions," said Andrea Miller, PhD, a visiting assistant professor of psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. "Many judges are not able to factor out their personal beliefs while they are considering court cases, even when they have the best possible intentions."

More than 500 judges from a state court system (68 percent men, 30 percent women, and 2 percent unidentified) participated in the study in an effort by that court system to address gender bias. The court system wasn't identified for confidentiality reasons.

"The judges who participated in the study did so at great personal and professional risk because they care deeply about confronting the possibility that there might be social group disparities in case outcomes," stated Miller, "This state court system has become a leader in the search for evidence-based solutions to the problem of implicit bias."

More than 500 lay people (59 percent men, 41 percent women) also were recruited online to take part in the study.

The judges and lay people analyzed two mock court cases, including a child custody case and a sex discrimination lawsuit where the plaintiff was presented as either a man or woman. The participants also completed surveys about their beliefs in traditional gender roles, such as stereotypes that women are more interested in raising children than in their careers and that children are better off if their fathers are the primary breadwinners for the family.

In the sex discrimination lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged that he or she was denied a promotion after taking six weeks of paid parental leave to care for an adopted baby. The plaintiff also wanted to introduce expert evidence from a psychologist about research on sex discrimination. Judges who supported traditional gender roles were more likely than lay people with similar gender ideologies to dismiss the case or rule against a female plaintiff.

In the divorce case, the father and mother both sought primary custody of their two children. Both spouses worked full-time jobs and sometimes had conflicts with caring for their children. Judges and lay people who supported traditional gender roles allocated more custody time to the mother than to the equally-qualified father, but the judges were even more biased in favoring the mother than were laypeople. Only three percent of the judges in the sample gave the father more custody time than the mother.

"In both of these cases, support for traditional gender roles was associated with decisions that encouraged women to engage in more family caregiving at the expense of their careers and discouraged men from participating in family caregiving at all." Miller said.

"Cultural ideas about gender bias may shape judges' decision-making as much as the rest of us," Miller said. "The significant expertise that judges possess doesn't inoculate them again decision-making biases, and we can't expect much change until we see policy reforms that address decision-making procedures in the courtroom."

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New research provides the first molecular understanding of why people gain weight due to chronic stress, disrupted circadian rhythms and treatment with glucocorticoid drugs: It's all in the timing of the dips and rises of a class of hormones called glucocorticoids -- predominantly the "stress hormone" cortisol, according to a new study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.

The research suggests new strategies to reduce weight gain by controlling the timing of hormonal pulses, said Mary Teruel, PhD, assistant professor of chemical and systems biology and senior author of the study, which will be published online April 3 in Cell Metabolism.

"It explains why treatments with glucocorticoid drugs, which are often essential for people with rheumatoid arthritis and asthma to even function, are so linked with obesity, and it suggests ways in which such treatments can be given safely without the common side effects of weight gain and bone loss," she said.

Fat cells normally turn over at a rate of 10 percent per year; they die and are replaced by newly differentiated fat cells. What has long fascinated Teruel is how we stay at this rate, and the mystery of what flips the switch that leads to weight gain.

"Now we know the circadian code that controls the switch, and we've identified key molecules that are involved," Teruel said.

The team found that fat-cell maturation ramps up if the trough in exposure to glucocorticoids lasts less than 12 hours.

Teruel and her team made these findings during their effort to identify the molecular mechanism that precursor fat cells use to sense and filter out short pulses and normal oscillations of glucocorticoids.

The 24-hour hormone cycle

A healthy person's level of glucocorticoids rises and falls in a circadian 24-hour cycle, peaking around 8 a.m., dropping to its lowest around 3 a.m. the next day, and then rising back to its peak about five hours later. The rise is a wake-up signal that gets us moving and turns on our appetites. The glucocorticoid levels in our bloodstream are also increased by stress -- short spikes are induced by short-term stress, such as exercise, and sustained levels are caused by chronic stress.

Researchers have long known that glucocorticoids trigger precursor cells to convert to fat cells, and that our fat tissue contains a huge excess of precursor cells that could convert, given the right signals. Under healthy conditions, less than 1 percent of a person's precursor fat cells are converting into fat cells. This low rate of conversion is essential for replacing damaged mature cells and for renewing and maintaining healthy fat tissue.

Hence Teruel's puzzlement: "So what stops normal, healthy daily increases in our glucocorticoid levels due to circadian rhythms and healthy short-term stresses from causing all our precursor cells to convert into fat cells? Why aren't we drowning in fat every time glucocorticoid levels go high in the morning due to normal circadian rhythms or when our glucocorticoid levels spike when we exercise or go from a warm building out into the cold? And why is losing the normal rhythm of glucocorticoid secretion -- such as in conditions of chronic stress, jetlag and sleep disruption in shift-workers -- so linked to obesity?"

The timing of glucocorticoid pulses had not been studied before, but Teruel thought it might offer the answer.

In the first of the series of experiments, graduate students Zahra Bahrami-Nejad and Michael Zhao, co-lead authors of the study, worked around the clock to expose precursor fat cells to glucocorticoids in carefully timed pulses over the course of four days, alternately bathing the petri-dish-grown cells in fluids with and without glucocorticoids and assuring that the total exposure to the hormone remained the same. They stained and imaged the cells so they could count how many of the precursor cells matured into fat cells. They found that one pulse of glucocorticoids lasting 48 hours led most of the cells to differentiate, while shorter pulses with at least 12 hours between them resulted in minimal differentiation.

To uncover how the precursors are able to sense the duration of the hormonal pulses and filter out short pulses, the researchers used single-cell live imaging to track PPAR-gamma protein levels in thousands of individual cells over several days while the precursors became fat cells. PPAR-gamma is a protein that correlates with the fat cell's maturity: When PPAR-gamma levels increase to a certain threshold level in a fat precursor cell, the precursor cell will convert in to a fat cell. Leading up to this experiment, Bahrami-Nejad had worked for about two years using CRISPR gene-editing technology to attach a fluorescent probe to all of the PPAR-gamma proteins the precursor fat cells produced. By measuring the fluorescence, she and Zhao were able to quantify levels of PPAR-gamma produced in the cells, which enabled them for the first time to watch individual cells convert from precursor cells into fat cells as it happened.

Relying on two types of feedback

The researchers' experiments and computer modeling indicated that the system must rely on two types of positive feedback -- fast and slow -- to enable precursor cells to ignore the normal rise and fall of glucocorticoids, as well as short daytime pulses, yet respond to long pulses. Their work had previously found that a protein called CEBP-alpha provides fast positive feedback -- meaning PPAR-gamma activates CEBP-alpha, which in return activates PPAR-gamma, the cycle playing out over three hours. Additional studies identified a protein called FABP4 as a key slow positive-feedback regulator of PPAR-gamma. In this feedback loop, which takes 34 hours, PPAR-gamma activates FABP4, which in return activates PPAR-gamma. This allows PPAR-gamma to continue to build up in response to long pulses, despite its tendency to degrade.

As a final step, they explored whether the circadian code works in living animals. In a 21-day study in mice, the researchers found that loss of the normal circadian rhythm for glucocorticoids led to a doubling of the animals' fat mass. To carry out this experiment, postdoctoral scholars and study co-authors Stefan Tholen, PhD, and Devon Hunerdosse, PhD, raised glucocorticoid levels by implanting mice with pellets that contained glucocorticoids. They compared the weight of these mice to the weight of mice in groups implanted with pellets lacking the hormone. Though all the mice ate the same amount, only those implanted with glucocorticoids gained weight. The doubling of their fat mass was due to both the creation of new fat cells and the growth of existing fat cells.

They also found that no increase in fat occurred as long as they boosted glucocorticoids, delivered by injection, only during the normal circadian peak times -- even if they increased peak glucocorticoid levels fortyfold.

The research has implications for controlling weight gain in humans, Teruel said. "Yes, the timing of your stress does matter. Since conversion of precursor cells into fat cells occurs through a bistable switch, it means you can control the process with pulsing. Our results suggest that even if you get significantly stressed or treat your rheumatoid arthritis with glucocorticoids, you won't gain weight, as long as stress or glucocorticoid treatment happens only during the day. But if you experience chronic, continuous stress or take glucocorticoids at night, the resulting loss of normal circadian glucocorticoid oscillations will result in significant weight gain," she said.

The link between food and glucocorticoids is not well-understood, Teruel said. Some of her newer experiments aim to understand how food, insulin and glucocorticoids are related.

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Print media contact: Rosanne Spector at (650) 725-5374 (manishma@stanford.edu)

Broadcast media contact: Margarita Gallardo at (650) 723-7897 (mjgallardo@stanford.edu)

Other Stanford co-authors of the study are former postdoctoral scholar Karen Tkach, PhD; former visiting scholar Sabine van Schie, PhD; and graduate student Mingyu Chung.

The research was supported by Stanford Bio-X, the National Institutes of Health (grants RO1DK101743, RO1DK106241, P50GM107615, T32NIH T2HG00044 and 1F31DK112570), the DFG German Research Foundation and the American Heart Association.

Stanford's Department of Chemical and Systems Biology also supported the work.

The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://med.stanford.edu/school.html. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. For information about all three, please visit http://med.stanford.edu.
(New York, NY - April 3, 2018)--Material left out of common processes for sequencing genetic material in cancer tumors may actually carry important information about why only some people respond to immunotherapy, possibly offering better insight than the type of material that is being sequenced, according to a study by Mount Sinai researchers published on April 3 in Cell Reports.

Sequencing a type of genetic material in cancer tumors called messenger RNA has transformed personalized cancer therapy and revealed biomarkers for early detection. Advances in this field have transformed scientists' understanding of the differences between healthy tissue and tumors.

To date, gene expression in tumors has been typically profiled by capturing messenger RNAs; however, they represent only a fraction of the molecules detected. A different type of RNA, called non-coding RNA, had long been dismissed as "junk" and left out of sequencing processes. However, recent advances in genetics have shown that many non-coding RNAs can carry critical functions for cell biology, and a class of RNA known as repetitive elements may interact with the immune system in a way that may be important to develop new and personalized cancer immunotherapies.

In their study, the researchers used a process called total RNA sequencing to identify many non-coding RNAs that would normally remain undetected with the more common sequencing method. They showed that several of these RNAs were specifically expressed in tumors that responded to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy in bladder cancer patients, while others were associated with tumors that escaped being sensed by the immune system.

"Our conclusions make the case that non-coding RNA in tumors, particularly repetitive elements, is under-quantified," said the study's senior author, Benjamin Greenbaum, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncological Sciences, Pathology, and Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) at The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "We feel that critical findings will arise from analysis of the full breadth of a tumor's non-coding RNA interplay with the immune system."

One specific finding of this study was that one repetitive element in non-coding RNA is a better predictor of immunotherapy response to PDL1 inhibitors, a type of cancer immunotherapy drug, than conventional immune signatures in certain patients. Mount Sinai researchers, in partnership with the Ting Lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, found that these repeat RNAs appear to alter the immune response in colon and pancreatic cancers. These have implications for future research on how non-coding RNA could be novel targets for cancer therapy and how they influence patients' response to cancer therapies.

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Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center played critical roles in this research.

This research was supported by grants from the Ludwig Center for Cancer Research, the National Institutes of Health(NIH)/National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA008748, Stand Up to Cancer, the Lustgarten Foundation, the National Science Foundation Grant 1545935, NIH grant K12CA087723-11A1, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Affymetrix, Inc., NIH grant P01CA087497-1 and the V foundation.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 10 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked No. 18 for research by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools" and No. 13 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in four other specialties in the 2017-2018 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked in six out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology and 50th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Athens, Ga. - A team of researchers including scientists from the University of Georgia has found that the resurgence of pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, in the U.S. is a predictable consequence of incomplete coverage with a highly effective vaccine. This finding goes against pervasive theories on why we are seeing a steady increase in the disease even though the vaccine is given at an early age.

They published their findings in Science Translational Medicine.

"This study is important in that it revealed that there has been no change to the epidemiology of pertussis that is causing the rise in the number of cases," said senior author Pejman Rohani, who has a joint appointment in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine and the Odum School of Ecology. "Instead, it is a function of the way vaccines were administered over the decades. It is an effect that takes a long time to manifest."

Pertussis is a respiratory infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which can cause serious infections in infants and young children. Routine vaccination for the disease began in the 1940s and led to a 100-fold decrease in the number of reported cases--to the point that the prospect of eliminating the disease seemed possible. But since the mid-1970s pertussis has made a comeback.

Rohani and his team examined long-term surveillance data from Massachusetts to try to understand why.

The most popular theory on the increase of pertussis cases is that the new generation of vaccines is somehow flawed, but Rohani and his colleagues saw no evidence to support that. Instead they found that today's pertussis vaccines, like earlier ones, are largely very effective despite not providing 100 percent lifelong protection to those individuals who get vaccinated.

What they did discover was that high rates of vaccination when the vaccine was first introduced led to an overall decrease in transmission across the population. Even those who weren't vaccinated were therefore less likely to contract the disease.

As vaccinated individuals age, however, the protection afforded by the vaccine begins to wear off in some cases. Furthermore, there are fewer and fewer people still alive who survived pertussis infections in the days before vaccination, and thus gained lifelong immunity.

This combination means that the number of people who are susceptible to contracting pertussis is slowly rising--setting the stage for an increase in the number of new cases, especially in older individuals. This is known as the "end of the honeymoon" period.

The results of this study will help to serve as a guide for future vaccination campaigns. The model identifies the core transmission group to be schoolchildren, so the researchers recommend that group should be the main focus of vaccination campaigns, rather than the current emphasis on vaccinating adults. Going forward researchers will further analyze the results of this study to assess the number and frequency of booster vaccines.

Besides Rohani, the paper's co-authors are Matthieu Domenech de Celles of the University of Michigan and the Institut Pasteur at the University of Versailles St-Quentin-en-Yvelines; Felicia Maria G. Magpantay of University of Michigan and University of Manitoba and Aaron A. King of the University of Michigan.

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The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (1R01AI101155) and by MIDAS, National Institute of General Medical Sciences U54-GM111274. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health provided data used in the study.

A full version of the study is available online at http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/10/434/eaaj1748.full

Writer: Lisa Herrmann, 706-583-5485, LISA.HERRMANN@uga.edu

Contact: Pejman Rohani, rohani@uga.edu

Note to editors: A photo of Rohani is available online at https://news.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/rohani_960.jpg

Cutline: Pejman Rohani is a professor in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine and the Odum School of Ecology.

This release is available online at https://news.uga.edu/uga-research-study-explores-resurgence-of-pertussis/
URBANA, Ill. - Growing in its native Australia, the unobtrusive perennial vine Glycine tomentella could easily be overlooked. But the distant relative of soybean contains genetic resources that can substantially increase soybean yield, according to a new study from the University of Illinois.

"We saw yield increases of 3.5 to 7 bushels per acre in soybean lines derived from crossing with Glycine tomentella," says Randall Nelson, study author and adjunct professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at U of I.

The discovery happened by accident. Researchers from U of I and the USDA Agricultural Research Service had been working for years to introduce disease-resistance genes from Glycine tomentella into soybean. After developing thousands of experimental lines, they finally managed to move genes from the Australian vine into a new soybean line that was resistant to soybean rust. But the researchers noticed something else.

"Some of these lines looked pretty good, so we decided to do some yield testing. This turned into a project for Ph.D. student Abraham Akpertey from Ghana. He found several lines that yielded significantly more than the soybean parent," Nelson says. "We were very surprised. To look at it, Glycine tomentella has no agronomic characteristics -- the seeds are less than a tenth the size of soybean seeds. We never expected to get high-yielding lines out of this cross."

The process of getting Glycine tomentella genes into soybean is highly complex. The two plants are so distantly related that any mating would ordinarily result in aborted seeds. But Nelson's collaborator and study co-author, Ram Singh, developed a growth hormone solution he sprays on the young pods to keep seeds from aborting.

"He rescues that little, immature seed, cultures it, and grows it into a plant. Then those are back-crossed repeatedly with the soybean variety 'Dwight,' until all of the Glycine tomentella chromosomes are lost and we recover a soybean plant," Nelson explains.

The researchers don't know what has been transferred from Glycine tomentella into the soybean genome. Aside from yield, some of the plants look and perform almost exactly the same as 'Dwight.'

The group plans to map the genome of the promising plants, with the ultimate goal of identifying the genes responsible. Breeding efforts are already underway to develop higher-yielding lines since 'Dwight' is a 20-year-old cultivar.

"Last year, we released a material transfer agreement that would allow any soybean breeder to cross with these lines. I was surprised we didn't get many requests, because these are such unique resources. With this yield information, I hope we can get more people interested," Nelson says.

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The article, "Genetic introgression from Glycine tomentella to soybean to increase seed yield," is published in Crop Science [DOI: 10.2135/cropsci2017.07.0445]. Nelson's co-authors include A. Akpertey, R. Singh, B. Diers, G. Graef, M. Mian, J. Shannon, A. Scaboo, M. Hudson, C. Thurber, and P. Brown. The work was supported by the United Soybean Board and the North Central Soybean Research Program.
Research carried out by the University of Kent has discovered the first data on an organelle that is really important in human cells in an ancient organism distantly related to humans

The discovery will enable scientists to study the breadth and depth of cell biology. This has implications for research into autoimmune diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Led by Dr Anastasios Tsaousis from the School of Biosciences, in collaboration with Dr Joel Dacks from the University of Alberta (Canada), a team of researchers discovered a rare form of an organised structure called a golgi in the microbial amoeba Naegleria gruberi that was previously considered to lack such an apparatus.

In most cells, including healthy human cells, the Golgi appears as flattened membranes resembling a stack of pancakes.

In a paper published in the Journal of Cell Science, the team explains how Golgi works as part of the membrane-trafficking system. The Golgi apparatus is central to the modification and transport of proteins to their cellular destination. It functions like the postal service of the cell, composed of a production centre for cellular material, a distribution centre where material is packaged and addressed, and then postal routes that relay packages to their eventual locations within the cell.

By applying cell biological techniques to Naegleria, their research shows that the Golgi is an unstacked, tubular membranous structure. This work provides the first direct evidence for the existence of a Golgi apparatus as tubular compartments in Naegleria.

This work is important for human health as when Golgi bodies malfunction it causes diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other autoimmune diseases. Studying a naturally unstacked form of this organelle would allow better understanding of the relationship between Golgi dysfunction and genetic diseases.

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The project was a financially supported by the Royal Society and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Identification and characterisation of the cryptic Golgi apparatus in Naegleria gruberi by Emily K. Herman, Lyto Yiangou, Diego M. Cantoni, Christopher N. Miller, Francine Marciano-Cabral, Erin Anthonyrajah, Joel B. Dacks, Anastasios D. Tsaousis is published in the Journal of Cell Science where it also appears in the 'Research Highlights' section. http://jcs.biologists.org/content/early/2018/03/08/jcs.213306

For further information or interview requests contact Sandy Fleming at the University of Kent Press Office.

Tel: 01227 823581

Email: S.Fleming@kent.ac.uk

News releases can also be found at http://www.kent.ac.uk/news

University of Kent on Twitter: http://twitter.com/UniKent

Note to editors

Established in 1965, the University of Kent - the UK's European university - now has almost 20,000 students across campuses or study centres at Canterbury, Medway, Tonbridge, Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome.

It has been ranked 22nd in the Guardian University Guide 2018 and 25th in the Complete University Guide 2018, and in June 2017 was awarded a gold rating, the highest, in the UK Government's Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2015-16, it is in the top 10% of the world's leading universities for international outlook and 66th in its table of the most international universities in the world. The THE also ranked the University as 20th in its 'Table of Tables' 2016.

Kent is ranked 17th in the UK for research intensity (REF 2014). It has world-leading research in all subjects and 97% of its research is deemed by the REF to be of international quality.

In the National Student Survey 2016, Kent achieved the fourth highest score for overall student satisfaction, out of all publicly funded, multi-faculty universities.

Along with the universities of East Anglia and Essex, Kent is a member of the Eastern Arc Research Consortium.

The University is worth 0.7 billion to the economy of the south east and supports more than 7,800 jobs in the region. Student off-campus spend contributes 293.3m and 2,532 full-time-equivalent jobs to those totals.
Local governments and small businesses could save thousands of dollars a year in consulting and research fees if they just used information that's already publicly available, according to research from the University of Waterloo.

A new Waterloo study found that information commonly paid for by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and local governments, such as consumer spending data that can help businesses decide where to locate and determine market demand, can actually be obtained for free.

"Data such as the census information from Statistics Canada could easily be used in conjunction with a company's own information to aid in decision making," said Derek Robinson, a professor of geography at Waterloo. "The spatial pattern of storing and marketing opportunities can be mapped out using this information, which can help small businesses avoid costly decisions that may not be easy for them to recover from."

As part of the study, Robinson and Andrei Balulescu, a former Waterloo graduate, used publicly available information as well as data from private industry in the home improvement retail sector in Ontario. They found that by combining this information, they could easily identify the spatial pattern of consumer spending on home improvement products and could identify geographic hot spots and cold spots related to people's spending habits.

The study broke the province into close to 20,000 units and was able to generate data on 23 individual product categories related to home improvement and how spending in these categories varied by household income. The information was verified using proprietary sales data provided by a big-box industry partner in the home improvement retail sector to show that the estimates were indeed accurate.

"SMEs account for 99.7 per cent of all firms in Canada and employ 54.8 per cent of all payroll persons," said Balulescu. "This method can be applied to any sector, and could help businesses pick the right location, based on market demand for new stores, and help to prevent the roughly 7,000 businesses that fail each year from having to close their doors."

"This tool can help to put smaller businesses on an equal footing with large retailers, who have more capital to spend on gathering businesses intelligence. Furthermore, it could help local economic development departments prove to companies there is both market and opportunity in their region."

The study, titled, 'Comparison of methods for quantifying consumer spending on retail using publicly available data', including detailed maps of "hot and cold" spots of home-improvement spending can be found in the International Journal of Geographical Information Science.

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The early migration of humans out of Africa and across the world can be proven using genetic and morphological analyses. However, morphological data from the skull and skeleton often only allow limited conclusions to be drawn about the geographical dispersal pattern, especially because of the many ways in which the human skeleton adapts to local environmental conditions. Now, an international team of researchers led by paleoanthropologists from the University of Zurich has shown that the morphology of the inner ear is a good indicator for population history and human dispersal.

Differences within a population greater than between populations

The hearing and balance system in humans, as in all vertebrates, is housed in a cavity system in the base of the skull -- the bony labyrinth of the inner ear. The researchers analyzed the labyrinth structures in human populations from southern and northern Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and America, including as far south as Patagonia, using computed tomography to obtain high-resolution 3-D data of the bony labyrinth.

The data showed that the shape of the labyrinth varied greatly, with the variation within a population being considerably greater that the variation between populations. "This typically human variation pattern is also known from comparative genetic data. It shows that all humans are very closely related and have their roots in Africa," explains UZH anthropologist Marcia Ponce de Leon.

Morphology of the labyrinth correlates with dispersal distance from Africa

The team further discovered that the 3-D shape of the labyrinth contained important information about the global dispersal of humans from the African continent. The further away a population is geographically from South Africa, the more the shape of the labyrinth differs from that of the South African population. Moreover, the labyrinth data confirm the findings from DNA analyses which show that the genetic distance increases in correlation with the geographical distance from Africa.

Conclusions about inner-continental dispersal history can be drawn

The labyrinth data also indicate population movements within the continents. For example, the labyrinth shapes of prehistoric populations on the Sunda Islands (Indonesia) are similar to those of the indigenous people of Papua and Australia, while today's population mainly migrated from the Malay archipelago. On the other hand, the labyrinth data also reveals that today's Europeans and Japanese mainly have their roots in the respective local populations of the Neolithic Period.

Incidental genetic changes do not have functional effect

The new results are surprising because it was previously assumed that the shape of the labyrinth was mainly determined by its function. It has now been shown that despite the very high functional requirements for balance and hearing, nature tolerates an astonishingly wide variation in the labyrinth structure. "This is probably due to random changes in the genetic material. Such changes may have few or no functional consequences, but the associated structural changes provide a record of human dispersal and evolution history," summarizes the paper's last author Christoph Zollikofer, professor of anthropology at UZH.

Computed tomography data should be acquired before DNA extraction

The compact bone that surrounds the labyrinth is also interesting for paleogenetics as it contains a large amount of DNA. This gives rise to an acute conflict of interests: While computed tomographic investigations are non-invasive, the process of DNA collection damages the labyrinth. "Paleogenetics is a rapidly growing research field and hundreds of labyrinths from archaeological skeleton collections have already been milled to dust without first being documented," says Christoph Zollikofer. The research team therefore wants to ensure that computed tomographic data is routinely obtained before bones are released for DNA extraction. "These data form an invaluable archive of the history of fossil hominid and modern human populations," concludes Marcia Ponce de Leon.

###

Literature:

Marcia S. Ponce de Leon, Toetik Koesbardiati, John David Weissmann, Marco Milella, Carlos S. Reyna-Blanco, Gen Suwa, Osamu Kondo, Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Tim D. White, and Christoph P. E. Zollikofer. Human bony labyrinth is an indicator of population history and dispersal from Africa. PNAS. April 2, 2018. Doi: 10.1073/pnas.1717873115

Contact:

Prof. Christoph Zollikofer

Anthropological Institute and Museum

University of Zurich

Phone +41 44 635 54 27

E-mail: zolli@aim.uzh.ch

Media Relations

University of Zurich

Phone +41 44 634 44 67

E-mail: mediarelations@kommunikation.uzh.ch
Are cyclical concerns set to return for the Pound?

After a strong rally this year in Pound Sterling the naysayers are starting to come out of the woodwork, and a lot more bearish calls are being seen. One such call is from SwissQuotes Peter Rosenstreich who released a piece today called Sell Sterling in which he advocated an opinion that,Brexit pain and a cyclical downturn are weighing on the British pound.

The view of Mr. Rosenstreich appears a little confused as the Pound has been one of the stronger performers in the G10 this year, but his intention is clearly that these worries are going to be increasingly troublesome for a more elevated British Pound.

The Brexit plan which the SwissQuote analyst talks of has one sticking point, in particular, namely the issue of the Irish Border between Northern Ireland and the ROI to the south. The UK Conservative Governments shaky coalition is held together with the DUP from N.I. who will Veto any deal which does not result in Northern Ireland being treated the same as the rest of the UK in regards to its trading relationship with other nations. The fact that Ireland wants no border and the EU have their own opinions makes it a very contentious issue. Mr. Rosenstreich believes that the outcome of these talks will be quite bearish for Sterling, stating a belief that

Markets will react to the latest proposals for a border between the Republic and Northern Ireland. Watch for sterling to lurch negatively, with the GBP/USD failing to break its 50-day moving average

UK vs Europe in a trade war bad news for Sterling

Although things have picked up in pace recently there is no question that Brexit talks have been moving at a glacial pace. Whatever the reason for this, be it UK ineptitude if you work in Brussels or the stubbornness of the EU if you are Brexiteer, it is clear that more progress is probably needed to lift the Pound. SwissQuote, clearly believe the EU is better positioned and the UK stands to lose out in the event of a trade war,

Europe has a massive internal market that companies can depend on for growth. The UK, by contrast, is fragmenting within itself, specifically in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and needs exports to grow. If a EU-UK trade war breaks, the UK is in much less desirable spot then Europe.

The rather dark view of the situation in the UK is definitely at odds with the prevailing market view, where speculators are net long the Pound and many are hopeful that the Bank of England could raise as many as 2 times over the remainder of this year. If a trade war was to develop, then clearly the UK are considerably smaller than the combined might of the EU. Rosentreich clearly believes that the impact of such an eventuality could have negative effects on UK stocks and risk raising prices in the UK which could harm consumers as he states,

More broadly, worries of a trade war will put defensive stocks in demand. Cyclical and tech-driven stocks will be exposed. Fair commodity prices depend on free trade: endangering this artificially tightens supply and drives up prices.

GBP/USD has inched higher over the last two days and now sits at 1.4050, clearly at an inflection point. Should it break higher once more then recent highs could be in play, while a move back beneath 1.40 would suggest a deeper correction as market positioning is no longer in its favour.
Designer Kris Van Assche on Tuesday took the reins at Berluti, vowing to complete the transformation of the top-end cobbler into a major luxury men's label.

The Belgian creator, who left Dior Homme a fortnight ago after 11 years in charge, steps into the shoes of Colombian Haider Ackermann, who parted company with the French brand on Friday after only three seasons.

But Van Assche has big ambitions for the label which under its CEO Antoine Arnault has morphed from an elite shoemaker that shod artist Andy Warhol and a fair smattering of European royalty into a luxury mens fashion label.

Antoine Arnault spoke to me of his ambitions for Berluti and it is with great pleasure that I accept this new challenge which fits perfectly with my own will and vision, Van Assche said as his appointment was announced.

I have always wanted to build bridges between the savoir-faire, the heritage of a house and my clear-cut contemporary vision, the 41-year-old added.

Van Assche will not show his first mens collection in Paris for the brand until January 2019, reflecting the major rethinking that is likely to go on.

Arnault, the son of French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, said: I have known him for several years, have always admired his work at Dior Homme and I am looking forward to working with him.

The mens arm of the LVMH group to which Berluti belongs has seen dramatic change in recent weeks with the departure of Ackermann, Hedi Slimane arriving as artistic director of Celine and British designer Kim Jones leaving Louis Vuitton for Dior Homme and being replaced by DJ, designer and Off-White founder Virgil Abloh.

Van Assche added a punkish street style influence to Diors fine tailoring, and Berluti said he will be in charge of its shoes, leather goods and accessories as well as ready-to-wear collections.

He is another product of the famous Antwerp fashion school in Belgium which gave wings to the talent of Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten, Anne Demeulemeester and several other top creators.

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The United Nations on Tuesday urged Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "reconsider" a decision to scrap an agreement on resettling thousands of African migrants following tough domestic criticism.

UNHCR notes the announcement of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that he has cancelled the Israel-UNHCR agreement of April 2nd on solutions for Eritreans and Sudanese living in Israel, a spokesman for the UN agency, William Spindler, told AFP in an email.

We continue to believe in the need for a win-win agreement that can benefit Israel, the international community and people needing asylum and we hope that Israel will reconsider its decision soon.

Hours after announcing the agreement himself in a televised address on Monday afternoon, Netanyahu changed course and cancelled it after facing pressure from his right-wing base.

The agreement was designed to end the possibility of forced deportations of thousands of migrants from Israel to Rwanda.

Under the agreement with the UN, a minimum of 16,250 migrants would have instead been resettled in Western nations.

In return, Israel would grant temporary residency to one migrant for each one resettled elsewhere.

The presence of the primarily Sudanese and Eritrean migrants in Israel has become a key political issue.

Netanyahu is already under heavy political pressure due to a string of graft probes.

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Ed McMullen, the US ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, has said there is really no reason for American companies to relocate back to the US after the countrys tax reform.

He knew of several companies that were about to move their business to Switzerland, McMullen told the Nordwestschweiz newspaper on Tuesday.

American companies had moved to Switzerland not to escape the US tax authorities but because of the overall attractiveness of the country, he added. Switzerland is a strong financial centre with powerful cybersecurity and a hub for research, he said.

The recently implemented American tax reform and deregulation measures had increased the interest of small and medium-sized Swiss companies in expanding their business activities to the US. They could also act as incentives for American companies operating in other countries, McMullen said.

However, fears that American companies would move out of Switzerland for tax reasons were unfounded.

New opportunities

US companies would continue to benefit from Switzerland as a business location, and some of the largest companies in the US were planning new business opportunities in Switzerland, according to McMullen. The Republican diplomat from New York did not give any examples but said people would soon hear about them.

McMullen, a political scientist and former advertising entrepreneur, took up the post of US ambassador to Switzerland last November. The 54-year-old was a chairman of Donald Trumps election campaign in the state of South Carolina.
Nenad Ban of the federal technology institute ETH Zurich has been selected to receive the 2018 Otto Naegeli medical research prize for his work on ribosomes.

Ban, originally from Croatia, is a professor of structural biology and was chosen for his work on ribosomes  large, complex molecules within our cells that are responsible for producing proteins, based on our genetic blueprint.

Over the course of his 18-year career at ETH Zurich, Ban helped to describe the precise atomic structure of ribosomes in eukaryotic cells  the type of cell found in higher organisms like plants, fungi and animals, as opposed to bacteria. This information is important for understanding how these protein factories function in healthy as well as unhealthy cells and for developing human medicines.

Awarded every two years, the Otto Naegeli Prize is one of Switzerlands most prestigious scientific honours. It will be awarded, along with CHF200,000 ($209,000), on April 10 in Zurich, according to an ETH Zurich press release. The prize was created in 1960 in memory of a University of Zurich researcher and teacher of internal medicine.













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Ski lift services to the popular destination in southwestern Switzerland were shut down Tuesday afternoon due to a financial dispute between the operating company and local community.

In September last year, Valais cable car company Crans-Montana Aminona (CMA) SA hadasked the three local municipalities of Crans-Montana, Icogne and Lens to contribute CHF800,000 annually to help cover its costs.

While the latter two approved the request, an agreement could not be reached with Crans-Montana. The company subsequently shut down the cable car servicefor an indeterminate period starting Tuesday afternoon, CMA president Philippe Magistretti said in an open letter.

We have taken the only rational decision necessary: to close from today [until further notice], Magistretti said.

From their side, the three municipalities concerned have expressed their profound regret over the incomprehensible and unilateral decision of the company in a joint communique.

Free bus connections are being organisedto allow skiers to continue their activities in neighbouring Anzere.













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Nationwide strikes in France against railway reforms have resulted in all rail connections to Switzerland being cancelled on Tuesday.

The so-called Black Tuesday marked the first day of a series of strikes expected to last until the end of June. Rail employees have been called upon to stop work on two out of five days every week until June 30.

More than three-quarters of train drivers took part in strike action, according to the rail unions. Only one in eight long-distance trains ran on Tuesday, and train connections to Switzerland, Spain and Italy were completely cancelled.

+ How many hours do you work a week?

The strike is set to be a major test of President Emmanuel Macrons ability to push through reforms. At its core, Macrons reform would abolish the railway employees quasi-status as civil servants, which includes job-for-life guarantees, retirement at an average age of 54 and automatic annual pay rises.

Dialogue

French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne said that despite the protests, the government did not want to give in to the workers demands. It was, however, committed to coordination and dialogue with the trade unions, she said.

A meeting with train union representatives was scheduled for Thursday.

Air traffic was also disrupted on Tuesday. Air France crew and ground staff went on strike to demand a 6% pay rise with further strikes expected over the coming months. At Zurich airport, three flights to Paris were cancelled, as well as two Air France flights scheduled to fly from Paris to Zurich.In Paris and other cities rubbish collectors were also on strike.




A German food bank on Tuesday said it will reopen its doors to new migrant clients, some three months after its decision to stop giving free meals to foreigners sparked nationwide outrage.

The Essener Tafel charity in the western city of Essen said non-Germans could start registering for the service again from Wednesday.

Right now, the ratio of Germans and foreigners in need is appropriate, the groups chairman, Joerg Sartor, told the Bild daily.

If new bottlenecks occur, we will have to adapt again.

From now on, preference would be given to the elderly, single parents, young families and those with disabilities  regardless of their nationality, Sartor added, citing a decision made by the groups board.

The charity triggered a storm of controversy earlier this year when it announced it would only accept new clients if they had German identity papers, claiming a huge influx of migrants was displacing needy locals.

Sartor said at the time that especially elderly Germans and single mothers had been intimidated by an increasingly aggressive atmosphere as the number of foreigners queuing for free food had risen to three-quarters of the total.

The migrant ban, which the charity always insisted was temporary, sparked howls of protest across the country and none of Germanys more than 900 other food banks followed suit.

Even Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in on the controversy, calling the Essener Tafels decision not good.

Vandals also sprayed the word Nazis on the charitys building and vans, an act police said they believe was in response to the ban.

Some 1.2 million asylum seekers have come to Europes biggest economy since 2015  more than half from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The influx sparked a xenophobic backlash that has fuelled the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The AfD had defended Essener Tafel on social media, complaining that an onslaught of migrants was displacing Germans and if you fight back, youre a Nazi.

Like other similar organisations, the Essener Tafel collects surplus food that would otherwise be discarded by supermarkets and other businesses to prepare and serve it to the poor.

Typically, people have to register to qualify for regular free meals by proving that they are recipients of unemployment or other social benefits.
A German court's refusal to extradite Catalonia's former president on a rebellion charge deals a major blow to Spain's legal action against separatists and to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government.

The consequences are really huge, said Josep Ramoneda, a Catalan philosopher and political analyst.

This a serious setback for the judiciary and particularly for Rajoy, and a boost for the pro-independence movement.

 Rebellion out 

Spain last month issued an arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont on charges of rebellion, an offence that carries up to 30 years in jail, and misuse of public funds for his role in the failed secession bid last October.

Puigdemont, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Belgium since then, was subsequently arrested as he travelled to Germany.

Then on Thursday, a German court freed him on bail, announcing they would not send him back to Spain on the rebellion charge as he was not personally involved in violence during the referendum on Catalan independence.

That made his actions not punishable under German law, the judges said in a statement, rejecting prosecutors argument that the Spanish rebellion charge was similar enough to Germanys high treason statute to justify an extradition.

German judges still have to decide whether or not they will consent to an extradition on the lesser charge of misuse of public funds.

But even if they do, the fact that they have dismissed rebellion means Puigdemont will not be able to be tried in Spain on a charge that several Spanish law professors and rights groups had already dismissed as extreme.

 Puigdemont comeback? 

According to constitutional law professor Xavier Arbos, the German court decision could be used as a reference by other countries like Belgium, Switzerland and Britain, where other separatists also charged with rebellion have fled since the failed secession bid.

The nine separatists currently in custody in Spain on charges of rebellion will also be able to use this in their defence, arguing that the man who led Catalonia to the verge of secession cannot be prosecuted on lesser charges than them.

And lastly, it also means Puigdemont could seek a comeback as Catalan president, even more strengthened than before, said Arbos.

Indeed, under Spanish law, a person charged with rebellion is immediately banned from holding public office, but other lesser offences allow this until an eventual sentence.

He could try and do this if Germany extradites him to Spain, banking on the fact that he might avoid custody if he faces only the lesser charge of misuse of public funds.

 Why the controversy? 

While the Germans have got their first taste of the controversy over the rebellion charge, the debate has been going on in Spain for months.

Some 100 criminal law professors signed a manifesto in the autumn saying that using the rebellion charge was extreme, given there had been no physical violence during the secession bid.

But Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena, in charge of the case, counters there was, pointing to two events in particular.

One was a protest on September 20 in Barcelona in front of a government building that police were searching ahead of an upcoming independence referendum that was set to go ahead despite a court ban.

Some police cars were damaged and the agents themselves blocked from leaving the building for hours.

The other was separatists resistance to police as these were trying to empty polling stations used for the referendum on October 1.

That day, however, was also marked by police violence that caused dozens of injuries.

According to criminal lawyer Xabier Etxebarria, these events spark more of serious disobedience than rebellion.

As such, the Supreme Courts decision to prosecute some separatists for rebellion has raised rights concerns.

The association Judges for Democracy said it risked impacting peoples fundamental rights such as the right to protest, said spokesman Ignacio Gonzalez Vera.

 What could the court do now? 

Llarena could just drop the arrest warrant altogether, as he did once before in December when Puigdemont was in Belgium, fearing that the rebellion charge would be dismissed.

He could also widen the charges brought against Puigdemont, adding for instance sedition, which may be more acceptable abroad.

He could also ask the EU court of justice to rule on the issue.

 Rajoy in trouble again 

On Friday, newspaper editorials denounced inaction on the part of Rajoy and his government, which have been accused of standing by and refusing to talk to Catalan separatists, while letting the courts deal with the issue.

The courts are in this extremely awkward situation because Rajoy gave them a responsibility that was his, said Ramoneda.

Even Spains conservative ABC daily concurred, calling on the government to stop handling the case as an issue merely for the judges.
A Hungarian man was handed a two-year suspended jail term Tuesday for fighting with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in the first ruling of its kind in Hungary.

Krisztian L., 43, was convicted by a judge in Szekszard for prohibited recruitment into an armed group participating in armed clashes.

Explaining the light sentence, the judge said that the crime is relatively unknown in Hungary and that the defendant was unaware that he had broken Hungarian law.

The prosecution lawyer appealed the verdict and is seeking a custodial sentence.

A native of Paks in central Hungary, the man was arrested last year at Budapest airport on his return from fighting with the Donetsk Peoples Republic separatist group against the Ukrainian army.

A former policeman, he travelled to the breakaway province, whose de facto capital is Donetsk, in September 2015 where he received training and financial payments for his service.

The group is considered an illegal paramilitary group under Hungarian law, while the province has not been recognised as a sovereign state by Budapest.

The man was later wounded in action, recovered, and received military honours from the group.

More than 10,000 people have died since the insurgency in Ukraine began in April 2014.

Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of funnelling troops and arms across the border to fan the flames of the conflict.

Moscow has denied the allegations despite overwhelming evidence that it has been involved in the fighting and its explicit political support for the rebels.
Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday said he had agreed with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to speed up the delivery of S-400 air defence missile systems to Ankara, a purchase that has alarmed Turkey's NATO partners.

We took the decision to speed up the timetable for the delivery of these highly effective Russian systems, Putin told reporters after talks with Erdogan in the Turkish capital, referring to the S-400s but without giving a date.

He said that acceleration in production of the weapons was being done at the request of our Turkish partners and friends.

The deal has been valued at about $2 billion according to reports.

Russian officials had said in December that the first deliveries of the S-400s were likely to begin at the end of 2019 or beginning of 2020

Such a major purchase of weaponry from Russia by a key NATO member had raised concerns both over Turkeys strategic orientation and the compatability of the systems within the alliance.

But Erdogan indicated that Turkey was in no mood to listen to criticism from the West over the purchase.

This is a decision of Turkey. We made an agreement about the S-400s (with Russia) and this issue is now closed, he said.

According to Russian press reports, Turkey has also been hugely interested in a technology transfer and even joint production of the S-400s with Russia, a prospect that has been resisted by some in the Moscow security services.

But Putin refused to discuss the issue saying these are exclusively commercial questions rather than political ones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday expressed hope a meeting of the world's chemical weapons watchdog would put a "full stop" to the issue of an ex-spy whose poisoning in Britain has been blamed on Moscow.

We hope that during those discussions a full stop will be placed on (the issue of) what happened to former spy Sergei Skripal, Putin said in Ankara ahead of the meeting on Wednesday of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The OPCW said Russia had asked for the meeting but London has already accused Moscow of requesting the OPCW talks as a diversionary tactic.

Putin said he had been informed of comments earlier Tuesday by the British military facility analysing the nerve agent used to poison Skripal that it could not prove the substance was made in Russia.

Concerning this, it is above all surprising the speed with which an anti-Russian campaign was begun, commented Putin after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He argued that experts have said that such nerve agents could have been made in some 20 countries.

Putin reaffirmed that Russia wanted to take part in the investigation, noting that the victims of the poisoning  Skripal and his daughter Yulia  were both Russian nationals.

We have an interest in a full investigation and want Russia to be allowed to take part in that investigation, he said.

While EU powers have rushed to join Britain in condemning Russia and expelling diplomats over the attack on Skripal, Turkey has been much more circumspect.

Erdogan, who in 2017 held eight face-to-face meetings with Putin, has said that Ankara will not act against Moscow based on an allegation.
Bankrupt womens fashion and accessories retailer AGaci has canceled an auction of its assets that had been scheduled for Tuesday morning, saying it received no qualified bids.

Despite an active marketing process and due diligence from several potential buyers, no acceptable buyer emerged, Ian Peck, AGacis bankruptcy lawyer, said in a phone interview Monday. So the company decided to cancel the auction and not move forward with the sale process any further.

AGaci now is focused on developing a reorganization plan that will allow it to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, he said. The retailer already has received support from various creditors regarding efforts to reorganize, he said.

AGaci filed for bankruptcy protection in January, blaming its financial troubles on a failed expansion, hurricanes and the delayed implementation of an inventory management system. It joined a long list of retailers that have sought bankruptcy protection.

The company listed $37.3 million in assets and $54.7 million in liabilities in a February court filing.

At the time of its bankruptcy filing, AGaci indicated it had identified 49 of its 76 stores for potential closure  including the stores at the Rolling Oaks Mall and Ingram Park Mall. Its Rivercenter Mall store in downtown San Antonio was closed just prior to the bankruptcy.

Peck said AGaci trimmed the list of closings to just 22 stores because of support from landlords and vendors. Three of the 22 stores were in Texas  in Laredo, Harlingen and Fort Bliss. The Rolling Oaks Mall and the Ingram Park Mall stores remain open.

The reorganization plan is being formulated but Peck couldnt share any details of what it would entail. The goal is to file the plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court no later than the beginning of May, he said.

Lender JPMorgan Chase Bank has agreed to AGacis continued use of cash collateral through the first week of May. The bank has a security interest in the cash.

An investment bank retained by AGaci had contacted more than 100 potential buyers and investors, several of whom had signed nondisclosure agreements, Peck said in bankruptcy court in February.

AGaci had no set minimum price when it solicited offers for the purchase of substantially all of its assets and liabilities, Peck said. No stalking-horse bidder, essentially the first party to make an offer so other bidders would have to submit higher offers, was ever lined up, either.

You never want to schedule a party and then have no one come, John Penn, a Dallas bankruptcy lawyer, said of the canceled auction. Youre on a track for a sale and no one showed up to buy what you were selling.

A sale is generally the quickest and least expensive option in a Chapter 11, said Penn, who chairs the bankruptcy practice at the law firm of Perkins Coie. He is not involved in AGacis bankruptcy.

Peck responded that there are multiple ways to exit Chapter 11.

In this particular case, the sale process is not the optimal one going forward and were going to be looking to reorganize, he said.
Anchors on San Antonio stations WOAI and KABB, along with dozens of newscasters at other Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned TV stations across the country, are voicing whats being seen as media-bashing promos that seem to support President Donald Trumps views on the media  and the response has been mostly negative.

Mandated for all local stations owned by Sinclair, the countrys largest broadcaster and one increasingly being seen as having a conservative bias, the message has been recited by WOAI anchor Randy Beamer, one of San Antonios most prominent newscasters, and his 5 p.m. co-anchor, Delaine Mathieu.

It also has been voiced by KABBs main anchor team, Jessica Headley and Ryan Wolf.

Headleys voice, in fact, is the first one heard in a video gone viral on social media that was created by Timothy Burke of website Deadspin. The video warns viewers of the promos, showing a great number of news anchors repeating virtually the same message in unison, and was subsequently shared in articles by the New York Times, CNN, USA Today and other media outlets.

In the version read by Beamer and Mathieu, which appeared in a 10 p.m. news insert toward the end of the broadcast Friday, the anchors decried the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country before warning that this is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

The script also takes a swipe at social media. The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media, Beamer said in the promo.

Mathieu then emphasized that whats more alarming is that some media outlets publish these same fake stories ... without checking facts first.

Toward the end of the promo, the anchors assured viewers that their station is different from other media and is much more reliable.

At News 4 San Antonio, its our responsibility to report and pursue the truth, Mathieu said.

And we understand truth is neither politically left nor right. Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever, Beamer added.

At no point do the anchors state that they were reading from a corporate script and not expressing their own views.

While the message contains grains of truth, Washington Post media and politics reporter Callum Borchers wrote in an analysis piece Monday, it could leave the false impression that many reporters are fabricators  an idea Trump likes to promote because it grants voters permission to disbelieve whatever information they wish were untrue.

Tim England, a journalism and mass communications professor at Texas State University, called the Sinclair script readings a dark day in broadcast journalism.

To have local newscasters all speaking from the same script to disparage journalism is sickening, appalling and disgusting, he said in an email.

I have to believe that those who participated on air felt they had no choice if they were to keep their jobs. Sinclair is pressing for centralized authority over what should be local news-gathering operations, and I think thats not a healthy direction, England said.

Although WOAI and KABB News Director Mandi Mendoza wouldnt comment, she did share the latest Sinclair response, attributed to Scott Livingston, Sinclairs senior vice president of news:

We arent sure of the motivation for the criticism, but find it curious that we would be attacked for asking our newspeople to remind their audiences that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media, which result in an ill-informed public with potentially dangerous consequences. It is ironic that we would be attacked for messages promoting our journalistic initiative for fair and objective reporting, and for specifically asking the public to hold our newsrooms accountable.

In an internal memo to employees written Monday and obtained by CNN, Livingston called the scripted promos a well-researched journalistic initiative focused on fair and objective reporting.

For the record, the stories we are referencing in this campaign are the unsubstantiated ones (i.e. fake/false) like Pope Endorses Trump which move quickly across social media and result in an ill-informed public. Some other false stories, like the false Pizzagate story, can result in dangerous consequences, he wrote.

We are focused on fact-based reporting, he added in the memo. Thats our commitment to our communities.

Local viewers have responded to the promos, and their emails to this reporter have been unfavorable for the most part.

I am extremely disturbed by Sinclair Broadcasting Groups attempt to influence its viewers with the forced reading of scripts by its news anchors regarding fake news and false news, Ronald B. Prince wrote. The most extreme threat to our democracy currently sits in the Oval Office. This type of action by Sinclair is a close second.

A couple of emails declared support for Sinclair and its promos. In a world where the mainstream media is unquestionably left-leaning and anti-Trump, its refreshing to see somebody on the other side  especially in liberal San Antonio, Mike Klein wrote.

But contrary to the unbiased reporting claim thats part of the Sinclair script, since as long as a year ago, local viewers have been commenting that theyre detecting a right-wing bias in a couple of must-run Sinclair features within newscasts on WOAI and KABB.

Segments have included the airing of pro-Trump missives called Bottom Line with Boris, anchored by former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn. His segment aired as recently as late March on KABBs 9 p.m. newscast.

As for WOAI, a regular feature of its 6 p.m. broadcast has been the Terrorism Alert Desk. The segment implies that foreign threats to U.S. security and terrorism have become such a major part of our lives that stations need a desk devoted to it.

The controversy over the scripted promos follows another that recently erupted over an interview between musician and National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent and WOAI-Radio host Joe Pags Pagliarulo. Nugent blasted the student-led protests against gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, joining the host in criticizing the survivors as pathetic teen liars who have no soul.

However, while WOAI Radio may share the same call letters as the TV outlet, it is owned by iHeart Media, not Sinclair, and has been a longtime home to conservative voices.

In a tweet Monday, Trump also defended the Sinclair initiative, blasting news organizations criticism of it.

So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.
Texas is seeking to speed up executions with a renewed request to opt in to a federal law that would shorten the legal process and limit appeals options for prisoners given a death sentence.

Defense attorneys worry it would lead to the execution of innocent people and  if its applied retroactively, as Texas is requesting  it could potentially end ongoing appeals for a number of death row prisoners and make them eligible for execution dates.

Opt-in would speed up the death penalty treadmill exponentially, said Kathryn Kase, a longtime defense attorney and former executive director of Texas Defender Services.

But a spokeswoman for the states attorney general framed the request to the Justice Department as a necessary way to avoid stressful delays and cut down on the excessive costs of lengthy federal court proceedings.

The controversial request  which comes after years of declining executions  has sparked a federal lawsuit and hundreds of pages of comments from a broad coalition of concerned parties including the ACLU, the American Bar Association, Mexicos government, a former federal judge and dozens of defense attorneys.

Theres widespread skepticism among the defense bar whether Texas actually meets the qualification criteria  but some are worried that it wont matter. Approval is up to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, putting the nations top law enforcement officer  who recently advocated for capital punishment for drug dealers in some cases  in charge of decisions that could hamstring the defense.

If Sessions gives the green light to the Lone Star States application, itll be the first ever opt-in approval in the more than two decades since the laws inception.

For attorneys like Casey Kaplan  who helped free a wrongfully convicted Harris County man, Alfred Dewayne Brown, from death row  thats a terrifying possibility.

In an environment like Texas where you know the state gets it wrong  and not just accidentally, but intentionally  why in the world would you ever take steps to speed up the process to execute a potentially innocent person? he said. Until somebody can answer that question, they should be taking steps to slow it down.

The states hopes for fast-tracking a path to execution date back to at least 1996, when Congress passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.

Written in the tough-on-crime 1990s and in the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, the law set time limits to expedite federal appeals in death penalty cases and gave greater deference to state courts.

We are about to curb these endless, frivolous appeals of death sentences by those convicted of murder, then-U.S. Sen. Bob Dole said at the time. Nationally, the average time between sentencing and execution has continued to rise, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

But in addition to what is already in place, the law also opens the door to creating even tighter deadlines with a special opt-in provision under a section called Chapter 154.

In order to qualify for Chapter 154 certification, states have to prove they offered good enough lawyers earlier in the process, during the so-called state habeas appeal. If the condemned were all able to get competent, sufficiently paid attorneys with the funds to afford things such as investigators and specialists during the state habeas appeal, then the law would permit speeding up the later federal habeas appeal.

Opt-in presumes that weve reached this promised land of excellent and well-resourced legal representation at all levels for everyone on death row, and in fact we have not, Kase said.

The slew of letters submitted to the government early this year consistently panned Texass current defense system, calling it inadequate and infected by well-publicized failures, pointing out that the state doesnt even guarantee counsel for all types of post-conviction proceedings.

So far no state has qualified.

But in November, Sessions fired off letters to Texas and Arizona  two states that previously put in certification requests and asked if they still wanted to apply.

They did.

The states affirmative responses prompted a required comment period, during with Texas Defender Services and other capital defense organizations penned a scathing 247-page comment  bolstered by more than 100 appendixes  eviscerating Texas application, calling it little more than a whitewash of the states persistent historic failures that includes no evidence at all.

The application itself also doesnt explain why the state wants to opt in, but the spokeswoman for the state attorney general helped clarify.

Opting-in would serve several purposes for Texans, including sparing crime victims years of unnecessary and stressful delays, ensuring that our state court judgments are respected by federal judges as cases progress and reducing the excessive costs of lengthy federal court proceedings, said the spokeswoman, Kayleigh Lovvorn. The Department of Justice declined to comment, and a representative of Gov. Greg Abbotts office referred questions to the state attorney general.

Texas capital defense attorney Patrick McCann stressed that federal courts are where many condemned men  including those wrongfully convicted like Anthony Graves, and those deemed too intellectually disabled to execute, like Bobby Moore  have gotten relief.

This is a political quest, he said. Its an appeal to Gov. Abbotts base to make it very proudly explained that we have an express lane to death.

If Sessions approves it, opting in would include limitations on how long federal courts have to resolve cases, restrictions on judges abilities to grant stays of execution and limits on the claims that prisoners can raise in federal habeas proceedings.

But whats sparking the most concern among defense lawyers is a change that would halve the time attorneys have to file the first part of their federal appeal.

If Texas opts in, attorneys would have six months instead of a year to interview witnesses, hire investigators and familiarize themselves with sometimes a decade or more of case files to sift out any possible past lawyering mistakes, suspicion of withheld evidence or proof of actual innocence stuffed away in boxes and boxes of materials.

Doing all that in one year is already extraordinarily difficult, and any further limitations would only exacerbate the existing problem, said Emily Olson-Gault, director of the Death Penalty Representation Project at the American Bar Association.

We know that errors are made in capital cases, she added. The more that the allotted time to prepare is limited, the greater the risk that serious constitutional errors will stand uncorrected.

And if claims arent raised in the first filing, they cant always be raised later.

Death penalty lawyer Kenneth McGuire  who is among those suing in federal court in Washington, D.C., to challenge the certification process  called the shorter time frame completely impractical and said it would only guarantee a miscarriage of justice. Attorney James Rytting concurred, adding that sometimes it takes several months for the courts to appoint federal habeas lawyers.

And, because Texas has requested certification dating back to 1995, theres some question as to whether it would retroactively be applied to cases now entering federal appeals.

Thats a worst-case scenario, McCann said.

Opting in wouldnt just affect defense attorneys and their clients.

Defense attorney Margaret Schmucker, who previously worked for the state attorney general under both Abbott and John Cornyn before him, highlighted the problems it could cause for the state attorneys, who would likely have to handle appeals at a quicker clip.

On any given day, any one of the capital division attorneys would have a couple dozen cases on their docket, she said. And its not going to be any easier on them. So unless the money and the staff comes to deal with the expedited processes, theyre going to have bigger problems.

It also could have an effect on which cases are taken up by the nations highest court.

The Supreme Court can only hear whats brought to it; and if those cases never get there because they get shut out or shut down, the Supreme Court is gonna be a lot less busy, McCann said.

Bobby Moore would be dead under this standard of time limits. Anthony Graves would be dead. Pretty much everybody whos been released or commuted on death row would have already been executed so not only would we have done wrong, we wouldnt even know we had.

As of now, its not clear when a decision from Washington might come.
Immigration officials have deported 25 Somali men who had alleged abuse by guards at a West Texas detention center, a decision their families say puts them in danger and advocates say undermines an investigation into how they were treated in custody.

The men were among 30 Somalis arrested in the interior of the U.S. and ordered deported by immigration judges.

Last month, immigrant rights groups reported that the men were physically and verbally abused at a detention center in Sierra Blanca, near El Paso. In phone interviews and conference calls with reporters, several of the men described beatings and indiscriminate use of pepper spray at the West Texas Detention Center, which is operated by LaSalle Corrections under a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The men were interviewed by officials from ICEs Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, said Fatma Marouf, a law professor and director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Texas A&M University. But by deporting the men, ICE may have hamstrung its own internal investigation as well as any criminal investigation that might have been conducted by the Justice Department, Marouf said.

I think its really disappointing that they were removed, she said. They did interview everybody at least once that I understand, so at least we have that evidence. But in terms of testimony in a trial, all the witnesses are gone, so it does limit what kind of testimony we can get and what kind of charges can be brought.

LaSalle has not responded to requests for comment. ICE officials wouldnt address allegations that the deportations affected their investigation into treatment of detainees at the West Texas Detention Center. An agency spokeswoman said Monday that ICE field office personnel conduct records checks prior to removal to ensure that aliens are free from any legal impediment to removal. Accordingly, the aliens aboard the March 29 flight were all subject to administratively final orders of removal.

One of the men deported said by phone that immigrants held in a processing center in El Paso were loaded onto a plane Thursday and released in Somalias capital of Mogadishu on Friday. He doesnt speak the Somali language or know anyone in the country, said the man, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Abdollahih, because hes afraid of being targeted by Islamic militants.

The Somali government is currently facing an insurgency by the al-Shabab militant group.

There are spies that work with this group, and those people could spy up on you and all of a sudden theyll make a quick phone call to tell those people on you, Abdollahih said. You cant trust nobody. You keep it hidden. As soon as we went there, we tried to all disperse. There was some of the guys that are basically homeless right now.

Western people like us, we dont have no rights. Were basically like nobodies to them. Theyre looking at us like were people who are not even human, he added. They say they cant trust us because they think were spies from the United States, and the government thinks we came over here to join al-Shabab. Basically were stuck in the middle of no mans land.

Like many of the men who were deported, Abdollahih said he came to the U.S. as a refugee in the 1990s, but he lost his legal status after a drug conviction.

His wife, Angela, who also asked that her last name not be used because she fears for her husbands safety, said shes left with their two children. Her husband spent months being shuffled from detention center to detention center, Angela said, and wasnt able to see their children until his arrival in Somalia and contacted them via a video messaging app.

Shes afraid to tell the children what happened to their father, she said, because she doesnt know if the family will ever be reunited.

Its just like a whole different world, Angela said. He doesnt have any money there  because he has to get identification. We dont know what to do. We feel like theres nothing else we can do.

She and the wives of other men held in the Sierra Blanca detention center said they tried to contact authorities and alert them to what was happening in the detention center and were ignored. Angela said she thought that after they went public with their allegations, something would change. Instead, a week after the men spoke with reporters they were deported.

I felt like as soon as this stuff started getting circulated, they just wanted to silence all of us and throw it under the carpet, she said. Its weird and its sad and I feel like it was done purposefully.
Kerr County / Courtesy

Kerr County District Clerk Robbin Burlew was arrested over the weekend in Kerrville on charges of driving while intoxicated and having an open container of alcohol in her vehicle, jail records indicate.

Police said Burlews vehicle was stopped about 10:50 p.m. Saturday after making a wide turn from Texas 27 onto Loop 534 southbound and briefly traveling in the oncoming lane of traffic and on the shoulder.
FLORESVILLE  The state rested its case Monday in the trial of a former San Antonio attorney accused of having sex with clients in exchange for legal services.

Accused of continuous trafficking of persons, Mark Henry Benavides has been on trial in Wilson County since March 27. Women he represented as a court-appointed attorney in prostitution and drug cases allege he coerced them into having sex to keep them out of jail, get their cases dismissed or lessen their legal troubles. Jurors for the past week have seen several videos believed to have been shot by Benavides of him and his accusers having sex. District Judge Dick Alcala has only allowed himself, the lawyers and the jury to view the videos in court.
McALLEN  As President Donald Trump returned to the theme of illegal immigration in recent days, he painted the southern border as an uncontrolled haven for enemy combatants pouring into the country and a magnet for young Central Americans seeking to take advantage of DACA protections.

Immigrant advocates say neither claim matches reality.

Hes obviously conflating at least illegal immigration with terrorism or threats to national security, according to Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institutes office at New York University School of Law. For his base, what is important is that he is uttering the words that they like to hear.

The term enemy combatants usually refers to people engaged in armed conflict against the U.S, yet claims of Islamic State or al-Qaida fighters sneaking across the border have never been proved.

From the early days of his campaign, when he described some Mexican immigrants as rapists and murderers, Trumps use of language has kept linguists busy interpreting his meaning, even as baffled legal experts consider the possible ramifications.

On Sunday, after wishing the country a happy Easter, the president took aim at DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and immigrants attempting to sneak into the country to take advantage of the program.

While DACA has given protected status from deportation to hundreds of thousands of young people, immigrants who cross the border now are ineligible. To qualify, immigrants must have arrived before age 16 and lived in the U.S. since 2007.

After Trump ended DACA last fall, he said he would sign bipartisan legislation to continue the protections. He later rejected a bipartisan plan, and he said this weekend that DACA is dead.

Trump made his enemy combatants reference after reluctantly signing a $1.3 trillion spending bill late last month that has $1.6 billion for 90 miles of border wall, far less than the $25 billion he requested.

He then suggested that the military, flush with cash from budget allocations that will raise military spending to $700 billion this year and $716 billion for the fiscal year that starts in October, might pay for his big, beautiful wall in the interest of national security.

He raised the stakes last week when he offered a critical assessment of the U.S.-Mexico border, suggesting that the demilitarized zone that divides North Korea and South Korea is better protected. Nobody comes through, Trump said of the zone.

The Korean DMZ is about 160 miles long, less than a tenth of the length of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

Immigrant apprehensions on the southwestern border have fallen for years, the clearest indication that illegal immigration plummeted long before Trump took office. Apprehensions peaked at 1.6 million in 2000, according to Border Patrol figures. The number was half that in 2007, and it dropped by half again by 2013. Last year, apprehensions were down to 304,000.

More than 187,000 undocumented immigrants have been caught along the border with Mexico since October. None have been publicly identified as enemy combatants. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment.

If we really take him at his word, its a claim that members of al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations with whom we are at war are crossing the border in large numbers, which is manifestly untrue, said Robert Chesney, director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas.

The term enemy combatant took on a precise meaning after 9/11, when President George W. Bushs administration used the term to describe people who were part of al-Qaida or the Taliban. It was decided that these unlawful combatants were not covered by protections under the Geneva Conventions.

The Obama administration stopped using the designation in 2009, but the Trump administration revived the term in September when it declared a U.S. Islamic State fighter an enemy combatant. Were the U.S. to officially assert that a person apprehended at the border is an enemy combatant, it would imply that the person is the target of lethal force and can be detained for the duration of the conflict.

Even if Trump was making a hyperbolic claim to bolster a policy objective, the imagery of enemy combatants slipping into the country escalates the heated immigration rhetoric to new heights.

Under Trump, the Homeland Security Department has tinged its messaging with dramatic accounts of assaults on agents and violent criminals captured at the southern border. The president regularly mentions the notorious Mara Salvatrucha, known as MS-13, a transnational gang made up largely of Central American youths, to reinforce his immigration policy.

Rank-and-file agents say that to describe MS-13 gang members as terrorists is an apt description of the threat facing them on the ground.

We welcome these comments because we have a president who is bringing the news to people and showing them the reality, said Art Del Cueto, southwest vice president of the National Border Patrol Council. Im not going to argue with the words of President Trump because he knows agents are out there risking their lives. What were dealing with is enemies of the United States.

Still, most members of terrorist groups do not rise to the level of enemy combatants, which has a much narrower definition, experts say. Moreover, MS-13, which got its start in Los Angeles, recruits many of its members from U.S. cities.

The significance of using that phrase, if hes referring to MS-13 or the like, is wildly inappropriate, unless hes claiming that were in an armed conflict and these people can be shot on sight, Chesney said.

U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, whose district includes areas with existing border fencing and others that are the target of new fencing, said that if Trump believes that immigrants are indeed enemy combatants, the $1.6 billion for the wall has been misspent and targets the wrong border.

More than three times as many suspected terrorists have been encountered on the northern border versus the southern border, Vela said. They are building the wall in the wrong place.
AUSTIN  Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lupe Valdezs campaign manager, Bill Romjue, didnt exactly get a Texas-friendly welcome to the state.

Romjue was hit by a car in a bookstore parking lot in Dallas, he said, where he had gone in search of a laminated map to help him get around the city (there were no such maps to be had). He had just arrived two days before the Feb. 24 accident for the job with Valdez.

Romjue said he saw the driver coming, and had even made eye contact.

The next thing I know, Im on the ground, he said. He speculated that the drivers foot must have slipped off the brake.

Romjue ended up with a compound fracture of his left leg and was hospitalized for two-and-a-half weeks in Dallas, he told the San Antonio Express-News in a telephone interview.

He got out of rehab last week and currently is using a walker and wheelchair to get around, he said. He cant bear weight on his leg for another couple of months.

Romjue was philosophical about the accident.

I can be active. My mind works, he said. You cant spend your life letting things get you down. Ive never had a serious injury before of any consequence.

Romjue, a longtime Democratic strategist, worked for U.S. Sen. Doug Jones upset victory over Republican Roy Moore in Alabama and has had top positions with seven presidential campaigns, including Joe Bidens 2008 presidential bid.

Valdez, former Dallas County sheriff, is running against Houston businessman Andrew White in the May 22 runoff election for the Democratic nomination for governor.

She was the top finisher in the March 6 primary election, and White was second. No one got the majority needed for the nod to face Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in November, necessitating the runoff.

Romjues absence from Valdezs election-night party was noted in a story by the Austin American-Statesman. The newspaper reported that Valdez said her campaign manager had taken off for the night in order to have dinner with his wife.

I think there must have been a misunderstanding of Valdezs remarks, Romjue said. She probably was trying to protect my privacy.

Austin American-Statesman reporter Jonathan Tilove, the newspaper's chief political writer, checked the audio of his exchange with Valdez. He said that Valdez told him that Romjue was with his wife, but didnt actually say they were at dinner.

Tilove said that when he asked where Romjue was, Valdez responded, Hes not here. He and his wife are together tonight.

Tilove said he asked whether the two were at dinner. He said Valdez laughed and responded, I think they just want to spend some time together. His wife is in town, and thats not usually the case.
BRIDGEPORT  It would be political suicide for Joe Ganim to hike local taxes at the same time he is running for governor.

So his proposed 2018-19 city budget would leave Bridgeports tax rate at the very high 54 mills established two years ago.

Ganim presented his $561 million fiscal plan  his third since the 1990s-era mayor was re-elected in 2015  to the City Council on Monday. Actually, he gave them a very bare bones overview. The detailed budget books council members are supposed to spend the next month and a half reviewing before a final vote will not be in their hands until Wednesday.

Ganim at a dinner meeting in his City Hall conference room downtown offered few specifics, other than to note the administration is trying to save on staff by not filling positions.

We dont have any drastic cuts in any of our departments, Ganim, a Democrat, said.

He talked about the general backdrop behind his administrations work crafting the budget  fixed costs and a reliance on property taxes and state aid. His proposed budget assumes $37 million in state money.

But for Ganim, there is a backdrop to the backdrop. Having coveted the governors mansion during his first stint as mayor two decades ago, he spent seven years in prison for corruption, then waged 2015s astonishing comeback. He again is running to be Connecticuts chief executive.

That means going around the state trying to convince Democrats ahead of Mays nominating convention and a summer primary that they should look beyond his criminal past and focus on his now 14 years total managing the states largest city.

It helps to be able to campaign on having held the line on taxes for two years in a row  even if that line is one of the highest tax rates in the state. Ganim in his first year back boosted the mill rate from 42 to 54 mills. He and his staff have blamed the hike on a real estate revaluation and on a $20 million deficit they said they inherited at the time.

More Information The numbers MayorGanim's proposed budget $561M City's 54-mill tax rate No increase Relies on state aid $37M Mayor Ganim's proposed budget: $561 million No increase in city's 54 mill or tax rate Relies on $37 million in state aid See More Collapse

Ganim on Monday, both in an interview while council members filled their dinner plates and then when addressing them, also reiterated a new favorite campaign talking point  the help Hartford and its mayor and potential gubernatorial contender Democrat Luke Bronin has received from outgoing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

Bronin, like Ganim, was elected in 2015. Hartford was on the brink of bankruptcy. So the state Legislature last year set up a new program  the Municipal Accountability Review Board. That initiative is providing Hartford several million dollars in additional aid in exchange for state oversight of that citys finances.

But last week, another part of the deal got more attention: Malloys outgoing administration had also agreed to pay off $550 million of Hartfords debt over the next 20 years.

When that was reported, Ganim pounced. Bridgeport officials routinely complain about getting shortchanged by the state, particularly when residents complain about their tax bills. Now Ganim had a perfect example and, better yet, could use it to try to undermine Bronin at the same time.

Hartford just got $550 million while we got cut $17 million (in current state aid), Ganim said when Hearst Connecticut Media on Monday asked if he had sought to reduce Bridgeports tax rate when preparing his proposed budget.

Bridgeport could apply to participate in the Municipal Accountability Review Board. So why not, rather than complaining about what Bronin got, do so and see what additional state aid is available?

Ganim does not want the state involved in Bridgeports finances: We have, I would argue, the best management team and practices.

He said state number crunchers in recent years have not demonstrated an ability to be able to forecast their own budgets.

So, were he governor, would Ganim let Hartford go bankrupt? Bridgeport was in a similar position when Ganim was first elected in 1991.

I was not an advocate for Bridgeport going bankrupt. Im not an advocate for Hartford going bankrupt, Ganim said. If we were offered a $550 million bailout to take over our debt, Id encourage our council to support that (applying for the state oversight).

Sources who have asked not to be identified have pointed out the political realities. Malloy is a lame duck governor and close to Bronin. In contrast, Malloy  during Ganims 2015 comeback  said were he a Bridgeport voter, I probably wouldnt vote for him.

He may, however, get the chance to vote for Ganim as his successor.

Party movers and shakers were electing the 93 delegates Bridgeport will send to Mays statewide nominating convention  delegates Ganim needs on his side to bolster his chances of becoming governor.
BRIDGEPORT - A city man, charged in the death of a 14-year-old boy who was caught in the middle of a gunfight, was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison.

Michael Smitty Majors, 24, previously pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and possession of a pistol without a permit.

Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin sentenced Majors to 30 years followed by five years of special parole.

Senior Assistant States Attorney Howard Stein had asked the judge to impose a sentence that was fair, just and reasonable.

Police said Majors and Garth Minto squared off on a busy State Street sidewalk on Christmas Eve 2015, guns blazing as horrified passerbys ran for cover.

But when the smoke cleared 14-year-old Luis Colon lay in the street, a bullet hole in his back.

Colon had been sent to the store by his mother for some last-minute items. He was crossing State Street eating from a bag of Gummy Worms when he got caught in the middle of the shootout between Majors and Minto, police said

Surveillance video from the scene showed Minto standing with a small crowd outside a grocery store on State Street about 4:30 p.m. when he saw Majors approaching.

Majors and Minto both draw handguns and fire at each other on the sidewalk, the video shows. Neither man is hit but in a corner of the video the boy can be seen falling into the street.

More for you Teen killed, another injured in Christmas Eve shooting

Hundreds later attended a candle light vigil at the spot where the boy was killed.

Later charged with murder, police said Majors admitted that he was shooting that day on State Street, but claimed he was firing at Minto in self-defense and denied his bullet hit Luis Colon.

Minto, 23, whose bullet is believed to have struck the boy, is awaiting trial for murder in the case.
STAMFORD  The executive director of the Stamford Hospital Foundation has been nominated to become a judge.

Stephanie McLaughlin, a Stamford resident since 2013, was among the 11 lawyers Gov. Dannel Malloy nominated Tuesday to the bench.

McLaughlin leads the planned giving initiative for the hospital foundation. McLaughlin said she has managed legal affairs for the organization and has overseen litigation, arbitration and real estate and business transactions.

It is an incredible honor to be nominated. I am humbled and honored, McLaughlin said.

Before she is appointed, McLaughlin, 45, will go through confirmation hearings and be voted on by the state House and Senate.

For me as a former litigator, it is just really an honor being on the list, she said.

McLaughlin, who was born and raised in Pennsylvania, began practicing law in Stamford in 2001 with Sandak Hennessey & Greco. There she served as an adviser to several small and mid-sized businesses.

McLaughlin said she first met Malloy soon after she arrived in Stamford. She encountered him while he was the mayor and she was dealing with zoning issues for her clients.

McLaughlin served as special assistant to the chief of staff for the Peace Corps in Washington from 1995 to 1997. In 1998, she also served as a clerk for the chief of staff of the executive director of the Peace Corps.

More for you Malloy nominates Appellate Court judge, 11 Superior Court judges.

In her role with the foundation, McLaughlin has been working with local trust and estates attorneys and their clients interested in donating to the hospital.

It has been a great experience, she said.

On Tuesday, Malloy also nominated a West Hartford judge to serve on the states Appellate Court amid questions over when he will nominate a new candidate to be chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

Superior Court Judge Ingrid L. Moll was nominated to fill a vacancy on the Appellate Court. Judge Moll became a Superior Court judge in April 2014; she was nominated by Malloy and approved by the General Assembly.

Malloy was asked when  and if  he plans to nominate a new candidate to serve as chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Malloys previous nominee, Andrew McDonald, of Stamford, was rejected by Republicans in the state Senate during an unprecedented partisan vote.

"Im working on it and I anticipate I will be in a position to forward a name to the Legislature," Malloy said.

McDonald would have been the states first openly gay chief justice and that issue came to the forefront during hours of debate over his nomination.

Malloy indicated he was reviewing current justices on state courts for the chief justice position.
STAMFORD  By one count, dozens of homeless people spend their nights in the Stamford train station.

Its true of many Metro-North stops, so much so that the railroad contracts with a company that visits them to try to get people into better shelter.

The company, BRC, recently met with Inspirica, a Stamford agency that works to break the cycle of homelessness, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority police, said Aaron Donovan, deputy communications director for the MTA.

The meeting was held to figure out how best to address the homeless population in the railroad system, said Donovan, who called it a long-term, vexing challenge. About 30 people may be sleeping at the Stamford station, Donovan said.

Inspirica CEO Jason Shaplen raised the problem during a Board of Finance meeting last week to discuss the $233,000 Mayor David Martin has allocated his agency in the 2018-19 city budget.

Shaplen said the MTA told him people are not allowed to sleep at Grand Central station, a policy that soon will apply to Stamford. Grand Central is closed each day from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. and everyone except employees must leave, Donovan said.

Finance board member Dudley Williams asked Shaplen whether Inspirica, which provides shelter for 65 percent of Stamfords homeless population, could absorb the people who sleep at the Stamford station. Shpalen said not all of them would necessarily end up at Inspirica, where shelters are always full.

Some are single men who might go to Pacific House, Shaplen said. Were at 105 percent capacity week in and week out - we can go over 100 percent by adding cribs and beds where we can.

Stamford has a significant homeless problem, Shaplen said.

Last year almost 30 percent of the people who came to us had jobs when they came to us. Imagine that. They had jobs, he said. Its not the working poor any more. Its the working homeless.

In Stamford, homelessness often is rooted in the high cost of living, Shaplen told the board.

The Stamford area is the fifth-most expensive metro area in the nation. The cost of living has soared, but Connecticut is the only state that has not recovered the jobs lost during the (2008) recession, Shaplen said. Connecticut has recovered only 82 percent of the jobs, and they dont pay as much as the ones that were lost. When you have a soaring cost of living and stagnant or declining wages, you get increased homelessness.

We are barely keeping our arms around it, he said.

Its difficult for some to believe, he said, but homelessness in Stamford is on the rise, even while it is falling elsewhere. The number of homeless people in the state and the nation dropped in five of the last seven years, he said. Not so in Stamford.

In four of the last seven years, Stamford saw an increase in homelessness, Shaplen said. Even with the 18 percent decrease of last year, the most you can say about it  and this is sobering  is that it brought us back to the 2010 number, which was at the end of the recession, when unemployment was 10.1 percent.

The money Martin proposed for Inspirica in the 2018-19 budget is $8,000 more than the current fiscal year, when he allocated - and all the boards approved  $225,000 for the agency.

That was a huge increase over the previous fiscal year, when Inspirica got only $50,000.

Shaplen said he appreciates the support from the city, but he has lost $570,000 a year in state funding for a couple of years. He asked for $350,000 in the fiscal 2018-19 budget.

We started this year projecting a $126,000 deficit in his $6.7 million annual budget, Shaplen told the board. But the deficit is up to $253,000, and Im not done yet looking at all of our operational expenses.

Inspirica serves more than 1,000 people a year and places more people in housing now than ever. In the last 12 months the agency found permanent housing for 220 men, women and children, he said, and found jobs for 216 people who earn an average starting wage of $12.87 an hour.

The program is immensely successful but the need is still there, Shaplen told the board. I understand the pressure the mayor is under to make budgets work. I dont envy the choices he has to make. We could not ask for a better partner than the city.

But the $233,000 the mayor plans to give the agency is only 3.3. percent of its budget. Inspirica raises 35 percent to 40 percent of its budget from private donations, he said, and changes to the tax code this year leave questions about whether that can be sustained.

Stamford doesnt have an agency to house homeless people like New York does, Shaplen said. The city relies on us to do that. We house 350 people a night. Weve been massively underfunded for years.
Erin Stewart wont have homefield advantage at a Republican gubernatorial debate in New Britain Wednesday because she wont even be on the field.

Stewart, 30, a New Britain native, two-term mayor and candidate for governor, hasnt met the fundraising requirement set by the state party in order to receive an invitation to the debate stage at New Britain High School  her alma mater, Class of 2005.

Im definitely disappointed that I wont be able to participate, but Im not surprised by it, said Stewart, who is the only officially declared female candidate in a crowded field.

It was made very clear to me from the first day that I entered this race, that I was not going to be allowed to participate in any of the debates unless I raised, quite frankly, a large amount of money in a very short period of time, Stewart said. Its not surprising. I dont expect them to change the rules for me, but unfortunately that means we will have to take our message to other platforms.

Only declared candidates who have raised at least $175,000 are eligible to participate in the GOPs fourth debate, and while she made her campaign official last month, Stewart still hasnt raised enough money.

State GOP Chairman J.R. Romano maintained his stance on making an exception  there wont be one. Stewart knew the rules, he said. She was represented at the GOP meeting a year ago when the rules for debate participation were established.

The candidates set these rules, Romano said. Im just the referee.

Stewart may not be participating, but that doesnt shes not trying to find a way to voice her opinions ahead of the debate. She plans to hold a pre-debate rally outside the high school from which she graduated in 2005.

More Information Republican gubernatorial debate Wednesday, April 4, 6 p.m. New Britain High School, 110 Mill St., New Britain Tickets $5 for general admission, $25 for premium seating See More Collapse

Well be standing outside of New Britain High School to rally to get me on the stage, Stewart said. My voice should be heard and my supporters and people that are supportive of my campaign believe that as well.

I think its wrong that shes not allowed to participate, said Tony Cane, chairman of the New Britain Republican Town Committee. I can see why the chairman is excluding people, but its in her hometown. Shes popular in her hometown, and shes a very popular candidate in the state. She graduated from the high school where its being held.

Stewart wouldnt say how far short of the fundraising requirement her campaign is, but said funding totals will be released later this week once theyve been finalized by her treasurer.

Its going to be a very promising number and its going to show were proving our doubters wrong, she said.

State Sen. Toni Boucher, who is still exploring a run, also was not invited, though she did participate in the first two debates, in which exploratory candidates who had raised $75,000 were allowed.

Nine of the 10 invited Republicans have accepted invitations, which is the third of five debates the party is sponsoring. They are Mark Boughton, Mike Handler, Tim Herbst, Mark Lauretti, Peter Lumaj, Steve Obsitnik, Prasad Srinivasan, Dave Walker and David Stemerman. Only Bob Stefanowski declined, citing scheduling conflicts.

Personal funds count toward the partys entry requirement for the debates, which makes self-funded candidates like Stemerman, a hedge fund mogul, and Stefanowski, a former chief financial officer of UBS Investment Bank, eligible. Both skipped the first three debates, but Stemerman is expected to make his first appearance Wednesday.

The state Republican party scheduled one debate in each of the states five congressional districts. Wednesdays will take place in the 5th District, which is represented by U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, a Democrat who announced Monday she wont run for re-election after news of a toxic workplace environment in her office broke last week.

Several of the men running for governor have asked for exceptions to allow Stewart and Boucher to participate, including Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, who offered to give his seat to the women at the last Republican debate in West Haven only to be told it was against the rules.

Republicans will hold their statewide nominating convention in six weeks at Foxwoods Resort Casino, with 1,300 delegates voting on party endorsements.

Candidates who get at least 15 percent of the vote qualify for the partys August primary. Otherwise, they have to collect signatures from 2 percent of party members (about 9,600 registered Republicans) by early June to petition their way onto the ballot.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  The Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer fell five points in March to 135 as concerns and uncertainty surrounding agricultural exports continued.

The 5-point decline in sentiment comes as a result of producers less-optimistic perceptions of both current conditions and future expectations.

The Index of Current Conditions fell 9 points in March to 134, while the Index of Future Expectations dropped by 4 points to 135.

The barometer and both sub-indices are based on a monthly survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers.

Trade war

On the March survey, producers expressed both concern and uncertainty surrounding trade.

Nearly half (47 percent) of respondents said that a trade war negatively impacting agricultural exports was somewhat likely, compared with just 28 percent who thought it was unlikely.

Producers also were asked about the likelihood of a U.S. withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). More than one-third expressed uncertainty, while 28 percent expected the U.S. to remain in NAFTA and 34 percent said they expect the U.S. to exit the agreement.

Interestingly, when comparing results from the two trade questions, a larger share of respondents reported a significant decline in agricultural exports from a trade war was more likely than the U.S. withdrawing from NAFTA, said James Mintert, director of Purdue Universitys Center for Commercial Agriculture and principal investigator on the barometer project.

Mintert said these results are important for two reasons.

First, nearly half of producers rated the risk of a trade war as at least somewhat likely. Second, producers concerns about risks to agricultural trade are broader than just the ongoing NAFTA situation.

Holding onto money

The March survey also asked producers whether they thought now was a good time to make large farm investments, such as machinery or buildings. At 68 percent, the portion of producers indicating now is a bad time to make large investments is the highest level observed since May 2017.

Mintert said this could be related to the trade situation.

Concerns about agricultural exports, especially as they relate to Chinese tariffs on U.S. ag products, could be one reason why fewer producers said now is a good time to make large farm investments, he said.
The 1.75 million government-funded Beef Feed Efficiency Programme has widened its data recording network with three new commercial farms in Wales, England and Scotland.

The addition of these units means the project now has capacity for 1,000 cattle places a year.

The farms have had specialist equipment installed allowing them to record feed intake and the performance of growing beef cattle.

The data collected will then be used to generate tools that will enable the genetic selection of cattle based on their feed use efficiency.

Since its launch in 2015, the funded initiative has aimed to demonstrate the ability to measure feed efficiency traits of cattle on specifically equipped commercial farms.

The new farms join an existing unit in Dorset. The data collected from the farms will be used to produce the genetic parameters required for the development of breeding values for traits associated with feed efficiency.

Sustainable system

Natalie Cormack, AHDB Beef Feed Efficiency Programme Delivery Manager, said: While the project started with Limousin-sired cattle, we are now also recording Aberdeen Angus cattle and are in talks with other breed societies.

The aim is to establish a sustainable system for recording feed efficiency that can be extended to more cattle breeds in the near future.

Meiler Jones from Flintshire, Wales, explained why he was keen to get involved with the initiative.

He said: Monitoring the performance of our cattle has always been a key feature in our system and, with increasing feed costs and tighter margins, it is essential that were looking for ways to become more efficient.

Being involved enables us to gather and use detailed data that is helping us to learn more about how to produce animals in the most efficient way possible.

Ms Cormack added: These farms are already well-run beef enterprises so were looking forward to welcoming farmers and industry stakeholders on to them to see how the recording system works and gain better understanding of what the project outcomes could offer to the wider industry.
An American state has passed a controversial law forcing retailers to sell eggs produced in battery cages.

The legislation has been passed by legislators in Iowa - the largest egg producing state in the United States - and it has created an outcry amongst animal welfare campaigners.

But supporters of the new law have defended their action. Republican politician Lee Hein said: I believe that we dont need to bow down to the pressure of the animal rights groups, which are maybe growing, but are still a small segment of the population.

He said: I firmly believe that the regular Iowans wants a choice.

The new law has been passed by both legislative chambers in Iowa. It applies to retailers who are involved in a food assistance programme run by the federal government for low income mothers and children.

The legislation could affect leading retailers like Walmart that have already committed to going cage-free by 2025.

Kitty Block, the acting president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), said the "factory farm lobby has reached a new low."

She explained: "This bizarre legislation would actually force many grocery stores to sell a product that businesses and consumers are increasingly rejecting; eggs from caged hens."

The legislation requires that any retailer selling 'specialty eggs' under the federal food assistance programme must also sell 'conventional eggs.' The law defines 'specialty eggs' as eggs advertised as cage-free, free range or enriched colony. 'Conventional eggs' are defined as 'eggs other than specialty eggs.'

Whilst the vast majority of eggs produced in the United States each year still come from traditional cage units, there has been a trend recently away from cages.

Leading companies like Walmart, Subway, Costco, McDonalds, Burger King, Nestle, Sodexo, Aramark, Heinz and Starbucks have committed to going cage free, and cage eggs have fallen to 85 per cent of the market.

'More humane offerings'

The United Kingdom's leading egg company, Noble Foods, successfully introduced its high welfare happy egg brand to the United States, enjoying significant growth across the Atlantic.

Just two years ago Jenni Danby, chief marketing officer with happy egg in the US, said cage egg production could be completely eliminated in America.

There has been a big shift just in the last three years as consumers have moved to more humane offerings, she told FarmingUK.

Ms Danby said that a number of big food service companies had announced that they were switching to cage free eggs and some big retailers had made the same commitment.

Certainly there is momentum behind the elimination of cages all together. It will take time and it will need a lot of investment, said Jenni, but she said that the trend was now clear.

Free market

Kitty Block of HSUS said more than 200 companies in the United States had committed to going cage-free.

"Virtually every major food retailer has adopted policies requiring explicitly cage-free conditions - a vast improvement over cage confinement. These companies are simply listening to their customers, who are rightly concerned about the enormous animal welfare and food safety problems these cages cause," she said.

"Walmart, Costco and Dollar Tree are among more than 200 companies that are making the transition to cage-free. But instead of heeding the markets demands, lobbyists for caged-egg producers want to make these transitions to cage-free illegal and force retailers to sell eggs from caged hens under threat of financial penalty.

She said: "In an ironic twist, factory farming corporations try to stop any regulation of their cruelty by saying that the free market should decide.

"But now that the free market, state legislatures and courts are deciding against the worst factory farming practices, the corporations are changing their tune and demanding that the Government bail them out, taking market share away from cage-free farmers."

'Market interference'

This theme was picked up by opposition politicians. Democrat Sharon Steckman said: "I thought we were all about free enterprise and letting the market determine the price of things. I am in support of the small farmer in Iowa and there are many."

Another Democrat, Herman Quirmbach, said the law amounted to "direct interference in the market place."

But Republican Dan Zumbach said the legislation ensured a lower cost choice of protein was available to people taking part in the food assistance program. He said cage-free eggs were typically more expensive than conventional eggs.

In the UK, battery cage production was banned from the beginning of 2012 under legislation passed by the European Union.

And the UK has led the field in high welfare egg production. Half of the UK's eggs are now produced on free range units. The free range share of the market continues to grow.

In Iowa, animal welfare campaigners fear that the new legislation could slow the shift towards cage-free eggs.

It passed through both legislative houses with significant majorities. The House of Representatives approved the bill by 81 votes to 17; the Senate approved the legislation by 32 votes to 17.
A farming union has used a meeting with the Prime Minister to press the case for more speed in setting out firm policies for agriculture after Brexit.

Theresa May visited Northern Ireland as part of a flying tour of the UK exactly one year ahead of Brexit.

She visited a dairy farm owned by the Jackson family in Bangor on Thursday (29 March), and she also met with the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU).

The union said farmers and growers across the UK needed to know how the industry would be protected from cheap food imports; what arrangements would be made to maintain existing trade with the EU-27, Ireland, and the UK; and how the industry would be supported.

Mrs May told local farmers that Brexit presented opportunities. "I think one of the things that will come out of Brexit is the opportunity for agriculture here but across the UK to really - out of the CAP (EU's Common Agricultural Policy) - to set our own way of doing things," she explained.

I believe we can negotiate a good agreement which is tariff-free and as frictionless trade as possible, so we maintain those markets in the EU, but also that we open up markets around the rest of the world."

'Long term industry'

The UFU sought assurances that the 70 per cent of farm exports that go to the EU would be protected, even if the UK leaves the customs union and single market.

UFU president Barclay Bell said: The government has been hinting that it will do the right things  but farming is a long term industry that has to plan. Not knowing what trade arrangements will be in place or how it will be supported makes that impossible.

We remain concerned about comments from the government that it wants to be a free trading nation, as this suggests it wants food imports with minimal tariffs. However, we were encouraged by the Prime Ministers recent speech on the UKs future economic partnership with the EU.

Mr Bell continued: In it, she recognised the high environmental and animal welfare standards of the UK agri-food industry and that these standards will remain at least as high as the EUs. This needs to become a firm policy before trade negotiations begin next March between the UK and countries outside the EU.

All-Ireland trade

It also sought assurances that ways would be found to maintain the all-Ireland trade in agriculture and food, stressing that this existed long before the UK and Ireland joined the then EEC, and needed to continue after Brexit.

We also made it very clear that we did not want to see the creation of any additional controls in the Irish Sea. GB is and will remain the main market for the Northern Ireland agri-food industry, said Mr Bell.

With the transition period after Brexit set at 21 months, the UFU says more detail is needed now about the governments intention to leave the CAP and develop our own agriculture policies.

Mr Bell said: Domestic support measures will be necessary for farming to thrive but farmers also need to be treated properly and fairly as equal partners in the supply chain. This is something that we particularly emphasised to the Prime Minister.

I believe the Prime Minister and her cabinet want to make a success of Brexit. But with the CAP such a large proportion of farm incomes, we need to know how we will move from that to a new policy designed to deliver for UK agriculture. For Brexit to be a success a smooth transition is essential, he said.

Major role

The UFU used the meeting to underline that farmers are committed to continuing to play a major role in the economy, as the foundation of the UKs 112 billion food and drink industry and the 3.9 million jobs it brings.

There are still differences of opinion as to whether or not Brexit was a good decision  but that decision has been made and the challenge is to ensure it delivers the best possible future for farming, the UFU President said.

What we want is an outcome that allows us to deliver safe, affordable food and a thriving countryside. That we want to play our part in a dynamic post-Brexit farming model was our core message to Mrs May.
The British sheep industry has said it "totally disputes" claims made by the WWF that a traditional Welsh dish is the most polluting of a range of classic British meals.

The National Sheep Association (NSA) has rejected findings from the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) new report.

The report claims Welsh Lamb Cawl is the "most polluting" of a range of classic British meals.

The report titled Food in a Warming World includes findings from a study in which WWF investigated four iconic meals; Chicken Tikka Masala, Fish and Chips, Ploughmans lunch and lamb cawl / stew and the resulting carbon footprint associated with their production.

According to the report, the production of lamb causes a significantly higher release of greenhouse gases such as methane compared to the production of other ingredients leading to WWF labelling the meal the most damaging.

The report claims that production of lamb as an ingredient in cawl produces the equivalent level of greenhouse gas emissions as boiling a kettle 258 times or driving a car for 31 miles.

'Risking credibility'

NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker said the NSA "totally disputes" these claims.

We consider WWF is risking its credibility by trying to assess complex interactions through single lens and simplistic, Mr Stocker said.

This report confuses naturally occurring carbon cycles with industrial greenhouse gas emissions and ignores the role of pastures and soils and even wool as stable carbon stores.

WWFs criticism of lamb cawl ignores the highly nutritious and balanced nature of this dish and the fact that it is in line with the advice given by many nutritionists to eat less but higher quality grass fed meat and to incorporate this with vegetables.

Mr Stocker said that the "irresponsible" report could disrupt stable and diverse food supplies

He continued: Comparing meal options by incomplete carbon footprinting alone ignores all the other aspects that surround the production of any food and we know that sheep farming delivers a wide array of environmental and social outcomes that are highly valued by society, particularly in upland areas where extensive lamb production is key to maintaining the environment and local communities.
Vistara is also waiving the applicable fare difference in case the booking is rescheduled.

In view of Bharat Bandh, the nation-wide protest called by Dalit organisations, violent protests were witnessed in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab. Situation has become grave in some areas where Section 144 has been imposed like in Gwalior.

Several Dalit organisations, who called for a 'bandh' today, are expressing concerns over the alleged dilution of the SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Following a Supreme Court (SC) order, in which the SC has banned automatic arrests in the said Act, protests have reportedly hit life in several states. Hundreds of protesters forced shopkeepers and other establishments to down shutters in several cities in Punjab. Similar protests have been reported from Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Jharkhand.

In view of the unrest and uncertain conditions prevailing in some part of the country, Vistara airline has offered free change/cancellation for customers travelling today, i.e.: 2 April, 2018 to/from airports in the affected parts in the country, Vistara is also waiving the applicable fare difference in case the booking is rescheduled. Customers can contact the airlines 24x7 customer service center or airport ticketing offices for assistance.

Important information for customers travelling today, in light of ongoing unrest in some parts of the country. pic.twitter.com/G6tp6UAV9X  Vistara (@airvistara) April 2, 2018

Vistara is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. It commenced operations on 9 January 2015 with its inaugural flight between Delhi and Mumbai.

Last week, Vistara had introduced its first male cabin crew as part of plans to be an "equal opportunity employer". The crew took to the skies following the completion of a three-month safety and service training programme to the exacting standards of Tata and Singapore Airlines, the airline said in a statement.
The GST Council, earlier this month, decided on a staggered rollout of the e-way bill starting with inter-state from 1 April and intra-state from 15 April

New Delhi: With just three days left for the e-way bill roll out, the government has asked businesses and transporters to enrol on the dedicated platform as only around 11 lakh entities have registered so far, officials said on Wednesday. Businesses would be required to present the electronic way (e-way) bill to a GST inspector (if asked) for inter-state transportation of goods worth over Rs 50,000 through road, railways, airways and vessels.

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the company handling the backbone of the new indirect tax regime, GST Network, is much better prepared to roll out the new system from 1 April. "...But I'm not too sure whether traders, dealers and transporters are still ready. I would like to appeal to them to register themselves on the e-way bill portal ...as early as possible; they should not then tell us that we didn't inform them," Adhia said.

GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar said, so far 11 lakh businesses and transporters have registered on the e-way bill platform and most of the registrations are likely to happen at the last minute. This compares to 1.05 crore registered businesses under the GST and about 70 lakh filing returns.

The e-way bill provision of the goods and services tax (GST) was first introduced on 1 February but its implementation was put on hold after the system developed glitches in generating permits. With several states also starting to generate intra-state e-way bills on the portal, the system developed a snag.

The Finance Ministry had then asked GSTN to develop a fool-proof system before the re-launch of the e-way bill. The GST Council, earlier this month, decided on a staggered rollout of the e-way bill starting with inter-state from 1 April and intra-state from 15 April.

The e-way bill is being touted as an anti-evasion measure and would help boost tax collections by clamping down on trade that currently happens on cash basis.

Speaking at the Foundation Day of GSTN, Adhia said e-way bill for intra-state movement of goods would be launched after 2 weeks of inter-state roll out. "We will announce the schedule at least 3 days in advance, but not immediately because we want to observe how the e-way bill portal functions for inter-state movement of goods. After that we will try to bring it for intra-state (movement of goods)," Adhia said.

GSTN Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that the e-way bill system has been designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC); and he is confident that the system would be able to cater to the load.

After the 1 February snag, the e-way system was upgraded to handle 75 lakh inter-state e-way bills daily.

"Whenever you roll out such a system, there could be some issues in the initial phases. So based on our experience, this time around extensive testing has been done. Assurance has been given by NIC that this time the system should work," Pandey said.
16:53 (ist)

Alumni Ashok Vemuri, BG Srinivas, Mohandas Pai can be potential CEO candidates



Former Infoscions may well have a shot at clinching the top job as Infosys CEO, with the company looking at "alumni" along with internal and external candidates in its global search for the lead role.



Nilekani earlier in the day told investors that Infosys was going to "cast a very wide net" globally to get the best talent onboard.



"We are looking at internal candidates, external candidates and Infosys alumni," he said. Nilekani added there are Infoscions, who have left the company and have "charted their own success stories".



"We have an open mind. It will be a global search... The goal is to find somebody who has the expertise in managing a global corporation, who can accelerate the execution of our strategy and has strong appreciation of the cultural transformation that is required," he said.



With Infosys now looking at alumni as well, the contenders could include names like V Balakrishnan (ex-CFO), Mohandas Pai (former CFO and HR Head), Ashok Vemuri (former Americas Head and Board member) and B G Srinivas (former President).



However, Balakrsihnan told CNBC-TV18 today that he is not looking to return to Infosys.

With inputs from PTI
As hundreds of angry home buyers of Jaypee Wish Town staged a protest here, the Noida Authority on Saturday promised to protect the interests of the flat owners, saying a plan is being worked out in this regard

Noida (Uttar Pradesh): As hundreds of angry home buyers of Jaypee Wish Town staged a protest here, the Noida Authority on Saturday promised to protect the interests of the flat owners, saying a plan is being worked out in this regard.

The home buyers gathered at the company office here, shouting slogans against the management and demanding refund of their investments since the National Company Law Tribunal has admitted the insolvency petition filed by IDBI Bank against the debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech.

The protesters demanded that their money be returned first as they fear that if the company is declared insolvent, all their court cases will become ineffective and they will not be able to get possession of their flats and lose their hard-earned money.

According to the SHO of Noida Expressway police station, over 400 people protested at the company's office here, and personnel from four to five police stations were deployed to control them.

Jaypee Infratech is among 12 big corporate loan defaulters against whom RBI has ordered initiation of insolvency proceedings. The company had a debt of about Rs 8,000 crore till March 2017.

The company, which is developing about 32,000 flats and plots across various projects in its township project 'Wish Town' here, has been facing protests and litigation from home buyers due to huge delays in completion of projects.

Meanwhile, Noida Authority CEO Amit Mohan Prasad said, "Hard earned money of home buyers will not be allowed to go down the drain." Asserting that strict action will be taken against the defaulting developers, he said that the Noida Authority is working on rescheduling of the payment plan under which builders will be directed to deposit the dues within a specified period.

The Authority will then take over the unsold apartments and property of the builders and auction it to recover the dues, Prasad said. He said the Authority has written to Uttar Pradesh government seeking approval to take over possession of unsold property of the defaulting builders and recovering dues from its sale.

On the other hand, Union Consumer Affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in New Delhi that the government cannot take any direct action in the matter. "It is a matter of concern. But, we cannot take direct action. Buyers have to approach consumer courts for justice," he said.

Jaypee Infratech has 2500 hectares of land in five parcels of around 500 hectares each. Now the company is planning to sell some unused land to banks to reduce its debt.

The Allahabad bench of NCLT has admitted the petition filed by IDBI Bank under Section 7 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, Jaypee Infratech had said in a regulatory filing a few days back.

This move has caused immense anxiety among the home buyers whose number is said to be around 32,000. Besides Jaypee group, home buyers of Amrapali group are also facing the same situation and are protesting.

The Amrapali group has dues of Rs 1200 crores, and it too has to deliver about 30,000 residential flats to buyers. NEFOMA, an association of home buyers of Noida, was not satisfied with the assurance given by the the Authority CEO. Its president Anu Khan said the state government should take some concrete action to convince the home buyers that their investments are safe.

He said they had met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath four months back, and he had also promised that the government would intervene to help them but nothing has happened.

Khan alleged that the builder is deliberately getting the company declared bankrupt in league with the bank, and a CBI probe should be held into this. Company officials were not immediately available for comments.

On 9 August, the Allahabad bench of NCLT admitted the petition filed by IDBI Bank under Section 7 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016. As per the order, Jaypee Infratech has defaulted on Rs 526.11 crore loan outstanding to IDBI.

NCLT has appointed Anuj Jain as the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) to carry out the proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

The NCLT has directed that "all the personnel connected with the corporate debtor (Jaypyee Infratech), its promoter or any other person associated with the corporate debtor are under legal obligation to extend every assistance and cooperation to the IRP". The IRP "shall be under duty to protect and preserve the value of the property of the corporate debtor as part of its obligation imposed" on it, NCLT said.

In April, Jaypee group had held a discussion with home buyers in the presence of Noida Authority officials and committed to hand over possession of apartments to all allottees by 2020. The company had informed that working capital of Rs 800 crore was being secured for completion of the Wish Town project. Jaypee Group's flagship company, Jaiprakash Associates, recently sold its cement plant to Ultratech Cements for over Rs 16,000 crore to reduce its debt liability.

Meanwhile, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has made it clear that financial institutions cannot auction the Jaypee property as it was on lease and the authority has first right to recover its dues and then financial institutions can recover their amount.

Real estate sector is facing a multi-year slowdown that has resulted in significant delays in execution of projects, forcing buyers to protest and even file legal cases in various courts.
At least 2/3rd of the population dependent on agriculture can look at other avenues which will give them better fortunes, says an expert from the agri sector

Was the long march of farmers from Nashik to Mumbai, traveling a grueling 180 km in the summer heat one of the last such that India will see for some time? Or will they be pulled out like a rabbit from a magic hat in time to be brought out during the next polls? There is nothing surprising about this pattern though. Experts say that kind of events will be a recurring phenomenon with no respite in the near future. Political parties, no matter how much they may want to avoid it, will be forced to play party politics by the Opposition and thus protect their vote banks.

Let's take a look at the statistics: Seven state governments have so far announced Rs 1.10 lakh crore farm loan waivers while the UPA government in 2008 disbursed Rs 71,680 crore at the Centre. (See table)

Farm loan waivers in India Announced on Centre/State govt Loan waiver amount in Rs crore Farmers benefited 29/02/2008 UPA govt 71,680 3 crore 28/07/2016 Tamil Nadu 7,760 20 lakh 04/04/2017 Uttar Pradesh 36,359 2.15 crore 08/06/2017 Madhya Pradesh 6,000 6 lakh 11/06/2017 Maharashtra 34,000 56 lakh 19/06/2017 Punjab 9,500 10.22 lakh 21/06/2017 Karnataka 8,165 22.28 lakh 12/02/2018 Rajasthan 8,000 22 lakh Total 109,784

Why is it that the farmers are looking for farm loan waivers repeatedly? What ails the sector?

High dependence on agriculture: Primarily, too many people are dependent on agriculture instead of opting for other avenues. "What sense does it make to have 54.8 percent depended on agriculture?" asked an agri expert. At least two-thirds of the population dependent on agriculture can look at other avenues which will give them better fortunes, the expert said.

Horticulture, dairy farming, goat herding, poultry, piggery are some of the other avenues that could be looked at. In Budget 2018, the government announced two separate funds with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore to create infrastructure in fishery, aquaculture and animal husbandry sectors, Rs 2,000 crore as agri-market infrastructure fund and Rs 1,290 crore for the national bamboo mission. Among others, the facility of Kisan Credit Cards has been extended to fisheries and animal husbandry farmers to help them meet their working capital needs.

Lack of fair pricing mechanism: The pricing factor is another thorn in the farmers' sides. If the government can provide right kind of remuneration for their crops, then this issue of loan waiver would not arise, said Anant Sardeshmukh, director general, and member of the Board of Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA). There are a lot of fluctuations in pricing and this is the basic deficit in the system, he says. With the absence of any real commodity market in the country, there is a huge market price volatility.

For starters, the government could help by providing an encouraging support system. The government needs to provide 'right kind' of remuneration for crops, said Sardeshmukh.

If a fair price was ensured to crops, then the glut seen with vegetable products such as onions and tomatoes grown in excess, for instance, would become part of history. The produce gets dumped on highways as the cost of production is higher than the price of the finished product.

When a particular crop is seen to be doing well, like pulses for instance, then every farmer plants it and it results in a glut of the product in the market. But when pulses production goes up, inevitably prices crash and the farmer is the worse-off for it. Pune-based farmer Sopan Kanchan rued that, "Arhar dal was grown in abundance and we thought it would fetch us a bounty. Then the government went in for imports and ruined it for us. Now we dont even get Rs 40 for a kg of dal."

The government has done its bit by trying to unshackle agriculture produce marketing committees (APMCs) which were the stranglehold of brokers. In 2017, the government proposed a model law on agricultural marketing to end the monopoly of traditional APMC mandis by allowing private players and others to establish wholesale markets. Some of the issues faced by farmers have been solved with reforms.

"Earlier, farmers in Maharashtra would sell their produce to APMCs and were subject to manipulation of prices. States, for instance, have their own version of the APMC Act which determines the market structure such as who can buy and sell to whom besides what charges to be paid at each stage," said Sardeshmukh. In 2017, the Centre proposed a model law on agricultural marketing to end the monopoly of traditional APMC mandis by allowing private players and others to establish wholesale markets. But how much this has improved operational efficiency has to be seen yet, he says.

Unscientific methods are still the norm: Another reason cited for bad crops is that farmers are following traditional methods of farming without factoring in climate change. So sugarcane, a water-guzzling crop, is planted in areas where rainfall and water is a scarcity. Farmers grow sugarcane in severely drought-affected areas like Marathwada which demands huge quantities of water for cultivation and crushing. Marathwada has around 75 to 80 of the states 205 sugar mills. According to estimates of the states agricultural commissionerate and the Maharashtra State Co-Operative Sugar Factories Federation, around 9 lakh hectares in the state has come under sugarcane cultivation against a lower acreage in the previous year at around 6.3 lakh hectares.

There is no hard-headed analysis or rationality behind crop selection and cultivation with the consequence that farmers follow same cropping patterns for generations, points out Abhay Pethe, distinguished fellow, Observer Research Fellow (ORF), and senior resident, Department of Economics, Mumbai School of Economics and Public Policy. "This suggests a lack of basic education, awareness, guidance, and prediction about what kind of crop will do well in a particular region," he said.

The government needs to suggest crop strategy for Kharif and Rabi cultivation, for instance, which the large majority of farmers are unaware of. "The entire crop management system should be focussed on development. When the government tom-toms about Industry 4.0 and IOT (Internet of Things), blockchain technology among other things, why cant there be some survey done to enable the farmers to grow the crop which will reap benefits for them?" asks an agri expert.

Some wonder if the farmer issue is as grave as is being pointed out. A dangerous argument nevertheless. But Pethe believes that there is a dash of 'romanticism' in the manner in which farmers are treated. "Why is 55 percent of people investing their time and energy in 12 percent of agriculture? Then we have emotions running riot when farmers commit suicides which largely has nothing to do with inadequate agriculture output but with debts taken for childrens education and marriage and for other reasons. Politicians will look bad if they ignore this social ill and then this vicious cycle starts all over again of loan waivers which helps neither the farmer nor the state exchequer, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off loan waiver with his announcement on 15 February in a campaign rally in Uttar Pradesh stating that if the BJP was voted to power in the state, it would waive crop loans. Since then, the Pandora box of loan waivers has opened and will be quite difficult to be clasped shut for some time in the near future or the next polls.

(Data contribution by Kishor Kadam)
A Belgium-based company, which conducted a forensic audit of Nirav Modi's firms, is under the scanner for alleged tax evasion.

A Belgium-based company, which conducted a forensic audit of Nirav Modi's firms, is under the scanner for alleged tax evasion.

According to The Indian Express, Punjab National Bank appointed consultancy firm BDO to conduct the audit. But BDO India and its partner MSKA and Associates are themselves facing charges of alleged non-payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) since July 2017.

The report quoted official sources as saying that BDO India and MSKA had at least 14 GST registrations in different states.

On Wednesday, PTI reported that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a "close" associate and the vice president of a firm of diamantaire Nirav Modi in connection with a money laundering probe in the over Rs 12,000-crore PNB bank scam.

Shyam Sunder Wadhwa, the vice-president of the Firestar group, was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was described as a "close confidant" of Modi.

The central probe agency has filed two money laundering FIRs against Nirav Modi and his uncle and Gitanjali Gems promoter Mehul Choksi to probe the alleged fraud in Punjab National Bank.

It has conducted a total of 251 country-wide searches in the case after it began the criminal probe against the accused in February. The total seizure and attachment of diamond, gold, precious and semi-precious stones and other movable and immovable assets in the case stand at Rs 7,664 crore.

PNB has also refused to disclose records pertaining to the process of issuing loans to Nirav Modi.

In a response to Mumbai-based RTI activist Anil Galgali, the bank has cited section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act to deny the information sought by him. Galgali said he had sought details of all the records including minutes of the meeting, agenda notes, total loans sought by Nirav Modi and the amount sanctioned by the bank.

The sections bars disclosure of information that would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders.
Shares of PNB, too, declined after the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday sealed the Brady House Branch of the bank

The markets on Tuesday opened on a cautious note with all the public sector bank stocks were trading lower. At 9.15 am all the big public sector banks were lower by 1.5 percent. Apart from the banking stocks, share prices of jewellery companies will also be in focus going ahead in the day. Analysts expect massive selling in stocks of public sector banks would be seen as the Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank fraud continues to rock stock exchanges.

All the top six public sector banks were down with largest among the lot the State Bank of India falling 2.2 percent at 9.17 opening hours. Jewellery maker Gitanjali Gems was also named in the PNB scam thus impacting its stocks.

However, some banks started to show some recovery signs after early morning lows, Bank of India was one of them

On Monday, the stocks of PNB were down more than 7 percent and its market value came down to Rs 10,781 crore in just four days of trading.

On Monday, shares of Gitanjali Gems extended losses for the fourth consecutive session -- plunging almost 10 percent to its lower circuit level at Rs 33.80 per scrip -- while those of Punjab National Bank (PNB) slipped over 7 percent.

On a closing basis, PNB's scrips fell by Rs 9.25 per share, or 7.36 percent, to Rs 116.40 on the BSE.

The stocks of jewellery company Geetanjali Gems continued the plunge a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted search operations in six franchise-based outlets located in four malls in Kolkata in connection with $1.8 billion banking fraud case.

Following the unravelling of the multi-crore PNB fraud, two senior officials of Gitanjali Gems -- Chandrakant Karkare and Pankhuri Warange -- resigned from the company, according to a regulatory filing with the stock exchanges on Monday.

Shares of PNB, too, declined after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday sealed the Brady House Branch of the bank as multiple probe agencies continued with their probe into the multi-crore fraud.

The shares of the two companies started to decline following the country's second largest state-run bank PNB's declaration of unearthing a fraud of Rs 11,300 crore involving diamantaire Nirav Modi.

The fraud, which included money-laundering among others, concerned the Firestar Diamonds group in which the CBI booked Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal Modi and uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi -- who promotes the luxury jewellery brand Gitanjali Gems.

Last week, the ED launched a nationwide raid on the offices, showrooms and workshops of Nirav Modi. The CBI registered an FIR against the Gitanjali Group of companies based on a complaint registered by the PNB.

On Sunday, the ED conducted searches at over 45 more locations in 15 cities across India in connection with the scam.

(With inputs from IANS)
The comments come amid reports that the Amazon has laid off 60 people in India as part of a global restructuring, and that more employees could be handed the pink slip in the coming days

New Delhi: Global e-commerce giant Amazon on Tuesday said its efforts to better organise its teams has impacted "a small number of employees" in India but asserted that it continues to hire and has about 4,000 positions open in the country.

The comments come amid reports that the company has laid off 60 people in India as part of a global restructuring, and that more employees could be handed the pink slip in the coming days.

The company has contested the claims saying "reports stating 60 people (being fired) is factually incorrect and overstated".

"As a global organisation, we have recognised the need to more organise our teams to keep us agile and help us use our resources optimally. This has impacted a small number of roles within the company," an Amazon India spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The spokesperson added that the company is providing complete support to the impacted employees, including the option of relevant internal postings and outplacement services.

"We would like to add that we continue to hire across multiple roles in India, with little over 4,000 jobs being open for hire across various teams in India," the spokesperson said.

In February, Amazon had said it is making headcount adjustments across the company involving small reductions as part of its annual planning process. Globally, Amazon has well over 5.6 lakh employees.

In India, Amazon is locked in an intense battle for market leadership with homegrown player, Flipkart that is backed by the likes of SoftBank and Tiger Global. Both players have pumped in millions of dollars towards building infrastructure, logistics and marketing activities in the country to get more people to shop online.

The competition in the sector is expected to intensify further with Paytm Mall raising a fresh funding of close to Rs 2,900 crore from SoftBank and Alibaba. Paytm Mall has said it will use the funds to boost technology and logistics as well as to strengthen the brand.
Only a critical mass of researchers, who become entrepreneurs, consultants and manpower for the industry can bring about a change.

India has arguably the worlds fastest growing startup ecosystem. Yet, none of our companies made it to the MIT Technology Reviews Smartest Companies list (2012-2016). In contrast, China had 14 and US had 105 companies on that list. One of our companies made it to the list in 2017, but I do not see any great globally competitive technological innovation from the firm. In the same vein, 106 of the worlds unicorns are in the US, 98 in China and only 10 in India.

Why dont our companies create global impact and significant economic value? We do not have the worlds largest internet companies, mobile companies, app companies and will probably not have the worlds largest artificial intelligence (AI) companies if we do not put our act together. Why couldnt we take a leadership role in these disruptions? Research developments in universities and those funded by government led to these disruptions. An ecosystem of startups and companies in proximity to these universities, in geographical and other terms, made use of these disruptions to build large companies.

Google is a great example  it was born out of a Stanford PhD thesis. Equally good examples are the Silicon Valley buoyed by the California University ecosystem, led by Stanford University, and the Boston life sciences ecosystem buoyed by MIT and other great universities in the area. Similarly, the Chinese startup ecosystem is driven by their great research universities that took global leadership positions in the last 20 years. For instance, Tshingua University publishes more AI papers in top conferences than the whole of India, every year. Which great research universities are at the center of our startup ecosystems in Bangalore and Gurugram?

Our research universities and productive research manpower are few in number. Our total number of productive researchers is a mere 27,500, seven times lower than China and 17 times lower than USA. Another tactical mistake is that the bulk of our researchers (75 percent) work in government labs and not in universities. In contrast, in the rest of the world the ratio is skewed the other way around  the primary efficient way of research being faculty working with PhD students. Lack of research in universities, also means lack of good PhD programmes and choking the supply of future researchers. As a result, our high impact research output is just seven percent of US and 15 percent of China.

Research is a lacklustre career in India. The JEE and CAT are the talk of every media article. Who cares about GATE or NET, exams for pursuing a PhD in top Indian universities? Students perceive that the research career pays low, takes too long to complete, has poor professional outcomes and low overall social standing. While some of this is indeed true, our students are just not aware of some of the improvements over the last decade. Compare this with a PhD admit in MIT, Stanford or a UC Berkeley, that inspires awe among the best students of the country. Not only do we lose our top undergraduates to other countries but also to the industry. The bright ones who pursue research in India are only those in deep love with India or those who continue to be here for family reasons  not really attracted by market forces.

Thus the first step for India is to have many more research positions in top universities and to make the research career attractive. Then, we need to provide a liberalised and competitive research environment to the research community. Our universities work like pre-liberalisation corporate India slow, bureaucratic and socialist in approach. Universities have little financial autonomy  freedom to spend money, faculty salaries, fee and promotion policy. Buying equipment and getting research funding is also marred by bureaucracy, delays and cronyism at times. For instance, to buy something that costs more than $5000, the process of tenders, committees, etc. takes three to six months as compared to overnight shipping in the US! 61 percent of our researchers at top universities rate getting equipment and funding in a timely and non-bureacratic manner as below average.

Liberalisation and autonomy has to be counterbalanced with competition and meritocracy. This is pretty much missing at all levels in our research ecosystem. It needs to start at the government, which should make its universities to compete for money rather than doling out money equally to them or according to whims of few influential people. Same stands true for research faculty. Low performing faculty do not have much financial disincentives. On the other hand, high performing faculty neither get financial incentives, nor the sway to hire more faculty in their are get more resources and decision power to build a large and successful program. Similarly, funding agencies generally prefer to fund more number of researchers with low budgeted projects than fund bold expensive proposals by high performing researchers.

By contrast, China is very effective in offering resources and incentives for performance. They carry out detailed benchmarking of individuals, departments and universities and accumulate resources to the high performing ones. China has been able to capture nine spots in the list of worlds top 200 universities in the last two decades. Universities in the US have the tenure system. In some cases, top universities show the door to 50 percent of their lower performing faculty members after the first seven or eight years. On the other hand, high performing faculty become celebrities within and outside the universities and gather resources around them. Consider, Rodney Brooks, Andrew Ng and Geoffrey Hinton  all celebrity figures in AI, with money chasing them! We also need to accumulate our resources in performing institutions and researchers, so that they can multiply their success and disrupt. Those not performing should have disincentives. Nothing can be worst for research than a socialist non-competitive environment.

The third issue is around collaboration. Researchers multiply their success by discussing their research, learning from each other and eventually collaborating. Unfortunately, the modern means of communication, the phone and the internet, are not good at this  they do not transmit tacit knowledge and spur collaboration. Studies show that research collaboration decreases exponentially with the geographic distance separating researchers. We do not have the critical mass of researchers, the right structures and a culture of collaboration to facilitate such discussions. For a given field, say AI, number of our productive researchers, are in lower double digits. This also means that they have limited impact on industry and startups to create economic value.

On top of this, our interaction with the outside world is limited. Lack of travel money is cited as one of the top issues by researchers I spoke to. A faculty gets money for two international trips (plus an option to apply for one more) in three years. A PhD student gets money for a single international trip during her PhD. Both low and high performing researchers get the same amount of money. In contrast, the editor of a US technology magazine told me that he sees top AI researchers from China in the US almost every other month! I made six international trips in my two years at MIT as a graduate student. Thus, we do not have enough opportunity to learn and collaborate with international researchers. With no critical mass within and the lack of contact with the outside world, we become frogs in a small well!

I will now like to get back to where I started  how our research can fuel our industry and startup ecosystem to create globally competitive organisations. Today, there is lack of what I call problem proximity  the proximity of our researchers to the real-world problem they seek to solve. Pre-liberalisation our industry and economy wasnt mature, wealthy or large enough to interact with our researchers. Our research universities thus didnt build the structures and culture to interact with industry. They didnt access original questions from industry  rather they did derivative research inspired by Western papers. This made their research less impactful. At the same time they couldnt and didnt make a difference to the industry. This hasnt changed even as our industry has grown manifolds in the last 25 years.

To realise the Indian startup dream, we need a high quality research ecosystem vigorously interacting with entrepreneurs, industry, venture capitalists and actual users of products. Industry needs to supply problems to researchers and researchers need to supply technology advancement and breakthrough solutions to industrial problems. Only a critical mass of researchers, who become entrepreneurs, consultants and manpower for the industry can bring about a change. A few would just fail and not move the needle. Over and above, we need a society and funders who respect science entrepreneurship, are ready to invest in them and go in for the long haul to create real value. Then only we can achieve startup India.

(Varun is the author of 'Leading Science and Technology: India Next?' and the co-founder of Aspiring Minds and www.ml-india.org)
One dont know for sure whether Adani is the biggest loan defaulter or not, but, indeed the Adani group owes big chunks of money to banks

If you talk about NPAs, (non-performing assets) or bad loans, which basically refer to money that is borrowed from a bank and not paid back on time, Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi are only guppies. There are bigger fishes in the NPA pool that, ironically, dont grab much attention as the guppies do. But, their names pop up once in a while and disappear in a bit. On Monday, BJP leader and member of Parliment Subramanian Swamy tweeted about Goutam Adani, apparently referring chairman of Adani group, saying Adani is the biggest NPA trapeze artiste in PSUs is Gautam Adani. It is time he is made accountable or a PIL is inevitable.

The biggest NPA trapeze artiste in PSUs is Gautam Adani. It is time he is made accountable or a PIL is inevitable  Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) March 6, 2018



One dont know for sure whether Adani is the biggest loan defaulter or not. But, indeed the Adani group owes big chunks of money to banks. According to Bloomberg data, Adani Power has a total debt, as of September 2017, at Rs 47,609.43 crore. Adani Transmission has total debt, as of September 2017, at Rs 8356.07 crore, Adani Ent, as of September 2017, at Rs 22424.44 crore and Adani Ports with total debt, as of September 2017, at Rs 20791.15 crore. But Adani isnt the only one. These may also include debt raised from other than banks.

According to data available with the Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd (CIBIL), Indian banks have reported wilful defaults of over Rs 111,738 crore involving 9,339 borrowers of which government banks have a share of Rs93,357 crore involving 7,564 borrowers as of September 2017 (as this Indian Express report explains). In June, 2017, Firstpost published the details of some of the large bank loan defaulters saying these firms may opt for bankruptcy after the new code came into effect.

To get an understanding it will be useful to revisit some of the names. These include Essar Steel (According to Bloomberg Essar steel debt as of March 2018 was at Rs 8173.05 crore on a standalone basis), Lanco Infratech (Lanco consolidated debt as of March 2017 was at Rs 43501.75 crore), Bhushan Steel (Bhushan Steel consolidated debt as of March 2018 was at Rs 46263.23 crore, primarily state-run lenders including State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank).

There are several other names such as Monnet Ispat, Alok Industries, Era Infra engineering, ABG Shipyard, Jaypee Infratech, Amtek Auto and Jyoti structures. All these firms owe large amount of money to banks. Some of these may be in the process of paying back while some are looking options to declare bankruptcy.

The idea of listing these names is to just to make a point that while Mallyas and Modis hog the headlines and thereby put pressure on the system to act, the government and regulator shouldnt lose focus on other bigger loan defaulters. At the moment the government and RBI are progressing in a promising manner. The bankruptcy code is in place, the RBI and government seem to have learned the lessons hard way and has initiated steps to clean up the banking system. But, that is normal typically in the aftermath of the break of a scam. Investigators and regulators tend to act on those specific cases vigorously for a while before the enthusiasm soon dies down.

Even then other larger cases that arent in news tend to be ignored till a problem arises. Vijay Mallya is a good example. The Vijay Mallya-Kingfisher episode became a hot topic when the liquor king flew out of the country in March, 2016---four years after his loans to banks worth Rs9000 crore became NPAs. In fact, Mallyas escape and subsequent media focus on the case brought back the focus on NPAs in banking sector in a big way. The Nirav Modi-fraud and a series of other cases such as Rotomac and RP Infosystems have added fuel to the fire. But, it will be a mistake to see these cases in isolation and miss the larger picture.

Clearly, the RBI and the government acted too late to address the NPA crisis. The central bank came with a framework for the early identification of stressed assets in early 2015, which was followed up with actions from the government to give the contours for the bankruptcy code. The central bank, under Raghuram Rajan, read out the riot act to the banks asking them to declare all NPAs upfront and complete the process by March,217. The deadline wasnt met but the process triggered one of the biggest NPA hunts in the history of Indian banks.

In terms of loan size, all these cases---from Mallya to Modiare relatively small compared with a handful of other default cases. There needs to be a comprehensive plan to approach each of these cases. Even after the bankruptcy code in place, it is difficult to imagine how banks will be able to recover a substantial part of the money at stake because they need to either sell of the assets or force the defaulter promoter to pay back from his pocket.

As Mallya and now Nirav Modi episode have shown, this is easier said than done. It is not clear what suddenly provoked Swamy to take Gautam Adanis name from the list of big defaulters. But, in a certain way, Swamy has highlighted an important aspect, suggesting that the government and regulator should not miss the forest for the trees.
When is a company Indian? Is it by who it serves, who or how many it hires, the origin of the person who runs it, or who owns it?

Editors note: As India stands at the cusp of a new era in economic growth, it is time to ask a big question: Can a nation of one billion people build a global tech giant as new frontiers of technology arrive? The answer involves understanding global economic dynamics, innovation, ownership, management, competition, regulation, finance and intellectual property rights. Firstpost is publishing a series of stories that will seek to address these issues in a manner that helps entrepreneurs, policymakers and ordinary citizens understand what it takes to reach new highs without losing one's ground in a world where threats are as real as opportunities. Here's the fourth piece in the series.

On 4 July, 1996, an Indian emigrant Sabeer Bhatia launched the world's pioneering webmail, called Hotmail. The Silicon Valley-based venture was eventually acquired by Seattle-based Microsoft for about $400 million. Indians cheered this success and many a startup dream was fired across the nation where Bhatia's father had served as an army officer.

Officially, Hotmail was not an Indian company, but Microsoft, which owns it now, is run by India-born Satya Nadella. Adobe, which made the familiar Photoshop and other software products, is headed by India-born Shantanu Narayen. Google is now headed by Chennai-bred Sundar Pichai. What is less known is that both Microsoft and Adobe have substantial product design facilities in India and employ Indian engineers at high salaries, but the patents go to the US parent. Philips, Amazon and Google are among the other companies in the same league. All these companies have between them armies of software developers working out of India. In IT services, Accenture, IBM and Cognizant employ hundreds of thousands of techies in India but none of them is technically an Indian company, as they are listed abroad and have their headquarters overseas.

Facebook and Google are revolutionising social communication across India and democratising content, connecting hundreds of millions of people across the planet. But the bulk of their intellectual property is created outside of India. Nor do they employ people on the scale IBM and Accenture do.

It pays now to ask a question: When is a company Indian? Is it by who it serves, who or how many it hires, the origin of the person who runs it, or who owns it? As I kicked off this series on technology and nationalism, I spoke of how Chinese giants like Tencent and Alibaba, Japan's Softbank and US giants like Amazon are raising questions on whether Indian companies like Flipkart or PayTm are really Indian by virtue of ownership, and later of how their founders become more like employees when the investors call the shots.

Meanwhile, Amazon says it is as Indian as any Indian startup, and there is room for more confusion.

Now, consider four other companies: iflex solutions, Zoho, Zomato and Ola Cabs (technically ANI Technologies, the company that runs the brand). Born and bred in Mumbai and Bangalore with venture funding from Citigroup, iflex solutions was present in 115 countries with its cutting-edge banking product, and was also listed in the local stock exchcanges. However, in 2005, it was acquired by Silicon Valley's' Oracle for an impressive $909 million and its name changed to Oracle Financial Services in 2008.

Chennai-based Zoho is an amazing born-on-the-cloud software company with a proud Made In India, Made for the World tag, and it competes worldwide with Microsoft and Oracle. It is not interested in an IPO and is happy to stay private.

Gurgaon-based Zomato is present in 24 countries, and Ola entered Australia recently to rival Uber. Ola and Zomato, like iflex, PayTm and Flipkart, are tied to the apron strings of those who funded them. But those who seek protection from capital dumping by foreign investors play it both ways. Flipkart, for instance, is talking to Walmart to sell a big chunk of itself to the giant US, even as it competes with Amazon.

In such a scenario, it pays for policymakers and ardent technology patriots to ask what it really means to be Indian. On the one hand, India cannot let its consumers down, or allow unfair competition. But nor can it sidestep its national pride or lose its grip over intellectual property developed in India. It is natural for entrepreneurs to seek control and/or get rich, but you can't have it all. Governments cannot fall prey to simplistic lobbying in a complex universe of emerging businesses and technologies.

A balance has to be struck by the government so that inward-looking ideologies do not speak the dubious language of national pride, while it ensures that innovative, audacious local entrepreneurs get that extra bit of support.

The whole thing is like solving a Rubik's cube with many coloured sides. Perhaps it is time for policy-makers to put together an Indian-ness index so that the nation can nurture Indian technology entrepreneurs better without being gamed into Nehruvian-style protectionism. On the other hand, global giants cannot be allowed to steamroll Indian startups.

If a company scores high on Indian incorporation, Indian stake holding, patents filed by Indian entities and a higher global footprint, you could call it high on the Indian-ness index. Such a company may deserve special support from the government in terms of land, tax incentives or special funding windows.

On the other hand, if a global company incorporated overseas generates a huge number of jobs in India or serves the Indian market by ushering in cutting-edge practices, it does not deserve any negative discrimination. But it may score high on a swadeshi index if it employs more people in India directly or indirectly, with a higher weightage for direct employment. If it lists in India, it may be given a higher weightage.

The NITI Aayog maybe the right agency to spearhead such an index with an accompanying philosophy that can lead to guidelines for banks, budget-makers or state governments. Like the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index or the UNDP's Human Development Index, a swadeshi index can be a useful tool in building technology giants out of India.

If startups and companies are ranked according to such an index, it might open avenues for India to have its pride of place on the global technology map.

The author is a senior journalist. He tweets as @madversity

Read the other parts of the series here:

Part 1: Right or Left? Home or away? The time has come for India to talk double-edged tech nationalism

Part 2: Facebook crisis holds lessons for India and Aadhaar: we need multi-pronged regulation to ensure fair play and innovation

Part 3: Visionaries or 'employeepreneurs'? India's tech unicorns hide weaknesses that deserve a hard look

Part 5: Tech needs a MAD formula: It is time for India to make the transition from 'dukandar' to disruptor

Part 6: True tech power comes from harvesting patents: ISRO, Cipla and Biocon show the way for future entrepreneurs

Part 7: Engineered in India: Technology transformation must provide solutions for sustainable development
Telecom companies' pre-tax losses widened to a staggering Rs 38,153 crore in the 2016-17 fiscal from Rs 1,699 crore in the preceding year

New Delhi: Telecom companies' pre-tax losses widened to a staggering Rs 38,153 crore in the 2016-17 fiscal from Rs 1,699 crore in the preceding year, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Also, 24 out of 50 companies reported losses before tax during 2016-17, the government said.

"Based on audited/unaudited information submitted by telecom service sector companies to TRAI, the profit-before-tax (PBT) for the telecom service sector companies has decreased from Rs (-) 1,699 crore for the financial year 2015-16 to Rs (-)38,153 crore for the financial year 2016-17," Sinha said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

"The government ensures healthy competition in telecom sector. Recently, TRAI has reiterated the regulatory principles of non-predatory, non-discrimination and transparency in tariff offers vide Telecommunication Tariff (63rd Amendment) Order, 2018 on February 16, 2018," Sinha said.

The note of minister's reply mentioned that the likelihood of a company getting into financial stress is high when the debt to Ebitda ratio is 4 times or above on a sustained basis.

As per data shared by Sinha, telecom major Airtel had the debt to Ebitda ratio of 3 times, Idea Cellular 5.8 times and Reliance Communications (RCom) 7.4 times.

In view of financial stress and market scenario, Idea Cellular opted for combining its wireless business with Vodafone and RCom decided to adopt strategic debt restructuring process.

Sinha said that bankruptcy petitions have been filed by Aircel and its subsidiaries before National Company Law Tribunal.

He said that during radiation audit by the vigilance arm of the Department of Telecom (DoT), it was revealed that most of the mobile towers of Aircel were switched off which led to non-generation of porting code and further causing great inconvenience of the customers.

"It has also been mentioned that the quality of service being offered to the customers is getting adversely affected... DoT has issued direction to M/s Aircel Limited on 19.03.2018 for compliance of various clauses of the agreement including those relating to customer services and quality of performance," Sinha said.
An army jawan was on Tuesday killed while four others including a lieutenant were injured as Pakistani troops shelled mortars at forward posts

Jammu: An army jawan was on Tuesday killed while four others including a lieutenant were injured as Pakistani troops shelled mortars at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The cross-border shelling by Pakistan troops started in Krishna Ghati sector on Tuesday morning and continued for over two hours, resulting in injuries to five soldiers including an officer, an army officer said.

One of the injured soldiers later succumbed to injuries at the military hospital.

A police official said a lieutenant and two junior commissioned officers were among the injured and they were evacuated to command hospital in Udhampur district for specialized treatment.

Earlier, defence spokesman Lt Col NN Joshi said that Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing from 07.00 hours using small arms, automatics and mortars.

"Indian Army has retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked ceasefire violation, he said.

This is for the third straight day that Paksitani troops have violated the ceasefire and targeted forward posts and villages in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

However, the shelling failed to have any impact on cross-LoC trade which takes place between for four days a week from Tuesday to Friday along the Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch district and Salamabad in Uri sector of Baramulla district.

Dozens of trucks from either side crossed the border from the trade facilitation centres, the officials said.

With the latest killing, the death toll in the Pakistani shelling along the LoC this year has gone up to 27.

The dead included 13 security personnel and five members of a family who lost their lives when a shell hit their house in Balakote sector of Poonch district on 18 March.

Pakistan troops have violated ceasefire along the LoC and IB over 650 times this year.
The political and civil administration in Kashmir has failed to use the opening provided by security forces in engaging the youth and offering a counter-narrative to the one peddled by Pakistan and its operatives within Kashmir.

By all accounts, Sunday was an extraordinary day for Indian security forces. In a coordinated, pre-dawn crackdown in three different locations in south Kashmir, forces neutralised 13 terrorists and managed to catch one alive. Two among those killed were involved in last year's kidnap and murder of Kashmiri army officer Lieutenant Umar Fayaz. This was apparently one of the biggest counter-insurgency operations jointly carried out by the army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and central paramilitary forces.

Encounter concluded. One more terrorist body recovered from Shopian encounter site. In all 12 terrorists neutralised (one more being ascertained), 3 soldiers martyred and 1 terrorist caught alive. Its unfortunate that stone pelting around encounter site cost 4 civilian deaths. https://t.co/1hD4qPid45  Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) April 1, 2018

No anti-terrorist operation, certainly not on this scale, can be conducted without any collateral damage. The difficulty level is higher in Kashmir given the close synergy between terrorists and their over-ground workers/civilian sympathisers. Flash mobs rushing to encounter sites, pelting stones to distract security forces, trying to give trapped terrorists a safe passage and in the process falling prey to bullets and pellets have become tragically commonplace.

On Sunday too, two civilians were killed in the encounter while trying to shield terrorists. Two others died later in the day during anti-India protests that predictably turned violent. The Indian Express reports of "fierce clashes" in parts of south Kashmir between thousands of civilians and security forces in which "more than 70" were reportedly injured.

So far 11 militants & 2 civilians believed to be dead in South Kasnmir encounters. Around 8,000 residents of Kachhdora and adjoining villages have engaged troops in clashes with stone pelting. One civilian Zubair of Gopalpora killed, around 100 injured in clashes. Net shut down.  Ahmed Ali Fayyaz (@ahmedalifayyaz) April 1, 2018

Three jawans also laid down their lives. However, from credibility of intelligence inputs to the planning and simultaneous execution of such a challenging search-and-cordon operation spanning three different locations (Dragad and Kachhdora villages in Shopian and Brenti Dyalgam in Anantnag), the hot pursuit qualifies as a major success.

Security forces aren't a monolithic unit working under a central command. The success of the operation was incumbent on various factors  including intelligence sharing between military and local policemen, close synergy between field commanders of the Indian Army, paramilitary and Jammu and Kashmir Police Special Operations Group (SOG) and the teamwork of all three agencies. They also benefited from a stroke of luck.

According to police, seven terrorists were killed at Dragad and five at Kachhdora in Shopian, while one more was liquidated in Anantnag. Terrorists groups rarely place operatives in large numbers in one location to minimise damage. The fact that seven were located in one spot and five in another points to complacency within their ranks.

Beyond the obvious, the operation also owes its success to the army's recent change in tactics. A greater deployment of mobile vehicle check posts (MVCP) have made intelligence gathering easier. These, in turn, are being led by non-commissioned officers due to a recent decentralisation of command structure. This facilitates greater mobility and leaves officers free to plan and undertake more operations. This tactical change has seen the neutralisation of 45 terrorists in the state this year.

More than 200 terrorists were killed by security forces in anti-terror operations in 2017, the highest since 2010. In 2016, the number was 165, with a high personnel-to-terrorist ratio. Yet, for all the recent success of armed forces in cleaning up terrorists, the cycle of violence continues unabated. The reasons are many. Chief among them is fact that much of the insurgency in Kashmir is now home-grown. While the security forces have become smarter in isolating and eliminating terrorists, they have not been able to stop more and more young Kashmiris from taking up arms against the state.

According to Lt General A K Bhatt, General Officer Commanding, 15 Corps, who has been instrumental in leading the clean-up operation, nearly half of the 250 terrorists currently operating in the Valley are "local". About 120 of these are believed to be active in south Kashmir.

Col Bhatt has issued an appeal to parents to urge their children not to join militancy but it is unfair to blame the army if Kashmiri youth are getting radicalised. The army can man the gates, guard the frontiers, hold on to the land, clean up jihadists and even run 'sadbhavna campaigns'.

The political and civil administration in Kashmir has failed to use the opening provided by security forces in engaging the youth and offering a counter-narrative to the one peddled by Pakistan and its operatives within Kashmir. The governments at the Centre and state appear clueless about the nature of the problem, leave alone providing a solution. There is no common ground between the various administrative arms  central, state and local  on whether the problem in Kashmir is social, political or religious.Caught between the twin stools of BJP and PDP's divergent political compulsions, Kashmir is rapidly sliding down the radicalisation slope.

There is now a very real fear that beleaguered Islamic State in its global retreat may choose Kashmir as its battleground for turnaround. The ground for such an eventuality is fertile. In his piece Islamic States's Growing Presence and Violence In Kashmir, Nazir Masoodi writes, "two recent encounters have a frightening message. Radicalised youth influenced by the Jihadi syndicate in India and Pakistan are turning their attention and efforts to Kashmir. At Balhama, among the three jihadis killed two weeks ago was Abu Hamas, a Pakistani national who crossed the LoC a year ago as a Lashkar operative but switched to the Al-Qaeda-affiliate in Kashmir. In Anantnag, Mohammad Taufeeq from Telangana was killed along with Eisa Fazili, a local Islamic State 'poster-boy' during a fierce encounter Taufeeq was radicalised into Islamic State ideology through online chat rooms and then travelled to Kashmir to participate in Islamic State attacks."

Massive funeral procession of the slain militant Eisa Ruhullah attended by over 20,000 people in Soura Srinagar despite government's restrictions on assembly of more than 4 people. Some black flags. Some green flags. Gaining ground in Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/OIlh9oEbuU  Ahmed Ali Fayyaz (@ahmedalifayyaz) March 12, 2018

First Kashmiri terrorist to be draped in black flag of ISIS...!!!!! (Sajjad Gilkar who lynched DSP Ayub Pandith) Via @asifsuhaf pic.twitter.com/f0ZiASQ0xO  Manak Gupta (@manakgupta) July 13, 2017

The reality of Islamic State's growing presence should make the administration sit up and take notice but in the dystopian nightmare of Kashmir, the administration is interested more in political survival than administrative duties. Mehbooba Mufti has gone so far down the denial road that when Haseeb Drabu, a heavyweight minister in her own Cabinet suggested that Kashmir problem is social, not political, she promptly booted him out of finance ministry.

Drabu's fault was that at a recent conclave in New Delhi, he had held that "Kashmir should not be seen as a conflict state or a political problem but as a society with social issues". Interestingly, Drabu's statement evoked sharp criticism from the opposition National Conference and separatist leader Yasin Malik. And as it turn out, from the J&K chief minister as well. A minister within Mufti's Cabinet told Firstpost: "He (Drabu) never presented himself as our man in BJP, but BJP's man in PDP."

In this surreal alignment of political interests in Kashmir, little wonder that anyone has any interest in arresting the Valley's slide into jihadism. As long as that is the case, the army and terrorists will remain locked in a vicious cycle of violence, come summer or winter.
Yogi Adityanath appealed to the people not to vitiate law and order, amid reports of violence in western UP during the Bharat Bandh called by Dalit outfits

Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday appealed to the people not to vitiate law and order, amid reports of violence in parts of western Uttar Pradesh during the Bharat Bandh called by Dalit outfits against the Supreme Court court on the SC/ST Act.

"The law and order should not be disturbed by these protests. The government is serious towards the development and progress of Dalits. I appeal to them not to disturb the law and order," Adityanath told reporters.

"Both the Centre and the state government are dedicated to the welfare of the backward castes, the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes. If there is any issue, one can bring them to the notice of the government," he said.

There are reports of the violence in some western UP districts during the protests by Dalits.

The Supreme Court on 20 March had banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, a legislation meant to protect the marginalised communities from abuse and discrimination.

Ruling that no arrest can be made under the Act without prior permission, the apex court had also held that a court can grant anticipatory bail if it, prima facie, finds the complaint is an abuse of the law, false, motivated and intended to blackmail or harass a person.

This was necessary, the court had said, to prevent the "rampant misuse of the tough provisions of the law."
While the administration in Punjab took preventive measures on Sunday in the wake of the Bharat Bandh called by Dalit organisations, including shutdown of schools, deployment of paramilitary forces and snapping of internet services, efforts in other states failed as a large number of protesters showed up.

Six persons died in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in the violence that erupted during protests by Dalits on Monday against the recent Supreme Court order seen as diluting the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Violent protests were also reported in Gujarat and Bihar.

While the administration in Punjab took preventive measures on Sunday in the wake of the Bharat Bandh called by Dalit organisations, including shutdown of schools, deployment of paramilitary forces and suspension of internet services, efforts in other states failed as a large number of protesters showed up.

On 20 March, the Supreme Court banned automatic arrest and registration of criminal cases under the SC/ST Act. To prevent misuse of the law, it said action cannot be taken against public servants and private citizens without conducting an inquiry within seven days of the alleged incident. The Centre filed a review petition against the order on Monday.

In Meerut, two police outposts were torched and protesters attacked police on their way to control the outraged mob. The Meerut district collectorate was also attacked by a mob, and protesters resorted to firing. Several vehicles were damaged and torched.

While Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said there was no involvement of her party in the violence, she demanded strict action against those who took the law in their hands. Though I support this movement, strict action should be taken against those who indulged in violence, she said.

Additional police was sent to Madhya Pradeshs Gwalior, Morena and Bhind districts to douse the agitation as incidents of stone-pelting and loot were reported. Section 144 was also imposed in some parts of Gwalior, prohibiting assembly of more than four persons. Later, in Bhind, Indian Army was also called in to quell the tension. Over 19 persons are reported to be injured in the state.

Dalit protesters also targeted state-run bus services in Gujarat. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation halted the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) after reports of its buses being vandalised. Similar reports came in from Dani Limda, Naroda, Bapunagar and Kalupur. Agitation also spilled onto the roads in Rajasthan where nearly 30 persons involved in blocking highways in Ajmer and Jaipur districts were detained by the police.

In Punjab, there were reports of violence in Jalandhar and Bathinda districts when agitators entered into scuffle with shopkeepers and local residents. Three locals were injured in Bathinda. Almost all important highways connecting the northern parts of the country were blocked. Meanwhile, the mortal remains of Indians killed by the Islamic State reached Amritsar in the afternoon and headed towards different parts of the state. Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had on Sunday appealed to protesters to not disrupt the way of vehicles carrying the remains on humanitarian grounds.

Protests were also held in almost all districts of Haryana. In Karnal, protesters squatted on the national highway and disrupted traffic for some time in the presence of police personnel. Police struggled to remove them amid sloganeering against any changes in the SC/ST Act.

At Fatehabad districts Tohana, forceful shutdown of shops to make the bandh successful resulted in scuffles. Protests in Rohtak remained peaceful. In Bhiwani, some protesters barged into a local mall and beat up two youngsters going to watch a movie. Alert mall employees saved the situation from getting out of hand.

Movement of several trains were disrupted in many parts of the country, including Bihar, Punjab and Odisha. In Bihar, there were attempts to damage rail lines. The administration was caught unawares despite Dalit organisations announcing date of protests well in advance. Movement of several trains were restricted owing to protesters gathering on rail lines.

In Punjab, rail movement between strategic Jalandhar and Amritsar stations were stopped. Trains to Jammu and Kashmir, also used by military, go through these stations. Effigies representing the central government were also burnt on rail tracks in Jalandhar.

SR Darapuri, retired IPS officer and Dalit thinker based out of UP, said despite the heavy participation of the community in protests, the violence could have been avoided. He speculated this was an attempt by some agencies to defame the Dalit movement, and blamed the government for not being able to contest changes in the SC/ST Act in the Supreme Court earlier.

Darapuri also stressed that there was no participation of political leaders during Mondays protests, that makes it clear that the Dalit of India stood for himself and demanded his rights that have been denied to him.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said the government was committed to the welfare of Dalits and minorities. I urge the protesters to calm down. The state government and the Centre is committed to the welfare of minorities and Dalits. The protest should always be peaceful and such violence will not at all be tolerated, he said.

The authors are members of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters
The magnitude of Dalit mobilisation and aggression shown by community members during Bharat Bandh, seeking review of Supreme Court order diluting provisions of the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act should cause a great deal of concern to Narendra Modi government and the BJP.

The magnitude of Dalit mobilisation and aggression shown during Bharat Bandh by community members seeking review of Supreme Court order purportedly diluting provisions of the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act should cause a great deal of concern to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's hurried statement that the government was filing a review petition in apex court is indicative that the ruling dispensation was acutely aware of the potential damage.

Days developments: Reports of arson, destruction of public property, rioting, stone-pelting, attack on security personnel, roads and trains being blockaded across northern and western India clearly suggested that Prasads statement had no takers.

The protesters, with active support from various political parties, and groups in Opposition, and tacit support from a section of ruling NDA went ahead with their pre-meditated plan.

Perhaps they believed that confrontation with authorities would be more beneficial than negotiation.

That drawing the attention of the nation would make them a social and political force to reckon with. They also knew that the machinery of law enforcement would not unleash their brute force to contain the protests, or do things which it otherwise equipped to do to prevent protesters from turning violent.

The pictures of a section of demonstrators carrying lathis and a person in the crowd seen firing from a revolver were disturbing. It is not clear as yet whether they were genuine protesters or miscreants who'd infiltrated an unruly, unorganised crowd.

BSP chief Mayawati and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad lost no time in holding press conferences and lashing out at the Modi government and BJP. Congress president Rahul Gandhi had already taken to Twitter to blast BJP/RSS. Politically, their response was understandable: They couldnt let go of an opportunity to berate the BJP government and be seen to be sympathetic to the Dalit cause. But then they wouldnt comment on the kind of vandalism that was seen in various parts of the country, particularly in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Whatever the motive of BJPs political opponents, the ruling party cant understate the kind of impact Dalit mobilisation of this kind could have on its electoral prospects. Beyond a win or loss, in an election and in multiple state elections, the BJP as ruling party will also have to address other concerns: The impact on social fabric.

In RSS and BJPs socio-political philosophy, Dalits are part of Hindu social structure and form an important part of Hindutva brand of politics. As per 2011 census, the Scheduled Caste population was around 20.14 crore (16.6 percent of population). While India's population grew 17.7 percent from 2001-2011, the Dalit population grew by 20.8 percent.

Dalits have traditionally been supportive of the Congress, but the community shifted its support to various regional parties, and to an extent, the BJP. The BJP chose to make Ram Nath Kovind President of India precisely because it wanted to send a message that it was sensitive to the cause of the Dalits. Long ago, Bangaru Laxman was appointed as BJP chief but that experimented ended with failure. However, the party continued to woo Dalits through various other measures.

Dalit outreach has been high on Modi's agenda since he became prime minister. He'd keep talking of BR Ambedkar and would launch various schemes targeted to benefit this underprivileged community.

In an exclusive interview given to Network 18 Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi in September 2016, Modi talked at length about Dalit issues and why there was a spurt in protest in the name of protecting the community. This is what Modi had to say (the context is as relevant today as when this interview was given): "We have a culture dating back thousands of years. We have seen some imbalances in our society. We have to intelligently take our society out of this imbalance... ever since I celebrated the 125th anniversary of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, many people thought that Modi is a devotee of Ambedkar. They started having problems. We identified five sacred places associated with Babasaheb Ambedkar: Mau, the birthplace of Babasaheb Ambedkar; Nagpur; Mumbai, where we set up his memorial; memorials at two places in Delhi; or converting the place where he stayed in London, as a memorial. In a way we set up five pilgrimage spots".

"All those self-appointed guardians trying to create tension in the country did not like this: That Modi is with the Dalits. That Modi devotes himself to tribals. I am devoted to the development of all Dalits, oppressed, underprivileged and deprived. Those who see this as an obstruction to their politics are the ones creating trouble. And this is why they are leveling baseless allegations. All those who have fed this country the poison of caste divide have destroyed this country and must stop giving political overtones to social problems. We must go forwards with a purpose".

In summer of 2016, during Simhastha Mahakumbh, BJP president Amit Shah landed at Balmiki Dham temple in Ujjaina symbol of spirituality of Dalits which stood in defiance of upper caste dominance in Hindu religiosityto take a holi dip. Shah was not alone. Firstpost reported that the sankaracharyas, mahamadelshwars, gurus, mathadhis, peethadhis all took time off from their akharas, mutts, temples, peeths, camp sites and headquarters in Ujjain, and from the rest of the country, to join him and send a message: Dalits were as much a part of the Hindu community as anyone else.

Shah continued his Dalit outreach programme in various states. And that surely helped BJP score victory in various states, including Uttar Pradesh where Dalit population is highest in the country (22 percent). This is a community which not only votes in good numbers but votes decisively in favour of a particular party.

Mondays mobilisation can potentially upset BJPs electoral calculations in coming elections in Karnataka (where polling is on 12 May) and later in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and finally all-important 2019 general elections. Modi-Shah would surely be conscious of this and make a counter move to retain the faith of the Dalit community.
Violent protests erupted on Monday during a nationwide bandh called by Dalit outfits against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, leaving one person dead and many injured in Madhya Pradesh and disrupting normal life in many states. Here are the key developments.

Violent protests erupted on Monday during a nationwide bandh called by Dalit outfits against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, leaving seven persons dead and many injured across northern states and disrupting normal life. While some states ordered the closure of educational institutions and curtailed communication and transport services, incidents of arson and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab, among other states. Here are the key developments.

Seven dead across India, five in Madhya Pradesh alone

Altogether seven have died across India with five alone being reported dead from Madhya Pradesh. One of the protesters has lost their life in Meerut city of Western Uttar Pradesh, city's SSP Manzil Saini confirmed on Monday. A 28-year-old former son of sarpanch, Pawan Jatav, was killed in Khairthal in Rajasthan's Alwar district during Dalit protests against the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act, officials said. "Two people were killed in Gwalior while one person each died in Bhind and Morena districts in cross-firing during protests," Inspector General (Law and Order) Makrand Deoskar told PTI in Bhopal. Uttar Pradesh Police said that one person has died and three others were seriously injured during Dalit protests in the state.

Curfew in MP towns; army on standby in Punjab: how governments handled outbreak of violence

Curfew was imposed in Morena, Gwalior and Bhind districts of Madhya Pradesh after five people died in violent protests and several others were injured. The army was called in Bhind district, where six people were injured in firing by protesters, to control the situation, Bhind Superintendent of Police Prashant Khare said. Internet services were also suspended in towns of Bhind, Morena, Gwalior and Sagar. While Section 144 was imposed in parts of Rajasthan in Barmer, Jalore, Sikar and Ahore, nearly 25-30 companies of additional forces were deployed across the state. Internet services are also suspended.

Prohibitory orders were imposed in Barmer after four cars were torched. "Situation is now under control," Barmer District Collector Nakate Shivprasad Madan said.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government brought in the army and paramilitary forces and asked them to be on standby as a precautionary measure in Punjab. Uttar Pradesh Police arrested 448 people, including a BSP leader, in order to control the violence in western parts of the state.

The Centre also rushed 800 anti-riot policemen to Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh after violent protests erupted during a nationwide bandh called by Dalit outfits against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Two companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel have been sent to Meerut and one company each to Agra and Hapur (all in UP), a home ministry official said.

Director General of Police (DGP), OP Singh, said the situation is under control in Agra, Sambhal and Hapur and that anti-riot police have been deployed there. "We have sought more force from the Centre that will be deployed there. We are keeping an eye on the situation, which is under control," he said.

Train services of Northern Railways hit

Many trains, such as Saptakranti Express, Utkal Express and the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani as well as the Kanpur Shatabdi, were stopped ahead of Ghaziabad in Meerut and Modinagar, officials said. A group of about 2,000 people disrupted trains at the Hapur station as well, disrupting the movement of many goods trains, they added. Protests were also witnessed at Ambala and Rohtak in Haryana as well as in Chandigarh.

In the national capital region, protesters squatted on tracks at several places, stopping trains, including the Dehradun Express and the Ranchi Rajdhani, while a Northern Railway official said services were also disrupted by a mob in Ghaziabad. The protesters gathered at Mandi House in Delhi and blocked the road outside the metro station there, bringing traffic to a halt and inconveniencing commuters travelling towards ITO and other stretches. A heavy police force was deployed at Mandi House in view of the protests.

Shouting slogans of 'Jai Bhim', the protesters also blocked one of the carriageways of Barakhamba Road affecting traffic on the stretch, police said. Nearly 30 people  20 from Ajmer and 10 from Jaipur  were detained in Rajasthan as protesters blocked rail and road traffic and vandalised public property, including a train, in many parts of the state. Protestors damaged glass windows of Shatabdi Express at Khairthal railway station, Khairthal GRP SHO Ramesh Chandra said. According to a railways spokesperson, movement of seven trains was affected in North-Western railway region. Train movement in Alwar and Khairthal has also been affected, officials added, reported PTI.

Protesters stormed the Patna Junction where they forced the closure of the ticket booking counters and squatted on railway tracks disrupting the movement of a number of trains. Normal life was partially affected in several parts of Odisha as well after activists of 'Adivasi Dalit Sena' staged a rail roko at Khetrajpur station in Sambalpur which caused a delay in the running of some trains, officials said.

In the state capital of Bhubaneswar, activists of different Dalit organisations put up road blockades near Vani Vihar, Jayadev Vihar and Acharya Vihar areas.

Centre files review petition in Supreme Court

The Government of India has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court on its order on the atrocities on SC/ST act. The Centre has told the court that granting an anticipatory bail to a accused in such a case could terrorise the victims. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh appealed for peace, while Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government was not a party to the Supreme Court decision on the SC/ST Act and "respectfully" did not agree with its reasoning behind the verdict. Prasad also said the government has filed a very comprehensive review petition in the matter.

Political reaction

Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan, a prominent Dalit leader and head of NDA ally LJP, appreciated the government's quick decision to file the petition and accused Congress of having done nothing for Baba Saheb Ambedkar.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath appealed for peace and urged the people not to vitiate law and order, as violence was reported from many districts including Azamgarh where protesters torched two state-run buses, injuring several passengers.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi criticised the BJP for the plight of Dalits and said he saluted "brothers and sisters" from the community who have hit the streets to demand protection of their rights from the Modi government. It is in the DNA of the RSS/BJP to keep Dalits at the lowest level in Indian society. Anyone who challenges this thought is crushed with violence, he said.

BSP chief Mayawati alleged that the protests could have been prevented had the Centre not delayed filing the review petition in Supreme Court against its order on SC/SCT atrocities act. While extending her party's strong support to the Dalit protests across North India, she blamed the BJP government's casteist mindset for the simmering anger in the community. She also claimed that the cases of atrocities against Dalits have gone up since the BJP government came to power.

Kejriwal extended support to Dalits, saying the SC/ST (PoA) Act should be preserved while Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded Central government ordinance to strengthen SC/ST (PoA) Act.

In Patna, MLAs from the Opposition parties, as well as some from the ruling side, demanded a resolution be passed by the House urging the Centre to take adequate measures to undo the recent Supreme Court order on arrests under the SC/ST Act.

CBSE postpones exams

In the view of the Bharat Bandh, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has postponed Class XII and Class X examinations scheduled to be held on Monday in Punjab. The CBSE said it has received a letter of request, dated 1 April, 2018, from the director general (school education) of the Punjab government to postpone all its examinations scheduled to be held on Monday on account of apprehensions of law and order problems and other disturbances in the day during the 'Bharat Bandh'.

The state government has also taken a decision to keep all schools shut for the day, the CBSE said referring to the letter of the state government. "Taking congnisance of the letter of the director general (school education), the CBSE decided to postpone all class 12 and 10 examinations scheduled for 2 April, 2018 in the state of Punjab," it said in a statement issued late in the night on Sunday.

The Supreme Court had on 20 March had diluted certain provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, in a bid to protect 'honest' public servants discharging bona fide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the Act. The verdict is being widely criticised by the Dalits and the Opposition who claim that the dilution of the Act will lead to more discrimination and crimes against the backward community.

With inputs from PTI

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On Monday, as large parts of the country faced the heat of Dalit anger following a 'Bharat Bandh' call given by several groups, Maharashtra remained largely peaceful.

On Monday, as large parts of the country faced the heat of Dalit anger following a 'Bharat Bandh' call given by several groups, Maharashtra remained largely peaceful. Even as neighbouring Madhya Pradesh saw six deaths, Maharashtra only witnessed sporadic incidents of violence and there were no reports of casualties from the state. Meanwhile, Prakash Ambedkar, president of the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh warned that a 'Syria-like' situation is on the cards for India.

This came less than three months after the same state witnessed an outpouring of Dalit anger during the Bhima-Koregaon violence. Mumbai and Pune were both singed by protesters' ire on 4 January, and there was large-scale loss of public and private property reported from many areas of the state.

Back then, the state government suffered losses to the tune of Rs 700 crore and over 300 people were detained in Mumbai alone.

Fast forward three months and the state has been remarkably peaceful. Ambedkar said things were peaceful because unlike in January, things weren't political this time. "This was a protest called mainly by the social media groups. Sporadic groups participated in this of their own violation. But the community leaders stayed away. This meant things were comparatively better," Ambedkar said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP government is not taking any action against religious violence in India. The government cannot differentiate between the people of India on the grounds of caste. Otherwise very soon India will become Syria," he said.

He added that the Central government is responsible for such an atmosphere created for Dalits in the country. "It is because of this that Dalits and other minority groups agitate on the streets," he added, alleging that the state as well as Central government has failed to take any strict action to avoid the violence.

"Minorities are increasingly feeling insecure. The recent developments have angered the Dalits as well. The situation is going out of control. As a result, a Syria-like situation may arise in the country," he warned.

Stray incidents of violence were reported from Nashik and Nandurbar districts of northern Maharashtra and Nanded in Marathwada. Ambedkar said he didn't make any statement exhorting the youth in other parts of the state to protest, and neither did prominent Dalit leader Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India (RPI).

"This doesn't mean we prevented people from protesting. But we also didn't encourage protests," Ambedkar said. "A lot of people said they were spurred into action by a call made by Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani. But we didn't throw our active support behind this movement."

A possible reason for this could also be that colleges have their exams scheduled this time. A large number of protesters the last time around were college students, but not wanting to risk missing their exams or ruining their grades, they too stayed away. This further reduced the number of people who were present on the ground.

Ambedkar further added that it's a Supreme Court verdict that the mobs were protesting over, not a legislative decision. "The court's decision can't be contested on the streets. The solution to this has to come through the government drawing up a law, not by burning public property," he said.
A case has been registered against two policemen in connection with the death of a man during the Bharat Bandh protests in Madhya Pradesh, media sources said

Madhya Pradesh police registered an FIR against two of its officers in connection with the death of a man during the Bharat Bandh protests in Madhya Pradesh, ANI reported.

The victim, Mahavir Rajawat, died during Monday's protests in Bhind. Pathak had suffered bullet wounds during the protests in Morena when he was passing through the area during the Bharat Bandh.

A complaint was received against two constables in Bhind in connection with the death of Mahavir Rajwat who had suffered gunshot on Monday and died later, IG (Law & Order) Makrand Deuskar said to News18. He added that a case under Section 307 of IPC (attempt to murder) has been registered against the policemen.

The protests were a part of the 'Bharat bandh' called by Dalit organisations against the Supreme Court's 20 March order that purportedly diluted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Police action during Monday's protests lead to the death of seven people in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.

According to IANS, police said three deaths each had been reported from Gwalior and Bhind districts and one in Morena district. Around 100 people, including police personnel, were injured in the widespread violence that rocked the state on Monday.

Gwalior's Superintendent of Police Ashish told IANS 50 rioters had been taken into custody and were being questioned. News18 added that a total of 29 cases have been lodged in connection with the violence in Gwalior, 12 and 10 respectively in Bhind and Morena, he said, adding that the tally could go up later.

Curfew imposed on Monday in parts of Gwalior, Bhind and Morena districts continued on Tuesday. Police and paramilitary forces were deployed in large numbers but reports in Bhopal spoke of stray incidents of violence in some places. The widespread disturbances severely affected railway services, stranding hundreds at major stations such as Gwalior, Bina, Bhopal and Itarsi.

With inputs from agencies
In a bid to enrich its coffers by about Rs 1 lakh crore, the government has started the process of monetisation of more than 9,400 enemy properties by issuing guidelines and directing the office of the custodian to submit a list of all such movable and immovable assets within three months, officials said.

New Delhi: In a bid to enrich its coffers by about Rs 1 lakh crore, the government has started the process of monetisation of more than 9,400 enemy properties by issuing guidelines and directing the office of the custodian to submit a list of all such movable and immovable assets within three months, officials said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also constituted a valuation committee at the district level, headed by the district magistrate, and an inter-ministerial disposal committee, headed by an additional secretary, so that the process could be completed in a time-bound manner.

The move comes after the amendment of the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act 2017 and the Enemy Property (Amendment) Rules, 2018, which ensured that the heirs of those who migrated to Pakistan and China during partition and afterwards will have no claim over the properties left behind in India. The enemy properties were those left behind by the people who took citizenship of Pakistan and China. There are 9,280 properties left behind by Pakistani nationals and 126 properties left behind by Chinese nationals, a ministry official said.

The government has vested these properties in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India, an office instituted under the central government. The office of the custodian should submit a list of all enemy properties to the central government, the Home Ministry said.

"A list of all vested enemy properties (movable and immovable) shall be prepared by the custodian for its submission to the central government within three months from the publication of this order," it said.

For the purpose of valuation of the immovable enemy property, a valuation committee will be constituted at the district level with the district magistrate as the chairman besides two other official members. The committee shall consider the circle rate of the area where the property is situated or a rate fixed by the district administration as a mode of valuation of the property along with other valuation modes.

The custodian will prepare and submit the state-wise list of the enemy properties along with their valuation to the central government within one month from the date of receipt of the valuation report from the valuation committee. The central government will also constitute an Enemy Property Disposal Committee, with an additional secretary of the MHA as chairman and an additional secretary and financial adviser in the ministry, joint secretary in the Department of Disinvestment and Public Asset Management, joint secretary in the Ministry of Law and Justice, chief engineer, CPWD, Custodian of the enemy property for India as members, and the joint secretary in the MHA dealing with the enemy property as member-secretary.

The committee shall give its recommendation to the central government for the disposal of the enemy property or the manner in which the enemy property may be dealt with and matters connected with it.

The Enemy Property Disposal Committee will make recommendations to the central government in relation to the enemy property which includes the sale of enemy property, usage of enemy property by the ministries or departments of the central government, maintaining status quo and the transfer of the enemy property.

In case of vacant immovable enemy property, the Committee may recommend the purchaser offering the highest price for disposal of vacant immovable enemy property.

In case of occupied immovable enemy property, the Committee may recommend the percentage of valuation for its disposal to the existing occupier. The central government shall consider the recommendations of the Committee and take its decision, the order said.

The custodian may sell the movable enemy property such as shares, with the prior approval of the central government, in one or more lots by itself or by authorising any

professional body for such a sale. In case of a vacant immovable enemy property, the custodian or any authorised body may sell the property, in one or more lots to secure maximum sale price, with the prior approval of the central government by obtaining quotations from the persons interested in buying the immovable property, by inviting tenders from the public, by holding public auction or by any other method of sale.

The Custodian will also send a report to the central government of the enemy property (movable and immovable) disposed of whether by sale or otherwise, containing details such as the price for which the enemy property has been sold and the particulars of the buyer to whom the properties have been sold or disposed of and the details of the proceeds of sale or disposal, deposited into the Consolidated Fund of India.

Among the 9,280 properties left behind by Pakistani nationals, the highest 4,991 properties are located in Uttar Pradesh followed by West Bengal which has 2,735 such estates. There are 487 such properties in Delhi.

Among the 126 properties left behind by Chinese nationals, the highest 57 are located in Meghalaya followed by West Bengal with 29. Assam has seven such properties.

"The estimated value of all enemy properties is approximately Rs 1 lakh crore," Union minister of state for home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir had told Rajya Sabha earlier.

According to the new Act, 'enemy property' refers to any property belonging to, held or managed on behalf of an enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm.
Highlighting the differences between the BJP and its coalition partners in the northeast, the Congress on Monday accused the party of playing a 'dangerous game of destabilising the region through its blind quest for power at any cost.

New Delhi: Highlighting the differences between the BJP and its coalition partners in the North East, the Congress on Monday accused the party of playing a "dangerous game of destabilising the region through its blind quest for power at any cost.

The differences are on key issues such as the bifurcation of Tripura and Meghalaya, Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets as the BJP was set to form government with its partners in the northeast states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland.

BJP is following a dangerous game of destabilisation, subversion and usurpation of power in North East, unmindful of the stability, security, peace and progress. Hope Modiji had cared to learn from Rajivji who put Nation First and brought peace to the region by Assam and Mizo accords, he said.

Every Indian, he added, is concerned that assumption of power at any cost and by any means by the BJP doesn't blind it into destabilising the entire region.

Tell tale signs of BJPs blind quest for power superseding the stability of region, propagation of democracy, nipping the separatist tendencies and ignoring core issues of region are already visible, Surjewala said.

In Tripura, the Congress leader said, BJP has aligned with the IPFT, a party with division of the state as its election plank which is now demanding a tribal chief minister.

(It is) Time for Modi Government/BJP to address both issues. Does it stand for demand for division of State of Tripura? Would it reject the demand for a tribal chief minister? he asked.

In Nagaland, the BJP is in government with the NPF and yet fought and election in alliance with opposition party NDPP, the Congress leader said. The NPF won 26 seats and the NDPP won 18 seats.

With both NPF and NDPP staking claim to form the Government, Is Nagaland headed for another round of instability like in last 5 years? And Naga Accord? he asked.

In Manipur, the Congress leader said the BJPs coalition survives with the support of three NPF MLAs.

"Would the formation of a govt in Nagaland by BJP with NDPP (18 MLAs) ignoring the NPF (26 MLAs), only in the effort of a larger share of pie of power, not put the stability of Government in Manipur under a cloud?" he asked.

Moving on to Meghalaya, Surjewala said every discordant party that fought BJP and each other, "ideologically-politically-electorally", is sewn up to form the government at any cost  NPP+UDP+PDF+HSDP+BJP+Independent.

"Is this the answer to Meghalaya's aspirations and a stable Government?"

The chief ministerial candidate Conrad Sangma and his party NPP have promised division of Meghalaya and a separate state of Garoland, he said, asking if other parties agreed to this.

"Does Mr Sangma propose to carry out the promise on becoming chief minister? And what is Modijis/BJP take on it? Surjewala tweeted.

He, however, gave his partys best wishes to the people of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya, praying that peace, progress, cohabitation and development would be on the agendas of the new governments.
Kerala Assembly on Wednesday witnessed a noisy protest by Opposition UDF over what it called the 'continuous' absence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the House during the ongoing Budget Session.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Assembly on Wednesday witnessed a noisy protest by Opposition UDF over what it called the 'continuous' absence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the House during the ongoing Budget Session.

Vijayan, who is in New Delhi on Wednesday to take part in the CPM central committee meeting, did not attend the House on Monday also.

Opposition Congress-led UDF members stood up asking 'Where is the chief minister?" when PWD minister G Sudhakaran replied on behalf of Vijayan during the zero hour.

Though both Sudhakaran and Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said the chief minister had informed the business advisory committee of the legislature that he would be away today, the Opposition continued the protest.

UDF members said Vijayan, who holds the Home portfolio, skipped the session on Monday also when a notice for a motion was moved on the "highhandedness" of police.

He was present only for some time in the Assembly on Tuesday, they said during the brief protest.

Seeking to move a notice for an adjournment motion on the atrocities by goons and mafia gangs, K Muraleedharan (Congress) asked whether Vijayan was following the 'model' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who he alleged, used to skip Parliament sessions.

The MLA said the chief minister, who gave a miss to the Assembly session, had taken part in a programme of CITU, the trade union outfit of the Left party, on Monday.

He wanted to know whether the Central Committee meeting and CITU programme were more important to Vijayan than the Assembly session.

Sharing his party colleague's sentiments, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said though the chief minister was busy, he should realise the significance of attending Assembly sessions.

However, Sudhakaran refuted the Opposition charges and said Vijayan was a "model" chief minister who had participated the maximum number of days in the assembly proceedings.

He justified the chief minister attending party Central Committee meeting.
On April Fool's day, the Congress party tweeted a video in the format of news bulletins to mock Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

On April Fool's day, the Congress party mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party with a video news bulletin and a series of pictures poking fun at government schemes of the government such as demonetisation and Swachh Bharat. In response, BJP accused the grand old party of providing only "spoof governments" in India.

"An amount of Rs 15,00,000.00 has been CREDITED to your A/C on 01/04/2018 towards Acche Din. Ref No. http://BJP00000420. Total available balance Rs 0.00. Here are some other BREAKING NEWS stories trending this hour (sic)," the party tweeted in apparent jibe on demonetisation along with the following video:

PM-MyGovt

An amount of INR 15,00,000.00 has been CREDITED to your A/C on 01/04/2018 towards Acche Din. Ref No. https://t.co/Se1tLgez25 Avail.bal INR 0.00

Here are some other BREAKING NEWS stories trending this hour: #HappyJumlaDivas pic.twitter.com/N5SPnQIlsY  Congress (@INCIndia) April 1, 2018

The video claims that India has become free of corruption after demonetisation and that even aliens are coming to work in India after the government released 200 crore jobs. It goes on to claim that Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have "boosted" the prime minister's Swachh Bharat campaign by 'cleaning out' the government-owned Punjab National Bank. Congress also mocked the government over rising prices. It tweeted "Worried about price rise? The Modi govt has just shared a tip on how to tackle it" with this image:

Worried about price rise? The Modi Govt has just shared a tip on how to tackle it. #HappyJumlaDivas pic.twitter.com/nYOIELlIwI  Congress (@INCIndia) April 1, 2018

The tweets were shared with the hashtag #HappyJumlaDiwas referring to its previous allegations against the Centre of making only tall claims and not fulfilling its promises.

The BJP reacted to the video and party leader Sambit Patra told India Today that Congress only provided "spoof government" in all the years it ruled India.

The biggest jumla, he said, was "gareebi hatao" launched by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. He added that now that 18,000 villages are getting electrified and there's financial inclusion because of Jan Dhan scheme, the Congress is unnerved ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, were set afire by a violent mob on Tuesday afternoon in the Hindaun town in Karauli district

Jaipur: The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, were set afire by a violent mob on Tuesday afternoon in the Hindaun town in Karauli district of Rajasthan following which curfew was imposed in the area, a senior official said.

A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set ablaze houses of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and Congress MLA Bharosilal Jatav in the Hindaun City, District Collector, Karauli, Abhimanyu Kumar told PTI.

While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who also served as a minister in the state. The incident occurred a day after Rajasthan and several other states saw large scale protests and violence during a 'bandh' called by Dalit organisations.

Considering the law and order situation, curfew was clamped in the city, Kumar added.

He said the situation was tense since morning.

After incidents of stone pelting and arson, a mob set on for the houses of the MLA and the ex-MLA following which curfew has been clamped till Wednesday morning, an official said.

"The traders' association and upper castes are agitated in Hindaun City. They took out a procession on Tuesday and tried to enter the SC/ST dominated areas," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) NRK Reddy said.

"Police forces lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to cane charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse the mob," Reddy said.

Superintendent of Police, Karauli, Anil Kayal said after the incidents of arson and violence, nearly 40 people were detained in Hindaun City.
Given Indias vast experience in counterterrorism and peacekeeping operations, greater coordination with India represents a win-win situation for America.

Cooperation in the field of counterterrorism has become an important and critical pillar of deepening India-US strategic partnership. The India-US Counterterrorism Joint Working Group, which held its 15th meeting in New Delhi on 27 March, has reviewed a range of threats posed by regional and global terrorist groups, including cross-border terrorism in South Asia.

Both the countries have again committed to strengthening information sharing on dangerous terrorist outfits and individuals while exchanging views on efforts to counter the financing of regional and global terrorist organisations.

There is no doubt that India-US counterterrorism cooperation is now multidimensional and multifaceted. Underlining a very bright future for bilateral cooperation in this domain, the US Counterterrorism Coordinator, Nathan Sales, has recently declared: India is an incredibly important, incredibly valuable and incredibly close counterterrorism partner of the US.

In January this year, the US ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster, had also remarked: Each of our countries has suffered horrific terrorist attacks and continues to be targeted. We have a strong mutual interest in eliminating this threat to our societies. President DonaldTrump and other US leaders have been clear that we will not tolerate cross-border terrorism or terrorist safe havens anywhere.

In December 2017, both the countries held the inaugural meeting of India-US Designations Dialogue in New Delhi, and discussion revolved around ways to increase bilateral cooperation on terrorism-related designations. The establishment of this mechanism reflects shared commitments to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats. While exchanging information on procedures for pursuing designations against terrorist groups and individuals, India and the US also discussed best practices for effective implementation of the designations.

The India-US Joint Working Group on Counterterrorism, which was established in 2001, has led to the exchange of intelligence on terrorist financial operations and support for joint training in border management, surveillance techniques, and terrorist incident response. Both have launched several counterterrorism initiatives and have undertaken a wide spectrum of exercises involving their counterterrorism units.

Greater military ties have included joint counter-insurgency training of their army units, and special forces from both countries have particularly focused on high-altitude operations and training. For instance, the annual Yudh Abhyas joint military exercises held in September 2017 focused on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations.

Through the Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) program, the US agencies have trained scores of Indian security personnel in counterterrorism activities, including in explosives investigation and countermeasures, hostage negotiation, counterterrorism legislation, counterterror police training etc.

The Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative (CCI) was signed in 2010 to forge effective cooperation on counterterrorism, information-sharing, and capacity-building. The CCI has included several projects for enhancing joint counterterrorism capabilities through the sharing of advanced techniques, best practices, and investigative skills.

In 2014, the US created a homeland security working group under the bilateral High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG). The aim of HTCG is to facilitate joint access to counterterrorism-related technology. Cyberterrorism has emerged another major concern for India and the US.

Cooperation against cyberterrorism is an important feature of India-US counterterrorism cooperation. The framework for the India-US Cyber Relationship, the first such document the US has signed with any country, is aimed at promoting international law, public-private partnerships, and appropriate norms of state cyber-conduct.

In September 2015, New Delhi and Washington decided to transform their relationship into a defining counterterrorism partnership for the 21st century. In his June 2016 speech to the US Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the need to deepen security cooperation through a well-crafted policy that isolates those who harbour, support, and sponsor terrorists; that does not distinguish between good and bad terrorists, and that delinks religion from terrorism. His reference to Pakistan was unmistakable.

The intelligence services of India and America have increasingly collaborated on many regional terrorist threats, such as Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), the Haqqani Network, and the Islamic State.

A few days after his inauguration, Trump spoke to Modi on 24 January, during which both resolved that the United States and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism. Modis June 2017 visit to the US was also a great success from the counterterrorism perspective.

After the Modi-Trump meeting, the joint statement emphasised profound cooperation on counterterrorism, with the two leaders stress(ing) that terrorism is a global scourge that must be fought and terrorist safe havens rooted out in every part of the world.

The language on Pakistan was also sharp: The leaders called on Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. They further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, Pathankot, and other cross-border terrorist attacks perpetrated by Pakistan-based groups. Immediately after this, the US declared Hizbul Mujahideen (HuM) chief Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist.

The US has supported India in its persistent attempts to get the United Nations to designate Pakistan-based Masood Azhar a global terrorist. It was a proposal by the US, backed by France and Britain, to name Azhar a UN-designated terrorist that China decided to block in November last year.

The US has recently taken steps to blacklist Pakistan on issues pertaining to terrorism financing. The US persuaded Pakistans traditional allies, Saudi Arabia and China, to remove their earlier objections to Pakistan being placed on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list from June. The FATF acts as an international watchdog on issues of money-laundering and financing of terrorism.

Islamabad will now have to provide a detailed action plan on measures it will take on curbing funding for UN-designated terrorist groups. Already in the grey list, Pakistan runs the risk of being transferred from the grey to the black list in June if the FAFF is not satisfied with Islamabads actions to counterterror financing. America's economic assistance to Pakistan has already been placed on hold. Trump who has repeatedly asked Islamabad to do more in the fight against terrorism is clearly not satisfied by superficial and cosmetic steps taken by Pakistan.

Barriers

The real barrier to substantive counterterrorism cooperation between India and the US comes from Washington's complicated relationship with Islamabad. Pakistan continues to be the epicentre of terrorism problem in South Asia and beyond. Pakistans security establishment, supported by its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has been sponsoring terrorism against India and Afghanistan to further its foreign policy objectives  from the claim on the disputed Kashmir Valley to the installation of a pro-Pakistani regime in land-locked Afghanistan.

The Trump administration has publicly acknowledged Pakistans double-dealing with terrorism, accusing Islamabad of harbouring agents of chaos. Ever since the announcement of Trumps South Asia policy in August 2017, the US has been applying a lot of pressure on Pakistan to dismantle terror infrastructure.

However, the US officials have also felt compelled to cooperate with the Pakistani military, as they mistakenly believe that the latters help is essential to wind up the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Pakistan is also convinced that sooner, rather than later, the US will have to withdraw from Afghanistan, leaving the country open for a Pakistan-backed Taliban takeover.

Nearly every major attack on India has come from Pakistan, and despite frequent promises from Islamabad to not allow terrorism to emanate from its soil, the problem is worse than ever. Most of the terror attacks terrorists from across the border have been carried out along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border.

Last year witnessed more than 300 infiltrations from the LoC, the highest in four years, as well as a tremendous rise in the incidents of firing and attempts by the terrorists to sneak in. Although the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes in 2016 at the terror launch pads across the LoC to avenge the terror attacks in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, this has not deterred terrorists supported and sponsored by Pakistan from staging terror attacks. Indias minister of state for home, Hansraj Ahir, has informed the Parliament that 60 incidents of terror-related violence have taken place till 4 March this year, as against 39 such incidents during the same period last year.

Pakistan continues to reject evidence like wireless transcripts of conversations of JeMs terrorists involved in the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the vast evidence available of the LeTs role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Hafiz Saeed, who heads the UN-listed terrorist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), is playing hide and seek with the connivance of Pakistani authorities even one decade after the Mumbai attack.

Both India and the US have maintained that Saeeds charities are fronts for India-centric terrorist group LeT. In November last year, Saeed was released despite months of pressure by Washington on Islamabad over its support for terrorists. Trumps press secretary was forced to say that Saeeds freedom belies Pakistani claims that it will not provide sanctuary for terrorists... If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistans global reputation.

Moreover, Saeeds association with and promotion of Milli Muslim League (MML) has now led to fears that Pakistans military is renewing its push to lend terror groups greater legitimacy in Pakistani politics. Those concerns have deepened further with a high court decision on 9 March to approve the MMLs registration, permitting it to participate in general elections scheduled for July.

The incoming US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has also taken a harder line on Pakistan. In January, he had correctly argued: We see the Pakistanis continuing to provide a safe harbour, havens inside of Pakistan for terrorists who present risks to the United States. If they fix this problem, were happy to continue to engage with them and be their partner. But if they dont, were going to protect America. But despite coming under increasing American pressure, Pakistan is yet to take decisive measures against India-centric terrorists and jihadists.

The tough stand of Trump against Pakistan vindicates Indias longstanding position on the menace of cross-border terrorism.

However, Pakistan continues to escape major punishment for its flirtation with jihadist terror. It needs to be recognised that Americas recent FATF activism is primarily aimed to target Pakistans support for the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan. They are not significantly focused on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India.

Although, there is no doubt that the ISI proxies  the Haqqani Network  cannot be allowed to spread mayhem in Afghanistan, however it is equally true that any leniency towards India-specific terror groups  LeT and JeM  will scuttle chances of ensuring peace in South Asia, and will prove to be a huge barrier in countering terrorism in the region.

As long as Washington remains indecisive about the future of its relationship with Islamabad, Pakistan militarys support to terrorist proxies will keep the terror infrastructure intact. The solution to South Asias terrorism problem lies in an unambiguously hard stance on Pakistan rather than indulgence or hesitation.

To conclude, the rise in the incidence and lethality of terrorism in South Asia has brought India and the US closer, and both sides are increasingly coordinating their approaches to various aspects of counterterrorism. India is rightly portrayed as Americas long-term partner for greater counterterrorism cooperation, even while some differences persist between them.

Given Indias vast experience in counterterrorism, counter-insurgency, counter-narcotics, and peacekeeping operations, greater coordination with India represents a win-win situation for America.
There was no record of the 40 Indians captured by the terror group Islamic State in Iraq in any embassy as they had gone there through illegal travel agents, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said on Monday.

Amritsar: There was no record of the 40 Indians captured by the terror group Islamic State in Iraq in any embassy as they had gone there through illegal travel agents, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said on Monday. Thirty-nine of the 40 Indians were killed by the terror group, while one of them managed to escape posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh. Singh on Monday brought back the mortal remains of 38 Indians from Iraq in a special aircraft that landed at the Amritsar International airport. The presumed remains of one of those killed were yet to be positively identified.

"The external affairs ministry started a campaign in 2014 in which we say that one must not go through an illegal agent. There was no record of these 40 persons in an embassy. They migrated through illegal agents. When you go through illegal agents then it is difficult to find where one has gone," the minister told reporters. The minister said that had the government had any information about these people being in danger, it could have tried to save them.

He emphasised that both the state and central governments should work collectively to ensure the gullible people do not fall prey to illegal travel agents. "We have told each state that law and order is their responsibility and they should catch illegal agents in their respective states and take action against them...States and the Centre should work collectively in this direction. We do not want anybody to go illegally abroad. We want people to go legally so that we have their record," he said.

He expressed confidence that the Amarinder Singh government in Punjab would take action against illegal travel agents while asserting that there was an "effective" government in Punjab.

To a question on jobs as demanded by the family members of the victims, the minister said that the union external affairs minister had already told family members of the victims to provide detailed information about persons who are eligible for jobs.

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, flanked with Singh, said the state government would give Rs five lakh each to the family members of the victims. Besides, a member of each family will be given job as per qualification, he said. He further said that the state government had been giving Rs 20,000 per month to the family members of the victims who were killed in Iraq. Sidhu said the cabinet will hold a discussion on the illegal travel agents issue. To a question, Singh said that the Iraq-based Martyrs Foundation had advised against the opening of caskets.

"The Martyrs Foundation has told us that the way toxic contents were found (from where the mortal remains were taken out) and the way all this was done (embalming of bodies) when you open the casket it may pose danger and that is why they said it is better not to open it," he said. However, Sidhu said it is the responsibility of the administration to take mortal remains to their respective homes. "They (family members) can do whatever they want to do with it (bodies). This is their wish," said Sidhu. Family members had earlier claimed that they had been told by the administration not to open the caskets. Asked how they were killed, Singh, a former army chief, said that some of the persons were killed by bullets.

"When tests were conducted (on mortal remains) it was found that some persons were killed by bullets and however, in some cases, it is very difficult to say as to how they were killed," said Singh, adding that it was also not possible to ascertain when they were killed. "But we were told that it could be about one year (ago). But it is very difficult to say whether it is more than a year or less than a year," he said.

The Union minister of state also explained about how they located the mound from where the mortal remains were taken out in Iraq. "We were not allowed to go to Mosul through Erbil as the war was going on. After talking to the owner of the company for which these 40 men were working and others, we got information that a lot of people were buried near a place in Badush.

"We found a mound which was not natural. We sought a ground penetration radar and then we found some human skeletons (in the mound). Thereafter, digging exercise was started to bring out the mortal remains. We got a kara (iron bracelet worn by Sikhs) and long hair and then we thought they may belong to be our people. Thereafter, DNA sample exercise commenced. The 38 samples matched while 70 percent of one sample matched," he said, adding that he went to Iraq four times in search of Indian men.

To a query, he said that had they got any clue about the Indian men, they could have been saved like nurses were saved in Iraq. "Do you know about Indian nurses case? We knew about their condition and we asked them to get out of their place (in Iraq in 2014). Initially, they refused to leave the place, saying they were not in danger. But after four days, they told us their hospital was damaged. Then we rescued them. Had there been any information that these persons (40 Indian men) were in crisis at a particular location, we would have rescued them. The kind of situation in which Mosul was, I can claim that nobody could have entered that area in such a situation," he said.
The government has accorded out-of-turn promotions to four CRPF jawans for displaying extraordinary courage in thwarting 'fidayeen' attacks on the forces' camp in the Kashmir Valley in the recent past

New Delhi: The government has accorded out-of-turn promotions to four CRPF jawans for displaying extraordinary courage in thwarting 'fidayeen' attacks on the forces' camp in the Kashmir Valley in the recent past, the paramilitary on Tuesday said.

The decision to promote the troops to the next higher rank in view of their gallant action, by an order of the Union home ministry, has come in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) after a gap of about 14 years as the government had discontinued the policy owing to some reasons.

The first batch of three jawans who have been accorded the promotion include Head Constable AS Krishana and Constables K Dinesh Raja and Prafulla Kumar.

The three, belonging to the 45th battalion of the force, were instrumental in thwarting a terror attack on their camp in Sumbal in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir on 5 June last year.

"Due to their alertness and subsequent raising of an alarm, not only the terrorist attack was foiled but all the four heavily armed militants were neutralised on the spot itself," the CRPF said in a statement.

With the latest order, Krishana will be promoted to an assistant sub-inspector while his two other colleagues will be given the higher rank of head constable.

The fourth jawan, Constable Ghait Raghunath Ulhas was the alert sentry at the CRPF camp in Karan Nagar in Srinagar on 11 February when he spotted the movement of two armed militants and fired at them and denied them the opportunity to enter inside.

"The subsequent action by the security forces, that lasted for more than an hour, saw the neutralisation of both the militants," the force said.

Ulhas, of the 23rd battalion of the force, will now be promoted as a head constable.

The citation for the four personnel said they displayed courage of the highest order, presence of mind, alertness and unflinching determination and extraordinary valour.

The ranks will be accorded to the four men during a special event, a senior official said.

The CRPF, the country's largest paramilitary force, has deployed about 70 battalions (about 70,000 personnel) for counter-insurgency and security operations in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the Kashmir Valley.
The Gujarat HC, in a recent case, has observed that marital rape should be made an offence. However, there is a long way to go for such a law to become a reality.

The Gujarat High Court on Monday gave relief to a man accused of raping his wife on the grounds that there is no law criminalising marital rape. Hearing a petition filed by a doctor seeking the quashing of an FIR for rape registered against him by his wife, Justice JB Pardiwala, however, orally observed that marital rape should be made a punishable offence.

Stating that a physical relationship of a husband with his wife against her consent could not be termed as rape, Pardiwala observed, "The husband cannot be prosecuted for the offence of rape punishable under Section 376 of the IPC at the instance of his wife, as marital rape is not covered under Section 375 of IPC which provides that sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 18 years of age, is not rape. However, a wife can initiate proceedings against her husband for unnatural sex under Section 377 of the IPC."

Citing previous judgments, the court observed that though a husband had the right to have sex with his legally wedded wife, she was not his property and it should not be without her consent.

This brings the discussion back to the all-important question of what is consent. Several major judgments have dealt with this issue in varied ways in the recent past. Take for instance, the Mahmood Farooqui case.

In the case, Kapil Sibal had argued for Farooqui. Paragraph 47 of the judgment quotes him as contending, "It is not unknown that during sexual acts, one of the partners may be a little less willing or, it can be said unwilling but when there is an assumed consent, it matters not if one of the partners to the act is a bit hesitant. Such feeble hesitation can never be understood as a positive negation of any advances by the other partner."

Sibals observation implied that if there is a hesitant no, the accused can go on and violate the sexuality of the victim. Sibal further argued that there might have been absence of consent on the part of the prosecutrix, but it wasn't conveyed to Farooqui in clear cut terms.

The court went on to accept Sibal's argument that a no on the part of the complainant may actually mean a yes, if it's a 'feeble no'.

However, according to the law under Section 375 Explanation 2, it has been put out very clearly that, "Consent means an unequivocal voluntary agreement" by the woman. This explanation was inserted in the law on the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee report, and it is based on the Canadian rape law under which the accused cannot make a subjective argument that he believed that there was consent, instead he has to prove that he took reasonable measures to ensure that there was unequivocal consent for the specific sexual activity. Hence, there is no room for an assumed or implied consent.

It is also interesting to mention here the case of India- born American actor, Aziz Ansari. Ansari, who was accused by a woman of sexual misconduct, came out with a statement which read: It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said. This again, was an implied unilateral okay which Ansari took to be as consent.

The Harvey Weinstein scandal brings in another angle to this debate. It was argued by his counsel that the victims agreed to the act to advance their career prospects and thus the acts were consensual. It is difficult to ascertain the veracity of claims on consent or the lack thereof. The line is drawn where discomfort starts. Assuming one action/verbal conversation as a leeway for an act of discomfort to any of the parties involved certainly defies the idea of consent.

Take, for instance, the case of Tehelkas former editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal who was accused of sexual assault by a colleague. The journalist had written a hard rebuttal to Tejpals public apology by saying that, This is what non-consent constitutes: the moment you laid a hand on me, I started begging you to stop. I invoked every single person and principle that was important to us, the fact that you were my employer, to make you stop. You refused to listen. In fact, you went ahead and decided to molest me again on the following night. We have often spoken of "what turns men into beasts" at edit meetings. It is this  not being able to take no for an answer. Clearly in this case too, Tejpal took the prerogative of his position to assume a certain sense of entitlement over the victims bodily integrity.

As of now, the concept of consent in India lies in the realm of ambiguity. However, human rights practitioners and women's rights campaigners argue that consent cannot be assumed. Whether it is feeble, weak, shaky or nervous, a no will always mean no. A persons silence does not imply consent either. All sides involved in the sexual activity must feel that they have the authority to stop the activity at any given time. The Gujarat High Court judge's observation, too, reflects the view that this should apply to all women, irrespective of age and marital status.

Recently, the RIT Foundation and The All India Democratic Womens Association (AIDWA) had filed a petition before the Delhi High Court challenging provisions allowing legal rape of married women. The petition also challenges the present rape law which draws a classification between girls/women based on whether they are married, unmarried, or married but separated. The petition is pending before the court.

The Gujarat High Court's observation in favour of criminalising marital rape is a step in the right direction. However, it is clear that there is a long way to go before such a law becomes a reality.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) announced the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2018 rankings for higher education institutes

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) announced the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2018 rankings for higher education institutes on Tuesday, according to media reports.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, topped the overall rankings and also secured the top position in the best university category. IIT Madras secured the second place followed by IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur.

The rankings, according to the report was released under nine categories: Overall, universities, engineering, colleges, management, pharmacy, medical, architecture, and law.

The NIRF also added several new criteria such as total budget and its utilisation, combined metric for quality of publications, university examinations and how many graduating students admitted into top institutions, The Indian Express reported.

Delhi's Miranda House was announced as India's best college, while the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, was ranked the top management institute. AIIMS, PGIMER Chandigarh and CMC Vellore were ranked as the top three medical colleges, NDTV reported.

In the university category, IISc stood first, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

The Indian Institute of Science was established in 1909 by a visionary partnership of industrialist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the Maharaja of Mysore and the government of India, according to its official website.

Since its inception, the institute has laid a balanced emphasis on the pursuit of basic knowledge in science and engineering, as well as on the application of its research findings for industrial and social benefit.

In the words of its founder, J N Tata, the objectives of the institute are "to provide for advanced instruction and to conduct original investigations in all branches of knowledge as are likely to promote the material and industrial welfare of India."

With inputs from PTI
The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday, in a statement, strongly condemned the arbitrary manner contemplated by Information and Broadcast Ministry to penalise any journalist or media organisation publishing fake news.

The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday, in a statement, strongly condemned the arbitrary manner contemplated by Information and Broadcast Ministry to penalise any journalist or media organisation publishing fake news, ANI said.

The Editors' Guild also acknowledged the intervention of the Prime Ministers Office to withdraw the I&B Ministrys notification but remained disturbed that faith continues to be reposed on the Press Council of India to deliver justice on such issues."By notifying that the I & B Ministry will initiate such proceedings, the government was arrogating for itself the role of policing the media. It would have opened the door for frivolous complaints to harass journalists and organisations to fall in line, it added.

On Tuesday, Union minister Smriti Irani said that the Centre is willing to engage with journalists' bodies or organisations to fight the "menace" of fake news a day after the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued guidelines against it.

Irani took to Twitter on Tuesday to address debates that kicked up after the guidelines were released. "PIB accreditation guidelines asking Press Council of India (PCI) and News Broadcasters' Association (NBA) to define and act against 'fake news' have generated debate," she said.

The ministry norms had also said any complaint of instances of fake news would be referred to the PCI, if it pertains to print media, and to the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), if it relates to the electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not within 15 days.

Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the accreditation of the journalist, whoever created and/or propagated the fake news, will be suspended till the determination regarding the fake news is made, the ministry had said.

"The recent reconstitution of the Press Council of India has been done in a manner that gives rise to doubts over the independence of the institution and its ability to play neutral umpire. The Guild's nominees to the PCI were disallowed on technical grounds," the statement said. Also, the recent reconstitution of the Central Press Accreditation Committee has raised questions over the non-transparent processes being followed by the ministry as the Guild's application was ignored, it said.

The Guild said that 'fake news' is a process that cannot be left to governments to initiate action when, on many occasions, the governments and the parties in powerboth at the Centre and in the statesare charged with propagating fake news themselves. Moreover, news organisations are not the only source of generation of fake news with the country awash with digital platforms of all hues and opinions that operate without constraints and have the potential to cause far more damage, it said.

The Guild said it has always stood for observing the highest journalistic standards and was willing to work with the central and state governments and media bodies to define what can be constituted as fake news' and take action against those found guilty of propagating such news without compromising on the independence and freedom of the media.

Later, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Tuesday directed that the statement regarding the fake news be withdrawn and said the matter should only be addressed in Press Council of India.

Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said on Tuesday that the Centre's withdrawal of a press release on 'fake news' within 24 hours of issuing it was a victory for democracy and the media. Through the press release on fake news, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had attempted to bring restrictions on the media's autonomy, he alleged.

With inputs from PTI.
India on Saturday has said that it did not imposed any restrictions on pilgrims travelling to Pakistan amid heightened tensions between the two nations

New Delhi: India on Saturday has said that it did not imposed any restrictions on pilgrims travelling to Pakistan amid heightened tensions between the two nations following a string of terror attacks in the Kashmir Valley.

Six army mem were killed by terrorists who struck at the sprawling camp of the 36 Brigade of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JKLI) on last week, while two terrorists were killed by security forces after a failed attempt to attack a CRPF camp, ending a 32-hour gunbattle in Srinagar.

"Of course not," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Friday when asked if India had imposed any restriction on pilgrims.

The clarification comes after Pakistan reportedly blamed India for withdrawing visa applications of pilgrims from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
Human Rights Watch on Thursday said the Indian government failed to stop or credibly investigate vigilante attacks against minority religious communities in 2017 which killed 10 people.

New Delhi: Human Rights Watch on Thursday said the Indian government failed to stop or credibly investigate vigilante attacks against minority religious communities in 2017 which killed 10 people.

Many senior leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) publicly promoted Hindu supremacy and ultra-nationalism at the expense of fundamental rights for all Indians, as per the World Report 2018, released on Thursday.

"Extremist Hindu groups, many claiming to be affiliated with the BJP, committed numerous assaults against Muslims and other minority communities in response to rumours that minority group members sold, bought, or killed cows for beef," it said in a statement.

"Instead of taking prompt legal action against the attackers, police frequently filed complaints against the victims under laws banning cow slaughter. There were at least 38 such attacks in 2017, and 10 people were killed."

Indian authorities had proven themselves unwilling to protect minority religious communities and other vulnerable groups from frequent attack, said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"There needs to be a serious effort to prevent future attacks and to prosecute all those responsible for the violence," the statement quoted Ganguly as saying.

The report also highlighted the fact that Indian authorities harassed and brought charges, including for sedition and criminal defamation, against activists, academics, journalists, and others critical of government actions or policies.

"Threats of legal action and arbitrary corruption investigations put increasing pressure on journalists and media outlets to self-censor," as per the statement.

It also said the state governments resorted to "blanket internet shutdowns in misguided attempts to prevent violence or social unrest or to maintain law and order".

"By November, they had imposed 60 internet shutdowns, 27 of these in Jammu and Kashmir," it said.

The government also used the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which governs access to foreign funding for nongovernmental organisations, to cut off funds and harass activists and human rights defenders, it added.

Even after amending laws against sexual violence, girls and women still face barriers in reporting such crimes, including humiliation at police stations and hospitals, lack of protection and more, it said.

It also said India passed up chances to demonstrate leadership on human rights issues at international forums such as the United Nations Human Rights Council and General Assembly.
With India's military plans in Seychelles hitting roadblock, New Delhi must demonstrate greater willingness to assume the burdens of being a major power.

With Seychelles' opposition coalition refusing to ratify an important security pact with India, New Delhi's efforts to develop a strategically located island in Seychelles have received a severe jolt amidst China's relentless push to steadily consolidate its power in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Wavel Ramkalawan, head of the opposition coalition Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS), has declared: "This deal is dead". The LDS holds a majority in the parliament of Seychelles.

This negative development indicates that India is losing ground in Seychelles as well. The Seychelles opposition's refusal comes three years after the agreement to develop Assumption Island was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landmark visit in March 2015. Development of island infrastructure is an internationally accepted euphemism for development of strategic assets.

Both America and China have many such island assets in the region. The agreement was supposed to enable India to help Seychelles build military infrastructure for the Seychelles People's Defence Forces (SPDF) on Assumption Island. The ratification would have made India's relationship with Seychelles truly strategic in its orientation.

For some inexplicable reasons or simply due to bureaucratic inefficiency on the part of Seychelles, the deal was not ratified by the Seychelles parliament during the term of the previous president, James Michel. After President Danny Faure assumed office in October 2016, discussions with India on the agreement were reopened since Seychelles wanted to take a "relook" at the agreement to build military infrastructure on Assumption Island.

The Modi government had to send then Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on an unannounced visit to Seychelles in October 2017, as the deal had run into trouble. Jaishankar had met Faure. Differences were sorted out, and the country's Attorney-General Frank Ally was quoted as saying that 'India would be able to gain access to the facility as well as other friendly countries in the region, but it will not be used to transport or keep nuclear arms'. This official position of Seychelles' government was incorporated in the re-negotiated agreement.

The re-negotiated agreement was finally signed by Jaishankar in January this year during his Seychelles visit. The main objective of the agreement is to provide a framework for assistance to Seychelles by India, by helping enhance the military capabilities and maritime surveillance of the Seychelles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), protection of the EEZ and the outer islands and search and rescue in the region.

Jaishankar had said in a statement: "India and Seychelles have drawn up a cooperation agenda that covers within its purview shared efforts in anti-piracy operations and enhanced EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) surveillance and monitoring to prevent intrusions by potential economic offenders indulging in illegal fishing, poaching, drug and human trafficking." Underlining the importance of the project, Faure declared that it "attests to the kinship and affinity that exists between our two countries."

Unfortunately for India, the controversy did not die with the signing of the agreement. So-called copies of the agreement were leaked online in early March, alleging that the Seychelles government had sold off Assumption Island to India. It is believed that the documents were leaked by a government insider, a day before the president called on the parliament to ratify the revised agreement. Faure had to clarify in the parliament that, "land on Assumption has not been sold or leased to the government of India Assumption belongs to Seychelles and Seychellois."

Seychelles is an archipelago of more than 100 small islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa. Diplomatic ties between India and Seychelles have existed since Seychelles gained independence in 1976. With Seychelles, India enjoys close security ties as the two nations have managed to carve out a forward-looking partnership aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation.

New Delhi has provided training and equipment for its defence forces. Two patrol boats, one interceptor and a Dornier aircraft DO-228 aircraft to Seychelles' coast guard were provided by India to carry out surveillance and anti-piracy missions. Second Dornier is likely to be handed over soon. Six coastal radar systems were also installed by India: the radar initiative is aimed at building a maritime domain awareness network across the Indian Ocean.

Various Indian naval ships have visited Seychelles as part of their anti-piracy deployment and protection of Seychelles EEZ. The warmness in India-Seychelles relationship can be demonstrated by the fact that in 1986, Air Indias secret mission had prevented then Seychelles president Albert Rene from being overthrown in a coup as Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi lent Rene his own plane to return to Seychelles from a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Harare. A few months before this incident, the Indian Navy had deployed INS Vindhyagiri at the Seychelles Port of Victoria to abort another attempted coup against Rene.

Seychellois of Indian origin account for an estimated 10 percent of the total population of less than one lakh. Indian-origin Wavel John Charles Ramkalawan, Seychelles' leader of the opposition, has a powerful role in the country's political affairs. It cannot be forgotten that for the first time in Seychelles' history, the ruling party lost the 2016 parliamentary elections and the majority of seats in the house were grabbed by the opposition coalition, LDS.

Although Seychelles has a presidential form of government, the parliament has significant powers of oversight, and therefore Ramkalawan is effectively the leader of the members of parliament. With the opposition controlling the parliament, Faure knows that he needs their support. Acknowledging the opposition to the pact with India, he was quoted in a press conference: "It is therefore not proper for me to send the agreement to the Speaker when the Leader of the Opposition, who is in majority in the Assembly, has signalled he will not ratify it."

India has consistently courted Ramkalawan, as reflected in his recent trip to India, in order to participate in the meeting of parliamentarians of Indian origin. During this visit in January this year, Ramkalawan delivered a talk 'Seychelles of my dreams', which was hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs in New Delhi. He spoke about the opportunities and challenges in his country, and the special relationship between India and Seychelles.

Underlining India's magnanimity in providing aid, he said: Whenever we ask India for help, it doesn't look at us as a high-income country. Europe would tell us, you're a high-income country so go sort it yourself We consider India as the main partner...India has helped us with hydrological maps and not sold to us, but given to us as gifts. And, we want the ties to go higher."

Despite this warmth towards India, it is surprising that Ramkalawan remains opposed to India's military presence in his country. During the lecture, when he was asked about reports of a naval base being planned by India in the Assumption Island, he unambiguously replied: "Seychelles would never accept any naval base of any country, be it the US or India or any other."

It is not clear whether his dislike is driven because of his actual wish for Seychelles to avoid 'Great Power rivalry' between India and China or due to political manoeuvring directed against the president.

India's natural influence in many small island nations of the Indian Ocean including Mauritius and Seychelles is an undeniable fact because of large ethnic Indian base populations. New Delhi has often acted as a security provider to these islands, including thwarting coup attempts on several occasions. India has also been the major contributor of military equipment and training to both countries.

Therefore, the nature and the scale of the influence China is seeking in these islands will certainly be different from the influence that India should have. Ideally speaking, there should not be much internal resistance to any project with India. But New Delhi has been increasingly concerned at China's expanding strategic influence and growing naval presence in the IOR, which has been listed by Indian Navy's 2015 Maritime Security Strategy as India's primary areas of maritime interest.

Though Seychelles is not yet the part of China's ambitious geopolitical project One Belt One Road (OBOR), Beijing has been pushing for Seychelles to be part of its maritime Silk Road project. It is rightly believed that military facilities in Seychelles, Mauritius and Oman can be a force multiplier for India.

It is because of this reason that during Modi's 2015 visit as part of SAGAR strategy, special plans were devised for development of two islands in the Indian Ocean  Seychelles' Assumption Island and Agalega in Mauritius  for use by the Indian military. It was a definite signal that the Indian Ocean littoral is at the heart of India's maritime policy priorities.

It needs to be mentioned that Assumption Island is located near the northern end of the Mozambique Channel. Along with the Suez Canal, the Channel is the main route for shipping between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and control over this has long been a key objective of the Indian Navy. And Agalega is located around 1,000 kilometres northeast of Madagascar. Using Agalega as a staging point can considerably help India's maritime reconnaissance efforts in the western flank of the Indian Ocean.

It is often observed that India's overcautious attitude has forced it to move slowly and underplay its strategic strengths. In fact, New Delhi's actual security role falls short of its aspirations towards a leadership role in the IOR. However, at a time when India is planning to redefine its strategic space in the 'Indo-Pacific' region, New Delhi must demonstrate greater willingness to assume the burdens that come with being a major power.

China has already begun to build a blue water navy. As Beijing, with deeper pockets, is trying to undercut New Delhi's geographical advantages in the Indian Ocean, India needs to invest greater economic and military resources to preserve its vital interests in the region and to continue to play its traditional role of regional security provider despite temporary setbacks due to political controversies. India cannot avoid acquiring its own assets in the IOR if it wants to break free from its traditional strategic preoccupations in South Asia.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered a probe by a high-level committee into the collapse of a three-storey hotel here last week in which ten people were killed.

Indore: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered a probe by a high-level committee into the collapse of a three-storey hotel here last week in which ten people were killed.

"The chief minister has ordered constitution of a high-level committee to investigate the incident. The committee has been told to complete the probe within seven days," a Public Relations department officer said on Tuesday.

On the chief minister's direction, the panel has been set up under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary (Home).

Principal Secretary, Urban Development, and Project Director, Public Works Department, will be included as two other members of the committee, he said.

The panel will also submit its report on the situation of other dilapidated buildings in Madhya Pradesh so that such mishaps do not recur in future, the officer said.

Ten people, including two women, were killed when the 60-year-old hotel, which was in a dilapidated condition, crumbled in a congested commercial area near the city bus stand on 31 March night.

Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia had alleged serious lapses in the rescue operation carried out by the district administration after the collapse.

The police on Monday arrested the hotel owner, Shankar Paryani (55).

The police, the district administration and the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) are separately probing the mishap.
For the second consecutive day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi: For the second consecutive day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where two terror attacks in three days left 10 people, including 6 army men, dead, an official said.

During a half an hour meeting, the home minister took stock of the prevailing situation in the troubled state, which saw an attack on an army camp in Jammu and a gunfight between security forces and militants in Srinagar.

The home minister stressed the need for immediate action to check infiltration attempts from across the border, the home ministry official said.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and chief of intelligence agencies attended the meeting.

Singh was briefed about the steps taken for strengthening the perimeter security of camps and bases of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, the official said.

The home minister was informed that the highest level of security had been put in place in the entire state and steps were being taken to foil attempts by terrorists to attack security forces.

Six army men, including two junior commissioned officers (JCOs), and the father of a soldier were killed by terrorists who struck at the sprawling camp of the 36 Brigade of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JKLI) on Saturday.

Three heavily armed terrorists were also killed in the encounter.

Security forces killed two LeT terrorists who hid in a building after a failed attempt to attack a CRPF camp, ending a 32-hour gunbattle in downtown Srinagar.

A paramilitary jawan was also killed in the ensuing gunfight on Monday.
The sight of Narendra Modi's warm bearhugs, double-fisted handshakes and vigorous exchanges of pleasantries on the tarmac of one of Delhi's airports has become a common feature of most State visits to India these days

The sight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's warm bearhugs, double-fisted handshakes and vigorous exchanges of pleasantries on the tarmac of one of Delhi's airports has become a common feature of most State visits to India these days. It isn't all that surprising then that there was uproar in some quarters when the prime minister didn't extend the same courtesy to his Canadian counterpart (and family) on Saturday evening.

On official state visits to India, PM Modi personally greets and welcomes the Israeli PM, UAE Crown Prince and US President. For PM Trudeau, he sends a low-ranking official. Canada is back pic.twitter.com/ezsMtFTPzr  Candice Malcolm (@CandiceMalcolm) February 17, 2018

Instead, it was Minister of State for Agriculture Rajendra Singh Shekhawat who met the Trudeaus (or is it Trudeaux?) at Palam Airport upon their arrival in Delhi. And while at face value, it may have seemed strange that Modi wasn't present, it's worth revisiting the fact that protocol doesn't dictate that the prime minister must greet heads of government/State at the airport. According to this article in The Tribune, until Rajiv Gandhi's tenure, the protocol was for the Prime Minister of India to greeting visiting counterparts from other States at the airport.

However, it was in 1984 and in view of the increasing number of world leaders visiting India that the protocol was tweaked. The new protocol dictated that it was no longer mandatory for the prime minister to be at the airport. Instead, a junior official could very easily carry out the task her/himself. In fact, as an article on the Ministry of External Affairs website points out, "the host country's chief protocol officer is the first hand that greets a visiting leader and the last face that he sees before returning home". The piece goes on to caution, "Unfortunately, protocol sometimes gets confused with just glory and grandeur, pomp and ceremony, and all that glitter and glamour."

It would appear that a section of commentators have fallen into this trap of confusion.

Like his predecessor Manmohan Singh, Modi too has set aside protocol  albeit more frequently  for a handful of world leaders, but it has never been mandatory. The prime minister is well within his authority to break protocol if he deems it a special occasion  say to greet a Republic Day chief guest or an important international partner, or if it's to reciprocate a similar gesture paid to him during his own State visit to that particular country. And should this give rise to questions about whether Trudeau isn't an important enough partner, look no further than Vladimir Putin.

No one will claim that the President of the Russian Federation isn't an important partner of Modi's  particularly, if they've seen this series of images, and yet Modi has to-date not received Putin at the airport.

Yogi Adityanath's refusal to meet Trudeau ahead of the Canadian prime minister's Taj Mahal visit and the uncertainty surrounding whether or not there will be a meeting with Captain Amarinder Singh notwithstanding, it's too early to call what Modi did (or didn't do) a snub. We'll need to wait at least until the duo finally meets in New Delhi or until he refuses to present young Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien with signed first edition hardcover copies of Exam Warriors.

Follow all the LIVE updates of Justin Trudeau's maiden India State visit here
By the time Trudeau returned to Delhi, the Khalistan issue was already at a crescendo, with no modifier. And the bad vibes became amplified

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, is used to adulation and with reason. He is a personable progressive, who makes the appropriate politically-correct pronouncements, and can also be pragmatic, as with his dealings with the president of his neighbour to the south. Given all that, his visit to India was supposed to be a charm offensive. But instead of the expected warm reception, what he has been greeted with has been pretty hot.

That the Liberal Party, whether at the federal level or in provinces such as Ontario, panders to pro-Khalistani elements isn't exactly a state secret. Vote bank politics, as we know, works across political geographies, and in India, it's a fine art.

But those linkages, frowned upon by New Delhi, could have escaped too much scrutiny if those who had scheduled Trudeau's visit had listened to India and ensured he stopped early in the National Capital for the government-to-government dialogue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Instead, they opted to have him gallivant across the country  from Agra to Ahmedabad and Mumbai to Amritsar. In that period, people noticed Modi had not welcomed him with his trademark tweet (something he eventually did on Thursday, on the eve of their meeting), and the story of the 'snub' went global.

Instead, the photo-happy prime minister could have had the first pictures coming out of India as those of the traditional guard of honour accorded at Rashtrapati Bhavan to a dignitary on a State visit. That would have been followed by images of the two prime ministers smiling together. Reports would still have focussed on how India expressed its concerns over the Sikh separatism matter on Canadian soil, but it would not have been accentuated by speculation of how the Indian government was giving him the old brush-off.

By the time Trudeau returned to Delhi (where he also landed before taking off for other parts), the Khalistan issue was already at a crescendo, with no modifier. And the bad vibes became amplified as Toronto Sun reported that a person, once convicted of attempting to assassinate a visiting minister from Punjab, had been invited to the official dinner reception at the residence of Canada's high commissioner.

Theres just so much damage control that the Canadian Prime Minister's Office could do, and multiple statements  by Trudeau at pressers in Mumbai and Delhi, during his meeting with Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, by Canadas foreign minister Chrystia Freeland  have ensued with that objective. But the noise that has already built up makes those difficult to hear.

As the two prime ministers finally meet at Hyderabad House in New Delhi at noon, something could still be salvaged out of this magnified mess. And the relationship between India and Canada is far too significant to allow it to be reflected in the buildup to that bilateral summit. But it will take the combined charm of Trudeau and Modi to elevate the public conversation over the debris left by the disaster so far.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on Justin Trudeau in India
The Times Now channel on Wednesday told the Election Commission (EC) that it got the Karnataka Assembly poll date from 'informed sources', but argued that it could not be called a 'leak'.

New Delhi: The Times Now channel on Wednesday told the Election Commission (EC) that it got the Karnataka Assembly poll date from "informed sources", but argued that it could not be called a "leak".

In its brief reply, it said: "Times Now news channel accessed the details from informed sources. Given that the information was not entirely accurate it is obvious it wasn't a leak."

The rest of the respondents who were identified by the Election Commission Committee probing the said "leak" of dates  BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya, Karnataka Congress social media in-charge Srivatsa YB and Kannada news channel Suvarna News  have told the Commission that they got it from Times Now.

Malviya had clarified his source on Tuesday itself while the others responded on Wednesday.

Suvarna News in a letter to the EC on Wednesday said: "The news you are referring about was first broken by Times Now. After few minutes we took the same news."

"We would like to bring to your notice that one more Kannada news channel, BTV, was first to put this news. Then Suvarna News and Public TV aired the news almost simultaneously."

"Absence of vast network in national capital makes us follow reputed national news (channels). We do not have any source whatsoever inside Election Commission who could leak us the information before the press meet," Suvarna News added.

Congress' Srivatsa took a cue from BJP's Malviya and gave very similar response.

"I hereby clarify that the source of my information was a newsbreak that I saw on Times Now TV channel at 11.06 am, which I then used to post my tweet. It's my submission that my tweet wasn't intended to infringe upon the constitutional mandate of the EC to conduct free and fair elections," Srivatsa wrote.

He also attached screenshots of Times Now and his tweet.

Earlier in the day, the EC committee headed by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha and comprising Deputy Election Commissioners Sandeep Saxena, Sudeep Jain and Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Director General Dhirendra Ojha and Principal Secretary Standhope Yuhlung, met and sought responses from the persons or organisations whose names cropped up in the case.

The Committee is expected to give its report in seven days. It will also recommend how to "prevent any chances of such eventuality in future".
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said the state government will give one more opportunity to farmers who missed out on applying for farm loan waiver

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the state government will give one more opportunity to farmers who missed out on applying for farm loan waiver, said media reports.

"Over Rs 13,000 crore are already deposited to farmers' accounts while rest of the amount is being disbursed on a daily basis. My government will also hold a special

drive from 1 to 31 March for those farmers who could not submit their loan waiver forms due to some technical glitches," Fadnavis told reporters in Mumbai on the eve of state Legislature's Budget session.

According to the chief minister, his government has so far completed authorisation of 46.35 lakh farmers' bank accounts, which means that these farmers would most likely benefit from the Rs 34,000 crore loan waiver scheme.

"Out of it, 30 lakh are beneficiaries of loan waiver while remaining fall in financial assistance category, where up to Rs 25,000 will be given to farmers, who have a good track record of regular repayment of crop loans," Fadnavis said.

Some district central co-operative banks have charged interest on loan waiver amount for the period from June to December last year.

Asked about it, Fadnavis said, "There are 4-5 banks that have done so. I have already asked them not to charge interest over it and most of the Public Sector Undertakings have agreed to it. If these banks do not comply with our appeal then we will issue notice of dissolving their board of directors."

On the recent suicide attempts in the Mantralaya (state secretariat), Fadnavis said, "It is a serious issue but it should not be over-glorified. It is not the case that only attempting suicide near Mantralaya would catch the attention of the government."

Fadnavis also said that agreements worth Rs five lakh crore of the total Rs eight lakh crore signed during the 'Make in Maharashtra' drive two years ago have materialised.

"The MoUs signed under 'Make in Maharashtra' drive two years ago have a validity of five years. Out of the total MoUs worth Rs eight lakh crore signed then, the pacts worth Rs five lakh crore have materialised," the chief minister informed.

"The investment has started coming and projects are at various level of development. The success ratio is 71 percent if you go by the amount against the average success rate of 30-35 percent of such initiatives.

"In terms of number of MoUs signed and materialised, Maharashtra's ratio is 63 percent. We will publish a detailed report every year about the investment agreements and its actualisation," the chief minister said.

Fadnavis was responding to allegations of "all-round failure" levelled against his government by Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.

"They (opposition leaders) are upset over excellent performance of my government. We have done a good job and taken decisions, which the Opposition could not do during their 15 years' tenure," Fadnavis said.

Meanwhile, on the agrarian crisis, he said, "State has sent a proposal of Rs 2,425 crore to the Centre seeking financial aid. Over 11 lakh hectares of agricultural

land was affected due to pink bollworm and attack of insects on some cereals."

"Financial assistance is also sought for Ockhi cyclone and hailstorm affected farmers. Any farmer whose over 33 percent crops are damaged will be eligible for financial aid," the chief minister said.

16 Bills would be presented during the Budget session, official said, adding the state budget would be presented on 9 March.

With inputs from PTI
Maharashtra's farmers may be faced with another year of distress, with unseasonal hailstorms earlier this week causing extensive damage to crops.

Maharashtra's farmers may be faced with another year of distress, with unseasonal hailstorms earlier this week causing extensive damage to crops in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. The hailstorms have struck farmers even as they are struggling due to delays in the implementation of the loan waiver and pest attacks such as the pink bollworm.

While the Maharashtra government has demanded Rs 200 crore from the Centre for providing aid to farmers, preliminary reports suggest that there may have been extensive damage.

Earlier, state agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar had said that hailstorms have affected crops over two lakh hectares. "Most of the panchnama (inspection) reports of affected crops have been done on 11 and 12 February. So far we have ascertained that crops on about two lakh hectares across 1,900 villages have been affected," the minister said.

However, only the 16 districts which were hit by the rains and hailstorm on 10 and 11 February were part of the preliminary report that Fundkar mentioned and that the final surveys are likely to reveal more extensive damage to the crops.

"Another five districts in Vidarbha came under the impact of the hailstorm on 12 February and the final surveys would cover these districts," LiveMint had quoted the state agriculture minister as saying.

According to The Indian Express, fresh incidents were reported from Gondia, Nagpur, Bhandara, Wardha and Gadchiroli as well. PTI said that financial loss caused by the hailstorms would be known by 15 February.

Maximum damage

Based on the preliminary assessment, Buldhana, Amaravati, and Jalna have suffered the maximum damage.

According to LiveMint, Buldhana in Vidarbha is the worst-hit with the unseasonal hailstorms ruining standing crops over 32,700 hectares, followed by Jalna in Marathwada and Amaravati in Vidarbha which suffered damages to crops over 32,000 hectares and 26,598 hectares respectively.

Among other districts, which initial reports claimed were affected by the unseasonal rains and hailstorm included Buldhana, Amravati, Akola, Washim, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Wardha. In Marathwada, the calamity affected the districts of Nanded, Latur, Hingoli, Osmanabad, Jalna, Parbhani, and Beed were impacted whereas in north Maharashtra, it hit Jalgaon.

"Wheat, green gram (chana), sweet sorghum (jowar) and onion are the rabi crops that have been damaged," Fundkar had said, adding that banana plantations and vegetables were destroyed in Jalgaon district.

"Chana is the main crop that stands to be affected most as it was almost ready for harvesting. The crop was planted in October-November. Depending on date of sowing, the crop is either ready for harvest or already harvested and stored," it said.

Quoting a revenue official from Aurangabad divisional commissionerate, PTI had said the hailstorm severely damaged crops including grapes, cotton, green gram and wheat among others. "A sizeable loss of cattle and poultry have been reported, the official had said.

Preliminary reports of the agriculture department showed that till 13 February, data about crop losses due to hailstorm were being received from 16 districts. Barring Jalgaon, almost all the affected districts are from Marathwada and Vidarbha.

Compensation for farmers

Ravikant Tupkar, a senior leader of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, on Thursday demanded that those affected by the hailstorm should be granted Rs 50,000 per hectare as compensation, failing which the party would launch an agitation.

However, The Indian Express said that "compensation for horticulture farmers would range from Rs 40,000 per hectare for banana, Rs 36,700 for mango, Rs 23,300 for orange and sweet lemon, and Rs 20,000 for bitter lemon".

However, for farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada, the compensation would range from Rs 13,500 to Rs 6,800 per hectare for the crops of jowar, maize, pulse, chana, wheat, and sunflower.

The Winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly was marked by vociferous protests over the implementation of the loan waiver scheme. The crop losses due to the hailstorms are likely to echo in the state's Budget session, which is scheduled to begin on 26 February.

With inputs from PTI
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the government held discussions with farmers before they began their protest. But a key CPM leader claims otherwise.

Protesting farmers in Maharashtra have hit national headlines in the past three days, and as they took their agitation to Mumbai, the issue raised political temperatures. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, had said that when the protest march was about to begin, water resources minister Girish Mahajan had held discussions with the farmers. However, CPM MLA and farmer leader Jiva Pandu Gavit has refuted Fadnavis' claim, and suggests that the state government did not heed the protests in time.

Gavit, the lone CPM MLA in Maharashtra from Kalvan constituency, has been elected to the state's Legislative Assembly seven times. He has also been at the forefront of the farmers' protest. The CPM-affiliated All India Kisan Sabha has organised the protests.

Speaking to Firstpost, he said, "I got a call from Girish Mahajan on Friday (9 March), when he asked me to join him in a meeting with the chief minister to discuss the issue. The chief minister asked us what our demands are, and asked us not to take the protest march to Mumbai. This was on account of the class ten examinations which are going on. However, by then, the march was already very much on its way."

Gavit met the chief minister on 9 March, at which time he submitted a letter encapsulating the farmers' demands. It was only after this that the administration swung into action, and the chief minister's office on the same day issued a directive to the Collectors of Thane, Palghar, Ahmednagar and Nashik districts to attend a meeting at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on 12 March. Firstpost has accessed documents in this regard.

The protest, which has been called by the Kisan Morcha, began its journey from Nashik  about 170 kilometres from Mumbai  on Tuesday, 6 March.

"The All India Kisan Sabha had stated earlier that it would organise a march which would start on 6 March. However, the government at that time did not listen to our demands, or attempt to get in touch with us. It was only on Friday, after the issue of agitating farmers became viral on social media, that the government asked us what our demands were," he said.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar said, "The BJP never had a soft corner for farmers and lacks humanity in this regard, as is evident from the implementation of the loan waiver. Why is it that the government agreed to discuss the demands of the farmers only after they walked all the way from Nashik to Mumbai?"

When the march left from Nashik, it comprised of about 30,000 people. However, as it passed through the towns of Kasara, Shahpur, Bhiwandi and Thane, the numbers swelled to about 50,000. Many of them have not received the benefit of schemes intended to relieve agrarian distress, as they owned no land. Further, even if the government intends to pass a law for transfer of forest land to tillers, this law may not come through soon.

Farmer leaders Gavit, Ajit Navale and Ashok Dhawale did not want a repeat of the sequence of events of June 2017  when they were called for a meeting at the chief minister's residence 'Varsha' and an announcement about an agreement being reached was made at about 5 o'clock in the morning.

The last time Maharashtra saw a vociferous protest by farmers was in the summer of 2017. The protest was followed by the Maharashtra government's announcement of a historic farm loan waiver scheme. The waiver was expected to cost the exchequer Rs Rs 34,022 crore and benefit 89 lakh farmers. However, as Firstpost has extensively reported, the farm loan waiver scheme has been plagued by mismatches of data of beneficiaries and delays.

The protest has now drawn to a close, as farmers have received a written assurance from Fadnavis and the government agreed to look into some of their requests, while promising time-bound action on some of them. The chief minister has assured them that the issue of implementation of the Forest Rights Act will be expedited and that pending suits and appeals under the law will be disposed of within six months.

The government has also modified the farm loan waiver scheme to include farmers who had taken loans in the year 2008. Presently, the benefits of the scheme extend to farmers who had taken loans in or after 2009.

The protesters have sought a complete and unconditional loan waiver, ensure implementation of minimum support price and implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and the Forest Rights Act 2006.
Indubai was walking for the right to become a land owner rather than remain a land labourer, while Vimal was part of the protest to assert the farmers' fundamental right to food.

Over 35,000 farmers from across Maharashtra, who embarked on a 'Long March' from Nashik on 6 March 2018 to press their various demands, arrived in Mumbai on Sunday. The farmers, led by the Left-affiliated All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) were demanding  among other things  proper implementation of the Maharashtra government's loan waiver scheme, compensation for crops destroyed due to hailstorm and pink-worm, and allocation of the forest land they had been cultivating, under the Forest Rights Act.

In the scorching heat, the farmers covered around 180 km on foot in six days. The protesters stayed the night at the Somaiya ground in suburban Chunabhatti in Mumbai and gathered on Monday morning at Azad Maidan, before withdrawing the protests later in the evening.

Here are the accounts of some of the women who were part of the protests:

Malti Ashok Jadhav, Khambala

"We are protesting for our children. We want land so that we can, at least, properly feed our families."

Manibai, Ambala

"We are land labourers, we want the government to allocate land to us so that we can work and feed ourselves and our families."

Kalpana Wagh, Ambala

"The ownership documents of our lands do not carry our names. The land does not officially belong to us."

Indubai Chavan, Peth

"Our group of 10-12 people have come to fight for the land that rightfully belongs to us... for our right to own land."

Vimal Shivaji Badade, Trimbak

"We are just here to fight for our fundamental right to food."

Indubai Katade, Pimpalpada

"We have walked all the way here to Mumbai so that we do not just remain land labourers, but become land owners."

Vandana Pundlik, Surgana

"We do not even have grain threshers. We want the forest plots that we till to be allotted to us. Our feet are swollen and bloody (after the march)."

Parmelabai, Ambala

"We are very poor. We want the farm land that rightfully belongs to us, to be officially allotted to us."

Mirabai, Khambala

"20-40 people from our village have marched to Mumbai to get the land that rightfully belongs to us. We want to farm on that land. Right now, we're just labourers, we do not even have sufficient water."

Girijabai Gokumohan, Hatgad

"We want ration for our homes. We want to own the plots that we farm."

All photos: Firstpost/Jay Mehta
Banks in Maharashtra, both national and cooperative, did derail Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' ambitious plan to make the Rs 34,000 core farm loan waiver pilferage-proof.

Banks in Maharashtra, both national and cooperative, did derail Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' ambitious plan to make the Rs 34,000 core farm loan waiver pilferage-proof by linking disbursals to Aadhaar numbers.

Firstpost had run a series of investigative reports highlighting how banks turned in such corrupted list of beneficiaries and their Aadhaar numbers that the entire disbursal mechanism collapsed. This caused needless delay in disbursals and put enormous pressure on the government to speed up the process, which they did by abandoning the Aadhaar-linkage.

Confirmation of this came Thursday when the Maharashtra government accepted a long standing demand of the Opposition as well as the BJP's ally Shiv Sena, and released the full list of beneficiaries of the state's farm loan waiver scheme to all 386 state MLAs and MLCs.

Interestingly, the list was given in the form of a pen drive handed out to each legislator, rather than being uploaded on the state government's Aaple Sarkar portal.

The pen drive was handed over by state co-operation minister Subhash Deshmukh.

What's more, the list makes no mention of the Aadhaar numbers of the beneficiaries, although Aadhaar was stated to be a "primary and very major match parameter" (as the state's IT secretary SVR Srinivas told Firstpost). The list has other important columns such as district name, taluka, village, farmer's name, bank account number and loan amount. It also has a column on whether the farmer has applied for the full loan waiver or for an incentive. (As part of the scheme, farmers who repaid their loans within a stipulated time are paid an incentive amount of up to Rs 25,000.)

Firstpost has accessed the pen drive containing the entire list of farmers who are beneficiaries of the scheme.

The BJP-led government in Maharashtra announced its historic farm loan waiver scheme  titled the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana  on 22 June, 2017. The scheme was originally intended to benefit 89 lakh farmers. Chief Minister Fadnavis had estimated that the burden on the state exchequer on account of the scheme would be Rs 34,022 crore.

However, the scheme has been hobbled by technical glitches, mismatches in data and tussles in the bureaucracy.

As per the data presented by Deshmukh on Thursday, an amount of Rs 13,580 crore has been disbursed to 35.32 lakh farmers in their respective accounts till date. About 77 lakh farmers applied under the scheme in all, according to government numbers. Out of these, 55.02 lakh farmers were found to be eligible for receiving benefits of the scheme as per its stated parameters. The government approved 46.52 lakh farmers as primary beneficiaries of the scheme. Loan waiver amounts and incentive amounts of these farmers were given by the government to 63 banks. These banks include nationalised, private and district central co-operative ones. Out of the 46.52 lakh farmers, 30.38 lakh applied for the full loan waiver, while 16.14 lakh applied for the incentive amount.

Till date, the co-operation department has disbursed an amount of Rs 13580 crore into accounts of 35.32 lakhs farmers, said Deshmukh.

Speaking to Firstpost, the minister for co-operation said, "If we were to print the entire list of beneficiaries, it would run into 75,000 pages. So as an environmentally friendly measure, we gave the list to MLAs and MLCs in the form of a pen drive. The list is in English, but very soon, we will also provide the information in Marathi."

When asked why the government did not upload the list on the Aaple Sarkar portal, Deshmukh said, "In the last six months, Opposition parties have demanded the list of beneficiaries of the farm loan waiver on several occasions. Therefore, we have provided this list on a pen drive. Afterwards, we will upload the whole list online. We did not do anything which was wrong or illegal. Our actions were in the interest of transparency. The real beneficiaries know what the status is as to the disbursal of the amount to them."

Speaking about the delay in disbursing the waiver amounts, Deshmukh said, "In 2008-09, it took 18 months to disburse the loan amount. We did it in six months, and disbursed the amounts to the real beneficiaries.

A senior state bureaucrat confirmed to Firstpost that the co-operation department does not want to upload the list on the website as there are fears of technical glitches in displaying data, due to which discrepancies in the list may crop up. This may be a problem for the government as the Budget session is going on, the bureaucrat said.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithivraj Chavan slammed the state government, saying, "Devendra Fadnavis keeps harping on digitisation. Considering this, why has the entire list not been uploaded on the website? If they can give the list to us in the form of an excel sheet, why can they not upload it in the public domain?"

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jayant Patil also said that the government should upload the list on its website. "The fact that the government is not doing so is suspicious. It suggests that it is trying to hide information from the farmers. As per my information, the government paid Rs 20 per entry to the Mahaonline company. This means that it would have paid the company Rs 9.30 crore for 46.52 entries. It is very unfortunate that the stated beneficiaries of the scheme, which were initially supposed to be 89 lakh, came down by 55 lakh.

Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab said, "After Uddhav Thackeray repeated asked the government to give us the list, the government has accepted our demand. However, we do not understand why they gave it to us in a pen drive. If farmers wish to see their names on the list, then where will they go? We demand that the list should be uploaded on the website before the end of the Budget session."

Ajit Navale, general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, said, "The farmers were promised a loan waiver package of Rs 34,000 crore by the Fadnavis government. However, in reality, a much smaller amount has been deposited in the farmers' accounts."

Following are some the reports in Firstpost's series on the loan waiver

Maharashtra farm loan waiver still leaves many in the lurch, 38 lakh farmers yet to receive benefits of 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
The dissidents' release would have paved the way for former leader Mohamed Nasheed to return from self-imposed exile in London and contest presidential elections later this year.

Male: Maldives President Abdulla Yameen lifted a 45-day state of emergency on Thursday, a day after senior political opponents were locked up indefinitely for allegedly trying to topple him last month.

Yameen chose not to extend the draconian laws he had invoked on 5 February following a Supreme Court ruling that threatened to lead to his impeachment.

"Though there still exists a diminished threat to national security... in an effort to promote normalcy, the president has decided to lift the state of emergency," Yameen's office said in a statement.

He initially declared the state of emergency for 15 days after the country's top court ordered him to free high-profile dissidents from jail.

It was later extended for another 30 days, deepening the political crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago of 340,000 Sunni Muslims.

The dissidents' release would have paved the way for former leader Mohamed Nasheed to return from self-imposed exile in London and contest presidential elections later this year.

Yameen refused to carry out the court order and instead invoked the emergency which curtailed the powers of the judiciary and the legislature.

He also arrested the chief justice and another Supreme Court judge.

The remaining judges revoked an earlier decision to reinstate 12 MPs who had been sacked for defecting to the opposition while Yameen also stripped parliament of its power to impeach him.

Today's statement defended the emergency measures, saying they had been precipitated by a "constitutional crisis" created by the two judges.

It added that they had "conspired with political actors... (to) overthrow a lawful government, and whose actions constituted an imminent threat to national security".

Yameen had been widely expected to let the tough laws lapse on Thursday after authorities charged former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and several senior judges with "terrorism" this week.

Nasheed said that Yameen had allowed the emergency to end because he no longer had any need for it.

"He has overrun the judiciary and legislature, arrested hundreds unlawfully and introduced a 'new normal' in the #Maldives - full dictatorship," Nasheed said on Twitter.

"We will not give up, we will fight and we will overcome." In a statement later, he criticised other nations for not intervening to end the political crisis.

"It is sad that the international community has still not got their act together," Nasheed said, accusing the Maldives regime of being a "puppet state controlled by China".

Gayoom, Yameen's estranged half brother, ruled the country for 30 straight years before losing to Nasheed in the nation's first democratic elections in 2008.

The 80-year-old former strongman was arrested earlier last month accused of trying to topple Yameen.

The Prosecutor General's office said Wednesday that Gayoom had been charged with attempting an "act of terrorism and obstruction of justice".

He was charged alongside 10 others, including the sacked chief justice Abdulla Saeed, and Gayoom's legislator son Faris Maumoon.

The Maldives criminal court ordered Gayoom to be remanded in custody until the conclusion of his trial, although it was not immediately clear when the case would commence.

Yameen came to power following a controversial election run-off in November 2013 when he narrowly defeated Nasheed. His crackdown has dented the nation's image as a popular tourist destination, which remains vital to its economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of the kin of 39 Indians who were killed in Iraq, official sources said.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of the kin of 39 Indians who were killed in Iraq, official sources said.

The mortal remains of 38 of the 39 Indians killed in war-torn Iraq were brought back to the country on Monday in a special aircraft and handed over to their relatives.

Thirty-nine of the 40 Indian labourers were killed by terror group Islamic State, while one of them managed to escape posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh.

Out of the 39 killed, 27 hailed from Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh, six from Bihar and two from West Bengal.
Massive irregularities have emerged in the operations of the Uttarakhand State Cooperative Bank Limited (USCB), ranging from lending for liquor contracts to doling out loans to relatives of board members without any collateral

Massive irregularities have emerged in the operations of the Uttarakhand State Cooperative Bank Limited (USCB). Ranging from lending for liquor contracts and sugar mills in violation of the very charter of a rural bank  to finance small and medium farmers for crops etc  to doling out loans to relatives of board members without any collateral, the bank seems to have broken every rule in the book to run up non-performing assets (NPAs) worth Rs 165 crore.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the regulator for rural and agricultural banking, is looking into the scam. It pointed out that the loan applications from the prospective borrowers were accepted directly by the on the day of board meetings. Sanctions were accorded without proper appraisal of loan by the branches or head office. Most of these loan proposals were put up between March 2016 and May 2017 by the general manager (banking), who was elevated to the post of managing director of the bank in April 2017.

NABARD alerted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in September 2017 to dissolve the USCB board and replace it with a management committee consisting of banking professionals. NABARDs chief general manager DN Magar, also wrote to the state government calling for action: "The board had not taken up the issue of default by the following relatives of existing board members and had not initiated any action against as per Uttarakhand Cooperative Societies Act/Rules 2003. Reeta Pant wife of Naveen Pant (director of the bank) owes Rs 4.42 crore and entire outstanding amount is overdue. The bank had wrongly classified it as Standard. Rajesh Pant, brother of Naveen Pant (director of the bank) amount Rs 5.97 crore classified under Standard category as on 31.03.2017 instead of Sub-Standard since the account was overdue from 06.12.2016. I request you to kindly conduct investigation into the activities of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and take appropriate action."

Rajendra Prasad, who served as managing director of the bank between 2009 and February 2017 told Firstpost that all the loans were sanctioned when he was at the helm of affairs. However, he blamed the then general manager (banking) Deepak Kumar, who is now managing director, for the irregularities and sanctioning loans for liquor contracts. Prasad also said Kumar misled him and the board.

"He gave me the appraisal reports to put up before the board. Then I asked him in writing whether he ensured the guarantee of the loans and his response was affirmative, however, at least six members of the board objected to the loan proposals for liquor. Subsequently, I ordered an inquiry into proposals put up by the general manager and a report revealed that loans were sanctioned without ensuring security and some relatives of some board members were also beneficiaries, which is a clear conflict of interest. In October 2016, I issued him a show cause notice seeking his response but he did not reply. A rejoinder was sent to him in January 2017 but he chose not to reply. Subsequently, I wrote to the registrar of societies, Uttarakhand, asking the state government authorities to recall Kumar's services. The state machinery and board sided with him and even NABARD tried to cover up the scam, as all the loans sanctioned would eventually turn NPA. I also wrote to NABARD chief general manager (Magar) with documentary evidence as late as on December 2017, for immediate action but he didnt do anything and I am still awaiting justice in irregularities at the bank that I had built from scratch," Prasad alleged.

NABARD's Magar refused to speak to Firstpost citing statutory obligations. Magar also refused to comment on Prasad's letter, saying he had already submitted his observations. Kumar, incumbent managing director of the USCB (who as general manager had put up all these loans directly to the board) countered the charges levelled against him by his former boss. He said not a single loan was sanctioned by him in his individual capacity. He said all the proposals were put up before the loan committee and were subsequently taken up by the board involving then managing director.

He (Kumar) merely issued a sanction letter in his capacity as general manager after getting final approval from the top. Kumar, however, admitted that loans to relatives of board directors and for liquor contracts were wrong and in violations of banking rules. But on lending for liquor contracts in violation of the rural banks charter, he argued that they had no option since agriculture activity is marginal in the hilly state of Uttarakhand. USCB couldnt have sat on idle funds and needed to diversify, he claimed.

"Definitely, our primary responsibility is to provide agriculture loans and help the farmers, but the agriculture scenario in Uttarakhand has worsened and farmers are migrating to the cities. This forced us to act like any other commercial bank. Since we had surplus cash, we started diversifying and giving loans to various industries like real estate etc. Liquor contract loans were part of those loans, however, it could have been avoided," Kumar said, adding that since he took over as managing director, they had decided not to give any more liquor loans.

"I have prepared a list of 54 NPAs and by next week we are going to publish the names with the guarantor in the newspapers," Kumar said, clearly preparing to secure the stables after the horses have bolted.

Surendra Singh Negi, one of the directors on the USCB board had also objected to the loans for liquor contracts and had sought explanations, but he has alleged that the proposal was cleared in connivance with the bank officials. Negi is still serving on the USCB board and is now chairman of the NPA committee of USCB. Negi said in spite of his reservations and complaints, the state government took no action.

"The entire scandal was buried by the bank and state machinery because all top bank officials were involved in sanctioning the loans. Since I became chairman of NPA committee, I have been consistently asking bank officials to recover bad debts but they don't listen to me because I don't have the power to punish. Despite being on the board as the director, I feel helpless because the state is turning a blind eye to the whole scam," he said.

The bank, as per documents accessed by Firstpost, did not file any recovery case in 2016-17. The total recovery during the financial year was merely Rs 3.11 lakh. Documents said: "The revenue department returned the cases to the bank without assigning any reason. The bank had not taken cognisance of the returned cases for further action. The registrar of cooperative societies should prevail upon the concerned staff to give priority for settlements of recovery cases so that the level of NPA in the bank may be kept under permissible limits."

Kumar admitted that recovery was a bit slow that particular financial year but since April last year, he has been trying to recover outstanding loans and tackling defaulters through legal means.

Dodging the primary banking objective

The primary objective of cooperative banks is to assist the agriculture sector in the economic upliftment of rural India. However, NABARD has alleged that the USCB did just the very opposite. A NABARD internal report observed that the bank failed to extend a helping hand to farmers and forced them to seek loans from moneylenders. The note sent to the state government on 21 September, 2017 exposed the rot within the banking system.

The report said that even as they were lending crores to liquor contracts, "there were different caps on maximum lending to individual farmers by primary agricultural cooperative societies in the state ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs three lakh irrespective of their crop loan eligibility, depriving them of benefits of interest subvention and interest incentive available for crop loans up to Rs three lakh from the Central government and forcing them to approach moneylenders or other sources for their full credit requirements".

NABARD further noted that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna and personal accident insurance scheme  the flagship programmes of the NDA government  were not being properly implemented by the cooperative bank. "The coverage of loanee farmers by DCCBs (district braches of the bank) in the state was very poor. Being the apex bank of the state, the bank was not monitoring the implementation of the scheme in the state and not collecting any data from DCCBs. Although the personal accident insurance scheme is compulsory for all the borrowers, the DCCBs in the state were not implementing the scheme for eligible Kisan Credit Card holders," NABARDs special inspection report that was carried out between 31 July and 24 August, 2017 said.

In a confidential recommendatory note, NABARDs inspecting officer Jugal Kishore observed that USCB violated directions issued by the RBI in sanctioning the loans. "The bank had violated Section 18 of the Payment and Settlements Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007). The bank did not comply with the provisions of Section 11(1) of Credit Information Companies (CICs) Regulation Act, 2005. The bank had not complied with Rule 207(4) of Uttarakhand Cooperative Societies Rules, 2004, as it had financed sugar mills without obtaining government guarantee."

A confidential note from NABARD's SN Chalia said, "The bank's internal check and control system were weak." Chalia further pointed out that USCB had not complied with provision of sections 18, 19 and 27 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 related to cash reserve, restrictions on nature of subsidiary companies and submitting monthly returns to the RBI.

Who will clean up the mess?

A NABARD letter said: "The USCB Board had constituted various Committees vide its resolution No 24(27) dated 03.05.2017 out of the board members without specifying the functions and powers of such committees. The committees failed to work in effective manner on account of lack of knowledge, adequate experience of the members and lack of clarity in the functions and duties of the committees. The board had constituted various loan committees like HO Loan Committee, Branch Loan Committee with one of its directors as its members, thereby directly influencing and interfering in the day-to-day functioning of the bank.

A senior NABARD official on the condition of anonymity said the state government has to step in to clean up the mess in the USCB and to ensure that co-operative rules are strictly followed. Registrar Uttarakhand Cooperative Society that monitors functioning of USCB said it is investigating into the irregularities and will soon crack the whip. The present registrar BM Mishra told Firstpost that inquiry is being conducted on various levels to examine the loans for liquor contracts, NPAs and loans to the relatives of office bearers.

"In certain cases, I have already recommended the state government to take appropriate action against those responsible. We will act in other cases after the final reports are in," Mishra said.

There is another interesting twist to this entire scandal. The NABARD team that went to examine the books of USBC from on 31 July, 2017 to 24 August, 2017, received an anonymous threat letter on 19 August. The letter in Hindi reviewed by Firstpost revealed that messenger warned NABARD officers that any adverse report about the USBC would have dire consequences for them. A NABARD note subsequently sent to the state government in November 2017 said: "This (threat letter) resulted in much tension and worry regarding the safety of the team during the inspection of the USCB."
Pakistan's military says it shot down an Indian 'spy drone' after it entered Pakistani airspace in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Islamabad: Pakistan's military says it shot down an Indian "spy drone" after it entered Pakistani airspace in the disputed region of Kashmir.

The military said in a statement late on Tuesday that the drone violated Pakistan's airspace and was spying when it was shot down in the village of Chirikot along the Line of Control in Kashmir. It said Pakistani troops retrieved the wreckage.

The army said it was the fourth Indian drone it shot down in the past year.

India had no immediate comment.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim the region in its entirety. The two sides also often trade fire there and have fought two wars over it since their independence from British rule in 1947
Non-stop firing and shelling by Pakistani forces has forced over 3,000 villagers along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector to flee their homes causing biggest displacement in 30 years in the area

When mortars fired from the Pakistani side landed in Silikote village situated along the tense Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector on Saturday, Shahana Ara, 37, who gave birth to a baby earlier this month, thought her time was up. Her fragile body, recovering from a caesarean section, betrayed the urgency demanded by the simmering situation along the LoC.

"Initially, we tried taking shelter in a bunker. But due to my condition, I was not able to crawl in. It felt as if the stitches I received at the time of the surgery were ripping apart. Somehow, I gathered courage and kept trudging along the mountain till we reached the road from where I was brought to a hospital," she said.

Despite many odds and risks involved in the journey, Ara and her family were lucky to make it out of Silikote, which is located some eight kilometres from Uri town in north Kashmir. Her family is putting up at a government-run school, many of which have been converted into shelter homes for "refugees of our own land".

Officials say many villagers are still trapped in their homes, unable to come out, due to continuing firing by Pakistani forces who have targeted many villages along the de-facto border in Uri for the first time in years. The compartmentalisation of villages near the border by the Indian Army has not made it easier for villagers to escape to safer places.

"At least eight to ten villages along the LoC have been fenced by the Army. In our village, there is only one door, which is opened and closed by the Indian Army at their beck and call. We requested them to throw it open but they didnt listen. I have never seen such a war-like situation here, Mohammad Mujeeb, a resident of Churunda, told Firstpost.

"Living near the border has made us accustomed to the sounds of machine guns, but never in my life have I heard the Pakistani forces using public address systems to warn us. The situation is going from bad to worse and we can only pray and hope that this ends soon, he added.

The chief of the Armys 15 Corps in Srinagar, said on Sunday that nearly a dozen villages along the LoC in Uri including Churanda, Tilawari, Batagram, Shoura and Hathinang have been targeted by Pakistani shelling and firing since 23 February forcing many families to abandon their homes. He said the Indian Army is "effectively retaliating" the fire from the other side.

Brigadier YS Ahlawat of the 12 Indian Infantry Brigade said, during a press conference in Uri, that Pakistani army has been continuously violating the ceasefire agreement and has been indiscriminately using shelling to target the civilian population.

While the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu have recorded a spike in skirmishes between the armies of the two nuclear-armed neighbours, the flare-up in the relatively calm Uri happened on 20 February when Pakistan Army killed a BSF jawan near the de-facto border in Kupwara district.

"The north Kashmir sector has since recorded a daily exchange of fire between the two sides which intensified after the Indian army destroyed several army pickets on the Pakistani side. This led to a flare-up which has now engulfed the villages along the Line of Control in Uri, a senior Jammu and Kashmir Police officer said.

Dr Nasir Ahmad Naqash, deputy commissioner of Baramulla district, which is the administrative centre of Uri, said around 3,000 people have fled these villages, some of which are totally empty.

We have made arrangements for them in schools. Some of them have shifted to their relatives places. We have also set up a helpline for those in distress," he said.

With diplomatic channels between the two countries almost frozen, villagers along the LoC fear that the situation may go out of control. Even on Saturday, the two armies exchanged heavy artillery for the first time since 2003 when they entered into a ceasefire agreement.

Officials say 40,000-50,000 residents of nearly 55 villages in north Kashmir are directly impacted in case of any escalation along the de-facto border. The skirmishes in the past two days have injured three civilians while at least five houses have been severely damaged in Silikote and Churanda villages, which are perilously close to the Line of Control.

"Since the situation escalated on Friday, the civil administration has received dozens of panic calls from these border residents, seeking help for evacuation. We have pressed ambulances and government vehicles into service to ferry residents from some border villages and arrangements have been made for their stay. It is an emergency situation. We are witnessing the biggest displacement in terms of numbers in the past 30 years in this area," said Abdul Haq, Minister for Rural Development Panchayat Raj, Law and Justice, in Jammu and Kashmir government.

On Sunday, the minister visited the school in Uri that has been converted into a shelter for residents fleeing the violence-hit border villages. His assurances, that the government will do everything to prevent loss of lives or property, failed to evoke any enthusiasm among the migrants who fear for the worst in coming days.

"In this chilling weather, where will we take our children? We have left everything, including livestock, poultry and our homes behind us. I can't recall the last time when the Pakistani side issued warnings on public address systems. These are signs of tough times ahead, 45-year old Haji Abdul Sattar, a resident of Churanda, said.
The Lok Sabha could not take up the no confidence motion once again on Wednesday amid a ruckus, with AIADMK members protesting near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha could not take up the no-confidence motion once again on Wednesday as the House was rocked by protests and disruptions, with AIADMK members protesting near Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's podium.

Angered over the protests, Mahajan said she would have to adjourn the House sine die midway through the Budget session if the protests and disruptions did not stop.

Disruptions in the Lower House started as soon as it met for the day, and within minutes, it was adjourned to meet at 12 pm.

Mahajan tried to conduct the Question Hour, but her efforts went in vain. An angry Speaker then said she may have to draw curtains on the Budget session if protests continue to stall the proceedings of the House.

"You are wasting everyone's time. All MPs are saying they want the House to run or end the session... I will have to adjourn the House sine die," she said.

When the House met at 12 pm, the scene was no different, and members from the AIADMK trooped near the Speaker's podium.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, however, blamed the Congress for the bedlam. "Since the first day, the main opposition party Congress is stalling the House," Kumar said.

The Congress, however, does not have a Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, as it does not have the minimum required numbers.

As the minister slammed the Congress, the Opposition MPs protested with a loud 'no'.

He also criticised the Congress for bringing numbered placards in the House on Tuesday, and said it was also against the rules. "Congress has made a joke of the House," Kumar said, adding that the government is "waiting to debate" the no-confidence motion.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge immediately responded saying the Opposition wanted to debate the no-confidence motion as well. "We are ready for a debate... At least 80 people have stood and supported the no-confidence motion, I request the Speaker to take it up..." Kharge said with his voice drowning in the din created by protests from the Opposition benches, and the sloganeering by AIADMK MPs.

Speaker Mahajan once again expressed her inability to count the number of MPs supporting the around half-a-dozen no-confidence notices, and said that in the din she cannot decide if leave can be granted to take it up.

"Why should we run the House like this," the Speaker said before she adjourned the House for the day.

The next sitting of the Lok Sabha will be held on 2 April, as Thursday and Friday are government holidays.

The Lok Sabha has been witnessing a washout in the second part of the Budget session which started on 5 March, and is scheduled to conclude on 6 April.

No business has been transacted by the Lower House, which has witnessed continued protests on a host of issues, ranging from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, special economic package for Andhra Pradesh and a board for management of the Cauvery water, along with other issues.

The Lower House also saw the Budget, as well as some important bills being passed amid the din, without any debate.
There is nothing wrong or obnoxious if a government intends to take remedial steps to check fake news but an independent statutory authority should decide on its veracity, the Press Council of India said

New Delhi: There is nothing wrong or obnoxious if a government intends to take remedial steps to check fake news but an independent statutory authority should decide on its veracity, the Press Council of India said on Tuesday.

The council's comments came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to cancel its contentious guidelines on fake news that had been widely seen as a move to muzzle the media.

The PCI, in a statement signed by chairman Justice (retired) CK Prasad, said no prudent person should or can justify" the dissemination of fake news.

Fake news is a global menace and if any government intends to take remedial steps to check its spread, per se, there is nothing wrong or obnoxious about it, provided that the authority to decide the truthfulness or otherwise of an allegation of fake news is entrusted to an independent statutory body like the Press Council of India, it said in the statement.

The PCI said fake news means news, story, information, data and reports which are wholly or partly false.

Soon after the directive on Tuesday from the prime minister, the information and broadcasting ministry issued a statement, saying the guidelines regarding fake news had been withdrawn.

Amending guidelines for the accreditation of journalists, the ministry had on Monday announced norms to contain fake news. It said if the publication or telecast of a fake news item was confirmed, the accreditation of the journalist behind the news would be suspended for six months in the case of a first violation and for one year in the case of a second violation.

If there was a third violation, his or her accreditation would be cancelled permanently, the ministry had said in a press release.

The ministry decision drew sharp criticism from opposition parties as well as from media bodies.

The PCI said the complaint of fake news filed by an individual, government or any other aggrieved person is dealt with by the council following procedures laid down in the Press Council Act and Press Council (Procedure for Inquiry) Regulations.

However, it is only in gross cases of fake news or repeated involvement in fake news dissemination that the power to suspend or cancellation of accreditation of the journalists (should) be resorted to. The allegations need to be determined by the council before any action is called for, the PCI said.
. It does not matter if Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolls back the Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Iranis knee-jerk diktat on journalists being suspended for six months if their stories are studded with non-facts and shunned forever if found guilty for a third time. Clearly, the government was not on the same page and Irani had her wrists slapped.

Fake news in media is something we will have to live with for now. It does not matter if Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolls back the Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Iranis knee-jerk diktat on journalists being suspended for six months if their stories are studded with non-facts and shunned forever if found guilty for a third time. Clearly, the government was not on the same page and Irani had her wrists slapped.

Modi realised the can of worms this sort of arbitrary and hostile act would open. There is a supreme difference between getting a fact wrong in an endeavour to uncover the truth and innuendo, half-truths, surmises and blatant rumour.

And this is where Irani erred. In India, accredited journalists are a tiny percentage of the journalistic milieu. They are limited to those who attend or cover government events. Her call to arms ignored the rest where the rot is truly deep.

Such a draconian option as to freeze a career because of an honest error is giving the government an undemocratic and almost despotic power to display its ire against all criticism and engage in playing favourites. The premise of I do not like what you wrote so you shall be cast upon the waters not only comes into play, it becomes paramount.

Most professionals take pride in getting their ducks in a row. But being human, errors can be made in isolation. You can get a date wrong, a name misspelled, and a location incorrect. It happens. But it is mutually exclusive from the chase so to speak and does not detract from the indictment of corruption, malfeasance, breach of promise, collapse of trust, conduct unbecoming or whatever else the act of omission or commission is.

If Irani had gotten away with it, she was planting a poisonous seed into the fourth estate but it has to be asked: Is the media sitting up and begging for it? Did she have a point?

Regardless of Modi rescinding the order, there is considerable irony in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's move. Much of the gossip and the fake information emanates from the corridors of power where vested interests leak hints of what might not be. Newspapers and websites still remain concerned about errors, but the same does not hold good for television which has run away with the truth and eclipsed even Pontius Pilate.

Between willing motor mouths and an audio-visual media which has gone berserk, fake news is a marketable commodity. However, government cannot legislate against it by capturing those who cover its activities (Smriti is looking in the wrong place) and must use the same avenues it concedes to other victims of media harassment including the citizens.

Go to court, sue the channel or paper or complain to the Editors Guild of India or the Press Council of India. That should be the recourse and if the rich and the powerful find it cumbersome, too slow, and too time-consuming then laws must be passed to help media police itself and possess more power to chastise. Unless, like the physician, we are prepared to heal ourselves the authorities will usurp our rights because we are allowing our own to run rampant and wreck our credibility.

Irani may have been cut to size but misuse of its organs by media is a growing menace and this dismissal by Modi is a stopgap relief. However, if we do not stop tolerating affection for this genre of reportage in our ranks there will be another day, another Smriti Irani and a prime minister who will say enough is enough and sign the order. And we will all have to pay the price. And become like Malaysia where fake news gets you six years.
BJP MLA from Rajasthan, Gyan Dev Ahuja, has said that if one engages in cow smuggling or slaughters a cow, he will be killed.

BJP MLA from Rajasthan, Gyan Dev Ahuja, responding to the incident of an alleged cattle smuggler reportedly getting thrashed by a mob in Rajasthans Alwar district, said that if one engages in cow smuggling or slaughters a cow, he will be killed, said media reports.

"Gau taskari, Gaukashi karoge to yun hi maroge" says BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja on the incident of alleged beating up of cow smugglers in Alwar, Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/DpQAdqwSIT  ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2017

On Saturday, when a truck carrying bovines was intercepted by Rajasthan police on information that cow smugglers were trying to transport bovines to Haryana, The Indian Express reported, the people in the truck opened fire at the police. Out of the three men in the truck, two escaped and one was detained, who was later identified as Zakir. Meanwhile, a mob assembled at the spot after hearing the shots and thrashed the alleged cow smuggler, added the report. Ahuja has refuted allegations that Zakir was beaten up by the mob claiming that he was injured because the vehicle overturned.

Use janta ne nahin peeta, wo bahana kar raha hai: BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja on the incident of alleged beating up of cow smugglers in Alwar, Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/zbyJXJXqX7  ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2017

"As people were following the truck, it overturned, resulting in the injuries. The people didn't beat him... he was injured because the vehicle overturned," Ahuja was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Ahuja said that "People do get angry, do get filled with angst because in India, the cow is seen as a mother."

"That is why, these incidents, these actions are taken. On that also, you fire shots and you wield lathis or throw stones, then people get filled with more angst... I have taken the entire detailed information from the SHO of Ramgarh now," India Today quoted Ahuja as saying.

The BJP legislator in July this year had accused the Rajasthan police of "letting love jihad, illegal mining and other crimes flourish".

Ahuja, in May last year, had stirred controversy by claiming that rapes happen in JNU every day. Ahuja, who became an MLA, in 1998, earned the sobriquet of Lankesh from then chief minister Ashok Gehlot due to his unruly behaviour resembling that of a mythological character.

In February last year, Ahuja had alleged that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi was a hub of sex and drugs where over 3,000 used condoms and 2,000 liquor bottles are daily found, The Hindu had reported.

With inputs from agencies.
A day after violent protests by Dalits, several members of other castes on Tuesday hit the streets in Rajasthan over the damage caused on Monday, Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said.

Jaipur: A day after violent protests by Dalits, several members of other castes on Tuesday hit the streets in Rajasthan over the damage caused on Monday, Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said. In Alwar district, where one man was killed, people held a sit-in protest, refusing to cremate the body.

"After the Dalit protests in the state, people of other castes are protesting in some parts of Rajasthan," Kataria said. According to the police, tension prevailed in Hindaun City, Churu and Gangapur City where law-and-order situation remained "critical".

"Traders association and upper castes are agitated in Hindaun City. They took out a procession on Tuesday and tried to enter the SC/ST dominated areas," Additional Director General (law and order) NRK Reddy said.

"Police forces lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to cane charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse the mob," Reddy said. Curfew was clamped in Gangapur City on Monday night.

"Situation is under control now in Gangapur City. The curfew was lifted this morning," Swai Madhopur District Collector KC Verma said. One person was killed, several vehicles gutted, and public property damaged during the Dalit protests on Monday.

Reddy said the estimate of property damage and vehicle torching figures in the violence are yet to be estimated. The Dalit groups had called for a 'Bharat Bandh' on Monday demanding the restoration of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in its original form.

The Supreme Court had, on 20 March, 'diluted' certain provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, in a bid to protect honest public servants discharging bona fide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the Act.
Bhaskar Gaikwad, the original complainant in the SC/ST case over which a nationwide bandh was organised on Monday, had never thought that his legal fight would attain such a huge political connotation.

Mumbai: Bhaskar Gaikwad, the original complainant in the SC/ST case over which a nationwide bandh was organised on Monday, had never thought that his legal fight would attain such a huge political connotation.

The 53-year employee of a government college in Pune said that irrespective of the central government's move, he was planning to file by 19 April a review petition in the Supreme Court against its March 20 order which is seen as diluting the SC/ST Act.

The central government on Monday filed a review petition in the apex court amidst a violent agitation over the judgement across the country.

Distancing himself from the Union government's review petition, Gaikwad told PTI over the phone that ever since the ruling came in which he is a respondent, he was planning to file a review petition within the stipulated time of one month.

He refused to comment on the political connotation that the issue has acquired. The opposition parties are attacking the Narendra Modi government over the apex court judgement.

"I am a government servant. So, I cannot say anything on the political aspect. I don't see these developments politically," Gaikwad said.

According to Gaikwad, the case which reached the Supreme Court originated from his complaint filed in 2007.

In his complaint, the storekeeper in a Pharmacy college at Karad had alleged that he was asked to forge some documents by the seniors.

"When I refused to do so (forging), the upper caste people of the college wrote negative remarks in my confidential report," Gaikwad claimed.

"In September 2009, I lodged a complaint with a joint director of Technical Education in Maharashtra government Subhash Mahajan," he said.

According to Gaikwad, he got no help from Mahajan and subsequently, he filed a complaint against the joint director himself.

Mahajan then moved the court seeking quashing of an FIR against him, Gaikwad said.

"Though the state government machinery fully supported Mahajan during the hearing in the High Court, he got no reprieve there," Gaikwad said.

Mahajan then approached the Supreme Court which gave its verdict on 20 March, ruling that the government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

"The state government did not support me during the hearing," Gaikwad said.

Referring to the 20 March judgement in which he is a respondent, Gaikwad said he has no right to comment on the merits of the court's ruling but he has all the right to file a review petition.

"I am already discussing the issue of filing a review petition with my advocate and I will do it for sure by 19 April," he added.

"The verdict came in Mahajan's favour because the Maharashtra government machinery supported him. Neither did the Maharashtra government take any decision to file charge-sheet against Mahajan for over one year, nor it gave me legal support to fight my case under the provisions of the SC/SC Act," Gaikwad said.

When contacted, Mahajan refused to speak on the issue. "You write whatever you want. I will put forth my side as and when required," he said.
Responding to the clashes between protesters and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi took to Twitter to express anguish over the 'appalling and worrisome' situation.

Responding to the clashes between protesters and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi took to Twitter to express anguish over the 'appalling and worrisome' situation.

Afridi, who has also faced backlash from his own countrymen after giving a controversial statement during the 2016 World T20, tweeted, "Appalling and worrisome situation ongoing in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.Innocents being shot down by oppressive regime to clamp voice of self determination & independence. Wonder where is the @UN & other int bodies & why aren't they making efforts to stop this bloodshed?."

Appalling and worrisome situation ongoing in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.Innocents being shot down by oppressive regime to clamp voice of self determination & independence. Wonder where is the @UN & other int bodies & why aren't they making efforts to stop this bloodshed?  Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) April 3, 2018

Afridi also asked as to why United Nations had not made any efforts to stop the violence.

Incidentally, Afridi's remarks come hours after UN chief Antonio Guterres voiced his opinion over the ongoing tension in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The Secretary-General is, indeed, very concerned about the situation that we've seen in Jammu and Kashmir. He would like to remind that Member States are responsible under international humanitarian law to protect civilians," said Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN Secretary-General.

Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir took to Twitter to slam Afridi, but showed some bad form:
A youth leader and four others who protested against the alleged irregularities in the conduct of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examinations have been booked, police said

New Delhi: A youth leader and four others who protested against the alleged irregularities in the conduct of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examinations in New Delhi have been booked, police said on Tuesday.

"Anupam and others have been named in the FIR on charge of disobeying an order duly promulgated by a public servant," Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma told IANS.

Anupam was one of the organisers of the 31 March 'Yuva Halla Bol' march in central Delhi's Parliament Street.

SSC exam aspirants have been protesting for over a month against the irregularities and corruption in the conduct of SSC examinations and demanding an independent and time- bound probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in all recruitment exams conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC).

The call for the 'Yuva Halla Bol' march on Parliament Street was given after protesters held a sit-in for 18 days in front of the SSC headquarters in New Delhi.

Reacting to the registration of a case against him, Anupam said: "It is a ploy to dilute the nationwide movement against the SSC scam. But such tactics will not help and students will fight till the end for their right to fair selection in government jobs through the SSC."

"I am surprised to hear that Delhi Police has registered an FIR against me. There were some anti-social and rowdy elements among the protesters who tried to instigate others. Students have already reported their names to police a day before, but police didn't act against them in time. Had we not been there the demonstration could have taken an ugly turn," he added.
Narendra Modi strongly condemned incidents of vandalism of statues in certain parts of the country and warned of stern action against those found guilty.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday strongly condemned incidents of vandalism of statues in certain parts of the country and warned of stern action against those found guilty.

The prime minister also spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the matter and expressed his strong disapproval of such incidents, according to an official statement. The prime minister has strongly condemned the reported incidents of vandalism in certain parts of country and said stern action will be taken against those found guilty, the statement said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has said it has taken serious note of such incidents and directed state governments to take strong action. Persons indulging in such acts must be sternly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of law, the ministry said.

In an advisory to all states and union territories, the Home Ministry said incidents of toppling of statues have been reported from certain parts of the country. "The MHA has asked the states that they must take all necessary measures to prevent such incidents," it said.

The ministry said the state governments were told that persons indulging in such acts must be sternly dealt with and booked under relevant provisions of law. "Honourable Prime Minister has also spoken to the Home Minister in this regard," the advisory said.

The advisory did not specifically mention Tripura but sporadic violence and clashes have been reported between rival political groups in the state after election results were declared on Saturday.

A statue of Lenin was brought down at Belonia town in South Tripura on Monday with the help of a bulldozer after the BJP's victory in the Assembly elections in Tripura where a 25-year-long communist government was ousted. A statue of social reformer and founder of Dravidian movement E V Ramasamy 'Periyar' was also allegedly vandalised in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district last night.

On Tuesday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh called up Tripura governor Tathagata Roy and DGP AK Shukla and asked them to ensure peace and check violence till a new government is installed in the state.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba had also spoken to the DGP and asked them to take all possible steps to maintain law and order, check violence and restore peace and public order. The ministry said enough central and state forces were available at the disposal of the state government to tackle the situation.
The Maoist bombing in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, in which 9 CRPF personnel were killed, takes the death toll to more than 1,200 over nine years to 2017.

By Chaitanya Mallapur

Nine Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers were killed in a Maoist bombing in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Tuesday, adding to a death toll of more than 1,200 security personnel over nine years to 2017, or twice as much as Jammu and Kashmir over the same period, according to Ministry of Home Affairs data.

"Incidents"  as violent encounters with Maoists are officially described  attributed to Left-wing extremists have declined 60 percent over the last nine years, from 2,258 in 2009 to 908 in 2017.

Aside from the nine soldiers who died in the latest attack, six were injured, four of whom are reported to be critical.

#SpotVisuals from the site of IED blast by Naxals in Kistaram area of #Chhattisgarh's Sukma, 9 CRPF personnel have lost their lives. pic.twitter.com/iN4bQCETHH  ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2018

Deaths of security forces in Naxal-affected areas increased 27 percent over two years, from 59 in 2015 to 75 in 2017.

#SpotVisuals from the site of IED blast by Naxals in Kistaram area of #Chhattisgarh's Sukma, 9 CRPF personnel have lost their lives. pic.twitter.com/TNBUJh5en6  ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2018

On 18 February, two security force personnel were killed and six injured in a gun battle with Maoists in Sukma district, The Indian Express reported.

There were reactions on social media condemning the attack:

The Maoist attack in Sukma, Chhattisgarh in which 9 CRPF jawans lost their lives is tragic. It reflects a deteriorating internal security situation due to flawed policies. My condolences to the families of those killed. To those who have been injured, I wish a speedy recovery.  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) March 13, 2018

My heartfelt condolences to the families of those personnel who lost their lives in Sukma blast. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured jawans. I spoke to DG @crpfindia regarding the Sukma incident and asked him to leave for Chhattisgarh.  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 13, 2018

#CRPF has been repeatedly suffering big losses in this area, this means the CRPF authority is not taking remedial action, we should learn from mistakes:SK Sood,Former DG,BSF on Sukma attack pic.twitter.com/yO095OenQA  ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2018

For the first time in a decade, 2017 reported less than 1,000 Maoist incidents, The Hindu reported. The decline in these incidents is because of "attrition of various level cadres of Maoists and the other to the possibility of Maoists deliberately lying low", according to a senior official of the Union home ministry. More than 120 incidents were reported this year up to 15 February, in which nine security force personnel and 10 civilians were killed, according to government data. As many as 2,270 encounters with police and 1,356 attacks on police, including with landmines, were reported over the last nine years.

About 300 Naxals were killed by security forces in Chhattisgarh over the last two years since 2016, the states home minister, Ramsewak Paikra told the Legislative Assembly, The Times of India reported.

Chhattisgarh reported more incidents (41 percent) and deaths (49 percent) than any other state (41 percent) in 2017, according to official data.

Over nine years to 2017, 2,811 terrorist incidents were reported in Jammu and Kashmir; 497 security forces have been killed, according to home ministry data.

The number of security forces killed in Jammu and Kashmir have also doubled over the last two years to 2017.

The year 2017 was the worst year for terror-related civilian deaths in Jammu and Kashmir in five years, IndiaSpend reported.

The author is an analyst with IndiaSpend and FactChecker.
The 'acknowledged abuse' of the Atrocities Act stands on a somewhat flimsy factual footing

The Supreme Court's judgment in Subhash Kashinath Mahajan versus State of Maharashtra has caused much consternation across the country among Dalits and Adivasis. And rightly so. The court vastly overreaches its limited mandate in the case (whether the appellant deserved anticipatory bail), cherry-picks data and uses some dubious reasoning to effectively gut the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (Atrocities Act). Its "directions", whether intended or not, make it virtually impossible for any complaint to be registered against those who have committed an atrocity against Dalits. These directions create procedure unheard of in law to protect the privileged and afflict the afflicted. They call for an extrajudicial trial before the actual trial, even before a complaint is registered and acted upon!

The "acknowledged abuse" of the Atrocities Act stands on a somewhat flimsy factual footing. The court does not cite studies or any serious data to show that the Atrocities Act is more abused than any other law. Only the latest NCRB report is cited in this context by the amicus curiae with data showing that 75 percent of the cases resulted in acquittal or withdrawal of charges. The court nowhere establishes how this amounts to abuse or anything even requiring some sort of special treatment for this law. Its sole anxiety seems to be to prevent arrests from taking place under this law and to ensure that even after the anticipatory bail ban has been upheld as valid and constitutional, it is diluted beyond recognition.

The court's doublespeak on the matter of atrocities is breathtaking. On the one hand, no effort is made to find out the impact of the law in improving the lives of Dalits or Adivasis, whether it has actually reduced the number of atrocities, whether more atrocities are being brought to light and prosecuted and whether oppressed classes feel safe and secure as a result of the law. On the other, it is assumed that it is the law itself that is not promoting constitutional values of fraternity and integration of the society, and therefore needs to be given an interpretation as such. It's quite obvious where the court's sympathies lie.

This is not the first time the Supreme Court or even this particular bench has chosen an entirely unrelated case to try and push its own notions of criminal justice onto a wider population in this arbitrary manner. Recall that the same bench tried to gut Section 498-A of the IPC in a similar manner imposing ridiculous procedures to allegedly deter "false complaints" but in effect ensure no one would ever be prosecuted for an offence under Section 498-A. The "directions" are presently being reconsidered by another bench of the Supreme Court.

The discourse around Section 498-A IPC and the Atrocities Act would make you think that these are the only two misused laws in the whole country. You'd think no one uses Section 420 of the IPC to settle essentially civil claims or kidnapping charges arent used to break up inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. No one, as far as I know, has called for the abolition of the offence of cheating or kidnapping or demanded that courts impose special obligations on those seeking to complain to the police about such offences. Why does Section 498-A IPC and the Atrocities Act merit such judicial attention?

The answer isn't too far to seek  they directly impact for the first time those who believed that due to their position in society put them beyond the reach of law: Privileged upper caste men. Who constitutes the bulk of the upper judiciary and provide a patient ear to the grievances of these being called into account by these laws? Privileged upper caste men.

It's no secret that the higher judiciary is utterly unrepresentative of the larger diversity of India. Writing in the 1960s, American scholar George H Gadbois found that the average judge of the Supreme Court of India was an upper caste male who had come from a privileged background and had had family connections in the legal field. Writing of Supreme Court judges up to 1989 (prior to the coming into effect of the "collegium" system of appointment), Gadbois had no reason to change his assessment. If he were to study the judges of the Supreme Court of India appointed since 1989, he would arrive at the same conclusion.

Less than 15 percent of Indias Supreme Court and high court judges are women as of date. According to the latest available figures, less than five percent of them were Dalits.

When the appointment process is almost entirely in the hands judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts, the blame for this state of affairs lies squarely with the judiciary. The situation is a bit better in the subordinate judiciary thanks to state sanctioned reservations in posts. However, thanks to an unstated glass ceiling, only a small number of district court judges make it to the high courts, and are rarely given terms long enough to influence future appointment processes.

Why does diversity matter? It is now beyond dispute that diversity in decision making does lead to better outcomes. It allows for multiple viewpoints on a matter being examined, not just in a theoretical and abstract manner, but based on lived experiences and realities.

But why does it matter so much when it comes to constitutional courts? Interpreting the Constitution is not so much the matter of parsing the words in it, but in articulating a coherent vision of the kind of society it intended to create. Apart from limiting state power in necessary circumstances, the Indian Constitution is also a charter for radical social reform, aiming to bring about equality in a deeply divided and hierarchical society. For it to be captured by the most privileged sections of society in this manner is a fundamental betrayal of the Constitution itself.
The Supreme Court said that the Centre's review petition will be considered in detail after ten days and the parties in the original case should file their written submissions in two days.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said those agitating against its March 20 order putting in place certain safeguards on arrests under the SC/ST Act may not have read the judgement or could have been misled by "vested interests", as it refused to keep in abeyance the verdict.

The apex court, which entertained Centre's review petition against the verdict, asserted that "no provisions of SC/ST Act have been diluted" while clarifying that additional safeguards had been put in place "to protect the fundamental rights" of innocents.

The Supreme Court said that the Centre's review petition will be considered in detail after ten days and the parties in the original case should file their written submissions in two days.

Several states were rocked by violence and clashes yesterday following a 'Bharat Bandh' call given by several SC/ST organisations protesting the top court's 20 March order, that has claimed eight lives so far.

"We have said that innocents should not be penalised. The innocents cannot be terrorised by the provisions of the SC/ST Act. We don't want to deprive anyone from right to life and we make ourselves very clear that we are not against the Act or the complainants," a bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit said.

The apex court refused to accept the submission of Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for Centre, and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Maharashtra, to keep the 20 March verdict in abeyance till it decided the review petition.

The court said by its verdict "provisions of anticipatory bail have been introduced as, unlike other laws, no forum was available for the innocents to seek remedy under the Act".

The bench also clarified that there was no dilution of any provision of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, or Rules and said a compensation can be paid to the alleged victims of atrocities even prior to the registration of FIR under the law.

It said the only offences mentioned in the SC/ST Act were the subject matter of the judgement and other cognisable offences under IPC would not require inquiry before registration of FIR.

The bench asked the Attorney General whether he can function if any unverified allegation is levelled against him under the Act or could any public servant work if such averments made against him or her.

"No, they can't work. Rights of innocents cannot be taken away without giving any remedy to them," it said, adding "people who are agitating may have not read the order. They might not know what is in the order or they may have been misled with people having vested interest".

During the hour long hearing, the bench said the Act which had come under scrutiny does not mandate immediate arrest on filing of a complaint as it was a substantive law.

The Attorney General said the court has proceeded on the premise that there was a gross misuse of the law. He said the court had given a 7-day period for verification of averments made by the complainant which means an FIR cannot be lodged till then.

"We have said that maximum time for verification of complaint is seven days as no innocent citizen shall be penalised or arrested. You can do it in ten minutes or half an hour and register the FIR. We don't want that fundamental rights of innocents taken away. You have to see how many innocents were put in jail under the Act," the bench said.

It said the mandate of the court was to protect the constitutional and fundamental rights of citizens which have "to be kept at the highest pedestal".

Venugopal said that hundreds of crores worth property have been damaged and several lives have been lost in the large scale violence which started after the verdict. Article 21 of the Constitution also applied to victims of atrocities who needed to be protected.

"Yes, it applies to all. Arrest is not necessary even on filing of a complaint under the Act as it is a substantive law. We have not diluted any provision of SC/ST Act and only given effect what was in the Act to only safeguard the interests of the innocents from being arrested," the bench said.

The AG said it was Parliament which makes the law and it believes that SC/ST community needs to be protected from the atrocities.

The bench said it has never directed to acquit or discharge the accused in genuine cases under the Act but have reiterated what is the settled law under the CrPC.

"Liberty of the innocents cannot be allowed to be taken away. If no forum is there, then some forum in court has to be there to protect the interest of innocent citizens.

Senior Advocate Amrendra Sharan, who was appointed amicus curiae in the matter, opposed the Centre's review petition and said the verdict had even dealt with the data and report of the parliamentary committee submitted by the government.

He said the Centre's review petition cannot be an appeal against the March 20 verdict unless there is a patent error and no provision of the Act has been diluted or read down.

The bench said through the verdict, some filters have been put in place which are not against the basic tenet of law.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that Article 370 of the Constitution which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir is not a temporary provision.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that Article 370 of the Constitution which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir is not a temporary provision.

The apex court said that in its earlier verdict of 2017 in the SARFESI case, it has been already held that Article 370 was "not a temporary provision".

"The issue concerned is covered by the judgement of this court in the 2017 SARFAESI matter, where we have held that despite the headnote of Article 370, it is not a temporary provision," a bench of justices AK Goel and RF Nariman said.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre said that the matter be heard after some time as similar matters are pending before the court and are to be listed shortly.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan and advocate Shoeb Alam appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir government clarified that other matters which are pending before the apex court relates to Article 35 A of the Constitution and not Article 370 as submitted by the ASG.

Dhavan said that those matter cannot be heard along with the present case, which only deals with Article 370.

The bench then adjourned the matter for hearing by three weeks on the insistence of the ASG.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by petitioner Kumari Vijayalakshmi Jha, against the Delhi High Court's April 11, 2017 order dismissing the plea seeking a declaration that Article 370 is temporary in nature.

The petitioner had claimed before the high court that Article 370 was a temporary provision that had lapsed with the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in 1957.

The petition had said that the continuance of the temporary provision of Article 370 even after dissolution of Constituent Assembly of J&K, and that of J&K Constitution which has never got the assent of the President of India or Parliament or the government of India, "amounts to fraud on the basic structure of our Constitution".
During the meeting, Swaraj said there was scope to expand bilateral ties in a range of areas including trade and investment.

New Delhi: Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Saturday met Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in various areas including trade and investment.

During the meeting, Swaraj said there was scope to expand bilateral ties in a range of areas.

"Meeting with a long-standing friend. EAM @SushmaSwaraj calls on Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth," MEA spokesperson Gopal Bagley tweeted along with a picture of Swaraj with the Mauritian PM.

Earlier on Saturday, Jugnauth was given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Mauritian prime minister arrived on Friday for a three-day visit, during which he will hold meetings with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee.

Jugnauth held discussions with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday.

He will hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Modi on Saturday, besides meeting Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

This is Jugnauth's first visit abroad as prime minister after assuming office early in 2017.
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the current political situation in the midst of the uproar in the state over Cauvery river water issue

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and discussed the current political situation in the midst of the uproar in the state over Cauvery river water issue.

While there was no official statement on the meeting, the governor is believed to have apprised the prime minister of the strong feeling in Tamil Nadu over the need to constitute a Cauvery Management Board in the wake of a Supreme Court judgement and that there should be no dilution on this score.

The governor also met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed the law and order situation.

Modi is slated to visit Chennai on 11 April for a defence-related function. The DMK and a few organisations have threatened to show black flags to the prime minister over Centre's failure to constitute the board.
Satan worshipping cults seem to be gaining ground in Kerala

The Kerala police, which was probing a multiple murder in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram in the first week of April, rejected the defence of the accused that he committed the heinous crime as part of an experiment to "detach human souls from their bodies", but warned people against clandestine groups promoting such bizarre practices, gaining ground in the state.

The investigators had taken the statement of accused, Cadell Jeanson Raja, 30, who confessed to murdering his parents, sister and aunt with an axe, seriously, since he had shown some signs of delusional disorders during the initial interrogation. However, Raja changed his version when he was questioned further with the help of a psychologist. The latest reason he advanced for committing the crime is his animosity against his father for his "immoral activities".

A senior police official associated with the investigation said that they do not fully subscribe to the fresh claim of the accused. He told Firstpost that they will reach a conclusion on the motive behind the crime only after examining all aspects since Raja is a 'tough customer'.

The accused did not make any attempt to escape from the police. Though he went to Chennai after committing the crime, he returned to the city in a couple of days knowing fully well that the police were after him. When we arrested him, he readily confessed to the crime. He did not show any remorse over the murders. On the contrary, he appeared proud in claiming that he has 'freed' his family members," said the official, who did not want to be identified.

The police investigation has revealed that Raja was obsessed with occult practices. He reportedly told the investigators that he was researching the subject for decades without the knowledge of his family. He mostly confined himself to his room, and none of his neighbours knew anything about him.

The police believe that the accused might have taken to astral projection as part of the devil (satanic) worship which is gaining ground in a big way in the state. Raja had also told the police officials, who arrested him, that he was involved in satanic worship.

Intelligence officials claim that satan worshippers are trying to spread their net in the state and have warned the people against coming under their spell. The cult gained ground in Kerala following the tourism boom.

The Satan cult disagrees on the fundamental principles of Christianity, according to this report, which further states, Satan worshippers are against everything that is deemed sacred by the church. Black Mass is the main ritual of Satan worshippers. Though Black Mass is a parody of the Holy Mass in Christianity, it has reportedly turned into the desecration of anything considered to be divine by other religions, including Hinduism and Islam. The desecration of communion bread (host) is reported to be an important aspect of Black Mass.

Satanic rituals include sacrilegious sexual behaviour, human and animal sacrifices, drinking wine out of a human skull, the recital of Biblical hymns backwards and use of pagan occult symbols, according to a priest in Kochi.

Satan is invoked by using a desecrated host. They mostly steal consecrated hosts from churches and desecrate it by defecating and urinating on it. Impure blood and urine collected in a human skull, triangle-shaped slices of bread etc are other things used for the 'black mass' which is usually held on the 13th of every month, the priest said.

Recent reports of an increase in the incidents of disappearance or theft of consecrated hosts from many Catholic churches in the state is viewed as a sign of the growing penetration of Satan worshippers in the state. Several churches in the state reported theft or attempted theft of consecrated hosts recently.

There have also been reports of some Christian devotees selling consecrated hosts to the Satan worshippers. The Catholic priest at Kochi said that a girl from his parish was caught for selling consecrated host. The parents found out after they noticed unexplained cash credits in the girl's bank account. The priest said that the girl later confessed the crime and made penance for it.

Selling consecrated hosts to Satan worshippers is considered lucrative since they are ready to pay even up to Rs 1 lakh for a consecrated host, the priest told Firstpost on condition of anonymity. The increase in thefts and disappearance of consecrated hosts has forced the Church officials to be vigilant in handling the hosts.

Authorities at the St James Church, Cheranallore, under the Archdiocese of Verapoly in Ernakulam district, have stopped giving communion bread in hand, after it was found that the bread is taken away for selling to the Satan worshippers.

Sex and drugs seem to be the main attractions of Satan worship. Since these two form a part of satanic rituals, many believe that they can get both easily if they join a satanic cult. There have also been sexual abuse of children by the Satan worshippers. The Kerala police had in 2016 August arrested 11 people, who were part of Satan cult, for sexually abusing a Class 11 student for years.

The police do not rule out the involvement of the drug mafia in the growth of this cult, especially since it offers them a chance to make quick money. Satan worshippers spread their message through tattoos, T-shirts and inverted crosses. These symbols are available across Kerala.

Journalist Rajeev Sivshankar, who studied the subject for his book (Thamovedam), said that the states commercial capital of Kochi is the main hub of the satanic cult in the state. The cult originated in Fort Kochi, a major tourist centre. It was believed to have been brought by French tourists in early 2000. The cult contains mostly Christians and Hindus. Most of them are youths.

Rajeev said that the cult was fast spreading its wings in Kerala. He said that the Satan worshippers had already established churches in seven out of 14 districts in the state. The service is conducted mostly in isolated houses or apartments.

He said that the organisers of 'Satan seva' have been luring people by making fake claims that it can solve their problems and bring riches, besides destroying their enemies. Its mainly businessmen, who have suffered losses in their business, who are participating in the Black mass, for which the organisers charge Rs 30,000 per person, Rajeev said.

A Hindu cult in the state has also been offering similar rituals that include black arts since centuries for those seeking fortunes and relief from sufferings. The sect, which is based at Peringottukara village in Thrissur, worship a dark avatar of Vishnu, who rides a buffalo, as their deity.

The puja, which involves animal sacrifice, is performed every Friday and the priest who conducts the rituals inside the temple, comes out, meets people individually and prescribes specific offerings to the deity for specific needs.

People from all faiths throng the village, which has 17 major and 60 small temples, in an area of 10 square kilometres offering the puja. The temples charge 10 percent of the 'profit' if the worshippers benefit from the ritual.

A report in Times of India said that many of these temples had amassed huge wealth through the rituals. Apart from the religious practices, some of them are also running businesses. An Income Tax raid in one such temple in 2003 had led to seizure of Rs 17 lakhs in unaccounted receipts. The organisers of the cult lure people by placing advertisements in the newspapers and television channels saying their rituals will help believers prosper. Quoting advertising industry circles, the TOI report said that that each temple was spending lakhs of rupees on advertisements every year.

Finding a steady flow of Christians to these temples, the Catholic Church in Kerala has issued a warning to their followers not to practice the chathan service.

The police, who have warned people against those spreading superstition and promoting black magic in the name of faith, are unable to do any thing to prevent such activities as Kerala has no law to deal with such cases.

Though the previous Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government made an attempt to enact a law similar to the Maharashtra Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act (2013), the draft bill has not found it way to the State Assembly so far.

A senior police officer told Firstpost there was no provision in the existing laws to act against those promoting 'Satan seva' and 'chathan seva'. The law allows the enforcement agency to act only if they receive a complaint about any harm caused to them by those indulging in occult practices," he said.

The officer agreed that a law to check these activities was needed since incidents of superstition and black magic were thriving in the state despite its high literacy rate. He said that those promoting these practices were actually exploiting the people by promising them impossible things.
The recent past witnessed three disparate events that raised the same question: How well-prepared is India to meet the threat from China, its northern neighbour?

The recent past witnessed three disparate events within and in the neighbourhood of India that created rumblings in the strategic landscape, and raised the same question: How well-prepared is India to meet the threat from China, its northern neighbour?

The first of these events was in China. A follow-up action, after the 19th Party Congress in 2017, initiated by the ruling Communist Party to remove the constitutional clause that limits the president's tenure to two five-year terms. Thus, setting the stage for Xi Jinpings presidency to go on well beyond 2022. He indicated that he plans to steer the country to achieve its aspiration of being a major player on the world stage, by 2035. Therefore, there is a genuine cause for concern for the world  that it will have to deal with a more assertive and belligerent China. An outcome of 'resurgent nationalism' prevalent in China, due its sustained economic growth and now, the likelihood of continuation of a strong proactive leadership.

With the existing 'bones of contention' of disputed borders and the lingering thorn of the providing sanctuary to the Tibetan leadership and diaspora, India is likely to witness hardening of Chinese stance in dealing with issues of discord and its increased influence in India's neighbourhood/'near abroad'. Second, was the underlying implication in the statement of the COAS General Bipin Rawat, at a recent interactive forum, that China's growth model was worth emulating as it ensured concurrent development of its economic and military power. Saying the unsaid that India was not doing enough to sharpen its 'hard power' in synchronisation with its economic growth.

Thirdly, was the deposition made by the VCOAS to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Defence, that reinforced the statement implied by Rawat, that the budget allocations were woefully short to meet the multiple requirements of servicing the 'ongoing' schemes for enhanced security of military establishments, acquiring urgent military hardware for mitigating the existing deficiencies of the army, infrastructure development along the northern borders and overall modernisation.

These events have drawn attention to the growing asymmetry with China, on all fronts. It demands that the instruments of national power harmonise their actions urgently to meet the challenge of dealing with a strong, belligerent China under an assertive leader. The requirement of suitable modernised military with technologically vibrant surveillance and monitoring systems is a must. But, concurrently there is a need for an effective, enabling surrounding landscape. Shared stability and goodwill with the neighbours will safeguard long-term Indian interests and also ensure that the country is insulated from any mischief that China may try to create in the immediate neighbourhood. Therefore, a quick look at the contours of our future engagements with the South Asian countries is required.

Diplomatically, there is a need to re-examine the existing irritants that are clouding our cultural and historical bonds with the neighbours. The primary need is a change in the attitude and demeanour in engaging with these countries. India has to move from being condescending and start dealing with them as equals. Simultaneously, there is a need to meet the timelines in the completion of our projects in these countries and provide the wherewithal as promised to them, during various levels of inter-State engagement. Thereafter, be largehearted in resolving outstanding bilateral/multilateral issues. It would not be wrong to state that the foundation pillars with all the neighbours are anchored on the issues of connectivity, trade and sharing of natural resources.

Let's take a look at the specifics with each of these countries:

In the case of Bhutan, there is a need to revisit the existing bilateral treaties, to harmonise their tenor with the aspirations of the present populace, while safeguarding the security imperatives of India.

With Nepal, there is a need to quell the growing sentiment, echoed by the actions of the present political leadership, that an 'anti-India' stance is an assertion of Nepal's independence and sovereignty. The transit treaty, road-rail-power linkages that have been on the anvil for long to give accessibility to landlocked Nepal and a balanced engagement with the Madhesis is something that needs urgent attention.

When it comes to Bangladesh, great inroads have been made for a lasting friendship, but the issues like the sharing of water and bilaterals for enhanced trade, IWT and migration need to be looked at on a priority basis.

Sri Lanka and the Maldives have different challenges that relate to their internal politics and India needs to be seen as a facilitator and 'all-weather' ally. New Delhi's policies and engagement with these countries mustn't be clouded by domestic politics.

Myanmar is blossoming after being in isolation for decades and India needs to be extremely sensitive to its aspirations. Not only is the country fundamental for the success of India's 'Act East' policy, but Naypyidaw's willing cooperation-cum-support is essential for resolving the internal dissension that is still afflicting the states in the North East. Better relations with the country are an urgent priority to achieve inclusive economic development of the region. The 'Free Move Regime' accord that exists between the two countries needs to be addressed with great sensitivity, due to the existence of strong traditional cross-border tribal linkages that need to be respected. The talk of border-fencing and other embargoes by interested parties and 'armchair' policymakers needs unbiased analysis.

The case of Pakistan is extremely vexed. The counter-narrative has to address ideological linkages that transcend both sides of the Line of Control. India must be proactive with a long-term, sustained national policy in dealing with Pakistan, that has the concurrence of all the major political parties. The national engagement cannot be captive to the political ideologues of the ruling political party. Diplomatic engagement should therefore be focussed to bring pressure on Pakistan in a constructive way, so that India can arrive at mutually acceptable 'CBMs' and concentrate on the much-needed socioeconomic issues.

On the economic front, there is a need to create strong dependent linkages within the region. With nearly 40 percent of the world population within South Asia, the internal demands/requirements can see shared economic prosperity. The economic model should be 'collaborative' instead of 'competitive'.

The strategic landscape also demands an approach that looks at collaborative security. There is a lot of talk of the emerging strategic quadrilateral between India, the US, Japan and Australia. Multilateral cooperation and engagement is a must, but we have to be conscious that this does not mutate into military blocs, like the NATO and Warsaw Pact. There is a need to develop support linkages with the ASEAN countries  particularly, Indonesia, which due to its geographical location, has the possibility of becoming a maritime anchor in the region. Positive engagement with Vietnam is a good forward-thinking move.

India needs to be proactive in the Indian Ocean, but play a supportive role, without a physical footprint in the military sphere. Economic engagement and exploratory activities have to be dismembered from security issues in the South China Sea.

In conclusion, it is reiterated that India has to be realistic in reading the emerging security dynamics and give priority to building up its kinetic military might. The present apathy of the finance ministry and only lip service in the Ministry of Defence can be devastating for India's security. It all seems to be too little too late.

The author is former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Army
A day after the violent 'Bharat Bandh' protests, BJP president Amit Shah said a 'microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties' made the people suffer and sought their apology to 'Dalit sisters and brothers.'

New Delhi: A day after the violent 'Bharat Bandh' protests, BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday said a "microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties" made the people suffer and sought their apology to "Dalit sisters and brothers."

In a series of tweets, Shah reached out to the community, which has been protesting a Supreme Court order on a law on atrocities against it and sought to turn the tables on the Congress by raking up its treatment to Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar.

He also blamed "vested interest groups" for spreading the panic on the issue of reservation for Dalits, saying it is done before every election and asserted that the government will do everything to protect their rights.

Right from the day the apex court gave its judgment on the SC/ST atrocities act, the Central government acted in an "immediate and informed" manner and has filed an effective review petition to protect the Dalits' rights, Shah said.

Right from the day the Honourable Supreme Court gave a judgment on SC/ST Atrocities Act, Central Government acted in an immediate and informed manner. An effective review petition has been filed that will protect rights of Dalits.  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 3, 2018

He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met MPs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and had assured them that the government was doing everything to protect the rights and well-being of "our Dalit sisters and brothers."

PM @narendramodi met MPs belonging to the SC communities and assured them that the Government is doing everything to protect the rights and wellbeing of our Dalit sisters and brothers.  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 3, 2018

Through the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015, the NDA government had actually strengthened the provisions of the Act and this was in line with the BJP's commitment to the welfare of the SC & ST communities, he said.

Through the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015 the NDA Government has actually strengthened the provisions of the Act. This was done in line with our commitment to the welfare of SC & ST communities. https://t.co/2LCmNeMOoP  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 3, 2018

"Due to the politically driven manifestations of a microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties, crores of innocent people suffered. These parties owe our Dalit sisters and brothers an apology for their misdeeds," he said. Shah, whose party has often accused the opposition of fuelling unfounded campaign against it before elections, said the script had now become old and that vested interest groups started spreading panic about reservations before polls. The BJP is locked in a keen fight with the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections, scheduled for 12 May. "The BJP's stand is clear, which I am once again stating  we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to the SC/ST communities. At every juncture and in all possible ways, the BJP stands shoulder to shoulder with the Dalit community," he said. The Modi government's commitment to fulfilling Ambedkar's vision was unwavering and all its efforts were aimed at transforming the lives of Dalits, Shah claimed. Attacking the Congress for "mocking" Modi's DNA, he said the party had defeated Ambedkar in Lok Sabha polls twice and made "flimsy excuses" to ensure his portrait was not placed in Parliament's Central Hall.

Congress, which is mocking the DNA of PM @narendramodi is the same party which: Defeated Dr. Ambedkar not once but twice. Made flimsy excuses to ensure his portrait was not placed in Central Hall. Denied him a Bharat Ratna. India has seen through their negative politics!  Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 3, 2018

It also denied him a Bharat Ratna, he said, claiming that India had seen through its negative politics.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had said in a tweet that the DNA of the BJP and RSS was anti-Dalit.

Shah said, "We will continue our efforts to make our Dalit sisters and brothers the makers of New India. We will fulfil their aspirations and dreams. Jai Bhim! Jai Hind!"
In wake of violence rocking the day-long Bharat Bandh call given by Dalit groups and organizations, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday demanded stern action against all those involved in inciting mobs for violence.

Lucknow: In wake of violence rocking the day-long Bharat Bandh call given by Dalit groups and organisations, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday demanded stern action against all those involved in inciting mobs for violence.

In a statement, the four-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister said this was a ploy to defame the BSP by alleging that they were behind the violence that erupted in many parts of Uttar Pradesh, primarily in western districts.

"I demand that the government take stringent action again who ever is behind this violence that has singed many parts of western Uttar Pradesh," she demanded. "It is indeed very painful that some people have lost their lives in other parts of the country and I condemn these acts of violence."

Mayawati also said that it appeared certain that some anti-social elements jumped into the otherwise calm and peaceful protests and created ruckus. The BSP chief however reiterated that her party as very much against the amendments ordered by the Supreme Court in the SC/ST Act and added that she would take up the matter at every stage she can.
Instead of being a contender for the top job in Delhi a few years ago, Nitish Kumar is now in danger of losing Bihar and his own political equity.

'Bihar mein bahar hai, phir se Nitish Kumar hai'. There was a time not so long when this slogan resonated in every corner of the state. When Kumar became chief minister in 2015, dreams of bahar (spring, bloom) in Bihar were replaced by slogans of 'Delhi mein bahar ho, Nitish Kumar ho'. Both these slogans now sound like jokes, one of them on the man himself.

For, instead of bahar, there is now gloom in Bihar. And, instead of being a contender for the top job in Delhi, Kumar is now in danger of losing Bihar and his own political equity. From somebody who could have been a lot, he is faced with the prospect of becoming a has-been.

As this report in The Indian Express points out, there have been 200 incidents of communal tension in Bihar since Kumar returned to the NDA after breaking the alliance with the RJD and Congress. The state is burning under his watch as fake news, videos and right-wing propaganda create fertile grounds for riots and communal tension.

Kumar always took pride in being Sushashan Babu of Indian politics. In the runup to the 2015 Assembly elections, he went door-to-door for votes, citing his administrative skills. That image, after the spate of violence, is now shredded. As communal clashes become a norm in Bihar there have already been 67 this year  Kumar appears to be a lame duck chief minister who has lost control of the narrative.

Kumar's original problem was that he was a leader without a party. In a caste-driven state, except for Kurmis, he was not identified with any caste or group. But, he overcame this problem by finding allies with committed vote banks and cadre, swinging from one end of the political spectrum to the other, divorcing, remarrying at whim.

But, perhaps success and ambition blinded him to the fact that without a solid base of his own, Kumar is always an easy target. He forgot that once the allies withdraw support  and with that the support base  his politics would be in danger. And that's exactly what seems to be happening.

The BJP, it is evident, is looking at Bihar as its next frontier. It is dreaming of winning the state on its own, making Kumar redundant. With this objective in mind, it is carving out its own territory through its tested technique of polarisation. This has left Kumar stranded in the middle, with the BJP vying for the Hindutva vote and a resurgent RJD and its allies vying for the secular vote.

Kumar, who was voted to power by both minorities and large sections of Dalits, is in danger of losing their support, as results of the recent bypolls in Araria and Jahanabad point out.

It is not difficult to predict the future of Bihar's politics. In the next election, the BJP and the RJD would be the main adversaries, pitted against each other at opposite ends of caste and communal divides. Kumar, neither a pucca Hindutva-wadi nor a committed "secular", would be squeezed by the two heavyweights. He will either play a supporting role or watch his voters join one of the other two camps.

That Kumar is a bit jittery is evident from his jugalbandi (tie-up) with Ram Vilas Paswan. A few days ago, Paswan raised an alarm in the NDA when he asked for urgent course correction on the issue of minorities and Dalits. He argued that the BJP is still perceived as anti-minority and anti-Dalit. Kumar echoed Paswan's sentiments almost immediately.

Kumar's credibility and ideology became suspect after his U-turn a year ago, when he rejoined the BJP after seeking a mandate against it. Now nobody knows if he is secular, socialist, Lohia-ite or nationalist. In trying to become everything by turn, he has become a blur of transient ideas and ideologies. Only his ambition has remained permanent.

Leaders who destroy their own legacy always end up losers. We have the recent example of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who, after claiming to be an activist, a courageous crusader, has turned into a Machiavellian character willing to do anything for power, including the pitiable act of grovelling for pardon and mercy. He seems to have forgotten that the principles he is abandoning for power will return to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Kumar, similarly, has destroyed his own legacy. He doesn't realise that he is in danger of losing the trust of those who voted for the man who claimed to be the harbinger of spring, a paradigm of good governance, a crusader for secularism and an idealist with principles. Today, he is a walking contradiction of his own image. What started with visions of bloom in Bihar and Delhi is turning into a sorry tale of gloom and doom.
Dismissing the ruling AIADMK's day-long fast over the Cauvery issue as a 'drama', the DMK on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy and his cabinet, saying it would 'do good' to the people.

Chennai: Dismissing the ruling AIADMK's day-long fast over the Cauvery issue as a "drama", the DMK on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy and his cabinet, saying it would "do good" to the people.

Hitting out at the AIADMK for observing the fast without "taking steps" on the emotive Cauvery river water-sharing issue, DMK working president MK Stalin dismissed the hunger strike by the ruling party as a "drama".

Alleging that the Palaniswamy-led regime had not done anything for the people of the state, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly said if something needed to be done now, "they should resign from their posts...that will be the only good thing they will be doing for the people".

The top DMK leader, who has been attacking the ruling regime over the Cauvery issue, said the government did not even implement a decision taken at a recent all-party meeting over the dispute to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urge him to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

"We are staging protest demonstrations on the Cauvery issue since the AIADMK regime never mounted pressure on the Centre to set up the CMB," Stalin said.

Speaking to reporters, he taunted the AIADMK dispensation by calling it a "horse-trading regime" and alleged that it was subservient to the BJP-led Central government.

The Opposition leader said that at the least, the Tamil Nadu cabinet should have passed a resolution, condemning the Centre for not setting up the CMB.

The pro-CMB statewide stir, being spearheaded by the DMK and a host of pro-Tamil outfits, saw a series of sit-in protests and demonstrations yesterday by students and others at various places, including in Chennai, Tiruvarur and Madurai.

The DMK-led opposition parties had, on 1 April, called for a statewide shutdown on 5 April, seeking the constitution of the CMB.

The Centre and the Tamil Nadu government had moved the Supreme Court on 31 March over the issue of constitution and composition of the CMB, in compliance with the 16 February apex court verdict.

The Centre had sought three months' time to implement the apex court order in view of next month's Karnataka Assembly election. It had also asked for clarification on various issues for the formulation of a "scheme" to implement the decision of the top court.

The Tamil Nadu government had sought contempt action against the Centre for "failure" to frame the scheme for the constitution of the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee within six weeks, as directed by the apex court on 16 February.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear Tamil Nadu's contempt plea against the Centre on 9 April.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had a spate of meetings with regional party leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday but was 'in no mood' to join a united Opposition front at this juncture, a senior TDP leader said

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had a spate of meetings with regional party leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday but was "in no mood" to join a united Opposition front at this juncture, a senior TDP leader said on Tuesday.

The Telugu Desam Party chief would take a decision on a front only after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the TDP leader added.

"Naidu is in no mood to commit himself right now. He would rather wait for the results of the Lok Sabha polls and then decide his move. Right now he just wants to focus on Andhra Pradesh," the senior TDP leader, who has been accompanying the party chief, told PTI.

The chief minister met leaders from parties across the political spectrum in a bid to garner support for the TDP's move to introduce a no-confidence motion against the NDA government in Parliament.

He had talks with leaders of the TMC, NCP, DMK, AIADMK, SP and BSP. He met leaders from the Congress and NDA allies.

Though at political loggerheads with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, he also met K Kavitha of the TRS.

"It seems he is interested in looking at the numbers in a non-BJP non-Congress faction at the moment. He is not in a hurry to join any faction right away," an Opposition leader.

Naidu wanted to know more about the political alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, which led to the SP winning two seats in recent by-elections in Uttar Pradesh, a leader added.

The TDP boss, who also met BJP's Hema Malini and Jayant Sinha, later said on Twitter that his meetings were mainly on the issue of "injustice" done to his state.

"Interacted with NCP president Sharad Pawar, JKNC president Farooq Abdullah, TMC leaders Derek O'Brien, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Jyotiraditya Scindia from Congress regarding no-confidence motion, highlighted the injustice done to AP for its 'special status'," Naidu tweeted.

Interacted with NCP President Sri Sharad Pawar @PawarSpeaks, JKNC President Dr Farooq Abdullah, Mr @derekobrienmp, Mr Sudip Bandyopadhyay from TMC & Congress Leader Sri @JM_Scindia, regarding no-confidence motion, highlighting the injustice done to AP for it's 'Special Status'. pic.twitter.com/FW6olg5oOA  N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) April 3, 2018

After Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's visit to the capital last week, Naidu's Delhi sojourn fuelled speculation about the formation of a federal front ahead of the 2019 polls.
Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said on Tuesday that the Centre's withdrawal of a press release on 'fake news' within 24 hours of issuing it was a victory of democracy and the media.

Mumbai: Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said on Tuesday that the Centre's withdrawal of a press release on 'fake news' within 24 hours of issuing it was a victory of democracy and the media.

Through the press release on fake news, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had attempted to bring restrictions on the media's autonomy, he alleged.

"The government had to withdraw it (the press release) within 24 hours and this is a big victory of democracy and the media. I congratulate all journalists who unitedly opposed the decision," said Vikhe Patil, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

"In the name of fake news, the government had sought to impose restrictions on the autonomy of the media," he said in a tweet posted in Marathi.

On Monday, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe was found generating or propagating fake news.

Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the accreditation of the journalist, whoever "created and/or propagated" the fake news, will be suspended till the determination regarding the fake news is made, the ministry had said.

However, the press release did not define what is fake news.

The guidelines drew sharp reaction from the Opposition Congress and journalists.

The Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday ordered the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to withdraw its press release on fake news, holding that the decision on what constitutes fake news should be left to press bodies.

According to official sources, the PMO felt that the government should not interfere in the matter.

Follwing orders from the PMO, the Information and Broadcasting ministry withdrew the guidelines to regulate fake news.
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav has described the CPM's decision to not contest an Assembly seat in Tripura due to alleged violence as a lame attempt to 'hide its defeat and its inability to reach out to people'

New Delhi: BJP general secretary Ram Madhav has described the CPM's decision to not contest an Assembly seat in Tripura due to alleged violence as a lame attempt to "hide its defeat and its inability to reach out to people".

Madhav, the BJP's pointsman for the northeast states, who is seen as the key architect for its win in Tripura and Nagaland, also dismissed the Left party's claim of violence in the state following the saffron party's emphatic win in the Assembly elections as nothing but an attempt to create a "victimhood syndrome".

The state has been completely peaceful since the BJP government took charge, he said.

"The CPM's candidate withdrawal and its claim that it was due to violence is all bogus. It's a lame excuse for its inability to reach out to the people anymore in Tripura. Its candidate had already decided that he will not contest. Now they are using this to create a kind of victimhood syndrome," Madhav told PTI.

It is an attempt to hide their defeat, he said. Rejecting the CPM's allegations of rising violence in the state, Madhav said, "Our government came to power on 9 March. In the three days since, the state has been absolutely peaceful."

BJP had fought the Tripura Assembly elections in alliance with the IPFT, a regional party, and their alliance won 43 out of 59 seats, ending the Left's 25-year-long rule.

The Charilam (ST) Assembly seat, where election was cancelled following the death of the CPI (M) candidate, went to the polls today and the state's Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma is the BJP candidate from there.
While in other places, the dismantling of statues marked change already taken place, in Tripura, the act seems to have taken place to force a change.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the Tripura Assembly election has led to the highest amount of news coverage that the state has received in recent decades. In the aftermath of the election, celebratory actions such as the public demolition of the statue of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin garnered the mainstream medias attention. However, the attack on the Left cadre, their offices and sympathisers did not receive even a fraction of the coverage, despite all of this happening simultaneously. The celebratory spectacle masked the organised violence.

The destruction of Lenins statue is not an isolated case of destruction of historical heritage, even though it is being seen as such and is even being compared with the systematic dismantling of Lenin statues in Russia and eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The analogy is misplaced for various reasons. In post-Soviet Russia, as well as most of Europe and the United States (in the last case, Confederate monuments as an example), statues of only such people have been destroyed who have been seen as symbols of oppression  of slavery, tyranny and mass violence. In the third world, symbols of colonialism or foreign rule have been destroyed.

In Tripura, the act is nothing but a reflection of hate. Further, in most cases mentioned above, there hasn't been destruction  the statues have either been dismantled or relocated to a park, museum or visual archive, with tags that educate people about the significance of the structure (in whatever way, right or wrong). There are many examples of this. For instance, Soviet symbols in post-Soviet Russia have not been entirely eradicated. Parks have been created of dismantled statues. They are seen as an essential part of history, one which is no longer upheld, and yet is owned. In Germany, Nazi structures and monuments were preserved to educate the people about the horrors of the nation in that era, as well as the popular bigotry it mobilised. The cultural and architectural legacy of East Germany was not desecrated by united capitalist Germany.

In that sense, what happened in Tripura is a barbaric destruction, a show of power carried out by kicking around the broken head of Lenin.

Lenin himself was against the wanton destruction of symbols of Tsarist Russia. Built by the toil of the masses, palaces and monuments and galleries could, in his view, be used in new, educative ways  so that knowledge would be preserved and advanced. The Soviet Union under him allowed for cultural forms developed by the bourgeoisie to subsist  ballet as an example. Cuba, and to some extent pre-Cultural Revolution China, followed this. Stalin, of course, reversed this policy. Post-Soviet Russia discarded the older ideology but did not wholly abandon the socio-cultural sensibilities of the earlier state, built over seven decades. It is a little sad that the statue of a man so sensitive towards labour and symbolism should have had this fate.

Destroying statues is also a form of rewriting history  an attempt to sink into oblivion what is part of historical baggage. It is an attempt to erase popular memory, of whatever kind, with regard to the particular statue targeted and the related values and things it stands for. In the case of Lenin, it is the ideas of world revolution, emancipation of the oppressed and socialism, whereas in the case of Periyar, it is atheism, Dravdianism, social justice and womens rights.

Further, most instances of destruction of statues follow regime changes of a serious order. The destruction of Lenin statues in post-Soviet Russia or eastern Europe, again, are examples. Or Saddams statues in Iraq, Gaddafi statues in Libya, or the old regime structures after the Iranian Revolution. In Tripura, it was simply a victory in an election, within the same constitutional and secular framework of democracy  only with the complicity of the state  the new operative factor being state protection. While in other places the dismantling of statues marked change already taken place, in Tripura, the act seems to have taken place to force a change. The Union government since 2014 in terms of blatant communalism has legislated less and abetted more  the current constitutional framework does not allow much elbow room for majoritarian fascism.

Abetment opens up an extra political avenue: the masking of political violence as popular sentiment and the cadre hiding under the garb of the mob. Saffron-leaning narratives are already following this tactic. As an example, Sreemoy Talukdar, in this article, justifies the political violence against CPM cadre/offices and the demolition of the statue by claiming that it is a reflection of popular anger. He lists out incidents which have been dwarfed by the political violence meted out by parties such as the Congress, RJD, JDU, SP, BSP and others, and altogether whitewashed the role and actions of historically the most violent political elements in India  the BJP, RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal. Further, Manik Sarkar was a far better chief minister than Pinaryi Vijayan or Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and does not have a record of acting to the publics detriment the way the latter of the other two has.

However, those (such as the far left in JNU) who are gloating over the vandalism or see it of not much consequence (as just another statue), are short-sighted. Lenin has symbolised the heritage of revolution and support to national liberation the world over. He was a friend of the anti-colonial struggle in India (something the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS werent) as elsewhere, as acknowledged even by Bal Gangadhar Tilak  and was one of the first to firmly tie the date of a socialist future with the emancipation of the colonies.

The utter ignorance, hatred and barbarism involved in the act of demolishing the statue is a precursor of what to expect from these forces and this regime. It suggests that the regime will have no respect for history, multi-culturalism, democracy or internationalism. It is not just an attack on the CPM, but a tiding of the direction our polity is taking. So far, no substantial or sincere criticism has come up from other political parties, and nearly none when it comes to the accompanying political violence beyond the vandalism. The moral sincerity of the statements of the prime minister and Mamata Banerjee (who conducted a similar massacre of CPM supporters and cadre in 2011) can be reasonably doubted on this one count.

In a way, the trajectory of saffron political violence is in line with the barbaric practice set in motion with the destruction of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and the violent semi-seditious speeches that mobilised lumpen elements from different parts of the country, as also the many routinely defaced and broken Ambedkar statues (often done in secrecy). Recently, there has been a call by a top BJP leader in Tamil Nadu for destroying the statue of EV Ramasamy Naicker (Periyar), one of which (in Vellore) was later damaged , following the incident in Tripura. It mirrors the destruction of historical and cultural symbols, artifacts, manuscripts and structures by the Islamic State in West Asia more than any post-Soviet or postcolonial destruction. It is more in keeping with the Nazi tradition of creating spectacles that are shows of power and brute intimidation, in this case, harnessing the immediate aftermath of an anti-incumbency vote. Nothing like this exists in non-fascist countries, the Tiananmen Square incident being one of the few exceptions, though enacted without a watershed moment of regime change, of course.

The destruction of statues in the absence of a far-reaching revolution (which is nearly always accompanied by a public consensus) can only lead to and offer a precedent for the normalisation of statue destruction as a retributive act. That this is true has been proved by the vandalisation of the statues of Periyar in Tamil Nadu, Shyama Prasad Mookherji in Bengal and Ambedkar in Meerut.

The specificity of Tripura lends another angle: the violent assertion of newfound political dominance over a long-standing incumbent, closing the chapter on the latters rule. The use of brute force is seen as essential to suppress competing ideologies and political discourses, especially when a key goal is saffronising a yet relatively unsaffronised territory. The simultaneous attacks on the Left cadre and sympathisers serve the purpose of dispersing and intimidating rival cadre bases as well as reducing the vocality of supporters for years to come. This tactic is reminiscent of the Mamata Banerjee regimes takeover in Bengal in 2011, initially followed by consistent violence and the driving out of CPM cadre and later the repainting of public buildings in Kolkata in green.

As the creation of a Hindu rashtra is the central aim of the BJP and RSS, beyond seasonal trysts with political power, a violent, religiously motivated cadre becomes the first line of defence of the intellectual project of redefining the nation. There have been other softer forms of ideological bigotry  the renaming of roads, buildings and places (notably Aurangzeb Road to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road) or the overall historical manipulation  such as the saffronisation of education, demonising minorities on a historical basis, the appropriation of Ambedkar, distorting his ideals to validate the saffron agenda (and the false portrayal of him not wanting to challenge the Hindu social order) while attempting to appease the perceived lower caste vote banks, and the appropriation of Sardar Patel, GB Pant and Madan Mohan Malviya; or the renaming of UPA welfare schemes or structures built under the latters ambit. So there have been two targets  our diverse past and the previous Congress regimes (as the Left usually lacks mainstream icons for the saffron forces to desecrate). The other half of the process involved building up right-wing leaders of the present and past as political giants, while exaggerating the nearly non-existent contribution of the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS to the freedom struggle. Last year, there was a move to rename 12 colleges in Assam, of all places, after Deen Dayal Upadhyay. Every month, there are dozens of favourable and borderline fairytale books released on the prime minister by saffron and allied interests, a practice that started barely six months after his coming to power.

In addition, a committee (full of political appointments) has been formed in January to specifically rewrite Indian history (rather than just update specific textbooks, or an actual tangible charge) so as to highlight the nations Hindu heritage. Manmohan Vaidya has been quoted by Reuters as saying:

The true colour of Indian history is saffron and to bring about cultural changes we have to rewrite history."

The report further states 

"According to the minutes of the history committee's first meeting, Mr Dikshit, the chairman, said it was 'essential to establish a correlation' between ancient Hindu scriptures and evidence that Indian civilisation stretches back many thousands of years. Doing so would help bolster both conclusions the committee wants to reach: that events described in Hindu texts are real, and today's Hindus are descendants of those times.

Culture minister Mahesh Sharma told Reuters...'I worship the Ramayana and I think it is a historical document. People who think it is fiction are absolutely wrong.'

During the last three years, Sharma said, his ministry has organised hundreds of workshops and seminars across the country....The aim, he said, is to build a fresh narrative to balance the liberal and secular philosophy espoused by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and furthered by successive governments."

One major example of the above is the curious case of how the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) held a three-day national conference (5-7 March) on Indian History: Emerging Perspectives. In the conference, there was little discussion on the actual advances in historical research and methodology and the focus was almost entirely on linking Indias heritage with Vedic culture, exaggerating and valorising the contents of ancient texts as scientifically pioneering as well as presenting a picture of modern history more suited to the BJPs political ends.

This new history is equally inaccurate and politically motivated when it comes to aspects of the modern period. Savarkar, BS Moonje, Shyama Prasad Mookherji, NB Khare are no longer presented as the violence-inciting fringe elements that they were. They are projected as mainstream Hindu nationalist forces who fought for freedom  which is a term more applicable to the Congress right-wing of the 1930s and 40s. Closer to the truth is the fact that the BJP itself is today a mainstream Hindu nationalist (some academics use the term semi-fascist or fascist) political force. Something that differentiates the Hindu nationalist Congress right-wing of the 1940s from the RSS-Hindu Mahasabha of then and the BJP-RSS of today is that the Congress right believed in electoral democracy, in staying within the Congress despite having a Hindu orthodox outlook, and it did not have fascist tendencies.

The BJP itself has been rather tactical in its engagement when it comes to propaganda. The Jan Sangh demanded the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in 1977 and it was handed to LK Advani. Murli Manohar Joshis role as the union HRD minister had the sole purpose of pushing the Sangh agenda forward  securing state subsidy for RSS-run schools, putting communal historians in positions of power, defunding public assets, and saffronising school texts (including non-history textbooks). A watershed moment in historical whitewashing occurred when, under AB Vajpayee, VD Savarkars portrait was installed in Parliament.

Ultimately, the debate over the demolition of the Lenin statue is needless, as the act is a signifier of a steep descent into organised political intolerance in the name of religion, the nation and the public by majoritarian forces.

A nation without the Left can only be a right-wing nation, no matter what is wrong with the Left parties. The proverbial Overton window would shift rightwards. The complicity of the state in this act and the refusal to read what it signifies spells far more than simply the felling of a statue of a leader revered by some. The incident showcases the division of labour between a right-wing project aiming for a Hindu state, stormtroopers who effect it by more violent means and an administration that coolly allows it before stepping in to put a brake until the next outrage.

Saib Bilaval is a PhD scholar in Modern and Contemporary History at Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
With his son HD Kumaraswamy, 58, having undergone a heart surgery, JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda has taken full charge of leading his party in the Karnataka Assembly election.

Bengalurus Mount Carmel College, where the likes of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma once studied, is known for its smart and ambitious students. And when the students of the womens college conducted an mock election for a city Assembly constituency last month, the result came as a surprise: The Janata Dal (Secular) candidate won.

Its, of course, too far-fetched to base any serious projections for the 12 May Assembly elections in Karnataka on this exercise by students. But it can be safely argued that, at least to some extent, it is indicative of peoples disgust with both the current Congress government (2013-18) and the BJP rule (2008-13) that preceded it.

And the JD(S), led by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, which made and broke unholy alliances first with Congress and then with BJP between 2004 and 2008, isnt exactly smelling of roses. But the lacklustre governments of the BJP and the Congress are more recent in public memory.

For the record, the JD(S) has been making tall claims that the party will form the next government. Privately, however, they only hope that its performance will either come close to or surpass slightly its impressive tally of the 2004 election which produced a hung Assembly and an opportunity for the party to turn king-maker.

Year of assembly election Cong BJP JD(S) 1999 132 40.8% 44 20.7% 10 10.4% 2004 65 35.3% 79 28.3% 58 20.8% 2008 80 35.1% 110 33.9% 28 19.4% 2013 122 36.6% 40 19.9% 40 20.2%

In an atmosphere vitiated by blatant appeasement of castes by the Congress, coupled with its anti-Hindu image despite the temple-run by its leaders, the exact contours of the communal polarisation on the ground are not yet clear. For JD(S), however, this situation is not without some hope.

The gimmick of the Congress to pamper Lingayats by granting them a separate minority religion could make the rival upper caste of Vokkaligas, to which Gowda belongs, insecure. They could rally behind the JD(S) more than beforeand to some extent behind even the BJPleading to unpredictable results in southern Karnataka where the community is strong.

Besides, with right candidates and partnerships, Gowda can steal from the Congress some votes of even Dalits and Muslims.

In a three-cornered fight in the first-past-the-post system, what looks like a minor, third party can make the result stand on its head by snatching a few thousand or even a few hundred votes from one of the two mainline parties or both.

Gowdas silence speaks volumes

But will JD(S) support the Congress or the BJP if the election once again throws up a hung Assembly like it did in 2004? Nobody knows. And if Gowda knows, he isnt telling.

Gowda is not an easy politician to fathom even for senior journalists. Its tough to even read between the lines of what he says. Thats because his lines are often incomplete, even in off-the-record chats. When faced with awkward questions, he tends to speak in sentence fragments.

Some fiction writers use broken sentences as a literary device to embellish writing, but in political conversations, these could make a journalists head spin like an airport carousel. And what makes it worse is that Gowda not only abruptly ends sentences but even punctuates them with either a doleful sigh or a bright smile or a dark frown or sometimes a slap on his thigh.

When Gowda does all this, you know that he has something up his sleeve. All we know right now is that any question on post-poll alliances in case of a hung Assembly will depend on whether Gowdas party, in the first place, will get a good number of seats. And thats what he wantsand hopesto get.

Karnatakas own Amit Shah?

The BJP may boast of a modern-day Chanakya in its president Amit Shah, but Gowda is no less astute in his macro election strategies. Starting with the victory of the united Janata Party in 1983, which saw Karnatakas first non-Congress government, Gowda showed his election-fighting savvy several times after that. The 1994 Assembly poll was another good example. That was when he led the Janata Dal to victory and became the chief minister.

Gowdas career nationally reached a high point in 1996 when he unexpectedly became the prime minister. But that was also when his image began to take a beating in Karnataka as he turned his party into a family fief by letting his sons ride roughshod in his absence.

Yet Gowda won 58 seats in the 2004 election and went in for coalition governments with the Congress and the BJP one after another with the sole aim of seeing his third son HD Kumaraswamy power. In 2008, Gowda paid the price for this opportunism and his feudal politics. That year saw BJP return to power with its own majority, but that partys five-year rule was messy with three chief ministers beginning with BS Yeddyurappa, massive corruption and moral policing. In the 2013 election, the performance of both the JD(S) and BJP plummeted to 40 seats each and the Congress romped home with success under Siddaramaiah.

A grand alliance?

Having languished on the sidelines for 10 years, Gowda now sees an opportunity for his party to rise again. With Kumaraswamy, 58, having undergone a heart surgery, Gowda has taken full charge of managing the election. Now 85, he sees this probably as his last election before bequeathing his feudal legacy to Kumaraswamy.

Leaving nothing to chance , Gowda is even thinking of piecing together a Mahagathbandhan of his own along with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Left. None of these parties is strong in Karnataka but, as part of an alliance, they could wreak some havoc in constituencies where their niche voters are in substantial numbers.

The JD(S) is in the final stage of clinching a deal with the BSP, but there are uncertainties over similar arrangements with others. While the NCP is trying to align with Maharashtra Ekikarana Samitha, which fights for the inclusion of Karnatakas Belagavi in Maharashtra, thus making it impossible for any deal with the JD(S), there are doubts within the Gowda camp over whether it should join hands with a communal party like AIMIM. And refusing to learn any lessons from the past, especially from the recent Tripura debacle, the CPI and the CPM are insisting on seats of their own choice instead of agreeing to what is offered.

This grand alliance may not finally materialise, but Gowdas efforts to put it together are enough indication to show how serious he is about making a difference in next months election.

On their part, both the BJP and the Congress claim that the JD(S) makes no difference to them. This outward nonchalance only stresses their underlying nervousness and confusion over whose votes the JD(S) will take. This became doubly evident from what Shah and Siddaramaiah said. Shah said anyone voting for the JD(S) would be indirectly supporting the Congress. And Siddaramaiah said anyone voting for the JD(S) would only be backing the BJP.

At least for now, Gowda is smiling.

The author tweets @sprasadindia
With the Karnataka Assembly elections set to take place on 12 May, the election campaigns of various political parties has gained momentum in the state.

With the Karnataka Assembly elections set to take place on 12 May, the election campaigns of various political parties have gained momentum in the state.

The state is crucial for the Congress as Karnataka is one of the party's last bastions. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is vying for a comeback in the state after it was defeated by the Congress in the 2013 Assembly elections in Karnataka. Faced with dwindling prospects in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is also eyeing a victory in the upcoming elections in Karnataka.

BJP president Amit Shah began his tour of the old Mysuru region on Friday, covering the districts of Mysuru, Chamarajanagara, where BJP had not won a single seat in the previous election.

Shah had attacked Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and the JD(S) while addressing the party's 'Nava Shakti Samavesha' rally, saying, "It is said that the BJP is a bit weak here (Old Mysuru region), but after seeing the work of the party workers, I expect Siddaramaiahji and the JD(S) to get the biggest shock of their lives from this region."

The BJP president was expected to tour the Belagavi district, including Kitturu, Nandagada, Belagavi, Kudchi, Nippani and Gokak, on Monday, but the programme has been cancelled.

Shah is also expected to tour the districts of Belagavi, Bagalakote and Haveri in the coming days as part of the party's election campaign in poll-bound Karnataka.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is also expected to hold meetings and roadshows in Karnataka as the party prepares for a tough fight in the upcoming elections in the state.

The state elections are the next big political event for the Congress which is battling anti-incumbency and facing a tough challenge from the BJP.

Much like the Gujarat Assembly election, it appears that religious symbolism is likely to be a recurring theme in the political campaign in Karnataka as well.

In the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly elections, Rahul had visited around 25 temples in the state in a bid to dispel the impression of his party being hostile to Hindu interests.

The party had sought to repeat the same strategy in Karnataka with visits to a Hindu temple and other religious places in the state. The party's local leadership tried to defend Rahul over his temple visits, saying that there was nothing new in visits by the Gandhi family to temples in Karnataka.

Rahul's visits to temples had also received support from Thiruvananthapuram Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who contended that the temple visits come in a context where the BJP is saying that they are the "good Hindus" and everybody else is bad. "Why should we cede this narrative to them? To my mind, we may as well show publicly what we have been doing privately," Tharoor had said.

Following the Congress president's temple run, BJP national president Amit Shah had also embarked upon a visit to South Indias famous Gurudwara in Bidar, besides visiting Buddha Vihara and Veerabhadreshwara temple in the district.

The Congress had received a shot in the arm when seven former rebel MLAs from the JD(S) headed by Deve Gowda, had joined the ruling Congress in the presence of Rahul. Zameer Ahmed Khan, Cheluvaraya Swamy, Iqbal Ansari, Balakrishna, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda, Bheema Nayak and Akhanda Srinivas Murthy were welcomed into the party fold by Gandhi at a public rally in Mysuru.

Rahul is expected to begin the party's campaign trail in Karnataka from Shivamogga, the stronghold of BJP's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa, and Davanagere on Tuesday, where he will hold a roadshow and meeting.

The Congress president is expected to hold a meeting and rally in Chitradurga this week. Rahul is also likely to hold a meeting with the Sree Siddaganga Matha at Tumakuru in Karnataka.

The Congress president may visit the Davanagere and Chitradurga districts on Wednesday, where he is likely to hold a roadshow and conduct a meeting.

Rahul is expected to hold a meeting and rally in Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Magadi on Saturday and head to Bengaluru and Bengaluru Rural on Sunday to continue the party's election campaign.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati was also expected to hold a rally in Karnataka's Hasana. However, the programme has been cancelled.

BSP had entered into a pre-poll alliance with the JD(S) ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. According to reports, BSP insiders had indicated that the alliance with the JD(S) was geared towards strengthening the BSP's base in Karnataka with Mayawati's fortunes dwindling in Uttar Pradesh.
The Committee set up by the Election Commission to probe the leak of the poll schedule for Karnataka before an official declaration would complete its job 'in a day or two,' Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said on Tuesday.

Chennai: The Committee set up by the Election Commission to probe the leak of the poll schedule for Karnataka before an official declaration would complete its job "in a day or two," Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said on Tuesday.

Asked about the tweet by BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya declaring the poll date for Karnataka before the Election Commission's official announcement, Rawat told reporters at the airport here that investigations were on into the matter.

"That is on... a committee has been set up. They will be completing the job in a day or two, the CEC, who arrived on a private visit, said.

Ahead of the official announcement, Malviya had tweeted that voting will be held on May 12 and the counting will take place on 18 May.

He was correct about the day of the voting, but got the counting date wrong. The counting will take place on 15 May.

According to an Election Commission statement on 27 March, a committee of senior officers of Election Commission had been set up to investigate the matter and give its report within seven days.

"The Commission immediately directed that the matter be probed and necessary and effective action be taken," the statement said.

It said Malviya, in another tweet, had attributed a news channel as his source.

Asked whether there would be any law and order issue in poll-bound Karnataka on the Cauvery issue, Rawat said: "I don't have anything to say on that."
The Congress on Monday approached the Election Commission demanding action against BJP president Amit Shah and the party's Karnataka unit chief BS Yeddyurappa.

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday approached the Election Commission demanding action against BJP president Amit Shah and the party's Karnataka unit chief BS Yeddyurappa for allegedly violating the model code of conduct in the state by offering Rs 5 lakh to the family of a deceased person.

The Opposition party has also asked the Election Commission (EC) to conduct a time-bound probe into the matter.

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, speaking to the media, identified the deceased person as Raju. The deceased was a BJP activist, killed in Mysuru in March 2016.

Singhvi raised questions over the timing of the aid allegedly offered when Shah, Union minister Ananth Kumar and Yeddyurappa visited Raju's family last Friday, three days after the EC announced the Karnataka Assembly polls schedule.

The Congress submitted a memorandum to the EC, accusing the BJP of using money to influence votes in Karnataka, and said the ruling party at the Centre resorted to the "desperate measure, foreseeing its inevitable defeat in the 12 May Assembly polls.

The BJP has already said Shah did not give any money to Raju's family.

Shah and Yeddyurappa, who has been given the title of No 1 Corrupt Leader' (by Shah himself), have blatantly and shamelessly violated the model code of conduct and committed the offence of influencing voters by giving a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to Raju's family with the sole intent of influencing votes of his family members, the memorandum submitted by the Singhvi-led delegation to the Commission reads.

EC must intervene and initiate action against Shah and Yeddyurappa for violating the Model Code of Conduct, it added.

The Congress had latched onto Shah's comment at a press briefing on 27 March when he had mistakenly remarked that a Supreme Court retired judge has said that if a comparison is made on corruption, then the Yeddyurappa government would get the number one award.

Former BJP Karnataka chief Prahlad Joshi, also present at the conference, had sought to nudge him by naming Siddaramaiah, the Congress chief minister in the state, and Shah promptly corrected himself.

Singhvi pointed out that Raju died two years ago and questioned the timing of the aid.

This is a very strange and suspicious event. Is this compassion and concern suddenly awakened because the EC has notified election in Karnataka on 27 March? he asked after meeting Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat.

Singhvi alleged the entire episode had cut at the root of the level playing field concept in the model code of conduct.

He claimed that it infringed a direct injunction against all forms of bribery and illegal gratification.

It brings the entire process into a non-equal system, which is quite against every rule of law, Singhvi said.

These are very serious issues. We have, therefore, in conclusion asked for an immediate enquiry in shortest possible notice in days and not in weeks. We want the EC to disallow and prohibit repetition of such activities in Karnataka till 12 May, he said.

Singhvi said that the CEC heard the delegation patiently and has promised to look into the matter at the earliest in a time-bound manner.
Ponder the real lesson of the Tripura election: The sun always sets on every empire. What is saffron in the morning, always turns red or some other colour. So, beware. The arc of history spares nobody.

Goons and vandals of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your sense of history. Join hands in Tripura, get together in West Bengal, swamp Uttar Pradesh, invade Tamil Nadu, and once your ranks grow, march on Ayodhya, and turn India, as peace hawk Sri Sri Ravishankar said, into Syria.

Unite because hell hath no fury like majoritarian triumphalism, or the revenge of the victorious. When the Taliban had the numbers, they demolished the Bamiyan Buddhas. When Nadir Shah had power, he ravaged Delhi. When the kar sevaks had the spades, they demolished a mosque. Now, may the force be with you, you despicable, atavistic, medieval goons.

Fortunately for you, there is a lot to demolish and destroy in India. We are an ancient civilisation that has thrived on multiculturalism, syncretism and tolerance. Here, every ideology, every faith, every phase of history has found adequate space to thrive for hundreds of years. We have monuments to Buddhism, Jainism, Sikkhism, Islamism, communism, capitalism, socialism, secularism, colonialism, Dravadianism, Gandhianism, Ambedkarism, Nehruvianism... There is so much history to destroy and demolish. There are so many icons to be felled. So, unite and go to war. For additional help, invite the Taliban.

But, before you turn India into a battleground for maniacs shedding blood for statues and ideologies they don't understand, think about that old saying: Sometimes you are the bird, sometimes you are the statue. (Apt, no?) One day, you will be the statue again. Also, ponder the real lesson of the Tripura election: The sun always sets on every empire. What is saffron in the morning, always turns red or some other colour. So, beware. The arc of history spares nobody.

The other problem with this vandalism, of course, is that the goons may believe they are bringing glory to India. They might think pulling down Lenin and Periyar statues is a cue for the world to chant Bharat mata ki jai. In truth, it's Bharat mata ki shame. The statues could be rebuilt one day. But the real victim of this vandalism is the image of Bharat mata, which suffers great damage. The argument that Lenin has no place in India is an encore of the Taliban question: What is Buddha doing in Bamiyan?

Countries with a large heart, with liberal ethos have a culture of respecting their history, and that of the world around them. They retain monuments as a reminder of the past, both to learn from and cherish. Go, for instance, to Malaysia, to see how a Muslim country showcases its Buddhist culture and its Indian roots in the heart of capitalism, Genting Highlands near Kuala Lumpur: Here, in the den of vice and pleasure, when you climb the hills, you find nestled the Chin Swee Caves Temple. The temple not just revers Buddha but also his Indian disciples (Bhardwaj the Brahmin) with gigantic statues and colourful tableaux.

Just a few kilometres away are the Batu Caves that house the Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Murugan. So, what are Buddha, Bhardwaj and Murugan doing in Muslim Malaysia? What's Gandhi doing in several other countries, including South Africa? Why do our prime ministers compete with each other for more foreign investments?

Lenin asked for the unity of the working class across the world. He supported India's freedom struggle against British colonisers. Communism inspired Indian revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. But, perhaps the goons running amok in Tripura do not know this. Those controlling the strings of these mad puppets do not seem to know either. The competitive culling of history and its icons would lead to nothing but chaos and conflict, further divisions and hatred. We can already see it happen. First they came as gau rakshaks, then they came as slayers of communism, then as enemies of Dravadianism. Soon, they will come for everything that doesn't agree with their world view.

No, it is not the goons, but the liberals of the world that must unite against this ideology of revenge and vandalism. Because they stand to lose everything Bharat mata stands for.
The march has been organised to protest the alleged failures of the BJP government on the farm front, demanding a complete and unconditional loan waiver, ensuring implementation of minimum support price and implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and the Forest Rights Act 2006.

Thousands of protesting farmers who had thronged streets of Mumbai have decided to call off their protests on Monday, after receiving a written reassurance from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The government and protesting farmers were able to break the impasse after a three-hour-long meeting in which the government agreed to sincerely look into their requests, while promising time-bound action into some of them.

The government has also made arrangements to send back protesting farmers; Central Railway will run two special trains from Mumbai's CSMT to Bhusawal at 8.50 pm and 10.00 pm on Monday to send the agitating farmers back, ANI reported. The government had also arranged for medical vans and a team of doctors to treat those who suffered injuries along the enduring 180-kilometre-long walk.

According to Thane Civil Hospital in-charge Dr Sanjay Wathore, over 600 people were treated for complaints like feet blisters, minor injuries and dehydration, of which four remain critical. Three people have been admitted to the JJ Hospital while one person is undergoing treatment at St. George's Hospital.

Mumbai's Azad Maidan turned into a sea of red on Monday morning as over 35,000 people converged at the venue after embarking on a 'Long March' last Tuesday. The march was organised to protest the alleged failures of the BJP government on the farm front, including non-implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and the Forest Rights Act by the CPM-affiliated All India Kisan Sabha. Senior communist party leaders such as Sitaram Yechury also came in to extend their support to the protesting farmers, while Opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party rounded the government over the alleged failure of its agrarian policies in the Assembly.

Government promises time-bound action on demands, says farmers satisfied after discussion

Farmers have been demanding an unconditional loan waiver scheme as opposed to the announced cap of Rs 1.5 lakh in the waiver announced in 2017. The government has said it will consider their request. However, the major breakthrough was the announcement of a special committee, headed by the chief secretary to look into the forest land rights. The government promised that the discrepancies will be resolved within six months.

The Fadnavis government also assured farmers to ensure better implementation of social welfare schemes and promised to issue new BPL ration cards to the farmers and tribals as they have not been renewed in many years. The chief minister also announced setting up a ministerial committee to review and process the farmers' demands. The committee includes revenue minister Chandrakant Patil, water resources minister Girish Mahajan, co-operation minister Subhash Deshmukh, public undertakings minister Eknath Shinde and tribal welfare minister Vishnu Savra.

What are the protesters' demands?

The march has been organised to seek a complete and unconditional loan waiver, ensure implementation of minimum support price and implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission and the Forest Rights Act 2006.

The farmers have demanded a change in the plan to link rivers in Nashik, Thane and Palghar districts so as to ensure that tribal lands are not submerged and water from the scheme be made available to these areas and other drought-prone districts. They are also protesting against the state government's land acquisition for projects such as high speed rail and super highways.

"We are demanding an increase in pension schemes for poor peasants and farm workers, compensation for losses due to pink bollworm and pest attacks and rehauling of the public distribution system," the march organisers had earlier said.

The agitating farmers are also demanding compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for destruction of crops due to hailstorm and pink-worm, allocation of forest land under cultivation to farmers

Why farmers' demands are no longer about loan waiver

Economists, politicians and policy experts alike have been flaying state governments for announcing farm loan waivers as a measure for immediate relief. Fadnavis too had gone on record to say that he does not believe that farm loan waivers can be a lasting solution to agrarian crisis. But this time around, the host of issues raised by farmers were much more than just loan waivers.

An outstanding majority of those who marched to Mumbai constituted of tribal people which brought to the fore a different edge to the agrarian crisis faced by rural Maharashtra. The agitation was less about farm loan waivers and more about drawing the government's attention to policy loopholes that have failed to help impoverished farmers of the state.

Many of the participants in the protests were either tribals, demanding implementation of Forest Land Rights Act 2006, or land tillers (not owners) who have no institutional credit to their name but suffer excruciatingly in case of a failed crop. Their demands included basic things such as new and renewed ration cards so that they can access the Public Distribution System, which is their right; or imploring the government to fix data/ technical errors in the database of beneficiaries for social welfare schemes such as Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojna and Shravan Bal Yojna.

The farmers were also demanding better irrigation facilities and better implementation of Minimum Support Prices, previously declared by the government.

Political reactions

BJP's ally in government Shiv Sena threw its weight behind the thousands of farmers and said the party would back them regardless of their red flags. "They are farmers who need to be heard. Its unfortunate to be insensitive to those who feed us and put ideological cages on them. Im proud of my fellow Shiv Sainiks who are with them nursing their wounds, and voicing the farmers in the Assembly too, only seeing their need," Aditya Thackeray tweeted.

I spoke to them yest., and before when we toured the State to hear them, help them. No I didnt see the red flags, I saw their red blood which is the same as ours. Whichever the flag they carry, whoever their political hero, govt has to hear them. Fellow citizens #Farmers (1/2) pic.twitter.com/016vWnq999  Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) March 12, 2018

Former union agriculture minister and NCP leader Sharad Pawar criticised the government for its failure and warned that if the demands were not conceded, "the fire of the farmers' ire will spread from all over Maharashtra to all over India,". Congress president Rahul Gandhi urged Fadnavis to shed his ego and accept the "just demands" of farmers.

The mammoth #FarmersMarchToMumbai is a stunning example of peoples power. The Congress party stands with the Farmers & Tribals marching to protest against the Central & State Govts. apathy. I appeal to PM Modi and the CM to not stand on ego and to accept their just demands.  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) March 12, 2018

The BJP's Poonam Mahajan had said that the farmers' protest is fuelled by 'urban Maoists'. "They (farmers) are holding the flag of Communists, and urban Maoists are misguiding them," she said.

"If you have seen this march, it is a big and peaceful march, with farmers holding a communist flag. They've all come from northern Maharashtra. With respect to all this, what do all these farmers want? They have accepted the loan waiver has happened. When the chief minister sits with the farmer leaders, they'll sort out the issues," Mahajan said earlier. However, the chief minister had said that the government was sensitive to their demands.

Mumbaikars helped protesting farmers, offer food, flowers, footwear

As politics over the political inclination of those protesting goes on, Mumbaikars have come out in support of the poor farmers who took a long march to reach Mumbai. City residents were seen offering 'Vada-pav', other food items and water to farmers last night. A Mumbai resident also posted on social media a picture of food and water being distributed to farmers. Reports also came that several people offered more comfortable footwear to those walking for miles in their chappals.

The famed dabbawalas of Mumbai also came out to help the protesters who had taken on to cover around 180-kilometre on foot in six days, braving scorching heat.

Subhash Talekar, the spokesperson of Mumbai Dabbawala Association, said, "We thought about helping the farmers with food as they are our food-providers and have come from remote parts of the state."

"We asked our men working between Dadar (in Central Mumbai) and Colaba (South Mumnbai) to collect food and deliver it to our farmer brothers at the Azad Maidan," he said.

Dabbawalas, the tiffin-carriers known for their efficient delivery service, provided food to the protesters as a part of their 'roti-bank' initiative.

Govt reached out to protesters from start, tried dissuading from march: Fadnavis

Reacting to criticism for 'making' farmers come this far to talk to the government and not meeting them half-way, Fadnavis said his government was in touch with the march organisers before the protest began.

"When this protest march was about to begin, Girish Mahajan from the government side spoke to the farmers and tried to dissuade them from starting the protest march. The government tried to start a dialogue with the farmers but they were adamant to start a protest march," Fadnavis told the Assembly.

"But they were adamant on the march. We tried to talk to them. All help was provided, like traffic management and deployment of medical vans," he said.

Opposition leaders Vikhe Patil had said, "Why couldn't the government talk to them before the march began from Nashik on March 6. Such hardships for tribals and farmers could have been avoided."

The chief minister had faced backlash on this accord on social media as well.

With inputs from agencies
Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma tendered his resignation to Governor Ganga Prasad on Sunday, a day after the Congress failed to secure majority .

Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma tendered his resignation to Governor Ganga Prasad on Sunday, a day after the Congress failed to secure majority in the Assembly elections.

The governor accepted the resignation and asked Sangma to be in charge till a new government is formed, a Raj Bhavan official said.

"Since the whole election process is over, the chief minister has to submit his resignation and I did. Further course of action will follow as per convention," the outgoing chief minister said.

Sangma won both the seats he contested. He retained his Ampati seat for the fifth time, defeating the BJP candidate by over 8,000 votes. He also won from Songsak, defeating the NPP contestant by over 1,300 votes.

Meghalaya threw up a hung Assembly. Faced with anti-incumbency and desertion ahead of the 27 February elections, the Congress failed to secure majority winning 21 seats only in the 60-member House.

An ally of the BJP, the National People's Party (NPP) bagged 19 seats and claimed to form the government with the support of 15 MLAs belonging to other regional parties.
Senior NDPP leader Neiphiu Rio was appointed the new chief minister of Nagaland by Governor PB Acharya and would be sworn in on 8 March, a Raj Bhavan source said.

Kohima: Senior NDPP leader Neiphiu Rio was appointed the new chief minister of Nagaland by Governor PB Acharya and would be sworn in on 8 March, a Raj Bhavan source said. Acharya, in a letter to Rio, asked him to prove his majority on the floor of the House on or before 16 March, the source said.

The governor said he had received letters of support in Rio's favour from 12 legislators of the BJP, one letter from the JD(U) and another from an Independent MLA, besides the 18 legislatures of the NDPP. The new ministry will be sworn in on 8 March, the source said. Union minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, along with BJP general secretary Arun Singh and state BJP president BJP Visasolie Lhoungu, met the governor earlier Tuesday and submitted a letter of support to Rio with the signatures of all 12 BJP MLAs.

The BJP leaders informed the governor that Y Patton had been elected the BJP Legislature Party leader in the Assembly. National People's Party's (NPP) state president Ato Yepthomi said he had also submitted a letter supporting Rio to the governor. The governor has asked him to give a letter of support signed by the party's national president Conrad Sangma along with a letter with the signatures of both the NPP MLAs at the earliest.

In the recently concluded Assembly elections, the ruling NPF won 26 seats. The NDPP-BJP alliance cornered 30 seats and has the support of two NPP MLAs, one JD(U) MLA and an Independent. Outgoing Chief Minister TR Zeliang submitted his resignation which the governor accepted and asked him to continue in office till an alternative arrangement was made.

Earlier in the day, officials from the Election Commission along with state Chief Electoral Officer Abhijit Sinha submitted a notification constituting the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly to the governor. The governor dissolved the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, the source said.
Ruckus prevailed in both Houses of Parliament on Monday as Opposition parties and those from Tamil Nadu created noisy scenes, forcing their adjournment for the 18th straight day without transacting any substantial business

New Delhi: Ruckus prevailed in both Houses of Parliament on Monday as Opposition parties and those from Tamil Nadu created noisy scenes, forcing their adjournment for the 18th straight day without transacting any substantial business.

While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day within about six minutes after it assembled in the morning, the Lok Sabha was adjourned due to the protests for the first time till noon within four minutes after it had met and then for the day after the listed papers were laid.

Before adjourning the Lok Sabha for the day, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she was unable to take up the notices for a no-confidence motion against the government, served by several opposition parties, as there was no order in the House.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition protests forced the adjournment of proceedings for the day without transaction of any business as members trooped into the well and shouted slogans, drowning every other voice.

MPs belonging to the Congress, Trinamool Congress, BSP, TDP and parties from Tamil Nadu  DMK and AIADMK, were in the well even before Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu could settle down in his chair.

Unlike the past days when listed papers were allowed to be laid on the table peacefully, Naidu had to go through the exercise on Monday amid chaos as members persisted with slogan shouting.

The Congress and the BSP led the charge against the government, accusing it of being "anti-Dalit", in an apparent reference to the Supreme Court ruling on the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Members of the main Opposition party also raised the issue of India's biggest bank fraud, alongside the TMC.

Tamil parties were demanding immediate constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board for the division of river water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, while members of the TDP and KVP Ramachandra Rao of the Congress held placards demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

Amid the din, Naidu called the ministers to lay the listed papers, while warning the protestors that "the entire country is watching ... You are not going to achieve anything. You are making a mockery of the Parliamentary system." He said the Chair was ready to allow discussion on all the issues being raised by Opposition parties, and even the government, as well as the Opposition, were ready for it.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said important bills were listed for discussion in the last week of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament. The government, he said, was ready to discuss all issues. "I don't understand why, for small issues concerning them, they are not allowing the House to function," Goel said.

However, as the ruckus continued, the Chairman adjourned the proceedings for the day, barely six minutes after the House had assembled.

The proceedings in the Lok Sabha were disrupted yet again for the 18th day on Monday, amid slogan shouting by AIADMK members seeking early constitution of the Cauvery water management board. Amid the din, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till 12 noon during the Question Hour.

As soon as the House met for the day and took up the Question Hour, AIADMK members rushed into the Well shouting slogans such as 'we want justice' and 'we demand Cauvery board'. Citing assembly polls in Karnataka, the Centre has sought more time from the Supreme Court last week to set up the board to implement water sharing formula between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

While the TMC members were seated in their places, those of the TDP, which has moved a notice of no confidence against the government, were standing at their seats with black ribbons pinned to their shirts as a mark of protest.

As the ruckus continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon, barely four minutes after it had met after a long weekend.

Even before the House was re-assembled at noon, the AIADMK members, carrying placards, trooped into the Well shouting slogans.

Congress, NCP, Left, TDP and RJD members were standing in their seats seeking the Speaker's ruling on the notices they had given on the no-confidence motion, moved by some of them.

The Speaker appealed to the AIADMK members to return to their seats saying she cannot take up the no-confidence motion unless the House is in order.

"I am duty-bound to place the no-confidence motion. But this is not the way. Please go to your seats. I am not in a position to count," she said. A notice of no-confidence can be taken up in the House if it is supported by at least 50 members present, for which a headcount is needed.

Parliamentary Minister Ananth Kumar also said the government was ready for discussion and give a reply to the no-confidence motion but there has to be complete harmony in the House.

The leader of the Congress in the House Mallikarjun Kharge, who has also submitted a notice for the no-confidence motion, said the opposition wanted to discuss a host of issues, including the recent Supreme Court ruling on SC/ST Act and the alleged paper leak of the CBSE examinations.

However, as the AIADMK members continued raising slogans, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of 'usurping' power through proxy in Meghalaya and using 'big money' to create an 'opportunistic alliance' in the state

New Delhi: Breaking his silence on the defeat in three North East states, Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Congress was committed to winning back the people's trust and hit out at the BJP, accusing it of "usurping" power through proxy in Meghalaya and using "big money" to create an "opportunistic alliance".

"The Congress party respects the mandate of the people of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya," Gandhi said on Twitter two days after results of assembly elections were declared. The Congress lost Meghalaya, though it emerged as the single largest party, and failed to open its account in Tripura and Nagaland.

The Congress chief alleged that the BJP is "obsessed" with "grabbing" power and has shown "utter disregard" to the mandate of people in Meghalaya.

Top party leaders Ahmed Patel and Kamal Nath were rushed to Shillong to talk to regional parties in a bid to form a government but to no avail.

"We are committed to strengthening our party across the North East and to winning back the trust of the people.

"My sincere thanks to each and every Congress worker who toiled for the party," the Congress president tweeted after his return from Italy, where he had gone to meet his 93-year-old grandmother.

The Congress party respects the mandate of the people of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. We are committed to strengthening our party across the North East and to winning back the trust of the people. My sincere thanks to each and every Congress worker who toiled for the party.  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) March 5, 2018

The Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the state winning 21 seats, but failed to cobble up a coalition with other regional outfits. Meghalaya had been under Congress rule and after losing the state, the party is now in power in three other states, including Karnataka where elections are slated next month, and Puducherry. "With just 2 seats, the BJP has usurped power in Meghalaya, through a proxy.

With just 2 seats, the BJP has usurped power in Meghalaya, through a proxy. Like in Manipur & Goa, showing utter disregard for the mandate of the people. Obsessed instead with grabbing power, using big money to create an opportunistic alliance.#DemocracyDemonetised  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) March 5, 2018

"Like in Manipur and Goa, showing utter disregard for the mandate of the people. Obsessed instead with grabbing power, using big money to create an opportunistic alliance," Gandhi tweeted.

He also used the hashtag "DemocracyDemonetised" with his tweet to target the BJP.
Siddaramaiah last week announced that he will contest the upcoming Assembly Election from the Chamundeshwari constituency. His decision marks a homecoming.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah last week announced that he will contest the upcoming Assembly Election from the Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru. His decision to contest from the constituency marks a homecoming of sorts.

Way back in 1983, Siddaramaiah got his first taste of political success in Chamundeshwari, winning the Assembly election on a Lok Dal ticket. The constituency has largely been kind to him, as he won elections there five times and lost twice.

However, it may not be smooth sailing for him this time. According to a report in The News Minute, an internal survey commissioned by the Congress has concluded that Siddaramaiah is likely to lose the election if he contests from Chamundeshwari. Many of his voters went to the Varuna seat after the constituency was split.

So why is the Congress leader taking this gamble?

Earlier, JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy had claimed that Siddaramaiah is looking for a safe seat to contest from, like Narasimharaja in Mysuru. He had challenged the chief minister to contest from Chamundeshwari and predicted that he would lose the election, as per a report in Financial Express. The News Minute has quoted a source close to Siddaramaiah as saying that BJP and JD(S) strategists cornered Siddaramaiah into contesting from there and that if he decides to contest from somewhere else, it will create a perception that the strongest leader of the party is apprehensive of winning.

At present, the MLA from the constituency is GT Deve Gowda from the JD(S). The veteran leader, in an interview with Deccan Chronicle recently, said that he was a supporter of Siddaramaiah from 1983 to 2006. However, the JD(S) leader said that he did not meet his expectations as chief minister.

The JD(S) had posed a tough challenge to Siddaramaiah in the by-election in Chamundeshwari in 2006, as the latter won by a wafer-thin margin of 257 votes. The results then were crucial for Siddaramaiah to score political points over his bete noire JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, after being expelled from the party. After differences with HD Deve Gowda, he joined the Congress in 2005.

The 2018 polls may also assume special importance for the 69-year-old chief minister as he has said that it would be his last electoral contest. "Ive decided to fight my last election from Chamundeshwari as Ive derived my political strength from this segment," he was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

In this constituency, Vokkaligas constitute the dominant community, followed by the Kurubas, Nayaks, Lingayats and Dalits. The JD(S) cornered a large part of the Vokkaliga vote in 2013, winning 40 seats and 20.2 percent the votes, according to The New Indian Express.

However, Siddaramaiah would hope to get the support of the Kuruba and Lingayat communities. The chief minister himself belongs to the former community. He has also attempted to curry favour with the Lingayat community by approving minority status for them. In the past, the Lingayats have largely supported BJP in the past and Siddaramaiah, through this move, may have divided their political leanings.

Another reason that the Karnataka chief minister has changed his constituency this time is that his son Yathindra is slated to be in the fray in Varuna, from where he had previously contested. Siddaramaiah, on his part, has thrown a challenge at his rival BS Yeddyurappa, saying, "I challenge Yeddyurappa to contest from Varuna if he is so sure of winning instead of fielding his second son (BY Vijayendra) against my son Yathindra."

Thus, it is clear that the Chamundeshwari constituency will be among the most-watched ones in the Karnataka Assembly Election. With Congress president Rahul Gandhi offering prayers at a temple here on one his visits to the state, the stage appears set for a heated battle.

With inputs from agencies
That politics in India is inextricably linked to the politics of beef is well established. But this phenomenon seems especially pronounced in Karnataka.

That politics in India is inextricably linked to the politics of beef is well established. But this phenomenon seems especially pronounced in the state of Karnataka, where the BJP and the Congress have traded barbs and enacted legislation over beef.

The latest twist to this tale came on Monday when Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah to ban beef "if he was a Hindu".

"If Siddaramaiah is a Hindu, then let him ban cow slaughter and beef in the state. The BJP government previously had brought an effective piece of legislation to ban cow slaughter. What did you (Siddaramaiah) do? Soon after coming to power, Congress retracted it," he said in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Siddaramaiah hit back at Adityanath, saying the latter is nobody to question food choices and that a lot of Hindus eat beef. "Before giving us lessons on gau hatya, read what Swami Vivekananda says about the issue. This is what I ask of Adityanath," he said. "Who are these people to question our food choices? A lot of Hindus eat beef. If I want to eat it, I will. Who are they to object to it? I don't eat beef only because I don't like it."

It was the latest in a long series of allegations and counter-allegations that have gone back and forth between the Congress and the BJP on the issue.

Beef ban

Back in 2010, the BJP government in Karnataka passed the controversial Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill. Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa had said at the time that it would protect and preserve cows in the state. By doing so, it followed other BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, which already had such laws in place.

The move met with angry reactions from the Congress camp. Siddaramaiah, then Leader of Opposition in the House, tore a copy of the Bill and threw it in the air, while Congress MPs termed the state government "communal".

Going a step further, Siddaramaiah even added that a bill of this nature would only be passed in "Hitler's regime", not in a democracy.

"Is yours' Hitler's regime?" he asked Yeddyurappa, alleging that the state was "imposing a vegetarian" culture on the people and that by banning beef, they would ensure the price of mutton would go up to Rs 1,000 per kilogram.

Furthermore, the bill would impact slaughter of cows not only for purposes of meat but also for other products like shoes, leather, belts, nail polish, films, buttons, etc. "You're making the lives of people miserable," Siddaramaiah said, adding that it would cause a disturbance in society and have an adverse impact on harmony.

Overruling the beef ban

However, two years later, the Congress won Assembly elections in Karnataka and Siddaramaiah himself became chief minister. One of its first moves was to overturn the beef ban.

The state cabinet chaired by Siddaramaiah restored the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964, that governed the slaughter of cattle in the state, effectively reversing the legislation passed by the previous BJP government.

The BJP's bill had widened the definition of cattle, enforced harsher punishments and increased the age of animals to be slaughtered. Slaughter of not only cows, but also bulls, bullocks, male and female buffaloes, and calves was prohibited.

As per the 1964 law, this was restricted to the slaughter of cows, calves and she-buffaloes. Slaughter of bulls, bullocks and buffaloes if they were aged above 12 or if they were no longer fit for breeding or draught or did not give milk was allowed, a PTI report mentioned.

Siddaramaiah stands by his decision

The Karnataka chief minister had overturned the beef ban immediately upon coming to power, and over the last four years, he has stood by it. Despite the clamour for banning the slaughter of cows across the Karnataka, he insisted doing so would infringe upon citizens' individual choice and freedom of food.

"Nobody could stop me from eating beef, pork or any other meat if I wished to. While I have never eaten cow meat, if it were to suit my palate and I wanted to eat beef, I will eat it. Nobody can stop me. I won't be bogged down by BJP's protests," he said, further adding that the BJP leaders who spoke otherwise had "no idea" about the Constitution.

"I have completely read on freedom of food and I will abide by it," he added, as quoted by The Times of India in 2015.

In May last year, the Centre issued a notification  'Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets)Rules-2017'  banning the sale of cattle in animal markets for slaughter. It said notified rules will remove the scope for illegal sale and smuggling of cattle, a major concern for the government.

But Siddaramaiah insisted the Centre's notification was not binding on him since this would be a state subject. "It is not binding on the state to implement the Centre's curbs on the sale of cattle for slaughter as it is a state subject," The New Indian Express quoted Siddaramaiah as saying.

He further wrote a letter to Narendra Modi calling the move "unconstitutional". "The rules prescribe certain restrictions on the cattle trade. I would like to bring to your kind attention that these rules are unconstitutional and will have a far-reaching negative impact on the Indian society and economy," he said.

Siddaramaiah added that the rules should have been introduced after a detailed consultation with the states. "The absence of efforts to take the states into confidence on such an important matter hits at the very roots of federalism," he said.

With inputs from PTI
West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has summoned senior government officials amid allegations by the Opposition parties that the ruling Trinamool Congress was preventing their candidates from filing nominations for the panchayat polls

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has summoned senior government officials on Wednesday amid allegations by the Opposition parties that the ruling Trinamool Congress was preventing their candidates from filing nominations for the panchayat polls, official sources said.

Chief Secretary Malay Kumar De and Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya have been asked to attend a meeting at Raj Bhawan, a state government official said.

Sources in the Raj Bhavan also said that the governor has given an appointment to State Election Commissioner AK Singh on Wednesday.

The governor's decision to call for a meeting came hours after state BJP president Dilip Ghosh met him on Tuesday to complain about the "prevailing situation" in the state.

Several BJP candidates have been beaten up in various parts of the state when they tried to file nominations for the next month's rural polls, Ghosh alleged, adding the TMC are scared of the BJP and that why they are trying to stop the saffron party candidates from filing nominations.

"We met the governor and told him about the prevailing situation. He assured us that he will look into the matter," the state BJP president said.

State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had made similar allegations against the ruling party on Monday. Chowdhury said that Congress nominees were not allowed to submit nomination papers in Murshidabad district.

Left Front chairman in the state Biman Bose claimed that the State Election Commission (SEC) was not prepared to hold the panchayat polls.

"The incidents of rampant violence prove that the SEC is not prepared to hold the polls. It has announced the polls just to satisfy the ruling TMC," Bose said.

Refuting the allegations, TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said the opposition parties were trying to "disturb peace and stability" in the state.

"We have full faith that the SEC will take the right decision. The opposition parties don't enjoy popularity among the masses," he said.

Reacting to the opposition's allegations, the SEC said they will "look into the matter".

Sources in the SEC said the police administration in the state has been asked to tighten security and clamp prohibitory orders, if necessary, in and around the nomination centres.

The panchayat election is scheduled to be held in 20 districts of West Bengal on 1, 3 and 5 May. The filing of nominations began yesterday and will continue till 9 April.
tech2 News Staff

Google is celebrating the 115th birthday of "freedom fighter, art enthusiast, social activist, actor, youth leader, and forward-thinking" Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay with a doodle to highlight her life's work. To list the achievements of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay is a mildly anxiety-inducing activity: quite simply, she was so much.

She was among the leaders of the Indian freedom struggle, she was a pioneering feminist and socialist, she was a social activist, a prolific writer of books, and a master revivalist of India craft and culture.

The list of organisations she founded or was closely associated with, All India Women's Congress, National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, the Crafts Council of India, Indian Cooperative Union, barely begin to scratch the surface of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyays many achievements. She was the first Indian woman to contest an election (to the Madras Legislative Assembly), was part of the first silent film ever made in Kannada, Mricchakatika, and much more.

Kamaladevi was born in Mangalore in 1903; her father was a district collector, and her mother hailed from an aristocratic family. It was an illustrious home to be born into, but Kamalas early years were marred by sorrow. The first blow was the death of her older sister, followed by the demise of their father when Kamala was only seven. In the absence of a will, Kamalas father's property was entirely inherited by a stepson, leaving the children and their mother in a precarious position. It is said that this was when Kamala began to develop her ideas about what it meant for women to be empowered. At the same time, other ideas too were taking root: prominent figures from the Indian freedom struggle were frequent visitors to Kamala's home and she was enthralled by what they had to say.

Having been married at the age of 14 (and swiftly widowed, within the space of a couple of years), Kamala would later strike up a friendship with Suhasini Chattopadhyay (Sarojini Naidus younger sister). It was Suhasini who introduced Kamala to their older brother Harindranath. They bonded over a love for the arts and theatre and married in the face of much societal opposition. Before their wedding, when Harin was in the UK, Kamala followed him there and earned a degree in Sociology.

On her return to India, Kamaladevi threw herself into the freedom struggle. She joined the Seva Dal, then became a vociferous supporter of the Salt Satyagraha. Among the striking images of Kamaladevi is of her holding on to (and protecting) the flag of the Indian National Congress as a group of satyagrahis were caught in a scuffle with the authorities.

During World War II, she extensively toured the US and some other parts of the world, drumming up support for Indian independence and for colonialism to be overthrown. Several of the books (from among the 20 or so she wrote during her lifetime) dealt with what she had observed during her travels. This was also a time when she contributed immensely to the global discourse on feminism.

In the time after Partition, she worked tirelessly to set up the city of Faridabad where refugees from the Northwest Frontier province could be resettled. She also began to focus on reviving the handicrafts and textiles of India. Her contribution to the field of puppetry, handlooms, and theatre cannot be understated.

For her label-defying work that moved away from any convention, the government of India bestowed the Padma Bhushan on Kamaladevi, followed by the Padma Vibhushan. She was also the recipient of a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay passed away in 1988, but her ideas and legacy live on. On 3 April 2018, what would have been her 115th birthday, a special Google Doodle commemorates the firebrand who was Kamaladevi.

The doodle is only visible to Internet users accessing Google from India to ensure that the doodle is relevant to the region. Other reasons will see other Google Doodle's that are relevant to their country or region.
Asheeta Regidi

On Day 18 of the Aadhaar hearings, senior counsels KV Vishwanath, Arvind Grover and Meenakshi Arora presented their arguments on behalf of the petitioners.

The issues raised included that the entire Aadhaar project is beyond the Acts objectives, the excessive data collection under KYR+ and State Resident Data Hubs (SRDHs), and the absolute failure of security in the Aadhaar system. Lastly, the chilling effect of an apprehension of surveillance and its ability to undermine a democracy were argued on.

ABBA resolves identity fraud only

Senior counsel KV Vishwanath continued his arguments, discussing the constitutionality of Aadhaar based biometric authentication (ABBA). It was argued that frauds related to the PDS scheme were of three types  eligibility fraud involving ineligible persons registering for benefits, quantity fraud involving eligible persons receiving less than their entitlement, and identity fraud involving claiming an eligible persons entitlements through duplicate or ghost profiles. ABBA, it was argued, resolves only the third type of fraud.

The State needs to justify the serious infringement of rights via Aadhaar

The government, further, assumed that identity fraud was the only cause of leakages. In addition, old reports pre-dating the Aadhaar scheme had been used to make assessments on leakage. As a result, the State could not show that the increased benefits and saving due to Aadhaar were of a magnitude to justify the serious infringement of rights.

Further, the State had to prove that Aadhaar was necessary and proportionate and that there were no less intrusive alternatives available to achieve its objectives. This, it was argued, could not be proved since the State had failed to consider alternative methods like smart cards, social audits and food coupons to resolve leakages. This shows that the State has failed to discharge its burden with regard to infringement of Article 21.

Request for extension of Section 7 deadlines

These issues, in turn, show that privacy or balancing of interests had not been taken into account while drafting the Aadhaar Act. Lastly, the validity of the mandatory eKYC issued by the Department of Telecom was raised. The petitioners also requested an extension of the deadline for the Section 7 notifications as well.

Entire Aadhaar project goes beyond the Acts objectives

Thereafter, senior counsel Anand Grover commenced his arguments. It was argued that the entire Aadhaar project was being operated by the state as a vehicle of myriad objectives, going way beyond the stated objectives of the Act. The divergence in the two led to Aadhaar project often being used for purposes that were unregulated or prohibited by the Act.

Excessive data collection under KYR+

To prove this, the issue of excessive and unauthorized data collection under Know Your Resident (KYR+) was raised. Only demographic and identity information could be legally collected under the Aadhaar Act. Under KYR+, additionally, data like PAN, driving license and bank account numbers, education and home ownership details, religion and caste details, etc. were also being collected.

Illegal sharing with SRDH

Further, there was illegal sharing of this data, such as sharing with the SRDHs. The very collection and storage of this data, it was argued, is a misuse of the Aadhaar enrolment process. The UIDAI itself, it was argued, developed the SRDH systems, and set up the mechanisms for the transfer of Aadhaar identity information to it. Such transfer is impermissible under the Aadhaar Act and a misuse of the Aadhaar enrolment processes. In addition, even though the central identities data repository (CIDR) itself is protected, the data stored in such additional locations, like the SRDHS, enrolling agencies, requesting entities, etc., was not.

No evidence of destruction of SRDH data

The petitioners further argued that there was no evidence to prove governmental claims of erasing the biometric data with third parties like the SRDHs and registrars. For this, the complexities of data destruction, such as the need for physical destruction of servers, hard disks, etc. was pointed to.

Use of biometrics violates Article 21

The next argument was on the use of uncertain and unproven biometric technology as a violation of Articles 14 and 21. It was argued that a person does not necessarily have a unique identity via biometrics. The thumbprint and iris scan together narrow the identity down, but this is still not unique. In addition, such biometrics, including iris scans, are changeable.

They argued that for matching of biometric details, there was a deduplication ratio of 1:121, which was far too high. Section 5 of the Aadhaar Act, which provides for special measures for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, unskilled workers, etc., is also an admission of the limitations of ABBA. Biometrics, thus, lead to exclusion, which is violative of Article 21.

L1 Contracts make Aadhaar insecure ab initio

Next, the issue of the contracts of UIDAI with foreign agencies for multi-modal biometric systems, the L1 contracts was raised. These agencies had complete access to the Aadhaar data, along with continuing control over the Aadhaar technology. The Aadhaar Act, it was argued, states that this data should not be with anyone else, but these agencies had access to all this data. This factor, it was argued, made Aadhaar insecure ab initio.

Complete failure to maintain data security

Further, there was a complete failure to ensure the safety of the data which is required under the law. The inherently personal nature of the data, it was argued, meant that the State must ensure its protection. If it cannot, then it cannot take the data. To show the lack of security, the numerous risks at the enrolment and authentication level, including errors and violations by the agencies were listed.

Additionally, it was argued that the Aadhaar enrolment process had been hacked at every level, but the UIDAI failed to address these issues. The ability to duplicate biometrics and the continuing acceptance of authentication even from unregistered devices were also cited. Security measures taken, it was argued, were only ad hoc in nature.

Violation of interim orders of the SC

Lastly, the violation of the interim orders of the Supreme Court through the issuance of notifications under Section 7 was raised. The settled law, it was argued, is that once the Court has passed orders, it is the duty of all those who are bound by it to abide by it so long as it stands. The notifications mandating the use of Aadhaar were thus an impermissible executive exercise and must be set aside.

The chilling effect of an apprehension of surveillance

Senior counsel Meenakshi Arora then commenced her arguments. The first argument was on surveillance. The Kharak Singh ruling dealt with surveillance that was individual and targeted, a form of surveillance that is now a thing of the past. In S and Marper v. UK, the European Court of Human Rights recognised that not just actual surveillance, but even a reasonable apprehension of surveillance can cause a chilling effect.

Secret surveillance can undermine a democracy

Next, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgment in Szabo v. Hungary was discussed. It was argued that while in this case, national security was used to justify secret surveillance, in the case of Aadhaar, a similar argument was being made for justifying bank linking, telephone linking and so on. In the Szabo case, it was held that the very existence of a law which permits secret surveillance, without adequate safeguards, was a violation of privacy. Aadhaar, it was argued, has been introduced by the state as a preventive measure, and this very justification has been rejected by the Court in Szabo.

Additionally, the lack of recourse for individuals had been considered to be one of the grounds of violation by the ECHR. A similar lack of recourse can be seen in the case of Aadhaar. Lastly, the ruling in the Szabo case was cited  that a system of secret surveillance set up on the grounds of defending democracy, entails a risk of undermining or even destroying democracy.

The hearings will continue on Tuesday, 20 March. The petitioners are scheduled to complete their arguments in Tuesdays morning session.

Sources of arguments include livetweeting of the case by SFLC.in, Prasanna S and Gautam Bhatia, and Written Submissions of the counsels (KV Vishwanath and Anand Grover).

The author is a lawyer and author specialising in technology laws. She is also a certified information privacy professional.

Read our past coverage of the on-going Aadhaar Supreme court hearing:

Why SC needs to look into technical evidence of Aadhaars surveillance capabilities

Lack of governmental ownership of CIDRs source code can have serious consequences

Will State give citizens rights only if they agree to be tracked forever, asks lawyer Shyam Divan

Coalition for Aadhaar: A collective of private companies wants to ensure that Aadhaar ID and related services continue to be offered

Petitioners argue on centralisation of data and challenge Aadhaars claims on savings

Petitioners argue for a voluntary ID card system that does not collect user data

Petitioners argue that receipt of govt benefits cannot be at the cost of compromising fundamental rights

Aadhaar is architecturally unconstitutional, argue the petitioners

Petitioners argue that Aadhaar violates dignity by objectifying and depersonalizing an individual

Petitioners seek compensation for starvation deaths and extension of March 31st deadline

Section 7 exception in Supreme Courts interim order greatly affects peoples constitutional rights
Asheeta Regidi

On Day 19 of Aadhaar hearings, the petitioners concluded their arguments. The arguments included the chilling effect caused by the large-scale collection of metadata and the lack of proportionality in the Aadhaar Act. Next, the effect on various vulnerable sections of society was raised. This included the rights of the child, arguing that the right to education should not be made subject to Aadhaar.

Further, objections were raised on the issues created for transgender persons and NRIs. Objections were also raised by conscientious objectors, based on the belief of certain Christians that Aadhaar was similar to the prophetic beast in the Book of Revelations.

Retention of metadata enables precise profiling

Senior counsel Meenakshi Arora continued her arguments on the issue of large-scale collection and aggregation of data under the Aadhaar project. On the retention of metadata, the European case of Tele2 Sverige v. Post-och telestyrelsen was cited, where the European Court of Justice held that a law requiring the retention of metadata was violative of the fundamental rights, including the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression. The fact that the collected data, taken as a whole, could enable very precise profiles to be drawn on the private lives of the individuals concerned, was an issue in this case.

The menace of surveillance

The European case of Szabo v. Hungary, was also cited, which in addition to the profiling, ruled that the menace of surveillance struck at the freedom of communication. This constituted an interference by a public authority with the peoples rights to respect for private life and correspondence.

The UN General Assemblys resolution on the Right to Privacy in the Digital Age had also expressed deep concerns with the negative impact of the collection of data on a mass scale can have on the exercise of human rights.

Future generations need to be protected

Based on these, the chilling effect caused by the large-scale collection of data and metadata on fundamental rights was argued on. It was further argued that the aggregation of data, as admitted to by the State and the UIDAI, was sufficient to indicate the religion, class, social status, income and education level, medical history and reproductive preferences of an individual. It was argued that in view of history, one had to be careful of the States claim that abuse of this data could not happen in a state where there is rule of law. The protection being sought, it was argued, was not just for now, but for future generations as well.

Issues with the Aadhaar Act

Further issues were raised, such as the lack of proportionality and purpose, limitation with the large-scale collection and retention of data under the Aadhaar Project. Provisions on the destruction of records, it was argued, is the least that is required to retain proportionality.

Lastly, Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act was also asked to be read down, to interpret if an Aadhaar number is not assigned to mean that those without an Aadhaar could provide alternate forms of identification. The Bench was not in agreement with this interpretation.

Least intrusive method of authentication not been used

Next, senior counsel Sajan Poovayya commenced his arguments, arguing that a legislature that passes the test of proportionality in the brick and mortar world may not do so in the world of information technology. Even if there is a compelling interest to identify people accurately, the least intrusive method must be used to achieve this. Aadhaar, it was argued, failed to use the least intrusive method.

Citing the example of credit card chips, it was argued that fingerprints / other biometrics could be stored on a chip on the card itself, instead of a centralised database. This allows authentication to take place from the persons fingerprint to that on the chip. There was, thus, a less intrusive alternative available to achieve the same purpose. In fact, such matching would be more accurate, since it is not being matched with a database of 1.3 billion people. The open-ended definition of biometric data was further pointed to, arguing that the government could easily add DNA to the list.

The irrationality of the Aadhaar project

Next, senior counsel PV Surendranath commenced his arguments, arguing that the Aadhaar Act is arbitrary and violative of Article 14, the right to equality. The irrationality of the Aadhaar project was argued on, on the basis of the unreliability of biometrics and the huge de-duplication ration of 1 in 121, which is huge given Indias population. This was further aggravated by the lack of an opt-out facility and the total absence of control of the citizens on their data.

A child cannot consent or enter into contracts

Next, senior counsel CU Singh presented an argument on the violation of child right via the Aadhaar project. Indias accession to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the express protection granted to a childs privacy under the Indian Constitution as well as laws like the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was pointed to. A child, under Indian law, cannot consent or enter into contracts, which, it was argued, puts being mandatorily entered into the Aadhaar regime on a different footing. A childs right to education, further, could not be made subject to Aadhaar.

Religious objections to Aadhaar as the beast

Next, senior counsel Sanjay Hegde commenced his arguments on behalf of a client raising objections to Aadhaar on the basis of religious theology. The client and his family had refused to acquire an Aadhaar number, and his son had been denied admission in Class XII due to the lack of Aadhaar. The client and his family were Christians, and believed that Aadhaar was the mark and number of the beast, a prophetic warning in the Bible of unchristian practices, in the Book of Revelation.

The warning involved a beast which exercised authority over the people and forced all people to worship it, as well as receive a mark on their hands or foreheads in order to continue with their lives (as discussed in the written submissions).

The client was under the belief that the Aadhaar, being made mandatory through various notifications, made it impossible for people to continue with their lives. Further, the taking of biometric information in the form of fingerprints and retina scans, information obtained by placing a scanner on heads, was similar to the mark in the prophecy.

Aadhaar thus, it was argued, violated the right to freedom of religion as well as the freedom of conscience. He argued that the clients could not, in good faith, enrol in Aadhaar, and thus an exception was required for conscientious objectors.

Gender requirement affects transgender persons

Next, counsel Jayna Kothari commenced her arguments on behalf of transgender persons, arguing that for them, demographic information becomes a major issue. For transgender persons, it was argued, acquiring the identity documents required to get Aadhaar was not possible. Non-recognition of such people, thus leads to a denial of benefits. Though caste and religion had been left out, gender had not, which was a violation of equality and privacy.

NRIs unable to file taxes or acquire SIMs

Next, counsel Prasanth Suganthan made a brief point on NRIs, arguing that the way Aadhaar had been implemented, authorities could not be sensitive to the fact that NRIs are not eligible for Aadhaar. For instance, to get a phone connection, another persons Aadhaar number had to be used. Filing taxes is also an issue.

Impact on cyberspace

Lastly, counsel NS Nappinai made a brief point on Aadhaar making cyberspace vulnerable. With this, the petitioners concluded their arguments in the case.

The respondents, the State will commence their arguments on 21 March.

Sources of arguments include livetweeting of the case by Gautam Bhatia, Prasanna S, and SFLC.in, and written submissions of the counsels (Meenakshi Arora, CU Singh , and Sanjay Hegde)

Read our past coverage of the on-going Aadhaar Supreme court hearing:

Why SC needs to look into technical evidence of Aadhaars surveillance capabilities

Lack of governmental ownership of CIDRs source code can have serious consequences

Will State give citizens rights only if they agree to be tracked forever, asks lawyer Shyam Divan

Coalition for Aadhaar: A collective of private companies wants to ensure that Aadhaar ID and related services continue to be offered

Petitioners argue on centralisation of data and challenge Aadhaars claims on savings

Petitioners argue for a voluntary ID card system that does not collect user data

Petitioners argue that receipt of govt benefits cannot be at the cost of compromising fundamental rights

Aadhaar is architecturally unconstitutional, argue the petitioners

Petitioners argue that Aadhaar violates dignity by objectifying and depersonalizing an individual

Petitioners seek compensation for starvation deaths and extension of March 31st deadline

Section 7 exception in Supreme Courts interim order greatly affects peoples constitutional rights

Entire Aadhaar project is beyond the stated objectives of Aadhaar Act, argue petitioners

The author is a lawyer and author specialising in technology laws. She is also a certified information privacy professional.
Asheeta Regidi

On Day 22 of the Aadhaar hearing, the CEO of the UIDAI, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, completed his PowerPoint presentation before the Supreme Court and answered the questioned posed by the petitioners. The bench posed many questions on the security of Aadhaar at the authentication and enrolment stages. The issue of data breaches from points other than the CIDR was also raised. Also, the Bench refused to extend the deadline for Section 7 benefits.

Data breaches by enrollers

Pandey commenced his presentation by sharing details of blacklisted enrollers, along with reasons for the same. The Bench questioned if any had been blacklisted for data breaches. To this, the UIDAI CEO responded that that could only be possible if the enrollers possessed the qualifications to tamper with the enrolment software, indicating that they didnt. Such tampering, in any case, is punishable under the Aadhaar Act.

He further clarified that individual packets of data received during enrolment were checked by operators. The Bench questioned if it was possible for the enrollers to make copies of the biometric data before it was encrypted. Pandey asserted that the enrollers had no access to biometrics, and this was collected only by UIDAIs software. Such retention, moreover, is also a punishable offence.

Phasing out of private enrolment agencies

Further, private enrolment agencies are being phased out and will be available only in banks and post offices. The Bench, here, stated that this was being done because these agencies were no longer needed since the enrolment process was mostly complete. Pandey responded that these facilities were still required for updating purposes.

Aadhaar related data breaches denied

Describing the CIDR as fully secure, Pandey stated that this was not even connected to the internet. When asked by the Bench to clear the apprehensions of the petitioners on the security of Aadhaar software, Pandey stated that every data breach so far had been of databases other than the CIDR. He denied various reports including The Tribune report as well as the recent Indane report.

Further, it has been made a standard practice to display only the last four digits of the Aadhaar number. The Bench pointed out that unless there was protection against breaches from other ends of the spectrum, Aadhaar remained a problem.

SC points out lack of control over possible AuA data use

The bench then asked how many of the Authentication User Agencies (AuAs) were private, to which it was stated that a few dozens were. Next, it was asked whether the AuAs could record authentication data and monetise it. Pandey again states that such sharing was prohibited under Sections 29(3) and 38(g) of the Aadhaar Act. The Bench, however, pointed out that the UIDAI does not have control over such sharing.

Profiling based on authentication data

The Bench pointed out that service providers have a record of authentication requests, which could be misused to profile the individuals. When asked previously to clarify if such profiling and aggregation of data was not possible, Pandey cited Section 32(3) of the Aadhaar Act, which prevents the UIDAI from collecting data on the purpose of authentication.

Aadhaar is privacy by design

He then conducted a live demonstration, showing the use of biometric authentication to withdraw money from a bank account. Pandey then discussed the various forms of data that are captured during authentication. This excludes Geo Codes and IP addresses. Previously, GPS coordinates and PIN codes were collected, but this had been discontinued. Pandey described Aadhaar as privacy by design, and reiterated that Aadhaar data could not be shared except for national security purposes.

Security measures in Aadhaar infrastructure

Turning to security measures, he further discussed the STQC (Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification) and Aadhaar certified biometric devices, multiple factor authentication, biometric locking, etc. The 4-minute video on Aadhaar security measures was then shown. This video stated that Aadhaar was certified by the STQC and its data centres are certified as Tier-III by Uptime. It was shown that there are three layers of security, including vehicle check, ID verification, X-ray baggage scan, physical frisking, and biometric entry at the CIDR, in addition to CRPF personnel.

Pandey then discussed Aadhaar based privacy safeguards, including Virtual IDs, UID tokens, purpose and use limitation, strict confidentiality and online access to biometric authentication history.

Authentication of data is susceptible to misuse

The Bench, here, pointed out that it could not be ruled out that authentication history could not be shared under Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act. The petitioners also pointed to similar sharing under Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act.

The Bench questioned if authentication logs were kept with authenticating or requesting entities. Pandey answered in the affirmative, with the exception of biometric information, which is not stored. He stated that the AuAs and requesting entities were audited by the UIDAI or agencies appointed by them.

Virtual ID system

Pandey then turned to Virtual IDs. He explained how the use of Virtual IDs would prevent aggregation of databases. He said that entities which need real Aadhaar number, such as for income tax, and those which dont, such as telecom companies, would be distinguished between. The Bench asked for a note to be submitted on how the Virtual ID and UID token would function.

Pandey stated that these were random numbers from which the Aadhaar number could not be regenerated. The Bench questioned how illiterate people would be taught to use Virtual IDs. Pandey also stated that from 1 July, facial recognition would be used along with fingerprints.

Smart cards will not ensure uniqueness

Lastly, Pandey discussed the difference between Aadhaar and a smart card. He stated that a centralised database was necessary to ensure uniqueness. If smart cards were used, a single person could have multiple cards with different identities and same biometrics. Further, he argued that there could be no identity theft if Aadhaar is lost, unlike with a smart card. The smart ID card system in Singapore was also discussed, where Pandey stated that too much information on a single smart card was risky.

The hearings will resume on Tuesday. The petitioners submitted a list of questions, which the UIDAI is to answer when the hearings resume.

Sources of arguments include livetweeting of the case by SFLC.in, Prasanna S and Gautam Bhatia, and LiveLaw Reports

Read our past coverage of the on-going Aadhaar Supreme court hearing:

Aadhaar hearing: UIDAIs presentation discusses Aadhaar enrolment, updation and authentication processes in detail

Why SC needs to look into technical evidence of Aadhaars surveillance capabilities

Lack of governmental ownership of CIDRs source code can have serious consequences

Will State give citizens rights only if they agree to be tracked forever, asks lawyer Shyam Divan

Coalition for Aadhaar: A collective of private companies wants to ensure that Aadhaar ID and related services continue to be offered

Petitioners argue on centralisation of data and challenge Aadhaars claims on savings

Petitioners argue for a voluntary ID card system that does not collect user data

Petitioners argue that receipt of govt benefits cannot be at the cost of compromising fundamental rights

Aadhaar is architecturally unconstitutional, argue the petitioners

Petitioners argue that Aadhaar violates dignity by objectifying and depersonalizing an individual

Petitioners seek compensation for starvation deaths and extension of March 31st deadline

Section 7 exception in Supreme Courts interim order greatly affects peoples constitutional rights

Entire Aadhaar project is beyond the stated objectives of Aadhaar Act, argue petitioners

Petitioners conclude their arguments on 'the number of the beast' Aadhaar, highlighting various issues

Aadhaar hearing: Political liberties cannot be foregone for economic and social justice, states the Bench

The author is a lawyer and author specialising in technology laws. She is also a certified information privacy professional.
tech2 News Staff

An 18-year-old girl, a resident of Kheriakani village in Odisha was killed when her smartphone exploded while she was talking on the phone.

According to a DailyMail report, Uma Oram, the deceased was simultaneously charging her phone and using it to talk. The report states that the smartphone that exploded was the Nokia 5233 that released in 2010. Meanwhile, the victim received injuries on her chest, hand, and legs. She fell unconscious and was declared dead in the hospital.

According to her brother, Durga Oram Prasad, she was talking to her relative. When the phone's battery was drained, she plugged the phone to charge and continued speaking on the phone. Following this, the explosion occurred.

The reason for the explosion is yet to be confirmed. It is unclear if the user was using a standard battery and Nokia charger to charge the device, the reasons that usually contribute to such cases.

Reportedly, the Nokia spokesperson expressed condolences for the death. However, he said that the phone was not an HMD Global product which is the current manufacturer of Nokia smartphones.

Nokia has joined the infamous league of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Lenovo K4 Note, and Samsung Galaxy Note 7 that have exploded in the past due to various reasons. As previously reported, Redmi Note 4 caught fire in Andhra Pradesh where the users sustained injuries near his thighs.
Asheeta Regidi

On Day 20 of the Aadhaar hearings, the Attorney General of India, KK Venugopal, commenced his arguments on behalf of the State. His primary argument was on how the benefits of Aadhaar through providing a right to life with dignity to the poor, outweighed the right to privacy. The right to privacy, he argued, must give way to distributive justice. The Bench, however, stated that political guarantees were meant to advance economic and social rights, and not instead be foregone for their sake. The Attorney General asked for the Court to balance the competing rights.

Tremendous effort went into securing Aadhaar

The first argument of the Attorney General was to address concerns with the security of the Aadhaar system. Tremendous effort, he argued, had gone into the security of this system, with examinations by several committees. Several alternatives including smartcards had been considered and rejected for being unsuitable to the Indian context. Aadhaar, he argued, was thus a serious effort to insulate deserving beneficiaries from the effects of corruption. The World Banks support to Aadhaar via the Identification for Development Report (the ID4D Report) was also cited.

Powerpoint presentation and video on Aadhaar security arrangements offered

To alleviate security concerns, the Attorney General offered to show a PowerPoint presentation by the CEO of the UIDAI on the security of the Aadhaar system, along with a 4-minute video on security arrangements for the CIDR, such as a wall thirteen feet long and five feet wide protecting the servers.

The Court asked for the legal contentions raised by the petitioners to be addressed first. A Word version of the PPT was also asked to be submitted initially. The Court outlined the legal contentions to include issues on privacy, anonymity, dignity, surveillance, aggregation, presumptive criminality, unconstitutional conditions, and absence of a law and security.

Aadhaar enables the right to life for the poor

The Attorney General commenced his arguments on the law by laying down the objectives of the Aadhaar project. He argued that at the time of independence, poverty was 66 percent, which had now been reduced to 27 percent. Intensive corruption, through middlemen and public servants, had led to diversions of public benefits to the tune of Rs 1,000 crores. The Aadhaar Act, he argued, was framed to address these fears.

Further, he argued, the Aadhaar Act was designed to have the least possible violation of privacy. Even before the Act was passed, he argued, enrolment in Aadhaar was voluntary, removing any question of violation of privacy. The right to life, he argued was not just mere animal existence, but the right to live with dignity. Aadhaar, he argued, ensured this.

The right to privacy must give way to distributive justice

The Bench, here, noted the interesting fact that the arguments of both sides were founded on the same rights, right to life and to dignity. The clash between these rights and the right to privacy was pointed to. The Bench then stated that the Attorney Generals argument seemed to be that the right to privacy must give way to distributive justice.

The issue of exclusion via Aadhaar was asserted to as an issue with this argument. To this, the Attorney General stated that no individuals had come forward or complained of exclusion. Complaints, he stated, were mainly by NGOs. The Bench, however, disagreed with this, pointing to the affidavits filed in this case, as well as the petitioners who had appeared before them in person.

Political guarantees must advance economic justice

The Bench, here, asserted that individual rights cannot be made subordinate to distributive justice. Political guarantees, it was argued must advance economic rights, as against foregoing political liberties for the sake of economic and social justice. The Bengal and Maharshatra famine and the crucial role played by the free flow of information in reducing the number of deaths in the latter were cited in this context.

Balancing competing rights

To this, the Attorney General argued that the fundamental right of the poor to live without hunger, it was argued, prevailed over the right to privacy. The Bench, here, stated that the poor had an equal right to privacy. The Attorney General responded by stating the need to balance the two rights.

To further emphasise this, he argued that Aadhaar was an enabler for millions of Indians, their right to food, livelihood and pensions. This, he argued, furthers Article 21 as well as the Directive Principles of State Policy.

Can consent be assumed?

He further argued that since enrolment prior to 2016 was voluntary, there was no question of violation of rights. The Bench, to this, stated that the consent of the people was for acquiring Aadhaar, and not to surrender their data or to commercialisation. Further, they questioned if there could be a waiver or assumption of informed consent.

Support to Aadhaar in the Aadhaar-PAN judgment

The Attorney General then went on to cite various parts of the Aadhaar-PAN judgment, arguing that there, the objectives of Aadhaar had been supported by the Bench. Various statements in support of Aadhaar in the judgment were cited such as that Aadhaar is the best way to achieve deduplication and to deal with issues like fake PANs, black money, and money laundering. The rejection of the Article 14, i.e., the right to equality, challenge to the Aadhaar-PAN linkage was also cited.

Why are pensions under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act?

The Attorney General then proceeded to read out various schemes that were covered under the scope of Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act. Here, the Bench questioned how pension could be included, since the section refers to subsidies, benefits or services, while pension was an entitlement or right of the person. The Attorney General responded that this was since pensions were drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India.

He also pointed to the issue of fake pension cards. The Bench, again, showed concern for the exclusion caused. Problems of non-resident pensioners who are not entitled to acquire Aadhaar, and of pensioners with dementia, whose fingerprints may not work for authentication were cited as examples of this issue. To this, the Attorney General stated that Aadhaar was not a necessity for non-resident pensioners, and mechanisms were established under the Aadhaar Act for people who are unable to authenticate.

Official identification as a basic human right

The Attorney General then argued that poverty was a violation of human rights. The 300 million poor people in India, he argued, deserved the right to live with dignity. Asking the Court again to balance interests, he asked what the choice of such people would be, between a right to life and a right to privacy.

Official identification, he argued, was a means of resolving this. It helps achieve economic development, participation in the electoral process, as well as in the provision of benefits by the government. A unique digital identity, he argued, was thus very important today. The World Banks ID4D report was again quoted in this context, which states in its foreword that official identification is more than a convenience, but a fundamental human right.

Less intrusive method of providing unique identity?

The Bench agreed to this argument on the need for a unique identity. However, they questioned that if a less intrusive method could be found to provide it. When the aim is to achieve identification, they argued, why was there a need for centralisation and aggregation of data. They questioned the centralised storage of data, and further pointed to the risks created by the collection of metadata.

The Attorney General, to this, reasserted that alternatives like smartcards had been considered and found to be unworkable. He further argued that the CIDR does not store data for the purpose of transactions. The Bench, here, pointed to the fact that the CIDR does maintain authentication records, which also poses a risk.

The Attorney General will continue his arguments on behalf of the State on 22 March 2018.

Sources of arguments include live-tweeting of the case by Gautam Bhatia, Prasanna S, and SFLC.in, and Note by the Respondents presented to the Court by the Attorney General.

Read our past coverage of the on-going Aadhaar Supreme court hearing:

Why SC needs to look into technical evidence of Aadhaars surveillance capabilities

Lack of governmental ownership of CIDRs source code can have serious consequences

Will State give citizens rights only if they agree to be tracked forever, asks lawyer Shyam Divan

Coalition for Aadhaar: A collective of private companies wants to ensure that Aadhaar ID and related services continue to be offered

Petitioners argue on centralisation of data and challenge Aadhaars claims on savings

Petitioners argue for a voluntary ID card system that does not collect user data

Petitioners argue that receipt of govt benefits cannot be at the cost of compromising fundamental rights

Aadhaar is architecturally unconstitutional, argue the petitioners

Petitioners argue that Aadhaar violates dignity by objectifying and depersonalizing an individual

Petitioners seek compensation for starvation deaths and extension of March 31st deadline

Section 7 exception in Supreme Courts interim order greatly affects peoples constitutional rights

Entire Aadhaar project is beyond the stated objectives of Aadhaar Act, argue petitioners

Petitioners conclude their arguments on 'the number of the beast' Aadhaar, highlighting various issues

The author is a lawyer and author specializing in technology laws. She is also a certified information privacy professional.
Nimish Sawant

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg started off the year with a promise to fix Facebook's multiple issues. But it looks like this is easier said than done. No sooner is Facebook coming to terms with one issue, there is another one waiting at the door to creep on to the collective conscience of its users. And this has been happening so regularly of late, that one has been left numb to an extent.

The most recent of the thorns in Facebook's crown is courtesy the alleged misuse of data by Cambridge Analytica. Last Friday, Facebook suspended Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) and its political data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica after it emerged that it was using data shared by a developer who was supposed to use it only for his own app.

According to Facebook, "In 2015, we learned that a psychology professor at the University of Cambridge named Dr Aleksandr Kogan lied to us and violated our Platform Policies by passing data from an app that was using Facebook Login to SCL/Cambridge Analytica, a firm that does political, government and military work around the globe. He also passed that data to Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies, Inc."

While one may have thought that this was pro-active action by Facebook  despite it being three years too late  it was only on the following day that the reason behind the suspension of SCL became amply clear. Turns out news media organisations such as The Guardian and New York Times had a story which would blow the lid of the data analytics firm methods and this could have had a hand in assisting with Donald Trump's victory, by manipulating voter behaviour.

So let's see how this latest controversy has played out so far.

What's Cambridge Analytica and why is it in the news?

Cambridge Analytica (CA) is a UK-based data analytics firm with its parent company named Strategic Communications Laboratories. The purpose of CA is to come up with online political campaigns, reach out to potential voters online and it does this by combining data from multiple sources including online information.

It is also the firm that worked for Donald Trump's presidential campaign as well as with the Leave EU camp during Brexit. One of its co-founders and data analysts at Cambridge Analytica, Christopher Wylie shared evidence about the company having harvested data from close to 50 million users on Facebook. This was done without the express permission of the said users. CA then used this information to create a psychological profile of the users as well as their friends based on their online activities. This was then used for targetted political advertising during UK's Brexit referendum as well as during the 2016 US presidential elections.

CA is said to have got this private data from Cambridge researcher Alexsandr Kogan, who created an app called 'thisisyourdigitallife' to offer personality predictions online. Now, Facebook lets app developers seek permissions from users to use their personal data to help develop the app. In this particular case, Kogan's app offered users a personality prediction after they agreed to take a personality test. Around 270,000 people downloaded the app. They gave their consent to Kogan to access their public information as well as limited information about their friends. Now while Kogan got access to this data, it was only meant to be used by him for developing his app. Instead, Kogan went ahead and sold this data to CA, which then used it to tweak their social strategies for the Trump election campaigns.

To give an idea, say if you had downloaded this app and taken the personality quiz, Kogan's app was able to determine your race, gender, sexual orientation, which political party you were most likely to vote for, and even predicting your vulnerability to substance abuse. That is quite specific information and something that most of us don't publicly share. Yet, this is the kind of deductions Kogan's app was able to make after you downloaded the app and answered a few queries.

CA also got funding from US billionaire Robert Mercer, who is also a major investor in alt-right website Breitbart News. And Steve Bannon, who served as a chief strategist in the first seven months of Trump administration and a founding member of Breitbart News was also the advisor to CA for a while.

Who is Christopher Wylie and what are his allegations?

Christopher Wylie is the co-founder and former research lead at Cambridge Analytica, who blew the whistle on CA's unethical activities. Speaking to The Guardian, Wylie said that the company exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people's profiles and used that to build models to target these same people.

Suspended by @facebook. For blowing the whistle. On something they have known privately for 2 years. pic.twitter.com/iSu6VwqUdG  Christopher Wylie (@chrisinsilico) March 18, 2018

According to Wylie, Facebook suspended his account for his act of blowing the whistle on something that Facebook knew privately for about two years.

Explaining the process to Channel 4 News, Wylie said that Kogan's app paid thousands of users (a lot of them hired by CA using Amazon's Mechanical Turks platform) a small amount of money to take an online personality quiz after they downloaded the app. While downloading the app users gave consent for Kogan's app to use their personal data, location and some publicly available data of your friends as well (this feature of accessing friends' data was discontinued in 2015). Then using the source code from the responses Kogan's app got, it was fed into an algorithm which would create a user psychological profile of the user. On an average, for every user survey, Kogan's app captured records of up to 300 Facebook users.

"I just need to engage 70,000 to 100,000 people to get a really big data set, really quickly. This method scaled very quickly and we were able to get upwards of 50 million plus Facebook records within a span of a couple of months," said Wylie saying that almost none of those 50 million users were aware that their data was being used.

Wylie spoke about how the Trump campaign used the data to create sort of culture war. "Steve (Bannon) wanted weapons for his culture war and we offered him a way to accomplish what he wanted to do, which was to change the culture of America," said Wylie.

What are Cambridge Analytica's responses?

CA responded to Facebook's suspension order by stating that it does not hold data from Facebook profiles. CA acknowledged that it had contracted a company, Global Science Research (GSR) (which was founded by Kogan), for a large-scale research project. According to CA, GSR was only to obtain data in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act and after seeking user consent.

"GSR obtained Facebook data via an API provided by Facebook. When it subsequently became clear that the data had not been obtained by GSR in line with Facebooks terms of service, Cambridge Analytica deleted all data received from GSR. No data from GSR was used by Cambridge Analytica as part of the services it provided to the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign," says CA.

What's Facebook's response?

According to Facebook, there is no data breach as the users who had downloaded the app made by Kogan, did so of their own accord.

"People knowingly provided their information, no systems were infiltrated, and no passwords or sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked," said Facebook. On the topic of the data of friends also being compromised, Facebook's 'platform policy' allows only the collection of friends' data to improve the in-app user experience and this data is not meant to be sold outside. For now, Facebook has suspended the accounts of Cambridge Analytica, Dr Alexsandr Kogan and Christopher Wylie, till further investigations.

In what can be construed as a self-goal, Facebook even threatened The Guardian with a legal notice against publishing the report, calling it 'false and defamatory' allegations.

Facebook's arguments denying the 'data breach' have a similar tone of the UIDAI denying any issues with Aadhaar security despite the many data vulnerabilities.

How is it related to the Trump election campaign?

CA was hired by the Trump campaign to help with data crunching during the 2016 election season. Steve Bannon, then chairman of Breitbart News, who eventually became an advisor to Trump, was also said to be the vice president of CA's board. CA guided Trump's campaign team on how best to target voters using ads or speeches or making the strategic campaign stops. While this may look like any other service persuading voters to vote for their party, according to Wiley what CA did was manipulating voters into voting for Trump.

Who is Facebook answerable to now?

Facebook is already facing the music in the US with regards to the involvement of Russian entities in gaming Facebook's ad platform. This revelation can only make things worse for Facebook. Even though Facebook says that there isn't a data breach, because users who downloaded Kogan's app did so of their own volition, the friends of these users who may not have interacted with the app had to let go of their data unknowingly.

Britain's information commissioner is investigating whether Facebook data was "illegally acquired and used," after it suspended CA. In the US, several Republican lawmakers have expressed serious concerns over privacy violations after this story broke out.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake said he had a lot of questions about the data taken from Facebook, including who knew it had been taken and whether it is still being used.

This is a big deal when you have that amount of data, and the privacy violations there are significant, he told CNNs State of the Union program. So the question is who knew it and when did they know it, how long did this go on and what happens to that data now.

Facebook faced new calls for regulation from Democratic senators on 17 March and was hit with questions about personal data safeguards, but it was unclear whether the Republican-controlled Congress would act.

Cambridge Analytica eyeing India

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the UK-based firm has its eyes on South-Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as they approach elections. The report states that CA and its India partner Oveleno Business Intelligence (OBI) have reached out to Congress and BJP for a possible collaboration for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

According to OBI CEO, Amrish Tyagi, the company is in talks with CA which has denied the allegations and is looking at legal measures. "We are partners. If something is established to be in violation of Indian law, then we will, of course, reconsider it," said Tyagi. So far according to Tyagi, CA has no projects in India so there is no question of them having done any social media work here.

What happens now?

We can rest assured that this matter will be in the news cycle for quite a while. The extent of the data breach is still not fully known. Whether Facebook and Cambridge Analytica will take the legal route is something that only time will tell. As for your personal data, as is evident from Wylie's confession, even if you may not have downloaded and used the 'thisisyourdigitallife' app, if you were friends with someone who had and hadn't really set your privacy settings, then your personal data is most surely part of the sweep.

As it is, Facebook and a lot of social media websites have been facing the music from governments especially in the US, the UK as well as the EU. This data breach will only strengthen the voices of critics who are asking for more regulation of social media.

As for Wylie, he could be sued by CA or Bannon for breaking any confidentiality agreements they may have had.

We will find out more in the coming days.
Reuters

Finlands government investment arm Solidium has acquired a 3.3 percent stake in Nokia at a cost of about 844 million euros ($1.04 billion) to strengthen Finnish influence over the telecom network gear maker.

We believe that this will be a good investment. One must remember that Nokia is Finlands largest company and its Finnish ownership has been rather thin, Solidium CEO Antti Makinen told Reuters.

He said Solidium was not seeking a seat on Nokias board at an upcoming shareholder meeting but that it could look at that option going forward. He noted that Solidium has this year taken a more active role in the boardrooms of the companies it owns stakes in.

Nokia ruled the global mobile phone market a decade ago and was a dominant economic engine for the country, providing 4 percent of its GDP and 20 percent of its exports. The collapse of Nokias former phone business was a major reason for Finlands decade of stagnation from which it is only just recovering.

According to Nokias webpage, three Finnish pension funds at this point own less than 3 percent of Nokia. Nokia is nowadays focused on the telecom network industry where it competes with Swedens Ericsson and Chinas Huawei. The appealing factors for us are the companys strong market position combined with broad technological expertise, Makinen said.

Solidiums mandate is to own significant Finnish companies with an idea to keep themmore or less Finnish, Makinen told Reuters in an interview last month. Solidium manages minority holdings in 13 listed Finnish companies which mainly originate from an era of state-led industrialisation. Solidium trimmed its stake in Telia and Sampo in the past weeks to finance the investment in Nokia.
IANS

Far from being a dead world, the dwarf planet Ceres is an active and evolving world, indicate hundreds of bright areas that stand out in images NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned, say scientists.

The surface of Ceres is otherwise dark. "The mysterious bright spots on Ceres, which have captivated both the Dawn science team and the public, reveal evidence of Ceres' past subsurface ocean, and indicate that, far from being a dead world, Ceres is surprisingly active," said Carol Raymond, deputy principal investigator of the Dawn mission, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

"Geological processes created these bright areas and may still be changing the face of Ceres today," Raymond said. The researchers presented the latest results about the bright areas at the American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans on 13 December.

Since Dawn arrived in orbit at Ceres in March 2015, scientists have located more than 300 bright areas. Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system.

A new study in the journal Icarus, led by Nathan Stein, a doctoral researcher at California Institute of Technology divided Ceres' features into four categories. The first group of bright spots contains the most reflective material on Ceres, which is found on crater floors.

The most iconic examples are in Occator Crater, which hosts two prominent bright areas. Cerealia Facula, in the centre of the crater, consists of bright material covering a 10-kilometre-wide pit, within which sits a small dome.

East of the centre is a collection of slightly less reflective and more diffuse features called Vinalia Faculae. All the bright material in Occator Crater is made of salt-rich material, which was likely once mixed in water.

More commonly, in the second category, bright material is found on the rims of craters, streaking down toward the floors. Impacting bodies likely exposed bright material that was already in the subsurface or had formed in a previous impact event.

Separately, in the third category, bright material can be found in the material ejected when craters were formed, the study said. As Dawn continues the final phase of its mission, in which it will descend to lower altitudes than ever before, scientists hope to learn more about the origins of the bright material on Ceres and what gave rise to the enigmatic features in Occator.
tech2 News Staff

Samsung launched the Galaxy A8 Plus earlier this year in India and the latest leaks suggest that it could be preparing the launch of two more mid-range devices, the Galaxy A6 and A6 Plus, soon.

While Samsung's A series currently does not have a phone called the A6 just yet, Samsung could be adding it to the lineup this year. According to a report by GizmoChina, the Samsung Galaxy A6 (SM-A600FN) and A6 Plus (SM-A605G) have just received official certification by the FCC, which confirms their launch in the US market.

Now, the FCC did not reveal any of the specifications of the device so we do not know how different the A6 and A6+ will be from Samsung's budget-oriented J-series smartphones. As per the GizmoChina report, previous rumours had stated that the A6 and A6+ will only be launched in Europe, Russia and the Middle East, however, that is clearly not the case any longer.

Based on a listing on Geekbench, the Samsung Galaxy A6 is expected to pack Samsung's Exynos 7870 SoC which is present on the Galaxy A3 (2017). The Exynos 7870 includes eight Cortex A53 CPU cores and a Mali-T830 MP1 GPU. The listing reveals that the A6 will get 3 GB of RAM. The Samsung Galaxy A6 Plus, on the other hand, is expected to be equipped with an Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset with an octa-core CPU clocked at 2 GHz.

Samsung has not mentioned anything officially yet, but do expect them to launch the A6 and A6 Plus soon.
Reuters

US technology giant Apple Inc and Indias telecom regulator are at loggerheads over the development of a government anti-spam mobile application, with user privacy at the heart of a deepening rift between the two sides.

The latest impasse comes after Apple in October agreed to provide some help to the regulator to tap into new iOS features to build the "Do Not Disturb" app, which allows users to report unsolicited calls and text messages as spam.

At issue has been Apples contention that allowing the app broad access to customers call and text logs could compromise privacy.

The arguments are the latest example of challenges faced by global technology players, who often need to balance user privacy while handling requests from governments and regulators around access to content on devices. In July, Apple removed apps from its Chinese App Store that helped users browse the internet privately in order to comply with a new cybersecurity law.

In India, despite Octobers agreement, the two sides have not met since November, and the Indian regulator told Apple in January it was still waiting for basic clarifications on what exactly can the iOS version of its app offer, according to a government source with direct knowledge and an email exchange seen by Reuters.

Apple told Reuters last week the government app as envisioned violates the privacy policy of its App Store. Apple said it had been working with government engineers and would continue discussing ways they can design their app to keep users personal data safe.

Apples stance, though, has irked the head of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), RS Sharma, who says he will consult his legal team on how Apple could be pushed to help develop the application more swiftly.

We will take appropriate legal action, Sharma told Reuters in an interview. This is unjust, it shows the approach and attitude of this company.

He did not elaborate on what action the regulator might take.

Apple did not comment on Sharmas remarks, but said that it shared TRAIs goal of protecting customers from unwanted calls and messages.

Nuisance calls

Millions of Indians are inundated by telemarketing calls and other unsolicited text messages daily in the worlds second largest wireless telecom market behind China.

The Android version of TRAIs Do Not Disturb app was introduced in 2016. When opened for the first time, it requires users to grant the app permissions to access contacts and view text messages and then allows users to report them as spam.

Google has said keeping users information secure is its top priority and the company believes in openness and in the ability of users to make purchasing and downloading choices without top-down enforcement or censorship.

Apple said it would not modify its guidelines to allow any app access to contacts, see call logs or view text messages as those functionalities violate a users data security and privacy.

TRAIs Sharma disagrees. Users should be in control of this data, he said.

Apple said it has offered to have its technical teams meet TRAI, but a government source said the regulator was awaiting more details from the company before proceeding.

The tussle comes at a critical time for Apple as it looks to India as a key growth market where it is also in talks to expand iPhone manufacturing.

TRAI has in the past taken decisions that have dented the plans of other tech giants. In 2015, it called for the suspension of Facebooks pared-back free internet service, Free Basics, and months later it dashed the companys plans by supporting net neutrality, a principle that says internet service providers should treat all traffic on their networks equally, effectively barring the service.

Things could be tougher in Apples case, however.

Any outright legal challenge by Sharma, an official who has previously worked as the federal IT secretary, is likely to be harder for TRAI to pursue as it directly regulates only licensed telecom providers.

Nevertheless, Sharma could request the department of telecommunications, which he works closely with, to invoke decades-old law that allows the government to impose regulations even on handset makers, according to two Indian lawyers who specialize in technology policy.

Its likely to be more of a public relations battle against Apple rather than a legal one, said Kunal Bajaj, a former TRAI consultant.
tech2 News Staff

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi seems to be on the path of success in its journey to becoming a global company. And one indicator of that is more than 50 percent of its patents filed by Xiaomi are used in countries across the world.

According to a report on GSMArena, Lei Jun, the company CEO said Xiaomi has 6,324 patents under its name and 53 percent of it is trademarked outside of China. The CEO mentioned that the patents were filed in Europe, Japan, US, UK, Russia, India, Mexico, Australia and South Korea.

The report mentions about the recently unveiled Vivo APEX smartphone which features a futuristic looking retractable front camera. It goes on to say that a similar patent was approved by Xiaomi in 2015, but emerged only when the Vivo APEX was trending. The Vivo smartphone with retractable selfie camera was unveiled at MWC and is expected to go into production this year.

Xiaomi, according to Jun has improved on the number of patents over the last one year. The report states that at the launch of Mi 5X/MIUI 9, Jun had mentioned about 4,806 patents obtained by Xiaomi. The latest number shows that Xiaomi has filed around 1,518 more patents since.

Xiaomi signed an agreement with Nokia to acquire key patent assets from it in July 2017. It has also partnered with Microsoft and is going to bring AI-powered smart speakers and smartphones in the market.

These efforts are being taken to change the image of the company of not having a strong patent portfolio.

Xiaomi recently launched the Mi Gaming Laptop and Mi AI speaker along with the bezel-less Mi Mix 2S.
tech2 News Staff

Xiaomi has joined the league of Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon by introducing its very own AI-based virtual assistant for its customers in China. Called 'Xiao Ai', the company's new virtual assistant will work in a manner similar to Google Assistant and will be able to set reminders, control IoT-based equipment and more.

According to a report on iGyaan, the virtual assistant called as Xiao Ai has been introduced in China and there are less chances of it coming to India as its programming is based on the Chinese language.

A video released (shown below) by the company shows how the new AI assistant works in a manner similar to other assistants available in the market.

The video shows how Xiao Ai can set reminders, control smart lights, tell the weather, play music, send messages on WeChat, translate text and more.

For now, Xiao Ai seems to reside only on Xiaomi's Mi Mix 2S smartphone, so it isn't clear whether the digital assistant will arrive in future software updates to other smartphones models.

Considering that Xiaomi manufactures a lot more connected lifestyle products than most smartphone makers out there, we could see better integration between these in the future, which should be good news for those who have invested heavily in Xiaomi's ecosystem of products (TVs, air purifiers, weighing scales, lamps etc.).

In the above video we can see Xiao Ai being demonstrated on a Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S. The Mi Mix 2S was recently launched in China and comes with a similar design as seen on the Mi Mix 2. The camera on the device has been upgraded with a dual-camera setup seen on the Xiaomi's Redmi Note 5 Pro.
Afghanistan's legislative elections will be held on 20 October, officials said Sunday, following three years of delays as the war-torn country grapples with a resurgent Taliban and political instability.

Kabul: Afghanistan's legislative elections will be held on 20 October, officials said Sunday, following three years of delays as the war-torn country grapples with a resurgent Taliban and political instability.

The polls were originally set to be held in 2015 following presidential elections the previous year but were repeatedly pushed back due to security fears and logistical issues within the fragile unity government.

If held, candidates will contest the 249 seats in the National Assembly for five-year terms. The country will also hold regional elections in tandem in some 400 districts across Afghanistan, several of which are outside of Kabul's control. "Holding elections is not an easy job in Afghanistan," said Abdul Badi Sayad, Afghanistan's election commission chief, adding that voters will be able to apply for registration cards in mid-April before candidates formally declare.

The polls come just months ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for April 2019. However, western diplomats continue to express doubt over the government's ability to oversee the project amid heightened security threats countrywide.

Following the announcement, the United Nations lauded the commission's move, but called for the inclusion of all Afghans in the process. "The participation of all Afghans in the electoral process, not merely the elections themselves, is critical," said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan.

Questions continue to linger over how polling will be held in contested areas and if Afghans lacking identity cards and those displaced by conflict will be eligible to vote.

Taliban and Islamic State militants have been ramping up attacks in Kabul in recent months, piling pressure on the Afghan government, which is frequently scolded for its inability to protect civilians.

The Taliban has been resurgent since the withdrawal of US-led NATO combat troops in late 2014, seizing chunks of territory and blistering Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces.

Last month, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani extended an olive branch to the Taliban, suggesting that if they are prepared to negotiate they could be recognised as a political party with a legitimate role in Afghanistan's future. The group replied with a muted response and has continued to launch attacks across the country.

In October, insurgents controlled or influenced nearly half of Afghanistan's districts, double the percentage in 2015, the US government's office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in January. Over the same period, the watchdog said, the number of districts under Afghan government control or influence fell to its lowest level since December 2015.
China will launch two remote sensing satellites for Pakistan in June, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT) said on Tuesday.

Beijing: China will launch two remote sensing satellites for Pakistan in June, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT) said on Tuesday.

It will be the first international commercial launch for a Long March-2C rocket after it carried Motorola's Iridium satellites into orbit in 1999.

The rocket will also carry the China-France Oceanography Satellite into space in September this year, state-run Xinhua news agency reported quoting CALVT.

The satellite will monitor ocean wind and waves. Long March-2C rockets are mainly used to send satellites into low Earth or Sun-synchronous orbits.

China had launched Pakistan's communication Satellite PAKSAT-1R in 2011.

In 2016, Pakistan and China had signed an agreement for the launch of a special remote sensing satellite this year to monitor the development of the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
Donald Trump is ready to drag US into a trade war with the world. But winning one might not be as easy as he thinks.

Since President Donald Trump's announcement that he would raise tariffs on steel and aluminium, there have been rumblings that chief economic advisor Gary Cohn, who has clashed with Trump over trade policy, would leave the administration. That news broke on Tuesday, after Cohn, who tried to orchestrate an eleventh-hour effort to push Trump to reverse course, failed.

Trump, who was elected on his promise to the American people to put 'America First', has experienced his share of setbacks in domestic policy even as the economy has continued to hum (jobless claims have plunged to a 49-year-low and the US labour department added 200,000 jobs in January under his presidency).

The US president has now turned his gaze and his 'America First' rhetoric to foreign trade. By planning to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminium, Trump is attempting to roll back the effects of globalisation on the US economy.

The move has met with warnings of economic fallout as congressional Republicans and industry groups pressed Trump to narrow his plan for across-the-board tariffs. Trump has said the tariffs are needed to preserve the American industries and protect national security.

It is worth noting that despite Trump's claims, trade wars are not exactly easy to win. The president's argument, in essence, is that high tariffs will force other countries to relent quickly on what he sees as unfair trading practices, and that will wipe out the trade gap and create factory jobs. But the record shows that tariffs, while they may help certain domestic manufacturers, can come at a broad cost. They can raise prices for consumers and businesses because companies pass on at least some of the higher costs of imports and imported materials to their customers. A trade war is also bound to mean that other countries will erect higher barriers of their own against US goods and services, thereby punishing American exporters.

EU countries react swiftly, harshly

The European Union nations reacted swiftly, threatening tariffs on flagship US products. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday threatened to hit big-name US brands such as Harley Davidson motorbikes, Levi's jeans and bourbon whiskey with import duties. This prompted Trump to fire back a threat to tax cars from the EU, further fuelling fears of a full-on transatlantic trade war erupting.

"We are looking at possibilities to retaliate, meaning that we will also put taxes or tariffs on US imports to the European Union," EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem told the BBC on Monday. Despite Juncker's headline-grabbing threat to iconic US brands, the hit list the EU is working on does not mention specific businesses, using instead the dry language of customs regulations.

Europe exports around five billion euros' worth of steel and a billion euros' worth of aluminium to the US each year, and the commission estimates Trump's tariffs could cost some 2.8 billion euros. As well as making it harder for European metal to find buyers in the US, tariffs could also mean other foreign producers redirect their output to the EU, pushing the market there down.

The first option envisaged by Brussels consists of "rebalancing" measures to compensate the value of the damage suffered, which it says would be in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. This would mean taxing certain specific US products to send a political message to Trump  possibly targeting businesses located in states favourable to the president. It would take around three months for these measures to come into effect. Brussels wants to maximise the political impact of its reprisals on the US while minimising the impact of a trade war on European consumers.

European Commission vice-president Jyrki Katainen said on Friday the bloc could form a "coalition of like-minded countries" to file a complaint at the WTO, though this procedure usually takes around two years. Katainen said he understood the US tariffs were more aimed at China, the world's biggest producer, which has flooded the globe with cheap steel, than the EU. "We don't talk about it enough but overcapacity in the steel sector is largely due to China," the senior EU official said.

The United States first became a net importer of steel in 1959, when steelworkers staged a 116-day strike, according to research by Michael O. Moore, a George Washington University economist. After that, US administrations imposed protectionist policies, only to see global competitors adapt and the US share of global steel production decline.

With inputs from agencies
The angry funeral scenes came as the United States blocked a draft UN Security Council statement urging restraint and calling for an investigation into the clashes.

Gaza City: Gazans buried their dead on Saturday with calls for "revenge" a day after a mass protest led to clashes that saw Israeli forces kill 16 Palestinians in the bloodiest day since a 2014 war.

The angry funeral scenes came as the United States blocked a draft UN Security Council statement urging restraint and calling for an investigation into the clashes.

Only several hundred protesters returned to tents erected at sites near the Gaza Strip's border with Israel to resume demonstrations planned to last six weeks in the blockaded enclave.

On the diplomatic front, UN chief Antonio Guterres and European Union diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini called for an "independent and transparent investigation" into Israel's use of live ammunition.

But a motion put forward before the UN Security Council by Kuwait late Saturday calling for such a move was rejected by the United States, a Security Council diplomat told AFP.

Israel defended the army fire at Palestinians who broke away from the main protest of tens of thousands and neared the heavily fortified fence around the Gaza Strip.

"Well done to our soldiers," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a statement on Saturday.

"Israel acts vigorously and with determination to protect its sovereignty and the security of its citizens."

An Israeli military spokesman said Friday's events were "not a protest demonstration" but "organised terrorist activity" by Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.

"If it continues, we shall have no choice but to respond inside the Gaza Strip against terrorist targets which we understand to be behind these events," said Brigadier General Ronen Manelis.

Gaza's health ministry said 35 people suffered wounds that were not life-threatening in low-level clashes along the border on Saturday.

Thousands attended funerals for 14 of those killed  two were buried on Friday  with mourners holding Palestinian flags and some chanting "revenge" and firing into the air.

Pressure for inquiry

The armed wing of Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, said five of those killed were its members who were participating "in popular events side-by-side with their people."

The Israeli army said in a statement on Saturday night that 10 of the dead had "documented terror backgrounds" in Hamas and other groups and were killed "whilst carrying out acts of terror."

In addition to the 16 Palestinians killed, more than 1,400 were wounded Friday, 758 of them by live fire, with the remainder hurt by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

The Israeli military says its forces opened fire only when necessary against those throwing stones and firebombs or rolling tyres at soldiers.

It said there were attempts to damage the fence and break through into Israel, as well as an attempted gun attack against troops.

No casualties were reported among Israelis.

Palestinians accused Israel of using disproportionate force, saying its soldiers opened fire on protesters who did not pose a threat, while human rights groups questioned Israel's use of live fire.

Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a scornful rejection of demands for a probe.

"I do not understand the chorus of hypocrites who want a commission of inquiry," he posted in Hebrew on his Twitter account.

"They got confused and thought Hamas organised a Woodstock Festival [on Saturday] and that we should give them flowers."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas declared Saturday a day of national mourning and in a speech said he held Israel fully responsible for the deaths.

US 'cover for Israel'

The six-week protest is in support of Palestinian refugees and the timetable holds significance for a range of reasons that have added to tensions.

It began on Land Day, when Palestinians commemorate the killing of six unarmed Arab protesters in Israel in 1976.

Protests will continue until the United States opens its new Jerusalem embassy around 14 May, a move that has enraged Palestinians, who see the city's annexed eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

14 May will also mark 70 years since the creation of Israel, while Palestinians will mark what they call the Nakba, or "catastrophe," the following day.

The Nakba commemorates the more than 7,00,000 Palestinians who either fled or were expelled from their homes in the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948.

US president Donald Trump has harshly criticised the Palestinians in the past, but the State Department said only that it was "deeply saddened" by the loss of life and urged steps to lower tensions.

Human Rights Watch called calling the number of killed and wounded "shocking".

"Israeli allegations of violence by some protesters do not change the fact that using lethal force is banned by international law except to meet an imminent threat to life," the New York-based group said.

Israel had deployed troop reinforcements along the border, including more than 100 special forces snipers, saying it would prevent attempts to break through the fence.

Protests along the border are common, often involving young Palestinian men throwing stones at Israeli soldiers who respond with tear gas along with rubber and live bullets.

But the "March of Return" protest that began on Friday is on a larger scale and intended to involve families with women and children camping in tent cities near the border for weeks.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani asserted that his country will adhere to the terms of the nuclear deal it signed with world powers till 'the last breath' and warned that the US will 'regret' if the pact was broken

New Delhi: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday asserted that his country will adhere to the terms of the nuclear deal it signed with world powers till "the last breath" and warned that the US will "regret" if the pact was broken.

Rouhani's comments come after US president Donald Trump had threatened to pull out of the deal. He had sought a review of the nuclear pact.

"We as a country have always adhered (to commitments). We will not violate it (the pact) and will stay on board. It is the order of God. If we are signing the pact then we will adhere to it, till the last breath," he said.

Rouhani, while delivering an address in New Delhi on 'The priorities of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran', said the time for "haggling" by president Trump is over and negotiating after signing the deal is "ridiculous".

The US is not dealing with Iran alone on the issue of nuclear pact but also with the United Nations Security Council, which has approved the pact, said Rouhani at the event organised by the Observer Research Foundation.

The US, he observed, will "regret" if the deal collapses and the people within that country would voice concerns over it.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was a notable foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration.

The deal, struck in 2015 between Iran and six world powers  the US, the UK, Russia, France, China, and Germany, lifted economic sanctions on Tehran, and in return put limitations on its controversial nuclear energy programme.

President Trump has expressed its reservations about the deal. Last month, he waived sanctions against Iran as required under JCPOA, but warned that it will be the last such waiver if radical changes are not made in the pact.

A joint statement by India and Iran after Rouhani's delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India reaffirms its support for the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA.

The JCPOA has been endorsed by the UN Security Council and is a crucial contribution to the non-proliferation framework and international peace, stability and security, it said.

Backing New Delhi's quest for a permanent seat in the UNSC, Rouhani asked why India, a nation with a population of 1.3 billion, was not a member of the powerful club.

"Why doesn't India, with a population of 1.3 billion, have veto rights? Those who had atomic bombs were given veto rights," Rouhani said, emphasising on having ethics in foreign policy as against military might.

Veto right in the UNSC lies with the US, the UK, China, France and Russia.

Hitting out at the US, Rouhani said many issues in the world today have arisen out of miscalculation and Washington has constantly resorted to that mistake with regard to Tehran.

He said the US sought to control the lives of Iranians and even tried to stop the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Recalling the Iraq-Iran war, Rouhani said Saddam Hussain, the former president of Iraq, who ruled the country with an iron fist, reneged on the commitment made between the two countries and borders, which resulted in a devastating war.

The Iranian president also criticised the United States for its interference in Syria, saying the IS is of great interest to America.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that political decisions should be taken in polling booths, not courts, in an apparent reference to ouster of Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court.

Islamabad: Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that political decisions should be taken in polling booths, not courts, in an apparent reference to ouster of his predecessor Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court.

Sharif, 68, was disqualified as the prime minister by the apex court in the Panama Papers case in July 2017 under Article 62 for failing to declare a receivable salary as an asset.

"Let the voters make political decisions," Abbasi said while addressing a crowd in Dera Ghazi Khan on Saturday. "Political decisions are taken in polling booths, not courts," he was quoted as saying by Dawn News.

Abbasi's remarks came days after his meeting with Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar. The meeting, and Justice Nisar's subsequent referring of the prime minister as a supplicant, had irked Sharif, who later publicly asked Abbasi to explain his position on the meeting. "It is a strange tradition that whosoever solves the country's problems is dragged into the courts, removed from posts and attempts are made to push (him) away from the people," Abbasi said.

This tradition is not Pakistan's tradition. This tradition will not give respect to politics in Pakistan," he warned.

The prime minister said the decisions of the people always prevail over court's verdicts  some of which, he claimed, are controversial or not accepted by history. "We continued to work despite severe opposition and gave respect to your vote," Abbasi told the gathering, outlining PML-N's achievements since it reclaimed power in 2013.

"You made a decision in 2008 and you got Asif Ali Zardari, and what he did to Pakistan, you all know. But in 2013 you sent him back home; this was the people's decision," he said.

"The people then chose Nawaz Sharif, whose era saw unprecedented development. I have complete faith that the enlightened people of Pakistan will respond to the conspiracies and overthrow of governments at the polling stations (in upcoming general elections)," he added.

Sharif has held several rallies in different parts of Pakistan since his ouster. He has targeted the judiciary for removing him from the office of the prime minister and also come up with 'give respect to the ballot' slogan. The political future of Sharif, who leads the country's most powerful political family, has been hanging in balance since his disqualification. If convicted, Sharif could be jailed.

Sharif's family alleges that the cases are politically motivated.
Maldivian authorities have charged former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and several senior judges with 'terrorism' for attempting to topple President Abdulla Yameen, the government said on Wednesday

Colombo: Maldivian authorities have charged former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and several senior judges with "terrorism" for attempting to topple President Abdulla Yameen, the government said on Wednesday.

Eighty-year-old Gayoom and ten others, including the sacked chief justice Abdulla Saeed, were charged under State of Emergency laws imposed in the paradise tourist island last month.

Gayoom has been held since 5 February as a State of Emergency was declared by Yameen, deepening the political crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The country's criminal court, on Wednesday, ordered Gayoom be remanded in custody until the conclusion of his trial, although it was not immediately clear when the case would commence.

Yameen had resorted to Emergency laws to prevent himself from being impeached by the national Parliament after he lost his majority following a Supreme Court ruling on 1 February.

The State of Emergency is due to lapse on Thursday unless Yameen extends it further.

The Prosecutor General's office said on Wednesday that Gayoom, who ruled the country for 30 years until 2008, had been charged with attempting an "act of terrorism and obstruction of justice".

Gayoom's legislator son Faris Maumoon and son-in-law were also charged, along with another judge.

The 11 charged are accused of trying to topple Yameen who came to power following a controversial election run-off in November 2013, when he narrowly defeated former president Mohamed Nasheed.

Yameen's Emergency move curtailed the powers of the judiciary and the legislature, after the country's Supreme Court ruled to quash criminal convictions against high profile opposition politicians.

The ruling would have allowed Nasheedwho lives in exile in London to return to the archipelago and challenge Yameen for the presidency later this year.

Yameen refused to carry out the court order and instead arrested the chief justice and another Supreme Court judge.

The remaining judges revoked the earlier decision to reinstate the MPs, who had been sacked for defecting to the opposition, while Yameen also stripped Parliament of its power to impeach him.

He has resisted international calls to end the State of Emergency, release all political prisoners and restore the rule of law.

The crackdown has dented the nation's image as a popular tourist destination, which remains vital to its economy.
The president of the Maldives has lifted a 45-day state of emergency he declared last month during political turmoil in the archipelago nation.

Colombo: The president of the Maldives has lifted a 45-day state of emergency he declared last month during political turmoil in the archipelago nation.

President Yameen Abdul Gayoom's office said he lifted the emergency on Thursday on the advice of the security service to promote normalcy in the country.

The emergency was declared amid turmoil that followed a court order to release and retry some of Yemeen's political opponents. They were imprisoned after trials that were criticized for alleged violations of due process.

The president's half brother and former dictator, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, Justice Ali Hemeed and four lawmakers were arrested during the emergency and accused of conspiring to overthrow the government.

Maldives became a multiparty democracy in 2008.
The Syrian Army declared victory in eastern Ghouta Saturday after opposition fighters evacuated from most of the area near the capital except for the town of Douma.

Beirut: The Syrian Army declared victory in eastern Ghouta Saturday after opposition fighters evacuated from most of the area near the capital except for the town of Douma where negotiations are still underway for rebels there to leave or face an all-out government offensive.

The government has given rebels in Douma  the area's largest town and stronghold of the powerful army of Islam rebel group  an ultimatum to agree on leaving by late Saturday. Some pro-government new websites reported that the army is massing troops around Douma, adding that the ultimatum may be extended until Sunday.

The army statement came shortly after another group of opposition fighters and their relatives left southern and western parts of eastern Ghouta Saturday afternoon, bringing President Bashar Assad's forces a step closer to eliminating threats from insurgents groups nearby.

State TV said 38 buses left the towns of Zamalka, Ein Tarma, Arbeen and Jobar taking more than 1,700 rebels and civilians to the northwestern rebel-held province of Idlib. The channel said troops entered the towns and raised the national flag in Arbeen's main square.

"The importance of this victory lies in restoring security and stability to the city of Damascus and its surrounding areas after the suffering of its civilians from the crimes of terrorists over several years," said the army statement, read on TV by Brig. General Ali Mayhoub.

Government forces taking back most of eastern Ghouta reopens a major network of roads and highways that link Damascus with other parts of the country that have been closed since 2012 when rebels captured eastern suburbs of the capital.

The army statement vowed "to wipe out terrorism and bring back stability and security to all parts of Syria."

A crushing government offensive under the cover of Russian airstrikes that began on 18 February has forced opposition fighters in most of eastern Ghouta to agree to evacuate and head to Idlib province.

"Arbeen, Zamalka, Jobar and Ein Tarma in eastern Ghouta are free of terrorists," shouted a correspondent for state-affiliated al-Ikhbariya TV channel from Arbeen.

State news agency SANA said 38,000 fighters and civilians have already headed to Idlib over the past two weeks marking one of the largest displacements since Syria's conflict began seven years ago. More than 100,000 others headed to government-controlled areas over the past weeks.

Before the last wave of violence began in eastern Ghouta last month, the UN had estimated that some 393,000 people were living in the area under a tight government siege.

Tens of thousands of rebels and civilians have been relocated to Idlib over the past years from different parts of Syria making it one of the most inhabited regions in the country.

The top UN official in Syria, Ali Al-Za'tari, told the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV in an interview aired Saturday that "Idlib cannot take more people."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a vehicle carrying evacuees from eastern Ghouta had a road accident in the government-held village of Nahr al-Bared leaving five fighters and three civilians dead. It said the bus had left eastern Ghouta Friday night.

The departure Saturday from southern and western parts of eastern Ghouta comes as negotiations are still ongoing between Russian mediators and officials from the Army of Islam to evacuate Douma, but no deal has been reached so far with the rebel group which insists on staying in the town.

Army of Islam officials did not respond to requests for comment by The Associated Press.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Observatory, said negotiations are now suggesting that thousands of Army of Islam members and their relatives could head to the northern town of Jarablous that is controlled by Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition fighters.

The Observatory also reported that Syrian troops have been massing troops around Douma in case negotiations collapse.
A top Russian diplomat says the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy may have been arranged by Britain to justify military spending.

Moscow: A top Russian diplomat says the nerve agent poisoning of a former Russian spy may have been arranged by Britain to justify military spending. The 4 March poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury sent shockwaves across Europe. British authorities suspect Skripal was poisoned by a Soviet-made nerve agent.

Moscow vehemently denies its responsibility. European Union nations, the United States and other Western countries joined Britain in expelling more than 150 Russian diplomats from their countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko in comments relayed by Russian news agencies on Tuesday called Skripal's poisoning a "provocation arranged by Britain" in order to justify high military spending because "they need a major enemy."
United Gets Daily Houston to Havana Service

More flights from the United States to Cuba are almost back, thanks to new allocations from the Department of Transportation to give daily service to several cities to fly into Havana, though final approvals from the department are still pending.

Travelers, get ready to pack for Cuba. The Department of Transportation issued new allocations last week for increased flights heading from several US cities into Havana. Final approval for the routes is still pending, though.

With these new routes, Uniteds service out of Houston will increase to daily flights instead of once weekly. American will now fly to Havana from Miami one extra flight per day, bringing the total to five daily flights. Delta will now fly two daily flights to Havana from Miami. JetBlue will fly from Fort Lauderdale up to two times daily, and will fly from Boston once every Saturday. Southwest will also fly from Fort Lauderdale, up to three times daily.

According to the Department of Transportation, the Cuba market is still in development and it would be best served by the airlines themselves spearheading increased interest to the destination.

Carriers have been adjusting schedules and capacity, and some have left the market altogether, the DOT said during its review of the new route applications, reported by ATW. Adding to the still evolving nature of the market the [Trump] administration announced a change in its policy toward Cuba and implemented regulations that, among other things, ended the widely used authorization for individual people-to-people travel to Cuba.  The available traffic data and limited service history at Havana are not sufficient to draw specific conclusions as to the likelihood of future success or failure for any given proposal. On that basis, the public interest would be best served by  allocating limited rights in developmental markets, i.e., allocating the available frequencies to a variety of carriers and allowing them to seek to develop the market.

[Photo: Shutterstock]
Obamacare changed the insurance market in the United States in profound ways by requiring insurers to comply with myriad obligations regarding policies they sell. Because of Obamacare, insurers must provide minimum essential benefits, can't refuse coverage for pre-existing conditions, can't take health status into account when pricing policies, and can't include lifetime coverage limits.

Coverage requirements are widely considered to have driven up insurance costs, which is why Idaho is looking for a way around requirements so insurers can sell cheaper policies to those looking for affordable coverage. If Idaho is able to exempt certain policies from Obamacare requirements, other states are likely to follow its example, which could undermine protections Obamacare was supposed to provide.

What's going on in Idaho?

In Idaho, the governor signed an executive order to permit insurers to sell policies off the Obamacare exchange that aren't in full compliance with coverage mandates. Insurers would be able to sell non-compliant policies as long as they also offered coverage on the exchange that fulfilled Obamacare's rules. The off-exchange policies would be priced based on someone's health status, those who hadn't maintained continuous coverage could be denied, and lifetime limits could apply.

Because off-exchange policies would likely be much cheaper, healthy people would probably flock to these policies. But sick people who can't qualify or who need more coverage would stay on the Obamacare exchange.

Policies sold on the exchange would become increasingly expensive, until they are unaffordable for everyone not eligible for Obamacare subsidies. Obamacare caps policy prices at a set percentage of income for policyholders below 400% of the poverty level, so as prices rise, costs to the government associated with providing subsidies also increase.

The Trump administration is helping Idaho find ways around the rules

When Idaho first moved forward with efforts to allow non-compliant off-exchange insurance, it was an open question whether the Trump administration would enforce Obamacare's mandates or whether ideological objections to Obamacare would lead Health and Human Services (HHS) to give Idaho leeway not allowed by law.

The Trump administration did respond informing Idaho the way it structured off-exchange policies wasn't in compliance with Obamacare, which remains the law of the land. The Administration said if Idaho moved forward, they wouldn't be substantially enforcing Obamacare and the federal government would investigate.

However, while Idaho was told they couldn't allow noncompliant insurance to be sold off-exchange as planned, the Trump administration advised noncompliant policies could be sold if structured as "short-term policies."

This advice is in keeping with the administration's efforts to use expansion of short-term coverage as a way around Obamacare rules. President Donald Trump had earlier signed an executive order extending the time short-term policies could remain in effect from three months to 12 months to make it easier to use short-term coverage as an alternative to permanent insurance.

What does this mean for Obamacare?

Idaho hasn't given up on efforts to allow insurers to sell off-exchange policies not compliant with Obamacare. The Idaho insurance director objected to the Trump administration's assertions that allowing for off-exchange policies wouldn't be substantially enforcing the law, since Idaho would require insurers to still sell compliant policies.

The state may move forward with its plans with the assumption of winning a court challenge. Or, Idaho may decide to work with insurers to structure plans as short-term coverage in accordance with the advice of the administration.

Other states may also follow Idaho's lead, or opt to develop short-term plans. While HHS has shown it won't disregard the law, it's also made clear it is willing to help states find workarounds.

Your coverage options could be affected

Obamacare has been chipped away at since its passage, and changes have undermined the ability of the law to work as intended. If states find ways to allow insurers to sell coverage that doesn't comply with Obamacare's mandates, it's likely the comprehensive policies Obamacare provides will become increasingly costly.

If you get subsidies, you may be shielded from rising premiums, but those who need comprehensive coverage who have to pay for it themselves had best start budgeting for much bigger bills.
There are many reasons why you may be thinking of opening your own fitness business. Maybe you want to be your own boss because you're tired of working for someone else or need more flexibility. Whatever is driving you towards taking the plunge into business ownership, the prospect probably has you both excited and nervous, maybe even scared. Questions such as, 'How will I make my idea a reality and pay my bills?' are likely top of mind as well as whether you should start your business from scratch or invest in a franchise.

While the maverick aspect of setting up your own fitness business may seem appealing, investing in a fitness franchise may be the more secure, cost-effective, and profitable option.

Below are 10 ways entrepreneurs who choose to invest in a fitness franchise over going into business by themselves benefit from doing so.

Turnkey Business: You may have some or most skills to run an established business, but are likely not familiar with many aspects of what it takes to get a business up and running. When you buy an existing franchise you are provided with a clear business road map and support when it comes to all aspects of getting your business open and running including choosing a territory, finding a location, negotiating a lease, and hiring and training staff.

"I have a lot of faith in CycleBar," says Steph Sklar-Mulcahy, who owns a CycleBar franchise in Culver City, California. "I would not be where I am today without its business model and support. I had no idea what I was doing."

Proven System: When you buy a franchise, you buy a system - an entire method of doing business. Almost every aspect of your business including, advertising, financial controls, production of goods, employee management, and customer service are addressed by your franchisor's system. All franchisees are required to follow their franchisor's system.

"I've experienced the pain of starting my own business," says Steve Stabile who is planning to open multiple Blink Fitness franchise locations in Massachusetts. "I love the fact that Blink Fitness worked out any kinks with the business at its corporate locations prior to franchising."

Brand Awareness: If you invest in an established fitness franchise brand, the corporate image and brand are already recognized. Customers are usually more comfortable purchasing items from or working with companies they are familiar with.

Higher Probability of Success: With an established system in place, there is a higher likelihood that you'll succeed in franchising than going out on your own since the kinks in the business have already been worked out. In addition, your business will be open and running faster than if you were trying to build it from scratch.

"Because Retro Fitness's system frees me up to focus on operations and management, it enables me to fast forward to profitability," says Trey Jasenksi, who owns a Retro Fitness in Albany, New York. "I think it probably would have taken me six years to have the member base and revenue I have had I started the business from scratch."

Access to Funding: An established fitness franchise brand already has a proven track record and lenders tend to consider loaning money to an entrepreneur investing in the brand as having a lower risk of repayment default. Some franchise brands provide in-house financing and/or leasing options and many offer special discounts for veterans or their immediate family members via the VetFran initiative. Always ask the franchise you are considering investing in if they have relationships with funding sources, provide financing assistance, or provide discounted fees to any particular group.

Training: Your franchisor will train you to run your franchise exactly the same way its other franchised locations are run. Doing so helps ensure you are successful and that the brand remains in good standing since a poor customer experience at one location could taint that customer's and others perception of the brand. Most fitness franchise brands offer initial training at their corporate offices, plus additional training at your franchise location before the grand opening as well as ongoing training via learning modules that you can access via your mobile device or computer.

"I had no idea how to run a fitness facility," says Jasenski. "Retro Fitness has established policies and procedures and trained me, my management team, and trainers."

Ongoing Support: When you buy a fitness franchise, you will receive support from your franchisor and fellow franchisees. You'll likely have a field support consultant assigned to you whose role is to help you improve the performance of your business and to ensure it is being operated to brand standards. In other areas such as marketing support, new products, and new services, the franchisor's staff at headquarters will generally provide assistance.

"CycleBar's support has freed me up to focus on growing my business," says Sklar-Mulcahy. "Their plan for the grand opening, getting people hooked, and getting people into the studio is working. My instructors say they've never seen a studio grow so fast."

"I have 150 amazing fellow franchisees I can reach out to anytime," says JD Christie, who owns a Fitness Together franchise in Belleair Bluffs, Florida. "We share ideas and challenges and help each other work through things."

Marketing: You'll receive direction from your franchisor regarding the marketing and advertising you should be doing prior to opening your location and for your grand opening. During the term of your fitness franchise agreement, you will also probably have to do local advertising or collectively advertise with fellow franchisees in your market. Most franchisors also require franchisees to contribute to a brand advertising fund that supports the brand's umbrella marketing programs.

Exclusive Territory: When you buy a fitness franchise you'll typically have an exclusive territory. This means that your franchisor will permit only a certain amount of franchises to be open within your area.

Multi-Unit Ownership: A multi-unit fitness franchisee owns and operates more than one franchise location of the same brand, traditionally in the same region. While becoming a multi-unit franchise owner requires a significantly higher investment level than opening a single unit, it can provide more stability and a higher return on investment since you do not rely on a single location to be successful. In addition, you'll enjoy cost savings as a result of being able to share staff across multiple locations.

"More profit centers, equates more revenue. You are not having to squeeze every dime out of a single location to be profitable," says Stabile, who purchased the franchise development rights from Blink Fitness to Essex and Middlesex territories in Massachusetts. He anticipates opening up to 14 Blink Fitness locations. Stabile also points out that, "You can have a single general manager, human resources manager, and accountant working with all of your locations."

"Having multiple locations in addition to stopping my wife and I from becoming bored and enabling our business to be more profitable, helps us retain instructors," says Todd Martin, who has four Club Pilates open with another set to open in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area. "Being able to work out of multiple locations keeps our instructors enthusiastic about coming into work. They also can consider becoming a general manager."

As you read through the list of benefits franchising offers you above, think about trying to do all the things your franchisor will be doing for you by yourself. Yes. You will have to pay to invest in your fitness franchise as well as ongoing royalty and marketing fees, but if you did your due diligence and are confident the brand you are investing in is likely to deliver when it comes to your expectations, you will receive the support you need to be a successful fitness franchise owner and enjoy the flexibility of being your own boss.

"I am not worried about sick days or vacation days. The days are all mine and I do what is needed whether than means for my business or my family," says Natalee Sticht, who owns an Anytime Fitness franchise in Arrowhead, Arizona. "I hope to encourage my boys to become entrepreneurs themselves."
Cauldron Ice Cream Signs Franchise Deal In Dallas, Texas

The Viral Ice Cream Scoop Shop Will Open Six Units Over The Next Six Years In The Greater Dallas Area

April 03, 2018 // Franchising.com // DALLAS, TX - Cauldron Ice Cream, one of the most innovative ice cream brands in the country, has announced it will be bringing its trendy scoops to Dallas, Texas. The Southern California-based concept has partnered with a local Dallas franchising company, Masaish LLC, to open six Cauldron locations over the next six years. The franchisees have their sights set on opening the first store by Summer 2018, and are looking at sites in the uptown/downtown area of Dallas.

Choosing to become part of the Cauldron Ice Cream team was not a very difficult decision. The quality, taste, and concept is beyond what we have seen or experienced in the DFW Metroplex, said Masaish LLC. The passion the owners have for their brand and product is very apparent, and Cauldron Ice Cream represents a lot of what Dallas is about: being a foodie haven.

Since its conception in 2015, Cauldron has become known for its made-to-order liquid nitrogen ice cream served as traditional or rose-shaped scoops. The concepts small batch flavors include a mixture of unique mainstays, like Earl Grey Lavender, Milk and Cereal, and H20 Rose, while also offering seasonally rotating flavors to keep the menu fresh and intriguing. Cauldrons signature OG Puffle Cone, an egg-based waffle cone inspired by a popular Hong Kong street snack, has attracted media attention from Cosmopolitan, The Huffington Post, People Magazine, Food Network, and more for spearheading a new ice cream craze.

The Dallas stores join Cauldrons existing multi-unit franchise deals in Toronto, Canada and Santa Clara, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange counties. The scoop shop currently has 4 locations open in Santa Ana, Artesia, Glendale, and Chino Hills.

Cauldron Ice Cream is partnered with Fransmart, the industry-leading franchise development company behind the explosive growth of brands like Five Guys Burgers and Fries, The Halal Guys, and Qdoba Mexican Grill, as their exclusive franchise development partner to grow the brand. The concept is currently looking for experienced multi-unit foodservice operators to develop franchise territories in major markets. To learn more about franchising opportunities with Cauldron Ice Cream visit http://go.fransmart.com/cauldronpr.

About Cauldron Ice Cream

Cauldrons plan was to invent a new style of ice cream that people had never seen before. With advanced technology, they consistently provide what is described to be one of the creamiest and most flavorful ice cream options. The ice-cream shop has been featured on the Food Network, and in both Cosmopolitan and People Magazines. Alyson Escobar, writer of the LA times, stated the puffle cone put O.C. on the dessert map. For more information about Cauldron Ice Cream, visit www.cauldronicecream.com.

About Fransmart

Fransmart is the global leader in franchise development, turning emerging restaurant concepts into national and global brands for over 10 years. Company founder Dan Rowe identified and grew brands like Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill from 1-5 unit businesses to the powerhouse chains they are today. Fransmarts current and past franchise development portfolio brands have opened more than 3,000 restaurants in 45 states and 35 countries. Fransmart and their partner brands are committed to franchise development growth - as of 2017, over 1,000 new restaurants are in development across their current portfolio.

Media Contact:

Jenna Satariano

Ajenda Public Relations

Jenna@ajendapr.com

562-761-2095

SOURCE Cauldron Ice Cream

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In almost every industry, new materials are needed for new developments. Let's take the automotive industry: while an automobile used to consist of just a handful of materials, modern cars are assembled from thousands of different materials  and demand is increasing. Whether it's making a car lighter, getting better fuel economy or developing electric motor batteries, every new development requires finding or developing the material that has exactly the right properties. The search for the right material has often been like a guessing game, though. The candidates have usually been selected from huge material databases and then tested. Although these databases provide insight into specific performance characteristics, they usually do not go far enough into depth to allow meaningful judgments about whether a material has exactly the desired properties. To find that out, numerous laboratory tests have to be performed. The scientists at the Fraunhofer SCAI have chosen a different approach. The requirements for the substance are broken down to the inner structure of the material: that is, down to the atomic level. A specially developed software, Tremolo-X, then calculates how the particles of the material react when subjected to certain physical effects. As a result, it can be concluded whether a material with the desired properties can be developed on the basis of these particles.

Virtual predictive models and atomistic simulations



"Our goal is to shorten the search for the right material. This process often takes ten to twenty years, which is not only time consuming but also costly," says Dr. Jan Hamaekers from the Fraunhofer SCAI. "The idea is to use virtual processes to sift out the number of candidates until there are only a few left to be tested in the lab." To do this, the requirements placed on the material first have to be defined. For example, how fast a material has to cool down or what loads it has to withstand. This is simulated in two different ways on computer by using the Fraunhofer software: virtual particles are simulated at the atomic or even at the quantum level. How do they behave? How do the particles interact with each other? The other method uses existing data and knowledge to derive prediction models that make it possible to forecast the properties of a material. "The aim is to improve, create and explore new innovative materials and molecules with effective properties in the virtual computer lab in order to recommend their structure and design prior to the actual synthesis," Hamaekers explains.



Multiscale modeling: from the atom to the process chain



The procedure becomes clear during multi-scale modeling, as used in the chemical industry (among others). Here, the chemistry of the material is first described at the quantum level. This information is transferred to ever coarser models that map molecules and their physical properties. "If we want to predict how good the electrolyte is or how fast the ions are diffusing in the case of a lithium-ion battery, for example, we first simulate the particles at the quantum level and see what happens to them. Then, we take that information to the next level and gain insight into the dynamics, or how the particles move at the atomic level. From here, we can then go up a scale and look at how the electrolyte behaves in the macroscopic world. This gives us precise insights into all the processes and, if necessary, we can adapt or change processes," Hamaekers explains. In this way, not only can new materials be developed or suitable materials found for specific applications. Even processes can be reviewed and improved. By simulating the processes at the atomic or molecular level in a virtual reactor, it is possible to precisely identify the points or parameters that can be optimized.

At the 2018 Hanover Trade Fair, the Fraunhofer SCAI uses vivid examples to show how the design of materials can be improved through modeling, data analysis and machine learning.




Respected agricultural economist John Nix, best known as the originator of the Farm Management Pocketbook, has died aged 90.

Professor Nix, a fellow of Wye College, University of London, died on 14 March.

The first edition of his pocketbook was published in 1966  and has stood the test of time ever since, cementing his reputation as a pioneer of farm business benchmarking.

See also: Why you should use bench-marking on your farm

Now in its 48th edition, and known as the John Nix Farm Management Pocketbook, it remains a vital management tool for many farmers, consultants, academics and students.

During a lengthy career, Professor Nix was the recipient of many awards and accolades in recognition of his contribution to agricultural economics and farm management.

He was the first recipient of the Institute of Agricultural Management National Award (1982) and the recipient of the inaugural Agricultural Communicators Award (1999).

Early years

Born in 1927, the young John Nix was adopted by foster parents as a child and brought up on a council estate in south-east London.

He was the only child on the estate to pass the 11-plus at that time and showed his genius for numbers at an early age.

War interrupted his education but he won scholarships to attend London and Exeter universities to study economics.

He opted for Exeter and the then University College of the South West. The family had very little money, so he would cycle back home to London, stopping en-route in barns.

When Prof Nix left Exeter, he secured a three-year graduate position as an instructor lieutenant with the Royal Navy from 1948-51.

He had hoped to see the world  but never left the dry dock on HMS Ganges in Harwich.

During this time, he had stayed in touch with his university director of studies, who tipped him off about a job in the farm economics department of Cambridge Universitys School of Agriculture.

It was at Cambridge he turned his talent for numbers into a practical management tool.

Flourishing career

He gathered information from farmers across East Anglia, realising that farming techniques, in his words, were outstripping the quality and quantity of data available.

He then moved to Wye College in 1961 as farm management liaison officer and lecturer.

He flourished in the smaller academic environment, where he founded and published the first edition of the Pocketbook in 1966.

He was given his personal chair, the first in farm business management in the UK, in 1982, and in 1995 was made a fellow of Wye College.

In 2007, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society of England and four years later received the 2011 Agricultural Economics Society Award for Excellence.

Well-respected

A fellow of the Institute of Agricultural Management, Royal Agricultural Society of England and the Royal Society of Arts, he received at least two lifetime achievement awards.

These were awarded by the NFU (2006) and Farmers Weekly (2014).

In making Professor Nix the recipient of its lifetime achievement award, Farmers Weekly described him as the pioneer of benchmarking in British agriculture.

It added: He has helped to empower farmers, and those who advise them, to manage their businesses better and more profitably.

Placing Professor Nixs death announcement in the Daily Telegraph, his wife Sue described him as a treasured husband, very dear father, grandfather and friend.

She added: He was loved and deeply respected by generations of students, by fellow academics and throughout the agricultural industry, to which he contributed so much during his long and illustrious career.

A funeral service will be held at 2.30pm on Friday 20 April, at the Church of St Gregory and St Martin, Wye, Kent, with a memorial service due to take place in London at a later date.
Whether you are talking about real money casinos that have popped up all-across the nation in recent years or online real money gambling, the outlook for the casino gambling industry remains relative to your source of information.Overall, real money gambling is still high on the list for players looking to add some action to their overall betting strategy. Slot machines remain at the top of the list as the preferred form of gambling. This is the case in brick and mortar casinos as well as with any number of the options that exist with real money casinos online.Gambling in Maine was the topic of conversation recently at PlaySlots4RealMoney.com in an article by staff writer Rich Caesar. She made note that according to a Maine Gambling Control Board annual report, the annual amount wagered on slot machines was $1.2 billion in the states two real money casinos last year.



The revenue figure for Oxford Casino in Oxford, Maine was $68.7 million. The Sun Journal figure for Hollywood Casino in Bangor topped out at $41.6 million in 2017. These numbers alone imply that gambling in Maine on slot machines is big business.Where the two gambling outlets differ is in their future outlook for slots in the state. Oxford recently announced that it will be adding 97 more machines in 2017. Hollywood is moving in the opposite directions by lowering its inventory of real money slot machines by 39.



Oxford Casino was opened in June of 2012 and it continues to chip away at Hollywoods bottom-line profits heading in its sixth year in business. Oxford recently invested $25 million in a 107-room hotel according to casino spokeswoman Jane McClay Hoyt. She also added that Oxford has also added an additional 3000 square feet of floor space in the casino.In a direct quote from Hoyt in this report she stated, Oxford Casino Hotels parent company, Churchill Downs Inc., is very happy with their investment in Maine and the Oxford community. Oxford Casino experienced exceptional growth since opening and making the additional capital investment into our slot products was an easy decision, given growing demand.



Penny slots continue to grow in popularity according to Hoyt, which is why the casino added more machines with this particular denomination. Citing the Maine Gambling Control Boardfigures, a total of $796.6 million was wagered on slot machines at Oxford Casino last year to reflect an increase of $62 million from the previous year. The reported decline at Hollywood was $ 28 million to $408.4 million in 2017. The machine count at Oxford increased from 871 to 968 over the past 12 months while it declined to 729 from a high of 778 machines in the Bangor casino.The Sun Journal added that the town of Oxford has also benefitted from these gains to the tune of $1.7 million according to Town Manager Butch Asselin. This money is used to offset the towns annual budget of $5 to $6 million. Asselin went onto add, We regard them (Oxford Casino) as an asset to the town when asked about the working relationship between the two parties.
Quantic Dream has revealed the Resolution and FPS at which their upcoming action adventure game Detroit Become Human will run on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro. Speaking at GDC 2018, Ronan Marchalot, Quantic Dreams lead engine programmer revealed that Detroit Become Human will run at 1080p/30FPS on the standard PlayStation 4, and at 4K (using checkerboard)/30FPS on PlayStation 4 Pro. In addition to this, Ronan Marchalot also revealed that Detroit Become Human will have HDR support on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro.

For those who are unaware of, Quantic Dreams Detroit Become Human is derived from the studios 2012 tech demo KARA. The role of the lead protagonist is reprised by Valorie Curry. The development team has cast hundreds of actors from Los Angeles, London, and Paris before commencing the process of shooting and animation. The full script of Detroit Become Human is 2000-page long and David Cage took more than 2 years time to write it. According to Le Monde (French Newspaper), the overall development budget of Detroit Become Human is $30 Million.

YouTuber Cycu1 recently shared a Detroit Become Human Graphics Comparison Video: 2016 vs 2017 vs 2018  is there a graphics downgrade? Watch the video yourself and decide.
H&M, Mango, Zara, Benetton clothes to Be manufactured in Georgia - GeorgianJournal
Samsung finally reveals the science behind Galaxy S9's super slow-mo shots News oi-Vishal Kawadkar That's how it's done.

Samsung brought the super slow-mo mode with its flagship Galaxy S9 and S9+ which is capable of capturing videos at a whopping 960 frames per second at 720p resolution. The biggest question everyone had was, how did Samsung manage to ramp up the numbers from 240fps on the S8 / S8+ to 960fps? The credit actually goes to the new triple-stacked camera module that Samsung used this time around.

The latest camera module comprises of a CMOS sensor with a readout circuit underneath that runs four times faster the previous generation circuit. On top of that, there's a dedicated DRAM chip that allows the users what company calls "buttery-smooth, Super Slow-mo videos." But the only thing is the low resolution, which might be increased with next year's flagship.

It should be noted that the same technology is also responsible for the enhanced low-light photography on the latest flagships. And we are certain that the technology will be borrowed by the upcoming Galaxy Note 9 as well.

Samsung also shared few diagrams that illustrate about the new technology.

The camera app also allows users to save the super slow-mo clip to be saved as a GIF, customized with a tune or even set as a wallpaper. The Galaxy S9+ also introduced a new feature dubbed Intelligent Scan that combines the Iris Scanner and the Face Unlock features seen on the Galaxy S8/S8+. But the company still doesn't use an external hardware for the feature.

As for the specifications, the Galaxy S9 has a 5.8-inch Infinity display and the Galaxy S9+ has a larger 6.2-inch Infinity display. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The bigger variant offers 1440 x 2960 pixel at 529ppi. The screen renders deep black to conceal the iris sensor and gives a minimalist and uniform aesthetic. The smartphone uses the octa-core Snapdragon 845 processor with 4GB/6GB of RAM.

The 128GB Galaxy S9 will be selling at a price of Rs 61,900, while the S9+ with 128GB will be available for Rs 68,900. To recall, the 64GB variant sells for Rs 57,900, while the 256GB holds a price tag of Rs 65,900. Talking of bigger sibling, the 64GB variant is priced at Rs 64,900, and the 256GB variant comes at Rs 72,900.

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Exclusive: Spreadtrum plans to design phones in India, to bring 5G chipset by 2019 News oi-Priyanka Apart from Jio Phone, it sells mobile chipsets to domestic handset makers like Lava, Karbonn, Micromax, Celkon, Samsung, etc.

Mobile chipset firm Spreadtrum Communications, which has recently tied up with Intel Corporation for 5G is now closely working with the handset maker to design phones in India.

"In India, we work with all affordable smartphone makers but now, as a next stage, we are looking at how we can design devices in this ecosystem," Neeraj Sharma, Country Head at Spreadtrum Communications told GizBot in an exclusive interaction. He further said, "We are closely working with some companies to design the phones in India and in this regard we have already started our lab two years ago."

The top man also firmly said that this year the company will definitely start designing phones in India.

Although he refused to divulge into the names of the companies with whom they are working with, according to industry sources, Spreadtrum is in talks with domestic handset maker Lava for the same.

Meanwhile, the company is also planning to bring its new chipset 9832E in the Indian market this year. "We have just started marketing this chipset called 9832E and its new version of 9832 chipsets," said Neeraj Sharma regarding the product. He asserts that the company has enhanced the CPU from 32 bit to 64 bit and is now running its frequency from 1.2 GHz to 1.4 GHz in the new version.

On the partnership with Intel, Sharma informed, "Working closely with them has helped us to work on technology like 14-nanometer chips and during Mobile World Congress we have announced that both Spreadtrum and Intel will develop a 5G smartphone platform." Furthermore, the company is also planning to bring 5G chipset next year.

If you may recall, the company recently came into limelight for supplying chipsets for Jio Phone. Apart from Jio Phone, it sells mobile chipsets to domestic handset makers like Lava, Karbonn, Micromax, Celkon, Samsung, etc. and according to other industry sources, they are also looking forward to tying-up with Chinese smartphone makers like Xiaomi for its upcoming chipset 9832E.

The company has also inked a deal with emerging operating system KaiOS for SC9820A, which is powering JioPhone. The company believes that with this kind of partnership, users will have access to a broader selection of lite phones that support advanced mobile functionality.

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Jolla to enter 4G feature phone market in India with Sailfish OS News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Jolla appears to be bullish about launching a 4G feature phone in India, which can compete with the JioPhone running KaiOS.

The Finnish smartphone maker Jolla is all prepared to launch their second handset in India running the new Sailfish OS, which is customized for the 4G feature phones. At the MWC 2018 tech show in Barcelona, Jolla announced the launch of the Sailfish 3 OS with support for 4G feature phones. Jolla will also extend its downloadable version of the Sailfish 3 platform called Sailfish X for the smartphone users.

According to a report by Economic Times, the feature phone idea has come to them via a customer case from India, states the CEO Sami Pienimaki. The OS is ready and they are waiting to take a plunge into the market operation. If Jolla announces a 4G compatible feature phone in the country, then it will directly compete with the Reliance JioPhone, which is dominating this particular market segment. The report states that the company is in the phase of finalizing their negotiations with a large telecom operator and an OEM as well to bring a 4G feature phone to India.

Recent media reports have tipped that the shipments of feature phones have more than doubled from 18 to 19 million in the last year to 40 million this year. JioPhone is the first-of-its-kind feature phone supporting 4G connectivity in India. The device gained a lot of success as the telco introduced the Rs. 49 monthly recharge plan for the JioPhone users.

In addition to the Reliance JioPhone, Nokia Mobile's feature phones have also been quite popular with a sales figure of 20.7 million units. Other companies dominating the feature phone market are Samsung with a market share of 15% in the last quarter of 2017. Trailing behind these companies are Micromax and itel.

JioPhone runs KaiOS, which supports Facebook and Google Assistant. Lately, there were reports that a version of WhatsApp for KaiOS is in the making. On the other hand, the Jolla feature phone runs Sailfish OS. Peinimaki also made it clear that they will not launch an Android Go smartphone as it will force users to use the Google services even if they really don't want them.

Currently, Sailfish OS supports Qualcomm's 2015 mobile platform, Spreadtrum and MediaTek chipsets. Though MediaTek does not have a solution for the 4G feature phones, the low-end smartphone processors from the chip maker can be customized for the 4G feature phones, the report adds.

Apart from India, Jolla is also considering to expand its presence into other Asian markets such as Thailand. The OS is already sold in some parts of European Union.

Best Mobiles in India

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New Nokia 6, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 8110 listed on India website News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu While we are a day ahead of the launch of the new Nokia phones in India, the official website have listed them.

HMD Global announced a slew of Nokia branded phones including Nokia 8110 4G feature phone, Nokia 1, new Nokia 6, Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 8 Sirocco at the MWC 2018 in Barcelona late in February. After the silent launch of the Nokia 1 smartphone in India last week, the company sent out media invites for a launch event to be held in the country on April 4.

While we are nearing the Nokia launch event, the official Nokia India website has listed the rest of the models including Nokia 8110, new Nokia 6, Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 8 Sirocco. For now, there is no word regarding the Indian pricing of these smartphones. We will get to know further information at the launch event to happen tomorrow in New Delhi.

One of the recent reports hinted that the Nokia 8110 might not be launched in India on April 4 but the listing on the website might prove this report false. However, we do not expect all these devices to be released in the market simultaneously. Also, we cannot expect the Nokia 8 Sirocco to be released immediately as it is the flagship device.

As the new Nokia 6 aka Nokia 6 (2018) announced earlier this year in China and then at the MWC 2018 is also expected to be launched in the country tomorrow, the original Nokia 6 received a price cut taking it down to Rs. 12,999. And, this is claimed to be a limited period price cut. This price cut makes us believe that the Nokia 6 (2018) could hit the retail shelves in the country without any delay. To recall, we have already come across a report suggesting that the Nokia phones will be available for purchase from April onwards.

From the specifications of these new batch of Nokia phones, there are speculations that the Nokia 7 Plus could rival the Moto X4. The Nokia 8110 is a 4G feature phone with support for VoLTE and a slide-out design. This device could be a major competitor to the Reliance JioPhone and other 4G VoLTE feature phones available in the country right now.

Best Mobiles in India

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Xiaomi Blackshark photos hit the web; launch set for April 13 News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Xiaomi and Blackshark are teaming up for a gaming smartphone and this could be unveiled on April 13.

Xiaomi is one of the major investors in a newly established smartphone manufacturing firm Black Shark technologies. We have been coming across reports that the two companies will jointly launch a Blackshark gaming smartphone, which will make use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC. Now, we have a sort of an official confirmation from the company regarding the launch date of this smartphone.

According to an official poster, which has surfaced online, the Xiaomi Blackshark gaming smartphone could be launched on April 13. The poster invites Zhu Shangzu, a partner of the investment department of Xiaomi to the Blackshark event. This clearly indicates that Xiaomi is funding the new company. The invitation further points out that the gaming smartphone's launch event will happen on April 13 in China at 3 PM.

In a different piece of news, a Weibo user had shared two photos of the alleged Xiaomi Blackshark smartphone. One of these photos show the sides of the smartphone with the controls and protrusions. The other photo shows the gaming controls of the smartphone at the front, especially at the top and bottom of the screen. Both the photos show the green design accents of Blackshark smartphone.

Lately, the Xiaomi Blackshark gaming smartphone's AnTuTu benchmark listing surfaced online revealing the key specifications. Even a Geekbench benchmark listing of the smartphone hit web. According to these listings, the smartphone is said to arrive with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC as the flagship smartphones of this year paired with 8GB RAM.

The Blackshark smartphone is likely to be unveiled in three variants - one with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage space, the other with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage space and a third variant with a whopping 8GB RAM and 256GB storage space. Running Android 8.0 Oreo, the Xiaomi smartphone would support Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging technology.

Being a direct rival to the Razer Phone, this Xiaomi gaming smartphone is likely to feature a similar refresh rate of 120Hz. It is believed to feature a 'full-screen' display with a screen resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9. The benchmark databases have revealed that the device could carry the model number SRK-A0.

Though we have come across several reports revealing what we can expect from Xiaomi Blackshark, we are yet to get an official confirmation from the company regarding the same.

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Cadet Life

ROTC makes the student experience even richer. See what it's like to be a Cadet in the Texas Christian University ROTC Battalion, plus all the activites and training that are available to you.
The Samsung SM-J720F, which is expected to debut as Galaxy J7 Duo, will pack a dual camera that can do Live Focus bokeh shots. It will also have Bixby and a removable battery.

We got this useful information thanks to a leaked official user manual for the device, detailing its many software and hardware features.

One of the most interesting additions is the removable battery. The Galaxy J7 and its J-series contemporaries have sealed-in batteries.

Next up is the Bixby addition - this will be the first Bixby-enabled midranger by Samsung. Since there is no physical Bixby button it's likely that the Galaxy J7 Duo will have only Bixby Home and Reminder.



Samsung Galaxy J7 Duo manual

Finally, the camera. The Galaxy J7 Duo will have a dual camera and it will be able to capture Live Focus bokeh shots. If we're to go by what we've already seen from Samsung, the Galaxy J7 Duo will use the setup seen in the Galaxy C7 (2017) (also known as Galaxy J7+ in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines) - a 13MP (f/1.7) + 5MP (f/1.9) system.

The rest of the specs are likely to go as follows - a 16:9 5.5-inch 1280x720px panel, Exynos 7885 chipset and Android 8.0.

Source | Via
Google releases a monthly security bulletin that contain its newest security updates and sometimes functional updates. Today, Google has released the full list of fixes and changes that will come with the April OTA update.

Some of these fixes and updates apply to only Pixel 2(XL) devices while others apply to the HTC-made first-generation Pixel (XL) phones. Here are few updates mentioned in the update.

Assisted dialing support for Pixel 2

Improve VoLTE - VoWi-Fi handover during emergency calls for all Pixels

Reduce delays upon opening certain apps for Pixel 2

Enable IMS911 on certain networks for all Pixels

Improve magnetic sensor performance for Pixel 2

Improve modem stability for all Pixels

Improve stability for Pixel 2 devices in part of Canada for Pixel 2

Optimize search logic to improve battery performance for Pixel 2

Prioritize certain data bands for all Pixels

Improve switching between Wi-Fi and LTE for Pixel 2 XL

Improve audio speaker performance during calls for some Nexus and all Pixels

There are many more tiny updates and fixes in this update. Some changes are specific to regions, specific to carriers, or specific to certain carriers roaming in certain regions. Check out the source link for the full bulletin with all the incoming changes.

Source
Samsung Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ are nearing their launch, as seen on a website of the Korean company. The Polish division accidentally uploaded a webpage for a phone with the model number SM-A605FN/DS that is most likely the Galaxy A6+'s dual SIM version.



Screengrab from Samsung Poland's website

The A605FN moniker already appeared on multiple regulator pages, including the FCC and Wi-Fi certification websites, making it easier to connect the dots.

Benchmarks from last month suggested the Galaxy A6+ will have Snapdragon 625, 4 GB RAM and Android Oreo, most likely with Samsungs in-house UI on top. The phone, along with its smaller sibling Galaxy A6, is bound to arrive in three markets - Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, according to earlier reports.

Source (in Polish) | Via (in Dutch)
Motorola is celebrating the 45th anniversary of the first mobile phone in the world with a sale. The device happened to be the Motorola DynaTAC - 13-inch tall, weighing 1.75 pounds and with no display of any sort. The company is offering discounts on select phones in the US.

The Moto E series gets up to $40 off. The Moto G and X series get up to $100 off. Finally, the Moto Z series gets up to $150 off. These discounts are only available on select models in the series and vary depending upon the variant you choose. So, for example, while the 64GB Moto G5s Plus gets $100 off, the 32GB gets only $50 off.

Along with the smartphones, there is also a flat 25% off on most of the Moto Mods, including the Moto Style Shell, Moto Folio, Polaroid Insta-Share Printer, Moto Smart Speaker with Amazon Alexa, Moto TurboPower Pack, JBL SoundBoost 2, Moto 360 Camera, Moto Power Pack, Hasselblad True Zoom, JBL SoundBoost and the Moto Insta-Share Projector.

The sale is only available on the Motorola online store and only for on April 3 and April 4.

Motorola Store | Via
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The OnePlus 6 is coming soon and today the Chinese company has decided to start its marketing campaign for the device in earnest. Thus, OnePlus has outed the first official teaser video for its next flagship smartphone. It's only four seconds long, but it manages to confirm the OnePlus 6 name. It also tells us that this phone will pack "the speed you need".

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has already confirmed that his company's next handset will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 chipset, and that's where that speed will come from. He also said the launch would happen in June, but we're starting to seriously doubt that given how many leaks we've recently seen regarding the OnePlus 6 - and today's teaser.

Additionally, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has admitted that the OnePlus 6 will have a screen with a notch, angering cutout haters everywhere. The notch will measure exactly 19.62 x 7.69 mm. That makes it larger than the Essential Phone's but smaller than the iPhone X's. The OnePlus 6 is likely to have at least one version with a woodgrain finish on the back, which is a pretty unique look.
By Vasia Orion | Published on 2018/04/02

Upcoming rough 'n tough "Lawless Lawyer" has revealed stills of the titular badass played by Lee Joon-gi. The actor looks sleek, but deadly, with a little hint of cheeky in one photo. The stills reveal different sides of the character, while teasing the battle-filled goodness we can expect from an actor talented in action acting.

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After all, the hero's fists are practically in the premise. "Lawless Lawyer" is about a lawyer who uses said fists instead of the law, in order to fight for his life and become a true lawyer against the corrupt powerful. Lee Joon-gi plays Bong Sang-pil, the titular gangster-turned-lawyer.

According to reports, the actor trains hard to get into his character and learn the choreography. Lee Joon-gi does all of his action scenes for the drama without the use of a stunt double, which is impressive. I just hope the production is keeping things safe for all of the actors involved. The actor reportedly never leaves the script between shoots, in order to deliver great results while shooting.

Lee Joon-gi had a few comments about the production. The actor stated that he hopes to deliver an improved performance, since he has already built a rapport with PD Kim Jin-min-I through "Time Between Dog and Wolf - Drama". Kim Jin-min-I has nothing but praise for the actor, as he has commented that Lee Joon-gi is charismatic, and a perfect fit for Bong Sang-pil. According to Kim, the titular character demands action and emotion, which the actor can deliver, even exceeding the PD's expectations.

Lee Joon-gi is one of those actors whose skill set is varied enough that he can freely move between genres. I mostly enjoy his choice of works, as well as his choice of characters. At the same time, he's such a graceful and skilled action actor, that I can't deny my preference for his more action-oriented roles. It looks like "Lawless Lawyer" is just the type of work I'd like, so I look forward to what he can deliver.

Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'

Sources (1)
By William Schwartz | Published on 2018/04/02

Dong-goo's latest devious scheme to insure that Yoon-ah and Joon don't spend any time together involves organizing a workshop for the guest house. Which involves them going to...another guest house, where they act as guests on vacation. At times like this I can't help but think about how badly "Welcome to Waikiki" has been wasting its own premise. How does one successfully manage a guest house anyway? Surely there are better ways to find guests than to just drag them in from off the street.

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Squandered potential notwithstanding I did like the character interaction this time. The sequence of Dong-goo going about town with Yoon-ah is actually fairly persuasive because this is the first time in awhile that Dong-goo has seen Yoon-ah as a flawed and at times genuinely annoying woman rather than as an idealized object. The irony of Yoon-ah acting obsessively cute the whole time is an effective contrast, showing that the factors which make Yoon-ah attractive also make her fairly flawed.

Dong-goo's behavior in the latter storyline is also fairly subdued. That Dong-goo would lose a cooking competition to an actual chef should not have surprised anyone. But it's the effort, rather than what Dong-goo is actually trying to accomplish, that makes him an endearing character. Dong-goo never gives up. Sometimes Dong-goo should give up, when that determination involves him being innately unpleasant, although that's not really a factor here.

Also, is it just me or has Doo-sik gotten really dumb? I still remember how in the early episodes Doo-sik seemed like the most sensible member of the main cast, yet now he is easily amused by whatever ridiculous joke Joon-ki manages to come up with on the spot. I will grant that the final punchline for that sequence by the pool was pretty funny. Although that's mainly because Soo-ah gives him that great look indicating that no, Joon-ki is not a wizard.

While the jokes are not particularly strong in that storyline I also appreciated how every horrible thing that happens to Joon-ki and Seo-jin is entirely a consequence of their relationship being kept a secret for no good reason. Well I guess excepting the scenes that involve that horrible car, which has over all this time somehow managed not to break down and become completely worthless just yet. That everyone keeps using the car is perhaps indicative of how they lack better options. Or more likely it's just a silly recurring gag.

Review by William Schwartz

"Welcome to Waikiki" is directed by Lee Chang-min-I, written by Kim Ki-ho, and features Kim Jung-hyun, Lee Yi-kyung, Son Seung-won, and Jung In-sun.

Note : Due to licensing, videos may not be available in your country
Havre City Council voted 6-0 at their Monday meeting to forward a grievance filed against the Havre Fire Department by a former engineer, whose employment was terminated, to the councils Labor Relations Committee.

Council members Caleb Hutchins and Karen Swenson, who sit on that committee, were excused from the meeting.

Council President Andrew Brekke, who sits on the committee, said after the meeting that he thinks Dustin D.J. Olsons employment with the department was likely terminated in January but could not say for sure and declined to say why he was dismissed, citing privacy issues in a personnel matter.

A grievance report filed in January against the department says that the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 601 says the termination of Olson, an engineer with the department, was unjustly terminated and without due process.

Fire Chief Mel Paulsons investigation before Olson was terminated was also incomplete, the grievance says. Olson was denied a required hearing before termination and there was no specific evidence to support the reasons for his termination, the report says.

An attachment to the report with Paulsons responses to the allegation says that Olsons termination was for good cause and that he was afforded due process, including a hearing.

Paulson, the attachment said, also performed an investigation that was adequate, professional and complete on several issues that resulted in Olsons termination.

Engineer Olson was given notices of investigation that detailed each alleged incident and violation of policy, the response says. Engineer Olson was given an opportunity to respond to information during investigations.

The response also said that in the termination letter, the city and the department were very specific as to what codes, articles and policies Olson had violated.

Mayor Tim Solomon said in a mayors response that after reviewing the statements made by IAFF Local 601, he concurred with Paulsons response to the grievance. The grievance signed by Olson says that he should immediately be reinstated as engineer at the department and made whole again in every way including but not limited to wages and benefits plus interest.

The IAFF also said in the grievance that several articles of the current collective bargaining agreement were violated when Olson was fired.

In other business, the council voted 6-0 to approve on first reading an ordinance to allow the Havre director of public works to establish a permitting process, assess a permit fee and issue permits to restaurants or bars to establish outside seating adjacent to their building.

Brekke said the current ordinance is not clear whether outdoor seating is allowed or not, but an establishment that serves liquor is required to get approval from the city.

He said the only reason why a simple change saying outdoor seating is permitted without a process is to avoid having narrow sidewalks in residential areas obstructed by outdoor seating.

In such an instance, Breeke said, public works could deny that establishment the ability to have outdoor seating.

The council voted 6-0 to approve a collective bargaining agreement for city dispatchers.

The agreement between the city and the Montana Public Employees Association is for the current fiscal year and contains a 2 percent pay raise.

Two separate resolutions were approved by the council in a 6-0 vote that allow Eagles Manor to apply for two grants to make upgrades to its facilities.

Solomon said that one grant authorizes an application for the Montana Department of Commerce Community Development Block Grant Investment Partnerships Program. A second resolution was for a Montana Department of Commerce Grant Investment HOME program.

The repairs include upgrades to an emergency elevator at the manor, Solomon said.

Council also voted unanimously for a Community Development Block Grant drawdown of $56,986.50 for renovations for the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line.

A request by the Havre Eagle Riders to block the 100 Block of Second Avenue East May 26 for the 6th Annual Wounded Warrior Ride was approved in a 6-0 vote.

Solomon also read a proclamation recognizing April 3 as National Service Recognition Day in the U.S. and encourages residents to recognize the positive impact of national service and thank those who serve and give back to their community.

The next council meeting is Monday, April 16, at 7 p.m.
Havre Police Department

Michelle Rose Jiron of Havre, 26, was arrested Monday at 8:16 a.m. on a charge of criminal contempt in relation to a 24/7 Sobriety Program no-show violation.



Officers investigated a Monday 2:38 p.m. report of a residence break-in that occurred over the weekend on McKinley Avenue.



Officers were asked Monday at 4:15 p.m. for a welfare check on the Second Street callers nephew.



Jason Edward Metro of Havre, 30, was arrested on a Justice or City court warrant at 6:32 p.m. Monday on Fourth Avenue.



James Christopher Dahl Jr. of Havre, 31, was arrested on two Justice or City court warrants and a charge of probation violation when an officer served the warrants today at 2:48 a.m. on First Street.

Hill County Sheriffs Office

Rachel Diane Hawley of Havre, 36, was arrested on a state District Court after deputies served the warrant Monday at 4 p.m. at the detention center.



A caller reported an injury vehicle crash near mile marker 98 on U.S. Highway 87 Monday at 8:05 p.m. One person in the vehicle was reported to have a possible broken arm and a female was trapped in the vehicle. Two emergency medical crews responded to the scene.

Havre Fire Department

Emergency medical personnel responded to seven calls Monday and one today.

Havre Animal Shelter

This morning the shelter held three medium-hair cats whose sex is listed as unknown, three medium-hair male cats, one medium-hair female cat, and one female short-hair cat.



The shelter held this morning a 1-year-3-month-old female Australian shepherd, a 1-year-1-month-old male Labrador retriever-pug cross, a 10-year-old female mixed-breed, a 26-week-old male Labrador retriever, a 6-year-1-month-old female Labrador retriever and a 5-year-old female Australian shepherd.
In a two-hour meeting in the Hill County Courthouse Monday, the Hill County Park Board raised some fees on Beaver Creek Park, shot down another fee and tabled two others, and heard from the Hill County Weed District supervisor about additional funds and plans to fight noxious weeds on the park.

Weed District Supervisor Terry Turner said that with all of the problems it caused, the East Fork Fire that burned 21,896 acres in the Bear Paw Mountains in August and September, including 1,240 acres on the park, creates a good opportunity for weed control. With foliage and some brush burned off, the weeds are more accessible, he said.

The fire was a bad thing, but its going to be a good thing for weed control, he said.

Turner said the state Department of Agriculture approved a grant from its Noxious Weed Trust Fund for $31,151 to help fight weeds in the burned area, which hopefully will keep them from spreading through the burned area. With the open area from the burn, it also will help kill more of the weeds that have been invading the park, including the major problem of houndstongue that has been spreading through the park and onto private land and some new problems that have arisen, such as orange hawkweed.

He said if nothing is done to control the weeds once the growing season starts, with the moisture seen this year they will explode.

The grant, which provides a 50 percent cost share to private landowners and the county to fight noxious weeds in the area burned, is renewable for up to four years.

Turner said that since voters also approved a 4 mill levy increase for the weed district he also will be able to put some full-time work into spraying weeds on the park.

The weed district had been operating on the same budget it had since 1975.

Turner said he will have a crew and truck on the park 10 hours a day, four days a week, starting on the south end of the park and working north, to spray the noxious weeds there through the entire summer.

He said he cant say how thankful he is that the county taxpayers approved the mill increase so his department can seriously fight the weeds in the park.

We didnt have the money before, he said.

He also said he wants to continue to have spray days, working with landowners and volunteers to spray the weeds on selected days.

Before Turners presentation, the board went over, with lengthy discussion, its Finance and Planning Committees recommendation on increasing fees and had an update on its proposed changes to cabin lease agreements.

Beaver Creek Park Secretary Aubrey Williams said that after the board approved a revised version of the proposed lease agreement, available for review at the park website at http://bcpark.org under Current Happenings, Update on Proposed Cabin Lease Changes, the Hill County Commission approved the changes on first reading March 26 and will have a second reading and vote April 9. If approved then, the new lease will become legally binding May 9, she said.

Board Member Renelle Braaten asked if revisions could be made in that process.

Board Chair Steve Mariani said that if changed at this point, the proposal would have to go back through the public comment process.

On the Finance Committee fee change proposals, the board passed a proposal to set the base rate for cabin leases at $400 with a 3 percent increase every two years, and approved eliminating out-of-area higher rates for park permits and increasing the year-long permit from $50 to $55 and the Golden Pass permit from $30 to $35. Day-use permits were kept at $10.

After a lengthy discussion, the board also approved revising its grazing fees, now set at $12 per animal-unit per month, to be based on the state rate set each fall by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, based on cattle prices, plus a $3 fee that board agreed would go into a weed-control fund.

With the state rate now set at $11.03, the rate for next year will be $14.03, a $2 increase from the current rate but an actual decrease of $1 AUM to the park general budget, with the $3 earmarked to weed control.

After another lengthy discussion on a proposal to raise haying rates also based on state rates, which would have amounted to a 33 percent increase to the hayers, the board split on the vote for that increase, effectively killing it.

Ranchers Bill Bradbury and Larry Kinsella, who also is a member of the board, said the increase would make it hard to justify taking the hay from the park. When asked, Kinsella said it would be enough for him to pass up on haying on the park.

Park user Lou Hagener said that, with the relatively low amount of revenue raised by haying, problems including loss of fertility and the spreading of weeds might justify canceling haying on the park.

The board tabled proposals to set a flat rate of $75 for reserved campsites regardless of place of residence  now, people from outside of Hill, Blaine, Chouteau and Liberty counties are charged a higher rate, which park Superintendent Chad Edgar said makes the process complicated and raises very little extra revenue, much like the system that had been used for park permits  and to keep the fees on the Beaver Lodge at Camp Kiwanis flat this year.

Some discussion was held that the larger reserved campsites should have higher fees than the smaller sites.

Mariani suggested that those proposals and the haying fees should be reviewed by the Finance and Planning Committee again.

In other news, Edgar said that with the snow, park use has been low and evaluation of the damage of the East Fork Fire and discussions of logging the damaged trees has been set back.

The board approved Edgers request to increase the wages of his employees of the park after he said he gave up last year after advertising for two positions for several months with only one applicant  who had found another job by the time Edgar called him for an interview. The rates will go from a starting wage of $8.65 to $10 an hour.

Edgar said that with the travel required to get to work and the physical, sometimes demanding labor on the park, people are not interested in working at $8.65 an hour when they can walk out their door and get a job in town paying more.

The board also voted, with Renelle Braaten the only vote in favor, to kill a proposal advocated by Braaten to create a Natural Resources Committee.

Several board members said they believed too many committees were being created, when the issues covered could be addressed by the board itself.
ANN ARBORA sudden loss of wealth in middle or old age can be financially devastatingand fatal.

According to a University of Michigan study, adults in their 50s and older who suffer a catastrophic loss of wealth have a 50-percent higher risk of dying than those who do not have such loss. The effect can last for two decades, and whether participants are very wealthy or have only modest savings makes no difference.

The study, appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at negative wealth shocksthe loss of 75 percent of a persons wealth in a two-year periodand its impact on the risk of dying.

The most surprising findings were that the higher risk of death among those experiencing a negative wealth shock was almost as high as the well-known higher risk of death for those who have no wealth in middle or older age, and also that this higher risk was apparent for a very long timeup to 20 years after the negative wealth shock, said senior researcher Carlos Mendes de Leon, professor of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health.

Our findings offer new evidence for an important social determinant of health that so far has not been recognized: sudden loss of wealth in late middle or older age. They further enrich our understanding of the critical role other social determinants such as low education, poverty, unemployment and housing instability play in population health and health inequities.

Lead researcher Lindsay Pool, who conducted the study while an epidemiology doctoral student at U-Ms School of Public Health, is now a research assistant professor at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine.

Pool and colleagues used the data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of U.S. adults ages 51-61 at study entry. The cohort of 8,714 adults were assessed for negative wealth shock in 1994, with follow-up interviews every two years until 2014. Average age at study entry was 55 years, with 53 percent identifying as female.

We looked at different levels of wealth and income somebody had prior to losing their wealth. And it didnt seem to matter: You could lose a million dollars or $50,000 dollars but if thats all you have, that is important to you, Pool said.

Of the participants, 90 percent reported having wealth, and 2,430, or 26 percent, of them experienced a negative wealth shock during that period, while 5,535 had continuously positive wealth without shock. During the same period, 2,823 participants died.

Those who had negative wealth shocks were more likely to be female, of nonwhite race/ethnicity, have lower levels of household income and net worth and have poor health. The 50-percent increased risk of mortality for those who experienced wealth shock was similar to the 67-percent increased risk of individuals living in poverty who have no net worth.

Pool said while there was considerable short-term research done after the Great Recession regarding the impact of ones financial circumstances on health in the short term, a lot of the research has focused on depression, suicide, blood pressure and other short-term markers of stress.

What we were able to do is then extend that through a long term study and look at increased risk with mortality over a 20-year period, she said, adding that the study didnt just look at a macroeconomic downturn but also included drastic changes in someones personal life that could cause them to lose their wealth very quickly.

A big one is medical bills. Thats a huge cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. but other personal things like a divorce or widowhood or something like that can also cause a big change in ones assets.

Pool says that further research is needed to better understand the mechanism for the association between wealth shock and increased risk for mortality, and to determine whether theres potential value for targeted interventions.

The Health and Retirement Study is sponsored by the U.S. National Institute on Aging, and conducted by the University of Michigans Institute for Social Research.

University of Michigan
Higher blood pressure prior to conception may increase the risk of miscarriage, even in women not diagnosed with hypertension.

The study involved women who had already experienced at least one pregnancy loss and were trying again.

If confirmed, the findings imply that lowering heart disease risk factors in young adulthood may also improve reproductive health.

DALLAS  Elevated blood pressure before becoming pregnant and early in pregnancy may increase the risk of pregnancy loss, even if the woman doesnt have a hypertension diagnosis, according to new research in the American Heart Associations journal Hypertension.

Elevated blood pressure among young adults is associated with a higher risk of heart diseaselater in life, and this study suggests it may also have an effect on reproductive health, said Carrie J. Nobles, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in the Epidemiology Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in Bethesda, Maryland.

The study  which cannot reach a cause-and-effect conclusion  is the first to look at preconception blood pressure and reproductive outcomes in healthy women not diagnosed with high blood pressure or heart disease.

Researchers studied 1,228 women (average age 28.7 years, 95 percent white) who had already experienced 1-2 pregnancy losses and were currently trying to become pregnant. The women were part of a clinical trial to determine whether taking low-dose aspirin might reduce the risk of miscarriage.

During the study, women had their blood pressure measured when they were trying to become pregnant and again during early pregnancy. Average blood pressure prior to pregnancy was 111.6 mm Hg /72.5 mm Hg. Of the 797 women who conceived within six months, 24 percent suffered a pregnancy loss.

Researchers also found:

Every 10-point increase in diastolic blood pressure (lower number) was associated with an 18 percent increased risk of pregnancy loss.

Every 10-point increase in mean arterial pressure (an average of the lower and higher numbers) was associated with a 17 percent increased risk of pregnancy loss.

The findings were similar for preconception and early-pregnancy blood pressure.

The impact of cardiovascular risk factors starts really early in life. Physicians treating women of reproductive age should pay attention to slightly elevated blood pressure because it may have other not-well-recognized effects, such as adverse pregnancy outcome, said Enrique F. Schisterman, Ph.D., senior author of the study and Senior Investigator and Chief of the Epidemiology Branch of NICHD. Preconception is a previously unrecognized critical window for intervention such as lifestyle changes that can help prevent later heart disease and may also improve reproductive health.

Whether women had been randomly assigned to take low-dose aspirin as part of this clinical trial (Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction) made no difference in the impact of blood pressure on pregnancy loss, the researchers found.

Because the study was conducted in women who already had experienced a miscarriage, it is unclear whether the results can be generalized to all young women. Additionally, the study was mostly composed of white participants, and further research is needed to ensure the results apply to women of different races.

Other co-authors are Pauline Mendola, Ph.D.; Sunni L. Mumford, Ph.D.; Ashley I. Naimi, Ph.D.; Edwina H. Yeung, Ph.D.; Keewan Kim, Ph.D.; Hyojun Park, Ph.D.; Brian Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D.; Robert M. Silver, M.D.; Neil J. Perkins, Ph.D.; and Lindsey Sjaarda, Ph.D. The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

The Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (National Institutes of Health) in Bethesda, Maryland funded the study.

The American Heart Association
There is never a good time to learn you have cancer, but a diagnosis during pregnancy seems an especially cruel blow.

The numbers are rising, too, as the average age at which women start to have children increases.

Professor Liz Sullivan, of the University of Technology Sydney, has been awarded a grant by Cancer Council NSW to investigate the extent of cancer during pregnancy and what happens next for both mothers and babies.

Cancer diagnosed during pregnancy presents challenges to healthcare teams because there is little evidence on which to make important treatment decisions, Professor Sullivan said.

We dont know enough about the incidence of cancer in pregnancy, how pregnancy affects cancer care, and the outcomes for both mother and baby.

That makes it very difficult to balance treating the cancer with minimising harm to the mother and her unborn child. It also adds to the uncertainty and stress for the woman and her family.

Professor Sullivans grant of $445,000 funds a three-year research project to be conducted across NSW.

The study will follow pregnant women newly diagnosed with cancer to examine the patterns of cancer care, the womens experiences of this care and the outcomes for the women and their babies.

The results will be used to create patient-centred resources for pregnant women with cancer and their families, and to give healthcare teams greater insights into cancer care.

This is an important project and we will ensure that the work translates into real benefits for people affected by cancer in pregnancy, Professor Sullivan said.

Her project grant is one of 17 funding initiatives for 2018, worth more than $10.6 million, announced recently by Cancer Council NSW.

The recipients are extraordinary scientists who do essential and highly innovative work, Dr Jane Hobson, research grants manager at Cancer Council NSW, said.

The broad range of projects that we fund  across many types of cancers and stages of the cancer journey  shows Cancer Council NSWs commitment to work across every area of every cancer.

The project Cancer and Outcomes in Pregnancy  A NSW Evaluation will run from 2018 to 2020.
Boomer helps rescue abandoned bear cub

Dr. Beverly Hargus holds a bear cub that was found Sunday at Lake Summit. [PHOTO COURTESY OF MARVIN OWINGS JR.]

Thanks to Boomer the rescue lab, an abandoned bear cub was itself rescued, is under the care of wildlife biologists and should be released in the wild in about a year.



Marvin Owings, the retired Henderson County farm agent, was walking Boomer along South Lake Summit Road Sunday when the black lab alerted.

He started barking, it scared him, Owings said. He was just right off the road. I was a little cautious because I didnt know where the mother bear might be, so we didnt stay too long. We left it and we walked on, hoping the mother bear would have taken the bear and walked off with it.

On the way back, Owings and Boomer came upon the cub again. Owings was surprised the cub had managed to move about 50 yards. Boomer found it again.

Thats when I contacted Beverly (Hargus) because I knew it probably wouldnt last if somebody didnt try to help it.

When Dr. Hargus, a veterinarian at AnimalsRUs, arrived, she put on a pair of gloves and picked up the cub, which squealed.

They took it to their house and in the meantime they contacted a wildlife resource officer. He came to the house I think maybe even that night to get it, he said.

Dr. Hargus fed the cub milk and honey just to try to help it some help because it was so weak. She thought the cub was about two weeks old.

Its the first time Ive come across a baby bear, Owings said. Ive read stories about the mother bear being close by. You wouldnt want to get between her and the cub.

Jodie Owen, a communications officer with the state Wildlife Resources Commission, heard from Mike Carraway, the wildlife biologist who took the cub from Hargus.

The cub is doing well and we are transferring it to our bear rehabilitation facility and it will stay there until its big enough to go to our winter rehab facility and will remain there until next summer, when it will be released in the wild, Owen said.

As far as why, there are many possibilities, she said. It could be a dog that found a den and scared the mother and scared the cubs or a young inexperienced mother that was frightened away from the den or something could have happened to the mother bear.

Colleen Olfenbuttel, the Wildlife Commissions black bear biologist, said in an email that a cub could become orphaned due to a variety of reasons, such as human disturbance (such as a person or dog disturbing a bear den) or the mother died (such as hit by a car).

Olfenbuttel cautioned people against assuming that a bear cub is orphaned and advised against picking one up.

Please contact the NC Wildlife Resources Commission so we can determine if the cub is actually orphaned, she said. As with other wildlife, it is in the best interest of the wildlife for the public to leave it alone. Often, the cub is not orphaned and the mother is near-by. And, if the cub is orphaned, we often see that the public does more harm to the cub, as they dont know how to care for the cub until our agency is able to get it from them. If you suspect there is an orphaned cub, please contact our agency so we can investigate, and if the cub is orphaned, bring the cub to our licensed rehabilitators located in North Carolina.


Under the bye-laws, the sound produced in the immediate vicinity of street performers must not exceed 80 decibels. Stock Image: Getty Images

Nine street performers in Dublin were fined for breaching noise levels last year.

Dublin City Council revealed that 600 was raised from the penalties, according to information released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Only one case was appealed which the street performer won, according to the council.

None of the cases ended up going to court, as the fixed fine of 75 was paid by the performers who were in breach of the guidelines. No fines were imposed in 2016, because the bye-laws were under review.

Under the current guidelines, people are not allowed to perform in a public place without a permit issued by the council. Those using amplification must have an additional permit.

Obstruction

Licences cost 30 a year, and for visitors the fee is set at 10. Those wanting to use amps have to pay 60 a year.

Under the bye-laws, the sound produced in the immediate vicinity of street performers must not exceed 80 decibels.

Certain parts of Temple Bar have a prohibition in place in relation to performances, and where it is allowed the decibel level is set at a maximum of 75.

The bye-laws which banned backing tracks came into effect due to an increasing number of complaints, relating mainly to loud continuous noise, obstruction of premises and busking late at night.

The aim was to put an end to people having to listen to the same song over again.

"A performer who plays and sings must have a sufficient repertoire to play without repetition for at least 30 minutes," say the regulations.

Also under the rules, they must immediately stop performing if the crowd they have attracted is blocking a street.
William McCarthy has been remanded in custody

A man has been remanded in custody after being charged over the seizure of two revolvers and ammunition in Dublin.

Gardai recovered two firearms on Friday and arrested four people as part of investigations by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau supported by the Spec-ial Crime Task Force.

At around 4.15pm, two vehicles were intercepted at Monastery Gate Avenue, Clondalkin.

Three men in their 20s and a 28-year-old woman were arrested and detained at Clondalkin Garda Station under the provisions of Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

One of them, William McCarthy (27), of Spencer Dock, Dublin, was charged with three counts under the Firearms Act for unlawful possession of two revolvers and 10 rounds of ammunition.

Caution

He was taken to appear before Judge Alan Mitchell at Dublin District Court yesterday.

Det Gda Anthony Kennedy told Judge Mitchell that the accused was charged at Clondalkin Garda Station at 9.25pm on Saturday.

"He made no reply to the charges after caution," Det Gda Kennedy told the court.

Defence solicitor Declan Fahy said there was no application for bail at this stage.

Judge Mitchell remanded the accused, who did not address the court, in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Friday.

He said that in the event of there being a bail application, gardai must be given 48 hours' notice. This was appropriate, he said, due to the nature of the charges.

Directions from the DPP also have to be obtained, the court was told.

Legal aid was granted after the judge received a statement of the defendant's means. Mr McCarthy is unemployed.
A Lithuanian haulage driver has been charged in relation to an estimated 1.8m drug seizure at Dublin Port on Saturday.

Alvydus Simkus (55) appeared before Judge Alan Mitchell at a special sitting of Dublin District Court yesterday morning.

He faced six charges, three for possession and three for possession for sale or supply, of cocaine, MDMA powder and ketamine discovered as part of a joint operation conducted by the Revenue's Customs Service and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau targeting drug importations through the port.

Detective Garda Ronan Doolan gave evidence of arrest charge and caution and said that when charged Mr Simkus made no reply.

Det Garda Doolan said Mr Simkus was driving a truck which arrived on a ferry from Liverpool. He was stopped by customs officers and the vehicle searched.

Recovered

Det Garda Doolan said two boxes were uncovered in the cab of the truck and another was recovered from a compartment attached to the cab.

It was alleged that three types of drugs - ketamine, cocaine and MDMA powder - were recovered and the seizure was worth 1.8m, the detective said.

The detective agreed with defence solicitor Andrew Vallely that the case could take some time to prepare.

Simkus's solicitor told judge Mitchell that a substantial surety could be lodged to court given time and that his client would agree, as conditions of bail, to surrender his passport, sign on twice daily at a garda station, supply a mobile phone number to Gardai, obey a curfew, consent to be called upon by Gardai, and promise to remain in the country.

Mr Vallely said his client is a married father of two grown up children in third level education, was a truck driver by trade, and had not been in court on serious charges before.

Judge Mitchell denied bail but granted legal aid, and remanded Simkus to Cloverhill prison to appear again on April 6. Simkus sat quietly in the court listening through an interpreter throughout the hearing.
The officer was taken to University College Hospital to be treated for non-life threatening lacerations

An innocent Dublin family is receiving garda protection after an escalation in a terrifying intimidation campaign by a city gang.

The Herald has learned that officers have been posted outside the family's Crumlin home after a series of attacks were carried out at the property, including a fire bombing and a number of death threats.

Gardai believe the incidents are being orchestrated by a 28-year-old jailed criminal, who has links to the Kinahan cartel.

The campaign of intimidation is because a family member is a witness in an ongoing serious garda investigation.

A source told the Herald that gardai have now been forced to take the rare step of placing a protection post outside the innocent family's home to prevent any further attacks.

"There is a post at the house overnight, from the evening time to the morning," the source said. "This was put in place because the spate of attacks was escalating, with three incidents in one week recently."

In late October, a car connected to the family was badly damaged in an arson attack.

Sinister

Over the course of the last year, individuals aligned to the 28-year-old have also called at the family's home late at night, issuing sinister threats.

Last month, the home was again targeted by the thugs on two occasions, with several windows being smashed at the front of the property.

Another attempt to intimidate the family was made recently when undercover gardai arrested a man acting suspiciously near the property.

The undercover operation was put in place after windows in the property were smashed the previous week.

The officers, from Sundrive Road Garda Station, were in place when the hooded suspect - who also had his face covered - approached the family's property in a car with its lights off.

When the officers identified themselves, the criminal tried to flee and is understood to have disposed of a weapon before he was quickly arrested.

While in custody, he was questioned about the two previous attacks on the house, when front windows were broken.

His clothes were seized for forensic testing before he was released without charge. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The arrested man has previous convictions for public order and other offences.

His associates have been involved in a bitter local feud in the Crumlin area.

An older close associate of the thug received a major beating last December as part of this dispute with other violent local criminals.

Sources said gardai have been investigating if the suspect who was arrested last Wednesday has been taking orders from a Kinahan-linked criminal, who is currently behind bars and cannot be named for legal reasons.

The jailed Crumlin criminal has around 100 convictions and was previously jailed for a savage attack on a club doorman.

He had links to cartel criminals such as Tallaght enforcer Paul Rice Snr and slain gangster Gerard 'Hatchet' Kavanagh, who was shot dead in Spain in September 2014.

Apart from his assault conviction, the thug also has two previous convictions for violent disorder and more than 30 for public order offences.

Intimidate

It is understood that the man arrested over the latest incident is his closest ally and regularly visits him in prison.

It is suspected he has been told to continue the campaign of intimidation, which has been ongoing for more than five months.

"The intimidation that this family has suffered has been a lot for them to endure and there were concerns that it could escalate from criminal damage incidents to even more serious incidents," a source told the Herald.
Graffiti which appeared in two separate locations in north Dublin last week

The Kinahan cartel's graffiti campaign against The Monk's brother is designed to "make him crack and flee the city", the Herald has learned.

Mob boss Daniel Kinahan has ordered the continued campaign against innocent man Patsy Hutch, in which graffiti stating 'Patsy Dies Feud Ends' has been scrawled across walls in the north inner city on at least six different occasions, most recently twice last week.

The Herald revealed that the most recent incident was an attempt to lure Patsy from his home in order to shoot him.

But the messages are also part of a plot to force Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch's brother to flee the capital.

Sinister

"If they can't take him down physically they will try and take him down psychologically, and this sinister campaign is an attempt to get him to crack, and flee his family home," a senior source confirmed to the Herald.

"The Kinahans and their spies also know that word of the graffiti will get back to Gerry Hutch, and it will serve as a reminder to him that all his family remain under threat," the source added.

"Gerry's brothers Patsy and John are viewed by the Kinahan gang as low-hanging fruit in that they are the easiest to antagonise and represent high-value targets because they are so closely related to Gerry," the source said.

"Information that Gerry paid thousands to the Kinahans in the past to protect Patsy's son Gary from being murdered will also mean that Gerry is not likely to heed any message about a possible end to the feud.

"As we all know, Gary was shot dead in Spain in 2015 and the revenge for that was the Regency Hotel shooting.

"It is amazing that Patsy is still in the city, his brother Gerry could pay for him to flee as he is worth millions. But Patsy just won't go."

Patsy, whose son Patrick is on trial for the murder of Kinahan mobster David Byrne in the Regency Hotel in 2016, has survived at least four attempts on his life since the feud began.

Last month, gardai arrested four men and seized four weapons in the underground car park of the Belmont Apartments on Gardiner Street as part of their probe into an advanced plan to murder Patsy at his home.

Sources said gardai have intelligence that the cartel has "a full-time network of spies working for them in the north inner city who get paid for information on members of the Hutch family".

It is believed that these spies were active in the latest foiled hit on Patsy, and sources say that gardai plan to make more arrests in the case in the future.

Gardai are stationed near Patsy's home on a 24-hour basis due to ongoing threats against him.

Last June, two men were arrested near his house. A gun, gloves and a can of petrol were also seized in what gardai believe may have been another attempt on his life.

In July 2016, Patsy survived an assassination bid after a lone gunman on a bicycle approached his house before failing to follow through with the attack. Patsy's other son, Derek 'Del Boy' Hutch, who is currently in jail for manslaughter, has been targeted behind bars on two occasions since the feud erupted.

Killings

The feud shows no sign of ending, with a senior garda stating last week that up to 18 murders could be historically linked to it.

While the number officially remains at 15, three other killings are being looked at as having direct links to the bloody dispute which shows no sign of abating.

Last month, Patsy's older brother, John Hutch Snr (65), suffered a suspected broken ankle in Kusadasi, Turkey, after leaping from a balcony in an attempt to flee a feared attempt on his life.

Gardai received reports that Mr Hutch spotted two men in balaclavas at the front door of the apartment before his escape.

In the aftermath of the foiled hit, Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll said gardai had intervened in 45 suspected planned murders by organised crime gangs.
Teachers dressed in 19th century attire welcome their colleagues to the INTO conference

Teachers are giving the Government a month to produce a commitment to end two-tier pay rates, or else strike ballots that could close schools in the autumn will go ahead.

As the three teacher unions gather at their annual conferences, the mood is hardening for an early deal to eliminate lower salary scales for new entrants.

The three unions, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI), are forming a united front to take on the Government on the issue.

A common, strongly-worded motion has been agreed by the union leaderships, which calls for negotiations on pay inequality to begin by the end of April and to conclude by early May.

Footing

The new motion updates earlier and separate motions decided individually by the unions ahead of the conferences, and puts them all on exactly the same footing.

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By early May, the unions want an agreement that has "the capacity to achieve a resolution of all aspects of pay inequality" - that would involve a commitment by the Government to end pay inequality.

Failing that, ballots for industrial action, up to an including strike, will go ahead

Delegates at both the INTO and the ASTI conferences will debate the motion today with an expectation that it will be passed. It is also expected to be debated by the TUI at its conference today.

INTO president John Boyle said yesterday that the patience of the teacher unions was "definitely running very, very thin in relation to seven or eight years of dastardly cuts to the young teachers".

Mr Boyle confirmed that at if pay equality has not been negotiated by the start of the next school year, they would be "shutting down schools and withdrawing labour".

Lower pay scales for public servants were introduced after 2010 as a cost-cutting measure at the height of the austerity era.

More teachers have been affected than any other group, because teachers continued to be recruited right through the recession to cope with rising school enrolments. There are more than 16,000 teachers on lower salary scales, representing 27pc of all public servants on new entrant rates.

A recent report on pay equalisation across the public service, which put the cost of restoration at 200m, including 59m for teachers, laid the foundations for upcoming negotiations.

With all opposition parties supporting equality, the issue is now firmly on the political agenda. Post-austerity pay deals have restored about 75pc of the pay losses, but teachers recruited since 2011 will still be up to 100,000 worse off over a career as a result of the lower scales.

Separately, the INTO has warned that the quality of education offered to pupils suffers dramatically when there is a shortage of teachers.

Difficulties faced by primary schools in recruiting substitute teachers will have a direct impact on quality, according to Mr Boyle.
1 / 3 Tharson and Caroline Goh pose for a portrait in the kitchen of their Marco's Pizza on Friday, March 23, 2018, in Lindon. The new Marco's Pizza is the second store for the couple. Evan Cobb, Daily Herald 2 / 3 The recently opened Marco's Pizza on Friday, March 23, 2018, in Lindon. The tore has been open since March 10. Evan Cobb, Daily Herald 3 / 3 Community members enjoy the grand opening of Marco's Pizza in Lindon during its celebration days in March 2018.  

The owners of the newest pizza place in Lindon have come a long way to serve fresh Italian pizza to Utah County residents.

Husband and wife Tharson and Caroline Goh both grew up in Indonesia, on an island off the northwest tip of Australia. They moved to Utah mid-winter in 2000. It was quite an adjustment, but has been a very successful one for the couple and their family.

They opened Marcos Pizza at the beginning of March on State Street in Lindon.

The new Lindon location has the distinct pizzeria aroma of herbs and spices. Though there is not many eat-in spots there, the fast casual eatery still offers take and go. Straddling some stools there a few weeks ago in the early hours before opening, the Gohs excitedly spoke of their love for pizza and running a business.

After graduating from college in Australia, Tharson Goh worked for as an engineer in Singapore before moving here to work along Silicon Slopes. He still works full time, but he and his wife wanted to add business owners to their titles as well.

Pasquale Giammarco, a native Italian, opened the first Marcos Pizza store in 1978 in Oregon, Ohio. From there, he added more locations until franchising the concept across 900 stores in about 35 states. The brand prides itself on dough made fresh daily in each store, a proprietary sauce recipe and a blend of three never-frozen cheeses.

Tharson Goh first experienced pizza years ago as a college coed while living with an Italian family in Australia, so when he and Caroline were looking at pizza parlor options, he knew what he wanted. Before opening their first Marcos Pizza in 2014 in Riverton, the Gohs traveled to the nearest franchise location at the time: Las Vegas.

It was a team effort stepping into business ownership that first time, but it was equally driven by both husband and wife. Tharson Goh had recently earned his MBA and wanted to start a business. Caroline Goh wanted more to do.

My two kids were older and I needed to do something. I didnt want to just stay at home, Caroline Goh said.

So I said, you run the business, and Ill keep my job, Tharson Goh added.

Ironically, around the time the Gohs were building out the Riverton store and planning for its grand opening, Caroline Goh became unexpectedly pregnant. It threw a new level of difficulty into the already hard work of opening and running a business, but they made it work.

It was tough, but its always tough, she said.

She and Tharson continue to deal with whatever difficulties arise because they enjoy providing growth and opportunity for employees. For many teenagers, Marcos is their first job, and the Gohs enjoy teaching them to work hard.

We also want to contribute to our society and build the community. Weve had so many good experiences, I just feel we need to give back, Caroline Goh said.

Caroline Goh oversees both the Riverton and the Lindon locations, traveling between them on a daily basis. She often drags her youngest, who is now a 3-year-old, and at this point, has grown up surrounded by pizza ingredients, ovens and smells.

She now greets customers with a happy, Welcome to Marcos!' Caroline Goh laughed.
For Subscribers 'The area just can't handle that kind of trucks'

Neighbors of a 1.7 million-square-foot warehouse proposal off Howell Road are worried about the impact on traffic, flooding and water pressure.
Upananda Brahmachari | HENB | Kolkata : In a very nefarious design, the ruling TMC in Bengal is promoting illegal Rohingya intruders in the soil of West Bengal with a Jihadi aspiration to harm the Hindu activists within the state.

When Hindu activists are advancing in WB, some leaders of TMCs minority cell are engaging themselves to give shelters these Rohingya intruders in Barauipur, Canning, Falta, Budge Budge, Burdwan, Coochbehar, Uttar Dinajpur, Birbhum and other locations; only to restore a Jihadi force to eliminate growing Hinduitva power in Bengal.

Making many NGO and collaborating with AIMIM (All India Majlish e Ittehadul Muslemin) of Hyderabad, these Muslim leaders in TMC are collecting huge money from Middle East and Bangladesh in the name of rehabilitation of Rohingya refugees, actually the new Islamic force engaged in capturing the land of Bharat under Islamic flag.

On a high level meeting of SMAC (State Multi Agency Center) held on March 12, it shared intelligence inputs between constituent agencies over the threat of Rogingya intruders in WB and border situations where more than 60,000 Rohingyas are waiting to cross the border to enter WB.

Though WB representatives in the meeting admitted the growing number of Rohingyas in the state and their colony in some parts in the state, they pointed out the slackness of BSF in border protection and accused a part of BSF involved in the cross border Rohingya rackets.

With a tight vigilance of BSF and proper patrolling in the border, these huge numbers Rohingyas could not enter into India. Rohigyas are not entering India through para-trooping, a SMAC official raised the point in the forum.

But, the WB representatives were failed to explain how some agencies (NGOs and AIMIM affiliates) are given free-hand to make colony for Rohingyas in Baruipur (Kuruli and Hardaha), Coochbehar (Masaldanga), Budge Budge (Fakir Bari) etc.

A source in South 24 Parganas hints that many local Muslim clerics connected with TMC are trying hard to change some PMAY and Gitanjali Housing locations by the original beneficiaries to facilitate the Rohingya Mehmans (guests) in their localities. Rohingya children are being sheltered in the Madrasas in Burdwan, Uluberia, Malda, Murshibadad, Birbhum, South and North 24 Parganas very planfully.

WB CM Mamata Banerjee is very sympathetic for her Rohingya brothers and sisters coming to Bengal and she has expressed her stand point earlier as, all commoners not terrorists.

Under the patronage of TMC, Muslim organisations organised a huge rally in Kolkata in Sept, 2017 with a demand to stop genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Mayanmar and to make proper rehabilitation of Rohingyas in India. Interestingly, TMC sympathizer Mohammed Nuruddin of All Bengal Minority Students Federation, WB State Congress President Adhir Choudhury, CPIM leader Sujan Chakroborty and Furfura Sharif Peerzada Toha Siddiqui, all shared the rally to support Rohingya cause in India.

India shares a 4,096 km border with Bangladesh, only half of which is fenced. West Bengal, which shares a border of nearly 2,217 km, has been the most preferred route for illegal migration from Bangladesh, often through a network of touts and complicity of Border Security Forces.

The Ichamati river and its tributaries act as border between India and Bangladesh. Most Rohingyas crossed into India from North 24 Parganas, South Dinajpur and Cooch Behar districts. They also enter from international border crossings at Petrapole, Ghojadanga, Hakimpur, Tarali, Angrail and Haridaspur.

Now, Sarberia and Sandeshkhali in Sundarban delta (South and North 24 Pgs) has chosen by the Rohingyas as their preferable entry points for West Bengal crossing rivers and forests.

The Union government told Parliament on 9 August, 2017 that according to available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the UNHCR, were staying in India.

However, some inputs indicate that around 40,000 Rohingyas are staying in India illegally and the Rohingyas are largely located in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, West Bengal and Rajasthan. Then the Union Govt also admitted a 2 crores of illegal infiltrators in India from Bangladesh !

Now, if these 60,000 Rohingyas get a chance to enter India in anyway, It will be a great security and deplorable law and order issue in India.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARAS) will certainly take a chance to spread its network in all the Rohingya colonies/rehabilitation centers with the help of JMB (Jamaet-ul-Mujaheddin-Bangladesh) and Ansarulla Bangla Team (ABT).

Knowing all these fully well, TMC and its queen Mamata Banerjee are promoting Rohingya Muslim hubs in the state under the cover of minority welfare (Muslim appeasement), only to generate Jihadi dominance over Hindu activism in Bengal.

And most surprisingly, BSF under Union Home Ministry is not doing well. How these numbers of Rohingyas are hopping high through borders everyday ?

The desperate Rohingya rehabilitation policy of TMC and disgusting lip-service of BJP to deport Rohingyas from India are revealing as two sides of a coin.

In such a situation, the aggrieved public in India may attack Rohingya settlements in different parts in India to register their resentment on dangerous Rohingya realities.

West Bengal is now considered as the most prospective Jihadi Hub for Rohingyas in India. Rogingya aggression in India or West Bengal is not part of a Jihad in reality. Patriotic Hindus in all regions will burst against Rohingyas, today or tomorrow. The situation in waiting is most vulnerable.

Both the State Govts and the Union Govt must take this note seriously.

Source : Hindu Existence
Hayuliang/Kibithu : Indian security forces are bracing for a hot summer in the Himalayas along the Line of Actual Control with China this year. But unlike the Line of Control with Pakistan, where cross-border firing duels is the norm, it will be a battle of nerves in the shape of troop face-offs and transgressions without actual shots being fired on the China front.

The assessment by the Indian defence establishment is that at least half of the 23 disputed and sensitive areas identified on the 4,057-km LAC, stretching from eastern Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, are likely to witness renewed muscle-flexing by the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) with winter ebbing away now.

The two countries continue to maintain high operational alertness on their borders, with additional units deployed in forward areas, despite troop disengagement from the 73-day face-off at Doklam near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction last year.

With Chinese troops having now permanently occupied the Bhutanese territory of north Doklam by constructing bunkers, hutments, roads and helipads to sustain their troops in the area, the number of PLA transgressions across the LAC into what India perceives to be its territory has also shown a significant jump. If 273 transgressions (military euphemism for incursions) were recorded in 2016, the number touched 426 last year.

We are keeping a close watch on the Chinese activity. We are also conducting regular and special long-range patrols (LRPs) to the 18 mountain passes in the region to physically dominate the LAC, said a senior officer of 2 Infantry Mountain Division, responsible for maintaining the sanctity of the 386-km stretch of the LAC in the rugged terrain of Dibang, Dau-Delai and Lohit Valleys in Arunachal Pradesh.

Indian troops, of course, also conduct aggressive patrolling in all the three sectors of the LAC  western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal)  to strengthen claims to disputed territories. In fact, we patrol much more than the PLA, said an officer.

The rival troops often leave behind tell-tale signs in the shape of cigarette packets and cans or painted rocks to declare it their territory. If the rival troops come face-to-face, there are laid down steps like banner drills to defuse the situation. Issues on the LAC are resolved through established mechanisms like border personnel meetings, flag meetings and hotline calls, said another officer.

But the confrontations can get quite prolonged like they did during the Depsang and Chumar face-offs in eastern Ladakh in 2013-2014. The disputed areas in Ladakh range from Trig Heights, Demchok and Dumchele to Chumar, Spanggur Gap and Pangong Tso.

In Arunachal, the flashpoints are Namkha Chu, Sumdorong Chu, Asaphila, Dichu, Yangtse and Dibang Valley. In the Dibang Valley, the hotspots are the so-called Fish Tail-I and II areas, which take their name from the shape the LAC takes in the region. In the middle sector, in turn, the disputed areas include Barahoti, Kaurik and Shipki La.

Source : TOI
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has finally appointed one of his key aides, former union minister Jitendra Singh, to take charge of the partys affairs in the state of Odisha.

Singhs appointment comes at a time when the Congress in Odisha, ridden by factional fights, is on the brink of becoming an irrelevant political force in the state. Its local leaders have been routinely deserting the party and walking into the folds of either chief minister Naveen Patnaiks Biju Janata Dal or rival Bharatiya Janata Party. More so, after last years Panchayat elections that saw the BJP emerge as the main opposition to the BJD and the Congress slip to a distant third position.

Interestingly on Friday, that saw Jitender Singhs appointment, three local leaders, including a former union minister Chandrasekhar Sahu, announced their resignations from the Congress amid reports that they would be joining the ruling BJD. That fresh round of desertions, in fact, made bigger headlines in the local media than Singhs appointment.

Odisha goes to polls next year, concurrently with elections to the Lok Sabha. In 2014, the Congress had reported its worst ever performance in the state, winning none of its 21 Lok Sabha seats and bagging just 16 of the 147 assembly seats. Its vote share had slipped to 26% from 29% in 2009 and 35% in 2004. As things stand today, it is expected to do even worse in 2019.

Can Singh help reverse the slide? Can the former MP of Alwar, who has yet to get a grip over the complexities of Odishas polity and society, set things in order?

While the challenges Singh faces are undoubtedly many, there are opportunities as well.

The BJP might have edged past the Congress as the principal opposition in the state, but it is far from emerging as a credible alternative to the ruling BJD. It cannot sell its idea of development to voters in Odisha better than chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who excels in innovating with populist welfare measures. It cannot play politics of polarisation in Odisha where Muslims constitute just 2% of the states population. Also, its politics of cultural nationalism is anathema to the people of Odisha, who take far greater pride in their language and culture.

In contrast, the Congress is in a position to offer a more credible opposition narrative. Given that it is no longer in power at the Centre, it can also accommodate Odishas regional aspirations better than the BJP.

Read| Despite PM Modis popularity, Odisha still a long shot for the BJP

That said, the first and immediate task before Singh is to stop the ongoing exodus from the party, and he seems to be aware of this. Within hours of his appointment, Singh is believed to have contacted Sahu and his aide, Bikram Panda in a bid to persuade them to change their decision to leave the party. He might have been a bit late on this, but the message seems to have gone across. As one local leader of the party told this author that Singhs appointment has renewed hopes among its rank and file, but he doesnt have time on his side. He must move quickly to restructure the Pradesh Congress Committee with a new president, put in place a plan for the elections in 2019 and, alongside, build a roadmap to 2024.

Overcoming the leadership challenge

The current lacklusture Congress leadership in the state was to be changed a year ago, after the panchayat elections. Singh had led a team of central observers that visited Odisha last August to assess the partys affairs in the state and recommend changes. Till date, however, the search for a new, suitable leader remains inclusive.

Singh needs to break the impasse without losing time. An interim solution could be to pick one of the 15 MLAs who won in 2014 against the most adversarial conditions the Congress has ever faced in the state, or go by their choice for a new PCC president.

For a solution in the longer run, however, the party will have to work to create new leaders. In the past 18 years that it has been out of power in the state, the Congress stopped attracting new talent. Leaders coming out of student and youth politics mostly joined the ranks of the ruling BJD, drawn either by the lure of power or the image of a clean leader in Naveen Patnaik. But the BJD is now beginning to get too crowded for aspiring politicians. There is an opportunity for the Congress to cash in. If it doesnt, the BJP will. In fact, the latter is already at it.

To get aspiring politicians into its fold and groom them into future leaders, however, the Congress in Odisha will need a compelling political narrative.

Odisha is in a transition state. The rural (82%)-urban(18%) divide is fast breaking down. While the rural youth have urban aspirations, cities and towns in Odisha are saturating in terms of opportunities. It is probable that, by 2019, Odisha will need an entirely new political narrative, in which neither the BJP or the BJD as they currently stand might have much appeal

2019 will be critical

A section of the Congress believes that it is too late to fix things for 2019 and the party should instead focus on rebuilding its organization for 2024. That will be suicidal.

Even today, if the Congress gets its act together in the state, Odisha could be bracing for a three-cornered contest in 2019. The ruling BJD will gain the most in such a scenario, especially in tribal-dominated areas where the Congress used to be strong but the BJP has lately won considerable influence. A three-way fight also benefits Congress, especially in coastal areas where the BJP has yet to make major inroads.

But if the Congress persists with its complacency any more, the state will slip into a bipolar fight in 2019. It will then be all about BJD and BJP, and analysts would be writing the grand old party obituary in one more state that was once its stronghold.

rajesh.mahapatra@hindustantimes.com
A case of attempt to murder (under section 307 of IPC) has been registered against two policemen in Madhya Pradeshs Bhind for shooting at over 500 protesters who surrounded a police post and set some things on fire.

The protest was part of the Bharat Bandh strike against the alleged dilution of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Chambal IG, Santosh Singh said, The mob had surrounded the chowki and started setting things on fire. So the cops fired in self defence.

In Pics: Bharat Bandh against SC/ST Act dilution, 6 killed in violence:

One of the protesters died as a result of the firing in Machand police chowki falling under Raun police station, due to which the case against the policemen was converted to that of attempt to murder.

Havildar Ram Kumar Daure and constable Sultan Rathore are the two cops charged.

Meanwhile, a body was fished out of a well in Bhind on Tuesday morning, taking the total number of deaths in the violence in Bhind to four. The deceased has been identified as that of Dashart Daure, and it appears that he was beaten to death.

Read: Govt not diluting SC/ST Act, Rajnath Singh tells Oppn in Lok Sabha

Violence again erupted in Gohad town on Tuesday even though curfew is in place when right wing activists took out a procession which was followed by stone pelting.

RAF has been rushed to bring the situation under control. There was also a report of a petrol bomb being hurled in Ater area of Bhind town.
The death toll in the violence that broke out during Dalit protests in Madhya Pradesh on Monday rose to eight after the body of a man was found in Bhind on Tuesday, police said.

Inspector general of police (intelligence) Makrand Deouskar said the body, which was fished out of a well, has been identified as that of Dashart Daure. It appears that he was beaten to death, he added.

Four people were killed in Bhind, three in Gwalior and one in Morena and over 70, including four police officers, injured in the violence.

The violence in several districts of the state, which emerged as the epicentre, erupted when Dalit groups were enforcing a Bharat bandh on Monday to protest the Supreme Courts March 20 ruling on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Read | Supreme Court refuses to stay order on SC/ST Act, asks for replies within two days

The Dalits allege the courts ruling diluted the legislation meant to protect marginalised communities from abuse and discrimination.

There were no reports of major violence on Tuesday but Gwalior, Bhind and Morena continued to remain on the edge despite the curfew. There were clashes between police and protestors in Gohad town, some 50km from Bhind, and also in Ater area of Bhind. Personnel of the Rapid Action Force were deployed in Gohad.

Reports of clashes between protesters and police were also reported from Morena town on Tuesday morning.

Deouskar said the death of Rahul Pathak in Morena, a student leader, was due to personal enmity. He said only one person was killed in police firing in Bhind.

So far 29 cases have been registered in Gwalior, 12 in Morena and 10 in Bhind. Of those 50 plus injured, there are around half-a-dozen policemen including two additional SPs and two deputy SPs. The number of cases registered will increase, Deouskar said.

Two policemen were also booked for attempted murder under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code in Bhind for shooting at over 500 protesters, who surrounded a police post and set some things on fire.

Seven people killed in the violence have been cremated since Monday night under heavy police deployment.
Ajay Devgns birthday, like Ajay Devgns personality, is got to be different. The famously private star prefers to stay away from parties -- the de rigueur for a celeb birthday. Instead, after his own fashion, Ajay took off for Paris with wife Kajol and children Yug and Nysa to ring in his 49th birthday on Monday. The Raid star ensured his fans get a peep into his holiday/birthday and shared images with the family on his social media handles. It seems newly-wed couple Vatsal Seth and Ishita Dutta were also a part of this celebration.

Ajay shared pictures from his outing on Instagram. Fetes danniversaire a Paris,(Birthday parties in Paris) he wrote alongside the pictures.

Read: Baaghi box office collection day 4: Tiger Shroff film earns Rs 85.2 cr, here are all its records

Fetes d'anniversaire a Paris. A post shared by Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) on Apr 2, 2018 at 9:14am PDT

Ajay also posted another picture where his son Yug is seen in before and afterposes as he finds his way inside a candy store. Kajol also shared the same photo and wrote, Just watching them like this.

Talking about his son, Ajay had earlier said in an interview, I love spending time with Yug. Irrespective of whether Kajol is shooting or not shooting for a film, thats what I anyway do when I pack up for the day. Now that my daughter Nysa is in Singapore, most of my time is spent with him, and thats all I do.

Read: Raid: Ajay Devgn is obsessed with his kids, says Ileana DCruz

Ajays Raid co-star Ileana DCruz recently labelled him a massive family man and said, Hes a massive family man. Hes obsessed with his kids, which is very lovely. Hes really a positive person. When you are working with like-minded people then there are no pretences. So, its nice working with him.

The actor, who is riding high on the success of his latest social drama, Raid, will soon start working on Indra Kumars Total Dhamaal. After delivering one of the biggest hits of 2017, Golmaal Returns, Ajays Raid is also on its way to Rs 100 crore club.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Actor Rohit Saraf, who played the role of one of Rani Mukerjis students in recently released movie, Hichki, is not getting carried away by all the praise he is been getting. Though he admits that he is overwhelmed by all the compliments he has been receiving, he knew that the film would be received well.

Its wonderful and reassuring to see Hichki doing so well. When I got to know the subject and signed the film, I knew that we were working on an important and sensitive subject. I knew that we had a winner at hand. But as artists, we are always a little anxious about our work, thats just in our DNA, I guess. But the moment I saw the final product in our first screening, I knew wed hit the bulls eye. As for the compliments, Im overwhelmed with the notes and messages from well-wishers, he says.

His last film, Dear Zindagi (2016), where he played the role of Alia Bhatts brother, also earned him great reviews. The 20-year-old insists that luck has nothing to do with the success of his two films. I wouldnt like to give the entire credit to a single factor like luck. Id like to believe that I attract a certain kind of work which has substance because I work very hard towards it. So I guess its a little bit of everything. To me whats most important when Im signing a project is the character that Im going to portray and whether it gives the opportunity to show different facets of my craft, he says.

He adds, In the past, I have said no to work that I didnt believe in, even though it may have meant not having anything in hand for a couple of weeks or sometimes months. Its less about having the luxury (to be able to say a no to a film) and more about having the conviction (to say a yes).

Interact with the author on Twitter/@sammysamarth
If Bollywood has to depict Delhi, it mostly comes down to a few select shots -- a Metro zooming past, Gurgaons glitzy malls, Old Delhis crowded but picturesque gallis or the many shopping hubs in the Capital. In fact, a very few filmmakers have managed to look beyond these shots to the real, throbbing city. It seems with Sui Dhaaga, director Sharat Kataria is planning to do just that. Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma are in the city to shoot for the film and the pictures and videos from the sets have been doing the round online.

While Varun reportedly plays a tailor in the film, Anushka is a woman who earns her living from doing embroidery. In keeping with the milieu, we see the dusty Delhi shops in the new set of photos. In the latest pictures, Anushka is seen in an orange saree while Varun dons a black and white check shirt.

Earlier, the actors were spotted in central Delhi, Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk and Shankar Market areas. The filmmakers hired the shop and reconstructed the interiors, with new plywood, according to the scene. They also painted a few pillars outside the shop that were taken in the frame, a market local had told Hindustan Times.

Varun Dhawans character is named Mauji in the film. (AMAL KS/HINDUSTAN TIMES )

Talking about the film, Varun had earlier said, Sui Dhaaga is a pan India film and every Indian will relate to it. It has got lots of humour and music. Its a very tough film and physically, we had to do a lot o practice to train for our roles. In the end, both Anushka and I want to do a good film. I found a good partner in Anushka and we both have really relied on each other and we are having a good time shooting in Delhi.

Sui Dhaga tells the story of self-reliance of two central characters -- Varun and Anushka - who are based in a small town of India. The love story is slated to hit the screens on September 28.

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Indias sovereign bonds rallied after the RBI allowed lenders to spread out trading losses, a second policy decision in two weeks to revive a debt market that had sold off for seven months.

The Reserve Bank of India said late Monday that banks can account for their bond-trading losses, incurred in the past six months, over as long as four quarters. The move will help bring state-run lenders -- the biggest holders of debt -- back to the market, said Dhawal Dalal, chief investment officer for debt at Edelweiss Asset Management Ltd.

Government banks were staring at a potential mark-to-market loss of Rs 200 billion ($3 billion) in the March quarter, three times more than in the period to December, according to a Credit Suisse Group AG report last month. Hit by the erosion, lenders have remained on the sidelines, contributing to the deepest rout in two decades in the nations sovereign bonds.

The recent set of news are positive for the market and suggest that the authorities are getting proactive in their approach, said Vivek Rajpal, a rates strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Singapore. The rout was largely a supply-demand issue. This balance is getting resolved slowly and this should push yields lower with time.

The reprieve came days after the government surprised traders by reducing the fiscal first-half borrowing, a move that spurred the first monthly advance since July. With the reduction in debt supply, traders have been calling on the government to do more to spur demand.

Spike guard

The benchmark 10-year bond yield dropped as much as nine basis points, and was trading five basis points lower at 7.35% at 10.40 am in Mumbai. The rupee strengthened 0.2% to 65.0575 per dollar, halting a two-day drop, while bank stocks advanced.

There is a precedent for the central banks action. The RBI in 2013 allowed banks to spread their bond-trading losses as the benchmark yield surpassed 9% and the rupee fell to a record amid the taper tantrum selloff. This time, the authority has also asked lenders to set up a so-called Investment Fluctuation Reserve to guard against yield spikes in the future.

Three other factors are driving the shift in sentiment:

 Sovereign debt worth 700 billion rupees mature in April. The cash returned would be the most in a single month for the new fiscal year, according to central bank data

 The RBI may sound less hawkish at its policy review this week as it holds the key policy rate at 6%, according to all 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg

 The RBI is also mulling a higher quota for foreigners, which is currently capped at 5 percent of the total outstanding. Every single percentage point increase may lure as much as Rs 850 billion of inflow, according to DBS Bank Ltd

Yield on the 10-year bonds slid 33 basis points in March to end at 7.4%. Indian financial markets were closed Thursday, Friday and Monday.

Im not expecting the RBI to be as hawkish as they were in the previous policy meeting, said Harish Agarwal, a fixed-income trader at FirstRand in Mumbai. The rally has more legs.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has detected under-realisation of administrative charges worth Rs 6.17 crore from establishments at eight regional offices of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), according to a report.

The under-realisation was detected after test checking of records at the eight EPFO regional offices during January 2015 to March 2017 period.

Failure of eight regional offices of Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to verify dues remitted by the establishments with reference to the revised rate of administrative charges on Employees Deposit Link Insurance (EDLI) and Employees Provident Fund resulted in short realisation of Rs 6.17 crore during the period from January 2015 to March 2017, stated a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

According to the report, the EPFO had revised rate of administrative charges for EDLI and EPF schemes from January 1, 2015. These charges are deposited by the employers in the designated bank account of the EPFO.

The CAG said test check of records of 8 regional offices - Kolkata, Barrackpore, Durgapur, Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Jangipur, Park Street and Siliguri - revealed that the registered establishments were not paying administrative charges at the revised rates which resulted in short realisation of administrative charges of Rs 6.17 crore during January 2015 to March 2017.

It said seven regional offices excluding Jangipur stated that the short recovery could not be tracked due to lack of an in-built Default Tracking & Management Mechanism in the application software.
Facing allegations of wrongdoing in the loan extended to Videocon Group, ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar has pulled out of the annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), to be held later this week, where she was to be felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Kochhar was to be the Guest of Honour at the April 5 event, and flyers sent out last month mentioned her name prominently.

However, the revised ones sent out on Tuesday did not carry her name.

She was the guest of honour but she has backed out from the programme. So now she is no longer coming for the event, FLO Executive Director Rashmi Sarita told PTI. Sarita, however, did not say as to why Kochhar has pulled out.

Yes, she was to be (felicitated), she was also the guest of honour. She just pulled out from the programme, she added.

FLO is the women business wing of the industry association, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The CBI has launched a preliminary investigation into Rs 3,250 crore loan ICICI Bank had extended to Videocon in 2012 and the role of Kochhars husband -- Deepak Kochhar.

Reports have alleged that Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot invested Rs 64 crore in Nu Power Renewables, a firm owned by Deepak Kochhar after Videocon secured a loan from a consortium of banks, including ICICI.

ICICI, Indias third-largest lender, has denied any wrongdoing in the loan, saying it was part of a consortium of lenders that extended the facility to Videocon. It also backed Kochhar saying there is no question of any quid pro quo/nepotism/conflict of interest as is being alleged in various rumours.

| Read: Videocon loans: ICICI Bank chairman backs Chanda Kochhar, rules out quid pro quo

Asked about the reasons for Kochhar pulling out at the last moment, Sarita said she was not sure as Kochhars office called day before yesterday and said that she will not be able to grace the event. Thereafter, Kochhars name was removed from the list.

The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) and has questioned few ICICI bank officials in the loan issue.

Agency officials said they were also studying relevant documents of the transaction and the Kochhar couple can be summoned for questioning if any evidence of wrongdoing comes to light.

They said the statements of nodal officers of the ICICI Bank, who were part of processing the loan of about Rs3,250 crore, have been recorded as part of the PE registered six weeks back.

A PE is a precursor before the agency lodges an FIR to probe criminal charges on the basis of evidence collected during the former exercise.

President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest and deliver the keynote address at the 34th Annual session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) the women business wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on April 5, 2018, in New Delhi. Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO of ICICI Bank will be the guest of honour, a statement issued by FLO had said on March 31.

It had stated that FLO will honour 10 Indian Women Achievers with FLO ICON AWARDS including Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank for Banking & Finance; Aarti Vij, Chief of AIIMS Organ Retrieval and Banking Organization (ORBO) for Health & Wellness; Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms for Media Entrepreneurship and Twinkle Khanna, Entrepreneurs, Author, Film Producer, for Conscientious Cinema.
The government has asked the Punjab National Bank (PNB) and probe agencies to share details of the Rs 13,000 crore scam with chartered accountants apex body ICAI, which is looking into the systemic issues related to the fraud, an official said.

A high-level group constituted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is studying specifically the systemic issues involved in Punjab National Bank fraud and would also suggest remedial measures for strengthening the banking system.

The 10-member panel, which has met at least three times, is awaiting more information, ICAI president Naveen ND Gupta said on Tuesday.

He said the government has asked the bank, the CBI and Enforcement Directorate to share information about the scam with the institute.

A multi-agency probe is progressing into the more than Rs 13,000 crore scam at PNB, involving diamond merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. The fraud was mainly perpetrated through issuing of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) with the help of PNB officials.

The panel has made some preliminary conclusions based on available information, which indicates possible lapses at the lender, according to S B Zaware, who is the convenor of the committee.

In the wake of the fraud coming to light, Gupta said, the institute has also sent out notices to PNB auditors.

The objective of such study is two-fold -- one to suggest changes to strengthen the existing banking system and the other to guide the chartered accountants conducting audits to verify the systems in place accordingly, the institute had said last week.
Public sector banks (PSBs) wrote off Rs 2.41 lakh crore worth of loans between April 2014 and September 2017, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Writing-off non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans is a regular exercise conducted by banks to clean up their balance sheet, and achieving taxation efficiency, minister of state for finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply.

As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on global operations, public sector banks have written-off (including compromise) an amount of Rs 2,41,911 crore from financial year 2014-15 till September 2017, the minister said.

Writing off loans is done, inter-alia, for tax benefit and capital optimisation, he said.

Borrowers of such written off loans continue to be liable for repayment, he added.

Shukla said that recovery of dues takes place on ongoing basis under legal mechanism, including SARFAESI Act and debt recovery tribunals.

Therefore, write-offs does not benefit borrowers, he added.

The minister said RBI has apprised it that borrower-wise credit information is not available for disclosure.

The RBI Act provides that credit information submitted by a bank should be treated as confidential and not be published or otherwise disclosed.
Telecom infrastructure firm American Tower Corporation (ATC) on Tuesday announced that it has completed a mobile tower purchase deal worth Rs 3,800 crore with Vodafone India through its Indian arm, ATC Telecom Infrastructure.

This is a previously announced acquisition of Vodafone Indias telecom site business, which consists of approximately 10,200 communications sites, for a total cash consideration of about Rs 3,800 crore, ATC said in a statement.

We are pleased to acquire this portfolio, which will complement our existing footprint and help us serve our tenants in India as they expand 4G services in the coming years, ATCs EVP and president, Asia, Amit Sharma said.

Completion of this deal brings the approval of Idea and Vodafone merger closer. The closure of approximately Rs 4,000-crore mobile tower sale deal between ATC and Idea is now awaited.

According to government sources, the merger of Idea and Vodafone will be cleared after the closure of Ideas pending deal with ATC.

We expect regulatory processes to be completed by end of this month (for closure of deal with Idea). The Department of Telecom is driving it. We are hopeful of completing the deal by May, Sharma said.

The purchase of Vodafone mobile towers adds nearly 10,200 mobile network sites to the existing Indian portfolio.

The two deals are expected to generate approximately Rs 2,100 crore in property revenue and approximately Rs 800 crore in gross margin during their first full year in ATCs portfolio, as per the announcement earlier made by the company.
In a maiden initiative by the Uttarakhand government aimed to enhance farmers income, the state-owned Mandi Parishad (whole sale market) will directly buy farm produce like millets and food grains from them.

Farmers growing millets and food grains would not have to come to cities to sell their produce. The Mandi Parishad employees will now visit their (farmers) doorsteps to purchase the farm produce at minimum support price, agriculture minister Subodh Uniyal said.

This is the first of its kind initiative in the state, for which it (mandi parishad) has already been allocated a revolving fund of 10 crore.

Uniyal said the move would directly benefit the farmers as they would get adequate price for their farm produce.

The Mandi Parishad will purchase five types of millets and grains from farmers, he said referring to Chaulai (amaranth), Maduwa (Ragi), Jhingora (barnyard millet), Kuttu (buckwheat) and Koni (foxtail millet).

Uniyal said initially, the scheme had been launched in Almora and Chamoli.

In the next phase, it will be extended to other districts before all the districts will be covered under the scheme, he said.

Uniyal said the scheme was aimed to ensure that farmers get full benefits by selling their crops at minimum support price, which will soon be announced by the government. It will also motivate more and more farmers to produce millets and food grains.

The minister said apart from benefiting farmers, the scheme would also benefit thousands of school going children.

Some of these nutritious food grains are proposed to be a part of the midday meal scheme meant for schools, Uniyal said. As of now, they are provided rice and vegetables as part of a midday meal.
The Uttarakhand government plans to categorise private schools based on their infrastructure and educational facilities while regulating fees under a new law, said a senior school education department official, though the move draws flak from school authorities.

State school education minister Arvind Pandey has announced that a law will be brought in this year to regulate the fee structure at private schools. Sources familiar with the move said the BJP government was taking a cue from a draft bill  Fee Control and Disposal of Complaints Bill, 2015  formulated during the previous Congress government.

Under the Act, the fees charged by schools will be analysed against the facilities provided to students, the school education official said requesting anonymity.

According to the official, the parameters on which schools could be categorised include availability of space, whether the school land is on lease, owned or on rent, playgrounds for outdoor activities, furnished classrooms with interactive boards and learning equipment, basic amenities like separate washrooms for girls and boys, laboratories, auditoriums for extra-curricular activities, trained teachers and staff, counselling facilities for students, and grievance redressal for parents.

The schools that take care of the overall development with regard to interactive learning, outdoor games and even providing counselling will take fees accordingly. The categorisation plan is in discussion stage, he said.

Boarding and day residential schools will also come under the ambit of the Act, the official said. Some of the top boarding schools, which charge lakhs annully, are based in Dehradun and Mussoorie.

The government of India has an Act for high-end schools, mainly residential that are charging several lakhs from parents. But our Act would be more comprehensive covering the primary, secondary, day schools and residential, said Alok Shekhar Tiwari, director general (DG), school education.

Dehradun is a hub of school education with over 75% private schools affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE). About 250 private schools are based in the city and and over 4000 in the hill state.

We will do the best to bring in a transparent system for the benefit of parents as well as school administration, minister Pandey said.

Jennifer Kumar, president of ICSE schools in the capital, decried the categorisation plan. Why doesnt the government let us impart education in peace? she asked.

We have qualified teachers, renovate schools every six months, and hike staff salary at least every year. From where are we supposed to earn? There is only one income for private schools and thats fee. Categorisation based on infrastructure is not acceptable at all.

She said the minister should concentrate on improving education quality in government schools. If they really wish to check private schools, then the government should first clear dues of Rs 170 crore under RTE (right to education) admissions, Jennifer Kumar said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged a slew of irregularities in the financial administration of the national capital, prompting the Delhi government to say on Tuesday that a federal investigation will be sought in at least 50 instances of government resources being swindled.

Some of the important findings of the CAG, tabled by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the Assembly on Tuesday, included untracked funds amounting to Rs 7,270 crore and instances where ration shop owners cornered subsidised grains meant for the poor.

No one will be spared, said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, promising exemplary action. The government said it would send at least 50 cases pointed out by the CAG to the Union government for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

In addition to financial irregularities, the CAG also highlighted cases of administrative oversight and inaction that resulted in delayed projects and inefficient operations.

According to the report, the government till March 31 last year failed to collect 3,105 utilisation certificates for Rs 7,269.69 crore released in grants. Of the total amount, 64% (amounting to Rs 4,939 crore) was outstanding for two to 10 years.

The auditor found corruption in the governments public distribution system where it said that 792 ration shop licence-holders were enjoying subsidised foodgrains that could have otherwise been given to the poor. Delhis quota of ration card holders has been full and no new beneficiaries are being added.

Read: In the season of bank frauds, NDA govts anti-corruption crusade goes into overdrive

Kejriwal said his government was trying to control the ration mafia and blamed the Lieutenant Governor for stalling a scheme to start doorstep delivery of subsidised foodgrain. Last month, the L-G returned the file asking the government to re-work the scheme and consider cash transfer of subsidies.

The entire ration system is in the grip of mafia protected by political masters. Doorstep delivery would have destroyed this mafia, the CM said. The L-Gs office did not respond to requests for a comment.

Opposition leader Vijender Gupta criticised the government and said it was not serious about its budget estimates and expenditures.All excess expenditures made by the government are going unaccounted as the Kejriwal government has been unable to hold even a single meeting of the Public Accounts Committee, he said.

Read: Cant allow mockery of law: Jaitley after Cabinet clears bill to impound properties in Nirav Modi-type cases
The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised the Delhi administration, saying it had legalised unauthorised construction in the national Capital by bringing in a law to save such structures from demolition and were sending out a message that they would protect illegality.

A bench of justices MB Lokur and Deepak Gupta said by promulgating The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Act, the Centre has protected illegal commercial premises with eyes closed. You are making a law which is arbitrary and perpetuating illegality. You are protecting those who have committed the illegal acts and letting innocent persons suffer. Lives of 186 lakh persons have been held to ransom because you want to protect 15 lakh traders, the bench told additional solicitor general AS Nadkarni.

The law officer on behalf of the Centre justified the law and argued the proposed changes to Master Plan  2021, at present under stay by the court  was intended to clear the mess.

What mess? MPD has been changed to legalise whatever was illegal, the court shot back.

The court also refused to vacate its stay on the proposed changes to Delhis Master Plan 2021, which was tweaked to give relief to commercial establishments by increasing the floor area ratio and help them escape the court-monitored sealing drive launched last December. As many as 4,000 shops, restaurants, offices and other commercial set-ups have been sealed in popular markets such as Defence Colony, Amar Colony, Meharchand Market, Hauz Khas, Khan Market and Karol Bagh.

If you (DDA) are not quick enough to file an affidavit before us then even we are in no hurry to lift the stay, the bench told additional solicitor general Maninder Singh who on behalf of the land-owning agency requested the court to hear DDAs application to lift the stay.

On March 8, the top court had stopped the government from notifying the changes in the MPD-2021.The court was upset as the DDA had failed to respond to its query on whether it had undertaken a study to assess the environmental impact of the changes in the plan.

In December, the court revived the committee that had sealed thousands of such properties for alleged violation of municipal norms almost a decade ago.

The Supreme Court is now hearing a set of old petitions that were filed challenging the ordinance brought in after the court clamped down on rampant misuse of residential buildings for commercial activities in 2005. Brought in 2006, the ordinance later became a law in 2011 with a validity of three years. At present, illegal constructions between March 2002 and May 2014 are protected from demolition. Also, MPD-2021 also regularises several activities that were illegal in 2006.

Wasnt extending a temporary statute after every three years a fraud on the Constitution, the bench wondered. Nadkarni said from the courts observations it appeared that the Centre had suddenly become the villain and that cooperation from local authorities was required to stem the illegality. They (civic authorities) are cooperating. Who says they are not? Look at the level of corruption. Its for this reason that unauthorised construction has continued for the last 10 years and you (the Centre) are still in the process of making a plan to prevent destruction of the city. Where is the place to dump garbage, water-supply and electricity for the people? Rule of law has been left meaningless, the bench said. It will continue to hear the matter on Wednesday.
On Monday, Parliament was adjourned by noon after AIADMK MPs protested demanding the formation of a Cauvery Water Management Board. The protest, and a series of other stirs planned by parties in Tamil Nadu, shows how, despite the Supreme Court verdict on February 16, there has been little progress in settling the Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The apex court had asked the Centre to put in place a scheme within six weeks to ensure that both states got their respective share of the river water. That period ended on March 29 and not much progress has been made. On April 9, the court will hear the Tamil Nadu governments contempt petition against the Centre for not setting up the board.

The AIADMKs threat of a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government is the second instance in as many weeks of a regional party targeting the Centre  the TDP MPs quit the NDA on the grounds that the Centre failed to grant Andhra Pradesh special category status. The AIADMKs threat is unlikely to rock the government, which has the numbers on its side. It is a manifestation of the changing political scenario in Tamil Nadu and an attempt by the state government to gain the upper hand against its regional rivals. These rivals have been successful in highlighting the state governments failure to extract Tamil Nadu-friendly policies from the Union government. The failure of the AIADMK, which with 37 MPs is the third-largest party in the Lok Sabha, to wrest more concessions from the Centre for Tamil Nadu reflects the lack of a political leader in the AIADMK who can hold his own with the Centre.

The larger problem with the Cauvery issue, as indeed with many other issues concerning a state government and the Centre, is that both sides invariably politicise the issue. In this case the Centres delay in implementing the courts order is with an eye on the Karnataka election. Both governments need to move beyond political opportunism.
Twenty-five million people have applied for 90,000 blue collar jobs recently advertised by Indian Railways. This statistic captures the fundamental divide in the Indian economy. All talk of young Indians being engaged in the knowledge-based digital economy and creating potential unicorns is valid only for a minuscule minority. An overwhelming majority is desperately looking for government jobs, even if it involves daily drudgery.

The preference for government jobs has traditionally come from three reasons. Interestingly, two of these are rapidly becoming less relevant. One, the majority of jobs with secure incomes and social security are still in the public sector. The latest data (for 2011-12) from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy puts this figure at 60%. Two, the reservation policy gives a better chance of landing these jobs to almost half of Indias population, those belonging the scheduled castes and tribes and other backward classes. The public sector is not going to be generating enough jobs to meet Indias employment challenge. And in many states, cut-offs in reserved categories are already on a par with or even above the scores for unreserved seats. The third reason is still valid. A large number of public sector jobs do not require any special skill. A person just needs the minimum educational qualification to apply for these jobs.

The third reason is the biggest threat to Indias demographic dividend. Our education system, barring a few exceptions, has failed to impart the skills to Indias job-seekers to even compete for skill and better paying jobs in the private sector.

Indias political class has failed to realise the gravity of the problem. This governments political detractors accuse it of derailing employment growth due to its policies. The government says it is fostering entrepreneurship as a way to create jobs. It is disappointing that the fundamental challenge described above is not even being discussed. 2014 was no ordinary mandate in Indias political history. Does young India think not enough has been done with it? We will know a year from now.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided not to conduct a retest for the Class 10 mathematics exam after a random evaluation of answer sheets showed that the performance of students had not improved even though there was evidence of the question paper leaking on social media, senior government officials said on Tuesday.

Officials argued that a random analysis of answer sheets showed that the leak was limited and there was no need to put 1.4 million students through a retest because of a breach from which only a few may have benefited. The CBSE had earlier announced that if needed, the math exam would be held again sometime in July after reports of leaks had emerged in Delhi, Haryana and Jharkhand.

The Class 12 economics exam, however, will be conducted again on April 25 after investigations revealed that its question paper had surfaced on social media in at least two separate leaks.

We have analysed the impact of the (Class 10 math) answer sheets which clearly indicates that the performance this year despite the limited leak has gone down. This shows that there is no change in the outcome so we decided to take a decision in the overall interest of the 14 lakh students, not to go for a retest. In any case, implications of Class 10 exams in terms of future of the child are not as grave as in Class 12. Hence, it was not found advisable to put these many children to inconvenience for no fault of theirs, Anil Swarup, secretary (school education) in the HRD ministry, said on Tuesday.

A government official said on condition of anonymity that the findings had shown that the pass percentage in the Delhi region was 89.36 this year compared to last years 93.62.

In Panchkula, it was 84.77 this year compared to last years 99.18. In Patna region, which parts of Jharkhand fall under, the pass percentage was 73.55 compared to last years 98.93, he added. The analysis was based on a review of 1,000 answer sheets from the three regions to find a trend.

Though last year the board exam was not mandatory, more students opted for them instead of the school-based exam, making the comparison valid, officials said. Amid apprehension that there would be greater number of students scoring 90% and above due to the leak, it was found that this number has also come down.

For instance, in Delhi region 8.3% of students scored 90% and above, which in the evaluated copies this time is down to 7.9%. Similarly, in Patna region, which includes Jharkhand; it is down from 24.06% in 2017 to 7.5% in 2018. In Panchkula region i.e. Harayana, it is down from 19.14% to 18.54%

We will still carry out a detailed analysis and examine all the copies with last years result to see if there are centres which show unusual trends and action will definitely be taken against them, said a CBSE official. Action will be taken against students if there is evidence that they were direct beneficiaries of the leak.

The government has constituted a high-powered committee, comprising experts, under chairmanship of V S Oberoi, former (higher education secretary), MHRD. to examine the process of conduct of CBSE exams and suggest measures to make it secure and foolproof through the use of technology, Swarup tweeted. A report will be submitted by May 31.

The board said in a statement on Tuesday that it had not found sudden spikes or unusual patterns in random evaluation of Class 10 math answer sheets.

It added that the Class 10 exam is largely an internal segment of the school education system whereas the Class 12 exam is a gateway to higher education and professional exams which have limited seats. institutes of higher education are likely to have reservation against this batch of students regarding Economics results, not only in India but also in foreign institutions. Therefore giving undue advantage to a handful of beneficiaries of the alleged leak would not be in the larger academic interest of the students, the statement said.

The decision was welcomed by students. Aparajita Bahadur of Springdales School in Delhis Pusa Road, said, I am happy that CBSE has decided to not conduct the retest. It was putting undue pressure on us. First we had to go through preparing for the subject again and then wait till July to give the exam.
Weeks after announcing a new faculty reservation mechanism for universities, the Centre is preparing to file a special leave petition to undo the move that has sparked a controversy.

There is confusion on whether to treat a university or a department as one unit in the reservation roaster. An inter-ministerial committee was set up to discuss the matter. We took legal opinion and have decided to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, Union Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar said at an event.

Following an Allahabad High Court order  upheld by the Supreme Court  the University Grants Commission (UGC) had on March 5 announced a new mechanism for implementing faculty reservations, i.e. calculating total posts department wise rather than institution wise.

The move is likely to have serious implications as it is believed to cut down the number of posts available for SC and ST faculty members.

The UGC has said its new reservation formula was in response to a direction of the Allahabad High Court in April last year.

Hearing a case on hiring teachers at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), the high court had said each department, rather than the entire university, should be treated as a unit to form the basis for reservation.

The court had also struck down the UGCs institution-wise reservation policy to fill vacant faculty positions, saying there were departments without SC or ST teachers.

On the directions of the HRD ministry, a UGC-appointed committee had examined 10 court judgments on the subject and recommended that the Allahabad HC ruling be applied to all universities.
The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Delhis Miranda House are Indias best university and college this year, according to the countrywide government ranking of educational institutions on Tuesday.

Union human resources development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar released the India Rankings of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in New Delhi under nine categories  overall, universities, engineering, colleges, management, pharmacy, medical, architecture, and law this year.

Read more: IIM Ahmedabad retains top spot; heres the list of top 10 management institutes

The ministry prepares the list on the basis of teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practices, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity, and perception.

A number of Delhi colleges, which did not participate in the rankings in 2017, applied for the first time for inclusion in the list this year. There were 3,954 institutes in the fray this year or 745 more applicants than the previous year.

Read more: IISc Bangalore on top, heres the list of best 10 universities

Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore topped the overall rankings last year as well and also secured the top position in the best university category.

Overall RANKINGS 2018

Ranks 2018 Name of the Institution Ranks 2017 1 Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 1 2 IIT Madras 2 3 IIT Bombay 3 4 IIT Delhi 5 5 IIT Kharagpur 4 6 Jawaharlal Nehru University 6 7 IIT Kanpur 7 8 IIT Roorkee 9 9 Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 10 10 Anna University, Chennai 13

text for colleges that have moved down in ranking from previous year



text for colleges that have moved up in ranking from previous year

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras was declared the best engineering college and Delhi Universitys Miranda House also topped the college category in 2017 as well. Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad occupied the top position among management institutions last year.

Read more: Miranda House is the best, heres the list of top 10 colleges

The system of announcing rankings every year was introduced in 2016 by the HRD ministry and the framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across India.
Student researchers who plagiarise may lose their registration and teachers who do so could lose their jobs with the University Grants Commission (UGC) approving a draft regulation on plagiarism which will be notified after approval by the Human Resource Development Ministry.

The UGC has approved the UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Education Institutions) regulations 2018 in its meeting held on March 20. Hindustan Times has seen the minutes of the meeting.

The law prescribes graded punishment for plagiarism.

The draft rules for students states that in non-core areas, plagiarism of up to 10% would not invite any penalty while that of between 10% and 40% would mean the students will have to submit a revised research paper within six months.

In case the similarities are between 40% and 60%, students will be debarred from submitting a revised paper for one year. A students registration for a programme will be cancelled if the similarities are above 60%.

Teachers whose academic and research papers have similarities ranging from 10% to 40% with other papers will be asked to withdraw the manuscript. In case the similarities are between 40% and 60%, they will not be allowed to supervise new Masters/MPhil/PhD students for two years and will also l be denied the right to one annual increment.

In case of repeat plagiarism of over 60% similarity, the faculty members will be suspended, even dismissed.

I am all for checking plagiarism which is indeed a problem in India within academia. We have very lax standards on this count and that is what seems to have prompted government to propose such a law. It would have been better if universities had strong internal mechanisms as in so many other countries, said Dinesh Singh, former vice-chancellor of Delhi University.

India has been witness to several plagiarism charges against central university vice-chancellors and teachers in the past few years. Pondicherry University V-C Chandra Krishnamurthy quit in 2016 after a prolonged stand-off with the HRD ministry, following allegations that she plagiarized large parts of a book mentioned in her resume. The most celebrated case is that of BS Rajput, the VC of Kuamon University, who was a serial plagiarist; eventually, seven Stanford University professors wrote to then President APJ Abdul Kalam about him.

According to UGC, all higher educational institutions will have to develop a policy on plagiarism and get it approved by relevant statutory bodies and display it on their websites. In September last year, UGC formed a committee and sought public feedback on a proposed plagiarism policy.
The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday approved an ordinance to regulate the fees being charged by private schools, including minority institutions, affiliated to CBSE, ICSE and the UP Board of Secondary Education.

The cabinet led by chief minister Yogi Adityanath also decided to prorogue the two houses of the state assembly following end of the budget session. The provisions of the proposed Uttar Pradesh Swavitt Poshit Swatantra Vidyalaya (regulation of fees) Ordinance 2018 would affect all private schools that have enrolled students in Classes 1 to 12 and charge more than Rs 20,000 per annum as fees. Pre-schools are outside the ambit of the ordinance.

A regulatory committee headed by a divisional commissioner with representatives of parents and school managements will be constituted with its members having two-year tenure. The schools would be penalized for violation of rules. A fine of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh will be levied on schools for their first and second violations while a third strike will lead to derecognition.

Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma told reporters the decision was a revolutionary step to provide relief to students. He said the proposed law would be implemented from the 2018-2019 academic session. The proposed law was formulated in accordance with the orders of Supreme Court of India on the issue, he added.

Under the ordinance, schools will have to adopt a transparent system for charging fees, including registration, admission and examination. As there were complaints of schools charging exorbitant fees in the name of transportation, hostel, mess, educational tours etc. without providing facilities to the students, the proposed law makes payment of these fees optional.

Sharma said schools would not be allowed to increase the fees or change the uniform for five years and the fees charged by private schools in 2015-2016 would form the basis for implementing the regulations.

Sharma said a hike of not more than 7 to 8 percent may be allowed by the divisional regulatory committee based on the consumer price index and increase in salaries of staff and teachers etc. He said the schools will have to display on their website the fees to be charged from students 60 days before commencement of the academic session. He said schools would not be allowed to charge the fees for the full academic year in one go and have to take payments on a quarterly basis.
There was a time when casual clothing was relegated to a single day of the work weekFridayand suits dominated the rest. Todays millennials have given rise to the laid-back swagger of streetwear paired with the workout clothes-as-everyday attire trend of athleisure, which means youre as likely to see gym shorts at the office as the gym. Meanwhile startup culture has turned the hoodie into the new formal wear.

Which raises the questions: Who needs a suit?

Much hand-wringing has been done over the death of your tried-and-true tailored two-piece, but dont prepare the eulogy quite yet. Just look to the spring collection of British designer Paul Smith, which was filled with traditional suiting in colours ranging from saturated and rich to vibrant to squint-inducing. There was royal violet, traffic-cone orange, and neon yellowoften layered over exuberant floral printed shirts for added oomph.

A post shared by Prada (@prada) on Mar 18, 2018 at 1:09pm PDT

Smith knows hes going against the current current. Im very aware people are dressing in an increasingly casual way, and the influence of sportswear is finding its way onto the catwalk and into fashion, Smith said. But tailoring really is at the heart of Paul Smith. He slyly added: I wear a suit every single day.

Smith said that his spring collectionnow trickling into storeswas meant to convey a sense of escapism and optimism, serving as a respite from all the madness going on in the world at the moment. The core of the collection is a two-piece suit in the relaxed silhouettes that are currently favored. For most days and most purposes, a more classic navy suit is probably most suitable, but for the right occasion, a more adventurous option might be worth considering, the designer says.

A post shared by Gucci (@gucci) on Mar 22, 2018 at 10:22am PDT

In addition to Paul Smith, such brands as Prada, Gucci, Tom Ford, Calvin Klein, and Boglioli (to mention just a few) showed suits in a rainbows array of colours, from eggplant purple to electric blue to baby pink (!). GQ magazine has given its approval to rapper Tyler the Creator wearing a green suit and David Beckham stepping out in a chocolate-brown two-piece. In an interesting twist, the skate and streetwear brand Supreme, which may traffic in hoodies and tees but is valued at $1 billion, recently debuted its first suit. In addition to coming in somber black, it will also come in Pepto Bismol pink and emerald green. Expect to see it on the backs of cool kids later this year.

Most telling, of course, is that retailers are also on board, hoping to inject excitement into their suiting business. What was interesting to see was how the suit was evolving: We saw roomier tailoring at Lemaire and Marni, whilst names better known for a sportier, youthful aestheticsuch as GmbH and Martine Roseshowed oversized, boxy blazers, which felt modern, says Damien Paul, head of menswear at the British retailer Matches Fashion. All this adds to the re-emergence of the suit as a fashion item, rather than office attire.

A post shared by TOM FORD (@tomford) on Feb 12, 2018 at 2:19pm PST

Should you have a closet stuffed with navy, grey, and black suits, perhaps its time to start inching yourself out of your sartorial box and into uncharted waters. Its not nearly as scary or difficult as it may seem.

To be honest, it really comes down to how the guy is going to wear it, explains Paul. Does he work in a creative industry but needs something for client meetings? Or does he want something lighter in stone or khaki for a summer wedding? If the thought of a suit outside of grey or navy sounds scary, then Id suggest a neutral palette: Beige, khaki, olive, and even a bolder royal blue can all work for most men. Id also suggest keeping to a neat silhouette.

Summer happens to be the ideal time to try this trend out, which is why the market is flooded with great options now. I think the most unusual thing a man can do currently is wear a suit off-duty, which makes it a brilliantly relevant item to subvert, Paul continues. We are experiencing a re-ignited interest in the fashion suit, whether that be slim or oversized. Styling tailoring with a hoodie or jeans is the perfect bridge.

A post shared by Gucci (@gucci) on Mar 22, 2018 at 6:40am PDT

When all is said and done, the colourful suit might just be the item that helps bring together the world of laid-back sportswear and more formal fashion gestures. After all, Smith has built a storied career on it, one that got him knighted. In my opinion, style isnt about dressing in a particular way. Its about a state of mind and having confidence in the way you look. Im a very down-to-earth and optimistic person, and so bright colour and vivid print has always been central to the clothes I design, he says.

I know that most people gravitate towards the more classic colours and less statement-making prints, but its important that colour and print are part of the collection, as some people choose to express themselves with brightly coloured or printed clothes.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
Mads Mikkelsen is Hollywoods go-to villain. He has played the lead antagonist in films such as Casino Royale (2006) and Valhalla Rising (2009). And as Hannibal Lecter was revived on the small screen, fans of the character were treated to a perfect portrayal by Mikkelsen. His popularity burgeoned with his portrayal of villains in Marvel and James Bond franchises. The actor who started out as a dancer discovered his love for drama and in time has risen among ranks to become one of the most popular Danish faces in the world of cinema today. Over a phone call the actor talked about his journey in the industry so far.

You started out as a dancer, how did you find your passion for acting? Who were the actors that you looked up to growing up?

I found a passion for drama through dancing. I became a dancer by coincidence, did it for nine years, then I fell in love with drama when I started tilting towards the dramatic side of dancing. My parents were not artistes, but we used to watch a lot of films. My father used to record radio theatre and we used to listen to that over and over again. Growing up, my biggest idols were Bruce Lee and Buster Keaton. It was very interesting to watch both of them on screen. There were a lot of actors whom I started looking up to when I started acting and started gaining knowledge about the art but those two were my first two heroes.

The roles you play are as diverse as they get, a Bond villain to a cannibal to a kindergarten teacher. How do you choose your roles?

The stories are a vital key here. If I find the story interesting then I will look at my part, if I find the part interesting, then I will look at the director, if I can get along with her or him and I can sense their vision that is a key signal for me to jump on a project. I grew up in a fantasy world reading a lot of comic books. I also love real drama, but as an actor I am the type who wants to explore different things. I do not like to limit myself; I fall in love with a lot.

Does that mean we will see you in a Bollywood film soon?

I am just waiting for an invitation. Right now I have a moustache, I know that a lot of actors have moustaches in Bollywood films. So I guess I will be ready in a couple of weeks. I remember watching Indian films as a kid. Growing up I had an Indian friend named Adnan, and he was always watching Indian films, so I remember that vividly.

Mads Mikkelsen remembers watching Indian films as a kid because of his friend Adnan. (HT photo)

Have you been to India?

Yes I have been in Mumbai, I was in the city for a few weeks. We were shooting a Danish film there. I was working very hard; we were shooting at a slum area and at an orphanage. I am very familiar with Indian culture so it was interesting for me to be there and work there but I would have loved to have a little bit of time in my own hand to explore the city.

Your popular show completes five years. How do you look back at the journey?

I look back at Hannibal (which airs on AXN) with a great deal of pride. We did something that we are really proud of. Something that was really special and unique for the world of television. We got our way with a lot of things graphically and story-wise. They had four or five people in their mind and I was one of the people who auditioned for the role. I tried to play the part as a quiet and subtle person. The directors were divided whether to make the nature of the character subtle or evil, I convinced them that subtlety was what was needed.

Mads Mikkelsen was in India to shoot the film After the Wedding (2006), which was nominated for the Best Foreign Film award at the Oscars. (HT photo)

You have been part of the video game, Death Stranding. How was it like working on a video game?

I am still part of it, the director is a very specific man and he wants to get everything tight and it is a long process, it takes its time. It is very exciting and interesting and obviously I cant wait for my kids to see it. I am making new relationships as this journey progresses. It is fascinating to see what you can do with these animation technologies. I used to play a lot of video games as a kid, so it was really exciting for me.

You have been part of German, Danish and French films, how different is it working there compared to Hollywood?

All cultures are different, whenever you are doing a film in a different country you have to first explore it, every country is different. Having said that something that unites everyone is making films, there is not much difference when it comes to film-making, you might approach it in a different way, but you still want to do the same thing that is to tell a good story and make it as believable as possible.
Hyderabad police questioned for the second day on Tuesday a Facebook page administrator, J Prashant, who had posted alleged illegal land dealings of several ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders in Telangana, though no case has been filed against him.

Prashant, who is from Vemulaghat village in Siddipet district, was taken into custody in his office in Hyderabads upmarket Banjara Hills neighbourhood on Monday for allegations on his Facebook page titled Sprit of Telangana. He has allegedly criticised the TRS government and questioned its policies.

Prashant defended his posts, saying there was nothing legally objectionable. If at all there is some issue, the cybercrimes wing or the IT cell of city police should deal with it, he said.

I told them (investigators) that I have not committed any crime and whatever I posted, I did it with evidence, Prashant said.

He was let off on Monday after several hours of questioning and called again the day after. He didnt reveal what questions were asked.

We called him for questioning based on a complaint that he had posted some derogatory comments against chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said Radhakrishna Rao, deputy commissioner of police (Task Force).

Followers of the Facebook page alleged that whistle-blower Prashant was harassed for exposing a land scam involving a ministers aides in Suryapet district.

According to the Congress spokesman for Telangana, Dasoju Sravan, the TRS leaders and the chief minister could file a defamation case against Prashant if he had made derogatory and baseless allegations. In what way, Task Force police are connected to this case? he asked.

Spirit of Telangana was established by a non-resident Indian based in the US and Prashant is said to be its administrator in Hyderabad.

He is just an employee. He is one of the affected people of the proposed Mallannasagar project and has been opposing it. Hence, he is being harassed, Sravan said.

The Mallannasagar reservoir to divert water from the Godavari to the states drought-hit regions will submerge 14 villages in Siddipet district, including Prashants Vemulaghat, where protests against the project are concentrated now.

The state government recently sought to declare crimes under sections 506 and 507 of the Indian Penal Code as cognisable offences and arrest offenders without court permission.

Section 507 deals with criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication such as social media. The punishment under both sections is imprisonment for two to seven years, with or without a fine.

The government withdrew the decision, though, after opposition parties challenged it in court.
The Assam Rifles on Monday apprehended Rs 16 crore worth banned drugs called World is Yours (WY) from a person travelling on a bus in Manipurs Tengnoupal district.

The vehicle was checked at Khudengthabi check post, along Imphal-Moreh road, around 4.30 pm by the 12 Assam Rifles.

On thorough checking of the bus, WY Tablets were found in a modified concealed compartment of the bus, said Assam Rifles (south) PRO in the release, adding that it was the largest recovery of drug consignment so far.

The recovered drug along with apprehended individual has been handed over to Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Imphal.

A source claimed that the market value of the recovered WY tablets, which weighs around 38.52 kg and numbering approximately around 3,20,000 in 1600 packets, would be approximately Rs 16 crore.

Commonly known as WY or World is Yours, these are methamphetamine tablets, which also contain caffeine. These tablets, which can be smoked, snorted, ingested or injected, are more harmful than amphetamine to the cardio vascular and central nervous systems.

Myanmar is the largest producer of these tablets, which is brought to India through Manipurs borders.

Since 2017, the 12 Assam Rifles has recovered contraband items worth approximately around Rs 70 crore.

Officials of DRI could not be contacted immediately for further details.

On March 13, 2018, 12 Assam Rifles personnel had apprehended an alleged drug peddler with brown sugar and WY (World is Yours) tablets worth over Rs 11 crore while checking a Tata Sumo at a check post at Tengnoupal.
Mondays Bharat Bandh to protest against what Dalit groups saw as the dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by a March 20 Supreme Court decision elicited an unusual political response.

No side across the political spectrum criticised the issue underpinning the bandh. The Opposition backed the protests. The government reiterated its commitment to addressing the issue that was being flagged by the protestors and pointed out it had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court.

Why did no political actor want to come across as opposing the protest? The explanation lies in both political arithmetic and the sociology of the Dalit issue.

The arithmetic

Dalits are important for a simple reason  their demographic strength, across geographies, makes them a politically formidable constituency. They are present in large numbers in precisely the states which contributed to the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) historic performance in 2014. These states remain central to the BJPs fortunes in 2019 once again.

In Uttar Pradesh, Dalits constitute around 22% of the population; 17 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state are reserved for SCs. In 2017, the BJP was able to capitalise on the contradictions within Dalits. In 2019, they are worried that a stronger Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)  in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP)  could not only retain its core Dalit vote of Jatavs but also win over other Dalit subcastes.

In Bihar, Dalits constitute 17% of the population; six out of 40 LS seats are reserved. Here, Lalu Prasads RJD is making a strong push for the Dalit vote.

In Maharashtra, Dalits constitute 10.5% of the population according to the 2011 census; five of the 48 seats from the state are reserved. Coming in the wake of Bhima Koregaon clash, the BJP-led government would be keen to prevent further Dalit alienation.

In two poll-bound states, Dalits are a swing force. In Rajasthan, they are 17% of the population; four out of 25 LS seats and 33 of the 200 assembly seats are reserved for SCs. In Madhya Pradesh, which saw six deaths on Monday, Dalits are over 15% of the population. Four out of 29 LS seats are reserved; 35 out of 230 assembly seats are reserved. The Congress hopes to garner a substantial section of Dalit votes in both states.

But it is not just in reserved seats that Dalits are important. Spread across each constituency, they are an influential swing force in every electoral battle. They cant win you a poll on their own -- but any party which has Dalit votes along with one or two other social groups is a winner.

Read| Govt in damage control mode after 9 killed in Dalit protests, says committed to well being of SCs, STs

The sociology

In the early decades after independence, dominant upper castes could dictate Dalit electoral choices. This changed with the rise of autonomous Dalit forces, particularly the BSP.

Now, there are organised caste and subcaste associations of Dalits (like of other caste groups). Young Dalits are as active on social media outlets as any other demographic group. There is a Dalit middle class which has emerged out of the policy of affirmative action. Dalit entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the market and a more liberal economic order. Even Dalits in rural areas are far more connected today to the world outside. With TV and mobile penetration, and fluid migration patterns, Dalits have a sense of the larger political churn, and strong opinions.

The battle

It is this combination of numbers, political strength, growing awareness, ability to access new technological tools and connectivity with the wider world and each other that has enabled Dalits to organise protests like the one on Monday.

It is also precisely this combination which makes Dalits such a coveted political constituency -- and a constituency that is now not hostage to any grouping. They assert themselves on issues like atrocities, representation, reservations, jobs or violence by upper castes. They negotiate hard with parties. And they will as a strong pressure group when necessary.

On Monday, this Dalit constituency asserted itself. The political responses  the BJPs attempts to reach out and Oppositions explicit support were to win over this constituency.

Read| Bharat Bandh: What happened where during Dalit protests
Nine people were killed in clashes on Monday as Dalit groups  angered over an alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act  carried out protests across several northern states, even as the Centre moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its recent judgment in the matter.

Clashes with the police, attacks on buses and government property, and blockades of trains and roads were reported across states including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bihar.

Read: Bharat Bandh: What happened where during Dalit protests

The Bharat Bandh showed that there is severe resentment among the Dalits over several issues. Heres a statistical look at what ails the community:

1) Objective look

The conviction rate has come down at a time when the share of false cases under this category has gone down. So, there could be objective basis for a perception that the state is not doing enough to ensure justice in such cases.

2) Social discrimination

Atrocities against Dalits are not isolated events. Caste-based discrimination is ingrained in Indian society. A 2016 survey conducted in Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai shows that a disconcertingly large proportion of non-Dalit people (or their families) admitted to practising untouchability, which is explicitly forbidden by law.

3) Insecurity among educated youth

That the socio-economic condition of Dalits has improved over time is true. But this advance has also created aspirations and hence insecurities. Statistics from a 2016 CSDS-Lokniti survey among 15-34 year olds shows the feeling of being discriminated on the basis of caste was bigger among graduate Dalits than in the community as a whole.

A cocktail of growing feelings of denial of justice, persistence of caste-based oppression and heightened sense of discrimination among educated Dalits, rather than conspiracy theories can help understand what led to these protests.
The Supreme Court decision alleging rampant misuse of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as an instrument to blackmail or wreak personal vengeance has immensely hurt the feeling of Dalits, who are subject to what the Supreme Court once described as rarest of the rare violence. The court also allowed anticipatory bail for the accused in certain cases, mandated prior sanction by a superior officer before the arrest of an accused, and brought in a provision for a preliminary inquiry.

Dalits are not hurt as much by the decision, as by the allegation of misuse. This is what provoked massive protests by them all over the country on Monday. It is important to take into account facts related to the theory of misuse and the economic and demographic context of the atrocities. Are Dalits in rural areas, where most of the atrocities happen, economically and demographically in a position to file false complaints and take on the mighty high castes? Dr BR Ambedkar, back in 1947, summarily rejected the theory that the law could be misused . He argued that in terms of economic strength, Dalits depend for their livelihood on the land-owning high castes that are demographically in majority. Poor economic strength and fewer numbers did not allow Dalits to do anything that would antagonise the high castes. Evidence shows that efforts by Dalits have been crushed by the higher castes through social and economic boycott. So how can Dalits misuse the act?

Even under the current provisions of the act, the average number of cases every year between 2013 and 2016 came to around 40,000. Between 2010 and 2016, of the cases in which trial was completed, a big majority ended in acquittals. If conviction rates are taken as a proportion of the total cases that came up for trial in each year, the figures were even more dismal. For instance, in 2016, only 1.4% of all crimes against scheduled castes that came up for trial ended in convictions; for scheduled tribes , the percentage was 0.8%.

Why is the conviction rate so low? The standing committee of the ministry of social justice and empowerment, which toured the country during the amendment of the act in 2015 attributed the low conviction rate to wilful negligence by officials. A close scrutiny of cases revealed that the main reason for the low conviction rate was the bias of the officials involved in the investigation who left loopholes to help the people from their social backgrounds. This eventually led to the high acquittal rate.The loopholes included delays in the filing of the FIR,not conducting inquiries on the spot ,the appointment of officers below the required ranks, avoiding registration of the cases under proper provisions of the Act , among others.It is because of these reasons that the original 1989 act was made more stringent in 2015.

Therefore what the decision of the Supreme Court may do is give more time and freedom to make cases weak. The government should contest the decision in the Supreme Court.

(Thorat is Professor Emeritus, JNU)
The Congress, the largest Opposition party, has collected signatures of its Rajya Sabha MPs to back a proposal to remove Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra but is waiting for a broader consensus within Opposition ranks on the issue, three party leaders familiar with the development said on Monday.

So, far, the Opposition camp has been able to collect around 65 signatures15 more than the minimum requirement to move a proposal to impeach the CJI in the House  and parties such as the Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have agreed to back the move.

Read: Karnataka elections: Rahul Gandhi to kickstart 5th leg of campaign today

Last week, we gave our signatures on two sets of blank papers. The first set was for the motion of removal of CJI and the second set was for a petition on the dilution of the SC/ST act, said a senior Congress MP from South India, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Congress official stance is that discussions are ongoing.

A second Congress leader, who is playing a key role in mobilizing opposition leaders to support the move, said on condition of anonymity that More than 50 Congress MPs have signed but the Congress president (Rahul Gandhi) wants a larger Opposition consensus on the issue.

Three prominent regional parties, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Biju Janata Dal have so far maintained their distance from this initiative, though.

Read: Opposition moves to remove Chief Justice: How and when can a judge be removed

Efforts are on to bring more parties on board, said a Congress strategist, explaining why the notice hasnt been submitted to the Chairman Venkaiah Naidu till Monday.

BJD has steadfastly refused to join the bandwagon against Misra, an Odiya who is also related to a senior party leader. The Trinamool Congress has not made up its mind on the proposal which was first mooted by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. The TMC and the CPI (M) are arch rivals. We havent taken a decision yet, said Trinamool leader Derek OBrien.

A senior DMK functionary said that the top leadership from Chennai has not approved the partys participation. Chennai has to clear such proposals and we havent heard from them so far, he said, asking not to be identified.

Within the Congress quarters too, Hindustan Times learns, there was initial doubt about the merits of the move. One of the top legal brains of the party argued that Congress should not back a CPI (M) proposal and added that unlike the case of Kolkata High Court judge Soumitra Sen (who was impeached by the Rajya Sabha and resigned before the Lok Sabha could do the same), a significant consensus across party lines might not happen in the case of the CJI. The party leadership, however, finally decided to back the proposal.

Read: Congress councillor Devinder Singh Babla gets 1.5-year jail term in cheating case

Majeed Memon, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP said last Wednesday : Several Opposition MPs, including me, have signed the petition to remove the Chief Justice.

Last week, senior advocate and leader of Swraj Abhiyan Party Prashant Bhushan met West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. A Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader confirmed that the meeting was focused exclusively on the possible motion against Misra. Bhushan was not immediately available for comment.

A senior Congress leader pointed out that the list of signs may have to be modified as some members are retiring on Tuesday and their signatures have to be removed from the list.
The BJP and the Centre on Tuesday reached out to Dalits in the aftermath of their violent protests asserting that at every juncture they stand shoulder to shoulder with the community and accused the Congress of fuelling tension in the society with an eye on elections.

The remarks by BJP president Amit Shah and Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Thavarchand Gehlot expressing their commitment to protect the interests of the Dalit and the tribal community came even as Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not uttering a word on dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Dalit protests against the softening of the provisions of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court erupted in large-scale violence in different parts of the country on Monday leaving nine dead, many injured and property worth crores destroyed. Several Dalit organisations had given a call for Bharat Bandh.

In a series of tweets, Shah said a microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties made the people suffer and sought their apology to Dalit sisters and brothers.

He also blamed vested interest groups for spreading the panic on the issue of reservation for Dalits, saying it is done before every election and asserted that the government will do everything to protect their rights.

Right from the day the apex court gave its judgment on the SC/ST atrocities act, the central government acted in an immediate and informed manner and has filed an effective review petition to protect the Dalits rights, Shah said.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Modi had met MPs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and had assured them that the government was doing everything to protect the rights and wellbeing of our Dalit sisters and brothers.

Due to the politically driven manifestations of a microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties, crores of innocent people suffered. These parties owe our Dalit sisters and brothers an apology for their misdeeds, he said.

Shah, whose party has often accused the opposition of fuelling unfounded campaign against it before elections, said the script had now become old and that vested interest groups started spreading panic about reservations before polls.

The BJP is locked in a keen fight with the Congress in the Karnataka assembly elections, scheduled for May 12.

The BJPs stand is clear, which I am once again stating - we fully believe in the Constitution given by Babasaheb and the rights it has given to the SC/ST communities. At every juncture and in all possible ways, the BJP stands shoulder to shoulder with the Dalit community, he said.

Gahlot claimed that history suggests it is the Congress which is anti-Dalit and treated them like a vote bank. You are trying to make political benefit by fuelling tensions in society but it is not good. You are doing so with an eye on elections.

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour amid ruckus in the House, Home Minister Rajnath Singh made it clear it was not responsible for the dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and asserted it was fully committed to protect the interests of the backward communities. He also appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony.

I wish to inform the House that the Government of India was not party in that case. Through the House, I want to assure the people that there has been no dilution whatsoever by my government, rather after coming to power and examining the SC/ST prevention Atrocities Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it, he said.

Singh said there have been widespread rumours on the issue of reservation which were false and baseless and the government was fully committed to protect the interests of the SC/ST communities.

I wish to assure you that our government is fully committed to the welfare of SCs and STs. Our government is fully committed to protect the interest of the SC/ST community, he added.

Rahul Gandhi hit out at Modi while addressing a public meeting in Shivamogga on the fifth leg of his tour of poll-bound Karnataka.

Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the prime minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word, he said.
Non-Dalit groups targeted Dalit slums in an apparent retaliation on Tuesday, a day after protesters went on the rampage in Hindaun town of Karauli district in eastern Rajasthan during a Bharat Bandh called against an alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Suspected non-Dalit groups spread out into the town and ransacked the houses of local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rajkumari and former Congress MLA Bharosi Lal Jatav. The agitators set their houses on fire, forcing the administration to impose curfew on Tuesday afternoon, Karauli district collector Abhimanyu Kumar said. Both houses were empty when they were set ablaze.

Despite prohibitory orders, a large number of people under the banner of a traders union, took out a march, ostensibly to submit a memorandum to the district administration to demand action against people who vandalized shops on Monday. However, the march turned unruly and began to force its way into Dalit slums in the town, prompting a police crackdown.

Police resorted to a lathi-charge to prevent them from attacking Dalits. Tear gas shells were also lobbed, said Karauli additional superintendent of police Rajesh Yadav.

The march was a violation of prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code clamped on Monday evening, said Bharatpur inspector general of police Alok Vashishtha, who rushed to Hindaun with additional forces.

Vashishtha, who was camping in Gangapur City of Sawai Madhopur since Monday night, said around noon the agitators ransacked the house of former Congress MLA Bharosi Lal Jatav and later set it on fire. Later, the agitators also vandalized the house of local BJP MLA Rajkumari Jatav.

The agitators pelted stones at the police and we had to lob tear gas shells to control them. They burnt tyres in different parts of the town and tried to disturb the situation that had come under control after Mondays violence, the IG added.

Police said 35 people were arrested on Tuesday on charges of rioting and the breach of peace. Earlier on Monday, 46 people were arrested in Hindaun on the same charges.

Bharatpur divisional commissioner Subir Kumar extended the ban on internet services until Tuesday 8pm in Bharatpur, Sawai Madhopur and Karauli districts. Internet services were initially suspended from 2 pm to 8 pm on Monday.

The Bharatpur divisional commissioner and IG, and Karauli district collector and superintendent of police are camping in Hindaun to monitor the situation. The DM and SP will review the situation on Wednesday morning to take a decision on lifting or continuing the curfew.
Note: On Tuesday, the information and broadcasting ministry withdrew a controversial press release that said journalists found guilty of writing or broadcasting fake news would lose their government accreditation. In light of the renewed debate around fighting fake news in India, we are republishing this piece on the fact-checking websites devoted to busting false news and scams. The original piece appeared on July 10, 2017.

In Keralas Kasargod district, Islamic State is luring young Hindus with money. The terror organisation has a rate card which carries the amount  one lakh to 7 lakh  given to IS recruits to convert Hindu girls. The rates are five lakh for a Hindu Brahmin girl, seven lakh rupees for a Sikh Punjabi girl and 4.5 lakh for a Hindu Kshatriya girl.

At least, this is according to a report broadcasted on a national English news channel in June. The basis of the rate card was a fake WhatsApp message which had been doing the rounds for more than a year.

It was one of the many distorted stories that were shared on social media and one which the news channel fell for.

Apart from influencing the political discourse and triggering communal violence, these stories  often in the form of image with text written on it  can result in explosive situations when circulated in an already charged atmosphere. For more than two months, villagers in Jharkhand, a child trafficking hub, were receiving WhatsApp messages carrying pictures of purported details of child traffickers including their attire. The result? In May, villagers lynched seven men to death mistaking them for kidnappers.

It is in this backdrop that organisations such as AltNews, Boom and SM Hoaxslayer have taken it upon themselves to call out fake news. They monitor social media to identify information which prima facie appears false, verify it and if the information is fake, relay the correction.

It was an AltNews investigation that found out the truth about the IS rate card while Boom ran a reverse search to prove that the image of man and a little girl with blood on their faces, with accompanying text saying that they were making India secular by playing Holi with the blood of a cow, was actually a picture from Egypt.

With the surge of digital platforms and the penetration of smartphones, fake news reaches many more people than before. Which means that by the time websites debunk fake news, proving that an image or video is flawed, it has already been shared and believed by thousands of people.

GOVT HAS TO STEP IN TO CHECK FAKE NEWS: PRATIK SINHA, CO-FOUNDER, ALTNEWS

Pratik Sinha, co-founder, AltNews at his Ahmedabad office. (Sidhharaj Solanki/HT Photo)

In August 2016, Pratik Sinha, Ahmedabad-based techie and founder of the website truthofgujarat participated in a more than 300 km long march on foot from Ahmedabad to Una to protest the flogging of Dalit men. Concerned to see that there was hardly any media coverage of the march, Sinha, and a friend decided to launch a digital outlet to talk about peoples issues. Debunking fake news was one of the objectives of the site. When they eventually launched AltNews in February this year, their posts on fake news attracted far more attention than the other features of the site. Since then, they have done numerous fake news breaks.

We keep track of social media. We also keep getting messages from people asking us to verify forwards which do not appear genuine to them, says Sinha. Thirdly, we look for virality of an item on social media. For example, during Prime Minister Modis visit to the US last month, his loyalists circulated a video claiming that it was Modis cavalcade in the US. The video went viral. We checked and found that it was footage of Barack Obamas entourage from 2010, says Sinha.

The possible impact a fake news item can have on people is also a parameter. On June 28, there was a protest titled Not In My Name in different cities to condemn increasing incidents of mob lynching over beef. An English news channel ran a story claiming that Indian organisers were roping in people from Pakistan to organise similar protests there. Sinha found out that a Pakistani girl wanted to conduct a protest on the same lines in her country. She got in touch with one of the Indian organisers asking him if he could post the Pakistani protest information on his Facebook page. So, it was the Pakistani girl who initiated the conversation and not the Indian organisers, as the news channel would have you believe. Such news items can influence peoples perceptions, says Sinha.

Exposing fake news also made him realise that ideology is not the only driving factor for people involved in spreading half-truths, particularly through sites such as postcard.news and hindutva.info. Money is a big incentive. They have understood that if you write about Prime Minister Modi, Yogi Adityanath or the Indian Army, you will get more clicks and thereby more advertisements, he says.

Another emerging pattern is the appearance of a fake video coinciding with a major political event in the country. When the mainstream media was debating the Left versus RSS battle in Kerala, a fake video went viral showing a man being stabbed multiple times. The video claimed that it was an RSS worker being murdered by a Left worker. In fact, it was a video from Mexico.

People getting lynched by mobs is one very visible consequence of fake news. But thats not the only impact. Sinha recalls a four-minute video that was supposedly of a Hindu Marwari girl from Andhra Pradesh married to a Muslim man; she was being beaten up and burnt alive by a few people belonging to the Muslim community, all because she was apparently not wearing a burqa. It is actually a video from Guatemala. People have been sharing it since February 2016 and not a comma has been changed. It shows the kind of degenerative affect such footage has on peoples minds, says Sinha.

However, he is yet to come across any evidence which points to the spread of fake news being organised, except for a few times when he noticed people associated with the BJP directly or indirectly forwarding such messages on WhatsApp or retweeting them. But then anyone can fall for fake propaganda. I cannot equate that to say that it is organised, he says.

Given the scale at which fake news is spreading and how people believe in it blindly, Sinha says that sites such as AltNews are not enough to fight the menace. The government should put a solid mechanism in place to fight fake news and put out advisories telling people that this is a fake video, please do not circulate it. Newspapers and news channels should carry these advisories. Also, social media platforms, particularly WhatsApp have a crucial role to play, he says.

Report suspicious images, videos to AltNews at contact@altnews.in

POLITICIANS MAKE UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS WHICH PEOPLE LAP UP: JENCY JACOB, MANAGING EDITOR, BOOMLIVE

In 2014, Govindraj Ethiraj, former editor-in-chief of Bloomberg TV India, started the not-for-profit platform, Factchecker.in to fact-check policy-level news. It wasnt long before he realised the need for a platform that examined everyday news too. Enough reports, videos, forwards and statements seemed to be dubious, misrepresentations or outright lies. Thats how Boom, initially launched along with Factchecker as a news portal, turned into an independent digital journalism initiative, around the end of 2016.

Especially after the election of Trump, news from around the world was being broadcast through WhatsApp and social media with velocity despite having no veracity, Ethiraj says. We realised there was a huge gap in what the media was trying to say and what people were believing, so we decided to use Boom to break down every such story.

Booms four-member team works towards debunking at least two to three news items every day. Managing editor Jency Jacob checks WhatsApp groups for bizarre forwards and images that might need closer examination. The team does exhaustive web searches to look for plagiarism, does reverse searches for images to find their source and digs through news archives of credible sources like the Associated Press. Boom also has a helpline number, where people can send in any news item that sounds like a hoax. The first step usually is trying to get in touch with the person who posted the news on social media. That starts off the trail, says Jacob. With WhatsApp that becomes difficult.

The way they see it, there are two types of fake news: the kind with malicious intent, to defame someone or spread communal tension, like an image that recently did the rounds on Facebook. It featured a man and a little girl with blood smeared on their faces, with the accompanying text saying that they were making India secular by playing Holi with the blood of a cow. Booms research found that the photo of that of people from Egypt. It had nothing to do with India or cows.

The other kind of fake news relates to food, health and wellness, and counters scientific research. Boom recently looked at a viral video claiming the presence of plastic in rice. They helped prove that while grains may be adulterated, there was no evidence of plastic impurities in the grains.

While the truth may be obvious to the team (and even many readers), much of Jacobs efforts go into checking and cross-checking the stories verified by his team of three journalists. We will face a huge credibility hit if our fact-checking is proved wrong, so we have to be extra cautious always, says Jacob.

Other hoaxes get priority when theyve been shared by someone well-known. Politicians often make unsubstantiated claims and state random figures, which readers lap up, says Jacob. We do all the background research and then contact the person who has made the claim. Sometimes, they are apologetic, other times they are offended, but thankfully we have got no major threats so far.

What theyve got are trolls who dont like hearing they were wrong. Jacob recalls how a few weeks ago,a user tweeted to his 47,000 followers a video that seemed to show an IS terrorist being taken down by a sniper. The video went viral. Boom traced the footage back to the AP archives and showed it to be a recording of a Venezuela hostage situation from 1998.

The user took down the video as soon as he heard from Boom, but his followers bristled. They pulled out old tweets of mine and started targeting me personally, says Jacob, while laughing it off.

The explosion of news outlets and easy accessibility of digital news has made the circulating of fake news easy. People will believe in anything, because no one knows what a genuine source for news is. Sadly, while 230 million people have WhatsApp, they do not always have access to newspapers to verify what was sent to them, explains Ethiraj. What also comes as a surprise to us is how politicians and powerful public figures cite numbers or share pictures which are clearly fake.

Report suspicious images, videos to Boom at its helpline number 7700906111

PEOPLE ARE GULLIBLE. ONE POST IS ENOUGH TO CAUSE COMMUNAL HATRED: PANKAJ JAIN, FOUNDER, SMHOAXSLAYER

Mumbais Pankaj Jain, 39, is a businessman by day and a hoax slayer by night. He was fed up of being bombarded by inane, fake news through family and friends WhatsApp groups. In August 2015, he created a Facebook page called Social Media Hoax Slayer.

Im the guy who has long debates about the veracity of stories at family functions and gatherings with friends, he says. I soon realised that people were gullible and one message was enough to cause communal hatred. Thats when I decided I needed to reach out to a larger number of people.

By October, he had also launched a website, smhoaxslayer.com. His Facebook page now has 56,000 followers and his Twitter account, 12,000.

I spend a few hours updating the website after work every day, says Jain. Its the constant requests on chat and WhatsApp from people asking me to verify information that get really difficult to manage single-handed.

His system of cross-checking information usually involves a thorough Google search. He has become good at spotting Photoshop modifications.

The first step is always to reverse-Google search an image. Then I look for signs of tampering, he says.

For example, he says, a recent viral picture showed political activist and proud teetotaller Hardik Patel sitting beside a bottle and glass of alcohol. It was clear that they had been added to the picture, because they had no shadow, he says.

In other cases, he relies on government reports and statistics. And sometimes, just common sense.

Recently, actor and politician Paresh Rawal shared a fake story on Twitter about former President APJ Abdul Kalam saying Pakistan had tried to get him to betray India. I saw that the text had spelling and grammatical errors and wondered how someone like Paresh Rawal could fall for such an obvious hoax. I pointed it out to him on Twitter, Jain says.

The downside, Jain says, is that he gets quite a few threats and angry messages; people call him anti-national. One guy said he knew where I lived and would take care of people like me who spread false news, says Jain, laughing.

At the same time, he gets a lot of appreciation from people.

In the end, I know I am just a curious guy who believes in statistics and proof, he says, and wants others to do the same.

This piece originally appeared in Hindustan Times on July 10, 2017.
The special aircraft of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP national chief Amit Shah were on Tuesday searched by officials after they landed at Hubballi airport in north Karnataka to campaign for their parties in the run-up to the May 12 assembly polls.

The exercise involving three district level officers was described by officials as being in line with the Election Commissions directive to ensure free and fair elections in Karnataka.

It was a random search by a team led by (election) nodal officer Karpale. We searched the planes in which Rahul Gandhi and Amit Shah had arrived. It was not intentional, deputy commissioner of Dharwad district SB Bommanahalli told PTI.

Shah and Gandhi arrived by separate planes at Hubballi airport from New Delhi.

Soon after their arrival, a team led by election nodal officer Karpale and Hire Gowda and Yogananda searched the planes to check for possible poll code violations.

We did not find anything in the luggage. There were two other people with Shah. We did not check their names, Gowda told reporters after completing the search operation.

Gandhi, on the fifth leg of Karnataka tour, left for Shivamogga and addressed public meetings there and in Davangere.

Shah, also on the fifth lap of Karnataka tour, addressed an Other Backward Classes convention at Kaginele in Haveri district and had an interaction with the seers of Veerashaiva community at Shivayogi Mandir in Badami taluk of Bagalkote district.
New Delhi will host the strategically important trilateral dialogue between India, Japan and the US this week ahead of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago later this month, the State Department has said.

The Trump administration has sent two of its senior diplomats from the State Department  Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton  to co-lead the American delegation for the trilateral dialogue.

The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers of the Indo-Pacific region on Wednesday comes a fortnight ahead of the Trump-Abe summit at Mar-a-Lago, Trumps Florida resort.

During the two-day summit on April 17 and 18, the two leaders will reaffirm the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said today.

While Wells has just returned from Pakistan, Thorton completed her trip to Malaysia before heading to New Delhi where she attended the US-ASEAN Dialogue to engage on regional security and economic issues.

On April 6, Wells will participate in the India-US Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs. During her visit, she will also meet with senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and representatives from the private sector, the State Department said.

The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. For the first several rounds the trilateral was held at the director or assistant secretary level.

It was elevated to ministerial level in 2015. The inaugural ministerial trilateral was held on September 29, 2015, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session. It was hosted by the then US Secretary of State John Kerry. The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida represented their respective countries.

The last ministerial dialogue was also held in New York in September 2017.
The Centre said on Tuesday terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir have been resorting to glamorisation of militancy to recruit misguided youths in their outfits.

Union minister of state for home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said the state has been affected by terrorist violence that is sponsored and supported from across the border and levels of the violence in various districts of the Valley are linked to infiltrations.

Militants have been resorting to glamorisation of militancy to recruit misguided youths in their outfits, he said, replying to a written question.

The government regularly reviews the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and to prevent activities of militants, numerous steps have been taken including strengthening of operational grid with enhanced human intelligence and use of technical intelligence grid.

The government has also continuously encouraged policies to mainstream the youth, including providing employment opportunities to wean them away from militancy, he said.

Replying to a question on whether terrorist activities have increased in Jammu and Kashmir after the surgical strike in PoK on September 29, 2016, Ahir said the suggestion was not correct.

188 terrorist incidents were reported during six months period before the surgical strike. 56 security personnel and 10 civilians lost their lives in these incidents.

On the other hand, 155 terrorist incidents have been reported during six months period post the surgical strike. 29 security personnel and 10 civilians have lost their lives in these incidents, he said.
A 33-year-old man was found murdered hours after suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants attacked his family members and abducted him from his father-in-laws home in north Kashmirs Bandipora district around 10pm on Monday, police said.

The victims wife suffered a bullet injury and his mother-in-law was stabbed, police added.

Police identified the deceased as Muntazir Ahmad Parrey, a private car driver. His body was found on the outskirts of Hajin on Tuesday.

The body has three bullet wounds and multiple stab wounds, said Bandipora superintendent of police Sheikh Zulfikar Azad. His wife and mother-in-law are admitted to hospital in Srinagar and their condition is stated to be stable, Azad added.

Police are trying to ascertain the motive for the killing. There is no apparent reason. He was a common man living his life. He had no affiliation with anybody, said Azad.

A police spokesperson said local militant Mohammad Saleem Parrey is suspected of having played a role in the killing. Five foreign terrorists affiliated with the LeT  Abu Muslim, Hubaib, Khalid, Abu Hamza and Haider  are also involved in the killing, the spokesperson added.

The LeT had not issued any statement related to the attack at the time of this report.

This is the second time the family is enduring a gruesome death. Muntazirs father-in-law, Farooq Ah Parrey, lost one of his sons last year in a suspected militant attack. His sons decapitated body was fished out from Jhelum river. While the police blamed militants for the killing, the LeT accused security forces of murder.
The Narendra Modi government has decided to include millets in the public distribution system for which it is procuring these grains at federally fixed minimum support prices, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said.

The agriculture ministry has started a new programme to focus on millets or coarse cereal production, mostly grown by small and poor farmers. Millets are a naturally rich source of vitamins and micro-nutrients.

Rajasthan is the top producer of coarse cereals in the country. Millets are mostly cultivated in low-fertile lands, mountainous terrain, tribal and rain-fed areas in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

Supply of cheap millets to poor households and through school midday meals will improve nutrition outcomes among the poor and also boost incomes of small farmers, the minister said.

According to agriculture ministry data, the area under millets has been declining. Despite growing demand for millets from urban consumer because of their natural high content of vitamins, proteins, oils and minerals, in 2016-17, the area under millet cultivation declined to 14.72 million hectares, down 60% compared to the previous year. India produces, on an average, over 40 million tonnes of coarse cereals.

The ministry is rolling out a programme called nutri-cereals under the National Food Security Mission to increase output of millets, such as jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet) and ragi (finger millet) as well as indigenous indigenous little millets known as kutki, kodo, sawa, kangni and cheena. The government has declared 2018 as the National Year of Millets.

Last July , Prime Minister Modi had called for inclusion of millets under the public distribution system. Following this, a meeting of the consultative committee on agriculture headed by NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand was held in October 2017. Based on the recommendations of NITI Aayog, the agriculture ministry has decided to create a sub-mission on nutri-cereals.

According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, millets are drought-tolerant and resistant to climate change. Cultivation of millets requires less water than rice and wheat, which makes them suitable for small growers.
Mizorams only active rebel outfit, Hmar Peoples Convention-Democratic (HPC-D), signed a peace deal with the state government on Monday, raising hopes of lasting peace in the northeastern state.

The memorandum of settlement (MoS) was signed at the state guest house in Chatlang by Mizoram chief secretary Arvind Ray and HPC-D chairperson H Zosangbera in the presence of government officials and the outfits leaders.

The Mizoram government and rebel outfit reached an agreement on the terms of a peace accord last month after nearly one and a half years of peace talks. Mondays deal puts an official seal on the settlement.

We are confident that Mondays agreement would bring peace to Mizoram. The terms of the agreement were discussed in detail and agreed upon by both sides, state home minister R Lalzirliana said.

The rebel outfit, HPC (D)an offshoot of the Hmar Peoples Conventionhad been demanding more autonomy to Sinlung Hills Development Council (SHDC)constituted in 1994.

The rebel outfit would hand over 48 sophisticated arms at an arm laying and coming home ceremony to be held on April 12 at Central Training Institute, Sesawng, 39km from the state capital Aizawl.

As per the deal, the SHDC would be renamed as Sinlung Hills Council by an act of the state legislature. The council would have administrative autonomy within the terms agreed in the deal.

The council, which would comprise 14 elected and two nominated members, would have powers to deal with the socio-economic, political and cultural development of the people residing within SHC.

Speaking on the occasion, HPC (D)s spokesperson Lalthalien expressed happiness at the signing of the accord and hoped it would prove to be a milestone, not just the Hmar people but for entire Mizoram as well.

The agreement stipulates that the state government would grant amnesty to HPC-D cadres, who have criminal cases pending against them, and also take steps to provide relief and rehabilitation to the nearly 100 cadres expected to join the mainstream.

Disappointed with contents of the Mizo Peace Accord signed in 1986, which didnt address the creation of a Greater Mizoram comprising Hmar inhabited areas in Mizoram, Assam and Manipur, the HPC came into existence the same year.

The outfit signed a memorandum of settlement with Mizoram government in 1994 to establish SHDC and laid down arms. But unhappy with implementation of the deal, a section of the outfit took up arms again a year later and formed HPC (D).

Between 1992 and 2018, insurgency-related incidents claimed a total of 49 civilians, security personnel and insurgents in Mizoram. No killings have taken place in the past two years.

As per 2011 census, the Hmar population in Mizoram is 29,587 with most of them concentrated in the north and northeast part of the state. The total population of the state is 10.91 lakh.

There is still some apprehension as a faction of HPC (D) led by founder president Lalhmingthang Sanate is opposed to the creation of SHC as they are demanding an autonomous district council. Sanate was arrested by Assam police in February.

Mizoram government says the faction isnt strong enough to disrupt peace.

Mizoram is a small state and cant afford creation of another district as demanded by Lalhmingthangs faction. They are a small gang and isnt that significant, Lalzirliana said.
A day after Dalits protested across the country against a Supreme Court ruling, Union minister for social justice and empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot on Tuesday accused the opposition parties of provoking the protesters that led to arson and deaths.

We had appealed to the opposition parties to take the agitation back. However, they provoked the Scheduled Castes and Tribes... seven people died, several properties were damaged, clashes happened. Opposition parties, which played negative role, are responsible for this, Gehlot told a press conference here.

Reacting to Congress president Rahul Gandhis remark that the DNA of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was anti-SCs and STs, the minister said: The BJP is the only party that worked to protect the interest of SCs and STs. Whenever we got a chance, we took the opportunity to make historic decision for them.

On March 20, the Supreme Court had ruled that the arrest of an accused under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 was not mandatory and the recourse to coercive action would be taken only after a preliminary inquiry and sanction by a competent authority.

There was no absolute bar against the grant of anticipatory bail in cases under the Act if no prima facie case is made out or where on judicial scrutiny the complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide, the apex court added.

Gehlot said the Congress did not even let the portrait of Dr BR Ambedkar be installed in the Central Hall of Parliament. It was installed by the then VP Singh government after the BJP proposed it.

The minister claimed that the Narendra Modi government had strengthened the Act of 1989 by making certain amendments.
The Budget session continues for the 19th day amid opposition from parties over several issues, including the Cauvery water distribution between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Ruckus has prevailed in both Houses of the Parliament during this session over the Andhra special status as well, which has led to a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government.

More trouble is expected for the Centre as Dalit protests on Monday sparked violence and brought several places to a standstill following a Bharat Bandh.

The Budget session concludes this week.

Follow live updates here:

12:16pm: Speaker adjourns Lok Sabha till 11 am on Wednesday.

12:15pm: Opposition MPs continue loud protests.

12:13pm: MPs call for discussion of SC/ST Act, accuse the government of diluting it.

12:11pm: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu meets Farooq Abdullah and Jyotiraditya Scindia in Parliament.

12:11pm: Speaker Sumitra Mahajan raises no-confidence motion while MPs protest in Lok Sabha.

12:10pm: Rajnath Singh concludes speech by appealing to parties to promote brotherhood and maintain peace in the aftermath of the Bharath Bandh violence.

12:09pm: Singh asks citizens to keep calm and remain peaceful while the government addresses their concerns.

12:08pm: The home minister informs the house that the Supreme Court will hear the Centres review petition of the SC/ST Act.

12:07pm: Rajnath Singh says the government has not diluted the SC/ST Act, NDTV reports

12:07pm: Opposition MPs chant We want justice slogans as Rajnath Singh speaks.

12:05pm: Rajnath Singh addresses house. Opposition protests.

Noon: Lok Sabha resumes.

11:41am: Rajya Sabha adjourns till tomorrow following uproar by TDP MPs demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh.

11:19am: Home minister Rajnath Singh to give a statement in Lok Sabha on Mondays violence during Bharat Bandh protests.

11:09am: BJPs Ravi Shankar Prasad, RJDs Manoj Kumar Jha and TDPs CM Ramesh take oath as Rajya Sabha members.

11:05am: Lok Sabha adjourned till noon after slogans of We want justice are raised as soon as proceedings begin.

11am: Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu is in Parliament today.

Delhi: Andhra Pradesh CM N.Chandrababu Naidu in Parliament. pic.twitter.com/upfkqJCbmk  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018

10:54am: Punjab Congress MPs protest in Parliament demanding financial help for families of those who were killed by ISIS in Iraqs Mosul.

10:35am: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs stage a protest outside Parliament condemning atrocities on Dalits.

10:25am: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Naramalli Sivaprasad dresses up as folk dancer and joins other party MPs in demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh.

10:20am: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MPs stage protest in Parliament premises over constitution of Cauvery Mangement Board.

10:10am: TDP MP Jayadev Galla says Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu will be in Parliament today. Naidu will meet floor leaders of parties. He will not meet anyone in the BJP & Congress, he will discuss how AP has been treated by both national parties during bifurcation, says Galla, according to ANI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh for each of the families of 39 workers killed by the Islamic State in Iraq.

The announcement comes after Congress MPs from Punjab staged a protest in Parliament demanding compensation for the workers killed in Iraq.

Minister of state for external affairs VK Singh on Monday brought the mortal remains of 38 of the 39 Indians killed in Iraq. Later, the Union minister even visited the Amritsar to hand over bodies of 27 workers from Punjab.

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday said the Punjab government declared an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh, a job for one family member and the continuation of the monthly pension of Rs 20,000 for the families of the deceased workers from Punjab.

Last month, Sushma Swaraj informed Parliament that the 39 Indian workers abducted by IS from Mosul in 2014 had been killed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervened the first thing on Tuesday morning to halt the Union information and broadcasting ministrys plans of cracking down on fake news, even as the backlash against the move, announced late on Monday night, was gaining momentum.

Four senior officials said on condition of anonymity that the I&B ministry hadnt kept the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) in the loop while issuing the statement on Monday evening.

The statement said the accreditation of journalists accused of publishing fake news would be cancelled, and that it would be suspended immediately for 15 days even while the complaint was being investigated, prompting fears that the state would use this to try and control the narrative.

PIB Press Release regarding Fake News uploaded last evening stands withdrawn, tweeted the Press Information Bureau, the governments press arm, on Tuesday afternoon after PMO directed the I&B ministry to do so.

Officials said that the daily morning bulletin from the PIB to the PMO contained a long report on the adverse publicity attracted by the I&B statement on fake news.

The PMO also received independent feedback and a senior PMO official spoke to at least two ministers before informing the Prime Minister about the developments, added a government functionary who asked not to be identified. A senior BJP functionary who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the guidelines and the adverse reaction were also discussed internally in the party and the feedback was passed on to the PMO.

After the PM was shown the reports and told about the feedback, he decided that the order be revoked. The senior PMO official called the I&B ministry and advised officials there that Mondays statement be withdrawn. The PMO also called an officer of the I&B ministry to say that the decision to scrap the fake news statement must be shared with the media quickly. After a few minutes, a PMO official actually dictated the exact text of the message that was supposed to be spread informally. The short message said, Prime Minister has directed that the press release regarding fake news be withdrawn and the matter should only be addressed in Press Council of India,  the official added. The official is also believed to have spoken to I&B minister Irani.

I&B minister Smriti Irani subsequently called a few officers into her room and briefed them about the situation, two of the four officials cited in the first instance claimed. According to them, she pointed out that there is overwhelming support in favour of the I&B ministrys stand against fake news and added that she had personally clarified certain things on Twitter. But in line the PMOs directive, it was decided to issue a separate ministry statement clarifying that its release on the regulation stands withdrawn.

The Congress took the opportunity to hit out at the Centre and said the order to withdraw the statement stemmed from fear of a backlash. Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted: Sensing mounting anger on the fake news notification, the PM orders a U-Turn on his own order. One can clearly see a loss of control and panic setting in now.

The withdrawn statement wasnt without its supporters. The Press Council of India (PCI) , which according to the statement, was supposed to adjudicate complaints against print media journalists regarding fake news, supported the I&B ministry. PCI chairperson Justice CK Prasad said: We have been having consultations on the menace of paid new and fake news for some time now. My personal view is that determination of paid and fake news and of the penal action depending on the severity and frequency of the occurrence should be done by an independent body such as the PCI and not by any government regulated body.

The Editors Guild acknowledged the PMOs intervention but said it remains deeply disturbed that faith continues to be reposed on the Press Council of India to deliver justice on such issues.
Police killed a suspected Maoist rebel couple and a woman colleague on Tuesday in a shootout in Gadchiroli, the insurgency-hit region in Maharashtra bordering Telangana.

According to reports, one of the slain insurgents  Sunil Kulmethe, aged 40  was a top-ranking leader of the CPI(Maoist) in the Dandakaranya region of central India. His 38-year-old wife, Swarupa, was a senior cadre of the outfit.

Gadchiroli range deputy inspector general of police Ankush Shinde said the shootout at Srikonda forests under Sironcha tahsil, about 400km from Nagpur, happened around 9.30am when a group of rebels fired at a police patrol.

The policemen retaliated and killed three insurgents, while the rest escaped. There are no reports of any death or injury among the security forces engaged in the gun battle. Police have cordoned off the area to nab the rebels on the run.

Shinde said this is the first time a Maoist couple was killed in a gunfight in Gadchiroli. Sunil and Swarupa joined the leftist outfit in 2001. The other woman is yet to be identified.

The three deaths took the number of militants killed in the district this year to seven. On March 30, an extremist was gunned down in the Etapalli area.
The Counter Intelligence (CI) wing of the Punjab Police on Tuesday foiled attempts made by Pakistan-based agency ISI to propagate the Referendum -2020 on Khalistan by highlighting the issue in Indian Premier League (IPL) matches to be held in Mohali this month and setting buses and liquor vends afire.

Four youngsters from Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar district, who were reportedly trained through social media by an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent, were arrested by the police when they were on their way to set a liquor vend on fire.

A police spokesperson said initial investigations revealed that a Facebook page  Referendum 2020  was being popularised in Punjab by pro-Khalistani elements in Pakistan and Europe.

The four arrested on Tuesday were active on the page where they came in contact with a fake profile created by a Pakistan-based ISI agent called Fateh Singh on Facebook. Singh radicalised these four so that they could be used later to create disturbance in Punjab, the spokesperson said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hold an urgent hearing on the Centres review petition asking to amend its March 20 judgment, which Dalits said diluted a law meant to safeguard them, as it sparked widespread protests resulting in the death of at least nine people on Monday.

The top court agreed to hear the Centres petition in the case at 2pm Tuesday.

The government filed the petition on Monday against the top courts order that banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Attorney general KK Venugopal said that the top courts judgement led to law and order situation in the country and asked for an urgent hearing. Venugopal will seek the case to be referred to a larger bench.

However, senior advocate Amrendra Sharan, who is assisting the top court as amicus curiae, said a Supreme Court order cannot be stayed because of law and order problems and it is the responsibility of the government.

Clashes with the police, attacks on buses and government property, and blockades of trains and roads were reported across the country, including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bihar.

The maximum deaths were reported in Madhya Pradesh, with the police saying three people were killed in Gwalior, two in Bhind and one in Morena.

The protests also claimed two lives in Uttar Pradesh -- one in Muzaffarnagar and another in Meerut. One person was killed in Rajasthans Alwar as the police opened fire to disperse a mob.

Read| SC/ST act row: Rajnath, Yogi appeal for peace, Congress blames Centre for violence
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to put in abeyance its judgment banning automatic arrests without prior permissions for offences under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, saying its March 20 order only meant to safeguard innocent people without affecting the rights of the marginalised communities.

The court, however, said it would consider the arguments against its judgment from all parties involved at the next hearing that will be scheduled sometime after 10 days.

The bench of justices AK Goel and UU Lalit was hearing a review petition filed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government a day after nine people were killed in violent protests in several parts of the country, prompting leaders of all major political parties to call for an urgent need to reconsider what they described as a dilution of the act by the court.

On Tuesday, the court asked for written submissions from all parties involved and refused intervention by others who were not party to the case that originated in Maharashtra.

Dalits make up 200 million of the countrys 1.3 billion population and are a key demographic group in several states. Dalit leaders said their primarily grouse against the courts verdict was the banning of the automatic arrest of the accused in cases under the Act that is meant to protect the community against discrimination and harassment.

Home minister Rajnath Singh reiterated on Tuesday that the government was fully committed to protecting the interests of the SC/ST community and the BJP stands shoulder to shoulder with Dalits. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also brought it up in a political rally in Karnataka, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being silent on the issue.

Permission for an open court hearing was granted after Attorney General KK Venugopal urged the bench that protests had erupted in several states. Review petitions before the Supreme Court are normally decided within chambers by judges and open court hearings are allowed only in extraordinary circumstances.

But the court asked Venugopal and senior advocate Amarendra Sharan  who assisted the bench in delivering the main judgment  not to deviate from legal submissions. We are not here to take note of what is happening outside the court, Justice Goel said. Those who are protesting have probably not even read what we have written. They do not even know. They are being misled by some vested interests, he remarked. The judges said that the court was not against the Act, but wanted to ensure that innocent people were not punished.

In its order last month, the Supreme Court had said that several provisions of the Act were being misused.

We have said that innocents should not be penalised. The innocents cannot be terrorised by the provisions of the SC/ST Act. We dont want to deprive anyone from right to life and we make ourselves very clear that we are not against the Act or the complainants. We understand that SC/ST members have to be put on a higher pedestal. But, at the same time we need to protect constitutional rights of others. Innocents should not be falsely implicated or arrested, Justice Goel said.

47,338 cases filed against SCs, STs in 2016 Union minister of state for home, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, on Tuesday informed the Parliament that as many as 47,338 cases of crime against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were registered across the country in 2016 Citing latest data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ahir said that a charge sheet was filed in 78.3% of the cases registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in 2016. The conviction rate was 25.8%, he said in reply to a written question. As many as 6,564 cases were registered over alleged crimes against the STs in 2016, the minister said.

The court also said that it did not intend to stop authorities from giving immediate relief, as the law envisages, to members of the SC/ST community who may be victims. Under the law, a complainant is entitled to get financial assistance if any atrocity is found to have been committed against them. Benefits are usually given at the time of filing of the FIR. Venugopal, however, argued that the judgment making it mandatory for a preliminary enquiry before registration of a case would delay the relief meant for the victims.

On another objection raised by the Centre that the judgment also barred registration of an FIR if offences under other penal codes or law, the court said there was no such prohibition. ...there is no dilution of any provision of the SC/ST Act relating to compensation, trial, punishment or otherwise, read todays order.

Venugopal stressed that the Centre was not questioning the direction enabling anticipatory bail to those accused under the Act but was only on the point of preliminary enquiry and prior sanction for arrest. He admitted that there were some instances of misuse.

The court said that its directions only stopped the police from abusing their power of arrest. Abuse is not by the SC/ST members but by the police because there is no forum such as the court to ascertain the veracity of the allegations. What we have done is provided a filter, the judges said in the order.

Sharan, arguing against the stay, told the bench that a patent error, and not law and order, could be the only ground to review an order.
Three of the six people killed on Monday in the violence in Madhya Pradeshs Gwalior during protests by Dalits over an alleged dilution of a law that safeguards the marginalised communities were cremated around midnight in the presence of a heavy police deployment.

They include Rakesh Jatav (40) and Deepak Jatav (22), who were shot dead in Gwalior city, and Vimal Buddha killed at Dabra town in Gwalior district.

The district administration and police put in measures ensure there was no violence in the district at the time of their cremation.

Two others were killed in Bhind and one in Morena, all in the worst-hit Gwalior-Chambal region, on Monday.

The violence in several districts of the state, which emerged as the epicentre, erupted when Dalit groups were enforcing a Bharat bandh to protest the Supreme Courts March 20 ruling on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The Dalit allege it whittled down safeguards guaranteed by legislation meant to protect the marginalised communities from abuse and discrimination.

Sources in the police said Rahul Pathak was not the victim of the violence in Morena that erupted during the protests but was killed by a rival group from his college. He was shot dead while watching the protest on streets from the balcony of his house.

The rivals of Pathak, who was the secretary of the students union of his college, took advantage of the violence on the street to settle their score with him, the sources added. However, the police are yet to confirm it.

A heavy police force, as well personnel of the paramilitary forces, has been deployed in the violence-hit areas of the state.

Officials in the police headquarters in Bhopal said the force deployed includes 16 companies of special armed force, four companies of Rapid Action Force, two companies of the special task force and 3,000 newly recruited constables.

All the superintendents of police have been asked to take measures in view of the violence that took place on Monday.
Unseasonal heavy rains coupled with high-speed wind and hailstorm that lashed different parts of Telangana in the last two days caused extensive damage to standing crops in nearly 1.35 lakh acres, agriculture department officials said on Tuesday after preliminary estimates.

Although the heavy rain brought a lot of respite to the people from scorching temperatures which had soared 40 degrees Celsius in several parts of the state, they also caused a lot of misery to the farmers by damaging crops which were almost for harvest.

Senior officials of the agriculture and horticultural departments, who reviewed the situation on Tuesday, estimated that paddy crop suffered the most due to thunderstorms and hailstorms in mostly Nalgonda, Suryapet, Siddipet, Khammam and Warangal districts, besides parts of Ranga Reddy.

In all, paddy in more than 1.11 lakh acres, which is ready for harvesting, has been reported to be damaged. Similarly, maize crop also suffered heavy damages in 12,500 acres. The other crops that were damaged are mostly of horticulture like mango and lemon, besides vegetables, Principal Secretary (Agriculture) C Parthasarathy said.

He said the officials had been instructed to assess the quantum of crop damage. More rains and hailstorms are expected in the next 48 hours also, as per the forecast of the meteorological department. Once the rains subside, we will be able to assess the actual damage. If there are no further rains, there is also a possibility of recovery of crops which are partially inundated in the rain water, so that the loss could come down, Parthasarathy said.

There has been no demand yet from farmers for any compensation.

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also sought assessment reports from officials on the damage caused to crops in different districts following heavy rain and hailstorms. Since the government is ready to give input subsidy to farmers who suffered losses, reports should be prepared and sent to the government forthwith, a statement from the Chief Ministers Office said.

Following instructions from the chief minister, state chief secretary S K Joshi spoke to all the district collectors over phone and asked them to prepare reports on crop losses. He directed that official teams immediately start their visits to the affected areas to assess the damage.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Tuesday condemned the Centres move to amend the guidelines for accreditation of journalists in case of fake news, saying that the step amounted to an undeclared emergency.

Stating that media was the fourth pillar of democracy, VHP international working president Pravin Togadia said curtailing their voices in any name was dangerous to citizen rights.

We strongly condemn this undemocratic move by the government. This is nothing but an undeclared emergency, he said in a statement.

Without taking names, Togadia said those who opposed such emergency for 52 yrs were behaving this way after coming to power.

This is shocking and horrific, he said.

The VHP leader said agreeing or disagreeing with a media story was up to an individual, but choking media was unacceptable.

This is the dangerous tendency by the rulers and we fear that it could even manifest in other areas of common peoples lives or for those who speak for the people, he said.

Togadia also appealed to all concerned not to bring in such draconian rules and to democratically and peacefully oppose such undemocratic moves.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had on Monday announced measures to contain fake news, saying the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if a scribe was found generating or propagating fake news.

Earlier today, the Prime Ministers Office advised the ministry to withdraw the press release on fake news and said the decision on what amounts to fake news should be left to bodies such as the Press Council of India (PCI).
On an October afternoon in 1988, Mahendra Singh Tikait, a rustic and hardy farm leader from western Uttar Pradesh, stormed Delhi with his men. They came in a fleet of lumbering tractors, around 80,000 peasants, cattle, hay to be used as bedding and foodgrains to see them through an unrelenting protest.

It was the scene of a spectacular rural takeover of Delhi. Tens of thousands of farmers erected tents, slept, cooked food and ate in the open as well as defecated there, laying siege to the Boat Club lawns, a stones throw from Parliament. They vowed to not budge until their demands for higher sugarcane prices and a waiver of electricity charges were met.

Tikaits Bhartiya Kisan Union successfully extracted key concessions from the then Rajiv Gandhi-led government.

Farm protests have seldom been so strong, but in Maharashtra in March, 35,000 farmers walked 180 km on a long march to reach Mumbai from the states Nashik district seeking loan waivers  a turnout not seen since the days of Tikaits agitation.

Farm loan waivers have now become the new rallying point for farmers movement because there are just losses, losses everywhere, says Amra Ram, a leader of the All-India Kisan Sabha, the organisation that led the long march.

Under the NDA government, farmers havent fared too well due to a combination of factors, including two successive droughts and a slump in global food prices. This has led farmers groups and lobbies to re-energise themselves around two key demands  loan waivers and profitable prices.

Dont call it a protest. Ours is a political movement of farmers, says Kedar Sirohi, the Indore-based social-media savvy leader of the Aam Kisan Union (General Farmers Union).Before Tikait, there was another tall peasant leader in Chaudhary Charan Singh, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP). His biographer Paul Brass, a professor at the University of Washington, writes in An Indian Political Life that Charan Singh was devoted throughout his political career to the interests of the peasantry.

According to Brass, Singh, a known detractor of Nehru, sowed the seeds of a strong farmers lobby in north India by first dissenting against the Congress 1959 Nagpur Resolution on Agriculture, which advocated collectivisation and a cooperative model for the farm sector.

The Nagpur Resolution was the most significant agrarian programme formulated by the Congress since the abolition of zamindari in several States, wrote Walter Hauser in a January 1959 piece in The Economic and Political Weekly, analysing Singhs role. Singh contended that cooperatives will lead to bigness and that this, with mechanized agriculture, would result in a decrease in per capita production rather than an increase, Hauser writes.

Building on his peasant support base, Charan Singh went on to become prime minister.

Read: Agriculture not always a dead end: Here are young, successful farmers who made the cut

The green revolution of 1960s saw farmers prosper and emerge as a class of bullock capitalists, a term coined by American political scientists Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susan Rudolph to describe the empowered Indian agrarian class. Bullock capitalists were well-to-do enough to raise their voice politically, but werent fully capitalist farmers, the Rudolphs logic went.

This was followed by the rise of powerful farmer organisations. These included Rajya Ryot Sangha in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Kisan Union in UP and Punjab as well as the Tamil Nadu Agriculturists Association in Tamil Nadu and the Shetkari Sanghatana in Maharashtra.

A new era of social-media-enabled farm movement has now taken over.

As it heads into a crucial general election due next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised a slew of measures to quell farmer protests, including prices that are at least 50% over production costs.

The Congress has promised a fresh loan waiver if voted to power like the one it announced in 2008 (and which played a part in its return to power in 2009).

The BJP-ruled states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, UP and Congress-ruled Punjab have already announced loan waivers, forced by protests.

Maharashtra (also ruled by the BJP) did so too.

Loan waivers are a pressing demand because the single biggest cause of agrarian distress is indebtedness. Farmers take loans to buy inputs such as seeds and irrigation machinery. Many of these farmers get into debt traps when crops fail or prices fall.

The Situation Assessment Surveys of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO, 2013) has reconfirmed the situation analysed in 2003 by the NSSOs 59th round of indebtedness of farm households. It showed that 52% of farm households in India are in debt.

Loan waivers could have a bearing on the combined fiscal deficit of states. According to India Ratings and Research, farm debt waivers announced by five states together are likely to widen the combined fiscal deficit of states by ?107700 crore. Bankers have argued against farm loan waivers because they are no panacea and could affect credit growth.

According to Reserve Bank of India data, bad loans in agriculture have increased by ?11,400-crore in 2017 to over ?60,000 crore, a jump of 23%, from 2016.

From 2012-13, the year before the BJP government took office, till 2016-17, bad loans in the agriculture sector have increased 142.74%. The biggest defaults were during in 2016-17, suggesting a worsening of agrarian distress.

RBI data further shows that compared to 20.83% defaults by corporate borrowers, defaults by farmers stood at only 6% of their total outstanding.

This shows that farmers dont willfully default. Why dont they catch the bigger thieves? asks Ram of the All India Kisan Sabha.

Agricultural economist AV Manjunatha of the Bangalore-based Institute of Social and Economic Change, who carried out an all-India study on farmer suicides, says farmers in real distress do need some sort of system to report distress. They also need facilities to negotiate loan restructuring. These could be adopted as policy solutions, he said.

A new phase of farmers mobilisation has put both state and central governments on a tight leash. Reforms in markets and other structural measures for a better farming future dont appeal as much as loan waivers.

They put my land on notice for auction. Its the only thing I have. Only a loan waiver can save me, says Tulchha Ram, an onion grower from Rajasthan Sikars district.
The YSR Congress Party, the main opposition in Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was keen about an alliance with it rather than the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the 2014 general and state assembly elections, a claim denied by the saffron party.

Senior YSRC member of Parliament Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy said the BJP was compelled to join hands with the TDP only after his party decided against forging an alliance with any political party in the last elections.

During the 2014 elections, some senior BJP leaders contacted our party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy and proposed an alliance between the BJP and the YSRC. However, Jagan did not evince much interest as he was against any pre-poll alliances. Our party wanted to go it alone in the elections and we were confident of facing the elections on our own, Reddy, who represents Nellore parliamentary constituency, said while speaking to the media in New Delhi.

He said following Jagans reluctance, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu grabbed the opportunity and negotiated with the BJP leadership for an alliance.

The BJP leaders contacted Jagan once again and asked him to consider the alliance offer again as Naidu was already knocking their doors expressing eagerness to join hands with the BJP, Reddy said.

They said if the YSRC was not keen, the BJP would be compelled to forge an alliance with the TDP. Yet, Jagan did not show any interest in the proposal. And Naidu, riding on the Narendra Modi wave, came to power in Andhra Pradesh, he added.

He also described Naidu as a rank opportunist, who could quickly change stand for political benefits.

He said in the 2004 elections when the TDP lost power in the state along with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, Naidu did not hesitate even for a moment in describing his partys alliance with the BJP as the biggest political blunder.

Now that he has realised that Modis political graph was coming down, he decided to get out of the NDA ending the four-year honeymoon with the BJP. If Modis wave picks up strength again, Naidu will be the first person to come back into the NDA fold, Reddy said.

The YSRC leader said his party will consider joining the government at the Centre, irrespective of which party would come to power, after the elections in the interest of the state.

If the party that comes to power at the Centre requires the support of the YSRC MPs, we dont hesitate to extend our support, provided it suits the interests of Andhra Pradesh, Reddy added.

The BJP, however, dismissed the YSRCs claim that it had approached the regional party for an alliance.

We never had any plans to have an alliance with the YSRC, let alone approaching the party. We only had the TDP in mind at that point in time, the partys spokesperson in Andhra Pradesh Shyam Kishore Jammula said.

Kishore, who was also part the BJPs election committee in 2014, said as far as he remembered nobody from the central leadership had contacted Jagan for an alliance.

There was no discussion in the party at any stage with regard to a pre-poll alliance with the YSRC, he clarified.
Bheem Sena and Meen Sena, the two organisations at the forefront of the April 2 nationwide strike in protest against the alleged dilution of a law safeguarding scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, were known little in Rajasthan until the protests turned violent on Monday.

They, however, refused to take the blame for the clashes during the strike in which a man died in Rajasthan. Elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh, eight people were killed and two men lost their lives in Uttar Pradesh.

Read | Supreme Court refuses to stay order on SC/ST Act, asks for replies within 2 days

The Rajasthan-based Meen Sena was founded by 40-year-old Pankaj Meena in 2015. It has been active in parts of the states Marwar region but was never a force to reckon with until the groups name cropped up during Mondays Bharat Bandh.

We formed Meen Sena to raise issues related to the tribal population, said Pankaj Meena, a double postgraduate in English literature as well business administration. He blamed the the administration for the violence. We gave a notice for the bandh two days in advance but the district administration didnt take it seriously. If people had kept their establishments closed, there wouldnt have been any violence, he said.

Read | Bharat Bandh brings India to a standstill: 3 reasons why Dalits are angry

The Nagpur-headquartered Bheem Senas Rajasthan unit began taking shape two years ago. The organisation formed by Sridhar Salve in Maharashtra now has units in around eight Rajasthan districts.

Rajendra Meghwal, a member if the outfit, blamed Manuwadi forces for the clashes. People who wanted to make our protest unsuccessful incited violence, he said, adding that it was decided at a meeting called for the bandh to keep the protests peaceful.

We even told our workers not to shout slogans against the Supreme Court or carry placards against the court. We didnt want the protest to be unconstitutional, Meghwal said.
Normalcy returned to Rajasthan on Tuesday, a day after violence hit several parts of the state during the Bharat Bandh protests against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

However, prohibitory orders and suspension of internet services continued in some parts of the state.

Curfew was lifted in Gangapur city of Sawai Madhopur district in eastern Rajasthan after situation turned normal around 8 am on Tuesday.

In Hindaun city, also in eastern Rajasthan, police flushed out protesters from the railway station late on Monday. Around 1,000 protesters had laid siege to the station and vandalised signals.

Bharatpur range inspector general, Alok Vashishtha said reinforcements, including two companies of Border Security Force, arrived in Gangapur city on Monday night, following which we were able to rein in unruly protesters.

He said 15 people were arrested in Gangapur city and 45 in Hindaun on charges of rioting, vandalism, breach of peace and preventing a government servant from discharge of duty.

Internet services in Bharatpur division, which were suspended until 8 pm on Monday, will continue to be suspended until 8 pm on Tuesday in Bharatpur, Sawai Madhopur and Karauli districts. Internet services in the fourth district in the division  Dholpur  were restored post 8 pm Monday.

Internet services in Jodhpur divisions Jalore, Jaisalmer, Sirohi, Pali and Barmer, and Bikaner divisions Bikaner, Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh and Churu will remain suspended until Tuesday 8 pm.

In Alwar, the family of Pawan Kumar, who died in police firing in Khairthal on Monday, refused to accept his body and are staging a sit-in outside the hospital where the body is kept.

In other parts of the state, police and administration were collating information about the number of cases against rioters and arrests.

Meanwhile, Pankaj Meena, state president of Meen Sena, one of the organisers of the Bharat Bandh on Monday, blamed the administration for the violence.

We gave them notice for the bandh two days in advance, but they took it lightly. If traders had closed their shops, protesters wouldnt have become unruly, he said.

Meena said some anti-social elements also became part of the protest and resorted to violence to defame his organisation.

On Monday, Bharat Bandh hit businesses across Rajasthan. An estimate by a traders organisation said it cost the industry Rs 2,500 crore.
A day after the state was rocked by protests by Dalit groups, the situation returned to normal in most parts of the state. However, Karaulis Hindaun saw a massive retaliation by non-Dalits, who were allegedly angered by the Dalit assertion.

The mob burnt the house of former legislator Bharosi Lal Jatav and ransacked the home of Rajkumari Jatav, legislator from Hindaun. The mob had tried to enter the Jatav locality but were stopped and dispersed by the police using tear-gas, batons and by firing in the air. A curfew was imposed in Hindaun following the clash.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code continued to be clamped in some parts of the state and internet services remained suspended in some districts.

On Monday, Dalit protests and their call for Bharat Bandh had led to clashes and violence in several parts of the state. A 27-year old protester was killed in Alwar in police firing. In Jodhpur, a sub-inspector of police suffered a heart attack while managing the situation on Monday. He passed away on Tuesday afternoon while being taken to an Ahmedabad hospital.

Curfew after unrest in Hindaun City of Karauli on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

The police also arrested over 1,000 persons on charges of rioting, vandalism, breach of peace and other charges over the past two days. Some have been taken into preventive custody while others have been arrested in various cases. The arrests are still going on, said NRK Reddy, additional director general of police, law and order.

In Ajmer, 17 persons, including former minister Rajkumar Jaipal and former city mayor Kamal Bakolia, were arrested under Section 151 of CrPC for allegedly instigating violence during bandh on Monday. In Barmer, police lodged five separate cases and booked more than five hundred people, including Dalit leaders, for causing damage to private and public property, disturbing law and order, blocking the national highway and other charges.

The ADG added that 23 paramilitary companies had been deployed across the state to ensure peace. Three companies of Border Security Force (BSF) have been deployed in Bharatpur, three in Jalore, two in Sawai Madhopur, two in Barmer, and the remaining in Bikaner, Sikar, Karauli, Ajmer, Nagaur, Udaipur, Dungarpur and Bhilwara, said Reddy.

Apart from this two Rapid Action Force (RAF) companies and seven Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) companies were deployed in Alwar.

The agitation by Dalit groups has been triggered by the Supreme Courts March 20 interpretation of The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.

The Supreme Court on March 20 had banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the SC/ST Act, a legislation meant to protect the historically discriminated communities from abuse and discrimination.

On Monday, Bharat Bandh hit businesses across Rajasthan. An estimate by a traders organisation said it cost the industry Rs 2,500 crore.
Cooperative minister Ajay Singh Kilak on Tuesday said in the current financial year the state government will disburse interest-free short-term crop loans totalling Rs 16,000 crore to more than 25 lakh farmers in Rajasthan.

He said this year an additional Rs 1,000 crore crop loans will be distributed to farmers. Rs 10,000 crore will be distributed in kharif season and Rs 6,000 crore in rabi season, he added.

The short-term crop loans for kharif season is distributed from April 1 to August 3 and for rabi season from September 1 to March 31 by the Central Cooperative Banks (CCBs).

Kilak claimed the state government has set a record in distributing crop loans. For kharif season, the Central Cooperative Bank (CCB) of Sriganganagar will distribute a maximum of Rs 700 crore loan, followed by Hanumangarh (Rs 630 crore) and Barmer (Rs 600 crore).

Kilak said that the Rajasthan State Cooperative Marketing Federation has cleared the pending payments of 43,316 farmers, out of 45,063 residing in18 districts of Rajasthan.

The payments have been transferred in their bank accounts. He said around 1,747 farmers have not been paid, as there bank account details are different from the one given under the Bhamashah scheme  a total of Rs 17.76 crore is to be paid.
The district administration on Tuesday announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the next of kin of the man killed in police firing in Khairthal on Monday. The administration also agreed to send a proposal to the state government for a government job to the mans widow.

Earlier, Alwar district collector Rajan Vishal asked additional district magistrate-II BL Raman to conduct a magisterial inquiry into the police firing. The collector promised a free and fair probe within seven days.

On Monday, the police opened fire at Dalit protesters when they started vandalizing Khairthal police station and torched vehicles parked there. Three people suffered bullet injuries. One of them, Pawan Kumar, 27, died in hospital. The two others were referred to Jaipur and are in the hospital and are out of danger.

After Kumars deaths, his family refused to accept the body for cremation and laid a siege to the hospital. On Tuesday, Dalit organisations also joined in, demanding Rs 50 lakh compensation, a government job to the mans wife and installation of his statue at Ambedkar Circle in Khairthal, said district Congress president Tikaram Jully, who is a Dalit.

Negotiations between Dalit organisations and district administration continued well past the afternoon. The family agreed to accept the body after compensation was announced and the administration agreed to forward a proposal to the state government for a government job to Kumars wife.

The body was handed over to the family after a postmortem on Tuesday evening.

Dalit protesters had vandalised NEB police station too. At least 17 people have suffered injuries in Mondays protests and clashes. Alwar superintendent of police Rahul Prakash said 95 people had been arrested on charges of arson, rioting and preventing government servants from discharging their duty.

After Mondays violence, 15 battalions of additional forces were rushed to Alwar. This includes three companies of Rapid Action Force, seven of Rajasthan Armed Constabulary and one of Special Task Force.

Alwar collector Rajan Vishal said cotton worth Rs 2 crore was gutted in Khairthal agriculture mandi after protesters set it on fire.
A BJP delegation met West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to lodge a complaint against the strong-arm tactics allegedly adopted by the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday, the second day of filing nominations for the rural elections.

The state government has decided to conduct the elections in connivance with goons and police. It is opposed to deployment of central forces for the elections. Ruling Trinamool Congress supporters attacked our candidates when they went to file their nominations on Monday and Tuesday, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh told mediapersons after meeting the governor.

Ghosh asserted that Tripathi was also in favour of deploying central forces for the elections. The governor told us that he will be calling the chief secretary and home secretary. He will meet the state election commissioner on Wednesday. He is concerned by all this violence too, he said, predicting that the elections will be bloody with the loss of 70-100 lives.

The Bengal rural elections will be conducted across 48,751 seats at 3,358 gram panchayats, 9,240 seats at 341 panchayat samitis, and 825 seats at 20 zilla parishads in three phases (May 1, 3 and 5). Counting will take place on May 8.

These polls are crucial as a Trinamool sweep may bolster chief minister Mamata Banerjees position in the state, thereby putting her in a better position to cobble up a united front of regional parties to take on the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Trinamool Congress reacted sharply within minutes of Ghosh addressing mediapersons at the gate of the governors house. The people of the state find it difficult to believe in the neutrality of this governor, said Partha Chatterjee, state education minister and party general secretary.

The minister remarked that he has never come across a governor who desires the deployment of central forces for rural elections. But then, I have heard this from Dilip Ghosh, and not the governor himself. In that case, the governor must deny the statement, he said.

The state BJP chief had also told mediapersons that the partys state unit plans to summon candidates who were prevented from filing their nominations to Kolkata. They will come to the state election commission and insist on completing the formalities at its Kolkata office, he said.

Opposition parties accused Trinamool Congress supporters of employing strong-arm tactics at several places, including Lalbag in Murshidabad district, Suri and Labhpur in Birbhum district, and Arambag in Hooghly district.

Chatterjee brushed aside Ghoshs accusations by stating that the BJP has no faith in democracy.

The polls will be peaceful, he said.

A 25-year-old man, Mizanu Rahman, was killed in Malda districts Kaliachak village after he was caught in the crossfire between two rival factions of the Trinamool Congress on Monday evening. Police have arrested two people, both alleged Trinamool supporters, in this connection.

The governor is expected to meet the state election commissioner at Raj Bhavan around 12 noon on Wednesday.
The lawyers strike in Calcutta High Court is set for a record 59-day run with the Bar Association deciding to continue the sit till April 18. The decision will be reviewed on April 19.

The stir began on February 18 to press for the immediate appointment of judges in the court.

Read: Shortage of judges leading to 2.8 crore pending cases, say SC reports

The strike is supported by the Bar Library and Incorporated Law Society. A total of about 10,000 lawyers are on strike, paralysing the operations of the countrys oldest High Court.

Calcutta High Court never witnessed such a prolonged cease work by the lawyers. In 2004, lawyers did not work for 45 days to protest against steep rise in stamp duty, but that was a part of a statewide stir, said Bar Association president Uttam Majumdar.

Have you ever heard the executive function at half or one-third of the strength? Why will the judiciary operate with such depleted strength? argued Bar Association member and criminal lawyer Kaushik Gupta.

Read: Shortage of judges not the only reason for pending cases: Law ministry

Though there is a sanctioned strength of 72 judges in Calcutta High Court, there are only 33 right now.

Two of the 33 judges are deputed at Port Blair circuit bench. That effectively reduces the number to 31. One of them will be transferred to Delhi High Court soon. By December, three judges will retire, said Majumdar.

More than 2.2 lakh pending cases at the Calcutta High Court.

The Bar Association president pointed out that except Karnataka High Court, every High Court in the country has more than 50-60% of the sanctioned strength of judges. Only Calcutta High Court is functioning with 45% strength, pointed out Majumdar.

Read: Shortage of judges will shackle Indias growth

We will meet to take a call again on April 19. It will depend on whether the Centre takes a decision on appointing judges as recommended by the collegiums of the honourable Supreme Court, said Majumdar.

The apex court has cleared the names of five judges from a list of seven and sent it to the Centre. But the Centre is yet to act, added Gupta.

While admitting the hardships faced by the litigants, a lawyer said they are not continuing the struggle for their own benefit. The absence of judges is actually hurting the cause of those seeking justice, said a lawyer.
Incidents of violence in Uttar Pradesh, especially the western parts of the state, during Bharat Bandh by Dalit groups to protest against the Supreme Court ruling allegedly diluting the SC/ST Act indicates intelligence failure, police officials privy to Mondays developments said.

Senior officers posted in west UP claimed the Mondays violence was well-planned and the police were caught off guard in several areas.

In Pics: Bharat Bandh against SC/ST Act dilution, 6 killed in violence

In Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Hapur the policemen fled their outposts when the trouble-makers attacked them. The miscreants were well prepared. They had covered their faces and carried weapons. They came in hordes and set afire shops and vehicles before disappearing in narrow lanes, an officer posted in a west UP district said on condition of anonymity.

Over 40 policemen were injured in violence in various districts during clashes with protesters.

Another officer said the state police could not anticipate the magnitude of violence.

This can be gauged from the fact that a meeting of senior police officers was held under the chairmanship of UP DGP OP Singh to review preparations for the protests, he said.

Denying lack of preparedness on the part of the state administration, principal secretary, home, Arvind Kumar said the government had alerted the SPs of all the 75 districts for Bharat Bandh.

Read: Day after Bharat Bandh violence, normalcy returns to Rajasthan

The officers were directed to deploy adequate police force at sensitive spots. The violence was planned. The state government has sought reports from all the districts, he said.

DIG (law and order) Praveen Kumar said rumours were spread in various districts as a large number of protestors hit the streets.

The police have taken 448 people into custody. We will also probe into the angle of political conspiracy. Large numbers of protestors were armed with illegal weapons. Police will also collect the CCTV footage to zero in on the people involved in violence, he said.

Violence was reported from only 10 per cent of the states total area while protests were peaceful in the remaining parts of the state, he added.

As precautionary measures, the state government had sounded statewide high alert and directed the officials of all the districts to monitor social media and take strict action against rumour-mongers.

Read: Dalit protests turn violent in UP, one dead, 90 injured

Violence spread from Saharanpur district located near Uttarakhand border to Agra near Rajasthan border. Armed miscreants fired in the air, set shops and vehicles afire, looted shops and beat up passersby.

As violence started spreading, the home department directed the DMs and SPs to launch a crack down on miscreants.

A meeting of influential members of Dalit community was called to urge the protesters to end the agitation. The situation was brought under control by 2 pm, said the DIG (law and order).
Violent protests claimed one life and left 40 policemen and 50 others injured in Uttar Pradesh as Dalit organisations clashed with the police to protest a Supreme Court order, which allegedly dilutes a law protecting their rights.

DIG, law and order, Praveen Kumar said one protester succumbed to his injuries in Muzaffarnagar after being fired upon by some anti-social elements. At least 40 policemen and 50 others were injured in arson and violence in various districts of UP. The police have taken 448 people in custody, he said.

Rail and road traffic was hit while several trains were either cancelled or running late due to the Bharat Bandh by dalits.

West UP region bore the brunt of the protests as police remained on their toes all through the day and resorted to lathi-charge and firing in the air to control the protesters.

In many places, especially Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Agra and Tundla (Firozabad), the mobs turned violent. The state police deployed anti-riot forces to help civil police in containing vandalism.

In Muzaffarnagar, a protester, Amrish, sustained critical injuries in firing by anti-social elements and succumbed to injuries, police said.

Incidents of stone-pelting and violence were reported from various parts of Muzaffarnagar. Protesters set eight vehicles on fire and damaged more than two dozen others, police said.

Muzaffarnagar district magistrate Rajeev Sharma said strict action would be taken against people responsible for the violence.

In Meerut, agitators torched a police post in Shobhapur and set a few vehicles, including a police jeep, on fire. Police said superintendent of police (city), Meerut, Maan Singh Chauhan sustained injuries in stone-pelting.

Police said former BSP MLA Yogesh Verma, husband of Meerut mayor Sunita Verma, was arrested with his supporters on charges of inciting violence during the bandh.

Protesters also pelted Hapur Kotwali with, stones injuring a few policemen, including the circle officer of Pilakhua area. Police resorted to lathi-charge and fired in the air to disperse trouble-makers in Meerut and Hapur.

Additional director general (ADG), Meerut zone, Prashant Kumar said: The police did everything possible to control the situation. Some of them sustained injuries in stone-pelting incidents. Three companies of RAF were deployed in Meerut and Hapur to assist the civil police.

Protesters also pelted the police and passersby with stones and blocked traffic movement on NH 58 for hours.

Thousands of protesters gathered at Meeruts Ambedkar crossing and tried to barge into the Collectorate. They made a failed attempt to set lawyers chamber on fire but torched a police jeep. Police said the protesters also allegedly thrashed photographers and cameramen covering the protests and broke their cameras.

Protests were also reported from Baghpat, Saharanpur, Bulandshahr and Bijnor.

In Lucknow, several Dalit organisations, supported by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers, staged a protest in front of Ambedkars statue in Hazratganj area.

The demonstration threw traffic out of gear and the police had a tough time in controlling the protesters who blocked the traffic at Hazratganj crossing.

In the morning, government employees belonging to the ST/ST categories staged a dharna at Rana Pratap Marg demanding steps to check dilution of the SC/ST Act.

In Varanasi, a large number of Dalits marched from BHU gate and submitted a memorandum  addressed to the President of India  to station officer, Lanka, Sanjeev Mishra.

They demanded that there should be no change in the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Any move to dilute the Act will not be tolerated. The Act is not being misused. In most of the cases registered under the Act, effective action is not taken by the police, they said.

Activists also staged demonstrations in Ghazipur, Bhadohi and Azamgarh districts.

Protest turned violent in Jeeyanpur area of Azamgarh where the activists blocked Jiyanpur-Azamgarh road. The police had to use force to disperse the mob.

In Allahabad, Dalits activists from various organisations and the members of the BSP staged protests in the city as well as rural parts of the district to protest against the Supreme Court order.

A group of youths stopped Jammu-Tawi Express on Delhi-Howrah route in Meja while some protesters led by the Bhim Army intercepted a goods train at Prayag railway station.

Some Dalit students sat on a dharna outside PVR cinema alleging misbehaviour by policemen during the protests. Senior police and administrative officials, accompanied by RAF, tried to pacify the protesters but failed.

A group staged a road blockade at Mayo Hall crossing before marching to Civil Lines where they forced the closure of commercial establishments.

Senior superintendent of police, Allahabad, Akash Kulhary said there were no reports of violence from any part of the district but heavy force, including the companies of RAF, were deployed to avert any untoward incident.

Dalit leader Ramvriksh Gautam said protests would continue if the move to dilute the SC/ST Act did not stop.

In Kanpur, thousands of protesters came out on the streets and blocked traffic movement on Mall road.

Members of the Bharatiya Dalit Panther took out a four kilometre march to Parade and then to Bada Chauraha.

President of BDP Dhaniram Bauddh said the dilution of the SC/ST Act was part of a conspiracy to weaken Dalits.

Protesters also staged road blockade in Jhansi, Farrukhabad and Etawah. Sit-ins were organised in Hamirpur, Banda and Mahoba where markets remained opened.

In Gorakhpur, thousands of protesters took to streets and forced shopkeepers to shut their establishments.

Security was beefed up in view of the visit of chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the launch of Dastak campaign from Siddharth Nagar and then from Pipriach block of Gorakhpur.

Police said barring a few minor incidents, protests remained peaceful in Gorakhpur and Basti divisions.

Two Dalit activists of Purvanchal Sena, Devendra Kumar and Dheerendra, suffered injuries during clashes between the protesters and the police. Dheerendra was admitted to BRD Medical College for treatment.

In Moradabad and Bareilly divisions, protests were by and large peaceful.

In Moradabad, protesters entered the railway station and prevented movement of trains. They stopped Delhi-bound goods train.

They also stopped two other passenger trains by sitting on railway tracks. Garib Rath and Link Express got delayed by over two hours due to the protest, said additional rail manager, Moradabad division, Sanjeev Mishra.

We have deployed additional teams of the Railway Protection Force and railway police to prevent obstructions in the movement of trains, Mishra added.

In Bareilly, members of Dalit groups took out a rally to the district collectorate and held a meeting at two public parks.

Chairman of Dalit Sanrakshan Manch Dinesh Rahi alleged that the SC/ST Act was being diluted at the behest of the central government.

Protests were also held in Rampur, Pilibhit, Shahajahanpur and Badaun districts.

In Agra, members of Dalit groups gheraoed the collectorate and the SSP office and blocked Mahatma Gandhi road.

Protesters also set a bus of an engineering college on fire near Rawli crossing.

They also blocked a number of crossings but the worst affected was MG Road where protesters refused to budge despite assurances by SSP Amit Pathak.

Protests were also staged in Tundla town of Firozabad district.

(With inputs from HTCs in Kanpur/Varanasi/Gorakhpur and Bareilly)

YOGI, MAURYA APPEAL FOR PEACE

Lucknow: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday appealed to the people to maintain peace and said the central and state governments were committed to ensuring the welfare of SC/ST and backward classes.

I appeal to all to maintain peace and harmony, he said.

Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also appealed to the people not to get misled by those having vested interests.

He said the government would appeal against the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act but people should refrain from taking law into their hands.
Nearly 75% doctors in India have faced either verbal or physical violence during their lifetime, says a report of The Lancetone of the oldest medical journals in the worldquoting the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

The medical journal has pointed out that most of the cases of violence are due to patients death, inflated bills and sometimes behaviour of the doctors. The solution is that the government should regulate private health sector strictly and upgrade facilities in government hospitals.

According to the report, the health workers (doctors) in India have reached a breaking point in the wake of continuous physical attacks on them, says Dr PK Gupta, spokesperson for the IMA, Lucknow Chapter.

Its not a matter of pride for India that Lancet picked up such a scene of Indias health sector. Perhaps that is the reason why most of the young doctors are not interested in serving government hospitals. Junior doctors are more exposed to violence for they are the first responders. May be they are inexperienced in handling the patients relatives, adds Dr Gupta.

The Lancet report highlights the fact that funding of public health care has declined and passive privatisation has been encouraged this has caused stress on pockets of common man leading to brawls, says senior IMA member Dr Aleem Siddiqui.

He adds that it is important that the government begins spending more on public health care and regulate the private services. The 2017 Lancet report says that exorbitant medical bills often make the conflict between the patients kin and the hospital authorities inevitable.

The situation is so grave that West Bengal has even decided to make medical practitioners undergo martial arts training to fend off attacks, says Dr Siddiqui.

The doctors are soft target and so there are repeated attacks on them. Sometimes being under stress, some doctors misbehave with patients relatives but this does not justify violence against them. After violence, doctors often go on strike demanding a better security cover. However it is not good either and thats why the situation in the countrys health sector is worrying, says Dr Gupta.

Many hospitals like the KGMU have deployed security guards, police and bouncers to protect doctors on duty. This shows that there is a trust deficit between the patients and doctors because of inadequate health infrastructure, says IMA member Dr Pranjal Agarwal.

Lancet is one of the most reputed journals in the world and if that journal is highlighting some issue, then everyone must consider it seriously, says professor Rakesh Kapoor, director, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow.

The Lancet report also cited a 2016 study which said over 40 per cent of resident doctors in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi faced violence at work in the last one year.
Additional superintendent of police BP Ashok sent on Monday his resignation letter to President Ram Nath Kovind alleging dilution of the Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He also cited several other reasons for taking the step.

At present Ashok is posted at the training directorate, UP Police, Lucknow. He also sent a copy of the letter to director general of police OP Singh. The DGP office, however, said it did not receive Ashoks resignation letter.

The police officer also mentioned in his letter that women, schedule caste, schedule tribe, OBC and minorities had not been given adequate representation in higher judiciary. He also raised the issue of reservation in promotion.

Demanding end of interviews in all jobs, Ashok also demanded a stern law against the caste system.

Ashok has confirmed to newsmen sending the letter to the President.
It takes a lot of beer to make great wine.

Or so the old winemaking chestnut goes. These days, the inverse is becoming true, with wine making inroads into beer recipes themselves. (As adjuncts go, wine grapes are less strange than Lucky Charms, lobster, and actual paper money.)

The profile of the beer will usually be tailored to match the qualities of the [grape varieties] involved, says Brian Strumke, who founded Stillwater Artisanal Ales in 2010 with a mission to brew beer unique enough to compete with wine at the dinner table. The mash bill, yeast strains, whether we oak-age or dry-hopits all dependent upon the things were combining.

For Stillwater a pinot noir beer was the perfect candidate for oak-aging, while riesling and sauvignon blanc beers ended up getting dry-hopped. (As for which wine Strumke likes on its own? Anything bubbly, almost always something with skin contact, and the less filtered the better.)

These beer-wine hybrids often start with a saison farmhouse or sour ale as a base recipesomething that already has a bit of heft to stand up to those grapes. Sometimes the beer is co-fermented with them at the outset; other times itll get racked onto the fruit for extended fermentation and aging. The results are wildly unique, sometimes odd, and usually a delicious blurring of the lines.

Seek out the following bottles for your next cheese board situation.

Stillwater  Oude Bae (6.5% ABV)

A particularly successful Stillwater hybrid, Oude Bae is a sour amber ale aged on French oak with pinot noir grapes. Nicely tart and beautifully vinous, first sips reveal an appealing funk and richness atop a drinkable, tangy body. This one now comes in cans, making it the perfect grab for your next picnic.

Cantillon  Saint Lamvinus (5% ABV)

Brasserie Cantillon produces whats likely the most sought-after traditional Belgian lambic out there, but its Saint Lamvinus has a cult following all its own. (Beer nerds often insist a great lambics aging ability is akin to that of fine wine, so infusion with grapes is only logical.) Here, a blend of lambics are barrel-aged for more than a year with merlot grapes. It pours a brilliant burgundy hue, yielding intense fruit on the nose and oak on the palate.

Mikkeller  Riesling People (6.7% ABV)

Heres probably the most accessible beer-wine hybrid available right now: a new IPA brewed with riesling juice from Danish gypsy-brewing global power Mikkeller (soon opening its first New York brewpub at Citi Fieldmarking its 32nd location worldwide). This hoppy brew starts tropical-fruity and finishes with a sweet blast of grape.

Holy Mountain  Sacrament (8.5% ABV)

(breakfastbeerito/Instagram)

Seattles Holy Mountain produces some of the most reliably worthwhile farmhouse brews in the country. With Sacrament, its begun a foray into aging beer in oak on wine grapes. The first batch is a wheat-based ale aged and fermented on Carmenere grapes and skins from the Walla Walla Valley. The result has a fruity wine nose thats balanced by a tart, tannic astringency once you start tasting.

Jester King  Biere de Blanc du Bois (6.7% ABV)

(simplycdog/Instagram)

Bucolic Texas farmhouse Jester Kings recent output has been particularly grape-heavy, with beers utilizing merlot, sangiovese, and syrah varietals among others. Biere de Blanc du Bois is an especially acclaimed example. This barrel-aged sour is refermented with Texas-grown blanc du bois grapes after maturation. White wine complexity meets a fruity and woody tart backdrop.

TRVE  Ecate (5.5% ABV)

TRVE is citric, dry and fizzy. ((dr._robotnic/Instagram))

Rustic metal heads TRVE can always be counted on to churn out something worth tracking down, and Ecate is no exception. A golden sour aged on cabernet sauvignon pomace (the pulpy solid remnants of fruit after pressing for wine), this resourceful brew makes something beautiful out of whats essentially a leftover. Citric, dry, and terrifically fizzy.

Upright  Oregon Native (8% ABV)

A bottle of Oregan Native. ((raxh2o/Instagram))

Anyone whos had a chance to try beer from the Pacific Northwests jewel Upright knows the singular, jazzy pleasure its creations elicit. Oregon Native is one such truly brilliant offering. Barrel-fermented in collaboration with Patton Valley Vineyard, it uses pinot noir grapes and indigenous wine yeasts: Think the beautiful red fruit aroma typical of pinot, with a musty wood periphery. (Under its Sole Composition series, Upright has even released a version sans carbonation, which enhances the winy qualities of this hybrid gem.)

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The project is a year behind schedule, but 11 air quality monitoring stations will start functioning from May. The centres will provide real-time air updates to citizens about the quality of air in their localities.

HT had first reported on November 10, 2016, about the plan to construct these real-time air pollution monitoring stations across the city, eastern and western suburbs by April 2017, but the state pollution control board failed to acquire all amenities and begin construction on time.

Air quality experts said it is important to expand the air quality monitoring network in Mumbai because the current monitoring is extremely inadequate. A massive city like Mumbai cannot do with just two government run air quality stations (Sion and Bandra). Delhi currently has 30 such stations. Therefore, this is a right step and crucial because real-time data is important for developing a graded-response action plan, said Anumita Roy Choudhury, executive director, Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi.

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) said it has completed construction of the air quality monitoring stations and they are expected to start functioning from May 1. Apart from Mumbai, six other real-time air quality monitoring stations will be inaugurated in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), with one each at Thane, Navi Mumbai and Dombivli. Vasai and Pune will get two continuous air quality monitoring stations of its own. MPCB is developing a smartphone application and display boards, which will provide real-time air quality updates to citizens.

In all, 17 such stations will start functioning from May. Each of these stations will monitor PM2.5  small pollutant particles that can easily enter the lungs and cause respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses  as the lead pollutant, said P Anbalagan, member secretary, MPCB. We wanted to inaugurate stations in Mumbai from April 1, but owing to some technical snags it has been delayed.

While it is good that they are focusing on expanding the network, they need to simultaneously need to integrate these monitoring stations to a central reporting system, and disseminate the information. Based on this a comprehensive action plan needs to be developed and implemented as soon as possible, Choudhary said.

The details were released a day after HT reported that documents submitted by the Union environment ministry said that between 2014 and 2016, seven large industrialised cities around Mumbai had the highest concentration of two harmful air pollutants -- sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) -- in the country.
The police have prepared a 20-day plan to look for the mortal remains of murdered assistant inspector Ashwini Bidre-Gore in Vasai creek.

Gore, 37, a resident of Roadpali in Navi Mumbai, was posted with the Protection of Civil Rights Unit at Konkan Bhavan in Belapur. She went missing on April 11, 2016. Gore was allegedly murdered the same day and her body parts were thrown into the creek.

The police, along with the Indian Navy, searched the creek on March 5 and 6. With no success, the police took help from oceanographers. But in the absence of required equipment, they too couldnt help much. They gave references of a few private firms.

The police have roped in the private firms to get imported equipment for the operation. The operation will re-start in two to five days, a senior officer said.

Tushar Doshi, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said, The preparation for the second round of search operation is underway.

Raju Gore, husband of the deceased, said, The police told me they plan to carry out a 20-day operation.

The main accused, inspector Abhay Kurundkar, 52, was arrested on December 7, 2017. Between December 11 and February 27, the police arrested three more people, including Rajesh Patil, 44, nephew of BJP leader Eknath Khadse.
Though the Supreme Court has ruled that preliminary investigation should be completed before first information report (FIR) is registered on a complaint under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the complainant in the case says the concerns should be raised on the implementation of the Act instead of talking about its misuse. He has said that in his case, the authorities failed to implement the provisions of the Act.

Bhaskar Gaikwad, who was storekeeper at the Government College of Pharmacy at Karad in Satara district, had lodged a complaint at Karad in 2009 against his two superiors Satish Bhise and Kishor Burade alleging negative entries by them with malafide intention in his annual confidential report. An FIR was registered against them following the complaint.

After investigating the complaint, the deputy superintendent of police asked for the sanction of the authorities for prosecution of the two accused. The then director of technical education, Subhash Mahajan, refused the sanction.

Gaikwad objected to the same, saying Mahajan had no authority to give sanction or reject it as the sanctioning authority is the government. He filed another complaint against Bhise, Burade and Mahajan in March 2016 alleging that they conspired against him and Mahajans intention was to save the other two. An FIR was registered in this case too. Mahajan moved the Supreme Court, pleading for quashing of the petition against him.

When contacted by HT, Mahajan refused to comment on the matter.

In its March 20 order, the Apex Court said that a preliminary enquiry should be completed within seven days if a complaint is registered against any person. It has also added that pending preliminary enquiry it is not mandatory to arrest the accused booked under the SC/ST Act despite lodging of an FIR. The order says that if the accused is a government servant, it is mandatory for the police to seek permission from his recruiting authority for the arrest.

Gaikwad said that the order has diluted the provisions of the Act, despite the fact that the Act was not implemented in his case. Most of the time, the investigating officers try to defuse the case under pressure from influential persons from the upper castes during preliminary inquiry. In my case too, despite the Bombay high court denying Mahajans plea to quash the case, no action was taken against them. I have documents to prove that the law and judiciary department of the state government had asked the police to file the chargesheet, but nothing has happened so far. The implementation of the existing provisions should be the concern, he said.

The Supreme Courts March 20 order further adds, Needless to say that if the allegation is to be acted upon, the proceedings can result in arrest or prosecution of the person and have serious consequences on his right to liberty even on a false complaint, which may not be intended by law meant for protection of bonafide victim. The question is whether this will be just and fair procedure under Article 21 of the Constitution or there can be procedural safeguards so that provisions of SC/ST Act are not abused for extraneous considerations.
The Maharashtra government has ruled out reduction in state taxes to bring down spiralling petrol and diesel prices. The state government has written to the Centre for compensation if the latter wants the former to forgo state taxes.

State finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Tuesday said the state has written to the Center for the compensation. To reduce the spiraling petrol and diesel prices, we brought down the surcharge of Rs2 on petrol and Rs1 on diesel in October last year. It resulted in the annual loss of Rs3,067 crore. We will not be in a position to bear any more losses as other revenue sources have shrunk. We have written to the Centre to compensate the losses, if it wants the petrol and diesel prices to be reduced, he said.

The state government has reduced the surcharge on petrol and diesel last year after the Central government issued directives, amid the uproar. A few other BJP-led states had followed the Centre diktat.

The finance minister said it is true that the petrol and diesel rates in the state are highest in the country. Our State Goods and Sales Tax contribution in the country is the highest at 16%. The second highest contributor is Uttar Pradesh at 9%, which is behind us. If we are contributing at this scale, the Centre should consider to compensate us with the losses borne by us. Until the Centre compensate us, it will not be possible for us to think of reduction, he said.

The prices of petrol and diesel in Mumbai and Maharashtra are highest in the country. 38% to 48% of the petrol prices are attributed to the state and central taxes. The VAT and surcharge levied by the state on petrol and diesel are one of the highest in the country. In Maharashtra, the VAT is 24% and surcharge of Re 1 in urban areas including Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and 21% and Re1 in rural areas on diesel. The VAT and surcharge on petrol is 26% and Rs9 in urban areas and 25% and Rs9 in rural areas.

Reduction of the surcharge on petrol by Re 1 amounts to the annual loss of Rs450 crore to the exchequer. The reduction of surcharge by Re1 on diesel amounts to the annual loss of Rs900 crore.
Every district in Maharashtra is likely to get an air quality monitoring station after the monsoon, said officials from Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). Currently, Maharashtra has 78 air quality monitoring stations in 27 districts.

We will build 57 new monitoring stations in all the 36 districts by October, thus taking the tally to 135. These stations will be set up at district engineering colleges.

The money spent by MPCB on the new project is Rs. 25 crore  Rs1.5 crore for the 17 real-time air monitoring stations and Rs5 lakh on each of the 57 new stations.

With the addition of 11 new monitoring centres, Mumbai will have the largest air pollution measuring network among the metros in the state. The city already has 10 monitoring and forecasting centers built by System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) in 2015. In addition, five stations are operated by Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) Limited in Chembur industrial area and another two by MPCB in Bandra and Sion each.

Unlike data from Safar, which does not take into account external factors and at times does not provide absolute pollutant values, we have modelled the 17 stations in MMR and Pune on Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) standard protocols. The margin for error is almost negligible, said Anbalagan.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS speak

While the MPCB is upbeat about the new project, environmentalists raised speculations over its smooth implementation.

What we have witnessed over the years is that these stations function properly only for a few months. Secondly, online air monitoring systems across the world have shown errors as and when final values are being calculated. Rather than collating more data, MPCB has to come up with a concrete fuel policy that will reduce vehicular emissions. On the other hand, policies related to construction dust and open burning need to be floated for the entire state followed by implementation on the ground, said Vishwam Choudhari, PhD holder in environmental impact assessment and environmentalist from Pune.

Sumaira Abdulali, convener, Awaaz Foundation, said, We are at still at a preliminary stage of data gathering, whether it be air, noise or water pollution. While the effort by MPCB need to be acknowledged, it is still giving us theoretical data. Identifying the sources of pollution simultaneously while collating data will be more beneficial in developing and executing action plans to control air pollution.
Worried about being stuck in a stampede-like situation at Parel or Elphinstone Road station every day? By this month-end, your peak-hour train commute to and from these stations is set to get smoother.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Within a month, a new 15-car additional platform will be opened to public at Parel. This will take the number of platforms at Parel to three from the existing two and help decongest the overcrowded platform for slow trains. It will also help the authorities introduce trains starting from the station.

The work on the project, undertaken as part of the Parel terminus project worth Rs51 crore, picked up speed only after a stampede at Elphinstone Road station FOB killed 23 commuters last year.

Commuters will also get a new foot overbridge (FOB) to exit the station from the east. However, it will take another couple of months to use this FOB to get out from the west side and until October to use it to reach Elphinstone Road station. We plan to commission work on the new platform work by April- end, said Sunil Udasi, chief spokesperson of CR.

The new 12-m wide FOB, which will connect to the west of the station, is expected to be opened by June. The bridge will get a landing on an extended platform of Elphinstone Road station by shifting RRI (Route Relay Interlocking) cabin there. But that will take until October, said Ravinder Bhakar, chief spokesperson of WR.

CHANGE: WHAT HAS AND WHAT WILL

Elphinstone Road station on the western suburban corridor and Parel on the central suburban network are adjoining stations that connect the citys suburbs and the southern island city to the centre, an erstwhile mill land area that has now been transformed into a business and services hub.

While the footfall at these stations increased exponentially, infrastructure amenities have been poor, which led to the stampede on September 29, 2017.

According to CR officials, after commissioning the new platform at Parel, the Dadar-bound slow trains will be diverted to its left, closing the existing line. The new platform will be connected with the old one using four to five iron bridges. This will allow commuters to easily switch platforms and use old or new FOBs to reach the east or west of Elphinstone Road station.

The new FOB, which will connect the new platform to the stations exit on the east for now, will later be given landing on all platforms. Integrated landing is planned for the new FOB, in which staircase and lifts will be provided on one side, while escalators will come up on the other side, he said, adding the new FOB will be connected to Elphinstone ROB later through a skywalk. The land acquisition process is on.

The CR also plans to widen the existing slow line platform by 1.5m to the left, where a new railway track will be laid. This new track, where trains will be terminated, will enable railways to start new trains from here and disperse the crowd more efficiently. The yard will have to be remodeled for it. This will be done in the next phase. Two new siding lines will also come up between Parel and Dadar in this phase, said a senior CR official.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Meanwhile, the western railway has started linking the FOB to the west of the station. A block will be carried out for the work in April.

While the FOBs extension to the west will be inaugurated in June, the linkage to Elphinstone station is likely to be a more complicated and slower process. It will require shifting of RRI cabin  centre of operations for the entire section  to the west before the existing platform can be extended to provide the new FOB a landing.

Bhatkar said the WR will also demolish the staff quarter buildings outside the station to provide more circulating area. The overall plan includes widening of the south side landing of the existing FOB, opposite to the location where the stampede occurred, to allow easy movement of passengers.

The work is approved and will be completed by the end of the new financial year, he said.

So far, the army has already built a new FOB on the Dadar-end of Parel station, giving it access to the west. However, this is of limited utility to commuters, as it does not give relief to those accessing Parel and Elphinstone road stations.

The new Army FOB built within 117 days also cannot have a landing on the new platform because it is for end-to-end connections and cannot be cut in between.
Who had ever heard of Sambhaji Bhide before the Bhima Koregaon incident on New Years day this year? Bhide (real name Manohar Bhide) has been accused of inciting violence against Dalits who were celebrating two centuries of victory over the Peshwa army in 1818 and had been doing so peacefully every year for decades. But, obviously, following the silent Maratha morchas of last year, we should have been alert to the attempts to unleash a full scale caste war on Maharashtra and, perhaps, the country.

The Maratha morchas, after all, were only partially about reservations. After threatening full scale conflagration against the Maharashtra government in case that demand was not met, why is the community now sitting quiet? After speaking to many political scientists and observers, I am beginning to suspect that the real purpose of the Maratha morchas was not reservations per se, but the dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities ) Act of 1989 which now seems to have been somewhat achieved through the aegis of the Supreme Court ruling of March 20 that has raised much angst among Dalits nationwide. Even as a slightly nervous Union government made a belated attempt to seek a review of the ruling, there has been some quiet celebration among the supporters of Manohar alias Sambhaji Bhide, who also took to the streets to protest against the demand for his arrest by various Dalit groups in the state. Few outside of Sangli, his native turf, had heard of Bhide, seen as close to some NCP leaders from the region while the Democratic Front governments were in power until 2014. But Bhides sympathies clearly lay with the saffron forces and the bigotry in the octogenarian now being unleashed on the people is both surprising and alarming.

Even as chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has angered Dalits by giving him a clean chit, social media in Maharashtra is abuzz with a mantra penned by Bhide himself that refers to large sections of the people as mlechchas (sort of untouchables) and demanding a universal switchover of lingua franca from English to Sanskrit. The posts may seem innocuous but are clearly not. Sanskrit is a dead language today essentially because all non-Brahmins were barred from studying and making use of it in everyday life. Not being allowed to read Sanskrit meant that vast sections of the Indian population were kept from learning the scriptures and thus remained uneducated and open to exploitation by the upper castes, who interpreted the scriptures to suit themselves. Even as an Englishman, Lord William Jones, a judge in British India, broke the secrecy surrounding Sanskrit texts and brought them to the larger world beyond India, it is obvious why his own English tongue became the preferred medium of communication in the country. (At one time an English education was synonymous with modernity and liberal values; today, though, there are a million ways to be a bigot in English!) But when Bhide joins a mention of mlechchas to the abolition of English as the lingua franca, it is quite clear what might be afoot. Not too many Dalit leaders in Maharashtra might have made the connection and not too many outside the state would be aware of the existence of Bhide and his sinister game plan. While it is unlikely to succeed anytime now or in the future, given how aspirational India looks upon English as its lifeline to prosperity and success, what is of greater concern is the attempt to cut a large section of the people from the learning of the English language with mythological comparison of English as vish or poison to Dev vaani (Sanskrit) as amrit (nectar). In the same breath, in another verse, Bhide resolves to rid the Hindu community of mlechchas and says whoever takes up this aim of ridding the nation of its enemies will liberate the country forever. In a mix of Sanskrit and Marathi, the verses are written in a rather shloka style and but for the use of the word ingreji, which is a dead giveaway of its modern moorings, makes a fair try at turning the heads of people who might be gullible enough to fall for the trick of making them believe in their scriptural orientation.

In some ways, this is much worse than inciting people to violence at Bhima Koregaon and does merit a case for sowing seeds of discord between communities. But Bhide has patrons in high places. There is every likelihood that he will escape this offence too.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has directed its district leadership to join hands with the Sena in the nagar panchayat elections in Kankavali to be held on April 6.

The direction came after Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh (MSP) chief Narayan Rane filed his nomination as the BJP candidate for the Rajya Sabha election two weeks ago.

The polls for the 17-seat nagar panchayat in Kankavali tehsil have become a prestigious fight for Sena-BJP combine and Ranes party, which has joined hands with the Nationalist Congress Party.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP combine is pitted against the Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh (MSP) in the election.

The BJP fielded its candidate for the post of the Nagar Panchayat president, while the Shiv Sena, which has a stronghold in the district, conceded to fight on fewer seats. This is to ensure that the MSP does not win due to division of votes.

The district has been the citadel of Narayan Rane and assembly constituency of his younger son Nitesh, who is a sitting Congress MLA, over the MSPs fight against the BJP.

Rane has fielded his partys candidates in the Nagar Panchayat elections when he is a BJP MP. When he was being sworn in as member of the Rajya Sabha, his candidates were campaigning against the BJP in Kankavali. Nitesh Rane, who is a Congress legislator, is spearheading the campaign for MSP candidate, said a state-level BJP leader on condition of anonymity.

Rane, after being sworn in as a member of the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, said he would not merge his party with the BJP as the Shiv Sena is part of the state government.

BJPs Sindhudurg district chief Pramod Jathar said, The BJP and Shiv Sena joined hands to oppose Narayan Ranes mindset of the selfish politics. We joined hands after the CMs approval. The election process has established that the Ranes are not loyal to any party but are interested in safeguarding their own interest.

Nitesh Rane, however, has said it is a friendly fight between the BJP and the MSP and that they would come together in general elections. It would not be proper to say that the BJP and the Sena are fighting together as rift between two parties is at its peak. The local leaders of both the parties have come together with an aim to defeat us, he said.

Shiv Senas state leadership is not happy with the district leaderships decision of conceding the secondary role.

It is true that despite having a stronghold in the district, we are fighting on fewer seats. But we have come together to ensure that MSP is defeated, said Sena MLA Vaibhav Naik. Narayan.
Four men were arrested for allegedly robbing a senior citizen of cash and ornaments worth Rs4 lakh at her flat in Tardeo.

One of the robbers posed as a courier boy to gain entry into her flat, according to the Tardeo police. The police refused to reveal the identity of the absconding impersonator.

The robbers were helped by an insider, Gangadhar Shetty, 22, who works as a cook in the same building. The rest arrested accused were identified as Suresh Chand, 23; Arjun Rawal, 24; and Jitesh Nayak, 27. All of them are from Odisha and live in Dadar and Thane.

Virendra Mishra, deputy commissioner of Zone 3, said the police have recovered part of the booty. Rita Shroff, 69, lives with her husband Sharad Shroff, who is a doctor, on the third floor of Kaitty Terrace on Slater Road. The incident took place on March 6. Sharad left for the clinic at 9.45am.

At 1.15pm, Rita answered the doorbell and found a courier boy. Rita called her husband who told her that he has not ordered any item online.

The man requested for a glass of water. Rita opened the door and gave him the glass by opening the safety door. He pushed her back and gained entry into the house. His three partners, who were lying in wait, followed him, said an officer. The four men took her to the bedroom, and tied and gagged her at knife-point. They looted cash and ornaments worth Rs4lakh from the cupboards and fled.

Worried as his wife did not answer his phone calls, Sharad called his neighbour to check on her. The neighbour found Rita tied in a corner in the bedroom. He informed Sharad and the police.

The society does not have CCTV cameras. The accused escaped in two taxis. They changed taxis and local trains a number of times. In Dadar, a CCTV camera installed in a shop captured the accused. The four men were finally arrested a few days ago from Vashi, said the officer.

Shetty works as cook in the same building. He had given a tip-off to the accused about the routine of the couple. One accused is still wanted in the case, said Arun Thorat, assistant inspector of Tardeo police station. All accused are in police custody till April 5.

For complaints, senior citizens can call special helpline 1090 or police control room number  22621855, 22621983, 22625020, 22641449 and 22620111.

65-yr-old kills husband over affairs

A 75-year-old man was allegedly killed by his wife over his extra-marital affairs in Chembur on Sunday. She was arrested.

Chottelal Maurya, a resident of Krishna Menon chawl on PY Thorat Road in Chembur, lived with his wife Dhanudevi, 65. He is survived by two daughters and four sons. One of the sons lives in Dubai, while the rest are in Mumbai and Thane. The doctors said he was hit on his forehead with a blunt object, which was possibly used only once, said Vijay Khaire, senior inspector of Tilak Nagar police station. Doctors told police that there was a deep gash on his forehead. Based on the observation of the doctors and the post mortem report, the Tilak Nagar police registered a murder case on Monday.

The police zeroed on Dhanudevi. It was revealed that nobody entered the house from outside, said Shahji Umap, deputy commissioner of police,Zone 6. Today she (Dhanudevi) confessed the crime and said that she did this because of his illicit relations with two women. She hit him with a paver block when he was sleeping after lunch.

The Maurya couple owns four shops and live in a room above them. The couple also sold onions and potatoes on a handcart near their house.

Dhanudevi had earlier cooked up a story stating that she had left the house after serving him food to visit the tailor shop located beneath their room. When she returned in around 40 minutes, she found him lying in a pool of blood and raised an alarm.
A sessions court on Tuesday rejected the discharge plea of six jail staffers booked for the murder of inmate Manjula Shetye in Byculla jail

The six accused  jailer Manisha Pokharkar, and constables Bindu Naikade, Waseema Shaikh, Shital Shegaonkar, Surekha Gulve and Aarti Shingne  had moved sessions for discharge on a technical ground of delay in granting sanction by the government to prosecute them.

As per the rule, to prosecute any government official, the investigating agency has to obtain a sanction from the government. In case of the jail staff, the state government had recently granted sanction to prosecute six jail employees, who have been charge-sheeted in the murder of inmate Manjula Shetye at Byculla womens prison in June last year.

However, the defence said that the prosecution sanction has come late. The defence claimed that sanction was granted after the crime branch filed a charge sheet in the magistrate court. At the time when the court took cognisance of the charge sheet, there was no prosecution sanction against the accused, said the defence. The plea was opposed by special public prosecutor Vidya Kasle. The court rejected the contention of the defense and rejected the plea.
A retired chief justice of Kerala high court, justice AV Savant, will head the three-member panel appointed by the Bombay high court (HC) to probe the fire at Kamala Mills compound that claimed 14 lives. Retired bureaucrat K Nalinakshan and architect Vasant Thakur will be members of the committee.

A bench of justice Shantanu Kemkar and justice Makrand Karnik on Monday approved the names and the terms of reference for the committee, which has been ordered to submit its report by August 31.

According to the terms of reference approved by the bench on Monday, the committee will look at whether the mill land owners or owners of two roof-top restaurants where the fire started breached conditions mentioned in the no-objection certificate granted by fire officer or health officer of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, or the building permissions, and whether the breaches were the immediate cause of the fire and culpability of the owners.

The panel will also inquire as to whether there were any violations of development control regulations, illegal consumption of the floor space index in development of the mill land and the change of use of the mill land from industrial to residential use. The panel will recommend measures to avoid repetition of such unfortunate incidents in the future and steps to ensure fire safety compliance in the city.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by former Mumbai police commissioner, Julio Rebeiro, through advocate Ashish Mehta. The retired IPS officer has sought a comprehensive fire safety audit of every eatery in Mumbai and formation of a special investigation team to investigate the FIR registered with the NM Joshi Marg police station in connection with the fire.

Rebeiro has also sought setting up of a judicial commission to inquire into the illegalities purportedly committed inside the mill compound, and to hold errant civic officials responsible and take appropriate action against them.

Acting on the PIL, on February 17, the high court had ordered setting up of the three-member panel to look into the genesis of the unfortunate incident, the people responsible for the incident and to suggest changes in licensing conditions to avoid such tragedies.

The Maharashtra government had accordingly suggested the names of a retired high court judge, an architect and a town-planning expert.
Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam, on Tuesday, demanded a scrutiny by the Maharashtra State Regulatory Commission (MERC) in the deal which took place between Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) and Adani Transmission Ltd. Nirupam said that he will soon be writing a letter to the MERC chairman, stating that the deal should not increase power tariff in Mumbai.

Read more: Adani Gas will not take IPO route, plans direct listing of shares

Nirupam, in a press conference, alleged that Adani Transmission is already in debt, owing to which the deal would result in an increase in tariff, further affecting consumers.

He said, Adani Transmission will ask MERC to increase tariff. I already have a letter from the MERC chairman which clearly states that RInfra has asked for a mid-term revision.

In December, RInfra signed an agreement with Adani Transmission to sell its Mumbai power business to the latter for Rs18,800 crore. RInfra has also filed a petition with MERC to transfer the same business to Adani Transmission.

When contacted, RInfra declined to comment. Despite repeated attempts, representatives of the Adani group were also not available for a comment.
The citys incredibly dirty railway tracks have been getting a long-overdue cleaning.

For a while now, commuters travelling on the Central Railways (CR) main and harbour lines have been seeing excavators along the tracks removing garbage that has been lying on the sides of railway lines for years.

In the past six months, the CR has cleared 50,000 cubic metres of trash between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Kalyan, a 53km route. Similarly, on the harbour line, 30,000 cubic metres of garbage have been removed along the 21km stretch between CSMT and Mankhurd station.

Thrice a week, this garbage is loaded on to trains that CR officials refer to as the muck special, deployed exclusively to cart the trash and debris away from the city.

From October till date, 6,500 truckloads of garbage have been taken away.

To prevent the tracks and areas around them from getting filthy again, CR has also been constructing metal and concrete barricades along tracks so that people who live in the area cant toss their waste on to the railway property.

We have successfully removed most of the garbage from CSMT, Masjid Bunder, and other stations towards the Thane end of central line. Also, work is in progress to clear trash from Kurla, Sandhurst Road, Kings Circle and Mahim stations, as well as a few stations on the harbour line, said Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer, CR. We are removing trash by deploying railway wagons and rakes of local trains. When railway operations are shut down [between 1.30am and 4.30am], we use the excavator to load the trash on to these wagons. Wherever the machine cannot reach, the bags are being filled manually and loaded on the train.

You can see thousands of trash-filled bags piled up neatly along rail lines for disposal.

For construction debris, the CR has identified sites along both the central and harbour lines, where muck is dumped regularly as a filling activity, said Udasi. For garbage, we are using some spots in Vashi and near Parsik tunnel close to Thane. We collect the waste there, segregate it and send it to the municipal corporation dumping ground.

Citizens groups that have been trying to draw the railways attention to the stinking, dirty suburban rail corridors are happy to see that their efforts have made a difference. Dharmesh Barai from the group Environment Life organised a Twitter campaign last May to draw the railways attention, and identified 10 of the dirtiest spots across the city. In December, CR finally reacted by announcing that it had started a full-fledged clean-up drive, and that it had cleared 35,000 m3 of trash from October to December.

Since February 2017, HT has been reporting consistently on the problems commuters face because of all the filth strewn along railway lines.

Commuters are all praise for the clean-up programme, but say the situation will improve further if the state government and the civic bodies concerned get their act together. Unauthorised structures at various spots along all three railway lines are the main reason for this filth. It is the responsibility of the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to remove such structures. Residents from these illegal slums and other encroachments dump their garbage on the tracks. The BMC has failed in this regard, said Lata Argade, vice-president, Suburban Railway Passengers Association. Railway officials get only a few hours, between 1.30am and 4.30am, to clean the tracks. To have removed 6,500 truckloads is commendable.

People also need to do their bit, Argade pointed out. Apart from blaming any authority, it is our responsibility as citizens to ensure a clean environment for travel, and by ignoring this, we are putting our own lives in danger.

To maintain this cleanliness and ensure that it does not become a problem again, both commuters and people living near the tracks have to stop littering, railway officials said. We are devoted to ensuring a clean atmosphere along railway tracks, the station area and its vicinity, for which, we earnestly request citizens to be more proactive and sensitive, Udasi said.

Public awareness has to be increased, not only by the railways but also by civic authorities. There should be a proper solid waste management system for slums adjoining railway tracks. Also, adequate drainage systems need to be built so that sewage water does not enter the tracks, he added.

Over the past five years, CR has constructed barricades or walls along 39km of tracks on the main and harbour lines. The latest stretches to be barricaded are along Dharavi  between Sion and Matunga stations - and a 200-metre stretch at Sandhurst Road. This is to ensure that residents stop dumping garbage on tracks and commuters stop crossing tracks, Udasi said.

Citizens are sceptical about the barricades solving the garbage problem. Barai pointed out that in areas where barricades have been constructed, the BMC must ensure that slum settlements or even permanent houses dont build extensions higher than the barricades. Otherwise, this exercise will be futile, he said.

Some commuters believe that the need of the hour is to form committees at zonal levels. From absolutely zero effort 20 years ago to developing a strategy to remove trash, CR has come a long way. But if trash is removed, more will be dumped at the same spot, said Subhash Gupta, president of Rail Yatri Sangh, Mumbai, and member of National Railway Users Consultative Committee. He suggests that committee be formed, comprising BMC zonal officers, one railway official, railway protection force and police officials, and a Maharashtra Pollution Control Board official, to monitor garbage hotspots. If need be, fine citizens, Gupta said.

BMC officials said they have conducted awareness drives at slums along the entire western line, and that the activity has been underway along the central line for the past two years. Through our segregation-at-source model, we have been able to convince slum settlements to collect, segregate and send trash separately as dry and organic waste to city dumpers. We have reached out to more than 2,500 slum settlements along railway tracks, and the process will continue. We are open to suggestions from railway authorities regarding specific hotspots, said a senior official from the BMCs solid waste management department, who did not wish to be named.

Our goal is to have litter-free tracks, and our efforts will continue till we achieve it. Keeping in mind the health of our citizens, we have a long way to go, said Udasi.
On World Health Day, Mumbai will get its second de-addiction treatment center (DTC). The facility will be inaugurated at GT Hospital on Saturday. Psychiatrists heading the project said the new facility will also help bring down the number of petty crimes fueled by substance abuse.

Dr Mukund Tayade, medical superintendent of GT Hospital, which is run by the state public health department, said, a dedicated DTC center will help them focus on patients suffering psychological and physiological impacts of substance abuse and offer specialised treatment funded by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

We will have a dedicated psychologist  a post that wasnt previously sanctioned for the existing DTC center  to counsel patients daily. Though we might come under KEM Hospitals nodal center initially, we will soon seek autonomy once patient flow increases, said Tayade.

Dr Sarika Dakshita, assistant professor of psychiatry department at GT Hospital and consultant psychiatrists for inmates of Byculla jail, said the rate of petty crimes related to substance abuse is quite high. But she said the number can decrease through dedicated DTC centers.

Currently, there is no budgetary provision for the project. However, the ministry offers financial assistance for paying salaries, medication and screening kits, which include expenses for DTC center. Through this centre, we hope to lessen the number of crimes related to substance abuse, said Dr Dakshita.

Existing centre at KEM Hospital

Set up in 1992, DTC center at KEM Hospital was the only dedicated in-patient care unit for substance abuse patients in the city until recently. The 30-bedded unit has an out-patient count of 150, including new and follow-up cases.
A nine-year-old girl from Thane was electrocuted to death while sitting on an iron staircase on Monday.

The police have booked a Maharashtra State Electricity Board ( MSEB ) wireman, Datta Patil.

The victim, Siddhi Gupta, a resident of Lokmanya Nagar, was sitting on the staircase, when she suddenly screamed. When her neighbours heard her, they ran out and saw her trying to stand up, but she was not able to. The locals then tried to pull her out using wooden sticks and slippers. By the time they pulled her out she was unconscious," said a police officer from Vartak Nagar police station.

Gupta was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. "The residents from Lokmanya Nagar alleged that she died because of the MSEB wiremans negligence, who started wiring work around their houses without intimating them. They also claimed that the wiring was faulty and led to a short circuit on Monday evening, but MSEB didnt bother to repair it, said P Girdhar, senior police inspector from Vartak Nagar police station.

Locals who came in contact with the electric shock immediately moved to a safer side, but the girl, who was playing on staircase, could not do so. "Soon after she was pronounced dead, around 100 people reached the police station and filed an FIR against the wireman. After that, we took Gupta's familys statement and registered a case under Section 304 (a) (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code against Datta Patil," said Girdhar.
A 25-year-old woman, who was six months pregnant, fell into an 800-feet deep gorge while walking on the railway tracks in Matheran on Sunday afternoon.

She got stuck in the foliage around 80 feet below, and was later rescued by a local rescue team and admitted to a hospital nearby. She was later shifted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai and is said to be out of danger now. The police said that they are trying to find out if her husband was behind the incident.

According to police, Vijaya and Suresh Pawar, 33, residents of Churchgate had tied the knot around nine months ago. Both of them were married earlier and have kids from previous spouses.

On Sunday, the couple had gone to Matheran to visit Kare Ganpati temple. To reach the temple, which is on the upper side of the terrain, they were walking on the tracks of the toy train. That was when the woman fell, said Shivaji Dhawale, police sub-inspector from Neral police station.

We received a call around 2.15pm from a local who informed us about the incident. With the help of local rescue teams, the woman was rescued from the gorge. She suffered injuries on her back, but the baby is safe, he said.

When she was being taken to the hospital, the woman said that her husband had pushed her into the gorge while they were walking along the tracks. However, on reaching JJ Hospital, she told doctors that it was an accident, Dhawale said.

While her husband is a driver with Mantralaya, she is part of the housekeeping staff.

Doctors from JJ Hospital said that Vijaya was admitted on Monday with head injuries.

We performed a CT scan, which didnt show any complications to the skull and she only needed stitches. However, we have kept her under observation, said doctors from JJ Hospital.

She has also suffered minor injuries on her hands and back but she is deemed stable.

Doctors said surprisingly, no complications were reported to her foetus even after the fall.

The police have not registered any case so far, as they have not received any complaint against the husband.

Once she is stable, we will take the womans statements and will decide the next course of action. We are also trying to get more details from the couples relatives, another police officer said.
As the Central government on Monday requested a sessions court to not share travel records of Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, before he was arrested at the Delhi airport on June 21, 2012.

In the sessions court hearing the attacks case, the counsel for the Centre claimed the information if revealed will be dangerous to security and integrity of the country. The government has maintained that Jundal was arrested with a fake passport when he arrived at the Delhi airport. As per the record, Jundal was booked by the Delhi special cell for fake passport.

However, according to the charge sheet by Mumbai crime branch against Jundal in the 26/11 case, he was brought to India after obtaining emergency passport from Delhi.

To prove that Jundal was brought back to India from Saudi Arabia by three officials, defence lawyer Wahab Khan had sought flight details. It was claimed that Jundal was brought back through a private airline.

The airline had submitted the details before the court on Monday. However, before the court could give copies, the counsel for central government, Hiten Venegaokar, moved a handwritten plea seeking privilege on the record. If the court accepts the government argument, the information will remain confidential.The defence was denied access to the record till the hearing on the plea filed by the government.

The court will hear the matter next week.
After complaints from Bachelor in Mass Media (BMM) students about their exam dates clashing with the ATKT (Allowed To Keep Terms) exams, the University of Mumbai released a new schedule for semester six exams on Tuesday, which stretches over three weeks. Semester six will be their last examination.

Over the next few weeks, those students who have to appear for ATKT - a scheme where a student who failed in a semester can repeat the exam in the next term - will not have to sit for two exams on a single day.

We have exactly seven subjects and this can easily be conducted within ten days. However, in their effort to not overlap our exams with ATKT papers, we will now have to wait for three weeks to finish seven papers, said a student from a Malad college. She added that BMM semester six students will now have exams from April 18 to May 7.

Last week, a group of teachers from BMM colleges had visited the examinations department of the university to complain about the overlapping exam dates. They were told that university can change semester six schedule, but cant make any changes to the semester five ATKT exam schedule. According to the previous schedule, BMM exams were supposed to get over by April end but now, with an added week, many students are forced to cancel their holidays because they cannot skip exams, said the vice principal of a college.

An official from the university said the changes to the exam schedule are final. Weve changed the schedule in a way that no student has to appear for two exams on the same day. Students have no reason to complain anymore, said an official.
Police on Tuesday arrested a 21-year-old woman in Ghaziabad who killed her mother as she objected to her lesbian relationship with her teacher.

On March 9, Rashmi Ranas father Satish Kumar lodged an FIR at Kavi Nagar police station against his daughter and her teacher Nisha Gautama for battering his wife Pushpa Devi with an iron rod which later caused her death.

Police arrested Rana and Gautama from Ghaziabad railway station on Tuesday. During interrogation, Rana confessed that her mother opposed the union and constantly tortured her over it.

Fed up with the objections, Rana and her teacher killed Pushpa Devi by battering her with an iron rod who died due to serious head injuries, said superintendent of police (city) Akash Tomar.

Devis husband, Satish, was not in the house during the incident.

The duo has been sent to jail, said Tomar.
The Jharkhand Police have nabbed from neighbouring Bihars Supaul district two Class 10 students who allegedly managed to get copies of the leaked maths question paper of the Central Board of Secondary Education.

The two boys, who studied at a private school in Patna, were taken away late Monday evening from Kamrail village where they had gone to meet their mother, police said on Tuesday.

The Jharkhand Police have taken away the two students with them. We have no further information, Supaul superintendent of police Mritunjay Kumar Chaudhary said.

The two, residents of a village in Khagaria district, were believed to have got the maths question paper through WhatsApp, sources said, adding they were traced through their cellphone location.

The CBSE on Tuesday said there would be no re-test for Class 10 students, reversing an earlier decision that had 1.2 million students worried. The countrys biggest school board, however, is going ahead with the re-exam for Class 12 economics student as that question paper was also leaked.

The two boys met the paper leak kingpin, who they identified as Prince, at the private lodge they shared in Patna. It was Prince who sent them the question paper, sources said.

The Jharkhand Police were looking for Prince and questioning his father, they said. The Jharkhand Police have made some arrests in the Class 10 paper leak case and suspect it to be an inter-state racket with connections to Bihar and Delhi.
A constable was shot dead near a court in Bihars Hajipur on Tuesday while he was escorting a juvenile undertrial, who escaped with the assailant on a bike.

The constable, Ram Iqbal Ravidas was shot at in front of the juvenile justice board (JJB) on the busy Kutchery Road at Vaishali district headquarters, Hajipur, 20 km north of Patna, around 9.30 am.

Police said Ravidas suffered three bullet wounds and was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him dead.

The assailant also fired a few gunshots in the air to scare onlookers.

Police have launched a manhunt to nab the shooter and the juvenile delinquent who was being taken to the JJB to ascertain his age in connection with a loot case in an electronic shop in Hajipur in 2016, town police station SHO Sunil Kumar said.

Ravidas was a resident of Dhanarua village in Patna district.
A five-year-old died of suffocation on Monday evening after being locked inside a car in Chakan, Pune. The child was identified as Karan Pandey, a resident of Kharabwadi area of Chakan.

The incident came to light nearly six hours after the child is believed to have been locked inside the car. However, he had already breathed his last when he was found. He was rushed to the nearest hospital, but could not be revived.

According to police, the unused car got locked after the child entered it. He may have entered the car while playing and got locked inside the car, constable SK Pawar of Chakan police station said. However, the father of the child believes that the child was killed. There were red (burn) marks on his legs, hands, face and he was frothing from his mouth. Someone has killed my child and kept him in the car, said Akhilesh Siyaram Pandey, the boys father, while speaking to the media.

The doctors have reserved the viscera in the case and we are awaiting the post mortem report to confirm the cause of death, said constable S Gawari of Chakan police station. Kunal entered the car at around 12 noon and was found at around 6 pm-6.30 pm, according to police.

The cars registration number is MH12W8447and is registered in the name of a man identified as Shivaji Shinde. The car had been parked in the area for weeks.

His death was recorded as an accidental death by the Chakan police station under Pune rural police jurisdiction at 8.50 pm. The information was provided to the police by the childs father after the hospital reported it to the police. Constable Pawar is investigating the case.

The Pandey family resides in Jambhukar Vasti area of Kharabwadi, Chakan, where the car was parked. Akhilesh holds a private job while his wife is a housewife. The couple also has a six-month-old daughter.
The Lohegaon airport seems to be emerging as a favourite destination for gold smugglers going by the increasing number of gold smuggling cases on Pune-Dubai route being registered by the customs department. On March 21, customs sleuths had nabbed a passenger who arrived on a Spice Jet flight from Dubai and seized gold plates worth Rs17.57 lakh from his possession. The suspect has been identified as Mohammad Irfan Shaikh, a resident of Trombay who was on a tourist visa to Dubai. The customs department had found him to have concealed the gold in a maze of fancy hair clips, attractive hair bands and key chains. He was caught by the sleuths due to his suspicious movement, as he was crossing the green channel. The customs department also found gold plates concealed in corrugated boxes hidden in his check-in luggage.

In 2017, gold estimated to be around 3 crores was aggregately seized while 2018 has also witnessed two cases of passengers getting caught with gold.The total seizure has been estimated to be worth Rs 34 lakh till date. Interestingly, the customs sleuths last Tuesday arrested a Chennai resident Jumma Khan on charges of illegally importing 76,000 cigarette sticks estimated to be of worth Rs 10 lakh.He had flown to Pune via Air India flight IX 212, they said.

Customs officials privy to the investigation, requesting anonimity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said that import duty on gold upto ten per cent has escalated incidents of gold smuggling. The precious metal is available at low cost in Dubai where the smugglers can save anywhere between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 3 .50 lakh on 1 kg gold bought in. These people who work in the form of an organised syndicate smuggle gold from Dubai to India by air routes and other routes. They actually act as courier delivery people. The gold consignments are then handed over to receivers marked in the regional cities of India from where the gold is sent to the final destination. The customs department has revealed that Pune is considered a crucial transit point by gold smugglers located in Mumbai and southern India.

According to the customs department, passengers arriving from Dubai by air at Lohegaon airport with gold must be prepared beforehand to declare it to customs authorities at the green channel . Dubai has become the strategic location from where non resident Indians(NRIs) are buying gold to be ferried to India. Customs officers at the airports are very well aware of this trend and passengers arriving on flights coming from Dubai are screened more diligently and meticulously by the customs authorities.

In a bid to check gold smuggling, the government offers rewards to informers who provide important and relevant information which might lead to seizure of gold , goods, currency or to different types of detection of Indian customs duty evasion. Currently informers are entitled to rupees 50,000 per kilogram of gold if the information they provide helps the customs sleuths nabs gold smugglers. The reward offered on gold, is far more than the reward offered even on drugs. The reward to informers for silver is Rs 1,000 per Kg, for opium its Rs 220 per Kg, for heroin it is Rs 20,000 per Kg and for cocaine it is Rs 40,000/- per Kg. and for hashish it is Rs 400 per kg.

According to the customs department , the maximum number of gold catches involved gold plates being coated with rhodium which temporarily converts the metal to temporary steel and makes it very difficult to detect when passed through the sophisticated x-ray scanners at the airport.The customs department ensures that such types of metals when detected must be physically examined. The smugglers also take advantage of festive seasons when there is higher demand for gold, customs officials stated.

The airport intelligence unit (AIU) too has been keeping a close tab on suspicious passengers and using sophisticated technology of passenger profiling to generate analytics and keep a check on gold smuggling and custom duty evasion from the national security point of view.

Deputy commissioner (Pune International Airport) Bharat Nawale has stated that there is a lucrative reward scheme for the informers providing information regarding smuggling and/or sale of narcotics and tax evasion. The information may be provide to the deputy commissioner (preventive) Mahesh Patil at 020-26051846.
Around 5,000 people have been booked by the Punjab Police for blocking highways and creating disturbance during the Mondays Bharat Bandh called by Dalit outfits against the alleged dilution in the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court.

Over 3,500 unidentified people have been booked in the Doaba region alone, which covers Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur districts, with a strong Dalit presence.

As many as 29 FIRs have been registered by the police in the region, including 19 in Jalandhar, five in Kapurthala, three in Nawanshahr and two in Hoshiarpur.

Cases have been registered under Sections145 (unlawful assembly), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), 431 (mischief by injury to public road, bridge, river or channel) and relevant sections of the National Highways Act, 1956 against the unidentified protesters.

The Jalandhar commissionerate police have booked FIRs against over 1,000 people for blocking NH-1 at various points.

The Jalandhar rural police also booked at least 1,000 people for holding a protest on the national highway.

In Kapurthala, five FIRs have been registered against over 600 unidentified people for blocking highways.

The Hoshiarpur police have registered two cases against about 500 unidentified people for blocking Jalandhar- Pathankot highway.

The Nawanshahr police registered three FIRs against about 550 people on charges of blocking highways at various places.

Police said that they would identify the protesters from recorded video footages and CCTV cameras installed at nearby locations.

Jalandhar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar and Nawanshahr SSP Satinder Singh said that cases have been registered unidentified people for blocking highways and causing inconvenience to commuters.

In Ludhiana, the police booked nearly 1,000 persons and lodged 15 cases against unidentified protesters.

Commissioner of police RN Dhoke said, Over 1,000 protesters have been booked who protested in various parts of the city. We will be investigating to ascertain the identity of the accused.

300 booked in Amritsar

In Amritsar, around 300 people were booked for Mondays blockades.The civil lines police of the district booked around 200 unidentified persons while the rural police of the district booked around 100 persons, including 16 by names.

200 booked in Ferozepur

As many as 200 unidentified people were booked in Ferozepur for indulging in vandalism at the office of divisional regional manager of the Northern Railways.
No violence was reported in the tricity during the Bharat Bandh called by the Dalit community to protest against dilution of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, but the city remained virtually cut off from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab with trains and inter-state bus services cancelled and mobile internet services were blocked. Taxis and autos making hay too harried commuters attempted to get to work on Monday and others tried to leave the city.

As thousands of policemen were deployed and several nakas set up, protests were organised in Lalru, Banur, Kharar, Dera Bassi and Kurali by the members of SC/ST organisations.

Heavy traffic jams were also witnessed from Zirakpur to Hallomajra Chowk from where the vehicles were diverted.

Six trains were cancelled and out of the 600 long route buses only 43 operated. Chandigarh Transport Union buses (CTU) too ran in the city but these did not venture out to neighbouring Panchkula and Mohali.

The six trains that were cancelled were the Amritsar-Chandigarh Express 12412, Amritsar-Nangaldam 14505, Amritsar-Jaynagar Express 14650, New Delhi Amrtitsar Shatabdi Express 12013, Amritsar New Delhi Shatabdi Express 12014, Jaipur-Chandigarh 19717/19718.

The Kalka-Ambala Shuttle waited for an hour at the Chandigarh Railway Station, which had long queues from morning to late evening at the booking counters. The Paschim Express 12925 had a 90-minute wait at Haryana and even the Chandigarh-Jaipur intercity was delayed for more than hour, to be short-terminated later.

A number of railway passengers complained on social media about the delays.

One of the passengers, Rohit Kansra, said, Train 12411 stopped at Lal Kallan station near Ludhiana and an announcement was made later that it was cancelled. As roads were blocked, people were advised to go back to Mohali or Chandigarh. We faced a lot of problems.

Passengers also remained stranded at the Sector 17 Inter-State Bus Terminus as just 43 buses operated out of 600 long route buses to Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and other cities. Punjab Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) buses too did not operate from the Mohali Bus Stand.

Even the much-popular Volvo service was hit badly as just 10 out of 40 buses left for Delhi and other cities. Services, however, resumed after 5 pm on Monday.

Meanwhile, cab drivers travelling between Chandigarh and Delhi made a killing, charging Rs 3,800 to Rs 3,900 for a one-way Chandigarh-Delhi trip that otherwise costs just Rs 2,500 to Rs 2,700.

As mobile internet services remained suspended in Mohali and Zirakpur; locals were unable to book cabs to commute to work, as a result of which auto-rickshaws did brisk business. Many radio taxis in Mohali too had problems locating passengers .

Zirakpur resident Ashok Kumar, who works at a private firm in Mohali, said, I faced a lot of problems today to reach work. Also, as internet services were suspended, I was unable to book a cab. Finally I had to hire an auto to reach Chandigarh from where I booked a cab for Mohali.

Manpreet Bharaj, a doctor working in Mohali, said, she had booked a cab through her sister in Panchkula, but the driver was unable to trace her location as his internet was not working. I had to hire an auto-rickshaw and shell out more to reach home, she said.

Ashish Kansal, a local resident, said, My relatives had come to the city to consult a doctor in Mohali, but we faced problems as bus services were suspended and we had to take auto-rickshaws that were asking for high fares.

Ankit Sharma, a Mohali resident said, I had to take leave from work as there was no transport facility here in the city. I work at IT park, but it was difficult to commute without a bus.
Boko Haram killed at least 20 people and wounded scores of others in coordinated attacks on a military camp and villages around the flashpoint northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, which they also tried to infiltrate across a defensive trench, officials said Monday.

The brazen operation -- which unfolded around the very city where Boko Haram was born -- turned the spotlight on the authorities struggle to quell the jihadists nearly nine-year-old offensive.

Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base in the Cashew Plantation area at the entrance to the city with suicide bombers, mortars and guns, leading to a prolonged battle, a senior military officer in Maiduguri said.

Eighteen Boko Haram terrorists on foot attacked the military base while seven suicide bombers targeted residents of nearby Bale Shuwar and Alikaranti villages at 8:50 pm (1950 GMT), said the officer, who asked not to be identified as he was not authorised to speak about the incident.

The terrorists fired mortars at troops, the officer said.

Bello Dambatto, chief security officer at the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told AFP that an initial death toll of 18 had risen to 20 after two people died in hospital from their wounds.

We are not sure if the remaining 82 wounded victims will make it. Some of them are in critical condition and will require major surgery from their wounds, which are mostly from gunshots.

Dead bodies are brought to a hospital after a suspected Boko Haram attack on the edge of Maiduguri's inner city, Nigeria April 2, 2018. (REUTERS)

Huge blasts, gunfire

One soldier was among the dead, the army said in a statement, which added that it had killed six insurgents and neutralised seven suicide bombers.

The attackers were trying to infiltrate into the city, said BaKura Abba Ali, a militia leader in the area helping soldiers in fighting Boko Haram.

The assailants climbed up a trench that had been dug in the sand round the city to stave off Boko Haram suicide and gun attacks, and attacked troops, Ali said.

Maiduguri residents reported hearing at least five explosions and sounds of gunfire coming from the Cashew Plantation area.

Huge blasts and sounds of gunshots were heard all over the city last night and they continued for more than an hour, said one resident, Ibrahim Gremah.

The UN said it strongly condemns the deadly combined attack and, citing local sources, gave a toll of at least 34 civilians killed and 90 wounded.

Boko Harams nearly nine-year fight to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has claimed at least 20,000 lives and displaced more than two million people.

Hundreds of thousands are holed up in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, where they are living in camps or with host families.

On Friday, four girl suicide bombers aged between 13 and 18 killed two people in multiple attacks in Zawuya settlement on the outskirts of Maiduguri in the first assault since the government announced it was in ceasefire talks with Boko Haram.

The attacks highlight the challenge the government faces in striking a ceasefire agreement with the jihadist group.

In February, when more than 100 schoolgirls were returned to Dapchi after being kidnapped by Boko Haram, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said his government was offering amnesty to repentant jihadists.

Major headache

But the process is troubled by factionalism within Boko Haram, say senior security officials.

The group is divided into two factions that have competing goals and operational methods.

One, led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi and affiliated with the so-called Islamic State, is reportedly in talks with the government. The other, led by Abubakar Shekau, is notorious for suicide bombings.

Talks have been ongoing between the government and the insurgents from the Al-Barnawi faction, said a source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The source said peace talks began in earnest after the July 2017 attack on an oil exploration team in Lake Chad that killed at least 69 people.

The major headache now is extending the talks to the Shekau faction which is averse to negotiations. Dealing with them is quite problematic.
The information and broadcasting ministry on Tuesday dropped a controversial press statement that said journalists found guilty of writing or broadcasting fake news would lose their government accreditation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervened to scrap the statement, which journalists and opposition parties described as an effort to control the press ahead of a general election due by next year.

Co-opted by US President Donald Trump, the term fake news has quickly become part of the standard repertoire of leaders in several countries to describe media reports and organisations critical of them. Fake news and disinformation campaigns are real threats, but often, measures undertaken by governments are aimed at curbing press freedom in the guise of cracking down on fake news. Here is a list of the actions against fake news taken by governments across the world to tackle alleged fake news:

Trump uses Twitter to attack media criticism of him. In the latest, he defended local TV news giant Sinclair Broadcast Group on Monday as the rightwing news network came under fire for forcing its local news anchors to read an identical script criticizing fake news stories.

Europe Union plans to crack down on social media companies accused of spreading fake news, CNBC reported Monday. The European Commission fears that next years elections to the European Parliament are vulnerable to mass eurosceptic online disinformation.

Malaysia has passed a law which sets out fines of up to 500,000 ringgit ($123,000) and a maximum six years in jail for offenders who spread fake news inside and outside Malaysia, including foreigners, if Malaysia or a Malaysian citizen are affected. The law, which comes ahead of a general election, covers news outlets, digital publications and social media.

In Singapore, a parliamentary committee has been reviewing possible measures to prevent deliberate online falsehoods. An eight-day hearing -- the longest in Singapores history -- drew to a close on March 29. The committee will prepare a report on possible new legislation in May, after parliaments mid-term break, its chairman, Charles Chong, told the final session.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has lost trust in news site Rappler and barred it from covering his official events, his spokesman said in February. Duterte has called Rappler a fake news outlet, making no secret of his annoyance at its reporting, which has heavily scrutinised his polices and the accuracy of his statements. Additionally, anti-fake news legislation, which would impose fines and prison terms of up to 20 years for spreading false information, is under consideration in the Philippines.

Thailand already has a cyber-security law under which the spread of false information carries a jail sentence of up to seven years, and the military government strictly enforces lese majeste laws that shield the royal family from insult.

(With inputs from Reuters)
Theres a new political power centre in the making in Canadas largest province of Ontario: The Dhaliwal dynasty.

Five months after Jagmeet Singh was elected leader of the federal New Democratic Party or NDP, his younger brother Gurratan Singh easily clinched the provincial NDPs nomination to contest Ontarios elections, scheduled for June, from Brampton, a suburb of Toronto.

Hundreds of supporters cheered on as the 33-year-old was nominated to contest from Brampton East. Given his brothers hold on the community in the area, it was little surprise that this was a no contest. The newly-created riding, as constituencies are called in Canada, includes much of Bramalea-Gore-Malton, the seat that Jagmeet Singh represented as a member of the provincial parliament. The elder Singh had quit his seat after being elected NDP leader last October.

Gurratan Singh was flanked by Jagmeet and the provincial leader of the NDP Andrea Horwath as the nomination result was formally announced. As the event wrapped up, Horwath tweeted: Had a blast tonight welcoming @gurratansingh to the team with a little help from his big bro, @theJagmeetSingh. Gurratan is running in #BramptonEast, and together, we are running to win this election! .

This isnt Gurratan Singhs first foray into electoral politics. He ran for the seat of Peel regional councillor in 2014 and lost.

Since then, the criminal defence lawyer has been increasingly politically engaged, having played a crucial role in last years NDP leadership election.

When he announced his intent to seek to contest from Brampton East last month, Gurratan Singh said, Ive been organising in this community for the past ten years.

He faced questions similar to those that have plagued Jagmeet Singh in recent weeks. The younger brother has condemned all forms of violence, even as Jagmeet Singh has faced criticism over his appearance at rallies that supported separatism and made a similar statement after that uproar.

But what is clear from Monday evenings nomination of Gurratan Singh is that parts of Brampton are certainly turning into a pocket borough for the family.
A Kuwaiti parliamentary panel has proposed a draft law to impose a tax on remittances by expatriate workers, a move, which if implemented, could affect hundreds of thousands of Indians working in the country.

The financial and economic affairs committee of the Kuwaiti Parliament on Sunday approved the bill stipulating taxes on remittances by expatriates, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported.

According to the proposed law, a fee of 1% would be imposed on remittances by workers with salaries of up to 90 dinars ($300), 2% on remittances by workers with salaries of 100 dinars to 200 dinars ($333 to $ 667), 3% on remittances by workers with salaries of 300 dinars to 499 dinars ($1,000 to $1,665) and 5% on remittances by workers with salaries of 500 dinars to 1,664 dinars ($1,668 to $5,550).

The remittance tax will be in addition to commission charged by moneychangers and banks. Under the draft, any bank or moneychanger that does not comply with the proposed law will be fined up to 10,000 dinars, while anyone who does not remit money through accredited banks and moneychangers will be imprisoned for a maximum of five years and fined an amount that is double the money sent abroad.

Salah Khorshed, the chairperson of the parliamentary committee, said in a statement that the bill was approved by two-thirds of the members of the panel on the condition that the taxes to be imposed on money transfers by low-income expatriate workers must be low.

He forecast the collection of up to 70 million dinars ($233 million) a year from the fees on remittances, which are estimated at 19 billion dinars ($63 billion) per year.

The bill will now be referred to Parliament for debate. If it is approved by MPs, it will be referred to the government and will become law if the cabinet accepts it too.

However, media reports said the move has been opposed by the Kuwait government, the central bank and financial experts. The legislative committee of Parliament had earlier rejected the draft law, saying it was unconstitutional.

The central bank said imposing taxes on remittances would harm Kuwaits reputation, weaken the countrys financial situation, affect the fight against money laundering and terrorism and create a parallel black market for remittances, Gulf News reported.

The commissions rapporteur, Saleh Ashour, said the panel discussed the issue extensively with legal experts. Khorshed said the committee had taken into consideration the views of consultants and a constitutional specialist.

He added the government had reservations about the bill because it has the intention of imposing taxes on both Kuwaiti citizens and expatriates.

Khorshed also argued three other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries had a law permitting taxes on remittances.

Kuwait is home to some 920,000 Indians, the largest expatriate community in the country. Indian workers are present in all segments of Kuwaiti society and their total remittances are estimated at $4.8 billion annually.
Malaysias navy chief said authorities have detained a boat carrying 56 people believed to be Muslim Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar.

Adm. Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin said the boat was intercepted after it entered Malaysian waters and is now at the northern resort island of Langkawi.

He said on Tuesday that all 56 passengers, mostly children and women, were safe but tired and hungry, and were given food and water. The naval chief said the boat and its passengers would be handed over to immigration authorities.

About 7,00,000 Rohingyas have fled western Myanmars Rakhine state to neighbouring Bangladesh in the past seven months to escape a brutal counter-insurgency campaign by Myanmars army.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart KP Sharma Oli will jointly lay the foundation stone of the 900 MW Arun III hydropower project during a meeting in New Delhi on April 7.

Some key agreements are expected to be signed along with the remote laying of the foundation stone of the hydroelectricity project in Sankhuwasabha district of eastern Nepal during Olis state visit beginning on April 6.

The power project has been developed by Sutlej Jala Vidhyut Nigam (SJVN), an Indian state-run utility. The Indian government has released $1 billion to SJVN, which recently started construction of the project that is expected to be completed within five years.

This is the largest hydroelectric project undertaken by the India government in Nepal and it gained momentum after Modi came to power in 2014.

An official familiar with the preparations for Olis visit said following delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House between Modi and Oli on April 7, the two leaders will press a button for the formal laying of the foundation for the project.

India will provide a total of $ 1.5 billion for the project which is being constructed on the build, operate, own and transfer ( BOOT) model. Earlier, Modi was expected to visit Nepal to lay the foundation last September but the plan was put off due to sudden political changes in Nepal.

Modi and Oli are also scheduled to inaugurate the Birgunj-Raxaul integrated check post by pressing a switch in New Delhi. The post will provide advanced facilities for trade and commerce.

Former Indian foreign minister SM Krishna had laid the foundation for the post in April 2011 and it was handed over to Nepal just this week. Once the post becomes operational, different routes will be used to import and export goods. The facility will be equipped with gadgets needed to automate customs processes.

An agreement on bulk cargo movement through more transit points between Nepal and India is also due to be signed during Olis visit. This facility is currently available only at the Raxual- Birgunj entry point. The agreement will open the doors for importing bulk cargo from third countries directly to Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj via railway.

Oli briefed Parliament on Tuesday about his upcoming visit to India and said he would talk to his Indian counterpart about expediting cooperation through regional organisations such as Saarc and Bimstec and sub-regional groupings such as BBIN.

Connectivity, including railways and waterways, energy sector, minimising the trade deficit, implementing past agreements and modernisation of agriculture are prioritised in my visit, he said.

The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and increasing mutual trust, and also sending out a message that Nepal will address Indias genuine security concerns such as cross-border crimes, terrorist threats, and human trafficking, he said.
Nepal will deploy drones to patrol its border with India, home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa said on Tuesday.

Announcing a 82-point programme of the home ministry, Thapa, also a senior Maoist leader, told the media that the home ministry is introducing new guidelines on using drones, and it was now essential to use drones at Nepal-India border for patrolling.

Thapa said that on the Indian side, there are security posts every kilometre, whereas the distance between two nearest posts on the Nepali side is 25 kilometres.

We do not have sufficient human resources to address this problem. Therefore, we will now use drones, Thapa was quoted as saying by onlinekhabar, a Nepalese news portal.

Nepal and India share more than 17,000-km open border.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be among the foreign leaders attending this years Boao Forum for Asia, often called Summer Davos, a senior Chinese official said on Tuesday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 BFA, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told media in Beijing on Tuesday.

The BFA was formed by China in 2001 on the lines in the World Economic Forums annual June meeting, also called Summer Davos.

Xi has invited leaders of the industry from different countries to deliberate on regional and global issues.

This years forum, scheduled to be held from April 8 to 11 in Boao, a coastal town in the southern island province of Hainan, will be themed Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity.

The Boao Forum for Asia is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business, and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this dynamic region and the world at large.

Modeled after the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland, the Boao Forum has its fixed address in Boao, Hainan province, China, although the Secretariat is based in Beijing.

In this years forum, Xi will meet foreign heads of state and government, and officials of international organisations, Wang said.

Apart from Pakistani Prime Minister Abbasi, other head of states who are expected to attend the forum include Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

In his address, Xi will focus on showcasing the new measures being initiated by Chinas reform and opening-up in the new era led by him, Wang said.

Xi who kicked off his second five-year term last month is expected to continue in power for life after the National Peoples Congress (NPC) removed the two-term limit for the President followed by Xis predecessors.

Regarded as the most powerful Chinese leader, Xi also heads the CPC, the military and the Presidency.

Xi will showcase reform and opening up in the new era and explain how China will promote new policies, Wang said.

Xi will expound on these issues and provide the most authoritative answers, he said.

Participants will hear series of new opening measures that China will take, Wang said.

Last year, the theme of the annual conference was Globalization and Free Trade: The Asian Perspectives.
Four members of a Pakistani Christian family were shot dead in Quetta city in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

On Monday night, armed men intercepted the vehicle carrying the family and opened fire, Quetta Police spokesperson Mohamed Ramzan said on Tuesday. They fled on a motorcycle after the attack, Dawn online reported.

The militant group in a press statement said that a covert unit of IS militants managed to target a number of the combatant Christians.

The statement added that the militants shot them with a pistol, which resulted in the killing of four of them.

The attack came a day after Pakistani Christians, a mere two per cent of the countrys population, had celebrated Easter Sunday. Attacks against Christians are frequent in Pakistan.

In December 2017, a week before Christmas, two IS suicide bombers had stormed into a packed church in Quetta and killed 10 and wounded 44 people.

In March 2016, the Taliban targeted Christians celebrating Easter in a park in Lahore killing 71 people.
Several people took to the streets in a Pakistani city on Tuesday to protest the brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl and a university student, authorities said.

The protests came after the minor girl was abducted in Pakistans Punjab province when she left the house to go to a nearby grocery shop last Sunday.

The girls father said she was later found strangled in the fields the same day with multiple torture marks. Police registered a case of abduction, assault and murder. No arrests have been made so far.

On March 25, a student of English Literature at the Government College University Faisalabad was abducted by unidentified men. The body was recovered in a canal a few days later.

Following the two incidents, a shutter-down strike was observed in Jaranwala city, some 100km from Lahore, and a large number of people, including students, staged demonstrations against the rapes and murders.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against police, the students said they have only been trying to please the rulers instead of tracing the criminals and protecting peoples lives. They have vowed to continue the agitation till the killers are arrested.

The incidents took place weeks after the nation was rocked by protests after the brutal murder of a minor girl in Kasur district of Punjab. Police had arrested Imran Ali, 23, for the crime and he was later sentenced to death.
President Yoweri Museveni and the Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga have agreed to resolve the issue regarding the latters alleged plot to over throw the government.

According to a statement from Statehouse, the two spoke on phone yesterday and agreed on a way forward.

The discussion followed the archbishops remarks on Good Friday to a congregation at Old Kampala Play Grounds and at Rubaga Cathedral that an anonymous caller had said he was masterminding a plot to overthrow the government.

The caller reportedly told him that government had recruited informants within the church set up, who had given information to the president on the alleged plot.

He said the anonymous caller warned him to be careful, saying he might be the next Janan Luwum, the former Archbishop of Church of Uganda, who was killed by government operatives on February 16, 1977.

Archbishop Lwanga, who expressed shock at the claims appealed to the informants to stop telling the President lies.

Lwanga, who doubles as the Chairperson of Uganda Joint Christian Council, appealed to President Museveni to reach out and find out the truth and also be kind enough and tell them the Church leaders he has recruited into the security organizations.
Religions should be guided to support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and be subordinate to the interests of the nation, a new government document said on Tuesday, in line with the trend to sinicise religions and shake off foreign influence as propagated by President Xi Jinping.

Releasing the document on Tuesday, a top official spoke about the need for religions to adapt to a socialist society and to develop religions in the Chinese context.

The white paper, titled China's Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief, was clear on what it wants from the countrys 200 million believers  a number that will dismissed by independent experts as below the mark.

Actively guiding religions in adapting to the socialist societymeans guiding religious believers to love their country(and to be) be subordinate to and serve the overall interests of the nation and the Chinese people, the document said.

It also means guiding religious groups to support the leadership of the CPC and the socialist system; uphold and follow the part of socialism with Chinese characteristics; develop religions in the Chinese context; embrace core socialist values, it added.

The document was released after the State Administration for Religious Affairs was merged into CPCs United Front Work Department, in-charge of the party's relations with non-party entities, last month.

China officially recognises five religions - Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Taoism and Islam. The countrys Constitution guarantees  as reiterated in the white paper  religious freedom, which is protected by law.

But it is widely believed that though there is freedom of religious belief in China, there is no freedom to practice religion.

A report by the Washington-based Freedom House had said last year that religious controls under Xi had intensified across China and there had been an overall increase in religious persecution.

Four communities have borne the brunt - Protestant Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, and Hui and Uyghur Muslims.

The white paper forbade foreigners from establishing religious organisations and sites for religious activities, or recruiting followers or foreign students studying in China for activities related to religion.

The document said China has nearly 200 million religious believers and more than 380,000 clerical personnel.

Catholicism and Protestantism have 6 million and 38 million followers in China, respectively, with 8,000 and 57,000 clerical personnel, it added, though these statistics are likely to be dismissed by critics who say the numbers are much higher.

A 2011 Pew survey said around 5% of Chinas population in 2010  or around 67 million  were Christians. It took into account those who are part of non-registered or home churches that function informally.

The white paper added that there are around 20 million who believe in Islam and are spread across 10 ethnic minority groups.

It said there are approximately 5,500 religious groups in China, including seven national organisations, which are the Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association, China Islamic Association, Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, Bishops Conference of Catholic Church in China, National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China, and China Christian Council.
Thailand has made one of its largest crystal methamphetamine busts, seizing drugs worth $22.42 million, police said on Tuesday, as the United Nations warned that Southeast Asia is being flooded with illegal drugs from the Golden Triangle region.

Police said 700 kilograms of the drug, known as ice, was seized on March 28 in southern Chumpon Province. The consignment was destined for Malaysia.

The drugs were produced in the Golden Triangle region, where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. Two Thais and two Malaysians were arrested in connection with the bust.

The methamphetamine market has expanded at an alarming rate in East and Southeast Asia. In 2015, experts in several countries in the subregion reported an increase in the use of both crystalline methamphetamine and methamphetamine tablets.

Among amphetamines, methamphetamine represents the greatest global health threat, a 2017 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug report said.

These big seizures are indications that there is a relentless supply pumping out of the Golden Triangle and North Shan in Myanmar to flood Southeast Asian markets and also transit Southeast Asia to high-value markets such as Australia, New Zealand and potentially further, Jeremy Douglas, the UNODCs chief in Southeast Asia, told Reuters.

Police displayed the haul on Tuesday at a government compound north of Bangkok. Other drugs on display included illicit drugs worth $28.51 million, including cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy, seized in various busts between March 25 and April 1.

Most of the drugs were produced outside of Thailand and trafficked through the country en route Australia, North America and Europe.
The Theresa May government confirmed on Tuesday that it will bring a law to ban ivory sales to protect elephants, but most ivory items during the British raj that were either gifted or brought to the United Kingdom at the time will be exempt.

Environment secretary Michael Gove said the ban will cover ivory items of all ages  not only those produced after a certain date.

The maximum penalty for breaching the ban will be an unlimited fine or up to five years in jail.

Official sources said the number of elephants has declined by almost a third in the last decade and around 20,000 a year are still being slaughtered due to the global demand for ivory, mostly in Africa and Asia.

Gove said: Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol, so we will introduce one of the worlds toughest bans on ivory sales to protect elephants for future generations.

The ban on ivory sales we will bring into law will reaffirm the UKs global leadership on this critical issue, demonstrating our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past.

Buckingham Palace and museums in Britain possess several colonial-era ivory items from India, drawing criticism from royal family members such as Prince Charles and Prince William, who have campaigned against slaughter of elephants for ivory.

Prince William has reportedly remarked that he would "like to see all the ivory owned by Buckingham Palace destroyed", while Prince Charles is said to be keen that ivory items at Clarence House and Highgrove to be put out of sight.

One of the ivory items from colonial India in royal possession is the exquisite throne gifted by the Maharaja of Travancore to Queen Victoria in 1851, which has rarely been seen in public since it was first displayed at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London.

Reflecting the craftsmanship of Travancore (now Kerala) artisans, the throne with a footstool was despatched to London in October 1850 and displayed in the exhibition in Crystal Palace the next year.

Queen Victoria wrote to the Maharaja of Travancore after the exhibition: Your Highnesss chair has occupied a prominent position amongst the wonderful works of art which have been collected in our metropolis and your highnesss liberality and the workmanship of the natives of Travancore have there received due admiration from the vast multitude of spectators.

The exemptions to the ban are: Items with less than 10% ivory by volume, made prior to 1947; musical instruments with ivory content of less than 20% , made prior to 1975; rarest and most important items of their type, at least 100 years old, their rarity and importance to be assessed by specialist institutions.

Museums and their commercial activities to, and between, museums which are accredited by Arts Council England, the Welsh Government, Museums and Galleries Scotland or the Northern Ireland Museums Council in the UK, or the International Council of Museums for museums outside the UK, will also be exempt, the sources added.
The United States has declared the Milli Muslim League (MML), a political party formed by Hafiz Saeed, as a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba and named seven of its top officials as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

India welcomed the move, with the external affairs ministry saying in a statement that it showed Pakistans failure to dismantle terror sanctuaries in that country and vindicated Indias position that Islamabad has not taken effective action against terrorist groups. India holds Saeed as mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack that killed 166 people.

The Tehreek-e-Azadi-e Kashmir, another political body formed by Saeed, too was declared a front for the LeT, which has already been named a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. The move came against the backdrop of MMLs efforts to register as a political party ahead of Pakistans general election this year.

The US designation will deny the MML access to American financial systems and prohibit US citizens from supporting it with funds or other materials.

The officials who were sanctioned by the US treasury department are MML president Saifullah Khalid, Muzammil Iqbal Sashimi, Muhammad Harris Dar, Tabish Qayyum, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem and Muhammad Ehsan. They were named for acting on behalf of LeT, a Pakistan-based terror group that was designated in December 2001.

The MML was formed in 2017 by LeT founder Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks for whom the US has offered a bounty of $10 million. He inaugurated the MMLs first office in Lahore in December and has said the body will contest elections expected to be held in mid-2018.

On Monday, Pakistans Election Commission directed the MML to get clearance from the interior ministry to be registered as a political party. A Pakistani court recently suspended the poll panels 2017 decision not to register the MML.

(The US) treasury is targeting the Milli Muslim League and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in Lashkar-e-Tayyibas attempts to undermine Pakistans political process, treasury undersecretary Sigal Mandelker said in a statement.

The Designated Seven Saifullah Khalid: The president of the MML was designated for acting on behalf of LeT. He is said to head LeTs Peshawar headquarters, and has served on Jamaat-ud Dawahs coordination committee for Punjab province. JuD, also a LeT front, was designated in April 2016. Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi: Named for acting for or on behalf of LeT, he is vice president of the MML and JuDs chief for Karachi. Muhammad Harris Dar: The joint secretary of MML was described as a former officer in LeTs student wing, Al-Muhammadiya Students, which is an another LeT front. Dar gave firefighting instruction at a LeT training camp that provided training in weapon skills and assault tactics. Tabish Qayyum: The information secretary for the MML, he served as the head of LeTs media cell and as a spokesperson for the group for years.. Fayyaz Ahmad: The general secretary of the MML was a former JuD zone commander for Faisalabad in Punjab. Faisal Nadeem: The broadcast and publications secretary of the MML. Muhammad Ehsan: The finance secretary of the MML who also served as a spokesman for the body.

The Milli Muslim League is not a recognised political party; further it relies on the leadership of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba for guidance and direction. We will continue to target terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades. Those working with the Milli Muslim League, including providing financial donations, should think twice about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

Ambassador Nathan A Sales, coordinator for counterterrorism at the state department, said in a separate statement that the declaration of MML and TAJK as front for LeT take aim at Lashkar-e-Tayyibas efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character. Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group.

Pakistans actions will be under close scrutiny in Washington as it is already on notice from the Trump administration for continued failure to take action against terror groups based on its soil such as LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Haqqani Network.

In June, Pakistan will be added to the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force, a secretive inter-governmental body that targets money laundering and terror financing, a move pushed through by the US and its allies after it was endorsed by Saudi Arabia and China.

The US has been extremely annoyed by Islamabads handling of Saeed and the LeT. When Saeed was released from house arrest last year, the US administration threatened repercussions for bilateral ties if he was not immediately re-arrested and prosecuted.

As Pakistan hemmed and hawed and blamed the judiciary, Saeed has remained free. He regularly mocks the US, challenges it to arrest him and continues to bear outsize influence on Pakistans relations with India through public calls and threats.

India also said the US designation recognises that terrorist individuals and entities are allowed to change names and continue to operate freely from territory under Pakistans control. The designation is a rejection of attempts in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities and highlights the countrys failure to fulfil international obligations to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries and disrupt terror financing, the spokesperson said.
By Benjamin Jumbe.

Minister without Portfolio Alhajji Abdul Nadduli The opposition has accused the opposition to of behind the the recent kidnaps and murders in the city.

The Minister claims these are working with foreign powers.

Addressing journalists in kampala Minister Nadduli claimed that they have formed a group called Popular Striking Force based in Bwaise which is executing these missions.

He says all this is aimed at discrediting the government however calling on members of the public to remain vigilant, and authorities to swing in action and stop this
By Benjamin Jumbe.

The minister for Kampala Betty Kamya has denied any plan by government to extend Kampala district.

This followed strong criticism from the Minister without Portfolio Alhajji Abdul Nadduli and shadow minister for local governments Betty Nambooze over a reported hatched plan to extend Kampalas boundaries

However Speaking to Journalists from her officer Kamya said there was not such plan describing such claims as mere propaganda, challenging any one with evidence to produce it

She maintained that what is being handled is the amendment of the KCCA act to provide for the concept of a Metropolitan city which is a global concept
Appointment

3 April 2018

Leo Spriggs, President and CEO of Hospitality Management Corporation (HMC), is happy to announce that former team member Rory McCook will return to the company as General Manager of the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey. As an established hospitality professional, he brings extensive knowledge of hotel management and familiarity with the Harrisburg market. He previously held the position of General Manager for the Sheraton Wilmington South Hotel in New Castle, Delaware. Prior to that, McCook worked for HMC as Assistant General Manager at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey. His experience also includes numerous management positions with Classic Conferences out of Hackensack, NJ, and The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, PA. He received his Associate Degree from the Sawyer School, Pittsburgh, PA, in 2000.

The Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey boasts 348 guest rooms and suites and is ideally located in the downtown district offering 16,460 square feet of event space, on-site dining, and 24-hour Sheraton Fitness Center. It also provides a Sheraton Club Lounge and complimentary shuttle service to and from Harrisburg International Airport. Hersheypark, Hershey's Chocolate World and Zoo America attractions are all within a short 10-minute drive.
Supplier News

2 April 2018

This article is the final contribution in a five-part series that uncovers top strategies for reaching potential guests in meaningful moments throughout every stage of the travel planning journey to increase direct bookings. This article focuses on the fourth stage of travel planning: the experiencing phase.

So, you've won the booking. What's next? Travelers are filled with anticipation and excitement for their upcoming trip, and now your hotel brand must deliver the best experience possible. While winning the booking may seem like the end of the customer journey, guiding the guest experience through meaningful digital touchpoints, and ultimately building a meaningful relationship to retain and increase the lifetime value of guests is the ultimate goal.

Below we explore the experiencing phase of our five-part series, "How to Capitalize on the Full Travel Planning Journey to Drive Direct Bookings," to understand how hotel marketers can provide useful information and digital content to build your brand relationship, create brand advocates, and increase guest loyalty. We will uncover the online behaviors that are most common in this phase, the marketing and communication channels that are most effective, and how to measure success.

How does the experiencing phase take shape?

The experiencing phase begins the moment travelers start to look forward to their planned vacation, it continues when they arrive at your hotel's destination, and with a well-executed strategy, the experiencing phase lives on long after their stay. Google refers to the micro-moments throughout this phase as "Can't-Wait-To-Explore" moments that occur after a traveler has booked his or her accommodations.

According to Google, in this stage 85% of leisure travelers decide on activities only after having arrived at the destination. More importantly, now that your hotel brand has provided useful information to help travelers plan and book their trip, guests also expect you to help curate their experience. In fact, according to Ipsos Connect, nearly nine out of ten travelers expect their travel provider to share relevant information while they are on their trip, and 67% of travelers feel more loyal toward a travel company that shares information during their trip that improves their travel experience.

Guiding the guest experience on mobile.

According to Google, travelers increasingly rely on mobile to start exploring when they arrive in a new destination. Smartphone searches at hotels increased about 30% year over year, and since smartphones are location aware, travelers conduct simple mobile searches like "things to do near me" or "places to eat near me." This begs the question: If travelers are mobile connected while exploring your hotel's destination, is a mobile app the best way to guide the experience? According to further research from Ipsos Connect, only 23% of travelers say they have downloaded the app for travel brands they use the most. This reveals that your hotel website and digital content must be fully responsive and easily accessible on the mobile web.

What digital touchpoints are making an impact throughout the experiencing phase?

The average traveler encounters just over 40 digital travel touchpoints over two weeks leading up to and during the vacation. Of these 40 digital interactions, 17 were digital touchpoints across Google, and 100% of these touchpoints occurred on mobile.

A study conducted by Think with Google offers the following breakdown of time spent across different touch points throughout the experiencing phase:

Google Search: 30%

Maps & Navigation: 23%

Lifestyle Content: 16%

Flight Provider: 11%

YouTube: 9%

Restaurant & Reviews: 7%

Weather: 4%

With a little over half of mobile touch points taking place on search engines and maps, having a strong organic search presence throughout the experiencing phase is a great way to guide and shape guests' vacation. With 16% of time in this phase spent on lifestyle content, editorial blog content is also a great way to reach travelers and curate the trip experience, thus allowing your guests to explore your destination and local neighborhood through the lens of your hotel.

What type of content are travelers looking for in the experiencing phase?

During the experiencing phase, travelers are typically searching for things to do and unique experiences during their trip. The most common searches in this phase are keywords surrounding the local destination on mobile:

Things to do near me

Places to eat near me

Best things to do in [destination]

Similar to the dreaming phase, it's important to own top searches regarding your destination and your hotel's local neighborhood in order to be present throughout meaningful digital micro-moments in the experiencing phase. To narrow down dining and local attraction options during their trip, travelers often visit Yelp, Google My Business, and similar websites to read reviews from locals. With dining and things to do in such high demand, a strong organic presence and rich website content for your hotel dining and spa options are essential in driving awareness and ancillary revenue. CRM is also an important strategy in this phase to bring top in-demand content directly to guests' inbox.

The best marketing mix to reach travelers in the experiencing phase:

Google My Business Published Posts:

A new feature of Google My Business allows you to publish posts promoting your events, products, and services directly to Google Search and Maps. By creating these posts, you can place your timely content in front of customers when they find the Google business listing for your restaurant or spa during the experiencing phase. With 30% of time in the experiencing phase spent on Google Search and 23% of time spent on Maps and Navigation, this is a great way to drive awareness of your latest spa and restaurant specials. It is important to note this feature is not yet available for hotel Google My Business listings, so these updates would need to be posted through a dedicated Google My Business listing for your restaurant or spa.

A new feature of Google My Business allows you to publish posts promoting your events, products, and services directly to Google Search and Maps. By creating these posts, you can place your timely content in front of customers when they find the Google business listing for your restaurant or spa during the experiencing phase. With 30% of time in the experiencing phase spent on Google Search and 23% of time spent on Maps and Navigation, this is a great way to drive awareness of your latest spa and restaurant specials. It is important to note this feature is not yet available for hotel Google My Business listings, so these updates would need to be posted through a dedicated Google My Business listing for your restaurant or spa. SEO Destination Content and Travel Guides : Offering destination and neighborhood guides on the hotel website is a great way to spark the imagination of guests in the dreaming phase, and it's also one of the best ways to engage and guide guests throughout the experiencing phase. The same content that helped them imagine their stay at your hotel can now help guests live that experience to the fullest.

: Offering destination and neighborhood guides on the hotel website is a great way to spark the imagination of guests in the dreaming phase, and it's also one of the best ways to engage and guide guests throughout the experiencing phase. The same content that helped them imagine their stay at your hotel can now help guests live that experience to the fullest. Lifestyle and Editorial Blog Content: With 16% of travel consumers spending time with lifestyle content during their trip, valuable editorial content surrounding the hotel destination, local neighborhood, and unique features of a guest's stay plays a critical role in shaping the guest experience. Destination editorial content, like "Top Five Ways to Explore [Destination] like a Local" or "What to See and What to Skip in [Destination]," is a great way to help guests build their trip itinerary each day.

With 16% of travel consumers spending time with lifestyle content during their trip, valuable editorial content surrounding the hotel destination, local neighborhood, and unique features of a guest's stay plays a critical role in shaping the guest experience. Destination editorial content, like "Top Five Ways to Explore [Destination] like a Local" or "What to See and What to Skip in [Destination]," is a great way to help guests build their trip itinerary each day. Rich and Interesting Spa & Dining Content Sections:

With top searches in this phase focused on places to eat and things to do, having rich and optimized content surrounding your hotel's dining and spa options is crucial to driving ancillary revenue. Consider featuring unique parallax websites within your overall hotel website to highlight everything your property restaurant and spa have to offer. These parallax sections should feature rich imagery, videos, specials, and packages, and offer an easy way for visitors to book a table or spa treatment directly from your website.

With top searches in this phase focused on places to eat and things to do, having rich and optimized content surrounding your hotel's dining and spa options is crucial to driving ancillary revenue. Consider featuring unique parallax websites within your overall hotel website to highlight everything your property restaurant and spa have to offer. These parallax sections should feature rich imagery, videos, specials, and packages, and offer an easy way for visitors to book a table or spa treatment directly from your website. Destination Video: While destination video plays a stronger role in the dreaming phase, the same video content can influence the trip experience itself. With 9% of online time during the experiencing phase spent on YouTube, a destination video focused on attractions and things to do is a great way for your hotel brand to shape and influence the guest experience.

While destination video plays a stronger role in the dreaming phase, the same video content can influence the trip experience itself. With 9% of online time during the experiencing phase spent on YouTube, a destination video focused on attractions and things to do is a great way for your hotel brand to shape and influence the guest experience. Social Media: Prompting guests to share their experience via social channels like Instagram and Facebook is a great way to inspire other potential new guests who are in the dreaming phase of the travel planning journey. Having a website Instagram feed with a dedicated hashtag, which someone can monitor and approve guest photos before publishing, is a great way to blend official hotel imagery with consumer-generated content from guests that will ultimately influence the dreaming and planning phase for future guests.

Prompting guests to share their experience via social channels like Instagram and Facebook is a great way to inspire other potential new guests who are in the dreaming phase of the travel planning journey. Having a website Instagram feed with a dedicated hashtag, which someone can monitor and approve guest photos before publishing, is a great way to blend official hotel imagery with consumer-generated content from guests that will ultimately influence the dreaming and planning phase for future guests. CRM Strategy: Communicating with guests before, during, and after their stay is one of the best ways to shape the guest experience and build a customer relationship.

Pre-arrival Email: One week before arrival, be sure to provide the opportunity for guests to upgrade their accommodations, highlight spa and dining options, feature the weather for packing and planning, and any other important information that help guests plan.

Arrival Email: Upon arrival, welcome guests to their stay with important hotel information such as check-in and check-out times, key amenity details, and upcoming events during their stay, and once again highlight any spa, dining, or on-property features that add value to guests' stay.

Post-Stay Email: Within two days of guest check-out, thank guests for their stay and prompt them to leave a review on TripAdvisor or provide feedback via a guest satisfaction survey. If your hotel has a loyalty program, prompt guests to sign up for future perks.

Guest Portal: By now it's no secret that during the planning phase website visitors' number one focus is on accommodations, and in the experiencing phase website visitors' number one focus is on the property and destination experience. In light of this, serving different content to website visitors while on property is a highly effective strategy to shape the guest experience. HEBS Digital offers a Guest Portal product that serves relevant hotel and destination information based on a website visitor's geo location and proximity to the hotel. If a guest visits the hotel website while on property, they will receive hotel information such as check-out time, room service details, events during their stay, spa and dining specials, and any other important property information or news.

Staying connected after check-out.

The experiencing phase doesn't end when guests check out. To retain customers and turn every new guest into a repeat guest, hotel brands must engage customers long past their stay and add value to their everyday lives. This is where having a comprehensive loyalty program, ongoing CRM communication, and interesting editorial content that adds value to guests' daily lives comes into play.

Loyalty Program: A loyalty program with valuable rewards and perks helps keep customers connected to your brand and keeps your hotel in the consideration set for future stays. An effective loyalty program includes personalized offers and perks based on members' likes and interests, exclusive rates for loyalty members, "surprise and delight" perks that go above and beyond standard loyalty rewards, and a community surrounding the loyalty program that keeps guests engaged with both the brand and other members.

A loyalty program with valuable rewards and perks helps keep customers connected to your brand and keeps your hotel in the consideration set for future stays. An effective loyalty program includes personalized offers and perks based on members' likes and interests, exclusive rates for loyalty members, "surprise and delight" perks that go above and beyond standard loyalty rewards, and a community surrounding the loyalty program that keeps guests engaged with both the brand and other members. Ongoing CRM Communication: Triggered, automated emails are another effective strategy in staying connected to guests. Sending past guests an email and exclusive offer on their birthday, the anniversary of their stay, and other milestones and special occasions is the best way for your hotel brand to be there for the moments that matter most.

More importantly, once you have valuable information about guests' preferences, demographics, stay history, and more, you can use this information to segment emails and send more personalized messages.

One great way to do this is by capitalizing on recency, frequency, and monetary (RFM) data. Based on how recently a guest stayed, how frequently they stay, and how much they've spent with your hotel brand, you can segment past guests into RFM categories and send them offers that are more personalized to their price preferences and stay history. For instance, a premium best guest who stays often at a high ADR is more likely to book a suite, while a frequent smart shopper who stays often but at a lower price point is more likely to book an economy room with a stronger interest in destination and experiential hotel content.

Value-Add Editorial Content: While we've already covered the power of hotel and destination-focused editorial content, it's important for your hotel brand to provide interesting content to keep people engaged even when they aren't planning a trip to your destination. Editorial content that focuses on guests' interests and passions is a great way to add value to their everyday lives. For instance, if your guest data reveals that 75% of guests love wine and purchase it frequently throughout their stay, article content such as "Top Five Wines Under $30 That Will Bring Back Vacation Vibes" will entice past guests to read even if they aren't engaged in the travel planning process.

Measuring the Experiencing Phase: KPIs that Shape the Guest Experience.

In the experiencing phase, it should be no surprise that KPIs are mainly engagement focused. Top metrics include:

Impressions/awareness

Engagement metrics (likes, comments, etc.)

Click-through rate

Overall website traffic

Unique website visitors

Time spent

Spa and dining reservations

Ancillary revenue

Overall, shaping the guest experience and building customer loyalty is just as important as winning the booking. Turning new guests into repeat guests is one of the best ways to increase revenue, and building a successful loyalty program results in past guests ultimately skipping the dreaming and planning phase and moving right into the booking phase. Since you've already won their heart, you'll win their dollars more quickly.

The end of the journey, but not the end of the story.

As this five-part series comes to a close, the most important consideration to keep in mind when engaging guests throughout the entire travel planning journey is that all of the touchpoints, insights, and guest data collected fuels future guest acquisition, making your marketing efforts smarter and more cost-efficient. As one guest's travel planning journey comes to a close, another begins. Be there, be relevant, and your strategy will be successful.
Press Release

3 April 2018

Condor Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE American: CDOR), a hotel-focused real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered and incorporated in the state of Maryland, today announced that Jeffrey Dougan, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, gave notice to the Company of his resignation, effective April 27, 2018. Mr. Dougan has accepted a position as the Chief Executive Officer of a Boston-based hospitality management company.

"It has been a privilege to be a part of Condor's remarkable repositioning over the last three years. We have successfully transformed the portfolio into one consisting of high-quality, high performance assets. Condor is well-positioned to continue to outperform and I wish the company continued success," said Jeff Dougan.

"I want to personally thank Jeff for his contribution to Condor. We wish him all the best in his new endeavor. We have already begun to evaluate short- and long-term solutions to ensure we continue to deliver the highest level of execution within our asset management function. We are committed to continuing to deliver the RevPAR and EBITDA margin outperformance detailed in our 2018 guidance," said Bill Blackham, Condor's Chief Executive Officer.
Press Release

3 April 2018

Hospitality Ventures Management Group (HVMG), an Atlanta-based, private hotel investment, ownership and management company, today announced the completed acquisition of a two-hotel portfolio comprised of Embassy Suites by Hilton hotels in San Rafael, Calif., and Atlanta, Ga., in a joint venture for an undisclosed sum. HVMG also will operate the 241-suite Embassy Suites by Hilton San Rafael Marin County and the 235-suite Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta Perimeter Center.

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"With the addition of these two properties, our portfolio now includes nine Embassy Suites hotels, one of the most respected and top performing brands in the industry," said Robert S. Cole, president and CEO, HVMG. "In addition to access to its state-of-the-art reservation system and award-winning Hilton Honors loyalty program, the Embassy Suites brand provides one of the best all-suite products on the market, making it ideal for business or leisure travelers who appreciate a bit more space to work, play and/or relax. These are perfect additions to our expanding portfolio of full- and select-service hotels that can benefit from improved management and/or significant capital improvements."

Embassy Suites by Hilton San Rafael Marin County

Located just north of San Francisco at 101 McInnis Pkwy, the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Rafael Marin County is situated across the street from the Marin County Convention Center and Civic Center and is convenient to Napa and Sonoma Wine Country, Northgate Shopping Mall and Sausalito. Suites provide separate bedrooms and living areas, each with an LCD TV, Wi-Fi and a flexible work desk and sofa. Dining options include a free, made-to-order breakfast, Evening Reception with complimentary cocktails and the Grille 101 Restaurant, offering fresh, local food and daily specials in a casual setting. Additional hotel amenities include a tropical atrium with a beautiful serene waterfall, heated indoor pool, whirlpool, fitness center with cardio and weights and the 24-hour BusinessLink Business Center with internet and printing access. The hotel also provides meeting/event space capable of hosting up to 500 guests.

Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta Perimeter Center

Nestled in the heart of the Atlanta Perimeter area near Dunwoody, the Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta Perimeter Center is located at 1030 Crown Point Pkwy, one block from Perimeter Mall, the new Shoppes at Perimeter Place, 1155/1117 Perimeter Center West and Sandy Springs MARTA Station. In addition to the complimentary, daily cooked-to-order breakfast and evening manager's reception, guests may dine at Expressionz, the perfect location for lunch, dinner or libations. The hotel also provides a full-service business center, fitness room, indoor pool and a grab-n-go convenience store. With a private bedroom and separate parlor area, suites are equipped with a TV in each room, living area with a sofa bed, armchair and well-lit work table, wet bar, refrigerator, microwave and coffeemaker.
Supplier News

3 April 2018

Orlando, Fla. -- Next week, Intelity will showcase its award-winning mobile and in-room technologies at HITEC Amsterdam. For the first time, European hoteliers will have the opportunity to experience Intelity's new ICEvoice solution that enables guests to use voice commands for requesting services and controlling the in-room environment, including lighting, drapery and temperature. In addition, attendees can engage with Intelity's mobile apps that bring hotel services to guests' fingertips, facilitate mobile check-in/out, and even turn travelers' smartphones into room keys. These technologies and many others will be on display in Booth #166 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center, April 11 to 13.

"Intelity has been making a lot of noise in North America, introducing new technologies and announcing installations from coast to coast," said Gregg Hopkins, Intelity chief sales and marketing officer. "We are eager to be exhibiting at HITEC Amsterdam so that we can make even more noise in the European hotel market. The solutions we are showcasing were developed to meet hoteliers' operations needs and guests' demand for more personalized services."

Here are just a few of the solutions that HITEC Amsterdam attendees will experience:

ICE bedside that places in-room tablets on nightstands to give guests fingertip access to hotel services while in the room.

that places in-room tablets on nightstands to give guests fingertip access to hotel services while in the room. ICE Mobile Dining that provides an out-of-room dining experience for guests using their mobile device while they stay at the hotel.

that provides an out-of-room dining experience for guests using their mobile device while they stay at the hotel. MiKEY Mobile Check-in/out + Mobile Key that integrates with Bluetooth Low Energy locks to turn a guest's smartphone into a room key.

that integrates with Bluetooth Low Energy locks to turn a guest's smartphone into a room key. Wrangler Mobile Device Manager that enables hoteliers to manage on-premises mobile devices such as tablets and TVs used by guests and staff.

that enables hoteliers to manage on-premises mobile devices such as tablets and TVs used by guests and staff. Mercury Unified Messaging Portal that enables guests to place requests with hotel staff via the messaging channel they choose, whether it be SMS text, or social media.

"Intelity is bringing guest engagement to one platform," Hopkins said. "Our solutions work on all devices, raising the convenience level several notches for guests and hoteliers alike. Our digital tools make it easy for hoteliers to manage guest services and requests that give management and staff a range of capabilities. We encourage anyone looking to enhance guests' experiences to visit Intelity in Booth #166 at HITEC Amsterdam. We've got modules that meet the needs of every hotel segment, brand affiliation and budget."

For more information about Intelity's solutions for the hospitality industry, click here.
Opinion Article

3 April 2018

As an industry we're at the cusp of much more growth than the last many years. Not only is technology going to help improve guest experience, but it is making travelling easier. And the more people travel the more they need a place to stay. This week, some interesting thoughts and links that hopefully will help fuel some new ideas. Have a great week.

Best, Martin

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Brand CEOs agree that brands are great

Are hotel brands the future or have they passed their prime. Hotel CEOs meeting at IHIF in Berlin and speaking to investors agreed that brands are great, that OTAs and guests love brands and want more of them. The arguments aren't totally wrong, but they do seem a little bit too "peaches and cream". The fact is for the majority of guests, the actual brand matters less than the comfort, price and location of the hotel. Obviously brands have better negotiation power with OTAs and suppliers, and there's a definite advantage. But it will take more than that to win the hearts of guests. One great hotel expert once told me the way to differentiate the hotel brand from another is the color of the curtains... I think he was being sarcastic.

MORE OR LESS BRANDS?

Google isn't an OTA, they say

I'm not a fan of the "is Google becoming an OTA" headline. But when I look at the evolution of their hotel search product (and how they are adding hotel+flights packages) it is just hard to stick with the line that they're just an advertising platform. The design, the way the filters are working and the whole tendency is moving much closer to the OTA than to the Advertising business. In advertising there's a concept of helping people discover products being advertised, which Google's hotel product lacks. It is more about monetizing after the guest has discovered. So no matter what they say and we try to think, the fact is the line between Google Hotels and OTAs is blurring more every day. But then again, who wants to go out to hotels today and say "Hi, we're a new OTA".

GOOGLE HOTELS REDESIGN

Cost of Acquisition per Ad Channel

Everything has a price, also means everything has a cost. At the recent Fastbooking Digital Lab they shared an interesting slide I haven't seen before listing the cost of acquisition by hotel advertising channel. The results are quite interesting. I don't know how they came to those figures (did they factor in the agency costs?) but with this data and adding it to the other channels one could make a pretty good estimate of the various channels and where to invest the most.

METASEARCH CHANNEL COSTS

Voice for travel booking, it's complicated

The possibilities for voice and chat systems in the travel space are huge. With the breadth of data that computers can analyse one could quite safely say that in 10-20 years this will make travel a much easier product to buy and it can help balance the over-tourism risks that loom over certain cities by proposing alternatives. The results would be quite good for all the secondary and tertiary locations that could see traffic grow tremendously. But for now, that remains a futurist vision. Because a) searching by voice is really weird and convoluted. Looking at a calendar of rates is so much easier for example and b) The understanding the questions are more often wrong than right. There is still a lot of work to be done there.

STOP SHOUTING AT THAT THING

Artificial Intelligence, thoughts

Following the above piece, this very factual (if not too flattering) look at artificial intelligence in travel is quite correct. The problem with AI is we tend to expect it to get plugged in and revolutionize everything. It will most probably not happen that way. The truth is, AI will change everything and we will not notice the shift. Small incremental improvements in hotel websites managed by algorithms that learn and improve. Or pricing systems that become better at predicting upcoming surges and lows. In operations, systems that optimize the sequence of room cleaning based on guest habits, similar trends, upcoming occupants. All these systems exist already and bit by bit we're going to change a lot.

THE TRUTH ABOUT AI

The evolution of Digital Marketing

I was invited as the Guest Editor in Chief for the Hotel Yearbook 2018 that is coming out in October. It made me think hard and long about what is happening with Digital Marketing for hotels. The fact is that the days of looking at digital marketing as a pure clicks and conversions game are numbered. Digital marketing has grown up. Hyper optimising was great a few years ago during the "SEO gold rush" but those days are over. We're coming back to marketing basics of brand building, telling great stories. The question remains, how does one do that in the digital space?

THE HOTEL YEARBOOK
Its been a minute since we last heard from Bodega Bamz. In fact, the NYC spitter has been busy working as an actor on Showtimes original series, SMILF, but thankfully he's getting back to the music. On April 13th, Bodega Bamz is expected to release his first project in two years called P.A.P.I. (Proud And Powerful Individualz), and today we have the a new offering from it. Following up Praying, here goes the second release called Clout, which can be your for free when you pre-order the album now on iTunes.

Over the minimalistic production from Victory "Fly" Olivares Jr., the NYC spitter raps about stacking paper and not doing this rap shit for the likes, but rather his love for it. I dont do it for the likes/I just do what I like/Dont fuck up the count/Dont fuck up the count/The money keep coming, keep coming, keep coming/Dont fuck up the count, he spits on the chorus.

Take a listen and sound off in the comments (below). Single available on iTunes.

Quotable Lyrics:

I'm dressing up for a ball, hit records out the park

Would dream about a Porsche, now I drive it to the store

Double park for a loosie, turn the bass up for Tunechi

Nosey neighbors wanna sue me, ex-girlfriend wanna do me

You ain't special, you lucky, crap table, feel lucky

Atlantic City like Nucky, dedicated to the money

Big Papi like Boston, I just wanna make the Forbes

Now mommy could afford it, price tags, ignore it
By Ivan Ssenabulya.

Mukono Municipality Member of parliament, who doubles as the Shadow local government minister Betty Nambooze, launched a campaign to sensitize people against the Kampala extension to neighboring districts.

Nambooze held a public meeting at Kitega in the Central Division in Mukono, where she told people that the move by government is aimed at evicting them.

This comes after the Kampala minister Betty Kamya and the National Planning Authority launched, the Kampala Development Plan, where the city will expand to neighboring districts, Mukono, Wakiso and Mpigi.

Nambooze has urged local leaders not embrace this because its likely to affect their people.
One of the most talented lyricists to be gracing the mic today, Joyner Lucas has impressed many on his mixtapes and, especially, with the viral video for "I'm Not Racist." As he continues to grow in popularity, Joyner Lucas is hitting the road on his own cross-country headlining tour. The rapper is seeing his life change before his eyes, naming his tour after one of the most cliche celebrity sayings, "I'm kind of a big deal." His 508-507-2209 mixtape garnered worldwide attention for showcasing his talents as a rhythmic spitter, building his name on the path to a major tour.

As he preps his debut album, as well as a collaborative effort with Chris Brown, Joyner will have more than enough material to keep his fans on their feet for the entire set. Beginning in Toronto, he will travel across 27 cities before rejoining the East Coast for his final show in Boston. Many have become enthralled by Joyner's presence in the rap game, bringing a lyrical quality that is arguably not exploited enough in today's rap scene. With rappers moving more towards melodic structure, Joyner's word-based messages stand out and emphasize his storytelling ability.

Ticket information is currently available on Joyner's website and, with the tour beginning next month, it will be worth it to cop your tickets early. Check out the tour dates below and let us know if you're planning on making it to one of the shows.

May 6 - Toronto, ON

May 7 - Montreal, QC

May 8 - Ottawa, ON

May 9 - Cleveland, OH

May 10 - Detroit, MI

May 12 - Springfield, MO

May 13 - Chicago, IL

May 14 - Minneapolis, MN

May 15 - Iowa City, IA

May 16 - Lincoln, NE

May 18 - Fort Collins, CO

May 19 - Salt Lake City, UT

May 20 - Reno, NV

May 22 - Vancouver, BC

May 23 - Seattle, WA

May 25 - San Francisco, CA

May 26 - Los Angeles, CA

May 27 - Phoenix, AZ

May 29 - Dallas, TX

May 30 - Houston, TX

May 31 - New Orleans, LA

June 1 - Tampa, FL

June 2 - Orlando, FL

June 3 - Atlanta, GA

June 5 - Washington, DC

June 6 - New York, NY

June 7 - Boston, MA
On Sunday, a couple of friends in Houston took to Facebook Live to playfully idle with each other in a local gas station parking lot. However, things became particularly troubling once a female passenger took out a gun and started waving it around.

Devyn Holmes, 26, was sitting beside Cassandra Demper, 25, who began to jokingly point the pistol at the camera and pretend to shoot. However, this behaviour made Holmes feel uncomfortable, as he was heard telling Demper that "you're making me nervous." He even attempts to stop her from brandishing the gun around after becoming frightened by any potential danger it may cause.

A man sitting behind the two reassures Holmes that "it ain't got no clip, bud," moments before the handgun was accidentally fired and struck Holmes in the head. Footage of the incident that is making the rounds on social media does not show the actual shooting, but instead depicts the moments afterwards as Holmes was slumped over, unresponsive, and covered in blood.

Holmes was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he remains in critical condition, according to local authorities. Demper has been charged with tampering or fabricating with evidence after she tried to wipe off the gun residue on her hands. Upon being questioned by police officers investigating the incident, Demper admitted that she was unaware the gun was loaded at the time. The other man who was present in the vehicle during the shooting will not be formally charged with any crimes.
This is starting to feel like a season spanning story-arc in the longstanding Dick Wolf Hit "Law And Order." In the wake of an unearthed police corruption scandal, the community waited with bated breath to see if Meek Mill would be sprung from his incarceration; after all, his arresting officer Reginald Graham was among those revealed to be corrupt. While you'd think that might have some effect on the proceedings, it would appear the notorious Judge Genece Brinkley remains steadfast in her decision to keep Meek locked behind bars. Despite the evolving nature of the case, Brinkley recently revealed that she had no intention of allowing Meek to be released on bail.

At the time, Meek's lawyer Joe Tacopina spoke out against Brinkley's decision, stating ""The judge continues to stand alone in supporting Officer Reginald Graham's perjured testimony as well as his criminal behavior that has been documented." Today, TMZ has reported that Brinkley has filed documents defending her decision. Like many authority figures before her, Brinkley has wasted little time in citing a deadline; apparently, in order for Meek's request to hold any weight, it would have had to have been filed a year after his 2009 sentence was finalized.

As previously reported, much of Meek's bail request was centered around the corruption of officer Graham, but Brinkley has once again called bullshit on Meek's team. She claims all of the documents were available long before their public unearthing, and the onus to expose the corrupt cops fell squarely on Meek's team. She reiterates that Meek has repeatedly professed his guilt to his original drug and gun charges, and is not entitled to be released simply because others have reaped the benefits of the corruption scandal.

Naturally, the curious case of Meek Mill and Judge Genece Brinkley will continue to develop. In the mean time, it's Free Meek as usual.
Last night, news broke out that Safaree was robbed at gun point. It was revealed during a short clip that was posted from an interview he did with Angie Martinez where he broke down in tears while describing what happened. He seemed distraught and more details pertaining to it will surely come up in the near future. Good news for him is that the suspects who allegedly robbed him have been apprehended.

Two men who've been suspected of robbing Safaree have been captured by the police, TMZ reports. Their law enforcement sources say that they caught the two men after a car chase down George Washington Bridge from New Jersey into New York. The alleged robbery occured in Fort Lee, NJ and police followed them over the bridge. One of the suspects then crashed their vehicle and began to flea the scene on foot before capturing Jonathan Ricketts and Shawn Harewood. The two of them were caught within 12 blocks of each other.

The information pertaining to the robbery hasn't been incredibly clear aside from the one clip of him breaking down into tears. The rest of the interview is slated to drop later today so we're sure that he'll detail it in full during that time. He said that they had him face down on the ground with a gun to his head and robbed him of everything.
Giada De Laurentiis was 8 years old when her family left Rome for California, but her heart always remained tethered to the Eternal City. And that bond has grown even stronger thanks to her new cookbook, Giadas Italy: My Recipes for La Dolce Vita.

A love letter to her birthplace, the book  a companion to her Giadas Italy cooking show on Food Network  finds the culinary superstar reacquainting herself with the city whose foods, flavors and dining habits have colored her career.

With her 10-year-old daughter Jade in tow, De Laurentiis spent months getting into a Roman routine. She spent time with her mother, who lives in Rome, and visited with other family members there. She showed Jade how and what Romans eat as they progress their day. She reassessed the way she cooks. And through it all she said she felt rebooted  a mental, physical and creative recalibration of her life.

The Chronicle had a short chat with De Laurentiis, 47, ahead of her Houston book-signing on Saturday at Williams Sonoma in Highland Village.

More Information Meet Giada De Laurentiis "Food Network" star Giada De Laurentiis will make an appearance at Williams Sonoma Highland Village, 4060 Westheimer, from 1 to 3 p.m Saturday. Admission is the cost of the cookbook, $35. 'Giada's Italy: My Recipes for La Dolce Vita' By Giada De Laurentiis Clarkson Potter; 288 pp; $35 See More Collapse

Q: What was it like shooting and filming in Rome for Giadas Italy?

A: We had a blast. I went with Jade for about a month. We spent time walking around finding the shops; eating, drinking and having fun. Because I was born there, I have been going back often but never spending a lot of time there. There was never time to go to Rome and chill, walk around and explore. That was a reconnection, and bringing Jade in  at 10, its a whole new world. (Kids) see it all. It was fun watching her picking up Italian and understanding the lifestyle and how different it was there. It was so interesting.

Q: Do any other cities make you feel that way?

A: Yeah, Paris. And the beach towns where I spend a lot of time  Naples, Positano and Capri.

Q: Has the way Italians eat changed very much since you were a girl?

A: Obviously every culture has evolved over time. Yeah, theres more fast food joints than ever before. Millennials want to eat faster and cheaper. But I think that because Italians are so rooted in culture, and have such a respect for the elders in the family, theres a part of us that will never let go in that part of life. They still remember where they come from. And to make sure we preserve our family history and the culture of our people no matter how much change we go through.

Q: Youre already known for Italian cooking  how are the recipes in your new book different?

A: Its different, but the same. I have lemon sole oreganata recipe that I made more mine. I made it lighter, cleaner and more citrusy as an homage to (Italys) beach towns. But whats so different is the chapter of la dolce vita recipes, which are traditional Sunday supper dishes. I havent tweaked those recipes that much. I kept them very much the same as handed down by my family. Theyre not so much difficult as they are time consuming. And you need extra hands, so you get to visit with family. Thats where the memories get created. And that chapter, for me, is the most Italian in the book.

Q: You write that this project reconnected you and rewired you. Explain.

A: It happens to everyone that we get so busy in our daily life. Before we realize it, years and years have gone by. We all work a lot. Im a single mom. I work a lot. As we get older, we get tired. I started to realize I didnt have the creative juices I had when I was younger. I needed a rest. I needed a different lifestyle. It was going back to my roots, my family, my mom but in a different way. People in Rome take two hour lunches, they take naps. Its a slower pace. And thats how I got to recharge and reboot.

Recipe: Lemon and Pea Alfredo from Giada De Laurentiis

Recipe: Easy sheet-pan chicken from Giada De Laurentiis

Recipe: Italian Springtime Lamb from Giada De Laurentiis


In the culinary realm, where foodies tend to chase the next house-fermented, gluten-free, unicorn-hued, plant-based cronut, theres a reliable constant: the taco.

Tacos, especially in Texas, make a familiar meal of comforting permanence. In a perfect world, the taco will never change. In the real world, it constantly does.

That duality  classic statesman versus hipster pioneer  is the heart of Tacos Over Texas, a new food-competition fundraiser Sunday at the Original Ninfas on Navigation. During the event more than a dozen local chefs will present their own take on the taco, inspired by the late Mama Ninfa Laurenzo.

In terms of how we eat, Mama Ninfas introduction of tacos al carbon was epic. She changed the culinary scene of Houston, said participating chef Michael Cordua, founder of Cordua Restaurants group.

Shes still alive with us, she never left, said Alex Padilla, executive chef at Ninfas on Navigation, which is now owned by Legacy Restaurants.

Her picture is in my mind, said Kiran Verma, owner of Kirans in Upper Kirby and a self-made female restaurateur. I feel her soul is in my soul. Shes a mentor to all of us.

More Information Tacos Over Texas Tacos Over Texas, a collaboration between the Original Ninfa's on Navigation and El Tiempo Cantina restaurants, will be held 1-4 p.m. Sunday at the Original Ninfa's on Navigation, 2704 Navigation. Tickets are $40 for general admission, which includes food samples, some alcoholic drinks and soft drinks. VIP admission for $200 includes priority admission an hour early (at noon), food, signature cocktails, swag bag and priority seating with wait service. For more information: tacosovertexas.info. Participating chefs: Terron Henry, Cool Runnings Jamaican Grill; Nirman Shah, Nirmanz Food Boutique; Domenic Laurenzo, El Tiempo Cantina; Alex Padilla, Original Ninfa's on Navigation; Juan Arellano, Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen; Johnny Carrabba, Carrabba's; Justin Martin and Elliot Roddy, Fuel Kitchen & Health Bar; Max Torres and Jeff Weinstock, Cake and Bacon; Charles Bishop, Presidio; Michael and David Cordua, Cordua Restaurants; Robert Del Grande, Cafe Annie; Donny Navarrete, Laurenzo's; Greg Gatlin and Michelle Wallace, Gatlin's BBQ; Hayden Hulings, Your Table; Sandy Tran and Anne Le, Tout Suite; Kiran Verma, Kiran's See More Collapse

Those are the kind of words Mama Ninfas children hear often. Thats why they helped create Tacos Over Texas to benefit the Ninfa Laurenzo Scholarship Fund. The inaugural event is co-chaired by Tony and Phyllis Mandola and Legacy Restaurants CEO Jonathan and his wife, Quinn. Honorary chairs are President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, longtime Ninfas fans.

Phyllis Mandola, one of five children and the only daughter of Domenic and Maria Ninfa Laurenzo, said the local scholarships the fund will disperse is a fitting tribute to her parents who she said gave us the best education they could afford. She said she and her four brothers  Roland, Jack, Tommy and Gino  all benefited from scholarships throughout their education. Phyllis, for example, rode two city buses from the barrio to get to Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart where she attended school before entering the University of St. Thomas.

When she died from cancer in 2001, Mama Ninfa had long since been famous for the culinary empire she built. But she also was known as a Latina role model, businesswoman, innovator, and community leader. A charismatic presence, she also was, as her son Jack said, someone who was always willing to lend a hand and preach the positive.

Those qualities made her a beloved figure in Houston  and they cemented her legacy as the first lady of Tex-Mex cuisine.

But, Phyllis said, that was never her intention. She was just herself, said Phyllis, whose husband, Tony Mandola, is himself a member of a dynastic family of restaurateurs. Her intention was to put food on the table for her kids and lead a good life.

Providing for her family is what kickstarted the Ninfas legend. Ninfa Laurenzo opened her tiny restaurant in the summer of 1973 in part of the tortilla factory she ran with her husband, who died suddenly in 1969 at age 49. A single mother with five children, Mama Ninfa needed money to provide for her family.

She found that money, and fame, thanks to her tacos al carbon, char-grilled beef folded into soft, handmade flour tortillas. In a landscape dotted by combo plate Tex-Mex joints, tacos al carbon were a novelty. To Mama Ninfa, it was simply a familiar, rustic food of the Rio Grande Valley where she was born and raised. On day one she also introduced the now-famous green sauce, served alongside red salsa, which is now a Tex-Mex staple.

The Ninfas brand grew quickly and eventually was a restaurant force for years before the debts of expansion consumed the empire, which was sold in 1998 after filing for bankruptcy protection. The familys culinary lives on, though, in the El Tiempo Cantina brand that is owned and operated by Mama Ninfas son Roland Laurenzo and his son, Domenic.

But history was made on Navigation in 1973. On Sunday during Tacos Over Texas, its in the spotlight again.

Recipe: Korean Fried Chicken Tacos
Do you like "sick" comedies?

That's how Chronicle Amusements Editor Mildred Stockard described "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" in her March 5, 1964, review.

"If you can justify, or even accept, the destruction of the world by an H bomb as a comic theme, you can find humor in the picture now playing at the Alabama Theatre," she wrote.

A few years removed from the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Berlin Crisis, "Dr. Strangelove" wasn't going to sit well with some. That's satire for you. Some will get it, some won't.

"It has an excellent cast and there are many fine performances which, taken out of their grim context, would be hilarious," Stockard wrote. "But there will be many, even in this post-World War II era which has been termed 'the neurotic age,' who will find the theme is too chilling to be considered lightly."

By contrast, New York Times critic Pauline Kael noted that Stanley Kubrick's film was meant to "jolt us awake" to the looming disaster we faced if world leaders continued on this path. Mineshaft gaps, anyone?

"Despite a reservation or two about it, I'm delighted to find a film (an American one, too) which sticks so resolutely by its guns," wrote George Christian of the Houston Post.

"Kubrick makes his best comic points with the grotesquerie of every-day reactions in an appalling situation. The president's phone call to his Russian opposite is a marvel of banality."

One quibble Christian had with the film was the use of funny character names (Buck Turgidson, and Bat Guano, for example) and that Dr. Strangelove should have been less enigmatic.

More from Bayou City History Chronicle review: 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

"Dr. Strangelove" will be screened around midnight April 6 and 7 at the River Oaks Theatre.

As more classic films are re-released on the big screen, we'll take an occasional look at how Houston newspapers originally reviewed these beloved movies.
The king is dead.

Joe Watts, a pioneering figure who was the king of Houston gay theater from the early 1980s to the 2000s, died on March 12 after a battle with cancer. He was 76.

Undaunted by seemingly overwhelming odds, he persevered in pursuit of his vision, discovered creative solutions and made sure that the curtain went up regularly on queer theater productions for three decades. Confronted with penuriously low budgets and unable to afford the rent of an established theater, he staged productions at unconventional venues, including art galleries, The Holocaust Museum Houston and The Pink Elephant, Texas's oldest gay bar.

"When Joe first started doing gay theater in Houston, people were indifferent to it," observes longtime friend George Jonte-Crane of Watts's early days in the 1980s. "I can remember performances that he was lucky to have 10 or 12 people in the audience. But when things caught on and they realized that he was a formidable force, that he was a really creative man, he packed the houses."

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: How Montrose became gay

In 1985, during an extremely homophobic period in Houston's history when many gays were deep in the closet, he founded one of the city's first gay theater companies, The Group Theater. That same year, as the gay community was reeling from the AIDS crisis and people living with HIV were objects of fear and loathing, Watts directed one of the first plays about AIDS in Houston. The Group Theater presented "One," featuring actor Kent Johnson portraying a person living with HIV. Houston Post theater critic William Albright selected it as one of the best productions of the year.

"He was truly a gay Houston hero," observes Larry Lingle, a retired Houston entrepreneur who owned Lobo, a gay bookstore that was a gathering place for gay men in the '80s and '90s.

Later, in the mid-90s, he went on to found another queer theater ensemble, Theatre New West, in Montrose.

Watts also had a gift for directing comedy. The Houston Press pronounced his 2001 production of Paul Rudnick's "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told" "absolutely fabulous," observing, "Joe Watts of Theatre New West brings this charming script to Houston with timing that couldn't be better. His production is the best dramatic bonbon of the holiday season  thanks in no small part to his pretty and enthusiastic young cast, whose collective chemistry bubbles over with the indulgent joy that can make live theater so much fun."

NO LONGER MARGINAL: I grew up with LGBTQ stigma. Tomorrow's kids won't.

Memorial What: A celebration of Joe Watts When: Tuesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. Where: The Montrose Center, 401 Branard See More Collapse

Watts acted in more than 75 productions, directed more than 60 productions and also worked as a producer, acting teacher and critic. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Feb. 21, 1942, he made his first appearances in gay theater in Houston in the early '80s in an all-male version of Noel Coward's comedic classic "Private Lives" at the Pink Elephant.

As a director, he possessed an unique ability to inspire and exasperate in almost equal measure. "He drove me crazy most of the time," remembers Michael Harren, a Houston actor and musician who appeared in several of Watts's productions and now lives in New York City.

But he also inspired me with his scrappy queer theater passion, and his ability to put up a show just about anywhere.

We must have worked on three or four shows together, including 'The Stops,' which I directed and appeared in with Bob Leeds and Christopher L. Pool. I was not equipped with the experience to both direct and perform (in drag!) in a musical. But Joe believed in and encouraged me anyway.

He was such a dear man  I didn't realize how much he was teaching me until well after the fact.

In 2006, Watts realized a dream that he had held for two decades: staging Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart," a seminal AIDS drama depicting the early years of the HIV crisis, at the Bering and James Art Gallery in Montrose. "I have always looked at 'The Normal Heart' as a play about a war," he told OutSmart Magazine.

For Watts, the war was deeply personal. He had been diagnosed HIV-positive in 1996, according to his friend Jonte-Crane.

Dave Rossman/For the Chronicle

Watts was drawn to directing searing plays examining the homophobia of the larger society. In 2004, he staged Martin Sherman's "Bent," which dramatized the Nazi targeting and extermination of gays in the concentration camps of World War II, at the Holocaust Museum Houston. And, in 2010, he directed "The Laramie Project," which depicted the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, again at the Holocaust Museum Houston.

Whether staging stark dramas or light comedies, Watts's productions had a lasting impact on LGBT Houstonians. "He helped us understand who we are through his wonderful theater work," observes OutSmart journalist Brandon Wolfe, a longtime observer of Houston's LGBT community.

Andrew Edmonson won the Award of Special Merit from the Texas Chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. He serves as a board member for The Oral History Project, which is chronicling Houston's response to the AIDS crisis.

Bookmark Gray Matters. You don't realize how much it is teaching you until well after the fact.
Less than two months after Houston ISD charter school Victory Prep North abruptly closed after running out of money, the districts board of trustees voted to spend $300,000 to keep its sister campus open for the remainder of this school year.

The lifeline to the charter school, founded by embattled megachurch pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, will keep 235 high school students from having to find a new campus with only two months left in the school year.

Officials with the Victory Preparatory Academy South told Houston ISD last Thursday that the school had run out of money and would have to close unless the district could pay to keep it afloat. As part of the deal approved by HISD trustees Monday, the school will close permanently over the summer and the district will conduct a financial audit of the campus and its sister school, Victory Preparatory Academy North, which closed in February due to financial issues.

The announcement came as a shock to Victory Prep South Principal Winston Steele, who said he only learned Thursday that the school would close.

I have no news to give you about financials  that was centrally controlled at the north campus through a finance director, Steele said Tuesday. At our campus, if I had any needs at our campus, I would fill out a form, a materials request form, and send it to the finance office.

At the time of the north campus closing, the charter networks executive director, the Rev. Lisa Berry-Dockery, said the school lost money after dozens of students left in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Berry-Dockery is listed as a pastor for Windsor Village United Methodist Church, where Caldwell is the senior pastor.

Caldwell was listed as vice president of the charter school networks board as recently as 2014, and still is listed as vice president on the Victory Prep schools shared website.

Windsor Village Churchs website says Caldwell founded the Victory Prep Schools.

Last Thursday, Caldwell and a Louisiana-based financial planner were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. Federal prosecutors accused Caldwell of using his position with the church to persuade investors to spend $3.5 million on historic Chinese bonds that are not recognized by the Chinese government. The indictment said that a $25,000 wire transfer was sent from the operating account of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church to one of the duped investors after Caldwell promised a refund. The indictment does not mention the charter school.

Caldwell has denied any wrongdoing, and messages left with his attorney were not returned Tuesday. Officials with Windsor Village United Methodist Church also did not respond to a voice message.

The two Victory Prep schools Caldwell founded were ordered shut down by the Texas Education Agency in 2016, after failing to meet the states academic standards for three years in a row. Instead of allowing the remaining two schools to close, HISDs board of trustees stepped in and offered them a lifeline.

The board brought the Victory Prep schools and its charter network, Management Accountability Company, into the district as in-district charter schools.

In-district charter schools differ from state charter schools in that they are at least somewhat accountable to the local public school district. Funds for the schools flow from the state through HISD, which takes a small cut, and into the charter school network, which paid the salaries of employees at both schools.

As part of their contract, the Management Accountability Company had to turn in an audit of its finances every year. Mark Smith, HISDs chief student support officer, said other than that, there is little oversight of how HISDs 13 other in-district charter schools operate.

We do not have a routine monitoring system for charters, because theyre expected to monitor themselves, Smith said. Everything they do is in their own purview. They have their own staff, methods for purchasing items.

That frustrated some HISD trustees, who said they should not have to bail out a charter school while the district is facing a $115 million budget deficit of its own.

I'm very surprised that, in this year, we haven't figured out checkpoints to monitor the financial insolvency, said Trustee Sergio Lira. We have to make sure we don't close schools at the last moment.

Steele, Victory Prep Souths principal, said he was equally surprised by the news, especially since central administrators offered him assurances after the Victory Prep North campus closed in February.

We were concerned, but we were told to make sure the kids are here at school. Thats the main thing, because the budget ran by the average daily attendance of students, Steele said. All I was focused on was to make sure kids were ready for graduation and end-of-course exams.

That was of little consolation to 15-year-old Jacqueline Cruz, who learned through teachers on Thursday that the school would close.

She and her mother, Faviola Cruz, chose the campus out of concern that her zoned school, Madison High, is too large. Neither daughter nor mother had heard of Victory Prep Souths financial issues until a reporter told them Tuesday. Faviola Cruz said she plans to attend a meeting at the school on Monday, where administrators will discuss next steps for students.

Jacqueline, however, does not want to leave.

I like it here because its not as crowded as other schools, she said. Next year is going to be difficult. I dont talk very much, but here Ive made a few good friends.
Hurricane Harvey was supposed to be a game-changer. Those who downplayed other recent deadly floods couldnt say much last August after every single one of the countys 22 bayous overflowed their banks and inundated hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

Still, that trauma has not ensured Mayor Sylvester Turner an easy path to restricting development in the flood plains that run alongside those bayous.

What seemed like a stunned consensus that change was needed, seven months later looks like every other City Hall fight over new regulations.

Turner described his proposal in broad terms at a late January council meeting but did not provide draft language or supporting data. He drew immediate opposition from council members when he said he expected to vote on the item within a month.

EDITORIAL: Monty Python antics amok as City Hall debates flooding

Happy to fill that information void, lobbyists spent weeks huddled with city council members on behalf of home builders, land developers, engineers and real estate professionals  all of whom happen to be among the most reliable campaign donors at City Hall.

Their arguments, along with those of numerous individual homeowners, tap into a hostility toward regulation that runs deep in Houston.

Houston always has been known as a free-wheeling place where anyone could make a buck. The citys founding began with two New York real estate speculators gleefully misrepresenting the climate to lure settlers. Voters have rejected land use restrictions three times since World War II, and revered Bob Lanier, the deep-pocketed developer they elected as mayor three times in the 1990s.

And so, months after Hurricane Harvey dumped 50 inches of rain or more on much of Greater Houston, supporters of Turners proposals are back on defense ahead of Wednesdays scheduled vote.

Stricter regulations

The proposed regulations, opponents say, would undermine growth, hamstring Houstons competitive edge as an affordable big city and destroy the property values of thousands of homeowners, including many who did not flood in Harvey.

We have a development reputation of being very laissez-faire and saying you can kind of build where youre going to want to build and build what you want to build, said Kyle Shelton of Rice Universitys Kinder Institute for Urban Research, which has been convening panels on flood resilience since Harvey. This is one of the more recent really big attempts to say, Well, no, there are some places where heres what youre going to have to do. Naturally, thats going to get discussion and get pushback in Houston, because its not something that weve done a lot.

Turner is asking the city council to require all new construction in Houstons flood plains to be built 2 feet above the projected water level in a 500-year storm, which is deemed to have a 0.2 percent chance of happening in any given year.

Current rules mandate that buildings be constructed 1 foot above the flood level in a less severe 100-year storm and apply only within the 100-year flood plain, where properties are considered to have a 1 percent annual chance of being inundated. Minimum home elevations would be imposed within the 500-year flood plain for the first time.

Few of the details were clear to council members or others who heard Turner discuss the coming changes for the first time in late January, however.

In fact, Houston Public Works did not release a detailed analysis of Harvey data to justify the administrations recommended elevations until six weeks later.

That report, circulated after the designated window for public feedback had closed, showed 84 percent of homes Harvey flooded in Houstons flood plains would have been spared if they had been built at the height recommended in the mayors proposal.

Information gap

The policy rollout frustrated some council members, including Councilman Mike Laster, who represents a southwestern district where roughly 750 homes took on at least 18 inches of water during Harvey.

I believe that we have done ourselves, our community and this process an enormous disservice in the way in which weve proceeded to talk about this issue and present it to the public, Laster said at a recent committee hearing. Weve had virtually no public meetings. We virtually had no public deliberation or time for this to sink in in the publics mind. Because weve not done those two things, we have raised suspicions in neighborhoods.

Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said the familiar pattern of the debate is unsurprising. That, he said, is because Houstons strong-mayor form of government gives Turner control over the content of the council agenda and the city departments that draft and implement policies, and because of the knee-jerk culture in Houston, where any regulation is initially assumed to be bad regulation.

Theres a real tendency of the mayor and the rest of the executive branch to come up with the proposals and policies and then try to ram them through the council because theres a real information asymmetry between the mayors office and council, Jones said. Even if its optimal legislation, council often reacts very negatively about having been kept in the dark, and so many oppose something they otherwise would have supported, not because of the policy itself but because of the process.

That information gap also makes council members susceptible to lobbying, Jones said, in part because the council members have no more than a handful of staff and often split time between their nominally part-time council positions and regular careers.

In fact, industry representatives played a key role in drafting two of the three amendments council members offered to the flood plain proposal when it reached the council table last week.

Doing something different

Representatives of the Houston Association of Realtors crafted most of Councilman Jack Christies amendment to exempt some homes with no history of flooding from the new requirements, Christies chief of staff Matt Brollier said.

Brollier said it made sense to discuss the issue with industry experts because city officials had not responded to requests from Christies office for basic information.

Councilman Greg Travis said the Greater Houston Builders Association, with input from other groups, helped develop his proposal that seeks to loosen the citys proposed restrictions on adding fill dirt to a site when redeveloping small lots in the 500-year flood plain. The change, he added, aligns with his constituents concerns, not simply those of industry groups.

Skeptical council members also have made no secret of their preference for the arguments advanced by real estate industry representatives over Public Works own analysis.

One Realtor at a recent council hearing said her agents were horrified by the proposals threat to property values. Another said the citys data show that the current rules are working because more than 70 percent of structures in the flood plain were not damaged during Harvey.

I take your opinion very highly because youre a Realtor; youre out there where the rubber meets the road, Councilman Michael Kubosh told one. As much as I like these engineers, they havent been able to answer my questions about things.

Turner said he is confident he will have the support to adopt the flood plain proposal.

Any time youre talking about a policy shift, those ideas are going to be debated, discussed and vetted, Turner said. Now, it doesnt necessarily mean that its contentious. It simply means that were doing something different in the post-Harvey era, which I think most Houstonians expect.

Next, the city plans to take up the second half of Turners elevation proposal: requiring new homes to sit at least 2 feet off the ground citywide, including in areas with no established flood risk.

If the current debate is any indicator, that may be a hard sell.
By Ssebuliba Samuel.

A total of 587 police officers have today sat for the African Union Pre -Assessment for Assistance Mission service exam at Nsambya Youth Sharing Hall.

Speaking to these candidates, the Director Peace Support Operations Uganda police force Grace Turyagumanawe said that these exams are to prepare officers to seat for a big examination where they will compete at continental level.

He said that the exams are prepared by African Union and will select those who qualify to be deployed in any Mission in Africa where theres no peace.

He said that peace missions are crucial to Uganda because they help to expose the personnel to international policing experience and improving their welfare.
President Donald Trump has said repeatedly that Russian interference didn't matter in the 2016 election, and he has suggested - wrongly - that the intelligence and law enforcement communities have said the same. His overriding fear seems to be that Russian interference and the "fake news" it promoted would undermine the legitimacy of his election win.

Trump won't like this new study one bit.

The study from researchers at Ohio State University finds that fake news likely played a significant role in depressing Hillary Clinton's support on Election Day 2016. The study, which has not been peer reviewed but which may be the first look at how fake news impacted voter choices, suggests that roughly 4 percent of former President Barack Obama's 2012 supporters were dissuaded from voting for Clinton in 2016 by belief in fake-news stories.

Now Playing: Facebook Releases New Feature to Filter More Local News in News Feed The feature was something the company touched on earlier this year and then again last week by Mark Zuckerberg in his statement following the Cambridge Analytica incident. Now, people around the world will see more news on Facebook from local sources covering their current city and other cities they may care about. With this update, we're helping local publishers who cover multiple, nearby cities reach audiences in those cities. The company continued to promise more quality news from more quality sources, trying to eliminate fake news in the wake of the 2016 election. The update comes on the back of Facebook's stock dipping significantly after the Cambridge Analytica data breach. Video: Wibbitz

Richard Gunther, Paul Beck and Erik Nisbet, the study's authors, inserted three popular fake-news stories from the 2016 campaign into a massive, 281-question YouGov survey given to 585 Obama supporters in December 2016 - 23 percent of which didn't vote for Clinton, either by abstaining or picking another candidate. Here are the false stories, along with the percentages of Obama supporters who believed they were at least "probably" true (in parenthesis):

- Clinton was in "very poor health due to a serious illness" (12 percent)

- Pope Francis endorsed Trump (8 percent)

- Clinton approved weapons sales to Islamic jihadists, "including ISIS" (20 percent)

Overall, about one-quarter of 2012 Obama voters believed at least one of these stories (26 percent). And of that group, just 45 percent voted for Clinton - compared to 89 percent who believed none of the three.

This alone does not prove that fake news was a difference-maker, of course. A recent Princeton-led study of fake news consumption during the 2016 campaign found that fake news articles made up only 2.6 percent of all hard-news articles late in the 2016 election, with the stories most often reaching intense partisans who were likely not persuadable. And it wouldn't be surprising if Obama voters who weren't reliable Democratic supporters were more apt to believe fake news stories that affirmed their decision not to vote for Clinton.

So the researchers sought to control for other factors like gender, race, age, education, political leaning and even personal feelings about Clinton and Trump using multiple regression analysis. According to the researchers, all of these factors combined to explain 38 percent of the defection of Obama voters from Clinton, but belief in fake news explained another 11 percent.

More for you A guide to President Trump's latest round of fact-challenged...

For those defecting from Clinton, believing fake news had a greater impact than anything except being a Republican or personally disliking Clinton. Obama voters who believed one of these fake news stories "were 3.9 times more likely to defect from the Democratic ticket in 2016 than those who believed none of these false claims, after taking into account all of these other factors," the researchers write.

"We cannot prove that belief in fake news caused these former Obama voters to defect from the Democratic candidate in 2016," they write. "These data strongly suggest, however, that exposure to fake news did have a significant impact on voting decisions."

Exactly how that translates into raw votes and whether it swung the election is the big, unanswered question - and the one that seems to preoccupy Trump. It's difficult to know how fake news played specifically in the three states that delivered him the presidency: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But the fact that Clinton lost each of these divisive states by less than one percentage point means that even a slight impact by Russia and/or fake news - or even then-FBI Director James Comey's announcement about Clinton's emails or some other factor - could logically have changed the result.

But we can use this study to glean some clues and even rerun a hypothetical 2016 election. The Washington Post's polling director, Scott Clement, ran a predictive probability analysis using the OSU team's data and compared the existing 2016 election to a hypothetical election in which these fake news stories didn't exist. The result: Clinton lost 4.2 percent more of Obama's votes in the race with fake news, versus the hypothetical race without it. The study notes that 10 percent of Obama voters voted from Trump; other surveys have had

If we multiply that 4.2 percent drop-off by Obama's 2012 vote share in the three key states that delivered the presidency to Trump, it suggests fake news cost Clinton around 2.2 or 2.3 points apiece in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And Clinton lost Michigan by just 0.2 points and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by 0.72 and 0.76 points, respectively.

These are rough estimates, to be clear. But notably, Clinton's estimated drop-off in each state would be about three times bigger - or more - than the study's impact of fake news. That would mean that, for fake news not to have made the difference (according to these data), Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin would have had to be uniquely impervious to the effects of fake news, when compared to the rest of the country.

The survey also notably doesn't measure what impact fake news might have had in increasing Trump's support, instead only focusing on how it depressed Clinton's. That could actually increase the shift. But even with this limited purview, it suggests it made a significant difference.

And it suggests it may well have cost Clinton the presidency.

- - -

The Washington Post's Scott Clement contributed to this report.
After two and a half years dodging federal investigators by fleeing to Egypt, former congressional aide Jason Posey came to the painful realization that his boss, two-time Republican congressman Steve Stockman, was going to blame him for the elaborate fraud scheme they had orchestrated, he told a federal jury Tuesday.

He told me, Youre going to take the blame for everything and he was going to run for office, Posey testified, adding that Stockman promised to look after him after Posey was convicted. That was when I realized that I had been a complete fool for trusting Mr. Stockman and he never intended to keep his pledge.

That pledge, according to Posey, was that if their questionable use of charitable donations came to light Stockman would come clean about everything and protect him and another devoted congressional staffer.

Instead, the controversial former GOP lawmaker from Clear Lake maintains his innocence in a 28-count criminal indictment, while former staffers Posey and Thomas Dodd have pleaded guilty. Both former aides are hoping for leniency in sentencing and have provided pivotal courtroom testimony, backing the governments case that Stockman orchestrated a white collar crime spree, diverting $1.25 million in donations from two top-dollar conservative backers to pay off unrelated expenses.

The lawyers estimate the trial, now in its third week, could continue into next week.

Stockmans legal team insists his spending may not have been prudent or wise, but did not amount to fraud. They say Stockmans donors didnt care how he spent the money.

MORE: Megadonor says he thought former U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman was trustworthy

Posey, who is free on bond and works as a fry cook in Tupelo, Miss., testified that he had known Stockman since 1996 and worked for him on and off for decades. During Stockmans successful 2012 campaign for the House of Representatives and his failed 2014 bid to unseat Texas Republican John Cornyn for Senate, Posey said he helped filter charitable donations to conservative 501c3 nonprofit groups. Posey testified he helped Stockman set up sham charities and associated bank accounts, which Stockman directed him to use to pay off campaign expenses and personal debts.

He wrote checks, set up bank accounts and moved the money, as Stockman told him, into shadowy charities, including one called the Egyptian American Friendship Society and another entitled Life Without Limits, supposedly dedicated to helping people recover from trauma, so the spending would look like it was coming from charitable groups, according to his testimony.

While volunteering, Posey camped out for an extended period with several other campaign workers at an old motorcycle shop in Webster that served as Stockmans headquarters. Later, he and other Stockman aides lived at a church camp.

RELATED: Onetime aide testifies against former Rep. Steve Stockman

Posey told jurors he and the former congressman knew they were breaking the law by concealing the source of the funds. But Stockman instructed him to push forward with his plans to spend charitable money  on hotel rooms, plane flights, burner phones for secret conversations and fake tabloid mailers to constituents  and he complied.

At Stockmans direction, Posey testified, that he and Dodd wrote checks with charitable funds, donating $15,000 back to Stockmans fledgling campaign fund. Both men later agreed to have their parents names attached to their donations, after Stockmans accountant warned their contributions would stand out as red flags on the campaigns federal election filings, since both men worked for Stockman.

The contributions did catch the eye of journalists and federal investigators, at which point Stockman and his crew began filing amended campaign reports, witnesses have said.

After Stockmans 2014 senate bid eroded, Posey agreed to explore the ex-congressmans prospects for a senate run in Alaska. During that brief stint in Alaska, Posey told the jury he got an urgent call from Stockman to drop everything and head back to Texas immediately. Within weeks, Posey had sold his car, put his belongings in storage and decamped to Egypt, a country hed never visited, all at Stockmans urging.

While abroad, living in an apartment above a Cairo church that he periodically shared with Stockman, Posey testified he continued to make money transfers and traveled to bank branches in Istanbul and Frankfurt to try to keep Stockmans scheme afloat.

MORE: Charity donations paid for tanning salons and amusement parks, says FBI investigator in Steve Stockman trial

When pressed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Heberle about why he agreed to help in a scheme to divert donations and conceal their activities, Posey said, He was the boss. I was the employee. I did what he said.

Posey said he realized last May that Stockman wouldnt protect him. He agreed to meet with FBI officers in the lobby of a Marriott in Cairo. Soon thereafter, he was flown back to Houston to face criminal charges.

Gabrielle Banks covers federal court at the Houston Chronicle. Send her tips at gabrielle.banks@chron.com and follow her on Twitter.
The second of two key government witnesses took the stand late Monday in Houston in the federal fraud trial of former U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman, telling jurors his main duty on the ex-lawmakers staff was to just do what Im told.

Jason Posey, and the other top aide and co-defendant in the case, Thomas Dodd, pleaded guilty to several related charges in the 28-count indictment. Both men are hoping the judge will grant them leniency in sentencing as a result of their testimony. Dodd, who help broker the top-dollar charity donations on Stockmans behalf, completed several hours of intensive testimony on Monday.

The prosecution has called dozens of witnesses and submitted thousands of pages of evidence in seven days of testimony, tracking the path of charitable gifts from two conservative mega-donors through a series of bank accounts to the expenses Stockman spent them on, including bills from a tattoo shop, a friends detox program, the China-based publisher of his brothers Christmas book, an amateur spy operation watching a Republican lawmaker at the state capitol and a hot-air balloon ride.

MORE: Charity donations paid for tanning salons and amusement parks, says FBI investigator in Steve Stockman trial

Stockmans defense lawyers have said the charitable donations were given legally. Whether Stockman spent the funds wisely, he did not break the law, they say. Stockman, 61, of Clear Lake, has said he is not guilty.

The lawyers told Chief U.S. Judge Lee H. Rosenthal they anticipated the prosecution would wrap its case Tuesday and the defense could likely be finishing Thursday.

On the stand Monday, Posey told the jury he had previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

Both Dodd and Posey knew Stockman through his work with the conservative Leadership Institute, an Arlington nonprofit that trains youth in grassroots organizing.

Posey, 47, who now works as a fry cook at Spuds in Tupelo, Miss., said he worked for Stockman on-and-off since his unsuccessful bid for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996. He helped with Stockmans failed campaign for Texas Railroad Commissioner in 1998 and lived among other volunteers in Stockmans ramshackle campaign headquarters, a former motorcycle repair shop in Webster, during Stockmans victorious 2012 campaign for the Congress.

RELATED: Onetime aide testifies against former Rep. Steve Stockman

Stockman then tapped him to be a congressional staffer in Washington. But when new employees were going around the room introducing themselves by their new titles at a preliminary staff meeting, Posey did not mention that he would be a liaison working on special projects.

Instead, he testified,I stood and said, Im Jason Posey and I just do what Im told.

He told the jury he knew nothing about Stockmans major donors, although he helped the ex-congressman set up a failed charity, which Stockman later used to solicit donations, according to testimony from other witnesses.

Prosecutors are expected to probe further on Tuesday, but Posey said in previous court appearances that Stockman directly instructed him to write hefty checks to himself and Dodd, the other aide charged in the case, using money government witnesses have linked to Stockmans campaign funds.

MORE: Megadonor says he thought former U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman was trustworthy

While questioning Dodd on the stand earlier Monday, a defense lawyer tried to make the case that Stockmans top-dollar donors knew they were sidestepping tax law by giving charitable donations to the former congressman and knew their money wasnt necessarily going to charitable causes.

Attorney Sean Buckley asked Dodd, Stockmans fundraising director, about a series of emails and letters he and Stockman exchanged with Stanford Z. Rothschild Jr., a Baltimore money manager, who Dodd said was a staunch supporter of right-wing causes.

Dodd had been setting the groundwork for a major donation during Stockmans congressional campaign. There was a lot of back-and-forth with Rothschilds office about which of Stockmans 501c3 charity organizations should receive to a 2012 gift.

Were you trying to get Mr. Rothchild to believe he was buying a politician but also stiffing the IRS? Buckley asked. Dodd asked him to repeat the question.

Was it a wink-wink thing? Buckley asked.

MORE: Stockman fraud case not about fur coats, Rolexes and Mercedes Benzes, lawyer says

Thats correct, Dodd said.

He testified that Rothschild knowingly attempted to make an improper campaign donation. There is no indication that Rothschild, who died in 2017, was implicated in criminal conduct.

However, when Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Annis returned to the same series of donations, Dodd had a different response. He said it was true Rothschild believed his 2010 and 2012 donations would be spent on voter education materials.

Gabrielle Banks covers federal court for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and send her tips at gabrielle.banks@chron.com.
Three aggravated robbery suspects are in custody after sparking a police chase during Monday rush hour.

Just after 5:15 p.m., Houston police officers tried stopping a driver after spotting a car matching the description of a vehicle involved in a robbery minutes earlier.

Initially, the driver refused to pull over and police trailed the car along Loop 610.

Within a few minutes, the suspect got off the highway and stopped in an intersection near McCarty.

At that point, the pursuit turned into a standoff and by 5:30 p.m. was still ongoing, according to Houston police.

As a swarm of police cars blocked off the roadway, the occupants of the vehicle got out and surrendered, one by one.

Police crept up to the empty car and checked the trunk before clearing it.

Authorities did not immediately release the suspects' names or say what charges they might face.
Around this time of year, attorney Carmen Dusek finds herself thinking about a woman named Merrianne.

Ten years ago, law enforcement officers and Child Protective Services investigators, acting on a tip, raided what was known as the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, a small West Texas town, and found a scene that shocked the country.

The ranch was home to the most devout members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamist group distrusting of the outside world led by Warren Jeffs. Among them were a dozen girls dressed in prairie dresses who had been married between the ages of 12 and 15, including Merrianne, who had been married to Jeffs.

The FLDS church swiftly built infrastructure for a community on its sprawling, 1,700-acre former exotic-game ranch, which it purchased in 2004. Amid the desert landscape, there were orchards, log-cabin homes and a massive, shining white temple.

The April 3, 2008, raid resulted in one of the largest child welfare cases in Texas history, sparking controversy over whether and how the state could remove hundreds of children from their families without individual investigation. In an affidavit in support of removing the children, a CPS investigator said there was a pervasive pattern and practice of indoctrinating and grooming minor female children to accept spiritual marriages to adult male members of the YFZ Ranch resulting in them being sexually abused.

In the days following the raid, state Child Protective Services removed 463 people who they believed were minors from the ranch. Seven of the girls married under 15 had children of their own. In all, 439 confirmed minors, including two born after the raid, were eventually placed in foster care until the state Supreme Court ruled on May 29, 2008, that the state had overstepped its bounds and ordered the children be returned to their parents.

I dont think any of us were prepared for the magnitude, said Dusek, the attorney who organized the legal representation for the children.

For some in the FLDS church, what they saw and learned during the raid and subsequent criminal trials prompted them to break with the sect. But for an unknown number of others, some of whom are in hiding, their beliefs a decade later remain strong.

The state stopped tracking nearly all of the children that year. Only Merrianne remained in foster care longer than June, but Dusek does not know where she is now.

To protect the children

Before the raid, little was known about the large complex that was being constructed outside Eldorado by members of an off-shoot of the Utah- and Arizona-based FLDS, which split from the Mormon Church decades ago after it renounced polygamy. Members were sometimes spotted in town, the women in their prairie dresses, but they largely kept to themselves.

Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran had built a relationship with some FLDS members. When he got the CPS call, based on a tip to a shelter from a teenager who never was located, the sheriff felt the situation was urgent, but he knew they had a good line of communication. He predicted they would resolve the situation quickly.

It didnt turn out that way, said Doran, who still goes to the now state-owned property daily. This has been a major part of my career.

When the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services finalized its report in December 2008, it determined 263 children had been subject to neglect. Of the parents, 124 were deemed perpetrators. To help resolve the problems, 29 safety plans were signed, 170 parents attended eight hours of parenting classes, and 50 girls took four hours of education sessions on underage marriage and sexual abuse.

In these cases, DFPSs sole purpose was to protect the children, reunite them with their families when the childrens safety could be reasonably assured, and give those families better tools to protect their children from abuse or neglect in the future, the report stated.

Separately, law enforcement saw 12 grand jury indictments of men that year, according to the report. The prophet, Warren Jeffs, was sentenced to life in prison following his 2011 conviction on child sexual assault charges. He declined a request for an interview, according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman, but former members say he continues dispensing orders from a lock-up in Palestine.

The details of the life he created at the ranch were  and remain  shocking. But not even all FLDS members knew exactly what was going on there, including one of Warrens half-brothers, Wallace Jeffs.

Texas was described by the prophet as the place for elite and loyal people, said Wallace Jeffs, 57. To be invited was viewed as a great honor, even if it meant separating from family. It was also a matter of salvation: If we werent called to Texas, Jeffs said, we were going to be destroyed with the wicked that year.

Wallace Jeffs was exiled from the church  an experience that devastated him  then brought back before the raid. But he felt strange about the ranch. He was relieved when three invitations to go there fell through.

Only when Jeffs was cast out again in 2010, and he began to investigate what had happened at the ranch, did he find his suspicions confirmed.

As far as my point of view of the raid, it was really the beginning of the end of Warren, and really of the whole church, Jeffs said. It was really what opened my eyes to what was really going on in the church

He now calls the Texas property Warrens brothel.

Leaving the ranch

Rachel Jeffs, a daughter of Warren Jeffs, first went to the ranch because her mother was there, dying. She, too, found it strange.

Rachel Jeffs alleged that her father sexually abused her between the ages of 8 and 16. Though they were taught the prophet could do no wrong, she knew he wasnt a good person.

Her husband lived in South Dakota, but she stayed intermittently in her fathers house at the ranch. She remembers seeing him kiss the young girls he married. And still she didnt know about everything going on. He stayed in his room for weeks at at time.

It just made me sick, Rachel Jeffs said. I hated Texas.

By the time of the raid, Rachel Jeffs had left the ranch. But some of her 52 siblings called her. They were sad to be apart from their children. They were unaccustomed to what they ate.

For the children in foster care, so much was unfamiliar. They startled officials when they awoke early, got dressed and tied on their shoes, as if getting ready to work. They had never been given toys. When asked about Iraq, one said, Whos Iraq?

But they also had planned for this, in a way. They had been taught about the raid in Waco, where a siege on a Branch Davidian compound in April 1993 had ended in a fire and the deaths of about 80 sect members, including two dozen children. They expected to be persecuted.

Working behind the scenes was Rebecca Musser, who had broken with the church in 2002 at age 26. She had been in touch with law enforcement prior to the raid because she was trying to find a sibling. She agreed to help them with the raid. She feared it might trigger a mass suicide.

I wanted things to change, she said. I was concerned for how they would respond to it.

Some stayed still at the ranch, and life there became increasingly constrained by orders issued by Warren Jeffs from his prison cell. No sex. No hugging. No potatoes. No milk. They had to write Jeffs a letter every week. Rachel Jeffs was ordered to live alone  and she later decided she had tolerated enough.

Musser believes the raid has saved lives and credited the state for how they handled it. Texas had the guts to do what other states did not, she says.

The evidence admitted into the record to her was the most powerful, allowing people to see for themselves what happened. All three former members quoted in this story have written books on their experience.

At the sheriffs office, people who broke with the church after the raid occasionally stop by. The raid was controversial at the time. They tell the sheriff they are glad it happened.

But 10 years on, every April, Dusek wonders what became of Merrianne.
WASHINGTON - Houston Democratic congressional hopeful Lizzie Pannill Fletcher has raised about $1.2 million for the 2018 midterm election ahead of the May 22 runoff with Democratic rival Laura Moser, Fletcher's campaign reported Tuesday.

Moser's fundraising totals were not immediately available Tuesday, although an aide said the campaign has surpassed the $1 million mark. As of February 14, the end of the last reporting period, she had raised almost $765,000.
By Benjamin Jumbe.

Ruhama elders have asked President Yoweri Museveni to contest for presidency in 2023.

This was during NRM victory celebrations for Ruhaama County won by Moses Kahima, at Kabingo Parish Nyakyera sub-county in Ntungamo district.

The elders handed the president a spear, shield and stool.

Meanwhile speaking at the event, president Museveni who is also the National Chairman of NRM Party urged Ugandans who embrace national development to always choose leaders who promote infrastructural development.

The President appealed to the people of the area in particular and Uganda as whole to also endeavor to conserve the natural environment especially the wetlands.

Regarding health issues, President Museveni challenged parents to take time off their busy schedules and guide the youth about disadvantages of leading risky life styles so that they avoid HIV/AIDS scourge

He was accompanied by the first Lady Janet Museveni.
Jackie Shroff Talks About His Long Friendship With Suniel Shetty; Raqesh Bapat Says Riddhi Dogra is 'Happy' for Him and Shamita Shetty
Mike Koenigs was on a flight from to South by South West when he heard an interesting conversation happening one row ahead of him.

"Do you know who that is a few rows ahead?" one whispered.

"No," the other replied.

"It's Richard Dreyfuss! The famous actor who was in Jaws and Mr. Holland's Opus!" the first one said excitedly.

Koenigs heard the two discussing how they could meet Dreyfuss. And he began to imagine how he himself could meet Dreyfuss as well.

But Koenigs didn't want to meet him unless he felt like he could provide value. Luckily for him, he'd been in this situation many times. And he had just the strategy for using situations like this to get access to rare people-- even billionaires.

First, he asked himself, "What could Dreyfuss want that I could offer?" Many famous and successful people have non-profits and other causes they support. So Koenigs did a quick Google search and found that Richard Dreyfuss indeed had an organization he had started.

Perfect.

So Koenigs pulled out one of his copies of Publish and Profit, a book he wrote teaching people how to write a book and turn that book into a powerful business tool. While traveling, Koenigs always carries a few copies of his own books just in case opportunities like this arise.

He then wrote the following in the front of the book with a black Sharpie :

"Hi Mr. Dreyfus, I have an idea that will raise money and awareness for your organization."

He then put his name and information.

After the flight, Koenigs walked up to Richard Dreyfuss and simply said while handing him a copy of the book, "Mr. Dreyfuss, I have an idea that will raise money and awareness for your organization."

Dreyfuss turned to Koenigs immediately, with eyes wide and a big smile, and said, "CALL ME RICK!"

Koenigs then asked, "Have you written a book?"

Dreyfuss said, "No, I've wanted to for years. But I hurt my back and haven't been able to do it."

Turned out, the two were on the same connecting flight. So Dreyfuss convinced the stewardess to change their seats so they could sit next to each other and discuss on the connecting flight.

Two weeks later, Dreyfuss was at Koenigs' studio, being interviewed.

5 Other Reasons You Need A Book

According to Koenigs, a properly named book is the fastest way to explain:

Who you are

What you do, and

Who you do it for

Your book is the perfect billboard, business card, and elevator speech which people can get "at a glance," and immediately. Again, it's all about the title positioning you, your work, and who it's for.

Everyone wants to be understood. Having a properly positioned book does exactly that, and fast.

Not only that, but having a book positions you as a person of authority in your niche. It's the fastest and easiest way to get picked up for an interview on TV, a podcast, or the media. Your book is your "media hook."

According to Koenigs, "A properly structured book becomes your TED talk or platform speech." Each chapter of the book can become a major bullet of your speeches from stage. It becomes the way to simplify and provide structure to how you communicate with your target audience.

How To Write Your Book In 48 Hours ("The 10 By 10 Content Creation Strategy")

Koenigs has this epic strategy for quickly writing a targeted and solid book in 48 hours or less. He himself has written 13 books, and 3 of them he used this method to write in 48 hours.

But this strategy also works for creating other types of products as well, whether that's an online course or other information tool. It's all about crafting the perfect message for the perfect audience.

Here's how it works:

Imagine your perfect customer, which could be defined as someone who:

Has money

Pays for your products

Implements your products

Gets the desired results

Keeps coming back for more

And brings other customers with them via word of mouth

After you've imaged in that person, take 3 minutes to think of all the possible frequently asked questions (FAQ's) this person could have about your product or the work you do. In 3 minutes, you should be able to come up with at least 10 FAQ's.

Then, take 3 minutes and think about the top 10 questions your ideal customer SHOULD ask, such as, "What are the biggest mistakes people make?" Or "What are the 5 top tips for X, Y or Z?"

These top 10 questions should also position you as an expert. They should be the questions that when people ask you, they allow you and your knowledge and experience to really shine.

In order to write an 80-100 page book, you need about 20-40 answers to such questions. These questions become chapters or sub-sections within chapters.

So, all you need to do is spend 6-24 minutes coming up with as many questions as you can in the two categories Koenigs prescribes:

FAQ's Questions people SHOULD ask you that position your knowledge and experience well (and that give them exactly what they SHOULD be looking for)

Once you've got these 20-40 questions and answers, you can audio record yourself saying each question and subsequent answer. Once you have the whole thing recorded, you can send the file to a voice translation or transcription service such as Rev.com.

Within 24 hours, you'll have back an initial file with all of your ideas. You can then pay an editor $1,000 to turn your messy thoughts into something clear, well-written, and very powerful. All of a sudden, you have a very solid first draft of your book!

Again, Koenigs has used this very process to go from idea to completed book in 48 hours. And he's done it 3 times. He takes these ideas even deeper in his book, Publish and Profit, the one he gave to Richard Dreyfus.

Conclusion

Many people have wanted to write a book for years. That may be you.

But when are you actually going to do it?

And what are you missing out on if you don't?

Koenigs has some pretty compelling strategies for using a book to get access to some of the rarest people in the world. I myself have used similar strategies with my own book.

Not only that, but you can actually get your book done in less than a week and never think about it again. At least the writing part of it. The book will then just become a powerful took to enhance your access and your business.
Joel Clark was barely making ends meet: he had borrowed $250,000 to keep his pancake mix company alive, started several side hustles for extra cash, spoke with a bankruptcy lawyer about his options and briefly left his post as CEO. But a new recipe, and an appearance on Shark Tank, transformed the struggling startup into a booming business.

"I think the fact that we made it through those years is unbelievable," says Clark, 43, who still runs the Park City, Utah-based company Kodiak Cakes. "That's one of the hardest things I've lived through."

If tough starts make for better finishes, then Kodiak Cakes is a sterling example. Clark has helped transform Kodiak Cakes into the fourth-largest pancake mix brand and the largest whole grain pancake mix company in the U.S. The company booked more than $54 million in revenue last year. Clark attributes Kodiak Cake's turnaround to a new product-- Power Cakes, a mix that includes protein powder--and the publicity from appearing on Shark Tank, even though he left empty-handed. Added protein is part of Kodiak Cakes' added appeal--most mixes have between 8 and 14 grams of protein.

Clark stuck with Kodiak Cakes because of family ties. His mother Penny was the creator of the original pancake recipe and in 1982 went door-to-door selling the homemade mixes off the back of Clark's red wagon. Penny didn't continue her paper bag business after that year, but Clark's brother Jon used her recipe when he launched Kodiak Cakes in 1995.

Brother Jon sold the mixes to gift shops in ski towns like Park City and ran the business for two years as a side hustle. But he struggled to balance a full-time job and Kodiak Cakes, so in 1997 he handed operations over to Clark, who hardly seemed prepared, given that he was then 23 and a student at the University of Utah.

The next seven years were a juggling act for Clark: he ran the business at night so he could complete his degree in economics and earn an MBA. He even held other jobs to maintain a steady income. Then, in 2004, he quit his full-time gig and made Kodiak Cake his main focus. His father Richard helped out and the pair lifted the company from about $150,000 in revenue in 2004 to $800,000 in 2007.

While the growth was nice, there wasn't enough to make the business sustainable. It was now Clark's turn to struggle to earn enough to support his family. To subsidize his income he started a retail cookie business, flipped cars and homes--and even met with a bankruptcy lawyer to explore his options. Clark regretted not taking funding during the early stages of his leadership, but he recalls a lack of interested investors because Kodiak Cakes was so small at the time. Nor did he want other parties making decisions about the company he cherished.

"That's a typical distraction for entrepreneurs," Clark says. "There is a benefit to having money earlier on, but there is a downside because you have somebody else sharing the decisions."

Clark was still facing money issues in 2007 when he quit Kodiak Cakes for a higher-paying job as CEO of a small home healthcare agency. Another company, which Clark declined to identify, licensed the pancake brand and took over operations. Clark soon felt the new company was spread too thin and subsequently made poor decisions for Kodiak Cakes, including raising prices. He exercised his right to cancel the contract within the first year and returned as CEO. The boss was back.

"I had already spent 11 years on the business; I couldn't watch this," Clark says. "I jumped back into it-- I was going to see it through to the end whether it worked or whether it failed."

Still facing money issues, Clark had to borrow a total of $250,000 from his father in two installments to cover bills and to finance an order from Target. However, his luck started to change in 2009, when Cameron Smith, 23 years old and a student at the University of Utah--like he was once-- joined the team.

"I'm the type of person who gets passionate about things and gets aggressive about stuff," says Smith, who is now 33 and the COO of Kodiak Cakes. "There are times I don't ask permission, I just do things, in a good way."

Business slowly started to improve and Smith, a fan of Shark Tank, cold emailed the producers in 2013. Clark had seen bits of the program, but had never watched a full episode until Kodiak Cakes was accepted as a contestant. Clark and Smith asked for $500,000 in exchange for 10 percent of the company, but couldn't agree on a deal with the sharks. Kevin O'Leary called the product a commodity, adding that he could duplicate it, while Mark Cuban praised their decision not to take a deal that would require handing over more equity. Walking out of the tank without a deal didn't matter--the appearance aired in 2014 and sales skyrocketed shortly after.

Kodiak Cakes' sales rose from $3.6 million in 2013 to $6.7 million the following year, getting an added boost from the launch of its Power Cakes. The sales jump gave the company the momentum to focus on innovation and new products, like its frozen waffles and muffin mixes.

"I rode it through and just barely, by the skin of our teeth, we got through it," Clark says. "Luckily we survived," Clark says.

Now Kodiak Cakes competes with multiple brands across the breakfast space. For pancakes, it's up against Aunt Jemima, Krusteaz and Birch Benders, while it battles Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines for its muffin mixes and minute muffin product. The company sells to retailers such as Whole Foods, Target and Costco.

While these struggles are not unique to Clark, he encourages other entrepreneurs in similar positions to set short-term goals that they can hit in six-month time periods. By using that method, he could envision his progress, measure it and stay on track. And when his optimism waned, he read letters and emails from customers who raved about the products.
No company wants to get caught in the middle of a political mud fight. And that's where German auto manufacturer BMW is at this very moment. People questioned and attacked the company yesterday over its participation in the Laura Ingraham advertiser boycott that Parkland student David Hogg called for.

Just one problem, and it wasn't a Facebook-style awkward almost apology. BMW hadn't been an advertiser on Fox News for a year and had never advertised on the show in the past, so had no ads to pull.

Companies have come to one of those times in history, like during the McCarthy era, when political hysteria becomes the proverbial rock and hard place for businesses. You will be damned if you do or if you don't, and the impact on your company will depend on your market and the whims of the public. Then again, an attempt to stay in the middle, even with good reason -- even if that was where you were all the time -- may still cost you. Call it being trapped between a rock, a hard place, and social media.

The interchange

A quick recap on the Ingraham front, for those who may have missed the kerfuffle. Hogg, one of the Parkland survivors pushing for greater gun control, said in an interview that some colleges that rejected his applications and others that had accepted him. Ingraham accused Hogg of whining.

In response, Hogg called for an advertiser boycott of Ingraham. It was effective and has resulted in Ingraham's show losing half its ad time last week, according to The Wrap.

Not good.

Ingraham apologized in a tweet "for any upset or hurt my tweet might have caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland." But that only came after the ad losses, according to the Washington Post. Hogg called it insincere and an effort focused only on saving her advertising base.

When Hogg called for the advertiser boycott, he had a list of what he called the top dozen advertisers on the show. Missing from the list was BMW.

Things get weird

BMW hasn't run ads on Fox News for about a year, since the sexual harassment allegations against Bill O'Reilly, according to AdAge. The company told the publication that even when it had advertised on Fox News, the ads never appeared on Ingraham's show.

MediaMatters pulled together a list of 119 brands that had advertised on the show recently. BMW wasn't on it.

However, when cyber pitchforks emerge and virtual mobs stir, facts don't necessarily mean a thing. For some reason, some people with a following decided that BMW had been an advertiser and then started giving it grief.

It's hard to find exactly where BMW became the target. Maybe it was when CNN anchor Jack Tapper tweeted, "The notion that BMW is boycotting anyone else is interesting," and added a link to an article about the company's apology for its World War II links to the Nazis, as AdAge reported. Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies -- "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches one." -- was immediately in play. (I wonder if that's an Internet record.)

Tapper's post was apparently deleted, although it's impossible to say whether by him or someone like a social media manager with access to the account. Reactions to the tweet remain on Twitter.
When Andy Johns started his new job working on Facebook's User Growth team in 2008, the social network had about 100 million users, fewer than 5 percent of its current total. On one of his first days, Johns had lunch with his new boss, Chamath Palihapitiya, who was known for being "aggressive and unafraid of taking risk." Johns asked Palihapitiya about what sorts of growth he was supposed to be producing. Were there certain segments or regions in particular where Facebook was looking to add users?

Palihapitiya's response, per Johns: "It's fucking land grab time, so get all the fucking land you can get."

Writing about the encounter years later, Johns remarked, "In other words, don't ask such a stupid question next time. Get the entire planet on Facebook." If he was surprised at all by his boss's tone, Johns also knew it came directly from the top of the company. Palihapitiya was close to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and the Growth team had a say in every significant product and engineering and operational decision, largely thanks to the support of Zuckerberg and his recently-hired COO, Sheryl Sandberg. Zuckerberg has said baking in growth to everything was "the most important product feature we ended up building for Facebook."

Fast forward a decade to 2018. Land grab time is over. Palihapitiya has become a venture capitalist and Facebook critic. And a very different tone presides at 1 Hacker Way.

In a new interview with Vox's Ezra Klein, Zuckerberg acknowledges that Facebook, in its rush to connect the planet, has caused some problems. It has become a vector for false information, hate speech, and propaganda, and a driver of political partisanship in the U.S. and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, among many other things.

"When we started, we thought about how good it would be if people could connect, if everyone had a voice," Zuckerberg says. "Frankly, we didn't spend enough time investing in, or thinking through, some of the downside uses of the tools."

Now that the downside has become unavoidable, Facebook is working on fixes, but it will take "a few years" to make real headway, says Zuckerberg. He predicts Facebook will be seen as "massively positive" for the world in five to 10 years. "I wish I could solve all these issues in three months or six months, but I just think the reality is that solving some of these questions is just going to take a longer period of time," he says.

The good news, Zuckerberg says, is he's still the one calling the shots as much as in 2008, which means the changes on the way will be meaningful ones, not cosmetic patches to satisfy investors or the press. "One of the things that I feel really lucky we have is this company structure where, at the end of the day, it's a controlled company," he says, referring, apparently, to his majority control of Facebook's super-voting shares. "We are not at the whims of short-term shareholders. We can really design these products and decisions with what is going to be in the best interest of the community over time."

One thing that's not in the interest of "the community" as Zuckerberg defines it is tinkering with Facebook's business model of monetizing the attention and data of its users via advertising. When Klein suggests the need to optimize Facebook's product for engagement is behind many of its harmful epiphenomena, Zuckerberg reacts sharply.

I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth. The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay. And therefore, as with a lot of media, having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service to reach people. ....To the contrary, I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you. Because that sounds ridiculous to me.

There's a nifty little piece of sleight-of-hand in this answer. Did you spot it?

When Zuckerberg talks about the importance of connecting "everyone in the world," rich and poor alike, he conflates Facebook's mission with its goals. The mission demands patience, doing "what's in the best interest of the community over time," as Zuckerberg puts it.

Goals are more urgent. When Palihapitiya was exhorting his underlings, with the CEO's blessing, to "get all the land you can fucking get," that was about the goal of establishing a dominant position in the winner-takes-all social networking category. And it was the urgency of that goal, much more than the expansiveness of Facebook's mission, that drove the decision as early as 2005 to monetize Facebook via advertising versus subscriptions or anything else that might introduce more friction into the user-signup process. It's debatable whether advertising or subscriptions would've been "in the best interest of the community over time"; it's not remotely debatable which would have yielded faster user growth.

And it's because Facebook was the fastest growing internet service in history that Zuckerberg had the leverage to raise the capital he needed on terms that allowed him to retain control of the company more or less in perpetuity, allowing him to affect the philosophical taking-the-long-view posture he does now. Being "lucky" had nothing to do with it. It was a result of the exact same decisions and priorities that generated Facebook's current problems--the ones Zuckerberg is now promising he'll eventually solve.
Marie Stopes was a distinguished academic scientist and became the youngest doctor of science in Britain. But when her book Married Love was published on 26 March 1918, it completely changed her life and arguably those of millions of men and women. The book offered a detailed description of sexual relations, and its publication allowed this topic  which had long been taboo  to be more readily discussed by both men and women.

As my research has chronicled, the book sold 2,000 copies in the fortnight after publication and within a year, six further editions had been published. Her work struck a chord in the post-First World War era. It was bought by women who had just gained the vote and men demobbed from the services. It was read by aristocratic readers in Chelsea but also by factory workers in Northern towns such as Liverpool and Manchester. Her name even featured in playground rhymes chanted by Londons children.

Stopes was not married when she wrote Married Love. She had impetuously married her first husband, the Canadian academic geneticist Reginald Ruggles Gates, but the marriage soon broke down. She explored the possibility of divorce, but on discovering the expense turned to the unusual ground of annulment. In a high-profile court case, revealing intimate sexual details were reported in the press, and annulment was granted on the grounds of non-consummation.

Writing on marriage

At the start of Married Love, Stopes declared: In my own marriage I paid such a terrible price for sex-ignorance that I feel that knowledge gained at such cost should be placed at the service of humanity.

Stopes claimed her knowledge was derived from research in the British Library. It would have helped that she had a biological science degree and had lectured medical students.

But there was another experience that Stopes drew upon  her long love affair with Japanese academic Kenjiro Fujii. Although he divorced his wife, he eventually terminated the relationship. Although supposedly fictitious, Stopess Love Letters of a Japanese was based on their passionate relationship and the draft was written before the publication of Married Love. The heroine confided: I feel a soft kiss on my neck, and everything vanishes, and I long to put my arms round you and be held close to you.

The first edition of Married Love (UPEnn Digital Library)

Up until 1918, Stopess most popular book had been a study of ancient plant life. Her academic publishers refused to publish Married Love because it was seen as too controversial. Its publication was therefore financed by Manchester businessman Humphrey Roe, a longstanding birth-control campaigner. In true romantic style, Roe wooed Stopes, and became her second husband.

The opening sentence of Married Love, sets the books tone: Every heart desires a mate. It goes on to set out sexual priorities for both sexes. Controversially for the time, women are portrayed as having sexual needs. It should be realised that a man does not woo and win a woman once for all when he marries her: he must woo her before every separate act of coitus.

Given the reasons for the annulment of Stopess first marriage, its ironic that she chides wives for selfishly taunting their husbands about failures in sexual performance. But the book did enable couples to have meaningful conversations about their sexual needs.

A controversial history

Stopes has fallen out of favour today. Her campaigns for birth control were not as dramatic of those of the suffragettes and did not involve as many participants. But the underlying reason for the controversy was her alleged support for eugenics, the discredited science of racial progress.

The Daily Mail has mounted a long campaign against her for her views and for sending a book of poetry to Adolf Hitler. On her sons death in 2014, the paper called her a monster of a mother. Jenni Murray, presenter of BBCs Womans Hour, indicated that she omitted Stopes from her 2016 book on groundbreaking women because of Stopess supposed support for eugenics.

Stopes certainly used eugenic arguments when it suited her, but she was a maverick eugenicist. Her private correspondence, archived in the British Library, shows how she was shunned by the Eugenics Society. These letters, which Ive studied, show how she clashed with them on the issue of compulsory sterilisation for the unfit and did not believe upper-class women should have more children to improve the race.

The first family-planning clinic moved from Holloway to Marie Stopes House in Fitzrovia (Marie Stopes International) (Marie Stopes International.)

Stopes did not mention eugenics in Married Love. After the books publication, readers, enjoying their new-found sexual freedom, wrote to her, asking how to avoid unwanted pregnancies. There are files of these letters, and Stopes later published a selection in her book Mother England, which she described as self-written by those who have no historian.

Recognising the need for one-to-one contraceptive advice, Stopes and Roe founded the countrys first birth-control clinic in a poor part of London in 1921 and encouraged the national growth of clinics. The charity that carries her name continues to provide birth control worldwide today.

In this way, Married Love led Stopes, with the support of leading suffragists such as Lady Constance Lytton, to become the countrys leading birth-control pioneer in the 1920s. She should now be given her rightful recognition in history.

Marian Clare Debenham is honorary research associate at the University of Manchester. This article was originally published on The Conversation
Donald Trump has issued a series of Tweets in recent days claiming that Amazon is ripping off the US Post Office.

He has claimed: It is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars.This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!

And also: Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed. Also, our fully tax paying retailers are closing stores all over the country...not a level playing field!

And most recently: I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy. Amazon should pay these costs (plus) and not have them bourne by the American Taxpayer.

But is Trump right? Is the US Post Office is losing money? And, if so, is Amazon to blame?

Is the US Post Office like the UKs Post Office?

No. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent agency of the American federal government, dating back to the foundation of the Republic in the 1700s.

It is legally obliged to provide mail services to all Americans, regardless of where they live, and for at least one mail product, at a uniform price.

The UKs Royal Mail has an analogous universal service obligation (USO) for the UK. The Royal Mail was privatised in 2013. But the USO remains binding, by an act of Parliament, on the private company.

The Post Office in the UK is not the delivery service, but the network of branches that offers a range of postal, Government and financial services. It is a separate business from the Royal Mail, with an independent board. And it remains in public ownership.

So is the USPS losing money, as Trump claims?

Yes. In its most recent report to Congress, the USPS reported total revenues of $69.6bn and an overall loss of $2.6bn for 2017 financial year. This followed an equivalent loss of $5.6bn in 2016 and $5bn in 2015.

Total accumulated losses since 2008 are $65.1bn

Is Amazon to blame for all this red ink?

No. A good deal of the damage to the USPSs bottom line seems to be a result of a 2006 law mandating it to increase contributions to a fund for retired workers health benefits.

The e-commerce driven parcel delivery element of the USPS is doing quite well, bringing in $19.4bn in 2017, up from $13.5bn back in 2014 and expected to rise to $21.4bn in 2018.

By contrast revenues from first-class mail, marketing mail and international mail all fell in 2017, reflecting the fact that Americans, like most people, send fewer letters than they used to.

Deals with private firms like Amazon are estimated to account for around $7bn of the parcels revenue, although we have no breakdown of which companies pay what precisely. We can be reasonably confident there is no loss because the law forbids USPS to price its parcel delivery services at below cost.

So is there any issue with Amazon and the USPSs finances at all?

The basis for Trumps $1.50 subsidy claim appears to be a calculation from an analyst at the US investment bank Citigroup that USPS have been charging the likes of Amazon $1.46 below the market rate for parcel delivery.

The USPS says it can afford to charge this lower rate because it has lower costs  since it routinely visits more homes every day.

One could argue that the USPS should charge Amazon  and other parcel companies  what the market will bear. But that is very far from the claim that Amazon is costing the USPS money.

As for Trumps claims about Amazon undermining regular US retailers, that is a familiar charge from the UK debate and obviously true to the extent that more people are doing their shopping through the dominant e-commerce platform.

But is this unfair competition?.

There are questions about Amazons meagre UK corporate tax payments, given the large revenues it generates here. To the extent that Amazon is unfairly avoiding these taxes it can be said to be unfairly disadvantaging bricks and mortar UK retailers, which pay the corporation tax in full.

In the US, in 2016 Amazons parent company made provision for $1.4bn in corporation tax in 2016, on profits of $4.2bn  an effective tax rate of 33 per cent. But net global sales were a collosal $136bn.

That wafer thin profit margin  just 3 per cent  represents the huge investments Amazon is making (in a vast number of area from delivery drones, to artificial intelligence, to TV programmes) in order to expand its market share in every direction. Corporation tax is levied on profit, not revenues, and this is a valid reason why Amazons corporate tax base is low relative to other traditional US retailers which invest less.

But there are bigger issues over the extent to which various economic and technological network effects mean the retail playing field is structurally tilted in Amazons favour and that it can crush even strong competitors through its massive spending power.

Trumps complaints, though, do not touch on any of this, instead focusing on the spurious claim about subsidies to Amazon through the postal service.
Naomi Campbell has urged Conde Nast to launch an African edition of Vogue.

The supermodel made the comments when she was in Lagos, Nigeria to walk in two shows that were part of Arise Fashion Week, an event that calls itself Africas premier fashion showcase and displays 45 designers from 14 countries.

Campbell, who is British Vogues contributing editor, explained that she believes the launch of an African edition of the style bible would be an appropriate way to recognise the continents contribution to the global fashion industry.

There should be a Vogue Africa, she told Reuters. We just had Vogue Arabia  it is the next progression. It has to be, she said.

Campbell was referring to the new edition of the magazine which launched in the Middle East last year.

Africa has never had the opportunity to be out there and their fabrics and their materials and their designs be accepted on the global platform it shouldn't be that way, she went on.

People have come to realise it is not about the colour of your skin to define if you can do the job or not.

However Campbells comments have received a mixed reaction, with some people claiming that it would be better to champion existing African fashion titles rather than launch a new Vogue.

But others support Campbells views, arguing that the continent should have multiple editions of the magazine.

There are currently 27 versions of Vogue published by Conde Nast around the world, in countries including Thailand, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Vogue has come under fire for not being diverse enough over the years, and recently new editor of British Vogue, Ghanaian-born Edward Enninful, was criticised for a cover stating We need to talk about race which featured two blonde, white women.

A spokesperson for Conde Nast International told The Independent:

"Were extremely excited by the possibilities of launching titles globally and beyond what people may perceive as the traditional Conde Nast home territories. Each new launch is vigorously examined, and we take a number of things into consideration before launching a new title, including how much is spent on fashion in that locale, the availability of the right talent and how we enter that market.

"Talent is so important not only to create our magazines but also to ensure that the market has a good landscape to write about and work with eg a strong fashion community in the case of Vogue. We are thinking about how - be it with print or in some new markets as a pure digital play with a strong focus on mobile. We also weigh the long term viability before making a decision, that we can stay for the duration.

"We have considered Africa as a possible market for Vogue. It is something that we are looking at, but we dont want to rush or make any quick decisions."
Cybersecurity pioneer John McAfee has revealed that he charges $105,000 for a single tweet about cryptocurrency.

Mr McAfee, founder of the eponymous security software, has turned his focus to cryptocurrency in recent years and is using his influence within the community to promote nascent ventures.

A recent post to his McAfee Crypto Team website revealed the cost for any company to promote their product through his Twitter feed, and with 280 characters available it works out at $375 per character.

Bitcoin: Is the virtual currency the new gold standard? Show all 2 1 /2 Bitcoin: Is the virtual currency the new gold standard? Bitcoin: Is the virtual currency the new gold standard? pg-38-bitcoin-1-alamy.jpg Alamy Bitcoin: Is the virtual currency the new gold standard? pg-38-bitcoin-2-getty.jpg Getty Images

Im the only person in the crypto field that has openly divulged the outrageous amounts of money charged by crypto promoters, McAfee tells The Independent.

Its embarrassingly huge, but its true. I have been getting these fees for over six months. I decided to go public with it because I am an advisor to many of these companies and I know that Im in the cross-hairs of the SEC [US Securities and Exchange Commission], so it is in my interests to prove transparency.

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McAfees website cites an ad-hoc study by Motherboard that suggests his tweets have a significant influence on the price of cryptocurrencies.

Just one promotional post about a digital currency to McAfees twitter followers  812,000 at the time of writing  caused the price to rise in value from between 50 and 350 percent.

We can provide promotions through tweets alone - which are proven to be highly effective - or through tweets that are co-ordinated with our professional writing and blogging division, the McAfee Crypto Team website states, adding: We turn down over 90 percent of all companies wanting to buy our services.

McAfee did not reveal the full amount he has received from his latest business venture but on Monday he took a break from tweeting about cryptocurrency to show off pictures of a home he recently bought on the island of Dominica.

Other notable figures who have endorsed cryptocurrencies include the boxer Floyd Mayweather and the actor Jamie Foxx.

The cryptocurrency firm endorsed by Mayweather raised $32 million through an initial coin offering (ICO), however its founders have since been charged with fraud by the SEC. A spokesperson for Mayweather was not immediately available for comment.

McAfee warned that other promoters who have not been as open about their dealings with cryptocurrency firms may also face repercussions.

Others who are still keeping their financial arrangements private are going to be in for a huge awakening when they receive their SEC subpoena, McAfee told The Independent.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg should quit as chairman of the company, according to an investor with a $1 billion (712 million) stake in the technology giant.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who oversees the citys pension fund, told CNBC that there needed to be more independent board oversight at Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Mr Stringer said revelations that the UK-based data analytics firm harvested personal information from more than 50 million Facebook accounts in the build up to the 2016 US elections represented a risk to our democracy and highlighted major issues within Facebook.

I think there needs to be an independent chairman of the board, Mr Stringer said. I think we need more independent directors and directors that have experience in terms of data and ethics and all the things that these emerging huge companies need in light of whats happened.

Mr Zuckerberg owns a controlling stake in Facebook, meaning he will have the final say in any changes to the board. Comments on Monday regarding the governance of Facebook suggest that he has no intention of stepping down as chairman.

One of the things that I feel really lucky we have is this company structure, where at the end of the day, its a controlled company, Mr Zuckerberg told Vox.

We are not at the whims of short-term shareholders. We can really design these products and decisions with what is going to be in the best interest of the community over time.

A spokesperson for Facebook told The Independent that the company has no comment on Mr Stringer's remarks.

How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Show all 9 1 /9 How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Lock your profile down If you havent done this already, do it now. In Settings, hit the Privacy tab. From here, you can control who gets to see your future posts and friends list. Choose from Public, Friends, Only Me and Custom in the dropdown menu. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Limit old posts Annoyingly, changing this has no effect on whos able to see your past Facebook posts. Instead, on the Privacy page, you have to click on Limit Past Posts, then select Limit Old Posts and finally hit Confirm on the pop-up. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Make yourself harder to find You can stop completely random people from adding you by selecting Friends of Friends from the dropdown menu in the Who can send you friend requests? section of the Privacy page. Its also worth limiting who can find your Facebook profile with your number and email address. At the bottom of the page is the option to prevent search engines outside of Facebook from linking to your profile. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Control access to your Timeline You can limit who gets to post things on your Timeline and who gets to see posts on your Timeline too. In Settings, go to Timeline and Tagging and edit the sections you want to lock down. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Block people When you block someone, they wont be able to see things you post on your Timeline, tag you, invite you to events or groups, start conversations with you or add you as a friend. To do it, go to Settings and Blocking. Annoyingly, you have to block people on Messenger separately. You can also add friends to your Restricted list here, which means theyll still be friends with you but will only be able to see your public posts and things you share on a mutual friend's Timeline. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Review tags One of Facebooks handiest privacy features is the ability to review posts youre tagged in before they appear on your Timeline. Theyll still be visible on the News Feed while theyre fresh, but wont be tied to your profile forever. In Timeline and Tagging, enable Timeline review controls. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Clean up your apps You can view a list of all of the apps youve connected to your Facebook account by going to Settings and Apps. The list might be longer than you expected it to be. Its worth tidying this up to ensure things you no longer use lose access to your personal information. If you dont want to log into websites and apps with your facebook account, scroll down and turn Platform off. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Change your ad preferences You can view a list of everything Facebook thinks youre into and tinker with your ad preferences by going to Settings and Adverts. A lot more information is displayed on the desktop site than the app, so wed recommend doing this on a computer. How to stop Facebook from revealing everything about you Download your data Facebook lets you download all of the data it has on you, including the posts youve shared, your messages and photos, ads youve clicked on and even the IP addresses that are logged when you log in or out of the site. Its a hell of a lot of information, which you should download to ensure you never over-share on the social network again.

Speaking on behalf of New Yorks pension fund, Mr Stringer called for four changes to Facebooks board. As well as Mr Zuckerberg stepping down as chairman, Mr Stringer said three new independent directors should be added to the board and a new data privacy oversight committee should be established. Finally, he requested for an executive clawback policy to be implemented.

Mr Stringer said that implementing such changes would be a slow slog but remains confident that they can be realised.

Were going to keep coming back at them year after year, I think giving testimony in Congress and pressure from other public pension funds, Stringer said.

Were not trying to harm Facebook, were trying to make it a stronger company.
Working out shouldn't feel like a chore, but with dozens of variables to nail down before hitting the gym, it certainly can. Did you remember to eat before your spin class? Did you pack the right shoes in your gym bag? Did you get enough sleep the night before?

But there's one thing you can get right about your workout: the timing.

Some research suggests it's best to sweat it out early in the morning on an empty stomach to help speed weight loss and boost energy levels; other studies conclude that squeezing in your fitness routine later in the day, once your body is naturally warmed up, is a better idea.

Chris Jordan, an exercise physiologist who created the viral Johnson & Johnson Official 7-Minute Workout  a fitness routine that combines the benefits of strength training and cardio for a full-body burn  takes a slightly different approach.

"The best time of day to work out is the time you're most likely to work out," Jordan told Business Insider.

Jordan, who has worked as a fitness consultant for the US Air Force in Europe and is now the director of exercise physiology at the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute, said he experimented with various timing windows for his fitness routine before settling on afternoons.

He said afternoons worked the best not only for his schedule  which is jam-packed with work and playing with his 4-year-old  but for his body, which can feel stiff first thing in the morning.

"What I like about working out in the afternoon is that I'm loose, I'm not typically as tired, and my muscles aren't stiff like they sometimes are in the morning," Jordan said. "Plus, it's a great break, and I get so much energy afterward."

Morning vs. afternoon workouts

If you're partial to working out early in the day, however, there's great news for you: Some studies suggest that an early-morning workout on an empty stomach helps speed weight loss and boost energy levels by priming the body for an all-day fat burn.

Exercising first thing in the morning may push the body to tap into its fat reserves for fuel instead of simply "burning off" the most recent snack or meal.

Plus, working out early could mean you get more sunlight  something that's key to setting your body's internal circadian rhythm. One study found that people who basked in bright sunlight within two hours after waking tended to be thinner and better able to manage their weight than those who didn't get any natural light, regardless of what they ate throughout the day.

"There are some pros and cons with whatever time you choose," Jordan said. "Maybe you're a bit sluggish in the morning, but if you choose that time, then at least it's done for the day, and you're not going to skip it when unexpected things come up."

The most important thing about a fitness routine is that you're able to stick with it. Whether that means waking up at the crack of dawn to hit the track or cutting out of the office for an hour or two in the afternoons matters less than how well it jibes with your schedule.

"If you need to plan ahead, plan ahead  schedule it," Jordan said. "The most important thing is to do it on a consistent basis."

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Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2018. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates.

Severe cold weather in February and March saw many peoples travel plans disrupted as snow, ice and strong winds wreaked havoc across the UK. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

In its latest trading update on Tuesday, the struggling Exeter-based carrier said its turnaround plans were starting to yield positive results.

Revenue per seat - a closely watched measure of an airlines financial performance - was up 9 per cent to 50.84, behind rivals such as easyJet which reported 55.99 on the same measure in January.

Load factor - the proportion of seats available that are actually filled - rose almost 7 percentage points to 73 per cent, some way down on the 96 per cent achieved by market leader, Ryanair.

The improvements helped shares rise 2 per cent to 34p in morning trading on Tuesday but the stock is still trading at little more than a tenth of the 295p price it floated at back in 2010.

The companys share price tumbled 20 per cent in October after it issued a second profit warning in quick succession, blaming higher than expected maintenance costs.

The Flybe strategy as set out in our business plan to reduce the fleet size is delivering higher load factors and revenue per seat, Flybes chief executive, Christine Ourmieres-Widener, said on Tuesday.

The drive to reduce costs is continuing, given added impetus by the rise in fuel prices and lower value of sterling.

Despite these headwinds, the foundations are being put in place to strengthen the business and we remain confident that our strategy will continue to improve performance as we go into the new financial year.
Swedish streaming giant Spotify debuted on Wall Street with a bang, offering a bright spot amid dark times for technology stocks.

The companys shares surged more than 25 per cent above the Wall Street Stock Exchanges reference price of $132 (94) to $165.90 (118) a share. That translated into a $29.5bn (21bn) valuation for a company now trading under the ticker symbol SPOT.

Rather than opting for an initial public offering, Spotify engaged in whats known as a direct offering, which is not underwritten by banks. Founder Daniel Ek noted in a blog post ahead of the offering that existing shareholders have already been able to buy and sell stocks.

Normally, companies ring bells, Mr Ek said. Normally, companies spend their day doing interviews on the trading floor touting why their stock is a good investment. Normally, companies dont pursue a direct listing. While I appreciate that this path makes sense for most, Spotify has never been a normal kind of company.

In the months leading up to the offering, Spotify moved to strengthen its market position by signing licensing deals with a number of major music labels. Spotify executives believe a shift to streaming music can help revive the music industrys flagging fortunes.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Spotify was founded on the belief that music is universal and that streaming is a more robust and seamless access model that benefits both artists and music fans, the company said in a registration filing.

Spotifys robust showing contrasted with a tumultuous stretch for technology stocks, which have played a key role in dragging down the markets amid regulatory jitters.

A public outcry over the news that some 50 million Facebook users information ended up in the hands of political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica has spurred elected officials in the US and Europe to call for tighter rules.

Technology stocks have tumbled in recent weeks as investors became increasingly wary about the possibility of a government crackdown. Facebook officials have helped stoke those fears, with both CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg embracing the possibility of more regulation.

 Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg: social media company would be 'open to regulation'

Amazon has also taken a hit after Donald Trump publicly slammed the online retail giant and repeatedly suggested it should pay more in taxes. The president renewed his assault on the same day as Spotifys offering.

But Spotifys big day was not all smooth. After a Swiss flag was hoisted in front of the New York Stock Exchange, astute observes noted that the company is Swedish.
Britains highest paid vice-chancellor claimed dozens of first class train tickets and a number of first class flights on expenses last year, it has emerged.

Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, is stepping down from the University of Bath's top job where her salary and benefits that totalled more than 468,000, in August.

A quick succession of pay rises worth almost 200,000 over five years, making her the UKs highest paid head, despite the institution's modest size. Staff and students alike criticised the rise.

It also emerged that Dame Glynis would also remain living in her university-provided accommodation in Bath until she steps down and that a car loan worth 31,500 would also be written off.

New figures published by the university in response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request show Dame Glynis also claimed dozens of first class train journeys and flights on expenses last year.

Travelling mainly between Bath, London and Guildford  where she owns a home  the document shows the vice-chancellor taking 61 first class journeys by train, and two first class return flights to New York and China.

The revelation raises questions over whether the university complied with its own financial regulations, which state all employees regardless of status should travel in economy class wherever possible.

Conservative MP for South West Wiltshire Andrew Murrison, who requested the FoI, said the first class train journeys appeared unnecessary.

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In most other spheres of life there's been a reduction in amounts of expenses that individuals are able to claim including in my own profession, he told the Somerset Live website. "It appears that Bath hasn't followed that trend and... it's high time that it looked at it again.

A University of Bath spokesperson told The Independent: The journeys listed relate to trips made by the vice-chancellor for university business both domestically and internationally.

"Like many CEOs and university leaders, the vice-chancellor is required to undertake significant travel and it is in the terms of her contract of employment that first class rail travel is permitted whenever it is more efficient to do so.

Journeys by train to or from Guildford, all of which are exclusively either to or from London, relate to travel by the vice-chancellor for university business from her residence in Guildford. These options reduced the need for overnight and other associated costs.

In November, Dame Glynis narrowly survived a no confidence vote in a secret ballot of the university's senate, which oversees the institution's academic work.

 University Strikes: Staff protest at University and College Union HQ

She will formally retire in February 2019, when a car loan worth 31,500 will be written off, but there will be no payments for loss of employment or office.

The embattled vice-chancellor said that, by the time of her retirement, she would have been in post for 17 years, a third of the university's lifetime.

"During that time, I have served the University to the best of my ability and will continue to do so until the day I leave office," she said last year. Since 2001 the University has changed dramatically. It has almost tripled in size and is now among the top universities in the UK.

World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 Show all 11 1 /11 World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 1 The University of Oxford holds the top spot globally for the second year in a row Getty World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 2 The University of Cambridge jumps to second from fourth place in 2017 thanks to a perceived improvement in teaching quality Andrew Dunn World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 =3 Beaten by Cambridge this year, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) falls to third Canon.vs.nikon World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 =3 Stanford University ties in third place with Caltech King of Hearts World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology - the private research institute in Cambridge, US, retains its position in 5th place Madcoverboy World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 6 Harvard University remains in 6th place for another year Wikipedia World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 7 Princeton University retains 7th place for 2018 Quantockgoblin World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 8 Imperial College London retains its position as 8th best in the world, according to the rankings Vinceesq World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 9 The University of Chicago rises one place this year to ninth Ibrahim Old World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 =10 ETH Zurich  Swiss Federal Institute of Technology falls to joint 10th place Roland zh World University Rankings 2018: The top 10 =10 The University of Pennsylvania makes a surprise entry into the top 10 this year, jumping forward three places WestCoastivieS

"It has had many great achievements in its first 51 years and it will go on to be even greater."

Dame Glynis earned 451,000 in 2015/16 including benefits. An FoI request by the Bath Chronicle revealed she received a pay rise of 3.9 per cent in 2016/17.

It translated to an extra 17,589 - meaning she earned more than 468,000 in salary and benefits last year.

The motion, of no confidence in Dame Glynis, was defeated by 19 votes to 16 with two abstentions.

Dame Glynis has been contacted for comment but none had arrived at the time of publication.

Additional reporting by PA
New figures published over the weekend suggested that an alarming tipping point had been reached when it came to comparisons of UK and US crime rates.

The Sunday Times compared the crime figures of London and New York, and found that for the first time in modern history the murder rate in the UK capital was higher than that in the Big Apple.

But how valid was the comparison, and what was the truth behind the statistics?

Why compare London with New York anyway?

In statistical terms, it works because the two cities have roughly the same population, (both slightly north of 8.5m) allowing a relatively easy comparison of murder rate per head of population.

Recommended One person stabbed to death every three days in London in 2018

And for those with longer memories, the idea of London having a higher murder rate than New York is particularly scary because in the recent past the American city was a byword for violent crime.

It hit a terrifying record of 2,245 murders in 1990, equivalent to six people being killed every day for a year.

So is it really true that Londons murder rate is now higher than New Yorks?

Yes, but only if you look at the last two months  which some commentators think is way too short a time frame.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that it recorded 15 murders in February, while in the same month the New York Police Department (NYPD) recorded 11 killings.

In March London also had more murders, albeit by a very slim margin: 22 to New Yorks 21.

But as soon as you start to look beyond the relatively narrow confines of those two months, the statistics start to come out in Londons favour.

The Met says there were 8 murders in London in January, which compares with 18 killings in New York during the first month of the year.

Taking into account two murders that have occurred in London in April, so far in London there have been 47 murders in London, compared to the higher running total of 50 in New York.

So were February and March 2018 just blips?

Possibly. While those two months may have been the first times in recent history that London had a higher homicide rate than New York, the year-on-year statistics are still firmly suggestive of the UK capital being the less murderous city.

There were 116 murders in London in 2017, fewer than half New Yorks annual total of 290.

The disparity seems even more marked if you look slightly further back, albeit with the caveat that the way the Met presented its data for these years does not allow comparison of exactly the same 12-month time periods.

In the calendar year of 2016 there were 334 murders in New York. In the financial year 2016-17 (1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017) there were 102 murders in London, suggesting  but not proving - that at that point the UKs capitals murder rate for any given 12-month period was less than a third of New Yorks.

Similarly, New York had 352 murders in the calendar year 2015, while Londons Metropolitan Police recorded 109 homicides between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016.

When reporting on The Sunday Times story, The Independent noted that London remains substantially the safer city overall.

So what is going on with these murder rates?

One way of looking at this is to see it not so much as London getting massively more violent, but rather New York achieving an astonishing drop in its murder rate.

The tally of 290 New York murders in 2017  while still much higher than Londons corresponding total  has been hailed in America as a hugely encouraging breakthrough. It is definitely the lowest annual murder total since comparable New York records began in 1994 and it is being reported as the citys lowest number of homicides since the end of the Second World War.

It is also indicative of the fact that since recording 2,245 murders in 1990 and 1,905 in 1989, the city has achieved great things in tackling violent crime  albeit that the precise reasons for the success are hotly debated.

Londons recent history, meanwhile, has been mostly one of steady if unspectacular drops in the murder rate, from 181 homicides in 2005 to 155 in 2007 and 101 in 2013.

When the annual London murder total dropped to 93 in 2014, it was hailed as a great success, the first time since the 1960s that there had been fewer than 100 homicides in a year in the capital.

Since then, of course, Londons annual murder totals have increased: from 93 in 2014 to 116 in 2017, a rise of nearly 25 per cent.

Its worth remembering, though, that if you look over a time frame of a decade, there were 25 per cent fewer murders in the capital in 2017 than in 2007.

So is there nothing for Londoners to worry about?

Sadly its not that simple. The 2018 London figures highlighted by The Sunday Times might be an early warning sign that the capital is in for a historically bad year for murder.

There were 45 murders in London in the first three months of 2018. If that rate of killing continues, London will amass a total of 180 homicides in 2018, the kind of death toll not seen since the 181 deaths recorded in 2005.

And there are  admittedly highly tentative - signs that the killing rate is not abating. Since The Sunday Times first published its story there have been two more murders in London  the stabbing of a 20-year-old man in Wandsworth on Sunday and the shooting of 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne in Tottenham on Monday.

What is also alarming is that the statistics seem to suggest that young people are being killed in increasing numbers, in a trend related to what looks like a spike in knife crime.

There have been 31 fatal stabbings in London so far this year, 30 of them in the first quarter. As The Independent has reported, that equates to a rate of a deadly stabbing in the capital every three days. It also puts London on course to record 120 fatal stabbings in 2018, a 50 per cent increase on the 80 deadly knifings that occurred in 2017.

And nine teenagers have been killed so far this year. In the first quarter of 2018 there were eight teenagers killed, at least six of them by stabbing - (the cause of death has yet to be established in the case of one teenager).

Those figures could be extrapolated to suggest that London is on course to record 32 teenagers killed in 2018, with 24 of them stabbed to death. This would compare with 26 teenagers killed and 20 teenagers stabbed in 2017.

And if it turns out that 24 teenagers have been stabbed to death by the end of 2018, it would be a return to the levels of 2008, when 23 teenagers were killed by a knife in the capital, and newspaper headlines spoke with alarm about a "knife crime epidemic".

It is, however, important to remember that extrapolating from three months of data to suggest what might happen over the next nine months is very far from being a foolproof, scientific method of prediction.

It could be that after a bad first three months of 2018, things improve over the next three quarters of the year.

So how worried about murder should I be in London and New York?

Probably a lot less worried than in other world cities.

Metropolitan Police spokespeople have again stated that London remains one of the safest cities in the world  and they probably have a point.

Londons annual murder totals are  so far  below those of New York.

And as New York reduces its murder rate, it can point to other US cities that seem to be far more violent.

New Yorks murder rate in 2017 was the lowest of the five largest cities in the US. Its 290 murders in 2017, for example, compared with 644 killings in the same year in Chicago - a city with less than a third of the Big Apples population. Which meant that while New Yorks murder rate was just over 3.4 per 100,000 people, Chicagos was 23.8.

The contrast was even more marked in 2016. New York had 334 homicides, while Chicago recorded 762 killings, its highest murder total in 19 years. That worked out at 27.7 homicides per 100,000 residents  yet even that was far better than the murder rates of some cities in, and especially outside the US.

In 2016 The Independent reported that Detroit had 43.89 homicides per 100,000 residents. Caracas, Venezuela, had a murder rate of 119.87 per 100,000 people, while Cape Town, South Africa, had 65.53 killings per 100,000 and Salvador, Brazil 60.63 per 100,000.
Tributes have been paid to a 17-year-old girl shot dead for no reason at all in a fatal drive-by attack.

The teenager, named locally as Tanesha Melbourne, was with friends in Chalgrove Road in Tottenham, north London, at 9.30pm on Monday when she was murdered.

Neighbours and friends described her as a good girl and lovely member of the community, saying she was caught by chance in the middle of a postcode war between rival gangs.

 London Shootings: 17-year-old girl dies after night of violence in Tottenham

Ms Melbournes mother arrived at the scene before paramedics and watched as they tried to save her life. She was pronounced dead at 10.35pm, witnesses said.

It came amid a flurry of violence in the capital and rising concern about the availability of guns. Minutes after the murder in Tottenham, a 16-year-old boy was reportedly shot in the face in Walthamstow.

He was in a critical condition on Monday afternoon, while a 15-year-old boy who was discovered with knife wounds at the scene was left with life-changing, but not life-threatening, injuries.

Describing the scene in Tottenham, a woman who knew the 17-year-old victim said: The car just pulled up and just started shooting.

A 21-year-old witness, who did not want to be named, said she heard the gunshots like fireworks from her house.

I put her on her side and I was just rubbing her back, saying everythings going to be OK. I just cant believe it  so young. Its ridiculous now.

Recommended Teenage girl dies and boy critically injured after shootings in London

She told of how Ms Melbournes mother arrived at the scene before paramedics, adding: She was screaming. She didnt know what to do. She didnt deserve that. Her mum didnt deserve to watch her die.

Tottenham-raised rapper Wretch32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott Sinclair, was among those to pay tribute, tweeting: Wish I knew what to say about whats happening in my ends. North London were better then this man smh RIP to the young angel who lost her life last night. Love and prayers to the family. Im honestly lost for words.

A friend of the murdered girl said: Tanesha was a very known, very lovable little girl in the community, she was not involved in any sort of problems with anyone.

I cant believe shes gone. She was just an innocent child caught up in this stupid postcode war.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, told how he rushed to help the victim when her friends raised the alarm. This is not the first time. This is a war, he added.

Another neighbour, 43, said Tanesha had visited her house, and described her as just a normal girl trying to enjoy life.

The mother, who also did not want to be named, said she had also heard the shots were fired from a car.

She never even started life. She was just beginning her journey, she said.

She spoke of regular violent incidents in the area, driven by gangs.

My kids are scared for me because I will protect my kids at any cost, she added.

One of the mourners who came to lay flowers at the scene said Tanesha was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Schoolfriend Candice Hassan, 17, said she found out about the murder on Snapchat just half an hour after the shooting.

It was shocking. Everyones upset obviously  one minute I see her and the next minute I dont, she said.

One hour before her death, I saw her on Snapchat  one hour before she got shot. Everyone knows Tanesha, shes just a humble girl.

It was just the wrong place at the wrong time. She didnt deserve any of that.

In Walthamstow, local MP Stella Creasy said on her Facebook page that the 16-year-old in a critical condition had been shot in the face.

A Section 60 order, which allows police to search members of the public without suspicion amid the risk of serious violence, was put in place.

Separate investigations have been launched after two teenagers were shot in north and east London yesterday evening, Monday 2 April, the Met Police said in a statement.

There have been no arrests at this stage in relation to both incidents and they are not being treated as linked. The Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating, they added.

The Met called for anyone with information to get in touch.

In a statement they said: At this stage detectives are working to establish the type of car and how many people were both in the vehicle and within the group shot at.

They are keeping an open mind about the motive for the attack.

In a third incident, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed near St Leonards Street in Bow, east London, at around 6pm on Sunday. He was given first aid and on Tuesday afternoon was in a stable condition in hospital.

Four boys  two aged 16 and two aged 15  have been charged with GBH and appeared at Stratford Youth Court on Tuesday.

The Met Police said detectives from Tower Hamlets are appealing for information from the public and officers from Tower Hamlets CID are investigating.

So far this year, the Metropolitan Police have launched 47 murder inquiries  eight in January, 15 in February, 22 in March and two in April.

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PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA

In the whole of last year, there were 130 murders in London. The number of killings reached a peak around June before dropping again in the second half of the year.

So far this year, 31 people have been stabbed to death in the capital. The latest was a 20-year-old man who was attacked moments after leaving a bar in Wandsworth and died in the street.

It emerged at the weekend that Londons murder rate has risen above New Yorks for the first time in modern history.

On Thursday, the family of Abraham Badru, 26, who was shot dead in Hackney, east London, on 25 March, warned that gun culture is becoming rampant in our community.

There have been five fatal shootings in London so far in 2018.

The latest incidents will bring fresh scrutiny on the governments efforts to halt rising levels of violent crime around the country.

Figures published in January showed police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017  a 21 per cent increase compared with the previous year and the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011.

Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year on year, to 6,694 recorded offences.

Ministers point to findings from a separate crime survey that show overall offending is going down over the long term.

But they have acknowledged that some of the increase in police-recorded violent crime is genuine.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Wood, in charge of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: Once again this weekend violent crime and the murder of young people on our streets has hit the headlines, and quite rightly.

Today there are families and loved ones struggling to come to terms with the loss of their children and best friends.

We are concerned about the number of people being killed on our streets, and 2018 has shown the reality that more young people are prepared to turn to more serious violence more quickly.

Our homicide detectives are working incredibly hard to do all they can to identify and catch those responsible.

Whilst the reasons for the rise in violence, being seen across the country, are many and complex, the role of the police is clear. The absolute priority for the Met is to bear down on violent crime in all its forms, but especially knife and gang crime. Right now our officers are on the streets and will make more arrests for violence, take more knives off the streets and prevent violence.

In the coming weeks, the Home Office will publish a serious violence strategy, which it says will place a new emphasis on steering young people away from crime.

Proposed measures include a two strikes regime, meaning criminals caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months, and a tightening of rules covering online sales of knives.

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The recent spate of violence has prompted scrutiny of a sharp reduction in stop-and-search activity, with use of the powers at the lowest level since current data records started 17 years ago.

Stop and search has repeatedly attracted controversy, with criticism focusing mainly on the number of stops of black and minority ethnic individuals.

Reforms were introduced in 2014 by the then home secretary, Theresa May, to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: All forms of violent crime are totally unacceptable. This government is taking action to restrict access to offensive weapons as well as working to break the deadly cycle of violence and protect our children, families and communities.

The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and we are determined to keep it that way.

A Downing Street spokesman said: These are all tragic cases and our thoughts are with the families of the victims.

PA contributed to this report
British clockmaker John Harrison (1693-1776), the man who built the first marine chronometer to measure longitude, was born 325 years ago today and is celebrated in the latest Google Doodle.

Harrison was raised in Foulby in Yorkshire, the son of a carpenter. He was expected to follow the family trade but became fascinated with mechanical clockwork when he was bedridden with smallpox, aged six, and spent his convalescent hours toying with a pocket watch he had been given as a gift.

The family relocated to Barrow upon Humber in Lincolnshire in 1700, where the young Harrison rose to become choirmaster of the parish church.

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At 20, Harrison combined his interests to build his first grandfather clock, making both the oak cabinet and pendulum mechanism himself. This and two others survive to this day, one of which is on display in London's Science Museum.

Harrison continued to make clocks, often with the aid of his brother James, a gifted joiner. Together they developed the grid-iron pendulum for longcase clocks, making use of alternating brass and iron rods to cancel out the effect of thermal expansion.

Another of Harrison's innovations was the grasshopper escapement, a control device for releasing a clock's driving power that generated minimal friction and did not require lubrication.

The development for which he remains best known is of course his timepiece for determining longitude on long sea voyages.

The Royal Navy had lost too many ships to wrecks over the decades as a result of being unable to determine their positions globally with any accuracy, especially after many weeks on the waves. While latitude could be easily determined by the height of the sun, locating a vessel's position east or west of the prime meridian was a tougher nut to crack.

The British government formed the Board of Longitude in 1714 and tasked it with solving the problem, integral for all maritime operations from defence to trade. The board offered a cash prize of 20,000 to the scientist who could resolve the question.

Isaac Newton doubted it could ever be done: A good watch may serve to keep a reckoning at sea for some days and to know the time of a celestial observation; and for this end a good Jewel may suffice till a better sort of watch can be found out. But when longitude at sea is lost, it cannot be found again by any watch.

Harrison, determined to win the prize, worked on his chronometer from 1728 to 1735, presenting an early version of his "Sea clock" to Astronomer Royal Edmond Halley, who referred him in turn to the leading watchmaker of the day, George Graham.

Harrison had constructed a device that could keep time over a 50-day period without suffering from the effects of wavering temperatures, pressure, humidity or corrosion from salt water.

His effort meant that navigators could find longitude by comparing the length of time they had been at sea with local time, ascertainable from the position of the sun in the sky. Local time was one hour ahead for every 15 degrees of longitude eastwards and one hour behind for every 15 degrees of longitude west.

Graham and the Royal Society were sufficiently impressed to test Harrison's device on a sea trial to Lisbon in 1736.

While the clock faltered on its outward journey aboard the HMS Centurion, it performed handsomely on its return aboard the HMS Orford and the Board of Longitude handed Harrison an additional 500 to develop it further for transatlantic voyages.

Harrison's second generation sea clock was smaller and hardier but it was the third - kept back to prevent it falling into Spanish hands during the War of Austrian Succession in 1741 - that really nailed the problem. Harrison realised that he he had not previously reckoned with the effect of a ship's yawing motion when tacking, which had the potential to throw his clocks out of balance.

Although he never quite perfected the sea clock to his satisfaction - having failed to factor in the delicate physics of the springs controlling the clock's balance wheels - his work marked a giant leap forward and revolutionised maritime travel.

Harrison subsequently turned his attention to watchmaking, realising that measuring longitude could be achieved with greater convenience from a pocketwatch.

Harrison's 1713 timepiece (Timothy Allen)

He continued to receive grants from the board and from parliament to further advance his work on chronometers over the course of his career until his death in Hampstead at the age of 83 in 1776.

Harrison's clocks were used by such famous seaman of the period as Captain James Cook and Captain William Bligh and his innovations continue to be lauded today.

Composer Harrison Birtwhistle wrote a piano piece in tribute in 1998 and Michael Gambon played him in Channel 4's admired costume drama Longitude in 1999. Perhaps more surprisingly, he was central to the 1996 Only Fools and Horses Christmas special, in which the Trotters finally made their fortune by auctioning off one of his lesser prototypes.
Accusations and recriminations between Britain and Russia are set to escalate with the news that scientists at the Porton Down military research facility have been unable to establish exactly where the novichok nerve agent used to carry out the Skripal attack was manufactured.

The admission comes the day before Moscow convenes an emergency meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague in which it is expected to demand access to samples from the Salisbury poisoning for analysis by Russian scientists.

Russias embassy in London responded that Porton Downs assessment proves that all political declarations on the Russian origin of the crime are nothing but assumptions not stemming from objective facts or the course of the investigation.

The development also comes after Russias foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, suggested that British intelligence services carried out the attempted assassination of the former MI6 agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia and claimed that it had proved beneficial in distracting attention from Theresa Mays government having to make major concessions to the European Union on Brexit.

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The OPCW is due to present its own conclusions on the nerve agent in the near future. It remains to be seen whether it will be able to provide definite proof that the novichok came from a Russian government facility or echo the Porton Down position.

Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, Wiltshire, told Sky News that the substance required extremely sophisticated methods to create something only in the capabilities of a state actor. We were able to identify it as novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent.

Mr Aitkenhead went on to say: We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to the government who have then used a number of other sources, some of them intelligence-based.

The head of Porton Down denied claims that his research centre had been connected in any way with a false flag operation or that the novichok used may have come from it. There is no way that anything like that would ever have come from us or leave the walls of our facilities, he said. We deal with a number of very toxic substances as part of the work that we do.

There has been no immediate reaction from the Kremlin on the Porton Down assessment, but there is little doubt that it will be used to support its claims that UK has no real evidence to back up the accusation of Russian state culpability in the attack.

The novichok was tested by scientists at Porton Down research laboratory (Reuters)

Speaking of the OPCW emergency meeting, Yury Filatov, the Russian ambassador to Ireland, said: We hope to discuss the whole matter and call on Britain to provide every possible element of element of evidence they might have on their hands. Russia is interested in establishing the whole truth of the matter and we hope certainly that this meeting will help to return to at least the realm of normality within the realm of international law and decency in international matters.

A British government spokesperson insisted that the Porton Down assessment was only part of the intelligence picture. He continued: As the Prime Minister has set out in a number of statements to the Commons since 12 March, this includes our knowledge that within the past decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents probably for assassination and as part of this programme has produced and stockpiled small quantities of novichoks, Russias record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations and our assessment that Russia views former intelligence officers as targets.

It is our assessment that Russia was responsible for this brazen and reckless act and, as the international community agrees, there is no other plausible explanation.

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Twenty-nine countries and Nato carried out a mass expulsion of almost 150 Russians working under diplomatic credentials after Britain provided information that pointed to Vladimir Putins government as responsible for Salisbury attack.

Unprecedented levels of intelligence had been divulged to convince these states, said senior government officials, including conclusions of Porton Down and an explanation of how this was obtained.

However, in addition, highly classified information, which is normally shared only between the Five Eyes countries  the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada  was supplied to close allies with the national security adviser, Sir Mark Sedwill, taking it to the European Union and the North Atlantic Council. Other countries were given differing levels of intelligence.

 US Department of State: there is 'no justification' for Russia's response to expulsions

The development came as a former Russian general warned the response to the Salisbury the attack could trigger the last war in the history of mankind.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, Evgeny Buzhinsky said the West was cornering Russia and to corner Russia is a very dangerous thing.

He added: If the situation develops in the way it is now, it will end up in a very bad outcome.
Welfare payments that serve as a lifeline for some people in the UK have been slashed in recent years, figures show, prompting MPs to warn that a financial safety net is being hacked away.

New statistics show more than 300m has been axed from the discretionary social fund and flexible support fund, which can be awarded to poor claimants for a wide range of issues.

Ministers have confirmed that 419.5m will be made available through the discretionary social fund next year, compared with 679.7m given out in 2010-11  a cut of 38 per cent.

The fund is made up of interest-free budgeting loans, which are available to claimants of certain benefits to help them cope with the purchase of major items or services, such as replacing a broken freezer.

It used to include crisis loans, which would cover payments associated with serious risks, but these were abolished in 2013.

Money awarded through the flexible support fund, which goes towards helping claimants back into work, has meanwhile fallen from 115m in 2012-13 to 51m in 2016-17.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it spends around 90bn on working age welfare and the changes were part of wider welfare reform, claiming this is restoring fairness to the system.

But Labour MP Frank Field, a former welfare minister and now chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: Once, we had a universal safety net protecting everybody from destitution.

Then we moved to discretionary payments which might prevent destitution. Now, that even more crucial safety net is being hacked away.

Labours former shadow cabinet minister Lucy Powell, who uncovered figures showing that spending on the fund had fallen every year since 2012-13, said: Funding from the flexible support fund can be a lifeline to some people, making the difference between a job and remaining out of work.

With many people still unemployed, entrenched worklessness in some areas, and higher costs for some groups to get back into the labour market, the fund is an important tool to break the cycle of joblessness and provide extra support to help people get a job and keep it.

Its worrying then that the total budget for the fund has more than halved in recent years. If ministers really want to shift the dial on unemployment, theyll ensure that there is adequate support for all those who need it.

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PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA

While the scheme was given a large boost in its budget in 2014-15 in order to meet travel and childcare costs to facilitate additional support for claimants, the DWP has since said there was a lack of demand and that year the scheme underspent by 87.3m against its budget.

A DWP spokeswoman said: Were committed to providing support for people who need it and spend around 90bn a year on working-age welfare, an amount that will continue to rise.

Changes to discretionary benefits are part of our wider welfare reform which is restoring fairness to the system, supporting those who can into work and helping those who cant.
A former Conservative health secretary has blamed government cuts to the NHS budget for failing to detect his bowel cancer sooner.

Andrew Lansley said cuts wrongly imposed by the Treasury had frustrated the delivery of a screening programme he introduced in 2010.

The Tory peer said doctors have told him he has every reason to hope his cancer can be effectively treated, keeping him alive for the long term.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Lord Lansley called for action from the government to ensure future sufferers do not have to rely on luck for the early diagnosis that is crucial to their survival.

 Thousands protest in London over NHS crisis

Shortly after being made health secretary in 2010, Lord Lansley introduced a new bowelscope programme to detect signs of cancer at age 55.

The 61-year-old said the scheme was intended to be rolled out across England by the end of 2016, but fell foul of cuts to Health Education England (HEE) imposed by the Treasury in 2014.

The bowelscope is only available to about 50 per cent of the population, wrote Lord Lansley. A lack of endoscopists and difficulties with IT have frustrated delivery.

Bowelscope could save 3,000 lives a year, but training and recruiting endoscopists and support staff will take years.

Health Education England is getting more resources for training more NHS staff, reversing the Treasury-imposed cut to the HEE budget in 2014  when it was treated, wrongly, as a budget not within the NHS ring-fence.

Mr Lansley said he was lucky his cancer was spotted nine months ago, when spreading back pain and nagging from his wife persuaded him to see his GP.

The diagnosis was stage three tumours that had not spread to his liver, giving him every reason to hope to be among the more than half of cancer patients who can look forward to long-term survival, he said.

But he said if the bowelscope scheme had gone ahead as planned, he would have automatically been called in for screening.

NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Show all 25 1 /25 NHS in Crisis march: in pictures NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Protesters call on the government to reverse cuts to the NHS. Rex NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Demonstrators dressed as an undertaker and carrying a fake coffin. Getty Images NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Demonstrators gather on Gover Street in central London ahead of a march towards Downing Street to protest against underfunding and privatisation of the NHS and demand an end to the winter crisis in the health service. Rex NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Health workers and NHS campaigners march through London to a rally outside Downing Street. Rex NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Thousands of protesters marched during the demonstration organised by 'The People's Assembly Against Austerity' campaign group that called for better funding for the National Health Service (NHS) to end the 'winter crisis' in the national health care system. EPA NHS in Crisis march: in pictures A Boris Johnson impersonator lies in a makeshift hospital bed next to an effigy of Theresa May during a People's Assembly demonstration against the Conservative government's health policy. Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures A demonstrator in a mobility scooter carries a placard. Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Demonstrators take part in a emergency NHS 'Fix It Now' protest demanding an end to the funding crisis in the Health Service. Rex NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Demonstrators take part in pro-NHS march and protest towards Downing Street in Central London. EPA NHS in Crisis march: in pictures A protestor carries a placard featuring Britain's Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt. AFP/Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures The demonstration is focused on the current crisis in the National Health Service. Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Demonstrators hold placards and set off flares . Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures A demonstrator carries a cardboard skeleton wearing an ambulance uniform . Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Demonstrators hold placards during a People's Assembly demonstration against the Conservative government's health policy Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures The Government will be urged to provide more beds, staff and funds to ease the problems facing the service. PA NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Protestors gather calling for an end to the "crisis" in the NHS. AFP/Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth M joins people taking part in the march. PA NHS in Crisis march: in pictures A placard reading 'Nurses with fight for the NHS'. AFP/Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Protestors carry placards and shout slogans. AFP/Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures People march through central London. PA NHS in Crisis march: in pictures People take part in a march in London in support of the National Health Service. PA NHS in Crisis march: in pictures People hold up a sign in support of the National Health Service to demand an end to the "crisis" in the NHS. PA NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Protestors carry placards featuring Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and Britain's Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt. AFP/Getty NHS in Crisis march: in pictures People take part in a march in London in support of the National Health Service. PA NHS in Crisis march: in pictures Demonstrators carry placards . Getty

He added: I want to know that for others like me in future, with better knowledge about symptoms, with earlier improved screening in place, and with a new focus on personalised preventative medicine, it really isnt about luck.

Lord Lansley welcomed the governments commitment to a new screening test called Fit, which he said has the potential to detect more cancers while requiring fewer endoscopies than bowelscope.

Switching the screening programme over to using Fit should now be an immediate focus, with a roll-out this year and the development of a plan for optimising its use in future as further workforce capacity becomes available, he said.

This should involve cutting the age for screening to 50 and putting in upfront investment in pathology and endoscopy, he said, but should lead to long-term savings as more patients are diagnosed early, preventing expensive later-stage treatment.

Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in this country. It should be so much less, said Lord Lansley.

These priorities for progress can make a real difference. By prevention and early diagnosis, we can save lives and money.
Antisemitism is more widespread within the Labour Party than was thought and complaints cannot be dismissed as right-wing smears, the leadership of the Jeremy Corbyn-backing Momemtum movement has said.

Momentums National Coordinating Group (NCG) released a statement acknowledging the anger of Britains Jewish community at the numerous cases of antisemitism within Labour and the partys failure to deal with them in a sufficiently decisive, swift and transparent manner.

The move came as Mr Corbyn vowed he would not tolerate any antisemitism in the party.

The Labour leader told Channel 4 News: There is genuine concern and we are dealing with that concern ... By investigating every case that is brought to our attention and if the person has committed an antisemitic act, in any way, then they are suspended and usually expelled from the party as a result of that.

We are not tolerating antisemitism in any form in the Labour Party.

The first task of new general secretary Jennie Formby when she takes up her role on Tuesday will be to appoint an in-house lawyer to ensure that procedures for dealing with allegations of antisemitism are absolutely strong and watertight, he said.

Mr Corbyn said he was not aware of allegedly antisemitic social media posts made by a Labour candidate for local elections in Kent, Roy Smart, but that he was suspended as soon as they came to light.

The developments came as a Jewish member of Labours ruling National Executive Committee, Rhea Wolfson, said she was frustrated at the pace of action on antisemitism.

 Tony Blair says the people around Jeremy Corbyn dont take antisemitism seriously

And new NEC member Eddie Izzard told The Daily Mirror: We must make amends and repair the damage with the Jewish community as Jeremy Corbyn has promised to do.

Mr Corbyn is facing demands to speed up the investigations into a backlog of around 70 complaints of antisemitism  including one against Ken Livingstone.

Ex-speaker of the Commons Lord Martin called for an extraordinary members conference to address the problem.

Recommended Corbyn deletes personal Facebook account amid antisemitism row

The former Labour MP told The Guardian: If you ran a restaurant, and it was dirty and there were cockroaches, you wouldnt get away with saying the restaurant down the road is dirty and has cockroaches too. You would be expected to sort out the problem.

The NCG, which agreed the Momentum statement, includes Christine Shawcroft, who quit Labours disputes panel and the NEC amid criticism of her opposition to the suspension of a council candidate accused of Holocaust denial.

The statement said: Accusations of antisemitism should not and cannot be dismissed simply as right-wing smears nor as the result of conspiracies.

Current examples of antisemitism within the Labour Party are not only a problem of a few, extreme bad apples but also of unconscious bias which manifests itself in varied, nuanced and subtle ways and is more widespread in the Labour Party than many of us had understood even a few months ago.

While Mr Corbyns opponents were opportunistically using this issue as a way to undermine his leadership, this did not reduce the need to challenge antisemitism, the statement said.

As well as backing Labour Party initiatives on the issue, Momentum will review its constitution and complaints procedures to ensure they fulfil the groups commitment to stamping out antisemitism.

The Momentum statement follows a wave of left-wing comment on social media dismissing antisemitism complaints as smears from the Labour leaders political opponents.

And it stands in contrast to an open letter to Mr Corbyn from a group called Labour Against The Witchhunt.

The letter  signed by more than 2,500 people including LAW chair Jackie Walker  blamed the allegations on a cynical alliance between those who wish to deflect criticism of Israel and Zionism, and the right-wing in the Labour Party and the news media, who oppose your wider politics.

Ms Wolfson, who represents constituency Labour parties on the NEC, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: There is very clearly a real issue, a huge piece of work that needs to be done in the Labour Party, around modern antisemitism and giving people the tools to recognise when legitimate criticism of Israel crosses the line into anti-Semitism.

She added: Action has been taken. I am frustrated by the pace of action, as I know a lot of people are  there is a heck of a lot more that needs to be done  but things have happened.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. 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PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA UK news in pictures 31 July 2021 James Guy, Adam Peaty and Kathleen Dawson celebrate winning the gold medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final at the Tokyo Olympics AP UK news in pictures 30 July 2021 Great Britain's Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA

Ms Wolfson said she expected the process to enter a new stage as new general secretary Jennie Formby takes the reins of the NEC.

Jeremy has specifically asked her to make this her number one priority, she said. She starts on Tuesday, so I think we will see a speeding up of these changes.

PA
Euroscepticism has fast lost support in Denmark as the consequences of Britains vote for Brexit become clearer, new polling suggest.

Denmark joined the EU in the same year as the UK and has long been seen as one of the more eurosceptic or anti-EU countries along with its British neighbours over the North Sea.

But a new poll for Danish public broadcaster DR conducted by Epinion found Danes attitudes have softened quite dramatically since the Brexit vote.

Voters now say they would reject a referendum on leaving by 55 per cent to 27 per cent  a 28 per cent gap in favour of the EU.

This compares to polling conducted in 2016 by the same company before the EU referendum that found the result would be much closer  44 per cent to 37 per cent, just 7 per cent.

The previous, more narrow gap in public opinion was similar to the one that the Leave campaign had to bridge in the Brexit referendum.

Like Britain, Denmark has its own opt-outs from using the European single currency and other EU agencies.

Rising pro-EU sentiment in Denmark is not isolated: the regular eurobarometer poll conducted by the European Commission in August found that more Europeans than ever say they feel like EU citizens.

As Britain heads towards the exit door the rest of the continent feels more positive about European identity than ever, with a solid 68 per cent of the population telling the regular Eurobarometer poll that they feel they are a citizen of the EU.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Show all 8 1 /8 The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Post-Brexit immigration workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns. PA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Customs union A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that Brexit means Brexit and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UKs economic outlook become clearer. Alamy The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Northern Ireland-Irish border Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Partys coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a specific solution would need to be found. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Transition period Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Rights of EU citizens living the UK The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreement (with the EU) Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreements (internationally) The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Financial services Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period. Getty

There were also sharp rises in optimism about the EU across the board, but especially in France, where new president Emmanuel Macron saw off a far-right challenger, and Portugal, whose government has ended austerity and kick-started growth with an investment programme.

Aside from the example of Brexit, the new figures also come amid a solid increase in growth and other economic indicators across the continent.

In Britain there has been little significant movement in the referendum voting intention polls since voters decided to leave by 52 per cent to 48 per cent in June 2016.
The trade of items made from ivory will be banned in the UK in a bid to help protect elephants, ministers have announced.

The ban, which the government said will be the toughest in Europe and one of the toughest in the world, will cover items of any age, not just those containing new ivory.

Under plans announced by the environment secretary, Michael Gove, anyone who continues to illegally trade ivory will face an unlimited fine or a jail sentence of up to five years.

The ivory trade is a major cause of declining numbers of wild elephants, as poachers continue to hunt endangered species for their valuable tusks.

The number of wild elephants has dropped by almost a third in the last decade alone and around 20,000 are still being slaughtered for their tusks each year.

The international trade in illegal ivory is estimated to be worth 17bn each year.

It is unclear when the UK ban will come into effect but government sources said the legislation will be placed before parliament as soon as possible.

The move follows a wide consultation on making the trade in ivory illegal, with 88 per cent of respondents saying they supported a ban.

Announcing the policy, Mr Gove said: Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol, so we will introduce one of the worlds toughest bans on ivory sales to protect elephants for future generations.

The ban on ivory sales we will bring into law will reaffirm the UKs global leadership on this critical issue, demonstrating our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past.

In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Traditional Maasai tribesmen pose for a photograph near elephant tusks, part of an estimated 105 tonnes of confiscated ivory to be set ablaze, stacked onto a pyre at Nairobi National Park near Nairobi, Kenya, April 28, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history A Kenya Wildlife Services ranger guards the burning of an estimated 105 tonnes of Elephant tusks confiscated ivory from smugglers and poachers at the Nairobi National Park near Nairobi, Kenya, April 30, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters In pictures: Kenya stages largest ivory burn in history Reuters

Several types of ivory item will be exempted from the ban, including those that were made before 1947 and contain less than 10 per cent of the substance.

Musical instruments that were made before 1975 and contain less than 20 per cent ivory will also be allowed to be traded, as will antique items that are especially rare. Museums will be allowed to buy and sell ivory items.

The ban is the latest in a string of environmentally friendly policies announced by Mr Goves department.

It has banned plastic microbeads and pesticides harmful to bees, announced plans to introduce a bottle deposit scheme and a new Northern Forest, made CCTV compulsory in slaughterhouses, made plans to reintroduce beavers in some areas and pledged to abolish all plastic waste by 2040.

 Microbeads ban: Government to outlaw microplastics in cosmetic products

The Conservatives hope a focus on environmental policies will help win back the support of younger voters.

Other countries have already banned the trade in ivory, but many allow older items to be bought and sold.

In the US, for example, ivory items that are more than 100 years old can still be traded, as can those that contain up to 50 per cent of the substance.

Trade in raw ivory is already illegal in the UK but buying and selling items made from the substance is largely unrestricted providing they were made before 3 March 1947. Any made after this date require a certificate before they can be traded.

UK government ministers recently called for all EU member states to ban the commercial trade in raw ivory within the EU. The bloc is currently consulting on what further action it could take to reduce the trade.

The announcement of a UK-wide ban was welcomed by animal rights campaigners, but some warned that more action is needed.

Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF, said: Around 55 African elephants are killed for their ivory a day, their tusks turned into carvings and trinkets. This ban makes the UK a global leader in tackling this bloody trade and its something WWF has been fighting hard for.

 Shaye Wolf speaks about Trump's reversal of ban on elephant trophy imports

But if we want to stop the poaching of this majestic animal, we need global action. We hope the UK will continue to press countries where the biggest ivory markets are, most of which are in Asia, to shut down their trade too.

Matthew Hatchwell, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London, said: Legal domestic ivory markets are intrinsically linked to the illegal ivory trade that is driving the current poaching crisis. With almost 20,000 elephants poached in the last year, it is vital that countries take significant steps such as those outlined by the UK government today to close their markets and help make the trade in ivory a thing of the past.

No one in the UK today would dream of wearing a tiger-skin coat. Thanks to this move, in a few years time we believe the same will be true for the trade in ivory.
Jeremy Corbyn is facing fresh criticism from Labour MPs after attending a Passover gathering of a radical left-wing group called Jewdas, which recently described the antisemitism row as a faux-outrage greased with hypocrisy and opportunism.

It comes as the Labours new general secretary, Jennie Formby, starts her first day in the role with a brief to improve the partys handling of allegations of antisemitism.

Mr Corbyn insisted on Sunday evening that absolutely strong and watertight investigations would be take place where allegations occur, adding: We are not tolerating antisemitism in any form in the Labour Party.

But the Labour leader was embroiled in the new row after the Guido Fawkes website reported that Mr Corbyn had attended the event hosted by Jewdas to mark the Jewish feast day of Seder.

After organising demonstrations outside Parliament last week against antisemitism in the party, the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement, were accused by Jewdas in a statement at the time of playing a dangerous game with peoples lives.

 Tony Blair says the people around Jeremy Corbyn dont take antisemitism seriously

Allegations linking Mr Corbyn to antisemitism were the work of cynical manipulations by people whose express loyalty is to the Conservative Party and the right wing of the Labour Party, it said.

It is a malicious ploy to remove the leader of the opposition and put a stop to the possibility of a socialist government.

Commenting on the Labour leaders attendance a spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: Jeremy was invited to a Passover Seder with Jewish members of his local community.

He wrote to the Board of Deputies of and Jewish Leadership Council last week to ask for an urgent meeting to discuss tackling antisemitism in the Labour Party and in society.

But the Campaign Against Antisemitism described Mr Corbyn's attendance as a very clear two fingered salute at mainstream British Jewry.

Campaign chairman Gideon Falter said: Given the anti-Semitism crisis engulfing the Labour Party, there is absolutely no way that Mr Corbyn can claim that this too was an oversight.

It is hard to imagine how this duplicitous man can claim to be remedying anti-Semitism within the Labour Party. The party must consider the message that is sent to British Jews and other minorities by him remaining as leader.

Labour backbencher John Woodcock said Mr Corbyn's attendance at the meeting was irresponsible and dangerous.

This is deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community days after they pleaded with him to tackle antisemitism, he wrote on Twitter. And he must know that meeting them now will give his members the message that the group's extreme views are ok.

And the Labour MP Wes Streeting told Guido Fawkes: What on earth was he thinking? This demonstrates either extraordinarily bad judgement or a deliberate affront to the majority of British Jews. Probably both.

It calls into serious question the sincerity of every public statement Jeremy Corbyn has made on antisemitism during the past week, just as many of us hoped we had begun to make progress.

Jewdas shrugged off the attack, posting a Twitter message: Great that there's so much interest in our work tonight! Please feel free to make a donation!

Protests against Labour antisemitism Show all 14 1 /14 Protests against Labour antisemitism Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters clashed during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of the Jewish community hold a protest against Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism in the Labour Party AFP/Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters hold placards and flags during a demonstration, organised by the British Board of Jewish Deputies for those who oppose antisemitism, in Parliament Square Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP Luciana Berger speaks during the protest PA Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester blows through a shofar during the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of London's Jewish community protest in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outside parliament EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP John Mann speaks during a protest against antisemitism PA Protests against Labour antisemitism People protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party as Jewish community leaders have launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has sided with antisemites again and again PA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour politicians Stella Creasy and Chuka Umunna leave after attending the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A pro-Jeremy Corbyn protester holds a placard during a counter-protest Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A support of the Labour Party hold up a placard during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Jeremy Corbyn supporters during the demo Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester holds up a sign reading For the many, not the Jew AFP

The group said: We are proud to be Jews and proud of everyone who attended, whether they were Jewish or not.

We want everyone to know - we're leaving Mitzrayim (Egypt). Change is coming. Revolution will come.

Referring to Jewdas, David Baddiel, a Jewish comedian, posted on his social media account: They are just Jews who disagree with other Jews. Which means: Jews.

The Momentum founder, Jon Lansman told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that it was Mr Corbyns night off, adding: He had nothing official in his diary, his office didnt know he was there. So I dont think this is as significant as its being made out.

He added: "Well it's certainly not helpful to Jeremy or the cause of opposing anti-Semitism in the Labour Party as it happens... and I think the important thing is that Jeremy is seeking to meet with mainstream Jewish organisations. He wants to meet, he's very keen to meet and has been since before the demonstration last Monday with the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council.

Jeremy is a lifelong anti-racist and I think it came as something of a shock to him to be described as being some kind of racist, of harbouring people with anti-Semitic views in the party that he now leads and I think awareness has grown."
Jeremy Corbyn has defended his decision to attend a Passover dinner organised by the left-wing Jewish group Jewdas, which has previously dismissed allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party as faux-outrage greased with hypocrisy and opportunism.

The Labour leader was criticised by several of his own MPs after taking part in the Seder meal in his Islington constituency on Monday night.

Opponents claimed engaging with a fringe Jewish group that has dismissed concerns about antisemitism in the party undermined Mr Corbyn's claims to be taking the problem seriously.

However, the Labour leader said he had learnt a lot at the event, and that this was a good thing.

Speaking during a visit to Swindon, he said: "It wasn't a meeting last night, it was a Seder event, which is a celebration of Passover, which I celebrate with young Jewish people from my own community and my own constituency.

"It was very interesting talking to a lot of young people about their experiences of modern Britain and I learnt a lot. Isn't that a good thing?

 Protesters gather outside Parliament in opposition to antisemitism in the Labour Party

He continued: "Antisemitism is a vile and evil thing within our society at any level, anywhere, at any time. It has got to be eradicated wherever it arises.

"If it arises in my party then we have a process for dealing with it. We examine each case and if someone has committed any antisemitic act they are suspended and could be expelled as a result of it.

"We are very clear about that and very clear in the whole of our society we cannot accept antisemitism in any form or indeed any other form of racism in our society.

"Communities working together achieve things together, communities divided don't."

Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum and an ally of Mr Corbyn, had earlier said the Labour leader attended the event without the knowledge of his staff.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It was his night off, he had nothing in his official diary, his office didn't know he was there. So I don't think this is as significant as it's being made out."

Protests against Labour antisemitism Show all 14 1 /14 Protests against Labour antisemitism Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters clashed during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of the Jewish community hold a protest against Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism in the Labour Party AFP/Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters hold placards and flags during a demonstration, organised by the British Board of Jewish Deputies for those who oppose antisemitism, in Parliament Square Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP Luciana Berger speaks during the protest PA Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester blows through a shofar during the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of London's Jewish community protest in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outside parliament EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP John Mann speaks during a protest against antisemitism PA Protests against Labour antisemitism People protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party as Jewish community leaders have launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has sided with antisemites again and again PA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour politicians Stella Creasy and Chuka Umunna leave after attending the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A pro-Jeremy Corbyn protester holds a placard during a counter-protest Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A support of the Labour Party hold up a placard during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Jeremy Corbyn supporters during the demo Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester holds up a sign reading For the many, not the Jew AFP

The Momentum leader also suggested Mr Corbyn should meet with "mainstream" Jewish organisations and take part in an educational course on antisemitism in order to tackle "unconscious bias".

He said: "It's certainly not helpful to Jeremy or the cause of opposing antisemitism in the Labour Party as it happens ... and I think the important thing is that Jeremy is seeking to meet with mainstream Jewish organisations."

Jewdas, which publishes a number of light-hearted, satirical articles, has previously caused a stir by claiming Israel "is a steaming pile of sewage which needs to be properly disposed of and that "all cops are bastards".

In a statement, the group said: "We have been campaigning against antisemitism on the left and the right for many years. Like, way before it was popular.

"We have run anti-antisemitism workshops in such far flung corners as Marseille and Bloomsbury, opposed neo-Nazi demos in Stamford Hill and Golders Green, produced and distributed information on how to criticise Israel without being antisemitic, demonstrated against left-antisemite Gilad Atzmon, and most importantly mercilessly took the p*** out of Ken Livingstone. You could call us trend setters."

 Jeremy Corbyn defends decision to attend Jewdas event

Mr Corbyn was criticised by several Labour MPs for attending the group's Passover event. Backbencher John Woodcock, a vocal critic of his party leader, called the decision to attend the dinner irresponsible and dangerous.

This is deliberately baiting the mainstream Jewish community days after they pleaded with him to tackle antisemitism, he tweeted. And he must know that meeting them now will give his members the message that the group's extreme views are ok.

And Wes Streeting, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Jews, told the Guido Fawkes website: What on earth was he thinking? This demonstrates either extraordinarily bad judgement or a deliberate affront to the majority of British Jews. Probably both.

It calls into serious question the sincerity of every public statement Jeremy Corbyn has made on antisemitism during the past week, just as many of us hoped we had begun to make progress."
A 170m government aid package has been announced for Yemen, as ministers admitted the number of people at risk of starvation has reached an all-time high.

The cash would meet immediate needs for 3.4m people and buy fuel to provide enough wheat to feed a million people for over a year, they said.

Alistair Burt, the minister for the Middle East, warned that 8m Yemeni civilians were now at risk of starving to death  up from 6.5m a year ago.

The rise comes after the two main sides in the countrys brutal conflict, Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebels, were accused by the United Nations of fighting a senseless and brutal war on children.

Speaking at a UN event in Geneva, Mr Burt said he was deeply concerned that the looming arrival of heavy rains would bring another deadly outbreak of cholera.

More than a million children were affected by choleras last year, because of a lack of access to clean water or vaccinations  and a child dies every 10 minutes from preventable diseases.

Yemeni authorities must work closely with the international community to take immediate action to curb its spread, Mr Burt said.

The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis, helping to secure vital access for food, fuel and medicine to enter the country and rallying the international community to focus their efforts on paying doctors, nurses and sanitation workers.

This will keep clinics and schools open, clear overflowing rubbish from streets and put money in the pockets of 7m people so they can afford food and basic healthcare.

However, Mr Burt said the UK acknowledged that only a political agreement can bring an end to this humanitarian crisis.

For the sake of all Yemenis, we urge all parties to return to the negotiating table to find an inclusive political solution, and the UK is continuing to do all it can diplomatically to ensure such an outcome, he added.

The 170m brings the total that the UK has provided in aid to Yemen, since the conflict began in 2015, to more than 400m, the Department for International Development (Dfid) said.

The civil war broke out after the government of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi was ousted from the capital, Sana'a, by Houthi revels in March 2015. More than 10,000 people have been killed.

The coup led to a military intervention by a Saudi-led coalition later that month. Riyadh has blamed Iran for supporting the Houthi resistance.

A new UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, has been appointed, but with a daunting task after the failure of three rounds of peace talks.

Through existing aid to the Gavi programme, the UK is supporting the first vaccination campaign - for 1.1m people against cholera - since the conflict in Yemen began.

In 2017-18, UK aid provided nutritional support for 1.7m people, and clean water and sanitation for an expected 1.2m people.
Four members of a British family have been killed in a car crash while on holiday in Florida, police have said.

The family had just left Nasas Kennedy Space Centre when their rented Mitsubishi saloon was hit by a Ford pick-up truck at about 18:00 local time [23:00 GMT] on Monday.

Driver Adam Stephenson, 30, his wife Maryanne Stephenson, 29, and his parents Brian Stephenson, 66, and Sheralyn Stephenson, 56, died in the collision in Titusville. All were from Bristol.

Recommended Relatives of family killed when car slid off pier speak of devastation

Police said the family were driving back to their rental home when the heavy-duty pick-up truck violently impacted the passenger side of the small sedan.

Titusville Police Department deputy chief Todd Hutchinson said: Our emergency personnel were on the scene within a few minutes. There was nothing they could do; all four were pronounced deceased at the scene.

A fifth member of the family, a son of Brian and Sheralyn, was also on the holiday but not in the car at the time.

He lost his brother, his sister-in-law and his mum and dad, Mr Hutchinson said. Very, very tragic. He was doing the notifications last night to other family members over in England.

Adam Stephenson, 30, his wife Maryanne Stephenson, 29 (Adam Stephenson/Facebook)

That was a very tough notification. It was tough for all involved. The job of first responders is to sustain life and to help people at scenes. They were very frustrated because there was nothing they could do for these four that died fairly instantly from the violent collision.

The family were staying in Davenport, south-east of Orlando  a popular holiday destination among Brits.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. 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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. 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Police said the sat-nav they were using showed they were travelling back to their holiday home when they were were re-routed due to another collision and turned into the path of the oncoming truck.

The GPS had indicated for them to make a U-turn at that intersection which was an illegal U-turn unfortunately and violated the right of way of the pick-up truck, Mr Hutchinson said.

Adam Stephenson had made a U-turn in a rented car which was then hit by a pickup truck (Titusville Police / SWNS.com)

There was heavy traffic in the area due to a SpaceX rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. It is not clear whether the Stephenson family had been to watch the launch before the crash that killed them..

The 28-year-old driver of the pick-up truck was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries, police said.

A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: We are supporting the family of four British people who have died in Florida. Our thoughts are with them at this deeply difficult time.
A Florida teacher accused of espousing white nationalist beliefs has submitted her resignation.

After the Huffington Post revealed last month that middle school teacher Dayanna Volitich was hosting the podcast Unapologetic and tweeting under pseudonyms, the Citrus County School District removed her from the classroom.

A Citrus County School District spokeswoman confirmed that Ms Volitich has now tendered her resignation but could not offer additional details because the district is still investigating her conduct. The district said last month it had opened a probe into the teachers concerning podcast.

In a statement released through her attorney, Ms Volitich said her comments were intended as political satire.

None of the statements released about my being a white nationalist or white supremacist have any truth to them, nor are my political beliefs injected into my teaching of social studies curriculum, she said.

On the podcast, Ms Volitich agreed with a guest who suggested Nigerian and Swedish students have different intellectual capacities  laughing and groaning as the guest mocked the idea that theres no differences at all between the ethnicities or the races - and warned about the threat posed by leftist ideology.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

There are races that have higher IQs than others, she said.

She also invoked alt-right terminology in citing the need to red pill as many people as possible and talked about concealing her beliefs from the school district.

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I did what I was supposed to do. I danced like a little puppet when administrators were present, she said.

Among the tweets uncovered before Ms Volitich set her Twitter account to private were phrases like systemic racism and white privilege arent real and it isnt supremacist or hateful to prefer your own people over others.
The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr marked the end of an era, but not the end of a fight: Even 50 years after his death, the white supremacist beliefs he strove to dismantle are still alive and well in America, though espoused by a few new faces.

While racism can exist everywhere, from the classroom to the White House, many people still associate American white supremacy with the Ku Klux Klan  white hoods, burning crosses, and all.

Today, however, the power and size of the Klan is declining. According to a report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Klan boasted approximately 3,000 members across the US in 2016  down from more than 4m members at its peak in the 1920s.

Todays white supremacists are organised in a more scattered patchwork of groups, hiding under different names like white nationalists, neo-Nazis, or a popular catchall, the alt-right. But these groups are no less dangerous: According to the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), members of the racist alt-right have killed more than 100 people in the last four years.

Leonard Zeskind, a founder of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, described the difference between these groups and their predecessors as one of objectives: The white supremacists of the 50s and 60s wanted to preserve the system of legal segregation in place at the time. Todays white nationalists want to tear it all down and start over.

Members of the KKK march in Charlottesville, Virginia (Chet Strange/Stringer)

[The white supremacist groups of Kings time] were trying to preserve segregationist Jim Crow, Mr Zeskind told The Independent, referring to a set of laws requiring the public separation of blacks and whites.

"Today, white supremacists and certainly white nationalists want to overthrow the system they live under," he said. "They do not want preserve it. They want to destroy it. 

According to some experts, these new objectives are likely a result of changes King himself helped bring about. Todays America, while far from perfect, is much less amenable to white supremacists than the Jim Crow South.

I think thats why [modern white supremacists] are advocating for a white ethnic state, explained SPLC outreach director Lecia Brooks. Before, [the state] was all theirs.

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

The face of modern white supremacy has also become also more varied in recent years, expanding to include members of Atomwaffen  a small neo-Nazi organisation linked to multiple recent murders  as well as buttoned-up white supremacist academics like Richard Spencer.

At last summers Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, it seemed as if the groups might be able to combine their efforts. But after the rally, where one counter-protester was killed after being struck by a car, the groups descended into infighting and internal scandal. At least one group, the Traditionalist Worker Party, shut down completely.

This loss of cohesion, however, does not always mean a loss of influence. In fact, according to Carla Hill, a researcher for the ADL, the diversity of these groups shows how wide-spread their sentiments are.

Every demographic is kind of represented right now, even if they're not working together, she explained. They all feel like this is their time. There's not been a time in recent history where they felt like they had a chance.

While there are many reasons white supremacists are feeling emboldened these days, Ms Hill says she saw the strongest surge after the election of President Donald Trump  a man who has referred to Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, and reportedly called certain African nations "s***hole countries".

Its just part of our culture right now to be politically incorrect, to be very vocal in that way, Ms Hill said. ...The white supremacists dont view the leadership as perfect for what theyre going for, but they think its the best shot theyre going to have.

 Donald Trump blames both sides for Charlottesville violence

Another cultural shift bolstering these groups is the rise of the internet, which has granted modern white supremacists the gift of both broader reach and increased anonymity. While the white supremacists of Kings day had to meet in person, todays racists can organise online, in forums like Reddit or on social media sites like Gab.

Ms Brooks pointed to the example of Dylann Roof, a teenage white supremacist who opened fire on a predominantly black church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015, killing nine people. Roof didn't even have to leave his house to become enamoured with white supremacy: He was "self radicalised," according to prosecutors, after reading the rantings of racists online.

White supremacists have had a field day overrunning certain websites, like 4chan, and even making their own  like Gab and Voat  to propagate their viewpoints. But according to Ms Hill, they are also increasingly espousing their views on more mainstream platforms as well.

When I first started, extremist were on extremist websites, she said. Now they are on mainstream platforms using all of them, and pushing their rhetoric harder than ever.

US race relations: The enduring legacy of Martin Luther King Show all 2 1 /2 US race relations: The enduring legacy of Martin Luther King US race relations: The enduring legacy of Martin Luther King 22391.bin Keystone/Getty US race relations: The enduring legacy of Martin Luther King 22307.bin DAVID SANDISON

Despite the modern technologies available to todays white supremacists, however, Ms Brooks believes that the best means of fighting them are still those used in the civil rights movement.

Ms Brooks used the example of Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg, who  while not fighting white supremacy directly  successfully shut down a Fox News host by calling for a boycott of her show on Twitter. The host, who had mocked him for being rejected from certain colleges, lost at least eight advertisers on her show. She later apologised for her remarks.

I believe that the strategies used during the civil rights movement  and the notion of nonviolent resistance  was good and still is good, Ms Brooks said. Boycott as strategy is still effective. Demonstrations as strategy are still effective.

She added: The road map is there. We just have to commit to it and be more bold about it.
In the 50 years since his death, the descendants of civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr have fought to carry on his legacy  but also fought with each other.

Martin Luther King II, Bernice King, and Dexter King have each championed different social causes  and different ideas about what to do with their fathers estate. In some cases, the squabbles have led to legal action.

In a recent interview, however, Kings three living children came together for a mediation which they said former president Jimmy Carter had suggested to them. They told CBS News they would be stepping back from their fathers business and focusing on other initiatives instead.

 50 years on from Martin Luther King's assassination, did his dream come true?

Meanwhile, Mr Kings granddaughter Yolanda made a splash at a recent gun control rally, leading some to think she may be the next King to pick up the torch of justice.

Read on for more about what some of Martin Luther King Jrs descendants are doing to carry on his legacy.

Bernice A King

Bernice King attends Unsolved History: Life Of A King Atlanta screening at Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site (Getty) (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Bernice King, the youngest child of King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, is perhaps the most visible of the ministers descendants. The 55-year-old  who was just five when her father died  has served as CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr Centre for Nonviolent Social Change since 2012.

The centre is charged with educating the public on Kings message of nonviolence. Ms King regularly touts what the centre now calls Nonviolence 365, which she described in a recent editorial for The Atlantic as a programme of Kingian nonviolence [that] strongly and strategically facilitates change, both of systems and of hearts.

In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights 4510050.jpg AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights 4608656-low_res-martin-luther-king-and-the-march-on-washington.jpg BBC In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights martin-luther-king-6.jpg Getty Images In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights martin-luther-king-7.jpg Getty Images In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights georgiamlk.jpg In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights malcom-x-and-martin-luther-king.jpg Library of Congress/ Wiki Commons In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights martin-luther-king-8.jpg Getty Images In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights 359983.bin AP In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights 4260367.jpg AP In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights MLKAFP.jpg AFP/Getty Images

Like her father, Ms King is an ordained minister who became an activist a young age. She was arrested several times in her youth for protesting, including at an anti-apartheid protest outside the South African Embassy in Washington DC, where she was arrested alongside her mother and brother Martin.

Still, more than two decades later, Ms King told an audience at the annual 100 Black Men of America conference that she felt she should do more to carry on her fathers legacy.

I havent done as much as I should be doing in the last few years of my life, she said at the 2006 conference, according to the Los Angeles Times.

My desire is not to be a hypocrite, she added. I want to make sure my life is not a contradiction when I take a platform.

Martin Luther King III

Martin Luther King III speaks at the 2016 NAN Keepers Of The Dream Dinner And Awards Ceremony (Getty) (Eric Vitale/Getty Images)

Kings oldest son, who was 10 years old when his father died, has frequently turned to politics as a means to get his message across.

The 60-year-old was elected as a county commission member in Fulton County, Georgia in 1987. He was defeated in his 1993 re-election bid, but went on to work on voter registration campaigns and give speeches for political candidates like Barack Obama.

In a 2008 address to the Democratic National Committee, which he gave in honour of the 45th anniversary of his fathers I Have a Dream Speech, Mr King said his father would be proud of Barack Obama, proud of the party that nominated him, and proud of the America that will elect him.

Mr King and his sister also spoke out against President Donald Trump when he was a candidate, and again after the president reportedly referred to some African nations as s***hole countries.

Still, Mr King agreed to meet with Mr Trump on MLK Day last year, and said he had an extraordinarily constructive conversation with the president about voting rights.

Mr King also serves as the founding president and CEO of Realising the Dream, Inc, a nonprofit he founded to work on issues such as eliminating poverty and building community.

Yolanda Renee King

 March For Our Lives: Martin Luther King's grandaughter Yolanda's speech in Washington DC

Yolanda, Kings nine-year-old granddaughter, made headlines just last month with her rousing speech at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington. The event was planned by survivors of the shooting at at a Parkland, Florida high school, and was billed as a rally for stricter gun control.

King took the microphone as a surprise guest after Parkland high school student Jaclyn Corin. Addressing the thousands of people gathered, she harkened back to her grandfathers most famous speech.

My grandfather had a dream that his four little children would not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character, she said. I have a dream that enough is enough. That this should be a gun-free world. Period.

Her father later told CNN that she had been passionate about gun control for years before the Parkland shooting. When King visited Mr Obama in the White House in 2016, her father said, her first question for the leader was: Mr President, what are you gonna do about these guns?
A former staffer on President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign has accused her colleagues of discrimination and has filed a lawsuit challenging a nondisclosure agreement she said she was forced to sign.

Jessica Denson joined the campaign in August 2016 to manage Hispanic outreach, according to Buzzfeed News. She filed a lawsuit in 2017 alleging that campaign officials had harassed and discriminated against her.

Her new lawsuit was filed on 26 March at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in order to stop the campaign from bringing up the nondisclosure agreement in the state court discrimination lawsuit which would force that case into a closed-door and binding dispute resolution process called arbitration.

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Her discrimination lawsuit sought $25m in damages but the campaign claimed Ms Denson, an actress based in Los Angeles, could have to pay $1.5m because she violated the terms of the nondisclosure agreement.

Mr Trump has been embroiled in several legal matters in his first term, including the ongoing FBI and Congressional investigations into alleged collusion between the campaign and Russian officials as well as 19 women accusing the president of sexual misconduct.

Two other women have also sued Mr Trump to void secrecy agreements. Adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she has a right to speak about an alleged affair she had with the President in 2006 because Mr Trump never actually signed the document. Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, also sued the parent company of gossip news outlet National Enquirer alleging a similar issue about having a supposed affair with the president.

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Ms Denson is representing herself in the lawsuits. According to Bloomberg News, she described herself as a "lifelong advocate for the bullied and the voiceless, both human and animal in the discrimination suit.

The nondisclosure agreement Ms Denson has sought to void prohibits disparagement and disclosure of confidential information about Trump, his company and family members including Eric and Donald Jr., Ivanka, Tiffany and even Barron, the presidents 12-year-old son, the news outlet reported.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Confidential Information referred to any matters Mr Trump insists remain private.

However, Ms Denson said the secrecy agreement does not prevent her from suing for discrimination because she has a legal right to do so and the lawsuit did not disclose any confidential information. She also described the agreement as too vague and too broad, according to Bloomberg News.

Ms Denson accused campaign supervisors of trying to find dirt on her and searching for excuses to sack her. Another campaign staffer said Ms Denson had leaked Mr Trumps tax returns to the media.
More than 300,000 school teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky are striking to protest cuts in pay, pensions, benefits, and spending cuts to classroom spending.

In Oklahoma, school teachers are among the lowest paid in the US and the state's largest teachers union has demanded a $10,000 pay raise for educators over three years, $5,000 for support personnel and a $75 million increase in funding this year. About 200 of the nearly 600 school districts in Oklahoma were affected by the striking educators.

In Kentucky, schools were closed either for spring holidays or to allow educators to protest in the state capital, Frankfort, the state's teachers union said. Schools were closed in all 120 of Kentucky's counties, 21 as a direct result of a protest rally that drew thousands of teachers to the capital, according to the Louisville Journal Courier newspaper.

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The protests come on the heels of public school teachers in West Virginia staging a similar strike. They reached two weeks before government officials approved a five per cent pay raise. Teachers in Arizona are also considering a walkout after demanding a 20 per cent pay increase.

Alicia Priest, head of the Oklahoma Education Association, said to a large crowd of at least 30,000 people gathered outside of the state capital building: "We won't let anyone disinvest in public education. We are here for the long haul.

Teachers and parents carried signs that had slogans like Our students deserve better or 50 Reasons to fund public education. Oklahoma secondary school teachers had an annual mean wage of $42,460 as of May 2016, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The minimum salary for a first-year teacher was $31,600, state data showed.

Educators say years of austerity in many states have led to wage stagnation and the hollowing-out of school systems. West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma all have Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures that have resisted property or sales tax increases from which public schools are usually funded.

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However, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law last week a $450 million revenue package intended to help fund teacher raises and avert a strike. Teachers unions have said the package fell short of their demands, including calls to reverse spending cuts that forced some districts to impose four-day school weeks to save on operating costs.

"When our members believe the legislature has committed to funding our children's future, they will return to the classroom," the union said in a statement as the strike will stretch into a second day.

State Representative Democratic Collin Walke said Oklahoma teachers should keep up the pressure. Two separate bills pending in the state legislature to expand Native American tribal gambling and eliminate the income tax deduction for capital gains could generate more than $100m in additional funding each year.

"I think the Republican strategy is to wait the teachers out," Mr Walke said.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Many teachers in both states interviewed on network television stations mentioned they had to have second jobs in order to avoid being on the dole, but that they remained committed to doing what they felt was best for students.

In Kentucky, teachers were angered by the surprise passage of a bill last week that mandates a hybrid pension plan with individual retirement accounts for new hires.

"It's really hard to go to work every day when you don't feel your government is behind you," protesting teacher Shelli Stinson told Louisville television station WLKY.

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky passed a pension overhaul Thursday that preserves benefits for most workers but cuts them for new teachers. The move was done in response to chronic underfunding of the state's teacher retirement system and in defiance of a powerful teachers union that vowed political retribution. Opponents objected that the pension changes were inserted into an unrelated bill without a chance for public input, and worry that the changes will discourage young people from joining the profession.

"Stop the war on public education, chanted several protesters outside of the statehouse in Frankfort. Budget negotiators unveiled a spending plan Monday that includes increased spending for the main funding formula for K-12 schools and restored money for school buses that the state's Republican governor had proposed eliminating. After continued protesting over the pension plan change, spending and taxing proposals were expected to be voted upon in the Kentucky House late on Monday.
Dutch national Alex van der Zwaan has been sentenced to 30 days in prison, two months of supervised release, and will be forced to pay $20,000 in fines for lying to special counsel Robert Mueller's team about his contacts with Trump campaign officials.

Van der Zwaan, 33, is the son-in-law of a Russian oligarch and had entered a guilty plea in February for lying to Mr Mueller's investigators about contacts he had with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates. Those interactions occurred while Van der Zwaan was working in Ukraine.

He does not have any known ties to the Trump campaign specifically, but sentencing discussions filed in court showed that Van der Swaan and Mr Gates had discussions with a former Russian intelligence officer during the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Recommended Donald Trump is struggling to find lawyers to represent him

The specifics of those investigations were not disclosed by Mr Mueller in the filings, and the intelligence officer was only referred to as "Person A" on the documents. A source familiar with those fillings told ABC News that the unnamed individual is Konstantin Kilimnik, who is a longtime business associate of both Mr Manafort and Mr Gates.

Mr Kilimnik has denied the allegations that he is the individual.

Mr Manafort and Mr Kilimnik have worked together as recently as last year, when the two worked on an opinion article designed to burnish Mr Manafort's image in Ukraine. That effort was a violation of a court-imposed gag order that had been placed on Mr Manafort  he has been charged with relation to the special counsel investigation as well  and a judge admonished the former Trump campaign official for the document.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

Mr Manafaort has been accused of crimes including conspiracy, money laundering, and tax evasion, and is awaiting trial for those charges. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have sought to have the charges dismissed by arguing they are not directly related to the 2016 campaign.

Mr Gates pleaded guilty to the charges in order to received reduced charges, and is reportedly cooperating with Mr Mueller's investigation.

It is not clear exactly how Van der Zwaan will help Mr Mueller's probe, and federal Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann has submitted paperwork asking for limited public access to records relating to the case.

Van der Zwaan is in an unusual position of having information related to the Office's investigation that is not widely known  including information that he knows first-hand due to his role in the conduct the Office is investigating, Mr Weissman wrote.

Requests filed by someone with non-public information could, themselves, suggest to third parties investigative facts that are otherwise not widely known.

Before his sentencing, Van der Zwaan could have faced up to five years for the crime. Federal guidelines generally call for zero to six months in prison for his charges.
Sacramentos sheriff has faulted paid protesters after one of his deputies hit a woman with his car during a demonstration against the death of Stephon Clark.

Video of a sheriffs vehicle colliding with a protester emerged after a weekend demonstration, amplifying public anger in a community already roiled by protests after police officers shot and killed Mr Clark in his grandparents backyard last month.

The Sacramento branch of Black Lives matter said the footage showed law enforcement officers do not value our lives and can not be trusted.

Seeking to head off the mounting backlash, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones held a press conference in which he played in-car video from the two vehicles involved. While he noted that protests on Saturday was largely peaceful, he warned of outside agitators who infiltrate mass gatherings for their own purposes.

Unfortunately in many protests that have developed of this scope there are professional protesters and professional instigators, Mr Jones said, later saying there are paid protesters and paid folks to instigate.

The sheriff said he did not know if the woman struck by a deputys vehicle had been paid to be there. His department said she sustained minor injuries.

In the videos, deputies whom Mr Jones said were returning from an unrelated call slow and then come to a stop as they approach throngs of protesters lofting signs and holding up their hands. After the lead vehicle pulls away, the trailing vehicle abruptly accelerates as a person walks in front, knocking her to the ground.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Protesters who surrounded the vehicles were acting aggressively and their behaviour escalates until they are repeatedly kicking and banging the car, Mr Jones said, noting that the vehicle was dented and had its back windshield shattered.

While he stressed that he had not interviewed the driver, Mr Jones said there was a high likelihood that the deputy did not realise he had hit a protester before driving away.

It could have been he did not feel safe to get out of the vehicle or stop the vehicle, Mr Jones said.

 Police car hits protester at Stephon Clark demonstration

The protester, identified by the Sacramento Bee as Wanda Cleveland, told the paper the sheriffs department had shown disregard for human life.

It was a hit-and-run, Ms Cleveland said. If I did that Id be charged.

The California Highway Patrol is conducting a review of the collision, and Mr Jones said Sacramento Countys inspector general will independently monitor an internal sheriffs investigation.
Donald Trump has said he will deploy members of the military to the US border with Mexico until his long-promised wall is built.

Until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military, he said at a press conference with Baltic leaders. Its a big step.

He said: We really havent done that before, or certainly not very much before.

The president said he had discussed the option with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, but did not indicate when he planned to implement it.

Mr Trump has promised a big, beautiful wall on the border since the early days of his campaign, claiming it will help secure the border. But Congress has yet to pass any meaningful funding for the walls construction, despite Mr Trump advocating for $25bn in the last major spending package.

The president has previously suggested funding the wall with money from the Pentagon budget, or making Mexico pay for it.

People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Show all 16 1 /16 People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Washington, DC, U.S., February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants AUSTIN, TX - FEBRUARY 16: Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Theopolis Waters/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Demonstrators march during the "Day Without Immigrants" protest in Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2017. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants, marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants Protesters march in the streets outside the Texas State Capital on 'A Day Without Immigrants' February 16, 2017 in Austin, Texas. The crowd, which grew to well over a thousand participants marched from the Austin City Hall to the Texas State Capital. Across the country hundreds of restaurants and eateries are closing for the day to protest President Trump's immigration policies and to highlight the contributions of immigrants to U.S. business and life. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school student Kathia Suarez holds up a sign as she protests with others outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. LM Otero/AP People strike across America for A Day Without Immigrants High school senior Vicky Sosa holds a sign outside the Grayson County courthouse in downtown Sherman, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. In an action called "A Day Without Immigrants," immigrants across the country are expected to stay home from school, work and close businesses to show how critical they are to the U.S. economy and way of life. LM Otero/AP

Some 6,000 National Guard troops were deployed to the border in 2006, under president George W Bush. The troops did not participate in any law enforcement activity, but helped with surveillance and administrative tasks.

Mr Trumps comments came as a caravan of more than 1,000 South American immigrants made its way through Mexico towards the US border.

The migrants  many of whom are fleeing violence in their home countries  are making the journey together to stay safe, and to publicise their cause. Many will attempt to cross into the US, while others plan to stay in Mexico.

 Donald Trump speaks to reporters about his DACA deal tweets

Mr Trump has tweeted about the migrants multiple times in recent days, warning that the caravan had better be stopped before it gets to the border.

Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release, Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday. Getting more dangerous. Caravans coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW.

Mr Trump has threatened to pull out of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (Nafta)  a major trade deal between the US, Mexico, and Canada  if the caravan is not stopped. He also criticised a deal that Democrats had hoped to secure on DACA  a programme shielding childhood immigrants from deportation.

White House officials said this week that the administration was preparing for another push on immigration legislation. The proposals were similar to those the White House released in October, such as cracking down on sanctuary cities and reducing options for getting green cards, according to CNN.

Additional reporting by AP
A woman suspected of opening fire at YouTube's campus in California is dead after reportedly shooting herself. At least four people have reportedly been taken to hospital after being shot, according to police.

Police Chief Ed Barberini said during a news conference that the female victim found was "believed to be the shooter" but that police and other law enforcement agencies are continuing to investigate the "active" situation. He said at least two victims were found in a building adjacent to the main YouTube offices. At this time, police do not belive this to be an act of terrorism.

One staff member at the San Bruno campus - located 11 miles from San Francisco - said he barricaded himself in a room after hearing shots. Another reported seeing "blood drips" on the floor and stairs as he fled the building as armed police swarmed the site. Product manager Vadim Lavrusik tweeted that he "heard shots and saw people running while at my desk" but he and some colleagues have been evacuated and are safe at this time.

Mr Barberini said the buildings have been evacuated and police are questioning "a few hundred" people to "put the pieces together".

The police have advised the public to stay out of the area of the offices. Footage posted via Snapchat close to the campus shows some people walking down the street with their hands above their heads and police surrounding the building while wearing tactical gear.

 Aerial footage shows scene outside YouTube HQ following reports of shooting

The San Bruno City Manager's office told BuzzFeed News that the city received several emergency calls from inside the building and the surrounding area regarding gunshots. Police are currently searching individuals who have been evacuated before allowing them to leave the scene to prevent the shooter from blending in with escaping crowds.

Police have released very little information, however, unconfirmed reports from local media said that the shooter is female, and two people are injured. Employees with shocked expressions, some of them wearing apparel with Googles logo were leaving the scene, The Independent reported from the sprawling San Bruno campus.

 YouTube HQ: West Coast Correspondent Jeremy White delivers Facebook Live from the scene

People in surrounding offices have shared some images of the scene on various social media platforms.

The video streaming company is owned by Google, whose main headquarters are also located in the northern California area. The company tweeted that it has been "coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available".

Todd Sherman, another YouTube staffer, tweeted that he "saw blood drips on the floor and stairs" as he was evacuating. He later tweeted that he is safe and on his way home from the scene.

The San Francisco General Hospital has taken in an unknown number of patients from the shooting incident, according to local news station KCBS. Spokesman Brent Andrew said a 36-year-old man is in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition, and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition. Stanford Hospital Media Relations Spokesperson Lisa Kim has confirmed that four to five patients have been transferred to that hospital but did not comment on the nature or severity of their injuries.

Local news station KTVU spoke with an employee from the fast food restaurant Carl's Jr located next to the YouTube headquarters building. The employee, called Michael, said he helped a Chinese woman who looked to be in her 20s and been shot in the leg. It is unclear if the woman was an employee or whether she saw the shooter. "She was relaxed but scared. She wasn't in shock," he said, adding that he had used a bungee cord as a tourniquet around her wound.

 Video shows people walking with their hands above their heads following YouTube shooting

A software engineer named Sepand Parhami told The Independent in San Bruno he had heard a series of pops and then everyone started scrambling. He recounted seeing blood on the stairs. It was kind of a blur," he said.

The YouTube campus is home to roughly 1000 employees at any given time. It is unclear at this time if the suspected shooter was an employee or just visiting the office. It is also unknown at this time what the suspect's motive may have been and if there was any relationship between the shooter and victims.

President Donald Trump tweeted about the incident, sending his "thoughts and prayers". The incident comes on the heels of weeks of debate on gun control reform in the US in the wake of the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed. The company also entered the debate for the first time by banning advertisements from gun manufacturers on its powerful platform.
Police responding to a shooting incident on the campus of US tech giant YouTube said a woman found dead with self-inflicted gunshot wounds was the likely attacker, bringing to an end a massive security operation in California's Silicon Valley.

At least three other people were found with injuries and were taken to hospital during the incident on Tuesday afternoon in San Bruno, around 10 miles south of San Francisco. Three people suffered gunshot wounds and one believed to have an ankle injury, according to San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini.

After reports of gunshots poured in and sent police to the YouTube campus, responding officers arrived to see numerous employees attempting to flee, Mr Barberini said.

It was very chaotic, he said. Mr Barberini could not comment on whether the suspect was a YouTube employee. He said the suspect was using a handgun but could not confirm the make or model.

We know very, very little right now, he said.

 Video shows people walking with their hands above their heads following YouTube shooting

As officers cleared the scene in the ensuing hours, employees with stunned expressions and wearing Google-branded clothing steadily trickled off the campus and past police cars with their lights flashing. Some paused to embrace one another.

Multiple witnesses described scenes of confusion as people heard a series of pops and realised they were listening to gunfire.

It was kind of a blur, software engineer Sepand Parhami said, describing seeing blood trickling down a flight of stairs. I dont think its anything I ever really expected.

Mr Barberini told reporters that at least one of the injured had been found on the campus. At least two others were found in adjacent buildings.

A spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital said it received three patients. Spokesman Brent Andrew said a 36-year-old man is in a critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in a serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in a fair condition.

The confirmation that the woman had been found dead brought to an end several hours of intense drama during which police and federal agents swarmed the companys headquarters as multiple 911 calls reported gunfire.

Television news footage showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they were leaving the building. Officers patted down people to make sure none had weapons and police vehicles surrounded the area

YouTube employee Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter that he heard gunshots and saw people running, according to the Associated Press. He said he was barricaded in a room with his co-workers before being safely evacuated.

Will Hudson said a friend who works for YouTube texted him about the shooter.

I think there might be a shooter in my building, read one text. The fire alarm went off so we started to evacuate and then people (started) running saying there was a shooter.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Northern Californias Stanford Hospital said it has received four to five patients, but a hospital spokeswoman did not have information on their conditions or their wounds.

Google, which owns the worlds biggest online video website, posted on Twitter that the company was coordinating with the authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also said it had responded to the shooting at the tech firms campus.

The White House said Donald Trump was briefed on a shooting and that officials were monitoring it.

Mr Hudson said his friend made it safely back to San Francisco and was in contact with his family.

It just feels strange. It feels like it could really be anyone. Thats really the strangeness of it, he said.

Mr Barberini said police would be working around the clock on the scene as the investigation into what may have motivated the shooter is still unclear. "We have our crime lab folks out here and we have the coroner out here. It will be a long night," he said.

YouTube spokesman Chris Dale said the companys incredibly tight-knit community was reeling, adding that today it feels like the entire community of YouTube were victims of a crime".
A YouTube product manager has described the terrifying scene at a shooting at California headquarters of the social media company, which reportedly ended in dozens of people being rushed to the hospital.

Todd Sherman, a YouTube product manager, said on Twitter that he was in a meeting when he got his first indication that something was wrong: The sound of people running down the hall. At first, he thought the noise was an earthquake.

After existing the room we still didnt know what was going on but more people were running, he wrote. Seemed serious and not like a drill.

But as he headed towards the exit, Mr Sherman realised the situation was more dire. He heard someone say there was a person inside with a gun. Another person said someone had shot out the back doors and then shot themselves.

At that point every new person I saw was a potential shooter, he wrote.

Making his way to the exit, Mr Sherman said he saw blood on the floors and stairs. He looked around for potential threats, then headed down to the ground floor. Outside, police cruisers were pulling up with rifles at the ready.

Footage posted to Snapchat from close to the San Mateo campus showed police in tactical gear surrounding the building. Employees walked out with their hands above their heads.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Mr Sherman said he informed the police of what he had seen, then walked down the street to meet coworkers. He ordered an Uber to get home.

In an Uber omw home, he tweeted. Hope everyone is safe.

At least two hospitals have confirmed that they received patients injured in the shooting, though it is not known exactly how many.
A Chinese man has been reunited with his daughter 24 years after she went missing.

Wang Mingqing never gave up the search for his daughter, Qifeng, after she went missing in when she was just three-years-old in the the central city of Chengdu.

Mr Wang and wife were selling fruit when they noticed their little girl had gone. He had gone to change money and on his return she was missing.

The couple spent years looking for their daughter, regularly taking out advertisements and setting up online appeals, to no avail.

Three years ago Mr Wang took up a job as a taxi driver in an attempt to broaden his search, using a sign in his rear window and handing out leaflets to his passengers.

The breakthrough came after a police sketch artist produced a drawing of a grown up Qifeng.

After it was distributed a woman called Kang Ying saw the picture and thought it resembled her.

She had been raised by adoptive parents in a small town 12 miles away, who had reportedly told her that they found her by the side of the road in Chengdu.

After she contacted Mr Wang earlier this year, she found that she shared some unusual traits with his missing daughter.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

She had a small scar on her forehead and a tendency to get nauseous whenever she cried.

A positive DNA test confirmed that she was Mr Wangs long-lost child but details of how she went missing and who she grew up have been revealed.

"I can't tell you how much hope, disappointment and despair we have gone through these past 24 years. Now we can finally meet again," Mr Wang told the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper.
People convicted of homosexual offences in New Zealand are to have their criminal records wiped after a unanimous vote to clear them in the country's parliament.

Consensual sex between men aged 16 and over was decriminalised in 1986, but convictions for offences before that time remained on record and appeared in criminal history checks.

Nearly 1,000 men were found guilty of homosexual offences between 1965 and the legalisation of homosexuality in 1986.

"We stand tonight, as a Parliament, and we say: 'I'm sorry'," the country's finance minister Grant Robertson told parliament.

"As a man who has been able to live his life relatively freely as a homosexual male, as a person who is able to come to this Parliament and get heckled and abused by the National Party because I am the Finance Minister, not because I am a gay man."

He added: The constant fear and the reminder of the worthlessness and the shame of your mere existence is not something we can put away so easily because it echoes through generations."

Today weve expunged unjust historical homosexual offences. Today we are sorry, the Minister of Justice Andrew Little tweeted after the bill was passed unanimously on its third reading.

The bill was brought by the previous government in 2017 after activist Wiremu Demchick petitioned Parliament on behalf of an unnamed friend who had been convicted of homosexual offences.

"This conviction still leads, after 53 years, to self-hatred, worthlessness, unjustified guilt and shame," the friend wrote.

The parliament formally apologised to those affected in July of last year, stating that it recognised the tremendous hurt and suffering those men and their families have gone through, and the continued effects the convictions have had on them.

Sex between men aged 16 and over was legalised in New Zealand in 1986 under the Homosexual Law Reform Act.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The most well-known opponents to the Act were the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, a Christian conservative pressure group which claimed to have collected 800,000 signatures against the bill.

Last January the United Kingdom also gave posthumous pardons to thousands of men historically convicted of homosexual offences.

Those still alive can apply to the Home Office to have past convictions relating to same-sex relationships removed from their records
German prosecutors are seeking to extradite former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to Spain, after the pro-independence politician was detained as he attempted to travel through German territory.

Mr Puigdemont has been living in self-imposed exile to avoid charges of rebellion, sedition, and the misuse of public funds  levelled by Madrid in relation to his part in last years Catalan independence referendum.

He was trying to travel from Belgium, where he had been living, to Finland, when he was arrested on 25 March by German authorities.

The former president would probably face trial if he returned to Spain.

German prosecutors in the region of Schleswig-Holstein said they had asked their local court to formally put Mr Puigdemont in pre-extradition custody. They said they had conducted an intensive examination of the European arrest warrant issued by Spains supreme court on 23 March for the politicians arrest.

The accusation of rebellion contains at its core the allegation of carrying out an unconstitutional referendum despite expectations of violent disturbances, the prosecutors said.

It is expected that the Schleswig-Holstein court will take several days to decide on whether to honour the prosecutors request.

Mr Puigdemonts lawyers said the German government should intervene on his behalf, citing a political dimension to his arrest and charges.

Catalonia election: in pictures Show all 9 1 /9 Catalonia election: in pictures Catalonia election: in pictures People react to results in Catalonia's regional elections at a gathering of the Catalan National Assembly REUTERS Catalonia election: in pictures Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and former Catalan Health Minister Antoni Comin, left, gesture during a press conference Rex Features Catalonia election: in pictures Center-right party Ciudadanos (Citizens) candidate Ines Arrimadas (C) and the rest of candidates and party members celebrate their polls results AFP/Getty Images Catalonia election: in pictures Suporters of Ciudadanos party celebrate the results EPA Catalonia election: in pictures Former Catalan regional minister Jordi Turull (C), candidate of Catalan pro-independence party Junts per Catalunya, and former Catalan regional minister Josep Rull, candidate of Junts per Catalunya celebrate the results Rex Features Catalonia election: in pictures Catalan independence supporters celebrate AP Catalonia election: in pictures Candidate of Ciudadanos party to the Catalan regional elections, Ines Arrimadas (C), next to the party leader, Albert Rivera (behind), delivers her speech as they celebrate the results EPA Catalonia election: in pictures Catalan independence supporters celebrate at the Catalan National Assembly headquarters after results of the regional elections in Barcelona AP Catalonia election: in pictures Junts Per Catalunya supporters celebrate following the Catalan regional election Getty Images

Following Catalonias attempt to declare independence, the Spanish central government suspended home rule in the region and called new local elections.

Though the disparate pro-independence parties together won another slim majority in the Catalan regional parliament and again agreed that Mr Puigdemont should be their first candidate for president, he was unable to be sworn in because he could not physically attend the bodys sitting. Attempts to have him sworn in as president remotely or by proxy failed.
One elephant was killed and four others injured after a circus truck crashed on a Spanish motorway.

The four surviving elephants wandered the road in Pozo Canada, in the province of Albacete, which was forced to close.

Footage showed emergency services using a crane to winch one of the animals from the road.

Two of the elephants suffered injuries to their faces, trunks and legs (EPA/MANU)

Two of the animals were injured in the crash.

Pictures from the scene showed the elephants with large cuts on their faces, trunks and legs.

The four surviving elephants wandered the road, which was forced to close (EPA/MANU)

The truck tipped over as it tried to overtake another vehicle on the highway between Albacete and Murcia, said Jose Amado, a spokesman for Albacete's Civil Guard.

He said the driver wasn't injured, but one of the elephants died on the spot.

Emergency services use a crane to lift an elephant from the road (El Digital de Albacete/MarIa Guerrero via AP)

The four surviving elephants, three with minor cuts and one with injured legs, are being treated by vets.

The four surviving elephants are being treated by vets (El Digital de Albacete/MarIa Guerrero via AP)

Local police tweeted a photo of two of the roving animals.

The Civil Guard wrote: "Our Albacete traffic comrades today, attending to some elephants who were victims of an accident in Pozo Canada (unfortunately one of the pachyderms died)."

Animal rights groups said the accident is the latest example of how circuses are a danger for wild animals.
A mother who claimed the HIV virus was a "myth" when she refused treatment for her five-month-old baby is being investigated by Russian authorities after the death of her child.

The woman, who is HIV positive herself, has rejected medical treatment for more than five years.

Investigators in the Siberian capital of Irkutsk said that the baby died in February from pneumocystis pneumonia, a strain of pneumonia which attacks people with a weak immune system.

"The babys mother was HIV positive and refused treatment for herself and her daughter, investigators said.

The regional Aids centre said in a statement that the baby had been diagnosed with the onset of Aids, but that the woman stubbornly kept saying that HIV is a myth.

It added: The lungs of the five-month baby girl literally exploded from inside."

Forensic tests are yet to confirm whether the baby had HIV as antibodies from mothers who are HIV positive show in the childs blood for around six months after birth.

The woman faces manslaughter charges and up to two years in prison.

A growing number of Russians refuse to believe that HIV exists, a movement that has been spearheaded by Vladimir Avdeyev, an Irkutsk pathologist who frequently gives interviews stating that people cant be infected.

Olga Kovekh, a former military doctor, has become known as Dr Death for the advice which she gives to the parents of young HIV-denial victims.

The Independent tried on several occasions to speak with Kovekh for an investigation into HIV denialism last November, but was told by an administrator on the doctors Vkontakte group to mind its own f***ing business.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Figures released by the World Health Organisation and UNAids last December revealed more than 103,000 new cases of HIV were reported in Russia in 2016.

Irkutsk, where the babys death is being investigated, has one of the highest rates of HIV in Russia according to Anna Popova, the head of the countrys consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.

There are two epidemics in Russia  drug addiction and HIV infections and geographically they coincide, Popova told a youth forum last year.

There have been several cases of Aids patients dying after refusing treatment reported in Russia in recent months, including a 10-year-old girl who died when her parents denied her care in St Petersburg in August.

The Anti-Aids Centre in the Omsk region of Siberia has won three trials against HIV positive mothers who refused to have their babies treated.
Russia has demanded the UK present "every possible element of evidence" that it was responsible for the Salisbury nerve agent attack on a former spy that triggered a global diplomatic row and plunged its relationship with many Western nations to lows not seen since the Cold War.

Yury Filatov, Moscow's ambassador to Ireland, said it had asked the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which has been investigating at the scene of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daugher, Yulia, to call an extraordinary session in The Hague tomorrow.

"We hope to discuss the whole matter and call on Britain to provide every possible element of evidence they might have in their hands," he said.

"Russia is interested in establishing the whole truth of the matter and we hope certainly that this meeting will help to return to at least the realm of normality within the realm of international law and, let's put it, decency in international relations."

Moscow has consistently denied being responsible for the chemical attack, which left Mr Skripal and his daughter fighting for their lives in hospital, and prompted Britain and two dozen of its allies to expel more than 150 Russian diplomats. Russia has ordered the same number to leave in a tit-for-tat response.

Mr Filatov claimed people in Europe do not trust the British government's version of events.

"Even countries which took part in solidarity demands (expelling diplomats) have doubts," he said.

"Britain acted, as we know, on grounds that have nothing to do with Salisbury but mainly to do with some other agenda."

The ambassador's demand came on the same day a former Russian general said that the attack could trigger "the last war in the history of mankind".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Evgeny Buzhinsky said that the West is "cornering Russia and to corner Russia is a very dangerous thing."

"If the situation develops in the way it is now, it will end up in a very bad outcome," he added.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 Arsenals Takehiro Tomiyasu attempts to control the ball during the Premier League match at The Emirates Stadium PA UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA UK news in pictures 31 July 2021 James Guy, Adam Peaty and Kathleen Dawson celebrate winning the gold medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final at the Tokyo Olympics AP UK news in pictures 30 July 2021 Great Britain's Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 29 July 2021 Team GB's Mallory Franklin during the Womens Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo Olympic Games. She went on to win the silver medal Getty UK news in pictures 28 July 2021 Canoers on Llyn Padarn lake in Snowdonia, Gwynedd. It was announced that the north-west Wales slate landscape has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Status PA UK news in pictures 27 July 2021 A view of one of two areas now being used at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent, for boats used by people thought to be migrants. PA UK news in pictures 26 July 2021 A woman is helped by Border Force officers as a group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel, following a small boat incident in the Channel PA UK news in pictures 25 July 2021 Vehicles drive through deep water on a flooded road in Nine Elms, London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 24 July 2021 Utilities workers inspect a 15x20ft sinkhole on Green Lane, Liverpool, which is suspected to have been caused by ruptured water main PA

When asked what he meant, the General said: "A real war, it will be the last war in the history of mankind."

Asked whether there was a real risk of triggering a war, a spokesman for the Theresa May said Britain was responding to the attack in a "proportionate way".

"We need to respond in a proportionate way to this aggressive behaviour from Russia and that's what we're doing," the spokesman said.

On Monday, Russia's foreign minister accused the UK of "putting all decency aside" over its claims that Moscow is to blame for the poisoning.

Sergei Lavrov appeared to suggest UK secret services may have been involved in the March 4 attack in Salisbury, which he said the British government may have found "beneficial" as a distraction from Brexit.

Mr Lavrov said it was "outrageous" Britain had failed to provide consular access to Ms Skripal since it emerged that her condition was improving.

His comments came as the Russian Embassy in London issued a series of what it termed "questions without answer" about the Skripal case - including whether the UK had ever produced novichok.

Britain has consistently maintained the Russian state must be behind the attack.

Agencies contributed to this report
Israel is fond of its sobriquet as the only democracy in the Middle East.

Critics are quick to point out the many issues attached to a state which effectively controls the lives of 4.5 million neighbouring Palestinians.

Even closer to home, Israeli women from the ultra Orthodox Jewish community often find themselves without a voice in the political sphere, whatever the law may say.

No women currently represent Orthodox parties in the Knesset, or on any local municipality boards.

 Israeli chief rabbi calls black people 'monkeys'

There arent even reliable voting figures for Haredi (Orthodox) women because they rarely turn out to vote, said Pnina Pfeuffer, a Haredi political activist and board member of the Yerushalmim municipal party.

Haredi women are not downtrodden or oppressed stereotypes, she told The Independent in a recent meeting in Jerusalem. We work, often more than men do, and we enjoy our rights.

But that I think makes us complacent enough not to demand more. When it comes to voting our voices are totally stifled. We are not involved in the public sphere at all.

Many women who do vote just go along and vote for who their husbands tell them to vote for, strengthening the system that already exists.

The ultra Orthodox community currently makes up about 10 per cent of Israels population, but with a birth rate double the national average, the community and its power are set to grow.

Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Show all 22 1 /22 Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Supporters of Difa-e-Pakistan Council a coalition of right wing Islamic parties, burn an effigy of US President Donald Trump, during a protest in Quetta, Pakistan EPA Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Israeli police scuffle with a Palestinian protester outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City Getty Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinian protesters burn pictures of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu following Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Gaza City AFP/Getty Images Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Israeli forces disperse Palestinian protesters outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on 7 December 2017 AFP/Getty Images Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Supporters of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC), an Islamic organization, chant slogans as they burn Israeli and US flags during a protest against Donald Trump in Peshawar REUTERS Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinians paint an 'X' over the face of a picture of US president Donald J. Trump which was painted on the Israeli separation wall in Bethlehem EPA Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinian protestors burn the Israeli flag and a poster of US President Donald Trump in Gaza City AFP/Getty Images Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Supporters of a Pakistani religious party rally against Donald Trump in Lahore AP Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinian protesters burn the US and Israeli flags in Gaza City AFP/Getty Images Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital A poster depicting U.S. President Donald Trump is burnt during a protest against Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in the West Bank city of Ramallah REUTERS Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Israeli forces detain a Palestinian protester during clashes that followed protests against US President Donald Trump recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in Hebron AFP/Getty Images Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinian protesters burn an effigy of U.S. President Donald Trump AP Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinian protesters shout slogans against Donald Trump EPA Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital A Palestinian protester wears a Guy Fawkes mask used by the anonymous movement during clashes with Israeli troops in Hebron AFP/Getty Images Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinian demonstrators clash with Isralei troops during protests AFP/Getty Images Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Supporters of a Pakistani religious party chant anti-American slogans during a rally in Islamabad, Pakistan AP Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Pakistanis burn a representation of the U.S. flag during a protest rally in Hyderabad AP Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Young Palestinian women look on as smoke billows from burning tyres as fellow Palestinian demonstrators clash with Isralei troops AFP/Getty Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Protesters burn a picture of U.S. President Donald Trump at a protest in Islamabad REUTERS Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Protestors shouts slogans against US President Donald Trump as they hold Palestinian and Turkish flags during a protest near the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey EPA Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinian protestors put their feet over a picture of US president Donald Trump during a protest in the West Bank City of Nablus EPA Protests erupt after Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital Pakistani protesters burn tires at an anti-Donald Trump rally in Multan AP

As Israeli society has become increasingly polarised in recent years on both the political and religious spectrums, womens groups have found themselves fighting for the female right to worship at the Western Wall, to keep images of their faces on posters and billboards in religious neighbourhoods, and even lobby for their right to use men-only bomb shelters.

Faced with increasingly entrenched conservatism, some Haredi women are becoming more and more vocal about achieving a voice in the halls of power, as Ms Pfeuffer puts it.

In 2012 activist group Nivcharot was formed to protest the exclusion of Haredi women from politics and public life. In the countrys 2015 election, feminist ultra Orthodox party Bizchutan ran a list of four female candidates.

Ms Pfeuffer hopes to be the first ultra Orthodox women to be elected to the Jerusalem city council before 2019  and last month, she helped to form the first ever Haredi womens lobby in the Knesset.

The ball is rolling now, she said. Too many women are aware what is at stake and what real representation means.

Its a struggle, I wont deny that, said Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Jerusalems first female deputy mayor, who was elected last year after reaching out to largely ignored voter groups including ultra-Orthodox women and the Ethiopian Jewish community.

It is hard to stand as a woman and hard to challenge the dominant culture and way of doing things. But people like Pnina are breaking those barriers and leading the way.

There is widespread dissatisfaction with the state of Israeli politics across the country: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with his wife Sara and several close associates, have been implicated in corruption scandals.

The Netanyahus deny all allegations of wrongdoing, but similar charges against Benjamins predecessor Ehud Olmert bought down his government after his coalition allies abandoned him.

Talk of an early election before November next year has largely faded. But endemic corruption issues and an increasingly polarised political spectrum  not to mention the stagnation of the Palestinian peace process  have left young voters in particular disillusioned.

 Video shows moment Palestinian man is shot in the back during conflict at Israel border

Women politicians are ready to step in and breathe new life into politics, Stav Shafir, a Labour party Member of the Knesset and the youngest-ever female MK, told The Independent in Tel Aviv.

Ms Shafir, now serving her second term, rose to prominence as a leader of the 2011 social justice protests across the country She is now serving a second term, and campaigns on a platform of transparency in state budgets and fair access to housing.

Israels left is reconnecting to the economic and social issues that matter to society, she said.

We have so many communities that have been disenfranchised for too long. Im looking forward to seeing that change.
Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is cancelling yesterdays agreement with the UN to relocate thousands of African asylum seekers to Western countries.

I have listened carefully to the many comments on the agreement. As a result, and after I again weighed the advantages and disadvantages, I decided to cancel the deal, Mr Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office on Tuesday.

Israel has faced intense criticism over new plans to make 37,000 African migrants and asylum seekers choose between deportation to either Rwanda or Uganda, or face an unspecified amount of jail time.

 Israeli chief rabbi calls black people 'monkeys'

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR stepped in on Monday with an offer to resettle around half of the adult male immigrants, who are mostly Sudanese and Eritrean. The other half were to be allowed to stay in Israel.

Women, children and the elderly are supposed to be exempt from all deportation plans.

While no states were named, the prime minister suggested Germany, Canada and Italy were destinations.

Right-wing factions in Mr Netanyahus ruling coalition, including from his own Likud party, immediately called on the prime minister to overturn the agreement, arguing he had sidelined the views of residents in southern Tel Aviv  an area which has attracted the majority of the African newcomers.

Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Show all 12 1 /12 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict The fire in my heart is beyond my ribs. You left me beloved - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict Let me get enough of you, as Im still hungry for your smile my son - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict They besiege me in my homeland so I flew to heaven - Rodaina Al Agha, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict And I am still facing the pain all by myself - Lama Shakshak, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My brother, I watched you go while my heart was tearing - Helen Mo'amar, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My new doll is lonely in the rubble - Ayah Sha'ath, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict When a soul hugs another soul they never split, even in death - Ismail Matar, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict Everyone is gone and I stayed alone to make the world witness the injustice done to me - Hamza Shaheen, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict The hand that carries the arms carries roses too - Madeeha Al Majayda, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My eyes tell you about a dream that overcame the fence - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict A childhood caught in an unjust siege - Hadeel Quidh, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict All the details are torn after you - Hamza Shaheen, 17

Despite initially praising the deal at a news conference in Jerusalem, the prime minister announced he was suspending its implementation a few hours later.

Despite the growing legal and international limitation, we will continue to act work with determination to exhaust all possibilities at our disposal to remove the infiltrators, Mr Netanyahu told southern Tel Avivi residents at a meeting on Tuesday shortly before scrapping the UN deal.

The UN itself has urged the Israeli government to reconsider the U-turn.

Recommended Israel tries to deport Eritrean grandfather it says is 32

The fate of Israels African asylum seekers has created a moral dilemma in a state founded as a safe haven for Jewish people persecuted during the Second World War. The previous deportation plans were met with protests and legal challenges from the Israeli left and international rights groups.

Benjamin Netanyahu, now in his fourth term, is under investigation in three separate corruption cases and linked to a fourth. He needs the support of right wing blocs in Israels Knesset to remain in office. He denies all allegations of wrongdoing.
 Close One person dead with a 'self inflicted' gun wound following YouTube shooting, police say

Hundreds of people rushed to evacuate the California headquarters of YouTube after a shooter opened fire, leaving at least three people injured and one woman  the suspected shooter  dead, police said.

Officers could be seen in video patting down people as they left from the San Bruno base of the video-streaming giant, which sits in Silicon Valley at the heart of America's premier tech hub.

The San Francisco General Hospital has taken in an unknown number of patients from the shooting incident, according to local news station KCBS.

Spokesman Brent Andrew said a 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition, and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition.

"Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTube's HQ in San Bruno, California," Donald Trump tweeted after the shooting.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene."

Employees in the headquarters tweeted about the shooting soon after it started, describing a chaotic scene in which the tech workers attempted to blockade themselves inside of rooms for safety.

Read below for coverage of the incident as it unfolded.
Wednesday 4 April will be the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Here are 10 sites related to Dr King to visit on the US Civil Rights Trail.

Dexter Ave Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama

Its an exceptional coincidence that the church where Dr King was pastor is only a few metres from Alabamas State Capitol where Southern secessionists formed the Confederacy in 1861. Take a tour of the church to see the desk where King worked and the pulpit where he preached. Especially moving is the mural that shows Dr King ascending into heaven clothed as an angel. Free entry; private tours by reservation.

An historic marker for the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Getty) (Getty Images)

Lorraine Motel, Memphis, Tennessee

Recommended The US civil rights sites everyone should visit

The Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated has been annexed to the National Civil Rights Museum in its entirety; his untimely death has now been frozen in time. Everything from vintage furnishings to authentic period decor have been used to evoke the 1960s  even the automobiles parked in front are vintage vehicles. Entry $16.

16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama

On 15 September 1963, a splinter group of the Ku Klux Klan planted a bomb in the basement of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. A phone call was made to the church by one of the perpetrators but only minutes before the bomb detonated. It was too late to save four young girls who were in the bathroom downstairs and were killed instantly when the explosion happened. Free entry; tours cost $5 per person.

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Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama

One of the most ambitious non-violent protests to bring about voters rights was the 54-mile march from Selma to the steps of the state capital in Montgomery, organised by activists including Dr King, the Dallas County Voters League and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The first attempt took place on 7 March 1965 and became known as Bloody Sunday after state troopers and local police attacked participants on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, forcing them to turn back. The Selma Interpretive Centre serves as a welcome centre where visitors can explore exhibits and browse a bookshop dedicated to telling the story of the movement. Free entry.

The Dexter Parsonage Museum, Montgomery, Alabama

The Dexter Ave Church parsonage, where Dr King lived during the time he served as pastor from 1954 to 1960, is now a museum. The nine-room clapboard house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and has been restored to what it would have looked like when Dr King lived there with his family. Entry $7.50.bo

The Edmund Pettus Bridge (Getty/iStockphoto) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park, Atlanta, Georgia

Dr King and his wife Coretta are both buried here at this national park in Atlanta: an area of the city, rather than an actual park, thats based around his birthplace on Auburn Avenue and the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he was baptised and served as pastor (as did his father). The church is also where Dr Kings funeral for close family and friends took place. It was the first of two services; from there, 300,000 people gathered along the processional route to Kings alma mater, Morehouse College (4.8km from the church), where the public service took place. Many of the countrys political leaders, entertainers, foreign dignitaries and heads of religious faiths were in attendance. Free entry.

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, Alabama

Directly across the street from the 16th St Baptist Church is the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, exhibits are a visceral account of events that shaped Dr Kings life and mission including the bus boycotts and arrest of Rosa Parks. Perhaps most moving are the visual reminders of the racial segregation enforced by the Jim Crow laws. Named after a white entertainer who blacked up, the laws came into effect after the emancipation of slaves following the conclusion of the Civil War. Entry $15.

Atlanta, Georgia, is the final resting place of Dr King and his wife (Getty)

Bethel Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama

Recommended US Civil Rights trail to launch next year

In the north-west corner of Birmingham is a low lying marshy area known as Collegeville. Dotted with slag heaps from the citys steel making, it is where many of the towns working class African American community lived. Civil rights leader Rev Fred L Shuttlesworth became pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church here in 1953 and was an early protestor against the citys severe segregation codes. His home was bombed on 25 December 1956 in retaliation. Free entry.

AME Brown Chapel, Selma, Alabama

The small nondescript AME Brown Chapel in Selma was chosen as the place to organise non-violent protests in 1965. Activists, including King, anticipated a standoff with the notorious local sheriff, Jim Clark, that would attract national coverage. This clash happened on 18 February 1965 in the nearby town of Marion when, during a protest, Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot in the abdomen. He died from his wounds on 26 February. Free entry, by appointment only.

Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King Martin Luther King during his famous 'I have a dream' speech in Washington in 1963 AP Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 AFP/Getty Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) arriving at London Airport. He is in England to be the chief speaker at a public meeting about colour prejudice and to appear on the BBC television programme 'Face To Face' Getty Images Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. tells a Miami, Florida news conference, that he will go to Los Angeles to meet with black and white leaders and help create "a community of love" in the violence torn city in August 1965 AP Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil rights marchers head for Montgomery, the state's capitol, March 21, 1965, during a five day, 50 mile walk to protest voting laws AP Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King An image from 1960 shows Martin Luther King at a meeting Getty Images Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King leading freedom marchers in Montgomery, Alabama in 1965 AP Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King Civil rights protestors marching from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, where the March on Washington climaxed in Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech Getty Images Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King Martin Luther King and the March on Washington BBC Martin Luther King: Life in pictures Martin Luther King March on Washington  1963 Famous for Martin Luther King Jnrs I have a dream speech, the march on Washington saw 300,000 people gathering at the Lincoln Memorial calling for equal rights for African-Americans Getty

The Civil Rights Memorial Centre, Montgomery, Alabama

Located one block south of the church where King was pastor, the Southern Poverty Law Centre Memorial, designed by Maya Lin, commemorates 40 individuals who lost their lives in the struggle for equality. The moving tribute is next to the Civil Rights Memorial Centre, where there are exhibits about civil rights movement martyrs plus a 56-seat theatre, where a short film provides an overview of the movement. Free entry.
Where decadent design meets a penchant for palm trees, it's no wonder Hackey's Palm Vaults is one of London's most Instagrammed cafes. Escape the grey straight away with a colourful latte and something from the superb breakfast menu before catching your flight from London City Airport.

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Hike from Fira to Oia

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The best way to take in Santorini is to get out on foot, and there is no more picturesque route than the one from Fira to Oia. This 9km walk takes around three hours, winding through the towns of Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia and bringing you along the rim of the Caldera.

Sip an 18-glass wine flight

Wine buffs find themselves pleasantly surprised by the calibre of wine on offer on the island, and Santo Wines atop the cliffs of Pyrgos is the largest winery on the island. You cant argue with its 18-flight tasting session, plus this is one of the prettiest spots on the island to catch a sunset.

Explore ancient Akrotiri

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This former Minoan outpost  one of the most important prehistoric settlements of the Aegean Sea  was once a thriving port town, until it was destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption. This archaeological site was first discovered in the late 1860s, and today one-third of the site has been excavated to allow visitors to explore buildings that date back to 17th century BC.

Snap a Santorini sunset

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Sunsets in Santorini are famed for being some of the most beautiful in the world, and in Santorini, life revolves around them. Visitors start thinking about where theyll spend sunset hours earlier; the moments when the giant sun sinks into the sea are precious and mustnt be wasted. Try snapping a sunset from Oias Byzantine Castle ruins  it is one of the most popular spots on the island.

Dine on fresh seafood at a traditional taverna

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Seafood doesnt come fresher than at Taverna Aeolos, where youll be dining with the locals as well as in-the-know visitors. This family-run restaurant just outside the town of Akrotiri has views over the caldera to Fira, Oia and the nearby islands, and is another favourite spot for sunset watching.

Catch an open-air movie on Kamari Beach

Santorini's volcanic history has led to the formation of some of the most unique beaches in the Greek Isles, and Kamaris stretch of black sand is one of the longest. During the summer months you can catch cult movies at the open-air cinema, with doors opening around 8.30pm for a 9.30pm screening.

With a central location and check-in just 20 minutes before departure, youll have time to fit in a delicious (and instagrammable) breakfast workout before you fly from London City Airport.

British Airways flies twice a week from London City Airport to Santorini during the summer months. Find out more at ba.com/londoncity
Half a million airline passengers across Europe face delays and cancellations for the rest of the day as a result of a systems failure at the Eurocontrol centre in Brussels.

Eurocontrol, which coordinates air traffic for 41 member states, tweeted: There has been a failure of the Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System [ETFMS].

Contingency procedures are being put in place which will have the effect of reducing the capacity of the European network by approximately 10 per cent.

The average daily traffic in April in Eurocontrols 41 member states is almost 30,000 flights, which potentially means that 3,000 flights  and up to half a million passengers  could face disruption.

The system is designed to match demand from airlines with capacity in the crowded skies above Europe. When airlines file flight plans, ETFMS calculates a pathway according to data on available airspace and allocates slots accordingly. The relevant national air-traffic providers are notified, reducing the complexity of communication.

Eurocontrol says: It is a key enabler of the air traffic flow and capacity management services.

Pilots and air-traffic controllers across Europe were told: All attempts to reactivate ETFMS proved unsuccessful.

Later, Eurocontrol tweeted: "The issue with the ETFMS has been identified and work is progressing to recover the system, which is expected to occur late this evening."

Contingency Level Red has been declared, meaning that the central role played by Eurocontrol has been abandoned.

All flight plans filed before 11.26am, British time, have been lost by the system, and airlines have been asked to re-file them.

Departure slots will be rationed, which is likely to mean delays on the ground building rapidly. If gates are blocked, arriving aircraft will have to wait for planes to leave.

Crowded airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Amsterdam and Frankfurt are particularly vulnerable to disruption. Paris Charles de Gaulle is unlikely to be so badly affected, because one in four Air France flights have been grounded by a strike.
Thousands of passengers have had their travel plans wrecked by a systems failure at Eurocontrol, the air-traffic coordinator based in Brussels.

At 11.26am, the Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System [ETFMS] failed. The system, colloquially known as the slot computer, is designed to match demand from airlines with capacity in the crowded skies above Europe.

When airlines file flight plans, ETFMS calculates a pathway according to available airspace and allocates slots accordingly. The relevant national air-traffic providers are notified, reducing the complexity of communication.

Eurocontrol describes the system as a key enabler of the air traffic flow and capacity management services. But when it failed, flight plans for thousands of departures were lost and air-traffic controllers had to fall back on contingency plans that soon triggered delays.

Ryanair cancelled more than 20 flights to and from Stansted, including services to Nice, Cologne, Oslo and Toulouse.

The airline told passengers: Due to a Eurocontrol ATC [air-traffic control] failure affecting all airlines across Europe, some flights are currently experiencing delays and we regret we have been forced to cancel a small number of flights.

Further delays are likely. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this ATC failure, which is entirely beyond our control, and we are working hard to minimise the disruption to our operations.

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At Gatwick, some flights were delayed by three hours or more, including easyJet services to Lyon, Milan, Malta and Valencia.

Passengers on easyJet were told: We have just been informed of a system failure with the centralised Air Traffic Control flight planning system in Brussels.

This system failure is affecting all airlines flying in and out of Europe and could cause air traffic control delays to many flights.

Joe Sultana, the organisations Director Network Manager, said: Eurocontrol very much regrets the disruption that has been caused to passengers and airlines.

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The contingency procedures put in place ensured that safety was not compromised at any time. In over 20 years of operation, the ETFMS has only had one other outage which occurred in 2001.

It is not clear why a back-up system based at Eurocontrols Experimental Centre in Bretigny, south of Paris, did not seamlessly take over when the Brussels computer failed.

The impact of the failure was lessened by a strike by Air France staff, which meant hundreds of flights had already been cancelled.

Passengers whose flights are cancelled or severely delayed are entitled to meals and, if necessary, accommodation until they can be flown to their final destination.

Airline passengers in the London area face delays on Wednesday as new technology is introduced by the UK's air-traffic service provider, NATS.
Alongside liberte, egalite and fraternite, the French have long cherished mobilite.

The worlds first national highway system was designated by Emperor Napoleon in 1811 as routes imperiales. Route Nationale 1 between Paris and Calais still follows the much of the original course stipulated by Imperial Highway 1 more than 200 years ago.

France launched Europes first high-speed rail line in 1981, and the initial TGV route between Paris and Lyon has blossomed into a national network that is the envy of Britain. The link between the French capital and Strasbourg is over an hour quicker than the comparable journey from London to Newcastle on the UKs flagship rail line.

Recommended France strikes cause travel chaos for rail and airline passengers

But on Tuesday only a skeleton service ran on the TGV Est route. The same applied on other inter-city lines across France.

This was day one of a series of 26 days of strikes called by French rail unions to defend their working conditions and benefits. Staff will operate a two days off/three days working normally pattern until late June.

Hopeful passengers without a reservation for the few TGVs that ran on Tuesday were warned tous ces trains sont complets - not a seat was free on any of them. With an average of six out of seven services cancelled, at least 10 million journeys were wrecked.

Families heading home after the Easter break, commuters returning to work and hapless tourists were caught up in what is seen as an existential crisis for les cheminots: the railway workers of France.

Recommended Air France cancels a quarter of flights

Even by the generous standards enjoyed by many public employees in France, staff working for the national rail enterprise SNCF seem particularly well blessed. In return for ensuring the nations high-speed mobility and often working unsocial hours, they are typically able to retire in their early 50s. They also have guarantees on employment protection and steady pay rises.

Naturally, SNCF staff are reluctant to cede any of these hard-won benefits. But the organisation for which they work is 45bn (39bn) in debt, and within two years will face competition from leaner train operators.

From a British perspective the process in France is merely our own ancient history, says Mark Smith  formerly a British Rail manager, now the UKs leading international rail expert and founder of the Seat Sixty-One website. The job-for-life approach seems reminiscent of where BR was in the 1980s.

Its clear French main-line rail routes will have to be opened up to competition, similar to that which has proved extremely beneficial to travellers in Italy.

There, state-owned Trenitalias head-to-head competition with open-access operator Italo has simultaneously driven down fares and driven up quality.

Trenitalia is now carrying more passengers than before Italo started; the competition has grown rails market share and the losers have been domestic flights rather than either train operator.

The Italian enterprise has also expressed interest in operating within France from 2020, when lines are expected to open up to competition. Gare wars are about to break out.

SNCF knows it wont be able to compete with the working practices it has at the moment, so the strike is make or break for them, says Mr Smith.

A similar mind-set prevails for many staff working for Air France. The national airline  still 18 per cent owned by the French government  cancelled one-quarter of its flights on Tuesday. Pilots, cabin crew and ground staff are seeking a 6 per cent pay rise that they claim is necessary to make up lost ground. The airline has offered 1 per cent.

An Air France Airbus A318 airplane lands at the Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy near Paris (Pascal Rossignol/Reuters) (Reuters)

The Air France group, which also includes the Dutch airline KLM, has a powerful position in Europe and saw profits rise by 42 per cent last year to 1.5bn (1.3bn).

Yet the advantages that Air France has created since it established Europes first regular transatlantic flight in 1946, with a link from Paris to New York, are being eroded.

In 1974, the new hub of Paris Charles de Gaulle (still the busiest airport in continental Europe) represented the future of flying. Today, in common with British Airways and Lufthansa of Germany, Air France faces mounting competition from Ryanair, easyJet and other airlines whose costs are far lower.

Both Air France and KLM are built on the hub-and-spoke model  which looks increasingly vulnerable to low-cost, long-haul competition from the likes of Norwegian and BAs sister airline, Level.

British Airways has cut costs very successfully  some say too ruthlessly. But only by achieving egalite  becoming as fit and lean as the competition  can legacy carriers thrive in 21st century aviation. Air France has long ceased to be the only option for mobilite within the nation and beyond. Soon SNCF will also feel the force of travellers demands for liberte.
People who live near Heathrow Airport can expect extra flights early in the morning for the next 10 days as new air-traffic control practices bed in. Permission has been granted for an extra eight arrivals before 6am.

Residents of the Home Counties beneath the four holding points for the airport should anticipate more aircraft to be flying around in circles above them over the next few weeks, while weary airline travellers can expected delays touching down at Europes busiest airport.

At Gatwick, up to 10 additional flights may operate after 11.30pm, as an exemption from the usual night flight quota at the Sussex airport.

The reason: an overhaul of air-traffic control procedures in south-east England takes effect on Wednesday 4 April.

London has far more flights than any other city in the world, as well as the busiest airspace  with Luton, Stansted and London City airports adding to the complexity for controllers.

NATS, the air-traffic provider, is switching from a 20th-century system using paper strips to a new electronic tool known as EXCDS.

While two control areas have already made the change, the stage that takes effect on Wednesday morning affects the London Terminal Control Centre  covering a large area of south-east England stretching from south of Birmingham to the French coast.

For the first 10 days of the transition, the amount of air traffic will be reduced to allow controllers to adjust to the new system. The idea is to chop the tops off the spikes in aircraft movements, reducing the maximum number of flights using the runways. Increasing the number of flights outside normal operating hours will mitigate the impact on passengers.

Heathrow is the busiest two-runway airport in the world, while Gatwick handles more movements than any other single-runway airport.

Pete Dawson, general manager of London Terminal Control, said: We will be reducing the amount of air traffic in the transitioning sectors to give controllers more space to build up their confidence using the new tool in the live environment.

We apologise in advance to any passengers who are affected.

We thank residents close to these airports for their understanding while we make this important change.

He called the move a crucial step in preparing ourselves for future traffic levels.

NATS has warned passengers at Heathrow to anticipate an average delay of 20 minutes going into Heathrow, and journeys to Gatwick being extended by about 10 minutes. Inbound delays are likely to lead to outbound flights running late.

After the initial 10-day spell, there are expected to be a further 10 days of reduced traffic, with full capacity restored within a few weeks.

A spokesperson for British Airways, the biggest airline operating at Heathrow, said: We are expecting to run a full schedule.
Martin Luther King Jr stood before congregants jammed into the Mason Temple in Memphis on 3 April 1968 and told them never to forget their duty to demand that their country live up to the principles it professed to stand for  social justice, freedom and equality  and that whenever it fell short they should rise up in protest (non-violent, of course) and demand change.

We have an opportunity to make America a better nation, King said in a largely extemporised, 40-minute-long sermon. All we say to America is, Be true to what you said on paper.

By 1968, King was speaking not just about people of colour, but about injustice and oppression wherever it existed in America. His wider concern: economic oppression. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesnt earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee? he had noted even before arriving in Memphis.

Not his most famous  that was the I Have a Dream in Washington in 1963  the Memphis address was his last. The next day the minister who had emerged as Americas most visible civil rights leader in 1954 was slain by a bullet on a second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

On this anniversary, the country is plunged in painful introspection. How much closer, five decades later, is it to achieving his vision? On racial justice, it has been steps forward and steps back. On economic equality, the trend is retrograde. But on his appeal at the Mason Temple for social activism, we have better news to report. The spirit of protest in America is alive and well.

I say this with cheer. It was my sense when I first arrived here 26 years ago, that America, especially its youth, seemed to be suffering a sort of collective political and civic complacency. Strikes were rare, street demonstrations even rarer. The only great upheaval had come at the start of the decade: the 1992 Los Angeles riots after the beating of Rodney King.

Perhaps it was a time of greater contentment. In his eight years as president, Bill Clinton oversaw a period or relative prosperity and peace. Yet much injustice remained unresolved, including gender and economic. What had happened to the put this land of revolution into so deep a political coma?

George W Bush pricked the patient. The 2004 Republican convention in New York, a year after the invasion of Iraq, triggered large protests and mass arrests. Bush later drove the economic bus into the ditch, culminating in the economic downturn at the end of his second term. It was this that brought us to the moment when, arguably, the modern movement of protest and civil resistance in the US was born: the first gathering of members of Occupy in Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan in September 2011. Before long Occupy protestors were marching on the streets of cities across the globe. America the somnolent was suddenly America the firebrand.

Crowds and celebrities attend the March for Our Lives Rally in Washington DC this month (Getty)

Police brutality gave life to Black Lives Matter during the second term of Barack Obama, the first African American president who was meant to have given the black community less reason to feel angry not more. The shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida happened on his watch. So too the killing by police of Michael Brown in a suburb of St Louis, Missouri.

Donald Trump took office last year and continues to have an energising effect all of his own.

What began with the Womens March on Washington after Trumps inauguration has grown into the Resistance. Sprawling but sophisticated, it is a reaction to Trump that has become the umbrella for myriad other groups, big and small, dotted across the union, all progressive in outlook. They include Indivisible, now focusing on getting people to the polls in the midterm elections (and not voting Republican). Some are organisations already with long histories like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). You can be one family determined to chase Trump out of office and consider yourselves enrolled. Walk the avenues of Manhattan today and look at what people, young people above all, are wearing: buttons declaring, simply, Resist.

Where else have Americas streets been clogged with anger? In West Virginia, where teachers enraged by their low pay fled classrooms for days in a row last month before marching on the state legislature demanding proper reward. Now it is the turn of Oklahoma where schools have been shuttered this week because teachers have walked out. Teachers are rebelling in Kentucky and Arizona.

Kings entourage bristled with guns for his security. Yet surely, had he lived longer, Americas most famous pacifist would have added the tyranny of the gun to the list of things the country needed to rebel against. And rebellion is exactly what we saw two weekends ago when, inspired by the student survivors of the Parkland high school shooting massacre in Florida, millions took part in marches for gun control in cities across the country and even in some cities overseas.

If King could see America now, he would be disappointed that the country he wanted to redeem remains so far adrift from so many of the principles espoused by its founding fathers and papers. But perhaps he would be encouraged that it has found the disgust finally to mobilise.

Whenever men and women straighten their backs up, he declared on that last night in Memphis. They are going somewhere, because a man cant ride your back unless it is bent.
On 7 March 1965, African Americans were beaten bloody on a civil rights march led by Martin Luther King Jr. They were demanding their constitutional right to vote. Two years before that now iconic day, in the west of England, 19-year-old Jamaican Guy Bailey made his way to a job interview with Bristol Omnibus Company, the citys bus service. Paul Stephenson, a local youth worker, had arranged the interview for Guy, first ensuring that there were jobs available, and that Guy had the qualifications to do the work. But when Guy turned up to his interview, he found that it had been cancelled. Recounting his interview to the BBC 50 years later, Guy recalled the exact moment he was rejected by the receptionist. She said to the manager: Your two oclock appointment is here. But hes black. And the manager said: Tell him we have no vacancies here, all vacancies are filled.

That Guy was turned down was not a surprise to Bristols 3,000-strong black community, the majority of whom had settled in Britain from the Caribbean after the Second World War. For them, racism in the bus service was a long-held suspicion; many had interviewed with Bristol Omnibus Company only to be turned down. Everyone who worked at the bus company was white.

But Guy Baileys interview wasnt a coincidence. It had been set up by a small group of young men: Roy Hackett, Owen Henry, Audley Evans and Prince Brown. The group called themselves the West Indian Development Council. They asked Paul Stephenson to work with them on their plan, and he agreed. Paul already knew Guy, who was a student at the night school he taught at. Guy was a good interview prospect. He was clean cut, already employed, studying part-time, and active in a Christian youth organisation.

 Martin Luther King Jr's iconic I Have A Dream speech

As soon as Guy was refused an interview, the group arranged a press conference. Local reporters crowded into Pauls flat to hear exactly what had happened. A photoshoot was arranged, with Owen echoing Rosa Parks by sitting at the back of a bus. As both local and national press reported on the case, pressure mounted on the bus services general manager, Ian Patey. When the Bristol Evening Post pressed him, he said: You wont get a white man in London to admit it, but which of them will join a service where they may find themselves working under a coloured foreman?

Paul and the West Indian Development Council won the support of local students, saw speeches in favour of their cause from politicians, and earned sympathetic editorials in the local press. But Paul was also repeatedly ignored by the bus company and the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU). Though often divided by work disputes, both management and the trade union found themselves united by racism. They had an agreement, the kind that lent itself well to discrimination: the bus company was not to hire anyone not already approved by the local TGWU branch. Even though Ian Pateys comments were on histories the record, Bristol Omnibus Company deflected accountability, instead passing it along to the union. Racism had infected worker solidarity, with a union representative at the time insisting that more black workers would be taking away jobs for prospective white employees, and that employing them would mean reduced hours for current employees.

As the campaign continued, Paul was harshly criticised. Ron Nethercott, South-west regional secretary of the union, wrote an article in a national newspaper calling Paul dishonest and irresponsible. For his critics, it was his activism that was the root of the problem, not the colour bar. Some of these statements led to a libel case, which Paul won. Meanwhile, every single one of the citys West Indian residents were boycotting the bus service. One campaign leader told the local newspaper: Although it is hard to tell, many white people are supporting us. The campaign drew support from Trinidads high commissioner, Sir Learie Constantine.

More than 100 university students marched in support, and everyone boycotting the bus service either walked or cycled to get around the city. The day before Martin Luther King Jr told an audience of 250,000 that he had a dream, a meeting of 500 bus employees met and agreed to discontinue Bristol Omnibus Companys unofficial colour bar. The day after, general manager Ian Patey committed to ending it for good. Speaking at a press conference, he announced the only criterion will be the persons suitability for the job. But it is important to note that, to date, Bristol Omnibus, now merged with other companies and eventually renamed First Somerset and Avon, has never apologised for its actions. Neither has the Bristol branch of the Transport and General Workers Union, since merged with Unite the Union.

I first learnt of the Bristol bus boycott as a graduate in 2013, when I was working at race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust. A small team of us travelled to Bristol to launch a campaign. As well as running a pop-up, come and talk about racism shop, we also held evening events around the city centre. One of those events was with Paul Stephenson. By then, he was in his late seventies. Upstairs in the event space of Foyles bookshop, Paul, his voice withered by age and activism and righteous rage, commanded the attention of the whole room. I felt like I was listening to history.

That I had to go looking for significant moments in black British history suggests to me that I had been kept ignorant. While the black British story is starved of oxygen, the US struggle against racism is globalised into the story of the struggle against racism that we should look to for inspiration  eclipsing the black British story so much that we convince ourselves that Britain has never had a problem with race. We need to stop lying to ourselves, and we need to stop lying to each other. To assume that there was no civil rights movement in the UK is not just untrue, it does a disservice to our black history, leaving gaping holes where the story of progress should be. Black Britain deserves a context.

Speaking to the Radio Times, actor David Oyelowo highlighted the lack of historical British films about black people, saying: We make period dramas [in Britain], but there are almost never black people in them, even though weve been on these shores for hundreds of years. I remember taking a historical drama with a black figure at its centre to a British executive with green light power, and what they said was that if its not Jane Austen or Dickens, the audience dont understand. And I thought, OK  you are stopping people having a context for the country they live in and you are marginalising me. I cant live with that. So Ive got to get out. Faced with a collective forgetting, we must fight to remember.

I know that there is so much more history out there about people of colour in Britain, if youre willing to put in the effort to find it. After Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, we were told reported hate crimes drastically grew in number, and that racism was on the rise in Britain again. But looking at our history shows racism does not erupt from nothing, rather it is embedded in British society. Its in the very core of how the state is set up. Its not external. Its in the system.

This is an extract from Reni Eddo-Lodges book Why Im No Longer Talking to White People About Race, now available in paperback 8.99, published by Bloomsbury
Hotel group iNua Hospitality, owner of the Muckross Park Hotel in Killarney, is targeting further acquisitions after snapping up the Radisson Blu in Sligo for 15m to 16m.

The deal bolsters the company's portfolio of hotels to seven and the rapidly growing enterprise plans to buy another venue in the Midlands in the autumn on the back of rising tourist numbers from the US and Europe.

The group, part of the iNua Partnership that also owns the Ditchley healthcare investment vehicle, generated record earnings of 7.1m last year.

According to chief operations officer of iNua Hospitality Sean O'Driscoll, the business is "not impacted" by Brexit, with the US and Europe accounting for the rise in visitor numbers.

Last week the Central Statistics Office published figures showing trips to Ireland by UK residents increased by 13.1pc to 263,500 in February compared to the same period last year.

Visits by residents of European countries, apart from the UK, leapt by 18.3pc to 202,100, while trips by residents of the US and Canada rose 5.4pc to 79,600.

Mr O'Driscoll described the purchase of the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa in Sligo as a "successful and well-performing business and an excellent addition to our existing regional hospitality portfolio".
Farm organisations have slammed reports that millers and feed merchants are considering a 20-25/t price hike on compound feed rations.

Describing the proposed price increases as "opportunistic" and "intolerable", both the ICMSA and IFA said feed millers were in a better position than farmers to absorb the higher ingredient costs which have been blamed for the threatened lift in feed charges.

"The very first thing that ICMSA would say is that there should be no question of co-op millers contemplating a hike in the price of feed," said ICMSA leader, Pat McCormack.

"Co-ops are uniquely positioned to appreciate the kinds of pressures that their member-suppliers are under just now and it's intolerable that they would put up the price of feed when there's a fodder crisis already out there that is actually getting worse," he said.

"The co-ops will just have to absorb any input rises themselves because the farmers are under savage pressure," the ICMSA leader insisted.

Tom Horgan of the IFA's pig committee pointed out that feed ingredients were bought on year-long forward contracts and that short-term and seasonal price volatility should have "zero impact" on feed pricing.

Losses

He said pig producers were currently losing money and could not sustain further feed price hikes.

Pig farmers accepted the highs and lows of pig prices, Mr Horgan explained, but he said they would not countenance what he described as "opportunistic profit taking" by feed compounders on the back of "short term price volatility in the spot markets".

However, merchants insist that they have been hit by tight supplies of feed ingredients and consequent price hikes.

Feed sales are up 20-25pc on normal - due to the harsh and late winter, and poor grass growth - and mills are working around the clock to keep compound feed supplied.

Supplies of ingredients have also been hampered by weather events in North America.

Merchants pointed out that straights such as soya hulls had increased by 40/t to 200/t over the last three months, while distillers was up 40-50/t, and pollard was 30-40/t dearer. Soya and rapemeal costs were more than 65/t dearer.

The feed industry claimed that the higher cost of ingredients would put 20-25/t on the cost of rations.

Compound price hike of 20-25 per tonne in the offing
A delegation of Agriculture Committee MEPs will travel to Brazil today to examine what has been done so far to ensure safety of beef exports to the EU, following the tainted meat scandal.

The delegation will meet the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, federal parliamentarians and representatives of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Institute.

They will also travel to the State of Mato Grosso to meet its governor, visit cattle farms and a slaughterhouse.

Following the mission in Brazil which ends on Thursday, the delegation will draft a report, which will be presented to the Agriculture Committee during one of its future meetings.

A two-year investigation by Brazilian Federal Police into two of Brazils largest meat processing companies (JBS & BRF) saw raids that police claimed were prompted by evidence that some meatpackers had paid inspectors and politicians to overlook the processing of rotten meat and exports with fraudulent documentation and even traces of salmonella.

Uncertainty

In 2017, Brazil supplied the EU with over 140,000 tonnes of beef and veal, or 42.1pc of its total bovine imports.

OECD figures report that the EU consumed almost eight million tonnes of beef and veal in 2017.

This suggests that imports from Brazil account for about 1.77pc of total EU beef and veal consumption.

Meat Industry Irelands Joe Ryan warned that with the EU set to be 116pc self sufficient on beef following the departure of the UK in 2019 any tonnage figure agreed now by the Commission would not be revised downwards post-Brexit. It is totally inappropriate to proceed with the deal at this time while so much uncertainty still exists

He added: If the Commission are intent on proceeding with these negotiations, it is essential that discussions around access for Mercosur must include a split between fresh and frozen, and provisions around specified end-use.
Minister Michael Creed with Millie the Cow, Zoe Kavanagh, CEO National Dairy Council, Rachel Kavanagh (6) and Ethan Regan (6).

The National Dairy Council (NDC) is offering schools taking part in the School Milk Scheme the chance win a year's supply of free milk.

The winning school will receive free School Milk for all pupils for the 2018/2019 school year and a School Trip to Airfield Farm.

The winning and finalist schools entries will also be featured on the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show during National School Milk Week (23rd-27th April).

To enter, all your school needs to do is write a short poem, Limerick, song or jingle about why your school loves School Milk (max. 200 words). You can even add music to your entry if you wish.

The closing date for entries is 5pm Friday, April 13 so get moo-ving!

Further details regarding this exciting competition and terms and conditions are available at: www.moocrew.ie/competition.

The School Milk Scheme is managed by the National Dairy Council and funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with the financial support of the European Union.

Schools registered for School Milk receive free exclusive education resources, access to competitions and prizes for schools during the school year.
A farmer who was refused permission by the council and An Bord Pleanala to erect a gate and build a new entrance to his land has proved a big talking point in the local agri community.

Commenting on the issue Limerick ICMSA chairperson Tom Blackburn said he refused to believe that there wasnt a way forward to resolve the problem to the satisfaction of both the county council and Mr Hennessy.

Mr Blackburn said that he was familiar with the stretch of road in question and it was difficult to imagine a more straight and wide road with clear sightlines of perhaps a half a mile in both directions.

He went on to say that it was hopelessly insufficient of Limerick City and County Council to simply reject Mr Hennessys proposal to open up a gate without coming forward with a suggestion of their own.

Like every other farmer who read about the case, Im fascinated by the idea that the council  knowing full well the dilemma that this farmer is in  can just reject the obvious solution without telling us all, and particularly Mr Hennessy, what exactly he is meant to do now.

The stretch of road in question has been redesigned, resurfaced and widened on several occasions over the last two decades and on every occasion the farmers along the route realised that fair and reasonable co-operation is the only way these things can be progressed. Well, now we want that same attitude extended to Eddie Hennessy.

How is he meant to farm these 17 acres? How is he meant to access them if he cant open a gate into the land? This now becomes something of a test case which will tell us a great deal about Limerick City and County Councils attitude to its farming community  and specifically Limericks milk producing farmers, who are amongst the busiest and most progressive in the state.

Mr Hennessy has a problem that is utterly outside his control and not of his making at all, said Mr Blackburn.

The Limerick ICMSA chairman said we can all work together to see how he can be helped and this actually quite minor issue be resolved, or we can just wash our hands and retreat behind questionable regulations and watch him swing in the wind'.

"Id like to think  and ICMSA would certainly like to think  that we can see a way where this can be worked out and a gate opened into Mr Hennessys land that enables him to work it in an absolutely safe and responsible way. That surely is not beyond the bounds of all of us working together, concluded Mr Blackburn, who farms in Effin.
Yang Jiechi (right), a member of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee and head of the General Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, speaks with Swiss Federal Councillor and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis during a meeting at the Zhongnanhai Leadership Compound in Beijing, China, April 3, 2018. Parker Song/Pool via Reuters

China has increased tariffs by up to 25pc on almost 130 US products ranging from frozen pork and wine to certain fruits and nuts.

The move is seen as escalating a dispute between the world's biggest economies in response to US duties on imports of aluminium and steel.

But just what exactly does it mean, and can Ireland benefit from the possible trade war?

Why did China increase tariffs?

China is retaliating amid escalating trade tension with the US, with the announcement coming in direct response to US duties on imports of aluminium and steel from China.

Mr Trump's tariffs are partly a response to complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology.

The results of the US and Chinese actions has rocked global financial markets in the past week as investors are concerned that a full-blown trade dispute between the two will damage world growth.

Will the US respond?

In a word, yes.

At some point this week, the Trump administration is expected to unveil a list of Chinese goods that could be subjected to new US tariffs.

Could this benefit Ireland?

The US and China trade war could provide opportunities for Irish pig farmers and fruit producers looking to expand into the Chinese market, according to the Irish agri-food sector.

Irish exporters said there could an opportunity to now gain ground in China.

According to Bord Bia's latest figures, Irish pig meat exports to China fell by 14pc to 93m in 2017.

But those in the agri-food sector say Ireland's exporting position could be improved in both markets due to the current trade issues.

Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) pig chairman Tom Hogan told the Irish Independent that the trade debacle could improve the competitiveness of Irish pig meat. "China has developed into a very important market for Irish pigmeat since the Russian ban," he said.

"The cost of production of US pigmeat is significantly below that in Ireland and the EU due to our welfare requirements and higher feed costs," Mr Hogan added.

"The US is a significant exporter of pigmeat to China and if tariffs on US pork improve the competitiveness of Irish pigmeat in the market, it would be positive for Irish pig farmers," he said.

Mr Hogan also said he foresees the trade war between China and the US having a positive effect on Irish pig prices.

Meanwhile, IFA horticulture chair Gerard Reilly added that the tariffs placed on US fruit imported in to China also signals potential for Irish fruit products in the Asian market.

"With Brexit, any alternative market is a good advantage to producers and farmers," he said.

Additional reporting from Bloomberg
The extension will allow for the acquisition of a new high resolution 2D seismic survey

Irish based oil and gas exploration company Providence Resources has been granted an extension to the first phase of FEL 6/14 to 31 March 2019.

FEL 6/14 is the companys Frontier Exploration licence that contains the Newgrange prospect, located roughly 260 km off the south-west coast of Ireland.

The license is operated by Providence on behalf of its partner Sosina Exploration, who has a 20pc share in the project.

The extension will allow for the acquisition of a new high resolution 2D seismic survey over the crest of the Newgrange prospect, while also providing data suitable for input to an application for the permitting of an offshore exploration well.

Commercial discussions in relation to a potential farm-out of equity in the licence are continuing, the company said in an update to the stock market today.

Providence is also in discussions with nearby operators in the area with a view to rig share operations given the expected short duration of the Newgrange well.

"We are very pleased to be granted this extension to the Newgrange licence, which will allow for the acquisition of a new high resolution 2D seismic survey together with seabed data which may allow us to further de-risk the Newgrange prospect," Dr. John O'Sullivan, technical director of Providence, said.

"These data will also facilitate commencement of the detailed planning process for the Newgrange exploration well," he continued.

Last month Providence announced that it has signed a farm-out agreement with Chinese company APEC in respect of the Standard Exploration Licence ("SEL") 1/11 that contains the potentially huge Barryroe offshore field.

Under the terms of the farm-out agreement, which covers an area in the North Celtic Sea Basin and is located around 50 km off the south coast of Ireland, APEC will be directly responsible for paying 50pc of all the cost obligations associated with the drilling of three vertical wells, plus any associated side-tracks and well testing.
Tribeca, which generates turnover of 4m (4.5m) annually, hopes to grow this turnover to 100m (114m) over the next seven to eight years, Robert Blake, marketing manager of Tribeca, told the Irish Independent. Photo: Stock Image

IT support provider Tribeca Technology has opened its first office in Dublin.

The company, which specialises in providing IT support to the hedge fund market, said that it had been looking to strengthen its European offering by expanding in key financial centres close to the UK.

As well as supporting new clients in Ireland, the company will also be assisting existing clients based in Dublin with additional IT support beyond remote services.

Tribeca, which generates turnover of 4m (4.5m) annually, hopes to grow this turnover to 100m (114m) over the next seven to eight years, Robert Blake, marketing manager of Tribeca, told the Irish Independent.

Among the services that will be available from Tribeca's Dublin office are business IT support, network design, data centre hosting, cybersecurity and disaster recovery.

Commenting on the opening of the Dublin office, Mark Instance, managing director of Tribeca, said that the location reflected the company's "dedication to providing clients within Dublin with an unparalleled, high-performance technology service".

"It is one of the world's key strategic locations for fund domiciles and home to nine of the 10 world-leading technology companies," Mr Instance said.

"The fact that Ireland is the only English-speaking member in the eurozone and is known for its practical regulatory framework and support for the funds industry made it an obvious choice for us."

Founded in 2006, the company has clients across 17 countries. (Additional reporting by PA)
Yang Jiechi (right), a member of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee and head of the General Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, speaks with Swiss Federal Councillor and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis during a meeting at the Zhongnanhai Leadership Compound in Beijing, China, April 3, 2018. Parker Song/Pool via Reuters

THE US and China trade war could provide opportunities for Irish pig farmers and fruit producers looking to expand into the Chinese market, according to the Irish agri-food sector.

Yesterday, China hiked tariffs by up to 25pc on 128 US goods, which included everything from frozen pork and wine to certain fruits and nuts.

China's new tariffs follow weeks of heated rhetoric and threats between the world's two biggest economies.

The measures, which came with a warning from state media that Beijing is prepared to "show its strength" towards the US, could seriously harm the livelihoods of American farmers, a group which is seen as being part of President Donald Trump's core support.

The announcement came in direct response to US duties on imports of aluminium and steel from China.

Mr Trump's tariffs are partly a response to complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said in a statement that it was suspending its obligations to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and that the new tariffs would start yesterday.

The White House immediately responded, accusing China of distorting global markets and said that the country should not target "fairly traded US exports".

The American pork industry sent more than a billion dollars in products, making China the number three market for US pork.

Irish exporters said there could an opportunity to now gain ground in China.

According to Bord Bia's latest figures, Irish pig meat exports to China fell by 14pc to 93m in 2017.

But those in the agri-food sector say Ireland's exporting position could be improved in both markets due to the current trade issues.

Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) pig chairman Tom Hogan told the Irish Independent that the trade debacle could improve the competitiveness of Irish pig meat. "China has developed into a very important market for Irish pigmeat since the Russian ban," he said.

"The cost of production of US pigmeat is significantly below that in Ireland and the EU due to our welfare requirements and higher feed costs," Mr Hogan added.

"The US is a significant exporter of pigmeat to China and if tariffs on US pork improve the competitiveness of Irish pigmeat in the market, it would be positive for Irish pig farmers," he said.

Mr Hogan also said he foresees the trade war between China and the US having a positive effect on Irish pig prices.

Meanwhile, IFA horticulture chair Gerard Reilly added that the tariffs placed on US fruit imported in to China also signals potential for Irish fruit products in the Asian market.

"With Brexit, any alternative market is a good advantage to producers and farmers," he said.

"The EU and home market is very crowded, so this poses huge potential for us and with our Origin Green image we have an excellent reputation for quality produce in Ireland."

US stocks fell on the back of the Chinese announcement, but now the focus has shifted to the next move from the US with expected announcements on taxes on imports of technological goods from China this week.

As much as $60bn-worth (49bn) of Chinese-made tech imports could be affected by new levies seeking to combat this threat.

"While the current trade dispute has unique elements such as cyber-theft and national security concerns, it also has an economic logic, one that is neither novel nor unique to the US-China relationship," said Goldman Sachs analysts David Mericle and Daan Struyven, referring to previous international spats between firms which become national champions.

"In part for this reason, the dispute is unlikely to be fully resolved any time soon," they added.
VARIATIONS in the valuation of Newstalk punctuated the planned but aborted acquisition of the Denis OBrien owned radio station by Independent News and Media (INM), the media company in which he is the largest single shareholder.

In court papers filed by the corporate enforcement watchdog, which is seeking to have inspectors appointed to investigate a range of corporate governance issues at Irelands largest media company, valuations ranging between 10m to 35m for the loss-making radio station were considered during the short-lived negotiations.

The project name assigned to the proposed acquisition by INM of Newstalk was Devalero, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) document claims.

Former INM chief executive Robert Pitt, whose protected disclosure to the ODCE triggered a year-long investigation into INM, initially valued the proposed Newstalk acquisition at some 12m.

INMs own advisers, Davy, would not value Newstalk at above 14m, the ODCEs affidavit claims.

However, IBI, advisers to Mr OBriens Communicorp  which in turn wholly owns Newstalk  proposed an initial valuation for Newstalk at between 30m to 35m.

Mr Pitt had no issue in principle with the transaction, according to the ODCEs affidavit, but was concerned about the potentially onerous commercial conditions that might attach to the deal as well as the high valuation of the asset, it claims.

Mr Pitt has told the ODCE that following an initial meeting on September 15, 2016 between INM and Communicorp, which was also attended by Mr OBriens advisory firm, Island Capital, and Dominic Shorthouse  an adviser to Mr OBrien - he met with INM chairman Leslie Buckley on October 20, 2016.

Ryan Preston, INMs chief financial officer, also attended the meeting at which Mr Buckley, who retired as INM chairman last month, is alleged to have told the duo that he would do the deal regardless and that a valuation of 14m for Newstalk was insulting to the major shareholder, namely Mr OBrien.

The ODCE says that, according to Mr Pitt, Mr Buckley also said Mr OBrien was entitled to a reward for bailing out INM and that he [Buckley] wanted to do the transaction.

Last night, a spokesman for Mr Buckley said in response to a wide range of questions from the Irish Independent: It is not appropriate to comment as a review process is ongoing.

Mr Pitt subsequently reported his concerns about there being a need to reward Mr OBrien to Jerome Kennedy, then an independent director on INMs board.

Meetings subsequently took place with updated valuations from Davy and IBI, the latters valuation falling to some 26.8m while Davys revision valued Newstalk at a range of 11m to 15m, with an outlier range of 16.7m, although this outer figure was itself revised slightly down again in another valuation.

In a statement issued on November 28, 2016, to the stock market  and in response to media speculation  INM confirmed that an issue arose between its chief executive and chairman in relation to the terms of a possible acquisition by the company.

The ODCE says there is an overlap between the allegations made by Mr Preston in his protected disclosure to INM and that Mr Prestons disclosure corroborated the disclosure made by Mr Pitt.

Mr Preston explained in his disclosure that, it is claimed, he had been put under severe pressure as had Mr Pitt, to pay a value which was considerable higher than he thought Newstalk to be worth and he [Mr Preston] was concerned the proposed purchase price would not represent value to INMs shareholders.

Mr Preston thought, it is claimed, the IBI valuation was crazy.

Do you not get it, lads? Mr Buckley is alleged to have said to Mr Pitt and Mr Preston at a meeting on October 26, 2016, which was attended by the three men.

The ODCE notes a report by two independent reviewers, commissioned by INMs board in late 2016 to investigate Mr Pitt and Mr Prestons disclosures, was unable to resolve the key allegations regarding the proposed Newstalk discussions, namely that Mr Buckley wanted INM to pay Communicorp 26.8m for Newstalk and that he put pressure on Mr Pitt and Mr Preston to agree that price.

This was due to what independent reviewers David Barniville SC and Stephen

Kingon, the former managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Northern Ireland, described as a stark conflict of evidence between Mr Pitt and Mr Preston on the one hand and Mr Buckley on the other.

The independent reviewers final report, which runs to almost 300 pages, said: In the absence of cross examination in a court or tribunal-like setting (which is not the exercise we were asked to conduct), we have regrettably come to the conclusion that we are unable to resolve the stark conflict of evidence on these two allegations in relation to the Newstalk discussions.

In those circumstances, we have been unable to reach a conclusion as to whether any wrongdoing or potential wrongdoing has occurred in connection with the Newstalk discussions. However, it is important to note that no agreement was reached for INM to acquire Newstalk and the potential transaction did not proceed beyond the discussion stage.

The ODCE, which stresses that nothing in its affidavit is intended to be, or should be construed as, a criticism of the independent reviewers, says the appointment of court inspectors  with full powers of compellability and cross examination  is required to resolve that conflict of evidence.
Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon intends to undertake an investigation into a suspected data breach at Independent News & Media.

The move follows concerns, expressed by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), that data was removed from the company's premises in October 2014, taken out of the jurisdiction and "interrogated" by at least six companies external to INM.

The ODCE fears data relating to a number of directors and staff, including journalists, was involved.

In a statement, the office of the office of the Data Protection Commissioner said: "The DPC intends to undertake an investigation into whether personal data was accessed and if so, whether it was processed lawfully and fairly in accordance with data protection legislation. We are currently scoping the parameters of that investigation, including seeking additional information from INM this afternoon on foot of the breach notification it filed with the office last week."

INM has said it contacted the commissioner after being informed of new information by the ODCE on March 23 last.

This new information accompanied a notice from the ODCE that it intended to apply to the High Court on April 16 for the appointment of inspectors to INM.

Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Seamus Dooley said in a statement this evening: We welcome the announcement that the Data Protection Commissioner is to carry out an investigation into the alleged breaches.

"INM employees require a detailed explanation as to how and why the alleged breaches occurred. The long term interests of workers and of INM are best served by an open and transparent process.

"Journalists at Independent House had a right to work without their data being put at risk. The current Chairman and board must give unambiguous support to the editorial staff and commit to the principle that editorial independence will not be compromised by internal or external commercial or corporate interests.

The move comes after it was revealed that two high-profile journalists were identified as persons of interest on a list of 19 names discovered by the corporate enforcement watchdog during its investigation into an alleged data breach at Independent News and Media (INM).

Two senior barristers who represented the Moriarty Tribunal are also on the same list revealed in an affidavit filed by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE).

The journalists are Brendan OConnor of the Sunday Independent and his colleague on the same newspaper, Maeve Sheehan.

Mr OConnor is one of Irelands best-known writers, commentators and broadcasters. He is deputy editor at the Sunday Independent, editor of Life magazine and a successful television and radio broadcaster. Most recently, he has fronted the ratings success Brendan OConnors Cutting Edge on Wednesday nights on RTE One.

Ms Sheehan is one of the countrys most respected investigative journalists who has a long track record of probing articles in the Sunday Independent on the big issues of the day.

It is unclear why their names appear on the list.

The list of names does not give any indication as to its purpose.

However, one reason given to the ODCE was the company was searching for a contract that INM management was unable to furnish or find at this particular period. It is thought the contract was a legal services contract.

Two others identified on an Excel spreadsheet are barristers.

They are Jerry Healy SC and Jacqueline OBrien SC. Both were employed on a full-time basis for several years as counsel for the Moriarty Tribunal.

Among other matters, the tribunal investigated the awarding in 1995 of the States second mobile phone licence to businessman Denis OBriens Esat Digifone.

The tribunal found then Communications Minister Michael Lowry assisted Mr OBrien, who is INMs largest shareholder, in his bid to secure the licence. Both men dispute the tribunals findings.

According to an affidavit filed by ODCE director Ian Drennan, the barristers names appear on the list alongside four journalists, six former INM board and staff members and seven other people.

Mr Drennan says the list was uncovered during an investigation into a suspected data breach at INM in October 2014, where he alleges data was removed from the companys premises, taken out of the jurisdiction and interrogated by at least six companies external to INM.

The ODCE director claims the data interrogation was directed by then INM chairman Leslie Buckley and that two invoices associated with it were paid by Blaydon Limited, an Isle of Man company beneficially owned by Mr OBrien.

According to Mr Drennan, the journalists on the list are Maeve Sheehan, Brendan OConnor, and Sam Smyth who was a writer on the Irish Independent but had left the company by 2014. Also named as a journalist is Rory Godson, but he was a public relations executive in 2014.

Speaking on the News at One on RTE today, former INM journalist Sam Smyth said the first time it was confirmed to him that his data had been allegedly breached was when he read about it in the Irish Independent today.

He said he was told by a friend about a week ago that there was a list going around, a list of people who apparently had all of their communications with INM monitored, harvested and so on. I could get no other detail. I heard nothing whatsoever from INM or anybody else in authority there. The first time I saw it confirmed was this morning when it was in The Irish Independent.

When I read it in the Irish Independent I took it seriously because its Irish (sic) News and Media thats in the firestorm of this so youd assume that if anybody had knowledge of it, it would be them, he said.

Im not as surprised as you might have thought, he said of his reaction to being on the so-called list.

For a long time rumours were flying. Different people said to me  some people involved in security said to me  be very careful with your telephone communications. Be very careful about this. I would be naturally quite cautious anyway about emails and would have used my own email address a lot on this. But you never know, obviously when I worked there I was communicating regularly with Independent News and Media so yes, I am in one way, Im a bit annoyed about it but Im certainly not surprised.

He said he is now seeking advice on the matter.

When I heard about it I certainly wasnt shocked. There was an air almost of inevitability about it because we had spoken about this for some time.

Am I very annoyed? Not very annoyed. Its the sort of thing I expected may well turn up some day.

Asked about his experience covering the Moriarty Tribunal for over a decade, he said: I certainly had a working knowledge of it and had written extensively about what was going on and clearly this upset some people and at the end of the day, the findings by the High Court judge in the Moriarty Tribunal there was a lot of controversy through that time of reporting it.

The former INM board and staff members on the list are former chief executive of INMs Irish division Joe Webb, former INM director of corporate affairs Karl Brophy, former INM chief executive Vincent Crowley, former INM director and chief financial officer Donal Buggy, the late former chairman of INM James Osborne, and Mandy Scott, a former PA to the chief executive of INM.

Mr Brophy is now the chief executive of public relations firm Red Flag Consulting, which is being sued by Mr OBrien for alleged conspiracy and defamation.

Mr Brophy is also being personally sued. Ms Scott also now works for the firm.

Seven other less well-known names are also included.

It is understood that of these additional persons some were involved in public relations, media monitoring and one was a former INM executive.

It is unclear if Mr OBrien was aware of the data interrogation or the payment by Blaydon of the invoices. INM told the ODCE it does not know why Blaydon discharged the costs.

Mr OBriens spokesman has said he was not making any comment, while a spokesman for Mr Buckley has said: It is not appropriate to comment as a review process is ongoing.

According to Mr Drennan, Mr Buckley explained that the data interrogation was part of a cost-reduction exercise. He says Mr Buckley told the ODCE he authorised the work so he could find out more detail about the awarding by INM of a professional services contract and that he wanted to consider whether the cost and duration of the contract could be renegotiated.

Mr Drennan says the 19 names were found by the ODCE in an Excel spreadsheet attached to emails exchanged by employees of companies external to INM who were involved in the data interrogation.

He says the spreadsheet and emails were obtained during a year-long investigation into various corporate governance matters at INM.

The spreadsheet is an exhibit to an affidavit Mr Drennan has filed with the High Court in a bid to get inspectors appointed to investigate a range of matters at INM, including the suspected data breach. The court will consider the application on April 16.

Seamus Dooley, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists in Ireland, also appeared on the News at One this afternoon.

He said: Working journalists named in this are reporters of the highest integrity. They had a right to have their data protected, indeed all employees have a right to have their data protected. Companies have an absolute legal obligation to protect data.

We would have a particular concern if journalists data is compromised and I believe the decision, allegedly taken by an non-executive chairman, to have data removed and interrogated out of the country, that put at risk all data, so there is a serious issue there.

Journalists are obliged to protect confidential sources of information and of course, normally when we associate protecting sources we identify the threat as being external. What is alleged here is that the threat came internally and that makes it all the more serious.

I think its impossible to imagine any situation where its morally or ethically justifiable for a company to undermine in any way the principle of journalistic sources.

We have written to the Data Protection Commissioner looking for an immediate investigation and I am shocked that Sam Smyth says he has not been advised. He was entitled to be advised of an alleged breach. That reinforces my view that there is a role for the Data Protection Commissioner.

"At the heart of the issue is a wider issue, in my view, about media control and ownership in Ireland. We cant pretend any more that there is nothing wrong. We in the NUJ have been calling for a long time for a government commission on the future of the media in Ireland and central to that is a debate about ownership and control.

Asked about the future security of INM journalists, he said: There are many honourable men and women across the INM titles, including many, many fine journalists and this type of corporate shenanigans, or boardroom shenanigans, do serve to undermine the reputation of a company which plays an important role in Irish society and which provides employment.

I would have a very real concern at anything which would undermine the ability of INM to trade and I would hope that the company can get through this and that the rights, the data rights and indeed the employment rights of the employees and the rights of former employees are protected in the weeks and months ahead.

He said he will be seeking a meeting with INM on the matter and said the NUJ is offering assistance to any member who feels their data may have been compromised.
Men are almost 40pc better off financially than women in retirement - making pensions one of the biggest, and probably the most serious, gender investment gaps in Ireland.

The main reason for this huge divide is that many women, despite living longer, are not saving enough into their pensions.

There are a number of reasons women are falling behind on pension savings. Women often earn less than - and as a result, don't have as much to save into their pension as - their male counterparts. Wages in some of the job sectors traditionally dominated by women are often low. Many mothers have taken time out of the workforce - or moved to shorter working weeks - to look after children. Almost seven out of 10 part-time workers are women. All of these things eat into a woman's ability to save for a pension.

Many women will struggle to make ends meet in retirement if they don't address their pension now. Here are some of the key steps women must take to bridge the gender pension gap.

Start a pension

Working women who are not saving into a company pension - even though their employer offers them the opportunity to do so - should join that pension as soon as they can, even if they can only save a small amount into it.

With most company pension schemes, employers pay a contribution into the pension on behalf of the employee. This is an invaluable benefit as it makes it easier for people to build up a reasonable pension for their retirement. You will lose out on this benefit if you're not in the scheme.

You'll also lose out on the benefit of pensions tax relief. One of the most tax-efficient ways to save is to save into a pension. Should you pay income tax at the higher rate, you'll get 40pc tax relief on your pension contributions. It would cost you 60 to save 100 into your pension as a result.

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Do it yourself

Not everyone has access to a company pension scheme. Casual and freelance workers, and self-employed contractors, often lose out here as, typically, it is only employees who can join a company pension scheme.

Furthermore, while many large employers offer a company pension scheme to workers, many smaller employers don't. There is no legal obligation on an employer to set up or contribute to a pension scheme. However, your employer must provide you with access to at least one standard Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA - a type of personal pension).

So should you not have the option to join a company pension because you are either a freelancer, self-employed, a casual worker - or because your boss simply doesn't offer one, open a PRSA or a personal pension and save what you can into it. Should you wish to open your own pension but have no expertise in pensions, a standard PRSA is probably your easiest option.

A standard PRSA is one of the two types of PRSAs available; with non-standard PRSAs being the other option. The main difference between a standard and non-standard PRSA is there is a limit on the charges you pay on a standard PRSA. There is no such limit on non-standard PRSAs - though this doesn't mean the charges on a non-standard PRSA will always be higher than on a standard PRSA. Should you be investing in property or direct stock through a non-standard PRSA, the charges will typically be higher than a standard PRSA, according to Sinead McEvoy, pensions technical solution manager with Standard Life.

Non-standard PRSAs usually offer a greater choice of investment funds than non-standard ones though it would be important to be investment-savvy - or in receipt of good independent financial advice - if considering a non-standard PRSA. Otherwise, you may be taking a bigger risk with your pension savings than you think.

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There are a number of advantages to PRSAs for those on low or irregular incomes (as is often the case with casual, freelance or part-time workers). The minimum which must be paid into a PRSA a year is only 300. You don't have to make regular payments into a PRSA and you can stop, start, increase or decrease your contributions at any time without incurring a charge for doing so - though you must usually give your PRSA provider a certain amount of notice if doing so.

Be realistic though - only commit to a PRSA if you can afford to do so, because if you do not pay contributions for two years or more and the value of your PRSA fund is 650 or less, your PRSA provider can terminate your PRSA and give you a refund of the value of your account.

"PRSAs were very much created with simplicity and flexibility in mind," said John McInerney, pensions technical manager with Aviva.

"Every PRSA must have a default investment strategy so if you don't want to choose the investment funds that your pension is invested in - due to lack of experience or expertise, you can go with the default strategy.

"That strategy will usually be a well-diversified fund [where your money is invested in a range of investments] or a lifestyling fund [where your money is invested in risky assets when you are young and moved into less risky investments as you approach retirement]."

A personal pension plan (PPP) could be a better option for you than a PRSA. "Sometimes PPPs have lower charges, depending on the fund you're investing in - and the financial adviser," said McEvoy. PPPs will typically offer a better choice of investment funds than PRSAs - though charges may not be as transparent with PPPs.

Part-timers

Part-time workers must get the same access to a company pension as a comparable full-time employees, unless the part-timer is working less than a fifth of the normal working hours of the full-timer.

It may be a financial struggle for a part-time worker to pay into a pension - because their earnings are usually low.

Part-time workers might also be at a disadvantage with pensions tax relief because if only earning enough to pay the standard 20pc rate of income tax, they only qualify for half the tax breaks of a worker on the higher tax rate. Even at half the rate though, these tax breaks are valuable.

Don't stop paying into a company pension scheme if you move from full-time to part-time work. Reduce your contributions if you can no longer afford to pay what you paid before - but continue to pay into the scheme.

Should you be a part-time worker who can, but has not yet, joined a company pension scheme which your boss contributes to, join the scheme - even if you can only afford to save a small amount. It will be easier to build up a reasonable pension with the support of an employer contribution than if saving for retirement on your own.

Make up lost time

Should you be returning to the workforce after a number of years looking after children, save as much as you can into your pension - to make up for the time you have lost paying into it.

Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs - extra contributions paid to an employer pension scheme to build up an additional retirement fund) if you can afford to do so.

Regardless of whether you are paying AVCs or not, try to increase the amount you pay into your pension as you get older - though be careful not to contribute more than you are entitled to get pensions tax relief on.

"Put away a constant proportion of your earnings," said McEvoy.

"As your pay increases, make sure your contributions increase proportionately, or you'll fall behind. Each time you get a pay rise, put a quarter of it into your pension each month," McEvoy added.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed as "extremely glib" comments from Apple chief executive Tim Cook.

The Facebook boss was referring to criticism the Apple chief had levelled at the social network over its recent data-manipulation controversy. Speaking to Recode founder Kara Swisher, Mr Cook said that he "wouldn't be in the position" that Mr Zuckerberg found himself in.

However, Mr Zuckerberg countered Mr Cook's criticism, saying Facebook did not care "less" about its customers than Apple.

"I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib," said the Facebook chief. "And not at all aligned with the truth. The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay. And therefore, as with a lot of media, having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service to reach people.

While Facebook makes money selling targeted advertisements based on user data, Apple's profit comes from hardware products such as the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

"There are a lot of people who can't afford to pay" for a service and having an "advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service to reach people," Zuckerberg said. "If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford."

The rebuttal follows fierce criticism from political and civic leaders after it was revealed millions of Facebook users had their personal data harvested by a British firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Facebook is introducing new privacy controls and re-organising its privacy settings into one place on the phone app rather than scattered in different sections, where people give up looking for them.

The social media giant has also reworked its app so that people can see more clearly what personal information advertisers have access to and how to cut down the levels of data given over. The company is still attempting to recover from the international scandal that saw Cambridge Analytica misuse personal data of up to 50 million Facebook users to help elect Mr Trump in 2016.

"I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm Syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you. Because that sounds ridiculous to me," said Mr Zuckerberg.
China has increased tariffs by up to 25pc on 128 US products, from frozen pork and wine to certain fruits and nuts, escalating a dispute between the world's biggest economies in response to US duties on imports of aluminium and steel.

The tariffs, which took effect yesterday, were announced late on Sunday by China's finance ministry and matched a list of possible tariffs on up to $3bn (2.4bn) in US goods published by China on March 23.

Soon after the announcement, an editorial in the 'Global Times' newspaper warned that if the United States had thought China would not retaliate or would only take symbolic counter-measures, it could "say goodbye to that delusion".

"Even though China and the US have not publicly said they are in a trade war, the sparks of such a war have already started to fly," the newspaper said.

The Ministry of Commerce said it was suspending its obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reduce tariffs on 120 US goods, including fruit and ethanol. The tariffs on those products will be raised by an extra 15pc.

Eight other products, including pork and scrap aluminium, would now be subject to additional tariffs of 25pc, it said, with the measures effective from yesterday.

"China's suspension of its tariff concessions is a legitimate action adopted under WTO rules to safeguard China's interests," the finance ministry said.

China is moving swiftly with retaliatory action amid escalating trade tension with the US, which has rocked global financial markets in the past week as investors fear a full-blown trade dispute between them will damage world growth.

US President Donald Trump is separately preparing to impose tariffs of more than $50bn (40.5bn) on Chinese goods following an investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 US Trade Act.

The US administration says China has systematically misappropriated American intellectual property - allegations China denies.

Sometime this week, the Trump administration is expected to unveil a list of Chinese goods that could be subjected to new US tariffs.

US technology industry officials said they expected the list to target products that benefit from Beijing's "Made in China 2025" programme, which aims to upgrade the domestic manufacturing base with more advanced products.

China has repeatedly promised to open its economy further, but many foreign companies complain of unfair treatment. China warned the United States last Thursday not to open a Pandora's Box and spark a flurry of protectionist practices across the globe.
John Thain, a former CEO of Merrill Lynch, is expected to join the troubled German bank in May, according to a source close to the lenders plans. Photo: PA

Deutsche Bank is preparing to reshuffle its supervisory board as the future of CEO John Cryan and chairman Paul Achleitner is called into question.

John Thain, a former CEO of Merrill Lynch, is expected to join the troubled German bank in May, according to a source close to the lender's plans. He is one of four nominees invited by the supervisory board to fill positions opening up this year, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn't public.

Cryan has been struggling to retain investor backing amid a slump in revenue despite resetting strategy since taking over in 2015. Concerns about the bank's turnaround prompted Mr Achleitner to hold discussions with potential successors, people with knowledge of the discussions said last week. The chairman is also coming under fire for having failed to forge a recovery after going through three CEOs in six years.

"I definitely welcome the overhaul of the supervisory board, although I would have liked to see it happen earlier," said Andreas Meyer, who manages fixed income securities including Deutsche Bank bonds at Aramea Asset Management in Hamburg.

He noted the shift to more directors with financial-sector backgrounds on the board, though a balance might be preferable, he said. "Should Achleitner now decide to replace Cryan, he has to step down as well," said Meyer. "He has been chairman of the supervisory board since May 2012 and that means he shares responsibility for the current situation."

Deutsche Bank has had a presence in Ireland since 1991 and employs over 650 people at its offices in Dublin's EastPoint Business Park. (Bloomberg)
Ant McPartlin was due to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday (John Stillwell/PA)

Ant McPartlin will appear in court charged with drink-driving almost one month after the alleged incident.

The TV presenter was due to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with the offence.

But the hearing was adjourned to April 16, a spokeswoman for the court said.

McPartlin was charged by postal requisition on March 21 after allegedly being involved in a collision with two other cars while he was driving his Mini in Richmond, west London, on March 18.

Thanks for all your lovely messages tonight, they are VERY much appreciated, Im glad you enjoyed the show. I didnt sleep an awful lot last night so Im off to bed! Night yall. D x  antanddec (@antanddec) March 31, 2018

After he was charged, ITV announced that the 42-year-olds co-presenter Declan Donnelly would go on to present the end of the current series of Saturday Night Takeaway on his own.

During the series finale, he joked he had twice the amount of work to do, and at one point said: Ill have to do it myself, like everything else this week.
The High Court has ordered an inquiry into the legality of the detention of a Chinese take-away owner who has lived and worked openly in Ireland for the last 16 years.

The application has been brought on behalf of Chinese native Mr Yuntao Yu, who has been detained at Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon since March 25th last on foot a deportation order issued in 2009.

Mr Yu, represented by barrister Gavin Keogh Bl instructed by solicitor Donal Quigley, claims his detention is unlawful on grounds including that there is no realistic prospect he will be removed from the state within the requisite time-frame.

Mr Yu, who has been based in Letterkenny Co Donegal for several years, argues it is unlawful for persons subject to deportation orders to spend any more than 56 days in detention.

Mr Keogh told Mr Justice Charles Meenan at Tuesday's sitting of the High Court that Mr Yu had previously spent 44 days in prison on foot of the same 2009 deportation order.

In addition Mr Yu (aged 36) does not have any travel documents which he needs to be provided with before any deportation order can be effected.

When the total amount of time was taken into account there seemed to be no possibility of Mr Yu being removed form the State within the required 56 days.

On that basis Mr Yu's continued detention is unlawful, and he should be released, counsel said.

Counsel said Mr Yu's detention was unnecessary and entirely disproportionate personal circumstances have changed considerably since the deportation order was made.

Mr Yu had been residing in Letterkenny with his wife, and family where he had been living openly and never sought to evade the authorities in any way, counsel said.

Since 2015 Mr Yu has run a take away food business located beside Letterkenny Garda Station, and under his own PPS, counsel said.

Through his business, which counsel said is registered with Revenue and the Companies Office he frequently interacts with many members of the Gardai and is known to them by name.

Counsel said it would be unjust to enforce the deportation order.in light of these facts, and Mr Yu will seek to have the deportation order revoked.

Mr Justice Meenan granted Mr Yu's lawyers an inquiry into the lawfulness of his detention under Article 40.4.2 of the Irish Constitution.

The Judge adjourned the matter to Wednesday's sitting of the Court to allow lawyers for the State to respond to the application.
ALL second-level pupils are to get classes in sexual consent in the biggest shake-up of sex education in more than 20 years.

Education Minister Richard Bruton has identified consent as a priority issue for a comprehensive review of the subject.

Personal rights and negotiating sexual relationships are already covered in the sex education curriculum for second-level pupils. Now, Mr Bruton wants to ensure that there is sufficient emphasis on the importance of consent and what it actually means.

Sexual-consent workshops are a growing feature at third-level, and the ministers move reflects a recognition that education around the issue must start earlier.

The announcement comes the week after the Belfast rape trial made consent a national issue, with calls for a broad conversation about what it means and how it is articulated.

In December, the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment pointed to an urgent need for a thorough review of sex education.

Relationships and sexuality education (RSE) has been mandatory for primary and post-primary pupils since the 1990s, but the curriculum is out of date, and sometimes it is not taught or not taught well.

Mr Brutons brief to curriculum advisers is to update RSE content so that it meets the needs of young people in modern Ireland, and to examine how well it is being delivered.

The minister, who announced the review at the start of his round of teacher union conferences, has written to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), giving pointers as to what he wants covered.

It will also encompass developments in contraception, healthy sexual expression, safe use of the internet, the effects of social media on relationships and self-esteem, as well as LGBTQ+ issues.

The review will cover both the primary and post-primary curriculum, and changes made will be age-appropriate.

The new review is open-ended and will look at all aspects of the curriculum, but educationalists consider it unlikely that sexual consent would be introduced until second level.

The focus at primary level is on relationships, respect and use of proper names for body parts, with senior classes learning about reproduction. For teens, it covers contraception, sexually transmitted infections and sexual orientation.

Young people today are growing up in a different cultural landscape from the 1990s, when the internet was in its infancy and social media networks had not been invented.

In terms of contraception, the 1990s curriculum was written well before the legalisation in Ireland on the morning-after pill in 2003. The emergency contraception became available without prescription in 2011.

The minister has also asked the NCCA to examine the experience and reality of RSE as delivered in schools, including the effectiveness of teacher training, supports offered by outside agencies and the level of involvement of parents.

The NCCA will seek the views of parents and students, as well as teachers and principals.

Mr Bruton emphasised the important role parents play in RSE and said a need for more effective communication from schools to parents about what is being taught had already been identified. The minister said he wanted to ensure that the RSE curriculum meets the needs of young people today, who face a range of different issues to those faced by young people in the late 1990s.

He added: The RSE curriculum fulfils an important function. Every student has a right to access information about sexual health, relationships and sexuality, and this must be delivered in a factual manner in every school.
THE Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) overwhelmingly backed a vote for joint industrial action while the INTO voted unanimously in favour of the same motion over pay equality.

ASTI members voted overwhelmingly at their 96th annual conference in Cork to set a deadline for next May for the Government to set out a clear and immediate path to tackling pay inequality.

If the Government do not outline an acceptable timetable for returning to a single pay scale for teachers, Ireland will face industrial action, up to all-out strikes, from next September by 70,000 teachers across three unions.

The motion was carried by what appeared to be a unanimous vote.

Meanwhile, primary teachers have voted unanimously for a ballot on strike action if the Government doesnt commit to pay equality within a month.

The annual conference of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) heard speaker after speak denounce two tier pay scales and there was hearty applause when a motion on industrial action to back up their pay demand passed without any dissenting voice.

ASTI President Ger Curtin tabled a motion which warned: "Convention demands that the proposed engagement must commence in April 2018 and conclude by early May 2018 and have the capacity to achieve a resolution of all aspects of pay inequality."

The ASTI motion confirmed that industrial action will be co-ordinated with other teacher unions if a Government deal is not agreed.

"Pay inequality has dogged our profession for the past seven years. To use the word urgent does not do it service - it was urgent seven years ago," Mr Curtin said.

"We have been fighting this fight in ASTI since pay inequality was first introduced."

"We will not let this drag on into another school year."

The ASTI conference was told the pay disparity extends to 50pc over the first 13 years pay for young entrants.

Some ASTI members warned that young teachers now have to hold down a second job just to be able to pay their bills.

The ASTI boss said the Government face a very different prospect with industrial action by three teacher unions.

"Seventy thousand teachers is a lot of people," he said.

"That would be my take on the prospect."

"Now, Leo (Varadkar) it is time to deliver - justice and equality for all teachers is at the heart of this motion."

Mr Curtin stressed that a unified stance by all three teacher unions was "hugely important."

The ASTI waged a solitary campaign of industrial action against pay cuts and pay inequality over recent years.

The ASTI boss said that pay inequality was now "prompting young teachers to vote with their feet and leave Ireland for work overseas."

He also said that pay inequality was destroying morale within staff rooms at Irish schools.

"There have been a significant number of young teachers and new entrants to the profession impacted by this," he said.

The industrial action motion was seconded by Siobhan Peters, a young teacher who earns substantially less than her older colleagues because she entered the profession after 2011.

"I am now five increments behind a 2010 graduate (in pay)," she told ASTI delegates

"No-one expected us to get pay parity overnight. I feel our engagement with this process needs to bear fruit before the start of the new school year."

Former ASTI President Ed Byrne warned the current stance was "progress for slow learners."

"The ASTI took industrial action from July 2016 when we withdrew from Croke Park hours as a process."

He said new entrants only got some pay concessions after the ASTI had taken strong industrial action.

"The other two unions know that now and that is why they are threatening industrial action."

Mr Curtin said he believed around 20,000 of the 70,000 teachers in Ireland are now impacted, to varying degree, by the pay inequality issue.

"But it is very important that people don't confuse salary with equality," he said.

The ASTI boss said it was misleading to refer to a starting salary of Euro 36,000 for young teachers when many young entrants only get three or hour hours work each week.

"That is assuming they get full hours and a significant number of young teachers do not get full hours - some of them don't get full hours for a long, long time.'

Mr Curtin acknowledged that the Government estimate around Euro 200 million is required to tackle the pay inequality issue.

But he pointed out that the Government seem to be able to find money for their own priority projects.

"Why are we footing the cost of educating and training these young teachers for the benefit of other countries where they are now going to work."

Numerous ASTI delegates warned that their union "has done all the heavy lifting" in respect of using industrial action to fight for the rights of new entrants.

"Let's no flinch this time," one delegate warned.

"This is not a fair Government - industrial action with the TUI and INTO is our only option. It is a hard option but it is the only option."

Tipperary teacher Mary Linden has two children working as young teachers.

"Knowing now how things turned out, I would probably say to them don't do it - look elsewhere (for careers)."

She said the TUI and INTO had effectively "stolen the clothes" of the ASTI.

"They were Rip Van Winkling up until recently - we (ASTI) were the ones carrying the can for young entrants," she said.

ASTI Sligo member Gerry Breslin demanded a special triple-lock in the pay equality talks to ensure no union can walk away from the Government talks until all three unions are in agreement on the outcome.

ASTI Fermoy delegate Richard Terry warned it was vital all three unions co-ordinate their actions.

"What happened last year was that the membership began to flinch. It is vital that when we go forward with this motion...(there is) coordination with the other unions. If that is not there members will see people in other unions getting benefits they are not."

"We need to have 70,000 teachers standing in one line - they must all be lined up together."

"We must all stand together or we will surely all hang together."

Earlier, at the Teachers' Union of Ireland conference in Wexford their general-secretary John MacGabhann also spoke about the issue dominating this years teacher conferences: pay inequality and unions attempts to have new entrants to the profession on the same pay scales as older members.

The TUI has rejected the Public Service Stability Agreement and already has a mandate for industrial action.

We are determined to persuade government to accept that pay parity must be established without delay, John MacGabhann said, adding that the Government chose to take more from teachers than it did from other public service workers. It returned to the scene of the crime - not once but twice. It plundered our members pay more often, more steeply. Restitution, therefore, is more costly.

He urged delegates to lobby politicians on pay restitution, particularly in the run-up to the next general election, and said any members who are also members of a political party should threaten to withhold their support unless justice is served for teachers.

Tell them that you will not organise, canvass or vote for them until they do the right thing... Tell them that the Budget is a defining moment.
Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, TD at the Irish National Teachers Organisation, (INTO) Annual Congress at the INEC in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Picture credit; Damien Eagers

Education Minister Richard Bruton signalled to teacher unions vowing to take strike action over pay inequality that the Government are now prepared to address the issue.

Mr Bruton was repeatedly heckled by protestors at the ASTI conference in Cork with shouts of "equal pay" and "pay up" as he delivered his address to the union's 96th annual conference.

The minister was repeatedly jeered by delegates carrying placards when he outlined the resources the Government have devoted to the education sector over recent years.

"We have found 1billion extra for education," he said.

"I have developed the Action Plan for Education. That has set a bold ambition that by 2026 we will have the best education system in Europe."

That prompted loud jeers from the floor with delegates shouting "equal pay," "pay up" and "better school resources."

The minister did not set a deadline to offer the ASTI, INTO and TUI a timetable for the restoration of a single pay scale across the Irish primary and secondary school sector.

Over 800,000 primary and secondary school students now face the threat of strike action from September by all three teacher unions unless an acceptable pay equality restoration package is tabled.

The unions have set early May as a deadline for progress on the issue.

Mr Bruton arrived at the ASTI's annual conference in Cork to be greeted by a protest with 40 demonstrators carrying placards demanding urgent action on pay equality.

Protestors then followed him into the conference venue - and heckled when he failed to immediately address the issue of pay equality in his conference speech opening.

Mr Bruton said there are four areas where Ireland faces major challenges - digital technology, special needs, school leadership and teacher supply.

However, the conference erupted to loud cheers when he referenced the issue of pay equality for young teachers.

"I know your union has a justifiable demand for more progress on the issue of new entrant pay," he said.

"I am glad that very early on in my period in Government I was able to negotiate an improvement in the deal for new (teacher) entrants."

"It has improved the opportunity for young teacher to get access to (permanent) contracts."

He vowed the Government will now address the issue of equal pay after what he termed "a lost decade."

"There will be engagement and negotiations on that starting from April 27," he said.

"This is an area where I believe we can make progress and the Government is committed to achieving progress."

"Half of some extra funding allocations....have (already) gone on pay restoration."

"I believe we need to build up our capability in our education sector in the future."

"We do need to ensure that quality people get the chance to participate and that people with significant skills are valued."

"I am proud that I have been able to employ 5,000 extra teachers on full time contacts over recent years," he said.

"What is encouraging is to see a growing number of teachers getting work here at home and a declining number emigrating."

"We need to make sure that education is the force that drives progression in this country."

"The risk of marginalisation becomes even greater in the years ahead as the threat of people being left behind in the backwash."

"There is no doubt that the power of the new technologies have to be harnessed within our education system."

"Every citizen has the right to an equal education. We do not want to see any child left behind."

Mr Bruton insisted that the role of teachers will also be protected.

But that prompted renewed shouts of "pay up, pay up."

"There can be no crude league tables - we must protect and develop the role of teachers in the years ahead."

"It is a very important year," he said.

"Looking to the future, I am absolutely convinced that education will be the driver of our future prosperity. It will be talent that will drive our achievements in that area."

"If you want to pre-empt threats such as Brexit, again it will be education in many areas such as science and technology that will hold the key to our future."

"The onus on education is to provide inspiration and the drive to solve our problems."

Mr Bruton said the success of the Irish secondary education sector is borne out by the fact that 50 years ago just 5pc of Irish students went on to third level - today around 66pc of people go on to achieve a third level qualification.

ASTI President Ger Curtin received a standing ovation when he warned that the Irish education sector can no longer sustain the fall-out from pay inequality.

"Teachers are voting with their feet - that is the fate for the Irish education sector unless we tackle this issue right now," he said.

"We know there is no magic pill but we have to take urgent action now."

"The fact that post 2010 entrants face income losses of Euro 100,000 over their career is not fair - it is not fair pay."

"In Ireland, doing more with less seems to be the norm."

The ASTI boss warned that the education sector desperately needs greater resources and pay equality as the basis for a bright future.
Homeless children are struggling in school, a primary teachers leader told Education Minister Richard Bruton today.

About 3,755 children are now homeless across Ireland and recent figures show 500 became homeless in February, the biggest increase since records began

That translated in 35 pupils becoming homeless every two days during the month, Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) general secretary Sheila Nunan said.

Ms Nunan said it was the equivalent of more than an entire primary school class.

She said the particular impact of homelessness on children was a big concern of teachers as the lack of a proper and stable home impacted on access to school could undermine their entire education.

And she strongly criticised the lack of response from the Department of Education and Skills.

Schoolchildren who are homeless are seriously struggling in school while their teachers struggle to help them to cope, she said in her keynote address to the INTO annual conference.

Addressing Mr Bruton, who started his round of teacher union conferences at the INTO, she demanded: What will it take? A classroom of children every day?

She called for additional resources to support homeless children in school and also demanded advice and guidance

Teachers are waiting for the Department to recognise that homelessness is an educational crisis too, she said

On the broader front Ms Nunan called for a major public housing building programme, led by local authorities, delivering a minimum of 10,000 new homes annually over the next five years.

She said there should be some housing prioritisation for essential service workers particularly in the major urban centres.

If you want teachers in Dublin in the near future, she told the Minister, then affordable housing has to be a priority.

She also called for greater levels of protection for tenants and an end to evictions to nowhere.

Ms Nunan said the housing crisis was impacting on the living standards of working people and putting untold pressure on incomes, with 27pc of disposable income going on rent in some areas.

Many teachers are acutely affected by this crisis, especially those on lower salaries attempting to get on the property ladder, she said.
The quality of education offered to pupils suffers dramatically when there is a shortage of teachers, a union leader pointedly warned.

Difficulties faced by primary schools in recruiting substitute teachers will have a direct impact on quality, according to Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) president John Boyle.

He compared performances with findings from another global study eight years ago, involving pupils in Ireland who had come through a period when there was a shortage of qualified teachers.

He referred to the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment of 2010, when 15-year-olds in Ireland dropped dramatically down the world rankings for reading and maths.

Mr Boyle said that cohort of pupils "did not have access to fully qualified teachers every day" because they had come through primary at a time when there was a teacher shortage.

"Education cuts take a long time to heal and consequences are felt years afterwards."

He said pupils were entitled to a proper teacher every day, and called on Education Minister Richard Bruton to do more to ensure a ready supply of qualified substitutes to cover for teacher absences.

In his opening address to the INTO annual conference, Mr Boyle pointed to recent positive outcomes for Ireland from an international pupil assessment, known as PIRLS. It found that Irish 10-year-olds had the best reading skills in Europe and among the best in the world.

He said it was "no coincidence that the pupils who sat these tests have benefited from fully qualified teachers throughout their years in school".

The INTO president said that a minister who could not provide a qualified teacher every day "has no claim to building the best education system in Europe".

A survey by the Catholic Primary School Management Association (CPSMA) in the current school year has brought the scale of the substitute shortage into sharp focus,

In the first two months of the year, primary principals were unable to find a qualified substitute for one-in-three vacancies, such as a teacher illness.

In some cases the vacancy was filled by someone who was not a registered teacher, but in most cases, no substitute was found.

It translates into many pupils losing out on tuition, and merely being supervised, or split between other classes.

The CPSMA survey was conducted in September-October, and nothing as comprehensive has been carried out since, but principals say that generally the need for substitution becomes greater over the winter.

Mr Boyle called on Mr Bruton to restore paid panels of qualified teachers to cover absences and teaching principals' administration days "as a matter of urgency".

He accused the minister, who recently described the panel system as "expensive and ineffective", of having a very negative attitude.

"Such a scheme worked successfully until it was abandoned by government in 2010. That negative attitude will lose us our top ranking internationally," said Mr Boyle.

The INTO says establishing panels of qualified teachers, and paying them to be available, would be an incentive to young teachers to stay in Ireland.

Professor Anne O'Gara, president of the Marino Institute of Education teacher training college, expressed concern at the conference that while nurses were held in growing esteem, steps needed to be taken to ensure teachers continued to be highly valued.

She referred to the "exodus of young teachers to the Middle East and beyond in search of better pay and conditions and the resultant problem of teacher supply".

Prof O'Gara said the education community had a role to play to ensure that the status of teaching as a profession continued to be highly valued by the Government and the public at large.

Problems around teacher supply will be debated at the conference today, where delegates will call for the restoration of supply panels, and commit the union leadership to keeping a tighter watch on where vacancies cannot be filled.
Teachers are giving the Government a month to produce a commitment to end two-tier pay rates - or strike ballots that could close schools in the autumn will go ahead.

As the three teachers' unions gather at their annual conferences, the mood is hardening for an early deal to eliminate lower salary scales for new entrants.

The three unions, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI), are forming a united front to take on the Government on the issue.

A common, strongly worded motion has been agreed by the union leaderships which calls for negotiations on pay inequality to begin by the end of April and to conclude by early May.

The new motion updates earlier and separate motions decided individually by the unions ahead of the conferences, and puts them all on exactly the same footing

By early May, the unions want an agreement that has "the capacity to achieve a resolution of all aspects of pay inequality". At minimum, that would involve a commitment by the Government to end pay inequality. Failing that, ballots for industrial action, up to and including strike, will go ahead.

Delegates at both the INTO and the ASTI conferences will debate the motion today with an expectation that it will be passed. It is also expected to be debated by the TUI at its conference today.

INTO president John Boyle said yesterday the patience of the teachers' unions was "definitely running very, very thin in relation to seven or eight years of dastardly cuts to the young teachers".

Mr Boyle confirmed that if pay equality has not been negotiated by the start of the next school year, they would be "shutting down schools and withdrawing labour".

Lower pay scales for public servants were introduced after 2010 as a cost-cutting measure at the height of the austerity era.

More teachers have been affected than any other group because teachers continued to be recruited right through the recession to cope with rising school enrolments.

There are more than 16,000 teachers on lower salary scales, representing 27pc of all public servants on new entrant rates.

A recent report on pay equalisation across the public service, which put the cost of restoration at 200m, including 59m for teachers, laid the foundations for upcoming negotiations.

With all Opposition parties supporting equality, the issue is now firmly on the political agenda.

Post-austerity pay deals have restored about 75pc of the pay losses, but teachers recruited since 2011 will still be up to 100,000 worse off over a career as a result of the lower scales.
Komeera Pillay, left and Katie Lynch, from Dublin primary school teachers teaching in Lucan at the Irish National Teachers Organisation, (INTO), annual congress at the INEC in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Picture credit: Damien Eagers 3/4/2018

Dervila Kelly, 24, from Boston in Clare at the Irish National Teachers Organisation, (INTO), annual congress at the INEC in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Picture credit: Damien Eagers 3/4/2018

THE Government were warned that the prospect of 70,000 primary and secondary school teachers taking industrial action from September will immediately focus minds on pay equality.

The warning came as Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) President Ger Curtin stressed that Education Minister Richard Bruton faces "a very different prospect" of industrial action over pay equality by all three teacher unions rather than just one (ASTI).

"Seventy thousand teachers is a lot of people," he said.

"That would be my take on the prospect."

Expand Close Komeera Pillay, left and Katie Lynch, from Dublin primary school teachers teaching in Lucan at the Irish National Teachers Organisation, (INTO), annual congress at the INEC in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Picture credit: Damien Eagers 3/4/2018 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Komeera Pillay, left and Katie Lynch, from Dublin primary school teachers teaching in Lucan at the Irish National Teachers Organisation, (INTO), annual congress at the INEC in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Picture credit: Damien Eagers 3/4/2018

Mr Curtin stressed that a unified stance by all three teacher unions was "hugely important."

The ASTI, which waged a solitary campaign of industrial action against pay cuts and pay inequality over recent years, will vote on an emergency motion this afternoon to stand with both the INTO and TUI in demanding a pathway to the restoration of full pay equality from May.

Mr Curtin said there is now the "very real prospect" of industrial action in all Irish schools from September.

The ASTI boss warned that pay inequality was now "prompting young teachers to vote with their feet and leave Ireland for work overseas."

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He also said that pay inequality was destroying morale within staff rooms at Irish schools.

"There have been a significant number of young teachers and new entrants to the profession impacted by this," he said.

Mr Curtin said he believed around 20,000 of the 70,000 teachers in Ireland are now impacted, to varying degree, by the pay inequality issue.

"But it is very important that people don't confuse salary with equality," he said.

The ASTI boss said it was misleading to refer to a starting salary of 36,000 for young teachers.

"That is assuming they get full hours and a significant number of young teachers do not get full hours - some of them don't get full hours for a long, long time.'

Mr Curtin acknowledged that the Government estimate around 200 million is required to tackle the pay inequality issue.

But he pointed out that the Government seem to be able to find money for their own priority projects.

"Why are we footing the cost of educating and training these young teachers for the benefit of other countries where they are now going to work."
Dingle natives have moved to defend the town following a tourist's complaint over the apparent lack of Irish being spoken there.

In a strongly worded letter to the Irish Independent, John Leahy of Wilton Road, Co Cork, said that while on a recent trip to the Kerry town, he and his wife "quickly discovered that few if anybody there speaks as Gaeilge".

"We naively expected that, being in Dingle, in the Gaeltacht, the Irish language would be spoken widely throughout," Mr Leahy said.

However, he claimed that none of the staff at their accommodation could speak even basic Irish.

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Mr Leahy said he was met with similar issues on visiting businesses in the Gaeltacht town and that "nobody we met seemed embarrassed or apologetic, despite the town being festooned with business and street names, as well as directional signs in Irish".

However, in response, several of the town's pubs and hotels dismissed this claim as being "simply wrong".

Kerry GAA star Paul Geaney, who helps manage his family's pub Geaney's Bar and Restaurant, said: "You wouldn't have to go far to hear someone talking in Irish. Around this time of the year we have a lot of tourists so obviously we would assume they don't speak Irish. Even many Irish people who visit the town have trouble with the language, so we mainly converse with them in English. But, having said that, you would hear Irish being spoken regularly in shops, pubs and around the town.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I honestly don't see how someone could visit here and not pick up on any Irish being spoken."

Barr na Sraide B&B owner Daithi Geaney said that anyone who attempts to communicate in Irish with a Dingle native can expect an Irish reply.

"The vast majority of us went to Irish schools and spoke it daily from a very young age so we're well used to conversing in it," he said.

"There are much more non-Irish people setting up businesses and working here in recent times, but you can't say the language isn't being used at all - that would be simply wrong."

However, language planner Aine Moynihan said "there is no doubt more needs to be done" to help people access the language. "It's for that reason we're putting together a language plan," she told 'The Kerryman', "to help the people of Dingle and to give them a chance to improve Irish in their town."
Workers at the country's largest pension provider will strike after the announced closure of one of their own schemes.

Staff at Irish Life are set to strike on Thursday, April 12, in response to the company stating it will scrap the defined benefit pension scheme from June 30.

The scheme has more than 3,300 members, including pensioners and deferred members.

It has never been in deficit and has a surplus of more than 200m, with assets of around 1.1bn, according to Unite.

"It is particularly ironic that those working for the country's largest pension provider are being forced to take industrial action to defend their own pensions," said Unite regional co-ordinating officer Richie Browne. "That irony will not be lost on the public and in particular Irish Life customers, who look to the company to provide security in retirement."

The union warned the strike could "escalate" beyond one day.

A spokeswoman for Irish Life said following a "detailed review" of the liabilities and costs of two defined benefit pension schemes - the Irish Life Staff Benefits Scheme and Canada Life Irish Pension Scheme - Irish Life had "made the decision to end future accrual on these schemes".

"Irish Life is aware of Unite's plans, and will be working to ensure that any disruption to customers is minimised."

She said that Irish Life will engage with employee representative groups and remains open to negotiating with Unite.

The company said it believes closing the schemes was the right thing to do to ensure the interests of all scheme members. "The closure to future accruals is designed to ensure that the accrued pension benefits and the link to final salary are sustainable into the future."
The 2018 presidential campaign is hotting up. While many believe that Michael D Higgins will seek a second term, TV presenter-turned artist Kevin Sharkey has thrown his hat into the ring  a move thats not without irony.

First, I wrote in this column two years ago about what an extraordinary luxury the presidency was at the time that the homelessness crisis was just becoming news.

Indeed, it was revealed that Sharkey was himself homeless, at the exact time that the catering budget for the president was revealed to be an eye-watering 16,500 a week.

So, at first instance, how ironic it is that Sharkey should now be seeking that very post, which comes of course with the ultimate perk of the 95-room residence in the Phoenix Park.

Sharkey is a man who has lived a thousand lives, and as such could well present himself as an ideal president for the people, someone who has experienced first-hand the depths of despair that are unknown to most politicians.

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As Irelands first black president, he would understand the difficulties that minorities face and open up a new period of inclusiveness.

Well, actually, not quite.

Because the greatest irony in Sharkeys tilt for the presidency is that it seems to be founded on an anti-immigration policy.

Speaking to Ray DArcy on Saturday night, he gave his surprising views on the subject.

Weve shifted away from looking after the Irish first, said Sharkey.

Ive seen the good and bad sides of immigration, how it helps a country to grow, but also how it puts a strain on resources.

We have a history of helping people, and sometimes word gets out.

In expressing his opinion that Ireland is a soft-touch when it comes to welcoming foreigners, Sharkey points out the dangers of such a policy.

You go to the UK and you see what mass immigration has done to certain parts. And if you say that, people call you xenophobic and racist. I say OK. At that point, his argument trailed off.

This stance is nothing new for Sharkey, of course. Two years ago, he gave an interview to a newspaper in which he announced his policy in very straightforward terms.

Ireland first. Its my principle, but it should be a law, he said.

Its an unfortunate slogan, given its echoes of Britain First, the notorious far-right political organisation across the water, which preaches a staunchly anti-immigration ethos.

Theres an unavoidable irony in Sharkey, whose Nigerian father benefitted from our policy of welcoming immigrants.

When asked whether hes calling for restrictions on immigration, he said: We should have an honest and open dialogue about it without being called racist.

This vague response, which fails to give a straight answer to a straight question, might seem to heap further criticism on Sharkey. It does however, suggest one thing  he would make a very good politician.
Bestselling author Emma Hannigan, who died on Saturday aged 45 following an 11-year battle with breast cancer

One month after the death of popular author Emma Hanigan, Breast Cancer Ireland has announced that a cancer research fellowship will be named in her honour.

Emma Hanigan died on March 3 after battling cancer 10 times since she was first diagnosed in 2005.

In the month before her death, the Irish author raised more than 126,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland (BCI) through a text campaign.

The charity is now working with the Royal College of Surgeons on a three-year research project.

Doctor Damir Varislija has been awarded the fellowship which has been named in Emma's honour.

In a statement, BCI's CEO, Aisling Hurley said: The naming of this fellowship in Emmas honour recognises her valuable contribution to our research efforts and it ensures her memory lives on in transforming the landscape of breast cancer in Ireland into the future.

Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland, Ms Hurley said Emma benefited hugely from cancer research when she was battling her illness.

"Her life was extended because of development through cancer treatment," she said.

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"Each time she was diagnosed there was a new drug or clinical trial that she could avail of."

Ms Hurley said Emma's family were "thrilled" with the news that the fellowship would be named in honour of the author.

She said the charity will continue to raise funds for the research project after its three-year run.

Ms Hurley also announced that Dubray Books revealed to her last week that they had raised 18,000 for the charity.

The bookstore had joined Emma's text campaign by donating all profits from the sales of her last book Letters to my Daughters to BCI.

The bookstore also announced that their courier company would be donating their costs to the charity.

Emma, who was mother to Sacha (17) and Kim (15), had been fighting breast cancer for several years and had fought it off 10 times before she finally passed away.

In 2005, the writer discovered that she was carrying the BRCA 1 cancer gene, which meant an 85pc chance of developing breast cancer and a 50pc chance of ovarian cancer.

To reduce her risk to 5pc, the author had surgery to remove her breasts, ovaries and fallopian tubes.

Despite this, she was still diagnosed with cancer in 2007, beginning her 11-year battle with the disease.
An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Youths attack Police vehicles as they try to prevent Members of Derry 1916 Easter Commemoration committee take part in an unregistered parade in the the Creggan area of Derry Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday April 2, 2018. Easter parades are held annually across The Island of Ireland by Republicans to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin against British rule. See PA story ULSTER Parade. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Police have been pelted with petrol bombs and projectiles at an illegal dissident republican march in Derry.

The Derry 1916 Commemoration Committee began their march through the Creggan estate to the citys cemetery at 2pm on Easter Monday.

The parade was not listed with the Parades Commission. Ahead of the march police landrovers in the Creggan area were pelted with petrol bombs and bottles as hundreds gathered for the parade.

Police were again attacked as the parade entered Derry City Cemetery. There are not thought to have been any injuries.

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Whatsapp An un-notified Easter Commemoration parade takes place in the Creggan area of Derry on April 2nd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

Sporadic trouble continued for around two hours on Monday.

Police have confirmed around seven petrol bombs were thrown at police as well as items of masonry.

Disgraceful that our @PoliceServiceNI officers were attacked with petrol bombs and other missiles today. No room for this behaviour in our community and it must be roundly condemned. https://t.co/fssA8Tc03u  NI Policing Board (@NIPolicingBoard) April 2, 2018

There was some damage to police vehicles but there are no reports of any injuries and no arrests have made at this time.

Chief Inspector Ivor Morton said: In relation to todays event in Derry/Londonderry we attempted to engage with the organisers of the parade over a period of time in a bid to facilitate their event within the law.

Expand Close Youths attack Police vehicles as they try to prevent Members of Derry 1916 Easter Commemoration committee take part in an unregistered parade in the the Creggan area of Derry Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday April 2, 2018. Easter parades are held annually across The Island of Ireland by Republicans to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin against British rule. See PA story ULSTER Parade. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Youths attack Police vehicles as they try to prevent Members of Derry 1916 Easter Commemoration committee take part in an unregistered parade in the the Creggan area of Derry Northern Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Monday April 2, 2018. Easter parades are held annually across The Island of Ireland by Republicans to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin against British rule. See PA story ULSTER Parade. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

"The organisers declined to enter into any discussions with police on this matter.

"The organisers also stated in the run-up to todays event they were informed by police the parade would be stopped and would not be allowed to go ahead.

"This was patently untrue and can only be viewed as an attempt by those behind the parade as a bid to raise tensions in the area.

"It is, therefore, regrettable that in raising those tensions a small number of people saw fit to attack police officers with petrol bombs in what was clearly a premeditated attack.

"I want to be clear that for anyone who engaged in actions that were unlawful or detrimental to community safety, there will be consequences through the criminal justice system.

"Police will review all video footage collected today and will robustly pursue all possible enquiries to identify those involved and bring them before the courts."

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Sinn Fein councillor Kevin Campbell hit out at those responsible for the disturbance.

He said: "Everyone has the right to remember their dead with dignity and respect.

However, the petrol bomb and stone attacks on the PSNI in Creggan today by masked individuals close to a commemoration were dangerous and disgraceful.

Thankfully no one has been seriously injured but the police must now bring those responsible before the courts.

Incidents like these, apart from the risk to life and limb, are in no ones interests.

DUP Foyle MLA Gary Middleton called on the PSNI to investigate the parade.

"This was an unregistered parade and today the scenes coming from the Creggan area have been totally disgraceful," he said.

"People in paramilitary style uniform is wrong and the continued glorification of terrorism is abhorrent.

"Nobody has a desire to see the violence on display today, except for barbaric thugs intent on endangering life and property. The PSNI were there to protect the community - people who live in fear at displays and parades such as this one today.

"The Police have to be praised for the work they continue to do this weekend, as they uphold the law and thoroughly deal with illegal parades and displays of such a disturbing nature.

"Among those that were involved in hurling petrol bombs were young people.

"I hope the actions of all involved are investigated and those responsible feel the full weight of the law. The over-riding desire of many is to see events pass off peacefully and without any paramilitary trappings, unfortunately a minority in our communities are intent on creating destruction and fear.

"Again the demands of respect and equality from republicans ring hallow when there is little shown to those who uphold the law and work to keep communities safe. Those involved should not believe they are above the law."

UUP MLA Doug Beattie said: The footage of children - some as young as 12 - pelting the PSNI with petrol bombs is a depressing reflection of our past and a possible insight to our future.

"It is thoroughly depressing watching these children riot in the Creggan estate in Londonderry at the behest of so-called dissident republicans, who are seeking to follow the road map laid down by Sinn Fein, who werent averse to orchestrating the odd riot in the past.

It may be that the manufactured political vacuum we find ourselves in is leaving some people feeling disenfranchised and easy pickings for the men of violence, but in reality, politics has little attraction for the type of people who are wedded to violence, fear and the hold that brings over communities which are subjugated and forced to live in misery as a result."

Mark Lindsay, chairperson of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland called the attacks on police officers "appalling and disgraceful."

He added: Let me make something clear: anyone who throws petrol bombs at Police vehicles or individual Officers is out to cause maximum physical harm.

They want to maim or kill Officers. Thats the stark reality of their actions.

They only know how to wreck and undermine. They are bankrupt thugs with nothing but misery to offer a community. They cling desperately to a past, unwilling to recognise the gains that have been made and unwilling to imagine a better future for the entire community.

There was orchestration behind this unrest with young people being manipulated by older and sinister puppet-masters. They are brainwashing these youths into believing that violence is the only way forward and, of course, it isnt.

I know our Officers will deal with this violence with professionalism. Some dissidents set out to cause mayhem during an illegal parade. They will not succeed.

Officers will not be bullied or deflected in the job they have to do. The rioters who wanted to burn Officers alive in their vehicles have to be made amenable for their cowardly actions. To do that, I would appeal to the local community who may know who these people are to help us rid the community of this menace.
Budget carrier Norwegian Air International (NAI) has confirmed it is to suspend its transatlantic service from Cork for the winter months.

The airline confirmed that "following a comprehensive review of services, Norwegian has decided to suspend some routes during the quieter winter season due to lower demand."

The announcement is a major blow to Cork Airport which had celebrated the launch of its first-ever scheduled service to the US just last July.

It had been hoped the year-round service from Cork to Providence, Rhode Island, serving the greater Boston area, would be a major success - and that NAI would follow-up by adding a second service from Cork to New York.

However, NAI will now operate a summer-only service from Cork to Providence for 2018/19.

NAI also suspended winter operations to Providence/Boston from Shannon and Edinburgh.

The potential launch of a Cork-New York route still remains under negotiation.

It is understood the decision to restrict the Cork-Providence route to summer-only operations is in direct response to lower than anticipated passenger bookings over the winter months.

Cork Airport confirmed the Providence/Boston service will now operate by Norwegian between March and October - but insisted the service had been a great success with negotiations underway with other carriers about routes to the US and Canada.

"Advance bookings for this summer are very strong - the route is proving very popular in both directions for US visitors to the south of Ireland as well as those heading to the east coast of the US," a Cork Airport spokesman said.

The Dublin-New York service operated by NAI is expected to remain a year round route.

Several analysts had expressed concern about the ability of the Cork-Providence route - rather than the predicted Cork-New York rout - to justify year-round operations.

Ironically, the decision to restrict the Cork route to summer-only operations follows predictions Ireland will enjoy record visitor numbers from North American in 2018.

NAI last year vowed to revolutionise the transatlantic market as they announced returns fares from Ireland to Boston and New York from just 138.

The fares, inclusive of all taxes and charges, were available on all new NAI flights planned from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the two US cities.

NAI launched the first-ever direct scheduled flights from Cork to the US on July 1.

Airline boss Bjorn Kjos confirmed that the carrier would operate 12 flights weekly from Dublin to Boston/Providence and New York, four flights weekly from Shannon to Boston/Providence and New York as well as three departures weekly from Cork to Boston/Providence.

Dublin secured a daily departure to New York's Stewart Airport, located about an hour north of New York City.

Mr Kjos had said a Cork-New York link was their first option but, for operational reasons, they launched the Boston/Providence route instead with the New York route to follow from Cork in 2018.

However, there is no indication the New York route will materialise this year.

NAI fly to non-hub US airports and replicate the hugely successful Ryanair model on the money-spinning transatlantic route.

The airline won a two year battle with the US authorities to secure operating rights from Ireland to Boston and New York.

Norwegian use a new generation of high-efficiency aircraft such as the Boeing 737-MAX to offer exceptionally low fares on its Irish-US routes.

Speaking at the launch of the Cork service, Mr Kjos said it was a landmark for Irish aviation services.

"This is a wonderful day for us and we are very happy with all the support that Ireland and the Irish people have given us in our bid to get these flights launched over the past two years," he said.

Mr Kjos said he believed NAI and their low-fare policy will have a major impact on the market.

"Some people do not like low fares for their own reasons. But we believe that the public like low air fares and will support these new routes."

Unlike carrier such as Aer Lingus, United and Delta which operate to major US hub airports, NAI fly to smaller airports including Stewart Airport in Orange County, New York state and Green Airport in Rhode Island.

These offer major savings on landing fee charges.

However, Mr Kjos insisted both airports offer excellent public transport links to Boston and New York.
FIANNA Fail is to seek a change in the law to give rape complainants access to legal representation during a trial.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has said he intends to review how such trials are conducted here in the wake of the Belfast rape case. It will include the question of whether complainants should have their own legal representative.

Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim OCallaghan branded Mr Flanagans plan for a review as non-committal.

Concerns have been raised about how such trials are carried out after the case in Belfast where the woman who made the complaint faced questions from four separate legal teams.

That case ended in the acquittal of all four defendants, including Ireland and Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding, who were found not guilty of rape.

Mr OCallaghan, meanwhile, said there was public concern over whether there was enough support in place for complainants in rape and sexual assault trials and that the issue should be prioritised.

He said the system in the Republic was more advanced than in Northern Ireland, but he added: We must recognise that we need to strengthen supports available to complainants whilst at the same time not undermining the right that an accused has to defend himself.

Mr OCallaghan said that Fianna Fail would bring forward legislation to amend the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 when the Dail returned after its Easter break.

He said that the proposed change would see a complainant entitled to request separate legal representation during the prosecution of cases where the alleged offence involves sexual violence, gender-based violence, or violence in a close relationship. This legal representation would be paid for by the State.

A Department of Justice spokesman insisted Mr Flanagans review was starting the review immediately, with the minister to consult with all stakeholders, particularly those representing victims.

He said legal advice for complaints ias available in certain limited circumstances. This is in instances where the complainants sexual history is being raised in a case.

Mr Flanagan wants to examine if provision of legal advice can be extended.

His review is to examine existing legislation and maintaining the integrity of the trial process, among other areas.

Mr OCallaghan said another priority should be to get updated data on the extent of sexual violence in Ireland. Mr Flanagan has indicated that he wants an update of the Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland (SAVI) report.
Minister Josepha Madigan has been appointed to coordinate Fine Gael efforts to repeal the Eighth Amendment.

The party is divided on abortion with some junior ministers, TDs and Senators against changing the law but Fine Gael is allowing its members a free vote on the issue.

Ms Madigan, the culture minister, is to coordinate the campaign by Fine Gael members who support repeal and the introduction of a more liberal abortion regime in Ireland.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and several senior ministers support a 'Yes' vote in the upcoming abortion referendum.

The opposing Save the 8th campaign congratulated Ms Madigan on the role and said she will have a "challenging job".

It claimed she will have to "sell UK-style abortion on demand to a country that has never given any indication that it would support such a proposal".

Mr Varadkar made the announcement that Ms Madigan will coordinate the Fine Gael 'Yes' campaign this evening.

He said she will work with health minister Simon Harris, other Fine Gael representatives, and the Together For Yes umbrella group to advocate for a 'Yes' vote.

Mr Varadkar said he looked forward to working closely with her and "outlining why I believe now is the time for change".

Ms Madigan said she is "honoured" to take up the role and that to play her part in "bringing about much-needed change for Irish women."

She said at least nine Irish women travel to avail of abortion services abroad every day and others buy abortion pills online and use them without medical supervision.

She added: "We can no longer continue to ignore these facts."

Ms Madigan said in her view it's a women's healthcare issue and the Eighth Amendment hasn't prevented abortion in Ireland.

"We have abortion here, it is just unsafe, unregulated and unlawful," she said.

She also said it's "inhumane" to expect women who have been raped or receive a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality to travel abroad to avail of abortion services.

Mr Varadkar said that the referendum on May 25 will see the Irish people have the chance to make a positive change to the Constitution, "to trust women and trust doctors".

He said: "If the people vote Yes, a safe, regulated, doctor-led system for the termination of pregnancy will be introduced here.

"There will be restrictions set out in law and we will be guided by best medical practice."

Mr Varadkar added:

If we dont remove the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution, nothing can change for Irish women."

"Only by securing a Yes vote can we provide women with the care they need here in Ireland, without fear of breaking the law," he added.
A priest has defended an elderly member of the clergy after Senator Catherine Noone described him as an "octogenarian" on Twitter.

Ms Noone, who is pro-repeal, was unhappy that abortion was brought up during Easter Mass.

Her tweet, since deleted, said: "Easter Mass in Knock Basilica this afternoon with my parents - an octogenarian priest took at least three opportunities to preach to us about abortion. It's no wonder people feel disillusioned with the Catholic Church."

But Fr Richard Gibbons, rector at Knock Shrine, told the Irish Independent that his colleagues were "inoffensive people". "We have a lot of chaplains working at the shrine, and quite a number of them are retired, but still say Mass at times.

"I haven't been talking to the priest, and I doubt he knows anything about this Twitter storm. The men here are inoffensive people. They don't go out to give offence to anybody.

"They would just state the Catholic position on life, which is important to all of us."

Fr Gibbons added that it would not be unusual for the right to life to be brought up in a Catholic church. "[The clerics] here are very measured, intelligent men. They're guys who have a lot of experience under their belt," he said.

Another source added: "There was no need for it because, unfortunately, all of our priests are ageing - that's just the way it is."

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Ms Noone said she had been attempting to "paint a picture" by using the term "octogenarian" in her tweet.

"I'm not ageist. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not ageist," she said.

She added that the tweet was deleted because she did not need the negativity it sparked.
The Russian Ambassador to Ireland has defended the expulsion of an Irish diplomat from Moscow by saying every action must come with consequences.

Yury Filatov also said he would like to see the Irish government apply common sense as the investigation into the alleged poisoning in the UK of a former double agent progresses.

It follows the Irish expulsion of one Russian diplomat from Ireland in the wake of the Skripal poisoning last month.

Ireland was one of a number of EU countries to take action against Russia after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal (66) and his daughter Yulia (33).

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The Russian Ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov said his country had to action after he was told one of his own diplomatic staff would have to leave Ireland after having his status revoked.

He is expected to leave before the end of this week.

When asked what he wanted from the Irish government Mr Filatov said:

"We all have to use our common sense as much as we can. What we have from London is political posturing."

The Russian federation has requested an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) be convened in The Hague this week to address its concerns about the Skripal case.

These include questions about what assistance has been provided by the OPCW to the UK.

Russia also wants to know what role French authorities have played in the ongoing investigation.
A serving garda and nephew of the Acting Garda Commissioner has died suddenly while on duty in the west of Ireland.

Garda Shane Cuffe, who was aged in his late 30s, was found by his shocked colleagues in Clifden garda station in Co Galway yesterday morning.

The officer's tragic death is not being treated as suspicious. There is no suggestion of any foul play and it is believed he may have suffered a heart attack.

Originally from the village of Moycullen, near Galway city, Garda Cuffe was a member of An Garda Siochana for 13 years.

He is understood to have been married with two young children.

He was found by colleagues at around 7am yesterday.

Garda Cuffe was a nephew of Acting Garda Commissioner Donall O Cualain, who took over from predecessor Noirin O'Sullivan last year.

The Acting Commissioner has strong family links to the Galway area, speaks fluent Irish and served as sergeant in the Aran Islands before being promoted through the ranks.

Following the death of Garda Cuffe, a file will now be prepared for the local coroner for an inquest.

A post-mortem examination is also expected to take place to establish the exact cause of death.

A spokesman for the Garda Representative Association (GRA) said: "The GRA is awaiting full details of this tragic event."

They added: "However, our thoughts and prayers are with Garda Cuffe's family at this terrible time for them."
Last week I was privileged to launch an initiative by former Senator Fidelma Healy Eames called myadoptionstory.ie. It was prompted by the lack of knowledge about modern adoption, an issue that has resonance just now as the referendum on abortion kicks off.

Junior Minister John Paul Phelan co-launched it with me. It is an online compilation of the personal narratives written by adopted people, by adoptive parents and by mothers and fathers relinquishing their children for adoption. Most people still associate adoption with Magdalene Laundries, cold, bleak orphanages and the forcible removal of children from their mothers. Much of this trauma was captured in the film Philomena.

Adoption in the 21st century in Ireland bears little resemblance to the practices of 40 years ago. The practices of previous decades, until the 1980s, were the same in Britain, UK and other European countries and were not unique to Ireland. It was believed and recommended that a "clean break" between the birth mother and her baby achieved the best outcomes so that the mother could "move on", and the adoptive family would not feel under threat into the future from the biological mother.

To achieve this, the baby was removed from the mother at the time of birth or shortly thereafter so that a bond could not be established. The adoptive parents were provided with little information about the baby's mother or father and so the child grew up knowing only the adoptive father and mother as his/her parents. The possibility that the bond between a mother and her baby began early in the infant's life or even during pregnancy had received little attention. As knowledge of this increased, so adoption practice changed.

An important contributor to our understanding of bonding is John Bowlby (1907-1990) and Mary Ainsworth, his student, who respectively developed the theory of attachment and identified faulty attachment styles. They identified the importance of strong physical and emotional attachment to a primary caregiver, usually the mother, particularly in the first years of life.

Failure to form an attachment can result in significant emotional problems later in life with feeling of rejection or anger being to the fore. But as well as forming a bond with the newborn, it is now believed that the process does just not begin at birth but much earlier, such as seeing the first ultrasound scan or feeling the baby kick in the womb. Work on the prenatal aspects of bonding only began in the 1990s.

Recognising that some mothers may not form a strong enough bond or one that is dysfunctional, the adoption process itself became more sensitive to this aspect of the mother's relationship to the child when evaluating her readiness to relinquish her child for adoption.

If she was driven by poverty to place for adoption the focus was on making it more practicable for her to continue to parent the infant, whereas if she did not feel attached enough, adoption became an option. But the main focus was on the baby and as the importance of an identifiable mother figure had come to be recognised it became clear that orphanages were definitely unsuited to developing confident, well-rounded people. Food may have been provided, but not unwavering love from one consistent figure.

In tandem with these new insights emerging, the Hague Convention on adoption was developed (1983). Ireland added its name in 2010. The Convention lays out the rules for ethical adoption and countries that have signed this agreement can only adopt from jurisdictions that are co-signatories. The objectives are to ensure that inter-country adoptions take place in the best interests of the child, so outlawing the exchange of money, abduction or trafficking. In addition, co-operation must take place between countries to ensure that there is mutual acceptance of each other's adoption laws.

Adoption agencies must be vetted and certified as ethical. The requirement to only adopt from signatories to the Convention has resulted in a slump in overseas adoptions. In the first 10 months of 2016, adoption orders were made for just 49 overseas children to be adopted by Irish parents. In 2008, the figure was 33 per month. Domestic adoptions in 2017, other than those by step-parents, are now in single figures. Part of the reason for this fall is that Russia, the most popular country from which to adopt, is not a signatory to the Hague convention and so is not longer accessible to prospective adopters in Ireland.

There is clearly a disconnect between the reality of adoption in modern Ireland and perceptions about it fanned by tragic stories from 50 years ago. So myadoptionstory.ie represents a huge move to present the real stories about adoption as it applies to all the stakeholders such as adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents in 2018. It is a new departure attempting to update public perception on a painful, sensitive and stigmatised topic.
Wayne in front of the iconic ferris wheel in the abandoned city of Pripyat

We are walking through an abandoned campsite when the alarm on my Geiger counter goes off. The small hand-held machine detects radiation hotspots, and carrying one is useful inside Chernobyl's exclusion zone.

The screen display shows a reading of 1.6 units (mSv) and represents the highest amount of radiation we have so far encountered on our trip. Most of the radiation since the 1986 nuclear disaster has soaked into the ground and the alarm's piercing sound grows more intense as I lower the machine towards my feet. The reading races suddenly to 1.9, then 2.5, and 2.9.

"It is going to hit three," says a colleague with a sense of trepidation. The alarm's intensity grows, its sound becoming more piercing, more worrying.

On the way here we discovered normal radiation levels in Kiev stand at about 0.15 units. This is harmless. However, we are now standing less than 10km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the level of radiation is 20 times higher than normal. We have no idea if this corner of forest beside a disused children's playground is dangerous or if such levels of radiation have long-term side effects.

We are faced with a dilemma. Do we stay and satisfy a sense of curiosity to see if we can get an accurate reading? After all, nobody can come here with a sense of fear. This is not your average package holiday.

Our second option is to run to the sanctuary of our bus and trusty tour guide Serhii Uzlov with the hope that our find is, somehow, both significant and safe?

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We opt to stay.

"If it was dangerous Serhii would not have brought us here," is my effort to ease my colleague's concern. In truth, it is an attempt to reassure myself.

As the Geiger counter display continues to rise our courage dips. It hits 3.13 and then 3.21.

We decide we have had our fill of adrenaline. We rush to Serhii armed with questions and a sense of 'look-what-we-found' accomplishment and dread.

"What did the meter say?" he asks.

"3.21."

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He hesitates. "3.21?"

"Yes."

"Erm, no. This is OK. If it is higher than five then we start to think about it."

Serhii was nothing but a fount of knowledge after we crossed into an exclusion zone at an armed checkpoint 30km from the focal point of the disaster. Yet, his words have done little to reassure us.

"There are some hotspots with high concentration of radiation inside the 10km zone," he says.

"They are special zones but we cannot enter them because they are fenced. The reactor and storage facilities are [also] fenced."

These fences seem few and far between. The access tour groups are given in the radiation-soaked area is surprising and makes our trip worthwhile. We come within yards of the French-designed sarcophagus that covers the nuclear power plant. The huge metal box is designed to contain the most harmful radiation that still seeps from the destroyed plant. It carries an aura, a sense of dreadful loss.

More than 600,000 people were directly or indirectly affected by the disaster. Calculating the death toll is complicated but most sources agree that thousands of people died as a result of the blast.

Instead of becoming a source of energy in Eastern Europe the site is now a tourist attraction. Like Auschwitz or Ground Zero, its popularity among tour groups has grown in recent years with an uptake in 'dark tourism' - where people visit places associated with death and tragedy. However, the tours here are carefully managed and only take place now after years of cautious negotiation with government to ensure visitors are safe and no further harm comes to the area. It is heavily guarded with soldiers who brandish machine guns.

A 30km exclusion zone has been set up around the reactor, and visitors have their passports checked on entry. There is also a 10km zone with further checks. Both outposts have airport-security style scanners to detect if people are carrying traces of radiation.

Our first day in Ukraine was like any other city break. Kiev is a sprawling, bustling, typically Eastern European capital and best explored on foot. Our jaunt takes us to onion-domed cathedrals and baroque churches. Chicken kievs are a must that night for dinner and many restaurants have their own unique flavours of vodka. Some are sweet and fruity but others, such as a horseradish variety, are surprisingly tasty.

The next day we enter Chernobyl's exclusion zone and expect to be greeted by a sense of eerie gloom or dread. Instead, we are met by two wild dogs who are determined to make friends with us in the hope of securing some scraps of food. Locals estimate there are more than 200 dogs living in the exclusion zone. Humans bring their best source of food and stay close to the checkpoints or site tours stop at. Because of this they maintain an unexpected presence.

A handful of people also live here illegally. They returned years after the area was evacuated and are happier in their homes than elsewhere.

After our brush with radiation we retreat to the sanctuary of our accommodation in the village of Chernobyl. The village from which the disaster gets its name is now an administrative centre from where the exclusion zone is run. There are a few small offices, a shop and hostels or guest houses for staff and visitors. The food and accommodation is basic but acceptable.

Google tells us our encounter was no worse than undergoing a CT scan or a couple of X-rays. Serhii tells us it would also be a minor foray compared to what would follow.

The next morning we travel to Pripyat, a city built near the reactor and the scene of a huge evacuation in the days after the catastrophe - 50,000 people once lived and worked here but now it is a series of chilling empty buildings. It is the home to the iconic ferris wheel, swimming pools and abandoned Soviet-era apartment blocks that have been immortalised in everything from movies, to photographs to computer games in the years since. Its schools, supermarkets and towering office blocks have become mines for tourists combing the world's most toxic ghost town.

Before we leave, Serhii guides us towards an old hospital. This is where all of those caught up in the disastrous explosion were brought for treatment. As we step through a derelict doorway he points to a piece of material on a work bench. The Geiger counter in his hand is already raging.

"This is a piece of clothing from one of the firemen who rushed to the scene," he explains.

"He was hit by the radiation."

The display on the Geiger counter reads 55 and is still rising. This is more than 300 times above normal and 17 times higher than the pocket of radiation we ran away from the day before.

"On the night this man was brought here the reading was above 7,000," says Serhii.

"He had no chance."

Workers at the Chernobyl plant had been exposed to 6,000 units in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Everyone who experienced such a dose was dead within weeks. We retreat to our bus again, this time less concerned about our foray with the radiation.

As we pass the 10km outpost on the way back to Kiev, we go through the radiation scanner and get the all clear. But something else has stayed with us - a relief that we were not there when Chernobyl hit the headlines.

TAKE TWO: Top attractions

Culinary capital

Kiev, home of the famous chicken dish, is packed with history, scenery and good food. Varieties of lard (cured pork) on a dense bread washed down with horseradish vodka is a must.

Secret radar base

Within Chernobyls exclusion zone is the Duga radar base that was kept secret for years. It houses an 800m long, 150m high steel structure used by the Soviets during the Cold War to detect foreign missiles.

Getting there

Explore offers a four-night Discover Chernobyl short break that combines three nights in Kiev with a night in the Exclusion zone. The trip includes a walking tour of Kiev with an opportunity to visit onion-domed churches, historic sites and the Motherland monument, a 100m high statue honouring heroes of the Soviet Union.

Chernobyl and the exclusion zone is a two hour drive from Kiev.

Land only prices start from 719 per person, including some meals, transport, the services of an Explore tour leader and an official Exclusion zone guide. Flight prices vary depending on demand and season.

Wayne flew from Dublin to Kiev via a short stopover in Amsterdam, with a return flight via Paris. Contact Explore: +44 1252 884 723 or visit explore.co.uk.

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BROOKLYN, NY - JULY 21: Actresses Rachel Bilson and Jenna Dewan Tatum attend Target Cat & Jack Launch Celebration at Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park on July 21, 2016 in Brooklyn Borough of New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Target)

Actress Rachel Bilson attends Target Cat & Jack Launch Celebration at Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park on July 21, 2016 in Brooklyn Borough of New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Target)

Rachel Bilson still looks like a fresh-faced teenager nine years after The OC.

Bilson has kept a low profile since the birth of her daughter Briar Rose in October 2014 but she made a rare red carpet appearance on Thursday, looking as fresh-faced as ever.

At 34, the actress could still be mistaken for a teenager, nine years on from playing one in The OC.

She was photographed at a fashion event in New York for American store Target, alongside best friend and wife of Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan.

Expand Close BROOKLYN, NY - JULY 21: Actresses Rachel Bilson and Jenna Dewan Tatum attend Target Cat & Jack Launch Celebration at Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park on July 21, 2016 in Brooklyn Borough of New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Target) / Facebook

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Whatsapp BROOKLYN, NY - JULY 21: Actresses Rachel Bilson and Jenna Dewan Tatum attend Target Cat & Jack Launch Celebration at Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park on July 21, 2016 in Brooklyn Borough of New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Target)

The sartorial-savvy star rocked her trademark bohemian style but kept it modern with clashing paisley and leopard prints and with a natural make-up look.

She recently revealed to Allure magazine that her make-up priorities have changed since the birth of her daughter.

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Whatsapp Actress Rachel Bilson attends Target Cat & Jack Launch Celebration at Pier 6 at Brooklyn Bridge Park on July 21, 2016 in Brooklyn Borough of New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Target)

In my own life, its a little bit of mascara, a little Chapstick, and Im ready to go, Bilson said. Maybe Ill add a little eyeliner in there to spice things up. Maybe a little bronzer.

She said she doesn't an emphasis on her looks, and instead focuses on taking care of her skin as best she can. If I ever have anything on  like if I have mascara on  my daughter just stares at me for, like, five minutes: Who are you? Bilson said.

Because [make-up] has become so nonexistent, the easy things that you can do, like hydrating your lips, makes me feel a little better."

Maybe that's the key to looking so young?

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That and keen eye for fashion?

Bilson was a style icon for a generation of mid-noughties girls (us included) in the years since her breakout role as Summer Roberts in The OC,regularly topping best dressed lists and even launching her own clothing line in 2008 with DKNY.

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Whatsapp Rachel Bilson with husband Hayden Christensen (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Torch)

But she's been noticeably absent from the spotlight, appearing less and less on the red carpet as she focuses on her family instead.

She continued to act in movies and landed the lead role in the American drama series Hart of Dixie (which we have yet to watch) but since the show was cancelled in 2015, she's stayed away from the spotlight.

Okay....okay, it's grover's song! A photo posted by @rachelbilson on Jun 12, 2015 at 7:53pm PDT

The California-born actress has been married to Hayden Christensen for nine years, which is a pretty long time by Hollywood standards, so avoiding the high-profile celebrity events is probably paying off relationship-wise.

But if you're looking for your Bilson fix, the actress offers fans insights into her personal life through her Instagram account with posts that are pretty down-to-earth, showing the real side of her life and not the celebrity brand.
Actor Jonah Hill is seen NoHo on July 30, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by TheStewartofNY/GC Images)

Actor Jonah Hill attends the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Christopher Mintz Plasse, pcitured with Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, as McLovin' in Superbad

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - AUGUST 13: Actor Jonah Hill attends Hollywood Foreign Press Association's 2013 Installation Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 13, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California.

Actor Jonah Hill is seen NoHo on July 30, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by TheStewartofNY/GC Images)

Jonah Hill in 2009, left, and Jonah Hill in 2017, right

Jonah Hill has had one hell of a makeover.

The Wolf of Wall Street star (33) has struggled with his weight over the years, but seems to have a firm hold on his new muscular physique. Hill, whose weight has fluctuated since he first shot to fame in 2007's Superbad, was pictured earlier this month looking strong and lean in New York.

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Whatsapp Actor Jonah Hill is seen NoHo on July 30, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by TheStewartofNY/GC Images)

After initially shedding more than 100 pounds, he had to gain 40 pounds for his role in War Dogs and said he did it the old fashioned way when it came to shedding the excess weight.

"I wish there was some crazy thing that I did, like a pill or a genie or something, but I went to see a nutritionist, and he told me what to eat and to change my habits and stuff," he told ABC News in 2011.

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Whatsapp Actor Jonah Hill attends the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

"I found that Japanese food was very helpful to me."

Last year, he told Jimmy Fallon that he sought help from 21 Jump Street co-star Channing Tatum on staying in shape.

"I called Channing [Tatum] and said: 'Hey, if I eat less and go to a trainer, will I get in better shape?' And he said: 'Yes you dumb motherf*****, of course you will, it's the simplest thing in the entire world.'"
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive for Easter service at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas KammNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump (C) with First Lady Melania Trump (R) and daughter Tiffany Trump (L) arrives for Easter service at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas KammNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk down the stairs to greet members of the crowd during Easter celebrations at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump (R) and First Lady Melania Trump (L) arrive for Easter service at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas KammNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. first lady Melania Trump waves before reading to children from the book Party Animals during the 139th Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House

U.S. President Donald Trump with First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron (L) arrive at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, U.S., after Easter weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, April 16, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

US President Donald Trump blows a whistle next to First Lady Melania Trump at the start of an Easter egg roll during Easter celebrations at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

First Lady Melania Trump attends the 139th White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, April 17, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEBSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump(R)and First Lady Melania Trump (L) arrive for Easter service at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas KammNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump with First Lady Melania Trump and their son Barron arrive at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, U.S., after Easter weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, April 16, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

U.S. first lady Melania Trump heads back into the White House after hosting the 140th annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn April 2, 2018 in Washington, DC

U.S. first lady Melania Trump (C) and her son Barron Trump attend the 140th annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House April 2, 2018 in Washington, DC

U.S. first lady Melania Trump waves to guests as she participates the 140th annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House April 2, 2018 in Washington, DC

U.S. first lady Melania Trump participates in the 140th annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House April 2, 2018 in Washington, DC

U.S. first lady Melania Trump heads back into the White House after hosting the 140th annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn April 2, 2018 in Washington, DC

What a difference a year makes.

US first lady Melania Trump made her first joint appearance with husband Donald Trump in two weeks - which, in theory, really isn't a huge amount of time. However, those two weeks have been explosive and happened to coincide with former porn star Stormy Daniels' affair allegations dating back to 2006, claiming she slept with Trump weeks after Melania gave birth to their 12-year-old son Barron.

Expand Close US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk down the stairs to greet members of the crowd during Easter celebrations at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk down the stairs to greet members of the crowd during Easter celebrations at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

She has stayed resolutely silent on the topic, and only released a small statement via her spokersperson's Twitter account, asking for their young son not to be included in the media coverage.

"While I know the media is enjoying speculation & salacious gossip, I'd like to remind people theres a minor child whos [sic] name should be kept out of news stories when at all possible," Stephanie Grisham tweeted.

As appearances by the US first lady are few and far between at any time, all eyes were on her as she cheered on the festivities at the White House's annual Easter Egg Roll on Monday, which she organised.

Her behaviour was what we've come to expect from her  simply enigmatic, but one thing is certain, her wardrobe was a lot more serious this time around.

It was in stark contrast to last years ethereal Herve Pierre dress, a pale pink sleeveless chiffon maxi with delicate Christian Louboutin ballet flats; this year, she wasn't so jovial with her personal style.

Yesterday, she was wearing a 2,000 military style coat by Burberry in the same sky blue shade she wore to her husbands January 2017 inauguration, over a pair of black skinny jeans and sky high black boots.

Expand Close First Lady Melania Trump attends the 139th White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, April 17, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEBSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp First Lady Melania Trump attends the 139th White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, April 17, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEBSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

On Easter Sunday, she went for more traditional attire  a floaty pink sundress by Azzedine Alaia retailing for 2,500 as she and her husband of 13 years were joined by President Trumps daughter Tiffany for a church service.

The trio reportedly dined together at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night before returning to Washington D.C. for the annual bash.

Expand Close US President Donald Trump (C) with First Lady Melania Trump (R) and daughter Tiffany Trump (L) arrives for Easter service at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas KammNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp US President Donald Trump (C) with First Lady Melania Trump (R) and daughter Tiffany Trump (L) arrives for Easter service at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas KammNICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile, across the White House lawn, Donald Trump Jr was joined by his soon to be ex-wife Vanessa, who filed for divorce last month. The couple were joined by their five children.

Last month, it was reported that Melania is 'miserable' with her new life and yearns for a time of relative anonymity in New York before the 2016 election.

"Whats happening is exactly what she didn't want to happen. They've literally become like the Kardashians: scandals, divorces, headlines," a source told People.

The barrage of scandals have apparently forced Melania to once again yearn for her pre-political life, but she is focusing all her efforts on Barron and is relying on the support of her parents Viktor and Amalija Knavs, who emigrated from Slovenia.

"She was able to do whatever she wanted and have her family with her much of the time," an insider said. "No one was paying attention to her two years ago. They went about their day. Now its a 24/7 tornado. She hates it."
A 13-year-old boy said he was praying to God for help after falling into a river of sewage in Los Angeles.

The boy was rescued after being swept away and spending more than 12 hours in the citys toxic and maze-like underground sewer system.

Jesse Hernandez had been playing with other children on wooden planks over an access portal to the sewer system during a family outing on Sunday at a Los Angeles park.

When a plank broke, Jesse fell about 25 feet and landed in fast-moving sewage, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The other children immediately notified adults, who called 911, initiating a frantic and exhaustive 12-hour search of labyrinthine underground pipes using cameras propped on flotation devices.

Rescuers finally found Jesse after seeing images of handprints on a sewage pipe. A sanitation crew rushed to the area and opened a manhole.

The first thing they heard was Help!, said Adel Hagekhalil, assistant general manager of the sanitation department.

The crew lowered down a hose to Jesse, who was about 11 feet deep in the pipe.

He caught on to the hose and was reeled back up, Mr Hagekhalil said.

Jesse Hernandez has been found alive!



He has reunited with his family & is being taken to a hospital for medical evaluation. Grateful to the 100+ personnel & the teams from multiple departments who worked tirelessly to find him & bring him home, safely. https://t.co/DerjhmmVRy  MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) April 2, 2018

Rescuers gave him immediate medical attention, including hosing him down to get rid of the sewage and cleaning out his eyes and nose with sterile saline, Mr Humphrey said.

Jesse immediately asked for a mobile phone to call his family. A worker handed him a phone, and he called his mother.

The boy later told KNBC-TV that he was tired but otherwise fine.

I was praying to God to help me and to not die, Jesse said. It was all quiet. You could just hear the water running through and you couldnt see anything. It was dark.

Video released by the city later in the day showed long dark marks on the sides of the dank sewage pipe, which was about four feet in diameter, where Jesses fingers would have slid.

After an accident like Jesses, rescuers said the likelihood of someone being found safe diminishes by the hour. Mr Hagekhalil said rescuers were thrilled at the outcome.

They never gave up hope, he said. They wanted to bring Jesse back to his family.

Amazing news...after more than 12 hours of searching, 13-year-old Jesse Hernandez has been found alive! We witnessed an incredible team effort by many public safety agencies. Join us in saying to all of them, THANK YOU! https://t.co/TbVQaIMd9G  LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) April 2, 2018

About 2,400 feet of pipe had been inspected when rescuers found Jesse less than a mile from where he disappeared. He was taken to a hospital for a full evaluation and to be reunited with his family.

In addition to the massive rescue effort involving more than 100 people, Mr Humphrey credited Jesse for his survival.

Not only did he survive getting swept through sewage moving at 15mph, he managed to find a pocket of breathable air and hang on until he was found, authorities said.

Any subterranean location, particularly one that involves waste, can produce toxic gases  methane, hydrogen sulfide  so breathable air is a key element, Mr Humphrey said.

The odds of someone falling into such a pipe and surviving are slim. The odds were not in his favour, and many would call it miraculous.

He called Jesse a resolute young man.

He has tremendous inner strength, Mr Humphrey said. Its obvious hes not a quitter.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti was among the many people closely watching the rescue efforts for Jesse.

In a string of tweets, Mr Garcetti praised rescuers and thanked the teenagers family for their patience and optimism during this harrowing experience.

Were keeping Jesses health and recovery in our thoughts today, he said.
President Donald Trump made the case to the leaders of the Baltic nations that the US was very tough on Russia, pointing to US support for increased defence spending by Nato countries as a check on Moscows aggression.

Mr Trump, joined by the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, spoke a day after the White House dangled the prospect of extending a White House welcome to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nobody has been tougher on Russia but getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing. And just about everybody agrees to that except very stupid peopleDonald Trump

The Baltic states are seen as a bulwark against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.

Nobody has been tougher on Russia but getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing. And just about everybody agrees to that except very stupid people, Mr Trump said.

He added: Weve been very tough on Russia, frankly.

Mr Trump was asked by a reporter if he considered Mr Putin to be a friend or foe and replied: Well find out. Ill let you know.

Britain recently blamed Russia for the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil.

Mr Trump joined Britain in expelling scores of Russian diplomats in response.

Mr Trump has pressured Nato members to boost their military budgets to meet a benchmark of 2% of their GDP on defence annually. He cited that as a benefit to three nations, which are Nato members and remain anxious over Russias increasing military manoeuvres in the Baltic Sea region.

Today, President Trump will welcome the Baltic States Heads of Government to the White House.



Watch the joint press conference at 1:35pm EDT: https://t.co/EmsdctGWtd pic.twitter.com/UZ6SyZjBeJ  The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) April 3, 2018

Lithuanias Dalia Grybauskaite told Mr Trump the US role in Nato is essential, calling the nation a vital voice in the military alliance.

We expect, together with the United States, to go ahead with deep reforms of Nato, especially on decision-making, on decisiveness, on the denial which we expect to see from Russia in case of aggression, Ms Grybauskaite said.

Without the United States this is not possible.

Mr Trump said Nato has taken many billions of dollars more than they would have had if you had crooked Hillary Clinton as president.

The 2% benchmark concerns how much each country spends on its own defence, not what it pays into Nato.

The leaders were expected to discuss security, business, trade and energy issues during a visit in which Mr Trump also noted their 100 years of Baltic independence.
President Donald Trump wants to use the military to secure the US-Mexico border until his promised wall is built.

Mr Trump said during a lunch with Baltic leaders that he has spoken with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis about the idea.

He said: Were going to be doing things militarily until we can have a wall and proper security.

He called it a big step.

Mr Trump begrudgingly signed a spending bill last month that provided far less money for the wall than he wanted.

He has been complaining that US borders are too porous and immigration laws are too weak.
Yulia Skripal arrived at Heathrow the day before the attack

Russia's foreign minister accused Britain and the US of spreading "lies and disinformation" about the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in England, declaring that East-West tensions are worse now than during the Cold War.

Britain has blamed Russia for the March 4 nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Britain and two dozen of its allies have since expelled over 150 Russian diplomats. Moscow, which vehemently denies any involvement, has responded tit-for-tat.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the British accusations on Monday as a "mad and horrible provocation".

He argued that Russia had no motive to attack Mr Skripal, who was released in a 2010 spy swap from a Russian prison where he was serving time for spying for Britain.

"If there were any gripes against the man, he wouldn't have been swapped," Mr Lavrov said.

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Russia's top diplomat also mocked Britain's claim that there was no plausible alternative explanation for the poisonings of the Skripals.

British intelligence agencies could have been involved and the case helped distract public attention from the British government's difficult talks to exit the European Union, Mr Lavrov said.

"There are other explanations besides those put forward by our Western colleagues, who declare that it can only be the Russians who are responsible," Mr Lavrov said. "It could also be advantageous to the British government, who clearly find themselves in a difficult situation having failed to fulfil their promises to voters over Brexit."

British officials have previously rejected similar Russian allegations.

Mr Lavrov said that Russia has called a meeting of the international chemical weapons watchdog for Wednesday to discuss the case and asked it to provide details of its cooperation with Britain in the poisoning probe.

Alexander Shulgin, the Russian representative at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said on Monday in televised remarks that the organisation must conduct an "open, thorough and unbiased investigation" with Russian experts' participation.

British authorities invited OPCW experts to take chemical samples from Salisbury, the English city where the father and daughter were sickened, and to analyse them.

Mr Shulgin warned that Moscow would not accept the agency's conclusions unless Russian experts are allowed to take part in the process.

Mr Lavrov also assailed the British authorities for stonewalling Russia's request for consular access to Yulia Skripal, 33, a Russian citizen whose condition has improved since she and her father fell critically ill on March 4.

"Many say that the situation now is worse than it was during the Cold War because some rules existed and decorum was observed back then," he said.

"Now, Britain, the US and a few countries blindly following them have dropped all decorum and engaged in blatant lies and disinformation."
Around half of flights in Europe could be delayed due to a fault with an air traffic management system.

Eurocontrol warned that around 15,000 flights may be disrupted after it suffered a computer failure.

Scores of complaints have been made to airlines on social media after flights were delayed for a number of hours, in some cases with the planes already boarded.

A spokesperson for the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) said it was not clear how many flights to Dublin are affected.

Dublin Airport later tweeted: "A systems failure @eurocontrol, the organisation that manages air traffic control services across Europe, may cause some delays to the flight schedule @DublinAirport. Passengers are advised to check latest flight information with their airline."

Eurocontrol, which is the international agency responsible for air traffic control across Europe, said the problem was a failure with the "enhanced tactical flow management system".

"Contingency procedures are being put in place which will have the effect of reducing the capacity of the European network by approximately 10pc," the Brussels based agency said.

"Further information will be provided as soon as possible."

The system is used to compare traffic demand with the available capacity of air traffic control sectors.

A spokesman for Ryanair said the airline was monitoring the situation.

Meanwhile, the UK's two busiest airports will also be hit with flight delays over the next three weeks as air traffic controllers introduce new technology.

Heathrow and Gatwick will suffer disruption as Nats replaces paper flight information strips with a digital system at its control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire.

The number of flights allowed to land at the London airports will be reduced while controllers gain confidence using the new system in a live environment.

Average delays at Heathrow could be 20 minutes as arrivals are limited to 80% of maximum capacity for 10 days from Wednesday.

This will be raised to 90% of maximum capacity for the following 10 days.

People living under flight paths will also be affected, as Nats has requested permission to land some planes "slightly earlier and slightly later than usual", reducing the overnight respite from aircraft noise.

Jamie Hutchison, director of Nats' Swanwick base, told the Press Association: "We know there will be a number of flights affected, particularly in the first 10 days.

"But for the majority of those flights we expect the delay to be minimal and travellers should not change their plans or travel later to the airport.

"We will be doing everything we can, in partnership with the airports and airlines, to minimise the impact on passengers."

Nats says the introduction of the EXCDS digital system is an important step in the modernisation of how the UK's airspace is managed.

It is part of a 700 million programme to cope with growing demand for air travel.

UK air traffic is expected to grow from 2.6 million flights last year to 3.1 million in 2030.

Mr Hutchison said: "Unless we make significant investment in modernising both our tools and our airspace then we are not going to be ready for the future demand we're anticipating."
Facebook is asking users whether they think it is good for the world in a poll sent to an unspecified number of people.

The latest poll appears under the heading Wed like to do better when users log in.

Possible responses range from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

Facebook regularly polls users on its service. The latest comes as the company grapples with a privacy scandal and other troubles.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he wants to ensure that Facebook is a force for good in the world.

Whether it is has not been clear amid revelations of it being used to influence elections, spread hatred and steal user information.

In January, Mr Zuckerberg said his personal goal for 2018 is to fix Facebook.
Voreqe Bainimarama said climate change was causing extreme weather events to become more severe and occur more often (Martin Meissner/AP)

Fiji is entering a frightening new era of extreme weather, the leader of the Pacific island nation said after flooding from a cyclone killed at least four people.

The Pacific island nation of nearly one million people avoided a direct hit from the winds after Cyclone Josie struck on Sunday, but heavy rains and flooding caused damage to homes, businesses and vehicles on the western side of the main island Viti Levu.

More than 1,000 people remained in evacuation centres this week as the storm moved away.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, also known as Frank Bainimarama, said climate change was causing extreme weather events to become more severe and occur more often.

The severe effects of Tropical Cyclone Josie are a brutal reminder of the reality of climate change. I will continue to fight for Fijians here at home as we recover from this crisis, and on the global stage as President of @COP23 to address the root causes of our changing climate pic.twitter.com/hxSvNtC7Ny  Frank Bainimarama (@FijiPM) April 3, 2018

Last November, he chaired a climate summit in Bonn, Germany, and he spoke at the launch of a climate change film in the capital Suva on Tuesday.

He said he was trying to deliver the message to the world about confronting the global warming crisis.

It is a fight for our very survival, he said, and that we are now at an almost constant level of threat.

He said countries must limit the global temperature increase, as agreed under the Paris climate accord.

Ba Branch volunteers on the ground assessing & distributing Dignity kits, Hygiene packs & Solar Lights to villagers of Nasolo Ba in the wake of TC Josie. An Emergency Operations Center has been activated in Lautoka office which is coordinating its response operations in the west. pic.twitter.com/G4X6noqiph  Fiji Red Cross Society (@FijiRedCross) April 2, 2018

It is the only way to prevent catastrophe for the whole world and especially for vulnerable nations such as our own, he said.

A recent report completed by the World Bank and Fiji officials indicated annual losses from extreme weather events could total 6.5% of the economy by 2050, Mr Bainimarama said.

The Fiji Red Cross Society said it was distributing supplies to villagers in the hard-hit town of Ba.

Authorities were also trying to restore power to some areas which had suffered outages.

In 2016, Cyclone Winston ripped through Fiji, killing 44 people and destroying thousands of homes.
Passengers and commuters wait at rush hour at Gare de Lyon train station, in Paris (Francois Mori/AP)

A major French railway strike has brought the countrys famed high-speed trains to a halt, leaving passengers stranded and posing the biggest test so far for President Emmanuel Macrons economic strategy.

The SNCF national rail authority said about 12% of trains are running on Tuesday, in the first of a series of strikes set to last three months.

Passengers are packing platforms or hitching rides on traffic-clogged roads and sharing travel tips online.

Good morning, if you're travelling with us today please be aware we're operating an amended timetable due to SNCF industrial action: https://t.co/G9hmmS2A5Z. We're ready and waiting to help with your queries.  Eurostar (@Eurostar) April 3, 2018

Traffic is also disrupted on Eurostar lines to Britain and trains to Germany, though most trains are running as usual.

Strikes and protest actions on Tuesday are also hitting Air France flights, garbage collection and universities.

Really this is catastrophic. Something needs to be done, we are the victims, we havent done anything. We need to get to work like everyone else, said 56-year-old commuter Aziza Fleris.

I was really positive this morning, but now You should have seen what happened on the train. Some people felt unwell, women were crying. Children. This isnt normal.

Rail workers are protesting against government plans to eliminate a special status that they have enjoyed for decades.

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The cheminot status effectively guarantees jobs for life and other benefits, in keeping with the image of Frances railways as an essential pillar of the countrys infrastructure and its public services.

Mr Macrons government says that is no longer tenable, because todays globalised and increasingly automated economy favours more flexible workforces.

In addition, with European Union rules requiring all member states to open up government-run railways to competition, the government argues that the special status puts SNCF at a disadvantage compared to potential private competitors.

Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne insisted on BFM television that the reform is indispensable.

The government reform would maintain the status for existing workers but abolish it for new workers.

#France There is planned strike action at Air France and its subsidiaries on 30 March, 3 April and 7 April, SNCF trains between 3 April and 28 June, and the Port of Calais on 5 April. Check travel advice for more info if you're travelling on these dates: https://t.co/8XijpakTyV pic.twitter.com/PGy1Qlux2d  FCDO Travel Advice (@FCDOtravelGovUK) March 29, 2018

Unions say Mr Macron  a centrist former investment banker whom critics dub the president of the rich  is threatening hard-fought French rights that workers in other countries envy, as well as damaging the whole idea of public service.

The issue is this: Does the state want to use this public good to meet the needs of the common interest, or play Monopoly with the SNCF? asked Thierry Nier, deputy head of the CGT-Cheminots train workers union, on Europe-1 radio.

He argued that competition doesnt work and hurts passengers.

Commuters were angry at the overall situation but not necessarily taking sides.

SNCF has been warning travellers for several days to postpone their trips.

The railway sector reforms are among several measures Mr Macron is pursuing to change the way the French work.
Prosecutors in Germany are seeking the extradition of former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain, where he could face trial for his role in organising an independence referendum.

Mr Puigdemont was detained in Germany on March 25 as he attempted to drive from Finland to Belgium, where he currently resides.

Prosecutors in the northern town of Schleswig said they have asked the regional court to formally put him in pre-extradition custody following intensive examination of the European arrest warrant issued by Spains supreme court on March 23.

If the court agrees to the request, prosecutors would still need to issue an order signing off on Mr Puigdemonts extradition.

In addition to rebellion, Madrid accuses the 55-year-old of misuse of public funds.

Schleswig prosecutors said in a statement they consider the charge of rebellion to have an equivalent in German law  one of the requirements for extradition to take place.

The accusation of rebellion contains at its core the allegation of carrying out an unconstitutional referendum despite expectations of violent disturbances, the prosecutors said.

They noted that during a meeting with police on September 28, Mr Puigdemont was warned that violence might escalate on the day of the October 1 referendum, but his government went through with it anyway.

In an interview from jail, published on Monday, Mr Puigdemont insisted the campaign for the Spanish regions independence was nonviolent.

The Schleswig court is likely to take several days to decide on the prosecutors request.

Mr Puigdemonts lawyers have urged the German government to intervene in the case, citing the political dimension.
Officers run towards the YouTube office in San Bruno (Jeff Chiu/AP)

A woman opened fire at YouTubes headquarters in Californias San Francisco Bay Area, wounding four people before she shot and killed herself, police said.

Employees hid and tried to flee while officers and US federal agents swarmed the companys headquarters complex in the city of San Bruno as multiple emergency reports came in reporting gunfire.

San Bruno Police chief Ed Barberini told reporters the victims had gunshot wounds and were taken to hospitals.

A spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital said it received three patients.

Spokesman Brent Andrew said a 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition.

The hospital was expecting more patients but Mr Andrew did not know their conditions.

We are responding to an active shooter. Please stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive.  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

Television news footage showed people leaving the building, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they were leaving the building.

Officers searched people to make sure none had weapons, and police vehicles surrounded the area

YouTube employee Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter that he heard gunshots and saw people running.

He said he was barricaded in a room with his co-workers before being safely evacuated.

Police activity at 901 Cherry Ave, please stay out of the area. pic.twitter.com/H6iAj0g7ra  San Bruno Police (@SanBrunoPolice) April 3, 2018

Will Hudson said a friend who works for YouTube texted him about the gunwoman.

I think there might be a shooter in my building, read one text.

The fire alarm went off so we started to evacuate and then people (started) running saying there was a shooter.

Northern Californias Stanford Hospital said it has received four to five patients, but a hospital spokeswoman did not have information on their conditions or their wounds.

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Google, which owns the worlds biggest online video website, posted on Twitter that the company is coordinating with authorities.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also said it responded to the shooting at YouTubes suburban campus.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on a shooting and that officials were monitoring it.

Mr Hudson said his friend made it safely back to San Francisco and was in contact with his family.

Mr Hudson said he has become used to hearing about gun violence but has never been so close to it before.

It just feels strange. It feels like it could really be anyone. Thats really the strangeness of it, he said.

Calls and emails to YouTube representatives seeking comment were not immediately returned.
The new rule was announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Lewis Stickley/PA)

Indias government has issued a sweeping new order allowing reporters press credentials to be suspended simply for an accusation of spreading fake news.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement late on Monday that the accreditation of any journalist who created and/or propagated the fake news would be suspended until an inquiry is completed.

The statement, which does not define fake news or say who can make a complaint, says anyone found to be peddling fake news would lose their government accreditation for six months in the first case, one year in the second case and permanently if it happens again.

The inquiries will be conducted by groups that include journalists, media owners and sometimes politicians.
The new rule announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has been withdrawn (Lewis Stickley/PA)

A sweeping new order in India clamping down on journalists accused of spreading fake news has been withdrawn by the countrys Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The U-turn came hours after the ministry announced that reporters press credentials could be suspended simply for an accusation of spreading fake news.

The rules, issued by a government often deeply sensitive to media criticism, angered journalists and opposition politicians, who called it an attempt to gag the media in the run-up to national elections expected next year.

PIB Press release titled Guidelines for accreditation of Journalists amended to regulate Fake News stands withdrawn https://t.co/uClAvinbkQ  MIB India  #AmritMahotsav (@MIB_India) April 3, 2018

Several Indian news outlets reported that the order, announced late Monday night, was withdrawn on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said that issues surrounding fake news should be dealt with by the Press Council of India, a semi-independent press group.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued only a terse statement saying that the press release that announced the new guidelines to regulate fake news stands withdrawn.

During Tuesday morning there was anger against the order.

Make no mistake: this is a breathtaking assault on mainstream media, Shekhar Gupta, a senior political journalist, tweeted after the new rules were announced.

The order did not define fake news or make clear who could make a complaint.

It was unclear what caused the shift, particularly with a prime minister who takes pride in being deeply involved in nearly all major decisions.

Late Monday, the information ministry announced that the accreditation of any journalist who created and/or propagated the fake news would be suspended until an inquiry was completed.

The statement said anyone found to be peddling fake news would lose their government accreditation for six months in the first case, one year in the second case and permanently if it happened again.

While a journalist in India can work without government accreditation, a press card from the federal Press Information Bureau is required to cover government events and ministries and get access to the houses of parliament.
Malaysian authorities have intercepted a boat carrying 56 people believed to be Muslim Rohingya refugees who fled from Burma, and brought the vessel and its passengers to shore.

The navy chief, Admiral Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin, said the boat was intercepted after it entered Malaysian waters and was moored off the northern resort island of Langkawi.

On Sunday the boat had stopped temporarily in southern Thailand, where it underwent repairs and was resupplied with fuel and food before being sent on its way to Malaysia, as its passengers reportedly desired.

About 700,000 Rohingya have fled western Burmas Rakhine state to neighbouring Bangladesh in the past seven months to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by Burmas army.

Rohingya, treated as undesirables in predominantly Buddhist Burma, used to flee by sea by the thousands each year until security in Burma was tightened after an upsurge of refugees in 2015 caused regional concern.

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The navy chief said that all of the boats passengers were safe but tired and hungry, and were given food and water.

The boat and its passengers will be handed over to immigration authorities, he said.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency chief Zulkifili Abu Bakar said the refugees comprised 19 women, 17 men, 12 boys and eight girls.

They appeared weak and their boat was in bad condition, he said.

Mr Zulkifili said the refugees would be handed over to immigration authorities for humanitarian reasons, an indirect indication that they will be allowed to stay rather than sent back to sea.

The issue of whether to allow them to stay is a sensitive one, because of fears it might encourage a new wave of boat people.

However, an expert on the plight of the Rohingya said the appearance this week of the boat  the first known case this year  does not portend a new exodus by sea.

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, an independent research and advocacy group, said that the safe time for such journeys is about to pass, as the annual monsoon season normally starts in April.

Tight security by Burmese officials also makes departures difficult, though it would not be surprising if a handful of more boats were seen in the near future, she said.

Thailand has an official policy of pushing back boat people from its shores, so most Rohingya prefer to head to Malaysia, whose dominant Malay Muslim population makes it a more sympathetic destination.

There have also been many cases of Rohingya landing in Thailand being taken by human traffickers and forced into near-slavery, held for ransom or otherwise abused.

Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman, the vice president of the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisation, said the group received a call from the coast guard to provide assistance to the refugees on Tuesday.

He said his organisation was asked to help due to its record of providing medical treatment and basic necessities such as food and clothing to previous Rohingya refugees.
A Syrian regime member walks amid the destruction in Jobar in Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus. Photo: Getty Images

The last Syrian rebel group in eastern Ghouta near Damascus began withdrawing yesterday under an agreement with the government, state media said, though a military source said a group of insurgents was still rejecting the deal.

Jaish al-Islam, which has been defending the eastern Ghouta town of Douma against a ferocious onslaught by Russian-backed Syrian government forces, has not confirmed the agreement with the government.

If confirmed, the departure of Jaish al-Islam from Douma would mark the end of the war for eastern Ghouta, wiping out an opposition stronghold near Damascus and underlining President Bashar al-Assad's unassailable position in the war.

It will mark his biggest victory over rebels fighting to unseat him since the recovery of eastern Aleppo in 2016.

Indicating divisions in Jaish al-Islam, a Syrian military source told Reuters some of the fighters were rejecting the deal and the army would use force unless they accepted it.

"They will all have to agree to the settlement in the end," the source said.

Syrian state TV said eight buses carrying 448 people - fighters and their families - had left Douma yesterday, en route for the north. State media has said the rebels are due to go to areas near the Turkish-Syrian border that are controlled by opposition groups.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said dozens of buses had entered Douma early yesterday in readiness to evacuate the rebels and their families to the northern towns of Jarablus and al-Bab, near the Turkish border.

The towns are located in a section of the Turkish-Syrian frontier where Turkey has carved out a buffer zone controlled on the ground by its military and allied fighters from Free Syrian Army rebel groups that are hostile to Mr Assad.

Under the deal, Syrian state media said Jaish al-Islam would hand over heavy and medium-sized weapons and acknowledge the restoration of the Damascus government's control of Douma.

The government lost control of Douma, the largest urban centre in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, in the early phase of Syria's civil war, which is now in its eighth year.

Thousands of rebels, their families and other civilians have already departed other parts of eastern Ghouta for Idlib province, another insurgent-held area of northern Syria.

Tens of thousands more people have fled to shelters in government-held territory near Ghouta.
The Israeli military has said it will not return the bodies of two Palestinian gunmen killed in Friday's border clashes until Hamas frees two Israeli citizens being held in Gaza as well as the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in the 2014 war.

General Yoav Mordechai said that Israel was holding the corpses of two Hamas fighters killed on Friday as well as the bodies of 24 other Palestinians.

"Israel will not be silent, and the residents of Gaza will not know peace until the Israelis are returned and our soldiers are brought to burial in Israel," he said. "There is a shared value for Judaism and Islam of burying the dead."

The death toll from the violence on Friday rose to 18 after Faris al-Raqib (29), a fighter from Palestinian Islamic Jihad succumbed to gunshot wounds.

The Islamist group has been holding the bodies of soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul since 2014

Two mentally ill Israeli civilians - Abera Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, and Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin-Israeli - are also believed to be held after they had crossed over into Gaza.

Human rights groups have condemned both sides for holding corpses.

Israel and the Palestinians are bracing themselves for fresh confrontations in Gaza this Friday, the traditional day of protest in the Arab world.

"The Palestinian people are determined to continue the Great March of Return, to free the land and move towards occupied Jerusalem, and they are not concerned by all the sacrifices," said Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas leader.

Israel rejected allegations of unlawful use of lethal force against unarmed demonstrators. More than 750 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in Friday's protest, according to Gaza health officials, making it the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

Gaza's Hamas rulers have not said if the final aim of protests, which are to continue off and on for six weeks, is an attempted mass breach of the border fence. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh hinted on Sunday at an escalation, saying last Friday's protests had a "limit", but that "next time, we won't know where that line would be".

Israel accused Hamas of trying to attack its border under the guise of protests.

Officials said Israel has a right to defend its border and that its troops were instructed to target what the army described as the "main instigators".

However, the military's open-fire policies came under more scrutiny as two amateur videos emerged purportedly showing two Palestinians being shot - one killed and one wounded - while not posing any apparent threat to soldiers.

The Israeli military accused Hamas on Sunday of releasing videos that were incomplete, edited or "completely fabricated" but did not elaborate.

The military said troops followed strict rules of engagement and that protesters were putting themselves in "harm's way" by operating in a dangerous area.

Meanwhile, Israel has backed down from a controversial plan to deport thousands of African asylum seekers after striking a deal with the UN to have many of them resettled in Western countries, including possibly Canada, Germany and Italy.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that under the deal, 16,250 asylum seekers will be sent to "developed countries" while roughly 20,000 others will be allowed to remain in Israel. Most of the asylum seekers are from Eritrea.

The deal with the UN allows Mr Netanyahu to scrap the Israeli government's original plan to give asylum seekers a choice: stay in Israel and face indefinite imprisonment or accept $3,500 (2,850) from the Israeli authorities and agree to go to a "third country", such as Rwanda or Uganda.

However, there was confusion last night as both German and Italian authorities said they were not aware of the plan.

( Daily Telegraph London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
Syrian government forces oversee the evacuation by bus of Army of Islam fighters from the besieged town of Douma (SANA via AP)

A new group of Syrian rebels and their family members have left their stronghold near Damascus, heading to the rebel-held north as part of an agreement with the Syrian government and its Russian backers.

State-run Syrian television broadcast footage that showed several buses leaving the town of Douma.

It said those on board were fighters and family members belonging to the Army of Islam, the largest rebel group in eastern Ghouta.

The Saudi-backed group, which has deep roots in the region, has held firm in recent weeks as virtually all the other insurgents of eastern Ghouta have reached deals to relocate to the rebel-held north, leaving Douma as the only remaining rebel holdout.

The first Army of Islam fighters began evacuating Douma on Monday. They headed to Jarablus, a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkish troops and allied Syrian forces. The rebels refused to say, however, whether they had surrendered.

It is also unclear whether all of the Army of Islam fighters have agreed to leave and how long the evacuations will take.

The group is estimated to command 10,000 fighters in the town, and has a formidable arsenal of tanks and other heavy weaponry.

The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdurrahman, said the Army of Islam is divided over whether to evacuate Douma, with hard-liners demanding they stay and fight.

The Russian military on Tuesday said 1,100 Syrian rebels and their family members have evacuated from Douma in two dozen buses in the past 24 hours.

The town of Douma was one of the earliest hubs of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in 2011.

The deal struck between the Army of Islam and the Russian military marks the end of a recent push by the Syrian government to consolidate its control of the suburbs.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled an agreement with the United Nations to resettle thousands of African migrants.

The move came after pressure from members of his coalition prompted him earlier to suspend the agreement.

Mr Netanyahu suddenly announced he was suspending the deal on Monday night, just hours after touting it on national television, until he could meet with Israeli residents of south Tel Aviv, which has areas with large migrant populations.

After meeting with residents on Tuesday Mr Netanyahu said he had weighed the pros and cons and he decided to cancel the agreement.

The move came after pressure from Mr Netanyahus nationalist allies who lashed out against the deal.

Expand Close African migrants wear chains to represent slavery during a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israel (Sebastian Scheiner/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp African migrants wear chains to represent slavery during a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israel (Sebastian Scheiner/AP)

Naftali Bennett, leader of the nationalist Jewish Home party, tweeted shortly before Mr Netanyahus statement nullifying the deal that the agreement is bad for Israel.

He said its not enough to suspend it, I call on the prime minister to cancel it completely. He added: Its approval would cause generations of crying and determine a precedent in Israel granting residency for illegal infiltrators.

Mr Netanyahu had announced on Monday afternoon that Israel agreed to cancel the planned expulsion of the migrants.

The deal called for sending about half of the 35,000 African migrants to Western nations and allowing the rest to remain in Israel.

Dozens of migrants and their Israeli supporters protested against the suspension outside the prime ministers office in Jerusalem and government offices in Tel Aviv as Mr Netanyahu met with the neighbourhood representatives.

Some protesters stripped to the waist, draped themselves with chains and taped their mouths shut at a protest in Tel Aviv. Others waved signs reading human lives are not to play with. Yes to the deal.

Protester Daniella Elyashar called on Mr Netanyahu to stop this political game.

Another protester, Veronika Cohen, said yesterday we were in tears of joy and this morning just in tears.

Hardliners in Mr Netanyahus coalition strongly criticised the deal for allowing thousands of Africans to remain after the prime minister announced it.

Labour Party leader Avi Gabbay criticised the sudden turnaround on Army Radio questioning if defence decisions are also made in the same manner.

It is sad, troubling and even a little scary that decisions are made that way, Mr Gabbay said. He accused Mr Netanyahu of leadership based on polls and comments on social media.

Israeli commentators attacked Mr Netanyahu for folding to pressure.

Writing in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Sima Kadmon noted Mr Netanyahus decision lasted for just six hours and 45 minutes before an important and courageous decision by the prime minister was trampled under the boots of the right wing divisions.

Most of the African migrants are from war-torn Sudan and Eritrea, the latter having one of the worlds worst human rights records.

The migrants say they are asylum-seekers fleeing danger and persecution, while Israeli leaders have claimed they are merely job seekers.

The Africans started arriving in 2005 after neighbouring Egypt violently quashed a refugee demonstration and word spread of safety and job opportunities in Israel. Tens of thousands crossed the desert border with Egypt before Israel completed a barrier in 2012 that stopped the influx.

Thousands of African migrants are concentrated in neighbourhoods in south Tel Aviv, where ethnic food shops and phone card stalls line the streets, and the area has become known as Little Africa.

This has sparked tension with the working-class Jewish residents who have been putting pressure on the government to find a solution.

Residents complained the agreement does not address their needs and demanded assurances that remaining migrants will be dispersed around the country as promised.

The prime ministers turnaround threw into limbo the surprise agreement, which had finally offered a solution to an issue that has divided Israel for a decade.

The deportation plan had been widely criticised at home and abroad, even by some of Israels closest supporters.
In this file photo taken on May 26, 2010 YouTube headquaters is pictured in San Bruno, California. The San Bruno police department on April 3, 2018, has received several 911 calls about an active shooter at YouTube Headquarters, according to media reports. / AFP PHOTO / Gabriel BOUYSGABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images

The scene following a possible shooting at the headquarters of YouTube in San Bruno, California, U.S., April 3, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. GRAEME MACDONALD/via REUTERS

The scenes following a possible shooting at the headquarters of YouTube in San Bruno, California, U.S., April 3, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. GRAEME MACDONALD/via REUTERS

A woman opened fire at YouTube's headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday, sending employees scrambling into the street and at least three victims to local hospitals before taking her own life, police said.

Police did not release any further information on the suspect or speculate on her motives for the shooting at the offices of YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet Inc's Google.

"We did locate a victim with what we believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Its a female, San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said at a news conference, describing the person police believe was the shooter.

One of the victims, a 36-year-old man, was listed in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital. A 32-year-old woman was listed in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition. Authorities did not release names of any of the victims.

Expand Close The scene following a possible shooting at the headquarters of YouTube in San Bruno, California, U.S., April 3, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. GRAEME MACDONALD/via REUTERS / Facebook

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Whatsapp The scene following a possible shooting at the headquarters of YouTube in San Bruno, California, U.S., April 3, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. GRAEME MACDONALD/via REUTERS

Google chief executive Sundar Pichai posted a message on the tech giant's Twitter page, saying four people were injured in the "horrific act of violence".

"I know a lot of you are in shock right now. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy," he added.

Re: YouTube situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.  Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018

Two law enforcement officials have told the AP that a shooting that wounded three people at YouTube headquarters in California is being investigated as a domestic dispute.

Earlier, San Bruno police said a woman opened fire with a handgun in an outdoor courtyard and then died after shooting herself. Police provided no motive or other details about her.

We advised all other employees in the Bay Area, and people with meetings scheduled, to stay away from the area, and that there is no need to take any action. We have provided employees a helpline.  Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018

YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki tweeted to say no words could describe "how horrible it was to have an active shooter" at the firm's headquarters.

"Our hearts go out to all those injured & impacted today. We will come together to heal as a family," she added.

Expand Close The area of the shooting on a map of San Francisco (Image via Google Maps) / Facebook

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A YouTube product manager, Todd Sherman, described on Twitter hearing people running, first thinking it was an earthquake before he was told that a person had a gun.

"At that point every new person I saw was a potential shooter. Someone else said that the person shot out the back doors and then shot themselves," Sherman said on Twitter.

"I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front," Sherman said.

US President Donald Trump sent his condolences to the victims.

"Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTubes HQ in San Bruno, California. Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene," Mr Trump tweeted.

Google told NBC news in a statement that it was coordinating with local authorities.

"Customers said they heard what could have been gunshots when they were on their way here," Natalie Mangiante, an employee at Big Mouth Burgers located near the YouTube building, said by phone. Mangiante said she did not see or notice anything.

Local television images showed YouTube employees walking out of the building with their hands raised.

Last month, YouTube announced it would ban content promoting the sale of guns and gun accessories as well as videos that teach how to make guns.
Four members of a British family have been killed in a car crash as they returned from the Kennedy Space Centre, police in Florida have said.

Titusville Police Department said the "violent collision" happened at around 6pm on Monday on Sisson Road and State Road, and saw their Mitsubishi sedan hit by a Ford pick-up.

The force said Adam Stephenson, 30, Maryanne Stephenson, 29, Brian Stephenson, 66, and Sheralyn Stephenson, 56 - all from Bristol - died in the crash.

Titusville Police Department Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson told the Press Association: "Our emergency personnel were on the scene within a few minutes.

"There was nothing they could do, all four were pronounced deceased at the scene."

Using the destination set into the satnav he said officers went to the Davenport address of the family who were on holiday in the Sunshine State - a popular destination with Britons.

"They located the brother of the driver, and the son of the older couple in the back seat. So he lost his brother, his sister-in-law and his mum and dad," he said.

"Very, very tragic. He was doing the notifications last night to other family members over in England.

"That was a very tough notification, it was tough for all involved. The job of first responders is to sustain life and to help people at scenes.

"They were very frustrated because there was nothing they could do for these four that died fairly instantly from the violent collision."

Deputy Chief Hutchinson said officers believe the family had just left the Kennedy Space Centre in their rental vehicle, and were attempting to navigate back to their rented holiday home.

He said their satnav showed they were on their way back to the property and had been re-routed due to an earlier collision.

"The GPS had indicated for them to make a U-turn at that intersection which was an illegal U-turn unfortunately and violated the right of way of the pick-up truck," he said.

The driver of the Ford pick-up truck was taken to hospital with "non life-threatening injuries", the force said.

An official FCO spokesman said: "We are supporting the family of four British people who have died in Florida. Our thoughts are with them at this deeply difficult time."
Alex van der Zwaan leaves the U.S. District Court after his sentencing in Washington, April 3, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

The Dutch son-in-law of one of Russia's richest men was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for lying to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators about contacts with an official in President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who once worked closely with Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was also sentenced to two months of supervised release and said he was sorry for what he did.

He pleaded guilty on Feb. 20 as Mueller intensified his investigation into potential collusion between the president's campaign and Russia, and told prosecutors he lied to FBI agents about previous communications with Rick Gates, a Manafort protege who held a senior position in the Trump campaign.

"What I did was wrong. I apologize to this court, and I apologize to my wife," van der Zwaan said at the hearing.

Van der Zwaan, 33, previously worked for the law firm Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom and is married to the daughter of prominent Russian billionaire German Khan, founder of the privately owned Alfa Bank.

The couple is expecting their first child later this year.
Steven Bochco, a pioneering TV writer and producer known for creating 'Hill Street Blues' and a string of other hits, has died at the age of 74.

A spokesman said Mr Bochco died in his sleep after a battle with cancer.

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Phillip Arnold told 'USA Today': "Steven fought cancer with strength, courage, grace and his unsurpassed sense of humour. He died peacefully in his sleep with his family close by."

Stars of the small screen paid tribute to his work and described his influence on their careers.

Joss Whedon, creator of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', said: "Absolutely one of the biggest influences on Buffy (and me) was 'Hill Street Blues'. Complex, unpredictable and unfailingly humane. Steven Bochco changed television, more than once."

Mr Bochco, who won 10 primetime Emmys, created several hit television shows including 'LA Law', 'NYPD Blue', and 'Doogie Howser, MD', which launched the career of Neil Patrick Harris.

Premiering in January 1981, 'Hill Street Blues' challenged and sometimes confounded the meagre audience that first came across it. Then, on a wave of critical acclaim, the series began to click with viewers, while scoring a history-making 27 Emmy nominations its first year.

During its seven-season run, it would win 26 Emmys and launch Mr Bochco on a course that has led to dozens of series and earned him four Peabody awards, in addition to the 10 Emmys.

'Hill Street Blues' had a sprawling universe of engaging yet flawed characters, a zippy pace and layers of overlapping, scripted dialogue, shot in a documentary style.

But what really set the show apart were the multiple narratives that interlaced each episode with those that came before and after.

With the rare exception of the few prime-time soaps, almost every series up to that time - whether comedy or drama - made each episode freestanding, with a reset button for the one that came next.

Mr Bochco once recalled a fan telling him that 'Hill Street Blues' was the first TV series with a memory.

Mr Bochco grew up in Manhattan, the son of a painter and a concert violinist. On arriving in Los Angeles after college, he wrote for several series at Universal Studios.

Then he got a big break: writing the screenplay for the 1972 sci-fi film 'Silent Running'. But Mr Bochco said the disrespect he confronted as the writer soured him on writing for the big screen.

"Once you've delivered the screenplay they don't want you around, because you're gonna get in the way of someone else's vision," Mr Bochco told the Associated Press in an interview two years ago.
Police in protective suits at The Maltings shopping centre, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill (Ben Birchall/PA)

Russias foreign minister accused Britain and the US of spreading lies and disinformation about the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in England, declaring that East-West tensions are worse now than during the Cold War.

Britain has blamed Russia for the March 4 nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Britain and two dozen of its allies have since expelled over 150 Russian diplomats. Moscow, which vehemently denies any involvement, has responded tit-for-tat.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the British accusations on Monday as a mad and horrible provocation.

Expand Close Sergey Lavrov mocked Britain's claim that there was no plausible alternative explanation for the poisonings of the Skripals (Jonathan Brady/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Sergey Lavrov mocked Britain's claim that there was no plausible alternative explanation for the poisonings of the Skripals (Jonathan Brady/PA)

He argued that Russia had no motive to attack Mr Skripal, who was released in a 2010 spy swap from a Russian prison where he was serving time for spying for Britain.

If there were any gripes against the man, he wouldnt have been swapped, Mr Lavrov said.

Russias top diplomat also mocked Britains claim that there was no plausible alternative explanation for the poisonings of the Skripals.

British intelligence agencies could have been involved and the case helped distract public attention from the British governments difficult talks to exit the European Union, Mr Lavrov said.

There are other explanations besides those put forward by our Western colleagues, who declare that it can only be the Russians who are responsible, Mr Lavrov said. It could also be advantageous to the British government, who clearly find themselves in a difficult situation having failed to fulfil their promises to voters over Brexit.

British officials have previously rejected similar Russian allegations.

Mr Lavrov said that Russia has called a meeting of the international chemical weapons watchdog for Wednesday to discuss the case and asked it to provide details of its cooperation with Britain in the poisoning probe.

Russia convenes emergency @OPCW session on 4 April to deal with the Salisbury provocation. pic.twitter.com/wogXCAt5so  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) April 2, 2018

Alexander Shulgin, the Russian representative at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said on Monday in televised remarks that the organisation must conduct an open, thorough and unbiased investigation with Russian experts participation.

British authorities invited OPCW experts to take chemical samples from Salisbury, the English city where the father and daughter were sickened, and to analyse them.

Mr Shulgin warned that Moscow would not accept the agencys conclusions unless Russian experts are allowed to take part in the process.

Mr Lavrov also assailed the British authorities for stonewalling Russias request for consular access to Yulia Skripal, 33, a Russian citizen whose condition has improved since she and her father fell critically ill on March 4.

Many say that the situation now is worse than it was during the Cold War because some rules existed and decorum was observed back then, he said.

Now, Britain, the US and a few countries blindly following them have dropped all decorum and engaged in blatant lies and disinformation.

Later, another top Russian diplomat claimed the nerve agent poisoning may have been arranged by Britain to justify military spending.

Deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko called the poisoning a provocation arranged by Britain in order to justify high military spending because they need a major enemy.
President Donald Trump has said a decision to pull US troops out of Syria could be made very quickly.

Mr Trump said he wanted to bring them home to start rebuilding our nation.

Mr Trump said the primary mission for US troops in Syria was toppling the Islamic State group.

The president said that task is almost completed.

Mr Trump said the US has spent seven trillion US dollars in the Middle East over the years and it bought nothing, except death and destruction.

Mr Trump said last week the US would soon leave Syria.

Other administration officials have argued for keeping US troops in Syria in the interest of regional stability.

Mr Trump made his remarks at a White House news conference with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Russias President Vladimir Putin says Moscow wants a thorough probe into the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain and will demand to be part of it.

Mr Putin cited the head of Britains defence laboratory who said that its scientists have not identified the precise source of the nerve agent used to attack former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Mr Putin said, given the lack of precise information about the agents origin, the speed at which the anti-Russian campaign has been launched causes bewilderment.

He was speaking on Tuesday in Ankara following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

Britain has blamed Russia for the poisoning, the accusations Russia vehemently denied.

Both the West and Russia have expelled over 150 envoys each in the dispute.

Mr Putin said the type of the nerve agent used in the March 4 poisoning could be made in some 20 nations.
Kolkata, Apr 3 (IBNS): The trial run of the first container train service between India and Bangladesh from Kolkata to Dhaka was flagged off by V.Kalyana Rama, CMD, Container Corporation of India (CCI) and Harindra Rao, General Manager, Eastern Railways at Concor terminus near Majherhat station in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Loaded with over 1,100 tonnes of animal feed (de-oiled cake), the 60-container train will travel over 300 km through Majerhat, Naihati, Ranaghat and Gede in India and Darsana and Ishurdi in Bangladesh before reaching Bangabandhu West station, 117km from Dhaka.

Harindra Rao, General Manager, Eastern Railways, said, that passenger and goods trains are already running between the two countries. This is the first time that a container service is being started.

Once the trial run is successful and if Bangladesh gives its clearances, the container train services will be introduced on a regular basis, he said.

V.Kalyana Rama, CMD, Container Corporation of India said that there was a demand for exporting goods to Bangladesh, especially steel, cement, machine parts, and food grains among others.

He said that this will drastically reduce the transportation time and cost between both the countries and save time and trade costs significantly apart from making trade safer and more organized.

Rathendra Raman, CGM, Eastern Region of CCI and Basudev Panda, DRM, Sealdah were also present.



Images: PIB-Kolkata
Image: NASA

New York, Apr 3 (JEN): Despite the deteriorating security situation, there are some signs of progress in the field of disarmament, such as the intention of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States to hold summit talks, a senior United Nations official said Monday.

At a time when global anxieties about nuclear weapons are higher than at any time since the Cold War, measures for disarmament and arms control are more vital than ever, Thomas Markram, Deputy High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, told the opening of the 2018 session of the UN Disarmament Commission, held in New York.

Since September, there have been no fundamental changes in the interrelated trends that are eroding efficacy in arms control and negatively affecting international peace and security, added Markram, as he delivered a speech on behalf of High Representative Izumi Nakamitsu.

He stressed, however, that there have been some recent signs of progress that point to where the Commission can make a unique and constructive contribution.

Positive developments also include the successful reduction of strategic nuclear forces by Russia and the US to the levels required by their New START Treaty.As for the reported commitment by the DPRK to denuclearization following the recent talks held in China, Mr. Markram said that we hope these positive developments will be the start of a longer process of sincere dialogue leading to sustainable peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

Looking to build on this momentum, the Commission has also included prevention of an arms race in outer space in its agenda for this session.

One specific collateral measure for disarmament on which this body should certainly be able to make a contribution is the goal of preserving outer space as a realm free of conflict, Markram said, noting that several recent trends are impacting the security and sustainability of outer space activities.

These include: the massive growth in the number and diversity of actors operating in outer space, including governments and the private sector; the proliferation of hazardous space debris; and increasing dependence on outer space in the civilian, government and military sectors.

As long as some continue to see outer space as a potential realm for war-fighting, we will face increasing risk of weaponization and conflict, he said.

However, there continues to be common ground among the major space-faring nations and other space actors on ways to make progress in a number of areas, including the implementation of transparency and confidence-building measures to mitigate misunderstandings and reduce risk, he noted.

The Commission was created in 1978 as a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly, composed of all Member States, to consider various issues in the field of disarmament and make recommendations.








Credits: NASA, ESA, and P. Kelly (University of Minnesota)

Washington, Apr 3 (IBNS): More than halfway across the universe, an enormous blue star nicknamed Icarus is the farthest individual star ever seen. Normally, it would be much too faint to view, even with the worlds largest telescopes. But through a quirk of nature that tremendously amplifies the stars feeble glow, astronomers using NASAs Hubble Space Telescope were able to pinpoint this faraway star and set a new distance record.

They also used Icarus to test one theory of dark matter, and to probe the make-up of a foreground galaxy cluster, read the NASA website.

The star, harbored in a very distant spiral galaxy, is so far away that its light has taken 9 billion years to reach Earth. It appears to us as it did when the universe was about 30 percent of its current age.

Gravity as a Natural Cosmic Lens

In the case of Icarus, a natural magnifying glass is created by a galaxy cluster called MACS J1149+2223. Located about 5 billion light-years from Earth, this massive cluster of galaxies sits between the Earth and the galaxy that contains the distant star. By combining the strength of this gravitational lens with Hubbles exquisite resolution and sensitivity, astronomers can see and study Icarus.The cosmic quirk that makes this star visible is a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Gravity from a foreground, massive cluster of galaxies acts as a natural lens in space, bending and amplifying light. Sometimes light from a single background object appears as multiple images. The light can be highly magnified, making extremely faint and distant objects bright enough to see.

The team  including Jose Diego of the Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, Spain, and Steven Rodney of the University of South Carolina, Columbia  dubbed the star Icarus, after the Greek mythological character who flew too near the Sun on wings of feathers and wax that melted. (Its official name is MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1.) Much like Icarus, the background star had only fleeting glory as seen from Earth: It momentarily skyrocketed to 2,000 times its true brightness when temporarily magnified.

Models suggest that the tremendous brightening was probably from the gravitational amplification of a star, similar in mass to the Sun, in the foreground galaxy cluster when the star moved in front of Icarus. The stars light is usually magnified by about 600 times due to the foreground clusters mass.

Characterizing Icarus

The team had been using Hubble to monitor a supernova in the far-distant spiral galaxy when, in 2016, they spotted a new point of light not far from the magnified supernova. From the position of the new source, they inferred that it should be much more highly magnified than the supernova.

When they analyzed the colors of the light coming from this object, they discovered it was a blue supergiant star. This type of star is much larger, more massive, hotter, and possibly hundreds of thousands of times intrinsically brighter than our Sun. But at this distance, it would still be too far away to see without the amplification of gravitational lensing, even for Hubble.

How did Kelly and his team know Icarus was not another supernova? The source isnt getting hotter; its not exploding. The light is just being magnified, said Kelly. And thats what you expect from gravitational lensing.

Looking for Dark Matter

Detecting the amplification of a single, pinpoint background star provided a unique opportunity to test the nature of dark matter in the cluster. Dark matter is an invisible material that makes up most of the universes mass.

By probing whats floating around in the foreground cluster, scientists were able to test one theory that dark matter might be made up mostly of a huge number of primordial black holes formed in the birth of the universe with masses tens of times larger than the Sun. The results of this unique test disfavor that hypothesis, because light fluctuations from the background star, monitored with Hubble for 13 years, would have looked different if there were a swarm of intervening black holes.

When NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is launched, astronomers expect to find many more stars like Icarus. Webb's extraordinary sensitivity will allow measurement of even more details, including whether these distant stars are rotating. Such magnified stars may even be found to be fairly common.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C.
MHRD Twitter handle

New Delhi, Apr 3 (IBNS): The Ministry of Human Resource Development on Tuesday adjudged the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru as the overall best institution in the country in its National Institutional Ranking Framework report.

West Bengal's Jadavpur University has bagged the sixth position in the university category of 2018 ranking.

Meanwhile, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) has been adjudged the best engineering college and the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) the best management institution of the country.

The announcements were made by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar at an event in New Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan.

Delhi's Miranda House has managed to capture the top position among all general colleges followed by St Stephen's College.
New York/ Apr 3 (IBNS): Popular internet search engine Google on Tuesday designed its homepage with a doodle that celebrated social activist Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay's115th birth anniversary.

Google's official website on Doodle said: "Chattopadhyays contributions to India were numerous. Though widely known for persuading Mahatma Gandhi to call upon women to march with him in the Indian Independence Movement in the early 20th century, she is also credited for reinvigorating the culture of Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre, and for using cooperative grassroots movements to pave the way for a higher socioeconomic standard for Indian women around the country."

"Todays Doodle by Finland-based Desi artist Parvati Pillai depicts Chattopadhyay surrounded by many of the cultural objects and practices she fought to elevate and protect, including the bhangra, the sitar, the sarangi, Karthak dance, Chhau dance, embroidery, basket weaving, and Kathaputli," read the Google doodle website.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also remembered Chattopadhyay on her birth anniversary.

Remembering social reformer and freedom fighter Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay on her birth anniversary  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 3, 2018

"Remembering social reformer and freedom fighter Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay on her birth anniversary," she tweeted.


Kolkata, Apr 3 (IBNS): Nicobar, a Mumbai-based lifestyle design studio, returns to Kolkata with a three-day pop-up display, titled The Nicobar Edit 2018, which highlights their inspired-by-Sri Lanka collection.

The Nicobar Edit 2018 includes fashion, home and travel products, which will take visitors "deep into the island from Kandy to Bentota and beyond, as pieces pay homage to the islands lush flora and fauna, and modernist architecture by the iconic Geoffrey Bawa," said the organisers.

Teabox will be there as well, featuring their array of packaged teas and serving warm and cold brews inspired by Sri Lankan coasts.

The pop-up will be held at the Alka Jalan Foundation (25/1 Ballygunge Circular Road, Daga Nikunj, Kolkata 700019) from April 6-8, between 11am and 8pm.
Kolkata, Apr 2 (IBNS): Iconic Santoor legend Tarun Bhattacharya embarks on a 3 months tour of United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States of America and Canada in a series of concerts to promote Raag Ganga created and unveiled by him a few months in India.

The highlight of the tour is the celebration of the reopening of Queen Elizabeth Hall. The music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances.



The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival of Britain of 1951, and the Hayward Gallery. It stands on the former site of a shot tower, built as part of a lead works in 1826 and retained for the Festival of Britain.

The venue was closed for two years of renovations in September 2015.



The concert on Apr 21 marks the beginning of the maestros odyssey. The high point shall be maestros reuniting with another great Pandit Kushal Das after almost half a decade.



His concert at Amsterdam, Netherlands shall be the first concert overseas unveiling the latest Raga in Hindustani Classical Music created by him as an ode to Mother Ganges and how over centuries mankind has been destroying its purity and today we need to preserve it to save millions thriving on this river.

The Santoor caravan moves to US where he shall feature in major concerts at North Carolina, Portland, San Fransisco, Tampa, Milwaukee, Nashville. The maestros Montreal and Toronto concerts in Canada in May 2018 shall see the maestro team up with Hindole Majumdar, a percussion virtuoso to present a series of concerts on Raag Ganga.



Tarun Bhattacharya said, It is important to promote Indian music at the global platform on a regular basis and since after many years a new Raag has been created and I have a duty towards my creation to be known to the music lovers at large. Also I find a renewed interest in Indian classical form of music in the West and I, as torch bearer and senior statesman of the Indian music fraternity , feel morally obligated to spread and infuse more enthusiasm among these music patrons and also create new sets of population getting attracted and falling in love with Indian music.
Kolkata, Apr 3 (IBNS): The 10th edition of The GRIHA Summit that will discuss sustainable building policies, tools and techniques and exhibitions showcasing sustainable building materials, construction practices and technologies will be organised in New Delhi in December by TERI in cooperation with the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, one of the world's leading universities.

GRIHA Summit seeks to discuss the environmental performance of a building holistically over its entire lifecycle based on quantitative and qualitative criteria. It seeks to minimise resource consumption, waste generation and overall ecological/environmental impact of buildings and habitats.



Prof. Ian Jacobs, President and Vice Chancellor, UNSW said, "Our partnership with TERI represents our commitment to jointly develop tangible applications of research that our teams work in several areas such as clean energy and sustainable housing, including photo-voltaics, waste-water treatment and intelligent transport systems.



"This demonstrates UNSW's commitment to a robust 'India Strategy' that aligns with the developmental aspirations of the Indian government. We look forward to exploring several areas of collaboration with TERI."



Sydney-based UNSW is one of the world's leading research and teaching universities and is home to more than 52,000 students from over 130 countries. It offers programs in architecture, art and design, business, engineering and law, medicine and science backed by a rich international faculty .



The partnership highlights the growing collaboration between India and Australia across various sectors.



Dr. Ajay Mathur, President, GRIHA Council and Director General, TERI said, "I welcome the offer of UNSW to co-create the 10th GRIHA Summit together with the GRIHA Council. I am equally excited on the renewed partnership between TERI and UNSW in the collaborative efforts of knowledge transfer and identification of specific areas for research and development across various thematics concerning the Built Environment".



Over the years, the GRIHA Summit has witnessed enthusiastic participation from government, industry, building practitioners, developers, academia and all other relevant stakeholders.

UNSW, Australias global university ranked among the top 50 Universities in the world offers programs in engineering, business, law, architecture, art and design, medicine and science.

Located in Sydney, a safe and student friendly city, UNSW is home to more than 52,000 students from over 120 countries. UNSW has been attracting a growing number of bright Indian students for undergraduate and post graduate studies.



As one of the world's leading research and teaching universities UNSW's cutting edge research and innovation facilitated by 3000 faculty is known for acceptance and successful commercialisation.
New Delhi, Apr 3 (IBNS): The Supreme Court will hear a petition filed against the central government for not forming the Cauvery Water Management Board on Apr 9, media reports said.

The deadline to form the board has already lapsed.

The ruling party of Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK, has been protesting over the issue for last few weeks in the parliament, stalling the proceedings in both the houses.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra-led bench told NDTV, "We understand Tamil Nadu's problem. We will see that Tamil Nadu gets water, and will solve the issue."

The AIADMK has also said it will go on a hunger strike to pressurise the central government to set up the board.

AIADMK leader M Thambidurai said the party might consider moving a no-confidence motion against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, report said.

Last month, the Supreme Court had ordered an increase in water share for Karnataka while delivering a judgement on the Cauvery river dispute.

Karnataka will get an additional 14.75 tmc of water. Hence Tamil Nadu's water share has been reduced from 192 tmc to 177.25 tmc.

The Cauvery river waters are shared by four southern states-Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

The sharing of waters has been a contentious issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka since 1892, with the debate growing stronger in 1924 between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and Kingdom of Mysore.

The Cauvery, which flows through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, is the third largest river -- after Godavari and Krishna -- in south india and is considered the lifeline of Tamil Nadu and Southern Karnataka.
New Delhi, Apr 3 (IBNS): The Supreme Court will hear the central government's review petition on SC/ST Act at 2 pm on Tuesday, media reports said.

The top court will hear the petition at an open court, report said.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the petition after a massive protest which broke out in several parts of the country on Monday over the Supreme Courts alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act.

At least nine people died as the 'Bharat Bandh' called by several Dalit organisations turned violent.

Madhya Pradesh has been the worst hit with six people being killed in the state alone. According to reports, three people died in Gwalior, two in Bhind and one in Morena.

In Uttar Pradesh, two people died as a result of the massive protests by Dalit groups while one was killed in Rajasthan.

After the day-long violence, curfew was imposed in several places and over 400 people were arrested in Uttar Pradesh alone.

A former BSP MLA was also among those arrested in UP, media reports said.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday evening informed that it is closely monitoring the situation in the wake of bandh and protests in the country.
Poonch, Apr 3 (IBNS): Five Indian soldiers, including an officer, were injured in cross-border firing after Pakistan violated ceasefire in the Krishna Ghati sector of Mendhar area in Poonch district of Jammu region on Tuesday morning.

Defence sources has confirmed that five armymen have been injured in the cross-border shelling and firing.

Sources said the injured soldiers have been airlifted to a military hospital in Udhampur for advanced treatment.

An army officer said an exchange of fire has been going on after the Pakistani army violated the ceasefire at around 7:30 am.



(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)
Dehradun, Apr 3 (IBNS) : Six people, including two pilots, were injured on Tuesday morning after a Mi-17 helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed while landing in Kedarnath in Uttarakhands Rudraprayag district, media reports said quoting officials.

The helicopter was reportedly carrying construction materials.

Reasons (behind the crash) are unknown but a probe (by the concerned agency) will perhaps pinpoint the reasons. All the six people on board, including two pilots, sustained minor injuries but are safe, The Hindustan Times quoted Rudraprayags district magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal as saying.

The personnel of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and local police swung into action soon after the Russian-origin transport helicopter crashed above the helipad located behind the Kedarnath shrine, the HT news said.

One of the rescue worker has been quoted as saying that the helicopter got entangled with an iron girder while landing and crashed as the pilots lost control.

assive reconstruction works have been going in the Kedarnath valley since 2013 where many hotels, rest houses and shops around the temple were destroyed in a devastating flood.
Imphal, Apr 3 (IBNS) : Troops of Assam Rifles on Monday seized huge quantity of narcotics worth Rs 16 crore in Manipurs Moreh town, bordering Myanmar.

Acting on specific inputs about a bus modified to carry wooden planks, Assam Rifles troops intercepted the vehicle at a checking post at Khudengthabi on National Highway 102 near Moreh town.

While checking the bus, the security personnel recovered around 3.20 lakh contraband (World is Yours) tablets weighing a total of 39 kg.

A top official of Assam Rifles said the contraband drugs were found well concealed in a specially modified compartment below the seats of the driver and co-driver.

He said the price of the drugs in the international market is estimated to be about Rs 16 crore.

The security personnel apprehended the drug trafficker, identified as Mohammad Elas Khan of Mayang Imphal of Imphal West district.

The seized drugs and the drug trafficker were handed over to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Imphal.

Myanmar is the largest producer of WIY tablets, which are often trafficked into India through Manipur border.

Since 2017, Assam Rifles has recovered contraband items worth around Rs 70 crore in Manipur.

Last month, Assam Rifles had seized drugs worth Rs 24 crore on NH 102 in Manipur.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Srinagar, Apr 3 (IBNS): Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday recovered the body of a youth abducted by gunmen on Monday in Hajin town in the north Indian state.

He was abducted by gunmen from his in-laws home in Hajin area of north Kashmirs Bandipora district.

A police official said that the body of Naseer Ahmad Sheikh (26), son of Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, was recovered from a drain in Baghat Mohalla Shahgund, five kilometers from his residence in Hajin.

Naseer, as per his family and the police, was kidnapped at gunpoint by suspected terrorirsts from the house of his in-laws at around 10:15 pm.

Three of his relatives were injured after they tried to resist his kidnapping.

The body bears visible bullet marks. It will be handed over to the next of his kin after post-mortem, said a police official.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)
New Delhi, Apr 3 (IBNS): India on Tuesday welcomed the United States' decision to put Milli Muslim League (MML) and 7 of its functionaries to list of global terrorists.

In a statement, Spokesperson said: "India welcomes the action taken by the US for designating the Milli Muslim League as an alias of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan based terrorist group and its functionaries who are acting on behalf of LeT."

"It vindicates Indias position that Pakistan has not taken effective action against terrorist groups and individuals. It is also cognizance of the fact that terrorist individuals and entities are allowed to change names and continue to operate freely from territory under Pakistans control," it said.

"The designation is a rejection of the attempts being made in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities; and highlights Pakistans failure to fulfil its international obligation to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries, and disrupt terror financing," it said.

In a major move, the US Department of State has amended the designation of Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT) to include the aliases MML and Tehreek-e- Azadi-e Kashmir (TAJK).

"The aliases have been added to LeTs designations as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224," read an official statement issued by the department.

"These designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks," read the statement.

"Among other consequences of the designations, LeTs property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group," it said.

Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State, noted: Todays amendments take aim at Lashkar e-Tayyibas efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character. Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence.

Formed in the 1980s, LeT was responsible for the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India that killed 166 people, including six Americans, and has killed dozens of Indian security forces and civilians in recent years.

LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks.

The Department of State designated LeT as an FTO and SDGT on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years. In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir. LeT has engaged in terrorist activities under this name, including inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising. In August 2017, LeT chief Hafiz Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group. LeT members make up MMLs leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeeds likeness in its election banners and literature.

Concurrently with Mondays State Department actions, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for on behalf of LeT: Saifullah Khalid, Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, Muhammad Harris Dar, Tabish Qayyuum, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Ehsan.

The actions notify the U.S. public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of LeT.

Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system.

"Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of U.S. agencies and other governments," read the official statement.


Guwahati, Apr 3 (IBNS): While the people of Assam eagerly wait for a foreigners free National Register of Citizens (NRC), a shocking report has come to light with as a foreigner declared by the court has been able to enter his name in the draft NRC published on Dec 31 midnight.

According to the reports, the NRC part draft published from the Lahorighat assembly constituency in middle Assam's Morigaon district has included the name of a person who was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal in 2011.

Ali Ahmed, who was declared a foreigner by the Foreigners Tribunal on Nov 22, 2011 in Sivasagar district, by an order which was also affirmed by the Gauhati High Court on May 17, 2017 in WP (C) 2768/2017, has included his name in the part draft NRC.

This fact has come to light, after Ali Ahmed has recently filed a review petition before the High Court.

Meanwhile, the Gauhati High Court has directed the state coordinator of NRC to take necessary action on the issue and next hearing for the review petition of Ali Ahmed has been scheduled on April 11 next.

The first part draft NRC was published on December 31 midnight by including 1.90 crore people out of 3.29 crore applicants.

The Supreme Court has directed the NRC authorities to publish the complete draft NRC by June 30 next.



(By Hemanta Kumar Nath)
New Delhi, Apr 3 (IBNS): A day after massive protests in several parts of the country, fresh violence broke out in Rajasthan on Tuesday as nearly 5,000 people set ablaze the houses of a sitting and a former Dalit MLA, media reports said.

The death toll in the violence since Monday rose to 11.

On Tuesday, two more persons died in Madhya Pradesh.

In the fresh violence, houses of a sitting MLA and a former MLA  both Dalits  in Hindaun and in Karauli district, were set ablaze.

Soon after the incident, curfew was clamped in Jaipur's Hindaun.

The Supreme Court has earlier rejected a plea to put stay on its March 20 order diluting certain provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, reports said.

The top court, however, put the matter to be heard after 10 days and asked parties to file their written submissions within two days.

While hearing observations by attorney general K K Venugopal on a review petition filed by the Centre, the apex court said: "We are not against the Act. Innocent should not be punished."

The SC on Tuesday said the judgment in no way dilutes any provision of the SC/ST Act or rules and that the Act does not mandate immediate arrest on filing of complaint.

"We have not diluted any provision of SC/ST Act and only safeguarded interest of innocents from being arrested. Provisions of the Act cannot be used to terrorise the innocents," the court said.

The review petion was filed by the Centre on Monday amid a countrywide unrest after several Dalit organisations called a Bharat Bandh in protest against what they alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act.
Kabul, Apr 3 (IBNS): A magnetic bomb blast in Kunduz province of Afghanistan on Monday killed at least one policeman, media reports said.

Four civilians were injured in the incident.

Police chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Hamid Hamidi told Afghanistan's Pajhwok Afghan News the blast ripped through a border police vehicle at around 7pm.

According to media reports, the blast hit the pick up ranger vehicle belonging to the border police in Imam Sahib port.

Kabul and rest of the nation have witnessed several terrorist attacks in recent times.

More than 10,000 civilians have lost their lives or suffered injuries during 2017, according to the latest report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documenting the impact of the armed conflict on civilians in Afghanistan.

The human cost of this ugly war in Afghanistan  loss of life, destruction and immense suffering  is far too high said the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, during the launch of the latest annual report in Kabul.

The report detailed that in 2017, UNAMA and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented 10,453 civilian casualties  3,438 killed and 7,015 injured.

The findings show that the majority of civilian casualties resulted from suicide attacks, improvised explosive device, ground engagements, targeted killings, explosive remnants of war and air strikes.


Washington, Apr 3 (IBNS): US President Donald Trump on Monday congratulated Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on being re-elected as as the President of Egypt.

During their conversation, the two leaders affirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt, the White House confirmed.

A statement issued by the White House read: "President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt. President Trump congratulated President Al Sisi on his reelection."

"The two leaders affirmed the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt, and noted that they look forward to advancing this partnership and addressing common challenges," read the statement.

US State Department on Monday said the country is looking forward to work with the Egyptian President.

We look forward to continuing to work with #Egypt's President @AlsisiOfficial to advance our strong partnership. We will continue to encourage a broadening of opportunities for political participation for Egyptians and emphasize the importance of the protection of #HumanRights. pic.twitter.com/BSvbL7ayTQ  Heather Nauert (@statedeptspox) April 2, 2018

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert tweeted: "We look forward to continuing to work with #Egypt's President @AlsisiOfficial to advance our strong partnership. We will continue to encourage a broadening of opportunities for political participation for Egyptians and emphasize the importance of the protection of #HumanRights."

Image: Donald Trump Facebook page
Washington, Apr 3 (IBNS): In a major move, the US Department of State has amended the designation of Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT) to include the aliases Milli Muslim League (MML) and Tehreek-e- Azadi-e Kashmir (TAJK).

"The aliases have been added to LeTs designations as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224," read an official statement issued by the department.

"These designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks," read the statement.

"Among other consequences of the designations, LeTs property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group," it said.

Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State, noted: Todays amendments take aim at Lashkar e-Tayyibas efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character. Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence.

Formed in the 1980s, LeT was responsible for the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India that killed 166 people, including six Americans, and has killed dozens of Indian security forces and civilians in recent years.

LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks.

The Department of State designated LeT as an FTO and SDGT on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years. In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir. LeT has engaged in terrorist activities under this name, including inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising. In August 2017, LeT chief Hafiz Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group. LeT members make up MMLs leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeeds likeness in its election banners and literature.

Concurrently with Mondays State Department actions, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for on behalf of LeT: Saifullah Khalid, Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi, Muhammad Harris Dar, Tabish Qayyuum, Fayyaz Ahmad, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Ehsan.

The actions notify the U.S. public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of LeT.

Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system.

"Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of U.S. agencies and other governments," read the official statement.

Image: Donald Trump Facebook page
Image: Internet Screen grab

Ottawa, Apr 3 (IBNS): Canada's special envoy to Myanmar gave a strong signal to his country saying willingness should be shown to the Rohingya refugees, who fled from Myanmar Rakhine state, CTV News reported.

Sources told CTV News that crimes against humanity have occurred in the country.

Last October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed former Toronto MP and Ontario premier Bob Rae as the special envoy to Myanmar.

Rae's interim order was quoted by the media, "It is hard to convey in words the extent of the humanitarian crisis currently being faced in Bangladesh."

"In addition to accounts of shooting and military violence, I also heard directly from women of sexual violence and abuse at the hands of the Myanmar military, and the death of children and the elderly on the way to the camps.

Rae had traveled to the Rakhine state in February.

Since August 2017, nearly 700,000 minority Muslim Rohingyas have fled violence in Myanmar across the border into Bangaldeshs Coxs Bazar, joining several hundred thousand more that were already settled there in overcrowded camps.

The UN had called it as "a textbook ethnic cleansing".

With relief agencies in Bangladesh struggling to assist more than a million vulnerable Rohingya refugees crowded into makeshift camps along the countrys south-east coast, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday appealed for international support to help the cash strapped health sector scale up its response.
Toronto, Apr 3 (IBNS): A shooting inside Karaoke bar in Toronto has injured two people on Tuesday early morning, media reports said.

The incident had occurred at around 1 pm.

The victims were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

The police said injuries are not life-threatening.

The paramedics have described the victims to be in early 20s.

The police are investigating the incident by speaking to witness and going through the CCTV cameras.

(Reporting by Suman Das)
The world has its conspiracy theories and India, too, has its creepy mysteries some of which, to this day, remain unresolved. Secrets cults, UFOs, sonic booms, it's all here on this list. This is also a reminder to those who think India's only just about beauty and culture. In a country with such rich history, there's bound to be a few dark corners.

1. The sonic boom in Jodhpur

reuters

On 18 December, 2012, residents in Jodhpur woke to a loud, thunderous boom, unlike the sonic boom from aircrafts. Upon enquiring, the residents in the area realised no planes had crashed and no explosions had taken place. What remains is the mystery.

2. Emperor Ashoka's nine unknown men

Quora

The nine unknown are said to have constituted what is also referred to as India's own Illuminati. This group is said to have formed by emperor Ashoka in 273 BC after the infamous battle that claimed 100,000 lives. Ashoka was much more deeply affected that he may have previously thought.

3. The magnetic hill of Ladakh

Wikipedia

In an area of Ladakh, curiously enough, cars are said to roll up the winding road, even touching a top speed of 20kmph. The phenomenon, called the 'Himalayan wonder' is said to exist because of a magnetic field in the area.

4. The mysterious city of Gyanganj where one can attain the ultimate nirvana

Reuters

Gyanganj is a city that currently enjoys an almost mythical status owing to the fact that it has yet to be located. It is said to reside in the valleys of the Himalayas. In this place reside mysterious creatures with powers that influence the world just enough when it's needed.

5. The active UFO base in Kongka La Pass

Google maps

Kongka La pass, located in the Himalayas and falls on the LAC. It is said to be a pretty active base for UFO-related activities. Strangely that's where the information ends. Why did UFOs choose this place (if being cut off is reason enough, plenty of the places in the world make that cut)? Reports claim that many are aware of the heavy activity in this place and, in fact, in 2006, this activity got Google Maps some strange photographs that went on to create an even more confused audience.

6. The Aleya ghost lights in West Bengal

bp.blogspot.com

Perhaps they're rightly called ghost lights. These seemingly ominous marsh lights are found in bogs, marshes and swamps in West Bengal. According to local talk, these are the wandering spirits of dead fisherman who drowned in said marshes. It is said that if one is to approach these lights, that'll be their undoing and they'll meet their life's end at the bottom of the swamp.

7. Son Bhandar caves, Bihar

Wikimapia

This cave is said to hold the treasure of Magadhan King, Bimbisara, who when he was imprisoned by his son, stood to lose all of it. It was Bimbisara's wife who stashed the treasure in this cave where it is alleged it rests to this day. The black mark you spot on the top right of the cave came to be after the British attempted to lay their hands on the riches.
While Akshay Kumar was promoting his film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, he opened up about the issue of open defecation like never before. His wife Twinkle Khanna once tweeted about how her morning walk was ruined because of people defecating in the open. The duo did all this to highlight this major problem, but received flak because the fans thought it was a publicity gimmick for their upcoming film.

Good morning and I guess here is the first scene of Toilet Ek Prem Katha part 2 #WhenYourWalkGoesDownTheToilet pic.twitter.com/tfyTQs8BFM  Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) August 19, 2017

Proving them all wrong and taking a stand for the issue even after the release of the film, Akshay Kumar has sponsored toilets worth Rs. 10 lakhs at Juhu Beach. For this initiative, Akshay teamed-up with Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray.

Mumbai Mirror

It was being said that people defecate in open because they have no choice. They dont have toilets. And so, Akshay Kumar helped in building of some of the loos in the area.

BMC, on the other side, says that this will only partly solve the problem and that more of such toilets shall be made to solve the problem on the whole.

mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com

The toilets have bio-digester so there will be no stink. The toilets will bring a lot of relief to not just the local slum dwellers, but also to visitors, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, K-West ward, Prashant Gaikwad told Mumbai Mirror.

Indeed, one after the other, Akshay Kumar is taking up social causes and winning people's hearts!
According to Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, India and Pakistan together can be a great force in the world. Bhardwaj was recently in Pakistan after five years and was among the Indian artists who attended the Pakistan International Film Festival (PIFF) 2018 that concluded in Karachi on Monday.

An ANI report quoted the filmmaker saying,

BCCL

I love Pakistan. Whenever I come here, I find a reason to come back again. I didnt find any changes. The only change I found is that the love for us has increased."

Talking about the cultural exchanges between the two countries and how they can bring them closer, he said,

Twitter

I think this is the only way to bring normalcy between the two countries; more and more cultural events can bridge the gap. And its very sad that we are always at loggerheads. We all are alike. If we come together, well be such a great force in the world in terms of everything - culturally, economically as well as politically.

To jog your memory a little, the bilateral tensions had intensified between India and Pakistan after the September 18, 2016, Uri attack that left 19 Indian soldiers dead and the September 28 surgical strikes by India on Pakistan terror camps the same year. He added,

I think it will get smooth with time because culture is the only way possible. Generally, there are two ways to bridge the gap: cultural and political. Politics is failing in achieving that for a long time. In fact, the political situation has been affecting cultural exchanges too. Therefore, culture should be left alone. There is a need for tolerance and acceptance from both ends. It has to be a two-way thing otherwise it wont work.

He also spoke about the popularity that Pakistani actor Fawad Khan hogs in India. He added,

Pinterest

If bias against Pakistani actors had been there, the masses wouldnt have gone to watch their films. So, there is nothing against them in the heart of masses. Whatever else is there, it is politically motivated otherwise how would have Fawad become a superstar in India?

Maqbool Director was a part of multiple panel discussions that took place as part of the festival and featured other artists from India and Pakistan.
I am sure all of you have heard stories of government trying to buy/actually buying votes and supporters. I reckon, in the same light, all of you are well aware that in India, most politicians have free access to people who are willing to do anything and everything for a couple of bucks, alcohol and drugs.

Bollywood has done its share of establishing that politics and politicians are a dirty rut, but know that all of this is not a figment of the imagination, but reality. Many people do come at a price.

Recently, people on Twitter spotted a man who protesting as Bhim Sena member, courtesy the ongoing Dalit agitation across the country. But what baffled everyone was that this man was also seen at the Karni Sena protests a couple of months ago.

Is he a Dalit? Is he a Rajput? Who is he?

This guy has a special kind of talent.

Was a Rajput during Karni Sena protests, transformed into a Dalit participating in Bhim Armys violent protests during Congresss Bharat Bandh call today.

Is he even a Hindu or one of the Congresss hired momins? pic.twitter.com/MNO0kDPZv2  Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) April 2, 2018

"As a Karni Sena supporter, he can be seen brandishing a sword with a saffron band on his head, while as a Bhim Army protester, the colour of his band changes to blue." writes TOI.

1.

This Guy Was A Karni Sena Member Few Months Ago, Today He's Part Of Bhim Army. These Tukdey Tukdey Gang Freeloaders Will Go To Any Extent To Divide Us. "Divide And Rule" Was Brought In By Britishers, Being Used By Italians Since Independence. #BharatBandh pic.twitter.com/Jdlm42gsLT  Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) April 2, 2018

2.

"Karni Sena rioter during Rajputs agitation" becomes "Bhim Sena rioter during Dalits agitation". Well done Congress led by @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/FH91IQf8m1   (@ggiittiikkaa) April 2, 2018

3.

Neela Toilet ke liye aur laal bathroom ke liye pic.twitter.com/Gcj012wtfN  Shivam Tripathi (@C_vam_Misspell) April 2, 2018

4.

Pic 1: He becomes Dalit in Bhim Armys protests during Congresss Bharat Bandh today.!

Pic 2: Was Rajput during Karni Sena protests.

Is he a Hindu? Or paid worker of some political party?

10states are Burning Today.

Yet again. Well done Congress. #BharatBandhNhiHoga pic.twitter.com/fOu3vRmtKv  Abhishek Kulshrestha (@iAbhishekkBJP) April 2, 2018

For all we know, he comes from none of the concerned backgrounds. This isn't the first time that Twitter has spotted people being at multiple places, a criminal standing shoulder to shoulder with politicians and more.

It's time that people know the world has become a small place through social media and nothing can be kept under wraps for too long. This also exposes the dirty business behind such protests. While some people might genuinely be protesting and have valid demands that deserve to be heard; some of them just like to add fuel to the fire.
Stephen William Hawking, an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and inventor of many groundbreaking things passed away at the age of 76 on March 14, 2018.

Reuters

Based on his thorough understanding of general concepts of relativity and quantum mechanics, Hawking gave birth to a lot of discoveries, especially his theory of cosmology. But one of his greatest support system through this journey remained his chair.

Thankfully, Stephen Hawking's tailor-made hi-tech wheelchair and his computer-generated voice are expected to live on as a legacy of the world-famous theoretical physicist who died earlier this month.

According to The Sunday Times, the scientist's family hopes that his wheelchair and voice systems could help preserve his memory and are open to offers from museums.

One of the ideas under consideration is for the Science Museum in London to commemorate Hawking's life with an exhibition featuring one of his two wheelchairs as a centrepiece, accompanied by recordings of his lectures.

Computer engineers had spent four years rebuilding the 33-year-old synthesiser that created Hawking's robotic tones after it was in danger of failing.

Reuters

"We fixed the new system to his wheelchair on January 26," Peter Benie, a computing specialist at Cambridge University who co-led the project, told the newspaper.

"It was the same voice but much clearer. He was using it to talk with his family but he died before it could be heard in public. I would be happy to hear it used to repeat his lectures," he said.

The wheelchair, made in Sweden and capable of travelling 20 miles at 8mph on one charge, combined technology from around the world. Its computer, a Lenovo from China, used an American-made infrared sensor on his glasses to "read" his cheek movements.

Hawking's voice was developed by Dennis Klatt, a US scientist who based it on his own speech. The "CallText 5010" system based on Klatt's work delighted Hawking so much that he bought three - but when the last began failing, it was too old to fix.

Hawking had famously rejected all ideas of an afterlife. "I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story," he said.





Its only been a few hours and Stephen Hawking already mathematically proved, to My face, that I dont exist.  God (@TheTweetOfGod) March 14, 2018

He had been diagnosed with motor neuron disease in his 20s, which meant he spent much of his life in a wheelchair. For his friends and family, the wheelchair was central to his identity, which would now most likely have an afterlife.

Thousands lined the streets of Cambridge yesterday for the private funeral of the author of A Brief History of Time at the University Church of St. Mary the Great.

It was announced earlier this month that Hawking's ashes will be buried near the grave of Isaac Newton, during a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey in London on June 15.
Facing flak from all corners, the Information and Broadcasting ministry has withdrawn its order which had prescribed strict action against journalists spreading "fake news". The I&B Ministry's decision came after the PMO reportedly expressed displeasure over the order which many journalists and opposition said is regressive.

BCCL/File

According to reports, Prime Minister had directed that the press release regarding fake news be withdrawn and the matter should only be addressed in Press Council of India.

Following this, the I&B ministry issued a clarification that the new directive has been withdrawn.

"PIB Press Release titled 'Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists amended to regulate Fake News' issued on 02 April 2018 stands withdrawn," the ministry said in a brief statement.

BCCL

On Monday, in an unprecedented move, the I&B Ministry had issued guidelines to stop those propagating fake news.

The directives said the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe is found generating or propagating fake new. As per amended guidelines for journalists' accreditation, if the publication or telecast of fake news is confirmed, the accreditation of the journalist responsible for it would be suspended for six months in the first violation and for one year in case of a second violation.

The release was, however, ambiguous as it did not clarify what it meant by fake news.

The order was criticised by opposition parties and journalists, and they claimed that the Centre was trying to muzzle press freedom and suppress uncomfortable news about the government.

Here's what people had to say:

Make no mistake...any news against the govt will be labelled as #FakeNews Loos like we'll be living under a dictatorship if India doesn't #VoteForChange in 2019  seemi pasha (@seemi_pasha) 3 April 2018

#Constitution defines the role of "Opposition" to be "CONSTRUCTIVE".But sadly INDIA has all "DESTRUCTIVE OPPOSITION" who

1. Spread #FakeNews

2. Incite #CasteViolence

3. Spread #HateContent

Entire #Opposition has NO AGENDA FOR PEOPLE. "DEFEATING BJP"

is their PERSONAL AGENDA Only  Suresh G (@sureshganapathi) 3 April 2018

Also please open a line to consumers of news..i.e the public. How can a member of the public draw attention to fake news without getting involved in a long winding process as well as the obligation by media orgntz to engage and act on these complaints decisively.  Advaita Kala (@AdvaitaKala) 3 April 2018

After Modi asked to withdraw the decision regarding Fake News.  pic.twitter.com/z1YJMufY8i  Smoking Skills (@SmokingSkills_) 3 April 2018

How Pidi Journalists are ratteled by @smritiirani rules on #FakeNews

These jignos are fake news peddlers .... propaganda & setting the Narrative against India#SecularFakeNews pic.twitter.com/u14dW6bfun  Srikanth (@srikanthbjp_) 3 April 2018

#FakeNews#MSM

When some blind Modi bhakt says withdrawing the decision is actually a masterstroke.

ME: pic.twitter.com/2ImUvd67HI  Un-bhadralok bangali (@goonereol) 3 April 2018
The Gujarat High Court, on Monday, observed that sex with the wife without her consent, who is not below 18 years of age, is not rape. At first, the statement is bound to raise eyebrows and ignite anger in many, but if you look closely what law says about it, this ruling is not wrong.

Justice JB Pardiwalas court observed that the husband cant be prosecuted for the offence of rape under section 376 of IPC. According to the court, the offence was also not covered under section 375 of IPC as sexual intercourse by a man with his own adult wife (above 18 years) wouldnt be termed as rape.

He said: The husband cannot be prosecuted for the offence of rape at the instance of his wife in view of exception-II in section 375 of IPC, which provides that sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, who is not being under 18 years of age, is not rape.

So, technically a husband cannot be prosecuted for having coercive sex with his wife.

The court made the observations while delivering judgment on a petition filed by a man seeking that an FIR filed against him by his wife, on charges of rape (Indian Penal Code 376) and unnatural sex (IPC 377), among other charges, be quashed.

The man was relieved of the complaints on the grounds that there was no law on marital rape.

While the data on marital rape exists in abundance, marital rape as a crime does not exist./Reuters

The court, however, advocated that marital rape must be taken seriously and should be made an offence punishable under law.

The total statutory abolition of the marital rape exemption is the first necessary step in teaching societies that dehumanised treatment of women will not be tolerated and that the marital rape is not a husbands privilege, but rather a violent act and an injustice that must be criminalised, the court said.

Questioning the notion of implied consent in a marriage, the high court said: The law must uphold the bodily autonomy of all women, irrespective of their marital status.

The court observed that destructive attitude that promotes rape in a marriage can be removed only by making marital rape illegal.

What happened, in this case, is an eye-opener how the Indian law provides a free hand to men who force sex on their non-consenting wives. The courts observation is an indication that marital rape should be criminalised.

Physically forced her to have sexual intercourse with him even when she did not want to.

This is a category for spousal violence which the Indian government records data for. And according to the latest data by National Health and Family Survey (NHFS) for 2015-2016, 5.4 per cent of married Indian women face marital rape, under this category.

While the data on marital rape exists in abundance, marital rape as a crime does not exist.

The form of sexual violence most commonly reported by women was that their husband used physical force to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to, says the survey.

Women and Child Development minister Maneka Gandhi said in 2016 that the concept of marital rape cannot be applied in India./ Representational Image

Women and Child Development minister Maneka Gandhi said in 2016 that the concept of marital rape cannot be applied in India.

It cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors like level of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament, etc, she said in a written response to Rajya Sabha on a question if the government plans to criminalise marital rape.

According to a United Nations Population Fund report (2013), 75 percent of married Indian women have suffered marital rape.

Sixty per cent men have admitted to acting violently against their wife/partner at some point in their lives.

The idea in the Indian society that marriage is sacrosanct is perhaps the biggest hindrance criminalise marital rape. Women are repeatedly told that marriage is a compromise and that they need to adjust. Tolerance, adjustment and compromise are some of the words that an average Indian housewife is quite familiar with.

There must be a law that protects the most vulnerable members of the society rather than shedding off the matter disguised as culture.
The Supreme Court today said that the raging issue whether to make forced marital intercourse and sexual acts part of offence of rape in penal law have been extensively debated and now it cannot be considered as a criminal act.

The Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which defines the offence of rape, has an exception clause that says the intercourse or sexual act by a man with his wife, not below 15 years, is not a rape.

irish times

However, the apex court sought to know as to whether Parliament debated the aspect of protecting married girls, between the age group of 15-18 years, from the forced sexual acts by their spouses. It also asked whether the court could intervene to protect the rights of such married girls who may be sexually exploited by their spouses.

Parliament has extensively debated the issue of marital rape and considered that it was not an offence of rape. Therefore, it cannot be considered as a criminal offence, a bench of justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said. The apex court also said that marriage of a girl, who is below the age of 15 years, was illegal.

There are cases when college-going teens, below 18 years of age, engage in sexual activities consensually and get booked under the law. Who is going to suffer? The boy is not at fault. The punishment of seven years is too harsh, the bench observed.

It said, similarly, the problem arises when a girl, under 18 years of age, elopes and engages in a consensual sexual activity, the male gets booked for rape.

Youtube

In these cases, we do have problem if look at various aspects, the bench said as it asked the Centre to apprise it about the number of prosecutions under the Child Marriage Act for past three years in three weeks. It also asked Centre to apprise it about appointment of the Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPO) under statutory provisions in the country and posted the matter for hearing after four weeks.

The bench was hearing a plea questioning the constitutionality of a provision permitting a man to have physical relationship with his wife even if she is aged between 15 and 18. The apex court said according to prevailing law, if a man has physical intercourse with a girl under 15 years of age, it is termed as rape irrespective of consent or no consent and if she is below 18 years of age, but more than 15 and married, then no offence of rape is made out.

change.org

Advocate Gaurav Agarwal appearing for NGO Independent Thought said that distinction made in between 18 and 15 is illegal and unconstitutional. Parliament cannot impinge upon Article 21 by allowing the girl to marry under 18 years of age and allowing her to get pregnant or have intercourse. The Parliament should have considered various reports of the United Nations, he said.

He said that a girl in the age group of 15-18 is not that physically developed and she is not capable of taking an informed decision or consent.

The State has failed to protect her as there is no protection for her is she is below 18. Above 18 years of age she is developed and can think of coming out of an abusive relationship, the lawyer said. Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, who was part of the Justice J S Verma Committee constituted in the aftermath of the December 16 gangrape in Delhi and was present in the courtroom said, they had considered various aspects and after that, suggestion to criminalise marital rape was made.
Swaraj Kaushal, the husband of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has kicked up a controversy by mentioning that there's nothing like marital rape.

According to Swaraj, who is a senior lawyer said in a tweet if marital rape was criminalised, "There will be more husbands in the jail, than in the house".

There will be more husbands in the jail, than in the house. https://t.co/9T2DZxuZ1G  Governor Swaraj (@governorswaraj) August 29, 2017

His tweet was in the context of the government telling the Supreme Court that "criminalising marital rape may destabilise institution of marriage".

When another twitter user asked if he was defending marital rape Mr Swaraj replied "There is nothing like marital rape. Our homes should not become police stations".

There is nothing like marital rape. Our homes should not become police stations. https://t.co/X2rtAMhWgL  Governor Swaraj (@governorswaraj) August 29, 2017

Unsurprisingly not many people were amused at his comments.

What else do you think doesn't exist because it happens in the home? Childhood sexual abuse? Domestic violence?  Shreya Ila Anasuya (@shreyilaanasuya) August 29, 2017

No means no. Whether you're married or not. Is this hard to understand?  Nana Siddharth (@NanaSiddharth) August 29, 2017

Wrong. As a married man I can never force my wife to intimacy unless she wants it. Also only things which we both enjoy. CONSENT damn it  Think QuestionEvolve (@Maila_Kameez) August 29, 2017
March 30, 2018 - The Lawfare Project has re-filed its harassing lawsuit against San Francisco State and Professor Rabab Abdulhadi. The suit, which was thrown out of court earlier this month, alleges that support for Palestinian rights amounts to discrimination against Jewish students.

The latest complaint is the Lawfare Projects third attempt. They withdrew the first complaint themselves, and the second was dismissed by a federal Judge in March because it alleged no unlawful conduct.One of Abdulhadis attorneys, Mark Kleiman, explained, The Lawfare Projects latest complaint has recycled losing allegations and baseless charges from the prior proceedings. Its the same claims dressed up in new jargon.Her other attorney, Behnam (Ben) Gharagozli added, This lawsuit will ultimately fail because Lawfare Project simply lacks the evidence and the requisite legal allegations that they need to prevail.The lawsuit culminates a years-long suppression campaign targeting Abdulhadi and other campus activists. Plaintiffs argued that Abdulhadis research in Palestine, establishing a partnership with the Palestinian An-Najah University, a 2016 student protest of the mayor of Jerusalem, and a 2017 know your rights fair have created a hostile environment for Jewish students at SFSU.Lawfares third attempt adds multiple false statements about Abdulhadi and other supporters of Palestinian rights. After the judge determined that she is not an official university actor, the new complaint also sues Abdulhadi in her personal capacity.The Lawfare Project, which identifies as the legal arm of the pro -Israel community, has declared their intent to punish and silence advocacy for Palestine at San Francisco State. Abdulhadi, who is returning from a research trip to Palestine, was traveling and could not be reached for immediate comment.Federal courts and the Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights have consistently held that speech critical of a nations policies is protected under the First Amendment and does not constitute harassment.The Lawfare Project has also filed a second lawsuit in California state court alleging that SFSU violated state anti-discrimination laws by allowing student speech for Palestinian rights. This separate suit does not name Abdulhadi or any of the other individuals.Abdulhadi is represented by Mark Kleiman, Ben Gharagozli and Gavin Cunningham & Hunter. SFSU is represented by Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.Photo: Professor Rabab Abdulhadi. Credit: Jamal Dajani
Janis Urbanovics. There is no harm in being scared!

by willhess Tuesday Apr 3rd, 2018 12:25 AM
Farm to Fork Friday "A Taste of Africa" California State Capitol by Michael Harris

Tuesday Apr 3rd, 2018 12:26 AM

Farm to Fork Friday continues at the California State Capitol to expand Pan African opportunity throughout the Great State of California

SACRAMENTO  Carson Creek Ranch is a proposed development of a food and agricultural center in Sacramento, which was an approved concept in partnership with the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.



Carson Creek Ranch will address the low participation rates and lack of opportunities presented to African-American Agriculturalists In the "Farm to Fork Capitol of America."



The United States Department of Agriculture 2012 census reported that out of over 88 thousand farmers in California, less than 1/2 of 1 percent were of African-American descent, together we can do better.



Michael Harris, Co-Chair of California Agriculture Working Group, along with other collaborators met late February for the first Farm to Fork Friday meeting in Sacramento to discuss progress on the project.



Development and construction to repurpose 140 acres of the closed Sacramento County Boys Ranch located near Rancho Murrieta is poised to begin late Spring of 2018.



The approved project concept of the food and agriculture regional campus seeks to partner with U.C. Davis, Los Rios College District, and the Sacramento County Office of Education.



According to Harris the focus of the project concept will be to introduce agricultural education with the Pan-African experience to youth.



California - Pan-Africa Trade band Commerce seeks to unite and promote the welfare of all people identified with, or claiming Pan African ancestry.



The opportunity to target youth with the opportunity to embrace agriculture related careers and/or pursue PhD programs in agriculture disciplines is a goal.



The project, education and advocacy work seeks to give options and choices for people of African descent to be in the Agricultural industry.



The 2018 Farm Bill may allocate one trillion dollars to the industry, however African Americans are underrepresented and not in the room with often secret congressional conversations, added Harris.



The purpose of the Carson Creek Ranch project is simple. Currently less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the California Agricultural industry is Black Agriculture and our consistent, caring and concerned ongoing education and advocacy is making a difference.



Seasoned Engineer and San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerces President Fred Jordan, entrepreneur Jonathan Burgess, Dr. Ernest Uwazie Director for African and Peace Resolution at Sacramento State University, Farm Fresh to You Sales Executive Pamela Reagh, and others met to expand partners willing to work on the project.



Carson Creek Ranch Projectn will be apart of an information day at the California State Capitol, Friday, Fridayy, April 27,2018 as part of the ongoing effort to expand inclusion throughout the Farm-to-Fork Capital of America.






Please sign the petition below against the disastrous and extremely undemocratic bill now going through the California State Senate which would dramatically increase gentrification and evictions for working people, teachers, seniors and the disabled in most cities and towns in the state!



Senator Scott Wiener has written SB 827 and sells it as a bill to force cities and town to build much denser housing along transit corridors to reduce the state's carbon emissions. However, it is in fact a huge gift to his developer backers and will try to solve climate issues on the backs of working people resulting in large increases in housing costs, evictions and displacement.



Those who oppose the bills are tarred as wealthy home-owners who don't want a greater density of housing in their neighborhoods but in fact, the bill is opposed by almost every housing rights group in the state. Many, many cities and towns are lining up against it and so is the Sierra Club - all groups one would expect to support a bill that was good for the climate and housing. In fact, a self-serving, fake "grass roots" group called YIMBY, formed by two tech CEO's, is leading the charge for this bill which would be very unlikely to displace them or their friends and would create housing only they could afford.



Wiener is trying to add amendments to save the bill, and his gift to his developer pals, but it is so basically flawed that no amendments will prevent it from creating massive increases in gentrification and evictions.



More details to come but please take a look at the information below about things you can do right away to help stop this awful legislation in its tracks - sign the petition, write SF Supervisors, come to a rally at SF City Hall next Tuesday.



Plenty of articles below if you want more information!



This is one of the biggest threats to ever face middle and lower-income people in SF. Please find out about this massive gift to real estate speculators and do what you can to stop it! There are a lot of very rich people who want to see this passed so they can get much richer.



Thanks!



Please scroll down to item #3, under "HOW YOU CAN HELP" from



NEXT STEP



On April 3rd there will be a vote by the full Board of Supervisors. We want the Board to send a STRONG MESSAGE to our State legislators that we join Los Angeles and other cities to unequivocally Oppose SB 827 with No Amendments. The bill is fundamentally flawed and amendments won't fix it. Once SF takes an official stand, we will focus our attention on the State legislators and remind them who they represent -- and it's not the developers backing the bill.



HOW YOU CAN HELP



1) Email Supervisors by April 3rd (if haven't yet) - details & sample letters below



2) Come to rally on steps of City Hall (Polk Street entrance), April 3rd at noon



3) Sign and share this petition



4) Spread the word - most important thing you can do!



- Forward this email to neighbors, friends, family throughout California



- Share Facebook page



- Retweet Twitter page



- Tell anyone that will listen and share this site www. standupforsanfrancisco.org





These images of SF and LA depict 5 -story buildings.



If you think this is bad, imagine these buildings nearly twice as high.



This bill prevents you from appealing the permit application for these towering complexes based on neighborhood design guidelines.



ABOUT SENATE BILL 827



Senate Bill 827 (proposed by State Senator Scott Wiener) is statewide, one-size-fits-all approach to add more housing along transit routes. It's a deeply flawed bill and amendments won't fix it, they only create loopholes. San Francisco is already doing more than most cities to provide additional housing both at market and affordable rates, yet the City will be disproportionately impacted with 96% of San Francisco parcels up-zoned to allow big, tall luxury apartment and condo complexes.



If passed, Senate Bill 827 would:



Remove present height controls and allow 5 to 8 story complexes.

Remove density restrictions.

Remove minimum parking requirements.

Take away your voice in neighborhood planning.



If passed, Senate Bill 827 additionally would:



NOT protect renters who will be removed by Ellis Act and payoffs.

NOT provide any additional affordable housing.

NOT provide for needed infrastructure to support new units.

NOT provide for added demand for public safety services.



ABOUT SENATE BILL 828



A companion bill, Senate Bill 828, stands to increase the State's "Regional Housing Needs Allocation," or "RHNA." If passed, SB 828 will define San Francisco as not having enough market rate housing, and thereby would make another bill by Senator Wiener, Senate Bill 35, effective. This legislation forces any city that does not meet its housing production goal to allow developers to build anything, anywhere with no neighborhood notification, no Discretionary Review, and no design guidelines.



These bills will not result in more affordable housing, as the proponents claim. Instead the units will be top of the market luxury apartments and condos and not even make a dent in the housing issue. Also putting tall, dense housing within a 1/4 mile of bus routes does not mean people will ride public transit over their own cars, Uber or Lyft. Also residents will oppose new public transit projects because it triggers the up-zoning of SB 827 in their area. And finally, imagine local transportation agencies such as SFMTA, who are not beholden to the voters, having the power to simply adjust bus routes and schedules that would then change the reach of SB 827.



EMAIL (or call) SF SUPERVISORS



Please contact all the supervisors BEFORE APRIL 3rd and tell them to not let SB 827 hijack our neighborhoods - NO on SB 827 with NO AMENDMENTS. We are providing sample letter templates for you to choose from OR create your own (preferable). Please email the following:



Aaron.Peskin [at] sfgov.org



Ahsha.Safai [at] sfgov.org



Catherine.Stefani [at] sfgov.org



Hillary.Ronen [at] sfgov.org



Jane.Kim [at] sfgov.org



Jeff.Sheehy [at] sfgov.org



Katy.Tang [at] sfgov.org



London.Breed [at] sfgov.org



Malia.Cohen [at] sfgov.org



Norman.Yee [at] sfgov.org



Sandra.Fewer [at] sfgov.org



mayormarkfarrell [at] sfgov.org



board.of.supervisors [at] sfgov.org



info [at] cowhollowassociation.org







If you want to call the Supervisors which is effective, here is a link to their contact information.



Additional Reading



Mercury News Opinion - March 25, 2018



Opinion: SB 827 will exacerbate California's housing crisis









Opinion: SB 827 will exacerbate Californias housing crisis



Market-rate housing is the most profitable for developers







Chronicle Article - March 25, 2018



Scott Wiener's housing bill would give state veto power over cities' plans









Scott Wieners housing bill would give state veto power over cities plans



SACRAMENTO - Everyone agrees California badly needs more housing. Few dispute that creating homes near mass tran...







CalMatters Article - March 22, 2018



What to know about the housing bill that has people freaking out from Marin to Compton









What to know about the housing bill that has people freaking out from Ma...



People from Marin to Compton are freaking out about a controversial state housing bill. Here's what you should k...







48 Hills Article - March 12, 2018



Hearing on Wiener housing bill points to the roots of this crisis



Examiner Article - February 18, 2018



Senate Bill 827 could raise height limits throughout SF, transform city









Senate Bill 827 could raise height limits throughout SF, transform city



A state bill seeking to solve Californias housing crisis by encouraging denser, taller housing near transit cou...







48 Hills Article - February 1, 2018



Scott Wiener's war on local planning



The Antiplanner Article - January 11, 2018



Bill Would Eliminate San Francisco Zoning



Scott Wiener's Article on Facebook



MY TRANSIT DENSITY BILL (SB 827): ANSWERING COMMON QUESTIONS AND DEBUNKING MISINFORMATION









Scott Wiener



My transit density bill (SB 827) - which allows increased housing density around public transportation - has pro...







YIMBY's Tech Executive Letter of Support



(the big money behind the bill)



Petition Opposing SB 827



SB 827 Opposition Piece



San Francisco Planning Analysis to the Planning Commission



CHA email March 11, 2018



Action Needed: Oppose State law that proposes to eliminates local controls over 40' height limit in SF



CHA email March 14, 2018

Update: Land Use Hearing on SB 827 -- eliminates 40' height limit in San Francisco



andy gillis

candymansf [at] yahoo.com

(415) 431-6800 Hi Neighbors,Please sign the petition below against the disastrous and extremely undemocratic bill now going through the California State Senate which would dramatically increase gentrification and evictions for working people, teachers, seniors and the disabled in most cities and towns in the state!Senator Scott Wiener has written SB 827 and sells it as a bill to force cities and town to build much denser housing along transit corridors to reduce the state's carbon emissions. However, it is in fact a huge gift to his developer backers and will try to solve climate issues on the backs of working people resulting in large increases in housing costs, evictions and displacement.Those who oppose the bills are tarred as wealthy home-owners who don't want a greater density of housing in their neighborhoods but in fact, the bill is opposed by almost every housing rights group in the state. Many, many cities and towns are lining up against it and so is the Sierra Club - all groups one would expect to support a bill that was good for the climate and housing. In fact, a self-serving, fake "grass roots" group called YIMBY, formed by two tech CEO's, is leading the charge for this bill which would be very unlikely to displace them or their friends and would create housing only they could afford.Wiener is trying to add amendments to save the bill, and his gift to his developer pals, but it is so basically flawed that no amendments will prevent it from creating massive increases in gentrification and evictions.More details to come but please take a look at the information below about things you can do right away to help stop this awful legislation in its tracks - sign the petition, write SF Supervisors, come to a rally at SF City Hall next Tuesday.Plenty of articles below if you want more information!This is one of the biggest threats to ever face middle and lower-income people in SF. Please find out about this massive gift to real estate speculators and do what you can to stop it! There are a lot of very rich people who want to see this passed so they can get much richer.Thanks!Please scroll down to item #3, under "HOW YOU CAN HELP" from info [at] cowhollowassociation.org for a link to the petition opposing Senate Bills 827 and 828.NEXT STEPOn April 3rd there will be a vote by the full Board of Supervisors. We want the Board to send a STRONG MESSAGE to our State legislators that we join Los Angeles and other cities to unequivocally Oppose SB 827 with No Amendments. The bill is fundamentally flawed and amendments won't fix it. Once SF takes an official stand, we will focus our attention on the State legislators and remind them who they represent -- and it's not the developers backing the bill.HOW YOU CAN HELP1) Email Supervisors by April 3rd (if haven't yet) - details & sample letters below2) Come to rally on steps of City Hall (Polk Street entrance), April 3rd at noon3) Sign and share this petition4) Spread the word - most important thing you can do!- Forward this email to neighbors, friends, family throughout California- Share Facebook page- Retweet Twitter page- Tell anyone that will listen and share this site www. standupforsanfrancisco.orgThese images of SF and LA depict 5 -story buildings.If you think this is bad, imagine these buildings nearly twice as high.This bill prevents you from appealing the permit application for these towering complexes based on neighborhood design guidelines.ABOUT SENATE BILL 827Senate Bill 827 (proposed by State Senator Scott Wiener) is statewide, one-size-fits-all approach to add more housing along transit routes. It's a deeply flawed bill and amendments won't fix it, they only create loopholes. San Francisco is already doing more than most cities to provide additional housing both at market and affordable rates, yet the City will be disproportionately impacted with 96% of San Francisco parcels up-zoned to allow big, tall luxury apartment and condo complexes.If passed, Senate Bill 827 would:Remove present height controls and allow 5 to 8 story complexes.Remove density restrictions.Remove minimum parking requirements.Take away your voice in neighborhood planning.If passed, Senate Bill 827 additionally would:NOT protect renters who will be removed by Ellis Act and payoffs.NOT provide any additional affordable housing.NOT provide for needed infrastructure to support new units.NOT provide for added demand for public safety services.ABOUT SENATE BILL 828A companion bill, Senate Bill 828, stands to increase the State's "Regional Housing Needs Allocation," or "RHNA." If passed, SB 828 will define San Francisco as not having enough market rate housing, and thereby would make another bill by Senator Wiener, Senate Bill 35, effective. This legislation forces any city that does not meet its housing production goal to allow developers to build anything, anywhere with no neighborhood notification, no Discretionary Review, and no design guidelines.These bills will not result in more affordable housing, as the proponents claim. Instead the units will be top of the market luxury apartments and condos and not even make a dent in the housing issue. Also putting tall, dense housing within a 1/4 mile of bus routes does not mean people will ride public transit over their own cars, Uber or Lyft. Also residents will oppose new public transit projects because it triggers the up-zoning of SB 827 in their area. And finally, imagine local transportation agencies such as SFMTA, who are not beholden to the voters, having the power to simply adjust bus routes and schedules that would then change the reach of SB 827.EMAIL (or call) SF SUPERVISORSPlease contact all the supervisors BEFORE APRIL 3rd and tell them to not let SB 827 hijack our neighborhoods - NO on SB 827 with NO AMENDMENTS. We are providing sample letter templates for you to choose from OR create your own (preferable). Please email the following:If you want to call the Supervisors which is effective, here is a link to their contact information.Additional ReadingMercury News Opinion - March 25, 2018Opinion: SB 827 will exacerbate California's housing crisisOpinion: SB 827 will exacerbate Californias housing crisisMarket-rate housing is the most profitable for developersChronicle Article - March 25, 2018Scott Wiener's housing bill would give state veto power over cities' plansScott Wieners housing bill would give state veto power over cities plansSACRAMENTO - Everyone agrees California badly needs more housing. Few dispute that creating homes near mass tran...CalMatters Article - March 22, 2018What to know about the housing bill that has people freaking out from Marin to ComptonWhat to know about the housing bill that has people freaking out from Ma...People from Marin to Compton are freaking out about a controversial state housing bill. Here's what you should k...48 Hills Article - March 12, 2018Hearing on Wiener housing bill points to the roots of this crisisExaminer Article - February 18, 2018Senate Bill 827 could raise height limits throughout SF, transform citySenate Bill 827 could raise height limits throughout SF, transform cityA state bill seeking to solve Californias housing crisis by encouraging denser, taller housing near transit cou...48 Hills Article - February 1, 2018Scott Wiener's war on local planningThe Antiplanner Article - January 11, 2018Bill Would Eliminate San Francisco ZoningScott Wiener's Article on FacebookMY TRANSIT DENSITY BILL (SB 827): ANSWERING COMMON QUESTIONS AND DEBUNKING MISINFORMATIONScott WienerMy transit density bill (SB 827) - which allows increased housing density around public transportation - has pro...YIMBY's Tech Executive Letter of Support(the big money behind the bill)Petition Opposing SB 827SB 827 Opposition PieceSan Francisco Planning Analysis to the Planning CommissionCHA email March 11, 2018Action Needed: Oppose State law that proposes to eliminates local controls over 40' height limit in SFCHA email March 14, 2018Update: Land Use Hearing on SB 827 -- eliminates 40' height limit in San Franciscoandy gillis(415) 431-6800 Added to the calendar on Tuesday Apr 3rd, 2018 10:41 AM
Sacramento, April 3, 2018 - Today, California lawmakers introduced groundbreaking legislation to hold police accountable and protect communities from police use of force and misconduct.

In response, Peter Bibring, Police Practices Director with the ACLU of California, issued the following statement:

Today, California legislators heard and responded to the communitys call for action by introducing landmark legislation to change state law governing the deadly use of force by police, and to require the disclosure of information about law enforcement agencies investigations into police use of force and confirmed misconduct.



For years, communities throughout the country have experienced policing in America that is unjust, racially discriminatory, and unnecessarily violent. The killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, and so many others since, have laid bare this truth: our countrys laws protect the police, not the people. Last month, we relived that nightmare again when footage of Stephon Clarks senseless killing by Sacramento police officers was made public.



While our hearts are broken by tragedies such as these, our resolve to fight for change will never be. Now, more than ever, we must change state laws to ensure that police are held accountable to us  the people they are meant to serve and protect.



We call on the rest of the Legislature and Governor Brown to support the Police Accountability and Community Protection Act (Weber) and SB 1421 (Skinner), to protect the people of California and hold officers accountable for their actions.

Background

The Police Accountability and Community Protection Act (AB 931), introduced by Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), will bring Californias police use-of-force law into the 21st century and significantly reduce the number of people killed by police by:

1. Authorizing police officers to use deadly force only when it is necessary to prevent imminent and serious bodily injury or death  that is, if, given the totality of the circumstances, there was no reasonable alternative to using deadly force, including warnings, verbal persuasion, or other nonlethal methods of resolution or de-escalation.

2. Establishing that a homicide by a peace officer is not justified if the officers gross negligence contributed to making the force necessary.

SB 1421, introduced by Senator Skinner (D-Berkeley), will honor the publics right to know by giving the public access to police records related to:

1. Serious use-of-force investigations, including investigations into police shootings.

2. Sustained complaints against officers for sexual assault or other serious job-related dishonesty, such as perjury, falsifying police reports, and planting or destroying evidence.
Markets rebound after China fears ease Sidwell Strategies - Fri Sep 24, 10:39PM CDT Cattle on feed higher than expected. USDA Grain Stocks reports on Thursday

Cattle Market Mixed Heading into COF Report Barchart - Fri Sep 24, 4:39PM CDT Live cattle futures were lower on the last trade day of the week, giving back 30 to 47 cents in the front months. Feeder cattle, however, found strength in the afternoon to close 40 to 50 cents higher.... LEV21 : 122.925s (-0.24%) LEG22 : 132.625s (-0.24%) GFU21 : 154.625s (-0.18%) GFV21 : 157.350s (+0.32%)

Corn Market Weakens into Weekend Barchart - Fri Sep 24, 4:39PM CDT On Friday, corn prices worked lower to close 2 to 2 1/2 cents in the red. New crop futures were firmer with Red dec only giving back 3/4 cents while Sept gained 1 1/4 cents. For the week December corn... ZCZ21 : 526-6s (-0.47%) ZCPAUS.CM : 5.0977 (-0.55%) ZCH22 : 534-4s (-0.47%) ZCZ21 : 526-6s (-0.47%)

Shootin' The Bull Swift Trading Company - Fri Sep 24, 3:58PM CDT Live Cattle and Feeder Cattle Markets will have their challenges in next week's trade. The Cattle on Feed report was slightly bearish and open interest in the complex has been decreasing.

Livestock Report Walsh Trading - Fri Sep 24, 3:35PM CDT Markets wait for Reports

Natural Gas Rallies Sharply as Supplies Remain Tight Before Winter Barchart - Fri Sep 24, 2:14PM CDT October Nymex natural gas (NGV21 ) on Friday closed up +0.164 (+3.30%). Oct nat-gas prices on Friday settled sharply higher for a second day amid persistent concerns about low U.S. gas inventories ahead... NGX21 : 5.200s (+3.11%)

Crude Oil Posts Moderate Gains as Global Supplies Tighten Barchart - Fri Sep 24, 2:12PM CDT November WTI crude oil (CLX21 ) on Friday closed up +0.68 (+0.93%), and November RBOB gasoline (RBX21 ) closed up +0.0116 (+0.55%). Nov WTI crude oil and Nov RBOB gasoline prices on Friday closed moderately... CLX21 : 73.98s (+0.93%) RBX21 : 2.1377s (+0.55%)
Millennials are labelled as job-hoppers who demand instant gratification and expect a gold star just for doing their job, but an expert says the Gen Y stereotype is often misguided  and could explain why your organization is struggling to retain young workers.



Though the youngest generations of workers have vastly different career expectations and life goals to those who came before them, its important not to typecast them, says KPMG partner and national lead of people and change services Soula Courlas.



I havent been able to pigeonhole millennials into one type, other than very eager to learn, eager to contribute, eager to just find meaning and to challenge the boomers or challenge whoever else is in leadership in the organization on where is corporate social responsibility? What are we doing that is meaningful?.



Courlas  herself a boomer  encourages and welcomes that challenge, saying shes yet to find herself disappointed by a millennial staffer.



I havent seen one that is fussy, flighty and not wanting to contribute in the most meaningful way.



Of the cliche that Gen Y lacks staying power  jumping between jobs every year or two in search of new experiences  Courlas says shes seeing more indications of those workers wanting to be loyal to one company for longer, as well as organizations giving them reasons to stay.



One of her millennial team members, people and change consultant Kara Anderson, says the shift in workers expectations demands increased flexibility from employers.



In the past, the careers available were much more straightforward and you would climb the corporate ladder and you would know what your next step was. Now because of LinkedIn and the internet, theres so many things that [millennials are] exposed to and interested in, she says.



[They] want to be exposed to all different types of work, have those opportunities to explore different career options, and thats what employers need to be flexible in, in giving your employees opportunities to pursue different types of projects, different types of work.



Courlas suggests if employers want to encourage their millennials to stick around, they need to broaden their view of work, as well as their offerings to staff.



Millennials are looking for what they can learn, what they can contribute, how they can make a difference, whats meaningful, and if that can be gathered from a role thats, say, lateral rather than a rung up, then thats part of the conversation.



Employers should consider how they can be more flexible  with options to work different hours or remotely  and not just saying we cant make it work because its difficult to balance it.



All of those incentives, Anderson says, often hold more appeal than money  though she adds that employers shouldnt assume that all millennials feel the same.



Raises or bonuses ... definitely do matter and I dont think you can forget them, but I do think there are a lot of other things that matter just as much: the work that youre doing, the advancement opportunities, the people that you get to work with can be just as important as how much [youre] getting paid, if not more.





Related stories:

Why millennials have changed their mind set

Competition vs collaboration  what do millennials really want?





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In her new position, Bashford will oversee overall operations as well as employee engagement, branding, talent management, process sustainability, training and technology.

Associated Agencies, Inc. has been in a serious growth mode for the past decade, Bashford said. Internally, theres an opportunity to evaluate our operations and make sure were set for continued scalable growth and attracting top talent. Were aligning our efforts in all areas with our long-term vision, and are excited to evolve.

Prior to joining Associated Agencies, Bashford worked at Assurance as both client services director and senior vice president of strategic solutions and technology. She has also worked for the Horton Group in several positions including sales executive and head of client service operations.

Related stories:
Worldwide Facilities has acquired Tennant Risk Services Insurance Agency LLC.

Worldwide Facilities is a Los Angeles, Calif.-headquartered, national wholesale insurance brokerage and managing general agency. Tennant Risk Services Insurance Agency is a West Hartford, Conn.-based wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager specializing in the placement of professional liability and specialty insurance coverages.

Tennant offers its products and services across the U.S. through retail agents and brokers. Tennant CEO Robert Sargent joins Worldwide Facilities as executive vice president following the transaction, where he will continue to manage and lead his team as well as assume a company leadership role as part of Worldwide Facilities senior management team.

This transaction represents an expansion of Worldwide Facilities footprint in the professional liability space, where Tennant has expertise and products in the E&O, D&O, EPLI and cyber lines of business. It broadens the markets and products available to the retail brokers and agents served by Worldwide Facilities as well as the underwriting opportunities for Worldwide Facilities markets, according to a Worldwide Facilities press release announcing the transaction.

Source: Worldwide Facilities LLC

Topics Mergers Agencies Connecticut Professional Liability
A Jersey City, N.J., woman has been charged with stealing more than $46,000 by fraudulently collecting her mothers workers comp dependency benefits for nearly three years after she died.

Wanda Berry was indicted on charges of second-degree insurance fraud and third-degree theft by deception in an indictment handed up by a state grand jury in Trenton, N.J. last week.

We allege that Berry used lies and deceit to illegally keep her mothers monthly benefit checks coming for years after her death, said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal in a press release issued by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. We will not allow individuals to manipulate and undermine the insurance system to satisfy their selfish greed.

After her mother died in November 2014, Berry fraudulently claimed to New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Group (NJM) that her mother was alive in order to continue collecting the $1,400 monthly insurance benefit her mother had been receiving.

According to the indictment, Berry did this by falsely representing to NJM representatives in 2015 that her mother was alive and living in a nursing home under a doctors care. In 2016, she falsely represented that her mother was alive in hospice care and provided a fraudulent doctors note to support that false claim, the indictment added.

The indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Second-degree charges in New Jersey carry a sentence of five-to-10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Third-degree crimes in New Jersey carry a sentence of three-to-five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.

Cashing benefit checks meant for someone else is stealing, said New Jersey Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Tracy M. Thompson in the release. This indictment sends a message that anyone caught engaging in this kind of insurance fraud faces serious charges.

Deputy Attorney General Crystal Callahan presented the case to the grand jury. Detective Amy Carson coordinated the investigation.

Source: New Jersey Office of the Attorney General

Topics Workers' Compensation Fraud Abuse Molestation New Jersey
Castel Specialty, the division of club-style MGA formation platform Castel Underwriting Agencies Ltd., has added a global property facultative reinsurance offering to its portfolio.

Paul Witzenfeld joins Castel Specialty to underwrite a book of global property facultative reinsurance business targeting large-scale risks. Capacity has been provided by syndicates at Lloyds, said London-based Castel Specialty. (The company did not release the amount of the capacity provided).

Witzenfeld was previously head of North American property at Pen Underwriting and has over 20 years of underwriting experience in the Lloyds and London markets, including senior roles with ACE Global Markets (now Chubb) and Liberty Syndicates.

Paul has the underwriting experience and proven track record that our Specialty division was established to support, said Mark Birrell, chief executive of Castel Underwriting Agencies. The continuing expansion of Castel Specialty is further evidence of the opportunities that are available for niche underwriters with the appetite and ability to build their own books of business. (Castel Underwriting Agencies Ltd., part of Barbican Insurance Group, provides entrepreneurial underwriters with capacity and a fast-track route to creating their own businesses.)

Castel Specialty provides the operating structure that enables underwriters to focus on trading, distribution relationships and building their book, commented Witzenfeld.

Castel Specialty provides the infrastructure, capacity and business support required to enable experienced underwriters to underwrite their own books of business. Underwriters are rewarded and incentivized according to the profitability of their individual books of business, Castel explained.

Source: Castel Specialty

Related:

Topics Excess Surplus Underwriting Reinsurance Property New Markets Insurance Wholesale
The estimate of insured losses from Europes windstorm Burglind, also known as Eleanor, have risen to 680 million (US$837.8 million), according to PERILS, the Zurich-based organization that provides industry-wide catastrophe insurance data.

This second loss estimate for Burglind has risen from PERILS first estimate of 643 million ($792.2 million), released in February.

Windstorm Burglind affected the British Isles and the European continent on Jan. 2-3, 2018, said PERILS, explaining that the majority of the losses occurred in France, Germany and Switzerland.

In line with the PERILS loss reporting schedule, the following third loss estimate will be released on July 2, 2018, six months after the event.

Subscribers to the PERILS Industry Exposure & Loss Database can find more information about Burglind in the PERILS Portal under Industry Loss.

Source: PERILS

Related:

Topics Trends Profit Loss Windstorm Europe
A Michigan priest accused of embezzling more than $5 million now faces a civil lawsuit filed by the insurance company for the Catholic Diocese of Lansing.

Rev. Jonathan Wehrle is charged with six counts of embezzling $100,000 or more from St. Martha Church in Okemos, east of Lansing. The charges allege Wehrle used the money to pay for home construction, maintenance and other personal purchases.

The Lansing State Journal reports that a judge approved the Princeton Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance Corp.s request to place Wehrles more than $1 million estate into receivership. The insurance provider says its paid out about $2.5 million to the diocese to cover its losses so far.

Princetons attorney Randy Marmor says they want to protect the property from damage before it can be forfeited while the lawsuit is pending.

Wherle spent about $100,000 on an indoor swimming pool and stained glass windows for his six-bedroom, 12-bathroom home, according to the insurers lawsuit.

In addition to the $45,000 indoor pool and nearly $55,000 in stained glass windows, Wehrle spent more than $134,000 on landscaping at his 10-acre (4-hectare) estate in Williamston and other properties, according to the lawsuit.

The home, which has 10 fireplaces and three barns, was appraised at $1.28 million in 2012, when construction was only halfway complete, according to court records.

Police said bills for work on the property matched checks written from St. Martha.

Wehrles defense attorney, Lawrence Nolan, said the pastor had family money and an agreement with a bishop, now deceased, to use parish funds for a private residence.

Assistant prosecutor Andrew Stevens has said that Wehrle, who founded St. Martha in 1988, had maintained pretty autonomous control for nearly 30 years.

Princeton Excess also sued Wehrle this month after learning he wasnt paying property taxes and that his homeowners insurance had lapsed, according to attorney Randy Marmor.

While this suit is pending, nobody wants to see the property go to waste or be damaged before the property can be forfeited, said Marmor.

He said the receiver will ensure that the taxes are paid and that the property is properly maintained and insured.

A diocese spokesman, Michael Diebold, declined to comment on the latest lawsuit.

But I can assure you that any money that is recovered will be going to the parish, Diebold said. The allegation is that these are parish assets.

Wehrles is scheduled to stand trial in April, but an assistant prosecutor said the trial likely wont take place until the summer.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Carriers Property Michigan Church
Armed security officers are becoming more prevalent at Americas schools, according to a federal study released last week amid a debate over whether teachers and other school officials should carry guns.

While student and staff fatalities at school persist, students report fewer instances of violence, theft and other abuse during the past decade, the survey found.

Armed officers were present at least once a week in 43 percent of all public schools during the 2015-16 school year, compared with 31 percent of schools a decade before, according to data from a survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Last months mass shooting at a Florida high school put renewed focus on the role of armed school security guards, after a video showed that a sheriffs deputy at the school approached but did not enter the building where the attack was taking place.

The study was released a day after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos kicked off a federal school safety panel, which has been criticized for not including teachers, students and experts. It comprises DeVos and three other Cabinet secretaries. DeVos told the House Appropriations Committee last Tuesday that the panel will include the secretaries of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and the Justice Department. The first meeting of the commission was held behind closed doors and few details were released.

DeVos said in a statement last Thursday that while there were some positive trends in the survey, we know  and tragically have been reminded in recent weeks  there is much more to be done to keep our nations students and teachers safe at school.

DeVos said commission members will travel across the country to look for solutions to school violence.

The number of school deaths ranged from about 45 to 63 during the past decade; the higher totals were attributed to major shootings, such as ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Virginia Tech. In 2015-2016, 47 students or staff members were killed in school-associated attacks.

At the same time, the percentage of students who report being victimized at school dropped from 10 percent in 1995 to 3 percent a decade later.

The percentage of schools with a security guard, a school resource officer or other sworn law enforcement officer on campus at least once a week has gone up from 42 percent in 2005-06 to 57 percent a decade later. While security at schools of all grade levels increased, the shift is clearer among elementary schools, where the share with security staff has gone from 26 percent to 45 percent in the same time period.

There has been an increase in security staff in school over the last 10 years and its more pronounced at the primary school level, said Lauren Musu-Gillette, lead author of the report.

Experts, however, are divided on whether putting such officers on school campuses will make the schools safer or frighten children and lead to more arrests.

There needs to be at least one in every school in the country, said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers. Every school could benefit from one.

School resource officers are sworn law enforcement personnel who have been trained to work in schools. Their duties include controlling outside traffic, patrolling the school, maintaining discipline, identifying problems and mentoring at-risk students, teaching law-related classes and serving as liaisons between schools and police. The school security study released Thursday includes school resource officers, other sworn law enforcement and additional security staff.

Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Council, agrees, saying that trained officers carrying weapons can help prevent a shooting inside the school and deter a possible shooter from entering.

It sends the signal that the school is being watched and that the care and supervision of children is an important priority, Stephens said.

Others have questions.

A 2013 congressional report found that the available research draws conflicting conclusions about whether SRO programs are effective at reducing school violence.

Also, the research does not address whether SRO programs deter school shootings, one of the key reasons for renewed congressional interest in these programs, the study said.

Critics of putting weapons in schools point to the sheriffs deputy in Parkland who stayed outside the school when 17 people were being killed. The officer, Deputy Scot Peterson, says he thought the shots were being fired from outside the school.

Ron Astor, an education professor at University of Southern California who specializes in school behavior, says that putting weapons in schools will make them akin to prisons, intimidate children and hurt their studies. Instead, he says, research has shown that violence, bullying and the use of drugs and guns is reduced in warm, caring environments focused on providing support to students.

With a lot of guns, it doesnt create a sense of safety with the children and the teachers. It could trigger post-traumatic stress disorder. It triggers nonattendance, Astor said.

We dont want to live in neighborhoods where there are thousands of police officers or the military. Who likes to live in those neighborhoods? he said. We like to live in neighborhoods where we know each other, where people have good relationships with each other, where they are out on the streets, talking to each other.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Law Enforcement Training Development
A Pflugerville, Texas, landscape company pleaded guilty March 21 to misrepresenting its payroll so it could pay less for workers compensation coverage, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.

Jammers Groundscapes entered the plea in a Travis County District Court and was ordered to pay $400,000 to Texas Mutual Insurance Co., the workers compensation carrier. The conviction resulted from a Texas Mutual investigation.

The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers Compensations (DWC) prosecution unit obtained the conviction. The DWC prosecution unit is embedded in the Travis County District Attorneys Office and was created during the 85th Texas Legislature.

Workers compensation premiums are based on an employers payroll, job classification codes, and the employers past losses which are used to estimate future losses. Manipulating or misrepresenting one or more of these factors to get lower rates is premium fraud.

From 2009 to 2015, Jammers Groundscapes defrauded Texas Mutual by concealing payroll associated with a related company that didnt carry workers compensation insurance. This misrepresentation of payroll resulted in a lower workers compensation policy premium.

When dishonest companies commit premium or payroll fraud, they can put their employees coverage at risk, Tim Riley, DWCs deputy commissioner of Compliance and Investigations, said in TDIs announcement. Its also a way dishonest businesses can gain a business advantage over ethical companies that are paying the full cost of their premiums.

Source: Texas Department of Insurance

Topics Texas Workers' Compensation Fraud
Note: This story originally ran in The Texas Tribune.

Most of the houses along Crosby Eastgate Road in Southeast Texas and its neighboring streets are one-story outfits on sprawling green lots. In their driveways are spare trucks, old armchairs or small motorboats; grazing their grass are horses and cows. Some houses are raised on stilts; others look abandoned.

And many of them belong to plaintiffs suing their neighbor on Crosby Eastgate: an Arkema Inc. chemical manufacturing plant.

Its hard, on a sunny March morning seven months removed from the storm that devastated this community, to picture the floods. On dry days, the brown water in the roadside drainage ditches sits relatively low. But in August, when Hurricane Harvey dropped 50 inches of rain on the Houston area, it surged up into the street, nearly swamping the head-high wire fence lining the road.

On the east side of that fence, the floods submerged much of the chemical manufacturing plant. It was seven feet of that water, swampy and brown and by some accounts carrying an oily chemical sheen, that caused the plants refrigerated containers to fail; it was the resulting high temperature that caused the chemicals to degrade; and it was those hot chemicals that ruptured their containers and caused a series of chemical fires over most of the following week.

Those chemicals, the Crosby plaintiffs say in their lawsuits, contaminated the surrounding communitys air and water, causing the respiratory problems, pneumonia, headaches, nausea and dizziness that still plague some neighbors and first responders. And that, plaintiffs say, was because the plant had failed to take proper precautions for a severe storm  and because industry regulators let them get away with it.

Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Arkema assured residents at the time that the air and water were not dangerous. The EPA said in early September that the samples it collected did not exceed Texas limits.

Nevertheless, the sick plaintiffs blame Arkema, and are seeking millions in damages. Neighbors are suing for personal injury; homeowners are suing over contamination in their neighborhood; two counties, Harris and Liberty, are suing as well. Some of the first responders who were dispatched to the site when the chemicals began to burn have also signed onto lawsuits.

Still, some environmental advocates argue that what should truly be on trial is the states  and nations  lax chemical regulations.

Arkema absolutely, absolutely needed to plan better, said Ilan Levin, associate director of the Environmental Integrity Project, a national watchdog group. But you cant point the finger at just one party.

This is an EPA failure and a state of Texas failure, Levin said. The watchdogs and the regulators are empowered to make sure that companies follow the rules.  But because the regulators have really paid little attention to the [risk management] program, theyve just made it easy for industry to comply.

The Early Hours of Aug. 31

He has never been able to describe the smell exactly.

The Harris County Sheriffs Office deputy, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from his department, is reminded of it when he smells diesel fuel. Sometimes the headache even comes back. But it wasnt quite diesel.

When his unit was dispatched for a 12-hour shift outside the Arkema plant on the evening of Aug. 30, they were told the degrading chemicals would soon explode, he said. Working the perimeter of the 1.5-mile evacuation zone in the dark, he couldnt see the hundred-foot high plume of black smoke that would soon be shown in the pages of newspapers across the state. But he could smell it.

He said he heard an explosion that sounded like a series of pops. Then came that unnamable smell. Then the headache  it came on like a lightswitch, he said. Not just a nagging headache  a headache, he said. It would stay with him for months, he said.

First responders briefly left the area, then were directed back to it, grumbling, he recalled. They gathered at the intersection of Lindstrom Road and Highway 90, about two miles from the site.

The first responders lawsuit paints a grim picture of that moment: Law enforcement officers doubled over vomiting, unable to breathe. Medical personnel called to the scene to help them soon became overwhelmed and they too began to vomit and gasp for air.

In the midst of those symptoms, the officer remembers the confusion.

What just happened? What did we just get into? Were wanting answers, were wanting information, what is this? he said. Organic peroxide, Thats all we know. And [the EMTs] are  Googling it on the side of the road.

Mo Aziz, a lawyer representing more than 100 plaintiffs in several lawsuits tied to the Arkema case, sees many parallels between Arkema and the litigation he worked on after a 2013 fertilizer plant explosion that leveled a whole section of the town of West and killed 15  most of them first responders. The most striking link between the two cases, Aziz said, is first responders not getting enough information about what they were being sent to do.

Companies like Arkema have to file certain hazard documents with local emergency planning committees, though its not clear how that information is then disseminated to first responders. And those documents, lawyers and advocates say, dont offer enough information to adequately plan for an event like this type of chemical plant disaster.

Arkema didnt lay out plans for the Aug. 31 scenario because it wasnt required to. Even internal documents gave employees minimal instruction  just one paragraph  for handling major floods, and there were no plans for floods exceeding three feet, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Though they are public records under state law, plants chemical hazard documents are difficult to access, and became more so after then-Attorney General Greg Abbott threw up a roadblock in 2014. Citing the need to keep sensitive information hidden because of ongoing terroristic activity, Abbott ruled that the state no longer had to release plants chemical inventories, saying the companies themselves would. But not all companies do, and its not clear that any state agency forces them to. Federally-mandated risk management plans can be viewed by appointment only in one of the states handful of federal reading rooms.

And even if neighbors can track them down, the records contain relatively little practical information, lawyers and advocates said.

Arkema held emergency preparedness training sessions for its site with local responders, though neither the company nor the Crosby Volunteer Fire Department nor the Harris County Sheriffs Office would say how often those took place or what they included. The Harris County Fire Marshals Office, which was involved in emergency response that night, deferred questions to Rock Owens, a Harris County environmental attorney representing the county against Arkema.

In the hours before they were sent to the site, first responders were briefed by the Harris County Fire Marshals Office, Owens said. But the deputy said he was not told what to expect, just told to guard the perimeter of the 1.5-mile evacuation zone.

The briefing did not include specific details like chemical names, Owens said, but first responders were advised to stay out of the 1.5-mile zone and avoid the smoke cloud. That advice, the sheriffs deputy said, was insufficient.

We were told a mile and a half was safe, but obviously it wasnt, he said.

It would have been difficult for any briefing that did take place to address the particular scenario that played out, because it wasnt one Arkema had planned for in public documents. Local officials at the time didnt know what was in the air, and no Arkema employees were on site during the fires to tell them.

Even though Arkema didnt have a plan for a Harvey-level flood, it did have a boat on site that some employees used to evacuate. An Arkema spokeswoman said employees were required to evacuate.

A Reasonable Thing

Months later, dozens of plaintiffs are still receiving medical treatment and their doctors are still trying to determine what they inhaled that night, Aziz said.

The experts we hired are going to have to piece this together, Aziz said. Nobody from Arkema has said, Hey, man, this was the mix that got your guy, or hurt him or her. Nobodys saying, This is what you should be treating them for.'

Part of the problem is that chemical safety reporting requirements are flawed, environmental advocates said. One of the documents that companies like Arkema must submit, a federally-mandated risk management plan, must include worst-case scenarios, but only those that would result from a certain list of toxic chemicals. Industry lobbyists, advocates said, work to keep other dangerous materials off that list.

Arkemas risk management plan, as required, laid out worst-case scenarios that could have resulted from the isobutylene and sulfur dioxide stored on site. But it didnt mention a scenario like the one that happened in the early hours of Aug. 31, when the plants organic peroxides degraded and ruptured their holding containers. Those chemicals  which are not on the risk management plan list  all combined, Aziz said, and Arkema never planned for that mixture.

The mix was a novel exposure, said Kevin Thompson, a West Virginia-based attorney representing about 660 residents in a lawsuit against Arkema. What you ended up with was a mix unknown to man.

The EPA doesnt require that companies lay out the potential mixes that could result from chemicals that arent on the limited risk management plan list. But the lawyers suing Arkema, as well as environmental advocates, say the company should have prepared for that eventuality.

That would be a reasonable thing, Owens, the Harris County lawyer, said. Thats what they shouldve done.

In guidance last updated in 2004, the EPA advises companies writing their risk management plans to ask yourself how much of the regulated substance could be released if the worst happens. The agency gives examples of what the worst might look like: a major fire, an explosion, a natural disaster. Plaintiffs described all three, but the chemicals that burned werent regulated substances.

Environmental advocates said dangerous chemical releases in Texas are largely a failure of enforcement.

No ones reviewing the risk management plans for adequacy, said Elena Craft, a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. (The EPA did not return several requests for comment). Its nonsense, she said, that Arkemas plant identifies flooding as a concern, but doesnt take sufficient steps to prepare for it.

The only way, in my mind, that that type of thing can be corrected is with some sort of oversight coming in and saying, Does this pass the due diligence test? Does this make sense as a plan? If it doesnt, then they need to correct it, Craft said.

Arkema has argued that the situation wasnt foreseeable. Hurricane Harvey, company officials said at the time, brought an unprecedented amount of water.

For many who live in the area, that argument is unconvincing. The Arkema plant sits in a floodplain.

Its absurd not to consider these types of events that every Houstonian knows are a fact of life, said Levin, an environmental advocate. Industry should prepare for these.

Obamas Rule

The Chemical Disaster Rule, as it has come to be known, was finalized in the waning weeks of Barack Obamas presidency, and published just days before he left office.

Largely a response to the West explosion, the rule aimed to improve chemical safety practices and prevent similar tragedies.

Perhaps most relevant to the Arkema disaster, it would have made it easier for the public to access hazard-planning documents. And it would have required increased coordination with first responders, including by requiring companies to provide increased emergency planning information to local officials and to hold more frequent meetings and trainings.

The rule was set to take effect March 14, 2017  less than six months before Harvey struck Texas  although companies would have had at least a year to comply with the major changes. Then Scott Pruitt, Trumps EPA administrator, delayed it on March 13, first for just a few weeks and then, in June, for almost two years.

The rule had long faced opposition, including from Arkema and the state of Texas. Industry groups argued it would add new costs and jeopardize safety.

We have significant concerns with providing security-sensitive information where disclosure of such information could create a risk to our sites and to the communities surrounding them, Arkema told the EPA in May 2016.

Texas, along with 10 other states, said the rule would have required unprecedented public disclosure of facility information that will threaten local communities and homeland security.

The EPA said at the time that delaying the new rule had no effect on the major safety requirements in place when Harvey struck. But Mathy Stanislaus, a former EPA assistant administrator who worked on the rule during the Obama administration, said last year that while the new rule would likely not have prevented the incident, it could have greatly reduced the risk to first responders. Environmental advocates said that though compliance dates were long in the future, the new rule would have forced chemical plants to at least begin planning for the tightened regulations.

The American Chemistry Council  an industry group of which Arkema is a member  wrote that many of the new rules will impose significant new regulatory requirements that will not result in a reduction of the risk of accidental releases, and could, in some cases, actually increase the risk.

When correctly implemented and enforced, the current RMP regulations are highly effective in minimizing the risk of accidental chemical releases, the ACC said.

But the current EPA regulations hadnt prevented a long list of other issues at the Arkema plant.

In 1994, a five-year-old girl was severely burned during a sulfuric acid release at the plant, the Chronicle reported. A 1999 explosion at the plant was attributed to organic peroxides, the same group of chemicals that burned in 2017. In 2006, the facility was cited for a fire resulting from improperly stored organic peroxides. In 2011, it failed to maintain proper temperatures of its thermal oxidizer, a machine generally used to break down volatile compounds. As recently as 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the Crosby plant for several safety violations; Arkema paid nearly $92,000 to settle up.

The recent lawsuits against Arkema are all likely to take years. The only one of Azizs cases that has been set for trial is scheduled for January 2020. As they wait, the plaintiffs are left to wonder how exactly theyve been damaged.

I dont know what was out there. I know whatever it was hit me quick, said Shane Doby, a 40-year-old plaintiff who lives outside the 1.5 mile zone around the Arkema plant.

Sitting at his lawyers long conference room table, Doby explained that he was exposed to the chemical smell while driving to work at a different chemical plant one morning on a route that kept him well outside the evacuation zone.

Im the only provider in my household, said Doby, who said he inhaled black smoke through his open car window. His symptoms  mostly respiratory problems; he was treated for pneumonia  have largely abated, though hes still receiving treatment. He worries that theyll come back. If its something thats chronic, thats going to come on later in life, I want my children taken care of.

Hurricane season is over, and the skies above the Arkema plant have cleared. An undamaged tank on the plants north side that reads safety in action, covered in murky water during the storm, is now exposed to the sun. The facility hasnt been operational since before Harvey hit, and its electric power returned just this month.

A company spokeswoman says Arkema expects to begin business again later this year after identifying and mitigating against foreseeable risks.

Disclosure: The Environmental Defense Fund has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2018/03/30/arkema-disaster-harvey-regulations-texas-crosby/.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Related:

Topics Lawsuits Texas Legislation Flood Hurricane Pollution Risk Management Chemicals
Florida State University has lifted its ban on alcohol and social functions by fraternities, sororities and student organizations, months after the death of a fraternity pledge at an off-campus party.

Vice President of Student Affairs Amy Hecht said the lifting of the ban with four weeks to go in the universitys spring semester gives everyone a chance to assess the new rules and what changes might need to still be made before the fall semester begins in late August.

The students have stepped up and shown responsible behavior over the past couple months. Now well see what happens over the next four weeks, Hecht said. That gives the summer to refine things and have an even better system in place for the fall.

Florida State President John Thrasher suspended all fraternities and sororities Nov. 6, three days after the death from alcohol poisoning of 20-year old Andrew Coffey. Fraternities and sororities were reinstated Jan. 29. Besides Coffey, other similar deaths occurred last year at Penn State, Louisiana State and Texas State. The other three also suspended Greek activities but have reinstated them.

The alcohol ban was officially lifted Monday via an email sent by Hecht to students. Under new rules announced in January, events must be registered through the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. They also are required to have security present as well as using a third-party vendor for food and alcohol. Social events with alcohol are limited to four per chapter or organization during the fall semester and six in the spring, and include chapters taking risk management training.

Alan Levine, a member of Floridas Board of Governors, said during Wednesdays meeting in Jacksonville that he had reservations about Thrashers initial steps but now has a greater understanding of what he did.

Were on the precipice of losing the Greek system if this type of hazing keeps happening, Thrasher said. I want to save the Greek system. When you have four of these events happen nationwide in one year, it is significant.

Board of Governors student representative Kishane Patel, who attends the University of West Florida and also belongs to a fraternity, said during the meeting that he appreciated Thrasher working with the students, not against them, in devising the policy.

The lifting of the ban also comes as Floridas State Attorneys office awaits responses on plea offers from the attorneys of the nine members of the suspended Pi Kappa Phi fraternity that have been charged with felony hazing.

One offer would be to plead guilty to two counts of misdemeanor hazing with adjudication withheld along with 60 days in jail and two years of probation. The other would be to plead guilty to one count of felony hazing and 60 days in a county jail work camp. Both would include making an apology to Coffeys family.

The state medical examiner said Coffey had a blood alcohol level of .447 at the time of the autopsy. Coffey drank a lethal amount of bourbon and malt liquor at the fraternitys Big Brother Night party, which was held at an off-campus home.

All nine have entered not guilty pleas and are awaiting trial. They are also named in a civil suit filed by Coffeys family

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida
Prosecutors say an Atlanta accountant falsified payroll records to embezzle more than $1.5 million from her employer for six years.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quotes the U.S. Attorneys Office as saying in a Wednesday statement that 40-year-old Stantisha Kemp pleaded guilty to wire fraud. A Nov. 20 indictment says she worked for a medical development company managing payroll. Court records referred to it as the Company.

U.S. Attorney Byung J. BJay Pak says from 2007 to 2013 Kemp told a third-party payroll processing company to direct deposit funds into her personal bank accounts each month. She told the payroll processor that a doctor with the initials Y.H.J. was a company employee and instructed it to deposit Y.H.J.s salary payments into her accounts.

Kemps sentencing is scheduled for June 11.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance
Coffee sellers will have to post ominous warnings in California because each cup contains a chemical linked to cancer, a judge ruled.

The culprit is a byproduct of the bean roasting process that is a known carcinogen and has been at the heart of an eight-year legal struggle between a tiny nonprofit group and Big Coffee.

The Council for Education and Research on Toxics wanted the coffee industry to remove acrylamide from its processing  like potato chip makers did when it sued them years ago  or disclose the possible risk in signs or labels. The industry, led by Starbucks Corp., said the level of the chemical in coffee isnt harmful and any risks are outweighed by benefits.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle ruled last week that the coffee makers hadnt presented the proper grounds at trial to prevail.

While plaintiff offered evidence that consumption of coffee increases the risk of harm to the fetus, to infants, to children and to adults, defendants medical and epidemiology experts testified that they had no opinion on causation, Berle wrote in his proposed ruling. Defendants failed to satisfy their burden of proving  that consumption of coffee confers a benefit to human health.

The suit was brought against Starbucks and 90 companies under a law passed by California voters in 1986 that has been credited with culling cancer-causing chemicals from myriad products and also criticized for leading to quick settlement shakedowns.

The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, better known as Proposition 65, requires warning labels for about 900 chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects. It allows private citizens, advocacy groups and attorneys to sue on behalf of the state and collect a portion of civil penalties for failure to provide warnings.

This lawsuit has made a mockery of Prop. 65, has confused consumers, and does nothing to improve public health, said William Murray, president and CEO of the National Coffee Association, who added that coffee had been shown to be a healthy beverage.

Scientific evidence on coffee has gone back and forth for a long time, but concerns have eased recently about possible dangers of coffee, with some studies finding health benefits.

In 2016, the cancer agency of the World Health Organization moved coffee off its possible carcinogen list.

Studies indicate coffee is unlikely to cause breast, prostate or pancreatic cancer, and it seems to lower the risks for liver and uterine cancers, the agency said. Evidence is inadequate to determine its effect on dozens of other cancer types.

Coffee companies have said its not feasible to remove acrylamide from their product without ruining the flavor.

But attorney Raphael Metzger, who brought the lawsuit and drinks a few cups of coffee a day, said the industry could remove the chemical without impairing taste.

I firmly believe if the potato chip industry can do it, so can the coffee industry, Metzger said. A warning wont be that effective because its an addictive product.

Many coffee shops have already posted warnings that say acrylamide is cancer-causing chemical found in coffee. But signs that are supposed to be posted at the point of sale are often found in places not easily visible, such as below the counter where cream and sugar are available.

Customers at shops that post warnings are often unaware or unconcerned about them.

Afternoon coffee drinkers at a Los Angeles Starbucks said they might look into the warning or give coffee drinking a second thought after the ruling, but the cup of joe was likely to win out.

I just dont think it would stop me, said Jen Bitterman, a digital marketing technologist. I love the taste, I love the ritual, I love the high, the energy, and I think Im addicted to it.

Darlington Ibekwe, a lawyer in Los Angeles, said a cancer warning would be annoying but wouldnt stop him from treating himself to three lattes a week.

Its like cigarettes. Like, damn, now Ive got to see this? he said. Dude, Im enjoying my coffee.

The defendants have a couple weeks to challenge the ruling before it is final and could seek relief from an appellate court.

If the ruling stands, it could come with a stiff financial penalty and could rattle consumers beyond state lines.

The judge can set another phase of trial to consider potential civil penalties up to $2,500 per person exposed each day over eight years. That could be an astronomical sum in a state with close to 40 million residents, though such a massive fine is unlikely.

Californias outsized market could make it difficult to tailor packaging with warning labels specifically to stores in the state.

That means out-of-state coffee drinkers could also take their coffee with a cancer warning. Cream and sugar would still be optional.

Associated Press writer Amanda Lee Myers in Los Angeles and AP Chief Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee contributed to this story.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California Legislation Chemicals
What Is Wake Forest University School of Business?

Wake Forest University School of Business is the business school of Wake Forest University. The school offers undergraduate and graduate programs and holds classes at campuses in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Wake Forest University School of Business is unusual in that it does not offer a full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. Instead, it offers a part-time MBA that can be completed in two years.

Key Takeaways Wake Forest University School of Business was until 2009 known as the Babcock Graduate School of Management.

In the fall of 2019, about 700 students were enrolled in graduate level programs at the business school.  

 In 2014, Wake Forest discontinued offering a full-time MBA program, instead focusing on part-time degrees for working professionals.  

How Wake Forest University School of Business Works

The business school at Wake Forest was established in 1948 as the School of Business Administration. It became the Charles H. Babcock School of Business Administration in 1969 and was renamed the Babcock Graduate School of Management in 1972. In 2009, it merged with the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy to form the Wake Forest University School of Business.

In the fall of 2019, approximately 700 students were enrolled in graduate programs at the school, supported by 60 full-time equivalent faculty members.

Undergraduate programs at the Wake Forest University School of Business include accounting, finance, and management, as well as a mathematical business specialization offered with the school's mathematics department.

Additionally, the school operates the Center for Analytics Impact, which relates to the use of data analytics in business education and management; the Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character, which is focused on leadership training; and the Center for the Study of Capitalism, which studies the history and evolution of capitalism as a philosophy and economic system.

Real World Example of Wake Forest University School of Business

The Wake Forest University School of Business offers graduate programs in accounting, management, and business analytics. Though no full-time MBA program is available, the school does offer evening and part-time MBA programs designed for students who wish to study on a part-time basis while continuing to work. These include the Winston-Salem Evening MBA, the Charlotte Evening MBA, and the Charlotte Saturday MBA.

In October 2014, Wake Forest announced it was eliminating its full-time MBA program to focus on part-time MBA degrees. The school is ranked in the top 20 for part-time MBA programs by U.S. News and World Report.
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What Is Fraudulent Conveyance?

Fraudulent conveyance is the illegal or unfair transfer of property to another party via a bankruptcy trustee. One type, called "actual fraud," is meant to defer, hinder, or defraud creditors, or to put such property out of the reach of a creditor in anticipation of or during bankruptcy proceedings, according to the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (formerly Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act) and the federal Bankruptcy Code.

Fraudulent conveyance falls under civil law, not criminal, generally speaking. If the transfer of property is determined to be fraudulent, a court can require the person holding the assets (the person to whom the conveyance was made) to hand the assets, or an equivalent monetary value, over to the creditor.

Fraudulent conveyance is also called a fraudulent transfer.

Key Takeaways Fraudulent conveyance, also known as a fraudulent transfer, is an unfair transfer of assets related to a bankruptcy proceeding.

Actual fraudulent conveyance is the intentional disposal of property to avoid taxation or protect assets.

Constructive fraudulent conveyance is an unfair transfer, although it may lack actual intent.

Understanding Fraudulent Conveyance

Two types of fraudulent conveyance exist under current law: actual fraud and constructive fraud. Under 11 U.S.C. Section 548, actual fraud occurs when a debtor intentionally donates or gets rid of a property as part of an asset protection scheme.

The look-back period is two years before the filing of the bankruptcy petition. Intent to defraud must be proven for a defendant to be found guilty, but usually, certain actions are interpreted as intended, such as setting up shell corporations, scheming to retain control of transferred property, or transferring assets to an individual with whom the defendant has a relationship or tacit agreement.

Constructive fraud occurs if a debtor receives less than "reasonably equivalent value" for a property that they transfer for the benefit of creditors and if the debtor "was insolvent on the date that such transfer was made or such obligation was incurred, or became insolvent as a result of such transfer or obligation," states Section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code.

"Reasonably equivalent value" is often subject to disputes between debtor and creditors, but this part of the law is designed to allow creditors to claw back compensatory amounts into the bankruptcy estate. Unlike actual fraud, no finding with regard to the intent of the debtor is necessary.

Special Considerations

Fraudulent conveyance can also apply to small amounts of moneyfor instance, in a case where an individual sold all of their possessions for an insignificant amount of money to a spouse, relative, business partner, or friend. The other type of fraudulent conveyance, "constructive fraud," occurs when creditors receive less than they have a right to under the law.
What Is Goizueta Business School?

Goizueta Business School is the business school at Emory University, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1919, the school offers both undergraduate and graduate programs.

The Goizueta Business School is well-known for its focus on providing practical work experience and for having a close-knit student community. In recent years, the school's Master of Business Administration (MBA) program has shown some of the strongest job-placement statistics among American business schools: 97% of 2019s full-time MBA cohort received job offers within three months of graduation.

In 2019, the Goizueta Business Schools full-time MBA program was rated as the 20th-best program in the United States by the Financial Times. It received similar ratings from The Economist and U.S. News: both these publications rated it as the countrys 21st-best program. Forbes and Business Week gave it similar ratings, placing the school in 22nd and 23rd place, respectively.

Key Takeaways Goizueta Business School is a business school located at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

The MBA program at Goizueta Business School is known for its emphasis on practical work experience and for its stellar job-placement outcomes.

In recent years, graduates of Goizueta Business Schools MBA program have pursued careers primarily in the management consulting, financial services, and technology sectors.

Overview of Goizueta Business School

Previously, Goizueta Business School operated within the existing course structure of Emory University. The school received its current name in 1994, following a $10 million gift by the former CEO of Coca-Cola (KO), Roberto Goizueta. Today, Goizueta Business School offers undergraduate studies in core business subjects such as accounting, finance, and marketing, as well as additional specializations in business analytics, entrepreneurship, and international business.

At the graduate level, Goizueta Business School offers a range of MBA and postgraduate programs. In addition to their full-time MBA program that can be completed in either one or two years, the school also offers a variety of MBA programs designed for students who wish to study on a part-time basis while continuing to work in their careers. This includes the evening MBA and executive MBA programs, as well as a modular executive MBA program that combines in-person instruction with online modules for added flexibility.

Goizueta Business Schools reputation for excellence in post-graduation job placement is almost as strong for their undergraduate cohorts as it is for their full-time MBA graduates. The schools undergraduate class of 2019 had a 95% employment rate within three months of graduation. This is likely due in part to the significant role of hands-on career training in the undergraduate program, with 100% of the class of 2019 having received coaching and professional development support during their undergraduate studies.

Graduates of Goizueta Business School

With an annual tuition of roughly $60,000, graduates of Goizueta Business Schools two-year MBA program had an average starting salary of nearly $130,000 in 2019 and 97% of graduates received their job offers within three months of graduation. In recent years, these graduates of Goizueta Business School have found employment primarily in the management consulting sector, which nearly 50% of graduates in 2019 pursued.

The popularity of consulting may be due to the relatively high salaries offered in that sector, which averaged at $145,000. The next most popular sectors were financial services and technology, which represented about 30% of the class on a combined basis, and which offered average salaries of roughly $120,000.
What Is the Kellogg School of Management?

The term Kellogg School of Management refers to the graduate business school of Northwestern University. The institution was founded in 1908 and is located in Evanston, Illinois. The school is known for its focus on interdisciplinary learning and international exchange opportunities. The school's Master of Business Administration (MBA) is very well respected and is commonly included among the 10 best programs in the United States by leading publications such as The Economist, Forbes, and U.S. News.

Key Takeaways The Kellogg School of Management is a business school located at Northwestern University in Illinois.

It is considered one of the most prestigious business schools in the United States.

Graduates from the Kellogg School of Management generally pursue careers in the management consulting, technology, and financial services sectors.

Understanding the Kellogg School of Management

The Kellogg School of Management was founded in 1908 as the School of Commerce. It was renamed the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1979 after it received a major donation from the John L. and Helen Kellogg Foundation.

The school offers a range of MBA and postgraduate programs, along with undergraduate certificates and a graduate degree in management studies. In addition to the full-time MBA program, which takes two years to complete, the school also offers a variety of MBA programs designed for working professionals who wish to study on a part-time basis as they continue to work. This includes their evening and weekend MBA programs, as well as their Executive MBA program.

Forbes reported the average class size was near 500 students in 2019. Roughly 65% of the student body is enrolled in full-time programs such as the two-year MBA. About 40% of the students in the class of 2022 are women. The school's alumni network boasts more than 65,000 individuals from more than 120 different countries. In 2019, Francesca Cornelli was named as the school's dean.

Kellogg is known for its global footprint, with campuses in Germany, Canada, Israel, and China. The school also has campuses in Chicago and Miami. As one of the United States most well-respected business schools, competition for attendance is typically fierce, with the MBA program typically rejecting around 73% of applicants.

$103,316 The tuition for a one-year MBA at Kellogg Northwestern for the 2020-2021 class year.

Special Considerations

With an annual tuition of roughly $70,000, Kellogg School of Management MBA grads saw an average starting salary of $144,410 in 2020, among the highest of any American business school. These graduates found employment principally in the management consulting, technology, and financial services sectors. Some of the top employers included McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Alphabet (GOOG).

In 2019, the Kellogg School of Managements full-time MBA program was rated as the third-best program in the United States by Forbes and the 2nd-best by The Economist.  It received similarly strong ratings from U.S. News and the Financial Times, which rated it as the countrys third and sixth-best programs, respectively. 
What Is the Marriott School of Business?

The Marriott School of Business offers undergraduate and graduate business degrees at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The school's Master of Business Administration (MBA) program is known for its affordability, especially for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who pay lower tuition and fees than non-members. The school is ranked highly in the United States by leading publications.

Key Takeaways The Marriott School of Business is located at Brigham Young University.

The MBA program offers reduced tuition and fees to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

 The Marriott School of Business is ranked highly in the U.S.  

Understanding the Marriott School of Business

The Commercial School was founded at Brigham Young University in 1903, when it was then Brigham Young Academy. In 1988, the university renamed its management school to the Marriott School of Management following a $15 million donation from the J. Willard Marriott Foundation. J. Willard and Alice Marriott were Utah natives and turned a nine-seat root beer stand into a hotel empire that bore their name. In 2017, the school of management was renamed the BYU Marriott School of Business. The school is part of Brigham Young University, a private institution owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is housed at the Tanner Building on campus.

Undergraduate degree programs cover traditional business school subjects such as accounting, finance, management, human resources, marketing, and information systems. The school offers several graduate-level programs, including a full-time MBA and an executive MBA for part-time students who continue working in their careers.

The school also operates three research centers focusing on entrepreneurship and technology, international business, and social enterprises. It also emphasizes the importance of moral conduct and leadership and incorporates courses on business ethics into its curriculum.

Approximately 2,100 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students attend the business school each year. Eight percent of enrollees are international students. The school has 137 full-time faculty and about 200 adjunct, part-time, visiting, and other teaching faculty. The school has more than 55,000 alumni. Roughly 1,000 alumni mentor enrolled students through the school's mentorship program each year.

Special Considerations

The MBA program at the Marriott School of Business ranks among the best in the U.S. It is also affordable. For the 2020-2021 academic year, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pay $13,450 for two semesters of tuition. The cost is $26,900 for non-church members.

Tuition and fees for an MBA program at public school costs an average of $9,390 annually. At private nonprofit schools the cost is $20,210 annually.

In 2019, popular business school ranking website Poets & Quants rated BYU Marriott as the second most affordable MBA in the U.S. The Financial Times also recognized the school for its affordability, ranking it No. 5 under "value for money" in 2020.

Incoming MBA students may qualify for scholarships, grants, student loans, and other financial aid. About 60% of students are awarded scholarship support.
What Are Master Notes?

Master notes are short-term debt instruments issued by the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation. They are considered high-quality fixed-income securities and are generally accepted as collateral for put or call options. Their purpose within the context of the Federal Farm Credit System (FFCS) is to provide loans to rural communities and the U.S. agricultural sector.

Key Takeaways Master notes are a short-term debt instrument issued by the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation.

Their purpose is to extend capital to the U.S. agricultural sector.

Master notes are issued with a face value of $25 million, making them only feasible for large and sophisticated investors.

How Master Notes Work

Based in Jersey City, N.J., the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corp. manages various debt issuances on behalf of the banks in the FFCS. The system is a group of 71 financial institutions in the United States and Puerto Rico designed to provide funding to the U.S. farming and agricultural sectors. The Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corp. also provides consulting, accounting, and financial reporting services to banks.

The corporation distributes Farm Credit Debt Securities, such as discount notes, designated bonds, floating-rate bonds, fixed-rate bonds and retail bonds to various investors, including commercial banks, states, municipalities, pension and money-market funds, insurance companies, investment advisers, corporations, foreign banks and governments, and other investors in the United States and internationally. It markets and distributes securities through dealers.

Banks in the system cannot hold deposits, so debt issuances are their main source of funding. Although the debt securities are not guaranteed by the U.S. government, the FFCS possesses a farm credit insurance fund, which would supply principal and interest payments should a system bank go bankrupt. System institutions are federally chartered under the Farm Credit Act and are subject to supervision, examination and regulation by a federal agency, the Farm Credit Administration.

Real World Example of Master Notes

The master notes issued by the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation are offered with a minimum face value of $25 million. As such, they are typically an appropriate investment only for large money managers. Master notes mature in one year and pay a coupon indexed to the Fed Funds Rate or another appropriate index. Money managers value these notes highly owing to their high liquidity, as well as the fact that the principal amount can be adjusted 25% in either direction. They can also be used as underlying collateral in put or a call.

According to the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation, investors should have sufficient knowledge and experience in financial and business matters to evaluate the notes, as well as the merits and risks of investing in them. In addition, investors should have access to, and knowledge of, appropriate analytical tools. No investor should purchase a note unless the investor understands and has sufficient financial resources to bear the price, yield, market, liquidity, structure, redemption and other risks associated with it.
What Is a Trading Floor?

A trading floor refers to a physical area wherein trading activities in financial instruments, such as equities, fixed income, futures, options, etc., takes place.

Trading floors are situated in the buildings of various exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Trading floors may also exist as the center of trading activity within a financial firm such as an investment bank or hedge fund.

Key Takeaways A trading floor is a physical location where securities trading and related activities take place.

Trading floors may be located at sites of securities exchanges (e.g., the NYSE) or as centers of trading activity within financial firms' offices.

Open-outcry was the primary trading method used on trading floors before the rise of electronic trading.

Today trading floors still exist but are limited in their scope and capacity as they have been replaced by screens and algorithmic trading.

Understanding Trading Floors

The trading floor is composed of pits on an exchange. This is because the trading floor was somewhat circular with steps recessed into the floor, where traders had to step into the arena to conduct their transactions. Factor in the hectic, frenzied nature that accompanies this type of activity, and one can see that the moniker is quite descriptive.

Many different types of traders could be found on trading floors. The most common are the floor brokers, who are tasked with trading on behalf of clients. Other types of traders include hedgers, scalpers, spreaders, and position traders.

Brokerages, investment banks, and other firms involved in trading activities can also have their own trading floors. In these cases, the trading floor refers to the physical office location that houses the trading division, which can complete transactions over the internet or telephone.

With the advent of electronic trading platforms, many of the trading floors that once dominated market exchanges have disappeared as trading has become more electronically based.

NYSE Trading Floor

The NYSE trading floor is located at 11 Wall Street in New York City and has been in its current location since 1865. The exchange installed telephones in 1878, which provided investors with direct access to traders on the NYSE trading floor. Today, most of the transactions that take place on the trading floor are automated and execute in less than a second. A bell is rung on the trading floor to signal the opening and closing of each days trading.

In an era where trading floors are becoming a relic of the past, the NYSE announced in 2017 that it would allow all U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds to trade on its trading floor, increasing the number of securities that could be traded on the trading floor from roughly 3,500 to about 8,600. This expansion was completed in the first half of 2018.

Trading Floors and the Open Outcry Method

The open outcry was the primary trading method used on trading floors before the rise of electronic trading. The method uses verbal and hand signal communications to convey information, such as a stocks name, the quantity the broker wants to trade, and the desired price.

For example, a broker might raise their hand if they wish to increase their bid. Trades executed using the open outcry method form a contract between individuals on the trading floor and the brokerages and investors they represent.

In 2017, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) confirmed it intends to keep its traditional open outcry trading floor. In another win for this trading method, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given approval for BOX Options Exchange (BOX), also based in Chicago, to conduct open outcry dealing on their trading floor.

The Death of the Trading Floor

While trading floors are paradigmatic of securities trading, they have been largely replaced by computer screens, electronic markets, and algorithmic trading.

Instinet was the first major electronic alternative to the trading floor, arriving in 1967. With Instinet, clients (institutions only) could bypass the trading floors and deal with each other on a confidential basis. Instinet was a slow grower, not really taking off until the 1980s, but has become a significant player alongside the likes of Bloomberg and Archipelago (acquired by the NYSE in 2006).

Nasdaq started in 1971, but didn't really begin as an electronic trading system - it was basically just an automated quotation system that allowed broker-dealers to see the prices other firms were offering (and trades were then handled over the phone). Eventually, Nasdaq added other features like automated trading systems. In the wake of the 1987 crash, when some market makers refused to pick up their phones, the Small Order Execution System was launched, allowing electronic order entry. Other systems followed. CME's Globex came out in 1992, Eurex debuted in 1998 and many other exchanges adopted their own electronic systems.

Given the benefits of the electronic systems and the clients' preference for them, a very large percentage of the world's exchanges have converted to this method. The London Stock Exchange was among the first major exchanges to switch, making the conversion in 1986. The Borsa Italiana followed in 1994, the Toronto Stock Exchange switched in 1997 and the Tokyo Stock Exchange switched to all-electronic trading in 1999. Along the way, many major futures and options exchanges have likewise made the switch. (For more, see The Global Electronic Stock Market.)

Today, the United States is more or less alone in maintaining some semblance of open outcry exchanges. Major commodity and options exchanges like NYMEX, Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) all use open outcry in some capacity. In these cases, though, there are also electronic alternatives that customers can use. Today, the majority of trading volume is handled electronically instead of on trading floors.
Nine buskers in Dublin City Centre were ordered to pay over 600 in fines last year.

All of the street performers paid their 75 penalties, with none of the cases going to court.
Update April 3: Gardai at Togher have thanked the public for their help finding 28-year-old Kieran Keogh.

Kieran has been located in the Dublin area, safe and well.
Why do mothers feel pressure to aim for perfection? Instead of striving for an impossible ideal, how about we cut ourselves some slack? writes Jen Hogan.

I dont know how you do it  its a phrase I hear regularly, particularly once people get over the shock of hearing how many children I have. My family size might be more in keeping with 1950s expectations, but my life and commitments are very much those of a woman in 2018.

Jen Hogan and her family.

My grandad had some pretty old-fashioned and outdated views on a womans role in society. I was the first in our family to go to university and he had a copy of my graduation photo hanging on his wall.

Thats our Jennifer being canonised, hed say to everyone who came into the house whether they enquired or not, much to our amusement. Yet proud as he was of his eldest granddaughters achievement, (even if it wasnt quite saintly), he couldnt help but wonder why my mother bothered.

Sure theyll just get married and have babies, theres no point in girls being educated, he said, much to my mums disgust.

Thankfully she held very different views and so on we went believing the world was our oyster and that we could achieve anything we set our minds to.

And like many women of my generation, I went out into the workforce filled with enthusiasm, high hopes and ambitions for career progression and personal fulfilment and believing I could ultimately have it all.

In due course those gorgeous babies my grandad predicted began to arrive. With every fibre of my being I was in love, exhausted, overwhelmed, ecstatic and busy  so very busy.

As my first maternity leave drew to an end I wondered how I could best juggle work with being a mum to my daughter.

To a certain degree I looked forward to my return to the workforce - some adult company and the opportunity to be Jen again  but the guilt of leaving her in someone elses care was crippling.

Societal expectations of motherhood have changed. Our own expectations of ourselves have changed with them. Feminism has brought us to a place that generations before could only dream of  but sometimes it feels as though it has come at a price.

Now as mothers, we are expected to be all things to all people. We should excel in the workforce, maintain the home and be a nursemaid, teacher, taxi-driver, psychologist, cook, cleaner, personal assistant, homework supervisor, project creator, and pitch- side supporter to our children  all while looking fabulously chic of course and on little or no sleep.

The flip side of this is that we seem to have less support than ever before.

A little while back, while at work, a radio station phoned me to ask my opinion on an issue relating to stay-at- home mums. I explained that while I would be more than delighted to comment, I needed to flag that I wasnt actually a stay-at-home mum at that present time.

You mean you have seven children and a job! came the reply. You are Supermum!

I bumbled through my usual default response of just being a glutton for punishment because it was intended as a compliment  and us Irish of course, are not known for our ability to take a compliment.

I dont think Supermum fits who I am. I feel the pressure to do everything right and get everything right, especially when it comes to my children.

I worry about devoting enough time to each of them. I worry Ill miss something important because my mind can never fully be on the one job.

I worry about the upset I cause when a little one clings to me and asks why I cant stay with him that morning. I worry about calling in to work to take an unplanned days leave when one of the children falls ill, in spite of having a very sympathetic employer.

I worry that my house is never as tidy as my sister-in-laws. And I worry that someone will judge my perceived failings on my decision to have a large family.

I recently took a career break from my day job and started working from home. It has enabled me to spend more time with my children and has removed a degree of craziness from our lives.

It was the right decision to make  but it was still a wrench. Even though there are still seven children to look after and work of a different kind to be done, I felt I was failing. I couldnt manage it all, I wasnt Supermum after all.

And I realised that I, like many mothers, had become my biggest critic. I had taken the affirmations of others and felt a fraud into the bargain.

Supermum doesnt exist. Shes an unattainable ideal, probably fuelled by insecurities and sleep deprivation  and a fear that well get the most important of all jobs wrong.

As Alexander Pope famously pointed out to err is human. Maybe thats something us mums need to remind ourselves of in the pursuit of this impossible perfection.

A little slack, especially when cut to ourselves, goes a long way.

Feminism has brought us to a place that generations before could only dream of  but sometime it feels as though it has come at a price.
It was a bitter love affair until the the marriage of chocolate and sugar created a sweet confection known as the food of the gods and often considered an aphrodisiac, says Regina Sexton.

To appreciate the flavour of good-quality chocolate, Niki Segnit, author of The Flavour Thesaurus, advises you to push a piece to the roof of your mouth and let it melt.

The more sweetened the chocolate, the quicker it will reveal its flavour. As you work your way up the cocoa percentages [the less sweetened the chocolate], youll notice that it takes longer for the flavour to develop.

She then directs to us to consider all sorts of chocolate pairings: from the well-known ones, like chocolate and pear and chocolate and vanilla, to more unusual combinations, like chocolate and bacon, chocolate and thyme, and chocolate and cheese (more of this later).

But she makes no mention, Im afraid, of that peculiarly Irish pairing of milk chocolate with cheese-and-onion crisps.

This last combination satisfies the desire for contrasts: the salt-and-sugar hit played against the crunchy crisps and creamy chocolate. The lovely tension between chocolate and crisps is just too close to the eating habits of them masses, too vulgar even, to be included in serious books about taste and flavour.

And the increased availability of what might be viewed as superior-quality chocolate has encouraged us to become more sophisticated in our relationship with the food of the gods.

There is a vocabulary for assigning and gauging quality: the snap of the chocolate, the complexity of flavours, and the mouth feel.

And to up your snob quotient, Richard Wolke, author of What Einstein Told His Cook 2, instructs us to talk about [chocolate] in terms taken from a wine magazine (bouquet, fruit, finish and so on).

It might be easy to dismiss our fascination with chocolate as yet another fleeting food fad. It is also too easy to divide chocolate into the bad chocolate and good chocolate camps and a lot of the bad chocolate is valued for reasons outside considerations of quality.

For instance, chocolate bars have comforting and emotion-filled memory associations, and no end of good chocolate could ever replace the power of the bad in evoking this tangle of emotion-memory-nostalgia.

Granted, its true, theres a lot of bad chocolate, and those of a certain generation will lament the change in taste and texture of popular chocolate brands.

The European Unions 2003 ruling to allow up to 5% of the cocoa butter in chocolate to be replaced with other vegetable fats did nothing to improve the reputation of mainstream chocolate and it might have prompted more discerning consumers to consider how chocolate is produced and to question the role of non-chocolate additives.

So the search for good-quality chocolate has brought us greater diversity and choice. There is some superlative chocolate now, with some chocolate-makers sourcing, importing, and processing their own beans to produce bean-to-bar chocolate.

This is a remarkable development, given the complex steps involved in producing chocolate. But as Harold McGee points out in Food and Cooking, chocolate is one of our most remarkable foods.

It is bitter in its natural, unprocessed state, only gaining flavour profiles during the fermentation and roasting of the cacao beans.

But chocolate is a remarkable food for reasons beyond its wonderful flavour complexity. Dark chocolate is seductive and versatile; the milk kind is deliciously playful  think Buttons or Smarties  and, of course, all chocolate promises a very pleasurable and sensual eating experience.

Need I mention those Flake ads? And what is possibly most remarkable of all is that it is a food whose full potential was first revealed in industrial manufacture.

For most of its history in Europe, chocolate was enjoyed as a drink and not as a solid confection. When Europeans first encountered chocolate in the New World, the potential of the chocolate beans to be transformed into a smooth, silky hot drink, wasnt immediately obvious.

In its native home of equatorial South America and in the areas where the cultivation of the trees had spread, the cacao beans were crushed, mixed with various liquids, and drunk flavoured with aromatic flowers, chilli, annatto, and wild honey.

Back home in Europe (and reputedly under Spanish influence), chocolates fate was transformed once it paired up with another New World import  sugar.

The marriage of chocolate and sugar transformed this bitter and astringent food into something that would soon be marketed as an indulgence, an exotic, an aphrodisiac. And as early as the mid-seventeenth century, it was satirised and promoted as a food that was linked with the frivolity and leisure activities of women, both inside and outside their bedrooms.

But chocolate was not without its problems: managing the oiliness of the butter fat was one concern; the other was the gritty texture of the chocolate cakes/tablets.

The grit levels were determined by the sophistication, or otherwise, of the techniques involved in crushing beans into chocolate liquor (the resultant paste of hard grinding the beans).

Dutch and Swiss manufacturers lead the charge in producing smooth and better-tasting chocolate, but, from the 1880s onwards, it was a boom time for English companies like Cadburys and Frys.

These developments, coupled with the falling price of sugar, saw chocolate become a mainstream commodity and a raft of chocolate confections were marketed for special occasions of indulgence.

Now, Easter is our biggest chocolate festival and if you have some lying around after last weekend, looking a bit jaded out of its colourful wrapping, perhaps you could perk it up with some interesting pairings.

Lets go back to Nicki Segnits chocolate and cheese. After paring a variety of chocolate with different British goats cheese and blues, she notes that the revelation was the pairing of West Cork Milleens with an 85% Valrhona African  sounds extra good to me!
The world has rapidly changed, and we have refused to change with it, writes Fr Brendan Hoban.

ON Good Friday, droves of people attended church services to honour the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ. Good Friday, like Christmas night, still resonates with most people and recognising its significance, despite the decline in practice in the main churches, is still a compelling impulse in Irish people.

This year, too, on the first Good Friday for decades, pubs opened to allow people to enjoy the Easter bank holiday weekend  a very different, but still compelling impulse in the Irish character.

The contrast between the two worlds  devoted Christians for whom Good Friday is a sacred day and revellers enjoying the holiday weekend  couldnt be more marked, even though many are happily part of both worlds. But lifting the ban on pubs opening on Good Friday is another marker in the definitive shift of religion to the margins of Irish society.

While Catholics lament the decline of their Church  the collapse of its authority, the waning of influence, the implosion of regular practice, the crisis in vocations  much of the decline is self-inflicted. Thats a difficult truth. We are where we are not just because circumstances conspired to make it all happen, but because we dont seem to know where else we might be.

While Ireland moves on without us, weve failed spectacularly to navigate the impulses of the modern world and seem content to maintain the moat that separates us from an Ireland that has changed (and continues to change) beyond recognition.

The second papal visit in four decades conveniently bookends two different worlds: Pope John Paul II, in 1979, striving to convince us that we were on the brink of a new and glorious age and confidently lecturing Catholics on contraception and divorce; and Pope Francis, in 2018, probably not even acknowledging the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the papal letter that banned artificial contraceptives for Catholics, which, ironically, coincides with his visit in August.

Even though more than half a century ago, the Second Vatican Council encouraged the Catholic Church to watch out for the signs of the times, the two pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XV have consistently ignored, and undone, the promise of that Council.

Two examples.

One: During decades when the enhancement of the role of women in society has gone through several mini-revolutions and become part of Irish life, we think that weve a God-given right to patronise, condescend, disrespect, ignore, and presume that women today will accept the excruciatingly embarrassing efforts we make, as a Church, to limit their role.

Former President Mary McAleeses recent representation of the Catholic Church as an empire of misogyny not only dissected the reality in all its disagreeable detail, but laid bare the due anger of women and the frustration that what appears so obvious, sensible, and necessary is still beyond the pale for the clerical Church. When will they get it? Will they ever get it? Is no the only word they know?

Mary McAleese

Two: The denial on the part of the leadership of our Church about vocations is instructive. Caught between an aspiration and a mathematical reality, they take refuge in Hilaire Bellocs advice in a crisis of always keep a hold of Nurse/For fear of finding something worse.

On the cusp of my 70th birthday, incredibly, Im still under the average age of priests in Ireland. According to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin ,theres only one diocesan priest under 40 in Dublin, a diocese with 199 parishes and a nominal Catholic population of over 1m. Plan A in the Irish Church is praying for male, celibate vocations. Plan B is praying even more for male, celibate vocations.

Yet, almost everyone can see that theres a menu of solutions to the vocations crisis  ordain viri probati (married men of proven reputation), ordain female as well as male deacons, ordain women  and almost everyone believes we need to move smartly or parishes that have been vibrant faith-communities for centuries will disappear within a decade.

Yet, strangely, Pope Francis seems to be among the few in positions of authority in the Church prepared to debate the problem. Priests themselves, reading the writing on the wall, are now in increasing numbers calling for change. The people in the pews would welcome change, as surveys consistently indicate by huge majorities.

And still, as far as we know, Irish bishops have not as yet seriously debated the obvious solutions and seem reluctant to alert Rome to the imminent collapse of hundreds of Eucharistic communities (parishes).

I made this point recently at a meeting, and an archbishop dismissed it by saying he wasnt into depression. But hes clearly into denial, as are (it would seem) the Irish bishops as a whole, as no credible vision for priesthood (apart from male celibates) seems under their consideration.

The gap between the leadership of the clerical Church and the rest of Gods faithful is growing wider by the year, as a small enclave of celibate men, supported by a small enclave of ultra-conservative Catholics, pushes the Church away from the influence of its clergy and its people. And pushes the Church away from the wisdom of the world, from learning from the signs of the times.

Recently, at a diocesan conference, priests were addressed by two laymen, who both agreed that the Church as we have known it in Ireland is in its death throes. We dont know what the future Church will be like, so (priests were told) we need to prepare for a Church that few of us will live to see. We are in open ground.

In such a scenario, the Catholic Church in Ireland needs two things: To face the reality of life in a changing Ireland, and to listen to what the people are saying. The flow of the tide of the modern world doesnt mean the ebb of the tide of Catholicism. We need to learn, to listen, and to hear.

While most people are content to navigate the uncertain currents of the modern world, the Catholic Church seems reluctant to enter its choppy waters. We dont seem to be able to let go of the anchors that once stabilised the foundations around which we built the Church of the past, but which now tie us to the wisdom of a different world.

Whether we have the capacity to take the tide of change is another question. Old institutions and old habits die hard. Im reminded of a story told by Donald Schon, in his 1970 Reith Lectures, about attempts to introduce modern technology into an artillery regiment in the British army. The regiment was equipped with new, rapid-fire guns deployed on a motorised carrier, but the regiments rate of fire in field conditions was much lower than anticipated. A time-and-motion study revealed that at a certain point in the firing cycle, one soldier would stand motionless at a short distance from the others. When this apparently illogical practice was put to the commanding officer, he replied that the soldier was holding the horses, old boy.

The story nicely illustrates the pathological resistance to change in great institutions, the difficulty of changing not just ways of working, but a mind-set. For just as the armys procedures for controlling their horses during fire outlived the switch to motorised technology, so, too, many of the supposedly immutable rites, rituals, and practices of the Church will, in future years, be recalled with the same wry incredulity.

Fr Brendan Hoban is parish priest in Moygownagh, Co Mayo. He is the author of a number of books on the Catholic Church, a founder member of the Association of Catholic Priests, and a columnist for the Western People newspaper.
Donald Trumps disregard for liberal democratic values harms the institutional pillars of the world order that the US itself long championed. Only if the worlds other liberal democracies co-operate can the international community hold on until more responsible US leadership returns, says Chris Patten.

It's spring in the Northern Hemisphere, but the outlook in world affairs is hardly rosy.

In the Middle East, Israel has threatened military action against Syria and Iran. Saudi Arabia is also challenging Iran, to curb the countrys growing influence in the region.

In Egypt, the president, Abdel Fattahel-Sisi, has been tightening his grip on power, using the military to crack down on political opponents. He has just secured a bogus electoral victory. (Will Arab soldiers never learn that dictatorship increases Islamist fundamentalism and promotes instability?)

But this trend is not limited to the Middle East. Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has just sailed to his own guaranteed electoral victory, thanks partly to his use of the security services, and their friends in the Russian mafia, to eliminate any potential threat.

But the Kremlin is not satisfied with damaging Russias own polity with plutocratic gangsterism; it is also working to undermine democratic processes elsewhere.

Then there is China, where the president, Xi Jinping, has become the most dominant leader since Mao Zedong.

Now that the presidential term limits introduced by Deng Xiaoping to insulate the country against another dictatorship have been eliminated, the future of the communist dynasty rests on the shoulders of one supreme leader.

Even the US, the country that we associated with leadership of the free world, is facing bleak prospects.

Under leaders such as Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama, the country shaped the international system for the better.

Now, Donald Trump  ignorant, prejudiced, deceitful, mendacious, and amoral  is destroying that legacy. When Trump was elected, some suggested that he would rise to the occasion. Leaving the campaign trail behind, cooler heads and wiser advisers would constrain him, and he would learn how the US government works. That optimism was sorely misplaced.

Well into his second year in office, Trump is behaving worse than his record indicated he would, unceremoniously tossing aside advisers and other officials.

Most recently, he replaced Rex Tillerson  frequently viewed as one of the adults in the room, who would protect the US and the world from Trumps worst instincts  with the combative former CIA director, Mike Pompeo, as secretary of state.

Even worse, Trump has replaced former national security adviser, General H.R. McMaster, with John Bolton  the foreign-policy official with perhaps the most dangerous views in the entire Western world. Bolton is an America First devotee and a bureaucratic thug, adept at eliminating rivals.

More dangerous, Bolton is the ultimate foreign-policy hardliner, the hawk to end all hawks. Among the loudest cheerleaders for the US invasion of Iraq, Bolton seems to think that every problem merits a military response.

The current conflicts with North Korea (he has called for preemptive military action) and Iran (he has repeatedly proposed regime change by force) are no exceptions. Between Bolton and Pompeo, the chances that the US will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, and reimpose sanctions on that country, have increased.

The mere expectation of that outcome has driven up oil prices  another gift from Trump to Putin.

Things are not much better on the economic-policy front. Now that Trump has filled his economic team with nationalists, his long-promised trade protectionism is becoming a reality.

To be sure, Trump is not wrong to confront China over intellectual-property theft and flagrant mercantilism.

What is wrong is his approach: Instead of recruiting allies such as Japan and the EU to put pressure on China, he has angered friend and foe alike, with unilateral tariffs and other ill-advised barriers, risking a trade war that would hurt everyone.

Trumps behaviour has rapidly eroded US global leadership. His disregard for liberal democratic values has weakened the institutional pillars of the world order that the US itself had long-championed.

The only way to arrest this decline is for the worlds other liberal democracies  in Europe, Asia, and the Commonwealth  to take action. These countries must urgently defend free trade and open markets.

Working with the World Trade Organization, they should mount a co-ordinated effort to push back against abuses by both China and the US.

These countries should fortify the international rule of law  a concept that makes Bolton reach for his gun  by strengthening the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

This means upholding the principles that have supported peace and prosperity since the 1950s, including by backing the Iran nuclear deal, as long as the country continues to hold up its end of the bargain, and pursuing a peaceful resolution to the North Korea crisis.

As Trump and his team devise one damaging policy after another, the worlds other democracies must respond. Only then can the international community hope to hold on, until responsible American leadership returns.

Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong and a former EU commissioner for external affairs, is chancellor of the University of Oxford.
As riots erupted and smoke billowed from black neighbourhoods in the wake of Martin Luther Kings assassination, Robert F Kennedy met with black activists, politicians, and celebrities in a hotel suite to tamp things down and divine what should come next, writes David Margolick in The Promise and the Dream: The Untold Story of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert F Kennedy. In this excerpt, Margolick examines Kennedys response to the killing  and his belief that he, too, would die by an assassins hand.

The American Electra jet that Robert Kennedy arranged for Coretta Scott King lifted off in Atlanta at 9:15am on April 5.

It landed in Memphis an hour later. Scott King did not get off the aircraft. She kept her composure as the casket carrying her husband was removed from the hearse, but collapsed on the shoulder of a companion when it was lifted up for Martin Luther Kings final journey home.

An unidentified Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) official in Atlanta was asked who Kings pallbearers would be. Every black man in this country, he replied.

While Coretta King made her way to Tennessee, Kennedy sat down with his old friend, Jack Paar, in a television studio in Indianapolis. Back when the wall between television personalities and politics was lower, Paar was available for partisan purposes  in this instance, for the kind of question-and-answer session in which Kennedy was thought to be most appealing.

His admen would edit the conversation into small bits and use them in commercials. Calibrating his message to conservative Indiana, Kennedy talked more with Paar about law and order than civil rights, and more about national security than either.

Asked to identify his greatest accomplishment as attorney general, Kennedy veered off into the Cuba missile crisis and how hed helped save the planet. Whenever Paar tried to talk about King, Kennedy put him off. Even with King gone, Kennedy was keeping his distance.

Kennedy then headed to Cleveland, for his previously scheduled lunchtime speech to the Cleveland City Club. Both en route and afterwards, he avoided any appearance of politicking: the hundreds of people chanting We want Kennedy!, who outside the hotel where he was to speak, had to content themselves with a wave from an upstairs window.

Kennedys speechwriters must have understood that no-one would want anything long-winded; he spoke only a couple of minutes longer than he just had in Indianapolis.

In the aftermath of both the shooting and the violence that followed, he made another plea for brotherhood and a denunciation of violence, which he defined far more broadly than usual.

Brutality, he said, came not just from snipers, mobs, and gangs, but from lawless law enforcement, Hollywood, armies killing innocent civilians in far-off lands, and apathetic and indifferent bureaucracies.

There is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly, destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions, indifference and inaction, and slow decay.

This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin is of a different colour. This violence is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, schools without books, and homes without heat in the winter. This is the breaking of a mans spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man. And this, too, afflicts us all.

Three times, Kennedy remarked on how short life was, a theme he had never dwelt on before. He also made the appealing, but ridiculous, claim that assassinations were futile.

No martyrs cause has ever been stilled by his assassins bullet, he said.

Walinsky [a former Kennedy aide] later called it more Sunday school sermon than an appraisal of human history. And William F Buckley later described it as a plea from Kennedy to his own assassin, whose name neither he nor anyone else knew, but whose existence he had frequently conjectured.

At a time when the name of Martin Luther King was on everyones lips, Kennedy never mentioned it that day. Its no doubt true that, as the Village Voices Jack Newfield was to write, Kings death gave Kennedy the purpose his candidacy had lost with Lyndon Johnsons withdrawal.

His would be a broadened version of Kings own fight for the disenfranchised. But Kings name would rarely be invoked in the process, a process that began, strangely, even before hed been buried.

Thus, the students in Mrs Zelda Garfinkels American history class at Julia Richman High School, in Manhattan, whod reminded Kennedy that laws helping the poor and oppressed would be a fitting memorial to King, heard more from him on the subject than voters over the next couple of months. Martin Luther King Jr represented the best in our nation, he wrote them back. Dr King lived and died not only for the negro, but for all Americans  and, in particular, for the youth of our nation.

The few comments Kennedy did make about King were private and were more about the FBI.

Robert Kennedy

Its very interesting that they cant find the killer of Martin Luther King, but they can track down some 22-year-old who might have burned his draft card, he told Pete Hamill.

Others, though, connected the two men in ways that werent always apparent. It was on a Wednesday  trash-collection day in Pasadena  shortly after King was killed, that a sanitation man named Alvin Clark encountered Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a young Palestinian-born man whose house was on Clarks route.

Over the past three years, the pair had become friendly; Sirhan would sometimes bring Clark coffee or a soft drink, and something to eat, during pick-ups.

He was upset about the death of Martin Luther King, Clark later testified. He says, What do you think the Negro people are going to do about it? and I says, What can we do about it? There wasnt but one person involved.

Sirhan then asked him about the California primary, now only a couple of months away. I told him I was going to vote for Kennedy, Clark recalled, and Sirhan said, What are you going to vote for that son of a bitch for? Because Im planning on shooting him.

Youd be killing one of the best men in the country, Clark replied, noting how Kennedy had arranged to have Kings body brought back to Atlanta.

Hed just done that for publicity, Sirhan replied. He did not say why it was he hated Kennedy enough to want to kill him.

Kennedy returned to Washington right after his Cleveland speech. The view from the air, as they approached National Airport, was cataclysmic; smoke was billowing out of the black neighbourhoods.

Kennedy wanted to go directly to where the rioting was taking place and try and stop it. I think I can do something with these people, he kept saying, as his aides tried to dissuade him. He finally went home. Very reluctantly, the speechwriter, John Bartlow Martin, who was with Kennedy, recalled.

But the next day, Palm Sunday, Kennedy spoke briefly from the pulpit of Washingtons New Bethel Baptist Church, in the midst of where the turmoil had taken place.

Then, with Ethel, but without bodyguards, he walked 22 blocks through the area, where the rubble smouldered and the scent of tear gas still hung heavy in the air. (Hed campaigned here only five days earlier  he and Rosey Grier had sung Spanish Harlem together.)

Marion Barry, then a local activist and later mayor of Washington, viewed Kennedy as an invader. What in hell is he doing here? he asked. But neighbourhood residents, especially children, fell in line behind him. For part of the walk, he held a small girls hand.

There was none of the grabbing, pushing, and mauling that has become a part of the senators campaign tours, wrote RW Apple in the New York Times.

Both he and the onlookers were subdued as he greeted weary policemen, shook hands with soldiers, and poked his head into burned-out shops.

Few residents there that day would have endorsed Stokely Carmichaels charge that by dragging his feet on civil rights, Bobby Kennedy had pulled that trigger just as well as anybody else.

The next day, Robert and Ethel Kennedy flew to Atlanta for Kings funeral. They visited Coretta King at her home, sitting down for a time with her in her bedroom. He told her that if it meant something to her, he would encourage Jacqueline Kennedy to attend the funeral, and he did, and she did.

And, as various SCLC officials  Andrew Young, James Bevel, and Hosea Williams among them  and members of the King family sat on the bed or the floor, Kennedy stopped by to see Daddy King in his room at the Hyatt Hotel, where the family later received people.

Robert Kennedy came in by himself, Andrew Young recalled. And he really just poured his heart out about his brother and our brother. He even mentioned that he lost his first brother. It was not like he knew what he was saying, he just started kind of like he wasnt even talking to us, knowing what we were going through, and remembering what he went through.

It wasnt what he said; it was the fact that he was there, saying anything, and his being there, and his total identification. And it made us identify with him.

Young recalled Daddy King, in his robe and pyjamas, sitting up in bed and declaring again and again, Hate is too great a burden to bear. I will not let anybody make me hate.

At another point

That evening, John Lewis accompanied Robert and Ethel Kennedy to see the body of Martin Luther King, lying in an open casket by the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Kennedy crossed himself, and said nothing.

Well into the night, Kennedy held a series of meetings with black activists, politicians, and celebrities in the suite next door to his hotel room, attempting to tamp things down and divine what should come next.

The sessions degenerated, at times, into internecine posturing and one-upmanship  This is a lot of shit! Bill Cosby said  and anger at Kennedy himself, either for being too political (why was he there?) or, because he insisted that hed come principally to listen (for not being political enough).

Robert Kennedy was, once again, the attorney general, or perhaps he was already the president of the United States. Young later said he seemed more sensitive to the situation than the black leaders themselves.

I guess the thing that kept us going was that, maybe, Bobby Kennedy would come up with some ideas for the country, Hosea Williams later said.

I remember telling him he had a chance to be a prophet. But prophets get shot.

A couple of times, Ethel came in to fetch her husband. Is he ever going to get to bed? she asked.

Eventually, he did.

At the end, and it was getting very late, he said, Weve got to get up and go bury our leader, John Lewis recalled.

- The Promise and the Dream, by David Margolick, a Lawrence Schiller book, published by RosettaBooks.
WHILE the main drive behind a review of sex education in Irish schools is that so much of it is decades old, the discussions it should help begin will undoubtedly return to more recent public and political debate, writes Education Correspondent, Niall Murray.

Some of the topics Education Minister Richard Bruton wants emphasised, like consent and positive sexual relationships, were at the heart of the reaction to the recent Belfast rape trial.

He has also taken on board a recommendation of last Decembers report of the joint Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment. As well as the substantive issue around references to abortion in the Constitution, one of its other recommendations was for a thorough review of sexual health and relationship education, in line with the proposal of the Citizens Assembly for improvements in such teaching.

Both the committee and the assembly singled out the areas of contraception and consent as issues to be covered in improved education in schools, colleges, youth clubs and other organisations involved in education of and interactions with young people.

Sufficient time must be provided in the schools curriculum for such education and it should be taught by suitably qualified personnel. The information should be provided in an impartial and factual manner that is independent of school ethos, the Oireachtas committee said.

An opposition bill to be debated in the Dail on April 18 will seek to amend education law that Solidarity TD Paul Murphy says currently allows a schools religious ethos to influence the type of sex education that is taught.

He introduced the Objective Sex Education Bill in the Dail last week, saying young people are not receiving proper sex education because it is taught through the prism of a religious ethos in many schools.

This means that they do not get objective sex education. They do not learn about contraception, LGBTQ+ relationships, the different types of sexualities and genders, or about options in relation to crisis pregnancies, he said.

Young people want proper sex education, it is an issue which comes up time and time again. This bill will seek to remove the barriers which religious ethos places on sex education, and to provide for proper, objective sex education.

The issue of consent was one which dominated debate and rallies that followed the not guilty verdicts returned in relation to the lengthy Belfast rape trial last week. Mr Murphys Solidarity colleague in the Dail, Ruth Coppinger, said the bill would make sure all young people are taught about consent.

The reaction from women and young people to the #IStandWithHer and #MeToo movements demonstrates that consent is an issue which needs to be fully explored and discussed in schools but also in wider society, she said.
A mass grave has been discovered in central Mali just days after arrests by the military as it responds to increasing jihadist attacks in the region, Amnesty International said in a new report.

Concerns are growing about alleged abuses as Mali's military tries to stop extremism from spreading further in the west African nation.

Residents in the village of Dogo identified six bodies found in the mass grave as people who had been arrested on March 22 by the military, the human rights group said. It added that the victims appear to have been blindfolded.

"Military forces fighting armed groups have also committed crimes under international law including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests," the group said.

On February 21, military forces arrested and blindfolded nine men in Daresalam, residents told the rights group. Two men from the Bambara ethnic group were released but seven Peulh men have not returned.

The United Nations mission in Mali has reported that at least 43 people were victims of enforced disappearances by Malian security forces during anti-extremist operations between May and June last year.

"Civilians in Mali are living in fear. We are urging the Malian authorities to investigate," said Gaetan Mootoo, Amnesty International's West Africa researcher.

Mali's military said it respects human rights.

"I see in these allegations that the international community is trying to justify its presence in Mali," said Col Diarran Kone, spokesman for Mali's army.

"The facts in question took place in an area of great community tension and it may be civilians who killed each other."

Col Kone said the latest killings are being investigated, adding: "I promise you that justice will be done."

Amnesty International said the discovery of the mass grave came after weeks of escalating violence in Mali's central Segou and Mopti regions, with civilians caught in the crossfire.

At least 65 people, including children, have been killed by explosives since January as jihadist groups step up attacks, the group said, with at least eight people still being held hostage.

Amnesty International called for increased protection of civilians, saying the insecurity has reached a crisis point. Hundreds of schools have closed in central and northern Mali, leaving more than 214,000 children without education.
The revelation comes as Education Minister Richard Bruton announces a major review of relationship and sexuality education (RSE) in primary and second-level schools, which will focus on consent, contraception, and other issues.

However, he also wants information about the teaching of RSE in schools to be reflected in the parents and students charter that he said every school will be legally required to publish later this year.

The need to improve communication about RSE policies to parents was recommended by Department of Education chief inspector Harold Hislops recent report on issues highlighted from his staffs work in schools from 2013 to 2016.

While communication generally with parents requires improvement, RSE emerged as an area in which it is particularly poor.

One in four parents of children in mainstream schools said they do not know the RSE policy, and another 12% (one in eight) said they have not been informed about it. This indicates that there is a need for management to effectively communicate the details of this policy to parents, Mr Hislops report read.

The review ordered by the minister is to form part of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessments recently-initiated reviews of primary education and senior cycle at second-level. As well as the content of the RSE curriculum, the council is to examine how sex education is taught, whether the entire curriculum is being delivered to a high standard, and if teachers have proper training and supports to talk to students about sexuality and relationships.

Some elements of RSE have not been updated in 20 years, and the minister believes the review will help inform decisions about the content of the curriculum and how it is taught.

I want to ensure that the RSE curriculum meets the needs of young people today, who face a range of different issues to those faced by young people in the late 1990s, he said.

A Solidarity private members bill to be debated in the Dail later this month will seek to remove provisions from education law that could allow schools to restrict or change what is taught in RSE because of their religious ethos.
The competition for the next Garda Commissioner was launched last month by the Public Appointments Service following extensive discussions within and between the authority and the Department of Justice.

These have been taking place since former commissioner Noirin OSullivan dramatically retired without notice last September.

In the minutes of its last meeting, the authority members had welcomed measures that had been taken to address their concerns relating to the age of candidates applying for the commissioner position.

However, the minutes added: [Members] were disappointed that the mandatory retirements age remains at 60 years on the basis that it may narrow the field of candidates suitable for appointment.

They confirmed that the Public Appointments Service has requested nominations for the selection panel and said two people have been suggested. As previously reported in the Irish Examiner the composition of the panel is unclear, although the Department of Justice will also have a representative on it.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said it is expected that the process will be completed by the autumn.

The minutes show that a key new position in the Garda, that of overall data boss, remains vacant after no suitable candidates were found after a recruitment process. This position has been described as a key part of the organisations reform and in reassuring the public that data quality was a top priority for Garda HQ.

The minutes said a report from the Public Appointments Service showed the recruitment process for the chief data officer had not identified a suitable candidate.

There have also been issues regarding approval for the position of head of internal audit at principal officer level as well as difficulties in expanding the panel of interviewers for sergeant and inspector promotions.

In its private meeting with acting commissioner Donall O Cualain and his team in February, authority members expressed continuing frustration at the delays by the Garda in providing material requested by the authority. It said late or partial provision is interfering with the ability of the authority to do its work.

Members said they are dissatisfied that the authority received no communication from the Garda in relation to implementing recommendations on the Fennelly Report (on the recording of phonecalls at Garda stations) until the day before a meeting on the matter.

This follows the failure of the gardai to send the authority its Jobstown review until the night before it was due to be discussed.
With the campaign set to move up a gear in the coming months to get those who began teaching since 2011 on the same pay scales as longer-serving colleagues, John Boyle told the unions 150th annual congress it was his first priority.

Ahead of debate today on the topic by the 800 delegates, he asked if it is any wonder so many recently-qualified teachers have moved abroad where their expertise is coveted and valued.

The union said a 2012 entrant to teaching will earn 100,000 less over their career than someone who began teaching in 2010. With a 56,000 differential for a 2017 entrant because of some improvements negotiated in recent years, the average annual losses range from 1,400 to 2,500 across a career.

Mr Boyle pointed to last Septembers OECD study that showed the starting salary of Irish teachers is below the international average, having once been higher than those in most other countries. This shows the extent of the cuts to new entrant pay imposed by government in recent years and the pressing need to address pay inequality in the teaching profession, he said.

But, Mr Boyle said, Education Minister Richard Bruton has yet to accept the principle of pay equality. The minister will address the congress in Killarney this morning but has so far declined to give a commitment on any timeframe for the restoration of pay equality.

The cost of putting all post-2010 public sector education workers on equal pay scales was recently calculated by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as 83m a year, of which 59m was the cost for teachers hired since the reduced scales were introduced.

Delegates listen to John Boyle, president, as he addresses the INTO conference at the INEC, Killarney on yesterday

Mr Bruton and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar have said the teacher unions claims would be considered as part of a wider engagement with cross-sectoral unions, as there is an estimated 200m cost to restoring pay equality across the public service.

Mr Boyle said childrens achievement levels will fall in a few years time if the substitution crisis is not dealt with immediately. Schools are reporting increasing difficulties finding teachers to cover short-term and short-notice absences.

The INTO president said the ministers negative attitude to using supply panels of teachers, having a team of teachers available to principals in their local area to cover short-term and short-notice absences, would lose Ireland its top ranking in international education tests.

Children only get one chance at primary education. They are entitled to a fully-qualified primary teacher every single day. A minister that can not provide that has no claim to building the best education system in Europe.

Mr Bruton had said in January that the previous system, operated for many years on a pilot basis but ended in 2010, had been expensive and ineffective.

A motion due to be debated today will, if passed, demand that the Teaching Council address the issue of teacher supply without delay. The council is represented on a working group to consider measures to ease problems for schools, announced by Mr Bruton in January but which only met for the first time last week.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has reported the death threat against the Belfast-based journalist was made by loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

Seamus Dooley, the Irish secretary of the NUJ told the BBC the threat was credible.

We understand this is a credible threat of violence, confirmed by the PSNI, and are therefore concerned for the safety of the journalist and those close to him, he said.

Sinn Fein policing spokesman Gerry Kelly MLA said political unionism has a responsibility to stand up to the paramilitary gangs continued criminality and called on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to respond.

The UDA threat against this journalist should be lifted immediately, said Mr Kelly.

This latest threat demonstrates once again the UDAs contempt for democracy, the peace process, law and order and to those exposing their brutal criminality.

This threat must be challenged head-on by all political leaders as there is no place in this society for the UDA or any other paramilitary group.

There is an onus on political unionism and on the DUP in particular to show leadership by rejecting the continued existence of the UDA and ending its cosy electoral relationship with a gang still engaged in murder, extortion, drug dealing, and intimidation.

East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson, the DUPs spokesman on justice, home affairs, and human rights, called on anyone with information to go to the PSNI.

Paramilitary activity and threats of this nature have absolutely no place in our society, he said. To seek to cause fear is something that should belong to Northern Irelands past. Society upholds freedom of the press. Nobody should feel intimidated as a result of the work they do.

Anyone involved in illegal activity must face the full weight of the law. People with information must bring that forward to the PSNI.

Amnesty International also condemned the threat.

Such threats are not merely an attack on one journalist, they are an attack on the freedom of the press in Northern Ireland, said Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty Internationals Northern Ireland programme director.

Guaranteeing freedom of expression must be a cornerstone of Northern Ireland as a peaceful and just society.
The concerns have been raised by PDForra, the association which represents 6,500 enlisted men in the Defence Forces, as a new round of recruitment has just been announced.

PDForra believes that poor pay and the opportunity for young men and women to earn a better wage in the rapidly improving private sector will hamper recruitment.

The first recruitment campaign last year was held in March, followed by another one in September.

In March, 5,210 applications were made, of which 4,838 were deemed eligible. However, 62% of applicants did not bother taking the psychometric (intelligence) tests.

That left 2,996 and after fitness/medical and interview processes were completed, 506 were inducted into the Defence Forces  425 into the Army and 81 into the Naval Service.

By last September, the numbers applying for the years second recruitment drive were down significantly.

Just 2,954 applied, of which 2,451 were deemed eligible. In total, 1,373 of them didnt bother to take the psychometric tests and were therefore knocked out of the induction process.

Some of those who failed the fitness test the first time were given a second opportunity to pass it and in the end, following the medical and interview process, 286 were deemed eligible for call-up.

It is widely believed by senior Defence Forces members that a number of young people are applying simply to tick a box so they can tell the Department of Social Protection that they are actively seeking work but in reality have no intention of joining up.

PDForra general secretary Gerard Guinan said that traditionally when the economy improves, a decline in the number of people who apply to join the Defence Forces is noted.

Mr Guinan said pay and conditions are a factor in the attractiveness of a career in the Defence Forces and as the economy improves young people are looking for better wages in other jobs in the private sector.

He said PDForra had highlighted the need for improved pay and conditions when the representative association made a recent submission to the Public Services Pay Commission.

Recent recruitment drives have barely kept pace with the number of people who are bailing out of the Defence Forces.

Both PDForra and RACO, which represents Defence Forces officers, have highlighted on a number of occasions the need for the Department of Defence to address the retention issue.

Many sections of the Defence Forces are critically short of specialist personnel, especially lacking engineers in the naval service, trained pilots in the air corps, and army bomb disposal experts.

Minister of state for defence Paul Kehoe recently announced the first round of recruitment for this year, which will close to applicants on Sunday, April 22.

The Defence Forces intend to recruit 480 personnel during this campaign.

Mr Kehoe said a special Air Corps apprentice technician recruitment drive has already had more than 460 applicants  an increase of 38% on last year.
Ger Dolan, 27, did not tell his family or colleagues that he had contacted Beaumont Hospital to begin the process to see if he could be a suitable donor for his ailing brother, Jimmy, 32.

The transplant went well and was one of 51 living donor kidney transplants which took place at Beaumont Hospital last year.

The brothers are sharing their transplant story in support of the Irish Kidney Associations Organ Donor Awareness Week, which continues until April 7.

Three months after the surgery, their 18-year-old cousin from Mayo tragically died. Her family made the selfless decision to donate her organs, having become acutely aware of the transformational life a donated kidney had given to their relative.

The Dolan family has been saving lives in their line of duty for four generations  the brothers father, Frankie Dolan, is station officer with Galway Fire Service, where he continues to work after 41 years service.

Their grandfather, Jim, was also a Galway firefighter and their great-grandfather, Frank, was one of the founding members of the Galway Fire Service, established in 1928.

Five years ago, as there were no jobs openings in Galway fire station, Ger found work at Cork Citys Anglesea St fire station.

Ger Dolan at a passing out parade in Cork in 2014 with his brother Jimmy, right, and their parents Marie and Frankie.

A few years later, his brother Jimmy, a corporate travel consultant, followed him south to find employment that would allow him to work around his kidney dialysis treatment times.

In 2013, I caught a form of vasculitis, a virus which left me fighting for my life as my organs started to shut down, said Jimmy.

It was actually a very astute student doctor, Lynn Redahan, who copped the likely diagnosis after I presented in University Hospital Galway.

In 2016, Jimmy took a really bad turn and collapsed outside his workplace.

I was rushed to hospital where I presented with high blood pressure, severe headache, vomiting, and loss of eyesight, he said.

It was discovered that I had internal bleeding relating to my vasculitis illness and I required a blood transfusion.

An amazing team at [Cork University Hospital] helped me to recovery again. I continued to undergo hospital haemodialysis and it was keeping me alive right up until Ger donated his kidney to me.

Free information fact files, which accompany organ donor cards, are obtainable from the Irish Kidney Association and are available nationwide from pharmacies, GP surgeries and Citizen Information Offices. Organ donor cards can also be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association on 01 6205306 or freetext the word DONOR to 50050. For more, see ika.ie/card
Unite trade union, which represents the workers in question, claims the scheme has never been in deficit and currently has a surplus well in excess of 200m, with assets of around 1.1bn.

Overall, the pension scheme has 3,000 members, with Unite representing approximately 1,000 of those.

The union said all head office and regional office operations will be affected, as well as the companys call centre in Dundalk.

Irish Life management said it decided to end future accrual to two schemes, the Irish Life Staff Benefits Scheme and Canada Life Irish Pension Scheme, after a detailed review of the liabilities and costs of them.

A spokeswoman said: The company believes that this is the right thing to do to ensure that the interests of all scheme members  active members, deferred members and pensioners are protected. The closure to future accruals is designed to ensure that the accrued pension benefits and the link to final salary are sustainable into the future.

She said current active members will transfer to a new market-leading defined contribution scheme in respect of their future pension benefits.

Unite regional officer Richie Browne said his union is determined to resist the closure of a healthy pension scheme. He said the dispute could escalate beyond April 12 if a resolution to the dispute is not found.

Our members are determined to fight this decision with all means at our disposal, he said. They are well aware that, if one attack on their terms and conditions is allowed to stand, others are likely to follow.

He said it is ironic that those working for the countrys largest pension provider are being forced to take industrial action to defend their own pensions.

That irony will not be lost on members of the public, and in particular Irish Life customers who look to the company to provide security in retirement, he said.

Irish Life said it is aware of Unites plans for industrial action, and will be working to ensure that any disruption to customers is minimised.
However, one candidate who will not be in the running for the position is her predecessor Gerry Adams, she said, ruling him out categorically.

Speaking to reporters, Ms McDonald said as a matter of principle the position of President should be contested. Her comments are the most significant to date as the likelihood of Sinn Fein contesting the position means the incumbent Michael D Higgins would have to run again.

It is clear he wants another term but the question mark is over whether he has the appetite for a contest.

Ms McDonald made it clear that no one has the right to automatic re-election, no matter how popular they may be: I dont favour this idea that somebody just moves from one term of office into another automatically, I think its healthier to have the debate. Not least because the campaigns like that allow for broader political debates than we have in general election campaigns.

So as a matter of principle, I think there ought to be an election.

Ms McDonald said she has enormous regard for President Michael D Higgins, adding he has been tremendous in the role, but there should not be an automatic right to continue into a second term: I am saying that with great respect to Michael D Higgins, I think he has been tremendous.

Asked if Sinn Fein will force the issue and cause an election in the absence of anyone else, she said: Well, I dont know if youd describe that as forcing the issue, well discuss it and decide whether to contest and, if to contest, who might be interested or who might be available as a candidate. So I dont have a definitive answer for you, but I do have a view myself.

Weve loads of candidates. Hundreds of them... Thered be no problem finding a candidate I am sure, should we decide, she said.

Would it be Gerry Adams, she was asked. No... no, came the reply.

Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell has repeatedly claimed he has the required support of 20 Oireachtas members to allow him to contest the position.

Within Fine Gael, while the leadership would be quite happy to allow President Higgins a free run at a second term, MEPs Mairead McGuinness and Sean Kelly have expressed an interest in the position.

Well-known RTE broadcaster Miriam OCallaghan too is known to harbour ambitions to contest the position and has been linked to Fianna Fail in that regard.

Artist Kevin Sharkey has confirmed he wants to run for president. If elected, he would become the first black Uachtaran na hEireann. The Donegal man said the office of President should do more for homelessness than it currently does.
He has directed that these and a number of other issues be considered in detail as part of an overhaul of relationships and sexuality education (RSE).

He wants the RSE curriculum for both primary and second-level schools to be examined extensively as part of wider reviews of education. What teenagers are taught in the first three years of second level is already encompassed by the ongoing reforms of junior cycle being phased in since 2015.

Mr Bruton said some elements of what is currently taught in RSE are over 20 years old and he wants the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to particularly evaluate the content in relation to several areas. These include:

Consent, what it means and its importance;

Developments in contraception;

Healthy, positive sexual expression and relationships;

Safe use of the internet;

Social media and its effects on relationships and self- esteem;

LGBTQ+ matters.

Every student has the right to access information about sexual health, relationships and sexuality, and this must be delivered in a factual manner in every school, the minister said.

I want to ensure that the RSE curriculum meets the needs of young people today, who face a range of different issues to those faced by young people in the late 1990s.

As well as the content, he wants the NCCA to examine how much RSE is taught, the standard of teaching, and who is giving the classes.

Although the HSEs Crisis Pregnancy Programme has credited existing RSE provision as a significant factor in a 64% drop in teen pregnancies since the start of the decade, question marks exist about the uniformity and standard of teaching.

Mr Bruton said the NCCA should consult with teachers, students, principals, and parents about how RSE is planned and taught.

He has asked that the review establish if the entire curriculum is being taught to a high standard and the role of the classroom teacher in delivering the curriculum. The levels of support being provided by external providers, and their appropriateness will also be probed.

The departments of education and health will work with the HSE to develop better resources to help teach RSE, and the level and quality of teacher training are also to be examined.

It is essential for the curriculum to be delivered by teachers who are fully supported and who feel comfortable teaching the curriculum and talking to their students about sexuality and relationships, Mr Bruton said.
To take just one example, pubs can open on Good Friday  another sign that the influence of religion over the workings of the nation is on the wane.

On the ground, a survey of archdioceses and dioceses around the country shows an ageing priesthood, with human resources stretched.

It has meant parishes relying more on the laity, particularly the volunteering parish councils, while a small but growing number of serving priests are from overseas.

Here the Irish Examiner takes an in-depth snapshot of the Catholic Church and the issues affecting it in Ireland today.

NEWS: Survey warns about ageing Church

By Noel Baker, Social Affairs Correspondent

Senior figures within the Catholic Church are warning that the ageing profile of priests and the lack of new ordinations could mean a further reduction in its footprint around the country.

A survey of archdioceses and dioceses highlights the changing face of the Catholic Church in Ireland. It found that human resources are being stretched, that a small but growing number of parishes are without a resident priest, and that there is an increased role for deacons and for priests coming to serve from overseas.

There is a shrinking number of Masses, according to the survey, and, in some areas, limitations on when ceremonies such as weddings and baptisms can be conducted.

At least half of the 25 archdioceses and dioceses around the country have seen an aggregate fall in the number of priests serving within them in the past five years, while almost half have parishes which have had to reduce the number of Mass services they can offer.

A handful of dioceses and archdioceses have parishes which do not have a resident priest or share a priest with another parish  with warnings that this could increase unless there is a rise in the number of people who can serve.

In Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, training for parish catechists commenced in September 2017 with more than 30 participants. A permanent diaconate has been launched, although there are currently no people in receipt of training.

Four parishes have reduced the number of Masses. Bishop Francis Duffy said: In visiting parishes and meeting parish pastoral councils, it is very clear that parishioners value their priests very highly. Unfortunately, we will not have enough priests to replace those who will retire. This will result in more parishes not having a resident priest.

In Dromore, Bishop John McAreavey said: Several priests have more than one parish. Naturally, the decreasing number of priests has had an impact on the service available by priests through the parishes. The rescheduling of Masses has been happening for more than 10 years, [for example], dropping from four to three, or three to two.

The archdiocese of Cashel and Emly has seen nine departures from its complement of priests in the last five years, with just two ordinations.

Fr Nicholas Irwin, diocesan secretary, said: With fewer priests, more focus will inevitably fall on the role of the lay people in any parish  especially as they involve themselves more in administrative activity.

In the diocese of Limerick, there are 60 parishes and 65 priests, but 27 are due to retire in the next decade.

In Kilmores 34 parishes, there are 72 priests, but just 45 are below the retirement age of 75 and there have been no ordinations in five years.

Fr Donal Kilduff, diocesan secretary, said: The number of priests serving in parishes has been reduced by up to half. Where once there were two priests ministering, now there is only one.

Parishes have been clustered into pastoral areas to facilitate co-operation and locum cover in case of illness and annual leave. Mass times have been rationalised within parish areas, to facilitate priests assisting with Masses in neighbouring parishes, and especially in the event of locum cover.

Fr Francis Mitchell of the Tuam archdiocese said a number of positive steps have been made in recent years, including the enhanced role of deacons.

My greater concern is the decline in religious practice despite census figures showing the majority of people in Ireland identifying as Catholic, he said.

The underlying problem is not the number of priests being ordained or available to serve in a diocese, its the cultural challenge.

He said while Pope Francis is popular with many Irish people, the same people do not feel the need to actively engage with their local parish on a regular and ongoing basis.

ANALYSIS: Snapshot of the Catholic Church and the issues affecting it in Ireland today

Archdiocese of Armagh

61 parishes

115 priests and 14 permanent deacons. There are also 25 retired priests, a small number of whom are able to provide assistance locally on a part-time basis.

In the last five years nine priests have retired. This has been offset by the ordination of seven priests and the introduction of five priests on loan from Poland, India and Africa, in the same timespan.

Currently there are 14 permanent deacons ministering in the diocese, of whom, five were recently ordained in September 2017. All 14 permanent deacons are assigned to parishes and a few are also involved in hospital and prison chaplaincy. Most of our permanent deacons are still in full-time employment in the secular world and exercise their ministry on a part-time basis.

Currently, every parish in the Archdiocese of Armagh has at least one priest assigned to it.

Another initiative in the diocese has been the establishment in 2012 of a seminary, based in Dundalk, Co Louth  The Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary.

The 17 seminarians who study there come from Neocatechumenal Way communities throughout the world and will be ordained as priests of the Archdiocese of Armagh.

To date a Polish man from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary has been ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Armagh and is serving in a parish in the archdiocese.

Caroline Hicks, diocesan office, said while there have been cutbacks, no parish is without a priest.

Although some parishes in this diocese have had to reorganise and reduce the number of weekday and Sunday Masses, there havent been significant reductions. No parish within the diocese is without a resident priest.

The Archdiocese of Armagh, like other dioceses in Ireland, is in a time of transition: From a period in which there were large numbers of clergy and religious and substantial practice of the lay faithful including attendance at Sunday Mass, to a time where the age profile of clergy and religious is getting higher and vocations are fewer, while at the same time there is a much reduced religious practice and attendance at Mass by lay people, especially in the southern part of the archdiocese.

To address these issues the Archdiocese of Armagh launched a five year Diocesan Pastoral Plan, 2015-2020: Share the Joy of the Gospel. The plan focuses primarily on the areas of mission and outreach, catechesis, and liturgy.

Priests fulfil a vital ministry within the Church. There is a need, therefore, for vocations to the priesthood to be maintained. To this end the Diocesan Vocations Commission has been active in promoting calls to the priesthood.

One notable change we have noticed in parishes over the past five years has been the increase in the number of parishioners from other countries. This has been one of the reasons that we have sought help from priests from other countries.

We currently have eight priests on loan to the diocese from overseas (Nigeria, India, Poland, Zimbabwe, Kenya) exercising a variety of ministries including chaplaincy to new Irish communities.

There has also been an increase in the age profile of priests in the last five years. The introduction of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary into the diocese, with currently 17 seminarians, will, please God, bear fruit over the next number of years. There are also three students studying for the priesthood, for this diocese, in seminaries in Maynooth and Rome, she said.

Almost all of the 61 parishes have an active parish pastoral council, made up of both clergy and lay people; many of which are also chaired by lay people.

Over the last ten years there has been a huge uptake by laity to support their clergy in significant roles within the archdiocese. It has become common practice for all parishes to have trained ministers of the Word and ministers of the Eucharist.

Down and Connor

87 parishes

108 priests  down seven in last five years

6 ordinations in last five years

16 deceased priests in last five years

45 retired priests in the area

Interestingly, there has been an increase in confirmations and First Communions over the past five years, but a slight fall in baptisms and weddings.

Fr Eddie McGee, Diocese of Down and Connor, said 83 out of 87 parishes currently have at least one priest in attendance. Three parishes are administered by religious orders. Parish priests in seven parishes also serve as parish priests in seven other adjoining parishes. Over the five-year period, one parish has had long-term assistance from a priest from Australia.

We have had a number of priests temporarily assisting in the diocese from a number of countries across Europe and further afield. We have also had a number of religious priests who have retired into the diocese and who assist parishes at times.

Over the past five years, we have two priests from India, two priests from Poland, one priest from Australia and one priest from Uganda assisting in full time ministry.

While there have been some changes to times of Masses, all pastoral needs of parishioners continue to be met.

In response to changing demographics one major recent initiative with regard to the distribution of clergy has been the creation of 13 pastoral communities. An important aim of this initiative is to help clergy to support one another as they seek to further the Churchs mission of evangelisation.

He added: In the years ahead, with a significant decrease in the number of priests anticipated, it is expected that this structural arrangement (clustering) will significantly influence the distribution of clergy across the diocese.

The Diocese of Down and Connor has also recently introduced the permanent diaconate (2013) and there are currently 10 ordinations to the permanent diaconate scheduled for later in the Autumn.

Priests exercise an essential sacramental ministry within the Church. It is critical as a Church that we continue to promote and support vocations to the priesthood.

Ardagh and Clonmacnoise

41 parishes

55 priests

In the last five years, 7 priests have left active service: 2 priests in active ministry died, 4 have retired and 1 priest from a missionary order has returned to work for his order.

Seven new entrants; 2 are newly ordained for the diocese, 2 are from abroad, 2 from a missionary order and 1 diocesan priest has returned from mission work.

The permanent diaconate has been launched in this diocese although there are currently no people in receipt of training.

A training programme for parish catechists commenced in September 2017 with over 30 participants.

Four parishes have reduced the number of Masses. Weddings do not take place on Sundays; this has been the case for quite a while. In this same pastoral area, a Sunday evening Mass has been introduced.During the period the diocese has introduced the Pope John Paul II Awards; it has an increasing number of participants year on year.

Bishop Francis Duffy said: In visiting parishes and meeting parish pastoral councils it is very clear that parishioners value their priests very highly. Unfortunately we will not have enough priests to replace those who will retire. This will result in more parishes not having a resident priest.

The bishop has alerted parishioners to this in a pastoral letter in March 2017 and also at various meetings with parish groups at local level.

Dromore

22 parishes

25 priests

8 priests left active service in the last five years

2 newly qualified priests in the same period

5 Permanent Deacons and three more in training.

The restructuring of Mass schedules has been under review over the past 10 years and work is continuing on a diocesan pastoral plan.

Bishop John McAreavey said the diocese has five permanent Deacons and three more in training. Some pastoral workers are being trained but have not begun serving yet.

Most parishes have parish pastoral councils and parish finance councils. In some places in the absence of Mass there are eucharistic services and other forms of prayer, such as exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Several parishes have baptism teams.

He said several priests have more than one parish.

Naturally the decreasing number of priests has had an impact on the service available by priests through the parishes. The rescheduling of Masses has been happening for more than 10 years  dropping from 4 to 3, or 3 to 2.

We have three Polish priests; they look after the needs of the Polish community but they serve the needs of the rest of their parishes.

I do not think we will bring in priests from abroad. We are more inclined to train lay people, such as the parish pastoral workers I mentioned. The possibility of the diocese taking over some administrative responsibilities is also being considered.

We currently have a group of clergy and lay people from across the diocese working to develop a strategic plan for the diocese. This will be issued in June.

Derry

51 parishes

76 priests

Nine priests have left ministry in the past five years.

Eight new priests have entered ministry in the Diocese in the same period  and includes seven ordinations for the diocese.

There have been no changes with regard to parish configuration over the past decade and nothing significant with regard to any alterations to Mass schedules or carrying out services such as weddings and baptisms.

According to a spokesperson: Focus is strategically changing from how do the laity help the priest to do his work to how do the clergy prepare the laity to do their work in a missionary Church.

The Derry diocese has only two priests from overseas, one serving as chaplain to the Polish community and one serving the Syro-Malabar community, and has no plans to bring priests from overseas to take up full-time parish appointments.

Kilmore

34 Parishes

72 priests  45 are below retirement age (75), 12 are aged above 75 years and remain working in parish ministry. 15 priests have retired fully from parish ministry.

8 priests retired in the past five years

Zero ordinations

Fr Donal Kilduff, diocesan secretary, said eight priests have retired from parish ministry in the past five years.

We have not had any ordinations in that time. One priest joined the diocese from a diocese in Poland. At present three priests are working in parish ministry, on temporary secondment from their missionary society.

The number of priests serving in parishes has been reduced by up to half. Where once there were two priests ministering, now there is only one. Parishes have been clustered into pastoral areas to facilitate cooperation and locum cover in case of illness and annual leave. Two permanent deacons have been ordained and are ministering in our diocese. Four lay pastoral assistants have been engaged in assisting with ministry in pastoral areas.

He said Mass times have been rationalised within parish areas, to facilitate priests assisting with Masses in neighbouring parishes, and especially in the event of locum cover.

Priests are required to exercise a vital ministry in the Church. Therefore, the need for vocations to the priesthood is critical, notwithstanding the involvement and support of the lay faithful in reaching out to parishioners. Naturally the decreasing number of priests has had an impact on the service available by priests through the parishes.

Technically, none of our parishes is without a resident priest, in that no parish is without a Parish Priest. In the past, some of the parish work would have been delegated to the curate (assistant to the parish priest). The situation that has arisen is that the number of curates has fallen significantly.

In this respect, the area in the parish, in which the curate formally resided, has no longer a priest resident, but is administered by the parish priest. In the past five years, two parishes have been suppressed and amalgamated with a neighbouring parish. This is a variation on the above, where a smaller parish has been subsumed into a neighbouring parish. The newly created parish is administered by one priest, thus reducing the personnel.

Clogher

37 parishes

63 priests and 1 deacon presently serving in the diocese.

14 priests have died since 2013; one has retired from ministry, one has been granted leave to minister in the USA and one has been granted leave of absence.

Since 2013, four new priests have been ordained and another is due for ordination next July. Another priest has come to work in the diocese on a temporary basis during that period. A permanent deacon will be ordained in June 2018.

There have no significant changes regarding weddings, baptisms, but a diocesan spokesperson said: Some parishes have reduced Sunday Masses to take account of the reduced numbers of priests. As a diocese, we emphasise the community and active participation dimension of our liturgies. Therefore, fewer Masses with greater participation can have a positive impact in parishes. Weekday Masses are celebrated according to local needs.

Lay people will continue to play an increasingly important role in the diocese. While we have not yet determined a policy regarding weekday liturgies celebrated in the absence of a priest, the diocesan commission has examined the question, with a view to the future. We currently have one person completing formation for the permanent diaconate and he will be ordained in June 2018.

More priests are required to cater for future needs in terms of the celebration of the sacraments. Our work on promoting the vocation to priesthood and religious life is important here. The role of lay people will be critical also, in answering the baptismal calling of all of us, priests and laity  as the People of God, to be witnesses to Jesus Christ in the world and to the values of the Gospel.

Raphoe

No details supplied

Meath

69 parishes

125 priests (15 retired).

In the past five years, 18 priests died; of this number, seven were in active ministry. Seven priests were ordained in the same period, with eight foreign priests joining the diocese from abroad. These priests come from Romania, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Uganda. Three are engaged in full-time post graduate studies in Maynooth (which is near to this diocese) while five are full-time ministering in parishes.

Fr Paul Crosbie said there has been no considerable changes in general to provision of Masses, sacraments or pastoral services over the past five years.

There has been a long-standing prohibition on Sunday weddings that dates back many years.

Specifically, there are four circumstances where two neighbouring parishes are now served by one parish priest; these are situations where there were two small rural parishes now being served by one PP rather than two separate PPs.

Every effort is made to ensure that each parish continues to retain its own identity; the parishes are not being amalgamated; one PP is covering both parishes. In two of these situations, there are two priests available to the two parishes; in two cases just one priest is serving both parishes. In those circumstances there has been some rescheduling of Sunday Masses but I understand that the Sunday Mass still takes place in every parish.

Tuam Archdiocese

55 parishes

65 priests currently serving.

In the past five years six priests retired. One new priest ordained, four others have come from elsewhere to serve in the archdiocese.

Some parishes have had changes in the number of priests ministering there, or in some cases where there was one priest previously, now the neighbouring Parish Priest has taken charge of the second parish too.

The archdiocese has just introduced the permanent diaconate. Expressions of interest were received and a selection process was embarked upon. Six married men have now begun their formation course, which will last for four years. (The archdiocese also has six young men in seminary.)

Every parish now has a pastoral council, the members of which collaborate and work closely with the local priest. Parish secretaries are now doing more of the day-to-day administrative work previously done by the priest. And the archdiocese has a full-time youth officer.

Fr Francis Mitchell said the outlook is more positive, even though the numbers of priests available to serve in parishes has and continues to decline.

That does mean that aspects of ministry which require a priest (eg the celebration of Mass) may be affected, and the number of Sunday Masses celebrated in any one parish may have to be examined and even reduced.

The steady decline in religious practice among the people is, in fact, more of a reason to make these changes. Where churches were once full and required several Masses each weekend, there is now in many parishes a regular congregation that can be accommodated in one Mass.

However, while the number of priests reaching the age of retirement is greater than the numbers being ordained or coming to the archdiocese from elsewhere, the truth remains that retired priests in good health continue to provide a service  either as assistant priests (eg remaining on in a parish and working with a new parish priest), or by providing weekend, holiday, and emergency cover when necessary.

My greater concern is the decline in religious practice despite census figures showing the majority of people in Ireland identifying as Catholic. The underlying problem is not the number of priests being ordained or available to serve in a diocese, its the cultural challenge. It seems to me that Pope Francis is the face of a very welcoming Church. The individual experiences of many parishioners here and everywhere will confirm that they were welcomed and accommodated by local clergy when they had a need or a request.

The Pope has presented this truth on a global level (and indeed on a stratospheric level as he did in January on a jet when he celebrated the sacrament of marriage with a couple), and people warm to him and to his message.

However, he said the same people do not feel the need to actively engage with their local parish on a regular and ongoing basis.

Yes, they are happy to come to get married, to have children baptised and receive the other sacraments, they come at Christmas and maybe at Easter, and the traditional Irish Catholic funeral, thankfully, continues to gather and minister to everybody, and priests really do make the effort to accommodate them, but the on-going commitment to the local parish appears not to be a priority for many. And the answer to all of that lies at the level of faith, and that is not something that can be forced, but, rather, it will develop over time by these people feeling welcome and cared for when they do present themselves on occasions such as mentioned above.

Elphin

37 parishes

62 priests

In the past three years, three priests in active ministry have died and six have retired (Nine in total).

In the same period, seven priests have begun ministry in the diocese, mostly on temporary loan from overseas. None of the new arrivals are newly ordained. There are eight deacons in active service.

There has been a reduction in the number of Masses in some areas, corresponding not only to the availability of priests, but also to the decline in population in the West.

Sheena Darcy, Elphin diocesan office, said the large number of priests that we active, especially in the period from the 1950s to the 1980s, was a bubble. The numbers now are more like the numbers 100 years ago.

In the past two years, we have established a formation programme for volunteer catechists, who will offer opportunities for their fellow parishioners to deepen their faith through various spiritual and educational programmes.

We dont really need more priests than we currently have in ministry, but we do need a greater balance in the age range of priests. While it is wonderful to be able to welcome priests among us from countries which were evangelised by Irish missionaries, we do also need to provide priests of our own, whose own faith and experience of Church is rooted in the West of Ireland.

A faith community which did not inspire people to mission would have to question its depth of faith. We are blessed currently to have two men preparing for the priesthood for our diocese.

We would really want to send two men every year. We are also blessed with a new and vibrant community of six young religious sisters, two of them Irish, who have established themselves in the diocese in the past year.

Achonry

No details supplied

Clonfert

24 parishes

33 priests in active ministry. Seven retired priests  of these, four are available to supply in parishes when needed.

In the past five years four priests have retired at 75. There have been no departures from ministry and three priests began ministry in Clonfert in that period  none of these was newly ordained.

There is at present no parish without a resident priest.

There have been no changes in services available in the last five years. Sunday weddings are not allowed for the past 15 years or thereabouts, but this decision was not related to decline in numbers. Pastoral councils are active in many parishes and performing some administrative duties in some parishes. Three town parishes have secretaries.

It is about 10 years since the last set of changes in the number of Masses. There was some rationalisation in 2009/2010 but not since then.

Bishop John Kirby said: Clonfert would be able to function with the current level of priests. The problem is the increasing age of the priests. We could certainly provide important work if more priests were available, but currently we are able to meet essential requirements.

Currently there are two priests from Jalingo Diocese, Nigeria ministering in Clonfert. We hope to have a third Jalingo priest in September.

Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora

39 parishes

40 priests plus 8 non-diocesan (order) priests in fulltime ministry

10 priest departures in last five years (7 retired, one moved, one on leave)

7 new priests (4 ordinations, 3 returnees)

Diarmuid Hogan said: Every parish makes various changes and applies various rules and exception for a whole variety of reasons, not just personnel and resource issues.

However, in the past five years the Parish of Kinvara and of Ballinderreen have been amalgamated which has involved various restructuring of timetables and expectations. It should also be noted that most parishes now have a parish office and clerical assistance. This has freed priests from much of the administrative work which previously was so time-consuming.

I dont believe there have been any significant or newsworthy changes to the schedule of Masses across the diocese in recent times.

Killala

22 parishes

30 priests

Six priests have retired since 2013. One priest came on loan to the diocese. One priest was ordained.

No parish is without a full-time priest. To date, no changes have been made regarding scheduling of certain services such as baptisms or weddings and minor changes have been made to the Mass schedule in the parishes, with reduced weekend Masses in one parish. Due to the provision of some new nursing homes, cover has increased slightly for those facilities.

Bishop John Fleming said there is currently a Listening Process in place in preparation for a fiocesan assembly next June which will provide for the pastoral care of the diocese for the foreseeable future. We dont have any priests from overseas serving in the diocese at present. We have two priests from Irish religious congregations. Our diocesan assembly will determine the answer to this question.

Lay people are now very involved in chairing boards of management in the primary schools. They are also involved in our diocesan safeguarding children committee as well as in the diocesan education council, the parish pastoral councils and the parish finance councils. They form a majority in the diocesan finance council and in the management committee for St Muredachs Trust.

Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly

46 parishes

79 priests

9 priest departures in past five years (6 deaths, one retirement, 2 left ministry)

2 new priests (ordinations) in same period

No changes noted to the hosting of to weddings, baptisms etc.

Very Rev Nicholas J Irwin, diocesan secretary, said: In some parishes there has been a decrease in weekend Masses. Some parishes had to adapt to fewer priests serving in the parish. Currently, we are assessing parish needs and formulating a pastoral plan for the diocese; this will take some months to complete as we consult the parishioners in each parish by way of a Listening Process.

With fewer priests, more focus will inevitably fall on the role of the lay people in any parish  especially as they involve themselves more in administrative activity.

Cork and Ross

67 parishes

91 priests in full-time parish ministry (not all are diocesan priests)

21 priests in chaplaincy, administration and education

21 retired priests (all diocesan)

In the last three years, four new priests ordained along with two deacons. Three priests have retired and one priest in ministry died.

There have been no significant changes regarding baptisms, funeral. There have been no significant changes to masses other than the introduction of two additional Sunday evening Masses in the city area. Two Polish chaplains and one Indian chaplain work in the Diocese.

Fr Charlie Kiely, director of pastoral development and planning, confirmed every parish has a full-time priest or priests assigned to them.

The diocese actively encourages lay people to live out their baptismal call to the full. Priests exercise a particular vital ministry in our Church. The priest is the one responsible for the pastoral care of the parish who administers the sacraments to the people.

Therefore it is a necessary action of the parish community to encourage vocations to the priesthood from among the families of the parish. This is to ensure that we can continue to develop the team ministry of laity and clergy working together to bring the Gospel to all people and to deepen the faith of one another.

As the number of priests declines over the coming years it will no doubt mean that the service provided will be impacted, however, this calls us to develop new ways of being Church together and new responses to the call of the Gospel.

Cloyne

46 parishes

120 priests  90 full time, 20 retired but in part-time ministry and 10 fully retired from active ministry.

In the last five years six priests have retired. Two have been ordained. Six permanent deacons were ordained last September and have been appointed to parishes to assist. Many lay people involved in various apostolates.

Some parishes have reduced Masses and changed Mass times. Parish pastoral councils have been set up in many parishes to assist the priest.

Fr Jim Moore said: We have a good number of priests in the 55-75 age bracket. Some reduction or consolidation will be needed over the next ten years but no dramatic reduction in service is anticipated.

Killaloe

58 parishes

99 priests  four serve outside the diocese in various ministries, 66 are in active ministry in parishes and the remainder are retired. There are 137 churches in these 58 parishes and in the past each of these church areas was a Christian community in its own right.

Since 2013, there has been one ordination and two priests have come from India. Two priests have left ministry in that time and 7 have died.

Fr Ger Nash, diocesan secretary, said the diocese, for over 10 years, has been clustering parishes to streamline services and to facilitate priests working together.

Masses have been reduced by approximately 30. Currently 185 Masses are celebrated every weekend in the 58 parishes. There has been no other reduction in services.

There has been no increase in the number of services provided but in many cases programmes for First Holy Communion and Confirmation and Baptism have been developed.

The involvement of people in the development of a diocesan pastoral plan has increased and there are a lot of training events for lay people across the diocese.

We have more than 20 parishes which do not have a resident parish priest and where the people of the parish have to take responsibility for the day to day running of the parish. This includes finance, safeguarding, liturgy, maintenance and school board functions. Many parishes have trained people to lead liturgy in the absence of a priest and this will likely develop into the future in training in funeral liturgies.

He said the diocese has 129,000 people and almost 35% live in seven of the 58 parishes.

The challenge facing the Diocese of Killaloe is how maintain the Christian community which exists around each of the individual 137 churches, particularly in rural areas where there is serious depopulation due to demographic factors.

The principal issue facing this diocese is not so much the scarcity of priests but the age structure. The average age in Killaloe is 66 and so the quantity of priests is not so much the issue as the decreasing energy due to older age.

Kerry

53 parishes

54 priests in parish ministry, this includes four non-diocesan clergy and two Assistant Priests

There are six diocesan priests under 50

In the last three years, seven priests have left active ministry  four have retired, two have died and one has left. There have been no new priests. Six parishes are without a resident priest.

Mary Fagan, diocesan director of communications, said diocesan planning over the last 10 years has taken into account the decreasing number of priests.

Less priests mean less Masses. The structure of the pastoral area is being used to co-ordinate Mass times to keep the availability clear. Funerals no longer happen at weekends. Six parishes are without resident priests.

Priests are required to exercise a vital ministry in the Church. Therefore the need for vocations to the priesthood is critical, notwithstanding the involvement and support of the lay faithful in reaching out to parishioners. Naturally the decreasing number of priests has had an impact on the service available by priests through the parishes.

Lay people are active as chairs and members of parish councils and pastoral area councils, ministers of the eucharist, ministers of the Word, chairs and members of the board of management of the parish school, members of baptism preparation and funeral ministry teams. The diocese of Kerry has five Deacons.

Limerick

60 parishes

65 priests in active ministry, but with 27 priests due to retire within the next 10 years.

17 priests have left ministry in the diocese in the last five years.

There are currently two students in Rome who are in their second year of formation. Priestly formation can take anything from six years upwards.

The last priest to be ordained was four years ago.

A spokesperson for the diocese said with fewer priests many lay people taking up new roles.

For example the diocese has appointed a lay diocesan secretary, all primary and secondary school advisors are lay people. In the past, these roles would have been undertaken by priests. Ultimately, all this was very much addressed in our Synod in 2016, the first of its kind in the country in over half a century and one very much aimed at turning the Church very much to the future and providing the type of pastoral leadership and support that reflects the needs of the faithful.

The Synod was a three-day gathering of 400 delegates  300 lay and 60% female  in Limerick after an 18-month listening process that engaged with over 5,000 people across the diocese. Some 97 proposals across six themes that covered the biggest issues for the Church were agreed.

Ultimately, all our changes are inspired by the Synod call for a renewal in the Church so that we can reach out more, especially to younger generations. The diocese is working towards a team ministry model which proposes that parishes work together in small clusters within current pastoral areas sharing resources and personnel, including clergy. The exact shape that this will take will inevitably vary from one place to another as parishes themselves vary and each has its own challenges and gifts.

In the last year:

more than 120 parish volunteers have been trained to lead public prayer

65 people have been trained in leading congregational singing;

45 people have participated in a Liam Lawton music workshop;

26 people have been trained for Baptism Teams;

57 people have been trained as ministers of the Word;

75 people have been trained as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist.

Waterford and Lismore

45 parishes

66 priests

Nine priests have left active service in the past five years and seven have entered the priesthood in the area over the same period, including one newly ordained priest.

No changes in relation to baptisms or marriages.

Fr Liam Power, communications officer confirmed the diocese has launched a Listening Process with parishioners invited to contribute to a pastoral planning process.

The process was held at a number of different venues in the diocese and will engage with other groups as we go forward. This will help to generate a sense of participation and responsibility within parish communities and will lead to the development of a vision and strategic directions for ministry and pastoral development in our diocese, taking into account the increasing secularisation of our culture.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of lay people who volunteer for various ministries in their parishes.

Archdiocese of Dublin

247 diocesan priests

166 religious priests

22 Permanent Deacons.

97 priests have retired

There are also 25 Parish Pastoral workers with appointments  these are full-time positions held by 17 women and eight men, who work in parishes and in Youth Evangelisation.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese said many parishes have reduced the number of masses.

The archdiocese referred to recent speeches made by Archbishop Martin, including last November when he remarked on how 15 priests had died in the past year in the area, while two new priests were ordained for the diocese of Dublin. In that speech, looking ahead to 2030, he said: If religious orders were to relinquish the parishes they currently serve, due to the age profile of their own priests, the drop by 2030 would be 70 percent leaving just 111 priests carrying out parish ministry across Dublins 199 parishes. Fifty-seven percent of the current priests serving in Dublin are over 60 years of age and this is projected to increase to 75% by 2030 and the findings predict that just one new priest under the age of 40 will join the priesthood in Dublin every year up to 2030.

Ferns

No detail supplied

Ossory

42 parishes

53 priests

In the past years, three priests have retired from ministry in Ossory and one priest has been ordained for service in the diocese.

There is one parish without a resident priest  cared for by a neighbouring priest who has been appointed to this role alongside his duties, and another which is cared for by a priest from a neighbouring parish in a similar fashion  although this parish has also a resident retired priest.

The diocese has no plans overseas priests working in parishes and, as of now, no plans to begin this practise.

The diocese has parishes that have introduced changes with regard to its services such as adjusting Mass times. No changes to the days on which weddings and funerals are celebrated.

Some parishes there have been changes in mass times. The diocese has also employed a coordinator for our diocesan pastoral plan which has been worked on in recent years as a means of prioritising the areas on which we will focus in the years ahead to better serve people in the diocese.

Rev Dr Dermot Ryan, communications, Ossory Diocese,said: Priests are essential for their ongoing service of the people of the diocese and the celebration of the Eucharist in our communities. We must, therefore, continue to promote and welcome vocations to the priesthood. This is happening alongside an ever developing appreciation by people of their ability to contribute to the faith community in so many ways. The diminishing number of priests will, and is having, an impact on the services we can offer (eg rationalisation of mass times to allow priests to help between parishes).

Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin

56 parishes

90 priests in parish ministry

In the last three years two priests have retired, one priest has been ordained and two priests come to minister in the Diocese from the Diocese of Iasi in Romania.

Aisling Brennan, diocesan spokesperson, said there have been changes in many parishes. Some parishes have re-organised their Mass times. Priests are required to exercise a vital ministry in the Church. Therefore the need for vocations to the priesthood is critical, notwithstanding the involvement and support of the lay faithful in reaching out to parishioners. Naturally the decreasing number of priests has had an impact on the service available by priests through the parishes.

In many parishes lay people, in accordance with their vocation in baptism, exercise many responsibilities some of which were traditionally undertaken by priests, for example, as ministers of the Eucharist, ministers of the Word, as chairs and members of parish councils, as chairs and members of the board of management of the parish school, as members of baptism preparation and funeral ministry teams.

In the diocese, we also have eight permanent deacons who make a substantial contribution to parish life, in both pastoral and administration capacities.
Asia Cambodian Farmers Sue Thai Sugar Group Mitr Phol Over Alleged Land Grab

A farmer carries rice seedlings at a paddy field on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, July 11, 2013. / Reuters

PHNOM PENH  Farmers from Cambodia have filed a lawsuit in a Thai civil court against Asias largest sugar producer, accusing it of rights abuses after it allegedly kicked farmers off their land, a rights group said on Monday.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 3,000 people, is the first class-action lawsuit filed in a Thai court by plaintiffs from another country against a Thai company operating outside Thailand, the group, Inclusive Development International, said in a statement.

The plaintiffs accuse sugar producer Mitr Phol of violently displacing them in Cambodias northwestern Oddar Meanchey province between 2008 and 2009 to make way for plantations.

Since Mitr Phol took my land, my family and I have suffered tremendously, Ma Okchoeurn, one of the affected people, said in a press release issued by the rights group.

My house was burned down. I was arrested without reason, and as a result my family had nothing to eat and had to collect trash to survive. To this day, I have no land or house.

Mitr Phol said in a statement emailed to Reuters it had invested in Cambodia in a good faith partnership with the government and got temporary concessions in compliance with all local and national laws and with assurances from authorities that all temporary concession areas had been processed legally and transparently.

It said it had withdrawn from the project in 2014 due to a combination of factors including political tensions along the Thai-Cambodia border, business risks, adverse agricultural conditions and negative publicity.

Mitr Phol said after it withdrew from the project, it had recommended that the Cambodian government return land to the affected communities.

Seng Loth, a spokesman at Land Management Ministry, which was responsible for the governments involvement in the project, said when contacted by Reuters he was in a meeting and too busy to comment.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan said he could not comment and referred queries to the Land Management Ministry.

Cambodia has awarded big concessions to foreign companies, mainly from China, Vietnam and South Korea, to operate mines, power plants and farms, in order to attract foreign investment.

Rights groups have said some concessions have led to forced evictions and land disputes.
Asia UNHCR Concerned Over Safety of 56 Rohingya Refugees in Stormy Seas

An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat. / Reuters

DHAKA  The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Monday it was concerned about the safety of 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on a boat bound for Malaysia in stormy seas.

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from their homes in Myanmars Rakhine State into Bangladesh after militant attacks in August sparked a military crackdown that the United Nations and Western countries have said constitutes ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar rejects that saying its forces have been waging a legitimate campaign against terrorists who attacked government forces.

The boat, which a UNHCR spokesman said was believed to have set sail from Rakhine State last week, stopped at an island in southern Thailand on Saturday evening after a storm.

It was the first Rohingya vessel, plying a route refugees have used for years to get to Southeast Asia, to be spotted off Thailand in more than a year. There are signs that overcrowding in Bangladeshi camps could prompt many others to make similarly perilous voyages.

Given the poor weather conditions currently prevailing in the waters off the west coast of the Thailand-Malaysia border, we are concerned for the safety of the refugees, said Caroline Gluck, a UNHCR spokeswoman based in southeast Bangladesh.

If they are found to be in distress, we hope they will be rescued and allowed to disembark in accordance with international maritime law, she said in an email.

The boat was restocked with essential supplies in Thailand on Sunday before setting back out to sea, on its way to Malaysia, Thai police said.

The UNHCR said it was in touch with Malaysian maritime authorities and was ready to provide any necessary assistance to the refugees when they arrived.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya fled by sea following an outbreak of sectarian violence in Rakhine State in 2012, some falling prey to human traffickers.

That exodus peaked in 2015, when an estimated 25,000 people fled across the Andaman Sea for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Rights groups expect another surge in Rohingya boats sailing for Southeast Asia, even if not at the levels of the past.
Five military personnel were killed in February 2016 after an air force aircraft crashed in the countrys capital, Naypyitaw, according to media reports.

A military helicopter crashed in central Myanmar, killing three military personnel on board in June 2016.

In June of last year, a Chinese made Y-200 F military transport plane crashed into the Andaman Sea in the southwest of Tanintharyi Regions Dawei due to bad weather and killed all 122 people  military staff members and their families including 15 children  on board. The crash was listed as the worst accident in Myanmar Air Force history.

The pilot Major Arkar Win succumbed to his injuries despite treatment at a military hospital in Taungoo, said the announcement.

The search and rescue team from the airbase found the wreckage near Kyun Kone and Myauk Yay Kyi villages.

The Myanmar militarys Office of the Commander-in-Chief announced that an F-7 from Taungoo airbase went down due to mechanical failure while on a training mission.

YANGON  A Myanmar Air Force jet crashed on Tuesday near a village in Taungoo town, Bago Region, killing the pilot.

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Burma Huge Haul of Smuggled Teak Seized in Southern Rakhine

A Forestry Department official inspects smuggled teak logs seized in Taungup Township, Rakhine State. / Supplied

YANGON  More than 30 tons of smuggled teak were seized in the village of Kaing Shae near Taungup Township in southern Rakhine State on Monday, according to a local forestry official.

Sawn teak and teak logs were found in the compound of a concrete mixing facility owned by Aung Myin Thit Co near Kaing Shae village, Taungup Township Forestry Department official U Lwin Ko Oo told The Irrawaddy.

I am sure it is smuggled teak; otherwise it would have the mark of Myanma Timber Enterprise, he said.

The Forestry Department opened a smuggling case under Article 42 of the Forestry Law, he said.

Taungup Township Administrator Hla Moe Oo confirmed the teak haul at the compound of Aung Myin Thit Co, adding that authorities are still investigating the ownership of the company, though one of the owners was reportedly identified as U Win Zaw.

Aung Myin Thit Co built a paved road in Taungup last month. According to U Lwin Ko Oo, the company is not a sole proprietorship, but a partnership, and authorities are still trying to determine the identities of the other partners.

A security guard was present on the companys compound at the time of the raid, but he had not been working for the company for long and did not own the teak, U Lwin Ko Oo told The Irrawaddy.

The large teak logs were not likely to be from the Rakhine Mountains, said U Lwin Ko Oo, because there are no more teak trees with trunks that are 12 inches in diameter in the Rakhine Mountains.

He said the logs might have been smuggled in from Magwe Region via the Padaung-Ann route.

Some media sources in Taungup suggested the teak logs had been stockpiled for sale in local markets or to be smuggled into foreign countries. Teak and other timber is often smuggled into Malaysia and Thailand via Thandwe, Gwa, Taungup and Ma-Ei townships in northern Rakhine State, they said.

Myanmar banned the export of timber logs in 2014, and the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government has restricted logging since 2016 in a bid to curb deforestation.

The ban has forced Myanma Timber Enterprise to rely on existing stockpiles of timber to meet domestic and international demand. Whenever demand exceeds supply, smugglers arise to fill the gap. Illegal logging has long been a persistent problem in Myanmar.

Last year, U Lwin Ko Oo reported the seizure of around 30 tons of smuggled hardwood stockpiled in rivers and creeks in Thandwe and Ann townships. The latest seizure was likely intended to be supplied to the domestic market rather than for illegal export, he suggested.

If they want to smuggle those logs by water, they would store them in creeks, and not on land, he said.
Burma KNU Still Wants Talks with Military to Settle Standoff After Meeting Postponed

KNLA soldiers parade to mark the 67th anniversary of Karen Martyrs Day in Karen State in August. / Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  The Karen National Union (KNU) said it will keep trying to negotiate with the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, to end a recent standoff after the Tatmadaw postponed a scheduled meeting last week.

The KNU sent its military affairs negotiation team to the meeting, which was recommended by the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC), but pulled it back after the Tatmadaw refused to attend, said KNU General Secretary Padoh Saw Tadoh Moo. He said the Tatmadaw called it off because the commander of the KNUs Brigade 5, stationed in the area of the standoff, had not been invited.

In a statement released on Monday, the KNU said the commander was not a member of its negotiation team and that a Brigade 5 major who had been sent to the meeting was.

The negotiation team was formed in 2016 to deal with military disputes but has yet to have any formal talks with the Tatmadaw, Padoh Saw Tadoh Moo said.

The seven-member team is led by Brigadier General Saw Eh Kulu Thein of the KNUs Brigade 3. He who is also vice chairman of the Bago Regional JMC.

The latest fighting began in early March when the Tatmadaw moved into an area of Karen State claimed by Brigade 5 to rebuild an old road. Some 2,000 ethnic Karen have fled the fighting.

The KNU has asked the Tatmadaw to withdraw so that they can return home, and Karen community elders wrote to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for help last week.

The standoff goes on, but both sides are trying to keep their troops from further engagement, Padoh Saw Tadoh Moo said.

It is important that both sides military delegations discuss the issue, he added.

On the JMCs Facebook page, Major General Myat Kyaw, commander of the Tatmadaws Southern Command and chair of the Bago Region JMC, was quoted on Saturday as saying that the standoff was just a misunderstanding because the Tatmadaw is rebuilding the road started in 2008 for administrative purposes only, not for military operations, and there was no deployment on the hills along the road.

The KNU says it cannot allow the roadwork and that the Tatmadaw should only enter the area with prior permission.

It should not be continued while the KNU and the government are at the stage of building trust, said Padoh Saw Tadoh Moo.

The Tatmadaw usually says that all disputes with ethnic armed groups should be settled by the JMC. The KNU says the JMC lacks the authority to make the necessary decisions because it is mandated only to monitor and verify ceasefires.
Burma Rights Groups Slam Jailing of Ex-Child Soldier for Telling His Story

Aung Ko Htwe, a former child soldier and defendant in a criminal suit brought by the military, arrives at Dagon Seikkan Township Court in Yangon on Jan. 17. / Chan Son / The Irrawaddy

More than 150 rights groups have asked the government and the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) to release a former child soldier who was last month sentenced to two years in prison with hard labor for discussing with the media his forced recruitment into the army and subsequent history of legal problems.

The rights groups issued a statement saying that Aung Ko Htwe, now 26, was only exercising his rights and did nothing wrong when he related to the media his experiences as a child soldier and his later problems with the law.

In 2005, at the age of 14, Aung Ko Htwe was abducted at Yangons central railway station and forcibly recruited into the Tatmadaw, according to his family. Two years later, he escaped with two others. In the process of escaping, they killed the owner of a motorbike while stealing it. One of the three reportedly strangled the victim, though Aung Ko Htwe later said he was not involved in the killing.

The trio was charged with murder and found guilty; all received death sentences, though Aung Ko Htwe was just 16 at the time. In 2013, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Aung Ko Htwe was eventually released in July 2017 after serving 10 years in jail.

Shortly after his release, he gave an interview to Radio Free Asia (RFA) describing his experiences. The army charged him under Article 505 (b), a section of Myanmars criminal code related to incitement. He was eventually sentenced to two years in prison.

We rights groups condemn the decision to sentence him to prison. The punishment violates his rights, the organizations said in a statement issued on April 1.

Going further, the groups asked the government and the army to release him unconditionally and drop additional charges that he is facing. Police added an extra charge under Section 7 of a 2010 law that prohibits destruction of the Union seal. The offense is punishable by three years in prison.

Aung Myo Min, the director of Equality Myanmar, one of the 154 right groups that signed the statement demanding Aung Ko Htwes release, said: He has done nothing wrong, but they [the government] used the law to punish him.

Myanmar ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991. Despite having agreed not use underage soldiers, however, the Tatmadaw recruited Aung Ko Htwe.

The government must learn from Aung Ko Htwes experiences in order to prevent this from happening again. The government needs to find a solution, and cooperate with Aung Ko Htwe. This would be the best way to have a really strong law, U Aung Myo Min said.

U Aung Myo Min said, Our country has some laws that are used to punish citizens. These laws are used selectively. [Authorities] act like cats, using their claws when they need to hunt for prey, but retracting them when they dont need them.

Genuine rule of law is about protecting the rights of citizens, but in Myanmar, the laws are not used to protect citizens, according to the right groups.

Following the RFA interview, Aung Ko Htwe was sentenced to six months jail for contempt of court. He refused to appear in court following this, but police forced him to appear. The court finally sentenced him to two years imprisonment last month.

The police later brought additional charges for which he faces additional sentencing in future.

The rights groups criticized the lack of rule of law in the country, as increasing numbers of people are sent to prison on contempt charges after criticizing the courts.

The government first needs to consider whether the critics arguments are valid or not. The critics point out incorrect rulings by the courts. If the courts do not reform, rule of law will not be upheld, and the people will not respect the courts anymore, U Aung Myo Min said.
Content delivery network provider Cloudflare has launched what it calls a privacy-oriented domain name system with two IP addresses, 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1.

Both addresses were given to Cloudflare by the owner, the Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre, in exchange for allowing APNIC to study the "garbage traffic" sent to Cloudflare.

"We think DNS-over-HTTPS is particularly promising  fast, easier to parse, and encrypted," the company's Matthew Prince said in a blog post.

"To date, Google was the only scale provider supporting DNS-over-HTTPS. For obvious reasons, however, non-Chrome browsers and non-Android operating systems have been reluctant to build a service that sends data to a competitor.

"We're hoping that with an independent DNS-over-HTTPS service now available, we'll see more experiments from browsers, operating systems, routers, and apps to support the protocol."

Prince pointed out that any DNS provider would be able to know the websites that an individual visited when using its service. Additionally, DNS could also be used a tool of censorship.

"The insecurity of the DNS infrastructure struck the team at Cloudflare as a bug at the core of the Internet, so we set out to do something about it," he said.

"Given we run one of the largest, most interconnected global networks  and have a lot of experience with DNS  we were well positioned to launch a consumer DNS service."

Prince said that the DNS provided by Cloudflare would not write querying IP addresses to disk and would also wipe all logs within 24 hours, with accounting firm KPMG to audit this.

He said it had decided to launch the service on 1 April so that it would be noticed.

"Never mind that it was a Sunday. Never mind that it was on Easter and during Passover. Never mind that it was April Fools Day  a day where tech companies often trot out fictional services they think are cute while the media and the rest of the non-tech world collectively roll their eyes."
Windows 10 breached the 70% share barrier last month when calculated as a portion of Windows-only desktops and laptops, putting the operating system on track to account for three out of every four Windows PCs by the end of January.

According to U.S. analytics vendor Net Applications, Windows 10's share jumped by 2.8 percentage points, the most since January, and ended October on 64% of all systems. When figured as a fraction of Windows-only machines, Windows 10 accounted for 72.2%, a record for the five-year-old OS. This second number is the more important of the pair, as it provides the most accurate representation of Windows 10's position within the business universe, where runs-on-Microsoft remains central.

(Windows 10's percentage of only Windows PCs was larger than the percentage of all personal computers because Windows did not power every system last month. In October, Windows was the OS on 88.8% of all PCs worldwide, up one-tenth of a percentage point from September. Of the remaining 11% and bits, all but a picayune 10th of a point ran macOS, Linux or Chrome OS.)

Windows 10 has been piling up the share this year, pandemic and business chaos be damned. Through the first 10 months of 2020, Windows 10 has added 10.7 percentage points of share, representing a 20% increase.

Meanwhile, Windows 7 took a dive almost as steep as Windows 10's climb.

Windows 7 lost 2.4 points of share, plummeting to 20.4% of all personal computers, representing 23% of Windows-only PCs. The downturn was the largest one-month decline since January 2020 and the final number was a record low for Windows 7 on its post-2015 swan song.

So far this year, Windows 7 has shed 9.2 points of share, which represents a 31% decline in the operating system since January 1.

Windows 10 shoots for 80% by mid-2021

The major changes to Windows' shares upended the forecasts Computerworld made as recently as a month ago.

Windows 10's prognostication skewed upwards compared to the one issued at the beginning of October. By April, Windows 10 should account for more than 78% of all Windows, up two percentage points from the previous prediction. Come June 2021, Windows 10 should own 80% of all Windows editions, a point above the former forecast.

On the other hand, Windows 7's decline-of-doom will continue. The now-retired OS will slip under the 20% mark (of all Windows) in February 2021, two months sooner than had been expected. And by August, the operating system should be below 15%, two points lower than the forecast of a month ago. (At the end of January 2021, near the one-year anniversary of its retirement, Windows 7 will account for about 20% of all Windows, a couple of points under October's estimate.)

Elsewhere in Net Applications' numbers, Linux rebounded after two consecutive months of losses, adding seven-tenths of a percentage point and bringing its total share up to 2.2 points. While that was below its peak of 3.6 points in June and July 2020, it put paid to the Computerworld theory that the sudden growth of the OS (Net Applications tallies all distributions) was little more than the aftereffects of an open-source daydream.

As Linux again jumped, macOS took a drubbing, losing 1.3 points  a one-month record  to end up licking its wounds at 8.4%, the lowest mark of the last three years.

Net Applications calculates operating system share by detecting the agent strings of the browsers used to reach the websites of Net Applications' clients. The firm tallies visitor sessions of those browsers to measure global operating system activity.

Or it used to.

At the same time it published October's share numbers, Net Applications announced that it was pulling the plug on its OS metrics. "October 2020 is the last month of data," the company said. "Why? An upcoming change in browsers will break our device detection technology and will cause inaccuracies for a long period of time."

The change Net Applications cited would remove much of the agent string information used not only to compile analytics such as operating system share, but also by advertisers and/or scammers to "fingerprint" individuals so that they can be more thoroughly tracked as they conduct their online lives.

Computerworld has not yet decided whether to continue the "Windows by the numbers" series, and if so, which alternate data source might be used.

Stay tuned.
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Human Rights Watch |  

Officials Green-Light Shooting of Unarmed Demonstrators

(Jerusalem)  Senior Israeli officials who unlawfully called for use of live ammunition against Palestinian demonstrations who posed no imminent threat to life bear responsibility for the killings of 14 demonstrators in Gaza and the injuring of hundreds on March 30, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today.

Via Maan, added by IC

Both before and after the confrontations, senior officials publicly said that soldiers stationed along the barrier that separates Gaza and Israel had orders to target instigators and those who approach the border. However, the Israeli government presented no evidence that rock-throwing and other violence by some demonstrators seriously threatened Israeli soldiers across the border fence. The high number of deaths and injuries was the foreseeable consequence of granting soldiers leeway to use lethal force outside of life-threatening situations in violation of international norms, coupled with the longstanding culture of impunity within the Israeli army for serious abuses.

Israeli soldiers were not merely using excessive force, but were apparently acting on orders that all but ensured a bloody military response to the Palestinian demonstrations, said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. The result was foreseeable deaths and injuries of demonstrators on the other side of a border who posed no imminent threat to life.

The killings highlight the importance of the International Criminal Court prosecutor opening a formal investigation into serious international crimes in Palestine, Human Rights Watch said. Israel and Egypt maintain a heavily secured border around the 40-kilometer-long, 11-kilometer-wide Gaza Strip. Since Israel withdrew its permanent ground troop presence and civilian settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005, it has maintained a no-go zone on the border that restricts access to about 17 percent of Gazas territory, including a third of its agricultural lands. Nearly 2 million Palestinians, including 1.3 million refugees, live in Gaza. The vast majority are unable to leave, including to the West Bank, due to sweeping Israeli and Egyptian restrictions on movement. Israels closure policy also heavily restricts the flow of goods into and out of Gaza.

In the days ahead of planned demonstrations to mark Land Day, held annually on March 30 to highlight the dispossession of Palestinians over the years, Israeli officials repeatedly proclaimed their intent to fire on instigators and those approaching the border fence. In interviews given on March 28, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, announced that he would deploy 100 snipers to the Gaza border area to block mass infiltration or damage to the border fence, saying that, The orders are to use a lot of force.

On March 29, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Arabic spokesman posted a video of a man shot in the leg, stating, This is the least that anyone who tries to cross the security fence between Gaza and Israel will face. On the morning of March 30, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman tweeted in Arabic that, Anyone who approaches the border puts his life in jeopardy. Organizers of this years Land Day demonstrations said they would also affirm Palestinians internationally recognized right of return.

Most of the thousands who participated in Gaza stayed in tent encampments, due to remain in place until May 15, the 70th anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), the displacement of Palestinians that accompanied the founding of the Israeli state. The tent villages were pitched at various points about 500 meters inside the border. While most of the people in the tent villages did not approach the border, groups of mostly young men did so, some throwing stones, and, according to the IDF, Molotov cocktails (improvised gasoline bombs). Israeli forces directed fire at these men, killing 14 and injuring 1,415, 758 of them with live ammunition, according to Gazas Health Ministry. Rubber bullets and teargas injured others. The Israeli army disputes these figures, contending that the number of Palestinians injured by live ammunition was likely in the dozens. Gazas Health Ministry noted it had received the bodies of two other men killed in unknown circumstances near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. Israeli authorities also announced they are holding the bodies of two additional men killed on March 30, who it claims were armed and aiming to carry out a terrorist operation in Israel.

Human Rights Watch spoke to doctors who treated patients at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City who said they had received 294 injured demonstrators on March 30, most with injuries to the lower limbs from live ammunition, and five who died, all with head and chest injuries. As events unfolded in the afternoon, both the IDF spokesperson and Israels coordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, tweeted that the army was firing on main instigators. The spokesperson added that, Whenever there has been an attempt to damage the fence, we fired with precision, intensity and determination, exercising judgment. Gen. Ronen Manelis, the chief army spokesman, told the New York Times that the operation aimed not to allow the sabotage of military infrastructure and not to allow any mass crossing of the fence.

While some protesters near the border fence burned tires and threw rocks, Human Rights Watch could find no evidence of any protester using firearms or any IDF claim of threatened firearm use at the demonstrations. The IDF spokesperson, in a tweet posted in the early morning of March 31, Everything you need to know about the riots in Gaza today, accused demonstrators of hurling burning tires, throwing Molotov cocktails, and attempting to harm or destroy Israels security infrastructure. It made no mention of Palestinians using firearms at the protests. Footage of demonstrations published by the army includes no evidence of firearms. The army published a video purporting to show two men firing at Israeli troops on March 30, but noted that this took place in northern Gaza Strip, not on the eastern border where the Land Day demonstrations took place. No demonstrators can be seen in the video.

To Human Rights Watchs knowledge, the army did not report any injuries to soldiers. In the absence of armed hostilities, in which international humanitarian law applies, the use of force in Gaza is governed by international human rights law. While security forces may use force under applicable international law to prevent unauthorized crossing of borders, Israel has presented no information that any threat at the border required a response in which the use of military force was necessary, such as an attack by armed combatants.

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials hold that security forces shall apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms, and that whenever the lawful use of force and firearms is unavoidable, law enforcement officials shall: (a) Exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved; (b) Minimize damage and injury, and respect and preserve human life. Furthermore, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life. The Israeli government has not shown that the demonstrators throwing rocks or Molotov cocktails posed a grave threat to the well-protected soldiers deployed on the other side of the border fence, nor has Israel claimed that any Palestinian crossed the border on March 30. Human Rights Watch reviewed footage it believes authentic based on an interview with the videographer that appears to show a demonstrator shot in the leg while praying and another video showing a man shot while throwing a rock. Other videos reviewed appear to show demonstrators shot while slowly walking toward the border empty-handed or holding only a Palestinian flag or retreating from the border.

Interviews with six witnesses, including three journalists, indicated that soldiers shot at men who were in the area between the encampments and the fence but who posed no grave threat to anyone across the fence. Entering a zone declared off limits should not be a crime considered punishable by death, Human Rights Watch said. The Israeli army also has alleged that those killed included 10 known terrorists with track records of terror activity. By making such claims, the military appears to be trying to justify otherwise unlawful killings in a law enforcement situation based on alleged past activity. In 2017, Human Rights Watch documented that some senior Israeli officials encouraged soldiers and police to kill Palestinians in the West Bank they suspect of attacking Israelis even when they are no longer a threat.

On April 1, Lieberman said there will be no official inquiry into the March 30 killings and that the Israeli government will not cooperate with any international investigation. Both the UN Secretary General and the European Union have called for independent and transparent investigation. Both he and Netanyahu have commended the soldiers handling of the protests. But under the UN Basic Principles, [i]n cases of death and serious injury or other grave consequences, a detailed report shall be sent promptly to the competent authorities responsible for administrative review and judicial control. Israeli authorities have for decades failed to credibly investigate potentially unlawful killings by security forces and to hold violators to account for wrongdoing.

An army source told Haaretz on April 2 that, We will continue to act against the demonstrators in Gaza as we acted last Friday. With more demonstrations planned in coming weeks, the Israeli government should recognize that, even in the absence of serious domestic oversight, officials who order unlawful lethal force may become subject to prosecution abroad as a matter of universal jurisdiction or in international judicial forums. Praising the armys handling of the March 30 events and saying there shall be no inquiry into how Israeli soldiers gunned down 14 protesters across a fence says much about how cheaply Israeli authorities view the lives of Palestinians in Gaza, Goldstein said.

Via Human Rights Watch | 
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Former Israeli prison guard at the notorious Ktziot Prison camp for Palestinians and now editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, Cpl. Jeffrey Goldberg, breathlessly reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman told him that both the Jews and the Palestinians have a right to their own state.

Goldberg parsed the phrase have a right with regard to Jews as unprecedented in an Arab leader. He completely ignored the Palestinian right.

Goldberg sniffed that Arab leaders have tired of the Palestinians and so dont give a fig about Israel shooting down unarmed protesters at the Gaza border. This is blaming the victims on a Himalayan scale. Israeli intransigence, land-grabbing and vindictiveness have made everyone tired of the Palestinian plight, which is the intended effect just as Nazi tratment of the Jews in the 1930s was intended to turn Jews into inconvenient flotsam that no one would care about, so that in the end a solution could be implemented (the comparison is only to this tactic of making people stateless and unwanted).

But although Bin Salman may be stating it more baldly than usual, there is nothing unprecedented about what he said except in Goldbergs feverish Jewish-nationalist imagination. The Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel accord Israel a right to exist (you cant have a long-term treaty with a non-entity), and the same implication is there in the Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty. The PLO recognized Israel in the 1990s.

In 2002, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia put forward a plan adopted by the Arab League that would recognize Israel inside pre-1967 borders in return for an Israeli recognition of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza. Then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, an expansionist who tried to grab Sinai and had his eye on Jordans Ghor Valley, pissed all over the proposal. His successors have put little Gaza under permanent blockade and have grabbed up more and more of the Palestinian West Bank, flooding 800,000 Israeli squatters onto it in direct violation of the international law of military Occupation. The Arab League plan has been reaffirmed twice, most recently in 2017.

The Israeli myth of Arab intransigence is a smokescreen for determined Israeli expansionism. Goldberg and his ilk still hate Lebanons Hizbullah because it forced an Israeli withdrawal from its 18-year occupation of South Lebanon and could not be crushed by a 2006 massive Israeli aerial bombardment of Lebanon, which wiped out all of the countrys economic progress since 1989.

The difference between Bin Salman and his late uncle King Abdullah is that the uncle was a cannier negotiator. He wanted something for admitting Israels right to exist, to wit, a decent life for the stateless, occupied Palestinians in their Apartheid limbo.

Bin Salman shows no such spine and is worldly enough to know that the Israelis are not going to let the Palestinians have a state and are going to keep them in a stateless condition of near chattel for as long as the world will put up with it (apparently for a very long time). Goldberg says he is for a 2-state solution, but people who glibly take that position are just holding a fig leaf before the nakedness of their cynicism. There is no longer a possibility of a two state solution.

So what is really being reported is that Bin Salman is happy enough to work with the Likud government in Israel and to ignore its slow ongoing crushing of the Palestinians, as long as Saudi Arabia gets Israeli and international Jewish cooperation on its finances, diplomacy toward the US, and attempts to isolate Iran and its allies.

This self-serving position is just harsh Realism and is light years away from King Abdullahs peace plan, which genuinely had a shot of resulting in peace. What MbS is promising is more war, more belligerence. He is planning to do to the rest of the Middle East what he has done to Yemen, and is inviting the Israelis to join with him in the carnage. Goldberg, who was positively gleeful about the destruction of Iraq, is watering in the mouth.



Bonus Video

TYT: Is That Jared Kushner In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy to Lock Up Dissidents?
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TeleSur |  

The Bahri Hofuf ship was already kicked out of Bilbao, but sneaked into Santander.

In the first days of March, a Saudi cargo ship docked on the Spanish port of Santander to load weapons with Yemen as its final destination and activists are trying to kick it away.

The Saudi Bahri Hofuf ship had been loading weapons since July in the Bilbao port until it got expelled due to pressure from individual activists and organizations in the Basque Country, including Green Peaces local chapter.

But that didnt mean the ship had disappeared from Spanish waters. The Basque NGO Ongi Etorri (which means welcome in Euskera and is usually busy taking care of incoming refugees) had been tracking the Saudi ship through its mandatory geolocator device when the Bahri turned it off for 24 hours, only to reemerge already docked in Santander.

The ship had been docked in Santander already when the system was reconnected, said Aurora Otero, an activist from the Safe Passage (Pasaje Seguro) NGO, who also said the ship flag identifying its dangerous cargo and its name erased to prevent identification.

The activists have carried out a series of informative brigades, lobbying efforts and grassroots networking in order the expel the ship from the country, gathering more than 18,000 signatures so far in a Change.org petition.

Even though we think this is the first time this ship comes to Cantabria, we dont want it to become a regular thing. This ship is not welcomed. The weapons its loading will be used to massacre Yemeni people in an extremely cruel conflict thats underreported by media. A war that has taken the lives of more than 10,000 people and has left two million displaced, half of them with no shelter, says the petition.

Now, the Unidos Podemos electoral alliance of left-wing parties is supporting the activists cause and has demanded explanations from the Spanish government.

Led by the Podemos representative in Bizkaia David Carracedo, the political partys parliamentary group confirmed that the Bahri Hofuf ship turned off its tracking device on March 7, 00:11 a.m. near the commune of Saint-Nazaire in France, only to be reconnected by 08:45 a.m. March 8 in Santander.

On that day, Otero warned her feminist colleagues about the issue during a march, asking for support from activists that opposed the Saudi-sponsored war in Yemen.

Other political parties, such as the center-left Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and Santander Si Puede have joined the demand.

The activists think that the ship is loading weapons such as grenades and rockets manufactured in Alava, Guipuzkoa and Burgos.

For the security of those who live in Santander and because the weapons that the Saudi Kingdom ship is loading will surely kill a lot of civilians in Yemen, the Santander municipality and the Government of Cantabria should deny authorization for the Bahri Hofuf to load death in its warehouses, the activists said.

Via TeleSur

-

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?? Explainer: The human cost of Yemens war | Al Jazeera English
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By Helen Lackner | (OpenDemocracy.net) |  

. . . [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) was the brain behind the coalition originally intended to return to power [in Yemen] the transitional regime established after the 2011 popular uprisings, a regime which can roughly be described as intended to shift power from one kleptocratic elite in Yemen to another. Regardless of this past[1], the situation on the third anniversary of the first air strikes on Sanaa city, is causing considerable embarrassment to the regime which MBS effectively leads.

Even Trump, a firm supporter since he was given an extravagantly kitsch royal welcome in Riyadh last May, found it necessary to call on the Saudis to lift the blockade[2] on Yemeni ports last December because of its dreadful humanitarian impact.

In their meeting of 19 March, their obscene joint focus on acquiring billions of dollars from each other meant that with respect to Yemen, Trump and MBS went no further than agreeing that a political solution to the conflict is necessary.

How are Yemenis dying?

So three years into the war, lets set a few records straight, starting with the death toll. According to the UN only 10,000 people have been killed, a figure which has barely changed since early 2016 despite ongoing ground fighting, air strikes and the worlds worst humanitarian situation. It would be laughable if it were not so sad!

Admittedly, this figure only refers to directly war-related deaths as recorded in the 45% of medical facilities which are still operational. What about the 140 men and boys killed at the Great Hall in Sanaa in October 2016, or the hundreds, probably thousands of men, women and children killed in other bombing mistakes by the coalition air forces? By Huthi shelling? By the landmines dispersed throughout the country? Or those who have starved to death and are dying from disease? Are they not war casualties? What about the hundreds, probably thousands of men, women and children killed in other bombing mistakes by the coalition air forces? By Huthi shelling?

One thing is clear: the blockade and economic warfare have killed many more people than direct military action. Thousands have died from disease, malnutrition and associated side-effects. Of the 8 million on the verge of famine many thousands are certainly already dead, though we dont have any figures, as most Yemenis are too ashamed to admit that their loved ones have died because they could not afford to buy food. So these deaths remain unpublicised.

The humanitarian catastrophe

Yemen has the dubious honour of holding two world records at the moment: first that of the worst humanitarian crisis with more than 22 of its 29 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, in plain English unable to have basic acceptable living standards: 18 million are food insecure, ie hungry. Why?

In what passes for normal conditions prior to the war, the bulk of basic food staples were imported [rice, tea, sugar 100%, wheat 90%]. The blockade has dramatically reduced commercial imports which address 90% of needs. Prices of available food have risen because of the higher shipping costs [delays due to the inspection mechanism, additional delays added by further coalition constraints on docking, higher insurance fees for ships heading for Yemen], higher costs of fuel [affected by the same constraints].

The August 2016 transfer of the Central Bank from Sanaa to Aden further worsened the situation, preventing most importers from obtaining the letters of credit needed for international trade. Finally the collapse of the riyal, connected to all these factors is just one more problem. So people are faced with less food at much higher cost while their incomes have disappeared. 18 million are food insecure, ie hungry. Why?

Water is essential for life, clean water is a basic human requirement, without it consequences are dire. Yemens second world record of the worst cholera epidemic is because cholera, a highly infectious water-borne disease, has spread throughout the country as people have been compelled to drink polluted water.

Most people cannot afford either to buy purified drinking water or to boil water whether it comes from taps, tankers, wells or springs. In the towns and cities the deterioration of the already limited sanitation structures has increased the pollution level of water. Although cholera is easily treated, the rapid spread of the epidemic is less of a surprise when one remembers the disastrous shape of medical services with more than half facilities out of action. By now 1.1 million cases of cholera have been reported and more than 2,200 people have died, while in recent weeks a diphtheria epidemic has started. All these disasters could have been avoided with a minimum of compassion from the countrys politicians.

So how are Yemenis surviving?

As is the case in many other countries, millions of Yemenis depend on government jobs. Throughout the country, most salaries have not been paid for 18 months, and only a few have received minimal portions of their dues. The country has 1.25 million government staff, so the number of people dependent on this income is in the region of 10 million or more than a third of the countrys population. The private sector has declined by about 50%, thus leaving further millions without any income.

People might ask why, in a country where 70% of the population are rural, families are not living from their crops and livestock? Even before the war, the main income for the majority of rural families was from the casual urban jobs of male household members and agriculture was only a complement. This is due to a combination of factors, among them the shrinking size of holdings as population increased, the unpredictability of rains, the cost of irrigation water. Here again the war and the blockade have worsened the situation: higher fuel and input prices have made marketing and distribution more difficult while production dropped. The countrys GDP has declined by 47% in the last three years.

In this context what is surprising is how many people are coping. Most are managing by reducing the number of meals they eat and the quality of their food, so they gradually become weaker and more likely to succumb to illness. A few have jobs with humanitarian organisations or in the remaining foreign-funded emergency projects such as those of the Social Fund for Development and the Public Works Project.

Others receive remittances from their relatives abroad, mostly in Saudi Arabia (where there are still about 2 million Yemenis despite the current campaign of expulsions of non-Saudi workers which affects thousands of Yemenis) and beyond. But many others, particularly young men, even boys[3], are joining the military on one side or the other, the one form of employment where salaries are actually paid. Meanwhile, most Yemenis have become destitute and desperate.

The international community and the humanitarian crisis

The UN has operated a Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in Yemen for years, with increased annual requirements as the crisis worsened. In 2017 it received 72% of the requested funds and this year it is appealing for $2.96 billion. A pledging conference is to be held in early April in Geneva and the amounts pledged will give an indication of how much is likely to materialise.

However, these annual jamborees are often little more than public relations exercises for states to promise much and later deliver less; in the past 5 years, average HRP funding has been 60% of requirement. HRP funding is shared between the various UN agencies (WFP, UNICEF, WHO etc.). Much of it also goes to a wide range of more or less efficient and reputable International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) which themselves both implement projects directly and subcontract to local NGOs, taking significant overheads along the way.

Under attack for indiscriminate bombing and killing of innocent victims in the poorest Arab country, two months after the beginning of Decisive Storm in March 2015, the Saudi regime established the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre which claims to address the entire world. However, in practice its main focus is Yemen: of the USD 1.044 billion spent between its establishment and end February 2018, USD 900 million was in Yemen[4]. Despite this public relations exercise intended to improve its image, humanitarian organisations have expressed serious concerns about its complex and restrictive procedures which raise questions about its respect for the neutrality principles of humanitarian action.

By this third anniversary, the US Congress, the British Parliament and European state institutions are all criticising the Saudi-led coalition, mostly focusing on the deteriorating catastrophic humanitarian situation, arms sales and technical military support to the main coalition partners, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In response, in January this year, the Saudi-led coalition set up the Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Operations (YCHO)[5] through which it commits billions of dollars in aid and support for the humanitarian response to the conflict in Yemen. The limited information available suggests it has two real objectives: the first is to maximise control over the UNs HRP to which it pledged just under USD 1 billion to be paid by end of March.

March 7, 2018. Saudi Arabias crown prince Mohammad bin Salman is greeted by Prime Minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street on the first day of his three-day visit to the UK. Victoria Jones/ Press Association. All rights reserved.The second objective is to control delivery routes and further reduce the role of the Huthi-controlled Hodeida port where, under normal conditions, 80% of Yemens imports arrive and which has best access to the bulk of the countrys population. Under the excuse that Iran is smuggling weapons and other goods to the Huthis via Hodeida, the coalition has very considerably reduced the operations of the port.

Having been pressured into allowing the installation of the 4 US-financed cranes, after having disabled the existing cranes through highly accurate targeting in August 2015, the Saudis had prevented their replacement. Under the excuse that Iran is smuggling weapons and other goods to the Huthis via Hodeida, the coalition has very considerably reduced the operations of the port. Most concerned decision-makers know that the smuggling routes into Yemen are along the Arabian Sea coast, as Hodeida port is controlled first by the UN Verification Mechanism and second by direct coalition interdictions. The YCHO is proposing alternative routes for Yemeni imports, all of them far from both Huthi control and the areas of high population density and need. Are they intentionally worsening the suffering of millions of Yemenis?

Three years of war: what has been achieved?

Three years after the Yemen crisis became internationalised, where are we? Three UN attempts to reach a negotiated settlement have failed, the most recent as long ago as mid-August 2016, the humanitarian crisis is a nightmare, the Huthis have exclusive control of the northern highlands, the liberated areas are a government-free zone where a wide range of local entities impose different levels of administration, Yemen is fragmented, southern separatism is on the rise, the jihadi organisations move around to avoid attacks from UAE-supported Salafi[6] security forces and US drone and air strikes; and this month has seen the US/UK agreeing billions of dollars of additional arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Trumps recent senior appointments suggest an increasingly virulent anti-Iranian strategy which certainly coincides with that of the current Saudi regime. Things could hardly be worse. This month has seen the US/UK agreeing billions of dollars of additional arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. At the UN Security Council, some members are working towards a new Resolution which could enable the renewal of negotiations currently paralysed by the constraints of UNSC 2216.

The new UN Special Envoy is free of the negative associations of his predecessor and has a record of success elsewhere. The European Union and some European states are showing strong commitment to finding a solution demonstrated by the high level delegation to Sanaa in the week of 19 March. Despite its failure, the US Congress attempt to end US active involvement in support of the Saudi-led coalition shows the increasing unpopularity of this war in the US.

Few Yemenis will share the Huthi celebratory mood on this third anniversary, but millions are longing for an end to this senseless war. Let us hope that this time next year they will have reason to celebrate.

[1] Plenty more on these can be found in my book Yemen in Crisis: autocracy, neo-liberalism and the disintegration of a state (Saqi 2017) and earlier Open Democracy pieces.

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/world/middleeast/trump-yemen-saudi-blockade.html

[3] This includes people who are enrolled by force, as well as those who join simply to be able to finance some of their familys needs.

[4] KSAid website accessed 21 03 18 https://www.ksrelief.org/English/DataAndResult/Pages/StatisticsProjects.aspx

[5] https://www.saudiembassy.net/news/yemen-comprehensive-humanitarian-operations-ycho-new-humanitarian-operation-commits-over-35

[6] Just in case this is not clear, salafis are Islamic fundamentalists whose extremism covers a broad spectrum

About the author

Helen Lackner has worked in all parts of Yemen since the 1970s and lived there for close to 15 years. She has written about the countrys political economy as well as social and economic issues. She works as a freelance rural development consultant in Yemen and elsewhere. Her new book Yemen in Crisis: autocracy, neo-liberalism and the disintegration of a state was published by Saqi books in October, 2017.

Via OpenDemocracy.net

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.



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?? Yemen: Huge fire ? destroys aid supplies at Hodeidah port | Al Jazeera English
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ashanti Gold Corp. (Ashanti or the Company) - (TSXV:AGZ) announces that John Robins has joined the Companys Advisory Board and will serve as Strategic Consultant as Ashanti advances its Kossanto East project in Mali and its portfolio of gold assets in Ghana.

Mr. Robins is a professional geologist based in Vancouver, BC, with over 25 years of experience as an independent exploration geologist and entrepreneur. Mr. Robins was a founder and chairman of Kaminak Gold Corporation, which was acquired by Goldcorp for $520 million in May 2016. Since then Mr. Robins has gone on to create several successful mining companies including Bluestone Resources Inc., Fireweed Zinc Inc. and Northern Empire Resources Corp.

A 1984 graduate of the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in Geology, Mr. Robins initially worked as a self-employed prospector and geologist in BC and Northern Canada. In 1988, he founded Hunter Exploration, one of Canada's most successful private exploration companies. Mr. Robins co-founded Discovery Group of Companies in 2005, which has been active in starting several successful public exploration and development companies.

His experience spans from grass roots exploration to production and is complemented by his success in the capital markets and financing activities. In 2008, Mr. Robins was recognized for his achievements in mining exploration by the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia with the H.H. "Spud" Huestis Award. This is recognized as the highest award given for mineral exploration and is awarded to those who have made "a significant contribution to enhance the mineral resources of British Columbia and/or the Yukon Territory, through the original application of prospecting techniques or other geoscience technology".

Tim McCutcheon, Ashantis CEO, comments: We are very excited to have a man of such stature as John Robins join our team. His know-how is invaluable, and I expect the process of unlocking value from our assets in Mali and Ghana will accelerate with his collaboration with the Ashanti team.

John Robins said: I believe the Companys projects exhibit tremendous potential and I welcome the opportunity to work with the team at Ashanti Gold."

Option Grant

The Company announces that, pursuant to its Incentive Stock Option Plan, it has granted incentive stock options to certain directors and employees of the Company to purchase up to an aggregate of 200,000 common shares in the capital stock of the Company. The options are exercisable on or before April 3, 2020 at a price of $0.20 per share.

ABOUT ASHANTI GOLD

Ashanti is a gold-focused, exploration and development company that targets projects where it has a competitive advantage due to past work experience of the team and specific project know-how. The Company is driving forward its 100%-owned Kossanto East project in Mali on the prolific Kenieba Belt of Mali, which hosts such deposits as Loulo, Fekola and Sadiola. Ashanti is also working to advance, together with its earn-in partners, the Anumso project and the Ashanti Belt project in Ghana, which are near-adjacent to the Akyem deposit.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

ASHANTI GOLD CORP.

"Tim McCutcheon"

Tim McCutcheon

CEO

For further information, please contact:

Ashanti Gold Corp.

2300  1177 West Hastings Street

Vancouver BC, V6E 2K3

Phone: 604-638-3847

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 press release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release and the information incorporated by reference herein, constitutes "forward looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Ashanti Gold Corp. (the "Company"). All statements, except for statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that management of the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including such things as future exploration plans concerning the Company's mineral properties, acquisitions, capital expenditures (including the amount and nature thereof), business strategies and measures to implement strategies, competitive strengths, goals, expansion and growth of the business and operations, plans and references to the future success of the Company, and such other matters, are forward looking statements. Often, but not always, forward looking information can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "may", "should", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development and mine development activities at the Project, including the geological mapping, prospecting and sampling program being proposed for the Project (the "Program"), actual results of exploration activities, including the Program, estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, the availability of a sufficient supply of water and other materials, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, possible failures of plants, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, hedging practices, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, risks related to joint venture operations, and risks related to the integration of acquisitions, as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Management Information Circular (December 2016) and as discussed in the annual management's discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward looking information in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 3, 2018) - M2 Cobalt Corp. (TSXV: MC) (the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its initial phase of exploration in Uganda, where the Company holds 1,564 km2 of exploration licenses ("ELs") highly prospective for cobalt and related minerals. The ELs are in two distinct areas which the Company refers to as Bujagali, located in south-central Uganda, and its Kilembe Properties, which are close to, and on trend with, the historic Kilembe copper-cobalt mine operated by Falconbridge until the 1970s (see www.m2cobalt.com).

As previously announced, an extensive ground and airborne exploration program was launched February 13, 2018. At Bujagali, which encompasses 5 ELs totaling 1,371.2 km2, seven teams, each headed by an exploration geologist, were first mobilized to EL 1666 which includes a large nickel anomaly identified by the Finnish Geological Survey ("GTK") in 2011, named the "Bombo Target".

Subsequently, the crews moved onto EL 1665 at Bujagali, which has significant areas of alteration and where the Company previously carried out rock grab sampling with some samples containing 0.31% Co, 0.17% Cu and 3.5 g/t Au. This EL also adjoins an area where significant historical artisanal gold mining was carried out. The work completed to-date at Bujagali includes:

Aerial drone surveys over EL 1665 and EL 1666 to determine access, culture, outcrops, old workings, and other geologic features by making high-resolution photo mosaics.

Ground geophysics across EL 1666 (450-line kms), which has better defined geological contacts, important structures and the possible extents of the Bombo Target. The Bombo Target has been interpreted as an ultramafic body, with anomalous nickel, cobalt and copper in soils ' definitely indicative of nickel mineralization ' (GTK, 2011).

A large mobile sampling program including the collection of heavy mineral concentrates, stream sediments, soils and rock grab samples across EL 1666, with samples being collected from one detailed grid and one regional grid. In total, 1,348 samples have been collected from EL 1666 and sent for analysis at ALS Chemex South Africa (Pty) Ltd. ("ALS"), an independent and fully accredited laboratory in South Africa.

A similar sampling program at EL 1665. In total, 1,747 samples have been collected from within EL 1665 and have been sent to ALS for analysis.

The Company will receive initial sample results shortly, including in relation to the Bombo Target, and then on an ongoing basis. The Company will build upon real time results as the program unfolds and anomalies and areas of alteration are identified and explored. Once anomalies have been validated, teams will be mobilized to conduct infill sampling, trenching and drilling, as appropriate, concurrent with ongoing exploration across the Company's other ELs.

The Company has commenced a high resolution airborne geophysical survey over its Kilembe area ELs. All permits and authorizations are in place and the Company hosted an Official launch for this survey in Kasese Town, Kasese District, Uganda, on March 29, 2018 which was attended by over 150 prominent government officials and community members, including the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development and that Ministry's Permanent Secretary. The event was covered by the country's major media outlets. There is significant ongoing interest in the Company's high-profile program in Uganda, as positive results could have a significant positive impact on the country's mineral sector.

Geotech Ltd. has been contracted to undertake the airborne geophysical survey using helicopter-borne VTEM B-Field and horizontal magnetic gradiometer geophysical surveys flown at 100-metre spacing. This will initially be flown over the Company's two concessions in Kasese and Bunyangabu Districts, which span 193 km2 and whose boundaries are each located within 25 kilometers of the Kilembe mine, historically one of the world's major producers of copper and cobalt. The V-TEM technology and survey design was specifically chosen for its effectiveness at identifying buried exploration targets that possess a similar signature to the cobalt-copper deposits at the Kilembe mine.

Following the airborne survey of its Kilembe area ELs, the Company anticipates expanding its survey to its Bujagali ELs. These subsequent airborne surveys, where necessary, will focus on targets and / or anomalies identified during the intensive ground exploration campaign currently underway to provide additional geophysics as the Company continues to identify high priority drill targets.

Dean Besserer, P.Geol., the Company's Technical Advisor and manager of the exploration program stated, "We are very pleased with how the program is unfolding and excellent progress has been made to date; our ground geophysics has corroborated a significant amount of the work undertaken by GTK and Fugro at Bujagali and we are very much looking forward to receiving sample results and building further upon the work already carried out.

"We are focused on finding the next world class cobalt deposit and, in addition to the work being done on the ground, the airborne VTEM survey will go a long way in expediting our efforts. The cobalt production history at Kilembe Mines is impressive and, given that our concessions are on trend and geologically analogous to Kilembe, the results of the airborne surveys should provide some very meaningful data for us."

Dr. Jennifer Hinton, the Company's Director East Africa Operations commented, "The launch of the helicopter survey at our licenses in the area of the Kilembe Mines is a very important step for us. Production of significant quantities of copper and cobalt from Kilembe between the 1950's and 1970's made a significant impact on the national economy and, given that the land around Kilembe has been ranked as the most prospective in the country, we are eager to take this important step forward. We've received a tremendously positive response to our efforts from government and local communities and are delighted that a number of government officials and other key stakeholders attended the launch of this program."

About M2Cobalt

M2 Cobalt Corp. is focused on discovering and developing world class cobalt assets (and related minerals) to help address the growing deficit in the supply of cobalt globally. The Company has a large, highly prospective land package in the Republic of Uganda, East Africa bordering historic production and / or on the same mineral trends as some of the major mines in the neighbouring DRC where over 60% of world cobalt supply originates. Uganda is a stable country with a growing economy looking to re-energize its historic mining industry. The Company has a highly experienced management team and board of directors which has been involved in funding, assembling and advancing resource projects in a number of jurisdictions around the world and it has a team of approximately 20 people based in Uganda, led by Dr Jennifer Hinton, Director of East African Operations. The Company also controls approx. 2,800 hectares of land in the Cobalt Camp in Ontario, Canada. Further information on the Company and its projects can be found at www.m2cobalt.com.

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dean Besserer, P.Geol., the Technical Advisor of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

For further information, contact Simon Clarke at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Andy Edelmeier at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

On behalf of the Board,

M2 COBALT CORP.

Simon Clarke, Chief Executive Officer

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 may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to exploration work to be undertaken in Uganda, the reliability of third party information, and certain other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
Chairman of American Chamber of Commerce in Albania

Director of the American Bank of Investments in Albania

Former CEO of Opportunity Bank in Montenegro

Former Administrator of the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- European Electric Metals Inc. (the Company) (TSXV:EVX) (OTC PINK:EVXXF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Mark Crawford to the Board. Mr. Crawford has been an Advisor to the Company since 2014. Mark Crawford is an American citizen, currently based in Albania where he oversees multiple international business interests. Mr. Crawford is an experienced international executive having been involved with start-ups and management in audit, banking, brokerage, chambers of commerce, film production, micro-finance, and natural resource firms in North America and Europe. Mr. Crawfords experience also includes acting as the Chief Executive Officer for the Opportunity Bank in Montenegro growing the banks pre-tax ROE to over 40% while extending the banks market share to over 40% of the economically active population of Montenegro. Mr. Crawford is also a past Fund Administrator for the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund. This investment fund was authorized by the United States Congress and was capitalized at USD $30 million. At the end of the funds investment life, it had given the US Government in excess of 500% return on allocated capital. In addition to Mr. Crawfords significant business achievements, he has also worked tirelessly as a volunteer in both Chairing the American Chamber of Commerce in Albania and serving as the Global Vice President for Legislative Affairs of Republicans Overseas, headquartered in the USA. Mr. Crawford is a regular television contributor on business and political topics and has testified regarding tax and business reform in front of the United States Congress, and Parliamentary committees in both Albania and Kosovo.

Mr. Crawford has an undergraduate degree from Miami University (Ohio) and a masters degree from University College London in the UK. He is a native English speaker, is fluent in Albanian, and speaks basic Serbian/Montenegrin and basic Greek.



Fred Tejada, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, states, I am pleased to welcome Mr. Crawford to the Board. In his previous advisory role, he has given the Company unique insight into the business and political dynamics not only in Albania but in the surrounding countries as well. I am confident that he will continue to provide the Company with more valuable insight and direction now that he is on the Board as we continue to advance Rehova project.

European Electric Metals also announces that John Booth has been appointed Chairman of the Board, effective April 3, 2018. Also effective today, appointed members of the Audit Committee will be John Booth as Chair, Fred Sveinson, and Mark Crawford.

On Behalf of the Company,

Fred Tejada, Chief Executive Office and Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
TORONTO, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Compass Gold Corp. (TSX-V:CVB) (Compass or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on the previously announced (see Compass news release dated Feb. 28, 2018) ongoing shallow soil geochemical survey program at the Ouassada exploration permit on its Sikasso Property in Southern Mali.

Highlights

Four additional parallel, northwest-trending gold anomalies have now been identified over strike lengths up to 12 km and widths up to 2 km (see Figure below), bringing the total to nine.





Highest soil samples contain 3,800 parts per billion (ppb) gold (Au) (3.8 grams per tonne (g/t) Au) 550 m north of artisanal workings at Farabakoura. Highest gold concentrations are not restricted to areas of known workings.





In this latest round of work, a total of 1,139 shallow soil samples were collected on the Ouassada permit where the average gold background for shallow soil samples was 5 ppb.





Deep soil auger sampling at Ouassada is now 90% complete, and the shallow soil sampling is currently taking place on the Sankarani permit with 88% of the samples collected.





High-resolution Airborne geophysical interpretation, and structural and hyperspectral remote sensing (satellite) studies have been initiated.

Compass CEO, Larry Phillips, commented, As we continue to receive shallow soil results from the assay lab it is gratifying to see that additional zones of gold anomalism have been identified on the Ouassada permit. We have delineated at least nine zones, with the potential to identify addition zones as we complete our infill sampling between our primary target areas. Soil auger sampling has been completed at Ouassada, and the field teams are now moving to Sankarani. We eagerly anticipate the assay results of this deeper sampling, and hope they correlate with the shallow soil anomalies.

Subsequent to the Companys progress report of February 28, 2018, the Company is pleased to report the results of 1,139 additional shallow soil samples, collected over two broad zones within the Ouassada permit (target areas 2 and 3). Target area 1 contained 1,175 sample points. The targets were identified by interpreting airborne geophysical data, the presence of an extensive zone of artisanal mining (containing bedrock, vein-hosted, gold mineralization) and the similarity of the geological and structural setting to the Yanfolila gold mine, located 40 km along strike to the southwest (see Figure below).

Figure: Location of the anomalous gold zones (dashed outlines) as identified by shallow soil geochemistry. Four additional zones are identified in Target areas 1 and 2.

Detailed Shallow Soil Results

The latest 1,139 shallow samples were collected from a depth of approximately 0.4 m over the permit on an east-west grid with a line spacing of 500 m and a sample spacing of 100 m. The samples were analyzed by fire assay analysis at the international recognized geochemical laboratory of ALS (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso). Simple statistical analyses were performed on the combined data on target areas 1, 2 and 3 (and the area between target 1 and 2), to determine the degree of sample anomalism. Background values were considered to be 5 ppb Au or less (number (n) = 1664), weakly anomalous (5 - 11 ppb Au, n = 444), moderately anomalous (11 - 17 ppb Au, n = 107), strongly anomalous (17 - 77 ppb, n = 86), and extremely anomalous (> 3 standard deviations from the mean, 77 - 3800 ppb Au, n = 12). The results are illustrated in the figure above.

The previously reported results, from 1,175 shallow soil samples in target area 1, identified a 12-km long continuous anomaly extending from the artisanal gold workings at Kabangoue, through the largest concentration of workings at Farabrakoura, and extends for an additional 9 km to the north-northwest. A second sporadic anomaly with the same trend occurs 1 km to the west, and is present for a strike length of 6.5 km. The latest results extended the length of the 6.5 km anomaly in the centre of the licence by 2 km, but also identified four additional anomalous zones, which all trend towards the northwest, and vary in length from a continuous 5 km in the eastern part of the permit to two shorter (2 km-long) anomalies in the west of the permit. The new linear anomalies in targets 2 and 3 are apparently narrower (one-point anomalies) when compared to the anomalies present in target area 1 (up to 2 km in width). These surface widths are not unusual in prospective gold areas in Mali covered by laterites.

Soil Auger Sampling

Based on these initial shallow soil results, the Company is eagerly awaiting the results of the recently completed 2,024 holes (27,970 m) truck-mounted power auger soil samples collected within the Ouassada permit. The results of this program will be reported as soon as the assays are received from the laboratory. The results will be used to determine the location of drill holes to test the presence of bedrock mineralization.

The surface geochemistry teams have completed work over target areas 2 and 3, and are now moving on to the adjacent Sankarani permit. Samples collected in both of these areas have been dispatched to the assay laboratory.

Sankarani Sampling

To date, a total of 1,707 samples have been collected on Sankarani, from a planned total of 1,931. The sampling program is expected to be completed on April 6th, with gold assay results reported by the end of April. Soil auger drilling will start in early May, and the sampling locations will be dependent on the shallow results.

Regional Studies

Two studies have been commissioned by Compass utilizing previously collected data. The first study is a reinterpretation of the high-resolution airborne geophysics collected by the Company in 2011. This study is currently being undertaken by Jeremy Brett, PGeo, principal consultant geophysicist at MPH Consulting, Toronto. The second study is a structural and hyperspectral remote sensing (satellite) study, which will be undertaken by Dr. Francis Murphy, PGeo, Murphy Geosciences, Ireland. This latter study is scheduled to begin in mid-April

Summary

Shallow soil geochemistry assays have now been received on target zones 1, 2 and 3 on the Ouassada permit. The nine linear gold shallow soil anomalies correlated with structures present in the airborne magnetic data, and are highly encouraging. The Company looks forward to the infill shallow soil assays, and the result of the soil auger study. When all the geochemistry results are compiled and analyzed they will form the basis of identifying bedrock drilling targets. This deeper drilling program is expected to be implemented in late Q2.

The work program is progressing on time and within budget.

About Compass Gold Corp.

Compass, a public company having been incorporated into Ontario, is a Tier 2 issuer on the TSX-V. Through the recent acquisition of MGE and Malian subsidiaries, Compass holds gold exploration permits located in Mali that comprise the Sikasso Property. The exploration permits are located in three sites in southern Mali with a combined land holding of 1,179 km2. The Sikasso Property is located in the same region as several other multi-million ounce gold projects, including Morila, Syama, Kalana and Kodieran. The Companys Mali-based technical team, led in the field by Dr. Diallo and under the supervision of Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, is initiating a new exploration program. They are examining the first of numerous anomalies noted for further investigation in Dr. Archibalds August 2017 National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Sikasso Property, Southern Mali".

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, Compasss Technical Director, who is the Qualified Person for the technical information in this news release under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

ForwardLooking Information

This news release contains "forwardlooking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the Companys planned exploration work and management appointments. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forwardlooking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by such information. The statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forwardlooking information except as required by applicable law.
TORONTO, April 3, 2018 /CNW/ - Rubicon Minerals Corporation (TSX: RMX | OTCQX: RBYCF) ("Rubicon" or the "Company") announces details of an expanded 2018 Exploration Program at the Phoenix Gold Project (the "Project") and the appointment of Aleksandra ("Sasha") Bukacheva, CFA, MSc., to the Rubicon Board of Directors (the "Board").

Expanded 2018 Exploration Program

On January 23, 2018, Rubicon provided details on its 2018 Exploration Program, which outlined additional drilling, test mining and bulk sample processing activities to continue to advance the Project. On February 26, 2018, the Company completed a private placement flow-through financing for aggregate gross proceeds of C$10.9 million. The Company will use these funds for Canadian Exploration Expenses, allowing the Company to expand its 2018 Exploration Program.

Up to 24,000 metres ("m") of drilling (previously 14,000 m); 280-metre exploration drift at the 610-metre level

Rubicon plans for an additional 10,000 m of infill and step-out drilling from the 305-, 610-, and 685-metre levels to potentially improve the mineral resource classification and grow the mineral resources at the Project. The Company also plans to add a 280-metre exploration drift at 610-metre level that runs parallel to the strike of the F2 Gold Deposit. This exploration drift will allow the Company to efficiently drill the lower portions of the deposit at 25-metre (or less) centres.

25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of bulk sample material from test mining (previously 15,000 to 25,000 tonnes)

Rubicon plans to increase the bulk sample material from test mining to a range of 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes. The additional mineralized material will come from the three test stopes (#977, #015, and #161) that have been substantially developed and drilled, reducing costs and timelines. The objectives of test mining are:

Test various mining methods, which will help determine the appropriate method(s) in the future;

Gather data from chips, muck samples and mapping, that will help to potentially reconcile, refine, and validate the new geological model and Mineral Resource Estimate;

Restart the Project mill to ensure it continues to function as per design; and

Collect cost data that would be beneficial for a potential feasibility study of the Project.

The Company currently has more than 10,000 tonnes of mineralized material on surface (3,000 tonnes of low-grade mill bedding material and 7,000 tonnes of mineralized material from the #977 stope).

McFinley Deep and Close Proximity Targets

As mentioned in the February 20, 2018 news release, Rubicon had drilled three exploration holes from the 244- and 685-metre levels to test the potential extension of the historic McFinley Deposit at depth ("McFinley Deep"). The McFinley Deep area is located approximately 500 m northwest of the Project shaft. Results from the initial drill program were encouraging; the Company encountered gold-bearing quartz veins and sulphides within units of high-titanium basalts in areas up to 500 m below the bottom of the historic McFinley Deposit. Rubicon plans to continue limited drilling at the 685-metre level to continue to test McFinley Deep. Given its close proximity to the existing underground shaft and infrastructure, McFinley Deep is a priority target for the Company.

Rubicon plans to conduct preliminary desktop studies on the prospective exploration targets within two kilometres north of the F2 Gold Deposit  Northern Peninsula, Carbonate Zone ("CARZ"), and Island Zone. The objective of these studies is to analyze the historical drill data to determine the mineral resource potential of these targets. Please see Diagrams 1 and 2 for the location and historical drilling of McFinley and the close proximity targets, plan and long section views, respectively.

Updated geological model and NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate

On March 12, 2018, the Company provided an updated preliminary interpretation of the structural geology of the F2 Gold Deposit ("Preliminary Structural Interpretation"). The Preliminary Structural Interpretation will continue to be refined, enhanced, and supported with data and observations from the 2018 Exploration Program, prior to potentially serving as the basis of an updated geological model and Mineral Resource Estimate. Rubicon remains on track to deliver the NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate in the second half of 2018. The Company could then potentially commence a feasibility study if there is a meaningful increase in the mineral resources at the Project.

Director Appointment to the Board

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Sasha Bukacheva, CFA, MSc., to the Rubicon Board, effective April 1, 2018. Sasha brings a wealth of capital markets and finance experience. She spent seven years in investment research, with coverage of more than 40 mining companies. Recently, she was a top-ranked base metals Equity Research Analyst for BMO Capital Markets. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Bukacheva was the Vice President, Finance and Administration for Stans Energy Corp. (TSX-V: HRE), an advanced exploration company with uranium and rare earth properties in Central Asia. Sasha received her Master of Science (MSc.) at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2005 and became a CFA charter holder in 2011. She also achieved a Certificate in Mining Studies at the University of British Columbia in 2016.

Comments from the Chair and the President

Rubicon President and Chief Executive Officer George Ogilvie, P.Eng., commented, "We believe the expanded 2018 Exploration Program allows us to gather additional data that is critical to potentially improving the classification and growing the mineral resources at the Phoenix Gold Project. Equally important, we believe that the data we will receive from the increased 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of mineralized material from test mining will help to refine and validate a new geological model and updated Mineral Resource Estimate."

"As we make substantial progress on the Phoenix Gold Project I'm also pleased to see our exploration activities begin in relation to close proximity targets in and around the Phoenix Gold Project."

Both Mr. Ogilvie and Julian Kemp, BBA, CPA, CA, C.Dir., Chair of the Board, stated, "We welcome Sasha to the Board. We believe her extensive capital markets background and unique experiences enhances the skill set of the Board. We look forward to her contributions as the Company enters the critical phase of test mining and the anticipated delivery of an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate."

About Rubicon Minerals Corporation

Rubicon Minerals Corporation is an advanced gold exploration company that owns the Phoenix Gold Project, located in the prolific Red Lake gold district in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Additionally, Rubicon controls over 280 square kilometres of prime exploration ground in Red Lake and more than 900 square kilometres of mineral property interests in the emerging Long Canyon gold district that straddles the Nevada-Utah border in the United States. Rubicon's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (RMX) and the OTCQX markets (RBYCF). For more information, please visit our website at www.rubiconminerals.com.

RUBICON MINERALS CORPORATION

George Ogilvie, P.Eng.

President, CEO, and Director

Cautionary Statement regarding Forward-Looking Statements and other Cautionary Notes

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "intends", "may", "will", "should", "plans", "anticipates", "potential", "expects", "estimates", "forecasts", "budget", "likely", "goal" and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results may or may not be achieved or occur in the future. In some cases, forward-looking information may be stated in the present tense, such as in respect of current matters that may be continuing, or that may have a future impact or effect. Forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations and assumptions, and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to statements regarding the anticipated use of proceeds of the recently-completed private placement flow-through financing, the anticipated changes to the 2018 Exploration Program, the anticipated changes to and objectives of the test mining currently underway, the planned drilling at the 685-metre level, the anticipated preliminary desktop studies on proximate prospective exploration targets, and the anticipated timing of the delivery of an updated geological model and Mineral Resource Estimate.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and represent management's best judgment based on facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable. If such opinions and estimates prove to be incorrect, actual and future results may be materially different than expressed in the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Rubicon to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: possible variations in mineralization, grade or recovery or throughput rates; uncertainty of mineral resources, inability to realize exploration potential, mineral grades and mineral recovery estimates; actual results of current exploration activities; actual results of reclamation activities; uncertainty of future operations, delays in completion of exploration plans for any reason including insufficient capital, delays in permitting, and labour issues; conclusions of future economic or geological evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents and other risks of the mining industry; delays and other risks related to operations; timing and receipt of regulatory approvals; the ability of Rubicon and other relevant parties to satisfy regulatory requirements; the ability of Rubicon to comply with its obligations under material agreements including financing agreements; the availability of financing for proposed programs and working capital requirements on reasonable terms; the ability of third-party service providers to deliver services on reasonable terms and in a timely manner; risks associated with the ability to retain key executives and key operating personnel; cost of environmental expenditures and potential environmental liabilities; dissatisfaction or disputes with local communities or First Nations or Aboriginal Communities; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; market conditions and general business, economic, competitive, political and social conditions; our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or obtain adequate financing to fund our capital expenditures and working capital needs and meet our other obligations; the volatility of our stock price, and the ability of our common stock to remain listed and traded on the TSX.

Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Rubicon disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Readers are advised to carefully review and consider the risk factors identified in the Company's annual information form dated March 29, 2017 under the heading "Risk Factors" and in other continuous disclosure documents of the Company filed at www.sedar.com for a discussion of the factors that could cause Rubicon's actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Readers are further cautioned that the foregoing list of assumptions and risk factors is not exhaustive and it is recommended that prospective investors consult the more complete discussion of Rubicon's business, financial condition and prospects that is included in this news release. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
TORONTO, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pangolin Diamonds Corp. (TSX-V:PAN) (the "Company" or "Pangolin") is pleased to announce it has signed an option agreement (the Agreement) with Makanwu Civil Blasting (PTY) Ltd. (MCB), a private company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Botswana. Under the Agreement, MCB has granted Pangolin the sole and exclusive option to earn up to a 75% interest in respect of MCBs precious stone AK10 Diamond Project located in the Central District of Botswana, Africa.

Dr. Leon Daniels, President and CEO of Pangolin, commented, "I am extremely pleased with this transaction. The AK10 kimberlite has been under evaluated and the opportunity exists potentially to uncover and develop another AK6 Karowe Mine.

In 2002, Dr. Daniels co-founded African Diamonds PLC for the sole purpose of acquiring kimberlites De Beers originally discovered and that he believed could be economical. He is one of the worlds-renowned kimberlite exploration geologists and identified the opportunity. The joint venture between African Diamonds PLC and De Beers included the group of kimberlites in the area that De Beers had under evaluated. This group included the AK6 kimberlite located in the Orapa Kimberlite Field. In 2010, Lucara Diamond Corporation purchased AK6 for approximately $120M USD. The Karowe Mine on the AK6 kimberlite continues to be mined by Lucara Diamond Corporation and is one of the world's leading producers of very high value diamonds and is known for containing rare large Type IIa diamonds with spectacular color and clarity.

The AK10 kimberlite is only 4 kilometres NNE from the Karowe Mine.



AK10 Overview



AK10 is located in the prolific Orapa Kimberlite Field in Botswana. Botswana is the second largest producer of diamonds, both by value and carats. In 2016, the Orapa Kimberlite Field produced 8.85 million carats and contains 83 known kimberlite bodies of which eleven are currently mined, scheduled to be mined or have been mined. These include: AK01, AK02 and AK07 (Orapa, Debswana), AK06 (Karowe, Lucara Diamond Corporation), BK01, BK09, BK12 and BK15 (Damtshaa, Debswana), DK01 and DK02 (Letlhakane, Debswana) and BK11 (Firestone Diamonds PLC). The mineralization and results on the aforementioned kimberlites are not necessarily indicative of the results on the AK10 kimberlite.

The AK10 kimberlite pipe was originally discovered in 1968 from airborne magnetics by De Beers who established it is diamondiferous. The compositions of the garnets from AK10 are consistent with the kimberlite having sampled the diamond stability field. It has been modeled to be 6 hectares in size and is close to surface with only 9 metres of cover. It has excellent infrastructure close by with road access, and the main power grid is less than 1.5km away. Firestone Diamonds PLCs BK11 diamond mine is 2.5km away from AK10 and Lucara Diamond Corporations AK6 kimberlite pipe (Karowe Mine) is 4km away from AK10. Karowe Mine recently produced Type II large diamonds inclusive of the 813 carat 'Constellation and the 1,109 carat 'Lesedi La Rona'.

The Option & Joint Venture Agreement Overview

At the completion of Phase 1 (described in the AK10 Workplan below) the equity interests in the Project will be as follows:

Pangolin

MCB 51%

49%

If Pangolin decides to proceed to a joint venture (JV), and in the event that both Parties agree to fund Phase 2 of the JV, the percentages will remain the same.

If one of the Parties elects not to fund Phase 2 of the JV and the other Party elects to sole fund (i.e. contribute 100% of the cost of Phase 2 of the JV), the sole funding party will increase its percentage in the Project to 75%. At the completion of Phase 2 of the JV, the equity interest in the Project would then be:

100% Contributing Party to Phase 2 JV

Non-contributing Party to Phase 2 JV 75%

25%

There is a one-time opportunity for the non-contributing party to buy back a 10% equity stake at a predefined cost to the buyback party. If the buyback clause is invoked the parties will have interests of:

100% Contributing Party to Phase 2 JV

Buy Back Party 65%

35%

In the event that one of the parties does not want to contribute to the final commercial development of the Project, the other party may elect to sole fund the development of the Project. The non-contributing party will then be diluted until its participating interest has been diluted to below 10% and its participating interest will be reduced to a fixed net profits interest of 5%.

AK10 Workplan

The 12-month option period work programme will consist of, but not be limited to, the following:

Compile and assess all available historical exploration data over the Area of Prospecting Licence 166/2017;

Conduct geophysical surveys over areas of interest which may include groundmagnetic, gravity and VLF surveys;

Conduct aerial photography surveys to establish a base case environment;

Conduct a soil sampling programme over Prospecting License 166/2017 or parts thereof;

Drilling, if necessary, of holes to determine the extent of the kimberlite;

Pitting, if necessary, of near surface kimberlite to a maximum depth of 30m of kimberlite intersection;

Analyse kimberlite indicator minerals to establish a diamond window signature for any kimberlite within Prospecting License 166/2017;

Process any kimberlite recovered through drilling or pitting to recover diamonds from the kimberlite;

Any diamonds recovered from the 12 month option period work programme will be considered as part of the 500 carats required to be produced under Phase 1 of the JV if Pangolin exercises its option to proceed to Phase 1 of the JV; and

Compile all exploration data obtained during the option period work programme for the purpose of assessing the potential of Prospecting License 166/2017 which will allow Pangolin to make an informed decision whether to proceed to Phase 1 of the JV or not to proceed.

Pangolin shall be solely responsible to fund all costs associated with the planned 12 month work programme. During such time, Pangolin will make a determination whether the potential mineralization of the kimberlites is of such a level that Pangolin will elect to commence the formal JV relationship described in this press release.

Other

The Board and management of Pangolin would like to thank the efforts of Gareth Penny, its past Chairman and current special advisor to the Company, for assisting in this transaction.

Quality Control and Quality Assurances

Quality assurance procedures, security, transport, storage, and processing protocols conform to chain of custody requirements.



The technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Leon Daniels, BSc., BSc. Honours Geology, PhD and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Pangolin Diamonds Corp. and Our Social Connections

For more information on Pangolin Diamonds Corp., please visit our website at http://pangolindiamonds.com

Follow us on Twitter @pangolindiamond and Facebook at Pangolin Diamonds Corp

Pangolin Diamonds Corp. - Contact Information

Scott Young, Investor Relations

Phone: +1.705.888.2756

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Graham C. Warren, Chief Financial Officer

Phone: +1.416.594.0473

Fax: +1.416.594.1630

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP) (OTCBB:CYDVF) (Frankfurt:C1Z1) (Cypress or the Company) is pleased to announce results from the last three holes drilled at the Companys Clayton Valley lithium project in Nevada. Todays results include an intersection of 97 meters averaging 1,144 ppm Li in the final hole, GCH-6, along with intersections of 122.4 meters averaging 977 ppm Li in DCH-17 and 129.5 meters averaging 767 ppm Li in GCH-5. The Company has completed its drilling program, and is awaiting the results of an independent resource estimate currently underway.

Cypress Clayton Valley, Nevada Lithium Project location map





Drilling Highlights:

All three holes show consistency in encountered Li grade with the Companys previous 20 holes drilled on the Dean and Glory properties.

DCH-17, with 122.4 meters of 977 ppm Li, demonstrates the extension of lithium mineralization into the southeast corner of Dean. This intersection is comparable to the intersections in previous holes, DCH-15 and DCH-16, to the north and west.

GCH-5 and GCH-6 demonstrate the extension of lithium mineralization south, into the eastern portion of Glory. The intersection of lithium in GCH-5, with 129.5 meters of 767 ppm Li, is the thickest drilled-to-date at the project.

These three holes, as with all 20 previous holes, remain open at depth, with DCH-17 ending in 797 ppm Li, GCH-5 in 665 ppm Li, and GCH-6 in 752 ppm Li.

A full table of Clayton Valley drill results can be found here: Click Here

2017 Dean & Glory Projects, Clayton Valley, Nevada drill hole map





TABLE. Summary of Clayton Valley Project Drill Holes DCH-17, GCH-5 and GCH-6

Intersection (m) Lithium Values (ppm Li) Drill Hole From To Length Min Max Average DCH-17 2.0 124.4 122.4 548 1539 977 GCH-5 0.0 129.5 129.5 410 1298 767 GCH-6 3.0 100.0 97.0 699 1609 1144

Notes: Li=Lithium Metal, ppm=parts per million, m=meters, Average is weighted value by sample length. All samples were submitted to Bureau Veritas in Reno, Nevada, for analysis. Blind sample blanks and standards were inserted into the sample sequences at a rate of approximately 1 per 20 samples.

With the completion of these three holes, the Company has concluded its current drilling on the Dean and Glory properties. All 23 of the Companys drill holes will be incorporated in an independent resource estimate currently underway. The results of the resource estimate are expected later this month.

Daniel Kalmbach, CPG and consulting geologist to Cypress Development Corp., is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical information in this release.

Cypress announces the resignation of Robert Marvin as Vice President of Exploration and Director of the Company. Cypress expresses its appreciation to Mr. Marvin for his years of service and his key role in the discovery and exploration of the Companys Clayton Valley lithium deposit.

About Cypress Development Corp.:

Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded exploration company focused on developing the Companys 100%-owned Clayton Valley lithium project in the State of Nevada, U.S.A.

Cypress' Dean & Glory Lithium Project is located immediately east of Albemarles Silver Peak mine, North Americas only lithium brine operation. Recent exploration by Cypress has discovered an extensive deposit of lithium-bearing claystone adjacent to the brine field. With mineralization tested by drilling over a seven-kilometer trend, the apparent size of the Dean & Glory deposit makes Clayton Valley a premier target that has the potential to impact the future of lithium production in North America.

Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 56.0 million shares issued and outstanding.

To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com.

CYPRESS DEVELOPMENT CORP.

Dr. Bill Willoughby



WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY, PhD., PE

Chief Executive Officer

For further information contact myself or:

Don Myers

Cypress Development Corp.

Director, Investor Relations

Telephone: 604-639-3851

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management 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 the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.
With his trademark black sunglasses and blanket media presence, Egypts President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi projects an air of benign paternalism.

Whether the people love or loathe Sisi, see him as a bulwark of stability or as a domineering autocrat  there is little doubt that he will remain Egypts president for years to come.

He stormed to victory in the 2014 presidential election, having led the military a year before in ousting the North African countrys first freely-elected leader, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi now languishes in jail, convicted on many and varied counts and sentenced to multiple terms including the death penalty.

Sisi successfully silenced all forms of political opposition during his first four-year term.

This has included sweeping aside all token opposition in the March 26-28 election, leaving himself as the main choice on the ballot paper.

The sole remaining challenger is Moussa Mostafa Moussa, an ardent Sisi supporter who announced his candidacy at the last minute just as it seemed Sisi would have to run alone.

Sisi later denied involvement in sidelining his opponents, saying he wished there were many candidates.

The former career army officer was born in November 1954 in El-Gamaleya neighbourhood in the heart of Islamic Cairo.

Even as a child, Sisi sought to exert control over those around him, according to people who knew him at the time.

He graduated from Egypts Military Academy in 1977, later studying in Britain and the United States, before becoming military intelligence chief under President Hosni Mubarak who was toppled in a January 2011 uprising.

 There to serve 

As Egypts leader, Sisi is often seen microphone in hand, presiding over public ceremonies.

Speaking in the Egyptian Arabic dialect, sometimes laughing in the middle of his own lengthy speeches, he projects an image of father of the nation.

He is fond of telling Egyptians that they are the apple of his eye, stressing that he is there only to serve them.

Enjoying near-unanimous media support, Sisi is popular among many Egyptians who see him as the right man to lead the country after years of political, security, and economic turmoil that followed the ouster of long-time president Mubarak.

A father of four whose wife wears a hair veil, Sisi is described by those close to him as a pious Muslim who does not miss any of the five daily prayers.

But he is also reported to have a strong sense of self-belief, with audio records leaked by Islamic-leaning media pointing to a big ego.

In one leak, Sisi recalls a dream about the late president Anwar Sadat, which he saw as an omen that he would one day become powerful himself.

In another, he tells of a dream in which he held a red sword inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith.

Ironically, it was the Islamist Morsi himself who appointed Sisi defence minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces in 2012.

 Security problems 

A year later, Sisi ended Morsis turbulent year in power and cracked down on the Islamists supporters, with hundreds of people killed in weeks.

On one bloody day  August 14, 2013  security forces killed more than 700 people in Cairo when they dispersed sit-ins by pro-Morsi protesters.

At the time, Human Rights Watch said the mass killings of protesters that day probably amounts to crimes against humanity.

Since Morsis removal, tens of thousands of his followers have been jailed, and hundreds sentenced in expedient mass trials strongly denounced by the United Nations.

As Islamist-related security issues mounted, Sisi launched a military campaign against Islamic State group fighters based in North Sinai province.

But so far he has been unable to fully quash an insurgency that has killed hundreds of police and military personnel.

Economically, he has begun an IMF-mandated campaign of drastic economic reforms that include cutting energy subsidies, introducing value-added tax and floating the pound.

Many secular and left-wing activists who initially supported Sisi soon came to regret it: he has been regularly accused by international rights groups of committing serious violations to silence dissent.

During his first presidential campaign in 2014, he said that talking about freedoms should not take precedence over national security, and that it would take 20 to 25 years to establish a true democracy in Egypt.
Romanian prosecutors on Monday requested to prosecute former president Ion Iliescu and ex-prime minister Petre Roman for crimes against humanity during the deadly aftermath of the countrys 1989 revolution.

Attorney general Augustin Lazar asked President Klaus Iohannis to give the green light to open criminal proceedings against the former leaders, according to a statement by the public prosecutor.

Former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu will also be targeted.

The announcement opens a new stage in long-running investigations into those responsible during the bloody days before and after the death of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena.

In all, 1,104 people died during the events of December 1989 in Romania, including 162 before the fall of Ceausescu, who ordered a clampdown on protests, and 942 in the days following, according to historical accounts which, 28 years later, remain unclear.

Prosecutors have said they are probing the responsibility of the new political and military leadership which took over after Ceausescu fled.

The National Salvation Front headed by Iliescu, a former Ceausescu minister, led Romania in the first weeks after the revolution.

The groups members Roman and Voiculescu became prime minister and deputy prime minister during this period.

Iliescu, now 88, was president from 1989 to 1996, and served another term from 2000 to 2004.

Prosecutors have said that in order to maintain power the new leaders implemented a plan and provoked murder and injuries by gunfire, as well as the detention of a large number of people.

Roman responded strongly to the news after the announcement on Monday.

Its a feeling of revulsion and total shock because I have absolutely nothing to do with this story, he told news agency Agerpres.

The investigation into the events was shelved in 2015, notably due to lack of evidence, but was reopened in June 2016 by the countrys highest court.

According to prosecutors, 275 people have already faced legal action over their role in putting down the uprising, of whom only a few dozen have been convicted, according to victims support groups.

Ceausescus demise came at the end of a momentous year in which communist regimes fell across central and eastern Europe  with the Berlin Wall coming down in November  presaging the demise of the Soviet Union by the end of 1991.
A Malian jihadist will make a first appearance Wednesday before the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges over the destruction of holy sites and sex slavery, the tribunal said.

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud will be informed of the charges against him at the hearing, the Hague-based ICC said in a statement on Tuesday.

During the initial appearance, scheduled for 1300 GMT at the courts fortress-like headquarters, judges are to verify Al-Hassans identity and the language in which hell be able to follow procedures.

Al-Hassan, 40, was arrested over the weekend and handed over by Malian authorities. He arrived at the ICCs detention centre late Saturday.

He faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the destruction of the holy shrines of Timbuktu between 2012 and 2013 as well as accusations of rape and forced marriage.

Al-Hassans arrest came four days after the court issued an international warrant for his capture.

 Great relief 

Prosecutors allege that he committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Timbuktu, Mali, between April 2012 and January 2013.

A member of the Ansar Dine jihadist group, Al-Hassan was the de facto chief of the Islamic police in Timbuktu, the ICC said.

Hassan allegedly participated in the policy of forced marriages which victimised the female inhabitants of Timbuktu and led to repeated rapes and the sexual enslavement of women and girls, the court added.

His detention sends a strong message to all those, wherever they are, who commit crimes which shock the conscience of humanity that my office remains steadfast in the pursuit of its mandate, chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said shortly after his transfer to the ICC.

The charges against him are representative of the criminality and resulting victimisation of the population during this period, Bensouda added.

Rights groups Tuesday hailed his arrest, with the International Federation for Human Rights calling it a great relief to victims.

This is especially when the situation in the centre and north, including in Timbuktu, deteriorates with the resurgence of violence attributed to armed groups of terrorists, the victims lawyer Moctar Mariko said.

 Forced marriages 

Al-Hassan will be the second Islamic extremist to face trial at the ICC, following an earlier landmark ruling at the worlds only permanent war crimes court.

War crimes judges in 2016 jailed another Malian who had pleaded guilty to demolishing Timbuktus fabled shrines in 2012.

That was the courts first case to focus on cultural destruction as a war crime.

The ICCs judges found Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi guilty of directing attacks on the UNESCO world heritage site during the jihadist takeover of northern Mali in 2012.

Mahdi was sentenced to nine years behind bars in September 2016 for his role in the razing of Timbuktus holy shrines, built in the 15th and 16th centuries when the city was revered as a centre of Islamic learning.

For extremists however, its moderate form of Islam is seen as idolatrous.

Hassan, a member of the Tuareg tribe, however has been further charged with persecution on both religious and gender grounds; rape and sexual slavery committed in the context of forced marriages; torture and other inhuman acts, the court said.

The ICC opened in 2002 to try the worlds worst crimes in places where national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute alleged perpetrators.

The landmark 2016 verdict by the ICC against Mahdi was the first arising out of the conflict in Mali, and the first time a jihadist had sat in the dock at the court.
The heartbroken mother of the late Jake Brennan has penned a new book on the horrific tragedy and its aftermath, which is to be launched later this month.

Roseann Brennans little boy Jake was killed when he was hit by a car in the Lintown housing estate in Kilkenny City in June 2014. The books title, Mammy, I dont Want To Die, is based on the last words she heard her son say.

It tells the story of Jakes life, his legacy, and his familys efforts to come to terms with what happened. Following the tragedy, Roseann started Jakes Legacy  a campaign calling for lower speed limits in residential areas. New speed limits and signage were brought in on foot of the campaigns work.

In the book, Roseann describes her battle with depression, self harm and, at one point, her admission to a psychiatric ward. She details the painful breakup of her relationship, and dealing with the darkest of days.

Guest speaker at the launch will be Kilkennys hurling legend Henry Shefflin, while there will be speeches also from Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou MacDonald, local councillor Andrew McGuinness, and others. There will also be a special performance from Kilkennys Soulful Spirit Choir and Laura Ramsbottom.

It took six months to write the book, and Roseann found it a deeply personal experience.

I was determined to have Jakes memory and that story told, she said.

I was worried I was going to forget Jake.

Roseann overdosed at one stage as she tried to come to terms with her grief, waking up in hospital.

It was a downhill, but Im back up, she says.

The book launch will take place in Langtons House Hotel on April 18 at 7pm. Everyone is welcome to attend and there is no entry charge.
A Carlow/Kilkenny TD has described the housing crisis like "Groundhog Day" as people scramble to find affordable properties in Kilkenny.

Sinn Fein's Kathleen Funchion was speaking during a Dail debate on affordable housing.

She said: "When we come in here and talk about housing, the housing crisis and affordable housing, I feel like it is Groundhog Day.

"I do not know how many stories we must raise of people living in emergency accommodation, whether in bed and breakfast accommodation or hotels, and of people on notice to quit.

"I know several such people scrambling in both Carlow and Kilkenny trying to find a property for themselves and their families. There are 33 properties available to rent in the city and county of Kilkenny and 14 in the whole of County Carlow.

"The average rent is 1,100 in Kilkenny, which is completely out of the reach of ordinary families. So many landlords will not accept tenants on the HAP scheme.

"We have people living in desperate conditions and in substandard accommodation who are completely afraid to speak about it to their landlords or to raise any issues all because they are afraid they will be served notices to quit.

"Much of this comes back to a rent control system. We would not have the level of notices to quit and rent increases if we had rent controls.

"At least they might keep people in some sort of secure accommodation for the next year or two while houses are being built."

Deputy Funchion added that she did not know how many stories and heartbreaking situations "we must outline to the Minister before he actually listens, pays attention and does something".

She added: "I do not accept that enough is being done about it. He says it is not a funding issue and that the money is available. What is the problem then? Why are no houses being built?

"Why are there so many people on notice to quit with absolutely no hope and so many individuals for whom a mortgage is absolutely unthinkable?

"All I can say about this is to stress, as so many other people who come in here do, that it is probably the number one issue with which we deal.

"People are under a great deal of pressure and are really stressed. We have become nearly de-sensitised to it. It is having a huge impact on people's mental health, and that is only the start of the problem.

"In the future we will be dealing with many issues, particularly that relating to children who have spent a year or perhaps two calling a hotel room - a completely unsuitable environment - their home."
Stacey Kirk writes in Stuff on the comedy of errors that is the Government:

There was always a risk of NZ First-induced migraines when the Prime Minister signed on the dotted line to form a Government with Winston Peters. And political soothsayers have all had short odds on Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran being one of the weaker links within Labours own ranks. In a triple bill of unnecessary political dramas this week, Jacinda Ardern has been forced to battle two fires that go to the heart of her Governments transparency and one that has left New Zealand the butt of international jokes. Theyve likely exacted a toll in the currency of Arderns political capital.

Were the country with no spies!

The slowburner is the approach from Jenny Marcroft to National MP Mark Mitchell. Shes the hapless Fredo apparently sent by an anonymous NZ First Minister to make him an offer he cant refuse, but she didnt have the nous to realise the compromised position she was being placed in. Trying to heavy the Opposition into silence by threatening to withhold Government funding for development projects in their electorates is about as mafioso as it gets; an image only compounded by the male caucus penchant for pinstripe suits and pocket squares. Marcrofts and her partys saving grace appears to be that she is such a non-entity the threat holds no credibility without a minister to pin it on. Ardern has sought and received assurances that no minister was behind the thuggish act, and is left with little choice but to take them at their word.

Or she could do an inquiry, as Bill English did with Alfred Ngaro when he made some silly comments at a conference. This was far more serious as this was a private threat.

Meanwhile, National leader Simon Bridges has just passed his first month in the job and is looking sure-footed in comparison, without lifting a finger. On the contrary, he might be learning that theres little need to go hunting for wins at all, provided he keeps his own troops in line. The targets seem to present themselves and coming up on the horizon, when Peters becomes acting Prime Minister, a six-week shoot-out seems likely.

Going to be an interesting six weeks.

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Michael Woodhouse released:

The Prime Minister must condemn the latest threatening behaviour of the RMTU in the Lyttelton Port strike, National Party Workplace Relations Spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says.

A union organiser has been delivering fliers around Christchurch with the name and address of one of the ports board members on them, Mr Woodhouse says.

This is a clear attempt to get people to approach that person personally and place pressure on them to fold in behind the strikers.

Its threatening thuggish behaviour and it needs to be condemned and stopped.

This is not the 1930s. Its the 21st century and bully boy tactics should be long gone.
President Moon Jae-in hugs a soldier during his visit to Korea's Akh unit dispatched in the United Arab Emirates, Tuesday. / Yonhap





By Kim Rahn







ABU DHABI  President Moon Jae-in called Korea's Akh Unit dispatched in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a symbol of defense cooperation between the two countries and a model of reciprocal relations.







He visited the unit in the Sweihan region, Tuesday, the last day of his visit to the Middle Eastern country to boost the morale of the soldiers.







First dispatched in January 2011, the unit supports training of the UAE's special warfare unit and holds joint exercises with it. It is also tasked with protecting Korean people here in the case of an emergency. Now 138 soldiers are stationed with the unit.







"The Akh Unit is the pride of Korean armed forces and the symbol of cooperation between Korea and the UAE," Moon told the soldiers. "Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan also highly evaluated your work, saying the unit is a foundation stone that has boosted the two countries' cooperation."






By Kim Bo-eun



Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono plans to visit Seoul next week for talks on North Korea amid growing concerns in Tokyo the Shinzo Abe government is being sidelined in negotiations over North Korea's denuclearization.



South Korea's foreign ministry said negotiations are taking place between the two sides to arrange Kono's visit following Japanese media reports that the governments are arranging for Kono to make a two-day visit to Seoul.



"The foreign ministries are discussing the visit, but nothing has been fixed yet," ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said.



The visit was reportedly brought up during the phone call between Kono and his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha that took place on Friday.



It will be Kono's first visit to Seoul since he assumed his position as foreign minister last August. It will be the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister in two years and four months since Kono's predecessor Fumio Kishida came to Seoul to announce the controversial sex slave deal in December 2015.



Kono will likely meet Kang to reaffirm close ties with Seoul ahead of the inter-Korean summit to be held on April 27.



The foreign minister is also expected to bring up the Pyongyang nuclear issue and appeal for the need for Seoul, Tokyo and Washington to continue maximum pressure against the reclusive state, until North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump meet in May.



Kono may request that President Moon Jae-in call for the issue of North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals to be resolved at the inter-Korean summit. Two Japanese nationals are presumed to be in Pyongyang.



Tokyo is reportedly pushing for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for direct discussions about the issue but there has been no visible progress.



Moreover, Kono may request that Seoul carry through on the sex slavery deal. In the deal, the two states agreed to put the long-disputed issue to rest, with Tokyo providing Seoul 1 billion yen in government funds for victims.



However, the deal was criticized for being secretly made without including the victims in the process, and a foreign ministry inspection last year drew the same conclusion. In January, the government stated that it would draw up its own 1 billion yen fund to replace the funds received from Japan, and decide what to do with it after surveying public opinion.



Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet with Trump from April 17 to 18.



The meeting is seen to have been set after a Pyongyang-Washington meeting was arranged last month, based on concerns of Tokyo being sidelined on discussions over North Korea's denuclearization.



Kono's visit to Seoul is also seen to have been arranged to take place as soon as circumstances allow for the same reason.



Last week, Kim met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The leaders of China, South Korea and the U.S. have either met or are set to meet with Kim.


By John Burton





It has been interesting to see the topsy-turvy reaction in Washington, D.C. over the past month to the proposed summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un.



The Washington foreign policy consensus has rapidly shifted from fears that Trump would launch a preventive war against North Korea to criticism that Trump shouldn't meet Kim.



Trump himself has made fun of such diametrically opposing responses. "He's going to get us in a war," Trump recently told a fundraiser as he mimicked a news anchor. Trump then added that the liberal news media was now criticizing him for "conceding" to meet Kim. "They were afraid of being blown up. Then all of a sudden, they say, let's not meet."



Trump's comments have some validity about the confusion that reigns in Washington about how to solve the North Korean nuclear issue and the lack of bold imaginative thinking.



But the conservative news media has also gone through contortions over recent developments. Fox News, Trump's favorite cable channel, once criticized President Barack Obama for even raising the idea of a possible meeting with the North Korean leader.



Now leading commentators on Fox are praising Trump for doing the same thing.



"The commander-in-chief's leadership is now leading to a major foreign policy breakthrough," said Sean Hannity. "President Trump proves the experts wrong once again and scores a stunning diplomatic victory," proclaimed Laura Ingraham.



The summit has become another partisan issue in a polarized Washington instead of being judged on the merits of whether it can help resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis despite the risks involved.



Democrat lawmakers have been among those who have poured cold water on the summit idea. Trump "gave Kim Jong-un exactly what he wants, the appearance of legitimacy & a stage where he looks like the equal of the President of the US. Ugh," tweeted Democrat Senator Martin Heinrich from Colorado.



"Diplomacy is always a positive step, but high-risk talks between Pres. Trump and Kim Jong-un should be met with skepticism. We cannot afford another Presidential reality show," tweeted Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.



The critical and cautious response from Democrats is surprising since engagement with North Korea was once the policy of Democrat administrations going back to the Clinton presidency.



Partisan warfare in Washington over North Korea, however, is nothing new. The 1994 Framework Agreement that was negotiated by the Clinton administration and which froze North Korea's nuclear program for at least six years would eventually fall victim to partisan political obstruction by the George W. Bush administration and Republican lawmakers.



Meanwhile, leading Washington think tanks, such as the Brookings Institute, are trying to split the difference. While they support the idea of finding a diplomatic solution, they are also skeptical about the summit. Policy wonks and other commentators offer several objections. Trump is giving Kim unwarranted international status. Trump is unprepared to handle complex negotiations due to recent staffing changes. As a result, Trump will either give away too much or too little, making the stand-off even more dangerous.



Public opinion polls, however, suggest that most Americans think the summit is a good idea. One survey conducted by Quinnipiac University said that two-thirds of Americans approve of the summit, while only 26 percent oppose it. Support for the summit is strong despite the fact that respondents had doubts about Trump's ability to handle the negotiations and whether Pyongyang would be willing to give up its nuclear weapons.



The varying responses about the summit place both Democrat and Republican lawmakers in a difficult situation. Foreign policy hawks like Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Cory Gardner and Lindsey Graham are setting up impossibly high conditions and expectations for the talks that are guaranteed to ensure its failure and leave war as the only alternative. Are they willing to break with Trump on this issue when they have supported the president on so many others?



Meanwhile, Democrats appear to be responding in a knee-jerk fashion in criticizing the summit just because it involves Trump. Instead they should celebrate the fact that Trump has accepted an idea that has been promoted by some Democrat foreign policy makers in the past.



They should recognize that whatever his motives, Trump has taken a bold gamble that could pave the way to big dividends. Trump's agreement to meet Kim should be viewed as an important confidence-building measure in a bilateral relationship where little or no trust exists.



Democrat support could prove crucial in encouraging Trump to follow a diplomatic approach despite his recent appointment of John Bolton, known as a superhawk, as his national security adviser. The worry remains that Trump will back away from the summit idea as he confronts criticism from both the left and right. The truth is that Trump is susceptible to crumbling and reversing course under domestic pressure. Let us hope this is not the case this time.



John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.


Ghosh claims "70-100" lives could be lost if the polls are not conducted under the watch of central forces. (Image: PTI/File)

Kolkata, Apr 3: The BJP's West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh predicts a blood-stained rural election in the state if central forces are not deployed. The remarks of Ghosh come days ahead of the state-wide panchayat polls, scheduled to be held on May 1, May 3 and May 5 across 20 districts.

Ghosh led a BJP delegation which met Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Tuesday, urging him to order the conduct of panchayat elections under the watch of the central forces.

Ghosh claims the Bengal police is dominated by the state government, "which is using arm-twisting methods" to win the elections. In order to conduct free and fair polls, he said, the local police should not be given the charge.

Alleging attack on BJP candidates by TMC cadres, Ghosh said the Mamata Banerjee-led party has recruited muscle power to intimidate the Opposition.

The state police, he further alleged, is acting in connivance with the "TMC goons".

On being asked by reporters on how the Governor reacted to the demand of the BJP delegation, Ghosh said Tripathi is in favour of central forces' deployment.

The Governor will meet the Home Secretary and Chief Secretary and push forth the demand, Ghosh said, further adding that if the polls are held under the local police charge, as many as "70-100 people" could lose their lives. "This will be a bloody elections," he was reported as saying.

The rural poll contest in Bengal will feature 48,751 seats contested across 3,358 gram panchayats, 9,240 seats from 341 panchayat samitis and 825 seats of 20 zilla parishads.

The results will be declared on May 8.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 03, 2018 09:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Hyderabad, Dec 28 (PTI) Amid a raging debate on thegovernment's resolve to ensure that only electric vehicles aresold in the country from 2030, a key official of Toyota'sjoint venture has pitched for a technology-agnostic approachgiving options for consumers and leeway to auto producers.Shekar Viswanathan, vice-chairman and wholetimedirector at Toyota Kirloksar Motor, said consumers should begiven freedom to make a logical choice, and manufacturersenough leeway so that they can produce what the consumerwants.Viswanathan said the government's ambitious target ofall-electric fleet from 2030 is "not practical, and it's notthe way forward".He also argued that EVs alone are not the best answerto curb vehicular pollution.Customers who have a certain distance to travel everyday will choose electric, and those who don't have a fixedschedule, may choose hybrid, according to him."In time to come, others may choose hydrogen becausethere is zero pollution in hydrogen vehicles. So, I think thegovernment has to recognise this, be technology-agnostic, andencourage all techologies and fix the tax rates accordingly,"he said in an interview to PTI."All technolgies must be encouraged because no bodyknows which technology is going to succeed," Viswanathan said.Technologies which generate more pollution have to bediscouraged through suitable fiscal dis-incentives, whilethose which minimise the amount of pollution should beencouraged by way of fiscal incentives."I don't think electric vehicles is the immediateanswer. Yes, there will be a certain percentage of vehiclepopulation which will have electric, but we still have to relyon internal combustion engine, hydrogen vehicles and hybridvehicles for the remainder," Viswanathan said.Asked if India should avoid rushing into an era ofEVs, he said, "If that's what the consumer wants, the rushwill happen on commercial terms but if you (Government)mandate that I will give huge tax incentive for electric but Iwill penalise hybrid which is very friendly in terms ofpollution levels, then it's not a level playing field."So, the Government needs to recalibrate the tax onhybrids, particularly on strong hybrids which function likeelectric vehicles, he suggested."Important point is not whether we will be drivinghydrogen vehicles, or continue with internal combustion engineor move to pure electric or hybrid. The point is, are yougiving enough freedom for consumers to make a logical choice,and therefore, are you giving the producers of such vehiclesenough leeway so that they can produce what the consumerwants.""You have to give a bouquet of options to carcustomers and customer will choose. Now, if you penaliseobviously polluting vehicles, which run on BS-III and BS-IV,BS-II and BS-I...they need to be removed from the roads first,and I wish the Government takes action on that," he said."Today you have this lopsided tax structure whereelectric vehicles attract 12 per cent tax, and hybrids aretreated like 'sin goods'," he pointed out.According to him, major car players in the world haveall the technologies, electric, hybrid, internal combustionengine, that too BS-VI and they will progress towards BS-VIIgiving very clean fuel."But to commercialise and make it a practicalproposition for the consumer, we have to stitch itby market-to-market," he said.In some parts of India, EVs may well succeed becauseof enough charging infrastructure, adequate power, and a gridthat is able to withstand surges in power drawing, amongothers."But is it possible across India? I don't think so.Because in certain pockets of India you don't have power, letalone quality power. I think it's better to take a cautious,practical approach than making grand statements that we willbe 100 per cent electric (from 2030)," Viswanathan said."You can't say EVs are not polluting at all if you are going to generate power from coal-fired power stations. There will be pollution then. You have to measure all this on 'well to wheel basis' and you have to measure total pollution for each form of transport and then fix the taxes accordingly. So, more polluting ones should be penalised more and less polluting ones should be penalised less," he said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Santa Cruz, CA In October 2015, two Spanish-speaking employees of Goodwill Central Coast were fired for reporting to their manager that another manager harassed them and threatened to kill one of them. Finally their case has been settled: a National Labor Relations Board judge ordered they be reinstated, with back pay. Also in federal court, Walmart is accused of wrongful termination and retaliation, both In October 2015, two Spanish-speaking employees of Goodwill Central Coast were fired for reporting to their manager that another manager harassed them and threatened to kill one of them. Finally their case has been settled: a National Labor Relations Board judge ordered they be reinstated, with back pay. Also in federal court, Walmart is accused of wrongful termination and retaliation, both California labor law violations.

Walmart Wrongful Termination

National Labor Relations Board and Walmart

The National Labor Relations Board judge found that Goodwill Central Coast unlawfully fired the two forklift drivers and they accepted over $90,000 in total settlements. (The National Labor Relations Act protects employees acting together to improve their workplace conditions against employer retaliation.) As well, Judge Etchingham ordered a notice to be posted at Goodwill in English and Spanish for 60 days, saying the following:The National Labor Relations Board has found that we violated federal labor law and informing them federal law gives employees the right to form, join or assist a union, choose representatives to bargain and act together with other employees for their benefitWe will not terminate you for talking to your co-workers about your wages, hours and other terms and conditions of your employment including complaints about supervisors in other departments and/or making allegations that a supervisor threatened you.Goodwill has reinstated both men and, according to the, both men loved having that sign posted on the wall. I was happy we won, Jesus Fernandez said. At times we are afraid to say anything and we stay quiet. Its better to say something because we have rights as workers.A former director of business development at Walmart knows his rights and he too has said something. Tri Huynh claims that Walmart wrongfully terminated him after he raised concerns  on several occasionsabout the companys overly aggressive push to show meteoric growth in its e-commerce business by any means possible -- even, illegitimate ones.(March 16) reported that Huynhs lawsuit, filed in San Francisco federal court, accuses Walmart of whistle-blower retaliation, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, and wrongful termination.Huynh, who worked at Amazon before he joined Walmart in 2014, alleges that he warned his superiors and Walmarts ethics department that if Walmart did not properly address these issues, its failure to do so could have serious long-term implications for its critically important e-commerce business. Those issues are mislabeled products so that some third-party vendors received lower commissions, failure to process customer returns and allowing offensive items onto the site, according to the lawsuit. Huynh claims he was told to stop raising such concerns, but he chose to bring them to the attention of the e-commerce chief early last year and he was abruptly terminated, just one day after a retail-industry publication said the was one of the sectors rising stars. Over the past few years Walmart has invested heavily in an attempt to catch up with Amazon in e-commerce, perhaps by  any means possibleeven, illegitimate ones, claims Huynh.Back in 2014 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against Walmart, accusing the company of unlawfully firing workers after they participated in nationwide protests and strikes seeking higher wages. The NLRB accused Walmart of making unlawful threats of retaliation to employees, twice on national television and in statements at specific stores. The National Labor Relations Act protects all workers, blue collar and white collar, union and non-union, whenever they engage in specific activities such as protests concerned with better work conditions and wages.
The Parish of Graiguecullen and Killeshin on the Laois Carlow border is inviting people to attend its upcoming annual Solemn Novena.

The Novena takes place in St Clares Church, Graiguecullen commencing on Monday, April 9 and will run for nine consecutive Monday nights until June 4.

The parish says the Novena provides us with an opportunity to pray together and support each other. Each person comes to the Novena with their own special intentions ranging from the routine pressures of life to the heart breaking.

There are petition boxes in our churches in Holy Cross, Killeshin and St Clares in Graiguecullen where people are invited to place their petition for prayers for their worries, illnesses and sufferings and each evening a selection of these petitions are read out at Mass.

Prayers are then offered up to Our Lady to give hope, courage and strength to all those in need of help to guide them through the difficult times in their lives.

This year the Novena will begin with the Rosary on Monday, April 9 at 7.10pm, followed by Mass at 7.30pm.

The music is led by Fr Liam Lawton and our Parish Youth Minister, Cathriona Kelly accompanied by our Parish choirs and the Poor Clare Sisters. Each night a guest speaker will share their own faith story.

The theme of this years Novena is Witnessing the message of Jesus in the Ireland of today.

The guest speakers are as follows:

9th April Dom Richard Purcell: Abbot of Mount Melleray Abbey

16th April Mgr. Eoin Thynne: Parish Priest of Mulhuddart, Dublin & former Army Chaplin (25 Years)

23rd April Katie Ascough: Iona Institute & former president of UCD Students - Union

30th April Rev Ruth Patterson: First woman ordained as Presbyterian Minister in Ireland also a Director of the Charity Restoration Ministries

07th May Fr. Bryan Shortall: OFM. Cap Parish Priest of Halston Street Church and Author of Tired of all the Bad News

14th May Fr. Richard Gibbons: Parish Priest of Knock

21st May Fr. Sean McDonagh: Columban Priest and Ecologist

28th May Maria Garvey: Former Leader of LArche in Ireland and founder of LArche in Belfast

4th June Andrea Begley: Winner of The Voice UK 2013
A controversial leisure route for cyclists and hikers which was approved by the county councils in Laois and Kildare but refused permission in Carlow is now the subject of appeals to An Bord Pleanala.

Appeals have been lodged with the board against the granting of permission for the Laois and Kildare sections of the proposed project by Waterways Ireland, which would see a 115km multi-use shared leisure route built across the three counties.

The Barrow Blueway would have commenced in Lowtown, Co. Kildare, passed through Co. Laois and finished in St Mullins, Co. Carlow, but Carlow County Council refused permission.

Laois County Council granted conditional planning permission, subject to 25 conditions, for the shared leisure route on the existing towpath through Killinure to Bawn along the Grand Canal, and refused permission for the development of land on the existing towpath through Crossneen, Ballyhide, Clogrenan.

Kildare County Council granted permission for a Kildare portion of the Blueway.

Appeals have now been lodged against the Laois development by the Save The Barrow Line group, as well as Shane Doherty and Sarah Murray, Paul O'Connell, and Art Mooney. The Save The Barrow Line group has also lodged an appeal against the Kildare approval.

During the initial planning process, Save the Barrow Line, represented by chairperson Olivia OLeary, made a submission to Laois County Council saying they had a petition with approximately 5,000 signatures calling for the retention of the grassy surface on the Barrow towpath.

The group claimed that an Environmental Impact Statement dealing with flooding provided by the applicant was woefully incomplete and misleading and the flooding risk assessment was incomplete.

Among many issues raised, the group had concerns for local wildlife species and tree roots, and included in their submission a report from an independent ecological consultant.

A submission was also made during the planning process by Paul OConnell, P. OConnell Farms, Ballintogher, Ballybrittas, Portlaoise.

He raised concerns over the entrance to his lands being blocked by the proposed new car park and pointed out that the OPW already had a car park along this route which had to be closed due to antisocial behaviour.

He also said that the track should be moved to the opposite side of the canal.

And a submission was also made by Art Mooney, Killians Crescent, Carlow, who said that none of his concerns had been addressed adequately by the applicant.

He expressed fears over the denuding of the landscape, loss of character of a heritage landscape, and the measured loss of biodiversity. He also raised health and safety concerns as the proposed width of 2.5m cannot be achieved in all sections, and said the flood risk plan omits significant details concerning previous flooding events.

The applicants have not adequately demonstrated that the proposed development will not have an adverse impact on the built and natural environment, he said.

The matter is now being decided by An Bord Pleanala. Waterways Ireland have also brought a first party appeal to the board, against an element of the decision made by Laois County Council.
A significant number of residents are expected to object to the ring road planned for Naas.

The ring road will connect Dublin Road with the Blessington road.

The new road, along with the ring routes connecting Blessington Road-Newbridge road and Newbridge Road-Sallins Road, will provide a completed by-pass of Naas.

However residents living in the Dublin Road area are objecting on the basis that the routes will bring more traffic closer to their homes.

Kildare County Council is considering three routes. Two ( 1 and 2) start at the entrance to the Monread residential area and pass on the Naas Racecourse side of The Gallops, Kings Court and Woodlands, exiting between Elmwood and AIB centre on Blessington Road.

Another route (6) is proposed to leave Dublin Road on the town side of the entrance to Naas Industrial Estate and pass on the opposite side of racecourse, shaving off part of the track and eventually exiting at Blessington Road on the Blessington side of Oak Glade.

A Kings Court resident told the Leader that Route 6 is the least worst option.

He also said that towns like Kilkenny and Carlow have ring roads that dont travel as close to populated areas.

These residents have already made a submission to KCC highlighting concerns ranging from vehicle numbers to traffic jams as well as air and noise pollution.

They say that residents elsewhere in the town, like Sundays Well, Mountain View, Ballycane and Craddockstown will also be impacted by the route. Some residents have contacted Naas councillors who will have a say on the eventual route chosen as well as TDs, including James Lawless.

When plans were first drawn up over a decade ago, more routes (eight in all) were considered - but its likely now that the route chosen will one of these three.

Its estimated that 16,000 vehicles will travel the new road every day and residents claim that heavy goods vehicles are likely to use it in relative proximity to residential areas.

Submissions made will be now reviewed by KCC and this will be followed by the selection of the chosen route and a planning application to build it.
The cathaoirleach of Leitrim Co Council Finola Armstrong McGuire has paid tribute to Mr Frank Murray who died suddenly at home in Dublin on March 31st.

Frank was above all a devoted family man and I extend my sincere sympathy to his wife Maureen, his children Geraldine, Ciara, Paul and Catherine, his sisters Rita and Patricia and his brother Gerry.

Frank grew up on Main Street, Carrick-on-Shannon, and though his working life brought him to Dublin he kept a strong connection with his Carrick family, his neighbours and his friends. In Dublin he spoke of his home town with great pride and supported Leitrim in every way he could.

Frank and Maureen visited Carrick often and family breaks through the years have frequently been to Leitrim. Their casual call to enquire re their friends was low key and meaningful.

"The Murrays provided a warm welcome to Dublin to their Leitrim friends when career or job choices meant a move from Carrick. Their care and genuine concern for neighbours will be remembered and always appreciated.

"Frank was held in high esteem by all who knew him. His work as a public servant is well documented and we in Leitrim are very proud that in his retirement he took on the role of co-commissioner of the Independent Commission for the Location of the Victims Remains..

May his gentle soul Rest in Peace. Ar Dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.
Ireland has made huge strides in the diagnosis and outcomes for patients in organ failure, with organ transplantation since its beginning in Ireland back in December 1963 when the first kidney transplant was performed, said Mark Murphy, Chief Executive of the Irish Kidney Association at the national launch of Organ Donor Awareness Week 2018.

A large gathering of people involved in organ donation and transplantation attended the official launch of Organ Donor Awareness Week 2018 last Tuesday afternoon. The annual life-saving awareness campaign is organised by the Irish Kidney Association and supported by the ODTI (Organ Donation Transplantation Ireland), takes place from 31st March until 7th April. The campaign was officially launched at the Mansion House, Dublin 2 by the Minister of State for Health Promotion and National Drugs Strategy, Catherine Byrne, T.D., herself having a personal interest in organ donation.

Special guest at the launch was Broadcaster Claire Byrne who has taken up the voluntary role of ambassador for organ donor awareness 2018 and she will feature on posters distributed nationwide and a national radio advertising campaign encouraging families to discuss organ donation. This year marks some significant milestones for the Irish Kidney Association:

 The 40th anniversary of the organisation, which was founded in April 1978;

 The 40th anniversary of the kidney donor card which has evolved over the years into the organ donor card;

 The 60th Anniversary since the first time dialysis treatment in Ireland in May 1958;

 The 55th anniversary of the first transplant, a kidney transplant, which took place at the old St. Vincents Hospital on St. Stephens Green carried out on a 21 year old Dublin man, Ted Tobin.

Mr. Murphy explained, We have come a long way since the Irish Kidney Association began and at that time in 1978 there were only three places in Ireland for patients with kidney failure to undergo dialysis treatment. Today there are 23 locations around the country.

2017 was a record year for organ transplantation for Ireland with a total of 327 organs being transplanted into 321 patients including a total of 23 children/paediatric transplants.

It is thanks to the gift of organ donation that almost 3500 transplanted people in Ireland are enjoying extended life. At the end of 2017, there were 524 people active on the various transplant waiting pools for heart, liver, kidney, lung and pancreas.

Mr. Murphy said, Advancements in medicine, combined with our hospitals successful transplanting teams and the generosity of families of deceased and living donors has led to this very positive outcome. We hope that this can give hope to the people in transplant waiting pools and the many more people in organ failure hoping to be listed for a lifesaving transplant.

Mr. Murphy continued, the selfless and profound generosity of the families of 99 deceased donors in Ireland resulted in a total of 260 deceased donor transplants taking place in 2017. The 260 deceased donor organ transplants comprised 141 kidneys, 62 Liver, 16 Heart, 36 Lungs and 5 pancreas transplants. A record of 51 living donor kidney transplants were also carried out by the Beaumont Hospital transplant team. Last year the record 311 transplants were carried out at Irelands three transplanting hospitals. Of these 311 transplants, Beaumont carried out 12 paediatric kidney transplants in Temple Street Hospital from both living and deceased donors.

Mark Murphy said, We are aware that an additional 15 Irish patients underwent 16 HSE funded transplants in the UK comprising of 8 paediatric liver transplants, 2 paediatric lung transplants and 1 paediatric heart transplant. 11 paediatric organ transplants in total. 3 paired exchange kidney transplants (kidney swap) and 1 combined heart and lung transplant.

Mr. Murphy said, For the first time in 39 years, transplantation is keeping up with dialysis, with 2,074 people on dialysis, this is one less person on dialysis than in the previous year 2016.

Professor Jim Egan, Director, HSE Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland (ODTI) said, I wish to congratulate both the Irish Kidney Association on their 40thAnniversary and the National Renal Transplant Service at Beaumont Hospital who recently completed their 5000th kidney transplant.

In 2017, Beaumont Hospital carried out a total of 192 kidney transplants comprising 141 from deceased donors and a record 51 from living donors.

The Mater Misericordiae Hospital carried out 16 heart transplants and 36 lung transplants in 2017. The 36 lung transplants matched its record figure from two years previous.

St. Vincents University Hospital carried out 62 liver transplants and 5 pancreas transplants combined with kidney transplants in 2017.

The key message of Organ Donor Awareness Week is that families need to talk to each other about organ donation and keep the reminders of their willingness to donate visible by carrying the organ donor card and permitting Code 115 to be included on their drivers license.

Organ Donor Awareness Week also serves as a fundraising exercise for the Irish Kidney Association. Throughout the Week (31st March - 7th April 2018), the Associations volunteers will be out on the streets, and in shopping centres throughout the country, distributing organ donor cards while selling 'forget-me-not-flower' emblems, brooches, lapel pins, pens and shopping trolley discs. All proceeds will go towards the Irish Kidney Associations aid for patients on dialysis and those patients fortunate enough to have received a kidney transplant. The Irish Kidney Associations charitable activities include the provision of a 13-double bedroom, free accommodation facility for patients and their families in the grounds of Beaumont Hospital and holiday centres located in Tramore and Kerry, together with patient advocacy, advice, counselling, financial aid and rehabilitative, health promotion through sport and the provision of kidney patient information and education through its head office in Dublin and its 25 branch network of volunteers throughout the country.

Free information fact files, which accompany organ donor cards, are obtainable from the Irish Kidney Association and are available nationwide from pharmacies, GP surgeries and Citizen Information Offices.

Organ Donor Cards can also be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association tel. 01 6205306 or Free text the word DONOR to 50050. Visit websitewww.ika.ie/card
A LIMERICK man who threatened a shop worker with a scissors has been jailed for two years.

Stephen Byrnes, aged 25, of Ballygrennan Road, Ballynanty had pleaded guilty to charges relating to an incident shortly before 6am on March 21, 2015.

Detective Garda Gary Laide told Limerick Circuit Court the victim, who had left his home a short time earlier, was carrying a pouch containing keys to the Aldi store where he worked.

The defendant, he said, first approached the Polish national near the Peoples Park and asked him for a cigarette and later if he could use his mobile phone.

Byrnes became annoyed when the victim when he ignored him and produced a scissors and threatened to cut his throat.

The victim managed to escape and immediately ran to the public office at Roxboro Road garda station where he provided gardai with a description of the culprit.

Byrnes, who has a number of previous convictions, was apprehended in the Hyde Road area a short time later but could not be questioned for several hours due to his level of intoxication.

This was an intoxicated event, said Mark Nicholas SC who added that his clients admissions when he sobered up were critical.

Imposing sentence, Judge Tom ODonnell said the defendants ongoing drug difficulty was a real concern for the court. He added that his previous convictions were not helpful

He noted the charge was one of theft and not robbery and that Byrnes had fully cooperated with gardai.

The judge imposed a three year prison sentence, suspending the final 12 months.
AN INSPIRATIONAL man who lost his leg due to a rare illness is determined to raise much-needed funds for the hospital that put him back on track during the Great Limerick Run.

Richard Carey, 48, of Old Cork Road, will take part in the six-mile event over the May Bank Holiday weekend, in a bid to raise funds for equipment at the National Rehab Hospital in Dun Laoghaire.

In June 2015, the former security guard was admitted to the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick with leg pain, and was later diagnosed with ligament damage.

However in August 2015, Richard collapsed with stroke-like symptoms, and it was then discovered that he had contracted the potentially-lethal flesh-eating illness, Necrotizing Fasciitis.

After Richard was told that one of his legs was to be amputated, he was placed in induced coma for a number of days, during which his family had been advised to say their goodbyes.

But then, even without the help of staff, Richard came out the coma himself, and was on the mend between St Johns Hospital and UHL for almost a year.

After the initial treatment, the survivor was accepted at the hospital in Dun Laoghaire to receive a prosthetic and commence rehabilitation.

A self-confessed quiet man, Richard said that the rehabilitation boosted his social skills that he never had before, and it wasnt long after this when he was speaking to a packed room of Trinity College medical students. Now, the city native speaks to UL Graduate Entry Medical School students twice a year.

Following treatment, Richard now wants to give something back and intends to raise money for the hospital, which is currently building a new facility.

Relishing the opportunity, Richard is already in training in order to finish the six miles.

So far, 7,650 people  including 1,830 children  have signed up for the major annual event, which expects to exceed 1m in charity fundraising.
DELL EMC, University of Limerick and the Limerick Chamber have announced that their successful Business Leaders Series from 2017 is being rolled out again this year.

The Limerick Chamber Regional Leaders programme was hugely successful in 2017 with five events and 150 participants from a broad range of indigenous companies across the Mid-West business community.

A number of mentoring sessions have also been successfully organised over the past year. The series of events in 2018 promises to be similarly popular and insightful, with the first event of 2018 taking place at the Dell EMC Limerick campus.

Clive Bellows, Executive Vice President of Corporate and Institutional Services at Northern Trust delivered the first leadership talk of the series.

Its great to be part of this programme that brings the business community together, he said.

In my career over 30 years, I have experienced many different types of leaders and various techniques can work for different people. For me, leadership is not about a title or a designation but more about impact, influence and inspiration.

"Its about helping your team to become leaders and not just followers. I hope to have motivated todays participants to become impactful, influential and inspirational leaders in their businesses.
OPPOSITION is 'growing' to plans to extract water from the River Shannon and pump it to Dublin, according to the author of a highly-critical report into Irish Waters proposals for the project.

Emma Kennedy, the author of the Kennedy Analysis, believes that there is a growing consensus that Irish Waters proposals are baseless.

Irish Water plans to build a pipeline from the Parteen basin to Peamount in West Dublin, with the aim of supplying water to the capital and the midlands on a daily basis.

It is estimated that 300 million litres of water will be pumped 172 km daily to Dublin from the River Shannon should this plan go ahead.

However, Ms Kennedy, who carried out a forensic analysis of the overall project, believes that Irish Water has made errors in their calculations.

Many of Dublins pipes were laid in the 1800s. Yet Irish Water proposes to replace just 1% of the pipes per year.

With this 1% target some pipes will not be touched for another 100 years. This damns Dubliners to decades of outages, no matter how much extra water is brought in.

Ms Kennedy has now called on Irish Water to debate the rationale behind the proposal.

Irish Water states that fixing Dublins pipes would cost 3 to 4 billion.

Instead, Irish Water plans to spend 1.3billion to pump yet more water almost 200km across the country into pipes that already lose 57% of the water put into them.

On todays leakage, that is like taking 2 million bathtubs of Shannon water every single day and pouring every drop directly into the ground under Dublins streets and that is not raw water, it is water that would already have been treated, which is a costly exercise.
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Page: 1 2 TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: kaput

04-04-2018 12:33 AM











Post: #1 TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

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At the 2:00 mark of the video President Trump shifts his focus from China to Mexico and the caravan of illegals that was travelling northward to parasitically squat in the United States. He says, If it reaches our border our laws are so weak and so patheticits like we have no border because we had Obama make changes, president Obama made changes that basically created no border.



He explains, Its called catch and release. We catch them we register them, they go into our country. We cant throw them out and in many cases they shouldnt be here. He notes that almost none of them show up for their court date.



Of course it only makes sense that whatever Obama as an individual did is a policy not a law, as only Congress can write laws, and if it is policy only then it can be undone with a new policy. Obama overturned the historic definition of the word refugee and redefined it to a distorted, liberal interpretation.



It seems that it would be a simple matter to return to the actual meaning that existed before Obama infested the White House and correct the current policy of allowing third world peasant exploitation. Maybe President Trump should work on that one while hes making other changes as it appears to be an easy and obvious fix to a problem that is confounding his agenda.



He tells reporters We are going to be doing some things. Ive been speaking with General Mattis, were going to be doing things militarily until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military. Thats a big step. We really havent done that before, certainly not very much before.



It seems from those comments that hes given up on the idea of using the military to build the wall, if he ever was serious about it, as theyll be there as border guards only.





https://rickwells.us/trump-military-border-mexico/ In a press briefing during a meeting with the presidents of three Baltic nations, President Trump took a few minutes to discuss the border security problems here in America. He announced that he would be sending US troops to the southern border to defend it until such time as our laws can be changed and a protective wall built.At the 2:00 mark of the video President Trump shifts his focus from China to Mexico and the caravan of illegals that was travelling northward to parasitically squat in the United States. He says, If it reaches our border our laws are so weak and so patheticits like we have no border because we had Obama make changes, president Obama made changes that basically created no border.He explains, Its called catch and release. We catch them we register them, they go into our country. We cant throw them out and in many cases they shouldnt be here. He notes that almost none of them show up for their court date.Of course it only makes sense that whatever Obama as an individual did is a policy not a law, as only Congress can write laws, and if it is policy only then it can be undone with a new policy. Obama overturned the historic definition of the word refugee and redefined it to a distorted, liberal interpretation.It seems that it would be a simple matter to return to the actual meaning that existed before Obama infested the White House and correct the current policy of allowing third world peasant exploitation. Maybe President Trump should work on that one while hes making other changes as it appears to be an easy and obvious fix to a problem that is confounding his agenda.He tells reporters We are going to be doing some things. Ive been speaking with General Mattis, were going to be doing things militarily until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military. Thats a big step. We really havent done that before, certainly not very much before.It seems from those comments that hes given up on the idea of using the military to build the wall, if he ever was serious about it, as theyll be there as border guards only. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 12:33 AM











Post: #2 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

Please delete. I didnt see the pinned thread. Agent Stoneheart

Have a nice day

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 12:48 AM



Posts: 15,522









Post: #3 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

What does 'president' Trump think that Mexico has to do with this? It's not like people are coming over on order of the Mexican government. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 04:20 AM











Post: #4 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

IceMan Wrote: (04-04-2018 12:48 AM) What does 'president' Trump think that Mexico has to do with this? It's not like people are coming over on order of the Mexican government.

Really? Thats your question? Really? Thats your question? Agent Stoneheart

Have a nice day

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 04:33 AM



Posts: 15,522









Post: #5 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

LoP Guest Wrote: (04-04-2018 04:20 AM) IceMan Wrote: (04-04-2018 12:48 AM) What does 'president' Trump think that Mexico has to do with this? It's not like people are coming over on order of the Mexican government.

Really? Thats your question?

That's why I asked it. That's why I asked it. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 04:38 AM











Post: #6 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

IceMan Wrote: (04-04-2018 12:48 AM) What does 'president' Trump think that Mexico has to do with this? It's not like people are coming over on order of the Mexican government.

Are you sure of that? Are you sure of that? LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 04:43 AM











Post: #7 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF





Agent Stoneheart

Have a nice day

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 04:44 AM



Posts: 15,522









Post: #8 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

LoP Guest Wrote: (04-04-2018 04:38 AM) IceMan Wrote: (04-04-2018 12:48 AM) What does 'president' Trump think that Mexico has to do with this? It's not like people are coming over on order of the Mexican government.

Are you sure of that?

About 99.5% About 99.5% LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 04:47 AM











Post: #9 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

IceMan Wrote: (04-04-2018 12:48 AM) What does 'president' Trump think that Mexico has to do with this? It's not like people are coming over on order of the Mexican government.

Mexico is not stoping these people from entering their country at their southern border. Mexico is not stoping these people from entering their country at their southern border. NormalIsSubjective



User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 05:31 AM



Posts: 21,046









Post: #10 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

LoP Guest Wrote: (04-04-2018 12:33 AM) In a press briefing during a meeting with the presidents of three Baltic nations, President Trump took a few minutes to discuss the border security problems here in America. He announced that he would be sending US troops to the southern border to defend it until such time as our laws can be changed and a protective wall built.



At the 2:00 mark of the video President Trump shifts his focus from China to Mexico and the caravan of illegals that was travelling northward to parasitically squat in the United States. He says, If it reaches our border our laws are so weak and so patheticits like we have no border because we had Obama make changes, president Obama made changes that basically created no border.



He explains, Its called catch and release. We catch them we register them, they go into our country. We cant throw them out and in many cases they shouldnt be here. He notes that almost none of them show up for their court date.



Of course it only makes sense that whatever Obama as an individual did is a policy not a law, as only Congress can write laws, and if it is policy only then it can be undone with a new policy. Obama overturned the historic definition of the word refugee and redefined it to a distorted, liberal interpretation.



It seems that it would be a simple matter to return to the actual meaning that existed before Obama infested the White House and correct the current policy of allowing third world peasant exploitation. Maybe President Trump should work on that one while hes making other changes as it appears to be an easy and obvious fix to a problem that is confounding his agenda.



He tells reporters We are going to be doing some things. Ive been speaking with General Mattis, were going to be doing things militarily until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military. Thats a big step. We really havent done that before, certainly not very much before.



It seems from those comments that hes given up on the idea of using the military to build the wall, if he ever was serious about it, as theyll be there as border guards only.





https://rickwells.us/trump-military-border-mexico/



Unsurprisingly, Trump was happy to use Obama to score debating points with Hillary:







PolitiFacts annotated transcript of the third presidential debate



Oct 19, 2016



[...]



TRUMP: President Obama has moved millions of people out. Nobody knows about it, nobody talks about it. But under Obama, millions of people have been moved out of this country. Theyve been deported. She doesnt want to say that, but thats whats happened, and thats what happened big league.



As far as moving these people out and moving  we either have a country or we dont. Were a country of laws. We either have a border or we dont.



Now, you can come back in and you can become a citizen. But its very unfair. We have millions of people that did it the right way. Theyre on line. Theyre waiting. Were going to speed up the process, big league , because its very inefficient. But theyre on line and theyre waiting to become citizens.



Very unfair that somebody runs across the border, becomes a citizen, under her plan, you have open borders. You would have a disaster on trade, and you will have a disaster with your open borders.



WALLACE: I want to



TRUMP: But what she doesnt say is that President Obama has deported millions and millions of people just the way it is.

https://medium.com/@PolitiFact/politifac....qg78ahpa3







Obama created a deportation machine. Soon it will be Trump's



Daniel Denvi, 21 Nov 2016



Among the many asphyxiating gut punches delivered by Donald Trumps election, his denigration of immigrants and pledge to deport them en masse stand out. Trump has now signaled that he will move to deport as many as three million immigrants after he takes office, and roll back Barack Obamas executive action protecting more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.



The guesswork under way over the damage Trump might wreak, from decimating what remains of the social safety net to trashing precarious efforts to curb global warming, is chilling. The promised attack on immigrants suggests we will see communities terrorized by what can only be fairly described as a police state.



Whats received little attention is that Trump would probably use tools developed by the Bush and Obama administrations to orchestrate mass deportations. Over the last 16 years, the federal government has used local police and jails as a key tool to orchestrate mass deportations  and thats precisely what Trump plans to do on a more frightening scale than ever.



One tool, Obamas favorite, is Secure Communities, now called the Priority Enforcement Program. It links an FBI database comprising fingerprints entered by local law enforcement bodies to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Under Obama, Secure Communities made local arrests the key entry point to a deportation pipeline that removed 2.5 million from the country. Another is 287(g), authorized by Bill Clinton but first implemented under Bush, which deputizes local police and jails to search out undocumented immigrants.



Thanks to a strong immigrant rights movement, Obama curbed both to a limited (and, in the case of Secure Communities, heavily debated) degree after overseeing mass deportations. Trump has clearly stated he will get rid of Obamas restrictions and embrace both programs with open arms.



Over the last two weeks, the political establishment, tied to Wall Street and indifferent to working people, has received a just share of blame for allowing Trump to come to power. When it comes to immigration, however, that blame is more well deserved than is widely understood.



For years, establishment leaders like Clinton, Bush and Obama have attempted to placate rising nativism on the right instead of confronting it, implementing immigration and border crackdowns. Instead of sating the nativist rights hunger for enforcement, the establishment has lent credence to their paranoiac fears over criminal immigrants.



Rather than fighting their extreme policy initiatives, the establishment built the right a monstrous deportation machinery that could now be used to utterly monstrous ends  which, frankly, is how theyve been used all along.



Strangely enough, what sounds so terrifying coming out of Trumps mouth today is not so different from what Obama, minus the brazen racism, has articulated as policy in recent years.



Felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mom thats working hard to provide for her kids, said Obama in 2014. If you meet the criteria, you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. If youre a criminal, youll be deported.



The ACLUs executive director, Anthony Romero, has noted: Obamas failure to rein in George Bushs national security policies hands Donald Trump a fully loaded weapon. To extend that analogy on immigration: Obama has provided Trump with fully loaded weapons, bullets and a well-trained army ... Unsurprisingly, Trump was happy to use Obama to score debating points with Hillary:PolitiFacts annotated transcript of the third presidential debateOct 19, 2016[...]TRUMP:She doesnt want to say that, but thats whats happened, and thats what happened big league.As far as moving these people out and moving  we either have a country or we dont. Were a country of laws. We either have a border or we dont., because its very inefficient. But theyre on line and theyre waiting to become citizens.Very unfair that somebody runs across the border, becomes a citizen, under her plan, you have open borders. You would have a disaster on trade, and you will have a disaster with your open borders.WALLACE: I want toTRUMP: But what she doesnt say is that President Obama has deported millions and millions of people just the way it is.Obama created a deportation machine. Soon it will be Trump'sDaniel Denvi, 21 Nov 2016Among the many asphyxiating gut punches delivered by Donald Trumps election, his denigration of immigrants and pledge to deport them en masse stand out. Trump has now signaled that he will move to deport as many as three million immigrants after he takes office, and roll back Barack Obamas executive action protecting more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.The guesswork under way over the damage Trump might wreak, from decimating what remains of the social safety net to trashing precarious efforts to curb global warming, is chilling. The promised attack on immigrants suggests we will see communities terrorized by what can only be fairly described as a police state.Over the last 16 years, the federal government has used local police and jails as a key tool to orchestrate mass deportations  and thats precisely what Trump plans to do on a more frightening scale than ever.One tool, Obamas favorite, is Secure Communities, now called the Priority Enforcement Program. It links an FBI database comprising fingerprints entered by local law enforcement bodies to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Under Obama, Secure Communities made local arrests the key entry point to a deportation pipeline that removed 2.5 million from the country. Another is 287(g), authorized by Bill Clinton but first implemented under Bush, which deputizes local police and jails to search out undocumented immigrants.Thanks to a strong immigrant rights movement, Obama curbed both to a limited (and, in the case of Secure Communities, heavily debated) degree after overseeing mass deportations. Trump has clearly stated he will get rid of Obamas restrictions and embrace both programs with open arms.Over the last two weeks, the political establishment, tied to Wall Street and indifferent to working people, has received a just share of blame for allowing Trump to come to power. When it comes to immigration, however, that blame is more well deserved than is widely understood.For years, establishment leaders like Clinton, Bush and Obama have attempted to placate rising nativism on the right instead of confronting it, implementing immigration and border crackdowns. Instead of sating the nativist rights hunger for enforcement, the establishment has lent credence to their paranoiac fears over criminal immigrants.Rather than fighting their extreme policy initiatives, the establishment built the right a monstrous deportation machinery that could now be used to utterly monstrous ends  which, frankly, is how theyve been used all along.Felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mom thats working hard to provide for her kids, said Obama in 2014. If you meet the criteria, you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. If youre a criminal, youll be deported.... https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...mage-trump LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 05:33 AM











Post: #11 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

Is there a war going on? Then get the troops off our border he is deploying military within the country LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 08:40 AM











Post: #12 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

Smart move.



Terrorist are among illegal immigrants.



Deploying the military is prudent.



Also this meshes well with the miliatary defence of the border using a massive wall to to aid in keeping terrorists out.









He is an clown  remember that.



Running circles around them.





- LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 08:54 AM











Post: #13 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

LoP Guest Wrote: (04-04-2018 04:47 AM) IceMan Wrote: (04-04-2018 12:48 AM) What does 'president' Trump think that Mexico has to do with this? It's not like people are coming over on order of the Mexican government.

Mexico is not stoping these people from entering their country at their southern border.

THESE PEOPLE HAVE HUMAN RIGHTS, HAVE YOU NOTICE??



MEXICO IS NOT GOING TO VIOLATE HUMAN RIGHTS ONLY BECAUSE IDIOT TRUMP WANTS TO



THESE PEOPLE HAVE HUMAN RIGHTS, HAVE YOU NOTICE??MEXICO IS NOT GOING TO VIOLATE HUMAN RIGHTS ONLY BECAUSE IDIOT TRUMP WANTS TO LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 09:46 AM











Post: #14 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

LoP Guest Wrote: (04-04-2018 04:47 AM) IceMan Wrote: (04-04-2018 12:48 AM) What does 'president' Trump think that Mexico has to do with this? It's not like people are coming over on order of the Mexican government.

Mexico is not stoping these people from entering their country at their southern border.

mexico is usually quite brutal and strict on their southern border, illegals from south of them are usually taking a chance on death or hardcore abuse if they are found out, this current stance of mexicos is obviously a jab at trump and a threat to the US mexico is usually quite brutal and strict on their southern border, illegals from south of them are usually taking a chance on death or hardcore abuse if they are found out, this current stance of mexicos is obviously a jab at trump and a threat to the US LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

04-04-2018 10:00 AM











Post: #15 RE: TRUMP SENDS US MILITARY TO DEFEND THE BORDER  TELLS MEXICO TO KNOCK IT OFF

LoP Guest Wrote: (04-04-2018 09:46 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (04-04-2018 04:47 AM) Mexico is not stoping these people from entering their country at their southern border.

mexico is usually quite brutal and strict on their southern border, illegals from south of them are usually taking a chance on death or hardcore abuse if they are found out, this current stance of mexicos is obviously a jab at trump and a threat to the US

and i dont just mean the government, the citizens in general dont like guatemalans, hondurans, salvadorans, panamanians or whatever and i dont just mean the government, the citizens in general dont like guatemalans, hondurans, salvadorans, panamanians or whatever Advertisement


















Signs of a reaction

(Image credit: Markson Sparks/Richard Neely/REX/Shutterstock, File)

Dealing with allergies is tough. More than 50 million Americans have some type of allergy, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Most of the time, the body responds to outdoor and indoor allergens with mild reactions, such as a runny nose or sneezing. Sometimes, the reaction is more severe, such as stomach cramps, dizziness or difficulty breathing. But some people with allergies react in more unusual ways. Here are 7 particularly strange symptoms people have developed during an allergic reaction.

An odd, itchy rash

(Image credit: BSIP/UIG/Getty, File)

An 11-year-old boy developed an itchy rash on his abdomen and under his wristwatch a week after he was fitted for his braces, according to a 2004 case report published in the journal Dermatitis. It turned out, the boy was allergic to the nickel in the braces. The silver-colored metal is often mixed with other metals and is found in coins, jewelry eyeglass frames, key and home fixtures. Nickel is also the most common metal that people have allergic reactions to, and it's known to cause a red, itchy, bumpy rash.

Skin tumors

(Image credit: Kirill Kukhmar/TASS/Getty)

Some people who get permanent tattoos develop strange skin growths. In 2008, University of Maryland researchers reported a case of a 38-year-old man who developed a skin tumor one month after getting a tattoo. In another study, published in 2010 in the Journal of Cutaneous Pathology, researchers analyzed eight people of tattoo-related skin tumors, and found that red tattoo ink was associated with most of the skin tumors. Experts say the skin recognizes the red ink as a foreign substance, and triggers an immune response.

Blisters, hives and swollen skin  from the sun

(Image credit: BSIP/UIG/Getty, File)

There are people who are allergic to the sun and experience symptoms such as blisters, hives and swelling of the skin when they're exposed to it. According to a 2011 study from researchers in Germany, about 10 to 20 percent of people in Europe, United States and Scandinavia suffer from a sun allergy. The abnormal reaction to sunlight is usually due to ultraviolet rays, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Black spots on the skin

An itchy rash may be a common allergic reaction to poison ivy or poison oak, but there are also rare cases where people develop black spots, according to a 2008 study published in the journal Dermatitis. Black shiny deposits form on the skin and clothing when a high amount of resin, the toxic plants' oily secretion, is exposed to the air. The researchers said the spots eventually peel off, and the skin heals without scarring.

Swollen tongue

(Image credit: Markson Sparks/Richard Neely/REX/Shutterstock, File)

People who have hay fever might have something besides hay itself to worry about: Some fruits and vegetables contain proteins similar to those found in hay pollen. They can cause allergies symptoms such as itchiness or swelling of the mouth, face, lip, tongue and throat. Known as oral allergy syndrome, the condition occurs when the immune system behaves as though the protein found in some fruits and vegetables and the pollen in the air are the same. The syndrome affects up to one-third of allergy sufferers and can occur at anytime, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

A bright red butt

People exposed to certain metals, medications and plants or herbs, can develop Baboon Syndrome. That's right, the condition means developing a bright red rash, primarily on the butt, closely resembling a baboon's butt, according to research reports. The red rash can appear on the anus, genitals and inner thighs, and can be itchy and painful, but the syndrome doesn't pose any serious health risks. Exposure to metals such as mercury, gold and nickel, can trigger a reaction, according to 2011 review in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. Recent studies have shown that antibiotics and antibacterials administered by mouth, intravenously or on the skin can also trigger the reaction.

Shortness of breath  thanks to onions?

(Image credit: Carsten Koall/Getty)

When you think of a physical reaction to onions, teary eyes probably come to mind.

But an onion farmer in Japan developed a cough and shortness of breath after spending too much time around the root veggies, according to a 2018 case report published in the journal Respiratory Medicine Case Reports.

It turned out that the man had allergy to a type of mold, called Aspergillus niger, that was growing on the onion peels. The mold can cause a condition called hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which occurs when the tiny air sacs in the lungs, known as alveoli, become inflamed.

The man's symptoms went away when he wasn't at work, and he was advised to wear a thick filtered mask while working with onions.

Originally published on Live Science.
At least two types of dinosaurs left the foot- and handprints. Large, roundish tracks with toe and claw marks found at the site likely belonged to long-necked, four-legged herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs, while the smaller, three-toed and clawed footprints were probably left by two-legged, meat-eating theropods, whose relatives include Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor, the researchers said.

These footprints are a rare find, and not just because they show that these dinosaurs may have felt right at home splashing through the shallow waters of the ancient lagoon that used to be there. The fossils are a prize find because they're from the Middle Jurassic, an epoch that has a poor fossil record worldwide, the researchers said. [See Photos of the Newly Discovered Dinosaur Footprints in Scotland]

"Fossils are just super-rare from this time interval," study co-researcher Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, told Live Science. "Some time periods preserve a lot of fossils, and others are mostly barren. It's the quirks of geology."

Snails and limpets fill the track mark of an ancient sauropod dinosaur. (Image credit: Paige dePolo)

Study co-researcher Davide Foffa, a doctoral student in the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh, found the track site in April 2016 during an annual fieldwork trip to the Isle of Skye. Local hikers may know the spot as Rubha nam Brathairean, which is Gaelic for "Brothers' Point."

In all, the paleontologists found about 50 track marks, most of them left by the long-necked sauropods. These dinosaurs likely stood about 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall at the hip, measured about 49 feet (15 m) in length and weighed more than 10 tons (9 metric tons). Some of them left footprints as long as 2.3 feet (70 centimeters).

The theropods that left footprints at the site were likely about 19 feet (6 m) in length and weighed up to a ton (0.9 metric tons). The largest three-toed theropod footprints found there measure 1.7 feet (53 cm) in length. These prints were fossilized thanks to the lagoon's "low-energy environment," said study lead researcher Paige dePolo, a master's student of paleontology and geobiology at the University of Edinburgh.

The find is one of a growing number of sites that indicate plenty of sauropods were sloshing around shallow lagoons. In 2015, Brusatte and his colleagues found hundreds of dinosaur footprints in another, slightly younger ancient lagoon, known as the Duntulm track site, that is also on the Isle of Skye. Researchers have also found sauropod track marks in marine and lagoon sediments in Portugal, Australia and Mexico, dePolo told Live Science.

Meat-eating dinosaurs seem to have been splashing around the lagoon as well, Brusatte said. [Photos: Giant Sauropods Plodded Along in Scottish Lagoon]

A theropod dinosaur left this track mark about 170 million years ago. (Image credit: Paige dePolo)

What dinosaurs left these?

It's unclear what species of dinosaurs left these prints. But fossilized track marks, just like fossilized animals, are given scientific names. It's likely that the sauropod prints are Breviparopus, a type of track mark seen at other sites, the researchers said.

Meanwhile, the theropod prints are likely those of Eubrontes, which have also been found at other sites. It's challenging to say what carnivorous species left Eubrontes, but perhaps it was "Megalosaurus, which is known from skeletons in the Middle Jurassic of England," Brusatte said.

The study was published online today (April 3) in the Scottish Journal of Geology.

Original article on Live Science.
Scientists say they know how the universe will end. It won't be a cosmic collapse but rather a giant cosmic bubble that devours everything in its path.

According to a recent paper, published on March 12 in the journal Physical Review D, the final moment for the universe will be triggered by a bizarre consequence of subatomic physics called an instanton. This instanton will create a tiny bubble that will expand at the speed of light, swallowing everything in its path. It's only a matter of time. [Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth]

"At some point you will create one of these bubbles," study lead author Anders Andreassen, a physicist at Harvard University, told Live Science. "It will be very unpleasant."

By "unpleasant," he means the end to all life  and, indeed, chemistry  as we know it.

Very little is known about instantons, which are the solutions to equations governing the motion of tiny subatomic particles, but Andreassen loosely compared them to the phenomenon of quantum tunneling, whereby a particle seemingly defies physics to pass through an otherwise impenetrable barrier. But instead of crossing a barrier, the instanton forms a bubble within the Higgs field, the field that gives everything mass and gives rise to the Higgs boson.

Interestingly, this universe-ending bubble would never have been possible were it not for the particular mass of the Higgs boson in relation to another heavier particle, called a top quark, which comprises many atoms. If either the quark or the Higgs particle had been a little lighter, these universe-destroying bubbles couldnt form.

Alas, that is not the case and so after some amount of time, a destructive bubble will form. The team calculated the shelf life of the universe as between 10 quinquadragintillion years (one with 139 zeros after it) and a mere 10 octodecillion years (one with 58 zeros after it).

"That is a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very long time," Andreassen said. "Our sun will burn up and many things will happen in our solar system before this is very likely to happen."

It's like the milk in your fridge. The sell-by date is the earliest conceivable deadline, but chances are you can drink it after that without a problem. Of course, there's always the outside chance that something went wrong at the bottling plant and it's sour the minute you buy it. Similarly, Andreassen said, it's possible that a bubble has already formed and is hurtling toward us at the speed of light right now.

There's comfort in knowing how everything ends, but Vincenzo Branchina, a physics professor and researcher at the University of Catania in Italy who was not involved in the study, said not to start crying over sour milk just yet.

"The claim that Anders Andreassen and company are making for this number has to be taken, as they say, with a grain of salt," Branchina said.

Branchina said the Harvard team only accounted for the standard model of physics and not all the new and confusing branches, like quantum gravity and dark matter, that are still completely mysterious. In order for the universe to be consumed in an expanding ball of chaos, dark matter, a mysterious form of matter that exerts a gravitational pull but emits no light, cannot interfere. Which is unlikely, since it might comprise 80 percent of our universe.

Similarly, Branchina has shown that quantum gravity  a bizarre part of physics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of general relativity, that we have barely glimpsed  could make the universe far more stable or unstable, depending on its rules. He said that since nobody understands this new physics, we cannot know anything about the universes ultimate end.

Andreassen agreed.

"I wouldnt put my money on this being the end of the story. I would expect dark matter to come kick in and change the story," Andreassen said.

Originally published on Live Science.
Mel Gordon, a drama scholar who penned unconventional and eclectic writings on theater history, died March 22 in Richmond. He was 71.

The cause of death was complications related to renal failure, said Gordons former wife Sheila Gordon.

Gordon is perhaps best known for The Grand Guignol, about the graphic genre of theater in 20th century Paris, and Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin, on sex culture and prostitution during the Weimar Republic. He also directed more than 20 productions in Frankfurt, New York City, Paris, Zurich and San Francisco.

Gordon taught theater at UC Berkeley starting in 1990, including a popular course on bad acting. In recent months, Gordon had been working on two books, one on fascist love cults of the 1930s, and a second on 1920s flappers, said Sheila Gordon, who was married to Gordon from 1985 to 1994 and remained friends with him. He retired from teaching two years ago, she said.

He influenced me and my life and my teaching greatly, said Sheila Gordon, an associate professor of acting and voice at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, and a former student of Gordons. I wouldnt be doing what Im doing if it werent for him. He influenced many of his other students that way. He touched lots of lives, generations of students.

Melvin Irwin Gordon was born Feb. 18, 1947, in Detroit, to Rose and Joseph Gordon.

His academic career began at New York University, where he taught at Tisch School of the Arts in 1970s and 1980s before moving to the Bay Area in 1990 to teach at Berkeley.

In the academic world, he was considered a bit of an oddball, said Adam Parfrey of Feral Press, who published a number of Gordons books including The Grand Guignol and Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitlers Jewish Clairvoyant.

His interests coincided more with mine than actual academia per se, said Parfrey, who knew Gordon for nearly 40 years.

They met in 1979 at a theater journal where Parfrey was typesetting and laying out pages.

Gordons interest in his subjects came, in large part, from the fact that they werent well known, Parfrey said.

He didnt want to do or wasnt interested in things that you could just find on television, Parfrey said. It wasnt like he was a weirdo per se, but he had an interest in things that werent overwhelmingly discussed.

Gordon also had a knack for digging up new information, forgoing the secondary sources held in libraries for firsthand ephemera that hed find in small stores throughout his travels.

He was the most interesting person I knew, said Gordons nephew, Maer Ben-Yisrael. He loved art and culture and the weird side of both of those things, and made a career out of it. He would find singular obsessions and really go to town on them.

Gordon is survived by his brother, Norman Gordon of Prescott, Ariz.; and his nephews, Ben-Yisrael of Oakland and Mark Gordon of Morgan Hill.

A memorial service is being planned.
A dozen stories beneath Stockton Street in San Franciscos Chinatown, the digging is done, and the final station for Munis $1.6 billion Central Subway is beginning to rise toward the street.

Muni officials on Tuesday announced the end of excavation and said the Central Subway is on track to begin taking on passengers by December 2019.

The subway, a 1.7-mile extension of Munis T-Third line, was originally projected to open by the end of this year. But troubles with the underground excavation of the Chinatown station at Washington Street  using mining techniques to keep the street open  slowed construction.

The opening date for the subway has been a point of dispute. An independent monitor has projected the opening by the end of 2019 in recent reports, but subway contractor Tutor Perini told members of the Board of Supervisors in December that opening might be delayed to 2021.

Standing where the tracks will pass through the Chinatown station, Ed Reiskin, the MTAs transportation director, said the end of excavation was a significant milestone and that the project is moving ahead.

Were holding with the December 2019 projection, he said. Representatives of Tutor did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

As Reiskin spoke, dozens of workers hustled around the cavern, installing waterproofing on the walls and rebar on the floors.

Acting Project Manager Albert Hoe said the next steps involve pouring the subway floor and installing the station entrances and concourse, the tracks, and electrical and mechanical systems. He said he expects those to be completed by the middle of 2019. Then Muni will take over and start testing and training.

Neighbors of the Chinatown station will welcome the winding down of construction, which has disrupted business and traffic, even though Stockton Street remained open.

Cheryl Brinkman, chairwoman of the MTA Board of Directors, said delays are unfortunately common on major infrastructure projects, especially in dense urban areas. But she said she hopes the opening of the subway will bring new business and vitality to the neighborhood as well as providing better mobility for people who now have to crowd aboard sluggish Muni buses.

I hope they feel that will make up for the years of impact, she said.

Elsewhere along the Central Subway line, progress is also being made, Hoe said. Subterranean stations at Yerba Buena/Moscone Center and Union Square should be completed by the end of the year.

Mayor Mark Farrell, who toured the station Tuesday, said it was awe-inspiring to be down here and pronounced it the future of San Francisco. He also supported a future extension of the subway.

We need to be digging not just to North Beach but beyond, he said.
In Chocolate We Trust: The Hershey Company Town Unwrapped

By Peter Kurie

University of Pennsylvania Press. 216 pp. $34.95

---

The town of Hershey, Pa., manages to be somehow typically American and utterly unique, rich in symbolic undertones, freighted with a complex history and an uncertain future. Billed as "The Sweetest Place on Earth," the town was founded in the early 20th century by Milton Hershey as part of the chocolate company that bears his name - a genuinely iconic and resolutely independent American business.

Now native son and Princeton-trained anthropologist Peter Kurie examines the community, the company and its history in his book "In Chocolate We Trust: The Hershey Company Town Unwrapped."

Hershey started his company with the simple and unbeatable idea that chocolate could be manufactured cheaply and sold widely, rather than being a niche delicacy for the rich. A strict Mennonite, he founded the town of Hershey, which included a school for the education of orphans, along vaguely communitarian lines, a conception that became central to Hershey's mythology and appeal. The town was a bizarre cross between a Disneyfied ideal picket-fence America and a company town owned by an eccentric if benevolent patriarch: a shotgun marriage of the national strains of utopian communitarianism and good old-fashioned corporate ideology. To the outsider, the sense of identification borders on the creepy. Longtime residents still refer to the founder as "Mr. Hershey" or even "Milt," as though Hershey, who died in 1945, had just stepped out for a moment.

In Kurie's telling, what makes the Hershey empire both so durable and so fraught are the unusual terms of Hershey's trust, which is "an outlier among charities."

Hershey is a publicly traded corporation owned in perpetuity by a nonprofit trust. That unwieldy and deeply unorthodox arrangement contains a probably unsustainable legal contradiction. "In Chocolate We Trust" thus largely concerns itself with two countervailing dynamics: the ambivalence that long-term residents feel about changing demographics and values, and the so far unsuccessful attempts of external investors to pry Hershey out of the trust's control and supercharge its financial performance.

Kurie's brand of ethnography entails a lot of simple listening to folks talk. Along the way, the reader meets a manager for Hershey's new corporate social responsibility department who spews just-north-of-parody nonsense about the "halo effect on our brand equity" and how "positive goodwill for the corporation ultimately enhances shareholder value." A legal scholar named Robert Sitkoff repeatedly insists the trust's failure to sell the company to the highest bidder, consequences be damned, is an "outrageous" moral failure.

Kurie also talks to a former executive who drolly says working for Hershey meant "you weren't a 100 percent capitalist pig" and a quartet of Clinton-voting "Hillary Girls" who miss the days when Hershey School "students would visit with local people for dinner on weekends," in a golden age before an unspecified "they" took over and "started to close the school in."

Kurie does not put it quite this way, but his book conveys the sense of an institution that is caught between eras: It cannot remain stuck in the sepia-toned twilight of its Christian-charity origins, but it remains stoutly resistant to corporate raiders.

The latter possibility was at least temporarily forestalled by the 2002 "Derail the Sale" campaign, in which the sale of Hershey to Wrigley was sidelined by the work of a vocal and well-organized grass-roots protest movement, resulting in the intervention of the Pennsylvania attorney general. Veterans of that campaign look fondly upon their success and concede it is probably unduplicable, leaving the Hershey Co. permanently vulnerable to future corporate depredations.

"In Chocolate We Trust" tells a great story, pertinent and fascinating, although Kurie's careful anthropological approach possibly mishandles it. The book sometimes feels like what would have been a good piece of long-form journalism straining to expand into a scholarly framework. Kurie's conclusions about Hershey display measured good sense: No, a fiduciary responsibility does not mean the trust is obligated to sell; yes, the Hershey School could be better run. "The trust's control of the chocolate company," Kurie writes, "warrants both preservation and cultivation."

Less convincing is Kurie's attempt to frame the story of Milton Hershey as being "as relevant as ever" because of his status as a forerunner to men like Bill Gates, whom Kurie cites as "a paragon of the twenty-first-century entrepreneur-philanthropist." With all due respect to Kurie, the comparison is ill-conceived. For better or worse, unlike the new breed of businessmen-philanthropers, Hershey restricted his beneficence to a very local ambit. The Hershey School specifically gives priority to at-need children who live in Dauphin County.Whatever else you say about Milt, he understood his people.

---

Lindgren is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post.
The Overstory

By Richard Powers

W.W. Norton. 502 pp. $27.95

---

Henry David Thoreau once heaved a big stone against the trunk of a chestnut tree to bring down a shower of nuts. He loved their sweet meat, but the meal filled him with guilt. "It is worse than boorish, it is criminal, to inflict an unnecessary injury on the tree that feeds or shadows us," he wrote in his journal in 1855. "Old trees are our parents, and our parents' parents, perchance."

During Thoreau's life, American chestnuts covered a huge swath of the Eastern United States. The author of "Walden" couldn't have imagined that billions of our woody parents would be destroyed by a blight in the early 20th century. That decimation, sparked by a fungus imported from Asia, was compounded by the nation's voracious lumber industry, which denuded North America and then lashed out across the world.

In 2016, Annie Proulx captured three centuries of logging in the New World with a fantastic novel called "Barkskins." Given its enormous length and its encyclopedic examination of wood, "Barkskins" felt like a singular creation, but now it has a monumental companion planted right alongside it: Richard Powers' "The Overstory." This ambitious novel soars up through the canopy of American literature and remakes the landscape of environmental fiction.

Long celebrated for his compelling, cerebral books, Powers demonstrates a remarkable ability to tell dramatic, emotionally involving stories while delving into subjects many readers would otherwise find arcane. He's written about genetics, pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, music and photography. In 2006, his novel about neurology, "The Echo Maker," won a National Book Award. And now he's turned his attention, more fully than ever before, to our imperiled biome and particularly to the world's oldest, grandest life forms: trees.

"The Overstory" moves the way an open field evolves into a thick forest: slowly, then inevitably. For a while, its various stories develop independently, and it's not apparent that they have anything to do with one another. But have faith in this worldmaker. Powers is working through tree history, not human history, and the effect is like a time-lapse video. Soon enough his disparate characters set out branches that touch and mingle: Before the Civil War, a Norwegian immigrant travels to Iowa and begins homesteading in the largely empty new state. Just after World War II, a young man sails from Shanghai to San Francisco. In the late 1970s, an odd kid from a troubled family gets accepted to college. And a sergeant in the Vietnam War barely escapes death when a 300-year-old banyan catches his body falling from a cargo plane. "He owes his own life to a tree," Powers writes.

We all do.

That universal salvation is the root of this amazingly complex novel, which keeps expanding to include a video game pioneer, an intellectual property lawyer, an amateur actress, a woman back from the dead and many more. As in nature, there is what seems like extravagant excess. These characters don't all snap together at some contrived moment like a literary flash mob, but "their lives have long been connected, deep underground," Powers writes. "Their kinship will work like an unfolding book." In one way or another, all their lives turn toward the miracle of trees.

What makes "The Overstory" so fascinating is the way it talks to itself, responding to its own claims about the fate of the Earth with confirmation and contradiction. Individual stories constantly shift the novel's setting and pace, changing registers, pushing into every cranny of these people's lives.

As is so often the case in Powers' books, "The Overstory" includes a radical expert who hypnotizes us with the provocative implications of her field. Patty Westerford is a young botanist in the 1960s who discovers that "trees are social creatures": They communicate with each other and react to their environment in dynamic and ingenious ways. (Patty's ideas echo those of Suzanne Simard and Peter Wohlleben, popularized in the best-selling book "The Hidden Life of Trees.") As we follow Patty's tumultuous career from initial success to professional exile to eventual sainthood, she becomes the novel's - and, one suspects, the author's - green prophet. Like a double helix of Jane Goodall and Rachel Carson, Patty is that rare, cutting-edge scientist whose work reaches far beyond the lab and inspires a kind of mystical awe.

Some of the characters moved by Patty's revelatory research are inspired to more aggressive forms of environmental activism - even ecoterrorism. In harrowing scenes of personal sacrifice - or deadly self-righteousness - we see an unlikely group drawn together by their absolute conviction that our rapacious destruction of trees is an act of mass suicide.

The urgency of that belief gives rise to the novel's most unsettling theme: the tension between complacency and stridency in the face of existential threats. One character, a deeply conflicted psychologist, dedicates his life to researching "the personality factors that make it possible for some individuals to wonder how everyone can be so blind." Who's crazier, he asks, those protesters camping on top of a doomed redwood or the mass of consumers ignoring the flames of their only planet? It's a question the entire novel grows around with fairly bleak expectations.

"All good stories," Powers writes, "kill you a little. They turn you into something you weren't." That's a daunting standard for any author, but it's the feeling one has emerging from the forest of this remarkable book.
A UISD student was killed over the weekend when a tree caved in and fell on top of him during a family gathering in central Laredo, police said.

Carlos Pena, 6, was a student at Newman Elementary, according to the United Independent School District.

READ MORE: Shots fired reports in South Laredo may be linked

As the school community mourns the loss of a fellow classmate and student, the district is providing additional counselors to support to students and staff on campus. Our district extends our deepest condolences and prayers to his family and friends impacted by this tragedy, UISD said in a statement.

Laredo Medical Center personnel called police at about 6:42 p.m. Saturday saying they had received a child with severe head trauma at the emergency room.

Findings of the investigation revealed that the child, Pena, was attending a family gathering at a home in the 2100 block of East Kearney Street. He was in a hammock tied between two trees, police said.

One of the trees caved in and fell on top of the child, said Investigator Joe E. Baeza, LPD spokesman.

Relatives took him with extreme head injuries to LMC, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

READ MORE: The best hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Laredo, according to Yelp reviews

Webb County medical examiner personnel and LPD detectives followed up on the case, as per procedure, Baeza said.

There's no indication that theres anything else at hand other than a tragic accident, he said.
Two reports of shots fired in south Laredo may be linked to each other, police said.

Laredo police officers responded to shots fired at about 4 a.m. Monday in the 2600 block of San Salvador Street.
The first sign that A Quiet Place means business comes in the opening shot, in which the words Day 89 are flashed onto the screen. This means a movie that contains no scene of a technician in some remote outpost, looking at a computer and saying, Oh ... my ... God. This means no somber address to the nation by President Morgan Freeman about aliens on the march. The worst has happened already, with even more worst to come.

Now its just a family of five creeping through what remains of a drugstore, gathering provisions. We notice at once that they are being really, really quiet. Not only that, but theyre trying to be quiet, and every time one of them almost makes noise  almost knocks something over, almost trips over something  the mother (Emily Blunt) goes into a mortal panic.

There have been many horror films over the past century, so its rare that someone comes up with an original angle. A society in collapse, alien invasion, a family struggling to survive  these are familiar and reliable tropes in sci-fi horror. Whats different here is the nature of the invader. They hunt by sound. If anyone makes a noise, an alien shows up immediately, as if materializing out of the air, and attacks.

So A Quiet Place is the closest thing to a silent movie since The Artist. From beginning to end, there are maybe two pages of spoken dialogue. The family knows sign language  the teenage daughter (Millicent Simmonds) is deaf  and when they sign, the movie provides subtitles.

As the movie starts, the family is migrating on foot from the city into the countryside. Then, immediately after the credits, the movie makes another jump to some 400 days into the crisis, with the family, quiet as ever, living in the country. And one of the first things we notice is that the mother is very pregnant. Uh-oh. Babies are noisy. For that matter, childbirth is pretty noisy. Whats going to happen to these people in just a few weeks?

What follows becomes the story of A Quiet Place, one best left to be discovered. Suffice it to say that while most movies arrive at some kind of climax, this one comes to a crescendo that doesnt stop. The second half of the movie is a series of slowly built and meticulously constructed crises, one flowing into the next, each one exceeding the other, to the point that the whole experience becomes almost unbearable  but unbearable in the best way.

Because A Quiet Place has very little spoken dialogue and because everyone on screen is trying to be silent, the viewer becomes acutely aware of sound. John Krasinski, who directed (and who plays the father), makes intelligent use of the audiences heightened attention throughout. The sudden appearances of the aliens  disgusting, huge, insect-like creatures  seem especially noisy and horrifying. At one point, one roars past unseen, and yet we know from the theater speaker system that it has moved, in a flash, from left to right.

Krasinski directs himself well, as the solid, protective fatherly presence. But he wisely throws most of the movie to Emily Blunt, who turns out to be a strong silent-film actress. In most of her movies, Blunts face suggests some vague internal hell, some churning insecurity, confusion or misery. Here, the hell is external  sometimes its even creeping around upstairs  and Blunt receives it almost as if in rueful acknowledgment that her inner world has gone public. She plays the mother, not as an average person to whom something extraordinary has happened, but as an interesting person whose life has become too interesting.

Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles movie critic. Email: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MickLaSalle

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Charities were the big winners as four Texas chefs cooked up some home-grown food for eager patrons at the recent Chef Fest.

Chef Fest dished up $4,000 for four Houston-area charities during an event featuring more than a dozen of the region's culinary stars. The farm-to-table food festival took place in March at the 12-acre Harvest Green Village Farm. The featured chefs - hailing from Houston, Dallas and Austin - prepared an assortment of dishes utilizing ingredients sourced from area farms for approximately 700 food lovers.

In addition, attendees bid on numerous silent auction items such as wine tours, private chef-cooked meals, cookbooks and more. The auction raised $4,000, which will be shared equally between the Houston Food Bank, I'll Have What She's Having, Urban Harvest and the Houston Food System Collaborative.

"We were very pleased with the results of the silent auction," said Scott Snodgrass co-owner of Agmenity, the Houston-based company responsible for organizing Chef Fest. "Each of these causes is near and dear to our hearts, and we are thrilled to be able to help them with their missions."

Brian Greene, president and chief executive officer of Houston Food Bank, thanked Chef Fest for the donation and said the money raised would help provide meals for children, adults and senior citizens in need of meal assistance.

"Chefs are in the business of feeding people, as is the Houston Food Bank," Green said. "When they gather to celebrate the importance of feeding people well, to support local farms and purveyors and to help raise money for our neighbors in need, it is a win-win situation for all involved."

I'll Have What She's Having focuses on women - especially members of the culinary industry - who cannot access affordable health care.

"Texas has the country's highest rate of uninsured women, which includes many in the restaurant industry and our own organization," said Lori Choi, co-founder of the organization. "The Chef Fest contribution will provide services such as well-women exams, cancer screening and treatment, teen sexual education, STD testing and treatment and post-partum care to impact Texas' maternal mortality rate."

Urban Harvest and the Houston Food System Collaborative will use the donations to further their work educating consumers on the value of organic, sustainable food production.

Chef Fest takes place each year at Harvest Green, Houston's first farm-centered community. In addition to the chef-prepared dishes, Chef fest attendees sampled craft beers by Southern Star, Spindletap and St. Arnolds breweries. Children learned about cooking at a special Kids Can Cook tent.

For more information about Harvest Green, visit www.harvestgreentexas.com.
An April 21 Earth Day gala at Armand Bayou Nature Center will raise funds for the 2,500-acre nature preserve that contains vanishing habitats and serves as a source for community education and awareness of environmental issues.

The annual Party for the Planet fundraiser provides most of the nonprofit's operational expenses in the upcoming year, including plans for new or expanded.

"We are working on exciting new family outdoor nature programs, expanded (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) focused environmental education classes for all ages, upgraded trails and new exhibits," said Linda Retherford, an Armand Bayou Nature Center board member and program manager at Bastion Technologies, "all designed to help draw visitors to the area, improve the quality of life in our community and reconnect our neighbors to the health, happiness and knowledge benefits that come from being closer to nature."

Sponsored by San Jacinto College, the gala includes a catered dinner, live musical performance by Andy and the Dreamsicles, dancing, a charitable auction and games.

Individual seats are $175 and tables begin at $2,500. Sponsorship and auction opportunities also are available.

"Armand Bayou Nature Center will be celebrating its 44th anniversary," said Linda Retherford, an Armand Bayou Nature Center board member and program manager at Bastion Technologies.

The nature center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd., is one of the largest urban wilderness preservations in the nation.

More Information Want to go? What: Earth Day Party for the Planet is a fundraiser for Armand Bayou Nature Center When: 6 p.m. April 21 Where: Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd., Pasadena, Texas Details: www.ABNC.org See More Collapse

The center is named after Armand Yramategui, a legendary Houston conservationist who was murdered in 1970.

Visitors to the preserve's wetlands may witness an assortment of wildlife in their natural habitats, including alligators, buffalo, deer, turtles, snakes, birds, rabbits, armadillos, frogs and tortoises. The center encompasses four distinct habitats - prairie wetlands, forested wetlands, tidal wetlands or marshes, and the bayou, a slow-moving stream flowing to Galveston Bay, forming an estuary of brackish water and coastal habitation.

Tickets, donations and sponsorship opportunities, with memberships beginning at $45, are available through the center's website at www.ABNC.org.
Katy Aquatics and Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital will host "April Pools Day" on Saturday, April 7, to teach families about water safety, raise awareness of water hazards and prevent drownings.

The free family event is scheduled for 10 a.m.-noon at the east tower of Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital, 23900 Katy Freeway, and will feature water safety demonstrations, informational booths, games, giveaways and tours of Life Flight.

"I'd like all families with little children to come for a learning experience in a fun environment with a lot of games that all have a message for little kiddies," said Kay Sword, trauma program manager, Memorial Hermann Katy.

"I want them to love the water but I want them to be safe," she added.

"Drowning is the No. 2 cause of fatalities in the United States for children 13 and younger behind vehicle accidents," said Elizabeth Ramsey, Katy Aquatics marketing and communications liaison. "Historically, swimming pools are the most common site for a drowning to occur among children under the age of 5."

Because the event is hosted at the hospital, Katy Aquatics will not be giving swim lessons, said Ramsey, who added."We will have pediatric information as well as CPR demonstrations."

Katy Aquatics, with offices at 1806 Ave. D, Suite 103, offers swim lessons for ages 3 and up at area pools.

"Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death for kids under the age of 5 and toddlers are especially at risk," according to the Help for Parents Hope For Kids website of Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. "Drowning can happen in almost any amount of water, indoors or outdoors."

That website shows 12 kids have drowned in Texas so far in 2018 through March 21, including a three-year-old in Waller County.

During 2017, the website's statistics show that 75 kids drowned, including two in Fort Bend and nine in Harris County.

This is the seventh year for April Pools Day, which Sword said she started after seven children under the age of 17 were seen one summer in the hospital emergency room in water-related incidents.

"I thought at that point we had to do something about that," said Sword, who added that media images of people yelling for help as they're drowning don't really show how it is. "Children just slip away and silently drown and we have to stop that."

"Younger children, particularly toddlers, are especially vulnerable because they are fascinated by water and usually have not learned to swim," said Ramsey. "Children who know how to swim are less likely to drown than non-swimmers."

The basic message is "Safer Kids, Safer Water, Safer Response," said Ramsey, reminding parents/caregivers to teach children how to swim and the importance of wearing life jackets, to watch children closely around water and to learn first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Sword said, "I do feel like we're making an impact or I wouldn't continue to do it (April Pools Day)."

This is a new event for the Texas 10-59 Emergency Nurses Association, said 2018 chapter president Teresa Coyne. "I am excited about the event and our ENA group is looking forward to participating in 'April Pools'."

Gift bags will be given to the first 150 families who visit all the April Pools Day demonstrations.

Demonstrations include bathtub safety, water safety activities and games, life-jacket fitting, ambulance, fire truck and Life Flight helicopter tours, CPR demonstration and information from the Safer 3 Water Safety Foundation.

People also can register for free door prizes.

For more information on April Pools Day, visit www.katyaquatics.org or call 281-391-7200.
The Justice Department on Monday again took aim at California, suing over a new law that forces the federal government to give the state's land commission the option to buy federal land before it can be transferred to another owner.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of California, alleges the state's law violates the Constitution and should be blocked. The law was meant to preempt the Trump administration from possibly selling land state leaders felt worthy of conservation, such as national parks or monuments, though some officials warned from the start it might face legal challenges.

The case marks the second time the Justice Department in the Trump administration has sued California over laws it calls unconstitutional. Last month, the department alleged in another lawsuit that the state's "sanctuary" laws, which impose policies generally friendly to undocumented immigrants, obstruct enforcement of federal immigration law and harm public safety.

"The Constitution empowers the federal government - not state legislatures - to decide when and how federal lands are sold," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. "California was admitted to the Union upon the express condition that it would never interfere with the disposal of federal law. And yet, once again, the California legislature has enacted an extreme state law attempting to frustrate federal policy."

The latest suit is likely to generate less controversy than the first, though it escalates the federal government's conflict with its most populous and perhaps most liberal state. The federal government owns about 46 million acres in California.

California State Sen. Ben Allen (D), who authored the legislation, said in an interview that the law was "very carefully crafted" and meant mainly to ensure that the state would have an opportunity to intervene in major instances in which the federal government wanted to sell off land worthy of conservation.

He pointed to a draft infrastructure plan which suggested the government might be exploring selling off federal lands, though President Donald Trump and his interior secretary have said they are not looking to do so.

"We've got a different outlook here, and you know, look, I think that Jeff Sessions, of all people, should know the value of allowing states with different perspectives to do things the way they want to do things, within reason," Allen said. "This is a perfect example of that. We value our public lands, and it's an important part of being in California."

Allen said while there was "no question that the state can't tell the federal government that it cannot sell land," the bill focused "on the registrar recording process, which the courts have held pretty clearly belong in the hands of the locals."

In a statement, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said he was "prepared, as always, to do what it takes to protect our people, our resources, and our values."

"California didn't become our nation's economic engine and the sixth-largest economy in the world by just sitting back. We blaze trails, we innovate, and we engage in smart stewardship of our precious public lands. Our public lands should not be on the auction block to the highest bidder," he said.

The administration has for months taken an aggressive posture toward California. Sessions announced recently he was reversing Obama-era guidance on charging marijuana cases, making it easier for federal prosecutors to enforce federal laws on the drug even in states, such as California, that have legalized it.

Last month, after the Justice Department filed its lawsuit over the sanctuary policies, Sessions traveled to California and lambasted state leaders, referencing Abraham Lincoln and secession in a fiery speech about immigration enforcement and the power of the federal government.

"There is no nullification. There is no secession," Sessions said. "Federal law is the supreme law of the land. I would invite any doubters to go to Gettysburg, or to the tombstones of John C. Calhoun and Abraham Lincoln. This matter has been settled."

Trump also recently took aim at California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for pardoning five ex-convicts facing deportation, writing on Twitter," Is this really what the great people of California want?"

California leaders have bristled at the Justice Department's moves against their state. Brown said the department's lawsuit over the state's sanctuary laws was "basically going to war against the state of California."

Justice Department officials said California's law on federal lands drew their notice when the state's land commission began issuing letters about various, somewhat mundane transfers of federal property around military and veterans affairs facilities. Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio said the measure was "extreme," and Justice Department lawyers could find it in no other state.

Allen said that the bill spelled out a process for the land commission to come up with a regulation so routine requests would be automatically waived through. He predicted that 99 percent of cases would be "expedited without a blink."

"We're not doing this to jam up the federal government needlessly. We want to work with the federal government," Allen said."This is a protection for extreme cases."
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - A woman with a gun opened fire Tuesday at the headquarters of YouTube, shooting three other people before turning the weapon on herself and committing suicide, officials said.

The violence began about 12:45 p.m. in a courtyard outside the video-sharing company's headquarters, just south of San Francisco. Witnesses described seeing a woman shooting a gun in a courtyard as others ran for their lives.

"Upon arrival, officers encountered numerous employees fleeing from the building," said San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini. "It was very chaotic, as you can imagine."

Police found one gunshot victim near the entrance of the building, he said.

Two injured women ran across the street and took shelter in a restaurant, officials said.

One of the injured women had a bullet wound to her leg. A restaurant worker told local Fox affiliate KTVU that he fashioned a bungee cord into a tourniquet, helping the woman until she was taken to a hospital.

Authorities did not identify the shooter or the victims. But NBC News and CNN, citing senior law enforcement officials, identified the shooter as Nasim Aghdam, a prolific user of YouTube.

San Francisco General Hospital officials said that a 36-year-old man was in critical condition and that two women also were being treated for injuries. One of the women was in critical condition, and the other was in fair condition, a hospital official said.

Officials said a fourth person suffered an ankle injury fleeing the scene but was not struck by a bullet.

YouTube's parent company, Google, said it is cooperating with law enforcement.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a written statement he was "grateful to everyone inside and outside the company for the outpouring of support and best wishes. . . . I know a lot of you are in shock right now. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy."

Employees described a chaotic scene inside the corporate offices when the gunshots rang out. Some fled; others hid.

Vadim Lavrusik, who works on the company's product team, tweeted that he heard shots and saw people running.

"Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers," he wrote at about 1 p.m.

Todd Sherman, a product manager at the company, described the frightful moments as he evacuated the building.

"I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs," he wrote on Twitter.

Dozens of police officers converged on the building and conducted a room-to-room search for any attackers. Many YouTube employees were escorted out of the building with their hands in the air as police worked to secure the large office space.

After the incident, President Donald Trump tweeted praise for the quick police response: "Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene."

Most acts of mass violence are carried out by men, and female shooters are rare. An FBI report of active-shooter incidents nationwide between 2000 and 2013 examined 160 such attacks and found that just six involved female shooters.

The most well-known mass shooting in recent memory involving a female attacker occurred in 2015 in San Bernardino, California, about 380 miles southeast of YouTube's offices. A husband and wife who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State gunned down 14 people at an office holiday party before they fled and were killed by police.

- - -

Rosenberg and Barrett reported from Washington. Mark Berman in Washington contributed to this report.
The 2017-18 SIUE Arts & Issues season comes to a close when once again, the SIUE and SIUC orchestras join together for a one-of-a-kind musical event.

The combined orchestra performance, which will feature guest violinist Rachel Barton Pine, will take place at 7:30 p.m. on April 23 in the SIUE Dunham Hall Theater.

This event is sponsored by TheBANK of Edwardsville.

This will be the seventh consecutive year that the two orchestras have come together to perform.

Michael Mishra, professor of music and director of Orchestral Studies at SIUE, and Edward Benyas, music director of the SIUC Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the concert.

Mishra has pointed out in the past that although they have now joined orchestras together for several years, that at that initial point that the two groups come together, its always an eye opener. Youre facing this orchestra that is twice the size of the one you usually have, Mishra has noted. But its always fun to get together.

He also explained that the process of combining the two orchestras usually involves him traveling to Carbondale the week before so that he can rehearse once with the SIUC orchestra. But even doing that, its always an adventure when you combine two orchestras together 24 hours before the concert. Its a very intensive 24 hours, Mishra has said.

This years performance will feature guest violinist Rachel Barton Pine. Pine has appeared as a soloist with many of worlds most prestigious ensembles and holds prizes from several of the worlds leading competitions, including a gold medal at the J.S. Bach International Violin Competition in Leipzig, Germany.

The Washington Post has described Pine as, An exciting, boundary-defying performer  Pine displays a power and confidence that puts her in the top echelon.

Tickets for the combined orchestra performance range in price from $20 for general admission, $18 for SIUE staff, faculty, retirees, alumni and those 55 and older or $13 for students at any school or university.

Tickets can be ordered on-line at artsandissues.com or in-person at the Morris University Center (MUC) Welcome Desk. The MUC Welcome Desk is open Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The Welcome Desk is closed on Sunday. To place your order by phone call 1-866-698-4253.
When a Tesla Model X slammed into a concrete highway barrier in California last month, the vehicle's computers contained a wealth of information about the moments leading to the fatal accident.

The problem for U.S. accident investigators is that the information wasn't easily accessible. The data stored on the Tesla is in a proprietary format that can only be accessed by the company. Similarly, the information the vehicles beam to Tesla computers on a regular basis can't be obtained without the company's cooperation.

"It makes a challenging investigation more so," said Peter Goelz, a former managing director at the National Transportation Safety Board who is now senior vice president at O'Neill & Associates, a Washington lobbying and public relations firm.

Unlike the trove of information contained on an airplane's crash-proof recorders -- the so-called "black boxes" that capture flight data and sounds from the cockpit in an easy-access format -- the NTSB needs the help of automakers such as Tesla to view the information from the growing number of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles.

That requires a cooperative relationship that appears tested by the latest accident, on March 23. While the agency says Tesla has been responsive, the company's decision Friday to release information on the investigation without NTSB's permission and a Monday afternoon Twitter jab against the safety board by Elon Musk, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, has heightened tensions.

Musk defended his company's decision to release the information. "Lot of respect for NTSB," he said on Twitter, adding: "Tesla releases critical crash data affecting public safety immediately & always will. To do otherwise would be unsafe."

The release of data by an official participant in an NTSB inquiry is prohibited by law and agreements that so-called parties to an investigation must sign. It's also highly unusual for a participant to be critical of the NTSB during an open investigation.

The tensions come as the NTSB has sought greater access to data from autonomous vehicles. Last year, as part of its findings in a separate fatal crash involving a Tesla, the NTSB called on highway regulators to create standards for data collection on vehicles with automated systems and to make it "readily available."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration responded that it is working with industry groups to set such a standard. Until that happens, the agency will rely on current voluntary guidance for companies, the agency said in a Feb. 7 letter to the NTSB.

The safety board is in a similar position with Uber Technologies. The agency is relying on Uber for data showing how one of its self-driving sport utility vehicles was operating when it struck and killed a woman who was crossing a road in Tempe, Arizona, on March 18.

Tesla issued a statement on its website on Friday saying that the driver of the Model X in California, who was killed in the crash, was using the company's semi-autonomous system and didn't have his hands on the steering wheel for the six seconds before impact. It also blamed the condition of the highway barrier, which the company said was missing a device designed to absorb impact forces, for the severity of the crash.

Such statements that include conclusions about an accident's cause are strictly prohibited by the NTSB. Under federal law, participants in NTSB investigations "must follow all directions and instructions" from the agency, which includes a standard requirement to let the safety board release information.

The NTSB issued a statement on Sunday saying it was "unhappy" with Tesla about the release and confirmed that it was aware of reports that the driver had expressed "previous concerns about the autopilot." But at the same time, the agency sounded a note of caution.

"At this time the NTSB needs the assistance of Tesla to decode the data the vehicle recorded," it said in the statement, adding that the company so far has been "extremely cooperative" with investigators.

A Tesla spokeswoman said the company had no comment on its relationship with the NTSB.

The agency's requirements that participants in investigations keep quiet about findings until an inquiry has been completed is a decades-long practice that has helped the agency maintain independence and credibility, Ted Lopatkiewicz, a former spokesman, said in an email.

"Parties releasing their own statements of cause would lead to a series of conflicting self-serving statements that would not only confuse the public but would undermine the public's confidence that a truly independent examination of the facts is being conducted," Lopatkiewicz said.

There's no evidence that Tesla has withheld any information from NTSB in the California case and earlier investigations, including the 2016 collision in Florida that killed a driver who was letting the car's technology steer when it broadsided a truck and killed him. The NTSB concluded in that case that Tesla's technology was a contributing factor in that crash because it was too easy for drivers to let the car steer itself.

There may need to be more legal protection for the NTSB's access to data in the newest generation of computer-driven vehicles, said Jim Hall, a former chairman of the NTSB. "You're going to have to have some legislation to provide protection, like we do for the aviation black boxes, particularly because automobiles are going to be an equivalent to aviation in terms of technology," Hall said.

NTSB has subpoena power to compel companies to provide data it needs. While it happens rarely, the agency has removed parties to investigations several times in recent years, including American Airlines and UPS. It is also possible to seek criminal charges for obstructing an investigation in the most extreme cases.

Maintaining the appearance of impartiality is important, Hall said.

"In this matter, where this investigation is so high-profile and so important to the future, and when you're dealing with a company that not only is in automobiles but is also in space, this is extremely serious," he said.
President Donald Trump called his embattled environmental chief Monday to assure him his job is safe amid mounting scrutiny of Scott Pruitt's travel, hiring practices and an unorthodox condo rental arrangement last year, according to two administration officials.

The president told Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, to "keep your head up" and "keep fighting," because the White House has "got your back" said one of the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel matters. That message was reinforced by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in a telephone call to Pruitt on Tuesday morning.

Pruitt didn't respond to questions from reporters at an event Tuesday morning in Washington. When asked about Pruitt before meeting with Baltic leaders later Tuesday, Trump said, "I hope he's going to be great."

Pruitt has been under fire over revelations that he rented a Capitol Hill condo from the wife of a prominent energy lobbyist whose firm has clients regulated by the EPA. The unconventional lease terms permitted Pruitt to pay $50 only on days his bedroom in the unit was actually occupied -- with a total of $6,100 in payments over a roughly six-month period last year.

An EPA ethics adviser said the rental arrangement met federal guidelines and didn't violate a gift ban. Vicki Hart, the condo's co-owner, is a health care lobbyist; her husband J. Steven Hart, the president of Williams & Jensen, said he hasn't personally lobbied the EPA this year or last.

Still, the disclosure, coming on top of existing probes of Pruitt's reliance on first-class flights and frequent travel to his home state of Oklahoma, has spurred bipartisan calls for further investigations and even the EPA administrator's resignation.

Pruitt's "corruption scandals are an embarrassment to the administration, and his conduct is grossly disrespectful to American taxpayers," Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a moderate Republican from Florida, said in a post on Twitter Tuesday. "It's time for him to resign or for @POTUS to dismiss him."

Republicans and Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested information on Pruitt's housing situation. On Tuesday, Democrats in the Senate and House also joined watchdog groups in asking the EPA's inspector general to scrutinize the rental arrangement.

"If the below-market lease was given to Administrator Pruitt with the intent to curry favor with him on an issue important to lobbyists Mr. and Mrs. Hart, then it could also be a violation of" law, Reps. Ted W. Lieu of California and Don Beyer of Virginia wrote in a letter to the inspector general released Tuesday.

Separately, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, pressed the inspector general to probe the condo rental, including any concessions given to Pruitt, whether security officials stayed on site and whether there was any internal EPA vetting of the deal.

Meanwhile, The Atlantic, citing a source it didn't identify, reported Tuesday that Pruitt last month used a provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act to boost the salaries of two aides by tens of thousands of dollars after the White House refused to go along with raises he had proposed.

Free-market conservatives who look to Pruitt as a crusader pushing to upend Obama-era regulations on climate change and car pollution have been nonplussed.

"We're focused on supporting the policy agenda" -- and not the news reports about Pruitt, said Myron Ebell, with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Helping to insulate Pruitt is that "he is at the forefront of implementing the president's agenda."

Republican energy strategist Mike McKenna called the revelations "pretty small beer even by the ridiculously low standards of Washington."

"If he doesn't weather this," McKenna said, "no one is ever going to take another job in Washington."
VERACRUZ, MEXICO - The Mexican government on Monday evening moved to break up the caravan of migrants moving through southern Mexico, with immigration officials registering the travelers and suggesting some could receive humanitarian visas while others would have to leave Mexico.

The caravan, estimated at more than 1,000 migrants, many from Central America, has gained increasing visibility due to tweets by President Donald Trump that have criticized Mexico for not doing more to stop the flow of migrants to the southern border of the United States.

The bulk of the migrant group - part of an annual caravan intended to raise awareness about the plight of people making the dangerous trek across Mexico toward the United States - is currently in the town of Matias Romero Avendano in the southern state of Oaxaca. A portion of the group rode by train to the neighboring state of Veracruz, according to caravan organizers, local officials and others, but it is unclear if that group has so far dispersed.

The larger group, in Oaxaca, was being registered by immigration officials on Monday, according to people traveling with the group. An official from Mexico's National Institute of Migration told BuzzFeed News that Mexico plans to disband the caravan by Wednesday and that some vulnerable people, such as pregnant women or those with disabilities, would receive humanitarian visas, while the rest will be expected to leave Mexico within 10 days or apply for permission to remain in Mexico for a month.

Mexico's interior ministry said in a statement on Monday that "under no circumstances does the government of Mexico promote irregular migration." The statement said that the caravan has taken place every year since 2010 and is made up primarily of people from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala; and that 400 people in this group have already been deported.

The Mexican government's response has come after repeated Twitter messages from President Donald Trump about the caravan and migration from Mexico and Central America.

Trump wrote over the weekend that Mexico was doing "very little, if not NOTHING" to stop migrants from crossing its southern border. It was part of a two-day tweetstorm in which he expressed alarm about "caravans" of Central Americans heading to the United States.

But in fact, Mexico already detains and deports tens of thousands of Central American migrants each year - often long before they can reach the border with the United States.

The country also staffs immigration checkpoints in southern states such as Chiapas, Tabasco and Oaxaca, which are so aggressive that indigenous people living in the region complain they have to prove to Mexican immigration officers that they are in fact citizens. Mexico deported 16,278 people during the first two months of 2018; 97 percent of them were Central Americans, according to the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group.

Trump's tweets have focused on the caravan story, one that was pounced upon by conservative media.

"Mexico has the absolute power to not let these large 'Caravans' of people enter their country," Trump tweeted Monday, adding that Mexican border laws "work" and U.S. ones do not.

That followed a Sunday tweet:

"Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!"

Mexico increased its immigration enforcement in 2014, when it enacted a "Southern Border Plan" in response to a flood of unaccompanied Central American children who were transiting the country and arriving in the United States. The plan boosted patrols near Mexico's long-neglected border with Guatemala and also aimed to improve railway infrastructure to prevent migrants from stealing rides on a northbound freight train known as "The Beast."

Mexico's National Immigration Institute has not commented on the caravan or Trump's allegations. Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray responded indirectly Sunday, tweeting:

"Every day Mexico and the US work together on migration throughout the region. Facts clearly reflect this. An inaccurate news report should not serve to question this strong cooperation. Upholding human dignity and rights is not at odds with the rule of law. Happy Easter."

On Monday, Mexico's interior minister, Alfonso Navarrete, said he and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had spoken. "We agreed to analyze the best ways to attend to the flows of migrants in accordance with the laws of each country," Navarrete tweeted.

The Wall Street Journal on Monday quoted a senior Mexican immigration official as saying that authorities hadn't stopped the caravan because its participants either had sought asylum or had humanitarian visas - so they were not in the country illegally. "This isn't a massive influx of irregular migrants," the official added. "They can remain in the country and move around while their immigration situation is worked out."

Caravans of migrants moving through Mexico usually attempt to raise awareness of the plight of migrants in a country where indifference toward them is common and warm welcomes are scarce. Jorge Andrade, spokesman for the Colectivo Ustedes Somos Nosotros, an organization for migrant shelters in Mexico, said caravan participants sometimes end up receiving humanitarian visas, which allow short stays in the country.

An organizer of the caravan, Alex Mensing, said that it "didn't bring anyone" to the United States but "accompanied people who have decided to flee."

He called the caravan "a mass nonviolent collective action" that was organized to "raise the political cost of repression" by immigration officials.

The Central Americans currently attempting to traverse Mexico mostly stream out of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, where gang violence is rife and the murder rates have ranked among the highest in the hemisphere. Recent elections in Honduras were marred by irregularities and accusations of fraud, and a subsequent crackdown on protesters has been condemned as heavy-handed.

An increasing number of Central American migrants are staying put in Mexico, where they are applying for asylum in record numbers.

"#Mexico is struggling to deal with a vast influx of asylum seekers fleeing gang violence or political instability. In 2017 refugee petitions went up 66%; a 326% increase from 2015," tweeted the Washington Office on Latin America, also known as WOLA. "These people are fleeing their homes and seeking protection for a reason."

Not everyone offering assistance to the migrants transiting Mexico welcomed the caravan.

Andrade's network of humanitarian shelters, which offer migrants modest places to sleep and rest en route, disavowed the caravan, saying such methods of moving migrants didn't offer better security.

"These kinds of caravans are utilized by people that are not migrants, who pass themselves off as migrants and try to extort other participants in the caravan," said Alberto Xicotencatl, director of a migrant shelter in Saltillo, in northern Mexico.

Andrade said members of his organization tried to accompany a caravan of migrants in 2014, but it became "infiltrated" by organized crime. "'Polleros [smugglers] and guides and all of this criminal apparatus that traffics in people, they utilize [the caravans] for their benefit," he said.

Adding to the difficulties, he said, caravans arriving at the U.S. border cause problems in those communities as an influx of migrants taxes scarce resources in the shelters there.

"They cannot cross the border," Andrade said. "Some will request asylum in the United States, but the majority will do something else . . . and this implies insecurity for them," due to the presence of kidnapping gangs in the border region.

Trump's tweets once again threatened the ongoing renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement deal and came as campaigns kicked off for Mexico's July 1 presidential elections.

Mexico has preferred to keep issues such as security and immigration out of the NAFTA renegotiations, "unlike Trump . . . who puts everything on the table," said Brenda Estefan, a former security attache at the Mexican Embassy in Washington.

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Agren reported from Mexico City.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the military will be sent to guard the U.S.-Mexico border, further escalating his rhetoric on illegal immigration but offering few details on how and when such a plan might be implemented.

Trump has for days taken to Twitter and used his public remarks to warn of threats posed by immigration, but the prospect of sending military personnel to the southern border added a new dimension to Trump's strategy, which had centered on threats to walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement and pressuring Congress to send him funding for a border wall.

"Until we can have a wall and proper security, we are going to be guarding our border with our military. That's a big step," Trump said Tuesday during a meeting at the White House with the leaders of three Baltic nations. "We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing and, by the way, never showing up for court."

Later at a news conference with these leaders, Trump said he would soon meet with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to discuss having the U.S. military deployed to the border.

"I think it is something we have to do," Trump said.

Sending troops to the border is not unprecedented and has been done by previous presidents, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who utilized National Guard troops when concerns over security or humanitarian problems arose.

It was not immediately clear why Border Patrol would need help from the Pentagon at this time. The number of people crossing illegally into the country has plummeted over the past decade and is at the lowest level since 1971.

In recent days, the president has emphasized the hard-line immigration stance he campaigned on as his conservative base has shown signs of growing impatience that he has not fulfilled some of his top promises, such as securing the funding to build a border wall.

One adviser who speaks often to Trump said that the president has been concerned about his political base since he signed into law last month a spending bill that did not fund the wall or some of his other immigration plans and that he has carefully monitored recent criticism, particularly on Fox News. Since then, the adviser said, he has been trying to appeal to his supporters through tougher rhetoric on border security and pushing protectionist trade policies.

Trump on Tuesday sought to portray his idea of sending troops to the border as a new, aggressive phase of his immigration agenda.

"The Mexican border is very unprotected by our laws," he said at the news conference. "We have horrible, horrible and very unsafe laws in the United States, and we're going to be able to do something about that hopefully soon."

But he offered no details about how the military would be used. Later Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that the administration's plans include mobilizing the National Guard.

Trump was briefed on the possibility of sending troops to the border last week by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and White House aides and loved the idea, according to a senior White House official who added that senior policy adviser Stephen Miller has also been involved in the planning.

"Let's kick this into overdrive, and give me a plan," the official said, describing Trump's reaction to the notion. This person, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations, said there was no apparatus in place "this minute" but that it was likely to happen.

There was no detailed plan to discuss sending troops to the border publicly before Trump's impromptu comments, this person said, and it caught the communications office off guard.

At the follow-up briefing Tuesday, Trump and his advisers "also agreed on the need to pressure Congress to urgently pass legislation to close legal loopholes exploited by criminal trafficking, narco-terrorist and smuggling organizations," Sanders said.

Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White said late Tuesday: "There are a number of ways the Department of Defense is already supporting the DHS border security mission. We are still in consultation with the White House about ways we can expand that support."

Trump's comments Tuesday echoed similar policy decisions he has announced during his presidency that are short on specifics, leaving administration officials scrambling to fill in the details.

He announced on Twitter in July that he was enacting a ban on transgender people serving in the military, although no proposal had been formalized. The rollout of the administration's new tariff policy last month was similarly chaotic, with Trump's sudden announcement to impose steep levies on aluminum and steel imports triggering days of confusion and internal disputes.

Trump's announcement Tuesday promptly drew rebukes from immigration advocates and Democrats, particularly border-state lawmakers who criticized the move as a waste of military resources. "Sending U.S. service members to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border is wrong," tweeted Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, who represents the border city of El Paso and is running for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. "It's dangerous to service members, to U.S. citizens, and to the people of the border."

But officials representing Border Patrol agents applauded Trump's announcement. Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, said deploying military personnel would be a "tremendous boon."

"It increases the certainty of apprehension of those that cross the border illegally," Judd said.

Members of the military cannot arrest immigrants, because they are not duly sworn law enforcement personnel, Judd said, but they can aid Border Patrol agents by serving as their de facto "eyes" surveying the border and monitoring surveillance equipment.

Mexico expressed opposition to the idea. "Mexico has asked the U.S., through official channels, to clarify the announcement by @POTUS about the use of the army on the border," Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray said in a tweet. "The Mexican government will define its reaction on the basis of that clarification, and always in defense of our sovereignty and national interests."

The Obama administration sent 1,200 National Guard troops to the southern border in 2010 to assist Border Patrol and immigration officials amid rising concerns about drug trafficking.

In 2014, then-Gov. Rick Perry, R, dispatched about 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the southern border as the country faced an influx of migrant children and families from Central America. Perry is now Trump's energy secretary.

Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, said the government's ability to employ military forces domestically would depend on the circumstances. Under a 19th-century law, the president is barred from using military forces for regular law enforcement without statutory authorization - which might, for example, allow the president to deploy the National Guard with state support, Vladeck said.

"But a full-scale deployment of the military . . . in a pure law enforcement capacity would raise serious legal and political questions - and is best handled by going to Congress," he said.

Border Patrol has more than 16,000 agents assigned to the Mexico border, and those agents made nearly 37,000 arrests last month. That works out to fewer than two arrests per agent per month.

The profile of illegal border crossers has also changed dramatically in recent years. Last month, U.S. agents encountered nearly 10,000 unaccompanied minors and "family units" consisting of a child with an adult relative. The vast majority are from Central America. Rather than sneaking across, those border crossers typically turn themselves in to U.S. agents to request asylum protections, citing the lethal threats of gang violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, nations with some of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Trump also floated a threat to cut off foreign aid to Honduras in a tweet early Tuesday as he continued to complain about a caravan of 1,000 migrants, primarily from Honduras, traveling through Mexico. The caravan - an annual event that is meant to draw attention to the refugee crisis in Central America - has been a particular focus for Trump this week as conservative media outlets have highlighted it in recent days. "The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our "Weak Laws" Border, had better be stopped before it gets there," Trump tweeted shortly before 7 a.m. Tuesday. "Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!"

Honduras received about $127.5 million in aid from the United States in fiscal 2016, according to data from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The Mexican government took steps late Monday to break up the caravan, registering the migrants and saying some would be asked to leave the country while others would get humanitarian assistance. Mexico's Interior Ministry said Monday that "under no circumstances does the government of Mexico promote irregular migration."

Trump took a less aggressive tone Tuesday afternoon.

"The caravan doesn't irritate me. The caravan makes me very sad that this could happen to the United States," Trump told reporters during his meeting with the Baltic leaders.

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The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey, Nick Miroff and Missy Ryan contributed to this report.

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Video: Central American migrants to Trump: "Have a conscience."

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Video: Central American migrants to Trump: "Have a conscience."(Melissa Macaya, Rusvel Rasgado/The Washington Post)

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President Donald Trump helped kick off the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday with a "ready," ''set" and the blow of a whistle.

"You ready kids?" the president said before he and first lady Melania Trump blew whistles to launch a group of kids and their wooden spoons to guide dyed, hard-boiled eggs across a portion of the sloping South Lawn. They blew the whistles several times before moving on to another station.

The annual event got off to a damp start, but the skies had largely cleared, though it remained chilly, by the time Trump and the first lady walked down the stairs of the Blue Room balcony to join thousands of guests on the lawn.

"You know, it was supposed to be pouring ... It was supposed to be very rainy and nasty and cold and windy," said Trump. "And look what we have: perfect weather. Perfect weather. Beautiful weather."

He thanked his wife for doing an "incredible job" on the event. He also praised the economy and a recent increase in funding for the military.

"This is a special year. Our country is doing great. You look at the economy; you look at what's happening," Trump said. "Nothing is ever easy, but we have never had an economy like we have right now. And we're going to make it bigger and better and stronger."

Trump and the first lady also joined kids at a station where they made greeting cards for U.S. troops.

The Easter Egg Roll was also a Trump family affair with most of the president's five children and nine grandchildren in attendance, including Donald Trump Jr., his wife, Vanessa, and their five kids; son Eric, his wife, Lara and their baby; daughter Tiffany and son Barron.

White House chief of staff John Kelly, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and legislative affairs director Marc Short were among the administration officials seen hand-in-hand with their children or grandchildren.

The White House said it expected nearly 30,000 adults and children to stream through the gates for the all-day event.

The first lady announced last week that she had added lawn bowling to the festivities that included a reading nook, egg hunts and cookie decorating.

"We have a beautiful day, a little bit cold," Melania Trump said later as she prepared to read a copy of the children's book, "YOU!," by Sandra Magsamen. The book encourages youngsters to believe in themselves and to not be afraid to make a mistake.

 Associated Press

Charges dropped against socialite

The socialite daughter of two world-famous New York ballet dancers has reached an agreement to resolve burglary charges in Camden, Maine.

Police said drugs and alcohol were factors when Talicia Martins, 21, and a friend broke into The Smoothie Shack, Francine Bistro and Camden Cone last summer.

The Bangor Daily News reports that the agreement calls for two burglary charges to be dropped and a third to be reduced if she meets stipulations including staying out of trouble for a year. Her sentence would then be capped at 35 days and her attorney could argue for a reduction. Her lawyer didn't immediately return a call for comment.

Martins is the daughter of Darci Kistler, former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and Peter Martins, the ballet's retired chief who was recently cleared of sexual abuse accusations.

 Associated Press

One chosen in Cosby trial jury selection

The first juror has been seated in Bill Cosby's sexual assault retrial.

The man picked Monday indicated he had no knowledge of the case and wouldn't let what he's heard about the #MeToo movement influence his ability to be impartial.

Cosby is charged with drugging and sexually molesting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. He says the sexual encounter was consensual. His first trial ended in a hung jury.

Prosecutors and the defense struck 89 of 120 potential jurors.

Associated Press
ABC News(LOS RAMONES, Mexico) -- At least one person was killed and others wounded when a bus from Texas rolled over en route to Monterrey, Mexico Tuesday afternoon, Mexican authorities confirmed.



The vehicle, which left from Houston, was being run by tourist passenger Bus Pegasso and crashed along Highway Reynosa-Monterrey in Los Ramones.



The small municipality is located in the state of Nuevos Leon -- some seven hours away from Houston and one hour from its destination of Monterrey.



Around twenty people were rushed to nearby hospitals, according to authorities. The nationalities of the passengers was not immediately clear.



This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Current and future students of Lee High School have selected a service dog as the schools new Volunteers mascot, as part of the process for renaming the school.

Last week, Lee freshmen, sophomores and juniors  as well as eighth-graders enrolled at Nimitz and Jackson middle schools who are zoned to attend the high school next year  selected the service dog logo out of three proposed mascot designs, according to a letter sent to the Lee community by school Principal Nicole Franco. The students, including those enrolled at the schools magnet programs, voted during their lunch periods from March 26 to Thursday.
The caravan of bikers wearing black vests with red and gold patches was about 70 deep when it pulled into a party site outside Roswell, New Mexico, for what was supposed to be a regional meeting of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club.

Soon, dust kicked up at the front of the pack, and David Lombino  from his motorcycle near the middle of that caravan  could see men clad in black clubbing, punching and kicking the bikers at the front.

Such was the scene of a March 2011 ambush of members and supporters of the Bandidos El Paso chapters, Lombino testified Tuesday during the San Antonio racketeering trial of the Bandidos former top leaders, then-national President Jeffrey Fay Pike and ex-national Vice President John Xavier Portillo.

Lombino, who was a member of the Bandidos Las Cruces, New Mexico, chapter at the time, said the assailants were not rivals but members of the same motorcycle club. At least one of the attackers went down the line of bikers, shoved a shotgun in their faces and posed the question: Who is your boss?

They were pummeled if they answered Ernie, said Lombino, referring to Ernest Morgas, who was president of the El Paso chapters and led the Bandidos members in New Mexico, which borders Texas.

With the 12-gauge in his face, Lombino answered Jeff and Portillo, Lombino testified, adding that he mixed up last names.

Asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gibson what Jeff he was referring to, Lombino answered Jeff Pike, the president at the time. Lombino added that hed never met Pike.

Federal prosecutors put Lombino on the stand in support of their theory that Pike ordered the beatings to quell a coup from members who opposed Pikes plans to split the Bandidos chapters in the United States and Western Hemisphere from its European and Australian chapters.

According to prosecutors, Pike also ordered a change in the clubs patch to reflect the split of the Bandidos, which had grown to be a worldwide organization under his predecessors.

The Roswell incident is among a series of acts alleged in a federal indictment that accuses Pike and Portillo of ordering or sanctioning violence on rivals to protect the Bandidos territory and to discipline its own members to maintain order.

Lombino testified that Morgas was bloodied and appeared to have head, face and rib injuries. Lombino said Charles Boogeyman Anderson, another member of the El Paso Bandidos, was knocked unconscious. Lombino said the assailants used clubs, sticks, locks wrapped in bandannas, gloves partly filled with BBs and the butt of a shotgun to beat their targets.

Hospital records that prosecutor Gibson showed the jury said Morgas and Anderson told medical personnel they suffered their injuries in motorcycle accidents, but Lombino disputed that.

After the beatings, a meeting took place in which reasons for the attack were somewhat explained, Lombino said, adding that members had a cookout and continued with the party after the dust settled.

Lombino said he left the Bandidos in 2013 under bad terms and was accused by other members of being a police officer or working with them. Lombino also said Bandidos went to his house to beat him and take any property denoting his membership in the Bandidos. He also said hes been threatened and accused of being a snitch for the past five years.

Under cross-examination, Pikes lead lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, contended that Lombino implicated Pike only after federal agents suggested his name.

DeGuerin also asked if Lombino was eager to unload on his former motorcycle club.

Yes sir, Lombino replied.

Lombino is the second eyewitness in the trial to detail the Roswell matter.

Justin Cole Forster, a former national sergeant-at-arms, testified March 1 that he and Portillo  who was a national sergeant-at-arms until he became vice president in 2013  were summoned to Houston in 2011, where Pike dispatched Forster and others to take care of Morgas.

Forster said he was given money to buy burner cellphones, and the crew took a truck instead of motorcycles and joined with other Pike-supporting nationally ranked Bandidos to kick Morgas and 15 others out of the Bandidos.

We asked them if they knew who their president was, Forster said. If they didnt answer right, we took their patches, and they got beat. If they answered Jeff (Pike), they didnt get beat.

The trial continues through April, with breaks on some days because the judge or Pikes lawyers are out of town on unrelated cases.
FLORESVILLE  A Wilson County jury on Tuesday found a former San Antonio attorney guilty of having sex with clients in exchange for legal services.

Mark Henry Benavides was immediately taken into custody Tuesday night in Floresville, where the trial was heard.

It took the panel nearly four hours to find Benavides, 48, guilty on all six counts.

The punishment phase is expected to begin at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Wilson County District Court in Floresville. He faces 25 to 99 years or life in prison. He has applied for probation, according to court records.

Benavides was accused of continuous trafficking of persons, a first-degree felony. Six former clients he represented as a court-appointed defense attorney in prostitution and drug cases in Bexar County testified that he coerced them into having videotaped sexual encounters with promises to keep them out of jail, get their cases dismissed or lessen their legal problems.

Prosecutor Jay Norton began his closing argument Tuesday by playing snippets of a police interview video in which Benavides was seen and heard telling officers that the case seemed made up, and that it could derail his political career because he was running for state district judge.

The system let each and every one of these girls down, he told the jury. This is an opportunity for the system to say we were wrong.

The jury heard testimony from all six accusers during the trial, which began last week. They said Benavides took them to a motel for sex on days when they had court dates and that sometimes the sexual encounters occurred at the Bexar County Courthouse in witness and jury rooms before they were to appear before judges presiding over the cases.

Norton reminded the panel that there were 495 motel receipts that matched many of the dates on 67 of the videos that were shown in the courtroom and that those dates also coincided with the womens court dates.

These girls are chosen because of who they are and their vulnerabilities, Norton said. Hes a master manipulator of the system.

In her closing argument, defense attorney Liza Rodriguez said the relations that Benavides had with the women were consensual and that many of the things he is accused of may not be ethical but werent illegal.

Attorneys having sex with clients is unethical. Immoral. Frowned upon. Not highly suggested, she told the jury. But its not illegal. Infidelities are not illegal.  Not against mans law.

Defense attorney Monica E. Guerrero told the panel in her closing argument to look at all of Benavides accusers.

They are all prostitutes. This is what they do for a living, she said.

Guerrero criticized the prosecutors for editing the DVDs shown only to the jury, saying that Benavides had friendly relations with the women and that if the panel viewed the unedited versions they would have seen the relationships progress.

They went and engaged in consensual sex, she told the jury, adding that if her client was guilty of anything, it was prostitution.

In an emotional closing argument, prosecutor Meredith Chacon told the panel that if Benavides committed prostitution with the women, he also committed trafficking because he always picked them up and took them to court and to a motel to have sex.

Who decided where? Who paid? Who determined what positions? What they had to say? He did. He also determined how the videos end: Say bye, she told the jury. Find him guilty on each and every count.

She called Benavides a pimp in a suit.

The case is being heard in Wilson County on a change of venue requested by one of his defense lawyers to avoid having the trial in the same building, the Cadena-Reeves Justice Center in San Antonio, where Benavides is alleged to have had sex with his clients.

In March, Benavides was indicted again on a charge of continuous trafficking of persons in connection with allegations involving four women between 2012 and 2015.

With that indictment, Benavides has five open cases against him. In addition to charge in the current trial, he faces two charges of sexual assault of a child, one charge of sexual assault and one other charge of continuous trafficking of persons, according to court records. Each case is expected to be tried separately.
The man accused of sexually assaulting at least eight of his foster daughters allowed his cousin to repeatedly rape a teen in his care, according to an arrest affidavit.

The cousin, Juan Antonio Rivera, 34, faces a charge of sexual assault of a child. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

RELATED: Former foster daughters react to arrest of S.A.-area man accused of sexually assaulting 5 girls

Rivera is the cousin of Miguel Briseno, a suspect in eight sexual assault cases in Medina and Bexar counties. Officials and former foster children have said Briseno ran a girls home in Von Ormy and later in Devine, Texas, in Medina County.

At various times, he had up to 12 foster girls living with him and his family, and law enforcement authorities have estimated as many as 180 girls passed through his home.

Briseno was first verified to receive foster children into his Von Ormy home in the 19500 block of Morin Road in 2002, according to Child Protective Services. Rivera, who was around 18- or 19-years-old at the time, lived on the same property but in a different home, according to the arrest affidavit.

The victim told authorities Briseno gave Rivera permission to do whatever he wanted with the victim because she was his "property," according to the affidavit. Briseno also told the victim, who was 13-years-old at the time, to do whatever Rivera wanted or else he would kick her out of the foster home, the affidavit says.

RELATED: Sheriff: S.A.-area man accused of sexually assaulting 5 foster children took in 180+ girls

According to the affidavit, Briseno would regularly bring the victim to Rivera's home and allow him to sexually assault her. This happened numerous times between September 2003 and May 2007, officials said.

Afterwards, Briseno would take the victim home. She told Bexar County deputies that Briseno told her "that if she ever said anything about what happened (sic) that he would kill her," according to the affidavit.

Briseno was arrested on Oct. 11, 2017, on five charges of sexual assault of a child. Three of the charges stemmed from his years at the Von Ormy property, and the other two originated from his home in Devine, Texas. Since he was jailed, he has been indicted on at least five more sexual assault charges in Medina County for a total of seven. He's being held on only one charge from Bexar County, and it's unclear whether the other two charges were dropped and whether he has been or will be charged in connection with Rivera's accuser.

The victim whom Rivera allegedly raped reported the years of sexual assault to Bexar County deputies on Oct. 16. Authorities secured a warrant for his arrest on March 29 and jailed him on Tuesday.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns
Authorities seized $1 million worth of drugs from a Bexar County home on Monday, officials said.

Bexar County deputies executed a search warrant around 7 p.m. in the 3900 block of Bay Street.

Inside the home, they found more than 12 pounds of methamphetamine, 9 pounds of heroin and roughly half a pound of cocaine and crack cocaine, authorities said.

"I can say without a doubt that this is a big hit for us," Sheriff Javier Salazar said. "But we can't just sit on our laurels and pat ourselves on the back. The work continues."

RELATED: Cousin of S.A.-area man accused of sexually assaulting 8 foster girls accused of raping teen

They also seized tens of thousands of dollars and seven guns, two of which were modified with extended magazines, officials said. The weapons included shotguns, handguns, and a miniature AK-47 style rifle.

After the search, deputies arrested Jimmy Zavala Jr. He is being held on federal drug and weapon possession charges.

DEA Special Agent Dante Sorianello described Zavala as a mid-level "polydrug" distributor, dealing multiple types of narcotics.

"We're seeing more and more of that," Sorianello said. "They don't care what kind of poison they put on the streets."

Salazar said the investigation may lead to other arrests.

Zavala, whose family was in the home at the time of the raid, was taken into custody without incident outside.

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here. | fsabawi@mysa.com | Twitter: @FaresInSA
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross recently instructed the U.S. Census Bureau to add a citizenship question to the 2020 decennial census. Adding such a question will have tremendously negative consequences for Texas. It will lead many people in every state, especially in Texas, not to respond to the census, thus reducing the official size of the population.

Many undocumented residents will not want to answer a citizenship question and will not respond to the census, and hence will not be counted in the population. Given the anti-immigrant sentiments of President Donald Trump and other officials in Texas, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, undocumented residents are certainly worried about answering a citizenship question and facing the risk of deportation.

Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution states that seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be assigned to the states based on counts of the population obtained through the decennial census. The census is required to count everyone residing in every state. The number of House seats that a state receives determines the size of its delegation to the Electoral College. And the amount of federal dollars that a state receives is based on the total number of people living in the state. To obtain the maximum benefit politically and economically, states need to have all those living in their states counted in the decennial census.

We have prepared population projections for the 50 states for the year 2020. We then used these numbers to apportion the U.S. House of Representatives, distributing the 435 seats among the 50 states. Our research shows that there will be in 2020 (actually in January 2021) a net change of nine seats in the U.S. House. Texas will gain three seats, Florida will gain two, and Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Oregon will each gain one. Nine states will each lose one seat: Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia.

In the 2010 apportionment, Texas gained four seats. Owing to its high rate of population growth between 2000 and 2020, Texas therefore has gained or will have gained seven seats in the U.S. House. No other state has gained as many seats as Texas. In 2020 we expect that Texas will have 39 seats in the U.S. House, second only to the 53 seats claimed by California.

An estimated 1.7 million undocumented persons lived in Texas in 2016, representing over 6 percent of the population. If some or all of them do not respond to the census, and are thus not counted in the 2020 enumeration, Texas will suffer both economically and politically. What will happen?

Our research indicates that if half, three-quarters or all of the undocumented residents in Texas do not respond to the 2020 census, Texas will only gain two seats, not three. Its other seat will instead go to Alabama or to Montana. And if the unthinkable occurs and the U.S. government decides to use the number of citizens living in each state, not the total population, as the basis for apportioning the U.S. House, then Texas will lose two of its new seats (California will lose three, Florida two and Arizona one).

In 2015 alone, the federal government used Census Bureau population data to distribute more than $675 billion in funds to the states. Texas received over $40 billion of these federal funds, and this is based on the size of its population, which numbered over 27 million residents. If 500,000 or more undocumented Texans do not respond to the 2020 census, the state will lose several billion dollars in federal funds each year starting in 2021.

The attorney general of Texas needs to join the attorneys general of California, New York, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and eight other states in the multistate lawsuits now being filed to block the Trump administration from adding the citizenship question to the 2020 census. Adding the question will cause many million fewer Americans to be counted in the census and it will violate the Constitution.

It will cause the state of Texas to lose several billion dollars each year in federal support, and it will result in Texas losing one or maybe two of its House seats. Adding a citizenship question to the census will not be good for Texas.
Recent CSO Residential Property Price Index, showing continuing double digit growth of 12.5pc in the year to January is indicative of a severe lack of supply according to Brokers Ireland.

The resultant continuing suspension of normality will leave a whole generation of young people less well off in the second half of their lives than they suspect at this stage, given the importance of home ownership in financial security, Rachel McGovern, Director of Financial Services at Brokers Ireland, which represents 1,300 broker firms, said.

She pointed to Census data taken in 2016 which found home ownership rates had dropped to 67.6pc (from a high of 80pc in 1991) and total housing stock grew by a mere 8,800 (0.4%) between 2011 and 2016.

While some may hold the ideological view that says were moving on as a nation by not being so wedded to home ownership, as financial planners we seriously challenge such thinking in an environment where people are paying rents that outstrip mortgage payments in most parts of the country, and considerably so in many instances.

She said while the building of new homes was increasing from an extremely low base the supply shortage is acute leading to both increased house prices and rents.

Putting it bluntly, the supply issue requires an emergency response from decision makers, she said.

Brokers Ireland previously warned that supply needs to meet defined market needs, not building to incentive regardless of population requirements, as was the case in Celtic Tiger Ireland.
Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 03 2018

Court Orders Immediate Shutdown Of Battaglia Demolition Inc., Finds Owner Peter J. Battaglia, Jr. Personally Liable For Penalties.

New York, NY - April 3, 2018 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a State Supreme Court shutdown order against Peter J. Battaglia, Jr. and affiliated corporations operating an illegal concrete crushing and demolition processing facility in South Buffalo. Battaglia operated the facility without required solid waste management and air permits and according to community residents, spread dust, debris, and odor throughout the Seneca Babcock neighborhood for more than a decade. Todays court order follows a 2016 lawsuit filed by Attorney General Schneiderman alleging that the companys harmful impacts created a public nuisance under New York State Law, and that the facility illegally operated without required state environmental permits.

The Honorable Deborah A. Chimes today determined that Battaglia operated the facility without a required Solid Waste Facility permit since February 13, 2013, and operated a concrete crusher without applying for an air permit. The Court required the facility to immediately cease all concrete crushing and construction and demolition debris disposal operations, and held Peter J. Battaglia, Jr. personally liable for penalties to be determined at an upcoming hearing.

This court decision is a victory for the Seneca-Babcock residents who will no longer be forced to breathe in harmful dust and debris, said Attorney General Schneiderman. As we made clear in Court, companies have a fundamental responsibility to comply with state law  and my office wont hesitate to act to keep New York communities clean, safe, and healthy.

Up until today, the Battaglia facility, located at 1037-1055 Seneca Street, crushed concrete and stockpiled and processed construction and demolition debris. The unpermitted operation bordered the Seneca Babcock neighborhood, including adjacent homes located on the northwest side of Peabody Street. The concrete crusher is located as close as approximately 250 feet to backyards of Peabody Street homes.

The Attorney Generals 2016 lawsuit charged that the facility operated without required approvals by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)  including a permit for controlling air pollution from the concrete crusher  that protect the environment and health of the surrounding community. The lawsuit further alleged that the Battaglia facility created a public nuisance under state law by creating ongoing dust, noise, vibrations, odors, vermin infestation, and excessive truck traffic that harmed the property, safety, and comfort of the neighborhood residents, as well as disrupted their daily activities.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, For too long, this facility was skirting the laws and negatively impacting the environment in the Seneca Babcock neighborhood. New York State has zero tolerance for those who put the publics health at risk, and Id like to thank the Attorney General and DECs air resources and legal team for their collaborative efforts in bringing the perpetrator to justice.

Neighborhood residents and their supporters packed the courtroom this morning, and expressed great satisfaction with the Courts determination. The Attorney Generals lawsuit included 30 affidavits from neighborhood residents, describing a community literally driven indoors by unbearable dust and noise, fear over dangerous truck traffic, sickening odors, and other noxious conditions created by the Battaglia facilitys operation.

Rebecca Newberry, Executive Director, The Clean Air Coalition of W.N.Y., said, We applaud the efforts of the office of Attorney General Schneiderman and Assistant Attorney General Jane Cameron. This decision will be felt by the residents of Peabody Street for generations. We look forward to continuing to work with the Attorney Generals office on more precedent-setting environmental justice victories.

I cant wait to sit on my porch this summer and breathe clean air, not silica dust and diesel fumes. This is what peace and quality of life means to me, said Resident, Diane Lemanski.

This case was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Jane Cameron, Brian Lusignan, and Michael J. Myers, and scientists Linda M. Wilson, Jennifer Nalbone, and Mauricio Roma. The Environmental Protection Bureau is led by Lemuel M. Srolovic and is part of the Division of Social Justice, which is led by Executive Deputy Attorney General for Social Justice Matthew Colangelo. The matter was investigated by Investigator Shawn McCormick of the Attorney Generals Buffalo Regional Office. The Investigations Division is led by Chief Dominick Zarrella.
Music, Movies & Entertainment, Local News, Arts & Culture

By Tom Needham Published: April 03 2018

ANTIFA: The Anti-Fascists Handbook author, Mark Bray, and the Ayn Rand Institutes Yaron Brook are Tom Needhams guests this Thursday on WUSBs The Sounds of Film.

Stony Brook, NY - April 3, 2018 - Mark Bray, the author of ANTIFA: The Anti-Fascists Handbook, and Yaron Brook, the co-author of In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance will be Tom Needhams exclusive guests this Thursday at 6 P.M. on Mark Bray, the author of ANTIFA: The Anti-Fascists Handbook, and Yaron Brook, the co-author of In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance will be Tom Needhams exclusive guests this Thursday at 6 P.M. on The Sounds of Film.

Historian and Occupy Wall Street organizer, Mark Bray, has become the medias authority on Antifa. His book, ANTIFA: The Anti-Fascists Handbook provides a full history of anti-fascism. The book utilizes interviews with anti-fascists from around the world who have suddenly burst into the headlines demonstrating opposition to the Trump administration and the alt-right. Often clad in black with balaclavas covering their faces, anti-fascists aim to deny fascists the opportunity to promote their oppressive politics. Mark Bray has been a guest on NBCs Meet the Press, Democracy Now, On Contact with Chris Hedges and C-SPANs Washington Journal. His writings have appeared in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, and Critical Quarterly.

The Ayn Rand Institutes Yaron Brook recently had a public speaking engagement shutdown by Antifa at Kings College in London. The event was to feature a debate between Yaron Brook and Carl Benjamin. On March 5th, masked Antifa interrupted the event when they allegedly lit a smoke bomb, assaulted security staff and attempted to grab the microphone. Yaron Brook, host of The Yaron Brook Show, will be talking to Tom Needham about the incident and the threat to free speech that Antifa and others present in our current climate. He will also offer his insights into why the political left so fiercely opposes Ayn Rands philosophy.

About the Sounds of Film
Local News, Crime, Business & Finance, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 03 2018

2019 Budget Allocates $1 Million for Additional Wage and Hour Investigators; Marks an Increase of Over $1.3 Million Returned to More Than 9,000 Additional Workers from 2016.

Albany, NY - April 3, 2018 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that $35,370,000 was returned to 36,446 victims of wage theft in 2017. In addition, $1 million in continued funding was secured in the FY 2019 budget to support the expansion of the Department of Labor's staff of investigators. In 2016, $34 million was returned to 27,420 wage theft victims, marking an increase of over $1.3 million returned to an additional 9,026 victims. Since Governor Cuomo took office, the state has recovered and returned $258.4 million to 215,335 workers - the highest total in the nation.

"We have zero tolerance for those who seek to rob employees out of an honest day's pay for an honest day's work," Governor Cuomo said. "These workers are commonly among the most vulnerable members of the New York family and I want them to know this administration is and will continue to do everything in its power to protect them from these unscrupulous tactics and to ensure they are paid what they are owed."

Building on the success of the first-in-the-nation Exploited Workers Task Force created in 2015, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 159 in July 2016, establishing a permanent Joint Task Force on Employee Misclassification and Worker Exploitation. The Executive Order merged three existing multi-agency task forces to coordinate cross-agency efforts designed to protect workers in a variety of industries where victims of abuse do not come forward for fear of retaliation, many of which are immigrants. These individuals are often subjected to unsafe or unsanitary working conditions; long and irregular work hours; and illegal deductions for supplies, training, and uniforms. Additionally, they tend to work off the books, have dangerous jobs, and are often geographically isolated.

To further wage recovery efforts, Mediation and Anti-Retaliation Units were developed within the Department of Labor. The Mediation Unit attempts to expedite resolutions so that workers receive the money they're owed more quickly, while the Anti-Retaliation Unit acts on behalf of workers who are subject to unfavorable action against them for filing a complaint about labor law violations or reporting them to the authorities.

State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, "The New York State Department of Labor is committed to the protection of workers. Under Governor Cuomo's leadership, we've taken unprecedented action to ensure that those who have wages stolen get what they're owed and I applaud the dedicated investigators who have helped build New York's reputation as a national leader in the fight against wage theft."

The following table provides a regional breakdown of the victims of wage theft and prevailing wage underpayments in 2017:

Some of the most common ways employers steal wages include:

Paying tips only;

Paying a day rate for work performed that is sub-minimum wage when hours worked are counted;

Not paying an overtime rate for hours worked over 40 in a payroll week;

Failure to pay the correct prevailing wage;

Not paying for travel time between work assignments in the same day;

Withholding final paychecks;

Not paying for "training" time; and

Charging employees for required uniforms or equipment.

Prevailing wage is the minimum pay rate set by law for employment on public work projects. This applies to all laborers, workers or mechanics employed under a public work contract. The New York State Department of Labor's Bureau of Public Work is responsible for enforcing the law and determining the wage schedule for each individual region. Employers must pay the prevailing wage rate set for the locality where the work is performed. Should a violation of the prevailing wage law occur, the Department of Labor has the authority to ban individuals or businesses from bidding on public work projects for a period of up to five years.

Anyone who wishes to file a wage theft complaint is encouraged to call 1-888-4-NYSDOL. More information on prevailing wage can be found here and debarment information, including information on debarred entities can be found here
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, April 3, 2018

Google has made changes to its artificial intelligence team, which also shakes up search -- splitting its AI group into its own business unit and appointing new leads for both businesses.

With the move, the companys AI lead John Giannandrea will step down. Giannandrea expanded his role into AI and search after joining Google in 2010. Under his leadership, AI and search merged.

The Information first reported the move on Monday. Other reports suggest that Giannandrea will remain with the company. The idea is to spend more time working with technology.

When Giannandrea inherited the role from Amit Singhal in early 2016, it signaled Google's emphasis on integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence into its most important product -- search. But Google CEO Sundar Pichai has increasingly emphasized AI's importance to the entire company. The move suggests that AI is now important enough to form its own business unit.

Making things even more interesting, Jeff Dean, who heads the Google Brain project, will take Giannandreas role to lead AI and Ben Gomes, the companys current vice president of search engineering, will become the companys new search chief.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, April 3, 2018

The Clio Awards, the nearly 60-year-old competition that celebrates advertising creativity has appointed well-known advertising journalist Tim Nudd as its first editor-in-chief.

The appointment is intended to help the organization generate a much more robust platform of content to compliment the awards-side of its business.

We are thrilled to have Tim Nudd join the Clios in the role of Editor in Chief, stated Nicole Purcell, president of the Clio Awards. While awards will remain the core of our business, we would like to cast a greater spotlight on the incredible work and talent in the industries we honor, she added. Having covered advertising and creativity for more than 20 years, Tim is the perfect partner for Clio to create compelling written and video content and to also ensure Clio has a presence and a meaningful voice at key industry events.

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Most recently Nudd was creative editor at trade publication Adweek. Nudd was the founding editor of Adweeks daily blog AdFreak and led creative coverage for the publications print and digital editions. He also helped launch the weekly podcast, Yeah, Thats Probably an Ad.

The UK native has also written for a number of other publications, including the Village Voice, The Onion and Life magazine, among others.

Nudd stated that I'm excited to bring my editorial lens to the Clio platformto help this world-class brand become a daily, indispensable resource for insights and inspiration around creativity in advertising, music, sports, fashion and more. Stay tuned for some really fun projects that will take a deep dive into what makes creative people, brands and artists tickall under the resources and spirit of the Clio banner."

Last year the Clio Awards was acquired by investment company Evolution Media.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 3, 2018

Lawmakers are questioning the CEO of gay dating app Grindr over a report that the app has been disclosing users' HIV status and other sensitive information to outside companies.

"Grindr collects highly personal data about its users -- information as sensitive as their health, sexual orientation, sexual preferences, and geolocation," Senators Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) write to Grindr CEO Zhou Yahui.

The letter comes one day after BuzzFeed reported that Grindr has been sharing data about its 3.6 million users with analytics companies Apptimize and Localytics. The data, including geolocation information and emails, could identify specific individuals, a researcher at the nonprofit Norwegian research company SINTEF told BuzzFeed.

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Late Monday, Grindr said it would stop sharing data about people's HIV status with the companies, according to BuzzFeed.

The senators pose a series of questions to the CEOs of Grindr, Apptimize and Localytics about their privacy practices, including whether they obtain Grindr users' opt-in consent to use or share their HIV status and other sensitive information. Other questions include whether Grindr imposes any requirements on companies receiving data about users, and whether it takes steps to de-identify users before transferring information about them.

The lawmakers warn in their letter that the alleged data transfers "could lead to unlawful discrimination or worse."

They add: "According to the report, some of the data in question has been shared with third party advertising campaigns over unencrypted connections, which could leave this sensitive information vulnerable to cyberattack."

Markey and Blumenthal have given the companies until April 17 to respond.
A new study reports a newly discovered link between the loss of dopamine-firing cells in the brain and the brains ability to form new memories. It questions the implications of these findings rgearding Alzheimers disease. Share on Pinterest Low dopamine levels may indicate Alzheimers disease. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is involved in regulating emotional responses and movement. The new study shows that the loss of cells that use dopamine could impair function in brain regions that create new memories. The results of the study were recently published in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease. Its authors believe that this finding has the potential to transform the way in which Alzheimers is diagnosed. Their recent findings may also pave the way to much-needed new treatments for the debilitating condition.

Alzheimers is rising in prevalence Alzheimers disease is the most common dementia type, accounting for 6080 percent of all cases. People who have Alzheimers tend to experience memory loss and other cognitive problems that interfere with their day-to-day lives. Around 5.7 million people in the United States have Alzheimers, but numbers are projected to rise nearly 14 million by 2050. Alzheimers is also the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. Medical News Today have recently covered another study published in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease, which suggested that one daily dose of ibuprofen could contribute to preventing Alzheimers by reducing inflammation. The authors of that study had previously discovered that a peptide called amyloid-beta 42 (Abeta 42) is present in increased levels in the saliva and brains of people with Alzheimers. The scientists propose that a simple saliva test could help to predict a persons risk of Alzheimers, years before any symptoms become visible. As Abeta 42 triggers inflammation, they reason that a daily dose of ibuprofen or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may be effective at keeping this inflammation at bay among people who test positively for high levels of this peptide.

Low dopamine and hippocampal function The researchers used a type of MRI scan called 3Tesla, which is twice the strength of standard MRI, to scan the brains of 51 healthy adults, 30 with mild cognitive impairment, and 29 with Alzheimers disease. Analyzing the results, they found a link between the size of two key brain areas  the ventral tegmental and hippocampus  and the ability of the participants to learn new information. Lead study author Annalena Venneri  of the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom  explains the results. Our findings suggest that if a small area of brain cells, called the ventral tegmental area, does not produce the right amount of dopamine for the hippocampus, a small organ located within the brains temporal lobe, it will not work efficiently. The hippocampus, she adds, is associated with forming new memories, therefore these findings are crucial to the early detection of Alzheimers disease. The results point at a change which happens very early on, which might trigger Alzheimers disease. This is the first study to demonstrate such a link in humans. Annalena Venneri
But how can we explain the source of the sound?

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The images showed a sudden appearance of a bulge in the knuckle as it is cracked. This prompted Kawchuk and his colleagues to hypothesize that the formation of the bubble, when the joint is pulled apart, might be responsible for the cracking noise.

The images also showed that the bubbles persisted long after the cracking sounds were observed and provided evidence that gas bubbles existed in the synovial fluid long after the cracking sounds were observed.

Current Study

Results of the study

The sounds predicted by the model matched the volume and frequency of the recordings fairly well, even if the bubble disappeared suddenly, rather than slowly.

The model also showed that a partial collapse (30 to 40 percent) of the bubble is enough to replicate the recorded sound, thus agreeing with Kawchuk's images of a bulge in the knuckle long after the sound had passed.

Another finding was that an important factor that seemed to make a difference to the type of sound generated was how much force is applied to the knuckle.

Limitations of the study

Future steps

V. Chandran Suja et al. "A Mathematical Model for the Sounds Produced by Knuckle Cracking", Scientific Reports (2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-22664-4.

So far, the joints most studied for explaining the source of the sound has been the metacarpophalangeal joints. Metacarpophalangeal joints are the joints between the metacarpal bones (those in between the finger bones and the wrist bones) and the phalanges of the fingers.At the metacarpophalangeal joints, there isthat keeps the joints from grinding on each other. Gas, mostly carbon dioxide dissolves and stays in the synovial fluid. When we crack our knuckles, the bones are pulled away from each other. This causes a sudden drop in the pressure in the middle of the joint. The dip in pressure allows the gases to come together, forming bubbles.as a consequence of forces acting on the liquid.In 1971,through extensive experiments concluded that. This theory was widely accepted for over 40 years.In 2015,and co-workers. They used an MRI scanner to record what was happening inside the fingers of a frequent knuckle-cracking volunteer.Hence, they hypothesized that the cracking sound does not occur due to the collapse of the bubbles as Unsworth and his coworkers had concluded but rather due to the creation of the bubbles.Abdul Barakat, a professor of biomechanics and a master's student in his lab, Vineeth Suja at the Ecole Polytechnique in France grew interested in knuckle-cracking on reading the 2015 paper.They aimed toTheyand experimented with a lot of factors that could lead to the generation of the sound, like the thickness of the surrounding fluid, or the speed at which the joints.The idea was very simple - they"We wanted to look at it mathematically because all the previous work was based on observation or imaging, so we tried to build a mathematical model that described the physical phenomena that governed this," Barakat said."The sound that is generated when one cracks his or her knuckles is due to the partial collapse of a cavitation bubble that's in the fluid in the joint," explained Abdul Barakat, a professor at the Ecole Polytechnique. "It could be multiple bubbles, but we showed that the collapse of a single bubble is sufficient to give you the signature sound you get".The researchers did not study what happens as the bubble forms  the model merely assumes its existence.The plausible next step would be to see whether the sound is created during the formation of the bubble in a similar model as well. This model would study how both bubble formation and bubble collapse might contribute to the sound.Knuckle-cracking is neither beneficial or harmful and does not cause arthritis, contrary to popular belief. Understanding knuckle-cracking can provide some insight to physiologists about how healthy joints move.Source: Medindia
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A team of Japanese scientists led by Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) used a chemically induced mouse model of IBD to show that a protein signaling pathway is crucial to the generation of macrophages that cause colonic inflammation. The signaling pathway enhances access to the promoters of genes encoding inflammatory mediators, thus increasing their expression. The study results were recently published inInflammatory monocytes and macrophages in the colons of IBD mice showed increased expression of proteins that promote inflammatory responses compared with other cell populations. They also expressed more Stat1, which is a transcription factor that upregulates gene expression in response to stimulation by IFN, a signaling molecule released in the presence of pathogens."Mice lacking Stat1 expression differentiated fewer inflammatory macrophages from their monocyte lineage, and additionally developed less severe inflammation of their colons than control mice," study first author Yusuke Nakanishi says. "This shows the importance of the IFN-Stat1 signaling pathway in colonic inflammation."As well as contributing to the differentiation of inflammatory monocytes into macrophages capable of inducing colonic inflammation, the team also found that IFN signaling was required to maintain this macrophage population in the inflamed colon."We already knew that the response to pathogenic bacteria in the gut involves remodeling of the DNA-protein package known as chromatin, enabling access for the expression of genes involved in inflammation," corresponding author Toshiaki Ohteki says. "This led us to investigate the role of IFN in a similar context, and we found that IFN loosened the chromatin structure around the promoters of two genes encoding inflammatory mediators, leading to an increase in their expression."This new understanding of how dysregulated macrophages develop in the colon during inflammation may lead to the identification of novel targets for IBD therapy.Source: Eurekalert
Forget about your struggle with Trojan virus, it's time to shift your focus to Trojan War, one of the most brutal, strategically planned and badass battles in Greek mythology.

Unless you chose to sleep through your History classes, you must have read about this epic war that went on for almost 9 years and the reason behind this  love story of Prince Paris of Troy and Queen Helen of Sparta, who was also known as Helen of Troy.

 Netflix

Several movies and series have been made on the Trojan War in the past, some of the prominent ones being Homer's 'The Iliad', 'Helen of Troy' 2003 miniseries starring Sienna Guillory and Matthew Marsden as Helen and Paris, and Wolfgang Petersen's 'Troy' starring Brad Pitt.

Now, Netflix and BBC One are coming up with their own narration, which has everything it takes to become a perfect cure for the 'Game of Thrones' hangover. This BBC series has already aired in the UK and Netflix is now branding it as its original series. Just like they did with almost every other series. There has always been confusion around the story of Helen and Paris.

 Netflix

In some adaptations, it is depicted as a love story, while some say Helen was abducted by Paris and later returned to her husband Melenaus of Sparta, after the war. This series follows the struggles and events that threaten Troy's destruction when Helen and Sparta fall in love.

The approach of the series looks similar to that of GOT  heavy dosage of sex, bloodbath and gory scenes that will make your blood curdle. But, I am sure within no time, you will find yourself hooked to this series as well. 'Troy: Fall of a City' is premiering on April 6, 2018 and features Louis Hunter, Bella Dayne, David Threlfall, Frances O'Connor and Tom Weston-Jones among others.

Looking at this genre, we know it's slightly unfair to throw light only on 'Game of Thrones' when there are so many great series like 'Rome', 'Vikings', 'The Tudors' or 'The Last Kingdom'.

But, the moment you start watching the show and get to know the characters like Daenerys Targaryen, Cercei Lannister, Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, Tyrion Lannister or the White Walkers and the Night King; fairness goes out of the window as prejudice makes room for itself on the couch, next to us to watch the series together. I am sorry I forgot to mention Jon Snow, maybe that's because I wrote 'know' in the beginning and couldn't bring myself to relate him with the word.

 Netflix

'Game of Thrones' has set the pedestal too high for any show to compete, but by the looks of the trailer, 'Troy: Fall Of A City' seems to be a strong contender who can claim the throne back from GOT.
Diesel's been discredited, the turbocharger is on its way out, Ferrari's planning on going electric, and Tesla's cars are now on posters. Times sure have changed, as any petrol head will tell you.

In fact, it's a safe bet to assume that the best days of the Internal Combustion Engine are behind us, and while it'll take several decades for the transition, it's not that hard to visualise a future when the cars we use will run on batteries.

They're As Old As The Petrol Engine

 Wikipedia

While inventors had been working on electric carriages and locos since the early days of the 19th century, it wasn't till the invention of the lead acid battery (the kind you still find in every petrol or diesel car) that electric cars became viable. In 1888, William Morrison of Des Moines, Iowa displayed his new invention - a car with a top speed of 20 miles per hour and a 50-mile range.

Electric Cars Were A Big Deal Back In The Day

And boy, were electric cars hot or what. Even the legendary Thomas Edison started working on battery technology which he believed would be necessary to make electric cars more popular. Everyone was getting in on the action, with several models displayed at the 1893 Chicago World Fair and New York City getting battery-powered cabs. In fact, in 1900, out of the 4000-odd cars built in the USA, a quarter were electric!

And guess what, back in the early days of the motor car, electric vehicles were often faster than their steam- or petrol-powered counterparts - in 1899, the 67hp 'La Jamais Contente' became the first car to cross the 100km/h mark.

A Bump In The Road

 therevsinstitute

But that was as far as things went, and a few factors eventually tipped the balance in favour of the Internal Combustion Engine - electric cars had a lousy range, and with the US car industry coming up and Texas becoming a major oil producer, petrol became the ideal fuel to power what was soon to become the world's biggest industry. And of course, with Henry Ford pioneering the production line and churning out the affordable Model T by the gazillion, the electric car seemed doomed.

The Lean Period Carries On

What was true in the early 20th century was true till recently. Petrol was simply a better, more practical alternative to battery-powered cars. As the years passed, petrol (and diesel) engines became better, faster, cheaper, and more reliable. Meanwhile, oil prices stayed low, and even when they spiked due to some geopolitical crisis, car makers responded with even more efficient tech. On the other side of the divide, battery technology hadn't moved ahead enough, slow charging made batteries impractical, and the coal-powered plants most of the world used for electricity production were horrifyingly polluting.

But The Electric Car Soldiered On

 Pinterest

Even though electric cars never mounted a strong challenge to their petrol-powered counterparts, they still soldiered on. Over the 50 and, the 60s, a bunch of companies tried their luck, but no one really succeeded (There was the Henney Kilowatt of 1959 and the AMC Amitron concept).

In the 70s, American scientist Victor Wouk, working with a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency, came up with a hybrid (fun fact for readers - It was the legendary Ferdinand Porsche who developed the first hybrid car, back in 1900) that was based on a popular Buick sedan - but the EPA torpedoed his idea, claiming they weren't interested in hybrids.

Meanwhile, over in the UK, the Enfield 8000 two-seater was carrying the flag, although only around a hundred were ever sold.

Things Improve (Slightly, At Least)

 oddimotive

Then in 1974 came the biggest moment of glory for the electric car - Sebring-Vanguard announced the CitiCar. Laughably small by the standards of the day (American cars from that era, as any petrolhead knows, were normally quite massive), this car had a top speed of 36mph and a range of 40 miles. With under 5,000 CitiCars sold over the next few years, it was hardly a success, but that still made the CitiCar the most popular electric car in the US till Tesla came around and shook things up.

But change wasn't far away - oil prices were soaring and pollution was a real issue. In 1990, California (always the pioneering hipster state) introduced a law which made it compulsory for every carmaker to make a certain number of zero-emission cars. That did spur on development for a while, although the car industry hated the new law.

The Prius Changed Everything

 kellystoyota

The 1990s was when electric cars re-entered the mainstream - Ford, GM, Toyota, everyone was building new models, even if these were just conversions of existing petrol cars and made in very small numbers. Chevrolet even built an electric version of its S10 pickup truck, while Toyota offered its RAV4 SUV in an electric avatar.

And finally, came the moment of salvation for alternative-fuel cars - the Toyota Prius hybrid. This futuristic looking car eventually became one of the coolest vehicles anyone could buy, with environment-conscious Hollywood stars being some of the biggest fans!

There was even an Indian company getting involved - Reva (now owned by Mahindra), which even exported its battery-powered cars to the UK (sold as the G-Wiz).

The Tesla Made Electric Cars Sexy

 tesla

Launched in 2003, Tesla started off selling an electric conversion of a Lotus roadster in 2008, (a decent success), but in 2012 they struck gold with the Model S - a luxury sedan that could leave V12 supercars in the dust (in a straight line, at least)

Tesla hasn't stopped at that - The Model X SUV and its futuristic design, the Model 3, which got an astonishing half-a-million orders, the Tesla Semi and even their home batteries - Tesla's forced everyone to wake up and acknowledge what's possible.

There's Plenty Of Choice Now

 chevrolet

Today, buyers can choose from a wide bunch of hybrid and electric cars - there's the Chevy Volt hybrid, the Chevy Bolt EV, the Nissan Leaf, the BMW i3, and many others.

As for the Indian market, Toyota sells the Prius and Camry hybrids, Mahindra has the E2O and the E-Verito, while Tata's also working on an electric version of the Tigor.

Best of all, each generation of electric cars is better than the previous one - electric cars have always been fun to drive (instant torque!), quick (check out some videos of the Tesla Model S), easy to maintain (no complex engine, just good 'ol electric motors), and now, with better batteries and fast-charging tech, they're about ready to take on petrol-powered cars!

You'll Find Electric (And Hybrid) Supercars As Well

 autoevolution

You don't need a V12 or a supercharged V8 to satisfy your need for speed - The BMW i8 hybrid is there - even Porsche, McLaren, and Ferrari (almost like a holy trinity of car marques) have hybrids. And there's even a proper, all-electric supercar - the Rimac One.

And guess what - Ferrari's also said to be working on a new battery-powered supercar. We guess that with that legendary name deciding to turn to the green side, electric cars have surely finally arrived!
Just when we think we've seen enough and there's nothing that can surprise us anymore, someone or something comes around and leaves us speechless and confused. This incident about a Pune woman and a 'thoughtful' thief is one of those moments that will make you want to clap hard, but face-palm even harder.

A Pune thief has now become internet's newest hero after he returned a woman's driving licence, which he stole along with an expensive 'branded' purse, cash and valuables. On March 17, when Swapna Dey, a Wanowrie-based businesswoman, was busy taking a walk; a thief broke the window of her SUV parked nearby and stole the purse that was kept on the back seat.

 pexels (representational)

The purse is gone, money is gone, important documents are gone too; so while you can only try to get things back, you will still have to get new documents made. That's what most of us think and we are sure Swapna's thoughts weren't any different.

However, we don't think Swapna could have imagined, even in her wildest dreams, that the thief will return her driving licence via courier to her old address. Note: the thief might be thoughtful, but he's certainly not generous. He still kept the Rs. 1500 cash, other valuables, and purse with him.

 Pune Mirror

But, Swapna expresses her gratitude for his honesty in returning her licence, because that saved her a lot of time in applying for and getting a duplicate licence. I am so happy because I got my driving license back, Swapna told The Times Of India.

She further added, I had kept my purse on the back seat. Normally, I do not take my cellphone with me on the walk, but that day I took it with me as I wanted to talk to my husband and son.

 BCCL

On that day, she shut her shop and went to the Race Course, parked her SUV and went for a walk. When she came back after 25 minutes, the car's rear window was broken and the belongings were gone. Call it luck or 'camouflage' covers, but the thief couldn't notice her iPad, which was kept right next to it.

She got the parcel, which was sent to her old address, on March 28.

So children! What do we learn from this incident?

First, do not leave your belonging just like that inside your car.

Second, not all thieves are thoughtful and even if they are, they most definitely won't return cash.

Third, if you still wish to continue keeping things in your car, get some uber cool covers that blend perfectly with the seat covers (try at your own risk).
The countrys Anti-Dumping Commission said that its investigations concluded that shipments of the product from Indonesias PT Ispat Indo had been dumped but by a margin of less than 2%. Similarly, it concluded that South Korean rod had been dumped into...
SEBEWAING  A legal dispute between a former educator and the Unionville-Sebewaing Area School District has been settled.

In May 2016, the USA Board of Education approved laying off Teacher Barbara Merchant Tilt, of Cass City, after 21 years of service. At that time, district officials cited declining student enrollment, finances, as well as Tilts alleged low performance issues in meeting the state's Danielson Teacher Evaluation guidelines as the reason for the action.

The Unionville-Sebewaing Education Association filed an unfair labor practice charge against the district with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC). The union claimed the district violated the Michigan Public Employment Relations Act. The union also alleged the district discriminated against Tilt and treated her differently because of her union activities as union president and Grievance Chair.

"I believe this was a win for all union members," said Ethel Johnson, retired MEA UniServ director. "Mrs. Tilt is my hero! She stood strong for USEA and MEA Teachers. No educator should be discredited, threatened, or treated unfairly for being a union leader."

Johnson drafted the five original UnFair Labor Practice charges in the case.

In this case, a poorly designed evaluation tool in the hands of a vindictive, untrained administrator ended a wonderful career and the clear message here is our union will use all our resources to defend its members, Johnson said.

A press release from the law firm of McKnight, Canzano, Smith, Radtke and Brault, P.C., of Royal Oak, explained the charge and amended charges: Listed several allegedly retaliatory actions by the district against Tilt, including threatening and/or imposing an improper Individualized Development Plan, issuing a discriminatory written reprimand, improperly evaluating her for the 2015-16 school year, and improperly laying Tilt off effective Sept. 1, 2016.

The press release continues that the unions charge alleged that those actions were taken by Middle School Principal Josh Hahn and Superintendent George Rierson on various dates in 2016 and were directed against Tilt because of her union activities.

The union filed the charge to protect all our teachers  to make sure the district would be held accountable," said Dave Good, local union secretary/treasurer. "The district should not treat teachers differently based on holding a union office, filing contract grievances, or other union activities."

Because the district had given Tilt a written reprimand and a poor evaluation, which the union alleged to be discriminatory and improper, she was selected to be laid off at the start of the 2016-17 school year. Prior to the 2015-16 school year, Tilts evaluations had been positive and ranked her as highly effective or effective.

The district denied the allegations brought by the union.

The district claimed it took the actions for legitimate reasons. The case was eventually scheduled for a trial to start on Jan. 23, 2018, before Administrative Law Judge Travis Calderwood at a Michigan Administrative Hearing System court room in Detroit, explained the release.

On Jan. 23, the day of the trial, the union and the district met and agreed upon a resolution of the charge. The settlement agreement and release between Tilt, the local union, and the school district was approved by the USA School Board on Feb. 12. The board went into closed session under attorney-client privilege, and then in open session, approved the settlement agreement with the local union. Several attempts to contact Rierson received no response.

Although neither side admits any wrongdoing or liability under the settlement, Rierson sent a letter to the Michigan Department of Education about Tilts 2015-16 evaluation and the evaluation tool that was used for the first time that year for all teachers.

The release explained that Riersons letter stated that the new 2015-16 teacher evaluation tool included many factors that teachers had not been previously evaluated on;" that "teachers that year were not rated on all the dimensions; that the vast majority of teachers that year had lower ratings than prior years; that Barbara Tilt had previously always been rated as at least 'effective;'" and that if all of the applicable dimensions had been used, Barbara Tilt would very likely have been rated as effective.

As part of the settlement agreement, the district rescinded Tilts written reprimand and IDP. In March. The district paid Tilt a financial settlement as a compromise amount of her claimed back pay/benefits; and Tilt tendered her resignation to the district as part of the settlement and is moving on to other opportunities.

And, Rierson provided her with a letter of recommendation for future employment that said she was a dedicated advocate for health education for all students in the district and that she was a champion for health education.

According to the districts union President John Ionnidis, the district rescinded the discipline and Individualized Development Plan.

"The district has now explained certain difficulties encountered in teacher evaluations that many felt were unfair," Ionnidis said. "The district is making improvements to that process for all teachers, and toward the ultimate benefit of local students. The union hopes to move forward in a productive working relationship with the district. We continue to seek positive solutions for all teachers and our students.

Tilt taught with the district from 1995 until she was laid off Sept. 1, 2016.

I am very relieved that the (case) has been resolved, Tilt said. Teachers should not lose their jobs for doing their jobs. I will miss teaching my students, but Im excited about moving on to new career challenges.

Overall, Tilt has 26 years of teaching experience. She did student teaching in 1989 in Ubly, and graduated from CMU in 1989 with a bachelor's in education, earned a minor in English from SVSU and a master's degree in the art of teaching from Marygrove College in 2003. She was named Walmart Teacher of the Year in 1997, Health Teacher of the Year in the State of Michigan in 2005, given a Crystal Apple Teaching Award by the USA School Board and numerous other teaching awards over her career.
SANILAC COUNTY  Four people were involved in a two-vehicle accident after a vehicle turned into the path of another vehicle, causing a collision.

At about 12:30 p.m. Friday, Sanilac County Sheriffs Office Deputies were dispatched to a two-vehicle accident on South Lakeshore Road (M-25) near the intersection with Galbraith Line Road.
Eversource Energy and a Danish company are proposing a 200-megawatt wind farm that would be built 65 miles off the coast of New London in federal waters.

Eversource and Orsted announced plans for the Constitution Wind project Monday. If built, it would be the first offshore wind project to serve Connecticut.

We are confident that Constitution Wind represents Connecticuts strongest opportunity to meet its clean energy goals and become a national leader in offshore wind, Mike Ausere, Eversources vice president of business development, said in a statement. Our sophisticated understanding of New Englands electrical grid will pair with Orsteds extensive offshore experience to bring clean energy to Connecticut consumers effectively and efficiently.

Thomas Brostrom, president of Orsteds North American operations, said the combination of the two companies provides unbeatable financial strength.

Constitution Wind will bring the most experienced, dependable partners together to help New England lead the way in North Americas renewable energy industry, Brostrom said in a statement. At Orsted we are the global leader with 23 successful offshore wind farms developed across the world, representing 27 percent of worldwide offshore wind capacity.

Orsted built the worlds first offshore wind farm in 1991, according to company officials.

Orsted will develop and construct the offshore generation and transmission assets, and Eversource will develop and construct the projects on-shore transmission system. The project, if built, is expected to come online early in the next decade and will provide enough energy to power 100,000 homes.

The Constitution Wind project will be competing with other renewable energy projects for long-term power supply contracts under a request for proposals that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued in December. The deadline for submitting the proposal was Monday and the proposal selected by DEEP officials will be announced in June.

Company officials say the other benefits of the project include reducing winter power costs by $80 million annually and generating $16.1 million in state, local and federal taxes.

Emily Lewis, a policy analyst with the Acadia Center, said wind power needs to be an important part of Connecticuts energy future. The Acadia Center is a regional environmental group with offices in Hartford.

Were expecting there will be other offshore wind bids being made, including one from Deepwater Wind, Lewis said, referring to the company that launched the nations first commercial offshore wind farm off Block Island at the start of 2017. Massachusetts and New York already have mandates for wind power (as part of their overall energy mix) and if Connecticut doesnt get involved, all of the other wind power capacity being developed will go to other states.

Massachusetts has a mandate for 1,600 megawatts of wind power by 2027, she said, while New York is targeting 2,000 megawatts by 2030.
CROMWELL  The Board of Finance has completed its two-night, six-hour review of the proposed $50.1 million 2018-19 spending package.

The board acted after culling through 45 individual budgets that ranged in size and complexity from the $29.72 million education budget to $100 for the Committee to Support People with Disabilities.

As board members left Town Hall following the completion of their review, Board Chairman John A. Jack Henehan said, I think the town and the Board of Ed can be commended for doing such a good job in meeting the services the residents expect, and doing it all within a reasonable budget.

I think we, as a board, can be proud of the work that we have done as well.

In separate presentations last week, both Superintendent of Schools John Maloney Jr. and Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore said in compiling their budgets, they had sought to hold down costs, given the continuing debt crisis that has burdened the state.

Their efforts were borne out in the budgets the finance board approved Monday.

The $29.72 million education spending total is 1.53 percent higher than the current years total.

The $16.37 million general government budget, which includes the non-education portion of expenses, is up by .89 percent.

The third component of the budget is debt service, the money paid on previously approved projects like construction of the Woodside Intermediate School and an omnibus $5.67 million infrastructure repair bond approved in 2016.

The proposed debt service portion of the budget for the coming fiscal year amounts to $3,687,300  an increase of .01 percent.

Even after they had presented their budgets last week, Maloney and Salvatore continued to whittle away at the totals in a further effort to reduce costs.

The town, the Board of Education and fire district all use the same insurer for health insurance for their employees. They were stunned by a 19.5-percent leap in health insurance costs, which the towns insurer said was the result of a sharp rise in exposures factors that open them up to a loss.

The town went back and negotiated with its carrier CT Connecticut, and reduced the increase from 19 to 15 percent, Salvatore said. That amounted to $120,014 in savings for the Board of Education and $40,000 for general government.
The Texas teenager who used an "affluenza" defense before pleading guilty to killing four people in a drunken driving crash in 2013 has been released from jail.

Ethan Couch, 20, was released from Tarrant County Jail on Monday after serving time for a probation violation, ABC 13 reported. In December 2015, Couch violated the terms of his 2013 probation after a video showed him at a party with alcohol.

Couch was 16 when he killed four people while driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.24 on June 15, 2013, the Dallas Morning News reported. That amount of alcohol is three times the legal driving limit.

READ MORE: See inside the 'affluenza' teen's Texas prison home

Couch was driving a 2012 Ford F-350, carrying seven other teenagers, when it swerved off the road and hit a disabled motorist and three good Samaritans helping the motorist. The crash killed four people, the Dallas newspaper reported.

Couch was charged with intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault. During the 2013 hearing, one of Couch's lawyers argued that the teenager wasn't completely aware that he was responsible for his actions.

"Psychologist G. Dick Miller testified Couch suffered from 'affluenza,' which meant he didn't know right from wrong because he he came from a wealthy, dysfunctional family," New York's Daily News reported.

Couch was ultimately sentenced to 720 days, roughly two years, in prison for his actions in 2013, CNN reported.

His mother, Tonya Couch, was deported from Mexico to the U.S. in December 2015. She was charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon after Couch, who was with her in Mexico, was seen violating the terms of his 2013 probation by attending a party where beer pong was being played, CNN reported.

Tonya Couch was released from Tarrant County Jail on $75,000 bail in January 2016.

Upon his release Monday, Couch must wear a court-ordered ankle monitor.

Fernando Alfonso III is a digital reporter at Chron.com. Follow him on Twitter at @fernalfonso.
A retired Air Force sergeant who was forcibly removed two years ago from a military retirement ceremony as he recited a traditional passage honoring the flag filed a lawsuit Monday, claiming he was ousted for mentioning the word "God."

Senior Master Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez was invited to speak at an April 3, 2016 ceremony by an outgoing fellow master sergeant from the 749th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Video of the event showed Rodriguez being physically removed by service members at Travis Air Force Base in California as he was delivering a flag-folding speech.

On Monday, two years after the incident, Rodriguez sued the U.S. Air Force, demanding an apology and admission of wrongdoing. In an interview with Fox News, he claimed his First Amendment rights were violated.

"This is about my constitutional right," Rodriguez said of the suit.

"I was removed from the speech because my script mentioned God. Air force officials did not want me to utter those words," he told Fox News. "There was no direct communication between the Air Force and myself to forbid me from making this speech."

A U.S. Air Force spokeswoman was not immediately available when contacted Monday. At the time of the event, a spokeswoman from the reserve told Fox News the confrontation stemmed from "an unplanned participation" at the event.

"Rodriguez ignored numerous requests to respect the Air Force prescribed ceremony and unfortunately was forcibly removed," a Travis official said in a statement to Fox News following the incident.

Rodriguez claimed his recitation of an old version of the "Flag Folding Ceremony Air Force Script," which was later scrubbed because of religious references, prompted his ouster. Rodriguez delivered the speech at the request of Master Sgt. Chuck Roberson, who was retiring from the U.S. Air Force after 33 years of service.

"Let us pray that God will reflect with admiration the willingness of one nation in her attempts to rid the world of tyranny, oppression, and misery," part of the flag-folding speech reads. "It is this one nation under God that we call, with honor, the United States of America."

The speech closes with the words, "God bless our flag. God bless our troops. God bless America."

Even though the Air Force revised the script in 2006, Rodriguez claimed it was his right -- and Roberson's right -- to invoke the older version.

Lawyers representing Rodriguez said Monday that the dispute between the veteran and the Air Force was over his plans to recite a speech mentioning God. Rodriguez was known on the base to recite such passages, and Air Force officials tried to prevent him from doing so at the retirement ceremony, his attorneys claimed.

"[The U.S. Air Force] did not have the authority to ban him from the base and they did not have the authority to ban him from participating in the ceremony," said Hiram Sasser, general counsel for First Liberty Institute and one of the lead attorneys in the case. First Liberty identifies itself as a legal team "dedicated exclusively to protecting religious liberty for all Americans."

The complaint -- filed late Monday -- claimed officers at the base exchanged an email shortly after the incident. In that email, an officer -- whose name was redacted -- suggested filing assault charges against the men who removed Rodriguez from the ceremony, the lawsuit stated. Rodriguez's attorney said they believe that email bolsters their case.

According to a U.S. Air Force official, flag folding scripts that are religious in nature can be used for retirement ceremonies. "I can't speak to the specific incident," Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Fox News in 2016. "[But] Air Force personnel may use a flag folding ceremony script that is religious for retirement ceremonies."

Stefanek continued, "Since retirement ceremonies are personal in nature, the script preference for a flag folding ceremony is at the discretion of the individual being honored and represents the member's views, not those of the Air Force."

In a statement to Fox News, Roberson confirmed that it was his wish to have Rodriguez recite the speech at his retirement ceremony.

"I wanted the ceremony to reflect the American values I spent my career defending  respect for God, family, and country," Roberson said.

"I couldnt believe what happened. I still cant believe it. All I want now is for the Air Force to apologize for ruining this once in a lifetime moment but they refuse to do so," he said.

Cristina Corbin is a Fox News reporter based in New York. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaCorbin.
Military members moving off Guam will be able to ship their pets on United Airlines over April thanks to an exception to policy announced late today.

United had suspended its PetSafe pet shipping service after a series of transport disasters, including the death of a dog in an aircraft cabin and animals shipped to wrong locations. Officials said they would not be taking new reservations until they complete their review in early May, but would honor those made before March 20.

But because the carrier is the only way military members can ship pets on or off the island, families feared without the service they would be forced to abandon their animals during upcoming PCS moves.

United officials said they will make a limited exception for families moving off Guam during April.

"After careful review and listening closely to feedback from our customers, we have made an exception to the suspension of new reservations for our PetSafe service. We will allow new reservations for members of the military and their spouses, and State Department Foreign Service Personnel and their spouses, traveling with or shipping their pets out of Guam between April 3 and April 30," Charles Hobart, a United spokesman, told Military.com in an email. "We understand that our PetSafe program provides an important service to military families. As the only major carrier in Guam, for U.S. military returning from assignments in Guam, United is often the only way for them to fly their pets home."

Last month, Navy officials had to walk back a statement incorrectly announcing a policy exception for Guam-based troops. At the time, United had made no such decision.

United officials said they still expect their program review to be completed by May 1. In 2017 the carrier shipped more than 3,000 military family pets, Hobart said.

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com.
The U.S. has sent more troops into the Syrian crossroads town targeted by Turkey where Special Operations Master Sgt. Jonathan Dunbar and British Sgt. Matt Tonroe were killed last week by a roadside bomb.

Pentagon spokesmen declined to discuss numbers, but an official acknowledged that a "planned reinforcement" had taken place in Manbij in northeastern Syria near the Turkish border.

News videos showed Stryker fighting vehicles and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles flying U.S. flags on patrol in the town, which was retaken from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters by the U.S.-backed, mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after a long siege in 2016.

The Turkish state news agency Anadolu said that as many as 300 additional U.S. troops had arrived in Manbij to bolster the small contingent already there, but the Pentagon official said the Turkish estimate was overblown.

The fall of Manbij set the stage for a drive south by the SDF that resulted last year in its retaking of Raqqa, the self-declared ISIS caliphate.

Army Rangers and Stryker vehicles first moved into Manbij in March 2016 to conduct "deterrence patrols" when Turkish forces and Syrian regime forces separately began converging on the town. The Turkish and Syrian forces later backed off.

However, the SDF's gains are now threatened by Turkish forces and their militia proxies, known as the Free Syrian Army, which was once trained by the U.S. before the effort was abandoned.

For months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to move against Manbij.

In addition, his government announced Monday that he would host a three-way summit on Wednesday in Ankara with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on efforts to end Syria's seven-year-old civil war.

Erdogan has charged that the SDF is dominated by the Kurdish YPG, or People's Protection Units. He has pledged to rid the border area of the group, considered a terrorist organization in Turkey.

His pledges have set up the possibility of a clash between the forces of NATO allies Turkey and the U.S. in Manbij.

The U.S. has sought to ease Turkish concerns and stressed that its only political goal in Syria is the defeat of ISIS.

Last Thursday, Dunbar, 36, of Texas, and Tonroe, 33, of the Parachute Regiment, were killed by an improvised explosive device while on a mission to capture an ISIS operative, according to a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.

Dunbar, a 13-year Army veteran with three tours in Iraq and three in Afghanistan, was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Special Operations Command, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The designation of headquarters for Special Ops at Fort Bragg has been used in the past to indicate that the service member was part of Delta Force, the secretive counter-terrorism unit.

Dunbar was a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal (3rd Award), the Army Commendation Medal (4th Award), and the Army Achievement Medal (6th Award). His military education included the Military Free Fall and Jumpmaster Course, and the Special Forces Sniper Course.

British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said that Tonroe's "sacrifice, unflinching commitment and bravery" would never be forgotten, while his commanding officer said his bravery was matched by his compassion.

Last week, President Donald Trump surprised the Pentagon with an ad lib during an infrastructure speech in which he said that U.S. troops would "be coming out of Syria, like very soon."

The position of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has been that U.S. troops must remain until ISIS is defeated and a diplomatic solution to the civil war has been put in place.

On TV's Fox News Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it would be a blunder for Trump to order U.S. forces out of Syria prematurely.

"It'd be the single worst decision the president could make," he said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
What Is ISIS-K? Two Experts on the Group Behind the Kabul Airport Attack and its Rivalry with the Taliban

By 2018, the group had become one of the top four deadliest terrorist organizations in the world.
The Air Force has affirmed the religious rights of a colonel who claimed he was wrongly disciplined for refusing to sign a certificate of appreciation for the same-sex spouse of one of his airmen last year.

The Air Force said that Col. Leland Bohannon "had the right to exercise his sincerely held religious beliefs and did not unlawfully discriminate when he declined to sign the certificate," according to a letter sent Monday by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to members of Congress who supported Bohannon.

"The Air Force has a duty to treat people fairly and without discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, or sexual orientation and (Bohannon) met that duty by having a more senior officer sign the certificate," Wilson said.

First Liberty Institute, the religious liberties group representing Bohannon, announced the decision on its website Monday, posting the letter from Wilson to Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo.

Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., posted a similar letter he received from Wilson on his Twitter account.

The Air Force Review Boards Agency granted Bohannon's appeal, Wilson said in her letter, noting his records would be corrected.

"The Air Force places a high value on the rights of its members to observe the tenets of their respective religions or to observe no religion at all," Wilson said.

A 1994 Air Force Academy graduate and decorated combat pilot, Bohannon had been stripped of command of the Air Force Inspection Agency at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and removed from consideration for a promotion to brigadier general after the Air Force found his actions violated service regulations.

In May, Bohannon was asked to sign a certificate for a retiring master sergeant in his command, including a "certificate of spouse appreciation," according to the appeal letter First Liberty Institute sent to the Air Force on behalf of Bohannon.

While Bohannon readily signed each document for the retiring airman, he chose not to sign the "optional, unofficial" spouse appreciation certificate "similar to a bouquet of flowers," the appeal letter said. The colonel believed that doing so would "signify his personal endorsement of the same-sex marriage," which conflicted with his religious beliefs, First Liberty said.

Bohannon sought a religious accommodation that would excuse him from signing the letter, the institute said. That request was later returned "without action." In the meantime, however, a two-star general agreed to sign the letter in Bohannon's place.

When the retiring master sergeant found out that Bohannon did not personally sign the spouse certificate, he filed an Equal Opportunity complaint, alleging the colonel unlawfully discriminated against him on the basis of his sexual orientation.

The Air Force substantiated the airman's allegations, and Bohannon was subsequently removed from command and for consideration for promotion. He appealed the decision in October.

First Liberty argued in the appeal that under Air Force regulations, there is no legal right to a spouse certificate of appreciation and that the master sergeant wasn't the subject of any alleged discrimination. The organization also cited Defense Department guidance, which says that military departments "will accommodate individual expressions of sincerely held religious beliefs" of servicemembers unless doing so could adversely affect military readiness, unit cohesion, and good order and discipline.

At least eight Republican senators, including former presidential candidates Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, sent a letter to Wilson asking that the decision against Bohannon be reversed, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
VICENZA, Italy -- A couple found dead in a suspected murder-suicide on Monday have been identified as a retired U.S. Army major and his Russia-born wife.

Maj. Bradley Kinser, formerly a strategic intelligence research officer for U.S. Army Africa who retired in 2015, was found dead by local authorities in the bathroom of his home near Vicenza.

His wife, Leila, was found dead in the couple's bedroom, according to Italian media reports, and had apparently been killed either by strangulation or suffocation.

Italian Carabiniere investigating the deaths said it appeared that Kinser had killed his wife and then slit his own throat, Italian media reported. Investigators found a note with the word "Sorry," the shape of a heart and the letter U written in blood and stuck on the bedroom door, according to Italian media.

The couple were in their late 30s or early 40s.

The deaths were discovered after friends who were aware that Kinser was suffering from depression, including a Caserma Ederle chaplain, alerted authorities that they had not answered phone calls.

Kinser had served in Iraq and had lived in Poland, according to a Facebook page. Since his retirement Kinser had been working as a contractor for Inverness Technologies Inc. to provide "Soldier for Life-Transition Assistance Program" services in support of the Army Human Resources Command, authorities said.

Leila Kinser's Facebook page showed numerous photos of her pet turtle, Mashka. A post that went up at 8:51 p.m. on Saturday said, "I don't have any more my Mashka I want to die."

It was tagged "Leila Kinser is with Mashka Kinser."
Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed ahead Tuesday with the $2.5 billion sale of S-400 anti-air missiles to Turkey in a deal reached over the objections of the U.S. and other NATO allies.

"A priority task in the sphere of military technical cooperation is the implementation of the contract for supplies of S-400 Triumf missile systems to Turkey," Putin said at the start of a two-day visit to Turkey, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

It was not immediately clear whether the deal would put Turkey in violation of recent sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and its allies against sales of military hardware by state-run agencies.

Earlier, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for speeding up the delivery of the S-400 surface-to-air missiles, which Moscow claims would be effective against stealthy U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

"Turkey did raise this issue. As far as I know, steps will be taken to meet Turkey's wish" on the current agreement that would deliver the S-400s in early 2020, Ushakov told reporters in Moscow on Monday.

"Naturally, great attention will be paid to international problems and military-technical cooperation" during Putin's visit to Turkey, he said. "The themes are known -- supplies of Russian air defense systems S-400 Triumf and some other aspects of military-technical cooperation."

On Tuesday, Putin joined Erdogan in Ankara, where they remotely signaled the start of the construction of a Russian-built, $20 billion nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean coast at Akkuyu.

Putin said the plant, to be built by the Russian nuclear energy agency Rosatom, has a tentative start-up date in 2023 "to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. We agreed with my dear friend [Erdogan] to do everything necessary to achieve that goal."

On Wednesday, Putin is to hold a three-way summit in Ankara with Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to coordinate their next steps in Syria.

Turkey's interest in the S-400s dates back to last May when Erdogan met Putin at the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.

Shortly after the meeting, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said, "Now we have intensified the talks on some technical details and prices" on the S-400, a mobile surface-to-air defense system dubbed the "Growler" by NATO.

Isik did not name a price, but a single S-400 battery is believed to cost about $400 million for a unit consisting of eight launchers and 112 missiles.

Isik said Turkey is going ahead with the deal because the U.S. and NATO allies had refused help in upgrading the country's air defenses. "They don't agree to the transfer of technologies in the sphere of air defense systems to us" and "do not make price concessions," he said.

The U.S. has generally been opposed to having NATO allies such as Turkey acquire systems that do not mesh with NATO's common defense systems.

"We really, really believe that it's good for each country's defense and greatest defense effectiveness if systems are interoperable, if they can operate with NATO systems," NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller said in March. "And the S-400 is not interoperable with NATO systems."

Gottemoeller said the S-400 deal is a "sovereign decision" for Turkey to make, but it poses a problem for the Trump administration of possibly having to hold Turkey in violation of the sanctions.

The new sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election require the president to sanction any country that strikes "highly significant" agreements with Russia's defense industry.

The latest sanctions followed on the State Department's action in October against more than three dozen Russian companies, including missile manufacturer Almaz-Antey, maker of the S-400. Businesses and nations worldwide were warned that those doing business with the Russian firms could face U.S. sanctions.

At a White House meeting with Erdogan last May, President Trump brought up the subject of the S-400 deal with Russia. But in December, Turkey and Russia finalized the deal for an estimated $2.5 billion.

Iraq has also expressed interest in the possibility of buying S-400 systems from the Russians, which could put Baghdad in violation of the sanctions, but Air Force Brig. Gen. Andrew Croft said there was little chance that deal would go through.

"I've seen no evidence that that's going to occur," Croft, deputy air commander for Combined Joint Forces Land Component-Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a video briefing to the Pentagon from Baghdad last week.

"It's a very expensive, complicated system," he said of the S-400s, "but I've seen no evidence that that is actually going to happen."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
An Air Force civilian employee was in charge of assembling the engine part blamed for the crash of an F-16 Fighting Falcon near Washington, D.C., last April.

The former employee, then with the 552nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron, incorrectly assembled the main engine control, a main factor in the crash, Air Force Material Command recently told Military.com.

A report found that the part in question had failed inspection twice before the accident.

Military.com requested additional information on the April 5, 2017, accident, which occurred at 9:17 a.m. local time several miles southwest of Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, in a wooded area in the town of Clinton.

While the pilot safely ejected and wasn't injured, the $22 million single-engine fighter was destroyed.

Related content:

"The Accident Investigation Board determined that the incorrect assembly of the component (main engine control) was to blame, with a substantial contributing factor being the lack of an adequate procedural requirement for parts accountability," said Air Force Material Command spokesman Derek Kaufman.

Elaborating on the report, released Oct. 26, he said the Air Force determined that "existing maintenance processes and technical data were not followed, resulting in an internal components failure during operation."

"The engine component (main engine control) was overhauled and returned by the [Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex] to the supply system. An Air Force civilian employee from the 552nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron performed the maintenance on the failed component," Kaufman said in a recent email statement.

Noting the individual was not a contractor, Kaufman said the employee is "no longer in government service." He did not say whether the civilian's end of employment was a result of the mishap.

The 552nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron is a Materiel Command unit under the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base.

"A preponderance of evidence showed that the main engine control was missing a required 600-degree retaining ring and the anti-rotation pin," ACC said at the time of the investigation report.

"The misassembled differential pressure pilot valve caused the main engine control to incorrectly meter abnormally high fuel flow to the engine. This led to severe engine overspeed, severe engine over-temperature, engine fire and, ultimately, a catastrophic engine failure," the release said.

After overhaul, the main engine control "underwent routine operational testing on 31 January 2017, and failed to meet performance standards," the report said. "After failure of its first operational test, the [mishap aircraft] MEC was inspected and found to have a fuel cam spline misaligned. The error was corrected and MA MEC was re-tested on 16 February 2017."

But during the second operational test, the engine control once again failed to meet performance standards. Maintenance crew from the 552nd noted problems with the fan discharge temperature, spring and variable stator vane, which regulate pressure, compression and performance within the engine.

The engine control was tested again on March 8 and passed inspection.

It then went to the 113th Maintenance Squadron (MXS) Engine Shop at Joint Base Andrews and was installed on engine S/N 509307, passing an operational engine run test on April 4.

The next day, shortly after takeoff, the plane experienced engine acceleration followed by a loss of thrust.

"Personnel involved with the [mishap aircraft's] preparation for the flight had adequate training,

experience, and expertise to perform their assigned tasks," the report said. "There is no evidence to suggest that 113th AMXS maintenance personnel and supervision were a factor in this mishap."

In recent years, the Air Force had struggled to fill gaps within its maintainer ranks.

In 2016, the service said it was roughly 4,000 maintainers short. It quickly began to prioritize staffing for air combat units with higher operations tempo, reshuffling more experienced maintainers throughout the force, with an emphasis on combat-coded units.

Just 21 months later, the service says it's doing "much better" on recruiting and retaining new maintenance airmen, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told reporters during a briefing in February.

"We've now got enough people, [now it's about] getting them experience," she said.

-- Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct command structure for the 552nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron. It falls under the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
Military members and veterans can get up to four free months of Apple Music through the Apple Music military discount -- but...
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Calling the ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal combine an unbeatable one, senior executives from both the companies said they will leverage on their global experience to turnaround Essar Steel.

With both companies joining hands enhances the bid put in by ArcelorMittals India unit. We are combining the worlds largest steelmaker with Japans largest, which also a leader in technology its impossible to match this capability, Vijay Krishna Goyal, Chief Executive Officer, ArcelorMittal, told Moneycontrol.

The two companies, that have been partners in the US for over 20 years, have joined hands to back the bid by ArcelorMittal India Private Limited. The bid for the second round of bidding was submitted on Monday.

Other bidders include Numetal and Vedanta Resources.

Our interest in Essar Steel is part of our global strategy. Partnering with ArcelorMittal for Essar Steel is the best option for us, the Managing Director of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metals India unit, Hideki Ogawa, told Moneycontrol on Tuesday.

The executives added that they have a detailed plan to turnaround Essar Steel, which had accumulated nearly Rs 50,000 crore in debt and was referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last year.

The present capacity of the facility is 10 million tons per annum. It is possible to expand this to 15-20 million tons per annum, said Brian Aranha, Executive Vice President, ArcelorMittal.

Sources added, the companies are nearly equal partners, with ArcelorMittal having a slightly higher equity.

The Essar Steel facility, situated in Hazira, uses different kinds of technology to manufacture steel. This includes the blast furnace route and natural gas-based DRI method.

We have multiple units spread across the world that use each of these technologies. We can draw the best practices for Essar Steel, Aranha said.

The food pipe problem

But Numetals plan to acquire Odisha Slurry Pipeline infrastructure Limited - the Essar Steel unit that is in the middle of a dispute over its ownership, could make things difficult for the ArcelorMittal-NSSM combine.

It is the largest slurry pipeline in India and is strategic to the Essar Steel plant in Paradip, as it transports iron ore from mines in Odisha to Paradip port.

In early February, Numetal had proposed to buy Odisha Slurry Pipeline from SREI, but the bankers had moved against it. The bankers claimed SREI was not the rightful owner of the company.

The slurry pipeline is like a food pipe. What will the body do without a food pipe, said Goyal.

The bankers have understood the problem. The RP (resolution professional in charge of the Essar Steel auction) knows about it. We are confident that the right people, the lenders under whose custody the asset is, wouldnt want to jeopardize the auction and that a suitable outcome will be found, Goyal added.
Exotel, the company that works behind the scenes for companies like Uber, Flipkart, Ola, Quikr, Practo, and Nearbuy, has now come of age in its cloud telephony business. Essentially, cloud telephony takes all the stress and a lot of the cost out of handling phone-related operations for businesses, such as private branch exchanges, and delivers web-based automated telephone systems.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, CEO Shivakumar Ganesan of the six-year old Bengaluru-based company talks about their journey and the way forward and how voice will take over video as the next big thing in cloud telephony. Edited excerpts:

Q: How has cloud telephony market progressed for you in the last couple of years?

Though cloud telephony has been in use in India for over half a decade now, our early days were spent educating customers about how cloud telephony can help their business.

With the boom of e-commerce and marketplace businesses in the last few years, cloud telephony has grown.

With Exotel, the biggest change we have noticed is that businesses have realised that one-size-fits-all approach doesnt work for software.

Today, cloud telephony in India is being used for cases such as powering and tracking customer communication for field workforce like delivery agents, salespersons, servicemen, etc., safeguarding customer privacy (number masking) and improving operational efficiency and agent productivity.

Q: What are the kind of services that businesses are looking for from a cloud telephony provider?

A: Today, businesses interact with their customers mostly outside a traditional call centre. This includes conversations with delivery personnel, drivers, vendors, service providers, etc. Organisations such as Ola and Uber use our services for number masking which enables number anonymization. Number anonymization allows people who hail cabs to talk to the drivers and vice versa without having to use their own personal numbers. We have safeguarded the privacy of 30 million people in the country last year.

Theyre also using our services for automated phone calls, SMS updates, missed calls, etc.

Poor delivery rates, especially for cash on delivery (COD) orders were a problem for the e-commerce and logistics companies in Southeast Asia. With the help of Exotels automated calling services for COD confirmation, first-time delivery rates have improved up to 18 percent.

Automating phone calls and SMS during their busiest seasons helped them work with a lot more parents without any one childs admissions falling through the cracks.

Q: With the telecom policy slated to release this year, what would you like to see incorporated for the cloud telephony business?

A: We would like the NTP to work towards a no licensing model for services built on top of telecom.

The best way to boost innovation amongst OTT (over the top) service providers and cloud telephony players is to do away with the bureaucracy of licensing. For small players and businesses in nascent stages, this serves as a serious deterrent. While we would like to see the TRAI and the DoT working towards making this a reality, we understand that this is a long process. Meanwhile, we would like to see clear guidelines laid out for the licenses required for services built on top of telecom and clear timelines for implementation.

There is also a need to encourage innovation in the telecom sector. If licensing becomes simple, we will definitely see this happen. To make it easy for companies to innovate, we should also keep in mind that exit plan needs to be simple for these startups, in case the business model doesnt work.

They should also look at a convergence of voice, video and text as a means of improving enterprise productivity. Mobile numbers should be classified as sensitive information, and access permission for apps should be monitored closely.

There should also be national security guidelines for OTT players including the likes of WhatsApp on the same parameters as the network businesses.

Q. What is the potential of cloud telephony for government services? Are you working with any government clients?

A: Cloud telephony has a huge potential in the government services sector. We have worked with a lot of municipal corporations, including ones that worked to measure the effectiveness of the Swachch Bharat campaigns. Given that everyone has access to a mobile phone, a phone call is the best tool to reach out to the masses.

Cloud telephony can provide easy access to the state machinery by providing citizens of a certain area to call a common number with their issue/feedback. This eases the process of being heard by the right department in the government.

Cloud telephony can also power such public outreach programmes that can be scaled to reach a billion people in a matter of few seconds.

Q: With chatbots and automated interactive systems becoming the norm, how is your business getting impacted? Do you build these systems in house or outsource them?

A: Implementation of AI (artificial intelligence) and chatbots into cloud telephony is now seeing an uptake. Reliability is one of the largest challenges of cloud telephony keeping in mind the fact that we cannot completely bank on the internet and telephony infrastructure of our country. Our systems are built in-house.

Q: What is the next big technology frontier in cloud telephony?

A: Voice will trump video. We see this slowly becoming a reality. Even people who dont know how to type will be able to use voice as a control system on their devices.

Voice analytics is the next big development in cloud telephony. Voice has become the primary mode of customer outreach. This has created a huge demand for the availability of voice-based analytics, which will provide crucial intelligence to improve efficiency.

Sentiment analysis of phone conversations with customers would lead to better customer engagement and satisfaction. Voice is here to stay and grow and we will be at the forefront of it.

Q: What are you looking at in terms of investment and revenues this year for Exotel?

A: Exotel continues to explore future avenues of growth. Our leadership is quite bullish on certain industries, especially the startup sector, and we continue to invest in building even more intuitive and integrated solutions for our customers.

We are not in a position to disclose the revenue numbers right now.
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Reiterating that ArcelorMittal is in favour of a quick resolution of issues delaying the auction of Essar Steel, the worlds largest steelmaker, however, alleged that Numetal has other ideas.

Numetal has obviously decided to go down the legal route, to slow down the process. From our perspective we would like to have quick resolution, a spokesperson of ArcelorMittal told Moneycontrol on Tuesday.

The Numetal consortium is led by Russias VTB Capital and includes engineering company TFE and Indo International Trading.

Both, ArcelorMittal and Numetal, on Monday placed their bids in the second round of bidding for Essar Steel. The second round saw significant changes.

ArcelorMittal has joined hands with Japans largest steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, to buy Essar Steel. On the other hand, the Numetal consortium has got a new investor in the form of JSW Steel.

Vedanta Resources has also joined the race.

But the opening of the bids has been deferred until the Ahmedabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) decides on the pleas by Numetal and ArcelorMittal. Both the companies have challenged the decision by resolution professional, who termed their plans ineligible.

We were in favour of the envelopes to be opened and the two processes to run side by side. We are not trying to slow down the process, another executive from ArcelorMittal said.

While ArcelorMittals investment in Uttam Galva was found to be the deterrent, in the case of Numetal, the connection of its minority shareholder Rewant Ruia with the promoter family of Essar Steel, became a bone of contention.

In the second round, Rewant Ruias Aurora Enterprises has exited the Numetal consortium. And ArcelorMittal has got the clearance from SEBI and exchanges to declassify itself as a promoter of Uttam Galva.

But minority shareholders of Uttam Galva have approached the NCLT and High Court challenging the declassification. They have also written to Uttam Galvas bankers asking if ArcelorMittal was allowed to exit Uttam Galva without their permission.

How is it that minority shareholders, whose total shareholding in Uttam Galva mount to $9,000, have become so resourceful and are spending big money in getting lawyers to fight the case, asked a source close to ArcelorMittal.

Change in consortium

With increasing stakes, the war of words has heightened between the two sides. A team of top lawyers and executives from both companies are expected to be in Ahmedabad tomorrow.

While Numetal is being represented by Mukul Rohatgi, the former Attorney General of India; ArcelorMittals case will be led by Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

The entrance of JSW Steel, which has been vocal about its interest in Essar Steel after the first round of bidding, has added to the already heated race.

The Numetal in the second round of bidding is not the same Numetal that was there in the first roundaccording to the RFP (request for proposal), a consortium cant change while the auction is on, said a source close to ArcelorMittal.

There have also been questions on JSW Steels participation in the bidding despite not having submitted EoI, or expression of interest for Essar Steel.

But the Sajjan Jindal company refuted the charges.

JSW Steel has always adhered to the law and followed all relevant requirements for our bid in this IBC competitive process as an investor along with another eligible Resolution Applicant. We are a strong eligible player to be part of this process," the company said in a statement.

Numetal eligibility

The change in its shareholders have also brought questions on Numetal's eligibility. Among the shareholders of Numetal, only Aurora Enterprises had submitted the EoI. Now with its exit, how cam Numetals bid be eligible, claimed an executive.

Numetal contended the argument and said in a statement: It is Numetal Ltd, and not Essar Communications Ltd or Aurora Enterprises Ltd, which had submitted Expression of Interest in response to the advertisement issued by the Resolution Professional of Essar Steel India Ltd."

A source close to Numetal added: "Under the RFP, potential resolution applicants have full flexibility to organize their affairs prior to the submission of bid. In the present case, the previous bid has been cancelled and fresh bids have been called. In a fresh bid, there is absolutely no restriction on who Numetal brings in as a partner or investor.

"In fact, during the first bid process, in order to accomodate Arcelor who wanted to bring in Nippon Steel even subsequent to submitting a bid, a clause was added to the RFP. This clause said that a Resolution Applicant can bring in an investor even after submitting the bid, provided the details of the proposed investor and the investment structure are disclosed in the bid. Therefore under the terms of the RFP, JSW or any other investor can join Numetal in its bid even after the submission of the bid, provided details relating to their participation are disclosed in the bid."
The Andhra Pradesh government today said the Centre 'grossly failed' in effectively implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and accused it of 'sidetracking' the new taxation system.

It demanded that the Centre review the various slabs in GST and ensure that traders did not face any problems with the new structure. Speaking in the state assembly on a short discussion on implementation of GST, Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu noted that India's growth rate fell because of the 'faulty policies' of the Centre, including GST and demonetization.

The Centre grossly failed in effectively implementing the GST, while the note ban was also not done in a proper manner. "The country's growth rate fell by two per cent because of the note ban, while ordinary people are facing cash crunch with the ATMs remaining empty," Yanamala said.

Even the Real-Estate Regulation Act enacted by the Centre was chaotic, he said. "Industries and services sectors could not achieve growth because of the faulty policies of the Centre.

That, in turn, has been impacting the countrys overall economic growth," Yanamala observed. The Centre, which took away the states' power to levy taxes, has now sidetracked the actual GST, he alleged.

"There is a vast difference between GST in different countries and our country. GST in New Zealand is the best in the world as there is only one slab. There is need for review of the GST slab system here as well," Yanamala added.

He said the Centre, ahead of enacting the GST law, agreed to bear the revenue loss of states due to GST, but was now collecting special cess and giving it to the states.

"The Centre is accepting some proposals of the states and rejecting some others,which is causing hardship to the people. The states are also facing problems because of that,"he noted. The TDP government, Yanamala said, was strongly opposed to bringing traders 'forcibly' into the tax net.

"Under the Value-Added Tax system, there was no scope for arrest of traders but GST has that. We strongly opposed that," he said.
India and the US will hold bilateral consultations on April 11 in Geneva to deliberate upon the case filed by the Trump administration in the WTO, alleging that export incentives were harming American companies, an official said.

The consultations would be held under the aegis of World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism.

Special secretary level officer from the commerce ministry will lead the team.

The US is expected to seek more details about the export incentives by India, the government official said.

Last month, the US has dragged India to the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism over export subsidies, saying that these incentives were harming American companies.

America has challenged India's export subsidy programmes such as Merchandise Exports from India Scheme in the WTO, asserting that these initiatives harm its companies by creating an uneven playing field.

They had sought consultations with India under the aegis of the global trade body's dispute settlement mechanism.

Seeking consultation under the aegis of the WTO is the first step of dispute settlement process.

If the two nations are not able to reach a mutually agreed solution through consultation, the US may request for a WTO dispute settlement panel to review the matter.

The US in its statement said that thousands of Indian companies are receiving benefits totalling over USD 7 billion annually under various export promotion programmes.

Export subsidy programmes: the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme; Export Oriented Units Scheme and sector specific schemes, including Electronics Hardware Technology Parks Scheme; SEZ; Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme; and duty free imports have been challenged by US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer.

These export subsidy programmes harm American workers by creating an uneven playing field on which they must compete, the USTR had said.

According to another government official, the US has dragged India under Article 27 of WTO's Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, which also provides for special and differential treatment to developing countries.

At the time the agreement came into force, developing countries with over USD 1,000 per capita gross national income (GNI) were provided a period of eight years to bring down their export subsidies.

India has stated that the WTO informed the country only in 2017 that it has crossed this threshold and hence should get the eight-year period from 2017 to cut its exports subsidies.

India has also submitted a paper in WTO in 2011 seeking clarification with regard to the year of applicability of the provision and also the extension period.

Under the pact, developing countries can seek further extension of the eight years grace period by providing cogent arguments.
A labourer works at the construction site of the Delhi-Jaipur national highway in Manesar in the northern state of Haryana, India, July 9, 2015. To match insight INDIA-INFRASCTRUCTURE/ REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RTX1KM9A

India constructed a total of 9,829 kilometers (km) of national highways (NH), while awarding 17,055 km of NH during financial year 2017-18, its highest tally after coming to power in 2014.

The road transport and highways ministry awarded 8,652 km directly or through the public works department (PWD), while the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarded 7,397 km of national highways, latest data provided by the ministry showed.

The Centres arm to build national highways in northeast India, NHIDCL, awarded 1,006 km of national highways taking the total at 17,055 for the year ending March 2018.

We have achieved a growth of 20 percent over the previous year target for national highways award and construction, Nitin Gadkari, union minister of road transport and highways, said while addressing the media.

He said that the ministry has managed to achieve per day (linear) construction at 26.92 km during 2017-18, reaching closer to his ambitious target of 41 km/day.

Also read:NHAI rides on Bharatmala to achieve 78 percent construction target for 2017-18

I had said that I would build highways at 40 km/day Now, this will be my target for next year It is a difficult target but we are coming closer to achieving it, the minister said.

The minister said that Centre was now switching to international standards of calculating highway construction which equated lane construction with kilometer construction, that is, one lane equals to one lane kilometer construction.

For example, our Delhi-Meerut expressway is a 14-lane expressway. According to international standards, it will be 14 lane km constructions, Gadkari said.

Yudhvir Singh Malik, secretary, MoRTH said that till now ministry was considering liner length as a parameter to calculate total construction.

International norms are such that you have to calculate lane kilometer Indian lanes are 3.5 meters wide. So, if we construct a 4-lane highway and also construct 2 lane service road along with it, then eventually you are constructing 8 lanes, said Malik adding, This year, total liner length construction is 9,829 km which is 34,878 lane km and correspondingly 94.18 lane km/day.

The ministry has been so far calculating construction of NH in linear length, which means that there is no difference between one km of 2-lane with paved shoulders and one km with 6-lane+service roads. This is not as per international standards, statement released by the ministry said.

The ministry has incurred an all-time high expenditure of Rs. 1,16,324 crore during 2017-18, up from Rs. 80,553 crore (2016-17). The expenditure was Rs. 65,136 crore during 2015-16, Rs. 38,867 crore during 2014-15 and Rs. 32,483 crore during 2013-14.

NHAI, under MoRTH, has spent Rs. 28,000 crore on land acquisition during 2017-18, up from over Rs 17,000 crore during 2016-17, Gadkari said, adding it acquired over 9,000 hectare of land during FY18.

He said land acquisition, forest and environment clearances and contractual and financial issues marred the sector, which are now being resolved.
Public sector banks (PSBs) wrote off Rs 2.41 lakh crore worth of loans between April 2014 and September 2017, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Writing-off non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans is a regular exercise conducted by banks to clean up their balance sheet, and achieving taxation efficiency, Minister of State of Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply.

"As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on global operations, public sector banks have written-off (including compromise) an amount of Rs 2,41,911 crore from financial year 2014-15 till September 2017," the minister said.

Writing off loans is done, inter-alia, for tax benefit and capital optimisation, he said.

"Borrowers of such written off loans continue to be liable for repayment," he added.

Shukla said that recovery of dues takes place on ongoing basis under legal mechanism, including SARFAESI Act and debt recovery tribunals.

"Therefore, write-offs does not benefit borrowers," he added.

The minister said RBI has apprised it that borrower-wise credit information is not available for disclosure.
Shareholders of Fortis Healthcare are protesting against a deal they feel undervalues their company. Last week, the Fortis Healthcare board approved sale of its hospitals business, along with a 20 per cent stake in diagnostics chain SRL to the Manipal Hospitals-TPG Capital combine for Rs 3900 crore. Since then, the Fortis stock has fallen close to 12 percent.

Bhavdeep Singh, 55, Chief Executive Officer of Fortis Healthcare denies that Fortis has been offered to Manipal-TPG on a platter. Singh, a US citizen and veteran retail professional led the negotiations with the Manipal-TPG consortium for last several months before concluding India's largest ever healthcare deal.

In an interview to Moneycontrol, Singh says he is in talks with major shareholders to convince them about the deal. He says the deal needs to be looked in broader context and the situation that the company is going through in last few months.

Singh looked weary with busy back to back meetings. The window of his cabin provides sweeping view of Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI), Gurgaon, the company's flagship multi-super speciality hospital - interrupted only by the metro trains that ply on Delhi metro's Yellow Line.

Singh spoke on the deal, how the morale of the staff was kept intact during the challenging phase, and allegations against the company for overcharging.

Edited excerpts of the interview:

We have talked to multiple people. We did not have 3-4 proposals (or signed binding agreements). This is the first time we had an actual agreement to work on.

From a company perspective, from a business perspective, from a management perspective and from a employee perspective, we have to look at multiple stakeholders. I understand there are concerns and lots of noise obviously. The priorities are based on the way we look at things, based on journey we have taken in last 18 months. Not only do we think this is a good step forward, I think it's a right step forward. We have a very strong healthcare systems in Fortis Healthcare, we have a strong healthcare systems with Manipal. We are bringing them together at a time when the industry has void and gap when it comes to defined strong leadership position. Anytime you have a deal or transaction you can ask 20 questions about it. When you have netted out (the pros and cons), this is good way forward.

In any complex transaction, there are multiple things to discuss. This deal was no different. I don't think I am at a liberty to talk about specifics. We have ended on the net positive side.Of course, it played a role. We are going through them. We are cooperating with the authorities and working to get to a place where we can say okay we have investigated, we have found out. It's just fine.I think from a valuation perspective everything that is happening in an organisation or in a business - good, bad or otherwise, the reality is in last little bit of time there have been some challenges in Fortis way. Anytime you discuss the value of something you look at the journey, you look at where you have been, you look at where you are and you look at where you are going. And again when you put it all of it together - I don't necessarily agree that as you said - the notion of Fortis being put on platter. On contrary I think there is very strong case for why this could be great. This was one proposal and its good. I do believe coming together will have formidable presence in Indian healthcare space. This is a marriage made (in heaven). From a company perspective - we want to get this done.Slowly, slowly and with much discussion and deliberation. These aren't one sided conversations because we share what we did and why we did. And the conviction with which we have done it.

Then we listen as well. But I think when you look at the numbers, when you look at the data points, and when you look at the journey that Manipal has taken, the journey we have taken, I think to me the most important thing about this is how complimentary they are. Very interesting we have been having this discussion for quite a bit of time. I guess probably this year or year and half back. I remember somebody well before any of these things actually started - the whole notion what if we merge with this organisation that organisation. At random point of time - what is if there is something with Manipal. My first thought was - my god that would be amazing.

I also thought about other organisations that I won't name. It wasn't just one-off. It was one of multiple things. I had even thought about merging with John Hopkins (smiles). That probably was not going to happen. So on the surface, when you look out and when you look at various components, there is a lot of merit in it. There are very few things in life that everybody agrees on. The discussion and conversations we are having, we are sharing what we are thinking and why. We are having a dialogue with shareholders.There is a human element to the story. In our organisation we have 7000 nurses and 4000 doctors. The organisation has gone through a lot in last 6-7 months.

Amidst all these external things that were happening, I am absolutely astonished how people have stuck together. Our attrition rate over last six - eight months has actually come down. It should have gone way up. The industry attrition is somewhere in the mid-twenties to low thirties. We haven't had one member of senior management leave, on contrary the level of commitment is very strong.

We had a call with our senior doctors and also have a committee called Fortis Medical Council where 16 of our top doctors said that we are with you. We know these are tough times but we are sticking together.

Transition, merger, demerger, new promoter - this organisation is going to fly (banging the table). How many hospitals in India publish clinical outcomes. We are the only chain that has detailed 180-point patient facing activities that we track in our hospitals.

We have a programme called Swachh Fortis in which the staff of every hospital, including doctors, take out brooms to clean the surroundings of the hospital.

Look our healthcare industry today, if I was kind I would say it is challenged. Actually there are bigger issues than that. I spend most of my life in US - in 1993 when Bill Clinton became the President - he appointed his wife Hillary (Clinton) as head of healthcare taskforce. (recommended universal health insurance). It was 20 years later that Obama Care has come in. While the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fantastic thing. But it will take time. In next two months Dengue will start, what will happen. Who is in charge of fixing the Dengue. No body has, unfortuntaley Dengue will happen this year, people will get sick this year, hospitalised again and people will die. I want to know who is in charge. The merger Fortis and Manipal can make difference to problems like these.The allegations you are referring to is the baby Adya case (7-year old Adya died while undergoing treatment with billing coming to Rs 17 lakh. Fortis is facing allegations of over-charging) The count was made that we used hundreds of syringes and gloves and actually I was confirmed the number of syringes and gloves were exactly as per the protocol. If we wouldn't have used it, then headline would be 'Fortis not using enough of gloves'. The information is that the headlines were saying - this was a case of Dengue. But it wasn't, it was Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS affects children under 10, causing abdominal pain, hemorrhage (bleeding) and circulatory collapse).

We have to share more information and we have to continue to educate people. We have a surgical robot. When doctor performs surgery versus doing it with a robot - the length of stay is shorter, blood loss is shorter, the recovery time is quicker so you have reasons for why things cost more. Healthcare is so basic but even more basic than healthcare is roti, kapada, makaan (food, clothing and housing). No one questions that.

We publish clincal outcomes, have to document data, verify it and follow up it with patients. We have the best neurosurgery programme in Asia and the bone-marrow transplant programme. The robot that I am referring to cost the same in India as in US. When they do knee surgery they charge USD 25,000-30,000 dollars and we charge USD 4000-5000. You have to consider all these factors.

We all have to be a bit more transparent with each other. Medical devices makers sit with us and they say let's work together. I think we need to do a better job communicating with each other and push the Make-in-India programme.
Banks were the flavour of the day on Tuesday as stocks in this sector took charge of pushing up the market higher. A rally was seen in these on the back of Reserve bank of India (RBI) allowing banks to spread out bond losses over four quarters.

The surge helped the market from falling to lower points, even as global cues pointed to a selloff in the Indian market as well. Additionally, robust GST collections data also aided sentiment.

The session began on a flat note, with the Nifty holding on to 10,200 in the opening minutes. But the following hours saw choppy trade, but in a narrow range till the last hour. All sectoral indices, barring IT and metals were in the green. Midcaps too were outperforming the benchmarks. But there was a recovery in the last hour of trade, led by gains in midcaps that made the market close at the high point.

ICICI Bank was the top index gainer and contributed 40 percent to the Niftys gains. Meanwhile, losses in HDFC twins ensured that the gains were curbed.

Among stocks, shares of VST Tillers Tractors added 3 percent on the back of strong growth in March sales figures.

Delta Corp added over 13 percent after brokerage house Emkay maintained its buy call on the stock.

Shares of JMC Projects rose 7 percent as the company won an order worth Rs 942 crore.

Tata Communications and Mahanagar Gas gained up to 2 percent after a tie up was announced between the two companies in a bid to deploy 5000 smart gas meters in Mumbai.

Galaxy Surfactants touched a 52-week low of Rs 1,430, slipping 2 percent as company received Form 483 for two of its facilities.

Centrum Capital rose around 4 percent after it sold Centrum Direct Limited to Ebixcash for USD 175 million.

Tyre stocks were in focus with MRF jumping 3.47 percent and hitting a record high of Rs 75,612 per scrip on the NSE. The government announced increase in custom duty on truck and bus radials imports to 15 percent from from 10 percent in Budget FY19 which augurs well for tyre companies. Other tyre stocks which gained in today's trade included Apollo Tyres which was up over 3 percent thereby hitting a new 52-week high.

Among precious metals, gold futures traded lower by Rs 142 at Rs 30,890 per 10 grams today amid a weakening global trend and profit-booking by speculators.

Gold for delivery in June was trading lower by Rs 142, or 0.46 per cent, at Rs 30,890 per 10 grams, in a business turnover of 382 lots at the Multi Commodity Exchange.

On the global markets, Asian shares closed lower in the midst of a fall in IT stocks as well as tensions around trade wars. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.45 percent, or 96.29 points, to close at 21,292.29, but was off its session lows. The broader Topix slipped 0.29 percent, with oil and gas the worst-performing sector index.

Meanwhile, European equities were trading lower following the sharp sell-off on Wall Street. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was about 1 percent lower with almost every sector moving onto negative ground.
Auto players continued to clock strong growth in sales volume in the month of March 2018. Segment-wise performance continued to be robust for commercial vehicle (CV) and tractors on the back of good monsoon, improved rural sentiments and increased production of BS-IV compliant vehicles. Additionally, there has been a revival in three-wheeler sales following governments decision to end Permit Raj, and a pick-up in exports on the back of improving global climate.

Focus on rural economy in an election year and continued investment in infrastructure should boost CV and tractor segments going forward. Stronger numbers from two-wheeler companies is an early trend and could get some additional support if the revival of rural economy gathers momentum in the coming months.

The commercial sector has bounced back strongly after initial disruption from demonetisation and the BS-IV transition affected the transport industry last year.

Notably, LCV segment has also started showing strong uptrend in monthly numbers due to increased thrust on agriculture, FMCG and e-commerce sectors and increasing demand coming for container and refrigerated trucks.

Tata Motors registered a significant growth on the back of increasing demand from construction, growing logistics, e-commerce and FMCG applications. The M&HCV truck segment continued to be robust on the back of stringent restrictions on overloading, replacement buying and various infrastructure projects. Demand for higher tonnage trucks and tippers continues to be good.

M&M posted a healthy growth thanks to good monsoon, and rural penetration of the company. The management expects the growth momentum to continue on the back of some recent refresh launches as well as the better performance of its product portfolio. The management is particularly buoyed by the growth of its truck business, which has outperformed the industry.

Eicher Volvo also witnessed a significant growth of 30.4 percent (YoY) in the month. Ashok Leyland also continued to post strong growth (20 percent YoY).

The leader, Maruti, continued to top the charts in PV (Passenger Vehicle) segment with 15 percent growth, mainly driven by 24.3 percent growth in UV (Utility Vehicle) segment.

For Tata Motors, passenger car segment witnessed a decline of 4 percent (YoY) whereas its UV segment trebled, thanks to the strong demand for its Nexon, a compact SUV.

Initial signs of revival are visible in the numbers of M&M as well and it posted a growth of 4 percent (YoY). With three new automotive launches lined up in FY19, the management is confident of increasing companies market share in the utility vehicle space.

In the two-wheeler space, Eicher witnessed strong sales of bikes below 350cc with a growth of 18.8 percent (YoY) and bikes above 350cc segment witnessed a significant increase mainly because of the lower base of last year.

TVS continues to post a strong growth in the two-wheeler segment primarily because of 40.5 percent growth in bikes and 20 percent growth in scooters. Bajajs domestic business witnessed muted growth in March 2018.

Hero, yet again, achieved highest-ever monthly sales and posted a significant growth of 20 percent in the month.

The overall three-wheeler market continued to gain strength as is evident from the sales number for the March month. This is primarily due to the end of Permit Raj in Maharashtra and new permits in Delhi. Bajaj Auto, the leader in the space, could capture the growth coming in this segment and posted a whopping 150.2 percent (YoY) growth in the domestic three-wheeler segment.

TVS also posted a strong growth of 103.2 percent (YoY) in 3W volumes.

The revival of the rural economy is impacting the numbers of the tractor segment as is evident in the stellar show of both M&M and Escorts.

M&M continued to post significant growth (46.2 percent y-o-y) and Escorts posted a healthy growth of 66.5 percent.

The recent initiatives from the government to bring back strength into rural India should continue to support demand for farm equipment like tractors.

Auto companies had been struggling in the export markets for long. However, overall revival in the global economy is finally reflecting in the numbers of some of the leading automobile exporters. All auto majors appear to be gaining some foothold in the overseas market.

Follow @agrawant

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research Page
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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) today adjourned the hearing to April 5 over sale of debt-ridden firm Bhushan Steel to Tata Steel by the Committee of Creditors (CoC).

The matter, which was listed for hearing today, would now come before the Principal bench on April 5.

Senior advocate A S Chandhiok, who is appearing for the employees of Bhushan Steel, would continue his arguments.

Yesterday Chandhiok had contended that Tata Steel was ineligible to participate in the resolution process of Bhushan Steel under the IBC Code.

Besides, the NCLT was also informed that Tata Steel, which has emerged as the highest bidder for Bhushan Steel, will pay Rs 35,200 crore in cash and convert over Rs 27,000 crore worth of their loans into equity.

As per Tata Steel's offer, financial creditors would get 12.27 per cent of equity of the Bhushan Steel, which would be subject to Sebi approval.

Senior advocate Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Committee of Creditor (CoC), had yesterday informed the NCLT that bids of Tata Steel were judged on the basis of viability and feasibility on the commercial basis. As on February 1, 2018, Bhushan Steel had a total debt of Rs 57,160 crore.
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AUM Capital

Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSEs Nifty 50 closed higher on Monday on the first trading day of the new financial year helped by healthcare and auto stocks. Shares of auto companies supported gains on positive March vehicles sales data with heavyweights Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki India leading the gains.

Banking stocks, however, suffered losses after CBI launched an inquiry into ICICI Banks Rs 40,000 crore loan to Videocon group. The domestic investors will now look forward to the Reserve Bank of India's first bimonthly policy decision of FY19 to be held later this week.

Technical Outlook

Nifty

Nifty has formed Bullish candle after two days of consolidation around 200 SMA. It opened with gap-up and continued to move higher to close at 10211.80 up 0.97 percent. It has crossed last week high and heading towards 10250-10270 levels i.e. Upper Band of Falling Channel which might work as immediate resistance. Sustenance trade above these levels may add further momentum on upside.

Furthermore, Oscillators like RSI & MACD has given positive crossover which is a bullish setup.

Bank Nifty

Nifty Bank rebounded from day's low of 24062 and closed higher at 24328.50 up 0.27 per cent. It failed to surpass 'Upper Band' of Falling Channel. Decisive trade above 24500 levels might take Index further higher till 24900 mark i.e. 200 SMA. Now if Index sustains below 24500 levels, then fresh selling can be seen till 23900 and then 23600 levels. Furthermore, Momentum Oscillators like RSI & MACD has given positive crossover which is a bullish setup.

Here are the top 5 stocks to buy today which acn give up to 4% return in the short term:

Lupin Limited | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 798, stop loss: Rs 759 | Return: 2%

BEML Limited | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 1109, stop loss: Rs 1060 | Return: 2%

Kaveri Seed Company Limited | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 505, stop loss: Rs 487 | Return: 2%

Amara Raja Batteries | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 829, stop loss: Rs 795 | Return: 2%

Multi Commodity Exchange of India | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 728, stop loss: Rs 680 | Return: 4%

: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The Supreme Court today sought response from the CBI and the Maharashtra government on a plea of Mumbai-based Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society allowing it to withdraw around Rs 1 crore for maintenance and litigation.

The society has challenged the Mumbai's special court's order directly in apex court by which it had refused to accept the application for deposit of security of immovable assets.

A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul issued notice to the CBI and the Maharashtra government and sought their replies in four weeks.

The apex court had on January 5 said that bank accounts will be defreezed and the society will deposit security of immovable assets to the satisfaction of special court at Mumbai.

The bank accounts, which the society claimed to have opened to meet litigation cost by the members, were frozen by CBI during the probe into the 2010 Adarsh scam.

The society had contended that the amount lying in these bank accounts had nothing to do with the investigation as it was collected by the members of society to meet litigation cost.

It had said that after first FIR was registered in the case, the society members came forward to contribute Rs 2 lakh each to meet the expenses of litigation.

The Adarsh scam had kicked up a political storm leading to the resignation of the then Congress chief minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan. The 31-storey Adarsh apartments was built at Colaba in posh South Mumbai locality for 1999 Kargil war heroes and war widows.

The Bombay High Court had earlier ordered demolition of the apartments and sought initiation of criminal proceedings against politicians and bureaucrats for alleged misuse of powers, holding that the tower was illegally constructed.

It had asked the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest to carry out the demolition at the expense of Adarsh Society.

It had also asked the Centre and the Maharashtra government to consider initiating civil and criminal proceedings against bureaucrats, ministers and politicians for misuse and abuse of power to get plots under the scheme.

The top court in July last year had said that the Adarsh apartments would not be demolished for the time being and asked the Centre to secure it after taking its possession from the housing society.

In 2011, the Maharashtra government had set up a two-member judicial commission headed by Justice J A Patil to inquire into the Adarsh scam.

After probing the issue for over two years, it submitted its report in 2013, which found that there had been 25 illegal allotments, including 22 purchases made by proxy.
Employees of Amazon India are seen behind a glass bearing the company's logo inside its office in Bengaluru

Global e-commerce giant Amazon today said its efforts to better organise its teams has impacted "a small number of employees" in India but asserted that it continues to hire and has about 4,000 positions open in the country.

The comments come amid reports that the company has laid off 60 people in India as part of a global restructuring, and that more employees could be handed the pink slip in the coming days.

The company has contested the claims saying "reports stating 60 people (being fired) is factually incorrect and overstated".

"As a global organisation, we have recognised the need to more organise our teams to keep us agile and help us use our resources optimally. This has impacted a small number of roles within the company," an Amazon India spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The spokesperson added that the company is providing complete support to the impacted employees, including the option of relevant internal postings and outplacement services.

"We would like to add that we continue to hire across multiple roles in India, with little over 4,000 jobs being open for hire across various teams in India," the spokesperson said.

In February, Amazon had said it is making headcount adjustments across the company involving small reductions as part of its annual planning process. Globally, Amazon has well over 5.6 lakh employees.

In India, Amazon is locked in an intense battle for market leadership with homegrown player, Flipkart that is backed by the likes of SoftBank and Tiger Global. Both players have pumped in millions of dollars towards building infrastructure, logistics and marketing activities in the country to get more people to shop online.

The competition in the sector is expected to intensify further with Paytm Mall raising a fresh funding of close to Rs 2,900 crore from SoftBank and Alibaba. Paytm Mall has said it will use the funds to boost technology and logistics as well as to strengthen the brand.
Japan's SoftBank Group and existing investor Alibaba are investing around Rs 3,000 crore in online retail firm Paytm Mall. SoftBank is already an investor in the bigger rival Flipkart and its entry into Paytm Mall further fuels the talks of a potential consolidation in the e-commerce sector as it prepares for a battle with foreign rival Amazon.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Amit Sinha, the chief operating officer of Paytm Mall, however, denies any such possibility and talks about how the company will go about building a differentiated e-commerce strategy.

One great thing is the kind of confidence that they have shown in our business model. Our whole strategy is highly differentiated from others in the market and this investment is definitely a very strong endorsement of what we are doing.

It is too early for having any such thing in place. The whole idea is the O2O (offline-to-online) model. That is the cornerstone of the commerce build up in India. We see definitely this as faith in our model that we are trying to do.

As a business, what we are doing is very very different from any other players in the market. To an extent where I won't even call us typical e-commerce firm. We are not an e-retail firm, we are more of a technology provider to shopkeepers. I am helping them digitise and bring the benefits of e-commerce to the consumers. We are in a very differentiated play. So from that philosophy, SoftBank definitely has seen a lot of value in what we are doing. Whether they want to consolidate or something like that, I don't think there are any such talks or thought at all.

The point is if we're doing the same thing then consolidation would have made sense. We are doing something which is totally different from anybody else. That is the reason why SoftBank has gone ahead and funded us at all.The largest chunk of the money will be going in technology development. That is something core to what we are doing. Second, a lot of emphasis is on retailer education and retailer training and getting them onboarded because we are targeting a set of shopkeepers who are not even aware of how things are done on the Internet.It would be a large chunk of it but I won't say that it will be the only segment that we are targeting. At the end of the day, we are a horizontal portal. The only difference is while others have not gone aggressively in Tier 2 today also because of the business model that they have, we because of our model have a much wider reach. So we would be aggressive in smaller towns just as in Tier 1 and 2 cities.We won't have a standalone logistics network as such, ever. We have been partnering with other companies small and large so that the consumer experience is managed and maintained. We will continue to invest in logistics and when I say tech, it does include a large chunk of logistics investment also.

But again that will be mostly on the technology platform. We will always work with partners. We will not be setting up our logistics arm.

We should actually see doubling our numbers of orders in the first quarter and we are on a very significant growth path both in terms of the orders and GMV (gross merchandise value).
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The foreign research house Credit Suisse has come out with its report on IT space. According to research house, the earnings estimates are flat to down for the larger firms in the sector.

Infosys, HCL Technologies may guide for 6.5-8.5% & 7.5-9.5% revenue growth in constant currency for FY19, it feels.

The favourable currency can also aid sector earnings, while larger IT companies may report 1.3-1.7% of revenue growth.

According to Credit Suisse, the mid-sized companies should continue to report stronger growth numbers.

HCL Technologies & Persistent Systems are looking interesting as we get into the results season.

HCL Tech remains incrementally positive on infra management, while current weakness in Persistents stock price offers a good buying opportunity.

At 13:06 hrs Persistent Systems was quoting at Rs 675.85, down 1.34 percent, Infosys was quoting at Rs 1,133, down 0.40 percent and HCL Technologies was quoting at Rs 968.65, down 1.12 percent on the BSE.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
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Shares of Tata Communications gained 3 percent intraday Tuesday as the company tied up with Mahanagar Gas to deploy 5000 smart gas meters in Mumbai.

Tata Communications is working with Mahanagar Gas to deploy 5,000 smart gas meters in Mumbai.

The new smart meters will give households and businesses unprecedented visibility and control over their gas usage, and enable MGL to enhance operational efficiencies.

Rajeev Mathur, Managing Director Mahanagar Gas said, We want to help our customers better understand their energy use, save money and reduce their carbon footprint - while improving our own operational efficiencies.

At 11:17 hrs Tata Communications was quoting at Rs 650.95, up 2.33 percent and Mahanagar Gas was quoting at Rs 992.75, down 0.37 percent on the BSE.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
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The March 2018 quarter will be certainly better than the March 2017 quarter, suggest experts but future guidance and management commentary will play a crucial role in stock selection.

Depreciation of USD against other currencies will provide cross-currency tailwinds of 60-130 bps and 20-50 bps for margins to technology stocks, suggest experts.

Mid-tier companies will report 2-3 percent constant currency (CC) revenue growth sequentially despite seasonal weakness. Growth will be buoyed with share gains in existing large clients and benefits of large deals signed in the past 6-9 months.

We expect stable margins on a sequential basis for our coverage midcap universe and increase on a year-on-year (YoY) comparison for MindTree and Mphasis. We like Mindtree and L&T Infotechs positioning in digital services, Kotak Institutional Equities said in a note.

We expect companies to start off on a conservative note for FY2019E revenue growth guidance. Expect 6-8 percent constant currency revenue growth guidance from Infosys and 8-10 percent from HCL Tech with no change in operating margin guidance band. We maintain our constructive view on Infosys and Tech Mahindra, it said.

Most analysts expect Infosys to guide on a conservative note at 6-8 percent revenue growth on a constant currency basis. Even as the macro environment is positive, translation of the same into pipeline and deals will materialise gradually.

Infosys and HCL Tech may guide for 6.5-8.5% and 7.5-9.5% revenue growth (constant currency) for FY19, respectively, above the FY18 organic growth but in line with current estimates. Favorable currency can also aid sector earnings, Credit Suisse said in a report.

Here is a list of top 10 stocks from different brokerage firms which are likely to be in focus in Q4:

Infosys:

Kotak expects c/c revenue growth of 0.5 percent and cross-currency tailwind of 100 bps in 4QFY18. Infosys guidance for FY2018 implied revenue range of 0.6 percent decline to 3.5 percent growth for 4QFY18.

The domestic brokerage firms expect flat EBIT margin as a benefit of INR depreciation will be offset by weak revenue growth. It expects Infosys to guide for constant-currency revenue growth of 6-8% and maintain EBIT margin guidance band of 23-25%.

Kotak Institutional Equities expect investors to focus on the strategy of the new CEO, especially on the following fronts(1) focus on development/promotion of proprietary software versus adoption of third-party products/platforms, (2) M&A strategy, and (3) focus and strategy for revival of consulting practice.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS):

Kotak Institutional Equities expects constant-currency (c/c) revenue growth of 1.3 percent and cross-currency tailwind of 130 bps. The growth will be aided by the ramp-up of some of the deals won in 2HFY18.

The domestic brokerage firm expects EBIT margin to recover 25 bps driven by operational efficiency and benefits of INR depreciation against non-USD currencies. The net profit growth is muted on YoY comparison due to completion of buyback that has impacted other income.

Kotak expects investor focus on (1) demand outlook, especially in BFS vertical (2) ramp-up timeframe of recently won large deals, (3) EBIT margin outlook in light of ramp-up of recently won large deals and (4) impact of US tax code.

Wipro:

Kotak Institutional Equities expects constant-currency revenue growth of 1.5 percent and cross-currency tailwind of 100 bps resulting in 2.5 percent growth in USD terms.

Previous quarter EBIT margin was impacted to the extent of 240 bps due to a client insolvency. Expect adjusted EBIT margin to increase largely due to the depreciation of INR against non-USD currencies.

It expects June quarter hiccups to show up again this year. Investor focus should now turn to (1) convergence of growth with industry, (2) state of demand from utilities, healthcare and communications vertical, (3) measures taken to defend share in core areas of competence, i.e. IMS, ERD and BPO, and (4) drivers of margin expansion.

HCL Technologies Ltd:

Kotak Institutional Equities expects 3 percent sequential growth in USD revenues; decomposition of revenue growth is as follows(1) organic constant-currency revenue growth rate of 1%, (2) incremental contribution from IP deals of 0.7% or US$15 mn and (3) cross-currency tailwind of 1.3%.

EBIT margin will be largely stable. The benefit of INR depreciation against non-USD currencies will be offset by seasonally weak quarter for IP business. Expect the company to guide for 9.5-11.5% USD revenue growth. Constant currency revenue growth to be lower and includes inorganic component.

Tech Mahindra Ltd:

Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE) expects c/c revenue growth of 1% and cross-currency tailwind of 120 bps. The growth will be largely driven by the enterprise vertical. The telecom vertical will continue to be weak.

The EBIT margin will improve by 70 bps driven by Comviva and contribution from IP partnership. It forecasts forex gain of US$7 mn, down from US$16 mn in 3QFY18.

4QFY17 had one-off items to the extent of US$20 mn at the EBIT level resulting from the termination of unprofitable contracts of LCC.

Persistent Systems Ltd:

The 4Q is likely to be a soft quarter, reflecting greater-than-normal seasonal weakness in the IP revenue. Credit Suisse expects 5 percent QoQ decline in revenue in USD terms and 390 bp QoQ decline in EBIT margins.

Cyient:

Cyient may report 8.2 percent QoQ growth in USD terms (DLM should be up over 70 percent on a QoQ basis and services business should be up 2.4 percent or 1 percent in constant currency  this would include some contribution from B&F as well, said the Credit Suisse report. Margins may slightly contract due to a higher mix of DLM in revenue.

NIIT Technologies:

NIIT Tech may report 2.5% QoQ (cc, reported growth of 2.9%) revenue growth in 4Q FY18 (before forex hedging gains), even after accounting for US$1.5 mn of reduced revenue from Morris, and moderate traction in the GIS business said the Credit Suisse report. Margins may expand by 70 bps QoQ.

Mindtree:

Credit Suisse has modelled 3 percent QoQ revenue growth (cc, 3.9% in USD terms) for 4Q FY18, despite the usual seasonality in the business, helped by the strong deal ramp-up. It expects a small margin expansion.

Hexaware Technologies Ltd:

Credit Suisse expects Hexaware to report 2.3 percent QoQ growth (cc, 2.8% in USD terms) in 1Q CY18. Margins can expand from the low base of 4Q CY17 and currency will also provide some support. It expects a 60 bps QoQ margin expansion. CY18 guidance should be maintained.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing sector recorded a growth of 3.4 percent.

Swiss-based agri-business firm Syngenta today sold some part of its seed business in India to Crystal Crop Protection for an undisclosed amount.

The national capital-based Crystal Crop Protection today announced the acquisition of certain seed and fodder business from Syngenta India.

Syngenta's decision to sell part of its seed business comes in the wake of government's control over Indian seed market by fixing maximum sale price and royalty value for the technology provider.

"The company has acquired Indian grain sorghum, fodder sorghum (SSG) and pearl millet seeds business including their germplasms, plant variety protection applications and registrations and market authorisations from Syngenta," Crystal Crop Protection said in a statement.

The company has also acquired seed brands Mahalaxmi (Sorghum), Atheeva (Pearl Millet) and SX-17 (SSG), it said.

"Syngenta is divesting the pearl-millet, sorghum and fodder business to bring stronger focus and synergy to its core diversified field crop and vegetable seeds strategy," Syngenta India, South Asia Vice President (Business Sustainability) K C Ravi said in a separate statement.

Crystal Crop will now have strong breeding program in all its focus crops -- cotton, maize, rice, grain sorghum, pearl millet and SSG, he added.

The company, however, did not disclose the deal amount. Ernst & Young LLP acted as advisor to Syngenta on the above divestment.

"We believe in taking technology, innovation and manufacturing to the next level. With acquisition of seeds from Syngenta, we will strengthen our seed portfolio," Crystal Crop Protection Managing Director Ankur Aggarwal said.

Crystal Crop has made a number of acquisitions in past few years. In the last fiscal, the company had acquired a speciality chemicals plant from Cytec India Specialty Chemicals and Materials Pvt Limited, an Indian unit of Belgian chemicals firm Solvay SA.

In 2016, it had signed an agreement with Germany's BASF SE to acquire fungicide brand Bavistin, while in 2011 the company had acquired Hyderabad-based company Rohini-Seeds and Rohini Bioseeds and Agritech Private.

The company said these acquisitions are part of its strategy to add value to its business.

Syngenta India has presence in seed, seed care, crop and yield protection besides its research and development (R&D).
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Despite the Indian equity market trading almost flat on Tuesday afternoon with the Nifty shedding 8 points at 10,203 mark and the Sensex was down 15 points or 0.05 percent, tyre stocks were in focus with MRF jumping 3.47 percent and hitting a record high of Rs 75,612 per scrip on the NSE.

The government announced increase in custom duty on truck and bus radials imports to 15 percent from from 10 percent in Budget FY19 which augurs well for tyre companies. Other tyre stocks which gained in today's trade included Apollo Tyres which was up over 3 percent thereby hitting a new 52-week high.

TVS Srichakra spiked 4.14 percent and was trading at Rs 3423 per share while JK Tyre and Industries added close to 1 percent. The stock that gained the most in this tyre rally was Goodyear which zoomed over 5 percent and Balkrishna Industries which jumped 6.5 percent and was trading at Rs 1151 per share.

Research and broking firm ICICIdirect.com has a buy on Apollo Tyres till April expiry on 290 Call at Rs 6-7 with target at Rs 14 and stop loss at Rs 2.
The nameplate of political consultancy, Cambridge Analytica, is seen in central London, Britain March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls - RC1C17A29580

Cambridge Analytica, the firm at the centre of Facebook users' data breach scandal, has sought one more week to respond to government's notice on whether it was involved in misuse of data to profile Indians and influence their voting behaviour.

The notice had gone out to Cambridge Analytica over media reports about questionable practices attributed to the UK-based firm in its efforts to allegedly influence elections by harvesting data of Facebook users globally.

Sources privy to the development said that Cambridge Analytica has now sought an additional time of one week to send its response to the notice issued by the Indian government.

Cambridge Analytica and Facebook came under fire after the British firm was accused of harvesting personal information of over 50 million Facebook users illegally to influence polls in several countries.

The IT Ministry shot off notices to both Cambridge Analytica and Facebook on the data breach issue, giving them time till March 31, and April 7, respectively, to respond.

The government questioned Cambridge Analytica on whether it had been "engaged in any assignment to utilise data of Indians" pertaining to the recent breach, and also the entities that had used its services. Details were also sought on the methods used by the company to acquire such data and whether consent was taken from users.

An official statement issued last month had said: "Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, has issued a notice... to Cambridge Analytica, wherein the serious breach of propriety and misuse of data intended to profile and influence voting behaviour has been highlighted".

"Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?," the Ministry had asked the company, following reports that political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.

The government's notice to Facebook last week too sought information on user data breach and details of the measures that have been put in place to ensure safety and prevent misuse of personal data.

The ministry raised five questions for Facebook, including whether the personal data of Indian voters and users has been compromised by Cambridge Analytica or any other downstream entity in any manner.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has begun a state-wide hunger strike after the Supreme Court deferred its decision on the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

The party even staged a protest in Parliament, seeking early setting up of the Cauvery Management Board.

The AIADMK protests adjourned Lok Sabha for the 19th consecutive day.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam joined their party members at Chepauk in Chennai for a fast.

Protests and demonstrations were held in Chennai on Tuesday by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Their protests included blocking of local trains.

Over 21 lakh shops were shut across several Tamil Nadu districts on Tuesday.

The Tamil Nadu government has filed a contempt plea against the Centre for failure to establish the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

The Supreme Court has said it will hear the Centre's plea on the CMB and Tamil Nadu's plea on April 9.

DMK and other political parties have called for a bandh on 5 April, Mint reports.

The Supreme Court had on February 16 raised Karnataka's share of Cauvery water by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share.
New Delhi will host the strategically important trilateral dialogue between India, Japan and the United States this week ahead of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago later this month, the State Department has said.

The Trump administration has sent two of its senior diplomats from the State Department -- Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton - to co-lead the American delegation for the trilateral dialogue.

The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers of the Indo-Pacific region on Wednesday comes a fortnight ahead of the Trump-Abe summit at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort.

During the two-day summit on April 17 and 18, the two leaders will reaffirm the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said today.

While Wells has just returned from Pakistan, Thorton completed her trip to Malaysia before heading to New Delhi where she attended the US-ASEAN Dialogue to engage on regional security and economic issues.

On April 6, Wells will participate in the India-US Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs. During her visit, she will also meet with senior Indian government officials to discuss regional and global issues and representatives from the private sector, the State Department said.

The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. For the first several rounds the trilateral was held at the director or assistant secretary level.

It was elevated to ministerial level in 2015. The inaugural ministerial trilateral was held on September 29, 2015, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session. It was hosted by the then US Secretary of State John Kerry. The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida represented their respective countries.
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, has topped the list among Indian institutes in the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2018 rankings released on Tuesday. IIT-Madras topped the list among engineering schools while Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad topped the management school list.

Miranda House, Delhi, topped the colleges list followed by St.Stephen's Delhi and Bishop Heber College, Trichy in the NIRF Rankings 2018.

Similar to other rankings by private firms, IIM-Ahmedabad was followed by Bangalore and Calcutta in the management school category.

Unlike the previous years, this edition of the rankings saw a healthy response from a cross-section of institutes in the country. Almost 750 institutes that did not participate last year did so this year.

In the overall rankings, IISc followed by IIT-Madras and IIT-Bombay were the top three institutes in the country. Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University also made it to the top ten list bagging the sixth position, just behind IIT- Delhi and Kharagpur.

NIRF was approved by the MInistry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and launched in September 29, 2015. The idea was to have a ranking framework for Indian educational institutions since the MHRD was of the view that global rankings often don't paint the right picture.

This is the third year of the ranking. In 2017, general degree colleges were also been made part of the ranking.

Apart from the overall ranks, categories like pharmacy, medicine, law and architecture were segmented in the listing of the top institutions. In the law category, National Law School of India University of Bangalore stood on the top of the list while National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Mohali took the first rank in the pharmacy category. All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi bagged the first position in the medicine category while IIT Kharagpur stood first in the architecture field.

Last year, Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Human Resource Development, had said that in the near future, the grants/funds given to institutes will be linked to their ranking in the NIRF. This had led to more number of institutes participating in the rankings this year.
Amritsar: Army jawan carry a casket containing remains of one of the Indians abducted by the Islamic State group in 2014, that were found in a mass grave outside Mosul in Amritsar on Monday. The remains of the Indian construction workers captured and killed by IS militants in northern Iraq have arrived from Baghdad for their onward journey to their destinations in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. PTI Photo (PTI4_2_2018_000189B)

The mortal remains of 38 of the 39 Indians killed in war-torn Iraq were brought back today in a special aircraft and handed over to their relatives or local authorities in Amritsar, Kolkata and Patna.

Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, who brought back the bodies from Baghdad, told reporters in Amritsar that Indian embassy did not have any record of the 40 Indians captured by the terror group ISIS in Iraq in 2014 as they had gone there through illegal travel agents.

The minister said that had the government had any information about these people being in danger, it would have rescued them as it had done in case of over 45 Indian nurses in 2014.

Thirty-nine of the 40 Indian labourers were killed by the terror group, while one of them managed to escape posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh.

Out of the 39 killed, 27 hailed from Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh, six from Bihar and two from West Bengal. The special aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 38 Indians in caskets landed at the Amritsar international airport around 2:30 pm. The presumed remains of one man from Bihar were yet to be conclusively identified.

As the aircraft carrying the coffins landed in Amritsar, an air of gloom descended as distraught families looked at the caskets.

The remains of the 27 men belonging to Punjab were received by their relatives at the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in Amritsar. Punjab Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was also present at the airport.

The mortal remains of most of the deceased from Punjab were consigned to flames at their native places this evening, officials said.

The bodies of four people hailing from Himachal Pradesh -- three from Kangra and one from Mandi -- were received at the Amritsar airport by state minister Kishan Kapoor. The mortal remains would be handed over to their families tomorrow, state officials said. The special flight then proceeded to Kolkata, where the mortal remains of two men hailing from Nadia district in West Bengal were handed over to district authorities for transportation to their native villages.

The bodies will be kept at Jwaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital morgue at Kalyani for the night and the administration will hand over the bodies to the families tomorrow morning, district officials said.

West Bengal Minister Purnendu Basu was present at the Kolkata airport.

The aircraft then left for Patna for handing over the bodies of five men hailing from Bihar.

At the Patna airport, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi received the bodies. The bodies were being taken to their native Siwan district for handing over to their families.

Talking to reporters in Amritsar, Singh, who had gone to Iraq yesterday to bring back the bodies, said it was not possible to ascertain when the Indians were killed.

"But we were told that it could be about one year (ago). But it is very difficult to say whether it is more than a year or less than a year (ago)," he said.

To a question, Singh said that the Iraq-based Martyrs Foundation had advised against opening of the caskets. "The Martyrs Foundation has told us that the way toxic contents were found (from where the mortal remains were taken out) and the way all this was done (embalming of bodies) when you open the casket it may pose danger and that is why they said it is better not to open it," he said.

Asked how they were killed, Singh, a former army chief, said that some of the persons were killed by bullets.

"When tests were conducted (on mortal remains) it was found that some persons were killed by bullets and however, in some cases, it is very difficult to say as to how they were killed," he said.

He said, "The external affairs ministry started a campaign in 2014 in which we say that one must not go through an illegal agent. There was no record of these 40 persons in any embassy. They migrated through illegal agents. When you go through illegal agents then it is difficult to find where one has gone."

To a query, he said that had they got any clue about the Indian men, they could have been saved like nurses were saved in 2014.

"Do you know about Indian nurses case? We knew about their condition and we asked them to get out of their place (in Iraq in 2014). Initially, they refused to leave the place, saying they were not in danger. But after four days, they told us their hospital was damaged. Then we rescued them. Had there been any information that these persons (40 Indian men) were in crisis at a particular location, we would have rescued them," he told reporters.

Singh emphasised that the state and central governments should work collectively to ensure the gullible people do not fall prey to illegal agents.

"We have told each state that law and order is their responsibility and they should catch illegal agents and take action against them...States and the Centre should work collectively in this direction. We do not want anybody to go illegally abroad. We want people to go legally so that we have their record," Singh said, adding that had gone to Iraq four times in search of the Indian men.
13:01 That brings us to the end of the Budget Session of the Parliament. That's all from our side. Thanks for staying tuned.

11:19 The proceedings of the Lok Sabha have ended for the Budget Session. The House will meet in the Monsoon Session, dates for which will be announced later.

Some MPs who were in the Well of the House continued protesting even

as the Speaker took up formalities of the House while ending the session. The no-confidence motion was not taken up today.

11:16 Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has adjourned the House sine die.

11:14 The House has risen for the Vande Mataram, according to the tradition.

11:13 The Speaker has listed down the work done by the Lok Sabha so far in the session. This includes presentation of the Union Budget and passing of the Finance Bill.

Speaker Mahajan has said that crucial bills such as the Finance Bill, Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment Bill) and Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

11:05 Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has requested protesting MPs to return to their seats as she needs to complete certain procedures. Today is the last day of the Budget Session.

11:04 The Lok Sabha has convened. The ruckus has continued.

10:52 Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs are protesting in the Parliament premises demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh while Congress MPs from Punjab are protesting, seeking farm loan waiver.

10:48 According to news agency ANI, YSR Congress MP PV Midhun Reddy has submitted his resignation from the Lok Sabha, to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

10:15 The Lok Sabha will convene for the final time today in the Budget Session. The Opposition is expected to move a motion of no-confidence today.

At the same time, as many as 5 MPs of the YSR Congress will step down from their positions. The YS Jaganmohan Reddy-led party had earlier said that their MPs would resign if special status is not granted in this session of the Parliament.

14:00 The Lok Sabha will convene for the final time in the Budget Session tomorrow at 11 am. That's all from our side. Thanks for staying tuned.

12:17 Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 11 am tomorrow after uproar by AIADMK MPs over the Cauvery issue.

11:58 The Lok Sabha will convene is a short while. Remember, today is the penultimate day of the Budget Session of the Parliament.

11:07 The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till noon.

10:48 The Lok Sabha is set to convene at 11 am today. Yesterday, the House was adjourned following ruckus by AIADMK MPs over the Cauvery Management Board issue.

14:13 The Lok Sabha will convene tomorrow at 11 am. That's all from our side. Thanks for staying tuned.

12:24 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has met J&K National Conferences Farooq Abdullah, Congress Jyotiraditya Scindia and Nationalist Congress Partys Sharad Pawar.

12:17 Lok Sabha has been adjourned by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan till 11 am tomorrow.

12:16 Some MPs raised 'we want justice' slogans even as Home Minister Rajnath Singh was making a statement on incidents of violence during the 'Bharat Bandh' protests yesterday.

11:05 Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 12 noon after some MPs raised 'we want justice' slogans, immediately after the House convened.

10:36 The Lok Sabha will convene at 11 am today. Yesterday, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had adjourned the House after ruckus from protesting AIADMK MPs. The AIADMK MPs were demanding setting-up of the Cauvery Management Board.

10:14 Good morning! This live blog will track the developments from the Lok Sabha, where some Opposition parties including the TDP and YSR Congress are likely to move the motion of no-confidence today.

14:09 The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 11 am tomorrow, amid continued ruckus. That's all from our side. Thanks for staying tuned.

12:15 Amid chaos, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has adjourned the Lok Sabha till Tuesday, April 3 at 11 am.

12:12 Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar has said that the government is ready for the no-confidence motion and has blamed the Opposition for the logjam.

12:09 Around 10-11 Members of the Parliament (MPs) across various Opposition parties have moved the motion of no-confidence.

12:07 The AIADMK MPs have continued their protest in the Well of the House. They are demanding setting-up of the Cauvery Management Board.

12:04 The Lok Sabha has convened. AIADMK MPs have continued to protest in the Well of the House. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is encouraging the day's list of business to go on in spite of the ruckus.

11:08 The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 12 pm, minutes after convening. AIADMK MPs were protesting demanding formation of the Cauvery Management Board.

10:22 Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)s MP JP Yadav and Congress MP Sushmita Dev have given adjournment motion notices in Lok Sabha over the CBSE paper leak issue, according to reports.

09:16 The Lok Sabha is expected to convene at 11 am.

09:14 AIADMK to consider moving trust vote against NDA, only if Congress supports

In a significant shift, the AIADMK has agreed to consider moving a no-trust motion in the Lok Sabha against the NDA government if Congress supported it.

AIADMK has put the political onus on its rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on the Cauvery issue.

Party leader M Thambidurai said, "Stalin says AIADMK should bring a no-trust motion (on Cauvery issue). We are ready to bring it."

In the same breath, Thambidurai, who is also the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker said Congress support was needed to facilitate such an initiative.

"Let Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi issue a statement (indicating support), they (DMK) are in alliance with them (Congress)... only if they (Congress) support, we will get the (requisite) numbers," he said. (With PTI inputs)

09:08 Last week, the TRS agreed to no protest and support the no-confidence motion being brought-in by TDP. AIADMK however continued to protest over the Cauvery Management Board issue.

09:08 The Speaker of the House, Sumitra Mahajan, needs a head-count of at least 50 Members of Parliament (MPs) to initiate the trust vote against NDA.

However, the Speaker was unable to bring in the motion even as she said she was duty-bound to do so, as MPs from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) were protesting in the Well of the House.

09:07 For around two weeks, Andhra Pradesh-based Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSR Congress have been hoping to bring the motion of no-confidence against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Last week, other Opposition parties such as the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also tried to bring in their own no-confidence motion against the government.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday turned poet to extol the beauty and appeal of Urdu language, as he underlined that it symbolised the syncretic culture of India and all citizens should do something to ensure that it flourishes.

He was addressing a gathering at the launch of senior Congress leader Ashwani Kumar's book 'Ehsas-o-Izhar' at an event here, which was attended by a galaxy of eminent people from various walks of life.

"It is a symbol of 'Ganga-Jamni tehzeeb' (syncretic culture)... The presence of such eminent people in such large numbers is a proof that Urdu is living langauge. We all must do something for it," Singh said.

The former prime minister, known for his brevity in speech, made a short address but his mix of trenchant Urdu poetry drew loud applause from the audience.

"'Hazaron jawabon se achhi hai khamoshi meri, na jaane kitne jawabon ki aabru rakh li (My silence is better than a thousand answers, it has saved the honour of many questions)," the 85-year-old leader said.

Former vice president Hamid Ansari launched the book and presented the first copy to Singh in the presence of ex-chief justice of India T S Thakur.

Thakur, who spoke in chaste Urdu at the function, equated its cultural richness with Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar, while lamenting that the language perhaps did not get the support it needed.

"Urdu language is very profound. Even those people who cannot read or fully understand it, hanker to hear it as it gives us joy. Urdu is our language. It took birth here on this soil. It is our heritage. Just like Taj Mahal, and Qutub Minar and Jama Masjid is ours," he said.

"But, perhaps, it did not get the support it needed from governments ('Shayad hukumaton se jitna milna chahiya tha...')," he said.

Thakur, in his speech also said that he understood Urdu and suggested to the author that if the book was written in Urdu rather than Devanagri script, "The effects would have been far more".

"But, this book, I must say is a gift for those people, who yearn to enjoy the beauty of Urdu, but cannot understand it," he added.

Singh also said had the book been written in Urdu, it would have been far better.

Among those who attended the events included, senior politicians Natwar Singh, Shivraj Patil, Kamal Nath, BJP veterans L K Advani and M M Joshi, various former chief ministers, including Farooq Abdullah, Sheila Dikshit, Ashok Gehlot, B S Hooda, lyricist Javed Akhtar, actor Shabana Azmi and filmmaker Madhur Bahndarkar.
16:00 After Karnataka polls, Deve Gowda's dynastic and distrusted party could be kingmaker

In the absence of a clear trend in favour of either the ruling Congress or the principal opposition BJP in the run-up to the Karnataka assembly elections, the third player, HD Deve Gowdas Janata Dal (Secular), is hoping for a fractured mandate where it could emerge the kingmaker,

like it did in 2004.

JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, however, insists that his party will be the king, though he fails to convincingly explain how the magical figure of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly will be achieved. A recent survey by research agency Cfore has predicted that JD(S) tally will actually fall from the present 40 seats to 27.

Read the full story by M Gautham Machaiah here.

13:07 BJP to announced list of 108 candidates soon, Congress by April 14

BJP will be announcing its first list of 108 candidates for the Assembly polls soon. Congress, on the other hand is expected to release its list of all 224 candidates by April 14, according to News18.

09:35 Lingayat issue: MHA steers clear, says minority affairs ministry to take a call

The Ministry of Home Affairs today virtually washed its hands of the issue of granting religious minority status for the Lingayat and Veerashaiva Lingayat community in Karnataka saying the issue is beyond its jurisdiction and the Ministry of Minorities Affairs would look into it.

An MHA spokesperson also said a decision on the issue is not expected anytime soon as the model code of conduct has been in force in Karnataka, where Assembly election is due next month.

The ministry has received a communication from the Karnataka government recommending grant of religious minority status for the numerically strong community.

"However, the subjection is beyond the jurisdiction of the MHA and hence forwarded to the Ministry of the Minorities Affairs, which is the competent authority to take a decision on it," the spokesperson told reporters here.

Asked whether the MHA has given any opinion on the recommendation of the Karnataka government before forwarding it to the Ministry of the Minorities Affairs, the spokesperson said the question does not arise as it was not an issue to be examined by the MHA. (PTI)

07:40 Kannada outfits call for Karnataka bandh on April 12 over Cauvery row

Pro-Kannada outfits today called for a bandh in poll-bound Karnataka on April 12 in a counter to the ongoing stir in neighbouring Tamil Nadu for an early setting up of the Centre to form Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

The Karnataka bandh call came amid the DMK-led opposition parties observing a state-wide shutdown in Tamil Nadu on Monday, demanding early setting up of CMB to ensure water for farmers as per the Supreme Court orders.

Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam and other AIADMK leaders had also observed a day-long fast in Chennai on Monday seeking formation of CMB. (PTI)

16:06 Congress deploys cabinet ministers and partys state-level working president to counter BJPs claims

CM Siddaramaiah and party General Secretary KC Venugopal have deployed two cabinet ministers and the party state unit working president, in a bid to factually counter to claims on finances and politics by the BJP, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and state working president Dinesh Gundu Rao have been addressing press conferences and quickly responding to BJPs claims.

14:22 A state-wide survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms and Daksh reveals that the much-hyped Indira Canteen Scheme - food joints opened in the cities of Karnataka to serve extremely economical (read: subsidised) food - has not been perceived by the public as intended.

The scheme was started following the success of Amma Canteen in Tamil Nadu. The Indira Canteens served over one crore meals within the first two-and-a-half month in Bengaluru.

Read the full data story here.

12:30 Congress to release 35 separate manifestos: M Veerappa Moily

Congress party will be issuing 35 separate manifestos for the assembly election. M Veerappa Moily, who is heading the drafting committee has said that the party was preparing manifestos for the 30 districts of Karnataka, one for the states four regions and one for the entire state, according to a report by Business Standard.

The manifestos will be released in mid-April, possibly by party president Rahul Gandhi and the CM Siddaramaiah.

M Veerappa Moily has served as the state's CM froom 1992 to 1994.

10:25 Siddaramaiah carrying lemon during campaign is "hypocrisy": BJP

BJP, on Wednesday accused Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of 'hypocrisy' for campaigning with a lemon in hand, but "antagonising" people by bringing in Anti-Superstitions Bill to "demean and criminalise" Hindu traditions.

"Campaigns with a lemon in hand, but brings in Anti-Superstitions Bill to demean and criminalise Hindu traditions. Hypocrisy thy name is @siddaramaiah," Karnataka BJP said in a tweet. BJP also posted a photograph showing Siddaramaiah campaigning with a lemon in hand.

The party also mocked Siddaramaiah by asking him to take classes from the "brilliant mathematician" and AICC convenor Priyanka Chaturvedi for claiming low attendance at Amit Shah's rallies in Karnataka. (PTI)

09:39 RSS men sitting in every ministry and giving orders, alleges Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today accused the Narendra Modi government of "disrespecting" and "demolishing" various institutions by having RSS men "sitting in every ministry and giving orders."

On the fifth lap of his tour of election-bound Karnataka, Gandhi said if voted to power, the Congress would free these institutions from the RSS control.

"I don't know if you all know that in every single minister's office, there is an RSS man sitting and giving orders. So what can you expect.... nothing but disrespecting the institutions. The banking system of the country has been demolished by having this structure," he said. (PTI)

08:31 Election Commission in Karnataka to review poll-preparedness

Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat, who is on a three-day visit to the poll-bound state, to check election-preparedness, released a booklet as part of voters' awareness drive yesterday.

Rawat was accompanied by two other election commissioners, Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa.

After releasing the booklet, the CEC held a meeting with state chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar and other senior officials. (PTI)

20:16 Modiji talks about employing the youth. It has been 4 years of his reign, and India is seeing the worst state of employment in the last 8 years: Rahul Gandhi during his address in Magadi.

15:06 Election officials search planes of Rahul Gandhi and Amit Shah

The special aircraft of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP national chief Amit Shah were today searched by officials after they landed at Hubballi airport in north Karnataka to campaign for their parties in the run-up to the May 12 assembly polls.

The exercise involving three district level officers was described by officials as being in line with the Election Commission's directive to ensure free and fair elections in Karnataka.

"It was a random search by a team led by (election) nodal officer Karpale. We searched the planes in which Rahul Gandhi and Amit Shah had arrived. It was not intentional," Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad district S B Bommanahalli told PTI.

12:16 Rahul Gandhi interacts with traders in Davanagere

Interacting with traders in Davanagere, Rahul Gandhi said, Modi Government gave us one of the most complicated GST in the world. Only Sudan & Pakistan have a GST system which is more complicated. We will fundamentally change the GST and simplify it when we come to power at the Centre in 2019.

11:22 Nitish Kumar to visit Karnataka and campaign on April 12

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will visit the state on April 12 to campaign for his party Janata Dal (United)s candidates, who will be contesting in about 30 constituencies.

"We will be contesting elections in between 24 to 30 seats in Karnataka on our own. Nitish ji will be visiting the state on April 12 to kick-start the campaign," JD (U) (Nitish Kumar faction) Karnataka Unit President Mahima Patel told reporters here.

Both factions of the JD (U) have not officially announced an alliance with the BJP, yet. (PTI)

09:00 Rahul Gandhi to meet 111-year-old seer, hold rally in Magadi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is currently on his fifth round of campaigning in Karnataka. Today, the scion will be holding a corner meeting in Holalkere at noon, followed by a meeting with 111-year-old Lingayat seer of Siddaganga Mutt Shivakumara Swamy, at around 14:30.

Gandhi will then address a public meeting at Magadi around 18:00.

08:27 Amit Shah calls Siddaramaiah governments resolution on Veershaiva-Lingayat a conspiracy

BJP President Amit Shah said yesterday, Many have expressed concern over Siddaramaiah governments resolution on Veershaiva-Lingayat community. This is nothing but a conspiracy to mislead people before the elections and stopping BS Yeddyurappa from becoming the CM. We will not let this happen.

20:04 Amit Shah rejects Congress governments demand in Karnataka to make Lingayat a separate religion. Shah said that there is no separate religion for Lingayats, and assured Veershaiva seers that there will be no division. Shah said that this is the commitment of the government.

19:27 Rahul Gandhi said, "It has been four years of PM Narendra Modis reign. He has never asked people anything. Everything is Mere Mann ki baat. Who will listen to the countrys mann ki baat?"

15:02 Yogendra Yadavs Swaraj India party to field 6 candidates

Psephologist-turned-politicians Yogendra Yadavs Swaraj India party has said that it will field six candidates in the Karnataka assembly polls.

The party also Tweeted-out the names and constituencies of the six candidates: Puttannaiah (Melukote constituency), Linge Gowda SH (Maddur), Vaijanath Patil (Yadir), P Ramesh Chander (Mahadevapura), KP Bhootaya (Challakere) and Shailendra (Hanur).

13:43 CM Siddaramaiah is now addressing the rally.

13:39 Rahul Gandhi said, When PM Modi speaks about corruption in Karnataka, guess he doesn't see the stage properly. On his left side is Shri Yeddyurappa, who has been to jail and on his right side are several other ministers who were also in Jail.

13:37 "PM Modi has written a book about how students can counter stress during exams. But, after all the hard work the students put in, the Modi government announced that the paper was leaked," Rahul Gandhi has said in Karnatakas Shivamogga.

13:34 The amount of money Narendra Modi ji gives for development for Dalits and Adivasis across the country, is the amount of money Congress spends in Karnataka alone: Rahul Gandhi in Shivamogga.

13:31 They (BJP) have destroyed the banking system. This is just the beginning, says Rahul Gandhi.

13:28 Rahul Gandhi takes a jibe at PM Modi, says, On one hand paper leaks, on the other hand, Election Commissions dates leak.

13:23 Congress President Rahul Gandhi is addressing at rally at Shivamogga. CM Siddaramaiah is also present.

12:29 Rahul Gandhi to visit Siddaganga Mutt, meet 111-year-old Lingayat seer tomorrow

Rahul Gandhi will go to Holalkere in Chitradurga district on Wednesday. Holalkere is a Lingayat stronghold. The Congress president will then go to Tumkur, where he is expected to meet the 111-year-old seer of Siddaganga Mutt Shivakumara Swamy, a revered Lingayat pontiff.

11:11 Act against Shah, Yeddyurappa for violating model code of conduct: Congress to EC

On Monday, Congress approached the EC demanding action against BJP president Amit Shah and the party's Karnataka unit chief BS Yeddyurappa for allegedly violating the model code of conduct in the state by offering Rs 5 lakh to the family of a deceased person.

The opposition party has also asked the EC to conduct a time-bound probe into the matter.

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi identified the deceased person as "Mr Raju". The deceased was a BJP activist, killed in Mysuru in March 2016.

Singhvi raised questions over the timing of the aid allegedly offered when Shah, Union minister Ananth Kumar and Yeddyurappa visited Raju's family last Friday, three days after the EC announced the Karnataka Assembly polls schedule.

The Congress submitted a memorandum to the EC, accusing the BJP of using money to influence votes in Karnataka, and said the ruling party at the Centre resorted to the "desperate measure, foreseeing its inevitable defeat in the May 12 Assembly polls. The BJP however has said Shah did not give any money to Raju's family. (PTI)

10:29 BJP president Amit Shah to attend two events today in Kaginele and Bagalkot

Shah will be speaking at an OBC Convention in Kaginele around 3:30 pm and will be having an interaction at Shivayogi Mandira at Badami, Bagalkot at around 6:00 pm.

09:15 R Roshan Baig, Naseer Ahmed, Nasir Hussain and Suraj Hegde and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson met Chief Election Officer (CEO) of Karnataka and filed a memorandum on 18 lakh missing voters, according to the partys Shivajinagar unit Twitter handle.

08:37 Rahul Gandhi to campaign in Shivamogga and Davangere

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will take up campaigning in the state. Gandhi will be visiting Shivamogga and Davangere and is expected to address public meetings there at 12:35 pm and 05:45 pm respectively, according to the Congress.

08:34 Good morning! This live blog will keep track of the latest political developments in the poll-bound state of Karnataka, through the day. The southern state is heading for assembly polls of May 12. The result will be declared on May 15.

22:28 Congress President Rahul Gandhi will visit Karnataka on the 3rd and the 4th April. He looks to tour the districts of Shivamogga, Davangere, Chitradurga, Tumkuru and Ramanagara. These are places that are covered by BJP President Amit Shah.

19:54 The EC has decided to launch a special drive on April 8 at all polling stations in the state aimed at providing opportunity for women, people with disabilities, primitive tribes and all weaker sections of the society.

19:43 The Election Commission (EC) has put 1156 Flying Squads and 1255 Static Surveillance Teams in place to ensure the Model Code of Conduct for the Karnataka polls.Also the sqauds seized Rs 8,56,850/, 550 sarees, 38 sewing machines, 96 cookers, 5 vehicles. Overall the EC squads took Rs 1,21,47,570 cash, 139 litres of liquor, 568 sarees, 2 kg 464 gms of gold worth Rs 49,17,000, 160 laptops and 8 vehicles.

15:38 People have made up their minds to throw out Siddaramaiah government: Amit Shah

BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday claimed that the people of Karnataka have made up their minds to "throw out" the Siddaramaiah-led government in the Assembly polls, as they were "disappointed" with it on several fronts, especially corruption.

Shah, who was on a tour of Mysuru, Mandya and Ramanagara districts, said that his party would put up a good show during the polls in the old Mysuru region.

12:35 Siddaramaiah to contest from Chamundeshwari, where his political journey began

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has decided to contest the upcoming Assembly polls from Chamundeshwari assembly constituency. Siddaramaiah is currently elected from the Varuna seat.

The chief minister has however represented the Chamundeshwari constituency five times before and campaigned there recently to reconnect with the people, according to a news report.

According to reports, Siddaramaiah has taken the step to allow his son Dr Yathindra to contest from Varuna seat.

No Karnataka chief minister has been re-elected to office since Janata Partys Ramakrishna Hedge in 1985.

12:45 Shiv Sena to go solo in Karnataka Assembly polls

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s NDA ally Shiv Sena has said that it will contest around 60 seats against its the BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls in Karnataka. The announcement was made by party MP Sanjay Raut.

In the past, the Sena had fielded its candidates against the BJP during elections in Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat (last year).

"Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had already announced that our party is going to contest elections independently and as a part of it, we have decided to go solo in Karnataka as well. We will contest around 50-60 seats but will support the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), which represents the Marathi people living in disputed areas between Maharashtra and Karnataka," he said, according to PTI.

11:42 BJP brings out 'charge sheet' against Congress government

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday brought out a 'charge sheet' against the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka in three booklets, listing its alleged failures on law and order, agriculture and ignoring capital Bengaluru.

The BJP claimed that the crime had increased by three-fold in the state and the atrocities were being committed on Dalits, women and children. The saffron party also claimed that there were increasing attacks on honest officials and killings of Hindutva activists.

BJP also listed steep rise in farmers' suicides in the last three years, drug mafia ruling the roost in the states capital and poor infrastructure in the city, in the charge sheet.

11:42 Good morning! This live blog will track the latest developments from the state of Karnataka which will be heading for the crucial Assembly polls on May 12. The counting of votes and the result announcement will happen on May 15.

This blog will campaign latest political developments in the state keep an eye on the campaigns.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning him over an array of issues including jobs, banking fraud and the recent CBSE question paper leaks.

The Congress president blamed the Centre for the recent issue of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) question paper leaks.

Speaking at a public meeting in Karnatakas Shivamogga, Gandhi said, PM Modi has written a book about how students can counter stress during exams. But after all the hard work the students put in, the Modi government announced that the paper was leaked.

"They have destroyed the banking system. This is just the beginning," Gandhi said, slamming the Centre over the recent banking fraud involving Nirav Modi.

He also addressed the issue of corruption, saying, When PM Modi speaks about corruption in Karnataka, guess he doesn't see the stage properly. On his left side is Shri Yeddyurappa, who has been to jail, and on his right side are several other ministers who were also in jail.

The Congress president targeted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah over his recent gaffe. By calling Yeddyurappa's government the most corrupt ever, Amit Shah has, for the first time, spoken the truth, he said.

Gandhi ended his address by saying, "This country runs on love, not hatred. The more you cherish the diversity of our country, the better it would grow."

The scion is currently campaigning in the Assembly poll-bound state. Gandhi was visiting BS Yeddyurappas stronghold of Shivamogga and will be visiting Davangere later in the day. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was accompanying him.

Karnataka will be heading for polls on May 12 while the counting will take place on May 15. The southern state is the last major state where Congress is still in power. No Chief Minister has been re-elected to office here in the last 33 years.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not uttering a word" on the alleged atrocities on Dalits and tribals and "dilution" of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

His remarks at a public meeting here on the fifth leg of his tour of the poll-bound Karnataka came against the backdrop of violence in northern parts of the country during yesterday's protests against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The protests during 'Bharat bandh' against the Supreme Court verdict on the issue claimed at least nine lives and left hundreds of persons injured.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the Prime Minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word," he said.

Gandhi compared the status of SC/ST welfare in Karnataka with the Modi government's actions on the issue.

He claimed that more than half of the money released by the Modi government across the country for SC/ST welfare was being spent by Karnataka itself on the Dalits and tribals.

He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the "leak" of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.

Lacing his remarks with sarcasm, Gandhi said the prime minister wrote a book (Exam Warriors) telling children how to face the exam and also gave a lecture for two hours on how to prepare for exams.

He said children took the advice seriously and prepared for the exam with the help of their parents but when they went to appear for the exam, they were told that the exams were cancelled as the question paper was leaked.

"Modi may have failed in plugging the question paper leak but he may again lecture children how to prepare for exams and will tell them about the dos and don'ts during exam," said Gandhi.

On the one side, question papers are leaked, while on the other election dates are also leaked, Gandhi quipped.

"It seems the RSS has taught Modi that he should stress more on giving lectures. The RSS has taught him to stand, hold stick, wear knickers and speak lies. I think the prime minister is now realising that the nation cannot be run with hatred, lathi, speeches and false promises", he said.

He took a jibe at Modi for the India-China stand-off at Doklam despite "swinging" with China president Xi Jinping.

"Modi and China president swung together. Later, the president responded by saying 'I enjoyed the swing and now I am coming to Doklam'.

"Chinese are building roads and airports in Doklam, but Modi is still swinging. The '56-inch' chest could not speak a word when China entered Doklam," said Gandhi.

He took potshots at BJP state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa, who is being projected as the party's chief ministerial face.

Shivamogga is the home district of Yeddyurappa.

"If he looks at the stage properly, on one side (of Modi) there is Yeddyurappa who spent time in jail (in a graft case), on the other side there are four ministers who had been to jail. Modiji you speak about corruption, when there are corrupt sitting next to you on the stage," he said.

Gandhi quipped that the BJP has now started speaking truth.

"First time the BJP spoke truth. Whatever they had in their mind they spoke it. Amit Shah said (at Davangere) that Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt government. I am happy that he spoke truth for the first time in his life," he said.

Gandhi was referring to Shah's gaffe at a press conference in Davangere on March 27 where he said that the Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt government in the country. He was actually referring to the Siddaramaiah government.

Shah had, however, corrected himself immediately.

The Congress president also reminded Modi that the nation cannot be run with hatred, anger, violence and partiality.

He said, "I have seen many prime ministers such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. One thing is clear. If you want to run the nation, you need to run it with love. You can take the nation to any heights with love. The more you connect people, the country will become stronger," he said.
The bike if priced attractively, will compete against the likes of Ducati Scrambler, Triumph Bonneville and upcoming Royal Enfield Interceptor 650.

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Eicher Motors-owned bike maker Royal Enfield has announced a capital expenditure of Rs 800 crore for the current financial year, which will be used for the next phase of capacity addition.

The second phase of expansion of the company's Vallam Vadagal plant in Tamil Nadu will begin this year. Royal Enfield aims to have a combined annual production capacity of about 950,000 units from its two plants, up from a capacity of 820,000 units a year in FY18.

"Our demand continues to exceed supply, and we continue to see strong growth from all our markets. Therefore, we have decided to expand our production capacity with the second phase of our Vallam Vadagal plant near Chennai, Tamil Nadu," said Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director and CEO, Eicher Motors.

In addition to the production facility, Royal Enfield is also setting up a technology center that will augment product development activities.

"We will also complete construction of our Technology Centre in Chennai this year, and invest further in the development of new products to meet upcoming regulations and to expand our portfolio for our global markets," added Lal.

To further strengthen the brand and accelerate market development activities, Royal Enfield has decided to set up wholly-owned subsidiaries in Indonesia and Thailand this year.

The maker of Classic and Thunderbird bikes, ended last year with a growth of 23 percent. The brand saw total sales of 8.2 lakh units, compared to 6.66 lakh units sold in FY17.

Although its international business contributes only 2.3 percent to Royal Enfield's total volumes, this is fast changing. The company has added several new markets to the tally and is in the process of opening showrooms in more countries. Its new products are targeted majorly at developed countries.
At least four versions of Pixel phones have been launched by its parent company Google, and amid those launches, rumours of a budget Pixel being introduced specifically for certain markets keeps coming.

As per a report from The Economic Times industry executives say that Google is working on a mid-level budget Pixel phone specifically for price-sensitive markets like India. The phone could come to the market as soon as July or August this year.

The company, in order to reach the maximum number of consumers, is trying to focus more on brick and mortar stores to sell its phones as the data suggests that physical stores account for 36 percent of Pixel sales in India.

As per the report, Google is solidifying its presence in the country which has emerged as one of the most lucrative markets for mobile phones. In order to pose a challenge to its rivals like Apple and Amazon and take considerable a pie of the market, Google will launch its smart speakers, premium laptop Pixelbook, and intelligent home automation products as well.

The smart speakers are expected to be priced at a competitive rate of Rs 9,999 and Rs 4,499 for Google Home and Google Home Mini, respectively. This will put it in the direct competition to Amazons Echo devices which are priced at the same level. Notably, though, the Google Home devices will support at least 11 Indian languages including Hindi, unlike Amazon echo.

The report also says that the US tech giant is also mulling over introducing intelligent home automation products such as doorbell, camera, alarm system, and smoke detector, sold under the Nest brand, and its Wi-fi system Google WiFi in the Indian market over the next one year.
The Cauvery water dispute is not only giving sleepless nights to farmers in Tamil Nadu, but is troubling parliamentarians as members of the AIADMK, DMK, Congress, Trinamool Congress, BSP and TDP have been disrupting the functioning of both Houses over the decades-old issue.

While political parties are demanding immediate constitution of the Cauvery Water Management Board (CMB) for division of water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the latter is opposed to the CMB and has sought an alternative mechanism to resolve the dispute.

Protests are being held in Tamil Nadu over the failure of the Centre on forming the CMB, the MK Stalin-led DMK said it would continue its agitation until the board was constituted. According to police, incidents of road blockades by members of various political parties were reported across the state.

So, what is the reason behind the growing unrest in Tamil Nadu?

The 802 km long Cauvery river originates at Talacauvery in Kodagu district of Karnataka. It traverses mainly through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu while its basin covers some parts of Kerala (which has three tributaries), and Karaikal region of Puducherry.

The dispute, however, is between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing water in the Cauvery basin. The issue dates back to 1892 when the use of Cauvery water was regulated by agreements of 1892 and later in 1924 between the erstwhile princely state of Mysore and the Madras Presidency.

The agreement played an important role as it allowed Mysore and Madras to build the Krishnarajasagar and Mettur dams, respectively on the water body.

While Tamil Nadu opposed the construction of dams by Karnataka, the latter said that as per the agreement, water supply to Tamil Nadu had to be discontinued in accordance with the 1924 agreement that lapsed in 1974. Karnataka also claimed stake on the river as it originates in the state.

As Cauvery is mainly dependent on the monsoons and its tributaries, the only time that it has abundance of water is during the rainy season. But in the event of insufficient rains, the situation becomes drought-like and leads to unmet needs of farmers along the banks of the river.

And even after umpteen meetings between disputed parties there has been no solution to the problem. To reach common ground, a tribunal was formed in 1990 after an association of farmers from Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court. The Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) came into the picture to pass an order regarding the allocation of water between the two states.

However, when the tribunal passed its first order in 2007, it was rejected by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as neither could agree on the water allocation.

On February 16, the apex court raised the 270 tmcft share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's share, while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin, saying "the issue of drinking water has to be placed on a higher pedestal".

With the apex court verdict, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry would be annually entitled to draw 404.25 tmcft, 284.75 tmcft, 30 tmcft and 7 tmcft of Cauvery water, respectively out of the total 740 tmcft.

Following that, it granted six weeks time to the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgement on the dispute and made it clear that it will no longer be extending the time-frame on the matter.

The SC also ruled that its verdict on the Cauvery water allocation would continue for the next 15 years.

However, the Centre failed to formulate a scheme and constitute the CMB within the stipulated time. Tamil Nadu sought contempt action against the Centre over its "failure".

On April 3, the SC agreed to hear the Centre's plea seeking clarification on the February 16 verdict regarding setting up of the management along with the plea of Tamil Nadu.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud posted the matter for further hearing on April 9.

Cauvery dispute and politics

Over the years, the Cauvery dispute has influenced politics in the region with parties stirring emotions of the masses as the river has a deep cultural, economic and religious significance for them.

There have been violent protests in the past and the people of both the southern Indian states would hope for a resolution to the dispute at the earliest.
The move comes days before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting in Paris, with rumours rife that Pakistan could be added to the grey list, under pressure from the United States of America and India. (Image: Reuters)

India today welcomed the US designating Pakistan-based Milli Muslim League (MML), an alias of Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a foreign terror organisation, saying the decision reflects rejection of the attempts being made in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities.

Reacting to the US move, the external affairs ministry said the designation of the MML also shows Pakistan's failure to dismantle terror sanctuaries in that country and vindicated India's position that Islamabad has not taken effective action against terrorist groups and individuals.

"It is also cognisance of the fact that terrorist individuals and entities are allowed to change names and continue to operate freely from territory under Pakistan's control," the ministry said in a statement.

In a major setback to Hafiz Saeed's political ambitions, the US today designated the MML, the political front of Pakistan-based Mumbai attack mastermind-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organisation. The MML is an alias of Lashkar-e-Taiba also.

"India welcomes the action taken by the US for designating the Milli Muslim League as an alias of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan based terrorist group and its functionaries who are acting on behalf of LeT," the MEA said.

The ministry said the designation of the MML is a rejection of the attempts being made in Pakistan to mainstream terrorist individuals and entities and highlights Pakistan's failure to fulfil its international obligation to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries, and disrupt terror financing.

The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the LeT, which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

General elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan in July.

Pakistan's election commission had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeT's Peshawar headquarters and served on the JuD's Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of the LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.
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Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani has been ranked 19th on Bloomberg Billionaires Top 100 Index as he becomes the third richest Asian on the list. With a net worth of approximately $38.3 billion, Ambanis wealth is pegged at about over 1.5 percent of Indias GDP.

Apart from Ambani, four other Indians who have made it to the list include ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal (51), Shapoorji Pallonji Group Chairman Pallonji Mistry (61), Wipro Chairman Azim Premji (66), and HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar (85).

Overall, there are 24 Indians on Bloomberg Billionaires top 500 Index, which was released on April 2.

Although Ambanis wealth has grown by $9.3 billion as compared to the same period last year, it declined by $2.3 billion year-to-date.

While Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has added $21.8 billion to his fortunes this year and takes the top spot, Microsoft founder Bill Gates was ranked 2nd as his wealth declined by $1.36 billion year-to-date.

Apart from Americans, the only 2 Europeans who made the top-10 include Zara founder Amancio Ortega and luxury brand LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault of France.

From Asia, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma (ranked 13th) is the richest with a net worth of $47.2 billion and is followed by Tencent co-founder and CEO Pony Ma (17) with a $41.1 billion net worth.

(Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd and publishes Moneycontrol.com)
North Korea's foreign minister arrived in Beijing today for talks with his counterpart, just a week after Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un made a groundbreaking trip to the Chinese capital.

The visit by Ri Yong Ho was announced by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, who said Ri would meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Geng did not indicate likely topics for the talks but indicated that the visit would be short.

Kim last week met President Xi Jinping on his first trip abroad since inheriting power from his father Kim Jong Il in December 2011.

Kim is due to hold a summit with South Korea's Moon Jae-in on April 27 and a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump is also planned -- events that give both Pyongyang and Beijing new incentives to repair their strained relationship.

China is the North's only significant ally and trade partner, but ties have cooled since it began enforcing UN sanctions aimed at curbing its neighbour's nuclear and missile programmes.

The diplomatic thaw involving the North and its neighbours began during the Winter Olympics in South Korea, to which Kim sent athletes, cheerleaders and his sister as an envoy.
The United States on Monday started accepting applications for H-1B visas, considered as the most sought-after work visa among highly skilled Indian professionals, amidst unprecedented scrutiny by the Trump administration.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is the federal agency responsible to process the visas, started accepting applications for H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2019, beginning October 1.

The USCIS had earlier indicated that there will be zero tolerance by it for even minor errors.

As of now, the USCIS has not indicated if it plans to go for a computerised draw of lots as has been the case in previous years after receiving several times more than the Congressional mandated cap of H-1B visas.

A leading advocacy group representing the tech industry including Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook said that it expects number of H-1B petitions to reach the Congressional mandated caps in coming days. As a result of which the USCIS would again resort to a computerised draw of lot to determine successful applicants, it said.

"Within a few days we expect that the H-1B visa lottery will reach the annual cap, as it has for the past six years, highlighting the overwhelming demand for this visa category, FWD.us president Todd Schulte said.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The H1-B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the cap.

"There are many ways in which our immigration system is broken and in need of comprehensive reform; fixing our legal and high-skilled immigration system, including protecting the H-4 rule and eliminating country caps for green cards, will ensure the US can maintain our global competitive advantage, Schultz said.

Observing that immigration has always been a source of strength for America's economy, Schultz said H-1B visa is a "key part of the high-skilled immigration" system that needs to be reformed to allow the United States to remain the centre for global innovation.

"We should make it easier for the best and brightest to come from around the world while also cracking down on bad actors, Schultz said, voicing his concern over the recent move to tighten the H-1B application approval process.

"H-1B visa holders create jobs and raise wages for native-born Americans by bringing their ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to the science, engineering, and tech sectors, creating American jobs and benefiting thousands of businesses and countless communities across the country, he said.

"Reforming and expanding high-skilled immigration is an important part of a broader fight to protect legal immigration avenues," Schultz said.

Ahead of the H-1B visa filing process, the USCIS had said this work visa should help US companies recruit highly-skilled foreign nationals when there is a shortage of qualified workers in the country.

"Yet, too many American workers who are as qualified, willing, and deserving to work in these fields have been ignored or unfairly disadvantaged. Employers who abuse the H-1B visa program may negatively affect US workers, decreasing wages and opportunities as they import more foreign workers," it had said.
USA and China

The United States has blasted as "unfair" Chinese tariffs imposed on 128 US imports worth USD 3 billion, including fruit and pork, in the latest tit-for-tat over US duties on steel and aluminium.

China's action, which was decided by the customs tariff commission of the State Council, followed weeks of rhetoric that has raised fears of a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

President Donald Trump's administration had said its duties were aimed at steel and aluminium imports that it deemed a threat to US national security, but China's Commerce Ministry called that reasoning an "abuse" of World Trade Organization (WTO) guidelines.

The US measures "are directed only at a few countries, seriously violating the principle of non-discrimination as a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system, which seriously infringed the interests of the Chinese side," said a statement on the Commerce Ministry website.

Trump has repeatedly railed against China's massive trade surplus with the United States and promised during the election campaign to take steps to slash the US deficit.

His White House again pointed the finger at Beijing.

"China's subsidisation and continued overcapacity is the root cause" of what deputy White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters called a crisis affecting steel.

"Instead of targeting fairly traded US exports, China needs to stop its unfair trading practices, which are harming US national security and distorting global markets," she said.

Beijing had warned last month that it was considering the tariffs of 15 per cent and 25 per cent on a range of products that also include wine, nuts and aluminium scrap. They came into force on Monday, Xinhua said, citing a government statement.

The levies are in response to tariffs of 10 per cent on aluminium and 25 per cent on steel that have also angered US allies.

"We hope that the United States can withdraw measures that violate WTO rules as soon as possible to put trade in the relevant products between China and the US back on a normal track," the Commerce Ministry statement said.

"Cooperation between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, is the only correct choice."

Trump has temporarily suspended the tariffs for the European Union as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

But the White House has unveiled plans to impose new tariffs on about USD 60 billion of Chinese imports over the "theft" of intellectual property.
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba

In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the US today designated Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organization.

In a simultaneous move, seven members of MML central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorist. The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

The election commission had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Today's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeT's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.

In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group.

"LeT members make up MML's leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature," the State Department said.

Concurrently with today's State Department actions, the US Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for on behalf of the LeT: Saifullah Khalid (president), Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi (vice president), Muhammad Harris Dar (Joint Secretary), Tabish Qayyuum (Information Secretary), Fayyaz Ahmad (General Secretary), Faisal Nadeem (Broadcast and Publications Secretary), and Muhammad Ehsan (Finance Secretary).

Today's actions notify the US public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of the LeT. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

"Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeT's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," said Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognized political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

"We will continue to target terrorist organizations like LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades," Mandelker said. He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should "think twice" about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeT's Peshawar headquarters and served on Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD)'s Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack .
Build your skillset: Change is the only constant and with the evolving times an updated skillset would be a handy addition to your resume. Show potential employers what youve learned that can be an asset to their business in the post-coronavirus world. (Image Source: Reuters)

Companies need to be ready as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into effect on May 25. The GDPR is part of a European Union (EU) legislation, which has been designed to protect the personal data of its residents.

Although the law is related to Europe, it has global implications on firms who are dealing with EU residents in any form.

So what is the law and how does it affect India? Here are 10 key facts about GDPR:

1. The EU GDPR is considered to be the most notable change in the data protection regime in the last two decades.

2. The law was approved in April 2016 and European authorities had given companies two years' time to comply. It will come into force from May 2018.

3. Once in effect, the GDPR will replace a previous law called the Data Protection Directive.

4. EU authorities have formulated the law with an aim to give consumers control of their personal data as it is collected by companies. Personal data here define data relating to identifiable living individuals, including their names, email IDs, ID card numbers and physical and IP addresses.

5. Under the GDPR, companies are required to provide clearly distinguishable consent terms seeking data from individuals. There should be no vague or confusing statements in regard to this.

6. If the individual is below 16 years of age, a person holding "parental responsibility" must opt-in to data collection on their behalf.

7. The EU document further gives rights to individuals to have personal data deleted under certain conditions.

8. It also makes it mandatory for companies to notify their data protection authority about a data breach within 72 hours of first becoming aware of it. Failing to comply could result in a fine up to 4 per cent of global turnover or 20 million  the maximum amount of the fine, as per a report of The Hindu.

9. Besides having a deep impact in Europe, the data protection law has global implications as it also applies to those outside the EU who are directly or indirectly related to its residents.

10. The impact of the law would be seen on Indian IT firms and other service providers dealing with any EU client.
Egypt's Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is seen during a news conference in Cairo on the release of seven members of the Egyptian security forces kidnapped by Islamist militants in Sinai, May 22, 2013. Picture taken May 22, 2013. To match Newsmaker EGYPT-PROTESTS/COMMANDER REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: MILITARY HEADSHOT POLITICS) - GM1E9731R2L01

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected for a second term with over 97 percent of valid votes, the National Election Authority (NEA) said on Monday.

In a televised press conference, NEA chairman Lasheen Ibrahim said that turnout was 41.05 percent of the 60 million registered voters.

Ibrahim said that Sisi won 97.08 per cent of valid votes in the three-day presidential election. His sole challenger, the little-known centrist politician and al Ghad party chief, Moussa Mostafa Moussa won 2.92 per cent of valid votes.

Sisi won 21,835,378 votes, while Moussa won 656,534 votes, he added.

About 60 million people were eligible to vote in the election which was held in 13,687 polling stations across the country and under the supervision of 18,678 judges from various judicial bodies and authorities.

Sisi, the then army chief, overthrew Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.

Morsi was Egypt's first democratically elected president following the 2011 overthrow of longtime president Hosni Mubarak during the Arab Spring uprisings.

Sisi was elected for a four-year presidential term in 2014. The first presidential term of 63-year-old Field Marshal will officially end on June 7.

After the declaration of the result, Sisi today pledged to work hard to achieve development and stability.

"I promise that I will remain faithful to my pledge with you, to be sincere in my work for the sake of the greatness of our great homeland, and to build up its institutions with all the strength and determination I have and to achieve development and stability," President Sisi said in a televised speech.

The president also said that he was proud to see all the Egyptians participating in the election.

President Sisi thanked his rival Mousa for competing fairly and in a civilized way. He said that this has demonstrated Mousa's high national sense and high political performance.

Last week, Sisi posted photos of voters participating in the polls and praised them on facebook for the huge turnout.

"The voice of the masses of Egyptians will remain a witness - no doubt - that the will of our nation is prevailing with a force that does not know weakness," Sisi had said.

"The scenes of the Egyptians outside the polling stations will remain a matter of honour and pride for me and hard evidence of the greatness of our nation," he added.
JD.com, which is often referred to the Chinese equivalent of Amazon, made a special request for Canadian real estate because of how popular of a commodity its become among Chinese consumers.

China forbids capital outflow exceeding USD$50,000, but its in the midst of loosening such restrictions and retailers like JD.comChinas second-largest retailer after Alibabaare champing at the bit.

However, news about the deal between Juwai and JD.com is bound to inflame tensions between domestic and foreign buyers, whom believe responsible for rising unaffordability.

Countries like New Zealand, Britain, Australia, Switzerland and Singapore, to name a few, have taken measures to protect their housing markets from foreign speculators, while Canada has steep foreign buyer taxes in its two most expensive real estate markets.
The Greater Vancouver Real Estate has announced late last week the appointment of Phil Moore as its 2018/2019 president, succeeding Jill Oudil.

Having worked in the industry since 1989, Moore has served on REBGVs Board of Directors over the past eight years. Prior to his entry to the real estate world, Moore was a Vancouver police officer.

I look forward to serving my professional association and representing my real estate colleagues, Moore said in the Boards news release. Our members believe in protecting their clients and helping to build healthy, prosperous, and sustainable communities. Since 1919, REBGV and its members have been working to advance these goals across the region.
The paper "Liquidity Crises in the Mortgage Market" highlights that many nonbank lenders failed during the housing bust but the sector has been growing since as the result of banks and others pulling back their exposure and tightening underwriting conditions.

The report says that nonbank lenders in 2016 accounted for half of all mortgages, up from a 20% share in 2007. It sets the share of FHA and VA backed loans at 75%.

Poor regulation, low reserves

They warn that the patchwork of regulation across state and federal agencies leaves the nonbank mortgage lending sector inadequately monitored for risk.

And they point out that many nonbanks have limited capital reserves to draw on in an emergency, relying instead on warehouse lines of credit from larger commercial and investment banks.

Stantons co-authors include Nancy Wallace, the Lisle and Roslyn Payne Chair in Real Estate Capital Markets and chair of the Haas Real Estate Group. You Suk Kim, Steven M. Laufer, and Karen Pence of the Federal Reserve Board.

They say they want to highlight the risk of the growing nonbank sector, as most discussion around preventing another housing crash has focused on the supervision of banks and other deposit-takers.
Observers have criticized the pick, with some advocacy groups and lawmakers saying that elevating Williams to head the central banks most important regional branch showed a lack of commitment to diversity and continued the Feds opaque process of choosing leaders.

Nonprofit advocacy group Better Markets, meanwhile, said that giving Williams the New York Fed post would be rewarding failure, as the San Francisco Fed failed to rein in systemic abuses by banking giant Wells Fargo, which falls under its jurisdiction.

After being AWOL and failing to stop Wells Fargos decade-long illegal conduct, the president of the San Francisco Fed should not be promoted to be president of the most important regional office in the entire Federal Reserve System, the New York Fed, Better Markets president and CEO Dennis Kelleher said in a statement. That would reward failure and send the wrong message to the biggest banks in the country that the Fed really does not take bank supervision seriously or understand its mandate to protect bank customers from illegal and predatory conduct.

Related stories:
Jasper ISD's Few Primary School suspended 4-year-old students 80 times in 2015-16, keeping its youngest students out of class in their first year of school, according to a report released last week by an advocacy group.

Almost 20 percent of Jasper ISD's preschool students showed "signs of violence," according to school officials, or had other disciplinary problems severe enough for them to be suspended at the highest rate in the state that year.

The next year, the state legislature banned the discipline for students up to second grade, citing a need to intervene rather than remove students.

> > PHOTOS: Click through the slideshow above to see disciplinary actions reported by SETX schools during the 2016-17 school year.

Texas still allows in-school suspensions for all students.

Early suspensions can put students on a path some call the "preschool to prison pipeline," where they're more likely to have negative associations with school, underlying issues causing their behavior may not be addressed and they may fall behind in learning, leading to future discipline, suspension and, ultimately, involvement with law enforcement.

The 71 in-school and nine out-of-school suspensions handed out to Few Primary's 122 preschool students in 2015-16 were among more than 4,600 preschool suspensions that year and more than 101,000 of all students below third grade, Texans Care for Children found in the report.

Behavioral issues

Few principal Ron Vickers said behavioral issues in preschool often occur because students aren't used to taking instructions from a teacher or getting along with classmates.

"That's one of those difficult ages," Vickers said. "When students have been able to do whatever they want to do at home, with very little adult supervision other than their parents, when another adult tells them to do something, their reaction is, 'You're not my boss.'"

"Sometimes kids are doing what's worked for them at home,"

he said. "It's a teaching process" to get them used to a classroom setting, and in-school suspensions are a way to enforce that, he said.

Out-of-school suspensions, while used rarely, were sometimes intended to convey the severity of the offense and get the child's parents involved in addressing the problem, Vickers said.

In an in-school suspension, preschoolers receive the class work they're missing but miss the playtime and activities that are a staple of pre-K.

> > REPORT: These were selected as the top elementary schools in SE Texas

Jasper Superintendent Gerald Hudson, who was hired by the district from the Dallas area in 2017, said he didn't know what led to the high number of suspensions before his arrival but said the district overall is working on improving discipline issues.

"We expect students to behave, but we can't expect that until they've been taught," he said. "We have to find out the best thing we can do for our kids to keep them engaged and learning," which has to be balanced with not letting one or two students disrupt the entire class.

Hudson said the district's numbers of violations and suspensions for the 2017-18 school year, which won't be released by the TEA until next fall, are substantially lower than the previous year.

According to TEA data, Jasper had the largest percentage of students disciplined in Southeast Texas in 2016-17 - almost 30 percent. The district handed out 2,206 in- and out-of-school suspensions last year, about 8 percent fewer than the year before.

High suspension rates

Four districts in Southeast Texas had out-of-school suspension rates for its youngest students that ranked in the 15 highest in the state, according to the Texans Care for Children report.

Bridge City, which suspended seven of its 84 preschoolers a total of 22 times that year, had the highest rate of out-of-school suspensions in the state, based on enrollment.

Woodville, Newton and East Chambers ISDs' preschool suspension rates also ranked in the top 15 statewide. All have fewer than 100 students and suspended up to five of them, though some were sent home multiple times. TEA does not release exact numbers when districts report between 1 and 4 students or incidents.

Bridge City Superintendent Todd Lintzen, who was hired in the middle of the 2015-16 school year, said the number of suspensions in early grades was a "hot spot" he identified when he started with the district.

Like Hudson, he said the challenge is addressing behavior issues while still "protecting the learning environment" for other students.

Lintzen pointed to leadership at Bridge City Elementary, including an assistant principal over curriculum and a principal with a background in special education, and the training of a behavioral interventionist as the "biggest difference."

He said they're trying "to teach coping skills with young children, rather than being more punitive."

> > DATA: What is the average base pay for teachers in your child's district?

Keeping students out of school can set them up for future failure because they may fall behind their peers in school, making them more likely to be frustrated and act out, he said.

Hudson also pointed to campus-wide plans focused on "positive behavior" instead of punishing negative behavior, so students are taught what to do, rather than told what not to do.

Restriction on suspensions

The statewide ban on out-of-school suspensions for early grades came one year after Houston ISD, Texas's largest district, ended the discipline for students up to third grade and limited its use for third through fifth graders in 2016.

Texas students now receive suspensions before third grade only for offenses involving weapons, alcohol, drugs or assault.

Critics of suspension practices, including the Texans Care for Children group, say the punishments aren't effective for young students because they punish behaviors without addressing their causes or helping students improve.

Suspensions before second grade "give students a first impression of school as a negative place where they don't belong," the report said, and deny students valuable classroom time.

"School expulsion and suspension practices are associated with negative educational and life outcomes," the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services said in a 2014 policy statement.

"A child's early years set the trajectory for the relationships and successes they will experience for the rest of their lives," the statement said. "Expulsion and suspension practices in early childhood settings, two stressful and negative experiences young children and their families may encounter in early childhood programs, should be prevented, severely limited, and eventually eliminated."

The Texas report found that schools "disproportionately suspend pre-k through second grade students who are Black, male, in special education, or in foster care."

That's in line with data reported by all public schools to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, which showed that in 2013-14, black children were more than three times as likely to receive out-of-school suspensions than white children, and boys are disproportionately suspended.

Several studies of federal and state data in the past five years have shown black students are more likely to receive harsher punishments than white classmates for the same offense, to be considered less innocent than their peers and to be identified as likely to misbehave even when they aren't acting differently from their peers.

According to publicly available TEA data, African American students made up about 26 percent of all students in Region 5 but received about 54 percent of all in-school suspensions and 72 percent of all out-of-school suspensions in 2016-17. The agency does not publish that data with grade or age information.

In Jasper, where about 46 percent of students are black but received more than 70 percent of suspensions in 2016-17, Hudson said the "first thing" is awareness of the numbers. He said that is part of the conversation campuses are having about discipline, but he declined to go into detail.

Positive programs

In Southeast Texas and across the state, districts have pointed to a focus on positive behavior management programs as the key to reducing both student violations of rules and harsh punishments for them.

"It's always a mixed bag, change is always difficult," Jasper's Hudson said. "It's not only a change for the students but also change for the teachers," who need to feel like they have the resources they need to keep their classrooms safe and under control.

"We're dealing with a very young student that is coming from a different setting than 10, 15 years ago," Lintzen said, requiring different approaches and changes for long-time teachers.

"We have to refresh and reteach" students and teachers about expectations," Jasper's Hudson said. "We're revising the expectations and everything we expect, so it doesn't come back to bite us in the future."

LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/LizTeitz
The crash that killed a married couple and at least three of their adopted children after their vehicle plunged off a California cliff last week may not have been an accident, according to media reports.

Greg Baarts, acting assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol's northern division, told NBC affiliate KGW8 that investigators have "reason to believe . . . that the crash was intentional." Baarts, who was not immediately available for comment Sunday evening, told KGW8 that the finding was based on preliminary information.

Earlier reports indicated that the speedometer of the SUV that authorities said was carrying the family of eight - the two parents and their six adopted children - was "pinned" at 90 mph when it went over the cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway. Fox affiliate KPTV in Oregon reported that this indicates the vehicle remained in motion after it fell and just before it hit the rocks 100 feet below.

Investigators also did not find any marks showing that the vehicle either accelerated or slowed down before it reached the cliff, or any evidence that it crashed into the embankment as it "traversed towards the tidal zone below," according the documents cited by KPTV.

Killed are the two mothers, Jennifer Jean Hart - who was driving - and Sarah Margaret Hart, both 38, and at least three of their adopted children. The other three are missing and are feared to be dead.

The death of a family that had once captured the world's attention has left troubling questions about what may have preceded the Monday afternoon crash at the ocean overlook near Westport, California, a small community about 180 miles north of San Francisco. Child services officials in Washington state, where the family lived, have confirmed that they began investigating the Harts over "alleged abuse or neglect" shortly before the accident.

The Washington Department of Social and Health Services said it tried unsuccessfully to contact the family on three occasions, first on March 23, three days before the crash, according to a statement. The agency tried again Monday, the day of the crash, and Tuesday.

"We have not made any findings in this investigation and we had no prior history with this family," the agency said. "We are working with all involved law enforcement agencies on their respective investigations."

Investigators are looking into the possibility of suicide, although police had said earlier that they have no reason to suspect that the crash was intentional. KPTV reported that investigators have secured a warrant to search the family's home, including documents such as bank and cellphone records, credit-card statements, journals and suicide notes.

A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said the family may not have intended to stay away from home for long that day because many of their belongings, including a pet and some chickens, were still at their home. First responders immediately found the bodies of Jennifer and Sarah Hart and their children Markis, 19, Jeremiah, 14, and Abigail, 14. The others - Devonte, 15, Hannah, 16, and Sierra, 12 - remain unaccounted for.

The family had previously lived in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, before they moved north across the Columbia River to Woodland, Wash. Authorities said the family left Oregon to escape intense scrutiny that began in 2014, when Devonte Hart was photographed sobbing in the arms of a white police officer in Portland, where people had gathered to support protests in Ferguson, Missouri. The demonstration was prompted by a grand jury's decision not to charge police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson.

Devonte and his siblings were black. Jennifer and Sarah Hart were white.

The family's mixed races have fueled suspicion and anger about the crash, reflected in hundreds of comments left on Facebook postings mourning the family. Many of the comments questioned the motives of white women who adopted black children.

Meanwhile, those who knew the Harts described them as inspiring and devoted parents who had been unfairly subjected to criticisms and assumptions about their motives for adopting the children. Friends also said that the couple tried to keep their children insulated from death threats and hateful emails prompted by Devonte's viral picture.

But their neighbors in Washington said previous incidents involving the Harts' children have concerned them.

Bruce DeKalb said Devonte regularly came to his home to ask for food and said his parents weren't feeding him. The teen also asked him and his wife to call Child Protective Services, DeKalb said.

Last month, another sibling, Hannah, knocked on his front door at 1:30 a.m., DeKalb said. She was covered in weeds after jumping out of her family's second-story window. DeKalb said the teenager, who was missing some front teeth and who he thought was only 7 years old, was "rattled to the bone."

---

The Washington Post's Maureen O'Hagan and Julie Tate contributed to this report.
Death is never easy. Even when expected, a persons death leaves a void for those who remain. As a physician, it is especially difficult for me when one of my patients dies.

I practice medicine at one of Americas about 160 Veterans Affairs hospitals, so my patients are all veterans. The VA system  the largest integrated health care system in the United States  cares for about 9 million veterans, men and women who were willing to sacrifice greatly for our country.

The news about transitions at the top of the VA put me in a reflective mode, thinking about the core reason that we do what we do at VA health care facilities around the nation. As a VA doctor, it is sometimes difficult to read the frequent criticism about the VA and its hospitals without getting dejected, but, fortunately, most of us are inspired by those who entrust us with their care and their lives.

Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, gave the VA its mission: To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.

Ive been involved in caring for veterans since my first days in medicine, through many changes. As a medical student and resident, I cared for World War I veterans. They are now all gone.

I am now always honored to care for World War II veterans, most of whom have also passed.

Next will be veterans of the Korean War (like my father-in-law), Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. It was these men and women who bravely served this country and who kept it free and open to people like me and my family  immigrants who were looking for better lives.

I did not sit in the foxhole with them or parachute into jungles, but I still have a duty. My duty is to provide Americas veterans with superb medical care, delivered in a humane, compassionate and high-quality manner.

When a veteran dies at our VA hospital, we all feel the loss. Even though I have been caring for veterans for over two decades in four different VA hospitals  as a medical student, resident, fellow and now as an attending physician  I only recently witnessed a ceremony that is both beautiful and heart-wrenching.

It is known as the Final Salute, and it is done for veterans who die under our care.

After pronouncing death, the patients family is called and comes in to see their loved one. The body is placed on a gurney and is draped with Old Glory, the symbol of our freedom. As the body and family are led out of the hospital room to the exit, Taps is played  the signal for the health care workers, and, especially, their fellow soldiers, to come to the doors of their rooms.

Civilians stand with their hands on their hearts. Veterans give the military salute, standing if they are able.

For me as a civilian, I am reminded of how lucky others and I are that we get to care for these men and women, who all too often are forgotten and are struggling with demons. Rituals and ceremonies are important links to the past, and they are reminders of what it takes to improve tomorrow. Being a VA doctor gives me pride, no more so than when I watch how our VA honors those veterans who have died.

As the headlines point out, however, the VA should strive to provide the best care anywhere. Even though studies have found that overall VA care is comparable to and often better than non-VA care, the VA needs to do much more to make the VA a model system for not just this country but the entire world.

I think that President Donald Trumps call to increase the VA budget for fiscal year 2019 is a step in the right direction. Not only will extra resources provide veterans more choices for care, but they also will help prevent veteran suicides, reduce opioid use and expand cutting-edge VA research on prosthetics and veteran safety.

Support for veterans has, fortunately, remained bipartisan. Despite the change of leadership currently happening in the VA secretarys office  and the continued controversy the role of the private sector could and should have in providing care to veterans  my plea from the field is that our elected leaders continue to do right by veterans.

My colleagues and I  the men and women who have the privilege to care for Americas heroes in VA health care facilities around the country  are honored to provide the high-quality and compassionate care veterans deserve from the moment they leave the service to the time of their Final Salute.

Sanjay Saint, M.D., is the George Dock Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, the director of the VA/University of Michigan Patient Safety Enhancement Program and chief of medicine at the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center.
National Public Health Week 2018 View Photos

Sonora, CA  This first full week of April is Public Health Week across the nation. Locally, public health officials are initiating efforts that encourage residents towards healthy lifestyle changes.

Michelle Jachetta, Health Program Supervisor with the Tuolumne County Public Health Department, was Wednesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day.

The Public Health Association (APHA) has designated this years theme as Healthiest Nation 2030 with the goal of making the U.S., whose current global ranking languishes somewhere in the mid-thirties, the healthiest country in one generation. The Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors officially proclaimed it National Public Health Week at their meeting today and the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors have already done so.

Tonight, the Tuolumne County Public Health Department in partnership with the UC Cooperative Extension and Tuolumne Trails will officially recognize National Walking Day and also promote a month-long challenge by sponsoring a community walk/hike at Dragoon Gulch Trail, a popular rec spot near downtown Sonora.

Beginning at 5:30 p.m., community members are invited to join public health staff at the trailhead (680 Woods Creek Drive) in Woods Creek Park, which recently added a new trail extension.

Staff members will be sharing information about various local health and rec programs as well as their Get Moving Challenge #HealthySelfieTC, which will run through April 30 and offers a grand prize of a Fitbit to those who sign up and share pictures of themselves doing something good for their health on the Tuolumne County Public Health Departments Facebook page.

Examples of photo opportunities might be to snap a selfie while getting a health check up; preparing or eating something that is good for you; staying hydrated; walking or partaking in other calorie-burning activities or sports. Participants may enter up to once per day. Health officials say the goal of the challenge is to highlight locally how folks can find easy, affordable ways to stay healthy.

For more details and information about the walk and health challenge, click here.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
Sonora, CA  When Tuolumne County was awarded $70-million from a National Disaster Resiliency competition grant, one of the projects identified for funding was a biomass utilization facility.

A public meeting will be held April 18 at 5pm in the Stanislaus National Forest Headquarters at 19777 Greenley Road where community members can give input on the process and approach for the creation of a feasibility study. The meeting will be hosted by the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. A consulting firm, The Beck Group, working on behalf of the two agencies, will facilitate the event. The study will help lay the foundation for a biomass facility in the county. Anyone with an interest in its development is encouraged to attend.

Creation of a biomass facility is one of three specific areas receiving a share of the $70-million. The other priorities are the development of one or two community resiliency centers (in Groveland and/or Tuolumne) and forest and watershed health restoration. The projects are aimed at making the county more resilient following the 2013 Rim Fire which burned over 257,000 acres.
WASHINGTON - A broad array of critics are urging the Trump administration to ignore pleas to use its emergency powers for a bailout of nuclear and coal plants owned by a unit of the politically well-connected FirstEnergy.

FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary of the FirstEnergy holding company, filed for bankruptcy last weekend and, warning of a "power crisis," beseeched the Energy Department to invoke emergency powers to keep open four nuclear reactors and several coal plants in the name of grid reliability.

The utility comes to the issue well-armed with lobbyists with connections to Congress and the Energy Department. It has spent on average more than $2 million a year for the past seven years on lobbying. Its top lobbyist last year was Jeff Miller, who was campaign manager of Rick Perry's presidential campaign.

But environmental groups, former regulators, rival utility executives and consumer groups have declared that there is no emergency and that tilting the scales in FirstEnergy Solutions' direction would undermine the free market competition that has helped consumers keep low rates.

"It's corporate welfare and it is not something we should tolerate because all it does is make consumers pay more for power plants that should go through belt tightening or leave the market," Abraham Silverman, general counsel for the utility NRG, said in an interview.

"We have a set of rules," Silverman added. "We all know what those rules are. We're all playing by the same rules. If you start taking an individual company's plants and say the rules of the market don't apply to you, we start losing the competitiveness of markets."

The bankruptcy filing is the latest cry for government assistance by FirstEnergy and one of its main suppliers of coal, Murray Energy.

"Trump seems to have a soft spot for coal and this will be a test case for whether Trump's policies are having an effect on the coal industry and bringing it back," Jack Tracy, head of legal analysis at Debtwire, a New York research firm, said.

FirstEnergy's chief executive Charles Jones - who earned $13.9 million last year - met with President Donald Trump in mid-2017 to ask for assistance to coal and nuclear plants. Earlier, in March 2017, Murray Energy's chief executive Robert Murray had urged Energy Secretary Rick Perry to declare an emergency to help coal plants and mines.

Perry instead asked the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to factor in resilience and reliability and subsidize coal and nuclear plants that had 90 days of fuel on site. FERC, whose new chairman Kevin McIntyre had FirstEnergy as a client at the firm Jones Day, rejected that request in January.

Now FirstEnergy Solutions is trying a new tactic, known as a 202(c) application, which asks the Energy Department to invoke an emergency and force the regional grid operator to pay nuclear and coal plants a guaranteed profit if they're capable of storing 25 days worth of fuel on-site.

It has also threatened to close down four nuclear power units with more than 4 gigawatts of capacity.

The Energy Department said in an email that the application "is now under review."

"We see the request to DOE as a last-ditch effort that is very unlikely to succeed," said a note to investors by the advisory firm Height Securities.

"It's not an emergency," said Vince Duane, general counsel at PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission system that covers all or parts of 13 states and the District. "It's a fair question to ask what may happen in three years," he said but he added "We're not expecting anything will happen as far as these plants' performance in near or medium term."

Regional transmission systems like PJM use the lowest cost power plants and keep costs low. They also plan ahead several years to make sure there is enough power supply. Duane noted that the FirstEnergy nuclear plants will continue to operate during bankruptcy, and beyond.

FirstEnergy appears to be trying to upset that planning and balance. It has said it will not participate in PJM's next auction covering the years 2021-2022. Moody's analyst Toby Shea, an expert on the PJM regional grid, said taking the nuclear units out of the auction could boost power costs sharply, indirectly benefiting coal plants in the region.

But Shea added that the nuclear plants are "uneconomic" and amount to only 2 percent of PJM's capacity. The Beaver Valley unit needs to spend hundreds of millions of dollars replacing a steam generator, he said.

PJM's Duane said the emergency provision weren't designed for this kind of issue, but for very specific purposes, such as "continuance of a war" and only to "require by order temporary connections of facilities." One example: it kept open the Alexandria coal-powered plant because of national security concerns about blackouts in the nation's capital.

"This looks very much to us like a corporate decision," Duane said. "We don't see immediate reliability concerns. And we're not expecting any long-term reliability concerns."

FirstEnergy has repeatedly sought to obtain government help in the past, many analysts say. FirstEnergy is the product of a merger that took place in 1997. Like many utilities at the time, FirstEnergy sought to shrink its regulated business, where public utility commissions approved unspectacular but reliable returns. Instead, utilities rushed to take advantage of new competitive electricity markets. FirstEnergy put its merchant assets in a subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions.

For a while, the companies made considerable amounts of money, but then market conditions changed. And FirstEnergy (and other utilities) rushed back to the protection of utility commissions. FirstEnergy has said it would exit competitive markets by the middle of this year.

FirstEnergy also took part in a huge misguided merger with Allegheny Energy in 2010that left it holding $3.8 billion in Allegheny debt and a fleet of coal plants just as natural gas prices began to plummet and put coal plants out of business.

Over the years, FirstEnergy has continued to try to take advantage of regulations and politics to bolster its fortunes. Dick Munson, director of Midwest energy for the Environmental Defense Fund, has said that in August 2014, FirstEnergy unsuccessfully sought $4 billion from the Ohio Public Utility Commission to underwrite power purchase agreements that would have allowed one FirstEnergy affiliate to buy expensive power from another FirstEnergy affiliate. FERC blocked the plan.

FirstEnergy later proposed $4.5 billion bailout in return for keeping its headquarters in Akron, Ohio. And in 2016, it pressed the state of Ohio Public Utilities Commission to approve ratepayer subsidies to support its Sammis coal-fired power plant and Davis-Besse nuclear plant. The commission approved $131 million a year for three years, and insisted the headquarters stay in Akron.

The utility also lobbied the state legislature and Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, to set aside the state renewable portfolio standards. Kasich rejected the effort.

FirstEnergy's latest effort to pry subsidies from the government isn't likely to succeed, analysts say. If the Energy Department did issue an emergency order, it would likely be blocked in court.

But the FirstEnergy Solutions bankruptcy case leaves other issues in limbo. FirstEnergy Solutions includes 33 coal ash ponds and 15 landfills that require cleanup under federal regulations. The firm also has a $350 million shortfall in a trust fund set aside for decommissioning its nuclear reactors.

EDF's Munson said that "as an environmentalist I fear that they will use bankruptcy to shed nuclear waste and coal ash clean up obligations and try to put those on the backs of ratepayers or taxpayers."
A third U.S. pipeline company reported its electronic system for communicating with customers has stopped working, a day after a cyberattack resulted in a similar shutdown.

The Department of Homeland Security, which said Monday it's gathering information about the potential intrusion, had no immediate comment on the latest shutdown. Tuesday's closure affected Oneok Inc., which operates natural gas pipelines in the Permian Basin in Texas and the Rocky Mountain region. The cyberattack Monday didn't affect flows on the pipeline.

The shutdowns come after U.S. officials warned in March that Russian hackers are conducting a broad assault on the nation's electric grid and other targets. Last month, Atlanta's municipal government was hobbled for several days by a ransomware attack.

The systems hit in the last two days help pipeline customers communicate their needs with operators, using a computer-to-computer exchange of documents. Energy Transfer Partners LP and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP reported breakdowns Monday. Energy Transfer, which reported the reason as being a cyberattack, said its electronic data interchange system -- provided by third-party Energy Services Group LLC -- was back online in the early evening, and that business wasn't affected in any other way.

"It is not operationally serious in the sense that it's stopping the natural gas from moving, but it is serious because it's causing these companies to use workarounds for communication," said Rae McQuade, president of the North American Energy Standards Board in Houston, which is responsible for developing industry standards.

"If somebody is running a business that has some kind of critical asset to it -- pipelines, energy, finance -- those networks are going to be targets; those networks have been targets," said John Harbaugh, chief operating officer at R9B, a Colorado Springs, Colorado, cyber security solutions provider.

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Oneok said its EDI system would be "unavailable until further notice," but didn't provide a reason, according to a website notice. The company didn't immediately respond to requests for further comment. Latitude, the unit of Energy Services Group that operates Energy Transfer's system, didn't return phone calls or emails on Monday or Tuesday.

Latitude is "very well known in the industry, " the energy board's McQuade said. "They have a lot of clients, they are very well respected."

Many of the 3 million miles of pipelines that spread across America rely on third-party companies for their electronic communication systems, Andy Lee, senior partner at Jones Walker LLP in New Orleans, said by telephone Tuesday. In turn, they depend on those companies to provide security for those systems from attacks.

Gaining Attention

The systems are gaining attention from hackers because they've proven to be "low-hanging" fruit that creates an opportunity for ransomware or to sell the information on the dark web, Lee said.

This isn't the first time U.S. pipelines have been targeted. In 2012, a federal cyber response team said in a note that it had identified a number of "cyber intrusions" targeting natural gas pipeline sector companies. The group, the Industrial Control System Cyber Emergency Response Team, is a division of Homeland Security.

"It's important to recognize that this does not appear to be an attack on an operational system," said Cathy Landry, a spokesman for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. "An attack on a network certainly is inconvenient and can be costly, and something any company  whether a retailer, a bank or a media company -- wants to avoid, but there is no threat to public safety or to natural gas deliveries."

She said she "cannot speak for any of the companies specifically about what may or may not have happened to their systems."
San Antonio-based iHeartMedia Inc., which is currently mired in bankrutpcy, said its delaying releasing its financial statements after discovering that employees apparently stole funds at a Hong Kong subsidiary, the company disclosed Tuesday.

Forensic accountants and lawyers hired by subsidiary Clear Media discovered various transactions in three bank accounts that were opened in its name without its authorization. Other unspecified matters also were discovered during the investigation. Several employees are under investigation by local police, the company said.

RELATED: Bankrupt retailer A'Gaci cancels auction

The findings were turned over to police, iHeart and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings reported in separate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

iHeart, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month in Houston, and Clear Channel said theyre unable to file their latest annual reports with the SEC by the required filing date because Clear Medias financial statements have not been completed. Clear Channel Outdoor is a billboard subsidiary which is 90 percent owned by iHeart.

In addition, both iHeart and Clear Channel said they were not able to complete an assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting as of Dec. 31.

iHeart owns more than 850 radio stations in 150 U.S. markets. Clear Channel has more than 580,000 displays in 31 countries. Clear Channel is not in bankruptcy.

Clear Media is an outdoor media company in China. Its described as an indirect, non-wholly owned subsidiary of both iHeart and Clear Channel. Clear Media trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange but the companys shares are currently suspended from trading.

Clear Channel said as a result of the delayed filing of its annual report, it has received notice from the New York Stock Exchange that it is not in compliance with listing requirements. Under NYSE rules, it has six months to file the annual report. The company can regain compliance with listing standards before then, however.
Toyotas pickup trucks have continued their hot streak in March, posting their third consecutive month of double-digit growth.

The companys Tacoma midsize pickup  built in San Antonio and Baja California, Mexico  led the way with year-over-year sales growth of more than 3,500, a 21.1 percent increase over March 2017.

Tacoma sales in the first three months of the year are up by more than 10,000 vehicles compared to the first quarter of 2017, a 23.6 percent increase.

RELATED: Don't try to look for these vehicles in 2018. They're discontinued

Sales of the full-size Tundra pickup, which is built in San Antonio, have also been rising, with March sales up by 1,000 vehicles, or 14.3 percent. First quarter sales have increased by more than 3,000 pickups, or 13.3 percent.

The trend is a reversal of fortune from Toyotas first quarter in 2017, when Tacoma and Tundra sales were down year-over-year for the quarter by 2.4 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively. It was the worst quarter for Toyotas pickup sales since 2011.

Toyotas Group Vice President and General Manager Jack Hollis said Tuesday that increased Tacoma production from the Baja California facility is allowing more agility or flexibility for the San Antonio plant.

The percentage of how many Tundras or Tacomas are coming out  by giving us the extra flexibility of the Baja plant for Tacoma, which right now is such a high demand  we can tweak our production levels to match those demands, Hollis said.

Toyota made a $150 million investment in the Tacoma factory in Baja California, Mexico. The company had said previously that it expected the increased production  estimated to be around 60,000 more pickups a year  would be reflected in its numbers in 2018.
Brookfield Property Partners, which owns a stake in national mall operator GGP Inc., has finalized an agreement to acquire the remainder of the company and its multiple Houston properties.

Chicago-based GGP owns Baybrook Mall, Deerbrook Mall, First Colony Mall, The Woodlands Mall and Willowbrook Mall.
Anchors on San Antonio stations WOAI and KABB, along with dozens of newscasters at other Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned TV stations across the country, are voicing whats being seen as media-bashing promos that seem to support the fake news stance held by President Trump  and the response has been mostly negative.

Mandated for all local stations owned by Sinclair, the countrys largest broadcaster and one known for its conservative stands, the message has been recited by WOAI anchor Randy Beamer, one of San Antonios most prominent newscasters, and his 5 p.m. co-anchor Delaine Mathieu.

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It also has been voiced by KABBs main anchor team, Jessica Headley and Ryan Wolf.

In the version read by Beamer and Mathieu, which appeared in a 10 p.m. news insert toward the end of the broadcast Friday, the anchors decried the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country, before warning that this is extremely dangerous to our democracy.

Mathieu then emphasized that whats more alarming is that some media outlets publish these same fake stories ... without checking facts first.

Toward the end of the promo, the anchors assured viewers that their station is different from other media and is much more reliable.

RELATED: San Antonio TV anchors share their secret lives

At no point do the anchors state that they were reading from a corporate script and not expressing their own views.

While the message contains grains of truth, Washington Post media and politics reporter Callum Borchers wrote in an analysis piece Monday, it could leave the false impression that many reporters are fabricators  an idea Trump likes to promote because it grants voters permission to disbelieve whatever information they wish were untrue.

Although WOAI and KABB News Director Mandi Mendoza wouldnt comment on the matter, she did share the latest Sinclair response, attributed to Scott Livingston, Sinclairs Senior Vice President of News:

We arent sure of the motivation for the criticism, but find it curious that we would be attacked for asking our news people to remind their audiences that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media, which result in an ill-informed public with potentially dangerous consequences. It is ironic that we would be attacked for messages promoting our journalistic initiative for fair and objective reporting, and for specifically asking the public to hold our newsrooms accountable.

In an internal memo to employees written Monday and obtained by CNN, Livingston called the scripted promos a well-researched journalistic initiative focused on fair and objective reporting.

For the record, the stories we are referencing in this campaign are the unsubstantiated ones (i.e. fake/false) like Pope Endorses Trump which move quickly across social media and result in an ill-informed public. Some other false stories, like the false Pizzagate story, can result in dangerous consequences, he wrote.

We are focused on fact-based reporting, he added in the memo. Thats our commitment to our communities.

Local viewers have responded, and their emails to this reporter have been unfavorable for the most part. To read more about the issue and the response to it, please visit our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com.
After 35 years of business at their San Antonio restaurant, the Visocaro family is ready to say buon anniversario!

Little Italy, located at 824 Afterglow St. (near the intersection of Blanco Road and West Avenue), is celebrating in style throughout April by bringing back select menu items at 1983 prices.
The Freddy Benavides Lazy River project was originally set to be finished by March 2017.

A year later, after several change orders, rain delays, problems with concrete quality, and lack of faith expressed by members of the public and watchdog groups, the $1 million-plus project is still unfinished. According to emails obtained by Laredo Morning Times, issues with the project arose from the get-go.

But at the last City Council meeting on March 19, the contractor offered to right this wrong in exchange for avoiding further liquidated damages fees of about $21,000 for missing the latest Feb. 5 completion deadline.

READ ALSO: LED-illuminated Splash Park unveiled in Laredo

The original lazy river plan included two 50-foot water slides to the tune of $110,000. Tony Ayala, the project contractor and owner of Sunset Pools, told City Council he would instead install two 250-foot slides at no cost to the city if council supported the idea, which they did.

The reason Im providing this option to you is because, one, I want to make things right. And secondly, Im working on another project where we would be using these slides. But right now that project is way delayed because of the general contractor. So they told us if you want to go ahead and make use of these slides, we could go ahead and do so, Ayala said.

These larger slides are comparable to the kind one would find at Schlitterbahn, and together cost about $500,000, he said. With these new slides, he said the project can be completed by the second week of May at the latest. With the original 50-foot slides the completion date would have been around mid-April.

READ ALSO: Laredoans at odds over hockey's return to the Gateway City

Several members of council expressed that this exchange seems like a no-brainer. City Manager Horacio De Leon noted that if the city were to accept the liquidated damages fees and the original slides, they would receive around $21,000. If the city were to skirt the fees and accept the new slides, that would be a net benefit of about $390,000.

For me it would be a no-brainer, bringing a commodity like that to south Laredo, Councilman Vidal Rodriguez said. The project is in his district.

Ayala said that he has gone over the plans for the new slides with an engineering firm, and confirmed that they are safe and up to standard.

The five members of council present all voted in favor of the new slides, and for the city and contractor to negotiate a new change order to the contract.

Delays

At the March 19 meeting, Ayala said he took full responsibility for the projects tardiness.

Theres been some issues. Im not here to put blame on anyone but ourselves because we were the ones awarded (the contract). Not the concrete company, not anybody else, he said.

This lazy river was first approved by City Council on Jan. 26, 2016, but the contract was not approved by then-City Manager Jesus Olivares until Aug. 4. The first day of work was Aug. 25, and issues arose almost immediately, according to emails provided by the City of Laredo.

On Aug. 8, the notice to proceed was handed to Ayala. That same day, he emailed city staff about light poles that needed to be removed from the park. Then-Parks and Leisure Director Osbaldo Guzman said that American Electric Power would remove them that week.

On Aug. 17 and Aug. 31, Ayala emailed the city again, saying the light poles had not yet been removed.

They were finally removed Sept. 12, according to emails. Then on Sept. 22, 2016 a city staffer noted that no work had been performed by Ayala as of that day.

READ ALSO: 18 things on locals' wish list for a new Laredo water park

About two months later in November, Ayala notified the city that he would be pursuing legal action against the engineer he had been working with, Florentino Caballero, for services not rendered.

Let this matter serve as an example of one of many of Mr. Caballeros lack of professionalism and his inability to come through with his promises, Ayala wrote.

But then five days later, Ayala notified the city that he and Caballero had come to an amicable agreement, and he was reinstated as the engineer for the project.

Moving forward, emails mark several instances in which the concrete poured for the lazy river failed compression tests and would need to be replaced. Also, in December 2016, City Council voted to pay the contractor an extra $198,900 in order to build restrooms, showers and a perimeter fence around the property. That bumped the projects cost from about $1.3 million to $1.5 million.

In March 2017, Ayala said he would pour new slabs where the concrete wasnt strong enough.

An engineering associate with the city said they would accept this with amendments.

And if the City will accept this option, Sun Set Pool, company will warranty the work for extra 5 years or we will replace without any cost to the City, he wrote.

Then from November 2017 to February 2018, city engineers sent several emails to Ayala concerning the lack of progress at the site.

We are concerned about the construction progress, since, we have conducted periodic visits to the project site and have seen very little work being done.

We urge that the project be given the priority and attention it deserves as required by the construction contract, the notice reads.

At the City Council meeting, Ayala said the project is now 94 percent complete.

Federal funds

The lazy river is being paid for with Community Block Development Grant funds, a federal program that provides services to vulnerable communities around the country.

To comply with this grant, Ayala has to follow equal employment opportunity standards, federal labor standards and Section 3 requirements, which stipulate that he and his subcontractors must hire and train low- and moderate-income workers.

A female employee with the Community Development Department would check the job site to ensure compliance.

After one such visit, Ayala emailed her, Lastly, just wanted to let you know that you left the workers at the park very nervous and anxious to see you again!!

She asked that in the future he refrain from inappropriate personal comments, and he apologized.

The lazy river is adjacent to the Cigarroa Recreation Center Swimming Pool at 2201 Zacatecas St.

Councilman Rodriguez said in December 2016 that few residents of south Laredo have their own swimming pools, but all will be able to swim in this one.

Every district has a significant park, Rodriguez said. District II right now is waiting for the lazy river.

District VIII Councilman Roberto Balli said the pool and lazy river are necessary for the health of residents of south Laredo.

This is how economically disadvantaged children learn how to swim, he said.

I think the underlying issue is not the merits of the project, Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz added, citing a need for these kinds of recreational spaces in more impoverished areas.
Jim Allison and his blues-playing band are playing a benefit concert in Houston this weekend, a rare local gig by the scientist the Chronicle once proclaimed "just might cure cancer."

Allison usually just performs at clubs during cancer conferences in cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C., but Saturday night he and the Checkmates, his Houston band of cancer doctors and scientists, will be at the Firehouse Saloon, one of the city's best-known honky tonks.

Proceeds will benefit the Halo House, a provider of low-cost housing for out-of-town patients receiving blood cancer treatment at the Texas Medical Center. It recently broke ground on a new facility expected to triple its number of residents.

RELATED: The scientist who just might cure cancer

Tickets are pricey -- $75  and in short supply. Halo House officials said Thursday evening the show is "almost sold out," though a few tickets are available.

Allison, of course, is best known as the MD Anderson Cancer Center scientist whose 1995 discovery of an immune system brake and development of a drug to unleash it revived cancer immunotherapy, now a modality of treatment. The drug and others like it, a class known as "checkpoint inhibitors," have made long-term survivors of a subset of patients whose metastatic cancers were previously considered death sentences.

But Allison is also known for his love of music and the harmonica, on which he plays standards like "Big Boss Man" and "I'm a King Bee." He has two bands  a national group called the Checkpoints, which performs at such clubs as the House of Blues during the annual conferences of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer; and the Checkmates, which mostly performs at MD Anderson-related events.

Besides Allison, the Checkmates feature Scott Woodman and Christina Boulton on vocals, Greg Lizee on drums, Anthony Lucci on guitar, Tony Conley on bass, Ferran Prat on sax, Powel Brown on trumpet, Scott Krueger on trombone and Patrick Hwu on keyboards. Except for one "ringer" -- Krueger, a geologist -- all are MD Anderson doctors, scientists or administrators.

RELATED: Willie Nelson shares stage with Houston cancer scientist

The event won't be Allison's most high-profile at a major Texas club. In 2016, he joined Willie Nelson onstage at the Redneck Country Club in Stafford.

Halo House was founded in 2009 to help out-of-town patients whose housing costs during treatment can bankrupt them. It has operated out of 10 leased apartments during that time, but has a daily waiting list of 85 to 100 people. The new facility will include 33 apartments.

The show is from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. For up-to-date ticket information, contact the Halo House Foundation at 713-665-8852.

Todd Ackerman writes about medicine for the Houston Chronicle. He can be reached at todd.ackerman@chron.com or on Twitter @ChronMed.
MIDDLETOWN  Middlesex Hospitals Pharmacy Department has expanded its partnership with the University of Saint Joseph School of Pharmacy, a move that will benefit patients, physicians and students.

The partnership began in 2011 when Middlesex staff began serving as preceptors for the experiential training of USJ pharmacy students, according to a press release. It expanded in 2016 to provide for the clinical training of additional student pharmacists through the placement of USJ faculty at the hospital.

Now, the partnership includes an initiative that delivers pharmaceutical care in an outpatient setting focusing on the special needs of patients who may have concurrent illness and are taking multiple medications.

In January, Middlesex Hospital Primary Care welcomed USJ pharmacy students. The students are working with professor Alaina Rotelli on comprehensive medication management.

The students are in their last year of pharmacy school and must complete advanced pharmacy practice rotations before graduation. This new partnership fulfills that requirement for 10 students each year, the release continued.

Rotelli and her students meet with patients who visit the Middlesex Hospital Primary Care offices in Middletown and Portland to discuss their medications, and the group will soon offer e-consults for other offices.

For those preparing to see their physician after a hospital stay, Rotelli is looking at medications prescribed upon discharge to ensure that it is appropriate. She and her students are evaluating value-based contracts by weighing medication options. The goal is to increase the quality of care while lowering costs, according to the hospital.

Rotelli and her students are also developing a curriculum that will be used to educate Middlesex physicians, and they are creating a pharmacy newsletter. This will allow doctors to learn about medication from a pharmacist rather than a pharmaceutical company. Dr. Israel Cordero, medical director of Middlesex Hospital Primary Care, calls this unbiased education.
A Pearland coffee shop wants to provide local students with more than just coffee after what its general manager says have been tough times for kids in middle school and high school in the community.

Pearland Coffee Roasters is hosting a "roundtable" for students in grades 7-12 from 7-9 p.m. April 19 at the shop, 4106 W. Broadway.

General manager John Sanson said it is "a night dedicated to come by and talk about fears and life with local counselors and pastors." It's an opportunity for kids to talk about their emotions and fears in a safe place with professionals who can help kids understand their feelings, after local teen suicides and suicide attempts and widely publicized mass shootings in schools around the country.

The business posted to Facebook: "With so many tragic events that have happened over this last year in Pearland ISD, we felt the need to have a night just for students to meet with counselors & pastors to openly talk out things that seem overwhelming & life in general."

Sanson is a former youth outreach worker. He said that teens have a lot on their minds after incidents such as the March 9 arrest of a Pearland High student after a gun was found on campus, two suicides on Pearland high school campuses in March 2017 and the mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school in February that killed 17 people. Additionally, in an Nov. 30 incident, a Dawson High School student's attempt to hang himself from a stairwell was thwarted by teachers, Pearland police reported."There's depression and anxiety with things," Sanson said. "And with changes at the end of school year, and the shooting. At least here's opportunity to express their emotions instead of keeping things bottled up."

Sanson said he has been talking with local licensed counselors and pastors of nearby churches. Although religious leaders will be present, Sanson said the event is not a religious gathering. He said some kids might wonder where God was in the midst of the tragic events, and that pastors can address those questions.

The talk will center on teens' emotions and thoughts about current events.The Pearland Independent School District staged a a free suicide prevention awareness event, #iwillASK, last year at Turner College and Career High School, sparked by student Ted Frick's alarm after suicides of three district students in 2015.

"Out of that, we really started looking at how we could do more for our students and for our kids dealing with these issues," district spokesperson Kim Hocott said in a previous interview.

More Information WANT TO GO? What: "Roundtable": a night for teens to talk about fears, victories and life with local counselors and pastors. Where: Pearland Coffee Roasters, 4106 W. Broadway St. When: 7-9 p.m. April 19 Details: 281-485-6670 See More Collapse

PISD is hosting this year's #iwillASK event from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, April 26, at Pearland High SchoolSearcy Campus, 3775 S Main St. Students, parents and community members are encouraged to attend the free event. Dr. Ryan Hill, assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, will discuss the importance of destigmatizing mental health issues. For more on that event, visit www.pearlandisd.org/iwillASK.

Sanson said such efforts by the school district to help kids with these issues are beneficial but that some students may not be comfortable opening up about their feelings in that setting.

Kids experiencing bullying or peer pressure may have problems expressing vulnerability to teachers and classmates they see on a daily basis, Sanson said.

He is asking parents to bring their kids and drop them off.

He thinks the coffee shop setting will provide a neutral environment where teens will feel safe talking about their feelings without parents or teachers present.

"Let's talk things out," Sanson said. "If it's racial things, depression, suicide. People need to talk about these things."

For more information about the Pearland Coffee Roasters event, call 281-485-6670.
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The Development Corporation of Richmond took action on two items at its March meeting to revitalize business in downtown Richmond and spur investment in the city.

The Downtown Improvement Grant Program is the first approved item. The grant is designed to be a pilot program for enhancing the downtown area known for its unique and historic downtown. The program is designed to play on the area's strength by beautifying the commercial buildings through encouraging productive uses for these one-of-a kind buildings. The grant program provides a 50 percent match on eligible improvements with a goal to promote substantial improvements which might not otherwise be feasible for the property owner.
Anna Chennault, a Chinese-born writer and business executive who married a storied American general and became a Washington hostess, Republican Party activist and secret emissary for candidate Richard Nixon during the 1968 presidential campaign, died March 30 at her home in Washington. She was 94.

She had complications from a recent stroke, said her daughter, Cynthia Chennault.

Chennault (pronounced shuh-NAWLT) gained international fame in 1947, when she married a swashbuckling World War II hero, Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault, in Shanghai. At the beginning of the war, he organized the Flying Tigers, a volunteer group of American airmen in China, then a U.S. ally.

Her marriage to the general, three decades her senior, put Chennault at the center of Asian and U.S. diplomatic, military and commercial circles, and she became a leading figure in the "China lobby," supporting the efforts of nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek to establish an anti-communist government on Taiwan in opposition to Mao Zedong's People's Republic of China.

After her husband's death in 1958, Chennault settled in Washington, where she became a formidable presence and "a figure of glamour and mystery in the Nation's Capital," as Washington Post columnist Maxine Cheshire put it. She soon became a top fundraiser for the Republican Party - but kept her ears and doors open to people across political and international borders.

"In Washington you can disagree," she told The Post in 1970. "But you must not be disagreeable."

Chennault led a stylish life, with a chauffeur, a chef and a wardrobe of clothes she designed herself. Dinner parties at her penthouse apartment in the Watergate complex were attended by so many power brokers that she was called "the next Perle Mesta," after the renowned Washington "hostess with the mostest" who became an ambassador and was the inspiration for characters on the stage and in film. (Mesta even attended Chennault's gatherings.)

"Her career represents a unique model of an informal diplomat," Chennault's biographer, Catherine Forslund, a history professor at Rockford University in Illinois, said in an interview. "She was somebody who interpreted China to Americans, government officials, businesses and the public, to a certain extent. Plus, she interpreted the United States to all these Asian countries."

Throughout almost 60 years of widowhood, Chennault faithfully kept alive the memory of her husband, a rakish pilot and military officer she always referred to as "General Chennault." The Flying Tigers, known for the distinctive shark-teeth design painted on the fuselage of their P-40 fighters, carried out aerial battles against Japanese planes in the early stages of World War II.

Later, as a two-star general, Claire Chennault commanded the U.S. 14th Air Force in Kunming, China, where young Anna Chan, as she was then known, met him as a war correspondent.

At the end of the war, Claire Chennault co-founded an air-cargo company called Civil Air Transport. After his death, the company was purchased by the CIA and renamed Air America, which operated largely without public oversight into the 1970s.

Chennault, in the meantime, built a career in Washington as a consultant to aerospace companies and military leaders in the United States and Asia. She became a vice president of a separate air-cargo company, the Flying Tiger Line, and negotiated landing rights and other business agreements throughout Asia. The company was eventually sold to Federal Express.

"She knew all the heads of every air force in Asia," said Forslund, whose biography of Chennault was published in 2002. "She had a very high level of discretion."

When a Post reporter once asked directly whether she had any involvement with the CIA, Chennault's reply was a terse "No comment."

She shared strong anti-communist sympathies with Nixon, who became one of her political patrons. Chennault, the vice chairman of the Republican National Finance Committee, was the leading female fundraiser for Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign.

"I don't accept less than $500," she said at the time.

In the weeks before the 1968 election, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced plans to suspend U.S. bombing of North Vietnam as an attempt to jump-start peace talks in Paris. Nixon feared that an agreement to end the Vietnam War could tip the election to the Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

Nixon's campaign asked Chennault to approach South Vietnamese officials with a request to delay or abandon the negotiations in Paris, in an effort to thwart Humphrey.

"Hold on," she said to South Vietnam's ambassador to the United States, relaying a message from Nixon's campaign. "We are gonna win."

The back-channel meeting was wiretapped by the FBI, and a furious Johnson was listening to Chennault's message.

"This is treason," the president told Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, R-Ill., referring to the apparent efforts to interfere with U.S. diplomacy.

Johnson said nothing in public at the time, Nixon won the election, and the war in Vietnam dragged on until 1975, when the United States abandoned its embassy in Saigon.

Within weeks, details of the secret arrangement, which became known as the "Chennault affair," began to leak to the press. At first, Chennault called the story "an insult to my intellect," yet in her 1980 autobiography, "The Education of Anna," she admitted that she had made overtures to the South Vietnamese on Nixon's behalf.

Until his death in 1994, Nixon denied that he did anything to sabotage the peace talks. His direct role in the Chennault affair was not confirmed until historian John A. Farrell uncovered notes written by Nixon aide H.R. "Bob" Haldeman that were "kept secret by Nixon and his lawyers for decades," according to Farrell's 2017 biography, "Richard Nixon: The Life."

Among other things, Haldeman's notes revealed that Nixon called Chennault "Dragon Lady" in private. They also showed that her clandestine mission to the South Vietnamese was directly ordered by Nixon, in possible violation of U.S. law.

"There's really no doubt this was a step beyond the normal political jockeying," Farrell told The New York Times in 2017. "Potentially, this is worse than anything he did in Watergate," referring to the political scandal that grew out of wiretapping the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate office complex and led to Nixon's resignation in 1974.

Chennault had hoped her loyalty would be rewarded with an ambassadorship or a major post in the Nixon administration. She was offered nothing. According to Forslund, Nixon was reluctant to nominate her for a job requiring Senate confirmation, concerned that she might divulge campaign subterfuge under oath.

Chen Xiangmei was born June 25, 1923, in Beijing, the second of six sisters. (Her date of birth is usually given as 1925, but her daughter confirmed that she was two years older than often reported.) Her name, formerly transliterated as Chan Sheng Mai, means Plum Blossom.

Her father was an Oxford-educated law professor and diplomat; her mother, who was also from a prominent family, died in the late 1930s. The family moved to Hong Kong in 1937, soon after war broke out between China and Japan.

Anna Chan, as she was known in English, graduated from Hong Kong's Lingnan University in 1944. While working for a Chinese news organization, she met the Chennault, who was nicknamed "Old Leatherface." They settled in Taiwan soon after their marriage.

Widowed at 35, Chennault moved to Washington with her two daughters and became a U.S. citizen. She worked for a translation service at Georgetown University and later for Voice of America. She helped edit Chinese-English dictionaries and, in 1962, published the first of many books, the best-selling "A Thousand Springs: The Biography of a Marriage."

Chennault received her first presidential appointment from President John F. Kennedy, helping resettle Chinese refugees, and served on various presidential commissions through the administration of President Bill Clinton. She established scholarships and academic fellowship programs in China and the United States.

For years, she was romantically linked to her longtime public escort, Thomas G. "Tommy the Cork" Corcoran, a lawyer and onetime aide to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had helped Claire Chennault gain permission to form the Flying Tigers. Corcoran died in 1981.

Chennault never remarried, telling friends that she wanted to be buried beside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.

Survivors include two daughters, Cynthia Chennault of Gainesville, Florida, and Claire Anna Chennault of Rockville, Maryland; three sisters; and two grandsons.

Chennault once owned a Chinese restaurant in Washington with syndicated columnist Jack Anderson - who nevertheless wrote about her secretive role in the Nixon campaign. She helped establish the private George Towne Club with, among others, South Korean lobbyist Tongsun Park, who was later charged with bribing members of Congress. Chennault was not implicated in the scandal.

As a longtime opponent of the Communist regime in her homeland, Chennault felt betrayed when Nixon visited China in 1972 and when President Jimmy Carter established full diplomatic relations in 1979. But, seeing a new opportunity to bring her two worlds together, she visited the Chinese mainland in 1981 for the first time in 33 years. She later organized one of the first groups of Taiwanese business executives to visit the People's Republic of China. She last visited the land of her birth in 2015.

During a meeting in the 1980s with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, Chennault said he asked, "Why do all the so-called China experts have blue eyes and blond hair?"

It was a question that long rankled Chennault, especially as she grew more frustrated with diplomats and lawmakers who never offered her a major policymaking role - but kept attending her parties.

"I am not a hostess," she told People magazine in 1981. "For years I have despised that description. Why don't people recognize me as a China expert?"
Frances L. Lloyd, a groundbreaking woman in science and technology and the fabricator of the key element in a device used around the world for measuring one of the fundamental quantities in modern life, the volt, died March 23 at her home in Washington. She was 94.

The cause was complications from bowel surgery, said her son, Granville Lloyd.

In a society that is increasingly dependent on technology, it is vital that the units by which everything is measured be uniform. It would seem inconceivable that an inch or a second or a pound in one place could differ in the smallest way from the way those units are understood somewhere else.

A vast effort has been made to create exact, precise and unchanging units of measurement for all the quantities that support every aspect of our lives. One of those quantities, basic to all of the electrical and electronic devices surrounding us, is the volt.

Lloyd's great contribution was in the development of a precise and unchanging standard for the magnitude of the volt. Such a standard makes it possible for a volt in one laboratory, one country or one computer, to be exactly the same as any other.

Working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) laboratories in Boulder, Colorado, from 1977 to 1989, she was a key member of a team that developed what is sometimes called the reference volt. It was part of a modern system of standards that, with progress in science, enabled laboratories to replace physical objects or chemical reactions as the fundamental quantities of measurement.

The reference volt depended on the relationship between the volt and constants of nature that are regarded as immutable. Through a phenomenon called the Josephson effect, microwave radiation beamed onto a superconducting device called a Josephson junction can produce a voltage output.

Microwaves of precisely known frequencies could be beamed onto intricate, identical and perfectly formed microelectronic chips to produce precise, identical voltages.

A group of scientists at the NIST labs in Boulder designed a Josephson device that used superconducting microchips similar to the semiconducting chips used in many of today's electronic devices.

Lloyd started at the NIST lab in 1977. It was just the right time, said Clark A. Hamilton, who was a member of the superconducting electronics group that developed the reference volt equipment.

"A lot of people made contributions" to the design of the equipment, Hamilton added, but Lloyd "was the one to take that design and turn it into an integrated circuit chip." The chip had 20,000 Josephson devices on it, he said, "and every one had to be perfect."

Nobody else, he said, "had been able to do it at that level."

Her skill with integrated circuit layout and fabrication was something that she had learned "from scratch" after joining the lab, according to Hamilton. The chips that he helped design "and that Frances made" are used in the standards laboratories of 70 countries, he said.

The Josephson-effect device has been credited with revolutionizing the measurement of high voltages.

In 1989, Lloyd shared the Commerce Department's Gold Medal for contributions to voltage standards.

Frances Lytle Lummis was born in Honolulu on Sept. 4, 1923. She accompanied her father on his assignments as an Army officer, spent part of her youth in the Philippines and completed high school in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

She was a Duke University sophomore studying physics when she took leave during World War II to help design airplane propellers in a special program, the Curtiss-Wright Cadettes, that recruited women in science to aid in the war effort.

She received a bachelor's degree from Duke in 1946 and a master's degree in physics from the University of Virginia in 1948. She then moved to the Washington area to work at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory.

Her marriage, to Richard Lloyd, ended in divorce. Her son, a urologist at the University of Colorado and the Veterans Affairs hospital in Denver, is her only immediate survivor. He lives in Denver.

Throughout her career, her son said, Lloyd was "well aware that people thought women were maybe a little less capable." Not interested in conflict or drama, he said, she was "not there to prove anything. She just wanted to do physics."

After a while, he added, "people would see that she was okay."
Washington

The Trump administration opened the door to a potential White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, raising the possibility of an Oval Office welcome for Putin for the first time in more than a decade even as relations between the two powers have deteriorated.

The Kremlin said Monday that Trump had invited the Russian leader to the White House when they spoke by telephone last month. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded that the White House was among "a number of potential venues" discussed. Both sides said they hadn't started preparations for such a visit.

If it happens, Putin would be getting the honor of an Oval Office tete-a-tete for the first time since he met President George W. Bush at the White House in 2005. Alarms rang in diplomatic and foreign policy circles over the prospect that Trump might offer Putin that venue without confronting him about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election or allegations that Russia masterminded the March 4 nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent.

"It would confer a certain normalization of relations and we're certainly not in a normal space," said Alina Polyakova, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Nothing about this is normal."

Much has happened since Trump and Putin spoke in the March 20 phone call. Trump said afterward he hoped to meet with Putin "in the not too distant future" to discuss the nuclear arms race and other matters. But their call was followed by reports that Trump had been warned in briefing materials not to congratulate the Russian president on his re-election but did so anyway.

Since the call, two dozen countries, including the U.S. and many European Union nations, and NATO expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, the former spy, and his daughter Yulia. Moscow has denied any involvement in the nerve attack and retaliated by expelling the same number of diplomats from each nation.

Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters Monday that when the two leaders spoke by phone, "Trump suggested to have the first meeting in Washington, in the White House," calling it a "quite interesting and positive idea."

Ushakov voiced hope that tensions resulting from the diplomatic expulsions wouldn't derail discussions about a summit.

Trump has said maintaining a strong personal relationship with Putin is in the U.S. interest and has signaled to allies that he trusts his own instincts in dealing with the Russian president.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions, said Trump raised the possibility of a White House meeting in a "casual, open-ended" fashion during the call.

The official reiterated that no extensive preparations had taken place.
Central Islip

U.S. District Judge Leonard Wexler, 93, who oversaw high-profile cases involving New York public officials during three decades on the bench, has died.

Wexler died on Saturday, according to his son, William Wexler, a North Babylon attorney.

Wexler said his father "was a great dad" who had returned from a trip to Egypt and was hauling wood just before he died.

U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert, a longtime friend and colleague, said the elder Wexler "was part of the greatest generation in every possible way."

Wexler oversaw an array of cases, including those of former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, sentenced to prison for orchestrating a department cover-up after beating a handcuffed man for stealing embarrassing items from his SUV; former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, fighting criminal charges linked to Burke, his protege; and former Oyster Bay town commissioner Frederick Ippolito, sentenced to prison for tax evasion.

Wexler also presided over the Baby Jane Doe case in the 1980s in which he upheld a Long Island couple's right to withhold corrective surgery for their 17-day-old daughter born with serious defects.

In addition to his wife, Barbara Wexler, survivors include a daughter, Allison Smietanka, of Sherman Oaks, Calif.; and sons Robert Wexler, of Alexandria, Va., and William Wexler.
RICHMOND, Va. - Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is running for reelection with something he says was missing from the national ticket when he ran for vice president: a crisp economic message.

Flying around the country in 2016, he could see how then-candidate Donald Trump's simple message - "I'm a builder" - resonated with voters, Kaine said as he pounded his fist on the arm of his chair Monday at Virginia Democratic Party headquarters.

The Clinton campaign "had really good plans, but they don't communicate as immediately," he said, snapping his fingers. "You've got to communicate immediately."

Kaine formally launched his bid for a second term Monday with plans for 22 stops around the state over the next six days, during which he'll challenge Trump's vision for the country with the theme "A Virginia that works for all."

"It's a statement of value that we teach our kids to say every day but that I don't necessarily think we live," he said, referring to the Pledge of Allegiance. "I am worried about that tendency of the president. I think he's more a 'me first' than a 'for all.' "

Kaine sat in a room with a view of the state Capitol, where he served as governor and lieutenant governor, in a city where he served as a councilman and mayor. But at the starting line of his latest political campaign, Kaine said he still gets the jitters.

The senator, who was gently mocked during the 2016 presidential race as "America's Dad," will face one of three Republicans vying for their party's nomination: Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors; Nicholas Freitas, a two-term state lawmaker and former Green Beret; and evangelical pastor E.W. Jackson, who ran a losing campaign for lieutenant governor in 2013. The primary is June 12.

Kaine, who is popular in Virginia, is favored to win. Each of his would-be Republican challengers supports Trump, who polls show is generally unpopular in Virginia - the only Southern state to vote for Hillary Clinton. No Republican has won statewide since 2009, and the party has struggled to field a formidable challenger to Kaine.

But Kaine, who expects to raise $25 million, says that it's not enough for Democrats to run as anti-Trump.

If the Republicans are associated with lower taxes and fewer regulations, Democrats need to underline their support of investment in "people, education, immigration, workforce training," Kaine said. "More investments in public infrastructure, road, rail, broadband, sewage treatment, school renovation. And wage policy."

When it comes to gun control, Kaine can draw a stark distinction with any of the three potential Republican candidates.

Kaine was governor during the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shooting, a pivotal event that led him to push for tighter gun control and earn an F rating from the Virginia-based National Rifle Association. He is the co-sponsor of a Senate bill to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Stewart, who lost the GOP nomination for governor last year by one percentage point and models himself after Trump, has equated gun control with an assault on the Second Amendment and has been holding campaign events at shooting ranges around Virginia.

Last month, Freitas gave a fiery speech against gun control on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates that spurred many Democrats, particularly African Americans, to walk out in protest.

And Jackson's website says he will "oppose the Agenda of the Left that seeks to take away or tell us to put away our guns."

The activism of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students after the Feb. 14 shooting at their school in Parkland, Florida, has changed the national conversation about gun violence, Kaine said. He credited the Parkland teens with language in the recent federal budget bill that eliminates a prohibition on funding gun violence research and partly strengthens background checks.

His Virginia colleague in the Senate, Mark Warner, recently decided to support the assault weapons ban.

"I just think it worked when we had it in place," Kaine said, referring to the 10-year federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. ". . . Not worked perfectly, but it worked. When it expired, these mass shootings increased."

Kaine wants Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to allow a week of debate about gun control. If Congress agrees to any limits, he said, universal background checks would be the mostly likely because the issue polls well.

"I feel like I have unfinished business on this issue because of Virginia Tech," he said. "I don't want to finish my time in public office without having done something more meaningful about gun violence."

Limits on gun purchases are more likely if Democrats take control of the House or Senate, the odds of which Kaine puts at 50-50 for both chambers.

In Virginia, the proliferation of Indivisible and other left-leaning groups make him optimistic that in November, Democrats could have a repeat of 2017's blue wave.

"If they stay active, I think we could have a good one," he said, adding that Gov. Ralph Northam, D, benefited from down-ticket enthusiasm. "There's an up-and-down synergy, and I think you're going to see that in '18 here and elsewhere."

During his campaign kickoff swing, Kaine will travel to Loudoun and Prince William counties on Friday and hold a rally in Alexandria, Virginia, on Saturday.
WASHINGTON - The occupation by Howard University students of the school's administration building entered its fifth full day Monday afternoon with a hint that negotiations were making progress.

"We're kind of hoping, now that we've been here for five days, tomorrow we're hoping that will be the final" negotiating session, said Maya McCollum, a Howard freshman with HU Resist, the student group that has organized the protest. McCollum said students feel confident that they will be able to accomplish their demands.

Although students hope the occupation might end Tuesday, McCollum said, they are willing to wait. They are "aware that compromise has to happen for everyone to continue going to school and enjoying their university life," McCollum said.

On Monday evening, HU Resist described in a news release the talks with board of trustees members, saying one session that began Sunday stretched into Monday. The protesters and board have held three negotiating sessions, with a fourth scheduled for noon Tuesday, the protesters said. Additional demands were discussed with trustees, although the news release did not describe them.

"We are prepared to occupy the administration building until we are more than satisfied that our demands have been met," the release stated.

The protesters' earlier demands included the resignation of the school's president, Wayne Frederick, and action on a host of issues, including transparency on university spending, improvements to university housing and facilities, and an overhaul of the school's response to sexual assault.

The turmoil on campus was heightened by the weekend resignation of the Howard University Faculty Senate chair, Richard Wright, who said he had "lost the confidence, respect and trust of the majority of the engaged and activist members of the council."

In an interview Monday, Wright said his decision to resign was not related to the protest or the push by some faculty who have called for a vote of no confidence in Frederick.

HU Resist has been adamant that its demands be met before it cedes control of the "A" building on the school's Northwest Washington campus. Support for the group's action has been widespread among students, and on Monday, 26 faculty members signed a letter of solidarity with the students.

"You raise important points about administrative and managerial matters that have not been adequately addressed by the administration," the faculty members wrote. "We applaud your commitment to bringing these issues to the fore."

The student takeover followed the disclosure by the university last week that it had fired six employees in the wake of an alleged financial aid scam. It was the latest in a series of incidents in the past year that have riled students, faculty and staff.

Though many have called for Frederick's resignation, Nadia Pinto, president of the school's alumni association, said Frederick should remain in office. In an interview, Pinto expressed support for the students and said their voices should be heard, but rejected the demand that Frederick resign.

"I have had the opportunity to work with President Frederick and see his work on various levels," Pinto said. "I have not seen any university president that connects with students and alumni in the way that he does, and I admire that about him."

In a letter to the Howard community Sunday, Pinto pointed to achievements under Frederick's presidency, including four consecutive years of raises for faculty, the reaccreditation of Howard's colleges and schools of law, education and social work, and the hiring of women to fill five of 10 dean positions.

On campus, however, little support was evident for the administration.

Alexus Richards, a 20-year-old junior, called the protest a "positive effort."

"This is stuff that we've been hearing about since I was a freshman," Richards said. "Like when you hear about embezzlement and stuff with Howard, we've been hearing about it since we were freshmen."

Richards has not taken part in the protest because she is a student-employee and worried about putting herself in a compromising position. The school's issues extend beyond the financial aid scandal, she said, and students on campus feel angry and betrayed.

"It's the whole administration," she said. "It's the fact that Howard, they don't care about the students as much as they used to."

Dijon Stokes, a sophomore, said he took part in the protest's early stages but that other obligations pulled him away.

"If you ask any of the students about financial aid, if you ask any of the students about their dormitory status, if you ask any of the students about some of the general issues like that, you get a negative response, I would say, nine times out of 10," he said.

Howard junior James Harris, 20, said he agreed with some of HU Resist's demands, but not with ousting Frederick.

"There are definitely more people involved than just him," Harris said. "He probably did something bad, but not too bad."

While the protests have drawn national and even international attention on social media and in news reports, classes at Howard have not been interrupted and employees who work in the administration building have temporarily relocated to other offices, university spokeswoman Crystal Brown wrote in an email. Brown said there are no plans to forcibly remove students from the building.
MOSCOW - Russia will close the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg and kick out 60 American diplomats in response to Monday's coordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United States and a number of other countries, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

The move continues an ongoing escalation of tit for tat between Moscow and the West that began in early March with the alleged poisoning of a former Russian double agent on British soil with a Soviet-designed nerve agent. American officials said Thursday that another round might be coming.

"We reserve the right to respond," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in Washington. "Russia should not be acting like a victim," she said, calling Moscow's move "regrettable" and "unwarranted."

U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman was summoned Thursday night to the Foreign Ministry, where Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov informed him of Russia's response.

According to a Foreign Ministry statement, 58 American diplomats from the Moscow embassy and two from the consulate in Yekaterinburg have been declared persona non grata. The United States expelled 60 Russians on Monday.

The other U.S. consulate in Russia, in Vladivostok, will not be affected.

U.S. officials have hinted at further moves. A Russian news outlet, RBC, earlier Thursday quoted Huntsman as saying that such a move was "possible," though the U.S. Embassy later released a transcript of his interview indicating that he was misquoted.

According to a Foreign Ministry readout of Huntsman's meeting with Ryabkov, the U.S. ambassador was rebuked for the reported remark and warned that such a move would have the "gravest consequences for global stability."

In addition to the expulsion of Russian diplomats Monday, the United States closed Russia's consulate in Seattle - claiming it to be a hub of Russian intelligence activity and citing its proximity to a major U.S. nuclear submarine base.

On March 14, British Prime Minister Theresa May had ordered the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats after Moscow rebuffed an earlier demand to explain how a Soviet-designed and Russian-produced nerve agent known as Novichok came to be used in Britain.

Last week, 10 of Britain's allies, including the United States, agreed to coordinated expulsions of Russian diplomats, believed to be intelligence officers, from their respective countries. The movement grew this week to include 27 countries. A tally by the Associated Press put the total number of expelled Russian diplomats at more than 150. The number of expulsions in other nations was mostly in the single digits.

"All [measures] regarding the number of people who will have to leave the Russian Federation . . . will also be mirrored with respect to other countries," Lavrov said. "This is the situation as of now."

Russia's move, in particular against the United States, "is a minor escalation," said Alexander Gabuev, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center and a former foreign policy correspondent for the Kommersant newspaper.

"Sixty diplomats is tit for tat, but shutting down the consulate in St. Petersburg is asymmetrical and escalatory - a mirror response would have been to shut down the Vladivostok consulate."

Another analyst, Vladimir Frolov, disagreed that Russia had escalated. "It was a matching response," Frolov said. "I was expecting them to close two U.S. consulates."

The Russian Foreign Ministry ran a poll on Twitter this week asking users to vote on which of the three consulates to respond against. St. Petersburg won the poll. Vladivostok is the headquarters of Russia's Pacific Fleet.

The St. Petersburg consulate has been given two days to pack up. All 60 of the American diplomats subject to the expulsion order have one week to leave.

Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin on down have maintained that Moscow had nothing to do with the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal in the British town of Salisbury on March 4.

Both Skripals remain hospitalized. British authorities said Thursday that Yulia Skripal was showing signs of recovery, while her father remained in serious but stable condition. A police officer who came in contact with the substance also was hospitalized but has since recovered.

Speaking before Parliament on Monday, May said that around 130 British citizens came in contact with the substance. May also said that Russia has offered 21 different arguments concerning the use of the Novichok agent.

Those arguments included denials that Novichok ever existed as well as accusing other former Soviet satellites of producing it. The only thread linking these denials is that Moscow had nothing to do with it and that the accusations are little more than a provocation.

Frolov said that Moscow's strategy probably will focus on shouldering the blow from the current round of expulsions and pivoting its attention to organizing a summit with President Trump.

"Putin is hoping to use his charm, just as he did with Bush in 2001," Frolov said, referring to President George W. Bush. "Putin needs to move quickly from here to there to score, but finds himself blocked by Theresa May."

But it may take a considerable amount of charm to overcome this week's moves.

"It is clear from the list provided to us," the State Department's Nauert said, referring to the expelled diplomats, "that the Russian Federation is not interested in dialogue on the issues that matter to our two countries."

Meanwhile, Russia has demanded that Britain hand over a sample of the substance used in the poisoning for analysis and demanded access to Yulia Skripal - a Russian citizen. Britain has not ceded to either demand.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an international body, has arrived in Salisbury to conduct its own analysis of the chemical used in the poisoning. It is expected to reveal its findings in two or three weeks.

The OPCW has said it will hand over its findings to Britain, the Tass news agency reported Thursday.

Lavrov said that Russia was calling for a special session of the OPCW's executive council April 4 to discuss the situation, establish a dialogue and "raise specific questions" about the Skripals' poisoning and the alleged use of Novichok.

If Western nations shy away from engaging in dialogue via the OPCW, Lavrov said, it would prove that the allegations against Moscow are nothing more than a "brazen provocation." He also said that the OPCW could confirm only the substance used, not Britain's assertions that Russia was behind it.
Health officials in Illinois are warning people about mock marijuana that is spreading across Chicago and the central part of the state, causing severe bleeding among users and, in some cases, death.

Synthetic cannabinoids, also known as K2 or Spice, has been linked to 56 cases in which people in the state experienced severe bleeding after using the substance, officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health said in a statement. The users were hospitalized - and two of them died - after coughing up blood, finding blood in their urine or bleeding from their noses or gums, officials said.

The outbreak has left state health officials struggling to find the source and a way to put a stop to it.

"While there have been cases of adverse effects from synthetic cannabinoids, we have not seen the severe bleeding on this scale," Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said Tuesday in a statement to The Washington Post. "We continue to investigate cases as they come in to try to identify what product they may have used and where they obtained it. However, synthetic cannabinoids are unregulated and identifying a source or sources is difficult."

"We strongly urge people not to use synthetic cannabinoids," she added, but she said that those who do use and then experience severe bleeding should be taken to the hospital for treatment.

The term "synthetic cannabinoids" applies to numerous mind-altering chemicals similar to those in marijuana that are used to create substitutes, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The products, which have been around for years, can be smoked or vaporized in e-cigarettes and are commonly sold in convenience stores, gas stations and drug paraphernalia shops across the United States.

Officials say the chemicals can be "unpredictable, harmful and deadly."

The Illinois Department of Public Health described them this way:

"These chemicals are called cannabinoids because they are similar to chemicals found in the marijuana plant. Because of this similarity, synthetic cannabinoids are sometimes misleadingly called 'synthetic marijuana' (or 'fake weed'), and they are often marketed as safe, legal alternatives to that drug. In fact, they are not safe and may affect the brain much more powerfully than marijuana; their actual effects can be unpredictable and, in some cases, more dangerous or even life-threatening.

"Synthetic cannabinoids are part of a group of drugs called new psychoactive substances (NPS). NPS are unregulated mind-altering substances that have become newly available on the market and are intended to produce the same effects as illegal drugs. Some of these substances may have been around for years but have reentered the market in altered chemical forms, or due to renewed popularity."

In nine cases in Illinois, the substances were cut with brodifacoum - or rat poison, according to the statement from the health department.

"We continue to see the number of cases rise," Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the state's Department of Public Health, said in the statement.

Shah said IDPH is working with local health departments as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify the products, but "without more information, IDPH does not know how much contaminated product is circulating or where."

In the 1980s, synthetic cannabinoids were considered research compounds but they are now produced overseas, according to the CDC.

From 2010 to 2015, the number of poisonings from toxic exposures surged across the United States, revealing 456 cases involving synthetic cannabinoids, according to a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

In Illinois, 17 cases have been reported in the Chicago area since March 7, followed by 14 cases in Peoria County and 12 cases in Tazewell County, according to the most recent data from the state health department. Officials are warning people who have bought the products not to use them, and those who have already used the products and are experiencing symptoms to seek immediate medical help.

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Video: Synthetic marijuana, also known as spice, is causing violent behavior and dangerous overdoses across the country. Here's why this lab-created drug is often considered more dangerous than botanical marijuana.(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

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Welcome to the midterm stock market.

Fears of a tech collapse and a budding trade war with China fueled Monday's rout, which dragged stocks into correction territory. If history is any guide, there's more of that to come in the months ahead: The six-month stretch that kicked off Monday is the worst-performing period for stocks of any in the four-year presidential cycle, averaging negative returns for investors dating all the way back to 1929.

That's according to research by Oppenheimer and Co. analyst Ari Wald.

Investors have plenty of reasons for concern that have nothing to do with the snakebit stretch of the calendar that opened this week with the advent of the second quarter. Most immediately, a batch of bad news from tech companies is jarring confidence in a sector that helped power the market to record highs last year. "Everybody hates Tesla because their production is terrible and their cars crash into stuff. Everybody hates Intel because Apple is moving away from their chips. Nobody likes Facebook because they can't control their customer data," says Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners.

But there's an unmistakable frisson of anxiety over Washington headlines underlying the new volatility roiling the market.

President Donald Trump's protectionist volleys are spooking investors wary that a confrontation with China could lead to escalating tariffs that crimp exports while raising costs at home. Consumers would face higher prices and companies would see profits shrink, stalling economic growth. And the president's Twitter-based attacks on Amazon have prompted shareholders to dump the stock in recent days - a cycle that repeated Monday, as Trump launched a fresh broadside and the online retail giant's share price slid another 5.2 percent. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

The Trump era's brand of uncertainty is new; Washington wobbliness brought about by an approaching midterm that drags on stocks is not. In a research note last week, Strategas's Dan Clifton noted that five of the past six midterms led to a change in control of at least one congressional chamber. "Similarly, elected officials try to retain power with policies which may negatively impact earnings and investors tend to lose faith. In 2014 it was Ebola and border crossings, in 2010 it was Obamacare and Dodd-Frank, in 2006 it was the Iraq War and anti-Bush, in 2002 it was the accounting scandals and Sarbanes-Oxley, and in 1998 it was the impeachment of President Clinton," Clifton wrote. "This year we have sprinkles of each of the past five midterm elections with tech regulation, trade wars, and even a possible impeachment."

Still, Trump is adding a historically high degree of choppiness to the mix, by at least one measure. According to an "economic policy uncertainty index" - a measure devised by three academic economists that tracks mentions of the words "uncertain" or "uncertainty" in newspaper stories about economic policy - Trump is outstripping his five most recent predecessors, despite inheriting a healthy economy. He racked up a score of 140.2 over his first 13 months in office, compared to then-President Obama's 126.0 during the same time period but amidst a host of emergency measures to stabilize a collapsing economy, per The Wall Street Journal's Jon Hilsenrath.

"Investors got a taste of Trump era economic policy uncertainty in recent weeks: New U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and a range of goods imported from China; exemptions from those tariffs dribbled out piecemeal; federal government intervention to stop the proposed acquisition of Qualcomm Inc. by a foreign competitor on national security grounds; and the acquisition of Time Warner Inc. by AT&T Inc. landing in federal court," Hilsenrath writes. "Complicating matters, it is hard to see a comprehensive policy framework behind Mr. Trump's interventions into the economy, making it hard to predict what might come next."

The specter of a trade war with China looms largest. White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, in a Monday afternoon appearance on CNBC, pooh-poohed investor fears about the administration's new trade hawkishness. "Everybody needs to relax and kind of look the chess board here. This economy is just strong," he said, adding "the smart money is certainly going to buy on the dips here because the economy is as strong as an ox."

But manufacturers are already reporting price shocks from the administration's plan to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. "The tariff announcement helped send a measure of raw-material prices paid to an almost seven-year high in March, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing survey showed Monday," Bloomberg's Sho Chandra reports. "Steel and aluminum are raw materials used across the industry, and businesses began stocking up in response to the tariff announcement. . . Some companies were told that price quotes for steel would be valid for just 24 hours, while others found that the material was gone or were quoted a higher price when they called back a day or two later."

And China on Sunday rolled out its response to the metal tariffs, announcing plans to impose $3 billion worth tariffs of its own on imports of 128 American products, as high as 25 percent on pork and 15 percent on some fruit. China watchers say Beijing intended the announcement as a warning shot that it will continue to respond in kind to new tariffs; the Trump administration has proposed $60 billion in additional levies in retaliation for alleged Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property.

"On the new round of tariffs, the U.S. will first take comment from industry for 30 days and then have 180 days to decide whether to actually levy tariffs," The Journal's Joshua Zumbrun, Jacob Bunge and Jesse Newman write. "That gives plenty of time for talks - although the negotiations will they will be conducted under the threat of U.S. retaliation. U.S. officials expect the Chinese to match their threats tit-for-tat, further ramping up the pressure."

The Chinese understand that the "more they retaliate, the more it hurts them, as well," but feel the need to match every U.S. penalty in order to save face, says Trey McArver, co-founder of the research firm Trivium China. What's more, he adds, the Chinese leadership think "they have a higher tolerance for pain than the U.S. does, because of their political system."

Continued escalation of the trade war will assure this year's midterm slump on Wall Street arrives ahead of schedule. In past years, the ugliness typically begins in May, according to Oppenheimer.

The good news for investors, per Strategas's Clifton: "Historically, midterm election sell-offs tend to be great buying opportunities with stocks up one year later every single time since 1962 and by an average of 36 percent. The S&P 500 has not declined in the 12 months following a midterm election year since 1946."
QUITO, Ecuador - Every night since March 26, when three Ecuadoran journalists were kidnapped near their country's border with Colombia, their colleagues have gathered to demand their rescue.

"We're missing three! We want them back alive!" they have shouted while protesting in front of the presidential palace in the capital, Quito.

The kidnappings of Javier Ortega, Paul Rivas and Efrain Segarra have hit the local journalism community particularly hard, but they are also the latest signs of the growing wave of violence spilling over the border from Colombia and threatening the security of the entire country.

That surge began after Colombia's government signed a peace deal with the Marxist guerrilla group FARC in 2016. As FARC demobilized, other armed groups moved in and began fighting for control of the abandoned territory.

"It was a border that didn't have presence of the state. It was the FARC that territoriality controlled and administered it," Napoleon Saltos, a professor of political and constitutional studies at the Central University in Quito, told The Washington Post. "The moment that the FARC left to negotiate [the peace deal], it was like a state that stopped acting."

Over the past year, fighting has increased in several states across Colombia, including the state of Narino, which borders Ecuador. Almost 3,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in 2018 alone, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Now the conflict is moving south across the border. In the Ecuadoran province of Esmeraldas, where the kidnapped journalists were reporting on the rise in violence, the situation has been deteriorating since January, when a bomb exploded at police headquarters in the city of San Lorenzo and injured two officers. Since then, five other attacks have occurred in the province, mainly targeting police and military headquarters, killing three men and injuring several others.

Ortega, Rivas and Segarra were reporting on that violence when they were kidnapped. On Tuesday, the three men appeared in chains in a proof-of-life video obtained by RCN, a Colombian television network. They listed their kidnappers' demands that Ecuador's government "release three unidentified combatants and end anti-narcotics cooperation with Colombia in exchange for their freedom," according to the Associated Press. "President Lenin Moreno, our life is in your hands," Ortega said.

Authorities say both the kidnappings and the violence have been the work of FARC dissident groups, led by a former guerrilla known as "El Guacho." But FARC dissidents are not the only ones operating in the area.

Local media recently reported there are up to 12 armed groups in Colombia's southern state of Narino, on the border with Esmeraldas, where violence has also increased since FARC laid down its weapons. According to Saltos, these include violent paramilitary groups and even Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.

Even before Colombia's peace process, armed groups used Ecuador as a transit hub, trafficking narcotics and gold, weapons and people. This has been especially true in Esmeraldas, where there is direct access to the Pacific Ocean and little government presence.

Esmeraldas, whose population is over 50 percent Afro-Ecuadoran, has long been one of the country's poorest provinces. It has few roads, little infrastructure, lacks schools and hospitals, and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. According to Saltos, this has made it easier for traffickers to both recruit and remain undetected.

Paco Moncayo, a former army general and left-wing presidential candidate in last year's election, blamed the border problems on "inactivity on the part of the government" during an interview with Quito's El Comercio newspaper on March 28. "This is a state issue, not a security issue," he said.

The government is taking steps to address the violence. Last week, President Lenin Moreno created a body called the National Committee for Integral Security, charged with creating plans for border security and providing more infrastructure and basic services to local communities.

Such efforts have been tried before with little success. In 2014, former president Rafael Correa created a bilateral plan with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to address security and poverty problems in both Narino and Esmeraldas. To this day, both areas remain some of the poorest and neglected regions in either country.

"Everything that is happening on the northern border is something we knew was going to happen," said Jean Paul Bardellini, a foreign correspondent for NTN 24, an international Spanish-language news channel, to The Washington Post during a protest last Tuesday night. "What hurts us is that we lost time, money, and resources, and the border is still unprotected."
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration will pressure U.S. immigration judges to process cases faster by establishing a quota system tied to their annual performance reviews, according to new Justice Department directives.

The judges will be expected to clear at least 700 cases a year to receive a "satisfactory" performance rating, a standard that their union called an "unprecedented" step that risks undermining judicial independence and opens the courts to potential challenges.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has promised to stiffen immigration enforcement partly by moving more aggressively to clear a backlog of more than 600,000 cases pending before the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), the federal court system that adjudicates immigration cases.

Some immigrants facing deportation wait years for a court date, but they are typically authorized to work in the United States to support themselves during that time, an arrangement that critics view as an incentive to illegal immigration.

According to a copy of the guidelines, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the purpose of the new quota system will be to ensure "cases are completed in a timely, efficient, and effective manner." The system sets up additional bench marks, penalizing those who refer more than 15 percent of certain cases to higher courts, or judges who schedule hearing dates too far apart on their calendars.

Immigration judges complete 678 cases in an average year, said Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley, but he said some judges clear well over 1,000.

"The big takeaway is that this is the equivalent of completing three cases a day, so it's not that big of a lift," O'Malley said in an interview.

Immigration cases can vary widely in complexity and the length of time required to adjudicate them. O'Malley said that judges who fail to meet their quotas can appeal to supervisors if their numbers fall short of the Justice Department's expediency goals.

The EOIR is part of the executive branch, not the judicial branch, so it functions in part as an arm of U.S. law enforcement even though its judges are supposed to have full independence.

Judge Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said the quota system could introduce an "appealable" issue and invite legal challenges.

"It could call into question the integrity and impartiality of the court if a judge's decision is influenced by factors outside the facts of the case, or if motions are denied out of a judge's concern about keeping his or her job," Tabaddor said.

"We don't know of any other court whose judges are subject to individual quotas and deadlines as part of performance reviews and evaluations," she said.

The Trump administration is seeking to hire dozens of new judges per year to tackle the immigration backlog, an approach that Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said would be a more sensible course.

"The quota system proposed would raise questions about judicial independence and the possibility of judges basing rulings on factors other than the law and the facts in specific cases before them, such as the judges' self-interest in his or her own professional advancement," Tobias said.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's sharp shift in tone on immigration this week from would-be dealmaker back to the hard-line stance he campaigned on comes amid signs that some of his conservative base is growing impatient for him to fulfill promises on the border wall and other measures to crack down on illegal immigration.

Over the past two days, Trump has issued declarations on Twitter that shut the door on a legislative deal to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation, blamed Democrats for the failure, demanded the Mexican government take stronger action to close the border, and conflated a refugee crisis from Central America with the Obama-era deferred-action program that Trump ended in the fall.

In doing so, Trump has again fanned fears that U.S. immigration policies have weakened the country and led to public safety risks, even though illegal immigration is at some of the lowest levels in years.

"Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation," Trump wrote Monday in one of several tweets about immigration. "Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!"

Trump had, in recent weeks, cast himself as remaining open to an immigration deal on Capitol Hill even after the White House helped scuttle a bipartisan plan in February that would have provided a path to citizenship for young immigrants known as "dreamers" and authorized $25 billion toward the president's border wall. Immigration talks continued through much of March but collapsed after Congress approved a $1.3 trillion spending bill two weeks ago that did not include an immigration deal or funding for many of the tougher border security measures the administration proposed.

Since then, Trump has faced growing criticism from some conservatives who had supported him - most prominently commentator Ann Coulter - over his inability to secure funding for the wall, which he had initially promised Mexico would pay for.

"I don't know what more horrible thing you could come up with than violating your central campaign promise that became the chant and the theme of the campaign that he promised at every single rally," Coulter said in an interview with the New York Times over the weekend.

Asked whether Trump fears a backlash from his voters over immigration, Coulter wrote in an email to The Washington Post: "He ought to!"

Trump has been privately fuming off and on about the spending bill since he threatened to veto it at the last minute before reluctantly signing it into law last month - which he said he did only because it included a big spending increase for the military.

The bill provides $1.6 billion toward border barriers - far from enough for the 700 miles of wall Trump has promised. Even that funding comes with several restrictions, meaning it will mostly go toward fencing similar to what is already in place in some areas rather than the type of wall Trump has touted. The president has blamed House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for being poor negotiators, according to people familiar with criticism of the funding bill.

Trump's frustrations reached a boil over the holiday weekend as he vacationed with his family at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump was accompanied there by only a small retinue of staff, including senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, a proponent of strict anti-immigration policies. The president also mingled with a number of other immigration hard-liners, including Sean Hannity, a Fox News and conservative radio host.

Trump's focus on border and immigration issues also follows a briefing he received late last week from Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, according to a person familiar with the meeting. It's not clear exactly what piqued Trump's interest most, but among the issues discussed were the wall, the "caravan" highlighted in conservative media and the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Trump was fired up after the briefing, this person said, and that was further fueled by segments on Fox and Friends this weekend.

In his string of immigration tweets on Sunday and Monday, Trump seized on the recent reports, first by BuzzFeed News and then highlighted on Fox News and other conservative outlets, that a "caravan" of more than 1,000 migrants, mostly from Honduras, is traveling north to seek asylum in the United States without interference from Mexican authorities.

"Honduras, Mexico and many other countries that the U.S. is very generous to, sends many of their people to our country through our WEAK IMMIGRATION POLICIES," Trump tweeted Monday night. "Caravans are heading here. Must pass tough laws and build the WALL. Democrats allow open borders, drugs and crime!"

The so-called "caravan" is actually an annual event organized by immigrant advocacy groups aimed at drawing public attention to the ongoing refugee crisis from Central America, a region wracked by rampant gang violence and drug trafficking.

Trump has inaccurately responded to the reports by suggesting that the group is motivated by the desire of the immigrants to take advantage of DACA, the Obama-era program that Trump announced in September would be phased out. In fact, any immigrants who had not lived in the country continuously for at least five years by June 2012 are not eligible for DACA.

White House aides argued Monday that the DACA program was a "pull factor" for Central American immigrants, who have begun entering the country illegally in rising numbers since the fall. They said that negotiations in Congress over a legislative solution to protect "dreamers" and potentially offer them a path to citizenship raised hopes in Honduras and elsewhere that there will be "never-ending leniency," according to one senior White House official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

"One of the things you hear from front-line operators, when Congress is debating a large grant of a generous immigration benefit, that tends to be a major pull factor for new people to come illegally," the official said.

Immigrant rights advocates said Trump has purposely sought to conflate DACA with the rise in immigrants from Central America - which has been a problem since the Obama administration sought to stanch a wave of migrants, most of them women and children from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, that overwhelmed Border Patrol stations in 2014.

"It is truly to play to his base," said Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, which advocates for immigrant children. "His waffling back and forth on DACA - you never know, day-to-day, what he stands for. He's trying to juxtapose the movement of Central Americans against that to build up his street cred again with his base."

The surge of immigrants entering the country illegally peaked in 2014, with more than 68,000 unaccompanied minors and a similar number of people traveling as families caught, prompting the Obama administration to respond by adding more detention centers, pledging aid to Central American countries and pressing Mexico to tighten its southern border.

But those measures have done little to fix the problem. Though overall illegal immigration levels have dropped under Trump, the number of Central Americans has risen sharply again in recent months, prompting concern among the president's advisers.

Cecilia Munoz, Obama's domestic policy adviser, said Trump "doesn't understand the way immigration policy works and is trying very clearly to stoke up rationales for policies and approaches that are not based in fact."

White House aides rejected the notion that Trump is disappointing his core supporters. They emphasized that planning is underway to build or refurbish up to 100 miles of the border barriers and said the administration is preparing a new package of immigration proposals to deliver to Congress in an attempt to close existing "loopholes" in the law.

Among the changes the administration is seeking is a provision to allow the United States to more quickly deport unaccompanied children from Central America, who currently have more legal protections than do those from countries neighboring the U.S. border, such as Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, is pushing to end "catch and release," a long-standing practice of freeing up space at immigration detention centers that officials say has allowed undocumented immigrants to be resettled in the United States as they await hearings in immigration courts with lengthy backlogs.

Lars Larson, a conservative talk radio host who supports Trump, acknowledged that Coulter, whom he considers a friend, is "ready to throw him under the bus," but he added that she does not represent most of Trump's base.

Asked if the president missed an opportunity to secure more wall funding in the DACA negotiations, Larson responded: "Perhaps. But he felt he had to make other compromises he was not willing to make."

---

The Washington Post's Philip Rucker, Seung Min Kim, Josh Dawsey and Nick Miroff contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - Republicans have a new reason to worry as they struggle to hold their House majority in November's midterm elections: The price in China of U.S. sweet cherries, raw almonds and frozen pig forelegs.

President Donald Trump's emerging trade war with China is already shaking up U.S. politics, threatening local economies in parts of Washington state, California and Iowa and putting Republican seats in jeopardy.

China imposed levies on 128 U.S. goods Monday, targeting $3 billion worth of exports. In an apparent effort to maximize its political leverage, Beijing has found a way to add to the existing pressure in competitive races.

Democratic candidates have blamed Republicans for the growing trade dispute's impact on local farmers, and Republican leaders have been publicly pleading with Trump to pull back from the brinkmanship.

"This has a devastating effect on our farmers," said Kim Schrier, one of the Democrats running to replace retiring Rep. Dave Reichert, R, in central Washington state, the center of the nation's apple, pear and cherry industries, which face a new 15 percent tax on Chinese imports. "I hold Republicans in Congress responsible for not putting any checks and balances on this administration."

In particular, she has tried to direct the blame at former state lawmaker Dino Rossi, the likely Republican nominee to replace Reichert, who served as a Trump delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention. "Don't you have anything to say?" she tweeted at Rossi on Sunday in reference to the new tariffs' impact on local farmers.

More than 8 percent of the state's cherries are typically exported to China, along with about 1.8 million 40-pound boxes of apples.

Rossi said in a statement to The Washington Post that he opposes "excessive tariffs" on both sides of the border. "Washington State farms and agriculture depend on international trade," said Rossi. "And I hope that the president will protect Washington State's economy and farmers by de-escalating this growing tit-for-tat exchange of tariffs and trade barriers."

A similar dynamic is playing out in California, home to the nation's almond industry, which counts China as its third-largest export market, worth more than $500 million a year. It is now subject to a new 15 percent tax.

There are two Republican House seats in the region vulnerable to Democratic takeover. Both districts voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and in both contests, at least one of the Democratic candidates works in the almond industry.

Michael Eggman, a Democratic bee farmer running against Rep. Jeff Denham, R, says he has been hearing concerns this week from almond growers, even among people who supported Trump's campaign to disrupt politics. "Now they are starting to see how reckless this is," he said. "It's not shaking up Washington now. Now you are shaking up the valley," Eggman said, referring to California's Central Valley.

The issue also has been raised in the district held by Rep. David Valadao, R, just to the south of Denham's district. One of the Democratic candidates, T.J. Cox, who owns a nut-processing business, said in statement Monday that the new tariffs are "devastating to Central Valley small businesses."

"All we get from Representative David Valadao is, 'I'm monitoring the situation,' " Cox said. "This is why we need change, now more than ever."

A spokesman for Denham did not reply to a request for comment. Fearing retribution in a trade war, Valadao signed a letter to Trump in early March, with 99 other House Republicans, expressing "deep concern" about the prospect of new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. "Agriculture continues to be the foundation of the Central Valley economy and we must protect strong trade relations with foreign nations," Valadao said in a statement to The Post.

China has acted while the European Union had threatened to retaliate with politically targeted retribution.

The EU warned that it would impose tariffs of its own on U.S. goods such as Harley Davidson motorcycles and Kentucky bourbon. The motorcycles are made in Wisconsin, the home of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R,; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R, represents Kentucky.

In Kentucky on Tuesday, McConnell expressed concerns about the Trump administration's actions.

"I'm not a fan of tariffs, and I am nervous about what appears to be a growing trend in the Administration to levy tariffs," McConnell said. "This is a slippery slope, so my hope is that this will stop before it gets into a broader tit for tat that can't be good for our country."

In Iowa, the entire GOP congressional delegation, including two vulnerable Republican incumbents, Reps. Rod Blum and David Young, wrote a similar letter to Trump in early March asking him to not tax steel and aluminum imports. "Tariffs are a tax on families, and hard-working Iowans cannot afford a trade war," the letter read.

The letter predicted the targeted retribution to come. China has increased import taxes on U.S. pork products by 25 percent, a blow to the Midwest pork-producing states, of which Iowa is the largest.

One of Trump's biggest supporters in Congress, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has expressed fears about a trade war. He said he hopes former Iowa governor Terry Branstad, now the U.S. ambassador to China, will resolve the issue.

Mark Muro, a Brookings Institution scholar, used federal employment data to show that 54 percent of the jobs in the industries affected by Chinese tariffs are in counties that voted for Trump in 2016. But 94 percent of the jobs in hog and pig farming are in Trump counties.

"It makes perfect sense that they would do this," said Dermot Hayes, a professor of agriculture at Iowa State University who studies the pork market. "Iowa is normally a swing state that went strongly for Trump. I would guess that somebody looked at a map and overlaid the areas where Trump won with areas where pork is important."

The 25 percent tax on pork imports to China has coincided with a reduction in pork prices of about $10 per animal in recent months, or more than 12 percent, a shift that could add up to a $400 million loss in annual revenue for Iowa pork farmers, said Hayes.

But the direct effect on farmers of other products will not be known for months, when the products are harvested. Chinese and American officials continue to hold talks with the goal of heading off further import tax increases, and the tariffs could be repealed before Election Day.

While pork prices respond quickly to market pressures, the coming year's almond prices have not yet been set, and the cherry harvest will not begin in Washington until June, with the apple and pear harvests following later in the year. Industry leaders say it is too soon to predict the price moves with any certainty, although the concern among farmers is widespread.

"If the tariffs do remain in place, two things will happen," said Kate Woods, vice president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, which represents Washington fruit farmers. "The price of cherries will go up for the consumer in China, and returns will go down for growers."
NORWALK  What makes a building safe and serviceable?

To answer that question, architects and city officials turn to State Building, Fire Safety and Fire Prevention Codes, which detail construction requirements from the number of bathrooms a building needs to how fire-resistant the materials must be.

Currently, Connecticut is looking over its codes for the first time in two years. The changes include necessitating an automatic fire sprinkler system in townhouses and making it easier for buildings to designate bathrooms gender-neutral.

Both changes have made it through the public comment session, and the Department of Administrative Services is readying to submit them to the Legislative Regulation Review Committee April 13. If all goes according to plan, the new code will be adopted July 1.

The residential sprinklers were the most controversial item during the public comment period, drawing 87 of the 104 comments submitted in person and via email or letter. Of those, 40 percent opposed the automatic sprinklers.

The proposed code originally included automatic sprinklers for one- and two-family homes as well as townhouses, but after review, the department only moved forward with the sprinkler requirement for the latter.

The opposition, which included water companies, builders and realtors, argued that automatic sprinklers were an expensive and unnecessary added cost that could lead to complications.

Almost ALL home buyers DO NOT WANT sprinklers; theyre viewed as a liability, Bill Ethier, CEO at the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut, wrote during the public comment period. He also pointed to data showing one death for every 92,000 homes in Connecticut. Therefore, even if we ignored the reality that the vast majority of fire deaths occur in much older homes, we will have to put sprinklers in at least 92,000 new homes to protect, on average, one life.

Water companies had a separate set of worries  namely, logistics. If the sprinklers were connected to the domestic water line, shutting off someones water would mean shutting off their sprinkler system as well; if there were separate lines that couldnt be shut off, people may illegally tap into them.

Those for the automatic sprinklers, which included fire marshals, fire inspectors, the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation and at least one sprinkler system contractor, hoped the new codes would prevent injury.

Norwalk Fire Marshal Broderick Sawyer pointed to local examples of when automatic sprinklers have made a difference. At the Avalon apartments a few years back, someone was smoking on a deck and accidentally ignited a planter  the sprinkler put it out. The more recent fire that displaced over 100 people at the StoneWood condominiums also started with someone smoking on a balcony  but in that situation, there was no sprinkler outside to stop the fire.

Give me the sprinklers, Sawyer said. I would love to have them everywhere. Ninety-six percent of the time, one sprinkler head prevents the fire from getting bigger. You cant go wrong with those numbers.

(Karl Kuegler, a director at StoneWoods property management company, said the reconstruction would be up to the new codes; at a recent meeting, the condo association made plans to install balcony sprinklers.)

One new code that did not receive any debate, unlike the automatic sprinklers, was gender-neutral bathrooms.

The change was inspired by numerous requests by members of the public, many of whom had ties to the LGBTQ community. The proposed language gives businesses the option to allow more single-user bathrooms, as opposed to bathrooms with multiple stalls or urinals, to be used by either gender.

Currently, Connecticut requires commercial buildings to have a certain number of male and female bathrooms. Originally meant to create potty parity for women, whom institutions including the Yale School of Medicine and the U.S. Senate Chamber once did not accommodate, gender quotas now mean that if a facility wants to offer gender-neutral restrooms, they arent always able to convert existing bathrooms  a problem that led Yale Law School to file a lawsuit against Connecticut in 2017.

The 2018 state building code draft solves that problem by allowing buildings to count gender-neutral single-user bathrooms toward their male or female bathroom quota.

Advocates believe the code change will be a boon to parents of small children, caretakers and transgender people.

I think the main idea is that people should be comfortable, said Scott Gretz, president of the Circle Care Center, an LGBT health clinic in Norwalk. That way you can be comfortable, the people around you can be comfortable  everyone will be comfortable.
Converse police arrested a man accused of sexually assaulting a pregnant woman in front of her two-year-old son.

The woman told police 23-year-old Frank Ramos became upset early Thursday morning when she said she was too tired to have sex with him. Ramos headbutted her so hard that she was knocked unconscious, police said.

The woman woke up moments later when Ramos yelled at her to take care of her crying son, according to the affidavit. She brought the son in the room with her and Ramos.

RELATED: Man fatally shot by Bexar County deputies after allegedly killing woman is identified

According to an arrest affidavit, Ramos then pushed the woman onto her bed and sexually assaulted her, biting her and drawing blood in the process, according to the affidavit. The woman, one month pregnant, was taken to the hospital by a family member after Ramos fell asleep, according to the affidavit. Ramos was arrested Friday on suspicion of sexual assault. A judge set his bail at $50,000.

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here. | fsabawi@mysa.com | Twitter: @FaresInSA
A Beaumont man was on life support Tuesday after being shot in the head by a woman playing with a gun, video of which has made national news.

Devyn Holmes was shot Sunday as he sat in a car in Houston's Museum District. In a Facebook Live video, Cassandra Nickcole Damper, 25, can be seen shooting Holmes. She later told police the shooting was accidental, and her case is being referred to a Harris County grand jury.

Damper was also charged with tampering with evidence after police said she tried to wipe off gunshot residue that was on her. Court records note that there is video of the incident.

In a Facebook Live video that captured the shooting, Holmes, Damper and another man can be seen sitting in the car.

The three joke around as they set up the video. Shortly after, Damper picks up a gun from the center armrest and points it directly at the camera. Holmes grabs the gun, holding it with Damper.

Hey man, youre making me nervous, he says.

The friend in the backseat reassures Holmes, saying the gun aint got no clip, bud, apparently referring to a lack of an ammunition clip.

Then, Damper appears to cock the gun and point it at Holmes.

Hey, where you from again? he asked.

She responded, Say something, b----.

Then, a gunshot.

The incident is the latest shooting to be broadcast on social media.

Earlier this week, an 18-year-old Detroit resident was fatally shot by another as the two showed money during an Instagram video, according to the Associated Press. The person who fired the gun told police that he accidentally put his finger on the trigger.

The Houston shooting appeared to involve young people "playing with guns," Houston police Detective John Roberts said. Damper and the unidentified friend told police they had been handling two guns that they thought were unloaded.

The incident has garnered national media attention, with hundreds pouring out support for Holmes and his recovery. Among the well-wishers was rapper Trae tha Truth, who posted a photo on Monday of him posing with Holmes.
Two people, including a juvenile, were shot outside a southeast Houston gas station Tuesday afternoon.

The victims, both males, were parked at a gas pump at the Shell station near South Loop East at Cullen Boulevard around 12:25 p.m. when an unknown assailant opened fire on them, striking both several times, Houston Police Department southeast patrol division Capt. William McPherson said.

The two tried to drive away to evade the gunfire but did not get much farther outside the gas station parking lot.

FACEBOOK LIVE SHOOTING: Man shot during Facebook Live video on life support

They were both taken to Ben Taub Hospital in stable condition and are expected to survive, McPherson said.

A man was seen running toward a nearby apartment soon after the shooting, but police scoured the complex and came up emptyhanded, McPherson said. Police hope surveillance video at the gas station captured the shooting and will help the investigation.

In the meantime, authorities are asking anyone with information about the shooting to reach out to Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

No other information was available. Check back for updates on this developing story as they come in.

Jay R. Jordan is a breaking news reporter at Chron.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan.
A young girl was arrested early Tuesday after she stole a newspaper delivery man's vehicle and led police on a chase through the North Side.

According to a preliminary police report, the juvenile suspect jumped into the drivers seat of the car while the victim delivered newspapers around 3:15 a.m. in the 1700 block of North Loop 1604 East.

The victim tried to stop the girl, but she reached for her waistband as if she had a weapon, police said. Fearing for his safety, the victim "stopped struggling wth the suspect and was thrown from the vehicle as it sped away from the scene," the preliminary report says.

RELATED: SAPD: Bar fight leads to shooting, 2 car crashes on NW side

Officers later found the car with the assistance of a helicopter unit. They initiated a chase with the juvenile girl, who by then was accompanied with three other juveniles, aged 12 to 14.

Police say the suspect eventually stopped and ran from the vehicle in the 500 block of Tomahawk Trail. Another juvenile ran from the car with her. Both were apprehended.

The young girl now faces charges of robbery and evading arrest. The second juvenile was booked into jail on a charge of evading arrest. It is unclear if the two other juveniles will face charges.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns
AUSTIN  Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew White unveiled a job-creation plan Tuesday that calls for a $1 billion-plus state fleet of self-driving vehicles and would require gasoline stations to post what percentage of the oil in their fuel was pumped in Texas.

This is forward thinking, said White, a Houston businessman who is in a runoff against former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez for the Democratic nomination to face Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in November.
The World Trade Organization will create a second panel to evaluate the cigarette tax issue between the Philippines and Thailand upon Manilas prodding. A WTO statement said the Philippines submitted a revised request for dispute consultations with Thailand to address the latters compliance with a previous ruling on taxes imposed by Thailand on imported cigarettes from the Philippines. The global body circulated the request on February 26, 2018. The revised request effectively replaced and superseded the initial one circulated on July 6, 2017 in order to expand the scope of the consultations. The revised request includes a number of notices of assessment issued by Thailands customs authority with respect to imports of cigarettes between 2001 and 2003. The request is the second compliance proceeding initiated by the Philippines in the dispute. A WTO panel is currently reviewing Thailands compliance as part of separate proceedings initiated by the Philippines in 2016.The case raised against Thailand involved Thai fiscal and customs measures affecting cigarettes from the Philippines that included customs valuation practices, excise tax, health tax, TV tax, VAT regime, retail licensing requirements and import guarantees imposed on cigarette importers. The Philippines claimed that Thailand administered the measures in an unreasonable manner. Manila noted that after more than a decade since the dispute arose, Thailand had not taken significant steps to comply with the WTO rulings. Thailand took a number of positive steps to remove some of the inconsistent measures but also introduced new measures that were inconsistent with the WTO rulings, the Philippine panel said. These include new criminal charges against a Thai importer and its employees involving 272 entries of cigarettes that cleared Thai Customs between July 28, 2003 and June 24, 2006, as well as notices of assessment for underpayment of taxes and duties of over $800 million on 1,052 entries imported in 2001-2003.
We respect them, embrace them, cherish them.

There is one cruel, undeniable problem, however, with the titans of history: It often takes the rest of society years  even decades  to catch up with their vision.

We see this dynamic playing out with Martin Luther King Jr., cut down by an assassin on April 4, 1968.

The nation mourned his death, an intense sorrow casting a pall over our streets, from Alabama to Indiana, from Texas to California.

RELATED: AP Was There: The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Yet there was the hope, deep and abiding, that while the man died, the vision that sustained both him and his followers would live on.

It has lived on, but the sad irony is that the hope has survived because racism itself has survived  survived in different measures and different venues, perhaps, but survived nonetheless.

It remains alive in attempts to dilute the voting power of minorities, in efforts to intimidate immigrants when they answer questions in the U.S. Census, in the corrosive debasing of those who pursue other religions, other faiths.

We are asking people to  commit to working toward his vision of true peace and true justice for every human being, the Rev. Joe Cleveland of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Saratoga, Florida, told the Saratoga Times-Union.

Such clarion calls have been repeated throughout the nation, showing that the march for equality continues, 50 years after King was assassinated.

King was organizing a rally for sanitation workers when he was struck down in Memphis, killed as he looked out onto the street from his motel balcony.

It had been five years since his I Have a Dream speech in Washington, D.C., a speech as passionate and incandescent as the man who delivered it.

RELATED: The legacy of MLK, who was assassinated 50 years ago, lives, but his dreams remain unfulfilled

The world may never see his like again, but his dream is just that  a dream, something that the rest of us  the rest of this undeniably great nation  must bring to fruition.

We are better for having had a man like King in our midst  it is almost impossible to imagine the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 without his relentless efforts  but we have not reached his grand vision, not yet, and the best way to honor his legacy is by striving toward the future he saw, a future in which men, women and children are judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

The fact that, 50 years later, theres so much still to be done just demonstrates to me and to others how deep, how very, very deep white supremacy, its premises and the dynamic that still propels our nation, is still there, Bob Farrell, 81, who was arrested in Houston during one of the last organized Freedom Rides in 1961, recently told Reuters.
Crown Manor is an oceanfront mansion just outside San Diego in the peninsula town of Coronado. The 11-bedroom, 17.5-bath property was built in 1902 by the architecture team of William Sterling Hebbard and Irving John Gill. It's now on the market for $25 million.

Commissioned by banker-turned-rancher Bartlett Richards and his wife, Inez, the 22,997-square-foot home's Tudor Revival hallmarks would have stood out from the nearby Queen Anne Victorians at the time as a particularly modern and fashionable choice.

"Gill's 10-year partnership with William Hebbard produced a number of eclectic residences inspired by English design," writes Gill scholar Bruce Kammerling. "The Bartlett Richards house in Coronado (1902) with its high-pitched roof, brick walls and half-timbered gables is an excellent example."

In 1914, homeowner Agnes Burnham added a south and east wing to house the staff.

"The house is on national and local historic registries," explains listing agent Christine Baker Willis.

The stunning mansion boasts a formal living room, billiard room, music room, salon with gold-leaf ceiling, formal dining room, hunt room with themed murals, and commercial kitchen with butler's pantry.

Interior realtor.com

Bedroom realtor.com

The second floor holds the master suite and dressing room, nine more bedrooms, a library, theater, family area, and several bathrooms. The third floor features a salon and massage space, sauna, private office, and guest bedroom.

According to San Diego Magazine, the mansion was purchased in the early '70s for a mind-blowing $375,000 by Greg McPartlin, a former Navy SEAL and owner of local watering hole McP's. But its most famous owner was likely real estate mogul and Democratic political booster Larry Lawrence.

Owner of the nearby Hotel del Coronado, Lawrence is the one who dubbed the house Crown Manor. He housed Bill and Hillary Clinton at Crown Manor on at least two occasions. In the '90s, Arianna Huffington reported rumors about a Hillary-less Bill spending the night in Crown Manor with Lawrence's wife at the time, Sheila, a charge both have vehemently denied. A libel suit was later settled out of court.

Gossip aside, Crown Manor is a gorgeously preserved mansion with killer ocean views and beautiful grounds. The three formal courtyards are home to over 130 species of plants.

Sitting room realtor.com

Billiard room realtor.com

Dining room realtor.com

Pool realtor.com

The post Crown Manor, a Coronado Landmark With a Gossipy Past, on the Market for $25M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Millions of packages and parcels are shipped all across Nigeria every day. There are many logistics companies you can find here along with courier services that will deliver your package to your home, office or abroad. What are the most affordable courier services in Nigeria?

Due to the reason that we all like to save our money, it is better to choose the cheap courier services. We have selected some of the cheapest options you can use in your regular life or for business. Below you can see our choices of local and foreign courier services that deliver parcels locally, across all Nigerian states.

Most affordable courier services in Nigeria

We should note that all the logistics and courier services present below are not only cheap but also some of the best ones in the country. You will be happy to work with them no matter what you want to deliver.

Lets say we would like to ship a 2-kg package from Lagos to Abuja using the courier services below. How much would it cost with each of the company on our list?

1. AB Logistics

This is the cheapest Nigerian company on our list, and it is eager to deliver your packages from door to door. It promises affordable rates and assures its prices start from as low as 800 Naira per light package. You can use this firm to send documents, parcels, invitations, etc.

It only costs you 2,500 Naira to send your 2-kg package from Lagos to Abuja with AB Logistics courier.

2. EMS SpeedPost

This company has been serving Nigerians since 1986. It has enough experience to provide quick delivery and quality parcel handling to all users. It is an affordable courier service that will leave you happy. Some users might believe that this company is associated closely with NIPOST, but you shouldnt worry because SpeedPost is more reliable and trusted as well as quick and cheap.

It costs about 3,300 Naira to ship a 2-kg package from Lagos to Abuja using this service.

READ ALSO: Top 10 logistics companies in Nigeria

3. GIG Logistics

This is a popular Nigerian company that offers courier and logistics services to all Nigerian citizens. It is easy to ship using this firm, as you have to visit its office in your city to ship your package to a different Nigerian city.

For example, youll have to pay approximately 3,000 Naira for your 2-kg package without insurance or about 4,800 Naira for the same package with insurance.

4. ABC Cargo

Being founded in the 1990s, this courier service offers different courier and transportation services to citizens and guests of Nigeria. The firm provides various logistics, courier, and supporting services. It has its own terminal points. It works with individuals and business companies. It provides all clients a way to track their package or parcel, so you wont have to worry about your shipment.

It would cost you around 4,700 Naira to ship your 2-kg package from Lagos to Abuja.

5. UPS

The courier service offered by UPS will not disappoint you as well. Just like many other international companies, UPS is used in many different countries, including Nigeria. It is a reliable and trusted firm that can deliver your parcels and provide high-quality logistics services.

The cost of shipping a package that weighs 2 kilograms from Lagos to Abuja would be around 6,400 Naira (via standard 2-3-day shipping).

Most of the companies we have mentioned are privately owned. They guarantee delivery of parcels, and their prices are affordable and often cheap. You can also use many many other local firms.

READ ALSO: UPS tracking Nigeria: how to track your order

Source: Legit
- Exercise Ayem Akpatuma was flagged off on Tuesday, February, 20

- It was geared towards restoring peace in the north-central region and some parts of the northwest

- The exercise formally ended on Saturday, March 31, but it has been extended for two months in Taraba state

The Nigerian Army has announced that Exercise Ayem Akpatuma will be extended for two months in Taraba state.

This was disclosed in a statement sent to Legit.ng by the director army public relations, Brigadier-General Texas Chukwu, on Monday, April 2.

Some criminals apprehended by the Nigerian Army in the onging Exercise Ayem Akpatuma. Photo credit: NA

READ ALSO: Exercise Ayem Akpatuma: Troops arrest criminals in Taraba state

According to the statement, the exercise needs to be sustained in some areas in other to consolidate on the initial gains.

In view of the development, the ongoing Exercise Ayem Akpatuma in Taraba state has been extended for 2 months.

The extension becomes necessary in order to further consolidate on the gains achieved so far and due to calls by well-meaning Nigerians. The extension would facilitate the Nigerian Armys effort of ridding the affected areas of militants and other criminal elements.

The general public, particularly residents of Taraba state are therefore requested to cooperate with the troops by giving useful and timely information to enable them carry out their constitutional duties effectively, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Taraba government has said that it no longer had confidence in the Federal Government security apparatus deployed to the state.

The government's position was made known by the senior special adviser to the Taraba state governor on media and publicity, Dan Bala Abu who spoke to journalists on Friday, March 30.

Abu said that although there was relative peace now in Taraba, the state government did not have confidence in the security apparatus of the Federal Government to maintain peace and security in the state.

READ ALSO: Exercise Cat Race: Troops arrest herdsmen while setting ablaze Gwamba village

Benue IDPs: Education amidst crisis | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
- Lai Mohammed commended the Buhari administration for its rice production

- According to him, the administration has lifted a lot of people from poverty

- He expressed optimism that he would be re-elected in 2019

The minister of information, Lai Mohammed, has said President Muhammadu Buharis rice revolution is enough for him to be re-elected in 2019.

Mohammed noted that the project has taken a lot of Nigeria out of poverty and that Buhari deserves to be re-elected. The minister spoke in Lagos on Monday, April 2, saying 60 per cent of the rice eaten in the country was produced locally, Daily Independent reports.

He said: The agricultural revolution in general and the rice revolution, in particular, have taken millions of Nigerians out of poverty. As a matter of fact, today, 60% of rice eaten in Nigeria is produced in Nigeria. In the words of the rice processors, the rice revolution alone is enough to guarantee re-election for President Buhari, if he decides to run again!

We want to use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians to complement the efforts of the government by consuming only locally-grown and processed rice. It is fresher. It is tastier. It is healthier. It has not spent months on the high seas and warehouses.

READ ALSO: UN condemns Boko Haram attack in northeast

We dont know where or how imported rice is made or how old it is? It is reported that most of the rice dumped on us are old and probably rejects. The citizens of those countries do not eat this rice. The citizens of Benin also do not eat it. But they send it to us. Unhealthy foods are dangerous to health. So lets eat what we can vouch for.

But Nigerians should remember that every time they eat imported rice, they are eating the jobs that would have been created for Nigerians and instead funding the creation of jobs in the source countries. Just imagine that less than three years into the rice revolution, millions of jobs have been created in the whole value chain.

It is important for Nigerians to know that when they consume imported rice, they are creating jobs in India and Thailand and destroying jobs across our country. Today we have rice farmers in all states and all geopolitical zones. In fact, most of us have friends and relatives who are farming rice. So if we dont patronize their product, we are destroying their livelihoods.

In this regard, we are embarking on a massive nationwide campaign to sensitize our compatriots to the need to support the rice revolution by consuming local rice. Nigerians are patriots. They want more jobs. They will support the rice revolution and Nigeria will become Self-sufficient in rice sooner than we have started.

Meanwhile, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state said that in two and half years, rice production has risen from 5.7 to 17 million metric tonnes per annum, Leadership reports.

Legit.ng gathered that he made the disclosure to State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa.

According to the Kebbi state governor, eight new rice mills were commissioned last year which has increased rice production in the country.

Ebonyi state, Nigeria and West Africa's food capital - on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit Newspaper
JOHANNESBURGSouth Africa paid tribute to Winnie Mandelas fighting spirit on Tuesday as plans were made to mark the life of the firebrand anti-apartheid campaigner and Nelson Mandelas former wife. She died in a Johannesburg hospital at the age of 81 on Monday after suffering a long illness that failed to rob of her of the charisma and energy that defined her sometimes divisive character. Mourners continued to gather at her Soweto home to honor the anti-apartheid fighter after President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that a memorial service would be held on Wednesday April 11 and a full state funeral on Saturday April 14. The outspoken leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party Julius Malema, who became a confidante of Winnie Mandela in recent years, is expected to visit her modest two-storey red brick home on Tuesday. The EFF paid tribute to Winnie Mandelas fighting spirit following news of her death. She affirmed both the love and anger of black people; always committed to their right to defend their lives even [with] arms in the face of a deadly apartheid evil, the radical leftist party said in a statement. The ruling African National Congress partys Womens League, which Winnie Mandela once led, will stage a mass march to her home on Wednesday. The firebrand activist died in Johannesburgs Milpark hospital, her family said, adding that she had fought valiantly against the Apartheid state and that she was known far and wide as the Mother of the Nation. Winnie Mandela, who was married to Nelson Mandela for 38 years, played a high-profile role in the struggle to end white-minority rule, but her place in history was stained by controversy and accusations of violence. She died after a long illness, for which she had been in and out of hospital since the start of the year. She succumbed peacefully in the early hours of Monday afternoon surrounded by her family and loved ones, said her family in a statement. After her death was announced, Ramaphosa described her as a voice of defiance and resistance who was an abiding symbol of the desire of our people to be free. For many years, she bore the brunt of senseless brutality of the apartheid state with stoicism, he said.Despite the hardship she faced, she never doubted that the struggle for freedom and democracy would triumph and succeed. Winnie Mandela often criticized the ANC, but she had expressed support for the current leadership of the party, which her husband led to power in the euphoric post-apartheid elections of 1994. On Monday evening, Ramaphosa returned to her Soweto house as mourners gathered outside, singing struggle-era songs in tribute and praise. In African culture, we sing when were hurt, ANC Womens League official Winnie Ngwenya, 64, told AFP. Most of Winnies marriage to Nelson was spent apart, with Nelson imprisoned for 27 years, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone and to keep alive his political dream under the repressive white-minority regime. But her reputation came under damaging scrutiny in the twilight years of apartheid rule. In 1986, she was widely linked to necklacing, the burning alive of suspected traitors who had flaming, petrol-soaked tires forced over their heads. In 1990 the world watched when Nelson Mandela finally walked free from prisonhand-in-hand with Winnie. The following year, she was convicted of kidnapping and assault over the killing of Stompie Moeketsi, a 14-year-old boy. In 1992, the Mandelas separated, and then divorced in 1996, after a legal wrangle that revealed she had an affair with a young bodyguard. During her old age, she re-emerged as a respected elder who was feted as a living reminder of the late Mandelas legacyand of the long and celebrated struggle against apartheid.
- Senator Dino Melaye of the All Progressives Congress has advised the ruling party on how to change Nigeria

- The senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, took to Facebook to offer the advice to his party

- He said that for the ruling party to change the country, it should build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete

The lawmaker representing Kogi West senatorial district in the Senate, Dino Melaye, has advised his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on how to change Nigeria.

Legit.ng gathers that the senator took to Facebook on Monday, April 2, to offer the advise, which he titled Otito koro (truth is bitter).

READ ALSO: Saraki, Jesse Jackson, others react to Winnie Mandela's demise as South Africans mourn

In his advice to the ruling party, Melaye said: "You never change a country by fighting the existing reality you meet on ground. To change a country, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Stop accusation and start building."

Below is Melaye's advice to APC:

Senator Dino Melaye's advice to the All Progressives Congress. (Photo credit: Facebook, Senator Dino Melaye)

Recall that Melaye has been at loggerhead with his party in recent times. The senator claimed that the APC has failed Nigerians.

The senator stated this when he was named the Legislator of the Year 2017 at the Daily Asset Newspaper maiden annual awards.

Melaye said Nigeria was not practicing democracy but what he called greedocracy. He said Nigerians were suffering and smiling while the elite continue to divide the citizens along tribal lines.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Senator Dino Melaye, called out his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the huge amount of money it borrowed in the three years of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

Melaye made the statement during plenary on Wednesday, March 7, as he called a Point-of-Order on the Peace Corps bill currently before the president for assent.

He stated: "Without fear or favour, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in 16 years, borrowed N6 trillion and this government in three years, has borrowed N11 trillion but there is no specific programme that will empower the youth."

Kogi West senatorial district to recall senator Dino Melaye from the Nigerian Senate - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
- Police in Ogun state have arrested one Okwudili Okoro for allegedly hacking his elder brother and his wife to death

- According to the police, the suspect claimed to have served his deceased brother for three years in his cosmetics trade

- The suspected reportedly said that when it was time for him to be settled, his brother was not forthcoming

The Ogun state police command has said that it arrested one Okwudili Okoro for allegedly hacking his elder brother, Azuibike Okoro, and his wife, Jacinta Okoro, to death.

Okoro was said to have been arrested after one Joseph Nwagu reported at Sango division of the command that Azuibike and his wife had been hacked to death by the suspect and one Kenneth who came all the way from Sapon in Abeokuta to commit the heinous crime, Punch reports.

Legit.ng notes that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Nasirudeen Oyedele, led detectives to the scene where the suspect was arrested but his accomplice was reported to have escaped.

READ ALSO: Stop accusation and start building - Senator Dino Melaye advises APC

According to the state's police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, on interrogation, the Ebonyi state-born suspect claimed to have served his deceased brother for three years in his cosmetics trade, and when it was time for him to be settled, his brother was not forthcoming.

Oyeyemi stated that the suspect further added that when he realised that his brother was not ready to settle him, he contracted his accomplice, Kenneth, who is now at large.

In his confessional statement to the police, the suspect said that he and his accomplice bought two cutlasses, sharpened them and headed to his deceased brothers house in Ijako area of the state, adding that on getting to the deceaseds houses, they met him eating with his wife and before he could utter a word, they descended heavily on them with the cutlasses and hacked them to death.

According to Oyeyemi, the two corpses had been deposited in the mortuary at the state General Hospital, Ota for post-mortem examination.

In reacting to the crime, the state's commissioner of police, Ahmed Iliyasu, appealed to residents of the state not to take any threat to their lives lightly by reporting such to the police no matter who is involved.

He ordered that the suspect be immediately transferred to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Abeokuta, for investigation.

He tasked the police to hunt for the escaped accomplice and bring him to book as soon as possible.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a 22-year-old man identified as Dominic Ogbaji, was arrested by the police command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, for allegedly killing his elder brother.

According to reports, 22-year-old Dominic Ogbaji an indigene of Cross River state, had come to live with his 32-year-old elder brother, John Ogbaji, before the gruesome incident occurred.

Dominic who was a barber before relocating to his brother's house in Ajegunle, Mpape village in Abuja, had reportedly been bothering John about getting him a better job, and resorted to killing him when he felt he wasn't doing anything to help his situation.

See the faces of newly arrested criminals in Lagos state - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
The Secretary to Ebonyi state government (SSG), Prof. Bernard Odoh, has resigned his appointment.

Odohs notice of resignation was contained in a three-page letter he wrote to Governor David Umahi dated April 2, 2018.

He gave several reasons for resigning, part of which was that despite his sincere effort in working to move the government and the state forward, Umahi never had trust nor confidence in him.

NAN reports that the chief press secretary to the governor, Emmanuel Uzo, reacting to the alleged resignation said that his office was not aware of the purported resignation.

READ ALSO: Presidency replies Obasanjo, says his assessment of Buhari not new

I am not aware of any resignation by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and this is the official and true position of the matter. We have not been informed nor received the letter informing the governor of the SSGs resignation," Uzo said.

The former state scribe literally also said he took his decision so as to protect his relationship with the governor, stressing that he has more to preserve than occupy the position of the SSG.

Odoh said that the way by which Umahis administration had remained in the last two years had not offered conducive atmosphere for all members of the state executive council and himself to sincerely air and express their views on sensitive policy matters.

In my opinion, this is the highest level of hypocrisy and the values I live do not allow me to operate in such deceptive atmosphere where people live opposite of what or who they are.

Having assured you on my inception of office and at several times that I owe you the responsibility to be truthful and honest always, I wish to inform you that all is not well in your administration sir.

If you observe carefully, almost all your appointees are nearly completely disconnected from your policy direction as they lack genuine sense of purpose, dignity, clear sense of commitment to decision taken in council because of low morale.

Once more on behalf of my family, friends and those who worked closely with me for almost three years now, I want to most sincerely again say thank you very much for the rare opportunity you offered me to serve our dear state.

"My appointment as the secretary to the state government is hereby resigned in good faith. I have handed over the status of cabinet office to the most senior staff office, Barrister Ogbonnaya Otta in line with the best practices of service, the letter read in part.

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Legit.ng had earlier reported that Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state ordered the arrest of officials from two warring communities in Ikwo local government area of the state.

The governor gave the order on Thursday, March 8, in Abakaliki, the state capital during an enlarged security meeting.

There has been a communal clash between Ekpomaka and Inyimegu communities of the area and the governor reportedly said those whom he ordered to be arrested were connected to the rising tension.

Jonathan replies to Buhari's allegations on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
- Herdsmen reportedly destroy crops in Tombo ward, Logo local government area of Benue

- A community leader, Chief Job Tiza, states that the rainy season is approaching, yet farmers cannot access their land to prepare for farming

- Ex-governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu, says the major sponsors of killer herdsmen are prominent Nigerians

Residents of communities in Tombo ward, Logo local government area of Benue state have reportedly fled their homes after herdsmen allegedly invaded the area.

A community leader, Chief Job Tiza, told the Nation newspaper that the herdsmen displayed their weapons in the presence of soldiers on Operation Cat Race.

Tiza said the invaders destroyed crops with their cattle, forcing many farmers to desert their homes and seek refuge in Ayilamo.

READ ALSO: Lai Mohammed reveals Buharis single project that can grant him 2019 victory

The community leader complained that the rainy season was approaching yet farmers could not access their land to prepare for farming.

Meanwhile, Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia state, has disclosed that prominent Nigerians who are against the anti-corruption war of the federal government, are the major sponsors of the killer herdsmen, Daily Trust reports.

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Kalu made his comments at his country home, Igbere, during the launch of free interest loans to Abians in Abia-north senatorial district, by the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

Legit.ng gathers that the ex-governor, who made his comments following the recent killings by the herdsmen in certain parts of the country, including Benue state, said that the perpetrators of such dastardly acts were mostly returnees from Niger Republic who infiltrated the people and pretended to be Fulani herders.

He also sympathized with the families of the deceased individuals from the Benue and Taraba attacks.

TY Danjuma, Nigerian army and the herdsmen crisis | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- Uriel Oputa from Big Brother Naija recently met and interesting personality at an event

- She met Chika Lann, the model who claims her hairstyle is worth N40million

- Both posed for photos like kindred sisters

Mention the name Chika Lann, and you are likely to be met with blank stares. But add the lady who says her hair is worth N40m watch how peoples faces will light up in recognition.

Chika has continued to insist that her hairstyle is worth that exorbitant amount and little by little she is becoming more popular.

She was recently spotted at comedy show AY Live and she happened to meet Uriel Oputa of Big Brother Naija fame. Both of them posed for photos and Uriel even said she was taking hair lessons from Chika.

READ ALSO: Dbanj shares a photo of his 'customised' swimming pool

See their photos below:

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Ex-BBNaija housemate, Uriel Oputa bares it all on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit
- Former Niger state governor, Babangida Aliyu, threatens to challenge his inclusion in the looters list to a logical conclusion after consultations with his lawyers

- He says nobody has confronted him with any document that he received N1.6 billion from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki

- Aliyu alleges that the APC is doing everything possible to blackmail him because he refused to join the party

Former Niger state governor, Babangida Aliyu, has denied looting the state treasury during his eight-year tenure and threatened to challenge the allegation in court.

Aliyu made the denial in a statement he signed on Monday, April 2, while reacting to the recent release of list of alleged treasury looters by the federal government, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

READ ALSO: Buharis rice project can get him re-elected in 2019 - Lai Mohammed

I wonder why the federal government should include my name in the 24 treasury looters list released again by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, he said.

He threatened to challenge his inclusion on the list to a logical conclusion after consultations with his lawyers.

The former governor said nobody had confronted him with any document that he received N1.6 billion from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, and urged the government to prove it.

He alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was doing everything possible to blackmail him because he refused to join the party.

The APC government has embarked on calculated blackmail against my person because I refused to join the party.

We all have our minds and what we believe in politics is a thing of the mind.

In the orchestrated plot to tarnish my image, I am presently before the Federal High Court and a Niger High Court for the same alleged offence.

This is to show that the government is hell bent on bringing me down but they will not succeed, he said.

Aliyu said as a governor he served the people of Niger to the best of his ability.

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As a Governor, I left a landmark for posterity, no amount of blackmail or character assassination can wipe me out from the minds of the people, he said.

Meanwhile, a former permanent secretary in the ministry of power, Godknows Igali, has claimed that his name was smuggled into the list of alleged looters recently released by the federal government.

The Cable reports that Igali said his name was dragged in the list at the last minute because he is seen as one of Jonathans men.

The Cable reports that Igali said his name was dragged in the list at the last minute because he is seen as one of Jonathans men.

Top 5 the Richest People of Nigeria: The Luxury of Corruption on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- Ambassador Samson Itegboje, a permanent representative to UN, has revealed how President Muhammadu Buhari saved Nigeria from shame in just three years

- Itegboje disclosed that although the presidency is shy in publicising its achievements, they are obvious to Nigerians

- He remarked that the president met a recessed economy and rescued it

Ambassador Samson Itegboje, a permanent representative to the UN, recently said that Nigeria has moved forward under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, in spite of the huge challenges it inherited.

Itegboje made this known during a town hall forum organised by the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC and the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) US. The theme of the forum is: The strength and voice of the Nigerian Diaspora, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

READ ALSO: It is mischief - Senate spokesperson slams debate over lawmakers N13.5m monthly running cost

The envoy, however, said that the Buharis administration had been shy in publicising some of its achievements for the citizens to be properly informed.

Itegboje remarked: We are witnesses to the fact that prior to the coming of the government of President Buhari, the economy was almost grinding to a halt. In fact, President Muhammadu inherited a recessed economy waiting to happen.

Boko Haram was running riots in the country and has even held sway in 14 local governments in Borno. Corruption had almost become normal and our infrastructure had decayed among others. But this government went to work and I must confess that the government appears to be publicity shy.

He reeled out some of the successes achieved so far in less than three years of the current administration, saying they are subject to verification.

He said: It takes three years for a country to exit recession but it took this government less than one years and a half to exit recession. Foreign reserves have peaked at about 43 billion dollars, the highest level in about four years and up from 24 billion dollars just a year ago.

He said the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) had stopped the haemorrhaging of the Treasury, adding that N108 billion had been saved from the removal of maintenance fees payable to banks pre-TSA.

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Itegboje also stated: Nigeria rose 24 places on the World Banks Ease of Doing Business Ranking and earned a place on the list of 10 top performers in the world. According to third quarter 2017 figure, agriculture export is up year-on-year by 25 per cent while solid minerals export is up year-on-year by 78 per cent."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the governor of Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu, had said that the state and its people were satisfied with the numerous achievements of the president's administration.

Akeredolu while supporting the 2019 second term bid of President Buhari said nothing can stop the his re-election.

Martin Luther King Award Scandal: Buhari recognized for leadership? - On Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
An Abuja high court has ruled that the Nigeria Police Force must compensate Adebayo Eric Edun, a graduate of Computer Science from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, with the sum of N6million for unlawfully detaining him for 39 days.

The court also ruled that the force must publicly apologize to the applicant in one national newspaper for his unlawful arrest and detention.

According to the judgment sheet obtained by Daily Trust, Edun who was supposed to go for the compulsory National Youth Service Corps, in Batch A, Stream 1, scheduled to be mobilized around May 2017, was arrested by the police and detained for 39 days without being charged with any offence.

READ ALSO: Presidency reacts as Obasanjo calls Buhari's administration incompetent

As a result of his arrest and detention, Edun reportedly missed the opportunity to be mobilized for the youth scheme.

In his judgment, Justice S. C. Oriji directed the police to arraign the applicant, Edun, before a court of law if they have any case against him and ordered that Edun be released on bail upon fulfilment of the bail conditions.

Read the details of the judgment below:

In the high court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

Holden at Abuja

On Tuesday, 5th Day of December 2017

Before Hon. Justice Sylvanus C. Oriji

SUIT NO. FCT/HC/CV/1501/2017

Between

Mr Adebayo Eric Edun--- Applicant

And

1. Nigeria Police Force

2. Inspector General of Police, respondents

3. Commissioner of Police, F.C.T. Judgment

In his Originating Motion filed on 24/4/2017, the applicant seeks the following reliefs against the respondents:

1. A declaration that the continuous arrest, detention and torture of the Applicant from 10/04/2017 till date by officers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents at Dutse Alhaji Police Station and State Anti-Robbery Squad [S.A.R.S.] is wrongful, illegal, oppressive, unconstitutional, null and void.

2. An order releasing the applicant on bail.

3. An injunction restraining the officers of the respondents from further unlawfully arresting, detaining and torturing the applicant.

4. The sum of N50,000,000.00 [Fifty Million Naira] jointly and severally against the respondents for the continuous arrest, detention and torture of the applicant from 10/04/2017 till date by officers of the respondents at Dutse Alhaji Police Station and State Anti-Robbery Squad [S.A.R.S.].

5. The sum of 15,000,000.00 [Fifteen Million Naira] as exemplary and nominal damages jointly and severally against the respondents for the unlawful arrest, detention and torture of the applicant.

6. An order compelling the respondents to publicly apologize to the applicant in 5 [five] national dailies for the unlawful arrest, detention and torture of the applicant.

7. 10% interest on judgment sum from the date of judgment until final liquidation of the judgment sum.

8. And such orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance of this case.

In his affidavit, Mr Edun Marcelline Akande stated that on 11/4/2017 at about 4:30 p.m., he was informed of the following facts by the applicant on handcuff in company of officers of the respondents from Dutse Alhaji Police Station when they came to search his house [i.e. No. 142 Bakori Road, PW, Kubwa, Abuja], which he verily believed to be true thus:

1. He was called on the telephone by someone who identified himself as a staff of Kas Guest House situated at Dutse Alhaji Abuja at around 9:30 p.m. on 10/4/2017 to come for a meeting on a business of DSTV Satellite installation.

2. He had been repairing satellite dish for the said Kas Guest House for more than a year and he saw no harm in the call.

3. The said caller subsequently told him he was waiting in a taxi very close to Kas Guest House. He met his caller, popularly called Yellow, at Kas Guest House.

4. He, in a company of Yellow, the taxi driver and one unknown person entered the premises of Kas Guest House around 10 p.m. on 10/4/2017. When he entered the gate of Kas Guest House and stepped out from the car, he saw Yellow putting on a mask and he subsequently challenged him to the hearing of the chief security officer of Kas Guest House, who immediately alerted the Police.

5. Yellow jumped the fence and ran away leaving him, the other unknown person and the taxi driver with the hotel security personnel; who later handed them over to the officers of respondents at Dutse Alhaji Police Station.

6. He [applicant] is a graduate of Computer Science (Federal University of Technology, Minna) waiting for the compulsory National Youth Service Corps, in Batch A, Stream 1, going for National Youth Service Corps Scheme around May 2017. The expired school identity card and certificate of graduation of the applicant from the Federal University of Technology, Minna are Exhibits A and B respectively.

7. As a result of his arrest and detention, he has not been able to do the online registration for National Youth Service Corps, which requires his fingerprint impression. The NYSC online registration which started on 20/4/2017 will end on 15/5/2017.

8. He has not been charged with any offence by officers of respondents from 10/4/2017 up till date [i.e. date of filing the suit].

Section 35[4] thereof provides that a person arrested and detained in accordance with section 35[1][c] shall be brought before a court of law within a reasonable time.

On 10/5/2017, the Court heard the motion ex parte and made these orders:

1. The respondents are directed to arraign the applicant before a court of law on or before 17/5/2017 if they have any case against him.

2. In default, the respondents shall release the applicant on bail upon fulfilment of the following conditions:

a) The applicant shall enter into a recognizance for the sum of N1,000,000.00 with one surety in like sum; and

b) The surety shall ordinarily be resident within the FCT, Abuja.

7 From the above, there is no doubt that the applicant was still in the custody of the respondents as at 10/5/2017. As I said before, Sonia Gbev Esq. did inform the Court that applicant was released on 19/5/2017. This means that applicant was detained by the respondents for a period of 39 days before he was released.

The respondents have not discharged the burden to prove that the applicants arrest and detention were justified.

Therefore, I hold that the arrest and detention of the applicant for a period of 39 days violated the applicants right to personal liberty guaranteed by section 35 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended].

Applicants relief 4 is for N50 million damages; and in relief 5, he claims N15 million as exemplary and nominal damages.

Both sums are for breach or violation of his fundamental rights. Section 35[6] of 1999 Constitution [as amended] provides: Any person who is unlawfully arrested or detained shall be entitled to compensation and public apology from the appropriate authority or person. By virtue of this provision, I hold that the applicant is entitled to compensation for his unlawful arrest and detention by the respondents. In the circumstance, I award the sum of N6,000,000.00 to the applicant against the respondents as 9 compensations [or general damages] for his unlawful arrest and detention from 10/4/2017 to 19/5/2017.

In relief 6, the applicant prays for an order for the respondents to publicly apologise to him in five national dailies for his unlawful arrest, detention and torture. I hold that by virtue of section 35[6] of the 1999 Constitution [as amended], the applicant is entitled to this relief.

Finally, in relief 7, the applicant claims post-judgment interest of 10% per annum on the judgment sum. By virtue of Order 39 rule 7 of the Rules of this Court, 2004, the Court has the discretion to grant post-judgment interest on any judgment sum. I hereby grant post-judgment interest on the sum of N6,000,000.00 at the rate of 10% per annum from today.

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CONCLUSION

9. A declaration that the arrest and detention of the applicant by the respondents from 10/4/2017 till 24/4/2017 [when he instituted this action] and till 19/5/2017 [when he was released] violated his fundamental right to personal liberty and were therefore wrongful, unconstitutional and oppressive.

10. An order of injunction restraining the respondents, their officers and agents from further arresting and detaining the applicant in respect

10 of any matter connected with, or pertaining to, his arrest and detention on 10/4/2017.

3. The sum of N6,000,000.00 compensation [or general damages] for applicants unlawful arrest and detention for 39 days; from 10/4/2017 to 19/5/2017.

4. An order for the respondents to publicly apologize to the applicant in one [1] national newspaper for his unlawful arrest and detention.

5. 10% interest on the judgment sum of N6,000,000.00 from today [5/12/2017] until the judgment sum is paid.

6. Cost of N30,000.00.

HON. JUSTICE S. C. ORIJI

Legit.ng previously reported that journalists attending a media convention in Imo accused some policemen attached to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of collecting N10,000 bribe from them.

The officers, led by a certain Inspector Uche, harassed the journalists, who are members of the Online Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria, and threatened to frame them if they refused to part with the money.

Are Nigerian policemen the worst in the world? - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng
- Nigerians have lashed out in anger at a police officer who defended a colleague who was videoed brutalizing a lady

- The ASP took to Facebook to chide the victim as he stated that she would be dead if he was at the scene

- He passed his message in incoherent English, and accused the woman of being disrespectful to the policeman

An assistant superintendent of police, John Samuel, has been lambasted by Nigerians on Facebook, for his comment following the video which emerged, showing a woman being slapped by a police inspector in Dopemu, Lagos.

According to reports, the ASPs comments were captured by a social media user who goes by the name, Aijay/cyberagbero.

READ ALSO: Ekiti PDP senator, aspirants defect to SDP

ASP John Samuel stated that if he was on the scene, the brutalised woman would have been dead

Legit.ng notes that in the video posted last week by activist and media personality, Funmi Adewola, the policeman, Murtala Lawal, was seen beating one Anne Bibi.

The post generated anger from many Nigerians.

However, following the controversy and the reaction from Nigerians, ASP Samuel stated that if he was at the scene, the lady would be dead.

Samuel accused Bibi of being rude to the officer, as he passed his message in incoherent English. His comments did not sit well with Nigerians who then proceeded to launch insults at him.

See the ASP's full comment below:

The ASP's comments were munched by @cyberagbero

Nigerians launched insults at ASP Samuel, after his words were made public. See some comments below:

Nigerians were very upset with the ASP, and registered their displeasure

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that journalists attending a media convention in Imo accused some policemen attached to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of collecting N10,000 bribe from them.

The officers, led by a certain Inspector Uche, harassed the journalists, who are members of the Online Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria, and threatened to frame them if they refused to part with the money.

A photo of the alleged incident showing a policemen at the back seat of a vehicle collecting what appeared like wads of N1,000 notes from one of the victims, went viral after being posted online.

Are Nigerian policemen the worst in the world? - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit
- Ninety youths have received N500,000 each to start-up their various business across the Niger Delta region

- The youths were drawn from Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Rivers and Ondo states

- They were trained in various capacity building programmes including fishery and poultry

Some youths in Niger Delta have received N500,000 each as start up for their individual businesses across the region.

Daily Trust reports that the money was given to 90 youths from the regions at the end of a capacity building and empowerment in agriculture and other value chain programme for women and youths.

It was gathered that the programme which was organised by the Ministry of Niger Delta affairs will enable the youths acquire skills that will earn them lifetime livelihood.

READ ALSO: 25-year-old lady-pilot wins hearts of many by being passionate about aviation (photos)

The minister of Niger Delta affairs, Usani Usani, speaking during the distribution of the money urged the beneficiaries to to invest the funds released to them.

Usani represented by Ediomu Philip, a deputy director in the ministry said: The ministry is aware that training without support is an effort in futility. Thus the provision of N500,000 to each participant to start their businesses. You are advised to utilise the empowerment package to set up enterprises that will stand the test of time, improve your lives and that of your families.

"Therefore, my challenge to you is to practice what you learnt, contribute to the food security of the region and the country at large, build capacity in your community through backward integration and run profitable enterprises. Remember the slogan, Start small and grow'.

READ ALSO: Presidency reacts as Obasanjo calls Buhari's administration incompetent

"This training and empowerment programme is a continuous exercise. Those who have been agitating for inclusion should be reminded that their voices have been heard. They will be considered in the subsequent batches until every Niger Deltan becomes empowered, self-reliant, self-sustaining and self-dependent.

The 90 graduands from the empowerment programme were drawn from Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Rivers and Ondo states. They were trained in capacity building, fishery and poultry.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom, had empowered youths in the state. The governor was said to have made donations of wheelbarrows to the youth in Benue state for farming.

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The governor said the wheelbarrow will ease the stress faced by the youth and farmers in the state in carrying the produce from the farms to the markets.

People with disabilities challenge Nigerian ministers - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 7:30 am

Denis Turner keeps his southwestern Missouri heifer replacement operation simple.

For the most part, it is one man for 500-1,000 heifers at Turners Heifer Haven, a pasture-based operation where Turner raises heifers for others.

Make sure every task can be carried out by one person, Turner said. Two-man jobs are accomplished on time only about half of the time.

One employee can feed grain supplements to 500 head of cattle per hour with fence-line feeding  a system of placing feed bunks on the edges of pens along alleys that are wide enough for access with a feed truck. The method makes the feeding process safer for animals, prevents spread of disease from pen to pen, and reduces competition among heifers. It also gives the person doing the feeding quick and easy access to feed bunks.

The design makes things easier for the animals as well as the humans. Heifers never have to walk more than 800 feet to drink fresh water. The farther they walk, the more energy they use for purposes other than gain, Turner said. Wasted steps mean wasted dollars.

The same employee who accomplishes the grain feeding can also move eight to 10 groups of cattle to new grazing pastures in less than two hours.

With only one employee, the job of caring for cattle on weekends usually falls on Turner. That puts another set of eyes on heifers to evaluate health, gain and reproduction. He also watches for flies and other parasites that reduce growth.

Turner contracts with dairy and beef producers as a background operation. Producers pay him to put pounds on heifers as well as getting them bred and returned to their original herds before calving. Theres one important thing here, and thats the cattle, said Turner.

Turner knows that properly managed forages put pounds on animals through good nutrition. In the early 1990s, Turner was one of Missouris first farmers to convert to rotational grazing as part of a two-year project with the University of Missouri, according to MU Extension dairy specialist Ted Probert.

MU Extension found that heifers rotated on fresh grazing paddocks gained more weight and were healthier than those not in a rotational system, Probert said, adding that Turner became one of the states first farmers to convert pastures from toxic Kentucky 31 fescue to legume-based pastures that improve health and increase weight gains. Denis operation is a testament to good grazing management, he said.

Regular forage tests, also recommended by MU Extension, are critical to Turners success. The tests reveal the nutritional content and quality of the forage. With testing, we can target supplementation to the specific needs of animals. Anything else is a shot in the dark, said Turner.

Eleven dairies participated in the 1990s project. After it was over, some of the dairy producers asked Turner to raise their heifers on a contract basis.

Just as he did during the study, Turner follows strict protocols, quarantining animals for up to 45 days when they come on-farm, requiring BVD-PI testing and using synchronized artificial insemination. When the number of animals to be bred runs into the hundreds, Probert also helps with the breeding.

With a degree in animal science from Missouri State University and 30 years of experience as a feed representative, Turner knows animal nutrition. His father, Bill, founded Turners Special Supply, and Turner has been the mainstay of the companys nutritional staff since its inception. The business focuses on individualized nutritional plans for dairy and cattle operations, according to Turner.

Bill Turner started the business with one pickup and a camper shell. Today, the company mixes around 300 tons of nutrients each month, shipping enough vitamin and mineral supplements for about 120,000 head of cattle daily.

Turner advocates for the one-person plan to care for cattle, but his job description centers around serving others and his philosophy is to give back to his community, both personally and professionally.

Turner was 18 years old in 1975 when he and his wife, Lynn, were married. They spent the next four years commuting more than an hour each way to Missouri State University to complete degrees in agriculture and English. His wife retired from teaching in 2008 after 29 years of service, and she likes nothing more than helping with the heifers. The couple has three children, all MU graduates.

Turner stresses the importance of being a lifelong learner and networking with others. He encourages those entering agriculture to seek out the knowledge and experience of extension educators, fellow farmers and reliable bankers.

My education had just started when I was graduated from college, Turner said. MU Extension was critical to furthering my education. Even now I feel like I am going back to school when I attend extension events.

Turner credits much of his success to former state extension dairy specialist and now interim Provost Jim Spain, retired MU Extension dairy specialist Barry Steevens, and former extension veterinarian David Hardin, as well as current extension specialists such as Probert, livestock specialist Randy Wiedmeier and economist Joe Horner.

Turner and his wife participate in numerous community groups, including extension. Probert said Denis is the prototype of engagement with MU Extension.

Its sad more people arent involved, said Turner. Peoples lives are busy, but our philosophy is that we have to give back. There were a lot of people who lifted us up.
- Reasons have been given by the Interpol why Senator Dino Melaye, others have not been added to its wanted list as declared by Nigerian police

- The Interpol declared that it does not engage in politically-motivated operations

- It said it examines requests by member countries to issue red notices to ensure compliance with its constitution or rules

The International police organisation (Interpol) has given reasons why Senator Dino Melaye who was declared wanted by the Nigerian Police Force has not been publicly placed on its watch list.

Premium Times reports that the Interpol declared that it does not engage in politically-motivated operations as it is "strictly forbidden for the organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character".

According to Interpol, "It does not comment on specific cases or individuals except in special circumstances and with approval of the member country concerned."

It was learnt that the Nigeria police as one of the 192 member countries with active membership of the Interpol network, said the agency had been alerted to place Melaye and other suspects, including Mohammed Audu, son of late Kogi politician Abubakar Audu, on Interpol red notice.

It does not comment on specific cases or individuals except in special circumstances and with approval of the member country concerned."

READ ALSO: Presidency reacts as Obasanjo calls Buhari's administration incompetent

A red notice is an alert for Interpol to locate and temporarily detain an individual pending extradition.

The agency gave reasons why Nigeria police request for Melaye, if at all it had been formally filed, might not meet its criteria for red alert. It said it examines requests by member countries to issue red notices to ensure compliance with the agency's constitution or rules.

Interpol evaluates legal and quality compliance issues in individual cases if it becomes aware of information that may prompt reevaluation of a case," it added.

Giving three reasons why a notice might not be published for an individual expected to be on its website, Interpol said if no red notice is published on its public website, this is either because;

One has not been requested or issued for that person, or The requesting country has asked that it not be made public, or The Red Notice did not meet the criteria for publication on Interpols public website.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the police on Wednesday, March 28, declared Dino Melaye wanted. The lawmaker was declared wanted alongside Mohammed Audu, son of a former governor of Kogi state, Abubakar Audu.

Police said the duo have also been placed on Interpol watchlist for allegedly providing false information to the police in relation to an allegation of attempted murder on Melayes life sometime last year.

However, few days to the polices wanted declaration, Senator Melaye was seen at Aliko Dangotes daughters wedding. Also, on the day he was declared wanted, he appeared at the Nigerian Senate, during which he even threatened to sue the inspector general of police Ibrahim Idris.

Kogi West senatorial district to recall senator Dino Melaye from the Nigerian Senate on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng News
- Governor Akinwunmi makes promises as he commissions 21 network of roads and two bridges totalling 27.4 kilometres in the Alimosho local government

- Ambode justifies his use of the taxes of residents of Lagos state saying his government is creating new economy

- The governor also reveals his administration is embarking on a link road that would link Lagos and Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state

The governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday, April 2, commissioned 21 network of roads and two bridges totalling 27.4 kilometres in the Alimosho local government, with a pledge to further develop other communities within the axis.

Legit.ng learnt that the roads, which connect Lagos with Ogun state from Agbado Oke-Odo local council development area, were fitted with walkways, drainage system, laybys, service ducts, lane marking and street lights, among others.

While commissioning the projects amid cheers and jubilation from the mammoth crowd or residents in four different locations, Governor Ambode, said the delivery of the infrastructure was part of the continuous bid to transform the Alimosho federal constituency and build new economy around the axis.

One of the boundary roads commissioned by Governor Ambode. Credit: Lagos Press

This is what is called dividend of democracy we are making this Alimosho axis economically viable and also liveable. We dont need to travel anywhere to earn a living. By opening up the whole network stretching 27.4km, we have brought economy back to this place.

READ ALSO: 2019: Neither PDP nor APC can get us there - Obasanjo (video)

With the walkways, street lights, these communities are becoming safer and there is more to do. By expanding the axis here, you can travel without necessarily going to the main street and go to Ojo or Badagry, thats what your vote was for and thats why we are returning back here, all the promises that we made and we are keeping them, he said.

Governor Ambode particularly lauded the national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for activating the transformation of Alimosho when he was Governor of the state with the construction of LASU-Iba road, and former Governor Babatunde Fashola for taking the project up to Ipaja.

What we are doing today is so historic and of great importance that we must send the message rightly so that people can understand why we are celebrating on Easter Monday the change in the life of our people which the resurrection of Christ symbolizes.

First, we salute all our political leaders starting with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for starting the vision of making Alimosho a place of pride with the construction of LASU-Iba road such that when you move from Badagry and you enter into LASU-Iba Road up to Igando, Egbe and so on, you have easy transportation and easy life. My predecessor, Governor Raji Fashola took it up to Ipaja all in a bid to build a new economy in this particular axis.

The governor and other officials of the government during the commissioning of the roads. Credit: Lagos Press

We have taken it from Ipaja to Ayobo, Command Secondary School, Gate, Abesan, Aboru Bridge and roads. What we are doing today is momentous as we are connecting over 60 communities together and we are happy to do this, he said.

Governor Ambode said the roads would provide good alternative routes to decongest traffic from the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, and could be used to access Ipaja up to Badagry without using the expressway.

It is an alternative route; we don't need to congest ourselves on the Lagos-Abeokuta express when you drive from Gateway Hotel and start driving through Ojokoro, Ipaja and so on. Now, you can take this alternative route and go all the way to Ipaja and Badagry without having anything to do with the expressway," Ambode said.

According to him, the government was able to complete the projects using the taxes paid by the people, saying that it was the taxpayers that made it possible for his administration to improve on the economy and solve traffic challenges in the axis.

So, when you understand what this is all about; it was not done with Akin Ambode's money; I did not put a kobo there apart from my own taxes; it is the taxes that you have contributed that we have used to improve on this particular economy and my message is that we should make every part of Lagos economically viable and also livable so that all the people in this area can have the same kind of life that others are enjoying in the other axis of Lagos.

The idea of the project is to open up all our sub-urban communities, reduce traffic congestion and then create better life for the people, Governor Ambode said.

As he responded to calls for more infrastructural projects in Alimosho, Ambode said as part of the continuation of the development of the axis, the state government will dredge the Ilo River, rehabilitate Adekoya, Makinde, Subaru Oje, Old Ota and Ishefun-Ijan roads which would be connected to a Jetty through which people can take a boat ride to connect Lagos Marina in twenty minutes.

He also said that a modern bus terminal and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor would soon be constructed in the axis.

We would do more. Based on the budget for 2018, there are more infrastructure that we have to put in this community. You deserve a bus terminal, you also deserve BRT and you would get it.

One of the stretch of roads commissioned on April 2 by Governor Ambode. Credit: Lagos Press

We deserve more commerce and we want to do economic integration of all the south-western states and the nearest to us is Ogun state and thats why we are expanding the road network to enter into the boundary of Ogun state.

We will do it between Epe and Ijebu Ode also to enter into the Ijebu-Ode Ore Express road. That is what economic integration is, that is how to expand commerce, thats how to create jobs for our people and by this project people in this community will benefit from the jobs and also benefit from the commerce and that is what inclusive governance is all about, the governor said.

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Speaking at the commissioning of Aiyetoro Bridge, the senator representing Lagos West district, Olamilekan Adeola, said the governor had surpassed the expectations of Lagosians, noting that many residents in the area who had left years ago are returning to the axis due to the massive infrastructural renewal by the present administration.

Your excellency, we are assuring you of giving you one million votes in the coming election from Alimosho alone because if we should look at it during this your administration, Alimosho uses to be one of the great beneficiary.

Alimosho local government is one of the biggest beneficiaries today alone, 21 roads with two bridges. We have commissioned many in the past. One of the longest bridges after the Third Mainland was also commissioned in this Alimosho local government last year.

The governor and other officials taking a walk on one of the newly constructed roads. Credit: Lagos Press

You know Alimosho used to be called Tinubu home country but now it is Ambode's destination abode we are taken aback and marveled with the level of work done you have done in Alimosho Local government, Adeola said.

Those commissioned are Ikola road with Bridge (7.2km), Aiyetoro road with Bridge (1.280km), Dualization of Raypower road (2.7km), Amikanle (3.340km), Oko Filling (1.660km), Ogunseye (1.870km), Osenatu Ilo (0.700km), Aina Aladi (1.109km), Oluwasanya (0.636km), Igbehinadun (0.360km) and Community (0.750km).

Others are Isoto (0.730km), Palace (0.660km), Timothy Afolabi (0.745km), Peak Thomas Bright Crescent (0.490km), Baale (0.710km), Joe Ikebudu (0.460km), Bishop Oderinde (0.270km), Alhaji Ganiyu Salami (0.520km), Kadiri Adebambo (0.533km) and Church (0.710km).

Legit.ng earlier reported that the national leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, once revealed one of his greatest fears in 2015 and that was the year Nigeria had its general election which produced Governor Ambode of Lagos state.

Tinubu, who spoke while commissioning network of roads, link bridge and health centre in the Alimosho area of the state as part of activities to mark his 65th birthday, Tinubu said the achievements of Ambode in office were a reflection of one who is not only a thinker but a doer.

Martin Luther King Award Scandal: Buhari recognized for leadership? |Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- A group of clerics have condemned the call to self-defence made by Theophilus Danjuma

- The national coordinator of the group said it is worrisome for someone who once held the position of a defence minister to have made such call

- Gabriel Obubah warned Nigerians against false doctrines that could multiply at times like these

A group of northern preachers have condemned the self-defence statement made by a former minister of defence, Theophilus Danjuma, over killings in Taraba state and its environs.

The preachers cutting across ethnic affiliation under the Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organizations for Peace (NIFROP) said the statement made by Danjuma is against the state. The group said it is worrisome for someone who once held the position of a defence minister to have made such call.

The national coordinator of NIFROP, Bishop Gabriel Obubah, while speaking to journalists in Abuja said had someone else made such call, Danjuma should be in a position to query the belief system of such a person.

"We decry the situation where certain elements lay claim to Christianity to order adherents to go on killing sprees against persons of other faiths. Those making such calls definitely practice other religious belief and not Christianity because the Bible as every religion frowns at wanton taking of life as being advocated by some heretics.

READ ALSO: Interpol reveals why Senator Dino Melaye, others have not been added to its wanted list as declared by Nigerian police

"Our charge to Nigerians is to beware since false doctrines would multiply at times like these while national security concerns would be exploited by the unscrupulous.

"The Northern Inter-Faith Religious Organisation for Peace salutes the President Buhari led administration on its efforts on security, without which the peddlers of discord would have succeeded in their bid to destabilize our dear nation.

"We hail the efforts of the Nigerian Army, in particular, for protecting the lives of all citizens without consideration for ethnic or religious affiliation. It is the Nigerian Army that has stood against wanton destruction of lives and properties by people who are diabolically possessed to the point of desperately being in a hurry to lead an ethic war in the country," Obubah said.

The clerics condemned the call to self-defence made by Theophilus Danjuma. Photo credit: Chris Oko

Further speaking, Obubah scored the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration high on the handling of security situations in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Presidency reacts as Obasanjo calls Buhari's administration incompetent

Obubah said the president and the Nigerian Army have demonstrated in clear terms that there would be no compromise or favoritism on the handling of sensitive security situations in the country irrespective of pressure by some highly placed individuals.

He also praised the Nigerian Army and its personnel for the courageous decisions and sacrifices that it has continued to make in order to defend the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its people.

According to the group, President Buhari remains a good man who means well for the country. The group said the president through his careful handling of security situations has helped in no doubt to secure the country and avoid the unwanton killing of persons across the country.

"Prophets of doom had once concluded that the end has come for Nigeria on the strength of the satanic activities of Boko Haram but our Almighty God saw to it that the terror group is but a distraction that has almost been completely conquered and we are emerging stronger.

"Once the right political will was marshaled by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian Army has been able to decimate the terrorists to the point that those that continue to affiliate with Boko Haram are officially endangered species in todays Nigeria.

"Because evil ones are always out on the prowl to devour the innocent, it is no surprise that what the followers of the devil have failed to achieve through Boko Haram they now want to achieve under the label of 'armed herdsmen'," the group said.

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Legit.ng earlier reported that the Presidency had said that Danjuma's call to self-defence is tantamount to causing anarchy in Nigeria.

Tukur Gusau, the spokesperson to the minister of defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, said Danjuma's statement was uncalled for and should be disregarded by well meaning Nigerians.

Gasau said the efforts of the Nigerian Armed Forces towards restoring peace, security and order in Nigeria are evidently clear.

Benue IDPs: Education amidst crisis | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
State governors in Nigeria on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are reportedly meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari inside Aso Rock reportedly in their bid to pressure the him to seek re-election in 2019.

While Premium Times reports that the details of the meeting were not yet made public at the time of this report, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) says it could be related to the governors plan to put pressure on Buhari to seek re-election in 2019.

According to the report, the meeting began at about 2.15pm and is holding inside the council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting may also deliberate on some national and party issues including the presidents disapproval of tenure elongation for APC national executives.

READ ALSO: 2019: Neither PDP nor APC can get us there - Obasanjo (video)

The governors had, on February 22, met behind closed doors, after which the president pledged to address the nation on whether he will seek re-election in 2019.

The chairman of the APC Governors Forum, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo, who spoke to State House correspondents on the outcome of the February meeting, said the president was to address the caucus of the APC on the matter.

We discussed so many issues that affect the nation, our party and Mr Presidents ambition to run for 2019 elections.

Anyhow, Mr President in his usual manner has requested that we give him time and that he will address the nation and the caucus of the party very soon.

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So we should be full of expectations that Mr President will make officially known to Nigerians his intentions.

But we hope that his response will be in line with what the governors are thinking, Okorocha said after the February meeting

Legit.ng earlier reported that state governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) recently said their mission to Daura, Katsina state, was merely to condole President Muhammadu Buhari over the loss of two members of his extended family.

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo, stated this when he fielded questions from newsmen after a closed door meeting with President Buhari at his private resident in Daura.

Martin Luther King Award Scandal: Buhari recognized for leadership? |Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
- A report has claimed that London used phones sold in Nigeria are mostly stolen in the UK

- The report says that countries across Europe, the US and South America have signed a deal to blacklist stolen devices

- It states that stolen phone business is booming in Nigeria because the Nigerian government has not signed up to the global deal blacklisting stolen phones

According to an investigation by The Sun UK, the fairly used phones popularly referred to as London-used that have flooded the Nigerian phone markets are mostly stolen from the UK.

The report claims that the proliferation of fairly used phones in Nigeria has a link with the increased rate of phone snatching in the United Kingdom.

According to the report, thugs who move around with motorised bicycles, also known as mopeds, often arm themselves with acid to scare victims and make away with their phones  iPhone users being the major victims.

READ ALSO: Jonathans billionaire supporter hired Cambridge Analytica to hack Buharis medical, financial records ahead of 2015 elections - Report

MOPED thugs are snatching tens of thousands of phones on UK streets to supply a booming black market run by crime lords in Nigeria, the report states.

Between June 2016 and 2017, UK Metropolitan police reportedly recorded 16,158 phone crimes related to mopeds, three times more than the previous years record.

How the phone snatchers operate

According to the report, they travel in twos to a moped so the passenger can grab valuables as they pass a victim.

The phones they grab are first plundered of data which is used to try to hack bank accounts.

The report says thugs who move around with motorised bicycles often arm themselves with acid to scare victims and make away with their phones. Credit: The Sun UK

They are then sold on in bulk to middle men who ship them to eastern Europe to be stripped of private information and reconditioned.

The phones are then moved on for sale  with Nigeria, Algeria and India the main markets.

The thieves usually travel in twos to a moped so the passenger can grab valuables as they pass a victim. Credit: The Sun UK

Computer Village, Ikeja Lagos

The report specifically named Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos as being the receiving market where the UK stolen phones are sold.

At the popular Lagos market for phones and computers, the report says iPhones are on sale for 560, a price which is reportedly 310 cheaper than the authorised price.

Thousands of 'London- used' phones end up for sale at Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos. Credit: The Sun UK

The report read in part: Sun investigators discovered UK used iPhones being sold for 560 in stores and markets in Nigerias largest city Lagos. Business is booming for the Nigerian racketeers because of soaring demand from the oil-rich middle classes in a country where hi-tech gadgets are relatively scarce.

However, Computer Village phone traders reportedly questioned during the investigation insisted their merchandise was from reputable sources.

A seller at Emeka Michael EB International Shop was quoted to have said: Most of our phones are London used.

Why the stolen phone business is booming in Nigeria

The report further claims that the stolen phones business is booming in Nigeria because the Nigerian government has not signed up to a deal prohibiting the sales of stolen phones across the world.

Another part of the report: And because Nigeria has not signed up to a global deal blacklisting stolen phones, British moped gangs are able to keep the crime bosses supplied by exporting tens of thousands of snatched mobiles.

Countries across Europe, the US and South America have signed a deal to effectively blacklist stolen devices. It gives each phone a unique number which is added to a global database when it is reported stolen  making it useless in those nations who are part of the agreement.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

But Nigeria is yet to sign up. And a mobile industry source said: By staying off the blacklist they are creating the market for stolen mobile phones. If all nations stood together, a mobile would be useless once reported stolen. But countries like Nigeria are effectively inviting illicit imports.

A combination of corrupt officials, unscrupulous businesses and a booming demand for Western technology makes Nigeria an ideal place for handlers to send stolen handsets.

Reacting to the report, a Lagos police spokesman was quoted to have said: I am not aware that stolen phones from the UK end up in Lagos. If there is a complaint about a stolen phone in Lagos we shall investigate it.

In an earlier report by Legit.ng, an executive member of the National Union of Road and Transport Workers (NURTW) Ajegunle Unit identified as Bamidele confessed that he purchased over 4,256 mobile phones from robbers, pickpockets and one-chance gang operating in Lagos state.

He equally confessed to the RRS Intelligence Team that he had over 52 boys in the state who steal and sell clean phones to him constantly.

Popularly known as Elewure in the social circle, Bamidele was arrested when the RRS Intelligence Team quizzed two stolen phones users in Kogi state in connection with abduction and robbery cases in Lagos state.

The operatives had upon returning from a week-long investigation in Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kogi states, swung into actions by arresting Bamidele in his shop in Boundary Market, Ajegunle, after he was pointed to have been the seller of two Blackberry Z10 phones and a CAT phone collected from victims of robbery and abduction incidences in the metropolis.

Market Survey: Meet the real hustlers, hawkers on the streets of Lagos - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit
- NAF special forces have been deployed to Zamfara state

- This is due to the recent attack in which several lives were lost

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has directed the NAF special forces be deployed to Zamfara, as part of efforts to stop the incessant banditry attacks in the state.

The directive was in response to the recent attack on Bawan Daji community in Anka local government area of the state where some lives were lost.

Legit.ng gathered that the special forces, who were trained in asymmetric warfare, were airlifted from Kaduna state with the NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft to complement the efforts of other security forces on ground to prevent further attack on innocent citizens.

The special forces are expected to complement the efforts of other security agencies in Zamfara state. Photo credit: NAF

READ ALSO: Easter: CAS fetes front-line troops in northeast (photos)

The personnel and other supporting staff would operate from the recently established 207 Quick Response Group in Gusau, the state capital, where they would reinforce the existing regiment personnel in the unit in support of the ongoing Operation Sharan Daji in the state.

They were airlifted from Kaduna state with the NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft. Photo credit: NAF

In his address to the troops at Gusau shortly before their deployment today, Tuesday, April 3, the Air Officer Commanding Special Operations Command, Air Vice Marshal Ismaila Kaita, announced that the special forces would be further deployed to remote areas of Zamfara state, where they would be engaged in internal security operations.

The special forces being briefed about their journey to Zamfara state. Photo credit: NAF

He therefore, further urged them to effectively utilize their experience and training to protect the lives and properties of the people of Zamfara state, adding that the NAF leadership expects the special forces to exhibit the highest standards of professionalism and respect for human rights in discharging their duties.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army on Wednesday, March 21. began a comprehensive rotation exercise of 3,000 troops engaged in ongoing campaign against Boko Haram terrorists in the northeast.

The theatre commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Rogers Nicholas, made the disclosure while addressing the rotated troops in Maiduguri. He explained that the exercise was approved by the army headquarters to serve as a morale booster and enhance troops operation.

READ ALSO: NAF commences issuance of new ID cards with enhanced security features

Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper
- The Katsina state government is investing heavily on rural electrification

- The government is said to have spent about N1.5 billion on the project in the state

- The goal is to improve the standard of living if rural dwellers in all nooks and crannies of the state

The Katsina state government has so far spent about N1.5 billion on the electrification of rural communities in the state this year.

This was revealed by the director-general, media and publicity to the state government, Malam Ibrahim Muazzam in an interaction with journalists in the state. He noted that the contracts cut across all local government areas in the state.

He listed the electrification projects to include the installation of transformers in Mashi town at the cost of over N14 million and the completion of the electricity sub-station in Kankara town at the cost of over N22 million.

Muazzam said Bagaruwa town in Mani local government area was also connected to the national grid at the cost of over N14 million while two 300KVA transformers were installed at Dabai and Magogo in Danja local government area.

Others include the installation of four 300KVA transformers in Batagarawa town, Kaukai, Sabon Kwalbati and Jino all in Batagarawa local government area.

Katsina state governor, Aminu Masari, is investing heavily on on rural electrification. Photo credit: Katsina state government

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Bauchi state government trains 1400 security personnel

The DG media noted that contracts worth about N1 billion was awarded for constituency electrification projects across the 34 local government areas of the state, as over N300 million has already been paid as mobilisation fees to the contractors.

He said these efforts were aimed at improving the standard of living if rural dwellers in all nooks and crannies of the state.

Meanwhile, the Tunisian association for future of science and technology, has presented special award of excellence to the Katsina state governor, Aminu Bello Masari.

Presenting the award recently at the Tunisian city of Monastir, the association said the award was based on the governor's immeasurable outstanding support in the development of innovation in science and technology.

The award was received on behalf of the governor by Musa Abdu Dankama, the director education resource center in the state ministry of education on behalf of the education commissioner, Professor Badamasi Lawal Chiranci.

READ ALSO: Buhari will win 2019 presidential poll, likewise Masari in Katsina - Kurfi

Nigerian electricity crisis explained on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
By Gaius Publius, a professional writer living on the West Coast of the United States and frequent contributor to DownWithTyranny, digby, Truthout, and Naked Capitalism. Follow him on Twitter @Gaius_Publius, Tumblr and Facebook. GP article archive here. Originally published at DownWithTyranny

The Jetsons life in one is which so little work is done by humans that leisure time has expanded exponentially and no one is poor. In the image above, even the robot maid has robots to serve her. Whats the unspoken assumption behind the Jetsons world?

the swarthy Furies stalk the man

gone rich beyond all rights

Aeschylus, Agamemnon

Im about to start writing about the new proposal from Stephanie Kelton and her colleagues at the Levy Institute on the guaranteed jobs program, a proposal, by the way, thats starting to get some serious notice.

But ahead of that work I want to consider an extreme case, but not an unlikely one. What if, in the future, there simply arent enough jobs for everyone? What then?

Put more simply, whats the underlying assumption behind the world of the Jetsons? The late Stephen Hawking, in his last Reddit AMA appearance, has the answer.

Technological Unemployment

Heres what was asked of Stephen Hawking in that last AMA session by one Reddit questioner (emphasis mine):

Im rather late to the question-asking party, but Ill ask anyway and hope. Have you thought about the possibility of technological unemployment, where we develop automated processes that ultimately cause large unemployment by performing jobs faster and/or cheaper than people can perform them? Some compare this thought to the thoughts of the Luddites, whose revolt was caused in part by perceived technological unemployment over 100 years ago. In particular, do you foresee a world where people work less because so much work is automated? Do you think people will always either find work or manufacture more work to be done? Thank you for your time and your contributions. Ive found research to be a largely social endeavor, and youve been an inspiration to so many.

A fascinating question. But first a note: Technological unemploymentis the term for exactly what we mentioned at the beginning, the loss of jobs caused by technological change. As Wikipedia explains, Such change typically includes the introduction of labour-saving mechanical-muscle machines or more efficient mechanical-mind processes (automation).

Wikipedia continues: Historical examples include artisan weavers reduced to poverty after the introduction of mechanised looms. During World War II, Alan Turings Bombe machine compressed and decoded thousands of man-years worth of encrypted data in a matter of hours. A contemporary example of technological unemployment is the displacement of retail cashiers by self-service tills [automated checkout machines].

Its hard to imagine a world without enough jobs if youre living reasonably comfortably in the U.S. But consider India, to pick just one example. What could possibly happen in the Indian economy that would allow its 1.3 billion people  a population four times the U.S. population  all to live reasonably comfortably? India already doesnt have enough good jobs for its people  and thats before considering the the pressures of automation.

Considered globally, there are already not enough jobs in the world for all the people in it.

But the problem posed by job-killing automation (robots, in the popular imagination) still needs a solution. What if, even in developed countries, the average number of working hours available is fewer than eight per day, perhaps far fewer?

This is Stephen Hawkings answer, and its the same solution in the future case of mathematically too few jobs as in the present case (emphasis mine):

If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.

In a world where more and more people are squeezed by fewer jobs, lower-paying jobs, and the relentless flow of newly created wealth into fewer and fewer hands, the only solution is, as Hawking says, wealth redistribution. The alternative is stark: organized society will simply crumble into poverty  and in my view, rebellion.

The Most Dangerous Time for Our Planet: How Will Elites React?

Ive been saying that both the U.S. and the rest of the world are in a pre-revolutionary state. Hawking, in an earlier Guardian article, says something similar. He calls the increasing inequality socially destructive, and for that and other reasons names this the most dangerous time for our planet:

The concerns underlying these votes [Brexit and the election of Donald Trump] about the economic consequences of globalisation and accelerating technological change are absolutely understandable. The automation of factories has already decimated jobs in traditional manufacturing, and the rise of artificial intelligence is likely to extend this job destruction deep into the middle classes, with only the most caring, creative or supervisory roles remaining. This in turn will accelerate the already widening economic inequality around the world. The internet and the platforms that it makes possible allow very small groups of individuals to make enormous profits while employing very few people. This is inevitable, it is progress, but it is also socially destructive. We need to put this alongside the financial crash, which brought home to people that a very few individuals working in the financial sector can accrue huge rewards and that the rest of us underwrite that success and pick up the bill when their greed leads us astray. So taken together we are living in a world of widening, not diminishing, financial inequality, in which many people can see not just their standard of living, but their ability to earn a living at all, disappearing. It is no wonder then that they are searching for a new deal, which Trump and Brexit might have appeared to represent.

Hawking identifies the solution. He does not call for reaction and resistance by the ruled, since he considers the Brexit vote and the election of Trump already to be reactions to inequality. He calls instead for intelligent response by those with actual power, the elites themselves:

What matters now, far more than the choices made by these two electorates, is how the elites react. Should we [he considers himself, correctly, one of the cultural elites], in turn, reject these votes as outpourings of crude populism that fail to take account of the facts, and attempt to circumvent or circumscribe the choices that they represent? I would argue that this would be a terrible mistake.

I agree with his last statement above. Ive been putting it this way:

Its up to the rich to stand down. Its up to police to stand down. Its up to the predators to stop feeding on us, eating our money, our labor  and in the case of the torturers in our security community  our pain, which they give us to please themselves. If the rich are determined to extract the last drop of blood  expect the victims to put up a fuss. And dont expect that fuss to be pretty.

When all power belongs to the state and the rulers who guide it, the people can only make their needs known. And if those needs are ignored, all they can then do is destroy the world of their betters, prior, perhaps, to taking power themselves, an event which often never occurs. In the face of elites resistance, especially extreme resistance, only destruction of the old will allow the powerless to create the new, if thats indeed what they do.

The most orderly modern form of taking power for themselves occurred in 2016  the electoral rebellion against the Clintonist-Obamist neoliberal rulers of the Democratic Party by people supporting Bernie Sanders. That revolt was put down, as Party elites pulled every lever available to retain control.

There may be one more orderly, electoral attempt in 2020  or not; the choices may be miserable. But if it does occur, unless elites stand down, unless the next electoral rebellion is permitted to succeed, the popular response to failure wont be electoral, and could be decidedly disorderly.

Hawking, the enormous optimist, puts the problem faced by the elites more politely: We can do this, I am an enormous optimist for my species; but it will require the elites, from London to Harvard, from Cambridge to Hollywood, to learn the lessons of the past year. To learn above all a measure of humility.
By Hubert Horan, who has 40 years of experience in the management and regulation of transportation companies (primarily airlines). Horan has no financial links with any urban car service industry competitors, investors or regulators, or any firms that work on behalf of industry participants

One of the themes of this Can Uber Ever Deliver series over the last eighteen months is how many mainstream business/technology publications have proactively worked to legitimize and amplify Ubers preferred PR/propaganda narrative.[1] Uber has always understood that the most effective way to instill belief in its public relations campaign is to have it presented by seemingly independent, objective outsiders.

The latest addition to the pro-Uber PR/propaganda genre is Sheelah Kolhatkars At Uber, a New C.E.O. Shifts Gears, the main feature in the 9 April edition of the New Yorker magazine.[2]The article fails to answer the central question it poses about Ubers future coherently, but provides a textbook illustration of how to write corporate PR/propaganda that naive readers could easily mistake for honest journalism.

The problem is not that some stories have a pro-Uber slant or might reach pro-Uber conclusions. The problems are that the conclusions arent backed by objective evidence, and the slants are created by artificially constructed story lines that prevent readers from evaluating available evidence and competing perspectives. These narratives use classic propaganda techniques to create favorable feelings about Uber, while distracting attention from Ubers uncompetitive economics and awful financial results, and from viewpoints inconsistent with the idea that Uber has an enormously powerful business model producing ongoing growth that will continue to be a wonderful thing for society.

A legitimate pro-Uber piece using traditional approaches would clearly state its pro-Uber conclusions, the evidence and assumptions supporting those conclusions, and would allow readers to understand key contrary evidence and counter-arguments. PR/propaganda pieces are structured to look like objective reporting, but cherry pick available data while deliberately ignoring counter-arguments, present undocumented assertions as key findings, fail to clearly state or document major conclusions (so they cannot be readily challenged) and depend heavily on emotive language designed to manipulate readers. All of these approaches are used in Kohlatkars article.

Totally Ignore Economic/Financial Evidence. In the case of Uber, the easiest way to distinguish pieces honestly trying to inform readers from pieces designed to mislead them is that the former will prominently feature hard data about Ubers competitive and financial performance and the latter will go to great lengths to ignore objective economic data. In an 8400 word article, only 11 words mention any of Ubers financial results. Kolhatkar briefly notes Ubers $4.5 billion 2017 P&L loss at the end of the 32nd paragraph, and then quickly shifts to discuss the Eric Holder report about sexual harassment issues. In an 8400 word article, Kolhatkar chose not to mention that Ubers losses had been steadily increasing (up from $2.6 billion in 2015)[3], or that Ubers losses have burned through $10.7 billion of the investors cash to date.[4]The author wanted to leave readers with a favorable impression of Uber but was not interested in helping readers understand why Uber has incurred such staggering large losses, or what it would take to achieve sustainable profitability, or how investors might actually earn returns on their investments.

Tell Only One Side of the Story. The second unmistakable giveaway that this is PR/propaganda, not honest journalism is that Kolhatkar and her editors only present one side of the Uber story. Everyone quoted is an Uber stakeholder, invested in Ubers eventual success. Nowhere in 8400 words is there any mention of anyone who might have a different perspective or hold different viewscompetitors, government officials, drivers, local transport experts or any of the many journalists who have been following Uber over the years.

The article relies heavily on lengthy interviews with new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Uber investor Bill Gurley, and various other executives and Board members. As discussed in Part Eight of this series in the context of Brad Stones January 2017 book The Upstarts, Uber has never provided this kind of inside access to journalists without assurances (implicit or explicit) that the resulting story would present Ubers spin and would exclude contradictory arguments and evidence. Kolhatkar doesnt disclose how she got detailed access to Khosrowshahi, Gurley and other insiders, or why she didnt interview anyone who wasnt an Uber insider.

Make False Central Claim: That Uber is Financially Successful . Financial data is ignored because the objective of Kolhatkar and her editors is to sell New Yorker readers on Ubers current narrativeit is a fundamentally successful company whose recent travails were anomalous and were fixed when Uber fired CEO Travis Kalanick and hired Khosrowshahi, and is now back on the path to further success. Those objectives are summarized nicely in the articles subtitle: Dara Khosrowshahi is charged with turning the scandal-plagued startup into a traditional companywithout sacrificing what made it successful.

The word success is applied to Uber five times in the articles first 1000 words. But Kolhatkars emphasis on Ubers continued financial success and her claim that Uber is one of the most successfulcompanies in Silicon Valley is fundamentally dishonest and easily refuted. This willful attempt to mislead readers depends on ignoring the financial data showing that Ubers growing multi-billion dollar losses in its eighth year of operations are unprecedented in Silicon Valley history[5], and that Ubers peer companies, who (unlike Uber) have fully exposed themselves to the scrutiny of capital markets and have actually produced strong positive cash flows, profits and shareholder returns. Kolhatkars does not try to substantiate her central success claim save for vague references to rapid growth and strong brand awareness.

There may be a general perception that Uber is successful among readers of mainstream media, but this was manufactured by Ubers communications programs, and reinforced by reporters like Kohlatkar who have no interest in seriously investigating the question.

Emphasize Emotive, Personality Issues to Distract Readers from Looming Business Challenges. Kolhatkars story mentions the bad publicity Uber received in 2017,[6] and would have no credibility if she had ignored these widely known issues. This was also true of Brad Stones January 2018 article on the fall of Travis Kalanick;[7] Both show how the scandals and crises of 2017 forced Uber to shift its narrative from one depicting an unstoppable march to global industry dominance[8 ]to one emphasizing its redemption and recovery from an inexplicable run of ill fortune. In both cases, the stories present Ubers currently preferred presentation in the guise of a story by an independent, objective journalist.

Kohlatkar glosses over the causes of recent crises, and falsely claims that Uber could not have foreseen that harassment issues raised by Susan Fowler but moved forcefully to solve those problems once they became aware of them. In order to make Uber seem more like a victim than a perpetrator, Kohlatkar absurdly asserts that [p]roblems of gender discrimination werent as immediately obvious ignoring a huge body of reporting where Uber was the poster boy for Silicon Valley misogyny, and the near-universal belief that Fowlers claims of systemic harassment were entirely accurate. Kohlatkar willfully misrepresents the Eric Holder study, which was actually designed to whitewash the harassment issue. Its original version did not sanction anyone in Ubers senior management, but was hurriedly rewritten after news of Ubers misuse of police files on a Delhi rape victim emerged made the whitewash untenable.[9]

Kohlatkar dedicates almost a third of her entire story to creating a warm and fuzzy impression of Khosrowshahi. She is not writing a traditional CEO profile which would emphasize things like his specific actions and accomplishments at Expedia, his contract terms at Uber, and his proposed solutions for its various challenges. Those topics are ignored because Kohlatkars objective is to sell Ubers redemption/recover story and to give readers the impression that, regardless of whatever happened before, the change of CEOs solved those problems. Thus she highlights the Kalanicknasty guy/ Khosrowshahinice guy dichotomy. Since Khosrowshahi is a nice guy, readers should root for his (and Ubers) future success.

Khosrowshahi is described as a flatterer, diplomat, negotiator, and salesman who was selected by Ubers board because of his personality: agreeable, unthreatening, comfortable with the kind of corporate talk that investors find reassuring. He displayed cultural sensitivity while visiting Ubers India operations. He supports the immigrant dreamers affected by the Trump Administrations attempt to end the DACA program. He grew up in what colleagues described as the most family-oriented family I ever met and his parents valued education highly. He drove a rented Volvo on his first date with his current wife. Their current house (on 23 acres in the San Juan Islands) has is decorated in eighty-year-old grandma rock star style, and Khosrowshahi helped with the dishes after Kolhatkar ate dinner there.

But Kolhatkar provides absolutely no evidence explaining how Khosrowshahis positive traits could solve the business challenges he faces or how they could rapidly transform a company with a deeply entrenched personality that embodies its nasty guy former CEO. Nothing in the story explains why issues of personal style might have any bearing on whether Khosrowshahi can achieve his commitment to Ubers board to a 2019 IPO at a $120 billion public valuation, 75% richer than Ubers inflated $70 billion private valuation.[10]Or on his promise to eventually grow Uber to 20-30 times its current size ($146-220 billion in annual revenue).

Depict 2017 Crises Falsely as Mere Cultural Issues Unrelated to the Underlying Business. Kolhatkars narrative insists that the 2017 crises were purely cultural. Ubers board hopes that Khosrowshahi will be able to repair the companys image. That suggests that the board believes the crises wouldnt have happened if Kalanick managed PR better and had hired someone to play the role Sheryl Sandberg has played at Facebook.[11]Kohlatkar quotes a Uber investor framing the challenge as [h]ow does Dara preserve the positive aspects of the culture and change the aspects that are in desperate need of changing while still competing fiercely? This reinforces the redemption/recovery narrative where the underlying business model was always sound, and the appointment of someone with Khosrowshahis personality will fix supposedly non-core problems that arose in 2017 and put Uber back on the path to success. Theres no need for readers to know more about problems with the underlying business.

But unfortunately for Kohlatkar, even if you withhold the overwhelming awful financial data from readers, the internal contradictions come through. The nice guy cleaning up the nasty guys mess meme fails because she admits that Ubers previous C.E.O., Travis Kalanick, had built the company into an extraordinary success.

More importantly, her description of Kalanicks culture shows that it was directly drove that extraordinary success; it wasnt peripheral bad stuff can be readily excised from the good stuff. That culture included Kalanicks monomaniacal focus on results, active support for breaking rules and taking a combative stance towards any competitor, regulator or journalist that might stand in the way of growth. The idea that high performers should operate totally free of any constraints was an explicit corporate value. Kohlatkar admits that Ubers continued financial success has reinforced the idea that ruthlessness will be rewarded.

Ubers unexpected 2017 cultural problems that the Board fixed by hiring Khosrowshahi meme requires ignoring (as Kohlatkar does) Ubers long pre-2017 history of willfully disobeying local laws, competitor sabotage and journalist harassment.[12] A corporate culture that long celebrated ruthlessness and rule breaking will inevitably lead to the theft of intellectual property, the development of software designed to obstruct law enforcement, and attempts to use stolen police reports to attack rape victims and competitors. High performers free of any constraints will inevitably lead to the systematic harassment of their female staff.

As has been discussed at length in earlier parts of this series, the culture Kalanick established was an integral part of Ubers business strategy. If Uber had not openly celebrated law breaking and a monomaniacal focus on bulldozing anything standing in its way, it would have collapsed long ago. Until mid-2017, Ubers investors uttered nary a critical word about any of these issues, because they knew that Kalanicks ruthless culture was directly responsible for the results (rapid growth, large valuation) they wanted.

Uber was not a financially successful company that happened to be run by a bunch of guys with unfortunate views about women. Ubers had a ruthless culture because it has always had uncompetitive economics. Companies that can generate sustainable profits because they are significantly more efficient than competitors do not need to celebrate rule breaking, steal intellectual property, harass journalists or tolerate systemic sexual harassment. Uber will not resume its financial success with a more enlightened CEO and increased sensitivity training.

Alert readers will also note multiple cases where Kohlatkar presents comments from Uber insiders that contradict the Uber now back on the path to success part of the narrative.

If Ubers past success was a function of rapid growth, and Khosrowshahi wants people to believe that Uber has the potential to grow by 20-30 times, doesnt Ubers steady recent abandonment of overseas operations (China, Russia, Southeast Asia, and potentially India) contradict that strategy? If growth and dominating markets (the way other tech companies have done) is critical but was fueled by subsidies, wont efforts to improve profits by eliminating subsidies reduce demand and increase competition?[13]

Uber may have realized that alienating drivers was a strategic mistake but wouldnt higher commissions make losses even worse, and wont Ubers efforts to eliminate drivers make this alienation much worse? If long-term success in the driverless car industry is a strategic imperative, as Kalanick and now Khosrowshahi believe, doesnt that suggest that they believe that they could never earn returns for investors by operating traditional taxis? Kohlatkar makes no effort to help her readers understand these questions, or anything that doesnt directly support Ubers preferred narrative.

Fail to Answer the Articles Central Question. At the outset of the article, Kohlatkar tells her readers that she will address the question of whether Dara Khosrowshahi can turn Uber from a scandal-plagued startup into a traditional companywithout sacrificing what made it successful. Despite 8400 words, the article totally fails to either answer that question, or to lay out for her readers the key issues that will determine whether Khosrowshahi can meet that challenge. While I had not known that Khosrowshahis home has a eighty-year-old grandma rock star style, I did not notice any substantive points in these 8400 words that had not been previously reported.

Kohlatkars actual objective is to get her readers to buy into the spin that Uber has always been a fundamentally successful company, and the recent crises her readers have heard about are utterly unrelated to problems with the companys business model. Readers should root for Khosrowshahi because hes such a nice guy, and should have some sympathy for Ubers effort to redeem itself from an annus horribilus that no company deserved.

To sell this fable, Kohlatkar almost completely eliminates any mention of actual Uber financial results, makes no attempt to explain what she think caused Ubers many 2017 issues and crises, spends much of the article on touchy-feely aspects of personality and style, presents the change of management as a victory for the good guy over a bad guy, and makes no attempt to help her readers understand what Khosrowshahi would actually have to do to reverse billions in losses and meet his ambitious IPO and growth objectives.

This narrative was not based on independent, objective reporting. It is central to the article because Kohlatkar and the editors of the New Yorker deliberately chose to support the PR/propaganda objectives of Ubers investors.

______________

[1]Part IV of my Transportation Law Journal article, Will the Growth of Uber Increase Economic Welfare?44 Transp. L.J., 33 (2017) Available for download at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2933177 and Part Nine of this series (15 Mar 17) document how Ubers narratives have always been directly based on propaganda techniques, the strategic importance of Ubers PR/propaganda programs, and Ubers success in getting its narratives uncritically endorsed in the mainstream media. Parts Six (2 Jan 2017) Seven (31 Jan 2017) Eight (16 Feb 2017) and Twelve (23 Jan 2018) of this NC series provide further examples of pro-Uber pieces presented in mainstream outlets as if they were independent, objective analysis but which follow the precise structure of propaganda.

[2]Kolhatkar, Sheelah, At Uber, a New C.E.O. Shifts Gears, New Yorker, 9 April 2018.

[3]Part 13 of this series (16 Feb 2018) summarizes Ubers P&L history through the end of 2017. Parts I and II of the Transportation law Journal document the reasons for these huge, ongoing losseswhy Ubers is a structurally less efficient producer of taxi service than the incumbents it has been driving out of business, that if lacks the strong scale/network economies digitally based companies have used to grow into profitability and that its growth has depended on massive predatory subsidies funded by Ubers unusually large investment base.

[4]King, Ian & Newcomer, Eric, Uber Spent $10.7 Billion in Nine Years. Does It Have Enough to Show for It? Bloomberg, 6 March 2018

[5]To cite one of many possible sources, King & Newcomer document that Ubers revenue and profit performance are dramatically inferior to other public companies with similar valuations, that no Silicon Valley funded startup lost anywhere near as much as Uber over its first eight years, that only one public technology related company experienced an annual loss larger than Ubers 2017 loss, and ratios of sales to market value show Uber offers much less potential to investors than comparable companies.

[6]Early 2017 crises included Kalanicks inept handling of his decision to join Donald Trumps business advisory council Ubers response to a taxi strike at Kennedy Airport, Susan Fowlers blogpost documenting Ubers tolerance of systemic sexual harassment, a video showing Kalanicks profane response to a driver unhappy with changes to Ubers pricing policies, the disclosure that Uber had used a system called Greyball to obstruct local law enforcement and Googles lawsuit alleging Ubers theft of its driverless car intellectual property. Later crises included lawsuits between Board members following the breakdown of company governance processes, the disclosure that senior managers had illegally obtained confidential police files on the rape of an Uber passenger in Delhi (and sought to blame the accusations on competitors), and the failure to disclose of major breach of confidential customer data. Kolhatkar failed to mention the shutdown of Uber China, which had lost over $1 billion.

[7]The January 2018 Stone article on Kalanick, (The Fall of Travis Kalanick Was a Lot Weirder and Darker Than You Thought Bloomberg Business Week22 Jan 2018) is discussed in Part Twelve of this series.

[8]Prior to 2017, Ubers narrative emphasized that its powerful business model was based on major technological innovations; that resistance to Uber was driven by regulators and The Big Taxi Cartel who wanted to corruptly deny consumers the benefits of Ubers substantially superior service; that strong profits would quickly emerge as they had for all other tech startups, and that since Ubers business model could overwhelm competitors anywhere, it would inevitably dominate the global taxi industry, and make major inroads on private car ownership and public transit. See the TLJ article pp.85-86, and Part Eight of this series, which documents how Stones The Upstarts faithfully replicates that Uber narrative. Part Twelve notes that Stones 2018 article is totally inconsistent with his 2017 book because he has shifted from amplifying (no longer credible) Ubers global domination narrative to its more realistic redemption/recovery narrative

[9]Events related to the Holder report are described in detail in Part Ten of this series (15 June 2017)

[10]Since it would undermine her attempt to generate reader sympathy, Kohlatkar also fails to mention that Khosrowshahi was one of the highest paid CEOs in America while at Expedia, and does not disclose his salary at Uber. Presumably, those terms are far more generous than his Expedia terms, even before the $120 million bonus he could get following a successful IPO.

[11]The growing awareness of Facebooks highly problematic business model illustrates a similar contrast between media coverage focused on emotive/personality based narratives (do Sandberg and Zuckerberg seem trustworthy?) and coverage focused on the underlying business issues (how can Facebook be trusted if its profits and growth totally depend on unlimited access to private user data?)

[12]Ubers ruthless pre-2017 behavior is documented in detail in part IV-D of the TLJ article and Part Four of this series (5 Dec 2016)

[13]While Kohlatkars (very brief) mention of operating subsidies and Ubers failure to eliminate competitive threats suggest she has not been as egregious as some other pro-Uber authors in eliminating anything that might raise doubts the business model, she doesnt acknowledge (much less address) those doubts. And those mentions need to be considered in the context of the much broader range of readily available evidence she has omitted, and her extensive effort in articulating Ubers preferred narrative.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Lambert here: Ive updated the post by adding an additional comment under Figure 2, and added Figure 3.

This is the third in a continuing series of worksheets, in which I seek to understand and document the institutional structure of the Democratic Party, so-called, by looking carefully at the challengers in a sample of key races that are must-wins for the Democrats if they are to take back the House (part one; part two). I should emphasize that this is not a horse-race approach, although with more data we may converge on some conclusions about the consequences of a Democrat victory, if not about the likelihood of victory itself. In my previous approach, I looked at two questions: Whether militarized candidates  not merely former (?) intelligence types, but law enforcement types as well law enforcement having become militarized  were a significant presence in my sample, and whether outside groups  Emilys List, Our Revolution, etc.  were. In each case the answer was yes.

This post builds on that previous effort. To the coding for militarized (MILO) candidates and party faction (whether Democrat regulars or outside groups) I have added coding for occupations in sciences, health, and education (SHE)[1] and support for #MedicareForAll (coded with )[2]. By intersecting MILO, SHE, party faction, and #MedicareForAll support, I hope to understand divisions in the party better. The coding is documented in the Legend beneath the Table.

My approach was the same as before: I went through each state, district, and read each candidates bio (updating as I went; PA-05 was especially colorful, even for Pennsylvania). Based on the bios, or if necessary Google search, I coded the candidates for SHE status and #MedicareForAll support.[3] I present the results in Table 1, and then provide interpretations in Figures 1 and 2. So you can skip right over the table if you want! (Ive got to say, though, that I find this material fascinating. What is government itself, asks Madison, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?)

Table 1: Worksheet on House Races, Election 2018 (2018-04-02).

Biography: m, i, l, o (MILO) Military,Intelligence, Law Enforcement, Other); s,h, e (SHE) Science, Health, Education

Backers: BN, EL, IN, JD, OR; DCCC; DP; S: Brand New Congress,Emilys List, Indivisible, Justice Democrats, Our Revolution; DCCC; Democrat Party, whether elected, staffer, official, etc.; inspired by Sanders.

Policy: []; Medicare for ALl.

First, the the totals (and readers know my arithmetic is not always of the best, so do check me). From the Dem Challengers column, we have 113 total candidates. However, we are intersecting MILO, SHE, party faction, and #MedicareForAll support, and 20 candidates (!!) have left so little trace of themselves in BallotPedia or the Intertubes that they cannot be coded for using of those four factors. So we throw them out  theyre ineffectual anyhow  and are left with 93.

Now lets look at #MedicareForAll support and opposition by party faction. To create Figure 1, I threw those candidates coded  into one bucket and those not so coded into the other. Then I removed their names, and all the fancy formatting. Candidates who were only coded for  became ?. (Michael Hepburn [JD; e] [] becomes JD;e]. Its occurred to me that if this project gets too much bigger, I might need to dust off my SQL skills). Then I arranged the results by party faction with the largest faction sorted first.

Figure 1: Division within Democrats on #MedicareForAll by Candidates

8 [DP][DP][DP][DP][DP][DP][DP;lm][DP;m] 5 [JD;e][JD;m][JD;m][JD][JD] 3 [EL;DCCC;DP][EL;DP;lm][EL;DP] 3 [S;s][S][S] 1 [S JD OR;DP;e] 1 [BN JD;m] 1 [OR;e] 14 [e][e][e][i][i][s][?][?][?][?][?][?][?][?] TOTAL 36 supporters 30 [DP;DCCC][DP;S][DP;e][DP;e][DP;h][DP;h][DP;i][DP;l][DP;l][DP;m][DP][DP][DP][DP][DP][DP][DP][DP][DP][DP]... 8 [ELIN;h][EL;DCCC;e][EL;DCCC;lm][EL;DCCC;m][EL;DP;m][EL;h][EL;l][EL] 1 [IN;l] 1 [DCCC] 17 [e][e][e][e][e][h][l][l][l][l][lm][mi][s][s] TOTAL 57 opponents

Some comments:

1) 36 of the 93 (31%) support #MedicareForAll; this is considerably less then the general population (depending, of course, on how the question is asked).

2) By far the largest number of #MedicareForAll supporters (14) are average Joes or Janes, unsupported by any faction.

3) The second largest number of #MedicareForAll opponents (17) are average Joes or Janes, unsupported by any faction.

4) By far the largest number of #MedicareForAll opponents (30) are Democratic apparatchiks, whether elected or otherwise (30), although there is some Democrat support for #MedicareForAll is well. (See especially TX-23, where both candidates in the runoff support it, and the colorful PA-05, where RIchard Lazer, who is (dare I say it) a machine pol, not that theres anything wrong with that, support it.

5) Emilys List is agnostic, although it supports #MedicareForAll candidates only when they are also party-affiliated (3).

6) DP and the BN/JD/OR//S (Brand New Congress, Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, Sanders-inspired) have only one case overlap.

Now, lets look at #MedicareForAll support by occupation. I began with the same buckets as before (36 and 57), threw out the party factions, and resorted by occupation. (Where a candidates only affiliation was party, I replaced DP/DCCC/DNC etc. with p, occupation politician. I represented an unknown occupation by ?) To review the Legend for Table 1, MILO is military, intelligence, law enforcement, other, and SHE is science, health, and education. Hence, of #MedicareForAll supporters, 10 have unknown occupations (first line), 8 are politicians (second line), 6 are education (third line), 6 are military (fourth line) and so forth.

Figure 2: Division within Democrats on #MedicareForAll by Occupation

10 ?????????? 8 pppppppp 6 eeeeee 6 mmmmmm 2 ii 2 lm,lm 2 ss TOTAL 36 supporters 22 pppppppppppppppppppppp 8 llllllll 8 eeeeeeee 6 mmmmmm 5 hhhhh 2 lm,lm 2 mi 2 ss 1 i 1 ? TOTAL 57 opponents

Some comments:

1) Because (a) MILO is evenly split (6 military supporters, and 6 opponents), and (b) SHE is almost evenly split (for education, 6 vs. 8, and science, 2 and 2) we can infer that occupation does not correlate with a candidates support or opposition to #MedicareForAll, with one significant expection: All the h (health) candidates oppose it.[4]

2) The political class opposes #MedicareForAll; 8 of 30 (26%) support it, a smaller proportion than all the candidates, which is in turn smaller than the general population.

NEW 3) By contrast, the 10 challengers without known occupations all support #MedicareForAll, and necessarily from outside the political class; this is an impressive degree of entry and engagement, and an indication that conventional wisdom outside the political class diverges from that within it.

NEW Now lets sort our data by state[5], from greatest proportion of support to least. Candidates who do not support #Medicare for all are coded with X; those who do, with .

Figure 3: Division within Democrats on #MedicareForAll by State

TX  2/2 (100%) AZ XX 6/8 (75%) CA XXXX 6/10 (60%) WA XXX (50%) 3/6 MN XXXXXXX 5/12 (41%) NV XXXXXX 4/10 (40%) FL XXXXX 3/8 (37.5%) NH XXXXXX 2/8 (25%) PA XXXXXXXXXXXXX 4/17 (23.5%) NJ XXXXXXX 2/9 (22%) VA XXXXXX 1/8 (12.5%)

Some comments:

1) TX: Its amusing to see the establishment-backed leader try to steal the lefts clothes on policy, and encouraging to see that they didnt try the universal health care or Medicare Extra scams. Next, theyll pass it and take credit!

2) CA: I can see why support would be so strong; a campaign by National Nurses United; a single payer bill introduced, though sidetracked by the dominant Democrat faction; experience with Covered California, which shows if it shows nothing else that government can actually deliver services, even using a Rube Goldberg device like the ObamaCare marketplace.

3) AZ: This surprised me; whats going on in Arizona? Readers?

Conclusion

Assuming this sample is at all representative, it seems clear that the key barrier to support for #MedicareForAll in the Democrat Party is, well, Democrats. That is, the Democrat nomenklatura, those whose primary identity is as an elected, a staffer, or an official. Their support (26% in Figure 1) is disproportionately small, whether contrasted to liberal Democrats (64% for single payer,[6] says Pew), to the general population (52%), or to the 31% for all challengers. One might almost imagine that some mysterious, unseen body  perhaps one of Thomas Fergusons industrial sectors?  was exerting an unseen, almost gravitational pull on the party. The views of the h candidates  physicians being themselves an industrial sector  give credence to that view. On the other hand, #MedicareForAll is moving ahead strongly in California, even Texas, and surprisingly in California. Its also clear that support for #MedicareForAll really is coming from the grassroots.

NOTES

[1] I should have been more exhaustive and added coding for small business people and corporate executives. Perhaps next time.

[2] The cross denoting a hospital or medical care; the best I could do with Unicode, unfortunately.

[3] I did not update for Outside Group support unless it was mentioned in the candidates bio; time pressed.

[4] I did not code for this, but in all cases the h candidates are physicians, and not nurses.

[5] The totals for Figure 3 differ slightly from the totals in Figures 1 and 2 because they are based on a hand count when I proofread the post again today. There are two more #MedicareForAll supporters, and five more candidates (I threw out too many). The discrepancy is not material with respect to the comments. Fiddling with bits of text is error prone, sadly.

[6] Medicare for All polls better.
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2018 6:45 am

Strafford High School senior Karly Soden was awarded the Distinguished Student Leader award during the Missouri Association of Student Councils state convention on Saturday, March 10, at Lebanon High School. This is the highest recognition bestowed on graduating seniors based on MASC criteria and evaluation procedures.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., has announced today (Tuesday) an immediate review of fodder supplies and identification of possible measures to increase fodder availability.

This follows a meeting of Department officials with Teagasc and the main co-ops that took place last week and is convened to meet again tomorrow, 4th April, following what has been a difficult weekend. This group is ensuring a co-ordinated approach to the issue and will also look at the availability of fodder including possible recourse to the option of imports, should it be required.

The Minister said Significant rainfall over the weekend in many areas of the country has created additional challenges for Irish farmers dealing with what has already been a difficult spring. Officials from my Department, in conjunction with Teagasc have been actively monitoring the availability of fodder supplies for purchase by farmers.

The Minister added Where there had been regional difficulties with fodder availability previously, the recent poor weather, coupled with poor grass growth has delayed turnout of animals across the country, and this is putting pressure on fodder supplies across a number of regions. As supplies are tightening it is important that these are managed proactively. My officials met with Teagasc and the major co-operatives last week to ensure co-ordinated advisory support for farmers.

The Minister called on farmers who still have supplies, to continue to make these available to neighbours through local groups, the co-ops and Teagasc.

Teagasc advisors are available to conduct fodder budgeting and the Minister is asking Teagasc to run Fodder clinics, supporting farmers in addressing their particular situation.
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will visit Canada on Tuesday, 3 April and Wednesday, 4 April 2018.

On 4 April, he will participate in a Town Hall event at the University of Ottawa, delivering remarks and taking questions from students. He will also attend a reception hosted by the NATO Association of Canada and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, marking the 69th anniversary of the Alliance.

Mr. Stoltenberg will meet the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff, as well as other senior officials.

Media Advisory

4 April 2018

14:45 (local time) Joint press conference by the Secretary General and the Prime Minister

Still and video images will be available from the NATO website after the event.
(Natural News) Many of us really are sheep, quick to follow the crowd and obey orders. Instead of standing up and speaking out on our own convictions, we often choose to fit in. Assimilating with the crowd, we find its easier to go-along to get-along, even if that means giving away our own power, rights, and dignity in the process. In fear of isolation, we do not question or challenge authority figures, even when they are morally and ethically wrong.

Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram unveiled this sad reality of human behavior in a social compliance experiment that showed how ordinary people will torture others under the social pressures of an authority figure. Milgram wondered why Nazi military personnel were so easily influenced to inflict torture and death on innocent people. His experiment gave us a window into the compliant nature of human psychology.

The experiment, detailed in Milgrams 1974 book, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View, shows that when people are under the influence of an authority figure, they are easily coerced to repeatedly hurt others. In the experiment, Milgram asked volunteers to deliver an electric shock to a stranger. The volunteers didnt know they would be shocking actors who were pretending to be hurt. Even after inflicting visible pain on others, the volunteers would continue to shock them only when they were ordered to do so by an authoritarian person in a lab coat. Even when the victims feigned heart attacks, only a small percentage of the volunteers chose to defy the orders of the authority figure. Most continued to torture their victims. According to Dylan Charles for Waking Times, The suggested conclusion is that people are inherently unable to think for themselves when given a subordinate role in some authoritarian hierarchy

A personal story of questioning authority and standing up for parental rights

When visiting a church with my wife and three-year-old, we were initially told to register our kid in their computer system, obtain a number ID, and wear tags so that church security staff could properly identify the child and the parents. When our daughter cried during the church service, my wife went into the nursery for five minutes to help her get used to playing in there. A watchful staff member outside the nursery walked in and told my wife that only people with background checks are allowed in the nursery. The staff member watched her closely, but my wife refused to leave our child even though she was pressured to.

When my wife brought our daughter back to the church service, I decided to take my daughter back to the nursery myself, passing two security guards on the way. I unintentionally disobeyed their rule, thinking it was natural to stay with my child to help her get acquainted with the nursery. Later that week, we questioned church authority on the matter. We were told that this is their policy, that parents must ask for their child and not cross into the nursery unless they submit to a criminal background check. Applying social pressure, they told us no one had ever had a problem with the policy. In the end, they only wanted us to listen and obey the rules, for which I responded, I cannot guarantee that I would, since this is our kid and we are free as parents to be where our kid is, if need be.

The church may have rules that their staff undergoes a background check, but the church authority has no right to keep parents out of a place where their kid is being kept.

Social pressure and compliance illustrated in Netflix documentary, The Push

A Netflix documentary titled, The Push, explores this obedience-driven group psychology further, showing how readily people hand over control and authorship of their own lives. The need to belong can drive most people to act in unethical and violent ways just to fit in. Even with a little authoritarian pressure, people will give in to immoral demands, shunning any bit of courage they might have had. With no conviction or individual standards to go by, many will bend to authority to please the manmade hierarchical structures that have been formed by group think and the needs of the group to feel that they belong.

This is prevalent in The Push. In the opening scene, a cafe worker takes a phone call from a police officer and within a minute is convinced to abduct a womans baby. At first the cafe worker showed hesitation, but ultimately carried out the wrongful act under the social pressure of the authoritarian figure.

In another elaborate experiment, participants are slowly coerced to comply with the demands of a persistent authority figure and the pressure of a small group of others. By the end of the experiment, the participants were so compliant; they actually took orders to push actors off of a building, believing they were doing the right thing by committing the murder.

Most people are wired to take orders and feel as if they belong, even if that means relinquishing their own power sacrificing their integrity, or trouncing on someone elses human rights along the way. (For more stories on exercising personal freedom, visit Liberty.News.)

Sources include:

WakingTimes.com

YouTube.com


(Natural News) According to the results of a study by researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas, at the cellular level, pain begins differently for men and women.

The group of researchers, which included Dr. Ted Price, Dr. Salim Megat, and their colleagues in the Pain Neurobiology Research Group, has determined that handling receptors in the nervous system for the neurotransmitter dopamine in a certain way can halt chronic pain in male mice. However, it doesnt work on female mice.

Dr. Price, an associate professor of neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, explained that the results of the study also implies that there are notable differences in pains origins among males and females.

He shared that despite the same intensity of pain in a male and a female subject, the mechanisms that drive pain are very distinct. Dr. Price added that the research team determined a cellular change that completely reverses the genesis of the chronic pain in only the male. The researchers also verified that various types of cells are responsible for driving the development of pain.

The study highlighted a recently discovered pain mechanism linked to D5 dopamine receptors, which is one of the five known classes of receptors for the neurotransmitter. Genetically-modified mice that didnt have these D5 receptors had greatly reduced pain responses. However, this was only observed in the male mice.

Dr. Price noted that the response was extraordinarily specific for males and if the results are replicated in human tissues, it can help prove that a D5 antagonist drug can help treat pain in men.

Overlooked differences

Dr. Price detailed that the discovery was helped along by a four-year old dictate from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Earlier pre-clinical experiments only observed male animals since they didnt have an estrus cycle for reproduction that modulated hormone levels. When the NIH announced that research must include both males and females, dimorphisms (the differences between the sexes) were soon discovered.

Dr. Price shared that a key variable was overlooked for a long time, and that it was only in 2014 that they realized the need to take it into consideration. He added that the new research philosophy clarified why it was difficult to replicate the results of earlier single-sex studies. Clinical trials showed that more women suffer chronic pain than men.

Thanks to the recent advancements in studies that analyzed the crucial differences between males and females, a new model for pain relief medication may soon be discovered. (Related: Natural pain relievers beat Big Pharma drugs.)

According to Dr. Price, manufacturers could soon be developing male- and female-specific drugs for chronic pain. In any case, the development of diagnostics that can determine the cell types of individuals that prolong pain can allow the modification of the therapeutic based on the underlying mechanism. However, further study is required before this is possible.

Dr. Price shared that despite the discovery that D5 receptors are a pain relief target, he wishes to develop an effective treatment that will cater to women since most chronic pain sufferers are female. He hopes to include his research to the mounting proof of sex dimorphism to improve how pain alleviation is perceived along with relief for patients with chronic pain, gender notwithstanding

He shared that the D5 mechanism shouldnt be the focus since it merely serves as proof that there are extraordinarily strong mechanistic sex differences when it comes to how pain becomes chronic. Considering what various experts have achieved in the field, this is something that must be carefully considered. It can even pave the way for a breakthrough that could change current data about pain relief and chronic pain.

Natural pain relievers

If you are suffering from chronic pain, consider some of the natural pain relievers listed below:

Cloves  Cloves can help ease nausea and treat colds. Cloves can also be used as part of a topical pain reliever.

 Cloves can help ease nausea and treat colds. Cloves can also be used as part of a topical pain reliever. Turmeric  Turmeric contains the compound curcumin, an antioxidant that can protect the body from free radicals that may damage cells and tissue. Turmeric can help treat many conditions like cancer, indigestion, psoriasis, and ulcers.

 Turmeric contains the compound curcumin, an antioxidant that can protect the body from free radicals that may damage cells and tissue. Turmeric can help treat many conditions like cancer, indigestion, psoriasis, and ulcers. Willow bark  Willow bark is used to soothe inflammation, the reason behind most aches and pains. The bark of the white willow contains a chemical called salicin, which is similar to the main ingredient in aspirin (Bayer).

You can learn more about other findings on chronic pain and pain relief at Research.news.

Sources include:

UTDallas.edu

Healthline.com
(Natural News) Airport security in most countries is already tight enough as it is, with multiple points of inspection often present beginning from the arrival area going inward. But there are some who think that security efforts can be increased even further. In Dubai, a new experimental robot is being tested, and its sole purpose is to find and catch suspicious or wanted individuals.

Indeed, a robot that is said to have the ability to detect and also report any and all suspicious people will be deployed at Dubai airports very soon. While unprecedented, this initiative is already in its initial stages, with the implementation of the new robot currently undergoing a pilot phase. It is said that the robot will be placed mainly at the arrival section of the airport, and when you think about it, thats about the best place that it could be positioned in.

According to Khalid Al Zarooni, an innovation specialist at the Dubai Customs Innovation Center, this suspicious-people-targeting robot could be their best creation yet. This is an android. It still hasnt been implemented fully, but it has gone through a piloting phase around the airports, he explained. Its probably going to be our best innovation, when it gets implemented in full.

Referring to the robots special abilities, Al Zarooni said that it makes full use of several built-in sensors and scanners to read people going through the airport. In particular, he refers to the brain as the source of most of its abilities. The brain in the android has so many features and tools connected into it, such as facial recognition, X-ray scanning and thermal vision, he said. What it does is that it gathers data from these features and compiles it into a threat assessment and then it gives alerts to the control room.

The existence of such a robot in the arrival section of an airport could drastically cut down the time it takes to catch dangerous criminals once they land in designated countries. And even when the robot cant detect any suspicious individuals, it can still make itself useful. It does this by performing one other task besides its main one, and that is to act as a greeter to any and all travelers coming through the airport.

The android that can detect and report suspicious people wasnt the only one showcased coming soon to Dubai airports. Al Zarooni also talked about a smart vehicle thats meant to act as a mobile inspection unit. It is said that the purpose of this one is to clear custom declarations and assist people with special needs. It could prove useful to speed up the process of getting through the airport for certain types of individuals. (Related: Excuse me, are you a robot in the Surveillance State?)

Its on call in cooperation with international airlines, explained Al Zarooni. They let us know who are special needs people. Either we go to them or they call us and we take the car to them. At the moment, there are about three at the airports, he added further.

The aforementioned android, this vehicle is equipped with a built-in face detection scanner, which is said to be linked directly to the Interpol. So anyone who is wanted, it automatically picks up their facial signature and informs the control room, Al Zarooni said.

Assuming that the rate of false positives is low, this is clearly game-changing technology in the making. If it can be implemented successfully in Dubai, then perhaps the rest of the worlds airport may follow suit.

Read more about the latest advanced robots in Robotics.news.

Sources include:

KhaleejTimes.com

LovinDubai.com
UPDATE: Yosemite Valley is closing Friday afternoon due to potential flooding from the incoming storm. All other areas of the park will remain open conditions permitting, officials say.

-----

Don't put away those umbrellas and rain boots just yet.

An incoming atmospheric river packing moisture from Hawaii is expected to douse the Bay Area with "significant" rainfall beginning Thursday and continuing into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

A flood watch for the North Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains will take effect late Thursday and last through Saturday morning, according to the NWS.

Forecaster Vianey Arana tracks an atmospheric river making its way toward the Bay Area.

From Thursday through Saturday, anywhere from three to six inches of rainfall could fall across the region's coastal mountains, according to the NWS. Most other locations across the Bay Area could receive anywhere from 1.25 to 3 inches.

Specifically, locations in Half Moon Bay could rack up 4 to 6 inches of rain, according to the NWS. Areas in and around Santa Rosa, Napa, San Rafael and Santa Cruz could pick up anywhere from 3 to 4 inches. San Francisco and Concord could accumulate 2 to 3 inches. Livermore could receive 1.5 to 2 inches. San Jose is expected to collect 1 to 1.5 inches.

An atmospheric river (AR) is a flowing column of water vapor in the atmosphere which can produce "significant levels of rain and snow, especially in the Western United States," according to the NWS.



The moderate to heavy rain could lead to localized flooding, roadway ponding and potential mudslides, especially in the North Bay wildfire burn areas, according to the NWS. Gusty winds ranging from 25 mph to 40 mph could also trigger power outages.

An incoming atmospheric river is expected to douse the Bay Area with significant rainfall later this week and into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Pete Suratos reports.

The warm system is expected to melt a small percentage of the Sierra Nevada snowpack, according to the NWS.
Silicon Valley is rolling out the red carpet for the arrival of a top-secret VIP.

That VIP is believed to be Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and his entourage.

Recode reports the royal will be visiting many U.S. cities this week, shoring-up ties and discussing investment deals.

The prince is believed to be staying at the Four Seasons Silicon Valley while he's in town. The hotel, located in East Palo Alto, isnt accepting reservations from Monday, April 2, through Saturday, April 7.

Multiple sources, including Palo Alto investment banker Anu Deshpande, says the prince has rented out the hotel for a week.

"This was brought up this morning in a meeting, Deshpande said. "That there's a prince who has rented the Four Seasons for the week."

A spokesperson for the Four Seasons told NBC Bay Area: "the hotel is indeed sold out this week due to an inbound VIP delegation group. At this moment we have no knowledge of the specific participants."

Recode is reporting the prince will visit many US cities, trying to improve business relations between the two nations.

In an email to Recode, the hotel staff said: The State Department has approached the hotel for a large VIP delegation next week. Due to the hotels layout and location theyre adamant that we are the best fit for their high security needs which will be restricting the hotel and all outlets from other guests.

The prince will reportedly meet with Silicon Valley tech leaders including Tim Cook, Elon Musk, bill Gates and elite venture capitalists.

Meantime, those needing a comparable place to say in the area might check out the Westin and the Sheraton.
A New Hampshire man is facing multiple charges after allegedly setting clothing on fire during a domestic violence incident over the weekend.

Concord police arrested 30-year-old Joshua Gebo of Concord and Franklin on Sunday evening on charges of arson, domestic violence, reckless conduct, false imprisonment, criminal mischief, criminal threatening and endangering the welfare of a child.

Officers responded to a call shortly after 5 p.m. at 173 Loudon Rd. in Concord for a report of a possible domestic dispute. The ensuing investigation revealed that Gebo refused to allow two victims  one of whom is a baby  to leave the residence, using furniture and his body to obstruct the doorways. Gebo allegedly set fire to clothing within the residence, which is within an apartment complex occupied by others. Gebo also destroyed the adult victim's phone during the incident.

Gebo, who was already on probation, was arrested on the scene for an unrelated warrant in the Merrimack Superior Court.

Concord Police are asking the public for any formation pertaining to the incident and are asked to contact Lt. Sean Ford at 603-225-8600 or the Concord Regional Crimeline at 603-226-3100.
Frustrated by slow action on a big campaign promise, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants to use the military to secure the U.S.-Mexico border until his promised border wall is built.

Trump told reporters he's been discussing the idea with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

"We're going to be doing things militarily. Until we can have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military," Trump said, calling the move a "big step."

It was unclear exactly how the proposal would work or what kind of troops Trump wanted to deploy.

Trump touched on that issue and several other major policy points during a lunch with Baltic leaders at the White House and a subsequent news conference, including that he wants to bring U.S. troops home from Syria and that he thinks he can have a good relationship with Russia even though he's been tough on the country.

As for the border, federal law prohibits the use of active-duty service members for law enforcement inside the U.S., unless specifically authorized by Congress. But over the past 12 years, presidents have twice sent National Guard troops to the border to bolster security and assist with surveillance and other support. An official said the White House counsel's office has been working on the idea for several weeks.

Trump has been annoyed by the lack of progress on building what was the signature promise of his campaign: a "big, beautiful wall" along the Mexican border. He's previously suggested using the Pentagon's budget to pay for building the wall, arguing it is a national security priority, despite strict rules that prohibit spending that's not authorized by Congress.

The Department of Homeland Security and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. At the Pentagon, officials were struggling to answer questions about the plan, including rudimentary details on whether it would involve National Guard members.

But officials appeared to be considering a model similar to a 2006 operation in which President George W. Bush deployed National Guard troops to the southern border.

Under Operation Jump Start, 6,000 National Guard troops were sent to assist the border patrol with non-law enforcement duties while additional border agents were hired and trained. Over two years, about 29,000 National Guard forces participated, as forces rotated in and out. The Guard members were used for surveillance, communications, administrative support, intelligence, analysis and the installation of border security infrastructure.

In addition, President Barack Obama sent about 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2010 to beef up efforts to battle drug smuggling and illegal immigration.

Texas has also deployed military forces to its 800-mile (1,290-kilometer) border with Mexico. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, now serving as Trump's energy secretary, sent 1,000 Texas National Guardsmen to the Rio Grande Valley in 2014 in response to a sharp increase in Central American children crossing the border alone.

White House officials were scheduled to meet Tuesday with Homeland Security personnel and attorneys to discuss further details, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. The person also revealed the White House counsel's role.

Trump's latest comments came a day after administration officials announced they were crafting a new legislative package aimed at closing what they say are immigration "loopholes" and amid a flurry of tweets by the president on the subject over the last several days.

Trump has been fixed on the issue since he grudgingly signed a spending bill last month that includes far less money for the wall than he'd hoped for.

The $1.3 trillion package included $1.6 billion for border wall spending  a fraction of the $25 billion Trump made a last-minute push to secure. And much of that money can be used only to repair existing segments, not to build new sections. Trump has also been under pressure from conservative backers, including commentator Ann Coulter, who has accused Trump of betraying his base and "taking his voters for a ride."

Trump spent the first months of his presidency bragging about a dramatic drop in illegal border crossings, and indeed the 2017 fiscal year marked a 45-year low for Border Patrol arrests. But the numbers have been slowly ticking up since last April and are now on par with many months of the Obama administration. Statistics show 36,695 arrests of people trying to cross the southwest border in February 2018, up from 23,555 in the same month of the previous year.

Trump appeared to take credit Tuesday for halting a caravan of about 1,100 migrants, many from Honduras, who had been marching along roadsides and train tracks in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

"I said (to Mexican officials), 'I hope you're going to tell that caravan not to get up to the border.' And I think they're doing that because, as of 12 minutes ago, it was all being broken up," he said.

But the caravan of largely Central American migrants had never intended to reach the U.S. border, according to organizer Irineo Mujica. It was meant to end at a migrants' rights symposium in central Mexico later this week.

The caravan stopped to camp at a sports field in Oaxaca over the weekend. Mexican immigration officers have been signing them up for temporary transit visas, which would allow them to travel to the U.S. border, possibly to seek asylum, or to seek asylum status in Mexico.

Trump made the comment about the border as he spoke to reporters during his multilateral meeting with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, a day after the White House dangled the prospect of extending a similar welcome to Russia's Vladimir Putin. The Baltic states are seen as a bulwark against Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.

Britain recently blamed Russia for the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil. Trump joined Britain in expelling scores of Russian diplomats in response.

The Baltic leaders and Trump were expected to discuss security, business, trade and energy issues during a visit that also highlights 100 years of Baltic independence.

"I have great respect for the Baltic states," Trump told reporters during the meeting.



But he also noted that it would be good to get along with Russia while claiming "probably nobody's been tougher to Russia than Donald Trump." He said that, because he's insisted that NATO member states pay their full dues, the organization has collected billions more than if Hillary Clinton was president

Trump was also asked about the U.S. presence in Syria, where an American service member was killed last week in an explosion as a U.S.-led coalition tries to eradicate ISIS.



"I want to get out, I want to bring our troops back home, I want to start rebuilding our nation," Trump said, noting that the U.S. has spent $7 trillion in the Middle East 17 years.

"We get nothing, nothing except death and destruction. It's a horrible thing," he added.

Still, he said the decision, coming in the near future, would be made in conjunction with allies. He said Saudi Arabia is "very interested" in the decision.



Additionally, Trump continued his attacks on Amazon, which he claims is fleecing the Post Office in shipping costs.



And he offered reserved support for his embattled Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt, is under fire for leasing a Washington condo from the wife of a lobbyist at what appears to be a below-market rate.



Asked if he supports Pruitt, Trump said, "I hope he's going to be great."


King Mohammed VI has stressed the importance of the independence of the judiciary system, saying it is the bedrock of the rule of law and the main driver of development.

In a message addressed to participants in a high-level conference, convened Monday in Marrakech under the theme The independence of the judiciary: guaranteeing the rights of litigants and upholding the principles of justice, the Moroccan Sovereign said justice independence safeguards rights and freedoms, promotes development and protects society.

Morocco has been actively seeking to upgrade its judicial system in a bid to respond to the concerns of citizens, satisfy the needs of litigants, fulfil the aspirations of society and meet the requirements of our time, added the Monarch in his message that was read out by royal advisor Abdellatif Menouni.

Convinced that the independence of the judiciary is of utmost importance and given the role it plays in the emergence of states committed to the rule of law, my country has sought to lay the foundations for judicial independence, taking the necessary institutional, legislative and practical measures to that end, stressed the King.

I was particularly keen to make sure the separation of powers was expressly enshrined in the Constitution. The latter also stipulates that a Higher Council of the Judiciary  chaired by the Sovereign and composed of legal and judicial experts as well as elected judges  is to be set up as an independent constitutional body which ensures that the guarantees provided to judges are respected and which manages judges professional careers, said King Mohammed VI.

The Moroccan Constitution prohibits any interference in the cases being prosecuted, and the law provides for sanctions against any attempt to influence judges. Moreover, the Constitution stipulates that any failure by a judge to uphold his or her obligations with respect to the independence and impartiality of the judiciary would be considered a serious professional violation, which could entail criminal prosecution, underlined the royal message.

The Moroccan Constitution lays down provisions for upholding the rights of litigants and ensures the proper administration of justice. It confirms the judges role in terms of protecting the rights, freedoms and judicial security of individuals and groups. It also guarantees not only a citizens right to take legal action, but also the presumption of innocence as well as the right to a fair trial within a reasonable timeframe, the message stated further.

The Sovereign said he wanted to see these are constitutional principles reflected in a national charter for the reform of the judicial system. The preparation of that charter, which includes a range of legislative, organizational and practical reforms and which was developed using an extensive participatory approach, was entrusted to a group of eminent judges, lawyers, judicial experts and professionals from the justice system.

King Mohammed VI recalled, in this regard, the legal texts adopted in Morocco, particularly the organic laws relating to the Higher Council of the Judicial Power and the Statute of Judges, in addition to the legislation which transferred the supervision of the Office of the Public Prosecutor from the Minister of Justice to the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation.

Through this collective initiative, my country has made important strides towards completing the institutional framework for running the judicial system, said the Monarch, expressing hope that these drives will speed up the implementation of other relevant measures set out in the charter to update legislation and improve the functioning and performance of the judiciary, thus enhancing its independence, in keeping with the Kingdoms Constitution.

As the guarantor of the independence of the judiciary, I seek to make sure that independence  as enshrined in the Constitution  serves the citizen, enhances the rule of law and promotes development, explained the King, noting that judicial independence is not meant to benefit the judges, but rather the citizens.

To achieve this objective, we need to facilitate access to justice through an overhaul of legislation in order to keep pace with modern times and bring domestic legislation in line with international instruments, particularly those relating to human rights, stressed the Monarch.

Just as important is the need to make sure that cases are prosecuted within reasonable time frames, to provide the judicial security needed for an improved business environment and to promote investment and development, said the royal message, calling for the use of information technology to ensure the effectiveness and transparency of judicial administration.

The three-day conference is attended by participants from around the globe including ministers of Justice, presidents of higher Councils of the judiciary, delegates of human rights organizations and professional bodies as well as experts and academics from various countries.

The conference is held to mark the setting up of the Higher Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ) in Morocco, and the independence of the Prosecutors Office.
A Fort Worth woman is charged in the shooting of a Arkansas State Police trooper wounded during a traffic stop in southwest Arkansas.

Elsbeth Kittinger, 49, was also injured during the incident.



State police say Trooper Kyle Sheldon remains hospitalized in stable condition after the shooting Sunday night in Rockport, about 40 miles southwest of Little Rock. State police say Sheldon's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

According to state police, Kittinger opened fire on Sheldon during the traffic stop. Officers with the Malvern Police Department, who were nearby and responding to an unrelated call, returned fire on the suspect.

Police say Kittinger sped away from the scene and officers in a neighboring city chased her down, that's when she was struck by gunfire.

Kittinger was treated and released from a hospital and remains in custody. It is not known if she has an attorney.
The designer of Schlitterbahn's "Verruckt" water slide was taken into custody at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Monday night.

The water park company's co-owner Jeffrey Henry is accused of rushing the world's tallest waterslide into service and the designer, John Schooley is accused of shoddy planning.

Both were recently charged with reckless second-degree murder in the decapitation of a 10-year-old boy on the ride in 2016. Caleb Schwab died on the 17-story ride when the raft he was riding went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

Henry & Sons Construction Co., which is described as the private construction company of Schlitterbahn, was also charged with reckless second-degree murder. Second-degree murder carries a sentence of 9 years to 41 years in prison.

They also were charged with 17 other felonies, including aggravated battery and aggravated endangerment of a child counts tied to injuries other riders sustained on the giant slide, called Verruckt, which is German for "insane." The indictment accuses Henry of making a "spur of the moment" decision to build the ride, and that he and Schooley lacked technical or engineering expertise in amusement park rides.

Henry was ordered held in a Texas jail without bond last week, pending extradition to Kansas.

The attorney general's office said Monday night that Schooley was taken into custody at DFW International Airport after arriving on a flight from China.

Schooley will be held in North Texas until an arraignment to Kansas.

The same grand jury last week indicted the Kansas City park and Tyler Austin Miles, its former operations manager, on 20 felony charges. The charges include a single count of involuntary manslaughter in Schwab's death. Miles has been released on $50,000 bond, according to one of his attorneys, Tricia Bath.

The company has promised to aggressively fight the criminal charges. After Miles and the park were charged, it said it would respond to the allegations in the 47-page indictment "point by point."

After Henry's arrest in Texas, Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said in an emailed statement: "We as a company and as a family will fight these allegations and have confidence that once the facts are presented it will be clear that what happened on the ride was an unforeseeable accident."

According to the indictments, Henry decided in 2012 to build the world's tallest water slide to impress the producers of a Travel Channel show. Henry's desire to "rush the project" and a lack of expertise caused the company to "skip fundamental steps in the design process."

The indictment said, "not a single engineer was directly involved in Verruckt's dynamic engineering or slide path design." The indictment said that in 2014, when there were news reports emerging about airborne rafts, a company spokesperson "discredited" them and Henry and his designer began "secretly testing at night to avoid scrutiny."

The indictment listed 13 injuries during the 182 days the ride was in operation, including two concussions. In one of those cases, a 15-year-old girl went temporarily blind while riding.

Caleb, the son of Kansas Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab, was decapitated after the raft on which he was riding went airborne on a day when admission was free for state legislators and their families.

The family reached settlements of nearly $20 million with Schlitterbahn and various companies associated with the design and construction of the waterslide. The two women who rode on the same raft with Caleb suffered serious injuries and settled claims with Schlitterbahn for an undisclosed amount.

"Clearly the issues with Schlitterbahn go far beyond Caleb's incident, and we know the attorney general will take appropriate steps in the interest of public safety," the family said in a statement released Monday through their attorneys.

The indictment said Schooley was responsible for doing "the math" that went into the slide's design and signed an operations manual claiming the ride met all American Society for Testing and Materials standards. But the indictment lists a dozen instances in which the design violated those standards and says investigators could find no evidence that so-called dynamic engineering calculations were made to determine the physics a passenger would experience. The indictment said Schooley lacked the technical expertise to properly design a complex amusement ride such as Verruckt.

The indictment said Schooley admitted, "If we actually knew how to do this, and it could be done that easily, it wouldn't be that spectacular."

Prosapio said Schlitterbahn does not expect any changes to the Kansas City park's season, which is set to open May 25 and runs through Labor Day. The Verruckt slide has been closed since Caleb died.

Mike Taylor, a spokesman for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, says it does not believe it has the legal authority to shut down a business, other than for an epidemic or contagious disease outbreak.

The company also operates water parks in Galveston, Corpus Christi, South Padre Island and New Braunfels, Texas, according to its website.

Associated Press writers David Warren and Terry Wallace in Dallas also contributed to this report.
North Fort Worth is easily the fastest growing part of the city. Along with the job and population growth comes the needed for added police presence.

The Fort Worth Police Department is opening a new patrol division facility in the booming northern area on North Riverside Drive.[[478661793,C]]

The $14 million, 23,000 square foot facility located near Alliance Town Center will house 110 officers and 13 administrative staff.



Those who live and work in the area say theyve already seen a difference. Officers are using mobile signage to remind residents to lock their doors to help in crime prevention.

It definitely says that they are being proactive and letting us know that there is a presence around, nearby Love Sweet Things Bakery owner Amy Meza said. [Also] for the thieves. It puts them on high alert that they better be careful  were watching.

Meza has owned Love Sweet Things Bakery for four years in the area and is excited for the added layer of protection.

Weve got a lot of new schools that are opening and I think it is fantastic, because a lot of the kids ride their bikes to school and walk to school, Meza said.

Residents believe this will make response times even faster. Meza remembers an incident in her second year of business.

The T-Mobile got robbed next door and my employee was walking out the back door for the evening and she came face to face with the gunman  luckily he jumped in the car and zoomed off, Meza said. That was a very scary situation. The response time on that situation  it did take a little while.

At 777 Barbershop, not far from the location of the new station, patrons and barbers wondered what changes they would see.

More patrols, more tickets, Johnny Temsisouvanh laughed when plans for the new station were announced. But hey, it will keep the streets safe.

Many residents say they welcome the extra police presence.

I think its a good idea. In my last apartment, I had a lot of break-ins in my car. So, I think its a good idea, Temsisouvanh said. This community is expanding. So, I think it would be nice to have more police officers."
As thousands of teachers in Oklahoma and Kentucky protested their pay and classroom funding, a former Oklahoma Teacher of the Year reflects on why he left Oklahoma for a higher paying job in North Texas.

Shawn Sheehan, the 2016 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, said his family couldnt afford to stay in Oklahoma and raise their now 17 month old daughter.

Were going to stop hoping and praying that Oklahoma will do the right thing for its educators and for its citizens, said Sheehan. We took matters into our own hands and we made the move south.

Sheehan and his wife, Kaysi, who is also a teacher say their household income increased by around $40,000 after taking jobs in Lewisville I.S.D. in 2017. Now, finishing out their first school year in Lewisville, the couple says its tough to see their fellow educators back in Oklahoma struggling.

I hope the public knows that Oklahoma educators arent starting with a strike. This isnt step one. Not by a long shot. This is step one thousand and one, said Sheehan.

There would be days in Oklahoma when I was up standing in front of the kids and all I was really thinking was do I have enough money in my bank account to get groceries after school today before we get paid again? said Kaysi Sheehan. Teachers cant teach if their basic needs arent being met.

Kaysi also says she went from teaching 172 students a semester to 90. With smaller class sizes, the high school English teacher says she can spend more time with each student. Job satisfaction, along with pay, was a factor for the couple.

We both have our masters degrees and we didnt expect it would be this hard, said Shawn Sheehan.

The couple says the move to Texas from Norman I.S.D was a last resort. They say theyd joined fellow teachers in rallies, advocated for one penny sale tax increase to fund schools and Shawn Sheehan even ran for office.

The National Education Association ranks Oklahoma near the bottom in teacher pay and spending per student. In a 2017 estimate, Oklahoma ranked 49th in pay out of 51 (50 states plus Washington D.C.). Texas ranked 27th in teacher pay.

Sheehan was open about his decision to leave for Texas, penning blogs that weighed the pros and cons. Hes already spelled out the difference in his take home pay and factored in cost of living in Texas. By his familys calculations, they still come out on top in Texas.

But, there are challenges ahead even with the pay raise in North Texas. The Sheehans are currently renting a townhouse in Lewisville and are struggling to find a house they can afford to buy near work.

They say Texas lawmakers should pay attention to Oklahomas public education troubles and consider how Texas wants to prioritize school funding in the future.

Whats best for kids is creating a school environment thats safe and has all the resources that it needs, said Sheehan. Its full of educators who are paid appropriately and love their jobs and are highly qualified to do their job.

Its time that the country, as a whole, decides that were going to respect teachers in this way and pay them appropriately.
Four people were injured in an explosion thought to be caused by a gas leak in the Fair Park neighborhood of Dallas early Monday morning.

The explosion occurred at a duplex in the 3700 block of Spring Avenue shortly before 1 a.m., according to Jason Evans, a Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman.



"Though the explosion is thought to be gas-related, its exact cause is currently undetermined," Evans said in a statement.

On Thursday, Evans released a new statement saying, "The source of the leak was determined to be an open valve in the living room. Despite this finding, the ignition source has not yet been determined; and as a result, the exact cause is still undetermined."

There were four people in the duplex at the time of the explosion, Evans said.

Two people were transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital, one of them with serious burns.

Two men are still in the hospital after a home explosion in south Dallas. An arson team with Dallas Fire Rescue has started the initial portion of the investigation @NBCDFW #Dallas #AtmosEnergy #HomeExplosion pic.twitter.com/sK3wcqPxe0  Courtney Gilmore (@CourtneyNBC5) April 2, 2018

The other two residents suffered minor injuries and went to the hospital on their own to get checked out.

He just said he was just laying in bed, just went to bed and next thing you know it was just a huge boom, said Dean Landrum, whose father suffered a shoulder injury.

"At first he thought that maybe somebody was shot somebody or something like that but then he realized the ceiling was caving in and falling in on him and the whole back off the house was gone, said Landrum.

Atmos Energy crews responded to shut off the gas and investigate.

So far, Atmos says crews have not found any evidence of gas leaks outside the house, and arson investgiators from Dallas Fire Rescue continue to search for the cause.

Surrounding homes haven't been evacuated at this time.

Last week, 25 homes and an apartment complex in northwest Dallas were evacuated after someone noticed a natural gas smell along Linda Drive.



Those evacuations were inside a large zone where Atmos crews replaced aging steel gas lines. A 12-year-old girl was killed in a house explosion reportedly caused by a gas leak.

In the two days leading up to Linda Rogers' death, Atmos discovered at least 28 leaks in the neighborhood, according to emails obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

Rogers' family has accused Atmos Energy of gross negligence in a lawsuit. An Atmos spokesperson said the company declines comment on pending litigation.
U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty announced Monday she will not run for re-election amid criticism and pressure to resign after she admitted to keeping her former chief of staff on after he was accused of threatening another female staff member.

On Thursday, Esty issued an apology for failing to protect the female employees who said Estys former chief of staff, Tony Baker, harassed them, including one woman who said she was punched in the back and received death threats.

Reports say Esty, a Democrat who represents Connecticut's 5th District, was informed that in 2016, Baker called Anna Kain, another office staff member with whom he had previously been in a relationship, more than 50 times before leaving a voicemail in which he threatened to kill her.

It took three months for the congresswoman from Cheshire to act, eventually signing a non-disclosure agreement, providing $5,000 in severance to Baker and assisting him in finding a job with the nonprofit organization Sandy Hook Promise.

Baker was Esty's chief of staff from 2014 to 2016. His spokesman denied many of the allegations.

Some lawmakers, including members of Estys own party, have called for her to resign.

On Monday Esty announced that though she will not run for re-election, she has no plans to resign. Read her full statement below:

"From being a room parent in a first grade classroom to serving on the library board, town council, state house and U.S. Congress, I went into public service to fight for equality, justice, and fairness. It is one of the greatest honors of my life that the people of Connecticuts Fifth District elected me to represent them in Congress. However, I have determined that it is in the best interest of my constituents and my family to end my time in Congress at the end of this year and not seek re-election.

"Too many women have been harmed by harassment in the workplace. In the terrible situation in my office, I could have and should have done better. To the survivor, I want to express my strongest apology for letting you down. In Congress, and workplaces across the country, we need stronger workplace protections and to provide employees with a platform to raise concerns, address problems, and work to reduce and eliminate such occurrences, in the first place. In my final months in Congress, I will use my power to fight for action and meaningful change.



"Im proud of the work Ive done in Congress fighting for whats best for Connecticut: working for gun violence prevention and safer communities for our children, supporting our veterans, and fighting for womens equality and access to health care. On these critical issues and many more, there is still so much at stake for my district and for our nation. I intend to spend the coming months doing what Ive always done: working hard each and every day for the people of Connecticut."



Esty asked that the Ethics Committee conduct an inquiry into whether I have violated any law, rule, regulation or other standard of conduct applicable to a Member of the House. A statement from her office also said Esty urged the full House to explore whether the rules and procedures for dealing with such matters need to be further revised and strengthened.
Nature lovers will be able to integrate their admiration for flowers with technology as the Irvine Ranch Conservancy prepares to showcase wildflowers through a virtual tour on Tuesday.

Beginning at 6 a.m., participants will be able to see the blooming flowers at the Native Seed Farm on the Irvine Open Space Preserve from the comfort of their preferred environment. For 24 hours, a series of California poppies, sunflowers, longleaf lupine and other flowers will be featured in the virtual tour.

Each hour in the days cycle will have a different bloom posted on the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks social media.
Three California State Assembly seats in Southern California are up for grabs in a special primary election on Tuesday.

Candidates must win over 50 percent of the vote to be elected. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the top two vote-getters will head to a runoff election on June 5.

Los Angeles County voters in districts 39, 45, and 54 will choose their representatives for the lower house of the California State Legislature.

District 39 includes portions of the northeast San Fernando Valley. It was held by Democrat Raul Bocanegra until Nov. 2017, when he resigned after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. There are six candidates on the ballot to complete his term, including five Democrats  three of whom are women  and one Republican. You can find out more about the California State Assembly District 39 candidates from the nonpartisan website Voter's Edge here.

Source: California Citizens Redistricting Committee // wedrawthelines.ca.gov

District 45 encompasses a large portion of the western San Fernando Valley, including Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Woodland Hills, and Encino. The seat has been vacant since December, when Democrat Matt Dababneh also resigned because of sexual misconduct allegations. There are eight candidates on the ballot, including six Democrats, one Republican, and one without a party affiliation. You can find out more about the California State Assembly District 45 candidates from the nonpartisan website Voter's Edge here.

Source: California Citizens Redistricting Committee // wedrawthelines.ca.gov

District 54 represents a large part of the Westside including Culver City, Inglewood, Westwood, and Baldwin Hills. Democrat Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, the son of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, resigned in December, citing health issues. There are four candidates in the race, including three Democrats and one Republican. You can find out more about the California State Assembly District 54 candidates from the nonpartisan website Voter's Edge here.

Source: California Citizens Redistricting Committee // wedrawthelines.ca.gov

Polls in all three districts open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Mail ballots must be postmarked by election day to be counted. Residents in these areas can find their polling places at lavote.net.
A woman in a stolen city ambulance led officers on a freeway pursuit early Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Paramedics were about to transfer care of an ill patient to staff inside the California Hospital Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles just before a woman stole the vehicle.

The Los Angeles Police Department engaged in pursuit after locating the stolen ambulance. The high-speed driver reached speeds of up to 70 mph as she hopped through various freeways in Los Angeles.

No patients were in the ambulance when it was stolen.

Police arrested the driver at approximately 1:15 a.m. in Chino Hills.
Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman said in an interview published Monday that Irans supreme leader is more dangerous than the former German ruler Adolf Hitler, in a rhetoric which confirms the cold war between Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran.

Answering questions in a lengthy interview with The Atlantics reporter Jeffrey Goldberg, the heir of the Saudi throne equated Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, to Hitler.

I believe that the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good, he told Goldberg.

Hitler didnt do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad, he added.

For the 32-year old royal who is also defense minister of the largest Sunni nation, Khamenei is the Hitler of the Middle East with his belief that he owns the world.

The Crown Prince also laid into the Iranian regime for failing to meet the needs of the Iranian people despite its return into the international community through the 2015 nuclear deal signed with world powers.

The economic benefits of the Iran nuclear deal are not going to the people. They took $150 billion after the dealcan you please name one housing project they built with this money? One park? One industrial zone? Can you name for me the highway that they built? he said.

The Saudi young royal placed Iran in the Triangle of Evil alongside the Muslim Brotherhood and extremist jihadist groups including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have been in proxy war for the control of the Middle East region. The two countries have accused each other in the Yemen conflict which erupted three years ago.

Riyadh accuses Tehran of funding and equipping the Houthi rebels opposed to the Saudi-backed government of President Mansour Hadi.
A Dutch attorney who lied to federal agents investigating former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in prison in the first punishment handed down in the special counsel's Russia investigation. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

Alex van der Zwaan's sentence could set a guidepost for what other defendants charged with lying in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation may receive when their cases are resolved. Among them are a former White House national security adviser and a Trump campaign foreign policy aide.

Van der Zwaan had faced zero to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, and his attorneys had pushed for him to pay a fine and leave the country.

But U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, citing the need to deter others from lying in an investigation of international importance, said incarceration was necessary.

"These were not mistakes. These were lies," Jackson told van der Zwaan as he stood before her. Being able to "write a check and walk away," she added, would not fit the seriousness of the crime or send the right message.

The criminal case against van der Zwaan is not directly related to Russian election interference, the main focus of Mueller's probe. But it has revealed new details about the government's case against Manafort and opened a window into the intersecting universes of international law, foreign consulting work and politics.

The case has also exposed connections between senior Trump campaign aides, including Rick Gates, and Russia. Just last week, the government disclosed that van der Zwaan and Gates spoke during the 2016 presidential campaign with a man Gates had previously described as having ties to the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency. Gates is now cooperating with Mueller.

During a 40-minute hearing Tuesday, van der Zwaan made only a brief statement, telling Jackson, "Your Honor, what I did was wrong. I apologize to the court. I apologize to my wife."

Van der Zwaan, who was fired last year by the high-powered international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, admitted in February to lying to federal agents about his contacts with Gates and the person with ties to Russian intelligence.

Van der Zwaan had previously grown close to Manafort, Gates and the person, Konstantin Kilimnik, during his work on a 2012 report commissioned by the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. The report, authored by the law firm, was about the corruption trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Kilimnik, who was born in Ukraine while it was a Soviet republic, has previously denied having any relation to Russian intelligence services.

Though prosecutors did not take a position on whether van der Zwaan should be locked up, they stressed that he had lied "repeatedly" to investigators. "This is not an isolated instance of bad judgment or criminal conduct," prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said.

Van der Zwaan's attorneys argued that he had suffered enough already. His life has been destroyed by his "terrible decision" to lie to federal authorities, they said. The attorneys pushed Jackson to allow van der Zwaan to return to London as soon as possible where he lives with his wife, who is going through a difficult pregnancy.

"He has been here well over four months without a home, without his wife and without his family," his attorney, William Schwartz, said. "He is literally in limbo."

Schwartz stressed that his client had made the effort to return to the U.S. to "correct the record" after he lied to the special counsel's office, though prosecutors took issue with the characterization, noting that van der Zwaan was under a grand jury subpoena at the time.

Jackson said she recognized that van der Zwaan has been away from his family for months, but the defense's attempts to paint him as a tragic figure didn't ring true.

"This is not something that happened to him. He did not suffer unavoidable circumstances of tragedy. This is something he did," she said.

Jackson also said his signs of remorse were relatively "muted." He didn't write a letter to the judge, as his family and friends did, and hasn't used his time in the U.S. to perform community service or other good deeds to make up for his actions, she said.

In addition to the prison time and fine, Jackson imposed two months of supervised released. She allowed him to voluntarily surrender to prison authorities.

The sentencing came just hours after another development in the special counsel's investigation of Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman.

In a court filing late Monday, prosecutors revealed that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had in August explicitly authorized the Justice Department's special counsel to investigate allegations that Manafort colluded with the Russian government.

Manafort has challenged Mueller's authority and asked a judge to dismiss charges against him including acting as an unregistered foreign agent and conspiring to launder tens of millions of dollars he received from his Ukrainian political consulting. He said Mueller overstepped his bounds by charging him for conduct that occurred years before the 2016 presidential election.

But in their new filing , prosecutors revealed that Rosenstein  who appointed Mueller  specifically authorized the investigation of any crimes related to payments Manafort received from the Ukrainian government during the tenure of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The description largely captures the charges against him.

Rosenstein also empowered Mueller to investigate allegations Manafort "committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials" to interfere with the presidential election.

None of the charges Manafort currently faces alleges coordination with the Kremlin. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing related to Russian election interference.

___

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
What to Know Rep. Dan Donovan says he never used his office to help his girlfriend's son beat a drug charge in December 2015

The congressman, who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, says he didn't know about the arrest until after the release

He believes GOP challenger and former congressman Michael Grimm is behind the complaint

New York Rep. Dan Donovan is fighting allegations that he used his political power for family gain, and claims GOP challenger and former congressman Michael Grimm is behind the complaint.

The Republican, who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, is the center of a federal ethics investigation after an anonymous tipster told congressional investigators that Donovan used his political power to help his girlfriend Serena Stonick's son beat a drug charge in December 2015.

Donovan disputed the claim in a news conference Monday as he stood next to Stonick.

"I have never used my office for anything other than the purpose in which I hold it -- to represent the people who sent me to Washington," he said.

He continued, "I never went to the 122 precinct that night. I didn't make any phone calls. I didn't know Tim was arrested until after he was released."

Donvoan says he was in Washington and Brooklyn the day of the arrest.

He believes Grimm is behind the complaint: "I don't know if Michael Grimm is the anonymous source, but someone had to instruct this individual how to file a House Ethics Committee complaint," said Donovan, who's gearing up for a tough GOP primary later this spring.

Grimm responded in a statement to News 4, "Donovan could put this scandal to bed once and for all by releasing his, his girlfriend's and his chief of staff's cell phone records from the night of O'Connell's heroin bust to prove he had no knowledge of involvement in the case."

Stonick's son was charged with possession, not distribution -- a decision that law enforcement made, according to Grimm and Stonick.

"While we know that our lives must be public to some degree, there are certain things that should not be used for political enterprise," said Stonick. "The struggle of an addict is one of them."

Donovan's office is asking the House Ethics Committee to expedite the investigation. He wants to bring the anonymous source forward and have them testify under oath.

The Office of Congressional Ethics told News 4 in a statement that all investigations are confidential.
What to Know Target has announced it will open three new small-format stores in New York City, part of a nationwide expansion of such stores

They'll be located on the Upper East Side; in Astoria, Queens; and at Forest Plaza on Staten Island

Each will cater specifically to the neighborhood it serves, according to Target

Target is opening three new stores in New York City, the company has announced.

The retailer says it's bringing the small-format stores to the Upper East Side, Astoria in Queens, and to Staten Island.

"All three of these new stores will offer the best of Target in that borough, yet curate the assortment to meet the needs and preferences of the nearby community," Mark Schindele, senior vice president of properties at Target, said in a press release Tuesday.

It's part of Target's nationwide expansion of small-format stores in urban areas, dense suburban neighborhoods and near college campuses -- places where a traditional-sized Target store may not fit. The company plans to open 130 of these stores by the end of 2019.



The Upper East Side store is scheduled to open in 2019 at the base of The Fairfax residential building at 1201 3rd Ave., near East 70th Street, and will have a broader beauty assortment and food-to-go options, according to the company. The 22,600-square feet space will join existing Target stores in Harlem, Tribeca and Herald Square. Stores in the Lower East Side and East Village are set to open later this summer, and a Hell's Kitchen store will open in 2019.

The Astoria location, set to open in 2022 with a 47,000-square feet space on 31st Street between Ditmars and 23rd Avenue (near the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard subway), will include a CVS Pharmacy and focus on home decor, apparel basics and technology products. It will be the third small-format Target in Queens, alongside the ones in Forest Hills and a planned location in Jackson Heights.

And the Staten Island store will have a CVS Pharmacy and Starbucks. The 46,000-square feet store will be located at Forest Avenue Plaza, and is set to open in 2019.

Each of the three stores will offer order pickups, where customers can buy online and pick them up in store roughly within an hour, Target says. Around 50 to 100 people will be employed at each store.
What to Know Emily Jackson and her family arrived in Miami last week after her doctor had cleared her to vacation aboard Disney Magic

But the line does not allow women who are more than 24 weeks pregnant to sail out of safety concerns, and a doctor's note is not accepted

Disney Cruise Lines prevented a Missouri woman from boarding one of its ships because she was 25 weeks pregnant.



Emily Jackson and her family arrived in Miami last week after her doctor had cleared her to vacation aboard Disney Magic.

Jackson said in a video posted on social media that while filling out check-in paperwork, crew members inquired about her baby bump. That's when, according to Jackson, she learned of the cruise line's policy that does not allow women who are more than 24 weeks pregnant sail out of safety concerns, and a doctor's note is not accepted.

"I felt so bad because I felt like it was my fault that everybody couldnt go," said Jackson, who missed the cut off by one week.

When Jacksons father complained and raised his voice, a police officer armed with an AR-15 escorted the family from check-in.

According to the expecting mother, Jackson and her family were forced to stand outside in the heat for nearly two hours while they waited for their bags, which were already on the ship.



Jackson said: "We had a terrible Disney experience."

Disney offered the family a refund for the cruise, but she said it would not cover other vacation-related costs including plane tickets for the 10 family members.

In a statement to the Miami Herald, the cruise line said its policy is on its website and in travel documents. The line said the Miami-Dade Police Department is responsible for security at the port and "handled the situation as they felt appropriate given the guest's actions."
The woman who opened fire Tuesday at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, triggering a massive police response as employees ran from the building, has been identified as Nasim Aghdam of San Diego, NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit confirmed.

Police, who late Tuesday also confirmed Aghdam, 38, as the shooter, said she died by a self-inflicted wound. San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said four victims were transported to local hospitals, with three of the victims suffering from gunshot wounds.

"It was very chaotic, as you can imagine," Barberini said.

Aghdam, who police initially said was 39, approached an outdoor patio and dining area at YouTube's headquarters and began to shoot a 9mm handgun, according to law enforcement officials.

Officials initially said the motive behind the shooting was a domestic dispute, but San Bruno police late Tuesday released the following statement: "At this time there is no evidence that the shooter knew the victims of this shooting or that individuals were specifically targeted."

Binders containing hundreds of sweet recipes mysteriously disappeared overnight from Mr. Holmes Bakeshop, a three-month-old start-up in San Francisco's Tenderloin that's growing in popularity.

Officers located Aghdam asleep in a Mountain View parking lot early Tuesday morning, police told NBC Bay Area. The officers made contact with Aghdam after her license plate matched that of a missing person. She confirmed her identity and her family was notified, police said.

Senior officials said they don't believe the shooting at YouTube headquarters is connected to terrorism.

San Bruno Police Department

San Bruno police said that they received numerous 911 calls regarding gunshots near the area of Cherry Avenue and Bay Hill Drive in San Bruno around 12:46 p.m. They responded to the scene within two minutes.

The 911 emergency call describes the first minutes of the scene: "From one of the witnesses coming in, they identified a female in a white shirt. That's the one we have down in the center court area with the gunshot wound in the chest," an officer can be heard saying. Another officer responds: "So confirming she is the suspect."

The first officer replies: "Affirmed, that's what we are told. There is a handgun about 20 feet to the south of her."

[NATL] In Photos: YouTube Shooting Unfolds in Chaotic Scene

San Francisco General Hospital said it received three patients: a 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition.

Television news footage showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they went by. Officers patted down people grouped outside, and police vehicles surrounded the area.

Authorities on Tuesday responded to an active shooter situation at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno.

One witness, Jesse, told NBC Bay Area he was at a fast-food restaurant nearby and heard at least 20 shots within two minutes.

I knew the shooter was right by me because you could feel the sensations of the bullet, he said.

Jesse said he and other diners came to the aid of a woman who'd been shot in the leg. They helped her into the restaurant and tried to slow down the bleeding, he said.

Listen to the initial 911 emergency calls reporting a shooting at YouTubes headquarters in San Bruno, California.

On Twitter, YouTube employees reported hearing multiple gunshots inside the campus, using the hashtag "#YouTubeShooting." A few were live-tweeting what they saw while they were hiding in their offices.

"I am hiding barricaded holy s__," tweeted an employee with the Twitter handle @_lilchen.

"I got evacuated outside with my hands up. Im with other people. I dont think the shooters been found that I know of. I saw blood drops on the stairs I walk up every day. Im shaking. This is surreal. I hope my colleagues are okay," she tweeted a few minutes later.

And then, an update: "I am behind another building with colleagues. There are helicopters. There are lots of police nearby. I dont know if the shooter has been found. If you hear theyve been found, tell me. Im safe for now, but dont feel safe until theyve been found."

Jesse said one woman was shot in the leg escaped inside the Carls Jr. Diners helped the woman to try and stop the bleeding. He also said he saw another woman shot multiple times inside YouTubes courtyard.

Workers in offices close to the YouTube headquarters reported closing blinds, keeping quiet as police are nearby.

A person with the first name "Erin" live-tweeted as SWAT teams descended on the YouTube office.

"There is a shooting  people are running out of the building with their hands up. I cant believe I am watching this," she tweeted.

She described a chaotic scene with ambulances in front of the building, sirens everywhere and police officers with rifles.

"We are seeing @YouTube employees being brought out with hands up!" one of her tweets said.

YouTube product manager Todd Sherman tweeted that he was sitting in a meeting when he heard people running "because it was rumbling the floor. First thought was earthquake."

"After exiting the room we still didnt know what was going on but more people were running. Seemed serious and not like a drill," he tweeted. "We headed towards the exit and then saw more people and someone said that there was a person with a gun. S___."

"At that point every new person I saw was a potential shooter. Someone else said that the person shot out the back doors and then shot themselves," Sherman's next tweet read. "I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front."

A YouTube employee who was inside the building spoke to NBC Bay Area and said he was getting back from lunch when the fire alarm went off. He said he heard a couple of gunshots and heard a woman yelling and cursing "like she was mad."

Marco Tartaglia, who works at a Walmart near the complex on Cherry Street, told NBC Bay Area he heard about 15 shots from the direction of the YouTube building, from what sounded like inside.

We heard the shots first, and that immediately drew us over to the window to see what the hecks going on, and next thing you know, you see people streaming out just running, dozens of them, just running out the front exit, Tartaglia said.

President Donald Trump said he has been briefed on the situation. "Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved," he said.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein tweeted out: "My stomach sinks with yet another active shooter alert. Im praying for the safety of everyone at YouTube headquarters."

The YouTube campus is a small one compared to that of its parent company, Google.

"This is a terrible day in the United States, when once again we have a multiple-casualty situation that has confronted us," Andre Campbell, a surgeon at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, told reporters.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all tweeted out statements in support of the victims.

"There are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred today. @SusanWojcicki & I are focused on supporting our employees & the @YouTube community through this difficult time together. Thank you to the police & first responders for their efforts, and to all for msgs of support," Pichai tweeted.
San Diegos Green Flash Brewing Co. announced Tuesday it has completed a previously-announced sale of its West Coast brewing operations.

The sale involves a new investor group that will provide financial backing to help the company refocus its energy to Southern California.

"Green Flash has ceased operations at its production brewery in Virginia Beach, Va., its barrel-aging facility in Poway, California, and completed its transition from national to regional distribution," the company said in a news release Tuesday.

The craft brewery, which is headquartered in Mira Mesa, was founded in 2002 by Mike and Lisa Hinkley and has faced financial struggles since opening a full-scale brewing facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia two years ago.

Last week, the company said it was selling what's left of their Poway Tasting Room inventory.

Now, the company will focus on San Diego County and the Southwest region including California, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Nebraska.

As for the immediate future, Green Flash said it will open The Green Flash Brewhouse and Eatery in Lincoln, Nebraska, this year, as planned. The brewhouse will serve that state with Green Flash and Alpine brands.

A company news release also mentioned a management change with Dave Mills, formerly of Ballast Point Brewing Company, joining the company as Vice President of Sales and Business Development.

In January, Green Flash announced plans to scale back distribution across 32 states in the U.S., leading to layoffs for 15 percent of the companys workforce.
A retired U.S. Marine has just published a book detailing what it was like for Camp Pendleton-based troops in Ramadi during the U.S. troop surge in Iraq.

Retired Major Scott Huesing wrote "Echo in Ramadi" with the help of 75 interviews with Marines and their families.

Huesing led about 250 Marines in Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment in 2006 and 2007.

He hopes the book will give readers a real sense of the reality of urban combat.

"This friction is this indescribable pressure that is constantly around you when you're fighting under those circumstances, where we were literally living in the city amongst the people, against a well trained un-uniformed enemy day in and day out," Huesing said.

Scott Huesing

Huesing also wants people to know more about the sacrifices of military families. He says the Marines share a strong bond with the Gold Star families. Those are the families who lost a loved one in war.

"We share so much and they understand that, you know, we lost brothers as Marines," Huesing said, "and they lost their sons and there's never going to be any replacing that for those families."

Huesing is now retired from the Marines. But he's not only a new author, he's also the Executive Director for the non-profit Save the Brave. The organization helps provide resources to marines who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress.

NBC 7

He writes in "Echo in Ramadi" about his own struggles after returning from war. He is on a mission to remind Americans about the sacrifices of the many Marines who have taken their own lives after struggling with Post Traumatic Stress.

"It's not just a bumper sticker out here that says once a Marine always a Marine. It's true," he said.

"Echo in Ramadi" is widely available for purchase.
King Mohammed VI has informed the United Nations Secretary-General of Moroccos rejection of the Polisario separatists provocations in the buffer zone, east of the Moroccan security wall, and will inform the leaders of all friendly countries of the latest developments in the region.

Head of the Government Saad Eddine el Othmani who made the announcement Monday, reiterated that Morocco does not accept and shall never accept any change of the existing status on the ground in the buffer zone, particularly the erection of any constructions.

Morocco considers any modification of data in the buffer zone as an aggression against it, said El Othmani, who was speaking at a meeting with the leaders of trade unions and of political parties not represented in Parliament.

The buffer zone east of Moroccos security wall is a demilitarized area under the UN-brokered agreements of 1991. The Polisario militias have repeatedly conducted incursions into the area, which was handed by Morocco to the MINURSO, entrusted with monitoring the ceasefire.

Recently, the Algeria-backed Polisario revealed plans to transfer its military staff to the demilitarized zones and started mounting tents and military equipment including in Tifariti, Bir Lahlou and Mahbes.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita flew Monday to Paris to inform his French peer of the latest developments in the region. He will later visit Washington on a similar mission.

The Monday meeting was devoted to the latest developments of the issue of the countrys territorial integrity and the various initiatives undertaken to defend its sacred causes in international fora.

During this meeting, El Othmani called on all political parties and trade unions to mobilize around the kingdoms sovereignty and territorial integrity, noting that Morocco is supported in this context by UN Security Council resolutions, stressing the need to keep the status of the buffer zone unchanged.

El Othmani insisted that Morocco takes the issue of its territorial integrity very seriously, and will not allow the separatists access to the buffer zone.

The Head of Government also mentioned the steps taken by Morocco to integrate into various regional African groups, its return to the African Union and membership in the AU Peace and Security Council. Thanks to the Kings guidelines, Morocco is consolidating its position in international fora, while the separatists are losing ground, he said.

Junior Minister of the Interior, who attended the meeting, explained the developments in the buffer zone and the ins and outs of the separatists maneuvers, pointing out that Morocco is ready for all contingencies and that it will not accept the fait accompli policy.

The attending unionists and political leaders expressed their total backing to all initiatives aimed at defending the countrys territorial integrity and their determination to face up all the maneuvers meant to undermine Morocco and its national interests.

This meeting was preceded Sunday by a briefing before the foreign and defense committees of the two chambers of the Parliament. Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita then made it clear that for Morocco, it is out of the question to change the status quo in the Sahara. If the UN is not ready to put an end to the Polisarios provocations, Morocco will assume its responsibilities, he said, insisting that Morocco will not tolerate any change in this demilitarized zone which is under the exclusive control of the United Nations.

Also Sunday, Moroccos permanent representative to the UN, Omar Hilale, addressed a letter to the Security Council warning that the separatists move in the buffer zone represents a casus belli against Morocco.

So, Morocco is not ruling out any options, including the military option, to defend its national interests.
China's defunct Tiangong 1 space station mostly burned up on re-entry Monday into the atmosphere over the central South Pacific, Chinese space authorities said.

The experimental space laboratory re-entered around 8:15 a.m., the China Manned Space Engineering Office said.

Scientists monitoring the craft's disintegrating orbit had forecast the craft would mostly burn up and would pose only the slightest of risks to people. Analysis from the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showed it had mostly burned up.

Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australian National University, said Tiangong 1's re-entry was "mostly successful" and that it would have been better if the space station had not been spinning toward Earth.

"It could have been better obviously, if it wasn't tumbling, but it landed in the Southern Pacific Ocean and that's kind of where you hope it would land," Tucker said.

"It's been tumbling and spinning for a while, which means that when it really starts to come down it's less predictable about what happens to it," Tucker said. He likened it to an airplane landing, saying it's more difficult to predict where a plane that is "shaking around and moving" will land than one that is smoothly descending.

Launched in 2011, Tiangong 1 was China's first space station, serving as an experimental platform for bigger projects, such as the Tiangong 2 launched in September 2016 and a future permanent Chinese space station.

Two crews of Chinese astronauts lived on the station while testing docking procedures and other operations. Its last crew departed in 2013 and contact with it was cut in 2016.

Since then, it has orbited gradually closer and closer to Earth on its own while being monitored.

Earlier forecasts had said only about 10 percent of the bus-sized, 8.5-ton spacecraft would likely survive re-entry, mainly its heavier components such as its engines.

"The biggest takeaway from this is that as we put more things into space, all countries, we have to be aware that we do have to plan for these sorts of issues that are happening," Tucker said.

Debris from satellites, space launches and the International Space Station enters the atmosphere every few months, but only one person is known to have been hit by any of it: American woman Lottie Williams, who was struck but not injured by a falling piece of a U.S. Delta II rocket while exercising in an Oklahoma park in 1997.

Most famously, America's 77-ton Skylab crashed through the atmosphere in 1979, spreading pieces of wreckage near the southwestern Australia city of Perth, which fined the U.S. $400 for littering.

Associated Press writer Gillian Wong contributed to this report.
A man who couldn't find his vehicle after leaving it parked near the U Street nightlife area tried to report it stolen  only to learn that the car had become part of a crime scene when police found a dead man in the front passenger seat.

Alexander MacLennan parked his car near the intersection of 8th and U Streets Northwest on Friday evening before heading to a restaurant in the Atlantic Plumbing building. After having a few drinks with his partner, MacLennan told News4 that he decided to return for his car in the morning.

But overnight, the car became a crime scene related to a homicide.

Police were called about 7:40 a.m. Saturday and found a man in the front passenger seat of MacLennan's Mazda. The man in the car was showing no signs of life, police said.

One woman, who was nearby when police arrived and wished to remain anonymous when speaking to News4, described a disturbing scene: "I got here at 8 o'clock in the morning and the police just found the guy in the car. And they opened the car up and they said he fell out. And then they put the white sheet on him."

"I couldn't tell whether he was Spanish or white," she said. "But he looked like maybe in his thirties."

Shortly after police arrived, the man was declared dead. Police haven't released any identifying information or a cause of death.

The glove compartment of the car was also damaged, police said.

MacLennan said he returned on Saturday morning, but couldn't access the street because police had it blocked off. MacLennan says he left to run a few errands before returning.

But his car wasn't there.

"We just assumed it was stolen and having seen the police there earlier in the day, I just thought maybe I don't know something got smashed," he told News4.

He says he called the police to report the vehicle stolen. A detective returned the call, asked a few questions and then broke the news: his car was part of a homicide investigation.

"It's freaky," MacLennan said. "We were definitely freaked out."

MacLennan says he still hasn't gotten his car back.

"It's kind of a little creepy to know someone died in the front seat," he said. "They haven't told us a lot, but I guess I'll see it when I get it back."
Park rangers in the world's top cocoa producer, Ivory Coast, are waging a campaign to protect national forests from the illegal farming of the raw ingredient in chocolate.

Last year the governments of Ivory Coast and other top cocoa producer Ghana, along with food giants Nestle, Mars and Hershey, pledged to work together to end deforestation in the West African nations.

The president of the World Cocoa Foundation, Rick Scobey, called it a landmark decision and an "important environmental achievement."

Last year an investigation by environmental group Mighty Earth found that many of Ivory Coast's national parks and protected areas "have been entirely or almost entirely cleared of forest and replaced with cocoa-growing operations." One of them, Mont Peko National Park, is home to endangered species such as chimpanzees and pygmy hippopotamuses.

Chocolate producers should "really give customers peace of mind that chocolate eating isn't contributing to killing chimps or elephants," said Etelle Higonnet, a campaign director for Mighty Earth. "Let's have total transparency all the way from the bar in your hand or the Nesquik that you drink or the Nutella that you spread on your bread, down to the farm."

On a recent patrol in Mont Peko National Park, it didn't take long for park rangers to find cocoa growing illegally. Using machetes, the team set to work removing it.

There has been limited progress, said Kpolo Ouattara, head of the Mont Peko sector for the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves. "Roughly, more than 800 hectares (1,975 acres) of cocoa has been cut. Compared to the park's total area of 34,000 hectares, that's very little."

While mindful of tensions that have lingered in the wake of the country's deadly political violence in recent years, Ivory Coast has turned to security forces to evict thousands of illegal cocoa farmers from parks.

However, authorities say some have been sneaking back in to harvest trees hidden deep in the forest.

One farmer, Djaka Issa Ouatara, said he accepts the government's actions.

"We weren't surprised because when we entered that area, we were well aware that (the forest) was part of the national heritage," Ouatara said.

Still, some observers worry that local traders are willing to turn a blind eye to any illegal provenance of cocoa headed for the global chocolate market.

Scobey with the World Cocoa Foundation recommended that chocolate lovers choose brands that advertise their adherence to international standards and check brand websites for information about their commitments to environmental and human rights concerns.

"We can't indulge in a feel-good luxury product at the expense of a huge swath of tropical rainforest," Higonnet with Mighty Earth said.
A year and a half after a cyclist was killed in a crash with a tractor-trailer, prompting changes to the infrastructure in Cambridge, Massachusetts, state investigators have determined the cyclist was at fault.

Sixty-year-old Bernard Lavins of Lexington was hit and killed on the morning of Oct. 5, 2016. A truck driver remained on the scene after hitting him on Massachusetts Avenue in Porter Square.

Monday, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced that Lavins had left the bike lane and tried to turn left about 36 feet ahead of the crosswalk without signaling.

The driver hit Lavins in the middle lane, and Ryan said the cyclist was in the blind spot of the tractor-trailer. Investigators concluded that it was "very likely" the driver could not see him, according to the DA's office.

Following that crash, and another that left Amanda Phillips dead in Inman Square, vehicles were banned from making left turns in several Cambridge intersections. The city also removed parking spaces to add bike lanes between roadways and sidewalks throughout the city, a move businesses called a "disaster" that cost them customers.

"Business has gone down, customers have been saying 'We are not coming in, there's no place to park.' It's ridiculous," Mariana Maradianos, who works at Hillside Cleaners, told NBC10 Boston last fall.

"I haven't spoken to one human being who looks at this and doesn't think it's a mess," added Randy Ricker, owner of Brattle Square Florist. "It's become a lot more crowded because there is now less space for cars."

Ricker said that even though the moves were made to create a safe space for cyclists, it made driving more dangerous.

Becca Wolfson, executive director of Boston Cyclists Union, disputed the accounts of those local workers and business owners.

"For any business that says they're losing business because people can no longer park here, I have a hard time believing that," Wolfson said. "Hardly any legal parking was removed to implement this facility."
An iconic country store is for sale in Vermont's Addison County.

"We have been really lucky to be here," said Sue Collitt, who owns the Ripton Country Store with her husband, Dick.

The business is a throwback to simpler times. A place where some of the candy still costs a penny, where the gas pump uses a spinning price wheel instead of a digital display, and where a hand-cranked cash register and wood stove are key to the operation.

The Collitts, however, are not frozen in time. Now in their 70's, they want to retire, after 42 years running the landmark in this town of about 600 in Vermont's Green Mountains.

"I will be sad to leave here," Sue Collitt told NBC 10 Boston. "But we have to do it. It's time to travel. Time to do whatever we haven't been able to do."

For more than four decades, the couple has opened up shop every day but Christmas, with the store doubling as Riptons post office.

"They're the soul of the community," customer Ellie Holsman said of the Collitts.

The Collitts believe they're just the fifth owners of the business since the 1870's, and are looking to sell it to the sixth for $225,000.

The front porch is locally famous for the intentional misspelling on its ice chest. Decals read "iec" instead of "ice," in reference to a mistake long ago that now serves as a way to check whos paying attention.

"You could probably take this store and plop it back into 1930 or 1940, and people would be real comfortable coming in," Dick Collitt said.

"Of course we'll miss Dick & Sue," customer Hilda Billings said. "Theyve been here a long time. They've been good people here and I hope somebody will keep the store going."

The sale of the store even attracted the attention of the New York Times. After an opinion article penned by Ripton resident Bill McKibben, a prominent environmentalist and author, ran this weekend the Collitts said prospective buyers started calling from as far away as Texas.

"We turned a couple people down already," Dick Collitt said, explaining he needs to be sure the place goes to someone who understands the hard work they're in for, as well as the store's key role at the center of daily life for many.

"We want somebody wholl be a good caretaker."

And when they do find that caretaker, Dick and Sue Collitt promise theyll be in regularly as customers, ready to enjoy the Ripton Country Store from the other side of the counter.
Maine is the latest state to consider a so-called "Red Flag Law."

The law would let family members and law enforcement officers petition courts to obtain protection orders against "high risk" individuals who pose imminent threats. A judge could order that person to surrender his or her firearms for 21 days, then hold a hearing to determine gun possession.

"It does give police and concerned family members a real tool to intervene in someones life who they know is coming apart," said Sen. Mark Dion (D-Portland), the bills sponsor. A former Sheriff, Dion says a law like this could prevent suicides and stop a potential mass shooting.

"I think its the right policy for the right time," he said.

Several states have debated similar red flag laws in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Supporters argue a red flag law could have prevented the Parkland shooter, but some gun owners say its an overreach that threatens their 2nd Amendment rights.

"The biggest concern is the number of due process issues in the bill," said Todd Tolhurst, president of the Gun Owners of Maine organization. "Youre being tried and convicted before ever committing a crime."

Tolhurst, and dozens of others, turned out for a public hearing in front of the Maine Legislatures Judiciary Committee to debate LD 1884 Tuesday afternoon.

In the crowd were several high school students who have become gun control advocates.

"We really want to make sure that people who are too unhealthy to be using a gun shouldn't have access, and shouldnt be endangering themselves and others," said Camden Hills Regional High School student Pearl Benjamin.

She said after the National School Walk out and March For Our Lives, students need to stay engaged on the issue of gun control.

"Were dealing with life and death," she said.

The public hearing included several hours of testimony on both sides of the bill. The committee is expected to continue the debate during an upcoming work session.
There's a cannon controversy in Seekonk, Massachusetts.

Neighbors voted Monday to keep a military canon, an M114 Howitzer, that was placed at Veterans Memorial Park next to a library.

"It has protected veterans and that's why we wanted to put it there to honor these people," said Donald Kinniburgh, a Vietnam veteran.

Over the course of months, some neighbors have complained about its placement.

"I just don't feel that a gun belongs there," said Bob Blanchard, a Korean War veteran.

The Howitzer lasted about seven months before being taken away. Police hauled it away to their headquarters.

The cannon's future became a question in the town's annual election. The results saw 1,225 voters, or 72 percent, selecting to return the cannon to Veterans Memorial Park, with just 484 voting to keep it removed.

"If the people vote 'yes,' it'll stay," said David Viera, chairman of Veterans Memorial Park. "If the people vote 'no,' it'll go."

Viera said he thought it was a "no-brainier" to add the artifact.

"I regret the process," said Viera. "I regret the fact I didn't ask the board of library trustees first before putting it there. However, I would put it there all over again."

Adding to it all, a postcard was received by neighbors last week, giving them the wrong instructions on what a "no" vote means.

"I think there are folks that are against it that wanted to trick people to vote 'no,'" said Seekonk's town moderator, Peter Hoogerzeil. "That's how I read it. Since they didn't identify themselves, to me, it seems intentional."
A teacher rebellion in red states from West Virginia to Arizona has put Republicans on the defensive, forcing them to walk a fine line in the months before midterm elections between placating constituents who are angry over education cuts and conservative supporters who want a smaller government and low taxes.

In Oklahoma, most Republicans last week broke with the party orthodoxy and endorsed hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increases to fund public schools and give teachers a raise of 15 to 18 percent.

They acted after Oklahoma teachers demanded action, inspired by a nine-day strike in West Virginia, where they won a 5 percent raise. The rebellion also has spread to Kentucky where teachers thronged the state Capitol Monday to protest cuts in pensions. And in Arizona, restive teachers also are demanding a 20 percent pay raise.

But the epicenter of the revolt now is Oklahoma, where lawmakers got little praise for approving major tax increases and instead caught flak from both sides of the political divide. Thousands of teachers converged on the state Capitol for a second day Tuesday demanding even more money, while anti-tax conservatives vowed to challenge incumbents who supported the plan.

"I've had some political blowback, people saying this will be my last term in office," said Rep. Kyle Hilbert, a Republican from rural northeast Oklahoma, who has gotten an earful from conservatives. "I'd rather serve one term and know I did what was best for my district."

The Oklahoma strike showed no signs of ending, with many of the largest school districts in the state planning to close for a third consecutive day on Wednesday to honor the walkout.

Some Republicans are trying to express their sympathy for the teachers. Three weeks before a closely watched special election for an open congressional seat in Arizona, Republican hopeful Debbie Lesko is running a TV ad that shows her reading a book to children as she vows to "fix our schools and give our teachers the raise they deserve."

As he runs for a second term, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in Arizona epitomizes the dilemma for GOP candidates in 2018. He refuses to raise taxes and finds himself on the defensive amid growing frustration with education funding in a state where the budget was decimated during the recession and where he and other leaders have dramatically expanded voucher programs. Teachers have been filling the Capitol to protest a Ducey plan to provide a 2 percent raise for teachers, and they have been joined by the two Democrats trying to unseat him.

The protests also have emboldened teachers across the country to run for office. In Kentucky, teachers bruised by their fight over education pensions are preparing to mobilize to support legislative candidates they see as passing a key test: support for education. About two dozen educators or former educators are running for office this year, most of them as Democrats.

For the Democratic Party, which has been losing legislative seats in many of these red states for years, the intensity of the education movement is an opportunity. The Oklahoma Democratic Party set up a tent outside the Capitol during the teacher protests and urged demonstrators to register to vote.

"I think the people who will be held responsible at the end of the day are the people in power," said Party Chairwoman Anna Langthorn. "I think we have a lot of momentum."

Xavier Turner, 17, the student body president at Del City High School in suburban Oklahoma City, held a sign at the protest Tuesday saying: "I'd take KD back before Mary Fallin," showing his preference for NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors, over the Oklahoma governor who is term-limited and not running in 2018. He's not quite old enough to vote, but Turner said that as young people register, they will remember who stood with their teachers.

"We just need to do better as far as the Legislature and who we vote in," Turner said Tuesday after joining the protest outside the Oklahoma Capitol. "The national spotlight is on Oklahoma. Hopefully it goes well."

Democrats already have made some gains in Oklahoma, winning four seats from Republicans in special elections in the past year, including two teachers elected to office after campaigning on improving school funding. But they are still deep in the minority in the Legislature.

Recent U.S. history is mixed on whether such grassroots movements can translate into victories at the ballot box. Teachers were at the heart of massive protests at the Wisconsin state Capitol in 2011, fighting a proposal from then-newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Despite the closure of schools for four days as part of a coordinated sick-out among teachers, a bill that placed severe restrictions on unions passed anyway. An attempted recall of Walker in 2012 led to an even wider margin of victory than he enjoyed in the regular election in 2010.

Kansas is a more encouraging example for teachers. After Republicans there approved massive personal income tax cuts beginning in 2012, budget shortfalls put a lid on education funding increases. A backlash against the tax cuts led to the defeat of about two dozen conservative state lawmakers, and the Legislature last year reversed many of the cuts.

Pat McFerron, a Republican strategist and pollster in Oklahoma, said for many GOP incumbents who voted for the tax-hike plan to fund teacher pay raises, their greatest concern is a right-wing primary challenge. Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, a hero of the anti-tax movement, urged citizens to challenge their Republican legislators who voted for the plan.

But Carri Hicks, a fourth-grade math and science teacher in the Oklahoma City suburb of Deer Creek, said she decided to run as a Democrat for a state Senate seat this year in part because of the declines in funding for public schools.

"I want to be a voice for the teachers at the state Capitol," Hicks said, saying the raise for teachers and more money for education was a good first step. "My campaign continues to finish the job."

___

Associated Press writers Melissa Daniels in Phoenix, Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky, Tim Talley and Adam Kealoha Causey in Oklahoma City, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
Just few hours after Israel announced on Monday a deal with the UN refugee agency to allow over 16,000 African migrants to stay temporarily in Israel and to send 16,000 other African migrants to Western countries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rescinded the agreement, saying he was suspending it for the time being.

The Western countries that were to receive the migrants were Canada, Germany, Italy, and the USA.

The deal with the UN refugee agency was reached following an Israeli controversial plan announced earlier this year to deport African migrants who entered Israel illegally, giving them a choice between leaving voluntarily or facing indefinite imprisonment with eventual forced expulsion.

The plan did not work as Israels Supreme Court had blocked the deportations and as Rwanda and Uganda had said they would not accept those deported against their will.

Under the five-year agreement with the UN refugee agency,

some 16,250 African migrants, many of them seeking asylum, would have been resettled in Western nations.

According to Israeli interior ministry figures, there are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, half of them children, women or men with families, who were not facing immediate deportation. Most of them entered from Egypt several years ago, before a new fence was built along the desert border.
A Russian man arrested over a year ago in the Czech Republic made his first appearance Friday in a U.S. courtroom, denying that he hacked computers at LinkedIn, Dropbox and other U.S. companies, compromising the personal information of millions of Americans.

Yevgeniy Nikulin, 30, pleaded not guilty to computer intrusion, aggravated identity theft and other charges in federal court in San Francisco. Nikulin had been extradited from Prague earlier in the day.

Prosecutors say Nikulin penetrated the computers of Silicon Valley firms in 2012 and potentially gained access to the personal information of millions of Americans.

"This is deeply troubling behavior once again emanating from Russia," U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a news release.

He said computer hacking is "a direct threat to the security and privacy of Americans" and that the U.S. won't tolerate it.

Nikulin's defense attorney has said his case is politically motivated in the U.S.

Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan's decision to send Nikulin to the U.S. was announced just minutes after the country's Constitutional Court released a statement that it rejected a last-minute appeal from the Nikulin as "groundless."

No further details were immediately available about the decision in which both the U.S. and Russia suspect him of criminal wrongdoing.

The Czechs arrested Nikulin in Prague in cooperation with the FBI in October 2016. Russia also wanted him extradited on a separate charge of internet theft in 2009.

Both countries submitted their extradition requests on the same date.

The Russian authorities previously had said they would do all they could to prevent Nikulin's extradition to the U.S.

Czech courts previously ruled both extradition requests meet the necessary legal conditions, leaving the decision to the justice minister.

But after a last-ditch complaint filed by Nikulin with the country's Constitutional Court, the minister had to hold off on a decision until the court ruled.

Earlier this week, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said in Prague that under Czech extradition law "we have every reason to believe and expect that Mr. Nikulin will be extradited to America."

But the Czech Republic's pro-Russia president, Milos Zeman, repeatedly asked Pelikan to allow Nikulin's extradition to Russia, the minister said. Zeman has no official say in cases like this one.

Pelikan's decision will likely further strain relations between the Czech Republic and Russia after the Czechs expelled three Russian diplomats in solidarity with Britain over a nerve agent attack on an ex-spy.

In a statement published by Russia's Tass news agency, the Russian Embassy in Prague called the step "deeply disappointing."

"Prague once again preferred the notorious allied solidarity without taking into account all the factors and circumstances of this case," Alexei Kolmakov, the embassy's press secretary, was quoted as saying.
Networking used to be all about specialized boxes, but that era is fading fast.

By a specialized box, I mean a piece of hardware that was built to perform an individual function. Physical firewalls, routers, servers, load balancers, etc., are all examples of these different boxes, and they are still everywhere. But new technology is seriously disrupting the old ways of doing things.

Virtualization has made it possible to separate the software functionality of all those boxes from the specific appliance-type hardware in which it resides. Network functions virtualization (NFV) software can replicate an appliances function in a more cost-effective commodity server, which is easy to obtain and deploy and can hold the software for numerous functions at once. People like the improved simplicity, cost, agility and speed that comes with this change.

In a cloud era, replacing specialized hardware with software all sounds very familiar, but the evolution of NFV over the last few years has ushered in a completely new way of networking. It is, in fact, a radical paradigm shift. The more NFV takes hold, the more the central corporate office, where many of these appliances live, will recede in importance. Meanwhile, the digital edge, where these virtualized networking functions can be more easily deployed close to users, will grow in importance. And a global interconnection platform can get you there.

Virtualization is simplification

Whats so bad about relying on highly specialized boxes, anyway? Until recently, there wasnt a better option, but as remote offices and data centers increasingly began to multiply in the enterprise, network operators wanted an alternative. In the days before virtualization, they knew that introducing a new function to a network always meant installing a new appliance. That came with procurement, and testing, and ensuring the device was compatible with other equipment, not to mention getting the device to the physical location where it was needed and installing it.

Also, the way most companies tend to buy features is best-of-breed, or choosing the top appliance for a given function. That means a company can easily have multiple vendors inside its network, requiring multiple operating systems and multiple consoles to manage everything. In short, things can get messy fast. As NFV has emerged, one of its major draws is that it reduces the complexity and cost that everyone assumed came with networking.

With NFV, theres no need  for instance  for a company to buy a firewall appliance and install it at it corporate remote office to intercept and weed out suspicious traffic. Thats because a firewall-as-a-service provider can virtualize that network function at the edge of the network and make sure the suspicious traffic is stopped before it can get anywhere near the firms clouds, users or on-premises IT. The same kind of efficiency, flexibility, speed and security is realized when other network functions are delivered as a service (e.g., routing-as-a-service, DDoS-as-a-service) right at the digital edge, where most transactions are occurring. Those benefits help explain why ABI Research projects the NFV market to hit $38 billion by 2022, including a 53% compound annual growth rate in Europe.

To be clear, even as virtualization has ascended, network appliances havent disappeared just yet. For example, IDCs latest worldwide quarterly ethernet switch and router trackers showed what the research firm called modest, continued growth. (Switches were up 3.2% year-over-year from Q4 2016, routers up 2.4%.) And its just a fact that some specialized boxes will never go away. The optical equipment that powers the fiber, for instance, will always need to be close to where the fiber is. Still, with virtualization, most service creation will be able to sit in remote, distributed enterprise locations, and that amounts to a revolution.

Essential interconnection at the edge

The digital edge is the best place for all these networking services because it is, by definition, close to where the data is being created, stored and exchanged. Companies in a digital age need that kind of proximity to deliver the level of instant, anytime, anywhere connectivity that users expect. Theyre increasingly moving their IT out of centralized corporate data centers and near users, partners and clouds because reducing distance is the only way to reduce latency.

A global, multi-tenant data center platform that specializes in enabling interconnection  private data exchange between businesses  works best for network service delivery because it can take users and providers wherever they need to be and bring them together. A multi-tenant data center environment also hosts multiple cloud providers, network providers and enterprises. And some data center providers like my company, Equinix, offer cloud-powered solutions that allow businesses to instantly connect with any one of these players all over the world. Thats ideal for any company wanting to deliver or consume NFV services.

Networking virtualization enables companies to think outside the box, if youll forgive the pun. A global interconnection platform makes sure they can maximize their opportunities once they get there.
The infrastructure required to run artificial intelligence algorithms and train deep neural networks is so dauntingly complex that its hampering enterprise AI deployments, experts say.

55% of firms have not yet achieved any tangible business outcomes from AI, and 43% say its too soon to tell, says Forrester Research about the challenges of transitioning from AI excitement to tangible, scalable AI success.

The wrinkle? AI is not a plug-and-play proposition, the analyst group says. Unless firms plan, deploy, and govern it correctly, new AI tech will provide meager benefits at best or, at worst, result in unexpected and undesired outcomes.

Vendors are responding with prepackaged products and services aimed at accelerating adoption of enterprise AI. For example, Pure Storage recently teamed with Nvidia to release an integrated software and hardware bundle thats tuned for AI workloads and data requirements. The goal is to help enterprises deploy a simplified infrastructure.

Enterprises stand ready to move into AI, according to industry watchers. Analysts predict increased adoption of data-driven applications across all verticals as companies look to retool business processes to be more efficient and deliver more personalized service to customers.

AI technologies will be a top-five investment priority for more than 30% of CIOs by 2020, predicts Gartner.

Pure Storage, Nvidia, Arista AI bundle

One of their biggest challenges is finding that onramp to AI and advanced analytics. Infrastructure is a huge problem, says Matt Burr, general manager at Pure Storage for FlashBlade, the companys storage platform. AIRI solves that problem for them.

AIRI, which stands for AI-ready infrastructure, combines FlashBlade, Nvidia DGX-1 supercomputers powered by Nvidia Tesla V100 GPUs, and Arista 100GbE switches for connectivity. AIRI is supported by the Nvidia GPU Cloud deep-learning stack and Pure Storage AIRI Scaling Toolkit. The combination delivers a fourfold improvement in data-scientist productivity, Pure Storage and Nvidia claim.

One AIRI customer, call-center outsourcing provider Global Response, is working to retool its existing business processes using AI. Its plans include developing a call-center system that enables real-time transcription and analysis of customer support calls to increase speed and quality of service. The company wanted a simple foundation that would allow it to deploy AI at scale, and it chose AIRI.

Stephen Shooster, co-CEO of the call-center provider, says the integrated software and hardware bundle is enabling teams to get up and running in hours instead of weeks or months.

"We've reached an inflection point where integration of AI throughout our organization is critical to the ongoing success of our business," Shooster said in a statement. "While we wanted to move quickly, infrastructure for AI was slowing us down because it is very complex to deploy." With AIRI, all of the question marks and complexities associated with AI are solved.

IBM cloud services promote AI

At IBM, new services are aimed at facilitating AI adoption. One new cloud service, called Cloud Private for Data, is a data-science and machine-learning platform that brings together the components enterprises need without requiring massive systems-integration efforts. Cloud Private for Data is an application layer deployed on Kubernetes open-source container software and comes with APIs to hook into third-party products.

When enterprise intelligence is enhanced, productivity increases and standards can emerge, says Rob Thomas, general manager of IBM analytics, in a post announcing the availability of the new service. The only drawback is the assembly required: all systems need to talk to each other and data architecture must be normalized. What if an organization could establish the building blocks of AI, with no assembly required?

IBM Cloud Private for Data is engineered to facilitate data science, data engineering and application building within a single integrated experience, with no assembly required, Thomas says.

IBM has rightly recognized that a skills gap exists when it comes rolling out AI, says Krishna Roy, senior analyst at 451 Research, in a report that examines IBMs new private-cloud platform and a related public cloud service. Nonetheless, IBM is still operating in a crowded market. It is therefore to going to square up against competition from fellow members of the data science establishment, as well as newer market entrants looking to address corporate AI requirements.

Kogentix, for example, offers an end-to-end platform for building machine-learning-driven applications. Other startups that are looking to serve enterprise AI needs include Anaconda, Dataiku and DataRobot. Many of them share an objective of making AI corporate-ready, by providing an end-to-end environment for machine-learning-based analysis, Roy says.
RIDGEFIELD  Superintendent Karen Baldwin, who has been on paid leave for nearly a month, will officially leave the district June 30.

School board Chair Fran Walton announced Tuesday that the board accepted Baldwins resignation late last week after three weeks of negotiations.

The board had voted March 12 to allow Walton to enter into a resignation agreement with Baldwin, who had been placed on administrative leave following claims she plagiarized documents and letters to parents. Robert Miller, the districts director of operations development and technology, was then appointed as acting superintendent.

Dr. Karen Baldwin offered her resignation, and the Ridgefield Board of Education accepted and subsequently signed a resignation agreement, effective June 30, 2018, Walton said in an email Tuesday. Dr. Robert Miller will continue as acting superintendent until June 30th, 2018.

Baldwin, who started as superintendent in 2015, did not respond to a request for comment.

The claims of plagiarism were first brought forward by Ridgefield High School senior Paul Kim, who produced four documents Baldwin had written with lines or paragraphs taken from other sources without attribution.

One accusation concerned a letter Baldwin had sent to the community following last months school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Large portions of the letter were identical to an earlier letter sent by West Hartford Superintendent Tom Moore, which Baldwin has said was shared with the Connecticut Association of School Superintendents.

Other passages cited as questionable included a paragraph from a Connecticut Center for School Change resource that Baldwin used in her request to extend her contract, a paragraph in last years budget identical to language in a Brookfield schools document, and a line in her 2016 Thanksgiving message that was the same as one in President Barack Obamas Thanksgiving address from the year before.

Walton said Baldwin will stay on paid administrative leave, with benefits, until June 30. When asked if Baldwin would receive additional benefits or a severance package on or after June 30, Walton said she was unsure what (is meant) by a severance package and suggested reviewing the resignation document.

She declined to comment further on the resignation or the boards search for a new superintendent. The Board of Education created a superintendent search committee last week that includes all board members.

The News-Times submitted a request Tuesday afternoon under the Freedom of Information Act for a copy of the agreement.

Just last October, the school board had agreed to extend Baldwins contract to June 2020. According to the district human resources department, her salary is about $233,000 a year, plus a $15,000 annuity.
Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday few hours after announcing a deal with the UN refugee agency to allow over 16,000 African migrants to stay temporarily in Israel made a U-turn announcing that he was for the time being suspending the agreement, Times of Israel reports.

I hear you, and especially the residents of south Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said in Hebrew, in a facebook post.

For the time being, I am suspending the agreement, he added.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli leader announced an agreement with the UN refugee agency allowing the deportation of some 16,250 African migrants to third countries, rumored to be Canada, Germany, Italy, the United States or Sweden.

Under the deal, a similar number of African migrants were to get a temporary status in Israel and be relocated in other regions of the Jewish state.

The about-face came following criticism in his own camp and from anti-migrants groups following the deal with UN, Times of the Israel reports.

Tel Aviv had unveiled late last year its anti-migrant plan to deport 42,000 African migrants, largely stemming from Sudan and Eritrea, to Uganda and Rwanda. Some who were deported to the two African countries and offered $3,500 and flight ticket told the Israeli media that they faced serious danger and even imprisonment after arriving in Africa without proper documents.

Last month, the Supreme Court froze the plan, deeming it illegal. The UN also criticized the plan and entered into a deal with Israel for a five-year scheme.

Israelis in Tel Aviv where most asylum seekers reside have campaigned against the presence of the African migrants whom they view as liability.

Netanyahu backed the anti-African-migrants sentiment as he recently noted that African migrants are more dangerous than jihadists.

Rwanda Tuesday told Israels Kan public broadcaster that it has never entered into any agreement with Tel Aviv to take in African migrants.

There was never a deal with Israel, neither in writing, nor verbally, said the African countrys foreign Affairs minister Olivier Nduhungirehe.

The Rwandan official denied Netanyahus comments that Rwanda accepted to play the role of third country.

also noted that Kigali backed out of the agreement after being on mounting pressure from the European Union and the New Israel Fund.
What is condom snorting? A bad idea to say the least! Youngsters these days are uncoiling a condom and snorting it up one nostril and inhaling right into their throats from where they are hawking it out of their mouths. This apparently is a dare that young people are falling for!

Its a game called the condom-snorting challenge that has been sweeping across social media and teenagers and youngsters apparently have been doing this for some years now. The challenge came up first in 2007 and became a rage in 2013 when a young woman did it in a YouTube video. The video since then has been removed but the challenge remained on the media circulating among young people.

Stephen Enriquez, a state education specialist in San Antonio says that there are drugs, alcohol and other addictions parents are warned about. Now he is visiting schools to warn parents and teachers about social media challenges as well that could lead to serious accidents. He explained that teenagers are taking up these challenges for likes, views and subscribers on social media. There are thousands of youngsters, he added, that go looking for these challenges online in order to recreate them.

According to associate professor Bruce Lee from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, snorting a condom could be very dangerous. It could get stuck in the air passage and cause the person to choke and even die. He spoke about two previously reported cases where there was accidental condom inhalation in a 27 year old woman who had inhaled the condom right into her lungs during oral sex. This caused pneumonia and part of her lung collapsed thereafter.

The case report was published in 2004 in the Indian Journal of Chest Diseases and Allied Sciences. The second case report appeared in 2016 in the Journal of Medical Case Reports where again a 26 year old woman had swallowed a condom and part of it had stuck in her appendix and led to a serious inflammation and appendicitis. Both of these cases were accidents, unlike what these teenagers were doing for a dare said Lee. He says that the whole process of snorting up the condom and taking is via the mouth would be painful to say the least. He wonders why people would do something so uncomfortable for a few likes or views.

Condom fragment retrieved from appendiceal lumen  Sama et al. 2016 via BMC Journal of Medical Case Reports

According to expert psychologists, these challenges and dares are taken up to get social media attention. There has been another dare doing the rounds  chewing up detergent pods called the Tide pod challenge.

Over the last 5 years the U.S. poison control centers have received a single report of a condom inhalation. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers only one case was on inhalation of a condom. There were 107 incidents of condom ingestion however. The centres have released national hotline at 1-800-222-1222 for reporting incidents. Incidents can also be reported by texting POISON to 797979.

References
Gay dating app Grindr has released a new feature recently that allows its users to opt for HIV testing reminders. A new data analysis from SINTEF, a Norwegian research firm, has revealed that Grindr could be sharing this sensitive information regarding the users HIV status with two other companies.

Grindr, which came into being in 2009, has been promoting HIV awareness for a long time now and has been offering information regarding regular testing and free testing centres. They recently introduced an option where users could be reminded for a semiannual testing for HIV. The app allows open dialogues about HIV among users and also provides FAQs regarding HIV and its treatment and prevention. The app allows its users to display their HIV status as either;

Positive

Positive and in treatment

Negative

Negative and on PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis  meant to prevent contracting HIV in non infected partners of HIV positive individuals)

The Grindr app has over 3.6 million active users worldwide and has information like HIV status and last tested date of the users. This information has been shared with Apptimize and Localytics, the new reveal finds. These companies work to optimize apps and their functioning. The app is also sending the information to these companies along with the age, gender, ethnicity, height, weight, body type, sexual position preferred, gay subculture, relationship status, GPS data, phone ID and email of the users. This means that the companies could identify these users and know their HIV status. This is a violation of individual privacy and goes against the companys users privacy policy.

According to the company policy, You may also have the option to provide information concerning health characteristics, such as your HIV status or Last Tested Date. Remember that if you choose to include information in your profile, and make your profile public, that information will also become public.

This new data that comes from SINTEF was confirmed by cybersecurity experts. Antoine Pultier, a researcher at SINTEF said the HIV status of the user is found to be linked to all the other information provided by the user. This is one of the main problems. According to Grindr the sharing of the health information is to improve the app and they are not selling this sensitive information. Scott Chen, chief technology officer, Grindr, said no user information is being sold to third parties and that they pay these software vendors for the sole purpose of using their services. The limited information shared with these platforms is done under strict contractual terms that provide for the highest level of confidentiality, data security and user privacy, he said. He said this was standard practice and was safe and secure. Users and privace advocates are not so sure however.
Vincenzo Venditti, an assistant professor of chemistry at Iowa State University, is searching for a new kind of antibiotic in the fight against superbugs.

Superbugs are microorganisms such as bacteria, which have adapted to resist the typical drugs used to treat them.

According to a 2014 report commissioned by the United Kingdom governnment, 700,000 deaths are caused worldwide each year by these superbugs, known as antimicrobial resistant microbes. The report projected a possible 10 million deaths caused by antimicrobial resistance in 2050 based on rising drug resistance and economic growth. Though it's an uncertain projection, it outpaces the current death toll of cancer, which accounted for 8.8 million deaths in 2015.

Though this is a rising concern, major pharmaceutical companies are decreasing their investment in antimicrobial research. This expensive research is not very profitable for companies because once a new drug is formulated, it must be sparingly used due to the results of exposure, said Venditti. The more a drug is used, the more superbugs can evolve to resist them.

"Pharmaceutical companies have to invest a lot of money to produce a new antimicrobial that then you cannot really use," said Venditti. "You have to keep it on the shelf as long as you can, so there's not a big push for pharmaceutical companies to invest in this type of research."

For Venditti, this is all the more reason for public university research to address the issue -; and in a whole new way.

"The majority of the research today is focused on optimizing old antimicrobials," Venditti said. "We want to create a new one which has a completely different mechanism of action."

Current antibacterial drugs target such areas as the cell wall, the membrane or certain enzymes within the bacteria. Venditti plans to target an enzyme that has never been targeted before, one that is a master regulator of bacterial metabolism.

By inhibiting this enzyme, not only would the bacteria's eating, growing and proliferating be reduced, but it would also be less virulent, or harmful, because of its impaired metabolism.

"This is the key of this project," Venditti said. "In theory, even though let's say the bacteria will find a mechanism to keep growing even with our antibiotic, since we have affected also the virulence of the bacteria, we can keep the bacteria in our body like we have several other bacteria in our body because the bacteria will be harmless at this point."

The enzyme he plans to target has other key advantages, as well. It is present in nearly all bacteria, so a drug that inhibits it would be able to attack numerous different bacterial diseases. In addition, the enzyme is not present in humans and other animals and so would be unlikely to have side effects.

However, Venditti found when studying this enzyme as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health that there is a reason this enzyme has not been targeted by drug screening campaigns. The enzyme is very difficult to test.

Typically, modern drug screening facilities are equipped with robots that allow up to 100,000 drug-like compounds to be tested against the target in a single day. However, fast and reliable functional assays, procedures for measuring the function of the target, have to be developed in advance in order to evaluate which of the compounds affect the target's function.

Unfortunately, such fast methods are not available for measuring the function of the enzyme of interest in Venditti's lab, and the testing process would require much too long to carry out.

However, Venditti will work with a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique to test fragments of drug compounds. Each fragment will be tested not for how it affects the enzyme, but for whether it binds to the enzyme. Using NMR, several fragments can be tested for binding in 20 minutes.

The NMR can also detect where on the molecule the fragments are binding to show whether it is in an area critical to the function of the enzyme. Then, when several promising binders are found, they will be added to and linked together to create one strong binder which can be tested for inhibition of the enzyme. Since two to three fragments can be combined to form an optimized molecule, screening 1,000 fragment compounds is equivalent to screening a million to a billion full compounds in a traditional screening.

"We already ran this preliminary screening on 1,000 molecules and found about 160 binders. Now we are counter-screening to eliminate false positive hits," Venditti said. "The key is really to use this NMR-based technique in order to obtain lead compounds that we can further optimize in the future."

By using the NMR technique to reduce the number of drug compounds to test against the enzyme, Venditti hopes to greatly reduce the time spent searching for a molecule that can inhibit the enzyme and ultimately be used to create a new, effective antibiotic.

Source: https://www.iastate.edu/
Genetically engineered human T cells that are effective at fighting liver cancer in mice may one day help patients fight liver cancer, say researchers.

Credit: Carl Dupont/Shutterstock.com

In a study conducted at Georgia Cancer Center, mice that were genetically engineered to respond to human antigens were exposed to an antigen commonly found in human liver cancer.

The antigen triggered the immune system and some of the mouse T cells developed the ability to target liver cancer.

The researchers took genes encoding the most powerful liver cancer antigen receptors present on the mouse T cells and transfected them into human T cells. The resulting engineered human T cells also targeted the cancer, without damaging healthy liver cells.

Corresponding author Yukai He says: "These T cells are very potent and can kill human liver cancer both in a dish and in a mouse."

As reported in the journal Hepatology, large liver tumors in comparatively small mice started to regress approximately 20 days after treatment and were gone completely by day 41 with the help of one of the receptors.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the incidence of new liver cancer cases rose by 38% between 2003 and 2012. In 2012, nearly 23,000 individuals died from liver cancer, which is a 56% increase in deaths since 2003.

Next, Yukai plans to work with Piedmont Atlanta Hospital to retrieve T cells, liver cancer cells and healthy tissue from patients undergoing surgery and to put the mouse receptor genes on those T cells.

The cells would then be monitored in a dish to see how well they fight liver tumors, as well as how they react to healthy tissue.

Yukai says that if the T cells do produce a robust attack against the cancer, without damaging healthy cells, the next step would be to test the treatment in clinical trials.

Now that we have these T-cell receptor genes, we may be able to humanize the genes to help patients. Yukai He, Co-Author

Source:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/mcog-nrg040218.php
Private cord blood company, Smart Cells, has released their 20th sample of stem cells collected from cord blood and tissue to a patient to treat autism. This is the companys first sample to be released and infused for the condition. This release closely coincides with World Autism Awareness Day on the 2nd April, for which Smart Cells have released a simple informational guide on autism for parents.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, more commonly known as simply autism, is a group of developmental brain disorders that affects around 700,000 people in the UK. It affects a persons ability to read body language, understand facial expressions and communicate effectively, and also can cause repetitive, sometimes harmful, behavior. It is currently incurable but has previously only been treatable through therapy and interventions.

In a breakthrough for stem cell science and the treatment of autism, Smart Cells has released their first sample to infuse in a 5 year old boy with autism at Duke University, North Carolina, USA in March 2018.

With this release, they celebrate their 20th successful sample to be released to a customer from whom cord blood and tissue was collected at birth, closely following the release of a sample that was recently sent to a 3 year old girl at Duke University for a cerebral palsy treatment.

Previous studies have shown that not only are the infusions safe and feasible, which is a hugely important first step in cord blood transplants, but that recipients of the transfusion have also shown improvements in the condition of autism, with reductions in symptoms such as repetitive behavior and improvements in their general behavior. The parents and researchers at Duke University noted behavioral improvements in 70% of the 25 children in the study.

The rationale behind using stem cells as treatment is that it can decrease inflammation that is a consistent finding in the brain and gut of people with autism, in turn helping to alleviate their symptoms.

In order to help parents who have children with autism to find support and understand the condition of autism, Smart Cells have released a simple guide to autism that breaks down the facts and stats, explains where parents can turn to find help and what treatments are currently available.

Dr. Ann Smith, Scientific Director at Smart Cells, commented:
Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut, affiliated with Yale University and Yale Medicine, is offering Fertility Yoga classes.

If you are trying to conceive, this class will help prepare the entire endocrine and reproductive systems to be working as effectively as possible; an announcement claims; and adds: The yoga and meditation are part of the fertility treatment. Who Should Enroll, the announcement asks, and then answers as; Women trying to conceive.

Meanwhile, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, welcomed the usage of yoga in fertility issues, calling it a step in the positive direction. Zed urged all major world hospitals and educational institutions to explore various benefits yoga offered.

Yoga, referred as a living fossil, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted.

Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.

According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to a 2016 Yoga in America Study, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.

Source: https://www.greenwichhospital.org/
The Zambian government has declared the Cuban Ambassador to the country personae non grata.

On Saturday, Cuban Ambassador to Zambia, Nelson Pages Vilas, openly supported the newly launched opposition Socialist Party in Zambia.

In what he described as revolutionary greetings, the Ambassador said his government was wishing the Socialist Party in Zambia all the best.

But Zambian President Edgar Lungu said the Cuban Ambassador has breached diplomatic ethics, practice and standards by his action.

According to the presidents spokesman Amos Chanda, the ambassador cannot speak and offer open support to any political formation, he cant do that even to the ruling party.

The government asked Cuba to recall its ambassador for behavior unbecoming of a diplomat, Chanda told a media briefing on Sunday.

The Cuban Ambassador to Zambia Nelson Pages Vilas has just presented his credentials in Zambia last week.

In receiving the credentials, President Lungu said Zambia and Cuba had enjoyed a long-term friendship and continue to share warm relations based on common values, mutual respect and interest.

According to Amos Chanda, relations between Zambia and Cuba will continue to remain strong and intact despite Governments handing over of the Note Verbale to the Cuban diplomat and Government.
Mini has unveiled an electric version of its iconic "Classic" model ahead of the New York Auto Show, which opens to the public Friday, March 30, 2018. This one-off Classic Mini Electric concept comes ahead of a production Mini Electric vehicle, due by 2019.

Since Mini presented its fully electric concept in Frankfurt in 2017, a production model has been on the cards for 2019, in time for the 60th anniversary of British automotive brand, now owned by BMW. In the meantime, Mini is keeping fans keen at the New York Auto Show with a surprising electric version of its most iconic model, bridging the brand's past and future.

From the outside, this red and white car has the look of the iconic Mini. However, a little yellow "Mini Electric" logo reveals that this version is, in fact, an electric vehicle. The manufacturer states that, in true Mini tradition, the electric motor's acceleration maintains the unmistakable go-kart feel when driving. This one-off model is not for sale.

Mini's upcoming 100% electric production model is still in development and is based on a three-door Mini.

In 2008, Mini presented a prototype called "Mini E," which gave rise to 500 production models between 2009 and 2010.

Also Watch: Harley Davidson Flat Track Experience With Marco Belli | Interview
London: A new free-trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK, following Britain's exit from the European Union (EU), could take nearly seven years, according to an analysis released by an anti-Brexit think-tank on Tuesday.

Open Britain, set up as a campaign group against a hard Brexit by prominent British politicians and campaigners, analysed the time taken by countries in their various FTA negotiations of the past to come up with an average estimate. India takes on average six years and 11 months, compared to China's five years and nine months, the group found.

"In the case of India, to get trade talks started the UK would need to agree to grant more visas for Indian workers, something the UK government blocked in the EU-India FTA talks," Open Britain pointed out.

"China, meanwhile, is deeply protective of its services sector. In return for any kind of trade deal, Beijing would likely want Britain to advocate for it to be granted 'market economy status' at the World Trade Organisation," it notes.

As part of its research, the group added up the time estimates for five major countries identified as priority targets with post-Brexit FTA potential India, China, the US, Australia and New Zealand and concluded that it could take a total of 26 years before Britain is able to strike FTAs with these key non-EU economies.

"As new information, like the enormous length of time it is likely to take to negotiate any new trade deals, comes to light, we all have the right to ask if Brexit remains the best choice for our country and to keep open the option of saying 'no thanks' to what (British Prime Minister) Theresa May brings back from her negotiations," said Labour party MP Peter Kyle, a leading supporter of Open Britain.

Britain will be in a position to negotiate new trade deals with countries like India only after its official exit from the EU on March 29 next year. Open Britain's estimates claim that if the UK government sought to negotiate with each of the key countries consecutively it could hope to have deals with all five countries in place by 2045.

"Even then, the government's own analysis says a trade deal with the US would only benefit GDP by about 0.2 per cent in the long term, with deals with other non-EU countries adding just a further 0.1 per cent to 0.4 per cent to GDP over the long term," the group warns.

The think-tank claims that the Department for International Trade (DIT) has limited resources to take on more than one set of negotiations at the same time and in addition, it will likely be busy negotiating an FTA with the EU well into the 2020s.

Lord Patten, former EU Commissioner, trade negotiator and supporter of Open Britain, added: "Trade negotiations are nasty, brutish and long. After a hard Brexit the UK will not be in a position to dictate terms to major economies like the US and China.

"Under pressure from ministers to salvage something after Brexit, ministers risk being taken for a ride by President (Donald) Trump and others who will insist we lower our food and environmental standards and possibly open up our NHS so that their industries can get a foothold in the UK."

Under the terms of Brexit agreed so far, Britain and the EU have agreed to a transition phase until December 31, 2020 as a status quo period for both sides to finalise a new trade agreement. The UK government has claimed that this should be a relatively smooth process as it hopes to replicate the existing EU FTAs that already exist with member-countries.
Today, Google is celebrating the 115th birth anniversary of Kamladevi Chattopadhyay with a doodle. Chattopadhyay has donned too many hats-- of a freedom fighter, promoter of art, social activist, actor and a feminist.

Chattopadhyay, a pioneering feminist and socialist who participated in India's freedom struggle, was widely known for persuading Mahatma Gandhi to call upon women to participate in civil disobedience movements.

She worked relentlessly for the upliftment of the socio-economic standard of the Indian women. She was also the driving force behind the renaissance of Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre in independent India.

Born in Mangalore (now Mangaluru) in 1903 and married at the age of 14, Chattopadhyay was widowed at 16. She married Harindranath Chattopadhyay at the age of 20 and later graduated with a diploma in Sociology in London.

After returning to India, Chattopadhyay joined the freedom movement and became the first woman to run for a legislative seat in India (to the Madras Legislative Assembly).

Google writes, Chattopadhyay had a career of firsts - from being the first woman to run for Legislative office to setting up some of the first national institutions to archive, protect, and promote Indian dance, drama, art, puppetry, music, and handicrafts. She was also one of the few women of her time to propose that womens rights, religious freedoms, environmental justice, political independence, and civil rights are all interrelated movements.

Designed by Finland-based artist Parvati Pillai, the doodle depicts Chattopadhyay surrounded by many of the cultural objects and practices she fought to elevate and protect, including the bhangra, the sitar, the sarangi, Kathak dance, Chhau dance, embroidery, basket weaving, and Kathaputli.

Dubbed as the "culture queen of India", she founded or was closely associated with several organisations such as All India Women's Congress, National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, the Crafts Council of India, Indian Cooperative Union.

Recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama, she passed away on October 29, 1988, at the age of 85.

Here are drafts of the Google doodle.
After Mumbai Police decided to do "something wise" on April Fools' Day by donating blood, here's another cop story that is warming hearts on the Internet.

A photograph of Hyderabad traffic personnel feeding a homeless woman is doing rounds on Twitter.

Snapped near Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), the viral photo shows Kukatpally Traffic Police Station home guard, B Gopal, feeding a homeless woman with his own hands, is now being praised by fellow cops and netizens on the microblogging site.

The selfless act of kindness was then shared on Twitter by Harsha Bhargavi, chief public relations officer to Telangana DGP on Sunday.

Attaching the pic, Harsha wrote, "This gesture of Kukatpally traffic PS Home Guard B.Gopal (1275) towards a homeless woman by feeding her at JNTU shakes the heart @cpcybd @cyberabadpolice @TelanganaDGP @TelanganaCMO"

This gesture of Kukatpally traffic PS Home Guard B.Gopal (1275) towards a homeless woman by feeding her at JNTU shakes the heart @cpcybd @cyberabadpolice @TelanganaDGP @TelanganaCMO pic.twitter.com/tL7VO7Vt5J Harsha Bhargavi (@pandiribhargavi) April 1, 2018

The tweet soon went viral garnering nearly 3000 retweets and the cop was lauded for his kind gesture.

Shri VC Sajjanar, IPS Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad Metropolitan Police congratulated Gopal.

Good Job  keep it up. CP Cyberabad (@cpcybd) April 1, 2018

Others saluted the officer. "Humanity still exists friendly and social responsible cops towards public need of the hour," wrote one user.

This is called change, not only friendly police , also called social responsibility  Satya (@SatyaRajulapudi) April 1, 2018

Humanity still exists friendly and social responsible cops towards public need of the hour Jaiganesh Dhandapani (@ndpjai) April 2, 2018

as if he is feeding his mom...what a glorious heart...salute officer.... never_born_neve_died (@tears_of_violin) April 2, 2018

On Monday, Harsha Bhargavi, who shared the viral photograph, said that the woman has now been shifted to an old age home in another tweet.

Sharing the good news, Harsha wrote, "Not just left behind... the old woman is shifted by @cyberabadpolice to *Anandashramam, home, Cherlapally with the help of jail authorities @cpcybd @TelanganaDGP"

Not just left behind... the old woman is shifted by @cyberabadpolice to *Anandashramam, home, Cherlapally with the help of jail authorities @cpcybd @TelanganaDGP https://t.co/VuOo0MVYZd Harsha Bhargavi (@pandiribhargavi) April 2, 2018

Earlier, Mumbai police officers were praised for donating blood on the April Fools' Day.

"Some wise things to do on the #AprilFoolsDay Officers from Sakinaka police station #DonateBlood," the official handle of Mumbai Police wrote.
"Selfie" addicts may be in for a shock as the government of India has decided to regulate "selfies", which may soon be banned in some tourist locations across the country in order to curb the rising incidence of "selfie-deaths".

In a letter written to Lok Sabha in response to queries about whether the "selfie" had become a public safety issue, the Home Ministry has assured that all states and Union Territories have been told to identify potentially unsafe tourism locations and then ban tourists from taking "selfies" there.

Putting the onus on the states and UTs, the Home Ministry has said that it is the primary responsibility of all state governments and UT administrators to demarcate potentially dangerous tourist locations as "No Selfie Zones".

UT and state governments have been asked to put up boards and signage, telling tourists why it is dangerous to take "selfies" in such places. The move is intended to prevent the large number of "selfie" deaths and injuries that take place in India.

The demand for making certain zones selfie-free is not new. In July 2017, Mumbai police had proposed to declare nearly 15 locations in the city as selfie-free zones following the deaths of many girls and boys while taking "selfies".

The news hardly comes as a surprise with India being the uncontested capital of deaths by selfie for several years now. According to Me, Myself and My Killfie: Characterizing and Preventing Selfie Deaths, a collaborative study by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Indraprastha Institute of Information Delhi, between March 2014 and September 2016, 60 per cent of all selfie deaths  where a person dies while trying to take a picture of themselves  were reported from India.

In September 2017, News 18 reported the death of Ashok Bharati, who was crushed by an elephant while attempting to take a "selfie" with it in Cuttack. More recently, a 20-year-old was severely injured after trying to take a selfie with a train.

The letter written by the Home Ministry also says that volunteers or police should be posted in potentially dangerous areas and barricades put up wherever necessary to avoid accidents.

The government also wants to focus on spreading public awareness about the nuisance created by selfies using public messaging and social media platforms.

Safe to say that some "anti-selfie" campaigning may be on the cards next for the ruling party.
New Delhi: Amid widespread protests across the country over the Supreme Court order on dilution of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, the ruling BJP on Wednesday said that in the last five years, 2014 and 2016 recorded the maximum number of atrocities against SC/ST in the country.

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Minister of state (Home Affairs) Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that during 2014, the number of cases registered as crimes against Scheduled Castes was 40,300. The number fell to 38,564 in 2015 which further rose to 40,774 in 2016. As far as crimes against Scheduled Tribes went, Ahir said in 2014, 6768 cases were registered which fell to 6275 in 2015. It further rose to 6564 in 2016.

Ahir also said the conviction rate in 2014, when it came to crimes against Scheduled Castes, was 28.4%, which dipped to 27.2% in 2015 and 25.8% in 2016. For crimes against Scheduled Tribes, the conviction rate was 30.9% in 2014, 19.8% in 2015 and 20.8% in 2016.

Before 2014, crimes against Scheduled Castes stood at 33,593 in 2012 and 39,346 in 2013. During the same years, crimes against Schedule Tribes were 5920 and 6768 respectively. The statement comes a day after at least nine people were killed in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on Monday while thousands were detained by the police and hundreds were left injured as the state and central governments struggled to control the massive protests that erupted across the north, west and east India over the Supreme Courts alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said that the petition will be heard in due course of time.

The court had on March 20 said that on "several occasions", innocent citizens were being termed as accused and public servants deterred from performing their duties, which was never the intention of the legislature while enacting the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The top court had said that unless the exclusion of anticipatory bail is limited to "genuine cases and inapplicable to cases where there is no prima facie case was made out, there will be no protection available to innocent citizens.
New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced on Tuesday that it will not reconduct the Class X maths exam.

"Consequent to the preliminary evaluation of the impact of reportedly leaked CBSE class 10 maths paper & keeping in mind the paramount interest of students, CBSE has decided not to conduct re-examination even in the states of Delhi NCR and Haryana. Hence, no re-exam for class 10 (sic)," School Education Secretary Anil Swarup tweeted.

Earlier, the board had announced that the re-examination of Class XII economics paper will be held on April 25.

Ruling out nationwide re-tests for Class X mathematics, the HRD ministry said that the leak of the paper was only restricted to the two places. A final decision on the retest for Class X will be taken after 15 days following a detailed inquiry, education secretary Anil Swarup had said.

The details of the re-test were announced amid continuing widespread outrage over the paper leak issue, with the opposition blaming the government for causing agony to the students and their parents.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, in a series of tweets, said, "In the larger interest of academics & students the sensitive govt has taken a decision not to have nationwide retest in Maths for class X".

"The test will be held in Delhi, Haryana after final inputs from police and that too, if needed, it will be held in July. In the interest of students of class XII, so that they will not be hampered in their future career, their economic retest will happen on April 25. So now no confusion. All the best," he said.

The opposition stepped up its attack on the government over the issue, with Congress president Rahul Gandhi taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he would now write a sequel to his book "Exam Warriors" to "teach students and parents stress relief, once their lives are destroyed due to leaked exam papers".
New Delhi: For a moment, even if we keep the unprecedented Government of India regulation attempting to disaccredit journalists vouching for fake news aside, India has never really fared well either in World Press Freedom indexes or is often bogged down by legislation and rules which muzzle the freedom of media.

Just to recap, according to World Press Freedom Index of 2017, India ranked at 136 on the list consisting of 180 countries. Slipping down three ranks this time, in 2017, India ranked at 133. Among India's neighboring countries, Pakistan ranks 139, Sri Lanka at 141, Afghanistan at 120, Bangladesh at 146, Nepal at 100, Bhutan at 84 and China is ranked at 176.

But are there laws in India which mandate direct control or government interference in press? No. There are no such laws but the problem in India is issuance of guidelines and regulations or a regulatory structure that is marred with loopholes.

One of the biggest problems faced by a journalist today, from a legislation point of view, is the danger of facing defamation charges while working on a story.

Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code is often resorted to for levelling charges of Criminal defamation on journalists. This provision allows anyone believing to have his reputation harmed file a case and sue for defamation.

In India we have cases where people have sued journalists or media organisations for crores of rupees after a publication of news report brushed them on the wrong shoulder.

As of today, Tathagata Satpathy, a Member of Parliament, is spearheading a campaign to make defamation laws in accordance with the progressing socio-economic scenarios.

India also lacks any law which provide protection to a journalist wishing to keep his sources private. For a journalist having a source and protecting it is a sacrosanct business but there are currently no laws in India which allows a journalist to keep their source private.

If in such a case, a court requires a reporter to disclose their source, then in event of non-disclosure, the reporter can be held in contempt of court.

This apart India has faced a series of serious attacks on journalists over the last couple of years. The most recent of them after the Gauri Lankesh murder, was of a journalist who was run over by a dumper in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district.

The scribe had been reporting on illegal sand mining in the area and had also filed a complaint citing a threat to his life, after he conducted a sting operation against a police officer. The video, aired on the news channel Sharma worked with, showed the policeman hand in glove with the sand mafia.

Section 5 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Cable Television Network Rules (hereafter the Cable Television Networks Act), stipulates that no programme can be transmitted or retransmitted on any cable service which contains anything obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggestive innuendos and half-truths.

The Rules prescribes a programming code to be followed by channels responsible for transmission/re-transmission of any programme.

The programme code restricts airing of programmes that offend decency or good taste, incite violence, contains anything obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggestive innuendos and half-truths, criticizes, maligns or slanders any individual in person or certain groups, segments of social, public and moral life of the country and affects the integrity of India, the President and the judiciary.

The programme code provided by the Rules is exhaustive. The Act empowers the government to restrict operation of any cable network it thinks is necessary or expedient to do so in public interest.

Also, even the Supreme Court has time and again put curbs on the way media works. Though press derives freedom from the Constitution on the touchstone of Freedom of Speech and Expression, still media often took on cases and attempted to unearth evidences in order to expedite the justice mechanism, but this has often been branded as media trial.

According to Justices P. Sathasivam and Swatanter Kumar of the SC, freedom of speech has to be carefully and cautiously used to avoid interference in the administration of justice. If trial by media hampers fair investigation and prejudices the right of defence of the accused it would amount to travesty of justice.
Gwalior: Bhind, Morena and Gwalior districts of Madhya Pradesh which saw violent outrage during the Bharat Bandh on Monday remained tense even though curfew was relaxed in Gwalior. Prohibitive orders are still in place in Bhind and Morena.

Monday's protests in Madhya Pradesh left seven people dead and 175 injured, including 51 policemen.

Morenas Uttampura area witnessed firing on Tuesday and a mob pelted stones at the police. The police retaliated with gunshots.

The police said that few of the alleged anti-social elements were rounded-up.

Meanwhile, Gwalior city was the worst affected with three deaths. Curfew was clamped on four police station areas in Gwalior and two in Dabra town which was only relaxed for few hours.

Educational institutions have been shut for two days. Arm licences also have been suspended till further orders. Several people present in the mob were seen brandishing weapons and firing shots during the bandh vandalism.

Locals claimed that the mob had even sneaked into residential areas on Monday and pelted stones at houses and damaged vehicles parked outside the houses.

SP and Collector Gwalior were pelted with stones on several occasions during the violence. Curfew remained in force in Murar, Gole ka Mandir and Thatipur areas while it was relaxed in Maharajpura area.

At Morena, schools and colleges have been closed and curfew remained in place. Internet services were also suspended. Heavy police force has been deployed.

The police have lodged an FIR against 1000 unidentified persons accused of arson and rioting on Monday. Prohibitive orders continued to remain in force in Bhind with three dead.

The MP police have formed a cell to track circulation of objectionable posts on social media. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has summoned top police and administrative officers for law and order review in the wake of Dalit agitation.
Mumbai: Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said on Tuesday that the Centre's withdrawal of a press release on 'fake news' within 24 hours of issuing it was a victory of democracy and the media.

Through the press release on fake news, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had attempted to bring restrictions on the media's autonomy, he alleged.

"The government had to withdraw it (the press release) within 24 hours and this is a big victory of democracy and the media. I congratulate all journalists who unitedly opposed the decision," said Vikhe Patil, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

"In the name of fake news, the government had sought to impose restrictions on the autonomy of the media," he said in a tweet posted in Marathi.

On Monday, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe was found generating or propagating fake news.

Once the complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the accreditation of the journalist, whoever "created and/or propagated" the fake news, will be suspended till the determination regarding the fake news is made, the ministry had said.

However, the press release did not define what is fake news.

The guidelines drew sharp reaction from the opposition Congress and journalists.

The Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday ordered the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to withdraw its press release on fake news, holding that the decision on what constitutes fake news should be left to press bodies.

According to official sources, the PMO felt that the government should not interfere in the matter.

Following orders from the PMO, the I and B ministry withdrew the guidelines to regulate fake news.
Ambassador of Belarus A.Grinkevich meets the Minister of Culture and National Identity of Romania

03-04-2018

On April 2, 2018 the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Romania, Andrei Grinkevich, met with the Minister of Culture and National Identity of Romania, George Ivascu.

The sides discussed current state and prospects for the development of cooperation between Belarus and Romania in the cultural sphere, including the expansion of contacts between museums, theaters and other cultural institutions of the two countries. Special attention was paid to the facilitation of joint events, including the Days of Belarusian Culture in Romania.

The parties expressed mutual interest in concluding an agreement on cooperation in the sphere of culture between the relevant ministries of the two countries.

   



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Jaipur: The houses of two Dalit politicians were set ablaze and a dozen school children were injured as chaos reigned in Hindaun City in Rajasthan's Karauli district on Tuesday as a protest rally taken out by traders, businessmen and non-scheduled caste people against vandalism during Monday's Bharat Bandh turned violent.

Curfew has been imposed in the city and more than 40 people have been arrested, a police officer said.

According to police sources, people came out on to the streets on Tuesday to protest against the violence on Monday and demanded immediate arrest of those involved in looting and vandalism during the Bharat Bandh.

The protest turned violent and the mob comprising nearly 5,000 people torched the house of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and former MLA Bharosilal Jatav, both Dalits. While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who had also served as a minister in the state.

Police sources also said that cops took out a flag march, but were outnumbered and some miscreants engaged in violence, injuring a few security personnel.

When force did not work, police fired tear gas shells - some of which fell on a government school, leading to chaos in which around a dozen schoolchildren were injured, officials said.

On Monday, a crowd of around 15-20 thousand protesters who were in favour of the bandh had created ruckus in several areas such as Gangapur City and Hindaun City. Today, traders, businessmen and non-scheduled caste people took out a rally against Mondays violence, a senior police official said.

SP Anil Kayal said that curfew will continue in the town till Wednesday morning and internet services have also been suspended. Situation is under control and police are continuously reviewing the situation, he added.

Meanwhile, state police chief OO Galhotra said that except in Hindaun, normalcy returned to Rajasthan on Tuesday. He told the media that a total of 23 companies of police have been deployed in different towns and flag marches are being carried out in the most-affected areas.

A total of 172 cases have been registered against miscreants for damaging public property, engaging in violence, looting and other such crimes. Over 1,000 people have been booked from different parts of the state and the hunt is on to trace others involved in the violence which erupted on Monday.
Washington: Indian IT companies have dramatically reduced their H-1B visa filings and foreign nationals are exhibiting reluctance to make the jump to a US company due to the Trump administration's hardline anti-immigration stance, a top Silicon Valley newspaper has said.

San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board has said applicants for the H-1B visa programme are anticipating the hardest process in many years.

"That's affected both the applicants and the companies that employ them," it said.

"Indian consulting firms, which have been accused of flooding the system with applications, have dramatically reduced their filings. Foreign nationals are exhibiting new reluctance to make the jump to a US company," the paper said as the process for filing H-1B visa application for the 2019 fiscal beginning October 1, kicked off.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The Trump administration's hard-line anti-immigration stance is taking its toll, the daily said.

Envoy Global, a technology-oriented immigration services provider, reports that 26 per cent of employers it surveyed have had to delay projects, and 22 per cent of them have relocated work overseas as a result of the current uncertainties in the US immigration system, San Francisco Chronicle said.

The daily argued that study after study has shown that foreign-born workers are good for the US economy and good for US-born workers.

"When companies are allowed to hire the workers with the best skills for the job regardless of where those workers happen to have been born their increased competitiveness boosts all the industries around them," it said.

According to The wall Street Journal, evidence suggests market demand for H-1B visas is ebbing.

Daniel Culbertson, economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, says "searches related to the H-1B visa, as a share of all searches on Indeed.com, have consistently declined through 2017 and into 2018. In February 2018, searches for H-1B as a share of all searches on our site are down nine percent from the 2017."

"This also marks the thirteenth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. The decreased interest in H-1B related work from job seekers is a trend, not a temporary shift in preferences," he added.

The Wall Street Journal said corporations continue to struggle with a paradoxical labour market where 548,000 tech jobs remain open while unemployment in the technology sector hovers below full employment levels.
New Delhi: India's homegrown typhoid conjugate vaccine, the first of its kind worldwide, has moved one step closer to entering countries with high disease burdens of typhoid.

On Tuesday, the Geneva based GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, gave a call for countries to apply to it for help procuring the vaccine.

Typbar-TCV has been developed by Bharat Biotech, a Hyderabad-based company. Unlike its predecessors, it can be administered to children as young as six months. Children, according to the World Health Organisation, are disproportionately affected by typhoid.

Older vaccines could only be given to children above the age of two, leaving infants vulnerable to the disease.

As News18 had reported earlier, GAVI had earmarked $85 million to fund the introduction of the vaccine to countries in need. The WHO had pre-qualified the vaccine in December 2017.

Asia has the highest disease burden for typhoid, a GAVI spokesperson told News18. Countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh in south Asia, in particular, are badly hit by food and water-borne infectious disease.

A paper by the World Health Organisation published on March 30 noted that "global estimates of typhoid fever burden range between 11 and 21 million cases and approximately 1,28,000 to 1,61,000 deaths annually".

It added, "The majority of cases occur in South/South-East Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa."

However, the GAVI spokesperson added that the vaccine has seen interest from countries across Africa too. GAVI will now work with interested countries to plan out how many doses they need and what campaigns they need to run. The alliance ideally wants all countries to introduce the vaccine into their routine immunisation programmes, and will help plan additional campaigns to reach individuals missed in previous routine immunisation drives.

Dr. Krishna Ella, Bharat Biotech's founder and managing director, told News18 that they were already supplying doses to Pakistan, which is suffering from a typhoid outbreak that has not responded to any antibiotic.

The WHO paper touches on the growing antibiotic resistance to typhoid, saying "strains with full resistance to fluoroquinolones, such as ciprofloxacin and gatifloxacin, are now increasingly common in South Asia and are spreading in sub-Saharan Africa."

Bharat Biotech is also conducting its Phase 4 post-approval clinical trials in Bangladesh, Nepal and Malawi.
Agar Malwa, Madhya Pradesh: The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh found itself in an embarrassing situation when one of its own MLAs was seen downing shutters in Agar town during Mondays Bharat bandh protests.

A video of MLA Gopal Parmar forcing a couple to shut their shop in the town during the bandh had gone viral in the state on Monday.

In the video, the BJP lawmaker Parmar, along with his supporters, is seen forcing a couple shut their shop against their will.

Parmar is seen asking the shop owner to down the shutters for at least five minutes even as the shopkeepers wife watches helplessly with her daughter crying in her lap.

(Parmar seen with his supporters threatening people to down shutters)

(Gopal Parmar overseeing the downing of shutters as seen in the video clip)

Interestingly, the cops standing nearby are spectators to the goings on. However, when the cops, finally, decided to intervene, the MLA was forced to leave.

Thereafter, Parmar was not available for comments. BJPs spokesperson Deepak Vijayvargiya said, We will have to see if the MLA did it with bad intent.

Sources say, the MLA was accompanying protesters during the bandh.

The video has only exposed who was behind the violence. The police should also probe the role of other BJP leaders in the bandh, Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said.

Six persons were killed in Madhya Pradesh, two in uttar Pradesh and one in Rajasthan as Dalit groups staged violent protests across north India against a Supreme Court judgment they claimed weakened protections available to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The SC had ruled on March 20 that the anti-atrocities law had become an instrument to harass innocent citizens and had issued a slew of guidelines against arbitrary arrests.

The death toll in the Madhya Pradesh has risen to seven.
New Delhi: RSS leader and DU professor Rakesh Sinha had an unsavoury experience when the Noida police picked him up on Monday evening mistaking him to be a "Dalit protester". The police thereafter used abusive language against him, said Sinha.

Sinha was in Noidas Film City area to take part in a panel discussion at CNN-News18 when the incident happened.

With thousands of protesters staging demonstrations against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act, police team had been formed in Gautam Buddha Nagar district to rein in protesters throwing traffic out of gear by pelting stones and bricks.

I was going to take part in a panel discussion at a media house in Noida when I was pulled inside a police jeep. There were 8 policemen, led by Noida SHO, who were using abusive language. When I asked them why I was detained they simply said I was free to go now, said Sinha.

Pained by the abusive treatment, the leader appealed to the police to keep the dignity of a person in mind.

The police later said that they suspected me to be a Dalit protester. I appeal to the police that basic human rights and dignity of a person should be kept in mind, said Sinha.

The police later said that they suspected me to be a Dalit protester. I appeal to the police that basic human rights and dignity of a person should be kept in mind: Professor Rakesh Sinha who was detained by police in Noida today pic.twitter.com/l78iktjgrc ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2018

The police, on its part, released him soon after establishing his identity.

Our teams were looking for people when they saw him in Film City area and mistook him for a protester in the case. He was let off as soon as we realised our mistake, said Anil Kumar Shai, SHO, Noida Sector 20 police station.
New Delhi: The women wing of All India Muslim Personal Law Board has expressed its disappointment with President Ram Nath Kovinds speech during the joint parliamentary session on January 29 where he spoke about how the triple talaq legislation would emancipate Muslim women.

Dr Asma Zehra, executive member of AIMPLB, told News18 that an official memorandum would be presented to the President or his secretary tomorrow where the women members have stated that they are safe within their personal law and that they do not need any kind of emancipation.

President Kovind, in his joint session speech, had said: For decades, the dignity of Muslim women has remained captive to political cost-benefit. Now the Nation has an opportunity to emancipate them from this situation. My Government has tabled a Bill on Triple Talaq in Parliament. I hope that the Parliament will soon pass it into a law. The law on Triple Talaq, once enacted, will also enable Muslim sisters and daughters to live a life of self-respect with courage.

However, AIMPLB member Dr Zehra said that this is nothing but a direct attack on the principles of Islam, which is the first among the world's religions to give equal rights regarding dignity and respect to the woman.

The entire concept of divorce, inheritance, women's share in property, was given by Islam in 610 to 630, 1440 years ago. We regret to submit that the remarks have hurt the sentiments of Muslim women and are disrespecting because in Islam Muslim women do not want this emancipation. We are very happy with our personal law and appeal to take back this bill as it is against the Constitution of India, women rights, and gender justice, reads the official memorandum.

Dr Zehra also said that the statements coming from the President has made it a serious issue and that in no way was it liberating for Muslim women.

The bill is anti-children. This law vests woman with the right of custody and bringing up of children. At the same time, husband will bear the maintenance of children. However the Present guardianship and wards act places premium on the child's interest. Husband or wife, whoever can protect interest better will have custody, states the memorandum.

The triple talaq legislation in question has a provision for a maximum three year jail term for husband resorting to instantaneous divorce and also gives woman the custody of child when husband is in jail.

AIMPLB has also recently organised a lot of protest marches across the country airing its grievance with the impending legislation.

The board will hold a silent protest in the capital tomorrow before the memorandum is submitted to President Kovind.
The Supreme Court is hearing the Centre's review plea on SC/ST Act. "Those agitating on streets may not have even read our judgment. Vested interests are also involved some time. We are only concerned about innocent people being put behind bars. We are not against the Act at all. But innocents can't be punished on unilateral version. Why does government want people to be arrested without verification," the SC observed. Attorney General K K Venugopal mentioned the review petition before Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel for an open court hearing, following which the court agreed to hear the matter. A day earlier the Supreme Court had declined an urgent hearing on a plea which sought a stay and review of its recent verdict on SC/ST Act. At least nine people were killed in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on Monday while thousands were detained by the police and hundreds were left injured as the state and central governments struggled to control the massive Bharat Bandh protests that erupted across the north, west and east India over the Supreme Courts alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act.



Stay tunes as we bring you LIVE updates:

Apr 03, 2018 16:10 (IST) A day after violent 'Bharat Bandh,' BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday said a "microscopic minority of dejected and rejected political parties" made the people suffer and sought their apology to "Dalit sisters and brothers." In a series of tweets, Shah reached out to the community, which has been protesting a Supreme Court order on a law on atrocities against it, and sought to turn the tables on the Congress by raking up its treatment to Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar. He also blamed "vested interest groups" for spreading the panic on the issue of reservation for Dalits, saying it is done before every election and asserted that the government will do everything to protect their rights. Right from the day the apex court gave its judgment on the SC/ST atrocities act, the central government acted in an "immediate and informed" manner and has filed an effective review petition to protect the Dalits' rights, Shah said. Apr 03, 2018 15:30 (IST) Madhya Pradesh police filed an FIR against two of its own policemen in Bhind district on Tuesday in connection with the death of one person during Bharat bandh-related violence on Monday. "A complaint was received against two constables in Bhind in connection with the death of Mahavir Rajwat who had suffered gunshots on Monday and died later, IG (Law & Order) Makrand Deuskar said. Meanwhile, the officer claimed that another body has been recovered from a farmland in Mehgaon town of the district in the morning. The man identified as Dasrath Jatav (45), reportedly died due to injuries inflicted in assault by lathis, he said. Apr 03, 2018 15:27 (IST) "We were expecting this. This government should go for amendment," said Leader of the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Apr 03, 2018 15:20 (IST) RECAP | Mayawati on violence during Bharat Bandh: Backwards are not getting their Constitutional rights yet. BJP is always doing politics of caste. The central government took a lot of time in filing the review petition against the SC/ST Act judgment. Had they filed the review petition in time, there wouldn't be any protests or Bharat Bandh. Apr 03, 2018 15:11 (IST) Supreme court has declined to stay its judgment. The apex court clarifies compensation to victims won't have to wait for registration of FIR. "No need to conduct preliminary inquiry when other offences are also involved," it said, adding that there should be no politics in the case. The matter has been posted for hearing after 10 days. Apr 03, 2018 15:09 (IST) The transport and communications services were also severely hit in many states on Monday with over 100 trains being affected due to protests during the Bharat Bandh. While some states ordered closure of educational institutions, and curtailed internet and mobile services, incidents of arson, firing and vandalism continued to disrupt Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab, among other states. Apr 03, 2018 15:07 (IST) Earlier, former Union minister Sharad Yadav had termed the Centre's review plea in the Supreme Court against its ruling on a law on atrocities against Dalits an "eyewash" and demanded that the government should rather bring an ordinance. "The conviction rate under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was anyway significantly lower than the national conviction rate for other crimes. Therefore, the government should bring an ordinance as an immediate relief," he said in a statement. "The review plea is nothing but an eyewash," Yadav added. Apr 03, 2018 15:06 (IST) On Monday, Jet Airways and Vistara had announced waiving cancellation and charges for change of dates for those passengers booked for flights operating to and out of airports in places affected due to Dalit protests. "Due to unrest in Chandigarh, Patna and Amritsar, we are waiving off penalties for date/ flight change, refund, no-show & fare difference (if any) on all confirmed tickets for flights to/out of these cities for travel on April 2," Jet Airways said in a tweet. Apr 03, 2018 14:50 (IST) The court had on March 20 said that on "several occasions", innocent citizens were being termed as accused and public servants deterred from performing their duties, which was never the intention of the legislature while enacting the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The top court had said that unless the exclusion of anticipatory bail is limited to "genuine cases and inapplicable to cases where there is no prima facie case was made out, there will be no protection available to innocent citizens". The SC/ST Atrocities Act was first passed in 1989 by the Janata Dal government led by VP Singh. Paswan as Social Justice Minister in the government piloted the original bill. Apr 03, 2018 14:44 (IST) While hearing the matter, the apex court asked attorney general, "How will AG function if allegations are raised like this?" Supreme Court likely to reserve its verdict on central government's review petition on SC/ST Act judgment. Apr 03, 2018 14:36 (IST) Hearing begins in SC over SC/ST Act review petition. Supreme Court prima facie is not inclined to review SC/ST Act judgment. "Those agitating on streets may not have even read our judgment. Vested interests are also involved some time. We are only concerned about innocent people being put behind bars. We are not against the Act at all. But innocents can't be punished on unilateral version. Why does government want people to be arrested without verification," the apex court observes. Apr 03, 2018 14:25 (IST) Ahir also said the conviction rate in 2014, when it came to crimes against Scheduled Castes, was 28.4%, which dipped to 27.2% in 2015 and 25.8% in 2016. For crimes against Scheduled Tribes, the conviction rate was 30.9% in 2014, 19.8% in 2015 and 20.8% in 2016. Before 2014, crimes against Scheduled Castes stood at 33,593 in 2012 and 39,346 in 2013. During the same years, crimes against Schedule Tribes were 5920 and 6768 respectively. The statement comes a day after at least nine people were killed in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on Monday while thousands were detained by the police and hundreds were left injured as the state and central governments struggled to control the massive protests that erupted across the north, west and east India over the Supreme Courts alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act. Apr 03, 2018 14:25 (IST) Amid widespread protests across the country over the Supreme Court order on dilution of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, the ruling BJP on Wednesday said that in the last five years, 2014 and 2016 recorded the maximum number of atrocities against SC/ST in the country. Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Minister of state (Home Affairs) Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that during 2014, the number of cases registered as crimes against Scheduled Castes was 40,300. The number fell to 38,564 in 2015 which further rose to 40,774 in 2016. As far as crimes against Scheduled Tribes went, Ahir said in 2014, 6768 cases were registered which fell to 6275 in 2015. It further rose to 6564 in 2016. Apr 03, 2018 14:23 (IST) #CJIDipakMisra agrees to constitute the bench at 2 PM for an urgent hearing of Centre's review petition against #SCSTAct judgment. @News18Courtroom https://t.co/e3Ote0ozjN  Utkarsh Anand (@utkarsh_aanand) April 3, 2018 Apr 03, 2018 14:22 (IST) Apr 03, 2018 14:14 (IST) Ahead of the Dalit protests over the SC/ST Act, the CBSE issued a statement on Sunday saying the Board was postponing Monday's Board examinations in Punjab after a request by state Punjab government voicing apprehension over a bandh call given by Dalit outfits in the state. In its statement, the board said, "The board has received a letter of request dated 01.04.2108 from the Director General School Education stating that due to apprehensions of law and order problems and other disturbances on 2nd April 2018 during the call for Bharat Bandh given by some organisations and to prevent any untoward situation involving school going children, the state government has taken a decision to keep all schools closed on that day and have also requested CBSE to postpone all its examinations scheduled to be held on 2nd April 2018." Apr 03, 2018 14:10 (IST) CLICK TO READ | Dalit Protests Against Dilution of SC/ST Act Will go Padmaavat Way, Says Social Justice Minister The minister said that the delay in filing the review petition against the SC order on SC/ST act was caused due to four-day public holiday. Apr 03, 2018 14:10 (IST) At least nine people were killed in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on Monday while thousands were detained by the police and hundreds were left injured as the state and central governments struggled to control the massive protests that erupted across the north, west and east India over the Supreme Courts alleged dilution of the SC/ST Act. While six were killed in cross-firing in Madhya Pradesh alone, two in Uttar Pradesh and one Rajasthan. Curfew was imposed in several places and over 400 people were arrested in Uttar Pradesh alone. A former BSP MLA was also among those arrested in UP. Expressing her party's support to protests against the Supreme Court order "diluting" provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, BSP supremo Mayawati alleged that some anti-social elements instigated violence leading to loss of lives and damage to properties. Apr 03, 2018 14:08 (IST) The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the Centre's plea on SC/ST Act after the central government informed the court that an emergency-like situation was prevailing in the country. The attorney general has sought a hearing at 2 pm. Attorney General K K Venugopal mentioned the review petition before Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel for an open court hearing, following which the court agreed to hear the matter. "Failure to maintain law and order cannot be a ground to alter a judgment. Let CJI take a call on the constitution of the bench," it said. Apr 03, 2018 14:06 (IST) A day after violent Dalit protests against the alleged diluting of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes act rocked the country, the government on Tuesday assured Parliament that it was fully committed to protect the interest of the SC/ST community. Defending the government in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government has taken a decision to strengthen the act. "Through the House, I want to assure the people that there has been no dilution whatsoever by my government, rather after coming to power and examining the SC/ST prevention Atrocities Act, we have taken a decision to strengthen it," he said.
New Delhi: Soon after the senior members of press and opposition party leaders slammed government over fake news order, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday ordered the withdrawal of the circular mandating the amendment.

The amended guidelines would have empowered Press Council of India and National Broadcasting Agency to determine what is fake news.

However, minutes after the circular was issued, senior journalists could not help but recollect the Ant-Defamation Bill of 1988 which was introduced by Rajiv Gandhi, passed by the Lok Sabha, but was later withdrawn.

The main aim of the bill was to categorize journalists who according to the Government wrote defamatory articles.

The bill placed the entire burden of proof on the accused in defamation suits. If a politician or bureaucrat disliked what was written in a newspaper, he could use poorly defined terms (which were included in the bill) like grossly indecent, scurrilous, or intended for blackmail to cook up charges against the journalist.

Political commentator and senior journalist, Tavleen Singh asked on Twitter that how could PM Modi forget what happened after Gandhi tried to pass this bill.

Has the Prime Minister forgotten what happened when Rajiv Gandhi tried to do something similar with his defamation bill? tweeted Singh.

Even senior journalist Shekhar Gupta was not far behind in slamming the guideline as an assault on mainstream media.

Make no mistake: this is a breath-taking assault on mainstream media. Its a moment like Rajiv Gandhis anti-defamation bill. All media should bury their differences and resist this, tweeted Gupta.

The bill also provided for summary trials and prescribed a minimum period of imprisonment for the journalists. This bill was strongly criticized by the Indian journalists and finally after a month-long struggle, which included a three-mile protest march, the anti-defamation bill was withdrawn.

But this episode of the defamation bill being dumped was also a recollection of the fact that cabinet ministers in Rajiv Gandhi government had to face press persons abandoning press conferences until the bill was taken off the table.

Rasheed Kidwai, political journalist tweeted, A quick recap: 44 months in office, Rajiv had to withdraw Press Defamation Bill under severe public pressure. Cabinet ministers faced humiliation of abandoning press conferences; at the start of PC, senior most scribe would ask minister whether he supported defamation bill & walkout.
Theres a new killer in town. Running, hiding and stalking you. Noting down every move and calculating the right time to strike. Beware, you may not be able to see him but, he is getting ready to attack you right now as you read this line. There is a killer on the loose - NOISE!

What is noise? Primarily defined as, a sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes a disturbance. (Much like that friend who never shuts up, only this one could kill you). Noise can kill and Im going to tell you 5 silent ways in which it could strike.

1. The Start of The End: The start always plays an important role in telling us more about a crime or a familiar story. Noise - as we know it today - came into existence when James Watt invented the steam engine in the 1800s. Each piston that hit inside the engine gave noise the upper hand and its only been getting louder and stronger, waiting to strike!

Image Source: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/fresh-random-image-thread.18571574/page-481

2. The Silent Kill: As ironic as it may sound, Noise is, in fact, silent when it takes its first few shots at you. You wouldnt know when or where he strikes. Health experts studied 1 million people in the vicinity of Germanys Cologne Bonn Airport. They found that people subjected to a noise of greater than 40 decibels were at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, kidney failure, and dementia.

3. The Shock: If a sudden trauma because of noise is lurking around the corner, what could you do about it? Aditya, a 29-year-old marketing writer in Mumbai, recently encountered noise related distress at a signal in Mumbai. Trembling after the horrifying encounter heres what he had to say, Its like my nerves are permanently doused in diesel, and any loud noise is like throwing a match. But it turns out Adityas not overly sensitive or strangely wired - he just might notice the consequences of noise more readily than you and me.

4. Our City, Our Noise: Cities are always bustling for progress. From the traffic to the constructions and the heavy machinery being operated at every nook and corner. Noise is omnipresent. The noise we hear is the sound of progress at the cost of our lives. The noise we've created is coming back for us!

Image Source: http://procrastinaut.tumblr.com/page/88

5. Noise Never Sleeps: Unlike that pretentious friend who stays up through the night and claims to have insomnia, noise never sleeps. A study of 4,861 adults in Europe revealed that a 10-decibel increase in nighttime noise was linked to a 14 percent rise in a persons likelihood of being diagnosed with hypertension.

To sum it all up, it's time that we agree to disagree on the fact that, #NoiseKills.

The main question is, "Is it our time yet?

Watch trailer of A Quiet Place and know. In Cinemas on 6th April.

https://youtu.be/O3DqHj0dmeQ

P.S: Heres something that could help you from getting killed the next time you visit A Quiet Place. http://www.aquietplacemovie.com/intl/in/
@NewsbySmiley

Miami Congressman Carlos Curbelo says it's time for Scott Pruitt, the embattled head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to step down.

Pruitt has been under a cloud of scandal following reports that he received cheap rent on a Washington apartment linked to an energy lobbyist. The Daily Beast reported Monday that the apartment was also a locale for Republican lawmakers to raise money. Pruitt has also taken heat over expensive first-class flights and pay raises for his staff.

Pruitt is reportedly under White House review and at risk of being fired, although Trump is said to have offered his support.

Curbelo, on the other hand, thinks it's time to cut ties. The Republican lawmaker took to Twitter Tuesday to say Pruitt should resign or be fired. He was later joined by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who told the Huffington Post that "when scandals and distractions overtake a public servants ability to function effectively, another person should fill that role.
Guwahati: It was a rather unusual sight in Tripura when over 600 Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad supporters, equipped with saffron flags, took out a rally on Sunday, shouting, desh nahi baatne denge, gau nahi kaatne denge (we wont let them divide the country, we wont allow cow slaughter).

The saffron flagbearers also warned other community members in Joynagar, a village in West Tripura, to stop cow slaughter or face consequences.

The 600-strong crowd, led by VHPs organizational secretary Amal Chakraborty, marched to Joynagar and even asked minority community members to show their Aadhaar cards and prove their nationality.

Sundays rally was taken out to protest against alleged incidents of cattle slaughter in the area.

It was during the CPI-M rule that cow slaughter was encouraged here. This is a Hindu locality and we wont let them threaten our people or harm our gau mata. These people dont even have Aadhaar cards. And if they continue illegal slaughter, we will be forced to take action, Chakraborty said.

Opposition Congress and CPI-M reacted slammed VHP for its provocative statements.

Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee working President Pradyot Kishore Manikya said the government should rather, clamp down on illegal slaughter houses in the state.

A ban on animal slaughter is a decision that has to be taken by the state government. VHP and Bajrang Dal activists should first lodge a police complaint if they come to know of any illegal slaughtering rather than taking law in their own hands and threatening the minority community. I personally believe that there should be a clamp down on illegal slaughter houses and mistreatment of animals, said Pradyot.

He added that it was the governments duty to make sure that all animals are properly certified, fit to travel and transported humanely.

CPI-M leader Pabitra Kar maintained that religious intolerance has been on the rise across India, including Tripura, ever since the BJP came to power.

The minority population is shocked and are voicing concern about their security after Sundays VHP rally. It is the duty of the government to maintain the peace and tranquility in our state, added Kar.

The BJP-IPFT government vowed to transform the tiny state of Tripura on the lines of Chalo Paltai (Lets Bring Change) after their resounding victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections where it dislodged the 25- year-old Left rule.

(With inputs from Tanmoy Chakraborty)
Exotic dancers, intrigue and poolside soirees in lavish villas, the hotly-awaited biopic about Italy's former premier Silvio Berlusconi, from directing star Paolo Sorrentino, is tipped to appear at the Cannes film festival, according to Italian media.

The two-part film, which will hit Italian cinemas on April 24, is expected to delve into the private life of the flamboyant media magnate, from his famous "Bunga Bunga" erotic dinners with call girls, to his divorce from his second wife Veronica Lario. Part two is due for release in Italy on May 10.

The biopic is entitled Loro which means "them" and refers to the billionaire media magnate and his entourage -- as well as evoking the word "l'oro" meaning "gold", reports said. A teaser for the film reveals the silhouette of the ageing magnate surrounded by exotic dancers as a voice asks: "What were you expecting? That you could be the richest man in the country, to be prime minister and that everyone would be crazy for you?" To which Berlusconi answers: "Yes, that's exactly what I expected."

A full-length trailer released Thursday sees politicians and seductive young women looking on as Berlusconi croons to a Neopolitan classic Malafemmena meaning "bad girl" by an infinity pool in a glamourous villa. Berlusconi, 81, will be played by Sorrentino favourite Toni Servillo, who starred in The Great Beauty as well as the director's 2008 biopic Il Divo, about another former Italian prime minister, Giulio Andreotti. Gianpaolo Tarantini, the man accused of having supplied the self-proclaimed Latin Lover with prostitutes, will be played by Italy's Riccardo Scamarcio.

Rumours have swirled in the media about the film and Sorrentino's presence at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival which kicks off on the May 8, but it is not yet known whether Loro will be in competition or whether it will even be screened in its entirety. During filming in August last year, Italy's Messaggero daily reported that Sorrentino had been received by Berlusconi and said the media magnate was only too happy to have a film made about his life by one of Italy's most revered directors and had opened up his luxury villas in Sardinia and Milan.

But asked about the film in October as the he geared up for a fourth shot a national governance, the tycoon appeared to have had a change of heart, saying, "I have heard strange rumours, I hope they are not true, but (the film) seems to me to be a political attack against me."

During the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, Sorrentino said of his choice to make the film, "I am Italian and I want to make a film about Italians. Berlusconi is the archetype of 'Italianness' and through him I can tell the Italians' story."
Actor Akshay Kumar has sponsored a mobile toilet near the famous Juhu beach here, months after his wife tweeted a picture of a man defecating at another sea shore in Mumbai.

Last week, the actor sent an application to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) offering to set up the toilet by bearing all its expenses, assistant municipal commissioner of K-ward, Prashant Gaikwad, said. "We welcomed his initiative and installed the toilet near the Juhu beach four days ago. The actor bore all the expenses, Rs 10 lakh, for setting up the portable toilet," he told PTI.

"The mobile toilet can be used free of cost. If anyone comes forward to maintain it, then the facility can be provided on a pay-and-use basis," he said.

In August last year, Kumar's wife Twinkle Khanna had taken to twitter to raise the issue of open defecation near the Versova beach in suburban Andheri. "Good morning and I guess here is the first scene of Toilet Ek Prem Katha part 2," she had tweeted along with a picture of a man defecating on the Versova beach.

Good morning and I guess here is the first scene of Toilet Ek Prem Katha part 2 #WhenYourWalkGoesDownTheToilet pic.twitter.com/tfyTQs8BFM Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) August 19, 2017

She had voiced her annoyance after spotting a man defecating in the open while she was out on a morning walk on the beach. Khanna's post had come a month after the city was declared open defecation free. Notably, during the same period, Kumar had produced the film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, starring himself and Bhumi Pednekar, which was inspired by the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' (Clean India Campaign) initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu met leaders of several political parties and even allies of the BJP, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Shiromani Akali Dal, in Delhi on Tuesday to garner support for the no-confidence motion against the NDA government moved by the Telugu Desam Party.

In his first visit to the capital after pulling the plug on the alliance with BJP, Naidu held a series of meetings in the Central Hall of the Parliament and said that regional parties must join hands with the TDP to raise concerns over the "injustice" meted out by the NDA government at the Centre to states ruled by opposition parties.

Naidu also held one-on-one meetings with NC leader Farooq Abdullah, Ram Gopal Yadav from Samajwadi party, CPIs D Raja, Venugopal from AIADMK, TRS leader Jitender Reddy and Sudip Bandhopadhyay and Derek O'brien from TMC, among several others.

The TDP chief also had discussions with Murali Manohar Joshi, Hema Malini and Jayant Sinha of the BJP and Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Veerappa Moily. TDP had earlier said that Naidu will not hold any meeting with national parties like BJP and Congress.

"The purpose of my visit is only on securing states interests & nothing political. I met and discussed present political scenario with various leaders, and highlighted the injustice being done. We are demanding the Centre to fulfil assurances made in Rajya Sabha including Special Category Status and provisions of AP Reorganisation Act, he said.

The Chief Minister also handed over the booklets to the leaders, explaining how the Centre did injustice and failed to fulfill promises made to Andhra Pradesh at the time of bifurcation.

In an apparent swipe at the Narendra Modi dispensation, TDP MP T G Venkatesh told reporters earlier in the day, "The chief minister is meeting key leaders in Parliament to send across a message to the country that not only making commitments, but honouring it also is very important."

A TDP insider said Naidu had told his party MPs that he would not "beg" for a special status for Andhra Pradesh and that there was little chance of any kind of a reconciliation with the NDA.

"We all met. We discussed the issue of a special status for Andhra Pradesh. We also questioned the trustworthiness of the prime minister. We discussed how frustrating it is for Members of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh," CPI(M) leader Mohammad Salim said after meeting Naidu. He said the Left leaders assured Naidu that they supported him.

"We said we are all with him. We should all combine the issues and take on the government on the floor of the house rather than going to the well. He was very appreciative of that," Salim said, adding that Naidu endorsed the proposal to move together.

Naidu also had a "fruitful meeting" with Trinamool Congress leaders on the opposition strategy followed in Parliament which helped the TDP garner support from other parties. "Naidu thanked the TMC for its strong support to the no-confidence motion notice brought in by the TDP," TMC MP Derek O'Brien said.

Among the other issues discussed by Naidu and the leaders were the proposals of the 15th Finance Commission and coordination between like-minded parties.

Meanwhile, YSR Congress is gearing up to sit on an indefinite hunger strike at Andhra Bhavan after giving resignations from Lok Sabha at the end of session. The party is planning relay hunger strikes by students, party cadres and leaders across the state to mount pressure.
Bengaluru: The special aircraft of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP national chief Amit Shah were on Tuesday searched by officials after they landed at Hubballi airport in north Karnataka to campaign for their parties in the runup to the May 12 assembly polls.

The exercise involving three district level officers was described by officials as being in line with the Election Commission's directive to ensure free and fair elections in Karnataka.

"It was a random search by a team led by (election) nodal officer Karpale. We searched the planes in which Rahul Gandhi and Amit Shah had arrived. It was not intentional," Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad district S B Bommanahalli told PTI.

Shah and Gandhi arrived by separate planes at Hubballi airport from New Delhi.

Soon after their arrival, a team led by election nodal officer Karpale and Hire Gowda and Yogananda searched the planes to check for possible poll code violations.

"We did not find anything in the luggage. There were two other people with Shah. We did not check their names," Gowda told reporters after completing the search operation.

Gandhi, on the fifth leg of Karnataka tour, left for Shivamogga and addressed public meetings there and in Davangere.

Shah, also on the fifth lap of Karnataka tour, addressed an Other Backward Classes convention at Kaginele in Haveri district and had an interaction with the seers of Veerashaiva community at Shivayogi Mandir in Badami taluk of Bagalkote district.
Voters pose outside a polling booth in Karnataka.



People were seen standing in queues to cast their votes in the early hours itself, factoring in that the temperature may go up later in the day. Also, it has been raining in different parts of south interior Karnataka for the last couple of days during the evening hours.



Senior citizens were seen in good numbers standing in queues at various polling stations to cast their votes early.



State BJP chief and party's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa, and Pradesh Congress Committee G Parameshwara were among the first to cast votes in Shikaripura in Shivamogga and Yaggere in Tumakuru respectively.



Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda along with wife Chennamma cast their votes at Paduvalahippe in Hassan district. Film actors Ramesh Arvind, Ravichandran, also scion of Mysuru royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar were among the prominent personalities to cast their votes early today.



There are reports about delay in polling due to some technical issues with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) from different parts of the state.



Election for the Jayanagara seat in Bengaluru has been countermanded following the death of BJP candidate and sitting MLA BN Vijaykumar.



The Election Commission has also deferred the polls for Rajarajeswari Nagar constituency to May 28 after a massive row erupted over a large number of voter ID cards being found in an apartment.



Suspecting something fishy, both Congress and BJP have pointed accusing fingers at each other in the matter. "Today people of Karnataka are standing in queues to create history & show the nation the way to liberal, progressive, peaceful & compassionate politics & governance. I thank them for their support & wish them well," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted.



Over 2,600 candidates are in the fray-- more than 2400 men and and over 200 women. The total voters including service electors according to the 2018 final rolls are 5,06,90,538, of whom 2,56,75,579 male voters, 2,50,09,904 female and 5,055 transgender voters.



Officials said 58,008 polling stations have been set up across the state, of which 12002 have been designated as "critical", with over 3,50,000 polling personnel on duty. Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the smooth conduct of polls that will go on till 6 pm.



"82,157 people have been deployed for poll duty that includes DSPs, home guards and civil defence, and forest guards and watchers," Karnataka DGP Neelamani N Raju said. This also includes about 7,500 personnel from states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Kerala and Goa, she said, adding, central forces have been deployed.



One among the interesting aspects of this election is that four candidates who have served as Chief Minister of Karnataka are in the fray-- Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (Chamundeshwari and Badami), B S Yeddyurappa (Shikaripura), H D Kumaraswamy (Chennapatna and Ramanagara) and Jagadish Shettar (Hubli-Dharwad Central.)
New Delhi: Karnataka voters rate the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state highly when it comes to its performance on schools, electricity and water supply. However, when it comes to creating employment opportunities and tackling corruption, it does not fare so well, a recent survey conducted in Karnataka found. Overall, the state government scored 7.09 on a scale of 10.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and DAKSH, a civil society organization, conducted a survey with 13,244 interviewees across 225 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka. The survey was conducted between December 2017 and February 2018 and aims to identify which issues do the people of the state rate as the most important in view of the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. It also asked respondents to review the performance of the state government on several important parameters.

In rural areas, voters said the government did a good job on schools (7.58), electricity supply (7.56) and on the food distribution subsidy (7.35). On the other hand, it performed poorly on providing better employment opportunities (6.70), corruption eradication (6.67) and jobs training (6.60). Overall, rural voters rated the governments performance with a 7.05 out of 10. For rural voters, the biggest issues are access to water supply, better schools and better roads. Whereas, the least important issues are access to the local MLA, anti-terrorism and jobs training.

Urban voters said the government did a good job on schools (7.85), electricity supply (7.83) and public transport (7.61). They also said the government performed poorly on creating public services such as public toilets and footpaths (6.79), corruption eradication (6.77) and jobs training (6.40). For these voters, the biggest issues are access to clean water supply, better electricity supply and better schools. The least important issues for urban Karnataka are jobs training, zone regulations and anti-terrorism.

Sixty seven percent of all voters said the political party of the candidate is important for them when they vote. Eighty six said a good candidate is important. Forty two percent said their vote will also depend on the choice of a good CM candidate, while 37% said the religion of the candidate was important and 36% said the candidates caste was important.
@NewsbySmiley

Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association have announced dates for hour-long debates between the Democratic and Republican nominees to win the November election for Florida governor and U.S. Senate.

The organizations will host the events at Broward College two weeks before the general election. The debates will run back-to-back, on Oct. 23 and 24, and will each start at 7 p.m.

The debates will be carried across all of Florida's 10 media markets, and produced by West Palm Beach-based ABC station WPBF/Ch. 25. In Miami, the events will be broadcast by WFOR-CBS4.

For Senate, Bill Nelson, the only Democrat elected statewide in Florida, is expected to face a challenge from term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

For governor, August primaries will decide who will face off. Right now, Congressman Ron DeSantis and Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam are declared candidates on the Republican side (with House Speaker Richard Corcoran a possible third entry). On the Democratic side, the candidates are Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, Winter Park businessman Chris King, and former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine.
Lucknow: Once considered to be the second most powerful person in Bahujan Samaj Party and the right hand man of party chief Mayawati, Babu Singh Kushwaha is all set to make a comeback in the party.

According to sources, Kushwaha may join BSP any time before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sources have also revealed that Kushwaha met several top leaders of BSP recently and his rejoining now depends on his meeting with Mayawati, which is likely to happen soon.

Ever since Naseemuddin Siddiqui exited BSP, the road for Kushwaha to come back into the party fold was clear.

Babu Singh Kushwaha, who is facing corruption charges in the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) scam, was expelled from BSP in 2011. He was the most influential leader in the party after chief Mayawati and remained so for over two decades.

While throwing him out of the party in 2011, BSP had said in its statement that Kushwaha was in touch with the Congress party to save himself from a CBI probe.

Kushwaha was the minister for Mining and Family Welfare in the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh when the killing of three government doctors triggered a huge uproar and ultimately led to the unraveling of a major scam in the health department.

Now, the comeback of Kushwaha is being seen as a strong move by Mayawati, after Naseemuddin left the party.

Interestingly, it was Naseemuddin Siddiqui who got Kushwaha a job as a telephone operator in the BSP office years ago. Kushwaha, who like Siddiqui, hails from Banda. He joined the BSP in 1995 and his meteoric rise in the party got him cabinet ranks in the government when Mayawati came to power. However, his dream run came to an end when he was named an accused in the NRHM scam, following which he was shown door by Mayawati.

Kushwaha went on to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2012. His induction was however marred by dissent from many within the saffron party who were not impressed by his involvement in the NHRM scam. Soon, he wrote to the top brass of the party to suspend his membership till proven innocent.

Undeterred, Kushwaha, floated a new party before the UP Assembly elections, Jan Adhikar Manch, but failed to make a mark.

The NRHM scam was one of the biggest scams to have hit Uttar Pradesh during the BSP regime. Nearly 50 people died under mysterious circumstances. The state government had received Rs 8,657 crore under the NRHM scheme between 2007 and 2012, while a major chunk of this money was allegedly siphoned by ministers and government officials.

The CBI filed a chargesheet naming Kushwaha and in 2015 the Enforcement Directorate attached his assets worth Rs 196 crores.

Meanwhile, an FIR was lodged against Kushwaha in Jhansi last month in an alleged forgery case. The investigation reportedly found that Kushwahas educational certificates, including his intermediate and undergraduate marksheets, were forged and he had changed his name in the certificates to contest elections.

Kushwahas comeback may raise several eyebrows while only few will deny the fact that Mayawati was dependent on some people and he was among them.
Kolkata: Facing flak over violence in his parliamentary constituency Asansol, Union minister Babul Supriyo has said that he had offered to resign and quit politics but was stopped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The minister of state for heavy industries said he had met the prime minister and offered to resign, but Modi stopped him and asked him to carry on his "fight". "You may be surprised to know that after two dirty incidents in Asansol/Bengal, I had met our Hon'ble PM resigning as a Minister to quit Politics & Power for good only to be inspired back by our Hon'ble PM, a man who works 24/7/365 days for his country. Don't Quit-Fight he told me," Supriyo said in a tweet on April 1.

The BJP leader was stopped by the police from entering the Asansol-Raniganj area last week. A scuffle had ensued between BJP supporters and the police when he tried to enter Asansol, his Lok Sabha constituency. West Bengal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee had accused the saffron party of trying to destroy the peace and communal harmony in the state.

"Having to face inner questions of whether politics is indeed a place I need to be. And, I confess that at times I really find it hard to convince myself to continue. How can a constitutional entity like the chief minister be so uncouth & desperate to win elections with unfair means?," he had tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Union minister, in a series of tweets, thanked Modi for supporting him. "If today I am fighting all this Muck of falsehood & politics of hate in WB, it is thanks to our Hon'ble PM who told me how we must triumph against all this dirty noise by continuing to fight with a goal in sight that of Development for ALL, something he did in Gujarat&HOW," Supriyo said.

A person was killed and two police officers were severely injured when clashes broke out between two groups over a Ram Navami procession in the Raniganj area of West Bengal's Bardhaman district.
Bengaluru: Pranesh, in his late 60s, is a full time volunteer of the RSS. These days he is busy campaigning for the BJP. He leaves early in the morning to meet potential voters and hold discussions with local leaders of the BJP in South Bengaluru. Speaking to News18 he said he had campaigned extensively for the BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and after that it is for the first time that he is again seeking votes for the BJP.

BJP is in an independent political party. Sometimes we help them in campaigning for the party or for a particular candidate. In 2014, we were fully into that. Again we are back in full form because we want to defeat the Congress in Karnataka. Over two dozen RSS workers have been killed in the last five years. The Congress government has not taken any action against the murderers. Some are still unsolved, he said.

According to him, he visits at least 30-40 voters in a day and holds small meetings during weekends on holidays. He adds that sometimes they go with the BJP workers and mostly do the campaigning alone.

A state BJP leader told News18 that each booth in the state will have at least one RSS worker in charge this time. There are over 55,000 polling booths in Karnataka. They have presence everywhere. They handle the last mile connectivity. No other political party has dedicated cadres like the RSS. It gives us an upper hand, he said.

Even during the selection of candidates, the BJP takes RSS into confidence and hears their views before finalising the list. In some seats RSS opposed some BJP candidates. We heard them out. Their views have been taken into account and no major decision will be taken without their knowledge, said a confidant of state BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa.

A day after saffron flags replaced the red flags in Tripura, the RSS had held an emergency meeting at its state headquarters in Bengaluru to chalk out the Sanghs plan for the poll-bound state.

A few state BJP leaders were also invited to the meeting. A leader who attended the meeting said the mood was upbeat. The RSS always takes greater pride in decimating the Communists, its ideological opponent, than helping the BJP defeat the Congress or some other regional party, the leader had said.

After taking stock of the situation in Karnataka, the RSS leadership has reportedly told the BJP that it will take charge of booth-level management to defeat the Siddaramaiah government.

Speaking to News18, a state BJP leader said, The RSS is our ideological head. It always helps us in fighting elections. For the first time, the RSS has decided to manage booths in Karnataka Assembly elections. It is a great relief for us. Earlier, they used to help us in a different way.

Some RSS leaders in the state argue that the Siddaramaiah government is being seen as an anti-Hindu government by the Sangh and its affiliates. They are angry with his policies towards the RSS and, thus, want to oust him.

Actually, we are not really against many Congress leaders in Karnataka. They are also good Hindus and dont abuse the RSS. We have nothing against them personally. But Siddaramaiah is different. He acts like a Communist and we dislike him ideologically and personally. Because of that, the RSS has decided to throw its weight behind the Yeddyurappa-led BJP in Karnataka, a leader said.

The RSS has asked the BJP to break the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Dalit votes who may go with Siddaramaiah in big numbers, he added.

Another RSS functionary feels that ground reports suggest a strong backing for Siddaramaiah among the OBCs and minorities. Even the SC/STs are not against him. We are aware of it. We get our own feedback using the network of volunteers. It is not going to be easy for the BJP to defeat him. We cant make corruption the main issue. The BJP is also facing serious charges of corruption. Because of that, we want to do micromanagement to some extent. All RSS volunteers vote for the BJP. But all BJP voters are not from the RSS. Therefore, it is better to have our own people at every booth.

The RSS has also asked the BJP to make the alleged killing of its workers a big issue in the election. One of the top three leaders of the RSS, Dattathreya Hosabale, is also from Karnataka and hails from Hosabale village in Shimoga district  the same as Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa. He is likely to play a bigger role in his home states election as he is familiar with the people, state and caste equations.

The RSS has also appointed another Kannadiga CR Mukunda as one of the Joint General Secretaries of the organization along with Hosabale and three others.

During a meeting with RSS top leaders at its headquarters in Nagpur, the BJP chief Amit Shah has assured them that the saffron party will certainly win Karnataka.

The RSS had taken direct charge of booth management in Karnataka during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Commenting on RSS taking charge of poll booths, state Congress campaign committee general secretary Milind Dharmasena said, The role of the RSS is exaggerated. RSS has been there for almost a century. But the BJP has emerged as a powerful party only in the last 20 years. RSS works for BJP during every election. The RSS alone cant bring the BJP to power. The saffron party is playing caste card in this election. If RSS can get them votes, why do they need to give importance to caste.

The RSS has a strong presence in coastal Karnataka, MumbaiKarnataka, Malnad and Bengaluru city. But it does not have much presence in rest of old Mysore and HyderabadKarnataka regions.
New Delhi: The Dalit protests in several states on Monday were not against the Centre, but against the orders of the Supreme Court, Union minister Ramdas Athawale said on Tuesday, while accusing the Congress and the BSP of trying to incite violence during the agitation.

The Dalit leader, who is also the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment, appealed to the community to maintain peace and said the Centre was committed to protecting their rights.

"The Dalit protests were not against the government, but against the orders of the court...The NDA government is committed to protecting the rights of the Dalits and it had filed a review petition against the directions of the Supreme Court on April 2...The Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are trying to incite violence over the protests, which they should not do," Athawale, whose Republican Party of India (RPI) is a part of the ruling coalition, told a press conference here.

He alleged that both the Congress and the BSP had done precious little to promote the interests of the Dalits when they were in power at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh respectively and added that the NDA government was serious about the smallest of the issues raised by the community. "No party that is opposed to the Dalits can get its candidates elected," Athawale said.

He assured the Dalits that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was serious about all the issues plaguing them, including reservations in promotions. The Union minister pointed out that there was already anger among the Dalits over an earlier order of the Supreme Court on reservation in promotions and added that it got aggravated with the top court's ruling on the SC/ST Act.

Condemning the violent protests, Athawale said if the agitation was peaceful, it could have had a stronger impact on the society. He also demanded an impartial probe into Mondays violence to find out who were behind it.

"Various reports say that the violence was incited and the Congress, BSP and other opposition parties had a hand in it. I have met the deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and demanded an inquiry," Athawale said.

The death toll in Monday's violence has gone up to 11 with two more persons succumbing to their injuries in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. The Supreme Court today refused to stay its recent order on the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc fell 6 percent on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump again attacked the online retailer over the pricing of its deliveries through the United States Postal Service and promised unspecified changes. "Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money-losing Post Office makes money with Amazon," Trump tweeted. "They lose a fortune, and this will be changed. Also, our full tax-paying retailers are closing stores all over the country...not a level playing field!"

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Shares of the company were down 5.9 percent at $1,362.48, wiping out nearly $45 billion from its market value. Trump has been vocal about his opposition to Amazon's use of the postal service and Monday's tweet adds to investor worries that the company could see more regulation. Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted that if the post office "increased its parcel rates, Amazons shipping costs would rise by $2.6 billion." The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in November reported a decline in annual revenue, hurt by a drop in first-class and marketing mail, offset partly by an increase in package delivery. The postal service has also been posting losses mainly because of payments, more than $5 billion a year as mandated by Congress to pre-fund the service's future retirees' healthcare.

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The passage of postal reform legislation could alleviate USPSs pension obligations, give it more pricing power and allow the agency to be more competitive, analysts said. "We believe the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has gained share from Amazon which is helping the USPS stay afloat," Morgan Stanley analysts wrote. Details of Amazon's payments to the USPS are not publicly known, but some Wall Street analysts have estimated it pays the postal service roughly half what it would to United Parcel Service Inc or FedEx Corp to deliver a package.
After Facebook and Twitter, Google has cracked down on malicious cryptocurrency mining extensions on its Chrome platform. Until now, Google Chrome's web policy permitted cryptocurrency mining in extensions as long as it is the extension's single purpose and the user is adequately informed about the mining behaviour. "Unfortunately, approximately 90 per cent of all extensions with mining scripts that developers have attempted to upload to Chrome Web Store has failed to comply with these policies, and have been either rejected or removed from the store," James Wagner, Extensions Platform Product Manager, said in a blog post late Monday.

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"Starting today, Chrome Web Store will no longer accept extensions that mine cryptocurrency," he added. Existing extensions that mine cryptocurrency will be delisted from the Chrome Web Store in late June. Extensions with blockchain-related purposes other than mining will continue to be permitted in the Web Store, Google said. Over the past few months, there has been a rise in malicious extensions that appear to provide useful functionality on the surface, while embedding hidden cryptocurrency mining scripts that run in the background without the user's consent.

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These mining scripts often consume significant CPU resources, and can severely impact system performance and power consumption. "This policy is another step forward in ensuring that Chrome users can enjoy the benefits of extensions without exposing themselves to hidden risks," Wagner said. Late last month, Twitter confirmed to block cryptocurrency-related ads on the platform. In January, social media giant Facebook banned all ads promoting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and ICOs.

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At a time when governments are striving for stringent data security and privacy, users in Israel are now reportedly connected to WhatsApp through the Facebook servers, said a report on Monday. According to WABetaInfo, a popular fan website that tracks WhatsApp Beta, the switch has been made to ensure better connection quality. "All users from Israel are now connected to WhatsApp through the Facebook servers," the website tweeted.

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WhatsApp, however, was yet to confirm the report. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp (or Facebook too) can just read metadata of messages. "For example if the message you are sending is an image, a video, a sticker etc.. its date, the phone number of the recipient (otherwise the server wouldn't know where the message should be forwarded)," WABetaInfo tweeted. Replying to WABetaInfo, a Twitter user said: "Encryption is not a problem. Its just that metadata like last seen, online time, etc. which are dynamic and are not needed after a particular time, must be wiped from servers".

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The website, however, said that the fact that WhatsApp is starting to use the Facebook servers must not worry you. "This just ensures a better quality of the connection. All chats and calls are end-to-end encrypted, so WhatsApp/Facebook/anyone cannot read/listen them. Everything is encrypted, also Stickers," WABetaInfo tweeted. WABetaInfo has asked people to wait till May "to see which data are really stored in the WhatsApp server and if they might be a problem for us".

The European Union (EU) has asked businesses and service providers globally to comply with its new privacy law -- the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) -- that comes into force from May 25 this year. The EU GDPR has been designed to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe -- to protect and empower all EU citizens' data privacy and to reshape the way organisations across the region approach data privacy.

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WhatsApp last month signed a public commitment with Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) not to share users' personal data with Facebook until data protection concerns are addressed. "WhatsApp has assured us that no UK user data has ever been shared with Facebook (other than as a 'data processor')," Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said in a statement.

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hit back at Tim Cook saying that the recent criticism from his counterpart at Apple was unfounded, the media reported. In an interview given to Vox on Monday, Zuckerberg defended his company's business model by saying: "You know, I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib. And not at all aligned with the truth.

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"The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay."Having an advertising-supported model is the only rational model that can support building this service," he was quoted as saying. In a Recode and MSNBC interview last month, Cook had called for increased regulation of social media, and questioned the practice of monetising user data on free platforms by selling ads that allow advertisers to target specific groups.

The Apple CEO was asked how he would handle the crisis. "I wouldn't be in this situation," he said. "The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetised our customer... If our customer was our product... We've elected not to do that." Apple makes the vast majority of its money selling hardware, including iPhones, iPads and Macs.

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Facebook, on the other hand, has built an entire business on selling ads that target users based on information they provide. Apple executives have used privacy and transparency as a sales pitch, drawing a contrast with other companies especially Facebook. Cook called privacy a "human right" and "a civil liberty", reports CNN. Zuckerberg told Vox that Facebook was dedicated "serving people", despite its reliance on advertising.

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"If you want to build a service which is not just serving rich people, then you need to have something that people can afford," he said. "I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm Syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you," the Facebook CEO added. Facebook is currently facing the heat over the leak of personal and other data of some 50 million users to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Zuckerberg admitted that the social media giant "made mistakes" over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and a "breach of trust" had occurred between it and its users. He has apologised for the data debacle and said he was ready to testify before Congress.

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Samsung Electronics has overtaken IBM as the holder of the most US patents as of the beginning of 2018, according to new data. The South Korean tech firm owned 75,596 US patents, outdoing the second best IBM by nearly 1.6 times, as of January 1, Yonhap news agency said on Monday, quoting the top 100 list drawn up jointly by the journal IAM and intellectual property big data analysis company ktMINE.

IBM, which had ranked at the top for the past 25 years, held 46,443 patents. "South Korea's Samsung takes the top spot and probably will for the foreseeable future," the analysis report said. "Even though IBM continually out files other companies, its assets are also ageing; in addition, it is known for abandoning a number of its patents relatively early in their lifetimes."

"As (IBM's) assets grow older, it will have to innovate more (or acquire more patent assets) to keep pace," the report added. Japan's Canon came in third with 38,996 patents, followed by Microsoft with 33,327. Intel ranked fifth with 30,985. Another South Korean tech firm, LG Electronics, settled at seventh place with 28,235.

US companies accounted for 45 of the top 100, with European firms claiming 14 spots. Two Chinese companies, Huawei and Lenovo were ranked 61st and 93rd respectively.

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Washington: In a major move ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, the US on Tuesday designated Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ud Dawa, as a foreign terrorist organization.

In a simultaneous move, seven members of MML central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorist. The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

The election commission had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Today's amendments take aim at LeT's efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeT's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.

In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group.

"LeT members make up MML's leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature," the State Department said.

Concurrently with today's State Department actions, the US Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for on behalf of the LeT: Saifullah Khalid (president), Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi (vice president), Muhammad Harris Dar (Joint Secretary), Tabish Qayyuum (Information Secretary), Fayyaz Ahmad (General Secretary), Faisal Nadeem (Broadcast and Publications Secretary), and Muhammad Ehsan (Finance Secretary).

Tuesday's actions notify the US public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of the LeT. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

"Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeT's attempts to undermine Pakistan's political process," said Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognized political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

"We will continue to target terrorist organizations like LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades," Mandelker said. He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should "think twice" about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeT's Peshawar headquarters and served on Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD)'s Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

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, including six Americans. It was declared as an FTO by the US in June 2014.
A proposal that would have ended the state's certificate-of-need process for approving hospitals was withdrawn Monday, just before it was set to move into the next stage of consideration for the November ballot as a constitutional amendment.

Proposal 54, which was sponsored by Constitution Revision Commission member Frank Kruppenbacher, would have linked the approval process for new hospitals to infection rates at other hospitals in the area. By doing so, it would have no longer allowed to state to limit hospital growth through the current certificate of need process. The CON process currently requires the state to approve hospitals and other health care providers like nursing homes to add more sites or services.

The proposed amendment did not reference the long-running certificates of need process directly, but it would have prohibited limiting hospital growth in any counties with at least one hospital with an infection rate above the state average. Deregulating the hospital industry by restricting or removing the program has long been a priority for some leaders in the Republican-dominated Legislature and for Gov. Rick Scott, a past hospital executive.

When the proposal moved forward last month, Kruppenbacher  who Scott appointed to the seat  dismissed the possibility that such a measure might advance in the Legislature, saying overhauling the system had to happen through the CRC. The powerful 37-member committee meets once every 20 years to choose proposals to put directly before voters, which voters can then pass by a 60 percent majority.

He did not respond to requests for comment Monday on why the proposal was pulled before the commission meets this week to refine the language of the remaining proposed amendments.

The Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, which represents public, nonprofit and teaching hospitals in the state, objected to the proposal and lauded its withdrawal Monday.

Preserving Floridas health care strategic planning process is vital for a strong safety net hospital system which provides the most highly specialized medical care regardless of a patients ability to pay, said Lindy Kennedy, the group's executive vice president, in a statement. With fewer commercially insured patients to help cover the costs of caring for the poor and uninsured, safety net hospitals would have been forced to cut vital services that benefit all Floridians, such as neonatal care, trauma, burn, and transplants."

The withdrawal is part of the further culling of dozens of proposal from the commission's consideration: Another health care proposal, which would have added a "bill of rights" for residents in long-term care facilities, was withdrawn last month after sponsor Brecht Heuchan conceded it was unlikely to have the votes in its current form.
Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would use US military forces to protect the nation's southern border with Mexico until there is a border wall and "proper security" in place.

"We are going to be doing things militarily," Trump told reporters at the White House, adding he had discussed the idea with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

"Until we can have a wall and proper security were going to be guarding our border with the military. Thats a big step," he said. "We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way, never showing up for court."

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had said US foreign aid to Honduras and other countries was at risk unless they stopped what he called a "caravan" of more than 1,200 Central American migrants headed to the U.S. border with Mexico on a 2,000-mile (3,200-km) journey from the Mexico-Guatemalan border.

Mexico's government has said such "caravans" of mostly Central Americans, including many escaping violence in Honduras, have occurred since 2010.

Trump has stepped up his immigration rhetoric in recent days and his administration has moved to further crack down on people who are in the United States illegally.

Trump has already blasted Mexico and threatened to upend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) over the caravan. The current trip has also put pressure on Mexican authorities ahead of the July 1 presidential election there.

"We will be doing things with Mexico, and they have to do it, otherwise Im not going to do with the NAFTA deal," Trump told reporters.

In a post on Twitter, he had said the caravan "heading to our 'Weak Laws' Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!"

On Monday, the Republican president railed against Democrats over immigration and again pressed U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation to build his long-promised border wall between the United States and Mexico.

Despite months of efforts, no immigration deal has emerged in the Republican-led Congress, where lawmakers are not expected to pass much major legislation ahead of November's midterm congressional elections.
A senior Dubai police official cited the exemplary discipline shown by Indians to slam Pakistani authorities for their failure to curb drug smuggling to Gulf nations.

Head of General Security for Dubai, Dhahi Khalfan, tweeted, Why Indians are disciplined? While sedition, criminality and smuggling in the Pakistani community are rampant.

He also wrote that the Pakistanis pose a serious threat to the Gulf communities because they bring drugs to their countries. His comments came after Dubai authorities arrested a gang of Pakistanis involved in smuggling drugs.

Khalfan, who is known for his controversial remarks, also advised companies based in UAE to not employ Pakistani nationals despite their deep historic relations with the region. The senior Dubai police official has over 2.66 million followers on his verified Twitter account.
Banda Aceh, Indonesia: Rights activists called on Tuesday for Indonesia's Aceh province to release four people detained on suspicion of having homosexual sex, amid concerns over the persecution of the LGBT community in the world's third-largest democracy.

Secular Indonesia is predominantly Muslim but ultra-conservative Aceh is the only province to follow sharia, or Islamic law, and criminalise gay sex.

Indonesia's parliament is currently debating revisions to the national criminal code that could criminalise all sex outside marriage, including same-sex relations. Many believe the new rules could be used to unfairly target the LGBT community and other minority groups.

Authorities said the four suspects were rounded up by vigilantes and police and, if convicted, could face up to 100 lashes in public.

"We are completing their files and will soon hand over to prosecutors," said Marzuki, head of sharia police investigations in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

Human Rights Watch said the punishment "constitutes torture under international human rights law".

"Acehnese authorities should release the four and protect the public from marauding vigilantes who target vulnerable minorities," said Graeme Reid, director of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights programme at Human Rights Watch.

The provincial and central governments drew international condemnation last year when, for the first time, Aceh authorities publicly caned two men who were convicted under the province's anti-homosexuality laws, which were introduced in 2014.

Vigilantes and religious police in Aceh often raid homes and places of work and detain people on suspicion of engaging in homosexual activity.

Aceh police detained 12 transgender women earlier this year and publicly shamed them by forcing them to cut their hair and dress in "masculine" clothing.

They were later released without charge, but activists say many have since gone into hiding for fear of further raids.
New York: An Indian-origin man and his business associate have been arrested and charged by federal authorities for masterminding a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) that raised more than USD 32 million from thousands of investors last year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday charged Sohrab "Sam" Sharma and Robert Farkas, co-founders of a purported financial services start-up Centra Tech. In a parallel action, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York also slapped criminal charges against the duo.

The agency charged that Sharma and Frakas masterminded a fraudulent ICO in which Centra offered and sold unregistered investments through a "CTR Token." The two allegedly claimed that funds raised in the ICO would help build a suite of financial products and promised to offer a debit card backed by Visa and MasterCard that would allow users to instantly convert hard-to-spend cryptocurrencies into US dollars or other legal tenders. In reality, however, Centra had no relationships with the credit card companies.

The SEC also alleges that to promote the ICO, Sharma and Farkas created fictional executives with impressive biographies, posted false or misleading marketing materials to Centra's website, and paid celebrities to tout the ICO on social media.

According to the complaint, Farkas made flight reservations to leave the country but was arrested before he was able to board his flight. Sharma has also been arrested.

"We allege that Centra sold investors on the promise of new digital technologies by using a sophisticated marketing campaign to spin a web of lies about their supposed partnerships with legitimate businesses," Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement said, adding that the claims were simply false.

The SEC's complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, charges Sharma and Farkas with violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.

The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties, as well as bars against Sharma and Farkas serving as public company officers or directors and from participating in any offering of digital or other securities.
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled an agreement with the UN refugee agency on Tuesday aimed at avoiding forced deportations of thousands of African migrants only hours after having announced the deal himself.

The stunning turnaround after Netanyahu announced the accord in a televised address on Monday afternoon came as he faced mounting pressure from his right-wing base. The UN refugee agency urged Netanyahu to reconsider.

Yesterday's announcement drew immediate anger from right-wing politicians, including Netanyahu allies, and many of his traditional supporters.

After the deluge of criticism, the premier said in a late-night Facebook post on Monday he was suspending the agreement that would have allowed thousands of the migrants to remain in Israel at least temporarily.

Today, he said the deal was being cancelled outright after having held discussions on it. "After having heard numerous comments on the agreement, I have examined the pros and cons and have decided to cancel the agreement," Netanyahu said in a statement.

The agreement was designed to end the possibility of forced deportations of thousands of migrants to Rwanda under a controversial plan put forward by Netanyahu in January. Under the agreement with the UN, a minimum of 16,250 migrants would have instead been resettled in Western nations.

In return, Israel would grant temporary residency to one migrant for each one resettled elsewhere. The presence of the primarily Sudanese and Eritrean migrants in Israel has become a key political issue, and Netanyahu is already under heavy pressure due to a string of graft probes.

He has repeatedly referred to them as "not refugees but illegal infiltrators". A range of Netanyahu's own ministers spoke out strongly against the deal, with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon saying he had known nothing of it until Monday.

Tuesday morning, Netanyahu held talks with residents of southern Tel Aviv, where many of the migrants live. A group of southern Tel Aviv residents had harshly criticised the deal. Dozens of migrants and their supporters also protested outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv.

"We thought that if we came here, there is democracy and Israel will defend our rights, but they are playing with our minds and our lives," Sernai Dori, a 28-year-old mother of three from Eritrea who has been in Israel for a decade, said at the protest in Jerusalem.

The UN refugee agency meanwhile said it had found out about Netanyahu's initial suspension of the agreement through news reports. The agency, known as the UNHCR, said Tuesday it hoped Netanyahu would change his mind about the cancellation.

"We continue to believe in the need for a win-win agreement that can benefit Israel, the international community and people needing asylum and we hope that Israel will reconsider its decision soon," spokesman William Spindler told AFP in an email.

Netanyahu said he was forced to resort to the deal with the UN after Rwanda indicated it would not be able to follow through on the previous plan. In his last night Facebook post, Netanyahu said Rwanda had faced "tremendous pressure" from "elements in the European Union" and others to not accept the arrangement.

The EU mission in Israel responded with a mocking tweet. "Guess it's just one of those days. At 20:57 you congratulate #Israel & @refugees on their agreement, at 21:46 you like @IsraelMFA announcement on the deal, at 22:50 the PM suspends it and blames, among others, #EU (where #UNHCR hoped to resettle significant number of refugees)," it said.

Under Netanyahu's previous plan, migrants who entered illegally would face a choice between leaving voluntarily or facing indefinite imprisonment with eventually forced expulsion. According to interior ministry figures, there are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, half of them children, women or men with families who are not facing immediate deportation.

As the migrants could face danger or imprisonment if returned to their homelands, Israel had offered to relocate them to an unnamed African country, which deportees and aid workers had long said was Rwanda or Uganda. Netanyahu specifically mentioned Rwanda for the first time in his Facebook post. Uganda had also said it could not accept those sent involuntarily.

The initial plan had drawn criticism from the UN refugee agency, rights groups and some Israelis, including Holocaust survivors who said the country had a special duty to protect migrants. Migrants began entering Israel through what was then a porous Egyptian border in 2007. The border has since been strengthened, all but ending illegal crossings.
New Delhi: The head of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India said that Tibet was engaged in back channel talks with China. He also said that Tibet would remain with China if Tibetans were given genuine autonomy.

In an exclusive interview to News18, Lobsang Sangay, President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said that while there has been no official communication with China, there were Track 2, Track 3 conversations that were taking place.

There has been no official communication between China and the CTA since 2010. But there are back channel talks that happen. People keep coming from the Chinese side and we are very transparent with them, he said, adding that the CTA was taking it with a pinch of salt as they have had about nine official dialogues and there was no breakthrough. So, one shouldnt read too much into it.

The CTA President, however, added that Tibet was okay with remaining with China as long as Tibetans were given genuine autonomy. There is a lot of repression and the situation now is in fact worse. We are open to dialogue and His Holiness Dalai Lama would want to meet Chinese representatives, he said, adding that the CTA was closely monitoring Chinas rise in the region closely.

Sangay also added that he would reach out to China in his capacity as CTA President but was not sure of the results as engaging with him would mean Chinese acknowledging a Tibetan government-in-exile. Hence, talks only happen between the envoys of the His Holiness and those from the Chinese side, adding that he is, however, part of the decision-making process and is kept in the loop.

Sangay further said that it was just one man who could decide what was going to happen to the Tibet issue as the world sees and it was Chinese President Xi Jinping. Its not about which department or which ministry to look at. Its just Xi, he said. He also shed some light on how the Tibetans did expect certain things from the Chinese considering Xis familys history with Tibet.

Xi Jinpings father, Xi Zhongxun, has met the His Holiness and knew a lot about Tibet, Sangay said. Zhongxun was said to have close bonds with the Dalai Lama and the latter has also previously said in interviews that Jinpings father was very friendly and nice. Zhongxun died in 2002.

The Buddhist leader had fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan violence and has been living in India ever since. China has for long considered the spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist and says Tibet is an integral part of its territory and has been for centuries. Beijing also says its rule ended serfdom and brought prosperity to what was a backward region, and that it fully respects the rights of the Tibetan people.

MEA Circular Did Not Look Good For India, Tibet

Commenting on the circular issued by foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale asking Indian officials to not attend any Tibetan events, Sangay said that in terms of public relations, it did not look for either countries. These circulars are issued from time to time, I understand but the fact that it was in writing didnt make anyone look good. But it was sorted out. We have 60 years of relationship and I knew it will all be alright, he told News18. A little over a month ago it was reported by the Indian Express that foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had sent a note on February 22 to Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha, following which the "senior leaders" and "government functionaries" of the Centre and states were directed to skip events of exiled Tibetan leaders.

The Centre later clarified that Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was free to "carry out his religious activities in India", reacting to reports that the government has asked senior functionaries to "skip all events by the "Tibetan leadership in India".

The CTA President was also all praises for Vijay Gokhale. He knows Tibet and the issues of it very well, Sangay said.

Interestingly, the inauguration of the year-long Thank You India events in Dharamshala on Saturday was attended by BJP leader Ram Madhav, Union minister Mahesh Sharma, Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi, and Himachal Pradesh minister Kishan Kumar.

We had extended the invite to several people and they accepted it.

The leaders, which included Madhav and Sharma, said that India recognised the struggle for the spiritual leader to go back to Tibet. When asked about whether the Dalai Lama was indeed returning to Tibet, Sangay said it was dream that the Tibetans wanted to realise soon. Indias policy has been that they will support what Tibetans want and what the His Holiness wants. And there are millions of Tibetans who want him to return. So, India is supporting it, Sangay added.
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's crown prince said Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land in an interview published on Monday in U.S. magazine The Atlantic, another public sign of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv appearing to grow closer.

Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted as saying:

"I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations."

Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines - does not recognise Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

"We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don't have any objection against any other people," said Prince Mohammed who is touring the United States to drum up investments and support for his efforts to contain Iranian influence.

Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fuelled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.

"There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries", Prince Mohammed added.

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.

In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumoured secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.

Saudi Arabia condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's move to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year, but Arab officials told Reuters at the time that Riyadh appears to be on board with a broader U.S. strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan still in its early phases of development.
London: As one of his final acts of kindness, British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking paid for a grand Easter meal for hundreds of homeless and needy people in his home city of Cambridge.

The funeral of the world-famous scientist, who passed away peacefully at his home on March 14 aged 76, took place in the city on Saturday. On the same day, a donation from his family helped to fund the charity FoodCycle's Easter lunch at Wesley Methodist Church.

Flowers were left on all the tables with a note reading: "Today's lunch is a gift from Stephen. From the Hawking family." Organisers said the physicist was given "a little cheer" before nearly 50 diners enjoyed the meal.

Professor Hawking paid for a massive Easter meal for homeless people in Cambridge city, complete with decorations and flowers. (Picture: @LenouryCaroline/Twitter)

"Lucy Hawking (daughter) contacted me and mentioned that the family would like to make a donation so that while the funeral was taking place, people would be sitting down to a hot meal 'on Stephen'.

"It was a really kind gesture that I think fitted well with the sympathy Prof. Hawking felt for people who were having a tough time of things," said Alex Collis, East of England Regional Manager, FoodCycle.

Collis said the generous donation would go on to provide hundreds of meals for older people, refugees, people with mental health issues, and the long-term unemployed, besides the city's homeless.

FoodCycle, which provides regular free meals for people in need using donated or unused food, has been running since 2010 by a team of volunteers across the UK.

"The meals are open to anyone and there's no need to book or have a voucher - no questions are asked and the meals have a great community feel with groups of difference people who might not otherwise meeting sitting down round a table together," he said.

Hawking's funeral was held at Great St. Mary's Church, part of the University of Cambridge, with thousands of well-wishers lining the streets to bid farewell to the scientist. His ashes will be buried at Westminster Abbey in London in June, near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton.

The cosmologist and author of the seminal 'A Brief History of Time' had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his 20s.
Fort Worth Texas: A Texan who killed four people while driving drunk as a teen, then avoided prison by blaming his wealthy upbringing, was released from jail on Monday after serving nearly two years for violating probation in the case, officials said.

Ethan Couch garnered international attention in 2013 as the "affluenza teen" when his lawyers argued his privileged childhood impaired his ability to tell right from wrong.

Now 20, he walked free from a jail in Fort Worth, where he served time after fleeing to Mexico and then being found in violation of the probation he received for the fatal crash.

Couch was silent as he left the corrections facility with an attorney by his side. A black Tesla sedan whisked him away.

"Ethan continues to be remorseful as he has since the first day of this tragic event," attorney Scott Brown told reporters.

Couch will remain under supervision that includes a GPS ankle monitor and frequent drug and alcohol testing, officials said.

It was not clear where he would live.

His mother, Tonya Couch, 50, had been free on bond after being charged with helping her son flee to Mexico. But she was sent back to jail last week for violating her probation by failing a drug test, according to local law enforcement.

Couch's father, who runs a sheet metal business, did not respond to requests for comment.

Tim Williams, a jail chaplain who was friends with one of the people killed by Couch, said he met Couch about once a week behind bars.

"He did develop and was able to begin to own what he did," Williams said in a telephone interview. "I dont want to give the impression that he has arrived at the stage of full maturity and full ownership, but I have seen progress and that can be helpful."

Couch was 16 and had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit for an adult when he struck and killed four people in June 2013 with his pickup truck.

At his trial in juvenile court that year, a psychologist testifying on his behalf described Couch as having "affluenza," saying it was an affliction brought on by being spoiled by his parents and it had skewed his moral compass.

Couch was sentenced to 10 years of probation for intoxication manslaughter, sparking outrage from critics who ridiculed the affluenza defence and said his family's wealth had kept him out of jail.

When a social media video surfaced in 2015 that showed him in possible violation of his drug-and-drink-free probation, he and his mother fled for Mexico. They were later apprehended and deported.

In 2016, a county judge transferred Ethan Couch's probation supervision to the adult system and, as a condition of the transfer, ordered him to serve 720 days in jail, 180 days for each of his four victims.

"Two years in jail for four people killed is a grave injustice to the victims and their families who have been dealt life sentences because of one persons devastating decision to drink and drive," Mothers Against Drunk Driving said in a statement last week.
A Rhode Island company proposed funneling power to Connecticut from an ocean wind turbine plant it wants to build east of Long Island for operation starting in 2023.

Deepwater Wind stated Tuesday its proposed Revolution Wind development could furnish Connecticut with up to 200 megawatts of clean energy, with the possibility of utilizing battery storage to provide power during calm days. The Providence, R.I. company has already proposed supplying Massachusetts with power from the wind farm.
BPM (Beats Per Minute) was shown at Stamfords Avon Theatre a few nights before it was the big winner at the Cesar Awards  the French equivalent of the Oscars  in Paris.

The screening was part of the monthly French Cinematheque series at the nonprofit theater, programmed by Focus on French Cinema and the Alliance Francaise of Greenwich. The event was part of Hearsts regular Movie & a Martini series.

The drama, set during the early days of the AIDS crisis, was named Best Picture at the French Academy Awards and won additional prizes in the acting, screenwriting and music categories. BPM refers to both the beating human heart and the techno music that fuels many scenes in the story about the Paris branch of the AIDS activist group, ACT-UP, which worked to eliminate the stigmas surrounding the disease, and keep pressure on companies developing new drugs in the 1990s.

The writer-director of BPM, Robin Campillo, told the Cesar audience the social and sexual issues raised in the film are still relevant today. As it was the case 25 years ago, silence is death, Campillo said.

The Stamford screening drew a smaller crowd than recent French Cinematheque events  roughly 40 people were in attendance  which might have been a demonstration that the subject matter still frightens people. Although the movie was named Best Foreign Language Film of 2017 by both the Los Angeles and New York film critics organizations, it failed to get an Oscar nomination in the same category.

I think this is such an important film, Renee Amory Ketcham, president of the Alliance Francaise of Greenwich, told the crowd. It brings back so many memories of when I was an editor at Vogue and the fashion community was decimated by AIDS.

In a story that sometimes echoes the Larry Kramer play and film, The Normal Heart, the French film follows the romance of a radical HIV-positive activist named Sean (Nahuel Perez Biscayart) and Nathan (Arnaud Valois), an HIV-negative newcomer to the activist organization.

After the screening, I did a Q&A with two representatives of the nonprofit Anchor Health Initiative in Stamford, which specializes in HIV/AIDS and Transgender medicine  chairman of the board, Jean Doyen de Montaillou, and chief medical officer, Dr. A.C. Demidont.

Both guests said they found BPM to be an accurate representation of AIDS activism.

The movie is really almost overpowering for me, Demidont said, because it brought back so many memories of (the height of the AIDS crisis in) New York City when everyone was trying to cope with the loss of so many people.

Demidont went from activism to a career in medicine in an attempt to do something to combat HIV/AIDS, working in Manhattan for many years before shifting to the AHI offices in New Haven and Stamford. The doctor worries the improved treatments for HIV have caused some younger gay men to abandon safe sex due to a mistaken feeling of invulnerability. Demidont said the use of crystal meth in the gay community is still a huge problem, encouraging users to indulge in extended, unsafe sexual encounters.

Demidont hopes BPM will be widely seen as a reminder that sometimes disruptive activism is necessary to bring controversial issues to a wider public. De Montaillou agreed it is doubtful that drug companies in France and the United States would have kept developing new treatments without the work of activists like the ones depicted in the film.

The next Movie & a Martini film club meet-up will be a screening of the 1956 James Dean classic, Giant, on Wednesday, April 18, at 7 p.m. at the Bethel Cinema, 269 Greenwood Ave.
On Aug. 12, 32-year-old Heather Heyer was tragically killed and at least 19 others were wounded when a driver plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters during the weekend of the infamous "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the close-knit college town where I went to school and where I live now.

I saw this happen right in front of me. To me, it was clearly deliberate. I captured that horrible moment on my phone's camera, shared the video with police and posted it on social media. Not long after that, I was verbally attacked by InfoWars's Alex Jones and other conspiracy theorists, who wanted to portray me as a "deep state" operative motivated by a desire to undermine President Donald Trump and his administration. As a result, my family and I have been attacked and threatened.

That's why I'm suing for defamation.

My footage was covered on cable news and ran all over the internet. During interviews I spoke clearly about the hatred and violence on display that day. After that, websites such as InfoWars and the Gateway Pundit started pushing conspiracy theories.

From InfoWars: "They had known CIA and State Department officials in Charlottesville, first tweeting, first being on MSNBC, CNN, NBC. The mayor is involved. Everybody is a cut-out."

Also from InfoWars: "One guy is paid 320 thousand a year on the payroll of Soros. He doesn't just get money from Soros, he personally is paid 320 a year, and then he is there - CIA, State Department - and he is on the news."

And from Gateway Pundit: "The random Charlottesville observer who was interviewed by MSNBC and liberal outlets turns out to be a deep state shill with links to George Soros. It looks like the State Department was involved in Charlottesville rioting and is trying to cover it up. But after Deep State got caught they are trying to erase this guy from their records."

As I state in my suit, these statements are all aimed at me, meant to defame me and, in each case, contain disgusting fabrications.

After the conspiracy theories about me spread online, my family and I were subject to harassment, threats, hate mail and hacking attempts. Someone mailed an envelope containing a suspicious white powder residue and a four-page diatribe describing how I would burn in hell. I've been accosted on the street in Charlottesville and the harassment continues to this day.

If you search Google for my name and "deep state," you get a raft of accusations that I'm an operative with an agenda - with a few even claiming I helped organize genocide. My professional and personal lives have been irreparably harmed by these blatant falsehoods and targeted character assassination. Business colleagues willing to discuss the allegations with me have described their shock on reading the conspiracies - it is anyone's guess how many others have read similar smears and avoided contact altogether. I'm a musician, and fellow musicians whom I know, and looked up to growing up, have fallen prey to lies about me, joining those tarnishing my name online. I find myself constantly looking over my shoulder and have had to beef up my personal security after consulting with law enforcement professionals.

I'm far from their only victim. From Charlottesville to Sandy Hook to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the playbook is easy to follow: After national tragedies, faceless Internet trolls push baseless, dangerous accusations that are magnified by outlets such as InfoWars in an attempt to turn villains into victims and vice versa.

In this era of social media saturation, ordinary citizens like me increasingly capture breaking news and, out of a feeling of civic duty, share it online. At the end of the day, I'm just a concerned member of a community that saw itself become a white supremacist flashpoint, and I'm certainly not part of any secret government effort to undermine Trump.

I decided to sue InfoWars, the individual behind Gateway Pundit and others because of the stunning effect their absurd dispatches have had on me and my family. But also because of the danger they pose to our country. These outlets have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of followers and, in the case of InfoWars and Gateway Pundit, have been granted White House press credentials. When they go after ordinary citizens like me, there are real consequences.

I decided to sue because no one should have to suffer this type of deliberate vilification - falsehoods spread about who they are and what they stand for - or be subject to harassment from professional conspiracy-mongers just because they witnessed a tragedy and accurately reported what they saw.

Fact-based journalism is essential to a healthy democracy, because it provides citizens with objective information on issues of public concern. InfoWars and Gateway Pundit do the opposite - poisoning our civic discourse by distorting the truth and blurring the line between news and propaganda.

I became a target because I captured images of an attack on peaceful anti-racist protesters exercising their right to freely express themselves. Because these sites couldn't argue with the video, they opted to obscure the truth by trying to discredit me.

We're all harmed when these outlets recklessly disregard plain facts, defame the innocent and use the power of social media to amplify a bogus narrative. With the help of Georgetown Law's Civil Rights Clinic, I brought this suit because Americans cannot stand idly by while these people terrorize individuals and undermine the pillars of our society. One lawsuit won't stop them, but I do hope that the legal process can expose them for what they are: snake oil salesmen who know full well that the conspiracy theories they peddle are full of lies.

---

Gilmore works in rural workforce development to bring IT jobs to underserved communities in rural Virginia and is a senior director for Clean Virginia. He was chief of staff to 2017 gubernatorial campaign of former Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va. He served in the U.S. Foreign Service and is currently on leave from the Department of State.
In November 2016, four states approved the sale of recreational marijuana. Each has taken different paths to getting a regulated, legal marijuana retail system off the ground. Or, in two cases, not quite off the ground yet.

Heres an update and overview on where the legal recreational marijuana business stands in each of those states: Nevada, California, Maine and Massachusetts.

Nevada

Nevada, as might be expected, wasted no time. By July 1, 2017, recreational sales had already started. There were some bumps in the road over transportation issues and, in one case, running out of marijuana supply. But about $200 million in recreational marijuana has already been sold, with the state bringing in about $30 million in taxes and fees in the first six months of sales.

Related: Investing In Marijuana Businesses: Are Hedge Funds Coming To The Cannabis Industry?

California

California also moved fairly quickly (everything seems fairly quickly when compared to Nevada). By January 2018, recreational sales had begun. Some estimates anticipate the state pulling in $1 billion annually in taxes and fees and for the California marijuana market to reach $5 billion. But no one knows for sure.

What they do know is that California, in direct opposition to the federal government, has embraced the marijuana industry. Governing magazine suggests that the federal government look to the Golden State for a blueprint on drug policy -- although other states might not like the idea of Girl Scouts selling cookies outside a dispensary (although the little entrepreneur sold 312 boxes of cookies in six hours).

Maine

Things are a bit of a mess in Maine.

Voters in Maine approved recreational marijuana sales in November 2016. However, the vote was so close it required a recount. In 2017, a bill that passed the state Legislature setting up rules on licensing and regulating marijuana businesses was vetoed by Republican Gov. Paul LePage.

At the time, he said he had conferred with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on the issue. Sessions is anti-legalization and earlier this year ended Obama-era rules that essentially kept the federal government from interfering in states where marijuana is legal.

Related: The Debate Over Legal Marijuana Is Also a Debate About States' Rights

Things have only gotten stranger since. A committee has been trying to hammer out a new proposal. However, on Feb. 1, the deadline passed to extend the moratorium on licensing recreational marijuana retailers and cultivators.

In short: Its now legal to grow and sell recreational marijuana in Maine, but theres no system to obtain a license to do so.

The committee proposal could reach the Maine House of Representatives by the time you read this. If passed, its onto the Senate and, if passed there, back to LePage.

Meanwhile, Maine has become the first state to make it illegal for employers to punish workers for cannabis use during their off hours.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts is moving ahead with regulating recreational marijuana sales, its just taking a little more time than expected to get there. They now have a target date of July 2018, although cannabis cafes or home delivery services of marijuana wont happen until 2019 at the earliest.

Related: What Better Conditions to Raise Money for Cannabis Businesses Means for Marijuana Entrepreneurs

The commission that is setting up the system in Massachusetts recently passed new rules that bar anyone with a felony drug trafficking conviction from getting licensed by the state to cultivate or sell legal marijuana. They also capped the space cultivators can have at 100,000 square feet over concerns that operations larger than that might divert some product to the black market.

On another issue, most municipalities in Massachusetts have banned recreational marijuana dispensaries, which means cannabis might prove difficult to find even once its legal, according to the Boston Globe.

To stay up to date on the latest marijuana related news make sure to like dispensaries.com on Facebook

Related:

These 4 States Legalized Recreational Marijuana but Each Is Doing It (or Not) in Its Own Way

Investing In Marijuana Businesses: Are Hedge Funds Coming To The Cannabis Industry?

The Debate Over Legal Marijuana Is Also a Debate About States' Rights



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com


Entrepreneur readers often reach out about how to franchise a Starbucks or learn more about owning one of the coffee shops. Unfortunately, if you live in the U.S. or Canada, owning a Starbucks franchise probably just isnt in the cards for you. Like Chick-fil-A, the Seattle-based coffee chain prefers to own each of its own locations.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told Entrepreneur in 2003, We believed very early on that people's interaction with the Starbucks experience was going to determine the success of the brand. The culture and values of how we related to our customers, which is reflected in how the company relates to our [employees], would determine our success. And we thought the best way to have those kinds of universal values was to build around company-owned stores and then to provide stock options to every employee, to give them a financial and psychological stake in the company.

Schultz added, I always viewed franchising as a way to get access to capital, because you're using other people's money to grow, essentially. And we were dealing with a premium product -- something that can be hard to learn, that you have to explain to the customer, that requires an educated staff. It would have been hard to provide the level of sensitivity to customers and knowledge of the product needed to create those Starbucks values if we franchised. You can be just as entrepreneurial and experimental in a company-owned model.

So, unless you live in a foreign country, where Starbucks franchises are more common, youre going to need a different strategy. Here are three options you can use to try to make your dream of opening a Starbucks a reality.

Related: The 10 Best Franchises to Open in 2018

1. Open a licensed Starbucks store.

Starbucks does offer licensed stores. So if you already own a business or location that can help Starbucks reach a new demographic, you may be able to reach out about adding a Starbucks to that location.

This is fairly common. According to Statista, there were 13,930 Starbucks locations in the United States as of October 2017, and 5,708 of those locations were licensed stores, which is about 41 percent. On the Starbucks licensing website, you can see that the company helps licensed stores with many aspects of the business, including store design, the Starbucks menu, equipment, training and support, food, promotions and onsite visits.

However, this isnt the most accessible or affordable option for everyone. You need to already have an attractive location where Starbucks would want to open and the resources to open that Starbucks. If youre looking to open a Starbucks as your first business, or first major investment, this probably isnt the option for you.

There are plenty of other coffee locations that do offer franchises, though. Two of them are even in the top three of the Entrepreneur Franchise 500, which leads us to the next option . . .

2. Open a Dunkin Donuts franchise.

Without trying to start a fight about which coffee shop, Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, makes better tasting coffee, Dunkin Donuts is without question the better American coffee franchise -- by default, really, since it actually is a franchise. In fact, it is almost the opposite of Starbucks in that it is only a franchise -- at the start of 2018, there were no company-owned Dunkin Donuts in the world. Its ranked No. 2 on the Franchise 500 this year, and there are more than 9,000 locations in the U.S. alone. Its been franchising since 1955, but it still manages to grow in units year after year.

That success comes with a price tag, of course. To own a Dunkin Donuts, you need to pay an initial fee of $40,000 to $90,000 (20 percent off the first five for military veterans) and have a net worth of at least $250,000, with at least $125,000 of that in liquid cash. Over the course of the startup process, youll end up paying somewhere between $228,620 to as much as $1,691,200.

That may seem expensive, but you do get to own the restaurant -- plus, Dunkin Donuts offers a map of available locations, so you can see whether the company is looking to expand in your area.

Related: The 7 Cheapest Franchises on the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 List

3. Open a 7-Eleven franchise.

You might turn up your nose at the idea of the convenience store as a legitimate coffee shop, but 7-Eleven offers coffee and is serious business, finishing as the No. 2 business on the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 list in 2018 and No. 1 in 2017. Like Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, 7-Eleven combines longevity with current success and expansion -- as of the start of 2017, there were more than 62,000 7-Elevens across the globe. Thats far more than the number of Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks combined.

7-Eleven is sort of the opposite of Starbucks in that, where Starbucks is looking for business owners who can offer them new locations, 7-Eleven wants to offer potential business owners new locations. So if you go to the 7-Eleven website, you can see a map, similar to the one for Dunkin Donuts. Except, instead of showing places where you might build a franchise, 7-Eleven highlights pre-existing locations you can buy, skipping over much of the labor of construction and startup.

This business model might also be why there is such a disparity between the possible investment costs in a 7-Eleven franchise: A 7-Eleven can cost anywhere between $37,550 and $1,149,900. Of course, if youre buying New York City real estate, youre probably going to end up paying more than you would for a corner store in my home state of Missouri.

Much of that cost will go into the franchise fee, which can range anywhere from $10,000 to $1,000,000 (with 10 to 20 percent off for veterans, as well as special financing), and 7-Eleven requires a net worth of $100,000 to $250,000.

So, if you have some money in your pocket and want to open a coffee franchise in Midwest America, but you cant license a Starbucks or afford a Dunkin Donuts, you might at least consider doing research for 7-Eleven.

Related:

You Can't Buy a Starbucks Franchise: Here's Why and What You Can Do Instead

Starbucks se renueva en 2020: Estos son los cambios que tendra en Mexico

Este es el regalo que Starbuck tiene para ti este fin de ano



Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
The Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made many statements in a recent interview that indicate a solid alliance with Israel and Egypt versus Iran.

The Saudi prince said

* the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land.

* Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, is worse than Hitler. Hitler tried to conquer Europe.  The supreme leader is trying to conquer the world

* he recognizes the right of the Jewish people to have a nation-state of their own next to a Palestinian state

* he divided the Middle East into two warring camps: what he called the triangle of evil, consisting of Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Sunni terror groups; and an alliance of self-described moderate states that includes Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman.

* Before 1979 there were societal guardianship customs, but no guardianship laws in Saudi Arabia, he said, referring to a hinge year in Saudi history, in which the Iranian revolution, as well as an extremist Sunni siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, caused a conservative backlash in the kingdom.

* For 1,400 years, Muslims have been trying to spread the word of God. In the Middle East, in North Africa, in Europe, they werent allowed to spread the word. Thats why they fought to spread the word. But you also see that, in a lot of countries in AsiaIndonesia, Malaysia, IndiaMuslims were free to spread the word. They were told, Go ahead, say whatever you want to say, the people have free will to believe whatever they want to believe in. Islam, in this context, was not about conquering, it was about peacefully spreading the word.

* Today, every human has the right to choose their belief. In every country, it is possible to buy religious books. The message is being delivered. We have no duty anymore to fight to spread Islam. But in the triangle of evil, they want to manipulate Muslims, to tell them their duty as Muslimstheir dignity as Muslims requires the establishment of a Muslim empire.

* Israel is a big economy compared to their size and its a growing economy, and of course there are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan.

Israel and Saudi meeting in Egypt

the Times of Israel reports that Israeli and Saudi officials reportedly hold series of secret meetings in Egypt.

The Saudis are no longer viewing Israel as greatest enemy in region. Top Israeli and Saudi Arabian officials reportedly held a series of secret meetings in Cairo in early March 2018, ahead of US President Donald Trumps expected unveiling of his long-awaited Middle East peace plan.

The Saudis granted Air India permission to fly through Saudi airspace to Israel, a first in 70 years.

The talks  held at a luxury hotel, with Egyptian officials present  also dealt with the economic interests of Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, particularly in the Red Sea region.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have a growing strategic partnership

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have a growing strategic partnership.

Egypt seeks investment from oil-rich Saudi Arabia to help develop the Suez Canal area, where Cairo wants to establish an international transport, logistics and production hub.

Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, and Saudi Arabia, one of the wealthiest, tightened their longstanding alliance after Sissi led the military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013, with Riyadh providing tens of billions of dollars in aid. As Sissi has consolidated power and global oil prices have fallen, however, the emphasis has shifted to investment.

Egypt will allocate about 1000 square kilometers to support the planned $500 billion Saudi megacity.

The Saudi prince recently replaced the kingdoms military chief of staff and other defense officials in what appeared to be an attempt to rethink tactics in the stalemated war in Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Iran-allied Shiite rebels known as Houthis since March 2015. The war had killed more than 10,000 people and devastated the Arab worlds poorest country, while the Houthis remain firmly in control of the capital and much of the north.
Interest in the 5th Congressional Districts upcoming vacancy is expanding now that U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, of Cheshire, has conceded she wont seek a fourth term following an abuse and harassment scandal in her Washington office.

But national analysts predicted Tuesday the 41-town district in northwestern and central Connecticut should still either Lean Democratic or remain Solidly Democratic in November. The eventual Democratic candidate could do better than if Esty chose to fight for her political life this fall, they said.

The political website InsideElections.com said Republicans were unlikely to win the seat.

In a midterm election with a Democrat in the White House, this would probably be a good Republican takeover opportunity, Inside Elections posted. But Republicans havent won a race in the area in over a dozen years, and there is little indication they can pull this off in an election cycle trending against the president and the Republican Party. Estys exit might actually improve Democratic chances of holding the seat.

Inside Elections is keeping the contest a Solid Democratic seat until the potential candidates shake out before the states June 8 filing deadline.

State Democratic leaders are already fielding interest from a growing list of hopefuls who will scramble for support in time for the partys statewide convention on May 18.

Mary Glassman, the former longtime first selectman of Simsbury and a losing candidate for lieutenant governor in 2006, is first out of the gate.

I was honored to be a public servant, Glassman said. It comes with a lot of responsibility. When you read about a public servant who disappoints you, it is a sad day.

Glassman, who heads the office for regional efficiencies for the Capital Region Education Council, said she plans to talk with many 5th District constituents in the upcoming weeks while trying to raise money for the race.

State Rep. Michelle Cook, of Torrington, who had been focusing on re-election, is weighing interest.

It was not something on my radar for obvious reasons and then some, Cook said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. People have called and I have had conversations. Things are moving very fast.

Dan Roberti, who came in third in the 2012 Democratic primary behind Esty and former Speaker of the House Chris Donovan, ruled out a run on Monday.

More candidates

to consider

J.R. Romano, state Republican chairman, said while Manny Santos, a former Meriden mayor, was the first to declare his candidacy to challenge Esty, others may be interested now that circumstances have changed.

Manny was the mayor of the fourth-largest city in the district, Romano said. He can relate and work toward a message centered around the hard-working families of the district and how affects workers who punch a clock every day. He has a unique perspective.

Other Republicans who might consider seeking Estys seat included Dan Carter, of Bethel, a former state representative who lost a challenge to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in 2016; state Sens. Kevin Witkos, of Canton, and Eric Berthel, of Watertown; as well as Mark Greenberg, who had an unsuccessful bid for the seat in 2012 and is running for the GOP nomination for state comptroller.

Romano said he will remain neutral on candidates until the nomination process is finished.

More Information Esty's district See More Collapse

Nick Balletto, chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee, said the party has proven it has been energized since the recent House special election in Stratford that shifted to a Democrat after 40 years.

While Democratic leaders were having real discussions about the severity of workplace harassment and how leaders can put an end to it, J.R. Romano was plotting the next political move for Donald Trumps agenda in Connecticut, Balletto said in a statement. I am certain that the Democratic nominee for the 5th Congressional District, whoever that may be, will continue to talk about the issues that matter to voters.

Nationally known analysts said despite the Esty scandal, the trends favor the Democratic candidate.

Without a scandal-ridden incumbent, there is a potential that the Democrats might be better off in this environment, said Geoffrey Skelley, an analyst with the University of Virginias Center for Politics. Its generally held in recent midterms that the party not in power wins open seats.

The center rates the election Likely Democrat. Another site, The Cook Report, also rates the open-seat race as Likely Democratic.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who was in near-daily contact with Esty over several days leading up to Mondays announcement, told reporters in the state Capitol on Tuesday lessons are there for the public.

Number one: that the standards are changing very rapidly, and thats a good thing, Malloy said. That there is no excuse for the kinds of behavior that have been alleged, and the delivery of justice should be swift, at least in an employment situation. We need to universally adjust to what is a much higher and better standard of behavior in handling these sorts of things.
HARTFORD  Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is blasting President Donald Trump for a decision to role back federal greenhouse gas protections and fuel economy standards for cars and trucks.

"As we have seen too often from the Trump administration, the EPAs announcement again abdicates its leadership role on climate, energy and the environment," Malloy said, referring to a new federal Environmental Protection Agency rule.

"States have long led the way on many important issues, including climate change," Malloy said. "President Trump is once again putting the interests of big business ahead of the health and economic interests of the American people. This shortsighted decision will lead to decreasing fuel efficiency, which means more frequent stops at the gas station and higher gas bills for Connecticut drivers."

The Trump administration is rolling back a 2012 agreement that harmonized state and federal tailpipe emission standards for greenhouse gases with federal fuel efficiency standards. That agreement set future fuel efficiency standards at more than 50 mpg for cars manufactured between 2022-2025, with a review mandated this year.

There is no more beautiful sight than an American made car, Trump said in announcing reversal of the Obama-era standards. We are going to work on the standards so you can make cars in America again.

Robert Klee, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the state will continue to be a leader in setting its own emission standards.

"While this administration may actively try to prevent states from exerting their sovereign rights to fill the void created by federal inaction, we will continue to do our part as a national leader to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, and look forward to a time when our federal government again allows science and not the demands of the auto industry to drive the important goals and objectives of the advanced clean cars program," Klee said.

"We will continue to work with like-minded states to safeguard the protections provided by the federal Clean Air Act and the Advanced Clean Car program," Klee said.

Claire Coleman, a climate attorney for the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, said the Trump administration decision goes against expert opinion.

In his zeal to roll back Clean Car standards, [EPA Administrator] Scott Pruitt has yet again defied his agencys own experts, Coleman said. Pruitt is pandering to auto executives and their Washington lobbyists, who want to see the standards unraveled so they can dump dirtier, less efficient vehicles on American drivers. The Clean Car standards are already working here in Connecticut and across the nation, saving consumers money at the gas pump and saving lives by cleaning up the air we breathe.

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said the roll back endangers public health.

These roll-backs from Scott Pruitt mean Americans will pay more at the pump while our air gets dirtier, just so Pruitt can help the corporate lobbyists and polluters who give him favors and marching orders, Brune said.

Pruitt cannot deny the fact that these widely-supported clean car standards will drive down pollution and cut costs for Americans at the pump, which is why hes taken the facts about the standards off EPAs website, Brune said.

Anne Hulick, state director for Clean Water Action, also said the move will hurt public health.

"As a nurse, I am deeply disturbed to learn of the rollbacks to vehicle emission standards, Hulick said. In addition to being a large source of greenhouse gas emissions that contributes to climate change, emissions from cars and trucks are a leading cause of respiratory ailments including exacerbations of asthma and chronic pulmonary conditions.
NEW HAVEN  What once was a suggestion soon could become reality as officials with the New Haven Public Schools announced an intention to eliminate part-time staff positions at Mondays finance meeting.

Part-time CFO Darrell Hill said the district would be notifying 25 part-time, non-essential employees of their termination, effective April 20, within the week. All 25 positions, he said, are retirees who are working for the district. Additionally, 52 part-time employees would have their hours reduced.

Hill projected an estimated $280,000 in savings. Hill did not identify job titles, so it is unclear what funding streams would encounter the savings.

Superintendent of Schools Carol Birks said non-essential, in this instance, means any employees who do not impact classroom learning and keep the district within compliance of state laws and requirements.

Board member Joe Rodriguez said he wanted to be sure there would be reductions at the district level as well and was reassured by Hill that would be the case.

Board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur thanked Hill and Birks for being thorough and deep diving into savings.

Were in a budget crisis and you are making the courageous decisions, she said.

Birks and Hill said they have met with 27 principals and will soon meet the rest as well as union personnel.

In February, board members discussed being pragmatic with the budget, insisting the district was spending well above its budget.

Being nice is not an option anymore, said Darnell Goldson, president of the school board, at that meeting while proposing the district consider closing a school.
NEW HAVEN  Lily Fralik, 4, twirled around the stage of a symposium at Albertus Magnus College Tuesday, unconcerned with the crowd of about 100 people watching.

She is full of excitement and sass, said mother Jayme Fralik.

The symposium, a collaboration between New Haven Public Schools and Donate Life Connecticut, was intended as an attempt to brainstorm ways to implement education about organ donation and transplantation into the citys schools. As Lily floated around the stage, Fralik talked about how her daughters health was not always guaranteed.

When Lilys jaundice did not subside, her parents learned she would need a liver transplant. Fralik, a nurse who lives in Berlin, said she had been unaware that she could be her daughters donor.

There are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation about organ transplants, said Mark Brevard, community outreach coordinator for New England Donor Services. He presented 10 myths about organ donation  including the idea that doctors would will not resuscitate someone on the donor registry to meet a need for organs and that organ donation is a cost to the donors family  that he must dispel in his job.

This is such a new concept, said Richard Therrien, science supervisor for New Haven Public Schools, so we decided to get people together to talk about it.

Therrien said seventh grade is a target area for teaching students information about organ donation and its potential to save lives. Additionally, many high school students can take a course in anatomy and physiology.

Unfortunately, our state standards dont have a lot of information about the human body from K through 5, he said.

Ken Mathews, supervisor for math and STEM education in the schools, said the curriculum will be interdisciplinary. In math classes, students will incorporate what theyve learned about organ donation through biostatistics.

Despite the consensus encouragement to raise awareness about students registering to become organ donors, health professionals said keeping healthy is important as well.

Sukru Emre, professor of surgery and pediatrics at Yale University, said another purpose is to teach students ways to keep themselves and their organs healthy as a preventative measure.

The idea is to eradicate myths around organ donation, Emre said. Currently, there is a plan for New Haven students to meet with professionals for career development purposes so some may also be inspired to pursue careers in the field.

Briyana Mondesir, a senior at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, was one of 21 New Haven students in attendance at the symposium.

She said a teacher recommended she attend the symposium because of her interest in becoming a research scientist. Although she took anatomy and physiology, where she believes she learned a sufficient amount about the human body, it is not a core requirement for graduation at her school.

Dan Drew, the mayor of Middletown, attended as a donor himself. In 2016, he donated a kidney .

You can save someones life, he said. It was a very fulfilling experience for me.

The curricular program is being piloted in New Haven, but there are already plans to expand it to Danbury and Madison.

Jennifer Reynolds, a Danbury teacher and board member of Donate Life Connecticut after receiving a liver transplant from her brother, said the eventual hope is for Tuesdays collaboration to lead to implementation in the states curriculum. She said other states already have education about organ donation in their curriculum, so increasing education would put Connecticut on par with other states.

Brevard said there are about 95 life-saving transplants across the nation daily and one donors organs can save up to eight lives. Every 10 minutes, someone is added to the transplant waiting list and about 15 people die each day on the waiting list for an organ transplant.

Alexandra Glazier, president and CEO of New England Donor Services, said the partnership between organ donation advocacy groups and a school district is the first of its kind.

We need to move from awareness to action, she said.

Public polling now reflects that the vast majority of Americans are aware of the existence of the organ transplant waiting list and its length, she said, so it has become important to get people to register as donors.

Dori Dumas, president of the Greater New Haven NAACP, said her organization supports the collaboration between NHPS and Donate Life Connecticut on the basis of equity.

We want to make sure all people have access to good health care, she said. We want to get to young people early. We want to get to them about advocating for themselves.
SHELTON  Long overdue improvements to the Derby-Shelton Bridge will be the subject of a public informational meeting later this month.

The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, or NVCOG, will hold the meeting at 6:30 p.m. April 18 at Shelton City Hall, 54 Hill St.

According to NVCOG Director of Planning Mark Nielsen, the meeting will focus on the design of renovations and enhancements to the 100-year old bridge, which crosses over the Housatonic River.

Nielsen said a formal presentation of the proposed bridge improvements will begin at 6:30 p.m. He said Valley residents and stakeholders will have an opportunity to learn project details, including concept plans and project timeline, and will also have a chance to give input on the design.

Nielsen said the project is geared to create an aesthetically pleasing public space along the bridge, while providing an attractive gateway into both Derby and Shelton that is pedestrian and bicycle friendly to both cities downtown areas.

The April 18 public information meeting will provide the Derby-Shelton community extensive information on the proposed bridge renovations, said Nielsen. It will also allow residents and stakeholders an opportunity to provide input and comments on the project before it enters the final design phase.

The $2.8 million project is being designed by AECOM under contract to the NVCOG. Construction will be advertised and administrated by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The project is being performed with 80 percent federal money and 20 percent state bonding.

The project will include :

Replacement of bridge parapet walls. The new parapet will feature a solid concrete wall similar in design to the existing wall with decorative railings similar in style to railings in Veterans Memorial Park. The railing treatment and its placement along the parapet will provide safety, as well as aesthetically attractive sightlines.

Removal of existing lighting and replacement with period-style lights that both enhance the presence of the bridge at night and comply with dark sky guidelines.

Roadway improvements will include new pavement and curbing and the shifting of the travel lanes to accommodate wider sidewalks on the south side of the bridge and a bi-directional cycle track to separate bicyclists from both vehicle traffic and pedestrians.

The project also will offer connectivity with the existing Housatonic Riverwalk trail network in Shelton and the Derby Greenway/Naugatuck River Greenway in Derby. The project limits will extend from the Bridge Street intersection with Main Street in Derby to the west end of the Derby-Shelton Bridge.

Nielsen said the design is slated to be completed in early 2019, followed by the start of construction that summer.
Our April pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This is Dan Egans The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. Its an epic and wonderfully told story of history, science and reportage about the largest source of freshwater in the world, and the threat to Americas waterways. Become a member of the book club by joining our Facebook group, or by signing up to our newsletter. Learn more about the book club here.

Below are questions to help guide your discussions as you read the book over the next month. You can also submit your own questions for Dan Egan on our Facebook page, which he will answer on the NewsHour broadcast at the end of the month.

1. The five great lakes  Lake Erie, Superior, Michigan, Huron and Ontario  make up the worlds largest freshwater system. Some 40 million people live near their shores, and many more of us depend on them for fresh drinking water, work or recreation. Whats been your own experience of the Great Lakes?

Your Guide to Fall Reading Whether you want biographies, novels or essay collections, we can help you find your next book to read. Here are 57 titles to get you started. New novels from Jonathan Franzen, Tiphanie Yanique and Gary Shteyngart are on the way. Prefer nonfiction? Look for these essay collections, an exploration of the Marvel Comics universe and more. Get to know your favorite actors and artists with these titles. Six new books take up the pandemic, #MeToo and other timely topics. Five biographies dive into the lives of Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde and more. Or hear it straight from the authors: Check out these seven memoirs.



2. In the books opening, Egan writes that more than any ordinary lake, each of the Great Lakes can hold all the mysteries of an ocean, and then some. He mentions that there are 6,000 shipwrecks, many of which have never been found, at the bottom of the Great Lakes. What other mysteries are you learning about as you read?
Because were so blessed to have America feed the world, were also the first industry to get slammed whenever there are trade difficulties between the U.S. and other countries, Denise Bode, the coordinator for the American Fruit and Vegetable Processors and Growers Coalition.

American farmers appear to be the first casualties of an escalating trade war, said Max Baucus, a former Democratic senator from Montana and a chairman of a group called Farmers for Free Trade. With farm incomes already declining, farmers rely on export markets to stay above water. These new tariffs are a drag on their ability to make ends meet.

Since Mr. Trump announced the China measures on March 22, American officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the United States trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, have been in talks with the Chinese about ways to resolve their differences. The sides have discussed concessions like reducing Chinas tariffs on American cars, opening up its market for financial services and purchasing more semiconductors or natural gas, people familiar with the talks said.

However, analysts and companies involved in China said that these measures appeared unlikely to adequately resolve American concerns about Chinas longstanding encroachment on American intellectual property.

Companies are waiting anxiously for the administration to release a list of Chinese products this week that will be subject to tariffs  most likely the kind of high-tech products that the administration has accused China of targeting. The retail industry, which lobbied the administration and Congress against an early plan to impose tariffs on Chinese-made apparel and footwear, is now cautiously optimistic that its products will be exempt.

Restrictions on Chinese investment are expected to follow in the coming weeks. Administration officials have said those rules will aim to restore reciprocity with the Chinese, though it is not clear if the United States will go so far as to bar Chinese companies from investing in the same industries that China restricts. The White House is also considering the use of an emergency economy powers act that could allow it to restrict Chinese investments.

The measures come on top of proposed legislation in Congress to expand the authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews foreign deals for national security concerns. Last month, the committee stalled a hostile takeover of Qualcomm, a California-based chip maker, by a Singapore company, largely over concerns about ceding semiconductor prowess to China.
If @amazon ever had to pay fair taxes, its stock would crash and it would crumble like a paper bag. The @washingtonpost scam is saving it! Mr. Trump tweeted in December 2015.

The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS! he wrote in June last year.

Is Fake News Washington Post being used as a lobbyist weapon against Congress to keep Politicians from looking into Amazon no-tax monopoly? he tweeted the next month.

How do the presidents broadsides play inside The Posts newsroom?

I dont even know how to describe what goes through my mind, Martin Baron, the papers executive editor, said in a telephone interview on Monday. Its completely made up.

People close to the president have said critical articles in The Post often trigger his public musings about Amazon. Last week, after The Post followed up on a story broken by The New York Times that Mr. Trumps lawyer had raised the prospect of offering pardons to two of Mr. Trumps former top advisers, Michael Flynn and Paul J. Manafort, Mr. Trump fired off a tweet saying that Amazon did not pay enough taxes and was putting many thousands of retailers out of business.
Unfortunately, the courts conservative majority has severely weakened the protections the law was intended to provide. The biggest blow came in a 2013 decision, Shelby County v. Holder. In that case, the five conservative justices, led by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., gutted the heart of the act, which identified several states with long histories of voting discrimination, most in the South, and required them to get federal permission before changing their voting laws. While that remedy may have been a necessary response to 1960s-era racism, the chief justice wrote, things have changed dramatically.

In one sense, he was right: Racial discrimination in voting is no longer as blatant or systemic as it was in 1965. But the idea that the American fixation on race and power had magically evaporated in just a few decades was, at best, strikingly naive. It was also disproved within hours of the courts ruling, when Republican lawmakers in Texas and North Carolina, both states that had been covered by the Voting Rights Act, rammed through discriminatory new voting laws that they had been gunning to pass for years, including some that had been blocked under the act.

If this wasnt enough evidence that things have not, in fact, changed dramatically, the point was driven home by the election of Donald Trump in 2016, and the resurgence of overt racism and white nationalism that has followed, with no meaningful pushback from the president.

In the years before Mr. Trumps election and in the time since, Republican lawmakers around the country aggressively pushed through laws to make voting harder for certain groups, particularly minorities. Poll taxes and literacy tests have given way to voter-ID laws, cutbacks to early voting and same-day registration, polling place closings, voter-roll purges, racially discriminatory redistricting and felon disenfranchisement laws  most of which, though justified on race-neutral grounds, harm minority voters more.

They can also depress turnout, when voters who are not in fact blocked from voting become discouraged by a state apparatus that exudes hostility toward their attempts to exercise their fundamental right.

Are these laws, passed almost invariably by Republican lawmakers, intentionally racist? Or are they merely taking partisan advantage of the fact that black people today vote overwhelmingly for Democrats? It shouldnt matter. Either way, black voters are targeted, their right to vote hampered.

In the past couple of years, lower federal courts  notably in Texas, Wisconsin and North Carolina, home to some of the worst voting laws in the country  have begun to recognize this. They have become more skeptical of lawmakers rationales for passing voting restrictions and have zeroed in on the real impact of such laws on minorities and other vulnerable groups. In striking down a remarkably harsh North Carolina law in 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found that lawmakers had targeted black voters with almost surgical precision.
In 2009, Turkeys tax ministry imposed a $2.5 billion fine for alleged tax evasion on Dogan Yayin, a media conglomerate whose newspapers and television stations were critical of the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Under financial and political pressure, the company began unloading some assets and closing others. Last month, the billionaire Aydin Dogan sold his remaining media properties, including the influential Hurriyet newspaper and CNN Turk, to a group of Erdogan loyalists.

Modern authoritarians rarely seize critical newspapers or TV stations outright. Instead, they use state power to pressure critics and reward friends. As Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, professors at Harvard, wrote in their recent book How Democracies Die, President Vladimir Putin of Russia turned the tax authorities on Vladimir Gusinsky, owner of an independent television network, NTV, which was considered bothersome. Gusinsky eventually signed NTV over to a government-controlled company. Under Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan authorities accused Guillermo Zuloaga, owner of Globovision, a TV station frequently critical of the government, of illegal profiteering. In 2013, Zuloaga sold Globovision to allies of Chavezs successor, Nicolas Maduro.

Now Donald Trump is going after Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post.

The presidents latest round of anti-Amazon tweets began last Thursday, when Trump claimed, inaccurately, that Amazon pays little or no taxes to state & local governments and that the United States Postal Service loses money on Amazon deliveries. On Saturday, he wrote that The Washington Post should be forced to REGISTER as an Amazon lobbyist. On Monday, he warned that Amazon may soon have to pay more for its deliveries: Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed.

Trumps antipathy has already affected Amazons fortunes. He threatened the company during the presidential campaign, and, as Forbes reported, Amazons stock plunged more than 6 percent after he won. Last Wednesday, after Axios reported that Trump was obsessed with Amazon, the company lost $53 billion in market value. In the wake of Trumps tweets on Monday, Amazons stock fell more than 5 percent.
These days almost everyone has the (justified) sense that America is coming apart at the seams. But this isnt a new story, or just about politics. Things have been falling apart on multiple fronts since the 1970s: Political polarization has marched side by side with economic polarization, as income inequality has soared.

And both political and economic polarization have a strong geographic dimension. On the economic side, some parts of America, mainly big coastal cities, have been getting much richer, but other parts have been left behind. On the political side, the thriving regions by and large voted for Hillary Clinton, while the lagging regions voted for Donald Trump.

Im not saying that everything is great in coastal cities: Many people remain economically stranded even within metropolitan areas that look successful in the aggregate. And soaring housing costs, thanks in large part to Nimbyism, are a real and growing problem. Still, regional economic divergence is real and correlates closely, though not perfectly, with political divergence.

But whats behind this divergence? Whats the matter with Trumpland?

Regional disparities arent a new phenomenon in America. Indeed, before World War II the worlds richest, most productive nation was also a nation with millions of dirt-poor farmers, many of whom didnt even have electricity or indoor plumbing. But until the 1970s those disparities were rapidly narrowing.
Who is the most influential human being on the planet? My vote goes to Vladimir Putin.

Putin has established himself as one pole in the great global debate of the era, the debate between authoritarianism and democracy. He has a coherent strategy to promote his authoritarian side of that debate. Hes able to humiliate and disrupt his democratic rivals at will and get away with it. Hes become a cultural hero to populist conservatives everywhere  in France, Italy, the Philippines and the Oval Office.

People are always saying that Putin is merely good at playing a weak hand. Everybody expects him to ultimately falter because Russias economy is so creaky. But his hand isnt that weak. Thats because his power base is not economic; its cultural and ideological.

As Christopher Caldwell writes in Imprimis, Putins international prestige starts with the story he tells. He came to power, by his telling, after Western reformers nearly destroyed his country. Teams of American economists thought that if you privatized property correctly, the law and order and social cohesion would take care of themselves.

Social catastrophe followed. Russias average life expectancy fell below that of Bangladesh. The government went bankrupt. Members of the old Communist nomenklatura plundered the nations resources. Successive American administrations humiliated Russia on the world stage.
SAN FRANCISCO  Federal authorities have arrested two founders of a virtual currency that raised $32 million from investors last year and won an endorsement from the boxer Floyd Mayweather.

The co-founders of the Centra virtual currency, Sam Sharma and Robert Farkas, were arrested on Sunday, a day before the Securities and Exchange Commission released a complaint against the men and announced that it was halting the project.

Centra raised $32 million last summer and fall in a so-called initial coin offering, a method of fund-raising in which companies sell custom virtual currencies. The Centra team said at the time that the Centra token would give investors access to a new virtual currency exchange and a virtual currency debit card that would operate on the Visa and Mastercard networks.

The S.E.C. said in its complaint that the Centra team had never received approval from Visa and Mastercard and had misled investors on several other counts. The S.E.C. said that several of the executives listed on the Centra website were fictitious.
The tale from which this show takes its title involves a he-says, she-says situation, in which the word of a young prince is challenged by his royal fathers favorite concubine. He says that she came on to him, but he turned her down; she says it was just the opposite.

From this conflict arises a fantastical array of other stories, pitched to the vacillating king. They are meant to prove the malice, craft and perfidy of a) women or b) men, depending upon your point of view. Thus we tumble down a labyrinthine rabbit hole of accounts of men, women and otherworldly beings like djinns and ifrits, as they enthrall and entrap, deceive and conquer one another.

As is always the case with Target Margin  which has devoted earlier seasons to disassembling and reconstructing Chekhov, Eugene ONeill, Gertrude Stein and Yiddish theater  telling tales is a communal enterprise. Here the narrative village includes not only the core ensemble, but also the very visible technical crew and, implicitly, the listening audience.

That means no curtained proscenium stage, or performers sticking to single roles. The show begins with players and theatergoers alike assembled in the same open space. An actress (Caitlin Nasema Cassidy), who says she is Mr. Herskovits, provides some prefatory words before seeming to forget her lines. The other performers fill the silence, finishing and amending one anothers thoughts.
What specific things did he do to discredit Dr. King?

In collaboration with the F.B.I., he laundered some of their counterintelligence for them. So for example, the F.B.I. would pass along some information to him on King about, perhaps, King being a communist, and then Michaux would, of course, scrub that intelligence and present it in some of his broadcasts or sermons. In all, what he does is he colludes with the F.B.I. to preach sermons that discredit Martin Luther King and also even engage in a protest of Martin Luther King that was cleared by the F.B.I.

What were some lines of attack that Elder Michaux took against Dr. King?

On the same day that the F.B.I. writes a memo that says that King is the most dangerous Negro in the world, on that same day they reach out to Michaux and he preaches a sermon against the March on Washington. So the March on Washington has already occurred and, about a month later, Michaux preaches a sermon criticizing the March on Washington and questioning Kings religious commitments. The sermon basically says that King, his religious commitments are questionable, and this whole entire dream that Martin Luther King has will never ever happen and will never come about by marching and protesting. But it will only come about by sort of seeking the Christian conversion of individuals in America.

And it questioned his motivations, right?

The sermon says that King is being motivated not by the Bible, not by religion, but by something else. And of course the F.B.I. is distributing throughout Washington that King is a communist. And so the sermon is sort of used to sort of provide air cover for the kind of counterintelligence the F.B.I. is engaging in as it relates to Martin Luther King.

Were there other times when Elder Michaux was used to further criticize or delegitimize Dr. King?

A second moment is when Martin Luther King and J. Edgar Hoover have a public spat. King tells a New York Times reporter that the F.B.I. cannot sort of investigate segregation if the F.B.I. has segregationists in it. He questions the F.B.I. and their commitments to racial justice and equality. Eventually, Hoover responds by saying that Martin Luther King is the most notorious liar in the country and that King should not be trusted. So when they have this public spat, the F.B.I. reaches out to Michaux and, again, he obliges and helps them. He writes an open letter, releases it to the media, to the newswires at the time, saying that it was Martin Luther Kings fault, and that Hoover is a good Christian servant who is working to ensure the morality of the nation.

He has help from the F.B.I. in constructing this letter. Hes given information illegally by the F.B.I., inserts it into the letter, sort of vouching for the F.B.I.s efforts in racial justice.

And finally in 1965 he engages in a protest. Martin Luther King is fresh from the march at Selma. He is then in Baltimore with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, planning their summer plans, and Michaux reaches out to the F.B.I., lets them know that hes going to be protesting outside the hotel. So about 100 members of his congregation  between 100, 125, according to The New York Times  are outside marching, protesting King with signs such as Communist termites are inside and God save America.

What do you think is the big takeaway now?

We have these African-Americans who are part of this evangelical advisory board in the executive branch. At the same time, we know from documents that have recently been released by the F.B.I. that the executive branch is overseeing the Department of Justice and the F.B.I., who are following Black Lives Matter protesters. I think it allows us to see how these televangelists, who make connections with the executive branch, can be used as religious cover for what the F.B.I. and the executive branch more broadly wants to do.

As April 4th rolls around, well see Trump and, Im sure, ministers across the country who will be praising Martin Luther King, praising his ministry, mourning his untimely death. But yet their policies and their commitments will be really far from Martin Luther King. In actuality, I think well see theyre in a tradition with Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux.
A crash in which a sport utility vehicle carrying a family plummeted off a California cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean last week may have been intentional, the authorities said on Monday.

The vehicle, carrying Jennifer and Sarah Hart and at least three of their six adopted children, had stopped on a dirt pullout off Highway 1 on March 26 before accelerating about 70 feet to the edge of the cliff, the California Highway Patrol said, citing an analysis of the vehicles onboard computer. Investigators also did not find skid marks at the scene that might have indicated a collision.

It was pure acceleration from the last brake application until it hit the bottom of the cliff, Greg Baarts, the acting assistant chief of the California Highway Patrols northern division, told reporters on Sunday night.

Preliminary evidence indicated that when investigators reached the S.U.V., its speedometer showed a reading of 90 miles per hour, Mr. Baarts said.
Mr. Sessions assailed Californias political leaders in an unusually fiery statement, saying that the fight is distracting Justice Department officials from their work combating illegal gun sales, drug abuse and national security threats. The flurry of legal briefs being filed between the two sides is a waste of taxpayer dollars, he said.

I regret the need to file yet another lawsuit against the State of California today, Mr. Sessions said, adding, We are forced to spend our resources to bring these lawsuits against states like California that believe they are above the law.

He said the issue was compounded by the fact that other potential plaintiffs who want to sue the federal government are seeking judges in California whom they view as more favorable to their causes.

Government-by-litigation isnt what the American people voted for, and attempting to thwart an administrations elected agenda through endless, meritless lawsuits is a dangerous precedent, he said.

California officials vowed to stand firm.

Our public lands should not be on the auction block to the highest bidder, Mr. Becerra said in a statement. Were prepared, as always, to do what it takes to protect our people, our resources and our values.

Benjamin Allen, the state senator who was the lead sponsor of the land use bill, pushed for the legislation after former Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah, proposed that the Interior Department sell or dispose of more than three million acres of public land. Mr. Chaffetz later withdrew the bill.

We wanted to make sure that if the government sold off precious public land in California, we would be able to weigh in, Mr. Allen said. This law created a procedure for us to do that.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nights highlights that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. If youre interested in hearing from The Times regularly about great TV, sign up for our Watching newsletter and get recommendations straight to your inbox.

Unawareness

President Trump on Friday issued a statement reaffirming Aprils status as National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. (The tradition of putting out such a proclamation began under President Barack Obama.)

Critics have called the gesture hypocritical, given that Trump stands accused of sexual harassment and assault by dozens of women. On Monday, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon joined those skeptics.

The president officially declared the month of April to be National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. At this point, hes just messing with us. I mean, he might as well declare it National Bankrupt Casino Awareness Month.  JIMMY KIMMEL April is also National Presidential Unawareness Month.  JIMMY FALLON

Seth Meyers Ridicules Scott Pruitt
After rising through the ranks of comedy with roles on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, Tracy Morgan gets his own sitcom. And the comic-book show Legion returns on FX.

Whats on TV

THE LAST O.G. 10:30 p.m. on TBS. Tracy Morgan stars as Tray, a former drug dealer who returns to his gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood after a 15-year prison stint and is baffled by how much has changed. While staying in a halfway house, Tray tries to make amends with his ex-girlfriend (Tiffany Haddish), build a relationship with two children he didnt know he fathered and redeem the time he lost. The show speaks to Mr. Morgans own experiences: He sold drugs before becoming a comedian, and survived a near-fatal car accident a few years ago. This shows about redemption, Mr. Morgan said in an interview with The New York Times.

MY LITTLE LIFE 10 p.m. on TLC. This new reality series follows five little people from across the country as they grapple with the complications of living in a world that doesnt accommodate their needs, as well as run-of-the-mill issues like family troubles, work-life balance and the search for love. The 16th season premiere of Little People, Big World leads in at 9 p.m.
1. At least four people were wounded, one of them critically, in a shooting at YouTubes headquarters in San Bruno, Calif., above. The shooter, who the police said was a woman, died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

One employee tweeted that he had heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. He said that he was barricaded inside a room with co-workers, but moments later tweeted that he had been safely evacuated. Footage from the scene showed people being led away from the building with their hands in the air in a single-file line.
SAN FRANCISCO  Apple has hired Googles chief of search and artificial intelligence, John Giannandrea, a major coup in its bid to catch up to the artificial intelligence technology of its rivals.

Apple said on Tuesday that Mr. Giannandrea will run Apples machine learning and A.I. strategy, and become one of 16 executives who report directly to Apples chief executive, Timothy D. Cook.

The hire is a victory for Apple, which many Silicon Valley executives and analysts view as lagging its peers in artificial intelligence, an increasingly crucial technology for companies that enable computers to handle more complex tasks, like understanding voice commands or identifying people in images.

Our technology must be infused with the values we all hold dear, Mr. Cook said Tuesday morning in an email to staff members obtained by The New York Times. John shares our commitment to privacy and our thoughtful approach as we make computers even smarter and more personal.
A persistent complaint about the governments response to the financial crisis has been that the executives who helped push the economy to the brink were not charged with crimes.

Prosecutors have not been able to prosecute managers with the usual tools for pursuing white-collar cases, like wire fraud or false statements, because defenses of ignorance or good faith could not be overcome.

One way to remedy that problem would be to lower the level of intent needed to establish a violation. Doing so might make it easier to hold an executive who is not part of day-to-day decisions responsible for wrongdoing.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, is the latest official to try to change the calculus for holding executives accountable for misconduct at financial institutions. She introduced the Ending Too Big To Jail Act last month. The name comes from the notion, bolstered in 2013 by the then-attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., that some banks were so large that it was difficult for us to prosecute them.
Corporate philanthropy, business leaders would have us believe, is the ringing voice of a companys social conscience. Exxon Mobil may stand accused of misleading investors and shareholders about what it knew about climate change, but the ExxonMobil Foundations multimillion-dollar contributions to end deaths from malaria and to train women in developing countries should, executives hope, balance the ethical ledger.

The same goes for the Walmart Foundations contributions to reduce carbon emissions in China and to protect wilderness areas in the United States, or the Dow Chemical Foundations contribution to Habitat for Humanity. These companies might be ruthless in their lines of work  fighting against environmental regulations or more stringent labor standards  but their foundations are in it to do good to the world.

Not entirely, it appears. Just months before the midterm congressional elections, a group of economists have published an analysis of how corporate America is spreading its philanthropic wealth.

Sifting through the donations to charity from 1998 to 2015 by foundations set up by the largest companies in the United States  those in the Fortune 500 or the Standard & Poors 500-stock index  Marianne Bertrand of the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business; Matilde Bombardini and Francesco Trebbi of the University of British Columbia; and Raymond Fisman of Boston University detected a pattern of contributions to 1,087 charities linked to 451 members of Congress.
Mr. Honig and his business partner and wife, Stephanie, have spent a decade wooing that clientele, making a trip a year to China to pitch sommeliers in top restaurants and hotels. He has recently expanded beyond the obvious stops in Beijing and Shanghai, visiting cities like Guangzhou, in southern China.

There are people who want to spend the most, but there are also aspirational buyers, Mr. Honig said. You may want to buy the Rolls-Royce, but you can afford the Mercedes. And thats his sweet spot.

His most popular cabernet goes for around $25 a bottle wholesale, and he sends more than 500 cases of it every year to a plucky Shanghai importing business started by two brothers with dual citizenship. With existing tariffs and value-added taxes mixed in, the total charge tacked on to California wine was already close to 50 percent. After the importer factors in shipping, takes its cut and passes the bottles to a hotel or retail store, which takes its cut, the Napa red ends up selling for the equivalent of around $100.

An extra 15 percent charge would be brutal. No one wants to overpay, Mr. Honig said. If all theyre looking at is two different bottles side by side, and we are competing with Australia and Chile, thats a big competitive disadvantage.

Chilean and New Zealand wines face no Chinese levies, thanks to free-trade agreements. Australian bottles will enter the country tariff-free next year.

Larry Yang, an importer in Shanghai, said his customers liked California wines, but not enough to ignore an even higher price tag. The wine isnt cheap as it is, he said, and if it gets pricier, he will look elsewhere.
Shortly after a gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in February and killed 17 people, the conspiracy theory website Infowars claimed it had a photo of the attacker wearing communist garb. It showed a young man with a clenched fist in a red shirt emblazoned with a hammer and sickle and images of Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx.

But that man was not Nikolas Cruz, who was arrested two miles from the Parkland, Fla., school on Feb. 14 and later confessed to the shooting, the police said. The man in the red shirt was Marcel Fontaine, who lives 1,200 miles away in Massachusetts and has never visited Florida.

On Monday, Mr. Fontaine filed a defamation lawsuit against Infowars, one of its reporters and its right-wing founder, Alex Jones, asserting that their story misidentified him as the gunman and caused his photo to spread across social media, message boards and other websites. In the lawsuit, a lawyer for Mr. Fontaine said it appeared that Infowars published his photo simply because of his shirt.

Mr. Jones and Infowars have long been consumed with paranoia over the prospect of communist infiltration and indoctrination, the lawsuit, filed in Travis County District Court in Austin, Tex., said. Over the past year alone, Infowars has featured hundreds of sensationalist articles and videos focusing on the threat of communist agitation and conspiracies.
Spotify is a hit.

On its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the music streaming service finished with a valuation of $26.5 billion. The share price closed at $149.01, giving Spotify a market value similar to that of companies like M&T Bank and General Mills.

For the music business, Spotifys listing on the Big Board symbolized the ascent of streaming as the new dominant format. It also represented some rare good news for an industry deeply affected by technological change. Buoyed by subscriptions from services like Spotify and Apple Music, record labels have begun to have significant revenue growth for the first time in nearly two decades, drawing attention from investors.

Theres a healthy appetite among public market investors for streaming media assets, said Rob Sanderson, an analyst at MKM Partners.

The stock opened trading at $165.90, meaning that Spotify was valued at $29.5 billion to start the day, before declining gradually through the afternoon.
Morgan Stanley said Tuesday that it had fired a star financial adviser who has been accused by multiple former wives and girlfriends of physical abuse and stalking.

The New York Times reported last week that Morgan Stanley executives for years had known about the allegations against the financial adviser, Douglas E. Greenberg. The Wall Street firm placed Mr. Greenberg, who worked in Portland, Ore., on administrative leave last week after being contacted by The Times.

In a statement on Tuesday, a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman said the bank needed to do better at handling such employee misconduct issues.

We believe that our employees should behave in a manner consistent with our firms values and the trust our clients place in us, both of which include treating women, and indeed everyone, with dignity and respect, the spokeswoman, Christy Jockle, said. We have undertaken steps in recent years to ensure that issues such as this are properly escalated. However, in light of current events we must and will do better.
Mondays slump in the United States, however, had another driver that world markets did not: big-name technology companies.

Amazon, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft and Tesla were among the major contributors to Mondays stock slump on Wall Street. Amazon faces pressure from President Trump, while Facebook continues to grapple with privacy concerns and Tesla has been hit by a succession of negative headlines.

Tech shares were among the worst performers in other markets too, like China, Hong Kong and Japan, though the worlds biggest technology companies primarily trade in the United States  in part to reach global investors.

. Shares of Alibaba, a Chinese online retailer, joined the American tech rout on Monday, falling more than 3 percent, while shares of the Chinese search company Baidu fell more than 1 percent.

The woes of tech companies may even be positive for some European companies. Teslas battery powered cars and self-driving technology were a threat to European luxury carmakers like BMW, Daimler and Volkswagens Audi unit, which remain heavily invested in internal combustion engines.

But Tesla has had trouble ramping up production fast enough to meet demand, and its vehicles have suffered quality problems. On Tuesday, the company reported a significant increase in the production of its Model 3 sedans in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the previous quarter, though it failed to meet previously announced production targets. The companys difficulties have added credence to the argument that German carmakers have made all along: Mass producing cars is hard, and it will not be easy for new challengers to match the expertise of traditional carmakers.

Still, shares of German carmakers were mixed in European trading on Tuesday, as the likes of BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen depend heavily on sales in Asia and would suffer from any economic turmoil there.
Claro, in other words, is not where you go for Oaxacan recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. Home-style soups and stews are rare. So is cooked fish. On the other hand, Mr. Steele has given himself liberty to work with ingredients that might furrow the average Mexican grandmothers brow, like kale and sunchokes. Although he has lived part-time in Oaxaca City for more than a decade, he still thinks like a New York chef.

But as his head-to-toe artwork suggests, Mr. Steele has a tendency to go all in. This is, as it happens, the only way to make the moles that are the pride of Oaxaca. The moles at Claro are riveting: The ground nuts and dried spices, the garlic and onions all seem to bring out the personalities of the chiles  sometimes fruity, sometimes vegetal  while tamping down their heat. He keeps their bitterness in check, too.

Pork cheek was stewed in a mole rojo that has just enough chocolate to make you smile; the mole negro, in which marbled short ribs were cooked to extreme tenderness, was so balanced that no one ingredient ever seemed to be in the lead. Chichilo, not one of your everyday moles, was the brightest and most outgoing of the three, and a big pool of it made an exciting foil for a chile relleno filled with shredded, spiced duck.

Mr. Steele also goes all in on masa, which is stone-ground and nixtamalized on site from strains of blue and yellow corn native to Oaxaca. Ten years ago you couldnt talk about the state of masa in New York without experiencing early signs of depression; now Claro is among a handful of local restaurants whose masa is worth getting excited about.
The wedding celebration of David Carter and Robert Parker was billed as a tea dance.

The couple was married on April 16, 2005, at the home of Mr. Carters mother in Cambridge, Mass. (The New York Times began running announcements for civil unions in 2002; its first international gay wedding announcement was in 2003; and its first United States gay wedding was in 2004.) They kept the ceremony small, with close family and friends, but the tea dance that followed later that summer, a phrase traditionally used to describe both a social dance and a party for the gay community, allowed them to include nearly all the parts of their lives: their gay friends, their church friends and family.

It was important for us that it be a blending of our gay friends and our community, Mr. Carter said from the couples home in New Haven. Our kids were there, and it was an opportunity to pay tribute to their dads. It was a really powerful moment.

The toasts from their children are some of their strongest memories, Mr. Carter said. It really honored their appreciation of us making a family with them.

Our church knew us in that way, and because we were both previously married and had kids, we had a whole bunch of bus-stop parents in common, as well as the collection of gay couples that we had been friends with for years, Mr. Parker said. It was the big wedding we might have had here.
I remember sitting across from Eric H. Holder Jr. in his fifth-floor office as he argued that state prosecutors should consider refusing to defend bans on gay marriage. I knew immediately that it was a controversial statement (he knew it, too). The story set off a debate over whether this was an act of justice and fairness or a politicization of the department.

On Wednesday, April 4, I will talk with Sally Q. Yates, the former acting attorney general, at a Times Insider event at Georgetown University. Ms. Yates is probably best known for being fired for refusing to enforce President Trumps travel ban. She has described it as a moment when the law and conscience intersected.

These moments, when we see the personal convictions behind the bureaucracy, bring the Justice Department beat to life. They can be dramatic: John Ashcrofts resistance, from his hospital bed, to White House meddling, comes to mind. But sometimes they are clearest only in hindsight. Michael B. Mukasey promised to stabilize and depoliticize the department, and he is still highly regarded among career officials who say he meant it.

I look for stories that surprise. Jeff Sessions, who has reversed civil rights protections for gay and transgender people, dispatched a hate-crimes prosecutor to Iowa last year over the murder of a transgender teenager. I got angry emails from people who said the story gave Mr. Sessions too much credit, but reporters are not in the business of handing out credits and demerits.

Mr. Sessions is carrying out one of the sharpest U-turns in Justice Department philosophy in modern history. Times reporters have chronicled his reversals on civil rights, marijuana policy, immigration and more. If we do our job well, readers should get a sense of why these policies are taking shape.
Image The reporter Earl Caldwell.

I saw people jumping around in the courtyard in front of the balcony. My first thought was that someone had set off a firecracker. Man, what a lousy joke, I thought at first. Then the events began to close in.

This car, it raced across the black-top yard [which was also a parking lot] toward my room and then stopped and went back and then lurched forward again. It stopped again and the Negro man sitting inside at the wheel was rocking back and forth with his hands at his head now and screaming Oh no, oh no, oh no. I yelled at him: Whats the matter? Whats the matter? Whats going on? But he never answered or before he could someone else was yelling: They shot him. They shot him.

I dashed out into the lot but a few steps outside the door I remembered my trousers. I dont know why but I knew it was Dr. King. I started back for my pants but stopped and ran out again. Then back into the room where I grabbed my pants and slipped on my shoes without bothering to lace them up. On the way out I grabbed a stack of copy paper, a pen and my raincoat. Later, I wondered why the raincoat but as it turned out, it was a good move. When I ran out the last time, I forgot my room key and locked myself out into what was to become a very chilly night.

I ran into the lot and remember seeing James Bevel, a member of Dr. Kings executive staff crouching near the balcony. I ran closer and then I got down, too, but I could see Dr. King lying up there on the balcony. I jumped up and then back down and then up and down again as the others did too. It dawned on me at some point that I was doing this along with everyone else because there might be another shot.

And then, someone was on the balcony. It was Abernathy, the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, Dr. Kings close friend and long-time aide. Then someone else was on the balcony and I ran over to the stairs and went up too. Abernathy was holding Dr. King about his head and leaning over him as though he were trying to talk with him. The blood. The wound was as big as your fist. His eyes. They were open but they had such a strange look. Eyes that were not seeing anything. I thought he was unconscious.

Write. Write, write down everything you see, I thought. I began to jot down on paper who was there, what they were doing, time, what they were saying. Get it all down, get it all down, and then a second thought: phone. Call the office, call the office I kept thinking. I hustled down the stairs and started for my room but about half-way I remembered that the phones were busy. I remembered one at the other end of the motel and I started to run in that direction.
When my chin is down, my eyes are closed and my hands are cupped over my ears, its a sure sign that Im tasting. I know how odd I look, but the momentary calm helps me concentrate on flavors when theres a new recipe at hand or a complex ingredient. I always taste chocolate this way, and every once in a while I lock myself in my sensory cocoon because Ive come upon something unusual that I want to get to know better. A couple of months ago in Paris, it was a pastry from a new, strikingly designed patisserie in the Marais, Maison Aleph.

The morsel was called 1001 Feuilles (feuilles is French for leaves or layers), one layer more than the classic mille-feuille; its name carries a hint of the tales of the Arabian Nights. It was square, about the size of a marker for a board game, and it was, all at once, chewy, buttery, sweet, creamy, a tad chunky, nuttish and precisely balanced. It straddled the territory between baklava and mille-feuille, and it spoke of place, although I couldnt be certain where. From the patisseries name, I expected something Middle Eastern  aleph is the first letter of both the Hebrew and Arabic alphabets  and knowing that the pastry was built on phyllo dough should have confirmed its origins. But the filling seemed French, as did the deep flavor of butter. The sweet was neither fully French nor Middle Eastern, neither familiar nor completely new, and it captured my imagination.

When I met Myriam Sabet, Maison Alephs founder and owner, I learned how closely the traditions of East and West that shape her desserts mirror her own history. Now 41, she was born in Aleppo, Syria, went to college and graduate school in Canada and moved to France almost two decades ago, when, she says, she decided, I was mature enough for Paris. In 2014, Sabet, who worked in finance, turned her life upside down to learn about pastry. She studied with an elderly Syrian baker in Montreal, was certified in French pastry at a Paris school and, last July, opened Maison Aleph, a small shop that attracts dessert lovers from around the world. The day I was there with her, I heard French and English and Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Spanish and snippets of tongues I couldnt place at all. Once having hoped for a career in foreign affairs, Sabet looked around the room, laughed and exclaimed, Maybe thats exactly what Im doing now.
At the time of Lams abduction, banned books were everywhere in Hong Kong, sold throughout the city at big-box retailers, specialized cafes and corner convenience stores. Within days of his disappearance, they began to vanish, swept off shelves by mainland-owned shops and frightened independent booksellers. Authors were cowed into silence; presses refused to print sensitive material. The latest act of intimidation occurred this January, when the former owner of Mighty Current, Gui Minhai, who had been granted limited release within China, was abducted again, this time while accompanied by Swedish diplomats on a train to Beijing (he holds Swedish citizenship). When the Swedish government pressed China for details on Guis whereabouts, the authorities refused to acknowledge that he had been taken. Gui soon appeared in a videotaped confession, apologizing for his supposed crimes and saying the diplomats had tricked him into boarding the train.

Chinas aggressiveness continues to rattle Hong Kong. In the past, at least they tried to comply with one country, two systems, said James To, a legislator in Hong Kong. This time they were blatant. For many local residents, the lesson was clear. One day they will come and snatch you back, To said. There is no protection at all.

When I met Lam one balmy night on the streets of Hong Kong, he radiated a nervous energy, eyes perpetually darting and a cigarette never far from reach. He had thought about leaving Hong Kong and making a new life in Taiwan or the United States, but he didnt want to abandon the city where he was born. Still, he knew that the odds of Hong Kongs remaining autonomous were slim. I think Hong Kong will return to China, he told me. They have the guns, the jails. We have nothing here in Hong Kong. All we can do is protest peacefully and try to make the world pay attention.

The police protection that Lam was granted following his return had lapsed by then, and he maintained a studied paranoia about his movements and appearance. I still have to use different routes and be cautious of everything and everyone around me, he told me in a conspiratorial whisper. His old bookstore was blocks away. He pulled on a pollution mask and hat, obscuring his face, and we navigated the thick crowds. On the subway, he waited until the last second to hop off, and never rode the escalator. I use the elevator, he said. If someone is following me, they have to get in with me.

We soon reached a small doorway leading to a grimy staircase. On the second floor was Causeway Bay Bookstore, its wooden door hidden behind metal bars. A large yellow sign was filled with the scribbled notes of well-wishers. Fight for freedom, one said. Come back safe, Mr. Lam, read another. There remained an unanswered question at the heart of Lams disappearance: Of all the citys rebellious publishers, why was Mighty Current targeted? Did the company insult Xi personally? Perhaps fittingly, there are few facts, but boundless speculation. Our popularity could not be allowed, Lam told me. It caught up to us.

Lam leaned close to peer through the shop window. There were still books inside, scattered on dusty shelves and wooden tables. I sold over 4,000 banned books in the two years before I was captured, he said. This bookstore has always been at the pulse of Hong Kong, and it hasnt stopped breathing. He longed for the stores resurrection, but it wasnt coming back.

What youre doing is writing an obituary, Bao, the New Century publisher, told me when we met in November. A post-cremation obituary of these books. He seemed almost shellshocked by the swiftness of the industrys downfall. I didnt realize it could all disappear so quickly.
And one more difference between the Godwins-law internet and todays is that there is now a much greater supply of that sort of person  all sorts of persons  sharing the same enormous communications platforms. Everything is both more crowded and more interconnected. Toss a thought into the digital ether, and strangers can drive by from any direction, doling out hypothetical challenges, probing your convictions at their leisure, demanding you justify yourself. And sometimes this is less like an undergraduate seminar and more like a man in a bus-station crowd grabbing you by the collar and slurring, Just for the sake of argument. ... 

A little more than a decade ago, around the same time online sentiment began to turn against the devils advocate, it also seized on a close cousin: the concern troll. If the devils advocate playacts disagreement with you for the sake of strengthening your argument, the concern troll is his mirror image, a person who pretends to agree with you in order to undermine you. The concern troll airs disingenuous worries, sows doubt, saps energy, has reservations, worries that things are going too far. At first, the term described purposeful double agents  people like the congressional staffer suspected, back in 2006, of posing as a Democrat to leave comments on liberal blogs suggesting everyone abandon the candidate vying for a Republican incumbents seat. But the term has evolved in such a way that, at this point, a person can very easily qualify as a concern troll without even knowing it.

A tidy summary on the Geek Feminism Wiki site explains why this is the case: Even earnest concern-airing can be pernicious, turning every discussion into a battle over basic premises. An activist group trying to combat climate change, for instance, cannot afford to let every conversation devolve into a debate about whether climate change exists. Other concern trolls may insist that they agree with a group in theory despite consistently opposing it in practice. (According to that Wiki, they might view themselves as potential allies who have just, oddly, never met a feminist opinion they liked.) But as the definition has expanded, even honest critics  people who earnestly disagree with their peers, even by a very little bit  can find themselves accused of discursive sabotage.

This confusion is not limited to liberal in-groups. A 2009 article in the conservative American Thinker suggested the following statement was a good example of diversionary trolling: The court has ruled that Obama is a U.S. citizen. I think its time for us to move on to more substantive issues. Before the 2016 election, the pro-Trump Reddit forum the_donald banned what it considered concern trolling, giving moderators license to boot any Trump supporter who might have pointed out, say, that the subreddit had become an alarming pit of hate speech. There is almost no variety of self-selecting online community where this dynamic doesnt hold at least some sway  a guardedness, whether overt or subtle, against taking time to entertain challenges or skepticism toward group dogma.

Theres one very simple trend that might explain this, and a lot besides. As more people began to spend more of each day arguing about serious issues with strangers online, it became necessary to sort out which opinions could be summarily dismissed. So the devils advocate is pictured as a highhanded nerd popping up to play logic games in the face of pressing issues. Concern trolls are disingenuous drags on the conversation. Theres hand-wringing, derailing, distraction, tone policing, silencing, gaslighting, sea lioning  a label for every depressing rhetorical habit that could possibly present itself, each term a tool for narrowing down the number of ideas waiting in line for your consideration. Taken as a whole, this taxonomy feels both totally rational and slightly desperate  a way of insisting, against abundant evidence to the contrary, that a productive conversation remains possible.
Describing All the Cities of the North in words seems almost impossible, and also beside the point. This highly experimental feature from the director Dane Komljen, born in 1986 in the former Yugoslavia, does not present a conventional narrative or characters, or even images and sounds that always have obvious connections. (Thats clear from the start: We hear lapping waves during the opening credits, only for Mr. Komljen to cut to a still photograph of a movie theater interior, instead of the expected body of water.)

The movie quotes Simone Weil and Jean-Luc Godard. All dialogue is in voice-over. The shards of a story initially focus on two men living on a decaying compound  according to a filmmakers note, an abandoned hotel complex on the outskirts of Montenegro. They never speak, but they are, at first, alone, camping in a space partly overtaken by nature. They doze together, scavenge the grounds and urinate outdoors.
Mr. Hart (who also co-wrote the script) plays a barbecue-grill salesman who yearns for a career as a stockbroker but learns he must complete his G.E.D. first. In comes Ms. Haddish as the no-nonsense teacher, who declares hes clinically dumb.

Night School reunites the actress with Malcolm D. Lee, director of her 2017 breakout hit Girls Trip. The film comes from the prolific producer Will Packer, whose credits include Girls Trip as well as Mr. Harts Ride Along movies.
Fifty years ago, colorful, mustachioed cartoon versions of the Beatles traipsed across the surreal world of Pepperland to defeat the Blue Meanies in the film Yellow Submarine. The movie will return to theaters across the United States, Britain and Ireland this summer to celebrate its anniversary.

The movies psychedelic landscapes have been restored in 4k digital resolution; the animation was cleaned up by hand, frame by frame, rather than through automated digital software. The audio, which features Beatles songs like A Day in the Life and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, was remixed in 5.1 stereo sound at Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded most of their work.
Dan Davenport, an editor and writer who also attended, recalled that when Ms. Nixon was asked about legalizing marijuana, she pumped her fist and said yes.

She was very exuberant about that point, he said, noting she framed the issue around raising revenue.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has long opposed legalizing recreational marijuana.

Since Ms. Nixon declared her bid for governor in mid-March, she has provided few details about her policy plans for the state. Instead, she has focused almost exclusively on criticizing Mr. Cuomo, the two-term incumbent she is challenging in the primary, questioning both his ethics and whether he is a real Democrat.

Asked about her qualifications outside a campaign launch party, Ms. Nixon quipped, My chief of staff has not been convicted on three counts of bribery  thats a start. Joseph Percoco, one of Mr. Cuomos former top aides and his former campaign manager, was recently convicted in a federal corruption trial.

Ms. Nixon has never held office or managed a large organization, although she has been an education activist in New York for more than a decade. In the early stages of her campaign, she has said schools deserve more equitable funding, and she has backed raising taxes on those earning more than $5 million. She has also vowed to focus on the beleaguered subway system in New York City, though has offered few specifics.
West Village: Quaint Streets and Congestion

The city estimates that 21,000 people will take to bikes during the L train shutdown, playing a critical role in moving people from Brooklyn. To make crossing Manhattan easier, a two-way bike lane will be added along 13th Street, which is expected to carry 5,000 cyclists a day. To make room for a bike lane, 13th Street will lose 236 parking spots. The Transportation Department is considering splitting the bike lanes between 12th and 13th Streets in response to community concerns about the sheer volume on one thoroughfare.

But bikes will be just one new addition to the streets of the West Village: During the height of the morning rush, traffic is projected to increase by 71 percent on 12th Street as drivers seek ways around the car ban on 14th Street, according to the Transportation Department. At night, the estimate predicts an increase in traffic of 29 percent along 12th Street, which has only a single lane.

Bob Walsh, a bartender at the White Horse Tavern in the neighborhood, predicts giant traffic jams and a total mess, though eventually he believes that well work it out.

We always do, he said.

Jonathan Warner, 23, who works in information technology on 14th Street, took a more realistic position. He knows that life in the neighborhood will be hard, but he also knows that the subway system is riddled with problems and if closing the L line will yield better service, then the looming upheaval would be worth enduring.

Everyone, whenever there is a crisis, has to play their part, Mr. Warner said, to make sure the city as a whole keeps functioning.
Dear Diary:

When we first moved to New York 11 years ago, it was into a lovely, and affordable, duplex in Fort Greene.

One evening after we had lived there for a few months, we found a bottle of wine by the door with a note that said, Sorry for the noise. Enjoy the wine! Your new neighbors from upstairs.

We didnt realize someone had moved in, but we loved the gesture and decided we had to share the bottle.

We went upstairs, knocked on the door and met a lovely young couple. She was studying for a masters degree in psychology and he was an illustrator for magazines. They accepted our invitation to join us downstairs.
I could never have imagined so much attention, Naftuli Moster, a yeshiva graduate who now leads a group advocating for their reform, said. We have groups that have never been interested in looking into an issue mostly relevant to nonpublic schools.

Suddenly, when this holds up a $168 billion budget, theyre taking a closer look, he said.

The lack of attention is one of Mr. Mosters biggest complaints. In 2015, under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Department of Education agreed to investigate the quality of schooling at yeshivas, at the request of Mr. Mosters group, Young Advocates for Fair Education. Mr. Moster said that when he graduated from a yeshiva, he had never heard of basic scientific concepts, including the word molecule.

Nearly three years later, the results of that investigation have yet to materialize. Toya Holness, a spokeswoman for the education department, said the probe was ongoing and that there was no timeline for completion. Last September, the department said it had visited six yeshivas; on Monday, Ms. Holness said it had visited 15. About three dozen schools were supposed to be investigated.

Mr. Mosters group has accused the city of dragging its feet for political reasons, out of fear of angering the ultra-Orthodox community, which is known to vote as a bloc.

The state education departments new oversight may spur quicker action, as the department has been moving to sharpen the guidelines for evaluating equivalency at private schools. But Emily DeSantis, spokeswoman for the department, said the department was still reviewing the law and emphasized that local superintendents would still be responsible for the quality of private schools in their districts.

And state officials are no more immune to concerns about alienating Mr. Felder and his constituents than their counterparts in the city.
Connie Lawn, a radio and broadcast reporter who covered the White House in the waning days of Lyndon B. Johnsons administration, when women were a rarity there, to the first year of Donald J. Trumps, died on Monday at her home in Falls Church, Va. She was 73.

The cause was a rare form of Parkinsons disease, said her husband, Dr. Charles Sneiderman.

Unlike many White House correspondents, Ms. Lawn built her nearly 50-year career without the consistent support of an established media company. She created an independent news service called Audio Video News (she was the only employee) and reported for different clients, like the BBC, Radio New Zealand, USA Radio Network and Salem Radio Network.

Ms. Lawn said she had created her own company in order to maintain her independence and pursue stories that interested her.

And like many women in politics and the media, she endured sexual harassment on the job, she said. In 2016, for example, she told The Washington Post that when she was a young reporter a senator groped her in his office after inviting her there.
A pastor, a mother who had lost her son and a formerly incarcerated man spoke about the impact of guns. Some guys just sit there and look like theyre bored to death, Ms. Rojas said. But most, you can tell its getting to them. They drop their heads down. Thats the voice of pain, and theyre thinking, I wouldnt want my mom to go through this. 

And then food: wrap sandwiches, salad and brownies. Something nice, Ms. Rojas said. We have it catered. Not pizza.

The March for Our Lives, with its diverse speakers, remembered something that is often overlooked in the national debate over guns: killings by school shooters and terrorists make up less than 3 percent of the nations gun homicides.

Many people can envision getting in the path of a mass shooter. But few with any influence imagine themselves threatened by everyday urban violence. As has always been true in criminal justice (see most recently: Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La.), the United States values a black life far less than a white one.

Florida, for example, just passed a $400 million bill to arm school employees and fund school safety programs, in addition to adopting some small gun-control measures. It contains no money for urban gun violence.

Yet a child is statistically safer in school than anywhere else. A school can expect a shooting once every few thousand years. If police officers are moved to schools from other places, safety overall will decrease. (It can also lead to stoking the school-to-prison pipeline through more arrests of children  usually African-American boys  for ordinary acting out.)

We do not know how to stop mass shootings. But we do know how to reduce urban gun violence. Strong evidence exists for several programs. Perhaps the best-proven is what Newburgh does, a strategy called focused deterrence.
To the Editor:

As an Army veteran, I have gone to the V.A. Medical Center in Washington, D.C., for over 16 years. During that time I have had treatment for prostate cancer, a new heart valve, a new hip, eye problems, skin problems and hearing.

I have been treated with respect, expertise, timely care and medical professionalism. Many other veterans would surely agree. I am tired of reading about all the problems with the V.A., often espoused by those who do not want to see government-sponsored medical care succeed, as it has in most industrialized countries.

It is time for our nation to face up to the challenge of providing accessible and affordable health care for all our citizens, as single payer would do, instead of bashing a great health facility in our country, and its leadership, for the purpose of proving that government-sponsored health care cannot work.

LEN OLIVER, WASHINGTON

To the Editor:

David J. Shulkin wants the world to believe that he was fired because of a grand conspiracy within the Trump administration to privatize veterans health care. This is simply not true. There is no serious effort to privatize or dismantle the V.A.s health care system. Even individuals like me who have been harshly critical of the V.A. at times recognize that its health care system plays an important role in providing care for our nations veterans.

But many inside and outside the department urgently want to reform the V.A. so it effectively meets the needs of all its patients  a task it is still failing at. Recent inspector general reports showed that our nations heroes continue to wait too long for care, even for routine needs, and the department still fails to accurately report wait times.
I have two words to leave with you tonight, the actor Frances McDormand said at the Academy Awards last month, during her acceptance speech for Best Actress. Inclusion rider.

With that, she inserted the fusty concept of contract negotiation into the debate over how to fix Hollywood after #MeToo. An inclusion rider is a clause actors can insert into their contracts to require a level of gender and racial diversity among a films cast and crew. Celebrities like Michael B. Jordan, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have endorsed the idea.

But like all contractual fixes to structural imbalances of power, inclusion riders provide, at best, a limited increase in representation. At worst, they become a cosmetic fix that inoculates people in power from critique and meaningful change. By focusing on one-off individual negotiations, any contractual solution by definition misdiagnoses the way that power works.

The enduring myth of contract law is that when two parties come to the table to negotiate, they are equals. This is not reflected in reality, but its even more glaring in the movie industry. Harvey Weinstein, as the head of his eponymous film company, was able to hide his disgusting and illegal behavior because he had more power than the actresses he violated. That was also true when his associates sat down with actresses to hammer out details in their contracts.
MUMBAI, India  The Indian government is in thrall of the dazzle and promise of technology, seeing in it a vehicle to overcome the inefficiencies of its humongous bureaucratic apparatus. Shortly before coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi positioned himself as a digital governance evangelist.

A few months into his tenure, the Indian government began using biometric devices to tell on government employees who didnt turn up for work. The state of Gujarat, which Mr. Modi had ruled for more than a decade, took to using biometrics to red-pen students who skipped school. Mr. Modi has argued that digital payments will check black money  the Indian term for unaccounted, often illegally acquired wealth  and other forms of corruption.

Under Mr. Modis government, Aadhaar, Indias enormous biometric identification system, which was initially promoted as a voluntary program to refine the delivery of public services and curb corruption, is increasingly seen as necessary for public and private services  giving birth in a hospital, enrolling a child in preschool, collecting your college degree, maintaining a telephone connection or a bank account, and collecting a death certificate. The government seems to be in a war of attrition with itscitizens, breaking down their resistance to the biometric identification program.

Mr. Modi, who has spoken relentlessly of his dream of a digital India and flaunted the miracle of technology by appearing in public as a three-dimensional hologram in numerous places at the same time, has described data as real wealth that would confer hegemony on whoever acquires and controls it.
As the nation prepares to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we should dwell not merely on how Dr. King died but also on how he lived.

He mobilized mass action to win a public accommodations bill and the right to vote. He led the Montgomery bus boycott and navigated police terror in Birmingham. He got us over the bloodstained bridge in Selma and survived the rocks and bottles and hatred in Chicago. He globalized our struggle to end the war in Vietnam.

How he lived is why he died.

As he sought to move beyond desegregation and the right to vote, to focus his work on economic justice, antimilitarism and human rights, the system pushed back hard. In the last months of his life, he was attacked by the government, the press, former allies and the military industrial complex. Even black Democrats turned their backs on him when he challenged the partys support for the war in Vietnam.

A growing number of Americans had a negative view of Dr. King in the final years of his life, according to public opinion polls. A man of peace, he died violently. A man of love, he died hated by many.
To the Editor:

In Francis, the Anti-Strongman (Sunday Review, March 25), Paul Elie points to Pope Franciss ease with the outreach Community of SantEgidio, while implying that he is not at ease with Opus Dei, a Catholic organization sometimes viewed as conservative. As head of Opus Dei in the United States, I want to affirm that all of us in Opus Dei support the pope and his work as pastor of the universal Church.

I can also say we have seen many signs of Franciss appreciation for Opus Dei and its activities. He has prayed at the tomb of Opus Deis founder in Rome; he has beatified Opus Deis first prelate, Alvaro del Portillo; and he has appointed several Opus Dei priests as bishops around the world.

Recently, the pope sent a beautiful letter supporting a project for young people (UNIV) organized by members of Opus Dei. As Mr. Elie points out, Franciss genius includes his openness to diversity: He can be at ease with both SantEgidio and Opus Dei.

(MSGR.) THOMAS G. BOHLIN

NEW YORK
In 2015, to prove that Russia was still a superpower  another short-term sugar high for his base  Putin sent advisers, Russian Air Force jets, special operations teams and surface-to-air missile batteries to Syria to prevent the toppling of Russias Cold War ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Putins support, along with the help of Iran, has just barely kept Assad upright, but for now Putin is stuck in the middle of Syria and cant get out, lest Assad falls and Putin looks foolish.

Here is how a veteran Russian foreign policy expert, Vladimir Frolov, described Putins Syria fix in a March 5, 2018, essay in The Moscow Times:

In Syria, Russia is discovering that winning the war might be easier than winning the peace. Each time President Putin declares victory or announces a drawdown of Russian forces, like he did in December, the fighting flares up with a new intensity and Moscow is required to fly in reinforcements  Moscow is now struggling to parlay its military gains into an internationally legitimate political settlement that would help Russia recoup its investments in the conflict. For now, Syria remains ungovernable and splintered into fiefdoms run by regional players with their own interests.

Putins latest beef-for-sugar trade was his apparent ordering of the use of a military-grade nerve agent, produced only in Russia, to poison the former Russian spy Sergei V. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the English city of Salisbury. The Western response has been what British Prime Minister Theresa May described as the biggest collective expulsion of alleged Russian intelligence officers ever  over 100 from more than 20 countries.

Whether timed or coincidental, the poisoning attack and the Western backlash helped Putin run up his vote totals in his latest phony presidential re-election  another sugar high. But the morning after, Putins Russia is more isolated than ever. Also, Putins cronies and other Russian oligarchs  whose game is to make tons of dirty money in Russia and then take it to London, where it can be laundered for safekeeping  are now getting more scrutinized than ever by British authorities.

And then there is Putins long-range strategy  to bet against Mother Nature, human nature and Moores Law, all at once. Hes betting against Mother Nature  that the world will indefinitely remain addicted to his oil and gas in an age of disruptive climate change. Hes betting against human nature  that his young people wont want to be free to realize their full potential, not just live off sugar-high memories of historical greatness. And hes betting against Moores Law  that the steady growth of technology wont empower Russias youth to connect and collaborate, and see through his charade.

Putins troubles are nothing I celebrate. I was against NATO expansion; I wanted Russia integrated into the family of European democracies. A weak, isolated and humiliated Russia is a dangerous animal. But to thrive in the long term, Russia needs a reset, and it can come only from within, but Putin wont press the button.

Without reform, there is little reason to be optimistic about Russias long-run growth trend, given its poor demographic profile, weak institutions and abject failure to diversify its economy, despite having an enormously talented and creative population, Kenneth Rogoff, the Harvard University economist, wrote in The Guardian last year. If the world continues to move toward a low-carbon future, Russia will confront an inevitable choice: launch economic and political reforms or face continuing marginalization, with or without Western sanctions.

Its sad to see a country that gave us Tchaikovsky, Tolstoy, Spassky, Sakharov, Stravinsky, Shishkin, Dostoyevsky, Solzhenitsyn, Pushkin, Nureyev and the Google co-founder Sergey Brin become better known for giving the world Novichok, the deadly Russian nerve agent used in Britain; little green men, the disguised Russian soldiers who seized Eastern Ukraine; and Guccifer 2.0, the Russian cyberagent who hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016.

Its all beef for sugar  and thats Putins legacy.
Last week, in a sentencing memorandum for the lawyer Alex Van Der Zwaan, the special counsels office noted that Rick Gates and Person A  an unnamed figure who has ties to a Russian intelligence service and had such ties in 2016  were directly communicating in September and October 2016.

What coverage there was of this staggering claim  evidence of a direct link between a member of Donald Trumps campaign and Russian intelligence  and the Van Der Zwaan filing was quickly overtaken by controversy over the presidents relationship with an adult film star.

Its been a year since I testified to the Senate Select Intelligence Committee on Russian interference in the presidential election of 2016. The revelations from Robert Muellers indictments since then have provided so much clarity on how Russia interfered in our democracy  yet Americans seem more confused about the question of possible collusion with Russia.

That is, in a way, by design  Russias design. Its infiltration and influence on America is difficult to understand, even with vastly more detail about Russias influence efforts.
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In 2004, with the re-election effort of George W. Bush in full swing, I was asked to become an on-air contributor for Sinclair  which was not well known at the time  a Baltimore-based entity owned by right-wing brothers with the perfectly banal name Smith. I was hired to be a political analyst. In reality, this most often meant appearing in debate segments against both a conservative pundit and a Bush-administration-glorifying news host.

The stations far-right slant went well beyond that setup, to a place that should be troubling for a democracy that values a free press. I saw numerous sets of talking points and scripts for anchors to read on-air arguing that George W. Bush was winning the war on terror, smiting feckless Democrats trying to undermine the United States.

Two journalists employed at Sinclair at the time told me how a company executive sent them to Iraq with instructions to cover positive narratives of the war. When each of them also returned with more accurate, nuanced stories of bloodshed, chaos, civilian lives lost and casualties among United States troops, most of these accounts were placed on the back burner, never to be seen again.

I once asked a top editor about the overwhelmingly conservative culture throughout Sinclair management, and he, a self-described Lieberman Democrat, admitted with a chuckle that the ownership and executives were strongly right wing. That included my usual counterpoint, Armstrong Williams, the conservative pundit and Smith brothers business partner. Mr. Williams, most recently an adviser for the ill-fated effort by Ben Carson to best Mr. Trump in the Republican presidential primaries, would eventually be exposed as having been paid $240,000 by the Bush administration to covertly propagandize in favor of its No Child Left Behind initiative during those media appearances with me and others.
Background material:

 In a video, Mr. Liptak breaks down the Second Amendment and looks at how it is interpreted today.

 Despite immense pressure to pass gun legislation, members of Congress are deeply divided and the prospects for a consequential agreement seem slim.

 John Paul Stevens, a retired Supreme Court justice, wrote an Op-Ed in The Times calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment.

 We also have six stories and charts to help you better understand gun violence in the United States.

Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Tweet me at @mikiebarb. And if youre interested in advertising with The Daily, write to us at thedaily-ads@nytimes.com.

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When colleagues, fans and nosy reporters ask actor and writer Chazz Palminteri how he came to live in 9,500 square feet of stone and marble, gables and sky-high ceilings, columns and archways and yards of Schumacher fabric on six acres in Westchester County, the author of A Bronx Tale tells a Bedford tale.

When I was young and we lived in a fifth-floor walk-up in the Bronx, we would often get in the car and drive north, said Mr. Palminteri, 65, who played the guy you definitely didnt want to get in a car with in movies like Analyze This, A Bronx Tale, Diabolique and Bullets Over Broadway (a role that earned him an Oscar nomination). And one time we got off at Bedford. I remember this distinctly. We saw all these houses there, these big houses.

Mr. Palminteri continued: We were kids from the Bronx, you know? And I thought, Who are these people in these mansions? What do they do for a living? And I said, Im going to live here one day. One day, Im going to live here.
Grindr, the social network aimed at gay, bisexual and transgender men, is facing a firestorm of criticism for sharing users H.I.V. status, sexual tastes and other intimate personal details with outside software vendors.

The data sharing, made public by European researchers on Saturday and reported by BuzzFeed on Monday, set off an outcry from many users. By Monday night, the company said it would stop sharing H.I.V. data with outside companies.

The criticism of the company continued on Tuesday, with officials in Europe and the United States joining in. A consumer group in Norway filed a formal complaint with the countrys data protection agency, accusing the company of breaching European and Norwegian laws. Two United States senators sent a letter to Grindrs chief executive, asking whether the app had asked users to opt in before it shared their most personal details with third parties.

In a statement on Monday, the company said that sharing user data with outside companies was a standard industry practice and that Grindr had policies in place to further protect our users privacy from disclosure.
The walkouts come less than a month after teachers in West Virginia ended a nine-day strike that shuttered schools there and less than a week after thousands of Arizona teachers rallied to demand a 20% pay increase.

...

Teachers became outraged last week when the state Legislature, struggling to fund the public employee retirement system, passed a bill to overhaul the pensions. That prompted more than 500 teachers to flood the Capitol on Friday to protest. The crowd ballooned into the thousands Monday.

Teachers also oppose financing proposals for privately run, publicly financed charter schools.
There are indeed some parallels. Both sites were homes to ancient civilizations and both are high in the Andean mountains of the same verdant, dramatically craggy country. But despite Kuelap, which The Times had named No. 29 on the list, sometimes being referred to as the Machu Picchu of the North, it had 60,000 visitors last year, up from 30,000 in 2009. Machu Picchu had a record 1.4 million in 2016, and has had to restrict its entrance policies. Think of Kuelap as a similar kind of spiritual space, minus the lines and the aggressive souvenir hawkers.

That said, dont skip one of the New Seven Wonders of the World just to be different or to deal with smaller crowds. Kuelap may be best appreciated on a second Peruvian visit; getting there can be a herculean effort and signage is so minimal youll need a guide to understand what youre looking at. Archaeologists have explored only 20 percent, if not less, of the site  and tourism here didnt begin in earnest until around 2012.

Getting there can be a bit of a slog. Budget travelers typically make their way to the city of Chiclayo, on the countrys northwestern coast, and then take a 10-hour overnight bus through the mountains. Low on time and worried about bus robberies we had been warned about, we instead flew into the jungle town of Jaen, where the airport recently started receiving one LATAM flight from Lima per day. From there, we still had a three-and-a-half-hour car ride through the Andes to our year-old hotel, Casa Hacienda Achamaqui, a colonial villa nestled in a river valley, with wooden balconies and red brick walkways built for contemplative strolls.

Another 50-minute car ride on a mostly unpaved road got us to the tiny town of Nuevo Tingo, where a cable car to the base of Kuelap opened in 2017. It took us 20 vertigo-inducing minutes to go two and a half miles across multiple ravines, a distance that used to require a two-hour drive or a four-hour hike. From there  from there!  we had a 15-minute horseback ride up a muddy mountain path to the ruins themselves. The indigenous woman who was guiding my horse tackled the mud barefoot. When I asked her if my horse was feeling O.K., she laughed and responded, He doesnt talk! Hes a horse!
1 . Hydropower plus natural infinity pool: Enjoy the view over the lip of the waterfall, like the Angels Pool at Victoria Falls. Downstream at the waterfall where the ritual combat took place, see the run-of-the-river hydropower plant, which is like the Gouina Hydroelectric Plant in Mali.

2. Geothermal plus hot springs: Because there was a meteor strike not too long ago, active geological activities gave rise to geothermal plants, like the Olkaria Geothermal Stations in Kenya. Then jump into hot springs infused with vibranium.

3. Wind turbines plus mountain gorillas: In the windy mountains where MBakus tribe lives, wind turbines line the snowy valley, as they do in some places in Alaska. Then visit the mountain gorillas below the snow line, just like you would at Virunga National Park.

4. Solar panels plus rhino safari: In the open plains around the borders of the country, there is a mix of photovoltaic panels and solar towers like they have in South Africa. Then a safari drive among hundreds of wild rhinos.

All transportation will be via underground maglev trains, like Japans Chuo Shinkansen under construction now, or electric/hybrid cars, which constituted over half the new cars sold in Norway in 2017. Wakanda does not produce crude oil (too much geological activity), nor does it import any from surrounding countries. If Wakanda had to rely on imported oil for all their development, they would have blown their cover long ago.

This is not science fiction. This is and can be real life. Try harder, human. Make this one a better place so you dont have to escape to another.
WASHINGTON  A former lawyer for a powerful international corporate law firm was sentenced on Tuesday to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators in the special counsel inquiry about his communications with a Trump campaign aide and a Ukrainian businessman believed to be a Russian intelligence operative.

The former lawyer, Alex van der Zwaan, who is also the son-in-law of a Russian billionaire, was the first person to be sentenced in the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election. He was also fined $20,000.

Mr. van der Zwaan admitted that he deceived investigators who interviewed him in November as part of their examination of contacts between the Ukrainian and two former high-ranking Trump campaign officials: Paul Manafort, once Mr. Trumps campaign chairman, and Rick Gates, Mr. Trumps deputy campaign manager. People familiar with the matter identified the Ukrainian as Konstantin V. Kilimnik, long Mr. Manaforts right-hand man in Kiev, where he worked for years before joining the Trump campaign.

In an hourlong hearing, Mr. van der Zwaans defense lawyer argued that a fine was sufficient punishment because his client revealed what he knew in a subsequent interview.
Hes arguing with bold leadership were going to do it  even though he knows you need Trumps waivers to do it, Mr. Villaraigosa said. They are not going to give us the waivers for that. Think about this: You ready to double your taxes? Nobody is going to do that. Everyone is for it until they realize  whoa. The cost. 

Mr. Chiang said he, too, supported a state health care system. I just think Gavin Newsom should be forthcoming on how they are going to pay for it, he said.

Mr. Newsom dismissed his critics as defeatist Democrats.

Its a jaw-dropping thing: to say you support something but it cant be done, Mr. Newsom said in an interview a few blocks from his office in Sacramento. Who the hell is interested in it cant be done? We wouldnt have marriage equality if I had listened to it cant be done.

Asked what his plan was to pay for it, Mr. Newsom responded: The one that works is the one I support. Im not an ideologue.

Still, the biggest question may well be whether anyone will be able to replace Mr. Brown as Californias counterpoint to Mr. Trump  and whether the states stature as a national leader in this fight will diminish when Mr. Brown retires to his ranch next January.

California is usually the leading edge, said Ms. Eastin, one of the Democrats seeking to replace him. Its the sixth-largest economy in the world. I think California will get attention.
The 1960s were known for their turmoil, but the degree to which guns were a factor is sometimes overlooked. Not only was a president assassinated, but an ex-Marine opened fire from an observation deck in Austin and the homicide rate leaped by more than 50 percent, driven by fatal shootings. Gun sales soared, prompted by fears of violence and rioting.

But the mayhem and violence didnt seem to move a Congress that refused to take gun-control legislation seriously. It would not even approve a proposal to outlaw the mail-order purchase of rifles, like the one Lee Harvey Oswald bought for $19.95, plus shipping and handling, and used to kill President Kennedy.

One of the few major gun control measures enacted, in California, was a reaction not to violence but to the Black Panthers exercising their right to bear arms by patrolling with loaded rifles.

The political calculus began to change on April 4, 1968. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down in Memphis. Nine weeks later, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot in Los Angeles.
The bullets that mortally wounded the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis were fired a little after 6 p.m. Central Standard Time on April 4, 1968. The first news bulletin flashed across television screens about an hour later .

The New York Times newsroom had only hours to rework a newspaper that would be printed later that night, and 26 articles that Friday would mention Dr. King.

That first draft of history is rendered below in those articles. You can click on any headline to see the article as it appeared in the late city edition of the paper on April 5, 1968.
JACKSON, Miss.  On the witness stand and under pressure, Frank Shaw, the warden of the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, could not guarantee that the prison was capable of performing its most basic function.

Asked if the guards were supposed to keep inmates in their cells, he said, wearily, They do their best.

According to evidence and testimony at a federal civil rights trial, far worse things were happening at the prison than inmates strolling around during a lockdown: A mentally ill man on suicide watch hanged himself, gang members were allowed to beat other prisoners, and those whose cries for medical attention were ignored resorted to setting fires in their cells.

So many shackled men have recounted instances of extraordinary violence and neglect in the prison that the judge has complained of exhaustion.
The church has been to some degree disengaged, said the Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson of Grace Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. Churches that have social consciousness are pushed by this anniversary into a place of reflecting on how far we have come or not come, and have we abandoned what he gave his life for?

For pastors like Bishop Blake, that means embracing the parts of the movement he agrees with  ending police violence and empowering black entrepreneurs, for instance. But it also means holding the line on church teachings that young activists disagree with.

There are also differences in approach. Pastors often want to work within the system to effect change, while many activists try to disturb and upend the system.

Bishop Blake is not someone to be found on protest lines or shouting down law enforcement; he tends to advocate through more formal channels. He departs from some activist ministers in his social conservatism, opposing same-sex marriage and abortion. Yet he tries to strike a welcoming posture in an era of activists who can feel like the church is judging them.

He hosted a rally at his church to protest the killing of Trayvon Martin. Last year, he wrote a letter to the mayor of St. Louis suggesting that if police practices were not reformed, his denomination could take its annual convention  and the millions of dollars that come with it  elsewhere. And at a gathering of black congressional leaders, his raspy voice grew louder as he declared that black people needed to take charge of our destiny.
In a dozen Twitter missives over the past three days, President Trump has accused Democrats of failing to protect young undocumented immigrants, criticized Mexico for its role in illegal immigration to the United States and warned of caravans of people headed toward the southern border.

At least half of his statements were inaccurate. Heres a fact-check.

Mr. Trump warned that new immigrants would take advantage of DACA, and said that Democrats were responsible for the programs demise.
The Treasury Department does consult the budget office on some of its rule-making, but since a 1983 memorandum of understanding, the office has not had the authority to review the Treasurys tax guidance, on the theory that it is not economically significant enough to warrant it.

An executive order from Mr. Trump last year called for that arrangement to be re-examined. With the Treasury Department now playing a greater role in policymaking  for instance, overseeing enforcement of parts of the Affordable Care Act and trying to limit corporations from engaging in mergers to avoid taxes  Mr. Mulvaney and other White House officials think that the I.R.S. should be subject to greater accountability when making decisions that often go beyond technical clarifications.

Greater accountability, however, could come with costs.

If Mr. Mulvaney wins the argument, it will slow the process down, said John A. Koskinen, a former I.R.S. commissioner whose term ended last year. If you had all the regulations coming out of Treasury and I.R.S. subject to more review and delays, it would not be making taxpayers, accountants and lawyers happy. They are pushing to get that information as quickly as they can.

Since the passage of the tax bill late last year, negotiations between Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Mulvaney have grown increasingly vigorous, with both sides laying claim to being the laws final arbiter.

A change would be seen as a win for Mr. Mulvaney, who has made deregulation a priority in the White House. It would also be a blow to Mr. Mnuchin, who has been the tax bills most public defender on behalf of Mr. Trump, diminishing his departments authority under his watch.

The potential change in regulatory oversight could have major implications, both logistical and political.

Adding a cost-benefit analysis by the budget office into the process would potentially add another layer of red tape  which Mr. Trump famously hates in other areas of regulation  to a process that is already proceeding too slowly for many business groups liking. Treasury officials are concerned that the budget office lacks the resources and tax expertise to properly assess tax guidance and that the process will get bogged down, potentially delaying rules to clarify the law for months. One early hurdle would be hiring; the budget office does not currently employ its own team of tax lawyers.
The announcements on Monday and Tuesday appeared to be more about political messaging than practical action. Stung by a backlash from his conservative supporters over his embrace of a trillion-dollar-plus spending measure that did not fund his promised border wall, and lacking a legislative initiative to champion with the approach of midterm congressional elections this fall, Mr. Trump has reverted to the aggressive anti-immigration messaging that powered his presidential campaign and has defined his first year in office.

Immigration advocates denounced Mr. Trumps announcement as a political ploy.

He cannot get funding for his wall, so instead he irresponsibly misuses our military to save face, Kevin Appleby, the senior director of international migration policy at the Center for Migration Studies of New York.

Others said Mr. Trumps sudden declaration was merely an instance of a now-familiar pattern wherein the president reacts angrily to something he sees in the news  in this case, reports of a large group of migrants from Honduras traveling through Mexico with hopes of reaching the United States  and seeks to use it as a cudgel against his political opponents.

Some of it is just the guy at the end of the bar yelling his opinions  his gut reaction is to say weve got to send the military, said Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates slashing immigration levels. But there may also be an element here of political messaging  and a desire to create problems in November for Democratic candidates who have refused to embrace his policies.

Whatever Mr. Trumps motivation, the president floated the idea after days of public stewing about the potential for the group of Honduran migrants to pour into the United States.

We have very bad laws for our border, and we are going to be doing some things  Ive been speaking with General Mattis  were going to be doing things militarily, Mr. Trump said Tuesday morning, seated beside the defense secretary at the meeting with Baltic presidents. Until we can have a wall and proper security, were going to be guarding our border with the military. Thats a big step. We really havent done that before, or certainly not very much before.
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will place a 25 percent tariff on Chinese products like flat-screen televisions, medical devices, aircraft parts and batteries, outlining more than 1,300 imported goods that will soon face levies as part of a sweeping trade measure aimed at penalizing China for its trade practices.

The move, which stems from a White House investigation into Chinas use of pressure, intimidation and theft to obtain American technologies, is likely to inflame an already-simmering trade war between the countries. On Monday, China said it would slap tariffs on 128 American products in response to a separate White House plan to tax steel and aluminum from China and other countries.

The products targeted by the White House are part of its plan to go after Chinas dominance in cutting-edge technologies like semiconductors, electric vehicles and advanced medical products  industries that China is pursuing dominance in as part of an industrial plan known as Made in China 2025.

The Trump administration said that its analysts had identified products that benefit from these policies but refined the list to remove goods that were likely to cause disruptions to the United States economy or consumers.
After Ms. Brown graduated in spring 2016 from Colby College in Maine, she packed her things and drove to Cleveland to volunteer for the Clinton campaign. She was quickly hired as a field organizer and walked precincts, talked to voters and worked on turnout. After the campaign, she assumed she would get a job in strategic communications or maybe journalism, but Mrs. Clintons loss made her believe she had to stay in politics and work to elect women.

I really revisited my values and thought to myself, I could move to a firm or go in another direction, Ms. Brown said. But if this is about to be as bad as we think it is going to be, I want to be able to look back and say I did everything I could when our country was threatened.

She connected with the Virginia chapter of Emerge America, a group that trains Democratic women to run for office. That led her to Wendy Gooditis, then a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates who had $700 in campaign money and very little chance to win. Ms. Brown helped her create a compelling message, then relentlessly worked on raising money and contacting voters. Within six months, the campaign had raised $500,000, and Ms. Gooditis won her race in November.
Updated April 26.

Teachers across Arizona plan to walk off the job Thursday to protest low salaries and school budget cuts, while some in Colorado will rally at the Capitol in Denver on Thursday and Friday, shutting down over a dozen of the states largest school districts.

The two states are the newest front for the nationwide teacher protest movement that began in February in West Virginia, and quickly spread to Oklahoma and Kentucky. Teachers  and many parents  in all of these states say taxes are too low to adequately fund schools.

The movement has shaken up politics, with voters and lawmakers from both parties questioning fiscal austerity. Heres what has happened so far, and what to expect:

What are teachers asking for?

In Arizona, teachers are demanding a 20 percent raise for themselves, a raise for support staff and yearly raises until Arizonas average teacher salary, currently $47,000, meets the national average, currently $59,000. Theyre also calling for a restoration of school funding that has been cut since the Recession, and no new tax cuts until the states per-pupil spending, which was under $7,500 in 2015, meets the national average, which was about $11,000 per year.

The Colorado Education Association, a union that represents 35,000 educators, is asking for over $1 billion annually in new education funding. The union supports a ballot referendum that would raise taxes on corporations and on incomes over $150,000 annually. It opposes a proposal to change teacher pension plans to be more like the 401(k) accounts used in the private sector, and to raise the teacher retirement age to 65 from 58. The union said it would be willing to accept a teacher retirement age of 60.
In our hazy recollection, the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s was a cohesive collective helmed by one charismatic leader and a supporting cast. In reality, it included a vast number of people who worked with countless organizations that coordinated with Dr. Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The many vocal factions included clergymen, women who steered major organizations and others. By the time Dr. King gave his final speech in Memphis in 1968 , he was attempting to forge unity where there was discord on two fronts: with the civil rights leaders who had revolted when he began his antiwar campaign and those who wanted to abandon peaceful protest for more militant action.

Exactly one year before his assassination, Dr. King delivered a blistering speech on the Vietnam War in which he chastised a nation for taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.

Positioning racial equality as part of the antiwar movement was a stark shift. And it was met with immediate pushback by civil rights leaders.
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan  A day after Afghan security forces killed or wounded more than 100 people in the bombing of a religious seminary where they said senior Taliban figures had gathered, officials on Tuesday admitted that civilians had been among the casualties.

For much of Monday, even as the bodies of wounded and dead civilians  including children  arrived at local hospitals, the Afghan government maintained that its airstrike in northern Kunduz Province had killed only Taliban leaders in a nonresidential area. Late Tuesday, the office of President Ashraf Ghani acknowledged the harm to civilians and said the bombing would be investigated.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan said it was actively looking into disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians, and the Kunduz governors office said, In these airstrikes, in addition to armed opposition, unfortunately some of our civilian countrymen have also been killed and wounded.

The exact number of casualties resulting from the airstrikes, which occurred in the Dasht-e-Archi district, remained unclear. Afghan officials put the total at 57 to 70 dead. Some local officials believe the number to be higher.
BEIJING  China will not allow any foreign interference in religious affairs in the country, a senior official said on Tuesday, dousing expectations of an imminent deal with the Vatican over control of the Roman Catholic Church here.

I think there is no religion in human society that is above the state, the official, Chen Zongrong, said during a briefing on religious affairs in China, underscoring the governments intention to maintain strict control over all religious organizations and their believers.

Mr. Chens remarks came amid reports that the Vatican was prepared to make concessions to Beijing in the appointment of the churchs bishops  including by asking two underground bishops to step aside  in exchange for retaining some influence over those who are chosen in the future.

The prospect of a breakthrough after decades of dispute between Chinas Communist leaders and a succession of popes has raised hopes but also stirred unusual public criticism of the Vatican. Some Catholic leaders have warned that concessions to Beijing could betray those who have faced pressure and even persecution by worshiping in the so-called underground church here.
HONG KONG  On a bustling Hong Kong street lined with dried seafood stores, where baskets of sea cucumber vie for space with scallops and abalone, one shop stands out. Amid the pungent smells of dried fish and shrimp, the scents of brewed coffee and freshly laundered clothes come wafting out of the aptly named Coffee & Laundry.

The shop  half laundromat and half cafe  offers customers a variety of drinks and pastries along with 10 self-service washing machines and dryers.

Washing their own clothes at a laundromat is a new experience for Hong Kong residents. The first self-service laundromat is believed to have opened only in 2014. Since then, the number has taken off; more than 180 laundromats had appeared by the beginning of this year, according to one estimate.

Why this proliferation of laundromats? The reason is Hong Kongs increasingly acute shortage of affordable housing. As prices keep soaring in what is already the worlds most expensive property market, residents have been forced to squeeze into ever smaller apartments, leaving little room for washers and dryers.
The penalties in the original announcement did not apply to independent or partisan digital media outlets, some of them regarded in India as major disseminators of fake news. These platforms are not regulated by the two main media regulatory bodies, the Press Council of India or the News Broadcasters Association. Instead, the rules would have been felt primarily by large, established outlets.

In its original announcement, since taken offline, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that guidelines for the accreditation of journalists were being amended to counter increasing instances of fake news in various mediums. The statement did not define fake news or provide guidelines about who could lodge complaints against journalists.

The statement said a journalists accreditation would be revoked for six months after a first violation, one year after a second violation and permanently after three violations. It also said that once a complaint against a journalist was registered, his or her accreditation would be suspended until a determination had been made.

An accreditation is not required in India but is regarded as critical for access to news makers. Accredited journalists in India face fewer security clearances when visiting government offices and are eligible for subsidized train travel, among other benefits.

Smriti Irani, who runs the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, had said on Twitter that complaints against journalists would be handled by the Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association. She said neither body was controlled by the government.

Rajat Sharma, the president of the News Broadcasters Association, said that his group had not been consulted before the announcement on Monday. M. V. Shreyams Kumar, the vice president of the association, called the announcement ridiculous.

This whole exercise is to curb the freedom of the press, Mr. Kumar said.

Ms. Irani, after arguing the measures merits on Twitter with journalists and opposition figures, was taking a more conciliatory tone by midday Tuesday, inviting journalists to meet with her and provide suggestions so that together we can fight the menace of fake news & uphold ethical journalism.
In February, the Indian authorities arrested Vikram Kothari, a ballpoint pen magnate, saying he had diverted loans given to his company by seven government-owned lenders. He also denied wrongdoing.

The allegations against Mr. Modi have only strengthened peoples wariness of the state banks. Indian officials have publicly accused him of working with tellers at a single branch of one of them, Punjab National Bank, to obtain $1.8 billion from branches of other banks. So far, five Indian banks have been swindled in the scandal, four of them government-owned, the authorities in New Delhi say.

Just a decade ago, during the global financial crisis, Indian lenders were held up as a bastion of stability. Today, they are considered more vulnerable than those in other leading emerging markets, mostly because state-controlled lenders dominate the sector, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Of the $6.5 billion in fraudulent loans that have hit the industry over the past two years, the most egregious cases were at government-owned banks, according to figures released by Parliament. Executives at those lenders are more likely to be appointed for their political connections than for their talent, financial analysts say.
MELBOURNE, Australia  South Africas foreign minister said Monday that the Australian government had retracted comments by its home affairs minister suggesting that South Africa was not a civilized country because of its treatment of white farmers.

In March, the minister, Peter Dutton, said that persecuted South African farmers deserved the protection of a civilized country  alluding to Australia  and said he would explore the possibility of fast-tracking refugee visas for them. The South African government has been considering a constitutional amendment to expropriate farmland without compensation to its owners to address racial disparities in the country.

Mr. Duttons comments, as well as his suggestion that the farmers faced a horrific circumstance, drew fury in Pretoria, where government officials quickly demanded a retraction.

South Africas minister of international relations and cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu, said that Australias prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, had retracted Mr. Duttons comments and assured South African officials that they were not in line with Australian immigration policy.
The court, Mr. Rudi said, is the last chance to finally make our people free.

In the nearly two decades since it split from Serbia, Kosovo has been governed as a United Nations protectorate and, since February 2008, as an independent state. Throughout that time, it has been dogged by demons left from its violent birth and a culture of impunity left by its failure to come to terms with the fact that some of Kosovos most powerful figures have been accused of major crimes.

The special court, which is expected to issue its first indictments soon, is supported by the United States and Europe, Kosovos main backers and funders. But it poses risks for them, too, as it will examine crimes directly related to the foundation of the Wests state-building project in Kosovo: its alliance with the K.L.A. during NATOs bombing campaign against Serbia in 1999; its failure to disarm the K.L.A. after the war ended; and its inability to protect not only ethnic Serb residents who stayed behind, but also the K.L.As ethnic Albanian political rivals.

In a sign that United States support for the court is perhaps flagging under President Trump, the American chief prosecutor, David Schwendiman, stepped down recently after the State Department declined to extend his appointment by two years to enable him to complete his term with the court, despite assurances during the Obama administration that he would be able to do so.
We are unhappy with the pervasive anti-Semitism that still remains on the left but continue to remain very much involved because we are committed to a better world and a better left, the statement said.

Since his election as Labour leader, Mr. Corbyn has been at war with a sizable section of his party, some of whom say he lacks credibility as a potential prime minister. However, he has brought thousands of new supporters to the party, confounded critics by running a much more successful election campaign last year than expected and has since tightened his control of the Labour apparatus.

Yet, even if Mr. Corbyn is in a position of internal strength, the anti-Semitism dispute, along with his reluctance to blame Russia for the poisoning of a former spy in Salisbury, England, has rekindled debate about his leadership.

Schooled in left-wing, protest politics, Mr. Corbyns worldview seems to have remained much as it was when he entered Parliament in 1983, at the beginning of a long period on the fringes of the Labour Party.

His has an implacable, binary, worldview, Professor Fielding said. He sees Israel as Zionist, and Zionism as part of imperialism, and imperialism as the part of the enemy.

The latest questions over anti-Semitism began more than a week ago when a Labour lawmaker, Luciana Berger, asked questions about Mr. Corbyns endorsement, in 2012, of a campaign to save a mural in east London that caricatured Jewish bankers playing Monopoly on the backs of the poor. Mr. Corbyns office took hours to produce an equivocal response, before eventually issuing an apology.

A protest by Jewish groups outside Parliament was followed by the resignation of Christine Shawcroft, the chair of Labours internal disputes panel, after the leak of an email suggesting that she had supported a local candidate who was suspended over accusations of anti-Semitism.
LONDON  Jeremy Corbyns decision to celebrate Passover with Jewdas, a self-described radical leftist Jewish group, has been heavily criticized in Britain, where his opposition Labour Party has been accused of tolerating anti-Semitism.

The groups very name  a play on Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus Christ  is a provocation, one that has angered many of those encountering the group for the first time. Some critics say that Jewdass name, and antics, risk stoking age-old myths and hatreds that have led to anti-Semitic violence.

Created in London more than a decade ago, Jewdas is a group of left-wing activists who are at odds with most of Britains mainstream Jewish organizations. Its members say they are opposed to capitalism and fascism, but the group may be best known for its vociferous criticisms of Israel and its policies toward Palestinians.

Its a radical diaspora Jewish group that has taken an explicitly non-Zionist stance, alongside satirizing the many absurdities of the British Jewish community and throwing excellent parties, according to a founder of the group, Joseph Finlay.
JERUSALEM  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed down under pressure before, but rarely in such a spectacular fashion as he did on Tuesday when he reneged on a deal with the United Nations to resettle thousands of African asylum seekers in Western countries.

Mr. Netanyahu announced the deal to great fanfare on Monday, only to suspend it a few hours later. On Tuesday, he canceled it completely and defended his abrupt reversal, saying he was responding to an outcry from members of his conservative Likud party as well as partners in his governing coalition who routinely refer to the migrants as infiltrators and want all of them expelled.

But the capitulation dented Mr. Netanyahus image as a master political player.

This sort of zigzagging is not at all unusual, said Gadi Wolfsfeld, a professor of political communications at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya near Tel Aviv. But for someone considered such a political genius to make such a miscalculation, thats the surprising part of the story.

The episode was a reminder of how beholden Mr. Netanyahu is to hard-liners in his party and his government, constraining him domestically and diplomatically, whether in making concessions to the Palestinians or in fulfilling an agreement to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Instead of seeing Israel as an enemy, Prince Mohammed has come to view the Jewish state as an attractive regional economic and technological hub as well as a potential partner in the kingdoms cold war with Iran. And part of that is recognizing Israels right to exist, preferably in the context of a peace deal with the Palestinians.

I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation, Prince Mohammed told Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.

The establishment of formal relations, he said, would benefit both nations, and their neighbors.

Israel is a big economy compared to their size and its a growing economy, and of course there are a lot of interests we share with Israel  and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and countries like Egypt and Jordan, he said.

Prince Mohammed has a close relationship with the Trump administration, and especially with the presidents son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, whom the president has deputized to try to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The details of Mr. Kushners peace plan have yet to be released, but it is widely believed that they are being coordinated with Prince Mohammed to try to get buy-in from the wider Arab world.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his last public appearance at the Mason Temple in Memphis on April 3, 1968. He was assassinated the next day on his motel balcony. Charles Kelly/Associated Press
Martin Luther King Jr. remains frozen in time for many Americans. Seared into our consciousness is the man who battled Southern segregation.

We see him standing before hundreds of thousands of followers in the nations capital in 1963, proclaiming his dream for racial harmony. We see him marching, arms locked with fellow protesters, through the battleground of Alabama in 1965.

But on the 50th anniversary of his death, it is worth noting how his message and his priorities had evolved by the time he was shot on that balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis in 1968. Dr. King was confronting many challenges that remain with us today.

He was battling racism in the North then, not just in the South. He was pushing the government to address poverty, income inequality, structural racism and segregation in cities like Boston and Chicago. He was also calling for an end to a war that was draining the national treasury of funds needed to finance a progressive domestic agenda.

This may not be the Dr. King that many remember. Yet, his words resonate powerfully  and, perhaps, uncomfortably  today in a country that remains deeply divided on issues of race and class.

All the issues that he raised toward the end of his life are as contemporary now as they were then, said Taylor Branch, the Pulitzer-Prize winning historian who has written several books about Dr. King.

It is no surprise that Americans remember the man who focused on demolishing the legal underpinnings of Jim Crow.

Holding on to the memory of the earlier Dr. King allows us to focus on our nations progress, not on the deeply entrenched problems that remain.

Policy makers of the white society have caused the darkness; they created discrimination; they structured slums; and they perpetuate unemployment, ignorance and poverty, Dr. King said in 1967, referring to bias in zoning, public budgets and employment.

His marches into northern white neighborhoods touched off a backlash among white leaders and residents who had supported similar tactics in the south. His popularity plummeted.

His call for an interracial coalition to demand jobs or income now was greeted skeptically by some of his supporters and by members of the Black Power movement.

His call for an end to the Vietnam War outraged President Lyndon Johnson, lawmakers and others. Even some of his aides doubted the wisdom of that decision and his plan to mobilize a poor peoples campaign.

He was far more visionary than those around him, said Clayborne Carson, the director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

What would Dr. King make of America today?

Historians believe he would marvel at the expansion of rights for women and the L.G.B.T.Q. community, the growth of the black middle class and the number of black elected leaders, including Americas first black president.

He would also see a country beset by many of the problems he had urged Americans to focus on during the last years of his life.
New York University President Andrew Hamilton and Board of Trustees Chairman William Berkley today announced the names of those to be honored at the Universitys 186th Commencement Exercises, which will be held Wednesday, May 16, at Yankee Stadium.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will receive a doctor of laws degree, honoris causa, at the ceremony and address the graduates and guests on behalf of all the degree recipients. In November of 2015, Trudeau became Canadas 23rd prime minister and also serves as the minister of intergovernmental affairs and the minister of youth. As prime minister, Trudeau is focused on creating new jobs, fostering strength out of Canadas rich diversity, fighting climate change, and achieving reconciliation with indigenous peoples. A proud feminist, Trudeau appointed Canadas first gender-balanced cabinet.

Other honorary degree recipients include:
Air India employees' salaries delayed, reason not clear yet

India

pti-PTI

Vadodara, Apr 3: Disinvestment-bound Air India has delayed the payment of salaries for the month of March and is yet to intimate the employees about reasons for the delay, sources said. The debt-laden carrier has over 21,000 employees, including more than 11,000 on permanent rolls. Generally, salaries are paid by the 30th or 31st of every month and in case of bank holidays around these dates, then payments are made in advance.

Sources at the airline told PTI that March salaries remain unpaid till today and that employees have not received any communication from the management as to when the salaries would be disbursed. "Since the banks were closed till Monday, we were expecting the salary payment by today, though the practice is of making the salary payments in advance in the eventuality of banks being closed around 30 or 31st of the month," one of the sources said. When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said salaries for March are likely to be paid by Thursday.

On March 28, the Civil Aviation Ministry came out with the preliminary information memorandum for seeking Expression of Interest (EoI) for the strategic disinvestment of Air India. Air India had 11,214 permanent employees as on December 1, 2017., as per the memorandum. The government has proposed selling 76 per cent stake in the airline as well as transfer management control to private players.

Besides, Air India would divest 100 per cent stake in Air India Express and 50 per cent shareholding in AISATS, an equal joint venture with Singapore-based SATS, according to the memorandum. Last month, full service carrier Jet Airways had informed its employees that it was postponing payments of March salaries, citing "circumstances beyond its control."

PTI
Bharat Bandh on 26th March 2021: What is Open, What is Closed

Bharat Bandh today: Disruptions expected in some parts of the country

Bharat Bandh over SC/ST Act: BJP worker Raja Chauhan booked for firing during protest

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Madhya Pradesh Police on Tuesday registered a case against a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Raja Chauhan for firing shots allegedly on Dalits during the protest against the 'dilution' of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Raja Chauhan, was booked under section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the IPC. He is currently at large.

In a video that has went viral, Chauhan was allegedly captured in camera for firing at the people during the protest here.

The death toll in Madhya Pradesh due to violent protests during the Bharat bandh called by several Dalit organisations against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has reached seven after one more person succumbed to its injuries.

On Monday, Former BSP leader, Yogesh Verma, from Meerut's Hastinapur was detained by UP Police as the "prime conspirator" in the violence.

Sub Inspector Mahendra Chaudhary who was injured in the Bharat Bandh protests on Monday succumbed to his injuries, taking the death toll to 12 people.

Curfew was imposed in at least three towns in Madhya Pradesh, including Morena, Bhind and Gwalior.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 22:49 [IST]
Chandrababu Naidu visits Parliament, but won't meet any Congress, BJP leaders

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders have been protesting over the issue of special category status to Andhra Pradesh for several days now. The TDP has also severed ties with the NDA recently and Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu would try reaching out to other parties willing to support him on the issue of the Centre not granting Special Category Status (SCS) for AP.

Naidu landed in New Delhi late on Monday night and is slated to test the political waters to find out who will back him on the issue of securing the rights of his state. This is Naidu's first visit to New Delhi after the TDP broke its alliance with the BJP in March.

"CM Chandrababu Naidu will be coming to the Parliament House to meet floor leaders of parties, he will not meet anyone in the BJP and Congress, he will discuss how AP has been treated by both national parties during bifurcation," TDP MP Jayadev Galla told the media on Tuesday.

Delhi: Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu met NCP Chief Sharad Pawar in Parliament. pic.twitter.com/Om5aiihByn  ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2018

Irrespective of the developments on Tuesday, Naidu is slated to hold a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday and address the national media before he returns to Vijayawada in the evening, reported TOI.

The TDP had been at loggerheads with the centre ever since the Union Budget 2018 was released, claiming that Andhra Pradesh was not given its due in terms of funding and that all the promises made to the state were also not fulfilled by the NDA government after AP's bifurcation from Telangana in 2014.

OneIndia News
ED grills Delhi min Satyendra Kumar Jain in money laundering case

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 3: The ED questioned Delhi Health and Power Minister Satyendra Kumar Jain in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others. Officials said Jain was summoned under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and his statement will be recorded by the investigating officer of the case.

The PMLA case was registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year in August on the basis of a CBI FIR. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) complaint had said that Jain could not explain the source of funds received by four companies in which he was a shareholder. It had registered a case against him, his wife and four others on charges of money laundering.

The CBI has grilled him in the case earlier. CBI sources had said that Rs 4.63 crore was allegedly received through Prayas Info Solutions, Akinchan Developers, Managalyatan Projects and Indo-Metal Impex Pvt Limited in 2015-16. They had said Jain and his wife were allegedly holders of one-third of the shares in these companies during the period. During CBI questioning, the minister and his wife could not explain the source of Rs 1.62 crore, approximately one-third of the funds received by the companies during 2015-17, they had said.

The CBI has alleged that Jain had control over these companies either in the form of being one of the directors and by holding one-third of shares of these companies in his name or in the names of his family members or others. The probe agency had also claimed that these were shell firms used for parking money in the form of investments in equity shares in connivance with Kolkata-based shell companies.

"This apart, before becoming a public servant, he was allegedly involved in laundering Rs 11.78 crore during 2010-12 through these companies as well as other firms also based in New Delhi," the CBI had said. The funds were allegedly used to purchase over 200 bighas of land in Auchandi, Bawana, Karala and Mohammed Mazvi villages in Delhi between 2010-16, CBI sources had said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), however, had refuted the CBI's allegations and said that reports of Jain's involvement in shell companies and benami land deals were "baseless". Jain, also the minister for home, PWD, industries and urban development, is an MLA from the Shakurbasti constituency.

The ED probe will focus if he and other accused in the case created illegal assets by laundering the alleged tainted funds.

PTI
First time Dalits came out on streets demanding rights: Sharad Yadav

India

pti-PTI

Former Union minister Sharad Yadav on Tuesday hailed the Bharat bandh called by Dalit groups, saying for the first time in centuries the Dalits came out on the streets in large numbers demanding their rights prescribed in the Constitution.

Yadav, while speaking at a public meeting on 'Social Justice after Mandal Commission' at the JNU here, termed the Supreme Court's verdict on the SC/ST Atrocities Act as "unjust".

"There will be no other country in the world which has kept such a major chunk of population...the way oppressed communities are living in India," he said.

"This was the first time in centuries that the most marginalised sections -- the Dalits -- came out on the streets in large numbers demanding rights prescribed in the Constitution. They have also realised their strength in numbers," he said, adding that it was a historic event.

"I pay condolences to those who were killed in the violence yesterday whether they were Dalits or non-Dalits," he added.Violent protests broke out in several states yesterday, as Dalit organisations spearheaded a Bharat bandh, alleging that the Supreme Court had diluted the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

"Ambedkar's stand has been vindicated. He had said whatever is written in Constitution becomes meaningless if people who are meant to implement those provisions do not have the intention to do so. As time passes his words are becoming more relevant," Yadav said.

The Supreme Court verdict is not just, the former Union minister said.

The ex-Rajya Sabha MP urged all parties to come together to defeat the BJP in 2019 elections.

"Justice will not come to you not even through this movement because the state apparatus is in their (BJP) hands. They will declare yesterday as a day of injustice (because of violence). They are the ones operating the system," he said.

"All parties have to come together to make BJP lose. It is important to save democracy. You have the power of ballot to defeat the BJP in 2019. If they win, you would not be able to organise such meetings anymore," he told students.

"Dalits are most deprived section of our society, the country cannot progress till they progress. And all other communities have to stand with them," he said.

Yadav had parted ways with Bihar chief minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, following the latter's alliance with the BJP last year.

PTI
Google doodle pays tribute to Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Google doodle on Tuesday celebrated the 115th birth anniversary of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, a freedom fighter, actor, social activist, art enthusiast, politician and free-thinking feminist all rolled into one. The doodle shows her multifaceted talent very well, with her surrounded in art forms of music and dance and also small figurines indulging in weaving hand-looms.Doodle is designed by Finland-based Desi artist Parvati Pillai.

Early life

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was born in Chitarpur Saraswat Brahmin community of Mangalore to Ananthaya Dhareshwar and Girijabai. A succession of tragedies befell Kamaladevi early in life. First, her elder sister, Saguna, whom she adored as a role model, died in her teens soon after an early marriage. Not long after, her father passed away.

To reduce the responsibilities of the widow, Kamaladevi was married even when she was a child, and she herself became a widow, before understanding the meaning of a marriage! Her father-in-law was unusually liberal-minded. He enabled Kamaladevi to pursue her studies and also advised her to re-marry.

After finishing her school education in Mangalore, Kamaladevi joined Queen Mary's College in Madras, where she developed friendship with Suhasini Chattopadhyay.

Suhasini was the younger sister of Sarojini Naidu and it was through her that Kamaladevi met Harindranath 'Harin' Chattopadhyay (Suhasini's elder brother). A highly personable poet, playwright and actor, Harin shared many common interests with Kamaladevi such as a passion for arts and a love of music and theatre. The duo soon married.

Politics

It was the time in India when Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for freedom not only from colonialism but also India's own problems of untouchability, and poverty. He called upon women to fight side by side with men. She promptly returned to India, enrolled herself in the Indian National Congress and joined Seva Dal (a Gandhian organisation that worked towards social upliftment of the poor). Her dedication saw her soon being put in charge the organisation's women's department that recruited and trained women of all ages across India to become voluntary workers.

Three years later, Kamaladevi earned the unique distinction of becoming the first woman in India to run for political office. She also pressed for a uniform civil code as a means to promote gender justice, worked hard for the prevention of child marriage and emphasised on the need to consider women's unpaid household labour an economic activity.

In 1930, Kamaladevi participated enthusiastically in Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha movement, even entering the Bombay Stock Exchange to sell packets of 'freedom' salt and was sentenced to a prison term for violation of the salt laws.

Love for crafts

Kamaladevi was greatly influenced by Gandhi's use of Khadi as a political weapon to signify the importance of indigenous craftsmanship. She was committed to helping the survival of traditional arts and crafts. She espoused the notion that working with one's hands serves to decentralize social and economic from an industry-oriented state and also creates a culture of plurality.

Achievements

Several cultural institutions in India today exist because of her vision, including the National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, and the Crafts Council of India. She stressed the significance which handicrafts and cooperative grassroots movements play in the social and economic upliftment of the Indian people. To this end, she withstood great opposition both before and after independence from the power centres.

In 1974, she has awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship the highest honour conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

Kamaladevi was also honoured with Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1966 for Community Leadership. She, being a prolific writer, wrote 20 odd books depicting her wide array of intellectual and political interests, and a global.

Chattopadhyay 's ideas, from feminism and egalitarian politics to her abiding confidence in Indian handicrafts, continue to remain relevant even today.

OneIndia News
Manipurs news website becomes first target of new rules on digital media, later withdrawn

How vegetable cultivation is helping Manipur farmers to harvest profit

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

Imphal, April 3: The times are difficult and who knows it better than the farming community of the country. As climate change, piling loans and lack of profit are driving farmers to commit suicide across the country, in Manipur their counterparts are scripting agricultural success stories.

Thanks to the idea of switching from rice to vegetable farming, the farmers of the northeastern state are finally managing to earn profits. In fact, in the recent times, a lot of farmers have shifted from rice growing to vegetable farming as the traditional paddy cultivation is no more profitable.

Talking about their success stories, a farmer from Imphal, the capital city of the state, told ANI that more and more farmers are opting for vegetable farming. Along with record harvest, vegetable farming has yielded the profit for the farming community in the state.

"I took up vegetable farming instead of rice cultivation, as it enabled me to generate a better income," Ibohanbi told ANI.

"Imphal: Farmers increasingly opting for vegetable farming in Manipur; farmer Ibohanbi says, 'I took up vegetable farming instead of rice cultivation, as it enabled me to generate a better income'," tweeted ANI.

Imphal: Farmers increasingly opting for vegetable farming in Manipur; farmer Ibohanbi says, 'I took up vegetable farming instead of rice cultivation, as it enabled me to generate a better income' pic.twitter.com/Ls1jJSmnBD  ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2018

Agriculture is the main source of employment for more than 50 per cent population of Manipur. It also contributes a major share to the total state domestic product. Like in Manipur, in neighbouring Meghalaya, the farmers have succeeded in ushering a "green revolution".

The small state with "little available" land has harvested record produce in 2015-16. The credit for the agricultural feat goes to the farmers of the state, which forms the bulk of the population. Impressed by their achievement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his last monthly radio broadcast, Mann Ki Baat, profusely praised the farmers of the northeastern state.

"One thing that impressed me the most was Meghalaya and the hard work of the farmers of the state. This state has a small area but it has attained a grand success," the PM said

At the 105th Indian Science Congress in Imphal last month, scientists and agricultural experts stated that India needs to adopt a "well designed" integrated farming system (IFS) to realise PM Modi's vision to double farmers' income by 2022.

"The IFS can enhance farmers' income if we provide a well-designed system," said M Premjit, vice-chancellor, Central Agricultural University (CAU), Iroishemba, in Manipur. "We have already prepared a document to adopt IFS in the northeastern states and have even submitted it to the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research)," he added.

The concept of IFS stands for the all-round development of agriculture with animal husbandry and other occupations forming the core to agricultural practices.

OneIndia News
Ramping up domestic vaccine production, not right to speak of outside supply now: MEA

India welcomes US decision to declare Hafiz Saeed's Milli Muslim League as terrorist outfit

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday welcomed US' decision to designate Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, as a foreign terrorist organisation. In a simultaneous move, the United States had also designated seven members of the MML's central leadership body as foreign terrorists.

"India welcomes US' action for designating Milli Muslim League as an alias of LeT, a Pakistan based terrorist group and its functionaries who are acting on behalf of LeT. It vindicates India's position that Pakistan hasn't taken effective action against terrorist groups," an MEA statement said.

The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party. Pakistan's election commission had earlier rejected the MML's application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The US State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Today's amendments take aim at LeTs efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

"Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," Sales said.

[Hafiz Saeed's Milli Muslim League declared foreign terrorist organisation]

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT. To avoid sanctions, the LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

The state department also focused on not only exposing but even isolating such terror organisations and denying them access to the US financial system. The US also said that LeT continues to function openly within Pakistan, organising fundraisers, holding public rallies and training terrorists.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs
Little or no infiltration across LoC: General Naravane

No ceasefire violation along LoC in Kashmir since February agreement

J&K: Jawan killed after Pakistan violates ceasefire in Krishna Ghati sector

India

oi-Madhuri

One Army jawan martyred after Pakistan Army on Tuesday violated ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Krishna Ghati sector.

The incident began from 0700 hours. Indian Army has retaliated strongly, effectively and proportionately to the unprovoked ceasefire violation.

On Sunday, the three soldiers who died during the encounters in Kashmir belonged to Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Last month, five civilians were killed and two were injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire along the LoC in Balakote sector.

OneIndia News
Karnataka: Will Congress not allow Kumaraswamy to be CM for full 5-year term?

Is it chief minister Kumaraswamy or chief manager of Congress Ktaka ATM? BJP has an answer

All is well between Congress, JD(S)? Kumaraswamy meets Rahul as Karnataka waits for full cabinet

Karnataka: After Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi addresses rally in Shimoga

India

oi-Madhuri

Ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is addressing a public meeting in Shimoga, the hometown of state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday. His visit to the city comes days after BJP president Amit Shah held a grand roadshow here.

Rahul Gandhi will go to Holalkere in Chitradurga district on Wednesday. Holalkere is a Lingayat stronghold. The Congress president will then go to Tumkur, where he is expected to meet the 111-year-old seer of Siddaganga Mutt Shivakumara Swamy, a revered Lingayat pontiff.

The Congress has now taken the battle directly to Yeddyurappa's door by bringing party supremo to Shimoga. After landing at Hubli airport, Gandhi took a helicopter ride to Shimoga this morning.

During his visit, Rahul Gandhi will be addressing a public rally at Government High School Ground in Davangere at 5.30 pm and later attend a public contact programme in Shimoga.

He will participate in a roadshow in the central Karnataka town before entering the neighbouring district of Davanagere. He is scheduled to address public meetings at Honnali, Harihara and Davanagere before evening.

The Congress president would also go to Bangalore this week and hold a major rally.

Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15

OneIndia News
Karnataka: Will Congress not allow Kumaraswamy to be CM for full 5-year term?

Is it chief minister Kumaraswamy or chief manager of Congress Ktaka ATM? BJP has an answer

All is well between Congress, JD(S)? Kumaraswamy meets Rahul as Karnataka waits for full cabinet

Karnataka Assembly elections 2018: Basanagouda Patil Yatnal to formally join BJP

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Former union minister Basanagouda Patil Yatnal is all set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday. His rejoining to the BJP is viewed as a boost to the saffron party in North Karnataka region. Currently, Yatnal is an independent member of the legislative council.

In February, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal was invited by BJP national president, Amit Shah to meet him in Delhi for talks, ahead of the assembly polls in the state.

Yatnal was former Minister of State, Textiles Vijayapura in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1 July 2002 to 8 September 2003. He was also a Minister of State, Railways from 8 September 2003 to 16 May 2004. He represented the Bijapur constituency of Karnataka in 13th Lok Sabha and 14th Lok Sabha of India and was a member of BJP political party.

He was suspended from the BJP because of his vocal criticism of the party in the past and joined the JDS. But his friendship with that party did not last long either and he opted to contest the MLC elections as an independent.

He was in Janata Dal (Secular) for three years and has quit the party as State general secretary in 2013 ahead of general election. Speculation was rife that he would join the BJP sooner or later.

Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15
Karnataka Assembly elections: Is Kannada star Sudeep joining JD(S)?

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

Bengaluru, April 3: Cinema and politics go hand in hand in India and Karnataka is no different. As poll-related activities are heating up across Karnataka, reports suggest that Kannada star Sudeep is all set to take his political plunge in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled in May.

All the speculations regarding Kiccha Sudeep (as the superhero is popularly known as) joining politics got some amount of credence after the actor met Karnataka state president of Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) HD Kumaraswamy at his Bengaluru residence on Monday.

Although the 44-year-old actor denied reports of him joining politics or the JD(S), media reports say both Kumaraswamy and Sudeep discussed politics for almost two hours over breakfast. Sudeep told reporters that it was just a "courtesy call" and rumours should be laid to rest. Sudeep's meeting with Kumaraswamy came after earlier reports suggested that JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had asked the actor to join the party.

On Monday evening, the JD(S) hosted a big public meeting in Hassan, known to be the bastion of Deve Gowda family. Attending the meeting, former chief minister of Karnataka Kumaraswamy told the crowd that he and his party are confident of victory in the upcoming elections. He added that he was confident of becoming the next CM of the state.

Kumaraswamy's father and former PM asked voters to elect the JD(S) in all the seven assembly seats of Hassan. The elections in Karnataka will be a three-cornered battle involving the incumbent Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the JD(S).

Recently, the Election Commission (EC) announced the polling and counting dates for Karnataka. While the polling for the 224-member Legislative Assembly will take place on May 12, the counting of votes will be held on May 15 in the southern state.

OneIndia News
Businessman in Kolkata shot at after his car was stopped by 18 men

Kolkata-Dhaka container train to be flagged-off today

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 3: Senior ministry officials have said that the trial run of the Kolkata-Dhaka container train loaded with over 1,100 tonnes of animal feed will be flagged off on Tuesday.

While passenger and goods trains run between the two countries, this is the first time that a container service will begin. Exporters' forums had long been lobbying for container trains as they could save time and trade costs significantly apart from making trade safer and more organised.

"Container trains are usually used to ferry machine parts, chemicals, automobiles and consumer durables that involve a shorter transit time. If successful, the service would drastically reduce the transportation time," said senior officials.

The Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor), a PSU under the railway ministry will handle the logistics of the container service. The train will be flagged off at a Concor terminus near Majherhat station around 9.30am. It will travel 300km through Sealdah, Naihati, Ranaghat and Gede in India and Darsana and Ishurdi in Bangladesh before reaching Bangabandhu West station, 117km from Dhaka.

PTI
India first to develop DNA vaccine, can be administered to 12 and above: PM

PM announces Rs 10 Lakh compensation each for families of 39 Indians killed in Mosul

India

oi-Madhuri

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced Rs 10 Lakh compensation each for families of 39 Indians killed in Mosul.

His announcement comes a day after VK Singh made insensitive comments. On demands of compensation, Singh had said on Monday that giving compensation is not the same as distributing biscuits.

Singh had arrived at Amritsar International airport on Monday along with the special aircraft carrying mortal remains of the deceased Indians. "We have been running a campaign through Ministry of External Affairs since 2014 to go abroad safe and trained. We have run a campaign to tell people not to go through illegal agents. One should not say so, but these 40 people had no record with an embassy, they went through an illegal agent. When you go through an illegal agent half the time we don't know who went where" he said.

On March 20, Sushma Swaraj informed the Parliament that the 39 Indians abducted by Islamic State in Mosul in Iraq were dead and their bodies have been recovered.

A group of 40 Indian workers, mostly from Punjab, and some Bangladeshi were taken hostage by ISIS when it overran Iraq's second largest city Mosul in 2014. Of the 40 Indians, one Harjit Masih from Gurdaspur had managed to escape and had claimed to have witnessed the massacre of the others. But the government rejected it.

OneIndia News
New offensive by Army in Kashmir is thanks to huge spurt in terror recruits at Baramulla, Kashmir

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

There has been a major offensive in Kashmir and in the past two months, several terrorists have been killed. The offensive came at a time when the Centre's interlocutor has been trying to negotiate in the Valley in a bid to restore peace.

Questions have been asked if this exercise is proving to be counter-productive in the wake of so many encounters taking place. However, the trigger for this offensive by the forces was thanks to a large number of recruitments that have been taking place into terror groups.

The Hizbul Mujahideen, in particular, has upped the ante and has been on a recruiting spree. In fact, an Intelligence report points towards the recruitment of nearly 50 youth into the Hizbul Mujahideen in the Baramulla area of Kashmir.

The Intelligence has identified, both Baramulla and Shopian as trouble spots. A large number of terrorists have been found in these areas and hence the Army's counter-offensive became extremely important, an Intelligence Bureau official said.

Further, the Jaish-e-Mohammad which is backing the Hizbul Mujahideen has openly said that it would avenge the death of terrorists. In a statement, the Jaish spokesperson said that they would avenge every drop of blood of Kashmiri people and this jihad will continue till the mission of freedom is achieved. Hizbul Mujahideen should not feel alone, the Jaish Fidayeen are with them. We will together avenge the Indian oppression, the Jaish further said.

Another cause for concern is that Ramadan is approaching. Normally terrorists tend to up the ante at this time and cool off during the Holy month. This is another reason behind the sudden aggression by terrorists.

Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that these operations are important. The terrorists had begun to once again raise their ugly head in the Valley. The terrorists killed in the encounters were locals and they were planning to create another unrest in the Valley.

The Hizbul Mujahideen has been under immense pressure since the past couple of months. There were even reports that its chief Sayed Salahuddin was asked to step down as the group was under-performing in the Valley. The Hizbul Mujahideen, in fact, was asked to step up the heat in the Valley in a bid to give the foreign terrorist groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayiba a break.

Informed sources said that these operations were aimed at breaking the back of the Hizbul Mujahideen. The very fact that top commanders of the outfit such as Rouf Khandey were killed speaks volumes about the operation.

Such encounters are likely to continue for several months more. Intelligence reports estimate the presence of 215 terrorists in the Valley. While on one hand, Pakistan would attempt to push more terrorists through the Line of Control and International Border, the locals too have been asked to step up operations. Operations in the days to come would look to target the local terrorists who have refused to surrender or give up arms, the source also added.

OneIndia News
Pune: 5-year-old boy trapped in abandoned car dies of heat

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

In a tragic incident, a 5-year-old boy was suffocated to death after apparently getting locked in an abandoned car in Pune's Chakan area on Tuesday.

According to the police the body of Karan Pandey was found in Chakan after a hectic six-hour search by his family.The body bore burn marks on the neck, face and head.

The police believe the boy died of suffocation and heat after getting trapped inside the vehicle for over five hours.

The 5-year-old had gone out to play in the neighborhood along with a couple of friends around noon from the same vicinity. Unable to bear the heat, he took refuge inside the left-away vehicle which was parked in an open area. Police believe the five-year-old accidentally got trapped in the vehicle.

"As per available details, the car accidentally got locked and the boy could not get out. He remained trapped inside for nearly six hours before his body was found," police officer Pratima Navale told news agency IANS.

However, the police has not yet been able to ascertain any details regarding the owner of the abandoned car, which has been parked there for several weeks.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 18:45 [IST]
Rajasthan: Houses of dalit MLA; ex-MLA set on fire, Curfew imposed

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

A day after violent protests in wake of the Bharat Bandh called by Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe outfits, Hindaun City in Karauli district in Rajasthan saw fresh violence on Tuesday.

The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both dalits, were set afire by a violent mob on Tuesday afternoon in the Hindaun town in Karauli district of Rajasthan following which curfew was imposed in the area, a senior official said.

A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set ablaze houses of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and former MLA Bharosilal Jatav in the Hindaun City, district collector, Karauli, Abhimanyu Kumar told PTI.

While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who also served as a minister in the state. The incident occurred a day after Rajasthan and several other states saw large scale protests and violence during a 'bandh' called by dalit organisations.

Considering the law and order situation, curfew was clamped in the city, Kumar added.

He said the situation was tense since morning.

After incidents of stone pelting and arson, a mob set on for the houses of the MLA and the ex-MLA following which curfew has been clamped till Wednesday morning, an official said.

The state had witnessed widespread violence in Monday in which one person was killed in police firing in Alwar district apart from massive damage caused to public property as a result of the bandh.

OneIndia News (with agency inputs)

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 21:58 [IST]
Ravi Shankar Prasad hits out at pathetic infrastructure in Bengaluru

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The government will act tough on anyone abusing data for collateral purposes, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. He further said that the government would not tolerate unauthorised use of data for abuse or to influence the elections.

He was speaking at an interactive event "Bengaluru IT Global Hub - Road Ahead", organised by BJP's Karnataka unit.

"The Narendra Modi government is very clear. Any unauthorised use of data without the consent of the owner for abuse and collateral purposes or influencing the elections will not be tolerated. We are very clear about it," he said.

He said five important points are associated with data -- (data) availability, utility, innovation, anonymity and privacy.

The Union minister said data is important if India wished to grow.

"In a particular area if people are getting infected, because of data we can have a good policy for that. But it should be an anonymous data. If innovation is to be done, data availability is important. Let there be privacy in terms of your health condition, your official preferences, relationships which are matrimonial in nature and family matters. But the issue of privacy is overblown by those who talk of Right to Information and also talk of privacy," he added.

He said the government had issued show cause notices to Cambridge Analytica and Facebook on the data breach issue.

Ravi Shankar Prasad on March 29 said the government had given notices to Facebook and Cambridge Analytica on the data breach issue and would decide on the action to be taken after receiving their responses.

The IT Ministry had on March 28 issued a notice to social networking giant Facebook, seeking its response over the user data breach and details of steps it has put in place to ensure safety and prevent misuse of personal data.

It raised five questions for Facebook, including whether personal data of Indian voters and users has been compromised by Cambridge Analytica or any other downstream entity in any manner and gave the networking giant a deadline of April 7 to send a detailed response.

A similar notice was earlier sent to Cambridge Analytica over media reports of questionable practices attributed to the UK-based firm in their efforts to influence elections by harvesting data of Facebook users.

To a question on the misuse of the digital platform, Prasad emphasised that he advocated free media and free speech. "But if anyone abuses social media to encourage extremism, terrorism and communalism, that becomes a matter of concern," he said.

The minister said that a committee, headed by retired judge Sri Krishna, has been asked to submit a report on data protection law which would come out soon.

The IT Minister also rejected the suggestion to link Aadhaar with voter ID, saying though he was personally not in favour of it, those opposing Aadhaar would accuse the Narendra Modi government of snooping on everyone.

The Aadhaar and Voter ID cards operate in different fields, he said, adding a voter ID has much more details, which is lacking in the Aadhaar card.

"Both of them (Aadhaar and voter ID) operate in different fields.You go to cast your vote...if you show your Aadhaar card, you will not be allowed to cast your vote unless you show your voter ID card."

"The larger issue is that if everything is linked to Aadhaar, then the great supporters of anti-Aadhaar will say that the Narendra Modi government is snooping on everything, boarding, what you are eating, which cinema you are going. I don't want that," said the union minister.

Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Aadhaar during UPA government did not have any legal backing, whereas the NDA government brought a separate law for it.

He also expressed anguish over the 'pathetic infrastructure' in Bengaluru, despite the city being the IT hub of India.

He said an enormous delay in Metro rail project and flooding in Bengaluru had hit the headlines.

OneIndia News
Siddaramaiah falls off his chair, suffers head injury

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah suffered a minor injury when he fell of his chair during a campaign near Mysuru. The incident occurred when he was seated at a lunch gathering organised at a party leader's house in Mavinhalli.

However Siddaramaiah recovered immediately and continued with his campaign. He was campaigning for the fifth day in Chamundeshwari, the constituency from where he would be contesting.

Siddaramaiah was seated along with former MLA Sathyanarayan and a friend, M Siddegowda when the incident occurred. The people rushed to the scene when they heard a loud sound. They found that Siddaramaiah had collapsed on the ground after the plastic chair he was seated on gave way.

The security personnel rushed to the site and helped him out. Some of the party men were moved to tears on witnessing the incident.

Siddaramaiah's son, Yathindra who is a doctor by profession helped his father out. He found that there was a minor cut on his father's head. After completing the campaign, Siddaramaiah left for Bengaluru. He said that he would visit a doctor is the pain increases. He will be touring the state with Rahul Gandhi starting today.

Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15

OneIndia News
SSC CGL Tier-III results 2019 on July 9: Read full notice on cut off marks here

SSC exam cheating matter: Delhi Police Crime Branch arrests 4 accused

India

oi-Madhuri

The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested three persons in the crackdown against the SSC paper solving gang, which was busted on March 27 in a joint raid by the Delhi Police and the Uttar Pradesh STF.

Police had initially arrested four accused in the case, who used to help candidates cheat in the exams by using remote access software tool such as Team Viewer.

The four arrested are - Anup, Neeraj, Kushal Negi and Dured Ali, police said.

The Crime Branch team had made the arrests after a case was registered in Timarpur police station under section 419, 420 and 120-(b) of the IPC and section 66 of the IT Act.

Four other men were arrested last week in connection with the racket and the case was transferred to Crime Branch from the north district police.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)
House in Hajin

Terrorists have also abducted the son-in-law of the owner of the house. An FIR has been registered in connection with the incident and a probe has been launched.

(Image courtesy - ANI/Twitter)

Terrorists ransacked the house

Meanwhile, the security forces have stepped up their offensive against the terrorists in the valley. In the last 3-4 days, 12 terrorists were gunned down while 3 Army jawans were martyred in encounters conducted across south Kashmir. Among the 12 terrorists who were killed in separate encounters, one was part of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. The rest were locals, part of the Hizbul Mujahideen, sources have confirmed.

(Image courtesy - ANI/Twitter)

Soldiers take position behind trees during a gun battle in Shopian

Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that this was an important operation. The terrorists had begun to once again raise their ugly head in the Valley. The terrorists killed in the encounters were locals and they were planning to create an another unrest in the Valley.
MB Patil and other Congress MLAs in huddle; Baig, Reddy supporters protest at KPCC

More trouble for Cong JD(S) govt: Cong leader blames sidelining of seniors, zero coordination

Karnataka cabinet expansion on June 12, Ramalinga Reddy to be in

Ramalinga Reddys silence is deafening and worrying for both Congress-BJP

Ill take a call, wont comment now: Ramalinga Reddy on whether he would stick to resignation

'They are Northeastern people not Bangladeshis', says Karnataka Home Minister

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The people from Northeastern states are being mistaken as Bangladeshis, Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has said.

The BJP has, time and again, claimed that the ruling Congress helped get Bangladeshi immigrants included in the electoral rolls ahead of the Assembly elections.

"People from the Northeastern states are confused as Bangladeshis," Reddy told reporters.

"We have special squads to check on illegal immigration. We found only 40-50 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants all over Karnataka and they have been deported."

He blamed the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for failing to secure India's borders. "The Centre should tighten checks on immigrants in Assam and other states."

Reddy came down heavily on the BJP's charge sheet, in which the saffron party highlighted failures of the ruling Congress on various fronts. "The charge-sheet should be thrown into the dustbin or a paper scrapyard. Or, it should be used to pack pakodas as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said," Reddy quipped. He was referring to Modi's statement that selling pakodas was equal to employment.

Training his guns at BJP national president Amit Shah, who has been attacking the state government over farmers' suicides, Reddy said the number of farmers' suicides was highest in the BJP-ruled Maharashtra.

"Shah is shedding crocodile tears over the suicides. Since 2014, as many as 8,651 farmers have ended their lives in Maharashtra and 4,098 in Madhya Pradesh."

Reddy said 3,781 farmers committed suicide in Karnataka owing to consecutive droughts for four years.

Reddy mocked the BJP's 'Mushti Dhanya Sangraha Abhiyana', wherein the party is going door-to-door to collect a handful of rice.

"With what face are they going to farmers' homes? They didn't do anything in the last four years."

Karnataka Assembly Election dates Date of notification April 17 Last date to file nominations April 24 Last date to withdraw nominations April 27 Date of polling May 12 Date of counting May 15

OneIndia News
TN: AIADMK observes Hunger strike over Cauvery Board

India

oi-Madhuri

Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami and deputy CM O Panneerselvam began their hunger strike on Tuesday to put pressure on the Centre to set up the Cauvery Management Board.

The AIADMK had earlier announced that the hunger strike programme will be held on April 2 but was subsequently postponed by a day to April 3.

The Supreme Court has directed Karnataka to release 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water to Tamil Nadu. This reduced Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery water by 14.75tmcft from the 192tmcft allocated by a tribunal in 2007. It also directed the centre to frame a "scheme" within six weeks to implement the decision.

OneIndia News
China to continue support citizens freedom of religious belief, releases white paper

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

In a white paper published on Tuesday, April 3, China pledged continuation of its support for its citizens' freedom of religious belief, Xinhua reported.

The communist-ruled country has policies on freedom of religious belief based on national and religious conditions to protect citizens' right to such freedom, build active and healthy religious relationships and maintain harmony in religious and social domains, the white paper published by the State Council Information Office said.

The white paper is titled 'China's Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief'. It also said that safeguarding the freedom of religious belief, handling religious relations and adapting them to the current times and curbing religious extremism are common responsibilities that all countries around the world have.

Among the major religions practised in China are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity and they have nearly 20 million believers and over 3,80,000 clerical personnel.

"Religious believers and non-believers respect each other, and live in harmony, committing themselves to reform and opening up and the socialist modernization, and contribute to the realization of the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation," Xinhua cited the white paper as saying.

Meanwhile, a Chinese official on Tuesday, April 3, also defended the government's right to appoint high priests in the country. He said that not giving Pope the control over their appointment does not violate the believers' religious freedom.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 17:41 [IST]
Collapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history: Donald Trump

Trump administration for possible Putin meet in US; not normal, say experts

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

The Donald Trump administration on Monday, April 2, created the possibility of a meeting between President Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the White House. If this takes shape, Putin would be present at the Oval Office for the first time in over a decade even as relations between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated steeply over the past few years.

Washington recently expelled 60 Russian diplomats from the US keeping in tune with a number of western countries which condemned Moscow over the poisoning of one of its former spies and his daughter living in England.

Russia also said on Monday that Trump had invited Putin during the two's telephone call in March. Trump had called Putin to congratulate him after he won his fourth presidential term in Russia ignoring warnings from his advisers, earning criticism as a result.

White House sources said "a number of potential venues were discussed" for the meeting but preparations were yet to begin for the meeting, Associated Press reported. Putin had met former president George W Bush at the Oval Office in 2005.

The reaction to Trump's probable meeting with Putin in the diplomatic circles was alarming. The thought that Trump might not confront Putin on issues like poisoning of the spy or Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election displeased many. Experts even called the prospects of a Trump-Putin summit abnormal in the prevailing conditions.

Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told the media on Monday that when Trump proposed to have a meeting in White House and described the idea as "quite interesting and positive". The Russians expected that the recent expulsions of the diplomats wouldn't ruin the prospects of Trump-Putin talks.

US policy on Russia and Trump's take on Putin don't match

Although the US policy towards Russia has been strong, Trump personally has expressed time and again his liking for Putin and clarified more than once to his allies that he trusts his own instincts when it comes to dealing with Putin's Russia.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 11:56 [IST]
Hafiz Saeeds Milli Muslim League declared foreign terrorist organisation

International

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

The United States has designated Milli Muslim League, the political front launched by Lashkar-e-Tayiba boss, Hafiz Saeed as a foreign terrorist organisation.

In a simultaneous move, seven members of MML central leadership body have been designated as foreign terrorists. The US also added Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir (TAJK) to the list of terrorist groups. TAJK is said to be a front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which according to the Trump administration, continues to operate freely inside Pakistan.

The move comes a day after the Election Commission of Pakistan asked the MML to produce a clearance certificate by the interior ministry for its registration as a political party.

The election commission had earlier rejected the MMLs application for registration as a political party after the interior ministry objected to its ties to banned militant outfits.

The State Department said the move was aimed at denying the LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks.

"Both MML and TAJK are LeT fronts created to circumvent the sanctions against it (LeT)...Todays amendments take aim at LeTs efforts to circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character," said Nathan A Sales, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.

Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The US supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence," Sales said.

Among other consequences of the designations, LeTs property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group.

"LeT continues to operate freely within Pakistan, holding public rallies, raising funds, and plotting and training for terrorist attacks," the State Department said.

The LeT was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group on December 26, 2001. Its leader, Saeed, is also designated as an SDGT.

To avoid sanctions, LeT has repeatedly changed its name over the years, the State Department alleged.

In January 2017, LeT began operating under the name TAJK. Under this name, the LeT has engaged in inciting terrorism, as well as recruiting and fundraising.

In August 2017, Saeed created the MML to serve as a political front for the group.

"LeT members make up MMLs leadership and the so-called party openly displays Saeed's likeness in its election banners and literature," the State Department said.

Concurrently with today's State Department actions, the US Department of the Treasury designated seven members of the MML central leadership body for acting for on behalf of the LeT: Saifullah Khalid (president), Muzammil Iqbal Hashimi (vice president), Muhammad Harris Dar (Joint Secretary), Tabish Qayyuum (Information Secretary), Fayyaz Ahmad (General Secretary), Faisal Nadeem (Broadcast and Publications Secretary), and Muhammad Ehsan (Finance Secretary).

Today's actions notify the US public and the international community that TAJK and MML are aliases of the LeT. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.

"Treasury is targeting the MML and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in LeTs attempts to undermine Pakistans political process," said Treasury Under Secretary Sigal Mandelker, adding that the MML is not a recognized political party and it relies on the leadership of the LeT for guidance and direction.

"We will continue to target terrorist organizations like LeT, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades," Mandelker said. He also cautioned people against working with the MML, including providing financial donations, saying they should "think twice" about doing so or risk exposure to US sanctions.

President of the MML, Khalid is also the head of LeTs Peshawar headquarters and served on Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD)s Coordination Committee for Central Punjab Province. The JuD was designated by the Department of State as an alias of LeT pursuant April 2016 and was added to the United Nations Sanctions list as an alias of the LeT in December 2008.

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, including six Americans. It was declared as an FTO by the US in June 2014.

OneIndia News
Abe to meet Trump in US this month; India to host US and Japan for trilateral talks

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

He was the first foreign head of government to meet US President Donald Trump in November 2017 after he won the presidential election that year and made the headlines for his awkward handshake with the latter in another visit in February 2017. Now, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to meet Trump again in the US on April 17-18 to discuss ways on keeping the pressure on North Korea, the menace in East Asia which has kept all the regional powers worried with its nuclear ambitions. The venue of the meeting will be Trump's luxurious resort in Florida - Mar-a-Lago.

The White House informed about the impending meeting on Monday, April 2.

It said in a statement that the US and Japan would reaffirm their alliance as a "cornerstone of peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region". The Trump administration popularised the term Indo-Pacific instead of Asia-Pacific to corner China in its own backyard.

The Trump-Abe meeting is taking place ahead of the probable talks between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in May. Trump had accepted the proposal to meet Kim from a South Korean diplomat in March, leaving quite a few stunned.

The White House sources also said that Trump and Abe would explore ways to expand trade and investment ties between their respective countries during the meeting. In Trump's recent imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, Japan was not given any exemption even if it is one of Washington's top allies. The USA's other ally in the region - South Korea - was given an exemption from trade penalties.

A lot of engagements are underway ever since the news of the probable Trump-Kim meeting broke. While Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Kim to Beijing for a confidence-building meeting, North and South Korea are also in talks towards a summit to be held at a border town on April 27. And now, with Abe also set to meet Trump ahead of that key meeting, it is clear that no side is ready to leave any diplomatic stone unturned at the moment.

India to host US, Japan for trilateral talks before Abe-Trump meeting

Meanwhile, India is set to organise a trilateral dialogue with delegates from the US and Japan in New Delhi ahead of the Trump-Abe meeting, the US State Department said.

Washington sent two senior diplomats from the state department - Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells along with Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton for the trilateral talks.

The India-US-Japan trilateral dialogue was started in 2011 when Hillary Clinton was the US secretary of state.

OneIndia News
France set for massive railway strike against President Macrons reforms

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

The French people as well tourists visiting the country were set to face inconvenience as the rolling railway strikes were set to start on Tuesday, April 3, to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's reforms.

The employees at France's state rail operator SNCF started walking out from 7 pm on Monday, April 2, beginning a series of disruptions on two out of every five days. This is going to cause major inconvenience to the country's 4.5 million train commuters.

The main protests against the reforms begin on Tuesday, which the media has termed "black Tuesday" with only one out of eight high-speed TGV train and one out of five regional trains likely to run.

Train movements to other countries like the UK, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and Italy will also be affected because of the strike - from partial to total. The railway strikes are set to continue till June 28.

Besides the railways, employees in energy and aviation sectors were also to go on strike on Tuesday, making it the biggest industrial turmoil since the election of Macron in May 2017.

Macron eyed the reforms to make France more competitive and his plans were being compared with former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher's showdown with the coal unions of Britain in the 1980s.

The protesting unions in France believe Macron's ideas would neither resolve SNCF's debt issue nor cure the railway's problems but would hurt the railways. They called the president's plans "pure ideological dogmatism".

The striking unions fear that the government was moving towards the privatisation of SNCF, something the latter has disagreed with.

Air France, on the other hand, decided to operate only 75 per cent of flights on Tuesday as the staff members staged the fourth strike in a month seeking a six per cent pay hike. Though the aviation strike is not linked to Macron's reforms directly, it certainly made the impact of the unions' strike bigger.

OneIndia News
Saudi crown prince compares Iran supreme leader with Hitler; backs Israels right to land

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

The reformist Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman expressed in a recent interview his viewpoints that aligned with Israel and disapproved of regional for Iran to clear the fault lines in the politics of West Asia.

Salman took a strong dig at Iran in his interview to The Atlantic, saying the country's Supreme Leader is the first side of a "triangle of evil" - the other two being the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic State. Salman's analogy reminded of former US president George W Bush's "axis of evil" theory which called Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, as members of the satan's club. The Saudi crown prince also called Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the "Hitler of Middle East" who headed a regime that aimed to spread "extremist Shiite ideology".

He warned that if Tehran was not stopped, the hidden Imam would come back to rule the entire world from Iran and even spread Islam to America.

Salman lambasted the Muslim Brotherhood saying it wanted to make use of democracy to rule countries and build shadow caliphates all over and also terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS that he opined wanted to do everything by force.

Backs Israel

Salman during the interview sided with Israel, a big regional foe to Iran, saying he had no reason to protest Israel's right to survival in religious terms. His only concern was about the security of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and the rights of the Palestinian people. He said both sides had rights to have their own land and the international community needed to have a peace agreement to give a chance to stability for everybody.

"Wahhabism never existed in Saudi Arabia"

Salman also said that Wahhabism, a fundamentalist strand of Islam, had ever existed in his country but only Sunni and Shia Islams. He also said that the Shiites in Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-dominated country, held many important positions in the government and society.

The Saudi crown prince, who recently lifted the ban on women driving in the kingdom and is working to overhaul the country's economy and society, said his country is a member of a group of moderate Muslim countries that include Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE and have their founding principles based on those of the UN and at odds with the ones that make up the members of the "evil triangle".

OneIndia News
Spy poisoning: West wants to take World Cup away from us, says Russia official

Skripals poisoning more in UKs interests: Russian foreign minister

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday, April 2, said in a press conference that it was the UK which might have poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia who reside in Salisbury in England for almost a decade now.

As the Kremlin continued to deny its involvement in the incident that took place on March 4, Lavrov said there were "other explanations" over who actually orchestrated the attack on the former Russian agent.

He even said that the act might have been beneficial to the British special services who, Lavrov said, "are known for their ability to act with license to kill".

Linking the Skripals case with Brexit which is less than a year from now to happen, the Russian foreign minister said the poison attack could benefit the UK government which is finding it tough to fulfil the promise that was made about Brexit.

The Theresa May government of the UK accused Russia of culpability after finding the nerve agent used in the attack on the Skripals to be novichok developed by the erstwhile Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993.

The UK prime minister accused Russia of failing to explain how it lost control of the weapon and said the Kremlin did not care for border and international law. The Kremlin denied the allegations.

The UK mobilised the European Union and other international platforms against Russia and a massive retaliation followed as two dozen countries expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats from their respective territories, including the UK and the US. Russia also did the same, resulting in a Cold War-like diplomatic face-off.

The Russian media also accused Britain of putting the blame on Moscow while it itself had a bigger interest in poisoning the Skripals. It said the effort was a deliberate one to taint Russian President Vladimir Putin who recently won his fourth presidential term and also to distract from the Telford child sex scandal, something that could lead to a massive embarrassment for the UK government.

OneIndia News
Stephen Hawking pays for homeless meals in final act of kindness

International

oi-PTI

London, April 3: As one of his final acts of kindness, British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking paid for a grand Easter meal for hundreds of homeless and needy people in his home city of Cambridge.

The funeral of the world-famous scientist, who passed away peacefully at his home on March 14 aged 76, took place in the city on Saturday. On the same day, a donation from his family helped to fund the charity FoodCycle's Easter lunch at Wesley Methodist Church.

Flowers were left on all the tables with a note reading: "Today's lunch is a gift from Stephen. From the Hawking family." Organisers said the physicist was given "a little cheer" before nearly 50 diners enjoyed the meal. "Lucy Hawking (daughter) contacted me and mentioned that the family would like to make a donation so that while the funeral was taking place, people would be sitting down to a hot meal 'on Stephen'.

"It was a really kind gesture that I think fitted well with the sympathy Prof. Hawking felt for people who were having a tough time of things," said Alex Collis, East of England Regional Manager, FoodCycle.

Collis said the generous donation would go on to provide hundreds of meals for older people, refugees, people with mental health issues, and the long-term unemployed, besides the city's homeless. FoodCycle, which provides regular free meals for people in need using donated or unused food, has been running since 2010 by a team of volunteers across the UK.

"The meals are open to anyone and there's no need to book or have a voucher - no questions are asked and the meals have a great community feel with groups of difference people who might not otherwise meeting sitting down round a table together," he said. Hawking's funeral was held at Great St.

Mary's Church, part of the University of Cambridge, with thousands of well-wishers lining the streets to bid farewell to the scientist. His ashes will be buried at Westminster Abbey in London in June, near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton.

The cosmologist and author of the seminal 'A Brief History of Time' had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his 20s.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 3, 2018, 18:22 [IST]
The 2nd Live Gaming Summit to Explore Online and Land-Based Casinos Collaboration

Published April 3, 2018 by Ivan P

The focus of this year's Live Gaming Summit taking place at the Casino Barcelona will be on the opportunities for land-based casinos looking to expand to online live gaming sector.

Offering live versions of popular table games has become a big thing for online casinos lately, with many of them looking to cater to their players' expectations by providing games such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and many more, dealt by live dealers and broadcast using live streaming technology.

This opens up new revenue opportunities for land-based casinos, which will be one of the main topics discussed at the second annual Live Gaming Summit, schedule to take place at the Casino Barcelona on April 26, 2018.

Opening Up to New Opportunities

At this moment, a majority of live dealer studios are situated in Riga, Latvia, where big gaming companies have large studios equipped with tables, roulette wheels, cards, and, of course, trained dealers. These studios offer their services to online casinos, allowing for a smooth integration into existing offering.

However, land-based casinos across Europe have a chance to get involved with the action as well for a number of reasons. For one, players usually prefer dealers that speak their own language, which opens up possibilities for casinos in Spain, Italy, Belgium, and others.

Additionally, while large companies such as Evolution or Playtech can afford to have their own full-scale studios, smaller ones usually look to partner up with local casinos that already have the required infrastructure and necessary licenses.

Monetizing the Potential

The Live Gaming Summit in Barcelona will gather representatives of many live studios with an extensive experience in the industry. This includes the CEO of Ezugi Kfir Kugler, Authentic Gaming CEO Jonas Delan, Robert Wheeler of MediaLive Casino, and many others.

The speakers will share their knowledge, experience, and insights about live gambling and talk about monetizing and marketing opportunities for land-based casinos. Numerous representatives of European land-based casinos have already confirmed their attendance as well, so this year's Live Gaming Summit will present many opportunities for learning, networking, and forging new partnerships for the future.
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From Reader Supported News



Crystal Mason was sentenced to five years by a judge for illegally voting in 2016. Mason is a convicted felon who told the court that she did not know the law prohibited her from voting until she served all of her sentence, including federal supervised re

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I was sickened last week to read about the case of Crystal Mason of Tarrant County, Texas. She's a 43-year-old tax preparer who, in 2011, was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to tax fraud for inflating income tax deductions for her clients. She was sentenced to five years in prison and released in 2016. While still on federal probation, she registered to vote in Texas. Nobody -- not the Bureau of Prisons, not her probation officer, not the court, nobody -- told her that felons may not vote in Texas.

Crystal Mason voted in the 2016 election. She made no secret of it. She went to the polling station, showed her driver's license, and cast a provisional ballot. Imagine her shock when she was then arrested and charged with felony voter fraud. Last week, she was sentenced to five years in a state prison. For voting.

Mason went to trial and believed that her defense was a sound one. She had no idea that she wasn't allowed to vote in Texas. She thought she had paid her debt to society and she was ready to re-enter it. She told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "Do you think I would jeopardize my freedom? Do you honestly think I would ever want to leave my babies again? That was the hardest thing in my life to deal with. Who would -- as a mother, as a provider -- leave their kids over voting?"

Mason believes that she is being singled out because she voted for Hillary Clinton. There's no way to know if that's true, but Tarrant County authorities recently convicted a second woman of illegal voting, and she was given eight years in prison. The sentences are draconian. This probably isn't about Hillary Clinton as much as it's about implementing a far-right law-and-order ideology that targets people of color and suppresses voter turnout in those communities.

But while the press is focused on the harshness of the sentences and the fact that many states don't allow former felons to vote even after they've completed their sentences and probation, I think there's a more important thing that's being overlooked. That's the issue of mens rea, or criminal intent, and that fact that a lack of criminal intent is no longer considered a defense.

Mens rea is Latin for "guilty mind." It is the "mental element of a person's intention to commit a crime or knowledge that one's action or lack of action would cause a crime to be committed." In other words, in most cases, you have to have had the intent to commit a crime and the knowledge that it was a crime for it to be an actual crime.

The concept of mens rea was borrowed from English common law. But by the 1950s, the U.S. interpretation had become so wildly different from the English interpretation, that the federal government set out to formulate a definitive formulation of mens rea for the U.S. courts. It was set out in the Model Penal Code of 1957. It establishes five levels of mens rea.

Strict liability mens rea is when the person engages in prohibited conduct, where the conduct is a civil infraction. Think jaywalking. Negligent mens rea is when a "reasonable person" would be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his conduct is of a prohibited nature, and where the actor was not aware, but should have been. This was the argument used in court against Crystal Mason. Prosecutors said that, even if she didn't know that voting was illegal, she should have because everybody knows felons can't vote. Right?

Reckless mens rea is when the actor consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his conduct is of a prohibited nature. (You know check kiting is probably wrong, but you do it anyway.) Knowing mens rea is when the actor is "practically certain" that his conduct will lead to a result that is of a prohibited nature. (A friend asks you to help him buy a whole bunch of allergy pills. You know he's probably going to make meth, but you do it anyway.) Purposeful mens rea is when the actor has the "conscious object" of engaging in conduct knowing fully that such conduct is illegal. (You just got out of prison, you plan to rob a bank, you buy a mask, and then you rob said bank.)

In my own case, as I was preparing for trial, prosecutors admitted that I did not have criminal intent when I spoke to two reporters about the CIA's torture program. That didn't matter, they argued. A crime is a crime is a crime. And in a precedent-setting decision for a national security case, my judge agreed. "Your honor," one of my attorneys protested. "Are you saying that a person can accidentally commit espionage and still be punished for it?" "That's exactly what I'm saying," was the response. Criminal intent was thrown out the window.

I don't know if Crystal Mason was targeted because she voted for Hillary Clinton. In any event, her vote wasn't counted because she wasn't on the voter roll and she cast only a provisional ballot, which was eventually rejected because she wasn't registered. What I do know, though, is that no state in America goes after former felons trying to vote quite like Texas. On paper, it's actually easier to vote as a former felon in Texas than it is in Florida, where no former felon may ever vote again, or Virginia, where the former felon must petition the governor to have his "civil rights reinstated." In Texas, the former felon must have completed his sentence, including any parole or probation. He can then register.

But Texas stands alone in its single-minded pursuit of anybody who may have voted illegally. Most telling is a recent statement by Texas's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, that voter fraud was "rampant" in the state. How many cases of voter fraud has Texas seen? There were three in the last election. Three. The governor was nonplussed. "We will continue our effort to crack down and make sure there is no illegal voting in Texas," Abbott said.

Crystal Mason is his latest victim. And her only hope is a pardon -- from Greg Abbott.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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March for Eight Billion Lives

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[Republished from Black Agenda Report]

Of course we support the cause of protecting lives, but there is an exceptionalism to believing it only applies to American lives and especially white lives."

Organizers of the upcoming Women's March on the Pentagon are calling on the Democratic Party-sponsored Women's March and March for Our Lives to expand their message to include the eight billion lives on the planet, all of which are imperiled by US weapons and wars. I spoke to Riva Enteen, a former National Lawyers Guild Program Director and a member of the steering committee for the October Women's March on the Pentagon.

Ann Garrison:Riva, how would you like to see the March for Our Lives message expanded?"

Riva Enteen:We must expand the message in two ways. First, we must acknowledge that US wars and domestic gun violence are intertwined. Our military budget is obscene, and the majority of Democrats voted with Republicans to give both Trump and the Pentagon more money than they asked for this year. Three Republican Senators joined the five Democratic Senators who voted against the $700 billion 2018 military budget. This has normalized carrying and using guns, which now include military-grade weapons on our streets. "

"Gun control should begin at the Pentagon."

Secondly, we have to be concerned with all lives, from Florida's Stoneman Douglas High School to Yemen. The US military is by far the largest arms dealer in the world, and it's common knowledge that much of its weaponry ends up with those that our government calls "terrorists" and claims to be fighting. The US calls the terrorists it arms "rebels," as in Syria, or "friends and allies," as in Israel and Saudi Arabia. Gun control should begin at the Pentagon.

The endless "War on Terror" emerged after 9-11, which became the excuse for war as a constant, not an aberration. Until we rein in the US's determination to exert hegemony over the whole world, we will continue to see blood spilled here while, at the same time, our missiles rain down on innocents in the name of specious "humanitarian intervention" and stopping terrorism. There is an irony to the US invoking the term "humanitarian intervention," as it publicly abandons and scorns international law, bombing civilians and even hospitals.

AG: I counted ninety geographically distinct manifestations of the Democratic Party promoting their participation in the March for Our Lives, and all the march and voter registration logos and banners were blue. Your thoughts on that?

RE: The Democratic Party contained the message and excluded the call for peace, just as they did with the two Women's Marches. It is counter-intuitive that a women's march and a students' march wouldn't talk about peace, with the US at war in at least seven countries and no end in sight. But the Democrats, who promoted the Women's Marches and the March for Our Lives, are a pro-war party. Peace is not on their agenda. War is a bi-partisan policy because, according to Wall Street, war is good for business, and that's who controls our government.

At the beginning of his second term, after the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Obama said that he would address gun control and sounded convincing. A year earlier, in 2011 he had bragged, "In fact, my administration has not curtailed the rights of gun owners--it has expanded them, including allowing people to carry their guns in national parks and wildlife refuges."

"It is counter-intuitive that a women's march and a students' march wouldn't talk about peace, with the US at war in at least seven countries and no end in sight."

Attempts to limit the size of gun magazines, expand background checks of gun buyers, and ban gun sales to buyers on terrorism watch lists all failed to pass under Obama, when he had a Democratic House and Senate, from January 2009 to January 2013, and when he had a Democratic Senate, from January 2013 to January 2017.

Stand-your-ground laws, which George Zimmerman successfully used in his defense for killing unarmed Trayvon Martin, have expanded to more states, even though Obama lamented that if he had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.

AG: The March for Our Lives and the Women's Marches have enormous corporate and celebrity support as well as the Democratic Party's. They're able to hire all kinds of staff to work full time on networking and turning out their huge crowds. Can you imagine getting any of that kind of support for the October Women's March on the Pentagon?

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Someday, it may seem like history's classic example of imperial overstretch. There was, after all, only one superpower left on this planet after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. It was challenged by... well, next to no one. Or rather by a single jihadist, his modest set of followers, and an investment of perhaps $400,000-$500,000. Add in four hijacked commercial jet planes and some box cutters and you have the essence of 9/11, the "Pearl Harbor of the twenty-first century." Thanks to those air strikes, President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and the top officials of their administration launched a "Global War on Terror," a disaster now almost 17 years old and still spreading, which would have given Osama bin Laden the deepest satisfaction.

In response to that horrific but strangely modest attack on two American building complexes -- the fourth hijacked plane, undoubtedly heading for the White House or the Capitol, went down in a field in Pennsylvania thanks to the resistance of its passengers -- Bush and his officials tried to... well, not quite conquer the world, but control significant parts of it, largely by force of arms. It was a decision that gave imperial overreach new meaning. At the time, they bragged that they would focus on terror groups in no less than 60 countries. Today, it seems increasingly obvious that the response to 9/11 started the "sole superpower" on a path to decline. Though it has taken them a remarkably long time, even the top brass of the U.S. military finally seem to grasp in their own fashion just how disastrous it's all been. As TomDispatchregular Michael Klare makes strikingly clear today, that military now has an abiding urge to turn away from its war on terror and return to a far more comfortable and familiar world of success: the Cold War and the "containment" of Russia and China. In the end, with the wars of the last decade and a half still going on, this urge may prove to be imperial overstretch of a new kind, highlighting the remarkable inability of that military to learn anything from history, its own or anyone else's. Tom

Could the Cold War Return With a Vengeance?

The Pentagon Plans for a Perpetual Three-Front "Long War" Against China and Russia

By Michael T. Klare

Think of it as the most momentous military planning on Earth right now. Who's even paying attention, given the eternal changing of the guard at the White House, as well as the latest in tweets, sexual revelations, and investigations of every sort? And yet it increasingly looks as if, thanks to current Pentagon planning, a twenty-first-century version of the Cold War (with dangerous new twists) has begun and hardly anyone has even noticed.

In 2006, when the Department of Defense spelled out its future security role, it saw only one overriding mission: its "Long War" against international terrorism. "With its allies and partners, the United States must be prepared to wage this war in many locations simultaneously and for some years to come," the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review explained that year. Twelve years later, the Pentagon has officially announced that that long war is drawing to a close -- even though at least seven counterinsurgency conflicts still rage across the Greater Middle East and Africa -- and a new long war has begun, a permanent campaign to contain China and Russia in Eurasia.

"Great power competition, not terrorism, has emerged as the central challenge to U.S. security and prosperity," claimed Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist while releasing the Pentagon's $686 billion budget request in January. "It is increasingly apparent that China and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian values and, in the process, replace the free and open order that has enabled global security and prosperity since World War II."

Of course, just how committed President Trump is to the preservation of that "free and open order" remains questionable given his determination to scuttle international treaties and ignite a global trade war. Similarly, whether China and Russia truly seek to undermine the existing world order or simply make it less American-centric is a question that deserves close attention, just not today. The reason is simple enough. The screaming headline you should have seen in any paper (but haven't) is this: the U.S. military has made up its mind about the future. It has committed itself and the nation to a three-front geopolitical struggle to resist Chinese and Russian advances in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Important as this strategic shift may be, you won't hear about it from the president, a man lacking the attention span necessary for such long-range strategic thinking and one who views Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping as "frenemies" rather than die-hard adversaries. To fully appreciate the momentous changes occurring in U.S. military planning, it's necessary to take a deep dive into the world of Pentagon scripture: budget documents and the annual "posture statements" of regional commanders already overseeing the implementation of that just-born three-front strategy.

The New Geopolitical Chessboard

This renewed emphasis on China and Russia in U.S. military planning reflects the way top military officials are now reassessing the global strategic equation, a process that began long before Donald Trump entered the White House. Although after 9/11, senior commanders fully embraced the "long war against terror" approach to the world, their enthusiasm for endless counterterror operations leading essentially nowhere in remote and sometimes strategically unimportant places began to wane in recent years as they watched China and Russia modernizing their military forces and using them to intimidate neighbors.

While the long war against terror did fuel a vast, ongoing expansion of the Pentagon's Special Operations Forces (SOF) -- now a secretive army of 70,000 nestled inside the larger military establishment -- it provided surprisingly little purpose or real work for the military's "heavy metal" units: the Army's tank brigades, the Navy's carrier battle groups, the Air Force's bomber squadrons, and so forth. Yes, the Air Force in particular has played a major supporting role in recent operations in Iraq and Syria, but the regular military has largely been sidelined there and elsewhere by lightly equipped SOF forces and drones. Planning for a "real war" against a "peer competitor" (one with forces and weaponry resembling our own) was until recently given far lower priority than the country's never-ending conflicts across the Greater Middle East and Africa. This alarmed and even angered those in the regular military whose moment, it seems, has now finally arrived.

"Today, we are emerging from a period of strategic atrophy, aware that our competitive military advantage has been eroding," the Pentagon's new National Defense Strategy declares. "We are facing increased global disorder, characterized by decline in the long-standing rules-based international order" -- a decline officially attributed for the first time not to al-Qaeda and ISIS, but to the aggressive behavior of China and Russia. Iran and North Korea are also identified as major threats, but of a distinctly secondary nature compared to the menace posed by the two great-power competitors.

Unsurprisingly enough, this shift will require not only greater spending on costly, high-tech military hardware but also a redrawing of the global strategic map to favor the regular military. During the long war on terror, geography and boundaries appeared less important, given that terrorist cells seemed capable of operating anyplace where order was breaking down. The U.S. military, convinced that it had to be equally agile, readied itself to deploy (often Special Operations forces) to remote battlefields across the planet, borders be damned.

On the new geopolitical map, however, America faces well-armed adversaries with every intention of protecting their borders, so U.S. forces are now being arrayed along an updated version of an older, more familiar three-front line of confrontation. In Asia, the U.S. and its key allies (South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia) are to face China across a line extending from the Korean peninsula to the waters of the East and South China Seas and the Indian Ocean. In Europe, the U.S. and its NATO allies will do the same for Russia on a front extending from Scandinavia and the Baltic Republics south to Romania and then east across the Black Sea to the Caucasus. Between these two theaters of contention lies the ever-turbulent Greater Middle East, with the United States and its two crucial allies there, Israel and Saudi Arabia, facing a Russian foothold in Syria and an increasingly assertive Iran, itself drawing closer to China and Russia. From the Pentagon's perspective, this is to be the defining strategic global map for the foreseeable future. Expect most upcoming major military investments and initiatives to focus on bolstering U.S. naval, air, and ground strength on its side of these lines, as well as on targeting Sino-Russian vulnerabilities across them.

There's no better way to appreciate the dynamics of this altered strategic outlook than to dip into the annual "posture statements" of the heads of the Pentagon's "unified combatant commands," or combined Army/Navy/Air Force/Marine Corps headquarters, covering the territories surrounding China and Russia: Pacific Command (PACOM), with responsibility for all U.S. forces in Asia; European Command (EUCOM), covering U.S. forces from Scandinavia to the Caucasus; and Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the Middle East and Central Asia where so many of the country's counterterror wars are still underway.
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From Counterpunch



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President Donald Trump promised to "make America great again." The slogan defined his campaign and his presidency. His bluster was often forgiven because of the sentiment attached to that slogan -- it inspired a hope that Trump's policies would protect the U.S. economy and ensure that the declining standard of living of Americans would be reversed.

A year into his presidency, there is little evidence of any improvement. Inequality continues to define the American economic landscape -- CEOs, new government data show, can make up to a thousand times more in their salaries than their employees. It is impossible to suggest that high inequality and joblessness should be the character of a Great America. Red hats with that slogan are easy to produce, but it is a bitter pill if these are made -- as they often are -- in Bangladesh, China and Vietnam.

President Trump has now announced a tariff policy on aluminium and steel, which he hopes will redouble efforts by the manufacturing sector to kick-start a languid economy. Trump framed his tariff policy around the framework of national security rather than economics. Other powers, mainly China, he said, were "assaulting our country." It was to prevent this assault that the U.S. would build a high wall around these key sectors of its manufacturing. It was clear that this was less about economics and more about politics when Trump announced speedily that "good friends" -- Canada, Mexico, Australia -- would be excluded. Australian and Canadian firms are major producers of aluminium through Rio Tinto and through the subsidiaries of the American aluminium giant Alcoa. The largest aluminium producers in the world are Chinese and Russian, but the materials are mainly used in Eurasia rather than exported to the U.S.

Chinese export of steel to the U.S. accounts for merely 3 percent of the U.S.' steel imports. The major countries from where steel goes to the U.S. are Canada, which will likely be excluded from the tariff, and Brazil, which will not be excluded. Brazil's private steel companies, Gerdau and CSN, are subsidised by very favorable loans from the government bank, BNDES. Brazil's right-wing government, already in the midst of political turmoil and with little guarantee that it will be able to win the elections later this year, has asked the Trump administration for an exception. If Trump gives Brazil the exception, the policy will appear to be more smoke and mirrors than based on reality.

China is the rhetorical target of Trump's policy, even though Chinese firms export neither aluminium nor steel to the U.S. But this anti-China move is part of a process at the Trump White House. Trump had released a national security report that identified China as a "strategic competitor," and the 2017 Report to Congress on China's WTO Compliance has strong words that China is a cyber-thief and a cyber-spy.

Trump's advisers on tariff policy are Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Economic Adviser Peter Navarro and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. These three men share an obsession with China. They believe that China is undermining America's capacity to become great again. Their views are grounded less in economics and more in politics.

U.S. businesses fear retaliation

The tariff policy pointed its fingers at China. Trump has defined the project of making American great again in opposition to China. It is as if a halt to China's advance will somehow contribute to the greatness of America. But it is clear that Trump will not be allowed to push too hard against China and that his policies will not impact China negatively. Commercial lobbies in the U.S. responded negatively to Trump's China policy because they feared retaliation. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 44 other such associations wrote a stinging letter to Trump asking him not to impose tariffs against China. If the U.S. did so, they wrote, it would "trigger a chain reaction of negative consequences for the U.S. economy." Apple, Google and Walmart are among the firms that say that they would not like a trade war with China. They rely upon China for production and for markets. It would be catastrophic for them if China fought back.

Interestingly, the data on U.S.-China trade deficits used by the Trump administration as a dog whistle about Chinese "unfairness" are out of date. The statistic bandied about is that China has an advantage of about $375 billion over the U.S. -- a very high number. However, this is an illusion. Most of the goods that come to the U.S. from China are not entirely made in China but are made along the global circuits of production -- some are even made in the U.S.

Components come from around the world into China, where they are utilized in the goods produced for exports. When the value of these components is factored in, the trade deficit drops to $200 billion (based on the World Input Output Database). The U.S. consumption patterns benefit not only China but a range of countries, including the U.S. An attack on China will impact many other countries more than China itself.

Europe's retaliatory tariffs indicate that the Europeans are not in a trade war but want to send a political message to the U.S. They have put tariffs on blue jeans and on cranberries. The latter is significant. It is a key industry in Wisconsin, House Representative Paul Ryan's State. It is a little message to Ryan and to America's iconic product (blue jeans). Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Commissioner for Trade, said that a trade war was not on the cards. "A trade war has no winners. If it does not happen, all the better."

China is likely to file a lawsuit against the U.S. in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The U.S. has shown a propensity to ignore the WTO when its rulings are adverse. In 2002, President George W. Bush slapped a 30 percent tariff on steel on national security grounds. The WTO ruled against the U.S.; Bush ignored the WTO. The Europeans imposed tariffs on goods made in congressional constituencies that were up for re-election. Bush abandoned the tariffs to make sure that his party would not be hurt in the midterm elections. The retaliatory tariff on cranberries harks back to that feint by the Europeans.

But the U.S. had been developing bilateral treaties outside the WTO and multilateral arrangements that it dominated in order to undermine the WTO. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), whose purpose was to exclude China, was a way to develop new trade standards favoring the West -- standards such as new kinds of intellectual property protections, new forms of investor settlement mechanisms and restrictions on state-owned enterprises. Trump had trashed the TPP in the early part of his presidency, but there are now signs that he might return to that table if it enables him to push China off balance.

This column originally appeared on Frontline (India).
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The antagonism towards Russia by U.S. media and foreign policy elites goes far beyond allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. elections

[Rebroadcast from The Real News Network, November 21, 2017]

PAUL JAY: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay, and we are live on Facebook and YouTube and TheRealNews.com and maybe some other places, and we're actually live here in the studio. Thanks for joining us. We're going to talk about U.S. foreign policy, and Larry Wilkerson will be joining us momentarily.

After World War Two, it's been a strategic objective of U.S. foreign policy that this should be a single superpower world. Ideally, the United States should have utter, full-spectrum, sometimes they use that language, domination from nuclear weapons to cyberspace to media and such. With the emergence of the Soviet Union as a rival superpower, it became a fundamental objective to undo that Soviet Union and get back to a single superpower world. That was successfully done.

Now we're back into a world where the U.S. is the ultimate power, but not as ultimate as it would like. The United States does not like the rise of regional powers, especially regional powers with a certain amount of global reach, any regional power, like a Russia, or a China, or an Iran that is not under the control of the United States. They don't mind regional powers like Saudi Arabia that are more or less under the control of the United States, but ones that are not are considered threats, not just to regional hegemony but countries like a China, perhaps a Russia at some point can become real global competitors. Certainly Russia has become that in Syria.

What is U.S. foreign policy, and why is it so antagonistic to Russia? I suggest the reasons I just gave. The alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. elections, to the extent that turns out to be true, certainly is secondary to these bigger strategic reasons. Just why is there a division between the Trump administration, certainly on Russia at least, and the preponderance of U.S. foreign policy establishment?

Now joining us to talk about this and really how dangerous all this is is Larry Wilkerson. Larry was the former chief of staff for U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. He's currently an adjunct professor of government at the College of William and Mary and a regular contributor to The Real News. Thanks for joining us again, Larry.

LARRY WILKERSON: Good to be here, Paul.

PAUL JAY: There's no doubt that the U.S. elites are upset about Russia interfering in the U.S. elections. I still don't know what's true or what isn't true. There seems to be some evidence that there were troll farms and such sending out messages to the U.S. public that could have influenced some of the election. There's allegations about the Wikipedia stuff. Not Wikipedia, I'm sorry. WikiLeaks.

All that being said, it didn't change the outcome of the election. This seems to be more something that's being used to try to attack Trump from the Democrats generally, because they would like to weaken Trump, and then as I say the preponderance of the foreign policy establishment, the neoconservatives, do not like Trump entertaining the idea that it's okay for Russia to have saved the Assad administration in Syria, and it's okay to start wheeling and dealing and perhaps lifting the embargo on Russia. That seems to be a serious internal fight within the American elites.

Anyway, let's start with that big question, and then we'll go from there. Pretty soon, we'll be taking viewer questions. If you're watching live, you can comment on YouTube, comment on Facebook, or at TheRealNews.com. If you have any questions, comments, we'll try to work them into the show. Larry, what's your take?

LARRY WILKERSON: Just flowing directly into what you just said in your opening statement, I think there are two really irritating factors out there for the new Rome, if you will, that the United States became in 1945. One is Russia, as you ably pointed out, but that's in a more or less military, covert operation, clandestine activities, propaganda vein. Russia is not really that powerful economically.

The other is China, extremely powerful economically, by purchasing power parity the number one economy in the world, and by all measurements probably in another decade or decade and a half, the number one economic power in the world. China just scared South Korea significantly with its economic power and the sanctions they brought to bear on the Republic of Korea. South Korea is going to nix any more Theater High Altitude Air Defense deployment for the peninsula. That shows you the power that China has.

It's a two-pronged enemy out there, if you will, in the vein that you just described. Of course there are others, other irritants, but those are the two big ones.

PAUL JAY: Let's start with Russia, because right now in the American news, the media, and in culture, movies, television shows, the big bad guy is Russia. I do want to add, Russia is a big capitalist power, as in China. They don't have different agendas than the United States do, in the sense that if Russia could be the global single superpower, I think they would love it, and they would be just as aggressive and perhaps more so than the United States. The same thing goes with China, but they're not. They're secondary. They're second-tier powers, at least at this time.

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From Wall Writings

The first time I almost met Martin Luther King, Jr., would have been at his father's Ebenezer Baptist church, in Atlanta, Georgia. I was one of three Emory University seminary students assigned to visit MLK, Sr's church. We were part of a class called Race.

After the Sunday morning worship service, MLK, Sr., took us to his office for an interview. As we were leaving, Dr. King invited us to return the following Sunday, adding, "My son Martin will be delivering his first sermon after receiving his Ph.D. from the Boston School of Theology."

None of us returned. That missed opportunity remains at the top of my personal list of Bad Decisions While Growing Up.

I told that story to MLK, Jr., when, as editor of the Christian Adocate, a United Methodist pastor's magazine, I interviewed him more than a year before his assassination on a Memphis, Tennessee, motel balcony.

He was killed 50 years ago this Wednesday, April 4, 1968, shot by a lone gunman from a window in a nearby boarding establishment.

What prompted my request for an interview in Chicago, was the publication of an essay which had focused on King's decision to broaden his movement's civil rights focus to include opposition to the war in Vietnam and the issue of poverty.

Were Vietnam and poverty the issues that prompted that evil moment when King died? King had long faced powerful forces that wanted him shut down. James Earl Ray fired the shot that ended the life of a civil rights icon.

What the shot did not do was end the movement King inspired.

King was in Memphis to fight for a wage increase for the city's garbage workers. This fight was part of King's effort to broaden his civil rights movement to include poverty as part of his Poor People's Campaign initiative.

In his final speech The New York Times recalls King's words that continue to inspire us to action.

"In the speech delivered the night before his death, Dr. King declared: 'The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers.'"

It was King's Dream to lead this nation toward peace and justice. His life ended on April 4, 1968, but one half-century later, Penn State's Joshua Inwood insists, "With over 43 million people living in poverty in the United States today, King's ideas still hold much power."

As Inwood wrote in his essay, King was a leader who understood the necessity of taking the long view:

"In the last three years of his life and ministry King had grown frustrated with the slow pace of reform and the lack of funding for anti-poverty programs. In 1966, for example, King moved to Chicago and lived in an urban slum to bring attention to the plight of the urban poor in northern cities. His experiences in the South had convinced him that elimination of poverty was important to winning the long-term battle for civil and social rights."

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As most people now know, Trump picked John Bolton to be his new National Security Advisor. Many progressive and libertarian outlets have already lambasted Bolton for his Neo Con credentials and agenda. With that nasty smirk on his face, Bolton actually publically has come out for the pre-emptive attacking of both Iran and North Korea... going on years now. Well, this writer wants to focus on another aspect of this ' Make believe tough guy ' as Billy Bats in the film Goodfellas referred to the Joe Pesci character Tommy DeVito. And Bolton is just that, as was Junior Bush, Cheney and a host of others from that administration. The following is right out of Wikipedia:

During the 1969 Vietnam War draft lottery , Bolton drew number 185. (Draft numbers corresponded to birth dates.) As a result of the Johnson and Nixon administrations' decisions to rely largely on the draft rather than on the reserve forces, joining a Guard or Reserve unit became a way to avoid service in the Vietnam War . Bolton enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard in 1970 rather than wait to find out if his draft number would be called. (The highest number called to military service was 195.) After serving in the National Guard for four years, he served in the United States Army Reserve until the end of his enlistment two years later. He wrote in his Yale 25th reunion book "I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy. I considered the war in Vietnam already lost." In an interview, Bolton discussed his comment in the reunion book, explaining that he decided to avoid service in Vietnam because "by the time I was about to graduate in 1970, it was clear to me that opponents of the Vietnam War had made it certain we could not prevail, and that I had no great interest in going there to have Teddy Kennedy give it back to the people I might die to take it away from." [

What a load of crapola! Oh yeah John, you would have enlisted in the real army and not the "Guaranteed to never be sent to the Nam National Guard" if you felt the ( so called ) war was winnable in 1970. Guess what John, I got this nice bridge in Brooklyn for sale. In Yale, you know you were ' gung ho ' to kill those Commies and stop the spread of Asian style Bolshevism '. You know that! Just like Junior Bush, two years your elder, who felt the same way and took a similar route ( thanks to his dad ) in the Texas Air National Guard. One wonders if you were a few years older and around DC politics in 1961, if you would have agreed with the unanimous suggestion by the Joints Chiefs to do a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union; or in fall of ' 62 to ditto that upon Cuba. It seems you love WAR John, so long as it's not YOU doing the fighting! Oh yes, and what about Trump, your new boss? He too must have banged the bongos for our ( so called ) Vietnam War... so long as he remained safe in his college deferment.

Folks, you all out there who decided to support and vote for either Trump or Clinton in 2016, sure did your homework. She being the classic war mongerer, and he the phony demagogue populist. Either way, we get the Neo Cons running our government as the rest of we working stiffs go down the drain.
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At least 18 Palestinians have died in Gaza after Israeli forces opened fire Friday on a protest near the Gaza Strip's eastern border with Israel. As many as 1,700 Palestinians were wounded. The deaths and injuries came as 30,000 Gaza residents gathered near the wall, as part of a planned six-week-long nonviolent protest against the blockade of Gaza and to demand the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The protests began on Friday, March 30, known as "Land Day," marking the anniversary of the 1976 killing of six Palestinians protesting the Israeli confiscation of Arab land. Video posted online shows unarmed Palestinians being shot in the back while taking part in Friday's protest. Another 49 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces on Saturday. Israel's actions have been condemned around the world, but Israel is rejecting calls to investigate the killings. At the United Nations, the U.S. blocked a move by the U.N. Security Council to open an investigation.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZALEZ: We begin today's show in Gaza, where 18 Palestinians have died, after Israeli forces opened fire Friday on a protest near the Gaza Strip's eastern border with Israel. As many as 1,700 Palestinians were wounded. The deaths and injuries came as 30,000 Gaza residents gathered near the wall as part of a planned six-week-long nonviolent protest against the blockade of Gaza and to demand the right of return for Palestinian refugees. The protests began on Friday, March 30th, which is known as "Land Day." The annual event marks the anniversary of the March 30th, 1976, killing of six Palestinians protesting the Israeli confiscation of Arab land. Video posted online shows unarmed Palestinians being shot in the back while taking part in Friday's protest. Another 49 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces on Saturday.

AMY GOODMAN: Israel's actions have been condemned around the world, but Israel is rejecting calls to investigate the killings. Meanwhile, at the United Nations, the U.S. blocked a move by the U.N. Security Council to open an investigation. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, condemned Israel's actions.

RIYAD MANSOUR: These peaceful demonstrations posed no threat whatsoever to Israel or its heavily armed soldiers. Yet its trigger-happy soldiers used live ammunition, tear gas and rubber bullets to shoot indiscriminately at those nonviolent protesters, who were demonstrating inside the Gaza Strip near their side of the well-fortified barrier that separates them from Israel. How could that be condoned?

AMY GOODMAN: Israel has defended its use of lethal force. Captain Keren Hajioff is the head of public diplomacy in the Israel Defense Forces.

CAPT. KEREN HAJIOFF: What we've seen over the last 24 hours is anything other than a peaceful protest. What we've seen is a violent riot in its clearest form. The Hamas terrorist organization have sent their people here to camouflage their true intentions. And we've seen that on the ground, just behind where I'm standing right now.

AMY GOODMAN: We go first to Gaza City to attorney Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. He received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 1991. He was also twice named an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience.

Raji Sourani, take us back to Land Day, to Friday, and talk about what took place.

RAJI SOURANI: Gazans, after 11 years of criminal, illegal, inhuman siege, which suffocated Gaza socially and economically, and after three wars, where Israel was targeting, in the eye of the storm, the Palestinian civilians and civilian targets. And this time, where Israel didn't allow rebuilding Gaza, and denied us from our basic rights, I mean, to that level we are not able to treat our water or our sewage. Gaza, after 11 years of siege, having 65 percent unpaid or unemployed, having 90 percent under poverty line, and 85 percent depends on UNRWA rations, so they shifted us to be a nation of beggars in a biggest man-made disaster. Two million people are crippled, not because we are lazy. We have one of the highest percents of university graduates, and we have one of the most fantastic skilled workers, and we have no illiteracy. But with that, they didn't allow us to function normally, and they decided to disconnect us from the West Bank and from the outside world, and invested all reasons to make Gaza, really, I mean, ISIS space, where people lose hope, no future and no opportunity for -- at any level or by any chance.

So, people wanted, after all this conspiracy of silence, after all this pain and suffering, to demonstrate for their dignity, for their right of having an end for this criminal, illegal, inhuman siege, which all international human rights organizations, all U.N. bodies and all world civil society denied and denounced and condemned Israel of practicing it. They just wanted to have an outcry. We want to have an end. We want to be free. We want to have, you know, access to the outside world. We want to be normal. This is incredible, what's going on. And people just decided to resort, in Land Day, to a peaceful means, peaceful demonstration.

And they went, in hundreds of thousands -- men, women, young, old. From early morning, everybody marched and went to very specific points designated by the political parties to demonstrate that. And all political parties declared and committed themselves to have it clearly peacefully. I personally was there. I was on the border with the people, from the early morning. I can assure you 100 percent what I have seen, what I witnessed, what I felt, what all our field workers across the Gaza Strip felt and watched and noticed, that this was 100 percent peaceful demonstrations. Nothing -- nothing -- weird had happened. All people were away from the fence, tens of meters, between 50 to 100 meters at least.

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Is it war yet?

Yes, in too many respects.

It's a relentless economic, diplomatic, and ideological war, spiced with (so far) just a dash of military war, and the strong scent of more to come.

I mean war with Russia, of course, although Russia is the point target for a constellation of emerging adversaries the US is desperate to entame before any one or combination of them becomes too strong to defeat. These include countries like Iran and China, which are developing forces capable of resisting American military aggression against their own territory and on a regional level, and have shown quite too much uppitiness about staying in their previously-assigned geopolitical cages.

But Russia is the only country that has put its military forces in the way of a U.S. program of regime change--indirectly in Ukraine, where Russia would not get out of the way, and directly in Syria, where Russia actively got in the way. So Russia is the focus of attack, the prime target for an exemplary comeuppance.

Is it, then, a new Cold War, even more dangerous than the old one, as Stephen F. Cohen says ?

That terminology was apt even a few months ago, but the speed, ferocity, and coordination of the West/NATO's reaction to the alleged nerve-agent poisoning of the Skripals, as well as the formation of a War Cabinet in Washington, indicates to me that we've moved to another level of aggression.

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In the most recent previous article of this series we introduced another balanced voting system, BRV, that serves as an alternative system for those who consider' Balanced Approval Voting to be too complicated. In that a voter is asked to express an opinion about only one candidate, BRV is no more complicated than plurality voting. This is in sharp contrast to a voter being asked to express an opinion about every candidate as happens with BAV as in so many alternative voting systems.

But this concern for complexity may be overdrawn. Complexity of this sort is not the same thing as difficulty. Plurality voting is simple in the sense that the voter just picks one candidate to vote for, but picking that candidate may actually be quite challenging for many voters. There are many considerations to weigh in that choice and these issues may become clear as we explore a hypothetical election with a half-dozen candidates. Voters may find a more complex electoral system easier to deal with if it permits the voter to more accurately express how the voter feels about the candidates. Being pressured to think strategically about the election's outcome makes a voter's job much more difficult.

The example election we consider has six candidates that we will name Ri, La, Le, Li, Lo and Lu. Ri has the support of big business and importantly by big media and also supported by nearly 30% of likely voters. La, Le, Li, Lo and Lu pretty evenly split the remaining 70% of likely voters with each being supported by roughly 14%. Each of La, Le, Li, Lo and Lu represent particular issues that are of great interest to their voters so, while these voters nearly all consider Ri to be the last choice, their first-place choices also tend to be fairly rigid.

Plurality Voting:

PV is the most widely used system of voting and it is the system we all are familiar with. With PV, the voter is asked to choose the candidate he (or she) likes best and then vote for that candidate; this system might better be called First Choice Voting. But in practice and with good reason, voters do not always do what they are told. They often do not vote for their actual first choice but rather for their first choice just among the candidates considered to have a good chance of winning the election.

With PV, the candidate Ri clearly has an unsurmountable advantage with a wide lead over any of the other candidates. Unfortunately though, this means that the candidate most strongly opposed by about 70% of the voters will win election will win. The media will of course avoid making any of the other candidates stand out from the pack and this will leave voters with little guidance regarding which of La, Le, Li, Lo and Lu might be the most likely of them to win election. Ri would seem to be a shoe-in with this traditional voting system.

Balanced Plurality Voting:

With BPV, the voter is asked to choose one candidate but in this case it should be the candidate the voter is most concerned about, not necessarily the candidate likes the most. The voter can cast a vote for that candidate or against that one candidate and we will see that the outcome of the election will depend significantly on that decision. Clearly, the supporters of Ri will vote for Ri, if only because they would not know which of the other candidates to vote against . But the 70% of voters who support the other candidates all share an opposition to Ri so some might choose to vote against Ri instead of for their favorite candidate. Many would likely recognize that if they vote support, say for Lo then their vote would help Ri to win; however voting against Ri would also help Li win against Lo so it is a difficult choice for the voter to make.

If 10% of the voters decide to vote against Ri then the net vote for Ri would drop to 20% (= 30% - 10%) but Ri would still win if, as would likely happen, that 10% were evenly divided among the other candidates. Each would each be supported by only 12% ( = 14% - 2%) of the voters. The outcome become a toss-up, however, when around 20% of the voters decided to vote against Ri. Ri's net vote would drop to 10% (= 30% - 20%) in this case while the average net vote for the other candidates would rise to 10%. But if more than 20% of the voters chose to vote against Ri then there would be no way for Ri to win.

Ri's supporters will obviously want everyone to vote for the candidate they most like. Whether they might try to influence voters in that direction with up-beat slogans like Vote for the Candidate you Really Like or Don't be Negative or whether they might instead just focus on selective voter suppression is hard to predict. They might well use both tactics; the only certainty is that some supporters of Ri will lose sleep trying to figure out what is the best way to defeat the will of that troublesome 70% of voters.

Balanced Approval Voting:

With BAV, a voter is asked to evaluate every candidate by marking the ballot as Approve or Disapprove for each one . When the ballots are counted, a tally is made for each candidate of the number of ballots marked Approve and the number marked Disapprove and the net vote for a candidate is the difference (the number of Approve less the number of Disapprove). The candidate with the largest net vote wins the election.

In our hypothetical election, about 30% of the voters will Approve of Ri while about 70% will disapprove so Ri will have a net vote of -40%. Each of La, Le, Li, Lo and Lu will each have roughly the same vote tallies of about +14% of the ballots, essentially a five-way tie while Ri runs a distant sixth place.

The negative net vote that Ri receives is a clear reflection of the fact that more voters disapprove of Ri than approve of her (or him). But it is worth recalling that with plurality voting, Ri would win and even with BPV, Ri there is a good possibility that Ri might win. With BAV there is much more certainty that a dramatically unpopular candidate could not possibly win election.

As for how the media might try to tip the scale for Ri with BAV it is hard to say and that alone seems to be a good thing. Unfortunately, changing the voting method cannot avoid the hazards of voter suppression and other forms of outright election fraud. Participation of more viable candidates does seem to make election fraud more complicated and perhaps even a bit more difficult, however.



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Balanced Randomized Voting:

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From CEPR

We have seen a lot of hyperventilating in political circles over Donald Trump's recently proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum. While these do not seem like well-considered policies, and are likely to do more harm than good even from the narrow standpoint of increasing manufacturing employment, they are not by themselves the horror story being presented.

Steel prices often fluctuate by 20 or 30 percent over the course of a year, as they did in 2016. If tariffs raise the price in the US by 10 percent, that would be unfortunate for downstream industries, but not exactly a catastrophe.

However, more important than the specifics of a steel tariff is the implicit assumption that the country as a whole has an interest in stronger and longer patent and copyright protection. Many pundits have attacked Trump's focus on steel and manufacturing because they argue, we should be more concerned about protecting US corporations' patents and copyrights overseas. This doesn't make sense.

At the most basic level, stronger and longer patent and copyright protection means that people in other countries have to pay more money. These government-granted monopolies often allow companies to raise the price of the protected items by a factor of 10 or even a 100. In this way, they are equivalent to tariffs of several thousand percent.

Just to be clear, this is not a point that can be honestly disputed by economists. If a government barrier raises the price of a good, it doesn't matter whether we call that barrier a "tariff" or a "patent," the impact on the market is the same.

This means if Pfizer's patent protection on a drug allows it to raise the price it charges for a drug in China or some other developing country by a factor of 10 over the free market price, it is equivalent to imposing a tariff of 1,000 percent on the drug. The difference is that instead of the tariff revenue going to the government, it goes back to Pfizer as higher profits.

It's obvious that higher profits for Pfizer are good for its shareholders and top executives, but why should the rest of us be happy about people in developing countries paying more money to Pfizer for its drugs? Many of us care more about poor people being able to get drugs than Pfizer's profits.

The story gets even worse. The more money that Pfizer and other US companies collect overseas for their patents and copyrights, the less these people have to spend on other goods and services. In effect, because Pfizer can charge more for its drugs, people in China and other countries have less money to spend on US-made cars and planes. How is this good for most of the people in the United States?

The pushers of stronger and longer patent and copyright protection will undoubtedly claim that higher profits will provide more incentive for research and creative work. This is true, but what are the numbers? If Pfizer gets another $1 billion in profit will they invest one percent of it in research?

That would be an increase, but that means the world would be spending $1 billion in higher drug prices to get an additional $10 million in research. That's not a very good deal. And, even this research could be largely wasted on developing copycat drugs that are intended to gain a portion of a competitor's patent earnings by duplicating a successful drug. Again, that could be good for Pfizer, but it is not especially helpful for the rest of us who want to see research focused on developing treatments for conditions where there is not already an effective drug.

To be clear, we do need a mechanism for financing research and creative work, but there is little reason to believe that patent and copyright monopolies are the most effective tool. These are relics of the Medieval guild system. We can do better in the 21st century.

It would be great if we could have a serious debate on the most efficient way to finance research and creative work. That may be asking too much from our national media. How about we set the bar a little lower.

How about if the media stop telling us that what is good for Pfizer and Microsoft is good for the country as a whole. We get that reporters and editors' friends and family members might benefit from longer and stronger patent and copyright protection, but maybe they can try thinking beyond your immediate experience. After all, this is supposed to be what they are paid to do.

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If you think prescription drugs are getting more dangerous, you are right. Once upon a time if a drug were linked to dangerous side effects or deaths, it would simply not be approved. End of story. Now, the risks are transferred to the patient in the form of detailed warnings on the label and TV commercials.

This provides a false sense of security. Most patients still believe a doctor would not prescribe a drug if it weren't safe and doctors still believe the FDA would not approve a drug it weren't safe. In many case, both have barely noticed the take-at-your-own-risk status of many prescription drugs which once would not have been approved.

Recent examples of drugs that once would not have been approved include the aggressively promoted blood thinners Xarelto and Pradaxa which are linked to uncontrollable bleeding and deaths since there is no drug to arrest bleeding. The FDA received 15,043 reports of serious injury or death linked to Xarelto in one year alone.

Then there's fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Fluoroquinolones are among the best-selling drug classes but are linked to tendinitis and tendon ruptures, liver injury, heart problems and mental effects like confusion, hallucinations and psychosis. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that of 4,384 patients diagnosed with retinal detachment, 445 (10 percent) were exposed to a fluoroquinolone in the year before diagnosis. Fluoroquinolones are a "major risk factor for development of community and hospital acquired C. difficile infection," reports the Duke Antimicrobial Stewardship Outreach Network (Dason), the dreaded and tenacious intestinal microbe. Last year because of serious side effects, some permanent, the FDA said fluoroquinolones should only be used as a last resort.

Why are such dangerous drugs being waved through? The FDA was always Pharma friendly because of cronyism, the revolving door and huge fees drug makers pay for quicker approvals but it has become more so.



Big Pharma has friends in high places

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When Robert Califf was confirmed in 2016 as FDA Commissioner despite 23 financial links to Pharma and cheerleading for Vioxx and Xarelto, many felt the industry taint at the FDA could not get worse. Little did they know Trump would pick venture capitalist Scott Gottlieb to be FDA Commissioner----a person so enmeshed with Pharma profits and conflicts of interest, his appointment would once have been inconceivable.

"From 2013 to 2015, for example, Dr. Gottlieb received more than $150,000 to advise Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a company whose two approved drugs are seen as breakthrough treatments for cystic fibrosis but carry list prices of more than $250,000 a year," wrote the New York Times when he was picked. "He's the acting chief executive of Cell Biotherapy, an early-stage cancer biotech firm that he helped found. He has served for years as a consultant to pharmaceutical giants like GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol-Myers Squibb and is paid by other companies for his expertise."

Gottlieb has also held seats on the corporate boards of Tolero Pharmaceuticals and MedAvante, which assists pharmaceutical companies with clinical trials, the Times noted.

Of course it is not just the FDA that now belongs to industry under Trump. The new head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Michael Azar II, is a former Pharma executive and lobbyist. Think about that.

With the foxes guarding the henhouses, is it any wonder drugs are becoming more expensive and dangerous?
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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Utility Communication Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Utility communication is a set of technologies and devices used to coordinate various parts of a complicated utilities distribution system. It monitors & controls grid equipment, measures network performance, and delivers real-time information. Advancement in IT systems led to the development of automated distribution networks for utilities (power, energy, etc.) for efficient functioning of modern power systems. The utility communication market is expected to witness significant growth across the world in the near future owing to automation requirement. This communication system allows well-regulated and efficient transfer of utilities such as power or gas.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The utility communications network is a two-way communication process between all of the data points across the utility. To avoid an ecosystem of fragmented communication networks, utilities around the world are investing heavily to improve communications infrastructure. This infrastructure supports demand response (DR), distribution automation (DA), and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), fueled by regulatory requirements, government grants, and the high cost of inefficiently delivering energy.With distributed power generation and the evolution of smarter grids gaining popularity, communication is becoming even more important in the world of utilities. Utilities are establishing to seek ample communication solutions to help manage their multi-vendor, multi-technology networks. Many utilities are struggling to extract value from existing systems because of the problems in managing multiple advanced metering infrastructure platforms. Sudden increase in power consumption, with no corresponding expansion of generation and transmission capacity, have led to increasing demand for utility communication systems around the world.Growth in renewable generation and distributed resources has led to the exponential development of utility communication systems. Along with renewable resource generation, smart cities projects around the globe are anticipated to garner increased adoption of utility communication during the forecast period. Majority of the countries in the world are focusing on the implementation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) which includes the installation of smart meters and other electronic devices that enable two-way communication and data transfer between end-users and utilities. Factors such as wrong billing, theft and fraud of power, late payments, and meter reading costs are influencing the shift from traditional metes to smart meters. These factors are anticipated to propel the demand for utility communication over the forecast period. However, the utility industry is a highly regulated industry and this is a major factor hindering the growth of this market.Browse Detail Report @The global utility communication market can be segmented based on technology type, utility type, and region. In terms of technology type, the market has been bifurcated into wired communication (power line carrier, optic fiber, Ethernet) and wireless communication (RF mesh, mobile network). Based on utility type, the market can be segmented into power generation, natural gas, water & sewage, and oilfield communication.The global mobile utility communication market is segmented on the basis of regions into North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to contribute major share in the utility communication market during the forecast period. Adoption rate of utility communication solutions in North America is comparatively high when compared with other regions. Asia Pacific is among the fastest growing markets for utility communications, owing to high demand for utility communications technologies in the region. Moreover, rising demand for smart grid and smart cities infrastructure in emerging countries such as China, Japan, and India are driving the market toward growth. Europe is expected to show significant growth in the utility communication market over the forecast period. South America and Middle East & Africa regions are also expected to contribute toward growth of the market.Some of the major players active in the development of utility communication solutions include Cisco Systems, Inc., General Electric, Digi International, Inc., Siemens AG, Milsoft Utility Solutions, Inc., ABB, Ltd., Schneider Electric SE, Motorola Solutions, Inc., Omicron Electronics GmbH, and RAD Data Communications Ltd.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:- Market segments and sub-segments- Market trends and dynamics- Supply and demand- Market size- Current trends/opportunities/challenges- Competitive landscape- Technological breakthroughs- Value chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:- North America (U.S. and Canada)- Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)- Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)- Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)- Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)- Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.Make an Enquiry of this report @A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:- A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market- Important changes in market dynamics- Market segmentation up to the second or third level- Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume- Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments- Market shares and strategies of key players- Emerging niche segments and regional markets- An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market- Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Feed Probiotics Industry 2017 Market Research Report Popular Trends & Technological advancements, Forecast & Opportunities

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A latest report has been added to the wide database of Feed Probiotics Market by Infinium Global Research. This report studies the Feed Probiotics Market by type (bifidobacteria, lactobacilli), by livestock (aquaculture, horses, poultry, pets, ruminant, swine) and by region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific) market status and outlook of global and major regions, from manufacturers, and end industries. The objective of the study is to identify market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values for the next six years. Feed Probiotics Market provides opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape, latest trends, and product offerings of the major companies in the Feed Probiotics Market.Get Sample Copy of this Report:Segment CoveredThe report on global feed probiotics market covers segments such as, type and livestock. On the basis of type the global feed probiotics market is categorized into bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and others. On the basis of livestock the global feed probiotics market is categorized into aquaculture, horses, poultry, pets, ruminant, swine and others.Geographic CoverageThe report provides regional analysis covering geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World. In this section the key trends and market size for each geography is provided over the period of 2015-2023.Get 15% discount for early purchase of Feed Probiotics Market report by clicking the following link, Use code IGRD15 to request the discount in the given form:The countries covered in the North America region include the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; while Asia-Pacific includes China, Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia, and among others. Moreover, Germany, U.K., France, Spain, and Rest of Europe are included in the European region. The U.S. drives the growth in the North America region as it is the largest market in the region. The Asia-pacific region offers a substantial potential for the market growth owing to rapid growth in markets such as India and China. The APAC region is projected to experience a growth at a CAGR of x.x% over the period of 2017-2023.Companies Profiled:Provita Eurotech Ltd.Novus International Inc.Life Products Inc.,Novozymes A/SEvonik Industries AG,Calpis Co. Ltd.AlltechMitsui & Co.LtdSchouw & Co.Kemin Industries Inc.Make an Enquiry:Report Highlights:The report provides deep insights on demand forecasts, market trends and micro and macro indicators. In addition, this report provides insights on the factors that are driving and restraining the global feed probiotics market. Moreover, IGR-Growth Matrix analysis given in the report brings an insight on the investment areas that existing or new market players can consider. The report provides insights into the market using analytical tools such as Porter's five forces analysis and DRO analysis of feed probiotics market.Moreover, the study highlights current market trends and provides forecast from 2017-2023. We also have highlighted future trends in the feed probiotics market that will impact the demand during the forecast period. Moreover, the competitive analysis given in each regional market brings an insight on the market share of the leading players. This report will help manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of the feed probiotics market to understand the present and future trends in this market and formulate their strategies accordingly.Table of Contents1. Preface1.1. Report Description1.2. Research Methods1.3. Research Approaches2. Executive Summary3. Global Feed Probiotics Market Overview3.1. Introduction3.2. Market Dynamics3.2.1. Drivers3.2.2. Restraints3.2.3. Opportunities3.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis3.4. IGR-Growth Matrix Analysis3.5. Competitive Landscape in the Global Feed Probiotics Market4. Global Feed Probiotics Market by Type4.1. Bifidobacteria4.2. Lactobacilli4.3. Others5. Global Feed Probiotics Market by Livestock5.1. Aquaculture5.2. Horses5.3. Poultry5.4. Pets5.5. Ruminant5.6. Swine5.7. Others6. Global Feed Probiotics Market by Region 2017-20236.1. North America6.1.1. North America Feed Probiotics Market by Type6.1.2. North America Feed Probiotics Market by Livestock6.1.3. North America Feed Probiotics Market by Country6.2. Europe6.2.1. Europe Feed Probiotics Market by Type6.2.2. Europe Feed Probiotics Market by Livestock6.2.3. Europe Feed Probiotics Market by Country6.3. Asia-Pacific6.3.1. Asia-Pacific Feed Probiotics Market by Type6.3.2. Asia-Pacific Feed Probiotics Market by Livestock6.3.3. Asia-Pacific Feed Probiotics Market by Country6.4. RoW6.4.1. RoW Feed Probiotics Market by Type6.4.2. RoW Feed Probiotics Market by Livestock6.4.3. RoW Feed Probiotics Market by Sub-region7. Company Covered7.1. Provita Eurotech Ltd.7.2. Novus International Inc.7.3. Life Products Inc.7.4. Novozymes A/s7.5. Evonik Industries Ag7.6. Calpis Co., Ltd.7.7. Alltech7.8. Mitsui & Co., Ltd7.9. Schouw & Co.7.10. Kemin Industries Inc.Infinium Global Research and Consulting Solutions is started with a single motto of being business partner of first choice. We at Infinium work on the strengths of our clients to ensure we help them consolidate their market position. We firmly believe in the fact that if you are able to develop newer opportunities then you find there is no dearth of opportunities for you. With our strategic research approaches and deep dive in the market segments, we try to find out new opportunities that our clients can encash with their existing resources.Contact Us:Infinium Global ResearchGoyal Shinde Park, Bhau Patil Road,Bopodi, Pune-411 020.U.S. + Canada Toll Free: 1-800-638-0796Email: sales@infiniumglobalresearch.comWebsite:
Data Center Construction Market Trends and Growth Drivers 2023 | Arizton

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The development of additional colocation and hyperscale data centers that can support processing Exabytes of data generated by both business and consumer users is fueling the growth of the data center construction market.According to Arizton's recent report the data center construction market in Americas is expected to generate revenues of over $3.5 billion by 2023 and growing at a CAGR of approximately 5% during 2018-2023. The major operations in the American market are Virginia, Texas, California, New York, North Carolina, and Illinois. Equinix, Digital Realty (DuPont Fabros Technology), Facebook, CyrusOne, and Switch are the leading vendors in the market in Americas and are developing facilities in multiple locations spanning thousands of square feet area. The growing demand from various industry verticals such as BFSI and IT is propelling the growth of the data center construction market. The installation of efficient infrastructure and procurement of renewable energy sources for facilities in the global market. Stability in designs and sustainability standards are certified by organizations such as Uptime Institute and Green Grid in the American market.Read an Exclusive Report On Data Center Construction Market in AmericasNorth America Data Center Construction MarketThe presence of construction contractors and sub-contractors, installation and commission service providers, physical security, architectural firms and physical security providers in the data center construction market in North America. Colocation service providers and hyperscale operators are the major contributors to the investment market in North America. The US contributes over 85% of the investment in the data center construction market in Americas. The growing popularity of edge computing and connected devices are major factors propelling the demand in the market in North America. The market in North America is projected to reach values of around $3.2 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of more than 4% during the forecast period. The operators are construction facilities equipped with 2N power infrastructure, and most of the facilities enable cooling through free-cooling solutions. The US and Canada are expected to grow at a significant rate in the American market over the next few years. Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Toronto, and Montreal are the largest revenue contributors in the market in North America. Data center operators in North America are attracted toward regions that facilitate the use of free-cooling solutions, renewable source of energy, low-cost electricity, and tax incentives.Read: Leading Market Segments in the Data Center Construction Market in AmericaLatin America Data Center Construction MarketLatin America is witnessing growth in the modular data center construction and increasing wireline, and wireless traffic in the region is attributing to the growth of the data center construction market in Latin America. The growth cloud computing and colocation services as cloud computing increase the connectivity from service providers such as AWS, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and IBM are augmenting the growth of the market. The market in Latin America comprises local building developers, installation and commissioning service providers, and architectural firms. Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and Peru are the major contributors in the market in Latin America. In 2017, Ascenty opened five data center facilities, and Angola Cables facility is likely to open its data center in Northeast Brazil in 2018. The increasing awareness toward end-to-end monitoring of data center infrastructure in Latin America is expected to gain traction during the forecast period. The data center construction market in Latin America is estimated to reach values of approximately $316 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of around 11% during 2018-2023. The growing power consumption of facilities is prompting providers to adopt efficient infrastructure, reducing power consumption through monitoring and management of facilities via DCIM. The adoption of water and air-based cooling solutions that are used to cool down the heat generated in the rack levels is transforming the growth of the data center construction market in Latin America.The leading vendors in the data center construction market in America areKey Construction ContractorsTurner ConstructionHolder ConstructionDPR ConstructionJacobs EngineeringCorganAECOMSyska Hennessy GroupAceco TIKey Physical Security and DCIM ProvidersABBAssa AbloyBosch Security Systems (Robert Bosch)Honeywell InternationalNlyte SoftwareSchneider ElectricSiemensSimplexGrinnell (Tyco International)Sunbird SoftwareVertivREAD THE LATEST REPORT ON DATA CENTER CONSTRUCTION MARKETAbout Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceArizton  Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.Arizton has gained a paramount standpoint in the market research arena as it offers top of the line solutions to clients to assess market landscape and to finalize foolproof business strategies. We are committed to provide inclusive market research reports and consulting services to clients from diversified industries including Consumer Goods & Retail Technology, Automotive and Mobility, Smart Tech, Healthcare and Lifesciences, Industrial Machinery, Chemicals and Materials, IT and Media, Logistics and PackagingArizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports.Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceChicago, Illinois, 60605Mail: enquiry@arizton.comCall: +1-312-465-7864
Barium Titanate 2018 Global Industry Key Players - Sakai Chemical , Nippon Chemical , Japan Kyoritsu Ceramic , Toho Titanium , Ferro Market Analysis And Forecast To 2023

World Barium Titanate Market

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World Barium Titanate MarketExecutive SummaryBarium Titanate market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.Request a Sample Report @The Players mentioned in our reportSakai ChemicalNippon ChemicalJapan Kyoritsu CeramicToho TitaniumFerroShandong SinoceraGuangdong FenghuaFuji TitaniumGlobal Barium Titanate Market: Product Segment AnalysisSolid phase methodWet chemical methodOthersGlobal Barium Titanate Market: Application Segment AnalysisPTC ThermistorElectronic CeramicsReinforcement of compositeOther applicationsGlobal Barium Titanate Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaTable of Content-Key Points CoveredChapter 1 About the Barium Titanate Industry1.1 Industry Definition and Types1.1.1 Solid phase method1.1.2 Wet chemical method1.1.3 Others1.2 Main Market Activities1.3 Similar Industries1.4 Industry at a GlanceChapter 2 World Market Competition Landscape2.1 Barium Titanate Markets by Regions2.1.1 USAMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.2 EuropeMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.3 ChinaMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.4 IndiaMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.5 JapanMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.6 South East AsiaMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.2 World Barium Titanate Market by TypesSolid phase methodWet chemical methodOthers2.3 World Barium Titanate Market by ApplicationsPTC ThermistorElectronic CeramicsReinforcement of compositeOther applications2.4 World Barium Titanate Market Analysis2.4.1 World Barium Titanate Market Revenue and Growth Rate 2012-20172.4.2 World Barium Titanate Market Consumption and Growth rate 2012-20172.4.3 World Barium Titanate Market Price Analysis 2012-2017Chapter 3 World Barium Titanate Market share3.1 Major Production Market share by Players3.2 Major Revenue (M USD) Market share by Players3.3 Major Production Market share by Regions in 2017, Through 20223.4 Major Revenue (M USD) Market share By Regions in 2017, Through 2022Chapter 4 Supply Chain Analysis4.1 Industry Supply chain Analysis4.2 Raw material Market Analysis4.2.1 Raw material Prices Analysis 2012-20174.2.2 Raw material Supply Market Analysis4.2 Manufacturing Equipment Suppliers Analysis4.3 Production Process Analysis4.4 Production Cost Structure Benchmarks4.5 End users Market AnalysisContinued.Complete Report Details @Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt LtdOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Multifunction Packing Machine Market Professional Survey Report 2018 Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis

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This report studies Multifunction Packing Machine in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2013 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringM.J.Maillis (Greece)Lantech (US)Robopac (Aetna) (Italy)TAM (Japan)ARPAC (US)Reiser (US)Muller (US)Orion (US)NitechIPM (US)Hanagata Corporation (Japan)Youngsun (China)On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoSemi-automatic Particle Filling MachineSack Packaging MachineValve Pocket Packing MachineAutomatic Powder Filling MachineOthersRequest for sample copy of report:By Application, the market can be split intoFood & BeeverageConsummer GoodsOthersBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaTable of ContentsGlobal Multifunction Packing Machine Market Professional Survey Report 20181 Industry Overview of Multifunction Packing Machine1.1 Definition and Specifications of Multifunction Packing Machine1.1.1 Definition of Multifunction Packing Machine1.1.2 Specifications of Multifunction Packing Machine1.2 Classification of Multifunction Packing Machine1.2.1 Semi-automatic Particle Filling Machine1.2.2 Sack Packaging Machine1.2.3 Valve Pocket Packing Machine1.2.4 Automatic Powder Filling Machine1.2.5 Others1.3 Applications of Multifunction Packing Machine1.3.1 Food & Beeverage1.3.2 Consummer Goods1.3.3 Others1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 IndiaRequest for complete TOC of this report:2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Multifunction Packing Machine2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Multifunction Packing Machine2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Multifunction Packing Machine2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Multifunction Packing Machine3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Multifunction Packing Machine3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Multifunction Packing Machine Major Manufacturers in 20173.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Multifunction Packing Machine Major Manufacturers in 20173.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Multifunction Packing Machine Major Manufacturers in 20173.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Multifunction Packing Machine Major Manufacturers in 20174 Global Multifunction Packing Machine Overall Market Overview4.1 2013-2018E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2013-2018E Global Multifunction Packing Machine Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2013-2018E Global Multifunction Packing Machine Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2013-2018E Global Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Price4.4.2 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Multifunction Packing Machine Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Multifunction Packing Machine Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Multifunction Packing Machine Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Market Share Analysis5.2 China Multifunction Packing Machine Market Analysis5.2.1 China Multifunction Packing Machine Market Overview5.2.2 China 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Multifunction Packing Machine Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Multifunction Packing Machine Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Multifunction Packing Machine Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Multifunction Packing Machine Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.4.3 Southeast Asia 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.4.4 Southeast Asia 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Market Share Analysis5.5 Japan Multifunction Packing Machine Market Analysis5.5.1 Japan Multifunction Packing Machine Market Overview5.5.2 Japan 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.5.3 Japan 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.5.4 Japan 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Market Share Analysis5.6 India Multifunction Packing Machine Market Analysis5.6.1 India Multifunction Packing Machine Market Overview5.6.2 India 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.6.3 India 2013-2018E Multifunction Packing Machine Sales Price Analysis5.6.4 India 2017 Multifunction Packing Machine Market Share AnalysisMRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Human Biobanking Ownership Market Trends and Growth Factors Analysis 2016  2024

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A report added recently by Transparency Market Research, titled, Human Biobanking Ownership Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 20162024, states that the genetic and various other biological information contained in biobanks enable researchers to uncover crucial facts about diseases and disorders. It is a very useful resource that can used across borders to understand patterns in medical conditions in different demographics. Because of such benefits the market for human biobanking ownership is on a sustained growth trajectory.View Report-A roadblock challenging the progress in the market for human biobanking ownership is the expensiveness of human biobanks, since genome sequencing is tedious and costly. The market is also being restrained to a degree by the strict rules and regulations in biobanking and concerns over privacy and security of human biobanks.In order to study the human biobanking ownership market, the report segments it based on operator into pharmaceutical and biotech industry, academic and research institutes, hospitals, and stand-alone biobanks. Biobanks can be funded and operated privately and publically or through public-private partnership.Request For Custom Research-Geographically, Asia Pacific, at present, leads the global human biobanking ownership market due to the swift pace of growth of clinical research organizations and private biobanks. Europe and North America are other attractive regions. In Europe, for example, nations such as Estonia are focusing on collecting the DNA of every citizen to enrich their national biobank. Efforts such as these are providing a solid boost to the market.Brochure Download-Some of the key companies operating in the global human biobanking ownership market are ProMedDx, Affymetrix Inc., Acorda Therapeutics, Abbott Laboratories, Alpha Cord Inc., Biobank Ireland Trust, Biokryo GmbH, BioLife Solutions Inc., Cells4Life Ltd., BioStorage Technologies Inc., Core Dynamics Inc., Cesca Therapeutics Inc., Sanford Health, and Cryo Bio System.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us-90 State Street,Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Silicon Carbide Market Status, 2016-2023 Market Historical and Forecasts, Professional Market Research Report

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Market Overview:This Silicon Carbide Market Research is an intelligence report with meticulous efforts undertaken to study the right and valuable information. The data which has been looked upon is done considering both, the existing top players and the upcoming competitors. Business strategies of the key players and the new entering market industries are studied in detail. Well explained SWOT analysis, revenue share and contact information are shared in this report analysis.Silicon carbide (SIC) (CAS NO. 409-21-2) is also known as carbrundum and is a compound of silica and carbon. SIC is one of the hard material, which has outstanding performance, power switching frequency, and power rating as compared to silicon. Moreover, it has potential to deliver high power switching application in extreme environment. Silicon carbide is wide gap semiconductor material which is used in semiconductor electronics devices that operate at high temperature or high voltage or both. This property has made silicon carbide to highly preferable in end-use applications.Sample Page Silicon Carbide Report Link@Market Growth rate Trend:Data integration and capabilities are analyzed to support the findings and study the predicted geographical segmentations. Various key variables and regression models were considered to calculate the trajectory of Silicon carbide market. Detailed analysis is explained and given importance to with best working models.Geographically, the segmentation is done into several key regions like North America, Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. The production, consumption, revenue, shares in mill UDS, growth rate of Silicon carbide market during the forecast period of 2016 to 2023 is well explained.The ongoing market trends of Silicon carbide market and the key factors impacting the growth prospects are elucidated. With increase in the trend, the factors affecting the trend are mentioned with perfect reasons. Top manufactures, price, revenue, market share are explained to give a depth of idea on the competitive side.Each and every segment type and their sub types are well elaborated to give a better idea about this market during the forecast period of 2016 to 2023 respectively.Regional Analysis:The global silicon carbide market is spanned across five key regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East & Africa. As of 2016, Asia Pacific emerged as one of the most promising markets across the globe and has recorded largest market shares both in terms value and volume. By acquiring more than half of the global market, Asia Pacific is expected to continue its lead over the forecast period as well. Increasing sales of various driver segment such as steel and energy, electronics, and semiconductors and automotive are responsible for the growth this region. India and China are collectively driving the Asia Pacific market on account of growing steel and energy demands driven by industrial and infrastructural development.Key Players:Grindwell Norton (India),ESK SIC GmbH, Dow Chemical Company (US),Carborundum Universal (India),Entegris Inc (US),Norstel AB (Sweden),Renesas Electronics Corporation (Japan),ROHM Co Ltd (Japan),Toshiba Corporation (Japan),Microsemi Corporation (US).Browser Page Silicon Carbide Report Link@About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
NGS Data Analysis Market Proposals & Trends Leading to 15.0% CAGR Growth during 2017-2026

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Fact.MR has been actively involved in offering comprehensive research data concerning various topics which are associated to industrial reference and investor utility. This particular research report titled NGS Data Analysis Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking - Global Review 2017 to 2026 has been added to the wide online database of Fact.MR which discusses the present as well as future market scenario. Readers can access knowledge related to market volume, regional expanse as well as competitive landscape prevailing in the global NGS Data Analysis Market. In order to study development patterns, this smart assessment also focuses on market dynamics, which talks about drivers, restraints and opportunities estimated to influence the concerned market during the period until 2022.Request for Sample Report-A new report of Fact.MR envisages the global market for NGS data analysis to record a spectacular growth during the forecast period (2017-2026). Approximately US$ 280 Mn revenues are estimated to be generated by sales of NGS data analysis solutions worldwide by 2026-end.North America to Remain Largest Market for NGS Data AnalysisNorth America is home to several well-established organizations of NGS data analysis. A significant number of NGS research projects are being carried out in Canadian universities, which in turn has resulted into huge demand for NGS data analysis, thereby affecting the revenue growth in the region. North America is set to remain the fastest-expanding and largest market for NGS data analysis.Asia-Pacific excluding Japan will also record an impressive expansion in the market through 2026, mainly driven by rising number of research grants related to sequencing projects in its developing nations such as China and India. Incorporation of high-throughput screening encouraged by positive research & development outcomes in the region will further drive the market growth in APEJ.4 Key Future Projections of NGS Data Analysis Market for Forecast Period 2017-20261. On the basis of technique, sequencing by synthesis (SBS) has been estimated to remain dominant in the global NGS data analysis market, in terms of revenues. Ion semiconductor sequencing will also endure as a lucrative technique for NGS data sequencing worldwide. Revenues from real-time (SMRT) technology will continue to be sluggish in the market.2. Academic research institutes will remain the most remunerative end-users of NGS data analysis. Sales of NGS data analysis solutions in academic research institutes are projected to record the fastest expansion through 2026.3. Hospitals are also expected to prevail as lucrative end-users of NGS data analysis, with revenues poised to exceed US$ 60 Mn by 2026-end.4. Based on service type, exome sequencing and RNA sequencing will continue to spearhead the global NGS data analysis market, in terms of revenues as well as sales expansion.Key market participants supporting growth of the global NGS data analysis market include ABM, Inc., Agilent Technologies, Biomatters, Ltd, DNAnexus, Dovetail Genomics, LLC, Edge Biosystems, Genestack, Illumina, and Roche.Browse Full Report with TOC-Table of Content:1. Global Economic Outlook2. Global NGS Data Analysis Market - Executive Summary3. Global NGS Data Analysis Market Overview3.1. Introduction3.1.1. Global NGS Data Analysis Market Taxonomy3.1.2. Global NGS Data Analysis Market Definition3.2. Global NGS Data Analysis Market Size (US$ Mn) and Forecast, 2012-20263.2.1. Global NGS Data Analysis Market Y-o-Y Growth3.3. Global NGS Data Analysis Market Dynamics3.4. Supply Chain3.5. PEST Analysis3.6. Market Positioning and Behaviour Assessment3.7. Market Competition Structure3.8. Porter's Five Factors4. Global NGS Data Analysis Market Analysis and Forecast 2012-20264.1. Global NGS Data Analysis Market Size and Forecast By Service Type, 2012-20264.1.1. Whole-genome Sequencing Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20264.1.1.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) Comparison, By Region4.1.1.2. Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.1.3. Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By RegionContinued.Check Discount on This Report-About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized Healthcare market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MRSuite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTelephone: +353-1-6111-593Email: sales@factmr.com/Web:
Polyurethane in Automotive Filter Market Proposals & Trends Leading to 4.3% CAGR Growth till 2026

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Fact.MR has been actively involved in offering comprehensive research data concerning various topics which are associated to industrial reference and investor utility. This particular research report titled Polyurethane in Automotive Filter Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking - Global Review 2017 to 2026 has been added to the wide online database of Fact.MR which discusses the present as well as future market scenario. Readers can access knowledge related to market volume, regional expanse as well as competitive landscape prevailing in the global Polyurethane in Automotive Filter Market. In order to study development patterns, this smart assessment also focuses on market dynamics, which talks about drivers, restraints and opportunities estimated to influence the concerned market during the period until 2022.Request for Sample Report-Fact.MRs new report foresees an average value CAGR of 4.3% for the global polyurethane in automotive filter market over the forecast period, 2017 to 2026. Roughly 250,000 tons of polyurethane are expected to be sold worldwide for the production of automotive filter by 2026-end.Passengers Cars to Remain Largest Revenue Contributor to Polyurethane in Automotive Filter MarketExcessive adoption of compressors in passenger cars will remain a major factor propelling demand for polyurethane for production of filters in this vehicle type segment. Passenger cars need additional air filters for cleaning polluted air entering into the cabin through HVAC systems, and manufacturers are adopting polyurethane for fabricating these filters. Revenues from sales of polyurethane for fabrication of filters used in passenger cars are estimated to remain the largest in the market.Engine filters are expected to prevail as the most remunerative filter type in the market, mainly driven by growing requirement for repair, replacement and maintenance activities. This is mainly because engine filters require periodical servicing needs as compared to cabin air filters.4 Key Future Prospects of Polyurethane in Automotive Filter Market for Forecast Period 2017-20261. In terms of value and volume, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) will continue to be the most lucrative region for expansion of the polyurethane in automotive filter market, trailed by Europe and North America. Polyurethane in automotive filter market in APEJ and North America are expected to register the fastest expansion through 2026. Over the forecast period, Europe and North America are likely to witness a significant decline in demand for polyurethane for automotive filter fabrication.2. On the basis of filter type, engine filters are likely to latch onto a market share nearly double than that of cabin air filters during the forecast period. However, sales of polyurethane for fabrication of cabin air filters are poised to exhibit a significantly higher CAGR than that for engine filters through 2026.3. Based on vehicle type, value sales of polyurethane-based automotive filter are expected to register the fastest expansion for use in heavy commercial vehicles. However, passenger cars are expected to lead the market, in terms of revenues.4. Manufacturers of automotive filter are focusing on reducing overall filter density and volume, in order to overcome component spacing challenges in modern vehicles. Automotive filters are employed in all types of automobile that include construction vehicles, commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles. Requirements of vehicle owners vary based on the type of vehicle and their use. For example, construction vehicles require heavy-duty filters that can withstand most intense operating conditions.Browse Full Report with TOC-Table of Content:1. Global Economic Outlook2. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market - Executive Summary2.3. Market Attractiveness2.4. Opportunity Analysis & Megatrends3. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market Overview3.1. Introduction3.1.1. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market Taxonomy3.1.2. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market Definition3.2. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market Size (US$ Mn), Volume (tons) and Forecast, 2012-20263.2.1. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market Y-o-Y Growth3.3. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market Dynamics3.4. Automotive Filter Manufacturing Locations3.5. Manufacturing Capacities of Major Players for Automotive Filters3.6. Impact of Trends on Polyurethane used for Automotive Filters3.7. Electric Car Stock by Country, 2005-16 (thousands)3.8. Deployment Scenarios for the Stock of Electric Cars to 20303.9. New electric car registrations in Top Countries3.10. Electric Vehicle Market Attractiveness4. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market Analysis and Forecast 2012-20264.1. Global Polyurethane in Automotive Filters Market Size and Forecast By Filter Type, 2012-20264.1.1. Engine Filters Market Size and Forecast, 2012-20264.1.1.1. Revenue (US$ Mn) & Volume (tons) Comparison, By Region4.1.1.2. Market Share Comparison, By Region4.1.1.3. Y-o-Y growth Comparison, By RegionContinued.Check Discount on This Report-About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized Industrial Goods market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MRSuite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTelephone: +353-1-6111-593Email: sales@factmr.com/Web:
Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids 2018 Global Industry Key Players - BASF , Evonik Industries , DKS , Stearinerie Dubois Market Analysis And Forecast To 2023

World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market

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World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids MarketExecutive SummarySucrose Esters of Fatty Acids market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.Request a Sample Report @The Players mentioned in our reportBASFEvonik IndustriesDKSStearinerie DuboisCroda InternationalMitsubishi-Kagaku Foods Corp.Global Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market: Product Segment AnalysisLow HLB (below 6)Medium HLB (7-9)High HLB (above 10)Global Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market: Application Segment AnalysisFor foodFor personal careGlobal Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaTable of Content-Key Points CoveredChapter 1 About the Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Industry1.1 Industry Definition and Types1.1.1 Low HLB (below 6)1.1.2 Medium HLB (7-9)1.1.3 High HLB (above 10)1.2 Main Market Activities1.3 Similar Industries1.4 Industry at a GlanceChapter 2 World Market Competition Landscape2.1 Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Markets by Regions2.1.1 USAMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.2 EuropeMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.3 ChinaMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.4 IndiaMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.5 JapanMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.1.6 South East AsiaMarket Revenue (M USD) and Growth Rate 2012-2022Sales and Growth Rate 2012-2022Major Players Revenue (M USD) in 20172.2 World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market by TypesLow HLB (below 6)Medium HLB (7-9)High HLB (above 10)2.3 World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market by ApplicationsFor foodFor personal care2.4 World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market Analysis2.4.1 World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market Revenue and Growth Rate 2012-20172.4.2 World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market Consumption and Growth rate 2012-20172.4.3 World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market Price Analysis 2012-2017Chapter 3 World Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids Market share3.1 Major Production Market share by Players3.2 Major Revenue (M USD) Market share by Players3.3 Major Production Market share by Regions in 2017, Through 20223.4 Major Revenue (M USD) Market share By Regions in 2017, Through 2022Chapter 4 Supply Chain Analysis4.1 Industry Supply chain Analysis4.2 Raw material Market Analysis4.2.1 Raw material Prices Analysis 2012-20174.2.2 Raw material Supply Market Analysis4.2 Manufacturing Equipment Suppliers Analysis4.3 Production Process Analysis4.4 Production Cost Structure Benchmarks4.5 End users Market AnalysisContinued.Complete Report Details @Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt LtdOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Recent Study Explores Dignosis and Treatment of Aplastic Anemia Pipeline Review, H1 2017

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Aplastic AnemiaOverviewAplastic anemia is a syndrome of bone marrow failure characterized by peripheral pancytopenia and marrow hypoplasia. Symptoms include fatigue, pale skin, rapid or irregular heart rate, shortness of breath with exertion, nosebleeds and bleeding gums, prolonged bleeding from cuts, skin rash, dizziness and headache. Risk factors include exposure to toxic chemicals, treatment with high-dose radiation or chemotherapy for cancer, certain blood diseases, autoimmune disorders and serious infections. Treatment includes immunosuppressants and stem cell transplant.Click here for sample report @Aplastic Anemia Industry Major OutlookThe Pharmaceutical and Healthcare latest pipeline guide Aplastic Anemia - Pipeline Review, H1 2017, provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Aplastic Anemia (Hematological Disorders), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The guide covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases.The Aplastic Anemia (Hematological Disorders) pipeline guide also reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Aplastic Anemia and features dormant and discontinued projects. The guide covers therapeutics under Development by Companies /Universities /Institutes, the molecules developed by Companies in Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, IND/CTA Filed and Preclinical stages are 2, 2, 1, 1 and 5 respectively.Aplastic Anemia (Hematological Disorders) pipeline guide helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. Additionally, various dynamic tracking processes ensure that the most recent developments are captured on a real time basis.Aplastic Anemia - Competitive AnalysisAcceleron Pharma IncAmgen IncBioLineRx LtdF. Hoffmann-La Roche LtdGamida Cell LtdNovartis AGPluristem Therapeutics IncRegen BioPharma IncScope- The pipeline guide provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Aplastic Anemia (Hematological Disorders).- The pipeline guide reviews pipeline therapeutics for Aplastic Anemia (Hematological Disorders) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources.- The pipeline guide covers pipeline products based on several stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages.- The pipeline guide features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which comprise, product description, descriptive licensing and collaboration details, R&D brief, MoA & other developmental activities.- The pipeline guide reviews key companies involved in Aplastic Anemia (Hematological Disorders) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects.For Detailed Reading Please visit @Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your particular needs.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Retail Ready Packaging Market Outlook with Ongoing Trends, Top Players Profile Analysis and Forecast 2017-2026

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https://www.factmr.com/report/497/retail-ready-packaging-market

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Fact.MR has been actively involved in offering comprehensive research data concerning various topics which are associated to industrial reference and investor utility. This particular research report titled Retail Ready Packaging Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking - Global Review 2017 to 2026 has been added to the wide online database of Fact.MR which discusses the present as well as future market scenario. Readers can access knowledge related to market volume, regional expanse as well as competitive landscape prevailing in the global Retail Ready Packaging Market. In order to study development patterns, this smart assessment also focuses on market dynamics, which talks about drivers, restraints and opportunities estimated to influence the concerned market during the period until 2022.Request for Sample Report-A new report of Fact.MR projects a steady 5.2% value CAGR for the global retail ready packaging market between the period 2017 and 2026. Sales of retail ready packaging are pegged to surpass 45,000 thousand tons by 2026-end.Food & Beverage to Remain Leading End-User of Retail Ready PackagingBased on end-user, food & beverages are anticipated to lead the global market for retail ready packaging, with a market revenue share considerably larger than those of all the other end-user segments combined. Demand for retail ready packaging for use in food & beverages will be driven by growing emphasis on curtailing labor costs by eliminating the product handling requirements associated with stocking of products.On the basis of product type, die-cut display containers and corrugated cardboard boxes are likely to persist as the largest revenue contributors to the global retail ready packaging market. Demand for these products will be influenced by growth in retail user base along with greater presence of the value-added box types. Sales of die-cut display containers and corrugated cardboard boxes will collectively account for over 55% market revenue share by 2026-end.4 Key Takeaways from Fact.MRs Report on Retail Ready Packaging Market for Forecast Period 2017-2026 (In Terms of Volume)1. The most lucrative region for growth of the retail ready packaging market is anticipated to be Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) during 2017 to 2026. Sales of retail ready packaging products in APEJ are likely to latch onto over one-third market share through the forecast period.2. North America and Europe are also expected to persist as major markets for retail ready packaging. In addition, APEJ and North America are likely to exhibit the highest CAGRs in the market through 2026.3. Based on material type, the largest share of the market is projected to be accounted by paper & paperboard. Additionally, paper & paperboard, polyethylene terephthalate (PET, PETE, PETG or polyester), and high density polyethylene (HDPE) are poised to reflect a parallel sales expansion at a steady CAGR through 2026.4. Among various products available in the market, die-cut display containers are expected to remain the most preferred, trailed by corrugated cardboard boxes. Sales of these two product type segments are collectively forecast to reach roughly 58,000 thousand tons by 2026-end.Competition TrackingKey market participants identified by Fact.MRs report include Smurfit Kappa Group plc, DS Smith plc, Mondi, Amcor Limited, LINPAC Packaging, Caps Cases Ltd., Orora Packaging Australia Pty Ltd., International Paper Company, Creative Corrugated Designs, Inc., and i2i Europe Ltd.Browse Full Report with TOC-Table of Content:1. Global Economic Outlook2. Global Retail Ready Packaging Market - Executive Summary2.1. Opportunity Analysis2.2. Mega Trends3. Global Retail Ready Packaging Market Overview3.1. Introduction3.1.1. Global Retail Ready Packaging Market Taxonomy3.1.2. Global Retail Ready Packaging Market Definition3.2. Global Retail Ready Packaging Market Size (US$ Mn) & Volume (000 Units) and Forecast, 2012-20263.2.1. Global Retail Ready Packaging Market Y-o-Y Growth3.3. Global Retail ready Packaging Market Dynamics3.4. Retail Industry- Top 250 Players Quick Statistics3.5. Top 10 Retailers (2017)3.6. Geographic Analysis- Retail Industry Analysis4. Global Retail Ready Packaging Market Supply Demand Analysis4.1. Number of Manufacturers by Region5. Pricing Point Analysis5.1. Price Point Assessment by RegionContinued.Check Discount on This Report-About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized Industrial Goods market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MRSuite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTelephone: +353-1-6111-593Email: sales@factmr.com/Web:
Personalized Cancer Genome Sequencing Market Detailed Study Analysis with Forecast by 2016-2024

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A new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), titled Personalized Cancer Genome Sequencing Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 20162024, presents elaborate insights into key market dynamics, prominent trends, recent technology advances, innovations, lucrative prospects, and the competitive landscape.View Report-Relentless research in genetic engineering and the rising popularity of next generation genome sequencing in oncology in various parts of the world are striking trends supporting the evolution of the market. The rise in prevalence of various cancer types among populations in various developing and developed regions is a crucial factor catalyzing the growth of the personalized cancer genome sequencing market. The rising use of cost-effective next-generation sequencing to guide the search for personalized therapies is a notable trend that will aid in the robust growth of the market.Constant and rapid advancements in genomic sequencing methods will continue to fuel the growth of the market in the coming years. The growing number of clinical trials to unearth the potential of personalized cancer genome sequencing method is a welcome trend that will accentuate the global market in the years to come.Request For Custom Research-Geographically, North America, led by the U.S., is expected to contribute substantial revenues in the global market. In addition, Europe is a prominent market expected to witness substantial developments in personalized cancer genome sequencing methods in the coming years. The presence of a robust healthcare infrastructure backed by vigorous governmental funding in various countries of North America accounts for its prominence. Furthermore, stringent regulatory norms in these regions may be a promising avenue in the disguise of challenges for market players to capitalize on.Brochure Download-Meanwhile, Asia Pacific is an attractive regional market expected to witness substantial technology developments in the market in the next few years. Rising healthcare spends in various parts of the region and a booming medical tourism in countries such as India and China are significant factors boosting this regional market.Key players operating in the personalized cancer genome sequencing market include BGI Americas Corporation, Cofactor Genomics, Illumina, Inc., Beckman Coulter Genomics, and Ambry Genetics.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us-90 State Street,Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Connected Retail Market Will Multiply at an Impressive CAGR of 19.80% During The Forecast Period of 2017 - 2025.

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Connected Retail Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Global Connected Retail Market: OverviewThe Connected Retail market report provides analysis for the period 20152025, where in the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period and 2016 is the base year. The report covers all the major trends and key drivers playing a major role in Connected Retail market growth over the forecast period. It also highlights the drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence markets growth during the said period. The study provides a holistic perspective on the Connected Retail markets growth throughout the above mentioned forecast period in terms of revenue (in US$ Bn), across different geographies, including Asia Pacific, South America, North America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa (MEA).The market overview section of the report demonstrates the market dynamics and trends that influence the current nature and future status of this market. An attractiveness analysis has also been provided for every geographic region in the report, in order to give a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario of the Connected Retail market. Moreover, the report provides an overview of the various strategies adopted by key players of Connected Retail present in the market. Product definition and introduction chapter helps in understanding different Connectivity of Connected Retail used across all the regions.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global Connected Retail Market: SegmentationsThe global Connected Retail market has been segmented on the basis of connectivity, component and end user. By different truck connectivity the global connected retail market has been segmented into Zigbee, Wi-fi, Bluetooth, NFC and others. On the basis of component the global market has been segmented into hardware and software. By end user the market has been segmented into electronics and appliances, beauty, home and personal care, food and beverage, apparel footwear and accessories, home goods, sporting goods and toys and others. Thus, the report provides in-depth cross-segment analysis of the connected Retail market and classifies it into various levels, thereby providing valuable insights at the macro as well as micro levels. Moreover, report also provides in depth study of size of connected retail market. The report also highlights the competitive landscape of the Connected Retail market, thereby positioning all the major players according to their geographic presence and recent key developments. In competitive landscape report also includes in death study of top players of Connected Retail market. The comprehensive Connected Retail market estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews, and in-house expert panel reviews.Global Connected Retail Market: Regional AnalysisOn the basis of country, North America market is divided into The U.S., Canada and Rest of North America. Similarly, Europe market is divided into Germany U.K., France, and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific has been segmented into China, Japan, India and Rest of Asia Pacific. Middle East and Africa covers the G.C.C. countries, South Africa, and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Similarly, South America region includes Brazil and Rest of South America. This report provides all the essential information required to understand the Connected Retail and its Connectivity. Furthermore, Porters Five Forces analysis explains the factors which are currently affecting the Connected Retail market.Global Connected Retail Market: Competitive LandscapeCisco Systems (San Jose, California), Verizon (New York, United States) International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) (U.S.), Amazon Web Services Inc. (Seattle, U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (Washington, U.S.), Belatrix Software (Redwood City, U.S), ARM Holdings PLC (Softbank Group) (Cambridge,U.K), Softweb Solutions Inc. (Chicago, U.S), Atmel Corporation (Microchip Technology Inc.) (California, U.S), Google Inc. (U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, U.S), SAP SE (Germany), NXP Semiconductors NV (Netherlands), Zebra Technologies Corp. (U.S), Fujitsu Limited (Tokyo, Japan), PTC Inc. (Massachusetts, U.S) among others are some of the major players operating within the global Connected Retail market profiled in this study. Details such as financials, SWOT analysis, business strategies, recent developments, and other such strategic information pertaining to these players have been duly provided as part of company profiling.Table of Content1. Preface1.1. Market Definition and Scope1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Key Research Objectives1.4. Research Highlights2. Assumptions and Research Methodology3. Executive Summary: Global Connected Retail Market4. Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.2. Market Dynamics4.2.1. Drivers4.2.2. Restraints4.2.3. Opportunities4.3. Key Trends Analysis4.4. Key Market Indicators4.5. Africa Connected Retail Market Analysis and Forecast, 2015 - 20254.5.1. Market Revenue Projections (US$ Bn)4.6. Porters Five Forces Analysis4.7. Value Chain Analysis4.8. Market Outlook5. Global Connected Retail Market Analysis and Forecast, By Connectivity5.1. Definitions5.2. Key Trends5.3. Global Connected Retail Market Size (US$ Bn) Forecast, By Connectivity, 2015 - 20255.3.1. Zigbee5.3.2. Wi-Fi5.3.3. Bluetooth5.3.4. NFC5.3.5. Others5.4. Connectivity Comparison Matrix5.5. Market Attractiveness By ConnectivityGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @6. Global Connected Retail Market Analysis and Forecast, By Component6.1. Definitions6.2. Key Trends6.3. Global Connected Retail Market Size (US$ Bn) Forecast, By Component, 2015 - 20256.3.1. Hardware6.3.2. Software6.4. Component Comparison Matrix6.5. Market Attractiveness By ComponentContinue...About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on @
Global Robotics Market in The Textile Industry to Grow at a CAGR of 21.76% During The Period 2017-2021.

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Robotics Market in the Textile Industry 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.About Robotics Market in the Textile IndustryThe global robotics market has been growing at a steady pace over the years with the automotive sector contributing the majority of the revenue. It is expected that the continued development of the robot technology along with miniaturization of sensors will contribute to the depreciation in prices of robots and trigger a rapid surge in sales of robots during the forecast period. With intense competition among industrial players, there is an increased emphasis on machinery and technologies that increase industrial efficiency and do not compromise on overall accuracy. Thus, industries across the world are deploying robots to meet the need for better precision and efficiency by end-users.Technavios analysts forecast the global robotics market in the textile industry to grow at a CAGR of 21.76% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global robotics market in the textile industry for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from new sales and the services associated with them.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Robotics Market in the Textile Industry 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsABBDematic EgeminNeuenhauser MaschinenbauSewboSoftWear AutomationUniversal RobotsOther prominent vendorsAdept MobileRobotsBalyoBA SystmesBastian SolutionsDF Automation and RoboticsFanucKUKALone Star Automated SystemsREADY RoboticsRethink RoboticsSeegridSmart RoboticsStubliSuzhou Industrial Park AGV TechnologiesTransboticsYaskawa MotomanMarket driverRise in adoption of robots in ChinaFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeHigh cost of implementationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendCo-bots in the textile industryFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: IntroductionMarket outline: Global robotics marketPART 05: Market landscapeMarket overviewFive forces analysisGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @PART 06: Market segmentation by applicationGlobal robotics market in the textile industry in logistics and transportationGlobal robotics market in the textile industry in material handling applicationsGlobal robotics market in the textile industry in sewingGlobal robotics market in the textile industry in other applicationsPART 07: Geographical segmentationGlobal robotics market in the textile industry by geographyRobotics market in the textile industry in APACRobotics market in the textile industry in AmericasRobotics market in the textile industry in EMEAPART 08: Decision frameworkPART 09: Drivers and challengesMarket driversMarket challengesPART 10: Market trendsCo-bots in the textile industryIncreased emphasis on reducing hardware-related drawbacksIncrease in adoption of industrial robots by SMEsPartnerships between system integrators and manufacturersContinue...About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on @
Market Insights: Medical Imaging Market in APAC to grow at a CAGR of 9.57% during 2017-2021

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Medical imaging is a process of creating visual representations of the interior of a body for medical applications and clinical analysis. It is performed to reveal internal structures hidden by the skin and bones, to examine and diagnose the medical condition. It plays a vital role in the diagnosis as well as in the treatment process since it is taken into consideration during the follow-up of various diseases. Based on product, the market is segmented into general X-ray equipment, ultrasound equipment, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, computed tomography (CT) scanners, and positron-emission tomography/single-photon emission computed tomography (PET/SPECT) equipment.The medical imaging market in APAC to grow at a CAGR of 9.57% during the period 2017-2021. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the medical imaging market in APAC for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.Click to get Sample PDF:Technavio's report, Medical Imaging Market in APAC 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors- GE Healthcare- Koninklijke Philips- Siemens Healthcare- Toshiba Medical Systems- FUJIFILMOther prominent vendors- Accuray- Accutome- Alpinion Medical Systems- Analogic- ASAHI Roentgen- Atlantis Worldwide- BenQ Medical Technology- Bestman- BMV Technology- Boston Scientific- Bruker- Capintec- Carestream- Cephasonics- CMR Naviscan- CurveBeam- DDD-Diagnostic......View Complete TOC with Tables and Figures at:Key questions answered in this report- What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?- What are the key market trends?- What is driving this market?- What are the challenges to market growth?- Who are the key vendors in this market space?ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:
Global Rugged Devices Market to Grow at a CAGR of 6.08% During The Period 2018-2022.

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Rugged Devices Market 2018-2022" to its huge collection of research reports.About Rugged DevicesRugged devices are mobile computer devices that can withstand difficult climatic and environmental conditions. Rugged devices have a long battery life of up to or more 10 hours. Rugged smartphones are lightweight and offer faster navigation through a touchscreen than a keyboard or a mouse. Such smartphones are for rough handling and are preferred by field personnel in various enterprises. The use of rugged mobile computing devices across all the market segments such as the government, industrial, commercial, and military is increasing steadily due to their compatibility with challenging work environment.Technavios analysts forecast the global rugged devices market to grow at a CAGR of 6.08% during the period 2018-2022.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global rugged devices market for 2018-2022. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Rugged Devices 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.Key vendorsDatalogicHoneywell InternationalZebra TechnologiesPanasonicOther prominent vendorsAeroqualBartecBluebirdCaterpillarCIPHERLABFlukeGetac TechnologyHandheld GroupJanam TechnologiesKYOCERALeonardo DRSUnitech ElectronicsXplore TechnologiesZebra TechnologiesMarket driverFall in ASPs of rugged devicesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeHigh procurement costsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendGrowing preference for large-screen rugged tablets and handheld devicesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2022 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?Table of ContentsPART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYPART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORTPART 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGYPART 04: INTRODUCTIONMarket outlinePART 05: MARKET LANDSCAPEMarket ecosystemMarket characteristicsMarket segmentation analysisPART 06: MARKET SIZINGMarket definitionMarket sizing 2017Market size and forecast 2017-2022PART 07: FIVE FORCES ANALYSISBargaining power of buyersBargaining power of suppliersThreat of new entrantsThreat of substitutesThreat of rivalryMarket conditionPART 08: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCTGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Segmentation by productComparison by productRugged mobile computers Market size and forecast 2017-2022Rugged tablets Market size and forecast 2017-2022Rugged scanners Market size and forecast 2017-2022Rugged air quality monitors Market size and forecast 2017-2022Market opportunity by productPART 09: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY RUGGEDNESSSegmentation by ruggednessComparison by ruggednessSemi-rugged devices Market size and forecast 2017-2022Fully rugged devices Market size and forecast 2017-2022Ultra-rugged devices Market size and forecast 2017-2022Market opportunity by ruggednessPART 10: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END-USERSegmentation by end-userContinue...About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on @
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Wardrobe Market Report by Company, Regions, Types and Applications, Global Status and Forecast to 2025

Wardrobe Market Report by Company, Regions, Types and Applications, Global Status and Forecast to 2025

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The Wardrobe Market Report by Company, Regions, Types and Applications, Global Status and Forecast to 2025 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Wardrobe industry.Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Wardrobe Industry analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Wardrobe industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Get a complete & professional report sample:This report studies the Wardrobe market status and outlook of global, from angles of players, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global market, and splits the Wardrobe market by product type and application/end industries.The global Wardrobe market was XX million US$ in 2017 and is expected to XX million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2017 and 2025.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of Wardrobe in these regions, from 2013 to 2025 (forecast), coveringNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey etc.)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam))South America (Brazil etc.)Middle East and Africa (North Africa and GCC Countries)The major companies in this report includingStanleyIKEASauder WoodworkingDorel IndustriesMolteniSuofeiyaOppeinHolikeShangpin HomeTopstrongBy the product type, the market is primarily split intoFinished WardrobesCustomized WardrobesBy the end users/application, this report covers the following segmentsResidential UseCommercial UseTable of contents:Chapter 1 Wardrobe Market OverviewChapter 2 Global Wardrobe Market Competition by CompanyChapter 3 Wardrobe Company Profiles and Sales DataChapter 4 Wardrobe Market Status and Outlook by RegionsChapter 5 Wardrobe Application/End UsersChapter 6 Global Wardrobe Market ForecastChapter 7 Wardrobe Upstream Raw MaterialsChapter 8 Marketing Strategy Analysis, DistributorsChapter 9 Research Findings and ConclusionContact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchTina| Sales ManagersTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Email: sales@qyresearcheurope.com or tinaning@qyresearch.comWeb:QYResearch, established in 2007, focuses on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, and data base &seminar services. The company owns large basic databases (such as National Bureau of Statistics Database, Customs Import and Export Database, Industry Association Database, etc.), expert resources (including industry experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D in industries of energy, automotive, chemicals, medical ICT consumer goods, etc.), professional survey team (the team members obtained more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years deep expert interview experience), and excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team).Room 2901 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road
Global Ready-to-Cook Food Market 2018 - MTR Foods, Gits, Kohinoor, Nevil Foods, McCain Foods

Global Ready-to-Cook Food Market

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Apex Market Reports, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the Ready-to-Cook Food Market across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of Ready-to-Cook Food Market from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global PP Pipe industry, and estimates the future trend of Ready-to-Cook Food on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares Ready-to-Cook Food performance both in terms of volume and revenue.The market research report explores the Ready-to-Cook Food Market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of Ready-to-Cook Food Market. The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Ready-to-Cook Food Market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Ready-to-Cook Food. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Ready-to-Cook Food Market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportMTR FoodsGitsKohinoorNevil FoodsMcCain Foods (India)Prabhat PoultryDEEPTHI FOODS AND FORMULATIONSGodrej Tyson FoodsNestle (Maggi)ITC IndiaGeneral MillsADF FoodsHaldiramsThe competitive landscape of the global market for Ready-to-Cook Food is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Ready-to-Cook Food Markets production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Ready-to-Cook Food Market globally.Inquire Before Buying @The Global Ready-to-Cook Food Market 2018 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Ready-to-Cook Food production volume, data pertaining to demand and Ready-to-Cook Food supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Ready-to-Cook Food along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Ready-to-Cook Food across the world.About UsApex Market Reports offers elevating market research globally. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different categories. Apex Market Reports provides you to best services, weather youre searching for new trends in market or competitive scenario in emerging market.Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezCorporate Sales Specialist155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Phone: +17739042683Email id - sales@apexmarketreports.comWebsite -
Data Center Cooling Market 2016-2022 Global Key Leaders: Fujitsu, Asetek A/S, Mitsubishi Group, Schneider Electric SE, Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, Hitachi, 4energy, Degree Controls

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The Data Center Cooling solutions are being adopted in various sectors such as Banking and Financial Services, Telecom & IT , Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Utility and Government Sectors among in order to ensure proper functioning while reducing system downtime of data centers,The Data center cooling is a solution which removes the excessive heat & humidity generated by electronic component in data centers to maximize the performance and minimize the environmental impact. The Data Center Cooling Market solution also reduces IT equipment loads that enhances the lifecycle of servers and other equipment within a data center. The rising energy cost and consistent demand for data center is driving the data center cooling market.The growing adoption of cloud computing and big data, among various industries is also supporting the market of data center cooling solutions. Data center precision air conditioning market is showing major growth due to its key benefits such as precise and fast temperature control, high loading capacity, remote monitoring/troubleshooting, enhanced air filtration, advance humidity control, and high air flow. However, the High setup cost and huge energy consumption are hindering the growth of Data Center Cooling Market.Request a Sample Report@Segments:Global Data Center Cooling Market has been segmented on the Basis of Component, Cooling Type Service, End-User and Verticals. The Component includes Precision Air Conditioning, Server Cooling, Chillers, Economizer, and Air Handling Units among others. Cooling Type are Air based Cooling & Liquid based Cooling. Service has been identified as Professional Service & Managed Service. End-User consist of SMEs & LSEs whereas Verticals includes Telecom & IT, BFSI, Healthcare, Energy, and Government among others.Key Players: Fujitsu Ltd. (Japan), Asetek A/S (Denmark), The Mitsubishi Group (Japan), Schneider Electric SE (France), Rittal GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan), 4energy (U.K.), 3M (U.S.), Degree Controls (U.S.), Wakefield-Vette, Inc. (U.S.), HP Development Company, L.P. (U.S.), The Heico Companies LLC (U.S.), Vertiv Co. (U.S.), IT Aire , Inc. (U.S.), Cloudsite Intelligent Data Centers (U.S.).North America is generating the highest revenue and showing major growth in data center cooling market due to the high adoption of cooling technology and presence of major key players in this region. Asia-Pacific is expected to show substantial growth due to the growing demand of energy efficient cooling technology whereas many government organization in this region are working towards energy efficient cooling solution in order to reduce carbon footprint which is also supporting the data center cooling market. Europe is also showing growth in the Data Center Cooling Market due to the huge demand from the IT sector.Access Report Details@Intended Audience: System integrators OEMs Cloud Service Providers Technology consultants Enterprise service management vendors Consulting firmsTable Of Contents1. Report Prologue2. Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Market StructureContinues...List Of TablesTable 1 Global Data Center Cooling Market By ComponentTable 2 Global Data Center Cooling Market By ServiceTable 3 Global Data Center Cooling Market By Cooling TypeContinues...List Of FiguresFigure 1 Research ComponentFigure 2 Global Data Center Cooling Market: By Component (%)Figure 3 Global Data Center Cooling Market: By Cooling Type (%)Study Objectives of Data Center Cooling Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Data Center Cooling Market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the Data Center Cooling market based on various factors- supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) To provide country level analysis of the Market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the Market for segment by Component, Cooling Type, Service, End-User, Verticals and sub-segments. To provide strategic profiling of key players in the Market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To Track and Analyze competitive developments such as Joint Ventures, Strategic Alliances, Mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Data Center CoolingAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune  411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +91 841 198 5042Mail: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Force Sensor Market Reviewed till 2027 in a New Report

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An extensive forecast study, titled Force Sensor Market: Capacitive Force Sensor Technology Segment Projected to be the Most Attractive Segment During the Forecast Period: Global Industry Analysis And Opportunity Assessment, 2017 - 2027 has been broadcasted to the online repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). This 247-page precise study encapsulates valuable details about the market current scenario as well as its future projections on a global and regional level. It further intensely aims to provide major insights into the markets growth throughout the above-mentioned forecast period in terms of volume and revenue (in US$ Mn). Moreover, the research also investigates market expansion in some of the prime regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA).Request Free Sample Report @The capacitive force sensor segment is projected to be the most attractive segment in the APEJ force sensor market during the forecast period. In terms of value, the piezo-electric force sensor segment is predicted to be the most attractive segment in the North America and Western Europe force sensor markets during 2017  2027. This segment is also anticipated to register high Y-o-Y growth throughout the forecast period in North America and Western Europe.Piezo-electric force sensor segment by technology is anticipated to increase 2.4X between 2017 and 2027In terms of value, the capacitive force sensor technology segment is projected to be the most attractive segment in the global force sensor market during the forecast period. However, the piezo-electric force sensor segment is expected to register high Y-o-Y growth rates throughout the forecast period. In terms of value, this segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period. On the other hand, the piezo-resistive force sensor segment is expected to witness steady growth in terms of revenue throughout the forecast period. By 2027 end, revenue generated from the magneto-elastic force sensor segment is estimated to exceed US$ 900 Mn, increasing at a CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period.Increasing number of sensors per vehicle and rising adoption of the Internet of Things technology likely to boost the technology segment of the global force sensor marketIncreasing adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology is driving the growth of the global force sensor market. Force sensors are utilised to measure a change in physical parameters, which describes the functionality and performance capabilities of various Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as consumer electronics, building automation, healthcare & life science, home automation, transportation, industrial, environment, security & public safety and retail & logistics. Hence, an increasing demand for consumer electronics, home automation, etc. is anticipated to positively impact the growth of the technology segment.Browse Full Report with TOC @Force sensors are used to measure static and dynamic forces across various industrial automation processes; for example, they are used in an assembly of two parts with a sequence of static and dynamic programmable force fields. Automation in businesses across the global industrial landscape is expected to boost the efficiency of manufacturing in a relatively lesser time. Companies in the manufacturing sector across the globe are focussing on transforming existing facilities from single or partial automated cells to fully automated and integrated facilities to boost productivity, speed and quality. This, in turn, is fuelling market demand for technology in the manufacturing sector.Focus on deploying touch interfaces across a variety of applications ranging from consumer devices to commercial applications in retail, gaming and signage has been increasing since the past few years. Touch panels require precision in position sensing, rapid response to input and durability, which force sensors offer. Thus, increasing demand for touchscreen applications is expected to support the growth of the global force sensor market. Also, increasing number of industrial applications with a human  machine interface fuels demand for force sensor based touchscreens. These factors are expected to drive the growth of the global force sensor market.Sensors are essential components of various automotive electronic control systems including tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), oil pressure sensing (OPS) and engine management systems (MAP/BAP). Demand for sensors per vehicle is increasing due to changing government regulations pertaining to emissions monitoring. Rising fuel efficiency standards and increasing focus on deploying advanced sensing solutions to enhance the user experience by passenger car manufacturers are other factors likely to accelerate demand in the technology segment across the globe.Enquire about this Report @About Market Research Reports Search EngineMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:Read More Industry News At:
Global Fuel Transfer Pump Market 2018 - Fill-Rite, GPI, Piusi, Graco, Intradin Machinery

Global Fuel Transfer Pump Market

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Apex Market Reports, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the Fuel Transfer Pump Market across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of Fuel Transfer Pump Market from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global PP Pipe industry, and estimates the future trend of Fuel Transfer Pump on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares Fuel Transfer Pump performance both in terms of volume and revenue.The market research report explores the Fuel Transfer Pump Market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of Fuel Transfer Pump Market. The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Fuel Transfer Pump Market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Fuel Transfer Pump. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Fuel Transfer Pump Market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportFill-RiteGPIPiusiGracoIntradin MachineryYuanHeng MachineThe competitive landscape of the global market for Fuel Transfer Pump is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Fuel Transfer Pump Markets production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Fuel Transfer Pump Market globally.Inquire Before Buying @The Global Fuel Transfer Pump Market 2018 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Fuel Transfer Pump production volume, data pertaining to demand and Fuel Transfer Pump supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Fuel Transfer Pump along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Fuel Transfer Pump across the world.About UsApex Market Reports offers elevating market research globally. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different categories. Apex Market Reports provides you to best services, weather youre searching for new trends in market or competitive scenario in emerging market.Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezCorporate Sales Specialist155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Phone: +17739042683Email id - sales@apexmarketreports.comWebsite -
Worldwide Image Guided Radiotherapy Market (IGRT) |Key Players | Grow Dazzlingly at a CAGR of 15.8% during the Forecast 2023

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Image guided radiotherapy Market (IGRT), a type of conformal radiotherapy, involves the use of different scans and X-rays to treat an area of cancer. Conformal radiotherapy shape the radiotherapy beams around the area of the cancerous tissue. It uses X-rays and scans similar to CT scans before and during the radiotherapy treatment. It improves the precision and accuracy of treatment delivery. These therapy are majorly used in the treatment of cancer such as lung cancer, skin cancer, and others.Increasing prevalence of cancer and rapid development in the cancer treatment drives the growth of the market. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The data also suggest that about 14 million new cases observed in 2012, which is expected to increase by 70% till 2030. Apart from this, continuously rising demand for the better cancer treatment, increasing healthcare expenditure, and government encouragement for research & development expected to fuel the growth of the market over the corresponding period.Key Players Image Guided Radiotherapy MarketSome of the key players in the image guided radiotherapy market are ViewRay (US), General Electric Company (US), Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan), Siemens AG (Germany), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherland), TOSHIBA CORPORATION (Japan), Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (US), Vision RT Ltd. (UK), Scranton Gillette Communications (US), XinRay Systems (US), and C-RAD (Sweden).The global IGRT market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.8% during the forecasted period.Sample Report Available @Image Guided Radiotherapy Market SegmentationThe global image guided radiotherapy market is segmented on the basis of types, technology, devices, application, and end users.On the basis of types, the market is segmented into soft-tissue imaging, lung MRI, simplifying cardiac MRI, simplifying MRI-conditional implant scans, and silent MRI scanning.On the basis of technology the market is segmented into radiation-based, non-radiation based systems, and others. Radiation-based system is further segmented into electronic portal imaging devices (EPID), cone beam CT, Fan beam, and others. Non-radiation based systems are further segmented into ultrasound-based systems, camera-based or optical tracking systems, MRI-guided IGRT, and others.On the basis of devices, the market is segmented into X-ray computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography, and others. X-ray computed tomography market is further segmented into digital X-ray, computed tomography (CT), conventional CT, optical tracking, cone beam, MVCT, and others.On the basis of end users, the market is segmented in hospitals, smart cancer centers, research institutes, and others.Image Guided Radiotherapy Market Regional AnalysisThe Americas account for the largest share in the global image guided radiotherapy market owing to the presence of huge patient population and increasing healthcare expenditure. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2016, over 1,688,780 cancer cases were diagnosed in the America. Moreover, increasing awareness among the people and well-developed technology have fuelled the market growth.Europe is the second largest market and holds a noticeable share in the global image guided radiotherapy market. The European market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period owing to availability of advanced treatment facilities, skilled medical professionals, and the government support for research & development.Top 5 Reasons to Get this Report:Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent development activitiesMarket Strategic Business Influence DataMarket Research Future recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimationsMarket share analysis of the top industry playersMarket forecasts for a minimum of 5 years of all the mentioned segments, Trends and the regional markets With SWOT AnalysisGet Discount @Brief TOC1 Report Prologue2 Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations3 Research Methodology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation4 Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restrains4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4.6 Technology Trends & Assessment5. Market Factor Analysis5.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis5.1.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers5.1.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers5.1.3 Threat of New Entrants5.1.4 Threat of Substitutes5.1.5 Intensity of Rivalry5.2 Value Chain5.3 Investment Feasibility Analysis5.4 Price Factor AnalysisTOC continued.About Us: Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us: Market Research FutureOffice No. 528,Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar, Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market: Industry Size, Growth, Analysis And Forecast of 2025

Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Industry

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Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices IndustryNew Study on 2018-2025 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Global Key Player, Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Forecast added to Wise Guy Reports DatabaseGlobal Hardware Reconfigurable Devices market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingFreescale SemiconductorsInfineon Technologies AGAnalog DevicesTexas InstrumentsSTMicroelectronicsAtmel CorporationBroadcom CorporationNVIDIA CorporationMicrochip TechnologiesMicrel IncActel CorporationXilinx IncAltera CorporationLattice Semiconductor CorporationSiliconBlue TechnologiesMicrosemi CorporationAchronix Semiconductor CoTry Sample Report @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Hardware Reconfigurable Devices in these regions, from 2013 to 2025 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoOn-chip memoryAuto-sequencing memory (ASM)Reconfigurable ComputerSystem Memory/Host MemoryOthersOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingSimulationComputingOthersSome points from table of content:Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Research Report 20181 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Hardware Reconfigurable Devices1.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 On-chip memory1.2.4 Auto-sequencing memory (ASM)1.2.5 Reconfigurable Computer1.2.6 System Memory/Host Memory1.2.7 Others1.3 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Segment by Application1.3.1 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Simulation1.3.3 Computing1.3.4 Others1.4 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 United States Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 EU Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.6 South Korea Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.7 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Hardware Reconfigurable Devices (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)2 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.4 Manufacturers Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionFor Detailed Reading Please visit WiseGuy Reports @3 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)3.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.2 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.3 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.4 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.5 United States Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.6 EU Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.7 China Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.8 Japan Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.9 South Korea Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.10 Taiwan Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)4 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018)4.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Consumption by Region (2013-2018)4.2 United States Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.3 EU Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.4 China Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.5 Japan Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.6 South Korea Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.7 Taiwan Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)5 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)5.2 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Revenue and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)5.3 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Price by Type (2013-2018)5.4 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Production Growth by Type (2013-2018)6 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Consumption and Market Share by Application (2013-2018)6.2 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2013-2018)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Freescale Semiconductors7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Freescale Semiconductors Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Infineon Technologies AG7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Infineon Technologies AG Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Analog Devices7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Analog Devices Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Texas Instruments7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Texas Instruments Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 STMicroelectronics7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 STMicroelectronics Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Atmel Corporation7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Atmel Corporation Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Broadcom Corporation7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Broadcom Corporation Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 NVIDIA Corporation7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 NVIDIA Corporation Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Microchip Technologies7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Microchip Technologies Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Micrel Inc7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Micrel Inc Hardware Reconfigurable Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.11 Actel Corporation7.12 Xilinx Inc7.13 Altera Corporation7.14 Lattice Semiconductor Corporation7.15 SiliconBlue Technologies7.16 Microsemi Corporation7.17 Achronix Semiconductor CoContinued.For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comWise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt LtdPune  411028Maharashtra,Ph: +91 841 198 5042
Marine Audio System Market Analysis by Players: Clarion, Fusion, MTX, Pioneer, Kicker, SAS, Maxxsonics, BOSS Audio Systems, Poly-Planar

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The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Marine Audio System industry market by types, applications, players and regions. This report also displays the 2013-2023 production, Consumption, revenue, Gross margin, Cost, Gross, market share, CAGR, and Market influencing factors of the Marine Audio System industry in USA, EU, China, India, Japan and other regionsMarket Analysis by Players: This report includes following top vendors in terms of company basic information, product category, sales (volume), revenue (Million USD), price and gross margin (%).Wet SoundsJVCKENWOODHarmanRockfordJL AudioSonyClarionFusionMTXPioneerKickerSASMaxxsonicsBOSS Audio SystemsPoly-PlanarRequest a Sample Report @Market Analysis by Regions: Each geographical region is analyzed as Sales, Market Share (%) by Types & Applications, Production, Consumption, Imports & Exports Analysis, and Consumption Forecast.USAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaSouth AmericaSouth AfricaOthersMarket Analysis by Types: Each type is studied as Sales, Market Share (%), Revenue (Million USD), Price, Gross Margin and more similar information.Marine Stereo ReceiversMarine SpeakersMarine SubwoofersMarine AmplifiersMarket Analysis by Applications: Each application is studied as Sales and Market Share (%), Revenue (Million USD), Price, Gross Margin and more similar information.OEMAftermarketTable of Content1 Marine Audio System Market Overview1.1 Product Overview of Marine Audio System1.2 Classification of Marine Audio System1.2.1 Type 11.2.2 Type 21.2.3 Type 31.2.4 Type 41.3 Applications of Marine Audio System1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.3.3 Application 31.3.4 Application 41.4 Global Marine Audio System Market Regional Analysis1.4.1 USA Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.2 Europe Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.3 Japan Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.4 China Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.5 India Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.6 Southeast Asia Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.7 South America Market Present Situation Analysis1.4.8 South Africa Market Present Situation Analysis1.5 Marine Audio System Industry Development Factors Analysis1.5.1 Marine Audio System Industry Development Opportunities Analysis1.5.2 Marine Audio System Industry Development Challenges Analysis1.6 Marine Audio System Consumer Behavior Analysis2 Global Marine Audio System Competitions by Players2.1 Global Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Players2.2 Global Marine Audio System Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Players (2017-2018)2.3 Global Marine Audio System Price (USD/Unit) by Players (2017-2018)2.4 Global Marine Audio System Gross Margin by Players (2017-2018)3 Global Marine Audio System Competitions by Types3.1 Global Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Types3.2 Global Marine Audio System Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Type (2013-2018)3.3 Global Marine Audio System Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2013-2018)3.4 Global Marine Audio System Gross Margin by Type (2013-2018)3.5 USA Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.6 China Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.7 Europe Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.8 Japan Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.9 India Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.10 Southeast Asia Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.11 South America Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type3.12 South Africa Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Type4 Global Marine Audio System Competitions by Applications4.1 Global Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.2 Global Marine Audio System Revenue (Million USD) and Share by Applications (2013-2018)4.3 Global Marine Audio System Price (USD/Unit) by Applications (2013-2018)4.4 Global Marine Audio System Gross Margin by Applications (2013-2018)4.5 USA Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.6 China Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.7 Europe Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.8 Japan Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.9 India Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.10 Southeast Asia Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.11 South America Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications4.12 South Africa Marine Audio System Sales (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Applications5 Global Marine Audio System Production Market Analysis by Regions5.1 Global Marine Audio System Production (Unit) and Market Share (%) by Regions5.1.1 USA Marine Audio System Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.2 Europe Marine Audio System Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.3 China Marine Audio System Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.4 Japan Marine Audio System Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.5 India Marine Audio System Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.6 Southeast Asia Marine Audio System Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.7 South America Marine Audio System Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.1.8 South Africa Marine Audio System Market Production Present Situation Analysis5.2 Global Marine Audio System Production Value (Million USD) and Share by Region (2013-2018)5.3 Global Marine Audio System Price (USD/Unit) by Region (2013-2018)5.4 Global Marine Audio System Gross Margin by Region (2013-2018)6 Global Marine Audio System Sales Market Analysis by Region6.1 USA Marine Audio System Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.2 Europe Marine Audio System Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.3 China Marine Audio System Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.4 Japan Marine Audio System Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.5 India Marine Audio System Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.6 Southeast Asia Marine Audio System Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.7 South America Marine Audio System Market Consumption Present Situation Analysis6.8 South Africa Marine Audio System Market Consumption Present Situation AnalysisContinuedAccess Complete Report @ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Survey: Ship Plate Market Size 2018-2025 NSSMC, Baosteel, Valin Xiangtan Steel, Chongqing Steel

Ship Plate Market

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Ship Plate Market Research 2018Globe Info Research Recently added detailed market study on the "Global Ship Plate Market" Research Report 2018-2025 which provides an outlook of current market value of Ship Plate Market as well as the expected forecast of Rate on Investment (ROI) with growing CAGR of XX% in Ship Plate Market by the end of 2025. The report on the global Ship Plate market uses the top-down and bottom-up approaches to define, analyze, and describe the Ship Plate market 2018 trends for the next five years up to 2025.Globe Info Research added latest industry research report Ship Plate Market Outlook" focuses on Industry News, Size, Share, Growth Rate, Strategies, Market Position, Trends Across The World. This report on the Global Ship Plate Market 2018 provides extremely useful and in-depth perception of the worldwide industry and it covers all the aspects which are highly important in deciding the future of Ship Plate industry. This report is an accurate research of the Global Ship Plate industry which features the latest technological enhancements, new opening, modern industrial issues and advancements, future policy alterations and all basic and important information about the market.To Get Sample Report Click Here:Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global Ship Plate Market 2018 : POSCO, JFE Steel, NSSMC, Baosteel, Valin Xiangtan Steel, Chongqing Steel, Ansteel, Nanjing Steel, Dongkuk, SD Steel, Xinyu Steel, Hyundai, ArcelorMittal, Shougang GroupShip Plate Market : By Type General Strength Ship Plate, High Strength Ship PlateShip Plate Market : By Application Tankers, Bulk Carriers, Container Ships, Chemical ShipsThe Global Ship Plate Market Provides comprehensive understanding of the market with the help of Ship Plate market outlook, opportunities, challenges, trends, Ship Plate Market size, share and growth, competitive analysis, major competitors and Porter analysis. Ship Plate market report further provides production, capacity, Ship Plate market price per region, gross margin for all major regions and countries listed in Ship Plate report.The report is very much made with charts, graphs, and practical figures which show the status of the particular Ship Plate industry on the global and regional stage. The execution and features of the Ship Plate market are assessed in view of the quantitative and qualitative techniques to give a clear picture of the present and future forecast trend.Browse Full Report:Finally, Ship Plate market report gives you details about the market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About US:"GlobeInfoResearch.com" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USAWeb:Email: sales@globeinforesearch.com
Corporate Secretarial Services Market Growth, Investment Scenarios, Industry Outlook, Analysis and Demand Forecasts - Global News

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Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Corporate Secretarial Services in global market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, types and applications.Market OverviewThis report studies the Corporate Secretarial Services market, Corporate Secretarial Services assists clients to manage and mitigate risks of corporate non-compliance. Innovative techniques coupled with years of professional experience help ease administrative burdens across functional and geographical boundaries.Global Corporate Secretarial Services market research report 2018, which will help the buyer in reviewing the Corporate Secretarial Services industry development trends and opportunities. To begin with the Corporate Secretarial Services Market report which covers market characteristics, industry structure and commutative landscape, the problems, desire concepts, along with business strategies market effectiveness. Corporate Secretarial Services market report also covers geographical analysis of the market with growth forecast till 2023Detailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Top Industry Players:This report studies the Global Corporate Secretarial Services market, analyzes and researches the Corporate Secretarial Services development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, like: TMF Group, PwC, Deloitte, Vistra, Mazars Group, KPMG, ECOVIS,MSP Secretaries, Elemental CoSec, Luther Corporate Services, A.1 Business, Rodl & Partner,EnterpriseBizpal, Conpak, BDO International, J&T Bank and Trust, Eversheds Sutherland, Grant Thornton, Equiniti, French Duncan, PKF, Dillon Eustace, RSM International, Company Bureau, Exceed, UHY Hacker Young, DP Information Network, COGENCY GLOBAL, Adams & Adams, Link Market ServicesKey Benefits This report provides an extensive analysis of the current and emerging market trends and dynamics of the Corporate Secretarial Services market. The market trend analysis for all the countries is conducted by constructing estimations for key segments between 2018 and 2023 to identify the prevailing opportunities. The report assists to understand the strategies adopted by the leading companies in the industry. Extensive analysis is conducted by key player positioning and monitoring the top competitors within the regional market.Request Discount on this repots @Market SegmentMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South AfricaMarket Segment by Type, covers Company Formations Company Law Compliance Services Corporate Governance ServicesMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Listed Companies Non-listed PLCs Charity Companies Academy SchoolsBrowse Report @About Future Genic ReportsFuture Generic Reports is a market research and consulting organization, offering premium collection of market research reports, custom research and consulting services to corporations, no-profit organizations and government institutions across the globe.The wide range of information is presented by a team of well-trained researchers of specific sectors through exhaustive research. We deliver premier market research services that cover all industry verticals, including chemicals and material, automotive, healthcare, electronics & semiconductor, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and technology and media.We believe in building an eternal bond with our clients through offering them inclusive research study meeting their specific requirements. Our services are tailored specifically to our clients by proposing them the potential outcome, based on our in-depth analysis and insights for exploring the growth strategies through providing the best possible decision for quality production.Contact us:Future Generic Reports244 , Madison AvenueNew York City, NY - 10016United StatesToll Free +1- 844-445-2861Email: sales@futuregenicreports.com
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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Pipeline, Assessment and Analysis During H1 2017 To 2022

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Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisOverviewAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common degenerative disease of the motor neuron system. The disorder is named for its underlying pathophysiology, with amyotrophy referring to the atrophy of muscle fibers, which are denervated as their corresponding anterior horn cells degenerate. Lateral sclerosis refers to the changes seen in the lateral columns of the spinal cord as upper motor neuron (UMN) axons in these areas degenerate and are replaced by fibrous astrocytes (gliosis). Symptoms include difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, head drop due to weakness of the neck muscles, muscle cramps, speech problems, such as a slow or abnormal speech pattern (slurring of words), voice changes, hoarseness, weight loss.Click here for sample report @Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Industry Major OutlookThe Pharmaceutical and Healthcare latest pipeline guide Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Pipeline Review, H1 2017, provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Central Nervous System), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The guide covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases.The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Central Nervous System) pipeline guide also reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and features dormant and discontinued projects. The guide covers therapeutics under Development by Companies /Universities /Institutes, the molecules developed by Companies in Pre-Registration, Filing rejected/Withdrawn, Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, IND/CTA Filed, Preclinical, Discovery and Unknown stages are 2, 1, 2, 24, 11, 1, 72, 21 and 2 respectively. Similarly, the Universities portfolio in Preclinical and Discovery stages comprises 42 and 7 molecules, respectively.Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Central Nervous System) pipeline guide helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. Additionally, various dynamic tracking processes ensure that the most recent developments are captured on a real time basis.Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Competitive AnalysisKey players are making innovative developments in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis industry. The same will help in improving the market performance. Heavy investments are made by major players in the R&D sectorScope- The pipeline guide provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Central Nervous System).- The pipeline guide reviews pipeline therapeutics for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Central Nervous System) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources.- The pipeline guide covers pipeline products based on several stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages.- The pipeline guide features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which comprise, product description, descriptive licensing and collaboration details, R&D brief, MoA & other developmental activities.- The pipeline guide reviews key companies involved in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Central Nervous System) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects.Table of ContentsTable of Contents 2Introduction 6Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Overview 7Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Therapeutics Development 8Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Therapeutics Assessment 31Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Companies Involved in Therapeutics Development 47Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Drug Profiles 87Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Dormant Projects 417Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Discontinued Products 424Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Product Development Milestones 425Appendix 436List of TablesNumber of Products under Development for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, H1 2017Number of Products under Development by Companies, H1 2017Number of Products under Development by Companies, H1 2017 (Contd..1), H1 2017Number of Products under Development by Companies, H1 2017 (Contd..2), H1 2017Number of Products under Development by Companies, H1 2017 (Contd..3), H1 2017.ContinuedFor Detailed Reading Please visit @Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your particular needs.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Tertiary Butyl Amine Market Analysis by Segments, Size and Forecast 2017 - 2025

Tertiary Butyl Amine Market

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Tertiary butyl amine is a transparent colorless compound with molecular formula (CH3)3CNH2. It possesses amine-like odor. Tertiary butyl amine is primarily used in rubber, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and chemical intermediates. It is employed as rubber accelerator to improve the rate of vulcanization. Agrochemicals derived from this compound include terbutryn, terbacil, and terbumeton.Browse Research Report With Complete TOC @Rubber is not only used to manufacture tire in automobiles, but it is also employed in engine gaskets, radiator seals, performance hoses, ignition cables, and airbags. Asia Pacific holds more than 60% share of the global rubber market. The region is expected to offer immense growth to the tertiary butyl amine market during the forecast period. Rise in demand for automobiles in Europe and Asia Pacific is estimated to propel the rubber market. This, in turn, is likely to boost the demand for tertiary butyl amine in the near future. Crop protection chemicals are widely used in the agriculture industry to enhance the crop yield. Crop protection chemicals such as fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides are employed to eliminate unwanted plants and pests. Increase in usage of crop protection chemicals is anticipated to propel the demand for tertiary butyl amine. Growth in population has raised food security concerns. Developing and underdeveloped countries lack proper infrastructure for storage and distribution of food grains. This, in turn, is projected to fuel the demand for tertiary butyl amine owing to its usage in agrochemicals.In terms of region, Asia Pacific is likely to exhibit significant demand for tertiary butyl amine in the next few years, led by the expansion in the rubber industry. Demand for rubber is high from tire and automotive applications in major countries in the region such as China and India. Increase in demand for new automotive vehicles is estimated to fuel the demand for rubber. This, in turn is likely to boost the demand of tertiary butyl amine. Large scale manufacturers such as BASF SE are expanding their capacity in the region to meet the rising demand for rubber additives such as tertiary butyl amine, which is used as an accelerator in the rubber industry. Furthermore, steady growth in automotive sales in Europe and North America is projected to propel the demand for tertiary butyl amine in the next few years. Increase in population in developing countries coupled with rise in demand for food is driving the agrochemicals market across the globe. The usage of tertiary butyl amine for the preparation of agrochemicals is likely to enhance the demand for this compound during the forecast period. Agrochemicals are being used increasingly in Latin America and Middle East & Africa to boost the crop yield. This is anticipated to augment the demand for tertiary butyl amine. The usage of this compound for the preparation of drugs in the pharmaceuticals industry is estimated to propel the tertiary butyl amine market.Request a PDF Brochure with Research Report Analysis @Major companies operating in the tertiary butyl amine market include BASF SE, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., and Zibo Luhua Hongjin New Material Co.,Ltd. In 2015, BASF SE increased its production capacity at its plant in China to meet the rising demand for rubber additives for tire applications in China and other countries of Asia Pacific.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Tungsten Finished Products Market is expected to witness substantial growth during Forecast 2017 - 2025

Tungsten Finished Products Market

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Tungsten is a rare material found naturally, particularly in chemical compounds, on Earth. It is commonly found in wolframite and scheelite ores. It is known for its distinctive properties such as high density, high melting point, and excellent blending abilities. Tungsten is also one of the highest melting point metal found on Earth. Many alloys of tungsten such as light bulb filaments, electrodes, X-ray tubes, radiation shielding, and super alloys are used in various applications in different sectors. Tungsten is employed in military applications such as projectiles and insulation shielding due to its hard physical form and high density. Tungsten finished products are also used as catalysts in numerous industrial processes.Browse Research Report With Complete TOC @Based on type, the market for tungsten finished products can be segregated into wires and sheets. In terms of application, the market for tungsten finished products can be broadly segmented into electrical & electronics, aerospace, and industrial. Under the type segment, wires held significant share of the tungsten finished products market in 2016. It is anticipated to maintain its position during the forecast period. Tungsten wires is largely used in lamps, heaters, electrodes, and printers. This is one of the factors boosting the wire segment. Filaments made from tungsten are used as ultrahigh temperature halogen lamps and as thermionic emitters. The wire segment was followed by the sheet segment, which accounted for minimal share in 2016. Tungsten sheets & plates are used in heaters, heat spreaders, sintering boats, spacers, weights, and various kinds of jigs and tools. Tungsten sheets are primarily employed during the production of sintering boats due to its excellent cutting, blending, and sputtering abilities.The market for tungsten finished products is anticipated to expand at a moderate pace during the forecast period. Tungsten finished products such as filaments are being replaced with advanced alternatives such as compact fluorescent lamps and light emitting diodes owing to technological advancements. Demand for tungsten finished products is estimated to continue to be high during the forecast period due to their application in heaters and corona wires.Geographically, Asia Pacific held significant share of the tungsten finished products market in 2016. According to the data released by the United States Geological Survey, global tungsten reserves stood at around 3.5 million tons in 2014; China alone accounted for 1,900,000 metric tons of tungsten in the year. Consumption of tungsten in Asia Pacific is comparatively higher than that in any other region owing to the strong manufacturing industry in Asia Pacific. Tungsten finished products are used in the production of printers, lamps, heaters, furnaces, etc. in the electrical & electronics industry. China is the hub for electrical & electronics products.Request a PDF Brochure with Research Report Analysis @The market in Asia Pacific was followed by that in North America and Europe in 2016. Production of tungsten stood at 430000 metric tons in 2014 in North America. Demand for tungsten finished products is likely to be high in the region, led by the presence of strong electrical & electronics and aerospace industries. Tungsten sheets are used as insulation shields in the production of aerospace shuttles, planes, etc. Russia was the major producer of tungsten (250,000 metric tons) in Europe in 2014. It was followed by Austria (10,000 metric tons). Presence of robust manufacturing industries in Europe is projected to augment the demand for tungsten and tungsten finished products in the region during the forecast period.Major players operating in the market for tungsten finished products are Saxony Minerals and Exploration AG, T&D Materials Manufacturing, A.L.M.T. Corp., and SMT Limited.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
[ Live Two Day Training Event ] Mixing in the Process Industries - San Francisco, CA - May 10 &11, 2018

Tridiagonal Solutions Inc, provides process performance enhancement and product development solutions to worldwide clients, will be hosting a Live Two Day Training Event for Process Industry Professionals on Mixing in the Process Industries - Theory, Practice and Computation on May 10 & 11, 2018 at 655 Montgomery St, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94111 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm PST.Almost every unit operation in the process industries involves some form of fluid mixing and/or bulk solids mixing. Despite its widespread usage, mixing is still practiced more as an art than as a science in industry. Process engineers tend to view mixing practice as a diffuse set of rules of thumb and view mixing science as a myriad of empirical correlations. However, technological innovation is primarily driven by sound fundamental understanding. Therefore, an operation as critical as mixing cannot still remain in the realm of empiricism; it needs to move toward becoming more science-oriented.The event will deliver the followings:- How mixing science acts as an organizing principle for various aspects of industrial mixing practice?- It will further show how mixing science can be used to reliably and seamlessly design/select the right kind of mixing equipment for a given application.- The utility of computational tools (CFD for fluids, DEM for bulk solids) will also be shown via a number of industrial examples. Process engineers and researchers alike will find this event useful.To register for this event click @ goo.gl/zqM3eQWho should attend?Chemical Process Engineers, R&D Chemists, Stirred Tank Designers, Research And Development Scientists, Principal Scientists, Senior Process Project Manager, CFD Engineers in Chemical Processing Industry.Tridiagonal SolutionsContact no. +1 (210) 858-6192Email us at: marketing@tridiagonal.comTridiagonal Solutions specializes in CFD, DEM & other engineering simulation techniques along with customized software solutions development. It has helped several fortune 500 customers with development of engineering tools & CFD automation using commercial as well as opensource technologies and integrating the same with engineering design procedures and business rules.12703 Spectrum DriveSuite 101San Antonio, TX 78249
Water Purifier in Germany Market Professional Survey Report 2017, Opportunities, Manufacturers, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2023

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The report on Germany Water Purifier Market is a customer intelligence and competitive study of the Germany market. Moreover, the report provides deep insights on demand forecasts, market trends, and, micro and macro indicators in Germany market. Also, factors that are driving are restraining the Water Purifier Market are highlighted in the study. This is an in-depth business intelligence report based on qualitative and quantitative parameters of the market. Additionally, this report provides readers with market insights and detailed analysis of market segments to possible micro levels. The companies featured in the Germany Water Purifier Market, include Enmetec Gmbh, Harke Packserv Gmbh, Wilhelm Werner Gmbh, Envicon Gmbh & Co. Kg, And Easy Water By Jo Top Gmbh.Get Sample Copy of this Report:Segments CoveredThe report on Water Purifier Market provides detailed analysis of segments in the market based on Technology, Accessories and End User.Segmentation based on TechnologyGravity PurifierRO PurifierUV PurifierSediment FilterWater SoftenerOthersSegmentation based on AccessoriesPitcher FilterUnder Sink FilterShower FilterFaucet MountReplacement FiltersCounter TopOthersSegmentation based on End UserIndustrialCommercialHouseholdFor More Enquiry on This Report:Highlights of the reportReport provides detailed insights into1) Demand and supply conditions of Water Purifier Market2) Factor affecting the Water Purifier Market in the short run and the long run3) The dynamics including drivers, restraints, opportunities, political, socio economic factors, and technological factors4) Key trends and future prospects5) Leading companies operating in Water Purifier Market and their competitive position in the Germany.6)The dealers/distributors profiles provide basic information of top 10 dealers & distributors operating in (Germany) Water Purifier Market7) IGR Matrix: to position the product types8) Market estimates up to 2023.Table of Contents1. Report Overview1.1 Report Description1.2 Research Methods1.3 Research Approaches2. Executive Summary3. Overview3.1 Introduction3.2 Market Dynamics3.2.1 Drivers3.2.2 Restraints3.2.3 Opportunities3.2.4 Challenges3.3 PEST-Analysis3.4 Porter's Diamond Model for Germany Water Purifier Market3.5 IGR  Growth Matrix Analysis3.6 Competitive Landscape in Germany Water Purifier Market3.7 Import-Export data matrix4. Germany Water Purifier Market by Technology4.1 Introduction4.2 Gravity Purifier4.3 RO Purifier4.4 UV Purifier4.5 Sediment Filter4.6 Water Softener4.7 Others5. Germany Water Purifier Market by Accessories5.1 Introduction5.2 Pitcher Filter5.3 Under Sink Filter5.4 Shower Filter5.5 Faucet Mount5.6 Replacement Filters5.7 Counter Top5.8 Others6. Germany Water Purifier Market by End User6.1 Introduction6.2 Industrial6.3 Commercial6.4 Household7. Company Profiles7.1 Manufacturer's & Suppliers7.1.1 Enmetec Gmbh7.1.2 Harke Packserv Gmbh7.1.3 Wilhelm Werner Gmbh7.1.4 Envicon Gmbh & Co. Kg7.1.5 Easy Water By Jo Top Gmbh7.2 Dealer's / Distributor's Profile7.2.1 Dealer's / Distributor's 17.2.2 Dealer's / Distributor's 27.2.3 Dealer's / Distributor's 37.2.4 Dealer's / Distributor's 47.2.5 Dealer's / Distributor's 57.2.6 Dealer's / Distributor's 67.2.7 Dealer's / Distributor's 77.2.8 Dealer's / Distributor's 87.2.9 Dealer's / Distributor's 97.2.10 Dealer's / Distributor's 10Complete report at:About UsInfinium Global Research and Consulting Solutions is started with a single motto of being business partner of first choice. We at Infinium work on the strengths of our clients to ensure we help them consolidate their market position. We firmly believe in the fact that if you are able to develop newer opportunities then you find there is no dearth of opportunities for you. With our strategic research approaches and deep dive in the market segments, we try to find out new opportunities that our clients can encash with their existing resources. Our experts with over 100 years of cumulative experience in research offer the best in the industry services to our clients to ensure that they achieve their business goals.Contact UsInfinium Global Research,Toll Free:U.S. + Canada: 1-800-638-0796,Website :Email: sales@infiniumglobalresearch.com
Canadian company GSCI to release their QUADRO-S Compact Fusion Weapon Sight to the Asian Market during DSA 2018.

What are the limitations of contemporary low-light detection systems, and how do we address them?General Starlights QUADRO-S is a compact, lightweight augmented vision system for tactical surveillance, observation and engagement at short-to-medium range distances. Made in Canada with Military and Law-Enforcement end-users in mind; it can be weapon mounted, tripod mounted or simply hand-held. It will be officially introduced to the Asian Market at the DSA 2018 exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from April 16th to 19th, Stand # 30657.Most important of all, the innovative tech behind this compact device might provide the answer to our question.GSCIs patented multi-sensor technology found in the QUADRO-S operates in 4 distinct modes: thermal, daytime, nighttime, and the pivotal day/night hybrid view, also known as Fusion Mode. A detailed image is created from the visible/near infrared and long-wave infrared ranges of the spectrum when the operator is in Fusion Mode. The system has a human detection range of up to 1,100m, and can be paired up with an optional remote and helmet-mounted display unit for added versatility to keep the operator out of harms way.With the QUADRO-S you are never left in pitch darkness. Any inherent limitations found in thermal imaging or night vision alone are negated when these channels work together and complement each other to produce one real-time, lag-free video image to give uncompromised situational awareness. For this reason, it is finding its way into the hands of government end-users all over the world to ensure their safety and effectiveness when operating in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. The QUADRO-S does not hold back on the specifications either:- 640x480 FPA resolution, with auto-NUC for uninterrupted operation- 50Hz refresh rate- built-in video recorder- full IP67 waterproofing- large suite of software featuresAll packed in a hard-anodized aluminum body that weighs just 750 grams, with dimensions 170x91x70mm, and costs less than any other high-performance Fusion system currently on the market.With no ITAR restrictions, this device is available to be exported worldwide. For more details, email gsci@gsci1.com or call +1 905-850-0990.GSCI is a leading manufacturer and developer of precision Night Vision optics and Thermal Imaging devices, established for the purpose of supplying the market with state-of-the-art electro-optical systems. Since 1992, in over two decades we have built a company focused on quality, innovation, and exceptional customer service. We are the only Canadian owned and based Manufacturer with a large selection of low light optical devices with no limits on performance, catering to individual consumers, law enforcement and military clients. Being of Canadian Origin, our products are easy to export, and although GSCI maintains a strict compliance with the laws and regulations of the Controlled Goods Program, we offer our customers complete assistance in obtaining the Canadian Export Permits free of charge.General Starlight Company Inc.120 Whitmore Rd.Woodridge, ON, CanadaL4L 6A5
Electric Axle Drive Systems Market 2018 Global Industry Analysis, Opportunities and Forecast To 2022

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Market Synopsis of Electric Axle drive systems Market:Globally, the market for Electric Axle drive systems is growing at a CAGR of 5.10% during the forecast period (2017-2023). Electric Axle drive systems are used to protect the passenger at the time of collision. Electric axle drive systems are generally installed in the electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. They are installed with the help of multiple electric motor on each axle to provide power to the wheels. The use of electric axle drive system increases the stability and provides better driving dynamics on the normal roads.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Asia Pacific accounted for the largest market share of 34.60% in 2016 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.97% during the forecast period. U.S. is expected to dominate the market in North America. U.S. accounted for the largest market share of 71.60% in 2016 due to the growing demand for hybrid electric vehicles. The factors that are responsible for the growth of the electric axle drive system market are growing demand for electric vehicles, expansion of global automotive manufacturers into emerging markets, and emerging demand from Asia Pacific region. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region for the electric axle drive system due to the high demand from countries such as China, India, Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Asia Pacific region had a combined population of over 4.5 billion and GDP of more than USD 22 trillion in 2016. Asia Pacific is driving the electric axle drive system market contributing more than 40% of the global demand. In Asia Pacific, China has held the market of largest sales of electric vehicles in 2016, which indicates the demand for electric axle drive system is expected to increase in upcoming years. High prices of raw materials cause the automotive manufacturers to increase the price of the system. This will hinder the growth of the market during the forecast period.Key PlayersThe key players in market include Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc.(U.S.), ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Germany), GKN Plc (U.K.), Magna International Inc. (Canada), Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG (Germany), Continental AG (Germany), Bonfiglioli Riduttori S.P.A. (Italy), Borgwarner Inc. (U.S.) and Ziehl Abegg SE (Germany).Key Findings The global electric axle drive systems market is expected to reach USD 8,226.3 million by 2023. Regionally, Asia Pacific accounted for the largest market share of 34.60% in 2016, with a market value of USD 1,271.6 million. In North America, U.S. accounted for the largest market share of 71.60% in 2016, with a market value of USD 876.2 million and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.10% during the forecast period. On the basis of system type, Hybrid Electric Systems accounted for the largest market share of 56.10% in 2016. On basis of vehicle type, Passenger Cars accounted for the largest market share of 64.60% in 2016.Geographic AnalysisThe report covers brief analysis of geographical region includes:North America U.S. CanadaEurope Germany U.K. France Italy Rest of EuropeAsia Pacific China India Japan Rest of Asia PacificRoW Middle East & Africa Latin AmericaStudy Objectives of Electric Axle Drive Systems Market To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next five to ten years of the various segments and sub-segments included in global electric axle drive systems market with analysis of its development and demand in the market To identify high growth regions and countries To study regional and country-specific demand and forecast for global electric axle drive systems market To cover the key segments of system type, vehicle type, and region To finalize unit breakdown for all different classifications required for forecasting, considering various factors To identify forecast demand for all probable segments for all the regions, and to collect the historical figure, data through primary and annual reports to derive the regional and country level market size To identify historical trends to forecast and estimate the future value dataIntended Audience Manufacturers and distributors of electric axle drive systems market Suppliers and traders of electric axle drive systems market Government associations and industrial bodies. Investors and Trade experts Consulting in automotive expertsDC descriptionElectric axle drive systemDexter axleTrailer axlesBoat trailer axlesTrailer axlesTorsion axleUtility trailer axlesAxle strapsDexter trailer axlesElectric axleTable of Content: Key Points1 Executive Summary2 Introduction3 Research Methodology4 Market Dynamics5 Market Factor Analysis6 Global Electric Axle Drive Systems Market, By System Type7 Global Electric Axle Drive Systems Market, By Vehicle TypeContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. We also provide COTS (Commercial off the Shelf) business sector reports as custom exploration agreeing your particular needs.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Real Time Locating System Market in the Healthcare Industry is to Witness Highest Growth in near future

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A recent report published by Infinium Global Research on Real Time Locating System Market (RTLS) in the healthcare industry provides in depth analysis of segments and sub-segments in global as well as regional real time locating system market in the healthcare industry. The study also highlights the impact of drivers, restraints and macro indicators on the global and regional real time locating system market in the healthcare industry over the short term as well as long term. The report is a comprehensive presentation of trends, forecast and dollar values of global real time locating system market in the healthcare industry. According to report the global real time locating system market in the healthcare industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 60.2% over the forecast period of 2018-2024.Get Sample Copy of this Report:Segment CoveredThe report on global real time locating system market in the healthcare industry covers application segments. On the basis of application the global real time locating system market in the healthcare industry is categorized into employee management, clinical monitoring, asset monitoring and patient safety.Geographic CoverageThe report provides regional analysis covering geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World. In this section the key trends and market size for each geography is provided over the period of 2016-2024. The countries covered in the North America region include the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; while Asia-Pacific includes China, Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia, and among others. Moreover, Germany, U.K., France, Spain, and Rest of Europe are included in the European region. The U.S. drives the growth in the North America region as it is the largest market in the region. The Asia-pacific region offers a substantial potential for the market growth owing to rapid growth in markets such as India and China. The APAC region is projected to experience a growth at a CAGR of x.x% over the period of 2018-2024.Companies Profiled:The report provides profiles of the companies in the global real time locating system market in the healthcare industry such as, Axcess International, Plus Location Systems, DecaWave, Intelligent Insites, BeSpoon, RF Technologies, Borda Technology, Purelink, Teletracking Technologies and Sonitor Technologies.For More Enquiry on This Report:Report Highlights:The report provides deep insights on demand forecasts, market trends and micro and macro indicators. In addition, this report provides insights on the factors that are driving and restraining the global real time locating system market in the healthcare industry. Moreover, IGR-Growth Matrix analysis given in the report brings an insight on the investment areas that existing or new market players can consider. The report provides insights into the market using analytical tools such as Porter's five forces analysis and DRO analysis of real time locating system market in the healthcare industry. Moreover, the study highlights current market trends and provides forecast from 2018-2024. We also have highlighted future trends in the real time locating system market in the healthcare industry that will impact the demand during the forecast period. Moreover, the competitive analysis given in each regional market brings an insight on the market share of the leading players. This report will help manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of the real time locating system market in the healthcare industry to understand the present and future trends in this market and formulate their strategies accordingly.Complete report at:About UsInfinium Global Research and Consulting Solutions is started with a single motto of being business partner of first choice. We at Infinium work on the strengths of our clients to ensure we help them consolidate their market position. We firmly believe in the fact that if you are able to develop newer opportunities then you find there is no dearth of opportunities for you. With our strategic research approaches and deep dive in the market segments, we try to find out new opportunities that our clients can encash with their existing resources. Our experts with over 100 years of cumulative experience in research offer the best in the industry services to our clients to ensure that they achieve their business goals.Contact UsInfinium Global Research,Toll Free:U.S. + Canada: 1-800-638-0796,Website :Email: sales@infiniumglobalresearch.com
Printing Inks Market 2018-2023 Key Players Profiles: Flint Group,Siegwerk Druckfarben,Sakata Inx Corporation,Sun Chemicals,Royal Dutch Printing Ink,

Printing Inks Market, Printing Inks Market Size, Printing Inks Market Research, Printing Inks Market Analysis, Printing Inks Marke

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Printing Inks Market 2018 Industry analyses the current market status, enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise products, development trends regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies and industrial policy. Printing Inks Market dynamics, production capacity, supply to demand ratio, consumer volume, Printing Inks market share and revenue is also deliberated in this research report.Market Scenario:The lithography printing inks process segment is anticipated to observe a higher CAGR during the forecast period. The enhanced and superior qualities of these printing inks such as image quality and low cost among others find its application in wide range of materials. Moreover, the growing demand for food & beverage and the automotive industry is also significantly adding to the growth of the segment.The global printing inks market is spanned across five key regions: Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Among these, Asia Pacific holds a major share of the market and is expected to be the fastest growing region at an exponential CAGR. The presence of the most populated countries of the world such as India and China has augmented the demand for various sectors such as food and beverage, personal care, home care, and automotive among others, which, in turn, is anticipated to fuel the demand for printing inks in the region. Moreover, the growing processed food demand mainly in Japan, India, and China owing to the growing working population and changing lifestyle is also expected to contribute to the market.Key PlayersSome of the prominent players operating in the global printing inks market are Flint Group (Luxembourg), DIC Corporation (Japan), Siegwerk Druckfarben AG & Co. KGaA (Germany), Sakata Inx Corporation (Japan), Toyo Ink S.C. Holdings (Japan), T&K Toka (Japan), Wikoff Color Corporation (U.S.), Sun Chemicals (U.S.), Royal Dutch Printing Ink Factories Van Son (Netherland), and Zeller+Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) among others.Get Sample Copy here:-North America is another dominant region for the market of printing inks exhibiting a growing CAGR. The presence of well-developed end-user industries coupled with the growing adoption rate are the major factors adding to this growth. Moreover, the fast-paced lifestyle has augmented the demand for on the go food and beverages which is further expected to propel the growth in this region. In addition to this, the regulations by the FDA to display product information in packaging and labels is also contributing to the growth of the market.Segmental AnalysisThe global printing inks market is segmented into process, resin type and application. On the basis of the process, the market is segregated into gravure, flexographic, lithographic, digital, and others. The market by the resin type is bifurcated into modified rosin, hydrocarbon, modified cellulose, acrylics, polyamide, polyurethane, and others. The market by the application is further bifurcated into packaging and labels, corrugated cardboards, publication & commercial printing, and others.Regional AnalysisThe printing inks market is segmented across five regions: Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Among these, Asia Pacific holds a major share of the market and is expected to grow at an exponential CAGR. The growing population and the increasing personal disposable income in the developing nations are the major factors driving the growth of the printing inks market. Moreover, the growing inter-country trade in the region has augmented the use of printing inks in packaging and corrugated boxes which is further adding to the growth of the market. Furthermore, with the increasing working population, the demand for processed and on-the-go food products are propelling in the region which in turn is adding to the market growth owing to the use of printing inks in label and stickers in the food and beverage industry.Geographical AnalysisThe report covers brief analysis of the major geographic regions namely Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.Intended AudiencePrinting inks market manufacturersTraders and Distributors of Printing inks marketProduction process industriesPotential investorsDirect Copy of this Report @Geographical AnalysisThe report covers brief analysis of the major geographic regions namely Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Natural Food Colors and Flavors Market: Global Market Synopsis, Growth Factors, Industry Segmentation, Regional Analysis And Competitive Analysis Forecast

Global Natural Food Colors and Flavors Market

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Major Market Drivers & Market Restraint Rise in the number of different color shades and multi-functional flavors Growing demand for natural and clean label products Increasing awareness concerning harmful effects of synthetic colors usage Ill consequences of artificial colors and flavors High cost as well as lesser constancyMarket DefinitionThis market report defines the market trends and forecast the upcoming opportunities and threats of the natural food colors and flavors market in the next 8 years. Food colors are considered to be natural only if they are derived from vegetables, fruits, animal or mineral, microbiological. Most of the people prefer to consume natural food owing to harmful effects of synthetic colors usage. These can be applied at bakery and confectionery, fruits and vegetables, beverages, dairy and frozen products and others. Natural flavor enhancer helps in both developments as well as in improving the flavors already present in foods. For flavoring, in Europe, there is a specific legal definition for what can be known or included as natural supported according to the guidelines. For this, major participants in the European natural food colors market are involving in merger and acquisition. For instance, in June, 2012, FMC Corporation acquired Phytone, Ltd., a leading U.K. based natural colors manufacturer in order to reinforce its presence in the market. This eventually affected the market demand of natural food colors and flavors market. Another factor driving the demand of this market is increasing usage of natural and clean label products.Market AnalysisThe Global Natural Food Colors and Flavors Market accounted for USD 5.6 billion in 2017 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic years 2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.Download exclusive PDF sample report@This Report Consists of  No of pages: 350, No of Figures: 60, No of Tables: 220Global Natural Food Colors and Flavors Market, By Food Color Type (Caramel, Anthocyanins, Carotenoids), By Food Flavor Type (Natural Extracts, Essential Oils, Aroma Chemicals), Application (Bakery & Confectionery, Meat Products, Dairy & Frozen Products, Beverages, Fruits & Vegetables, Savory & Snacks), By Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, Middle East & Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2025Note: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Frequently Asked Questions? What will the market size be in 2025? What are the key factors driving the global market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key players in the market? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key players? What will be the growth rate in 2025? Which strategies are used by top players in the Global Natural Food Colors and Flavors Market?To Avail 10% Discount On This Report Mail us on @ sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comMarket SegmentationThe global natural food colors and flavors market is segmented based on type, application and geographical segments.Based on type, the global natural food colors market is segmented into caramel, anthocyanins, carotenoids and othersBased on type, the global natural food flavor market is segmented into natural extracts, essential oils, aroma chemicals and othersOn the basis of application, the global natural food colors and flavors market is segmented into bakery and confectionery, meat products, dairy and frozen products, beverages, fruits and vegetables savory and snacksBased on geography, the global natural food colors and flavors market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies such as North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific Middle East & AfricaSome of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Brazil among others.TABLE OF CONTENTS1) Introduction2) MARKET SEGMENTATION3) Market Overview Drivers Restraints OPPORTUNITIES CHALLENGES4) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY5) premium insights6) Global natural food colors and flavors market, by Food Color Type7) Global natural food colors and flavors market, By Food Flavor Type8) Global natural food colors and flavors market, By Application9) Global natural food colors and flavors market, by geography Overview North America Europe Asia-Pacific south America Middle East and Africa10) Global natural food colors and flavors market, COMPANY landscape11) company profilesDownload Detailed TOC @Competitive LandscapeThe global natural food colors and flavors market is consolidated due to the presence of limited number of players concentrated in few countries. These major players have adopted various organic as well as inorganic growth strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, and others to strengthen their position in this market.Top Competitors of Market Royal DSM N.V., Symrise AG, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Givaudan SA, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., Kerry Group PLC., Takasago International Corporation, Fmc Corporation, Sensient Technologies Corporation, Roha Dye Chem Pvt. Ltd, CHR. Hansen Holding A/S, Symrise AG, Naturex , DD WilliamsonAbout Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com
Global Placenta Market 2018 -Japan Bio Products Co., Ltd., CJT, Charites Japan, BIOON

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Apex Market Reports, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the  Placenta Market across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of  Placenta Market from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global PP Pipe industry, and estimates the future trend of Placenta on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares  Placenta  performance both in terms of volume and revenue.The market research report explores the Placenta Market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of  Placenta Market. The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Placenta Market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Placenta . Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Placenta Market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportJapan Bio Products Co., Ltd.CJTCharites JapanBIOONJapan Natural Laboratories Co., LtdThe competitive landscape of the global market for Placenta is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Placenta Markets production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Placenta Market globally.Inquire Before Buying @The Global Placenta Market 2018 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Placenta production volume, data pertaining to demand and Placenta supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Placenta along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Placenta across the world.About UsApex Market Reports offers elevating market research globally. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different categories. Apex Market Reports provides you to best services, weather youre searching for new trends in market or competitive scenario in emerging market.Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezCorporate Sales Specialist155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Phone: +17739042683Email id - sales@apexmarketreports.comWebsite -
Overview Of Global Intelligent PDU Industry Analysis, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025

Intelligent PDU Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Intelligent PDU Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Intelligent PDUs help to produce intelligent architecture that can determine some of most insistent data centre control tasks. Elements that are driving the evolution of this market are by growing demand for high-power capabilities in high-power density surroundings, increasing demand for intelligent products in datacentres, and rising environmental & safety anxieties in established countries. High-density surroundings necessitate more input power from the PDU. Extending three-phase networks to the rack enhancements of power that can deliver by each PDU, thereby increasing rack density. It also simplifies load balancing across the three input phases coming into the datacentre leading to better-quality efficiencies. Major factors limiting the growth of the intelligent PDU market consist of higher operation price of an intelligent PDU than a simple PDU and rising density of larger datacentres. Growing demand for cloud computing globally and rise in the application of portable datacentres can increased for intelligent PDU market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global intelligent PDU market is segmented by type, power phase, application and end use industry. By type, the market can be segmented into metered, monitored, and automatic transfer switch. Metered PDUs responsible for local visual monitoring ability through a fixed LED meter that shows real-time power data. PDUs can be used for outlet metering and inlet metering of power load. Both outlet and inlet metered PDUs help to determine power usage. However, inlet-metered PDUs define the available capacity of the racks, and the outlet-metered PDU define the existing capacity to simplify provisioning. Outlet-metered PDUs are also used to determine the actual ingesting of power at the device & server levels and inlet-metered PDUs are used to activate user-defined alarms, thereby warn about the potential circuit overload to protect any information technology disasters. By power phase, the market can be segmented into single phase and three phase. By application, the market can be segmented into datacentres, industrial power solutions, and void phone systems. Intelligent PDUs are extensively used in the telecom & IT industry for applications at datacentres. The growing use of smartphone is generating growing opportunities for the telecom sectors with network equipment companies, wireless broadband carriers, and device producers. With the rising use of telecommunication devices, data produced by each device and apparatus is also growing. Datacentres stores the information that is being made by the apparatus and simplify the flow of this information. By end use industry, the market can be segmented into BFSI, healthcare, telecom & IT, industrial manufacturing, transportation, government and energy.In addition to that, the intelligent PDU market can also be considered according to regional divisions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America. North America is anticipated to hold the major share of the intelligent PDU market during forecast period as this region is a main hub for colocation centers and the IT business. The colocation centers in North America have huge amenities and have huge number of data businesses and websites. It is one of the leading locations for datacenters and is home to companies of all amounts, from garage start-ups to universal colocation players. Major companies from the transportation, BFSI, telecom & IT, and power industries have a presence in this area and these companies are the protuberant end users of intelligent PDUs market. The Canada and U.S. are the main suppliers to the development of the intelligent PDU market in North America.Browse Detail Report @Some of the leading players operating in the intelligent PDU market includes Key market players such as Raritan (US), Cyber Power Systems (US), Vertiv (US), Schneider Electric (France), Eaton (Ireland), ABB, , BMC Manufacturing, Anord Critical Power, Black Box Corporation, Chatsworth Products, Cyber Power Systems, Cisco Systems, Eaton Corporation, Vertiv, Enlogic, Elcom International, Geist, Hewlett Packward Enterprise, Leviton Manufacturing, Raritan, Rittal, PDU Expert UK, The Siemon Company, Tripp Lite, among others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:- Market segments and sub-segments- Market trends and dynamics- Supply and demand- Market size- Current trends/opportunities/challenges- Competitive landscape- Technological breakthroughs- Value chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:- North America (U.S. and Canada)- Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)- Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)- Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)- Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)- Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.Make an Enquiry of this report @A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:- A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market- Important changes in market dynamics- Market segmentation up to the second or third level- Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume- Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments- Market shares and strategies of key players- Emerging niche segments and regional markets- An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market- Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
SonicWall Exceeds Financial Goals for Fifth Consecutive Quarter, Eclipses $500 Million in New Partner Deal Registrations and Receives 12 Industry Accolades

Bill Conner, President and CEO at SonicWall

www.sonicwall.com

SonicWall Exceeds Financial Goals for Fifth Consecutive Quarter, Eclipses $500 Million in New Partner Deal Registrations and Receives 12 Industry Accolades Surpassed financial and operational objectives for fifth straight quarter Added $500 million in new partner deal registrations Received 12 cybersecurity industry accolades since February 1st Delivered dramatic improvements in customer service, technical support and self-service capabilities3rd April 2018, Dubai, UAE: SonicWall, the trusted security partner protecting more than 1 million networks worldwide, announced today that the company surpassed its financial goals and operational targets for the fifth consecutive quarter. These benchmarks were supported by 80 percent growth in SecureFirst partner registrations and more than $500 million in new partner deal registrations.SonicWall, along with our invaluable partner community, continues to gain momentum, delivering on our promise to diligently protect organizations of all sizes from todays most malicious cyber attacks, said SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner. While surpassing goals is a top priority for us, equipping tens of thousands of partners around the world with the knowledge necessary to help protect customers against cybercrime is equally important.Driven by strategic execution in product and service delivery, as well as the release of the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, the company received 12 cybersecurity industry accolades since February alone.SonicWall continues to execute with the pace, efficiency and innovation that surpasses our expectations, said Dipanjan (DJ) Deb, Founding Partner and CEO of Francisco Partners. The fact that SonicWall is exceeding our aggressive operating targets, while garnering respected third-party accolades, is a true testament to the companys diligence and commitment in delivering value to all stakeholders.To further aid organizations pursuit of protecting their data, networks and customers, SonicWall launched its Threat Meters via the SonicWall Security Center to provide actionable cyber-attack data and threat intelligence. The Threat Meters display live cyber attacks by threat category and origin, and tracks malware, intrusions, ransomware, encrypted threats, spam, phishing and emerging zero-day threats.SecureFirst Partner Program Keeps Fast PaceSince its launch in November of 2016, the SonicWall SecureFirst Partner Program has exceeded numerous growth and sales objectives. As a 100 percent channel company, SonicWall is proud to enable its global partner community and continues to promote active participation and collaboration. The SecureFirst Partner Program has: Grown to more than 23,000 registered partners, an 80 percent increase since May 2017 Registered 8,700 net new channel partners since May 2017 Added more than $500 million in new partner deal registrationsSonicWall University Accelerates Partner Expertise, Sales OpportunitiesSonicWall SecureFirst Partners are joining and leveraging SonicWall University in record numbers. Designed to keep SecureFirst Partner sales representatives, pre-sales engineers and support engineers at the forefront of todays cybersecurity threats and solutions, the sophisticated online enablement and training tool has already achieved several key milestones: More than 68,000 hours of training completed in SonicWall University, a 600 percent increase since May 2017 135,000-plus successful exams administered, a 700 percent increase since May 2017 More than 6,000 training hours logged by partners 21 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue attainment for technology partners that leverage SonicWall University trainingPartners that have their staff go through the SonicWall University achievements are delivering a 21 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue attainment. This is compared to a 7 percent quarterly revenue increase for partner companies that dont participate in SonicWall University training.SonicWall Customer-Centric Support Setting New BenchmarksSonicWall also continues its focus on improving customer service and technical service, delivering key improvements, including: 54 percent reduction in call abandonment for customer service 61 percent reduction in call abandonment for technical support 80 percent reduction in case backlogs 97 percent positive knowledgebase (KB) article rating year to date Year-over-year Self-Service Score (SSS) improved from 4:1 to 10:1 More than 280,000 KB articles viewed every monthI am very satisfied with the support access, especially as I am a small business owner without an IT staff, said David Kerr, owner of David R. Kerr DDS, a SonicWall customer. It generally only takes a minute or two to get through to support. No long waits.The SonicWall partner community also is witnessing the impact world-class service can have on troubleshooting technical issues and improving customer relationships.The [SonicWall] engineer went the extra mile to assist me in helping me with an emergency situation, said Josh Castellano, Vice President of Operations/Sr. Solutions Provider, from Optel BCS, a valued SonicWall partner. Not only did he assist me, but he helped me save my customer.Momentum Reinforced by Record Brand Awareness, Industry RecognitionSonicWall launched strategic marketing, public relations and lead-generation programs to deliver key contributions to the companys top line revenue. Complementing the financial, partner and support achievements, SonicWall was acknowledged for its overall execution, earning 12 awards for individual success, team performances and product capabilities.All cylinders of the SonicWall engine are firing, from product, to service, to sales, to partners, to marketing  all with acclaimed results, said Brian Decker, head of security investing at Francisco Partners. This performance has translated into significant value for SonicWalls partners and customers.This execution was highlighted by a sweep in the 2018 Info Security Product Guide Global Excellence Awards. SonicWall received a total of eight awards for ISPGs 2018 program, including Gold in the CEO of the Year and Security Marketing Team of the Year categories.2018 Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Awards Grand Trophy Winner: SonicWall CEO of the Year (500-2,499 employees): Gold Winner, Bill Conner Security Marketing Team of the Year: Gold Winner, SonicWall, Bob VanKirk and Team Customer Service Department of the Year: Bronze Winner, SonicWall, Keith Trottier and Team BYOD Security: Silver Winner, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access Email Security and Management: Silver Winner, SonicWall Email Security Firewalls: Silver Winner, SonicWall NSA 2650 Network Security and Management: Bronze Winner, SonicWall Cloud Global ManagementSonicWall also collected a trio of awards from CRN: 20 Coolest Network Security Vendors, Steve Pataky for Channel Chief Award and Chris Auger for Channel Chief Award. In addition, the SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) cloud sandbox service took home the Enterprise Integrated Security Solution of the Year (SME) at the 2017 Indian ISV Awards announced in February.Finally, SonicWall was named a finalist for three additional awards: Cyber Defense Magazine InfoSec Awards 2018; SC Magazine Best UTM Security Solution for NSA 2650 Firewall; and SC Magazine Best Managed Security Service for SonicWall Cloud Global Management System (GMS). The winners for all three will be announced during RSA Conference 2018, April 16-20, in San Francisco, Calif.Im extremely proud of what our team has been able to accomplish across our product portfolio, SecureFirst program, customer service and bottom line, said Conner. This a journey, and we will continue to focus on delivering world-class security services and solutions that protect our partners and customers in todays cyber arms race.About SonicWallSonicWall has been fighting the cyber-criminal industry for over 26 years, defending small, medium-size businesses and enterprises worldwide. Backed by research from SonicWall Capture Labs, our award-winning real-time breach detection and prevention solutions, coupled with the formidable resources of over 21,000 loyal channel partners around the globe, are the backbone, securing more than a million business and mobile networks and their emails, applications and data.This combination of products and partners has enabled an automated real-time breach detection and prevention solution tuned to the specific needs of the more than 500,000 organizations in over 150 countries. These businesses can run more effectively and fear less about security.For more information, visitBuilding 9Dubai Internet CityDubai, UAE
Smart Grid Security Market: Increased Sophistication of Cyber-attacks Driving Demand, reports TMR

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The growth in the global smart grid security market is correlated to the growth in population and the swift pace of urbanization in developing economies. This is because, hard-pressed to serve the ever growing energy needs of the urban population, energy resources companies are increasingly turning to smart meters and smart appliances by leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud. This also makes smart grids highly vulnerable to various cyber-attacks, thus spawning a security market which is meant to bulwark them.Posing a major challenge to the global smart grid security market, on the other hand, is the long investment cycles in the energy sector that makes technology assessment difficult and leads to a time lag between implemented and up-to-date solutions.Browse the Report to Know Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored @Currently, the global smart grid security market is fragmented on account of the presence of numerous diversified local, regional, and international vendors who offer various services to the power utilities. In many countries, the market is dominated only by the local or regional vendors and this is probably intensify competition in the years ahead.A report by Transparency Market Research predicts the global smart grid security market to progress at a healthy CAGR of 10.5% during the period between 2017 and 2025 to become worth US$10.58 bn by 2025 from US$4.35 bn in 2016.Request Sample to Know An Insight On the Important Factors and Trends Influencing the Market @Application Security Segment to Progress at Maximum Pace due to their Ability to Prevent Security BreachesThe global market for smart grid security can be segmented based on the type of security into application security, database security, network security, and endpoint security. Of them, the network security of smart grid security holds most of the share in the market. The segment is expected to make good progress in the next couple of years too. Network security includes approaches and practices to monitor and prevent unauthorized access, modification, misuse or denial of a network accessible resources and computer network.The application security segment, on the other hand, is predicted to clock maximum growth. Application security entails steps taken to improve security of an application regularly by uncovering and tackling security issues and also preventing them.Get TOC of This Report @Technological Progress in Energy and Power Industry to Stoke Maximum Growth in Asia PacificFrom a geographical standpoint, the global smart grid security market is being led by North America, which currently holds maximum share and is slated to expand at a healthy clip in the next couple of years. In 2016, the North America market accounted for a share of 38.7% in the global smart grid security market. Technological progress is one of the key drivers of growth in the region which has resulted in a shift toward digitalization of grid systems, especially for commercial usage. The U.S., in North America, holds dominant share.Europe, powered by the U.K, France, Germany, Italy, and the rest of Europe, trails North America vis-a-vis market share in the global smart grid security market. Growing technological progress in the grid systems and security systems is spurring market growth in the region. In terms of growth rate, however, Asia Pacific is expected to surpass all other regions by registering a CAGR of 11.3% from 2017 to 2025. This is mainly on account of the swift technological developments in the energy and power industry across different countries, especially India, China, and Japan.Some of the prominent participants in the global smart grid security market are Intel Corporation, Siemens AG, Symantec Corporation, IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc, Leidos Holdings, Inc., Honeywell International Inc., BAE Systems Plc., N-Dimension Solutions Inc., and AlertEnterprise Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Surface Mount Technology Equipment Market Is Expected To Reach A Value Of US$ 8,014.8 Mn By 2026 At A CAGR Of 4.5%

Surface Mount Technology Equipment Market

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Surface Mount Technology Equipment Market - Global Industry Analysis Size Share Growth Trends and Forecast 2018 - 2026" to its huge collection of research reports.The Surface Mount Technology Equipment market report provides analysis for the period 20162026, wherein the period from 2018 to 2026 is the forecast period and 2017 is the base year. The report covers all the major trends and drivers playing a key role in surface mount technology equipment market growth over the forecast period. It also highlights the drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence markets growth during the said period. The study provides a holistic perspective on the surface mount technology equipment markets growth throughout the above mentioned forecast period in terms of revenue (in US$ Mn) and Volume (Thousand Units), across different geographies, including Asia Pacific, South America, North America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa (MEA).To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Surface Mount Technology Equipment Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe market overview section of the report demonstrates the market dynamics and trends, such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of this market. An attractiveness analysis has also been provided for every region in the report, in order to give a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario of the surface mount technology equipment market, globally. Moreover, the report provides an overview of the various strategies of key players present in the market.Based on equipment type, the surface mount technology equipment (SMT) market is segmented into placement equipment, inspection equipment, soldering equipment and cleaning equipment among others. In addition, inspection equipment is bifurcated into AOI, AXI, and SPI. Based on end use industry, the surface mount technology equipment market has been segmented into automotive, aerospace and defense, consumer electronics, healthcare, industrial and others. Geographically, the global surface mount technology equipment market has been bifurcated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Latin America. The surface mount technology equipment market has been provided in (USD million) in terms of revenue and (Thousand Units) in terms of volume as well as the CAGR for the forecast period of 2018 to 2026.Surface Mount Technology Equipment Market: Competitive LandscapeThe report also highlights the competitive landscape of the surface mount technology equipment market, thereby positioning all the major players according to their geographic presence and recent key developments. The comprehensive surface mount technology equipment market estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews, and in-house expert panel reviews. These market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of different political, social, economic, technological, and legal factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the surface mount technology equipment markets growth.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @In our report, North American region is divided into The U.S., Canada, and rest of North America. Similarly, Europe market is divided into Germany U.K., France, Italy, and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific has been segmented into China, Japan, India, South Korea, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Middle East and Africa covers the G.C.C., South Africa and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Similarly, South America region includes Brazil, and Rest of South America. This report provides all the essential information required to understand the surface mount technology equipment and its components. Furthermore, Porters Five Forces analysis explains the factors which are currently affecting the surface mount technology equipment market. This report also provides the value chain analysis for the surface mount technology equipment which explains the participants of the value chain.The global surface mount technology equipment market is characterized by the presence of numerous key players in the market. The key market players focusing on factors such as price, performance, quality, support services and innovations of product to compete in the market. Major players in surface mount technology equipment market are Mycronic AB, Nordson Corporation, Viscom AG, Fuji Machine Mfg. Co., Ltd., ASML Holding, N.V., KLA-Tencor Corporation, Juki Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., Orbotech Ltd, JUTZE Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd., Koh Young Technology, Mirtech, Omron Corporation, PARMI Corp., Test Research, Inc., and Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. among others.The surface mount technology equipment market is segmented as below.Surface Mount Technology Equipment MarketBy Equipment Type- Placement Equipment- Soldering Equipment- Cleaning Equipment- Inspection EquipmentDevice Type (2D/3D)- AOI- SPI- AXIMake an Enquiry of this report @End Use Industry- Automotive- Aerospace and Defense- Consumer Electronics- Healthcare- Industrial- OthersOthersBy End Use Industry- Automotive- Aerospace and Defense- Consumer Electronics- Healthcare- Industrial- OthersBy GeographyNorth America- U.S.- Canada- Rest of North AmericaEurope- Germany- The U.K.- France- Italy- Rest of EuropeAsia Pacific- China- Japan- India- South Korea- Rest of Asia PacificMiddle East and Africa (MEA)- GCC- South Africa- Rest of MEASouth America- Brazil- Rest of South AmericaAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
LED Services Market: Development of Smart Cities to Propel Market Growth

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In the highly competitive global LED services market, key players are vying to withstand the competition with differentiator product offerings and by enhancing the functionality of their existing products. Long term lighting contracts and sponsorship of industry events are some other crucial growth strategies for success in this market.Some of the key growth drivers of the global LED services market are need for energy efficient and cost effective lighting solutions that are suitable for a range of application segments. Integration of LED lighting with wireless communication technology and availability of IoT-enabled LED lighting is offering a whole new experience to consumers than what was offered by traditional ones.As per a report by Transparency Market Research, the global LED services market is likely to expand at a CAGR of 10.6% between 2017 and 2025 for the market to reach a valuation of US$22.42 bn by 2025 increasing from US$9.26 bn in 2016.Browse the Report to Know Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored @Residential Application Segment to Stay in Lead until 2025The application segments into which the global LED services market is segmented in this report are residential, public lighting, and business lighting. The segment of public lighting is further segmented into smart lighting and street lighting. Smart lighting includes video-surveillance, intelligent crosswalks, intelligent traffic lights, electric vehicles charging stations, and traffic monitoring.In 2016, residential lighting accounted for the leading share of almost 45% in the global LED services market. Rising at a promising growth rate, the segment is expected to hold on to its lead position over the forecast period. This is mainly because of increasing demand for smart lighting solutions for residential spaces that provides higher luminosity.The public lighting application of the LED service market is predicted to surpass the growth rate of other applications over the forecast period. Commencement of large scale street lighting projects and development of smart cities in many parts of the world will benefit the public lighting application segment in the forthcoming years.Street lighting segment within public lighting is expected to display promising growth rate over the forecast period due to favorable regulations for LED lighting systems and need for energy efficient and cost effective solutions. Ongoing and infrastructure developmental projects in the future are expected to present immense growth opportunities to this segment of the market.Request Sample to Know An Insight On the Important Factors and Trends Influencing the Market @Energy Efficiency of LED Lighting Boosts Uptake in Asia PacificThe global LED services market is segmented into five key regional segments, namely North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa. Europe stood as the leading regional market amongst all in 2016. Infrastructure development, changing government policies and regulations, long term contracts, and focus on energy efficient lighting solutions are the key factors behind the supremacy of the region.North America stood as the second-leading market for LED services in 2016 revenue-wise. Favorable government regulations for switching to energy efficient lighting and developed infrastructure are leading to increased adoption of LED solutions in the region.Get TOC of This Report @Asia Pacific, powered by China and India is anticipated to emerge as a significant market for LED services over the forecast period.Some key players in the global LED services market are Thorlux Lighting, LEDVANCE GmbH, Philips Lighting, OPPLE Lighting Co. Ltd., Reggiani Spa Illuminazione, Bright Special Lighting S.A., Endo Lighting Corp., Global Light LLC, KKDC Co. Ltd., and Cree Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Machine Learning as a Service Market: Proliferation of IoT-based Devices Ramps up Growth

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The global machine learning as a service (MLaaS) market is rising expeditiously mainly due to the Internet revolution. The process of connecting the world virtually has generated vast amount of data which is boosting the adoption of machine learning solutions. This is because deployment of machine learning improves the speed and accuracy of functions performed by the system.Apart from this, adoption of advanced analytics technologies from several industry verticals such as healthcare and life sciences, BFSI, retail, telecom, and manufacturing is contributing towards the growth of machine learning as a service market. Machine learning as a service solutions are also adopted across industry verticals to enhance the decision making capability of machines.Serving as a roadblock to the growth of this market is lack of skilled professionals and concerns about data security.As per estimations of Transparency Market Research, the global machine learning as a service market pegged an opportunity of US$1.07 bn in 2016. Expanding at a phenomenal CAGR of 38.40% between 2017 and 2025, the market is expected to attain a value of US$19.86 bn by the end of 2025.Browse the Report to Know Insights into the Competitive Scenario of the Market @Healthcare and Lifesciences Leading End-use Segments due to Digitalization of Patient RecordsManufacturing, retail, telecom, healthcare and life sciences, BFSI, and others are the segments into which the global machine learning as a service market is classified based upon end use. Of them, the segment of healthcare and life sciences is the key contributor to the market mainly due to the rising need for machine learning in the sector to integrate structured and unstructured data. The data generated is mainly from electronic health record (EHR), genomic and claims data.In the forthcoming years, other end-use industries such as BFSI, retail, telecom, and manufacturing are anticipated to display demand for MLaaS in order to augment the decision making capability of machines that are used in these industry verticals.On the basis of deployment type, the machine learning as a service market is segmented into public cloud and private cloud. In 2016, private cloud segment accounted for the leading revenue contribution to the global MLaaS market. However, public cloud segment is anticipated to rise at a relatively rapid rate than private cloud segment due to ease of installation and economic benefits to organizations.Request Sample @North America to Continue to Stay in LeadThe key geographical segments into which the global MLaaS market is divided are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, South America, and Europe. North America led among other regional segments in 2016 contributing US$362.7 bn to the overall market. The region is expected to hold on its dominant position over the forecast period backed by the burgeoning demand for Internet of Things (IoT) and rapid integration of machine learning as a service with big data and other newer technologies.The growth of North America MLaaS market is mainly driven by the U.S. and Canada as they are home to some well-entrenched players such as Microsoft Corporation, Google Inc., Amazon Web Services Inc., and IBM Inc.Get TOC of This Report @Asia Pacific is expected to display a significant growth rate in the upcoming years backed by the swift uptake of advance analytics technologies in the healthcare and life sciences industry. The developments in the information technology sector is also working in favor of Asia Pacific MLaaS market.IBM Corporation, Google Inc., Amazon Web Services, Big MI Inc., Microsoft Corporation, FICO, Ersatz Labs Inc., Yottamine Analytics, Predictron Labs Ltd., Fuzzy.ai, Sift science Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, H20.ai, and Datoin are the key players operating in the global machine learning as a service market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market 2018 -Ossur, Ottobock, OPPO, Medical Inc., Truelife

Global Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market

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Apex Market Reports, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global PP Pipe industry, and estimates the future trend of Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints performance both in terms of volume and revenue.The market research report explores the Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market. The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportDeroyal Industries, IncDJO, LLCOssurOttobockOPPO Medical Inc.TruelifeZimmerBledsoe Brace SystemThe competitive landscape of the global market for Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Markets production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market globally.Inquire Before Buying @The Global Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market 2018 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints production volume, data pertaining to demand and Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints across the world.About UsApex Market Reports offers elevating market research globally. We have collection of various syndicated reports of different categories. Apex Market Reports provides you to best services, weather youre searching for new trends in market or competitive scenario in emerging market.Customers can buys different reports across various categories such as Chemical and Material, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food and beverages, Automobile and various sectors. Our Website offers safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient payment options.Contact UsFrank ValadezCorporate Sales Specialist155 North Wacker Drive, Suite 4250Chicago, IL 60606Phone: +17739042683Email id - sales@apexmarketreports.comWebsite -
Global Natural Gas Refueling Infrastructure Market, by Station Type (CNG and LNG) - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends, and Forecast Until 2022

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Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has been acting as an impressive data source when it comes to evaluating various industrial verticals. The research report titled Natural Gas Refueling Infrastructure Market offers a clear insight about the Natural Gas Refueling Infrastructure assessed over the global platform. This analysis proves beneficial for readers & new investors who are aiming to enter the market for Natural Gas Refueling Infrastructure in the near future.To Request a Free Sample Report or View Summary of Report @The report states that the global natural gas refueling infrastructure market will amount to 29,688 units by 2022, increasing from 19,396 units in 2013, at a CAGR of 4.80% from 2014 to 2022. The valuation of the market, which was US$21.4 bn in 2013, will rise to US$50.2 bn by 2022, expanding at an impressive 10.17% CAGR from 2014 to 2022.This research study analyzes the market for natural gas refueling infrastructure in terms of volume and revenue. The natural gas refueling infrastructure market has been segmented on the basis of station type and geography. For the research, 2013 has been taken as the base year while all forecasts have been presented for the 20142022 period. Market data for all the segments has been provided at the regional as well as country-specific level for the 20132022 period. The regional segments have been further divided into country level segments, which include the major players in the global natural gas refueling infrastructure market. The report provides a comprehensive competitive landscape and features companies engaged in the natural gas refueling infrastructure business. This report includes the key market dynamics affecting the overall natural gas refueling infrastructure industry globally. The report also provides a detailed analysis of the global natural gas refueling infrastructure market with the help of the Porters Five Forces model. The Porters Five Forces analysis aids in understanding the five major forces that affect the industry structure and profitability of the global natural gas refueling infrastructure market. The forces analyzed are the bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat from new entrants, threat from substitutes, and degree of competition.The high-level analysis in the report provides detailed insights into the natural gas refueling infrastructure business globally. Major drivers, restraints, and opportunities in the natural gas refueling infrastructure market were analyzed in detail and are illustrated in the report with the help of supporting graphs and tables. There are currently numerous growth drivers for the natural gas refueling infrastructure industry. One of the most prominent drivers is the no emissions and government initiatives boost the demand for natural gas as transportation fuel. Apart from this, low cost of natural gas results in attractive return on investments. This factor also contributes to the overall growth of the natural gas refueling infrastructure market. Market attractiveness analysis was done on the basis of geography. Market attractiveness was estimated on the basis of common parameters that directly impact the market in different regions.The natural gas refueling infrastructure market was further segmented on the basis of station type. Stations included in this report are compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The natural gas refueling infrastructure market was analyzed across six geographies: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Regional data has been provided for each sub-segment of the natural gas refueling infrastructure market. Key market participants in the natural gas refueling infrastructure market include Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Apache Corporation, BP plc, Indraprastha Gas Limited, Trillium CNG, Gazprom, PETRONAS, ENN Energy Holdings Limited, Gas Natural Fenosa, Fuel System Solutions, Inc., Blu LNG, Cryostar SAS, GE Oil & Gas, Clean Energy Fuels, and GNC Galileo. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial details, business strategies, and recent developments.For Complete Report with TOC Visit @The global natural gas refueling infrastructure market has been segmented as follows:Natural Gas Refueling Infrastructure Market: Station AnalysisCNGLNGNatural Gas Refueling Infrastructure Market: Region AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaRest of North AmericaEuropeGermanyItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificPakistanBangladeshRest of Asia PacificSouth AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle EastIranRest of Middle EastAfricaEgyptRest of AfricaAbout Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:
Cell Lysis/Cell Fractionation Market to Witness a Pronounce Growth by 2024

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Global Cell Lysis/Cell Fractionation Market: OverviewCell fractionation is the process of separating cellular components while at the same time, retaining the individual functions of each component. Similarly, cell lysis is the breaking down of the cell membrane by enzymic, viral, or osmotic mechanisms. Cell lysis/cell fractionation enables scientists to carefully study the different parts of a cell in isolation so as to determine their biochemical composition and function. Much of what scientists know of the molecular biology of a cell is discovered by scrutinizing cell-free systems. The rapid growth of the healthcare, life sciences, and pharmaceutical industries has spurred research and development activities in countless fields, increasing the demand for cell lysis/cell fractionation in laboratories.The key product types of cell lysis/cell fractionation are reagents and kits, consumables, disposables, beads, and instruments. Instruments such as homogenizers and sonicators are used for cell lysis/cell fractionation. In addition, the various reagents and kits used for cell lysis are detergent solutions, enzymes, and others. The major types of cells that can undergo cell fractionation are microbial cells, mammalian cells, and others. Biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and research laboratories and institutes are the prominent end users of cell lysis. The regions studied under the global cell lysis/cell fractionation market are North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World.Download Report Brochure @The report carefully studies the different applications, technologies, products, and regional segments of the cell lysis/cell fractionation market and offers sharp insights on the strengths and weaknesses of each. The market study, backed by thorough research and supported by the latest facts and figures, serves as an ideal tool for all stakeholders of the cell lysis/cell fractionation market. Equipped with this knowledge, players can gain a competitive edge over the rest and devise key business strategies for the profitable future of the company.Global Cell Lysis/Cell Fractionation Market: Key Trends and OpportunitiesThe global market for cell lysis/cell fractionation is propelled by the high prevalence of diseases, the rise in government funding for research and development activities, the growing focus on personalized medicine, and the expansion of biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Emerging countries are forecast to present high-growth opportunities for players within the cell lysis/cell fractionation market. By contrast, the shortage of skilled personnel, the high cost of cell-based research, and the survival of new entrants and small players are some of the leading impediments.Request for TOC @Consumables form the largest product segment in the cell lysis/cell fractionation market, driven primarily by the rise in cell-based research funding and the increased prevalence of diseases. Mammalian cells are the most commonly fractionated cell types thanks to surging investments by companies and governments for cell-based research and the growing prevalence of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. Cell lysis/cell fractionation is mostly carried out by research laboratories and institutes such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).Global Cell Lysis/Cell Fractionation Market: Region-wise OutlookAmong the key regional segments of the global cell lysis/cell fractionation market, North America holds the largest share, driven by the surging government funding in most countries and the rise of the aging population. This region is anticipated to retain its lead throughout the forecast period. Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is projected to witness the fastest growth in the coming years, particularly in India and China. Europe is also a strong contender in the cell lysis/cell fractionation market.Obtain Report Details @The most prominent players operating in the global cell lysis/cell fractionation market include Beckman Coulter, Inc., Qiagen N.V., Merck KGAA, Miltenyi Biotec, Cell Signaling Technology, Inc., Qsonica, LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Roche Diagnostics, Becton, Dickinson and Company, and Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Automotive Gear Market 2018-2023 Global Key Players: Neapco Inc, Mitsubishi Group, Dana Holding Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, ZF TRW and GKN plc

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Automotive Gear Market 2018Automotive Gear Market Share, Size, Trends, And Business Opportunity Analysis Report 2018 include historic data, with forecast data to 2023. Automotive Gear Market report is helpful for future strategy development, and to know about Market Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, And Global market size, share, Growth, Trends, key players forecast to 2023Global Automotive Gear Market, By material (metallic and plastic) By product type (Planetary, Bevel, Helical, Non-Metallic and other), By vehicle type (Passenger vehicle, Commercial vehicle) and Region - Forecast 2016-2023.Get Sample Report of Automotive Gear Market @Key Players:The major player operating in the market of global automotive gear are Eaton, Linamar Corporation, NSK Ltd, Bharat Gears Ltd, Neapco Inc, Mitsubishi Group, Dana Holding Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, ZF TRW and GKN plc.Market Synopsis of Automotive Gear Market:Market Scenario:The high demand for automotive gears is due to the growth in the automotive industry. An automotive gear helps give an automobile, a smooth start to and allows the outer wheel to rotate faster than the inner wheel for safer turns. Smooth gear shifting enhances the driving experience as well as the growing demand for low-carbon-footprint technologies fuels the growth of the global automotive gears market. Moreover, rising disposable incomes and vehicle-ownership boosts the market growth. Lightweight and highly durable aluminum and composite gears are estimated to gain higher popularity during the forecast period. Focus towards high-quality products & the changing lifestyle of consumers and increasing spending power, enhance the growth of the gear market for automotive sector.However, the high cost of advanced gear system than the conventional gear system acts as a barrier for the growth of automotive gear market.Global Automotive gear market was valued at USD 28.40 Billion in 2015 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecast period.Regional Analysis:Asia-Pacific market is dominating the market of automotive gear market due to growth in automotive sector. Development of automotive manufacturing industries in developing economies such as China and India are driving the market for automotive gears. The market in the developing countries is largely driven by economic growth and ongoing industrialization, which helps in production of motor vehicles and other manufacturing output.North America is referred to as the second-largest automotive gears market due to factors such as large customer base and high disposable income of end-users have fueled the demand for vehicles in the country.Get Full Report Details of Automotive Gear Market @Table of Contents1 Executive Summary2 Research Methodology3 Market Dynamics4 Global Automotive Gear Market, By Material5 Global Automotive Gear Market, By Product Type6 Global Automotive Gear Market, By Vehicle Type7 Regional Market Analysis8 Competitive AnalysisLIST OF TABLESTABLE 1 GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET, BY MATERIALTABLE 2 GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET, BY PRODUCT TYPETABLE 3 GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET, BY VEHICLE TYPETABLE 4 GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET, BY REGIONSTABLE 5 NORTH AMERICA AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET, BY MATERIAL.LIST OF FIGURESFIGURE 1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGYFIGURE 2 GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET: BY MATERIAL (%)FIGURE 3 GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET: BY PRODUCT TYPE (%)FIGURE 4 GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET: BY VEHICLE TYPE (%)FIGURE 5 GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE GEAR MARKET: BY REGION ContinuedAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.CONTACT US:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Auto Tyre Market is touching new level with key players Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop

Auto Tyre Market

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The qualitative research study conducted by HTF MI titled China Auto Tyre Market Research Report 2018 provides primary Data, surveys, Scope of the Product and vendor briefings. The market dynamic forces have been determined after conducting a detailed study of the China Auto Tyre market. The study provides forecasts for Auto Tyre investments till 2023.If you are involved in the Auto Tyre industry or intend to be, then this study will provide you comprehensive outlook. It offers a consequential analysis of the Auto Tyre Company, key tactics followed by leading manufactures and trending segments.Get the inside scoop of the Sample report @:The research study is segmented by Types [Radial Tyre & Biased Tyre] as well as Key Applications [Commercial Auto & Passenger Auto] with historical and projected market share along with the growth rate, revenue figures and gross profit margin in tabular format which makes easy to understand product/service differences, market concentration rate and product distribution for past 5 years.Major geographical regions like South China, East China, Southwest China, Northeast China, North China, Central China & Northwest China and leading players such as Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop, Goodyear, Continental, Pirelli, Hankook, Sumitomo, Yokohama, Maxxis, Zhongce, GITI Tire, Cooper Tire, Kumho Tire, Toyo Tire, MRF, Apollo Tyres, Triangle Group, Nexen Tire, Titan, Balkrishna, Mitas, Eurotire, Hengfeng Rubber, Nokian Tyres, Shandong Linglong, Double Coin, Jinyu Tyre & JK Tyre involved in this report. The report gives a clear idea about the growth factors, reasons for deterioration of China Auto Tyre in recent years and different opportunities and strategies to expand market.Early buyers will receive 10% customization on reports. Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @If you have a different set of players/manufacturers according to geography or needs regional or country segmented reports we can provide customization according to your requirement.Each player highlighted in the research study contains companies Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors, in-depth business overview, geographic footprint and contact information. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to SWOT Analysis.Buy this research @Reasons to Buy:- What will be the market size in 2023 and at what rate will it grow?- What growth potential do Auto Tyre market have?- Procure strategically important competitor information, analysis, and insights to formulate effective R&D strategies.- Recognize emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage.- Classify potential new clients or partners in the target demographic.- Plan mergers and acquisitions meritoriously by identifying key players and its most promising contributions.- New Development and identify prospective partners with the most attractive projects to enhance and expand business potential and scope.- Influential factors that are thriving demand and constraints in the market.To add, value to product and services research report comprises of valuable insights with distinguishable traits that influence consumers behavior and demand. The report offers a measurable and verifiable method made towards analysis of market concentration, new entrants and the technological trends in future.Some of the key questions answered in this report:- Detailed Overview of China Auto Tyre market helps deliver clients and businesses making strategies.- Influential factors that are thriving demand and constraints in the market.- What is the market concentration? Is it fragmented or highly concentrated?- What trends, challenges and barriers will impact the development and sizing of Auto Tyre market?- SWOT Analysis of each key player mentioned along with its company profile.- What growth momentum or acceleration market carries during the forecast period?- Which region is going to tap highest market share in future?- What Application/end-user category or Product Type may see incremental growth prospects?- What focused approach and constraints are holding the market tight?Any Query or Specific Requirement? Ask to our Expert @Check for discount @There are 15 Chapters to display the China Auto Tyre marketChapter 1, to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Auto Tyre, Applications of Auto Tyre, Market Segment by Regions;Chapter 2, to analyze the Manufacturing Cost Structure, Raw Material and Suppliers, Manufacturing Process, Industry Chain Structure;Chapter 3, to display the Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of , Capacity and Commercial Production Rate, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, Export & Import, R&D Status and Technology Source, Raw Materials Sources Analysis;Chapter 4, to show the Overall Market Analysis, Capacity Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment);Chapter 5 and 6, to show the Regional Market Analysis that includes South China, East China, Southwest China, Northeast China, North China, Central China & Northwest China, Auto Tyre Segment Market Analysis (by Type);Chapter 7 and 8, to analyze the Auto Tyre Segment Market Analysis (by Application [Commercial Auto & Passenger Auto]) & Type [Radial Tyre & Biased Tyre] Major Manufacturers Analysis of Auto Tyre;Chapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type [Radial Tyre & Biased Tyre], Market Trend by Application Commercial Auto & Passenger Auto;Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis;Chapter 11, to analyze the Consumers Analysis of China Auto Tyre;Chapter 12, to describe Auto Tyre Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Auto Tyre sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact US :Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA  08837Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218sales@htfmarketreport.com
Animal Health Biotechnology Market Share and Growth Factors Impact Analysis 2016 - 2024

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Animal Health Biotechnology Market: OverviewBiotechnology utilized in animal healthcare dates back to 19th century when the first vaccines were prepared for its use in animals. Considerable progress in the animal health biotechnology took place recently when biotechnology applications were utilized in both detecting and treating various infectious and parasitic diseases of animals. This has led to the development of a range of applications and procedures, which will benefit both domestic and wild animals.This will also improve the health of various companion animals, help in improving sporting animals performance and the productivity of farm animals. However, the globalised trade in live animals, animal products, and their feeds is leading to a continuously increasing threat of infectious diseases worldwide. Thus, to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) emphasizes the importance of very rapid, accurate, highly specific and sensitive detection and identification of infectious agents; and prompt and effective control of those diseases.Download Report Brochure @Animal Health Biotechnology Market: Current OutlookPresently, various reagents and diagnostic techniques have been developed, which are more specific, sensitive, rapid, reproducible and robust that have been updated through recent discoveries in biochemistry, immunology and molecular biology (monoclonal antibodies, nucleic probes, DNA amplification and others). The development of new vaccines, such as subunit vaccines, synthetic vaccines, recombinant vaccines and anti-idiotype vaccines, which combine efficacy, innocuity, duration of protection, ease of use, stability and multivalence.The availability of new anti-parasitic and anti-infective agents and immunomodulatory therapeutic agents specifies that biotechnology is continuing to find new applications in the field of animal health. These new vaccines, diagnostic techniques, and therapeutic substances will add to the knowledge, which, in future, will extend to the development of transgenic animals with improved genetic potential and will be more disease resistant and more productive at the same time. Thus, the most important objective of animal health biotechnology is to serve human healthcare as well as its environment at the same time.Animal Health Biotechnology Market: DriversMajor factors that will drive the demand from this market mainly includes advancements in cloning and development of transgenic animals, favorable government approval scenarios, and increasing research and development from major firms across the globe. Development of various transgenic animals and cloning will add to the animals ability to fight diseases and at the same time it will benefit the human society and environment. This will increase the demand for these animals; hence will contribute towards the growth of animal health biotechnology market in the future.Request for TOC @Favorable government policies as well as supportive approval agencies will further help in the growth of this market in future. Major firms across geographies are conducting extensive R&D, which will add to the development of advanced vaccines, therapeutics as well as transgenic animals, will add to the growth of this market in future.Animal Health Biotechnology Market: Regional DynamicsGeographically, North America and Europe is expected to dominate the Animal Health Biotechnology market. Major factors that will be responsible for their growth in this market can be high awareness levels of the population about cloning, transgenic products etc. and high investment in research and development activities from both public and private firms in these regions.Enquiry for discount on this report @Asia-Pacific region is also expected to show a rapid growth in this market due to availability of huge livestock population as well as dependency of various regions on animals for their daily activities. Some of the major players operating in the animal health biotechnology market are Bayer AG, Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer, Inc., Sanofi, and Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Salmonella Testing Market to Witness Steady Growth During the Forecast Period 2016 - 2024

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Global Salmonella Testing Market: OverviewThe rising prevalence of salmonella infection is by far the leading factor driving the global salmonella testing market. This infection generally affects the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals, which may turn life threatening if left untreated for a long period. Contaminated food items such as infected meat, eggs, and unpasteurized milk and dairy products are the major source of transmission of the infection. Over the past few years, there have been several outbreaks of salmonella in the U.S. and in those occasions, many companies in the meat and dairy business had to recall their products from the market.The commonly employed methods for the diagnosis of salmonella infection are stool culture method and real time PCR. In the former, stool of infected animal or human being is cultured, while the latter is done by intensifying and detecting targeted pathogens DNA sequence.Download Report Brochure @The research report is a professional study offering invaluable insights into various important parameters of the global salmonella testing market. It provides a comprehensive description of the factors influencing the market and the extent to which they impact the growth. For a coherent understanding, the report divides the market on the basis of several criteria including diagnosis method, food type, and geography. It includes tools such as market attractiveness analysis and Porters five force analysis to derive vendor landscape of the global salmonella testing market. It reviews the market for the period between 2016 and 2024.Global Salmonella Testing Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe implementation of food safety regulations worldwide along with their increasing stringency is escalating the growth of the global salmonella testing market. The several incidents of outbreaks of salmonella have compelled governments and regulatory authorities across the world to keep a strict check on food products during every stage of their production and processing. Moreover, the rising awareness among consumers regarding foodborne diseases and rapid technological advancements in bacterial detection technologies are augmenting the market. On the other hand, the lack of proper food control resources and infrastructure in developing nations is hindering the growth of the market.Request for TOC @Global Salmonella Testing Market: Geographical SegmentationThe key segments analyzed in the report on the basis of geography are Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World. North America will have a strong foothold in the market throughout the forecast period. The growth of the region is largely supplemented by the implementation of stringent food safety regulations, especially due to the high incidence of salmonella contamination. Moreover, rapid technological advancements in testing procedures and the presence of advanced healthcare infrastructure are contributing to the growth of the region.Asia Pacific is expected to register a noteworthy CAGR during the review period. The improving healthcare facilities and growing research and development activities in the field of salmonella testing are propelling the growth of the region. The increasing prevalence of foodborne diseases is boosting the adoption of salmonella testing in the region. Countries such as India and China are estimated to be at the forefront of the growth of the region.Global Salmonella Testing Market: Competitive LandscapeWith the sharp rise in the demand for advanced testing methods, key players in the global salmonella testing market are pouring large funds into research and development activities to consolidate their presence. They are aiming at expanding their market shares through mergers and acquisitions.Enquiry for discount on this report @Some of the key players are operating in niche segments to gain an edge over competitors. While Life Technologies, Eiken Chemical Company Limited, Romer Labs, and Neogen Corporation are some of the prominent companies operating in the real-time PCR techniques, DuPont Qualicon and Hardy Diagnostics are among key players targeting culture detection methods.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Novel Drug Delivery Systems (NDDS) in Cancer Therapy Market to Expand at a 23.70% CAGR from 2014 to 2020

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A new report on the global NDDS in cancer therapy market has been published by Transparency Market Research. The research, titled Novel Drug Delivery Systems (NDDS) in Cancer Therapy Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, studies the regional markets, key growth drivers, technology segmentation, current trends, and competitive landscape. The analysts predict that the global market will progress from US$3.6 bn in 2013 to US$15.9 bn by 2020.Novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) in cancer therapy comprises technologies such as liquid embolics, nanoparticles, and embolization devices that offer unique ways to cure cancer. In recent years, there has been increasing incidence of various types of cancer across the globe. Technological advances have led to the growth of new therapies. There have also been many developments in drug delivery systems due to the increasing government funding. All these factors have led to the growth of the global novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) in cancer therapy market.Request for Sample Copy of Report @According to the publication, the global NDDS in cancer therapy market is expected to exhibit a whopping 23.70% CAGR from 2014 to 2020. However, strict government regulations and the high cost of new products can hamper the growth of the global market.The reports authors have segmented the global NDDS in cancer therapy market on the basis of technology and region. Based on technology, the global NDDS in cancer therapy market is classified into embolization particles, liquid embolics, and nanoparticles. In 2013, the nanoparticles drug delivery systems segment stood at US$3,307.7 mn and is projected to exhibit a 24.70% CAGR from 2014 to 2020. Nanoparticles such as Megace ES (megestrol acetate) Abraxane (paclitaxel) DepoCyt (liposomal cytarabine), DaunoXome (daunorubicin citrate), Myocet (doxorubicin), and Doxil (doxorubicin) are approved as novel drug delivery systems in cancer therapy. The liquid embolics segment is predicted to record a steady 4.90% CAGR from 2014 to 2020.Request for TOC @Based on region, the global NDDS in cancer therapy market is divided into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Rest of the World. In 2013, North America accounted for a massive 46.6% of the global NDDS in cancer therapy market. The increasing number of cancer patients, advanced healthcare infrastructure, and favorable reimbursement policies are the factors that can be held responsible for the growth of the North America NDDS in cancer therapy market.In 2013, Europe held a share of 29.2% in the global NDDS in cancer therapy market. Technical advancements in the development of innovative products and the increasing number of pipeline products are projected to benefit the Europe NDDS in cancer therapy market. The Asia Pacific NDDS in cancer therapy market is projected to expand at a 22.60% CAGR from 2014 to 2020, propelled by the development of economies such as India, China, Japan, and Australia.Enquiry for discount on this report @Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation, Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG, Bind Therapeutics, Polysciences, Inc., Nanobiotix, CeloNova BioSciences, Inc., Covidien, plc, EmboMedics, Inc., Cook Medical, Inc., and Mo-Sci Corporation are some of the prominent companies operating in the global NDDS in cancer therapy market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Wedding Apparel 2018 Global Market Key Players -Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Jesus del Pozo, Rosa Clara, Amsale Aberra, Impression Bridal.....

Wedding Apparel Market 2018

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Wedding Apparel Market 2018Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Wedding Apparel  Global Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Manufacturers, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2023 To Its Research Database.Description:The Wedding Apparel market revenue was xx.xx Million USD in 2013, grew to xx.xx Million USD in 2017, and will reach xx.xx Million USD in 2023, with a CAGR of x.x% during 2018-2023.Based on the Wedding Apparel industrial chain, this report mainly elaborate the definition, types, applications and major players of Wedding Apparel market in details. Deep analysis about market status (2013-2018), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise Products, industry development trends (2018-2023), regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policy has also be included. From raw materials to downstream buyers of this industry will be analyzed scientifically, the feature of product circulation and sales channel will be presented as well. In a word, this report will help you to establish a panorama of industrial development and characteristics of the Wedding Apparel market.The Wedding Apparel market can be split based on product types, major applications, and important regions.Major Players in Wedding Apparel market are:Vera WangCarolina HerreraJesus del PozoRosa ClaraAmsale AberraImpression BridalPepe BotellaMonique LhuillierYolan CrisDe La Cierva Y NicolasVictorio & LucchinoOscar De La RentaPronoviasWhite OneFranc SarabiaRequest for Sample Report@Major Regions play vital role in Wedding Apparel market are:North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanMiddle East & AfricaIndiaSouth AmericaOthersMost important types of Wedding Apparel products covered in this report are:Chinese Style Wedding ApparelKorean Style Wedding ApparelJapanese Style Wedding ApparelWestern Style Wedding ApparelOtherMost widely used downstream fields of Wedding Apparel market covered in this report are:Personal PurchaseWedding Dress Renting ServiceOtherThere are 13 Chapters to thoroughly display the Wedding Apparel market. This report included the analysis of market overview, market characteristics, industry chain, competition landscape, historical and future data by types, applications and regions.Chapter 1: Wedding Apparel Market Overview, Product Overview, Market Segmentation, Market Overview of Regions, Market Dynamics, Limitations, Opportunities and Industry News and Policies.Chapter 2: Wedding Apparel Industry Chain Analysis, Upstream Raw Material Suppliers, Major Players, Production Process Analysis, Cost Analysis, Market Channels and Major Downstream Buyers.Chapter 3: Value Analysis, Production, Growth Rate and Price Analysis by Type of Wedding Apparel.Chapter 4: Downstream Characteristics, Consumption and Market Share by Application of Wedding Apparel.Chapter 5: Production Volume, Price, Gross Margin, and Revenue ($) of Wedding Apparel by Regions (2013-2018).Chapter 6: Wedding Apparel Production, Consumption, Export and Import by Regions (2013-2018).Chapter 7: Wedding Apparel Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions.Chapter 8: Competitive Landscape, Product Introduction, Company Profiles, Market Distribution Status by Players of Wedding Apparel.Chapter 9: Wedding Apparel Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application (2018-2023).Chapter 10: Market Analysis and Forecast by Regions (2018-2023).Chapter 11: Industry Characteristics, Key Factors, New Entrants SWOT Analysis, Investment Feasibility Analysis.Chapter 12: Market Conclusion of the Whole Report.Chapter 13: Appendix Such as Methodology and Data Resources of This Research.Complete report details @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of Contents:Global Wedding Apparel Industry Market Research Report1 Wedding Apparel Introduction and Market Overview1.1 Objectives of the Study1.2 Definition of Wedding Apparel1.3 Wedding Apparel Market Scope and Market Size Estimation1.3.1 Market Concentration Ratio and Market Maturity Analysis1.3.2 Global Wedding Apparel Value ($) and Growth Rate from 2013-20231.4 Market Segmentation1.4.1 Types of Wedding Apparel1.4.2 Applications of Wedding Apparel1.4.3 Research Regions1.4.3.1 North America Wedding Apparel Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.2 Europe Wedding Apparel Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.3 China Wedding Apparel Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.4 Japan Wedding Apparel Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.5 Middle East & Africa Wedding Apparel Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.6 India Wedding Apparel Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.4.3.7 South America Wedding Apparel Production Value ($) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Drivers1.5.1.1 Emerging Countries of Wedding Apparel1.5.1.2 Growing Market of Wedding Apparel1.5.2 Limitations1.5.3 Opportunities1.6 Industry News and Policies by Regions1.6.1 Industry News1.6.2 Industry Policies8 Competitive Landscape8.1 Competitive Profile8.2 Vera Wang8.2.1 Company Profiles8.2.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.2.3 Vera Wang Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.2.4 Vera Wang Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.3 Carolina Herrera8.3.1 Company Profiles8.3.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.3.3 Carolina Herrera Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.3.4 Carolina Herrera Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.4 Jesus del Pozo8.4.1 Company Profiles8.4.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.4.3 Jesus del Pozo Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.4.4 Jesus del Pozo Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.5 Rosa Clara8.5.1 Company Profiles8.5.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.5.3 Rosa Clara Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.5.4 Rosa Clara Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.6 Amsale Aberra8.6.1 Company Profiles8.6.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.6.3 Amsale Aberra Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.6.4 Amsale Aberra Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.7 Impression Bridal8.7.1 Company Profiles8.7.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.7.3 Impression Bridal Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.7.4 Impression Bridal Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.8 Pepe Botella8.8.1 Company Profiles8.8.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.8.3 Pepe Botella Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.8.4 Pepe Botella Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.9 Monique Lhuillier8.9.1 Company Profiles8.9.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.9.3 Monique Lhuillier Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.9.4 Monique Lhuillier Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.10 Yolan Cris8.10.1 Company Profiles8.10.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.10.3 Yolan Cris Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.10.4 Yolan Cris Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.11 De La Cierva Y Nicolas8.11.1 Company Profiles8.11.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.11.3 De La Cierva Y Nicolas Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.11.4 De La Cierva Y Nicolas Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.12 Victorio & Lucchino8.12.1 Company Profiles8.12.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.12.3 Victorio & Lucchino Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.12.4 Victorio & Lucchino Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.13 Oscar De La Renta8.13.1 Company Profiles8.13.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.13.3 Oscar De La Renta Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.13.4 Oscar De La Renta Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.14 Pronovias8.14.1 Company Profiles8.14.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.14.3 Pronovias Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.14.4 Pronovias Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.15 White One8.15.1 Company Profiles8.15.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.15.3 White One Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.15.4 White One Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 20178.16 Franc Sarabia8.16.1 Company Profiles8.16.2 Wedding Apparel Product Introduction8.16.3 Franc Sarabia Production, Value ($), Price, Gross Margin 2013-2018E8.16.4 Franc Sarabia Market Share of Wedding Apparel Segmented by Region in 2017Continued..Contact US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd: Pune  411028: Maharashtra,: Ph: +91 841 198 5042
Non-Alcoholic Beer Industry Sales,Supply and Consumption 2018 Global Analysis and Forecast to 2023

Non-Alcoholic Beer Market

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On  Non-Alcoholic Beer Industry Sales,Supply and Consumption 2018 Global Analysis and Forecast to 2023.Description:Low-alcohol beer (also called light beer, non-alcoholic beer, small beer, small ale, or near-beer) is beer with little or no alcohol content, which aims to reproduce the taste of beer without the inebriating effects of standard alcoholic brews. Most low-alcohol beers are lagers, but there are some low-alcohol ales.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Non-Alcoholic Beer in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comMarket Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversAnheuser-Busch InBevHeinekenCarlsbergBehnoush IranAsahi BreweriesSuntory BeerArpanooshErdinger WeibbrauKrombacher BrauereiWeihenstephanAujan IndustriesKirinMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversLimit FermentationDealcoholization MethodMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoManWomanThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Non-Alcoholic Beer market.Chapter 1, to describe Non-Alcoholic Beer Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Non-Alcoholic Beer, with sales, revenue, and price of Non-Alcoholic Beer, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Non-Alcoholic Beer, for each region, from 2013 to 2018;Continue.Complete Report Details @Table Of Contents  Major Key Points1 Market Overview1.1 Non-Alcoholic Beer Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Limit Fermentation1.2.2 Dealcoholization Method1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Man1.3.2 Woman1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 United States Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2013-2023)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Anheuser-Busch InBev2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Non-Alcoholic Beer Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Anheuser-Busch InBev Non-Alcoholic Beer Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Heineken2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Non-Alcoholic Beer Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 Heineken Non-Alcoholic Beer Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Carlsberg2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Non-Alcoholic Beer Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 Carlsberg Non-Alcoholic Beer Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Behnoush Iran2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Non-Alcoholic Beer Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 Behnoush Iran Non-Alcoholic Beer Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 Asahi Breweries2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Non-Alcoholic Beer Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Type 12.5.2.2 Type 22.5.3 Asahi Breweries Non-Alcoholic Beer Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.6 Suntory Beer2.6.1 Business Overview2.6.2 Non-Alcoholic Beer Type and Applications2.6.2.1 Type 12.6.2.2 Type 22.6.3 Suntory Beer Non-Alcoholic Beer Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.7 Arpanoosh2.7.1 Business Overview2.7.2 Non-Alcoholic Beer Type and Applications2.7.2.1 Type 12.7.2.2 Type 22.7.3 Arpanoosh Non-Alcoholic Beer Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)ContinueFor more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. 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Global Consumer Billing Management Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022

Consumer Billing Management Software Market

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Consumer Billing Management Software Market: Global Industry Trends, Market Size, Competitive Analysis and Forecast - 2018  2022, this study is recently published by Reports Monitor covering global market size for Consumer Billing Management Software market for the key segments and further cross-regional segmentation of these segments.Outlook of the Global Consumer Billing Management Software MarketThis report studies the global Consumer Billing Management Software market, analyzes and researches the Consumer Billing Management Software development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia.The research report includes diverse topics like total market size, key market drivers, challenges, growth opportunities, key players etc. We have also covered key market updates, the effect of regulations and technological updates. New start-ups entering the space of Global Consumer Billing Management Software Sales need to carefully pick their niches and genres so that they can compete on an equal position with global companies who have an end to end development studios, production capabilities and global skills and experience backing them.Get Free Sample Copy Of Consumer Billing Management Software Market Report:The report has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the Global Consumer Billing Management Software Market collected from specialized sources. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players.Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers: United States, EU, Japan, China, India, Southeast AsiaTop manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including: Amdocs, EnergyCAP, Harris ERP, Healthpac, Huawei, Mckesson, Oracle, CareCloud, Cerillion Technologies, CSG International, Dataman Computer Systems, Ericsson, Formula Telecom Solutions, GentrackProduct Type Coverage: Cloud, On-premisesSegmentation by distribution channel and analysis of this market: Utility, Pharmacy, TelecomMoving forward with TOC areas covered in this market research report are:Global Consumer Billing Management Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221.Industry Overview of Consumer Billing Management Software2.Global Consumer Billing Management Software Competition Analysis by Players3.Company (Top Players) Profiles4.Global Consumer Billing Management Software Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)5.United States Consumer Billing Management Software Development Status and Outlook6.EU Consumer Billing Management Software Development Status and Outlook7.Japan Consumer Billing Management Software Development Status and Outlook8.China Consumer Billing Management Software Development Status and Outlook9.India Consumer Billing Management Software Development Status and Outlook10.Southeast Asia Consumer Billing Management Software Development Status and Outlook11.Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2017-2022)12.Consumer Billing Management Software Market DynamicsTo Check a Discount on Consumer Billing Management Software Market Report:Overall the report gives an entire study of the parent Consumer Billing Management Software market, key techniques followed by leading Market Key Players and upcoming segments. Former, current and forecast Consumer Billing Management Software market synthesis in terms of volume and value along with research conclusions is a decisive part of Consumer Billing Management Software study. So that the report helps the fresh aspirants to inspect the upcoming opportunities in the Consumer Billing Management Software market.About UsReports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide.Address: Office C and D - 4th Floor, Siddhi Towers, Above Rupee Bank, Kondhwa Road, Pune 411048, Maharashtra, India+1 513 549-5911
Clear Brine Fluids Market to witness gains at 5% CAGR by 2024.

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Growing oil & gas industry will be the chief growth driver for the clear brine fluids market over the forecast duration. The product is extensively employed in drilling process and completion activities. It is used in conventional drilling for controlling high -temperature and high-pressure in reservoir and thereby reducing damage risk. Booming Oil & gas industry coupled with rising rig counts shall substantially contribute towards global clear brine fluids market growth during the forecast duration."Clear Brine Fluids Market is forecast to reach USD 1.4 billion according to this new research report.Shale gas production in U.S has further complimented oil & gas industry, which in turn, shall positively influence clear brine fluids market growth by 2024. For example, in 2009, production of shale gas was approximately 3 trillion cubic feet and in 2015 reached around 9 trillion cubic feet. Moreover, natural resources (natural gas and crude oil) depletion has widened the natural gas and crude oil demand and supply and drifted industry focus towards renewable resources development such as coal-bed methane, methane hydrates, shale gas/oil and tight gas. These factors shall accelerate product demand in oil & gas sector over the forecast timeframe.Request for Sample Copy of this Report@Potassium chloride segment of overall clear brine fluids market accounted for approximately 25% of total industry share. This segment is likely to witness maximum gains during the forecast period. In 2016, it was valued close to USD 150 million. It is highly desirable in oil & gas industry due to the economic benefits as well as its ability to stabilize water-sensitive clay from excessive pressure in reservoirs during completion and drilling processes. Increasing shale gas reserves exploration activities across Canada, UK and the U.S will propel product demand during forecast duration.Calcium bromide segment shall witness growth rate more than 5% in the forecast period. It is widely used in numerous applications including completion and workover fluids. Calcium bromide, on account of its inhibitive properties, is extensively employed to minimize damage caused due to formation pressure.North America clear brine fluids market, led by U.S, was valued at over USD 550 million in 2016. Extensive product application in shale gas exploration and production activities coupled with increasing investments by U.S government for improving their energy scenario shall propel the product demand across the region.Browse key industry insights from the report, Clear Brine Fluids market in detail along with the table of contents:Asia Pacific, especially China, is anticipated to witness substantial growth rate of more than 6% over the forecast duration. China held almost 15% of global recoverable reserves of shale gas in 2016. Shale gas exploration in Algeria and South Africa shall stimulate usage of product in Middle East & Africa, which in turn will boost clear brine fluids market growth in the coming years.In 2016, clear brine fluids market was fairly consolidated with key six companies holding close to 30% of global market share. Major industry players are Egyptian Chemicals Company (EMEC), Israel Chemicals Limited, Chemtura Corporation, Solent Chemicals, Zirax Limited, TETRA Technologies, Geo Drillings Fluids, Albemarle Corporation and Halliburton. Prominent players in the industry are engaged in mergers & acquisitions, for instance, Chemtura Corporation, in 2012, acquired bromine division of Solaris Industries Limited to strengthen the position in bromine derivatives with expansion plans in Asia Pacific.Request for Inquiry before buying this Report @Clear Brine Fluids research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry, with estimates & forecast in terms of volume in kilo tons and revenue in USD million from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments:Clear Brine Fluids market by producto Potassium chlorideo Calcium chlorideo Sodium chlorideo Potassium bromideo Sodium bromideo Calcium bromideo OthersThe above information is provided on a regional and country basis for the following:o North America U.S. Canadao Europe Germany UK France Spain Italyo Asia Pacific China India Japan Australia Indonesia Malaysiao Latin America Brazil Mexicoo Middle East & Africa South Africa GCCReport ContentChapter 5. Clear Brine Fluids Industry Regional Insights5.1. Global clear brine fluids market share by region, 2015 & 20245.2. North America5.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.2.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.2.3. U.S.5.2.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.2.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.3.4. Canada5.3.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.3. Europe5.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.3.3. Germany5.3.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.3.4. UK5.3.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.3.5. France5.3.5.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.5.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.3.6. Spain5.3.6.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.6.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.3.7. Italy5.3.7.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.7.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.4. Asia Pacific5.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013 - 20245.4.3. China5.4.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.4.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013 - 20245.4.4. India5.4.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.4.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.4.5. Japan5.4.5.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.4.5.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013 - 20245.4.6. Australia5.4.6.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.4.6.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.4.7. Indonesia5.4.7.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.4.7.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013 - 20245.4.8. Malaysia5.4.8.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.4.8.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.5. Latin America (LATAM)5.5.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.5.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.5.3 Brazil5.5.3.1 Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.5.3.2 Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.5.4 Mexico5.5.4.1 Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.5.4.2 Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.6. Middle East & Africa (MEA)5.6.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.6.2. Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.6.3 South Africa5.6.3.1 Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.6.3.2 Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  20245.6.3 GCC5.6.3.1 Market estimates and forecast, 2013 - 20245.6.3.2 Market estimates and forecast, by product, 2013  2024Chapter 6. Company Profiles6.1. Egyptian Mud Engineering & Chemicals Company (EMEC)6.1.1. Business Overview6.1.2. Financial Data6.1.3. Product Landscape6.1.4. Strategic Outlook6.2. Albemarle Corporation6.2.1. Business Overview6.2.2. Financial Data6.2.3. Product Landscape6.2.4. Strategic Outlook6.3. Geo Drillings Fluids, Inc.6.3.1. Business Overview6.3.2. Financial Data6.3.3. Product Landscape6.4.4. Strategic Outlook6.4. Great Lake Solutions6.4.1. Business Overview6.4.2. Financial Data6.4.3. Product Landscape6.4.4. Strategic Outlook6.5. Israel Chemicals Ltd.6.5.1. Business Overview6.5.2. Financial Data6.5.3. Product Landscape6.5.4. Strategic Outlook6.6. Zirax Ltd.6.6.1. Business Overview6.6.2. Financial Data6.6.3. Product Landscape6.6.4. Strategic Outlook6.7. Solent Chemicals6.7.1. Business Overview6.7.2. Financial Data6.7.3. Product Landscape6.7.4. Strategic Outlook6.8. TETRA Technologies, Inc.6.8.1. Business Overview6.8.2. Financial Data6.8.3. Product Landscape6.8.4. Strategic Outlook6.9. Cabot Corporation6.9.1. Business Overview6.9.2. Financial Data6.9.3. Product Landscape6.9.4. Strategic Outlook6.10. Clements Fluids6.10.1. Business Overview6.10.2. Financial Data6.10.3. Product Landscape6.10.4. Strategic Outlook6.11. GEO Drilling Fluids Inc.6.11.1. Business Overview6.11.2. Financial Data6.11.3. Product Landscape6.11.4. Strategic Outlook6.12. Israel Chemicals Ltd6.12.1. Business Overview6.12.2. Financial Data6.12.3. Product Landscape6.12.4. Strategic Outlook6.13. Halliburton6.13.1. Business Overview6.13.2. Financial Data6.13.3. Product Landscape6.13.4. Strategic Outlook6.14. Chemtura Corporation6.14.1. Business Overview6.14.2. Financial Data6.14.3. Product Landscape6.14.4. Strategic Outlook6.15. TETRA Technologies6.15.1. Business Overview6.15.2. Financial Data6.15.3. Product Landscape6.15.4. Strategic OutlookBrowse full Table of Content @About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnologyContact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:
Global 3D Cell Culture Market is Projected to grow at a CAGR of 23.6% By Industry Trends and Forecast for the Upcoming Opportunities and Threats in the Next 8 Years

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Global 3D Cell Culture Market is accounted for USD 466.8 million in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 23.6% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024. The upcoming market report contains data for historic years 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2017 to 2024.3D cell culture technique triggers normal cell morphology, proliferation, differentiation, and migration by providing an ideal environment for cell culture analytical studies, which involve assessment of multi-stage disease models with the help of cellular modeling. No of pages: 350Click for Free Sample Report of Global 3D Cell Culture Market Visit @Major Market Competitors:Some of the major players operating in global 3D cell culture market are ReproCELL Europe Ltd, Nanofiber Solutions, Tecan Trading AG, SYNTHECON, INCORPORATED, Global Cell Solutions, Inc., InSphero, Nano3D Biosciences, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., VWR, Lonza, 3D Biotek LLC., Sigma-Aldrich Co., Corning Incorporated, BD, Thermo Fisher Scientific among others.Market Segmentation:On the basis of geography:- global 3D cell culture market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies such as North America & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Some of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Brazil among others. In 2017, North America is expected to dominate the market.On The Basis Of Technology: - scaffold based, scaffold free, gels, bioreactors, microchips and services.Scaffold based is further sub segmented into solid scaffolds, micropatterened surfaces and hydrogels.Scaffold free is again sub segmented into hanging drop plates, magnetic levitations & 3D bioprinting, microfluidics, ultra-low attachment plates and 3-D petrisidhes.To request a sample Report copy or view summary of this report, click the link below:On The Basis Of Application:-oncology research, toxicity screening, tissue engineering, stem cell research, regenerative medicine, 3D printing and others.On The Basis Of End User: - biotech & pharma industry, contract research institutes, diagnostic centers and academic institutes. No of Figures: 60Major Market Drivers and Restraints: Increasing prevalence of various types of cancers. Increasing number of research and development activities Technological advancements and new product launches Rising number of government funding High costs of research Lack of proper infrastructuresHave any Query Regarding this Report? Contact us Visit @:Competitive Analysis:The global 3D cell culture market is highly fragmented and is based on new product launches and clinical results of products. Hence the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, clinical trials, market initiatives, high expense on research and development, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of 3D cell culture market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America.About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: Sales@databridgemarketresearch.com
Global Chemical Tanker Industry 2025 by Worldwide Market Size, Key Vendors, Growth Rate, Drivers, Volume & Forecast Report

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Chemical Tanker Market report defines the market trends and forecast the upcoming opportunities and threats of the chemical tanker market in the next 8 years. Chemical tankers are used in the shipment of various vital organic substances such as acetic acid, alcohols, propene, benzene, salt, benzyl acetate, methanol, formic acid, and phenol. Growth in chemical industry is playing a vital role for the growth of chemical tanker market.Get Free Report Sample:Global Chemical Tanker Market is expected to reach USD 37.56 billion by 2025, from USD 26.82 billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 4.3% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic years 2015 & 2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.Market Definition:According to the recent article published by Info Connect Web Technologies India Pvt Ltd, growth in chemical industry is one of the major contributors of Indian economy. Currently the annual growth rate of the chemical industry is 12.5 percent. The chemical industry of India contributed 13 percent towards the total export from India in the year of 2017.Due to the increased growth rate in the chemical industry the global market for chemical tanker is anticipated to nurture in the coming years. In the recent publication by HT Media Ltd, Industry Indias stainless steel production to rise to 3.6 million tonnes at the end of year 2017. Hence, this will positively affect the growth of chemical tanker in the coming years.Major Market Drivers and Restraints: Growth of the chemical industry. Increasing demand for oilseeds/vegetable oils & fats. Slow growth in crude oil production. Oil bunkering regulationsInquiry before Buying:Market Segmentation: The global chemical tanker market is segmented based on product type, fleet type, fleet material and geographical segments. Based on product type, the global chemical tanker market is segmented organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals, vegetable oils & fats, and other. On the basis of fleet type, the global chemical tanker market segmented into IMO 1, IMO 2, IMO 3, and others. On the basis of fleet material, the global chemical tanker market segmented into stainless steel, coated, and others. Based on geography, the global chemical tanker market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies namely North America & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and, Middle East & Africa. Some of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and, Brazil among others.Competitive Analysis:The global chemical tanker market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of chemical tanker market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America.For any query Speak to Analyst:Major Market Competitors/Players: Bahri, Stolt-Nielsen, Odfjell, Navig8, MOL CHEMICAL TANKERS PTE. LTD., Nordic Tankers A/S, Wilmar International Ltd., MISC Berhad, teamtankers, Iino Kaiun Kaisha, Eitzen Chemical, seatrans.no, JO Tankers, Stolt-Nielsen, Tokyo Marine Asia Pvt Ltd., Nordic Tankers A/S, IINO KAIUN KAISHA Ltd., and PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk., among others.Research Methodology:Data collection and base year analysis is done using data collection modules with large sample sizes. The market data is analysed and forecasted using market statistical and coherent models. Also market share analysis and key trend analysis are the major success factors in the market report. To know more please Request an Analyst Call or can drop down your inquiry.The key research methodology used by DBMR Research team is data triangulation which involves data mining, analysis of the impact of data variables on the market, and primary (industry expert) validation. Apart from this, other data models include Vendor Positioning Grid, Market Time Line Analysis, Market Overview and Guide, Company Positioning Grid, Company Market Share Analysis, Standards of Measurement, Top to Bottom Analysis and Vendor Share Analysis. To know more about the research methodology, drop in an inquiry to speak to our industry experts.Access Full Report:About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com
Asia Pacific Retractable Needle Safety Syringes Market: Increase in Government Initiative to Promote Safe Injection Practices to Drive Growth

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The Asia Pacific retractable needle safety syringes market demonstrates a highly consolidated business landscape, finds a new research report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). The top four players, namely, Becton, Dickinson and Co., Smiths Medical, Medtronic Plc, and Retractable Technologies Inc., held more than 95% of the overall market in 2015.Request for Sample Copy of Report @These enterprises are focusing aggressively on expanding their operations across the region, for which they are strengthening their distribution network considerably. Apart from this, they are also engaging into strategic alliance to gain a strong foothold in the overall market.As per TMR, the Asia Pacific market for retractable needle safety syringes stood at US$236.7 mn in 2016. Rising at a CAGR of 8.90% during the period from 2016 to 2024, the opportunity in this market is predicted to reach US$467.2 mn by the end of the forecast period. Hospitals have emerged as the leading end user of retractable needle safety syringes in Asia Pacific. Thanks to the increasing insurance coverage, this segment is likely to remain the key contributor to this market in the years to come.The report considers manual retractable needle safety syringes and automatic retractable needle safety syringes as the key products available in the Asia Pacific market for retractable needle safety syringes. Among these, the demand for manual retractable needle safety syringes has been higher and the trend is anticipated to continue over the forecast period, thanks to their affordability.Enquiry for discount on this report @The report also presents a geographical study of this market, where it considers China, Japan, India, New Zealand and Australia, ASEAN Countries, and the Rest of Asia Pacific as the main geographical segments. Japan has been dominating this regional market and, expanding at a CAGR of 9.10% between 2016 and 2024, is anticipated to retain its position over the next few years.The continual expansion in the healthcare industry in Asia Pacific, fueled by the rising number of favorable initiatives by various governments across this region, is having a significant influence on the Asia Pacific market for retractable needle safety syringes, says the author of this study. With government institutions promoting the safe injection practices by encouraging people to shift to safe syringes, this market is likely to rise exponentially in the years to come. India and several other nations in the Southeast Asia are increasingly collaborating with the WHO to encourage the usage of safe syringes in an effort to prevent the proliferation of deadly diseases.Apart from this, the market is also expected to gain significantly over the forecast period from various factors, such as the technological advancements, increasing shift of people towards self-administration of drugs, and the growing awareness pertaining to the benefits offered by retractable needle safety syringes. However, the emergence of more advanced drug delivery methods, thanks to the recent developments in medical science, may limit the adoption of retractable needle safety syringes in the near future. Besides this, the high cost of these safety syringes are also projected to hamper this market over the forthcoming years, reports the research study.Report Overview @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Polyether Polyols Market Segmented based on Type and End-User Industry 2025

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Prominent participants in the global polyether polyols market are Huntsman Corporation, The Dow Chemical Company , Covestro AG ., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation., BASF SE, and Solvay S.A. The market, so far, has been on a steady growth trajectory and going forward too is slated to maintain the pace.Request Sample Report @Keen, success-hungry companies in the global polyether polyols market have been investing in increasing their production facilities and capacities, so as to be able to serve a much wider customer base with better products. Besides expansions, other methods in which they have been trying to grow their shares are acquisitions and expanding outreach to relatively untapped markets in emerging economies.A report by Transparency Market Research forecasts the global polyether polyols market to rise at a 6.5% CAGR during the period between 2017 and 2025. At this rate, the market will likely grow its value from US$10.22 bn in 2016 to US$17.87 bn by 2025, finds the report by TMR.Booming Automotive and Construction Industries Catapult Asia Pacific to ForefrontDepending upon the type of application, the global polyether polyols market can be divided into flexible foams, rigid foams, CASE, etc. Among them, the flexible foam application segment held a substantial share in the market in 2016 because of robust demand from the furniture and bedding sector. The rigid foam segment, however, is predicted to expand at a significant clip in the near future due to its application in the booming automotive industry.Based on geography again, the global polyether polyols market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific, among them, is a key market with accounts for most of the demand. In the years ahead, the demand is slated to go up further in the region owing to solid demand for polyurethane foams in end use industries such as furniture and bedding, construction, and automotive in the region. The growing demand for polyether polyols in various applications such as insulations, cosmetics, lubrications, and coatings are also predicted to drive the polyether polyols market in Asia Pacific in the years ahead. The report by TMR predicts the Asia Pacific market to clock a CAGR of 7.4% from 2017 to 2025.Read Report Overview @Polyurethane Industry Mainly Driving Demand in MarketAt the forefront of driving demand in the global polyether polyols market is the polyurethane industry, particularly for the production of polyurethane foams. While the flexible foams find applications in car seats and interiors, furniture, carpet interlay, and bedding, the rigid foams find application in refrigeration and packaging. Polyether polyols are also used in surface active agents, adhesives and sealants, synthetic lubricants, and elastomers. Specialty versions of these polyols are used in castings, specialty coatings, inks, defoamers, and adhesives, explains the lead analyst of the TMR report.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Cancer Biomarkers Market: Product Differentiation and Acquisitions are Helping Keen Companies Surge Ahead

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The global cancer biomarkers market currently has numerous players. With several unique customer segment in the market pushing up demand for various kinds of products, it holds out a lot of opportunities. In the years ahead, the market is likely to see increased competition as keen players try to bolster their positions using different means. Already, players are seen banking upon product differentiation to outshine their competitors. To that end, they are channeling substantial money into research and development. Apart from that, companies are also taking the inorganic route of acquisition to expand their share.Request for Sample Copy of Report @Some of the prominent names operating in the global market for cancer biomarkers are Abbott Laboratories, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Illumina, Inc., and bioMerieux SA.According to a research study by Transparency Market Research (TMR) the global market for cancer biomarkers will clock a solid 11.8% CAGR over the course of the forecast period from 2017 to 2025.Based on disease indication, the global market for cancer biomarkers can be classified into lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, blood cancer, stomach cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer, etc. Among them, the segment of lung cancer generated maximum demand for cancer biomarkers. At present, it accounts for almost a share of 25.8% in the market.Enquiry for discount on this report @Geography-wise, the prominent segments of the cancer biomarkers market are Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. North America, of them, holds a leading share in the market. In the near future too, the region is expected to hold on to its dominant share. This is because of the rising instances of cancer, increasing spends on healthcare resulting in demand for improved diagnostic tests and healthcare services, and continued technological progress leading to superior quality cancer biomarkers. In 2016, the share of North America came to around 42.5%.Increasing funding for cancer research is providing tailwinds to the global market for cancer biomarkers. Governments, particularly in developed nations are upping the allocations on research for cancer diagnostics and cure. With such initiatives, the market for cancer biomarkers is expected to gain pace in the next couple of years. Apart from that, steps taken by various governments to up awareness about cancer is also proving beneficial to the demand for cancer biomarkers.Posing a challenge to the global market for cancer biomarkers, on the other hand, is the reluctance of healthy people to partake in clinical research. While cancer cases are increasing worldwide, not many patients have access to proper treatment. This is to some extent because of people abstaining from clinical trials and unavailability of patient surveillance systems. This coupled with limited knowledge and ambiguity over blood tests such as tumor biomarkers are serving to restrict the market for cancer biomarkers, elaborates the lead analyst behind the TMR report.Report Overview @Nevertheless, with the emergence of minimally-invasive diagnostic tests for cancer diagnosis, the market is predicted to overcome the growth challenges in the future.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Specialty Enzymes Market to Exhibit 8.7% CAGR over 2017-2025 as Demand from Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries Surges

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The vendor landscape of the global specialty enzymes market features a high degree of competition owing to its fragmented nature, featuring the presence of a large number of companies, observes Transparency Market Research in a recent report. While entry barriers for small scale companies are low, the market demands high capital investments, specialized knowledge of manufacturing process, and the time required for commercialization and discovery of new products is high. Thus, despite featuring a large number of companies, the global specialty enzymes market is dominated by a handful of large companies.Request for Sample Copy of Report @Some of the leading companies in the market are Codexis Inc., Novozymes A/S, Affymetrix Inc., Advanced Enzymes Technologies Ltd., Amano Enzymes Inc., Biocatalysts Ltd., BBI Solutions, Roche CustomBiotech, and Amicogen Inc.According to the report, the global specialty enzymes market is likely to expand at a promising CAGR of 8.7% from 2017 to 2025, rising from a valuation of US$1,782.0 mn in 2016 to US$3,726.4 mn by 2025.Of the key applications of specialty enzymes, including their use across diagnostics, research and biotechnology, and other specialty applications such as pharmaceutical and nutraceuticals, the research and biotechnology segment accounted for over 41% of the overall market in 2016. The segment is also expected expand at a steady pace over the forecast period and retain its dominance. Geographically, the market in North America, which acquired over 45% of the global market in 2016, is likely to lead the global market over the reports forecast period as well, thanks to the significant contribution from the well-established biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in the U.S. The markets in Asia Pacific and Europe are projected to witness steady growth in the next few years.Enquiry for discount on this report @One of the key factors likely to work in favor of the global specialty enzymes market is their increased usage as biocatalysts in the fields of pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The demand for biocatalysts is expected to surge in the next few years as chemical and drug manufacturers continue their search for economical and effective biocatalysts that can bring down the cost of manufacturing in these industries to overcome the stiff competition. The significant use of specialty enzymes in a number of biotechnology and diagnostic applications such as DNA sequencing and manipulation, which are witnessing a massive rise in the set of applications as their costs dwindle, is also likely to emerge as a key driver for the global specialty enzymes market.Moreover, the swift growth of the pharmaceutical industry across the globe, promising developments in the fields of enzyme and green chemistry, and increasing investments in the biotech sector are also estimated to help the global specialty enzymes pick pace over the reports forecast period. In addition, the significant development in the clinical in vitro diagnostics industry and expansion of application base are projected to generate potential growth opportunities for companies operating in the market.Report Overview @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
White Oil Market witness CAGR over 4% from 2016 to 2024.

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Development in cosmetics industry including hair care & makeup products, cleansers, lotions, suntans, emollient creams and sunscreens will propel white oil market growth. Economic instability and fluctuating petroleum prices are the restraining factors of the industry growth.Potential applications as lubricator and moisturizer in personal care & cosmetics, textile and pharmaceutical industries will drive the white oil market. Excellent skin compatibility, low irritancy and bacterial resistivity with minimum environmental impacts are the key properties driving the product demand.Growth in product usage in food & meat packs, baby lubricants, cleansers and protective coating for fruits & vegetates will drive product scope in innovative applications. Furthermore, increased product usage as a basic ingredient in numerous consumer applications including home care solutions and thermoplastic elastomers.Technological advancement in production process to ensure complete elimination of dust particles, and enhance purity, tasteless and odourless properties will propel the white oil market growth. Increasing product usage as gear lubricants, glossing agents, hydraulic fluid, rust prevention and de-foaming in several machineries will support the product demand.Request for Sample Copy of this Report@Global white oil market is led by plastics & polymers with revenue valued over USD 450 million in 2015. High availability with broad range of stability, density and viscosity grades are the key factors driving the industry growth. Surge in demand for moulding agents, extrusion aids, extenders and elastomers in plastic production will fuel the product development.Personal care & cosmetics white oil market will observe CAGR more than 2.5% up to 2024. Increasing application scope as a base ingredient in suntan lotions, skin creams and massage lubricant due to superior softness, smoothness, resistance to moistness and good lubricity will encourage industry demand.Pharmaceutical white oil market is expected to witness growth over 2.8% up to 2024. Increase in demand for laxatives, emollients, ointments and several medical devices will support the industry demand.Browse key industry insights from the report, White Oil Market in detail along with the table of contents:Food industry will be valued over USD 68 million by 2024. Rising demand for food packaging, coatings on fruits, vegetable & eggs and sugar refining will encourage product development. Expansion in the food industry coupled with increase in usage of release agents, wrapping papers and food grade lubes will trigger the demand.Textile market is anticipated to grow over 2% by 2024. Rising demand for fabrics and apparels owing to the product application as an anti-oxidant, anti-rust and anti-wear lubricant in sewing machines, mainly in Asia Pacific will propel the white oil demand.Asia-Pacific dominated the white oil market with over 60% of the overall industry share in 2015. Growing agriculture, food processing and textile industry coupled with favourable government regulations will support the revenue growth in the region. Rapid industrialization along with rising manufacturing facilities are the major factor influencing the product demand.Request for Inquiry before buying this Report @North America white oil market is anticipated to observe growth at around 2.7% up to 2024. Increasing customer expenditure on cosmetic and personal care products along with expansion in the cosmetic industry will drive the product growth.Global white oil market is highly fragmented owing to the presence of several regional as well as multinational players. Major industry players include Sinopec, ExxonMobil, Petro-Canada, JX Nippon, Sonneborn, Royal Dutch Shell and Nynas AB.Report ContentChapter 5. White Oil Market, By Region5.1. Global white oil market share by region, 2015 & 20245.2. North America5.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.2.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.2.3. U.S.5.2.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.2.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.2.4. Canada5.2.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.2.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.3. Europe5.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.3.3. Germany5.3.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.3.4. UK5.3.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.3.5. France5.3.5.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.5.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.3.6. Russia5.3.6.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.3.6.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.4. Asia Pacific5.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.4.3. China5.4.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.4.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.4.4. India5.4.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.4.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.4.5. Taiwan5.4.5.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.4.5.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.4.6. South Korea5.4.6.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.4.6.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.5. Latin America5.5.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.5.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.5.3. Brazil5.5.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.5.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.6. Middle East & Africa (MEA)5.6.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.6.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.6.3. Saudi Arabia5.6.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.6.3.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.6.4. UAE5.6.4.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.6.4.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 201320245.6.5. South Africa5.6.5.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013  20245.6.5.2. Market estimates and forecast, by application 20132024Chapter 6. Company Profiles6.1. ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants6.1.1. Business Overview6.1.2. Financial Data6.1.3. Product Landscape6.1.4. Strategic Outlook6.1.5. SWOT Analysis6.2. Sonneborn6.2.1. Business Overview6.2.2. Financial Data6.2.3. Product Landscape6.2.4. Strategic Outlook6.2.5. SWOT Analysis6.3. Chevron6.3.1. Business Overview6.3.2. Financial Data6.3.3. Product Landscape6.3.4. Strategic Outlook6.3.5. SWOT Analysis6.4. BP6.4.1. Business Overview6.4.2. Financial Data6.4.3. Product Landscape6.4.4. Strategic Outlook6.4.5. SWOT Analysis6.5. Royal Dutch Shell6.5.1. Business Overview6.5.2. Financial Data6.5.3. Product Landscape6.5.4. Strategic Outlook6.5.5. SWOT Analysis6.6. Sinopec Corporation6.6.1. Business Overview6.6.2. Financial Data6.6.3. Product Landscape6.6.4. Strategic Outlook6.6.5. SWOT Analysis6.7. Sasol6.7.1. Business Overview6.7.2. Financial Data6.7.3. Product Landscape6.7.4. Strategic Outlook6.7.5. SWOT Analysis6.8. Renkert Oil6.8.1. Business Overview6.8.2. Financial Data6.8.3. Product Landscape6.8.4. Strategic Outlook6.8.5. SWOT Analysis6.9. JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation6.9.1. Business Overview6.9.2. Financial Data6.9.3. Product Landscape6.9.4. Strategic Outlook6.9.5. SWOT Analysis6.10. Suncor Energy6.10.1. Business Overview6.10.2. Financial Data6.10.3. Product Landscape6.10.4. Strategic Outlook6.10.5. SWOT Analysis6.11. Nynas AB6.11.1. Business Overview6.11.2. Financial Data6.11.3. Product Landscape6.11.4. Strategic Outlook6.11.5. SWOT Analysis6.12. Seojin Chemical Co., Ltd6.12.1. Business Overview6.12.2. Financial Data6.12.3. Product Landscape6.12.4. Strategic Outlook6.12.5. SWOT Analysis6.13. Lubline6.13.1. Business Overview6.13.2. Financial Data6.13.3. Product Landscape6.13.4. Strategic Outlook6.13.5. SWOT Analysis6.14. TOTAL6.14.1. Business Overview6.14.2. Financial Data6.14.3. Product Landscape6.14.4. Strategic Outlook6.14.5. SWOT Analysis6.15. APAR INDUSTRIES LTD6.15.1. Business Overview6.15.2. Financial Data6.15.3. Product Landscape6.15.4. Strategic Outlook6.15.5. SWOT Analysis6.16. Panama Petrochem Ltd6.16.1. Business Overview6.16.2. Financial Data6.16.3. Product Landscape6.16.4. Strategic Outlook6.16.5. SWOT Analysis6.17. Savita Chemicals6.17.1. Business Overview6.17.2. Financial Data6.17.3. Product Landscape6.17.4. Strategic Outlook6.17.5. SWOT Analysis6.18. Eastern Petroleum Private Limited6.18.1. Business Overview6.18.2. Financial Data6.18.3. Product Landscape6.18.4. Strategic Outlook6.18.5. SWOT AnalysisBrowse full Table of Content @About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnologyContact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:
Europe Molecular Diagnostics Market: Competition Likely to Intensify as Keen Companies Focus on Product Development

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The market for molecular diagnostics in Europe is slated to see competition increase in the near future as companies focus on research and development to come up with better products. With product differentiations and customizations they are attempting to increase their sales and revenues. To that end they are partnering or collaborating with research institute. Dominant players are also focusing on mergers and acquisitions to increase their market share.Request for Sample Copy of Report @Some of the key players in Europe molecular diagnostics market are Agilent Technologies, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Tecan Group Ltd., Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., QIAGEN N.V., Danaher Corporation, Eppendorf AG, PerkinElmer, Inc., and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. Of them, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Thermo Fishcer Scientific accounted for almost half the share in the market in 2016.As per a report by Transparency Market Research, the Europe molecular diagnostics market will likely rise at a steady CAGR of 6.6% during the period between 2017 and 2025. At this rate, the market will become worth US$769.0 mn by 2025-end from US$395.7 mn in 2016.The different types of product in the market for molecular diagnostics in Europe are real-time PCR systems, liquid handling systems, and DNA extraction systems. Of them, the real-time PCR systems accounts for maximum market share and going forward too will likely dominate the market owing to a range of advantages over conventional PCR systems.From a geographical standpoint, the key segments of the of the Europe molecular diagnostics market are France, the U.K., Germany, Spain, and Italy. Germany, among them, leads vis-a-vis revenue and in the near future too will retain its leading position in this aspect. This is mainly on account on the increased investment of the government in the domain of healthcare, the thrust on bolstering the biotechnology sector, and the growing number of biotechnology companies in the country.Enquiry for discount on this report @The market for molecular diagnostics in Europe has seen steady progress so far on the back of an ever-increasing healthcare expenditure. Besides, rising awareness about different chronic diseases and disorders, abundant availability of diagnostic centers, and increasing affordability of diagnostics are also serving to catalyze growth in the market. Rising support from the government and growing investments in research and development of advanced diagnostics are also positively influencing the market.A noticeable trend in the Europe market for molecular diagnostics is the move toward automation. In fact, quite a few automated products, particularly in the area of automated liquid handling systems has been launched and are predicted to boost sales in the market in the upcoming years.Currently, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are resulting in maximum demand in the market because of substantial amounts being poured into research that has generated the need for molecular diagnostic devices.Report Overview @Posing a hindrance to the molecular diagnostics market in Europe is the shortage of skilled labor, which makes it tough for companies to control costs. Further, the constant thrust on new and improved technologies is also predicted to thwart market growth. Take, for example, the surging popularity of next generation sequencing (NGS) which is snipping away the market share of real-time PCR systems. However, the demand for non-contact dispensing technologies stoking sales of liquid dispensing systems, will likely help the market overcome the challenge.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Tissue Regeneration Market Forecasting CAGR of 35.0% From 2018 to 2024 Global Analysis by Components, Raw Material, Application, End User and Geography

Tissue Regeneration Market

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This report scope includes a holistic study of the current dynamics of the market, industry growth and restraints of the market. It provides the market forecast to 2024, recent developments in the market and pipeline analysis of the major players. The report also includes a review of micro and macro forecasts, new entrant strategies, and market penetration strategies with a comprehensive value chain analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Key Players Mentioned:Some of the major players operating in tissue regeneration market are Arteriocyte Medical Systems Inc., Athersys Inc., Cerapedics Inc., Co. Don AG, Cook Medical Inc., Cryolife Inc., Cytori Therapeutics Inc., Genzyme Corp., Kinetic Concepts Inc., Mesoblast Ltd., Nuo Therapeutics Inc., Ocata Therapeutics Inc., Organogenesis Inc., Orthopeutics L.P., U.S. Stem Cell Inc., Vericel Corp. , Wright Medical Group N.V among others.Global Tissue Regeneration Market 2017-2024 By Components (Cell Therapy, Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cell Sources, Existing and Development-stage Stem Cell Products, Tissue Vascularization, Cell Culturing, Small Molecules and Biologics, Others), By Raw Material (Synthetic, Genetically Modified, Biological), By Application (Cardiovascular Disorders, Oncology, Dermatology, Musculoskeletal, Wound Healing, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Others), By End User (Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulatory Centers, and Laboratories) By Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, Middle East and Africa) and Forecast to 2024Global Tissue Regeneration Market accounted to USD 13.5 billion in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 35.0% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024.Market Definition:Tissue regeneration is the process of development of tissues and organs. The method involves application of engineering of tissue substitutes which maintain, restore and improve the function of defective or ruptured tissue.Avail 10% Discount on Direct Purchase Kindly Send the Email @ sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comMajor Market Drivers and Restraints: Rising cost of organ transplantation Increasing medical applications of 3D printing in tissue and organ regeneration Stringent government regulations High initial costs Lack of knowledge and skilled professionalsScope of the Report:By components, the tissue regeneration market is segmented into cell therapy, stem cell therapy, stem cell sources, existing and development-stage stem cell products, tissue vascularization, cell culturing, small molecules and biologics, others.Based on raw material the tissue regeneration market is segmented into synthetic, genetically modified, biological.On the basis of application the market is segmented into cardiovascular disorders, oncology, dermatology, musculoskeletal, wound healing, neurology, ophthalmology, others.Based on end-users the tissue regeneration market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, ambulatory centers, research laboratories and others.On the basis of geography, tissue regeneration market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies such as North America & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Some of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Brazil among others. In 2017, North America is expected to dominate the market.Read more about the Global Tissue Regeneration Market Report Visit @This report consists of below pages: No of pages: 350 No of Figures: 60 No of Tables: 220Competitive Analysis:The Global Tissue Regeneration Market is highly fragmented and is based on new product launches and clinical results of products. Hence the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, clinical trials, market initiatives, high expense on research and development, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of tissue regeneration market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America.Order a copy of Tissue Regeneration Market Report @Related ReportGlobal Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Devices Market  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Global Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Devices, By Product Type (Hormonal IUCD, Copper IUCD), By End-User (Hospitals, Gynecology Clinics, Community Healthcare), By Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Rest of the World) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Report Access:About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Data Bridge adepts in creating satisfied clients who reckon upon our services and rely on our hard work with certitude. Get 10% Discount on Report by emailing sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com . We are content with our glorious 99.9 % client satisfying rate.Contact:Vishal DixitData Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com
Breathable Membrane Market Size Projected to Rise Lucratively during 2024

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Breathable membranes are semi-porous films or sheets, which allow the exchange of water vapor while preventing liquid water from permeating through. These membranes prevent water from seeping into the roof structure, while providing cold and warm ventilation. Breathable membranes are primarily used in the building & construction industry; they are used as underlay for various types of roofs such as slated pitched roofs and tiled roofs. Large amount of water vapor can be produced in a building. This moisture ultimately reaches the roof and can cause condensation, thereby damaging the roof structure. This damage can be prevented by ventilating the roof structure by using breathable membranes.View Report Preview:High dampness inside a building can cause severe problems such as mold formation, damp patches, corrosion (for metals), decay (for wood components), and weak insulation. Breathable membranes are made up of several materials, ranging from polytetrafluoroethylene (commonly known as Teflon) to polyurethane and microporous polypropylene.Strong growth in the building & construction industry is the primary factor driving the demand for breathable membranes. These membranes are not only used as roof underlays but also for wall coverings and house wraps. These films are highly useful in areas with heavy rainfall, high snowfall, and high atmospheric moisture content. Demand for breathable membranes is high in snow-clad regions such as Northern Europe, Canada, and Russia. Furthermore, tropical countries such as Brazil, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia are significant markets for breathable membranes. Breathable membranes also help increase the thermal efficiency and lower power consumption in a building. Roof membranes have regulated and high installation specifications, as improper placement of these membrane can dislodge the roof tiles, thereby causing severe damage to the roof. The extra care, cost, and efforts required to ensure proper sealing and laying of these membrane are some of the drawbacks of breathable membranes.The breathable membrane market can be segmented based on material into polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), polyurethane, polypropylene, and other materials (such as nylon and polyester). Teflon membranes are widely used across the globe due to their high reliability. These films are usually hydrophobic and microporous; however, expanded hydrophilic monolithic membranes are also used for roof underlayment applications. Based on the resistance to water vapor permeability, the breathable membrane market can be bifurcated into high water vapor resistance membranes (also known as type HR) and low water vapor resistance membranes (also known as type LR). The former offers resistance of 0.25 MN.s/g (Mega Newton second per gram) and above; however, the latter provides vapor resistance less than 0.25 MN.s/g. Based on application, the breathable membrane market can be classified into roof underlay, house wrap, wall coverings, and others. The roof underlay application segment accounts for significant share of the breathable membrane market due to its high reliability to curb moisture and dampness over other ventilation systems.In terms of geography, the breathable membrane market can be divided into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Europe and North America are the key regions of the for breathable membrane market, due to the rising demand for residential buildings along with the prevalence of snowy and rainy climatic conditions in these regions. Furthermore, the increase in population and growth in residential construction in countries such as Germany, France, and Italy are fuelling the demand for breathable membranes in Europe and North America. The breathable membrane market in Asia Pacific and Latin America is developing; it is anticipated to expand significantly during the forecast period due to rising demand from building and construction industry in the region.Request to view Sample Report:Key players operating in the global breathable membrane market are Saint Gobain SA, DuPont, GAF Material Corporation, and Porelle Membranes.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Candelilla Wax Market Growth to be Driven by Technological Advancements 2025

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Candelilla wax is a plant-based complex material. It is brittle, hard, and easily pulverized. It is an opaque material before refining, which can be of different colors ranging from light brown to yellow depending on the grade of refining and bleaching. Candelilla wax has exceptional oil binding characteristics, thus improving the texture and stability of cosmetic products. Candelilla wax delivers good mold release, surface gloss, firmness, and develops softness. It is frequently employed in combination with beeswax and carnauba wax in order to improve adhesion and skin-feel properties. It effortlessly dissolves basic dyes. It is highly soluble in chloroform, acetone, benzene, and numerous other organic solvents, but is soluble in water. Furthermore, it is employed as a glazing agent, lubricant, and surface-finishing agent.View Report Preview:Candelilla Wax Market: Drivers and RestraintsDemand for candelilla wax is anticipated to increase, determined by the market trend for natural-based ingredients, especially in personal care and other consumer products. However, the upsurge of synthetic waxes for large volume applications, which offer relatively better performance with lower cost, is estimated to hamper the expansion of the candelilla wax market.Geographically, the global automotive OEM coatings market has been distributed over Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Asia Pacific was a major market in 2015 and is estimated to expand due to the burgeoning automotive OEM industry. The water-borne sector is anticipated to register a high growth rate over the forecast period due to stringent regulations on VOC emissions.Candelilla Wax Market: SegmentationIn terms of different forms, the candelilla wax market can be segmented into:LumpsSlabsFlakesPastillesSpray PowderGround PowderThere are various candelilla wax products which differ mainly in their appearance and refining grade. However, in maximum applications, it is acclaimed to use candelilla wax in the pastilles form, since they propose significant advantages compared to other forms of products. Candelilla wax pastilles offer advanced purity levels in totally refined and semi-refined products, with lower production costs involved. Pastilles allow relatively more defined control during dosing even for a higher thermal efficiency during the wax melting process. Candelilla wax powder, either in ground or in spray form, is considered as a specialty product, which is employed primarily for selected applications such as the food & beverage and cosmetic industries.Candelilla Wax Market: SegmentationIn terms of application, the candelilla wax market can be segmented into:Personal CareFoodDyesPharmaceuticalOthers (Textile, etc.)Candelilla wax displays very low shrinkage and hence, it is used in precision foundries. It offers high level of adhesion properties and is used in the preparation of cosmetics and polishes. Moreover, it is utilized for other applications such as leather, textiles, furniture, and floors. Candelilla wax is employed in finishes for textiles and cords, leather, lubricants and greases, paper and cardboard coatings, etc., in combination with other waxes. Candelilla wax possesses a special property where it can strengthen other waxes without considerably rising the melting point of the blended mixture.Candelilla Wax Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of geography, the global candelilla wax market can be segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific is estimated to be a highly lucrative region for the candelilla wax market during the forecast period. The region holds major share of the global personal care industry, due to rapid urbanization, increasing awareness about health and hygiene among consumers, population growth, and improved per-capita expenditure. The U.S. dominates the candelilla wax market and is projected to continue its dominance due to rising awareness about natural products. Furthermore, North and Latin America are major producers of candelilla wax due to easy raw material availability, as Mexico is the major producer of candelilla plant.Request to view Sample Report:Candelilla Wax Market: Key PlayersKey players operating in the candelilla wax market include:MulticerasStrahl & Pitsch, Inc.Poth Hille & Co Ltd.Surfachem Group Ltd,The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Hexane Market Plan, Supply and Revenue to 2024

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Hexane is a solvent present in volatile fraction of various plants such as guava, orange, and others. It is a hydrocarbon made of carbon and hydrogen. Hexane is an unbranched isomer (n-hexane), which exists in forms with different arrangements of atoms but with the same molecular weight. Hexanes are significant constituents of gasoline.Hexane is an organic solvent made from crude oil. It is used in various applications. Hexane contains a blend of hydrocarbons with six carbon atoms. It is widely used in the manufacture of industrial products. Two different types of hexane are available in the market: hexane-pure hexane and solvent-based hexane. Pure hexane is only used in laboratories, while, solvent-based hexane is extensively employed in several application.View Report Preview:Hexane is used to extract oil from seeds. This increases the cost of the process and also carries the risk of toxicity. An alternative substitute has been developed that helps extract oil from several seeds by using sodium hydroxide and methanol. This process has been implemented with considerable success in soya bean seeds. The only drawback related to this process is the moisture content. Moisture content is the only drawback related to this process. High moisture content results in excess utilization of methanol in order to extract oil from seeds.Solvent-based hexane; is used to extract vegetable oils from crops such as soybeans, cottonseed, rape seed, mustard seed, and safflower seed, etc. Solvent-chemical hexane is also widely used as cleaning agent in textile, printing, furniture and leather industries. It is also employed in various consumer products including glues, gasoline, rubber, and cement. Several properties of hexane are hazardous to human beings, excess inhalation may result in weakness, numbness, blurred vision, headache, and fatigue. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); has set a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 500 ppm for hexane to protect the health of several workers engaged in hexane production facilities across the globe. However, hexane has certain beneficial properties. For instance, it is used in the removal of unwanted taste and odor. This is anticipated to drive the demand for hexane in the edible oil industry, as hexane is used in the manufacturing of several grades of cooking oils. Rising population coupled with increasing demand for refined oil, for cooking purposes is estimated to boost the demand for hexane in the near future.In terms of production and consumption, countries is Asia Pacific, especially, China dominates the global hexane market. Asia Pacific has been a lucrative market for the production and distribution of hexane in countries such as China, Japan, and India .Therefore, several manufacturers in Europe and North America are shifting their production facilities to Asia Pacific owing to the availability of skilled labor at affordable rates. The hexane market in North America and Europe is expected to expand at a rapid pace owing to the high demand for rubber products used in the automotive industries.The hexane market can be segmented based on type, and application. In terms of type, the hexane market can be divided into  n-hexane, iso-hexane, and neo-hexane. Based on application, the hexane market can be segregated into  pharmaceutical, cooking oil, automotive, chromatography, textiles, furniture, printing, paint & coatings, adhesives, shoes & leather products, and roofing. Commercial grades of hexane are used as solvents in the manufacture of rubber, glues, cement, adhesives, varnishes, and inks. Hexane is also used as a cleaning agent (degreaser) in the printing industry. It is used as liquid in low temperature thermometers.Request to view Sample Report:Prominent players operating in the hexane market include Exxon Mobil Corporation, Rompetrol Rafinare S.A., Chevron Philips Chemicals LLC, Royal Dutch Shell plc, GreenChem Industries, Hukill Chemical Corp., and Continental Chemical.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Tax Software Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023

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This report studies the Tax Software market. Tax software is defined as a type of computer software designed to help individuals or companies prepare for and file income, corporate and similar tax returns.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Tax Software in global market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, types and applications. A new analysis report offered by MRC provides a market summary of the Tax software package business. This comprehensive analysis includes product scope, opportunities and challenges, market revenue, sales volume, rate and estimates. It conjointly explores the world players of the market.Software and Enterprise Services business plays a significant role in fulfilling everyday desires of the commoner. This business being one among the oldest industries contributes considerably towards industrial similarly as economic process of a rustic. nearly each business as well as retail, agriculture, oil and gas, energy, producing and far additional, depends on the software package and Enterprise Services business. In previous few years, the world software package and Enterprise Services business has seen a stimulating structural modification like technological advancements, the shift of producing locations to Asian countries, rising staple prices, new rising growth markets, etc.Get Sample report @:Market Segments:Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Avalara Vertex, Inc. SOVOS H&R Block EGov Systems Intuit Inc. Xero BLUCORA LumaTax LegalRaasta.com Service ObjectsMarket Segment by Type, covers Cloud Based On-PremisesMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into Small Business and Individuals Midsize Enterprise Large EnterpriseObtain Report Details:Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)About Us:Future Generic Reports is a market research and consulting organization, offering premium collection of market research reports, custom research and consulting services to corporations, no-profit organizations and government institutions across the globe. The wide range of information is presented by a team of well-trained researchers of specific sectors through exhaustive research. We deliver premier market research services that cover all industry verticals, including chemicals and material, automotive, healthcare, electronics & semiconductor, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and technology and media.We believe in building an eternal bond with our clients through offering them inclusive research study meeting their specific requirements. Our services are tailored specifically to our clients by proposing them the potential outcome, based on our in-depth analysis and insights for exploring the growth strategies through providing the best possible decision for quality production.Contact Us:Future Generic ReportsUSA Offices244, Madison AvenueNew York City, NY - 10016United StatesToll Free +1- 844-445-2861Email : sales@futuregenicreports.com
Artificial Retina Market 2018 Key Players: SECOND SIGHT, Nano Retina, Retina Implant AG, PIXIUM VISION, Bionic Vision Australia

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The, Artificial Retina Market inquire about report is developing with the quick pace; chiefly due the prospering Healthcare Sector. As per a current report distributed by the Market Research Future, The Artificial Retina Industry Research report is blasting and anticipated that would pick up unmistakable quality over the conjecture time frame. The Market is anticipated to exhibit a colossal development by 2023, outperforming its past development records as far as esteem and volume.You can get easy access to sample report here, please click:Market Synopsis of Global Artificial Retina Market:Retinal degeneration is major reason for blindness in humans and no clinical treatments can cure this medical condition. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is rare and inherited eye disorder that causes progressive degeneration of the rod photoreceptor cells of the retina which leads to blindness. Artificial retina helps blind person to see objects. Artificial retina are placed either in the internal surface of the retina or outer surface of retina. There are around 1.5 million people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa which ultimately causes blindness. Approximately, 280 million people with visual impairment and about 40 million people are completely blind. Artificial retina is new hope for blind people. Artificial retina manufacturers are investing huge money in R&D which is leading to new and innovative product development which is driving the growth for the market. Artificial retina manufacturers are collaborating with hospitals to provide product and service which is key driver for the market. Global Market for Artificial Retina is growing steady and expected to continue its growth near future. Global artificial retina market is expected to grow US$ 102.9 million by 2023 at CAGR of 2.1%.Key Players for Global Artificial Retina Market:Some of the key players in this market are: SECOND SIGHT (US), Nano Retina (Israel), Retina Implant AG (Germany), PIXIUM VISION (France), Bionic Vision Australia.The report for Global Artificial Retina Market of Market Research Future comprises extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides detail information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.Any query or specific requirement? Ask to our industry expert, please click:Intended Audience:Eye Hospitals and ClinicsArtificial Retina devices manufacturers and suppliersGovernment and Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesResearch laboratoriesResearch and Development (R&D) CompaniesMarket Research and Consulting Service ProvidersMedical Research LaboratoriesPotential InvestorsSegments:Global Artificial Retina Market has been segmented on the basis of type of retinal implants which comprise Epiretinal Implants, Subretinal Implants. On the basis of End user it comprise Eye hospitals, Research laboratories, and others.Regional Analysis of Artificial Retina Market:Considering the global scenario of the market, North America is believed to be the largest market for artificial retina. Moreover the European market is also growing and second largest market for artificial retina. On the other hand, Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow at the fastest pace in the artificial retina during the forecasted period. Rest of the World is likely to have a limited but steady growth in the artificial retina market.CONTINUED FOR FULL TOCFeel free to get in touch for discounts and customized details:About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Pan Masala Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023

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"Pan Masala refers to a balanced mixture of betel leaf with lime, areca nut, clove, cardamom, mint, tobacco and many other ingredients. It is prepared with precise measurements so as to maintain a balance of all ingredients while keeping in mind its taste and human health.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Pan Masala in global market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, types and applications.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversDS GroupManikchandGodfrey PhillipsKothari ProductsLalwani GroupA & C- Pan BaharDinesh Pouches LimitedRequest For Free Sample Of The Report @Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversPan Masala with TobaccoPlain Pan MasalaFlavored Pan MasalaOtherGet more Information about this Report@Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoRetail StoresSupermarketOnline StoresOthersAbout Future Genic ReportsFuture Generic Reports is a market research and consulting organization, offering premium collection of market research reports, custom research and consulting services to corporations, no-profit organizations and government institutions across the globe.The wide range of information is presented by a team of well-trained researchers of specific sectors through exhaustive research. We deliver premier market research services that cover all industry verticals, including chemicals and material, automotive, healthcare, electronics & semiconductor, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and technology and media.We believe in building an eternal bond with our clients through offering them inclusive research study meeting their specific requirements. Our services are tailored specifically to our clients by proposing them the potential outcome, based on our in-depth analysis and insights for exploring the growth strategies through providing the best possible decision for quality production.Contact us-USA Office244 , Madison AvenueNew York City, NY - 10016United StatesUK Office109 ,Straford Street,LeedsWest Yorkshrie LS11 6JGUnited KingdomSend Us An EmailE-mail: sales@futuregenicreports.comCall UsToll Free: +1- 844-445-2861Phone: +1- 347-983-9688
Screen Protector Market Analysis by Global Key Players: 3M, BELKIN, Tech Armor, MOSHI, XtremeGuard, Halo Screen Protector Film, PowerSupport, intelliARMOR, Crystal Armor

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Reportsandinsights.com Presents Global Screen Protector Market Size, Status and Forecast 2023 New Document to its Studies Database. The Report Contain 108 Pages with Detailed AnalysisDescriptionA screen protector is a layer of protective film to avoid scratches, wear, or contamination on the screen surface of an electronic product. Now screen protectors are widely used for mobile phones, tablets, laptops, LCD TVs, handheld video game devices, cameras, GPS unit, e-book readers and other electronic items. Especially after the emergence of intelligent mobile phone, screen protector has been widely used.Get a Sample Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Screen Protector in global market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, types and applications.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversOtterBoxZAGG3MBELKINTech ArmorMOSHIXtremeGuardHalo Screen Protector FilmPowerSupportintelliARMORCrystal ArmorSpigenAir-JBodyGuardzSimplismNuShieldiCarezScreen CaresPanzerGlassMomaxNillkinAmplimBenksDEFFZupoolCapdaseCROCFOLKindweiMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversPETTempered GlassOtherMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoMobile PhonesTabletsGet Complete Report @Table Of Contents  Major Key PointsGlobal Screen Protector Market Size, Status and Forecast 2023Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Screen Protector Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 PET1.2.2 Tempered Glass1.2.3 Other1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Mobile Phones1.3.2 Tablets1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 United States Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.1.2 Canada Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2.2 France Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2.3 UK Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2.4 Russia Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.2.5 Italy Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3.2 Japan Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3.3 Korea Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3.4 India Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market Status and Outlook (2013-2023)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 OtterBox2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 OtterBox Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 ZAGG2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Type 12.2.2.2 Type 22.2.3 ZAGG Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 3M2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Type 12.3.2.2 Type 22.3.3 3M Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 BELKIN2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Type 12.4.2.2 Type 22.4.3 BELKIN Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 Tech Armor2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Type 12.5.2.2 Type 22.5.3 Tech Armor Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.6 MOSHI2.6.1 Business Overview2.6.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.6.2.1 Type 12.6.2.2 Type 22.6.3 MOSHI Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.7 XtremeGuard2.7.1 Business Overview2.7.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.7.2.1 Type 12.7.2.2 Type 22.7.3 XtremeGuard Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.8 Halo Screen Protector Film2.8.1 Business Overview2.8.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.8.2.1 Type 12.8.2.2 Type 22.8.3 Halo Screen Protector Film Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.9 PowerSupport2.9.1 Business Overview2.9.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.9.2.1 Type 12.9.2.2 Type 22.9.3 PowerSupport Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.10 intelliARMOR2.10.1 Business Overview2.10.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.10.2.1 Type 12.10.2.2 Type 22.10.3 intelliARMOR Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.15 Simplism2.15.1 Business Overview2.15.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.15.2.1 Type 12.15.2.2 Type 22.15.3 Simplism Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.16 NuShield2.16.1 Business Overview2.16.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.16.2.1 Type 12.16.2.2 Type 22.16.3 NuShield Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.17 iCarez2.17.1 Business Overview2.17.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.17.2.1 Type 12.17.2.2 Type 22.17.3 iCarez Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.18 Screen Cares2.18.1 Business Overview2.18.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.18.2.1 Type 12.18.2.2 Type 22.18.3 Screen Cares Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.19 PanzerGlass2.19.1 Business Overview2.19.2 Screen Protector Type and Applications2.19.2.1 Type 12.19.2.2 Type 22.19.3 PanzerGlass Screen Protector Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)..CONTINUEDAbout UsReports and Insights is initiated by a group of like-minded vibrant young industry professionals who have come together with a singular mission to develop a one-stop-shop for the best-in-class insightful, market research & intelligence reports spanning various industry verticals, segments that would provide global corporates, start-ups with quality actionable insights enabling them to strategically understand, develop and grow their market position.CONTACT US :Reports and Insightssales@reportsandinsights.comPh: +1 424 2554 365 (US)
Ryan Van Wagenen on Cryptocurrency: Mining Extensions Are Now Banned From Chrome

Ryan Van Wagenen is a director and crytocurrency guru at Global Private Equity

https://about.me/ryan.vanwagenen

https://www.quora.com/profile/Ryan-Van-Wagenen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4FHbanHqek

April 3rd, 2018New York, USARyan Van Wagenen has been at Global Private Equity for nearly 10 years. Since 2011, when he was promoted Director within the firm he began focusing in the technology sector. With this in recent years has come a following of cryptocurrency as the firm has made purchases of companies with ties to the blockchain. Recently, it is interesting following regulations regarding cryptocurrency from governments and large technology companies like Google. Recently, Google made it official and clear that the search giant would be banning cryptocurrency mining extensions from their chrome store. The company made it clear in a post to the Chromium blog, Googles own blog that they will not allow any crypto mining extensions in their web store anymore. In fact, the news is retroactive as well and it will not only allow new ones but also boot out those already on it.Google users knew it very well how Googles Play Store has an overload of deceptive apps based on crypto. These apps do not have a great reputation, only that they rob people. Those who download these apps are said to have their data harvested. There are also instances of a third party that mine coins secretly through the app.The Chrome Web Store policy permits cryptocurrency mining extensions as long as crypto mining is its single purpose. Additionally, the user must have adequate information regarding the mining behavior of the app. However, this is only until now with Google has made it clear that they will cease allowing cryptocurrency mining extensions in their web store.This is after almost all mining extensions that developers tried to upload to Chrome Web Store were unable to comply with their policies. As a result, the proposed new crypto mining extensions are rejected while others are removed. For the past weeks, many companies are adopting the ban for cryptocurrency ads.Some of those who imposed the ban include Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Google, LinkedIn, and MailChimp. However, Google seems to leave alone blockchain extensions that do not relate to mining, at least for the time being. This fact is good news for other companies who use cryptocurrency mining for their services and applications.Last month, Google stopped serving cryptocurrency ads including those related to initial coin offerings (ICOs), trading advice, and crypto wallets. This was a move following Facebooks similar ban to cryptocurrency ads earlier this year. The ban means that even those that have legitimate crypto offerings can no longer serve ads through Google ad products.This makes the advertising of cryptocurrency-related products placed on the companys own site or on third-party sites. This policy update will take effect in June this year, according to Googles post. Google said to have decided the ban upon seeing enough of cryptos harm and potential harm to consumers. As such, the company decided to approach it with extreme caution by banning its ads.The boom of cryptocurrency created a lot of excitement as well as unexpected wealth in many people. However, cryptocurrency is still a mainly unregulated space that over the last few years created countless prominent scams. Only last year, Google said it removed roughly 3.2 billion ads that violated its policies.This number is about double of those the company removed the year before. Alphabet, Googles parent company, makes about 84% of its total revenue from ads. As such, it makes it critically important that they can convince advertisers of the effectiveness and safety of their ecosystem. For that reason, they opted to remove billions worth of crypto ads from Google ad products.Ryan Van Wagenen further explained that shortly after the ban on crypto ads, now Google bans all crypto mining extensions in their web store. However, Google has not been explicitly hacking mining-related extensions these days. Google found that SafeBrowse, an extension that protects browsing, is secretly mining Monero without the knowledge or consent of its users.According to Googles post, they will remove any mining extensions that are already in the Chrome Store in June. By this time, there will not be any crypto-related extensions in Googles web store. However, this is not likely to eliminate the root of the problem on its own. This is because more people are developing ways of concealing an extensions mining functionality.ABOUTRyan Van Wagenen is a Westminster Alumnus that graduated with a bachelor in science in finance. Outside of business, he continues to stay involved in the outdoor community being an avid skier, hiker, and even rock climber. He also loves to travel and see new places, frequently travelling and immersing himself in different cultures.CONTACTJim Franco - jimmyfranco21@gmail.comPO Box 22875, IDAHO FALLS ID 83402
In celebration of Law Day 2018, the Midland County Bar Association is sponsoring the Liberty Bell Award Nominations and Essay Submission.

The Liberty Bell Award will be given to an individual or organization residing in Midland County to recognize outstanding community service focused on promoting a better understanding of our form of government, encouraging greater respect for the law and the courts, stimulating a sense of civic responsibility, and/or contributing to good government in the community.
The Midland County Health Department will be the beneficiary of a $20,000 grant to help combat Michigan's hepatitis A outbreak.

The grant is part of $500,000 in grants issued by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to 25 local health departments. Those counties, like Midland, are classified as "non-outbreak" counties.

"The funds will be used to enhance outreach efforts through the vaccination of the high risk groups and others in the community," County Health Director Fred Yanoski said.

Those with a history of injection and non-injection drug use, homelessness or transient housing, incarceration and men who have sex with men are thought to be at greater risk of contracting the disease.

"We have been increasing our vaccination efforts, and we will continue to offer a variety of special clinics throughout the community to help reach and educate individuals that need or want to be vaccinated. Vaccination is a very safe and effective way to prevent getting hepatitis A, and is the key to stopping the current outbreak," Yanoski said.

Hepatitis A is a serious, highly contagious liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus. The virus is found in the feces of people with hepatitis A and can be spread by eating contaminated food or water, during sex or by living with an infected person.

"This has been the largest person-to-person hepatitis A outbreak in Michigan's history, with more than 780 cases," said Dr. Eden Wells, MDHHS chief medical executive.

The funding is part of a $7.1 million appropriation approved by the Legislature in late 2017 to address the hepatitis A outbreak. Twenty health departments that are part of the outbreak jurisdiction have already been awarded $2.5 million. To be considered part of the outbreak jurisdiction, a county must have two or more cases of hepatitis A related to the outbreak strain. The 25 health departments receiving this most recent round of funding are not currently part of the outbreak jurisdiction.

Hepatitis A symptoms can include:

 Nausea and vomiting

 Belly pain

 Feeling tired

 Fever

 Loss of appetite

 Yellowing of the skin and eyes

 Dark urine

 Pale-colored feces

 Joint pain

The Bay County Health Department was the only other area health department to receive funds.

For more information on the hepatitis A outbreak, visit: mi.gov/hepatitisAoutbreak
West Branch Regional Medical Center has joined MidMichigan Health, an affiliate of Michigan Medicine, the health care division of the University of Michigan.

The partnership makes West Branch the seventh medical center in the MidMichigan Health system. To reflect the hospital joining MidMichigan, WBRMC has changed its name to MidMichigan Medical Center  West Branch.

From the very beginning our board was impressed with the MidMichigan Health leadership team, said J. Daniel Stoneback, chair of the board, MidMichigan Medical Center  West Branch. We are confident they will help us go from good to great by increasing services, bringing new physicians to the region, and improving our quality of care. Becoming part of the MidMichigan Health family is a win-win for our Medical Center and the communities we serve.

Today is an exciting day for MidMichigan Health and the patients and residents of northern Michigan as we welcome MidMichigan Medical Center  West Branch to our family, said Diane Postler-Slattery, president and CEO, MidMichigan Health. We look forward to continuing our work together to build upon West Branchs outstanding tradition of providing excellent service to their patients by their expert staff and health care providers.

The affiliation process for WBRMC began in 2011. Since that time, the medical center in West Branch went from a government-owned facility to a private nonprofit organization, completing that process on Dec. 31, 2015. Over the next two years, the board of trustees and management then evaluated partnership proposals, met with prospective health systems and visited facilities of the prospective partners.

In making a selection, the boards goals included long-term viability of the medical center, a proven track record of investment in the community, improved access to resources, support for physician recruitment and retention, and continued quality improvement.

In September of 2017, the WBRMC Board of Trustees voted on the selection of MidMichigan Health as the preferred health system to proceed with partnership negotiations. An extensive due-diligence process was completed followed by the definitive agreement signed in February 2018.

This affiliation culminates years of hard work and determination by a lot of people, said Bob McGrail, president, MidMichigan Medical Center  West Branch. Everyone involved should be proud of how far we have come and how well we have done. And, we should all be looking to the future with optimism for continued success and growth as part of the MidMichigan Health system.

MidMichigan Medical Center  West Branch offers inpatient and outpatient health care services to a broad region, which includes 30 zip codes in Ogemaw, Oscoda, Roscommon, Arenac and Iosco counties. The medical center has three operating suites, a 24-hour emergency department and a state-of-the-art imaging department. In addition to the medical center, the system also includes Hospice of Helping Hands, the Tolfree Foundation, and Medical Arts Centers in Prudenville and West Branch. MidMichigan Medical Center  West Branch has approximately 350 employees, 58 volunteers, 25 active staff physicians, as well as 12 associate staff physicians, 53 consulting staff physicians, 23 allied health professionals and 17 telemedicine physicians.

As a result of the affiliation, the MidMichigan Health Board of Directors will increase by one member from West Branch with the addition of Kevin Elliot. The MidMichigan Medical Center  West Branch board will increase by three members to include Postler-Slattery, McGrail, as well as Greg Rogers, senior vice president of MidMichigan Health and president of MidMichigan Medical Center  Midland.
The Stormy Daniels case has put President Trump in more trouble than it might seem on the surface. Most of that is because Daniels is a porn star who shtupped him months after his wife gave birth, spanked him with a magazine that had his face  next to his daughters  on the cover, endured hours of shark-bashing, and has alluded not so subtly to having her own kompromat on the guy in the form of pictures or video. Im not going to pretend Im not taken in by this stuff, because I think any honest person, no matter how serious, would at least raise an eyebrow if they heard this stuff about an acquaintance, let alone about a man who would go on to become President of the United States. But these issues are at the end of the day private matters between that man, his family, and his porn star mistress. The time for sensationalism is long past, and serious people, if they want to be taken seriously, have to draw a line between the lecherous and the litigable.

Ironically its Daniels and her attorney who have made it difficult to distinguish the serious from the smut. They know American media will chase the raw meat, if youll forgive the phrase, so they havent focused their PR campaign so much on the consequential matters as on the details they know will keep this story in the headlines. Thats a big reason why this story hasnt faded the way so many similar stories about Trump have.

More ironic than that, though, Trumps own lawyer, Michael Cohen, has done the other work for them and made Trumps criminality, as well as his own, pellucid. And now Trumps lawyers lawyer, who might be even worse than Cohen, just went on national television and basically incriminated his own client, as well as his clients client. Theres real evidence of criminality here, and Trump, as well as his lawyer (and now his lawyers lawyer), might have to testify under oath. And considering this is about finances, Trumps taxes might be fair game in discovery. Theyre also all probably going to perjure themselves and each other.

So heres that big picture: Theyre all publicly spanking themselves with pictures of themselves.

The whole case hinges on the non-disclosure agreement that Daniels signed. Ill try to keep this as clean as possible (without ignoring key arguments), because for the casual reader the legal technicalities here can be maddening. Here are the basics.

1. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to sign a contract promising she wouldnt disclose the affair she had with Trump in 2006.

2. Importantly, he paid her a few weeks before the election. Such a payment made on Trumps behalf would violate federal campaign finance law, because even though on the surface this appears to have nothing to do with the campaign, Trumps candidacy would benefit from such a payment. This is called an in-kind donation.

3. Cohen would be guilty of the violation: He says Trump didnt know about the payment or contract, and that he, Cohen, made the payment out of his own pocket.

4. To get around the campaign finance law, Cohen created an LLC to act on Trumps behalf in the contract. (Called a third-party contract.) Cohen claims Daniels entered into the contract not with Trump, but with this LLC.

5. But even though Trump is named (a pseudonym, David Dennison) in the contract and stands to benefit, and in order for the contract to be successful he himself must refrain from saying and doing certain things, he didnt sign the contract. Theres a signature line for him, and its blank.

Cohens argument: Hey, this has nothing to do with Trump!

Everyone else: Um.

Well, everyone else but Cohens lawyer. Which brings us to

As famously said in Breaking Bad, sometimes you need a criminal lawyer, and sometimes you need a criminal lawyer.

And so Cohens lawyer, David Schwartz, took to national TV to incriminate his client a few dozen times. Here are the most surprising things he admitted.

1. Schwartz: The president was not aware of the agreement. At least, Michael Cohen never told him about the agreement.

Whoops. Shoe missing, will drop. And, given Schwartzs next statement, there are probably more than a few other Cinderellas out there.

2. Schwartz: There were a ton of matters that took place that Michael fixed

These kinds of contracts and hush payments were executed routinely. But Schwartz wasnt done with this sentence.

3. ...and Donald Trump wasnt involved in every single matter.

These contracts were so routine, in fact, that Cohen (apparently) didnt even feel the need to tell Trump they had to make yet another hush payment to a former mistress. Even in the final weeks of the campaign, apparently, it wouldnt have been worth Cohen notifying Trump about a woman who was threatening to come forward in an effort to sink his candidacy.

But Schwartz still wasnt done. (This was all in the same interview, by the way, which Schwartz didnt have to do.)

4. Schwartz: This happened all the time Michael and I would be at dinner, and the boss would be calling him all the time.

This a bold move: Immediately contradicting himself. Trump directed a lot of Cohens fixing. So yeah, its quite possible, and probably the case, that Trump told Cohen to take care of the Daniels problem, but was experienced enough to know that after the order he would stay out of the loop to maintain plausible deniability.

5. In a separate interview with CBS News, Schwartz was posed this question: [Cohen] took out a home equity loan to pay off Stormy Daniels?

Schwartz: To get the money quickly.

Whoops. Not only does this show just how obsequious Cohen is, and how desperate he was to silence Story, but as former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti points out:

In Schwartzs defense, though, Cohen admitted as much in his own official statement:

At minimum, Cohen is cooked. He clearly violated campaign finance law, and he definitely violated the rule Mariotti pointed out above. Hell get disbarred for that, and he seems to know this.

But what about Trump?

Well, Danielss lawyer has proof that the contract went through Cohens Trump Tower office, and that Cohen discussed the payment through official Trump Organization email addresses. This seems to prove that Cohen was acting in his capacity as counsel at the Trump Organization, i.e., counsel for Trump.

Still, Cohen maintains the contract was between Daniels and the LLC, and Trump wasnt a party to it. (As the blank signature line supposedly evinces.) We should therefore believe that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization werent involved at all: The agreement was strictly between Daniels and this LLC, so Trump is clean.

There are a few obvious problems here. First, it would be far-fetched for any judge to believe Cohen didnt make the payment on Trumps behalf. After all, its Trump himself, and not the LLC, who would stand to benefit the most from this contract. It also seems that the LLCs only interest in this agreement would be to protect the Trump campaign. And because Cohen seems to have acted as counsel at the Trump Organization, this directly implicates Trump (and possibly other Trump Org directors such as Ivanka, Eric, and DJTJ) in violating campaign finance law. This is why Cohen has been so adamant about having made the payment himself, out of unfathomable, criminal fealty to his boss.

But if Trump didnt sign the contract, he didnt enter into it. So hes cool. Right?

This is Cohen and Schwartzs main argument: it was a third-party contract that, even though it protected Trump, didnt need Trumps participation. Two things: First, even if Trump wasnt party to the contract hes the only one who can enforce his end of it, which was also to keep quiet.

The LLC cant promise Trumps silence, because the LLC isnt Trump. Therefore such a contract, without Trumps participation, is void. Additionally its an ethics violation for a lawyer to enter his client into a contract without his clients consent. But this brings us back to that first problem: Though its possible that Trump might have (and probably did) grant Cohen a broad power of attorney to enter into such contracts on his behalf, Cohen also isnt Trump. He doesnt operate Trumps brain or voice. So even if that power of attorney exists, its impossible for someone to promise someones silence without their knowledge or consent.

Two possible conclusions: Either the contract is void, or Trump was party to it. This means Cohen and Trump can do one of two things:

1. Act on the legal authority they claim the contract gives them by taking Daniels to court or responding to her lawsuit; or

2. Admit the contract is flawed and void.

Neither option is good. If they choose to go to court, theyll likely be deposed, meaning Trump will have to testify under oath. If he lies, which is the odds-on favorite, then well have the exact scenario that led Congress to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998 for lying about sexual indiscretion. It might be even more problematic considering the case raises questions about how involved Trump was in the exchange of money, reimbursements, etc. In other words, there might be cause to obtain Trumps tax returns. Its worth noting that Daniels has started talking, and already pressed a lawsuit. This is a dare for Cohen to act on what he claims are his legal grounds.

If Cohen et al dont act on the contract, then Daniels goes public with her evidence, which is apparently damning enough to have kept the notoriously aggressive Trump quiet. That wont be pretty, and it wont be healthy for the President.

Even worse, though, is what this case might let loose. To go back to what Cohens lawyer said, This happened all the time Michael and I would be at dinner, and the boss would be calling him all the time.

This case might expose a fatal flaw in who knows how many similar contracts Cohen executed over the years. I bet theyre nervous.

Oh yeah, and Mueller is reportedly looking into Cohens role in the Russian attack on our election.

Trumps lawyers are pretty bad, and his lawyers lawyer is pretty bad. But youll have to forgive them at least a little bit, because at the end of the day its all about protecting their client from himself, and it seems more clear by the day that theres really no way to do that without going to jail yourself.
Since our last review, Google has combined its in-store, online, and person-to-person payment apps into a single offering called Google Pay. This one app handles all your transactions, instead of forcing you to use Google Pay Send for paying people and Android Pay for NFC. The app works on iOS as well as Android and the web, so it has broader appeal than both Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Google Pay offers both NFC payment at tons of venues and smart watch support, as Apple's and Samsung's services do. Venmo, PayPal, Square Cash, and Zelle dont. The only question you need to ask is, "Do I mind connecting yet another part of my life to Google?" If the answer is no, you'll be well-served by this easy-to-use, full-featured payment app. It's our Editors' Choice for mobile payment apps.

Google's payment app strategy has been something of a moving target over the past few years. First, there was Google Wallet, which also let you pay stores using NFC technology, a la Apple Pay. Then that feature was removed and transferred to Android Pay. (Google is moving toward downplaying the Android brand in favor of its own corporate moniker.) Along the way, we also saw Pay with Google, and an experimental payment app called Hands Free. Thankfully, all that confusion is now in the past.

How to Set Up Google Pay

I installed Google Pay on an Apple iPhone X and a Google Pixel 4 XL. If you previously had Android Pay installed, Google Pay just appears on your phone. When you first open Google Pay, the Android Pay app disappears. If none of that applies to you, you can still download the app from the Play Store or the Apple App Store.

When you set up Google Pay, you can choose to make it your Android phone's only NFC payment app. So, if you've been using PayPal, Venmo, or Samsung Pay, those apps will no longer function at points of sale. As you might expect, Apple doesn't allow third-party apps access to NFC payments, so on that platform your only choice is Apple Pay.

If you've previously entered a card in Android Pay, it carries over without further action in Google Pay. But if you've previously entered payment info for Google payments, the Play store, or other Google services, that doesn't carry over into Google Pay. Like most payment apps, Google Pay lets you use your phone's camera to take a picture of the card to ease entering payment source info. One surprise in this round of testing: You can use PayPal as a source for funding your Google Pay account!

As with all mobile payment apps, you need to enter a bank debit card to receive payments, but you can also enter credit cards for making payments. Payments have no fees, because Google Pay doesn't allow you to pay acquaintances with a credit cardyou need to have a debit card or bank account associated with your account. Other services like Venmo allow you to use a credit card, but they pass along a three percent fee for this. Note that paying with a credit card avails you of liability protections, whereas paying from your bank account leaves any dispute resolution up to the endpoint financial institutions.

Paying With Google

Unlike Apple Pay, Google Pay only works if your phone is unlocked, but you can also set Google Pay to require biometric verificationas you can with Apple Pay, PayPal, and Samsung Pay. With Google Pay, you unlock your phone and then hold it to the point of sale, and your payment goes through with no further action (unless it's a large purchase requiring a signature). With Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, you don't need to unlock your phone, but for the payment to go through you must use biometric login or a PIN to complete the transaction.

My experience using Google Pay at a local supermarket was smooth as silk. As the help says, you "just unlock your phone and hold it to the terminal until you see a check mark. You don't even need to open the app." It was easier than paying with Apple Pay on a recent iPhone, which requires holding the phone up to your face and double-clicking the side buttonsomething that requires more dexterity than the simple Google Pay process.

Paying Friends With Google Pay

Since our last review, Google has bolstered the Google Pay app with the acquaintance-paying feature that was formerly in the separate Google Pay Send app. This puts it in league with Venmo, Square Cash, and PayPal. The process is simple, and you can pay or request money either on your mobile device or in a web browser. You can also set up reminders for recurring payments. The same site lets you see all your Google Pay activity, whether it's person-to-person or commercial.

You can send up to $10,000 in a single transaction and that same amount is your weekly limit, though the limit for a payment is $300 before you've verified your identity. This is more generous than Venmo and PayPal, which have limits of $5,000. Florida residents can transfer only up to $3,000 with Google, and transactions over $2,500 require a bank account added to the recipient's Google Pay account.

You don't, however, get a Venmo-like social network to see who your friends are paying for what, if that appeals to you. Nor can you pay people in other countries as you can with Xoom, though residents of the US and India can make person-to-person transfers. (Google publishes lists of countries for each type of payment.) Unlike Venmo, Google lets you use the service to receive payments for small business purposes such as childcare, consulting, or rentals. The service lets you enter tax info for your locality if you're accepting business payments.

Google Pay Extras

The app's Home tab shows a feed of offers, recent payments, and (if you're on an Android device) local stores that let you pay with it contactlessly. The iOS app is somewhat more efficient, with only three tabs in the interface, dispensing with the Send tab in favor of showing profile circles of the contacts you've sent to previously at the top of the home screen.

The Payment tab is where you can not only add payment cards, but also other payment methods, including PayPal and Visa Checkout.

Another option is to link your account with Visa Checkout, a PayPal clone that lets you pay on websites. You can also use Google Pay to pay in certain apps, such as Airbnb and Fandango. But I found the list lacked some big apps that need payments, such as Amazon and eBay.

The Passes tab is where you enter loyalty program, gift card, and even transit system info. To add a loyalty card, you simply take a picture of it within the app. You have many choices, including Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Macy's, Panera, Starbucks, Target, and Walgreens. The selection of cities you can buy transit passes for isn't huge: Only six options appear, with none of the major US cities represented. If you're using the busses in Stockton, California, or that tiny monorail in Las Vegas, you're all set!

You can use the service from some pricey smartwatches from Tag Heuer, Louis Vuitton, and Movado, and some more affordable models from Huawei and LG. I tested paying by watch with the huge, hulking LG Watch Sport (which nearly doubled the girth of your stalwart reviewer's slender wrist). You need to set up a PIN on the smart watch, but I didn't have to reenter the credit card info that was in my Google Pay account, aside from reverifying it with the CVV number.

Happily, when I paid for my morning java, I just held down the bottom button on the watch, which opened an image of my credit card. I didn't have to re-enter the PIN, and the NFC transaction worked, confirmed by a haptic buzz. The cashier did warn me that, just as with a credit card, the cafe had a $5 minimum for mobile app payments, but she'd let me get away with the $2.50 coffee this once.

One extra found in other payment apps is missing in Google Pay: Unlike Apple Pay, PayPal, or Venmo, it doesn't let you start a payment using a voice assistant such as Siri or Google Assistant. I was surprised to find out that you can do this with Venmo but not with Google Pay on an Android phone.

How Secure Is Google Pay?

As with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and just about every other payment app (including its Android Pay predecessor), Google Pay doesn't transfer your actual credit card number, but an encrypted code that the merchant transfers to the card issuer for verification.

Google also boasts that "Google Pay protects your payment info with multiple layers of security, using one of the world's most advanced security infrastructures to help keep your account safe," without providing any details about the encryptions used. They also direct users to a 34-second video stating what I've said above, along with the fact that you can remotely erase a lost or stolen phone. That last point is important, however. It means if someone steals your phone, you can wipe the virtual card and keep your credit card safe.

Privacy and Buyer Protections

Google Pay is subject to the same privacy policy as all Google services, but with an interlocking and somewhat perplexing set of Google Pay, and Google Payment, and overall Google privacy policies. It's tricky to navigate. The company claims it won't use personally identifiable information about your transactions except as needed to process the transaction. The information may be shared among Google's own affiliates, but you can opt out of this sharing where it regards your creditworthiness or is for marketing. Not in the app, howeveryou have to do this for your whole Google account. You can also go to Google Pay settings on the web and turn off this affiliate and marketing sharing, as shown in the screenshot above. In all, the privacy protection is better than Zelle, which out-and-out admits that it sells your info to third parties for marketing purposes.

When it comes to buyer protection, Google absolves itself of responsibility. The service terms clearly leave any disputes between you and the merchant or payment source. This means you should use a credit card as the payment source for big purchases, since those are required to offer you protections from liability by law. Note that's not an option for person-to-person payments. The only mobile payment service I tested that even makes a claim to offering buyer protections is PayPal (though not its Venmo subsidiary). I've read many complaints from people who had unsatisfactory experiences with PayPal's buyer protection, however.

Should You Pay the Google Way?

Google Pay is an easy-to-use, highly functional NFC-payment app, and its streamlining of your gift cards and loyalty programs is an appreciated bonus. The service now smoothly combines the features of what was Android Pay (in-store and online payments) with what was Google Wallet and the former Google Pay Send for person-to-person paymentsm, which was an Editors' Choice for peer-to-peer payments.

Some competitors let you pay friends using a credit card as well as debit or bank account, which Google Pay does not. Samsung Pay still offers the unique advantage of working with old, non-NFC points of sales; and PayPal offers more nominal buyer protections than Google Pay. Despite these minor complaints, Google Pay is PCMag's new Editors' Choice for mobile payment apps, and it's especially appealing to those who use Android phones.

Google Pay 4.5 Editors' Choice See It Visit Site at Google Pay MSRP Free Pros Lets you easily pay stores (with NFC), sites, and people

All functions work on Android, iOS, and web

Substitutes actual card numbers with virtual ones for security

Gift card and loyalty-program management View More Cons Doesn't work with Google Assistant or Siri voice assistants

No buyer protection

Yet another way you're tied in with Google The Bottom Line A well-designed, feature-complete app offering in-store, online, and person-to-person payments. It's especially attractive for Android users but works on iOS and the web, too.
Like most people, I like the idea of keeping my family and my home secure, but I don't like the idea of locking myself into a multi-year service contract during which I have to pay a high monthly monitoring fee. SimpliSafe (starting at $229) is a DIY smart home security system that's easy to set up and use, and keeps your home safe from intruders and environmental threats like fires and floods. It's a seamless system that succeeds quite well at what it sets out to dosecure your home simply and flexibly, letting you monitor everything remotely with (or without) an affordable monthly plan. SimpliSafe provides an ideal balance of high-quality service, ease of use, and value, earning our Editors' Choice award for DIY home security systems alongside Adobe Iota and Wyze Home Monitoring. In addition, for the third year in a row, PCMag readers have named SimpliSafe their favorite smart home security system.

SimpliSafe Package Pricing

One of the best things about SimpliSafe is that it's a completely flexible system, with five preconfigured packages available. On the high end, there's the Haven package ($489), which comes with 14 hardware components including the base station, a wireless keypad, a keychain remote, two motion sensors, four door/window entry sensors, a panic button, a 105-decibel siren, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, water and freeze sensors, and a SimpliSafe yard sign and window decals. The least expensive Foundation pack ($229), which is designed for small homes and focuses solely on basic home security, includes the base station, a wireless keypad, one motion sensor, one entry sensor, and the yard sign and decals. You'll frequently find discounts on these packages, or you can choose components to build your own custom system from scratch.

If you want to add one or more SimpliCam security cameras (the system supports up to four), they're $99 each. The Video Doorbell Pro is an integrated 1080p smart doorbell with camera that you can add for $169, while the $99 Smart Lock allows keyless entry. SimpliSafe doesn't typically offer any packages that include cameras, the lock, or the doorbell; they're add-ons, though we have seen the company throw in a SimpliCam as part of a limited-time special-price promotion.

Additional components can also be purchased separately to create your own package, or expand on one. If you have a lot of first-floor windows, for example, you might want a glass break sensor ($34.99) or extra entry sensors ($14.99 each; the system supports up to 100 sensors). Or if there are multiple entryways in your home, you can opt for additional keypads ($69.99 each).



If you want a one-stop home monitoring solution that encompasses more than just security, adding environmental sensors makes sense. Smoke detectors are $29.99 each and you can hook them into your monitoring plan, which will alert you via email or text message when an alarm is triggered and send first responders to your door in the event of a fire. Freeze sensors ($29.99 each) alert you when the temperature falls below a certain point to prevent burst pipes, and water sensors ($19.99 each) detect and alert you of leaks and floods.

SimpliSafe Monitoring Plan Pricing

For professional monitoring, there's a basic $14.99 per month Standard plan that includes 24/7 coverage. If a sensor is triggered, SimpliSafe will contact you, and if you don't provide a safe word that you designate during setup, police will be dispatched. For $10 more per month, the Interactive plan adds SMS and email alerts, the ability to use the Online Dashboard for finer control of the system (more on that in a minute), and the app to arm and disarm the system. If you opt for the $14.99 plan, you can use the online dashboard to see your timeline of system events, but you can't control the system remotely.

Another neat feature that comes with the Interactive plan is the ability to set up Secret Alerts. You can set up certain sensors in an Alert Only mode, without triggering alarms. Have a well-stocked liquor cabinet and unsupervised teenagers? Put an entry sensor on the door, set up a Secret Alert in the app, and you'll be notified each time the cabinet is accessed.

If you don't want to pay the monthly fees, SimpliSafe can be used as a local alarm. So when a sensor is triggered, it's up to you to contact the authorities. There aren't any contracts or commitments, and you can start and stop service or change plans at any time. This flexibility is what makes SimpliSafe a compelling alternative to competitors like ADT Command or Vivint Smart Home, where monitoring fees cost more, ranging from $50 to $60 per month. And with those fuller-service systems, you need to sign contracts and are subject to steep penalties for early termination.

Slick Hardware, Simple Setup

The pear-shaped base station, which powers the system, is 8.5 inches tall and 4 inches in diameter at its widest spot, with a blue light at its baseit glows steadily to tell you that the alarm is on, and pulses to tell you there's an error with one of your sensors. It's much sleeker and smaller than the original base, which looked like it was designed in the 1970s. And now the base station comes in black (Obsidian) or white (Cloud) to fit in more seamlessly with your home decor.

Setup requires placing the base station in a central location within 400 feet of your sensors and 100 feet of your keypad(s), and plugging in the included power cord. The new base station integrates a 802.11n 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio, adding another layer of connectivity with SimpliSafe's monitoring service. The Wi-Fi is a boon for those living in rural areas who wouldn't be able to use the monitoring service because of patchy cellular coverage. If you're concerned about IoT threats, you don't have to connect SimpliSafe to your Wi-Fi network; the monitoring works just fine without it, though you won't receive firmware updates. Inside the base, there's a siren, a backup battery the company claims will last up to 24 hours, and a SIM card for cellular communication.

The entry sensors are also redesigned, and are much smaller (about half the length they were before), squarer, and modern looking. They're powered by inexpensive, user-replaceable CR2032 coin cell batteries that should last an average of five years, and the system will warn you when they need to be replaced. Installation requires no wiring or drilling; I simply pulled off the battery-activation strips, peeled the backing on the 3M Command-like strips, and adhered each component after naming and pairing it with the system (more on that below). Components are easy to move around without damaging your walls, and you can take the system with you to your next home, which is a welcome feature.

The keypad, also available in black or white (and powered by four standard AA batteries), sees the biggest design improvement, with a 2.5-inch LCD replacing a tiny monochrome screen. Nicely sized, round backlit rubber buttons replace the tiny oval ones on the old keypad. A proximity sensor is a nice touch, illuminating the keypad for nighttime use. The larger screen also makes the system setup process much easier, since you just pair all the components using easy step-through menus on the display. Each component has a small button you press to pair it with the system. Once you do, the keypad will walk you through the naming process. You no longer need to consult the user manual for setup instructions.

Setting up my test system, which included installing the keypad, pairing four entry sensors, two motion sensors, the siren, and environmental sensors, establishing a PIN, and testing the system, took me about 45 minutes. I'm confident that the Essentials package can easily be set up in less than 30 minutes. The company covers the system with a 60-day money-back guarantee and a three-year warranty on hardware.

Adding SimpliCams

Up to four SimpliCams will work with the system (though the company promises support for an unlimited number of cameras in the near future). Setup is easy and consists of entering your wireless network details and scanning a QR code in the app. (Unlike with the system itself, Wi-Fi is required for the cameras to work.) The camera is a plain-looking black plastic rectanglewhich contains a round lens, privacy shutter, microphone, and LED indicatorthat slides onto a black metal stand. At 4.56 by 2.55 by 2.08 inches (HWD) and 5.3 ounces, it's pretty standard in size as far as home surveillance cameras go.

The indoor camera is height and tilt adjustable, but lacks the ability to pan or zoom, though a 120-degree lens assures a wide range of view. The attached flat cable is nice and long at 10 feet, giving you some flexibility in where to place it, since it needs to be plugged into a wall outlet. The $19.99 add-on Outdoor Kit adds a weatherproof camera sleeve and a 25-foot power cord.

Video is captured in 720p, but looks surprisingly good. It's also quite smooth, and never suffered choppiness in my testingdespite the fact that the camera only operates on the 2.4GHz band. When analyzing footage captured with an adjacent 1080p Logi Circle, which supports the 5GHz band, the SimpliCam's video quality was comparable. Sound captured is a bit muffled, but certainly audible, though the camera doesn't currently support two-way audio. Night vision footage is clear and motion detection sensitivity can be adjusted in the app. Motion detection is based on heat signature so the camera can discern the difference between, say, a spinning fan, a small dog, and an actual moving person who's breaking in to your home.

Push-based alerts and a live camera feed are free. A $4.99 per month/per camera optional plan lets you record, download, and share footage. With it, you can elect to allow SimpliSafe's monitoring center to view alarms in progress and provide visual verification of alarms to the police.

The metal privacy shutter on the camera is closed when the system is disarmed (off), or in Home mode. It opens when you set the system to Away mode and records if an event is triggered. It also records a short clip when you arm or disarm the system. And you can view a live video feed any time in the mobile app or the desktop dashboard, though the latter requires a Flash-enabled browser. Simply put, the SimpliCam isn't the most advanced home security camera, but it works fine for its intended purpose.

A Sharp Focus on Simplicity, But Getting Smarter

There's still no support for Zigbee, Z-Wave, IFTTT, or other home automation protocols. That means little integration with third-party cameras, lights, door locks, or video doorbells. In most cases, you can install these devices alongside the SimpliSafe system, but you'll have to use a separate app to control them independently.

The company's CEO Chad Laurans explained to me that this limited integration is by design. The system is meant to be, well, simple. While additional platforms integrations are always being explored, there are no full-scale plans in this regard.

Still, there's an August Smart Lock integration (if you don't opt for SimpliSafe's own Smart Lock), and you can hook a Nest Thermostat into the system to control the temperature in your home based on alarm modes. When you leave and arm the system in Away mode, the thermostat also switches to Away mode and adjusts the temperature accordingly. When you disarm SimpliSafe, the Nest enters Home mode. This integration worked fine in my testing.

Alexa voice control lets you arm your system or check on its status on Amazon Echo devices. Enabling the SimpliSafe Home Control skill in the Alexa app is simple, and commands like, "Alexa, tell SimpliSafe I'm leaving" (to arm the system in Away mode), "Alexa, tell SimpliSafe good night" (to arm the system in Home mode), and "Alexa, ask SimpliSafe if my home is secure" (to get system status), worked well in testing. There was little lag between the voice command and the base station announcing status or changes in system modes. The Alexa integration only works with the new SimpliSafe hardware, and the system can't be disarmed via voice (for obvious reasons).

You can arm or disarm the system from your wrist if you subscribe to the Interactive plan and download and install the SimpliSafe app on your Apple Watch.

SimpliSafe in Action

With just three available modes, arming and disarming Simplisafe is very straightforward. Home mode activates the door and window sensors, while Away mode activates both the entry sensors and the motion sensors. Test mode helps you set up the system and allows you to periodically ensure that all the sensors are in working order. The base station loudly and clearly announces your actions as you enter various modes. The volume can be adjusted on the keypad or in the app.



When the alarm is armed and a sensor is triggered, the keypad will beep, and you have 30 seconds to enter your PIN. If you don't enter it, the base station siren activates and sends an alert to SimpliSafe, and the company will contact you via phone and ask you for the safe word that you designate during setup. If you don't get the call, or you don't provide the safe word, the Emergency Dispatch Center will send the police (or firefighters in the case of the smoke detector).

I like that SimpliSafe contacts you first. For me, cranky police officers showing up at my door because I fumbled my PIN is one of the greatest fears that comes with having an alarm system in my home. To be doubly safe, the time period allowed for PIN entry can be notched up to 250 seconds, and it can be varied by sensor.

In my testing over the course of several weeks, all entry and motion sensors worked properly, and the base station and 105dB siren did their jobs of loudly announcing accidental breachesand SimpliSafe's monitoring service contacted me promptly each time.

A new diagnostic feature, Heartbeats, are periodic signals each sensor sends to tell the system whether it's in range, if its batteries are low, or if it's been tampered with, ensuring that your system is always working properly.

Online Dashboard and Mobile App

With the monthly Interactive Plan, you can use SimpliSafe's Online Dashboard or mobile app to control the system, including arming and disarming it. The Dashboard also lets you view your System Event Log, change your PIN, assign up to four guest PINs, and choose an optional Duress PIN, to use when an intruder is coercing you to disable the alarm. Enter it, and the alarm will stop sounding, but SimpliSafe will immediately send the police. You can also tweak settings like siren volume, entry and exit delay time, and manage and rename sensors in the Dashboard. But now, with the new system, most of these controls are accessible on the keypad too, which is nice.

If you can swing the extra $10 over the Standard monitoring plan, the ability to customize and control your system from anywhere, offered in the app and online dashboard and app, are worth the price. You'll also need the Interactive plan to get the most from SimpliSafe's smart lock and video doorbell. $25 a month is pretty reasonable when you consider that similar plans with competitors like Abode start at $30 a month, and those with ADT and Vivint are double that.

SimpliSafe or Something Else?

As far as smart home security systems go, we really like SimpliSafe for its ease of use, flexibility, and price. It lets anyone add a home security system in less than an hour, learning to use it is a breeze, and you don't have to sign any contracts to get access to affordable 24/7 monitoring plans that can be turned off at any time. The system offered all of those things beforeadd in the redesigned hardware, an even easier setup process, and still-low hardware and monitoring prices, and SimpliSafe earns our Editors' Choice badge for DIY smart home security systems.

If you're really into home automation, a system like Abode might be a more compelling choice, with its support for several smart home protocols, and compatibility with many more existing devices. It too offers customizable hardware along with flexible, inexpensive monitoring. If DIY isn't your thing, take a look at ADT Command. It will cost you much more, and you'll give up the flexible monitoring plans, but you'll get a full-featured system and someone will come to your home and set everything up. For everyone else, SimpliSafe is worth a serious look.

SimpliSafe Home Security System 4.0 Editors' Choice See It $229.00 at SimpliSafe MSRP $229.96 Pros Affordable hardware with reasonable monthly monitoring fees

No contract required

Quick, easy installation

Cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity, the latter of which is optional View More Cons Underwhelming camera The Bottom Line If you want to secure and monitor your home from afar without spending a bundle or signing a long-term contract, there's a lot to like about the versatile and easy-to-use DIY SimpliSafe Home Security System.
Dell launched its G Series of gaming laptops April 3 with every gamer in mind, from entry-level to more advanced users. Dell knows that not everyone can afford high-end models like, say, the Alienware 15 and Alienware 17 (sold by Dells Alienware division), also announced April 3, which start around $1,500.

With prices starting at $749, Dells G3, G5, and G7 product lines are far more affordable, yet they still carve out room for features including some of Intels latest quad-core and hex-core mobile CPUs. All of the G series laptops started shipping April 3 in limited quantities. Update, May 16, 2018: We added buying information to this story now that more configurations are available.

Why this matters: By launching the G series (and retiring its Inspiron gaming product line), Dells signalling its intent to pay more attention to gaming. Sure, its a growth area, and its also one where users tend to pay more for their next PC. Its simply good business to have appealing products at the entry level to build customer loyalty.

G series laptops: Differences in design and price

As youll see when we go through the specs, the G series laptops have a lot of components in common. But dont think theyre cookie-cutter: Dell made them very different in design and price.

G3 17 starting at $799 Dell G3 17 Gaming Laptop MSRP $799.99 Learn more on Dell

Youll probably also be able to hear differences in the laptops because of their cooling systems, which get a little more elaborate in the higher-end models. Those thermal decisions may also affect performance, though we wont know for sure unless we test them.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG Dells G3 15 laptop is the slimmest of the bunch, at just 22.7mm.

G3 is Dells lowest-cost line, with 15-inch and 17-inch laptops. The G3 15 (starting at $749 via Dell) will come in Licorice Black, Recon Blue, and Alpine White. Notably it will also be the thinnest of the G series laptops, at just 0.9 inch. The G3 17 (starting at $799 via Dell) will come in Licorice Black and Recon Blue.

G5 15 starting at $799 Dell G5 15 Gaming Laptop MSRP $849.99 Learn more on Dell

The G5 15 laptop will come in Matte Black or what Dell calls Beijing Red, with large exhaust vents at the back. Its a little thicker than the G3 at about 0.98 inch. Prices will start at $799 via Dell.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG Dells G5 15 laptop comes in Matte Black (shown) or Beijing Red.

The G7 15 laptop will come in Licorice Black or Alpine White. Its exhaust ports will be the most elaborate, with chrome crossbars and internal grillework that echoes the accent color of each laptop. It's snazzy, like having painted brake calipers on a high-performance car.

In the case of the black laptop, for instance, its blue accents are echoed in the grillework. Like the G5 15, the G7 15 is 0.98 inch thick. Its starting price will be $849 via Dell.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG The Dell G7 15 laptop has large rear exhaust ports, accented with chrome and color-matched interior grillework.

G series laptops: Features and specs

All G series laptops will offer CPUs from Intels latest batch of 8th-generation chips, including the quad-core Core i5-8300HQ and six-core Core i7-8750H. The highest-end G7 17 laptop (starting at $899 via Dell) will also offer the more exotic six-core Core i9-8950HK part, an overclockable chip with very fast speeds.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG The Dell G3 15 laptops keyboard is full-sized with a numeric keypad and a light textural interest. Backlighting is optional.

Memory and storage will follow the same lines. All the G3 laptops will offer 8GB and 16GB of memory, with a maximum of 32GB. Storage will range from a 1TB, 5,400rpm hybrid to dual drive and SSD options (256GB and 512GB).

The G series laptops will also carry the same Nvidia mobile graphics options. The base option will be the GeForce GTX 1050, with a step up to the GTX 1050 Ti, both with 4GB of GDDR5 RAM. The highest-end option will be the GTX 1060 with Max-Q. Nvidias Max-Q technology has shown up on many laptops in the past year, enabling solid performance in slimmer laptops with less of a hit on battery life.

The graphics system will also dictate the AC adapter: 130-watt for laptops with the GTX 1050 parts, and 180-watt for those with the GTX 1060 with Max-Q. All will offer the same 56Wh battery, non-replaceable.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG Dells G5 15 laptops will come standard with a 1920x1080 display, with a 3840x2160 display optional.

All the G series laptops will offer non-touch displays, starting with a base IPS panel with 1920x1080 (Full HD) resolution. Thats the only display for the G3 15 and G3 17, but the G5 15 and G7 15 will also offer a 3840x2160 (Ultra HD) IPS option.

The standard keyboards will be full-size including a numeric keypad. Backlit keyboards will be optional.

Connectivity will be about the same, including HDMI 2.0, and SD, and two or three USB 3.1 Type A ports including one with PowerShare. Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C will be standard on all but the G3 series.

Melissa Riofrio/IDG The Dell G7 15s ports include these on the left: Noble lock, power, RJ-45, USB 3.1 Type A, and SD.

Something for everyone

Dells G series laptops help fill out its consumer-level gaming lineup with a good selection of models at reasonable starting prices. The naming is also less confusing and clunky, now that the companys longstanding Inspiron brand has been disentangled (just try saying Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming Laptop three times fast).

Youll notice theres just one 17-inch laptop. Dell didnt rule out adding other 17-inch models later. Granted, 17-inch laptops arent as portable as they look, often weighing 9-10 pounds without their bulky AC adapters. But theyre still easier to carry around than a full desktop, which may tip the scales (literally) in their favor for some mainstream gamers. We hope to tell you more if we get any of the models in for review.
Health official: Data 'reinforces need to continue to take measures'
Update from Santa Cruz Bicycles, 12:20pm PST: Thanks for all the questions guys, sorry we weren't able to get to all of them. We've got to go break some frames now but we'll try to stop by again later to follow up on a few more.



Joe Graney CEO and Former Head Engineer

Formerly Santa Cruzs head engineer, and author of Joes Corner (

Formerly Santa Cruzs head engineer, and author of Joes Corner ( link ), Joe swapped CAD for spreadsheets in his new role as CEO, and still approved this whole project for some reason.

Nic McCrae Composites Engineer

Nic McCrae: Nic is Santa Cruz's resident Quebecois, a composites expert, and the mad scientist lurking in the R&D lab. Oh, and he did all of the layup and manufacturing design on Danny's bike.

Nic McCrae: Nic is Santa Cruz's resident Quebecois, a composites expert, and the mad scientist lurking in the R&D lab. Oh, and he did all of the layup and manufacturing design on Danny's bike.



Nick Anderson Head Engineer

Nick's the Engineering Manager, and probably knows more about VPP suspension than anyone, but that was pretty useless for the trials bike. Fortunately, he knows a lot about frame design, too, and is responsible for some of the most iconic frame designs in Santa Cruz's history (including this one).

Nick's the Engineering Manager, and probably knows more about VPP suspension than anyone, but that was pretty useless for the trials bike. Fortunately, he knows a lot about frame design, too, and is responsible for some of the most iconic frame designs in Santa Cruz's history (including this one).

Jack Russell Industrial Designer

As the Industrial Designer at Santa Cruz, Jack is in charge of making sure the bikes look as cool as possible, a real challenge on bike with tiny wheels and a 73.50 head tube angle.

As the Industrial Designer at Santa Cruz, Jack is in charge of making sure the bikes look as cool as possible, a real challenge on bike with tiny wheels and a 73.50 head tube angle.

How Ask Us Anything' Works:

Earlier today, Santa Cruz released a video bike check with Danny Mac's brand new carbon trials bike and announced that they've taken the in-house composites lab at their California office, initially set up for their wheels program, to the next level. The custom frame for Danny Mac was first up, but you can bet they didn't create a new facility just for a one-off trials frame.It's been a busy spring for the brand, having also released two new XC bikes: the Blur and the Highball We wanted to know more about their new carbon manufacturing capabilities and how they're influencing their overall manufacturing process, so we thought it would be a perfect opportunity for you to ask Joe Graney, Nic McCrae, Nick Anderson and Jack Russell your questions.Starting at 10:00 AM PDT/6:00 PM BST on April 3rd you can type your questions for Santa Cruz into the comment box below this article and the guys will have a crack at answering them. Sometimes your answer will pop up in a few seconds; others may take a few minutes while Joe Graney, Nic McCrae, Nick Anderson and Jack Russell work their way through questions that are popping up. Everyone who posts a question, large or small, will be taken seriously.To make this go as smoothly as possible, try to follow these guidelines: Keep your questions relevant Stay focused and to keep your questions on one topic if possible. You can always ask about another item later Try to keep your questions to about 100 words Ask Us Anything is a service to PB readers who are seeking helpful information, not a forum to broadcast opinions or grievances. If you do have an issue that you want to ask about, no worries, just keep your complaints relevant and in the context of a question so that it can be addressed in a productive manner Use propping to acknowledge good (or not so good) questions and bump them up or down to where they belongOther time zones: 1:00 PM EST (New York) 6:00 PM BST (London) 7:00 PM CET (Paris) 7:00 PM SAST (Cape Town) 3:00 AM AEST (Sydney, Australia)
How to Win:

Donate $5 and you're entered to win. All donations above $5 give you additional chances to win.

$5 = 1 chance at winning

$20 = 4 chances at winning

$50 = 10 chances at winning

The more you donate, the more likely you are to win prizes! It's a lottery system and winners will be chosen at random. Winners will be annouced April 30th.

2 x Muc-Off prize pack

2 x Industry Nine $575 gift cards

6 x Kenda HellKat Pro & Nevegal 2 Pro

12 x Dissentlabs socks

Chromag OSX 35, HiFi 35, & Lynx DT

Full Shimano Saint group

Signed posters for the first 10 who donate

Shred Optics Brain Box Tundra, Amazify goggle, Slytech knee & elbow NoShock pads

DVO rear shock of choice

2018 Giant Reign Advanced 0 carbon frame, with RockShox Super Deluxe Coil RT

Prizes

By 2018, I thought we would have had a cure for cancer. Unfortunately, it's still the leading cause of death in Canada, responsible for 30% of all deaths. 1 in 2 Canadians is expected to develop cancer during their lifetime, and 1 out of 4 Canadians is expected to die from cancer. It's about time we put an end to this disease.I've teamed up with my sponsors to raise money for the Western Canada Ocular Oncology Fund . 100% of all proceeds go directly towards improving patient care and ocular cancer research. There are zero admin fees.Currently, my mom is fighting her own battle with cancer. She suffers from choroidal uveal malignant melanoma; a rare form of cancer which affects about one in one-million, and has a mortality rate of 80% within five years of diagnosis. Over the last six years, she has undergone countless surgeries, radiation therapy, and almost every pharmaceutical drug imaginable. She has lost almost all her sight in her right eye and continues to struggle with balancing her life and treatments. My dad also won his fight with oesophageal cancer when I was a kidmy family has dealt with this enough.1 - Giant Reign Advanced 0 carbon frame with RockShox Super Deluxe Coil RT2 - Muc-Off Ultimate Bicycle Valet kits2 - $575 Industry Nine gift cards1 - DVO rear shock of choice1 - Shred Brain Box helmet1 - Shred Amazify goggle1 - Slytech NoShock knee pads1 - Slytech NoShock elbow pads1 - Shimano Saint Drivetrain1 - Shimano Saint brakes3 - Kenda HellKat Pro tires 27.5x2.43 - Kenda Nevagal 2 tires 27.5x2.41 - Chromag HiFi 35mm stem1 - Chromag BZA 35mm bar1 - Chromag Lynx DT saddle12 - Dissentlabs socks10 - Signed posters for the first 10 who donateBig thanks to my sponsors for supporting this. Giant Bicycles Muc-Off , and Dissentlabs
After a short hiatus, there's been a resurgence of coil-sprung shocks and forks hitting the market, but this time around they aren't getting installed on downhill bikes. Instead, they're showing up on everything from mid-travel trail bikes to full-blown enduro race machines. Air-sprung suspension has become incredibly evolved, but there are still plenty of riders out there who prefer the extra small-bump sensitivity that a coil-sprung setup can provide.



Push first joined in on the coil revival with the release of the eye-catching, steampunk-esque ElevenSix shock back in 2015, and last year the Colorado-based company followed up with the ACS3 conversion kit.

Push ACS3 Details

 Converts air-sprung fork into coil-sprung

 Kits available for RockShox Pike, Lyrik, Yari, and Fox 36

 Air-sprung bump stop

 Seven spring weight options

 Weight: 367 grams more than stock on a 29" 150mm Lyrik

 Made in Colorado

 MSRP: $389 USD

 www.pushindustries.com

 Converts air-sprung fork into coil-sprung Kits available for RockShox Pike, Lyrik, Yari, and Fox 36 Air-sprung bump stop Seven spring weight options Weight: 367 grams more than stock on a 29" 150mm Lyrik Made in Colorado MSRP: $389 USD

I installed the 150mm kit into a 29" 2017 RockShox Lyrik. Push make everything in-house, including the laser etched top cap.

Installation

Performance



Without Push's nifty Air Bump Stop that spring rate would likely have been on the softer side of things, due to the inherently linear nature of a coil spring. But, with the air chamber inflated to 25 psi the fork sat exactly where I wanted it to, delivering a super-supple feel at the beginning of the stoke, before ramping up to avoid any harsh bottom outs. I also ended up dialing in a little more low-speed compression than what I was running in the fork's air-sprung configuration. This provided a little more support at the beginning of the travel for pushing into corners or to preload before hitting a jump.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Push ACS3 in Action

Add to Favorites Added to Favorites Views: 9,549 Faves: 10 Comments: 0



Issues

Pinkbike's Take

For riders looking to improve the comfort and traction of their current fork, the ACS3 delivers an incredibly smooth, comfortable ride no matter how rough the trail. However, that ultra-plush performance isn't cheap, and there's also the weight penalty to factor into the equation. Still, it's a very impressive product, and worth considering for those who want to make the switch from air to coil without coughing up the dough for an entirely new fork.  Mike Kazimer

The ACS3 allows riders to convert their 2015-2018 Fox 36, 2014-2018 RockShox Pike, or a 2016-2018 Lyrik or Yari forks from air to coil. All of the components are hand assembled and manufactured in Push's facility in Loveland, Colorado, which helps explain the kit's $389 USD price.Installation of the ACS3 kit is a straightforward process, and if you've ever performed a lower leg service on your fork is shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Even if you've never done anything except add some air and twist a few dials on your fork, Push have created instructional videos that goes through all of the steps in a clear, easy to understand manner.I'd budget in an hour for the procedure from start to finish, but in reality it'll probably take much closer to 30 minutes. Basically, you're pulling off the lower legs, undoing the C-clip that holds the air spring in place, removing the air spring, and then putting in the lower portion of the ACS3 kit. The lowers are then slid back on, 20cc of oil is put into each leg, and then the foot nuts are tightened down. After that, it's just a matter of dropping in the correct spring, installing the top cap, and airing up the bump stop to the desired pressure (anywhere between 5-50 psi).One of the downsides to a coil fork is that it's not possible to control the spring rate as precisely as you can with an air fork, where it's easy to add or remove one or two psi. That being said, Push have seven springs available, which, on a 150mm fork, means there are options for riders from 115 to 240 pounds.It's also worth noting that once you install the ACS3 kit, it's a relatively permanent conversion. You can't swap your fork back to air, due to the fact that the spring may scuff up the inside of the stanchion, which would allow air to go to where it doesn't belong.Push recommends installing their seal kit at the same time as the ACS3 for the best performance, which is good advice, but I kept the stock seals in place in order to reduce the number of variables I was changing. Based on Push's reference chart, I went with a blue spring, which is the suggested choice for riders between 155  175 pounds (I weigh 160 lb).One of the selling points of coil-sprung forks and shocks is the superior small bump compliance and on that front, the ACS3 doesn't disappoint. I was amazed by how responsive the fork felt with the ACS3 kit installed  it takes almost no effort to initiate travel, and I found myself taking lines in the wet that I usually reserve for dry days due to the increased amount of grip. The kit delivered an instantly noticeable increase in traction, a sensation similar to running really low tire pressure. The wheel felt glued to the ground, tracking over every root, rock, and bump in the trail without getting bucked off line.I didn't run into any performance issues, but at first the ASC3 made more noise than I would have liked. When faced with repeated large impacts the fork made a loud thwack noise that sounded similar to a wooden ruler hitting a desk - you can hear it if you turn the volume up in the video. At first, I thought it was the spring knocking against the inside of the fork's stanchion, so I installed more shrink wrap and a healthy dollop of grease to quiet things down. That made a small difference, but the noise was still present - the culprit seemed to be the air bump stop hitting top of the lower shaft. There's a small bit of rubber on the bottom of the bump stop that's supposed to keep things quiet, but it wasn't working as intended.Push sent me a replacement Air Bump Stop, which had a thicker piece of rubber in place, along with what seemed to be more negative pressure - it was slightly shorter when aired up to the same pressure as the original. The replacement did the trick, and the noise that had been annoying me before was replaced with a blissful silence. According to Push, if a customer had experienced that problem they would have received the same treatment that I did - a replacement would have been sent out to correct the issue at no charge.
Sunday Briefing: Fabia Bonatto Wins the Sunday Million for $173K

April 03, 2018 Matthew Pitt

Coming at you slightly later than usual due to the Easter holidays is this weeks Sunday Briefing, which highlights some of the biggest results from 888poker partypoker and PokerStars major online tournaments held on Apr. 1.

As is usually the case, it was PokerStars where the biggest cash prize was won, one weighing in at a shade under $173,000. Lets discover who got their hands on that substantial haul.

PokerStars Sunday Million

Date April 1 Buy-in $215 Guarantee $500,000 Entrants 6,406 Prize pool $1,281,200 ITM 1,160

Brazils Fabio FLBonatto Bonatto was the recipient of a cool $172,955 prize this weekend after he triumphed over 6,405 opponents in the PokerStars Sunday Million. Hailing from Curitiba, Parana in Brazil, Bonatto already has a SCOOP title under his belt and now he's a Sunday Million gong too.

Bonatto went into the nine-handed final table as the chip leader, an enviable position to be in, but he also had plenty of work to do because his eight opponents were all vying for the huge cash prize and a $30,000 Platinum Pass that PokerStars had added to the prize pool.

Russias MrLuckDrago was the first player to fall at the final table after he lost a coinflip with ace-queen against the pocket eights of 7DonCool7. Another 50/50 scenario claimed the tournament life of Kobasteris the Lithuanian king-queen failed to improve against the pocket tens in the hand of NisT_777.

Maltas 69sBigLick was then eliminated, and he was followed to the rail by NisT_777, Romanias grecu2006, 7DonCool7 and the Austrias sub230212, which left Bonatto and Arunas BalticMoose Sapitavicius to lock horns heads-up.

The final hand saw a preflop raising war break out that saw Sapitavicius all-in with ace-jack against the pocket deuces of Bonatto. The Brazilian flopped a set of twos, then turned a full house to send his opponent to the rail in second-place.

Place Player Country Prize 1 Fabio FLBonatto Bonatto Brazil $172,955 2 Arunas BalticMoose Sapitavicius Lithuania $121,370 3 sub230212 Austria $85,173 4 7DonCool7 Germany $59,772 5 grecu2006 Romania $41,946 6 NisT_777 Russia $29,436 7 69sBigLick Malta $20,657 8 Kobasteris Lithuania $14,496 9 MrLuckDragon Russia $10,173

PokerStars Sunday High Roller

Date April 1 Buy-in $2,100 Guarantee $200,000 Entrants 128 Prize pool $256,000 ITM 17

Andras Nemeth is no stranger to major online final tables, but this latest victory in the PokerStars Sunday High Roller must rank high in his list of achievements if only because of the standard of player who reached the final table of this weeks tournament.

After the likes of Steve Mr. Tim Caum ODwyer, Anatoly NL_Profit Filatov and David dpeters17 Peters had crashed out in the money places, Nemeth had to contend with a final table that was littered with stars.

Bigfish112392 of the Philippines crashed out in ninth-place and was joined on the rail by papan9_p$ of the Czech Republic. Seventh-place, and the first five-figure score of the tournament went to Sam Str8$$$Homey Greenwood before former Supernova Elite iambest2 fell in sixth-place.

Next to head to the rail was the talented Mustapha lasagnaaammm Kanit before Grayson gray31 Ramage exited in fourth-place to leave the final table slightly less shark infested. Third-place and $32,468 went to the partypoker ambassador Joao IneedMassari Simao, leaving Nemeth and vojta555cz to battle it out heads-up for the title.

Nemeth came out on top to win the $56,111 top prize, and his Czech opponent walked away with a $42,683 consolation prize.

Place Player Country Prize 1 Andras probirs Nemeth Hungary $56,111 2 vojta555cz Czech Republic $42,683 3 Joao IneedMassari Simao Brazil $32,468 4 Grayson gray31 Ramage Canada $24,698 5 Mustapha lasagnaaammm Kanit Austria $18,787 6 iambest2 Austria $14,291 7 Sam Str8$$$Homey Greenwood Canada $10,871 8 papan9_p$ Czech Republic $8,269 9 Bigfish112392 Philippines $6,290

partypoker Super Sunday Main Event

Date April 1 Buy-in $215 Guarantee $500,000 Entrants 2,295 Prize pool $500,000 ITM 312

This weekends Super Sunday Main Event-H: $500K Gtd at partypoker ended in a heads-up deal that saw the final two players walk away with a combined $140,010.

Current world number five, according to PocketFives.com, PhileasFogg fell in eighth-place and was joined on the payout list by ZeKick who last week won a massive $413,157 score in the PokerStars High Rollers Main Event. The Swiss grinder added another $8,125 to his winnings.

HanzooKid and electrofarha found themselves heads-up in the early hours of Apr.2 and decided to strike a deal for the remaining prize pool. Electrofarha is credited with the victory and the $70,760 prize, with HanzooKid banking $69,249.

Place Player Prize 1 electrofarha $70,760* 2 HanzooKid $69,249* 3 Iveybluffallin $37,350 4 A03A993 $24,850 5 President_Trump $17,350 6 p1ngp00ng $11,850 7 ZeKick $8,125 8 PhileasFogg $5,225

*reflects a heads-up deal

partypoker Sunday Major-SHR: $250K Gtd

Date April 1 Buy-in $2,600 Guarantee $250,000 Entrants 99 Prize pool $250,000 ITM 16

Another of partypokers big tournaments saw 99 players exchange $2,600 for the chance to become the Sunday Major-SHR: $250K Gtd champion. Team partypokers Roberto WelshWizard Romanello came close to reaching the final table, but ultimately fell in 11th place for a $6,250 prize.

Everyone at the eight-handed final table was guaranteed $8,125, but with $61,250 up top, nobody wanted to claim that sum. One by one the player count reduced until only SchelampigaUhu and Mike thebattler33 Kachan remained. Kachan brushed aside his final opponent to get his hands on $61,250, which happens to be his best online cash to-date.

Place Player Prize 1 Mike thebattler33 Kachan $61,250 2 SchelampigaUhu $43,750 3 Alien _Army $31,250 4 David JeanClaude1970 Peters $21,875 5 Drulitooo $16,250 6 Chelsea72 $12,500 7 onehundredeyes $10,000 8 skitzo793 $8,125

888poker $100,000 Whale

Date April 1 Buy-in $1,050 Guarantee $100,000 Entrants 102 Prize pool $102,000 ITM 9

Dominik 888Dominik Nitsche secured a $30,600 payday on Apr. 1 thanks to him taking down the $1,050 buy-in Whale tournament. Nitsche found himself heads-up against Brazilian Joao Jaolito85 Marcos for the chunky prize and he emerged victorious to leave his South American opponent to collect the $20,400 runner-up prize.

Place Player Country Prize 1 Dominik 888Dominik Nitsche UK $30,600 2 Joao Jaolito85 Marcos Brazil $20,400 3 DosPoochies Canada $15,300 4 lasochobi Argentina $10,200 5 jt7bl2f Canada $7,650 6 MisterN411 Netherlands $5,610 7 stakkebille Netherlands $4,590 8 sweet_dr34ms Russia $4,080 9 Niklas tutten7 Astedt Sweden $3,570

888poker $50,000 Sunday Challenge

Date April 1 Buy-in $109 Guarantee $50,000 Entrants 486 Prize pool $50,000 ITM 48

Maltas chicco988 and Canadas jesseb888 struck a deal in the $50,000 Challenge when the duo were the last two players standing in the $109 buy-in tournament at 888poker. The original top prize was meant to be $9,625, but chicco988 walked away with $9,184 after the deal, which benefited jesseb888 as they collected $7,565 instead of the original $7,125.

Place Player Country Prize 1 chicco988 Malta $9,184* 2 jesseb888 Canada $7,565* 3 pvss10 Brazil $5,375 4 _JoinMyStack Germany $3,875 5 alexos888 Canada $2,625 6 Wlas76 Belarus $1,875 7 Mozgolom26 Russia $1,375 8 playboy1983 Switzerland $1,125

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With Mr. Trump being considered by many political pundits and media outlets as the most prolific liar as President in modern day politics, it is stunning to observe his supporters continuing to stand by his side.

Case in point: The New York Times dedicated an entire cover to Mr. Trumps lies, leading the Times reader and Trump supporter to write to the Editor of that outlet, issuing the following rationalization:

Yes, but if you made a similar list for previous presidents, it would be just as bad.

Therefore, in December, 2017 the New York Times accommodated the Trump supporter by comparing Mr. Trumps lies with those of former President, Barack Obama.

Applying the same conservative standard to Mr. Obama as the publication applied to Mr. Trump, the Times found that Obama misled the American people a total of eighteen times during his entire eight-year term.

Mr. Trump however, was found lying ten times this amount in the first ten months of his term.

Other publications noticed this near-historic pattern of lying too. The Washington Post, for example, printed on November 14, 2017 that Mr. Trump, up to that point in time had made false of misleading claims a total of 1,628 times. To clarify: This was merely covering 298 days of Trumps administration.

Time Magazine, in their January 2, 2018 edition prints how Mr. Trump had made over 1,950 false statements or misleading statements in his first year as President alone. 

The publication further argues how these lies are having not only an effect on citizens trust in government institutions, but also in Mr. Trump as President, while citing a Quinnipiac poll reflecting how nearly 62% of Americans view Trump as a dishonest man.

In addition to Trumps lies, his supporters must deal with the very factual aspect that he is also failing to deliver on the majority of promises made to them during the campaign.

To date, Mr. Trump has made good on a mere three promises out of 282 made to his supporters during the campaign. He has succeeded in lowering the corporate tax rate, withdrew from the Paris climate deal, and nominated a conservative justice, Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

A central campaign promise made by Mr. Trump among the plethora of others is his promise to build a wall along our southern border. Throughout the campaign, the Trump rally attendee was consistently told how Trump was going to build a wall while making Mexico pay for the project.

Often, Mr. Trump would ask those attending his rally: What are we going to do, only for rally attendees to answer enthusiastically, Build a wall. This rhetoric would most often be followed up with Who is going to pay for it, only for those same people to scream with wild abandonment, Mexico.

Watch the video to see various times Trump made this promise:

Pragmatism aside, one still must ask: why do Trumps supporters continue to support his agenda, when it is clear he lies and fails to keep the majority of promises he has made to them? While theories abound, one thing is certain: Mr. Trump is lying to his base about keeping his promises. Case in point:

Last week, among all of the shuffling around with major news stories, such as Russia, Mueller, administration changes, and a host of other things, one specific issue did not receive that much coverage. During the tumult of the week, Mr. Trump sent out the following Tweet on March 28,TH:

Great briefing this afternoon on the start of our Southern Border WALL!

With pictures of a Wall standing being propped by cranes, construction workers hard at the task, and 116 thousand of his Twitter followers clicking the like button, there is only one problem: The Wall shown in the pictures is not Trumps Wall.

According to the Los Angeles Times, who saw the earlier Tweet, corrected the record with the following headline: Trump Tweets That His Border Wall Has Started: It Hasnt. According to the publication, the pictures of the Wall that Mr. Trump lifted were those from a portion of an existing Wall which was planned to be repaired back in 2009, due to it being breached several hundred times badly in need of repair.

In fact, Jonathan Pacheco, a spokesman for the Border Patrols El Centro Sector, told those attending a citizens academy earlier in the month the following:

This isnt the infrastructure that Trump is trying to bring in. This new wall replacement has absolutely nothing to do with the prototypes that were shown over in the San Diego area.

Of course, this led Mr. Trump and his Administration to correct the error, right? Wrong. In fact, when the Times contacted the Department of Homeland Security to clear up the confusion, they specifically asked whether the Wall posted by Trump and the one spoken of by Mr. Pacheo were one and the same, only to receive a one word response: Yes.

Adding insult to injury, prior to Mr. Trump leaving for Mar-A-Lago for the Easter break, he held a rally out in Ohio last week. During that rally he once again brought up how construction on the Wall had commenced citing the pictures he posted on Twitter, calling it a thing of beauty.

Watch Mr. Trump openly lie again about construction on the Wall:

Again: Democracy can only function when the information being shared in the public square is reliable and honest. Why? Citizens across this land make their decision of support premised on this information. Mr. Trumps persistent lying has a corrosive effect not only on democracy, but our future, as children observe his behavior.

And what to make of Mr. Trumps supporters? While, they are not dumb, naive, or ignorant, they simply cannot take him at his word anymore. Should they do so, they are like those suffering from battered wife syndrome and are as Eugene Robinson writes, suckers. You can only be lied to so many times before you begin looking like the fool.

Trump pathologically lies to his supporters and they do not seem to care one single bit. Why?

Ill allow the reader to decide.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko suggested on April 3 during a session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Russia that NATO and the Baltic states took radical steps and crossed the red line with a series of military initiatives in eastern Europe.

And now Russia has begun to take these countries into consideration in its military planning. Attempts to use our neighboring countries as a staging ground to display force will lead to nothing, Grushko said during the clubs panel discussion on the future of diplomacy.

Other Russian officials have repeatedly voiced similar concerns, pointing to an increased NATO military presence in eastern and central Europe close to Russias borders. On December 22, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu pointed to such increased threats from NATO.

Since 2012, the number of military contingents deployed by NATO near Russias western frontiers has increased threefold. Four battalion tactical groups have been deployed in the Baltics and Poland as well as a U.S. Army armored brigade and command staffs of NATOs multinational divisions in Poland and Romania, he told Russias defense ministry board.

Last August, Grushko, then serving as Russias ambassador to NATO, warned that the political situation in Europe was seriously worsening amid a pump-up of arms and armor by the NATO countries on the eastern flank of Russia on the contrived pretense of a Russian threat.

Grushkos latest comments come as U.S. President Trump hosts the Baltic Summit at the White House to discuss bi-lateral and regional relations with the presidents of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The Baltic leaders have expressed concern over Russias military actions in Crimea and Ukraine and seek a very strong political message from the U.S. expressing support for strengthening Baltic security, said Latvian President Raimons Vejonis on Latvian TV.

President Trump, on his part, praised the Baltic states defense spending which is around 2% of their gross domestic product, the level set for NATO members.

When nations are committed to peace and to security, they have to pay their share and we will all enjoy a much more safe and prosperous future, he said at the summit.

Experts say the Baltic leaders nevertheless have legitimate grounds for concern: that it is Russia which crossed a red line in resorting to military force during the war with Georgia in 2008, intervening militarily in eastern Ukraine following the overthrow of President Victor Yanukovich amid popular protests, and illegally annexing Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

According to experts, the increased NATO presence serves to reassure smaller alliance members of NATOs commitment to their security. It also serves as a deterrent, given the history of Russias aggressive actions close to the borders of NATOs eastern member countries.

This increased presence, however, pales in comparison to Russias massive military build-up on its western flank. For instance, the number of NATO troops in the four multinational groups deployed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on a rotational (not permanent) basis stands at just 4,760 servicemen. The overall number of NATO troops there is only 7,200.

Steven Pifer, an arms control expert at the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings and former ambassador to Ukraine, told Polygraph.info that Grushko's assessment overlooks key facts.

NATO members introduced ground troops into the Baltic states only after Russia used military force in February-March 2014 to seize Crimea from Ukraine and had built up its military opposite the Baltic states, he said, noting in a previous comment that the NATO battalions are not going to invade Russia and that they only provide tripwires in case of a Russian attack.

But it is not just the troops that concern Russia. Prokhor Tebin, a security expert, argues that NATOs presence, while not threatening, represents an alarming and vexing factor given the deployment of U.S. missile defense systems in Romania and Poland. The U.S. says the systems are defensive and not aimed at Russia. Moscow rejects that explanation.

Russia has long accused the West of breaking a promise not to expand NATO to its borders and of sponsoring color revolutions that removed pro-Russian regimes in Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Ukraine in 2003-2005. It also views its actions in Georgia and Ukraine as seeking to ensure regional security and protect its own citizens, minorities, and Russian-speaking communities.

According to Pifer, NATO sought to build to a positive relationship with Moscow, in part to allay Russias apprehensions about NATO enlargement. The Alliance might have shown more creativity in its effort, but Moscow brought little to the table, he said, speaking of the NATO efforts in the 1990s and early 2000s.

As for the alleged promise not to enlarge NATO, Pifer says the matter remains unsettled.

In the context of German reunification, Russia was told that NATO troops would not move into the former DDR. There are lots of debates now about discussions that took place almost 30 years ago, but I do not believe that the Soviet Union was given a promise that NATO would not enlarge, he said.

Against this backdrop, Russias and NATOs actions continue to define the shifting security landscape in Europe, one the presidents of the U.S. and the Baltic states appeared to discuss privately at the White House summit.
The struggles of women photographers to overcome professional barriers and the sexism which denies many of them the credit they deserve are beautifully and poignantly illustrated by two comic bio-pics which take some of the worlds premiere photojournalists as their subjects.

Florent Sillorays Robert Capa: A Graphic Biography tells the story of the Hungarian photographer who has been called the greatest war photographer in history. But the most interesting part of this story is that of the woman with whom he might vie for the title: his partner (both romantically and professionally), Gerda Taro. She was the genius that created Capa, both literally and professionally. While he was still Endre Friedmann, an aspiring Jewish photographer whose career seemed blocked in part by anti-semitism in the 30s, she came up with the idea of rebranding him as Robert Capa, a fake cover purporting to be a famous American photographer. The trick worked: his photos sold and he began to get commissions. The cover was eventually blown, but by then hed sold enough photos and gained sufficient recognition to continue getting work.

At first, Gerda (her real name was Gerda Pohorylle; also a Jewish refugee) shared the Capa pseudonym, selling her photos through his cover as well (with him taking much of the credit). Eventually she came out on her own professionally, leaving him the Capa identity and adopting instead the pseudonym of Gerda Taro. The two continued their close partnership; she rejected his marriage proposal but they remained together and journeyed as a team to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War. She remained there while he returned to Europe; soon thereafter tragedy struck, and the woman who has been called the first front-line female war photojournalist was killed after reportedly being struck by a tank.

Their story comprises the first third of the biography, but is certainly the most powerful and poignant component. Its presented as the defining period in Capas life; he himself is portrayed as lost, impetuous and dithering without her, while she is portrayed as determined, courageous and the genius behind their joint careers. His biography is as much the story of her short-lived career as of his, and of the many ways in which she deserves credit for the world renown he was to eventually achieve.

Robert Capa: A Graphic Biography (source: Firefly Books)

The remainder of his story is rather hurriedly told in this short but passionately presented graphic narrative: his relationship with famed Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman; his wrestling with the desire to leave the combat photography field which perpetually drew him back in; his efforts to start a freelance photographers co-operative to ensure photographers started to get the credit (and pay) they deserved; and finally his death in 1954 while photographing the early days of revolutionary combat in Indochina.

Sillorays sketchy, cartoon-like line drawings are appealing and appropriately presented; there are no efforts to insert or realistically portray Capas photographs, and its probably for the best. Artistically the most powerful sequence is the one that Capa is probably most famous for shooting: he photographed the Allies D-Day landings toward the end of the Second World War. Only 11 of the more than 100 photos he originally took of D-Day survived the war, but the sequence is beautifully presented in a darker shade than the rest of the book, exquisitely echoing the blurry images taken by Capa as he joined the Allied soldiers in storming the beach, clicking his photos as he dodged bullets and heaving waves while struggling to operate the camera with wet, numb fingers.

from Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide (Getty Books)

Isabel Quintero and Zeke Penas Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide is less a biography and more an appreciation of the work of Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. Iturbide too faced challenges and barriers on her road to achieving artistic renown: a conservative family that stifled her childhood literary leanings and then marriage and motherhood. Things changed when she made the decision to return to university to study film in her late 20s; she suffered the tragic death of a daughter, left her husband, and embarked on the photographic career that has since propelled her to international renown.

Theres not much in the way of details of her life in this graphic narrative; its an impressionistic survey of her creative work, which moves back and forth through time. The highly stylized prose is inspired and poetic; speaking through Iturbides voice one gains a sense of the creative passions that drive her (birds; the plight of Indigenous peoples and women; and above all a firm sense of respect for her photographic subjects, from whom she sought consent long before it was fashionable to do so). Quinteros text almost reads as a long, narrative first-person poem, weaving back and forth through the chronology of Iturbides life; seeking parallels and themes and following them through Iturbides travels in Mexico, the United States, India, and beyond.

Theres a sense of poignancy and haunting sadness to the narrative, but also a firm feeling of artistic and creative perseverance. Quinteros previous work has been in the field of Young Adult literature and there is indeed a sense of that stick-to-it-ness which pervades much of the genre; a stylized motif of artistic dedication rising above the world-weariness of Indigenous poverty, oppressive conservatism, and disciplinary convention alike. One doesnt really get a sense of who Iturbide is, and yet at the same time she seems elusively intimate, whispering her creative visions and photographic methods in the readers ear. Its a glimpse at the artist whose subject the book takes, but more of a taster to inspire further study.

Penas art is gorgeous, and the book both includes several reproductions of Iturbides own photographs worked seamlessly into the narrative, as well as stylized comic panels based on or inspired by her broader oeuvre.

Two sequences in the book are particularly striking. The first is the moment in 2004 when Iturbide was chosen to photograph Frida Kahlos bathroom. Fridas partner Diego Rivera had ordered it sealed following her death in 1954. Fifty years later it was opened for the first time, and Iturbide was among the first to witness it. She studied and photographed it; caused scandal by rearranging parts of it in line with her own artistic vision. But one truly senses the kinship between these two artists who never met, and the poignancy and pathos of their vision; generations apart, the one armed with paintbrush and the other with a camera.

The second sequence of interest is the one which opens and closes the book: Iturbide in the Sonoran desert in 1979, an ascetic space in which the sparse beauty and dignity of two of her most characteristic subjects  Indigenous women, and birds  come together. There are other moments of interest in this very short book; the effect is one of snapshots from the creative life of its subject.

Graphic narratives exploring the lives of photographers offer a uniquely valuable approach to their subjects; an often superior one to that of prose biography. When an artist interprets a photographers work through art and prose together, theres a deeper level of insight to be gained, and that strength is superbly achieved in both of these books. Their joint weakness lies in their brevity, and the resultant abbreviation of the fullness of their subjects lives and creative oeuvre. Nevertheless, they offer inspiring tributes to their subjects, as well as a powerful reminder of the pervasive sexism which has denied far too many women photographers the credit they deserve.
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Beachgoers park on a grassy median near 5th Avenue North in North Myrtle Beach on April 2, 2018. Some residents along Ocean Boulevard plan to sue the city, arguing that it's illegal and unsafe for cars to park in the middle of the road.
Paul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category.
The South Carolina House voted to replace Santee Cooper's entire board of directors and to stop the state-run utility from charging customers for the failed V.C. Summer nuclear project. File
Abigail Darlington is a local government reporter focusing primarily on the City of Charleston. She previously covered local arts & entertainment, technology, innovation, tourism and retail for the Post and Courier.
Political Reporter

Caitlin Byrd is a political reporter at The Post and Courier and author of the Palmetto Politics newsletter. Before moving to Charleston in 2016, her byline appeared in the Asheville Citizen-Times. To date, Byrd has won 17 awards for her work.
Jamie Lovegrove is a political reporter covering the South Carolina Statehouse, congressional delegation and campaigns. He previously covered Texas politics in Washington for The Dallas Morning News and in Austin for the Texas Tribune.
Assistant Columbia bureau chief

Adcox returned to The Post and Courier in October 2017 after 12 years covering the Statehouse for The Associated Press. She previously covered education for The P&C. She has also worked for The AP in Albany, N.Y., and for The Herald in Rock Hill.
The first television ads coming directly from a 2018 South Carolina gubernatorial campaign introduce political newcomer Republican Greenville businessman John Warren.

Just as he has in online ads, Warren calls himself a political outsider and touts his experience as a military combat veteran. The ad includes shots of his uniform and him jogging in a "Marines" sweatshirt.

"South Carolinas John Warren is a man on a mission," the ad released Tuesday says. "John Warren will make South Carolina stronger and safer."

Warren says he will require cities comply with federal immigration enforcement, though South Carolina has no so-called sanctuary cities. He says he will "protect innocent life from the point of conception," though that's a decision up to the Legislature.

Warren's campaign declined to give details on the amount spent to air the ads or where they will be broadcast.

Ads for other GOP hopefuls have come from outside groups.

A third-party organization, American Future Fund, bought TV ads supporting former two-time state agency chief Catherine Templeton, another Republican challenger. A politically active nonprofit, Government Integrity Fund, bought a pre-Super Bowl ad to promote GOP Gov. Henry McMaster's call to stand during the national anthem.

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Warren, McMaster and Templeton are among five Republicans vying for the nomination in the June 12 primary. Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant and former Lt. Gov. Yancey McGill also are in the race.

After a sleepy start ahead of Easter, ads in the governor's race are beginning to appear with candidates trying to distinguish themselves in a crowded and large field.

Another 2018 hopeful promoting herself as an outsider debuted ads Tuesday.

Democrat Marguerite Willis, a Florence attorney in her first election, launched an online spot calling President Donald Trump a racist.

Willis is facing Charleston businessman Phil Noble and state Rep. James Smith of Columbia for the Democratic nod.
PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 13:03:02

NEW YORK and DENVER, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BNP Paribas Securities Services, a leading global custodian with over $11.3 trillion in assets under custody, and Janus Henderson Investors (NYSE:JHG) (ASX:JHG), today announced that Janus Henderson's middle and back office operations in the US have been transferred to BNP Paribas, marking a major expansion of the bank in the country. The transaction was announced on November 9, 2017.

This transaction is part of BNP Paribas' 10-year strategic build-out of its Securities Services business in the US, and provides the bank with a proven US mutual fund administration and accounting platform.

More than 100 Janus Henderson employees, based in Denver, Colorado, have transitioned to BNP Paribas. The bank is committed to growing its presence in Denver, where its mutual fund administration hub will now be located. Other Securities Services operational hubs in the US include King of Prussia, Pennsylvania for hedge fund administration and Jersey City, New Jersey for custody and clearing.

As part of the transaction, BNP Paribas becomes the fund services provider for Janus Henderson's US regulated mutual funds, representing $138 billion in assets.

Claudine Gallagher, Head of the Americas for BNP Paribas Securities Services, said: "We have a long-standing relationship with Janus Henderson and are pleased to further this partnership.

"We are also delighted to welcome Janus Henderson's staff of fund servicing professionals, whose combined expertise will enable us to deliver a seamless transition for Janus Henderson and its clients. As we continue to build out our US business, we will be able to offer the market an integrated middle-to-back office platform, offering '40 Act fund accounting, fund administration and custody."

Dick Weil, Co-Chief Executive Officer at Janus Henderson Investors, said: "Having worked closely with the BNP Paribas team on this transaction over the course of the past few months, we have been impressed by their commitment to making this transition a success and feel confident that they will deliver superior service to our clients. BNP Paribas has been an excellent partner. I look forward to extending this in the years ahead."

With $2.8 trillion in assets under administration, and a global reach covering over 90 markets, BNP Paribas aims to support its clients in realizing their investment opportunities across the world and across all asset classes.

About BNP Paribas Securities Services

BNP Paribas Securities Services, a member of the BNP Paribas Group, is a leading global custodian and securities services provider. Backed by the strength of the BNP Paribas Group, BNP Paribas Securities Services provides multi-asset post-trade and asset servicing solutions for buy- and sell-side market participants, corporates and issuers. With a presence in 36 countries and a global reach covering over 90 markets, its network is one of the most extensive in the industry, enabling clients to maximize their investment opportunities worldwide.

About Janus Henderson



Janus Henderson is a leading global active asset manager dedicated to helping investors achieve long-term financial goals through a broad range of investment solutions, including equities, quantitative equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternative asset class strategies.

As at 31 December 2017, Janus Henderson had approximately US$371 billion in assets under management, more than 2,000 employees and offices in 27 cities worldwide. Headquartered in London, the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

BNP Paribas Press Contacts

North America

Jamie Somohano

+1 212 841 2406

jamie.somohano@us.bnpparibas.com

EMEA

Caroline Lumley

+44 (0) 20 7410 4650

caroline.lumley@uk.bnpparibas.com

Janus Henderson Investors Press Contacts

North America

Erin Passan, +1 303 394 7681

erin.passan@janushenderson.com



EMEA

Angela Warburton, +44 (0) 20 7818 3010

angela.warburton@janushenderson.com

Janus Henderson Investors Investor Enquiries

John Groneman, +44 (0) 20 7818 2106

john.groneman@janushenderson.com

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: BNP Paribas Securities Corp. via Globenewswire


PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 13:33:02

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP) (OTCBB:CYDVF) (Frankfurt:C1Z1) ("Cypress" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from the last three holes drilled at the Company's Clayton Valley lithium project in Nevada. Today's results include an intersection of 97 meters averaging 1,144 ppm Li in the final hole, GCH-6, along with intersections of 122.4 meters averaging 977 ppm Li in DCH-17 and 129.5 meters averaging 767 ppm Li in GCH-5. The Company has completed its drilling program, and is awaiting the results of an independent resource estimate currently underway.

Cypress Clayton Valley, Nevada Lithium Project location map:

https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3548/cyp-clayton-topo-satalite-small.jpg

Drilling Highlights:

All three holes show consistency in encountered Li grade with the Company's previous 20 holes drilled on the Dean and Glory properties.

DCH-17, with 122.4 meters of 977 ppm Li, demonstrates the extension of lithium mineralization into the southeast corner of Dean. This intersection is comparable to the intersections in previous holes, DCH-15 and DCH-16, to the north and west.

GCH-5 and GCH-6 demonstrate the extension of lithium mineralization south, into the eastern portion of Glory. The intersection of lithium in GCH-5, with 129.5 meters of 767 ppm Li, is the thickest drilled-to-date at the project.

These three holes, as with all 20 previous holes, remain open at depth, with DCH-17 ending in 797 ppm Li, GCH-5 in 665 ppm Li, and GCH-6 in 752 ppm Li.

A full table of Clayton Valley drill results can be found here: https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3573/cyp_drill_hole_table_for_clayton_valley-_nevada.jpg

2017 Dean & Glory Projects, Clayton Valley, Nevada drill hole map:

https://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/site/assets/files/3573/cyp_dean_glory_dill_hole_map_march_2018.jpg

TABLE. Summary of Clayton Valley Project Drill Holes DCH-17, GCH-5 and GCH-6

Intersection (m) Lithium Values (ppm Li) Drill Hole From To Length Min Max Average DCH-17 2.0 124.4 122.4 548 1539 977 GCH-5 0.0 129.5 129.5 410 1298 767 GCH-6 3.0 100.0 97.0 699 1609 1144

Notes: Li=Lithium Metal, ppm=parts per million, m=meters, Average is weighted value by sample length. All samples were submitted to Bureau Veritas in Reno, Nevada, for analysis. Blind sample blanks and standards were inserted into the sample sequences at a rate of approximately 1 per 20 samples.

With the completion of these three holes, the Company has concluded its current drilling on the Dean and Glory properties. All 23 of the Company's drill holes will be incorporated in an independent resource estimate currently underway. The results of the resource estimate are expected later this month.

Daniel Kalmbach, CPG and consulting geologist to Cypress Development Corp., is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical information in this release.

Cypress announces the resignation of Robert Marvin as Vice President of Exploration and Director of the Company. Cypress expresses its appreciation to Mr. Marvin for his years of service and his key role in the discovery and exploration of the Company's Clayton Valley lithium deposit.

About Cypress Development Corp.:

Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded exploration company focused on developing the Company's 100%-owned Clayton Valley lithium project in the State of Nevada, U.S.A.

Cypress' Dean & Glory Lithium Project is located immediately east of Albemarle's Silver Peak mine, North America's only lithium brine operation. Recent exploration by Cypress has discovered an extensive deposit of lithium-bearing claystone adjacent to the brine field. With mineralization tested by drilling over a seven-kilometer trend, the apparent size of the Dean & Glory deposit makes Clayton Valley a premier target that has the potential to impact the future of lithium production in North America.

Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 56.0 million shares issued and outstanding.

To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com.

CYPRESS DEVELOPMENT CORP.

"Dr. Bill Willoughby"



WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY, PhD., PE

Chief Executive Officer

For further information contact myself or:

Don Myers

Cypress Development Corp.

Director, Investor Relations

Telephone: 604-639-3851

Toll Free: 800-567-8181

Facsimile: 604-687-3119

Email: info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management 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 the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Cypress Development Corp via Globenewswire


Global Oncology Drugs Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 14:19:38

Press Information

Coherent Market Insights

1001 4th Ave,





#3200



Mr Shah

CEO

2067016702

email

http://www.coherentmarketinsights.com





# 1090 Words

1001 4th Ave,#3200CEO2067016702

Oncology drugs and medications have become a blooming business for players in the pharmaceutical industry. Major pharmaceutical companies are focused on manufacturing and development of oncology drug. Market players have oncology drugs in pipeline, which are expected to be in the market as potential medications in near future. Also, the global oncology market is expected to gain a significant traction with the increasing prevalence of cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide, which accounted for around 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths in 2012. The number of new cancer cases is projected to rise to 22 million in near future. The major competitors are focused on developing efficient treatment for specific type of cancer which is expected to be a prominent factor to augment the global oncology drugs market.Major manufacturers in the oncology drugs market include:Roche,Celgene,Johnson & Johnson,Pfizer,Sanofi,Bristol-Meyers Squibb,Novartis,GlaxoSmithKline,Eli Lily,Merck & Co.Top 5 company described for competitive analysis in detail:Roche is a world leader in oncology, which is engaged in developing new approaches for advanced cancer treatment. Roche operates in two segments, which includes pharmaceuticals and diagnostics with annual sales of US$ 39.1 Bn and US$ 11.5 Bn respectively. Roche is at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy with ten investigational drug candidates currently in the clinical development phase. In 2016, the company entered into 10 new clinical collaboration agreements to explore drug combinations for maximizing therapeutic benefits and develop the lead immunotherapy drug. The company has set up imCORE, a network of 21 academic institutions working with Roche to advance research into cancer immunotherapies, thus contributing to enhance the global oncology drugs market in the near future.Get The Holistic SAMPLE With Research Methodology:Johnson and Johnson operates in three business segments namely consumer, pharmaceutical and medical devices. The business of Johnson & Johnson is conducted by more than 230 operating companies located in 60 countries worldwide. In 2016, the company has invested around US$ 9.1 Bn in research and development activities. Janssen, the pharmaceutical division of J&J registered the oncology drug sales of around US$ 5.9 Bn among the total pharmaceutical therapeutic area sales. Janssen is focused on strategic collaborations for the development of cancer therapeutics, which in turn favors the oncology drugs market. For instance, in November, 2017, Janssen collaborated with Zymeworks, Inc. to develop six bispecific antibodies based on Azymetric and Effector Function Enhancement and Control Technology (EFECT) platforms for research, development, and commercialization with a potential to generate US$ 1.5 Bn. High sales of IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib) and DARZALEX (daratumumab) were due to increasing patient uptake, additional country launches, and additional indications, which contributed to the growth of oncology drugs.Pfizer, Inc. develops oncology therapies that provide maximum efficacy while minimizing adverse effects on the patient. The current portfolio of oncology drugs covers a range of cancers. The company studies these therapies alone and in combination with other treatments to improve the lives of cancer patients. Pfizers overall strategy is anchored on innovation for developing new medicines and vaccines through collaborations and business relationships which is expected to bolster the oncology drugs market. For instance, Pfizer partnered with Merck KGaA for building a strong portfolio in immuno-oncology, Biolnvent International AB to develop antibodies to advance the novel technology platform of cancer vaccine as well as business relationship with IBM Watson for drug discovery by identifying potential new targets and combination therapies in immune-oncology.Novartiss aims to develop approaches for extending the lives of people suffering from cancer, by adopting the strategy to use science-based innovation for delivering better patient outcomes in growing areas of healthcare. Novartis operates in two business segments namely Novartis Oncology and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, which together form Innovative Medicines Division. The Novartis Oncology segment contributed around 39% of its net sales, it was valued around US$ 12.8 Bn. Increase in revenue is attributed to the strong performance for oncology products Tafinlar + Mekinist, a combination therapy for advanced melanoma, and Jakavi, for blood cancers. Novartis is leading provider of cancer treatments, following the acquisition of oncology products from GlaxoSmithKline in 2015. In 2016, the company collaborated with Surface Oncology to bolster the cancer immunotherapy pipeline that will provide access to four preclinical programs. Also, with a licensing agreement with Xencor, it plans to co-develop two bispecific antibodies designed to target acute myeloid leukemia and B-cell malignancies, thereby aiding the growth of oncology drugs market.Get Table Of Content:Sanofi operates through two business segments namely pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Sanofi gains insights through its network of collaborations with biotech companies such as Immunogen and Evotec, academic cancer centers such as Institut Gustave Roussy, Institut Curie, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, enabling superior use of software, analytics, and new technology, which helps to increase its productivity, maximize return on R&D investment, and accelerate the development of new products. Sanofi Oncology has a large number of collaborations and alliances to support its R&D portfolio. In 2015, Sanofi collaborated with Regeneron focusing on cancer immunotherapy to generate high value development candidates in the emerging field of immuno-oncology and to accelerate its development pipeline in the oncology drugs market. In 2016, the company entered into a collaboration with Innate Pharma to develop innovative bispecific antibody formats engaging natural killer (NK) cells to kill tumor cells. Also, it collaborated with Warp Drive Bio to develop drugs targeting human oncogenes, thus accelerating the innovations for oncology drugs.Novel and targeted oncology drugs manufactured by the major competitors in oncology drug market are geared towards the treatment of specific type of cancer with premium prices, without generic competition from the competitors, as these biologic treatments have an enhanced patent protection. Strategic collaborations and rise in research and development is the basic approach adopted by the manufacturers, as it helps to develop and access knowledge and increase the understanding in new areas of science, thereby accelerating the global oncology drugs market.The major strategic collaborations included in the competitive analysis include:Sanofi and Regeneron collaborated to develop REGN2810, with an overall expenditure of US$ 325 million each towards developing the therapy currently in the Phase IBristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and CytomX Therapeutics collaborated to develop four target cancer therapies using CytomXs Probody drug discovery platform. The collaboration would provide CytomX with a net US$ 1.2 Bn.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.
PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 03:02:02

IE expo China 2018 to Open Amid High Demand for Environmental Technologies

Messe Muenchen Zhongmao Co., Ltd.

Ketty ZHANG, +86-21-23521128 / 20205539

ketty.zhang@mm-sh.com

Fax: +86-21-23521088

IE expo China 2018, an IFAT brand family member and Asias largest environmental technology show with a history of 18 years, will kick off on May 3-5, 2018 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre. It is expected to attract 1,800 exhibitors in the fields of water, waste, air and soil management.

IE expo China 2018, boasting tremendous impacts on the Chinese environmental industry, is an ideal platform for global exhibitors and buyers to explore and expand market in China. To meet increasing demands, three more halls will be added this year to expand the exhibition area to 120,000m2 for water, air, waste treatment, soil remediation, etc. Besides, new segments like agricultural amelioration will be featured.

Exhibitors will include leading companies like SUEZ, Veolia, CAMBI, Fluence, Xylem, Huber, WILO, KSB, E+H, Hach, SSI, ANDRITZ, TOMRA, Metso, ERIEZ, BHS, SID, ENSA, as well as renowned domestic Chinese companies and organizations. There will also be 13 overseas pavilions. Nordic countries and Russia will join as pavilions for the first time.

China Environmental Technology Conference will be held concurrently to focus on water and sewage treatment, waste management, site remediation, air pollution control and air purification. It will include about 30 sub-forums featuring solutions for rural sewage treatment system, decentralized wastewater treatment plants, membrane application, low-nitrogen combustion, solid waste and resource recovery, Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs) Testing and Control and Contaminated Site Remediation etc.

In 2018, the organizer will present 2018 Innovative Environmental Technologies Roadshow [..] to identify and accelerate next-generation technologies in water & sewage treatment, waste management, site remediation, air pollution control and air purification as well as to bring together innovators, investors, partners and end-users.

Besides the event, a dozen activities like salons and workshops have been jointly held by the organizer and industry organizations in Southern and Eastern China in the past 3 years. In 2018, it cooperated with Ministry of Environment and related associations in Southeast Asia to invite more trade buyers and delegations to visit its two shows in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Associations and government bodies are welcomed to contact the organizer for cooperation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180402005

IE expo China 2018, Asias largest environmental technology show with a history of 18 years, will kick off on May 3-5, 2018 in Shanghai.
PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 19:53:01

NEW YORK, April 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 10EQS, a company that orchestrates comprehensive crowd-based solutions for consultancies and global enterprises, today announced the appointment of Jeff Carbeck as Chief Executive Officer.





In this capacity, Carbeck will lead the company on its mission to achieve global growth and shape the future of work.





"The 10EQS platform has already shown an ability to provide solutions globally to complex problems for consultancies, investors, governments, NGOs and global enterprises," Carbeck said. "The next step is to accelerate the growth and impact of our platform, and continuously expand its capabilities through the further integration of emerging technologies."





Prior to joining 10EQS Carbeck built and led the Global Advanced Materials and Manufacturing practice at Deloitte Consulting. He started his career in academia as Professor of Chemical Engineering at Princeton University. After leaving academia he co-founded and built a series of businesses enabled by emerging technologies. Carbeck works closely with the World Economic Forum, serving on a number of Global Councils.





"We are excited to have Jeff lead the team at 10EQS" said Barry Salzberg, former Global CEO, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and current Board Chairman for 10EQS. "He brings a wealth of experience that will propel our expansion with professional services firms and commercial organizations."





About 10EQS

10EQS provides a crowdsourced collaboration platform that enables the quick assembly of teams uniquely suited to solve a particular problem, to answer a set of complex questions, or develop and implement a new solution. This approach accelerates the speed, enhances the quality, and improves the efficiency of complex problem solving and solutions implementation. 10EQS unleashes the expertise, experience and creativity of today's 500+ million electronically accessible people that form the global professional crowd. Learn more at: https://www.10EQS.com.





Media Contact: Courtney Richard crichard@mapr.agency

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: 10EQS via Globenewswire


PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 04:42:47

HONG KONG, Apr 2, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - According to South China Morning Post, Legend Holdings Corporation (stock code 03396) reports 2017 revenue was 316.3 billion yuan, up 3 per cent, thanks to subsidiaries' solid growth, writes John CremerThe annual results announced by Legend Holdings Corporation for the financial year ending December 31, 2017 are notable for several reasons. The figures confirm that, since listing, the company and its subsidiaries have achieved solid growth for three consecutive years, with consistent gains made in each of its business sectors.Importantly, though, the overall portfolio is also continuing to develop. And there is a strong sense of confidence that by implementing the right strategies and taking advantage of advances in science and technology, the company will see sustainable progress and further breakthroughs.The main areas, in terms of strategic emphasis, are financial service; innovative consumption and services; agriculture and food; and IT and new materials. However, the company also has a significant financial investments business, through which it has been able to find opportunities, create synergies and enhance overall performance, using what it calls "the two-wheel-drive business model".Thanks to all that, the results for 2017 show group revenue of 316.3 billion yuan (HK$395.45 billion), which represents an increase of 3 per cent compared to the previous year. The net profit attributable to equity holders amounted to 5.05 billion yuan, a 4 per cent increase from the previous period.Because of that, earnings per share came to 2.16 yuan, an increase of 5 per cent, with the recommendation of a final dividend payment of 0.27 yuan per ordinary share before tax.Speaking on behalf of the board, Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Legend Holdings, confirmed that various strategic investment initiatives had been well-executed during the year and indicates that the company would continue to improve operating procedures and internal mechanisms, and would build on existing strengths.In particular, he added, there would be greater focus on capturing opportunities in the mainland market that results from major trends, sometimes referred to as "consumption upgrading" and the desire to experience more of the "good life"."We will continue to take advantage of available resources and insist on value creation in achieving our goals," Liu said, "At the same time, the company will also implement forward-looking strategies based on the need for long-term development and sustainable momentum for future growth." Regarding financial services, he noted that three subsidiaries had all performed well during the reporting period. Zhengqi Financial recorded a net profit of 839 million yuan, a 16 per cent increase from the previous year. Its "investment-loan linkage" business model is working effectively and should continue to prosper. Koala Technology mainly offers innovative financial services and had an operating income of 1.73 billion yuan. In turn, JC International Finance & Leasing, which was only incorporated in November 2015, reported operation income of 719 million yuan and a net profit of 180 million yuan, up 122 per cent from 2016.Zhu Linan, president of Legend Holdings, added: "In 2018, the group will continue reinforcing the synergy advantage of value creation and the two-wheel-drive businesses model, through clear strategy and stronger execution, to drive more strategic outcome in the future. We hope for a better return to shareholders with our more optimized investment portfolio and significant value growth." He added that the Group would "actively display the synergy between strategic investment and financial investments. Based on the practical experience, Legend Holdings will elevate the synergic driving model of two-wheel-drive business to strategic height, on the premise of maintain the independence of fund management, to fully release the advantages of the two major businesses, and promote business cooperation, enhance the value of the Group and investment return." Highlights included a joint investment with Hony Capital in Better Sun Educational Group, a leading operator of premium kindergartens in mainland China. In cooperation with Legend Capital, a separate investment was made in Eastern Air Logistics, reflecting the move towards mixed ownership as part of the reform of China's state-owned enterprises.In its agriculture and food operations, the company has put special emphasis on improving the quality of food for Chinese consumers. To this end, using Joyvio Group as a platform, it developed two supply chains-one for fresh fruits, the other for fresh seafood-in the course of 2017. The blueberries planted by Golden Wing Mau, a Joyvio subsidiary, also hit a record-high production volume, thereby consolidating a positon as the number one domestic brand. Elsewhere, KB Food has made strides in its animal protein related business. Qingdao Starfish, a seafood importer, processor and distributor, had also become a major exporter of Pollock. The acquisition of a 68.58 per cent stake in Nine Masters has opened up new possibilities in creating an integrated supply chain for raw ingredients and food products.In future, for IT-related investments, the company believes that challenges and opportunities coexist. It is also confident that Levima Group, maker of advanced materials and specialty chemicals which achieved a 4 per cent improvement for the reporting period, will see further gains in profitability and market influence.Liu added that results from the financial investments business had been excellent, with net profit growth of 42 per cent in 2017. There are three fund platforms-Legend Capital, Hony Capital and Legend Star-and the total fund size is now close to 110 billion yuan. The funds invest in everything from the health care sector to sports, property, overseas projects, and "red-chip return concepts".One objective now is to look for new opportunities in "frontier technology" and "new life" business, while balancing overall risk with fixed-income investments that offer the necessary stability.- South China Morning PostTopic: Press release summarySectors: Daily Finance, Daily NewsFrom the Asia Corporate News NetworkCopyright  2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.
PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 10:00:14

FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Doubleview Capital Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Doubleview Capital Corp. (TSX Venture:DBV). has issued a press release with the following headline:Leonard De Melt Joins Doubleview BoardTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Doubleview Capital Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Doubleview Capital Corp.Source: Doubleview Capital Corp. (TSX Venture: DBV, OTC Pink: DBLVF, FWB: 1D4)Date: April 03, 2018Time: 4:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Doubleview Capital Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2018 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
Over-the-Counter Drugs Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 13:00:42

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Over-the-counter drugs, also known as non-prescription drugs, are available in pharmacies and other retail stores and can be used without being prescribed by a doctor. These drugs are critical components of the pharmaceutical industry as they are highly potent and have the capability to show effective results for simple diseases. The number of competitors diving into the large pool of pharmaceutical industry are increasing day-by-day making the industry a promising venture for new comers to capitalize upon. This review will help to attain a competitive analysis of developments such as strategic alliances, mergers and acquisition, joint ventures as well research and innovation leading to product development with respect to over-the-counter drugs market. According to Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the total U.S. sales for OTC medicines accounted for US$ 34,327 million in 2017.To understand Research Methodology, please click: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1443 Competitive Analysis - The top 10 players operating in the global over-the-counter drugs market include:Pfizer, Inc.,Novartis AGGlaxoSmithKline PlcBayer AGSanofiGlenmark PharmaceuticalsMerck KGaATeva PharmaceuticalsJohnson & Johnson Services, Inc.Boehringer Ingelheim1. Pfizer, Inc. - Pfizer, Inc. is a global leading manufacturer and distributor of over-the-counter drugs, managing its commercial operation through two major business segments namely, Pfizer Innovative Health and Pfizer Essential Health. OTC drugs contribute to a major part of Innovative Health Segment, comprising annual revenue of US$ 29,197 million in 2016. The company OTC drugs portfolio includes over 40 products, whereas the leading OTC brands that generated significant revenue for Pfizer included Advil (Ibuprofen capsules for migraine) and Centrum (Multivitamin Tablets), in 2016. Moreover, the company collaborated for the license of Nexium OTC rights under the exclusive agreement with AstraZeneca Plc made in 2012, Pfizer paid US$ 93 Mn to AstraZeneca in April, 2016 as accrued milestone payments as per the norms of the agreement. Pfizer, Inc. adopts strategies such as entering into partnerships and collaborations with companies that adopts incorporation of novel, proprietary drug-delivery technologies as well as unique ingredients of the OTC drugs to expand their OTC product portfolio to retain their significance in global over-the-counter drugs market.2. Novartis AG - Novartis AG, is widely known for its research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of healthcare products across the globe. Novartis operates its drugs business through two major operating channels Innovative Medicine and Drugs manufactured by Sandoz which is a subsidiary of Novartis, has contributed to positioning the company as one of the top players in global Over-the-counter drugs market. In March 2015, Novartis OTC and GlaxoSmithKline Plc created a combined consumer healthcare business named GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings Ltd, as a completely new entity, for which Novartis has an interest of 36.5% in the investment and profit shares and the resulting pre-tax income from this alliance was valued at US$ 5.9 billion in 2016. The company also markets and manufactures its products through Sandoz. Sandoz specializes in OTC medications for allergy and pain relief and is available in pharmacies across the world. The channel focuses on business expansion and distribution in the Central & Eastern Europe region, including Germany, as the company believes European region to be an integral part of the business and a potential market for growth of companys business.Ask for customization: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/1443 3. GlaxoSmithKline Plc - GlaxoSmithKline, one of the renowned giant in pharmaceutical industry and over-the-counter drugs market is a global science-led company headquartered in Europe, which develops and manufactures pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, health-related consumer products, and over-the-counter medicines. The consumer healthcare business of GlaxoSmithKline is operated through its subsidiary named GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings Ltd. the subsidiary is split into two equal businesses, namely Over-the-counter Medicines and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), across four major categories of Oral Health, Wellness, Skin Health, and Nutrition. The companys consumer healthcare business segment recorded annual sales of US$ 5,023 million in 2016, of which Europe contributed to the major share of around 30.4%, with U.S. accounting for 24.4% of the share. The company adopts strategy of expanding the business in a growing marketplace thereby developing products that responds to the challenges in Over-the-counter drugs sector that includes educating the users to prevent adverse side effects of these drugs when consumed inappropriately and others. The company also focusses on providing products at a sustainable price to help increase customer adoption and allow access to several patients around the world.4. Bayer AG - Bayer AG is a global life science company that has a history of over 150 years in areas of healthcare and agriculture. The company operates its business through four major segments namely, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, Crop Science, and Animal Health. Over-the-counter drugs contribute to a major revenue share of the consumer health segment, which accounted for US$ 7,179.19 million in 2016. The company caters to the users of over-the-counter drugs market through Consumer Health segment that includes major non-prescription drugs and products in the dermatology, gastrointestinal, analgesic, cold, allergy, and sinus, and sun protection categories. The consumer health segment is responding to the challenge in public health care system with mainly non-prescription (OTC) brand products by providing the consumers with their corresponding self-care solutions that are easily available at the pharmacies and online drug stores. The core brands leading to organic growth of the companys segment include Aspirin, Aleve, Canesten, Dr. Scholls, Coppertone, Elevit, Bepanthen, Alka-Seltzer, and Berocca. The company is investing in geographical expansion to strengthen its presence in the U.S. Brazil, Russia, and China through marketing innovations and novel digital offerings. For instance, the company introduced a number of new product line extensions in the U.S. of its existing brands, including ClariSpray in the Claritin portfolio added in April, 2016. The extension of Alka-Seltzer product family with the addition of Alka-Seltzer Plus as an OTC medicine for treatment of cold. Successful strategic implementation and new product development by the company is expected to significantly affect the growth of global over-the-counter drugs market.Visit our news Website: http://www.coherentchronicle.com/
Personalized medicine and advanced technologies such as assay performance and drug monitoring to fuel the growth of therapeutic drug monitoring market

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 14:07:46

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Personalized medicine is driving the growth of therapeutic drug monitoring market, owing to increasing demand for better treatment outcome with minimum side effects from the medication. For instance, TDM is majorly used for anti-cancer drugs monitoring for which standard guidelines are recommended by many oncology Journal and associations, one of them being the European Journal of Oncology. Moreover, advanced treatment therapies such pharmacogenomics, gene testing, and proteomics is further expected to boost the growth of market. Increasing antimicrobial resistance is one of the key factor driving the growth of TDM market. According to WHO Factsheet 2017, antimicrobial resistance is one of the leading cause of death. For instance, according to WHO factsheet, around 4,80,000 multi-drug resistance TB cases were reported, which is creating an opportunity for physicians to optimize or monitor the drug therapies through TDM.Ask for detailed Sample of the Research Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1241 Organ transplant procedures are also propelling the growth of therapeutic drug monitoring market. Immunosuppressant drugs are basic treatment for organ transplant to avoid rejection of transplanted organ by body, which requires TDM to avoid ADR and side effects. Asia Pacific is a promising region for organ transplant due to increased awareness and infrastructure availability. According to Waters Corporation Blog, China witnessed 35% y-o-y increase in organ transplant in the first 4 months of 2017. There is a growing trend of clinical research organizations being shifted to cost effective Asia Pacific region for bioequivalence study of generic drugs on account of low cost of processes in this region. Moreover, advances in the field of biomedical technology such as nano biosensors and implantable devices are expected to boost the growth of therapeutic drug monitoring market. Advancement in tools for TDM such as assay kits, chromatography columns, spectrometry, and alternative matrices such as interstitial fluid provide continuous real time monitoring of the therapeutic drug through Probe Scientifics new MicroEye Technology.Key players in the global therapeutic drug monitoring market include Roche Diagnostics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bio Rad Laboratories, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Beckmann Coulter, and Abbott Diagnostics. In 2016, Danaher Corporation, parent company for Beckman Coulter acquired Cepheid at US$ 4 billion to strengthen companys diagnostic portfolio.Therapeutic drug monitoring is a multidisciplinary practice of measuring drug amount in bloodstream to maintain its effective concentration. It is used to maximize efficacy of drug, avoid toxicity and adverse drug reactions (ADR), facilitate dose adjustment according patient requirement, and to identify therapeutic failure. It is used especially for drugs characterized by narrow therapeutic window, drugs that are highly protein bound and those in which the metabolite might be toxic. Physicians and hospitals use therapeutic drug monitoring to maximize the clinical benefits of the drug by minimizing the toxic side effects thereby improving the quality of life for the patients.North America holds the dominant position in therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) market, owing to robust health care infrastructure, high awareness for treatment regime and increasing patient awareness regarding adverse drug reaction (ADR). According to 2013 survey by Medical Expenditure Panel published in Scientific American, 1 in 7 American adult consume Anti-Psychotic drug, a class of drugs which requires TDM. Stringent government regulations regarding safe medication practices especially with drugs having narrow therapeutic range would propel growth therapeutic drug monitoring. Moreover, increasing adoption of instruments such as monitors and analytic equipment, reagents, and diagnostics tools for drug monitoring is driving the growth of therapeutic drug monitoring market.However, difficulty in reimbursement bars the widespread usage of TDM, as often the cost associated with TDM is high. Furthermore, insufficient infrastructure and skilled manpower is restraining the growth of the market in emerging economies.To get holistic SAMPLE with TOC @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/1241 Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Market TaxonomyOn the basis of product type: Equipment,.Consumables (Assay kits),.On the basis of technology: Enzyme Immunoassay, HPLC, LC/MS, GC/MS, Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay, Mass Spectrometry,. On the basis of end user: Hospitals (Clinical Pharmacology departments), Pathological labs, Research and Academic Institutions, Pharmaceutical and Biotech firms,.
PR-Inside.com: 2018-04-03 07:33:01

's-Hertogenbosch, 3 April 2018

In the period from 27 March 2018 until 29 March 2018 Van Lanschot Kempen has repurchased 7,037 of its own shares (depositary receipts for Class A ordinary shares). The shares were repurchased at an average price of 25.26 per share for a total amount of 177,766.

These repurchases are part of the share buy-back programme for at most 400,000 of own shares, which was announced on 22 February 2018. The total number of shares repurchased to date is 77,700.

More information, including a detailed overview of the repurchase transactions under this programme, is available on www.vanlanschotkempen.com/sharebuyback.

Media Relations: +31 20 354 45 85; mediarelations@vanlanschotkempen.com

Investor Relations: +31 20 354 45 90; investorrelations@vanlanschotkempen.com

About Van Lanschot Kempen

Van Lanschot Kempen, a wealth manager operating under the Van Lanschot, Evi and Kempen brand names, is active in Private Banking, Asset Management and Merchant Banking, with the aim of preserving and creating wealth for its clients. Van Lanschot Kempen, listed at Euronext Amsterdam, is the Netherlands' oldest independent financial services company with a history dating back to 1737.

vanlanschotkempen.com

Disclaimer

This document does not constitute an offer or solicitation for the sale, purchase or acquisition in any other way of or subscription to any financial instrument and is not an opinion or a recommendation to perform or refrain from performing any action.

This document is a translation of the Dutch original and is provided as a courtesy only. In the event of any disparities, the Dutch version will prevail.

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Van Lanschot Kempen via Globenewswire


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The World Bank on Tuesday began the implementation of its Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) in Nigeria by organising a workshop.

A statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, signed by the Senior Communications Officer, Nigeria, Olufunke Olufon, disclosed that the workshop was organised to provide comprehensive understanding of the new environmental and social requirements the World Bank will be applying to new investment projects it finances starting October 2018.

Time and again, we have seen that investment projects are more sustainable and have a greater development impact when the environment is protected, and when communities and people are engaged. The ESF is a great opportunity to work together with the Nigerian government to strengthen its environmental and social systems, and help build the countrys capacity to implement programs in a sustainable way and to achieve stronger results, said Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria.

The World Bank also disclosed that the ESF would progressively replace the World Banks current safeguards policies as it is expected to go into effect by October 2018.

The ESF is the result of extensive consultations conducted by the World Bank, with nearly four years of analyses and engagement around the world with governments, development practitioners, and civil society groups, reaching nearly 8,000 stakeholders in 63 countries.

According to the statement, the new framework provides a broad coverage of environmental and social issues, including important advances on transparency, non-discrimination, social inclusion, public participation, and accountability. The ESF also places more emphasis on strengthening borrower governments own capacity to deal with environmental and social issues.

The framework assists the borrowing governments to manage certain environmental and social risks in investment projects proposed for World Bank financing support.

The World Banks environmental and social framework aims to ensure that the people and the environment are protected from the potential adverse impacts of the projects it finances, the statement said
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The Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) on Tuesday promised to wade into alleged copyright infringement on King Sunny Ades (KSA) music by Davido and Small Doctor.

Mayowa Ayilaran, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MCSN, however said the society had not received any formal complaint on the matter.

He said the society wanted to intervene in it to ensure that all the parties received justice and curb future occurrences.

He said the society had been educating musicians through various social media platforms on the need to seek permission from legitimate music owners before copying their works.

According to him, when the society has detected the veracity of the allegation, it will advise the musicians in question to pay certain percentage of profits made from the songs to the original owner.

Mr Ayilaran said the society would also be organising a seminar for artists in the country next month to educate them on the penalties on all forms of musical infringements.

He said this would guide against rancour amongst musicians and enhance some level of creativity among them.

He urged artists to desist from picking lines music by different artists to produce their own full-fledged songs, noting that such act would reduce their creativity.

We are going to have a seminar for musicians to understand that infringing on other musician properties attract some serious sanctions and will be taken seriously henceforth, he said

Clement Ige, the manager of KSA had alleged at a roundtable discourse that the duo used lyrics from KSAs discography in their hit songs without due authorisation.

He said the duo did not give appropriate credit to KSA, the original owner of the lyrics.

He said that Small Doctor in his 2017 hit record Penalty, took the musical line: ijo ti mojo lana, ti won npariwo, oni nko, ola nko from KSAs song

Davido in his breakthrough single, Damiduro used KSAs lyrics but he did not get it right because he did not ask for permission from KSA.

Davido sang Kuluso ewe, agbagba ewe, which was a misinterpretation of the actual line of the song, `Seleru agbo, agbara agbo.

Mr Ige said he knew all these because the songs were composed by KSA and him.

(NAN)
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Legendary Reggae musician, Majek Fashek, has pledged his unwavering support for the embattled Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye.

Majek reassured the lawmaker of his prayers in the midst of his numerous challenges in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

The musician, who is a beneficiary of Melayes largesse, cast aspersions on the lawmakers enemies and assured him of his support.

He wrote, Message from legendary prophet Majek Fashek to distinguish (sic) senator Dino Melaye, man of the people, we are praying for you, we stand with you and by you, no one can touch the anointed of God.

No weapon fashioned against you shall prosper, fire go burn all your enemies Down in Jesus Name Amen.@dinomelaye

The senator was recently declared wanted by the Nigerian Police after some thugs alleged that he supplied them firearms.

The allegation came on the heels of attempts by Mr Melayes constituency to recall him, among other issues. He is also having a running political battle with his state governor, Yahaya Bello.

The police announced on Tuesday that it would arraign the controversial senator in May, alongside other suspects.
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President Cyril Ramaphosa has said a memorial service will be held for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on April 11, and a state funeral will take place in Johannesburg on April 14.

South Africa has been in mourning after the death of anti-apartheid icon, aged 81.

Hundreds of red-clad supporters of the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters marched to Madikizela-Mandelas home in the Johannesburg township of Soweto on Tuesday to pay homage to the Mother of the Nation, television footage showed.

Julius Malema, who heads the EFF, was once a staunch member of the ruling African National Congress party, to which Nelson Mandela and his ex-wife Madikizela-Mandela belonged, but remained friends with the latter after quitting to form his own party.

Malema visited the home in Soweto, lauding Madikizela-Mandelas contribution to South Africas liberation struggle, and noting that the EFF, unlike the ANC, were never ashamed of her.

Madikizela-Mandela was a controversial figure, at one time afforded heroine status for her courage during Mandelas 27-year incarceration, but later demonised for how far she was prepared to go in the struggle for liberation.

She was at Mandelas side when he emerged triumphantly from prison.

He went on to become president in 1994.

The couple divorced in 1996 after almost four decades of marriage.

She however, retained a huge grassroots following and politicians and celebrities around the world have expressed sadness over her death.

(dpa/NAN)
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ExxonMobil Corporation has named Udom Inoyo as the Executive Vice-Chairman of the board of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL).

ExxonMobil spokesperson, Oge Udeagha, said on Tuesday in Lagos that Mr Inoyos appointment took effect from March 19.

MPNU is the upstream subsidiary of the corporation with operational base at the Qua Iboe Terminal in Ibeno, Uquo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, while the EEPNL is the deep offshore arm of the company.

Until his latest appointment, Mr Inoyo served as the Executive Director of the company and in-country Human Resources Manager of the two subsidiaries.

Mr Inoyo who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science (1981) and Law (1987) from the University of Calabar was called to the Nigerian Bar as Solicitor & Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1988.

In July 1989, Mr Inoyo who hails from Akwa Ibom State, joined Mobil Producing Nigeria in Lagos as Employee Relations Coordinator.

By 2000, he was appointed Compensation & Benefits Advisor, ExxonMobil Europe, Africa & Middle East Centre of Expertise, in Brussels, Belgium, where he had responsibility for the National Salary Programmes of 10 African and four European countries.

In 2001, Mr Inoyo returned to Nigeria as Manager, Human Resources Policies & Programmes for Mobil Producing Nigeria.

He was appointed General Manager, External Affairs in 2002. By 2004, he was appointed to the Board of Mobil Producing Nigeria as Executive Director, a position he occupied till 2006 when he was named InCountry Human Resources Manager for ExxonMobil subsidiary companies in Nigeria.

In this role, he had direct responsibility for over 2,000 employees of the 3 ExxonMobil companies and approximately 3,000 personnel of various third party contractors.

He is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School and Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona.

Mr Inoyo, currently the President & Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), has been actively engaged in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

He has chaired both the External Affairs & Human Resources committees of the Oil Producers Trade Sector (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry representing the interests of all the upstream oil & gas producing companies in Nigeria.
I accidentally met over 200 young male and female medical doctors, including consultants in Hawthorn Hotel, Abuja being interviewed by some Saudi Arabian officials to be employed to work in Saudi Arabia.

At first, I thought it was a conference taking place in the hotel where I visited a guest. I saw an Arab gentleman addressing a mammoth crowd at the lobby of the hotel asking them loudly to go and come tomorrow.

I curiously asked a lady who appeared dejected and was waiting with a file in her hand what was happening?

The lady told me that they were all medical doctors, who were in the hotel since 7.00 a.m. for an interview for employment and that over 100 had been successful.

The rest were told to come tomorrow for the continuation of the interview

This is the narration of Shehu Liberty, a lecturer at the University of Maiduguri who on January 31, wrote an open letter on his Facebook wall to President Muhammadu Buhari, pleading with him to make an effort to halt the mass exodus of qualified doctors out of the country.

Mr Liberty said the doctors seemed to have made up their minds to leave the country in spite his attempt to persuade them.

I cannot believe what I saw today. What is really wrong with the health sector in Nigeria that warrants qualified doctors to abandon the country to work in Saudi Arabia? Why cant the various governments at all levels employ them? I am certain that their services are needed in most rural communities in Nigeria? he said.

There has been a reported massive brain drain in the medical sector in recent years as many medical doctors are leaving the country on daily basis.

Nigerian doctors have been migrating to U.S, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the UK and many other nations across the globe, investigations reveal.

Relevant medical agencies in Nigeria could not provide official data on emigrant doctors, but statistics from General Medical Council (GMC) UK, as at July 2017 shows that over 4,765 Nigerian doctors are working in the UK. This is 1.7 per cent of the total of the UKs medical workforce.

This trend has been having negative effects on Nigerias health sector. As a result of this, experts say, Nigeria is experiencing a shortage of doctors in most of its hospitals.

Also, experts say the ratio of medical practitioners to patients in the country is very low. Official records reveal that Nigeria currently has one doctor to attend to 3, 500 patients in the country, which is a far cry to the WHO recommendation of one doctor to 600 patients.

EMIGRANT DOCTORS GIVE REASONS FOR LEAVING

A Nigerian doctor working in the UK, Ayokunle Michael, said the situation of doctors migrating from the country is not yet bad, but will soon get worse.

He said with the UK opening its borders to commonwealth countries, and many Nigerian doctors having information about the working condition and welfare package there, many are still bound to move.

Nigeria should brace itself to losing more of its doctors, most of the people going to Saudi Arabia are just using that as a stepping stone. Majority aim to enter U.S, UK, Australia, Canada and other European countries with better job opportunities.

Mr Michael explained that the Nigerian working environment is getting more hostile to doctors.

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I left the country almost six years. Before I left, I was struggling to get a good job in spite spending almost nine years in school without failing. I left when it was becoming frustrating and the opportunity presented itself. Some colleagues took the opportunity, while some decided to stay back. Some of those who stayed back are also leaving, the situation is getting worse, he explained.

He said many of his colleagues inducted into the practice in 2010 are yet to find stable jobs.

Mr Michael also lamented that medical examinations are getting more expensive in Nigeria.

The amount paid to do the primaries at the National Postgraduate College of Nigeria or The West African Postgraduate College is getting more expensive. The high dollar rate has not also been helping matters, he said.

According to him, it is far better to spend less in writing the PLAB (UK examination) which guarantees a better future if the person passes than spending such huge sums on examination that might end up useless.

ABSENCE OF DATA

As at the time of this report, PREMIUM TIMES efforts to get the official statistics of number of doctors practicing in the country and those who have left from the Medical Dental Council of Nigeria, (MDCN), the agency which regulates the profession in Nigeria, were not successful.

However, the mass exodus of doctors has been a burning issue in the country with officials of the medical association giving various conflicting statistics of their member, especially those who have left Nigeria for greener pastures.

MDCN is the agency with the mandate to register and regulate the medical profession in Nigeria.

The agency, as part of its duty is tasked with the responsibility of registering newly inducted doctors, renewing licences of doctors in the country and also keeping record of those leaving the country.

The agency is also meant to have a record of foreign doctors who come into the country to work.

PREMIUM TIMES in a letter dated December 4, 2017 to MDCN, requested the total number of Nigerian doctors currently practicing in the country and those who have left.

Another Freedom of Information Act (FOI) reminder was sent to the agency in January requesting for information on the report.

However, four months after the first FOI was submitted to MDCN, there has been no response despite numerous visits to the agency by the reporter.

An official of MDCN, however, told PREMIUM TIMES that the agency has registered about 80,000 doctors and dentists in Nigeria including foreign trained personnel, since its creation in 1963.

Out of these 80,000, there are some people who are dead, some have left the country, some no longer working as doctors and some have stopped renewing their practicing licences. Some of the older doctors have been given a life time practicing certificate and do not need to keep renewing their licences yearly, he said, asking not to be named.

He also said MDCN should have a record of those who have left the country because, Nigerian trained doctors who want to go abroad to work usually collect a letter of good standing, which is a form of recommendation from the agency to the medical regulatory board of the country the medical practitioner wishes to move to.

NMA WEIGHS IN

PREMIUM TIMES also approached the Nigerian Medical Association, (NMA), for data on doctors in Nigeria and those who have left.

The effort was also not successful as the associations authorities referred the reporter back to MDCN.

The NMA in an official response to a letter sent by PREMIUM TIMES said it has no such data as it is just a professional association.

The association said MDCN is the registering and regulatory body and is the custodian of such information and should be the ones to provide such.

According to NMA, MDCN is the regulatory body which is responsible for registration, keeping records and disciplinary action of the professional body and as such should be the custodian of the data.

However, the NMA president, Mike Ogirima, in a separate reaction said though NMA does not have an official statistics, about 10,000 to 15,000 Nigerian doctors are working outside the country and 90 per cent of them were trained in Nigeria.

Former NMA President, Mike Ogirima, a professor of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery

That gives a figure of 9000 -13,500 doctors trained in Nigeria but now working abroad.

He said many Nigerian doctors are leaving the country due to the unconducive working environment in the hospitals.

We need the government to improve the working environment, provide necessary tool for doctors and improve their welfare package, he said.

Mr. Ogirima said the association is already making efforts to have its own statistics of members working in the country by introducing a professional stamp which would be owned by individual doctors.

This stamp is expected to have the doctors name, registration number and this will enable us have records of the doctors in the country and also help prevent quackery, he said.

However, Mr. Ogirima said the practitioners in the country are registered with MDCN.

In our association, we are trying to complement their (MDCN) effort by introducing doctors stamp, which will be mandatory on all medical document that will be used by any physician in this country. With that, we will be able to capture the statistics.

An NMA App will also be available on both android and iOS as from April, every doctor is supposed to subscribe to that and statistics will be made available at the finger tips from NMA office, he said.

An NMA official, Olumuyiwa Odusote, last year said 40,000 out of the 75,000 registered Nigerian medical doctors are practicing outside the country.

Mr. Odusote had also said the rest are also planning to leave.

Mr. Odusote said 100 doctors had resigned from the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan in 2017, while in the last two years, 800 doctors resigned from hospitals owned by the Lagos State Government.

He also said that in 2012, more than 1,000 doctors wrote exams for the West Africa College of Physicians in order to gain admission into Nigerian teaching hospitals, but in 2017 only 236 doctors sat for the same exam.

DOCTORS SPEAK

Magnus Ogaraku , the former chairman NMA Kogi State chapter in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES said there is no way Nigeria health workers especially doctors would not leave the country for greener pastures, because the work environment is no longer conducive for them to keep practicing their profession.

Mr Ogaraku said the migration of professionals in the hospital is not peculiar to doctors alone. He said other health practitioners such as nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory scientists, among others have also been leaving the country.

Mr Ogaraku said the migration of the health manpower in Nigeria has affected many hospitals in many states.

He explained that some of the factors responsible for the migration has been the poor working environment which is not friendly. He said the equipment needed to work are not available and this has not given people the ability to do their work effectively.

He also said the inter-discipline rivalry between the sectors has also had a negative impact on the hospitals as this is one of the reasons why some doctors leave the country.

The doctors do not like this rivalry as it has made the work difficult. Many health workers now want to do the job of the doctor, some people do not like that and so most of them leave, he said.

The third factor, he added, is the poor and irregular remuneration.

He explained that doctors working in Kogi State are currently being paid 60 per cent (of salaries) and there is a 100 per cent tax deduction.

Another doctor who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, Wale Ajayi, said most doctors are leaving due to the poor condition of service and half or no pay by most of the states.

He lamented that Osun State for example has been paying doctors half salaries for over a year.

My head of department, a professor, just left the country last year. I do not blame them (emigrants), he said.

Another doctor, Abiodun Babajide, said he has been processing leaving the country for two years.

Mr Babajide lamented that he finished his housemanship since 2014 and has since not secured a viable job.

It is sad. When you see most of my colleagues discuss, it is not about where to work in Nigeria, but about opportunities abroad. Most of us want to leave, the country is not conducive for us. It is bad that we spend over eight years in school, not counting housemanship, and yet you find no good job, he said.

Mr Babajide said the trend of doctors leaving the country is not new, but has only gotten worse and might still become more severe if a solution is not found to it.

Most of my colleagues do not even want to write primaries (for the West Africa College of Physicians) again. Why should they? Most of our seniors who did primaries have not gotten placement for residency. Their primaries are expiring without them getting a place to use it. Do you think most of them can pass that examination again? Why should we waste our time here in Nigeria when we hear the way they treat our colleagues who have left the country? he asked.

Speaking on his choice country, Mr. Babajide said he would prefer going to the UK or U.S., as they offer doctors one of the best services.

A survey conducted by the Nigerian Polling Organisation, NOIPolls, in partnership with Nigeria Health Watch in August 2017, showed that about eight out of 10 medical doctors are currently seeking work opportunities abroad.

This, the survey said, cuts across junior, mid and senior level doctors in both public and private medical institutions.

Many, it noted, registered to write foreign exams such as PLAB for the UK (30 per cent), USMLE for the United States (30 per cent), MCCE for Canada (15 per cent), AMC for Australia (15 per cent) and DHA for Dubai (10 per cent) amongst others.

SOLVING DILEMMA

Mr Ogirima said a solution to the problem is for the government to bring in public private partnership into the health sector.

He said this would enable the system to work more effectively and give room for employment of more staff.

There is a need for state governments to employ doctors as most doctors are jobless. In a country where we dont have enough doctors, we cant even employ the ones we trained. The government must increase the capacity of our health institutions, even if it means building more hospitals.

There are several abandoned projects in the country but the health sector shouldnt fall under such category. Government should build more hospitals, employ more hands because doctors are dying due to fatigue, the NMA president said.
The International police organisation, Interpol, has given possible reasons why a Nigerian senator declared wanted by the Nigerian police has not been publicly placed on its watch list, saying it does not engage in politically-motivated operations.

The Nigerian police on March 28 declared Dino Melaye, a member of the All Progressives Congress representing Kogi East Senatorial District, and seven others wanted; on allegations of criminal conspiracy. The police also said Interpol had been alerted to place Mr. Melaye and other suspects, including Mohammed Audu, son of late Kogi politician Abubakar Audu, on its watch list.

But six days after the announcement, neither Mr. Melaye nor any of the remaining suspects had appeared on the red notice board on the Interpols website.

PREMIUM TIMES has learnt new details about why Interpol is yet to issue a red alert for the suspects and why it might never comply with the request from the Nigerian police to do so.

As one of the 192 member countries with active membership of the Interpol network, the police in Nigeria said Mr. Melaye was placed on Interpol red notice.

A red notice is an alert for Interpol to locate and temporarily detain an individual pending extradition. It is issued and often published by the international crime-fighting organisation at the request of a member country or an international tribunal based on a valid national arrest warrant.

Although Interpol told PREMIUM TIMES it does not comment on specific cases or individuals except in special circumstances and with approval of the member country concerned, the agency listed reasons why Nigeria police request for Mr. Melaye, if at all it had been formally filed, might not meet its criteria for red alert.

INTERPOL examines requests by member countries to issue Red Notices to ensure compliance with INTERPOLs constitution or rules. This includes Article 3 of INTERPOLs Constitution, according to which it is strictly forbidden for the organisation to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character,' the agency said in response to a March 28 e-mail from PREMIUM TIMES.

INTERPOL evaluates legal and quality compliance issues in individual cases if it becomes aware of information that may prompt reevaluation of a case, it added.

The unavailability of Mr. Melaye on Interpols website might be as a result of the stringent requirements of its agencys Article 3, given the political undertone of Mr. Melayes case and his status as a serving senator.

Also, Interpol gave PREMIUM TIMES three reasons why a notice might not be published for an individual expected to be on its website.

If no Red Notice is published on INTERPOLs public website, this is either because one has not been requested or issued for that person, or the requesting country has asked that it not be made public, or the Red Notice did not meet the criteria for publication on INTERPOLs public website, Interpol said.

Of these three possibilities, the second about the requesting country not wanting the details to be made public may no longer apply in Mr. Melayes case because the police have already publicly declared that hes wanted and placed on Interpols watch list.

Therefore, the unavailability of Messrs. Melaye and Audu on the Interpols website could either be because the police have not requested that the duo be placed on Interpols red notice panel, contrary to their claim, or their request failed to comply with Interpols Article 3 because theyre politicians.

As at 10:21 p.m. Monday, only one Nigerian is on the Interpol red alert, and he is wanted by judicial authorities and not the Nigeria police.

Moreover, the police appeared to have displayed a lack of understanding of how Interpols red notices are issued for a suspect, said Okechukwu Nwanguma of the Network for Police Reform in Nigeria, NOPRIN.

Usually, you declare a suspect wanted and ask Interpol to place such a person on red notice when the person is not within your jurisdiction or has not been seen in public for a long time, Mr. Nwanguma told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Monday night. You dont declare a serving senator who has not abdicated his official position wanted.

A few days prior to the polices wanted declaration for Mr. Melaye, the senator was seen at Aliko Dangotes daughters wedding and another wedding in Shagamu, Ogun State.

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On the day he was declared wanted, Mr. Melaye appeared at the Nigerian Senate, during which he even threatened to sue the police Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris. The Senator regularly participated at the preceding plenaries and there was no indication that law enforcement officers could not get in touch with him.

Similarly, a spokesperson for Mr. Melaye, Gideon Ayodele, informed PREMIUM TIMES at 10:21 a.m. Tuesday that Mr. Melaye still has his police orderly guarding him, a week after he was declared wanted.

This is just the latest international embarrassment that the police have brought to Nigeria, a nation that should be far above others as Africas leading civilised society, Mr. Nwanguma said.

Mr. Melayes spokesperson welcomed the Interpols position, saying he was not surprised by it.

Youre talking about the Interpol which is a reputable international organisation, theres no way they could have acted like our police, Mr. Ayodele said. Dont forget that the police dont even have a valid arrest warrant issued by any court of law in Nigeria to be looking for my boss.

Did they think Interpol will just declare a serving senator wanted without doing the due diligence and professionalism? the aide said. All the allegations against my boss are political and we shall overcome this situation.

Mr. Melayes run-in with the police emanated from his April 2017 alarm that some men he suspected to be assassins entered his country home. He immediately blamed Governor Yahaya Bello and other political figures in Kogi for the attempted murder and called in the police to investigate.

Two weeks later, the police arrested six suspects in connection to the alleged assassination plot. Amongst them was Taofiq Isah, the chairman of Ijumu Local Government Area where Mr. Melaye hailed. The suspects were subsequently arraigned in a trial that is still ongoing

A few weeks after the suspects were arrested, Mr. Melaye was caught allegedly bragging on the telephone with Mr. Audu about how he framed the chief of staff and other administration officials in Kogi.

The police said they investigated the audio and found that Mr. Melaye had lied in his statement provided to homicide detectives after the alleged attempt on his life. Officials in Kogi said the audio was taken to France for examination and it was confirmed that the voice matches Mr. Melayes.

The senator strongly denied the allegations, saying the audio was a poor, hatchet job by Mr. Bello, his erstwhile political ally now pitted against one another by politics. Mr. Melaye emceed the inauguration of Mr. Bello, when he was sworn in as the youngest governor in Nigerias history on January 27, 2016.

As investigation into Mr. Melayes alleged false statement to the police got underway, attempts were made to invite the senator for questioning of arrest him, the police said. But the efforts, including a siege to a federal court building in Abuja and a letter to Senate President Bukola Saraki, were allegedly frustrated by the senator.

The police also said six persons they arrested a few months ago confessed to being armed and financed by Mr. Melaye, an allegation the senator dismissed as unfounded.

Curiously, the six suspects disappeared from police custody in the early hours of March 28, hours before they were due to be arraigned before a state high court in Lokoja, the state capital. The same day, the police launched a manhunt for the escaped suspects and also declared Messrs. Melaye and Audu wanted alongside.

As at April 2, the police said all the escaped suspects have been rearrested at different locations across the country, leaving only Mr. Melaye and Mr. Audu at large.

Mr. Melaye said through his lawyers that he would submit himself to the police if the case could be transferred to Abuja from Lokoja. It was not clear whether the police have accepted this condition. The police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, did not respond to requests for comments. He also did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES requests for comments about the position of Interpol as at Tuesday morning.
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All the six suspects who were declared wanted after allegedly fleeing from police custody in Kogi State on March 28 have been re-arrested, the police have said.

Kabiru Seidu (a.k.a Osama), Nuhu Salisu (a.k.a Small), Aliyu Isa, Adams Suleiman, Emmanuel Audu and Musa Mohammed who were under detention at the A Division Lokoja allegedly escaped from lawful custodyhours before they were due to be arraigned in court in Lokoja, the state capital.

They were arrested on allegations of working as political thugs and suspected assassins for Dino Melaye, a serving senator from Kogi West Senatorial District.

The police said last month that two of the six suspects had confessed to being armed and financed by Mr. Melaye.

Mr. Melaye denied links to the suspects and threatened to sue the police for defamation.

The suspects were arrested at different locations last week, and the last, Mr. Seidu, was arrested on Sunday night in Bauchi State, THISDAY reported, citing sources whose accounts were later corroborated by the police spokesperson in the state.

Mr. Seidu is being held at Force Headquarters in Abuja, THISDAY reported.

Their alleged escape resulted in the redeployment of the police commissioner in the state, Ali Janga, to Force Headquarters in Abuja. A replacement was immediately announced for him.

Dino Melaye

The suspects were due for arraignment on March 28 when they escaped under unclear circumstances. The police spokesperson in Kogi, William Ayah, did not immediately respond to a text message asking to know whether the police have a new date that the suspects would be arraigned in court.
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President Muhammadu Buhari is currently meeting with governors elected under the platform of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).

The meeting, which began at about 2:15pm, is holding inside the Council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Although, the agenda of the meeting was not made public, a source at the Villa said the meeting will principally discuss the decision of Mr. Buhari to make a u-turn on the tenure of party officials.

Mr. Buhari had last week shocked members of APC National Executive Committee (NEC) when he advocated a reversal of the decision to extend the tenure of APC National and State executive officials for one year.

The president said his decision was hinged on the fact that the tenure elongation was against the spirit of the APC constitution and the Nigerian constitution.

That decision was against the position of APC governors who had wanted the party officials to stay till after elections in 2019, our source said.

He also said Mr. Buharis remarks had divided APC governors into two camps.

While a group had a change of heart and agreed with the president, many governors still feel that it is safer for the APC to allow current officials oversee the elections, he said.

Details later
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The head of the Nigerian militarys operation in the North-east, Nicholas Rogers, on Tuesday set up a four-man military panel to investigate the Easter Sunday attack by Boko Haram fighters in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The army general said the investigation become expedient given the large civilian casualties recorded in the attack.

He told journalists in his office that at least 28 people died and about 80 others were injured as a result of attacks by Boko Haram on two suburbs of Maiduguri.

He said over 10 suicide bombers, accompanied by gunmen, attempted to infiltrate Maiduguri but were stopped at the outskirts.

Speaking shortly after inaugurating the four-member committee headed by an army brigadier, Mr Rogers said their task was to unravel what went wrong and proffer solutions on how to avert future occurrence.

The committee has been inaugurated by the Theatre Command to unravel what happened and to ensure that such occurrences do not happen again, he said .

We are going to tighten up security and work with the state government to ensure that the various communities assist us with information.

Mr Rogers, who bemoaned the high casualties recorded in the attack, said it could have been worse had the troops under his command not moved in quickly to stop the attackers from making their way into Maiduguri.

The chairman of the four-man committee is Brigadier General Henry Wesley, and others are Col. Bassey , Lt. Col Mohammed and the secretary of the committee is Captain Mairuwa.

This team will visit the location, interact with the state government and the locals in the general area and come up with a report.

The team has been given three days to complete its assignment so we can forward the report to (the) appropriate security authority for their necessary action, the general said.

While urging the committee to swing into action and turn in their report within stipulated time-frame, Mr Nicholas advised residents to avoid rushing to scenes of attacks because the terrorists target is to get large number of people before they carry out their acts.

He said if people had remained indoors, we wont have had this large number of casualty.

But in the normal sense in Nigeria, when something happens, people rush out to find out what happened, he said.
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An Islamic group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has criticised Nigerian lawmakers on their negative role in the anti-corruption campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The group in a statement on Tuesday said the lawmakers are responsible for the negative report on corruption in the country.

MURICs position is in response to a report by PREMIUM TIMES detailing how senators and members of the House of Representatives are demanding bribes as conditions for passing the 2018 budgets of Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Some heads of MDAs, who spoke with this newspaper in separate interviews alleged that the lawmakers were desperate and bent on shaking them down because the 2018 budget is the last they would consider before the next general elections.

The lawmakers have, however, denied the allegations.

MURIC in a statement signed its director, Ishaq Akintola, noted that the lawmakers attitude is frustrating the anti-corruption war of the current administration.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) is astounded by this disclosure. It is most embarrassing, highly scandalous and very preposterous. This practice is irreconcilable with the prestigious status of the representatives of the Nigerian people. It is a monumental tragedy and a huge disappointment. Our representatives have let us down. Our hearts bleed.

The attitude of Nigerian lawmakers to the war against corruption may also have been partly responsible for the recent negative report on corruption in Nigeria by some international agencies.

Although the lawmakers have denied this allegation, the fact that the Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr Ben Akabueze, affirmed that all the details needed by the lawmakers had been provided is quite didactic. It means the lawmakers are merely looking for ways to arm-twist heads of MDAs into compromising funds entrusted to them for development.

MURIC said the lawmakers could get away with such practice because previous perpetrators have not been punished.

The group traced the practice to the 2003 budget.

Apart from the testimony of the DG Budget Office, the allegation against the lawmakers can also be corroborated by precedence. Some lawmakers did it before and got away with it. It is on record that Nigerian senators demanded gratification to the tune of fifty four million naira (N54 million) from Mallam Nasir El-Rufai as a condition for ratifying his ministerial appointment in 2003.

To pass the budget of the Ministry of Education, they also demanded fifty five million naira. Senator Adighije later admitted being part of the committee of senate on education that took bribe from Fabian Osuji, former Minister of Education.

Surprisingly, however, nobody was arrested. None was prosecuted. Nobody was jailed. This is why they have the temerity to do it again. But they have miscalculated. A war against corruption is ongoing and Nigerians know where the lawmakers stand. Nigerians know the main cassu belli ( an act or situation that provokes or justifies a war) for the hostility between the executive and the legislature. For while President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to stem the high tide of corruption, Nigerian lawmakers are frustrating every move in that direction.

MURIC urged Nigerians to ask their representatives relevant questions and vote out corrupt, unpatriotic and egocentric lawmakers.

The group also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to protect heads of MDAs who are currently under pressure from the National Assembly.
The Alake of Egbaland, Adedotun Gbadebo, says President Muhammadu Buhari deserves to be re-elected to enable him consolidate on the policies and programmes he has initiated to transform the country.

Mr Gbadebo stated this when a former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, led members of the National Movement for the Re-election of President Buhari, on a courtesy visit to his palace in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The monarch spoke a day after former President Olusegun Obasanjo asked Nigerians not to vote for Mr Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Obasanjo, an indigene of Abeokuta, said it would be foolhardy for Nigerians to reinforce failure by re-electing the president and the party.

He criticised the APC-led federal government for allegedly bringing hardship on Nigerians and running an ineffective economic policy which, he said, cripples businesses, causing economic woes in the country.

Bur Mr Gbadebo, who described the president as a focused and sincere leader, said he had charted a worthy path for the nation to transform it to an enviable height.

He said Nigeria could not afford to allow the policies initiated by the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to be discarded should another leader be elected.

I am part of the campaign team soliciting that Buhari should be given another chance to lead for another four years to complete the great work he has started.

Those who drafted the constitution to allow for a second term have envisaged that while a leader takes time to formulate policies and put programmes in place, he needs more time for them to germinate before they begin to translate such to benefits for the people.

Unfortunately, policy somersault has become a prominent feature in the history of governance in the nation.

When a leader goes after four years, virtually everything he has done will be turned over by whoever comes after and we can no longer afford this wastage, he said.

The monarch described Mr. Kalu as a detribalised person, who in spite of being an indigene of the South East Zone, had continued to campaign for Buhari .

Earlier in his address, the former governor commended the monarch for the peace initiatives in the state.

Mr. Kalu, who noted that a prominent feature of the peace initiative was the freedom to support any candidate in an election, declared that members of the group have been travelling across the country to solicit support for the president ahead of the 2019 polls.

We are for oneness of this country. We are for leaders who are sincere to lead us well and who are equally committed to the rules and tenets of democracy.

The greatest challenge of our country is leaders not obeying the law.

When they are leaders, they did not obey the law and when they go out of leadership, they criticise everybody who wants to obey the law.

President Buhari has continued to adhere to the tenets of democracy and abide by the constitutional provisions of the country in tackling the challenges of the nation, he said.

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(NAN)
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An average politician in Nigeria is insensitive to the provisions of the fundamental human rights of Nigerians, Shehu Sani, senator representing Kaduna Central has said.

Asides the politicians, security agencies have also flouted the fundamental rights of citizens, he added.

Mr. Sani said these while receiving a delegation of the European Union parliament at his office on Tuesday.

Addressing the parliamentarians who are members of the EU sub-committee on human rights, Mr. Sani said Nigerian democracy has not performed to expectation in terms of human rights.

In the last 18 to 19 years, our democratic experience and experiment has not been very smooth on the human rights perspective. In the sense that those fundamental principles for which a state would be gauged in terms of its conformity to fundamental human rights, we found out that there are areas where we falter but there are also areas where we have recorded successes.

When we talk of human rights in Nigeria, there are many areas of concern but immediate concern is the lack of political tolerance among many of pour political role players. We still have cases of people arrested for their views, we still have people detained for their own perspective, and we also have security agencies still unable to adapt themselves to reality of what a democratic society should symbolise.

We have seen the temptation from democratic governments to sideline human right issue in the pursuit of the prosecution of war against terrorism. It is our concern that democratic states within the continent should be able to balance their security exigencies with their obligation to respect the fundamental rights of citizens.

He sought the EUs assistance in reinforcing respect for human rights by democracies in Africa.

In rendering the assistance and others, he proposed a system where countries will be measured and interacted with according to their respect for fundamental human rights.

Mr Sani called for a synergy between Africa and Europe to curb recent cases of human trafficking in the continent.

He also called for more activeness of Europe in the activities of the International Criminal Court.

We have a dilemma in terms of what our position will be in terms of the International Criminal Court. This is a court which is now headed by an African and we are very proud and grateful for that. But the dubious contradiction is that of how the court will be able to prosecute a case in view of the fact that nations within the continent are moving towards pulling out of that court. There is need also for you to address the concern, as the perception in Africa, that it is a court that simply targets African leaders and African issues and we dont see it prosecuting cases outside Africa.

Leader of the delegation, Josef Weidenholzer, said Nigeria must first achieve a level of stability as a prerequisite for human rights protection.

We have a lot of issues we have to be concerned together. One of the most important part for me is stability. Stability is only possible if there is democracy, rule of law, human rights. You cannot bring about stability when there is violence. We need a situation where there is stability.

The senator is a very important person because his record of human rights is known everywhere. So, for us to come here, we want to hear his views, his perception and his proposals.

For us it was shocking to know that there was a kind of slave trade established in Libya. It is also part of our non-capacity to solve the problems.

He pledged more support from the EU in solving the problems highlighted.
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Nigerias Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Monday denied reports that he will contest the 2019 presidential election.

Mr. Saraki, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, said report making the rounds that he will run for the presidency is false

In an interview with Daily Independent, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Mr Saraki said there was no iota of truth in the report.

The Boss, a newspaper managed by veteran journalist and one time presidential candidate, Dele Momodu, had reported that Mr. Saraki will join the 2019 presidential race.

The Boss can exclusively reveal that Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has joined the 2019 Presidential race, the paper reported over the weekend.

There is no doubt that he would be a formidable force that should not be ignored because only few politicians in Nigeria today have the pedigree, the experience, the clout and the connection of Senator Saraki.

Impeccable sources reveal that as he plots his move for the Presidency, he is said to be considering building alliances with all Nigerians of like minds.

But Mr. Olaniyonu said the report is false.

He said, The report is false. If it is true that he is contesting, you would have seen the report it (sic) in major dailies since last week Saturday when the news broke out on social media. But as you can see, there is nothing like that, Mr. Olaniyonu said.

The dismissed report also said that Mr. Saraki, a member of the APC, is considering adopting Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as his running mate.

Having already exhibited the ability to work seamlessly with politicians from the two main political parties, it is a path he can easily thread, the newspaper wrote.

In 2011, Mr. Saraki declared his interest to contest for the presidency under the banner of the PDP. He, however, stepped aside for Atiku Abubakar, the consensus candidate adopted by the northern aspirants in the party at the time.

In the run up to the 2015 general elections, Mr. Saraki and other aggrieved members of the then ruling PDP defected to the APC.

He would later join hands with other party members to unseat then incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, and elect President Muhammadu Buhari into office as president.

Mr. Buhari has not officially declared his intention to run for another term but there are indications the president would seek reelection on the platform of the ruling APC.
The embattled former National Security Adviser, currently in detention, Sambo Dasuki, was a financier and facilitator of the 1983 military coup which terminated Nigerias Second Republic and installed Muhammadu Buhari as Head of State.

Mustapha Jokolo, who was the Aide de Camp (ADC) to Mr. Buhari after the coup that toppled the government of President Shehu Shagari, made this claim in an interview with the Sun newspaper.

Mr. Jokolo, who has been deposed as Emir of Gwandu, made the claim while reacting to a new book authored by Muhammadu Bashar, a retired general who replaced him as Emir of Gwandu.

He said Mr. Dasuki, then a major in the army, played active roles through sourcing the funds for the coup that made Mr. Buhari Head of State at the end of 1983.

Mr. Jokolo, who took exception to some details in Mr. Bashars book, said about the funding of the 1983 coup thus: Honestly speaking, thats why sometimes my heart bleeds because what is happening to Sambo Dasuki now, I worry a lot.

It is an irony. If I had not brought him (Dasuki) in this thing (1983 coup plot), it could not have happened with Buhari being Head of State. It was Sambo Dasuki who facilitated it not me. I only suggested it.

He was the one who convinced these people. I swear to God, Almighty. He was the one. He did a lot, honestly speakingSo I connected them with Sambo Dasuki and wallahi, Samboeven when we were planning the coup that saw Buhari as Head of State, Sambo Dasuki was the one who was getting money for us from Aliyu Gusau and Chief of Army Staff votes to help the coup plot because not a single kobo did we get from Buhari.

Not only that, he used his fathers money to sponsor some Mallams to go to Saudi Arabia to help pray for the success of the coup.

Mustapha Jokolo [Photo credit: THISDAYLIVE]

In a recently published book An Encounter with the Spymaster by Yushau Shuaib, Mr. Dasuki disclosed how he and two young army officers went to meet Mr. Buhari on the 1983 coup detat.

Mr. Dasuki said he and two young military officers (Major Mustapha Jokolo and Major Lawal Gwadabe) travelled to Jos to brief Major-General Buhari, who was then the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 3rd Armoured Division on the furtherance of the planning of the 1983 coup, which made Buhari the major beneficiary of the ouster of the elected President Shehu Shagari.

Mr. Dasuki disclosed how Mr. Buhari expressed his bitterness about insinuations on his stewardship in one of the public institutions, upon which Mr. Dasuki assured him not to worry about such reckless and mischievous insinuations, since we are taking over power from the politicians.

When the author of the book asked Mr. Dasuki why he participated in the ouster of Mr. Buhari less than two years afterward, he simply answered that General Buhari should know whom he should blame.

Mr. Dasuki said: I always respect and dignify my seniors and those in positions of authority, whether in service or after. Though as a young officer, I was reluctant to be among those that arrested him. And I was not.

I only met him afterward at Bonny Camp with Lawal Rafindadi. There is no way I could have maltreated him as being alleged in some quarters. I am glad most of the actors are still alive.

Lending credence to Mr. Dasukis claim that he was not in the team that arrested Muhammadu Buhari during the 1985 coup, a retired colonel, Abdulmumini Aminu from Katsina State, revealed the identities of the three majors who arrested the ousted Head of State in an interview published in Sunday Trust in August 2015.

Mr. Aminu said he led the team that arrested Mr. Buhari, with the other junior officers being Lawan Gwadabe and John Madaki.

I must confess that I led that operation, Mr. Aminu said in the interview.

Former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki

I went to Dodan Barracks that time in company of two other officers  then Major John Madaki and Lawan Gwadabe. Three of us went, but specifically I was the one that went upstairs to bring Buhari. With due respect, I have been reading in the papers and listening to radio, people saying that we manhandled him, we disrespected him. That was not true. I and General Buhari are the only two who knew what transpired upstairs and there was nothing like that.

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We gave him his absolute respect as a superior, because even before that time, we had absolute respect for him, because of whom and what he was. We respected him a lot till today and there is no animosity between us and he knew it was a military assignment that we were carrying out from our superior.

He even told me at one time. So for us, it is just like the other way round of when he came to power during the anti-Shagari coup. I was among those who played a major role in getting him to power (in 1983), Mr. Aminu said.
When the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) published a list of 135 individuals suspected of looting public treasury in 2007, Lai Mohammed and Garba Shehu roundly condemned the action, with Mr Mohammed describing it as illegal and a reckless abuse of power because it was aimed at muzzling opposition.

Roughly 11 years later, the two now play leading roles as top administration officials in the area of communication, andMr Mohammed is anchoring piecemeal publications of names of persons suspected to be fraudulent, including those whose cases are pending before the court.

The then chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, published the names in 2007 to deter the public from voting people with questionable public service background, especially those who had been subjects of corruption investigation.

We are going to prevent past leaders from contesting elections by exposing their ills no matter how highly they are placed, because they plunged this country into tokunbo stage, Mr Ribadu said in July 2006 while the names were being compiled. It is not possible to have free and fair elections when corrupt people are allowed to contest elections. I know that I have made enemies and lost friends but the job must be done.

In February 2007, a few weeks before the general elections, the EFCC published names of 135 persons suspected to be fraudulent, including then-Vice President Atiku Abubakar and dozens of governors and top politicians.

The list, which the EFCC described as purely advisory at the time, comprised 82 members of the opposition parties and 53 members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Muhammadu Buhari, then-candidate of the opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), was not amongst those listed as corrupt and unfit for public office at the time.

At the time, Mr Mohammed was the spokesperson for the opposition Action Congress (AC) while Mr Shehu was the spokesperson for Mr Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the AC in the April 2007 general elections.

Were not surprised to see that theyre going for top opposition figures but only inconsequential people in the ruling party, the AC said at the time. It means nothing in law, it is in bad faith, illegal and a reckless abuse of power.

Mr Shehu described the publication as a piece of cheap blackmail, and added that they were studying the list and we are considering a legal option because we are sick and tired of these same baseless and careless charges that they keep bandying about, according to the BBC.

Umar YarAdua, PDPs candidate in the election who was favoured by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo, went on to win the election amidst widespread irregularities.

Now over a decade later, Mr Mohammed is the information minister and the leading actor in the controversial publication of names of alleged looters of public treasury who are members of the PDP.

Mr Mohammeds list contains exclusively members of the PDP, and it includes those who have been charged to court and pleaded not guilty, those who have reportedly returned money to the EFCC and those who are under investigation but have not been charged to court or returned any money.

As it was at the time, opposition figures whose names appear on Mr.Mohammeds list have taken to the media to condemn the Buhari administration and reiterate their innocence. PDP chairman Uche Secondus, Olisah Metuh,Rashidi Ladoja, Babangida Aliyu and Femi Fani-Kayode are amongst top opposition figures who have issued blistering replies about their respective inclusion on the list.

Some lawyers have warned that the publication could set off a wave of lawsuits against the Nigerian government while also complicating ongoing trials.

Mr Mohammed did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES requests seeking comments about his new position on naming allegedly corrupt opposition leaders ahead of general elections. The minister had said he was challenged by the PDP to publish the names.

The information ministers action appears different from the advice of Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, who warned last year that the government cannot publish names of people without first addressing legal implications thereof.

The disclosure will definitely be made, but it is contingent on reconciliation of associated considerations as they relate to subjudice principles, Mr Malami said after the Federal Executive Council meeting on July 5, 2017.

Mr Malami made the comments hours after the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court ordered the federal government to immediately publish personal details of those that law enforcement agencies have recovered suspected public funds from since Mr.Buhari assumed office.

The Buhari administration should immediately release to Nigerians information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered and the circumstances under which funds were recovered, as well as the exact amount of funds recovered from each public official, the presiding judge, Hadiza Shagari, said in suit number: FHC/CS/964/2016.

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The order came in a lawsuit filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project ( SERAP) following a Freedom of Information suit.

The group had written to Mr Mohammed asking for specific details about recovered funds, including those from whom anti-graft agencies had recovered public funds and assets. But Mr Mohammed rejected the FoI, citing legal implications.

The minister had on June 4, 2016 published funds and assets recovered and those under interim forfeiture by anti-corruption agencies, but failed to include names of those involved.

Mr Mohammed did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES request for comments about what influenced his decision to publish names of alleged looters after rejecting SERAPs request for a detailed and more specific information about recovered funds.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Mohammed is reluctant to publish the details of recovered loot because of associated discrepancies that the administration is still trying to work out.

In February, the finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, raised concerns about the gulf between the amount EFCC claimed to have recovered and what is actually in government treasury. Mrs Adeosun said the ministry was only about to account for N91 billion recovered funds since Mr Buhari assumed office in May 2015, as against about N739 billion Mr. Magu said had been recovered within two years.

Ileowo Kikiowo, an APC supporter, said Mr Mohammeds action should be praised for its historic feat.

For the first time in the history of this country, people are knowing what some individuals might have stolen from the public, Mr. Kikiowo said. Diezani Madueke is facing allegations of mismanaging billions of dollars.

The analyst said there would be no legal backlash for the action because Mr Mohammed was careful enough to have indicated that the names were only suspects and their guilt or otherwise would be proven in courts.

If you look at the list, youll see that they are named alleged looters, not that government has convicted, so they have no cases in court, Mr. Kikiowo said.

I commend the minister for publishing the names, he added. It would have been an embarrassment to the government if the PDP had gotten away with the challenge and this has nothing to do with politics but the countrys well-being.

Chido Onumah writes on Innocent Chukwuma

The decision to hold back information on recovered loot might be because some individuals said to have returned stolen money are either in the APC or associates of the president, said Chido Onumah, an anti-corruption activist.

Jafaru Isah is said to be a close associate of the president, but the EFCC recovered millions from him in early 2016, Mr. Onumah told PREMIUM TIMES by telephone Tuesday afternoon. Musiliu Obanikoro was a former PDP member but now in APC and we understand he also returned money to the EFCC.

Mr Onumah, head of African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) said Mr. Mohammeds action demonstrates a lack of commitment in fighting corruption, on the part of the government.

He also said Mr Mohammed switching sides was natural and unsurprising because the difference between APC and PDP is six and half a dozen.

Even President Buhari himself was said to be involved in the return of Abdulrasheed Maina, a corruption allegation he has not denied, Mr Onumah said.

Above all, Mr Onumah said, Mr Mohammeds action betrays the Buhari administrations lack of confidence in the institutions of the state, especially the judiciary and anti-corruption agencies, to do their work.

Theyre supposed to strengthen anti-corruption agencies, Mr Onumah said But this does not seem to be their interest because it is political season.
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Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State fell off while alighting from his official car last Friday and injured his left foot, a statement from the Kogi State Government House, Lokoja, said on Tuesday.

The statement signed by Mr Kingsley Fanwo, DirectorGeneral, Media and Publicity to the governor, said that the incident happened at the old market area in Lokoja, when the governor was waiting to receive the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.

The Speaker visited Lokoja for the burial of Umar Buba Jibril, a member of the House of Representative, who died in Abuja on that Friday.

The injury prevented the governor from attending the burial of Mr Jibril. He was represented by his deputy, Simon Achuba, the statement said.

It dismissed claims that Mr Bello was hospitalised and incapacitated, stating that the governor was promptly treated by his doctors, who bandaged the leg and discharged him.

The statement thanked the governors supporters for their concern over his health, saying he (Bello) was doing well and would resume work after the Easter holidays.

There were reports that the governor was critically injured in the accident.

(NAN)
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The Minister of Interior, AbdulRahman Dambazzau, and the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, Habila Joshak, on Tuesday visited the Emir of Birnin Gwari, Jibril Zubairu Mai-Gwari II.

The officials were in Birnin Gwari on an assessment of the security situation of the area which has witnessed killings and kidnappings of dozens of people in the past few weeks.

PREMIUM TIMES last month reported how 11 soldiers on Operation Ayem Akpatuma were killed by bandits in the area.

Also on Sunday night , a new bride and about10 others were kidnapped by bandits at old Birnin Gwari Town, about 55 kilometres from the main Birnin Gwari town.

In his remarks, Mr Dambazzau, a retired general, told the emir at his palace that the federal government was very concerned about the security situation in Birnin Gwari and environs.

Mr Dambazzau said his coming to the area alongside Mr Joshak and Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Austin Iwar, was to assess the security situation in the area.

God willing, we are going to map out strategies to address the continous killings of innocent lives, kidnapping and cattle rustling.

I want to assure you that the federal government remains committed to protecting lives and property of every Nigerian.

We will not take banditry, we will deal with them accordingly, he said.

The emir in his speech told the minister and his delegation that his people were being killed daily.

He added that as the leader, he had to speak out about his peoples predicament, because until the coming of the minister, they felt they were abandoned.

The emir appealed to the federal government to put more efforts to stop the bandits terrorising the area.

He explained that the armed bandits come from Zamfara to attack Birnin Gwari and also enter Zamfara from Birnin Gwari to carry out attacks on communities in Zamfara State.

People are being killed here on daily basis. Just day before, two people were killed and nine others, including a newly wedded bride were kidnapped, he said.

The monarch told the minister to inform President Muhammadu Buhari to rehabilitate Kaduna-Birnin Gwari-Jebba road, which he said has been in a deplorable state for a long time.

The Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road has been awarded for rehabilitation because big people like senators and governors pass through the road. Yes, we know they dont pass here, but the road is very strategic to the economy of the country.

Finished goods and raw materials are transported through here to and from Lagos, he said.
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State on Tuesday, swore-in Hyginus Nwokwu as the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG) to replace Bernard Odoh.

Mr Odoh, a professor, tendered his resignation letter to Mr Umahi on Monday over alleged governments inconsistent policies, but the governor in a reaction said he (Odoh) has been sacked.

Mr Umahi, while swearing-in the new SSG, vowed that after reviewing Mr Odohs resignation letter, he would probe the allegations he made in the letter.

I will find out if he breached his oath of office through the contents of the letter and challenge him in court to prove all the allegations he made.

I know that no civil servant is being owed in the state for instance and we rank among the states in the south east zone that prioritise our workers welfare.

People act most times without knowledge as David said in the Bible that the most painful thing about Absaloms betrayal is that it came from a person he loved most, he said.

The governor said that he would not be distracted by Mr Odohs action, adding that those who wanted to tow the line of betrayal were free to do so.

When I received the heaviest dose of betrayal in 2015, I had no Executive Council, House of Assembly and even SSG talk less of presently that these organs are in place.

I am sure to have at least five faithful followers in an EXCO of 60 and would therefore not retreat or surrender, he said.

He congratulated the new appointee and noted that it was a decision that has made a lot of people happy.

Nwokwu is the deputy director of our divine mandate platform and though he was denied of choice appointments and elevations in the past, he never complained.

I did not know that he is popular such as this and this is an opportunity for all of us to work together, he said.

Mr Nwokwu in his reaction said he accepted the appointment wholeheartedly and pledged to discharge his duties with dedication.

A man who does not belong to a set-up is a weed, no matter how genuine he might appear.

When the weed is cleared, the soil would receive more nutrients and we should therefore not allow saboteurs to be part of our generals, he said.

Mr Umahi also inaugurated a 28-member committee on farmers/ herdsmen crisis in the state with the charge to permanently check clashes between both groups.

The committee consists of representatives of the government, security agencies, traditional rulers, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, among others.

(NAN)

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The embattled Oluwo of Iwoland, Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has said that God is using those against his lifestyle (swag) to make him popular, insisting that he has the right as a king to bear the tag emir and other kingship titles in Nigeria.

The traditional leader recently attracted a backlash when reports emanated that he had decided to bear the tag of emir rather than the established title of oba.

The monarch flayed his critics while speaking on a radio programme on Rave FM in Osogbo on Tuesday. He said by his actions, he seeks to upgrade Yoruba culture.

How can you abandon who you are? Can you abandon king for king? Oba is our own word. I am an Oba and I will remain Oba for life. I only said I can also be referred to as an Emir. I am the Emir of Yorubaland, I am the Igwe of Yorubaland and the Obi of Yorubaland. I can bear all titles of kings. We have to upgrade and update our traditional culture, else, we will go into extinction.

Mr Akanbi said he has started a cultural revolution which makes him wear emir regalia sometimes. The northern traditional rulers admired my Emir regalia whenever I put it on but (I am) not getting support from Yoruba Obas and people.

By saying that I can also be addressed as emir, I talked metaphorically. But some bad-belle (unpleasant mannered) people are condemning me and telling lies against me. My enemies are making me known. God is using my enemies to promote me. Some people dont like the way I add swags. I cant help them. I want to upgrade our culture. I promote ofi dress and emirs love my dressing.

The monarch has been criticised by different people and groups including Yoruba Youth Movement following his adoption of the emir title last weekend.
SBS Consulting Pte Ltd has won the Singapore 500 Enterprise Award which recognizes prominent SMEs in Singapore that upholds best practices to render quality services.

By: SBS Consulting Pte. Ltd

Media Contact

SBS Consulting Pte. Ltd

info@sbsgroup.com.sg

+65 65360036 SBS Consulting Pte. Ltd+65 65360036

End

--Mr. Vishal Ojha, the CEO of SBS said, "It is an honor to be counted as one of the best and be rewarded for it. The award means a lot to all of us at the company."The coveted award covers Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from various industries including those offering corporate services in Singapore. A high-profile award committee handpicks the winners for demonstrating qualities in entrepreneurship, sustainability, and corporate growth.The Singapore 500 Enterprise Award is a much sought-after endorsement of the positive impact that the pro-customer attitude brings to the industry. The award highlights the SMEs that have adopted the sustainable business model to pursue the quality objectives and to build their brand and business.The panel assesses the SMEs quantitatively and qualitatively for their impact in their respective industries. It also reviews their operational practices and service standards for grading them.SBS Consulting Pte Ltd is a trusted provider of corporate services. The local and foreign entrepreneurs and corporates seek its Singapore company registration services to set up new businesses. SBS' bookkeeping and accounting services in Singapore allow its clients to get a grip on their business' finances. The firm also offers corporate secretarial services to Singapore businesses and ensures their statutory compliance and corporate governance.Ms. Meenakshi Agarwal, one of the directors of SBS said, "This prestigious award is a great morale booster to businesses striving to improve service standards and achieve better customer satisfaction."SBS Consulting is a corporate services provider most popular with the small business owners. It renders affordable services like company registration accounting, bookkeeping, GST registration and filing, XBRL filing, etc.Visit:High Street Centre,#17-02, 1 North Bridge Road,179094 - SingaporePhone: +65-6536 0036Email: info@sbsgroup.com.sg
Internationally Acclaimed Actress and Author Jenifer Lewis visits South Florida

By: South Florida Dream Book Tour

Jenifer Lews

Contact

MD Marketing Network

Melissa P. Dunn, MBA

***@mdmarketingnetwork.com MD Marketing NetworkMelissa P. Dunn, MBA

End

-- Fans of the hit show Blackish will get to enjoy 3 opportunities to interact with and be entertained in person by its sassy star and hilariously talent that is Jenifer Lewis. The audacious "Mega Diva" and legendary star has authored a wildly entertaining tell-all memoir, "." In just 3 South Florida appearances, Ms. Lewis will bring guests along for a look back on her memorable journey to fame and the unforgettable life lessons learned along the way.The limited engagement events are open to the public and include:- Meet Mingle & Laugh with Jenifer Lewis at the Intracostal Park Clubhouse located at 2240 N. Federal Hwy., Boynton Beach, Florida- A Conversation with Jenifer Lewis hosted by Jill Tracey, Host of HOT 105 FM's Hot Talk with Jill Tracey. Lauderhill Performing Arts Center 3800 NW 11Place, Lauderhill, Florida 33311 A Sunday Brunch with Jenifer Lewis. Overtown Performing Arts Center 1074 NW 3Ave. Miami, Florida 33136Tickets are available at http://www.southfloridadreambooktour.com/ These 3 special event engagements are co-hosted by the Jenifer Lewis "Dream Tour," in collaboration with Lauderhill Regional Chamber of Commerce, Overtown Performing Arts Center, Overtown CRA, SA Nelson & Associates, Unique Productions International, R. S. Reid & Associates, and MD Marketing Network.Told in the audacious voice Jenifer's fans adore and within the pages of "" Ms. Lewis describes a road to fame made treacherous by dysfunction and undiagnosed mental illness, including a sex addiction. Yet, supported by loving friends and strengthened by "inner soldiers," Lewis never stopped entertaining and creating.Readers are given an up close and personal experience as Ms. Lewis develops icon status stemming from a series of legendary screen roles as the sassy, yet loveable, mama or auntie. She shares anecdotes of her emotional disturbances, culminating in a breakdown while filmingmovie, launch her on a continuing search for answers, love, and healing.After the show, Ms. Lewis will meet and mingle with attendees. Don't miss your chance! Lewis keeps it real in this provocative and touching memoir by a mid-western girl with a dream whose journey from poverty to Hollywood will move, shock, and inspire readers.Written with no-holds-barred honesty and illustrated with sixteen-pages of color photos, this gripping memoir is filled with insights gained through a unique life that offers a universal message: "Love yourself so that love will not be a stranger when it comes."From her first taste of applause at five years old to landing on Broadway within eleven days of graduation and ultimately achieving success in movies, television and global concert halls, Jenifer reveals her outrageous life story with lots of humor, a few regrets and most importantly, unbridled joy. Candid, warm and wonderfully inspiring, The Mother of Black Hollywood intimately reveals the heart of a woman who lives life to the fullest.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillstone Networks , a leading provider of network security solutions, announced today that Info Security Products Guide has named Sever Breach Detection System (sBDS), a winner in the 14th Annual 2018 Info Security PG's Global Excellence Awards in Most Innovative Security Product (Hardware) of the year; CloudView, a winner in Network Security and Management; and CloudEdge, a winner in Cloud Security.

These prestigious global awards recognize cybersecurity and information technology vendors with advanced, ground-breaking products, solutions, and services that help set the bar higher in all areas of security and technology:

The Hillstone Server Breach Detection System (sBDS) adopts multiple threat detection platforms that include both traditional signature-based technology as well as large-scale threat intelligent data modeling and user behavioral analytics modeling, which provides an ideal solution to detect unknown or 0-day threat attacks, to protect high-value, critical servers and their sensitive data from being leaked or stolen.

Hillstone CloudView is a cloud-based security management and analytics platform, which empowers security administrators to take swift action with real-time centralized monitoring of multiple devices, traffic and threat analytics, real-time alarms, as well as comprehensive reporting and log retention. With 24/7 mobile and web access from anywhere on any device, it delivers optimal customer experience along with comprehensive security management and operational efficiencies.

Hillstone's Virtual Next-Generation Firewall, CloudEdge, is deployed as a virtual machine, and provides advanced security services for applications and users in any virtualized environment. Hillstone CloudEdge provides a complete VNF solution for NFV environments, supporting various cloud platforms, deployment automation, service orchestration and more.

"We are proud to be recognized as an industry player by Info Security Products Guide," says Lingling Zhang, Senior Vice Present from Hillstone Networks. "Behind this distinguished success is our relentless drive to stay customer focused. This recognition from Info Security Products Guide further validates our commitment to our customers and their security needs."

About Hillstone Networks

Founded in 2006, Hillstone delivers proven, high-performance network security solutions to 15,000+ customers worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies, financial and educational institutions, service providers, and data centers. Hillstone has been recognized by Gartner four years in a row in its Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Network Firewalls, and has also achieved NSS Labs "Recommended" status in its 2016 Next-Generation Firewall public test. www.hillstonenet.com.

Contacts

Zeyao Hu

Marketing Manager

[email protected]

SOURCE Hillstone Networks

Related Links

https://www.hillstonenet.com/


BETHESDA, Md., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) is delighted to recognize Zhijian "James" Chen, Ph.D., with the 2018 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences for discovery of the enzyme cyclic GMPAMP synthase (cGAS) and its corresponding pathway, which solved a century-old mystery about DNA. Long before DNA was known to be a genetic material, scientists knew that it could activate the body's immune system to fight infections. However, they did not understand the cellular process that occurred to trigger this response until Dr. Chen's discovery. The cGAS enzyme and its DNA-sensing pathway are the catalyst for the critical immune response that defends the body against viruses, bacteria and tumors, but surprisingly, they also can inflict autoimmune disease. Now in its sixth year, the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences will be presented to Dr. Chen at the FNIH Award Ceremony hosted by CNN's Wolf Blitzer on May 16, 2018 in Washington, D.C.

"We are proud to honor Dr. Chen with the 2018 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences for the discovery of the cGAS enzyme and pathway and their unique role in immune and inflammatory response," said Maria C. Freire, Ph.D., President and Executive Director of the FNIH. "Dr. Chen joins five other Lurie Prize winners, who are shaping the future of human health through their profound biomedical research."

Dr. Chen is the George L. MacGregor Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science and Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 2012, Dr. Chen and his team discovered the cGAS enzyme and showed that it detects DNA as a danger signal to stimulate immune and inflammatory responses through an elaborate cellular process. Using elegant biochemistry, Dr. Chen revealed that the cGAS enzyme finds and binds itself to a virus's DNA after it enters a cell's cytoplasm. The enzyme then becomes activated and creates a small molecule called cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) that instructs the immune system to fight the virus. This process enables the body to not only attack viruses such as the Herpes virus and HIV, but also other pathogens that harbor DNA, including those that can cause diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria. Dr. Chen also uncovered that if the cGas enzyme binds itself to the individual's DNA and the pathway becomes hyperactive, it can trigger autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Therapies that target this pathway could lead to treatments or prevention of autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and even some cancers.

The Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences recognizes outstanding achievement by a promising scientist aged 52 or younger. The prize includes a $100,000 honorarium, which is made possible by a donation to the FNIH by philanthropist Ann Lurie, who serves as President of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation and the President of Lurie Holdings, Inc.

"We are pleased to recognize Dr. Chen with this year's Lurie Prize in Biomedical Science for his formative research and its effects on a wide-range of areas, from autoimmune disease to cancer," said Ms. Lurie. "Through the Lurie Prize, each year we strive to empower young biomedical researchers so that they can continue advancing discoveries that can improve the quality of people's lives. This, in turn, we hope will inspire young students to participate in STEM so that some of them may one day be the next generation of Lurie Prize recipients."

Dr. Chen earned a Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo and completed undergraduate work in Biology at Fujian Normal University in Fujian, China. He is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences.

"I am so honored and humbled to join the ranks of previous Lurie Prize winners. I am very grateful to the recognition and support of Ms. Lurie, the Foundation for the NIH and the distinguished jury who selected me for this tremendous honor," said Dr. Chen. "This honor belongs to a team of talented and dedicated scientists and students in my lab, who have worked hard to make original discoveries. The Lurie Prize is special in that it has the implicit expectation for the recipients, who are in their mid-careers, to continue to make new discoveries. This is most encouraging and empowering."

Dr. Chen was selected by a jury of six distinguished biomedical researchers, chaired by Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., Distinguished Service Professor of Neuroscience, Pharmacology & Psychiatry, The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University and Vice Chairman for Science of the FNIH.

Previous winners of the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences are David M. Sabatini, M.D., Ph.D., from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2017), Jeannie T. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School (2016), Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D., from Stanford University (2015), Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., from the University of California, Berkeley (2014) and Ruslan M. Medzhitov, Ph.D., from Yale University School of Medicine (2013).

The FNIH is grateful to Pfizer for being a Visionary Sponsor of the 2018 FNIH Award Ceremony. For more information about the FNIH Award Ceremony and a complete list of sponsors, visit fnih.org/AwardCeremony.

About the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health creates and manages alliances with public and private institutions in support of the mission of the NIH, the world's premier medical research agency. The Foundation, also known as the FNIH, works with its partners to accelerate biomedical research and strategies against diseases and health concerns in the United States and across the globe. The FNIH organizes and administers research projects; supports education and training of new researchers; organizes educational events and symposia; and administers a series of funds supporting a wide range of health issues. Established by Congress, the FNIH is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For additional information about the FNIH, please visit fnih.org.

Media Contacts:

Abbey Meltzer

Foundation for the NIH

(301) 435-4103

[email protected]

SOURCE Foundation for the National Institutes of Health

Related Links

http://www.fnih.org


Gordon Snyder, Chairman of the event, said, "It is imperative that we continue to come together as a region, to support this fundraiser. When we hear that Greater Cincinnati ranks 2 nd in the nation with the number children in poverty and homelessness," Snyder said, "what more do we need to say about the importance of another successful Mardi Gras that has been known to feed so many our area's homeless kids throughout each year."

"The Mardi Gras for Homeless Children event is truly one of those events that makes a difference," said Dan Bell, Marketing Director for Mercedes-Benz of Fort Mitchell. "We are thrilled to support the Northern Kentucky Restaurant Association and the dedicated charities and volunteers! MBFM is committed to the fundraiser for 2019 and beyond."

The Mardi Gras culinary event, emceed by Cincinnati REDS "Inside the Park voice of The Cincinnati REDS", Joe Zerhusen and Kiss 107 DJ Josh Martinez, features more than 50 booths of fantastic food and beverages furnished by the members of the Northern Kentucky Restaurant Association. The event also included King Scott Sloan, 700 WLW, Queen Shelia Gray, Local12 and Giovani Bernard, Bengals Running Back, as the Royal Court presiding over the event for the last 3 years. Along with a both Live and Silent auctions, live music by Robin Lacy and DeZydeco, a Mardi Gras parade led by the Beechwood High School band and the Ben-Gal Cheerleaders, it is one fundraiser you don't want to miss while helping a great cause.

Next year's annual event will take place on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. The March 5th, Fat Tuesday event at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center is from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. For more information about the 2019 event or how you can help, please call 859-291-NKRA (6572).

Contact:

Gordon Snyder

100 E RiverCenter, Ste 1050

Covington, KY 41011

Phone 859-261-6572

Fax 859-261-5156

[email protected]

SOURCE Northern Kentucky Restaurant Association
Lindy Mtongana joined CCTV Africa in June 2015 as a news anchor and reporter. Her journalism career spans nearly a decade with experience in print, online, radio and television.

Having found her home in broadcast, Lindy has worked for premier independent platforms in South Africa including the award-winning Talk Radio 702 and the countrys first 24-hour news channel, eNews Channel Africa (eNCA).

Driven by a passion for telling Africas stories, Lindys career has taken her across the continent, where she has engaged with regional leaders, newsmakers, and community change-agents.

She has a Bachelor of Journalism Degree from Rhodes University, South Africa, and is currently studying for an LLM in Human Rights Law through the University of London.

She spoke to myNetwork:

You describe yourself as an anchor and a reporter in the fields of print, online, radio and television. Which is your favourite, and at what point did you decide that this is what you wanted to do?

My elder brother is probably one of the most natural entertainers I know. Since childhood he has always been able to make me laugh. He is a great performer, an especially good story teller. When we were young, he took charge of the make-believe roles we played  cowboys, music stars, and radio DJs counting down the weeks top tunes for our imaginary listeners.

To be honest, I think it was this particular game that prompted my interest in journalism. My father encouraged us to read, and when my brother would signal that it was time for the radio news round-up, with a newspaper in hand, I spoke directly into our old tape-recorder and read the news as best as I could.

When my brother went to boarding school, I would play on my own, often reading the news in front of a mirror, imitating a TV news anchor. I did not consciously hold onto these little games as a future goal, but I have no doubt they have quietly influenced my journey.

So, to answer your question, I must have decided a long time ago that broadcast would be the platform through which I would one day share stories.

Is feminism overrated in media? Is there a need for it in this space and what has your experience in newsrooms been in regard to gender?

I do not think feminism is overrated in any sector. There is too much inequality in the work place for us to assume that questions to do with gender do not need to be addressed.

Whether it is in pay gaps, or job description, women in general have a harder battle to fight in securing a true sense of equality.

As female journalists, we are at times belittled by male interviewees, seduced by politicians, harassed by senior colleagues. At no point in my education and training was I prepared for this or taught how to deal with it. There is still so much to be done. And we women need to take responsibility for that  our silence has allowed many of these injustices to continue.

Is it particularly different reporting about your country/continent as an insider working for a foreign body? If so, how does that affect your stories?

Ideally, it would be great if Africa had a very influential international broadcasting platform. If it existed, I would wish to work for it.

However, working for the broadcasters that I do today, I genuinely feel fortunate to be able to tell stories about Africa. The platform certainly matters, but I hope the stories themselves matter more.

There are many debates now about whether or not true objectivity exists, or even if it should be a goal. Everyone has an agenda, and some are more palatable than others.

What are some of the amazing places your career has taken you?

I think I loved Cape Verde the most. Having long listened to and loved Cesaria Evoras music, it was an amazing experience to travel through her country and an honour to meet her family.

It was just so incredibly special for me. I also enjoyed Mauritania.The desert was beautiful in ways that I had never imagined. I also loved Senegal, and cant wait to spend more time in a space so energetic, so colourful, so confident and creative.

Whats your big retirement plan? A book of essays or a tell-all? Sitting on a farm somewhere watching sunsets?

I would love to own a quaint little jazz bar one day. Thats all I know for sure for now.
ROCK HILL, S.C., April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Next week in St. Louis, 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) and its customers will participate in the 30th annual Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference to share strategies and workflows for 3D printing solutions to make manufacturing more efficient, responsive, and cost effective. Manufacturers can begin with 3D Systems' affordable, industrial 3D printing solutions and grow into the company's full production factory solutions for plastics and metals.

In November 2017, the company announced advancements in its production solutions for plastics  including Figure 4 - and Metals; investment casting; and new materials. 3D Systems has been working with customers in these categories to help them implement innovative solutions that are making unprecedented impact on their business, including reductions in cost and cycle times as well as improved productivity.

3D Systems believes additive manufacturing solution suppliers must offer a comprehensive, consultative, and phased, approach to help customers move from rapid prototyping into full production with additive manufacturing solutions. The company's extensive portfolio includes services, materials, software, and technology and addresses each phase of the additive manufacturing workflow  supporting customers regardless of where they fall within the additive manufacturing maturity model. 3D Systems' solutions span rapid prototyping to fully integrated additive manufacturing for complex processes enabling mass customization, improved productivity, and supply chain efficiencies.

"When you look at the 3D Systems eco-system, we place the customer at the center of everything we do," said Vyomesh Joshi, president and chief executive officer, 3D Systems. "The 'customer-first' mindset drives us to design solutions to meet our customers' needs, including durability, productivity, repeatability, and effective total cost of operation. We integrate services, materials, software, and technology into an end-to-end solution that redefines processes and ultimately benefits their business."

The AMUG Conference is billed as being "by users for users" and includes a plethora of presentations throughout the week, which demonstrate how companies across a variety of industries are integrating 3D printing into their workflow, and the benefits they are realizing. 3D Systems is hosting a program of speakers to highlight how its solutions are transforming mainstream manufacturing practices. Of special note are presentations by Chuck Hull  inventor of stereolithography and co-founder and chief technology officer of 3D Systems - as well as by University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), B&J Specialty, and Mueller AMS covering high speed digital molding, conformal cooling, and investment casting using additive manufacturing solutions, respectively.

AMUG General Session: Manufacturing Redefined - Figure 4 in the Real World

The 3D Systems experience at AMUG 2018 will feature the new Figure 4 additive production platform, which accelerates and simplifies the fabrication of plastic parts with high speed digital molding, while matching the accuracy, reliability, and repeatability of traditional injection molding. Figure 4's ultra-fast print technology combined with production-grade materials enables up to 15x throughput improvements versus competitive offerings, at up to 20 percent lower cost than current manufacturing processes.

In partnership with 3D Systems and select aerospace OEMs, University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) is leveraging Figure 4 to develop agile programs to meet supply needs for aviation components. UDRI is testing material and technical barriers with an eye towards delivering Figure 4 capability as a solution for just-in-time inventory control for small polymer parts.

Figure 4 was invented by 3D Systems' co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Chuck Hull, who will present his vision for 3D printing in manufacturing in this keynote presentation. Mr. Hull will be accompanied by his colleagues Scott Turner and Steve Hanna as well as Dr. Timothy H. Osborn from UDRI.

AMUG Session: Changing the Injection Molding Equation with Conformal Cooling and Metal 3D Printing

In the plastics molding industry, cooling lines and circuits are the last thing added to the design of a metal part mold. This means the designer is often constrained by limited space and looming deadlines to route an efficient water line circuit  often resulting in inconsistent cooling. This can lead to several part-failing conditions such as warping, bad sink marks, and long molding cycle times, among others. Due to the processes and tools available, conventional manufacturing methods limit the ability of mold makers to optimally cool their molds.

B&J Specialty Inc. - a tool and die shop in Indiana - invested in a 3D Systems ProX DMP 300 metal 3D printer and complementary mold design and additive manufacturing software (Cimatron and 3DXpert, respectively), to achieve an end-to-end design and manufacturing solution. Jarod Rauch (B&J Specialty) will lead this session in conjunction with David Lindemann (3D Systems) to discuss the strategies employed and advantages achieved as a result, including 40% reduction in cycle times, 30% production rate increase, improved molded part quality and increased longevity and performance of the tooling itself.

AMUG Session: Investment Casting Overhaul: Updating Speed, Cost and Integration of 3D Printed Patterns

Although 3D printed patterns have been used in investment casting for more than 25 years, upwards of 98% of all use has been for prototyping and very low volume production applications. Printed patterns have seen limited acceptance for production use for a number of reasons: they are too expensive, they cannot be produced fast enough for production purposes, and the additional steps required in the casting process are disruptive to the foundry process. However, if 3D printed patterns were competitive with molded wax patterns, the market would expand by an order of magnitude.

3D Systems is driving developments with its investment casting solutions  QuickCast SLA patterns and MJP printed wax patterns - to dispel these perceived shortcomings. These projects are already helping customers achieve advancements to make 3D printing investment casting patterns in 90% less time at 92% lower cost, and easier to integrate into the casting process. Tom Mueller  founder of Mueller Additive Manufacturing Solutions  will lead this session and discuss progress made in these projects.

Grow with 3D Systems at AMUG 2018

3D Systems is a Diamond Sponsor at AMUG 2018. The company is offering a full program of educational sessions during the conference in Diamond Suite D1 located in St. Louis Union Station. Here, AMUG attendees can also engage with company experts to see and learn more about:

Figure 4 solution portfolio with demonstrations of Figure 4 Modular and Figure 4 Standalone,

entry-level, industrial 3D printing with the FabPro 1000 solution,

a full portfolio of metal 3D printing solutions from standalone to the factory floor,

rapid prototyping and production applications in plastic 3D printing,

a vast range of new materials and their industry applications,

the benefits of On Demand Manufacturing outsourcing services,

and how 3D Systems' software solutions help users address critical workflow issues.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In many cases, forward looking statements can be identified by terms such as "believes," "belief," "expects," "may," "will," "estimates," "intends," "anticipates" or "plans" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based upon management's beliefs, assumptions and current expectations and may include comments as to the company's beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside the control of the company. The factors described under the headings "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other factors, could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected or predicted in forward-looking statements. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not, and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance or results, nor will they necessarily prove to be accurate indications of the times at which such performance or results will be achieved. The forward-looking statements included are made only as the date of the statement. 3D Systems undertakes no obligation to update or review any forward-looking statements made by management or on its behalf, whether as a result of future developments, subsequent events or circumstances or otherwise.

About 3D Systems

3D Systems provides comprehensive 3D products and services, including 3D printers, print materials, on demand manufacturing services and digital design tools. Its ecosystem supports advanced applications from the product design shop to the factory floor to the operating room. 3D Systems' precision healthcare capabilities include simulation, Virtual Surgical Planning, and printing of medical and dental devices as well as patient-specific surgical instruments. As the originator of 3D printing and a shaper of future 3D solutions, 3D Systems has spent its 30-year history enabling professionals and companies to optimize their designs, transform their workflows, bring innovative products to market and drive new business models. More information on the company is available at www.3dsystems.com.

SOURCE 3D Systems

Related Links

http://www.3dsystems.com


5G is yet to be introduced in the global market. However, early involvement of companies in the market can benefit them in many ways and network equipment manufacturers would have developed mature products before the commercial deployment of 5G commences. A new research report by Persistence Market Research depicts the clear scenario of the upcoming 5G equipment market and the opportunities that are likely to emerge in the coming years.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661339/Persistence_Market_Research.jpg )



According to the report projections, the global 5G network equipment market is expected to witness a market value of over US$ 1,100 Mn in 2019 and increase to more than US$ 18,200 Mn in just six years. The market is anticipated to grow at an exponential CAGR of 59.3% during the forecast period 2019-2025.

5G Network Equipment Market Research Report Overview @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/5g-network-equipment-market.asp

Inherent Challenges in Small Cells Deployment

There are various components in the 5G equipment market including small cells, macro cells, AAU, RRU, BBU, etc. Among these components, the global market is expected to witness an explosion in the number of small cells. The macro cells that were in use till now, provide radio coverage to a wide geographical area and small cells were connected and dependent on macro cells.

The major challenge in the deployment of a dense network of small cells pertains to a significant rise in the capital expenditure. These expenses would be harder to recover from telecom subscribers, considering the cost consciousness prevalent among consumers. These networks are also required to be energy efficient, weight efficient and compact.

"Most of the developments being carried out around the commercialization of 5G involves the use of mmWave bands, as a huge spectrum is available for telecom usage at mmWave. However, the propagation at mmWave is characterized with poor performance in Non Line-of-sight networks, and also faces signal loss owing to atmospheric factors.

Request Sample Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/22567

To meet the demands of high data rates in areas with high device density, and to counter high signal loss, carriers will have to deploy a network of small cells, thus bringing the network closer to end users." --- Analyst - IT & Telecommunication, Persistence Market Research

Competitive Landscape

Companies are planning to bring 5G integrated products on the floor from 2019. Top companies that are planning to launch antenna units include Qualcomm, Samsung, and NEC Corporation. Major auxiliary unit providers include Huawei, Ericsson, and ZTE Corporation. This report also introduces the other companies in this market such as Analog Devices, Siemens, and Schneider Electric that will provide supporting components.

Some of the key offerings expected by big brands include Qualcomm's 5G modems and Samsung's 5G enabled chips. Qualcomm is working on its Snapdragon X50 5G modem for early 5G networks, which uses advanced MIMO techniques.

Download and View Report TOC, Figures and Tables @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/5g-network-equipment-market/toc

This modem is designed to support cloud connected devices that will require high broadband speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second. Qualcomm has followed ongoing industry developments to augment its operations in the 26 GHz millimeter wave band. Samsung on the other hand has developed a 7nm fabrication process that will be used by Qualcomm to manufacture its first 5G chips.

The projected market forecast has instilled optimism in companies about their future growth in the market. Industry experts are of the opinion that the opportunities in the global market are immense, while the scale of deployments itself is unprecedented. Semiconductor companies, pure-play 5G technology companies and even traditional equipment providers will all benefit from 5G.

Get full Report Now https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/22567

Persistence Market Research Overview

Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.

To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.

Contact

Persistence Market Research

U.S. Sales Office:

305 Broadway, 7th Floor

New York City, NY 10007

+1-646-568-7751

United States

USA - Canada Toll-Free: 800-961-0353

Email: [email protected]



PMR Latest News: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/news

SOURCE Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.
MONUMENT, Colo., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Advisors Asset Management (AAM) has been recognized as an industry leader in Structured Products by mtn-i, a London-based global provider of market information for structured notes, private placements and MTN market coverage.

AAM received a prominent distinction in the "Deal of the Year" category. The award for Deal of the Year was given to AAM and Deutsche Bank for its successful partnership developing the USD1.441m Worst-of-Stock-Linked Notes, due 2020. "Deutsche Bank's competitive pricing capabilities and partnership with AAM led to a successful collaboration and we look forward to future opportunities with them," said Robert Sowinski, Managing Director and Head of Structured Product Trading.

"AAM is honored for the second consecutive year to be recognized by mtn-i for our innovative achievements in this space. We have a strong track record in helping advisors and their clients meet a wide range of financial goals by offering innovative portfolio solutions, including structured products," said John Radtke, Executive Vice President and Head of Capital Markets. "These accolades are a testament to our commitment to providing clients with best-of-breed solutions and services."

In 2016, AAM was also recognized in two prominent categories: Structured Investment Advisor of the Year and U.S. Deal of the Year.

The awards will be presented to AAM at the 12th annual mtn-i Americas Structured Note Showcase & Awards Gala on April 12, 2018 in Miami.

About Advisors Asset Management

For nearly 40 years, AAM has been a trusted resource for financial advisors and broker/dealers. It offers access to UITs (unit investment trusts), open- and closed-end mutual funds, separately managed accounts (SMAs), structured products, the fixed income markets, portfolio analytics and now exchange-traded funds (ETFs). For more information, visit www.aamlive.com.

Advisors Asset Management, Inc. (AAM) is a SEC registered investment advisor and member FINRA/SIPC. | 18925 Base Camp Road | Monument, CO 80132 | www.aamlive.com

CRN: 2018-0327-6523 R

CONTACT: Catherine Drury

JConnelly

(646) 922-7773

[email protected]

SOURCE Advisors Asset Management

Related Links

http://www.aamlive.com


LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD) and Huntsman jointly gathered today for a groundbreaking ceremony held at the site of what will be Air Products' new steam methane reformer (SMR) and cold box in Geismar, Louisiana. Air Products will build, own and operate the facility under a long-term agreement and industrial gases including carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen and steam will be produced and supplied to Huntsman's neighboring Geismar operations. The new facility is to be commercially onstream in early 2020.

"It is always exciting to break ground for a new world-scale facility, and especially to do so at a location where it will primarily serve a long-standing customer. We have supplied Huntsman with industrial gases at other facilities where they have operations and we are pleased to expand our relationship through this new supply supporting Huntsman at Geismar. The Air Products plant will be state-of-the-art in terms of high reliability and sustainability, with enhanced energy efficiency and reduced emissions," said Corning Painter, executive vice president  Industrial Gases at Air Products.

Tony Hankins, president of Huntsman Polyurethanes said, "The reliability and environmental performance of the new industrial gases plant from Air Products will be an important foundation in supporting the delivery of our North American Polyurethanes strategy. As a business, we are focused on rapidly building our downstream footprint and capabilities. This strategic shift can only be achieved with a strong upstream asset position at our Geismar MDI facility. We look forward to the successful commissioning of the Air Products plant in early 2020."

The new facility, to be located on land leased from Huntsman, will produce approximately 6.5 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of CO, 50 MMSCFD of hydrogen, and up to 50,000 pounds per hour of steam. There is also the ability for the facility to be expanded to increase CO in the future to support additional growth.

Beyond supply to Huntsman's production facility in Geismar, Air Products' new plant will also be connected to its Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline and network system (GCP). Dedicated in 2012, the 600-mile pipeline span is the world's largest hydrogen plant and pipeline network system. The GCP stretches from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana, and supplies customers with over 1.4 billion feet of hydrogen per day from 22 hydrogen production facilities.

"We recently announced increased hydrogen capacity to the Gulf Coast pipeline for customers with an onstream project in Texas, and now we will again have added enhanced and reliable hydrogen supply to the pipeline network when this Geismar facility is placed onstream. We continually seek additional sources of hydrogen to add product supply capacity to our customers along our well-established pipeline network system along the Gulf Coast," said Painter.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading Industrial Gases company in operation for over 75 years. The Company's core industrial gases business provides atmospheric and process gases and related equipment to manufacturing markets, including refining and petrochemical, metals, electronics, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the world's leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.

The Company had fiscal 2017 sales of $8.2 billion from continuing operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of about $35 billion. Approximately 15,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from a diversity of backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities and the world. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

About Huntsman

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2017 revenues of approximately $8 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 75 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries and employ approximately 10,000 associates within our four distinct business divisions. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company's website at www.huntsman.com.

NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2017.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Downloadable photos from today's event are available in Air Products' online News Center.

SOURCE Air Products

Related Links

http://www.airproducts.com


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC, the global Jewish advocacy organization, expressed regret that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has cancelled an agreement aimed at resolving the status of African migrants.

AJC had welcomed yesterday the announcement by the prime minister of the agreement between the Israeli government and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to arrange for resettlement of about half of the migrants to Western nations, while Israel would grant the remainder official status as temporary residents. The total number of migrants, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, is estimated to be 35,000 to 39,000.

"The challenges Israelis face regarding the migrants who arrived in Israel uninvited are enormously complex. Yet, Prime Minster Netanyahu's summary cancellation of the proposed migrant deal, a positive step towards resolving the matter, is unfortunate," said AJC CEO David Harris. "A solution still is urgently needed that is good for migrants, and good for Israel."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org


TEL AVIV, Israel, April 3rd, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcide, today announced the general availability of its Data Center and Cloud Operations Security Platform, which protects any combination of container, serverless, Virtual Machine (VM) and bare metal in the modern data center. Alcide unites DevOps, Security and Engineering teams with a simplified viewpoint and controls to manage and secure the evolving data center and hybrid cloud, at any scale. Alcide will be demonstrating the platform at the AWS Summit in San Francisco (4th April, booth #1125).

Today, many enterprises find themselves operating multi-account, multi-compute data centers, with different teams that usually work in silos. Alcide's platform provides superior visibility, cloud-native threat protection and network policy enforcement, providing enterprises with a wide and deep perspective. It reduces the number of tools needed and eliminates the blind spots between complex infrastructure and applications.

"The time is right for a new approach to secure our most critical business apps and sensitive data. Today, many enterprises find themselves operating data centers with extremely complex hybrid environments but securing each one with point solutions that leave security gaps between them. Alcide takes a new approach -- it was purpose-built to secure complex hybrid, cloud environments and our customers can attest to the vastly improved control they have of their security and operations," said Ranny Nachmias, Founder and CEO Alcide.

Alcide works for all the stakeholders who operate and protect today's data center - cloud architects, DevOps and Security - by giving them a single platform with a clear view of their infrastructure and apps in real time, enforce firewall policies and behavioral based anomalies, and monitors multiple accounts in multiple environments.

Further reading:

Alcide's GA announcement blog

Explore the platform

Download one pager

About Alcide

Alcide's Data Center & Cloud Ops Security Platform protects any combination of container, serverless, VM and bare metal. Offering real-time, aerial visibility, threat protection and security policies enforcement, Alcide secures the cloud infrastructure, workloads and service mesh against cyber-attacks, including malicious internal activity, lateral movement and data exfiltration.

Alcide empowers DevOps, Security and Engineering teams with simplified control to manage and secure the evolving data center and hybrid cloud, at any scale.

SOURCE Alcide

Related Links

https://www.alcide.io/


As an extension of the "Make Everything" campaign developed by Aleph Objects' advertising agency, Made , LulzBot will take over the station using OUTFRONT media's premier outdoor media assets with advertisements celebrating what's possible to make with a LulzBot 3D printer. Objects featured in the ads - including everything from a fully functional longboard to a printable speaker - are available to download at LulzBot.com/Make .

"The work is meant to reflect how useful the product is; these printers are not for making tchotchkes, they're for making everything from advanced prototypes to common household items," said Dave Schiff, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Made. In today's fragmented media landscape, out-of-home advertising continues to be an effective tool for building brand awareness.

Serviced by over 150 trains each week and with more than a dozen tech companies less than a mile away, the Caltrain Station is the ideal location for the innovative company. "3D printing is bridging the gap between emerging technology and traditional manufacturing. Our professional and educational users are leading the new manufacturing economy, and we are excited to share this message with the broader technology and startup communities in San Francisco," said Harris Kenny, President of Aleph Objects.

The campaign will run for a total of four weeks.

About Aleph Objects

Founded in January 2011 and built on the philosophy of freedom, Aleph Objects, Inc. is a Free Software, Libre Innovation, and Open Source Hardware company. Headquartered in Loveland, Colorado, USA, Aleph Objects designs, develops, and manufactures the LulzBot line of 3D printers, parts, and plastics. Find a full press kit here: https://www.lulzbot.com/press/

About Made

Created in 2012, Made is very much an agency built for modern times. We bring best-in-class strategy and execution informed by years of big, international brand experience. We are many people, from many disciplines, united by a passion for making things happen for brands that make things here. Made is an amalgam of like-minded innovators, thinkers and makers built for a single purpose: transforming business. Made works with clients like Under Armour, Clayton Homes, Mozilla, TaxAct, Bright Health and others. For more information, visit https://www.heymade.com/.

About OUTFRONT Media Inc.

OUTFRONT Media connects brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its ON Smart Media platform, OUTFRONT Media is implementing digital technology that will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage people on-the-go.

Contacts:

OUTFRONT Press:

Carly Zipp

(212) 297-6479

[email protected]

SOURCE OUTFRONT Media Inc.

Related Links

http://www.outfrontmedia.com


DUBLIN and BUDAPEST, Hungary, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), a leading global pharmaceutical company, and Gedeon Richter Plc., today announced positive topline results for RGH-MD-53, a Phase 3 study of cariprazine for the treatment of adults with major depressive episodes associated with bipolar I disorder (bipolar I depression). The companies announced in December 2017 positive topline results for the second pivotal trial (RGH-MD-54) of cariprazine in the treatment of bipolar I depression. In that trial both cariprazine 1.5mg and 3mg were statistically greater than placebo.

The efficacy of cariprazine in the treatment of bipolar I depression has been demonstrated in three positive pivotal trials, including RGH-MD-53, RGH-MD-54 and RGH-MD-56. Allergan plans to include data from all three pivotal trials in the Company's Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the second half of 2018. Cariprazine is currently approved in the U.S. under the brand name VRAYLAR for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults, and acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults.

"We are very pleased with the results of our third pivotal study, which reinforce the wealth of data supporting cariprazine as a potential treatment in adults with bipolar depression" said David Nicholson, Chief Research & Development Officer at Allergan. "Bipolar depression is often difficult to treat and can be extremely debilitating for patients. At Allergan, we are committed to developing treatments that address unmet needs facing people living with mental illness and are looking forward to submitting an sNDA for cariprazine for patients suffering with bipolar I depression."

For RGH-MD-53, the primary and key secondary efficacy endpoints were met for the cariprazine 1.5 mg dose group. Cariprazine 1.5 mg showed a significantly greater improvement than placebo for the change from baseline to week 6 on both the primary efficacy parameter the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score (p=0.0417, LSMD -2.5), as well as the key secondary parameter, Clinical Global Impression Scale-Severity (CGI-S) (p=0.0417, LSMD -0.3). Cariprazine 3 mg showed a numerical improvement over placebo for both the primary (p=0.1051, LSMD -1.8) and secondary parameters (p=0.1370, LSMD -0.2), but did not reach statistical significance.

"Treating bipolar depression can be very difficult given the few therapies available to manage these symptoms of bipolar I disorder. Further, there are a limited number of products available to help treat the full range of bipolar disorder  from mania through depression," said Gary Sachs, MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "This data is encouraging for patients and the broader psychiatry community, as it demonstrates cariprazine's potential in treating the full spectrum of the disorder."

In this study, 493 patients were randomized (1:1:1) to placebo, cariprazine 1.5 mg and cariprazine 3 mg treatment groups to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of cariprazine in patients with bipolar I depression. Cariprazine was generally well tolerated in the trial. The overall incidence of patients who experienced adverse events was 51 percent for the cariprazine 1.5 and 3 mg dose groups, and 46 percent for the placebo group. The majority of adverse events were mild to moderate and led to discontinuation in approximately 5 percent of cariprazine treated patients versus 3 percent of placebo treated patients. The most commonly reported adverse events in the cariprazine groups were akathisia, restlessness, nausea, and fatigue.

"Today's positive results provide further support for the therapeutic value of cariprazine, one of our flagship products. We are encouraged by the findings, which mark a major step forward in making this promising treatment option available for patients suffering from bipolar depression," added Dr. Istvan Greiner, Research Director of Gedeon Richter Plc.

About Cariprazine in Bipolar I Depression

RGH-MD-56 was a Phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial in adult patients with bipolar I depression. A total of 584 patients were randomized to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of cariprazine 0.75 mg, 1.5 mg and 3 mg compared to placebo in the treatment of outpatients with bipolar I depression. Patients underwent a no-drug screening period of approximately 7-14 days, followed by 8 weeks of double-blind treatment (primary endpoint was 6-weeks) and a 1-week, no investigational product safety follow-up period.

RGH-MD-53 and RGH-MD-54 were identical Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter, fixed-dose clinical trials in adult patients with bipolar I depression. Patients were randomized in both studies aiming to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of cariprazine 1.5 mg and 3 mg compared to placebo in outpatients with bipolar I depression. Patients underwent a no-drug screening period of approximately 7-14 days, followed by 6 weeks of double-blind treatment and a 1-week, no investigational product safety follow-up period.

About VRAYLAR (cariprazine)

VRAYLAR is an oral, once daily atypical antipsychotic approved for the acute treatment of adult patients with manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder, with a recommended dose range of 3 to 6 mg/day, and for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults, with a recommended dose range of 1.5 to 6 mg/day.

While the mechanism of action of VRAYLAR in schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder is unknown, the efficacy of VRAYLAR could be mediated through a combination of partial agonist activity at central dopamine D and serotonin 5-HT 1A receptors and antagonist activity at serotonin 5-HT 2A receptors. Pharmacodynamic studies with cariprazine have shown that it acts as a partial agonist with high binding affinity at dopamine D 3 , dopamine D 2 , and serotonin 5-HT 1A receptors. Cariprazine demonstrated up to ~8-fold greater in vitro affinity for dopamine D 3 vs D 2 receptors. Cariprazine also acts as an antagonist at serotonin 5-HT 2B and 5-HT 2A receptors with high and moderate binding affinity, respectively as well as it binds to the histamine H 1 receptors. Cariprazine shows lower binding affinity to the serotonin 5-HT 2C and  1A - adrenergic receptors and has no appreciable affinity for cholinergic muscarinic receptors. The clinical significance of these in vitro data is unknown.

VRAYLAR was discovered and co-developed by Gedeon Richter Plc and is licensed by Allergan, in the U.S. and Canada. For more than a decade both companies have conducted over 20 clinical trials enrolling thousands of patients worldwide to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cariprazine for patients suffering from a broad range of mental health illnesses.

Visit www.vraylar.com for more information.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNING: INCREASED MORTALITY IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA-RELATED

PSYCHOSIS



Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an

increased risk of death. VRAYLAR is not approved for treatment of patients with dementia-

related psychosis

Contraindication: VRAYLAR is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity. Reactions have included rash, pruritus, urticaria, and events suggestive of angioedema.

Cerebrovascular Adverse Reactions, Including Stroke: In clinical trials with antipsychotic drugs, elderly subjects with dementia had a higher incidence of cerebrovascular adverse reactions, including fatalities vs placebo. VRAYLAR is not approved for the treatment of patients with dementia-related psychosis.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS): NMS, a potentially fatal symptom complex, has been reported with antipsychotic drugs. NMS may cause hyperpyrexia, muscle rigidity, delirium, and autonomic instability. Additional signs may include elevated creatine phosphokinase, myoglobinuria (rhabdomyolysis), and acute renal failure. Manage with immediate discontinuation, intensive symptomatic treatment, and monitoring.

Tardive Dyskinesia (TD): Risk of developing TD (a syndrome of potentially irreversible, involuntary, dyskinetic movements) and the likelihood it will become irreversible may increase with the duration of treatment and the cumulative dose. The syndrome can develop after a relatively brief treatment period, even at low doses, or after treatment discontinuation. If signs and symptoms of TD appear, drug discontinuation should be considered.

Late-Occurring Adverse Reactions: Adverse events may first appear several weeks after initiation of VRAYLAR, probably because plasma levels of cariprazine and its major metabolites accumulate over time. As a result, the incidence of adverse reactions in short-term trials may not reflect the rates after longer term exposures. Monitor for adverse reactions, including extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) or akathisia, and patient response for several weeks after starting VRAYLAR and after each dosage increase. Consider reducing the dose or discontinuing the drug.

Metabolic Changes: Atypical antipsychotics have caused metabolic changes, such as:

Hyperglycemia and Diabetes Mellitus: Hyperglycemia, in some cases associated with ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar coma, or death, has been reported in patients treated with atypical antipsychotics. Assess fasting glucose before or soon after initiation of treatment, and monitor periodically during long-term treatment.

Hyperglycemia, in some cases associated with ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar coma, or death, has been reported in patients treated with atypical antipsychotics. Assess fasting glucose before or soon after initiation of treatment, and monitor periodically during long-term treatment. Dyslipidemia: Atypical antipsychotics cause adverse alterations in lipids. Before or soon after starting an antipsychotic, obtain baseline fasting lipid profile and monitor periodically during treatment.

Atypical antipsychotics cause adverse alterations in lipids. Before or soon after starting an antipsychotic, obtain baseline fasting lipid profile and monitor periodically during treatment. Weight Gain: Weight gain has been observed with VRAYLAR. Monitor weight at baseline and frequently thereafter.

Leukopenia, Neutropenia, and Agranulocytosis: Leukopenia/neutropenia have been reported with antipsychotics, including VRAYLAR. Agranulocytosis (including fatal cases) has been reported with other antipsychotics. Monitor complete blood count in patients with pre-existing low white blood cell count (WBC)/absolute neutrophil count or history of drug-induced leukopenia/neutropenia. Discontinue VRAYLAR at the first sign of a clinically significant decline in WBC and in severely neutropenic patients.

Orthostatic Hypotension and Syncope: Atypical antipsychotics cause orthostatic hypotension and syncope, with the greatest risk during initial titration and with dose increases. Monitor orthostatic vital signs in patients predisposed to hypotension and in those with cardiovascular/cerebrovascular diseases.

Falls: VRAYLAR may cause somnolence, postural hypotension, motor and sensory instability, which may lead to falls and, consequently, fractures, or other injuries. For patients with diseases, conditions, or medications that could exacerbate these effects, complete fall risk assessments when initiating antipsychotics and recurrently for patients on long-term therapy.

Seizures: Use VRAYLAR with caution in patients with history of seizures or with conditions that lower the seizure threshold.

Potential for Cognitive and Motor Impairment: Somnolence was reported with VRAYLAR. Caution patients about performing activities requiring mental alertness (eg, operating hazardous machinery or a motor vehicle).

Body Temperature Dysregulation: Use VRAYLAR with caution in patients who may experience conditions that increase body temperature (eg, strenuous exercise, extreme heat, dehydration, or concomitant anticholinergics).

Dysphagia: Esophageal dysmotility and aspiration have been associated with antipsychotics. Antipsychotic drugs, including VRAYLAR, should be used cautiously in patients at risk for aspiration.

Drug Interactions: Strong CYP3A4 inhibitors increase VRAYLAR concentrations, so VRAYLAR dose reduction is recommended. Concomitant use with CYP3A4 inducers is not recommended.

Adverse Reactions: In clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions (5% and at least twice the rate of placebo) are listed below:

Schizophrenia: The incidences within the recommended dose range (VRAYLAR 1.5  3 mg/day and 4.5  6 mg/day vs placebo) were: EPS (15%, 19% vs 8%) and akathisia (9%, 13% vs 4%)

Bipolar mania: The incidences within the recommended dose range (VRAYLAR 3  6 mg/day vs placebo) were: EPS (26% vs 12%), akathisia (20% vs 5%), dyspepsia (7% vs 4%), vomiting (10% vs 4%), somnolence (7% vs 4%), and restlessness (7% vs 2%)

Please also see full Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning.

About Richter

Gedeon Richter Plc. (www.richter.hu), headquartered in Budapest/Hungary, is a major pharmaceutical company in Central Eastern Europe, with an expanding direct presence in Western Europe, in China and in Latin America. Having reached a market capitalisation of EUR 4.1 billion (US$ 4.9 billion) by the end of 2017, Richter's consolidated sales were approximately EUR 1.4 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) during the same year. The product portfolio of Richter covers many important therapeutic areas, including Women's Healthcare, Central Nervous System, and Cardiovascular areas. Having the largest R&D unit in Central Eastern Europe, Richter's original research activity focuses on CNS disorders. With its widely acknowledged steroid chemistry expertise, Richter is a significant player in the Women's healthcare field worldwide. Richter is also active in biosimilar product development.

About Allergan plc

Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model  Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.

Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, a model of research and development, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. With this approach, Allergan has built one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry.

Allergan's success is powered by our global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective on existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; the impact of uncertainty around timing of generic entry related to key products, including RESTASIS, on our financial results; uncertainty associated with financial projections, projected cost reductions, projected synergies, restructurings, increased costs, and adverse tax consequences; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

CONTACTS: Allergan:

Investors:

Daphne Karydas

(862) 261-8006





Karina Calzadilla

(862) 261- 7328





Media:

Amy Rose

(862) 289-3072





Fran DeSena

(862) 261-8820

SOURCE Allergan plc

Related Links

www.allergan.com


LEAWOOD, Kan. and MINNEAPOLIS, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and virtual care technology leader Zipnosis today announced a strategic partnership to provide a virtual health care platform to the AAFP's 129,000 members and their patients.

The virtual care platform provides an online diagnosis and treatment solution that will allow AAFP members to offer their patients convenient access to care by connecting them virtually with their family physician.

This strategic partnership stemmed from the results of a 2017 AAFP member survey designed to identify new programs and services. One of the clear themes that surfaced was the demand for a virtual care service that addresses the unique needs of family physicians.

"Patients today want quick and easy access to health care, but that convenience shouldn't come at the cost of the relationship they have with their family physician," said Steven Waldren, M.D., Director of the AAFP's Alliance for eHealth Innovation. "Offering this new telemedicine platform gives our family physician members another tool through which they can care for patients."

Virtual care is becoming a trusted and convenient solution for primary care physicians to address access challenges in health care. Family physician practices are uniquely suited to leverage the potential virtual solutions offered to supplement in-person care.

"We believe that ensuring family physicians can offer their patients the convenience and access of a virtual care service is critical to maximizing the value of local, personal care by embracing the benefits of today's connected, digital world," said Rebecca Hafner-Fogarty, M.D., senior vice president of policy and strategy at Zipnosis and a member of the AAFP.

The partnership between the AAFP and Zipnosis will give family physicians across the country access to a virtual care platform designed to meet their unique needs and those of their patients. The virtual care platform will offer online adaptive interview technology that allows the patient to provide symptom and health history information for diagnosis and treatment by their physician and real-time video consultations that enable the patient to remotely connect with their physician.

"Forward-thinking organizations such as the AAFP understand the importance of leveraging innovative technology to tackle the current challenges that family physicians and their patients face," said Jon Pearce, CEO of Zipnosis. "By partnering with Zipnosis, they have the technology and resources to allow them to offer their members a virtual care solution that unlocks clinical capacity and improves patients' access to care across the U.S."

The AAFP will offer the virtual care platform to a select group of innovators as part of a pilot designed to help further tailor it to the specific needs of family physicians. The service will be available to all AAFP members later in 2018.

About American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

Founded in 1947, the American Academy of Family Physicians represents 129,000 physicians and medical students nationwide, and it is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.



Family physicians conduct approximately one in five of the total medical office visits in the United States per year  more than any other specialty. Family physicians provide comprehensive, evidence-based, and cost-effective care dedicated to improving the health of patients, families and communities. Family medicine's cornerstone is an ongoing and personal patient-physician relationship where the family physician serves as the hub of each patient's integrated care team. More Americans depend on family physicians than on any other medical specialty.



To learn more about the AAFP and family medicine, visit www.aafp.org/media. Follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook. For information about health care, health conditions and wellness, visit the AAFP's award-winning consumer website, www.familydoctor.org.

AAFP Media Contact

Megan Moriarty

[email protected]

800.274.2237, ext. 5223

About Zipnosis

Zipnosis (www.zipnosis.com) offers health systems a leading virtual care platform that pairs traditional telemedicine with next-generation online virtual care tools to drive exceptional clinical quality, significant clinical efficiency and durable financial returns. A trusted innovator in the industry, Zipnosis pioneered online adaptive interview technology, which is built on a foundation of clinical best practice guidelines. This smart alternative to traditional telemedicine allows providers to diagnose and develop a treatment plan for patients in just two minutes. With Zipnosis' unique platform approach to virtual care, patients can be treated through the online adaptive interview, video and phone, real-time chat or when appropriate, referred to in-person care via the platform's advanced routing capabilities. Based in Minneapolis, MN, Zipnosis helps health systems keep pace with the changing demands of healthcare consumers.

Zipnosis Media Contact

Siobhan Nguyen

[email protected]

617.986.5784

SOURCE Zipnosis

Related Links

http://www.zipnosis.com


Whether you believe it or not, there is an age-old belief that somewhere on this planet there is someone who looks like you; your doppelganger.

In First Lady Margaret Kenyattas case, her doppelganger is one Grace Elizabeth Mkabili who hails from Voi town.

Her almost close resemblance to the First Lady has made her a popular figure in her town. In fact, the 51-Year-Old has earned the nickname First Lady and reportedly enjoys special treatment.

She particularly stunned journalists during a Kenya Tourist Board trip to Voi where she was in attendance. Her light-skinned complexion, short hair, and height have been likened to that of Margaret Kenyatta.

Speaking to the Standard, Grace revealed that people often stop to ask her if she is related to the First Family. She said that some of her friends have nicknamed her Margaret Kenyatta.

I am a likeable person and mingle freely with people here. Most people are not convinced when I tell them I am not First Ladys sister. After I decided to shave my hair and dye it, every one said I was a carbon copy of the First Lady. The saloonist handed me the mirror and I was shocked to see that I resembled the first Lady, she said.

She added that she once met the First Lady during the official handover ceremony of the first mobile clinic to the Beyond Zero campaign in Wundanyi, Taita Taveta.

I was near the dais and I think some people she sat with, drew her attention to me as she waved to me. Of course, I was elated,  she narrated.

Despite being a staunch ODM supporter, Grace said she would love to take photos with her lookalike.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: AMPE) today announces the Company has retained PAREXEL (www.parexel.com/) to assist in preparing and presenting the Biologics License Application (BLA) for Ampion for the treatment of osteoarthritis-of-the-knee (OAK) to the FDA.

Mr. Macaluso, Ampio's CEO, noted that "PAREXEL is particularly suited to assist the Company in the preparation and presentation of the BLA to the FDA because their CRO Division helped design and manage the successful pivotal Phase III clinical trial. The results for which were reported on December 14, 2017, and are summarized below:

Ampion met its primary endpoint with 71% of Ampion treated patients meeting the OMERACT-OARSI responder criteria, which exceeds the physician reported threshold of 30% for a meaningful treatment in severe osteoarthritis of the knee (p < 0.001). Responders experienced, on average a 53% decrease in pain as measured by WOMAC A and a 50% improvement in function as measured by WOMAC C and a 45% improvement in the quality of life as measured by Patient Global Assessment (PGA).

In the secondary endpoints, Ampion treated patients achieved statistical significance in a composite endpoint of pain and function from baseline in both categories at 12 weeks (p < 0.001), which was supported by an increase in quality of life as measured by patient global assessment (PGA) (p < 0.001).

When treated with Ampion (n=144), patients experienced significant improvement in a composite endpoint of pain and function compared to all KL 4 saline-treated patients (n=206) in Ampion single injection phase 3 clinical trials (p < 0.001).

Mr. Macaluso further noted that "two additional events of significance have occurred:

The Open-Label Extension (OLE) study has closed enrollment (satisfying the FDA requirement for 100 patients treated with multiple injections) for the assessment of the clinical safety for long-term treatment with Ampion (up to 5 yearly injections). The product continues to demonstrate the safety and tolerability of continuous long-term use of Ampion with no drug-related Treatment Emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs) or serious TEAS reported in the OLE study.



Publication in the Journal of Orthopaedics of "Minimal Clinically Important Improvement Response In Patients With Severe Osteoarthritis Of The Knee: Short Report From A Survey Of Clinicians https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jor.2018.03.034, authored by Dr. Eric Stahl MD and Kristin Salottolo MPH.



This survey of assessments of " clinically meaningful reductions in pain, function and Global Assessment " by 27 KOLs most frequently selected 20% MCII in KL4 patients. Clinicians were divided on responder rate, selecting 20%, 30%, and 50% equally. Ampion significantly exceeded all these numbers in their pivotal clinical trial, as noted above."

Mr. Macaluso continued "If approved, Ampion would be the first intra-articular injection to treat the signs and symptoms of patients with severe osteoarthritis of the knee (Kellgren-Lawrence x-ray grade 4). To support a label for signs and symptoms, Ampion was asked to demonstrate clinical efficacy in a composite response of pain, function and be supported by quality of life, all of which was demonstrated in this pivotal clinical trial."

Regulatory Exclusivity and IP protection:

The Company believes that Ampion, a low molecular weight fraction of human serum albumin with anti-inflammatory properties, will be identified as a "reference product" upon FDA approval of their BLA. Reference products are granted twelve years of exclusivity under the PHS Act, 42 U.S.C.  262(k)(7). Specifically, FDA is not permitted to approve an application for a biosimilar or interchangeable product until 12 years after the date of the first licensure of the reference product. The existing Ampion portfolio has patent coverage in all major jurisdictions throughout the world (U.S., Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Eurasia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa) for pharmaceutical compositions and methods of treating a range of conditions. The portfolio includes 125 issued patents and 85 pending applications throughout seven primary patent families having expiration dates that extend to 2035.

About Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an incurable and progressive disorder of the joints involving degradation of the intra-articular cartilage, joint lining, ligaments, and bone. The incidence of developing osteoarthritis of the knee over a lifetime is approximately 45%. As this disease is associated with age, obesity, and diabetes, this number will continue to grow. Certain risk factors in conjunction with natural wear and tear lead to the breakdown of cartilage. Osteoarthritis is caused by inflammation of the soft tissue and bony structures of the joint, which worsens over time and leads to progressive thinning of articular cartilage. Other symptoms include narrowing of the joint space, synovial membrane thickening, osteophyte formation and increased density of subchondral bone.

About Ampio Pharmaceuticals

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a development stage biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of therapies to treat prevalent inflammatory conditions for which there are limited treatment options. We are developing compounds that decrease inflammation by (i) inhibiting specific pro-inflammatory compounds by affecting specific pathways at the protein expression and at the transcription level; (ii) activating specific phosphatase or depletion of the available phosphate needed for the inflammation process; and (iii) decreasing vascular permeability.

About PAREXEL

For over 35 years, PAREXEL has proven to be a trusted partner for the complex development journey required of biopharmaceutical and medical device companies as well as an astute guide, able to simplify that journey for our client's so safe new products can reach patients more quickly.

Forward-Looking Statements

Ampio's statements in this press release that are not historical fact, and that relate to future plans or events, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ampio's expectations with respect to Ampion, as well as those associated with clinical trials, regulatory approvals, the ability of Ampio to enter into partnering arrangements, the Biological License Application (BLA) and decisions and changes in business conditions and similar events, all of which are inherently subject to various risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties involved include those detailed from time to time in Ampio's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation, under Ampio's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ampio undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Company Contact

Tom Chilcott

Chief Financial Officer

Phone: (720) 437-6500

[email protected]

SOURCE Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ampiopharma.com


ATLANTA, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Applerouth, a leader in test prep, gives students a chance to test drive the SAT and ACT without the pressure of an official score. The tutoring company will host National Practice Test Weekend on April 21-22, followed by online Strategy Sessions on May 8th and 9th. Participants also receive a complimentary private consultation to create a custom prep plan.

On National Practice Test Weekend, students will take official full-length, proctored exams online and at locations in Atlanta, Seattle, the Washington D.C Metropolitan area, Chicago, Manhattan, and Westchester, NY. Applerouth will host tests free-of-charge and provide participants with detailed score reports that highlight personal strengths and opportunities for growth.

"Students who take regular practice exams achieve greater score gains," says Senior Director of Tutor Services John Cadenhead. "Each time students take a full-length test they build stamina, gain confidence, and get more comfortable performing under time pressure."

Students and parents will gain access to exclusive online Strategy Sessions where a top tutor will demo test-specific strategies and teach attendees how to productively interpret score reports. Participants can also schedule a private consult with an Applerouth Program Advisor to map out their targeted study plan.

To learn more about National Practice Test Weekend visit www.applerouth.com/testdrive.

About Applerouth: Founded in 2001, Applerouth began in Atlanta as a local tutoring group and a labor of love. We've since grown into a flourishing national organization with more than 200 tutors and offices in Atlanta, D.C., New York, Chicago, and Seattle. Our students come to us from all over the world and span the gamut from those in pursuit of perfect scores to those struggling to overcome severe learning differences. While we've expanded our reach, we've retained our down-to-earth attitude and innovative approach to education.

Press inquiries, contact:

Lauren James

Marketing Manager

[email protected]

404-793-7815

SOURCE Applerouth

Related Links

https://www.applerouth.com


Eckert, based in Cincinnati, OH, has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. He is responsible for directing the continued growth of ARMCO Partners through their sales and marketing. Eckert's priority is to stay ahead of the industry curve and exceed the needs of ARMCO's clients. His commitment aligns with ARMCO's dedication to client-satisfaction and ensuring that services are executed according to the company's values: Expertise, Integrity and Efficiency.

"Charlie's experience and character fit with the ARMCO culture," says Jeff McQuillan, Founder and CEO of ARMCO Partners. "Charlie understands our hospital clients' problems, defines their needs, and advises them of the best solutions."

"Hospitals and physician practices want solutions that improve quality of care while ensuring the financial health of their facilities," says Eckert. "I've seen ARMCO facilitate those goals, resulting in client loyalty."

ARMCO began as an off-shore company in medical record coding for U.S.-based hospitals, complemented by U.S.-based quality assurance for clients in the healthcare industry. The company's success has led to an expansion of its services, which include a unique concept: forensic billing. In forensic billing, ARMCO's employees review, recode and resubmit claims that were previously denied. The numbers that are recouped by a single hospital are millions of dollars of otherwise lost revenue.

All ARMCO employees are certified and expertly trained medical record coders. They have undergone rigorous training on the industry's most prevalent solutions, including Epic, Cerner, and athenaHealth, to assure rapid and immediately successful deployment of project resources. Additionally, ARMCO prides itself on complete transparency for customers' anticipated outcomes.

About ARMCO Partners

ARMCO Partners, LLC. provides several lines of service to meet the needs of its healthcare customers. The company offers forensic billing, clinical abstracting, remote CDI, coding and billing for hospital and physician practices. ARMCO offers clients the unique complement of scale and customized service offerings. For more information, visit www.armcopartners.com.

Media Contact: Lynne Gayle, 877-545-3274

SOURCE ARMCO Partners

Related Links

http://www.armcopartners.com


SALT LAKE CITY, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Artemis Health, a benefits analytics software company, has completed a HITRUST CSF audit. The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) is a collaboration of security leaders in the healthcare, business and technology field to create, access, store or exchange protected healthcare information. HITRUST creates and maintains a Common Security Framework (CSF) to bring together other compliance standards.

Stringent security standards are crucial for companies like Artemis that work with sensitive data like medical claims, prescription claims and other employee benefits data.

HITRUST builds on HIPAA's standards of security and adds extra layers of protection by providing a more demanding framework for compliance. This process more closely maps the Artemis Standards on Compliance Report (SOC2) with the requirements of HIPAA to provide transparency to clients and partners, who are generally more familiar with HIPAA standards. A HITRUST-approved auditing firm has conducted a thorough audit of all Artemis security protocols and standards before issuing their report and certification.

Artemis CEO and co-founder Grand Gordon said, "At Artemis, nothing is more important than the security of our customers' data. Our very first hire was a security specialist, and we've diligently worked to maintain security as the core of our technology and services. This HITRUST audit report just corroborates what we've been doing since the beginning: going above and beyond to keep our customers' data safe and secure."

HITRUST CSF will provide the peace of mind Artemis' clients and prospective clients need when evaluating the security standards of benefits data vendors.

About Artemis Health

Artemis Health helps companies utilize their data to optimize their benefits programs while minimizing their spend. The Artemis Platform provides customers with actionable data on their benefits programs, opportunities and gaps, and easy-to-use tools to help them make great decisions. By making it easy for self-insured employers to use their own benefits data, our mission is to help fix healthcare in America and ensure access to good healthcare everyone can afford. Based in Salt Lake City, Artemis Health works with self-insured employers, brokers and consultants nationwide. Discover more at www.artemishealth.com.

Press Contact:

Haley Eckels, Content Manager

[email protected]

408-332-2622

SOURCE Artemis Health

Related Links

https://www.artemishealth.com


DALLAS, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) ("Ashford Trust" or the "Company") today announced details for the release of its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018.

Ashford Trust plans to issue its earnings release for the first quarter after the market closes on Thursday, May 3, 2018, and will host a conference call on Friday, May 4, 2018, at 11:00 a.m. ET. The number to call for this interactive teleconference is (719) 325-2312. A replay of the conference call will be available through Friday, May 11, 2018, by dialing (719) 457-0820 and entering the confirmation number, 7383959.

The live broadcast of Ashford Trust's quarterly conference call will be available online at the Company's web site, www.ahtreit.com on Friday, May 4, 2018, beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. The online replay will follow shortly after the call and continue for approximately one year.

Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investing opportunistically in the hospitality industry in upper upscale, full-service hotels.

Ashford has created an Ashford App for the hospitality REIT investor community. The Ashford App is available for free download at Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store by searching "Ashford."

SOURCE Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ahtreit.com


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexis S. Axelrad joined Barst Mukamal & Kleiner two decades ago, starting her career with the firm as a writer of the second edition of the firm's treatise on US Immigration law. At one of New York City's most well-established immigration law firms, she benefited from the deep wealth of knowledge of the partners and staff and was exposed to cases encompassing all facets of US immigration law including deportation and removal, temporary and permanent business related immigration, marriage and family reunification immigration, US citizenship and employment compliance matters amongst others, culminating in her promotion to partner in 2007.

Ms. Axelrad brings a tenacious work ethic to one of the city's oldest immigration firms and has participated in prominent boards and organizations during the last 20 years. She currently serves as an Elected Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Board of Governors, and Emeritus Chair of the New York Chapter of the AILA Customs and Border Protection Committee (CBP), currently holding the position of Vice-Chair of the CBP Committee at the AILA national level. She is an elected member of New York's Executives Association Board of Directors and her past service includes work on the AILA USCIS Headquarters Benefits/Policy Committee. She has invested a tremendous amount of effort into the New York AILA chapter including leadership and membership in numerous government liaison committees and is a past Chair of the chapter.

Her long-standing dedication to immigration law earned Ms. Axelrad the AILA President's Commendation Award for Outstanding Service, repeated listings as a New York Super Lawyer and "Chambers & Partners USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business" recognition. As a diligent immigration researcher, New York Law Journal columnist and author of "US Immigration Laws: Working, Living and Studying in America," Ms. Axelrad enjoys a rare level of expertise that has secured her place as a prominent national and international public speaker on US immigration law topics. Working through three administrations and countless changes to immigration policy has helped Ms. Axelrad develop a working relationship with key figures at the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and Customs and Border Protection.

At Barst Mukamal & Kleiner, Ms. Axelrad's skills are commonly brought to bear on challenging immigration cases that involve marriage, citizenship and the intricacies of business and hiring practices under current immigration law and constantly evolving policy.

Joining Ms. Axelrad in the milestone are her fellow partners. Emre Ozgu marks 22 years and 12 years as a partner, Deborah J. Notkin celebrates 40 years of distinguished service, Elise Perkul marks her 18th year of service and the firm tips its cap to 20-year partner Alexander G. Rojas and his quarter-century of service.

Barst Mukamal & Kleiner LLP has been a premier immigration and business law firm in NYC since 1930. The current team averages 20 years of legal experience, offering counsel in languages including English, French, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, and others. Each of the experienced attorneys is dedicated to providing every client with representation that is tailored to their particular needs. To learn more about the firm please visit them online at http://bmkllp.com.

Press contact:

Catherine Venable

[email protected]

(212) 686-3838

SOURCE Barst Mukamal & Kleiner LLP

Related Links

http://bmkllp.com


WASHINGTON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- (Nordtree) -- ADSs, The Automated Driving Systems Conference, today announces its industry luminaries from leading auto manufacturers for the upcoming event scheduled on June 19 and 20, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Speakers/Panelist include:

Harry M. Lightsey, GM

Dr. Erik Vinkhuyzen, Nissan

Dr. Hongsheng Lu, Toyota

Sam Kherat, Caterpillar

Corey Ershow, Lyft

Malcom Glenn, Uber

For a complete list of confirmed speakers, please visit

https://nordtree.com/auto/ADS/speakers/

"The two-day event will cover current US, European, Japanese and Korean driverless programs," said Mansour Faragallah, Conference Program Manager, Nordtree "with a total of 10 conference tracks, ADSs conference will cover important issues including Creating Intelligent, Sensor-Based Infrastructure for Smart Transportation & Cities, as well as Data and Cybersecurity challenges."

Other Topics Include:

Sensors' Blind Spots and Limitations,

ADSs Malfunctions, Design Redundancies and Safety Strategies

I2V

Digital Infrastructure Plans.

Lane Changing & Merge Systems

Predicting Behavior of Other Vehicles

Predicting Behavior of Detected Objects

Predicting Collision & Other Threats

Responding to Traffic Officer Presence

Responding to Emergency Vehicles

Recognizing Traffic Signs

Operational Design Domain

Object and Event Detection and Response

Emergency Fallback

Human Machine Interface

Post-Crash Behavior

Data Recordings

Sensory Information

V2V & Real-Time Data

Social, Legal and Ethical Issues

The ADSs Conference & Expo

The Automated Driving Systems Conference and Expo will provide exhibitors and sponsors the opportunity to network and to have direct access to program managers from leading US, Japan, Korea and European Union autonomous vehicle programs.

Industry Speaking Opportunities & Sponsorship:

Email Jean Rodriguez at Conference.Program(at)nordtree.com

Government, Academia & Startups Rates

In order to extend the education of the Self-Driving Cars to much wider community that is shaping the ADS evolution. Special reduced registration rates are available for students, academia, government and startups.

About Nordtree

Nordtree is a leading information provider and conference and trade-shows organizer on technology, automobiles, and other industries to governments, industries and academia around the world.

For complete information, please visit:

https://nordtree.com/auto/ads/ or call (703) 596-1203

SOURCE Nordtree

Related Links

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COLUMBIA, S.C., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Discovery Senior Living announces the pre-leasing grand opening of their newest senior living community Discovery Village At Sandhill, located at 440 Town Center Place in Columbia, S.C. The world-class, state-of-the-art, all-inclusive independent living community is now welcoming pre-leasing of their luxury apartment homes offering resort-style amenities, modern features and finishes, and award-winning lifestyle programs, including Sensations gourmet dining with table-side service, Celebrations activities and events, and Dimensions health and fitness as well as others. The leasing Preview Gallery will be open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Discovery Village At Sandhill - A world-class, state-of-the-art, all-inclusive Independent Living community located in Columbia, S.C.

Discovery Village At Sandhill's one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury apartment homes are the largest in the marketplace and feature a variety of magnificent floor plans to choose from. Most apartment homes have their own private patio or balcony, and the interiors offer the latest modern conveniences and designer finishes. From full-size kitchens with stainless steel appliances and quality wood cabinetry to elegant lighting fixtures and spacious walk-in closets (per plan), Discovery Village At Sandhill is unlike any other senior-living community in the area, providing residents with superior service at an exceptional value.

Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Senior Living Richard J. Hutchinson comments, "We are thrilled to fulfill a need in the Columbia market and create an active independent senior living experience like no other for our residents. We are proud to call Discovery Village At Sandhill our 49th community and look forward to being a part of the Sandhill neighborhood."

All Discovery Village At Sandhill residents will have exclusive access to the Grand Clubhouse offering resort-style amenities, a multi-functional activities and crafts center, professional beauty salon & spa with barber shop, fitness center with personalized training, an indoor heated pool with retractable doors, interior storage units, carports and attached garages.

Special charter member pricing and benefits to founding members who pre-lease before the community officially opens will be available on a limited basis, along with the financial security of a three-year rent-lock option.

About Discovery Senior Living

Founded by Thomas J. Harrison and Richard J. Hutchinson, Discovery Senior Living consists of a family of companies specializing in improving senior living services for America's aging population. With experience and a reputation that spans over 25 years, as well as an award-winning team of experts at the helm, Discovery Senior Living develops and manages an array of senior living community brands across Texas, Florida, the South, Mid Atlantic and Midwestern United States.

Media Contact:

Heidi M. Miller

Director of Marketing

[email protected]

239-908-2921

Related Images

discovery-village-at-sandhill.jpg

Discovery Village At Sandhill

Discovery Village At Sandhill - A world-class, state-of-the-art, all-inclusive Independent Living community located in Columbia, S.C.

discovery-village-at-sandhill.jpg

Discovery Village At Sandhill Living Room

Discovery Village At Sandhill Living Room in the Grande Clubhouse

discovery-village-at-sandhill.jpg

Discovery Village At Sandhill Dining Room

Discovery Village At Sandhill Dining Room in the Grande Clubhouse

discovery-village-at-sandhill.jpg

Discovery Village At Sandhill Indoor Heated Pool

Discovery Village At Sandhill Indoor Heated Pool with Retractable Doors in the Grande Clubhouse

Related Links

Discovery Village At Sandhill

Discovery Senior Living

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u3TsPb_zYU

SOURCE Discovery Senior Living
WELLESLEY, Mass., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Lewis Institute at Babson College honored three entrepreneurs who have affected systemic change, thereby influencing institutional and societal mindsets at the 2018 Social Innovator Awards.

This year's recipients--David Bornstein and Tina Rosenberg, Co-Founders of the Solutions Journalism Network, and Jeffrey Brown '86, CEO of Brown's Super Stores, Inc. and Founder of Uplift Solutions, were recognized on the Wellesley campus on March 28, 2018.

"Celebrating Social Innovators who challenge the status quo and make deep and lasting change is more important now than ever. We are especially excited to honor three positive disruptors who leverage their extraordinary vision along with their Entrepreneurial Thinking and Acting mindset to continually push the needle on economic and social change," says Cheryl Kiser, Executive Director of The Lewis Institute.

The Babson community was invited to connect with David Bornstein and Jeffrey Brown '86 before the awards at an intimate conversation about their work, their impact, and their bigger "why."

Each year, the Lewis Institute's Social Innovator Awards recognize recipients for their inspired and innovative commitment to helping solve important social challenges through sustainable business models.

David Bornstein and Tina Rosenberg, Co-Founders of the Solutions Journalism Network

David and Tina are award winning journalists who have each authored numerous books, co-author the Fixes column in the New York Times, and are co-founders of the Solutions Journalism Network. Powering all of their work is a belief that as journalists, they have a responsibility to report on not just the news and challenges facing our world, but the solutions being created in response to social problems. They are shifting mindsets by helping journalists create new ways of reporting and connecting readers to solutions-oriented stories.

Jeffrey Brown '86, CEO of Brown's Super Stores, Inc. and the Founder of Uplift Solutions

As CEO of Philadelphia based Brown's Super Stores, Inc. and the Founder of Uplift Solutions, a nonprofit that delivers entrepreneurial solutions that support underserved communities, Jeffrey has done more for food deserts and social justice issues than most businessmen in America. His work leveraging public/private partnerships was highlighted by President Obama during his first State of the Union Address in 2009 as the model for addressing social justice issues in urban America.

About The Lewis Institute

The Lewis Institute illuminates pathways for students, faculty, staff, foundations, and corporate partners seeking social innovation solutions. By drawing upon Babson's core methodology of Entrepreneurial Thought & Action, we activate unexpected and fruitful collaborations and integrative designs for action. The result is business prosperity and societal improvement. We extend our impact through the Babson Social Innovation Lab, an action tank powered by Toyota, which incubates people and ideas in the world of the social innovation.

About Babson College

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.

Media Contacts: Michael Chmura

Public Relations Director

[email protected]

Phone: 781-239-4549

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise. For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE Babson College

Related Links

http://www.babson.edu


BOLINGBROOK, Ill., April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Beko US is proud to announce it has received the 2018 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award for the second year in a row for its outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through energy efficiency.

The company's Beko and Blomberg brands have earned ENERGY STAR Most Efficient ratings on 78 percent of its laundry models and 55 percent of its dishwashers. The Most Efficient rating is a designation recognizing products that deliver cutting-edge energy efficiency with the latest in technological innovation. In addition, Beko US has achieved ENERGY STAR certification for over 90 percent of their major appliances. These accomplishments will be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2018.

Beko is the #1 European freestanding home appliance brand recently introduced into the North American market, while its sister brand, Blomberg is a rapidly growing major appliance brand for builders, designers and architects of multi-unit buildings in urban America.

"We are truly honored to receive the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award for the second year in a row in the product brand owner category, especially since we are competing against much larger appliance manufacturers and just recently launched our Beko brand in the U.S.," said Beko US President Hasan Ali Yardimci. "Everything we do as a brand is centered around sustainability and innovation, and this EPA award is validation that we are moving in the right direction." The Partner of the Year award recognizes Beko's strong emphasis on energy efficiency and its participation in the ENERGY STAR program, as reflected in the company's product development, design, labeling, training and outreach initiatives.

"The 2018 ENERGY STAR Partners of the Year have demonstrated real leadership, showing how American families and businesses can save energy, save money, and reduce air emissions," said Bill Wehrum, EPA assistant administrator for air and radiation. According to the EPA, appliances with the ENERGY STAR label can help a consumer save $630 over a product's lifetime.

"Beko US understands that living well also means living intelligently and responsibly, so our home appliances not only feature innovative technology, but also conserve energy, save money and help protect our planet," Yardimci said. "Our invaluable partnership with ENERGY STAR is a perfect platform to help accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient products and design in American homes."

The company brings intelligent energy and water conservation to the laundry room with its 2018 ENERGY STAR Most Efficient-rated compact washing machines and Ventless Heat Pump Dryers. "It's the 'ultimate energy efficiency duo,'" says Beko US Product Director Sazi Bugay.

An expert in appliance technology, Bugay spoke at the "Keeping Up with Emerging Technology: Next Level Advances in Appliances and Electronics" at the ENERGY STAR Products Partner Meeting in October 2017. His presentation can be found at https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/asset/document/3.%20Salih%20Zeki%20Bugay_EmergingTech.pdf.

The company's washers feature an automatic water adjustment system that uses only the amount of water required to spotlessly clean and thoroughly rinse clothes.

The Ventless Heat Pump Dryer with its closed-loop heat exchange system uses up to 50 percent less energy than conventional dryers. Blomberg and Beko were among the first to bring this advanced technology to the marketplace.

In addition, several of the brands' dishwashers are on the ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2018 list, and all models have earned ENERGY STAR marks for using advanced technology to clean dishes brilliantly with less water and energy. Unique design features include multiple insulation layers to reduce thermal loss, and a variable speed circulation motor that automatically adjusts for optimum water and energy consumption.

Beko and Blomberg ENERGY STAR-certified refrigerators feature innovative technology that safeguards food and ensures maximum freshness, the refrigerators are built with 99.9 percent lead-free materials, are 100 percent free from ozone-depleting greenhouse gases, and are manufactured with 85 percent recyclable components. The top freezer refrigerator has received the ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2018 mark.

Additional key accomplishments in energy efficiency by Beko US include:

Provided appliances for seven of 11 homes in the Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2017  including the University of California at Berkeley / University of Denver team that won first prize for energy efficiency in the appliance competition  and participated in the event's Sustainability Expo in Denver

/ team that won first prize for energy efficiency in the appliance competition  and participated in the event's Sustainability Expo in Participated in the Climate Action and Green Competitiveness event organized by the World Bank in Washington, D.C. , to highlight the importance of global collaboration, continuous investments and innovation in the struggle against climate change

, to highlight the importance of global collaboration, continuous investments and innovation in the struggle against climate change Partnered with Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) for the Super-Efficient Dryer technology program

Instituted a paper, plastics and aluminum recycling program in its US headquarters

Participated in the Light the Moment campaign on ENERGY STAR day

campaign on ENERGY STAR day Conducted a baseline Facility Assessment via the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program to determine the best ways to reduce the company's carbon footprint in 2018

Beko US is a subsidiary of Arcelik A.S., which continues to recycle within its factories across the world and its corporate headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. Arcelik A.S. earned "Climate A List Company  Global 2017 Climate & Water Leadership Award" by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and was graded "AAA" by MSCI Global Sustainability Index Series, which includes companies with high environmental, social and governance ratings relative to their sector peers.

SOURCE Beko

Related Links

http://www.bekoappliances.com


Chris Hart, renowned psychologist and relationship guru, has been married twice.

He first married at 21 years and had a very happy marriage that lasted for over 20 years, before his wife and mother of his children left him for another woman.

He eventually moved on and dated for a while before meeting the woman of his dreams here in Kenya, one Caroline Tolo, a Black Belt martial arts trainer, who gives classes in self-defense.

During a conversation with freelance journalist Yvonne Aoll, Chris Hart opened up about work, love, and the moment he almost gave up.

Has chance always played a huge role in your life?

It has. When I look back, all the key turning points of my life were influenced by chance.

Do you think everyone gets to experience this, chance?

Certainly, I think chance strikes in everyones life. They call it serendipity. The difference is that some people take note of it and some dont. If youre always walking while looking down at your feet, you wont notice it. And even if you do, you wont make the most of it. However, there are those that pay attention, take note of whats happening and make something out of it. Thats the difference.

Is that how you met your wife, by chance?

Yes. (Laughs) We met via the internet.

You met via the internet? In those days?

Yes, (laughs again), in those days! I was writing for the Nation. She wrote to me about an article Id written. I wrote back to her. Somehow the conversation stuck. And this is strange, because many people write to me, very many people. I reply, and we converse a little, but it hardly ever goes any further than that. With my now wife, the conversation just kept going.

And then?

Well, shes Luo, she was in Kisumu at the time. I started finding excuses to make trips to Kisumu to meet her. I remember one time we were sitting across each other at a bar, and something happened, We both just knew this was it.

Do you still go to Kisumu often?

No, not often. My work is always around Nairobi now, so not often.

Where were you at 25 years old?

At 25, (thinks)I was working as an industrial chemist. It was a job that allowed me to travel and work around the world.

In your travels, what country did you find to be your favourite?

Well, I didnt have a favourite at the time, as I enjoyed working in different places, but if I had to choosethis not including England, Id have to say Germany. I worked there and in Austria a lot, learnt the language, made connections, adopted their way of life, I became a part of it.

How did you get into psychology?

Well, I worked in industrial chemistry for a while. And then at about 35, I began to realise I didnt quite enjoy the job. Something was missing. The companys values and mine were progressively drifting apart, so I had to reevaluate. I had increasingly had this need to understand why people did the things they did, as opposed to focusing on products. Thats how I ended up taking psychology as my second degree.

Do you enjoy being a psychologist?

Thoroughly. I love my job.

Whats the hardest part of the job?

Oh, I dont think theres really a hard thing about it, mainly because I enjoy it greatly. However, I think sometimes, one of the saddest things is when youre not able to fix a clients problem. Thats sad. For example, when they have a personality disorder. People with personality disorders almost never accept treatment.

Do you find Kenyans to be aware of personality disorders and mental illnesses in general?

Well, not just Kenyans, but the world in general, most people arent aware of them. Personality disorders are a complex thing. Mental illness was often referred to as a medical issue treatable by drugs, but its now regarded as extreme versions of normal behaviour.

This is the case with personality disorders, theres this spectrum were in, this general spectrum in the middle where most of us operate in, and then on the edges are the outliers, those with the disorders, who are often termed as weird.

However, the interesting thing is, as you leave the center, where most people fall, heading towards the outliers, you find a group in between to whom the disorders are a great advantage.

For example, people who are hypomanic tend to become very good entrepreneurs, and you almost cant be a successful entrepreneur unless you are (hypomanic). But then go even further out of the spectrum toward the edges, and the personality disorders become a problem, one cant cope with society.

So how do you counsel one whos dating someone with a personality disorder?

My advice would be not to stick around. In general, people should date backwards, which means once theyve started dating and are noticing strange behaviour, they should find reasons to leave rather than stay.

There are tens of thousands of people out there who would match them, their job while dating, is to find those that match them. As soon as they find out a person they are dating is weird, and this should ideally be in a matter of days, theyd better cut their losses and leave. Dont spend four years with them before making a decision. Just leave.

Okay?

I know it sounds terrible, but thats just the truth. Look, how do I put this, its a dog-eat-dog world. I think, if youre one of the good guys, you deserve everything that life can give. Kind people, for example, should find and date and be with equally kind people.

So what happens to the ones with disorders?

Best case scenario, they dont marry and they dont have children.

Really? Why?

Because theyll make other peoples lives miserable: their partners will be miserable, their children will be miserable and their children will go on to make other people miserable.

Okay, but arent people with disorders victims of a circumstance they cannot necessarily control?

Yes, thats broadly true. At least for those who have full blown personality disorders. But there are also many people who lead weird lives who choose to live the way they do.

Do they?

Yes, some have chosen to do what theyre doing. I see an awful lot of people who are dating someone whose life is a total nightmare in all sorts of different ways, and they inflict that nightmare on their partner. And their partner is left trying to sort it out and make sense of it and its impossible. So, if you want to make a good life of your own, choose someone whos also trying to make a good life of their own.

What advice would you then give to someone whos already married to a partner with a disorder?

I dont know if theres much advice I can give, except to suggest they get a good lawyer.

Alright

Again, it sounds terrible, but in the end, it really cant be fixed.

Psychology in Kenya, are people receiving it well?

Now, yes. People are increasingly seeing the need to see a psychologist. They are open enough to ask for help where need be. Ive been here for a quite while now, and when I first started, it was a completely different story; I went out looking for fellow psychologists and I only found 12.

12 in Nairobi?

12 in Kenya! And most of them were foreigners. There were more psychiatrists, all employed by the government, and almost no psychologists. We really werent many, and people hadnt really heard about psychology, so my diary wasnt often full; now it is.

People are very much aware of psychology now, and they see the need for it, even though the industry hasnt fully gotten itself in gear yet. I should also mention that the psychology courses offered in the education institutions here, unfortunately, still have a very long way to go.

You went from being an industrial chemist to a psychologist, does this presuppose its okay not to have life figured out by 25?

Oh, its not only okay, but I think its becoming increasingly difficult to have it figured out by 25. After all, people change. So who they were at 25 isnt who they want to be at 35 or 40. I would highly recommend not making crucial life decisions at such a young age.

Crucial life decisions like?

Like getting married. I first got married at 21. It was what people did then. You met someone, liked them and got married. We divorced 20 years later. We were too young to have gotten married.

In hindsight, knowing what you know now, what would you tell your 30-year-old self?

My 30-year-old self, (thinks with a long pause), I suppose Id tell him to do what I did. Evaluate where you are, seek something that aligns with your values, and then change course.

Seeing as life is a journey, have you ever felt like giving up?

(Pauses and smiles in silence) Yes, when I got divorced. That was hard. It took a great toll on me.

How did you get through it?

I got up, and I put one foot in front of the other, and I continued doing what I was doing. I worked, I met people, I dated, and then I eventually found someone else. But it was hard.

What would you say to anyone hoping to work from home like you are?

Find a decent apartment, one with great space, and do it. A number of things happen when you do, you: save yourself lengthy commutes, work all kinds of crazy hours and it doesnt matter, limit overheads, dont rent office space, its wonderful.

What do you think about millenials?

I dont know if its millenials particularly, or the youth in general; I think they get discouraged very easily. They have great ideas, fantastic even, but when nobody buys, they dont understand why and they get frustrated. They dont realize yet that being fantastic, having incredible ideas, and trying to re-invent the wheel, doesnt always result in the world rewarding you as you hoped. It doesnt work that way.

Isnt that optimism?

It is. And its okay to be optimistic, but one also has to be in touch with reality. One of the things young people havent discovered is just how hard you have to work to make things happen. You cant be easily discouraged. You have to keep trying.

Would that be your advice to the youth?

To keep trying? Yes. Its okay to try and to fail. You just have to try and fail again until you get it right. Think Bill Gates and Steve Jobsyou have to keep trying.

Any last words or thoughts?

Chance, opportunities, that thing we talked about when we started, pay attention to it. Pay great attention to it!
ARLINGTON, Va., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bloomberg Law has introduced a new analytics tool, Health Care Fraud Analytics, which offers an easy-to-use, comprehensive resource to help practitioners understand health care fraud enforcement trends, gain context and intelligence, and mitigate risk. The tool is the latest example of Bloomberg Law's continued investment in innovative analytic tools for the legal industry.

Users can now search and filter health care fraud settlement agreements by court, entity, allegation, date; view the data in a tabular format; and leverage data visualizations to gain actionable insights and identify trends. With nearly 800 agreements currently available and more added regularly, Health Care Fraud Analytics is based off the largest single database of health care fraud settlement agreements and related corporate integrity agreements in the market.

The tool allows users to quickly see that pharmaceutical manufacturers paid the most in settlements of kickback claims, including the largest overall settlement ($1.273 billion) and a median settlement of $39 million since 2006, as compared to other businesses and professionals. Download the technology snapshot to find other insights: http://on.bna.com/OiGH30jh1HF

Attorneys in health law and practicing within the health care and life sciences industries can use Health Care Fraud Analytics to quickly and effectively answer such questions as, who got into trouble for alleged fraud, what were they doing, and what were the consequences? With these answers, legal professionals can develop and implement effective compliance strategies and policies to identify and mitigate compliance risk and exposure.

Health Care Fraud Analytics is the first of several enforcement tracking tools across several practice areas that will provide insights into regulatory enforcement trends and outcomes. It is available to current Bloomberg Law customers at no additional cost.

"With Health Care Fraud Analytics, practitioners will be able to better advise and represent clients on government enforcement matters, deploy the most effective compliance strategies and policies, mitigate risk and exposure, and stay on top of practice-changing trends," said Scott Falk, vice president and general manager of health care and litigation for Bloomberg Law. "This is another example of our ongoing investment in innovation and technology that increase the speed and efficiency with which attorneys can find the information they need to support their clients."

"Bloomberg Law's Health Care Fraud Analytics compiles what would have required lengthy searches over multiple sources and puts it all in one place in an easily navigable and digestible format," said John Eason of Bass Berry & Sims PLC. "It is an incredibly useful tool for our firm's Health Care Fraud Task Force in its efforts to track and analyze the government's enforcement priorities in civil False Claims Act actions and related criminal matters, and in advising clients on health law compliance and risks."

Bloomberg Law is also offering a complimentary webinar series to demonstrate how analytics technology can help practitioners understand the ramifications of fraud enforcement developments, the potential effects on their practice, and assist them in enhancing and operating a compliance program. To register for the first 60-minute webinar on April 10 at 1 pm EDT, visit: http://on.bna.com/l6Vn30ja4Wq

About Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law helps legal professionals provide world-class counsel with access to actionable legal intelligence in a business context. Bloomberg Law delivers a unique combination of practical guidance, comprehensive primary and secondary source material, trusted content from Bloomberg BNA, news, time-saving practice tools, market data and business intelligence. For more information, visit www.bna.com/bloomberglaw.

SOURCE Bloomberg Law

Related Links

http://www.bna.com/bloomberglaw


CALGARY, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust ('BEI.UN'  TSX) Boardwalk REIT would like to announce that its first quarter financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2018 will be released after the market closes on May 15, 2018.

We invite you to participate in the teleconference held to discuss these results the following morning on Wednesday May 16, 2018, at 9:00am (Mountain),11:00 am (Eastern). Senior Management will speak to the results and provide a financial and operational update. Presentation and supplemental materials will be made available on our website prior to the call (please visit: www.BoardwalkREIT.com).

Teleconference:

The telephone numbers for the conference are toll-free 1-888-231-8191 (within North America) and 647-427-7450 (International).

Note: Please provide the operator with the below Conference Call ID or Topic when dialing in to the call.

Conference ID: 1389986

Topic: Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust, 2018 First Quarter Results.

Webcast:

Investors will also be able to listen to the call and view the slide presentation by visiting www.BoardwalkREIT.com on the morning of the call. An information page will be provided for any software and system requirements. The live webcast and slide presentation will also be available at:

https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1640178/F41885B50DCD842A4011F0E2105C5D0B



Corporate Profile:

Boardwalk REIT strives to provide Canada's friendliest communities and currently owns and operates more than 200 communities with over 33,000 residential units totaling over 28 million net rentable square feet. Boardwalk's principal objectives are to provide its Residents with the best quality communities and superior customer service, while providing Unitholders with enhanced returns by increasing the value of its Trust Units through selective acquisitions, dispositions, development, and effective management of its residential multi-family communities. Boardwalk REIT is vertically integrated and is Canada's leading owner/operator of multi-family communities with 1,700 Associates bringing Residents home to properties located in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec.

Boardwalk REIT's Trust Units are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol BEI.UN. Additional information about Boardwalk REIT can be found on the Trust's website at www.BoardwalkREIT.com.

SOURCE Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust

Related Links

http://www.bwalk.com


MARLBOROUGH, Mass., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced the acquisition of Securus Medical Group, Inc., a privately-held company that has developed a thermal monitoring system for the continuous measurement of esophageal temperature. Boston Scientific has been an investor in Securus since 2016, and the transaction price for the remaining stake not already owned consists of $40 million in cash up-front, as well as up to $10 million in contingent payments based on regulatory achievements and commercial milestones.

Arrhythmias are commonly treated with cardiac ablation  the process of delivering radiofrequency (heating) or cryothermal (cooling) energy to destroy a small area of heart muscle responsible for the abnormal heart rhythm. Physicians monitor the temperature of the esophagus, which is located behind the area of the heart where the hot or cool energy is applied, during an ablation procedure to avoid thermal injury.

The thermal monitoring system developed by Securus Medical Group is an integrated catheter-based probe and imaging system that generates real-time images of the temperature of the esophagus.

"In contrast to current standards of care for esophageal temperature monitoring that measure temperature at one or a few fixed locations and have a slow temporal response, this system continuously reads the temperature of the esophagus from thousands of points and provides physicians with an intuitive 360 degree view that refreshes every second," said Steven Girouard, Ph.D, president and chief executive officer, Securus Medical Group. "Further, the system does not require tissue contact for accurate temperature readings, allowing for simplified, one-time positioning of the probe."

The latest generation infrared esophageal temperature monitoring system recently received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is expected to be integrated into the Boston Scientific portfolio and commercially available in the U.S. in the first half of 2019.

Boston Scientific offers a diverse set of electrophysiology products and services for the diagnosis and management of cardiac rhythm disorders. In October 2017, the company acquired Apama Medical Inc., adding a single-shot, multi-electrode catheter technology designed for pulmonary vein isolation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation to its product development portfolio. In addition, the company recently launched the INTELLANAV ST navigation-enabled, small-tip catheter for more precise ablations, further expanding the range of therapeutic catheter capabilities available to physicians.

"The acquisition of Securus further broadens our electrophysiology portfolio and fuels our mission to provide physicians with meaningful innovations that advance patient care," said Joe Fitzgerald, president of Rhythm Management, Boston Scientific. "Additionally, we look forward to integrating this visual technology with our RHYTHMIA HDx Mapping System to provide a new level of comprehensive cardiac imaging during ablation procedures."

Securus Medical Group is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with offices in Beverly, Massachusetts.

The transaction is expected to be immaterial to Boston Scientific adjusted and GAAP earnings per share.

About Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. As a global medical technology leader for more than 35 years, we advance science for life by providing a broad range of high performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of healthcare. For more information, visit www.bostonscientific.com and connect on Twitter and Facebook.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "anticipate," "expect," "project," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "intend" and similar words. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding the acquisition, the financial and business impact of the transaction, product launches and product performance and impact. If our underlying assumptions turn out to be incorrect, or if certain risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These factors, in some cases, have affected and in the future (together with other factors) could affect our ability to implement our business strategy and may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements expressed in this press release. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.

Factors that may cause such differences include, among other things: future economic, competitive, reimbursement and regulatory conditions; new product introductions; demographic trends; the closing and integration of acquisitions; intellectual property; litigation; financial market conditions; and future business decisions made by us and our competitors. All of these factors are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of them are beyond our control. For a further list and description of these and other important risks and uncertainties that may affect our future operations, see Part I, Item 1A  Risk Factors in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we may update in Part II, Item 1A  Risk Factors in Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q we have filed or will file hereafter. We disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which those expectations may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented on a GAAP basis, we disclose certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted net income (earnings) per share that excludes certain charges and/or credits. These non-GAAP financial measures are not in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States and should not be considered in isolation from or as a replacement for the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Further, other companies may calculate these non-GAAP financial measures differently than we do, which may limit the usefulness of those measures for comparative purposes.

To calculate adjusted net income (earnings) per share we exclude certain charges (credits) from GAAP net income, including amortization expense, acquisition-related net charges (credits) and restructuring and restructuring-related net charges (credits). Please refer to Part II, Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our most recent Annual Report filed on Form 10-K for an explanation of each of these adjustments and the reasons for excluding each item

The GAAP financial measures most directly comparable adjusted net income per share is GAAP net income and GAAP net income per share.

Management uses these supplemental non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate performance period over period, to analyze the underlying trends in our business, to assess our performance relative to our competitors, and to establish operational goals and forecasts that are used in allocating resources. In addition, management uses these non-GAAP financial measures to further its understanding of the performance of our operating segments. The adjustments excluded from our non-GAAP financial measures are consistent with those excluded from our operating segments' measures of net sales and profit or loss. These adjustments are excluded from the segment measures that are reported to our chief operating decision maker that are used to make operating decisions and assess performance.

We believe that presenting adjusted net income per share, in addition to the corresponding GAAP financial measures, provides investors greater transparency to the information used by management for its operational decision-making and allows investors to see our results "through the eyes" of management. We further believe that providing this information assists our investors in understanding our operating performance and the methodology used by management to evaluate and measure such performance.

CONTACTS:

Trish Backes

Media Relations

(651) 582-5887 (office)

[email protected]

Susie Lisa, CFA

Investor Relations

(508) 683-5565 (office)

[email protected]

SOURCE Boston Scientific Corporation

Related Links

http://www.bostonscientific.com


OXFORD, England, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Brainomix builds on partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim for AI-assisted fast treatment of stroke victims in latest venture round.

Brainomix, a medical imaging company using artificial intelligence (AI) for the fast diagnosis and treatment of stroke victims, has attracted 7m ($9.8m) of investment to bring its software to the global healthcare market.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/510869/Brainomix_Logo.jpg )



Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), the corporate venture fund of the global pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, a driving force in the field of stroke, joined the round, which was led by university investment veterans Parkwalk Advisors. Existing investors Chimera Partners and Oxford University Innovation Fund also participated.

Brainomix's flagship software solution, e-ASPECTS, uses AI to provide a fast and standardised assessment of stroke patient CT scans, supporting quick and consistent treatment decisions by medical professionals, irrespective of their experience and expertise. The software works by automating the clinically-validated Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) method. e-ASPECTS provides physicians with a clinical support tool that is designed to improve stroke treatment outcomes at much lower overall cost.

The injection of cash will allow Brainomix to further commercialise its intelligent medical imaging and workflow software solutions and expand its market penetration around the world.

Alastair Kilgour of Parkwalk Advisors said: "We welcome Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund to the Brainomix investor group and look forward to continue to help management maintain its leadership in intelligent medical imaging for stroke around the world."

Dr Frank Kalkbrenner, Managing Director of the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, said: "Brainomix is a cutting-edge technology company with superior expertise in innovative stroke care. We are very pleased to join the accomplished management team and this prestigious group of investors. We are looking forward to working with them on breakthrough improvements in stroke care. Their e-ASPECTS solution significantly supports physicians in the demanding acute care setting and is a step forward for fast and consistent stroke diagnosis."

Dr Michalis Papadakis, Brainomix CEO, said: "We welcome Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund to our team of investors. Their tremendous expertise and heritage in stroke will complement the knowledge of our existing investors. Since we started as a spin-out of the University of Oxford we have become a global market leader, with our stroke decision support and workflow tools installed in many leading stroke centres in more than 16 countries. With this investment we will grow around the world and continuously expand Brainomix's intelligent imaging software for acute stroke care and clinical trials."

About Brainomix

Brainomix, a medical diagnostics software company, was founded in 2010 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford and is dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with neurological and cerebrovascular disorders. Brainomix is currently focusing on acute stroke. By developing and equipping physicians with world-class, artificial intelligence-based medical imaging software, Brainomix aims to help them in making life-saving treatment decisions by supporting the selection of the right treatment for the right stroke patient.

http://www.brainomix.com

About Parkwalk

Parkwalk invests in high growth, knowledge intensive companies seeking to develop and commercialise technology and innovation originating from UK universities, research intensive institutions and technology clusters.

Founded in 2009, Parkwalk is the largest EIS growth fund manager focused on university spin-outs, having raised over 180m to date and backed over 90 companies across its managed funds since inception.

The Parkwalk investment vehicles include the evergreen Parkwalk Opportunities Fund, the University of Cambridge Enterprise Funds, the University of Oxford Innovation Funds and the University of Bristol Enterprise Funds.

http://www.parkwalkadvisors.com

Contact information:

Laura Kerley

[email protected]

+44-(0)-1865-582681



SOURCE Brainomix
NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridge Medicines, a pioneering drug discovery company focused on advancing promising early technologies from concept to clinic, announced today the appointment of Louis M. Renzetti, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).

Bridge Medicines, launched by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University and Weill Cornell Medicine, in partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., Deerfield Management and Bay City Capital, is a groundbreaking initiative that extends the work of the independent, non-profit Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute (Tri-I TDI). Tri-I TDI, also a collaborative venture of the three academic institutions, in partnership with Takeda, is working on approximately 50 early-stage drug discovery projects spanning therapeutic areas that include infectious disease, oncology, neuropsychiatry and rare diseases. As CSO of Bridge Medicines, Dr. Renzetti will be responsible for scientific oversight for R&D programs within Bridge Medicines, building a portfolio of early-stage drug discovery projects and positioning these programs for entry into the clinic.

"We are thrilled to bring such a talented drug discovery expert as Louis into the role of CSO at Bridge Medicines," said William Polvino, CEO of Bridge Medicines. "Louis is a rigorously trained scientist and an experienced drug developer. His skills in identifying promising scientific targets and driving toward successful clinical products will be a great asset to the mission of Bridge Medicines, the Tri-I TDI, and the three institutions."

Dr. Renzetti said, "Bridge Medicines is a unique opportunity to transform the breakthrough research done at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medicine, and the Tri-I TDI into valuable medicines for patients. I am excited to join Bill and the team and look forward to working with the highly talented investigators within the Tri-Institutional community."

Dr. Renzetti has more than 25 years of experience in biopharma, encompassing all aspects of drug discovery and early development. Most recently, he served as Chief Research and Early Development Officer for Gotham Therapeutics, a New York-based start-up. Prior to Gotham, Dr. Renzetti served as SVP of Drug Discovery and Early Development at X-Rx, Inc., where he led the company's efforts to develop small molecule inhibitors of autotaxin to treat fibrotic diseases, a program subsequently partnered with Gilead. Dr. Renzetti spent much of his drug discovery career at Roche. He was the champion and leader of the RNA Therapeutics division and collaboration with Alnylam. He served as the Disease Biology Area Head for Inflammation, was VP of Respiratory and Inflammation, and head of Discovery Pharmacology. Dr. Renzetti has advanced numerous programs to clinical candidacy and into the clinic. He earned his doctorate in Physiology from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Renzetti completed his post-doctoral training in Pharmacology at ICI Pharmaceuticals. He has authored more than 30 publications.

About Bridge Medicines

Bridge Medicines is a pioneering drug-discovery company focused on advancing promising early technologies in major academic institutions from human proof-of-concept to clinical development. Launched by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medicine and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., in partnership with Deerfield Management and Bay City Capital, Bridge Medicines is a groundbreaking initiative that provides an unbroken, fully funded and professionally staffed path from discovery to drug candidate.

Contacts:

Karen Heidelberger

Deerfield Management

[email protected]

(212) 551-1600

Carl S. Goldfischer, MD

Bay City Capital, LLC

[email protected]

(415) 835-9385

SOURCE Bridge Medicines
HOUSTON, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) will host its first quarter 2018 earnings conference call on Friday, April 27, 2018 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The Company plans to issue its financial and operating results prior to the market opening on the same day.

To access the live audio webcast, please visit the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.cabotog.com. A replay of the call will also be available on the Company's website.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading independent natural gas producer with its entire resource base located in the continental United States. For additional information, visit the Company's website at www.cabotog.com.

SOURCE Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation

Related Links

http://www.cabotog.com


Available starting today, the #WEcallitchange capsule collection, which supports three pillars of change -- Clean Water, Education and Opportunity for Women -- is handcrafted by Maasai Mamas in a WE supported community in Kenya, using traditional techniques passed down through generations. This curated collection provides a tangible outcome through each purchase, trackable through ME to WE's Track Your Impact program. With a unique code, found on the back of each accessory, consumers are able to track exactly where and how their purchase has made a difference. Through the #WEcallitchange program, customers can track the journey of their impact in Kenya, which includes providing access to clean water, school supplies for children or business and leadership training for women. Call It Spring is taking their customers' contribution one step further -- in addition to giving 100% of the net proceeds from the sale of each accessory to ME to WE, Call It Spring is matching every purchase, giving them the power to double their impact .

"At Call It Spring, we want our customers to see us for who we are  a brand which champions global consciousness and views our world without borders," says David Bensadoun, Chief Executive Officer of The Aldo Group. "The Call It Spring + ME to WE collaboration is about going beyond the product to enable positive change in developing communities abroad. We're proud to collaborate with ME to WE on a project that empowers communities in Kenya by providing income generating opportunities for women, and at the same time provide clean water, school supplies and business training programs."

Advocates of change, Bailee Madison and Jordan Fisher chose the Opportunity and Water pillars, respectively, to support and embark on their life-changing journeys to bring their accessories and the #WEcallitchange program to life. Call It Spring has also united with a community of content creators and brand ambassadors, #GenerationSpring, to be the voice of the third program pillar, Education.

Jordan Fisher X The Clean Water Pillar

Jordan's pillar of focus, Water, inspired him to travel to the Maasai Mara (Kenya) to see the impact that access to clean water has on a community. WE's water projects include the construction of clean water systems, safe water tanks, handwashing stations and community education workshops focused on waterborne disease prevention. Access to clean water is one of the most effective ways to lift a community out of poverty as it reduces illness and allows girls to go to school rather than bearing the responsibility of fetching their family's water. The purchase of just one of Jordan's Clean Water bracelets ($10) provides access to clean water for one person.

Bailee Madison X The Opportunity Pillar

Showing that change can be made domestically to create lasting impacts for international communities in need, Bailee was inspired to host a traditional Kenyan beading circle in her hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a group of close friends and ME to WE Artisan, Mama Pasiyio. Mama Pasiyio is a celebrated spokesperson in Kenya who advocates for female equality and opportunity. Access to financial opportunity programs, like leadership and business training, empowers women to take charge of her family's future, breaking the cycle of poverty. Today more than 1,400 women in Kenya have been provided with the tools for economic self-sufficiency. The purchase of one of Bailee's Opportunity necklace ($12) gives one woman access to leadership and business training programs.

#GenerationSpring X The Education Pillar

On April 3, a community Digital Ambassadors from across North America, #GenerationSpring, will unite through their social platforms to speak to the importance of education using the hashtag #WEcallitchange. When children in developing countries are educated, they are armed with the courage and self-confidence to better themselves, their families and the next generation. They learn how to prevent illness, maintain infrastructure and secure sustainable livelihoods. The purchase of one Education bracelet ($10) provides school supplies to one child for one year.

"Being able to purchase products that make an impact is at the forefront of ME to WE," said Roxanne Joyal, CEO of ME to WE. "We're so excited to collaborate with Call it Spring on this brand new collection, which not only showcases stunning pieces handcrafted by Kenyan Mamas but also supports three key impact pillars in developing communities in KenyaEducation, Clean Water and Opportunity. With a single ME to WE purchase, consumers are empowered to change the world."

The collection of handcrafted accessories and are available to purchase at all Call It Spring locations in the US, Canada and online at metowe.callitspring.com starting April 3.

About Call it Spring

Call It Spring is the fashion destination for items you want and need now. Always fresh and reflecting the most popular trends, Call It Spring is a go-to brand for versatile footwear and accessories to complete any look. With a strong presence worldwide, Call It Spring has more than 500 points of sale across Canada, USA, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Call It Spring is an ALDO Group brand. Founded by Aldo Bensadoun, The ALDO Group is a world-leading creator and operator of desirable footwear and accessory brands. With 3,000 points of sale in over 100 countries around the world, the organization operates under two signature brands, Aldo and Call It Spring, and multi-brand retail concept, GLOBO. In addition to the Head Office in Montreal, the ALDO Group has international offices in Europe and Asia. Equipped with the values of love, respect, and integrity, the ALDO Group is as unique as its people. For more information about Call It Spring and the Aldo Group, visit www.callitspring.com and www.aldogroup.com.

About WE

ME to WE is part of WE. WE is a family of organizations making doing good, doable. WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering domestic and international change, ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences to help support the charity, and WE Day, filling stadiums around the world with the greatest celebration of social good. WE enables youth and families to better the world  supporting 2,500+ local and global causes by volunteering millions of hours of service, shopping daily with an impact, and raising millions of dollars that directly benefit their local communities and the world. Globally, our teams in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have provided more than 1 million people with clean water, built 1,000 schools and schoolrooms overseas, and empowered more than 200,000 children with access to education. WE was founded more than 20 years ago by social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Join the movement today at WE.org.

SOURCE Call It Spring

Related Links

http://www.callitspring.com


Canon U.S.A. has announced that Mr. Kazuto Ogawa will succeed Mr. Ishizuka in the role of president and chief operating officer. Mr. Ogawa comes to Canon U.S.A. from Canon China, where he served as executive vice president. Mr. Ogawa brings with him over three decades of experience with Canon, including positions across the globe.

"I'd like to thank Mr. Yuichi Ishizuka for his strong leadership, visionary spirit and tireless dedication to Canon U.S.A., where he provided the same innovative direction that he will bring to his new role overseeing Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa," said Joe Adachi, chairman and chief executive officer, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "It is with great honor that I announce the appointment of Mr. Kazuto Ogawa to the position of president and chief operating officer of Canon U.S.A. On behalf of the company, I welcome Mr. Ogawa to our team and look forward to working alongside him as we continue to cement our status as an imaging leader."

A graduate of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, Mr. Ogawa began his career with Canon Inc. in 1981. Between the years of 1995 and 2005, Mr. Ogawa held positions with Canon Singapore, Canon Hong Kong and Canon China before returning to Canon Singapore to serve in the role of president and chief executive officer. In 2008, Mr. Ogawa was named president and CEO of Canon Canada. Following that, he was named as an executive officer of Canon Inc. in 2011. He was later appointed executive vice president of Canon China in February 2014, and became a managing executive officer of Canon Inc. in April 2016.

For more information on Canon U.S.A., please visit. www.usa.canon.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions to the United States and to Latin America and the Caribbean markets. With approximately $36 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranks third overall in U.S. patents granted in 2017 and is one of Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies in 2018. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based service and support for all of the products it distributes in the United States. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. In 2014, the Canon Americas Headquarters secured LEED Gold certification, a recognition for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of high-performance green buildings. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss and follow us on Twitter @CanonUSA. For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].

Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Canon U.S.A. Web site:

http://www.usa.canon.com

For sales information/customer support:

1-800-OK-CANON

SOURCE Canon U.S.A., Inc.

Related Links

http://www.usa.canon.com


MOORESTOWN, N.J., April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Caroline S. Koblenzer is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Lifetime Achiever in the field of Dermatology.

Recently retired, Dr. Koblenzer is notorious for her contributions to the dermatology field. Today, Dr. Koblenzer remains an active author and writer of several texts and publications.

Amassing over twenty years of experience in the Dermatology industry, Dr. Koblenzer worked alongside her husband where concentrated on skin-psyche interaction. Dr. Koblenzer served as a Dermatologist and Psychodermatologist in her own private practice, which specialized in clinical skin care and procedures, as well as Psychodermatology.

According to her interview with TheDermatologist.com, Dr. Koblenzer "was born and educated in England," then "came to the Philadelphia area in 1959, after working in the Sudan and British North Borneo as a 'Lady Medical Officer' with the British Overseas Civil Service." She attended a six-year medical program in the U.K., then completed a three-year Residency in Dermatology, and did six years of Psychoanalytical training.



Having held several certifications within the field, in her current capacity Dr. Koblenzer is Board Certified by the American Board of Dermatology and Certified in Psychoanalysis by the Board of Professional Standards of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Additionally, Dr. Koblenzer is a Retired Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and is a faculty member of the Philadelphia Center for Psychoanalysis.

A scholar in the industry, Dr. Koblenzer is an author of several published texts, chapters and papers in both American and European literature.

To further her professional development, Dr. Koblenzer is an affiliate of several organizations including the American Academy of Dermatology; American Psychoanalytic Association; College of Physicians of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Dermatologic Society.

Charitable to various organizations, Dr. Koblenzer served on the Board of the Curtis Institute of Music where she mentored young students in the psychophysical aspects of dermatology.



In recognition of her professional accolades, Dr. Koblenzer was awarded the Musaph Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the European Society for Psychiatry and Dermatology in 2011. Dr. Koblenzer was also named to the Healthgrades Honor Roll.



After fulfilling her desire to, "maintain continued growth and success, and to make a difference in other people's lives," Dr. Koblenzer retired in October of 2017. A renowned clinician in the field of Dermatology, Dr. Koblenzer leaves behind a legacy of hope after dedicating her life to the health and wellness of her patients.

When she's not working, Koblenzer attends operas and concerts, and plays piano. She also enjoys reading, and watching movies. Her goals for the future are to educate dermatologists about the interaction between skin and emotions, and to keep making a difference in people's lives.

Dr. Koblenzer dedicates this recognition to her husband, Dr. Peter Koblenzer. She also enjoys spending time with her three adult children -- two of whom are physicians and one who is an attorney, as well as her six grandchildren and one great-grandson.





About Continental Who's Who (CWW)

CWW has become one of the most trusted publishers around the globe, spotlighting thousands of professionals each year by their specific industries. The men and women published represent every important field of endeavor. Included are executives and officials in business, science, education, philanthropy, religion, government, the fourth estate, finance, law, engineering and numerous other fields.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

Related Links

http://www.continentalwhoswho.com


THE WOODLANDS, Texas, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CB&I (NYSE:CBI) today announced it has been awarded a contract by Hainan Huasheng New Material Technology Co. Ltd. for the license and engineering design for a diphenyl carbonate (DPC) petrochemical unit in Hainan Province, China. The unit will use Versalis' DPC technology licensed by CB&I to produce diphenyl carbonate intermediate, which is used for the production of polycarbonate.

"As CB&I continues to win new technology awards in China, we are enhancing our position as a leading technology provider for China's energy industry," said Daniel M. McCarthy, CB&I's Executive Vice President of Technology. "This momentum underscores the confidence our customers have in CB&I's technology portfolio and the future outlook for our technology solutions in the region."

About CB&I

CB&I (NYSE:CBI) is a leading provider of technology and infrastructure for the energy industry. With more than 125 years of experience, CB&I provides reliable solutions to our customers around the world while maintaining a relentless focus on safety and an uncompromising standard of quality. For more information, visit www.CBI.com.

Important Information For Investors And Shareholders

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding CB&I and represents our expectations and beliefs concerning future events. These forward-looking statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. When considering any statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or use or contain words, terms, phrases or expressions such as "achieve," "forecast," "plan," "propose," "strategy," "envision," "hope," "will," "continue," "potential," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "predict," "intend," "should," "could," "may," "might" or similar forward-looking statements, we refer you to the cautionary statements concerning risk factors and "Forward-Looking Statements" described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of our Annual Report filed on Form 10-K filed with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2017, and any updates to those risk factors or "Forward-Looking Statements" included in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, which cautionary statements are incorporated herein by reference.

Investors: Scott Lamb, +1 832 513 1068, [email protected]

Media: Gentry Brann, +1 832 513 1031, [email protected]

SOURCE CB&I

Related Links

http://www.cbi.com


Jacques Pepin, one of the nations most famous cooking teachers, will discuss his latest cookbook, A Grandfathers Lessons, and enjoy a meal with guests at Napas Peju Winery on Saturday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m.

Admission for the event is $145 per person. Each ticket includes dinner, wine, tax, tip, and a signed copy of Pepins new book.

Pepin is renowned for his knife skills. Ever since she was very young, his granddaughter, Shorey, has loved helping him in the kitchen. Now that she is 12, Jacques gives his charismatic pupil a short course on preparing food that is plain, but elegant, and more than anything, fun.

The winner of 16 James Beard Awards and author of 29 cookbooks, including Jacques Pepin Heart & Soul in the Kitchen and Essential Pepin, he has starred in 12 PBS cooking series. He was awarded Frances highest distinction, the Legion of Honor.

Peju Winery is at 8466 St. Helena Highway, Rutherford. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (415) 927-0960 or visit bookpassage.com.
Celeb Luxury products consist of Colorwash with Colorposit Technology. Adds color while cleansing  extends color and stops visible washout and fade. Colorwash is the first patented color that works as a shampoo instantly! This technology is unlike any other in the industry.

Available for two types of users  Gem Lites Colorwash for those wanting more traditional, brilliant colors, comes in four blonde, three red and three brown shades. Viral Colorwash has seven vivid bold and three pastel color tones (the fastest growing segment in haircare today). The biggest complaint with all haircolor is they fade so fast!

That's why so many people are obsessed with our products. They solve that problem!

Colorwash empowers hairdressers and consumers alike to Create. Boost and Maintain their own unique haircolor at home and between salon color services. This is a global haircolor industry first!

As exciting as Colorwash is, we've taken it one step further by adding to our mix another breakthrough technological product. Viral Hybrid Colorditioner with BondFix  the first conditioner & color with built-in bond rebuilder. It provides continuous bond strengthening for bleached, lightened or fragile hair. It protects against dry hair and prevents damage while stopping color from visible washout and fade.

Our focus as a company is to create the most efficacious, disruptive and creative products that people love and can't live without. We are rapidly building that emotional connection and creating demand by constantly spotlighting the work of hairdressers from around the world on our social media pages, making them, and featured beauty influencers, "the new celebs" today. This authentic interaction not only cultivates a sense of community, it inspires creativity and builds trust with our company and our brands.

Viral brand is about expressing personality through vivid color and getting noticed as a person, then going viral. Gem Lites users identify with beautiful, natural organic gems and their colors, with facets that replicate and reflect the multiple tones in hair, just like a gem.

The visionary behind the brand is Leland Hirsch, thought leader, creative authority on haircolor and CEO of Celeb Luxury. Leland was the creator of the original Artec color depositing shampoos and CEO of Artec Systems Group, which was sold to L'Oreal. Leland's affinity for art and creativity continues to be the passion that fuels his love of beauty and his vision for what will become the re-modernization and future of haircolor. A year ago, he seized the opportunity to fill a void in the industry, introducing Celeb Luxury, Viral and Gem Lites, unprecedented global color maintenance products in fashion and intense primary, secondary and traditional haircolors that are so modern today.

Since launching, Celeb Luxury is in 1,500+ professional stores and 3,000+ salons across the US, Canada, Guatemala, UK, Spain, South Africa, Malta, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland.

For more information on Celeb Luxury contact [email protected] or call 954.763.0333

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @celebluxury, #celebluxury, #gemlitescolorwash, #viralcolorwash, #viralcolorditioner and visit www.celebluxury.com for more information, product education and to find a salon nearest you.

Health and Safety are important to us. We use only DIRECT DYES that are FDA and EU SAFETY compliant. All Celeb Luxury products are 100% Vegan. Gluten-Free. Sulfate-Free. PPD-Free. Ammonia-Free. Peroxide-Free. Sodium Chloride-Free, Cruelty-Free. No Animal Testing.

SOURCE Celeb Luxury

Related Links

www.celebluxury.com


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Fund, Inc. (NYSE: CHN) (the "Fund") today announced it has sued City of London Investment Management Company Limited ("CLIM"), Barry M. Olliff, (who is the CEO of CLIM's parent company), and other defendants in federal court in New York City. The lawsuit cites the defendants' misconduct in soliciting proxies to be voted at the Fund's 2018 Annual Stockholders Meeting. The Fund alleges the defendants violated the antifraud provisions of the SEC's proxy rules by disseminating proxy solicitation materials tainted by material misstatements and omissions. The Fund is asking the court to order the defendants to correct their deficient disclosures and to stop soliciting proxies until the corrective disclosures have been published. The Fund also is asking the court to invalidate all proxies obtained by the defendants before the corrective disclosures are published.

In the New York lawsuit the Fund notes that CLIM filed its own lawsuit this past Friday in a Maryland state court. CLIM is asking the Maryland court to issue an order that would effectively prevent Fund stockholders that already voted from changing their votes, and Fund stockholders that have not yet voted from voting at all.

The Fund and its board of directors intend to vigorously defend against CLIM's Maryland lawsuit, which they believe is a baseless and unprecedented attack on investor voting rights designed to deny the Fund's stockholders a full and fair vote.

Additional Information

This communication may be deemed to be proxy solicitation material. In connection with the Fund's 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the Fund filed a definitive proxy statement and other relevant documents, including a form of proxy card, with the SEC on February 5, 2018. The definitive proxy statement and a form of proxy have been mailed to the Fund's stockholders. Stockholders are urged to read the Fund's definitive proxy statement and any other documents filed by the Fund with the SEC in connection with the 2018 Annual Meeting because they contain important information.

Investors will be able to obtain, for free, copies of documents filed with the SEC at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov . Copies of the Fund's definitive proxy statement and proxy card also are available without charge from the Fund's proxy solicitor, D.F. King, who may be reached toll-free at (800) 207-3156.

The Fund and its directors and President are "participants" in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders of the Fund in connection with the 2018 Annual Meeting. Information regarding those persons is provided in the definitive proxy statement filed by the Fund with the SEC.

SOURCE The China Fund, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.chinafundinc.com


HAIKOU, China, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- China Pharma Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: CPHI) ("China Pharma," the "Company" or "We"), an NYSE American listed corporation with a fully-integrated specialty pharmaceuticals subsidiary based in China, today announced financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

Full Year Highlights

Revenue decreased 15.1% to $13.2 million in fiscal year 2017 from $15.6 million in fiscal year 2016;

in fiscal year 2017 from in fiscal year 2016; Gross margin was 18.7% in fiscal year 2017, compared to 20.7% in fiscal 2016.

Impairment loss was $14.2 million in fiscal year 2017 compared to $4.0 million in 2016, which represented an increase of $10.2 million ;

in fiscal year 2017 compared to in 2016, which represented an increase of ; Loss from operations was $18.7 million in fiscal year 2017 compared to $8.2 million in 2016, which represented an increase of $10.5 million ;

in fiscal year 2017 compared to in 2016, which represented an increase of ; Net loss was $19.3 million in fiscal year 2017 compared to $9.2 million in 2016. Loss per common share was $(0.44) per basic and diluted share in fiscal 2017 compared with $(0.21) per basic and diluted share in fiscal year 2016.

"We tried to increase sales in 2017 but the speed of our sales recovery was not as fast as we expected. Nevertheless, increasing sales remains our top priority. Management will continue to vigorously promote sales through active participation in recent provincial market openings to receive new drug tender offers and through further research of the basic medical market," said Ms. Zhilin Li, China Pharma's Chairman and CEO. Ms. Li continued, "The ongoing generic drug consistency evaluations and reform of China's drug production registration and review policies will have a major impact on the future development of our industry and may change its business patterns. Under the requirements of the consistency evaluation policy, the company actively evaluated the technical difficulty, investment demand, time requirement, and investment return rate of all applicable marketed products and pipeline products, and recognized a significant impairment loss related to our intangible assets in 2017. We will continue to actively adapt to state policy guidance and further evaluate market conditions for our current existing products, pipeline products, and competition in the market in order to optimize our development strategy."

Full Year Results

Revenue decreased by 15.2% to $13.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $15.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. This decrease was mainly due to the negative impact around Health-care insurance cost-control as well as policies for reducing the proportion of drug cost to total health-care spending.

Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $2.5 million, compared to $3.2 million in 2016. Our gross profit margin in 2017 was 18.7% compared to 20.7% in 2016. This decline in our gross profit margin was mainly due to that our raw material prices have generally increased in recent quarters along with the improvement of industry standards and the strengthening of environmental protection requirements. In addition, adverse drug pricing control policies have negatively impacted our gross margins.

Our selling expenses for the year ended December 31, 2017 were $3.5 million, a decrease of $0.5 million compared to $4.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. Selling expenses accounted for 26.2% of the total revenue in 2017 compared to 25.9% in 2016. The increase was mainly the result of additional marketing, consulting and product promotional efforts in certain Chinese provinces. Because of adjustments in our sales practices resulting from healthcare reform policies, despite the overall decrease in sales, we require additional personnel and expenses to support our sales and the collection of accounts receivable.

Our general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2017 were $2.0 million, which represented an increase of $0.3 million compared to $2.3 million in 2016. General and administrative expenses accounted for 15.3% and 14.6% of our total revenues in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Our bad debt expenses for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $1.4 million, which represented an increase of $0.3 million compared to $1.1 million in 2016. The increase in our bad debt expenses was mainly due to the change in the composition of aging of accounts receivables for the years ended December 31, 2017 compared to December 31, 2016.

Our impairments for the year ended December 31, 2017 were $14.2 million, compared to $4.0 million in 2016. It was mainly because of that as a pharmaceutical company, we have been focusing on the development and maintenance of our intangible assets, mainly in the form of medical formulas. Because of recently implemented government policies such as consistency evaluations, our management made certain assessments regarding the impairment of our intangible assets as of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 respectively, and identified six and five formulas that would likely be unable to generate positive cash flow in the foreseeable future and therefore recognized impairment loss on them accordingly.

Net loss for year ended December 31, 2017 was $19.3 million, compared to net loss of $9.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. The decrease in net loss was mainly a result of the increase in impairment loss and bad debt expenses.

Financial Condition

As of December 31, 2017, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $2.0 million compared to $2.7 million as of December 31, 2016. Working capital decreased to $3.1 million as of September 30, 2017 from $7.1 million as of December 31, 2016; and the current ratio was 1.3 and 1.7 times at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.

As of December 31, 2017, our net accounts receivable was $2.3 million, compared to $4.0 million as of December 31, 2016.

For the year ended December 31, 2017, cash flow from operating activities was $0.8 million, as compared to $2.9 million in 2016.

Conference Call

The Company will hold a conference call at 8:30 am E.T. on April 3, 2018 to discuss the results of full year 2017. Listeners may access the call by dialing 1-866-519-4004 or 65-671-350-90 for international callers, Conference ID # 1264719. A replay of the call will be accessible through April 11, 2018 by dialing 1-855-452-5696 or 61-281-990-299 for international callers, Conference ID # 1264719.

About China Pharma Holdings, Inc.

China Pharma Holdings, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a diversified portfolio of products focused on conditions with a high incidence and high mortality rates in China, including cardiovascular, CNS, infectious, and digestive diseases. The Company's cost-effective, high-margin business model is driven by market demand and supported by new GMP-certified product lines covering the major dosage forms. In addition, the Company has a broad and expanding nationwide distribution network across all major cities and provinces in China. The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Hainan Helpson Medical & Biotechnology Co., Ltd., is located in Haikou City, Hainan Province. For more information about China Pharma Holdings, Inc., please visit www.chinapharmaholdings.com. The Company routinely posts important information on its website.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements set forth above that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, which may include, but are not limited to, such factors as the achievability of financial guidance, success of new product development, unanticipated changes in product demand, increased competition, downturns in the Chinese economy, uncompetitive levels of research and development, and other information detailed from time to time in the Company's filings and future filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations except as required by applicable law or regulation.

Contact:

China Pharma Holdings, Inc.

Ms. Diana Na Huang

Phone: +86-898-6681-1730 (China)

Email: [email protected]

- FINANCIAL TABLES FOLLOW -

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS















December 31,

December 31,



2017

2016 ASSETS







Current Assets:







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 2,030,214

$ 2,665,802 Restricted cash

709,796

1,088,879 Banker's acceptances

39,867

- Trade accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful







accounts of $18,209,734 and $15,664,496, respectively

2,293,120

3,999,809 Other receivables, less allowance for doubtful







accounts of $40,010 and $71,548, respectively

162,981

224,373 Advances to suppliers

461,307

2,003,792 Inventory

6,407,155

7,310,939 Prepaid expenses

185,647

226,357 Total Current Assets

12,290,087

17,519,951









Advances for purchases of intangible assets

23,722,954

35,498,059 Property and equipment, net

23,541,003

24,967,448 Intangible assets, net

398,856

534,682 TOTAL ASSETS

$ 59,952,900

$ 78,520,140









LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY







Current Liabilities:







Trade accounts payable

$ 1,141,138

$ 3,060,374 Accrued expenses

276,368

139,830 Other payables

2,858,701

2,502,694 Advances from customers

581,132

811,232 Other payables - related parties

1,354,567

1,354,567 Current portion of construction loan facility

2,305,430

1,440,154 Bankers' acceptance notes payable

709,796

1,088,879 Total Current Liabilities

9,227,132

10,397,730 Non-current Liabilities:







Construction loan facility

6,916,291

8,640,927 Deferred tax liability

738,175

572,349 Total Liabilities

16,881,598

19,611,006 Stockholders' Equity:







Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized;







no shares issued or outstanding

-

- Common stock, $0.001 par value; 95,000,000 shares authorized;







43,579,557 shares and 43,579,557 shares outstanding, respectively

43,580

43,580 Additional paid-in capital

23,590,204

23,590,204 Retained earnings

5,479,809

24,757,374 Accumulated other comprehensive income

13,957,709

10,517,976 Total Stockholders' Equity

43,071,302

58,909,134 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

$ 59,952,900

$ 78,520,140

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)























For the Year



Ended December 31,



2017

2016 Revenue

$ 13,212,314

$ 15,570,514 Cost of revenue

10,743,764

12,352,004









Gross profit

2,468,550

3,218,510









Operating expenses:







Selling expenses

3,460,596

4,036,590 General and administrative expenses

2,019,949

2,265,851 Research and development expenses

90,474

365,969 Bad debt expense

1,393,576

1,086,449 Impairment loss

14,183,969

3,962,141 Total operating expenses

21,148,564

11,717,000









Subsidy income

-

343,023









Loss from operations

(18,680,014)

(8,155,467)









Other income (expense):







Interest income

64,414

130,575 Interest expense

(539,334)

(849,557) Net other expense

(474,920)

(718,982)









Loss before income taxes

(19,154,934)

(8,874,449) Income tax expense

(122,631)

(308,175) Net loss

(19,277,565)

(9,182,624) Other comprehensive income - foreign currency







translation adjustment

3,439,733

(4,549,391) Comprehensive loss

$ (15,837,832)

$ (13,732,015) Loss per share:







Basic and diluted

$ (0.44)

$ (0.21) Weighted average shares outstanding

43,579,557

43,579,557

CHINA PHARMA HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS





For the Year



Ended December 31,



2017

2016 Cash Flows from Operating Activities:







Net loss

$ (19,277,565)

$ (9,182,624) Depreciation and amortization

3,291,330

3,078,074 Inventory Write off

118,003



Bad debt expense

1,393,576

1,086,449 Deferred income taxes

122,631

308,175 Impairment of intangible assets

14,183,969

3,962,141 Changes in assets and liabilities:







Trade accounts and other receivables

51,024

(1,097,556) Advances to suppliers

1,614,958

380,779 Inventory

1,718,336

2,734,612 Trade accounts payable

(2,045,948)

815,198 Accrued taxes payable

18,753

72,107 Other payables and accrued expenses

420,523

377,663 Advances from customers

(274,068)

265,928 Prepaid expenses

(494,306)

94,762 Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

841,216

2,895,708









Cash Flows from Investing Activities:







Purchases of property and equipment

(136,479)

(193,404) Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

(136,479)

(193,404)









Cash Flows from Financing Activities:







Payments of construction term loan

(1,479,944)

(1,505,346) Payments of short term notes payable

-

(4,516,039) Net Cash Provided by Financing Activity

(1,479,944)

(6,021,385)









Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Cash

139,619

(263,877) Net (Decrease) Increase in Cash and Cash Equivalents

(635,588)

(3,582,958) Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Period

2,665,802

6,248,760 Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period

$ 2,030,214

$ 2,665,802









Supplemental Cash Flow Information:







Cash paid for income taxes

$ -

$ - Cash paid for interest

$ 525,788

$ 836,011









Supplemental Noncash Investing and Financing Activities:







Issuance of banker's acceptances

$ 709,796

$ 1,088,879 Accounts receivable collected with banker's acceptances

531,294

935,265 Inventory purchased with banker's acceptances

492,906

935,265

SOURCE China Pharma Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.chinapharmaholdings.com


LONDON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarion Events, one of the world's leading events organizers, announces the acquisition of PennWell Corporation, a privately-held events and business-to-business media and marketing services company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Clarion is owned by funds managed by Blackstone, one of the world's leading investment firms.

The acquisition brings together two of the industry's most well-respected names to create one of the largest events companies in the world. It also marks the latest in a series of global acquisitions by Clarion, which includes its 2015 purchase of Urban Expositions, now rebranded as Clarion UX.

"This deal delivers significant benefits for both companies," said Clarion's Executive Chairman Simon Kimble. "PennWell's roster of market-leading events strongly enhances Clarion's portfolio. Our global network and depth of resources will further strengthen PennWell's offerings, enhancing opportunities for growth and expansion across North America and globally."

"Clarion is committed to building a strong and competitive presence in North America. The acquisition of PennWell reflects not only the quality of their portfolio, but also our companies' shared legacy of creating innovative events that demonstrate our continued leadership in this industry," said Clarion UX CEO Greg Topalian.

PennWell Vice Chairman Frank T. Lauinger stated, "We have been a family-owned business since my great grandfather founded the company 108 years ago, originally to serve the oil and gas industry. Finding the right partner going forward was paramount for our family and for our employees and we are confident Clarion shares our values and will continue the legacy of PennWell across all markets PennWell now serves."

Clarion's portfolio of leading exhibition, conference and media brands, earned the company the "Most Respected Company for 2017" accolade from the UK's Association of Event Organisers. Clarion announced in February it had acquired Hong Kong-based Global Sources, a leading events organiser and on-line B2B marketplace operator.

PennWell President and CEO Mark Wilmoth said, "Clarion has market-leading brands that are complementary to PennWell's, and an enviable presence across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Merging with Clarion will enhance our offerings to the worldwide customers of PennWell's diversified portfolio of events, including the POWER-GEN series, DistribuTECH for electricity distribution, and FDIC for the fire market, as well as media brands such as the Oil & Gas Journal."

With 550 employees, PennWell organizes and manages more than 40 exhibitions and conferences around the world. The company also has 130 media properties and provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for industries that include energy, fire and emergency services, dental and industrial technology.

PennWell was represented in this transaction by JEGI (www.jegi.com), the leading independent investment bank for the global media, information, marketing, software and tech-enabled services sectors.

About Clarion Events

Clarion Events operates over 180 events in 50 countries from 15 offices in the UK, the US, South Africa, Brazil, Germany, Singapore, UAE, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. Clarion can trace its roots back to 1947 and takes great pride in being one of the oldest independent event organizers in the UK. More recently the firm has developed an international portfolio of brands and now has interests in a number of global vertical industries including energy, security and defense, electronics, technology, fashion, retail, gaming and marketing. The teams at Clarion create uniquely effective and stimulating environments that can serve as a platform to build businesses, enhance customer relationships and accelerate product awareness. Learn more at www.clarionevents.com.

About PennWell Corporation

Founded in 1910 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, PennWell Corporation is a privately held and highly diversified business-to-business media and conference and exhibition company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power generation and delivery, hydropower, renewable energy, water and wastewater, lasers and optoelectronics, fiber-optics and cable, aerospace and avionics, LEDs and lighting, fire and emergency services, and dental. PennWell publishes over 130 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 40 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, websites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell's headquarters in Tulsa and several other US locations, the Company has two major offices in London, England.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is one of the world's leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies in which we invest, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with over $430 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Contact: Jayne Gilsinger, 1-918-832-9303, [email protected]

SOURCE PennWell Corporation

Related Links

www.pennwell.com


SYRACUSE, N.Y., April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU) invites you to participate in a conference call to discuss the Company's financial and operating performance during its first quarter ended March 31, 2018.

Event: Earnings Conference Call  First Quarter 2018







When: Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time







How: By conference call or from a simultaneous web cast







Access: Conference Call Dial-In: 866-548-2692



719-325-2430  Outside the U.S. & Canada







Conference ID Code: 7507810







Webcast: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/995/25249



Mark E. Tryniski, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Scott A. Kingsley, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will provide an overview of first quarter 2018 results. The management presentation typically lasts approximately 15 minutes, followed by investor questions and discussion.

The company's results for the quarter will be released after the market closes on April 24, 2018, and will also be available in the "Investor Relations" section of the company's website, www.communitybankna.com.

The call will also be archived on the company's website for one year, and can be accessed at any time and at no cost during this period.

Community Bank System, Inc. operates more than 230 customer facilities across Upstate New York, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts through its banking subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A. With assets of approximately $10.7 billion, the DeWitt, N.Y. headquartered company is among the country's 150 largest financial institutions. In addition to a full range of retail, business, and municipal banking services, the Company offers comprehensive financial planning, insurance and wealth management services through its' Community Bank Wealth Management Group and OneGroup NY, Inc. operating subsidiaries. The Company's Benefit Plans Administrative Services, Inc. subsidiary (which includes Northeast Retirement Services, LLC) is a leading provider of employee benefits administration, trust services, fund administration and actuarial consulting services to customers on a national scale. Community Bank System, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Company's stock trades under the symbol CBU. For more information about Community Bank visit www.communitybankna.com or http://ir.communitybanksystem.com.

For further information contact:

Scott Kingsley,

E.V.P. and Chief Financial Officer

(315) 445-3121

SOURCE Community Bank System, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.communitybankna.com


"Cleaning up programmatic advertising continues to be an incredibly challenging endeavor. Buyers and sellers tell us how important our work is, yet motivating behavioral change requires more than we ever imagined," said David Kohl, President and CEO, TRUSTX. "TRUSTX has 35 of the world's largest and most trusted publishers in our engine room. Their inventory at scale and this new capital commitment will accelerate our goal of delivering more working media value for every dollar of media investment in programmatic advertising."

"At MAGNA, and across the IPG Mediabrands portfolio, we remain steadfast in promoting trust and transparency. Resellers and fraud obfuscate the value of a buyer's media investment, which diminishes the overall value of programmatic as an efficient investment vehicle," explained Jon Mansell, SVP, Marketplace Innovation, MAGNA. "This financial commitment is a testament to the great work, strategic direction and demonstrated results TRUSTX delivers. We are excited to build upon our partnership with TRUSTX for the years to come and look forward to a time when TRUSTX standards become industry standards."

First launched in beta in May 2017, TRUSTX has demonstrated to marketers, agencies and publishers that there is, in fact, a tenable path to rebuilding trust, transparency and safety at scale across programmatic markets. "These critical industry topics are central to the digital marketing discussion and dictating media buying strategy everywhere we go. Integrity is a key currency, and advertisers and their agencies are leaning in. We're thrilled to be expanding our operations to better serve them," commented John Vilade, Chief Revenue Officer, TRUSTX.

"TRUSTX is not just brand safe, it's brand enhancing," said Dave Morris, EVP Advanced Advertising and Client Partnerships at CBS, one of the five TRUSTX investors. "We were one of the Founding TRUSTX members and have seen, first hand, how TRUSTX has taken its mission and delivers on its promises. Transparency and safety are things a lot of people talk about, but very few exchanges deliver on. TRUSTX delivers, and that's why we're here."

Five senior executives participating in TRUSTX talk about why they're involved in this video [https://vimeo.com/260343114], including Sharmilan Rayer, VP Audience and Programmatic Platforms, NBCUniversal; Nicole Lesko, VP, Digital Ad Product and Operations, Meredith; Matt Minoff, Chief Digital Officer, Meredith; Dave Pond, GM, Display and Programmatic, Vox Media, and Dave Morris, EVP, Advanced Advertising and Client Partnerships, CBS.

TRUSTX is a collaborative programmatic marketplace where buyers and sellers can test and measure innovative ad monetization models, and raise the bar on trust, transparency and safety at scale. On day one, TRUSTX and its members set a high bar for the next generation of programmatic trading. Foundational principles include:

100% human and viewable: The marketplace requires buyers and sellers to agree that only ads deemed to be seen by a human and 100% viewable (as per current MRC standards) will be monetized.

The marketplace requires buyers and sellers to agree that only ads deemed to be seen by a human and 100% viewable (as per current MRC standards) will be monetized. 100% trading transparency down to the publisher and advertiser URL: All participants know what's being bought and sold, all the time.

All participants know what's being bought and sold, all the time. 100% financial transparency from bid to delivery, reporting and billing: TRUSTX operates as a non-profit, which keeps operational costs low and maximizes working media dollars for buyers, and ad revenue for sellers.

SOURCE TRUSTX
OKLAHOMA CITY, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CLR) ("Continental" or the "Company") plans to announce first quarter 2018 results on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 following the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The Company plans to host a conference call to discuss first quarter 2018 results on Thursday, May 3, 2018 at 12:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. CT). Those wishing to listen to the conference call may do so via the Company's website at www.CLR.com or by phone:

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120327/DA76602LOGO

Time and date: 12 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 3, 2018

Dial-in: 844-309-6572

Intl. dial-in: 484-747-6921

Conference ID: 4956858

A replay of the call will be available for 14 days on the Company's website or by dialing:

Replay number: 855-859-2056 or 404-537-3406

Intl. replay: 800-585-8367

Conference ID: 4956858

Continental plans to publish a first quarter 2018 summary presentation to its website at www.CLR.com prior to the start of its conference call on May 3, 2018.

About Continental Resources

Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) is a top 10 independent oil producer in the U.S. Lower 48 and a leader in America's energy renaissance. Based in Oklahoma City, Continental is the largest leaseholder and the largest producer in the nation's premier oil field, the Bakken play of North Dakota and Montana. The Company also has leading positions in Oklahoma, including its SCOOP Woodford and SCOOP Springer discoveries and the STACK plays. With a focus on the exploration and production of oil, Continental has unlocked the technology and resources vital to American energy independence and our nation's leadership in the new world oil market. In 2018, the Company will celebrate 51 years of operations. For more information, please visit www.CLR.com.

Investor Contacts: Media Contact: Rory Sabino Kristin Thomas Vice President, Investor Relations Senior Vice President, Public Relations 405-234-9620 405-234-9480 [email protected] [email protected]



Alyson L. Gilbert

Manager, Investor Relations

405-774-5814

[email protected]



SOURCE Continental Resources

Related Links

http://www.clr.com


EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporate Technologies, LLC announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company, has named Corporate Technologies, LLC to its 2018 Tech Elite 250 list. This annual list honors an exclusive group of North American IT solution providers that have earned the highest number of advanced technical certifications from leading technology suppliers, scaled to their company size.

To compile the annual list, The Channel Company's research group and CRN editors work together to identify the most customer-beneficial technical certifications in the North American IT channel. Companies who have obtained these elite designations which enable solution providers to deliver premium products, services and customer supportare then selected from a pool of online applicants.

Corporate Technologies employs over 100 technicians, systems engineers and network engineers that support customers in six markets. Our engineers and sales staff are continuously training and earning new certifications from the industries' major technology manufacturers including: HP, Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix, IBM, CompTia, EMC, VMware and Symantec. As a result of our multi-vendor authorizations, Corporate Technologies has the expertise needed to meet the information technology requirements of our customers in a rapidly changing industry.

"Being named to CRN's Tech Elite 250 list is no small feat," said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. "These companies have distinguished themselves with multiple, top-level IT certifications, specializations and partner program designations from the industry's most prestigious technology providers. Their pursuit of deep expertise and broader skill sets in a wide range of technologies and IT practices demonstrates an impressive commitment to elevating their businessesand to providing the best possible customer experience."

"Technology continues to be the driving force behind the innovative changes in productivity for businesses. Corporate Technologies is committed to developing strong partner relationships with our vendors so we can continue to deliver the latest technology solutions to our customers. We are honored to be named to CRN's Tech Elite 250 list again this year," said Jim Griffith, CEO of Corporate Technologies.

Coverage of the Tech Elite 250 will be featured in the April issue of CRN, and online at www.crn.com/techelite250.

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook

Tweet This:

@TheChannelCo names @gocorptech to @CRN 2018 Tech Elite 250 list #CRNTechElite250 www.crn.com/techelite250

About Corporate Technologies LLC

Corporate Technologies is a leading provider of managed IT solutions to businesses and institutions in Minnesota, North Dakota, Idaho, Southern California, Michigan and New Jersey. With over 35 years of experience and the continued dedication of its employees, Corporate Technologies supports their clients on a national level. It offers a wide range of IT solutions, including: managed IT services, staffing, storage, virtualization, VoIP systems, consulting and networking. Corporate Technologies' Technology Advantage program provides a niche service for small and medium size businesses requiring IT support and services. For additional information, visit www.gocorptech.com or call 866-363-GoCT (4628).

About the Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com

The Channel Company, LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Corporate Technologies, LLC

Related Links

http://www.gocorptech.com


DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To increase diversity within America's tech workforce, Creating IT Futures and TEKsystems are partnering to expand the IT-Ready career program to more cities. At no cost to students, IT-Ready assesses, trains, certifies and places unemployed and under-employed adults in their first jobs in the IT field, which has a shortage of qualified workers.

Since Creating IT Futures established the program in 2012, IT-Ready has become one of America's most successful tech training programs with 88 percent of its students graduating and 86 percent of graduates garnering paid IT jobs. With a commitment to building a diverse tech workforce, IT-Ready's study body has averaged 66 percent people of color and 44 percent female.

TEKsystems is helping to fund new IT-Ready classes, as the program expands from its central location in the Twin Cities to permanent offices in Charlotte, N.C., and Portland, Ore., this year. IT-Ready has plans to expand to 10 cities by 2023.

"We've found our partnership with Creating IT Futures to be incredibly rewarding with regard to the opportunity it affords graduates of the program. We get to see first-hand the positive change people create in their own lives if given the tools guidance to help themselves. We continue to expand our partnership with IT Ready because it produces concrete results within the areas where the programs are established, helping to grow an in-demand talent pool locally, benefiting the community at large," said Franklin Reed, director of inclusion and diversity, TEKsystems.

Beyond its philanthropic investment in IT-Ready, TEKsystems also is working with graduates in all three IT-Ready cities to place them into tech jobs. For instance, upon graduating and earning his CompTIA A+ certification in Charlotte last October, IT-Ready student Bryce accepted a position through TEKsystems and now is deployed as a desktop support technician for Bank of America. From the last IT-Ready class to graduate in the Twin Cities, TEKsystems placed three students with local employers: Kalvin and Will gained positions as PC technicians at Ecolab and Suzanne is working as a desktop support analyst with IBM/Ameriprise. Last month, TEKsystems participated in a mini job fair with IT-Ready's most recent graduates in Portland.

"With TEKsystems' generous help and the support of other donors and partners, we've built a solid base in the Twin Cities and held successful pop-up IT-Ready trainings in 7 other cities," said Charles Eaton, CEO, Creating IT Futures. "Now, we're using what we learned in each of those pop-ups to build permanent homes in several cities across the nation that are creating their own tech talent and using that talent to diversify and enlarge their local tech community. This type of systemic progress in each city is only possible with local partnerships and national support from such organizations as TEKsystems."

Potential IT-Ready employers, students and community partners can learn more at www.ITReady.com.

About Creating IT Futures

Founded in 1998 by CompTIA, Creating IT Futures is a 501(c)(3) charity with the mission of helping populations under-represented in the information technology industry and individuals who are lacking in opportunity to prepare for, secure, and be successful in IT careers. Learn more at www.creatingITfutures.org.

About TEKsystems

People are at the heart of every successful business initiative. At TEKsystems, an Allegis Group company, we understand people. Every year we deploy more than 80,000 IT professionals at 6,000 client sites across North America, Europe and Asia. Our deep insights into IT human capital management enable us to help our clients achieve their business goalswhile optimizing their IT workforce strategies. We provide IT staffing solutions and IT services to help our clients plan, build and run their critical business initiatives. Through our range of quality-focused delivery models, we meet our clients where they are, and take them where they want to go, the way they want to get there.

Media Contacts:

Lisa Fasold

Creating IT Futures

630-678-8558

[email protected]

Nathan Bowen

TEKsystems

410-540-3090

[email protected]

SOURCE Creating IT Futures

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This new traffic study will build upon the work contained in the 2014 SR29 Gateway Corridor Improvement Plan, according to Miller, who said NVTA will spend a couple hundred thousand dollars of its own money for the research.

We just touched the surface on the gateway plan, she told the City Council. This [new study] is going to dig much deeper, and were going to be looking at a lot of elements we didnt look at in the first plan.

Miller also said the completion of the new study will make NVTA eligible for new funding sources, including from SB 1, the state law that raised fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees to provide new transportation monies.

The study, according to Miller, will look all the potential projects from Carneros to American Canyon Road along 29.

That remark prompted Councilmember David Oro to seek assurances from Miller that the study will focus on projects in American Canyon, such as extending Newell Drive so it connects with the highway, and the completion of Devlin Road so it provides alternative route for cars and trucks.

Oro said it was important that a lot of that study money stays down here in American Canyon.
AUSTIN, Texas, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) has chosen Deloitte in a competitive procurement to help the state develop and implement a more compelling and personalized digital experience for constituents and organizations conducting business with the state of Texas. The goal of the next Texas.gov contract will be to provide a portal that is on par with online retail and commercial services when it comes to ease of use, customer satisfaction and adoption of services.

"DIR looks forward to working with Deloitte as they advance the online constituent experience," said Stacey Napier, DIR executive director. "As more Texans engage with digital government services, we're excited for Deloitte to continue to showcase the quality user experience Texans are used to."

"The state of Texas has been very forward-looking in its approach to serving its constituents," said Kristen Miller, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, who leads the state of Texas account. "We are excited to bring Deloitte's commercial digital experience and tested methods to the state of Texas and work with them to design something that meets the unique requirements of the public sector and the specific needs and expectations of the people they serve."

"We see a future in which Texas.gov and its supporting platform play a more pivotal role in the interactions between Texans and their government services," said Chris Keel, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, who led Deloitte's proposal. "Texas DIR understands that what constituents demand today will be different tomorrow so we will be focused on a developing a platform that is flexible for emerging technologies and expectations."

Texas.gov is the official website of the state of the Texas and provides portal and payment services for Texas state agencies, institutions of higher education and eligible local governmental organizations, enabling them to conduct online business with their customers.

According to Texas officials, Texas.gov has had over 240 million site visits, and processed over 245 million financial transactions since 2000.

About Deloitte

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including more than 85 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 6,000 private and middle market companies. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to make an impact that matters  delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

SOURCE Deloitte

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NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid concerns about automation, the need for new skills, an aging workforce and tightening labor markets, the make-or-break issue facing companies this year is the need for realignment among the C-suite to focus on business' evolving role in society. In its 2018 Global Human Capital Trends report, "The Rise of the Social Enterprise," which can be viewed via its digital-first, progressive web app on mobile, tablet or desktop, Deloitte also examines the increasing expectations of the individual and the breathless pace at which technology is shaping organizations' human capital priorities.

"As society grapples with daunting demographic, technological and social challenges, people want business leaders to fill the gap, but our research shows they have a long way to go," said Erica Volini, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, U.S. human capital leader. "This year's report is a wake-up call for organizations to look beyond their own four walls and reimagine their broader roles in society. Integrating the C-suite to build a more social enterprise will be a differentiator for businesses to attract the right talent, drive customer loyalty and sustain long-term growth."

With more than 11,000 HR and business leaders weighing in, this year's Global Human Capital Trends report is the largest longitudinal survey of its kind. Respondents overwhelmingly point to the need for a symphonic C-suite  a team-based, cross-disciplinary approach to tackling complex issues  with 85 percent calling this trend important or very important. Survey results show companies where C-suite executives regularly collaborate are one-third more likely to be growing 10 percent more than companies whose leadership operates in siloes. Despite being necessary to advance the enterprise, 73 percent say their executives do not regularly collaborate.

Filling society's leadership vacuum

Increased transparency and heightened political awareness have drawn widespread attention to business' role in society as a driver of change. Organizations find they are increasingly expected to exercise their ability to do social good, both externally for customers, communities and society, as well as internally for their employees. True social enterprises must take a total stakeholder approach to pressing public issues to maintain reputation and relevancy.

With more pressure on businesses to be good citizens and engineer solutions to critical social challenges, citizenship must be a core part of an organization's identity and mission. In fact, 77 percent of survey respondents cited citizenship as important or very important. According to the "Deloitte Millennial Survey 2017," millennials' high expectations for corporate responsibility is a strong contributor, with 76 percent regarding business as a force for positive social impact. Despite the emerging link between social impact and companies' financial performance, only 18 percent of respondents say citizenship is a top priority in corporate strategy. Thirty-four percent have few or poorly funded citizenship programs, and 22 percent are not focused on this at all.

"Corporate citizenship is now a CEO-level strategy and critical to a company's bottom line," said Josh Bersin, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and founder and editor-in- chief of Bersin. "It's not about check-the-box CSR initiatives, but integrating citizenship, fairness, inclusion, and purpose as core values across work practices. Customers and employees alike are holding companies to higher standards than ever before and rewarding companies who demonstrate socially-conscious behavior with unwavering loyalty."

Internal and external social forces are also driving attention to the aging global workforce. Extended life expectancies raise questions on how long careers will last and how aging workers will impact economies and public policy. Fifteen percent of survey respondents report that their organizational perspective is that older employees are getting in the way of rising talent. Despite the aging global workforce and the competitive advantages older talent offers, 49 percent of respondents indicate their companies have done nothing to help older workers find new careers as they age, and another 15 percent say older workers are viewed as an impediment to rising talent. However, the aging workforce remains an untapped resource of experience and knowledge for social enterprises to use to their advantage.

As constituencies look to how companies treat their own employees, tackling the alternative workforce takes center stage for socially-conscious organizations. By 2020, 37 percent of organizations expect a growth in contractors, 23 percent in freelancers, and 13 percent in gig workers. Despite this anticipated growth, only 16 percent said they have an established set of policies and practices to manage this variety of worker types. It is critical to successfully implement hybrid workforce strategies because they can have a significant impact on an organization's employment brand and external reputation.

The power of the individual requires a holistic approach to jobs and careers

In the past year, organizations have become laser-focused on how automation induced job shifts will impact individuals. The Deloitte research shows that more than 4 in 10 companies believe automation will have a major impact on jobs, and 61 percent are now actively redesigning jobs around AI and robotics. Additionally, 72 percent of HR and business leaders rated the topic of AI as important or very important.

Against this backdrop, companies and individuals realize the traditional career model is becoming defunct. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed consider building new career models and skills as very important. More than 54 percent have no programs in place to build the skills of the future, and only 18 percent feel they give employees opportunities to develop themselves. Espousing their role as drivers of change in the social enterprise, companies need to work to develop and implement robust solutions to decrease the growing skills gaps.

In addition to investing in employees' professional development, organizations must also rethink how they invest in their employees on a personal level. Forty-three percent of those surveyed say well-being reinforces their organization's mission, 60 percent say it improves employee retention, and 61 percent say it improves productivity and bottom-line results. However, according to Bersin research, only 3 percent of companies think their reward offerings are very effective at motivating talent. In a new social enterprise, companies must explore more frequent rewards and other incentives like vacation time or student-loan forgiveness.

"Personalized incentives and well-being strategies are key differentiators in talent acquisition and retention, particularly in a tight labor market," said Volini. "Once-a-year reviews and bonuses are table-stakes in today's enterprises. Expanding rewards and well-being strategies is critical for the C-suite if they want to attract and retain the right individuals."

Leveraging technology for sustainable growth

With the deployment of AI, robotics, automation, and people analytics showing no signs of slowing down, companies are reconciling a demand for human skills and the need for increased productivity. While 72 percent of respondents see this area as important, only 31 percent feel ready to address it.

"Automation is here to stay and will improve scale, speed and quality," said Brett Walsh, global human capital leader, Deloitte Global. "But it's important to remember that as routine work is automated, new jobs will be created  jobs that are more service-oriented, interpretive, social, and play to our essential human skills. Only companies whose C-suite embraces this transformation and redesign how work gets done to leverage these skills will be able to stay a step ahead of their competition."

Executives anticipate a growing requirement for complex problem-solving (63 percent), cognitive abilities (55 percent), and social skills (52 percent). To that end, 70 percent of respondents believe workers will spend more time on collaboration platforms in the future and 67 percent anticipate a growth in "work-based social media." As a flood of new workplace communications tools augments team-based work, 47 percent of organizations cite the productivity of the hyperconnected workforce as a very important issue.

As technology permeates the workplace, people analytics is at the top of executives' minds, with 84 percent of respondents rating it as important or very important, while only 10 percent of respondents feel very ready to deal with this challenge. With 64 percent of companies actively managing legal liability related to their organization's people data, only 22 percent have excellent processes to safeguard this data, exposing them to additional risks that can threaten their status as a social enterprise if not proactively managed.

Access the "2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends" report and gain further insights into the data via Deloitte's digital-first trends research progressive web app. View a livestream presentation of the trends report from IMPACT, Bersin's industry leading HR research conference, on April 3 at 4 p.m. ET via Twitter @Bersin.

About Deloitte

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including more than 85 percent of the Fortune 500 and more than 6,000 private and middle market companies. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to make an impact that matters  delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

SOURCE Deloitte

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PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation awarded nearly $1 million this year to 34 non-profit organizations based in New Jersey and Connecticut, enabling them to increase access, provide education or expand the dental health care they currently provide to children, developmentally disabled persons and senior citizens, as well as to support various community events and programs that promote the importance of good oral health and its vital role in overall wellbeing.

"Our Foundation is proud to lend our support to local non-profit organizations who are committed to providing much-needed dental care to individuals who otherwise face barriers to receiving it," said Gene Napoliello, D.D.S., chairman of the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation Board of Trustees. "Our Foundation also supports other programs, such as Captain Supertooth, our oral health super hero, who visits more than 5,000 pre-K through first graders annually educating them on tooth-friendly foods, brushing and flossing, and visiting the dentist."

Founded in 1986, the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation, the philanthropic arm of dental benefits provider Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc., has awarded more than $17 million in grants used to support dental education programs for children, funded scholarships for students pursuing a career in the dental field and created access to dental care for underserved and uninsured populations. In March 2018, Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation was recognized by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ) with a Companies that Care Award, demonstrating their commitment to corporate philanthropy.

Grants, which ranged from $1,500 to $100,000, were awarded for one-time projects, as well as multi-year projects. Some of the local organizations receiving grants this year include:

JFK Medical Center Foundation ( Edison, NJ ), $77,400 to support construction of a new dental operatory for those who have suffered from traumatic brain injury.

), to support construction of a new dental operatory for those who have suffered from traumatic brain injury. Newark Beth Israel ( Newark, NJ ), $25,000 for senior citizens to receive dentures and $50,000 to fund a dental screening program and follow-up care for seniors who have diabetes, heart disease, and/or are nutritionally compromised.

( ), for senior citizens to receive dentures and to fund a dental screening program and follow-up care for seniors who have diabetes, heart disease, and/or are nutritionally compromised. Morristown Medical Center ( Morristown, NJ ), $105,000 to support dental care for children, developmentally disabled, and seniors at the hospital's Leonard Szerlip Dental Center.

), to support dental care for children, developmentally disabled, and seniors at the hospital's Leonard Szerlip Dental Center. Wheeler Clinic ( Hartford, CT ), $100,000 to establish a dental operatory adjacent to pediatrics for children in Hartford to address the shortage of dental providers in the city and the importance of early preventive oral health services.

), to establish a dental operatory adjacent to pediatrics for children in to address the shortage of dental providers in the city and the importance of early preventive oral health services. Eva's Village ( Paterson, NJ ), $100,000 to expand a new pediatric dental program for children who reside with their mothers in Eva's homeless shelters, addiction recovery programs, transitional housing and apartments.

According to the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute, 15 percent of low-income adults in New Jersey say their mouth and teeth are in poor condition. What's more, the state received a failing grade from Pew's Charitable Trusts' "States Stalled on Dental Sealant Program" report in 2015.

"Delta Dental is doing our part to help change the dialogue in New Jersey and Connecticut, with a focus on supporting early childhood preventive programs - instilling good oral health habits early with the goal of that leading to a lifetime of healthy smiles," said Dennis Wilson, president and CEO of Delta Dental New Jersey. "There is massive opportunity to improve access to dental care in our state and we are 100 percent committed to bridging this gap. Working alongside these critical organizations, we're helping reverse the trend for children and create access to dental care for people of all ages in both New Jersey and Connecticut."

About Delta Dental

Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc. is New Jersey's leading dental benefits company, providing or administering coverage to more than 1.7 million people through contracts with groups in New Jersey and Connecticut. In Connecticut, Delta Dental of Connecticut, Inc. is a newly licensed insurer that writes dental coverage on an insured basis, and Delta Dental of New Jersey administers self-funded dental benefit programs. For more information, visit www.deltadentalnj.com.

SOURCE Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation

Related Links

http://www.deltadentalnj.com


SPARTANBURG, S.C., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to Denny's, America won't have to travel to a galaxy far, far away to experience its own taste of "Solo: A Star Wars Story . " Starting today, Star Wars fans and guests across the country will be able to get their hands on a variety of movie-inspired items, including a bold new menu and exclusive "Solo: A Star Wars Story" trading cards only available at Denny's--all while helping a great cause in the process. Net proceeds from the sale of all trading card packs will benefit Denny's longtime partner, No Kid Hungry, to help kick childhood hunger into outer space.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with the team at Lucasfilm and No Kid Hungry for the much-anticipated release of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story,'" said John Dillon, @DillonJohnW, chief marketing officer for Denny's. "We're incredibly excited to join forces and bring America an out-of-this-world campaign that will not only feed the excitement of every Star Wars fan and Denny's guest, but will also do some good along the way by helping fight childhood hunger and raise awareness for this important mission."

"Since 2011, we have been so proud to partner with Denny's in the fight to end childhood hunger, and we are honored to be part of this unique promotion," said Diana Hovey, senior vice president at No Kid Hungry. "Ending childhood hunger takes all of us working together, and we're so grateful to have the support of both Denny's and Lucasfilm. Denny's has been a key partner of the No Kid Hungry campaign, and to date has helped connect kids in need to more than 63 million meals, proving that together we can truly end child hunger in the U.S."

Each exclusive "Solo: A Star Wars Story" trading card pack, only available at Denny's in-store and via 'Denny's on Demand', includes two of 12 different character cards, featuring Han Solo, Chewbacca, Qi'ra, Lando Calrissian and more, in addition to a Denny's coupon for future use. A portion of all sales from the $3 trading card packs--with a minimum guaranteed donation of $1 million--will be donated to No Kid Hungry to help provide meals to children in need.

To kick off the promotional campaign, Denny's has released its own "Solo: A Star Wars Story"-inspired national TV spot, "Hand of Sabacc." Set inside the lodge from "Solo: A Star Wars Story," the spot features two young adversaries, who imagine that they are squared off in a high-stakes card game as characters from the Star Wars universe, including Chewbacca, watch from around the booth. Denny's worked closely with Lucasfilm and Skywalker Sound and enlisted the help of acclaimed production designer Neil Lamont and Oscar-winning creature and Special Makeup Effects Supervisor Neal Scanlan--both of whom worked on Star Wars films "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"--to create an authentic Star Wars environment for the spot.

Star Wars fans can also fuel up with their crew with Denny's movie-inspired menu, featuring bold new items that will send guests' taste buds into hyperdrive. Available 24/7, Denny's new menu includes the Co-Reactor Pancakes, featuring fresh strawberries, strawberry sauce and whipped cream, plus a side of Crystal Crunch Rocks and a pitcher of warm citrus sauce to pour over the pancakes; the Blaster Fire Burger, which offers up chipotle gouda cheese, bacon and spicy Ghost Pepper sauce top a hand-pressed 100 percent beef patty; along with the new Two Moons Skillet and Denny's Lightspeed Slam. Guests can also activate their taste buds by adding a side of Crystal Crunch rocks to their favorite Milk Shake.

If that wasn't enough, guests can also enjoy their favorite beverage in one of Denny's Limited Edition "Solo: A Star Wars Story" collector cups featuring characters from the film and topped with a Millennium Falcon lid.

Fans will be able to experience Denny's promotional campaign with "Solo: A Star Wars Story" through June 26 and can visit Dennys.com for more information or to find their local restaurant and place an online order. Lucasfilm's "Solo: A Star Wars Story" opens nationwide May 25.

About Denny's Corp.

Denny's is one of America's largest full-service family restaurant chains, currently operating over 1,700 franchised, licensed and company-owned restaurants across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guam, the United Arab Emirates, Curacao, El Salvador, the Philippines, Guatemala and the United Kingdom. For further information on Denny's, including news releases, please visit the Denny's website at www.dennys.com or the brand's social channels via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram or YouTube.

About No Kid Hungry

No child should go hungry in America, but 1 in 6 kids will face hunger this year. Using proven, practical solutions, No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger today by ensuring that kids start the day with a nutritious breakfast, eat healthy summer meals, and families learn the skills they need to shop and cook on a budget. When we all work together, we can make sure kids get the healthy food they need. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of national anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength. Join us at NoKidHungry.org.

About "Solo: A Star Wars Story"

Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in "Solo: A Star Wars Story," an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo befriends his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga's most unlikely heroes.

The film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Paul Bettany.

Ron Howard directs "Solo: A Star Wars Story," and Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel are the producers. Lawrence Kasdan, Jason McGatlin, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller serve as executive producers. Lawrence & Jonathan Kasdan wrote the screenplay. "Solo: A Star Wars Story" opens in U.S. theaters on May 25, 2018.

SOURCE Denny's

Related Links

http://www.dennys.com


BASEL, Switzerland, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dermavant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies for dermatologic conditions, today announced that it has expanded its pipeline by in-licensing an investigational drug for the treatment of multi-focal hyperhidrosis. It has also strengthened its management team through the appointment of David Rubenstein, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer, Richard Peterson as Chief Financial Officer, Ariel D. Jasie as Chief Business & Strategy Officer, and Chris Van Tuyl as General Counsel.

"I am delighted to welcome David, Ric, Ariel, and Chris to our team and we look forward to advancing the development of a promising treatment for hyperhidrosis," said Dr. Jacqualyn A. Fouse, Executive Chair of Dermavant. "I'm proud of the progress we've made in building a diverse pipeline and I look forward to continuing to build Dermavant into the industry leader in medical dermatology."

Dermavant's fifth drug in development will be RVT-504 (previously THVD-102), a potential systemic treatment for hyperhidrosis in-licensed from TheraVida, Inc. Dermavant has secured rights for development and commercialization; deal terms include an upfront payment, milestone payments, and royalties.

Dr. Rubenstein has joined Dermavant from GlaxoSmithKline Dermatology where he built an industry-leading dermatology drug development organization as Vice President, Discovery and Preclinical Development. Prior to GSK, he held academic roles at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, most recently serving as the Louis C. Skinner Jr. Distinguished Professor of Dermatology. Dr. Rubenstein received his A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed his dermatology residency and postdoctoral fellowship in dermatology and biology at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Mr. Peterson has joined Dermavant from Sienna Biopharmaceuticals where he served as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Peterson has extensive experience in the dermatology space, previously serving as Chief Financial Officer of Novan and as Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, and Treasurer of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation through the company's $2.6 billion acquisition in 2012. Before joining Medicis in 1995, Mr. Peterson was a Senior Financial Auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He received his B.S. in Accounting from Arizona State University.

Mr. Jasie has joined Dermavant from Codiak BioSciences where he served as Chief Business Officer. Prior to Codiak, he served in various executive roles at Celgene Corporation, most recently as Executive Director for Strategy and Operations for the company's Research & Early Development Group. Before joining Celgene, Mr. Jasie served as in-house counsel at Reliant Pharmaceuticals through the company's $1.6 billion acquisition in 2007. He received his B.A. in History from the University of Maryland and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.

Mr. Van Tuyl has joined Dermavant from Sacks Tierney P.A., where he was a partner in the firm's corporate practice group. He previously served as Corporate Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer, and Associate General Counsel at Rayonier, Inc., where he oversaw key aspects of the company's multi-billion-dollar spinoff of its chemicals business in 2014, and as Associate General Counsel at Medicis Pharmaceuticals through the company's $2.6 billion acquisition in 2012. Prior to joining Medicis, Mr. Van Tuyl was a corporate attorney at Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP in Phoenix and Clifford Chance LLP in New York. He received his B.S. in Finance summa cum laude from Arizona State University and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law.

About Hyperhidrosis

Hyperhidrosis consists of abnormal sweating beyond the amount necessary for thermal regulation. The most common form of the disorder is primary focal hyperhidrosis in which sweat glands in the hands, underarms, face, groin, and feet are chronically overactive in the absence of physical activity or an increase in temperature. Recent studies have suggested that this form of hyperhidrosis is primarily multi-focal, with approximately 80 percent of individuals experiencing excessive sweating at multiple locations on their bodies.1,2 Secondary hyperhidrosis refers to excessive sweating caused by another medical condition or as a side effect of a medication. In the United States alone it is estimated that there are over 15 million individuals suffering from hyperhidrosis.1

About RVT-504

RVT-504 is a combination of the muscarinic antagonist oxybutynin with the muscarinic agonist pilocarpine in a twice-daily oral formulation. RVT-504 uses proprietary technology to control the release and dosing of pilocarpine with the goal of reducing the frequency and severity of dry mouth and potentially other side effects associated with oxybutynin. In a completed Phase 2 clinical trial in primary focal hyperhidrosis, RVT-504 demonstrated statistically significant improvements from baseline relative to placebo on multiple endpoints including the Hyperhidrosis Disease Severity Scale, the Hyperhidrosis Visual Analog Scale, and the Hyperhidrosis Visual Quantification Scale. RVT-504 also demonstrated statistically significant reductions in the severity of dry mouth when compared to dosing with oxybutynin alone. RVT-504 is the only oral, systemically acting drug for primary focal hyperhidrosis currently in development.

About Dermavant Sciences

Dermavant Sciences is dedicated to developing and, upon regulatory approval, commercializing innovative therapies in medical dermatology. Dermavant currently has five investigational drugs in development: RVT-501, RVT-502, RVT-503, RVT-504, and RVT-201.

RVT-501 is a highly potent and selective topical phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor being developed as a topical therapy for patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis. RVT-502 is a dual spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) and janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor being developed as a topical therapy for a variety of serious dermatologic conditions. RVT-503 is a preclinical asset being studied for the treatment of acne. RVT-504 is a combination of a muscarinic antagonist with a muscarinic agonist being developed as an oral therapy for the treatment of hyperhidrosis. RVT-201 is a caspase-1 inhibitor that acts to inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines and is being developed as a topical therapy for inflammatory skin diseases.

For more information, please visit dermavant.com.

Notes

Doolittle J, Walker P, Mills T, et al. Hyperhidrosis: an update on prevalence and severity in the United States . Arch Dermatol Res (2016) 308:743. Glaser DA, Ballard AM, Hunt NL, et al. Prevalence of multifocal primary hyperhidrosis and symptom severity over time: results of a targeted survey. Dermatol Surg (2016) 42:1347-1353.

Media Contact: Paul Davis, Roivant Sciences, Inc., [email protected]

SOURCE Dermavant Sciences

Related Links

https://dermavant.com


IRVINE, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Zymo Research Corp. Board of Directors has announced the appointment of David A. Sinclair, Ph.D., O.A., Professor, Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Labs for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School, to its Scientific Advisory Board, effective immediately. He is well known for his work on anti-aging, specifically understanding why humans age and how to slow its effects. He is the co-founder of several biotechnology companies including Sirtris, Genocea, Cohbar, MetroBiotech, ArcBio, Life Biosciences, and Liberty Biosecurity. He currently serves on several boards of directors, as well. He holds 40 patents and has received over 30 awards and honors including the Merck Prize, Nathan Shock Award, the ASMR Medal and a Pioneer Award from the NIH, to name a few. In 2014, he was listed by TIME magazine as "one of the 100 most influential people in the world" and in 2018 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, the equivalent of a knighthood. His work has been featured in five books, three documentaries, and television shows such as 60 Minutes.

Dr. David A. Sinclair, an anti-aging specialist, joins Zymo Researchs Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Sinclair attained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New South Wales located in Sydney, Australia. In 1995, he received a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the same school, specializing in gene regulation in yeast. In 2004, he established the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging at Harvard, where he currently serves as the co-Director with Bruce Yankner.

"I am very pleased to help Zymo Research's anti-aging technology reach the next level," said Sinclair. "There are so many exciting discoveries in this scientific field and I hope to help guide Zymo Research in their developments in this area."

"Dr. Sinclair is an exceptional scientific thought leader in the aging field," said Dr. Larry Jia, Founder and Director of Zymo Research Corp. "We are looking forward to having him on our Scientific Advisory Board and are sure that Zymo Research Corp. will benefit from his scientific insights and expertise in the anti-aging movement."

With the appointment of Dr. Sinclair, Zymo Research's Scientific Advisory Board consists of seven members, including Peter Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc. Director of Research, Chief Scientific Officer, Van Andel Institute; Dr. Steven Jacobsen, Professor, University of California-Los Angeles; Dr. Alexander Meissner, Director, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics; Dr. Martin Schwemmle, Professor, University of Freiburg, Germany; Dr. Jonathan Eisen, Professor, University of California-Davis; and Dr. Frederic Reu, Medical Oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

For more information about Zymo Research's aging services, go to Zymo Research's website or email [email protected]. For more information about Dr. David A. Sinclair, please see his website, https://genetics.med.harvard.edu/sinclair.

About Zymo Research Corp.

Zymo Research Corp. is a privately held company based in Irvine, California, USA. Since its inception in 1994, it has been serving the academic and biopharmaceutical scientific communities by providing DNA and RNA purification products. Their goal is to help scientists reduce time in the lab by eliminating steps and making the entire DNA/RNA extraction process simpler and faster. In addition to the nucleic acid purification products, Zymo Research also offers genetic, epigenetic and transcriptome analysis services. Zymo Research provides high-quality products that are simple to use yet robust in their performance. For more information, please visit www.zymoresearch.com. Follow Zymo Research Corp. on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Trademarks:

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The Zymo Research Corp. trademark, with its design elements including the stylized three-shaded ovals (budding yeast), and the words "The Beauty of Science is to Make Things Simple," is a registered trademark of Zymo Research Corp.

SOURCE Zymo Research Corp.

Related Links

http://www.zymoresearch.com


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: RLMD), a clinical-stage company developing novel therapies for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases, today announced that Dr. Ottavio Vitolo has joined the company as senior vice president, head of research and development and chief medical officer. Dr. Vitolo previously served as executive clinical advisor of Relmada since June 2017. In this new role, Dr. Vitolo will manage the clinical development program for Relmada's lead product candidate, dextromethadone (REL-1017), a novel, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist as a rapid acting treatment of depression, and will lead the expansion of the portfolio to other CNS indications. In January 2018 Relmada announced the acquisition of global rights to develop and market dextromethadone for the treatment of neurological conditions including certain rare diseases with symptoms affecting the CNS.

"With our recent acquisition of global rights to develop and market dextromethadone in additional important indications, Relmada is positioned to rapidly expand its focus on clinical development. Dr. Vitolo has played a crucial role in guiding our research efforts as a member of our advisory group, and now we will have the benefits of his outstanding experience as a full-time member of our executive team," said Sergio Traversa, CEO of Relmada Therapeutics. "As a practicing neuropsychiatrist he also brings a depth of understanding of the critical areas of unmet need and the impact of CNS disorders on patients and their families."

Dr. Vitolo is a neuropsychiatrist and researcher with extensive pre-clinical and clinical research experience in both academic and industry settings. Previously he held positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, including senior medical director and head of neuromuscular clinical research leading the clinical development of programs on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Huntington's disease, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and Friedreich's ataxia. His clinical research experience includes psychiatric conditions such as depression, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. He was also formerly associate medical director of discovery research at Shire Human Genetic Therapies and vice president for clinical development at Homology Medicines, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on gene therapy and gene editing for rare diseases. He is currently assistant psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

"Relmada is positioned to make significant progress in clinical research this year and I am especially pleased to be expanding my role and become a full-time member of the leadership team at this pivotal moment in the company's history," said Dr. Vitolo. "The company's landmark research thus far indicates that dextromethadone has a unique profile and the potential to offer significant benefits as a rapid acting treatment of depression and other neurological disorders in the years ahead."

About dextromethadone (REL 1017)

Relmada is currently developing dextromethadone as a rapidly acting oral agent for the treatment of depression. Working through the same brain mechanisms as ketamine, a non-competitive NMDA channel antagonist, but potentially lacking its adverse side effects, dextromethadone is fundamentally differentiated from all currently FDA-approved antidepressants, as well as all atypical antipsychotics used adjunctively. In April 2017, the FDA granted Fast Track designation for dextromethadone for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder.

About Relmada Therapeutics, Inc.

Relmada Therapeutics is a clinical-stage, publicly traded biotechnology company developing novel medicines that potentially address areas of high unmet medical need in the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases. The Company has a diversified portfolio of products at various stages of development. Relmada's lead program, dextromethadone (REL-1017), is an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. NMDA receptor antagonists may have potential in the treatment of a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders associated with a variety of cognitive, neurological and behavioral symptoms. For more information, please visit Relmada's website at www.relmada.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. We may from time to time make written or oral statements in this letter, the proxy statements filed with the SEC communications to stockholders and press releases which constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events and conditions and may discuss, among other things, anticipated future performance, expected product development, product potential, future business plans and costs. Any statement that is not historical in nature is a forward-looking statement and may be identified by the use of words and phrases such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "will," "will likely result," "will continue," "plans to" and similar expressions. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Relmada undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Readers are cautioned that it is not possible to predict or identify all of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect future results and that the risks described herein should not be considered to be a complete list.

Contact

Media Contact:

Jenna Iacurci

Berry & Company Public Relations

Tel: 212-253-8881

[email protected]

SOURCE Relmada Therapeutics, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.relmada.com


HANGZHOU, China, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dragon Victory International Limited ("LYL" or the "Company"), a company offering reward-based crowdfunding opportunities and quality incubation services to entrepreneurs in China, today announced that the Company has entered into a Strategic Cooperation Agreement (the "Agreement") with Shanghai Baoshan Industrial Park ("SBIP"), a municipal level industrial park in Shanghai, China with a focus on Internet of Things ("IOT") and incubation services to entities seeking overseas listing on March 28, 2018.

Baoshan Industrial Park encourages investors to set up projects in accordance with the requirements of famous brands of manufacturing and tertiary industries, export-orientated and export processing enterprises, and businesses in modern industry, logistics and services.

Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company will cooperate with SBIP to develop an Internet of Things ecosystem in conjunction with the smart city program that SBIP is developing. The Company expects to provide IT solutions and services to SBIP and integrate SBIP-developed programs into the Company's ecosystem, as well as to provide incubation services to entities seeking overseas listing including but not limited to, investment and financing, listing guidance, etc. The Company also intends to establish a wholly owned foreign-owned enterprise in the Baoshan district of Shanghai, with the support of SBIP, and expects to work to expand and improve SBIP's foreign investment promotion program.

Mr. Jianjun Sun, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dragon Victory International Limited, commented, "This agreement is positive for the future of Dragon Victory, and more broadly, crowdsourcing and startup enterprises in China. Startup companies affiliated with SBIP will benefit greatly from our financing, management, and other incubator services, while developed companies can benefit from LYL's financial advisory services should they choose to go public overseas. Furthermore, the development of the "Internet of Things" in SBIP will lead to a more efficient and productive startup environment, as SBIP transforms into a leading smart city. This agreement is expected to open an exciting new chapter for Chinese enterprises as we work with SBIP to create a leading environment for entrepreneurs."

About Dragon Victory International Limited

Incorporated in 2015 and headquartered in Hangzhou, Dragon Victory International Limited ("LYL" or the "Company") offers reward-based crowdfunding opportunities in China to entrepreneurs and funding sources through a fast-growing reward-based crowdfunding platform at www.5etou.cn. 5etou is designed to enable small- and medium-sized companies, start-ups and idea generators to raise funding from participants through the Internet. The Company also provides quality business incubation services and financial services to entrepreneurs and business entities with funding needs who utilize our crowdfunding platform. More information is available at www.dvintinc.com.

About Shanghai Baoshan Industrial Park

Shanghai Baoshan Industrial Park is a municipal level industrial park established on February 21, 2003, with the approval of Shanghai municipal government. The industrial park is located in the northeast of Shanghai and will cover an area of 23 square kilometers when fully developed. With new industrialization driving urbanization as its development concept and building a comprehensive industrial zone deriving from Shanghai's fine steel industry as its development theme, Baoshan Industrial Park not only enjoys preferential policies for fine steel bases and new township building, but also boasts a professional consulting team that provide full life-cycle services to companies. Furthermore, it is also considered as a manufacturing and logistics hub that connects seaways, railways and waterways. With highly efficient planning, investment, construction and services, Baoshan Industrial Park strives to be a platform for companies' sustainable growth. More information is available at www.shanghai.gov.cn/shanghai/node27118/node27873/node27997/n31510/n31512/u22ai73228.html

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains information about the Company's view of its future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from historical results or those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with its ability to raise additional funding, its ability to maintain and grow its business, variability of operating results, its ability to maintain and enhance its brand, its development and introduction of new products and services, the successful integration of acquired companies, technologies and assets into its portfolio of products and services, marketing and other business development initiatives, competition in the industry, general government regulation, economic conditions, dependence on key personnel, the ability to attract, hire and retain personnel who possess the technical skills and experience necessary to meet the requirements of its clients, and its ability to protect its intellectual property. The Company encourages you to review other factors that may affect its future results in the Company's registration statement and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For more information, please contact:

Company Contact:

Bo Lyu, the Board Secretary

Dragon Victory International Limited

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +86-15157527297

Investor Contact:

Tina Xiao, President

Ascent Investor Relations LLC

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1-917-609-0333

SOURCE Dragon Victory International Limited
ANGWIN  Dr. Robert A. Cushman Jr. will be officially inaugurated as the president of Pacific Union College on April 20.

The public is welcome to attend the ceremony at 10 a.m. at the PUC Church. A reception will immediately follow. More information can be found at puc.edu/inauguration

He began his role as president July 1, 2017, and is the colleges 23rd president in its 135-year history. Previously, he served as the vice president for academic administration for Walla Walla University in College Place, Washington, and has spent the last 26 years in Adventist education serving in various capacities.

Cushman is an Adventist educator who looks forward to helping PUC as the college continues to develop its new strategic plan, and campus physical master plan, the college said in a news release.

Dr. Cushman is a passionate leader highly respected among his peers, and a man of great integrity and commitment to Adventist education, said Bradford Newton, PUC board chair and executive secretary of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Dr. Cushmans experience as a senior administrator, faculty member, and researcher gives him a unique appreciation of the distinctive blend of the liberal arts and pre-professional programs that define the PUC experience.

Founded in 1882, Pacific Union College is a fully accredited liberal arts college serving more than 1,200 students. PUC is Napa Valleys only four-year college and is affiliated with the Adventist Church.
SAN DIEGO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dthera Sciences (OTCQB:DTHR), a digital therapeutics company focused on developing innovative quality of life therapies for the elderly and those suffering from cognitive decline, today reported financial results and provided a business update.

Dthera Sciences Chief Executive Officer, Edward Cox, stated, "2017 was a meaningful year for Dthera as we advanced our digital therapeutic platform significantly in the lead up to the planned launch of our first product in 2018. Our digital platform has the potential to democratize effective practices, such as reminiscence therapy, that are currently impossible to scale, and make them more accessible to millions suffering from conditions such as social isolation and dementia. Importantly, we believe the benefits may also extend to caregivers, empowering them to better meet the needs of their loved ones, and potentially easing the burden of care, while providing greater peace of mind. Dthera plans to launch its first product, ReminX, a tablet-based consumer health product designed to deliver personalized reminiscence therapy, in the second quarter of 2018."

Key Accomplishments in 2017

Completed a proof-of-concept study for lead product, ReminX, at University of California San Diego . Study results in 14 patients suffering from dementia showed significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and overall emotional distress.

. Study results in 14 patients suffering from dementia showed significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and overall emotional distress. Completed a successful beta test of Dthera's proprietary sales funnel, providing key proof points in support of achieving 2018 sales targets for ReminX.

In September, the Company commenced trading on the OTCQB Venture Market.

Financial Results

For the year ended December 31, 2017 Dthera was a development stage company and has not yet recognized any revenue. Total expenses for the year ended December 31, 2017, were $1,809,076 million, up 162% from a year ago, primarily due to the amortization of stock options as compensation and increases in consulting fees. Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2017, totaled $185,842, a 47% increase from $126,115 in 2016, primarily due to accrued interest on notes and the full amortization of debt discounts due to payment of all convertible notes in 2018.

Dthera reported a net loss for the year ended December 31, 2017 of $2,558,547. This compared a net loss of $1,194,804, during the year ended December 31, 2016.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

At December 31, 2017, Dthera had cash and equivalents totaling $323,482, prepaid expenses of $95,176, and deposits of $2,500. This compared with cash of $12,191 and deposits of $1,000 at December 31, 2016. The increase in cash was due to a private placement offering of its securities in 2017.

The Company also raised capital via a private placement offering in 2018, and the Company believes the proceeds are sufficient to fund operations through the launch of lead product, ReminX.

Upcoming milestones for 2018 include:

First Product Launch: Dthera plans to launch its lead product, ReminX, an artificial-intelligence-powered consumer health product designed to deliver reminiscence therapy digitally to individuals suffering from dementia from Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, as well as for seniors experiencing social isolation.

The product is comprised of a proprietary software tablet, specifically designed to be robust and user-friendly to this user group, and an Artificial Intelligence chatbot called Rachel that streamlines and simplifies the process of putting content onto the platform.

The tablet sits in a charging docking station, does not have any buttons or cords to confuse or frustrate the users and automatically plays ReminX content when picked up.

The Rachel, guides family members/caregivers to upload optimal content and organizing it into an effective narrative primarily via text message. Rachel "asks" group members to add photos, videos, and audio. Proprietary emotional recognition software in the tablet provides feedback as to which content is most helpful, allowing Rachel to "learn" what works best and inform family members.

In addition to text messaging, the ReminX product has several additional channels of content collection. These include The ReminX Family Mobile App (iOS/Android), The ReminX Family Web App, and email.

ReminX will be sold on a subscription basis for $40 a month. The Company anticipates that the primary purchasers will be adult children of the elderly suffering from cognitive decline or social isolation.

Sales Target: Dthera expects to reach 5,000 subscriptions within the first five months after launch, with well-leveraged customer acquisition cost (CAC) to long term customer value ratio (LTV).

Dthera expects to reach 5,000 subscriptions within the first five months after launch, with well-leveraged customer acquisition cost (CAC) to long term customer value ratio (LTV). National Exchange Uplisting : The Company intends to up-list to a national exchange by the end of 2018.

: The Company intends to up-list to a national exchange by the end of 2018. Pipeline Growth: Dthera intends to pursue additional uses for ReminX, as well as other medically effective therapies that will be delivered over the Dthera Delivery Platform.

About Digital Therapeutics

Digital therapeutics, a new and emerging subsection of digital health, are technologies that deliver a therapy directly to a patient via a digital interface. The sector offers the promise of scaling effective individual therapies to larger patient populations, thereby amplifying care, changing patient behavior, and reducing the cost-of-care.

About Dthera Sciences

Dthera Sciences (OTCQB:DTHR), based in San Diego, Calif., is a digital therapeutics company focused on developing innovative quality of life therapies for the elderly and those suffering from cognitive decline. The Company's lead product, ReminX, is an artificial-intelligence-powered consumer health product designed to deliver reminiscence therapy digitally to individuals suffering from dementia from Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, as well as for seniors experiencing social isolation. The company plans to launch ReminX commercially in the second quarter of 2018. For more information, please visit www.dthera.com and www.reminx.com

Contact:

Geno Kostikov

Director, Corporate Development

[email protected]

(858) 215-6360

SOURCE Dthera Sciences

Related Links

http://www.dthera.com


Red Lobster determines its Vendor Partner of the Year through an internal selection process. The facilities team nominates vendors that help the restaurant chain provide world-class facilities support to customers. Nominees are then voted on by the department to decide the winner.

EKTOS was recognized for helping the restaurant chain manage energy consumption and performance of its heating, ventilation and air conditioning units (HVACs) and water heaters. Since 2012, nearly 150 Red Lobster locations have implemented EKTOS Evia solution to monitor equipment and maximize cost savings.

"Our entire EKTOS team is grateful to be selected for such a prestigious award," said Larry Barich, President. "Red Lobster is a great partner - we enjoy collaborating with the company's outstanding facilities team toward energy saving solutions that help support their business and serve their customers."

Jack McNertney, VP Real Estate and Facilities for Red Lobster, commented, "EKTOS customer service is truly remarkable and their reporting metrics enable us to address issues before they become major problems." He continued, "Recently, they assumed project management of installs and did so seamlessly. They not only help drive energy costs lower, they provide reporting that is beneficial to our system. We are proud to partner with such value-adding vendors."

ABOUT EKTOS:

EKTOS, a Schneider Electric business partner, designs, develops, and provides energy management solutions exclusively for the restaurant industry. EKTOS is committed to improving restaurant energy management through a turnkey approach that includes product installation, reporting, and analysis. Its solutions are installed in over 1,900 restaurants nationwide and has saved its customers more than $100 million in energy costs. For more information, visit www.ektos.com.

SOURCE EKTOS

Related Links

http://www.ektos.com


SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Elastifile, the enterprise hybrid cloud data management company, today announced its availability on Google Cloud Launcher, providing customers with the ability to deploy scalable, enterprise-grade, high-performance NFS file services on Google Cloud Platform with just a few clicks.

Google Cloud Launcher allows users to quickly deploy functional software on Google Cloud Platform with no manual configuration required. Elastifile's validated compatibility for use with Google Compute Engine and integration with Google Cloud Launcher delivers an easy path to cloud-based and hybrid cloud workflows.

As a member of the Google Cloud Technology Partner Program, Elastifile is already helping organizations leverage Google Cloud Platform to expand and accelerate their workflows.

"To improve our data-intensive drug discovery workflows, we needed a scalable, high-performance IT infrastructure solution," said Woody Sherman, Chief Science Officer of Silicon Therapeutics. "By leveraging Elastifile to burst our workloads to Google Cloud Platform, we gained elastic access to cloud-based resources and specialized services...enabling us to drastically reduce our IT management overhead and minimize our workflow 'time-to-result'."

Availability through Google Cloud Launcher further enhances the joint solution by enabling easy, push-button deployment, scaling, and tear-down of shared NFS file services in the cloud. This flexibility allows users to satisfy the dynamic capacity and performance requirements generated by bursty or unpredictable workloads, while still minimizing infrastructure costs.

"At Elastifile we're passionate about helping enterprises leverage the public cloud effectively, and our inclusion on Google Cloud Launcher is a key enabler for that mission," said Amir Aharoni, CEO and co-founder of Elastifile. "By further simplifying the deployment, scaling, and management of cloud-based data infrastructure, we've delivered a complete, cost-effective solution that eases cloud integration and adds crucial value for a wide variety of use cases."

Powered by a dynamically scalable, distributed file system with intelligent object tiering, Elastifile delivers cost-effective, high-performance parallel access to global data via POSIX-compliant, NFS file services. The combination of Elastifile and Google Cloud Platform enables existing file-based applications and workflows to dynamically leverage cloud resources with no refactoring required, and while still retaining the benefits of enterprise data services. Elastifile also integrates seamlessly with Kubernetes, enabling data persistence and sharing across containerized environments.

In addition, Elastifile's CloudConnect capability facilitates cost-effective data mobility and management. When leveraged to create a bidirectional data flow between on-premises environments and Google Cloud Platform, CloudConnect enables highly efficient hybrid cloud solutions. When leveraged in the cloud, CloudConnect enables cost-optimized, dynamic data tiering between an Elastifile file system and Google Cloud Storage, thus allowing data to reside in the most efficient, cost-effective location at all times.

To learn more, or to deploy Elastifile on Google Cloud Launcher, please visit https://www.elastifile.com/google-cloud-platform. Additional information about Elastifile is available at https://www.elastifile.com

Follow Elastifile:

https://twitter.com/elastifile

https://www.linkedin.com/company/elastifile

https://www.facebook.com/Elastifile/

About Elastifile

Elastifile is redefining the way data is stored and managed in the cloud, on-premises, and spanning hybrid clouds. Powered by an elastically scalable, enterprise-grade, distributed file system with integrated object tiering, Elastifile's cross-cloud data fabric delivers high performance, unified access to global data. By freeing data from traditional storage silos, Elastifile enables frictionless movement of applications to the cloud, between clouds, and across hybrid environments. This allows enterprises to seamlessly leverage cloud infrastructure and services to enhance and accelerate a broad range of data-driven workflows, including: analytics, DevOps, high-performance computing, and many more.

Elastifile is based in Santa Clara, California and Herzliya, Israel, with global Sales and Marketing offices in North America and Europe, and R&D in Israel. Founded in 2013, Elastifile is backed by Battery Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, CE Ventures, and seven strategic investors from the cloud, data center, and storage industries, including Dell EMC, Cisco, and Western Digital.

SOURCE Elastifile

Related Links

http://www.elastifile.com


RICHMOND, Va., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Due to strong interest, Virginia529 has extended the annual enrollment period for the state's prepaid college tuition program. Slated to end March 31, families now have until midnight on Tuesday, April 17, to purchase Prepaid529 tuition contracts.

Prepaid529 allows families to purchase semesters of tuition and mandatory fees for newborn children through ninth graders. Semester prices vary based on the age of the beneficiary. Explore the array of contract and payment options using the Prepaid529 calculator at Virginia529.com.

Each semester purchased will fund a future semester of the full-time undergraduate in-state tuition and mandatory fees assessed to all students at Virginia public two- and four-year colleges and universities. Prepaid529 semesters also can be used at private and out-of-state institutions, but the benefits differ.

Families have until May 1, 2018 to make the first payment.

Virginia529 has helped families in the Commonwealth save for college and guard against escalating tuition costs for more than 20 years.

For complete program details, review the Prepaid529 Program Description available at Virginia529.com.

About Virginia529:

Virginia529 makes higher education more accessible and affordable for families and individuals. With more than $69 billion in assets under management and 2.6 million accounts as of February 28, 2018, Virginia529 is the largest 529 plan available. Three flexible, affordable, tax-advantaged programsPrepaid529SM, Invest529SM and CollegeAmericaand early commitment scholarship program SOAR Virginia assist students of any age in reaching their higher education goals. For more information on Virginia529's college savings options, visit Virginia529.com or call 1-888-567-0540 to obtain program materials. These include information on Virginia529 programs, investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other important information; read and consider them carefully before investing. All investments are subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest. Virginia529 encourages prospective participants to seek the advice of a professional concerning any financial, tax or legal implications related to opening an account. For residents of states other than Virginia: before investing, you should consider whether your or the beneficiary's home state offers any state tax or other state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protections from creditors that are only available for investments in that state's qualified tuition program. 2018 Virginia College Savings Plan. All Rights Reserved.

For more information, contact

Devon Copeland

Senior Communications Associate

804-225-2452

[email protected]

SOURCE Virginia529

Related Links

http://www.Virginia529.com


AUSTIN, Texas, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Epicor Software Corporation, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth, announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company, has given the Epicor Partner Network a 5-Star rating in its 2018 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide is the definitive listing of partner programs from technology vendors that provide products and services through the IT channelrecognizing an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

We are pleased to be recognized with a 5-star rating in the 2018 CRN Partner Program Guide. Working with hundreds of highly qualified partners to deliver unequaled value to customers around the world, the Epicor Partner Network further expands the Epicor ERP solutions reach in both core and non-core markets, said Joy Verplank, Senior Director of Channel, Americas, Epicor Software.

The Epicor Partner Network is a comprehensive sales, support, and marketing program that offers Epicor Channel Partners significant opportunities to grow their businesses with award-winning products, training, and support in a highly competitive, dynamic marketplace. The Epicor Partner Network was selected by CRN for providing more than 40 years of quality service to its customers' unique business processes and operational requirements.

"Finding the right technology vendor to partner with can be a daunting task, given the vast array of choices now available to solution providers," said Robert Faletra, executive chairman, The Channel Company. "CRN's Partner Program Guide and 5-Star ratings help them narrow the field and find the best fit, identifying the most rewarding partner programs and providing crucial insight into their strengths and benefits. We are pleased to present our 2018 PPG listrecognizing the strongest and most successful partner programs in the channel today."

To determine the 2018 5-Star ratings, The Channel Company's research team assessed each vendor's partner program based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support, and communication tactics.

"We are pleased to be recognized with a 5-star rating in the 2018 CRN Partner Program Guide," said Joy Verplank, senior director of channel, Americas, Epicor Software. "Working with hundreds of highly qualified partners to deliver unequaled value to customers around the world, the Epicor Partner Network further expands the Epicor ERP solution's reach in both core and non-core markets. Epicor partners gain a competitive edge with the ability to offer a single, flexible ERP platform to meet customer demands and changing market requirements."

The 2018 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/ppg.

About the Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com.

About Epicor Software Corporation

Epicor Software Corporation drives business growth. We provide flexible, industry-specific software designed to fit the precise needs of our manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industry customers. More than 45 years of experience with our customers' unique business processes and operational requirements are built into every solutionin the cloud or on premises. With this deep understanding of your industry, Epicor solutions dramatically improve performance and profitability while easing complexity so you can focus on growth. For more information, connect with Epicor or visit www.epicor.com.

Epicor and the Epicor logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epicor Software Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners. The product and service offerings depicted in this document are produced by Epicor Software Corporation.

Contact: Lindsay Ortega

Senior Specialist, Public Relations

Epicor Software Corporation

+1 952 417 5022

[email protected]





The Channel Company Contact

Melanie Turpin

The Channel Company

+1 508 416-1195

[email protected]

SOURCE Epicor Software Corporation

Related Links

http://www.epicor.com


DENVER, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolab, a CBx Sciences brand, today announced the availability of a FreshTerps infused blend of its incomparably potent, award-winning CO2 cannabis oil for G Pen Gio devices in Colorado.

G Pen Gio is a cartridge-based liquid concentrate system that has been engineered to deliver maximum vapor density for connoisseurs and novices alike.

"Pairing our premium oils with the G Pen Gio provides a truly unparalleled vaping experience," said Nicole Smith, CEO, CBx Sciences. "As cannabis vaping science continues to quickly advance, it's invaluable to have partners that are constantly working on creating the next generation of these technologies. We're pleased to work with the Grenco Science team to offer this special oil and hardware combo."

"With the introduction of the new G Pen Gio, we wanted to provide an all-in-one concentrate system for users in Colorado," said Chris Folkerts, Grenco Science. "Evolab's decade of experience, numerous awards for extraction technology, and status as the leader of the CO2 market made them a perfect fit to provide the oil for this cutting edge new device."

Designed to exclusively interface with the G Pen Gio Battery, Gio Cartridges feature a streamlined heating system and integrated airpath for smooth, consistent pulls via seamless breath activation. The G Pen Gio has an advanced wicking system. Its sleek, ergonomically designed form factor and zinc-alloy housing make this vaporizer the ideal device for Evolab's pre-filled 500mg cartridges.

Look for G Pen Gio hardware and Evolab cartridges at dispensaries across Colorado. Find a location near you at evolab.com or GPen.com/gio

About Evolab:

Evolab, a CBx Sciences company, is a pioneer in the use of chromatography and CO2 to produce pharmaceutical-grade cannabis extracts. The company manufactures a full range of cannabis extracts and infused products that are rich in terpenes and pure cannabinoids -- while remaining free of solvents, cutting agents and diluting additives. Evolab is also a provider of cutting-edge technology solutions and production services to other cannabis manufacturers. Founded in 2011, Evolab is based in Denver, Colorado. Learn more at www.evolab.com

Supporting Resources:

Media Inquiries:

Graham Sorkin

[email protected]

SOURCE Evolab

Related Links

http://www.evolab.com


This exciting technology allows attendees to check into events using only their face. Shorter wait times, more secure meetings, and personalized attendee greetings are just a few of the benefits facial recognition provides.

Here's how it works: An attendee walks into a conference and heads for a kiosk to check-in. As they approach the kiosk, it recognizes their face, greets them by name, and automatically prints their badge.

"We see attendee faces light up when they interact with the technology," says Jeff Cooper, President of Expo Logic, "They are delighted and surprised by this efficient and personal check-in experience."

The meeting and event industry has responded positively too. Since the first pilot was conducted in the Fall of 2017, facial recognition check-in has been used at several events and will be showing up at many more this year including Community Brands Xperience18 and Keller Williams' Luxury Home Event.

"Facial recognition is intuitive and easy to use. The attendee participation has been exceeding our expectations because people are already familiar with the technology. Event planners who want to maximize their attendee experience should definitely give it a try," says Panos Moutafis, President of Zenus.

Learn more about facial recognition check-in services by visiting Expo Logic's website www.expologic.com

About Expo Logic

Expo Logic is a global event technology and service company specializing in integrated registration, lead retrieval, and attendee tracking solutions. Expo Logic services over 450 domestic and international events a year including some of the largest events in the United States and Europe. Providing clients with innovative technology and excellent customer service, is the hallmark of our company.

About Zenus

Zenus is an award winning face recognition company. Our goal is to eradicate tickets and make waiting in line a distant memory of the past. We abide by our core values: (i) respect people's privacy, (ii) be radically honest, and (iii) do things right.

SOURCE Expo Logic

Related Links

https://www.expologic.com


HONOLULU and MEDFORD, Mass., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- INVO Bioscience, Inc. (OTC: IVOB), a medical device company granted FDA clearance for the first Intravaginal Culture System, INVOcell, today announced that the Fertility Institute of Hawaii, located in Honolulu, is the first clinic in Hawaii to add INVOcell to its scope of reproductive treatments with the addition of INVOcell.

Dr. John Frattarelli, M.D., founder of the Fertility Institute of Hawaii, commented, "INVOcell is a welcomed addition to our palette of services. It provides an additional option for our patients to create the loving families they so desire. The cost of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments can add an additional burden to a process that is very stressful in and of itself. We believe it is important to provide this innovative, and cost-effective, approach to achieving pregnancies where other methods have not achieved the desired results. INVOcell may very well open the door to pregnancy to many couples that otherwise may have given up hope. We are excited with the future possibilities."

Dr. Anatte Karmon, M.D., the Clinical and Research Director at the Fertility Institute of Hawaii, attended the INVOcell training program held on March 24th, 2018. Dr. Karmon commented, "I was impressed by the simplicity and success rate of the INVOcell model. We are a comprehensive fertility treatment center and take pride in offering all traditional and cutting-edge services to our patients. We are thrilled to announce that INVOcell will now be available to our patients and will provide a cost-effective approach to family building."

INVOcell has the ability to significantly transform the way in which doctors assist infertile patients to become pregnant in a simpler, more natural and cost-effective manner. INVOcell is a patented medical device used in the treatment of infertility that enables egg fertilization and early embryo development to take place in the woman's body, in vivo. The simplistic INVO can be easily performed in an appropriately trained physician's office without the need for expensive overhead.

About Fertility Institute of Hawaii

Founded in 2010 by Dr. John Frattarelli, M.D., HCLD, the Fertility Institute of Hawaii is the premier fertility clinic in the state of Hawaii, offering superior success rates. The goal of the state-of-the-art center is to provide a private, intimate experience, where the patient is never a number, but an individual who is treated with compassion and concern. Offering world-class technologies and novel treatments, the Fertility Institute of Hawaii has been the clinic of choice for those seeking fertility treatments. Abreast of the latest national and international research and treatment options in fertility management, patients can be assured that they will be provided with a comprehensive individualized treatment plan.

About INVO Bioscience

We are a medical device company focused on creating simplified, lower cost treatments for patients diagnosed with infertility. Our solution, the INVO Procedure, is a disruptive new technology. The INVO Procedure is a revolutionary in vivo method of vaginal incubation that offers patients a more natural and intimate experience. Our lead product, the INVOcell, is a patented medical device used in infertility treatment and is considered an Assisted Reproductive Technology ("ART"). The INVOcell is the first Intravaginal Culture ("IVC") system in the world used for the natural in vivo incubation of eggs and sperm during fertilization and early embryo development, as an alternative to traditional In Vitro Fertilization ("IVF") and Intrauterine Insemination ("IUI"). Our mission is to increase access to care and expand fertility treatment across the globe with a goal to lower the cost of care and increase availability of care. For more information, please visit https://invobioscience.com/.

Safe Harbor 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. The Company invokes the protections of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategies, 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 to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include those set forth in our filings at www.sec.gov. 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.

Contact:

INVO Bioscience, Inc.

Kathleen Karloff, CEO

978-878-9505 ext. 504

[email protected]

SOURCE INVO Bioscience, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.invobioscience.com


MIAMI, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS), a BARBRI Professional Association, today announced that financial crime industry executive, Joseph Yerant, will join ACFCS as president, reporting to Stephen J. Fredette, The BARBRI Group chairman and CEO.

Yerant comes to ACFCS with more than 20 years of operational, technology and strategic experience across multiple industries. He formerly served as chief operating officer and interim chief technology officer of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) leading up to, and subsequent to its sale to Adtalem Global Education. While at ACAMS, Yerant, as part of the executive management team, was responsible for operations and technology. More recently, Yerant worked with Payfone, a global leader in mobile digital identity verification serving the world's largest banks, insurers and technology companies, to improve its customer success area. Yerant currently serves as a board member and consultant to National Executive Services Corp.

Yerant's earlier roles included operations, program management and acquisition integration leadership positions with World Fuel Services, a Fortune 500 company, and JM & A Group, a multi-billion dollar privately-held company. Yerant holds a juris doctorate degree from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor's degree in accounting from Oakland University (formerly Michigan State University at Oakland). Yerant is continuing his education at MIT's Sloan School of Business, studying Artificial Intelligence.

"I am a passionate advocate of educating society of the risks of financial crime, as well as for providing the tools to tackle these issues in part by utilizing advanced technology to meet users' needs," said Yerant. "I am a firm believer in the ongoing education of professionals and providing an understanding of how criminals utilize vehicles to conceal their activities. I am very excited about ACFCS as its mission and solutions address the broad spectrum of financial crime, and not just the anti-money laundering aspects.

"Through ACFCS' comprehensive offerings of membership with training and certification, the organization provides professionals and institutions the resources to be better suited to detect and prevent the impacts of financial crime. I am eager and honored to join the team and am excited about the possibilities."

Garry Clement, who has served as executive director of ACFCS since January 2016, will transition to the role of senior advisor for ACFCS. In this role, Garry will continue to support ACFCS in its mission and lend his vast industry experience to the direction of the organization.

"We are very fortunate to gain a leader with Joseph's experience, talent and vision," said Fredette. "I am confident that he will lead ACFCS into the future, building world-class solutions to combat the evolving challenges presented by financial criminals, and expand our ability to deliver valued education around the world.

"We appreciate Garry's contributions as executive director and look forward to his continued efforts. Joseph, Garry and our Board of Advisors represent best-in-class visionaries and leadership in the industry, and I look forward to supporting the team with the deep resources we have here at BARBRI."

About ACFCS

The Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS), a BARBRI Professional Association, is a worldwide organization for private and public-sector professionals who work in diverse financial crime disciplines, including anti-money laundering, FATCA-tax evasion, FCPA, anti-corruption, fraud, data analytics and cybersecurity, compliance, regulation, enforcement and more. ACFCS awards the Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS) certification to qualified candidates who pass a proctored examination offered at authorized testing centers around the world. Professionals in the financial crime field from more than 50 nations have already obtained the CFCS certification.

About The BARBRI Group

The BARBRI Group companies meet the legal education, cyber skills education and specialized training needs of law students, attorneys, IT students and other professionals throughout their careers. The companies offer a comprehensive portfolio of learning solutions for higher education institutions and law- and finance-related businesses. At the core of The BARBRI Group Companies is BARBRI Bar Review, which has helped more than 1.3 million lawyers around the world pass a U.S. bar exam. The company also provides online J.D., post-J.D. and international programs for U.S. law schools, hands-on cyber skills training for IT and criminal justice programs, and specialized ongoing training and certifications in areas such as financial crime prevention, eDiscovery and cyber literacy. The BARBRI Group, founded in 1967, is a Leeds Equity Partners portfolio company headquartered in Dallas with offices throughout the United States and around the world.

Contact:

Cindy Parks - 913-526-6912

[email protected]

SOURCE Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists

Related Links

http://www.acfcs.org


LAKE CITY, Fla., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- First Federal Bancorp, Inc. ("FFBI"), the holding company of First Federal Bank of Florida ("First Federal") today announced that it has completed the merger with Coastal Banking Company, Inc. (OTCQX: CBCO), the holding company of CBC National Bank ("CBC").

CBC has been merged with and into First Federal. The merger adds full-service banking offices in Fernandina Beach, Ocala, and The Villages, Fla., and Beaufort and Port Royal, S.C., mortgage lending offices in Florida, across the Southeast and Midwest, and both SBA and USDA lending offices across Florida and in multiple states. In addition to increased influence in Nassau County, First Federal gains 10,000 customers, approximately $600 million in assets, $425 million in deposits, and $400 million in gross loans.

"The merger with CBC allows First Federal to grow our presence, customer base and range of products and services in Nassau County and in other vibrant, economically strong markets in both Florida and South Carolina, as well as add mortgage, SBA and USDA lending offices in numerous states," said Keith Leibfried, president and chief executive officer of First Federal. "We couldn't be more pleased to welcome CBC's employees and customers to First Federal, and we look forward to serving the full range of banking and lending needs of all of our customers as we continue to integrate CBC's operations into First Federal."

First Federal will work to integrate CBC systems, processes, products and services over the next several months. The conversion is expected to be complete in August. CBC customers are encouraged to continue banking as they normally do and will receive further information this summer.

About First Federal

First Federal Bank of Florida is a community bank founded in the heart of North Florida in 1962. Today, First Federal is a $2 billion-asset institution offering a full line of personal and business financial solutions, services and loans through full-service banking offices in Florida's Panhandle, North Central Florida, and coastal South Carolina. In addition, First Federal has mortgage lending offices across the Southeast and Midwest, and SBA and USDA lending offices throughout Florida and in multiple states. First Federal is a mutual savings bank and continues to receive a "5-Star, Superior" financial rating from BauerFinancial, Inc., of Coral Gables, Fla. For more information, visit www.ffbf.com.

SOURCE First Federal Bancorp, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ffbf.com


I paid PG&E to have my smart meter removed, because I wanted to keep the radiation away from the bedroom  and now this, said Julia Kyle, whose home would be in front of a small cell on Sierra Avenue. I feel like its worth the fight to oppose it. These things were done without our permission and against our will.

Another neighborhood resident was less worried about the effect of a new cell transmitter on her health, but wondered whether Verizon could have instead set it up farther from homes to avoid spoiling the view  even after spokespeople told her what factors go into choosing tower sites.

Its still not clear to me why they cant put it in a more discreet spot in the neighborhood; Im not convinced thats the only viable location, said Kerry Murphy, who moved into the north Napa neighborhood four years ago. These poles are 50 feet tall  thats not small. To have one in front of a tiny house, with metal boxes attached, it creates an eyesore. Still dont understand why they cant put it over at Bel Aire Plaza instead.
DRAPER, Utah, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Flexpoint Sensor Systems, Inc. (FLXT) today announced Q4 2017 and Q1 2018 resulted in multiple production purchase orders from various customers around the globe including those in the medical and virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) market segments. Flexpoint expects these purchase orders to increase in 2018 as these market segments experience rapid growth.

As the medical rehabilitation VR/AR market continues to grow, valued Flexpoint customers such as Neofect (Korea-based), Gloreha (Italy-based), Reha-Stim Medtec (Switzerland-based and formerly YouReHab,) are seeing their technologies gain greater acceptance in their respective markets.

Neofect, in particular, is experiencing rapid expansion in the US market as their technology which features the Bend Sensor has FDA approval. Flexpoint is also engaged with other medical companies in this segment such as Focal Wellness and their ground-breaking Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) rehabilitation solution. All of these partner solutions impact millions of lives and prove the Bend Sensors uniqueness is in high demand.

As previously announced, more pure-play B2B and gaming VR/AR peripheral manufacturers such as Manus VR (Netherland's-based), CaptoGlove and Virtual Motion Labs (US-based) have all contributed to Flexpoint's recent success via new and recurring PO's. Overall, this is currently a multi-billion dollar market segment which is expected to grow 10x by 2023. Flexpoint and its' partners are poised to be a major part of this growth.

According to Paul Sexauer, Flexpoint VP Sales & Marketing, "Flexpoint technology plays a key role in these wonderful VR/AR peripherals. Many of these customers have been under development and working with us for a couple of years to achieve what they are now accomplishing  real traction in their respective, rapidly growing markets. It is great to be a part of such success."

About Flexpoint Sensor Systems, Inc.

Flexpoint Sensor Systems, Inc. (FLXT) is an innovative technology firm specializing in developing products that feature the Company's patented Bend Sensor and related technology. The Bend Sensor's single-layer, thin film construction cuts costs and mechanical bulk while introducing a range of functions and stylistic design possibilities that have never before been available in sensing technology. Flexpoint's technology and expertise have been recognized by the world's elite business and academic innovators for over 17 years. The company is setting a new standard for sensing solutions in the "smart" age of technology.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" and involve both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such uncertainties include, among others, certain risks associated with the operation of the company described above. The Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results.

Contact Information:

Flexpoint Sensor Systems

Clark Mower, President

801-568-5111

Brokers and Analysts

Chesapeake Group

410-825-3930

[email protected]

SOURCE Flexpoint Sensor Systems, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.flexpoint.com


GREENWICH, Conn., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FrontFour Capital Group LLC, together with its affiliates ("FrontFour" or "we"), a significant shareholder of Obsidian Energy Ltd. ("Obsidian" or, the "Company") (TSX/NYSE: OBE) with an ownership interest of approximately 6.3% of the Company's outstanding shares, today announced that it has formally provided advance notice to the Company of the nomination of a slate of four highly-qualified candidates for election to the Board of Directors (the "Board") at the Company's 2018 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders ("2018 AGM") to be held on May 11, 2018.

FrontFour has also issued the following open letter to Obsidian shareholders:

A LETTER TO THE SHAREHOLDERS OF OBSIDIAN ENERGY LTD.

April 3, 2018

Dear Fellow Shareholders,

As previously disclosed, FrontFour and its principals are significant long-term shareholders of Obsidian, collectively beneficially owning over 31 million shares, representing approximately 6.3% of Obsidian's outstanding shares. In contrast to Obsidian's current Board, our interests are directly aligned with yours. After years of enduring substantial share price underperformance at Obsidian, our goal is to drive significant value creation for the benefit of all Obsidian shareholders.

On April 2, 2018, Obsidian publicly announced that it had commenced a process to explore the sale of the Alberta Viking and Peace River assets as part of an effort to focus on growth in the Cardium. This followed an announcement late last week that Obsidian scheduled its 2018 AGM for May 11, 2018, with a record date of April 4, 2018, although its annual meeting is customarily held in June. We interpret the incumbent Board's action in setting a significantly earlier meeting date as an attempt to minimize the time that FrontFour has to conduct its campaign and use historically low voter turn-out to its advantage.

The Board's Recent Strategic Review Announcement Validates FrontFour's Strategy, is Reactionary and Represents Yet Another About-Face on Strategy

On January 17, 2018, FrontFour first publicly expressed concerns with the Board and laid out an action plan to streamline the Company's asset footprint to focus on becoming a standout light oil growth player and Cardium champion. Obsidian quickly responded by stating that its business plan, centered on sustaining a low-decline production base while leveraging significant development optionality, was working, and that "a change of course would hinder Obsidian's progress."

On March 20, 2018, we announced our intention to nominate four directors for election to the Board, vote against the proposed reverse stock split, and outlined a plan to dispose of Peace River and the Alberta Viking and redeploy the proceeds into debt repayment, stock buybacks and jump-starting production growth in the Cardium. Obsidian almost immediately responded to this with a press release on March 21, 2018 headlined "FrontFour is Risking the Company's Progress."

This is proof positive that Obsidian's Board is out of touch with its shareholder base and in need of significant refreshment. We strongly disagree that Obsidian's stated strategy as of June 2017 represents "progress" when it has led to anemic production and cash-flow growth, a track record of blown operating targets and disastrous hedge losses culminating in the receipt of a NYSE delisting notice.

It is also quite remarkable that less than two weeks after decrying FrontFour's articulated strategy as "risking [the Company's] progress," Obsidian has now announced its intention to implement ALL publicly disclosed aspects of FrontFour's value creation plan, with David French claiming, "[t]oday's announcement is the natural next step in our ongoing strategy to unlock shareholder value and establish Obsidian Energy as a growth company focused on optimizing our industry-leading position in the Cardium." This announcement is anything but "natural" and represents another clear about-face on strategy.

Obsidian's proposed asset sales and related strategic process are clearly material developments. In commenting upon them, Board chair Jay Thornton noted that "[t]he process started in Q3 last year and accelerated in October when the Board selected RBC Capital Markets as our lead financial advisor." This flies in the face of recent trading activity by Obsidian's directors. Over the last few months, Obsidian directors have made market purchases of Obsidian shares, including as recently as March 13, 2018. Had the so-called process including asset sales been fulsome and truly active, then insiders would have been precluded from trading Obsidian shares. The insider purchases suggest that Obsidian's April 2nd strategic review announcement is a recent development and a reaction to significant shareholder pressure.

Obsidian Insider Activity

Director Trade Date Action # of Shares George Brookman 2/5/2018 Buy 10,000 John Brydson 1/19/2018 Buy 336,723 John Brydson 1/22/2018 Buy 163,277 Ray Crossley 3/13/2018 Buy 7,500 David French 2/2/2018 Buy 50,000 David French 2/6/2018 Buy 50,000 Maureen Cormier Jackson 12/14/2017 Buy 30,000 Jay Thornton 2/9/2018 Buy 100,000

The Current Board Has Overseen Significant Value Destruction While Underperforming All Relevant Industry Indices

As evidenced by the chart below, Obsidian's Board has overseen the destruction of significant long-term shareholder value as reflected by the stark underperformance of Obsidian's shares relative to three prominent energy indices: (i) the S&P/Canadian Energy Index (XEG ETF), (ii) the Energy Select Sector Index (XLE ETF), and (iii) the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry index (XOP ETF).

Astonishingly, Obsidian's shares have traded down approximately 96% during the tenure of George Brookman as a director and 45% since David French became CEO in October of 2016.

OBE Stock Price Performance Under Current Directors











Absolute Price Performance

Date Since Joining Board

Joined OBE XEG XLE XOP Director Board Stock ETF ETF ETF George Brookman 8/3/2005 -95.9% -39.1% 38.5% NA Jay W. Thornton 6/26/2013 -88.3% -25.7% -14.0% -39.7% John Brydson 6/4/2014 -87.7% -44.1% -29.4% -54.2% Raymond D. Crossley 3/6/2015 -41.4% -19.0% -12.2% -28.5% William A. Friley 3/12/2015 -32.5% -15.9% -10.0% -26.3% Maureen Cormier Jackson 3/8/2016 -15.7% 5.6% 12.8% 27.4% David L. French 10/24/2016 -44.6% -15.9% -3.7% -6.0% Gordon Ritche 12/12/2017 -15.1% -5.1% -3.1% 0.1% Edward Kernaghan 1/3/2018 -22.8% -11.4% -9.6% -8.8%











Calculated as of 3/29/18. Excludes dividends.









Note: XOP ETF launched in June 2006.











The Board's disastrous historical record of oversight of management's repeated strategic missteps has resulted in an overhang on Obsidian's share price that, despite the recent announcement, in our view may only be lifted by a substantial overhaul in Board composition. We now urge our fellow shareholders to support FrontFour's efforts to drive value for all shareholders.

Board Compensation: Taking Equity at the Bottom

In Obsidian's April 2nd press release, the Board announced their intention to receive all director fees in equity in lieu of cash. We find it interesting that the Board waited until now to finally align their interests with shareholders. As depicted in the charts below, the Board's historical actions have been anything but aligned. Per Obsidian's two most recent information circulars, only one director elected to receive more than 50% of his or her Board compensation in share-based awards. Additionally, as of the most recently available public data, four directors currently own significantly less than the minimum 100,000 share requirement, including George Brookman, despite his nearly 13-year Board tenure.

Obsidian Board Compensation (2015 to 2016)



















Cash Fees Received Share-Based Awards Total Compensation % Cash of Total Director 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016 George Brookman $115,017 $89,125 $24,817 $21,875 $139,834 $111,000 82% 80% John Brydson - - $142,834 $115,500 $142,834 $115,500 0% 0% Raymond Crossley $73,181 $88,313 $43,056 $34,688 $116,237 $123,001 63% 72% William Friley $90,063 $93,750 $16,875 $18,750 $106,938 $112,500 84% 83% Maureen Cormier Jackson NA 57,391 NA $30,391 NA $87,782 NA 65% Jay Thornton $69,748 $54,750 $69,748 $54,750 $139,496 $109,500 50% 50% Gordon Ritche NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Edward Kernaghan NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA







Source: Obsidian public filings.





NA denotes that individual was not on the Board of Directors during years listed.







The stated intention in the Company's April 2nd announcement is simply too little, too late. While Obsidian's shareholders have suffered significant losses, a majority of Obsidian's legacy directors (excluding Ritchie and Kernaghan) have continued to enrich themselves by electing to take the vast majority of their director compensation in cash.

Independent Director Equity Ownership

Director Shares (#) DSUs (#) Total Equity (#) George Brookman 30,000 51,693 81,693 John Brydson 2,553,000 196,799 2,749,799 Raymond Crossley 19,000 52,610 71,610 William Friley 50,648 26,615 77,263 Maureen Cormier Jackson 35,000 24,677 59,677 Jay Thornton 288,750 112,689 401,439 Gordon Ritchie 100,000 NA 100,000 Edward Kernaghan 34,791,375 NA 34,791,375















Sources: Obsidian 2017 Management Circular & Subsequent Public Filings Gordon Ritchie and Ed Kernaghan DSUs have not yet been disclosed Edward Kernaghan's shareholdings includes all Kernaghan controlled entities

FrontFour's Highly- Qualified Director Nominees Will Bring Technical Expertise, Oversight and Accountability to Help Steward Obsidian's Asset Optimization Strategy

As long-term shareholders, our goal is to hold the Board accountable for their performance and to ensure that the Board's interests are aligned with those of shareholders. Given the Obsidian Board's poor track record, continued failure to communicate, let alone execute, a clear and consistent corporate strategy to investors and the misalignment of the Board's interests with those of shareholders, we believe substantial change is warranted, especially as industry consolidation in the Cardium appears on the horizon. The incumbent Board cannot be counted on to take the appropriate value maximizing steps. Accordingly, FrontFour has formally provided advance notice of the nomination of four highly qualified nominees. If elected, we expect that our nominees would spearhead the implementation of a revised corporate strategy focused on streamlining the Company portfolio and growing Obsidian's light oil-weighted production in the Cardium. Our nominees would bring significant technical and financial expertise, as well as additional fresh perspectives and renewed accountability, to Obsidian's Board for the benefit of all shareholders. We are highly confident that such a dynamic will put Obsidian on a path towards unlocking the significant shareholder value embedded within its asset base.

Quite clearly, the incumbent Board has failed shareholders and has a demonstrable track record of entrenchment. When FrontFour approached the Board in October 2017 as part of an effort to work constructively and privately towards unlocking value for shareholders, their immediate reaction was to take aggressive and defensive steps towards entrenchment and self-preservation, as opposed to anything related to enhancing shareholder value. When FrontFour stood firm, the Board opted to install Edward Kernaghan onto the Board, despite having resisted doing so since March 2016. This was principally due to Mr. Kernaghan's ability to further entrench the incumbent Board by virtue of his willingness to sign an off-market standstill and voting agreement obliging him to vote blindly for Obsidian's slate at the 2018 AGM. This behavior  on both sides of the negotiation  is a prime example of the insular, "clubby" mentality that now permeates Obsidian's boardroom to the detriment of shareholders. FrontFour and its nominees are committed to changing this culture for the benefit of all shareholders.

Over the coming weeks, we look forward to engaging with you.

Biographies of FrontFour's Nominees:

Steven P. Evans

Mr. Evans had a 31-year career with Chevron / Texaco until his retirement in 2012. Most recently he held the position of general manager, North America exploration at Chevron.

In this role, Mr. Evans was responsible for leading exploration activities in the Gulf of Mexico (both shelf and deepwater), onshore United States , onshore Canada , offshore the Atlantic Coast in Canada , and Alaska with annual budgets ranging from US$500 million to US$1.2 billion ;

(both shelf and deepwater), onshore , onshore , offshore the Atlantic Coast in , and with annual budgets ranging from to ; Asked by CEO of Texaco to participate on the Chevron/Texaco merger team. Served in this capacity from November 2000 through December 2001 and helped generate over US$300 million in expense savings for the new organization;

through and helped generate over in expense savings for the new organization; Previously, Mr. Evans started with Texaco as manager of finance, planning and portfolio for E&P technology in 1989 and assumed various leadership roles in strategy and planning;

Prior to 1989, Mr. Evans completed assignments in reservoir engineering, operations research and planning. He started his career with Pennzoil in 1980; and

Currently a director of Venari Resources, a private-equity backed deepwater Gulf of Mexico start-up.

Michael J. Faust

Mr. Faust has 34 years of industry, financial and leadership experience within the oil and gas sector, including diverse geological, geophysical and technical reservoir experience spanning many different basins and formations throughout the world.

Mr. Faust was most recently the Vice President of Exploration and Land at ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. where he oversaw and managed the company's exploration organization and strategy in Alaska ;

; Mr. Faust previously served as the Vice President of Exploration and Land at ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Ltd. where he was responsible for Conoco's Canadian exploration activities with significant experience within the Deep Basin and various formations within the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin;

Joined Arco Alaska, Inc. in 1997 where he held multiple senior positions up to and following Phillips Petroleum Co.'s acquisition of Arco Alaska in 2000 and the subsequent merger between Phillips and Conoco Inc., which created ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. in 2002;

Positions of increasing responsibility at Arco Alaska included Chief Geophysicist, Development Geoscience Manager, Technology and Operations Manager, and Offshore Exploration Manager;

Prior to Arco Alaska, Mr. Faust held various positions with Exxon Exploration Company and Esso Norge A.S. after beginning his career with Exxon Co. USA in 1983; and

Mr. Faust is currently the lead independent director at SAExploration, an oilfield service company.

Matthew ("Matt") Goldfarb

Mr. Goldfarb has over 20 years of diverse experience as an investor, in senior management roles at companies undergoing financial restructurings, legal counsel, and board director across numerous industries where he has helped drive successful outcomes for shareholders.

Mr. Goldfarb is a founding partner and managing member of Southport Midstream Partners LLC, a private-equity backed investment vehicle focused on energy infrastructure projects in North America ;

; Mr. Goldfarb also serves as Chief Restructuring Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer of Cline Mining Corporation;

Mr. Goldfarb previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Xinergy Ltd., having earlier served as its Vice Chairman and lead independent director;

Mr. Goldfarb was previously a restructuring and M&A lawyer at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP; and

Mr. Goldfarb has served on the Boards of Sevcon, Inc., Midway Gold Corporation, The Pep Boys  Manny, Moe & Jack, Huntingdon Capital Corp., Fisher Communications, Inc., CKE Restaurants, Inc., and James River Coal Company.

Stephen E. Loukas

Mr. Loukas has nearly 20 years of experience as an investor, investment banker, and financial restructuring consultant with significant experience across a broad-based number of industries.

Mr. Loukas has been a Managing Member and Portfolio Manager of FrontFour Capital Group LLC since February 2009 where he helps oversee the firm's investment portfolio;

where he helps oversee the firm's investment portfolio; Previously, Mr. Loukas held roles including Director at Credit Suisse Securities where he was a Portfolio Manager and Head of Investment Research of the Multi-Product Event Proprietary Trading Group, and at Pirate Capital where he was a senior investment analyst;

Mr. Loukas has also worked within the Corporate Finance & Distribution Group of Scotia Capital where he focused on the structuring and syndication of leveraged loans and high yield debt;

Mr. Loukas started his career at financial restructuring firm Zolfo Cooper where he assisted corporate clients in the development and implementation of operational and financial restructuring plans; and

Mr. Loukas has previously served as a director of Xinergy Ltd.

Sincerely,







Zachary R. George Portfolio Manager David A. Lorber Portfolio Manager Stephen E. Loukas Portfolio Manager

FRONTFOUR CAPITAL GROUP LLC

FrontFour Capital Group LLC, located in the United States at 35 Mason Street, Greenwich, CT 06830, was formed in December 2006. FrontFour Capital Group LLC is registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING FRONTFOUR'S PROPOSED BOARD NOMINEES

Name

Province/State, Country

of Residence Present Principal Occupation, Business or

Employment and in Five Preceding Years Number of

Common Shares of

Obsidian

Beneficially

Owned or

Controlled Steven P. Evans

Texas, USA Retired since 2013. Prior to his retirement, Mr. Evans was VP- Head of Exploration for North America for Chevron. Nil Michael J. Faust

Alaska, USA Currently a consultant at Quartz Geophysical LLC, a geophysical consulting firm, and a director at SAExploration Holdings, Inc., an oilfield services firm. Prior thereto, Mr. Faust was Vice President Exploration, Business Development and Land (August 2013 to January 2017) and Chukchi Sea Project Manager (until August 2013) for ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., an oil and gas company. Nil Matthew Goldfarb

Connecticut, USA Founding partner and managing member of Southport Midstream Partners LLC (since the first quarter of 2016), a private-equity backed investment vehicle focused on energy infrastructure projects in North America, and (since December 2013) Chief Restructuring Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer of Cline Mining Corporation, a Canadian mining company whose primary asset is the New Elk coking coal mine in Weston, Colorado. Prior thereto, Mr. Goldfarb was Chief Executive Officer of Xinergy Ltd., a coal mining company, from May 2012 until November 2013. 124,500 Stephen E. Loukas

New York, USA Managing Member and Portfolio Manager of FrontFour Capital Group LLC, a hedge fund. 259,400

Each of FrontFour's proposed Board nominees has been indemnified by affiliates of FrontFour in connection with such Board nominee's nomination for election at the 2018 AGM, and Messrs. Evans, Faust and Goldfarb have each provided a power of attorney in favour of Stephen E. Loukas for the purposes of various corporate and securities law filings in connection with the 2018 AGM and related matters.

Penalties or Sanctions

To the knowledge of FrontFour, none of FrontFour's proposed Board nominees has: (i) been subject to any penalties or sanctions imposed by a court relating to securities legislation or by a securities regulatory authority or has entered into a settlement agreement with a securities regulatory authority; or (ii) been subject to any other penalties or sanctions imposed by a court or regulatory body that would be likely to be considered important to a reasonable security holder in deciding whether to vote for a proposed director.

Individual Bankruptcies

To the knowledge of FrontFour, none of FrontFour's proposed Board nominees is or has, within the 10 years prior to the date hereof, become bankrupt, made a proposal under any legislation relating to bankruptcy or insolvency, or become subject to or instituted any proceedings, arrangement or compromise with creditors or had a receiver, receiver manager or trustee appointed to hold the assets of that individual.

Corporate Cease Trade Orders or Bankruptcies

To the knowledge of FrontFour and except as set out below, none of FrontFour's proposed Board nominees is, or has been within the past ten years, a director or executive officer of any company that, while such person was acting in that capacity: (i) was the subject of a cease trade or similar order or an order that denied the relevant company access to any exemptions under securities legislation that was in effect for a period of more than 30 consecutive days; (ii) was subject to an event that resulted, after that individual ceased to be a director or executive officer, in the company being the subject of a cease trade or similar order or an order that denied the company access to any exemptions under securities legislation that was in effect for a period of more than 30 consecutive days; or (iii) within a year of that individual ceasing to act in that capacity, became bankrupt, made a proposal under any legislation relating to bankruptcy or insolvency or was subject to or instituted any proceedings, arrangement or compromise with creditors or had a receiver, receiver manager or trustee appointed to hold its assets.

In December 2013, and in contemplation of a financial restructuring, Mr. Goldfarb was retained by the Cline Mining Corporation board of directors, at the instruction of its senior lenders, to lead the financial restructuring and optimization of the mining assets of the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed issuer. Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) ("CCAA") insolvency proceedings and related Chapter 15 "recognition" proceedings relating to the "work-out" of Cline Mining Corporation were initiated in December 2014, and the company emerged therefrom in July 2015.

On June 22, 2015, Midway Gold Corporation and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado, seeking ancillary relief in Canada pursuant to the CCAA in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. On January 29, 2016, Mr. Goldfarb was appointed as an independent director of Midway to assist the issuer in its ongoing financial restructuring and asset-sale efforts.

In connection with Obsidian's 2018 AGM, FrontFour intends to file a dissident information circular in due course. FrontFour is providing the following disclosure required under section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations in accordance with securities laws applicable to public broadcast solicitations. Any solicitation made by FrontFour will be made by it and not by or on behalf of the management of Obsidian. All costs incurred for any solicitation will be borne by FrontFour, provided that, subject to applicable law, FrontFour may seek reimbursement from Obsidian of FrontFour's out-of-pocket expenses, including proxy solicitation expenses and legal fees, incurred in connection with any successful result at a meeting of Obsidian shareholders. Proxies may be solicited by FrontFour pursuant to an information circular sent to shareholders after which solicitations may be made by or on behalf of FrontFour by mail, telephone, fax, email or other electronic means as well as by newspaper or other media advertising, and in person by directors, officers and employees of FrontFour, who will not be specifically remunerated therefor. FrontFour may also solicit proxies in reliance upon the public broadcast exemption to the solicitation requirements under applicable Canadian corporate and securities laws, including through press releases, speeches or publications, and by any other manner permitted under applicable Canadian laws. FrontFour may engage the services of one or more agents and authorize other persons to assist in soliciting proxies on its behalf, which agents would receive customary fees for such services. In particular, The Laurel Hill Advisory Group Company (the "Proxy Solicitor") has been engaged to solicit proxies in the United States and Canada. Pursuant to this engagement, the Proxy Solicitor will receive an initial fee of C$100,000 plus a customary fee for each call to and from shareholders. In addition, the Proxy Solicitor may be entitled to a fee of up to C$125,000 in connection with a successful solicitation campaign. Proxies may be revoked by instrument in writing by a shareholder giving the proxy or by its duly authorized officer or attorney, or in any other manner permitted by law and the articles or by-laws of Obsidian. None of FrontFour nor, to its knowledge, any of its associates or affiliates, has any material interest, direct or indirect: (i) in any transaction since the beginning of Obsidian's most recently completed financial year or in any proposed transaction that has materially affected or would materially affect Obsidian or any of its subsidiaries; or (ii) by way of beneficial ownership of securities or otherwise, in any matter proposed to be acted on by Obsidian, other than the election of directors to the board of Obsidian. Obsidian's principal office address is 200, 207 - 9th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta T2P 1K3.

CONTACT

Investor Contact:

Stephen Loukas

FrontFour Capital Group LLC

35 Mason Street, 4th Floor

Greenwich, CT 06830

203-274-9050

SOURCE FrontFour Capital Group LLC
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

As previously announced, Future Farm Technologies Inc. (the "Company" or "Future Farm") (CSE: FFT) (CSE: FFT.CN) (OTCQX: FFRMF) will spin off its augmented reality assets into a newly formed company, Nextech AR Solutions ("Nextech"). On March 28, 2018, Nextech closed on an oversubscribed private placement of CDN$2,700,000 in preparation for its listing on the CSE and OTCBB. Nextech will issue 12,000,000 new shares to Future Farm, 10,000,000 of which shall be issued pro rata to Future Farm shareholders of record on the ex-dividend date, which shall be announced in the near future. The new shares will be automatically deposited into Future Farm's shareholders' brokerage accounts. Shareholders need to do nothing else to receive these shares except hold shares in Future Farm as of the ex-dividend date. The Company expects Nextech to begin trading sometime in June 2018 and it will keep its shareholders updated as to developments.

"We believe that to maximize shareholder value, spinning off this asset is in the best interest of our shareholders," comments William Gildea, CEO of Future Farm. "Nextech occupies a valuable niche in the cannabis market, providing augmented reality-enhanced packaging as well a virtual budtender platform for dispensaries."

The augmented reality market is set to grow substantially in the near future as companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Intel are now aggressively launching software and hardware to support this dynamic and fast-growing industry.

Nextech AR Solutions sold 10,852,000 units as a non-brokered private placement basis at a price of $0.25 per Unit (the "Units"). Each Unit will consist of one (1) common share of the Issuer (each, a "Share") and one (1) common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one additional common share (each, a "Warrant Share") of the Issuer at a price of $0.50 per Warrant Share for a period of twenty-four (24) months from their date of issue, subject to accelerated expiry upon the occurrence of certain events set out herein. The Units were offered pursuant to exemptions from the registration and prospectus requirements of applicable securities legislation.

On behalf of the Board,

Future Farm Technologies Inc.

William Gildea, Chairman & CEO

About Future Farm

Future Farm Technologies Inc. is a Canadian company with projects throughout North America including California, Florida and Maryland. The Company's business model includes developing and acquiring technologies that will position it as a leader in the evolution of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) for the global production of various types of plants, with a focus on cannabis. Future Farm provides scalable, indoor CEA systems that utilize minimal land, water and energy regardless of climate, location or time of year and are customized to grow an abundance of crops close to consumers, therefore minimizing food miles and its impact to the environment. The Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to use a patented vertical farming technology that, when compared to traditional plant production methods, generates yields up to 10 times greater per square foot of land. The contained system provides many other benefits including 90% less water, fertilizer and land used, less travel costs, seed to sale security, scalability, consistency due to year-round production, cost control, product safety and purity by eliminating environmental variability.

The Company is also in the business of designing and distributing LED lighting solutions utilizing the COB and MCOB technology. The Company is focused on delivering cost efficient lighting to North America via advanced e-commerce sites the Company owns and operates. LEDCanada.com, which caters to B2B customers, is a supplier of the newest and highest demand LED solutions. The Company also owns and operates COBGrowlights.com, which caters to both large and small agriculture green houses and controlled cultivation centers.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. 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 market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.

For further information, contact

William Gildea

Director

+1-(888)-387-3761



SOURCE Future Farm Technologies Inc.
FALLS CHURCH, Va., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) has completed its acquisition of CSRA Inc. (NYSE: CSRA). The transaction, valued at approximately $9.7 billion, is expected to be accretive to GAAP earnings per share and to free cash flow per share in 2019, and is expected to generate estimated annual pre-tax cost savings of approximately 2 percent of the combined company's revenue by 2020.

CSRA is now part of General Dynamics Information Technology. This combination creates a premier provider of high-tech IT solutions to the government IT market.

"The combined CSRA and GDIT offers innovative, competitive and compelling solutions to our customers, and provides attractive free cash flow coupled with good incremental return on capital for investors," said Phebe Novakovic, chairman and chief executive officer of General Dynamics. "GDIT is positioned to deliver cost-effective, next-generation IT solutions and services to the Department of Defense, the intelligence community and federal civilian agencies as they modernize their information systems."

As a result of the closing of the acquisition, General Dynamics intends to cause all shares of CSRA common stock to be delisted from the NYSE, and CSRA will no longer have reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

About General Dynamics

Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services business aviation; combat vehicles, weapon systems and munitions; C4ISR and IT solutions; and shipbuilding. The company's 2017 revenue was $31 billion. More information is available at www.generaldynamics.com.

Certain statements made in this press release, including any statements as to future results of operations and financial projections, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. Additional information regarding these factors is contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, its Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made. The company does not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this press release.

SOURCE General Dynamics

Related Links

http://www.generaldynamics.com


FELTON, California, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Global Glass Packaging Market is expected to witness lucrative growth in the upcoming years on account of rising trend for alcoholic beverages and increase in the number of the beer industry. In 2013, the size of the industry was projected to be USD 48.97 billion. An increasing number of beer industry and increasing demand for alcoholic beverages in Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe is anticipated to escalate the growth of the industry over the upcoming years. Glasses do not react with chemicals, and are reusable and highly sterile. Glass packaging has its wide applications in pharmaceuticals, personal care products, food & beverages, cosmetics, wines, beers and ciders. Glass bottles exist in numerous colors, sizes and shapes. Beer, ciders and wines are packed in dark colored bottles owing to resistance for over-fermentation.

Growing implementation of glass packaging in food & beverages coupled with pharmaceuticals sector in light of its non-corrosive property is anticipated to fuel the demand. Moreover, numerous features including non-permeability, recyclability, and no reactions chemicals makes it an appropriate packaging material for numerous applications which include beverages, soft drinks, medical and beer. Rising consumer health awareness coupled with improving living standards is expected to stimulate glass packaging demand in pharmaceutical sector. Glass being ecological coupled with various on-going research and development to improve packaging, and to develop glasses which are 50% lighter when compared to the traditional forms, thus, the demand is anticipated to witness enormous potential over the next few years.

Metal cans and plastic bottles act as substitutes to glass owing to their low cost and light weight. Rising demand for metal cans and plastic bottles in aerosols, perfumes, and chemicals is anticipated to act as a restrain for the industry. Rising consumer awareness for hygiene packaging in food & beverage segment is expected to offer new opportunities over the upcoming years. Alcoholic beverages were observed to dominate the global market which accounted for more than 50% of the market share. The sector is anticipated to witness noteworthy rise over the upcoming years in light of appealing appearance provided by glass when compared to plastic. Increasing demand for alcoholic beverages in numerous countries which include Germany, the U.S., India, China, and Brazil is expected to augment the market growth.

Browse 66 page research report with TOC on "Global Glass Packaging Market" at: https://www.millioninsights.com/industry-reports/glass-packaging-market

The beer was observed to account for a noteworthy volume share in light of its increasing consumption by the young age band, specifically in Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe. Additionally, accessibility of numerous graphics, color, and shape in the packaging of beer is anticipated to be an important factor stimulating the growth rate of the market. The sector is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 4.8%. Growing requirement in pharmaceuticals sectors in light of its reusability and non-toxicity is anticipated to propel the market growth. In addition, growing pharmaceutical segment in the U.S., India, Canada, China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia will promote industry growth. Food & beverages segment is anticipated to decrease its share as a consequence of rising demand for flexible packaging such as plastics and paper.

In 2013, Asia Pacific glass packaging market was observed to account for more than 35% of the global market share. The market is anticipated to progress on account of escalating applications of glass in numerous consumer-centric industries which include alcoholic beverages, pharmaceuticals and food & beverages in India and China. High accessibility of raw materials such as silica is anticipated to impel sector growth. In 2013, Europe market was valued at USD 15,713.2 million, and is expected to experience noteworthy growth on account of rising number of beer industry majorly in Germany and France. Furthermore, increasing implementation of glass packaging in Turkey and Russia is anticipated to augment the growth of the industry.

North America is anticipated to illustrate rise in pharmaceutical packaging in light of technological innovations coupled with growing manufacturing base. Saudi Arabia is projected to experience enormous growth probability in light of rising pharmaceutical industry over the next few years. Companies provide packaging for various uses including non-alcoholic beverages, spirits, beer, food, wine, chemicals, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Moreover, on-going product advancements and technological innovations to make glass bottles lighter weight, thus decreasing the energy needed to transport and produce them are anticipated to open new growth opportunities over the upcoming years

The key market players operating the market include Saint-Gobain, Owens Illinois Inc., Vetropack, Gerresheimer, and Ardagh were found to dominate the sector in 2015 and accounted for more than 33%. Few more participants include Tamron Co., Ltd., Piramal Glass Limited. Hindusthan National Glass & Industries Ltd., Amcor, Bormioli Rocco SpA, Stolzle-Oberglas GmbH, Nihon Yamamura, Koa Glass Co. Ltd., Wiegand-Glas, and Vidrala SA. The global industry is vastly fragmented in light of the existence of various medium and small sized companies. Numerous participants have to abide by the EU, the U.S. EPA and FDA regulations concerning to usage, disposal of glass and manufacturing.

Browse reports of similar category available with Million Insights:

Glass Packaging Application Outlook (Volume, Kilo tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2020)

 Beer

 Food and Beverage

 Pharmaceuticals

 Alcoholic Beverages

 Others

Glass Packaging Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2012 - 2020)

 North America

 Europe

 Asia Pacific

 RoW

About Million Insights:

Million Insights, is a distributor of market research reports, published by premium publishers only. We have a comprehensive market place, that will enable you to compare data points, before you make a purchase. Enabling informed buying, is our motto and we strive hard to ensure that our clients get to browse through multiple samples, prior to an investment. Service flexibility & the fastest response time are two pillars, on which our business model is founded. Our market research report store, includes in-depth reports, from across various industry verticals, such as healthcare, technology, chemicals, food & beverages, consumer goods, material science & automotive.

Contact:

Ryan Manuel

Research Support Specialist, USA

Million Insights

Phone: +1-408-610-2300

Toll Free: 1-866-831-4085

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.millioninsights.com/

SOURCE Million Insights
MIAMI, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Global AirServices, LLC. Miami, Florida has signed a 3 year, automatically renewing, contract with IKAR LLC for component maintenance to support the fleet of Pegas Fly and Nordwind Airlines. Under the contract, Global AirServices LLC will provide component repair based upon its listed capability and sales of spares for required maintenance of IKAR LLC's fleet. Mr. Roger Browning, General Manager, comments, "This agreement expands our repair & sales presence in the growing Russia & CIS market, bringing our quality and excellent TAT to more of the region."

Pegas Fly Fleet.

Global AirServices' broad capability range makes this agreement with IKAR, to include Pegas Fly and Nordwind, beneficial to their fleets that include 737-800, 767-300ER, 777-200ER, A321-200 & A330-200 Global AirServices is a multi-release Repair & Overhaul facility in Miami Florida that focuses on Hydraulic, Pneumatic, Electro-Mechanical and Power Generation for the Boeing, Airbus Engine and Airframe accessories. Along with our sister company Avflex corporation a component and hard to find parts distributor company create a full synergy of a one stop need for our clients.

For any questions or additional info, please contact [email protected] or visit globalairserv.com / avflex.com

Contact:

Roger Browning

786-426-7608

[email protected]

SOURCE Global AirServices LLC

Related Links

http://globalairserv.com


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Global X Funds, the New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), today celebrated the news that the Global X Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) has been awarded "Thematic ETF of the Year" for 2017 by ETF.com. The award seeks to recognize that fund which best captures important macro plays that can lead to specific portfolio outcomes.

BOTZ, which began 2017 with roughly $5 million in assets under management (AUM), attracted nearly $1.5 billion in new assets for the year, while providing targeted exposure to the rapidly growing robotics & AI space. In the first ten weeks of 2018, BOTZ has continued its growth, seeing inflows totaling an additional $1.7 billion, making it the third largest U.S. listed ETF that launched within the last three years.i

"We're incredibly honored to have BOTZ recognized as the thematic ETF of 2017, capping off an outstanding year for the Fund and for Global X," said Luis Berruga, CEO of Global X. "The growth and acceptance of our thematic suite has been a source of great pride for our organization, and we're excited to continue to build upon our recent successes in the year ahead."

The fund aims to offer investors access to the transformative technologies being implemented by robotics and artificial intelligence companies around the globe. The robotics industry is expected to reach $240 billion by 2022, while the AI industry is expected to grow to $19.5 billion in 2022, from just $2.1 billion 2016.ii,iii Although the robotics and AI revolution is expected to continue to play out over decades, the expected rate of growth through 2022 indicates the theme could be set to see accelerated adoption over the next few years.

"It has been truly amazing to witness the rate at which companies and consumers have begun to adopt these innovations," said Jay Jacobs, director of research at Global X. "As with all of our technology-thematic funds, we brought BOTZ to market to offer investors efficient access to these revolutionary industries that are often sparsely represented in broad market or traditional sector indexes. It's exciting to witness the increasingly positive reception for these funds and our research-driven thematic strategies as a whole."



ABOUT GLOBAL X



Seeking to provide access to high-quality and cost-efficient investment solutions, Global X is a New York-based sponsor of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Founded in 2008, Global X is distinguished by its smart core, income, alpha, risk management and access suites of ETFs and has more than 50 funds available across U.S. and foreign exchanges. Global X is recognized as a leader in developing intelligent investment solutions.

DISCLOSURE

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The investable universe of companies in which BOTZ may invest may be limited. The Fund invests in securities of companies engaged in Information Technology which can be affected by rapid product obsolescence, and intense industry competition. International investments may involve risk of capital loss from unfavorable fluctuation in currency values, from differences in generally accepted accounting principles or from social, economic or political instability in other nations. BOTZ is non-diversified.

Shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

Carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risk factors, charges and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Fund's full or summary prospectus, which may be obtained by calling 1-888-GX-FUND-1 (1.888.493.8631), or by visiting globalxfunds.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Global X Management Company LLC serves as an advisor to Global X Funds. The Funds are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co. (SIDCO), which is not affiliated with Global X Management Company LLC. Global X Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by Indxx, nor does Indxx make any representations regarding the advisability of investing in the Global X Funds. Neither SIDCO nor Global X is affiliated with Indxx.



i Source: Bloomberg, data as of 3/21/2018. Based on AUM in US-listed ETFs.

ii Statista, Size of the global market for industrial and non-industrial robots from 2016 to 2022, 2018.

iii Allied Market Research, Artificial Intelligence Market by Technology, 2016.

SOURCE Global X Funds

Related Links

https://www.globalxfunds.com


WILMINGTON, Del., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Phones have become a major part of people's lives, and many of them use the handy smartphones to perform daily tasks and keep in touch with the world. However, along with the advantages of advanced phones, they can also be a cause for problems, such as unknown phone calls from people or companies that have an agenda to promote.

Searching for information about a person or a company that is calling can be difficult, but GoLookUp's accurate Reverse Phone directory allows users to find important details about whoever is calling them.

GoLookUp

Reverse Phone Service at GoLookUp

Anonymous phone calls that people in the U.S receive originate from calling centers that obtain their numbers after they fill out loan applications, sign up for newsletters, or order products from e-commerce websites. The pesky phone calls from unknown sources can become a nuisance, but GoLookUp's phone number search service has solved this problem.

By typing in the number in question to the search field, GoLookUp's users can learn more about whoever is calling them. The advanced phone search directory on the website scans billions of public records across the USA and provides users with a detailed report on the people or companies that are calling them.

The information on the report includes full background check information, such as contact information, criminal records, the origin of the phone call, and many more details on the phone number in question.

The phone number lookup on the website allows users to find out information about known phone numbers as well as unknown phone numbers in order to allow users to find out more about people in their lives.

By entering a phone number of a certain person  such as with an online dating encounter, GoLookUp users can discover if the people in their lives are telling them the truth about themselves and their past. The companies information on the website allows users to broaden their search for companies, like possible employers for instance, and learn more about them.

Finding information about phone calls from known and unknown origins can help people avoid fraud or even injury, and with GoLookUp's advanced reverse phone lookup service, users can find out important information about people and companies that are calling them.

For further information:

[email protected]

GoLookup.com

1000 N West Street

Suite 1200

Wilmington, Delaware 19801

Toll-Free: 1-877-890-2213

Related Links

GoLookUp

Reverse Address lookup

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNQNq-6nv_k

SOURCE GoLookUp

Related Links

https://golookup.com


Dont laugh something like this actually happened in 2012 in a largely-Democratic San Bernardino County congressional district where Republicans wound up with both November ballot slots because a bunch of Democrats splintered their partys vote.

A very improbable scenario, you may say. But it is exactly the kind of situation a currently circulating potential ballot initiative would create.

The measure, sponsored by Orange County accountant Richard Ginnaty, needs 585,407 signatures to qualify as a November ballot proposition. Since this cause appears unlikely to draw hordes of volunteer petition carriers, and since paid carriers often get $5 or more per valid voter signature they gather, it would likely cost upwards of $3 million to qualify the plan. Ginnaty says he doesnt have that kind of cash, but might get outside support.

For sure, this is the simplest way yet proposed to give Republicans a chance in many California elections, where Democrats rarely show the discipline to get out of each others way for the sake of their party. Of course, neither have Republicans, or one of the current GOP hopefuls might have dropped out of the gubernatorial run by now.
CHICAGO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading global insurance brokerage, announced today that it has acquired the shares of The Benefits Company, Inc. (TBC). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Windsor, Ontario, TBC assists and guides its clients through the various phases of all their benefit and retirement programs. Its team of elite advisors represents some of Ontario's most prestigious companies by helping them to realize their financial and business goals.

"The addition of TBC will greatly strengthen our retirement and benefits operations in Ontario," said Greg Belton, Executive Chairman of Hub Ontario. "This partnership will benefit all of Hub Ontario's clients and ensure client satisfaction is measured by both companies' high level of service, continuous development of innovative concepts, and the relentless pursuit for the best solutions."

TBC will join Hub Ontario, and Rob Tamblyn, President of TBC, will report to Belton.

"Joining Hub allows TBC to leverage the resources of one of North America's largest insurance brokers and enhance our dedication to exceptional, consistent client services," said Tamblyn. "By granting us access to Hub's robust suite of benefit solutions, we'll offer clients even more opportunities through additional products combined with our superior customer service and effective planning."

About Hub's M&A Activities

Hub International Limited is committed to growing organically and through acquisitions to expand its geographic footprint and strengthen industry and product expertise. For more information on the Hub M&A experience, visit WeAreHub.com.

About Hub International

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Hub International Limited (Hub) is a leading full-service global insurance broker providing property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services. From offices located throughout North America, Hub's vast network of specialists provides peace of mind on what matters most by protecting clients through unrelenting advocacy and tailored insurance solutions. For more information, please visit hubinternational.com.

CONTACT:

Media: Marni Gordon

Phone: 312-279-4601

[email protected]

M&A: Clark Wormer

Phone: 312.279.4848

[email protected]

SOURCE Hub International Limited

Related Links

http://www.hubinternational.com


OAKLAND, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Death rates from heart disease and stroke in adults under age 65 are lower and dropping faster for Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California than in the rest of the United States, according to new research published today in the American Journal of Medicine.

Heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death in the United States. The new study, "Comparative Trends in Heart Disease, Stroke, and Total Mortality in the United States and a Large, Integrated Healthcare Delivery System," reinforces the effectiveness of Kaiser Permanente's ongoing cardiovascular care initiatives.

The researchers compared mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with Kaiser Permanente Northern California data. They found heart disease death rates among adults aged 45 to 65 fell by 48.3 percent in 3.2 million Kaiser Permanente members from 2000 to 2015, compared to a 23.6 percent decline nationwide. Stroke-related deaths for the same age group fell by 55.8 percent among Kaiser Permanente members compared to a nationwide drop of 26.0 percent.

The study also showed that overall rates of heart disease and stroke mortality are lower for these Kaiser Permanente members than in the rest of the country. In 2000, for instance, U.S. heart disease mortality was 39.3 percent higher than the Kaiser Permanente group, while stroke mortality was about the same for both. But by 2015, U.S. heart disease mortality was 43.2 percent higher and stroke mortality 13.3 percent higher than among the Kaiser Permanente members.

"We think elements of Kaiser Permanente's approach can be replicated by other health care systems to lower mortality rates," said lead author Stephen Sidney, MD, MPH, senior research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. "Most heart disease and stroke-related deaths occur in people over 65, but mortality is still high for middle-aged members, so focusing on this vulnerable group could save many lives."

Dr. Sidney believes improved management of high blood pressure could be especially effective, given the condition's prevalence and the relative ease and affordability of treatment. Introduced in 2001, Kaiser Permanente's hypertension management program in Northern California nearly doubled the rate of blood pressure control in adults with hypertension by 2009. Likewise, two previous studies showed that the rate of more severe but less common heart attacks fell about three quarters from 1999 to 2014 among the region's members.

"These studies add to a growing body of evidence in support of Kaiser Permanente's comprehensive approach to cardiovascular health, which combines high-quality preventive and therapeutic interventions," said senior author Jamal S. Rana, MD, PhD, cardiologist at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and adjunct researcher at the Division of Research.

In addition to its hypertension management program, Kaiser Permanente's cardiovascular care initiatives include the Preventing Heart Attacks and Strokes Every day (or PHASE) program, which uses medications and lifestyle changes to improve heart health.

This study was conducted in the Cardiovascular Research Network, a consortium within the Health Care Systems Research Network.

In addition to Drs. Sidney and Rana, co-authors were Michael E. Sorel, MPH, Charles P. Quesenberry, PhD, Matthew D. Solomon, MD, PhD, Mai N. Nguyen-Huynh, MD, MAS, and Alan S. Go, MD, of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research; and Marc G. Jaffe, MD, of Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center.

About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research

The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being, and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 550-plus staff is working on more than 350 epidemiological and health services research projects. For more information, visit divisionofresearch.kaiserpermanente.org or follow us @KPDOR.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 11.8 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

For more information, contact:

Janet Byron, [email protected], 510-891-3115

Heather Platisha, [email protected], 415-262-5992

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente

Related Links

http://www.kaiserpermanente.org


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

IntSights Cyber Intelligence, a leading provider of surface, deep and dark web cyber threat intelligence and risk mitigation solutions, will be providing RSAC 2018 audience members with an exclusive guided tour through the recesses of the Internet - the Dark Web. What was once a figment of the imagination, has evolved into an Amazon-esq shopping destination where nation-states, hackers and the everyday person can purchase and barter for malware, crimeware-as-a-service, drugs and even look for jobs.

As the Dark Web continues to increase in accessibility and spread across new countries and regions, IntSights' international Cyber Research Team (CRT) has created a guided Dark Web Tour to give RSAC attendees a glimpse of:

How cryptocurrency is being used extensively to monetize criminal activity?

Which nation-states are expanding their Dark Web presence in an effort to keep up with national defenses?

Why organizations of all sizes need to understand what is lurking on the Dark Web in order to properly protect against external and internal threats?

"As attendees walk around the show floor at this year's RSAC, they will see a variety of threat intelligence vendors. IntSights Cyber Intelligence is the only threat intelligence platform in the industry that provides customers with the depth and breadth of information needed to build a cohesive preventative and proactive defense cybersecurity strategy," said Alon Arvatz, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, IntSights Cyber Intelligence. "Our guided Dark Web Tour will allow attendees to fully understand what their security teams are up against when it comes to the selling and buying of data and other nefarious acts."

To schedule a live Dark Web demonstration and understand in detail the external threats targeting your organization, register here: IntSights RSAC 2018 Live Demo. Visit IntSights at booth #1921 in the South Expo.

About IntSights:

IntSights is redefining cyber security with the industry's first and only enterprise threat management platform that transforms tailored threat intelligence into automated security operations. Our groundbreaking data-mining algorithms and unique cyber reconnaissance capabilities continuously monitor an enterprise's external digital profile across the surface, deep and dark web, categorize and analyze tens of thousands of threats, and automate the risk remediation lifecycle -- streamlining workflows, maximizing resources and securing business operations. This has made IntSights' one of the fastest growing cybersecurity companies in the world. IntSights' has offices in Amsterdam, Boston, New York, Dallas and Tel Aviv. To learn more, visit: https://www.intsights.com.

Follow us on Twitter: @IntSights

Visit us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intsights

Contacts:

Jonathan W. Daly

VP, Global Marketing

IntSights Cyber Intelligence

[email protected]

+1-800-532-4617



Danielle Ostrovsky

Hi-Touch PR

[email protected]

+1-410-302-9459

SOURCE IntSights Cyber Intelligence
STOCKHOLM, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The interim report will be published on April 26, 2018, at approximately 08:00 CET. The subsequent press conference will be held at 10:00 CET at Kreugersalen, Tandstickspalatset, Vastra Tradgardsgatan 15 in Stockholm, Sweden.

At the press conference, President and CEO Ulf Larsson and CFO Toby Lawton will present and answer questions regarding the report.

Press conference:

Date: Thursday, April 26, 2018

Time: 10:00 CET

Venue: Kreugersalen, Tandstickspalatset, Vastra Tradgardsgatan 15 in Stockholm, Sweden.

The press conference will also be webcast live at www.sca.com. It is also possible to participate in the press conference by telephone:

Sweden: +46 (0)8-5661-9445

United Kingdom: +44 (0) 1452-541-003

USA: +1-646-741-2120

Call in good time before the conference starts. Provide the code "SCA" or the conference ID 3099569.

For further information, please contact:

Bjorn Lyngfelt,

SVP Communications

tel. +46-70-626-82-23

Andreas Ewertz

Investor Relations Director

tel + 46-72-211-57-97

The core of SCA's business is the forest, 2.6 million hectares in northern Sweden. Around this unique resource, we have built a well-developed value chain based on renewable raw material from our own and others' forests. We offer paper for packaging and print, pulp, wood products, renewable energy, services for forest owners and efficient transport solutions.

2017 the forest products company SCA had approximately 4,000 employees and sales amounted to approximately SEK 16.7 bn (EUR 1,6 bn). SCA was founded in 1929 and has its headquarters in Sundsvall, Sweden. More information at www.sca.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/sca/r/invitation-to-sca-s-q1-2018-press-conference,c2486137

The following files are available for download:

http://mb.cision.com/Main/600/2486137/815025.pdf Press release (PDF)

SOURCE SCA

Related Links

http://www.sca.com


JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets community, announced today the appointment of Robert (Bob) A. Santella as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective April 16, 2018. Mr. Santella succeeds Neil Barua, who will leave the Company to pursue other opportunities.

Mr. Santella has built his career successfully managing global financial, investment, and trading software businesses, with demonstrated expertise in the fintech and financial services industries. He has a strong track record of leading businesses through technological transformations, including software and SaaS transitions, while growing revenue and increasing profitability.

Most recently, Mr. Santella served as President of the Global Trading Group for Fidelity National Information Systems (FIS), which he joined when it acquired SunGard Financial Systems (SunGard) in 2015. At SunGard, he was President of its Brokerage Group, where he led all trading software and services businesses. Mr. Santella joined SunGard in 2010, after its acquisition of Fox River Execution, where he served as its Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he held senior management positions at two alternative asset firms, SAM Investments and RAS Investments. Mr. Santella started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he spent eight years in a senior leadership role within the Personal Financial Planning unit.

"IPC is a leading provider of connectivity, communication and compliance solutions," said Mr. Santella. "I am excited about IPC's prospects for strong growth, expansion of services and its strong track record in providing its customers with innovative solutions. I look forward to working with IPC colleagues in taking our solutions to the next level, built on a strong foundation under Neil's leadership."

"We look forward to supporting Bob and the entire IPC team as the Company continues to execute on its transformation, and thank Neil for his many contributions to IPC's success to date," added Jared Hendricks, Member of the Board of Directors at IPC and a Senior Managing Director with Centerbridge Partners, L.P., an investment firm which holds a majority ownership stake in IPC. "His diverse background, collaborative and engaging approach, and proven track record in developing high-performing teams make him an ideal choice to lead IPC. We are confident that his broad array of leadership experiences will be a great asset to the business and the team."

Mr. Santella graduated from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Economics, Accounting and Finance. He also holds the CPA designation and the FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 and 99 securities registrations.

About IPC

IPC is a technology and service leader that powers financial markets globally. We help clients anticipate change and solve problems, setting the standard with industry expertise, exceptional service and comprehensive technology. With customers first and always, we collaborate with each to understand their individual needs to help make them secure, productive and compliant within our connected community. Through service excellence, long-developed expertise and a focus on innovation and community, we provide agile and efficient ways for our customers to accelerate their ability to adapt to the everchanging requirements for advanced networks, compliance and collaboration with all counterparties across the financial markets. www.ipc.com

About Centerbridge Partners, L.P.

Centerbridge Partners, L.P. is a private investment management firm employing a flexible approach across investment disciplinesfrom private equity to credit and related strategies, and real estatein an effort to find the most attractive opportunities for our investors and business partners. The Firm was founded in 2005 and as of December 2017 has approximately $28 billion in capital under management with offices in New York and London. Centerbridge is dedicated to partnering with world-class management teams across targeted industry sectors and geographies to help companies achieve their operating and financial objectives. For more information, please visit www.centerbridge.com.

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should" or "will" or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Media Contacts:





Patrick Chambeau Allyne Mills IPC Systems, Inc. Finn Partners for IPC +33 1 55 82 91 50 +1 646-202-9775 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE IPC Systems, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ipc.com


JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tax return audits are one of the hottest topics each tax season  and one of the biggest concerns of many taxpayers. To help consumers better understand items on their tax return that could increase their risk of being audited, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service is sharing certain scenarios the IRS closely monitors for tax fraud.

Taxpayers, especially those who have claims in the areas listed below, should be prepared to provide the IRS with documentation to support their claims should the IRS audit their return. Jackson Hewitt Tax Pros can assist taxpayers with audit questions or concerns, even if Jackson Hewitt did not prepare the return in question.

"The best way to audit-proof your return is to ensure everything is accurate and in the right place," said Mark Steber, Chief Tax Officer of Jackson Hewitt. "There are different levels of IRS audits, and the most common cause of an audit is due to tax return errors such as reporting income on the wrong line or form."

However, individual returns can be flagged for review by computerized IRS screening, random sampling or an income document-matching program that compares the information in the tax return to information from the taxpayer's bank, employer, W-2 and other tax documents. While the issues flagged by the document program are obvious triggers, there are other, more complex manners of choosing returns for audit.

The exact reasons the IRS analyzes a specific tax return are a closely-guarded secret. However, Jackson Hewitt advises taxpayers to be aware of the following red flags:

Unusually large amounts of deductions claimed that seem unreasonable when compared to the number of deductions claimed on other tax returns with similar income, such as high charitable contributions or large expenses on rental property

A large number of dependent exemptions claimed by a head of household with low income

Unusually high deductions for casualty losses, home office expenses, and travel and entertainment expenses

Significant nontaxable investment income, foreign source income or business losses

Self-employment income and no expenses, specifically when claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit

Jackson Hewitt notes that many audits can be handled quickly and easily with the taxpayer providing some additional information. The most important thing to do after receiving an audit notice from the IRS is to acknowledge it and respond promptly.

"Even if you did the tax return yourself, contact a tax professional before sending information or additional money to the IRS," Steber cautioned. "The IRS does not necessarily have all the information they need, so there may be an error in the amount they state you owe. Your preparer can help determine what to do and locate the information needed to respond."

Additional information on audits and guidance on what to do when being audited is available in the IRS Audits section of JacksonHewitt.com.

To find an office near you, visit www.jacksonhewitt.com/OfficeLocator.

About Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. is an innovator in the tax industry, with a mission to provide its hard-working clients access to simple, low-cost solutions to manage their taxes and tax refunds. Jackson Hewitt is devoted to helping clients get ahead with Maximum Refund and 100% Accuracy Guarantees. With close to 6,000 franchised and company-owned locations, including 3,000 in Walmart stores, and online and mobile tax solutions, Jackson Hewitt makes it convenient for clients to file their taxes. For more information about products, services, and offers, or to locate a Jackson Hewitt office, visit www.JacksonHewitt.com or call 1 (800) 234-1040.

SOURCE Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.
DALLAS, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) has been selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District, to deliver architectural and engineering consulting services for the development, assessment, design, monitoring and evaluation of infrastructure projects in more than 15 African nations.

The works falls under the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), responsible for all U.S. Department of Defense operations, exercises and security cooperation on the African continent, to promote regional security, stability and prosperity.

"Addressing infrastructure needs around the globe, especially in U.S. AFRICOM partner nations, is one of the most important and fulfilling challenges at hand," said Jacobs Buildings and Infrastructure President Bob Pragada. "Continuing our work with the Europe District is an exciting opportunity to help advance its mission of preserving regional stability and security and creating hope and prosperity for future generations."

The company's first task order calls for the installation of a high-voltage distribution system and security lighting at selected locations in and around Accra and Tamale, Ghana. Jacobs will partner with the Government of Ghana, municipal authorities, market associations, the distribution utility and other stakeholders to accomplish the project.

The scope of the five-year, indefinite delivery contract calls for architectural and engineering support for infrastructure projects that fall into one or more of the following sub-sectors:

Water resource management and bulk water supply: management and development of water resources, dams, watershed management, wetlands, coastal water quality and management.

management and development of water resources, dams, watershed management, wetlands, coastal water quality and management. Transportation : construction or rehabilitation of urban and rural roads, seaports, airports and railroads.

: construction or rehabilitation of urban and rural roads, seaports, airports and railroads. Water and sanitation : rural and urban water supply and sanitation systems, wastewater treatment facilities and solid waste including sanitary landfills.

: rural and urban water supply and sanitation systems, wastewater treatment facilities and solid waste including sanitary landfills. Irrigation systems: canals, pumping stations, reservoirs and drainage systems.

canals, pumping stations, reservoirs and drainage systems. Energy and power : resource development, electrical generation, overhead and submarine transmission and distribution, rural electrification, biofuels and associated infrastructure, central heating systems, gas supply, processing and distribution, oil and gas exploration and production.

: resource development, electrical generation, overhead and submarine transmission and distribution, rural electrification, biofuels and associated infrastructure, central heating systems, gas supply, processing and distribution, oil and gas exploration and production. Industrial facilities : industrial parks, agricultural processing facilities and zones.

: industrial parks, agricultural processing facilities and zones. Institutional facilities: vertical structures such as schools, hospitals, health centers, housing, animal care facilities, offices and visitor centers.

Jacobs has partnered with the Europe District since 2011, delivering task orders including a situation assessment for water, sanitation and hygiene in Sierra Leone and liquefied natural gas studies and design work in Ghana.

Jacobs leads the global professional services sector delivering solutions for a more connected, sustainable world. With $15 billion in fiscal 2017 revenue when combined with full-year CH2M revenues and a talent force more than 74,000 strong, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of services including scientific, technical, professional and construction- and program-management for business, industrial, commercial, government and infrastructure sectors. For more information, visit www.jacobs.com, and connect with Jacobs on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management's current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. For a description of some of the factors which may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements please refer to our Form 10-K for the year ended September 29, 2017, and in particular the discussions contained under Items 1 - Business, 1A - Risk Factors, 3 - Legal Proceedings, and 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements made herein.

For press/media inquiries:

Kerrie Sparks

214.583.8433

Brian Morandi

720.286.0719

SOURCE Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Related Links

http://www.jacobs.com


The son of immigrants from Taiwan, Chiang, 56, is more experienced in state government than his better-known Democratic rivals, and refreshingly inexperienced in the kinds of scandals that they have endured. If he is relatively unknown, that is in part because his successive stints as state controller and state treasurer unfolded without any misconduct or incompetence. Isn't that boring?

On one of his many stops on his campaign tour around the state, I met Chiang for coffee in Long Beach. I was impressed. He possessed a quality I'd never encountered in years of talking to state and local politicians. Asked for their position on a given topic, candidates typically deliver a more-or-less polished statement of their poll-tested position. Occasionally they'll attack a rival.

But when I asked Chiang about California's housing crisis, its transportation infrastructure and its energy needs, that's not what I got. Instead, he presented a sophisticated summary of the concerns of different stakeholders. Then he acknowledged the trade-offs inherent to different solutions. Only after all that did he declare where he came down and why, emphasizing that compromising on any meaningful improvement would be better than doing nothing while a crisis worsened.
PORTLAND, Ore., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Janrain, the company that pioneered the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) category, today announced it has appointed analytics and e-commerce veteran Todd Etchieson to its world-class management team as new vice president of product. The announcement comes after a year in which Janrain achieved a host of important industry-first milestones while surpassing commercial 3,400 clients and reaching over 1.5 billion digital identities.

Etchieson, a visionary executive leader with extensive experience in building high performing teams, marrying innovative product strategy with world-class execution, and bringing cutting-edge products and capabilities to market, has been chartered with spearheading Janrain's product strategy and development. In this capacity, he will work closely with Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Samsung, Wells Fargo, Whole Foods and other global clients to deliver on their mission-critical CIAM needs through the use of the industry-leading Janrain Identity Cloud. He will report directly to CEO Jim Kaskade.

"I am very excited to welcome Todd to the Janrain family as we could not have found a more qualified professional with such a strong success record driving customer-first, data and analytics-driven product initiatives at high growth tech companies," said Janrain CEO Jim Kaskade. "Janrain is now the largest independent CIAM leader in the industry, which puts us in a unique position to continue setting the pace for specialized innovation and prioritizing client needs over anything else. Todd, with his history of driving new product introductions resulting in multi-million dollar new lines of business, will be instrumental in helping us carry on our industry-first legacy."

Etchieson brings 25-plus years of product management and tech experience to Janrain. Etchieson comes to Janrain from data intelligence platform provider New Relic. There he served as vice president of analytics product management--part of the core team that drove the company's IPO--launching their cloud-based New Relic Insights analytics solution and managing all client-side products. Previously he led market strategy and product management for surveillance technologies at Flir Systems. Etchieson has also held leadership positions at Nike, open telecom solutions provider RadiSys, and Nortel Networks.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Janrain and its culture of customer-first and industry-first innovation, where I'll feel right at home," said Etchieson. "2018 is going to be a big year for identity management, and so it's a tremendous opportunity to be joining Janrain, the industry's biggest innovator, where I can apply my own experience and expertise in bringing new solutions and capabilities that help global organizations better understand and serve their customers."

About Janrain

Founded in 2002, Janrain pioneered Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) and is widely recognized by industry analysts as a global CIAM leader. The Janrain Identity Cloud provides identity management, security and activation solutions that enable seamless and safe customer experiences across their digitally connected world, while providing enterprise organizations with deep customer insights. Janrain's identity capabilities include social and traditional login and registration, single sign-on, customer profile data storage and management, customer segments, customer insights and engagement solutions. The company reaches over 1.5 billion digital identities with over 3,400 commercial deployments, including Pfizer, Samsung, Whole Foods, Philips, McDonald's and Dr Pepper. Janrain is based in Portland, Oregon, with offices in London, Paris and Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit www.janrain.com and follow @janrain.

Media Contact:

Chris Blake

MSR Communications

Phone: 1-415-989-9000

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Janrain

Related Links

http://www.janrain.com


SHANGHAI, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (the "Company," or "JinkoSolar") (NYSE: JKS), a global leader in the solar PV industry, today announced that it was named Energy Yield Simulation Winner - Polycrystalline Group at the 4th All Quality Matters Solar Congress hosted by TUV Rhineland in Wuxi, China.

Organized by TUV Rheinland, a highly respected and objective PV research institute, the All Quality Matters Awards is one of the highest honors given in the solar industry. The sample modules utilized during this year's energy simulation competition was randomly selected from the mass production lines of participating companies. To simulate the operational environment of countries like China, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and India, the modules' energy generation performance was tested under a broad array of solar irradiance ranging from 100 - 1100W/m2, temperatures ranging from 15-75, and a wide range of incident angles. Ultimately, JinkoSolar emerged from the competition with the top rated module energy yield performance, illustrating the superiority of JinkoSolar products when it comes to performance. Having been recognized with the All Quality Matters Award, JinkoSolar has demonstrated the reliability of its PV products when used in projects and its ability to lead the solar industry's development.

As the world's top solar module manufacturer, JinkoSolar CEO Mr. Kangping Chen commented that "In 2017, our shipment figures grew by 47% to roughly 10 GWs. JinkoSolar leads the global PV industry as the first company to reach 10 GW. Going forward, we will continue to provide our customers with a diverse and high quality product portfolio."

About JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.

JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) is a global leader in the solar industry. JinkoSolar distributes its solar products and sells its solutions and services to a diversified international utility, commercial and residential customer base in China, the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, South Africa, India, Mexico, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and other countries and regions. JinkoSolar has built a vertically integrated solar product value chain, with an integrated annual capacity of 8.0 GW for silicon wafers, 5.0 GW for solar cells, and 8.0 GW for solar modules, as of December 31, 2017.

JinkoSolar has over 12,000 employees across its 8 productions facilities globally, 16 oversea subsidiaries in Japan (2), Singapore, India, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Australia, South Africa and United Arab Emirates, and global sales offices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, United States, Brazil, Chile, Australia, South Africa and United Arab Emirates.

To find out more, please see: www.jinkosolar.com

Safe-Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements 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, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends, "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this press release and the Company's operations and business outlook, contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in JinkoSolar's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Sebastian Liu

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.

Tel: +86 21-5183-3056

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.jinkosolar.com


SAN FRANCISCO, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Kenna Security, a leader in predictive cyber risk, announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company, has given Kenna Security a 5-Star rating in its 2018 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide is the definitive listing of partner programs from technology vendors that provide products and services through the IT channel. The 5-Star Partner Program Guide rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

To determine the 2018 5-Star ratings, The Channel Company's research team assessed each vendor's partner program based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support and communication.

Kenna Security's channel partner program enables resellers and MSSPs to grow their businesses with a solution that solves a true pain point for their customers by giving them the ability to proactively manage risk, as opposed to reactive risk management solutions common in the market today. Led by Rick Kramer, Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales and Alliances, Kenna is building a channel program that is globally consistent and supports many different routes to market while offering attractive benefits and training that encourage strong relationships and long-term commitments between Kenna and its partners.

Kenna is also focused on designing new certifications and developing guidance that enable its partners to easily go to market with alternative delivery methods, like managed security services, to bring the benefits of the Kenna Security Platform to their customers.

"Finding the right technology vendor to partner with can be a daunting task, given the vast array of choices now available to solution providers," said Robert Faletra, Executive Chairman of The Channel Company. "CRN's Partner Program Guide and 5-Star ratings help them narrow the field and find the best fit, identifying the most rewarding partner programs and providing crucial insight into their strengths and benefits. We are pleased to present our 2018 PPG list, recognizing the strongest and most successful partner programs in the channel today."

"A 5-star rating from CRN's Partner Program Guide is a testament to how seriously we are committed to fostering and growing our partner relationships and reinforces the value that Kenna delivers to help our partners grow their businesses," said Rick Kramer, Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales and Alliances, Kenna Security. "Channel partnerships are an important area of focus and future growth for Kenna. We look forward to introducing more reward and support initiatives for partners as we continue to develop and improve our partner program."

The 2018 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/ppg.

About Kenna Security

Kenna Security is a leader in predictive cyber risk. The Kenna Security Platform enables organizations to work cross-functionally to determine and remediate cyber risks. Kenna leverages Cyber Risk Context Technology to track and predict real-world exploitations, focusing security teams on what matters most. Headquartered in San Francisco, Kenna counts among its customers many Fortune 100 companies, and serves nearly every major vertical. For more information, visit kennasecurity.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About the Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com

CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kenna Security Contact:

Dan Mellinger

Kenna Security

415-572-0216

[email protected]

The Channel Company Contact:

Melanie Turpin

The Channel Company

(508) 416-1195

[email protected]

SOURCE Kenna Security

Related Links

http://www.kennasecurity.com


PHOENIX, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- After months of hard work and toiling development, L6 Elite sets to open itself to the public on April 5. L6 Elite is a Lean Six Sigma software, which broadly covers all Lean Six Sigma methodologies delivered through a web-based delivery (SaaS)  a unique product value matched by no other vendors.

L6 Elite is a comprehensive SaaS-based Lean Six Sigma implementation and management software, which makes it ridiculously simple to use and benefit from Lean Six Sigma. With a step by step guided interface, setting up L6 Elite can be a breeze even for someone with little six sigma background. Moreover, the data starts populating instantly and automatically that makes setting up L6 Elite even more fun.

On top of it, the web-based / SaaS delivery model ensures that there is no nuisance of downloading, installing and maintaining software. Regardless of the physical location of a user, L6 Elite can be accessed globally by any staff member, without the need to worry about downloading or installing the software locally.

Founded and developed by Bre Wallace, an Army Veteran and longtime practitioner of project management and engineering methodologies, L6 Elite was born while she was working on her Ph.D. thesis. She found that there is a huge gap for a solution that can validate her argument. This discovery led to her ditching her consulting firm and embarking on the journey of building new technology.

L6 Elite can be used in nearly every industry ranging from Health-care, IT, Automotive, Research and Development, Manufacturing, Textiles and more. End users can vary from Six Sigma Certified Practitioners, Quality Assurance Staff to Business Unit Heads. But with the simplicity with which it's designed, L6 Elite can be implemented in any organization and can be used in any job role that is looking to improve their processes.

Through its launch phase, L6 Elite is offering free trials to allow subscribers to discover how it helps in improving business processes and ultimately, performance. For more information visit www.l6elite.com or send in an email to [email protected].

Press & Media Queries:

Bre Wallace

Ph: 480.593.8134

Email: [email protected]

Related Links

L6 Elite

SOURCE L6 Elite

Related Links

https://www.l6elite.com


DENVER, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lariat Partners ("Lariat"), a Denver-based private equity firm, announced today the sale of Subsea Global Solutions LLC ("Subsea"), a leading global provider of underwater ship maintenance, repair and marine construction solutions, to GenNx360 Capital Partners.

With history dating back to 1945 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, Subsea Global Solutions currently employs a team of over 115 highly trained, expert diver technicians providing essential underwater maintenance, inspection, and repair services to vessel owners and operators within diversified marine transportation and construction sectors. The Company's routine hull maintenance services help reduce fuel consumption and its highly trained technical repair solutions reduce operators' dry-docking costs, while keeping the vessel in service. It operates a dedicated staff situated in service locations located throughout North America, South America and Korea. Subsea Global Solutions has revolutionized the methods of repair and maintenance for ships and advanced procedures used in underwater marine construction. Visit www.subseasolutions.com.

Lariat made its original investment in Subsea in November 2013 and during its ownership undertook numerous initiatives in partnership with Subsea's management to strengthen and improve the business. Lariat expanded the management team, built a more robust sales force to drive organic growth, and established a more scalable global platform by opening greenfield offices in Galveston, TX, Brazil, and Seattle, WA. Subsea also completed two transformative add-on acquisitions that expanded the company's operations into Canada and Asia.

Jay Coughlon, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Lariat, said, "We are very pleased to complete this successful transaction and we would like to thank Paul Peters, Subsea's CEO. Under Paul's leadership, Subsea became a truly global service provider and greatly enhanced its already leading technological advantage."

Paul Peters, CEO of Subsea, said, "With Lariat's active involvement, we greatly expanded our scope of services and operations by entering new geographic markets in North and South America, as well as Asia to become a better trusted resource to our global clients."

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Lariat and Subsea, and Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck served as legal advisor.

About Lariat Partners

Denver-based Lariat Partners is a private equity firm focused on partnering with business owners and entrepreneurs in the lower-middle market. With its CORE Investment Strategy targeting COnsolidations, COnsumables and REcurring revenue businesses, Lariat offers a differentiated approach to partnering with business owners and entrepreneurs and growing their middle market businesses. Using CORE, Lariat has invested in companies across many industries, including Food and Agribusiness, Energy and Environmental Services, Consumer Products and Services, Specialty Distribution, and Industrial Services. For more information, visit www.lariatpartners.net.

Contact: Chris Tofalli

Chis Tofalli Public Relations, LLC

914-834-4334

SOURCE Lariat Partners

Related Links

http://www.lariatpartners.net


The LBDA RCOE program will provide a centralized, coordinated research resource, supporting an expanded effort in conducting clinical trials related to LBD while helping to provide expert clinical care for patients, families and caregivers.

"Successful clinical trials are the holy grail for all the stakeholders in the Lewy body dementia treatment community, so the goal of the Research Centers of Excellence program is to benefit patients with the disease," said Dr. Bradley Boeve, Mayo Clinic's LBDA RCOE lead primary investigator. "Lewy body dementia is chronically underdiagnosed, so we seek to address a decades-old challenge of finding and enrolling enough correctly diagnosed patients, working with clinicians and staff who understand the disease, and reaching the right patients and families to encourage participation in clinical trials. Now we can address all three. The centers involved in the program are working together with a common goal to improve the understanding of the disease in the scientific, medical and general public communities."

LBDA's RCOE program aims to establish a clinical trials-ready network of leading institutions that share the common vision of providing the highest level of clinical care over the course of LBD treatment. In addition, the RCOE network seeks to increase access to support for caregivers and people living with LBD, increase the knowledge of LBD among the medical community, and construct administrative infrastructure and generate the resources necessary to further advance LBD research and care.

"Clinical trials with a patient population like LBD's require experienced diagnosticians to ensure accurate patient participation," said Mike Koehler, Chief Executive Officer of LBDA. "This network can share a standardized approach to patient recruitment and data collection for clinical trials. That is why we are so grateful to have the expertise of 24 preeminent academic and medical research centers, coordinated by Mayo Clinic, one of the most prolific clinical research organizations in the US, comprising the LBDA RCOE.

"In addition to establishing the RCOE program, LBDA takes a major step forward launching a competitive research initiative via the RCOE. Fertilizing the LBD infrastructure will allow us to further our understanding of this disease and develop new ways care and support of the patients, families and caregivers. In addition to supporting those living with LBD, the Association's mission has always been to add to the scientific body of understanding about the disease to give hope to those living with it."

About LBDA's RCOE Network

The 24 RCOEs are spread across 17 states and the District of Columbia and are located in 23 American metropolitan areas. Each RCOE is led by recognized primary investigators (PIs) and co-investigators to conduct trials and provide expert care. A full listing of RCOE institutions is available on LBDA's website at https://www.lbda.org/rcoecenters.

The centers were chosen for their clinical expertise in LBD, experience running clinical trials in related conditions (combined, the 33 PIs have run 380 clinical trials in the past 5 years), their facility's capacity and willingness to participate, and their geographic locations.

More information on the LBDA RCOE program can be found on LBDA's website at https://www.lbda.org/rcoe.

Driving Clinical Trials

The RCOE will collaborate on industry-sponsored clinical trials and apply for federal funding for LBD research initiatives. As our program evolves LBDA hopes to fund our own clinical research initiatives as we move forward.

For more information about LBDA, the LBDA RCOE network, or LBD, please contact Mike Koehler at [email protected] or 215.822.3622.

About Lewy Body Dementia Association

The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) is the nation's leading voluntary health organization in raising awareness of Lewy body dementias (LBD), supporting patients, their families and caregivers, and promoting scientific advances. LBD is a progressive brain disease that affects thinking, movement, behavior, and impacts 1.4 million people in the United States. Visit www.lbda.org.

SOURCE Lewy Body Dementia Association

Related Links

http://www.lbda.org


As immigration lawyer David Leopold points out to me Monday morning, under current law, it's perfectly legal for those people (with limited exceptions) to apply for asylum if they reach the U.S. border. (Whether they get granted asylum is a separate question.) Trump's rant appears to be saying this should not be the case - that they shouldn't be allowed to apply for asylum, and that U.S. law should be changed to prevent it.

After all, it's already illegal for them to try to cross illegally. Trump is saying Mexico must stop them because we cannot under U.S. law, and he's calling for a new law that would change that. The only relevant change here would be to prevent or limit their ability to apply for asylum. "He's saying that is a bad border law - that the legal way for them to enter temporarily should be ended," Leopold tells me. "He's saying that in order to have effective border laws, we need to cut out the asylum process. That's a radical shift."
SSL combines industry-leading expertise and commercial mindset in its design of innovative system for deep space exploration to Jupiter Moon Europa

PALO ALTO, CA, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - SSL, a Maxar Technologies company (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.) (NYSE: MAXR; TSX: MAXR), and a leading provider of innovative satellites and spacecraft systems, announced today it was selected by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design and build critical equipment for a spacecraft that will explore Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. The award reflects SSL's leadership role in the space industry as a valued contractor supporting NASA mission needs and long-term commitment to accelerating innovation for the new space economy.

The Europa Clipper spacecraft, set to launch in the 2020's, will perform repeated investigative flybys of Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, which strong evidence suggests has an ocean of liquid water beneath its crust, potentially harboring conditions suitable for life. SSL will provide the Remote Engineering Unit, a critical interface between the spacecraft's various attitude control systems, thermal sensors and the flight computer. Due to the highly radiative environment the spacecraft will be subjected to, the SSL design for the interface will include innovative radiation-tolerant components expected to help power future exploration missions.

"SSL has a rich legacy of supporting NASA mission success with our commercial capabilities and innovative technologies," said Richard White, president of SSL Government Systems. "Our work on the Europa Clipper mission continues our legacy with NASA and JPL, and furthers our overarching goal to develop disruptive technologies that advance humankind's mission in space."

Other examples of SSL's long-term, trusted collaboration with NASA on deep-space exploration include a NASA Discovery Program to explore the metal asteroid Psyche, for which SSL is leveraging the company's expertise in solar electric propulsion and automation technologies. SSL is also collaborating on NASA's Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway by creating a module to provide power and control for this human crew-tended spaceport in lunar orbit that would function as an access point to the Moon and deep space.

About SSL

SSL, based in Palo Alto, California, is a leading provider of advanced spacecraft systems, with broad expertise to support commercial and government satellite operators and innovative space missions. The company designs and manufactures spacecraft for services such as direct-to-home television, video content distribution, broadband internet, mobile communications, in-orbit servicing, space exploration, and Earth observation. As a Silicon Valley innovator for 60 years, SSL's advanced product line includes state-of-the-art small satellites, and sophisticated robotics and autonomous solutions for remote operations. SSL is a Maxar Technologies company (NYSE: MAXR; TSX: MAXR). For more information, visit www.sslmda.com.

About Maxar Technologies

Maxar Technologies (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates) is a leading global provider of advanced space technology solutions for commercial and government markets including satellites, Earth imagery, robotics, geospatial data, and analytics. As a trusted partner, Maxar Technologies provides unmatched integrated capabilities, solutions, and expertise to help customers anticipate and address their most complex mission-critical challenges with confidence. With more than 6,500 employees in over 31 locations, the Maxar Technologies portfolio of commercial space brands includes MDA, SSL, DigitalGlobe, and Radiant Solutions. Every day, billions of people rely on Maxar Technologies to communicate, share information and data, and deliver insights that Build a Better World. Maxar trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange as MAXR. For more information, visit www.maxar.com.

Contact

Wendy Lewis | SSL Media Contact | 1-650-852-5188 | [email protected]

Marissa Poratto | Maxar Investor Relations | 1-604-331-2044 | [email protected]

Nancy Coleman | Maxar Media Contact | 1-303-684-1674 | [email protected]

SOURCE Maxar Technologies Ltd.

Related Links

www.maxar.com


"Neal's background and expertise in operational and technology leadership uniquely positions him to bring greater efficiency and sophistication to our operations," said Paul Kaiser, chief executive officer of MedeAnalytics. "Neal's passion for healthcare, leadership skills and principles of service and accountability fit seamlessly within the culture here at MedeAnalytics. We are thrilled to have him join our executive team to help lead the company in our continued transformation."

Prior to joining MedeAnalytics, Schwartz served as vice president of Worldwide Consulting Operations for Cerner Consulting where he oversaw the management of Cerner's Worldwide Consulting Operations and Integrated Technologies Organizations. In his role, Schwartz developed the consulting implementation methodology framework that supported over 400 concurrent worldwide engagements and created efficiencies resulting in a 15 percent cost reduction.

"Data analytics is the future of innovation in healthcare. I'm proud to join MedeAnalytics to move that vision forward and help organizations make more informed decisions and improve outcomes," said Schwartz. "I will lead with the compass of innovation, enablement, service and value that have always guided my work and I look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to continue that practice at MedeAnalytics."

Previously, Schwartz was vice president of CernerWorks Client Operations, holding leadership roles within the organization for over a decade. At CernerWorks, Schwartz was responsible for client operations and oversaw more than 450 production clients, 1,200 associates and 400 project engagements in a given year, representing over $1.2 billion in top line annual revenue.

Schwartz holds a Master of Business Administration and Operation Management from Cleveland State University and a Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs and Management from Indiana University, Bloomington.

About MedeAnalytics

A pioneer in healthcare analytics, MedeAnalytics helps organizations make even smarter decisions. With the most advanced data orchestration in healthcare, our intelligent cloud-based analytics platform combines data to deliver state-of-the-art analytics, all in a business context. MedeAnalytics' scalable solutions for financial management, operations, value-based care, and strategic planning  and the ability to tailor-build  deliver the action-ready insights organizations need to achieve success. Helping clients realize financial and operational value almost immediately is just one of the many reasons why MedeAnalytics is the leading healthcare-only analytics provider. With offices in the U.S. and U.K., MedeAnalytics serves 1,500+ organizations and 60M covered lives, and has been named one of Modern Healthcare's Top 100 Best Places Work. Learn more at www.medeanalytics.com.

Media Contacts:

Anne Perez, Associate Vice President, Marketing

MedeAnalytics

[email protected]

703.403.0496

Jennifer Toole

SHIFT Communications

[email protected]

617.779.1828

SOURCE MedeAnalytics

Related Links

http://www.medeanalytics.com


HOLLYWOOD, Fla., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- C&C Medical Administration today announced a new web-based medical billing service that helps medical business owners, doctors, physicians, and healthcare providers get paid faster. The service stops coding mistakes and lower claims rejections so doctors save time and make more money.

The iClaim service is compliant with HIPAA and is ICD-10 and MU Certified.

Caption Fernando Castillo and Viviana Castillo hold their Certificate Medical Revenue Association of America.

"Our professional medical billing solutions are effective and practical," said Fernando Castillo, president of C&C Medical Administration, based in Hollywood, Florida. "Many doctor's offices struggle to get paid by insurance companies. With medical billing outsourcing we can reduce the typical rejection rate of 30-40 percent down to 2 percent so they can increase their revenue."

Office managers can get a free practice analysis to see how they will benefit by calling our medical billing experts at 877-450-6782 or going online to http://ccmedicalbilling1.com/contact.php

"Doctors are very important to the community. I want to help them in any way that I can," he said. "Doctors went to school to learn medicine, but they don't understand the business side. They make mistakes with billing coding and that affects how much money they will make. Our medical billing coding services takes care of the administrative details and provides the correct medical billing codes so they have a fewer rejected claims."

C&C Medical Administration uses a medical billing website to act as an integrated clearing house. It also sends electronic health records and claims to insurance companies.

"Every physician and healthcare provider deserves to be paid and deserves to receive full comprehensive reports about paid claims. Our iClaim system effortlessly avails our customers of a smooth integration feature with billing, scheduling, eligibility of insurance as well as a comprehensive report system," he said.

With the C & C Medical billing service and iClaim solutions you get to:

Real time access: Our iClaim services and medical billing services is internet-based so physicians and office managers can review every part of their billing, denials, coding, charges, statements and much more anytime and anywhere. Improved reporting to help doctors make smarter decisions and get access to hundreds of reports on the go and with a simple touch of the button. This service opens data to you anytime you need it, thus indulging you with the ability to consult, keep your practice at your fingertips and make better decisions for your business at any point in time.

Faster claim payments: We guarantee that our claims are always paid the first time they are submitted. The system also guarantees a faster fund payment and our iClaim billing service has one of the highest acceptance rate in the business thus leaving you with few or no unpaid claims.

Flexible and streamlined services: Our personalized and flexible billing solutions will streamline your billing needs to optimize and coordinate your business finances. Our professionals will bring their expertise to manage payments, inquiries, and acquisitions which delivers practical and functional solutions for your medical billing.

Competitive advantages: Stay ahead of the competition by concentrating your efforts on what matters. Our skilled workforce will handle your billing and manage other important aspects like audit reports, coding and credentialing and other relevant services important to your business.

"Our goal is to maximize your earning potential by reducing your expenses and increasing the net yield of your practice, allowing you to spend more time with patients and less time with paperwork," Castillo said. "We understand how important it is for you to save money without investing in expensive hardware, software, networks, and other technological equipment. We will provide you with the personal attention you deserve, and partner with you to ensure your business achieves maximum profitability and efficiency."

About C & C Medical Administration, Inc.

C & C Medical Administration, Inc. is a medical billing, medical coding and physician billing company dedicated to work with legitimate and professional healthcare providers to generate outstanding results and comprehensive solutions for improving their revenue and billings. Our clients in return get to experience the satisfaction and confidence that accompanies consulting with a proven medical billing expert with a track record of excellence. Put that on the same page with our world-class service and ability to craft personalized billing solutions for clients.

Contact

Fernando Castillo

877-450-6782

[email protected]

SOURCE C&C Medical Administration
DURHAM, N.C., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (OTCQB: MGTI) announced the filing of its 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. The entire document can be viewed at the Company's website or at www.sec.gov.

MGT reported revenues from bitcoin mining of $3.1 million in 2017 versus $313,000 in 2016, with a gross margin of $1.6 million compared to $104,000, respectively. Net loss was $50.4 million for 2017 and $24.5 million for 2016. Net loss in 2017 was largely the result of non-cash accounting charges relating to stock-based compensation and to the early extinguishment of debt. Net cash used in operating activities decreased to $2.4 million in 2017 compared to $5.5 million in the prior period.

Balance sheet metrics include cash of $9.5 million as of December 31, 2017 versus $345,000 at yearend 2016. Total debt was reduced to zero at yearend 2017 compared to $2.3 million for the prior period. On December 31, 2017, stockholder's equity was $11.9 million versus a deficit of ($583,000) a year earlier.

Robert Lowrey, Chief Financial Officer of MGT will host an investor update call on Wednesday April 4, 2018 at 4:30 pm EDT. Details can be found on MGT's investor relations page of its corporate website.

About MGT Capital Investments, Inc.

Operating in facilities in northern Sweden and Washington State, MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (OTCQB: MGTI) ranks as one of the largest U.S. based Bitcoin miners. When fully deployed, MGT will own and operate approximately 7,000 Bitmain S9 miners, and 50 GPU-based Ethereum mining rigs. Further, the Company continues to execute on an expansion model to secure low cost power and grow its crypto assets materially.

For more information on the Company, please visit: http://mgtci.com

Forwardlooking Statements

This press release contains forwardlooking statements. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forwardlooking statements." All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forwardlooking statements. This includes all statements about the Company's plans, beliefs, estimates and expectations. These statements are based on current estimates and projections, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include issues related to: rapidly changing technology and evolving standards in the industries in which the Company and its subsidiaries operate; the ability to obtain sufficient funding to continue operations, maintain adequate cash flow, profitably exploit new business, license and sign new agreements; the unpredictable nature of consumer preferences; and other factors set forth in the Company's most recently filed annual report and registration statement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forwardlooking statements, which reflect management's analysis only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forwardlooking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof. Readers should carefully review the risks and uncertainties described in other documents that the Company files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor and Media Contact

Grace Livingston

[email protected]

919.973.0954

SOURCE MGT Capital Investments, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mgtci.com


HILLSDALE, Mich., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, April 18, Hillsdale College welcomes Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to campus. Schuette will meet with Hillsdale students and deliver a public lecture titled "#TwoHeroines: Lessons in Statesmanship." His lecture will draw on his experience in public service and ideas explored in Big Lessons from a Small Town, Schuette's book highlighting perspectives on statesmanship from local, state and global leaders.

Schuette is the 53rd attorney general of Michigan, a position he has held since 2010. As attorney general, he has worked to support justice for victims of sexual assault by launching an initiative to fund testing of backlogged DNA evidence and creating the Michigan Commission on Human Trafficking. Before being elected as attorney general, Schuette served as U.S. congressman, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture, state senator for Michigan, and judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals. He was also the 2015-2016 chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association. Schuette is a Republican candidate in the 2018 Michigan gubernatorial election.

The event is free and open to registered media. For more information or to RSVP, contact Emily Stack Davis at [email protected] or (517) 607-2730.

WHEN:

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

9 a.m. EDT  Student meet-and-greet

4 p.m. EDT  Lecture, "#TwoHeroines: Lessons in Statesmanship"



WHERE:

Hillsdale College

Phillips Auditorium

315 N West Street

Hillsdale, MI 49242



Hillsdale College is an independent liberal arts college located in southern Michigan. Founded in 1844, the College has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 3.7 million. For more information visit hillsdale.edu.

SOURCE Hillsdale College

Related Links

http://www.hillsdale.edu


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Report Scope:

This market study assesses the leading microgrid technologies that are currently in use globally for powering commercial, industrial, military, and educational facilities such as universities, homes and communities, and rural/off-grid villages. The microgrid technologies discussed in this report are in use across these industries and many more as well as new emerging sectors driven by technological innovation.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05370222



The market analysis provided in this report is based on a variety of data sources. These include the most recent government, industry, academic and company data regarding the projected level of demand for microgrid technologies. The report provides a comprehensive review of available data to provide a realistic, robust and accurate assessment of this quickly changing market.



BCC analyzes each major microgrid technology, determines its current market status, examines its impact on future markets and presents forecasts of growth over the next five years. Technological issues, including the latest trends, are assessed and discussed, as are the current and likely regulatory environments in the industry.



BCC analyzes the industry worldwide in terms of manufacturing and deployment of technologies or products.For the most relevant and available microgrid technologies BCC examines the role of government both in regulating the industry and in supporting these microgrid technologies through promotional incentives.



The report discusses recent trends and sales and provides industry overviews and market assessments for leading microgrid technology. Estimated values used are based on manufacturers' total revenues.



Report Includes:

- 29 data tables and 7 additional tables

- An overview of the global market for microgrid technologies

- Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2016 and 2017, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022

- Identification of segments with high growth potential and their future applications

- Explanation of major drivers and regional dynamics of the market and current trends within the industry

- Detailed profiles of major vendors in the market, including ABB Group, ALSTOM Power, Inc., Burns Engineering, Inc., Caterpillar Inc. and Toshiba Corp.



Summary

The global microgrid market is forecast to increase from REDACTED in 2016 to REDACTED in 2017,rising to nearly REDACTED by 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of REDACTED over the five-year forecast period.Distributed renewable energy microgrid technology holds significant potential as akey driver for increasing energy access for millions of people around the word without access to energyas well as for providing reliable and stable power to industry.



Because the microgrid approach to electrical distribution allows local users more flexibility on control over the optimization of power sources and uses, it is growing in appeal.



Microgrids are an extension of on-site generators, or dedicated power supplies, sometimes called captive generation.Technically, a microgrid is a grouping of small, independent power-generating equipment connected to computer systems that monitor, control and balance energy demand and supply and storage in response to changing energy needs.



They can also be cleaner if solar or wind is used as part of the energy mix.Now that solar panel prices have fallen, distributed solar can be cheaper than running diesel generators alone for backup power.



The microgrid market is therefore undergoing a transformation from a niche application intended for military bases, telecommunication base stations and remote communities to national grid extenders, a grid modernization tool for utilities, cities, communities and public institutions.



The largest microgrid segment throughout the forecast period will be the grid-connected microgrid market, valued at REDACTED in 2016 and forecast to increase from REDACTED in 2017 at a CAGR of REDACTED to reach REDACTED by 2022. Grid-connected systems will primarily be found in more developed countries, where the main aim of the user is not necessarily power provision, but power supply resiliency and reliability.



Report Scope:

This market study assesses the leading microgrid technologies that are currently in use globally for powering commercial, industrial, military, and educational facilities such as universities, homes and communities, and rural/off-grid villages. The microgrid technologies discussed in this report are in use across these industries and many more as well as new emerging sectors driven by technological innovation.



The market analysis provided in this report is based on a variety of data sources. These include the most recent government, industry, academic and company data regarding the projected level of demand for microgrid technologies. The report provides a comprehensive review of available data to provide a realistic, robust and accurate assessment of this quickly changing market.



BCC analyzes each major microgrid technology, determines its current market status, examines its impact on future markets and presents forecasts of growth over the next five years. Technological issues, including the latest trends, are assessed and discussed, as are the current and likely regulatory environments in the industry.



BCC analyzes the industry worldwide in terms of manufacturing and deployment of technologies or products.For the most relevant and available microgrid technologies BCC examines the role of government both in regulating the industry and in supporting these microgrid technologies through promotional incentives.



The report discusses recent trends and sales and provides industry overviews and market assessments for leading microgrid technology. Estimated values used are based on manufacturers' total revenues.



Report Includes:

- 29 data tables and 7 additional tables

- An overview of the global market for microgrid technologies

- Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2016 and 2017, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022

- Identification of segments with high growth potential and their future applications

- Explanation of major drivers and regional dynamics of the market and current trends within the industry

- Detailed profiles of major vendors in the market, including ABB Group, ALSTOM Power, Inc., Burns Engineering, Inc., Caterpillar Inc. and Toshiba Corp.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05370222



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


WASHINGTON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Minority Quality Forum has received broad supportfrom foundations, hospitals, nonprofit organizations, insurers, technology companies, and the pharmaceutical industryfor this year's Leadership Summit on Health Disparities. This is the Forum's 15th Annual Summit, which will be held on Monday, April 16, and Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at Washington DC's Ritz-Carlton Hotel, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. This year's theme is "Bridging the Equity Gap across the Lifespan to Achieve Sustainable Healthy Communities." Meetings will focus on tools to build healthy communities and programs to make communities resilient.

"I am extremely excited to see how the Summit has grown to such a large event over the years," said Gary Puckrein, PhD, Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Forum. "It is one of the few events that speaks to solutions for health disparities and works to build sustainable healthy communities."

Brandon Garrett, Chief Operating Officer of the Forum, adds: "I am thrilled by the diversity of speakers and supporters of the Summit. Organizations from across the health-care space are all supportingfrom foundations to hospitals to retailers to insurers to the pharmaceutical industry."

The Forum is grateful to the following organizations for their support in building sustainable healthy communities:

Aetna Foundation

American Academic Health System

American Association of Medical Colleges

American Medical Association

Amgen, Inc.

Astellas Pharma, US, Inc.

Baxter Healthcare

Biogen Inc.

Centene Corporation

DaVita

Gilead Sciences, Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline

Global Blood Therapeutics

Health Care Service Corporation

Health Research & Educational Trust

Howard University Hospital

Johnson & Johnson

Lilly & Company

Lupus Research Alliance

Medtronic

Merck

Ory Capital Partners

Otsuka

Pfizer

PhRMA

Sandoz

Susan G. Komen Foundation

Walgreens

The Forum organized its first Summit in 2003. Now, 15 years later, the Summit continues to focus on understanding and eliminating disparities and building sustainable healthy communities. To register, please click here.

About the Forum: The National Minority Quality Forum assists health-care providers, professionals, administrators, researchers, policymakers, and community and faith-based organizations in delivering appropriate health care to minority communities. This assistance is based on science, research, and analysis that will lead to the effective organization and management of system resources to improve the quality and safety of health care for the entire US population, including minorities.

SOURCE National Minority Quality Forum

Related Links

http://www.nmqf.org


LISLE, Ill., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) today announced that Friedrich W. Baumann has joined the company as senior vice president, Strategy and Planning. Baumann, 52, comes to Navistar following a 24-year career at Daimler Trucks, where he most recently served as senior vice president at Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA), heading their Aftermarket business unit.

"Friedrich is a proven leader whose breadth of international, corporate and operating experience in our industry will serve Navistar well as we build on our momentum for continued long-term success," said Troy A. Clarke, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Navistar. "We are confident that Friedrich will drive great ideas and bring new perspectives to our strategy and planning function as we pursue sustainable, profitable growth."

Baumann, who joined the company April 2, leads Navistar's strategic planning, product planning and analytics teams. He also overseas Navistar's strategic alliance with Volkswagen Truck and Bus. He reports to Clarke and serves on the company's senior leadership team.

"I am eager to be joining Navistar at this exciting time in the company's history," Baumann said. "Troy and the team have done a great job of positioning Navistar for long-term success and I look forward to doing my part in further developing this winning culture and working with the entire team to drive growth, market leadership and sustainable profitability because of uncompromising customer dedication."

About Friedrich W. Baumann

Baumann had served as senior vice president of the aftermarket business unit of DTNA since 2012. In this role, he also served as a board member of the DTNA Operating Committee. Prior to that, Baumann was the managing director of Engine Holding GmbH, a joint venture between Daimler AG and Rolls-Royce plc., based in Stuttgart, Germany. From 2009-2011, Baumann was the group director of strategy and business development for Global Truck, Bus and Van divisions of Daimler AG. Prior to that he was president of Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing LLC and at the same time served on the boards of Atlantic Detroit Diesel Allison LLC and Florida Detroit Diesel Allison LLC. He began his career with Freightliner in 1993, and has held a number of roles of increasing responsibilities in many areas of the company in both the United States and Germany.

About Navistar

Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) is a holding company whose subsidiaries and affiliates produce International brand commercial and military trucks, proprietary diesel engines, and IC Bus brand school and commercial buses. An affiliate also provides truck and diesel engine service parts. Another affiliate offers financing services. Additional information is available at www.Navistar.com.

* All marks are trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Navistar International Corporation

Related Links

http://www.Navistar.com


MARINA DEL REY, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In its latest offering for the health information exchange technology stack, 4medica is launching a new clinical data repository (CDR) in early summer. Designed and developed for health information exchanges (HIEs) and other organizations with a stake in making patient data accessible across technology and geographic boundariesand that want to extend into actual data storage--the 4medica CDR will also match patient records and eliminate duplicate records with powerful accuracy and speed. This is an industry imperative for HIEs that aim to be their healthcare community's proven "source of truth."

"Everyone agrees access to patient-centric data is the end goal. But the data must be accurately matched to the right patient, or else all the time and resource investment in interoperability initiatives is wasted," said Gregory Church, President of 4medica.

Church continued, "So who will be the custodian to verify and validate the data? Someone capable must assume this responsibility. With 20 years of experience in clinical data interoperability, and standardizing and aggregating tens of millions of patient identities, 4medica is better prepared than any other entity to take this role on."

How the 4medica CDR advances a universal patient record

Historically, HIEs move rather than store healthcare data. But for today's "HIE 2.0" that wants to create a nationally accessible home for patient-centric data, a CDR is a must. To that end, the 4medica offering will provide a secure, scalable environment for a comprehensive view of patient-centric data.

Crucially, because of 4medica's powerful data enrichment engine that matches records in real time while utilizing unlimited historical valuescreating a powerfully reliable master patient recordall stakeholders can be assured data is about the right patient. The CDR in turn can be accessed by providers, labs, payers, and most importantly, patients. Feature highlights include:

FHIR-based engine

The 4medica Big Data MPI for accurate, real time record matching

Cloud-based

HIPAA-compliant

Patient and provider portals

"This is an exciting time for HIEs, who are moving beyond interoperability to offer universal views of patient data. 4medica looks forward to providing the secure, scalable infrastructure to achieve this long-sought end goal of the entire healthcare community," Church concluded.

Members of the media and others interested in meeting 4medica at the upcoming Community Information Exchange Summit in San Diego, April 1617, may contact Stephanie Janard at [email protected] or 704.418.9874. 4medica is a sponsor and exhibitor at the event, where 4medica founder Oleg Bess, M.D., will be moderating the panel, "Incorporating Diverse Data Sets and User Experiences from a Variety of Perspectives."

About 4medica

4medica provides the industry's leading SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) Big Data MPI and clinical data exchange platform to help healthcare organizations of diverse types create a seamless view of the patient care experience and further drive better health outcomes. The 4medica Big Data MPI and ClinXdata Clinical Data Exchange platform integrate with and build upon disparate systems to facilitate patient identity management and interoperable data exchange across various care settings to promote care continuity. The cloud computing model is scalable, lower cost, maintenance-free, easy to use and deployable in a few months or less, eliminating large capital outlays or resource utilization. 4medica connects hundreds of organizations including ACOS, HIEs, hospitals, health systems, physicians, laboratories, and radiology imaging centers. Learn more at www.bigdatampi.com.

Media Contact:

Stephanie Janard

Amendola Communications for 4medica

1.704.418.9874

[email protected]

SOURCE 4medica

Related Links

http://www.bigdatampi.com


It was the perfect day for an Easter Egg hunt Sunday at the Grace Episcopal Church on Spring Street. While parishioners were inside the stone church, listening to the sermon of the Rev. Amy Denney Zuniga, some members of the congregation snuck outside to lay out the big event on the surrounding grounds.

Doug and Susan Calkins were just two of the five or more parishioners helping to distribute eggs around the churchs labyrinth. You cant have a church without young people, Doug said as Susan continued to carefully set a few more colored plastic egg-shaped containers around the maze.

The grounds, meticulously curated with its beautiful stone labyrinth, seemed like the ideal venue for the perfect hunt: not too spread out, eggs nestled carefully in low-lying tree limbs and bushes and carefully placed in the trimmed green grass.

Separate areas of the grounds had been designated for different age groups with large poster board signs sporting bright yellow numbers: 0-3, 4-6, etc. But it was unclear if the youngest members of the congregation would be able to actually read the signs, so it was fortunate that there were plenty of adults on hand to direct them towards their Easter eggs.

Last year it rained so hard, Susan said. That I think they held the egg hunt inside.

At 11:30, when the hunt was scheduled to begin, the youngest children bunched up at the periphery of the maze, not exactly certain what they were expected to do. For some it was to be their first Easter Egg Hunt, and there was a curious look on their faces.

Something special, their expressions seemed to suggest, was certainly about to happen. How did they know these things? Maybe mommy or daddy had clued them in. Nobody was talking about it now. Instead those silly adults were busy taking cellphone photos or talking with one another. Meanwhile the older kids were being held back.

What, again, were they supposed to do? Is this a part of April Fools Day joke?

Nearly all the little girls were dressed to the nines, with Easter bonnets and floral or white dresses or even Easter Bunny prints. Some wore sandals with delicate white socks, carrying Easter baskets that seemed extraordinarily large for such delicate little hands. Other of the littlest boys were decked out in slacks with real shoes and bright shirts, gripping baskets that they really didnt see a need to be carrying.

At 11:35 the signal was given, but  unlike other Easter Egg hunts this reporter has covered  there was no crazy, mad rush with parents shouting and egging the kids on.

The littles actually hesitated crossing the borderlines of the labyrinth, and watched the older children as they walked or marched down through the center of the maze, wending their way through its outlines to the grass and eggs in the green beyond. Then a rush of the older kids did, in fact, commence in earnest, and within minutes eggs of every conceivable color had been gathered into baskets of every shape and design.

Time for that cellphone photo for grandma and grandpa.

It was indeed a beautiful day at Grace Episcopal. Plenty of eggs. Plenty of sunshine. Plenty of graceful children. Certainly, a Happy Easter Sunday.

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LOS ANGELES, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property (IP) promotes education on the importance of robust IP protections and respect for creative work, both of which are essential for innovation to thrive. In keeping with this mission, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Faculty Portal at Michelsonip.com, an online gateway where educators and academic instructors can access a wealth of free learning materials aimed at raising awareness on the value of intellectual property.

Traditionally, studies on IP have been confined to the lecture halls of law schools. Only last year, did the University of Southern California offer the country's first university undergraduate course on IP titled "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Intellectual Property" supported by The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property and it's curriculum. At a time when IP accounts for more than 80% of the market value of all publicly traded companies, students of all ages can enrich their learning by understanding the fundamentals of intellectual property and its economic importance.

By accessing the secure Faculty Portal, instructors will discover free books, videos, educational slides, and other first-of-a-kind resources about patents, copyrights, trademarks, and more - all provided The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property and it's leading network of IP experts. The learning materials have been designed to offer valuable foundational education on IP for a range of fields, including business, marketing, digital media, art, and other subjects where intellectual property comes into play.

"The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property was founded on the premise that raising awareness on the value of IP can empower the community-at-large and catalyze innovation," says Dr. Gary K. Michelson, inventor and founder of the Michelson 20MM Foundation. "This new offering helps to expand our mission of providing first class content that helps instructors equip students with the necessary tools and resources to protect their inventions and creations."

Instructors need only register using the .edu email address provided by their campus to reach the firewall protected Faculty Portal at Michelsonip.com. All submissions are verified and confirmed within 48 hours, after which confirmed users will receive access to a comprehensive library of IP content. Institutions with educators currently utilizing these resources include: Butte College, College of Marin, Glendale Community College, Lorain County Community College, Santa Monica College, Santa Rosa Junior College, University of Southern California, Queensborough Community College. The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property is also supported by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), with a network of more than 300 colleges nationwide.

About the Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property (MIIP)

The Michelson 20MM Foundation is dedicated to supporting and investing in leading edge entrepreneurs, technologies, and initiatives that seek to transform learning and improve access to educational opportunities that lead to a meaningful career. Its newest initiative, The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property, addresses critical gaps in intellectual property education to empower the next generation of inventors by providing high quality instructional content. It's library of free educational resources includes an interactive textbook, undergraduate IP curriculum, animated videos, and a self-paced online course. Michelson 20MM was founded thanks to the generous support of renowned spinal surgeon and inventor Dr. Gary K. Michelson and his wife, Alya Michelson. Learn more at www.20mm.org and www.michelsonip.com.

Follow us on twitter @Michelson20MM

CONTACT: Mayra Lombera, [email protected]

SOURCE The Michelson 20MM Foundation

Related Links

http://www.20mm.org


"Every day seven people in this country die in a home fire and another 36 people are hurt," reports Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern. "To address this crisis, we're bringing together thousands of community partners and volunteers to Sound the Alarm about home fire safety and help save lives. We've already installed more than 1.1 million smoke alarms, but our work will continue across the country, because many families are still underprepared when it comes to home fire safety."

This spring, the Red Cross will Sound the Alarm through a series of home fire safety and smoke alarm installation events in more than 100 high-risk communities in the United States. In just 16 days  from April 28 to May 13  volunteers and partners will install 100,000 free smoke alarms across the country. Volunteers are needed, learn more by visiting SoundTheAlarm.org.

MANY PEOPLE MISTAKEN ABOUT HOME FIRE FACTS

The Red Cross survey found that many Americans have a false sense of security about their family's ability to escape a home fire. More than three-fourths (80 percent) of people surveyed believe everyone in their household knows what to do when a smoke alarm goes off. But less than half of those surveyed have a home fire escape plan in place. And only half of the families that do have a plan have actually practiced it.

Home fire experts say that people have as little as two minutes to escape a burning home. However, the survey showed nearly 60 percent of people mistakenly believe they have much more time than is realistic.

MORE SURVEY RESULTS Even though many Americans admit to actions that could contribute to a home fire, only one out of four (27 percent) think that they are likely to experience a home fire in their lifetime. For example, about 40 percent of people have forgotten to turn off a stove or oven, even though cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries. And, more than one-third (34 percent) of people have used a stove, kerosene lantern or space heater to warm their home. The fact is that heating equipment is involved in one of every five home fire deaths.

The survey does show that some progress is being made. More people are replacing batteries (a 9 percent increase vs. 2015) and testing to make sure their smoke alarms are working (an 11 percent increase vs. 2015). But there is still have a long way to go to make sure everyone is prepared for home fires.

Americans overwhelmingly believe that smoke alarms can save lives, yet one out of ten (12 percent) people have had to give up buying other essentials for their families to purchase one. These findings highlight just how critical the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign is in communities across the country. Launched in 2014 to save lives and help end home fire tragedies, the Red Cross and its partners have already installed more than 1.1 million free smoke alarms and reached 1 million children through preparedness programs. These efforts are already credited with helping to save 381 lives. Learn more.

This work is made possible thanks to generous financial donations from national partners: Almost Family, Delta Air Lines and International Paper. The Red Cross has also received funding from FEMA through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.

Join the Red Cross today by volunteering to install smoke alarms in your community, making a financial contribution, or taking steps to protect your own family from home fires. Together, we can Sound the Alarm about fire safety and help save lives. Learn more at soundthealarm.org.

Supplemental Information about Survey Methodology

The national public opinion survey was conducted for the Red Cross in August 2017 using the research firm Issues & Answers. The study was conducted among a national sample of 604 American adults. The total sample is balanced to be representative of the US adult population in terms of age, sex, geographic region, race and education. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 4 percent.

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.

SOURCE American Red Cross

Related Links

http://www.redcross.org


ROCKVILLE, Md., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nosocomial Vaccine Corporation (NVC), a company accelerating research and development of vaccines against nosocomial infections including those with multiple antibiotic resistance, announced that research describing a novel, multivalent vaccine for gram-negative bacterial pathogens will be presented today at the World Vaccine Conference in Washington, D.C. Currently, there are no vaccines available for the major nosocomial pathogens including organisms responsible for the majority of highly antibiotic resistant bacteria which are recognized as a significant health threat.

"The dramatic worldwide increase in antimicrobial resistance among human bacterial pathogens has left clinicians with dwindling therapeutic options," said Alan Cross, M.D., Professor at the Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). "With few new antibiotics in the pipeline, vaccines offer the potential to prevent or ameliorate infections with these bacteria and are not subject to the resistance or evasion mechanisms associated with antimicrobial resistance."

The research was conducted as a collaboration of NVC, Affinivax and CVD. The collaboration uses Affinivax's proprietary Multiple Antigen Presentation System (MAPS) to develop vaccines that prevent bacterial nosocomial infections, also known as healthcare associated infections (HAI).

The presentation by Raphael Simon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor with CVD, will describe development of a novel polyvalent vaccine directed against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae, two of the most important HAI pathogens. Immunized rabbits produced robust responses to all vaccine components and passive protection in in vivo murine models of infections was demonstrated.

"This vaccine holds promise for protection from pathogens that are increasingly deadly in health-care associated settings," said George Siber, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer, NVC. "In addition, the vaccine may combat the growing public health threat of increased incidence of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections by reducing the transmission of these pathogens."

About Nosocomial Vaccine Corporation:

Nosocomial Vaccine Corporation (NVC) was established in 2015 by ClearPath Development Company to accelerate research and development of vaccines against nosocomial infections including those with multiple antibiotic resistance. NVC has initiated research collaborations with two partners to develop a nosocomial vaccine; Affinivax Inc. (Cambridge MA); and the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD). http://www.clearpathdevco.com/

About Affinivax:

Affinivax is advancing a next generation vaccine technology platform to enable the development of vaccines that provide the highest level of protection against challenging infectious diseases. Backed by an investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and working with world experts in vaccine discovery and development, Affinivax is focused on creating a pipeline of vaccines for children and adults in both the developed and developing worlds. The company's proprietary vaccine platform, called Multiple Antigen Presentation System (MAPS), enables the high affinity binding of protective polysaccharides and proteins in a single vaccine and uniquely induces a broad and protective immune response. The MAPS technology provides a highly stable, modular, and efficient approach to develop vaccines against a wide range of diseases. The company has achieved preliminary preclinical proof-of-concept for several MAPS vaccines and is currently advancing its lead vaccine candidate against Streptococcus pneumoniae. For more information, visit www.affinivax.com.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine:

The University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 and is the first public medical school in the United States and continues today as an innovative leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine. The School of Medicine is the founding school of the University of Maryland and is an integral part of the 11-campus University System of Maryland. Located on the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus, the School of medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide a research-intensive, academic and clinically based education. With 43 academic departments, centers and institutes and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians and research scientists plus more than $400 million in extramural funding, the School is regarded as one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the U.S. with top-tier faculty and programs in cancer, brain science, surgery and transplantation, trauma and emergency medicine, vaccine development and human genomics, among other centers of excellence. The School is not only concerned with the health of the citizens of Maryland and the nation, but also has a global presence, with research and treatment facilities in more than 35 countries around the world. http://medschool.umaryland.edu/

SOURCE Nosocomial Vaccine Corporation
CHICAGO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd. (ORBA), one of Chicago's largest accounting firms, is pleased to announce that Alison Fetzer, CPA, has been named Chair of the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS) Not-For-Profit (NFP) Committee effective April 1, 2018, and Stephanie M. Zaleski, CPA has joined the ICPAS Young Leaders Advisory Council effective April 1, 2018.

Ms. Fetzer has been with ORBA since 2005. She supervises numerous audit engagements and performs a variety of reviews, compilations and monthly accounting work for both privately-held companies and not-for-profit organizations. In addition, Ms. Fetzer also assists small business owners and not-for-profit clients with analyzing financial statements, general business consulting, and provides training and support.

Ms. Zaleski has been with ORBA since 2012 and started as an intern in the tax department. She has extensive experience preparing tax returns for corporations, individuals and trusts. Ms. Zaleski works with both for-profit and not-for-profit clients.

About the Illinois CPA Society

ICPAS is statewide membership organization, with more than 24,000 CPAs and finance professionals dedicated to enhancing the value of the CPA profession and providing educational offerings. Founded in 1903, ICPAS is one of the largest state CPA societies in the nation.

Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd. (ORBA) is a full-service accounting, tax and business consulting firm located in downtown Chicago serving privately-held companies, individuals and not-for-profit organizations. ORBA's Certified Public Accountants have experience with accounting and assurance, business advisory services, financial and estate planning, fraud investigation, tax, litigation, and mergers and acquisitions. With some of the highest levels of direct client involvement in the industry, ORBA is where clients go to build long-standing, meaningful and successful relationships with resourceful, proactive business and tax advisors. For more information, visit www.orba.com or connect with us on LinkedIn.

Contact: Scott Bell

312.670.7444

[email protected]

SOURCE Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd. (ORBA)

Related Links

http://www.orba.com


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced Millennial Lithium Corp. (TSX-V: ML;OTCQX: MLNLF), an emerging lithium production company, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market. Millennial Lithium Corp. upgraded to OTCQX from the OTCQB Venture Market.

Millennial Lithium Corp. begins trading today on OTCQX under the symbol "MLNLF." U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com.

"Congratulations to Millennial Lithium Corp. on upgrading to the OTCQX Best Market," said Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group. "We are pleased to see Millennial Lithium Corp. utilize the OTCQB Venture Market to build their company's visibility and graduate to the OTCQX Best Market. We look forward to continuing to support the company and its investors in the U.S."

"Upgrading to the OTCQX Best Market will generate greater exposure and accessibility for Millennial's expanding US shareholder base. We look forward to working with the OTC Markets Group to further broaden the Company's exposure to US shareholders," said Millennial Lithium's President and CEO Farhad Abasov.

Millennial Lithium Corp. was sponsored for OTCQX by O'Neill Law Corporation, a qualified third-party firm responsible for providing guidance on OTCQX requirements and recommending membership.

About Millennial Lithium Corp.

Millennial Lithium Corp. is an emerging lithium production company focused on the world class Pastos Grandes Lithium Project in Salta Province, Argentina.

About OTC Markets Group Inc.

OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors.

To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com.

OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC and SEC regulated ATS.

Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed

Media Contact:

OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected]

SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc.

Related Links

http://www.otcmarkets.com


MONTREAL, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Novacap backed Owen & Company, a leading manufacturer of handcrafted luxury mattresses, operating in Canada primarily under the Kingsdown brand, is pleased to announce its merger with its US counterpart Kingsdown Inc., one of the most renowned mattress manufacturers in America. The transaction is supported by Novacap, a Canadian leader in private equity, though its Industries IV fund.

Until now, Owen & Company was the exclusive owner of the Kingsdown brand in Canada. This merger will see the 114-year-old Kingsdown brand, which started in Mebane, North Carolina in 1904, back under common ownership, with a manufacturing and distribution footprint around the world.

Novacap is excited to work alongside the talented management teams at Kingsdown Inc. and Kingsdown Canada and will continue to invest in growing the Kingsdown Group globally, all while providing the highest quality handcrafted mattresses and sleep products. Novacap also plans to use the Kingsdown distribution network to further develop Zedbed, a Quebec-based manufacturer of memory foam mattresses and accessories, throughout the North American market, which was also recently acquired.

"We are excited about the growth trajectory of this business combination, both in North America and abroad," said Marc Paiement, Senior Partner at Novacap. "Our vision for this industry is to become one of the premier and most recognized brands around the world, and we will support the team in reaching that vision."

"With Kingsdown Canada, we have built one of the strongest mattress brands in Canada, and we were looking to further expand our business into the U.S. market," said Mike James, President and CEO of Owen & Company. "Our recent partnership with Zedbed, and now our merger with Kingsdown USA will accelerate this growth plan and give all of our brands better access to our large network of retailers. Our customers and clients will all benefit from this merger through improved service and distribution capabilities throughout North America, and access to unique handcrafted products made by our skilled workers throughout North America."

"This partnership represents a turning point in our company's history," said Frank Hood, President and CEO of Kingsdown Inc. "Over our 100-year history, Kingsdown has become one of the most beloved brands in the U.S. and abroad. We are now stronger than ever and are looking forward to pursuing our current development plan with our great new partners, as the reunification with the Canadian family will make our company even stronger than the sum of its parts."

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ABOUT OWEN & COMPANY LIMITED

Founded in 1995 and operating in Canada under the Kingsdown, Bassett and James & Owen brand names, Owen & Company operates out of three manufacturing facilities strategically located in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. The Company, which is supported by a highly experienced and talented management team, benefits from well-established, long-term customer relationships with Canada's largest mattress retailers. Owen & Company is an industry leader in sleep innovation and holds numerous patents for its products. For more information, please visit www.kingsdown.ca.

ABOUT KINGSDOWN INC.

Headquartered in Mebane, North Carolina, Kingsdown Inc., is a privately-owned manufacturer of fine handcrafted mattresses, originally founded in 1904 by W.W. Corbett and A.N. Scott as "The Mebane Bedding Company". More than a century later, Kingsdown has expanded its manufacturing and distribution footprint in the U.S. and around the world, but its commitment to handcrafted quality has never wavered. Research and development, training and distribution, and manufacturing are also located in Mebane, with additional manufacturing locations in California, Florida, Texas, and Virginia.

In addition to exporting 'Made in USA', Kingsdown is proud to have a network of multi-branded licensee partners around the world who are dedicated to expanding "Sleep, Made Smarter" on a global scale. Each partner is dedicated to ensuring the same stringent U.S. Kingsdown quality standards are maintained in every mattress that is produced and sold within their respective countries. For more information, please visit www.kingsdown.com .

ABOUT NOVACAP

Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading Canadian private equity firm with $2.3 billion of assets under management. The firm has raised over $2.6 billion in capital since its inception. Novacap's unique investment approach, based on deep operational expertise and an active partnership with entrepreneurs, has helped accelerate growth and create long-term value for its numerous investee companies. With an experienced management team and substantial financial resources, Novacap is well positioned to continue building world-class companies. For more information, please visit www.novacap.ca.

SOURCE Novacap Management Inc.
GREENOUGH, Mont., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As if its 37,000 acres in western Montana were not inspiring enough, The Resort at Paws Up has created a new INSPIRE series designed to marry talks that spark the imagination with the amenities of a luxury resort. From stargazing with an astronaut to hearing a smokejumper's accounts of leaping into forest fires, the INSPIRE series provides unparalleled access to the best and the brightest across wide-ranging industries.

The first in the series launches April 27, 2018, with INSPIRE: SPACE, a fascinating look at space exploration. Participants will hear from famed astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, along with featured luminaries Casey Dreier of the Planetary Society and Bobak Ferdowsi, the "Mohawk guy" from the 2012 Mars rover landing. Dr. Melissa Rice, team member of NASA's current Mars rover missions, and Dr. Martin Horejsi, a meteorite specialist, will also join this prestigious lineup. While INSPIRE: SPACE is designed to stir guests' intellectual curiosity, there will also be opportunities to get to know the luminaries through star-and-planet viewing, geocaching and wilderness adventures.

Come June, Paws Up will roll out INSPIRE: MONTANA in the intimate setting of The Resort's bar, Tank. This series allows participants to delve deeper into Montana's unique culture through the stories of Montanans like Ryan Montgomery, owner of Montgomery Distillery; New York Times bestselling author Laura Munson; Jonathan Sepp and Brittany Masters, owners of Roam Free Bison Bites and former smokejumper and legislator Willis Curdy.

The INSPIRE series complements the diverse programming offered at The Resort at Paws Up. Overnight rates include accommodations, meals and INSPIRE activities. Reservations can be made by calling 800-473-0601.

About The Resort at Paws Up

The Resort at Paws Up originated glamping, with safari-style tents outfitted with heat, air conditioning and en suite bathrooms, as well as butler service. Guests can also choose to stay in The Resort's private homes, complete with expansive decks with hot tubs and panoramic views.

With 100 miles of trails and 10 miles of the Blackfoot River on property, The Resort offers a comprehensive list of four-season activities. For more information, visit pawsup.com or follow Paws Up on Facebook and Instagram. Travelers can access Missoula via flights from Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle.

SOURCE The Resort at Paws Up

Related Links

http://www.pawsup.com


SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Percolate, the System of Record for Marketing, today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders quadrant of the "Magic Quadrant for Content Marketing Platforms 2018", the first such analysis of its kind from Gartner. Empowering marketers to manage integrated marketing campaigns and gain visibility into content creation across teams and channels, Percolate's Content Marketing Platform streamlines and standardizes any organization's content marketing processes.

"The content produced and managed by the marketing team today and in the future must not only drive consistent, clear communications across channels, but needs to create meaningful, personalized experiences with consumers," said Randy Wootton, CEO of Percolate. "Yet there's an enormous gap that exists between the content that is needed and the resources available to create it. Percolate removes this content bottleneck by arming marketers with the processes and technologies to reach more customers in more places than ever before."

According to Gartner, "The Percolate solution provides capabilities that span the content marketing life cycle, including strategy, planning and production management, asset management, and integration with a variety of distribution and publishing platforms. Clients praise the comprehensive nature of the Percolate solution and its ability to support their entire content marketing process."[1]

Wootton continued, "When I joined Percolate in January of this year, I knew the company was the clear leader in Content Marketing Platforms, and this year's Magic Quadrant further reinforces the commitment we have to helping marketing teams across the globe adapt to the constantly evolving content demands of today and into the future."

Percolate has been a leader in the content marketing industry from the beginning, enabling marketing teams across the globe to succeed in today's digital era. On April 19 in San Francisco, Percolate will be hosting its premier customer event, Transition 2018, now in its fourth year, during which some of the brightest minds in marketing will discuss the increasingly important role content is playing across the customer journey. To register for the conference and learn how to take your marketing to the next level, visit the Transition 2018 website here.

Additional Information

Read more about the Magic Quadrant and Percolate's position on the Percolate blog: https://blog.percolate.com/

The 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Marketing Platforms is available here: https://learn.percolate.com/gartner-mq-report-percolate/

Learn more about Percolate's Content Marketing Platform here: https://percolate.com/product/content-marketing

About the Gartner Reports

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Percolate

Percolate is the leading Content Marketing Platform for the enterprise. Percolate offers solutions to introduce visibility into the marketing process, improve coordination of work, and effectively build marketing campaigns and content. The world's largest brands - including Mastercard, Cisco, Cigna, Electronic Arts, and Bosch - use Percolate to create a coordinated customer experience, reduce production costs, and understand marketing impact. Visit www.percolate.com for more information on The System of Record for Marketing.

PR Contact

InkHouse PR

Tracey Workman

[email protected]

[1] Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Content Marketing Platforms 2018" by Kirsten Newbold-Knipp, Christopher Ross and Stephen R. Wellman, March 27, 2018

SOURCE Percolate

Related Links

http://www.percolate.com


BEIJING, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix New Media Limited ("Phoenix New Media", "ifeng" or the "Company") (NYSE: FENG), a leading new media company in China, today announced certain financing update of Particle Inc. ("Particle"). Particle owns Yidian Zixun ("Yidian"), a rapidly-growing personalized news and life-style information application in China, which allows users to efficiently define and explore individualized content over mobile devices. The Company currently owns approximately 41.82% of the total outstanding shares of Particle on an as-if converted basis.

The Company previously announced an agreement (the "Previous Agreement") among the Company, Particle and Long De Cheng Zhang Culture Communication (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. ("Long De") pursuant to which the Company was expected to assign to Long De or its affiliates the Company's rights under a loan to Particle with a principal amount of US$14.8 million granted in August 2016 (the "August 2016 Loan"), and Long De or its affiliates were expected to subscribe for Series E preferred shares and warrants of Particle. Long De subsequently informed the Company and Particle that it has not obtained necessary government approval for remitting funds offshore to make payments to the Company or Particle, and therefore, neither the assignment of the August 2016 Loan to Long De nor the proposed subscription for Series E preferred shares and warrants of Particle by Long De or its affiliate has been completed.

Given the delay in completion of the transactions contemplated by the Previous Agreement, the Company and other parties to the Previous Agreement agreed to terminate the agreement and replace it with a loan assignment agreement, pursuant to which the Company will assign the August 2016 Loan to Long De or its affiliates with an assignment price of approximately US$17.0 million, and warrants issued by Particle to Long De and its affiliates which allow them to subscribe for Series E preferred shares of Particle that are expected to represent 7.69% of the total shares outstanding of Particle on an as-if converted basis for an aggregate price of approximately US$73.5 million. Both the loan assignment and warrants exercise are expected to be completed only after Long De and its affiliates have obtained necessary funds offshore to make payments to the Company and Particle, as applicable. Concurrent with issuance of the warrants, Long De and its affiliates agreed to provide interest-free, Renminbi-denominated loans to consolidated affiliated entities of Particle in China in amounts substantially the same as their expected payment obligations for the warrants exercise. Such loans are expected to be repaid when Long De and its affiliates inform Particle that they are ready to start the process for remitting funds offshore in order to complete the warrants exercise. It is, however, uncertain when Long De and its affiliates can obtain necessary funds offshore to make payments to the Company and Particle and there is uncertainty as to whether and when the loan assignment and warrant exercises can be completed.

The purpose of the above mentioned transactions is to enable Particle to receive the gross proceeds as soon as possible. After such transactions have been completed as described above, Particle will receive gross proceeds of approximately RMB464.5 million (equivalent of US$73.5 million) from Long De and its affiliates as a result of their exercise of the warrants and expects to close its E round of financing then.

About Phoenix New Media Limited

Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE: FENG) is a leading new media company providing premium content on an integrated platform across Internet, mobile and TV channels in China. Having originated from a leading global Chinese language TV network based in Hong Kong, Phoenix TV, the Company enables consumers to access professional news and other quality information and share user-generated content on the Internet and through their mobile devices. Phoenix New Media's platform includes its ifeng.com channel, consisting of its ifeng.com website and web-based game platform, its video channel, comprised of its dedicated video vertical and mobile video services, and its mobile channel, including its mobile Internet website, mobile applications and mobile value-added services.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as Phoenix New Media's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Phoenix New Media may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on Forms 20-F and 6-K, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Phoenix New Media's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's goals and strategies; the Company's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the online and mobile advertising, online video and mobile paid service markets in China; the Company's reliance on online advertising and MVAS for the majority of its total revenues; the Company's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its services; the Company's expectations regarding the retention and strengthening of its relationships with advertisers, partners and customers; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly operating results; the Company's plans to enhance its user experience, infrastructure and service offerings; the Company's reliance on mobile operators in China to provide most of its MVAS; changes by mobile operators in China to their policies for MVAS; competition in its industry in China; and relevant government policies and regulations relating to the Company. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its registration statement on Form F-1, as amended, and its annual report on Form 20-F. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Phoenix New Media does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries please contact:

Phoenix New Media Limited

Nicole Shan

Email: [email protected]

ICR, Inc.

Rose Zu

Tel: +1 (646) 405-4883

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Phoenix New Media Limited
Tuesday, March 27

0220  Medical aid for a person having trouble breathing on Pope Street.

1116  Police received a complaint about large flatbed trucks violating the citys new truck ordinance on Crane Avenue. Police said letters are soon going out to all businesses, and officers will be notified of the complaint.

1242  Cable lines were down on Pine Street.

1552  A car had been parked a few feet from the curb at Crinella/Main for a few days, making it hard to turn off Main.

1559  Police were asked to check on an older man who was walking near the Pope Street bridge. He was holding up traffic, didnt seem very steady, and might have been lost. Police checked the area.

1804  Report of an elderly woman acting confused on Hunt Avenue.

1926  An Allyn Avenue resident got a suspicious anonymous letter in the mail making threats and demanding money in exchange for staying quiet about a secret. Police determined it was a scam.

2109  Police took a harassment report on Main Street.

Wednesday, March 28
BALTIMORE, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- eNeura, Inc., a privately held medical technology company, announced today the publication of a study in the peer-reviewed journal, Cephalalgia, demonstrating the company's portable, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (sTMS) technology, significantly reduces the frequency of migraine headache following daily administration. sTMS is the only treatment in the United States indicated both for the acute and prophylactic treatment of all types of migraine headache.

The paper, "A Multicenter, Prospective, Single Arm, Open Label, Observational Study of sTMS for Migraine Prevention, by Amaal Starling, M.D., et al., reported findings from eNeura's clinical migraine prevention study, the ESPOUSE Study, which was conducted at eight leading U.S. headache centers. Data from the study indicated that 46% of patients following a protocol of daily use reported at least a 50% reduction in headache attacks. The non-drug treatment was shown to be as effective as currently prescribed medications but better tolerated without the debilitating side effects often associated with migraine medications. There were no serious adverse events reported during the study.

David K. Rosen, President and CEO of eNeura, commented, "The ESPOUSE study was instrumental in the FDA's recent decision to approve sTMS for both acute treatment and prevention of migraine. The publication of these findings in Cephalalgia provides further validation of the tremendous value that sTMS offers to patients as an effective, well-tolerated migraine treatment." The sTMS mini is a convenient, cost-effective treatment option and is usually reimbursed under commercial insurance plans.

sTMS is a non-invasive, prescription-only device that utilizes single-pulse TMS to induce a mild electric current in the brain that modulates nerve cells and interrupts the nerve hyperactivity associated with migraine. Treating with the portable device is painless, easy and takes just a few seconds. Patients place sTMS at the back of the head, and with the simple push of a button, deliver a focused magnetic pulse to treat a migraine attack and/or to prevent the onset of future migraine attacks. sTMS is also approved in Europe and Australia for the acute treatment and prevention of migraine.

To access the full publication in Cephalalgia, please proceed to the following website: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/cep

To access the press release from the Mayo Clinic reporting on the publication, please proceed to the following website: https://mayocl.in/2GljskB

A video featuring lead investigator, Amaal Starling, M.D., may be accessed here: https://youtu.be/STelA_Kt7Po

About eNeura

eNeura, Inc. is a privately held medical technology company that is pioneering the use of portable, non-invasive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation devices for treatment of migraine. SpringTMS is a prescription-only device that utilizes single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (sTMS) to induce very mild electrical currents that can depolarize neurons in the brain. This process is thought to interrupt the abnormal hyperactivity associated with migraine. Prescribed by physicians but designed for patient use, it is the first truly portable, convenient TMS product that will allow migraine patients to administer treatment as neededat home, in the office or on the go. SpringTMS is now approved in the U.S. and Europe for both the acute treatment of migraine and migraine prevention. For more information about eNeura, please visit http://www.eneura.com.

Media Contact:

Jason Rando

Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.

212-375-2665

[email protected]

SOURCE eNeura, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.eneura.com


Jean-Francois Vezina named executive vice president to focus on growing talent demands

ATLANTA, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Randstad Sourceright, one of the world's leading talent solutions providers, announced today the appointment of Jean-Francois Vezina to executive vice president, who will serve as the first Canada-based executive on Randstad Sourceright's leadership team. The announcement comes as the company accelerates its growth in Canada, and across the globe, to help businesses address increasingly complex talent demands.

A Montreal native, Vezina brings more than a decade of experience in business development, management and leadership to Randstad Sourceright's global operations. In his new role, Vezina will oversee the company's general operations in Canada and serve as a key member of the North American leadership team. He most recently served as the company's national vice president  MSP, RPO and integrated talent solutions in Canada, where he was instrumental in leading client adoption of the company's innovative talent solutions. Vezina previously held leadership positions with Randstad Canada, a subsidiary of Randstad Holding, where he contributed to the company's profitable growth and expansion throughout the region.

"With talent scarcity and automation rapidly changing the workforce in Canada and across the globe, Randstad Sourceright is making significant investments to our leadership infrastructure to better support Canadian organizations in building strong, forward-thinking and tech-driven human capital management practices," said Bob Lopes, President of Randstad Sourceright North America. "As one of Canada's top human capital experts, Jean-Francois has demonstrated his ability help organizations navigate today's ever-evolving talent-driven economy. I am excited to welcome him to our leadership team, and look forward to working with him to solidify Randstad Sourceright's stronghold in Canada and throughout the global marketplace."

Randstad Sourceright's recent Talent Trends survey found that businesses in Canada are increasingly using innovative technologies and contingent workers to become more flexible in the changing economy. Sixteen percent of Canadian employers increased the use of robotics and automation in the past year, while 80 percent said that AI would have a positive impact on their overall business strategy over the next three to five years. Additionally, one out of four employers plan to shift more permanent positions to contingent roles to address the rising talent shortage, with 76 percent reporting that the right person for any position may be an employee, contractor or contingent worker from anywhere in the world.

"By bringing more focus around Canada, we can more effectively serve local organizations by delivering talent management strategies that are aligned with the market's needs, while leveraging our global expertise," said Vezina. "Now more than ever, Randstad Sourceright operates as a global, interconnected company with strategic growth in Canada and beyond. I look forward to serving as an integral part of the company's leadership team, and helping to spearhead Randstad Sourceright's continued expansion by building on its proven track record as one of the world's top talent solutions providers."

About Randstad Sourceright

Randstad Sourceright is a global talent solutions leader, driving the talent acquisition and human capital management strategies for the world's most successful employers. We empower these companies by leveraging a Human Forward hiring strategy that balances the use of innovative technologies with expert insights, supporting both organizations and people in realizing their true potential.

As an operating company of Randstad Holding  a 23.3 billion global provider of HR services  Randstad Sourceright's subject matter experts and thought leaders around the world continuously build and evolve our solutions across recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), managed services programs (MSP) and integrated talent solutions. Read more at www.randstadsourceright.com

SOURCE Randstad Sourceright

Related Links

http://www.randstadsourceright.com


On January 23, 2018, Rubicon provided details on its 2018 Exploration Program, which outlined additional drilling, test mining and bulk sample processing activities to continue to advance the Project. On February 26, 2018, the Company completed a private placement flow-through financing for aggregate gross proceeds of C$10.9 million. The Company will use these funds for Canadian Exploration Expenses, allowing the Company to expand its 2018 Exploration Program.

Up to 24,000 metres ("m") of drilling (previously 14,000 m); 280-metre exploration drift at the 610-metre level

Rubicon plans for an additional 10,000 m of infill and step-out drilling from the 305-, 610-, and 685-metre levels to potentially improve the mineral resource classification and grow the mineral resources at the Project. The Company also plans to add a 280-metre exploration drift at 610-metre level that runs parallel to the strike of the F2 Gold Deposit. This exploration drift will allow the Company to efficiently drill the lower portions of the deposit at 25-metre (or less) centres.

25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of bulk sample material from test mining (previously 15,000 to 25,000 tonnes)

Rubicon plans to increase the bulk sample material from test mining to a range of 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes. The additional mineralized material will come from the three test stopes (#977, #015, and #161) that have been substantially developed and drilled, reducing costs and timelines. The objectives of test mining are:

Test various mining methods, which will help determine the appropriate method(s) in the future;

Gather data from chips, muck samples and mapping, that will help to potentially reconcile, refine, and validate the new geological model and Mineral Resource Estimate;

Restart the Project mill to ensure it continues to function as per design; and

Collect cost data that would be beneficial for a potential feasibility study of the Project.

The Company currently has more than 10,000 tonnes of mineralized material on surface (3,000 tonnes of low-grade mill bedding material and 7,000 tonnes of mineralized material from the #977 stope).

McFinley Deep and Close Proximity Targets

As mentioned in the February 20, 2018 news release, Rubicon had drilled three exploration holes from the 244- and 685-metre levels to test the potential extension of the historic McFinley Deposit at depth ("McFinley Deep"). The McFinley Deep area is located approximately 500 m northwest of the Project shaft. Results from the initial drill program were encouraging; the Company encountered gold-bearing quartz veins and sulphides within units of high-titanium basalts in areas up to 500 m below the bottom of the historic McFinley Deposit. Rubicon plans to continue limited drilling at the 685-metre level to continue to test McFinley Deep. Given its close proximity to the existing underground shaft and infrastructure, McFinley Deep is a priority target for the Company.

Rubicon plans to conduct preliminary desktop studies on the prospective exploration targets within two kilometres north of the F2 Gold Deposit  Northern Peninsula, Carbonate Zone ("CARZ"), and Island Zone. The objective of these studies is to analyze the historical drill data to determine the mineral resource potential of these targets. Please see Diagrams 1 and 2 for the location and historical drilling of McFinley and the close proximity targets, plan and long section views, respectively.

Updated geological model and NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate

On March 12, 2018, the Company provided an updated preliminary interpretation of the structural geology of the F2 Gold Deposit ("Preliminary Structural Interpretation"). The Preliminary Structural Interpretation will continue to be refined, enhanced, and supported with data and observations from the 2018 Exploration Program, prior to potentially serving as the basis of an updated geological model and Mineral Resource Estimate. Rubicon remains on track to deliver the NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate in the second half of 2018. The Company could then potentially commence a feasibility study if there is a meaningful increase in the mineral resources at the Project.

Director Appointment to the Board

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Sasha Bukacheva, CFA, MSc., to the Rubicon Board, effective April 1, 2018. Sasha brings a wealth of capital markets and finance experience. She spent seven years in investment research, with coverage of more than 40 mining companies. Recently, she was a top-ranked base metals Equity Research Analyst for BMO Capital Markets. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Bukacheva was the Vice President, Finance and Administration for Stans Energy Corp. (TSX-V: HRE), an advanced exploration company with uranium and rare earth properties in Central Asia. Sasha received her Master of Science (MSc.) at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2005 and became a CFA charter holder in 2011. She also achieved a Certificate in Mining Studies at the University of British Columbia in 2016.

Comments from the Chair and the President

Rubicon President and Chief Executive Officer George Ogilvie, P.Eng., commented, "We believe the expanded 2018 Exploration Program allows us to gather additional data that is critical to potentially improving the classification and growing the mineral resources at the Phoenix Gold Project. Equally important, we believe that the data we will receive from the increased 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of mineralized material from test mining will help to refine and validate a new geological model and updated Mineral Resource Estimate."

"As we make substantial progress on the Phoenix Gold Project I'm also pleased to see our exploration activities begin in relation to close proximity targets in and around the Phoenix Gold Project."

Both Mr. Ogilvie and Julian Kemp, BBA, CPA, CA, C.Dir., Chair of the Board, stated, "We welcome Sasha to the Board. We believe her extensive capital markets background and unique experiences enhances the skill set of the Board. We look forward to her contributions as the Company enters the critical phase of test mining and the anticipated delivery of an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate."

About Rubicon Minerals Corporation

Rubicon Minerals Corporation is an advanced gold exploration company that owns the Phoenix Gold Project, located in the prolific Red Lake gold district in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Additionally, Rubicon controls over 280 square kilometres of prime exploration ground in Red Lake and more than 900 square kilometres of mineral property interests in the emerging Long Canyon gold district that straddles the Nevada-Utah border in the United States. Rubicon's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (RMX) and the OTCQX markets (RBYCF). For more information, please visit our website at www.rubiconminerals.com.

RUBICON MINERALS CORPORATION

George Ogilvie, P.Eng.

President, CEO, and Director

Cautionary Statement regarding Forward-Looking Statements and other Cautionary Notes

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "intends", "may", "will", "should", "plans", "anticipates", "potential", "expects", "estimates", "forecasts", "budget", "likely", "goal" and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results may or may not be achieved or occur in the future. In some cases, forward-looking information may be stated in the present tense, such as in respect of current matters that may be continuing, or that may have a future impact or effect. Forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations and assumptions, and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to statements regarding the anticipated use of proceeds of the recently-completed private placement flow-through financing, the anticipated changes to the 2018 Exploration Program, the anticipated changes to and objectives of the test mining currently underway, the planned drilling at the 685-metre level, the anticipated preliminary desktop studies on proximate prospective exploration targets, and the anticipated timing of the delivery of an updated geological model and Mineral Resource Estimate.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and represent management's best judgment based on facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable. If such opinions and estimates prove to be incorrect, actual and future results may be materially different than expressed in the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Rubicon to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: possible variations in mineralization, grade or recovery or throughput rates; uncertainty of mineral resources, inability to realize exploration potential, mineral grades and mineral recovery estimates; actual results of current exploration activities; actual results of reclamation activities; uncertainty of future operations, delays in completion of exploration plans for any reason including insufficient capital, delays in permitting, and labour issues; conclusions of future economic or geological evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents and other risks of the mining industry; delays and other risks related to operations; timing and receipt of regulatory approvals; the ability of Rubicon and other relevant parties to satisfy regulatory requirements; the ability of Rubicon to comply with its obligations under material agreements including financing agreements; the availability of financing for proposed programs and working capital requirements on reasonable terms; the ability of third-party service providers to deliver services on reasonable terms and in a timely manner; risks associated with the ability to retain key executives and key operating personnel; cost of environmental expenditures and potential environmental liabilities; dissatisfaction or disputes with local communities or First Nations or Aboriginal Communities; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; market conditions and general business, economic, competitive, political and social conditions; our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or obtain adequate financing to fund our capital expenditures and working capital needs and meet our other obligations; the volatility of our stock price, and the ability of our common stock to remain listed and traded on the TSX.

Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Rubicon disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Readers are advised to carefully review and consider the risk factors identified in the Company's annual information form dated March 29, 2017 under the heading "Risk Factors" and in other continuous disclosure documents of the Company filed at www.sedar.com for a discussion of the factors that could cause Rubicon's actual results, performance and achievements to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Readers are further cautioned that the foregoing list of assumptions and risk factors is not exhaustive and it is recommended that prospective investors consult the more complete discussion of Rubicon's business, financial condition and prospects that is included in this news release. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Rubicon Minerals Corporation

Related Links

www.rubiconminerals.com


BELLEVUE, Wash., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A record number of background checks initiated with the National Instant Check System (NICS) for the month of March demonstrates once again that gun control hysteria pushes more Americans to exercise their right to own firearms, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.

According to raw data from the FBI, last month saw a record 2,767,699 background checks initiated with the system, which is up 334,607 over the number of checks for March 2017, and up 244,434 NICS initiations in March 2016. While the raw data shows the number of NICS checks initiated, the FBI notes in its monthly reports, it does not reflect the actual number of firearms sold for that time period.

But SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said the spike is significant because of the anti-gun emotional tidal wave following the tragic incident at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February that was quickly exploited by the gun prohibition lobby.

"There is only one reason gun sales may have hit a new record high last month," Gottlieb said, "and that's the attack on Second Amendment rights that has reached a fever pitch. Even before the victims were identified, the anti-gun lobby was hard at work demonizing gun rights and young adult firearm owners at a level we've never witnessed before."

He noted that this is hardly a new phenomenon, and that gun control extremists apparently haven't figured out that with each new alarmist campaign, they compel more Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

"The question now is whether student David Hogg and his gun ban buddies in the media finally learn that calls for more new gun control laws only increase gun sales," Gottlieb wondered. "When you blame people for crimes they didn't commit and attack their rights, they will defend those rights by exercising them."

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

SOURCE Second Amendment Foundation

Related Links

http://www.saf.org


"This win will expand our 10-year partnership with HHS, by providing a wide range of next generation IT engineering services and IT best practices to the healthcare community." said Tom Ferrando, President of Salient CRGT. "We are proud to support HHS with proven sophisticated technologies that will enable them to provide effective health and human services. We are honored to play a critical role in enhancing the health of all Americans."

NGITS Engineering is Salient CRGT's third NGITS opportunity, including BPAs in the areas of IT operations and application hosting. Under the NGITS Engineering contract, Salient CRGT is providing a broad set of engineering support services, to include endpoint engineering; infrastructure engineering; email engineering; unified communications and collaboration; enterprise mobile management; print server engineering; and support for the engineering test lab.

About Salient CRGT

Salient CRGT provides federal civilian, defense, homeland, and intelligence agencies, as well as Fortune 1000 companies, with expertise and leadership in health, data analytics, cloud, agile software development, mobility, cyber security, and infrastructure solutions. We support these core capabilities with full life-cycle IT services and trainingto help our customers meet critical goals for pivotal missions. The most innovative talent delivery model in the industry, scientifically providing exactly the right people for the customers' most pressing requirements, fuels these critical capabilities. Salient CRGT has earned a record of success with integration and operations of large-scale, high-volume solutions. On March 1, 2017, Salient CRGT completed its acquisition of Information Innovators, Inc.visit newsroom and explore www.salientcrgt.com.

Tweet: @Salient_CRGT awarded Next Generation IT Engineering Services $139M BPA prime contract by #HHS http://bit.ly/1MGSz5l

SOURCE Salient CRGT

Related Links

http://www.SalientFed.com


WASHINGTON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SCORE, the nation's largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, has named Lancaster-Lebanon its 2018 Chapter of the Year as part of the U.S. Small Business Administration's National Small Business Week. SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon was chosen to receive this honor out of SCORE's 300 chapters nationwide, based on its accomplishments in serving entrepreneurs and small business owners in Pennsylvania's Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon has provided expert business mentoring and educational services to the community for 53 years, helping thousands of entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses. In 2017 alone, 1,320 current and prospective small business owners attended 93 different business workshops hosted by the chapter on a variety of topics including, "Simple Steps for Starting Your Business," "Financial Planning for Small Businesses," and "Business Continuity and Emergency Planning," among others.

Each year, the chapter celebrates the achievements of local entrepreneurs by hosting the Small Business Awards Luncheon, which brings together 300 community leaders from organizations such as the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, the Lancaster County Community Foundation and the Lancaster Downtown Investment District.

The 62 mentors who volunteer their time with SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon are experienced business professionals and entrepreneurs who enjoy sharing their firsthand knowledge of business best practices with aspiring entrepreneurs and those looking to grow their businesses. In 2017, Lancaster-Lebanon mentors conducted 2,452 mentoring sessions at no cost to the nearly 800 clients who relied on the chapter's services.



"At SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon, we are committed to our mission of fostering vibrant small businesses in our communities through mentoring and education," said Chapter Chair Bobb Bewley. "Our clients, our mentors and the Lancaster and Lebanon County communities matter greatly to us, and we are grateful that SCORE matters to these groups as well. Our mentors are passionate about giving back and sharing their knowledge and experience, and SCORE provides them with a unique platform to do just that."

Survey data from SCORE headquarters estimates that in 2017, entrepreneurs started 243 new businesses with SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon's assistance, in turn creating 372 non-owner jobs in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

"There are few chapters that have shown the consistent high-level performance that SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon has achieved," said Steve Records, vice president of field operations at SCORE headquarters. "After having previously won the 2013 Chapter of the Year award, Lancaster expanded its geographical footprint, implemented new quality processes and standards, and focused even more on client impact and success. The chapter is client-focused, volunteer-driven and community-engaged."

SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon will officially receive their Chapter of the Year award at the National Small Business Week kickoff event in Washington, D.C., on April 29.

About SCORE

Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 10 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE's 10,000 volunteer business experts provide 450,000+ free small business mentoring sessions, workshops and educational services to clients in 300 chapters nationwide. In 2017, SCORE volunteers provided 3.6+ million hours to help create 54,506 small businesses and 61,534 non-owner jobs.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, visit SCORE at www.score.org. Follow @SCOREMentors on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest small business news and updates.

For more information: Betsy Dougert, 703-487-3677, [email protected]

SOURCE SCORE

Related Links

https://www.score.org/


The team includes experienced wilderness experts, scientists, historians and Zodiac operators. Ventures by Seabourn excursions are available for-charge, in select destinations and can be booked in advance by guests. In addition, the line is working with a number of tour operators in Alaska on hiking excursions, bringing an additional wealth of expertise and information on the region.

Guests can participate in up-close exploration of the majestic beauty and fascinating history and culture of America's Last Frontier. Ventures by Seabourn will be a highlight of more than a dozen 11-, 12- and 14-day itineraries sailed by Seabourn Sojourn from June to mid-October in 2018.

"We are very pleased to share our experienced and qualified team for our 2018 season in Alaska and British Columbia. The strength of this group is that we have a fantastic variety of academic passion, old-school experience and present-day local knowledge," said Robin West, director of Expedition Operations for Seabourn. "The team will not only join the guests on Ventures outings in the field such as guided hikes, Zodiac tours and kayak adventures, but will add to the onboard experience with complimentary lectures on their fields of expertise such as marine biology, geology, ornithology and history, and will be on hand to point out wildlife, join guests for dinner, and answer questions about the wild and pristine destination they have all come to love."

Members of the handpicked expedition team for the 2018 Alaska and British Columbia include:

Juan Carlos Restrepo , Expedition Leader  With a passion for the great outdoors and adventure, Juan has explored all the continents and oceans of the world. He began his career in the expedition industry as a Dive Master on luxury yachts and then took his love for expedition to the Polar Regions.

 With a passion for the great outdoors and adventure, Juan has explored all the continents and oceans of the world. He began his career in the expedition industry as a Dive Master on luxury yachts and then took his love for expedition to the Polar Regions. Chris Srigley , Expedition Leader  Chris spends up to nine months a year on expedition ships, including full seasons in Antarctica and the Arctic. Along with regular duties on the expedition team, he serves as a Polar Bear Guard, advancing landing parties and keeping a watchful eye while guests experience natural wonders around them.

 Chris spends up to nine months a year on expedition ships, including full seasons in and the Arctic. Along with regular duties on the expedition team, he serves as a Polar Bear Guard, advancing landing parties and keeping a watchful eye while guests experience natural wonders around them. Nicki D'Souza , Assistant Expedition Leader  Nicki puts her years of experience and passion for travel to good use assisting guests with shore excursions all over the world. As an Expedition leader with many maiden calls to her name, she has led voyages along the West Coast of Africa , South America , Europe and Asia .

 Nicki puts her years of experience and passion for travel to good use assisting guests with shore excursions all over the world. As an Expedition leader with many maiden calls to her name, she has led voyages along the West Coast of , , and . Natasha Hanson , Assistant Expedition Leader / Lecturer  An avid outdoorswoman, Natasha has guided kayaking and hiking excursions in numerous remote areas of the world. As a general naturalist with over a decade of experience in the Polar Regions, she has shared her knowledge with guests of various expedition ships.

 An avid outdoorswoman, Natasha has guided kayaking and hiking excursions in numerous remote areas of the world. As a general naturalist with over a decade of experience in the Polar Regions, she has shared her knowledge with guests of various expedition ships. Adam Jenkins , Assistant Expedition Leader / Lecturer  Adam has engaged in myriad adventures on the sea, including single-handedly sailing a 27-foot sloop down the Pacific Coast and back up the East Coast to Nova Scotia . He long ago developed a passion for leading expeditions and working with adventure travelers and scientists.

 Adam has engaged in myriad adventures on the sea, including single-handedly sailing a 27-foot sloop down the Pacific Coast and back up the East Coast to . He long ago developed a passion for leading expeditions and working with adventure travelers and scientists. Meredith Bass , Lecturer  After several years as a television news reporter at ABC, Meredith joined a Seabourn voyage to Antarctica and South America and found expedition travel to be the perfect platform for in-depth experiences exploring nature and culture.

 After several years as a television news reporter at ABC, Meredith joined a Seabourn voyage to and and found expedition travel to be the perfect platform for in-depth experiences exploring nature and culture. Jennifer Fought , Lecturer  Certified as a Zodiac operator at age nine, Jennifer quickly developed a passion for the natural world and spent her younger years camping, canoeing and riding horses. With a graduate degree in Structural Geology, she has conducted research from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico to the glaciers of Greenland .

 Certified as a Zodiac operator at age nine, Jennifer quickly developed a passion for the natural world and spent her younger years camping, canoeing and riding horses. With a graduate degree in Structural Geology, she has conducted research from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of to the glaciers of . Lisa Baldwin , Lecturer  Extremely passionate about the ocean, Lisa is a competitive ocean swimmer, free diver, naturalist and avid traveler who enjoys educating others about the natural environment. Her extensive work as a field biologist and passion for health research gives her a unique ability to be open, friendly and relate to guests on all levels.

 Extremely passionate about the ocean, Lisa is a competitive ocean swimmer, free diver, naturalist and avid traveler who enjoys educating others about the natural environment. Her extensive work as a field biologist and passion for health research gives her a unique ability to be open, friendly and relate to guests on all levels. Will Wagstaff , Lecturer  A birder since age five, Will has run his own business leading wildlife walks around the Isles of Scilly, a famous birding area to the southwest of Cornwall, UK . During the off-season, he leads wildlife holidays to other parts of the world and has worked on expedition cruise ships in the Arctic and Antarctica .

 A birder since age five, Will has run his own business leading wildlife walks around the Isles of Scilly, a famous birding area to the southwest of . During the off-season, he leads wildlife holidays to other parts of the world and has worked on expedition cruise ships in the Arctic and . Brent Houston , Lecturer  Brent's involvement in wildlife research and polar expedition travel for over 30 years has taken him on over 450 expeditions visiting 100 countries. Among many accomplishments, in 1995 he sailed with the British Royal Navy using helicopters to photograph and document every known penguin colony along the Antarctic Peninsula, discovering two colonies and several landing sites for tourists.

 Brent's involvement in wildlife research and polar expedition travel for over 30 years has taken him on over 450 expeditions visiting 100 countries. Among many accomplishments, in 1995 he sailed with the British Royal Navy using helicopters to photograph and document every known penguin colony along the Antarctic Peninsula, discovering two colonies and several landing sites for tourists. Joe Cockram , Lecturer  A birdwatcher since childhood, Joe has a particular interest in seabirds. He has worked on some of Northern Europe's most important nesting colonies and has traveled extensively. His career as a shipboard ornithologist combines his passions as he shares his knowledge to help others experience the incredible varieties of species found around the world.

 A birdwatcher since childhood, Joe has a particular interest in seabirds. He has worked on some of most important nesting colonies and has traveled extensively. His career as a shipboard ornithologist combines his passions as he shares his knowledge to help others experience the incredible varieties of species found around the world. Captain Al Barnard , Zodiac Operator / Naturalist  Alaska -born, Barnard has spent a lifetime working and exploring the waters of Puget Sound, South East Alaska , the Yukon River and Yukon Territory . He has been a member of the Sea Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America since 1957, and currently volunteers as Commodore of Western Region 1, which includes Alaska .

 -born, Barnard has spent a lifetime working and exploring the waters of Puget Sound, , the Yukon River and . He has been a member of the Sea Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America since 1957, and currently volunteers as Commodore of Western Region 1, which includes . Bill Fletcher , Zodiac Operator / Naturalist  A summer job guiding in Alaska sparked Bill's passion for sharing the wonders of the world. He is currently Senior Director of Destination Marketing at Holland America Line , Seabourn's sister cruise line, tasked with telling compelling stories of the many places its ships visit around the world.

 A summer job guiding in sparked Bill's passion for sharing the wonders of the world. He is currently Senior Director of Destination Marketing at Holland , Seabourn's sister cruise line, tasked with telling compelling stories of the many places its ships visit around the world. Ross Ellingwood , Zodiac Operator / Naturalist  Ross's love of adventure has had a hold on him since college. In 2016, he spent six months building a wooden rowing boat in his garage, and then took it on a three-month, 1,100-mile exploration of the Inside Passage Waters. His career has seen him guiding sea-kayaking trips and ice climbing in Alaska .

Additional team members will join select sailings periodically throughout the 2018 season.

Seabourn Sojourn's 2018 season in Alaska and British Columbia combines ultra-luxury comforts with onboard programs such as Seabourn Conversations, a complimentary enrichment lecture and presentation series, and wildlife watching on deck. The unique voyages combine Alaska's most popular ports with rarely visited hidden gems of the Inside Passage and British Columbia, including destinations such as Alert Bay and Klemtu. The line has released a new video showcasing a captivating look at the luxuries, excitement and expertise that combine to create the Seabourn experience and Ventures by Seabourn in Alaska and British Columbia.

For reservations or more details, please contact a professional travel advisor; call Seabourn at 1-800-929-9391 or visit www.seabourn.com. A dedicated shore excursion call center is available for guests at 1-800-984-3225.

Find Seabourn on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.

Notes to Editors:

Seabourn is consistently ranked among the world's top travel choices by professional critics and the discerning readers of prestigious travel publications such as Departures, Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler. Its stylish, distinctive cruising vacations are renowned for:

Intimate ships with a private club atmosphere

Intuitive, personalized service provided by staff passionate about exceeding guests expectations

Curated voyages to all seven continents delivering award-winning experiences

All ocean front suites, luxuriously appointed

Complimentary premium spirits and fine wines available on board at all times

Welcome Champagne and complimentary in-suite bar stocked with your preferences

Tipping is neither required, nor expected

Finest resort at sea that is masterfully designed

World-class dining, further enhanced through a culinary partnership with Chef Thomas Keller

All dining venues are complimentary, dine where, when and with whom you wish

Seabourn Conversations, connecting with visionary experts

Ventures by Seabourn, optional shore excursions, enhance and extend destination experiences in select destinations.

Select purposeful and sustainable travel experiences in partnership with UNESCO

Spa & Wellness by Dr. Andrew Weil , featuring an exclusive mindful living program

, featuring an exclusive mindful living program An evening entertainment experience in collaboration with Sir Tim Rice

Seabourn is a proud member of World's Leading Cruise Lines. The exclusive alliance also includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, AIDA, P&O Cruises UK, P&O Cruises Australia and fathom. Seabourn is a brand of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL andNYSE: CUK). It has formed a partnership with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to help protect World Heritage sites.

Click to Tweet: [email protected] is returning to Alaska & B.C. this summer with an outstanding expedition team leading "Ventures by Seabourn" tours! #ExtraordinaryWorlds

SOURCE Seabourn

Related Links

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SAN DIEGO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Latitude 33 Planning & Engineering is pleased to welcome Nicholas J. Psyhogios, PE as its newest Associate Principal. He brings 20 years of experience in the civil design and management of residential, commercial, utility, wetland restoration, and public sector projects to Latitude 33. Known for its diverse project types and its ability to achieve its clients' goals, Latitude 33 will stay true to its values of providing hands-on Principal involvement for all clients with the recruitment of Mr. Psyhogios.

Mr. Psyhogios joins Latitude 33 with proven leadership, management, and negotiating experience. He has previously worked for Fuscoe Engineering, Inc. in both a project management and business development role. Prior to that, he worked at Project Design Consultants, Inc. where his diverse responsibilities included serving as the primary client contact, permitting, presentations and public hearings, negotiations, managing contracts and deliverables, due diligence, overseeing the construction bid process, engineering reports, and more. His notable projects in Southern California include the San Dieguito Wetlands Restoration Project (San Diego/Del Mar), Rancho Coronado (San Marcos), Pala Mesa (Fallbrook), and the Creek District Master plan (San Marcos). Mr. Psyhogios earned his BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Building Industry Association (BIA).

"I've known Latitude 33 Principals Matt Semic and Giovanni Posillico for years, and have been drawn to the culture they have helped create at Latitude 33," says Nicholas J. Psyhogios, PE, Associate Principal at Latitude 33 Planning & Engineering. "This position allows me to be both teacher and student. I'm excited to be able to mentor and share some of my experience with the younger project managers. At the same time, Latitude 33 has such a diverse portfoliothere is a great opportunity here for me to learn and grow more."

About Latitude 33

Founded in 1993, Latitude 33 Planning & Engineering offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to design. The firm provides public sector planning, land use planning, public outreach, entitlement services and civil engineering design to public agencies, developers and property owners. The firm specializes in residential, education, healthcare, military, commercial/retail, civic and hospitality projects. For more information, visit latitude33.com.

Media Contact: Beth Binger

BCIpr

619-987-6658

[email protected]

SOURCE Latitude 33 Planning & Engineering

Related Links

http://latitude33.com


PITTSBURGH, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard issued the following statement in conjunction with the release of a letter sent to USTR Robert Lighthizer yesterday regarding proposed labor law reforms in Mexico.

"Correcting the fundamental flaws in NAFTA first requires that workers in Mexico be afforded the internationally recognized workers' rights to allow them to share in the fruits of their labor. Today's system in Mexico essentially blocks the creation of free trade unions for the vast majority of workers. This is detrimental to them as well as to workers in the United States and Canada. Mexico's dismal labor rights regime continues to be the driving force for offshoring by multinational companies profiting at the expense of workers.

"Last year, Mexico adopted constitutional reforms that were to lay the base for improving workers' rights, most importantly to eliminate so-called protection contracts and to allow secret ballot elections so that workers can choose their own representatives. These employer-developed contracts have been imposed on workers without their knowledge and without their input. But, these constitutional reforms must be implemented by changes to Mexico's labor laws. The changes that are before the Mexican Senate do not faithfully implement the constitutional changes. Instead they would only cement in place an unacceptable system.

"Renegotiating NAFTA must lead to workers securing the right to bargain for and be paid decent wages and to work in safe conditions. If Mexico fails to improve the current labor law reform proposal, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to have a NAFTA that stops the outsourcing, brings back jobs, reduces the trade deficit and improves the lives and livelihoods of working people in all three countries. The renegotiated NAFTA should ensure that labor rights are implemented, monitored and enforced. Mexico's draft laws severely undermine that possibility.

"Over the course of the NAFTA negotiations, the USTR has been faithful in trying to improve the existing agreement. We have shared specific criticisms of the current agreement as well as suggestions about how to fix it. We hope that the USTR, in cooperation with his Canadian counterpart, Minister Freeland, can impress upon the Mexican government the need to revise its proposed reforms and faithfully and fully implement the constitutional commitments. Otherwise, NAFTA's future is at risk."

The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service and public sectors. For more information: www.usw.org

CONTACT:

Holly Hart (202) 778-4384

[email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

Related Links

http://www.usw.org


One of the environmental concerns of Forbes and other whisky lovers is the impact of climate change on his countrys famed spirits. Many of the distilleries are located beside the sea, and the rising sea levels are definitely a concern for the well-being of the sites, he said.

For instance the Ardbeg Distillery is located the south coast of the isle of Islay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, in the Inner Hebrides group of islands. The distillery produces a heavily peated Islay whisky that is favored by many discerning palates. But the historic distillery is threatened by rising sea levels. Forbes said, this illustrates, why any sane drinker would want to do everything their power to reverse climate change immediately!

At 5:30 p.m., Forbes will curate the tasting of five great whiskies during the Tartan Day celebration, introducing attendees to Scotlands different regions and how a distillerys microclimate affects the taste of its whisky. There will also be food pairings to help novitiates discover how Scotch Whisky can be the answer to those tricky food dishes that dont naturally work with wine.

Stewart Cellars will offer a wine tasting to arriving guests. Located in Yountville, the winery was founded by the Stewart family in 2000 with many nods to its Scottish heritage, including the architecture, interior decor, and thistle logo. Its Tartan Red Blend, made with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, was rated 94 points by Wine Enthusiast and features the Stewart clans hunting tartan on the bottle label.

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SEATTLE, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 29, 2018, Security Properties purchased Willows at Printers Park, a 220-unit, Class B+ multifamily property located in Colorado Springs, CO for $41,000,000. Security Properties now owns three market-rate assets totaling 740 units in Colorado.

Willows at Printers Park Willows at Printers Park Pool

Willows at Printers Park is located just over 2 miles east of downtown Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs, sitting at the base of Pikes Peak  one of the most famous mountains in America  is widely recognized for its abundance of recreational offerings. Residents enjoy 300-plus days of sunshine per year, and outdoor enthusiasts frequent the city's bike trails, walking paths, and proximate world-class ski resorts.

The units at Willows at Printers Park feature a mix of 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom & 3-bedroom floorplans. The apartment homes feature well-appointed kitchens, spacious walk-in closets, in-unit full-size washers and dryers, as well as private patios / balconies. Additionally, the property offers a comprehensive amenity package including a swimming pool, a clubhouse with a small kitchen and attached business center, a playground, and a fire pit gazebo.

The asset represents a value-add investment with interior and exterior renovation characteristics, specifically with regards to the amenities. In addition to continuing the unit renovations initiated by prior ownership, SP will also be adding aesthetic upgrades to the clubhouse as well as expanding the amenity offerings.

SP has closed on two market rate deals in the past four months in greater Denver, and owns a portfolio of affordable housing properties along the Front Range. Colorado Springs is a growing market with notable development projects and a steadily expanding employment base. The relative affordability of Colorado Springs is continuing to bring new residents to the city.

Tad Johnson, Senior Investment Manager at Security Properties says, "The centrally located asset has been well maintained by previous ownership, allowing our venture to continue interior-unit upgrades that will create value. Colorado Springs is an attractive market that offers a compelling yield-premium relative to comparable secondary markets in the West."

The property will be managed by Security Properties-affiliate Security Properties Residential.

About Security Properties

Security Properties is a national real estate investment, development, and operating company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. For more than 48 years, Security Properties has provided quality housing to its residents as well as excellent financial performance for its investors. Since its founding, Security Properties has acquired or developed over 83,000 residential units at a cost of over $5.7 billion. Security Properties maintains a focused multi-family strategy supported by integrated teams of professional acquisition, development, construction, investment, and property management specialists. For more information, visit www.securityproperties.com

About Security Properties Residential

Security Properties Residential is the affiliated property management firm of Security Properties, created to increase the value of its real estate holdings by more closely managing its assets. Operating throughout the Western U.S., Security Properties Residential is committed to delivering exceptional service to its apartment communities and residents. Services include property, construction and compliance management services that create positive living environments for residents and build value for clients.

News media contact:

Ed McGovern, 202.628.8019

[email protected]

SOURCE Security Properties

Related Links

http://www.securityproperties.com


OREM, Utah, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SecurityMetrics today announced the release of their 2018 Guide to PCI DSS Compliance. This 112-page guide is free to download, outlines the 12 Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements, and includes enhanced features that help organizations of all sizes simplify PCI compliance and better protect sensitive data.

The SecurityMetrics 2018 Guide to PCI DSS Compliance includes research data from in-house forensic investigations. This section highlights the areas in which businesses are commonly found to be non-compliant and explains how that non-compliance directly contributes to data breaches.

Key 2017 forensic takeaways from the guide include:

The average organization was vulnerable to attack for 1,549 days

Cardholder data was captured by hackers for an average of 237 days

0% of breached organizations were found to be fully PCI compliant

The guide was specifically created to help merchants and service providers address the most problematic issues within the 12 PCI DSS requirements. This year's enhanced version was designed to function as an "interactive" document for all experience levels.

What readers will find in the 2018 Guide to PCI DSS Compliance:

Interactive IT task checklists at the end of each PCI requirement section. Includes space to track task assignments and completion dates.

Tips from experienced PCI auditors (QSAs).

A milestone-based reading guide chart organized according to the PCI Security Standards Council's "Prioritized Approach" to PCI compliance.

Latest updates to the PCI DSS version 3.2 with an outline of the PCI council's supplemental guidance and what it means for merchants and service providers.

"Our intent in creating the PCI Guide was to help organizations simplify PCI compliance and secure data. With those outcomes in mind, we've updated the 2018 edition to include practical helps that enhance the PCI experience at all stages," explains SecurityMetrics Audit Director, Matt Halbleib (QSA, PA-QSA, CISSP).

Download the 2018 SecurityMetrics Guide to PCI DSS Compliance here.

To learn more about SecurityMetrics, PCI DSS compliance, or to schedule a PCI audit, please call 801.705.5665, email [email protected], or visit www.securitymetrics.com/pci.

Press inquiries? Contact Meagan at 801.995.6516 or email [email protected].

About SecurityMetrics (www.securitymetrics.com)

SecurityMetrics protects organizations including merchant and payments leaders, global acquirers,

and their retail customers from security breaches and data theft. The company is a leading innovator in and provider of data security, PCI compliance, and HIPAA compliance solutions. As an Approved Scanning Vendor and Qualified Security Assessor, SecurityMetrics has tested over 1 million systems for data security and compliance. SecurityMetrics offers HIPAA compliance programs and HIPAA compliance management tools, HIPAA audits, PCI audits, PCI program management and PCI compliance tools, penetration testing, and forensic analysis. Founded in October 2000, SecurityMetrics is a privately held company headquartered in Orem, Utah, USA.

SOURCE SecurityMetrics

Related Links

http://www.securitymetrics.com


WASHINGTON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Yesterday, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country and across Mississippi on the American Family Radio Network. On the show, Sen. Graham weighed in on President Trump's recent remarks that the U.S. will soon be pulling its troops out of Syria.

Sen. Graham commented, "We have about 2,000 American troops helping the Arabs and the Kurds destroy what's left of ISIS. If we left now I think the conditions for an ISIS comeback would be great. We've got them on the ropes, let's push on the gas here and keep our eyes on the prize  which is to destroy ISIS." Sen. Graham continued, "If we left, the vacuum would be filled by Russia and Iran. You'd be giving Syria to the Iranians, which is a nightmare for Israel."

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, and host of Washington Watch, added, "I think people need to realize the Shiite Muslims that are aligned with Iran they are trying to dominate and there is a lot of concern Iran really does have a firm grip on Syria and if we pull out we leave it to the Russians and Iranians."

To listen to the full interview, click this link: https://soundcloud.com/family-research-council/senator-lindsey-graham

SOURCE Family Research Council

Related Links

http://www.frc.org


SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sensory, a Silicon Valley-based company focused on improving the user experience and security of consumer electronics through state-of-the-art embedded AI technologies, today announced that it has made a significant breakthrough in running its TrulyHandsfree wake word and speech recognition AI engine directly on Android and iOS smartphone applications at low-power. As a software component, TrulyHandsfree can be adapted to any app without requiring special purpose hardware or DSPs to capture efficiencies in computing.

Introduced in 2009, TrulyHandsfree paved the way for the hands-free operation we have come to expect with today's always-listening personal assistant solutions. When released it revolutionized voice user interfaces by offering the first commercially successful always-listening low power wake word. With each succeeding generation, TrulyHandsfree has continually upped the benchmark for always-listening speech recognition performance, by increasing accuracy, lowering power consumption, and running across an increasing number of hardware platforms at ultra-low-power consumption.

TrulyHandsfree has seen large commercial success by running on special purpose hardware for low-power operation. Companies like Avnera, Cirrus Logic, Conexant/Synaptics, CSR/Qualcomm, DSP Group, Knowles, QuickLogic, Realtek, XMOS and many others have penetrated the market for voice assistants using Sensory TrulyHandsfree technology. This specialized hardware approach has worked well for Sensory's customers like Samsung, Huawei, LG, Motorola and other Android mobile providers who design their own phones and wearables with their choice of hardware.

Until now, always-listening wake word solutions for apps required too much power to be practical, especially for apps that remain open and active in the background. Additionally, having to maintain the same user experience across operating systems, and across all different devices added an extra layer of complexity. However, this isn't the case anymore. TrulyHandsfree streamlines the implementation and coding process, allowing developers to quickly and easily deploy apps with power-efficient always-listening wake word and command set capabilities across all popular mobile and PC operating systems.

In 2017 Sensory embarked on investigations of using Qualcomm and ARM as more standard cross-platform solutions to figure out how to lower power consumption for wake words used across mobile platforms. Sensory came up with a series of independent actions that when combined could lower power consumption on a mobile app using a wake word by more than 80%, or a reduction of approximately 200mAh in a 12-hour day. That enables a mobile app wake word to consume approximately one-percent of the smartphone battery in 12 hours. To achieve this outstanding reduction in power consumption, Sensory utilized an approach known as "little-big," which uses a very small model to identify an interesting event and then revalidates the event on a large model (both events are processed on the Application Processor). This method provides the optimal user experience of the big model only when needed, while maintaining the power consumption of the little model most of the time. Frame stacking approaches further cut certain wake word model processing functions' MIPS in half with negligible accuracy impact. Additionally, multithreading has been deployed to allow more efficient processing of speech recognition and can significantly improve the speed of execution for larger wake word models.

"Hands-free operation for voice control has become the norm, and application developers are now looking to create hands-free wake words for their own apps," said Todd Mozer, CEO of Sensory. "For example, we recently helped Google's Waze accept hands-free voice commands by supplying them with Sensory's 'OK Waze' wake word that runs when the app is open. With previous versions of TrulyHandsfree, having our always-on wake word engine listening for the OK Waze wake word during a short trip would have had minimal effect on a smartphone's battery, but for longer trips a more efficient system was desired - so we created it. Sensory is excited to now offer TrulyHandsfree with excellent low-power performance to all app developers!"

TrulyHandsfree is the most widely deployed embedded speech recognition engine in the world, having enabled a hands-free voice user experience on more than two billion devices from leading brands worldwide. TrulyHandsfree offers support for every voice UI application with several types of wake word options, such as independent fixed wake words, user enrolled fixed wake words, and user defined wake words. Sensory offers off-the-shelf wake word models for all major Assistant services, including Alexa, Hey Siri, OK Google, Hey Cortana, as well as wake word models for third-party devices that support cloud AI systems from Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. Sensory can also combine multiple wake words into one solution and is the only supplier to have deployed numerous cross-assistant wake word solutions to the market.

Sensory's TrulyHandsfree currently supports US English, UK English, Australian English, Indian English, Arabic, Dutch, French (EU and Canadian), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese (EU and Brazil), Russian, Spanish (EU, Latin America and US), Swedish and Turkish. An SDK for TrulyHandsfree is available for Android, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, QNX and Windows. Sensory provides developer support for cloud service interfaces on Android, iOS, Linux, Mac OS, Windows as well as support for dozens of proprietary DSPs, microcontrollers, smart microphones and other low-power embedded devices. SDK updates taking advantage of lower power TrulyHandsfree are now being rolled out for Android and iOS in Q2 2018.

For more information about this announcement, Sensory or its technologies, please contact [email protected]; Press inquiries: [email protected].

About Sensory

Sensory Inc. creates a safer and superior UX through vision and voice technologies. Sensory's technologies are widely deployed in consumer electronics applications including mobile phones, automotive, wearables, toys, IoT and various home electronics. Sensory's product line includes TrulyHandsfree voice control, TrulySecure biometric authentication, and TrulyNatural large vocabulary natural language embedded speech recognition. Sensory's technologies have shipped in over a billion units of leading consumer products. Visit Sensory at www.sensory.com

TrulyHandsfree is a trademark of Sensory Inc.

SOURCE Sensory

Related Links

http://www.sensory.com


LOS ANGELES, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nonprofit patient advocacy group Consumer Watchdog called on state regulators to immediately suspend the license of a Salinas doctor being prosecuted by the Monterey County District Attorney's office for sexually assaulting a patient. A separate lawsuit alleges that two eyewitnesses saw Dr. Robert Wlodarczyk assault the patient as she was coming out of anesthesia following a cardiac procedure. Although the patient reported the assault to the state Osteopathic Board shortly thereafter, the Board has done nothing more than a year later to protect the doctor's other patients who could also be at risk.

See the KSBW-8 story here.

"It is shocking that regulators would sit on their hands when there is evidence that a doctor's patients could be at imminent risk of sexual assault. State regulators must immediately suspend Dr. Wlodarczyk's license to ensure his patients are safe from harm," said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog. "Sadly, the lack of action in this case mirrors regulators' failure to protect patients in countless other cases of patient harm that go uninvestigated every year. The national reckoning on sexual harassment and assault in the workplace must reach the sanctity of the doctor's office, where patients should feel safe."

Despite the existence of enough evidence to spur a criminal trial for assault, the Board has chosen to allow Dr. Wlodarczyk to continue seeing patients with no restrictions until the criminal prosecution is concluded. Regulators' failure to act in this case spotlights the need for reform of the state licensing Boards that oversee doctors.

According to her testimony, Ms. Regina Linares learned she had been sexually assaulted when two eyewitnesses reported the incident to administrators at the Salinas Valley Medical Center. After the incident, Ms. Linares, herself a 17-year employee of the hospital, was forced to continue working in proximity to the doctor.

Linares thanked the witnesses who spoke out about her assault, "Without their courage, I would probably never have known that Dr. Wlodarczyk sexually assaulted me when he thought I was unconscious and defenseless. The kind of doctor who would do something like this to his own patient  well, I can't imagine what sort of physician would do a thing like that. But it's only because of the bravery of these two other female employees of the hospital that I have the courage to attempt to hold Dr. Wlodarczyk accountable for what he has done,"

Download Ms. Linares' statement here.

Download the lawsuit brought on Ms. Linares' behalf by Cartwright, Scruggs, Fulton & Walther here.

In the state of California, doctors are not required to divulge past disciplinary actions against them, even when their misconduct was sexual assault. Patients in California should have the right to know their doctor's disciplinary history and regulators should take action against doctors who have harmed patients with efficiency and transparency, said Consumer Watchdog.

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog

Related Links

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP, a class action law firm dedicated to representing shareholders nationwide, is investigating a potential breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the board of directors of PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE: PKI).

If you are a shareholder of PerkinElmer, Inc. and are interested in obtaining additional information regarding this investigation, free of charge, please visit us at:

http://pjlfirm.com/perkinelmer-inc/

You may also contact Robert H. Lefkowitz, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 212-725-1000. One of our attorneys will personally speak with you about the case at no cost or obligation.

Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP is a law firm exclusively committed to representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty and other types of corporate misconduct. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://pjlfirm.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

SOURCE Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP

Related Links

http://www.pjlfirm.com


LOS ANGELES, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Carney Shegerian, trial lawyer and founder of the Los Angeles-based employment discrimination firm Shegerian & Associates, announced that last week a California jury reached a verdict in Martinez v. Rite Aid Corporation. The jury found in favor of Shegerian & Associates client Maria Martinez and awarded a verdict of just over $6 million.

Martinez began her employment with Rite Aid in 1983 at the age of 17. After starting as an ice cream scooper, Martinez was promoted to pharmacy clerk, and later became a licensed pharmacy technician. In her first 20 years of employment, Martinez was named "Employee of the Month" approximately 20 times and named "Employee of the Year" two times.

In 2004, Martinez suffered an incident at work which caused her to have an emotional reaction and be transported to the hospital. Prior to this event, she never suffered from anxiety, depression, or any other psychological conditions. After returning to work from the incident, she was transferred to four different stores in a 2.5 year period after never being subject to frequent transfers prior to her medical leave of absence.

In 2006, her direct supervisor falsely accused her of giving out a prescription for free, which she was later vindicated of the accusation. He also began making derogatory remarkets towards her, calling her "crazy", "bipolar", "psycho", "mentally off", and "too old", all in the presence of co-workers and customers.

In 2007, Martinez learned that her supervisor had approached four of Martinez's coworkers and asked them to make false statements about Martinez as part of a plan to get her fired. Later in 2007, the Rite Aid District Manager, who had previously encountered Martinez at a bank and touched her in a manner that made her feel uncomfortable, visited Martinez's store and told her in a threatening voice that he "knew she was a problem and he was going to take care of her."

In May 2007, Martinez filed an administrative charge with the EEOC, and following Rite Aid receiving notification of the charge, Martinez was given a final written warning falsely stating she continued to make prescription label errors, ignore her supervisor's directions, and disrupted service levels. In July 2007, Martinez sent a letter to Rite Aid's CEO detailing the workplace discrimination and harassment. Four days later, she was placed on suspension, and in August 2007 she was terminated after being employed for 23 years.

In 2008, Martinez filed suit against her employer, Rite Aid, and her former supervisor, alleging wrongful termination due to her disability and age as well as intentional inflection of emotional distress.

"Maria was an outstanding employee of Rite Aid for over 23 years, and a living example of the American dream," said Shegerian. "Starting as an ice cream scooper at age 17 and working her way up to pharmacy clerk and later pharmacy technician, Martinez loved her job and loved providing excellent service to Rite Aid's customers."

"Rather than cherishing a dedicated, hardworking employee like Martinez, her supervisors chose to discriminate against her due to an isolated medical incident and her age," added Shegerian. "This type of behavior is not only morally wrong and unethical, but it is illegal."

Last week, a Los Angeles jury returned a verdict in the case, finding in favor of Martinez for damages for her wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims, and awarded her a verdict of $6,012,258.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California and with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, & New York, Shegerian & Associates is a law firm specializing in protecting the rights of employees who have been wronged by their employers. Carney Shegerian, Trial Lawyer of the Year Award winner for 2013, has won 80 jury trials in his career, including 37 seven-figure verdicts. Shegerian & Associates is passionately dedicated to serving the needs of its clients. For more information about the firm, visit www.ShegerianLaw.com.

Media Contact: To arrange interviews with Carney Shegerian employment law matters, please contact [email protected]

CASE # BC 401 746

SOURCE Shegerian & Associates, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ShegerianLaw.com


"We congratulate and thank the 11 government agencies and armed forces across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico for showing the world how to adapt and operate the Black Hawk helicopter for critical missions that serve and protect their citizens," said Adam Schierholz, Sikorsky regional executive for Latin America. "Continued confidence in the Black Hawk by these countries during the past three decades stems from the aircraft's unequaled rugged military design, which translates to predictable reliability and performance in flight, effectiveness in combat, and the availability of strong product support to ensure high operational readiness."

"The Black Hawk has proven to be a unique and strategic tool for the Colombian Air Force that has allowed us to perform some of the most challenging missions in very extreme conditions," said Gen. Carlos Eduardo Bueno, Chief of the Colombian Air Force. "We join in celebrating this milestone anniversary, and look forward to many more years of effective utilization of these fine machines with the help and support of our friends at Sikorsky."

Since 1988, Sikorsky has delivered 174 Hawk aircraft to the region, which includes six Seahawk variants to the Brazil Navy. The total will climb to 180 during 2018 when the Chilean Air Force takes delivery of six S-70i Black Hawk aircraft for military and humanitarian missions.

A Look Back

Country-specific operations include:

Colombia : As the largest Black Hawk customer in Latin America , the Colombian Air Force, Colombian Army and Colombian National Police have collectively taken delivery of 103 aircraft, including seven S-70i digital cockpit variants in 2013. Carrying out diverse combat missions such as attack, MEDEVAC, CASEVAC, and Air Assault, these aircraft have played an essential role to defend and regain territorial control during the Colombian Conflict.





: As the largest Black Hawk customer in , the Colombian Air Force, Colombian Army and Colombian National Police have collectively taken delivery of 103 aircraft, including seven S-70i digital cockpit variants in 2013. Carrying out diverse combat missions such as attack, MEDEVAC, CASEVAC, and Air Assault, these aircraft have played an essential role to defend and regain territorial control during the Colombian Conflict. Mexico : With the region's second largest Black Hawk fleet, Mexico has acquired 48 aircraft  UH-60L and UH-60M variants  since 1991 for its Navy, Air Force and Federal Police to fight drug traffickers and crime syndicates. In 2011, the State of Jalisco took delivery of one S-70i.





: With the region's second largest Black Hawk fleet, has acquired 48 aircraft  UH-60L and UH-60M variants  since 1991 for its Navy, Air Force and Federal Police to fight drug traffickers and crime syndicates. In 2011, the took delivery of one S-70i. Brazil : In 2017, two Air Force squadrons  the 7/8 'Harpia' air group based in Manaus, and the 5/6 'Pantera' air group in Santa Maria  achieved 30,000 flight hours for all 16 UH-60L aircraft. The same year, the Exercito Brasileiro commemorated its 20th anniversary operating four S-70A Black Hawk aircraft. The Brazil Navy operates six S-70B Seahawk aircraft.





: In 2017, two Air Force squadrons  the 7/8 'Harpia' air group based in Manaus, and the 5/6 'Pantera' air group in  achieved 30,000 flight hours for all 16 UH-60L aircraft. The same year, the Exercito Brasileiro commemorated its 20th anniversary operating four S-70A Black Hawk aircraft. The Brazil Navy operates six S-70B Seahawk aircraft. Chile : The Chile Air Force has operated one S-70A aircraft since 1998 in a multirole capacity.





: The Chile Air Force has operated one S-70A aircraft since 1998 in a multirole capacity. Argentina : Argentina's Presidencia has operated one S-70A for head of state transport since 1994.

A Look Ahead

Sikorsky continues to build UH-60M Black Hawk aircraft for the U.S. Army, which is expected to operate the platform into the 2070s. In March, Sikorsky began production of the HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter designed for long-distance missions.

Sikorsky continues to build the S-70i, a digital Black Hawk variant customized to the preferences of international militaries.

In 2018, Sikorsky will field two new mission capabilities for the Black Hawk:

An aerial firefighting system, complete with belly tank, which can be easily retrofitted to the region's existing UH-60L and S-70i fleets





A sophisticated weapons system for the S-70i and S-70M models that enables either pilot to engage static or moving targets with high accuracy using forward firing guns, rockets and laser-designated air-to-ground missiles

Further out, Sikorsky is developing an optionally piloted capability for the digital Black Hawk with the intelligence and autonomy to carry out missions with two, one or zero crew on board.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

SOURCE Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company
NANJING, China, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 28, 2018, Payson E. Johnston, CEO of the Silicon Valley (USA) blockchain-technology pioneer Crowdz, and Mr. Xiao Ming, Head of Crowdz China Business, and Ms. Song Yuan, Partner, visited Jiangsu Huarui Investment Management Co., Ltd (HRVC). During the meeting, HRVC signed a contract with Crowdz agreeing to invest in Crowdz China, a joint venture between Crowdz and a domestic Chinese technology company.

Crowdz

At the meeting between Crowdz and Jiangsu Huarui Investment Management Co., the two parties conducted further consultations on the specific content of their strategic cooperation and reached consensus on the cooperation method, business philosophy, and business-development level.

The two parties further reviewed the application of blockchain technology in the area of supply-chain finance. Among the matters discussed, Mr. Wang Mangen, Chairman of Jiangsu Huarui, analyzed the main business methods of the existing commercial-paper business in the Chinese market, and pointed out that it differed significantly from the comparable Western financial markets. Crowdz CEO Payson Johnston expressed his agreement with Mr. Wang, and described how the Crowdz solution addressed the challenges of invoice financing, liquidity, and market value for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs).

About Crowdz

Founded in Silicon Valley, California, USA, in 2014, Crowdz is the first company in the world to build a B2B ecommerce transaction network based on blockchain and artificial intelligence, and  through that network  Crowdz provides "supply chain as a service." Crowdz uses blockchain and IoT technologies to create an enterprise-level credit and value delivery system that helps small- and medium-sized enterprises to access supply-chain financing services in a timely manner, thereby enhancing their competitiveness in an increasingly complex and challenging global supply chain system. The B2B ecommerce portal established by Crowdz has greatly eased the information asymmetry, low-value transmission efficiency, and supply-chain conflicts among enterprises, and their plans have been or are being implemented in many industries.

On February 28, 2018, Techstars, the world's top startup accelerator and venture capital company, announced that it has selected Crowdz to enter their London-based accelerator, where Crowdz will work with Barclays Bank, headquartered in London, UK, to develop a blockchain-based supply-chain financing Fintech product. Crowdz's executive team has many years of combined experience in B2B procurement strategy planning, global supply-chain management, blockchain technology, e-tailing, and ecommerce. In 2018, Crowdz first brought its leading supply chain management experience and blockchain application to China, and will work with numerous companies in this fast-growing country.

Payson Johnston

Phone: 1-888-995-1600

Email: [email protected]

Related Links

Crowdz

SOURCE Crowdz

Related Links

http://www.crowdz.io


Local media reports and official documentation suggest that the Defense Ministrys Acquisition and Technology Logistics Agency (ATLA) is making steady progress on operationalizing a new supersonic anti-ship missile, the ASM-3 (formerly known as the XASM-3). As Navy Recognition has previously reported, MOD plans to begin mass production of the weapon in 2018 after having completed development at the end of 2017.

By Ben Rimland



Local media reports and official documentation suggest that the Defense Ministrys Acquisition and Technology Logistics Agency (ATLA) is making steady progress on operationalizing a new supersonic anti-ship missile, the ASM-3 (formerly known as the XASM-3). As Navy Recognition has previously reported, Japan's Ministry of Defense (MOD) plans to begin mass production of the weapon in 2018 after having completed development at the end of 2017.

A concept of use infographic published by Japanese MOD (Ben Rimland/Navy Recognition translation)



A concept of use infographic published by MOD provides a look at how the Japan Air Self-Defense Forces (JASDF) may employ the weapon in a contingency. The missile can take either a direct course of travel when launched low near the edge of the targeted vessels radar range, or instead it may take a pop-up profile, climbing high from a low angle of launch or instead staying at an already high altitude from an elevated attack approach. Survivability of the firing F-2 is of chief concern in either attack scenario. Per the infographic, a direct and low attack allows the F-2 to fly under the radar, while the pop-up profile may put the F-2 within radar detection range, but beyond the scope of the targeted ships SAMs.

Two XASM-3 missiles fitted on a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2 Fighter during recent tests (May 2017). Picture via twitter user @MR2AW11SP



A recent report in the Mainichi Shimbun provides further detail on the history of the weapons development and ATLAs plans for further utilizing the guidance and propulsion technology of the ASM-3. The weapons development period ran from 2003 to 2017, during which a total of 15 test launches proved the designs viability. Research and development costs totalled 39 billion yen, approximately $367 million. MOD is also planning on employing the ramjet propulsion system and inertial/composite guidance technology of the ASM-3 to design a land-based, truck mounted variant, as well as a ship-based version with longer range (ed. note: The XSSM which Navy Recognition covered previously).



Ben Rimland is an independent researcher on Asia-Pacific security issues. His academic research pertains to Japanese defense policy and American security policy in Asia. He can be found on twitter at @JPNsecuritywonk

Video showing Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2 Fighter test launching a XASM-3 missile. ATLA video.



About ASM-3 supersonic anti-ship missile

Designed and manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), ASM-3 is capable of reaching Mach 3 speeds thanks to its ramjet engine fed by two air intakes (in a similar fashion to MBDA's Meteor air to air missile or to the French ASMP-A air-launched tactical nuclear missile).

ASM-3 basic specifications:

Full length: 6000 mm

Full width: 950 mm

Missile body diameter: 350 mm

Maximum speed: Mach 3 or more

Firing range: 80nm (about 150km) or more

Weight: 940kg

Power: Integral Rocket Ramjet

Navigation and seeker: inertial / GPS (intermediate stage) + active / passive seeker (terminal phase)
Dr. Santopietro joins Silver Hill Hospital from Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare delivery systems serving 2.3 million patients a year across 900 care locations, including 39 hospitals in North and South Carolina, and Georgia, where he held the positions of Chief Clinical Officer of Behavioral Health and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Santopietro graduated from Yale University, Northwestern University Medical School, and completed his internship, residency and fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Santopietro serves on multiple national boards including the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the American Hospital Association's Governing Council of the Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services. He is a member of the Medical Directors Institute of the National Council for Behavior Health and the National Crisis Services Task Force. In 2012, he was president of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society where he earned an award for his psychiatric response leadership during the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Silver Hill Hospital admits 3,000 adolescents and adults annually for psychiatric disorders that include addiction, pain with co-occurring addiction, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and schizophrenia. The Hospital specializes in co-occurring diagnosis and treatment and is an academic affiliate of the Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.

Established in 1931, Silver Hill Hospital is one of the nation's preeminent psychiatric hospitals with more than 14 full-time board certified psychiatrists. Located on 44 scenic acres in New Canaan, Connecticut, it is widely recognized for the excellence of its psychiatric and addiction services. The Hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission and is licensed for 129 beds.

PRESS CONTACT:

Charlene Durham, [email protected]

(860) 659-0514

SOURCE Silver Hill Hospital
CHICAGO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SIRVA, Inc., an industry-leading global relocation and moving services provider is proud to announce that Taryn Kramer, Vice President, Global Consulting, has received a 2018 ERC Meritorious Service Award. Award recipients are chosen by the Board of Directors of Worldwide ERC in recognition of people whose dedication, devotion of time and expertise contribute to the betterment of the industry.

Taryn has been a prominent, global ERC voice through her participation in webinars, facilitating conference sessions, moderating panels and in print, having authored an article in the November 2017 issue of Mobility Magazine.

Taryn encourages Mobility leaders to look beyond the day to day transactional elements of relocation to develop and implement mobility programs that facilitate business growth and support organizational talent strategies. The development of domestic and global programs that provide flexibility while facilitating "smart" deployment is critical for a successful partnership between mobility program administrators, customers and employees, and presents opportunities and tools to overcome business and talent challenges.

"It is an honor to have ERC recognize Taryn for her expertise in Mobility program management and strategy," said Linda Smith, Chief Commercial Officer at SIRVA. "This is a well-deserved recognition that I know she appreciates."

About SIRVA Worldwide Relocation & Moving

SIRVA is a leading partner for corporations to outsource their mobility needs, relocating and moving their executives and staff globally. SIRVA offers an extensive portfolio of mobility services across approximately 170 countries providing an end-to-end solution to deliver an enhanced mobility experience and program control and security for customers. SIRVA has a portfolio of well-known and recognizable brands including Allied, northAmerican, SMARTBOX, and Allied Pickfords. For more information please visit www.sirva.com.

About Worldwide ERC

Since 1964, Worldwide ERC has been committed to connecting and educating workforce mobility professionals across the globe. A global not-for-profit organization, we are headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in London and Shanghai, and are the source of global mobility knowledge and innovation in talent management from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, to Asia and across the Americas. For more information, visit www.WorldwideERC.org.

SOURCE SIRVA, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.sirva.com


SAN DIEGO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CEOs of small and mid-sized businesses are optimistic about their future financial prospects and plan to invest and hire more this year, according to the Q1 2018 Vistage CEO Confidence Index. The index declined slightly to 105.8 from its decade-high peak of 110.3 at the end of 2017 and was also slightly below last year's first-quarter reading of 106.9.

Vistage CEO Confidence Index | Surveying CEOs of Small to Mid-sized Business Since 2003 (PRNewsfoto/Vistage Worldwide, Inc.)

"The key takeaway is that SMB CEOs anticipate strong economic growth in 2018 and their confidence is at near-record highs," said Dr. Richard Curtin, director of research at the University of Michigan, who analyzed the data. "Some have moderated their expectations for the national economy's growth this year, which is why their confidence dipped slightly this quarter compared to last quarter."

Despite some of the concerns about the national economy, CEOs are bullish about the prospects for their own businesses. Vistage Chief Research Officer Joe Galvin notes, "The majority of CEOs plan to hire next year, and they are responding to the talent shortage by investing in employee training, wages, and benefits."

The Q1 2018 Vistage CEO Confidence Index found:

Robust hiring and benefits :

: 64 percent of CEOs plan to increase hiring this year, compared to 60 percent who planned to add employees in Q1 2017



Finding and retaining talent remains a challenge, but CEOs are responding by investing in employee training (67 percent), increasing wages (62 percent) and expanding benefits (33 percent)

Strong investment spending:

Roughly half of CEOs (51 percent) expect to invest in new plants and equipment, slightly below last quarter's decade-high response of 54 percent



Just 7 percent planned to invest less in the past two quarters, the lowest since 2004

Expectations for higher revenues and profits:

79 percent of all firms anticipate revenue growth this year and 66 percent of all firms expect profits to increase

Read the full results.

About the Vistage CEO Confidence Index

The Vistage CEO Confidence Index, established in 2003, is a quarterly survey of small- to mid-sized business CEOs, presidents, and business owners about the U.S. economy. The Q1 2018 Vistage CEO Confidence Index includes responses from 1,712 U.S. CEOs, surveyed between March 5 and March 12, 2018. Since its establishment in 2003, the Index has proven to be a reliable indicator for changes in GDP and employment, two to three quarters hence.

About Vistage Worldwide, Inc.

Vistage Worldwide is an organization designed exclusively for high-integrity CEOs and executive leaders who are looking to drive better decisions and better results for their companies. Our members  22,000 strong in more than 20 countries  gather in trusted, confidential peer advisory groups where they tackle their toughest challenges and biggest opportunities. Leveraging the Vistage platform, our members have demonstrated the ability to refine their instincts, improve their judgment, expand their perspectives and optimize decision making. CEOs who joined Vistage in the past five years grew their companies 2.2 times faster than average small and midsize U.S. companies, according to a 2017 analysis of Dun & Bradstreet data. Learn more at vistage.com.

SOURCE Vistage
ST. LOUIS, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of SmithAmundsen continues aggressive growth in Missouri today adding seven lateral attorneys to its St. Louis office, including partners Gene Brockland, Lynn Goessling, Carrie Keller, Meredith Murphy and Daniel Peters, and associates Brian Wacker and Justin Welply. The entire group joins from the St. Louis firm of Herzog Crebs. This significant expansion of the St. Louis office firmly cements the firm's position as a business law firm to watch in Missouri.

The firm has handpicked these exceptional local attorneys to join SmithAmundsen's supportive and inclusive culture, client service focus and collaborative environment. The firm's attorneys put the client first with a commitment to work as a business partner rather than just a service provider.

"SmithAmundsen's way of doing business is refreshing in the legal marketplace," said Gene Brockland, a senior attorney joining the firm. "SmithAmundsen provides a uniquely entrepreneurial culture where we feel our group will thrive and have the space to innovate and serve clients in a more flexible and personalized way."

These seven experienced attorneys join our established office including real estate and land use attorneys Brad Goss, Lisa Johnson and Elizabeth Lum, tax attorneys Joe Demko and Robert Jackson, business and development attorneys Robert Droney, John Finger and James Sanders, labor and employment attorneys Amanda Biondolino and Patrick Sanders, insurance coverage attorney Patrick Bousquet, and litigators Heather Bub, Daniel Coffman, Dean Henke, Zachary McMichael, Jeffrey Muskopf, Jessica Powers and Jack Walsh.

Gene Brockland, partner, represents everyone from artists to manufacturers. He guides his clients through a variety of legal issues including, employment, contractual, products liability, and copyright and trademark matters. Gene is on the board of Solid Lines Productions, a small nonprofit whose mission is to foster community dialogue through theatre about socially-relevant issues. He also serves on the advisory board of the National Museum of American illustration in Newport, RI, whose mission is to exhibit, and educate the public about, American Illustration art.

Lynn Goessling, partner, devotes her practice to real estate and general business law. She represents and counsels clients in a wide range of real estate transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions of real property, complex title issues, all aspects of land development, financing, projects involving municipal development assistance/incentives, easements and leasing. She also counsels clients with regard to general business and corporate matters, including business entity formation, business/asset acquisitions and dispositions, business loans and loan restructuring, shareholder/partner transactions and employment matters. Lynn is the current president of Commercial Real Estate Women  St. Louis (CREW) and a serves on the Mary Queen of Peace Parish Board of Education.

Carrie Keller, partner, guides business owners, investors and privately held and start-up entities on all aspects of business legal matters including issues concerning organizational and development planning, corporate governance, asset and equity acquisitions and sales, tax planning, and the negotiation and documentation of business transactions. She represents clients in real estate purchases, sales, leasing and 1031 exchanges. She handles trademark and servicemark registration, maintenance, licensing and enforcement. She also assists with financing, including borrowing, lending, and private equity.

Meredith Murphy, partner, helps clients develop estate plans, navigate probate court, litigate fiduciary matters, and represents clients in matters related to taxation law and real estate. She works with clients on post-death trust and probate administration, including administering trusts, filing estate tax returns, opening and administering probate estates, and estate and trust accountings. Meredith represents clients in adversarial litigation involving will contests, trust contests, fiduciaries, beneficiaries, probates, elder abuse, conservatorships, and other disputes. She also prepares estate and gift tax returns as a part of trust administration, and also appears before the IRS when assisting non-profit organizations with obtaining and maintaining tax exempt status. Meredith serves as a member of the board of trustees of Loyola Academy, and is also an active member of the St. Louis-Jefferson chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Daniel Peters, partner, assists clients in the construction, real estate and banking industries in both transactional and litigation matters. His experience includes handling transactional matters such as, asset and equity purchases, sale documentation, due diligence and closing, and lending and security. Daniel also handles litigation matters, including construction disputes and employment issues.

Brian Wacker, associate, handles a variety of litigation matters, including fiduciary, commercial and employment. Many of his clients are facing pre-litigation risk management and fiduciary relations. Outside the office Brian volunteers with Boys Hope Girls Hope, an organization that helps disadvantaged kids succeed academically. He is also vice president of the board of directors for the Cornerstone Center for Early Learning.

Justin Welply, associate, represents clients in a wide variety of industries including, real estate, construction, financial services, trust and estate, and employment. Many of his clients are facing breach of contract, errors and omissions, breach of fiduciary duty, and nonpayment issues. Outside the office Justin is on the advisory board of Our Little Haven, a nonprofit organization that provides early intervention therapeutic care for children and families with complex needs.

ABOUT SMITHAMUNDSEN: SmithAmundsen is a law firm comprised of more than 180 attorneys practicing from offices in Chicago, St. Charles, Rockford and Woodstock, IL; Indianapolis, IN; St. Louis, MO; and Milwaukee, WI. The firm handles the transactional, labor and employment and litigation needs of companies across the U.S. For more information, visit: www.salawus.com. Connect with @SmithAmundsen on Twitter or on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/smithamundsen-llc.

SOURCE SmithAmundsen LLC

Related Links

http://www.salawus.com


SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SparkPost, a cloud email API service preferred by leading internet and technology companies, today announced the immediate availability of SparkPost EU. Entirely hosted in the European Union, the service offers companies low-latency delivery of application-generated emails and enhanced compliance with EU privacy and data protection regulations.

Alongside SparkPost EU, the company is also announcing that it is compliant with the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulation is due to go into effect on May 25, 2018. SparkPost is already certified under the joint EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework governing personal data transfer between the EU and U.S.

"Leading European brands turn to us to boost customer engagement and revenue growth, by providing consistent, solid and impeccable email communications. Working with a partner that supports a reliable and highly performant email service, while also endorsing regulatory compliance is critical," commented Alastair James, CTO at London-based customer marketing platform Ometria. "SparkPost's EU service and GDPR posture gives us confidence that we're able to meet our customers' expectations."

Ensuring that purchase confirmation, password reset, account activation, and other app-generated emails are delivered on time is critical to a good user experience. It also means that customers are less likely to churn and revenue is protected. With the launch of SparkPost EU, the company's European customers enjoy the same low-latency, high-performance email delivery as SparkPost's U.S. customers. Unlike other email API vendors who offer services in the EU but process and send the emails from the U.S., SparkPost EU is hosted entirely in Europe, with email processing and delivery originating from European infrastructure.

"We're committed to offering leading European internet, software, banking, and media companies the same high level of service as our US customers, which include LinkedIn, Pinterest, The New York Times, Twitter, MailChimp, and Zillow. Alongside performance, we're very aware that forthcoming data and privacy regulation presents numerous challenges to our European customers," said Phillip Merrick, SparkPost CEO. "SparkPost EU and our company's GDPR compliance offer a solution."

SparkPost offers a number of resources for companies concerned about the impact of GDPR on sending emails from their software products. SparkPost's GDPR Resource Center is a primer on the GDPR and how it affects email sending, and details SparkPost's own GDPR compliance.

About SparkPost

SparkPost is the world's #1 email delivery provider. Our customersincluding Pinterest, Twitter, Intercom, LinkedIn, Zillow, and Comcastsend over 3 trillion messages a year, more than 25% of the world's non-spam email. Our platform delivers any application's emails on time and to the inbox, with the performance, deliverability, flexibility, and analytics product development teams need to drive customer engagement and growth. Follow us on Twitter @SparkPost or go to sparkpost.com.

SOURCE SparkPost

Related Links

http://sparkpost.com


DENVER, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to the public health issues fueled by the opioid epidemic, behavioral health experts from the Colorado Department of Human Services and Speak Now! Colorado are urging parents to talk with their children's doctors, dentists and other health care providers about alternatives to prescribing highly addictive opioids and other pain relievers for their children.

"Parents should make a plan to ask their child's doctor about options other than a heavy dose of prescription pain relievers when their child is injured or may need pain relief following surgery," said Kent MacLennan, executive director of Rise Above Colorado.

Rise Above Colorado seeks to empower youth to realize their full potential by leading a life free of substance misuse and addiction, including specific work to prevent misuse of prescription medications. The organization is a member of Speak Now! Colorado, a substance abuse prevention campaign administered by the Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health.

"Prescription opioids are highly addictive," MacLennan said. "We encourage parents and youth to be educated about non-opioid alternatives and be ready to ask their health professional about what quantity of pain reliever is really necessary before a prescription is written."

The most recent data available show Colorado reported 300 deaths related to prescription opioid overdose in 2016, totaling 33 percent of all drug poisoning deaths in the state, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Speak Now's website features resources in English and Spanish for parents and caregivers to use when talking with their children about the dangers of alcohol, marijuana, prescription medications and other drugs. The site also features guides to help parents and kids create a "Healthy Habits Plan"- a strategy to help children avoid substance use when faced with peer pressure to use alcohol, marijuana, prescription medications and other drugs.

A new page on the site is devoted to giving parents tools to talk to their children, and their children's health care providers, about the risks of prescription medications. A questionnaire to prepare parents to talk with their child's doctor about prescription medications is available for download from the site. To learn more, visit speaknowcolorado.org.

Contact:

Erich Kirshner

Evolution Communications Agency

303.921.6733

[email protected]

SOURCE Speak Now Colorado

Related Links

https://www.speaknowcolorado.org/


MIAMI, April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Starwood Capital Group, a leading global private investment firm, is pleased to announce two senior additions to the Firm's Asset Management team. Alex Waterbury joined the company in January as Managing Director, Head of Development, and Andrea Pierce will be joining the company in June as Managing Director, Head of Office Asset Management. Both hires are a strategic priority for the firm and highlight Starwood's unwavering dedication to creating value for its investors through hands-on asset management. As Starwood's asset base continues to grow, the firm is committed to adding senior-level talent to its world-class asset management organization.

"Andrea and Alex are seasoned executives that bring unique skill sets to our Asset Management Group," said Mark Deason, Starwood Capital Group's Head of U.S. Asset Management, whom both will report to. "They are proven and effective leaders that will significantly help us manage our growing asset base and develop our in-house capabilities as we continue to expand."

Starwood Capital Group's current U.S. portfolio includes over 73,000 apartment units, 500 hotels, 16 million square feet of office, 16 million square feet of retail and 27,000 residential lots/condos. "One of the benefits of reaching the scale that Starwood has achieved is our ability to attract the most sought-after talent in the industry to help us oversee that portfolio. I'm really excited to get Andrea and Alex on board to supplement the already exceptional team we have in place and challenge us to be even better," said Barry Sternlicht, Chairman & CEO of Starwood Capital Group.

Prior to joining Starwood Asset Management, Waterbury served as President, Northern California Development for Lennar Multifamily Communities. Prior to Lennar, he served as the Vice President at Mill Creek Residential Trust and previously was the Vice President of Development at Trammell Crow Residential. Early in his career Waterbury served as Principal at Presidio Development Partners, LLC. Waterbury earned a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies & Business from Northwestern University and an MBA with a focus in Real Estate from the University of California, Berkeley.

Pierce previously spent eleven years at JP Morgan Investment Management in various roles, including Managing Director and Head of Eastern US Office & Industrial Asset Management, Managing Director and Head of US Retail Acquisitions, and a Member of the Board of Directors & Operating Committee of Carr Properties." Earlier in her career, Pierce worked in Asset Management leadership roles at The Mills Corporation as well as JMB Realty Corporation. Pierce earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Southern California. She is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst.

Starwood's search partner on both hires was a team of professionals at DHR Global Real Estate Partners, including partners Vince Saunders and Marty Nass.

About Starwood Capital Group

Starwood Capital Group is a private alternative investment firm with a core focus on global real estate, energy infrastructure and oil & gas. The Firm and its affiliates maintain 10 offices in four countries around the world, and currently have more than 3,800 employees. Starwood Capital Group has raised nearly $44 billion of equity capital since its inception in 1991, and currently manages approximately $56 billion in assets. The Firm has invested in virtually every category of real estate on a global basis, opportunistically shifting asset classes, geographies and positions in the capital stack as it perceives risk/reward dynamics to be evolving. Over the past 26 years, Starwood Capital Group and its affiliates have successfully executed an investment strategy that involves building enterprises in both the private and public markets. Additional information can be found at starwoodcapital.com.

SOURCE Starwood Capital Group
BEDFORD, Mass., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd. has installed the GigaSort Platform in their newly opened Manufacturing Plant for Regenerative Medicine & Cell Therapy in Osaka, Japan. The center is the world's first commercial iPSC plant. The GigaSort platform is a microfluidic-based cell sorting technology that allows the selection of highly specific and pure cell populations in a manufacturing environment.

Cytonome

"We are thrilled to be providing the GigaSort technology to Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd. to enable exciting advances in regenerative medicine and the transition from proof of concept into accessible, manufacturable products," said John Sharpe, Ph.D., Cytonome's chief technology officer.

The GigaSort Platform is designed expressly for cGMP manufacturing. The highly parallel microfluidic channel design allows high throughput processing that remains gentle on the cells. The microfluidic chip is part of a disposable, enclosed fluidic set that can be gamma irradiated, eliminating the need for aerosol containment.

About Cytonome-ST LLC

Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, Cytonome/ST LLC is a privately held biotechnology instrument design company focused on developing advanced solutions in cell purification for the bioprocessing, industrial and life science research markets. With deep engineering expertise in the cytometry field and a strong intellectual property portfolio, Cytonome aims to develop products that simplify existing workflows and enable leading-edge basic and translational research. For more information, please visit www.cytonome.com.

SOURCE Cytonome

Related Links

http://www.cytonome.com


Photo: Robert Clark

Manhattan home prices may have been down in the first quarter but there were also fewer buyers in the market.

Quarterly Manhattan home sales fell to the lowest level in over six years and posted the largest annual decline in nearly a decade, according to a report released today by New York brokerage Douglas Elliman.

Over the last year, the average price of a Manhattan apartment, including co-ops and condos, declined 8.1 percent to $1.9 million in the first quarter. At the same time, the average price per square foot fell 18.5 percent to $1,697.

There were 4.4 percent more Manhattan homes for sale in the first quarter compared to the same time last year, but far fewer sales.

The number of sales dropped a whopping 24.6 percent year-over-year, with the market share of bidding wars falling to a five-year low.

About one-third of the decline was attributable to the expiration of the legacy contract pipeline  sales that went to contract several years ago that closed recently upon completion of construction, Jonathan Miller, CEO of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel, and the author of the report, tells BuzzBuzzNews.

These contracts represented an earlier wave of new development which was skewed heavily towards super luxury. And now with those legacy sales mostly closed, overall prices declined and overstated the decline in sales, according to Miller.

The uncertainty about how the recent GOP tax code overhaul will impact Americans accounts for the remaining two-thirds.

Buyers and sellers are now more challenged by uncertainty and therefore there is a lack of urgency to take action. I see more of this hesitation in 2018 as buyers and sellers rebalance themselves to what values are, says Miller.

The market share of all-cash sales reached a four-year high in the first quarter. Data tracking for this metric started four years ago.

Also, bidding war activity was well below the decade average in the first quarter, due to more inventory and a lower sense of urgency to move forward on deals, Miller says.

Manhattan homes were on the market an average of 107 days, selling one day quicker compared to last year.

Meantime, new construction condo average prices declined 14.1 percent annually to $1 million in the first quarter, with the average price per square foot falling 19.9 percent from last year to $2,409.

The number of new condo sales dropped 54 percent from last year in the first quarter  also attributed to legacy contracts. Listing inventory was up 5.1 percent year-over-year.

The first quarter was also challenging for the Manhattan luxury submarket, which covers apartments priced at $4 million and up.

The average price of a luxury Manhattan apartment fell 15.1 percent year-over-year to $7.9 million. Sales fell 24.1 percent annually and listing inventory grew by 15.4 percent from last year. Luxury inventory rose at twice the rate of the overall market in the first quarter.

The market share of luxury resales was at its highest level in two and a half years in the first quarter.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Miller is cautious.

Probably less of a year-over-year decline in sales, but the market will likely remain in this price discovery mode, he tells BuzzBuzzNews.

Click here to read the entire report.
Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a research-driven, peer influenced rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Attorneys are selected from more than 70 practice areas and all firm sizes, assuring a credible and relevant annual list.

About Torres Law

Torres Law assists clients with the import and export of goods, technology, and services. The law firm has extensive experience with the various regimes and agencies governing trade such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and others. Torres Law provides clients with full support for all trade law issues, including U.S. export control and sanctions laws, trade policy, industrial security, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-boycott laws, government contracts, and customs law.

In the area of U.S. export controls, the law firm advises clients on compliance with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and the various embargo and sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC).

In the area of customs, Torres Law advises clients on import compliance matters, including customs rulings, classification, country of origin, special duty programs such as NAFTA, focused assessments, C-TPAT, and seizures of goods by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

For questions regarding this press release, please email us at [email protected].

SOURCE Torres Law, PLLC

Related Links

http://www.torrestradelaw.com


BERWYN, Pa., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectivity and sensors, today announced plans to display its portfolio of end-to-end automotive data connectivity and sensor solutions that enable autonomous driving and mobility at WCX18: World Congress Experience (SAE), Booth #5031, in Detroit, Michigan, April 1012, 2018.

TE will showcase its latest automotive sensor and connector offerings including test and measurement sensors, JAQUET speed sensors, LITESURF plating technology, data connectivity systems and the Hirschmann Car Communication (HCC) antenna solution designed for automotive applications including design, testing, R&D, components, suppliers and system integrators. TE's product portfolio for automotive applications will also be on display via the award-winning Virtual Connected Car, allowing users to explore every level of connectivity with a full 360 view of products inside the vehicle. TE has been teaming with automotive manufacturers to collaborate on leading connectivity solutions that set industry standards. By engaging early in the design process, TE collaborates with customers, developing solutions that accelerate success for our customers seeking a leadership role in making autonomous vehicles a reality.

In addition, TE will lead five sessions exploring the latest technical developments critical for automotive engineers:

Injection-moldable, Low Density, and Electrically Conductive Polymer Composites for Automotive Applications

Tuesday, April 10 at 9:00 a.m. EST in Room 141

Presenter: Craig L. Reeder, Scientist

LITESURF: Tin-free Press-in Technology for the Automotive Industry

Wednesday, April 11 at 9:30 a.m. EST in Room 251 B

Presenter: Frank Schabert, Senior Manager Research and Development, Product Development Engineering

Connecting Autonomy

Wednesday, April 11 at 11:00 a.m. EST in the Learning Lab

Presenter: Huzefa Bharmal, Senior Manager, Wireless Infotainment

Optimizing the Balance of Power and Fuel Economy with Today's Emission Constraints

Wednesday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m. EST in Room 252 B

Presenter: Jonathan Tigelaar, Project Lead, Mechanical Engineering

Design Requirements for Automotive Ethernet PoDL Compatible Connectors

Wednesday, April 11 at 2:30 p.m. EST in Room 258

Presenter: Guadalupe Chalas, Research & Development/Product Development Engineer

"As a global leader in connectivity and sensor solutions for the automotive industry, our engineers are working with the world's top 30 automakers to design the newest, most innovative applications for autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles and future technologies," said Alan Amici, chief technology officer of Transportation Solutions at TE Connectivity. "With advanced applications ranging from infotainment to self-driving capabilities, TE is helping to create a smarter, safer, sustainable and more productive future."

TE's thousands of engineers provide support of application-specific, standard and custom requirements, from product concept through manufacturing. TE subject matter experts will be on site at WCX18 to share their insights and discuss engineers' design and manufacturing needs.

ABOUT TE CONNECTIVITY

TE Connectivity Ltd., is a $13 billion global technology and manufacturing leader creating a safer, sustainable, productive, and connected future. For more than 75 years, our connectivity and sensor solutions, proven in the harshest environments, have enabled advancements in transportation, industrial applications, medical technology, energy, data communications, and the home. With 78,000 employees, including more than 7,000 engineers, working alongside customers in nearly 150 countries, TE ensures that EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS. Learn more at www.te.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, WeChat and Twitter.

TE Connectivity, TE and the TE connectivity (logo), EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS, JAQUET and LITESURF are trademarks.

Other company and/or product names might be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact:

Media Relations:

April Klimack

TE Connectivity

Phone +1 717.599.1495

Email [email protected]

SOURCE TE Connectivity

Related Links

http://www.te.com


In the newly created position, Wilkens is responsible for working with the account service teams in areas such as business development, strategic thinking and overall client engagement. Wilkens brings extensive experience to CSI, having led marketing and communications programs for some of the most recognized organizations, including leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

In addition to her role as head of client services, Wilkens will be working closely with CSI's president to ensure the agency stays at the forefront of strategic marketing techniques and creative thinking. As part of the core management team at CSI, she will play an integral role in implementing processes that will continue the success of the agency and its clients. Wilkens' experience includes leading account teams at Evolution Communications and Sudler & Hennessey in New York City. Managing cross discipline teams, Wilkens directed brand positioning and strategy and orchestrated the rollout for communications platforms for an array of pharmaceutical brands.

"Everything we dream up, create and implement at CSI must first and foremost drive growth for our clients' businesses. Over the last 10 years, advertising and marketing has completely reinvented itself. The idea of creative thinking no longer just means thought provoking headlines, sexy design and beautiful imagery. It now encompasses understanding audience behaviors, so customers can quickly and efficiently react to a campaign's activity and agencies can provide as good a return on advertising spend as possible," explained Rich Cannava, President & Partner, The CSI Group. "Lauren is here to make sure our strategy, recommendations and creative are on point, and will provide the best chance of surpassing our clients' expectations and exceeding whatever performance indicators we have agreed upon."

Wilkens added, "I am thrilled to be joining The CSI Group at a pivotal moment, when we are doubling down on our efforts to strategically serve our clients. Rich is a dedicated leader, who has been focused on driving the business forward and I am excited to work with him and the rest of the talented team to continue the agency's history of success that was started by Kurt von Seekamm, who founded The CSI Group more than 25 years ago. The agency is evolving into one that helps our clients grow in every facet of their business. I look forward to being laser-focused on identifying and delivering innovative solutions because, at the end of the day, that is how we will continue to be the best partner for our clients."

ABOUT THE CSI GROUP

The CSI Group is a creative marketing agency in northern New Jersey offering marketing strategy, branding and production services to clients for more than 25 years. The CSI Group boasts a catalog of work that has driven success for brands like Citizen Watch, BP Castrol, Konica Minolta, Bulova and Benjamin Moore, to name a few.

The CSI Group

160 Summit Ave, Suite 200

Montvale, NJ 07645

201-587-1400

thecsigroup.com

SOURCE The CSI Group

Related Links

http://www.thecsigroup.com


Because the Aladdin Connect smart device system is built-into the opener itself, no additional parts or assembly are required. Wi-Fi set up only takes a few minutes and is easy to complete. Genie offers a smart device application, called Aladdin Connect, which is available in both the Apple and Android App Stores.

The Aladdin Connect system provides greater security to homeowners by allowing them to monitor their garage doors remotely so they know exactly when the door is operated. For peace of mind, a homeowner can quickly check on their smartphones whether the garage door is actually closed or not after leaving home, saving nervous anxiety wondering whether they had remembered to do so.

Aladdin Connect makes life more convenient by allowing control of the garage door from almost anywhere at any time. This means the door can be remotely operated for deliveries, service providers or friends and family even if no one is home. As an alternative, you can give temporary access to operate your garage door by simply having the person download the free app and adding them to your permissions, thus providing a virtual key for a set amount of time or indefinitely.

Time features make Aladdin Connect a must have for homeowners concerned about safety and security for their garage. The door can be set to close automatically at any time so you don't worry about someone leaving the door open. It can also be set to close after a specific amount of time, so if you get distracted somewhere else the garage door won't stay open too long.

The Genie DC motor provides strength and superior sound reduction, and provides Soft Start & Stop Control which allows the door to start and stop its movement gradually. This helps keep noise to a minimum and saves wear and tear on the door from sudden jerking or stopping. A six-foot power cord makes outlets easier to reach, sometimes saving the need to install a new outlet box or move an existing one.

The battery backup can be purchased with the power head, or separately as an accessory. As homeowners realize the importance of being able to operate the garage door in a power outage, more want the option to help make circumstances easier and more secure while waiting for power to be restored.

"The Model 3120 is Genie's first operator with integrated Wi-Fi connectivity, but we have experience with smart garage door openers," said Josh Funk, residential product manager for Genie. "Our Aladdin Connect App and add-on Aladdin Connect Garage Door Controller have been available in the market for some time, and we have been able to perfect our set-up process as well as the features offered through the Aladdin Connect app. This will be a great success for Genie and our customers are going to love it."

The remote included with the Model 3120, incorporates Genie's superior Intellicode encryption system, comes pre-programmed with easy instructions to reprogram if desired. The built-in Auto Seek technology in Genie remotes uses both 315 and 390 MHz frequencies to reduce potential interference from local military base equipment or other sources.

The Model 3120 can be further enhanced with innovative accessories. These options include the Genie LED light bulb, designed specifically for garage door openers and a wireless exterior keypad, among others.

The Model 3120, as all Genie openers, is compatible with ALL current and previous versions of HomeLink and Car2U. That's an advantage over openers that require an additional converter or compatibility bridge to make their units compatible with the in-car remote systems.

ABOUT THE GENIE COMPANY

The Genie Company is based in Mt. Hope, Ohio, and is a leading manufacturer of garage door openers and accessories for residential and commercial applications. With its main manufacturing facility in Baltic, Ohio, its roots run deep as an American brand that has been synonymous with garage door openers since 1954. The Genie name itself is a well-recognized icon among homeowners, builders, and dealers. Genie distributes its openers and accessories through a broad distribution channel of professional dealers, wholesalers, and retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada. Genie is a separate division of Overhead Door Corporation.

For more information or regular updates, become a Genie fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, or go to our website at www.GenieCompany.com.

SOURCE The Genie Company

Related Links

http://www.GenieCompany.com


"Paul Macaluso is sharp, action-oriented and innovative, making him a great fit for our team at Krystal," said Michael A. Klump, Founder and President of Argonne Capital Group , which owns Krystal along with other multi-unit brands. "We're all looking forward to his winning attitude and his ability to drive outstanding relationships and results."

Macaluso has a strong history of impact in the restaurant industry across marketing, operations and digital initiatives. He began his career with YUM! Brands Inc., starting as a general manager and ultimately holding several management roles within the Taco Bell Corporation. He then led brand strategy, menu development, and product marketing for Burger King Corporation and Sonic Industries. Most recently at Focus Brands, Macaluso began as CMO of Moe's Southwest Grill and ultimately rose to President of McAlister's Deli, where he was responsible for significant growth in unit count, same store sales and profitability along with the launch of several technology initiatives. Despite his success with McAlister's, Paul could not resist the opportunity to lead an iconic brand like Krystal into a new era.

"Krystal is the original challenger brand," said Macaluso, "And we're going to make sure we regain share of minds and hearts with our guests. Get ready to share great times in new ways at Krystal, built on our unique food and fun spirit no other restaurant brand can match."

About The Krystal Company

Founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1932, The Krystal Company is the oldest quick service restaurant chain in the South. Its hamburgers are still served fresh and hot off the grill on the iconic square bun at more than 360 restaurants in 11 states. Krystal's Atlanta-based Restaurant Support Center serves a team of 6,000 employees. For more information, visit http://www.Krystal.com or http://www.facebook.com/Krystal or follow the brand on Twitter and Instagram @Krystal.

Contact: Kim Miller

305-631-2883

[email protected]

Contact: Sloane Perras

770-351-4580

[email protected]

SOURCE The Krystal Company

Related Links

http://www.krystal.com


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing programmatic efforts to increase the flow of participants into clinical studies that urgently need them, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) launched the "Parkinson's Clinical Trial Companion" educational suite. This new resource, available at www.michaeljfox.org/PDcompanion, educates patients and families about the power of participating in research and furnishes teams running clinical studies with high-quality tools to recruit and retain volunteers.

Clinical trials are the final, vital step in developing new therapies for Parkinson's disease (PD). Unfortunately, across all research, 85 percent of trials face delays and 30 percent never get off the ground due to a lack of volunteers. In a 2014 Harris poll conducted on behalf of MJFF, only 36 percent of Parkinson's patients reported feeling informed about opportunities to participate in clinical research.

"Patient participation in research is key to driving scientific breakthroughs and cures. Yet clinical trials routinely encounter roadblocks that slow progress, including a chronic shortage of volunteers," said MJFF CEO Todd Sherer, PhD. "We believe it is our obligation to foster partnerships among patients, families and researchers to bring more people with the disease into Parkinson's clinical trials by educating potential study participants and supporting trial teams' recruitment efforts."

Materials Tailored to Support Two Audiences: Patients and Trial Teams

One part educational guide for people with PD, and one part resource for clinical trial teams, Parkinson's Clinical Trial Companion is designed to holistically address challenges in clinical trial recruitment by supporting two key audiences:

In the Trial Participant Pack, patients and families will find "Navigating Clinical Trials," a comprehensive 52-page guide illuminating and demystifying multiple aspects of clinical research including:

patients and families will find "Navigating Clinical Trials," a comprehensive 52-page guide illuminating and demystifying multiple aspects of clinical research including: basics, including informed consent process, phases of studies and other fundamentals;



genetic testing;



research at every stage of disease;



technology-enabled research opportunities;



international research opportunities;



the role of families and care partners in supporting participation

Intended as a global resource, the patient guide will be translated and available in Spanish, French, German and Italian. The guide is complemented by personal stories and videos featuring patients, care partners and clinical research professionals providing information and first-person viewpoints on their experiences.

In the Trial Resource Pack, clinical trial teams will find a best practices manual disseminating a wealth of information and knowledge, with the participant journey as an organizing principle for optimizing clinical trial design. The manual takes advantage of new technologies that recently have increased patient awareness and enthusiasm for clinical trial participation, made data collection easier and opened new routes to novel discoveries.



The guide is complemented by a downloadable toolkit that anyone designing a clinical trial can customize and use to present a study to the Parkinson's community, with 34 templates for practical trial needs such as digital marketing, one-pager informational flyers and other key tools to support patient recruitment and retention.

"The task of recruiting and retaining study participants need not be overwhelming," said Tanya Simuni, MD, professor of neurology and head of the division of movement disorders at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Parkinson's Clinical Trial Companion offers trial teams a step-by-step, patient-centered approach to support progress in Parkinson's research through practical resources designed to help streamline participant enrollment and ensure that volunteers continue through to the trial's end."

A Longstanding Commitment to Research Engagement

The Michael J. Fox Foundation is committed to educating patients and families about their power to accelerate new therapies by participating in clinical research, and to building practical, user-friendly resources to help more people get involved. In 2012, MJFF launched the online smart-matching tool Fox Trial Finder (www.foxtrialfinder.org), an online platform that connects volunteers with and without PD to clinical trials in their area, increasing the efficiency of the enrollment process and empowering patients to get more involved in the discovery of new therapies. The Foundation frequently hosts and presents at clinical trial fairs and other Parkinson's community events throughout the nation. And MJFF is the sponsor of Fox Insight, an online clinical study that collects day-to-day information on the lived experience and genetics of Parkinson's, and the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, a landmark clinical study focused on identifying and validating Parkinson's disease biomarkers.

Funding for Parkinson's Clinical Trial Companion was provided by members of MJFF's 2017 Parkinson's Disease Education Consortium: ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (steering committee member), Pfizer (steering committee member), Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Cellular Dynamics International, Lundbeck, Prothena Biosciences and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. This alliance of biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms support the Foundation's commitment to furnishing high-quality educational resources for the Parkinson's community with corporate sponsorship that allows MJFF to create and distribute materials such as the Parkinson's Clinical Trial Companion suite while preserving its track record of efficiency in stewarding donor-raised contributions for maximum impact on Parkinson's drug development.

"I am grateful to the researchers, neurologists and everyone in the Parkinson's community for their contributions and dedication to the pursuit of a cure," said Steve DeWitte, a member of the Foundation's Patient Council. "But there's one thing patients must do ourselves: participate in clinical trials. By making the decision to get involved in research, we can help overcome a major roadblock on the path to a cure."

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

As the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson's disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson's patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding more than $800 million in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson's research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson's disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson's awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world. For more information, visit us on the Web , Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

SOURCE The Michael J. Fox Foundation

Related Links

www.michaeljfox.org


The miix sneaker consists of up to seven different parts including the base, insole, heel, tongue, heel patch, straps and laces. The design allows the consumer to make a low, mid or high cut from the same design, unlike any other shoe on the market.

In contrast to other attempts at mass customization, miix footwear can be a different shoe every day. All parts are infinitely interchangeable so one shoe has the potential to become more than seven million different looks on an ongoing basis just by continuously mixing and matching parts.

"miix footwear is about more than just making one sneaker to your liking," said Mayds Levy, co-founder and CEO of miix footwear. "It's about being able to express yourself in the moment and creating a living product that can constantly adapt, change and reflect your personality, style and mood."

Once shipping, all miix components will be available for immediate delivery so consumers can continue to change the look of the footwear even post-initial purchase. "miix not only allows the consumer to pick a design, but be actively involved in making something," added Levy. "We are empowering consumers to be involved in the creation process- not just today, but tomorrow, and the day after that. The miix experience is not over once you get your shoes- it's just beginning!"

The patented miix design is the byproduct of more than four years of advanced research, design and development by an award-winning in-house team. Every component is carefully engineered and tested for fit, function and durability, even after prolonged use.

All spring pre-orders will be delivered by July of 2018.

miix footwear is exclusively available at miixfootwear.com.

About miix footwear

miix Footwear is based in Toronto, Canada and was founded in 2014 by Mayds Levy. miix is a direct-to-consumer lifestyle footwear brand, manufacturer and retailer that creates infinitely modular, customizable footwear offered through a unique online 3D platform. miix empowers a consumer to be a part of the making process as a means for personalization and self-expression.

SOURCE miix footwear
Mr. Girardi is being recognized as Business Innovator of the Year for 2018, because he inspires professionals on every level and professionals in all industries. He is also being recognized for his numerous accomplishments, accolades, for his 50 years of service as a practicing attorney Partner & Co-Founder of Girardi & Keese, his leadership abilities, and for his endless generosity to society.

Thomas Vincent Girardi has certainly proven himself as an accomplished professional and expert litigator who has become a household name. From being the trial lawyer on the famous Erin Brockovich case to his solid victories against Vioxx, Merck and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mr. Girardi is regarded by his peers as one of the nation's top trial lawyers of all time. He has obtained more than 30 verdicts of $1 million or more and has handled more than 100 settlements of $1 million or more. He has tried more than 100 jury cases, winning the first California medical malpractice verdict of $1 million or more, back in the 1970s and he has had a few billion dollar settlements under his belt. His areas of practice include Wrongful Death, Commercial Litigation, Products Liability, Bad Faith Insurance and Toxic Torts.

Mr. Girardi attended Loyola Law School and graduated in 1964. He then enrolled in a master's program at NYU receiving his LLM in 1965. In addition to running the firm, he has also been an Associate Professor at Loyola Law School from 1976 to the Present and was recipient of the "Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1997 and in 2005 named "Champion of Justice" from the law school.

Throughout his illustrious career, Thomas Vincent Girardi has been active in his community, received numerous awards, accolades and recognized worldwide for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the legal profession

The International Association of Top Professionals just completed Mr. Girardi's film documentary which will be aired to over 400 media outlets and can be viewed here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MckYFQ0l6x8&t=57s

For more information please visit: http://www.thomasvgirardi.com

Watch his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MA-kbMkPSw

Contact: Stephanie Cirami, 212-634-4427

SOURCE International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP)
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three trauma surgeons representing the The Western Trauma Association will speak out about the devastating damage military-style assault weapons can inflict on victims and explain why they support a total ban on the sale, transfer, manufacture and importation of assault weapons and high capacity magazines at a National Press Club Headliners Newsmaker on Wednesday, April 11 at 10 a.m.

Panelists will include:

Dr. Ernest "Gene" Moore, MD, FACS, A Past president of the WTA, Editor Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon, Trauma Surgeon in Denver, Colorado who took care of patients from Columbine and the Aurora Theater incidents. Per discussions and prior press interviews he is an avid hunter and gun owner.

who took care of patients from Columbine and the Aurora Theater incidents. Per discussions and prior press interviews he is an avid hunter and gun owner. Dr. Tom Scalea , MD, FACS, Past president of the WTA, Trauma Surgeon Maryland Shock Trauma, Baltimore . Has worked at trauma centers in New York City and Baltimore and cared for multitudes of individuals who have suffered firearm violence.

, MD, FACS, Past president of the WTA, Trauma Surgeon Maryland Shock Trauma, . Has worked at trauma centers in and and cared for multitudes of individuals who have suffered firearm violence. Dr. Dennis Vane , MD, FACS, Immediate Past president of the WTA, pediatric surgeon who practiced in Vermont and St. Louis .

This press conference is open to credentialed media and Press Club members free of charge, with advance registration required. Please click here to register.

About The Western Trauma Association:

The Western Trauma Association is a nonpartisan organization of physicians and surgeons from multiple medical specialties committed to preventing injury and advancing the treatment and care of trauma victims through research, education and the continued development of all clinicians involved in the care of trauma patients.

The National Press Club is located on the 13th Floor of the National Press Building at 529 14th St., NW, Washington, D.C.

Contact:

Lindsay Underwood

The National Press Club

[email protected]

(202) 662-7561

SOURCE National Press Club
April: 10 things to do for $10 or less

April is National Jazz Appreciation Month. Celebrate with the return of Jazz on the Green, set for 6 p.m. on April 12 and April 26 on Goizueta Business Schools Patterson Green. Emory Photo/Video

April is a song, dance, movies and more kind of month. There are multiple opportunities to hear all kinds of music  from Indonesian to Broadway to American to electronic. Theres a puppet show, a poetry reading, events for expanding your mind and your spirit. Better yet, most of the April events on Emorys campus are free.

Here are 10 things to do for less than $10 this month:

1. Celebrate National Jazz Appreciation Month.

April is National Jazz Appreciation Month and Emory Jazz Combos perform on Tuesday, April 3, at 8 p.m. at Emerson Concert Hall in the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Then, Jazz on the Green returns, beginning Thursday, April 12, and again on Thursday, April 26. Both outdoor performances are at 6 p.m. on Patterson Green at Goizueta Business School. All three performances are free.

April is a very musical month at Emory and you can find music to suit any taste, with almost all performances free. Check out the Arts@Emory calendar for concerts and recitals that offer a variety of genres.

2. Kick it up a notch on National Walking Day 2018.

Join in the organized walks on Emorys campus on Wednesday, April 4. Answer this call-to-action from the American Heart Association to increase your physical activity and well-being by participating in your choice of more than two dozen walks on Emory University and Emory Healthcare campuses. Thousands of people across the country will be walking, too, on this sponsored day. This activity is free.

3. Unravel the mystery of the Great Sphinx at Giza.

This Egyptian Wonder of the World has been dazzling people for centuries. Come to the Michael C. Carlos Museums Ackerman Hall on Thursday, April 5, at 4 p.m. to enjoy afternoon tea and scones at the museums monthly AntiquiTEA event. Gay Robins, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Art History, will discuss the different forms of this half-human, half-Big Cat, which alternate between protective and aggressive.

4. Learn about the Tibetan government in exile and its future goals.

Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, president of the Tibetan government in exile, will speak on Monday, April 9, at 7 p.m. in Tull Auditorium, Gambrell Hall, at Emory Law. His topic is "The Tibetan Peoples Transition to Secular Democracy." The talk is free and open to the public.

5. Enjoy a feast for your eyes with StageWorks 2018.

These musical performances feature Emory students in costume performing selections from operas, including Mozarts The Magic Flute, and Broadway musicals, including Guys & Dolls. The free event is Friday, April 13, at 8 p.m. in the Performing Arts Studio on North Decatur Road.

6. Experience the art of shadow puppetry.

Wayang Kulit: Shadow Puppet Drama is a form of puppet theatre art from Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, telling a dramatic story through the shadows thrown by puppets. The story will be accompanied by the Emory Gamelan Ensemble's live music. Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. This free performance is Saturday, April 14, at 8 p.m. at the Performing Arts Studio on North Decatur Road.

7. Exercise your rite to celebrate spring with music and dance.

The Rites of Spring features Vivaldis Spring from the Four Seasons and Stravinskys ballet The Rite of Spring. Performers are pianists Robert Spano, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra music director, and Elena Cholakova with original choreography performed by Staibdance and ImmerseATL. The free concert is Saturday, April 14, at 8 p.m. in Emerson Concert Hall of Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.

On Tuesday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m., the Michael C. Carlos Museum and Georgia Public Broadcasting will screen the first episode of the new PBS series Civilizations, which explores the power of art from earliest civilizations to the present. The nine-part series was inspired by Kenneth Clarks landmark 1969 series on Western art; it will be narrated by actor Liev Schreiber. The free screening will be held in the museums Ackerman Hall.

Dooley After Dark presents Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, open to the Emory community, on Friday, April 20 in Harland Cinema. Doors open at 8:30 p.m., and the free show starts at 9 p.m.

A talk by Sister Joan Chittister is based on her book Radical Spirit that offers a practical program of 12 simple rules for healthy spiritual living. Chittister is an enthusiastic proponent of spiritual enrichment and a passionate advocate for social justice. She gives her free talk on Sunday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Cannon Chapel.
WABAN, Mass., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TriCare delivers the best customer experience in the health plan industry, according to the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual customer experience benchmark of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

Of the 14 health plans included in this year's Ratings, TriCare earned the highest rating with a score of 67%, which puts it in 184th place overall out of 318 companies across 20 industries. BCBS of New Jersey came in a close second, earning a score of 65% and ranking of 217th overall.

Temkin Ratings: The Open-Source Benchmark of Customer Experience And Loyalty (TemkinRatings.com)

Overall, the health plan industry averaged a 57% rating in the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings and came in 19th place out of 20 industries. The average rating of the industry improved by 0.4 percentage-points between 2017 and 2018, going from 57.0% to 57.4%.

The ratings of all health plans in the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings are as follows:

TriCare : 67%

: 67% BCBS of New Jersey : 65%

: 65% Humana : 64%

: 64% Kaiser Permanente : 63%

: 63% BCBS of Michigan : 62%

: 62% United Healthcare : 60%

: 60% Medicare : 59%

: 59% BCBS of Florida : 59%

: 59% Aetna : 58%

: 58% Blue Cross Blue Shield plan not listed : 58%

: 58% CIGNA : 55%

: 55% Anthem : 53%

: 53% Blue Shield of California : 52%

: 52% Medicaid: 49%

"The heath plan industry once again finds itself at the bottom of the Ratings. If these companies ever want to improve, they really need to focus on the emotional component of their customer experience," states Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group.

BCBS of Florida's customer experience score improved the most over the previous year, gaining six points. CIGNA's score, on the other hand, declined the most, dropping by six points.

Now in its eighth year of publication, the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings is the most comprehensive benchmark of customer experience in the industry, evaluating 318 companies across 20 industries: airlines, auto dealers, banks, computer & tablet makers, credit card issuers, fast food chains, health plans, hotels & rooms, insurance carriers, investment firms, parcel delivery services, rental cars & transport, retailers, software firms, streaming media, supermarket chains, TV & appliance makers, TV/Internet service providers, utilities, and wireless carriers.

To generate these ratings, Temkin Group asked 10,000 U.S. consumers to evaluate their recent experiences with a company across three dimensions: success (can you do what you want to do?), effort (how easy is it to work with the company?), and emotion (how do you feel about the interactions?). Temkin Group then averaged these three scores to produce each company's Temkin Experience Rating.

In these ratings, a score of 70% or above is considered "good," and a score of 80% or above is considered "excellent," while a score below 60% is considered "poor."

The 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings, along with other ratings, can be accessed at the Temkin Ratings website, www.TemkinRatings.com.

The free report, "2018 Temkin Experience Ratings," is available for download at the Customer Experience Matters blog (ExperienceMatters.blog) and at the Temkin Group website, www.TemkinGroup.com.

About Temkin Group: Temkin Group is a leading customer experience research, consulting, and training firm. Many of the world's largest brands rely on its insights and advice to steer their transformational journeys, and Temkin Group accelerates their results by combining customer experience thought leadership with a deep understanding of organizational dynamics. Rather than layering on cosmetic changes, Temkin Group helps companies embed practices within their culture by building up four core competencies: Purposeful Leadership, Employee Engagement, Compelling Brand Values, and Customer Connectedness. The firm's ongoing research identifies leading and emerging best practices for engaging the hearts and minds of customers, employees, and partners. For more information, contact Bruce Temkin at 617-916-2075 or send an email to [email protected].

*Customer Experience Matters is a registered trademark of Temkin Group.

SOURCE Temkin Group

Related Links

http://www.TemkinGroup.com


EWING, N.J., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The makers of Trojan Brand Condoms and Advocates for Youth, a leading organization supporting young people's sexual health and rights, announced the launch of the "Consent. Ask For It." campaign timed to today's Sexual Assault Awareness Month Day of Action. Entering its fourth year, the program will continue to extend the impact it has already made with millions of students by offering information and resources to help create a culture of consent.

Consent. Ask For It

"Today's mainstream dialogue surrounding the issue of sexual assault is different from the discussions taking place on college campuses," said Debra Hauser, the President of Advocates for Youth, which works with young people on more than 1,200 campuses and communities nationwide. "It's about how to initiate these intimate conversations and having the courage to make their voices heard. Giving students the tools to educate their peers and college administrations is critical to moving the next generation toward a world where sexual assault does not exist."

Trojan and Advocates for Youth have collaborated to produce a suite of materials that will fuel the conversation on campus and online. On-campus events will take place across the country, leveraging an activist toolkit, posters, giveaways and free Trojan Brand Condoms. Students can get involved online by helping spread the message on social media using #AskForConsent and by pledging support at www.AskForConsent.com.

The "Consent. Ask For It." campaign is aimed at normalizing the conversation around consent, providing clear lines on what consent means, and removing the stigma many students feel about discussing the topic. It goes beyond "yes" and "no" to establish consent as an active, informed, enthusiastic and ongoing response that is a mandatory part of every sexual interaction.

"At its core, consent is about having a positive sexual experience for both partners each and every time," said Stephanie Berez, Director of Marketing for Trojan Brand Condoms. "As an advocate for safe, healthy and pleasurable sex, Trojan is committed to supporting the incredible work by the Advocates for Youth student activists who are on the frontlines of making a difference for their generation."

To find more details on the campaign and to take the pledge, visit www.AskForConsent.com. Follow @TrojanCondoms on Twitter and/or Facebook.com/Trojan to join the conversation with #AskForConsent.

ABOUT TROJAN BRAND CONDOMS

Trojan Brand Condoms are America's #1 condom, trusted for over 100 years. Trojan Brand latex condoms are made from premium quality latex to help reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Every condom is electronically tested to help ensure reliability. There are more than 30 varieties of Trojan Brand Condoms. More Americans trust the Trojan Brand than any other condom. The maker of Trojan Brand Condoms is committed to investing in public health efforts to support sexual health. For more information, visit www.TrojanBrands.com.

ABOUT ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

Advocates for Youth is a national non-profit that champions efforts that help young people make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. Advocates believes it can best serve the field by boldly advocating for a more positive and realistic approach to adolescent sexual health. Advocates focuses its work on young people ages 14-25 in the U.S. and around the globe. For more information, visit advocatesforyouth.org.

Contact

Sophia Feleke

212.738.6127

[email protected]

SOURCE Trojan Brand Condoms

Related Links

http://www.trojanbrands.com


FREDERICK, Md., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SLCA) announced today that it will release its first quarter 2018 financial results before the New York Stock Exchange opens on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. This release will be followed by a conference call for investors on Tuesday, April 24, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the results. Hosting the call will be Bryan Shinn, president and chief executive officer and Don Merril, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Investors are invited to listen to a live webcast of the conference call by visiting the "Investor Resources" section of the Company's website at www.ussilica.com. The webcast will be archived for one year. The call can also be accessed live over the telephone by dialing (877) 869-3847 or for international callers, (201) 689-8261. A replay will be available shortly after the call and can be accessed by dialing (877) 660-6853 or for international callers, (201) 612-7415. The conference ID for the replay is 13678325. The replay will be available through May 23, 2018.

About U.S. Silica

U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc., a member of the Russell 2000, is a leading producer of commercial silica used in the oil and gas industry, and in a wide range of industrial applications. Over its 118-year history, U.S. Silica has developed core competencies in mining, processing, logistics and materials science that enable it to produce and cost-effectively deliver over 260 products to customers across our end markets. The Company currently operates nine industrial sand production plants and nine oil and gas sand production plants. The Company is headquartered in Frederick, Maryland and also has offices located in Chicago, Illinois and Houston, Texas.

Investor Contacts

Michael Lawson

Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

301-682-0304

[email protected]

Nick Shaver

Investor Relations Manager

281-394-9630

[email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ussilica.com


ATLANTA, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Veristor Systems, Inc., a leading provider of transformative business technology solutions, today announced that Jackie Groark, Veristor's Director of Security/CISO will be a featured presenter at the Alabama Cyber NOW Conference on April 12. Groark's presentation, "Left and Right of Boom: Preparation and Response for the Dynamic Cybersecurity Threat," will provide practical, real-world tips for organizations looking to ensure that they are ready to face today's ever-increasing cybersecurity threats.

"In this world of ever evolving threats and threat actors, we not only need to be prepared to respond, but we must react and respond accurately," said Groark. "A solid approach must not only consider how to anticipate new vulnerabilities but how to also quickly isolate and remediate threats when they penetrate our defenses. During Alabama Cyber NOW, I will discuss key steps to take both right and left of boom. As a result, you will discover new ways to further minimize risk and improve your security posture."

Groark, a security-industry expert, joined Veristor in 2017 following her career with Southern Company where she served in various leadership roles for both infrastructure and application teams providing critical business solutions across the enterprise. For five years, she served as the Southern Company's IT Security Director, Threat Management & Intelligence. During her time with Southern Company, Groark directed the ground-up development of a Security Operations Center (SOC) that encompasses threat monitoring, incident response, content development and threat intelligence. She also helped design an Insider Threat Program; building and providing leadership for the Insider Threat Fusion Center. In addition, she managed the implementation and support of the underlying infrastructure and tools that supported both the SOC and the Insider Threat Program.

Alabama Cyber NOW is an annual conference hosted by TechBirmingham, the Central Alabama Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (CAISSA) and the InfraGard Birmingham Members Alliance. The event will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on April 12 at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel. Featuring presentations about the latest in cybersecurity trends, technologies and best practices from industry experts, Alabama Cyber NOW offers CPE credits for attendees. For more information and to register visit: https://www.techbirmingham.com/events/special-events/alabama-cyber-now-conference.

Veristor Security Solutions cover the entire enterprise landscape, from endpoint to data center to cloud, and all points in between. With a perfected combination of tools and best practices, Veristor delivers the complete security visibility organizations need across their entire IT ecosystem. From discovering security vulnerabilities to pinpointing unpatched servers, Veristor Security Solutions will close the loop on security processes and provide the tools and services needed to make business both safe and secure. For more information about Veristor's security practice, visit: https://veristor.com/datacenter-solutions/security-solutions.

About Veristor Systems, Inc.

A leading provider of transformative business technology solutions, Veristor helps its customers accelerate the time-to-value for the software, infrastructure and systems they deploy. We do this by harnessing deep expertise in today's most advanced data center, security, networking, hybrid cloud, and big data technologies and guiding businesses to the right solutions for their most pressing challenges. And with a full suite of design, deployment, support, and managed service offerings, we work shoulder-to-shoulder with our customers at every step of their technology journey to make technology truly work for them. IT's just who we are. Learn more at veristor.com.

SOURCE Veristor Systems, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.veristor.com


ATLANTA, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Packaging Solutions segment of Veritiv Corporation (NYSE: VRTV) will present innovative products and services customized for the aerospace industry at MRO Americas 2018 to be held April 10-12 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.

Veritiv, a Fortune 500 company and a leading North American business-to-business distributor, creates packaging, logistics, and facility solutions programs for many industries, including a number of industry-leading aerospace companies. The company partners with world-class suppliers and brands to offer more than 100,000 unique products that support the aerospace industry.

Attendees of MRO Americas 2018 are encouraged to visit Veritiv representatives and some of its suppliers at booth #185. For information about Veritiv's solutions and services for the aerospace industry or to book an advanced appointment with a Veritiv representative at MRO Americas, contact [email protected].

MRO Americas is the premier event for the commercial air transport maintenance, repair and overhaul industry, designed by the leading and trusted brand in the aviation/aerospace industry  Aviation Week. MRO Americas provides a world-class venue for all those involved in the manufacturing, repair, and overhaul sector to exchange ideas and best practices, share experiences, debate issues and challenges, and gather knowledge.

About Veritiv

Veritiv Corporation (NYSE: VRTV), headquartered in Atlanta and a Fortune 500 company, is a leading North American business-to-business distributor of packaging, facility solutions, print and publishing products and services; and also a provider of logistics and supply chain management services. Serving customers in a wide range of industries, the Company has approximately 170 distribution centers throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada, and employs approximately 8,900 team members worldwide who help shape the success of its customers. For more information about Veritiv and its business segments, visit www.veritivcorp.com.

SOURCE Veritiv Corporation

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http://www.veritivcorp.com


FREMONT, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Virtual Reality Industry Forum (VRIF) today announced it will be hosting a 2-hour Master Class at NAB 2018 in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 8. The Master Class features experts from Ericsson, Intel, and Sky. Speakers will discuss the state of VR services and provide a concise overview of VRIF's Guidelines published this spring. These Guidelines focus on the delivery ecosystem of 360 video and document interoperability, best production practices including human factors, and security considerations for VR streaming.

VRIF member companies will highlight interoperability between VR360 implementations based on the VRIF Guidelines, with demonstrations at a VRIF Exhibit at the NAB Futures Park in North Hall, booth N2034FP. Imeve will demonstrate production-ready 6K live video streamed from the Z CAM S1 camera using streaming manifests to signal the format of a live VR360 stream, based on VRIF's Guidelines. Nokia, as part of its research and support for industry standards, will demonstrate a playback system for viewport-dependent video streaming as documented in VRIF's Guidelines, with content created by Fraunhofer HHI. Saving bandwidth, such viewport-dependent streaming transmits the user's viewport in the highest quality while sending the invisible parts of the VR scene in lower resolution.

After publishing its Guidelines earlier this year, VRIF now focuses on making tools available for testing interoperability, including content and software. VRIF is planning enhancements to its Guidelines, addressing live VR360 services and how to deal with high dynamic range (HDR) in VR content.

"One of the big challenges facing VR 360, both on-demand and live, is the need for interoperable solutions that support requirements such as higher resolutions, viewport-adaptive streaming, and stereoscopic vision. No one company can solve these issues on their own, and VRIF is playing a very important role to help multiple players across the industry to come together and deliver solutions to meet customer needs," said Devon Copley, Co-founder and CEO of Imeve, a recent addition to the VRIF membership.

"At this year's NAB Master Class, we will discuss the current state of VR deployments, what we can learn from recent events such as the Olympic Games, and how the industry can best move forward through collaboration and standardized approaches," said Rob Koenen, President of the Virtual Reality Industry Forum. "We are particularly excited to have member companies showing actual implementations of our Guidelines in the Futures Park."

The VRIF Master Class will be held on April 8 from 10:00am - noon at the Las Vegas Convention Center, room N239/N241. For more information or to register to attend this free event, visit https://www.vr-if.org/events/vrif-at-nab-2018/. VRIF is also a media partner for Light Reading's NAB breakfast event on Monday, April 9, "The Reality of VR Video." Rob Koenen, VRIF President, will participate in the panel discussion.

About VRIF

Launched at CES 2017 to further the widespread availability of high quality audiovisual VR experiences for the benefit of consumers, VRIF today includes 40 member organizations, representing a broad range of participants from sectors including, but not limited to, the movie, television, mobile, broadcast and interactive gaming ecosystems, comprising content creators, content distributors, consumer electronics manufacturers, professional equipment manufacturers and technology companies. Membership in VRIF is open to all parties that support its mission. VRIF relies on Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) to develop relevant standards, and frequently liaises with such SDOs.

Charter members of VRIF include: CableLabs, Dolby, DTS, EBU, Ericsson, Fraunhofer, Huawei Technologies, Intel, Nokia Technologies, Qualcomm, Sky and TNO. Contributor level company members include: Akamai, ARRIS, b<>com, Harmonic, Inside Secure, Irdeto, MediaTek, Monotype, Sony Pictures, Thomson licensing SAS (Technicolor), Verizon and Viaccess-Orca.

For more information, visit http://www.vr-if.org.

Media Contact

Sarah Lum

Bondi Blue for VR Industry Forum

+1.650.785.2583

[email protected]

SOURCE VR Industry Forum

Related Links

http://www.vr-if.org


Bill Wein , Walker & Dunlop Capital Markets chief production officer, commented, "We are excited to welcome Justin to Walker & Dunlop and to continue strengthening our presence in the active South Florida market with his expertise and diverse client relationships. Throughout his career, Justin has developed a track record of arranging innovative debt and equity financing solutions for his clients, and he will be a valuable asset to our team."

Prior to joining Walker & Dunlop, Mr. Neelis served as director of capital markets and investor relations for a South Florida real estate investment and development firm that specializes in acquiring and repositioning multifamily, hospitality, and mixed-use properties throughout the United States. Mr. Neelis was previously the co-founder and managing partner at Venetian Capital Partners where he raised equity capital for limited partnership syndications from global investors.

In 2017, Walker & Dunlop originated $7.3 billion of brokered loan volume, a 75 percent increase over 2016. This dramatic growth has largely been due to the Company's successful hiring and integration of talented bankers and brokers throughout the United States. In aggregate, Walker & Dunlop's Miami-based team has closed $16 billion of transaction volume. To learn more about Walker & Dunlop's diverse financing options, visit our website.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the largest commercial real estate services and finance companies in the United States providing financing and investment sales to owners of multifamily and commercial properties. Walker & Dunlop, which is included in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, has over 600 professionals in 28 offices across the nation with an unyielding commitment to client satisfaction.

SOURCE Walker & Dunlop, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.walkerdunlop.com


NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A global leader in online multi-asset trading services, OANDA is pleased to announce Warren Faleiro has joined the firm as Chief Technology Officer, based in Toronto. A 20-year industry veteran who has worked with some of the world's most innovative companies, he will be responsible for driving OANDA's global technology strategy while providing technical leadership across all areas of the business. Faleiro's appointment further demonstrates OANDA's ongoing commitment to driving innovation in the financial services arena.

Vatsa Narasimha, CEO of OANDA Corporation, commented, "A FinTech company at heart, OANDA was built on the belief that technology would open up the markets to create fair access for everyone, and we remain just as dedicated to this belief today. Combining deep technical expertise with extensive experience in disruptive technologies, Warren will be an invaluable asset as we explore new ways to leverage our technology and drive growth in the future. I'm delighted to welcome him as our new CTO."

Faleiro commented, "Over the years, I've watched with admiration as OANDA has combined a passion for innovation with ground-breaking technology in order to transform the business of foreign exchange for both consumers and corporates alike. The company has long been driven by a culture of technical excellence. As such, I'm looking forward to introducing new product development and innovation strategies across the entire breadth of the firm  from the trading platform to our rates, payments, data and analytics businesses  further fueling our success in the years to come."

OANDA has been responsible for a number of breakthroughs over the years. In 1996, the firm changed the way the world accessed currency information, becoming the first organization to share exchange rate data free of charge on the Internet. And in 2001, OANDA launched a trading platform that helped pioneer the development of Internet-based currency trading around the world.

About Warren Faleiro

Chief Technology Officer, OANDA

Based in Toronto, Warren Faleiro is OANDA's Chief Technology Officer, responsible for driving the company's product development strategy and providing technical leadership across all areas of the business. With more than 20 years of experience extending from Toronto to the San Francisco Bay area, he has worked for some of the world's most innovative companies including FreshBooks, Danal and Verisign. Warren holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

About OANDA

A global leader in online multi-asset trading services, OANDA combines award-winning technology and institutional-grade execution across a wide range of asset classes, enabling clients to trade global market indices, commodities, treasuries, precious metals and currencies on one of the world's fastest platforms. The company also offers OANDA Rates, a corporate solution that helps the world's leading audit firms, taxation authorities and MNCs mitigate currency risk, improve efficiencies and optimize working capital. Established in 1996, OANDA has offices in the world's most active financial markets including New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo, Toronto and Sydney and is fully regulated by six major authorities. For more information, please visit oanda.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.

SOURCE OANDA Corporation
The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Emory's nationally regarded haven for humanities scholarship, welcomed renowned art historian Walter Melion as its new director this past fall.

The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Emory's nationally regarded haven for humanities scholarship, welcomed renowned art historian Walter Melion as its new director this past fall. His vision for the FCHI seeks to build on its strengths in humanities scholarship while making the center's work more visible and accessible to the campus and public at large.

Humanistic study interrogates complex issues and poses question about how we inhabit the world, Melion says. The center should serve the fellows in residence, but also faculty and students on campus, as well as the Atlanta community. We want it to be very welcoming as we look to the future.

He succeeds founding director Martine Tina Brownley, who built FCHI into a powerhouse of intellectual community since its opening in 2001. Under her guidance, the Fox Center has been dedicated to nurturing disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship, fostering the publication of book projects, and increasing opportunities for research by undergraduates, graduate students, Emory faculty and post-docs recruited from around the country.

Its a legacy Melion, Emory College's Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Art History, is intent on sustaining and expanding. With the launch of several initiatives, the FCHI seeks to increase its profile as a haven for advanced research and public scholarship in the humanities.

Among them: a weekly works-in-progress seminar for fellows, soon to be supplemented by seminars for new faculty, new books seminars, and other initiatives to encourage intellectual community and scholarship across disciplines, as well as expanded opportunities for undergraduate fellows to engage in international research.

Establishing the hub

FCHI grew out of an initiative within Emory College of Arts & Sciences, whose department chairs and program directors wanted a focal point for research into various dimensions of the human experience. It was named after former professor, dean and senior vice president for institutional advancement Bill Fox and his wife, Carol, in 2006.

Brownley, the Goodrich C. White Professor of English, developed the FCHI from its concept into an incubator for new ideas in the humanities that taps into Emorys excellence in interdisciplinary research and teaching.

Anyone who cares about the humanities at Emory owes a tremendous debt to Tina Brownley for developing and maintaining the Fox Center as we know it, says Emory College Dean Michael A. Elliott. Walter Melion has been a visionary leader for the department of art history, and hes the right person to lead us through the next chapter of the Fox Center's evolution.

Building engagement

Hundreds of undergraduates, graduate students and professors have advanced understanding of humanity in the small complex of three early 20th century buildings perched on North Decatur Road, adjacent to Emorys Atlanta campus.

The center hosts at least two dozen fellows every year, including visiting professors, Emory faculty focused on completing book-length projects, and graduate students finishing dissertations.

It also has long served as home for two seminars for the broader community. The Great Works series focuses on defining works in various disciplines, while the Georgia Seminars series views the state through the lenses of history, literature, commerce and art.

Public events are also hosted at the FCHI that feature faculty authors, including the fellows who penned 78 books between 2008 and 2017.

While the FCHI is located a short walk from campus, Melion is working to make the center more visible both at Emory and in the community. The goal is to take FCHIs strong tradition of exploratory scholarship in the humanities and bring it to bear on topics of the public interest.

For instance, Melion partnered with Jeffrey Lesser, director of the Halle Institute for Global Research and Learning, to create a Global Research Fellowship. Administrators are in the process of selecting six undergraduates who will travel abroad for research this summer, then return in the fall to write an honors thesis or capstone project at the center.

The program will complement the existing six undergraduates selected as fellows each spring, to also work on their honors thesis or capstone work. Together, the programs will lead next year to a daylong colloquium that shares the final projects with the wider Emory community.

Our undergraduates often produce innovative, publishable work that should be shared, Melion says.

Likewise, Melion has begun seminars designed to open discussions among students, faculty and the broader Atlanta community.

With Laney Graduate School Dean Lisa Tedesco, Melion is serving as faculty director of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded Emory Humanities PhD Intervention Project," which aims to expand the range of professional competencies that graduate students are trained for and to encourage them in public scholarship. Project events are held regularly at the FCHI.

As the projects first invited speaker, Daniel Weiss, CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and previous president of two colleges, recently showed graduate students the practical value of combining a business degree with a PhD.

Melion similarly worked with Emory College faculty on the work-in-progress seminar, renamed "Europe and Beyond," that will meet twice each term.

He and the FCHIs small staff also are exploring the possibility of establishing a parallel seminar for professors connected to Middle Eastern, East Asian and South Asian Studies (MESAS).

As that develops, Melion already has confirmed that MESAS professor Ruby Lal will kick off a yearlong seminar focused on books by faculty. Lals book, Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, a biography of the consort of the Muslim emperor Jahangir and a contemporary to Queen Elizabeth I, is due this fall.

Adding those programs and others on top of existing efforts, Melion says, "will allow the Fox Center more actively to support humanities research at Emory, even while maintaining the centers identity as a scholarly refuge."
NEW YORK, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Report Scope:

The scope of this report covers types and applications of water meters, quality sensors and leak detectors used globally, as well as the subtypes of these products and their applications.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05370224



The report also covers regional markets for water meters and, the major players in each of these submarkets. Revenue forecasts are given for 2017 to 2022. It also identifies the major end-user industries for these products.



Report Includes:

- 63 data tables

- An overview of the global market for water meters, water quality sensors, and water leak detection systems in terms of their applications in various regions

- Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2016 and 2017, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022

- Coverage of various types of water meters, water quality sensors, and water leak detectors used for various applications

- Breakdowns of the market by major types, technologies, regions, and applications

- Identifications of major drivers, regional dynamics, and factors influencing the market, along with current trends within the industry

- Company profiles of major players in the market, including ABB, Atmos International Ltd., Danaher Corp., Honeywell International, Itron, Siemens and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.



Report Scope:

The scope of this report covers types and applications of water meters, quality sensors and leak detectors used globally, as well as the subtypes of these products and their applications.



The report also covers regional markets for water meters and, the major players in each of these submarkets. Revenue forecasts are given for 2017 to 2022. It also identifies the major end-user industries for these products.



Report Includes:

- 63 data tables

- An overview of the global market for water meters, water quality sensors, and water leak detection systems in terms of their applications in various regions

- Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2016 and 2017, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022

- Coverage of various types of water meters, water quality sensors, and water leak detectors used for various applications

- Breakdowns of the market by major types, technologies, regions, and applications

- Identifications of major drivers, regional dynamics, and factors influencing the market, along with current trends within the industry

- Company profiles of major players in the market, including ABB, Atmos International Ltd., Danaher Corp., Honeywell International, Itron, Siemens and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.



Reasons for Doing This Study



Through the forecast period of 2017 to 2022, the global market for water meters, water quality sensors and leak detectors will be driven by factors such as increasing demand for improved water metering by utility companies, increased awareness of water quality in various applications, increasing demand for wastewater treatment and reuse, water conservation and government regulations for the usage of leak detection systems.The increasing demand for better water infrastructure, particularly in North America, drives the global market.



In the developed economies of North America and Europe, the water infrastructures currently in use date back 20 years, and the need to replace them, preferably sooner rather than later, drives the market for water meters, quality sensors and leak detectors.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05370224



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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Contact Clare: [email protected]

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Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

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IDAHO FALLS, Idaho, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- VendTech International, parent of Naturals2Go, an industry leading healthy vending business opportunity company, as well as a number of other bulk and standard vending brands, is pleased to announce that they have a new CEO at the helm. Heath Falzarano takes on this new position. Already the co-owner of two other business ventures, Heath brings experience in the B2B, as well as the healthy vending industry.

Heath and his family in front of one of their Naturals2Go vending machines.

Heath owns and operates his own vending business, 716 Snacks (www.716snacks.com), getting his start with Naturals2Go in 2016. Naturals2Go's state of the art vending machines are designed to serve a variety of customers with modern features including cashless payments, online machine monitoring and customizable options that make for some of the best machines available in the business. He has continued to grow this venture, while also working with the Naturals2Go placement team. In his time with the company, he has come to both respect the core principles of the company and hopes to be a support to promote a thriving environment, not only within Naturals2Go but with all vending ventures that are available through VendTech International.

As an athlete, health and nutrition have always been important to Heath. He feels that healthy vending has a strong outlook on the future. You can expect to see a push towards this kind of brand, acclimating the current business model towards these avenues, as well as strong communication, a supportive behind the scenes team and the kind of structure within company ranks that promotes a welcoming work environment.

Heath brings an excited outlook to the table. He has always appreciated the frank and straightforward communication that he has received from VendTech and feels that teamwork is a large part of why the parent company has been able to cultivate their vending lines into some of the best in the business. While he doesn't have any radical changes that he plans to implement, he is certain that his experience will enable to him to provide strong leadership as the company steers its healthy vending onward, into the future. His goal is to stabilize the company culture, creating an open dialogue between VendTech and their vending brands, as well as to modernize the approach of the vending business.

We are excited to share this news with you and hope that you will join us in welcoming Heath Falzarano to the VendTech team. As a seasoned operator, he is bound to have insights for the vending brands here at VendTech and we are certain that he is just as excited to get started with his new role at the company.

During a phone call with one of the employees, Heath was quoted as saying: "This company is all about the people that lead it. The majority of that leadership is in the trenches, just like other operators. We live by the saying 'people do what you do, not what you tell them.'"

VendTech International is a Vending Business Opportunity Company aiming to add new vitality and healthier options to the vending industry while helping people start and run their own successful business.

For more information on this topic, please call Makayla Seger at 208-699-9169 or [email protected]. View the Naturals2Go website at www.naturals2go.com.

Related Links

Naturals2Go Company Website

Heath's Vending Business Website

SOURCE VendTech International
MIAMI, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ygrene, a national leader in energy efficiency and resiliency financing, announced a statewide expansion of their Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program in Florida yesterday. With this expansion, 10 million residents across 153 Florida communities will have access to affordable, private financing for hurricane protection and money-saving home improvements. Since the launch of the company's PACE financing in Florida in 2013, the program's growth and impact has gained support from home and business owners, elected officials, realtor associations, and other industry group leaders across Florida.

Cheryl Grieb, Vice Chairwoman of the Osceola Commission:

"The expansion of the PACE program into the residential market will help Osceola County families improve their homes. This financing mechanism offers a practical and tested method for people with equity in their residential properties to pursue wind hardening and energy efficiency, which can result in reduced insurance costs and lower electric bills, respectively." Read more

Kristine Isnardi, Brevard County Commission Vice Chair:

"I think it's great. I think it's giving people the power to assess themselves. I'm excited about this program. I think it's a great idea, and I think it gives more power to the homeowner. I've heard great things about this across the state." Read more

Lynn Jones, President of the Space Coast Association of REALTORS:

"PACE has shown the potential to generate tremendous economic benefits at zero cost to the local governments when it is made available In fact, $10 million in PACE funding can create 150 new jobs, generate $25 million in gross economic output and produce $2.5 million in combined federal, state and local tax revenue." Read more

Jean Monestime, Miami-Dade Commission Chairman:

"Supporting small businesses is essential to keep Florida's economy thriving. I applaud the work Ygrene has done to bring in new and innovative jobs and bolster local economies in our county." Read more

Vince Lago, City of Coral Gables Commissioner:

"Using Ygrene's PACE financing for my home's solar panels has been a great success. The whole process went through without a hitch. The contractor did all of the work with the required permits and didn't get paid until the work was done and I signed off. Not only is my house producing 100% renewable energy, my energy bills went from $200-$300 per month to $9.37. I encourage all municipalities to join the Ygrene program and make this type of financing available to their residents as a means to a more sustainable and resilient future." Read more

Mayor Philip Levine, City of Miami Beach:

"(PACE financing) will undoubtedly make our community safer and more resilient to extreme weather while contributing to lowering our residents' insurance premiums. I am glad this program is available, and I am excited to see the many benefits it will bring to our community." Read more

Chip LaMarca, Broward County Commissioner:

"PACE financing provides a long-term, low-rate financing option for consumers who otherwise would be forced to turn to short-term, high-rate financing. It enables Florida homeowners to save on home improvements and hurricane protection projectsThese retrofits significantly improve a building's resilience to even the strongest of storms." Read more

Jackson Rip Holmes, Small Business Owner, Florida:

"My business was about to go under because I didn't have the money to pay for a much-needed roof replacement. Thanks to the Ygrene program I was able to finance it and in turn save $2,000 on insurance. Thank you Ygrene for saving my financial life!" Read more

Raul Vergara, Cutler Bay Solar Solutions:

"I've been working with Ygrene since day one and the program has been essential to growing my business across Southern Florida. When I started, we were a one-man operation and now we are the largest solar installer in the tri-county area." Read more

Adam Hasner, former Republican Majority Leader of the Florida House of Representatives:

"There will continue to be endless conversation and political debate about how to deal with hurricanes and severe storms. But one thing is certain: Florida leaders must empower our residents by providing options to affordably rebuild and strengthen their homes and businesses. Policymakers can do this by continuing to protect consumer choice and expanding access to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing." Read more

Mayor Wayne M. Messam, City of Miramar:

"As Washington continues to cut Community Development Block Grant funding, Miramar residents and business owners need alternative funding options to make home and property repairs. I introduced the PACE program to the City to help meet our residents funding needs. PACE has already provided nearly $10 Million dollars of repairs in our city and this construction activity has provided an economic development opportunity for our local businesses. I encourage residents to learn how the program works and I encourage contractors to learn how they may pre-quality with the four approved service providers." Read more

Mayor Tomas Regalado, City of Miami:

"After successfully running a commercial and residential pilot program in two districts and responding to multiple requests from constituents all over the City, we are excited to announce the full roll out of YgreneWorks in Miami. All property owners can now take full advantage of Ygrene's home improvement financing." Read more

PACE programming is helping thousands of communities across the nation meet their energy efficiency and resiliency goals. The full list of jurisdictions where Ygrene's PACE program has been approved can be found here.

About Ygrene

Ygrene is a national leader in residential and commercial clean energy financing. Founded in 2010, Ygrene's award-winning, privately funded Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program is revolutionizing the home improvement industry, making it easier for property owners to invest in their futures and a healthier environment. Ygrene is delivering greater choice for home and business owners by providing accessible and affordable financing for energy efficiency, renewables, water conservation, storm protection and seismic upgrades. Recognized as one of the fastest growing asset classes in the country, PACE has proven to be a successful tool for supporting public policy initiatives, all without the use of public tax dollars or credits. To date, Ygrene has provided over $1 billion of private capital to more than 500 local communities, creating thousands of jobs and investing millions into local economies across the U.S. While PACE programs are enabled by state legislation and must be approved by local governments, Ygrene is not a government program. Learn more at ygrene.com.

SOURCE Ygrene

Related Links

http://ygrene.com


PALO ALTO, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Gorka Navea has joined the firm's antitrust practice as a partner in the Brussels office. Most recently, Navea served as deputy head of a cartel unit of the Directorate-General for Competition (DG Comp) of the European Commission (EC).

Navea will focus his practice on advising clients on antitrust matters, including cartel investigations and competition-related factors relevant to mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property.

"Gorka has a distinguished career as a one of the preeminent cartels and merger review specialists in the European Union," said Doug Clark, the firm's managing partner. "Given the expanded and global scope of enforcement by competition authorities, clients need an expert practitioner like Gorka who has worked at the highest levels of the EC and is closely familiar with European competition law. We're especially pleased that he has joined our firm, and his addition to our Brussels office represents growth in one of our core and most successful practice areas."

As a deputy head in the DG Comp's cartels directorate since 2015, Navea prosecuted a number of cartel investigations and was responsible for reviewing proposed settlements between the EC's cartel enforcement unit and companies under investigation. Previously, from 2013 to 2014, he served as a member of the cabinet of EC Vice President and Commissioner for Competition Joaquin Almunia. During that time, Navea was responsible for merger and antitrust investigations in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, life sciences, food, manufacturing, and transportation industries. He was also responsible for all cartel investigations, including those in the financial services and automotive parts sectors.

From 2008 to 2013, Navea was a case handler for the DG Comp, where he worked on mergers in the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors, and later had a policy brief in the unit coordinating all cartel, antitrust, and merger investigations. Navea started his career in 1999 in the Brussels office of Coudert Brothers, and then worked as an associate for six years at Freshfields and Clifford Chance in Brussels and Madrid.

Navea received his Licenciatura en Derecho (J.D.) in 1996 and diploma in EC law in 1997, both from the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. He is a member of the bars of Spain and Brussels.

Based in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Brussels, the highly regarded antitrust practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advises clients with respect to mergers and acquisitions, criminal and civil investigations by government agencies, antitrust litigation, and issues involving intellectual property, consumer protection, and privacy. Working with Fortune 100 global enterprises, as well as venture-backed start-up companies, our attorneys have expertise in virtually every significant industry sector, including technology, media, healthcare, services, transportation, and manufacturing. The internationally recognized practice has been involved in several of the most important antitrust matters of the past decade and has obtained favorable antitrust outcomes for clients as diverse as Mylan, Google, Twitter, Live Nation, Netflix, Trulia, Seagate, Nuance, Coca-Cola, Glencore, The McClatchy Company, Brocade, Pixar, Micron, and Autodesk. Our Brussels-based competition attorneys have represented leading companies, such as Air France-KLM, Brocade, Coherent, Dell, Dolby, Glencore, Google, Mastercard, Mylan, and W.R. Grace, on various competition law issues and advised clients on some of the most complex cross-border transactions and investigations.

About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com.

SOURCE Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Related Links

http://www.wsgr.com


MIAMI, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the most hotly contested debates of recent years has been fixated on the existence of a pay gap between women and men. Numerous studies have proven that this disparity is present (with variations) across all industries and professions, with women earning roughly 20 percent less on average than men for the same work. There have, however, been fewer studies on whether men actually outperform their female counterparts by a statistically significant margin. In other words, is the gap justified? According to a new report by Miami-based analytics firm Premonition AI, among lawyers, there is substantial evidence that one gender consistently outstrips the other  but their findings suggest that perhaps pay gap should be reversed.

Premonition Analytics

"If female attorneys were compensated according to how often they actually win cases, they'd be paid more than men," says Premonition co-founder and CEO Guy Kurlandski. "We just ran the biggest legal study on gender of all time, and at every level of practice, women came out ahead."

The 40-page Women in Law report summarizes findings from a groundbreaking gender study of attorney billing rates published by Dr. Silvia Hodges-Silverstein of Sky Analytics, and brings to the table new insights from Premonition's own research on courtroom performance.

The Numbers

"When I first read Dr. Hodges-Silverstein's study, I wasn't shocked that there was disparity between men and women in law," says Toby Unwin, Premonition's other co-founder and CIO. "But seeing the extent of the gap was bracing."

Despite women now representing 46 percent of associate attorneys, just 22 percent of partners are female. Female lawyers also tend to be steered away from litigation, and the most profitable areas of practice remain dominated by men. The pay gap crosses all variables: size of firm; geographical region; years of experience; hourly billing rate; number of hours worked. In all cases, male lawyers as a group outearned women.

Premonition's research found that female partners outdid male partners in court 70.19 percent to 57.47 percent (plus 12.72 percent), the largest factor ever tested by the firm. For comparison, partners as a whole (women and men combined) only beat associates by 1.4 percent  meaning that most of that thin margin is attributable to the exceptional results posted by the women. Female associates meanwhile beat males by 2.53 percent.

These results were based on machine analysis of the court records in the firm's database, which has been described as the largest litigation archive ever assembled. Premonition's artificial intelligence assigns each attorney a win rate based on the outcomes of their past cases, allowing the first-ever empirical comparison between male and female lawyers' actual track records in court.

Explaining why women show superiority as litigators is a speculative question at this point, but Premonition's Unwin subscribes to a survival of the fittest model. "There is a double glass ceiling in effect where not only must women work harder than men to get into the field, but once they get there they must battle for the chance to work in the courtroom. The ones that survive are phenoms: cheaper, faster and less likely to take a losing case to court."

Women in Law also includes surprising findings on women's likelihood of being sued for malpractice, and speculation as to whether the pay gap in legal services will persist into the future. Shawnna Hoffman, co-leader of IBM's Watson AI-based Cognitive Legal team added a brief afterword to the report.

"Last year, we posed a question to a packed room at one of the largest legal conferences in the world. 'One day, will we be able to predict which lawyers will provide the best results for a case?'" Hoffman wrote. "I am proud to share with you that the challenge has been met by Premonition with surprising results which, in my opinion, promote new insight into diversity and how inclusion of women is smart business. After reading this report, I believe you will clearly see that a legal strategy that includes women is not only the right thing to do, but it provides a competitive advantage."

Women in Law is now available as a free download from Premonition's website.

Contact:

Nathan Huber

Premonition L.L.C.

Business Development Director

[email protected]

(615) 364-0924

Related Links

Take a Tour

Legal Analytics

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArijJdL4TSo

SOURCE Premonition Analytics

Related Links

https://premonition.ai


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Zimmerman Advertising, the agency known for its retail expertise, especially in the automotive sector, announced the hiring of Steven Gall as the Executive Vice President for the Automotive Division. In his new role, Gall will be charged with strategic leadership for the Division.

Gall has an extensive and impressive background in the industry. With 30 plus years of experience, he has helped sell hundreds of thousands of cars. He started his career at 21-years-old and quickly achieved many accolades that included work with the 'who's who' of the automotive sector. Some of the brands he has impacted include, but are not limited to, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Jaguar and Chevrolet. Gall ran multiple dealerships and platforms throughout the country most notably with United Auto Group, O 'Brien Automotive Team, Planet Automotive, Rick Case Honda and Powerhouse, The Kelly and Feldman Organizations.

Jordan Zimmerman, Founder and Chairman of the agency said, "I've known Steve for over 25 years and have great respect for the work he does. I consider him one of the best 'car guys' in the industry and we have always talked about working together. I'm happy we finally made it happen because I'm sure he will lead our Automotive Division to achieving even greater goals."

"Serving over 1,700 auto dealer rooftops, Zimmerman is the largest and best Automotive Agency in the country, bar none; and I am very honored to be part of this great machine. I have always admired Zimmerman's success, and I'm very excited to bring my knowledge and expertise to the agency," said Steven Gall.

This hiring follows a string of over 75 new positions hired to support the growth of existing accounts like Nissan, for adding on their national brand work, and new accounts like McDonald's, Gabe's and others.

-------------------------------

About Zimmerman Advertising

Zimmerman Advertising, an Omnicom Group company, is the leading integrated, retail agency in the country. Zimmerman's clients represent some of the most prominent retail brands in the country, including Office Depot/Office Max, Nissan, McDonald's, Tire Kingdom, Advance America, ADT, Five Below, Chuck E. Cheese's, La-Z-Boy and Michaels. Headquartered in South Florida, the agency has retail service offices throughout the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta. For information on the agency, visit http://www.zadv.com.

SOURCE Zimmerman Advertising
HEBRON, Ky., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ZoomEssence, Inc. (Zoom) welcomes Jeff Stopa to its creative and applications team and Duncan Fader joins its commercial group. Stopa, a Certified Research Chef, will lead Zoom's culinary innovation efforts to showcase the superior performance of DriZoom powder flavors in bakery, savory, snack and foodservice applications. As vice president of strategic accounts, Fader will continue the expansion of Zoom's commercial efforts to the foodservice, snacks, bakery and confectionary markets. These key additions demonstrate Zoom's commitment to culinary innovation using DriZoom powder flavors.

Jeff Stopa, ZoomEssence Research Chef, CRC Duncan Fader, ZoomEssence VP, Strategic Accounts

Stopa joins Zoom from Wild Flavors, where he was a senior scientist and research chef focusing on the optimization of flavor and color applications in sweet and savory finished products. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, Stopa brings nearly three decades of industry experience to his role.

"Jeff's practical understanding of wholesale bakery operations, product development in foodservice and prepared foods adds a valuable skillset to Zoom's technical team enhancing our capabilities to deliver consumer preferred DriZoom powder flavors," commented Robert Corbett, Zoom's CEO.

Most recently, Fader's responsibility as vice president of sales at Coffee Flour included spearheading the acquisition of distributors and sales partners for a new sustainable coffee flour product. Fader previously was regional sales manager at Matsutani America where he was instrumental in expanding the sales of specialty food ingredients, with particular emphasis on foodservice accounts. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from University of Prince Edward Island and has over 10 years of experience in marketing and sales of products to the food and beverage industries.

"Duncan's entrepreneurial experience in developing new customers as well as managing sales at existing key accounts will be extremely beneficial as Zoom expands its efforts into new market segments. We are excited to have him as part of our commercial team," Corbett explained.

ABOUT ZOOMESSENCE, INC.

ZoomEssence, Inc. develops custom flavors bursting with aroma and taste in a powder form for leading food and beverage brands. The company's game-changing, patented, low-temperature technology, called Zooming, encapsulates flavor and aroma without heat, delivering a superior powder format at significantly reduced costs. The resulting DriZoom powder retains flavor from the source ingredients allowing for new authentic combinations of flavors and ingredients. Zoom's custom designed flavors deliver exceptional aroma and taste to capture the highest level of consumer appeal, creating unique brand experiences. DriZoom powder flavors are found in millions of pounds of name brand flavor-loving products all-around the world. ZoomEssence, Inc. operates facilities in Sayreville, NJ and Hebron, Ky.

See more at ZoomEssence.com, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

CONTACT: Lori Smith, 1-844-374-9666, [email protected]

SOURCE ZoomEssence, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.ZoomEssence.com


Editor's note: Cameron Taylor is Emory's vice president for government and community affairs.

On March 23, President Donald Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act (the Omnibus), containing all 12 appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2018. The bipartisan compromise funds the federal government until the end of the current fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, 2018. Thanks to the tireless efforts of advocates across the country, the new law encompasses major victories for research and education programs.

The new law provides the largest research funding increase in nearly a decade. The National Institutes of Health fared particularly well, growing $3 billion (nearly 9 percent) over last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gets a significant funding boost  $1.1 billion  and the National Science Foundation will see a 4 percent funding increase.

The law also ensures the maximum Pell grant award will rise to $6,095 (+$175) and increases funding for Federal Work Study (14.1 percent increase) and the Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (14.6 percent increase).

Why do increases in federal funding matter to Emorys mission?

Emory is proud to partner with the federal government. Leveraging federal funding enables Emory to grow and strengthen our research enterprise and expand upon our students access to financial aid.

Emory supplements federal dollars to develop cutting-edge research that improves lives now and for future generations, research that is either too basic or risky for the private sector. In FY2017, Emory researchers received $628 million dollars in total research funding: $384 million of Emorys research funding came from the federal government, while the remaining 39 percent came from non-federal sources. Across the research enterprise, Emory University invested over $151 million. These investments range from covering unreimbursed indirect costs to university funding for internal research awards.

Emory amplifies federal financial aid dollars. Our endowment enables Emory to significantly expand upon the financial aid resources available to our students. In FY2017, Emory contributed $304 million to our students financial needs, while the federal government provided $143 million for our students financial aid funding.

Advocacy matters

With the guidance of the Office of Government and Community Affairs (OGCA), Emory advocates have met with policy makers dozens of times over the last year, to discuss, and in some cases, demonstrate, the important work being conducted at Emory. The OGCA appreciates and celebrates this partnership.

If you would like to help advocate for research, please sign up for the Emory Research Advocacy Network (ERAN). ERAN is a network of students, alumni, patients, staff and neighbors committed to engaging with legislators and their staffers to advocate for research.

We must build upon the current momentum and push for continued investment in research and education during the FY2019 appropriations process. As the FY2018 Omnibus demonstrates, our collective advocacy efforts can make a difference on Capitol Hill.

Challenges ahead

In the coming months, Emory will continue to advocate for issues of concern to our students, faculty and staff. A key area of focus will be the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The House bill has proposed elimination of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, as well as creating new federal loan limits that would force many students to seek more expensive private loans. To date, OGCA advocacy on this bill has already included numerous meetings with Hill staff and a letter from Emory President Claire E. Sterk to Georgias congressional delegation.

Issues impacting Emorys international and immigrant students continue to be a high priority. The OGCA is working to educate the Georgia delegation about the concerns of our international students, including the Administrations pending consideration of restricting visas for Chinese citizens. Work also continues in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) students who seek to attend college without fear of deportation. Sterk has visited Capitol Hill twice in the past year to discuss this issue, and we had hoped to see its resolution included in the Omnibus. Were working with the Association of American Universities (AAU) to influence federal agency and congressional next steps on these issues.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to congressional action is the upcoming mid-term elections. Now that the FY2018 omnibus has been completed, there is no urgency to pass any other major pieces of legislation this year. Even the FY2019 appropriations bill may be kicked into next year by a continuing resolution. Nonetheless, Emory will continue to advocate for those priorities that advance our mission, whether it be in the FY2019 appropriations process, an infrastructure bill or another legislative vehicle of interest.
U.S. Market Leader in Automobile Mobility Products Solidifies Ownership Stake in European Challenger Brand

WINAMAC, Indiana, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BraunAbility, the U.S. market leader in wheelchair accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts, has acquired the remaining shares of European mobility manufacturer Autoadapt AB.

Autoadapt, based in Stenkullen, Sweden, along with its wholly owned subsidiaries Unwin, based in Martock, United Kingdom, and Martech, based in Kliplev, Denmark, provide products for people with limited mobility. All three companies combined to do more than $50 million (USD) in revenue in 2017.

"BraunAbility's mission is to make life a moving experience for all," said BraunAbility CEO Staci Kroon. "That means we need to look for partners in every continent who deliver quality products consistently and share the values we hold so dear. Autoadapt will help us change more lives, develop innovative products and expand our global reach."

BraunAbility previously owned 47.5 percent of Autoadapt from a 2011 purchase. Since that time, Autoadapt has been the sole distributor of BraunAbility lifts in Europe. BraunAbility is owned by Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, the leading owner of Nordic-based international companies, founded by the Wallenberg family more than 100 years ago.

Autoadapt will join BraunAbility as part of a roster of high-quality, high-growth companies in the Patricia Industries portfolio, including Permobil, the innovative provider of powered and manual wheelchairs for people with severe functional disabilities.

"There's nothing I'm more proud of than how far we've managed to come with Autoadapt," said Autoadapt founder Peter Wahlsten. "Together with our employees and dealers we've brought vehicle adaptation to the masses, including to countries where people with disabilities previously weren't allowed to drive."

Wahlsten continued, "Looking forward, I believe this step will go down in Autoadapt's history as a major turning point. As an owner, BraunAbility brings both strength and experience that will facilitate growth and improve clarity in Autoadapt's continued direction. But most important for me and all my colleagues at Autoadapt, we have an owner who shares our values."

The acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities, with closing expected by mid-April 2018.

About Autoadapt AB

Founded in 1996, Autoadapt is a developer and manufacturer based in Sweden. The company's main focus lies on products that aid people with limited mobility to drive and ride in cars. Notable products are the Turny swivel seats and the Carony transfer wheelchairs. Within the industry, Autoadapt is synonymous with high safety standards and product testing.

Autoadapt's products are available all over the globe via an extensive dealer network.

About Unwin

Unwin, an Autoadapt company is trusted across the world for safe wheelchair transport, delivering crash-tested solutions to improve independent living for wheelchair users and maximise accessibility for all.

About BraunAbility

BraunAbility is the world's leading manufacturer of wheelchair accessible vehicles and wheelchair lifts. Founded nearly 50 years ago by Ralph Braun the company has grown into the most well-known and trusted name in the mobility industry, bringing independence to millions of individuals across the world. BraunAbility is a wholly owned subsidiary to Patricia Industries, a division of Investor AB Group. Visit www.braunability.com for more information.

Media Contact: Emily Sander,

[email protected], 800.946.7513 ext. 3687

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661089/BraunAbility_Logo.jpg

Liknande lankar

https://www.braunability.com



SOURCE BraunAbility
RIM and Premico invest in a joint venture together with a real estate fund advised by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) in a portfolio of 40 residential properties. The portfolio is comprised of 1,594 apartments whereof the majority are located in southern Finland. The portfolio of residential properties is

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Japanese architect Kengo Kumas design submitted in partnership with Australian architecture firm Koichi Takada Architects, has been named the winner in a competition to design Crown Groups new tower for Sydneys Waterloo.

Forming part of a five-building development in Waterloo which also includes three buildings designed exclusively by Koichi Takada Architects and a building designed by Sydney-based architects Silvester Fuller, the 19-storey tower will feature a cantilevered infinity-edge rooftop pool, gym and community room with a plant-filled, green exterior designed to emulate a stacked forest.



The development at 48 ODea Avenue Waterloo will comprise 384 luxury apartments across five buildings, ranging 4 to 19 storeys and a mix of restaurants, cafes and shops.



Overseen by the City of Sydney, a competition to design the development's tallest building attracted a high-calibre of entries judged by a panel of experts including independent architects, assessing architectural design excellence. The winning entry was officially announced today.



It will be the first time Kengo Kuma and Associates has designed for the award-winning Australian developer founded with its first development in Bondi in 1996.



Renowned for his designs which show respect for tradition while considering the needs of the future, Kengo Kuma recently designed the 2020 Olympic Stadium Tokyo and the internationally-acclaimed V&A museumin Dundee, Scotland.



Crown Group Chairman and Group CEO Iwan Sunito said he was proud to have the three architecture firms involved in the companys landmark development in Waterloo.



The collaboration between Kengo Kuma and Koichi Takada was a world first, Mr Sunito said.



Kengo Kuma and Koichi Takada each have their own unique style and ethos, which fit with Crown Groups desire to push the boundaries of design, he said.



Both architects have proven to be true leaders in their field, renowned for their creativity. I feel the collaboration of the two will lead to something new and unique for Sydney.





We are excited to be able to take the next step in furthering the path of Sydney as it becomes increasingly recognised for its leading architecture.



This development will be a forward-thinking new addition to Sydneys Green Square redevelopment precinct, Mr Sunito added.



The development will be Crown Groups third development in Waterloo, following the award-winning Viking by Crown Group completed in 2014 and the recently launched Waterfall by Crown Group.



Kengo Kuma founded Kengo Kuma and Associates, Inc. in 1990 and the company has established a long history in the architects home nation; Japan but last year made its first foray into Australia with a tower in Sydneys Circular Quay and The Darling Exchange which forms part of the NSW Governments $3.4 billion plan to redevelop Darling Harbour. Kengo studied at Columbia University in New York City and made the top five of last year's Dezeen Hot List.



Our intention is to give a warm and a natural atmosphere to the community with unique design strategies, Mr Kuma said.



The upper volume of the tower seamlessly transforms into the lower part of the stepped terraces in order to create an intimacy between the building scale and the pedestrian scale on the street level.

Eaves wrapping the facade are covered by sticks which give a warm impression of the wood to the facade.



The entire facade becomes a vertical urban forest by having a vegetation on each eave.



Those strategies will blur and soften the profile building, and give a whole new image of the W48 precinct of the Waterloo, Mr Kuma added.



With more than 40,000 jobs expected to be created in the Green Square area by 2030, the development will be home to hundreds of new Waterloo residents when completed in 2020.



Japanese-born Koichi Takada began his career in Tokyo and moved to Sydney in 1997. His firm Koichi Takada Architects has won multiple awards for its designs including residential, retail, hospitality and cultural venues.



The new Waterloo development will be the fourth Crown Group development designed by Koichi Takada Architects, following Skye by Crown Group in North Sydney, Arc by Crown Group in the CBD and the multi award-winning Infinity by Crown Group in Green Square.



It is my honour to work alongside Kuma sensei, the Japanese master of architecture. It is a dream come true, Mr Takada said.



Responding to Kengo Kumas vision for the tallest of the five buildings, I am excited to design three low-rise buildings that create a dynamic architectural dialogue within the precinct.



Crown Groups on-going vision for Waterloo will continue to positively regenerate the areas former industrial warehouses with an organic and healthy green neighbourhood, celebrated by their signature resort-style living for residents and a new street culture to benefit the public.



I drew on an idea of green luxury, finding inspiration in nature. Each building is designed with a human touch to express its organic and distinct architectural character, Mr Takada added.



more details of the development will be revealed in June and apartment sales are expected to begin later this year.



Crown Group will begin accepting registrations of interest from potential buyers in June.


Price growth in the outer ring suburbs of Melbourne has been extraordinary in the past 12 months.

Most suburbs in local government areas (LGAs) like Wyndham, Hume, Whittlesea and Casey have recorded double-digit growth in the median house prices. Many have grown more than 20% and some have topped 30%.

The big price rises have come on the back on massive demand for homes from buyers of all sorts chasing affordability, against a background a strong Victorian economy and continuing high population growth.

The strength of the growth in the outer-ring areas of Melbourne provides further evidence that proximity to the CBD is not an essential factor for buyers seeking capital growth.

Proximity to employment is a core factor but the reality is that most people work in suburban jobs nodes, not in the CBD (thats true in all capital cities, including Melbourne).

In the City of Casey in the far south-east of the Melbourne metropolitan area, eight suburbs have each recorded over 330 house sales in the past 12 months.

They include Narre Warren, Clyde North and Cranbourne North, which have each recorded more than 450 house sales, and Berwick where over 700 houses have been sold in the past year.

Every suburb in the Casey LGA has had double-digit growth in median house prices. Cranbourne, Hallam, Cranbourne East, Hampton Park and Narre Warren have all had median price growth above 20%.

Its been a similar scenario in the Whittlesea LGA in the far north of the Melbourne Metro area. Four suburbs have had over 400 house sales each in the past year and five more have each sold between 225 and 300 houses.

All the suburbs of Whittlesea have had double-digit growth in their median house prices, including four (Epping, Lalor, Mernda and South Morang) which have grown 20-25% and one (Thomastown) which has risen 33%.

The pattern is similar in the neighbouring Hume LGA. Broadmeadows, Greenvale, Meadow Heights and Roxburgh Park have each sold between 200 and 350 houses, while Craigieburn had made over 500 house sales.

All the Hume suburbs have had double-digit growth in their median house prices, including six suburbs which have grown more than 20%. They include Jacana (up 26%), Gladstone Park (up 24%) and Broadmeadows (up 29%).

Most of the suburbs of the Melton LGA in the far north-west have each sold over 200 houses in the past year, led by Melton West (335) and Caroline Springs (343).

Every suburb has recorded at least 12% growth in median house prices, while Melton and Melton South are both up 27%.

But, in terms of turnover, the star market is Wyndham City in the south-west heading towards Geelong.

The sales turnover is prolific in Hoppers Crossing (682 house sales), Wyndham Vale (436), Tarneit (684), Werribee (791) and in particular Point Cook (953).

All of the five suburbs mentioned have grown their median house prices at least 13% in the past year, led by Hoppers Crossing (up 21%) and Werribee (up 22%).

The important lesson is that downmarket, outer-ring areas do record strong price growth and that affordability is a prime driver of activity and prices. Thats especially so in places where the infrastructure is good.

Terry Ryder is the founder of hotspotting.com.au

[email protected]

twitter.com/hotspotting
The first edition of MIPTV markets series festival will see the premiere of a 4K show produced by Movistar+ and a web series from RTVE.





Movistar+s Felix will be part the festivals official selection, while If I Were You, produced by the Spanish public broadcaster for its recently launched transmedia platform Playz , will be featured in the digital series section.Following the premiere at Cannes Series, which is to be held between 4-11 April, the six 50-minute episodes of Felix will be available on-demand on Movistar+.There will be 20 Spanish companies attending MIPTV this year under the Audiovisual from Spain brand , including Atresmedia, Mediaset, Filmax, Onza Distribution and Anima Kitchen.Other productions to be internationally presented at the event in Cannes are The Bridge (Zeppeling TV for Movistar+) and Are you Clueless?, both selected for MIP Formats; Gigantes, selected for the MIP Drama Summit; and White Dragons, produced by Motion Pictures and Diagonal TV for the Kids Live Action Pitch.
Al Qaedas propaganda arm, As Sahab, has released the latest episode in Hamza bin Ladens lecture series on the history of Saudi Arabia. The series began in Aug. 2016, when the junior bin Laden called for the overthrow of the Saudi monarchy. Hamza has returned to criticize the Saudi royals several times since then.

Hamza uses the occasion to once again warn that the Shiites are expanding throughout the Middle East, including toward the Two Holy Places, meaning Saudi Arabias holy mosques. He accuses the Saudi government of being incapable of stopping this Iranian-led expansion and he calls upon Muslims to support the jihadists cause in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Shiites are advancing from the outside on several fronts and from the inside as well, but the House of Saud has demonstrated a shameful inability to confront them, Hamza claims. This means the Saudi government is not eligible to defend the Two Holy Mosques.

After attempting to undermine the legitimacy of the Saudi regime, Hamza calls upon our people in the Arabian Peninsula to prepare the equipment and materials, and prepare to protect the Two Holy Mosques from the Rafidah Safavid (Shiites), and to support their mujahidin brothers in Yemen. He specifically addresses Muslim merchants, saying this is their opportunity to obtain the honor of preparing an army to protect the Two Holy Mosques.

Hamza also implores young Muslims to join their mujahidin brothers in Yemen and gain the necessary experience from them.

The younger bin Laden clearly has Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in mind, as the al Qaeda branch has been leading the Sunni jihadists fight against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen for years. The Islamic State also has a presence in Yemen, but al Qaeda rejects its claim to represent a true caliphate. AQAP has repeatedly sought to undermine Abu Bakr al Baghdadis project, though some jihadist figures in Yemen have worked for both organizations.

In addition to alleging that the Saudis cannot contain the Shiites expansion, Hamza attempts to undermine the ruling regimes legitimacy by pointing to its historically close ties to the West. This, too, is a theme he has explored in previous episodes.

Indeed, Hamza points out that he previously criticized Ibn Saud for supposedly betraying the Ottoman Empire, allying with the British, and then paving the way for America to gain a foothold inside the kingdom. Hamza also accuses the Saudis of stabbing the Muslim Brotherhood in the back after its role was finished and betraying the Palestinian issue by accepting a state for the Jews and failing to fully support the Palestinian revolutions.

Al Qaeda has once again decided not to show Hamzas face. His message was disseminated as an audio file spliced together with various video images. As FDDs Long War Journal first reported last year, Hamzas wedding video was found in a massive cache of files recovered in his fathers Abbottabad, Pakistan compound. That video shows Hamza as a young man and, once it was released, provided the public with the first images of Hamza since his childhood. Previously, al Qaeda recycled the same childhood photo of Hamza time and again, but failed to distribute a more current image of him likely due to security concerns.

The footage included with Hamzas new speech includes various scenes of US presidents with Saudi Arabias rulers. One scene is from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans recent visit to the White House. During the meeting, President Trump trumpeted US arms sales to the Saudis, and this moment is included in the As Sahab production. (A screen shot can be seen below.)

Mohammed bin Salman subsequently accused Iran of harboring Hamza bin Laden. Unfortunately, Iran is playing a harmful role, bin Salman said during an interview with 60 Minutes that aired last month. The Iranian regime is based on pure ideology. Many of the Al Qaeda operatives are protected in Iran and it refuses to surrender them to justice, and continues to refuse to extradite them to the United States. Bin Salman then added: This includes the son of Osama bin Laden, the new leader of Al- aeda. He lives in Iran and works out of Iran. He is supported by Iran.

Although bin Salmans comments were self-serving, and the Saudi kingdom has its own history of sponsoring Sunni extremism, it is true that Iran harbors some al Qaeda leaders, despite their ideological differences. The Obama administration repeatedly pointed to an agreement between Iran and al Qaeda that allows the terrorist organization to maintain a core facilitation pipeline on Iranian soil. Both the US Treasury and State Departments have identified a number of al Qaeda figures responsible for runing this pipeline, which Osama bin Laden himself described as the main artery for his organization.

Hamza bin Laden himself lived in Iran for years after the 9/11 attacks. The wedding video released last year was recorded in Iran. Although that footage doesnt demonstrate that Hamza was under any duress at the time, his confinement inside Iran later became a point of contention between al Qaeda and the Iranian regime. Al Qaeda agitated to free family members and others held in Iranian custody, and even kidnapped an Iranian diplomat in order to force an exchange.

Hamza was finally released from Iranian custody sometime in mid-2010, making his way to northern Pakistan, where he received specialized training. His current whereabouts are not widely known. It is possible that he has returned to Iran at times, but that hasnt been confirmed.

Regardless, Hamzas message is clearly intended to remind viewers that al Qaeda and Iran are on opposite sides on the war in Yemen, as well as other conflicts throughout the region. And he wants to use anti-Shiite sentiment to stir up more support for the Sunni jihadists cause, including inside Saudi Arabia.

At-Tamkin Media, an online propaganda outfit, has translated multiple al Qaeda messages into English over the course of the past year. These messages include those produced by Ayman al Zawahiri and Hamza bin Laden. Some of the quotes in this piece come from At-Tamkins translation of Hamzas latest speech.

Screenshot from the video accompanying Hamza bin Ladens latest message on Saudi Arabia:

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

This article appeared originally at FDD's Long War Journal.
The fate of American industrial icon Westinghouse is now in the hands of regulators, now that the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court has approved its reorganization plan.

Last year, Westinghouse, the leading U.S. nuclear power technology firm, was forced into bankruptcy by massive cost overruns in building the newest generation nuclear electricity plants in South Carolina and Georgia. Since 2006, the firm had been owned by Toshiba, which lacked the financial resources and the will to rescue it, especially since Japan itself is phasing out commercial nuclear power. Now the only obstacle in the way of the breakup of the firm and sale of its nuclear business is review by U.S. regulatory authorities.

In a world of rapidly increasing nuclear proliferation and growing strategic challenges from China and Russia, U.S. authorities should take a closer look at the fate of Westinghouse. Without such scrutiny, the company will likely be acquired by Brookfield Asset Management, a highly successful Canadian property management and development firm with scant experience in industry, let alone nuclear power. Whats more, Brookfield has no obligation to address geopolitical problems such as nuclear proliferation.

Despite the hopes of some industrial powers  such as Japan, Germany, and South Korea  and countless non-profits and advocacy groups, nuclear power will not disappear this century, barring some catastrophic disaster. Nuclear power emits no greenhouse gases and provides over 20 percent of electricity in the United States, 49 percent in France, 9.5 percent in the United Kingdom, and 12 percent in Japan. It is true that fossil fuel plants are cheaper to build and in many cases cheaper to operate than nuclear power stations. But the latter will have a role to play, especially for baseline power generation, at least until technology breakthroughs allow non-fossil renewables to fully replace fossil fuels at reasonable prices.

While much of the West (and the Pacific Rim) seeks a path to a carbon-free and nuclear-free future, the developing world marches ahead with plans for massive new investments in power for generating electricity and desalinizing sea water. With Japan and Korea lowering their nuclear ambitions, Frances Areva needing yet another massive government bailout, and Brookfield and Westinghouse stating their intention to exit the nuclear power plant construction business, the field is open to Russian and Chinese firms.

New plans for scores of nuclear-generation plants in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, and India raise the prospect of dominance by Russian and Chinese actors. Russia already accounts for 60 percent of new global reactor sales, with a total value approaching $300 billion. China, which is becoming dominant in its own market and expanding its reach globally, is building a plant in the United Kingdom. The Russians have contracts to build in NATO allies Turkey and Hungary as well as in NATO-aspirant Finland. The presence of Russian and Chinese workers along with loans and grants to finance construction create opportunities for economic and political influence, which the Chinese have adeptly exploited in Europe and elsewhere.

The Westinghouse program to supply nuclear fuel to Ukraine and other East European countries to help them reduce dependence on Russian supplies is already faltering, potentially leaving this region even more dependent on Russia to meet its energy needs. The United States, under the seemingly unconcerned leadership of President Obama and Secretary Clinton, sold over 20 percent of its uranium extraction capacity to Russia, further undermining our ability to offer East Europeans and others an alternative.

Without a significant U.S. alternative, the major issue becomes the potential for nuclear proliferation. None of the other major world players, including the rogue states of Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea, has a history of strict adherence to non-proliferation agreements or norms. Since the biggest new customers, especially Saudi Arabia and India, have longstanding grievances with existing nuclear powers, the potential for proliferation on the Iranian model should be cause for concern. Absent the influence the U.S. can bring to bear in the context of a developer and provider of civil nuclear power systems, we will have little ability to influence the behavior of states that acquire civil nuclear power from China or Russia. As occurred with Iran and North Korea, states seeking to convert their civil nuclear power plants into facilities for producing fissile material for nuclear weapons will face less resistance than they might have if the United States had been a major actor in the field.

If the United States exits the construction business, there is also a danger it will lose technology leadership and nuclear power engineering and manufacturing skills used in military and civilian applications. We should not underestimate how few skilled workers the U.S. has for specialized tasks such as precision pipe-fitting and welding. Abandoning power plant businesses will only exacerbate existing shortages. The loss of manufacturing capacity will of course have large economic and national security implications. Using nuclear energy to generate electric power in the United States makes it possible to mitigate and hedge the risks that other types of fuel will not be available to meet domestic needs. New sources of energy for electric-power generation take decades to develop, install, and operate. Moreover, fuel diversity remains the most constructive approach to dealing with the long-term dynamics of energy supply.

Given these concerns, it would be prudent for U.S. national security authorities to perform a serious evaluation of the costs and benefits of allowing the Westinghouse sale to proceed. Economic authorities involved with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process should also possibly be involved, since the proposed purchaser is not American. Invoking a CFIUS review would likely irritate our Canadian allies at a sensitive time. But they are aware of such procedures and accustomed to working with sensitive defense-technology constraints; a review would provide an occasion to mitigate these concerns.

A CFIUS review of a Canadian purchase of Westinghouse could produce a constructive mitigation arrangement of the sort the Department of Defense employs for around 200 foreign entities. Canada has a long history of collaboration with the United States on nuclear matters and is a trusted security partner. The surviving elements of Westinghouse in the U.S. could be required to negotiate a Special Security Agreement with the DOD or Department of Energy, which could shape a long-term U.S.-Canadian relationship supporting energy diversity and security. (Some conditions to address the loss of U.S. technology capabilities might also be required.) Westinghouse would remain largely domiciled in the United States, and European fuel-supply operations would continue under the existing ownership structure.

We should also be realistic about the likely cost of keeping Westinghouse competitive and keeping it in business. Westinghouse failed in the marketplace, albeit in an environment of panic about nuclear power and very stringent regulatory burdens. Creativity will be needed to make it successful in the future. Some parts of the Trump administration, such as the DOE, are at least exploring. Last fall, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced an additional $3.7 billion in loan guarantees for the Vogtle power plant in Georgia, the last new U.S. commercial plant in recent decades, which happens to employ the most advanced Westinghouse design.

Allowing Westinghouse to be purchased by a foreign group with little experience in the industry and to be broken up and removed from the full-service and global nuclear-power market would have serious implications for national security and the economy. Of course, a review by CFIUS or the National Economic and Security Councils might determine that it is not worth the cost or the effort to find more effective alternatives. But such a review should at least be undertaken. Russia and China are waiting to fill the vacuum if Westinghouse exits the market.

Thomas J. Duesterberg is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Economic Policy (19891993). William Schneider is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology, (19821986).
This much, at least, can be said for Mohammed bin Salman, the putatively reformist crown prince of Saudi Arabia: He has made all the right enemies. Among those who would celebrate his end are the leaders of ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas, as well as Yemens Houthi rebels, and the entire clerical and military leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a bonus, there are members of his own family, the sprawling, sclerotic, self-dealing House of Saud, who would like to see him goneor at the very least, warehoused at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, where the 32-year-old prince recently imprisoned many of his enemies and cousins during an anti-corruption sweep of the kingdom.
A Democratic prosecutor and graduate of the University of Georgia has stepped up to challenge the Republican incumbent for the position of Georgias attorney general in the election this spring.
The weather is warming up, the days are longer and the sun is shining again. All of this can only mean one thing  Free Cone Day at Ben & 
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HARTFORD  Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday nominated a West Hartford judge to serve on the states Appellate Court amid questions over when he will nominate a new candidate to be chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

Superior Court Judge Ingrid L. Moll of West Hartford was nominated to fill a vacancy on the Appellate Court. Judge Moll became a Superior Court judge in April 2014; she was nominated by Malloy and approved by the General Assembly.

"Since 2014, Judge Moll has served on the Superior Court with distinction," Malloy said. "She will bring with her a great amount of experience and competence to the Appellate Court."

The Moll nomination came only hours after Malloy nominated 11 residents from across the state to serve on the state Superior Court, including women from Stamford and Weston.

Reporters asked Malloy about when  and if  he plans to nominate a new candidate to serve as chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Malloys previous nominee, Andrew McDonald of Stamford, was rejected by Republicans in the state Senate during an unprecedented partisan vote.

"Im working on it and I anticipate I will be in a position to forward a name to the legislature," Malloy said.

Asked if the next chief justice nominee will encounter similar resistance from Republicans, Malloy noted "Only if they are gay."

Judge McDonald would have been the states first openly gay chief justice and that issue came to the forefront during hours of debate over his nomination.

Malloy indicated he was reviewing current justices on state courts for the chief justice position.

Judge Moll said she is "humbled" by Malloys selection of her for the Appellate Court.

"I thank Gov. Malloy for nominating me to serve on the Appellate Court," said Moll, who is 44 years old.. "It is an honor and privilege to have this opportunity. If I am confirmed, I will work every day to prove myself worthy of this important position."

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Moll was a member of the Hartford law firm Motley Rice LLC. She worked as a law clerk for the Honorable David M. Borden of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 1999 to 2001.

She received Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and French from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois in 1995 and a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1999.

Earlier in the day, Malloy nominated Stephanie A. McLaughlin of Stamford, executive director of the Stamford Hospital Foundation, and Tracy Lee Dayton of Weston, a partner with Levine Lee law firm, to become Superior Court judges.

"Selecting nominees to fill vacancies in our court system is one of the most important duties that a governor performs  they must possess the qualities that build a stronger, fairer Connecticut for everyone in the long-run," Malloy said.

"I believe that each of these women and men will bring to the bench the diverse qualities that mirror the people of our state while also meeting the high principles and integrity that our citizens deserve," the governor added.

McLaughlins duties at the Stamford foundation since 2013 included managing legal affairs for the organization, including drafting and negotiating contracts, drafting board resolutions, and overseeing litigation, mediations, arbitrations and real estate and business transactions.

From 1995 to 1997, McLaughlin served as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff for the Peace Corps in Washington, DC, and in 1998 she also served as a clerk in the Office of the General Counsel for the Peace Corps.

She is a graduate of American University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts with a focus in international relations, and DePaul University College of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree.

Dayton since 2017 has served as a trial and appellate lawyer practicing in white collar and securities enforcement defense, investigations, and complex litigation. She has represented individuals and businesses in connection with investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory agencies involving, among other things, securities and corporate fraud, and public corruption.

Prior to joining Levine Lee, Dayton was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Connecticut from 2007 to 2017, where she served as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney and the Chief of Violent Crimes and Narcotics. She also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for five years in the Eastern District of New York, where she was the Deputy Chief of Violent Crimes and Terrorism.

Others nominated to become Superior Court judges include:

Barbara D. Aaron of West Hartford

Eugene R. Calistro, Jr. of Guilford

Suzanne E. Caron of Bloomfield

Courtney M. Chaplin of Manchester

Robert W. Clark of Durham

Maureen Price-Boreland of Durham

Stuart D. Rosen of Avon

Joseph B. Schwartz of West Hartford

James Field Spallone of Centerbrook
The Torrington Police Department reported the following arrests:

FAILURE TO APPEAR: Randy Squires, 25, of 113 Village Drive, Torrington, was arrested March 30 and charged with three counts of second-degree failure to appear. He was held in lieu of a combined $6,000 court-set cash bond and scheduled to appear in court April 2.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT: Joseph A. Miserendino, 30, of 189 Hawthorne Terrace, Torrington, was arrested March 30 and charged with disorderly conduct. He was released on a $500 non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington April 2.

BREACH OF PEACE: Steven M. Mosakowski, 29, of 31 Vista Drive, Harwinton, was arrested March 31 and charged with breach of peace. He was released on a $1,500 surety bond and scheduled to appear in court April 2.

POSSESSION OF NARCOTICS: Tara M. Green, 29, of 270 Westside Road, Torrington, was arrested March 31 and charged with possession of narcotics, use/possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance or less than a half ounce of marijuana. She was released on a $1,000 non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in court April 9.

INTEFERING WITH OFFICER: Sebastian Bloom, 32, of no certain address, Torrington, was arrested March 31 and charged with breach of peace and interfering with officer/resisting arrest. He was released on a $2,500 non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington April 9.

POSSESSION OF NARCOTICS: Matthew Miller, 27, of 67 Wolcott Ave., second-floor apartment, Torrington, was arrested March 29 and charged with use of drug paraphernalia and possession of narcotics - heroin. He was released on a $2,500 non-surety bond and scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Torrington April 9.
TORRINGTON  Workman Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, 60 Brightwood Avenue, Torrington, is holding an event to empower women on Saturday, April 21, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the church.

Event organizers said,  Come and take part in empowering women from all walks of life, while sharing success stories through lifes journeys.

Topics to be discussed include womens leadership, overcoming domestic violence, coping with a family member who under incarceration and basic life skills. To register, call 860-489-3287 or email workmanamez@gmail.com.

Admission is $10/adults, $5 for ages 7-12. Refreshments will be served.

Wamogo FFA to screen Farmers for America

LITCHFIELD  On March 1, Wamogo FFA hosted a showing of Farmers for America, a documentary by Graham Meriwether and narrated by Mike Rowe. This documentary centers around stories that showcase challenges faced by the the next generation of farmers and how these young adults are overcoming them.

Many eye-opening statistics were shared, including the fact that the average age of the American farmer is 60 and that within the next 12 years, 50 percent of Americas farmland is going to change hands. It poses many questions for our youngest agricultural leaders: Who will own our farmland?, Who will grow our food?, and Where will this next generation of farmers come from?

Wamogo FFA will be hosting another showing of Farmers for America, open to community members, on April 24 at 6 p.m. in the Wamogo High School Auditorium. A panel discussion of local agriculturists will be held immediately after the showing.

Casino trips scheduled

TORRINGTON The Torrington Parks and Recreation Department will resume its monthly trips to the Mohegan Sun casinos. The trips are $25 per person, per trip.

The bus leaves from the Torrington Plaza Staples Plaza near 99 Restaurant  at 8 p.m. and returns at 6 p.m. Early registration is encourage, as seats fill quickly. The datesfor Mohegan Sun trips are Mondays, April 16, June 18, Aug. 20 and Sept. 17. Call 860-489-2274 for more information.

Crafternoons continue at historical society

Litchfield  The Litchfield Historical Societys monthly Crafternoons explore a new theme in history with hands-on crafts and games that encourage students to look away from the screen and tap into their own imagination. Crafts are recommended for children in first through seventh grade. Sessions held once a month on a Thursday, from 3:30-5 p.m.

Thursday, April 12: Colonial Games. Discover how kids in the past had fun with games like rolling hoop, graces and quoits.

Thursday, May 10: Marvelous Mothers. Make something special for mother, grandmother, or loved one and hear stories about women who have made a difference in Litchfields history.

Crafternoons are recommended for students in grades 1-7. Individual sessions are $7 for members and $10 for non-members. Registration is required. Payment is required at time of registration. To register, call 860-567-4501 or email registration@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org. For more information about this or other programs, visit www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.

Library book group announces meetings

KENT  The book discussion group at Kent Memorial Library for spring 2018 is a follow up to the librarys fall theme, and in keeping with recent films about losses England sustained and cracks in the British Empire the wars revealed. The first book will be about WWI, and move on from there. The group meets monthly on Thursdays at 5 p.m. Discussions are led by Betty Krasne, PhD, writer, professor emerita, and long time Kent resident.

Discussion dates and topics include: April 19, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman; May 10, The Strays by Emily Bitto; The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan.

The group meets in the Reading Room. The meetings are free and open to the public. Register at the circulation desk so the librarians will know how many books to round up. Call the Library to register at 860-927-3761.Visit kentmemoriallibrary.org for more information.

Senior center holding AARP driving courses

TORRINGTON  The Sullivan Senior Center is hosting a series of AARP Smart Driver Courses on May 3, June 7, July 12, Sept. 6 and Nov. 1. This course is available to people age 50 and older. The 4 hour session must be completed to receive a certificate that entitles the student to a discount on auto insurance for 2 years. The cost is $15, $20 for non-members of AARP, payable by check only made out to AARP.

Participants must bring their AARP card to show the instructor. If you do not have your membership card, call 888-687-2277 to obtain your number.

All classes are held on Thursdays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 860-489-2211 to register.

Food bank seeks volunteers

TORRINGTON Friendly Hands Food Bank is looking for people to be part of its board of directors.

If interested, call Maureen Mo Hubert at 860-482-3338, Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., or stop by Friendly Hands Food Bank on 50 King St,. Torrington.

Adult education classes available

LITCHFIELD  Foothills Adult and Continuing Education, a program of EdAdvance in Litchfield, covering Litchfield County, offers classes in computers, arts & crafts, self-improvement, recreation, finance, cooking, world languages, excursions. Classes are held in several locations.

EdAdvance also offers opportunities for adults to earn their high school diploma. Register online www.edadvance.org, Adult Learners tab FOOTHILLS, or call 800-300-4781.

NCCC to hold spring job fair

WINSTED  Northwestern Connecticut Community College will host a Job Fair on Tuesday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room (128) Greenwoods Hall, 119 North Main Street, Winsted. Any prospective job seeker is welcome to attend.

The Fair will feature more than 20 local employers and the NCCC Library, which provides free career services to individuals looking for work. There is no dress code and resumes are not required. However, attendees are encouraged to dress to impress and bring several copies of their resume. If a prospective attendee would like assistance preparing a resume, he/she should contact Ms. Palombizio. Attendees are welcome to go to the Center for Student Development, located on the second floor of Greenwoods Hall to print copies of their resumes. All attendees will be entered to win a $75 Stop and Shop Gift Card.

For more information, and to those employers interested in participating in job fair, contact Samantha Palombizio at spalombizio@nwcc.edu.
Myanmars civilian government, which has been in power for two years under State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, has imposed mechanisms to tighten oversight and control of domestic civil society organizations (CSOs) and international NGOs. In December, the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government issued the Draft Law on International Non-Governmental Organizations, which would regulate such groups, including those of the United Nations. The document reportedly contains a vague definition of the groups it would control, calls for Myanmar employees to monitor the organizations work, and offers the groups few measures to protect themselves against temporary shutdowns by Myanmar officials. CSOs and international NGOs say the draft law raises concerns about a crackdown on their activities and is another move by the administration to backpedal on certain democratic freedoms in the developing nation. Thinn Thiri of RFAs Myanmar Service discussed the controversial policy with NLD party spokesman Myo Nyunt. What follows is an edited version of their conversation.



RFA: A recent NLD statement calls on party members to let superiors know before they work with various NGOs and CSOs. People are saying this is a setback for freedom.



Myo Nyunt: Its a precaution. There are so many CSOs nowadays, and some are politically active and have attacked our party in some ways. But we are not being so strict. They [NLD party members] can freely work with NGOs and CSOs that are not politically motivated, like IT groups. We only want to be cautious with some politically inclined groups. These groups highlight democracy and human rights in their work, but in reality, instead of finding solutions or providing support, they want to create problems for the NLD, such as bringing about actions that are not in accordance with the law and making impossible demands. The NLD always welcomes those groups if they are being led by recognized pro-democracy leaders and if their actions and training courses support democratic practices. [Then] we encourage our members to work with such groups.



RFA: Critics say that CSOs and NGOs do not receive enough support in their activities for peace movements.



Myo Nyunt: The peace process in Myanmar is not like those of other countries. We have many key players and very sensitive issues, and we want to have our party members take a unanimous stand.



RFA: Some say the government is not providing enough support to CSOs. Whats your take?



Myo Nyunt: As I said earlier, we can accept most groups, but we have to be cautious because it would be difficult to control if our party members got involved with certain groups that have a little "color" [are politically inclined].



RFA: Aung San Suu Kyi said in a speech last week that the country would have to be developed collectively with the strength of the people. How is the NLD going to harness the strength of NGOs and CSOs?



Myo Nyunt: The NLD will take into consideration all suggestions from the people as well as from NLD teams at the grassroots level. Some groups in working together with the people sought non-legal ways, which we cannot accept. For instance, those movements where farmers forced themselves onto legally contested lands. We dont want our people to get involved there.



RFA: What is the main challenge for the party and the government?



Myo Nyunt: The main problem is [trying to] win the confidence and trust of the masses. This will be resolved only if people truly and fully understand that the path we are currently taking is in their interest.



Reported by Thinn Thiri of RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.
Authorities in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region have detained a Uyghur official after she expressed sympathy for fellow members of her ethnic group who were rounded up over the last year and placed in the regions vast network of political re-education camps, according to sources.



Pezilet Bekri, in her 30s, was promoted from her position in Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) citys Office of Religious Affairs to the Communist Party secretary of Kashgars Yarbagh Neighborhood Committee in 2015 after being commended for her diligent work, a source recently told RFAs Uyghur Service in a letter, written anonymously.



The source said that despite her successful career, Bekri was forced to abandon her loyalty to the government after April 2017, when authorities under her administration began rounding up Uyghurs accused of harboring strong religious views and displaying politically incorrect behavior and sending them to re-education camps.



After expressing sympathy for Uyghurs who were detained as part of the campaign, Han Chinese officials in her work group reported her to higher level authorities, who removed her from her post for incompetence and sent her to one of the camps she oversaw, according to the letter.



Staff members of multiple government offices in Kashgar confirmed that Bekri was promoted to Yarbagh Neighborhood Committee secretary in 2015, but said they were unaware of reports that she had been detained over her concerns with the Xinjiangs re-education campaign.



But Tursun Mamut, a volunteer at the Kashgar Municipal National Security Agency and retired cadre from the Trade Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture, recently told RFA that he regularly communicated with Bekri on the WeChat messaging app until she suddenly went silent earlier this year.



I was a good friend of Pezilet Bekri on WeChat, but she disappeared on Jan. 17, he said.



I later learned [from the National Security Agency] that she was taken to a political re-education center.



Her disappearance was also confirmed by Abdurahman Hesen, a Uyghur businessman from Kashgar who is currently living in exile in Turkey.



I think she was transferred to Yarbagh in 2015, he said.



Later the government combined two communes into one, and she was appointed as a political commander who was in charge of supervising others in carrying out the arrests and sending them to re-education camps.



Hesen said that as a political commander supervising those that carry out arrests it was very normal for her to show her sympathy towards the victims.



You dont have to be a Uyghur to show sympathy to the weak and the vulnerable, he said.



Any human being with a sense of justice would be unable to hold back their emotions on seeing innocent elderly men and women having black hoods placed over their heads and being taken away, or hearing terrified children screaming as their parents or siblings are being forcibly detained.



Hesen said visiting businessmen from Kashgar had told him at the end of January that Bekri was arrested by the Public Security Bureau and is being held in the citys prison.



He said contacts inside Xinjiang had also confirmed her detention via WeChat and by telephone.



Camp network



China's central government authorities have not publicly acknowledged the existence of re-education camps in Xinjiang, and the number of inmates kept in each facility remains a closely guarded secret, but local officials in many parts of Xinjiang have in RFA telephone interviews forthrightly described sending significant numbers of Uyghurs to the camps and even described overcrowding in some facilities.



Maya Wang of the New York-based Human Rights Watch told The Guardian in January that estimates of Xinjiang residents who had spent time in the camps went as high as 800,000, while at least one Uyghur exile group estimates that up to 1 million Uyghurs have been detained throughout the region since April 2017, and some activists say nearly every Uyghur household has been affected by the campaign.



In December last year, sources told RFA that rewards provided by authorities in Xinjiang to tipsters for outing would-be terrorists are also being offered to those reporting two-faced Uyghur officials and public figures suspected of disloyalty to Beijing.



Two-faced is a term applied by the government to Uyghurs who do not willingly follow directives and exhibit signs of disloyalty that can include promotion of extremist sentiment, providing support to separatist groups, or publishing information that harms the unity of the country or distorts the history of Xinjiang.



While authorities have generally avoided harassing the families of Uyghur security personnel and public servants during past crackdowns in Xinjiang, reports suggest that even Uyghurs who serve the state risk arrest amid a string of harsh policies attacking the legitimate rights and freedoms of Uyghurs enacted since Communist Party secretary Chen Quanguo was appointed to run the region in August 2016.



China regularly conducts strike hard campaigns in Xinjiang, including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material.



While China blames some Uyghurs for "terrorist" attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009.



Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by RFA's Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
An Afghan air strike on a suspected Taliban gathering in the northern province of Kunduz has caused dozens of casualties, including among civilians, officials said.

Abdul Hameed Hameedi, a local police official, said the strike in the Dasht-i Archi district outside Kunduz city on April 2 hit a gathering of Taliban fighters preparing an operation, killing at least 15 and wounding 10.

A representative from the Taliban leadership council based in the Pakistani city of Quetta was visiting when the air strike took place, and civilians were among those killed, he said, without providing details.

Eyewitnesses told RFE/RL that around 50 people were killed and more than 100 wounded, most of them civilians.

The Afghan military claimed in a statement that the strike killed at least 15 Taliban militants, including Mullah Beryani, the senior Quetta Shura member. It said 10 people were wounded and no civilians were killed.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it had dispatched a team to the area to look into "disturbing reports of serious harm to civilians.

Afghanistan's House of Elders, the upper house of parliament, also decided to send a fact-finding commission to Kunduz to investigate.

The strike came during the time of year when the Taliban usually announces an annual spring offensive, stepping up attacks in its 16-year war against U.S. forces and the government in Kabul.

Dasht-i Archi has been largely under the control of the Taliban since 2015, and there was conflicting information given to the media about casualties from the April 2 air strike.

Some witnesses and local officials said the strike hit a mosque or madrasah where a graduation ceremony was taking place, and dozens of civilians were killed and wounded.

Mawlawi Abdullah, a provincial council member from Kunduz, told the dpa news agency that around 50 to 60 people were killed when the strike hit a madrasah, or religious school, where Taliban members and civilians had gathered for a graduation ceremony.

A security official told the AFP agency that the Taliban was planning for its annual spring offensive in the madrasah and held the meeting there in hopes of avoiding air strikes.

A statement from the Taliban said the strike killed 150 religious scholars and civilians and denied that any of its forces were present.

A spokeswoman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said none of their personnel were involved in any air strikes in the area.

Afghanistan's fledgling air force has accelerated bombardments in recent months as the United States under a new strategy announced last year has beefed up the country's aerial capability with more aircraft and better weapons.

Building up the nascent Afghan Air Force has been a major priority for the U.S.-led NATO mission in Afghanistan, and Kabul's air corps has had increasing success in supporting ground forces.

The Afghan Air Force recently dropped its first laser-guided bomb on a Taliban compound in the western province of Farah, where the militants have gone on the offensive.

But the incident in Kunduz highlighted one of the risks of the greater use of Afghan air power under the new U.S. strategy, the stated aim of which is to try to force the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Civilian casualties caused by the air strikes have risked undermining public support for the campaign.

Recent figures from the United Nations have shown a rise in the number of civilian casualties caused by air strikes in Afghanistan.

The UN said the Afghan Air Force was responsible for about half of the 630 civilian casualties caused by air strikes last year.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters


The three Baltic presidents, after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, pledged to continue meeting NATO's defense-spending obligations in the hope that the alliance will bolster security along NATO's eastern flank.

"We will continue to commit 2 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) toward the development of our military capabilities for the purposes of both strengthening NATO's posture and contributing to international security," Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis said after the April 3 White House summit.

Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite also vowed to continue meeting NATO's defense-spending obligations, indicating they hope the United States will beef up forces in their region.

But although the three Baltic presidents urged Trump to do more to deter Russia by bolstering the U.S. military presence, Trump did not announce any specific new U.S. military deployments.

Instead, Trump praised Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia for meeting NATO's defense-spending obligations -- and said other NATO countries must do so as well.

"Your commitment to burden-sharing is an example, really, that other NATO nations and partners all around the world will have to all get together and bear," Trump said while standing beside the Baltic presidents at a joint press conference after their meeting. "Some of them do not make the same commitment. Hopefully, they soon will."

Grybauskaite said Trump's pressure on other NATO states to meet their defense-spending obligations is critical for security.

"Without the leverage and pressure, there would be no additional spending in our defense in NATO," Grybauskaite said. "There would be no additional decisions for rotating military forces of the United States in our countries. There will be no willingness to look into the matter of air defense, which we need very much.

"From all these points of view, we trust that our partner and ally is investing seriously in the future of our defense - not only our regions, but NATO's territorial defense and in the peace and security of the world as it was before," Grybauskaite said.

Grybauskaite, Kaljulaid, and Vejonis are among the strongest critics of Russia in the European Union and were visiting Trump amid mixed signals about his intentions toward the Kremlin.

As the White House talks were under way, Trump told them that "nobody has been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump."

"Ideally, we want to be able to get along with Russia," Trump said. "Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Now, maybe we will [get along] and maybe we won't."

Asked by a reporter if Russian President Vladimir Putin is a friend or a foe, Trump said, "We'll find out. I'll let you know."

The meeting came after Trump's administration raised the possibility of the U.S. president hosting Putin at the White House.

But Washington also recently imposed a new round of sanctions targeting Russian individuals, companies, and intelligence agencies.

The White House also expelled 60 Russian diplomatic staff  calling them Russian intelligence officers -- in reaction to Moscow's alleged poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain.

A senior Lithuanian official told the AFP news agency before the talks that the three Baltic leaders want Trump to more frequently send Patriot long-range air-defense missiles to NATO military exercises in the Baltics.

The official said they also want to become a part of NATO's larger European antimissile shield.

"I hope that the United States and other allies understand that the airspace of the Baltic states must be better protected and defended," Grybauskaite told her country's public broadcaster LRT ahead of the visit.

"It is important that [U.S. troops] are here on a permanent rotational basis in all Baltic states," she said.

Last year, NATO deployed four multinational battalions to Poland and the Baltic states as tripwires against possible Russian adventurism, while the U.S. military sent a Patriot battery to Lithuania for drills.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in July raised the possibility of deploying Patriots in nearby Estonia.

Citizens of the Baltic states were rattled by Trump's campaign rhetoric in 2016 questioning NATO's relevance and his unwillingness to criticize Putin, public opinion polls showed.

But polls showed the public mood changed after Trump decided to boost funding for U.S. forces in Europe and provide antitank missiles to Ukraine to defend against Russia-backed separatists.

The Baltic-U.S. summit also included a business forum where Lithuania signed deals to boost imports of liquefied natural gas from the United States to reduce reliance on Russian natural gas.

The Baltic states, with a combined population of just 6 million people, were occupied and annexed by Moscow during World War II.

The trio broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991 and joined both the European Union and NATO in 2004.

With reporting by AP and AFP


The chief executive of Britain's Porton Down defense laboratory says his scientists have not verified the "precise source" of the nerve agent used to poison the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter -- explaining that it was not the task of his laboratory to do so.

Gary Aitkenhead reiterated in an April 3 interview with Sky News that the attack with a highly toxic Novichok nerve agent was "probably only within the capabilities of a state actor."

He also said there is "no way" the nerve agent could have come from the high-security Porton Down facility, as the Kremlin has suggested.

Aitkenhead explained to Sky News that it is Porton Down's job to "provide the scientific evidence that identifies what the particular nerve agent is...but it's not our job to say where that was actually manufactured."

He also said the Porton Down laboratory "provided the scientific information to the government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions that they have come to."

Based on that information, the British government has said that the Russian state must have been behind the attack with a Soviet-developed nerve agent against Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4 in Salisbury.

Russia denies responsibility and has suggested the poison may have come from Britain.

Aitkenhead's remarks came a day before the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) watchdog was due to discuss Britain's allegations against Russia over the poisoning.

The OPCW said on April 3 that Russia had requested a meeting of its executive council to discuss the case.

Meanwhile, Britain's Foreign Ministry on April 3 accused Russia of calling the meeting as a "diversionary tactic" to undermine the investigation into the poisoning.

"This Russian initiative is yet again another diversionary tactic, intended to undermine the work of the OPCW in reaching a conclusion," the ministry said in a statement.

Britain, the United States, and two dozen other countries have expelled more than 150 Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning, and Moscow responded in kind.

British authorities have invited OPCW experts to take chemical samples from Salisbury for analysis.

Last week, Russia sent a list of questions to the OPCWs secretariat regarding the information provided by London to the agency, the composition of the expert group that visited Britain, and other issues.

Russian news agencies quoted the OPCWs press service as saying that the organization anticipates sending its answers to Russia by the end of April 3.

On April 2, Russias envoy to the OPCW said in televised remarks that Moscow won't accept the agency's conclusions without Russian involvement.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States and Britain of spreading "lies and disinformation" about the poisoning.

And Russian Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko on April 3 said the Skripal case was a provocation by London aimed at further escalating tensions between Russia and the West.

British officials have previously rejected similar Russian allegations.

Sergei Skripal remains hospitalized in critical condition, while his daughter Yulia has partially recovered.

Skripal was a colonel in Russias military intelligence agency until he was arrested and charged with spying for Britain. He was released in a 2010 spy swap involving the United States and he moved to Britain.

With reporting by Sky News, AFP, TASS, and Interfax


The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) launched its annual Free The Press campaign on April 2, seeking to raise awareness about Azimjan Askarov, who is imprisoned in Kyrgyzstan, and four other "intrepid" reporters behind bars in other countries.

"Supporters are encouraged to send physical or digital postcards so that the journalists know they are not forgotten and the governments jailing them know that the world is watching," the New York-based media watchdog said on its website.

This year, CPJ's campaign highlights five journalists it says have been jailed for their work in Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Turkey, the Republic of Congo, and China.

"These intrepid journalists come from different backgrounds and covered a variety of beats, but they were all jailed simply for doing their job," said CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch.

Askarov, a contributor to independent news websites and rights activist, is serving a life sentence in prison in Kyrgyzstan.

An ethnic Uzbek, he was convicted of "creating a threat to civil peace and stability in society" following ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010 in which more than 400 people were killed.

The case, which the jailed activist says is politically motivated, has sparked international criticism.

In December, CPJ found 262 journalists behind bars around the world in relation to their work, the highest number since the nongovernmental organization started keeping records in the early 1990s.
A Dutch attorney who once worked closely with U.S. President Trumps former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has been sentenced to 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine for lying to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators about contacts with an official in Trump's 2016 campaign.

Alex van der Zwaan, the son-in-law of Russian billionaire German Khan, is the first person to be sentenced in Muellers probe into interactions between Russian officials and associates of Trump.

Van der Zwaan was also sentenced to two months of supervised release.

He pleaded guilty in February to lying to federal agents about his contacts with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates and a person prosecutors have since revealed has been assessed to have ties to Russian intelligence.

"What I did was wrong. I apologize to this court, and I apologize to my wife," van der Zwaan said at the sentencing hearing on April 3.

His attorneys had pushed for him to pay a fine and return to London as soon as possible where he lives with his wife, who is pregnant with their first child.

But U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said incarceration was necessary.

"This was more than a mistake. It was more than a lapse or misguided moment," Jackson said, adding that being able to "write a check and walk away" would not fit the seriousness of the crime or send the right message.

Van der Zwaan was a lawyer in London for U.S. law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 2012 when he carried out work for the Ukrainian government through Gates and Manafort.

More than a dozen people -- including Manafort and Gates -- have been indicted by the special counsel.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP


Eight people have been injured by the explosion of a pressurized canister at a Burger King restaurant in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, police said.

Police said the explosion occurred late on April 2 in the kitchen of the restaurant in Yerevan's downtown area. They said three Armenians, three Russians, and two Iranians were hospitalized with injuries.

An 8-year-old Armenian girl sustained serious, life-threatening injuries, while the others were less seriously injured, police said.

Russian state-run news agency TASS said three 15-year-old Russian teenagers were among the injured. Russian news agency Interfax said the Russians injured were in "moderately severe condition."

The cause of the explosion wasn't immediately clear, but police have ruled out foul play.

Interfax quoted an Armenian police official as saying the canister that exploded was a pressurized beer-dispensing tank, and there was no evidence the explosion was "premeditated."

Based on reporting by AP, TASS, and Interfax


Four Christians were shot dead in southwestern Pakistan on April 2, police said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

The group was travelling in a rickshaw when armed men on a motorcycle intercepted them and opened fire in the city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province.

Three members of a family and the rickshaw driver were immediately killed, but a fifth -- a child -- survived and was rushed to the hospital, police said.

"It appears to have been a targeted attack," provincial police official Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters. "It was an act of terrorism."

The attack came a day after Pakistan's Christian community celebrated Easter. Around 2 percent of Pakistan's 200 million people are Christians.

Minority religious festivals are a security concern in the majority Sunni Muslim country where there have been a numerous attacks on Christians and Shi'a Muslims.

Balochistan, a region bordering Iran as well as Afghanistan which has been wracked by violence, is home to three Sunni Islamist militant groups -- the Pakistan Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Islamic State.

In December, a week before Christmas, two suicide bombers stormed a packed Christian church in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 10 people and wounding up to 56, in another attack claimed by IS.

The family killed on April 2 had come to visit relatives in Quetta's Shah Zaman Road area, where many from the city's Christian community live.

Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman, has been living on death row in Pakistan since 2010, when she was condemned for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters


Businesses were closed and curfew-like restrictions were in place in Indian-administered Kashmir after clashes between militants and government forces left at least 20 people dead. Additional troops were deployed in the main city of Srinagar and other towns, and barricades were installed to prevent protests. The violence erupted on April 1 when police reportedly opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators, setting off a series of gunbattles. Indian soldiers, militants, and civilians were all reported among the victims. (ANI via Reuters)
Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has rejected criticism from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his dismissal last week of officials in Pristina who deported six Turkish citizens with ties to Erdogan's political foes.

Haradinaj, attending a ceremony on April 2 honoring a national hero who resisted Turkey's Ottoman Empire during the 15th century, said Erdogan should not "interfere in the internal affairs of Kosovo," just as Pristina does not meddle in Ankara's affairs.

Erdogan on March 31 had warned that Haradinaj would "pay" after he dismissed his interior minister and intelligence chief for deporting without his permission six Turks with ties to the movement of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan blames for a failed coup attempt against his government.

Erdogan noted that Turkey was the second country in the world to recognize Kosovo after the United States, and said: "My question to Kosovo's prime minister is: under whose instructions did you undertake such actions? Since when have you started to defend those...who attempted a coup against Kosovo's brother country -- Turkey? You will answer for this!"

Turkey is a major supporter of impoverished Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Turkish firms run the tiny Balkan country's sole airport and electricity network, and are building two highways worth around $2 billion.

Human rights groups criticized Kosovo's deportation of the six Turks, whom Ankara had accused of helping people in Turkey who are affiliated with the Gulen movement to flee the country amid a crackdown by the government.

Ankara accuses Gulen, who lives in exile in the United States, of masterminding the July 2016 coup attempt, and has declared his movement a terrorist organization.

Gulen's organization preaches against violence and denies any link with the abortive putsch.

With reporting by AP and Reuters


Moscow city authorities have denied activists permission to hold a protest against sexual harassment on a central square outside the Kremlin on April 3.

Activist Alyona Popova, said on April 2 that city authorities told organizers of the planned demonstration that it could not be held because another public event had already been scheduled on Manezh Square at around the same time.

It was not immediately clear whether activists would attempt to hold the rally without a permit.

The demonstration had initially been planned for March 29 but was postponed as Russians mourned the victims of a fire that killed 64 people at a shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo on March 25.

The rally was organized amid an outcry over sexual harassment following allegations focusing mainly on Leonid Slutsky, a senior lawmaker in the State Duma, Russia's lower parliament house.

Activists are seeking to channel anger, honor victims, and hold perpetrators of sexual harassment accountable for their actions.

Yekaterina Kotrikadze, a deputy editor with New-York-based RTVI television, Darya Zhuk, a producer with the independent Dozhd TV, and BBC Russian correspondent Farida Rustamova have accused Slutsky of making crude, unwanted advances toward them, including trying to kiss them and touching them inappropriately.

The Duma's ethics commission ruled on March 21 that Slutsky had not committed any violations of "behavioral norms," prompting more than 20 media outlets to pull their journalists from covering the lower house.

The ethics commission ruling and dismissive public comment by several lawmakers and officials has added to the ire of activists and others who are angry about the alleged actions by Slutsky and others in positions of power.

The allegations from the journalists came amid continuing public debate in the United States about sexual harassment following claims from several women in the film industry who say they were sexually harassed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

In comments to students on March 29, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, likened Weinstein's accusers to "prostitutes" and suggested that Slutsky's accusers should have spoken out earlier.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, RIA, and Kommersant
The year is 2027, and Romania and Moldova have agreed to unite. But the move is opposed by Russia, which has maintained what it calls peacekeeping troops in Moldovas eastern breakaway region of Transdniester since 1992. As Russian forces mass to the east of the Dniester River, including territory in what is today western Ukraine, NATO deploys its forces in Romania and Moldova. None of the events in this scenario -- laid out in graphic detail in Silent Ruin, a fictional, comic-style story published online by the Army Cyber Institute (ACI) at West Point -- has actually played out. But ACI spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Terrence Kelley tells RFE/RL that the publication aims to help U.S. soldiers be better prepared for future cyberbattle threats.

Silent Ruin portrays Russian forces as better prepared for cyberwarfare than NATO, using Russian autonomous drones (UAVs) that are able to knock out NATO observation drones by attacking with electromagnetic pulse waves. It is one of four fictional stories ACI is releasing in its Operation Dark Hammer project. Others in the series depict a near nuclear confrontation with North Korea and terrorist cyberattacks in the United States. The U.S. Army has always sought to prevent strategic surprise by anticipating and adapting to future capabilities and vulnerabilities, writes Lieutenant-Colonel Natalie Vanatta, a cyberspecialist involved in the project.

NATO troops advance in tanks to take over the observation posts once monitored by its disabled drones  unaware that Russia is sending in more tanks, including autonomous killer robot armor. The Russian plan exploits a faulty patch in NATOs satellite-based tracking and communications system. A Russian cyberattack on that electronic command-and-control system leaves NATO tank crews unable to see the invading Russian forces, fire their weapons, or control their vehicles.

The publications do not portray or predict actual events, Vanatta stressed in a statement about the graphic novels. Rather," she said, "they are science-fiction stories based on future trends, technologies, economics, and cultural change. The inspiration for each story came from so-called threatcasting workshops by military and civilian experts working with author Brian David Johnson, a cyberprognosticator at Arizona State University. Russias killer robot tanks exploit the outage and move forward to destroy NATOs crippled armor.

Vanatta says the locations in all stories in the series were selected could just as easily be any city or democratic nations confronting external threats. But the storyline of Silent Ruin shows that both civilian and military cyberexperts in the United States consider Russia a potential digital adversary in battlefields of the future. With the destruction of NATOs battlefield Tactical Operations Center, the battle is quickly over  and Russian troops are soon storming the U.S. diplomatic compound in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau. Silent Ruin clearly states that the fictional scenario does not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. government, the U.S. Army, or the Pentagon. Kelley tells RFE/RL that Johnson, the author of Silent Ruin, came up with the idea of a negotiated unification of Romania and Moldova merely to dramatize the storyline.